Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, ect.
AN: Real action packed chapter ahead, but we do get a bit of Harry/Lavender.
AN: I have been getting one question quite a bit in the reviews, 'Does Harry have the invisibility cloak?' I had planned on waiting until chapter five or six to reveal it but I don't feel like keeping you waiting, yes Harry has his father's invisibility cloak. I have read fics where Neville is the boy who lived and Dumbledore gives Harry's cloak to Neville and I didn't feel I needed to add that drama to the story.
Forbidden Forest, 9/27/1996, 23:45
They were back at the clearing they had visited last Monday waiting on midnight to arrive. The past week had flown by with little of note happening.
Monday Harry had tutored Justin, the boy was starting to pick up the other first-year spells easier and he had made decent progress in nonverbal casting. Harry didn't see the boy having any problems on his exam if he kept up at this pace.
The tutoring session with Lavender was going a little slower since he was having to teach her five years of theory, she hadn't been exaggerating when she told him she had paid very little attention in class.
She had also been really friendly to him lately, saying hi to him in the halls, Harry wasn't unhappy about this just a little surprised.
The icing on the cake was that every time Lavender spoke to him and the Weasel was in the vicinity the ginger would look upset and sulk.
Luna had been up to her usual antics and had informed him there was a service available to witches in the castle known as the 'Girl's Network.' According to Luna, girls could buy a list that categorized parts of the male students to help young witches find their desirable dates.
"Three minutes Harry," Luna said excitedly.
"Okay, hey Luna," Harry said awkwardly.
"Yes, Harry?" Luna asked smirking.
"You were just kidding about that network thing you were talking about weren't you?" Harry asked hopefully.
"I'm afraid not, but don't worry according to the list your a high seven," Luna said consolingly.
"High seven," Harry replied.
"Inches Harry, the number chart represents penis size," Luna explained amusedly.
"What?! How could they possibly know that?" Harry demanded.
" Moaning Myrtle goes through all the pipes and spies on boys in the showers and baths and reports her findings to the scribe," Luna explained serenely.
"What-
" Oh look their blooming!" Luna exclaimed cutting Harry's response off.
Harry watched as thousands of flower pods opened up, the blue gentle glow of the clearing changed to a bright moon-like silver as the flower's luminance increased filling the clearing. The sight really was quite breathtaking.
Pushing the thought of being spied on in the shower by a voyeuristic ghost to the back of his mind, Harry took out his collection bags and began to collect the glowing silver petals from the blooming moonflowers and placed them in the bags.
The whole clearing now had a bright ethereal glow and the effect was quite calming. Luna was collecting petals in a smaller bag, for what, he had no idea.
Moonflower petals were a key ingredient in the 'wolfsbane potion' and were very expensive to buy since they were only found one night a year. Harry felt very fortunate to find such a large supply, especially since he was able to use some of it to barter for one of the other pricey ingredients to the potion.
Sirius would still have to purchase the other ingredients which weren't cheap but this would help a lot in getting his Uncle Remus the potion for the next year.
Harry moved through the clearing gently picking petals from the flower head, he was wearing special silk gloves designed not to tear them in any way, there were exactly forty-none petals on each flower Harry observed as he steadily filled both satchels.
Two hours and thirty-two minutes later and both satchels were filled with exactly one pound of petals each, taking the petals didn't hurt the plants, as long as the stems weren't broken or crushed they would come back next September good as new.
Taking a look around the area he was surprised and a little worried not to find Luna anywhere in sight.
He started making his way over to where they had entered the clearing and sighed in relief.
Luna was laying on the ground on the edge of the clearing sleeping peacefully, she had pulled her cloak off and was using it as a blanket. She was actually cute when she was asleep and not up to mischief.
"Luna, let's get back to the castle," Harry said shaking her gently.
"Five more minutes," Luna mumbled.
"Luna, wake up," Harry said again a little more firmly.
Luna opened her eyes and looked at him grumpily.
"You ruined the good part, Colin was just about to-
" I don't want to know, come on let's head back," Harry said hastily stopping her from finishing her sentence.
"Fine but-
Hooowoooooo
Luna jumped to her feet, " Your right Harry I think we should get back now," Luna said fearfully.
Harry drew his wand and shrunk their satchels before pocketing them and nodding his agreement, that was the unmistakable howl of a werewolf. That was one of the dangers of picking this particular flower but there were usually never any werewolves in the forbidden forest.
The fact it was calling meant one of two things and neither of them was good news for two teenagers alone in the forest.
The first reason could be that they were calling to other members of their pack, which was bad for himself and Luna as there was more than one werewolf in the forest to have to elude.
The second and more probable reason it was calling out was that it had picked up their scent and it was hunting them, which was also very bad for the teens.
"Run Luna," Harry said as calmly as he could.
She didn't need telling twice, she started sprinting as fast as she could towards the castle, Harry ran about ten feet behind her in case the wolf caught up to them. Harry had a trick or two up his sleeve to buy them a little bit of time if the wolf got to close, he was hoping they could get out of here quickly enough not to need them.
Hoowoooo
The howl came from much closer this time, there was no doubt now that the wolf was trailing them.
"Luna, whatever you don't stop running," Harry called ahead of him.
He raised his wand and cast a spell his mother had designed, "vapis capsaso,' he called out and a red cloud flowed from his wand into the woods behind him creating a red artificial fog over the forest floor.
That would buy them a few minutes hopefully, though when the wolf found his way out of that he would be really pissed off.
Harry heard loud yelping similar to when he had accidentally stepped on Padfoot's tail.
The fog he created made the eyes, mouth, and throat feel like they were on fire and was a nonlethal deterrent, Harry had grown up with a werewolf all his life and did not want to kill one unless he had no other option.
Harry was still running behind Luna though he had fallen further behind when he slowed down to cast the spell, they were close to the forest edge maybe a hundred yards or so.
Harry heard the creature explode out of the brush behind him letting him know he had to act fast, Harry pointed his wand over his shoulder still running towards the forest edge, and cast a 'lumos maxima'.
The forest in front of him lit up brightly for a split second andHarry heard a crash and glanced behind him, Harry saw the beast had run headlong into a large oak tree.
Harry burst from the forest, Luna wasn't that far in front of him heading towards the castle.
" Hagrid's, go to Hagrid's," Harry called out frantically.
"Luna changed course and ran the fifty or so feet to Hagrids door and ripped it open dashing inside.
"Hurry Harry, it's right behind you," Luna screamed as loud as she could as out of beeath as she was.
Harry burst through the doorwa andy slammed the door closed and cast a locking spell, the door shook when the wolf slammed into the door making the whole wall shake.
Harry could hear the beast snapping and clawing at the door, Luna was on the floor panting rapidly trying to catch her breath.
A loud bark drew there attention as Hagrid's boarhound finally noticed their prescence.
"Wha' th' meaning o' this Potter?" Hagrid asked groggily.
"It appears there is a werewolf in the forest," Harry panted out.
"Wh' imposs-
Howooo
Hagrid jumped a foot in the air the howl coming from right outside his door.
" Dumbledore will have ta be informed at once," Hagrid exclaimed.
"Yes, but I would suggest you wait until the morning," Luna commented unnecessarily still catching her breath.
"Right, wha' were ya two doin' in tha forest anyway?" Hagrid demanded.
"Harvesting moonflowers," Harry said tiredly.
"O' course," Hagrid said tiredly.
"Kreacher," Harry called.
'Pop'
"Yes young master," the elf asked seemingly unaffected by the lateness of the hour.
"Please take these to Black cottage," Harry instructed after handing the satchels of moonflowers to the elf.
"Yes master," Kreacher replied taking the satchels and disappearing with another, 'pop'.
"You couldn't have thought of having him pop us out of the forest," Luba asked grumpily.
"Didn't think of it at the time," Harry said sheepishly.
"That's it, I will be filling a complaint to your supervisor," Luna threatened.
"I thought you like animals," Harry asked confused.
"I like most animals, the ones that don't want to eat me, werewolves are not on that list," Luna answered.
"Can I make ya' some tea?" Hagrid offered.
"Please I would love a cup of tea Professor Hagrid," Luna said very politely.
"Jus' Hagrid 'll do we aren' in class," Hagrid told her kindly.
There was a loud bang from the door as the werewolf slammed into it with considerable force.
"Ya two shoul' really buy yer damn flowers, didn' I have ta pull ya out of tha spider colony las' year?" Hagrid asked.
"We made sure and avoided the area this year, how did a werewolf get past the school wards?" Harry asked.
'I don' know but they shouldn' be able ta," Hagrid answered.
"Well that's unsettling," Harry said more to himself.
Hagrid poured them all a cup of tea and they sat at his table sipping it quietly, the wolf was still trying to get through the door,
"So Harry how is tha' godfather o' yours?" Hagrid asked.
"He is well, been doing a lot of contract work for the French ministry," Harry answered.
"Shame he didn't join tha' order again," Hagrid said thoughtfully.
"After what happened to mom and dad he never really cared for the headmaster," Harry answered.
"He can' blame Dumbledore for tha' traitor," Hagrid said indignantly.
"He doesn't blame him about that, it was the fact that he talked the Mot out of giving Dolohov the kiss," Harry explained.
"Oh," Hagrid said not knowing what to say to that.
"Dolohov is out now, he will get his eventually," Harry said coldly.
"That's enough of that, I thought I saw a moonfrog while we were running for our lives," Luna said cutting up the tension.
"Really, what was it doing?" Harry asked curiously.
"Telling me to get away from the werewolf," Luna said deadpan.
The rest of the night dragged by, Luna fell asleep in her chair at the table but Harry stayed awake and kept watch, the wolf finally gave up around four and Hagrid decided it was safe to journey up to the school around five-thirty.
"Luna wake up," Harry said shaking the girl.
"I don't wanna," Luna mumbled.
"Luna it's time to get back to the castle," Harry said.
"Fine, I'm up," Luna said opening her eyes.
After a few minutes, she was ready and they both followed Hagrid up to the school.
"I 'magine the headmaster will wan' ta speak to ya later," Hagrid said as they parted ways at the entrance hall.
Harry and Luna walked the rest of the way to Ravenclaw Tower in silence.
Once in the common room, they headed towards the staircase.
"Harry," Luna called after him.
"Yes Luna," Harry asked.
"This was worse than the spiders," She said before walking up the stairs.
"Yes, it was," Harry said to the empty common room.
Harry sat at the Ravenclaw table feeling bone-tired, he didn't have any classes today so after he made the exchange with Daphne he would be going to bed.
Luna was not so fortunate, she had classes until lunch today and she was looking positively miserable, she was sitting beside him with her forehead resting on the table.
"So I suppose that I get another day off from your usual shenanigans?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Yes but I will be back to usual tomorrow evening," Luna promised.
"Tomorrow evening?" Harry asked confused.
"I have a date tomorrow. Hopefully, I will find out if the network was accurate in putting Colin in the mid six's," Luna said with a grin.
"Right, I hope he knows that if he touches you with that thing I will feed him to the giant squid," Harry stated firmly.
"What if I touch it?" Luna asked curiously.
"Then I will feed him to the giant squid," Harty answered.
"That doesn't seem quite fair," Luna protested.
"Lifes not fair," Harry said easily.
"I heard you got yourself a date to Hogsmeade," Luna said changing the subject.
"Daphne asked me to escort her sister, she's a bit young to be dating anyone," Harry corrected.
"You really don't know anything about girls do you?" Luna asked.
"Not really," Harry admitted.
Before Luna could say anything else Harry saw Daphne walk towards the door signaling she was ready to make the transaction.
"I need to take care of something," Harry said as he got up and followed after Daphne.
Daphne was waiting for him in the room McGonagall usually stashed the first years in before the sorting.
"Good morning Potter, any problems last night?" Daphne asked as Harry entered the room.
"A big one but I was able to get the petals so no worries there," Harry answered honestly.
"What was the problem then?" Daphne asked curiously.
"A werewolf was in the forest, chased us all the way to Hagrid's hut," Harry explained.
"That shouldn't be possible, Hogwarts' wards are designed to keep dark creatures off the school grounds," Daphne said looking concerned.
"I know, we were lucky to get away," Harry replied.
"Well let's get on with this," Daphne said after a moment's thought.
"Kreacher," Harry called.
'pop'
"Yes young master, what can Kreacher do for you?" The elf asked dutifully.
"I need you to bring me one of those satchels I gave you last night," Harry instructed.
"At once master," The elf said poping away before reappearing again with the satchel in hand.
"Please wait here a moment, I need you to take something back," Harry told the elf before he handed the satchel to Daphne.
Daphne opened the flap of the satchel and whistled appreciatively, the flowers were still glowing silver illuminating her in a silvery glow.
Harry was thankful he had ordered those satchels, they were specially designed for harvesting, rare potion ingredients,s and kept them in a type of stasis until they were needed.
"These are very high quality, you did very well in procuring these," She praised.
"Yes, they were some of the best specimens I've ever collected," Harry said appreciatively.
Daphne reached into her pocket and removed a similar satchel and handed it to him. Harry opened it and the familiar smell of monkshood hit him in the face, the flowers were an absolutely beautiful shade of rich purple, The whole satchel was filled with flowers heads and would last Remus for at least a year.
"Take this to Black cottage Kreacher," Harry instructed after inspecting the quality of the monkshood.
Kreacher took the monkshood and disappeared with another 'pop'.
"I will have to send a letter to my father about this werewolf business, but it was a pleasure doing business with you Potter," Daphne said.
"Same here, I need to get some sleep," Harry said wryly.
"Don't forget your escorting Astoria to Hogsmeade, she needs to be at the 'Three Broomsticks' by one to meet with the family after that your job is complete," Daphne reminded him on her way out the door.
"I'll be there," Harry assured her.
A little after one o'clock Harry was awoken by the sound of a Phoenix appearing in a ball of flame over his bed.
Harry groggily opened his eyes and was hit in the nose by a scroll of parchment, before he could voice his complaints the bird disappeared in another burst of flame.
"Fucking Pheonix," Harry grumbled to himself as he sat up and threw his legs over the edge of his bed, and snatched up the missive.
Dear Mr. Potter, I would appreciate it if you were to join me forthwith in my office as there is a matter I wish to discuss with you.
Albus Dumbledore
P.S I enjoy acid pops on occasion.
Scowling Harry got up and headed for the shower, he would be taking his sweet time getting ready. Harry really wished he could have slept a few more hours as he still felt really sluggish and the warm water of his shower could only do so much to wake him up.
Finishing his washing Harry put on a fresh set of robes and left the dorm room, and headed out through the common room.
His housemates paid him no mind as he exited the tower and his trip across the castle was uneventful with the exception of him startling a first-year Slytherin girl and making her drop her scales and flee in panic.
Looking around the deserted hallway he was confused as to why she was here in the first place, there was nothing in this corridor but a tapestry of some barmy bastard trying to teach trolls to dance ballet and getting clubbed in the head for his trouble.
Shaking his own head Harry continued on his trip to the heads office, this year it was on. the seventh floor not that far away from Ravenclaw tower.
Harry eventually arrived at the stone gargoyle that was the guardian to the headmaster's office. The gargoyle sprang out of his way when he called out "acid pops" and he stepped onto the moving staircase.
"Enter" came the voice of the aged headmaster when Harry raised his hand to knock. Sighing at the headmaster's theatrics Harry pushed the door open and stepped into the office.
Harry had been called into the headmaster's office on a few occasions and as always was impressed by the grandness of the office, though admittedly those paintings would drive a man insane.
Harry saw the dream crusher phoenix sitting on its perch under the window. The headmaster was sitting serenely behind his desk hands folded in front of him.
Harry noticed something very odd, the headmaster's right hand was blackened resembling severe frostbite and Harry was certain whatever caused this was something very dark.
"Good afternoon Mr. Potter, please take a seat this shouldn't take very long," Dumbledore said pleasantly interrupting Harry's analysis of the blackened appendage.
"You've been cursed headmaster," Harry stated as he took the offered seat.
"Yes, but I assure you it is nothing to concern yourself with," Dumbledore assured him.
"Me no, you however should be very concerned. The curse is still there, though at the moment it appears to have been contained," Harry replied getting a better look at Dumbledore's hand.
"How could you know that?" Dumbledore asked sounding intrigued.
"You can see the legions pulsing, the curse has clearly been contained in them and is fighting to break free," Harry answered simply.
"You are of course correct, may I ask how you know so much about this branch of magic?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
"The Black Library has whole rows on dark curses," Harry answered simply.
"I hope you treat that information with care, that branch of magic is very dangerous to mess around with," Dumbledore warned.
"I agree, but the information is quite useful for diagnosing and treating cursed injuries, sir," Harry rebutted.
"Indeed, now I asked you to meet me so you could give me your account of last night. I was told that you and Ms. Lovegood encountered a werewolf last night," Dumbledore said changing the subject.
Harry went on to give Dumbledore the whole story of last night only leaving out how much moonflower they had actually collected of course.
When he was done retelling his adventure Dumbledore looked thoughtful and finally asked. "Where in the forest was this patch of flowers?"
"About a half a mile southeast of Hagrid's hut, It was still inside the castle wards," Harry assured him.
"So the beast was able to cross the southern wards without me noticing, that is most disturbing. I assume you were collecting the flower petals for Remus' potion?" Dumbledore asked.
"Yes sir, they are extortionately expensive and Remus has that infernal pride of his," Harry said with exasperation.
"Yes he had it as a boy," Albus said in a far-off tone.
"Was that all sir?" Harry asked.
"I'm afraid not, unfortunately, Hagrid brought this issue to my attention in front of Professor McGonagall. She was not pleased to learn that yourself and Ms. Lovegood were out in the forest after curfew and has assigned you yet more detention," Albus said his eyes twinkling in amusement.
"Figures," Harry sighed resignedly.
"Quite, Minerva thinks as punishment you will serve detention in the infirmary every Saturday night after dinner," Albus explained watching the boy's reaction.
"What will I be doing?" Harry asked curiously.
"Assisting Madam Pomfrey with her duties and whatever else our matron asks of you," Dumbledore explained.
"Okay that doesn't sound so bad, might I ask what Luna will be doing?" Harry asked.
"Helping Hagrid tend to the animals under his care every Saturday evening," Dumbledore answered easily.
"She'll love that," Harry said with a grin.
"Yes she has a gift with animals and Hagrid specifically requested he take her detention," Dumbledore agreed.
"I suppose I should be happy I don't have anymore tutoring tacked on to my sentence," Harry said after some thought.
"Are you not enjoying teaching?" Dumbledore asked.
"I will admit that teaching the younger years is sort of fun, teaching my own classmates feels a bit strange," Harry said after some thought.
"It gets easier the longer you do it, but I believe I have taken up enough of your time," Dumbledore said in dismissal.
"Have a good day sir," Harry said as he got up and left the head's office.
Albus watched the boy leave his office, Albus had always been intrigued by Harry Potter. There was no doubt he was very talented, he also had a certain moral code he lived by which on the surface was a very good thing. The downside however was that he was ruthless to any that wronged him and had a real problem with authority.
To put it bluntly, Potter was a loose cannon and was someone to watch out for in the future.
It also worried him how easily that young Harry had identified the curse on his hand which spoke to the boy's familiarity with dark magic.
The boy's real saving grace was that Albus knew there was no chance of Potter ever working for Tom Riddle since his men were responsible for the death of James and Lily, there was also no chance that Harry would work with the order after his own interference in the trial of Antonin Dolohov.
As of now though he had bigger problems, that werewolf had crossed the castle's wards as if they were not even there. He would have to have Remus do some investigating to figure out how this had been achieved.
"In the meantime, the castle would go into full lockdown during the night of the full moon.
Hopefully, this is an isolated incident and werewolves were their only worry, if the dementors could cross the castle wards they were in serious trouble.
'Well at least in a year's time it will be somebody else's problem," Albus thought morosely.
Great Hall, 9/29/1996, 09:30
Harry stood patiently by the stairs leading down to the Slytherin dungeons waiting on Astoria to arrive.
This was supposed to be a simple escort so he was hoping everything would go smoothly.
Harry watched as Slytherin students walked by him eyeing him suspiciously on their way out of the castle.
"Hello Mr. Potter," came a voice from behind him.
Harry turned and found Astoria standing beside him, "It's just Harry Ms. Greengrass", Harry replied easily.
" Then please call me Astoria, my sister told me that you would be my escort but she never told me why you agreed to do it," the girl stated politely.
"We have a bit of a business relationship, she scratches my Back and vice versa," Harry answered vaguely.
"So she didn't pay you to walk me around?" Astoria asked surprised.
"No, she didn't. Are you ready to head out?" Harry asked feeling a little awkward at this line of questions.
"Yes, Daphne promised me you would take me to Madam Puddifoot's," Astoria said as she led them to the front door.
"I believe that I specifically refused to go into that frilly nightmare," Harry corrected.
"Why? I've heard they have excellent pastries," Astoria asked.
"Because couples generally go there to... snog," Harry explained awkwardly.
"Hm, it's a shame I'm already betrothed or I would make you take me there anyway," Astoria said thoughtfully.
"Who are you betrothed too?" Harry asked surprised.
"Draco Malfoy, the blonde ponce of Slytherin," Astoria said in a disgusted tone.
"That's awful Harry said," Helping the girl into the carriage before climbing in himself.
"Yes it is, father betrothed Daphne to a perfectly acceptable boy and I got the spoiled daddy's boy," Astoria complained.
This was turning out to be a lot more stressful than he anticipated, the girl was likable enough if a tad jaded. But the thought of betrothing a girl to marry some pureblood snob like Draco Malfoy absolutely horrified him. Still, he had a job to do and the interworkings of the Greengrass family were none of his business.
"So are you seeing anybody, Harry?" Astoria asked ripping him from his thoughts.
"No," Harry answered quickly.
"I thought you and that Lovegood girl were an item," Astoria asked confused.
"No she's like a sister to me, she is actually on a date today," Harry admitted.
"Your not gay are you?" Astoria asked as they passed through the main gates.
"What?! No!" Harry exclaimed.
"Hm, so what's your issue then?" Astoria asked in a tone that made Harry suspect she was enjoying this.
"There is no issue, I have more important things to worry about," Harry said evenly.
"Whatever you say," Astoria replied skeptically.
The carriage came to a stop and they both got out and looked around, the leaves were just starting to change colors giving the mountains in the distance a multicolored appearance.
The town was like something out of a postcard with cobbled streets old-fashioned cottages and shops were lining the streets, and students were all running around all over the place frequenting the usual spots.
"So where to first?" Harry asked.
"Gladrags, I need some new jumpers," Astoria answered.
'Luna would be furious if she ever found out,' Harry thought wryly.
Ritchie Coote was thrilled, he had been able to convince the barman at the 'Hogshead' to sell him a pint of whiskey on the stipulation that he did not get caught.
He was currently leading his best friends up to the shrieking shack so they could share the bottle and get a little pissed.
Jimmy Peakes, Jack Sloper, Andrew Kirke, and John Aubrey were Ritchie's best mates they had done everything together since their first year.
The only boy in their year not in this clique was Creevey and that was because the kid was a weirdo.
'Just look who he was out on a date with.' Jimmy thought with disgust
Of course, after their run-in with Potter, none of them would dare insult the girl. It really was a good thing for them anyway, Creevey dating her would keep that psycho's attention off of them.
They finally arrived at the shack and started passing the bottle around and sat there for an hour enjoying a good buzz while taking the piss out of each other.
They all looked slightly more alert when they heard footsteps coming their way from the village and quickly tossed the empty bottle through one of the upper windows of the shrieking shack.
Two men in plain black robes came into their line of sight, both men were large muscular men in their early thirties and looked pretty scary, like someone that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley (or alone anywhere away from witnesses.)
The one on the left had blonde hair and a long thin scar on the side of his right cheek, he held up a picture and looked at the five boys and then back at his partner and subtly nodded.
"Evening gents," the one on the right said jovially. He was cut from the same cloth as the other except he had brown hair and a thick beard hiding his expression.
While the boys were processing that they were being spoken to, their brain function slowed down by the alcohol in their stomach, the man on the left summoned their wands right out of their pockets.
"Wands are taken care of Marco, the boss said to give 'em a beatin' muggle like," The blonde said to his partner.
Ritchie thought he felt his cloak move for a second but didn't think much of it as those two scary blokes were staring at him. The two men started striding towards them and Ritchie panicked and went for his wand only to find it wasn't there, when he looked back up he was met with the view of a large fist before it connected with his nose.
Ritchie saw stars and had the sensation of falling backward before he slammed onto the ground hard enough to see stars again, he could feel his blood running down his chin and struggled to breathe through his nose.
Ritchie could hear his mates grunting and the sounds of them hitting the ground before one of the blokes stomped his hand making him scream in agony, he was sure he heard a few bones break.
The next twenty minutes were filled with more pain than he had ever felt in his life until Ritchie Coote finally succumbed to unconsciousness.
A short distance away Daphne watched her sister's attackers through a pair of omnioculars, she kept her face neutral as she watched the five boys who had tormented her sister being viciously beaten.
She really hoped they learned a valuable lesson today because she didn't enjoy having people hurt, but there was an old family creed that had to be upheld.
'Don't ever fuck with a Greengrass.'
It was almost noon and the day had gone very well in Harry's opinion, he had escorted Astoria to all the major shops and did his part to keep her company.
Gladrags was probably the worst of it because she asked questions that he had no idea about such as, "Does this skirt go with this blouse?"
Harry had no idea about color tone, color coordination, texture, and "which of these two autumns compliments my hair?"
Harry was very glad when she had decided she wanted something to snack on, so Harry had taken her to Honeyduke's. He was a lot more knowledgeable about different sweets and helped her s pick out some of their finer chocolate he even bought himself a box of 'levitating sherbert balls.'
Next, he had shown her Zonkos though they didn't stay very long as she didn't have much interest in pranks.
Harry had noticed two men tailing them throughout the outing and had kept his eye on them as inconspicuously as possible They both wore plain black robes and appeared that they could arm wrestle a troll and win. When Harry finally asked Astoria if she recognized them, she glanced back at them and informed him they were her protection detail and they were not a threat unless Harry decided to get handsy with her.
That was a relief as the two men were not someone he would like to tussle with and he felt a little better knowing he was someone covering his back.
"Where to now? Harry asked.
" The shrieking shack and then I have to meet up with father," Astoria answered after some thought.
"Alright, but the shrieking shack isn't really haunted," Harry told her as he walked with her in that direction.
"I know, but it's out of town and I can catch my breath a bit," Astoria said as they started climbing the hill.
"That's fine with me the shack is usually pretty peaceful," Harry commented as they started cresting the hill.
Harry saw five badly beaten bodies laying off to the side of the shrieking shack, he even recognized the blonde bloke who tried to curse earlier that month and the pieces quickly fell into place.
"What is that?" Astoria asked as the shack came into sight jerking Harry from his thoughts.
"I should have known, lets get out of here," Harry said as he hastily led the girl back down the hill.
"Why are we leaving? What was that? It looked like bodies," Astoria demanded.
"I do believe those were your attackers from earlier in the year and we're leaving so we are not considered suspects," Harry answered as he rushed them back into town.
"Good idea, let's go have a butterbeer so we have a good alibi," Astoria suggested.
The pub was pretty packed but they had no trouble getting a table and a couple of butterbeers.
"Did you know that would happen?" Astoria asked curiously.
"Nope, though now I know what she meant when she said she needed to tie up some loose ends today," Harry answered before taking a swig.
"Well I don't like violence but I can't say I feel sorry for them," Astoria said thoughtfully.
"Trust me the little wankers deserved it," Harry said with a grin.
"Language Harry, there is a lady present," Astoria said primly.
"My apologies, the little dears got what was coming to them," Harry corrected.
"Much better and you were right both times," Astoria said with a grin.
"Harry!" A female voice called to his left.
Turning Harry saw Lavender walking towards his table with Pravati Patil following shortly behind her.
"Hey Lavender," Harry said awkwardly.
He had gotten a better look at her when she got clser to his table, Lavender was wearing a tight pair of blue jeans and a form-fitting jumper that emphasized all of her curves, her blonde hair was pulled into pony tail.
Harry felt his palms get slightly sweaty and his mouth was suddenly very dry, she looked beautiful and Harry had to fight very hard not to stare at her.
"So are you two on a date?" Lavender asked curiously.
"No, my sister made Potter escort me around Hogsmeade," Astoria piped up.
"Yes, after Astoria was attacked in the hallway Daphne asked me to keep an eye on her today," Harry said.
"That was very sweet of you, where is that Blond girl you usually hang out with?" Lavender asked taking a seat beside him much to Astoria's delight.
"That's Luna and she's on a date with the Creevey boy today," Harry answered.
Pravati had wandered over to her sister giving Lavender a wink as she left.
"Where's the Weasel at, I thought you two were dating?" Harry asked confused.
"That's not a very nice name, he ran off with his friends to go to the bookshop," Lavender said quietly.
"Harry my father just arrived, be a dear and walk me over there," Astoria said primly.
"I'll be back in just a moment," Harry told Lavender.
Nodding to Astoria, Harry stood and then assisted the younger girl to her feet before leading her across the pub, Astoria's arm hooked over his in the proper pureblood way.
Those lessons Sirius put him through on pureblood etiquette came in handy every now and again.
Harry led them down the hallway Astoria had seen her father disappear into and knocked smartly on the door to the private room at the end of the hall.
The door opened revealing a tall thin blond man in his late thirties, he had a thin goat tee and Astoria's deep blue eyes.
"Ah Astoria you are right on time, and forgive me but I do not believe we have been introduced," The man said in a neutral tone.
"Father allow me to introduce Harry Potter, he is a friend of sorts with Daphne and she asked him to escort me around the village this morning," Astoria said in a formal manner.
"I recognize the name, you helped my daughter when she was attacked?" Lord Greengrass asked him.
"Yes sir," Harry answered politely.
"Well I thank you for that," Lord Greengrass said extending his hand.
Harry took the offered hand and shook it before replying, "it was no trouble, sir."
Cyrus released his hand and nodded before looking over Harry's shoulder and then speaking, " Well Mr. Potter I won't keep you, my eldest has arrived so this family meeting can begin."
Harry recognized a dismissal when he heard one and nodded, "It was a pleasure meeting you sir, good day."
Harry made his way to where he had been sitting and was pleasantly surprised to see Lavender still sitting at his table quietly sipping her butterbeer.
"Oh good your back, would you like to get some food? if I know Granger she'll keep the boys in that bookstore for quite a while?" Lavender asked hopefully.
"Yeah I haven't eaten since breakfast," Harry said as he waved his hand to flag Rosmerta over to their table.
Lavender beamed at him making his stomach do flip flops, the barmaid quickly came by and took their order. Harry decided to ask a question that had been on his mind since Lavender arrived.
"So why didn't you go with the others to the bookstore?" Harry asked casually.
"Granger doesn't like me," Lavender answered simply.
"Wouldn't it be fun to go with them just to annoy her?", Harry asked with a grin.
" I don't want to cause problems for Ron's friends. Hermione and I used to get along pretty well and I am hoping she will get over her anger with me eventually," Lavender said after some thought.
'What about you?" Lavender asked.
"What about me?" Harry asked confused.
"Why don't you have a date for Hogsmeade?" Lavender asked pointedly.
"I did have a date?" Harry said.
"That wasn't a date," Lavender argued.
Before Harry could reply their food arrived and they both tucked in, Harry was starved after walking around the village all day.
"So why isn't the Weasel taking you out today instead of ditching you to hang out with his friends," Harry asked curiously.
"Don't call him that and I don't know we don't really talk much," Lavender admitted blushing slightly.
Harty felt a surge of something in his stomach that he couldn't quite place all he knew was that he wanted to throttle Ron Weasley, Harry decided he had better move the subject in a different direction.
"Right how bout we stay away from that topic then? What's new with you?" Harry asked.
"Well I made my first true crystal ball reading yesterday but I don't understand it, there was just the silhouette of a wolf and a fur tree," Lavender explained.
"Huh, I did have a run-in with a werewolf in the Forbidden forest the night before last maybe it's about that," Harry said thoughtfully.
"What on earth were you doing in there," she asked incredulously.
"Gathering a very rare potion ingredient that only blooms one night a year," Harry explained.
"Still sounds a tad dangerous for my taste, were you able to get it?" Lavender asked.
"Yep, but we had to hide out in Hagrid's hut most of the night," Harry admitted.
"Why on earth was that ingredient that important? You could have been killed," Lavender asked.
"A close friend of my family is a werewolf, he was bitten by Greyback when he was a child and has been going through the change twelve times a year for over thirty years. There is a potion that was invented in the mid-eighties that makes the change more pleasant but the ingredients are very expensive. So I have been collecting moonflowers from the forest since my second year for the 'wolfsbane potion'," Harry explained.
"It doesn't bother you that he's a werewolf?" Lavender asked in shock.
"No, why should it?" Harry asked in a confused tone.
"Because werewolves are mindless beasts that prey on the helpless," Lavender said as if it were obvious.
"That's not really true, most of them avoid people on the full moon," Harry defended.
"But you just told me you encountered one the other night," Lavender argued.
Before Harry could say any more an angry voice called out, "Lavender!"
They both turned to see Longbottom, Granger, and a reddening Weasley making their way to Harry's table.
"I've been looking everywhere for you, we said we would meet up at Honeydukes at two," Ron complained.
"I've been here since you left, I don't remember you saying anything about Honeydukes," Lavender said looking surprised at his reaction.
"Potter," Granger said stiffly.
"Granger, find anything worth reading," Harry asked feigning interest.
"Yes volume three of 'Advanced Arithmancy Theory," Granger answered.
"That is a good one," Harry grudgingly conceded.
"You've already read it?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"Yes, this summer," Harry answered simply.
Harry heard the beginnings of an argument between Lavender and Ron and decided it was time to leave.
"If you will excuse me I have to get going, good seeing you all," Harry said sarcastically as he placed a couple of galleons on the table and made his way out of the pub before any of them could reply.
The sun had already passed over Hogsmeade and it was starting to get chilly as he made his way up the path to the castle.
"Katie you don't know where that package came from," Harry heard a panicked female exclaim.
"Mind your own business Leeann, I have to deliver this and nobody is going to stop me," The other girl said in a monotone.
Harry turned the bend and saw two seventh-year girls walking up the path ahead of him.
"Give it to me the girl on the right said snatching at the yellow paper envelope the other girl was holding. Harry heard the package tear and saw a glint of silver before the girl originally holding the package was lifted six feet in the air, her arms spreading out wide as if she were flying. She looked quite peaceful for a second before her face took on a look of utter agony. Then she opened her mouth and released a blood-curdling scream that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up.
Harry rushed over to her and grabbed onto her leg and tried to pull her back to the ground.
She would not budge and seemed to be screaming even louder until suddenly she went silent and her limp form fell, Harry barely managed to catch her and gently lowered her to the ground.
Harry's wand was out instantly running all the scans he knew of and one reading came up repeatedly. Katie was suffering under the effects of a very nasty curse.
" What did you do to her Potter?" An angry voice demanded.
Harry didn't even bother looking back already knowing it was the Weasel.
"Shut it Weasley go find a professor, she's very badly cursed," Harry ordered.
Ron went to protest but Hermione talked over him, " What kind of curse is she under?"
"Don't worry about it, get a fucking professor, Now!" Harry demanded his wand still in motion.
Longbottom took off running up the path and Harry sighed internally as someone had finally engaged their brain.
Harry pulled Katie's right glove off and saw a purple spiraling tendril seemingly burned into her flesh, it was moving steadily toward her wrist no doubt heading for her heart.
Harry began casting over the hand putting the curse into a very temporary dormant state, hopefully buying the girl enough time to get to a real healer.
Harry heard heavy footsteps coming his way and he looked up to see Hagrid sprinting towards him.
"Wha' happened Harry?" Hagrid asked as soon as he was in earshot.
"She touched a cursed object, she needs a healer immediately," Harry explained quickly
"Righ' I'll get her to Pomfrey," Hagrid said scooping the girl up and sprinting back towards the castle.
Harry got up and wandered over to where he saw the package fall and saw a silver necklace covered in dangling opals laying on the ground, taking off his sweater he levitated it into the air he held his sweater under it before gently letting it fall onto the sweater. He wrapped the necklace up and started striding up the path towards the castle.
"What was that? Is it the thing that cursed her?" Hermione demanded.
"Yes, this is what cursed her," Harry said absentmindedly.
"How did she get it?" Hermione asked.
"How should I know," Harry said dismissively.
The rest of the walk to the castle was silent as Harry thought about the incident. Harry had seen this necklace a few times at that seedy pawnshop in Knockturn alley, the necklace was very expensive, so someone of considerable wealth would be the most probable suspect. But why would someone spend that much gold to off someone? It seemed rather excessive for an assassination attempt when an ounce of belladonna extract cost a few galleons.
Professor McGonagall was waiting for the five of them at the gates and she immediately made a beeline for them.
"Please follow me I need to know everything that happened, Potter what is that?" Professor McGonagall asked as Harry offered her the necklace bundled up in his sweater.
"The object Katie was cursed with," Harry answered.
"Lopsy" McGonagall called.
'pop'
"Yes mistress kitty?" The elf who appeared at her side asked.
Harry had to use every bit of his self-control not to snigger at the name the elf had used for Professor McGonagall.
"Take this to Professor Snape at once," McGonagall ordered.
"Yes Mistress Kitty," the elf said before popping away again.
"Now please come with me and Mr. Potter," Professor McGonagall said as she led them toward the castle.
"Yes, professor?" Harry asked curiously.
'If that nickname gets back to your godfather I will make your life miserable," McGonagall said in a threatening voice.
"Yes professor," Harry said with a smirk.