Ch. 4
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Harry frowned as he glanced at the clock he could see through the house's window. A quarter 'til Two ....just over ten hours until his turning Eleven again, and he was willing to bet Dumbles that he had taken his leave of the Dursley's by now, especially since one of the owls finally found him and delivered his acceptance letter. More than likely, someone was already out looking for him. If he ran into McGonagall or Hagrid, he was pretty sure he could talk to them rationally. Snape on the other hand...well, self-defense wouldn't be too hard to claim.
What he'd really have to dodge would be the Weasleys. Especially Molly and the two youngest. Knowing how the Weasley matriarch liked to be in charge all the time, she had to have been aware of it, especially if it meant bringing the 'Boy-Who-Lived' into the clan. Chaos had mentioned she had already decided he'd be 'Harry Weasley'...the fact they assumed he'd be into a redhead because his mom was one was the real deal-breaker. He didn't know what was more insulting; the fact they were implying incest or the fact they actually thought he'd go along with it.
No. Just...no.
Arthur..he was ok..just too damn henpecked to really do anything. That and they trusted Dumbledore too much for his liking.
Bill and Charlie; he had only met them a couple of times so he'd have to hold judgement.
Aside from their near perpetual love of a good practical joke, the twins seemed to be the only two in that house he knew that he could talk to in a reasonable way
Percy was just a prick, end of story
Ginny..he shuddered..that girl's obsession was waaay too unhealthy. He remembered George telling him she had decreed the BWL would be her husband..before they even bloody met! Can you say 'stalker'?
Ron. Now there was a piece of work, a short temper, sorry attitude when it came to work, and the inability to take criticism or ribbing when he was more than happy to talk shit about others. When he looked back, it disgusted him how pissed off the ginger whinger would get whenever someone else got something, like it had happened just to spite him.
What truly drove him crazy was Hermione's sudden attraction to him. Hell, they wear at each other's throats almost 24/7; then he hooked up with Lavander Brown and just like that, she was as jealous as one of Krum's fangirls when he asked her to the Tule Ball in Fourth year.
"You know if the geezer was willing to bond you with the Weasley girl without your knowledge or consent, who's to say he didn't use something similar on her." A familiar voice piped up, making Harry jump. His eyes fell on a neon green and orange tarantula that looked almost like it was...smiling at him.
"Chaos?" He let out a chuckle when the spider stood up on it's four back legs and crossed the front ones, "Wait...how'd..?"
"I have a knack for reading between the lines in body language. That and you had the same expression last time you gave yourself a migraine wondering why she got the hots for Red outta nowhere. To be honest, we both know the dope was told to buddy up with you 'cause Dumbledore and his mommy told him; that and I wouldn't be surprised if he saw you as his ticket to a little fame of his own...the close friend of the BLW. Odds are he was mostly pissed in Fourth 'cause he thought you did it without him." Chaos took a more relaxed stance, "Getting back on track, if that's the case, it kinda makes sense she was used as an incentive for him to keep it up, he gets to say he had a girlfriend before you and she carries him through school. I'll leave the 'how' up to you."
Harry looked at one of his bracers with a disturbingly calm expression, "This is going to really suck...so many complete and utter wank-biscuits and only seven years to make them all suffer in pain and humiliation."
The little spider let out a barrage of what could probably count as the arachnid equivalent of laughter, "You know a lot can happen in that time frame. Anyhoo, I just wanted to stop by and let you know one of the books we loaded into the suit is an old potions book. There's a recipe in it for one call the Aquas Vitae; trust me when I say you're gonna be wanting it."
He nodded before looking at the clock again, "Better go ahead and make my way to Gringott's. I'm gonna let the coot sweat a little about where I am before school starts."
"Sounds like fun. Guess I better split too. Later." With that, the spider turned to dust, leaving Harry alone with his thoughts. With a grunt of finality, he made a last-minute decision before apperating out of the area.
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"Dear sweet Merlin.." Dumbledore whimpered when he finally saw the full damage done; three of the devices had flown right into the bookcase, detonating on impact and taking a good few of the tomes with them. Another had hit his desk and somehow set it on fire, incinerating most of what was on the top. Except for one, the one that let him know Harry was still timid and shy, and therefore easy to mold into the person he thought the boy should be, all the items were now either in pieces or damaged beyond repair. Hoping it would show him what he wanted, he quickly tapped the item with his wand.
Nothing happened.
Growing worried, he tapped it a little harder. The faint clicking it let out told him it was still operational, but it wouldn't respond. He frowned and picked it up....
Only to have the device let out a shrill noise that sounded like "Freeeedooommm!"
Just before it exploded in his face,
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It's probably easy to tell this chapter is mostly a little back-detail and something to help give a lil preparation for later
I'm considering having him sing his own tune during the school theme, just can't decide which to use: (Could almost see Dumbles screaming 'Harry's going dark!' when he hears it)
X-Ecutioners' (Even) More Human Than Human
Sick Puppies' One of Us is Going Down, (for some reason, I find myself picturing either Flitwick or Sprout looking at their fist and saying "Why do I suddenly want to punch someone?" before looking at Snape)
or FFDP's cover of Bad Company.
(I know none of them were really out at that time, it's called creative liberty. )
