Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Harry Potter. If I did I would be a far richer man. And I'd be a woman. I also don't own Star Trek.
Reviews are appreciated but certainly not required.
AN: I'm really not trying to bash Ron and I do still intend to try and make him mature a bit. Most of the stuff he says in this chapter is practically canon…which says something I think…Anyway, on with the chapter!
Chapter 2: Start of School
It was close to midnight before Dora felt she could safely assume that the entirety of Gryffindor was asleep. The fact that she hadn't been woken by a loud shout of indignant rage from Harry at her deception had been extremely promising. That did nothing to change the fact that it had been a horribly long five hours after the Welcoming Feast ended that she could act. Every minute she'd waited had felt like a hammer blow against her false persona. Every moment lying wide awake in that bed waiting for the delicate balancing game to come crashing down had been murder. But now…finally, she could fix one of the few truly dangerous items to Theodora Nymean Kirk.
Silencing her rustling, thin pajamas and bare feet, Dora quietly slipped out bed and cast a disillusionment charm on herself. Scowling at the dripping egg feeling of the spell taking hold, she carefully opened the door and padded down the girls stairs and up the boys to the Fifth Year room. She listened outside for a moment before hissing in annoyance. How do any of them sleep with Ron snoring like that? Giving up the reconnaissance, she just crossed her fingers and softly opened the entrance to slip inside.
Rule Number 8: Never leave loose ends loose. Tie off anything that compromises an identity or be prepared to fight to the death.
Dora almost snorted at remembering that particular item Mad-Eye had rattled off. She highly doubted that Harry would kill her if he found her name on his map, but all the same that would quickly bring up questions she wasn't remotely prepared – or willing – to answer. Plus it would ruin the…well the highly tentative plans she had to help him perk up a bit. She paced carefully over towards the beds avoiding the one with Ron easily enough from the snores.
Dora frowned as she looked at the trunks at the foot of each bed. Normally, it should be relatively difficult to tell a specific student from only their trunk…not this time. Harry's was decided banged up, scraped, scratched, torn and all-around abused. How did we all miss this? Were we just willingly blind in order to ignore this shite? Dora thought to herself frowning. Harry's adventures rarely involved his school supplies which meant that this damage was from his home life…which implied the Dursleys were less than careful whenever they touched his stuff. Merlin, I picked him up originally. I packed him! How did I not notice this?
Taking a deep breath Dora shook her head and recentered. She could deal with her personal failings later. She still had a job to do. She ran her wand over the trunk checking for any potential locking or anti-theft runes scowling again when nothing showed up. Yet another thing to teach him. How he'd managed to avoid getting his Cloak stolen for so long was a mystery lost to the ages. Just because one's dormmates were wonderful didn't mean everyone else with access to the Tower was just as amazing.
Looking around a final time for potentially awake teenagers, Dora opened the trunk and summoned out the map. Opening it up, she quickly silenced the area around her and whispered the words to fill it in. Once the ink had spread across into the familiar Marauders' signature, Dora started performing the masking charm Sirius had bragged about back before he'd – Dora's wand froze as she watched her cousin fall backwards through the Veil again. Shaking herself she pushed the image down and restarted the spell.
Sirius had been so happy when he'd explained the prank he'd pulled on James Potter. The old dog had talked about how he'd enchanted his own name to show up as a Hufflepuff Seventh Year that his friend had been crushing on. Sirius had slipped away during a Hogsmeade weekend after implying that the girl was going to surprise James in the Gryffindor dorms. Knowing that James wouldn't take his word and would check the Map, Sirius had run to jump into the showers right away. The way Sirius told the story Tonks had been rolling on the floor with him at her mental picture of shock and horror written on James' face as the boy tore into the showers expecting his crush only to find a naked Sirius Black soaping himself up.
Smiling slightly at the memory, Dora finished the charm and sighed in relief as the name 'Nymphadora Tonks' wiped away to be replaced with 'Theodora Kirk'. One more problem down. Now I just need to figure out how I'm supposed to take out the Umbitch, what pushed Harry way over the edge, whether Dumbledore was holding more than just the prophecy to his chest, if I can set a trap for Riddle and oh just for fun I should probably see how a certain blonde Ravenclaw has a disturbingly advanced knowledge of my origins.
Dora felt her breaths coming closer together and in shorter gasps. Hurrying she restowed the Marauder's Map and left the boys dorm. She barely made it to the Common Room before the panic attack hit and she collapsed into the armchair curling up into a ball. Gasping Dora clutched her wand hard enough to get white knuckles and conjured a paper bag to breathe into in an attempt to get at least her breathing under control if nothing else.
"I am not breaking down in the Gryffindor dorms," Dora muttered to herself between gasps. "Not happening. Stars. Need stars. Always liked stars." With a heroic force of willpower Dora pushed down the images flying through her mind and the shakes wracking her body enough to shakily stand and totter towards the portrait hole. She could just go back up to the girls dorm, shut the curtains, silence them and cry up there, but…Hermione was there. If she missed something, the bushy haired brunette would be right there trying to comfort her. Hermione would mean well and Dora would respond in kind probably saying far too much far too soon and…that would all that Dora Kirk ever wrote.
Rule Number 32: Go into shock when you can afford to. Get all teary and grief-stricken on the battlefield and at best your aim is off due to the blurry eyes. At worst someone else you care about dies because you missed something important while you were collapsed.
Dora didn't quite know how she managed to make it all the way up to the Astronomy Tower, but she knew she was there when the cold whipped right through her pajamas and threaded through the soles of her bare feet. For a second she flashed back to the feeling of the sands in the clock pushing into her skin and sucking out all the energy inside her. Gasping again, Dora fell against the side wall abandoning the bag and curling her head down between her knees safely ensconced under her arms. She stopped holding her control over the morph so tightly and let her hair do whatever it bloody well wanted.
Flashes of Hermione unmoving and bleeding out, Ron with pseudo-tentacles wrapped around his throat, Luna dancing through curse after curse, Sirius falling and a dark curse flying towards Harry raced around and around in her mind. Even that wasn't the worst of it. Dora almost chuckled as she realized that seeing a different herself on Platform 9 3/4s was affecting her worse than all of the death had. Tonks was alive. Dora was never going to hug her mother or father again because they weren't her family anymore. They were Tonks' family. She could never go home again.
The door to the Astronomy Tower swung open and closed on its own. Dora just kept crying. It wasn't worth cursing out the wind. "Dora?" a soft, concerned voice carried to her from near the staircase.
For several long seconds Dora didn't recognize it. When the call repeated that voice cut like a knife through her grief and her head jerked up in shock. Harry was standing a few feet away with just his head visible, a deep frown splitting his face. "Harry? Wha-what are-how?" Zero points for elegance or understandability, she berated herself.
"I heard a door slam in the dorms. Thought it was mine at first so I got up and went down to check the Common Room. I saw the portrait hole swinging closed, but you were gone by the time I went out. I was worried that…well I was worried that someone had been Imperiused over the summer so I got out the – I got my Cloak and ran to follow."
She uttered a half-sob, half-laugh silently thanking Moody for making sure she got the stupid map fixed before Harry could check it. Then the import of his words finally filtered through her brain and had her head falling back into her knees and crying again. He thought someone was being mind-controlled on the first day back. God, I was an Auror and that never made it into my top four thoughts in three years. He's fifteen and that's his first thought in Hogwarts! I might as well be arrested for child abuse along with Dumbledore and the rest of the bloody Order of the Flaming Turkey! What does someone have to go through to jump straight to Imperius!?
Dora felt a hand on her shoulder and she just cried harder. Now he was comforting her. That was just perfect. She was supposed to comfort him. She was supposed to be the mentor. She was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to help him have a good year and she hadn't even made it a single. Bloody. Day!
"Dora, it's okay. Just," Harry fumbled for words and settled for sitting down next to her and squeezing her hand. "Did you lose someone recently?"
"Everyone!" she mumbled between sobs. This was why you didn't stay in the dorms, Dora. Now instead of dealing with the Granger Inquisition you're going to have to deal with the Potter one instead! "I lost practically everyone I cared about. Because of a Merlin-be-damned fluke! A one in a million shot and wow, clumsy me, I literally trip right into the thing!"
Harry squeezed her hand tighter. She felt him hesitate and a slight tremor ran down his hand. The next thing she knew, his hand had left hers only for a cloak to be draped over her shoulders as Harry moved close enough to fit them both under it. His arm reached out and wrapped around her shoulders. That stopped her sobs though it was mostly because she couldn't figure out whether to start laughing or cry harder at the tension so obviously in his shoulders at the hug. Harry almost never initiates hugs, her mind helpfully supplied. "It's cold out here," he said. "You don't even have shoes on Dora."
Idly, Dora grabbed her wand and conjured a small ball of blue-bell flame. "Some warmth."
Harry snorted and gave her a small smirk. "Those are nice, but not a real solution to frigid wind on the top of a tower. Trust me, I know; Hermione practically specializes in those things."
Dora flashed him a watery smile. "Oh? Explored the tower at night with her have you?"
Harry's face flushed red and he bumped her to the side lightly. "Haha, very funny. Do you want to talk about it?" He asked suddenly serious again. "I watched a friend die right in front of me a few months ago…I never really got the option to talk to anyone soon after thanks to – well I just never really had the chance to talk to someone willing to listen once I was ready to say anything."
Dora's eyes turned to the stone at her feet and she scowled. Damn Dumbledore and his isolation. Damn us all for blindly following that stupid advice! 'Rule 44: Never leave someone to wallow alone in grief. It almost never ends well. Worst comes to worst, send them to a Muggle therapist. Folks work wonders.' "There's not much to say, Harry. I just can't ever go home again. Not everyone is dead, but they might as well be for all that they are part of my life anymore." She paused and managed to wipe the frustration off her features before looking back up at him. "If you want to talk now, I'll listen you know…"
He shrugged. "I don't need to talk at the moment, but…but I'll probably take you up on that at some point this year. Let's see how Defense goes first, yeah?" he said trying to laugh it off.
Dora nodded and leaned her head against his shoulder. He really was warm and soft despite his bones being far too close to the skin. She had to fatten him up and get some muscle onto the guy. "Okay," she whispered.
"Okay," he replied just as softly.
They lapsed into companionable silence for several minutes. When Tonks had finally regained a degree of decorum Harry finally turned to her and asked, rather nonchalantly, "So, Dora…that's some interesting hair you have there."
Dora frowned in confusion for a second before checking with her powers and her eyes widened in horror. Her hair had turned a disturbing mixture of pink, white and deep blue. "I don't even know how I did that!" she said gaping at the strands in front of her face. Screwing up her concentration for a moment it swapped back to pink and she sighed in relief. "I've never been able to get multiple colors before…everything I've read always said that's the best you can do with hair anyway…you can change different clusters of hair over the body to different colors, but not one grouping to multiple colors…Merlin, I was messed up…"
Harry smiled at her and chuckled. "Well now you have something to work for. I take it you're a metamorph?"
Dora nodded. She had never been intending to hide that. It was as much an aspect of her as her magic was. Giving up being a metamorph would've been a step too far. Though she'd initially wanted to make a game of it – maybe a new hair color every day until someone figured it out. That Harry had found out before she'd established herself...thank God she'd changed her vocal chords a bit to sound deeper than her original voice. There's only so much coincidence that he'd accept before beginning to punch holes in her cover. "Yeah. Self-trained. There's not really many of us around even counting the other countries around the world. Maybe five or six from what I was told."
"Wow, Tonks never mentioned it was so rare," Harry said whistling low. Dora tried to suppress a grunt at that comment. "I have a friend who's a metamorphmagus. I could send her a letter; see if she'd be willing to train you a bit. She's an Auror so her time would probably be pretty limited, but anything would be better than nothing right?"
Dora just barely managed to keep from gagging. There was no WAY she'd be taking 'lessons' on how to shift forms from her younger self! No. Way. "I'm good thanks. It's more fun to figure things out on my own."
"Hmm," he murmured. Dora had a sinking feeling she'd be receiving a letter from her own hand in a few days no matter what she said.
Grimacing, at that thought Dora moved to stand and helped Harry to his feet as well. "We should get back. Both of us need to get some sleep." Harry nodded and together they set off for the Gryffindor Tower under his Cloak. It was far slower and more frustrating than she'd expected traveling that way. Harry's Cloak had always seemed so amazing, but now one-on-one she saw just how difficult it was to use for more than one person at a time. Mentally she chalked disillusionment onto the list of spells to teach him. That was more than enough to get past prefects and Filch.
Once they were finally safely back in the tower, Harry took off the Cloak and smiled at her. "Next time you go for a midnight stroll remember the shoes and warmer clothes, Dora."
"I will, Scout's Honor," she said though upon seeing his blank look she rolled her eyes. "Muggle thing. Boy Scouts." Turning, Dora walked over to the stairs to the girls dorms. She paused on the first step and looked back over her shoulder. Harry was still there near the couch watching her with a comforting smile. "Thanks, Harry. For coming to check on me. It…it means more than you can know. Thanks."
The next morning, Dora was practically skipping as she walked down to breakfast. She'd only ended up with about three hours of sleep, but that wasn't unusual at times with her job – her old job that was. The talk with Harry had helped quite extensively as well. I probably shouldn't have let him hold me like that. I should be keeping some distance. Just because I look 15 doesn't mean I actually am fifteen…though it's not like I'll be changing into my real age so maybe it wouldn't be so bad if I just…
Dora shook her head and berated herself. She was here to comfort, support and protect Harry. She was not here to flirt with the teenager. There were very few ways that could end well. Well there is one. It would certainly improve his mood – and mine too. Dora had to use her abilities to prevent a blush from spreading on her cheeks. "Bloody hell, I swear if I gave myself teenage hormones by switching to this body I'm going to scream," Dora muttered. Puberty once had been bad enough; puberty twice would be a nightmare! Though on the other hand she almost wished it was puberty – finding a teenager attractive probably didn't say many good things about her mental state otherwise.
Rolling her eyes at herself, Dora sat down next to the other Fifth Years and piled some food onto her plate. Ron was too busy impersonating a vacuum cleaner to acknowledge her, but Hermione smiled and waved. "Good morning, Dora. What do you think of Hogwarts so far?"
"Mornin' it's nice from what I've seen. Haven't really gotten to explore too much though," Dora said shrugging. Should she mention seeing the Astronomy Tower? Would that help or hurt? Would they even care?
The decision was quickly made for her when Lavender spoke up, "Going wandering around on the first night was pretty gutsy. When did you get back? Like two?"
Hermione frowned and crossed her arms. Dora winced, figuring she was already going to get yelled at. Perfect. "Hermione, she lost people to Voldemort," Harry said quickly sighing. "I found her and calmed her down before Filch did. It's no big deal."
Dora breathed out in relief at that and tossed Harry a grateful smile. It was even technically true – from a certain point of view. Hermione looked between the two and her frown slowly morphed from disappointed to sorrowful. "Dora, I sympathize, but you really shouldn't wander the halls at a night. I am sorry for your loss, I truly am, but the castle isn't always as safe as the staff like to pretend it is. If you have any issues again, please try to stay in the Common Room. With people like that…woman…here, it really would be far less stressful."
"Sure, Hermione. Won't happen again. Just didn't really want to go breaking down where people could see," Dora said nodding.
Ron shrugged and brandished a fork at her. "Why? Crying here or crying in some classroom, it's all the same. You're crying anyway. Might as well cry somewhere comfy yeah?"
Dora groaned and let her head bang down onto the tabletop. She wanted to rehabilitate this moron? Hell he'd probably reached into the bloody aquarium and grabbed the stupid cognivore brain himself! Hermione wasn't quite as reserved as Dora. "Ronald Weasley! Honestly, do you ever think before you speak? You have the emotional range of a teaspoon!"
"What did I say? If a girl is going to cry, what does it matter where she does it?" Ron asked utterly confused. Several dark looks from pretty much every other person in earshot was the boy's only response. Dora just groaned louder. She was about to try and explain the thought process involved and why he was being an insensitive arse, but Ron was saved by McGonagall arriving with everyone's schedules. Dora winced at seeing Potions, History of Magic and Defense all on the same day.
"Well this is going to be fun," she muttered glaring at her schedule. It was Auror training all over again.
Harry glanced down at her sheet and snorted in amusement. "Well at least you don't have Divination too. I wish I had never taken that course…"
Dora shrugged. "Well, talk to McGonagall. Maybe you can switch out of it."
"I think that would be a fantastic idea, Harry! You can switch to Ancient Runes or Arithmancy with me!" Hermione exclaimed beaming. "You'd have to be ready for the O.W.L. in it, but I can tutor you on the first two years worth of material and we can make certain that you're ready. It will be hard, but I'm sure I can get a schedule built that will work around all the other commitments we have for this year."
Harry frowned in thought. "Hermione, you can probably learn three years of material in one year, but I'm not really up to that task…"
Ron snorted. "Yeah, why would he want to do that? Do you know how much extra work that is? Mental!"
"Either option would seriously help you, Harry," Dora said sparing a short glare at Ron. Shut up, Ginger. I'm trying to save people's lives here. "Both are great for working with wards or more advanced spells. I have a decent background in Runes so when Hermione is busy with prefect work, I can take over the tutoring." She steadfastly ignored the scowl and glare directed at her from Ginny and continued on. "From what I've heard, you don't have the Inner Eye so it's not like you have any greater chance of passing Divination anyway."
Harry frowned and looked between the two girls. Finally, seeming to accept their counsel he twisted towards Angelina Johnson to get a fourth opinion. Dora couldn't help a bit of a smile at that. It wasn't a bad move considering this was the older girl's last year and all. "Angelina, you're in both right? Do you think I could catch up if I worked at it? Is it even worth it?"
Angelina nodded. "Definitely worth it if you actually want to do something after graduating. Divination like Trelawney teaches is utter shite. The discipline as a whole is interesting, but we'd need a real teacher to justify skipping either Runes or Arithmancy for it. She's honestly worse for the subject than Binns is for History. If you're willing to put in the work and promise not to skip Quidditch practice because of it, then yeah, definitely switch."
Harry sighed heavily and stood up. Three out of four was apparently enough to convince him. "I'll meet you guys at class."
"Hey, don't forget, tryouts for Keeper are Friday!" Angelina called out as he left. Harry just waved in reply.
Dora hurriedly finished her breakfast smiling to herself. One change down. About a million more to go.
Dora was fidgeting uncomfortably in the hallway outside the Potions room when Harry finally walked up cringing. "I really am going to regret doing that…" he murmured. "McGonagall said that Arithmancy was probably a bad idea with the way my grades had been previously, but she was willing to put me in Runes. She did say that if I show I can do the Arithmancy work by the time we sit the exams she'd be willing to let them test me on it too."
Dora smiled at him and lightly punched his shoulder. "Way to go, mate! We'll get you there."
"You're bloody mental, Harry," Ron said shaking his head. "Who volunteers for extra work?"
"If it'll help me fight Voldemort then I'd be mental not doing it, Ron," Harry said. Ron looked incredibly embarrassed and the surrounding conversation abruptly cut off. Dora closed her eyes and suppressed a grimace. No one would ever accuse Harry Potter of being subtle.
"What are you dunderheads standing around for? Get into the classroom! Unless of course you feel you are all perfectly capable of passing the O.W.L.s at this moment in which case I invite you to leave immediately and never return." Dora scowled at Snape's voice as she followed the others inside. She was a bit surprised when Harry ended up sitting down next to her leaving Ron to sit with Hermione. He must still be annoyed with the red-head.
Snape started droning on about how important this year was for their futures and blah, blah, blah. Dora could barely focus on his words and had to focus mightily on her powers to keep her face from distorting in rage. Her hair almost flashed red though she managed to keep it on the flighty yellow she'd chosen this morning. Snape. This bastard was part of the reason so many had died. He was only working for himself. Snape was only interested in saving his own arse and damn anyone else.
This self-serving, bigoted arse would not be on her list of people to save.
"Miss Kirk, it seems you feel you don't need to pay attention to my lesson," an unctuous voice cut through her thoughts.
She looked up at Snape with exaggerated ease shrugging. "Sorry, Professor. I was just wondering when you were going to get around to actually teaching. If you're just going to put a series of instructions on a board and insult us, I think an owl could probably teach this class more effectively."
Silence resounded throughout the room. Internally, Dora berated herself. This was stupid, antagonizing Severus Snape…so much for sticking next to Harry as much as possible. Comparing him to an owl – she'd be in detention for a month now.
"Why you little – "
"Professor, you mentioned a boil reduction potion that might be on the O.W.L.s?" Harry asked raising his hand.
Snape paused and looked between the two students for several seconds appearing torn. Finally, he sneered and said, "40 points from Gryffindor. Kirk, detention tonight, 8pm."
Dora smiled slightly as she dropped her head down to the table. Harry had effectively managed to get Snape caught between his general hatred of Harry, his usual hatred for being interrupted and his newfound hatred for her. Points and a detention were apparently easier than figuring out whom to curse or berate from the group! "My hero," she murmured soft enough for just Harry to hear. Her smile grew a bit wider as he reached over and squeezed her knee momentarily.
Listening to Umbridge drone on and on about how Voldemort wasn't back, how Harry was a lying pile of dogshite, how her assigned book was useful…Dora had thought that Snape was bad but this was even worse. She'd seen the Umbitch around while working as an Auror and she'd know how despicable the woman was, but those minor interactions hadn't remotely prepared Dora to deal with this. It was all she could do to not curse the woman until Umbridge could barely remember her own name.
When Harry started yelling back at her Dora had tried to intervene only to be pushed back down into her seat. Harry was angry enough that she could practically feel his aura crackling with ambient magic. If it had been under different circumstances it would have been hot as hell. Now though…now…
Guess I found just why Harry had such an awful year, Dora thought scowling as Umbitch sent Harry off to McGonagall with a note. Priority number one, either shackle or get rid of the bitch. No way is this going to continue. Trying to have the Prophet run a story on her is useless when they're in Fudge or Malfoy's pockets…Dumbledore and Minerva didn't do anything last time so it's unlikely they will this time…Amelia Bones probably won't be able to act as long as Fudge is still in power. Damn, even if she does act Fudge will get Umbitch off and just make things worse for us all and Amelia in particular. Got to figure something out myself.
With an idea of what to research and plan during Snape's detention, Dora walked into his dungeon after a hurried dinner. With the bare minimum of conversation exchanged, she set to work cleaning his cauldrons from their earlier creations. Snape alternatively glared at her and graded the summer homework. Dora was perfectly fine with that.
She spent nearly two hours scrubbing iron and bronze for him. During that time she'd come up with a rough plan of how to deal with Umbitch. She'd first try to trap the evil little toad into doing something illegal, submit a memory of the incident to Amelia and watch the sparks fly. If that failed, she'd organize the students into tormenting her until she quit.
If all that failed and Umbridge was still tormenting Harry – and the school – then Dora would…deal with it herself. She really hoped it didn't come to that. She'd never agreed with Dumbledore's pacifist approach to fighting Voldemort, but that didn't mean she wanted to resort to more permanent solutions as a first option.
A vision of Hermione and Sirius flashed in front of her again and she heard Harry shouting out the torture curse. Baring her teeth, Dora resolved to do whatever was needed to be done to prevent that future from happening.
Besides…there were ways to remove someone from the playing board without killing them.
Dora left the dungeons and made the long trudge back to the Gryffindor Tower. She had had to make an unscheduled stop outside the door to the Hufflepuff dorms first unfortunately. Old habits apparently extended to more than just her penchant for greeting others with 'wotcher'…Sighing Dora shook her head and kept marching upwards. She grimaced as she realized that the Luna situation had been postponed. The girl had disappeared after dinner when Tonks had tried to find her so that was something to add to the list to be taken care of tomorrow.
Dora waited for the staircase to align correctly as she tried to puzzle out just what was going on with that girl. She had certainly seemed privy to the 'odd' nature of Dora Kirk's existence yet she'd also seemed fully incapable of recognizing just what huge implications that had – implications for both, Dora's temporal displacement and recognizing Dora's temporal displacement.
Or maybe she's just a great actress, Dora thought chuckling. It certainly wouldn't be the first time she'd encountered that.
Rule 5: The best actor is the one who never stops. A man alone at home who uses a wheelchair even while he can secretly walk is FAR more deadly than a man lying about having a second wand.
Dora sighed. There just wasn't any way to know for certain what was going on until she could track the Ravenclaw girl down and sit with her for a long chat.
Maybe she should try out for the Keeper slot on the Quidditch team too while she was here…Dora had always loved being on a broom and she was good enough that she could play the position. Having a form of stress relief outside of sex would be good. Plus it would allow her to have an excuse to watch Harry during practices. As far as she could remember there shouldn't be anything earth-shattering that would be altered by joining the team…Her To-Do List just kept growing…
Finally reaching the Tower, Dora walked in and sat down on the couch with a sigh. "I hate Snape," she announced.
Chuckles and snickers resounded throughout the room. "We all do," Ron commented, never even looking up from his game of chess with Seamus. "Greasy git is out to get all Gryffindors."
"Professor Snape, Ron," Hermione sighed. "Though I can't really dispute the latter. He really does seem to hold a grudge against the house unfortunately. The best option is to simply do the work well enough that he can't take off any points for it."
"Something tells me he'll still find a way to say my stuff is wrong," Dora said lifting her eyebrows at the brunette who grimaced but couldn't deny the validity of the statement. "Well, I'm just going to self study then outside of class. He's not the one grading the O.W.L. and there's no point in losing a whole qualification just because the teacher is a git."
Hermione smiled and nodded along. "A study group is a fantastic idea, Dora! I can see if there are any others interested if you'd like?"
"Sure, might as well," Dora agreed. It wasn't what she'd meant, but she might as well help anyone interested. Looking around the room she frowned at a distinctive absent presence. "Harry sleeping? I would've thought he'd be back before me what with Snape and all…"
"He hasn't come back from detention with Umbridge yet," Hermione replied frowning deeply. "It's been nearly three hours. I'm starting to get worried."
Ron finished up his game and stretched. "He's probably just wandering the castle. We'll catch him tomorrow."
Hermione huffed. "Well if he's wandering the castle than perhaps we'll catch him tonight, Ron."
"Why?" the red-head asked. Dora winced, she could guess where this was going.
"Because we have patrol in two hours, that's why!" Hermione said glaring at her friend.
Ron nodded. "Ah right, forgot. Well I should go get a nap in then in that case. See you in a few, Hermione!" Waving back at them he sprinted up the stairs to his dorm. Dora just raised her eyebrows at the space he'd vanished into as the rest of the room slowly started to empty.
"That guy is…what idiot made him a prefect?" Dora wondered aloud.
Hermione sighed and shifted over to the couch. "I honestly don't know. I know Ron is my friend, but he really has no business wearing that badge. He's going to give the younger years a bad impression of the responsibility involved with the position if he doesn't start taking this seriously!"
"Maybe if you frame it in Quidditch terms, he'd get the importance," Dora muttered. "So when are going to hunt down our wayward friend?" Hermione blinked in surprise at the change of topic though was saved from replying as the portrait hole opened and in walked the subject of their conversation.
Dora's instincts screamed alarms at her as she took in Harry's form. He was paler than usual; his hand was wrapped in a strip of cloth; the cloth was stained red; his face was set in a mixture of pain, hatred and determination; and most telling, he immediately tried to slip past the girls to get to his dorm.
Rule 21: If someone is acting shifty nine times out of ten it's because they have something to hide.
"Harry," Hermione said quickly getting up and moving in front of him. Dora silently congratulated the other girl. Harry would have to actually reach out and physically push her in order to walk up the stairs. "What did that woman have you doing?" Hermione's voice also contained a heavy note of worry and trepidation. The girl's instincts were good.
"Just lines," Harry said. Dora didn't miss the way his wrapped hand clenched and unclenched at that.
Standing she moved closer to the two and gently took Harry's non injured hand in her own. "Harry, remember how you said last night that I could tell you things that were bothering me? I responded by saying it goes both ways. What's wrong with your hand?"
Harry scowled and hid it behind his back causing Hermione to stare at him in mild shock and Dora to get even more determined to help him. "What did that toad do to you?" she whispered venom lacing her voice.
"I told you, lines," Harry said cringing back. He was scared of being seen as weak. Of course he was. Dammit. Dora cursed herself. She should've seen this.
"Harry, please, we just want to help," Hermione said gently. She stepped forward and smiled softly at her friend as she lifted his forearm so she could get a better look at his hand. "Please let us see?"
Sighing deeply, Harry nodded. Hermione unwrapped the cloth on his hand and gasped. Dora leaned forward and snarled. His hand had deep cuts on the back, 'I must not tell lies' standing out in stark contrast from the still bleeding wounds. "Blood Quill!" Umbridge had just succeeded in leaping to the top of the priority list.
A year of being tormented by a woman willing to use a blood quill for three hours on a school student. I'm amazed he didn't end up using the killing curse on Bella…Dolores Umbridge is not going to get away with this! Dora barely heard the comments from her friends as she planned. She had to try legitimate options first prior to escalating. Especially since escalating would likely end up with a dead transfigured toad with the mood Dora was in.
No. She'd try something that really should work with minimal issues. She'd go to McGonagall.
AN: Much thanks to RhysThornbery for his beta assistance on this.
There are apparently British Boy Scouts. I have no idea if they have the same familiar sayings as the American version and I couldn't find confirmation either way so I'm just going with: if they do great, if they don't Tonks knows the American saying.
I'm letting Harry swap classes mostly because with how much McGonagall seems to hate Divination, I see her allowing something like this. She knows that Hermione can tutor him somewhat effectively and he's coming to her on the first day with a legitimate concern for his future. She'd hopefully help him out on this one.
To be clear on why Dora isn't immediately marching down to destroy Umbridge, it's largely that she's trying to avoid killing everyone who happens to get in the way. She doesn't want that to become her default response. Going by 'my future knowledge makes me right and this is justified' is a slippery slope that she wants to avoid as much as possible. Plus if Umbridge were to disappear shortly after a detention with Harry Potter…well that really wouldn't look good for him.
I'm going to do something similar to what I did with 'Rune' here and collate new additions to Moody's rules. The list will be updated only with new additions going forward.
Mad-Eye's Rules For Successfully Reaching Retirement:
Rule 1: Always make certain that personnel involved in an active investigation and/or protection detail have all relevant details. Lack of detail leads to injury and death.
Rule 2: A victim is always more likely to comply with Auror recommendations if they are aware of the scale of danger inherent in their situation.
Rule 5: The best actor is the one who never stops. A man alone at home who uses a wheelchair even while he can secretly walk is FAR more deadly than a man lying about having a second wand.
Rule 8: Never leave loose ends loose. Tie off anything that compromises an identity or be prepared to fight to the death.
Rule 10: Always stay calm. Even with Killing Curses flying, staying calm will probably save your life.
Rule 13: When lying always include enough truth with fact that, should they investigate, you appear legitimate.
Rule 21: If someone is acting shifty nine times out of ten it's because they have something to hide.
Rule 25: If you can't get it right, fake it til you make it.
Rule 32: Go into shock when you can afford to. Get all teary and grief-stricken on the battlefield and at best your aim is off due to the blurry eyes. At worst someone else you care about dies because you missed something important while you were collapsed.
Rule 44: Never leave someone to wallow alone in grief. It almost never ends well. Worst comes to worst, send them to a Muggle therapist. Folks work wonders.