Chapter 18
Finally finding their way home again...
"Any updates on Amy's recovery?" Ara asked Rose softly.
"No," she sighed. "She's the same as you heard last. Physically healing, but completely distraught over Elliot's death."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Ara murmured sympathetically. "I can't believe this. Not even three quarters into our first year, and already people have died. Students, no less."
"Oh don't get me started," Rose groaned. "And with these heightened tensions between Gryffindors and Slytherins… it's just getting worse."
Ara nodded in agreement. "On a happier note, Valentine's Day is just around the corner. Got your eye on anyone?" she asked cheekily.
Rose scoffed, smiling. "Who has the time for romance in this craziness?"
"There's always time for crushes." Ara nudged Rose playfully. "C'mon, who is it?"
"No one," Rose said firmly. "Honestly Ara."
"Not even Alden? I ship you two." Ara grinned. "Please tell me you have a Tumblr."
"Pfft ship? We're friends. Really good friends. And yes, I do, I don't live under a rock." Rose smiled. "'bout you and Scorp?"
"Scorp? Ew, we're like brother and sister."
"Albus?" Rose persisted.
"Well he's sweet, but I don't really-"
"Oh I'm so setting you two up!" Rose squealed, and then paused. "Okay, I have officially been around Amelia and Clara for far too long."
Ara smirked. "I'll just magically disappear on Valentine's Day. No, I don't see Albus like that."
"I ship it. Think about it, if you two marry, we could be related!"
"Okay, you've definitely spent too much time with your roommates," Ara affirmed.
"Yeah," Rose sighed nostalgically.
"And what, may I ask, are you doing sitting with a Slytherin?" Peyton asked heatedly. Rose looked up at him, annoyed.
"Hanging out," she enunciated. "Because Ara is my friend."
"Did you not see who Slytherins turn out to be? Voldemort? Slytherin. Marcus Flint? Slytherin! Who, may I remind you, put two of your cousins into the hospital wing and killed so many others! Your own father! Araluen Zabini," he spat, "will only ever turn out to be a Death Eater and will murder you and your future children!"
"Peyton Thomas," Rose spat, not caring that Madame Gateaux was shushing them fervently. "Araluen Zabini will not become a Death Eater and how DARE you assume such a horrid thing, based solely upon her HOUSE!"
Madame Gateaux grabbed Rose and Peyton by the ear and marched them straight out of the library.
"Are you blind?" Peyton shouted at Rose once they had been thrown into the corridor. "For Godric's sake, I thought you were smart! They're murderers, Rose, the whole lot of them!"
"No, they aren't!" Rose shot back. "What about Snape? He was a good guy all along!"
"Who killed Dumbledore?" Peyton shouted. "Murderers, I tell you!"
"I am not a murderer," Araluen said softly, eyes flashing. "Slytherins are ambitious, but that does not mean that all of us lack morals and a sense of right and wrong."
"Bat spleens," Peyton returned stubbornly. "You say that now, but just watch. You'll be the one who let Flint into Hogwarts. All of you pureblooded families got together and thought 'let's kill the blood traitors and mudbloods!"
"Blood means nothing to me!" Ara snapped.
"Just watch. Even if it isn't you, it'll be a Slytherins who got Flint into Hogwarts. Just watch," Peyton hissed.
"Not all Slytherins are evil!" Rose shouted exasperatedly.
"Bat spleens! Oh look, here comes Malfoy. Baby Death Eater in the making."
"Excuse me?" Scorpius asked heatedly, Albus shaking his head beside Scorp.
"Daddy Death Eater teach you some tricks?" Peyton taunted a large crowd was slowly forming; Abe and Xavier both backed Peyton.
"Xavier? Abe? You believe this stuff, too?" Rose asked incredulously.
"My father was never willingly a Death Eater," Scorp shot back. Jayce joined sides with Scorp and Albus, glaring at the Gryffindors. "In fact, he was working as a double agent the entire time. Didn't know that? Must be your Gryffindork intelligence. Rose should've been sorted into Ravenclaw. I couldn't possibly tolerate such stupidity in my housemates."
"Argh!" Peyton shouted, launching himself at Scorp, landing a solid punch to Scorp's stomach.
"I don't think so!" Jayce snapped, throwing a punch back at Peyton. Before they knew it all six boys were punching each other, clawing and kicking.
"Break it up!" Connor shouted as he neared, the crowd chanting "Fight! Fight! Fight!" Having gained new respect since defeating Flint, Connor easily parted the crowd and stopped the boys from continuing to bruise themselves. The boys immediately stopped tussling, both sides sporting bruises and bloody noses.
"You should all be ashamed of yourselves!" Connor yelled. "We have gone through a tragedy so terrible that you all have lost a friend or classmate. And here you are, beating up on each other because of some petty insult!"
"Petty? Petty?" Scorpius fired back. "They, your Gryffindork comrades, have just called my best friend a murderer!"
"All Slytherins are!" Peyton shouted back. "Spineless, good for nothing-"
"Enough!" Connor growled. The two boys fell silent, glaring at each other heatedly. "May I remind you, Peyton," Connor began quietly, "that Scorpius and Ara both fought against Flint? On wait, you weren't there!" Connor emphasized. "Don't assume such horrific things of a person based upon a few people who went wrong. Might I remind Gryffindors of a certain Peter Pettigrew? A Gryffindor, who aided Voldemort in his recovery and without whom, countless lives may have been saved? If you were to assume that Pettigrew was exactly the same as all other Gryffindors, we would be a bunch of sniveling hypocrites!" Connor spoke emphatically, looking each person in the eye.
"The time for ridiculous house rivalry has ended. We have to unite in the face of evil. Fighting amongst ourselves weakens us, and that's the last thing we need." A long silence followed Connor's speech, until Scorpius Malfoy, of all people, decided to take the higher road, offering his hand to Peyton.
"I apologize for my civilized behavior. Do you think we might move past this?"
Out of utter spite and, well, anger that Malfoy had offered his hand first, Peyton Thomas sneered. "I'd never shake hands with a filthy pureblood," he spat in Scorp's face.
"Good," Ara shot back. "Because no human should acknowledge an animal like you." Without further ado, she grabbed Scorp's hand and made way to the hospital wing.
Rose made a sheer look of disgust towards Peyton. "And you call yourself a Gryffindor?" she asked, scoffing. "I'm ashamed to be in the same house as you."
The crowd slowly scattered, bewildered that Malfoy had tried, even, and apologized. Connor turned to Peyton once they were alone.
"You realize that the most popular boy is now a Slytherin?" Connor asked simply. Peyton winced, grimacing.
"Just wait," he growled once Connor was out of earshot. "Malfoy will have been the one to open Hogwarts to Flint. Runs in the family, I bet."
"So where were you when the alarm went off?" Harry asked Caymen Kwasney, the Slytherin student in front of him.
"In my transfiguration class," Caymen said boredly. "You know what I just realized? Kerfluffle is not in my everyday vocabulary."
"Okay," Harry said slowly. "And what did you do when you heard the alarm?"
"Stayed and followed McGonagall's instructions," Caymen sighed. "I should've done something, snuck out and maybe distracted Flint with one of my pranks. Or maybe just set up another prank. Goodness knows people need to start laughing again. We screwed up Christmas, we were going to do something big..."
"What were you planning on doing?" Harry asked.
"If I told you, that would ruin April Fool's Day!" Caymen looked offended. "Why would I tell you? Tell the Head Auror my prank plan? Puh-lease."
"Because you're a suspect in this investigation, for letting Flint into Hogwarts," Harry stated. Caymen looked up, surprised.
"Isn't everyone?"
"Yes, so give me a reason not to continue interviewing you. I could get very nasty."
Caymen laughed merrily, almost choking on his own saliva. "Harry Potter? Nasty?" Caymen chortled. "Trust me mister, I've met nasty, and you are not one of them."
"I didn't become Head Auror by handing out rainbows and sunshine."
"But you're the Chosen One, face it, you had it in the bag," Caymen smirked. Harry sighed.
"Let's cut to the chase, all right? You're constantly snooping around Hogwarts - you've been all year. Why?"
"I believe I have the right to face my accuser," Caymen snorted.
"Lucky for me, that proposition hasn't been formally signed into law yet," Harry smiled tiredly. "Just answer the damn question, you smartass. It's the Wizarding World here, and we need a lead."
"I was obviously setting up my next prank. You can verify any sighting of me "snooping" with James, Lorcan, or Lysander. Honestly you call yourself Head Auror?"
"Just covering my bases. I'll confirm everything, of course. If there are any flaws, even the tiniest of inconsistent details, I'll see you again Mr. Kwasney."
"Toodaloo!" Caymen smirked as he jumped out of his seat.
Harry rubbed his temples. "Bring in Iridia von Loisson," he told Terry, who nodded.
"Why am I here?" she hissed as she entered the room. "No, I don't bloody need a psymagicist. I'm perfectly okay."
"We're not putting you into therapy at all," Harry clarified quickly. "We just want you to answer a few questions about the attack on your classroom and classmates."
"Fine," she huffed.
"Where were you when the alarm went off?"
"In Defence Against the Dark Arts with Pucey. I don't see why-"
"What happened after that?"
"Pucey received some instructions from McGonagall that Zabini, Malfoy, Weasley, and your son blatantly ignored. Then Pucey locked us into the classroom."
"How long before the attack?"
"Ten minutes or so."
"How many people attacked?"
"Three, two cloaked and one Flint."
"Flint?" Harry asked bewildered. "But Flint was in the courtyard, the entire time. Are you sure-?"
"I've seen the newspapers, I'm not blind. My parents are friends with Mrs. Pansy Flint. I know him."
"Huh. And what did these three do?"
"Well, we only panicked when they started shooting Avadas at us. Two girls died. Something happened, though. In the middle of the massacre, they suddenly stopped, and just left. It was… it was horrid." Iridia said softly. She paused for a moment, and then seemed to realize her surroundings. She immediately stiffened.
"Any other questions?" she snapped. Harry shrugged.
"Not at the moment, but if I do, I'll be in touch."
"Well, don't," she responded coldly, and left the room without even waiting for a dismissal or saying farewell.
"Uptight, frigid thing, that one," Terry commented. "We'll have to check with her classmates, verify that story."
"It'll be fine and clear," Harry predicted, groaning. "She's not lying at all. She might have left things out, but it'll all be true."
"Suddenly found a gift for prophecy?" Terry joked.
"No, she's a Slytherin. It's one thing to prophesize and another thing to extrapolate on existing patterns."
"Big word there-" Terry began to tease, but was cut off by Iridia's reentrance. The two Aurors looked at her inquisitively.
"Yes?" Harry asked.
"I've just remembered, Gavin Finnegan had been in the bathroom, supposedly, just before the alarm went off."
And then von Loisson stalked out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her.
"Well," Terry said cheerily. "I'll grab Finnegan."
Terry ushered Gavin Finnegan into the interrogation room. He plopped down rather ungracefully into a chair, sullenly looking down towards his feet.
"You okay, Mr. Finnegan?" Harry asked kindly, but Gavin glared at his questioner.
"Can we just get this done with?" Gavin spat.
Harry frowned. "All right. Where were you before the alarm rang off?"
Gavin seemed to struggle with an answer, clenching and unclenching his fists. "Bathroom," he grit out, suddenly relaxing.
Harry eyed Gavin carefully. "What did you do when the alarm went off?"
"Finished my business and ran back to the classroom," Gavin stiffly stated, after another round of twitching and struggle.
"Did you get permission to go to the bathroom?" Harry asked curiously, wondering if Gavin was merely afraid of the repercussions or was seriously fighting the Veritaserum administered.
"Y-no," Gavin stuttered quickly, panting and sweating.
And suddenly, realization hit Harry like an elephant foot on a flaming duck. Harry wanted to smack himself - the kid was under an Imperius curse! Le DUHH! he wanted to shout to the heavens. Twitching hands, bad temper? Classic signs of the curse.
"Gavin," Harry said softly. "Fight it. Anything this person's made you do is not you, and only you can stop it."
Gavin then painted a look of innocent confusion on his face. "What are you talking about?" he asked astoundingly normally, to the point where Harry wondered if he had been wrong about the Imperius.
But then, Gavin shuddered, crying out, snapping back into the perfectly crafted look, to expressions of anger and despair.
"Help me!" he croaked out as he doubled over, Harry rushing to catch the boy.
"Fight it. Feel the world regain its clarity," Harry instructed. "You are not swimming in fog, it's a sunny day and you can feel the most crystal clear waterfalls. Come back into your own control - find your arms and legs, toes and pinky fingers. Find yourself," Harry commanded.
"I'm just a boy," Gavin sneered mockingly. "You'll never just coach - help me please - coach him out of an unforgivable cur- I can't keep - curse!"
Gavin switched back and forth between his evil and desperate faces.
At last, he was free.
Gavin collapsed, sobbing into Harry's embrace. "You're safe," Harry patted Gavin's head. "You're safe with us now."
After a few minutes, Gavin finally calmed down.
"Your uncle, Aaron Dakota, do you know where he is?" Harry asked gently, feeling as if the puzzle piece were beginning to fall into place. Gavin's mother was yes, Haley Finnegan, but her maiden name was Dakota. There was a connection, here.
Gavin shook his head, sniffling miserably and tugging at his Slytherin robes.
"These, these aren't even mine," Gavin croaked. "I'm a Gryffindor - the Hat told me so. But I couldn't stop it, that voice that told it to put me into Slytherin."
"Who cursed you?"
"My…" Gavin struggled a bit, a new wave of tears working its way down his face. "My u-uncle," he stuttered, and then fell into sobs again.
"I'm so sorry," Harry murmured, patting Gavin's back. "But I have to ask. Did he make you let Flint into Hogwarts?"
Gavin choked, nodding.
"How?"
"The secret entrance under the Weeping Willow, from the Shrieking Shack," Gavin whispered, shuddering. "I ac-activated t-the alarm," he stuttered again, in between sniffles. Harry sighed softly.
"It's going to be okay, Gavin," Harry reassured him. "We'll get you properly sorted, how's that sound?"
Gavin sniffled in response. "Okay."
Harry lifted Gavin up, holding him as he began walking towards the Hospital Wing, and maybe stopping off at the headmistress's office along the way.
"You know the drill, Terry. Find Haley Finnegan or Haley Dakota: she's a good friend of ours in the Department of Law Enforcement. FInd her, and find her brother. I think our two missing Auror members were in on the plot, or Natria might just have been there at the wrong time. Find any connection between Natria Crox and the Dakotas," Harry commanded. Terry nodded, already casting his patronus to carry a message back to the Auror office.
"I TOLD YOU!" Peyton Thomas screamed, confronting Ara and Scorp at the Slytherin table the next day at breakfast. "A MERLIN DAMNED SLYTHERIN!" Peyton hooted. "You stinking murderers! My cousin Isla is DEAD because of you! Sona Goyle, a sweet Hufflepuff, DEAD!"
"I am not a murderer," Ara said coolly, not even glancing up at Peyton's tortured growl.
"You're a Slytherin," he spat. "Same difference."
"MR. THOMAS!" McGonagall finally intervened. "How dare you accuse an entire house with such a horrible, horrible deed! To not only use such atrocious language, but to blame all Slytherins for an Imperiused student? You bring shame to the House of Gryffindor!"
"A damned Slytherin," Peyton hissed.
"LANGUAGE, Mr. Thomas. My office, now!" McGonagall raged.
"Just so you know," Ara added quietly. "Gavin Finnegan is actually a Gryffindor, and his uncle, who imperiused him, is also a Gryffindor," she smirked, pointing towards Gavin's new Gryffindor ensemble. Peyton sneered as he followed closely behind McGonagall.
"This prejudice has got to stop," Connor announced to the entire hall. "Slytherins in the past have made mistakes, but so has any house - Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, even, yes, Gryffindors. May I remind you that Fiona was willing to sacrifice herself for her father - because she loved him - because she cared? Need I remind you that Scorpius Malfoy and Araluen Zabini were just as brave as Rose Weasley and Albus Potter? They are Slytherins, and they are good, moral human beings. That's what matters - are they a good people? At the end of the day, the House you belonged to won't matter. The rest of the world doesn't care. They'll only care if you do good for the world, and you don't get there based on your house. We shouldn't divide ourselves!" Connor shouted, walking towards the Slytherin table and sitting down. "We should unite! Hogwarts! Hogwarts!" he began to chant, and the rest of the school joined in.
"HOGWARTS! HOGWARTS! HOGWARTS!" the student cheered. The teachers smiled - the school was finally changing for the better.
And so, the tradition of sitting at the designated house tables was broken forever.
GUYS. It's been more than a year since I began this story! AND DID YOU HEAR THERE WILL BE MORE HARRY POTTER THINGS FROM WARNER BROS?!
So I've written Chapter 19, but I need to type it up... and with college apps coming around no guarantees when that will be. Hopefully it'll turn out! Remember 100 reviews for Dramione bonuses!