Avian Anarchy
by Teddylonglong
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling or Disney, and I am not earning anything by writing this story. I am merely borrowing the characters to play with them.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
Warnings: Completely AU, partly OOC, magically powerful Harry. Dumbledore/Weasley bashing.
Minerva McGonagall entered the headmaster's office, only to witness one of Molly Weasley's famous Howlers.
"… causing me to have to live like a muggle, while you're still the headmaster of Hogwarts? Moreover, even as headmaster, you allowed my daughter to be sorted into the house of the slimy snakes?" The shouting abruptly ended, and she continued in a soft voice. "Oh well, at least she can take care of Harry Potter, who according to Ron also ended up in Slytherin."
"What was that?" Minerva cast the headmaster an incredulous look. "I thought she wasn't allowed to do magic. If she continues like that, they might actually bind her magic."
"No." Albus let out a deep sigh. "She used the Owls Howler Logistics office at Diagon Alley. You know, the yellow owls that take care of letters from people who don't have their own owl."
"Oh, I see. Somehow, I feel sorry for her, even if I must say that she doesn't deserve better. You are simply lucky that Sirius Black did not return to the trial sooner."
"I know, Minerva, I know." Albus nodded his head in apparent remorse, even if Minerva doubted that he was really sorry for what he did to young Harry Potter. 'According to him, it was all for the Greater Good anyhow,' she thought in annoyance.
HP
At the same time, a similar yellow owl made its way into the Slytherin common room, where it dropped a red letter onto the table, where Harry, Neville, Draco, Daphne, Ginny and Tracey were working on their Transfiguration homework.
All students listened with a combination of irritation and amusement, when the voice of Molly Weasley sounded through the common room.
"Ginny! How dare you let that stupid Hat sort you into Slytherin? At least Ron had the audacity to become a Gryffindor like our whole family. You should be ashamed of yourself and ask Professor Dumbledore for a re-sorting." The shouting stopped at this point, and the tirade continued in a smaller voice. "Please tell Harry I said hi."
Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"I'm sorry, Harry."
"That's fine. It's not your fault." Harry cast the girl a small smile.
Ginny rose from her chair and addressed her housemates. "I'm sorry all. I just want you to know that I don't share my mother's opinion. I like this house, and I am proud to be a Slytherin."
Harry and his five friends were the first to clap their hands, and everyone else swiftly followed.
"Ten points to Slytherin," the sixth-year prefect uttered, causing Ginny to smile.
"Thank you all."
HP
Ronald Weasley, however, did not take the matter with his sister's Sorting lightly. On a daily basis, he harassed his sister and together with two of their Gryffindor classmates, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, made fun of the Slytherins.
One day, Harry had enough. "Why don't you just leave Ginny in peace? She's obviously happy to be in Slytherin."
"She only wants to be in Slytherin, because you're there. Most of the Slytherins are evil, and everyone from our family has been in Gryffindor so far."
"Well, we're happy to be evil." Daphne gave the redhead an icy glare.
"At least evil is better than stupid, considering that we've already gained over one hundred points more than the Gryffindors." Tracey smirked in apparent amusement.
"You're only ahead, because you're cheating."
"Ron, leave it. Just enjoy yourself in Gryffindor and leave me in peace. I am happy to be in Slytherin."
"Weasley, I challenge you to a wizard's duel tonight at midnight in the trophy room. Harry, will you be my second?"
"Sure." Harry cast Draco a questioning look. 'Thank Merlin the thing is only at midnight, so that we have time enough to prepare for whatever it is. A wizard's duel probably has rules, which I need to know.'
Ronald grudgingly accepted and promised to come to the trophy room at the agreed time.
'Don't worry. Draco and I will explain everything to you on time. Use your real wand tonight,' Hedwig thought to him, making Harry smile in relief.
HP
As soon as curfew began, Harry, Draco and Neville retired to their room. The whole Slytherin first-year class had decided to accompany Draco and Harry to their duel, and Hedwig had promised to teach the two boys a couple of spells.
With Harry translating, Hedwig taught Draco and Neville the spell that they could cast to understand her phoenix talk. While the spell would wear off after a time, it lasted long enough for the phoenix to give Draco and Harry some advice for their duel.
Under Hedwig's tutelage, Harry, Draco and Neville practised together. Even if Neville would only participate as a spectator together with the rest of their class, he insisted on practising together with his friends. Thirty minutes before midnight, they had to leave for the trophy room.
Harry felt very much reassured by his classmates' company. He looked up in surprise, when he felt a bout of magic coming from the phoenix on his shoulder, just before they left the common room.
"What was that?" he whispered.
Hedwig chuckled. #Professor Snape has cast a spell at the door that alerts him, whenever a student leaves Slytherin house during the night. I've just disabled the spell for the next two hours.#
"Thanks Hedwig," Harry replied, gratefully, and quickly informed his classmates.
When they arrived in the trophy room, Ronald was nowhere to be seen.
"Oh well, it's still two minutes to midnight, and Ron is always late," Ginny said. "Thank you, Draco and Harry, for fighting for my honour."
"You're welcome." A small smile played on Draco's lips, as he looked at the redhead.
Harry simply nodded his agreement.
It was two minutes past midnight, when Ronald showed up together with Dean Thomas, a Gryffindor classmate, and his twin brothers.
"Ronald asked us to referee…"
"… Are you all right with it…"
"… Draco and Harry?"
"Yes, that's fine. The twins are good friends of mine," Harry explained to Draco, who nodded in agreement.
"Very well…"
"No weapons are allowed but wands…"
"… and if anyone resorts to muggle means…"
"… the seconds will take over."
Everyone agreed with the twins' rules, and the duel began.
Harry quietly watched how Draco and Ronald exchanged easy spells for the beginning. He did not know Ronald's level of Defence spells, however, knowing the spells that his mother had taught Draco, he was not worried at all.
He inwardly smiled, seeing how Paws was stretched out on Neville's and Ginny's lap. He was not asleep, however, but intensely observing the duel.
'Paws, whatever happens, please do not interfere.'
'Ahh, how boring. Please let me have some fun.'
Harry glared at the canine, only to inwardly groan, when Hedwig supported paws.
'You can do something to Ronald, but please don't really harm him and do it unobtrusively. We don't want anyone to notice that it was us. I will not interfere in any case, as it would be unfair.'
'Oh well, that's true,' Harry thought.
It did not take long, before Draco cast the first spell that Hedwig had taught him, and Ronald's wand ceased working properly. Every spell he cast rebounded to himself.
"What did you do to my wand?" The redhead threw his wand onto the floor, ran over to Draco and kicked him straight into his face. A small crack sounding like the breaking of a nose could be heard.
"Foul…"
"… Ronald, you are disqualified…"
"… for using muggle methods…"
"… Dean, please take over."
If Harry had assumed that he would have to continue in Draco's stead, he was disappointed and relieved at the same time, as Draco continued fighting no matter that his nose was obviously broken.
It did not take long, however, before he cast the second spell that Hedwig had taught him, causing Dean to jump over to where Ronald was standing observing the duel. Their hands connected, and they began to dance.
Just a moment later, they began to sing a Christmas song, adjusting their dance to the rhythm of the music.
While everyone was laughing, Harry cast Paws a suspicious look, only to have the canine apologize.
'Sorry Harry, that was me. Only the song though. I've been missing all the Christmas music and Christmas decorations ever since we've come to the school.'
As Dean seemed to be unable to continue fighting, the twins ended the duel announced that Draco had won and set to take Ronald and Dean to the hospital wing.
'Mum, can you teach me a spell to heal Draco's nose?' Harry thought to Hedwig, knowing that his mother had once been a healer at the wizarding hospital.
'Yes, but let's return to your room first.'
HP
It was one o'clock in the morning, when Poppy appeared in his fireplace asking him to step over. Severus grudgingly obeyed and made his way to the hospital wing, where two Gryffindor first-years were dancing in Poppy's office
"Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley saw fit to have a wizard's duel at midnight, and Mr. Malfoy cast a spell at Mr. Weasley and Mr. Thomas. Do you have any idea how to remedy this?"
Severus' thoughts went haywire. He remembered a very similar situation, where Lily Evans, his best friend at that time, had cast exactly the same spell at James Potter and Sirius Black. The only thing that was different was the Christmas music. He quickly cast a silencing spell at the boys, before he quirked an eyebrow at the twins, the only reasonable of all the Weasley boys.
"Was Harry Potter involved in this?"
The twins shook their heads.
"No sir…"
"… He was Draco's second…"
"… but Draco fought himself…"
"… in spite of having a broken nose…"
"… until we ended the duel."
Severus nodded in understanding. 'Strange,' he thought; however, did not voice his thoughts. 'Oh well, Lily wouldn't have been able to teach Potter the spell anyway, except if she wrote a book of spells for him or such, but why would she have done that, considering that she died, when he was still a baby.'
"Sorry Poppy, but I have no idea how to remedy this." He then excused himself, stating that he had to look after Draco.
However, when he entered the trio's room, not only Draco, but also Potter and Longbottom were fast asleep, and Draco's nose was as perfect as it could be.
'Bizarre,' he thought, when he returned to his private rooms, 'something here doesn't add up. My spell, which I placed on the common room door didn't activate at all. I wonder if my students left their beds at all. Perhaps, the Gryffindors simply lied about it.'
HP
During the following weeks, the relationship between Ronald Weasley and the Slytherin first-years remained strained. While the Slytherins tried to keep away from their Gryffindor classmates, mostly due to the fact that the boy's sister was in their house and friends with Draco and Harry, to whom most first-year Slytherins looked up, the redhead did not leave out an opportunity to ridicule his sister and her housemates.
It was when the Halloween feast abruptly ended and all students were sent back to their houses that Ronald caught up with the six Slytherin students around Harry.
"Ginny, you must help me."
Ginny glared at her brother. "And why might that be? You need to return to Gryffindor, while I'm on my way to Slytherin."
"Hermione has been crying in the girls' bathroom the whole afternoon. She doesn't know about the troll."
"Where is she?" Draco was the first to react.
"Girls' bathroom on the first floor."
"Let's go. Neville, take the girls back to Slytherin. Harry, come with me."
"Paws, go with Neville and the girls."
=No, I'll come with you.=
Not wanting to lose time, Harry ignored the canine for the time being and ran with Draco towards the indicated bathroom, closely followed by Ronald and Paws.
Before they could even explain to Hermione about the troll, the very creature appeared in the doorframe and entered the bathroom. While Hermione crouched in a corner, the three boys cast every spell at the troll that came into their mind – to no avail.
Apparently realising that their assistance was needed, Hedwig and Paws both let out bouts of magic, Hedwig from her vast experience of the war in her previous life, Paws from what he had learned from Santa and Merlin on the North Pole.
Before the boys realised what happened, the bathroom was showered in Christmas lights, and the troll was lying on the floor in defeat.
"Is he dead?" Hermione took a few unsure steps towards the troll.
However, before she could do as much as assess the troll's condition, Professors McGonagall, Snape and Quirrell burst into the room.
The Gryffindor head pressed her hand against her mouth in apparent shock. "Oh Merlin. What happened?"
"Weasley informed us that Granger was here and didn't know about the troll, so we came to help," Draco said, matter-of-factly.
"Three first-years managed to defeat a troll?" The Potions Master's mouth stretched to a sneer.
"I think that Harry's phoenix and dog helped them." Hermione looked from Hedwig to Paws.
"I wasn't aware that Christmas decorations are a valuable means to defeat a troll." Snape cast the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor a questioning look.
Quirrell, however, ignored his colleague and let out a small laugh. "Very well, I'll deal with the troll."
"Malfoy and Potter, ten points each to Slytherin for helping a Gryffindor in need."
"Mr. Weasley, five points from Gryffindor for fetching two first-years for assistance instead of a professor."
On their way back to their common room, Harry and Draco could not help laughing. "Leave it to McGonagall to take points off her lion, while Snape gave us house points," Draco said.
"Still, you have to admit that she's fairer than Snape. He only gives points to his own house, while McGonagall always awards us points during class," Harry pointed out, just when they reached the common room, where they Halloween feast was still continuing.
HP
Two weeks later, the first Quidditch match of the school year took place – Slytherin versus Gryffindor.
Harry and Draco were very excited. While Draco's house-elf Dobby had brought his broom for him, Santa had sent Holly with Harry's broom along with a letter from Santa and Claire.
'Dear Harry,
we are often watching you on the screen, and we are very proud to see that you are doing so well. Be careful that you don't hurt yourself playing Quidditch. Good luck for the match – we shall watch it together with Merlin.
We are looking forward to having you at home over Christmas, even if it is going to be a very busy time on the North Pole.
Greetings from your home, also to Hedwig and Paws
Claire and Santa'
Finally, it was time for the Quidditch teams to take into the air.
Madam Hooch introduced the teams and asked for a nice and fair game, before she released the Snitch. With Paws sitting in front of him as usual, Harry immediately began to search for the small ball, which was hiding behind the low-hanging clouds.
All of a sudden, however, he noticed that he could not properly control his broom anymore. All he could do was doing his best to stay on the broom.
=It's Quirrell, the idiot. Hold on. I'll do something about it.=
An instant later, the spell that had left Quirrell's wand and travelled to Harry's broom, was suddenly transformed into a giant rubber band. The rubber band snapped with a loud crack and shot back towards Quirrell. The professor was blown off his feet by the impact and thrown over the side of the stand. He crashed to the ground and appeared to be unconscious.
"Thank Merlin, thank you Paws." Harry felt extremely relieved, when the managed to regain control on his broom.
=You're welcome. I didn't want to crash into the ground either.= The puppy seemed outright happy. =Now go on and catch the Snitch. I am hungry.=
'Oh right, the Snitch.' Harry returned to the task at hand, and ten minutes later, he held out the struggling golden ball for everyone to see.
"Harry Potter has caught the Snitch. Slytherin wins." The stands erupted in applause at Madam Hooch's announcement.
HP
Just when the Slytherin team assembled on the ground, happy to have won their first match, Hermione Granger stepped over to Harry.
"Is it allowed to have a dog on your broom with you?"
Harry shrugged, glad when Marcus replied on his behalf. "He is our team's mascot and as such allowed to fly with Harry, provided that he keeps quiet and doesn't interfere with the game, and he is well behaved."
"Thanks Marcus." Harry smiled at the team captain. "He even saved my life today, when Professor Quirrell attacked us."
"Paws is rude," Hermione contradicted. "He even chased Professor McGonagall through the classroom in her Animagus form."
"Did he know that it was Professor McGonagall and not a simple cat? No. He couldn't have known. Did you know that it was her?" Harry quirked an eyebrow at the girl.
"No."
"See? You're an eleven-year-old witch. A dog usually has the intelligence of a five-year-old…"
=Hey, that's rude.=
"Stop barking," Hermione chastised in obvious irritation.
"Did he really chase Minnie around the classroom?" The Flying instructor seemed to be incredibly amused. "I need to tell Poppy about it." With that, she hurried away.
"Ms. Granger, was that really necessary?" The Gryffindor head seemed thoroughly annoyed, as she transformed into her feline form and ran after Madam Hooch.
Grinning in amusement, the Slytherin team retreated to the showers, hoping that they would be able to watch a spectacle between Professor McGonagall, Healer Pomfrey and Madam Hooch.
tbc...
Thank you so much for the many kind reviews for the previous chapter. Please let me know what you thought about this one and what you expect from this story.