Disclaimer: All belongs to JK Rowling
A/N: I thought I'd try something interesting and
different from the usual. I really REALLY hope you guys like it, and if you do,
I promise there'll be more coming soon. But you HAVE to review!
It started out as just
another day for the famous fifteen- year old wizard Harry Potter. It was a week
after the start of school, and surprisingly, all was normal. There had been no
attacks or any news from Voldemort, and Harry had spent the last month of the
summer with his best friend Ron Weasley's family. Now, he, Ron, and their best
friend Hermione Granger walked along with the other Gryffindor fifth years to
their Potions lesson with the Slytherins in the Slytherin dungeons.
All the Gryffindors despised both
Professor Snape, the potions master, and the Slytherins themselves. It was no
match, however, for how much Snape loathed Harry, and how much he had hated
Harry's father when he had been alive and attending Hogwarts School of
Witchcraft and Wizardry. Snape was head of Slytherin house, and he took
pleasure in taking points away from Gryffindors and humiliating them while the
Slytherins laughed.
The
rivalry between Gryffindor and Slytherin was now at it's climax and it was
growing impossible. Even Harry, Ron, and Hermione now hated their enemy Draco
Malfoy and his two cronies Crabbe and Goyle, more than ever, when it had seemed
impossible to hate them more than they had used to. Harry especially detested
them, as he had seen their fathers along with Voldemort's supporters.
Now Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered
the dungeon and sat on a table with Neville Longbottom, Lavender Brown, and
Parvati Patil, all Gryffindor friends of theirs. Snape was writing the day's
potion on the board. He turned around and faced the class, fixing
them
all with his twisted smile.
"Today,"
he began softly, "we will be learning the Nastiness Potion. This potion can
make you irritated, angry, brutal, malicious, arrogant, and so on. It will give
you any nasty trait you please."
Harry
leaned over and whispered to Ron, "No wonder he's teaching us this, since he's
an expert on all of the above."
Ron
snickered.
Snape immediately turned his head to
their table. "Of course," he said, his eyes glinting dangerously, " Potter
doesn't need to pay attention to this lesson, for he obviously knows the potion
by heart. After all, how else do you think he's so- nasty everyday?"
The
Slytherins burst into malicious laughter. Harry felt fury burning inside of
him.
"Or
perhaps," continued Snape, "it's inheritance. Potter, you're just as pigheaded
as your father was."
The
Slytherins were beside themselves now. Tears were streaming down their cheeks.
Harry was so furious he was shaking with rage. How DARE he? How DARE he insult his father?
The Gryffindors were all glaring at
Snape now. Then, to everyone's surprise, shy, terrified, Neville Longbottom
spoke up.
"
Harry is not nasty!He is not pigheaded!And neither was his father! His father
was a great man, and you know it. All of us Gryffindors are!"
The
Gryffindors erupted into cheers, perhaps louder than if another student had
said this. After all, Neville was usually the last person to stand up to Snape.
Snape smiled his twisted smile.
"Interesting you should say that, Longbottom", he said calmly.
Harry
felt his muscles tighten. He was the only one who knew that Neville's parents
were insane. If Snape even thought about bringing it up……..
Snape continued, " Considering your
own father, Longbottom, who is, how shall I say this, retarded?"
The
whole class gasped. Neville burst into humiliated tears. As for Harry, he was
livid. He stood up. "How COULD you?" he screamed at Snape. " How could you say
that to the whole class? How can you make fun of Neville's personal LIFE? You
know why Neville's parents are like that? They were defending their community!
They wouldn't agree to help Voldemort's supporters, that's why! Something YOU
would never do!"
Everyone
gasped, louder than before. Then the Gryffindors started cheering again. Snape
was enraged. " Potter, that's it! You have gone way out of line this time!
Fifty points from Gryffindor, and you're to stay and clean up the dungeon after
class! If I hear one more word about this matter, I will make it two hundred
points, and believe me, I'll do it.
* * *
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, stared out
of the window of his study, watching the owl flying towards it. He sighed
inwardly. If that was another owl from another complaining parent, or from
Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, telling him how to run the school, he was
going to really lose it. For the past week, he'd been receiving owls from
parents, asking why he had told the students last year that a student had been
murdered by Voldemort himself. For the past week, he'd been receiving owls from
Fudge, telling him not to breathe a word about anything even close to the
subject of Voldemort, and warning him not to fill any ideas like this in the
students' heads.
He really couldn't take it anymore. He
was known to be a calm person who could handle anything, he had earned the
respect of all who knew him, and he was the only wizard that Voldemort had ever
feared. Yet this week was too much to handle. He had never been so exhausted.
Now he watched the owl finally landing on the window sill. He got up and opened
the window, then untied the note from the owl's leg. The owl flew away, and he
sat down in his chair to read it:
Dear Professor Dumbledore,
I hope you
are well.
It has come
to my attention that you have informed the students that the death of Cedric Diggory was due to You- Know-Who. My
child is terrified, and-
Dumbledore sighed in frustration. He couldn't read
anymore. He crumpled up the paper and through it away. Then he got up, deciding
to take a walk around the castle to calm his nerves.
* * *
Harry ran the sponge over
the dirty table, still seething with
rage. He still couldn't believe what Snape had said to Neville. And now, he was
supposed to have a break before his next class, but instead, he was cleaning up
the dungeon. WITHOUT magic. He moved
over to a dusty shelf. Different bottles of potions were lined up on it. The
last two on the right were marked Polyjuice Potion and Brain Potion.
Harry started scrubbing the shelf. He
was angrier than he had ever been in his life. He wished he wasn't a student.
He wished he didn't have to listen to a word that madman Snape said. In his
anger, he suddenly knocked over the two last potions on the right. There was a
loud crash as they both fell and knocked into each other. Pieces of glass flew
everywhere, and the two liquids inside the potions mixed together. Harry
gasped. He was really in for it now.
* * *
As Dumbledore passed through the
corridors of the school, feeling sorry for himself, he heard a loud crash
coming from the direction of the Slytherin dungeons. He started off to see what
was going on.
* * *
Harry stood, transfixed, at the sight
before his eyes. Now what? The glass bottles were broken, and the two liquids
were spread out on the shelf. Maybe he ought to throw them away. Or should he
fix the bottles by magic? But either way, Snape would notice something missing,
either the liquids or the potions. Thinking quickly, he got rid of all the
pieces of glass. Now there was still the matter of the potions spilled out. His
heart pounding, he grabbed a towel and wiped them away, then wiped his own wet
hands on it.
He really was in trouble. Snape would
notice the missing potions and would know for sure that it had something to do
with Harry. As he remembered Snape, he felt his rage coming back to him. He
wished he could just take revenge on him, just once, and make him miserable.
Suddenly, he heard footsteps coming
his way. Panicking, Harry realized he had no time to wash the towel before
whoever it was arrived. If it was Snape, he'd immediately demand an
explanation. Tossing the towel aside, Harry darted out the door and sprinted
back to join Ron and Hermione as fast as he could.
* * *
As Dumbledore walked towards the
dungeons to investigate the crash, an indistinct figure coming from the
dungeons practically flew past him. He turned around to call him, but he had
already gone. Dumbledore curiously entered the dungeons. Everything looked
quite normal. Then he noticed an off- white towel obviously carelessly thrown
away. Though it was off white, there
was a strange , darkish color imprinted upon it, as though it had wiped some
spilled potion.
Dumbledore absent-mindedly ran his
fingers along the towel. He knew all sorts of potions, but he had never seen
any of this color. It was a certainly a really bizarre color. Perhaps it had
something to do with the crash? Suddenly he felt an odd sensation come over
him. It lasted only a minute. Dumbledore ignored it. He'd had too much stress
the last week. He started walking back to his office. He wished, that just for
a while, he wouldn't have to deal with all these responsibilities. He wished he
could just be happy and carefree.
But as he nearly reached his office,
the odd feeling came over him again, this time much stronger than before. A
kind of numbness and nausea fell over him. He was suddenly too tired to move.
He felt changes occurring within him. Odd sort of changes. It was terrible yet fascinating.
* * *
As Harry walked to the common room to join
Ron and Hermione, he felt queer. Something strange was happening to him, something
unbelievable. He just didn't know what. Could it have something to do with Voldemort?
No, or else his scar would be hurting. The feeling kept growing worse and stronger
every half a second. It was unbearable now.
He stood
before the common room door, barely able to walk. Then everything went black.
* * *
It really was too much for Dumbledore.
He stood in front of the stone gargoyle guarding his office, not even able to think.
The feeling was overpowering his whole body now. Then everything went black.
Well,
how was it? Didja like it?? I'm pretty sure you can guess what'll happen nextJ,so it's not really a cliffhanger. I'm not
that good but I did my best. Anyways, REVIEWW!!!!!
If
you did like it, you might wanna try my other fic, Harry Potter and the Eye of
Darkness. You won't regret it. Really.
BYEEEEEEE
