Chapter 42
November passed by with a breeze. Hardly anything happened other than the students wither doing their school assignments or playing in the snow. It was December; the students could soon enjoy themselves as it meant that the yule break was fast approaching. Which some of them were looking forward to. Since today was Friday, that meant that they had classes to attend too much to some of their annoyances as they wished the school would be over. When the last bell rang, signaling classes were over, everyone felt so relieved to finally be free from classes. Now they can relax, although that was for some rather than others like Daphne, Nicole, and Adrian as they had more homework than the others courtesy of their professors. So, they opted to head toward the library to go get their assignments done. Not long, many of the other boys tried to hit on Daphne and tried to get a last-minute date to Hogsmeade.
She, of course, didn't have it and shot them down with her usual ice queen persona. Some received a freezing charm to the balls when they persisted. Having already finished her ancient runes, transfiguration, and herbology essays. She was currently working on her essay for potions. That was when Harry and Emily came into the library having a silent conversation in Japanese. Before sitting down on the opposite side of them and taking out their assignments.
Nicole looked up from her DADA assignment. "Why are you two so tired," she noticed that they were exhausted and looked positively drained.
Emily held up a finger then turned her head "do have any Powerade on you?" sincerely hoping that he had some nearby. She watched as he reached into his watch on his right arm and pulled out two different Powerade's.
"Which one do you want?" he asked. She answered, "red please," and he gave it to her while he opened his lemon-lime and took a hearty swig of it.
"I needed that," he said in a low voice.
"You and me both," she replied, putting her drink on the table.
The others were slightly amused by their friends' current state. "What happened to you two?" Nicole asked.
"Today's dueling lessons," they answered in unison.
Harry then followed up with, "those two are putting us through the wringer." He then started working on his alchemy assignment.
Emily could only nod in agreement and soon began working on the dueling essay Master Sakai assigned her.
"They must have really done a number on you guys," Adrian commented, wondering about the intensity of their dueling lessons.
Harry groaned, taking his grimoire out "it's worth it, though. The more they push us, the stronger we become, ever since the beginning of the year. I've been working on the level meant for elite duelists."
"Elite level," the three said with confusion. Daphne then asked, "how many levels are there?"
"Four," Harry replied. "There's novice, advanced, elite, then master level," he explained.
Emily added, "all of which come with their own difficulties."
They continued doing their homework for the day until it came time for dinner. "Hey bro, remember Sora wants to talk with you tomorrow," she reminded.
"Don't worry," he said. "I know what it's about. I'll be in the great hall later. I need to finish my essay for Professor McGonagall." The woman gave him a five-parchment essay to do, and he wanted to get it done; already, he was on the last parchment.
She gave him a soft smile as she was always looked up to him "don't work too late" was all she said before leaving with the others. The only one to remain was Daphne, who was going through the second half of the fifth-year syllabus for herbology. Thanks to him teaching her, she saw much improvement in her work, both in theory and practical.
She couldn't explain it, but she felt more at ease whenever she spent time with him. As if he was one of the few people who actually understood her. He didn't care whether she was rich or not. He spent time with her because it is what he wanted to do. Daphne was not vague as she could see past the whole Boy-who-lived thing people thrust upon him. In reality, he just wanted to make sure that his loved ones thrive. People only see him as a hero or a way to get rich and bolster their reputations. Harry is not a piece of meat nor a chess piece to be manipulated; he was his own person. That is what made him, him.
After spending the next twenty minutes working, Harry sighed as he finished the last bit of his essays and now had time to relax. Daphne had to stifle a laugh at his antics "is the work you have really that bad" she teased.
"You want to switch, go ahead" he pointed to the rolls of parchments on the table in front of him.
Daphne laughed a bit "no, I'm good," she said as she packed up her things. "You ready to go?"
"Yep," he answered. "Let's go," packing up his work and getting ready to leave the table they were at.
As they were leaving the library, Daphne noticed a pile of books in the corner and someone lying on a big one, not moving and looking incredibly pale. "Hey, look," she pointed to where the person was. Harry turned his head "five galleons says that's Granger over there."
Harry let out a smile from the corner of his mouth "that's a losing bet. There is no doubt that that is Granger as the girl practically lives in here." He joked about how the bushy-haired girl spent far too much time in the library.
Daphne silently laughed. Then looked closely at the girl who had caused her so much trouble "she doesn't appear to be moving through," commenting on Granger's inactive state.
Harry used his magical sight on the girl and saw that her magic level was severely drained and was now running on reserves. Groaning with annoyance, he muttered, "stupid girl" was all he said before heading in her direction with Daphne behind him. Slowly pressing his hand against her palm, he felt her pulse "she's alive just out cold. This is what happens to someone who uses a time-turner," shaking his head.
"As much as I love to leave her here for all the trouble she's caused," Daphne began but let out a breath, "not even she deserves this. Do you have your map?"
He reached into one of his watches and pulled out the marauders' map, saying the password he saw that Madam Pomfrey was in the great hall with the others. "The matron is currently in the great hall" he then pulled out a quill, parchment, and some ink and inscribed a quick note telling her to be in the hospital wing. Deactivating the map and returning it to his watch, he gave her a nod. Daphne took out her wand and put up some privacy wards around them, then transformed into her phoenix form and ascended to the girl's left shoulder. Harry grabbed one of her blue tail feathers, and she iced them to the hospital wing. Where she dropped her in a nearby open bed.
Harry called one of the house-elves and had her deliver the note to Madam Pomfrey. When the elf was gone, he removed the time-turner from around the girl's neck and put it in his pocket. Then motioned for Daphne to leave the wing as the school's matron was on her way. Leaving Granger in the infirmary, they headed for the great hall for dinner.
"By the way, sapphire," getting her attention with the nickname he gave her, "my fair maiden fancy a romantic stroll in the forbidden forest tomorrow." He wiggled his eyebrows, making her giggle at his antics. Also, the fact of being away from boys who wanted a last-minute date with her was a bonus. Not only, that but she had a feeling that whatever they were going to do was important.
"But of course, Mr. white tiger, how could any girl like me possibly say no to a walk through the supposed most dangerous place around the school like the infamous forest?" she asked with humor in her voice. "Be still my beating heart," pretending to put a hand over her heart.
That just made him chuckle. "I'm going to have to have a word with Shizuku about that nickname she gave me."
Daphne just laughed "aw, but I think the name suits you as you can morph into a tiger whenever you want and have the softest fur," she playfully said as they walked in and took a seat at the Hufflepuff table.
"Who has the softest fur," Hannah asked, wanting to know what they were talking about.
Harry quickly answered before Daphne, "Takashi does," he replied, "his fur is the softest I have ever felt."
The Hufflepuff girl spoke, "your true familiar" she leaned in, "where is he anyway?"
"Oh, he's out and hunting for his dinner," he nonchalantly said while filling his plate. It wasn't a lie as Byakko was still a tiger meaning that he was a carnivore and needed meat.
The next minute Aaron came in, "what about Kai," referring to the phoenix sometimes on Harry's shoulder. "He is a lot bigger than Dumbledore's phoenix."
Harry just shrugged his shoulders "probably doing the exact same thing Takashi is doing," he absently said.
They continued making light conversation all through dinner, sharing their plans for the Yule holidays. Throughout the conversation, they continued talking about their classes. Harry cast a look at Daphne when he heard from Nicole that Madam Pomfrey rushed out of the hall in a heap. Nicole and Daphne have spent their time with the school's matron for different reasons: one wanted to become a potion's mistress, while the other wanted to learn as much as possible for exams. When his younger sister saw his face, she knew something was up and mentally asked what happened. Replying the same way, he explained that they found the bushy-haired girl in the library with her face in a book not moving and was severely drained of her magic.
When dinner was over, they all went their separate ways except for Harry, Emily, and Daphne, who went to the room of requirement. Harry showed her the time-turner he took from Granger, not long after Byakko and Suzaku came into the room when hunting in the forbidden forest. Harry sent a mental call to his father explaining why the girl was not at dinner today and told him to come to the room. Later into the evening, Severus arrived, and Harry gave him the time-turner for him to destroy. Severus sneered at Granger's stupidity and was now suffering the consequences of her actions. The damn brat should have known better, he thought. At the moment, he couldn't decide who to be angrier at the girl for using the device or Dumbledore for giving her the device in the first place. For the most part, his ire was directed at both of them as they should have known better.
Leaving the room, through the floo, he went back to his office in the dungeons. With him gone, Emily asked if she could stay the night. Giving her a nod of validation, she walked into the room that appeared in the room. Daphne used the stairs provided by the room and went back to the Slytherin common room for the night.
The next day, Harry and Emily spoke lengthily with Sora to see the latter more than the former. Both girls were the closest of friends and missed each other dearly. In Sora's case, she missed Emily because things have been far too boring since she had left. After spending some time catching up, she spoke to her senpai, Hadrian. The older boy liked the girl as she got along with his sister rather famously. When she asked to be his apprentice, he explained that he couldn't be there since he had to attend Hogwarts for various reasons. He informed her about the possibility of having co-teachers. While she would be his apprentice, she would study under Miwa. Sora agreed after the arrangements were made with the older girl and her parents, she became his apprentice. Sora really liked her teachers as they may have been firm. They were also fair with her. He asked what she needed from him.
She explained that she was having problems with ancient runes and hoped that maybe he could help her. Harry agreed and asked what the topic was. Sora explained the subject her class was studying and asked for his opinion. Harry understood the topic well, as runes came rather easy to him. He instructed her through the process and showed her what to do when creating the clusters and arrays. After spending two hours explaining the topics to her, she was able to get the concept of the topic. Spending a few more minutes talking, they said their goodbyes and cut the communications off. Exiting the room, Emily went to find Astoria, Lilith, and Luna, while Harry went off to find Daphne by the castle's entrance.
Wearing his comfortable clothes and a black dragonhide jacket, he found her waiting by the entrance with the two gods "hey sapphire, you ready to go?"
"Yep," she said as they started walking toward the forbidden forest. "Do you really think they will agree to help? Centaurs and humans don't exactly have the best relationship," she pointed out.
"I know that," he said, "but I have a feeling that deep down, they want to change for the magical world. Just as much as I do. At one point, all magic beings were united."
"That was years ago," she said as they went further into the forest. The cold feeling she was feeling in her spine was present, and it wasn't due to her elemental abilities. "Even if we can find them, what makes you think they will even listen to what you have to say?"
Harry shrugged his shoulders "eh, I'm an optimist at times," he said sagely. Eventually, they arrived until they were probably the deepest part of the forest, and Byakko stopped them. Understanding why his partner stopped, he called out, "chief Magorian, are you there? We come in peace. Please come out!"
A few minutes of oppressive silence passed before the sound of a twig snapping through the trees made Daphne jump. Harry walked in front of her as the snapping twigs were followed by the sound of distant thumping. The thumping grew louder and louder, and Harry gave her hand a reassuring squeeze as he took a quick sniff of the air and turned towards a random part of the tree line. Suzaku rested on his shoulder while Byakko resided between him and Daphne.
"You are not welcome in our forest wand waver," a cold voice said, "leave at once."
While neither Harry nor Daphne could see them hiding amongst the trees, the former could sense them. Harry took a breath before taking a step forward "we did not come here for a fight. We just wish to speak with the chief of your tribe," he spoke in their native language of centaurian.
The thudding, which had grown louder than ever, suddenly stopped, and Daphne could feel dozens of eyes watching them as the foliage where Harry was staring rustled, and a soft clopping sound thumped through the air. Out of the trees came out an angry bare-chested, muscled, toned bearded man with short, black hair and yellow eyes. As he moved towards them, the source of the clopping became clear as it was revealed that his lower body was that of a horse, his waist connecting to it where one would normally find the base of the horse's neck. His horse half was a warm chestnut brown, with thickly corded muscles and large, powerful hooves.
"You dare speak our language, boy," he stared daggers at Harry, who was unfazed and stood his ground. "Your reason for entering our forest had better be good, or you and your friend will die."
"I assure you that neither I nor any of my friends wish to cause you or any members of your tribe any harm," Harry replied, not taking his eyes off the centaur. Then his eyes suddenly held a bright green fire "however, know that if any members of your kind try to attack us, you and your kind will be introduced into a very pissed off predator. And trust me, you don't want that."
Daphne didn't know what they were saying as they talked in a different language that she never heard before. That didn't make her feel any more at ease as she reinforced her grip on Harry's hand.
"Bane, you fool," came an authoritative booming voice.
Hadrian looked behind the centaur standing before him to see some of the others clear a path to allow another to come forward. He immediately thought that this must have been the tribal leader as he easily stood a good foot taller than Bane, both his horse and human halves looming over them all with their sheer size. His horse half reminded Harry of a massive black warhorse, with long shaggy hair around the hooves bigger than his own head and hard, powerful muscles like the corded limbs of a great ancient tree. His human half was an equally large man with shaggy black hair falling from his head in waves.
"My apologies, Elder," Bane bowed his head in shame, "but these humans have no business being in our forest," he said with disdain.
The centaur known as Bane would have said more but stopped when he received a cold, deadly stare from his leader and went back to the others. The centaur in charge watched as his fellow centaur walked away before looking back at the two kids and the beast that came with them. Then it hit him as he felt their power and immediately lowered his hooves and bowed his lower half "by the mother the magic, it is truly an honor to be in the presence of the two heavenly magical gods," he said in a booming voice.
The other members of his tribe were completely shocked at what he said. Until one spoke up, "yes, that is he. Rejoice that we have lived to see the bearer of the gods. The Protector of the magical world!" Everyone else was elated to hear what he said and copied their leader by giving a respectful bow.
Harry was baffled a bit but soon regained himself and raised a hand "Chief Magorian, please, this is unnecessary. We would just like an audience with you and the members of your tribe. I give you my word that we did not come here to fight" he explained in centaurian.
Magorian raised himself to full height, completely shocked by how the child spoke in their native language, and responded in kind, "how is it that you can speak centaurian? No wand waver has been able to speak our language in centuries."
"It is one of the languages, Byakko taught me," he gestured to his partner. "Do we have your permission to speak with you and the rest of your tribe?"
The elder centaur thought for a moment then spoke, "you are an interesting human," he commented in English. "What is your name?"
"I am Hadrian Potter," he said, "and this is Daphne Greengrass," introducing his friend.
Magorian looked to the boy's companion with a skeptical look before turning back to him "if you follow us, we will take you to our home" he turned around and went back to his brethren.
Daphne turned her head to him "what did he say?" she asked nervously. Harry met her gaze and sent a wave of comfort to her "he has agreed to take us to see the other members of his tribe."
She stared in surprise.
Harry smiled at her "relax" he was sensing her fear, "it will be alright." Daphne gave him a nod, and they followed the centaurs through the forest. All the while, Harry never let go of her hand. They continued forward until they were on the other side of the forest, and they stopped at a stone gate that had a wall that seemed to stretch for miles. Evidently, this was the area where the centaurs resided in the forbidden forest. Opening the gate, they were led to see the rest of the centaurs near their huts. It was obvious that the mothers were shielding their children when they saw Harry and Daphne. The other members looked apprehensive at them until they saw the two gods and gave respectful bows.
Chief Magorian led them to the center of their home, where they were taken to near a large fire circle. There they all took a seat on their hind legs. Bane was on his left while the other centaur labeled Harry as the Protector of the magical world sat on his right. "Welcome to our home, Hadrian Potter. As you know, the members of my herd do not associate well with your kind," the elder pointed out. "However, the magic around us tells me that you have something important to say."
Harry stood up and cleared his throat "Chief Magorian, as you and the members of your herd no doubt know at one point there was a time when the magical beings of centaurs, wizards, and witches, along with goblins, all coexisted in peace and harmony. However, the discord and bigotry have forced us to separate and grow to loathe each other."
"For that, it was mostly the members of my kinds fault as they grew in their fear and arrogance that forced us to separate," he paused. "Since then, darkness emerged and has destroyed so many members of not only my kind but others as well."
"And now you come with a solution," Bane sneered, not believing that the boy's intentions were pure or beneficial for them. "You say pretty words, but like the other members of your kind, you only seek to use us for your own purposes. The very moment our backs are turned, you will try to destroy us."
"Bane is correct," a sharp female voice came. Harry turned to his head right and saw a female centaur coming "members of your kind have promises that are nothing but hollow and ash. Your kind only seeks us to further your own agendas, and when you have no more use for us, you toss us away. Why should we bother helping you?"
Magorian sent a cold glare at them. "Bane, Cora, you will both show respect to the bearer of the gods," he chastised before turning his head back to Hadrian "my sincerest apologies for the way these two are behaving. Please understand members of your kind have promised us centaurs things in the past, but they are either unfulfilled, or they end up killing so many members of our kind. Hence our distrust of humans."
"Tribal leader Magorian, I acknowledge you and tribes anger at the wizards and witches," Harry began "you all have every right to hate and not trust wizards and witches after the way you all have been treated. Believe me when I say that I know how it feels to be treated with hatred and disdain, especially by the other members of my kind. Merlin knows that I am not very fond of most of them either. Not after the way most of them have acted and only seek to make themselves more powerful by destroying everything in their paths. For years many of them have let their fears of what they don't understand anger them, leading to hatred and ostracization. That is why I have come before you all today, not as a magic-user who seeks to use you for my own purposes. But as a son of magic! A loyal son to the mother of magic."
Everyone looked at each other as he just spoke of the mother of magic and began speaking in a hushed tone. He spoke again, "I have recently become the Lord to many old and powerful houses. All of which have seats on the Wizengamot and are capable of creating changes. I have no desire to enforce my will on either of you. I only wish to give you a voice to achieve the respect and equality you all desire. It will not be easy, and I don't expect it to. If anything, it will be incredibly difficult and met with scorn from the others, but I believe it's time that the magical world finally stops fighting amongst themselves and become whole once again."
A murmur could be heard throughout the others as they debated whether or not to trust him. Eventually, it died down, and they all looked at their leader "your words are compelling human, and you speak the truth," he acknowledged, "but what assurance would you give us that you will not back out of the promise you made?"
"I will give a magical vow saying that I mean none of you any harm and that my intentions are sincere," Harry said, "however, please instruct the members of your tribe to not attack either me or any of my fellow comrades that have come today."
Magorian waved his hand, telling his people to put down their weapons. Checking around to see that everyone complied, he turned his gaze back to Hadrian "make the vow."
Harry flicked out one of his wands "I, Hadrian James Potter," swore on his life and magic that he didn't desire to use them for his own purposes and only desired to bring the magical world back into balance "so mote it be" he was engulfed in bright white light. Showing that he was still alive and that he still had his magic by casting the lighting charm. "I hope that this enough to prove that my intentions are sincere."
The entire centaur colony looked with surprise. Magorian had a ghost smile on his face as he could feel the magic around him, saying that they should trust the boy. "As the leader of the centaurs, I Magorian…hereby accept your plan to help assist in bringing the magical world back into balance."
Harry was happy at what the leader of the centaur said. "Really!"
He received a nod. "I can feel the magic around me telling me to trust you and that you are the one."
Harry gave a respectful bow "thank you, Chief Magorian" Daphne got up and copied his actions. "I will inform King Ragnok of the Goblin nation of your decision, and he will see you as soon as he can."
Magorian grunted. "We shall wait for his arrival," he said.
"Then we shall leave you and your tribe in good hands," was all Harry said before he and Daphne grabbed hold of Suzaku's tail feathers while he was still on Byakko's head. With a happy trill, the Vermillion bird flamed them back to the castle in the room of requirement.
Depositing them in the room, he flew to the perch by the window, happily trilling.
Daphne was having a hard time processing what just happened in the forbidden forest. The only thing she could say was, "that was incredible."
Harry lightly laughed, "part 1 is done. Now to inform King Ragnok," activating the crystals so they would create a screen "Gringotts bank, King Ragnok office" waiting for a few minutes, the face of the goblin king appeared.
After pleasantries were exchanged, Harry informed him that the centaurs were onboard with the plan and were waiting for his arrival. Ragnok agreed to have a meeting with them and informed Hadrian that he just received a letter from Darick Vladimir, the King of the Vampire nation in Romania. He is articulating that he and the council members have deliberated and decided to hear what he has to say about the change in the magical world. The meeting was to take place on the second day of the yule break at Gringotts. Harry requested that the centaurs be informed and allowed to attend the meeting to speak and voice their opinions. Ragnok agreed and said that he will send out letters to each group telling them the time and location of where to meet.
(0^0)
Meanwhile, in Professor McGonagall's office, she just sent off an owl with a letter to Mr. and Mrs. Granger explaining how her daughter has been behaving at school this semester. While Minerva like the girl, she didn't let it cloud the fact that the girl had to get over her fixation of being number 1 in her classes and realized that she was only ostracizing herself even further. According to Poppy, the girl was brought to the hospital wing, severely draining her magical core and running on reserves. The matron explained that her overuse of magic is what caused her to be unconscious. Severus came in a short while later and explained that Granger repeatedly used a time-turner, which was the main cause of her current condition. Minerva requested the time-turner from Severus, but he was adamant that the girl should never have been given such a device as there could have been severe repercussions.
Minerva agreed and explained that she had no intentions of giving it back to her cub. Explaining that when the girl regained consciousness and was strong enough, she would have her drop two classes. It still bothered her that she was able to convince Dumbledore to let her take so many classes. She could just self-study for the exams without taking the classes. It would have been less problematic and less draining. She distinctly remembered that many others before her did the same thing and that no rules were saying that a student couldn't. Two names came into her mind Dorea and Lily. Those two were driven and wanted to succeed, rather than taking some of the electives at Hogwarts. They self-studied other courses and received top grades in both their OWLs and NEWTs.
She pulled out of her thoughts, got up, and floo called Arthur as she was sure that he would be home today. "Arthur Weasley, the Burrow." Having to wait a few minutes, the face of Arthur appeared in flames.
"Minerva, this is a surprise" the head of the Weasley family was surprised to receive a call from her. "To what do I owe the nature of your call?"
"Is Molly home? I need to speak with the both of you," she asked in a firm voice.
Arthur noted the seriousness in her voice. "Yes, Molly is home in the kitchen," he replied. "Is one of our kids hurt?"
"No," she shook her head, putting him at ease a bit, "but there is something I need to speak to the both of you about. May I come through?"
Of course," Arthur immediately replied, pulling his head out of the flames.
Minerva took a handful of floo powder and stepped in "the Burrow," throwing the powder down. She flooed to the Burrow, where she walked out of the fireplace, dusting soot from her robes. Turning her head, she saw that Molly was coming in from the kitchen.
"Hello, Minerva, would you like a cup of tea?" she asked her old colleague.
"No, thank you, Molly," Minerva declined. "However, I do need to have a discussion with you and Arthur about some of your kids, the howlers you've sent over the years," explaining why she was here.
Arthur had to suck in a breath as he had a feeling that this was not going to be a good meeting "would you like to discuss the matter with us in here or in the kitchen?"
"In here will be fine," she responded and took a seat in one of the available chairs. Arthur and Molly took a seat on the sofa and waited for her to speak. "Alright to business," she began, "Molly, to start, we really need to have a talk about the howlers you send your children" her voice indicated that she meant business and was serious.
"Molly, the howlers that you have sent over the years may have been your way of reprimanding your kids. But that ends now," she said in a stern voice "for years, whenever any of your kids do something wrong, you send howlers and shout your disapproval. Whenever you do, you either serve to fuel their desires to misbehave, or you almost deafen the other students."
"Now, Minerva, I'm sure that my howlers are no more different than any other parents," Molly tried to reason while keeping her temper in check. "And how I discipline my children is business."
Minerva's expression became serious "that may be your business. But when it affects the other students in my house, then it becomes my business," she said in a cold voice. "Recently, your actions have shown that you are nothing but a child who needs to be heard. Those howlers of yours are a good example as that is not the proper way to discipline your children. The only thing it has accomplished is humiliating them and making them act out even more."
"Minerva I" Molly was about to continue, but Arthur cut her off "no, Molly," he said in an authoritative voice. "Minerva is correct as the howlers you send are humiliating and not the proper way to tell our kids that they are wrong."
Molly was about to voice a protest, but Arthur continued, "as of right now. You will no longer send them any howlers." He said, making her stew in her seat at being denied at sending howlers to discipline her kids.
Minerva curled her lips "that is one of the reasons why I am here," she announced "the next concerns your twins Fred and George. Those two have a real problem with making jokes and pulling pranks on the other students. Specifically, the students who are in Slytherin house and who are younger than they are."
Arthur and Molly looked at each other and silently debated about the twins. While it was true that they were jokesters, they couldn't fathom what they could have done that was so bad. The latter spoke, "what do you mean? What could they have done to those snakes that would be so bad?" the tone in her voice when the House of Snakes was mentioned was laced with disdain.
"Arthur, Molly, has it ever occurred to you that your kids often take their pranks too far" it wasn't a question because Minerva has noticed on a few occasions that the twins' pranks are borderline cruel and wrong. "From what I have heard from the other students and the complaints from Severus. Fred and George's actions resemble that of not pranksters but a pair of bullies."
"My sons have never bullied anyone," Molly protested at what Minerva said about them. Then turned to her husband. "Arthur, back me up," she demanded.
Arthur shifted uncomfortably in his seat before speaking, "Minerva, will you elaborate about their pranks more. It's no lie that the two like to play pranks now and then, but I hardly see how little pranks could make them bullies."
Minerva narrowed her eyes and twitched her lips "pranks are one thing Arthur, but the way they do it goes beyond that. Especially when they do it over and over. I will admit that I use to let it go on occasion in the past, but that ends now. As they have gone too far sometimes. The pranked students are either sent to Poppy for treatment, too humiliated to attend classes, or their belongings are destroyed. Do you know what that tells the other students? It tells them that you are raising miscreants who believe that they can do whatever they want and think they can just laugh it off."
Arthur had to bow his head in shame while he knew his kids like a good joke now and then. He didn't know that it had escalated this bad. "We will have a talk with them when they get home over the yule break."
Minerva felt sympathetic toward Arthur as he was really a good man. But he let Molly dictate how to raise their kids. Putting her foot down, she spoke again, "yes about that," she looked questioningly from Arthur to Molly, "you two need to find other ways of disciplining your children when they misbehave. Arthur, I am not privy to how you punish them, that is, if you and your wife do. It obviously does not work or is not effective in getting the message across.
"Minerva, we do punish them," Arthur defended.
"Whether you do or do not is irrelevant as they are obviously not effective enough," Minerva stepped in. "Either you two need to find another way of getting the message across, or you have to get their behaviors fixed," she chastised.
"That brings me to the last reason why I am here. It concerns your youngest son Ronald" it hurt her a bit to speak ill of her lions, but this conversation was long overdue. "For starters, your son has a serious problem when trying to control his temper. Obviously, he got that from Molly" she looked at her. "Whenever something doesn't go his way, he ends up getting angry rather quickly. Especially when someone disagrees with him as he views the world as black and white. He believes that all Slytherins and those who are friends with him evil and firmly believes that whatever Albus labels dark as evil."
Molly came in, no longer able to restrain her temper. "Albus has done so much for the wizarding world, and if he believes something is evil, then it must be dark. I can't believe that-"
"Molly, for once, shut up," Minerva shouted, cutting the red-headed woman off "you and Arthur have to reign in your son's temper before it gets him into trouble. The next issue is with his lack of table manners. Honestly, you two, the way he eats is similar to that of a three-year-old child. Evidently, you two never taught him table manners when he was younger as I have seen how the other students look at him, and they are disgusted by the way he eats."
"I never knew that things were this bad," Arthur said with shame clearly in his voice. While it was true that he would rarely be home to spend time with the kids because of his job, he would have thought that Molly would have made up for his lack of attention. "Minerva, we will speak to our kids when they get home. It might be quite difficult as I will mostly be at the ministry for work."
"On that, you should have fixed a long time ago," Minerva cut in. Taking a breath, she spoke again, "Arthur, I understand that you are the Head of the Misuse of Muggle artifacts office because you are fascinated with them. That is your business as you are drawn to them, but you need to look at it from a different perspective. They force you to work long hours and only pay you little. You either need to find a better job, one that pays you better and gives you more time with the kids, or Molly needs to find a job herself."
"Minerva, I am a housewife," Molly proudly said, "I don't need to find a job as I am needed here alongside my children."
"That may be good for you, Molly, but that is not good for your kids," Minerva bit back. Arthur was in deep thought as it was true that while he loved muggles and was the head of the Misuse of Muggle office, it didn't pay well. But it was something he loved. He would need to ponder more about this later.
Turning his attention back to the two women who were bickering, he watched, "Minerva, you have some nerve telling me how to raise my kids. I am a good mother, and how I discipline them is my business."
"That may be your business, but when it starts affecting the other members in my house, then it becomes my problem."
Molly was now red in the face "then take it to…"
"Enough," Arthur shouted, finally grown tired of their bickering. "Molly, you and I will be having a talk later. Obviously, some changes are needed to how we discipline the kids" he then turned his head, "Minerva, I promise you that we will be having words with our children when they come home for the holidays, and there will be no more howlers."
"See that you do," Minerva got up "if you both will excuse me, I will return to Hogwarts." She then walked to the fireplace and grabbed powder and, with a burst of green flames, was flooed out of the Weasley home.
"The nerve of that woman coming into our home and saying that we need to discipline our children better the nerve," Molly went on and on until Arthur put a stop to her tirade "no, Molly, she is right. And you and I need to have a long talk about those howlers of yours."
"But Arthur," Molly tried to no avail.
"No, buts Molly" Arthur put his foot down, "and this conversation is long overdue." This was going to be a long day for him.
(0^0)
When the weekend came to a close, the students were busy with classwork as it neared the end of the semester. The teachers had taken to giving them homework assignments to complete, increasing their workloads. This was mainly true for those who were either doing their OWLs and NEWTs, as the teachers were doing everything they can to make sure that they were ready for their exams at the end of the year. Many of the students were looking forward to the winter break, hoping to get away from the essays they had to write. Nicole had taken to spending long hours in the library studying for her NEWT exam in potions at the end of the year. She told them that Professor Snape offered an apprenticeship and scored high enough on her exams and proved her worth. Then and only then would he take her as his apprentice to gain mastery in the subject. That news had shocked everyone as Severus Snape never took an apprentice before
The next piece of information that had the students talking as the Daily Prophet released a report that the younger brother of the Japanese Minister of Magic was scheduled to appear with his family at Hogsmede on Saturday. According to the rumor mill, the man was coming on business. Everyone immediately started bombarding Harry with questions wondering if he knew anything. The raven-haired boy denied knowing any information and just walked away. However, it didn't end there as more than half of the female population had taken to following him around trying to get his attention. They tried to make themselves look appealing and sexy, wanting to get his attention in hopes of getting a date with him. Evidently, they had taken to what TWW had written about him being the prince of Hogwarts and wanted him to notice either of them.
Harry silently cursed Rita Skeeter and the owner of that rag as it brought a lot of unnecessary attention to him. His friends had taken to teasing him about the latest article of Teen Witch Weekly as it labeled him as the most eligible bachelor in the entire school. Doing his best to avoid the girls trying to get a date with him had worked to only a certain extent as some cornered him in the halls and immediately started asking him to attend Hogsmede with them. Harry declined and brushed them off. He said that he didn't have the time as he was busy working on something important. That only worked to a certain extent as some of the other girls asked him to autograph their bras and panties for them. His only response was to high-tail away from them as fast as he could. Mentally, thanking the fact that he could find the quarters of both Godric Gryffindor and Rowena Ravenclaw. The former's private chamber was on the third floor, while the latter's was near the library.
While he may have found them. He chose to spend most of his free time in Salazar's chamber as it had a private library that he was making use of. It also helped to get away from the masses. Naturally, he informed his father and younger sister of where they were located, though he had to key them into the wards as they found they couldn't enter as they were not of the same blood.
True to his promise, he and Cedric had a rematch. The two enjoyed the fullest, and Harry had to admit that Cedric was an exceptionally skilled seeker. If he makes a wager, he bet that the Hufflepuff might probably play professionally when he graduates. Even though they used the school's brooms, Harry was the victor but just barely. The two shook hands and promised to have another match the next time they were available.
Harry was soon met by Blaise and Emily after he got through changing back into his regular clothes "how's it going?"
Blaise spoke "pretty good," he replied calmly. "I can see that you had a good time."
Harry shrugged his shoulders "it was nice," was all he said before he started going back to the castle. "You guys ready for the yule break?"
"I am," Emily happily said "it be nice to get away from Hogwarts for a while. Besides, this way, we can finally relax."
They made it back to the castle, adamantly talking about what they had planned for the break. "I'm glad I got all my Christmas shopping done," Blaise commented with a smile of relief.
He received a snort from his best friend, "you're just happy that you get to avoid shopping with Daphne and Tracey."
Blaise gave a mock glare "those two are slavedrivers when it comes to shopping. And don't deny it. You remember the last time the girls were given so much free reign about dragging us to different clothing stores."
Harry and Emily's eyes went wide but for different reasons as they both remembered the last shopping spree they went on. The latter said, "those were great days. I got so many new clothes."
Her brother didn't share the same sentiment "great days, my magical arse. Eight freaking hours of shopping and being forced into clothes is not my idea of fun. I don't know how you girls can shop for hours and not be sick of it." He remembered being dragged from store to store and being forced to try on different outfits. Honestly, he thought that it would never have ended.
She just laughed at his discomfort "it's a girl thing," Emily casually said. "You boys will never understand the fine art of shopping. Speaking of shopping," she turned to Blaise, "how was shopping with Turpin?" asking the dark-skinned boy who paled a bit and stopped in his tracks.
Blaise shuddered at the memory of Lisa taking him to multiple shops "that woman may be intelligent but shopping with her was a nightmare."
The two siblings laughed "was it really that bad?"
He looked at Harry with an aghast expression, "not as bad as shopping with that monster," gesturing to Emily, "or the others. But it was very exhausting."
The siblings continued laughing for a while until they got it under control. Harry spoke, "just be glad that she didn't drag you to Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop. You would have really felt like you were in hell. Also, be glad that you were not with Lavender Brown. That girl is a fashion nightmare and would have dragged you from store to store and taken you to that place" he shuddered involuntarily.
According to some of the older students, it was a place for young couples to eat pastries. Harry had only seen the inside of it once, and it was enough to turn his stomach and make him bolt as far away as possible. Placing a hand on Blaise's shoulders, he added, "you would have really been in hell."
Blaise imagined what it would be like to be in that shop, and all it did was fill him with fear at being dragged to that particular teashop. Shaking his head, trying to get back to reality, he spoke, "promise me something. If a girl drags me to that forsaken place, you will hit me in the face."
Harry just laughed and continued walking toward the great hall to dinner.
Stepping into the great hall, they made a b-line for the Ravenclaw table and deposited themselves in some open seats. When they were sitting next to the others, they started filling their plates with food and engaged in a conversation. The ones taking NEWT and OWL exams were stressing by the workload the teachers have been giving them. Harry took a moment to look at the other fifth and seventh years and could tell that they were exhausted from all the work they've been getting. Silently, laughing, he thought only they knew as they have it easy compared to what he had to endure for his classes. Both he and Emily were given harder assignments because they took Mahoutokoro classes rather than Hogwarts.
It wasn't a contest to see which schools had a better rate at producing witches and wizards. Hogwarts taught the students magic that was based on their complexities. Mahoutokoro taught based on the origins, which was quite intensive as they were supposed to perform the spells to a high degree and had to understand it to the fullest. Emily understood what her brother was thinking as she felt the same. According to what her parents and the other adults said, Hogwart's popularity had reduced significantly over time. Based on what she had seen, they were right as the school looked amazing on the outside, but it was far from acceptable on the inside. While living at the school was not necessarily bad, it was how the school was being run.
There was a reason why the students from the other schools looked down on Hogwarts. The school may have some of the top professors in the world. It didn't matter that they couldn't exert half of their true knowledge or skills in the subjects they taught. It was completely sad and pathetic to see a once proud and humble school fall in such away. There was a rumor that parents were boycotting the idea of sending their kids to Hogwarts after what's been going on in recent years.
Halfway through dinner, the Blaise asked, "Harry, you coming with us to Hogsmede this weekend?" He was asking because Harry missed the last trip to the village.
The only answer he got was Harry shrugging his shoulders. "I don't know. I have a project to finish."
"Come on, man," Blaise groaned, "you can put whatever you are working on hold for a day. When was the last day you took some time off to go enjoy yourself?" he challengingly asked.
"He is right," Daphne chimed in "you have been working hard lately. What's one day going to hurt?"
Harry was about to protest, but Emily stopped him "do it for me, please," they it was. The line that his sister often used whenever he was working on something difficult. "You wouldn't deny your adorable sister who loves her older brother to have a little downtime, would you" she gave him her trademark puppy dog pout. She knew it was playing dirty, but he had been working hard as of late and desperately needed a break.
Harry let out a breath and rubbed her hair affectionately "alright, you win, Shizuku. I'll go to the village this weekend" removing his hand, he grabbed his goblet and took a swig of his water. "I have got to start wearing a blindfold and some earmuffs when I negotiate with you," he grumbled. Seeing that Blaise was struggling to stifle a laugh, he sent a cold glare, "not a word out of you."
Blaise just held his hands up. While the others were snickering along the way, he was told to have some fun by his younger sister. Aaron spoke, "whipped by your own sister, that is sad," he said, failing to stifle his laugh.
Harry rounded on him. "I don't know why you're talking. Nicole runs your sorry arse," he countered, making the boy stop laughing.
Aaron looked affronted "let's get one thing straight here. No, woman runs my arse; I am my own man. Thank you," he said, pointing to himself.
That received a round of laughs, the loudest came from Nicole "please, little brother. I can kick your sorry butt any day of the week. Or do I have to remind you of what happened a few weeks ago" she asked a predatory smile.
Aaron paled a bit at what she said. A few weeks ago, he made the mistake of getting on her bad side by getting her kicked out of the library for two weeks. That resulted in her chasing him all around the school while hurling hexes at him. Poor Aaron couldn't sit right for a few days. "I'll be quiet," he said while rubbing his posterior.
Harry shot him a satisfied smirk "now who's whipped" he wiggled his eyebrows.
Neville had chosen to speak up "well, I'll be glad to go. Give me a chance to recline and get away from our resident potion's master" he looked up at the head table to see that Professor Snape had just looked up and stared cold daggers at him. The poor boy shuddered a bit before averting his gaze.
"Your still afraid of Professor Snape?" Emily asked somewhat confusingly.
"Yes," Neville replied with fear in his eyes, "aren't you? He scares the devil out of me."
"Please," she rolled her eyes, "me and Harry had professors that were harsher and cynical than him." Harry nodded in agreement. "Em's right. Mahoutokoro has some of the most severe teachers that make him fair."
Neville shuddered involuntarily at the fact of someone being worse than Professor Snape. The mere thought of that sent a cold shiver down his spine; grabbing his goblet, he took a hearty swig to try and digest the information.
Harry grunted "anyway, what do you guys want to do when we get to the village?"
They spent the rest of their time deciding on what to when they got to the village. The girls said they needed to do some last-minute shopping for Christmas presents and restock on potion ingredients and buy more quills, parchment, and ink. When the topic came to Madam Puddifoot's teashop, Harry and Blaise immediately said "no" as they had no desire to go anywhere near that shop. The other males agreed as they didn't want to go either. Blaise informed them that he would be spending the day with Lisa and would meet them in the three broomsticks. When it was all decided, they got up and went to their respective rooms for the day.
(0^0)
The day for the last Hogsmeade trip had finally arrived, and the teens went out to enjoy the village. Daphne's birthday had been two days ago, and she received several gifts from her parents and friends. Same as the previous year's, Harry showed her something amazing in the room of requirement and gave her some earrings and a kiss on the cheek that made her cheeks red. Earlier that day, he also received a letter from Ragnok that said the skin the basilisk shed was worth 73,249 galleons and was deposited in his trust vault. That brought a smile to his face as he could only imagine how much the beast was really worth. It wasn't that he cared about the money, as that would likely be a bonus. He was more concerned about how it could be replicated as he had plans for it.
Pushing those thoughts out of his mind, he allowed his friends to drag him to the village. Truth to tell, the village was kind of nice in his opinion. While it wasn't anything like the place back in Okinawa, it was still nice. The only downside was the dementors, as they were still present. From what Amelia had said, the minister wanted them as guards to protect the students. He could tell that she did not like this, especially not after what happened at the quidditch match with Cedric. However, little she could do as Cornelius had the backings from some of the other department heads. Harry and the others suspected that either Lucius Malfoy or any of his allies made some rather "sizeable donations" to keep the creatures near the school.
It boggles the mind how the wizengamot was being run by a couple of weak-willed idiots who only threw money around to achieve their end goals. Whether it be to bully people into submission or get out of doing something illegal. Their first stop was at Honeydukes. Harry pulled out a basket and filled it with an assortment of sugar quills, ice mice, chocolate frogs, Hershey bars, and some mini chewable sweet tarts. It was another store that his family had invested in. As such, he was able to add some muggle sweets to the list of candies. While he didn't have much of a sweet tooth, his sister did, and she asked him to get her some candy. The only way he agreed to give her candy was that she eat it in moderation.
The others had gotten their fair share of sweets consisting of sugar quills, licorice wands, sweet tarts, sour straws, and chocolate frogs. Paying for their items, they walked out of the building and split up to cover more ground. Harry went with Daphne. Tracey with Nicole and Lilith. And finally, Adrian, Aaron, and Neville. Each group went to different shops to get their essentials while also staying clear of the dementors. Daphne and Harry first went to Scrivenshaft's to go purchase some quills, parchment, and ink. After that, they went to Twilift and Tattering it was a branch shop from the one in Diagon Alley. For the winter selection. Harry really didn't have to buy anything as he already did all his Christmas shopping last time.
Hours later, after visiting different shops, Daphne's hands were full of bags. Harry offered to take some off her hands as she looked like she was struggling with a few of them. Stopping outside of the Three Broomsticks, she put a few of her bags in her watch for storage. However, three had to remain as her storage was filled to maximum storage. Walking inside, they saw that Madam Rosmerta had indeed remodeled the entire pub. Spying their friends at one of the tables near the corner, they walked over and took their seats. Not long later, Blaise and Lisa came in and joined them.
After talking about their day, one of the waiters came to take their orders. Harry was the first to speak, "I'll have a butterbeer and a spicy Katsudon sandwich with some dragon peppers on the side." Daphne ordered the same thing but requested some hot chocolate except for the butterbeer.
When he got to Blaise and Lisa, they ordered some sandwiches and some buffalo nuggets with ranch on the side. The nuggets became a big hit that many of the students and teachers had ordered them whenever they were at the Broomsticks. Getting all of their orders, the waiter told them that they would be ready soon and left toward the kitchen.
Together they spent the next couple minutes talking until Harry felt some people were approaching them from behind. He saw that Cho Chang and some of her friends were coming toward them, looking over his shoulder. Harry had to admit that the Asian girl was attractive. Many of the other boys certainly thought so as Chang had a reputation for being one of the best-looking girls in her year.
"Hello, Harry. How are you doing?" Cho asked, giving him a smile.
"I am alright, Miss. Chang. How are you today?" he asked in a neutral voice.
"I'm doing fine, thank you for asking," she responded "anyway, I was wondering if you could help me with some of my schoolwork and probably want to hang out and get to know each other better" she batted her eyelashes. It was no secret that Harry was one of the best-looking boys in school, and many of the other girls wanted to either get a date with him or gain his favor. Cho briefly looked at Greengrass with a disdainful look as the blonde slut was bad news in her opinion, ignoring the fact that she was frowning at her.
"My apologies, but I am mostly busy with my own classwork and other responsibilities," he said, turning back around.
Cho had a quick wash of sadness at his rejection but quickly composed herself, "surely you can make a little time to help me. I really need help with transfigurations," placing her manicured nails on his shoulder to try and regain his attention. "Please," she asked, batting her eyelashes again.
"I said I was busy," he said, removing her hand from his shoulder.
"Well, when you have the time, let me know," giving him a flirtatious smile before leaving with her friends.
Marietta gave him a dirty look before leaving. Harry, of course, didn't care. "I'm glad they're gone."
Adrian laughed "damn dawg, I am jealous. It's not fair that most of the hot girls are fawning over you, and yet you don't even seem to care. Not only that, but you have older girls coming after you."
Harry brushed it off. "I'm not into girls like Chang. Their too high maintenance and need to be told constantly that they are beautiful." He said as the waiter came back, levitating their meals in front of them.
Nicole came in "not to mention she is like one of those girls that needs someone important enough to bolster her own reputation," she said as a matter of fact. "The only thing she is capable of doing is batting her eyelashes in a flirtatious way and cry like a child."
"She does tend to cry often," Lisa commented.
They spent the next hour and a half eating their lunches and chatting amicably about how great it would be to finally go back home for the break. When the waiter returned and delivered the bill, the boy paid and left a tip for him. Spending the next few minutes talking, Harry got up and said he was going to go outside and stretch his legs. Moving to exit the establishment, he gave a brief wave to Rosmerta, then left to go outside and breathe in the air.
Even though it was cold outside, it didn't affect him as much as everyone else. Being a fire elemental came with a few perks as the only thing he had to do was activate his flames a bit and be fine. Relishing in the weather, he quickly noticed that it suddenly got colder, and a familiar sense of dread ran down his spine. Not only that, he was sensing a massive amount of darkness heading his way. Then he heard a loud scream. Flicking his wand out and turning his head, he saw about eight dementors hovering over some of the other students rushing forward. He shouted, "expecto patronum" his Hebridean dragon Patronus came out of his wand in a blinding light and immediately dashed off toward the dementors, which were hovering above the students.
Harry then pointed his wand at his throat and cast the voice amplifying charm "anyone capable of casting a Patronus charm. Do so now, quietus," deactivating the charm, he checked over the ones that were lying in the snow. After checking that they still had their souls, his attention was once again averted as he sensed that the dementors were attacking another group of people.
Looking around, he saw that some of the other students were terrified "take the students back to the castle to see Madam Pomfrey," one of them snapped out of his shock and levitated one of the fallen students back to the castle. Soon followed by his friends who did the same.
Harry raced off deeper into the village, and after running a few miles, he saw that a gang of dementors was hovering above a man and a small boy. His anger boiling, he sent the Patronus that was next to him after the dementors. The dragon mowed them down as if they were nothing making the dementors scream in agony as the dragon overpowered them and made them crumple to the ground. When the job was done, the dragon vanished, and he rushed over to go check on the two. Taking a knee, he listened for their heartbeats. Luckily, they were both still alive. Upon further inspection, he recognized the older man as he helped him and the boy up "are you in any way related to the Shiba family in Magical Japan?"
"Yes," the man replied. "I am the younger brother of Yuichi Shiba." Harry mentally cursed this development. This man is the brother of the Japanese minister of magic.
Pushing that aside he reached into his watch and pulled out two chocolate bars "here, these might help you two," giving them each a bar. He noticed that the kid was a bit shaken "it will be alright, kid. Just eat the chocolate. You will feel better."
The child looked at his father, who gave him a nod while eating his own chocolate and took a bite out of his own "私たちを救ってくれてありがとう" the boy said in his native tongue. (Thank you for saving us).
"時間内にここに着いたのはラッキーです" Harry replied in the same language. (I'm just lucky I got here in time).
He then turned to the grown man "あなたの護衛はどこにいますか？" he asked in a serious tone (Where are your escorts at?)
As if spoken into existence, six Aurors apparated in front of them with their wands trained on Harry. He didn't even need to guess which ministry they were from, as their badges and robes said it all. Just as one was about to fire a spell, Mr. Shiba stepped halted them, "wait," holding up his hands, "he is not the one that attacked us. It was the dementors."
Five of the Aurors lowered their wands except for the other one, who fired a stunner at Harry, who batted it away and retaliated with a disarming charm and bound him in rope. Catching the wand, he had his trained on the other Aurors in case they got any ideas "are you, idiots, insane! This is the brother and nephew of the Japanese minister of magic. Anyone who attempts to fire a spell will end up losing more than their jobs."
"Lower your wands now," a dark-skinned auror who appeared to be in charge shouted, making them all lower their wands again. The auror slowly approached Harry. "I am sorry for what my colleague tried to do, Mr. Potter. When we get back to the ministry, I will have him suspended from duty for a while."
Harry narrowed his eyes "that is later," he said, brushing off what the man said. "What I like to know is what you and the other Aurors were doing? When you should have been watching over these two," gesturing to the man and his son.
The auror replied, "my shift began only a few minutes ago. By the time I heard what happened, the auror in charge had already left," he answered honestly.
The boy before him was a force to be reckoned with as he saw what the boy was capable of that and what he heard from Madam Bones. Hadrian looked at him for a few minutes longer, judging if he was telling the truth. "Who was in charge before you?"
"That would be Senior Auror Triton Selwyn," he answered.
Harry made a mental note to have a word with Amelia about the man in charge of escort "fine, take them back to the ministry and have them checked for any lingering effects from the dementor" he then gave him his colleague's wand.
The dark-skinned auror took the wand back and released his fellow auror from his bindings. The man got up while glaring murderously at Harry "you three," he gestured to some of the Aurors on his right. "Escort Mr. Shiba and his son back to the ministry. You too, Stephen, I will be having words with you later" he sent a cold glare making him comply but not before giving Potter a final glare. Then the next moment, they apparated away.
That left Hadrian with the auror in charge and his fellow colleague who was waving his wand over the fallen dementors "auror Shacklebolt, I think these dementors are dead," he said, running his wand over the dementors.
"What," he said in a surprised voice, "that is not possible. Nothing can kill a dementor."
"I might be able to offer some insight Kingsley" a familiar annoying voice was heard. Turning around, they saw Professors Dumbledore, Flitwick, and McGonagall coming towards them.
"Professor Dumbledore," he greeted in a neutral voice, "what do you make of this," pointing to the dead dementors.
Albus took a moment to inspect the dementors before talking, "you see, no documents are indicating how dementors are created or their lifespans. The only knowledge there is that they are difficult to control, feed on human souls, guard Azkaban, and are only weak against the Patronus charm."
"That may be," Kingsley calmly, "but it doesn't explain how they are dead."
"I might be able to offer a theory," Flitwick said, bringing the attention to him. "Mr. Potter, when you cast your Patronus charm, was it a solid or smoke?"
"A solid," Harry answered.
Filius had to ponder for a moment "then I think what happened was that Mr. Potter Patronus was so powerful that it was capable of destroying a dementor. That would explain the other dead dementors we found near the Three Broomsticks," he summarized.
The other auror that accompanied Shacklebolt stared at Harry in disbelief "you can cast a Patronus charm. How old are you?"
"I'm thirteen," Harry said, recasting his Patronus. The auror was positively shocked the Patronus was a difficult spell to master, and many of the Aurors were unable to cast a corporeal Patronus. Some could barely even conjure a shield, and yet here was a boy who performed it with hardly any difficulties. Just who was this kid?
"Can I head back to the castle now? I'm sure my sister and friends are concerned."
"Of course, Mr. Potter, run along," McGonagall said. With that, the boy started going back to the castle.
When he was out of earshot, the adults spoke again, "how many dementors are dead" Kingsley asked.
"Counting the eight we found back there," Filius turned to the Rosmerta pub, "and the six here. I say fourteen dementors are dead," he said in a relieved tone.
"Fudge is not going to like this," Kingsley pointed out.
"He is going to like it even less when he hears that the Japanese minister's brother and nephew were attacked by them," his colleague said.
Minerva put a hand over her mouth "may Merlin help Magical Britain get out of this debacle." Albus had to massage his temples as he had a feeling that a headache was about to come in the form of both the Daily Prophet and the International Press. Not to mention that Cornelius would likely be upset because some of the dementors were killed and the backlash that might come from the Japanese ministry.
"I trust that the dementors will be removed from both Hogwarts and Hogsmeade's ground effective immediately," he said in a grandfatherly voice.
Kingsley said, "I will speak with Director Bones. Hopefully, we can get those creatures removed and sent back to Azkaban." That was all he said before he and his fellow auror apparated back to the ministry.
(0^0)
Arriving back at the school, Harry spotted the others and his sister by the entrance waiting for him. The first to reach him was Emily, who rushed over and gave him a big hug. This was soon followed by Daphne and some of the others. They asked where he had gone, to which he replied that a few of the dementors attacked the brother and nephew of the Japanese minister of magic and that his Patronus killed a few dementors. Everyone looked at him with pure shock, trying to wrap their minds about what he just told them. He not only saved members of the foreign minister's family. But also killed some of the dementors. Harry then reached into his watch and pulled out the basket of candy he got for his sister. At the moment, she couldn't register the fact that he was holding a basket in front of her.
Getting no reaction from her, he whistled to bring her back to reality "earth to Shizuku. Come back to reality," he said.
Emily shook her head and hugged him tightly. "I was so worried." Harry chuckled a bit and rubbed her head "don't worry, sis. I'm alright."
She looked up at him, tears threatening to come out. Harry smiled at her and wiped them away "tears are not for a princess of the sea, are they!" he handed her the basket she put in her watch. "Let's head in, shall we. I need to place a call to Madam Bones."
As they walked into the castle, Emily held his hand, not wanting to let go. Leaving the others to watch as they left.
Walking through the corridors, they ignored some of the other students watching as they passed on. A few who had older siblings looked at the pair with a twinge of jealousy as they saw how Potter and Stevenson interacted with each other. The former may have been cold and ruthless, but he deeply cared for his sister and treated her better when compared to how they were either treated or interacted with their own siblings. Some were quite jealous at the way Potter seems to dote on the little girl as she could get all the attention she wanted from him.
A/N: I first like to apologize for the delay of this chapter as I have been studying and doing my final reports for school. University classes are exhausting! Anyhow Granger was found in the library unconscious due to overuse of the time-turner and was taken to the hospital. The girl should have known better than to use such a device and Dumbledore should never have given it to her in the first place. So much for being the smartest witch of her age and Greatest wizard of all time.
Harry, Daphne, and the two gods venture into the forbidden forest where they meet and form an alliance with the Centaurs. Before you all say anything I created the centaurian language as I believe that they should have one. Think about it the goblins and merman have their own languages so why not Centaurs? Minerva finally takes some initiative and starts acting like a proper head of house. Really wish she did this in the book or in the movie. Anyway, she had a meeting with Arthur and Molly about their kids.
To set the record straight I don't hate Fred or George. I just think that they joke and prank to much. Whether some of you want to admit it or not pranking people nonstop can be seen as a form of bullying. Lastly, I promised trouble and I delivered. The dementors attacked the Japanese minister of magic family and you can bet that he will not be happy when he finds out.
Next Chapter: A series of meeting will occur, along with a shocking dinner between Hadrian his family and the Japanese minister of magic's family.
FYI: This will cause some tension between Harry and Daphne.