Disclaimer: I own nothing of Harry Potter and everything recognizable belongs to J K Rowling.
There you go! Another chapter, second longest yet. Sorry if it took a bit long. I decided to rewrite the whole chapter because I wasn't perfectly happy with it in the first place and because of the many little corrections I've done to the the prior chapters before posting them, there were some things that just didn't add up. Anyway, I hope you like it. ;)
TO KNOW YOUR ENEMY,
by blaugrana-al-vent
Chapter 13: Outcome
Previously on 'To Know Your Enemy':
"What do you mean?" asked Snape.
"I fear that Harry's Aura could even match Voldemort's."
.o0o.
An intense silencefollowed those words. For a while nobody spoke and several seconds after the shocking statement the door creaked open interrupting everybody's musings. They all turned to see Neville, Hannah and the Weasley twins standing there and looking directly at Harry with worry on their faces. Neville shifted his gaze to Madam Pompfrey and she nodded, confirming that they could come in.
They all rushed to Harry. Madam Pompfrey explained them what was wrong with him, omitting the Dark Magic details and Dumbledore's involvement. Harry, Madam Pompfrey explained to them, was in a coma due to the stress that his mind had gone through when the mind had been so violently broken. He had been lucky though, and he was out of danger. The nurse told them he should wake up in a few days.
The other occupants of the room decided to retire to Dumbledore's quarters and discuss the distressing news. Snape who wasn't convinced about Harry's darkness and thought it was yet another act or scheme from Dumbledore decided he'd rather excuse himself and leave towards the dungeons where he had several potions to brew, or so he said. Sprout was nicely asked by Dumbledore to give them some space so he and the Potters could discuss this privately. Madam Pompfrey wasn't happy with Dumbledore leaving the Infirmary on his state but she was quickly overruled by him.
"I can't believe he's leaving." Hannah said looking at James Potter's retreating back. "It's his son who's at the Hospital Wing!"
"Arsehole." Fred said.
"So what happened?" George asked. They had entered as soon as they had arrived and seen Neville waiting outside the doors. He hadn't had the chance to explain yet. "What was Poppy saying about mind links?"
"That bastard got into his mind." he told them. "Dumbledore." he added at their questioning faces. "He had Karl stun him in the back. Then, with both Potter's help they dragged him to an unused classroom and Dumbledore raped his mind!" Neville said heatedly and exasperatedly. Hannah squeezed his shoulder in support. Neville continued then. "I was down at the dungeons. Snape was in his office so I took out a pair of mirrors we have to communicate with each other. It was then when I saw that son-of-a-bitch behind him. I tried to warn Harry but I was too late. The connection between the mirrors broke. I suppose Harry's smashed when he dropped to the floor. Snape came in after that. He had heard me yell at the mirror. I told him Karl Potter had attacked his brother and he resolved to help me. When we found them I saw they had placed Harry on a table. Dumbledore was leaning over him. Something inside me snapped. I did what first came to my mind. I tackled him and we went both crashing to the door."
"Good job mate." Fred said appreciatively. His brother and he were amazed that he had attacked Dumbledore like that. Neville looked at them very seriously.
"No it wasn't. Harry's in this state because I broke forcefully the link between his' and Dumbledore's minds. Poppy said he could have been killed."
.o0o.
"What's going on?" Lily asked her husband while taking a seat at his side. She hadn't missed his grim look when he had fire-called her and told her to join them at the Head Office.
"Please, do take a seat Lily." said Dumbledore signalling the empty chair. "We have called for you to discuss an issue that needs our outmost attention. Its urgency is such that we could not overlook or postpone this in any possible way."
"What is it Albus?" asked Lily.
"We fear that your son, Harry," he clarified after seeing she had paled dramatically. After that she regained a bit of her colour. "has gone Dark."
"What makes you think that?" she managed to say after opening and closing her mouth several times without any words escaping her lips.
"I personally checked his Aura some minutes ago." he said, and after a pause that gave an incredible dramatic effect, he added in a worried tone. "Lily, your son has the Darkest Aura I've ever seen."
"No." she said in denial mode. "Harry might be somewhat rebellious and difficult, but he would never..."
"Lily? Can't you remember what happened when Harry was three and we found him talking to a snake?" he added.
"We were never sure that he was actually talking to it." Lily argued. "All we saw was-"
"Was Harry stroking a very dangerous snake that was coiled in his biceps. He had even named the damned thing!"
"But Harry has never shown any interests in any Dark spells." Lily said. She couldn't believe Harry would have gone dark.
"Lily, do you really think he would do it publicly, for us to know. No way. He's been practicing in secret." said James.
"Nevertheless, I think there is still time for him to go back to the right path. There is still time for him to redeem himself."
"How?"
"With love, my dear Lily. Love is power in its purest form. If he feels loved by his family he may not feel the need to continue such despicable practices. I fear that having lived under Karl's shadow has built an incredible amount of resentment. Dark magic is powered by hate, anger, resentment. We have to get rid of that in order to help him."
"But Albus, you have seen how he treats us. He hates us." said Lily.
"I know it will be a hard task to gain back his confidence and love, but are you not willing to try before it is too late for him?"
"Of course I am." she said confidently.
"I suggest that one of you is there when he wakes up." Dumbledore suggested.
"Wakes up?" Lily asked confused and a bit alarmed. "Did something happen to him?"
"Lily. Remember I told you that Albus had found a way to get into Harry's mind to get that damned memory of his meeting with Black so we could part them from one another?"
"Yes..." she said urging him to continue.
"Well, the method consisted in getting into his mind while he was unconscious."
"You stunned him?" she asked.
"It was the only way Lils." James explained. "What did you want us to do?"
"And you didn't think to ask me what I thought about it? I'm her mother goddamnit."
"Lily, thanks to what we did we have that memory now. We'll be able to keep Black and his bad influence from him. We'll be able to bring him back to our family because of this."
"James, you do realize that if we want him to come back to the family stunning him so we can navigate his mind won't help much, do you?"
"It was the only way, Lily." Dumbledore said. "It wasn't that what landed him in the Hospital Wing, though. All was going well and according to plan when Neville Longbottom and Snape showed up."
"Longbottom tackled him." James explained as he nodded towards Dumbledore.
"The mind link between me and your son was broken in a sudden and painful way. That is what landed him in the Hospital Wing. He took the worse part as he was already unconscious and his mind vulnerable."
"So he's going to be okay?" Lily asked.
"Yes. He will wake up in a few days. He'll be all right." Dumbledore assured her.
"Do you know if he'll remember what happened?" she asked.
"I don't think so." James said. "Karl says he never saw him stun him. After the mind link was broken Harry was awake for a few seconds but I don't think he knew what was going on."
"Maybe we can tell him a different story about what happened. Something that may help you look good in his eyes." the Headmaster suggested.
"That's actually a good idea." James said.
"The matter that worries me most is where he learnt dark magic." Dumbledore said. James and Lily seemed to ponder it for a few seconds before James growled.
"Black. This is what I've been talking about! Ever since they started having regular contact he's been distancing himself from us. When we were young Black was the most open-minded of our entire group concerning dark magic."
"That would make sense." added Lily. "It's been a long time since we fell apart. Could he have built such a dark Aura since then?"
"It is very possible, especially if Harry is as powerful as I believe after inspecting his Aura."
"Harry? Powerful?" asked James skeptically. "He has lost every duel I remember, and he's always struggling in my classes."
"And in Charms too." added Lily.
"Maybe he's downplaying his abilities. Dark magic has a really bad reputation."
"And for a damn good reason." James growled.
"We'll have to look into it I suppose." Dumbledore said. "Anyway, tomorrow, if I have recovered fully and have Madam Pompfrey's consent, I shall head to the Ministry and submit our evidence. With luck, by lunchtime it will all be done."
"And Black won't be able to contact Harry in any way. If he does, he'll spend a few months in Azkaban." James said satisfied.
"Nevertheless we have a limited time frame to bring Harry back to the light side of magic. Once he comes of age the order will be void." explained Dumbledore.
"What about his mail?" asked Lily. "Will the restraining order prevent them from writing to each other?"
"In these cases charms are placed so he won't be able to owl him. If they do, we will know."
"But Albus, he could always write to Longbottom and ask him to pass on his message." James countered.
"That's true, but I don't think he'll try. A violation of a restraining order results in a few months in Azkaban. I'm sure Sirius is fully aware of that so I don't think he will risk it. And even if he did try, I'm going to expel Longbottom, so he won't be able to forward Sirius' or Harry's messages anyway."
"You're going to expel Neville?" asked Lily, shocked.
"Augusta Longbottom won't be pleased." James observed. He was glad though.
"It will only be a temporary expulsion." Dumbledore told them. "If your son Harry's gone dark ne may have too. They're best friends after all, I think. Neville Longbottom will be allowed to come back to Hogwarts when he understands that he must distance himself from Harry and Dark Magic. The boy attacked me. In normal circumstances I would let the matter drop. He was shown bravery and loyalty beyond measure when he defended Harry, and those are things that should be rewarded, not punished. Besides, he was one of the candidates of the Prophecy. I would rather make sure he isn't dark too. Under his grandmother's watchful eye, he'll come back to the Light, I am sure. Being apart from Harry will be beneficial for both of them, and for us."
"How would that be beneficial for us?" asked James.
"In more ways than one, my dear James. I'll convince Augusta to intercept any letters from Harry or Hogwarts sent to Neville and we'll do the same with Harry on this end. Your son will be completely isolated from Neville and Sirius, he'll think he has lost Neville's friendship, and with Sirius out of the picture you'll be the ones to comfort him and influence him to come back to his family and the Light. You'll have to talk to Karl about it. On his end, Longbottom will think that Harry has severed their friendship when his letters come back unopened. I'll make sure Augusta makes Neville see reason and abandon any dark practices Harry may have convinced him to undertake."
.o0o.
The Weasley twins, Hannah and Neville were sitting around their friend. It was well past curfew for Hannah and Neville, but not for the Gryffindors. Seventh years had an extended curfew due to their workload that year. During many minutes they had been heavily criticizing the Potters, Dumbledore, their horde of fans, everything they could think of. They were enraged at what had happened and it felt good to release it this way. Midway through their heated conversation the door opened, startling them.
The Headmaster entered, followed by both Professors Potter and surprisingly for Neville, his grandmother Augusta. All of their angry expressions turned a bit into shock as they saw Augusta Longbottom there. They all had a bad feeling about this, especially Neville.
"Grandmother, what are you doing here?" he asked, startled.
"Abbott, Weasley, leave." barked James, holding the door open for them.
"Which one?" they challenged at the same time.
"Both!" James said icily.
"But we are seventh years! We have extended curfew!" the twins protested.
"Please, we have something to discuss with Mr. Longbottom, in private." Dumbledore explained calmly.
That seemed to do the trick and reluctantly they started making the way to the exit. James told them to go to their common rooms immediately or it would be detention for all of them.
"Poppy? Could you give us some privacy too?" Dumbledore asked the school nurse with a questioning gaze.
"Of course, Albus, I'll be in my Office. Call for me if anything happens." she said nodding at Harry's unconscious form.
"What's going on?" Neville asked at once, slightly intimidated and annoyed by his grandmother's presence.
"Mr. Longbottom, I'm afraid that your actions today cannot, in fact, will not, go unpunished."
"I don't understand. I already received punishment from professor Snape. And if you were not aware, let me tell you that I was defending a fellow student who was being mind raped by the very person who swore to protect his students!" he said hotly.
"He had his parent's permission, Neville. Therefore it is nothing more than an authorised mind exploration, not unlike the ones they do at St. Mungo's." explained his grandmother in a berating tone.
"Semantics! He was probing Harry's mind at will, without any type of control or supervision."
"You're free to think what you wish Mr. Longbottom, but truth is that I did nothing wrong." Dumbledore defended himself.
"You can deceive yourself all you want Headmaster, the fact remains that you did rape his mind. People are sent to Azkaban for that." Neville said coldly. We'll see what the Board of Governors think about that. He thought.
"Well I will not be. As I've said I had Mr. Potter's permission. That makes it all legal." Dumbledore said arrogantly.
"And what about ordering Karl Potter to attack him so you can play with his mind. Is that legal Professor?" Neville barked.
"My son had nothing to do with this Longbottom! In fact he was the one who found Harry unconscious and alerted us. Seeing he was in no immediate danger from the spell, we chose to perform Legilimency on him that moment so we could spare him the unpleasantness of the process."
"Wait. What spell?" Neville asked.
"The Dark spell that left him in such state. He should have known better than to play with dark magic."
"That's bullshit!" Neville yelled angrily.
"Language Neville!" berated Augusta Longbottom.
"Anyway, about your punishment..." started Dumbledore.
"Are you deaf?" yelled Neville, who already had a hunch that he was going to be expelled. It was the only punishment worse than what Snape had already assigned him. "Snape has already assigned me loads of detention, among many other things!"
"All of that will remain unchanged until your return." said Dumbledore.
"My return?" asked Neville dubiously.
"You are coming home for some months Neville. That should show you how to behave yourself young man!" she lectured him.
"I'm being expelled?" Neville said not really believing it.
"Temporarily, yes. You'll be able to come once you've had time to ponder on your actions."
"You will be able to serve detention with Professor Snape when you come back then." said James smugly. Neville ignored him.
"What about my OWLs? I can't skip class if I am to take them!" Neville tried to argue the decision.
"You'll be receiving your classes from a tutor back at Longbottom Manor." Dumbledore explained.
"And who will be the tutor?"
"That has yet to be decided." replied Dumbledore.
"I hope he makes a better teacher than these two." he said sneering at the Potters. He was really mad at them ever since he had met Harry, and now even more, if it was actually possible. "Flitwick and McGonagall were far better teachers than you."
"Neville!" Augusta screeched. "You should show some respect to your betters!"
"They best me in nothing I care of! What about Harry then?"
"That's none of your business Longbottom." James said bitingly and inwardly seething at Neville's boldness.
"Of course it is. He's my best friend. Although I don't suppose you understand what that means anymore." said Neville glaring at him.
"What are you on about?" James hissed dangerously.
"What I mean is that you don't have true friends anymore. Only ass-lickers and hysteric fans who only want to meet the Boy-Who-Lived."
"You don't know what you are talking about!"
"Of course I do. The only friend you have is Peter Pettigrew although he only tags along as he has always done! Sirius Black had better sense and walked away from you."
James lost his temper. "Shut up!" he cried as he backhanded Neville.
"James!" Lily cried.
"That's enough Mr. Longbottom. Augusta take him away!" Dumbledore instructed her.
.o0o.
The fifth year Hufflepuffs met the next day with the Weasley twins outside the Hospital Wing before breakfast, hoping to see Harry and find Neville. After Hannah had been dismissed from the Hospital Wing the night before, she had joined Susan, Ernie and Justin at the boys' dorm. Justin was annoyed she hadn't told him she had found Harry and Neville. After she had explained what had happened he was more comprehensive. They waited for hours for Neville to come back but he never did.
The following morning they all woke up, still in the boys' dorm. Hannah had fallen asleep in Neville's bed. They went directly to the Hospital Wing, not bothering about breakfast. They hoped to find Neville there. Maybe he had been allowed to stay for the night. Never did it cross their minds that he would have been expelled. They knew it was possible, but life away from Hogwarts was a concept that felt so unreal that they thought they would never see anyone be expelled from Hogwarts. A student suspended for a few months was all they had seen: Summerby, their former Seeker.
As soon as they had arrived they realized that they had been too optimistic, for not only Harry was still knocked out, but Neville wasn't there. They all immediately went to Harry's side. He was still unconscious though he looked better than the night before. Not seeing Neville anywhere, Hannah dragged Susan to Madam Pompfrey's Office to ask her about it. She should know if he was around.
"Ms. Abbott, Ms. Bones, good morning. Here to see Harry?" she asked kindly.
"Well yes, but we were wondering if Neville has come by this morning." The matron's features adopted a somber expression and Hannah frowned, feeling there was something very wrong.
"What is it Madam Pompfrey?" she questioned the nurse.
"Mr. Longbottom was expelled from school yesterday." she said rapidly.
"What?" Hannah whispered, her eyes threatening to let some tears out.
"Why? Madam Pompfrey why was he expelled?" asked Susan while she enveloped Hannah in a hug.
"I suppose it was because of what happened between him and the Headmaster yesterday evening, but I can't be sure. Professor Dumbledore will be making an announcement at this morning's breakfast."
"But he was only defending Harry!" Hannah yelled before she started sobbing quietly.
"I know dear, and I'm truly sorry." Madam Pompfrey said. She sighed and walked past the two girls to check on Harry. "However this is out of my hands."
When she arrived at Harry's bed the rest of the group bombarded her with the same question. They were furious to learn that Neville had been expelled for a thing that Karl Potter would have gotten points for.
.o0o.
By breakfast everybody had already heard of what had happened the previous evening. Students, teachers, and ghosts alike had heard of what Neville had done thanks to the Hogwarts rumor mill. Karl Potter had made sure to expand his own fraudulent chronicle of the occurrence, one that vilified his brother and Neville, although leaving out his own part in the entire incident.
The Slytherins were quite amused when they heard that the Longbottom boy had attacked the Headmaster and that the brother of the Boy-Who-Lived had gone dark. They were quite pleased when they heard about it. Contrarily to the House of the Snake, the students of the remaining Houses were horrified, especially the Gryffindor sheep. Such rumors were to be expected if anyone attacked Dumbledore or the Boy-Who-Lived in any way. They were the beacons of Light; everyone admired and listened to them, ready to follow their orders. Anyone against them would automatically earn the Dark or Evil tag. Harry and Neville's absence that morning only helped to give the rumors more credibility. Only a handful of people knew what had really happened the night before, including some fifth year Hufflepuffs and two seventh year pranksters.
Suddenly a clinking sound was heard and all students turned to see Dumbledore rising from his chair, which was more of a throne, at his place in the Head Table.
"May I have your attention please?" the Hall quieted down after a few seconds of clatter. "Thank you, it is my duty to inform you that one of your fellow students, Neville Longbottom, has been indeed temporarily expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for an indeterminate amount of time. I know that many, many rumors about what may or may have not have happened, have already been spread around the school. I know that you're all itching to know what really happened. Well, I'm afraid that neither me, nor any of my staff members will be releasing any information of the occurrence anytime soon. That information will remain a private matter between Mr. Longbottom and myself. Thank you."
"Typical Dumbledore." Fred muttered annoyed.
"Leave it to him to offer a vague explanation that doesn't discredit any of these foul rumors going around." George agreed.
"Seriously, the gossip about Harry wanting to murder Dumbledore as a birthday gift to You-Know-Who is quite too overdone." Fred commented.
"I think Dumbledore needs to be pranked too."
"Too?"
"Well, we're not going to let what Potter and his dumber son did to Harry go unpunished are we?"
"Of course not!"
The two of them abandoned whatever breakfast they had left and hurried out of the Great Hall with dozens of ideas that needed to be thoroughly considered.
.o0o.
Neville had arrived at Longbottom Manor the night before. After leaving the Hospital Wing he was directly taken back home. He wasn't allowed to say goodbye to Hannah, or the twins. He wasn't even allowed to pack his things. An elf had already done that for him. He and his grandmother walked to Hogsmeade and there they called for the Knight Bus. During all the journey Neville had to endure an endless lecture about proper behavior, respecting your elders, and surprisingly for Neville, the dangers of dark magic. If anyone asked him, he would swear that Augusta Longbottom thought he had gone dark.
Upon arriving home Augusta Longbottom had the intention of continuing with her lecture, but Neville decided he'd already had enough and went straight to bed not bothering to listen to his grandmother's rant. He slammed the door forcefully and fitted a chair between the doorknob and the floor, a way to effectively block doors without resorting to magic. It was a muggle trick Harry had shown him. Mrs. Longbottom was not amused when she couldn't get in. After the standard unlocking spells failed to open the door, she started going on and on about how Neville had used Dark Magic, no doubt learnt from Harry, to shut the door. Neville yelled at her through the door if she saw any Ministry owls delivering a warning for using magic out of school, hoping that would shut her up so he could sleep. It did not. Never thinking that a muggle trick could be far more useful than a spell, she expressed her absurd belief that Neville had also used dark magic to conceal his use of magic. Neville was seconds away from silencing his room, which would certainly get him in trouble, when his grandmother desisted. She did not come back, so Neville had time to think and sulk. He was far too riled up to go to sleep right now.
.o0o.
HOPE YOU DON'T FLAME ME. THINGS CONTINUE TO LOOK DOWN FOR HARRY, UNFORTUNATELY, BUT WILL GET BETTER, I PROMISE. HE'S JUST LOST A FRIEND FOR SOME TIME, BUT HE'S GAINED A WHOLE BUNCH OF THEM IN THE HUFFLEPUFF FIFTH YEARS. LET'S SEE WHAT THEY COME UP WITH TO GET NEVILLE BACK.
HOPE YOU ENJOYED IT AND YOU REVIEW IT... PLEASEEEEE:)