This chapter onward might have details or conversations taken straight from the book and twisted to fit my story. The rest will be all me though. There are many details in the book that I feel would take away from the story line if they weren't there.
Gobbledygook
Molly gasped. "What if they arrest him and bind his magic? They can't send a minor to Azkaban, but they can take his magic." She whispered fearfully.
"I'll talk to Amelia. I should be able to talk her into leaving Ron to us and the Hogwarts teachers. Especially if I tell her that Severus Snape is the one keeping watch for his arrival to Hogwarts." Arthur said as he moved towards the Floo. He smiled reassuringly at his wife, "Don't worry, everything will be fine." He said, trying to convince her as much as he was trying to convince himself.
Ron was relieved when he finally saw the castle in the distance. This had started out fun, but it didn't take long for the fun to fade. Especially with nobody to talk to. Now, he was hot, tired, thirsty and HUNGRY. He just wanted to land, go to the feast, see his sister Sorted, and go to bed. During the flight, he had found a pack of toffee's in the glove compartment, but they only made him wish for the food cart on the train even more. He had also tried, again, to come with theories on why Professor Snape was suddenly being nice to Harry earlier that summer. Then, when he once again failed to figure that one out, he turned his attention to Hermione. He figured he was just going to have to consult with Harry on that one.
Neither Ron nor Harry were at all blind to Hermione's blind devotion to authority. Oh, she was much more relaxed about rules than she was when they first met her, but she would still go on about them and scold whenever they broke the rules. Speaking of... he was probably going to get an earful from her for flying this car.
And that whine from the engine was getting harder and harder to ignore. He really hoped the car held together. Hogwarts was right there... Just a little farther... As soon as he got across the Black Lake, he sighed in relief and pulled up on the wheel to start landing. The car didn't like that. With one last stuttering whine, the engine died.
Time might as well have stopped completely as Ron stared at the dashboard in disbelief before he started frantically pummeling the ignition switch and frantically trying to keep the car in a controlled descent while screaming at the car to start. His new owl, purchased only that morning to replace Scabbers, shrieked in the backseat in protest of how rough the ride had suddenly become. Some distant part of his mind wondered at how she was really going to hate him if they both survived this.
He screamed when he saw the side of the castle looming, and he barely swerved the car in time to avoid crashing into the stone, Ron sighed in relief for a moment until he barely avoided running into the greenhouse roof.
He somehow managed to steer the car into the branches of a large tree with a loud CRUNCH, which was a relief and let him catch his breath while planning how to get down, this was NOT the smooth landing on the school grounds he was expecting while everybody watched jealously. This was a nightmare. The hood was crumpled and steam was billowing out, his owl was still shrieking in terror, and his head was throbbing. Though, whether that was from the stress, or if he actually hit his head he had no idea.
The last thing he expected now that he was safe, was for the tree he landed in... to attack him.
At that very moment, something hit his side of the car with the force of a charging bull, sending him lurching sideways, just as an equally heavy blow hit the roof.
"What's happen-?"
Ron gasped, staring through the windshield, and ducked just in time to avoid getting hit as a branch as thick as a python smashed into it. The tree was really attacking him. Its trunk was bent almost double, and its gnarled boughs were pummeling every inch of the car it could reach. He heard the owl cage rattling around behind him, as well as a screech of metal, glancing back, he noticed that the top of the cage had been hit and was now twisted, with his owl trembling at the bottom of the cage, staring at the top of it with wide eyes.
"Aaargh!" said Ron as another twisted limb punched a large dent into his door; the windshield was now trembling under a hail of blows from knuckle-like twigs and a branch as thick as a battering ram was pounding furiously on the roof, which seemed to be caving-
"This is crazy!" Ron shouted, throwing his full weight against his door, but next second he had been knocked backward into the other seat by a vicious uppercut from another branch.
"Why, why, why?" he moaned as the ceiling sagged, but suddenly the floor of the car was vibrating- the engine had restarted.
"Reverse!" He yelled, and the car shot backward; the tree was still trying to hit him; they could hear its roots creaking as it almost ripped itself up, lashing out at them as they sped out of reach.
"That," panted Ron, "was close. "Well done, car-"
The car, however, had reached the end of its tether. With a sharp clunk, the door flew open and Ron felt his seat tip sideways: Next thing he knew he was sprawled on the damp ground. Loud thuds told him that the car was ejecting his luggage from the trunk; the cage flew through the air. Then, dented, scratched, and steaming, the car rumbled off into the darkness, its rear lights blazing angrily.
"Come back!" Ron yelled after it, chasing after it a few yards. "Dad'll kill me!"
But the car disappeared from view with one last snort from its exhaust.
Sapphire, (surprisingly enough named by Fred for her unusual eye color) flew out of her damaged cage with a shriek, clipping him on the head as she went. He winced, he should definitely take her some bacon or something in the morning as an apology. She was really having a bad first day with her new owner.
Ron looked back to the tree that attacked him and shivered when he saw it was still moving menacingly. He checked his wand in his wrist holster, grabbed his stuff, and started trekking towards the castle. "If I hurry, I should be able to catch the end of the feast." He said out loud.
Then he heard it. That silky Voice of Doom (as described by Fred and George). Only Slytherins had no reason to fear the man it belonged to. "I do not think you will make it to the Feast tonight, Mr. Weasley."
Ron froze and turned slowly towards the voice, only to gulp when he saw the man it belonged to coming out of the darkness, Severus's eyes glittered and he had a smirk on his face. "Mr. Weasley, I do believe the students are supposed to arrive on the train..." He said silkily with a menacing smirk on his face.
Severus was getting impatient. What was taking the Weasley boy so long? The carriages carrying the other students had already arrived, along with the First Years, he was pretty sure the Sorting had probably started by now.
Finally, he heard it. The sounds of an engine.
A satisfied smirk grew, until he noted that the engine sounded strained. The thought that the boy would be lucky to land before the engine gave out had barely crossed his mind when the car he was watching suddenly went silent. He froze and the smirk disappeared, that wasn't good. Looks like the boy wasn't lucky after all.
He pulled his wand out of its holster, fully prepared to use it in an effort to save his Dunderheaded student, he may be angry, and the boy may be an idiot Gryffindor, but the boy was still one of his students. Not to mention Harry's friend.
He watched with his heart in his throat as the car almost crashed into the side of the castle, then avoided the greenhouses, only to finally crash... in the Whomping Willow. His eyes widened and he cursed, before he threw himself off the side of the tower and flew down to the ground. That was twice in two days that he used techniques taught to him by the Dark Lord. He better hope Dumbledore didn't find out, if the old fool thought he was returning to 'old habits'...
The old man was one of those who saw all Dark Magic as evil. While any and all Dark Wizards would be the first to tell you that that was who they were. That was how their magic was. It was Black Magic that was evil.
He ran towards the tree, hoping that he could get there in time and that the little Dunderhead was still alive. He would have flown there, but he was out of practice with the technique, and it was draining when you weren't used to it.
When he got there, he was horrified to find that the tree was currently living up to its name and attacking the car. He could hear Ron yelling and screaming, along with an owl screeching in the raised his wand and shot the first spell that came to mind, which happened to be an energy transfer of sorts. Sirius and James taught it to him, it was usually used by Aurors who needed to get an exhausted squad member moving, and quickly. Whatever the case, it worked, surprisingly. This charm wasn't made for inanimate objects that he knew of... A few seconds later, the cars engine started again.
He stood back and listened as Weasley screamed 'reverse!', and then watched as the car reversed its way out of the tree. He stepped back into the shadows and decided to watch for a few moments, almost giving himself away when he saw the car forcefully eject Weasley along with his luggage and take off for the Forbidden Forest. He allowed himself a small, dark chuckle when the boy chased it and finally said that his DAD would kill him. Honestly, if he were the boy, he would be much more concerned with the mother.
Especially since as far as he knew, the mother was currently still sitting in Minerva's office waiting for him to arrive while the father was still at the Ministry talking with Amelia and a few Aurors while they tried to decide if he actually broke the law or not. Personally, he knew Arthur didn't do anything wrong, after all, Severus had read the law Arthur wrote. It was really quite Slytherin of the man how he wrote that loophole in.
He watched in amusement as the owl made sure to cuff the boy with her wing as she made her escape from a damaged cage. He was going to have a hard time getting her cooperation for a while... He decided to wait and follow the boy for now, and plan his entrance. He loved making dramatic entrance's, especially when it scared Dunderheaded students. Like he told Harry, how he acted during the school year wasn't COMPLETELY an act.
He had to have some source of amusement in his life, after all. And Dunderhead's exploding or melting cauldrons got old before it even began.
"If I hurry, I should be able to catch the end of the feast." He heard Weasley mutter to himself as he started walking up to the castle.
Then, Severus decided to make his presence known. "I do not think you will make it to the Feast tonight, Mr. Weasley." He smirked as the boy froze before turning around slowly as he himself stepped forward out of the darkness. "Mr. Weasley, I do believe the students are supposed to arrive on the train..." He gleefully informed the petrified boy silkily. "Lola!" He suddenly snapped out. When his house-elf appeared, he instructed her to take Mr. Weasley's things, before turning on his heel and snapping out for the boy to follow, which he did, slowly.
Severus had to hide his hands in his sleeves to hide the shaking. No matter how angry he was with the student and how much he didn't really care for the Weasley's in general, the fact remained that the boy was still his student, and he would not let anything happen to his students. He was very protective of what he considered his, after all. And they were HIS students while they were on school grounds. After they graduated or left for the summer, then he was no longer responsible for there safety. And watching that tree attacking one of his students, on school grounds, terrified him.
He couldn't show that though. Now that the danger was over, he could go back to being angry, and now he was channeling most of that worry into his anger, anger at the fact the little Dunderhead made him worry in the first place. Really, it was the Dunderhead's own fault he needed saving.
Sweeping into the dungeons, and smirking at the Weasley boys longing look towards the Great Hall, he opened the door to his office, and gestured for the boy to go in. Standing in front of the desk and staring at the boy in front of him, he decided to pretend he didn't see the fight with the tree.
"So," he said softly, "the train isn't good enough for Harry Potter's faithful sidekick Weasley. Wanted to arrive with a bang, did we?"
"No, sir, it was the barrier at King's Cross, it-"
"Silence!" said Severus coldly even as he wondered just what happened with the barrier. Could Dobby have closed it, not knowing that Harry was already on the train, or just not even with the Weasley's. It was possible that the elf was distracted with seeing to his Master's needs. "What have you done with the car?"
Ron gulped. This wasn't the first time Severus had given him the impression of being able to read minds. But a moment later, he understood, as Severus unrolled today's issue of the Evening Prophet.
"You were seen," he hissed, showing the headline: FLYING FORD ANGLIA MYSTIFIED MUGGLES. He began to read aloud: "Two Muggles in London, convinced they saw an old car flying over the Post Office tower... at noon in Norfolk, Mrs. Hetty Bayliss, while hanging out her washing... Mr. Angus Fleet, of Peebles, reported to police... six or seven Muggles in all. I believe your father works in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office?" he said, looking up at Ron and smiling still more nastily. Maybe this could make him think next time he got a stupid idea in his head. "Dear, dear... his own son..." A low blow, sure, but... if it would make him think next time.
Ron suddenly felt sick. If anyone found out his father had bewitched the car... he hadn't thought of that...
"I noticed, in my search of the park, that considerable damage seems to have been done to a very valuable Whomping Willow," Severus went on, pretending he hadn't seen it first hand.
"That tree did more damage to me than I-" Ron blurted out.
"Silence!" Snapped Severus again. He hated being interrupted. He sat and watched the boy for a moment, before he said slowly and quietly, his voice never losing it's threatening quality, "You may be Harry's best friend, but that will not save you from me if you ever do anything this Dunderheaded again, do you understand me? I expect you to think before acting next time. Harry has told me how you got past Minerva's chess set, so I know there is a brain there. As it is... you're parents have been speaking with Madam Bones at the DMLE for most of the day, convincing her to let Professor McGonagall and I handle this. Now most unfortunately for me, you are not in my House and the decision to expel you does not rest with me, or that is exactly what would happen. I shall go and fetch the person who does have that happy power. You will wait here and don't touch anything."
Feeling like the boy was sufficiently warned, for now, Severus swept back out of his office, he decided to check the Great Hall first, he didn't know if Molly was still here, or if she left to go home for the night, leaving her son to him and Minerva. He stepped into the Great Hall, relieved to find Minerva sitting back down in her spot, he assumed she just got back from taking the Sorting Hat back to its spot in the Headmaster's office.
He looked around as he walked and was relieved to see Harry sitting with Neville and Ms. Granger at the Gryffindor table. Harry was watching him discretely, he was watching in worry, without trying to be obvious about it. He shook his head discreetly, and went up to Minerva, "Mr. Weasley is currently in my office. If you could come and... discuss his punishment as his Head of House." He said as he stood between her and Dumbledore. She raised an eyebrow, but got up to follow him. "Will you be joining us later?" He asked Dumbledore, he had been informed of the situation earlier. They had to since he was the Headmaster, and this was a serious matter. Severus swept off with Minerva in tow once Dumbledore nodded.
"How badly have you scared him?" She asked as they left the Hall.
He shrugged. "He has been informed that while the decision to expel him does not rest with me, it does with you." He said, and he was pretty sure Minerva could hear the glee in his voice. Then he turned a little more serious. "I had to restart the car as it was being attacked by the Whomping Willow." He informed her as he stopped outside his office. She went white before her mouth thinned, a sure sign that she was angry.
"I see." She said tightly. "Shouldn't you have taken him to the Hospital Wing?" She asked, concerned.
"He appears to be uninjured, just shaken up." He said just before he stepped through the door.
Ron's eyes widened when Snape left, white-faced. He didn't feel hungry any more. He now felt extremely sick. He tried not to look at a large, slimy something suspended in green liquid on a shelf behind Snape's desk. If Snape had gone to fetch Professor McGonagall, head of Gryffindor House, then he didn't see how he was any better off. She might be fairer than Snape, but she was still extremely strict. And his parents had already been meeting with the Head of the DMLE! Oh, he messed up.
Ten minutes later, Snape returned, and sure enough it was Professor McGonagall who accompanied him. He had seen Professor McGonagall angry on several occasions, but either he had forgotten just how thin her mouth could go, or he had never seen her this angry before. She raised her wand the moment she entered; Ron flinched, but she merely pointed it at the empty fireplace, where flames suddenly erupted. He almost sighed in relief at the warmth, it was cold in these dungeons. He suspected Snape did it on purpose.
"Sit," she said, and he backed into a chair by the fire, shrinking back in it when he saw her glare. Yeah, she was angry.
"Explain," she said, her glasses glinted ominously.
Ron launched into the story, starting with the barrier at the station refusing to let them through.
"-so I had no choice, Professor, I couldn't get on the train."
"Why didn't you send us a letter by owl? Your mother informed me that you bought one this morning?" Professor McGonagall asked Ron coldly.
Ron gaped at her. Now she said it, that seemed the obvious thing to have done.
"I- I didn't think-"
"That," said Professor McGonagall, "is obvious."
There was a knock on the office door and Snape, now looking happier than ever, opened it. There stood the headmaster, Professor Dumbledore.
Ron's whole body went numb. This was the man who stole everything from his family. Who sealed his families abilities, who sealed Harry's magic, and nobody knew why he was doing this. He remembered what his father told him about not looking in his eyes. Dumbledore was looking unusually grave. He stared down his very crooked nose at them, and Ron suddenly found himself wishing he was still being beaten up by the Whomping Willow. No matter what he knew about this old man, he couldn't deny that Dumbledore did a very good job of seeming like a disappointed grandfather.
There was a long silence. Then Dumbledore said, "Please explain why you did this."
It would have been better if he had shouted. Ron almost hated the disappointment in his voice, then felt disgusted for letting himself almost be drawn in. He was unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, and spoke instead to his knees, pretending that it was out of guilt (not too far-fetched, after all, his parents would probably be in trouble for this). He told Dumbledore everything except that his dad owned the bewitched car, making it sound as though he had happened to find a flying car parked outside the station. He knew Dumbledore would see through this at once, but Dumbledore asked no questions about the car. When Ron had finished, he merely continued to peer down at him through his spectacles.
"I'll go and get my stuff," said Ron in a hopeless sort of voice.
"What are you talking about, Weasley?" barked Professor McGonagall.
"Well, you're expelling me, aren't you?" said Ron.
"Not today, Mr. Weasley," said Dumbledore. Ron quickly looked at Dumbledore, careful not to look in his eyes. "But I must impress upon you the seriousness of what you have done. I would write to your family tonight, but I know your mother was already here. I must also warn you that if you do anything like this again, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Ron's eyes widened at hearing that his mother was already there. That couldn't be good...
Snape looked as though Christmas had been canceled. He cleared his throat and said, "Professor Dumbledore, this boy has flouted the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry, caused serious damage to an old and valuable tree- surely acts of this nature-"
"It will be for Professor McGonagall to decide on his punishment, Severus," said Dumbledore calmly. "He is in her House and therefore her responsibility." He turned to Professor McGonagall. "I must go back to the feast, Minerva, I've got to give out a few notices. Come, Severus, there's a delicious-looking custard tart I want to sample-"
Snape shot a look of pure venom at Ron, although considering how Snape had been with Harry a few weeks ago, it might have actually been a look of extreme irritation, as he allowed himself to be swept out of his office, leaving him alone with Professor McGonagall, who was still eyeing him like a wrathful eagle.
"You'd better get along to the hospital wing, Weasley, you're bleeding."
"Not much," said Ron, hastily wiping the cut over his eye with his sleeve. "Professor, I wanted to watch my sister being Sorted-"
"The Sorting Ceremony is over," said Professor McGonagall. "Your sister is also in Gryffindor."
"Oh, good," said Ron.
"And speaking of Gryffindor-" Professor McGonagall said sharply, but Ron cut in: "Professor, when we took the car, term hadn't started, so- so Gryffindor shouldn't really have points taken from it- should it?" he finished, watching her anxiously, it was a very Slytherin tactic, but at the same time... he grew up with the Twins and was best friends with Harry. If anyone was a Snake in Lions clothing, it was those three.
Professor McGonagall gave him a piercing look, but he was sure she had almost smiled. Her mouth looked less thin, anyway.
"I will not take any points from Gryffindor," she said, and Ron's heart lightened considerably. "But you will be in detentions for the next month, and I have yet to decide who they will be served with. You are lucky, Mr. Weasley, that Madam Bones agreed to leave your punishments in my hands. You almost shattered the Statute of Secrecy into pieces."
Ron winced. He was very lucky, it was better than Ron had expected. As for his mother... he knew exactly what to expect there. He would be lucky if she didn't show up to the school the next day, or worse, send a Howler. Ron just knew that he caused a lot of trouble with his parents legally.
Professor McGonagall raised her wand again and pointed it at Snape's desk. A large plate of sandwiches, a silver goblet, and a jug of iced pumpkin juice appeared with a pop.
"You will eat in here and then come straight to my office," she said. "I must also return to the feast."
When the door had closed behind her, Ron let out a long, low whistle before he reached for the food.
"I thought I'd had it," he said, talking to himself. "Fred and George must've flown that car five or six times and no Muggle ever saw them." He grumbled before he took a huge bite of his sandwich. "Why couldn't I get through the barrier?" He asked himself again.
When he had eaten as many sandwiches as he could (the plate kept refilling itself) he rose and left the office, treading the path to the Professor's office, and really wishing he wasn't.
"I wonder where Ron is?" Neville asked, looking around the Great Hall as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.
"I don't know. I haven't seen him all day." Harry said, he was getting worried about his best friend. Especially when he looked at the staff table and Severus wasn't there. He grimaced when he saw a blond haired guy dressed in bright, attention getting robes. Please, don't let that be this years Defense teacher. Since this wasn't a witch, he felt safe in the assumption that they had the Fraud himself.
Joy.
On top of Ron and Fraud's, he was also worried about the Black Heir ring protections not working. He knew that was stupid, but he couldn't help it.
"Could he have been hiding out? I mean, it was all over the news that his pet rat was really an animagus." Neville said with a frown.
Hermione frowned in concern. She'd been told and shown the newspaper article detailing the Wizengamot session the other day. They clearly hadn't told her everything, but she was still reeling from what they did tell her, so she was content to know enough for now.
At first she'd refused to believe that the rat had really been a person, she'd been in as much denial as Ron had, but both Harry and Neville reminded her that they were there when he was being questioned. And, naturally, she refused to believe anything written about Dumbledore. She kept insisting that he must have had his reasons, and that he was only doing what he thought was best. She thought it was tragic, of course, that Sirius had spent so much time locked away like that, but for all her reading, she didn't know anything about the wizarding prison system. It was one of those things that just wasn't talked or written about.
If she had, she probably would have been a little less believing in Dumbledore. Neville decided that she'd already received enough of a shock for the day.
"Hey, did you hear? Ron was flying a car here." Dean leaned over and said, excited, he effectively distracted Hermione from her own scan of the Head Table, she was trying to find Lockhart, he was just so handsome! Not to mention all those things he did in his books, oh, she couldn't wait for Defense class, she bet they would learn so much from him.
"You shouldn't spread rumors, Dean!" Hermione scolded. Honestly, she already had this conversation with Harry on the train, she had started talking about Lockhart being their new teacher, and how lucky they were to have him, but then he started going on about how he was nothing more than a Fraud! Sure, this morning before the train left she got a recall notice from Flourish and Blotts, but they just said there was a mistake with the book-lists and if she wanted the real Defense book, then she should send in her Lockhart books to be returned. She wasn't going to return them though, so she simply sent money back with the owl along with a request for them to just send her the real book as well.
"Hey," He said, holding up his hands in defense. "I heard it from some of the older students who get the evening newspaper."
"Fred! George!" Harry called when he saw the two come in, "What's this about Ron flying a car here?" He asked when the two joined them.
Fred frowned, and Harry caught the flash of concern across George's face. "I don't know if he actually did or not..." Fred started.
"But we do own a flying car." George said quietly, the concern and worry didn't go away. Because really, if Ron was seen flying it... and it was clear that most of the student body had already heard, then their dad was going to be in a lot of trouble. It was bad enough Percy had gotten a message as soon as they got off the train to head to Professor McGonagall's office right away.
Neville sucked in a breath, "Doesn't your dad work in the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts office at the Ministry?" He asked. The Twins nodded.
The conversation was interrupted when McGonagall led in the first years, and boy, did they look tiny.
Harry looked around in concern again, he still didn't see his red-haired friend. Could he really have flown a car here? Was he even here yet? He hoped Ron didn't crash somewhere or something else. He shook his head and focused back in the Hat when it started singing. Although he let his attention wander again, not really paying anymore attention until he heard Ginevra Weasley's name called.
He watched the little redhead walk nervously up to the stool and sit for a few minutes before the hat finally called 'Gryffindor!'
He, and the other three Weasley's in the room, cheered the loudest, despite all the Lions in the room cheering pretty loud. All the older students seemed more amused then anything, and even a little relieved. Probably amused because this was yet another Weasley, and relieved because this would be the last Weasley for a while. Really, not even they probably knew.
Harry didn't really pay much attention after that, only enough to notice Dumbledore glancing in his direction, looking for all the world like a concerned Grandfather, but Harry caught a glint of... something, in his eyes. Anticipation? Either way, Hermione had to shake his arm to get him to notice when the food appeared. He forced himself to eagerly reach for some, he felt the ring on his finger warm up as soon as he dropped it on his plate, which meant the potions were all on his plate, probably his silverware and his goblet. And as soon as the food came into contact with the potion, it would transfer. This way, Dumbledore avoided the risk that everyone else would get caught up in it, or that Harry would avoid eating the foods that were drugged.
Dumbledore was probably trying to avoid just outright drugging everybody around him, that would be too suspicious after all, and dangerous should any of the students go see Pomfrey and the potions were found in their systems like they were his. But him... Severus's theory was that Dumbledore had Confounded Pomfrey or something into looking the other way where he was concerned. At least, when it wasn't whatever school related injury he was in for that time.
He gritted his teeth, and ate his food like a good boy. He could feel, just for a second, the potions take hold, but then his ring, he could have sworn that one of the rings paired with the Potter ring warmed up too, washed it away and his head was clear again. He sighed in relief, and nodded to Neville when he caught the other boy looking at him discreetly.
He looked up when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye near the door, and was relieved to see Severus walk in, but also a little worried. Why was he late? Nothing happened, did it? Was Ron alright? He tried to be discreet as he watched the man look around, and he sighed when Severus shook his head slightly at him before going to speak with Professor McGonagall about something, presumably Ron. He watched as he bent down between them and whispered something to both Dumbledore and his Head of House, before sweeping off again with McGonagall following in his wake, her face was pinched and her mouth was thinner than he'd ever seen it.
"Whatever's going on, Snape just came to get Professor McGonagall." He said to his friends and the Twins who were still sitting nearby. He had to make a conscious effort to say Severus's name the way he normally would. Neville was the only one nearby that knew the truth. He would probably tell the Twins soon, and he still wanted to talk to Severus about Hermione. On that note, he should probably start planning how he was going to get his detention. Ugh, detention the first few days of school was not how he wanted to start the year. He had decided to do better this year, and getting detention so soon was not the way to go about that.
He focused in on the conversation in time to hear some of the other students asking the Weasley twins about having Peter Pettigrew as a pet rat. He glanced around, and all the sixth year boys looked just as disgusted and disturbed as he and Neville had been. Which made sense, they had that rat sleeping in their dorm for four years, and they probably did their fair share of rat-sitting duty whenever Percy was in the hospital wing for who knows what. As opposed to Harry and Neville who only had him for the one year.
"That reminds me," Percy suddenly spoke up from a little further down the table. "Professor McGonagall wants to see all second and sixth year boys in her office after the feast. Since we were the ones with Pettigrew in our dorm." He informed everyone. If anybody noticed the haunted look when he mentioned Pettigrew, nobody mentioned it.
It was then that Harry glanced back up at the Head Table and blinked, when did Severus return to the Feast? Even as he watched, Professor McGonagall walked in and took her seat, reaching for her own food. "The professor's are back." He said quietly.
"Then where is Ron? Shouldn't they be keeping an eye out for him? Madam Pomfrey is still up there." Hermione said.
"Maybe they sent him back up to the Tower and sent food up there? You know, as punishment?" Neville suggested.
"Maybe. But I think this would be too big for that to be his punishment and nothing else is done." Harry said.
"Oh, come on. You shouldn't listen to rumors, we don't know that he actually flew a car. Ron is thick, but he's not that thick." Hermione huffed, annoyed.
"Hermione, one of the older students showed me the picture, of the flying car, with Ron in the driver's seat. It's on the front page of the Evening Prophet." Dean said, slightly offended. Why did she never seem to believe anything unless she read about it or a teacher told her?
She would have answered back, but the desserts chose that moment to disappear, which was Dumbledore's cue to make his beginning of the year announcements. "Well, I hope you enjoyed that wonderful feast. There are a few notices that need to be mentioned. First, I would like to remind everyone that the Forbidden Forest is, of course, forbidden to all students," His twinkling eyes flashed towards the Twins, and Harry. None of them looked the slightest bit sheepish, although in Harry's case, they were the ones who sent him in there for detention. It wasn't his fault. "Mr. Filch has asked me to remind you, again, that magic is forbidden in the corridors, and for those of you wishing to see the list of banned objects, see the list attached to his door. I believe there are over 400 items on it. Now, it is my pleasure to introduce our newest staff member, Mr. Gilderoy Lockhart, the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." He said, sweeping a hand in Lockhart's direction.
Lockhart, for his part, stood and swept into a bow, smiling and waving jauntily at the clapping students. Although, in the girls case, they were actually swooning, and squealing in delight. Some were swearing to their friends that he was waving and smiling at her. Harry saw a few guys talking excitedly to their friends, they were clearly the ones who were huge fans and believed everything in his books, but for the most part, the guys were regarding the squealing girls with disgust and confusion. Honestly, they could care less about the guy, in fact, they thought he looked kind of pathetic and not at all like he was in any way used to the kind of hard living described in his books, what little they actually read or heard.
Harry had to hide a smirk when he saw the look of absolute loathing on Severus's face when he regarded the Fraud playing up the crowd like a peacock. He also saw Severus hiss something under his breath that Lockhart obviously heard, because he took one look at Severus and abruptly sat down, a look of fear flashing across his face before he managed to hide it. Oh, that was one story he was definitely going to have to get from his godfather.
He tuned out the rest of the announcements, only tuning back in when everyone started to get up and leave for their dorms, he sighed when he saw Percy gathering all the sixth and second year Lions by the doors, before herding them all towards Professor McGonagall's office. He apparently decided it would save time if he made sure they all arrived at once, that way they wouldn't have to wait for anybody. His own dorm mates didn't seem amused at being herded along like this, but they also seemed resigned, like they expected nothing less, which, Harry figured, was probably true after sharing a room with Percy for five years.
When they finally reached her office, they had to wait for her for a few minutes, she was probably still in the Great Hall answering questions from students or making sure the prefects were doing their jobs. It didn't take long before Ron showed up, although it was Percy who spotted him first.
"Ron, you're bleeding!" Percy said, worried.
"It's fine, what are all of you doing here?" He asked, brushing his brother off, but otherwise letting him fuss.
"Professor McGonagall wanted to meet with all the sixth and second year boys. She wanted to talk about Pettigrew. You know, since he lived in our dorms with us..." Percy said, grimacing. "Why didn't Professor McGonagall send you to Madam Pomfrey?" He said, frustrated as he healed it with the only healing spell he knew. He made sure to learn some first-aid spells when he first became a prefect, just in case. It was also a good idea with how many siblings he had and how chaotic the Burrow could get sometimes.
"I'm afraid I was a bit preoccupied, rest assured, Mr. Weasley, the lapse in judgement will not happen again. Everyone in." Professor McGonagall said from behind them. They were so focused on Ron and Percy, that none of them saw her walk up. She waved her wand at her office door, causing it to open and letting them all troop in obediently.
She sat behind her desk, and sighed, rubbing a hand against her forehead. Ron shifted guiltily, especially when he saw the amount of paperwork sitting stacked up on one side of her desk. "Alright, for those of who you have not already heard, the Ronald's pet rat Scabbers, who used to belong to Percival, was in fact, not a rat. He was an animagus named Peter Pettigrew. He was discovered two days ago during the impromptu trial of Sirius Black. Now, he has been charged with Treason, being a Death Eater, murder, and trespassing. Along with a litany of other charges that they seem to just automatically tack on to any and all convicted Death Eaters. Those charges usually include rape, murder, use of the Unforgivables, and a couple of other things I can't remember at the moment. And of course, being an unregistered Animagus." She said tiredly.
"Now, because this murderer lived in your dorms, for four years or one year, it doesn't matter, Sirius Black is offering to arrange for a goblin memory expert to see any of you that wish to take him up on this offer. Possibly even a Mind Healer, should the other one find something concerning." She finished.
"A memory expert, ma'am?" Dean asked.
"Yes, Mr. Thomas. You see, we don't think he spent any time outside of his rat form while in the school, however, at the same time, even if he did, he would have most likely erased your memory of the event if you were to ever catch him. Now, Mr. Black is merely concerned, and wants to make sure he didn't do anything. If any of your memories are found to be tampered with, then he may open up the invitation to the whole House, we are unsure yet. The choice is yours."
All the students looked at each other, fear and uncertainty in their eyes.