Chapter Nine: Thoughtfulness and Thoughtlessness
Harry had never been gladder that he had learned how to fly before coming to Hogwarts. As they made their way towards the Quidditch pitch for their first flying lesson, people were talking about their past flying experience and achievements – he hoped he would be able to catch up with everyone else. He could hear Hermione ramble about what she had read about flying and see Neville nervously hanging on to her every word, and Harry was glad that he wasn't the only one who had never flown next to an airplane.
Ron was telling anyone who'd listen that he had hit a hang glider flying Charlie's old broom once…
Draco was having none of it however. "Please, Weasley," he drawled. "I outflew an eagle on my broom before. Unlike you with your hand-me-down broom, my father brought me the best broom from Quality Quidditch Supplies."
"I'd rather have talent than a Nimbus, Malfoy," Ron growled.
"If talent is gold, you'd be broke, not just poor."
When they arrived at the pitch, they saw that the Slytherins were already there, along with two rows of broomsticks. Harry wondered if he could convince Dumbledore to fund higher quality brooms – these looked rather beaten up ("My father would never let me ride such decrepit brooms!").
"Welcome to your first flying lesson!" Madam Hooch began. "I want you to step up to the left side of your broom, put out your right hand, and say 'up'."
To Harry's glee, as he put out his right hand and commanded his broom with a single "Up!", the broom flew straight into his hand. He looked up to see that Draco had managed the feat as well. Others in the class weren't so lucky. At one point, Ron's broom went up at his command…only to smack him in the face, sending Harry into a laughing fit.
"Shut up, Harry," Ron groaned, holding his nose.
Neville's broom didn't even move. There was a quaver in his voice that made it clear that he wanted his feet on the ground…
"Neville."
Neville looked up miserably.
"Brooms are like animals. They can tell when you're nervous," Harry said. "You have to believe that the broom will do as you say. Trust that your words will be carried out. If you don't trust yourself, how can you expect the broom to trust you enough to come to your hand, trusting you as its rider?"
"Up!"
On the other side of Neville, Hermione's broom jumped to her hand even though only moments ago, it had been rolling around on the ground. Meeting Harry's eyes, she smiled shyly and ducked her head.
"Go on," Harry said to Neville encouragingly.
"Up!"
This time, the broom rolled a bit…
"Give it up, Harry," Draco said exasperatingly. "It'll be a miracle for Longbottom to learn how to fly." The entire class was focusing on them now, the Slytherins laughing amongst themselves at Neville's pathetic attempts. Even Madam Hooch looked as though she wanted Neville to simply pick up his broom.
Harry frowned in thought before he grinned. "Neville, close your eyes, and do it again."
"Harry, I don't think I can do this…"
"Just try it this once. If it doesn't work, you can give up."
Neville closed his eyes, put out his right hand, and said, his voice quivering with nervousness, "Up!"
Harry winked at Draco, placed his hand about an inch above Neville's, and said softly so that his voice would be mostly drowned out by Neville's, "Up!"
Neville's eyes snapped open when the broom jumped to his hand. "What happened?"
Harry smirked, seeing Draco's scandalized expression out of the corner of his eye. "You had more confidence when your eyes were closed. Try it again." Again, Harry placed his hand over Neville's so that the broom would jump into Neville's hand.
Neville offered Harry a surprised, but pleased and excited, smile. "I think I get it."
"Try it with your eyes closed one more time, and then try it one more time with your eyes open." Again, Harry helped him when Neville had his eyes closed. He could hear Neville's voice becoming more confident with each time the broom jump into his hand.
Finally, Neville tried it with his eyes open. "Up!" The broom missed his hand by a few centimeters. "Sorry," he muttered to Harry. "Might take some practice for me to get it with my eyes open."
Harry beamed. "You almost got it!"
"Up!" This time, the broom went straight into Neville's hand.
Harry gave Draco a smug look. "You were saying, Draco?"
Neville looked around as though just realizing that everyone was staring at him. "Sorry I kept everyone waiting," he said meekly.
Madam Hooch, who had been watching the entire scene fold, shook herself out of her amazement at her student's persistence and creativity. "Once you have a hold of your broom, I want you to mount it. Grasp it firmly with both hands. You don't want to slide off the end. Now when I blow my whistle I want you to kick off the ground, hover for a moment, then lean forward to touch back down. Ready?"
Harry waited for the whistle, but when he heard it, before he could kick off the ground, he saw Neville flying up higher and higher into the air. The other boy, whose nervousness had returned at the idea of flying, had lost control of his broom.
"M-Mr. Longbottom…" Madam Hooch was shocked. "Come back down this instant!"
Before she could even take out her wand, Neville's broom shot off towards the castle.
Harry instinctively kicked off the ground and leaned forward, rushing after the other boy. The school broom had nowhere near the control of his Nimbus, but it would have to do.
"Mr. Potter! Get back here!"
Adrenaline ran through his veins, Harry's eyes focused on Neville's form. Neville's broom was bouncing until it finally succeeded in bucking its rider off. Harry moved his broom into the vertical position for the maneuver he had done so often under the watchful eye of Madam Malkin and Dumbledore. With that, he flew towards the ground and towards Neville at full speed.
Thirty feet…He was almost to the other boy…Twenty feet…Just a little more…Fifteen…His arm wrapped around Neville's middle just as he leaned to the side, his broom turning into a circle, the wind sending up dust everywhere. Harry flinched in shock when he found he was closer to the ground than he thought he was – the broom definitely didn't have the same precision as his Nimbus, and the braking charm was clearly wearing off. Neville's feet grazed the ground, and Harry let him go when he had slowed down the other's descent enough to prevent injury.
"MR. POTTER!"
Harry winced. Madam Hooch was going to kill him for flying when she told him not to.
"MR. POTTER!"
Harry groaned inwardly. It was bad enough with Madam Hooch. But McGonagall, too? How many people were going to yell at him?
"Rolanda, what is the meaning of this?" McGonagall sputtered out.
Madam Hooch fixed Harry a hard look. "I wish I have an answer for that, Minerva. Tell me, Mr. Potter. Where did you learn the Wronski Feint? That move is very difficult to pull off and dangerous to boot. You could have gotten yourself killed!"
Harry gave her a confused look. "The Wonky what?"
"The Wronski Feint. That is the maneuver you've just done."
"I-I didn't know that had a name. I just like practicing dives at home," Harry said honestly.
McGonagall and Madam Hooch shared a look. "I will let you take care of him, Minerva," Madam Hooch finally said before moving to attend to Neville.
"Follow me, Mr. Potter," McGonagall said.
"Wait, Professor, he was just trying to save –"
"That's enough, Mr. Finnigan."
"But Neville –"
"I said that's quite enough, Mr. Weasley."
Harry sighed as he followed McGonagall. He wondered what his punishment was going to be.
…
"Wonder what's going to happen to him…"
"McGonagall wouldn't expel him, would she?" Neville asked guiltily. "He did save my life. I should be getting expelled, not him."
"She might," Draco said dejectedly. "She seems like a stickler for the rules."
"She's a teacher. She would understand…"
"Honestly, Granger, you think all teachers are perfect or something," Ron said exasperatedly. "McGonagall will probably have him in detention for the next two years. And then expel him."
"Weasley, don't be stupid. Does that really make sense…?"
"Well what do you think is going to happen, Malfoy? Tell us if you're so smart."
That was the scene Harry walked into, his friends arguing with each other how he was going to be punished. "Or you guys can just ask me."
"Harry!"
"So, mate, what did McGonagall say?" Ron asked.
Harry sighed. "She's allowing Filch to cane me every day for the next month to his heart's content."
Ron's mouth fell open in horror. Draco stared at him in disbelief. Hermione gasped in shock. Neville looked as though he were about to burst into tears ("I'm so sorry, Harry!").
Harry allowed the charade to continue for a few more seconds before bursting out in laughter. "Your reactions are priceless!" He continued laughing even as Draco punched him in the shoulder. Hard.
"That's not funny, Harry!" Draco snarled. "What the hell happened?"
Harry was still grinning. "I can't tell you. McGonagall told me to keep it a secret."
As though on cue, the twins appeared. "Hell, Harry, you must be good. Wood was practically skipping when he told us the news. We can't wait to see you fly tomorrow!"
Harry sighed. "Well there goes the secret."
His friends were gawking at him. Ron spoke first, "Blimey, Harry…you're on the Quidditch team? But first-years never make the house team!"
At that, Angelina, Alicia, and Katie joined the twins. "Think we can see your Wronski Feint, Harry? We heard from Wood that your performance impressed both McGonagall and Hooch. Wood looked as though he was having a field day."
Harry felt his face heat up as more and more Gryffindors got drawn into the group. "Uh yeah, I can probably do that again." Gryffindor common room was an uproar that evening with people asking him how long he had been flying, if he had any other moves up his sleeves, etc., much to his embarrassment.
As people cleared out to go to bed, he saw Hermione staying back. She seemed to be waiting to talk to him alone, so he obliged, staying back with her until the common room was empty otherwise.
Hermione approached him and said, her voice having a slight quiver to it despite retaining its bossy tone, "Do you know you have it in your blood?"
"What?" Whatever he had been expecting, it wasn't that. "Have what in my blood?"
"Quidditch talent. Your father played Quidditch, too. I saw his name on a plaque in the trophy room," Hermione explained. "He was a Chaser."
Harry's eyes widened. "My father played Quidditch? I didn't know that."
Hermione nodded before heading off to bed.
"Hermione?" When she turned, Harry said sincerely, "Thank you for that information." She beamed back at him before (was he imagining it?) skipping up the stairs.
The next morning at breakfast, Hedwig dropped a package in front of Harry from Madam Malkin. Unwrapping it, he was once again united with his friend as his hand wrapped around the handle of his Nimbus 1900.
…
"One of the most elementary skills of a wizard is making things fly," Flitwick said. "Repeat after me. Wingardium Leviosa! Remember to annunciate! Never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest. Try it out now."
As Harry successfully levitated his feather, he saw Ron next to him getting frustrated – so much so that he was practically jabbing, rather than simply flicking at, the feather.
"Stop, stop," Hermione stopped Ron. "You're going to poke someone's eye out. Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."
Ron put down his wand. "Why don't you do it if you're so clever? Go on."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The feather began to fly to her will.
As soon as Charms was over, Ron marched out of the classroom with Harry and Draco on his heels. "She's a nightmare, honestly. It's no wonder she hasn't got any friends!" Ron ranted.
Harry was about to respond when he was nearly knocked over by a force ramming into him from behind.
"You owe me an apology, Granger!" Draco called after her, having been knocked to the ground. "What's up with her anyway?"
"I think she heard Ron," Harry said, steadying himself.
Ron looked uncomfortable. "I was just saying the truth."
"That's not the truth," Harry said softly. "I know for sure she has at least one friend."
Confused, Ron asked, "Who?"
Draco rolled his eyes as he meticulously brushed off his robes. "Harry's talking about himself, you dumb weasel. Don't you ever pay attention?"
And with that, his two friends launched into another duel of insults. Harry wondered if he should check on Hermione to see if she was okay. She looked as though she wanted to be alone. Deciding that he should probably leave her alone and check on her when she felt better, he followed Ron and Draco to the Great Hall for the Halloween Feast. When Hermione still hadn't shown up halfway through the feast, he started to become worried.
"You okay, Harry?" Ron asked.
"I'm fine. I'm worried about Hermione. She's not here." Harry stood up and grabbed a clean plate. "I'll take a plate back to the dorms for her."
Neville leaned over. "She's not in the dorms I hear. She's been crying in the girl's bathroom since the end of Charms class."
Harry frowned and began filling up the empty plate. "Thanks, Neville."
"You're not going to stand outside the girl's bathroom, are you?" Ron gawked.
"Harry, Granger's probably fine," Draco drawled.
"I don't feel right leaving her like that. I'll see you guys after the feast," Harry said and walked off towards the girl's bathroom. Ron did bring up a good point. Should he just stand outside? He knocked on the door to the lavatory. "Hermione?" There was silence to answer him. Wondering if Neville had gotten the wrong information, he tried again, "Hermione? Are you okay?"
"Go away!"
Harry recoiled, not expecting such an aggressive response. "I brought you some food from the feast," he called out. He paused. "I'm sorry for what Ron said. He was wrong, you know. I've always considered you my friend. I'm sure you have others, but…" The door opened up to show a tear-streaked Hermione. "Uh…food?" He offered her the plate of food he had in his hand. "I wasn't sure what you like, so I just got a bit of everything." When she started crying again, he panicked, "What did I say? I can go back and get you the foods you would like if you tell me what they are."
Hermione shook her head, letting out another sob. "It's not the food. It's you."
That did nothing to lessen Harry's panic. "I'm sorry?" he apologized questioningly. "I-I'm not sure what I did though," he said timidly.
"You're so stupid!" She launched herself at him, almost upsetting the plate of food he was holding in his hand, and hugged him fiercely, shocking him. "You didn't do anything wrong," she muttered into his shoulder. "Thank you."
Harry was still confused, but he supposed everything was alright now. Chuckling, he placed his free hand on her back, saying, "You're welcome. Are you feeling good enough to come to the feast?" As he said that, he sniffed, smelling something foul. "Hermione, do you smell that?"
"Smell what? My nose is a bit stuffy," she said, letting go of him.
Harry frowned. "Stay here," he said, handing her the plate of food. He ran down the corridor. The smell was fainter here, which meant…A scream sounded from where he had just come. "Hermione!" he yelled, running back towards the direction of the girl's lavatory. To his horror, a twelve-foot troll had her backed into a corner, Hermione paralyzed in fear.
The troll reached for her…
Harry began screaming at the troll. "HEY YOU! OVER HERE!" he screamed. He didn't know what he would do once he got its attention. Trolls were one of the few magical creatures not found on Hazel Island, and as a result, he knew close to nothing about them. He wouldn't be surprised if their hides were magic-resistant. He ran at the troll, levitating a coat of armor next to him and whipping it at the monster. The coat of armor smacked the troll in the side, distracting it from its prey. "Oh Merlin," he muttered as the troll turned its attention to him. "Aurora!"
In a burst of fire, a phoenix appeared above them. Seeming to understand Harry's will, she swooped down towards Hermione, and in another burst of fire, both disappeared.
"Alright, ugly," Harry muttered to himself once Hermione was out of harm's way. "Let's see how tough you really are." At that moment, Aurora once again appeared above him, and he grabbed onto her tail. Aurora then flew towards the troll's head. Taking aim, Harry cried out, "Incendio!" A rush of fire appeared out of the end of his wand and entered into the troll's mouth, burning its throat and its insides.
A few seconds later, it dropped its club and fell to its knees. Smoke could be seen coming out of its mouth.
Aurora lowered Harry to the ground and perched herself on his shoulder.
"Harry!"
Harry turned around to see Draco and Ron running towards him. Both gaped at the dead troll in front of them.
"Harry, did you – how did you - ?" Draco was shocked speechless.
"Bloody hell, Harry," Ron whispered.
Harry smiled. "Let's get back to Gryffindor Tower. Hold onto me." The other two could only obey wordlessly. In a burst of fire, they appeared in front of the portrait hole. Aurora was gone.
Shaken, Draco said softly, "And to think, we thought you would need our help since you didn't know about the escaped troll. What just happened?"
Harry chuckled. "Don't worry about it. Do me a favor though, and don't mention what you saw to anyone." Entering the portrait hole, he found himself in Hermione's bone-crushing hug once again. "Are you alright, Hermione?"
Poor Hermione! She didn't even know how to respond.
"Harry, where were you?" George asked, coming up to them. "Me and Fred had to distract Percy so that Ron and Malfoy could escape and look for you."
There was a silence before Ron said, "Harry slayed the troll." All conversation in the common room stopped. "We found him in front of the troll, and it was dead." He turned to Harry with a look akin to awe. "You must be really powerful. How did you do it? What spell did you use?"
Suddenly there was a surge of students towards Harry as people begged for the story. Harry ducked under Hermione and sprinted towards the stairway to the boy's dormitories. To many Gryffindors' disappointment, Harry was up the stairs before anyone could stop him. Draco turned to Ron, scowling, "What's the matter with you, Weasley? He told us not to say anything!"
Ron folded his arms, indignant. "I don't see what the problem is! If I were him, I'd be fine with people knowing what I can do."
"Well, your name isn't Harry Potter now, is it?" Draco huffed. "You've known him for what? Almost two months now, and you don't know he's about as shy as you are thoughtless?" When Ron started sputtering, he smirked and drawled, "Give it up, Weasel. None of this would've happened had it not been for you. The gift of thought seemed to have skipped over you as a human being."
Ron shifted uncomfortably. "Uh…Granger?"
Hermione gave Ron a hard look.
"Gra – Hermione, about earlier…" He couldn't seem to finish.
"Forget it. Harry already apologized for you," Hermione said imperiously. She let Ron squirm a bit before softening her voice and offering him a hand.
Ron smiled sheepishly and took her offered hand.
"It's all good for you, Weasley, but aren't you going to apologize to me, Granger?" Draco demanded.
"For what, Malfoy?" Hermione challenged.
"For nearly knocking me over!"
…
McGonagall gasped at the sight of the dead troll. "Albus, what could have happened here?"
Dumbledore stepped around the troll, inspecting it. "It appears to have been killed by an Incendio."
"But trolls are spell-resistant…"
"Not," he emphasized. "Not if you shoot a spell into its mouth."
"Who could have done this?"
Dumbledore shrugged, though he had a good suspicion. "Who knows?"
…
Harry put down his quill and stretched, letting out a tired yawn. A glance at the clock indicated how late it was. He turned to Draco, who had fallen asleep working beside him. Draco, as almost every night, tried to keep up with him, but as always, his friend didn't have the same stamina as he did. Ron didn't even try. Harry hadn't been able to shake off all the habits he had cultivated when he had been living with the Dursleys, one of which was hard work on little rest. He closed One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, keeping his notes between the pages to mark his place. "Draco?"
Draco shifted slightly but slept on.
Harry sighed, debating whether to help him up the stairs or just drape a blanket over him. He turned towards the fireplace. Ron had apologized later that night, and Harry had forgiven him easily enough. However, he still had to sneak around Gryffindor Tower the next few days to avoid people questioning him. He wished people didn't make such a big deal out of everything. How he missed Madam Malkin's shop! There, he could simply do his job, and no one would blink an eye.
Master…
Harry turned towards the portrait hole. He had let Sasha out so that she could explore the castle at her leisure at night while everyone was asleep. Usually he would accompany her, her sense of smell providing him plenty of warning with regards to patrolling prefects and his invisibility cloak providing him plenty of cover. However, today, he had been a bit too busy to go exploring. He stood up and opened the door, allowing the snake to slither in. "How was your adventure? Where did you explore?"
The third floor corridor. Sasha's eyes glittered. It is most interesting really. The old man must be getting senile, keeping a three-headed dog in the school. It looks full-grown, too.
Harry blinked, trying to decide if he had heard her right. "Three-headed dog? Like a Cerberus? Here?"
Sasha nodded. This castle sure is interesting…
"Sure is. I'm sure Professor Dumbledore has his reasons although I'm curious what those reasons are."
Maybe he's trying to protect an endangered species? Sasha supplied helpfully.
Harry shrugged. He remembered learning to tame a Cerberus. It wasn't the most exciting thing he had to learn if he was being honest. More than anything, it was time consuming. It involved playing music intermittently so that the dog was drowsy enough not to try to kill him but not drowsy enough to simply fall asleep. Then he would spend time lounging around with it so that it would get used to his presence.
"Harry?"
Harry looked up to see Draco blinking sleepily and confusedly at his surroundings. Sasha slithered away discreetly. "Finally woken up have you?" he asked, smirking.
"What time is it?" Draco slurred.
"1:20. Shall we go up to bed?"
Draco yawned before nodding and saying, "I had the strangest dream. I dreamt that you're a Parselmouth, and you and Sasha were having a discussion about something or other…" He continued muttering to himself half-asleep as he followed Harry up the stairs.
"Draco, you really should stop having chocolate before bed. You'll probably forget what I'm saying in the morning, but you sleep talk a lot after you've had sweets at night. One of these days, you'll confess your love to Ron or something," Harry said fondly. "I still can't believe you ate three chocolate frogs in one sitting."
"Can't help it. They're tasty. And Harry, that's nasty." Draco moaned as though in physical pain. "Weasley has too many freckles. I'd rather confess my love to a Hufflepuff."
Harry snickered as he opened the door to their dorm room. As he closed his eyes to sleep, he could still hear Draco muttering about freckles and red hair.
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