POTTER RESURGENCE
Chapter 7
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to J. K ROWLING.
AN: It's been a while since I did one of these but I'll be brief. Someone pointed out that Dumbledore is sitting on his ass and that's intentional on my part. Dumbledore will have a role to play in the future but for now, he isn't really that relevant when it comes to the development of the story for the time being.
-PRPRPRPR-
"I have noticed the tensions between all of you, especially the Slytherins and Gryffindors." Dumbledore's voice boomed throughout the great hall on Monday during breakfast, three days after coming back to school. "Poppy has been very busy of late and she is getting concerned as the injuries she is having to heal are getting more dangerous. This must stop."
The hall was quiet, everyone listening to the headmaster as his voice grew progressively stern.
"All you're doing is helping this so called 'heir of Slytherin'. He wants you to turn against one another, fight each other and kill the bonds you have painstakingly built, bonds that were formed when the four founders sat together and agreed to build this castle." Dumbledore paused, his eyes sweeping across his attentive audience. "Do not be led astray by the actions of a coward, we are stronger together and it's in our best interests if we stay that way. On a related note, House Peverell through the goblins will be supplying the school with mature mandrakes and so by the end of this week our friends in the hospital wing will join us. Have a nice breakfast."
The great hall was silent for a moment before buzzing of conversation started again. Hardwin looked at the Slytherin table and he could see that they too had been affected by the headmaster's little speech. He tried to catch Harry's eye but his brother was staring intently at the Gryffindor table right at...Ginny?
The girl who had been staring at the table throughout Dumbledore's speech suddenly looked up and stared at Harry. Her thin lips stretched into a smirk while Harry just continued staring before she blinked and looked away, her cheeks a bright red.
"Hey you're okay?" Neville asked while Hardwin shook his head bewildered with what had just happened.
"Yeah, I'm good."
"I thought the name Peverell was just in a fairy tale." Seamus commented and Hardwin shook his head.
"Not anymore, didn't you read the papers during the break?"
"It's the holidays, Hardwin." Dean laughed. "Why would I waste time reading things when I should be resting."
While the rest of the Gryffindors laughed, Hardwin glanced at Hermione who was bitting her lip. "Hey, what's on your mind?"
"Things too complicated for us simple minds to comprehend." Neville said sagely and Hermione huffed while Hardwin snickered to himself.
"I'm just wondering why the school didn't just buy the mature mandrakes instead of waiting for the ones we are growing." She said. "I mean, according to my research the mandrakes won't be ready untill we have like a weak before the summer holidays, we those students going to be there for all that time?"
"Maybe they're too expensive for the school to afford?" Hardwin shrugged.
"Well, I think we should be more worried with how the Heir will react to being called a coward." Neville said and Hermione nodded.
"I don't think they'll be very happy." Hardwin said. "Harry says that people tend to make stupid decisions when pissed, maybe that's what Dumbledore is hopping for."
The three friends nodded in agreement. Hardwin looked at Ginny again, the unnaturally pale girl was eating her food almost mechanically, he face hard as if fixed in stone.
"Whatever their reaction will be though, I think it will be their last one."
-PRPRPRPR-
Harry sat on the front desk in their first DADA lesson on Wednesday morning. The school had gone back to normal for the last six days as many had decided to give up their vendetta against the other houses. Dumbledore's speech had helped and the arrival of the mandrakes later that day had dissolved the tensions almost completely.
It didn't mean there wasn't a scuffle here and there but those were just out of pettiness and keeping the rivalry alive. All in all, life had gone back to normal, the fear for the Heir was diminishing the longer he took without retaliating against Dumbledore's words.
Harry kept his guard up and made sure Hardwin and his friends did the same. He also kept up with his side project of working on Daphne's case and he wasn't making any progress. All he knew right now was that there was certainly something wrong with the smallest Weasley and it probably had something to do with the Heir.
He had finally acknowledged the fact that he had zero talent in enchanting and had left it for now and he hadn't made any more progress past the amulets he had given Hardwin and his friends. That legendary affinity for enchanting that he had hoped to have inherited from the Peverell line was missing.
Perhaps Hardwin would have more luck if he tried, but that would depend on if he even tried testing it out in the first place. Harry knew and understood the theory behind enchanting well enough, and he had no doubt he could be a good teacher if he had a student attuned to it. Something he was hopping to find in Luna given who her mother was.
For his part, Harry knew he had no future in enchanting. It didn't mean that he would give up the art completely, that wasn't in his nature. He will consume anything related to it that comes his way untill he understands it inside out, to the extent where he recognizes enchantments with only a glance.
Just because he can't do something doesn't mean he can't understand it. That was what he had promised to himself the first time he started learning magic. And with that in mind, Harry spent every second he spent in his private lab reading up on enchanting and enchantments.
He had brought as many books from the home library as his enchanted trunk could carry and he now has a mini-library in his lab. So far he hadn't gotten any tomes from the goblins about enchantments though others were coming in on a daily basis about other subjects. Most were on mundane topics like charms, potions and transfiguration.
Earlier today, he had received one on Animagi and he had sent it straight home, not wanting to get distracted from what he was doing now. He planned to become an Animagus at some point but not at the cost of his current research.
Shaking his head, Harry stood up along with the rest of the Slytherins as the lesson came to a close. He gestured for the others to go ahead for lunch as he wanted to have a word with the professor, sharing a significant look with Daphne.
"Mr. Potter?" The man looked up from where he had been arranging his book, his face lightning up almost comically before dimming slightly. "Harry Potter, for a moment there I thought it was your brother."
"A common mistake, I'm afraid." Harry said with a gentle smile. "I'm told we're nearly a copy of the other."
"That, I can attest to." He chuckled. "I imagine it must have been hell for Mrs. Potter raising the two of you."
"A mother knows, motherly instinct or something like that."
"Lily Potter was one of the most brilliant minds to have passed through these halls." Lockhart said. "I got the pleasure to see her a few times around the castle but I've never met her eversince I left Hogwarts."
"Perhaps I can arrange a meeting?" Harry offered and the man's eyes lit up. "She is a great fan of you and admires your work greatly."
"That would be great, Harry!" There was a conniving look in his eyes. "I would be greatly appreciative."
"Oh, it's nothing." Harry waved him off. "What's a little favor between friends. We are friends right, Professor?"
"Indeed we are, and as friends, I insist you call me Gilderoy." Harry nodded in acknowledgement. "You must head to lunch though, we wouldn't want you to be late for your next lesson."
"Of course." Harry nodded as he made to leave before pausing at the door. "There is something else though, something related to two of your books I wanted to talk to you about but maybe another time."
"If it's important maybe you should tell me."
"Well, in one book, you were at a party for an African warlord who was appreciating you for saving his daughter." Harry started. "Yet in the other, on the same day, you had just arrived in Italy to perform an excorcism."
"You've really got an eye for detail, don't you, Harry?" Lockhart said as he smiled at him. "I've been told you're leagues ahead of your classmates and I figured if anyone could see it, it probably would be you. So what do you think really happened?"
Harry knew he needed to tread carefully, there was something dangerous about Lockhart right now which meant he was onto something. If he hadn't been tuned to his senses and watching Lockhart like a hawk, he would have missed the change in the blonde's body language.
"I can't say for sure but I imagine an illegal time turner was involved." Harry said carefully. He had thought of this confrontation and planned for a number of outcomes.
"Is that so?" Lockhart relaxed slightly. "Why don't you come around tonight and we can discuss this further, uhm?"
"Sure, Professor-"
"Gilderoy, Harry." Lockhart corrected. "We're friends, remember?"
"Right, of course." Harry nodded and left the classroom. Just the door closed behind him, he newly trained sense felt magic being cast behind him and he embraced the thought of not sharing anything they talked about with anyone. He hadn't been planning on doing otherwise anyway, so the confundus was a waste.
-PRPRPRPR-
"What did you find out?" Harry raised an eyebrow at Greengrass when she ambushed him the moment the door closed behind him. "Hey, wait!"
Harry shook his head and continued walking. The blonde ran after him and caught his arm making him stop. "Potter, aren't you going to say something?! I deserve to know-"
"You deserve nothing, Greengrass." Harry interrupted her, pulling his arm free. "You gave me a project and I told you I'll give you results in a week. What I do during the week is none of your business and neither is how I get the results."
He glared at her and she stumbled away from him. Advancing on her, Harry continued, his eyes blazing. "I do not like being manhandled and the next time you grab my hand, be ready to lose it, do I make myself clear?"
The girl nodded, almost frantically and that was when Harry felt the stifling heaviness in the air as his magic reacted with his anger. He lebhis senses free, examining the aggressive aura and once satisfied, he drew his magic back in and the feeling disappeared immediately.
The girl infront of him was visibly relieved and when he released his magic again, mimicking the feeling, she flinched almost violently. Harry stared her down, for a half a minute before dropping the aura and stalking away from her towards the great hall, his lips stretched in an amused smirk.
-PRPRPRPR-
Later that night, about thirty minutes after curfew, Harry walked out of Lockhart's office, his eyes slightly glazed over. His face was relaxed, and if anyone had seen him at that moment, they would never have recognized him because that was not an expression he wore in public.
"Be and dear and come back again some time, will you, Harry?" Lockhart asked, clearly pleased with himself and Harry just nodded. "Now run along, we wouldn't want someone to catch you for being out after curfew."
Lockhart closed the door behind him and Harry started his trek back to the dungeons, his face still pleasantly relaxed thanks to the successful meeting he had just had. They had discussed ways in which a partnership between House Potter and Lockhart was beneficial to both parties.
By the end of the meeting, they had come to the conclusion that house Potter would fund Lockhart's projects while Lockhart, the celebrity that he was would publically approve and take part in all House Potter's own projects. Just as he rounded the corner, Harry stumbled and fell as his head was gripped by a sharp pain.
He groaned as his head pounded while memories assaulted his mind. Curling into himself, Harry bit his lips to muffle the screams as more images memories came, memories for a meeting with Lockhart that looked nothing like the one he remembered.
When the assault stopped, Harry pulled himself back to his feet and leaned against the stone wall of the castle as he studied the new memories. His face slowly contorted into a mask of fury and it took all his willpower not to turn back and storm Lockhart's office.
Almost mechanically, he forced himself to keep walking back to the dorns before he did something he regrets. Lockhart had obliviated him and he wanted nothing more than to tear the fraud apart, piece by piece but in the state he was in, he didn't want to make stupid mistakes that could bite in in the butt.
And so with his anger stored away under lock and key, Harry continued his journey while analysing the real memories. He had sat with the fool for over an hour and thirty minutes as he listed every single mistake he had made in the books.
All the while, Harry had been covertly trying to breach Lockhart's impressive defenses to see his perspective on Daphne's detention. He hadn't been very successful but he had caught a few glimpses and with those he had reconstructed exactly what had happened and also realized what was going to happen to him.
With that realization, he started fortifying his mind. His occulmency wasn't yet at the level where he could just shrug off an obliviation, especially from someone as skilled as Lockhart if Daphne was anything to go by so he had planned of contingencies. Knowing that he was about to be obliviated, he put in motion one.
He fortified his mind to it's fullest and made copies of every memory of his. He put the originals behind his mental fortress and left the copies outside under a few protections. When Lockhart finally obliviated him, he simply changed the copy of the meeting while the original was safe behind the invisible fortress.
The copies were unable to last very long though and would disappear after some time and Harry would then start accessing the originals. He had never tested it out but he it was the only one he was most confident about and do he had decided to try it out. Thankfully, it had worked.
Harry was pulled out of his musings when he slammed into a small figure. The other person, a girl stumbled back and almost fell but Harry reached forward instinctively and caught her. He almost dropped her when he realized she was naked.
"Ms. Lovegood?"
"Hi, Harry." The blonde first-year smiled at him. "You shouldn't wonder in the halls absentmindedly, you never know what you could run into. Many animals like to mate during this time of the year."
Stepping away from her, Harry pulled off his robe and wrapped it around around her covering her body that only had a pair of panties. The castle was cold and she was even shivering slightly.
"Why are you walking in the hallways, naked, Luna." Harry asked even as he summoned his wand and cast a warming charm over her and conjured a pair of slippers. "And where are your shoes?"
"I think the nargles took my robe and shoes, mischievous creatures that they are." She replied serenely as she started skipping away from him. "I stayed long in the library, by the time I came back, the eagle was asleep so I waited for it to wake up. I must have fallen asleep and that was when the nargles took my clothes."
Harry stared after her for a few seconds. That didn't sound right.
"Don't worry though, I'm sure they'll bring them back." She said. "Now come on, I think Filch is about to come, did you know he used to be married to an acromantula?"
Harry snorted and followed her. "Not to my knowledge, no."
"Well, it's not exactly public knowledge but during his great trek in Africa, he ran into one and they got married." She said conspiratory. "It was how Hagrid was born."
"I thought he was a half-giant."
"Now why would you think that?" Luna asked as they kept walking, Harry steering her through some of his secret passageways towards Ravenclaw tower.
"Well, his size for one."
"You think just because he is big, he is a child of a giant?" Luna asked and Harry nodded. "That's just stupid. So you also think Ron is a son to a flobberworm?"
"Err..." Harry couldn't see how those two could be related in any way. "You're right, that's just stupid."
"You see!" She cheered. "Next you'll be telling me, Minister Fudge's wife is a hippo."
"You know the Minister's wife?"
"He is not married, silly."
"Right, of course." Harry replied as they rounded a corner and reached the entrance to the Ravenclaw tower. "Here we are."
Harry stepped forward and cast a detection charm on the eagle to find that someone had cast a charm on it to not respond normally if Luna was standing before it. "Luna, why don't you step back for a moment."
The girl complied without question and the eagle sprung to life. It asked it's riddle and Harry answered it easily enough. He opened the door and beckoned for Luna to enter after him. They entered the quiet common room and the majority of the house were there, reading. They all looked up at their entrance.
Harry stood and stared all of them down, daring anyone to question him on why he was there. One girl, Penelope Clearwater stood up from where she was seated and walked over to them.
"Potter, what are you doing in our common room?" She asked curiously.
"I came to escort my friend here." Harry gestured at Luna who beamed at him. "I found her walking in the hallways, naked because someone had the bright idea of charming the entrance to keep her out before stunning her and stripping her naked."
"Are you sure-" she stopped at Harry's glare. "Right, thank you very much for your help, I'll handle this."
"Make sure you do, because if this happens again, I'll personally do something about it." He didn't wait for a response and turned to Luna. "Keep the cloak, it will always come back to you if someone else takes it from you."
"Thank you, Harry." Luna said as she hugged him tightly.
Giving the prefect one last pointed look, Harry stalked his way out of the quiet common room. Luna watched him go with a small smile which later turned serene as she turned to the fifth-year prefect staring at her.
-PRPRPRPR-
"Greengrass, can I talk to you?" Daphne looked up from her breakfast and her eyes widened slightly before she recomposed herself, her last conversation with the boy infront of her clear in her mind.
As well as the memory of peeing in her knickers.
"Sure, just a second." Wiping her mouth, she excused herself, ignoring Tracey's inquisitive look and followed the tall boy. She could feel the eyes of most people in the great hall on her but Potter either didn't seem to notice or just didn't care.
They reached the nearest empty room to the great hall and Potter led her inside. He closed the door and waved his wand over it and she felt something settle over the room. Wards?
Why was she not surprised.
"I know the person who obliviated you." Potter said without preamble and her heart almost stopped after she processed his words.
"Wha...who is it?"
"I can't tell you yet but you will find out after I've dealt with him."
Daphne resisted the urge to demand answers from him, last time she had tried hadn't wrought much success. "Does that mean you know what memory was taken from me?"
"Yes." Potter replied with a straight face and her heart beat faster. "And I will get it from the person before we deal with him. But first I need you to do something."
"What?"
"Get detention with Lockhart."
"Is he the one who obliviated me?" She asked. It was quite unbelievable but Potter seemed convinced.
"I can't tell you, not yet but I will reveal everything during the detention." He said to her frustration but she swallowed her words and asked something else.
"What are you going to do to him?" She needed to know if it would do justice for what he did to her.
"Can't say. Plausible deniability and all that." Potter said. "But if you must know one thing, then it will be fitting punishment."
"Very well." She sighed. "What do I do after I get the detention."
"What you'd have done normally." Potter replied. "Show up for the detention and leave the rest to me."
"Ok." She nodded. "Is that all?"
"Yes, it is." And with that, he dispelled his wards and walked out of the room back to the great hall. Daphne walked back to her seat as Potter walked over to the Gryffindor table and talked to his brother.
A few seconds later, the two left while the boy-who-lived looked reluctant to leave.
"Hey Daph, what was that about?"
"Nothing, Tracey." She replied. "Have you finished your Potions essay?"
-PRPRPRPR-
"So, what's this about?" Hardwin asked as he took a seat on a table in the kitchens. He took a sip from his tea while he waited for his answer.
"Lockhart obliviated me."
Hardwin spit out the tea he had just taken right into Harry's face. Unsurprisingly, none of the tea reached him. "WHAT?!"
Harry looked amused while he took a sip of his own tea.
"This is hardly something to joke about, Harry." Hardwin sighed as he wiped his mouth.
"Do you honestly think that I could joke about something like that?" Harry asked with a smile. "I just saw an amazing opportunity to break the news and I took it."
"Very funny." Hardwin huffed. "So, if you were obliviated, then how do you know that you were obliviated? Isn't the point of obliviation forgetting what happened?"
"That would normally be the case if the obliviator was entirely successful." Hardwin raised an eyebrow. "While trying to read Lockhart's mind, I realized that there might be a possibility of it happening so I had a contingency incase it happened and I failed to stop it. Suffice to say, it worked flawlessly. But right now, I need to make sure you didn't suffer the same fate during one of your detentions."
"Wait, why were you reading his mind in the first place?"
"Not important." Harry waved him off while he drew his wand. "Ready? Leglimens!"
A few seconds later, Hardwin blinked as Harry slipped out of his mind. "Well?"
"He didn't, you're fine."
"Why did he obliviate you, though."
"Again, not important." Harry said. "What's important is the fact that he dared to obliviate me. That can't be left to stand, and I need your help to enact his punishment."
Hardwin simply nodded, trusting his brother's judgement.
"I need an alibi." Harry told him as he gave him the Invisibility Cloak. "Find me outside Hagrid's hat after supper and make sure no one knows about it. Well maybe Neville but tell him only the bare minimum, as you may need him to cover for you coz I want everyone to believe you're sleeping at that time."
"Ok, I think I can do that." Hardwin said. "Then what?"
"I'll tell you more from there." Harry said and stood up, pausing at the door when Hardwin stood up. "Yes?"
"Are you...going to kill him?"
Harry was quiet for a few seconds. "Yes."
Hardwin stared at him, his gaze hard and unforgiving. "Good. Make him suffer."
-PRPRPRPR-
Later that evening, while his housemates trudged back to the dungeons, Harry excused himself, telling his classmates that he was going to visit Hagrid. He found Hardwin waiting for him a little distance from Hagrid's hut.
"You're early." Harry commented as he took the Invisibility Cloak from his brother.
"I'm nervous." He replied.
"No need to be." Harry told him as he took off his school robe. "All you have to do is act like me for an hour or so and I'll come and pick you."
"You say that like it's that easy." Hardwin snorted and Harry smiled despite himself.
"I'm sure you'll manage." He tapped Hardwin's robes and the red and gold lining transformed into green and silver. He waved it over the mop of hair on top of Hardwin's head and it grew longer untill it reached his shoulders.
Harry helped him pull it back and tied it into an ponytail identical to his. another wave of his wand and the eyebrows became a little bit lighter. Standing back, Harry nodded in satisfaction. "I guess that covers that, all that is left is up to you."
"Well, Hagrid isn't particularly smart, I'm sure I can convince him that I'm my less friendly brother." Hardwin took a deep breath and surprised him with a hug. "Good luck, Harry."
"If you're to be like me, you should probably tone down on the sappiness."
"Bugger off." Hardwin huffed and turned on his heel and started picking his way towards Hagrid's hut. To Harry, he looked like someone navigating a field of landmines.
Shaking his head, Harry covered himself with the Invisibility Cloak and went back to the castle. A few secret passageways later, he found himself on the six floor outside Lockhart's office. He wasn't sure if Daphne had arrived yet and he was considering ways of finding out when she rounded around the corner.
She reached the door and looked around, probably looking for any sign that he was there like he had promised her and then knocked carefully.
Lockhart opened almost immediately and gave her a roughish smile. "Right on time, Ms. Greengrass. Come on in."
Taking a deep breath, Harry slipped in behind Daphne. He brushed his hand with hers just as he passed by her and whispered two words only she could hear. "I'm here."
-PRPRPRPR-
"You're not Harry Potter." Hardwin blinked at the blonde standing before him before his mind caught up with her words and he straightened up.
"Of course, I am Harry Potter." He drawled in his best imitation of Harry's uncaring voice. "What are you doing out here, Ms. Lovegood? And why are you wearing my House robes."
"Well, Harry helped me yesterday, it's only fair that I should help him as well." She then gestured at the Slytherin robes that were a little too big for her. "As for the robes, your brother gave them to me yesterday."
"Oh..." Hardwin was at a loss of words, probably not helping his acting as Harry was never short of a reply. "Right, why would Harry ask for your help anyway and why didn't he tell me?"
"He didn't ask me for help, silly. I'm only helping because he is a friend."
"A friend?" Hardwin said incredulously, Harry did not have those...wait. "If Harry didn't ask you for help, how did you know he needed any help at all."
"Because I'm his friend and friends always know when the other needs help just like he knew I needed help yesterday." She told him as they reached Hagrid's door. Knocking lightly she turned to him and gave him a serene smile. "You're a horrible actor Hardwin, there was no way you were going to pull this off. Oh, hello Hagrid!"
While Hardwin spluttered his denials, Luna was greeting the Half giant with a hug, clearly the two were familiar with each other. "Luna, what are you doing here?"
"Oh, Harry needed my help." She answered immediately and Hardwin blinked at her. Harry's not being here was supposed to be a secret and she is just telling everyone. "I told him about Aragog and he wanted to pay him a visit. I was hoping you could escort me."
Shaking his head at the girl's play of words, Hardwin followed after the duo as they chatted excitedly. The girl was obviously smart, he could now see why he liked her. However that didn't answer the question of why she was there if Harry hadn't told her anything.
-PRPRPRPR-
Harry waited patiently in the corner for over an hour while nothing relevant happened. Daphne was seated on a desk answering Lockhart's fanmail while the man himself had disappeared. One hour to curfew, Lockhart came back and grinned at the twelve-year-old.
"I see you've been busy, Daphne." The man said, drawing his wand with a flourish. "Perhaps a little bit of rest before you can go back to your dormitory?"
Daphne's eyes widened and she stood up, scrambling with her robes to get the wand but her actions were stopped by Lockhart.
"Imperio." He whispered and her body froze. "Now, no need for that. I'm just helping you to relax. And speaking of, your robes are a little stuffy, why don't you free yourself from them."
With a panicked look on her face, Daphne started unbuttoning the buttons on her robes, while Lockhart lounged in a chair in front of her. She pulled off the robe and let it fall to her feet while Lockhart gave a satisfied humm.
"Now take off the rest, and do please hurry up, we have a lot to do before you can go back." Daphne's face was relaxed, almost serene as she unbuttoned the buttons on her school shirt. "I am hoping we can go a little further than we did the last time you were here."
While this was happening, Harry walked carefully from the corner he had been sitting in towards Lockhart.
"I sincerely hope you didn't forget about our last time." Lockhart said cheerfully. "It was pretty memorable, at least on my part."
By this point Daphne had finished with the shirt and she dropped it to reveal a white bra covering her budding breasts. She unbuttoned the skirt and let it fall to reveal matching panties. Lockhart ordered her to lose of the clothes and Harry felt this had gone on long enough.
While Daphne reached behind her back to unclip the bra, Harry had reached behind Lockhart and he tapped him with his finger on the side of his head making him freeze with a full-body bind.
Still under the invisibility cloak, he looked up to see that Daphne had pulled down the bra to reveal a small pair of pale breasts though obviously big for her age. She suddenly froze as the connection with Lockhart was severed.
"Harry?" She asked in a small voice, clutching the bra to her chest and Harry whipped off the invisibility cloak. She ran at him and grabbed him in a hug, sobbing in his chest.
"Hey, it's ok." Harry shushed her, rubbing her back. Her bare back. Harry pulled back and at her broken look, he gestured at her body. "You should put on some clothes."
"Oh." She squeaked and ran back to the pile of clothes. Harry drew his wand as Daphne put back her bra on and pulled up her skirt. Just as she has was going to button it up, he stunned her.
"Sorry, this next part is better with you unconscious." He walked over to the door and locked it. A few waves of his wand made sure they wouldn't be disturbed.
Harry walked over to where Lockhart was frozen in his seat and stood in front of him. He reached in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a dagger. He pulled off the sheath and the blade glinted from the candle light.
"We are going to have a pointed conversation about obliviating me and how you feel about it." Lockhart's eyes which were the only part of his body he could move locked on the dagger. "You recognize it, don't you?"
Without waiting for a response, he continued.
"I figured you would, you're a knowledgeable man after all, despite your lack of magic talent." Harry said as he studied the dagger in front of him. "Carnwennan the lost blade once owned by King Arthur and enchanted by his trusted friend, Merlin."
He looked up at Lockhart and smiled. "It's not the actual blade actually, with unfathomable amounts of gold, I had the goblins make me this for me with the potential of becoming just like Carnwennan."
Harry slashed across his arm but it didn't penetrate the skin. "Carnwennan could cut through anything and with time so will mine. But to reach that point, it has to absorb blood. Magical blood."
Lockhart was looking terrified while Harry smiled, he could almost taste the fear bleeding off the man. "I imagine you get where I'm going with this, you're a Ravenclaw after all."
Harry grinned at Lockhart's fear. It wasn't very often that he indulged in his sadistic tendencies. "Well, let's get this show on."
He waved his wand and binds sprung into place and tied him to the chair while at the same time he dispelled the body-bind.
"Feel free to scream." Harry said, positioning the dagger directly above Lockhart's chest. "This is going to be very painful."
-PRPRPRPRPR-
"Well, that was fun." Luna declared, skipping ahead of Hardwin and Hagrid as they reached the Hogwarts grounds. "We should do that again!"
"I think we need to work on your definition of the word fun." Hardwin said in between panting breaths. "Being chased by a horde of acromantula is not my idea of fun."
"I didn't think they would chase us." Hagrid mumbled, almost to himself. It seemed Hardwin had been the only one affected by the sprint they just had as they fled for their lives.
"They wouldn't if someone hadn't tried to steal their eggs!" Hardwin said, giving Luna a light glare. The girl either didn't notice or didn't seem to care, he could see why she got along with Harry.
"They were cute and I always wanted to have a pet acromantula." Luna said. "I wonder what they eat, do you thing they like flobberworms? They look really yummy, especially when fried."
"Who even fries_ never mind." Hardwin shook his head wondering what kind of Life Luna lives at home. "Look, can we just hurry before_"
Hardwin was cut off by a loud explosion from the castle. He looked up just in time to see a white flash of light that illuminated what appeared to be a human falling through a window on the six floor. The light disappeared and the night was plunged into darkness again.
Even as it registered in his mind that the person had fallen from the window of Lockhart's office, Hardwin was already running where he could distinctly see a human shaped lump, his earlier tiredness forgotten.
A ball of light jumped from his wand illuminating the courtyard and the body of what could only be Lockhart. The first thing Hardwin noticed was the look on Lockhart's face. The face was contorted in pain, his mouth wide open as if he had been frozen in the middle of a scream.
And then he saw it. Or rather he didn't. "There isn't a single drop of blood in him."
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