Chapter 35: In the Snake Pit
Interlude: Daphne
Daphne entered the Common Room in ill temper. She had received a letter from her father discussing his ongoing trouble with her Uncle Stanard. The Greengrass' had done a marvelous job of remaining delightfully neutral in the last two major Wizarding Wars and developed a reputation for steadfast business and political ambiguity. They were not bigoted enough to offend the Muggleborns or their supporters but at the same time they made it clear that they were proud of their Pureblood heritage and culture so as to satisfy the supremacists and even the Death Eaters.
Their carefully constructed neutrality was not seen as threat by either side and turned out to be quite profitable as they were one of the few businesses that both sides had felt comfortable working with as there was no threat of the Greengrass' potentially plotting against them. Although the family had been subjected to accusations of cowardness and opportunism, privately the family had sat smugly as their fortunes increased alongside their own feelings of security in a time when one had been safe. The Death Eaters were at constant risk of being taken out or imprisoned by the Aurors and everyone had feared You-Know-Who's wrath. The Greengrass' would never be known for their zealous feelings for a cause or even their steadfast loyalty- but they celebrated for their cold pragmatism in the face of extreme adversity.
However, in his rush to gain approval and possible promotion within the Ministry as well as the chance of finally get out from under the shadow of his more impressive younger brother, Stanard had as good as aligned himself with Harry Potter, the veritable lightning bolt in the midst of the storm of conflict. And now, evidently, he was he was creating a path directly towards utter ruin.
There had been threats made to Stanard, which had resulted to threats to the rest of the family and, perhaps even worse in her father's eyes, his business partners were unhappy with the new scrutiny the family was under. The former guarantee that all deals made with the Greengrass' and their money, their goods and their contacts were all safe, was now in jeopardy. Martell Greengrass was not a forgiving man when it came to any disruption to his agenda and the tensions in the family had been steadily rising.
Daphne made her way over to the corner where Tracy Davis and Theo Nott were playing chess- a game that both were so evenly matched in that their games were known to last for days at a time. "What's wrong?" Tracy asked, glancing first at Daphne's obviously troubled expression and then to the letter in her hands. Daphne shook her head and smiled briefly, "nothing that serious. Just my father's continued disappointment that he only has daughters. I believe that he would feel a lot more comfortable with our position if he knew that he had a 'proper heir'."
She rolled her eyes, Martell Greengrass had been a doting and even indulgent parent to his two daughters, but he had never made it a secret that it was motivated by the fact that he believed that daughters needed coddling in ways that sons did not. A son that would be able to carry on the family name along with the business. Daphne had never doubted that her father loved her, but he had also made it abundantly clear that he had little respect for her, or faith in the contributions she would make to the family.
Tracy looked relieved at her news and Theo gave a stiff nod but said nothing- perhaps worried that given his own family situation his words might not be well received- and Daphne knew from their reactions that both of them had assumed that she had gotten devastating news in the letter. A death, a disappearance, a family member that was now unable to string more than a few words together after the Death Eaters were through with them.
In the last few weeks it had all started to become alarmingly commonplace for students to receive such missives from home. Luke Smith from Hufflepuff's mother had been killed, as had Sue Gracely from Ravenclaw's father. The Daily Prophet had been reporting new horrors daily- murders of prominent family members that had been vocal against Him in the Wizengomot, muggles that had been murdered by the score-ehat had started over the Winter Break as an escalation of hostilities that many had cautiously hoped had been a brief flare of violence and things would settle back down, had quickly become the frightening reality of war. It had started with the shocking news that the Dark Lord had seized control over an entire town and no one had been able to breach its defenses. There was rumored to be an impenetrable magical protection that no one had been able to get past and the muggles of the town were now enslaved or else otherwise being degraded in ways that no newspaper was willing to print.
The school had been noticeably subdued since these events and even the usually ridiculously rambunctious Gryffindors had been forced to act with restraint and something that they no doubt thought passed for decorum.
"Are you worried about your Uncle?" Tracy asked, concerned.
Daphne frowned, "I was when these raids started, he was with Potter at the Summit after all and now everyone's been going crazy about the deal that was made with the Dark creatures." Potter's deal with the Ministry and the International community had been groundbreaking to most of the Slytherins who had been raised on the idea that wizards would never (not to mention should or could never) successfully negotiate with creatures like vampires and werewolves. They were too dangerous, too unknown and too hard to control. The Dark Lord's power kept them in check when they worked for him but most wizards didn't trust them enough to even broach a deal. No one had really thought that they would make an alliance with the Ministry, and when Potter had done the impossible, Daphne's father had been certain that Stanard would pay the price for associating with the Dark Lord's greatest enemy.
But then nothing's happened. Which was both a relief and very suspicious.
"It seems to me that if someone was going to come after him to set an example about working with Potter, they would have done it. His House is warded, of course, but nothing strong enough to keep the Dark Lord out if he wanted to make a point. Which makes me think that something else might be going on," she admitted quietly.
She glanced at Theo, knowing that at times his father kept him updated in major shifts or plans from the Dark Lord, but he only shook his head. "Father has been...quiet about everything," he told them, his face thoughtful. He couldn't say anything definitive in the Common Room, where he could be overheard. No matter what the other Houses tended to think, Death Eater business was not something anyone spoke about in the open in Slytherin House. Despite their reputation, not everyone in the House had parents that were among the Dark Lord's most loyal, nor even among his followers at all, and no one could risk having the illegal affiliation revealed to Dumbledore or the Ministry.
Daphne had been wondering for quite a while about what Uncle Stanard was up to. No one in the family could understand why he had agreed to represent the Ministry when the prudent course of action was to bide their time. Even if he had wanted to break with tradition and made a definitive alliance, how could he do that without first having a better idea of which side would win?
The truth was, until recently the real threat that of the coming war was just that- more threat than substance. Obviously the Dark Lord had been formidable but that was also over a decade before hand. Had he returned at full power or was his mystique now more powerful than the actual wizard? Of course, that would have been much easier to judge if the war had started when it was supposed to have started- the night of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Unfortunately the Ministry was run by a bunch of incompetent morons that were far too concerned with public relations and stop-gap problem solving than actual solutions.
While Daphne had at first thought that Potter had been just as insane as the papers made him out to be, her opinion had been swayed after reading the Quibbler article. She, like most people, had been unable to escape the obvious. The Ministry could only blame so much on Sirius Black without sounding like paranoid conspiracy theorists. The truth had to be something much more sinister and as much as Potter's wild story about an alive Peter Pettigrew, kidnap, blood resurrection and graveyard duels was crazy to consider, there was an unmistakable ring of truth to it as well. The irony of finding the truth in Lovegood's tabloid was rather funny though if truth be told.
"What do you think your Uncle is really after?" Theo asked.
Daphne pursed her lips, "I think he's after a power play for control over the family business. Daddy is the main shareholder, even though he's the younger son and technically it's supposed to be a shared venture, according to my grandfather's will that is. Daddy has always said that grandfather thought that Stanard lacked vision which is why he didn't want to leave him in charge, I imagine this his attempt at finding it."
Tracy raised an eyebrow but her look seemed to imply that the idea wasn't wrong.
There was a slam of the portrait and Draco Malfoy stormed into the room in a temper. He looked out over the room before stomping over to Amilynn Rossier, a quiet but intelligent Seventh Year that liked to keep her business to herself. The two disappeared into one Draco's dormitory to talk privately.
"What do you think that was about?" Tracy asked in a low whisper.
Theo had a thoughtful look on his face as though he had his suspicions. "Do you think... is it about the Dark Lord?" Daphne asked in a near whisper. Despite the fact that Theo was probably her best friend aside from Tracy, his knowledge about (and very possible future) participation in Death Eater activities was something that was never really discussed between the two of them.
Alexander Nott had been a faithful follower of the Dark Lord since his early twenties when the dark wizard had risen to power the first time, in fact Daphne had once heard that he had been among the earliest supporters. Alexander was a fervent believer in blood supremacy and felt that the current Ministry had held wizards back from achieving their full potential for years. Daphne was sure that he had been among the many that had secretly been waiting and hoping for the Dark Lord's return ever since he had first fallen, never truly believing that his powerful master was gone for good.
However, the man was not blind to the fact that his family could best be protected if their interests were well covered. And, like any good Slytherin, the best way to protect those interests was by gathering information. He had tasked his son with finding out exactly how powerful an enemy Harry Potter was and was likely to become- and Theo had taken an interesting approach to the mission.
When Theo had revealed that he needed to get to know Potter better to herself and Tracy on the train ride to Hogwarts, the strangest part, at first, was the realization that in spite of the fact that they had shared classes with Potter for five years, they actually didn't know him that well. Of course they had read about him in the papers. They had seen him on the Quidditch pitch or trading insults (and winning more often than not) with Malfoy. But as they had sat down to truly discuss what he was like as a person they had fallen short. The only thing they knew of interest was the strange fact that the reality of Harry Potter was simultaneously more disappointing and yet somehow more surreal than the legend.
The 'battle simulation' in the beginning of the year had been Potter's first test, one that the Gryffindor had passed in better form than any of them had really expected. They had expected him to be a good fighter, after all there was no use denying the fact that Potter was quick with a wand and powerful to boot. But they had expected him to be too brass, too reckless and most of all, too over-confident. Potter had always struck Daphne as the type to find a galleon on the street and then brag that he was excellent at making money. He confused luck with skill, and power with precision.
But Potter had a way of actually seeing the weaknesses of a situation. He hated uniformity and unlike most people, Potter did not do something simply because someone in authority told him to, or even because it was the accepted way of doing things. He did what he thought would work best in the situation and was a good enough leader to listen to his team to determine what that action would be.
What had surprised Theo most of all though was the fact that he had found that he actually liked the Gryffindor. Potter was funny. He was loyal. He put in the hard work despite being named the leader- or perhaps because he was named the leader- which was something that the other boy had not been prepared for. Potter was smart too, when he talking about something that he knew, and honest enough to know when they were discussing something that he didn't.
Daphne had not been won over as easily. She had been determined not to fall under the 'Potter Spell' that seemed to trap most of the wizarding world at one time or another. She had been hard on him during their study sessions, demanding that she take the lead in the majority of their projects and had been strangely disappointed when he had not risen to her bait.
But as the year passed she was finding it harder to come up with reasons why he was undeserving of his fame and popularity. Chief among those reasons was how he had chosen to handle his Quidditch team after they had attacked her cousin and the other younger years. And she wasn't the only one that had been impressed by the way he had swallowed his pride and apologized to them all. The night after Potter's announcement had been interesting in the Common Room to say the least.
Theo was still looking over at where Draco had disappeared to for a moment before saying quietly, "Malfoy's been given a job to do. I don't know what it is but I think he's having trouble with it. And the longer that goes on…" he paused as though weighing his words before saying. "No one has seen his Mum in months. I don't know if they're holding her over his head, or she left after Lucius was busted and sent up to Azkaban, but I do know that Draco doesn't have a lot of options."
Daphne lifted an eyebrow at that pronouncement. She described her relationship with the Malfoy Heir as 'delicate'. The Malfoy family exuded wealth and exerted power when necessary but she had also always found Draco to be immature, spoiled and far too entitled by his family's status for her own tastes. Draco didn't like to have friends, instead he demanded followers and Daphne had been clear that she had no intention of being anyone's hanger-on.
"Rossier is brilliant at Charms," she mused idly, "wonder if he needs her help with something."
"I would say that Draco needs more help than realizes," Theo commented solemnly. "This isn't something his Daddy can come and save him from. Malfoy's always been too full of himself but it was different when he was just running roughshod over the Common Room and picking fights with Potter. Potter is not only held in check by the school but is also decent enough of a person to not thoroughly destroy his schoolboy rival simply because he could and wants to set an example. Malfoy is in over his head on this one."
Daphne felt a twinge of sympathy for her classmate. Malfoy had been an annoying, overly spoiled child and grown into a fairly incompetent young man. He did well enough in his classes but nothing spectacular or even worthy of note.
He was bad at reading people and worse at making them want to work for him. His major assets were his family's money and position and yet he was ineffective at making the most of either. People followed him out of obligation or else because they knew that it suited their purposes- not because they truly wanted to. Granger and Weasley would have dived in front of an Avada Kedevra without a second thought for Potter, she was sure of that, and in spite of their current childish behavior over the stupid Quidditch Cup, she knew that most of Gryffindor would charge into battle right behind Potter as well. Draco had had visions of dominating their generation but was fundamentally lacking in the skills to do so.
Daphne sighed to herself and wondered when she had started going soft. In the beginning of the year she would have been not only happy that Draco was finally discovering that he was not quite the next-Merlin his parents had seemed to instill in him when he had been a child but also pleased that a powerful figure in the House was losing power. Power ebbed and flowed and when it left one person it was all the more easily gained by another.
She suspected that she had been spending too much time around Harry Potter and his Gryffindor ways. When Draco came back into the Common Room she beckoned him over with a twitch of her fingers, much to Tracy's surprise and Theo's bemusement. While she and the Malfoy heir had never been enemies, they had never been known to spend much time in one another's company either. She could see immediately that Draco too was surprised by the gesture but hid it quickly in favor of looking coolly indifferent.
"Greengrass?" he asked.
"I think you and I can help one another in a few ways."
Draco arched his eyebrow at her, "how so?" Daphne smiled, perhaps it was time to take into account what the Sorting Hat had told her when she had sat with it before being paired with the epitome of all Gryffindors. She could only hope that her instinct was right and Draco had in fact changed enough for her little deal to work out best for them both.
HPHPHP
It was the morning of the Hufflepuff-Gryffindor match and there was an unusual tension in the atmosphere that morning. Daphne generally had little interest in the Wizarding World's premier sport and pastime, finding it barbaric and juvenile, but she couldn't deny that the events surrounding this particular match had caught her interest- and her money bag's attention.
Daphne walked down to the pitch alongside Tracy Davis with unusual enthusiasm for the upcoming match. Normally Theo might have accompanied them if he wasn't splitting his time with Draco and his lot as he did from time to time but today she had been surprised to learn that he had taken on a different seating arrangement to go alongside his new role. She had been surprised that he would want something so far into the spotlight as Theo tended to prefer to remain largely in the shadows, but perhaps this was his newest way of remaining in Potter's orbit.
"And it's a great day for a match, the weather has warmed from the arctic blast that we had last week," Seamus Finnegan' s voice carried over the din of noise from the stands. "The sun is out for the first time in months and usually that would be a sign that we are in for a nice long match-up but Potter has decimated his chances by suspending his Keeper, Beater and two Chasers. Gryffindor's only chance is to catch the Snitch and catch it quickly."
"Which is the perfect time to remind you all that as of close of breakfast this morning, all bets on the match are final. The leading wager is of course a Gryffindor win in a match that must last over 3 hours, with odds running at 12 to 1."
"Nott!" McGonagall shouted as she proceeded to tell him off for endorsing gambling on school grounds. For the first time, Hogwarts was offering two commentators, and from Slytherin and Gryffindor at that, and Daphne was wondering how anyone thought that that would be a good idea.
Finnegan was currently complaining about the fact that the new Chasers were a Third Year and a Second Year, both girls, both good fliers but neither aggressive. The Beater that Potter had chosen was a skinny little Fifth Year that looked closer to 12 than 16 and as for Potter's shocking pick for Keeper, both Theo and Finnegan were critical of the lithe Fourth Year boy, Eric Lumon, that had, from all accounts that Daphne had heard, not shown nearly as well at trials as Cormac McLaggen.
"Personally I think I speak for most Gryffindors when I say that it's clear that Potter is assembling a young team that won't question his leadership rather than run the risk of having a seasoned player like McLaggen steal the spotlight from a captain that has more than a few questionable decisions."
There was a roar of approval from the crowd as well as a few jeers aimed at Potter, who had only now come onto the pitch and was leading his rather clumsy lineup to their positions for the start. "They talk about Gryffindor bravery... benching half your team because they were acting like a bunch of jackasses took a lot of balls, more than the rest of that sorry House has put together," Tracy muttered into Daphne ear. While the usual pre-game hostilities had been largely muted due to the events outside the castle, the Gryffindors had made it clear that they were still upset with their captain. They had cold and brutal in their treatment towards their purported Chosen One, and real irony of it all was that Potter had been so busy in the past week working to save their pathetic asses from an actual threat that Daphne wasn't even sure that he had fully noticed.
But just because the Gryffindors were hypocrites didn't mean that the Slytherins had completely forgotten their own points of pride. Daphne shot her a wry look. "If someone from our House did that you would have crucified them. In the past couple weeks it suddenly seems like when it comes to Potter you can only see the very best, seems to me... that you have a soft spot for the Golden Boy," Daphne smirked.
Much to her surprise, Tracy made no move to deny such a claim, instead she raised an eyebrow and answered coyly, "and why wouldn't any girl with half a brain feel the same? Potter is, and I say this without exaggeration, the most powerful wizard Hogwarts has seen in the last 10 years, at least, he's rich, he's famous, he is never boring and... he's bloody well gorgeous now that he actually has an ounce of fat on those skinny ribs of his. Face it Daph, to say he's top of the pack is an exercise in understatement."
"Gorgeous?" Daphne asked skeptically, if only because that was the only claim that the other girl had made with any doubt to it at all.
Tracy grinned, "Well cute with rapid approach to gorgeous. That boy still has some growing to do but he is doing it up right. And I'm willing to bet in all the right places too."
Daphne chuckled as they watched the toss up to begin to match.
There were a few more comments made about the superiority of McLaggen to Eric Lumon and a chorus of jeers.
"What do you make of that?" Draco's voice came from behind her left shoulder, causing her to jump in surprise. Tracy smacked him in the arm, "git! Give a girl some warning that you're there!"
Draco winced at the hit before shrugging, "pay attention to your surroundings and you won't be so surprised," he said simply. "Now answer the question, what do you think of the fact that Potter picked Lumon when he should have picked McLaggen. Potter might be a sentimental fool but he's not a complete moron and he might have suspended the players for fighting because he's a walking saint but he still wants to have a chance of winning."
Tracy shrugged and echoed the popular theory of the school, though with a noticeable lack of conviction behind her words. "Potter either didn't want to run the risk of McLaggen taking over his team or he's saving the spot for Weasley."
Draco pursed his lips but said nothing for a moment, "Daph? You've been working with boy wonder all year, that sound like him?" Their new partnership in mind Daphne considered the question.
And she knew where Draco was headed. "No. I don't think that Potter is worried for a minute that McLaggen is actually going to be able boss him around on his own team, no matter how much he might try. Potter's not afraid of Cognac McLaggen of all people and he might be loyal to Weasley but he's too honest and noble to fix a spot on the team for him if he doesn't deserve it." She had learned that after the way Harry had blown up with in their argument the day after the werewolf treaty. The fact that he had not thrown Ginny Weasley off his team entirely after what she bad done to him showed that he was better person than she would have been if their situations were reversed."
Draco nodded, looking thoughtful. "My thoughts exactly. Which means whatever his reason is for refusing to put McLaggen on the team is, it's personal."
Pansy Parkinson leaned over at this point, jumping into the conversation, "a little birdie told me that Potter shouted out in front of the entire House that he wouldn't put McLaggen on the team over his dead body, and from the way I heard it, it wasn't going to be Potter's body anyone had to worry about," she chuckled as she said this. Pansy was an incorrigible gossip and the only thing she enjoyed more than hearing people's secrets was telling them.
Tracy's eyes were scanning the crowd but stopped when they landed on Granger and Weasley. "Well, why would Potter have a problem with McLaggen, do you think?" she asked.
"Hermione Granger took him to Slughorn's party," Daphne remembered, thinking back to that night. She too had been in attendance, though she had left rather early.
"Lover's spat?" Pansy asked with glee.
Daphne rolled her eyes, "Potter doesn't care about her like that, and besides he was still with Weasley at the time. No this... this is about how McLaggen treated her. And it must have been bad, Granger has been quiet, withdrawn..." she trailed off as the implications of such behavior fell into place. It was no secret that Cormac McLaggen was a misogynistic thug who was capable of violence. Ordinarily she would never have thought that he could have gotten the drop on a witch as skilled as Granger but anything was possible in the heat of the moment.
The others followed Tracy's eye line as well as the others seemed to draw similar conclusions. "How bad do you think he hurt her? And if he did, why haven't they told anyone?" Malfoy asked, his voice quiet but also thoughtful, as though carefully considering all of his options.
"My guess would be bad, so bad that Granger doesn't want anyone to know. But Weasley must have found out, the two of them haven't been talking for weeks and now she's sitting with Ron and Lavender." It was actually a fairly odd sight. Weasley still had his arm around his pseudo-girlfriend or whatever the hell was going on in that situation but now Granger was sitting near them as well.
"And it seems that Gryffindor is doing all they can to make the best of this crippled team. Potter has designed a completely defensive strategy, let's see if it's enough to hold off this stronger offense," Finnegan's voice interrupted their musings and the conversation fell to the wayside. At the moment she and Draco had aligning interests- primarily helping their families survive this conflict no matter what the cost. Daphne had been raised with the idea of family first, everyone else second. She did not really support the ideas of the Dark Lord and yet if it meant the difference between keeping herself and family safe or having them all die- she would not oppose him.
At the moment it was in both her and Draco's best interest to learn as much about Potter as possible and see what the logical next step would be. Potter was erratic and emotional. She doubted that he had any long term plans in play- he was boy that thrived on second to second chaos. A perpetual game of catch up which was not the way she liked to do things. Make a plan, follow through and be patient- those were the traits of proper Slytherin. However, in spite of her instinct to shun Potter and his messy methods, she couldn't deny that there was something that drew her towards him. A trait that Potter possessed that encouraged people to believe that he would succeed if no other reason than because he had the power and drive- and perhaps even just the insane luck- to make the impossible happen.
But they would not rely on faith and hope alone to carry them through this war. She and Draco had agreed to pool their information and properly assess the situation and while she wasn't sure what Draco's true objective was at the moment- she was beginning to suspect that was looking more for strengths for an alliance than she was searching out weaknesses of her enemy.
When they could glen no further speculation about the McLaggen situation, they returned their collective attention aback to the game, which was not as fast or nearly as exciting as a normal match. The Hufflepuffs had assembled a weak team and obviously the Gry's were too inexperienced to do anything other than the most basic of plays. Katie Bell was the only player of any talent other than Potter and the two of them were fighting a battle against not only their opponent but their incompetent teammates as well.
"And that is another bludger hit that Potter has taken for his Chasers, where is Sloper?" Theo's voice stretched across the field and Daphne detected equal parts admiration and disgust from the Slytherin with the beating that Potter had been taking all game. He had been leading Smith around the pitch like a dog on a leash and even with Daphne' s limited Quidditch knowledge or appreciation she had to admit that it was with deft skill that Potter was not only dominating the Seeker role but had also stepped in as impromptu Beater when the others weren't up to the job.
Without an actual bat, Potter had been using his body to block bludger after bludger for his Chasers. For Bell it was so she could actually do something for the team, for the other two... seemingly out of simple kindness for the two younger girls alone because they certainly weren't making an actual contribution. Nevertheless, Potter was relentless in the way he took hit after hit- the sound echoing with the groans from the increasingly sympathetic crowd.
"And after two hours the score is 50 to 20, Hufflepuff, with Gryffindor showing a much better Defense than projected," Finnegan announced, tone now more admiring than scathing of his own teams performance. In fact all of the fickle Gryffindors had been coming around for the past hour as they watched the Captain that they had ridiculed and often pranked for the past month step up for the role that they needed from him.
Potter went into a steep dive, his broom vertical with the ground as he plummeted at inhuman speed, and now both commentators were screaming that the Snitch had been spotted, Smith right on Potter's heels despite having started out below him when Potter had taken off like a bullet. The crowd was roaring, not a single seat was occupied as the stadium jumped up in excitement. And inches from the ground… Potter pulled up, toes skimming the grass, and there was an almighty crash as Smith failed to correct himself and drove straight into the earth.
"A perfect Wronki Feint ladies and gentlemen, we haven't seen one like that outside the National teams!" Finnegan was screaming as the crowd, even a few Slytherins, shouted their excitement. With Potter's unexpected action of punishing his team for the fight, he had gotten quite a few supporters within the House who were now free to cheer openly for the Seeker. To the rest of Houses this might look like a dig to the suspended team members but Daphne knew that there were many in the House that were quite happy to finally be able to openly celebrate the most skilled Quidditch player in the school. Potter had quite a few fans in Slytherin- particularly in the younger years- but they had never openly voiced their support before.
Smith was dazed and needed to be taken care of by Madame Pomfrey for the moment. It wasn't clear if he would be returning to the match or not yet but usually this was a time when Seekers would use the unobstructed time to search even more diligently for the Snitch but Potter seemed wholly unconcerned with actually doing his job as Seeker and was instead running a block for Bell so that she was able to score, and setting a pick for his other Chasers so they could get in the proper position.
"And we are now at the 3 hour mark and Gryffindor is officially at a 10 point lead!" Theo yelled out, and Daphne saw that his gaze was fully on Potter in that moment, who suddenly and drastically changed style in flight.
No more was Potter playing willing punching bag for the bludger but instead was concentrated fully on his task. Smith had returned to the match, apparently against medical advice, and was looking dazed and ineffectual. His flight slow and clumsy compared to Potter's fluid and graceful movements that continued to weave him in and out of plays even as he searched.
It wasn't long before Potter was streaking across the field, his red and gold uniform blurring in her vision as he triumphantly grabbed the snitch. It wasn't an exciting capture but it was designed to prove a point. Harry had purposely delayed catching the snitch until not only was the game well underway and traditionally the role of the Seeker became less important or game changing but had also ensured that Gryffindor had also maintained a legitimate lead with the quaffle. It was a signal to his banished teammates that he didn't truly need them to win and a stubborn knock to the rest of his House for giving him so much trouble over his decisions when he had had the situation well in hand. In short- Harry Potter had truly dominated the game and Daphne found herself revising the idea that Potter never made long term plans.
Daphne met Theo down at the pitch and was soon accompanied by Potter and his two perpetual sidekicks. "Pay up Nott," Potter announced with a grin.
Theo shook his head but was clearly pleased. "I made a bloody fortune on you."
"Likewise," Weasley chimed in with a large smile on his face.
Granger pursed her lips in stern disapproval as gambling was against school rules and Daphne knew that a part of the girl was dying to deduct points, though in spite of her dower expression, her lips twitched slightly and Daphne suspected that Granger was in fact rather delighted with how things had turned out.
"How much money did we wind up with?" Potter asked.
"The odds wound up coming in at 12 to 1- we're the only three that gambled on a victory over the 3 hour mark- though a Gryffindor win with a Snitch catch under 30 minutes was the favorite to win so despite the shit people have been giving you Potter most people were still convinced that you were actually going to win."
Potter nodded, "they were just worried about the point spread. Luckily I have Ron to cover that problem. Though in the future, I would rather not be your human Beater bat thank you."
"That was your idea Weasley?" Nott asked surprised.
The ginger frowned, "always the tone of surprise. I've been following Quidditch for years, I know how to write plays. And with a wanker like Smith as your rival Seeker I figured it would easiest just to have Harry run the field in two positions. Smith likes to tail Harry because he can't bloody find the Snitch on his own, but also can't move like Harry in the air- regardless of what broom he has."
"Ron's brilliant at strategy," Potter confirmed as he pounded his friend on the back. "I told you that before the battle simulation. But in short, pleasure doing business. Wish I could say this was the easiest 100 plus galleons I've ever made but the bruises on my body don't believe that one. Hermione, you have any more of that bruise stuff you had?"
Granger rolled her eyes, "you could just go up to the Hospital Wing."
Potter grimaced, "and have Pomphrey give me the 'Quidditch should be outlawed and forgotten' speech again? No thanks. Besides I don't have time."
"The infamous Gryffindor victory party?" Daphne asked with genuine curiosity. Rumors of the parties that the Gryffindors threw were legendary among the other Houses. No one else wanted to admit it but it was well established that no one threw a wild party the way the House of the reckless did.
Potter shook his head, "nope, no time for that either though that might be blessing. A few people almost didn't survive the last one. Those poor First Years..."
Granger slapped his arm as Potter laughed giving them a wink. That was the other problem- most of went on in the parties in the Tower were closely guarded secrets. Rumors escaped but almost every Gryffindor refused to give details which only led to the mystique. It was the sneakiest the Gryffindors ever got.
"I have to meet with Professor Dumbledore, Dimitri is going to be there and- thank Merlin- so is Raymond. The Ministry is..." Potter shook his head in annoyance. "I'll see you on tomorrow afternoon for our project right?" Potter confirmed with her.
"I'll be there," she answered as Potter made his hurried way to the Headmaster's office, easily slipping from the role of school age Quidditch star into international diplomat and war leader.
HPHPHPHP
Daphne walked with Draco down to the Potions' classroom where they were set to meet Potter, Longbottom and Snape for their project. She had spent the last few minutes warning Draco against needlessly antagonizing the Gryffindors, particularly Harry. Not only was she not interested in spending hours playing referee between a bunch of testosterone driven boys that were all out to prove how much tougher they were than anyone else, if her alliance with Draco to find out more about Harry, to potentially use him as an ally or a shield when the time came, was to work than he could not alienate him any further than Draco had already managed. Especially when Draco and Neville competing against Potter in terms of power was fairly laughable.
"Don't assume I'm gonna cause trouble, I'm not 13 anymore, Daphne," the blond muttered irritably.
"That's right you're not but sometimes I get the feeling you forget that and I refuse to sit around while you deal with your juvenile insecurities." She informed bluntly.
Any response Draco might have had to that statement was cut off when they passed the door and saw that the room they had just entered was not in fact empty. Daphne was surprised to find Potter busily working at a desk, parchment and what looked like white paper covered with dozens of blue, straight lines strewn haphazardly around his desk. After working with him for several months Daphne was all too frustratingly familiar with the way Potter was usually just this side of actually tardy. He generally ran in just at the appointed meeting time, prompt enough to avoid an actual complaint or lecture but always late enough to gain her irritation.
"Answering fan mail, Potter?" Draco asked and sure enough Daphne could see that the Gryffindor was in the midst of writing half a dozen letters.
"Never thought I would ever be saying this, but I wish," Potter admitted with a tired sigh, pushing up his glasses up to rub his eyes. She thought back to Potter ranting at her in library about having so many things to do and the burden that was on him if he failed. With the recent attacks, Potter had been busier than ever and it certainly seemed to be weighing on him. She was suddenly even more gratified that she was warned Draco against needlessly instigating fights. "That would be a hell of a lot easier than trying to write to these diplomats. Or to my aunt for that matter," he added as an afterthought.
Daphne frowned slightly at that statement. Months earlier she had been more than a little thrown off balance when she had first seen the serious allegations that had been against Potter's muggle relatives printed out in the Daily Prophet for everyone to see. Much like every other pureblood child of their generation, Daphne had grown up hearing stories about the miraculous savior that was the Boy-Who-Lived. She had expected Harry Potter to grow up rich, spoiled and with the very best that the wizarding world had to offer to the boy that they were so grateful to. In retrospect, she should have seen all the signs. She had been disappointed when she had first laid eyes on the 'legendary boy savior' only to see him dressed in oversized, rag-thin muggle clothes that even a pureblood such as herself could see only poor street children should be wearing. He had possessed no more awareness of wizarding culture or tradition than the average muggleborn- and far less than Hermione Granger. He had been too skinny, too small, and entirely too... ordinary to hold any real fascination for her after all of the stories she had heard about him. In short, he had fallen well below expectations and she had been disappointed.
But nevertheless she had never imagined that the hero of their world was being routinely locked into boot cupboards, starved, beaten and worked like a House-elf. It was unconscionable. Unimaginable! And it left Daphne with a strange feeling of shame that their world could so easily forget about its most famous celebrity. A child. A young boy that they had all been happy to cheer and toast every year on Halloween or remember his birthday privately but when he had needed them, they had all cheerfully abandoned him.
Still, the most surprising thing about the situation had been Potter's casual and yet matter-of-fact admission of the details. She would have expected anyone to either deny such claims out of pride or feelings of embarrassment, or else try and milk as much sympathy and pity from the situation as possible but Potter had done neither and quite unexpectedly Daphne had felt her respect for him grow with his show of resilience.
"I didn't think that you ever wrote to your muggle relations," she commented just as Longbottom finally made an appearance. He looked slightly surprised that he was in fact the last of them to arrive but came in quietly. She watched the way Longbottom skirted away from getting too close to Potter with interest. The story of the formerly-timid-and-shy boy's betrayal of his infinitely more powerful, and popular, friend had spread quickly around the school. The Slytherins had placed bets on exactly what curses Potter would hit him with and how long Longbottom was likely to stay in the hospital wing. And yet Potter had seemingly settled for a slow burn of guilt and what looked to skilled Slytherin eyes to be well placed but very subtle emotional manipulation. It was brilliant watching Longbottom squirm while Potter gained all of the sympathy from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs who simply could not condone such dishonest and dishonorable behavior.
Potter shrugged in response to her comment, "generally it's something I avoid. But she's been in hospital recovering from an attack over the summer and technically I'm the contact person. She had to write to me because she had a question about potential outpatient care since she's ready to go home but she still has to do some physical therapy on her leg...and she's had some counselling issues as well," he added hesitantly, his eyes flicking first to Draco and the over to Neville- neither of the boys was looking at him at the moment.
"Why are you the contact person and not your Uncle, shouldn't her husband be taking care of all that?"
"Not when Potter is footing the bill and taking care of the arrangements through his solicitor," Snape's voice answered smoothly.
Both boys looked at Harry with surprise at this pronouncement but once again Potter only looked back coolly, unaffected by their curiosity. The question of why Potter would be looking after his own guardians was something that apparently no one wanted to ask.
"Why is this later addressed to Elena?" Draco finally asked, picking up one of the oddly lined white papers.
Potter shrugged one again but this time there was a faint tinge of pink to his cheeks. "She's a friend," he answered shortly.
Daphne smirked at him, "well done Potter, hope she's better than that Weasley girl. She was a bit of twit," she added, glancing at Longbottom. She found herself a bit surprised by the feeling defensiveness she had recently come to feel for her partner. Despite the fact that working with him had been easier than she had thought it would be, she had always felt ambivalent towards him at best, but in the last few weeks, she had seen that he was a person that put what was right above just about anything else, who worked himself to the bone for his teammates, and who genuinely did his best with everything that he did… she found that she had grown fond of him. Inordinately fond is him if truth be told.
"Enough idle chit chat. You all can use your spare time to discuss the merits of Potter's tragic life another time and his love life after that. Now that we've all here, I can explain your task. Your assignment is to find a unique piece of architecture within Hogwarts study the magic behind it and then be able to replicate it."
Daphne mentally groaned, replicating spells was advanced Arithmancy work, a subject she was good at but was not her favorite by any means. She was, however, the only NEWT level student in the group. Draco had gotten an OWL in it but she was fairly sure it hadn't been much above an Acceptable and Potter and Longbottom had taken the Gryffindor route of class scheduling and done Divination and Creatures. They would be no help to her on this project.
"Most of Hogwarts is unique," Malfoy immediately argued.
"Should be easy than," Potter muttered.
"We need to pick something that not a lot of other people would think to notice," Longbottom reasoned and Daphne happened to agree with that sentiment.
"Perhaps one of the secret passages," Daphne suggested.
Potter shook his head, "Most people are going to do that. They're going to hear unique and they're going to associate it with secret," he trailed off before grinning widely, "Of course what we really need is a better secret. You want to talk about inter-House unity, how about a Gryffindor that can get you into the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets?"
Daphne looked at him wide eyed, Longbottom blinked in surprise, while Malfoy struggled not to look suitably impressed with such an offer. "We have to be able to replicate the magic, do you really think that any of us would be able to do anything close to building a secret chamber that was lost for nearly a thousand years?"
Potter shook his head, "we don't have to," he argued. "In the Chamber there's a giant Stone statue of Salazar Slytherin and his mouth opens when you speak to it, if we can make something like that, than no one is going to be able to find anything that's more unique."
It was true, while there were enchanted Coats of Armor and sliding walls, there were no automated stone statues. The closest thing available were the gargoyles in front of the Headmaster office, which could identify passwords but nothing else. The fact that the statues were roughly a thousand years old and apparently still in working order was even more impressive. Most things needed maintenance of some kind after several years had passed, but these enchantments were still holding strong. It would be difficult to break them down but Daphne felt confident in her ability to backtrack spells from effect.
"Can you study spells that you might not have learned yet?" Potter asked her, and she felt a bit smug that he had already assumed that the task of breaking down the spells involved would be falling to her. Then again perhaps it was obvious considering Potter clearly had no idea how to do it.
She nodded, "I should. Of course these spells might be archaic and if they use a completely different base component than I can't promise anything," she added honestly. No sense in being embarrassed later if she failed to perform.
"Alright, well I guess the only way to know for sure is to see for ourselves. Shall we go now, or should we plan for another day?" Potter faced tensed slightly as he mentioned another day and she guessed that he was mentally reviewing his diary- trying to figure out when he next had free and again she felt a swell of respect for how he managed being a full time student and what seemed to be a nearly full time diplomat these days.
"I have free now," Daphne offered and the rest agreed as well. Despite his cool facade, she suspected that even Professor Snape was excited to finally see the legendary Chamber of Secrets, it was after all the ultimate Slytherin achievement and a place every proud House member dreamed of discovering. It was fairly infuriating that the first person to find it was the most Gryffindor person to grace the halls of Hogwarts since Godric himself.
Potter led them all to the Second floor and towards the abandoned girl's bathroom.
"Where the hell are you taking us Potter?" Malfoy demanded.
Potter looked at the other boy with amusement. "To scandalous for you Malfoy? Not willing to enter the girls' room even if its the only known entrance to Slytherin's secret chamber?"
"How the hell did you find it in the girl's room? Secrets of your own Potter?" Draco shot back
"Never ask a question unless you are absolutely positive you want that answer to it Mr. Malfoy," Snape answered drily, causing Potter to glare at him.
"None of the girls use this bathroom, everyone knows that, which means..." he glanced at Snape as though just realizing the implications of admitting this to a teacher, "if you want to hide something, you can hide it here. Of course this was Second Year, my hiding places weren't that refined yet," he added with a shrug that looked a bit too casual but she suspected came more from the fact that Potter didn't have too many hiding spots than the fact that he did.
They entered the bathroom, a place that Daphne had only entered one other time and it took only seconds for her to remember exactly why it was that every girl in the school went to great lengths, even risking McGonagall's wrath when they were late to class due to their detours, to avoid this particular restroom.
"Hello Harry, it's been a long time. I thought that you had promised to visit me," Myrtle pouted. "And after I helped you out during that Tournament and everything. I don't think you ever would have known where to go down in that lake without me and now you're just like everyone else and avoid me."
"Right… sorry about that Myrtle," Potter answered awkwardly.
"If you've forgotten me I could visit you in the bath like that time in the Tournament," the ghost offered coyly and much to Daphne's amusement, Potter paled enough to nearly match her translucent tone.
"No thanks, I think that one time left a large enough mark on me to last a lifetime. We're just here to get into the Chamber of Secrets."
"Why would ever want to go down there again Harry? It's dirty and dark and it's just a terrible place. I thought that no one would ever want to go down there again. It's dangerous you know."
"School project. We won't be down there too long I don't think," Potter answered, before turning back to the rest of them. "But I probably should have warned you all, it is filthy down there and… it's a closed space. Some of the tunnels are rather tight," he explained, almost apologetically as though he were to blame for the Chamber's lack of comfortable décor.
Daphne rolled her eyes, "it's a thousand year old secret passage that was used first and foremost to hide a monstrous serpent, I wasn't expecting it to be comfortable."
Longbottom only nodded but after a moment Daphne noticed that both Snape and Potter were looking at Draco with varying degrees of concern. "Let's get this over with then," the blond answered, his voice tight with anxiety and it slowly dawned on her that her Housemate was not a fan of tight spaces. She was surprised to discover that not only did Potter know this information about his longtime rival but was kind enough to be concerned about it. She had an older cousin, more like an aunt, that suffered from the exact opposite fear- agoraphobia, and due to this she had stayed in her own house for near upon forty years before she had been able to leave. She doubted Draco's dear of small spaces was anywhere as extreme but she knew enough to know not to make light of seemingly innocuous fears.
Potter hissed, his words- whatever they were- directly at the sink.
"What did you say to get it to open?" she asked curiously. Even after Potter had found the hidden chamber that had been lost for centuries to wizard-kind, how had ever guessed the secret password to open it?
Potter grinned mischievously as he said, "I said 'open'."
Daphne blushed, feeling embarrassed for not realizing that parseltongue was in fact its own passward and Longbottom blinked, a slight grin came over his face, causing him to turn quickly away from Potter, lest the other boy see his amusement. Draco though gave no indication of having heard the comment instead he was clenching and unclenching his fists as though to steel himself for their venture into the tomb.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Daphne finally asked, drawing Longbottom's attention for the first time- in classic Gryffindor oblivion to their surroundings that didn't involve any overt danger, Draco's partner had yet to notice his distress.
"Positive, let's get this finished shall we?" he answered with cool resolve. Daphne saw the pipe-slide that was supposed to lead them down to the Chamber and noticed that Potter had not been exaggerating, it was filthy. She quickly cast an Impervius Charm on herself- something Snape had already done and the others quickly followed her lead.
"Wish I had known this one in Second Year," Potter admitted wryly. "Or thought about doing now in Sixth…" he added with a hint of a blush that Daphne caught herself thinking was oddly endearing for someone admitting to being an idiot.
The journey down was terrifying and yet strangely exhilarating. Daphne had never been much for adventure. She had been raised with the idea that proper young girls did make a mess, didn't place themselves in situations that could get them into trouble and certainly didn't place themselves in danger. Even though they were doing a school project and were being accompanied by a professor, this was closest thing to being out-of-bounds she had ever been and for the first time she understood the appeal the Gryffindors had for getting into such ridiculous circumstances.
The tunnels were dark and, as Potter had warned, cramped, but they were at least tall enough to walk through. Though despite not having to stoop down, Draco was clearly uncomfortable the entire time. He was taking short, rapid breaths as though worried that the air was going to run out. He was purposefully walking a half dozen steps in front of everyone to give himself just a little more space, his posture ram-rod straight and muscles tense the whole time and although Daphne knew that Potter and even Longbottom usually walked a little faster, they were careful to allow the blond his needed distance.
That was until they reached a pile of rocks that had been dug through just enough to get rather small bodies through- 12 year old bodies if Daphne wasn't wrong.
"This is where Lockhart tried to wipe me and Ron's memories and leave us down here. But it backfired- he slammed into the tunnel and it collapsed."
"Alright Potter, I have to know- it's insane enough that you and Weasley decided to wage some sort of two person rescue mission against a killer beast when you were twelve and knew absolutely no magic that could possibly help you, but why in Merlin's name would you bring along the most useless professor that Hogwarts has seen in a decade?" Malfoy demanded, his discomfort with the situation making his words sharp and nasty.
"Indeed," Snape added, his eyebrow lifting slightly in query. "What did possess you to bring that buffoon down here?"
Potter flushed dully, "er… well funny thing actually… in retrospect I kind of chalk it up to… not fully understanding sarcasm?" he ended as though it were a question though obviously it wasn't.
"What?" Longbottom asked, breaking his self-imposed silent treatment towards the other Gryffindor.
Potter scratched the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable and embarrassed with what he was about to say. "So… Ron and I finally figured out what the 'monster' was and we were going to warn the teachers. Except that before we could say anything Ginny got brought down there and everyone was convinced that she was either dead already or else would be before anyone could do anything to help her. And then… er we were heard Professor Snape and McGonagall saying that Lockhart was the perfect man for the job and that he could take care of it. Obviously now…I realize that they were both making fun of the fact that he can't do anything properly but… we were twelve. And stupid. And we actually thought that they had left the job to him of all people."
Snape pinched the bridge of his nose at this explanation and Draco shook his head in disgust but Daphne found her lips twitching slightly.
"Shut it," Potter muttered but he was grinning a bit himself as though he could at least now see the humor.
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Longbottom muttered, seemingly before thinking better of the words because he flushed slightly after they escaped his mouth.
"Honestly at the time… who was I really going to go to? Dumbledore was banished, McGonagall hadn't believe us First Year when we warned her about the Stone being stolen and everyone else…" Potter shrugged as though to say there weren't any other options and perhaps to a boy that had been shoved aside by his guardians his whole life, there really hadn't been. "It was stupid but at the time I honestly thought that we didn't have any other options so there you have it. It was either go after her ourselves or let Ginny die."
On that sobering thought, the turned to the task of clearing the tunnel. Considering that they were no longer Second Year dunces, the five of them were able to clear the tunnel of rocks in short order and they continued on to the main chamber- a place that was so large it looked as though the Great Hall could fit inside it.
"Oh fuck," Draco shouted out in surprise and Daphne mentally echoed his sentiments as she stared, wordlessly, at the gigantic snake-corpse in front them.
"I didn't know it was this big! This is…this is…" It was frighteningly large. Over sixty long and over ten in diameter, the snake could have eaten any one of them whole in a single bite. It was absolutely astonishing that anyone could have survived a fight against the enormous creature but the thought that a twelve year old- a boy that had been sharing classes with her and coming in behind her on just about every test they had ever taken, had killed was unbelievable.
Even Snape looked as though he was lost for words and Longbottom's jaw had dropped. Potter was studying the creature with a strange look on his face. She would have expected him to look boastful and proud of what he had done, or perhaps afraid as he remembered the experience but instead there was something that was close to sympathy for it though she didn't think that that was quite it.
"How…did you really stab it with Gryffindor's sword?" Longbottom finally asked.
Harry nodded, his expression distant. "It was luck mostly."
He turned his back abruptly on the large snake and turned towards the enormous statue of Salazar Slytherin. "That's it," Harry said unnecessarily. "Voldemort got it open by saying that he was the greatest of the Founders but I'm not sure if that was just him talking or a real password."
Snape nodded, seemingly academic but Daphne detected a flicker of excitement in the normally stoic man. They spent almost an hour studying the statue and making notes on some of the spells that they could find that would enable to stone structure to move and obey commands. It wasn't completely unique magic- several statues and figures in the wizarding world were used as sentinels for one place or another, but the sheer size is what made it impressive. Most wizards would be unable to enchant something so large and for so long. No one had updated the enchantments on the statue in centuries and yet they were still intact and functional.
They were finishing up and preparing to leave when things took a most unfortunate turn.
"What's this?" Longbottom asked finding a marking on the wall and touching it. There was a grinding of stone against stone as a wall shifted and all of them jumped back in surprise, Potter wincing slightly, his head going to his scar. There was a hissing from a engraved snake on the wall and Potter answered it without thought.
The wall responded and Potter nodded, hissing back once more. "It's Slytherin's...inner sanctum. His library, where he used to work on his research. Apparently Voldemort used to come down here all time, I'm guessing that's where he must have found a lot of the Dark Arts books that he used to rise to power."
"Because Slytherin's chamber must just be filled with the Dark Arts Potter?" Daphne asked in annoyance at the usual Gryffindor assumptions.
"Oh no I'm sure that he put all the Dark Arts books in the Hogwarts library only built a secret chamber that was protected by a deadly basilisk for studies on unicorns," Potter shot back rolling his eyes but he gave her an amused grin and showed there was no actual bite to his retort.
Snape was already pouring over the ancient texts, taking the time to carefully scan for curses or hexes before carefully taking out each on to look over. There was another hiss and Harry winced again, "Professor, you can look at the books but they can't be removed from the Chamber. They'll burn the moment they leave this hidden room."
Now that Daphne had made her way fully into the room she could see that was quite comfortable on the inside. There was an old desk, nothing stately or fashionable, more like a table and she remembered that the Chamber had been built long before even the baroque period that so many wizards were fond of imitating. There were chairs but nothing overly comfortable and a large array of books. The torches on the wall had flared to life when they entered.
"Hey look-"
"Don't!" Potter shouted out just Longbottom found another marking on the wall and just as he touched it the wall grinded quickly shut. There was more hissing and Potter's eyes were watering at this point after a moment there was silence before Potter's quiet voice said. "well shit."
"Explain Potter," Snape demanded.
"It was a trap. A security code or something but basically if you can't speak parseltongue- you can't get out until the next morning."
"So speak Parseltongue you idiot!" Draco yelled uneasily, he was panicking now that they were trapped in the room.
"I didn't touch the mark, so it doesn't matter. The stones will move when the sun rises."
"Well someone has to figure out that we're missing right?" Daphne asked thinking logically.
Potter shrugged, "Ron and Hermione will probably notice when I don't show up to dinner but they would never think that I came down here. Or anyone else for that matter. And considering the Chamber has been hidden for centuries, it well outside the control of the Headmaster's office. We're stuck," he added unnecessarily as he proceeded to sit down in the corner.
"That's it? For years you've been blundering around the castle getting out of ridiculous situations and now that we're trapped you're just going to sit down and give up? Are you kidding me?" Draco barked, his voice taking a rather manic quality to it.
Potter lifted an eyebrow, "there's nothing to figure out or stop Draco. The stone won't move and we'll all survive until the morning. We have about 12 hours, it could be worse," his voice sounded tired and laced with a bit of pain.
"Not all of us grew up being locked up in cupboards so much that we feel at home here Potter!"
"Malfoy!" Longbottom shouted clearly shocked that the Slytherin would bring Potter's childhood into this. Draco flushed slightly, uncharacteristically remorseful for his words but said nothing to take them back.
Potter glared at him but seemed to decide to let the matter drop.
"Are you alright?" Daphne finally asked because clearly Potter was in pain for some reason and it seemed to be related to the Chamber.
Potter sighed in irritation but it didn't seem to be directed at any of them. "My scar is connected to Voldemort, it's the reason that I can talk to snakes in the first place and it seems to be... reacting to be in here. Maybe it's because Tom Riddle spent a lot of time here."
"Who's Tom Riddle?" she asked.
Potter smirked in Draco's direction, "the half-blood raised in a muggle orphanage that changed his name to Lord Voldemort."
Draco was so startled that for a moment he genuinely forgot to be anxious and upset at his present situation. "Get the hell out of here Potter, that's ridiculous."
"Oh its true alright, though don't go asking your aunty Bellatrix, she didn't believe me either last year when I had it out with her. I suppose he just shares more with me than he does his Death Eaters, which really says a lot about a person, don't you think?"
She and Draco exchanged long looks, both thinking through the implication of the Dark Lord being an half-blood and neither truly knowing what to say.
After a few minutes of silence among them Draco started pacing the small room back and forth. Longbottom was watching the Slytherin nervously, Snape had continued to take advantage of his time in a treasured, lost library from one of the greatest wizards in history and Potter seemed content to close his eyes and shut the rest of them out for the time being.
"Potter are you stashing food in pockets are you planning to share?" Draco finally demanded, his tension and fear bringing out the worst in his personality.
Potter blinked, looking confused. "Why would I have food?"
"Over the summer, when we were in the woods, you carried it in your pockets so I'm assuming you always have something."
Realization stole over Potter's face but he shook his head, "I don't carry food when I'm at Hogwarts. It's just a habit from the summer."
Snape looked up at that, his expression unreadable but his eyes seemed to narrow at Potter and she suspected that he was thinking along the same lines that she was. Potter had to horde food because he was concerned his relatives wouldn't feed him. Draco also looked uncomfortable at realizing why Potter had had the food in the first place.
However, with the lack of food and space Draco was becoming more and more agitated before- "Stupify!" a beam of the deepest red struck Draco and a quickly muttered cushioning charm caught him as he collapsed.
"Little extreme don't you think?" Longbottom asked Potter, his voice more amused than shocked by the action.
Potter shrugged, "I would have asked him but I think he was too worked up to think about it properly. He would have said he was fine and not only would that means he suffers the night unnecessarily but he would have driven me nuts too. Easier this way." Potter sounded remarkably pragmatic about the whole thing and here she was naively thinking that Gryffindors were supposed to be noble and sickly sweet.
"And when he wakes up in an hour or so?" Daphne asked, her lips twitching. She didn't disagree on principle but stunning spells generally didn't last very long.
Potter shrugged looking defensive, "I think that should keep him out most of the night."
Once again Longbottom's eyes widened with the knowledge that Potter truly was more powerful than the rest of them. He seemed to be in a deep study of his dormmate, re-evaluating his own ideas of what he thought.
The night was slow and Daphne got next to now sleep on the cold floor- unable to get comfortable. Neville was much the same and Snape appeared too interested in having unlimited access to Slytherin's wealth of knowledge to even contemplate sleeping at all. Potter on the other hand had leaned up against a wall and promptly fell asleep. His face twitched every so often, as though in pain but he didn't wake.
It was impossible to measure the passing of time and Daphne was positive that dawn must have come several hours earlier, no night could possibly last that long. She was cold, tired and hungry at this point and very irritable and so when Draco woke with an almighty groan she was not sympathetic to his pain.
"Merlin Potter- I know that was you. Little warning would have helped."
Potter yawned, his face grimacing with pain of his own, "at least it spared you a few hours of worry." He glanced around as though he could decipher the time but of course he could not.
"Anybody have the time? I don't have any luck with watches."
"Just gone half six, the sun should be up soon," Longbottom answered softly. Potter nodded.
It wasn't much longer before the vault door finally slide open and they gratefully scuttled out of their temporary prison, all of them that is besides Professor Snape who looked as though he was leaving under duress. Potter looked rather bemused at the rare look of longing on the professor's face before finally rolling his eyes. "We can come back."
"Not on your life Potter. We have enough for our project and that is the last time I come to his death trap," Malfoy growled as he made his swift exit of the Chamber, headed for the tunnels.
Daphne couldn't help but feel that she had learned a lot more during their time in the Chamber than simply about stone animation.
A/N: A thousand apologies for how long this took. A third of chapter got wiped out and then I got mad at myself and boycotted writing. The next chapter- hopefully- will not take nearly as long and will be more exciting.
The idea of Harry misunderstanding the teachers in regards to having Lockhart kill the Slytherin monster is actually a semi-valid one- the human brain doesn't develop fully until the age of 25 and doesn't truly grasp sarcasm (which is considered a higher order thought process) until the teenage years, which is why kids often don't get it or younger teens will ask if you're being sarcastic if you say something with a straight face. At least that is the only rational reason I can give for Harry knowing that Lockhart was fraud and still assuming that he would be of help to him.
Edit: Sorry I have no earthly idea how this saved incorrectly but this is the better chapter sorry if your chapter cut off randomly in weird spots