Chapter 4/7 (Year 1)
I stumbled into the great hall around dinner time and collapsed onto one of the Gryfindor table benches and slammed my face onto the table. Ginny stared at me from across the table, pausing in her buttering of bread.
"What happened to you?" She asked, sounding like her little crying fest from earlier hadn't happened. I groaned and sat up and stared at her with half lidded eyes.
"Lockhart, being the absolute prick he is, decided that after I got out of a coma, I deserve to be worked into one by him" I complained to Ginny as Luna slid into the seat next to me.
"Well what did you do to upset him" Luna questioned while adding food to her plate.
"I swore at peeves" That caused both of them to stop.
"But everyone does that" Luna seemed as befuddled as me.
"I know!" I exclaimed. "It's bullshit"
"Ten points from Gryfindor" Professor Snape said as he passed to leave the hall.
I let my face collide with the table again.
"God fucking dammit"
The good news from being in a coma from flying, I was now exempt from all flying lessons. A fact that might have caused despair for many but only caused me relief.
So with a free period, I went to our new secret base and examined it and what equipment would be needed to be sent so I could set up the second version of the Lab. I did run a business after all.
I used a spell that I had created years ago, a way that replicated Iris Messaging from the Percy Jackson books. A mist appeared in front of me that showed up after I put on my disguise. And the ugly mug of Vincent Oohsaine stared back.
"John, how are you doing? I've got some new hopefuls that I've passed onto the goblins" He started off our conversation with talk about work, because of course he did.
Vincent was the man who helped me set up my business. First he would find some hopefuls who were looking for some quick money and wouldn't rat me out and pass them onto the goblins. Who then set up binding agreements and contracts as well as a way for them to get payed. Next, I would pass on my experiments where past test subjects worked, sorting out ways to test it in the most non lethal way possible before administrating the potion/spell to the subjects.
Any who were injured in any way were compensated, even if we had root through their mind to make sure they didn't do it on purpose to get free money.
"Hey man what's up? hows the wife?" I asked, making small talk while I thought about ways to start up a production line from all the way in Hogwarts.
"Still dead" He laughed as if it was the funniest thing he'd heard in years, just like he did every time I said that joke.
"Right, mate I'm going to need some potion kits, maybe an expanded trunk and some unicorn dust(I was running low)" I said as Vincent scribbled the items down onto a notepad.
"So where do you want it? Hogsmeade? It's probably closer than the dead drop we usually use" I nodded my head at his suggestion, it would be too far away for me to get the supplies eas-wait, I hadn't told Vincent who I really was, how did he know that I went to Hogwarts?.
My deer in headlights expression must have easily shown because he started laughing uproariously. "W-what, how did you know who I am!?" I demanded.
He shot me an insufferable smirk and said "Well, I have eyes everywhere, you're wearing a Hogwarts uniform and you sometimes forget to do your disguise. Ain't that a funny way to find out, Henry Weasley?" He raised an eyebrow at the end. I gritted my teeth and shot back.
"How much money do you want?" I growled,he chuckled and said.
"Non!" He said cheerfully. "You already make me so much money already, why would I get rid of someone who makes me so much money in the long run just for a bit of money short term?"
And that's how I spent my afternoon trying to give myself a concussion using a wall from my stupidity.
When I went to my next lesson, I was surprised to find Lockhart standing outside the door.
I swore in surprise and ducked behind Luna, peeking my head over her shoulder to see if he noticed me. Luna stared at me bemusedly before asking.
"What are you doing?"
"It's Lockhart, he's been forcing me to be his assistant all day, I refuse to fake being a banshee and swoon over him" I said hotly while glaring at the accursed man.
As if being alerted by my dislike, he turned his head and spotted me.
"Ahh, Henry, there you are, I was worried when those deadly creatures escaped that you were injured. Follow me, we have another lesson" He said as he strode over to me and Luna.
"Shit" Came from my mouth before I took off running.
"Henry! We must talk about your appalling vocabulary!" He shouted as he ran after me.
I sprinted up the steps that led to where all the moving staircases were located, nearly falling over the edge as a staircase moved at the exact moment i placed my foot on it.
Hearing him wheezing as he got closer, I saw a staircase mid move a floor below and jumped.
I collided painfully with the stone stair, quickly scrambling to get a grip on the side. I looked up to see a random student from about two floors up gaping at me, I waved at him absently as I looked around to see if I recognised where I was.
Looking around my surroundings, I spotted that the staircase was heading towards a doorway that led to the dungeons. I waited patiently waited for it to stop before leaving, ignoring the persistent bastard that had followed me all the way from charms.
Walking down the cold,dark hallway I stumbled backwards as I collided with a scowling wall that came from a classroom.
"Professor Snape!" I yelped as I straightened up. Snape's scowling face stared down at me as he hefted the potion supplies up into his arms more securely.
"Weasley, what are you doing?" He stared unimpressed at my ruffled form before looking off at the end of the hallway where Lockhart was rounding the corner, shouting and panting the whole way.
"Ahh, Professor Snape, thank you so very much for capturing this little rapscallion. How about after I punish him, I could teach you how a real potion master brews, eh?" He said with a grin at the end.
Professor Snape looked at me with the expression of deep sympathy.
And that's how I spent my lesson time with Snape listening to Lockhart whaling on the door trying to get our attention.
I learned the best ways to poison people that lesson.
My next couple of weeks were spent dodging Lockhart and spending time with Ginny and Luna. Oh, and dealing with my new apprenticeship with Snape.
"What!?" I said, completely dumbfounded.
"I refuse to allow the only student in this school that has an ounce of skill in potions go to waste. You will learn how to put your skill to good use if I have any thing to say about it" Snape said as he strode away from my frozen form.
I hurried after him, struggling to keep up with his long strides.
"You can't just say something like that and walk away" I burst out as he finally stopped and acknowledged me.
"And why can't I?" He scoffed at my face and walked off, I didn't follow him this time.
I told my sister and friend the news later on after curfew in our new Lab, with dust still everywhere and some new additions to it, like the giant sofa that Ginny insisted on getting, an investment that I now think was worth it.
"What!?"My sister shouted in surprise while Luna paused in her petting of her most recent birthday present, a Crumple Horned Snorcack, a weird rabbit creature with a horn replacing one of its ears and curling in on itself. The Snorcack was one of my greatest achievements, because it signified that I was able to create Life. I added camouflage, poison, fire breathing(That was a bitch to figure out) and retractable wings.
"That is very strange" Luna said thoughtfully as she mused on Snape's intentions .
"Strange? You mean inane! Snape has never shown a like of his students apart from the usual amount for Slytherin's, and he barely tolerates them" It was clear to everyone that Snape only barely tolerated his house, and that he would rather not be around any child for the rest of his life.
"That's what I was thinking!?" I said, thankful that she agreed with me. "It's like he actually wants to teach me, it's confusing" I complained.
Halloween came faster than what I had thought was possible, and before I knew it, pumpkins decorated pretty much every corner in the school and I had to deal with people trying to scare me.
I scowled as my brothers jumped out of a broom closet stopping me from going to my next class, considering how many times I've ditched class already, I didn't want to give my teachers another reason to punish me.
"What do you want" I said irritably. "I need to get to class"
"Oh that's new-" The other twin spoke up. "Considering how many times you've ditched class"
"What do you want" I repeated, hiding my inner panic. If my mother found out, I was dead.
"We just want to know-" "where you've been going?" "Hogsmeade?" "Library?" "Kitchens?" "Diagon Alley?" My brothers bounced suggestions at me while trying to get me to admit to where I was going.
And that was what caused me to be late for class, which caused me to get a detention on Halloween.
Professor Flitwick had me scrubbing the trophy's in the trophy room for a good three hours or so, where my only break came near the end of my scrubbing. Filch and Mrs Norris had been diligently watching me the entire time. They clearly knew my reputation as the student with the worst attendance in the entirety of the school.
Filch had wandered off early when he heard some kids causing a ruckus in the nearby rooms, leaving me with Mrs Norris.
When I finished, me and Mrs Norris walked back to Filch's office where he told us to meet him when I finished.
We were walking along, when we heard some hissing and weird sound, it sounded like someone was dragging leather across the floor roughly. Mrs Norris leapt up, back arching and hissing the entire way.
The sound of her landing with a splash reminded me, what happened on Halloween in the second book. Oh, fuck. When we walked through the hall filled with water, I had groaned about getting my socks wet and thought about how it reminded me of something.
I shut my eyes as Mrs Norris's yowls cut off. Sucking in a gasp as I felt something Leathery brush across my skin. I whimpered as the basilisk hissed and something wet dragged across my face.
Using the sonar spell I created, I froze as it shown the basilisk licking my face. Using it again I gasped as it shown it coiling and lunged to the side. The sound of it's pain and the heavy collision to the wall echoed around in my head.
Scrambling to my feet, I ran, spamming the sonar spell and trying to push through my fear. Running while desperately keeping your eyes closed is not an activity I recommend.
With every step I took, the basilisk got closer and closer, ready to devour me whole. I sprinted down the halls, followed by the deadly sixty foot beast which I constantly tried to shake by taking sharp corners and throwing spells and objects at it in hope of blinding it.
I came across a staircase that led to the third floor, which triggered a memory. Wasn't their that trap door in that forbidden room. The door would have had to be warded and strong to make sure Fluffy didn't escape.
Desperate to live, I took the dwindling chance of life as my more logical side tried to dissuade me form going there. Ignoring it I threw open the door and slammed it shut behind me.
Watching the door bulge and hear the sounds of something large slam into it, I laughed as it held.
That door held as the wall next to it exploded into a shower of bricks. The door was warded, but the wall next to it wasn't.
I slammed my eyes shut and stumbled backwards as it it's head wormed it's way through the new hole. I fell backwards as my foot caught on something metal sticking up from the floor.
The trapdoor! As fast as I could, I whipped it open and jumped with reckless abandon, down into the dark shadows below. When I rushed into the dark abyys, I didn't think of something. What happened to the devil snare?
Before I could ponder on it, I slammed painfully into the ground.
I awoke when the trapdoor slammed open, revealing my broken legs to Dumbledore and the onlookers.
AN:bit of action this chapter, sorry about last week, I promise it isn't going to happen often and hope this chapter makes up for it.