J K Rowling owns all the rights to the books and the amazing characters she created. I write only to satisfy my imagination and use my creativity and make no money from my writings.
Chapter 4 – Third Year Flies By
His third year flew by. Oh he had all sorts of "adventures" and tests but this year he had officially heard about, met and even saved Sirius Black III. Officially he learned to do a Patronus and unofficially many other bits of Magic. He evaded his keepers more often due to not using the Invisibility Cloak unless Ron and/or Hermione were with him. Aunty informed him that Dumbledore had also charmed the hell out of that family heirloom and it not only kept track of him but caused him to be reckless and much more curious than usual up to and including putting himself at risk.
Harry hadn't yet met "Gran" but was told that he would. "Gran" wasn't his Gran but he was told to call her that when he did meet her. He wouldn't be the only one to make her acquaintance as Neville would also be meeting her as would his other secret friend Luna Lovegood.
Harry had met Luna during her first and his second year at Hogwarts. He had been keeping vigil at Hermione's side while she was petrified. Luna had crawled into the Infirmary after being "played with" by some of her more vicious housemates. Luna was a Ravenclaw and Ravenclaws had a tradition (started sometime after 1955) that each year a scapegoat would be chosen who would be the "plaything" which the Claws of all years could practice spells on, take out their frustrations and feel superior to. Usually it was a boy or girl without good family connections, such as a Muggleborn or from a poor Half-blood family. No Pureblood no matter how poor or ill-connected was ever chosen unless an example needed to be made.
In Harry's year the shy Half-blood Su Li had been chosen. Like most of the victims they were very intelligent and showed the most potential and competition to the others. Therefore someone with so much potential couldn't be allowed to prosper or be the top Claw if there was a more worthy Pureblood or Half-blood with good connections. Had Hermione Granger not been sorted to Gryffindor she would have been the "chosen one" and not Su Li if only because she was a Muggleborn and Su Li was a Half-blood and outranked her.
Luna Lovegood was a Pureblood but not well-connected. Her Mother had been brilliant and outstanding in her field of creating spells and potions. Unfortunately there had been an accident and Selene Lovegood was killed and her nine year old daughter witnessed it. Xeno Lovegood had once been an up and coming powerful wizard with a bright future before him but he had made the mistake of not following the "right people" namely, he despised Dumbledore and although the Lovegoods remained neutral during the last war in Dumbledore's view whether you were considered "Light" or "Dark" you were either with him or against him.
After Voldemort was defeated and Dumbledore gained even more power being the Magical Guardian of Harry Potter, the Lovegoods were given "one more chance" to see the Light and side with Dumbledore and all of his goals. Xeno's Uncle Socrates had been killed in the war and left Xeno his magazine The Quibbler and since Dumbledore had seen to it that Xeno's career took a nosedive, he gladly took over the controversial magazine.
The Quibbler's largest fan base was not in Britain but rather Continental Europe, Scandinavia, the Balkans and Russia. To some it was a nonsensical magazine but in reality it was a very witty, purveyor of truth and astute political commentary. You had to know how to read and interpret it. Because it didn't support any administration at the Ministry and definitely not Dumbledore, he used his great influence to belittle the magazine's reputation starting at Hogwarts. It soon became known as a waste of paper, a ridiculous excuse for news which only fools and total idiots read. But it never lost any of its readership in Britain and definitely not in Europe.
Thus when the Lovegood child came to Hogwarts she was especially singled out for special treatment. As usual Filius Flitwick the Head of House of Ravenclaw was forbidden to help her. He did whenever possible but it was never enough. She was treated worse than Su Li and the other scapegoats combined. Su Li tried to help her on occasion but was only able to when nobody was looking. Usually it consisted of little things like finding and giving back the girl's clothing (especially her shoes) or spelling her homework.
The other teachers in the school knew what was happening but did nothing as "Albus has his reasons" meaning the kid would suffer until the parent(s) wised up and followed Dumbledore. If not…. Besides Flitwick's futile attempts only Poppy Pomfrey (who treated her wounds and injuries) and surprisingly Severus Snape helped the girl.
Although he'd never admit it he saw some of himself in the girl. He too had been a brilliant and eager student who had been bullied unmercifully only because the Marauders could do anything to anybody and because Dumbledore had allowed, and at times, encouraged it. It had driven many others such as Barty Crouch, Jr. into the army of the Dark Lord. Here was just another innocent child helpless and in the control of Albus Dumbledore. Luna Lovegood was the only non-Slytherin who Severus Snape voluntarily helped – but it was their secret along with Poppy Pomfrey's.
Somehow Harry and Luna became secret friends and managed to stay that way and not get caught. Luna had already been befriended by Neville Longbottom – another outcast child caught in Dumbledore's web – and there were even a few others on occasion. Mostly it was Harry, Neville and Luna against the world.
It became a great game not getting caught and outwitting those who thought themselves oh so clever and powerful. Luna had been a prodigy and before her Mother's death she had a wand of her own inherited from her Daddy's Mum which worked for her so she learned Magic early. She was legally bound to buy a wand from Ollivander to attender Hogwarts but she still had her first wand hidden on her person at all times and spelled not to be taken from her.
Luna told Neville he had the wrong wand but since his Grandmother refused to let him get one of his own and insisted he use his Father's wand to "honor him" he was stuck. However when Harry came back to school for third year he met up with Neville in their secret meeting place – the bathroom – for one of their midnight chats away from the prying eyes of Ron and others. Harry had managed to learn a wandless silencing charm in his first year so that he could get some sleep since Ron snored worse than an asthmatic dragon with bronchitis. He then learned a charm to keep Ron, Dean and Seamus asleep while he and Neville had the odd chat. He just had to remember to remove that charm before going back to sleep.
The first night back Harry told Neville about the "Truthful Trio" as he had named them. Reggie would come to Hogwarts to chat with Neville as soon as they found a safe place to meet. The Chamber of Secrets would have been ideal but the entrance to the Chamber in Moaning Myrtle's bathroom had been spelled so that Harry wouldn't want to enter. Dumbledore had struck again. However, quite by accident during her nightly wanderings in first year Luna had come across a secret door in a dark, hidden alcove. It had strange squiggly writing on the side and as soon as possible she took Harry to it and he discovered it was parsel tongue (since he could read it but Neville couldn't) and lo and behold they had found another entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. There was no stopping them now.
During the year much happened on the sly. Another house elf was introduced to Harry, Neville and Luna courtesy of Aunty and Reggie. His name was Galahad or "Gala" for short after the knight of legend and he was to serve the trio and act as a go-between between the Truthful Three or "T3" and the "Triad" as the children had named themselves.
It was easier for Neville and Luna to sneak away so Reggie brought them up-to-date. They were eventually fitted with the same implants as Harry and one night Neville was snuck out and got a custom made wand like Harry. Luna also got an extra one. Everything "illegal" was kept in the rooms of the Chamber which Gala had cleaned out for the Triad's use including Harry's new glasses and the clothes he eventually acquired thanks to Aunty.
Harry was busy with the "Sirius Black problem" and closely watched by Ron and Hermione. He could only get away during the middle of the night and then only for a very short time as it was discovered quite by accident that a bed check was being done on him by either the Twins or Hermione. Did Dumbledore suspect something? It was better to be safe than sorry so that meant yet another "friend" should be introduced to the group.
At Reggie's suggestion Harry called Dobby the crazy but good-intentioned elf he had freed from the Malfoys. The elf was delighted to bond with Harry Potter but at the last minute Luna had suggested that bonding with Harry might be too dangerous considering Dumbledore knew Dobby's allegiance to Harry. So Dobby bonded with Luna as Neville already had his own personal elf inherited from his Mother and answerable only to her or the heirs of her body. It proved to be a wise decision when it was decided that Dobby should come to Hogwarts for the fourth year. He had to swear to spy for Dumbledore but at least he officially was allowed to live and work at Hogwarts and could be of some use.
Little by little some of Harry's injuries were fixed. His poor fingers which had purposely been broken and smashed many times by the Dursleys and which severely hindered his writing were vanished and regrown over a period of time so that no one would notice. He was still taking some potions to correct his malnutrition but again it was a slow process as if anyone noticed the jig would be up and everybody would be obliviated. Because it was done so slowly it wasn't noticed and plans were being made to free Harry, Neville and Luna from the captivity of Hogwarts and the manipulations of Albus Dumbledore.
There was a very good reason for this because one of the first things Aunty had done when she first met Harry was to take a sample of his blood. She then sent her personal house elf over to another country so that a heritage test could be done on Harry Potter. She already knew the important facts but just needed confirmation. The results not only verified the known facts but told so much more and explained the reasons "WHY" some things were done to make the boy's life miserable.
But time was needed and the best estimate was the escape couldn't happen until the end of Harry's and Neville's fourth year. There was just still too much to be done.
But things needed to be speeded up after Harry finally met and heard Sirius Black's side of the story. Sirius had offered to give Harry a home and the boy eagerly accepted the offer. Of course, Sirius had to make a complete escape and regain his health before he could send for the boy. Harry already knew that because Dumbledore would never let him out of his clutches but Harry had appearances to keep up. Besides Sirius Black would never keep his word any more than James Potter would.
So the "part was played" and Harry was sent back to Privet Drive for another summer of hell. He wondered what next year would bring and if it would be possible to move up the escape plan. Ideally it would not as things had to go slow so as not to be detected. But then as a journalist Xeno Lovegood found out some inside information about what terrible event would be taking place and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that Harry Potter would be swept into it.
