DISCLAIMER: See
A/N: Someone asked what I’m studying in college. My current classes are: Latin 101 (hence my new interest in Latin), Speech, Basic Statistics, Expository Writing, and Literature & Philosophy. My major is currently Undecided (GASP!), but I was thinking about being a writer.
CHAPTER 34: ILLEGITIMI NON CARBORUNDUM
Nil vident nisi quod libet. Don’t they see anything except want they want to see? -Terence, Heauton Timorumenos (643)
“How do they manage it, these humans – beginning each time so innocently, yet always ending up with the most blood on their hands?” -Orson Scott Card, Xenocide
“You always hurt the ones you love.” –Adage
Illegitimi non carborundum. Don’t let the bastards grind you down. –SarahtheBardess, from www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net
Harry returned earlier than anyone else that day, along with Snape, Neville, Luna and Mark. Harry thanked Snape for his hospitality and walked back to
He felt sad as he would no longer be rooming with Ron. How would Dean
and
Seamus react? How would the rest of the Gryffindors
react, for that matter? Or the more doubtful
students from Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw?
Harry was on his way back down to the Great Hall for dinner when he
bumped into
Luna. "There may be two sides to a coin, but it's the metal in between
the
two sides that counts, and that's where it all comes from," she said
without preamble. And with that, she walked off to the Ravenclaw
table.
He shook his head. Luna could be so off at times, yet so perceptive at
other
times. He was suddenly extremely grateful he had her as a friend.
Neville sat down across the table from him, and they were both at the
end of
the table near the staff. "Quick consensus, Harry," he breathed.
"Cho and Susan are still on our side. So is
Blaise. And, of course, so are Ron and
Hermione."
Harry smiled slightly. “So my small circle of friends is still intact.”
That slight smile vanished as he said, “I’m sorry, but sometimes I
keep
thinking about everyone else who might not believe me, and what if they
do
something based on their misconceptions that could get themselves hurt
or
killed? Then they’ll have died or something, while hating the wrong
people.”
Neville was at a loss as for what to say. "Sorry," Harry mumbled,
"I know that isn't something I would have said a few years ago, I
know."
"A few years ago, Riddle wasn't running amok," Neville pointed out.
"You want to know something Luna pointed out the other day? How age
mocks
the naïveté of youth."
Harry stared at his roommate as Neville shrugged. "She's a Ravenclaw; they're probably bursting at the
seams with
proverbs like that."
"Good point," Harry commented.
The Great Hall was filling up over the next half-hour. Harry noticed a
certain
gap out of the corner of his eye between him and the rest of the table.
The
rest of his housemates, especially all those familiar faces of
classmates, were
shooting him furtive glances.
"Is it me, Neville, or is there something that a lot of other students
know which I don't?" he asked a little louder than normal, causing the
some of his non-Slytherin classmates to
squirm in
their seats. Neville shook his head, unsure what to say.
"Harry," he whispered, "Don't look over your shoulder, but I
think Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw
are both divided over that trash printed in the Daily Prophet.
Speaking
of which..." Leaning closer, Neville whispered, “The Daily Prophet
is now starting to change its stance, again. Apparently, some
people who
just a few days ago thought you were ‘going Dark,’
are
now having ‘second thoughts.’”
Harry snorted grimly, not pleased at all with the fact that those
people were
trying to fix mistakes that shouldn’t have happened in the first place.
"And the Slytherins?"
"Lost about twenty students like Snape
said, but they don't buy it."
“So nearly half of the school is against me now,” Harry muttered. “Great, just great.”
"This is might not be much better than last year, Harry, but it
all
turned all right in the end."
"With almost all students hating Umbridge?"
"Precisely," Neville grinned. "Luna put it like this:
Gryffindor hated her because of what she did to you, Hufflepuff
hated her because of what she said regarding Cedric Diggory,
Ravenclaw hated her because she insulted
their
intelligence, and Slytherin hated her
because she
spent all her cunning and ambition on politics and floral patterns
instead of
education and studies."
Harry snickered. "Good one."
"Tell that to Luna."
Dumbledore got up from his seat and made grave announcements while
Harry
listened attentively, especially regarding alarms. Three pushes of a
button on
the wall at regular intervals would turn it on, and security would kick
in from
there. Hogsmeade visits would be heavily
guarded.
As food appeared, Harry and Neville said no more on the subject. Just
then, a
new voice turned on in Harry's head.
"Harry? Harry, is that you?"
"Ginny?" he thought back.
"The one and only. Unless
you're now telepathically hooked to another Ginerva
Molly Weasley."
"Touché. What's going on at the other end of the table?"
"Not good," she sighed mentally. "Ron and Hermione are
unsure what to think about you at the moment."
That hit Harry hard. "Last night, at your house. Snape
told me about it. So, Ron, Hermione, and the twins aren’t lying
to your
mother and secretly supporting me?"
"No, I'm afraid not. They’re at a crossroads; part of them is
leaning
towards believing you, and the other part is leaning in the opposite
direction.'"
"Dammit. How could they!?"
"Terrible, Harry, I know, but they wouldn’t listen to anything
otherwise.
A few days ago, they were too busy glorifying Bill and Charlie, now in
St. Mungo's, as well as worshipping Percy,
the blasted 'war
hero.' Oh, and what's worse, now Hermione was inches away from
having
Rita Skeeter writing away."
Harry nearly spat out his pumpkin juice. "No
way!"
"Sad but true, Harry."
"Did they have any idea what they were doing!?"
"Yes, but they thought they were doing the right thing. As Luna told me
once, ‘We’re all but sorry witnesses to our
own
cause.’"
"My heart screams out for what happened to Bill and Charlie, but this
is
ridiculous!"
"We'll have to talk later, Harry; they're wondering why I'm not eating.
It's absolutely ridiculous how now they'll be trailing me to make sure
we're
nowhere near each other. Damn them, what with Ron's infernal older
brother
mentality and Hermione's detestable superiority complex. However, we
have this
nifty new bond between us, so we can't complain."
"Good argument, Gin."
"Thank you. Oh, by the way, even worse; Ron brainwashed
Hermione, and she thought that Ron cared about her while you didn’t."
"So now she was thinking with her hormones instead of her brains!?"
"Stupid, isn't it?"
"Indeed. Talk to you later."
"Later."
~*~*~*~
“Ginny, please, why won’t you talk to us?” Ron asked.
Ginny merely looked at him. “Let’s see... you thought Harry had
something to do
with what happened to Bill and Charlie, you owled
everyone in Gryffindor, you just caused a bunch of damage you might not
be able
to fix... pick your favorite.”
Ron reddened and looked down in shame, and Hermione did the same.
Looking up again, Ron pleaded, “Ginny, I –”
"What the hell is it about you anyway?" Ginny hissed. "What
do you think gives you the right to constantly dictate my life? What
could
possibly make you that protective?"
She expected Ron to yell or beg or something, but to her great
surprise, he
didn't. He just looked at her as though she didn't know some sad secret
that he
did.
The silence continued as Ron let a tear roll down his face and leaned
forward
onto the table, groaning quietly.
Ginny couldn't stand it anymore. "Will you stop being dramatic and tell
me
already?" she hissed again.
Ron wiped that tear aside and looked at her. "Ginny, do you remember
when
you were three years old and you were left alone in the kitchen while
Mum was
cooking something?"
Ginny shook her head, not taking her eyes off of Ron. Where was he
going with
this?
"Mum went to the shed to get something, and you wanted to get on top of
the counter to see what she was cooking. She was making some kind of
stew, so
there was a pot full of boiling water and sharp knives and lots of
other things
on the counter. You reached up to try tugging on the mat they were
placed on. I
was walking by when I saw you with the stuff, now lying half over the
edge. I
panicked, so I made a split-second decision. I ran to get you out of
the way,
and I pushed you aside just seconds before it all feel off, sending
boiling
water and sharp objects all over the place. Bill heard the sound and
came
running in, and when he saw what happened, he understood. He was so
happy I was
able to protect you. He called me a hero." Ron smiled a little and
said,
"Over the years, I kept wondering what could have happened in that
space
of only a few seconds if I hadn't been there, or if something else
happened...
And after what happened to Bill and Charlie a couple of months ago, I
remembered that more than ever. I just grew up with this mentality,
thinking it
was my job to look out for you."
Ginny started to feel a little sick by the end of this explanation.
"I just wanted you to be safe, Gin, and ever since you started at
Hogwarts
and ever since you were stuck in the Chamber of Secrets, that feeling
just
never went away. I just kept thinking of that incident in the kitchen
all those
years ago. I admit it, I got carried away
with those
absurd speeches after what happened to Bill and Charlie. I let it get
out of
control, I admit it. I'm sorry."
For some reason, Ginny felt the impulse to reach out to Ron and talk to
him.
Then she remembered what her family had done, especially Ron.
She fought against the impulse and sighed.
"I can see part of where you're coming from, Ron. What happened played
upon your experiences, and you didn't want history to repeat itself.
But how you acted, what you did to Harry..." she shook her head and
left,
ignoring their pleas.
~*~*~*~
Harry saw Ginny leave the table. "So now
what do
we do, Ginny?"
"With any luck, they'll avoid going down in the
history
books as Weasley the Wanker
and Hermione the Hormonal."
Harry sniggered a little in spite of himself. Turning back to Neville,
he said,
"I'll see you back up in the common room; I just want to make sure I
have
my work together for tomorrow. Can't let Snape
squash
me in Potions, now can we?"
Neville grinned, playing along with the act. As Harry walked down past
some of
his less loyal classmates, they cringed a little; he ignored them.
Whispers
immediately picked up behind him, to which
he replied,
"I can hear you, you know."
From the staff table, the teachers watched disapprovingly. McGonagall
shook her
head; this was going to be a hassle for her, she knew it.
~*~*~*~
Ginny was waiting by the Fat Lady as Harry came up
to her.
"The password is 'Death Before Dishonor,'"
he said.
"Thank you," she said as the Fat Lady swung open. Just then, she
hugged him tightly and kissed him on the lips, a favor which he was
only too
eager to return.
"I missed you," she whispered.
"Me too."
"We'd better make sure Gryffindor tower is okay," Ginny said
with a wink, and with that, they dashed inside.
Harry got out one of his Auror training
books and
with a brilliant idea, he set up the door to his room so that if anyone
tried
breaking in, an alarm would go off. He had a feeling that someone would
try to
do something to him, like rig his door to go off,
he
would at least be protected. Plus, since the traitors in all the Houses
but Slytherin hadn't been rooted out yet,
it was generally a
smart idea anyway.
As he went back downstairs, he saw Ron and Hermione in a corner
together. Taking
a deep breath, he walked up to them and said, "Hi guys. Sorry I haven't
been in contact with you guys this past week; Dumbledore had me in a
location
which I couldn't contact you from."
Both of them smiled weakly, and Harry could tell they were feeling
guilty over
when they thought that he might have betrayed them.
Pretending not to know anything, Harry looked between them and asked, “Is something wrong?”
Both of them looked at each other as Harry knew they felt guilty over what happened.
Inside, Harry was wondering what to say and do. On one hand, they made a mistake, and they wouldn’t have acted like this if they hadn’t felt sorry over it; on the other hand, they had made a mountain out of a mole hill, and some things just couldn’t be fixed, including this.
“Well, Harry,” Ron said slowly, his eyes darting back between his two friends, “Percy stole that research from Voldemort’s base-” here he flinched a little while using the Dark wizard’s name “-and we thought – well, I mean, Percy, as thickheaded as he can be sometimes, would never lie or make stuff up – I mean...”
“Some BS information which incriminated me and was designed to have you all turn against me?” Harry asked flatly, dropping the ignorance act and getting the attention of everyone else in the common room.
Both Ron and Hermione winced and reddened. Harry just sat there, unable to believe he had to deal with this.
“Why did you do that?” Harry asked quietly in a serious tone. “Just believing some lies, even briefly, was one thing, but why did you have to tell everyone else the same thing?”
Ron looked as though he wished the floor would swallow him alive. Groaning as he put his face in his hands, he told Harry why they believed it.
“Harry,” he said slowly, “Just please hear me out.”
“I’m listening,” Harry said coolly.
Collecting his thoughts, Ron launched into why his family even believed that at all. “When Mum was still in school, she was friends with her cousins, Gideon and Fabian Prewett. You’ve heard of them, right? The brothers who fought to the death against five Death Eaters? Well anyway, their sister Mafalda was a Slytherin, and at the time during the First War, the Slytherins were losing more and more popularity among everyone else. Mum thought Mafalda was alright in Slytherin, and the two of them got along well even though she wasn’t too fond of Mafalda’s fellow Slytherins. Mafalda acted pretty normal... that is, right up until she betrayed Gideon and Fabian... her own brothers.”
Harry was rendered speechless by the end of that. Finding his voice, he asked, “And that ties into this situation how?”
“Mum wanted to prevent something like that from happening again,”
Ron
elaborated. “Percy bought home all this information from Voldemort’s
base, all of which suggested that you would end up joining him, one way
or
another. Mum thought she was doing the right thing, especially when she
remembered what happened with Mafalda. And
she
figured... well, if family was no guarantee of loyalty...” (1)
“I see,” Harry said with a half-growl. “So not only did you go ahead with it, but you also owled half the school, not to mention the Daily Prophet, and now you’ve caused this whole big mess.”
Ron seemed stung, not only with guilt, but also with Harry’s calm attitude. Even later, it would still boggle the redhead as to how Harry’s calm attitude had caused more damage than his temper could have done. Behind Ron, Harry could see Hermione, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati all shooting remorseful looks at him.
Getting up, Harry said, “I’m gonna go to bed. I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”
Some younger Gryffindors hissed at Harry, thinking that he was indeed a traitor. As Harry went towards the staircase, Ron asked, “Harry, we found out you had a separate room. Why’d Dumbledore give you that?”
“Because there are still people in Hogwarts who want me dead, and if they want to attack me in the middle of the night, I don’t want to put anyone else at risk,” Harry explained wearily. “Likewise, Dumbledore thinks that Neville could be a target, so he’ll also be rooming with me for who knows how long.”
With that, Harry got up and walked upstairs, ignoring the hissing from the less faithful Gryffindors.
~*~*~*~
The moment he was back in his room, his calm air
was
immediately dropped. Punching his pillow, he cursed all those faithless
people.
They all talk about Gryffindor heroism and nobility, and yet the moment
war
hits home, they abandon him at the drop of a hat.
Neville walked in a few moments later. "Well, don't worry, Harry, I'll
stick by you. Gran knows I'm doing the
right
thing."
"Thanks, Neville. Speaking of which, you think she believes me?"
"Of course she does, Harry," he reassured him.
"OK, good. By the way, Neville? I rigged
the door
so any intruders can't get in and it makes a sound when someone tries
doing
something to it."
"Why'd you do that?"
"Take a guess."
"Oh, good point. Anyway, good night, Harry."
"Good night, Neville."
With that, he soon drifted off to sleep.
~*~*~*~
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
Harry awoke in the middle of the night to the alarm. Realizing the
problem, he
grabbed his wand from the bedside table and pointed it at the door.
With a wave
of his wand, he turned off the alarm.
"Lumos," he muttered. The light from
his wand tip revealed three figures stuck in chains, which had sprung
out of
the floor as a defense. It was Ron, Dean and Seamus, who looked
surprised.
"Bloody Hell!" Ron swore. "What is
this?"
Suddenly, another voice came from downstairs. "What is that infernal
sound
in the middle of the night?"
There were footsteps, and McGonagall appeared in her tartan dress,
looking
shocked. "Mr. Potter, care to explain?"
"Of course, Professor McGonagall," Harry said humbly, undoing the
restraints. "It seems that some Gryffindors
have
swallowed these lies about me going Dark. I had a shrewd feeling that
some
miscreants would try to do something to my door or my room in the
middle of the
night. So, using my Auror handbook, I put
defenses on
the door. I figured it would be good practice for being an Auror
anyway. Sorry about the disruption, though; maybe I made the alarm too
loud."
McGonagall nodded, saying, "I see. Speaking of which, I think you did a
good job on the alarm. From a purely professional standpoint, that is."
Turning to his classmates and undoing the chains, Harry asked, “Why
were
you trying to get into this room in the middle of the night?”
“We thought we heard something sneaking up the stairs and muttering your name,” Ron told Harry right to his face, without the slightest trace of deceit. “We came up to try and stop whoever it was. After we didn’t find anything, we wanted to warn you about it, just so you’d know.”
After using Legiliemency, Harry could
tell that
Ron wasn’t lying. Opting for the better part of valor, Harry said, “I
understand, Ron, and sorry about the trap.”
McGonagall observed all this and then added, "Anyway, I suggest you all
go
back to bed."
"We'll try," Neville said from his corner of the room. Harry realized
that he was still in the room, and for a short time, thought that
Neville had
slept through the whole thing.
Ron, Dean, and Seamus apologized again and left, while Harry bade them
goodnight.
Harry took out some writing materials, Harry wrote out a note to put on
the
door. It read: "This door is protected by an alarm and defensive
measures during the night, so GO AWAY! Sincerely, Harry Potter."
After putting that on the door, Harry wrote out another note, and went
downstairs, where he found most of the Gryffindor common room huddled
together,
wondering what the problem was. It was silent as Harry appeared in
sight, and
ignoring their glares, he went through the crowd and up to the bulletin
board.
After pinning it up, he went back upstairs without a word.
The crowd started talking again as those closest looked at the notice. "To
the occupants of Gryffindor House, Due to your abominable attitude some
of you
currently hold towards me, I have taken defensive measures on my dorm
room
which will be active throughout the night. An alarm will go off, and
chains
will restrain any trespassers. I have the right to defend myself
against you
hypocrites who call me evil and then try to attack me in the middle of
the
night. If these problems continue, I might have to make the alarms more
powerful until I get the point across, so you might want to stop, since
we all
need our sleep. Sincerely, Harry Potter.
P.S. I won't
tolerate your crap, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED."
McGonagall was still waiting in the dorm room, and Harry said, "The
only
reason I'm not going to do anything to them is because that will cause
problems. Anything I do will be purely defensive, I assure you."
She nodded sternly. "I know you don't like to endanger other people.
Good
night, Mr. Potter." With that, she was gone in a swish of tartan.
After renewing the wards on the door, Harry turned out the lights and
went back
to sleep. He wanted his energy for tomorrow in Potions.
~*~*~*~
Surprisingly, Harry got all the rest he had needed
for the
new day. He had supposed that due to his constant nightmares, he was
used to
lack of sleep.
Some students leered at him as he walked in, but he ignored them all
has he
looked for a place at the Gryffindor table where he could sit down.
"Harry?" he heard a voice from behind him. It was Cho.
"Can we talk?"
"Sure," he said, "Come with me." As they left the hall,
Harry heard the hisses behind him.
Cho shook her head as Harry led her down to
the
kitchens. "I can't believe them. Once again, they'll do anything as
long
as they think they're right."
"Unfortunately," Harry said simply. "I was told that Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw
Houses
are divided on the issue."
"Unfortunately, yes. Michael's been rabble-rousing." She then said
with a smirk, "He forced me to break up with him again."
"Ouch," he commented dryly. "Was he trying to apply the Ravenclaw logic to find a way to get rid of me?"
Her smirk faded as she added, "You remember that day on the train last
year? Where
For some reason, he didn't know if he wanted to talk about that. "Yeah, why?"
Cho sighed and shook her head. "I couldn't
leave
it like that with both of us letting our emotions rule us like that.
Leaving a
problem like that is like purposely not completing problems for
homework, or
something like that."
"So, like me, you wanted to solve a problem and not leave this open gap
between us."
"Exactly." Looking him straight in the eye,
she continued, "Most people from other Houses have this image in their
heads of Ravenclaws as some cold,
unfeeling
calculating machines, who constantly grind out answers to equations,
and always
being hooked to some rational theoretical systems. We might like books,
but
that doesn't mean we only believe in them."
"Why, what else do you believe in?"
"That the workings of the universe and the relationships between people
just can't be logically doled out like a mathematical equation. It's
beyond
words or human understanding. Emotion rules where logic fails."
"You know, Cho," Harry said, smiling,
"You're also something of a spiritual person."
"Thanks, I suppose."
Harry tickled the pear, and after letting Cho
enter
first, he called for Dobby. Their topic became more light-hearted,
after Cho told him that she had gotten
offers to be a reserve
player from half the teams in the British league, due to her victory
over him.
Harry said, that in a strange kind of way,
he had
helped with that too, by losing. Cho
laughed at that
and told him to eat his scrambled eggs before they got cold.
~*~*~*~
There were murmurs as Harry reached his Potions
class, which
now lacked Theodore Nott, who had transferred to Durmstrang.
A quick consensus showed that the class didn't believe any of that
nonsense.
Sure enough, the door soon opened to reveal Snape.
"Well, come in, we certainly don't have all day." As everyone
entered, Harry chose a seat next to Hermione, who still looked
apologetic from
the previous night.
"Today, we will be working on a Bone Regrowth
Potion. It is essential that you are careful with the calcium which
needs to be
added, or the drinker's bones will become too heavy, and the results
will
become catastrophic, to say the least. Directions are on the board and
the
ingredients are in the back. Begin."
Fires started and steam rose as people got to work. Harry made a great
pair
with Hermione as the two of them worked together.
Towards the end, there was a knock on the door. “Come in,” Snape
called.
It was Judy Arnold, walking in with a potions sample in her vial.
“I’m sure
to deliver the potion sample I made, Professor,” she told Snape.
Snape nodded and then called each of the
students in
class forth to hand back essays and discuss for a few moments what they
had
done well in and what they could use improvement on. As Harry walked up
to Snape's desk after being called,
Harry yelled with pain as acidic green steam jumped up and ugly brown
and black
boils sprung up on his robes and his legs. Hermione and Blaise
quickly rushed forward to help him up while he moaned in pain.
"Idiot girl!" Snape
yelled, rushing over while pulling an antidote from his robes and
handing it to
Harry. Harry muttered thanks while guzzling it down. A few moments
later, the
pain and boils in his legs stopped and Harry was back on his feet,
while Snape using Scourging and Repairing
Charms on Harry's
robes.
"You should watch where you're going, Potter,"
"Thirty points from Gryffindor and detention for a week for
deliberately
sabotaging your own potion and using it to injure a fellow student and
lying
about it,
"Thanks for the antidote, Professor," Harry said, putting his
cauldron away.
"I couldn't let the dunderheads injure their fellow dunderheads,
Potter;
the Headmaster would hardly appreciate it," Snape
sneered, putting on his act and causing Hermione to scowl even more.
"By
the way, your essay is still on my desk, awaiting your collection.
Believe it
or not, Mr. Potter, you actually got the highest grade in this class;
your
speculations about other ingredients to shorten the brewing process
were
interesting."
The class gasped again, and Hermione looked momentarily surprised, and
then
gave him a small smile. Harry smiled back at her; he could tell how she
was
trying to show some humility to apologize for her temporary lack of
faith in
him. "Thanks again, Professor," Harry said, washing his hands off
before Summoning his essay and putting it away.
Snape changed the subject to the homework
for the
next class, which Harry wrote down. After everyone left, Snape
said, "Potter, a word, please."
Harry backtracked his steps and went back to Snape's
desk, which he was sitting down behind. After placing Silencing Charms
on the
room, Snape asked, "Are there any problems
between you and your Housemates?"
"Of course there are," Harry sighed. "I'm sorry; you have more
important things to worry about than my social problems."
"It's a concern of mine because, not only am I your guardian and
professor, but because I can't tolerate such incidents in my classroom."
"I'll just ignore them, but thanks for helping."
“You can always come to my office if you have any problems,” Snape added, just to make sure.
"Of course, sir," Harry said neutrally. "By
the way, anything else still working with the Command of Osiris?"
"Almost done," Snape said casually.
"Unfortunately, Bill Weasley's... incapacitation
has become a problem. I'm sure I will be able to ask the right people,
however."
"Oh, okay. Good-bye." With that, Harry left. Once outside, he had a
sudden
idea. Revenge on
~*~*~*~
The first thing Harry did was return to his
dormitory and to
get his things out of his trunk. Going into the workroom, he got a
small bottle
of Shrinking Solution. Next, he took out some writing materials and
purposely
wrote a note left-handed in order to make his handwriting sloppy and
unidentifiable. Smiling evilly, he then went down to the kitchens.
"Dobby!" he called.
"Hello, Harry Potter sir!" Dobby exclaimed.
"Hello, Dobby. I have a favor to ask. Will you do a certain job for me
if
I personally buy you five pairs of socks to mismatch properly?"
Dobby looked absolutely ecstatic. "Of course, Harry Potter sir, just
name
it!"
"Tell me, Dobby, do you have any Double Espresso?"
~*~*~*~
Harry spent his free period reading in the Great
Hall. There
were some glares at him as fellow Gryffindors
came
in, but he pretended to be oblivious to them. A few minutes later, the
food
appeared on the plates, and there was a surprised sound coming from
that
"Ooh, look at this note! 'To Judy Arnold, I
have
considered your views about that nasty Harry Potter going evil, and
will try to
talk to the other house-elves. In order to show my thanks for your
concern,
please try this special hot chocolate I have a knack for making. From, Dobby.'"
Both Ron and Hermione looked at the note, confused. Hermione read it
over, then confirmed, “That’s definitely Dobby’s
handwriting, but he practically worships Harry...”
From his seat, Harry could see Ron scrutinizing the note. "It looks
like
an eight-year old wrote it," he said flatly.
Harry kept his grin to himself. 'And an eight year old you shall be,
Judy Arnold had shorted by a few feet and was now a cheerfully- smiling
eight-year-old with large front teeth (not too much unlike the kind
Hermione
used to have), and her clothes trailing absurdly behind her. "Hi, my
name's Judy Arnold, what's yours?"
A few people started laughing, and people started gossiping as to what
happened. In the meantime,
Harry glanced over to the teachers, who were observing the spectacle
with
varied glances. Dumbledore had that classic twinkle in his eyes while
looking
the part of a concerned school teacher; McGonagall kept her face
pinched and
hard, but Harry could tell she wanted to laugh; and Snape
had a smirk on his face, and was looking as though he wanted to say
some witty
yet crushing comment.
Lupin was the only one looking directly at
Harry. His
slightly smiling expression said, "You did this, didn't you?"
Harry rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "I dunno."
"I think, Severus," Dumbledore said,
turning
to his Potions Master, "That a Shrinking Solution accidentally found
its
way into her drink; however, I highly doubt it was an act of
terror,
since it seems to be either an accident or a harmless prank." Harry hid
his grin from behind his book, but considering how Dumbledore was such
a good
guesser, he wouldn't have been surprised if his mentor knew who did it.
"Why don't you lead her down to your wonderful dungeons so you can
restore
her?"
Snape's facial expression was at a
crossroads between
"Why me?" and "This should be amusing." In
the end, he decided not to argue with his employer. Juvenile Judy
Arnold’s
attention had locked onto Dumbledore, and was now rambling at him.
("How
old are you, your robes are funny, did you know your nose is broken...")
Ignoring the laughs and Dumbledore's sudden blush, Snape
got up, walked over to her, and said, "Follow me." Of course,
By now, the entire Great Hall was laughing and sniggering, and Luna
even got up
and shouted, "Look! It's Judy the Jumpy!" Dumbledore was actually
laughing loud enough now to wake up a deaf person ("The black monolith,
oh
that's rich..."). (2)
Suddenly, Zacharias Smith got up from his
seat at the
Hufflepuff table and shouted, "Potter!
You're
responsible for that, aren't you?"
The whole hall quieted down while Harry looked up for the first time.
"She
shrank by half her present age? I just thought she was acting more
hyper than
usual."
There were sniggers while Smith shot back, "Bull! You did it, didn't
you?"
Harry sighed, putting on a very convincing act. "Give it up, Smith, you're fighting a losing battle there."
Shutting
his book, he got up and left.
On the way out, he saw
He then met Snape coming out of his
office. "I
know it was you, Potter. What did you put in her drink anyway, Double
Espresso?"
Harry smiled evilly. "As a matter of fact, I did."
For some reason, Snape found that smile
rather
disconcerting. It was like James Potter's face just before you walked
under
something smelly.
"Anyway, Potter, I have work to do, so if
you
don't mind, I need to get ready for my next class." With that, he
glided
off, but Harry could see the lingering smirk on his face.
When Harry got to his classroom, Dumbledore was already waiting there
for him.
"Hello, Harry," he said in a neutral tone. "There is something I
would like to talk to you about. As you know, there were attempts to do
things
to the Hogwarts food that could have escalated into actual food
poisoning if
things had gotten too far. You might want to take such things into
consideration,
lest people start trying to gather evidence against you."
Harry felt a tiny jolt. Whoops, that prank may not have been the best
thing to
do.
"I understand, sir," Harry said slowly.
"On the other hand," Dumbledore smiled, "I haven't laughed that
hard in ages. Anyway, I must arrange my sock collection, so have a good
day,
Harry."
"Likewise, Professor," Harry said. "Wait, I just remembered
something. Maybe you should place the prophecy under the Fidelius
Charm or something; I can't exactly trust Ron or Hermione at the
moment."
"An excellent point, Harry. Well, good day."
And with that, Dumbledore left for his own office.
As the first year Slytherins came in,
Harry got down
to work. They all were ready to get started on the new topic: How to
defend oneself
against the common ghoul.
~*~*~*~
Harry's week passed with various students from all
over
Hogwarts making snide comments about him. It disgusted Harry how they
simply
threw aside his good deeds and acts and treated him as though he had
been evil
all his life.
"Hey Potter, going to meet with your Death Eater buddies?"
"Bet you ten to one he has the Dark Mark on his arm."
"His parents must be rolling in their graves."
The whole time, Harry wanted to yell at them to shut up.
Instead, he
ignored them.
Of course, the professors were not happy at all with the attitudes of
approximately half the student body. During Tuesday's Transfiguration
lesson,
McGonagall became furious with Smith for transfiguring Harry's hair
into snakes
behind his back, making Harry look like some sort of male gorgon. After
restoring Harry's hair back to normal, she told Smith off for doing
such a
dangerous thing to Harry which could have led to major problems.
"Tell me, Mr. Smith, do you remember what I said in your first ever
Transfiguration class?" she asked smoothly. "Anyone who
messes around will leave and not come back."
There was dead silence as Smith went pale. "Get out, Mr. Smith," she
said in a dangerous tone. "Wait in my office, and we will discuss
whether
or not you can safely continue to study in this class. Oh,
and twenty points from Hufflepuff."
Smith glowered and was about to say something crushing to Harry when
McGonagall
headed this potential disaster off by butting in, "Don't give that
look,
Mr. Smith; he didn't make you do that."
Smith packed up his things and left, but after shooting one last glare
at
Harry, who glared in return.
McGonagall changed the subject by saying, "Anyway, as for your final
essay
on Transfiguration, they are all graded." With a wave of her wand, they
all went flying back to their owners. Harry wouldn't forget this essay
any time
soon; it was three rolls of parchment!
Harry looked at his paper. He got a 101.
Wait a minute. A 101?
"Er, professor," Hermione said tentatively,
"My paper only got a 99."
"You missed a couple of points, Miss Granger, sorry to say,"
McGonagall said in a neutral tone. "Speaking of changes in grades..."
She walked over to Harry's desk and said, "Mr. Potter, you appear to be
confused."
"Er, well, yes I am, Professor," he said,
unsure. "How'd I get a 101?"
"Well," McGonagall said slowly, "For one thing, you added a
whole other roll of parchment, and for another thing, you went very
deep into
theories that not many witches and wizards know about. In fact, very
little
books in my own library have that kind of information."
There was silence as Harry flipped through his essay. "Hm,
I guess I lost track," he finally concluded. "But I got more than a
100 on a homework assignment for your class, so I can't complain."
McGonagall gave a tiny smile normally reserved for Hermione. "Excellent
thinking, Mr. Potter. Anyway..." and as she gave out the next
homework assignment to the class, Hermione looked at him again, her
facial
expression asking “How did you manage to outdo me again?” Harry
merely
shrugged; he couldn’t help it if he did well.
At the end of class, McGonagall called Harry to her desk. "They're
causing
problems, Potter?"
Harry shrugged it off. "No reason to worry about me. I don't want
people
to constantly hover around me and worry when they have their own things
to
worry about. To be honest, I really don't like people constantly
fawning over
me, that or shunning me."
McGonagall could see something sad in his eyes. Her student may not
have
noticed, but sometimes she felt this irresistible urge to mother him.
Did
Potter honestly have no idea how much he tugged at her heartstrings?
Then again, McGonagall could see Harry Potter's reasoning. His life
seems to be
like a coin constantly being flipped, either landing on one side or the
other,
between the attention and the rejection.
"Anyway, Professor McGonagall," he said, "You kinda
backed me up already this year, so you don't need to
keep doing that. Not to put you out of a job or anything, but I'm sure
I'll manage
on my own."
With that, he left, and she did not call him back.
~*~*~*~
"This is becoming a problem," McGonagall said
later in the staff room before dinner. "Two days in a row, one of the
students or another, has been doing something to try and harm Mr.
Potter."
The whole staff room heard her words. Snape
merely
said, "You have my undying sympathy, Minerva."
Lupin looked angry once again. "The
absolute
nerve of them; ooh, when this is over, I will flunk all of them, I
swear...
This Friday's lesson is going to be a problem, I can see it now..."
Ever
since his tirade at Dumbledore the previous summer, he had become a lot
better
at expressing and venting his anger.
"The next class they have together is CoMC
tomorrow," McGonagall continued. Turning to Hagrid,
she said, "Rubeus, you'll keep an eye out
tomorrow, right?"
Hagrid nodded. "Of course, I will, Minerva.
Special bond, between Harry and me."
McGonagall nodded and smiled slightly when they heard something outside.
"Hey, Potter!" Michael Corner's voice called. The staff made to take
a look, but Snape held his arm out,
saying,
"Let's see how this plays out."
There was a sigh. "What now, Corner?"
"Don't think this is the end you'll hear from me, Potter," he
snarled. "I have an uncle who’s important in the Ministry, leader or
not;
he'll make sure I stay here at Hogwarts. -"
"'Your uncle?'" Harry asked
incredulously. "Listen to yourself! You're turning into everything you
hated about Draco Malfoy,
and you accuse me of going evil? I don't think so, you
hypocrite."
“One way or another, I’ll make sure you never live to see your own
graduation,
Potter!" Corner spat.
"Oh, Cor-ner," he said in a singsong voice.
"What?"
"Maybe you shouldn’t threaten me with murder right outside the
teachers'
lounge," Harry said pointedly. "That would definitely be a surefire
way to lose them."
Corner yelped an expletive, and his quickened footsteps faded into the
distance, and half the staff was smiling at the scene.
There was a knock on the door, and Harry walked in. "I don't know
whether
to be angry or amused," he commented. "You heard that, right?"
McGonagall said, "Yes, Potter, of course I did."
"Oh, okay. 'Bye."
~*~*~*~
The next day, Harry stood around a mix of various
students
from all Houses as if protecting him from Smith and Corner, who both
shot
glares at him. In the meantime, he allowed Blaise
to
introduce him to Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass.
Daphne, of course, was a very talented flyer, and it seemed that Tracey
was a
very talented artist, probably good enough to rival Dean Thomas.
"Hey Scarhead!"
Judy Arnold called from nearby while walking with her classmates to Herbology. "Plotting to kill Lupin
so you can take over the defense job?" Smith and Corner laughed along
with
this.
"JUDY ARNOLD, SHUT YOUR FAT MOUTH!" Hagrid's
voice boomed from inside the cabin, just as he was coming out. "That's
the
worst thing I've ever heard you say about Harry or Professor Lupin! You apologize to Harry right now!"
"But Hagrid, you know what a monster he's
become-"
"I won't have any of it!" Hagrid argued.
"Now get going to your Herbology class
before I
give you detention!"
"You know, Arnold," Blaise spoke up, "Hagrid has put up for the past three years with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle ruining his classes; just because they're
gone, that
doesn't mean that you, Smith and Corner have to act as their
replacements!"
Harry shook his head as he and the other “Hrry-supporters”
laughed; Blaise had a way with words and
often came
up with clever arguments that could leave the victim's head spinning. Hagrid tried to hide his enormous grin behind
his oversized
hands as
"Anyway," Hagrid continued (although the
mirth was still ringing in his voice), "Today's lesson: Phoenixes."
With a whistle, Fawkes appeared.
"As most of you might know, phoenixes are immortal birds. Fawkes here belongs to the Headmaster-" and Fawkes sang proudly at this "-and they can root
out
liars and they trust people more and more. The only ones who phoenixes
completely trust are those of very high and noble character."
Almost as if on cue, Fawkes leaped forward
onto
Harry's shoulder and sang happily.
"What are you doing, Fawkes?" Corner
demanded. "He's evil! Get away from him! Bad bird!"
Fawkes hissed at Corner, which sounded as
though he
was trying to cough something up. "Careful, Corner," Harry said.
"My wand core comes from Fawkes, who's
saved my
life more than once, and Ardeavis is my
friend. I
have friends in very high places, you've been warned."
Hagrid growled at the now-unfriendly Ravenclaw, "I'm warning you, Corner, one more
word,
and you'll be sitting in McGonagall's office again."
Corner reluctantly stopped talking. The rest of the lesson went
smoothly as Fawkes showed off some of his
powers. Hagrid
assigned half a roll of parchment for homework.
As Fawkes disappeared in a flash of
flames, Hagrid waited behind for a moment
to talk to Harry.
"Don't listen to them, Harry," he said quietly. "I know evil,
and I know you're not it."
"I know," Harry sighed, "I know."
~*~*~*~
If it weren't for his friends (including Ron and Hermione especially), Harry might have done something irrational because of the other students’ behavior. Harry had slowly reconciled with his best friends regarding their lapse of faith in him, but soon enough, things were pretty much back to normal.
Harry also discovered Hermione’s reasons for doubting him at all:
She wanted
to believe that Percy was correct, and not cruelly reject him like
other people
had done to him in the past. For another thing, she tended to believe
written
evidence, and was also concerned for the safety of her own family. It
took a
little while, but Harry was eventually able to trust her again.
Mercifully, Charms passed without incident on Thursday. On Friday,
however,
Corner made the major mistake of whispering something truly nasty to
Harry
behind his back. This was a mistake, because Lupin
picked it up with his extra-sensitive werewolf hearing. Corner looked
about
ready to have a stroke after being handed another detention, but Harry
tried to
ignore it the best he could.
Judy Arnold, however, had a back-up plan. Fred and George may not have
said
anything bad about Harry (as that would cause their sales to
undoubtedly take a
dip), but they were masters at coming up with new plans in the dark.
"Oh, Dennis,"
If Ginny had been sitting close enough, she would have heard about the
plot.
Unfortunately, she was back up in
~*~*~*~
It was just before the last period of the day
(third year Slytherins and Gryffindors) that
Harry realized how much of a problem it could be. Carefully going over
every
detail of his classroom, he made sure nothing could go wrong.
The class was one student short, since Pritchard Graham had left. All
of the Gryffindors were watching him in a
way he didn't trust, but
Harry gave them in return one of those piercing looks, designed to
intimidate.
Today, they would be learning about basilisks. Malcolm Baddock
brought up the fact that Harry had killed the one in the Chamber of
Secrets.
"You're right, Malcolm, I did," Harry said, "I just didn't want
to bring that up."
"Well, my question is," Malcolm stated, "Since you're a Parselmouth and you could understand the
monster, why
didn't you try communicating to it?"
Harry thought about this and said, "I suppose that in hindsight, it
might
have been an interesting idea, except I was too busy trying to survive.
Besides, it was listening to Voldemort, so
I doubted
it would have wanted to obey me."
Five minutes before class ended, Harry heard something in the back of
the room.
Raising his hand, he said, "Quiet!" After everyone was silent, he
continued, "No one make a move. Not even a sound. If this is my day, I
just might be able to bag Peter Pettigrew and toss him in prison once
and for
all. Stay still."
He transformed into a lion and prowled towards the back of the class.
Whatever
it was, it was hiding under a table, in a dark corner. As he heard
small
movements, he caught the gray, furry thing (whatever it was) as it
tried to
escape.
No sooner than he made physical contact with it than did he feel
a huge electrostatic shock run through his body. He gave a high-pitched
yowl
that made everyone jump ("Rarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!");
he couldn't even move because he was paralyzed from the shock. Harry
could even
feel his lion fur sticking on end. A few moments later, it stopped, and
feeling
dizzy, he slumped to the ground, unconscious.
~*~*~*~
Dennis laughed with his fellow Gryffindors
when the Electrifying Rat stopped giving off electricity. A lion-Harry
with his
lion coat sticking out like an explosion of black and gold fur with his
eyes
rolling around in his sockets was certainly a hilarious sight to behold.
Just then, Malcolm leapt out of his seat and rushed over to Harry.
After
running his hand over Harry's giant, furry body, he said, "Omigod, he's not breathing and I can't feel a
pulse..." Turning to Dennis, he shouted, "What did you do to
him!?"
The Gryffindors suddenly went pale; they
could get in
trouble for this.
“But,” Dennis spluttered, “it shouldn’t have knocked him out... it
should
have only given him a jolt to surprise him...”
Malcolm raised his wand and started the incantation when a Slytherin
girl stopped him. "Wait, that's an advanced spell, something might go
wrong... I'll get help," she said quickly, rushing out of the room.
Malcolm, in the meantime, was trying to awaken Harry, but carefully,
since
Harry might accidentally hurt someone if he woke up abruptly. One Slytherin girl even started crying, worried that
something
might happen. The next time Malcolm made to touch Harry, he quickly
withdrew
his hand as leftover static energy zapped him.
The girl, on the other hand, had returned with Lupin,
who stopped dead in his tracks. After Malcolm told him what happened, Lupin observed the prank that had lay there,
forgotten. His
facial features quickly contorted into anger upon reading the label.
"Electrifying Rat, copyright of Weasleys'
Wizard
Wheezes, eleven sickles!?" he exclaimed disbelievingly. "And what's
this dial here...?" He screamed with anger as he realized that it was
an
amount of electricity that could have killed Harry if he were still a
human.
"WHO DID THIS!?" he bellowed, looking for a culprit, his eyes
scanning the room. His eyes suddenly stopped on Dennis Creevey's
book bag, which was still half-open. Thrusting his hand into it, he
pulled out
an entire bag of the newly developed pranks, showing the entire class.
"Mr. Creevey," he growled, towering over
the now-frightened third year Gryffindor, "You are in so much trouble,
I-"
"What's the cause for all the commotion, Remus?"
came a female Scottish voice from the door way; it was McGonagall. Lupin quickly explained the situation to his
former
professor, with details from Malcolm Baddock.
By the
end of it, McGonagall's lips were incredibly thin and a vein or two was
pulsing
in her neck.
"Mr. Creevey come
with
me," she said, grabbing him by the wrist and marching him out. Lupin conjured Harry's limp, unconscious form
onto a
stretcher and brought him down to the hospital wing. Just before he
left,
Malcolm tapped him on the arm and gave him the used Electrifying Rat
("For
evidence," he explained).
"Thank you, Mr. Baddock," Lupin said, "And twenty points each to you and
the
girl who got me." And with that, he got Harry down to the hospital
wing,
forcing his way through the hallways, jammed with students trying to
see what
the commotion was.
~*~*~*~
Harry was in a strange environment that he
couldn't even
describe. Suddenly, there was a voice from behind him.
"Now's not the time for a cat nap," it joked. It was Sirius, grinning
deviously. "Believe me, those brats, they have got to pay.
Normally, I'm supposed to point you in the right direction, but since
you have
the right to defend yourself here, let me give you some advice: Give
them hell,
kid."
There was a strange vibration at that point, and Sirius winked as he
vanished.
Harry was stirring, the light blinding him. His claws, legs and tail
thrashed,
and a voice said, "Easy, Mr. Potter, you're fine now."
It was Madam Pomfrey. Harry purred with
content he
rubbed up against her. She laughed a little (which was very uncommon in
itself), and scratched him behind the ears.
He was lying on a hospital bed, and he decided to transform back before
he
accidentally ripped the bed or something. "Thanks again, Madam Pomfrey; you're a lifesaver."
She blushed with pride as Lupin came up,
looking
relieved. "Oh, you're alright, that's great Harry." Suddenly lowering
his voice and frowning, he said, "Dennis Creevey
was fooling around with a new prank from the twins, which he claims he
got from
Ron."
Before Harry could say anything else, McGonagall entered the ward and
made a
beeline for them. "There's a new problem, Remus;
Samantha claims that Mr. Colin Creevey,
who said he
had to go to the bathroom, was waiting outside and took a picture of
the
prank."
“What!?” Harry exclaimed, leaping
right of his
bed. Madame Pomfrey tsked
while McGonagall muttered something darkly about a House meeting and
left the
ward just as quickly as she came.
"Harry," Lupin said seriously, "You
went into cardiac arrest. Are you okay?"
"I'm fine now," Harry said, getting angrier by the second.
"Malcolm Baddock helped, by the way," Lupin added.
Getting up, Harry said, "Professor Lupin,
please
tell him I say thanks, tell all my students that I want half a roll on
basilisks due next week, and tell Dennis Creevey
that
he has to write, 'I must not electrocute my professor' two hundred
times for
detention."
Lupin smiled a little. "Funny,
Harry, funny."
As Lupin left, Dumbledore entered the
ward. "It
seems this is becoming a problem, Harry, with your Housemates'
behavior.
Thinking like that may be one thing, but acting like that is something
else
altogether."
Harry had an unhappy look on his face while Madam Pomfrey
checked his pulse from his wrist. Just then, however, Ron and Hermione
walked
in. As Madam Pomfrey went off to attend to
another
student, Hermione hugged him, apologizing and sympathizing profusely
until Ron
persuaded her to let go of Harry.
“Harry,” Ron said, “I hope you’re alright. I don’t understand about that Electrocuting Rat, though; it wasn’t supposed to give off that much energy...”
“Someone will figure it out later, I hope,” Harry said flatly.
“Listen, Harry, can I give you a bit of wisdom I heard from Bill once?” Ron asked. “Something he said helped him through his time as Head Boy.”
Harry raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?”
“Illegitimi non carborundum,” Ron said with a bit of a flourish.
Both Harry and Hermione looked at their friend blankly while Dumbledore’s eyes twinkled. As Dumbledore got up and walked away, laughing quietly, Ron gave the translation to the Latin.
“It means, ‘Don’t let the bastards grind you down,’” Ron whispered so none of the staff members nearby could hear.
“Ron!” Hermione whispered while giggling.
In the meantime, Harry laughed for the first time that week.
“Good one, Ron,” he chuckled. “I’ll have to tell that one to Voldemort the next time I see him.”
(End of Chapter 34.)
A/N: Yay, they’re still friends!
(1) It makes sense, right?
(2) I’m sorry, but no way in hell
was I going to get rid of this!