Once Harri's got her grin under control - a grin that screams of plans, plans that could potentially screw everyone else over entirely - she takes everyone by surprise by saying "I think it'd be a good idea for everyone to just come out and say what their goals are. That way nobody can be demonized or deified."
Voldemort doesn't miss the glare Dumbledore sends her way again, even as he says "Harri, my girl, I don't-"
"Alright, I'll start. I want to live my life, end of story. I want to not be put in ridiculous amounts of danger every year, danger that only seems to get worse as I get older. I'm through being people's child soldier, and I'm done with the publicity, fame, and double-standard that seems to be all there is to being the 'Girl-Who-Lived.' I want to live my life in peace and quiet, figure out what I want to do with it, and that's that." She crosses her arms, finally taking her other one out of her pocket, and gives everyone a flat stare that says 'Try me, and you regret it.'
Her hair turning black as night clues Voldemort in to the detail that she's serious as a heart attack. He has to wonder how she's a Metamorphmagus suddenly, something she most certainly was not last year - Barty would've reported as much…or he would've seen it once he'd gotten his body back. He clears this throat to bring himself back to the present, and lists his own goals - once the Goblins force Dumbledore to be silent so he can actually be heard, that is.
Protection for all magical children, including removal from abusive households.
Enforcement of the Statute of Secrecy, including some way to keep the Muggle parents of Muggleborn children from telling others about the Magical World.
Preparing the Magical World for the day when Muggle Technology will find them, and making plans to deal with the threat when it arises.
Equal rights for all sentient beings.
Get Muggleborns tested to check whether they're actually descendants of Squibs or truly new bloodlines.
Get a proper legal definition of the difference between Dark Magic and Black Magic, and ensure responsible usage of Dark Magic with regular medical checks.
Repeal all the laws banning the old traditions as Dark, and bring those traditions back into society.
A fifteen minute break gets called - mainly so everyone can process the fact that the Dark Lord isn't actually evil incarnate like Dumbledore has been saying all this time.
Harri heads over to the table filled with snack foods, loads a plate up…and discretely grabs a handful of nuts in one hand before putting it into the front pocket, giving Hedwig something to eat when she wakes up.
Voldemort walks over, only to see a Goblin come over when he's about halfway there and hand her something…something that looks remarkably like a Swiss Army Knife. A large Swiss Army Knife. He can just bet that knife is dangerous as a wand, if the Goblins made it for her. As he watches, she slips it into a pocket underneath the robe-hoodie combination and bows to the Goblin.
And then Rita is over by her side in a flash, you'd think the annoying pest of a woman Apparated.
Perhaps she used her Animagus form…
She starts badgering the younger woman with questions, and Voldemort heads over to stop the word-twisting woman. Then he stops in his tracks when Harri says "Rita, darling, if you don't stop bugging me, I'm going to step on you like a little Water Beetle. Get it?"
Rita, having gone paler than he currently looks, squeaks out "Absolutely!" She then promptly dashes off, leaving an annoyed Harri Potter in her wake.
Picking up a plate and taking some food himself, Voldemort casually says "Well, that was interesting."
Harri hums, picking up the plate of food she put down, and says "I'll take that as a compliment then."
Deciding to test the waters a little further, he asks "How did you find out she's a Water Beetle Animagus? I didn't until recently."
Harri nearly smiles, until it turns into a scowl abruptly as she says "Her- Granger. The brunette." Her plate, and the remaining food on it, promptly catches a dark green fire.
Harri drops it at once, starting to stamp out the unexpected flames - Voldemort tries Banishing them, but they appear to be Magical Flames…Harri's Magic, at that. He'd put it down to Accidental Magic due to her upcoming sixteenth birthday, but the Potters aren't known for any Creature Inheritances. He should know, Severus would've been complaining to Lucius all these years about how Harri was likely going to end up exactly like her father in literally every way possible just because fate likes to spite him.
Still, from what the Potions Master has mentioned about a 'know-it-all Gryffindor' he's willing to bet that's this Granger.
Nagini hisses "Tom, the Hatchling smells hurt. I smell something in her scent. It reminds me of the venom of the King Snake but…more. I can't identify what, though, as even the Venom is not exact."
Voldemort discretely hisses back "We can ask her about it afterwards. The hurt you smell could be as simple as a bruise from Quidditch Practice, as I know she has played since her first year. And the scent could be her magic just now, I recall her getting bitten and healed in the Chamber from the Diary Horcrux's memories."
"Quidditch Practice at the end of the year, Tom?"
Harri stays perfectly silent, just in case the two don't know she's a Parselmouth - long shot, considering the entire world found out three years ago, but still.
Still, she'd really like to know how much of her current actions are her own, and how much are due to the Potions they didn't have the time to flush from her system after Un-Blocking her Core, Abilities, and freeing her mind from the various Compulsions on her. They simply didn't have another few hours for her to spend recovering from flushing out what amounts to several years worth of drugs - at the amounts and dosages she has in her, its exactly like an intense detoxifying of a few months compressed into a few hours, with all the symptoms the various Potions will induce in her combined with a lot of vomiting.
Merlin, she's not looking forward to that. Point of fact, she hates being sick - she'll fight to the death not to throw up, most times. If she's being perfectly honest with herself, its something her relatives drilled into her - it didn't take long for her to figure out it was much better for her health if she forced herself not to throw up. Vernon beat her unconscious, Petunia forced some vile-tasting medicine down her throat, and they made her clean up the mess before locking her in her Cupboard to either get better or die. Not in that exact order, but the point stands.
Yeah, she really doesn't like being sick. Damn Dumbledore to hell for eternity for putting her in this mess!
Voldemort watches as Harri keeps a blank expression on her face - whether due to the fact that he spoke Parseltongue in front of her or that she understood what he and Nagini were saying, he's not sure. But almost as soon as he moves away from her, she's all but ambushed by Heir Longbottom and the Weasley Twins.
Longbottom actually hugs Harri, forgoing any and all protocol in favor of making sure his friend is alright - admirable. Not how a Pureblood behaves usually, but admirable - more so, perhaps, in light of that detail. At the very least, he knows Longbottom would let her stay with him if she asked.
Neville glances around, then leans closer and quietly murmurs something into her ear. Harri grins, and says "The same way I've been getting food lately, Nev. Can't say here, though. But…you remember my visitor before second year?"
Neville and the Twins nod, and then one of the red-heads whistles and says "Sneaky, Harri. Very sneaky."
"You'd make a good Slytherin like that, you know."
Oh, really? Something to ask about, it seems.
Harri just shrugs, and says "Its where the Hat wanted to put me. I wasn't keen on living with my cousin year-round, though."
Neville glances at the Twins, one of whom murmurs "Malfoy."
"Ah. Course. Figures."
Harri chuckles mirthlessly, and says "That it does."
One of the Twins asks "So…what happened? With…" The other gestures at Harri for emphasis.
Harri glares over in Dumbledore's general direction, then her hair goes gray as she exhaustedly says "Its all so bloody screwed up, guys. And if this goes wrong, I'm worse than dead. Dumbledore gets his hands on me again, I may as well have just pled guilty at that trumped-up sham of a trial Fudge tried to give me."
Neville quietly asks "That bad?"
"So much. Get your Gran to have you checked by a Professional Healer. Hell, have a Gringotts Healer check you for spells and such. Her to, maybe. And get her to let you get a wand of your own, Nev. I'm pretty sure its messing with your Core. Ollivander gave me this whole speech about the Wand choosing the Wizard…and you said that's your father's wand."
Neville nods, then his eyes go wide as he processes the implications. "Yeah. Yeah, I will. Thanks, Harri. What about you? How many did you have on you?"
Her hair goes back to black as she says "Honestly? I'm surprised I can even remember the past few years. Don't look the old man in the eye, ever. I found out a few things, including the detail that the bloody twinkle in his eye is a sign of Legilimency. And find some way to check the food at the school, it's the only way I can think of as to how I got it all in my system. Unless the care packages I got from the Weasleys were Potioned, there's always that option. No offense, Gred, Forge."
The Twins nod, and say "None taken, Harri. If they were…"
"If they were, I've missed some this year. I didn't eat the package this time. I was so mad about nobody telling me anything important that I threw it out the window in a fit of rage. Don't get me wrong, your letters were wonderful...but Granger and your brother writing that they couldn't even write anymore, in case the letters got intercepted?"
One of them says "We tried, Harri. We really did. They were watching us as we wrote, though."
"Literally, right over our shoulders!"
Harri chuckles, and says "I figured, when you wrote that your mother was breathing down your necks."
Taking everyone by surprise, Harri suddenly pulls the Twins down in a hug, one arm around each of their necks - a shocker, since Harri's never been one for physical contact. Hell, they're still working on touching her without her flinching!
"Harri?"
"What's wrong?"
Harri just murmurs "Thank you. For always sticking by me, even when things are hard. Its meant the world to me, these past few years. You and Luna to, Nev."
The Longbottom boy gets a hug of his own, and returns it at once before pulling back and asking "What's going on? Harri, the way your talking…"
She gives him what's probably meant to be a reassuring smile, and says "I just wanted to say that before the shit hits the fan. Before my bloody Potter Luck strikes once more."
The three boys share a laugh that's a little too emotional to be believable, and one of the red-heads says "Right. Troll."
"Quirrellmort."
"Basilisk."
"Dementors making you faint."
"Mass murderer being your godfather."
"Said godfather being innocent."
"A hundred Dementors heading straight for you like you're a pile of candy."
"Getting blamed for casting the Dark Mark at the World Cup last year."
"The entire Tournament, and someone entering you into it."
"The Dementor attack in Little Whinging."
"The trial for saving yourself from said Dementors."
"Being Umbitch's main target all this time."
Harri chuckles mirthlessly, then asks "You do remember everyone and their unborn child can hear us, right? Since we're still on air?"
AN: Hey, everyone! Its my B-Day! Happy Birthday to me! So, as a big birthday gift...I'm posting some things!
Yes, Harri's pretty much still drugged to the gills on various Potions - its why she's going to be a little...emotional, lets say. More on what, exactly, is in her system later.
Anyway, enjoy! Please review, they make my day! Especially today!