Ripples

Harper jolted awake by the alarm on her bed. The awakening charm was annoying, but more effective than any alarm clock she'd ever owned. She'd ended up staying late into the night to work off all three detentions with Snape. She didn't feel like she'd gotten enough rest, but Theo was already moving. So she quietly got her work-out kit and snuck out with Theo for their daily morning run.

As soon as they were alone Theo asked the question she had been expecting. "So, how did you know about Daphne and the troll?"

"The short answer, I had a dream. I'll tell you more after we work out. Daphne and Tracey are going to meet us after we're done jogging."

"A dream? Very interesting. I wonder if you have a bit of seer in you, Harry. I've checked your star chart. It is hard to interpret without your rising sign. I really wish that you knew the hour of your birth and not just the day."

This wasn't the first time Theo had made that comment. "What can I say? My parents are dead. I'll try to get ahold of my muggle birth certificate, but don't hold your breath. Come on, let's stretch."

She was really proud of Theo's progress in jogging. At first he'd tired quickly, but now he was almost keeping up with her. She really had to get a muggle exercise book so they could exercise right. After jogging out away from school, they switched to dueling. Theo became the master and she the student. She really didn't know why Theo was so jittery. He had taught her so much, not just hexes, but blocking and chaining and staying in motion. Theo usually won, but she was getting better. They went seven rounds and Theo won four to her three. Afterwards, they jogged back and showered.

The girls were waiting when they got out. Bows and curtsies were exchanged. These were the usual minimal greetings, except for when Daphne. When Daphne curtsied to Harper she went deeper. "Good morn', Mister Potter."

Tracey ignored her friend's display. "We're going to have to get up and watch what you're doing in the mornings some day. There are all sorts of rumors flying around and some of them aren't very nice."

Harper wasn't too happy to hear about the rumors and had a good idea they went back to Malfoy. He bowed to the girls. "I've never made a secret that we're jogging around the lake. Instead of just watching us, why don't you join us some time?"

Tracey laughed. "Don't be silly. We're girls. Muscles are fine for boys, but even muggle girls wouldn't be silly enough to go running around some lake early in the morning."

"I think you would be surprised what muggle girls do, Tracey. They do practically everything muggle boys do, including sports." Granted sports might be the one place where boys and girls couldn't compete equally on the same playing field, but that was beside the point. Girls can and did excel at sports. "They even marry whoever they want to marry, not who their families tell them to marry."

"My family has promised me a voice in the decision. We're not as backward as some. Besides, you're hardly one to talk. You're practically betrothed to Daphne."

"As fascinating as this conversation is," interrupted Theo. "Can we please have it later? We're having this meeting in private for a reason. I want to know more about how Harry knew that Daphne was in danger."

So Harper launched into her spiel of how it had been a dream. She made it out that she had them all the time, but rarely remembered the details upon waking. It wasn't until things were just about to happen that she'd be struck by a feeling of déjà vu and remember a fragment of a dream… "Like this time. I noticed Daphne was missing. That's when I suddenly remembered a dream about a troll, a girl and that particular bathroom."

"Mr. Potter," said Daphne. "I spent some time in the library yesterday while you were serving your detention. I found a book on Oneiromancy, divination by dreams. It is one of the oldest forms of divination. I think you're a Dream Seer and you need to read the book."

Harper put on her thank-you smile, the one she'd learned when someone gave the poor sick girl with cancer an expensive gift that she didn't need. In truth, she'd already read it cover to cover. That's how she came up with fib about her dream, but she had to pretend to be grateful. "Thank you, Daphne, I'll be glad to read it, but more importantly I want to keep this secret. Can I count on the three of you to keep this quiet?"

"Of course," agreed Theo.

"Your secrets are my secrets, Mr. Potter." Daphne curtsied again.

"I'll keep my mouth shut." Tracey smirked. "But it's a favor. Someday I may just call it in."

Harper wasn't happy with Tracey's response, but what could she do? It at least gave her a fallback position in case she accidently let slip anything else from the books. One thing down, and another to address. "Daphne, I know it is almost time for breakfast, but would you walk with me for a bit?"

"I would, Mr. Potter, but I must be properly chaperoned."

"Really? Theo, Tracey, could the two of you follow a little ways behind us?"

Tracey looked Theo up and down. "The things I do for friendship. Fine."

"Hey," said Theo with the air of one who had been insulted. "Maybe, I don't want to double with you."

Double? "This is not a date! We're just walking and talking. That's it." She walked off rapidly and then slowed to let Theo catch up to her.

Harper turned to Daphne now that they had a bit of privacy. "I just wanted us to talk, to try to become friends. Do we really have to do the chaperone thing?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Potter. I really am, but my family keeps the old customs. Not even all pureblood families observe them any longer, but we're just as old as you Potters." She shifted her tone, a bit of what Harper thought of as the real Daphne peeked through. "Were you serious before? Do muggle girls go running?"

Really? Was she that clueless? "They really do."

"What's it like growing up with muggles?"

That was a loaded question. If she told Daphne about how the Dursleys treated Harry Potter, then she would just be reinforcing Daphne's beliefs. If she told about her real family, then she was leaving herself wide open to be outed as Harper Potts.

"I don't want to talk about my muggle family." Harper started to ask Daphne about her home life, but that felt hypocritical. So she needed to change the subject. "What's your favorite class?"

"My favorite topic is potions, but Snape is far from my favorite teacher. I think professor Sprout is the best teacher. She comes around and gives advice and actually teaches. Most of the other just stand in front and lecture. Fortunately Herbology and potions go together. So what do you like?"

"Dueling with Theo." She was surprised that was the truth. "I guess it would be Defense class, if we actually had a competent DADA instructor."

Daphne smiled a little. "Yes, Quirrell is pretty useless, isn't he? Is that what you want to do after Hogwarts? Be an auror or a curse-breaker?"

"Maybe. I've thought about it. I've also thought about politics. I'm not going to say the muggle world is perfect — it isn't. However, there are many things about the magical world that need changing. Like the way you're being treated. Arraigned marriages, especially sealed with magical contracts, feels a lot like slavery to me." He glanced over to Daphne watching her face for any reaction.

Daphne's face revealed nothing. The ice princess was in control. "If you want to do well in politics, Mr. Potter… you'll want a wife from one of the old noble families."

"I intend to marry someone I love, Daphne." Like any other girl, Harper had dreamed of the strong and handsome hero to sweep her off her feet. So she had some idea what was likely going on in Daphne's head. However, she didn't want to be that hero and do the sweeping. "What do you want to do after Hogwarts?"

She shrugged. "I know what I will do. I'll tend a manor, host parties, do social events, have children and raise them. Want isn't part of it. I have a duty and obligation to my family to fulfill."

Harper stopped. "Daphne, you don't have to do that any longer. I'll help you find someone you like. Apparently this life debt allows me to help you that way. You can have a career and a life. You don't have to be just a wife and a mother."

Daphne's ice queen cracked a moment to show some powerful emotion, but the mask was right back in place. "I have a duty to my family. I will honor my life debt to you, Mr. Potter, but I will not forget my family. This has been a pleasant walk. We should do this again sometime, but I would like to eat breakfast now."

"Of course, we'll head back." What exactly had happened? Daphne had acted like a house elf, like she didn't want to be free, but she'd been grateful to be rid of Malfoy. It didn't make sense. As they walked back Harper tried to think of ways to mend whatever damage she'd done. Then she realized that perhaps the best move was simply to just let the ice princess be.

Daphne Greenglass was just one more thing she had to deal with and Daphne was far from the most important thing. In fact she wondered if she was setting her priorities correctly. Certainly studying and practicing was important. She needed to build herself up to be a strong and competent wizard, but was she letting herself get lost in being a student of magic and forgetting what was really at stake?

Her long-term goal was curing cancer, but Voldemort had to be defeated first. It was November and she hadn't made a move against him yet or tried to get the stone. She'd thought of giving him a hug or yanking off his turban in the Great Hall, but those plans could go wrong in so many ways. She also planned to get the stone. She simply didn't trust Dumbledore's protections. In the books the Mirror of Erised had stumped Quirrellmort for a little while, but given more time he might have found a brute force approach to bypass it. If Quirrellmort got his hands on the stone, she could be facing a restored Voldemort at the end of book one. She simply wasn't ready to face that. So she needed to do two things: kill Quirrellmort and get the stone.

Really she needed to do three things. She also needed to catch Peter Pettigrew. Every day that passed was another day that Sirius Black spent in Azkaban. Every single day she hesitated an innocent man was tortured by dementors. It hurt her to even think about that. She'd thought of going to Dumbledore, but after Prisoner of Azkaban, he'd ordered Sirius to hide and done nothing to clear his name. She didn't trust this Dumbledore to do better, and she didn't know who else to trust. The problem of being stuck in an eleven-year old body was that adults treated her like a young child. If she just told people that Ron's pet rat, Scabbers, was really Peter Pettigrew, they wouldn't take her seriously enough. Pettigrew would escape and Sirius would remain imprisoned in Azkaban. She needed proof. That meant mastering two spells, the stunning spell to catch him and the impenetrable charm to enchant a cage so he couldn't transform and escape. She could manage a Stupefy now, but it only had the strength of a strong punch. It couldn't knock out an adult. The impenetrable charm required more finesse than strength, yet she couldn't manage it either. She knew that strength and skill would both come with practice, but time was not her friend.

All her long range plans came back to where she started. She needed to study and practice and get better at magic. At first that had been easy. Learning magic had been fun. Now it was becoming work, but she had an idea how to make it more fun, and she'd already made the first step with Flitwick — restart the dueling club at Hogwarts.

Really any kind of magical practice helped strengthen a young wizard's magical core and build their power, but to build control required practicing finesse. It was like the difference between building strength and fine motor skills. Harper found it ironic that one of the best forms of magical exercise was broom riding. A broom wasn't like a motorcycle, it was more like a bicycle. The power came from the wizard riding it. The broom was just a multiplier. Forcing a broom to go faster took power. Making it twist and turn took control. Sadly, she hadn't inherited the original Harry's knack for broom riding. She still took her flying lessons. Broom riding was an important skill she intended to master, but it didn't come naturally to her. It was work for her, not fun. However, she had discovered that she actually enjoyed dueling. She hadn't expected to like fighting with magic. It had started as just a critical skill to be learned, but it was like running — it made her feel alive. Probably it had something to do with the fact she was in a boy's body and had testosterone running through her system, but it was still fun. She needed more fun in her life. One of her resolutions was not forgetting to live.

Besides there was another good reason. Not only would it help her her prepare to fight Voldemort and his Death Eaters, but it would help every Hogwarts student who joined the dueling club become more prepared as well. Although she probably wouldn't see the results for years, she hoped it would be like throwing a stone into a pond and the ripples would help years from now when Voldemort returned.

It was with that in mind that she decided to take the next step. Facing Quirrell was a big risk. While he did an excellent job of playing a buffoon, she knew that Voldemort was growing out of the back of his head and that scared her socks off. However, neither of them had done much yet except release the troll. So she did her best to focus on her breathing and keep her mind blank as she walked up to Professor Quirrell as a DADA class. She glanced at Theo to make sure he was with her and he returned her nervous smile.

"P-P-Potter and N-Nott, how c-can I help you b-boys?" Quirrell gave a nervous smile.

Breathe in. Breathe out. "It's about a dueling club, sir. Theo and I have reviewed the school rules and the Defense Against Dark Arts teacher is the responsible faculty sponsor for the dueling club. There hasn't been a meeting in some time. We were hoping that you could start the club back up, sir."

"I-I-I don't k-know. I-I-I have so m-many things to d-do." He paused. "Y-yes, so m-many things to d-do." Quirrell's eyes met hers.

She looked down, not wanting to give him eye contact. She didn't feel a shooting pain through her scar, but she still focused on her meditation. Breathe in. Breathe out.

"Sir," said Theo respectfully. "I did some checking and you were ranked third overall in Hogwarts in the dueling club yourself during your seventh year. So I know you must be a great duelist yourself. Surely you want us to be able to follow a fine Hogwarts tradition."

"W-w-well, I s-suppose that is t-true, b-but it still a d-drain on m-my t-time."

Her turn to speak. "We've spoken with Professor Flitwick, sir. He's agreed to co-sponsor with you and we'll put together a student group to run it. We were planning to ask the sixth year prefects as they don't have O.W.L.S. or N.E.W.T.S."

"G-g-given it s-some thought, h-have you, b-boys? I st-still c-can't…" Quirrell's eyes lost focus for a moment and then he gave his head a shake. "Yes. My answer is… y-yes. Y-you g-get the pr-prefects and Fl-flitwick and we c-can have a m-meeting."

"Thank you for your time, sir. We'll be in touch when we have their agreement." She beat a hasty retreat. She wondered if she had miscalculated. Quirrell had been going to say no, then he suddenly changed his mind. If Lord Voldemort thought it was a good idea, then something had to be wrong. Yet, she saw so many positives that she just couldn't walk away.

Getting Quirrell's and Flitwick's approval turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg. There were old records to go through and procedures to read. There were established rulebooks governing what spells could be cast and what were forbidden. The disbanded Hogwarts Dueling Club had a thick book of bylaws of its own which governed how it operated.

Plus she had to get members. She did that by approaching the heads of the houses. Snape was only moderately rude and gave his blessing. Flitwick was already on board, and Professor Sprout proved to be very supportive of restoring an ancient Hogwarts tradition. McGonagall was prickly to deal with, but agreed in the end. Then she had to talk to the prefects, get their buy-in and post notices and reserve space. She really hoped to turn the running of the reformed Hogwarts Dueling Club over to the sixth year prefects eventually, but for at least these initial stages she was the driving force with Theo backing her up. After a lot of back and forth the first meeting was finally scheduled. The grand reopening of the restored Hogwarts Dueling Club was set for Sunday following the first Quidditch game of the season: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin.