Author's Note: So this chapter wasn't planned at all but just kind of came to me when I went to write the beginning of the next chapter. Once I started it however, I knew that it fit and actually helps later things that I have planned
At any rate, hope you continue to enjoy and thanks for giving this fic a chance. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the reviews and PMs, and honestly am just thrilled if it entertained you.
Here is my disclaimer that says I do not own anything Harry Potter related. Everything belongs to JK Rowling, except in universe 47837. Probably.
The school year was a month away from being over. Spring had already established itself on the grounds around Hogwarts and there was a sense of excitement in the air. Soon, both the students and the faculty would be free to spend their summers as they saw fit.
However, that impending freedom also came with a sense of dread as the end-of-year exams were almost upon them. In fact many of the classes now focused almost exclusively on revising the material that had been taught throughout the year and there was an increase in the number of students that now frequented the library.
Which didn't exactly thrill Harry since it just made it harder for his group to secure their usual table.
But he had other, more important things on his mind than worrying about some silly series of exams that he could no doubt have passed back in September.
Like how peculiar Neville Longbottom was behaving.
At first, Harry had simply thought that Neville was succumbing to the stress of the upcoming exams that seemed to capture a good majority of the school under its thrall. It was even worse for the fifth and seventh years who would be sitting for even more important exams.
But as the second week of May was ending, the other boy's behavior suggested that something far more serious was taking place.
In fact, as Friday rolled around, Harry was positive that it had nothing to do with school at all. For Neville had been performing well in his classes and throughout the year he had slowly been climbing higher in the class rankings. Which meant that he had also needed fewer and fewer of Harry's special brand of encouragement as he started to believe in himself more and more.
So Harry really hadn't needed to enter the boy's mind in quite a while. What made it even more perplexing though was that Neville generally spent a good portion of his waking hours in the company of both Harry and Justin, during which nothing of note had happened so far as Harry could recall.
This led Harry to become convinced that whatever was causing this erratic behavior had occurred while Harry had been in his training room the previous Thursday. The fact that Neville had returned to Hufflepuff very late that evening was the only oddity in his mind that could reasonably explain what was going on, but Harry had brushed it off at the time since the weekend had passed without incidence.
Come to think of it, Neville had also returned very late the previous night – which also had been a Thursday and was when Harry tended to get in some extra training by himself.
But what had begun as a small dip in Neville's attitude on Monday morning had continued to spiral into an even more timid and despondent Neville than had showed up to the castle on September first. By Friday the poor boy could barely string two words together at dinner in the Great Hall.
Harry watched as Neville just sat there, staring at his food with a vacant expression on his face. Justin, who was sitting across from them, had no idea what was going on either and simply shrugged his shoulders when Harry gave him a pointed look.
Harry had then given into his curiosity and tried asking the boy what was wrong, but Neville wasn't able to respond in a coherent manner.
Even when they were in the relative safety of their common room later that night, Neville still wasn't able to tell them what was bothering him. The boy had drawn into himself so completely that it was like he was existing on an entirely different plane of consciousness that was quite removed from what others experienced.
That settled it: Harry had given up on trying to ask the other boy what was wrong and was determined to simply go inside Neville's mind later that night to find out for himself.
Therefore, Harry waited until everyone else had gone to sleep and then he crept over to the foot of Neville's bed and positioned himself so that he was sitting on the edge of the mattress.
Just like the very first night in the castle, Neville was slowly rocking back and forth in a fetal position. His eyes were glazed over and he was incoherently mumbling something.
Pushing the ramblings aside, Harry quickly got to work and let his magic wash over Neville. Like always, Neville's magic instantly deferred to his and allowed Harry easy entry into his mind.
With the advanced books that Harry had pilfered from the library – which were still in his trunk because he hadn't gotten around to returning them – Harry now knew that what he was doing was called Legilimency. It was one of the Mind Arts that allowed entry into someone else's mind and it was usually performed with a wand while also maintaining direct eye contact with that person whose mind one wished to enter. Once inside, a person could then view any memory that they could find or even implant a suggestion that would take hold if it were strong enough.
A truly skilled person could even fake a memory or remove one altogether.
However, as the user became more advanced, they could forgo the wand and just use their magic in the way that Harry preferred to. Something that no doubt Albus had perfected and used when he had placed the location of the Mirror of Erised inside Harry's mind.
In that same book Harry had also learned that the counterpart to Legilimency was something called Occlumency and could be used to secure one's own mind from unwanted visitors. Apparently, witches and wizards were more different from Muggles than just having a magical core as they had access to mental abilities that were truly astounding.
However, Neville was not a Master Occlumens and so Harry found it quite easy to roam about Neville's mindscape as he searched for a reason that would explain Neville's recent downward spiral.
The other boy's mindscape was laid out much differently than Harry's; much of that having to do with the efficient organization that often came with learning Occlumency. Most of Harry's memories had been sorted into distinct areas as opposed to Neville's haphazard arrangement in which the sum of his existence was literally all over the place and very hard to follow.
Now each memory that a person had could be stored in a discrete shape that didn't really have any limits. Since a person's mindscape could be practically infinite, an important memory could range from something as large as the sun to something as small as a pebble. Of course, each shape could also be colored differently and have a different texture to them. And then there were the memories that lacked a visual accompaniment and were represented by formless sounds or words.
Harry had learned from going through his own head – and from the few times that he had made Aunt Petunia relive her rejection from Hogwarts – that all he had to do to view a memory was to touch it with his consciousness. Which felt very similar to how Harry had been beginning to use his magic to feel what was around him, and so he used various tendrils of his awareness to go through Neville's memories.
Though Harry didn't have to search through many memories since, generally speaking, the memories that were closest to the point where someone entered a mindscape were oftentimes the thoughts that were currently dominating an individual's thought process.
Which meant that Harry found what was bothering Neville quite rapidly; for aside from a few discrete objects that represented repetitive taunts that Neville had heard in the beginning of the week – owing to being a Hufflepuff – there were two large objects that dominated Harry's attention.
Carefully, so as not to disturb Neville's own consciousness, which was hovering in front of the largest object, Harry sent out a small tendril of his own awareness. He directed it towards the smaller memory and touched it, spending a few seconds quickly watching the scene as if he was viewing a movie running several times faster than normal. Though, Harry didn't need to watch it any slower to understand what had happened to Neville the previous Thursday in delaying his return to Hufflepuff.
It seemed that Neville had unfortunately been in the wrong place at the wrong time and had had to endure some light, physical bullying of what appeared to be older Slytherins.
And while Harry didn't like to see Neville being pushed around, it was what he saw in the second memory that caused him to instantly understand what had pushed Neville towards his current, almost catatonic state.
And Harry wasn't happy with what he had seen.
In fact, Harry developed an intense feeling of rage within him that required a few minutes so that he got his anger under control. Because someone had done something so terrible to Neville that it was making Harry feel like someone had also done it to him.
And for the first time he had an understanding as to why he viewed Neville so very differently than he viewed everyone else: Neville was his.
It didn't matter in that moment why he thought that Neville was his; the only thing that mattered was that Harry felt that Neville was an extension of his own being and was therefore his to protect.
Which presented somewhat of a conundrum for Harry because he was a firm believer that people were responsible for handling their own problems. However, he knew that there was no way for Neville to successfully retaliate against his attackers at the moment. Neville was simply unprepared and would remain unable for the foreseeable future.
At the same time a devilish feeling filled Harry's thoughts as he realized that this was the perfect opportunity that would allow him to practice some of the advanced spells that he had learned. Just because Neville wasn't a match for the pair didn't mean that Harry was under the same constraints. Hardly.
Of course, Harry told himself that he would only do what was necessary, and perhaps a little more, to ensure that they held back until Neville could fend for himself. And he was certain that the boy would eventually get there since that second memory had ended with a feeling of such rage and anger coming from Neville.
Harry would have never thought the boy capable of such intense feelings and it surprised him.
That fact alone served to reinforce his sudden idea to come to Neville's aid.
After making the apparent decision to protect what was his, he decided that he would need to watch the memory again. If he was going to do something about the situation, then it was only prudent to get a better feeling for the pair that would soon be honored as the first wizards to see the real Harry Potter.
Now entering a memory was very different from just casually observing it, like what Harry had just done. It would allow Harry the opportunity to fully immerse himself and be able to replay the scene as if he had actually been there. Before he directed his tendril into the memory, he prepared his mind to note every little detail that he was about to see and afterwards he took note of the way Neville's mindscape changed as he was inserted into the event from the previous night that had Neville firmly under its spell.
Harry appeared in a hallway that he recognized as being next to the library. He watched as Neville scurried by him while clutching his bag with an anxious expression on his face.
Neville's eyes were darting about as he neared a corner that would take him past the stairs in which most students from Slytherin usually emerged from their house's unknown location in the dungeon. It was a necessary path on Neville's way to Hufflepuff and Harry stopped following after Neville when the boy came to halt in response to two boys that were blocking his path.
Harry walked around Neville to see that his friend's face had blanched and his eyes were wide with fear.
Harry then directed his attention behind him and recognized the two older boys immediately. They were fourth-year Slytherins and played for their house team as beaters. Phineas Lestrange was ruthless with a bat, and Icarus Carrow was as well, though he often liked to try ramming his opponents off course with his broom.
"Hello again, Longbottom," Phineas smirked cruelly.
He was the nephew of Rodolphus Lestrange, who was currently in Azkaban for the use of the Cruciatus Curse on Frank and Alice Longbottom.
"Funny meeting you again. One would have thought that someone in your position would have taken care to never travel anywhere alone, especially this close to the snake den."
The older boys began to walk slowly towards Neville, much like a lion that was encircling its prey. Neville was apparently too scared to think straight and began to walk himself backwards into a corner. Which in this case took the form of a darkened classroom.
Harry found himself wondering why Neville hadn't simply run in the opposite direction, but quickly threw that ridiculous notion aside; the fourth years would have eventually caught up to him.
As the boys followed Neville into the room, they began to snicker and the familiar sounds allowed Harry to connect them to the earlier taunts that he had seen in Neville's mind. Harry wondered if this bullying had been going on longer than just for a week.
"I… I… had homework to f-finish," Neville managed to get out once he had his back to the wall of the abandoned classroom.
Which impressed Harry because while it was obvious that Neville was seconds away from pissing himself, he wasn't cowering. In fact, Neville even had his wand raised in front of him as he tried to stand at his full height. It made Harry begin to respect the boy a little bit more; he was a fighter and Harry could work with that when he began to teach the other boy how to defend himself.
Harry moved again to stand in a position from which he could see both parties more clearly.
"Look at that Icarus, the pathetic little first year has his wand out. What's he going to do, fight us?" Phineas mocked.
Icarus joined in with his own sinister and ominous chuckles as he shut the door to seal them all in the room.
"It's surprising for a Hufflepuff to think that they could stand up to a Slytherin," Icarus agreed with a feral grin.
"Seems like he is stubborn one, just like his parents."
Icarus traded an evil and knowing glance with Phineas.
Neville, meanwhile, began to forget momentarily about his fear with the slight to his parents.
"Don't insult my parents…" Neville started before a flash of anger appeared in Phineas' eyes that caused his own fear to overcome the anger that had momentarily given him strength.
"Don't what? Come on Longbottom: use your words," Phineas mercilessly cajoled him.
"They were brave," Neville said with a defeated quality in his voice as he tried to find the strength that had so quickly escaped him.
Just then Phineas laughed and Icarus joined in.
"Brave?" Phineas questioned while trying to get air into his lungs.
"They were stupid, holding out against their obvious betters," Phineas expressed while wiping tears of laughter from his eyes.
"How is St. Mungos treating them?" Icarus joined in, causing him to receive an approving glance from his cousin.
Harry saw Neville's jaw clench and his eyes twitch in response to Icarus' remarks. He watched with great interest as Neville raised his wand higher and retaliated against the continued affronts to his parents.
But his Stinging Hex was easily blocked by the advanced fourth year, who responded instantly by disabling the unprepared first year.
"You dare try and attack your betters too?" Phineas called out angrily.
"Seems like the little Hufflepuff needs to learn his place in the world. Icarus, what do you think?"
"I think he needs to understand the lessons that his parents could not teach him."
Harry swallowed his anger, knowing what was coming from his casual view of the memory before he entered it. However, he was also able to tell himself that he was watching this again for a reason and that soon, the pair would learn about their place in the world.
Harry focused on that thought because it was weird for him to watch Neville writhing on the floor as Phineas held him under a lesser pain spell that was similar to the Cruciatus Curse. Only this one wasn't illegal and wouldn't leave as noticeably a trace.
He had known going into this memory that he was angry on Neville's behalf, but watching this scene again and in more vivid detail made him finally realize something that had been nagging at him for the entire year.
In fact, it explained why Harry suddenly felt incomplete, a sensation that he was most unfamiliar with.
For within the memory, Harry couldn't feel Neville's magic and so he didn't have that constant connection that came with how his own magic felt in response to being in Neville's presence. It was comforting and the immediate deference of Neville's magic to his own was addicting and only served to make him feel stronger. It was only in its absence did he finally recognize it for what it was.
Which was something that he never considered before since he always felt so beyond his peers that it was difficult for him to recognize that even with his talent and genius that there was still farther for him to go.
So it was only natural for him to want to ensure Neville's safety even more since it benefitted him in ways that he was just now beginning to come to terms with. It explained why he thought of Neville as his, since the boy served to make him stand taller.
Which didn't bode well for the Slytherins who were taunting Neville in the same way that Phineas' Aunt and Uncle had no doubt tormented the boy's parents while the Cruciatus drove them into insanity. Harry's retribution would only be more severe since it was now personal.
Though, with that thought the memory changed and Neville was now standing in front of a bathroom mirror. Harry moved to stand alongside him as the boy stared at his own haggard reflection. Neville was defeated and broken and he only spoke a few words into the mirror before retreating into himself, leaving the boy in the state that had necessitated Harry entering his mind in the first place.
"I'm sorry mom and dad, but I hate them. I want them to suffer like you did."
"Don't worry, Neville; they will," Harry said matter-of-factly as he exited the memory and returned to Neville's mindscape.
Upon leaving the memory Harry again contemplated Neville's consciousness, which was transfixed with the memory that Harry had just exited from. He knew that he couldn't just leave the boy in this state.
However, he also now viewed Neville in a way that was quite similar to how he saw himself. It wasn't exactly the same, of course, because Harry put himself above all others; but it was close enough that he wanted to make sure that what he was about to do was the right thing.
For Legilimency and Occlumency were not the only Mind Arts that existed since there was another that Harry seriously wondered why it wasn't also considered in the same vein as an Unforgivable Curse. Tampering with someone's memories, even if it was beneficial could fundamentally change who a person was, much like surviving a near-death experience and suddenly having a new view on life.
It was just another question that Harry had about the magical world, because, in his mind, Obliviate could be used in ways far worse than any of the Unforgivable Curses that came with a one-way ticket to Azkaban.
For instance, with a single spell, you could make someone forget everything and everyone that they held dear. But that wasn't the worst outcome in Harry's opinion since it was simply unacceptable for him to think that anyone could take the knowledge that he was a wizard and hide it in his mind. In fact, that thought terrified him.
The one thing that made it slightly easier to understand why it wasn't illegal was that only someone who was both a Master Occlumens and Legilimens could successfully use Obliviate. Otherwise, the blocking of the memory was unlikely to hold for very long. To be successful, one needed to understand how the mind and memories worked; they also needed to understand how that person worked to be able to hide the memory from them forever.
Because the memory couldn't actually be removed, it could only be hidden from that person.
But Harry didn't feel that he had a choice in the matter at the moment since Neville couldn't be allowed to wallow in this misery; the boy would then never learn how to properly defend himself.
So it was mainly out of Harry's desire to teach Neville, and very little out of his desire to actually master another of the Mind Arts, that he reached out again with his magic and completely obscured that memory from Neville's mind and buried it deep under Neville's mindscape. It was not as easy as that, however, since Harry had to be careful to keep Neville's suddenly aware mind from learning of his presence in his head.
Luckily, Harry had been in his mind before and had a good idea of how it worked, which meant that he was able to distract Neville with a well-placed and stronger encouragement:
'You will be fine. You have magic. You can do magic. Harry will teach you more magic. Go to sleep.'
When Harry finished, he exited Neville's mind and remained on the bed momentarily as Neville eased into a much-needed sleep.
Harry returned to his own bed a few minutes later and spent a little while outlining his plans for the following night before he too went to sleep.
Saturday morning saw Neville return to normal, which didn't come as a surprise to Harry but it did require him to play it cool in front of the others. Justin meanwhile just shrugged it off, figuring that it had involved something to do with Neville's parents since that was the only thing besides exams that explained his behavior.
With Neville's sour mood behind them, the trio then spent their day as usual in the library; but while Neville and Justin were actually busy trying to revise, Harry was entertaining thoughts about Phineas and Icarus.
Because one thing that Harry didn't want to have happen was for those two boneheads to have another opportunity to harass Neville. To start, that would have drawn more attention to Neville and Harry didn't want people to pay that much attention if he were to suddenly develop an apparent proclivity for mood swings.
It would only serve to draw more attention to him and Harry had spent an incredible amount of effort making others forget that he was the Boy Who Lived.
Harry also didn't want to have to make a habit of playing with Neville's mind and memories too much. It was one thing to play with other people but it was a different thing altogether now that he viewed the barely older boy as an extension of himself.
What if something detrimental happened to the boy and Harry lost that feeling of his magic interacting with Neville's? Harry didn't want to chance losing something that only enhanced his feeling of having a limitless future.
And really, the only concern that Harry was really entertaining as he sat there in the library – because he certainly wasn't worried about not being a match for the pair – was in getting the opportunity to play with them tonight.
He would obviously need to catch them out in the open but, at the same time, he needed them to be in a part of the castle where prying eyes didn't see the activities that he had planned for them.
Therefore, Harry was somewhat antsy as the day progressed since this was almost entirely out of his control. Despite his internal focus on how the night would or would not go, however, Harry was still able to be present in the conversations that he was having with his friends.
So it was quite easy for him to be aware of the looks that Neville would give him every so often, and he was sure that it had to do with the addition to the usual suggestion that he had left Neville with last night.
Of course, Neville wasn't sure enough of himself to ask Harry about anything yet; all Neville knew or could reasonably assume at this point was that his infatuation with Harry was growing. Unbeknownst to Harry – since he hadn't examined every thought that Neville had – was just how aware Neville was of just how far he had come by being at Harry's side. Everything that he had come to know since starting at Hogwarts told him that Harry was taking him along on his journey to greatness. Because Neville just knew that Harry's future would only be defined by what Harry wanted to achieve and it was intoxicating for him to feel like he could be a part of that journey.
When their time in the library was finished the trio headed to the Great Hall for supper. After that was complete, all that separated Harry from a night of waiting under his invisibility cloak for an opportune time was a brief bout of games in the common room.
For he had all ready managed to convince Justin and Neville to take a well-earned break from studying that night and enjoy some games with him in the common room. He may have also entered their mind – just a little bit – and given them the suggestion to go to bed early, thereby freeing Harry to go for a hunt and ensuring that Neville stayed out of the way in case he was unsuccessful in acquiring his targets until the next night.
Right on schedule, the boys headed up to bed and Harry exited Hufflepuff and found an undisturbed corner of the castle in which he threw his cloak on. Now that he was invisible, he added a few silencing spells to mask the sounds of his feet and breathing before heading in the direction of where he thought the entrance to Slytherin should be.
It wasn't hard to find, especially after his time in the castle around Christmas where he had put in a solid effort to map out the majority of the castle for future reference.
All that was left now for him to do was wait for Phineas and Icarus to pass by, and hope that they were alone. Of course, Harry could handle the unexpected event if a few others were also with them, but it would be far easier and more convenient for him if they were alone.
The minutes passed by as Harry sat there against the wall, watching as Slytherins of all ages passed by. As curfew approached, fewer students trickled through until hardly anyone remained when curfew officially went into effect.
It was then that Harry had almost given up on catching them for the night when he heard voices in the distance.
And not just any voices, but the very ones that he had been waiting for.
However, there was also a third voice and Harry managed to identify it as belonging to Daphne Greengrass right as she turned around the corner and came into view.
Harry stood up when he saw the underlying look of fear that had slipped through her normally well-composed face. It would seem that Neville wasn't the only target of the older boys.
"Get back here!" Phineas demanded as he then walked into view.
"You are promised to me, girl," he continued, "and I said I wanted a little kiss!"
The tone of his voice made her stop and Harry clearly saw the unrestrained fear that passed through her eyes as she had her back to the boys but was unknowingly looking straight at Harry.
He was impressed to see her swallow her fear and turn around as she drew her wand.
However, the action caused Phineas to laugh again, much like he had done with Neville.
"How cute, she wants to play Icarus," Phineas chuckled with a devilish glee.
"Seems to be a habit of pathetic little first years," Icarus agreed.
The boys approached her, and Harry's ire was starting to rise. While he had no desire to protect the girl, he did have a very big interest in denying Phineas and Icarus their fun. Besides, he could easily take control of the situation and send her on her way without her ever knowing that he was there before returning his attention to the fourth-year Slytherins.
Thankfully though, he didn't have to act for Draco Malfoy soon appeared behind Harry and made his presence known.
Harry was curious to see how Draco would handle this, for he had been watching the young Malfoy for a while now. If anyone in their year were going to be able to see through Harry's charade, he would have bet money that Draco would be the one to do it. After reading all of those books on Voldemort and himself, he had been introduced to Lucius Malfoy and had no doubt that the man had raised his son in a similar vein.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," Draco said warningly as he came up behind Daphne and, unbeknownst to Phineas and Icarus, put his hand comfortingly on her back.
Anger appeared in Phineas' eyes.
"This doesn't concern you," he said bitingly.
"Yeah!" said Icarus lamely.
"Oh, I think that it does."
Draco's voice was clear and unafraid; however, his hand that rested on Daphne's back was fidgeting nervously.
But Harry didn't think that Draco would allow his fear to show as Daphne's had.
"For you see," Draco said in the same tone that he reserved for people he perceived as beneath him – which was just about everyone.
"Daphne's sister, Astoria, is promised to me. Which would practically make Daphne a member of my own family."
Draco let that the implications of that sink in for a moment while he removed his fidgeting hand and placed it firmly on her shoulder for them to see.
"Of course, that would also mean that my father would be most unhappy to learn of anything unproper befalling a member of his house," Draco said for all intents and purposes knowing that Phineas would have demanded something more than just a kiss from Daphne in a few short years.
Harry thought it was a masterful response by Draco to firmly insert Lucius' influence into the conversation. Phineas and Icarus would be idiots not to heed that warning.
It also confirmed in Harry's mind just how right he had been to be wary of Draco's no doubt astute and advanced mind.
Harry was fortunate that Hufflepuff shared so few classes with Slytherin, since it would only take a single slip-up on his part to make Draco aware of his true self if he wasn't extremely careful.
Though, his musings were interrupted by Phineas' terse reply.
"You're father can't protect you forever, Malfoy."
The older Slytherin looked most displeased that his fun had been spoiled.
Draco wasn't one to test his luck and stick around and he quickly turned with Daphne and walked right past Harry on their way back to the dorms.
Icarus and Phineas were alone now and in a bad mood, but they had no idea just how worse things were about to get.
And Harry didn't waste any time.
His first act was to giggle, infusing as much innocence to make it the most child-like sound that he had ever made. When combined with the fact that Icarus and Phineas were now out after curfew in a dimly lit hallway, it made the setting all the more eerie. Suddenly, the pair now found themselves as the prey.
Phineas and Icarus quickly drew their wands, and put their backs together as they began to slowly spin in a circle.
"Show yourself!" Icarus demanded with a tint of fear in his eye.
"Poor Phineas. Poor Icarus," Harry added in that sweet voice as he moved about the hallway himself.
"All alone with no one to torment," he spoke softly before sending a few Stinging Hexes in honor of Neville their way.
The spells did their part and the boys grimaced in pain, but it only made Phineas more Irate.
"I will kill you, whoever you are!" he raged, much to Harry's delight.
Although, he would have to do something about the volume since he didn't want their voices to alert others to the fun that Harry was about to have.
From underneath his cloak Harry cast two very strong and powerful Silencios, infusing just the right amount of will to make them unable to make a sound.
The sudden loss of the ability to speak caused the pair's eyes to widen in terror. They knew these spells were difficult and generally only performed by someone in their sixth year or above - and it had been nonverbal!
Both were now simultaneously wondering just who or what they were up against.
However, while the pair was distracted with those thoughts, Harry directed a very large tendril of his magic at Icarus. He willed his magic to overcome the older boy's core, and it was the most resistance that he had faced yet.
But in the end it didn't matter and Harry overpowered Icarus' magic and took control of his mind.
"Stay," Harry commanded before drawing his magic back into himself.
While Harry refocused his will and magic to secure Phineas' mind, the boy in question had noticed the still and vacant expression of his friend.
"Icarus. Icarus!" Phineas pleaded with only the silent movement of his lips. His breaths had become short and sweat was beginning to pool on his forehead.
Phineas Lestrange was actively hoping that this was some elaborate prank because he had never been as terrified as he was at this particular moment.
But suddenly, he felt this uncomfortable sensation in his chest as some unknown force was easily overpowering his core until the connection to his magic was gone. Though, he had less than a second to focus on that since his mind soon became numb and the hallway fluttered out of sight.
Phineas blinked his eyes open as consciousness returned to him; his first thoughts were focused on the room that was beginning to come into view and the fact that his wrists were secured behind his back. He tried to fight against his restraints as he took stock of the abandoned classroom that he now found himself in. It took him several seconds to register that Icarus was just a few feet from him, and that judging by his movements was also in the same precarious situation that he was in.
The boys then shared a glance that was short-lived as the eerie laughter returned to their ears.
Harry watched as his chuckles plunged even more fear in their hearts. While it would have been fun and much easier to deal with them in the hallway, he just couldn't take the risk that someone would happen upon them. Therefore, he had led them to the other side of the dungeon, far from where both Potions and the Slytherin dorms were located.
It had excited and thrilled him to know that he had been able to overpower them. Not that he had been worried, but the sensation that was produced by taking over that large of a magical core was unlike anything that he had experienced yet. The sheer level of dominance that Harry had over these boys flowed through his veins and made his body tingle all over.
Knowing that he had also separated them from their wands and that it was doubtful that they had access to wandless magic – he had gone through some of their memories to be sure – he removed his cloak and stood before them.
"Hello," he said darkly, much to their shock and amazement.
Never in their wildest dreams would they have imagined that their captor had been Harry Potter, the Hufflepuff.
Harry's eyes shown at them with unholy glee, reveling in the knowledge that these two would soon be dealt with and that he could end the year in a very good position for his future.
Phineas was speechless; even if he could use his voice it wouldn't have mattered. He was transfixed on the young boy who was anything like the one that had walked into the Great Hall on September first.
"It would seem that we have a problem," Harry said as he walked to stand before the pair.
He reached his hand out to stroke Icarus' cheek, knowing that it would be far more frightening than anything else he could say.
"Impossible!" Icarus' voice echoed off the walls.
Harry kept his finger on the boy's jaw; he was tacking his time tracing the outline of the hard bone underneath. His eyes then flicked upwards, revealing in their green depths the full and raw power of his magic.
"Nothing is impossible," Harry replied matter-of-factly.
"No one sees me because I do not want them to, not yet anyways."
Harry then booped Icarus' nose and smiled more darkly than he ever had in his short life.
The act made Harry looked like a child of death and it caused Icarus to break down into whimpers.
Phineas managed to keep it together for only a few more seconds before he too gave way to despair.
Harry took his hand back and used it to smear the wet trails of their tear-stained faces.
"Neville is mine," Harry said very clearly.
His magic was infused in everything that Harry was doing and his words were wholeheartedly believed.
The statement caused them both to lose their remaining control over their emotions and their faces gave way to silent sobs of terror.
"I don't like how you treat him and you will stop."
It was more than an order; it was a promise of pain, unimaginable pain until they wished for the sweet release of death if they didn't listen.
But they weren't getting away with things that easily, and it seemed that both of them knew it as they withdrew into themselves just like Neville had.
"Now, you taunted Neville with bouts of pain and talk of his parents. Though, you never cast the Cruciatus on him."
"Still, I think it's important to teach you a lesson. But don't worry: I am a firm believer that Neville be the one to get his own revenge."
Those words gave the boys a brief bout of hope that they would make it out of here in a better state.
That was until Harry laughed.
"Of course, you won't remember the lessons that I teach you, so you will unfortunately have to learn all over again later."
"Would you like to feel the Cruciatus, Phineas? So you know how Frank and Alice felt, since you seem so fond of talking about them."
Phineas didn't have time to silently respond because his body immediately began to convulse and he bit down on his tongue in pain, which made blood dribble out of his mouth.
Icarus watched on in horror since he hadn't even seen Harry draw a wand; it was unfathomable in his mind that the Boy Who Lived had just performed an Unforgivable Cruciatus without a wand.
As if he could hear what Icarus was thinking, Harry turned his head to stare at Icarus.
"I haven't forgotten about you," Harry said as he unleashed a tendril of pain that burned through Icarus' nerve endings.
Harry shuddered from the ecstasy of how their magic no longer tried to fight him for dominance. It was an effect of the spell and one of the reasons it was both illegal and addicting.
Eventually, he released them but their bodies continued to shake. However, they were both still conscious and Harry took great pleasure in the look of defeat in their eyes.
Harry drew his hand across Icarus' face again. He stared into the older boy's eyes and smirked.
Even without what he was planning on doing to them shortly, he was sure that they would never stand in his way again.
But Harry was smart and he needed to hide evidence of what he had done. It also allowed him to practice some of his memory spells without worrying about making a mistake, even if it was an unlikely thought since rarely did he make a mistake.
It took very little time for Harry to bind their memories of their night, leaving in the incident with Draco and Daphne but removing everything else. However, Harry also left a very strong suggestion in their minds that Neville was to be left alone. In fact, every time the pair thought of Neville, they would feel an uncomfortable sensation against the edges of their skin that would remind them, so very briefly, of the effects of the Cruciatus.
So when the pair returned to Slytherin very late that night, they returned to their sour mood over what Draco had pulled and paid very little notice to how their bodies continued to shake from the forgotten curse that Harry had cast. In fact, the next time they saw Harry, the fact barely registered since he was just like the other nameless Hufflepuffs.
Next chapter is the end of first year and the stone before touching a little on Harry's summer. After that is second year and our first glimpse of Tom.
Hope you liked this and I would love to know your thoughts!