This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy.
As Yule Break approaches, Dumbledore attempts to spread rumours of a dark creature in the castle and a hidden treasure.
During a DADA class, the first year 'puffs and 'claws get an unusual lecture from Professor Moody about dark creatures. Then the students scare Professor Moody.
With help from Hedwig and the Potter elves, Harry adds the dragon scales to his protections. Then Harry counts his blessings during free flying on Sunday.
The fall term ends with exams, tears from several sixth-year students, and the train ride back to London.
Finally, Dumbledore gets around to viewing his December vault statement from Gringotts and much yelling ensues.
*(+++++)*
Chapter 28 A Lecture on Werewolves*(+++++)*
SCENE: The DADA ClassroomAfter transfiguration, Harry led the children from 'puffs and 'claws into the DADA classroom; their wands out, overlapping shields in place and in a formation that put the best 'spotters' on each end. Susan Bones brought up the rear and she kept casting detection spells around the room to see if Professor Moody was waiting for them under an invisibility spell. Today, he wasn't and the children checked their desks for charms before they sat down – last week he caught them all with a sticking charm that held them in their seats for a full hour.
When the bell rang to signal the beginning of class, Moody came through his office door like any other professor and without greetings or collection of homework, he began a lecture on dangerous creatures in Magical Britain.
"Most creature attacks against wizards and witches are perpetrated by werewolves," Moody said from behind the lectern. "These vicious, dark creatures can attack at any time, from any shadow, and leave their victims torn to pieces."
Before the first hour had passed, Moody paused to take a drink from a flask he drew from inside his robes. For some reason, this action caught Harry's attention – Professor Moody took a swig from his flask every ten minutes or so during his lectures.
While the professor paused for the drink, Hermione stuck her hand in the air to get permission to ask a question, but Moody ignored the muggleborn witch and proceeded to discuss methods of dealing with werewolves including conjuring nets made of silver and throwing them at the beast. This continued for another fifteen minutes, most of the students making notes but a few were restless.
Moody's lecture was very serious and he warned the students, "Generally, when a group encounters a werewolf, one or more members of the group is torn to pieces while the others can escape or attempt to subdue the beast."
Harry, Neville, and Justin exchanged glances now – Alastor Moody's philosophy was to kill dangerous creatures, not 'subdue' them if possible.
"Think finite incantatem will do the trick?" whispered Justin.
"No," Neville replied, shaking his head. "I think it's the headmaster! He'd use Polyjuice or something to assume Moody's shape."
"Look at his wand!" Harry said, standing up in class and casting a stunner at the professor. Very quickly, Neville, Justin, Padma, Susan, Hannah and Sally followed Harry's example and the man lay on the floor of the classroom unconscious.
Unprepared for the attack, 'Moody' went down immediately from multiple stunners that would leave him unconscious for at least an hour.
"Harry? Why did you stun Professor Moody?" asked Hermione when she recovered from her shock.
"That's not Professor Moody!" Harry declared as he pointed at the still form of the professor behind the lectern.
"He's right," agreed Michael Croner from the 'claws. "Professor Moody never remains behind the lectern and he always lets students ask questions."
"And Moody would never tell us to subdue a werewolf," Neville added. "He'd give us ten ways to kill it."
"Neville's right," Justin agreed.
"What made you fire that first stunner, Harry?" asked Susan Bones while the students gathered their books to flee the classroom.
"His wand," Harry replied. And pointing toward the front of the room he added, "That's the headmaster's wand."
The other students looked at the funny wand that lay against the wall and agreed.
"So why is the headmaster here?" someone asked.
"And where's Professor Moody?" asked another voice.
*(+++++)*
At just that moment, the door to the classroom opened and the real Alastor Moody stepped into his classroom.
"Albus, there's nothing wrong with the wards. You sent me on a wild goose…" he began shouting but he fell silent when he noticed the prone body – his own body – lying at the front of the classroom. The startled faces of his 'claws and 'puffs were there for only a moment before they disappeared with a quiet pop.
Quickly casting a dozen detection spells with his wand, Moody frowned – the children had been here and they were now missing.
'What did you do, Albus?' the old Auror wondered as he approached the unconscious wizard on the floor. He cast spells and realized Dumbledore must be using Polyjuice.
'Stealing my hair, Albus? Naughty, naughty,' Moody cursed as he cast a spell to revive the wizard.
*(+++++)*
As he slowly grew aware of his surroundings, Albus Dumbledore heard the thundering voice of Alastor Moody demanding to know what happened to his class of students.
"Where are they? What did you do to the children this time?" the Auror demanded. "And why are you in my form? Where did you get my hair? Do you have a supply of hair from a hundred wizards and witches hidden in your quarters?"
"No," Albus replied. Without thinking clearly, the headmaster explained further, "The fire got my stash of hairs too."
Moody grimaced, his worst opinions of the headmaster only growing stronger. Dumbledore realized that he was still in Moody's form and he was unable to stand – the peg leg was certainly hard to manage from the floor and the real Alastor Moody refused to give him a hand up.
*(+++++)*
The door to the classroom opened again as the Deputy Headmistress hurried into the room with her wand drawn and her seventh-year students from transfiguration behind her.
"What's going on here?" she demanded to know. "I have a hysterical first year in my classroom crying about werewolves and two Professor Moody's in the DADA classroom!"
"It's all a pleasant misunderstanding, Professor McGonagall," declared the professor in Polyjuice pants on the floor while he attempted to leverage himself off the floor without his wand.
"Hand me my wand," he said though neither professor moved to retrieve it for him.
"Albus is playing games again," the real Moody declared as he summoned the headmaster's funny wand from the floor. He glanced at the wand for a moment before placing it on a student desk, out of the headmaster's reach.
"Who are you?" Minerva demanded.
"Moody just told you…"
"Declare yourself!" the transfiguration professor demanded. "Your words must name yourself!"
Sighing as if mortally offended not to be trusted, the man on the floor announced, "I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, headmaster of Hogwarts, and…"
"Enough…" McGonagall spit once she was certain of the man's true identity. "What happened? Why are students scared of you this time?"
"I have no idea why they would attack me," Dumbledore replied. "But I shall expel each and every one of them!"
"You'll do no such thing!" Moody declared. "My students took appropriate action to defend themselves in my classroom from a stranger – someone pretending to be me with the use of Polyjuice."
The Auror frowned and continued, "If they killed you, nothing would be done – you'd be locked in my form as a corpse and we'd never know what happened to the celebrated Albus Dumbledore!"
"What were you lecturing them on?" asked Minerva. "What scared them?"
The headmaster attempted to direct the conversation into another direction but the deputy headmistress would have none of it. Dumbledore finally admitted that he was lecturing on dark creatures in Magical Britain and specifically how to subdue werewolves with minimal losses to the wizards engaged with the beast.
"Dark creatures!" she thundered. "The students don't learn about dark creatures until their third year! You idiot!"
Moody shook his head and said, "And you're the only person in all of Magical Britain that would speak of attempting to subdue a werewolf. Every Auror knows that you kill werewolves in their monster form! There is no 'subdue', there is only 'kill or be killed', or worse, 'turned' into a werewolf!"
"Students learn to transfigure silver in their second year and learn to conjure arrows in DADA that year. Then in third year, DADA, the two skills are put together as a defence against the creatures!" McGonagall huffed.
*(+++++)*
McGonagall required the real Alastor Moody to guard the Polyjuice pants wizard until he returned to his true form. The fake Moody sighed and mourned the loss of trust from his deputy but she refused to reconsider.
"When he changes back into his normal form, escort him back to his office and then return his wand; not a moment before!" McGonagall ordered the Auror.
"You've made a troll out of a niffler, Miner…"
"McGonagall!" the woman demanded. "You do not get to use my name!"
Shortly thereafter, Minerva left with her seventh-year students to continue their transfiguration lesson.
*(+++++)*
While they waited for the hour to pass and the potion to wear off, Dumbledore asked Moody several questions about the students in his first year DADA class.
"Are any of the firsties good? Anyone outstanding?"
"In this group, they're all outstanding. This group will be into second year material before the end of March."
"Surely not!" Dumbledore said, the real astonishment evident in his voice. "It is dangerous for them to attempt second year spells before their cores grow!"
"Then why do you urge me not to give them the core strengthening exercises that every student is supposed to learn and practice?"
"I just worry that we're asking too much of them," the disarmed wizard said. "Now…"
"Merlin's bad breath, Albus, just ask what you want to know without boring the hippogriff to death with a million useless questions!"
The two men stared at each other, neither speaking again until after the potion wore off and Albus was able to climb to his feet again without assistance.
"Why didn't you help me up?" Dumbledore asked.
Moody sniffed, "A wizard on the floor without his wand is pretty much defenceless. If I offered you my hand, you could pull me down to the floor and wrestle me for my wand. I was safest with you defenceless on the floor."
*(+++++)*
SCENE: Happy Alastor MoodyOnce he'd escorted the headmaster to his office and left him there, Moody went looking for the students who disappeared from his classroom. He found Potter with his friends from both houses in the library. Smiling to see the children pull out their wands when he appeared, Moody quickly showed them his empty hands, sat at the table and placed both hands palms down on the table.
Madam Pince joined them to remind Moody about her rules, "There'll be no spell casting in the library or other nonsense that might disturb my students or damage one of the books!"
The Auror nodded his head in understanding. "I must speak with these students, Madam Pince. I believe they have some new magic to explain to me."
"Very well, five minutes and then I throw you out!" she said as she cast a privacy spell that left Moody and the table of students enclosed within a shell of privacy.
"Now, tell me how you…"
"Prove you're Professor Moody!" demanded Neville.
Smiling, Moody stood, popped his wand from his wrist holder and swore on his life and magic that he was 'Alastor Moody, your professor for DADA'.
Longbottom nodded once but no one put away their wands.
"I wanted to compliment you for detecting the imposter and for excellent use of the spell to put him on the floor," Moody said. "How many stunners hit the headmaster?"
"Seven," replied Granger without thinking. "We've been working very hard on offensive spells as well as shields."
"In teams?" he asked and noticed that only Granger nodded to confirm his question.
"And now you're all on high-alert and paying close attention to your environment?" he asked. "Is that why you came to the library?"
"Yes sir," Susan replied. "We know Madam Pince protects students and the quiet in the library."
"Very good." Moody paused and then asked, "Now, how did you do it? How did all of you disappear from the classroom?"
"We're afraid there'll be another troll in the castle," Padma said to begin.
Sally-Anne nodded before she added, "Harry, Neville, and Justin were trying to find a way we could escape from an attack."
"It was Neville who had the best idea," Harry admitted. "He said we should use… something that pops us away from danger."
"Something?" Moody asked with disbelief in his voice. "How can 'something' pop anyone away?"
The children exchanged glances and Justin said, "It's our secret defence strategy, sir. We don't want anyone to know."
"I'll tell!" announced Zach Smith.
The Hufflepuff firstie suddenly found himself being hustled out of the library by the other boys in his year. Madam Pince noticed the group leaving but they were not being overly loud and she remained silent. Back at the table, Sally-Anne Perks and Hannah Abbot gathered Smith's books and bag, as Susan Bones whispered to the 'claws.
Granger and Patil frowned but Michael Croner quietly insisted that the 'puffs had to put the fear of Morgana into the boy. Then Bones, Corner, Patil, and Granger turned back to their DADA professor who was grinning from ear to ear.
"Professor, we really can't tell you about our escape…" Michael Corner said. "We want to keep it secret from you as long as you work here."
"Yes, but next summer, we want you to help us make it better," Hermione said.
Moody asked, "Does it hurt anyone or break any laws to use this escape plan?"
"No sir," Susan confirmed.
"It tickles…" Padma admitted.
"Who developed the escape plan?" he asked and Granger grinned.
"It was the teamwork of a muggleborn, a half-blood, and a pure-blood," the young witch said. "Potter, Longbottom and Finch-Fletchley."
Moody stood up, his smile threatening to break his scarred and damaged face. "One hundred points to Potter, one hundred points to Longbottom, and one hundred points to Finch-Fletchley."
He grinned again and said, "Twenty points each for Granger, Corner, Padma Patil, Bones, Perks, McMillian, Abbot, and Martin."
"And Zach Smith?" asked Susan.
"I won't take points from the boy but I will give him a lecture about teamwork in our next class! The idiot!"
*(+++++)*
In the nearby, deserted classroom, the boys from the first year 'puffs set Zacharias Smith to rights. They stood in a circle around Zach seated in a chair but didn't threaten their classmate physically.
"Smith – we're going back to Smith by-the-way," Ernie McMillian informed the boy. "In Hufflepuff, we don't tattle trying to get approval from the professor!"
"We just got this plan to escape the next time there's a troll and you want to mess it up by telling!" Justin said.
"There won't be another troll!" Zach insisted.
"Really? Well, there was an imposter in DADA this morning," Justin said as Susan came into the room. The 'claws passed by the door on their way back to their dormitory.
"Professor Moody agreed to not say anything," Susan said. "He was very happy and gave Hufflepuff four hundred points."
Zach breathed easier – his bad move hadn't cost them house points.
"Look Smith, we want to be friends and work…" Justin began to say.
"Yeah, I know," Zach sighed as if he was bored with the conversation already.
"Smith, listen up," Neville said, standing over the seated boy. "If you want to go it alone, that's your choice. But that means the next time there's a troll or Cerberus in the castle, we leave you behind."
"What?" the boy asked, suddenly afraid.
"Neville, no," Harry insisted. "Smith's a jerk but I don't want to see him smashed into jelly by a troll."
"Or bitten into three pieces by a three-headed dog!" Justin added.
"So, what's it to be, Smith?" Bones asked. "Will you be a loyal 'puff? Or not? I think you can change houses and go to Slytherin."
"Naw," Sally-Anne said. "Smith would go to Gryffindor."
Zach frowned and pulled his arms down to wrap around his chest. There was silence in the room for a long minute and then Harry Potter said, "Smith…"
"Alright, I'll be a good 'puff," the boy said, his eyes bright with unshed tears.
"Good," said Susan. "Come on, let's go get ready for supper."
The girls were ready first but waited for the boys – all the boys – to join them. Zach was placed in the centre of the group, and he realized his classmates wanted him to feel included.
"You're a jerk sometimes," Ernie whispered to his roommate. "But we're all 'puffs and we look after each other."
*(+++++)*
In the Great Hall that evening, there were animated discussions at each table at how the Hufflepuffs – the duffers! – were leading in the race for the house cup by almost four hundred points. Ravenclaw gained sixty points this afternoon but the 'puffs, who had been ahead by thirty points were suddenly ahead of the 'claws by three hundred and seventy points.
The Slytherin upper years kept trying to determine who in the Hufflepuff seventh-year students won the points. Gryffindors argued amongst themselves, loudly, about professors favouring the 'puffs. Ravenclaw students compared notes and sent upper year students to talk to the younger students.
*(+++++)*
The conversation at the staff table was just as loud as it was at the student tables.
"How did the 'puffs earn so many points today?" asked Snape. "Did they save the castle from a dragon?"
"There was an incident with the headmaster in the DADA class with the 'puffs and 'claws this afternoon," Minerva said, her disapproval of the headmaster's actions clearly on display.
The headmaster frowned. "Who gave the…," he paused to keep himself from using an inappropriate word, "Who gave them house cup points for attacking me?"
"They attacked you?" Pomona asked. "What did you do to warrant an attack by my firsties?"
"And mine?" asked a furious Flitwick.
At the end of the table, Moody cleared his throat, cast the spell to make his voice heard across the room, and explained.
"This afternoon, the headmaster told me there was a problem with the wards and he asked me to investigate. To 'help me', he volunteered to cover my class with the first year 'puffs and 'claws."
"There was nothing wrong with the wards except for a tricky locking charm on the door that would have confined me to the room for a couple hours."
The veteran Auror glanced at Dumbledore and sneered, "Amateur."
"In any case, when I entered the DADA classroom, I discovered someone who looked like me laying against the wall, unconscious. My students detected an imposter in my place and they reasoned that he was not using a glamour or 'illusion'."
Alastor sneered at the headmaster again. "So, they rightfully blasted him with stunners."
"Students fired stunners at a professor?" asked Lupin.
"No," Moody said. "They fired stunners at an imposter! They had no way of knowing it was the headmaster."
Then Moody made the case that the students responded appropriately by adding, "For all they knew it was an assassin come to kill the headmaster tonight when we gathered here in the Great Hall."
None of the other staff members were upset with the students so Dumbledore frowned, rose from his throne, and threw down his napkin before stalking from the hall. No one called for him to return and he would dine alone in his office tonight.
Pomona slid her wand back into the wrist holster once Albus left the hall, and then she turned back to Moody as he sat down and cancelled the spell that let everyone hear his speech.
"But you shouldn't reward them for knocking down…"
"The points had nothing to do with the students detecting and disabling an imposter," Moody explained. "Those kids… those kids are remarkable. They've resolved a defence problem that I can't describe right now. That's why they got the points."
*(+++++)*
Dora Tonks and her classmates spent the dinner time whispering and sending delegates to the sixth year 'puffs who reported the fifth years were just as surprised. The fourth years, third years, and second years were quiet but didn't share their news. Tonks and fourth year Cedric Diggory went to the end of the table to make inquiries of the firsties just before desserts were served.
Seeing the two leaders from the upper years coming toward them, the firsties wanted to deflect their questions away. It was Hannah Abbot who smiled after an idea popped into her head.
"At home, we call desserts 'pudding'," Hannah announced to her classmates as she pointed toward the desserts just delivered to the table. "I think many muggles call it pudding too."
"Hey, guys," Cedric said to greet the firsties. "Tonks and I were wondering if you'd heard anything about the points Hufflepuff earned this afternoon."
"Cedric, does your family call it 'pudding' or 'dessert'?" Hannah asked. The older boy was distracted by her question so the 'puff turned to the seventh-year girl. Dora and Cedric noticed the boys and girls exchanging glances and no one was forthcoming with information.
"Tonks, you father is muggleborn. Does your family call it 'pudding' or 'dessert'?" Hannah asked motioning toward the table loaded with chocolates and pastries tonight.
"Uh, sometimes we call it 'dessert' and sometimes 'pudding'," Tonks replied before she finally sat beside Zach Smith to grill the boy.
"It wasn't me!" Zach immediately announced. "I didn't do anything!"
The expression on Dora's face was comical – Smith's declaration caught her completely off-guard. Cedric's face was thoughtful and he turned toward the muggleborn students.
"Leave the firsties alone, Tonks," said Professor Sprout as she hurried between the tables. "Hufflepuff will have a house meeting in our common room immediately after pudding is cleared."
"See, I told you lots of people called it 'pudding'," Hannah said.
"You're a genius, Hannah," Susan said.
*(+++++)*
Once the dishes were cleared, the Hufflepuff students walked as large group back to their common room, which wasn't far from the Great Hall. Professor Sprout took attendance and sent a house elf for the missing three 'puffs – the missing girls were fifth-years and they were working on an English paper to send home via owls as part of their 'studies'.
"Girls, your free time is just that 'free', but you must eat," Paloma scolded.
"We had supper in the room, professor," one girl replied. "The elves were glad to help us with food."
"Don't overwork them," she said. "Hogwarts is still short a half dozen elves after the fire."
"Now," she said turning her attention to all of her Hufflepuffs. "I wanted everyone together for a few minutes to encourage all of you to work together."
"But, professor, we do work together…" protested Cedric Diggory. "Hufflepuffs…"
"Yes, that's true but we need to look at our work again," the witch said. "The reason I am saying this is because of the work I have seen accomplished by the firsties who have been a team since the sorting."
"But they've got Harry Potter!" complained one third year.
Professor Sprout smiled and motioned Harry to stand. "Mr Potter, are you the reason that Professor Moody awarded my house four hundred points today?"
The embarrassed boy replied, "Not just me; it took all of us working together to fix a problem. It took me, Longbottom, Finch-Fletchley, McMillian, Bones, Abbot, Perks… all of us."
"Is that true, Smith?" asked an annoying third year boy.
Zach frowned but nodded and replied, "Yeah. They work together and pull me along. I've got to learn to work with 'em."
Professor Sprout smiled; if her 'puffs handled Smith this well in the first two months of the year, she'd arrange for her students to work with the Malfoy boy and the other troublemakers in Slytherin in the spring or next year. Severus and Minerva despaired of reaching the boy.
"Excellent!"
Sallie-Anne Perks raised her hand and asked, "Professor, is it true there's a werewolf in the castle?"
"Yeah, that Weasley boy from Gryffindor told everyone that Professor Dumbledore told him there was a werewolf here!"
"It's Professor Lupin," announced the annoying third year boy. "The 'claws figured it out after one of Dumbledore's lectures in the hallway and the man disappearing at the full moon the last two months."
Paloma Sprout had a sour look on her face but she addressed the accusation head-on.
"Stop!" she ordered and the room grew silent. "If there were any danger, Professor Lupin would not be here at Hogwarts."
"So…"
"Have you seen or heard…"
"Professor Dumbledore said we should cover him up with silver nets if he transforms," Zach Smith announced. "The headmaster said we shouldn't be afraid of werewolves but we should capture them an allow them to change back into their human form when the night is over."
Professor Sprout had to cover her mouth to keep from shouting that Dumbledore was an idiot, but today she would make use of the headmaster's propaganda.
*(+++++)*
In Ravenclaw, Professor Flitwick's students logically reasoned that Professor Lupin wasn't dangerous and they were more interested in why the headmaster wanted them to think he was.
"The headmaster keeps saying there's something here that the dark creature wants to steal."
"What could you steal from Hogwarts?"
"The books are all protected by charms, spells and Madam Pince. Anyone who tried to steal a book wouldn't get very far…"
*(+++++)*
In Slytherin the seventh-year students and fifth-year students were only interested in their studies; a werewolf in the castle might make for interesting studies for the students in Magical Creatures but no one else cared… except for Draco Malfoy who wrote to his father about the dangerous creature allowed into the castle.
*(+++++)*
In Gryffindor, Professor Babbage silenced Ron Weasley in her house meeting. He'd stood up and announced he would not attend another herbology class and when his mother heard about a werewolf…
"Mr Percy Weasley," Babbage called the fifth-year prefect forward. "Take your brother to my office and wait for me to join you. We'll be talking with your father tonight."
Ron's eyes grew wide – his Dad was harder to anger but his punishments hurt much worse than his Mom's.
*(+++++)*
SCENE: Dragon ScalesIn one of their few moments alone in the dorm room, Hedwig and Harry discussed what to do with the dragon scales sent by Swampy.
"I don't need the portkey since we have the elves," Harry reasoned but the owl ruffled her feathers and hooted quietly for a moment.
"Do you think Dumbledore will still try to get hold of my wand or me?" he asked and his familiar nodded.
"I won't leave my friends behind!" Harry insisted and the owl hooted her agreement.
Harry opened his trunk and got the two dragon scales out of the secret compartment. He sat on the floor and Hedwig joined him, hooting as he rolled the two scales over in his hand.
"How do we do this?" he asked the owl who chortled.
Harry grinned and replied, "You're right as usual."
The boy-who-lived grinned as he called, "Apollo, I need your help."
The little elf popped into the dorm room and danced about, happy to be called.
"Whats can Apollo do to help, Mr Harry Potters?"
Holding up the two scales and watching Apollo's eyes grow large to see the powerful artefacts, Harry explained, "I have two freely gifted dragon scales that are portkeys that can move me around the castle. Hedwig and I are trying to figure out how to use them. Do I just carry them around in my pocket?"
The elf peered at the scales and then examined Harry closely, walking around the boy seated on the floor and then around the owl who also stood on the floor.
"Apollo says that most powerful dragon scales be used to work with gifts from goblinses," the elf announced.
"My egg?" Harry asked as he pulled the necklace from out of his shirt, holding the small, golden egg in the palm of his hand.
"Yes, and Missy Hedwig's harness," the elf said. "Two scales for two protections."
"How do we do this?" Harry asked as Hedwig hooted the same question.
"Apollo knows how," the elf said as he called for the other Potter elves to join him. Once they were all there, the elves joined hands and formed a circle around Harry and Hedwig. Then Apollo told Harry to take one of the scales and insert it into the strap on Hedwig's harness where it crossed under her breast.
The dragon scale appeared to merge with the golden 'G' on the owl's harness.
"There." Harry asked his familiar, "Does it feel any different?"
The owl hooted and the boy turned back to his own golden egg. The elves continued holding hands as Apollo told Hedwig to take the scale in her beak and to lay it against the egg Harry held up.
The owl tried to follow instructions but Harry's chest was too far off the floor for her to reach so the boy lay down on the rug. Now Hedwig quickly placed the dragon scale on the egg where it encased the golden object in a shimmering green cover that resembled jade.
There was a knock on the door and the elves popped away as Harry scrambled to his feet and Hedwig flew to the top of Harry's bed.
"The door was locked," Neville said as he and Justin walked in with their books from the library. "Are you saving the world again?"
*(+++++)*
SCENE: Flying and BlessingsOn Sunday, there were no classes, no practical sessions, and no scheduled meetings with professors, but there was time to rest. In the afternoon, Harry found himself with several other 'puffs from each year on the Quidditch pitch, watching the players from all four teams spend some time in the air on their brooms.
Tonks who was clumsy walking a straight line on a level floor appeared to have no such trouble while on a broom, diving and swooping with other students like a flock of birds.
"I gotta get a broom of my own!" Harry told Justin.
"Yeah," the other 'puff agreed. "Flying is one of the great parts of being a wizard."
His classmate's statement made the dark-haired boy begin thinking about how his life had become better since he'd found out he was a wizard last summer. First, he didn't have to live with the Dursleys any longer – Felicity refused to share what had been done with his 'relatives' in her letters but Harry didn't really care.
Second, he had a new family at Gringotts with Felicity, Hedwig, and the babies. Ironstream and Hagrid were 'uncles' of a sort too so he had lots of people to spend his summer with. There'd be so many things to teach the dragons this summer!
Third, he had friends! Lots of friends in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw who he'd see over the summer and they'd have next year at Hogwarts to learn even more magic.
Fourth, Hogwarts was getting better with each week; the purebloods didn't like all the muggle studies at first but several had joined the maths and English classes. Penelope Clearwater, the Ravenclaw prefect and Percy Weasley a Gryffindor prefect were two of the strongest advocates for the English class while it was a Slytherin firstie, Nott-something, who had embraced maths along with Neville Longbottom. Harry did the lessons but the two pureblood boys spent every free minute with maths and Hermione Granger.
"Hey, Harry!" called Susan Bones. "Hooch is going to let us use the school brooms!"
Harry and Justin rose from their seats in the stadium and ran to where the flying instructor was handing out the best of the school's brooms to the firsties who wanted to fly in the winter sunshine.
As Harry rose in the cold air, he felt the professor's warming charm surround him – he'd thank her when they landed. He swooped around the goal posts and grinned when Hedwig joined him, flying beside him.
The boy-who-lived felt the magic that enabled the broom to fly and he simply allowed his magic to join it. What he didn't realize was that other owls from the castle had joined his flight along with his classmates. Bones, Smith, Abbot and Finch-Fletchley grinned as they found their places in the formation of owls. The magic from Harry flowed across the sky and guided them through each dip and roll, in perfect time with the owls.
Tonks grinned to see the firsties flying with the parliament of owls and found she was attracted to the formation. She found Diggory, other 'puffs, 'claws, Gryffindors and even the Slytherin students joining in the great flock of brooms that dove and whirled in time with some magical signal from Harry Potter.
At the edge of the pitch, Rolanda Hooch marvelled as the Hogwarts students resembled a giant flock of birds in synchronized flight. From her office window, Minerva McGonagall felt tears flow down her face at the beauty in the flight – students from all four houses together in the air.
*(+++++)*
SCENE: Hogwarts ExpressFinally, the morning to begin the Yule Holidays arrived. The leaving feast the night before had been fun for Harry and the other firsties as everyone celebrated the end of the first term of the year. Now, the students joined for breakfast in the Great Hall before dividing between those staying in the castle for the holiday and those heading for the train station. Outside the Scottish countryside was covered by a winter snowstorm.
After the meal, the students bundled up to stay warm on the trip from Hogwarts to the train station in Hogsmeade and the individual students became nameless in the crowd. They left the castle and piled into the carriages to make the trip to the station in the snow, many of the muggle children singing Christmas carols.
Albus Dumbledore couldn't see individual students as they hurried from the castle, and he hesitated to ask for the lists of students signed up to stay in the castle – McGonagall refused to allow him to review the list the previous night. Last week, he'd been caught by Professor Sprout in the Hufflepuff common room.
"I want Mr Potter to remain at Hogwarts for the holiday," Dumbledore told the professor. "It's the only safe place for him."
"Safe?" Sprout asked. "We never interfere with a student's holiday plans, headmaster."
*(+++++)*
On the trip to London, Harry and his friends walked around the train, greeting many of their friends from other houses and making a few plans to get together for dinner, or for introductions to their extended families. In a few compartments, the firsties were surprized to find older students who cried quietly.
*(+++++)*
"I don't care if you're muggleborn or a half-blood, Cathy," Roger Heathcliff told his girlfriend. "I don't want you to leave Hogwarts!"
A young witch wrapped the young wizard in her arms and held tight enough to remember his heartbeat for the rest of her life.
"What happens when we graduate? Your parents will never agree to let us marry," Carrie argued. "When we met your parents in Hogsmeade last week, your mother hinted that something would be arranged to 'get rid of me'!"
"I would never let them…"
*(+++++)*
When three of her friends announced they would resign from Hogwarts over the holidays, Penelope Clearwater was speechless for a moment but then recovered.
"I'll miss you in study group! The Slytherins always let us do all the work!" she said to pass off her own sadness. "And we'll miss you on the Quidditch team."
"But no one else will miss us," Jesse Coleman said sourly. "Professor Flitwick…"
"He'll miss you the most!" Penelope insisted. "He's championed muggleborns for decades."
"And directed every muggleborn to apply at Gringotts or go back in the muggle world," the boy replied.
*(+++++)*
There were promises of letters and get-togethers made on the Hogwarts Express that December day. Some would occur but others would fade away with time.
*(+++++)*
This morning, Albus had not seen the distinctive owl or her cage with the boy in the Great Hall, so Dumbledore leapt to the conclusion the boy would remain at the castle. During the holidays, he'd have the opportunity to begin moving the boy-who-lived under his influence.
But at supper, Dumbledore allowed his anger to show when he learned that the boy had indeed been among the students who left. The few students at Hufflepuff table certainly didn't include Harry Potter – none of the 'puff firsties had stayed for the holiday.
"Who did he go home with?" he demanded to know.
"Who are you asking about, Dumbledore?" asked McGonagall. She'd brought a preliminary report on the fall test results to the table to show to Flitwick and found the headmaster's bad mood unsettling.
"He's been asking about Potter since he walked into the Great Hall," Snape explained. "The boy left with the other students this morning."
"His owl didn't leave with him," Dumbledore said. "I can't believe he thoughtlessly left his familiar behind."
Professor Sprout refused to join the conversation while Remus Lupin spoke quietly with Hooch and Babbage – Harry sent Hedwig off this morning with letters for MI-5 for Lupin and Snape. Both men would be reporting to their London office the next morning – Snape to review the plans for the lab for next summer and Lupin to begin his final reports on Hogwarts. The owl knew to find her way to Gringotts after delivering her letters.
"I insist that you tell me who he went home with," Dumbledore said and again Sprout failed to respond.
"Headmaster, it is inappropriate for you to ask such questions about a student's holiday plans!" McGonagall insisted.
"Professor Sprout, who did Harry Potter plan to visit this Christmas?" he demanded to know.
The herbology professor smiled and replied, "I believe all of my firsties planned to visit their family and friends, headmaster. Would you care to know about the plans of my other badgers? Cedric Diggory and Percy Weasley planned to take a couple of the Ravenclaw witches into the muggle world and visit the British Museum. There's an exhibition of artefacts from Ancient Egypt they wanted to see. Something about a curse on a mummy's tomb we all read in a book with Professor Babbage."
Totally ignoring the professor, Dumbledore continued, "Potter doesn't have any family… any home…"
"Oh, but he does, headmaster," Flitwick added. "My relatives at Gringotts wrote to me that Ragnock – the head of the bank – made Potter his personal ward. The director was greatly insulted when you ignored a personal invitation to meet with him back in October."
The diminutive charms professor set his teacup down and asked, "Didn't Minister Fudge and Director Bones both yell at you for fifteen minutes about almost causing a goblin rebellion all by yourself this fall? The whole of the Wizengamot censured you I believe…"
"How did you miss an invitation from the Director of the Bank, headmaster?" asked Snape.
The other professors were quiet and caught off guard – it was unusual for Severus to take the side of anyone except for the headmaster.
"I have so many letters… sometimes they get lost on my desk…" Dumbledore tried to explain.
A very late owl arrived during dinner and brought a letter to the headmaster. Fumbling with the letter just a bit, Dumbledore pushed the owl away before opening the letter to read a notice from his tailor that the robes he ordered for the New Year ball at the ministry were being held back – his Gringotts account held insufficient funds to pay for the dozen fitted robes he's ordered.
*(+++++)*
With the headmaster running out of the Great Hall, Minerva turned to Filius with the test results for the fall term.
"Look! The test averages for the 'claws, 'puffs and Lions are the lowest grades in ten years for the higher year students!" she complained as she placed the papers in front of the professor for charms.
She frowned and added, "I knew they were off their usual performance abilities but this will mean several fail their NEWTS in the spring if they keep up this slack attitude."
"Oh, dear," Flitwick sighed as he viewed the papers. He checked the names of the students who pulled down the scores and smiled sadly; his muggleborns were leaving him this holiday.
*(+++++)*
Forgetting about Harry Potter for the moment, Albus hurried to his office and searched for the statement from Gringotts for his account balances for December – he'd not looked at any paperwork from Gringotts in months. He finally found November and December's vault statements lying on the stand for his phoenix who chirped innocently about marking them with her offal.
The headmaster cast spells from his wand to clean the statements somewhat and then opened the December statement.
"Where did my Galleons go?" he asked the phoenix and the portraits after seeing the much lower total balance. He'd be able to pay for only three of the new robes but the tailor had custom made them all and would sue for damages.
Phineas Black had finally returned to his frame after hiding for three months in the picture frame of a friend in the DADA classroom. But the infamous headmaster remained quiet and watched Albus open the November statement.
"What is this? Two thousand Galleons to Saint Mungo's to cure the Weasley twins?" the headmaster shouted as he hurried to the floo and left the castle without telling anyone.
*(+++++)*
SCENE: At Saint Mungo's HospitalPoppy Pomphrey was the administrator on duty this morning and the Ravenclaw witch was still adjusting to her new role in the hospital. The Chief Healer knew he'd made the right choice putting her to work in the records department but he'd already had to deal with her angry reports about the declining numbers of healers in the hospital. The prejudice against muggleborns and now even half-bloods had not lessened so none of those graduates were becoming healers. Snape's teaching practices meant that there were fewer qualified students who graduated from Hogwarts with acceptable grades on their NEWTS in potions.
As a consequence, Pomphrey altered with the Chief Healer that they'd have to contract with Gringotts for healers within the next ten years as older healers began to retire. Gringotts grabbed up every suitable half-blood and muggleborn, as well as several of the purebloods each year for their growing businesses. The chief was uncertain of his next steps – talking to Dumbledore about improving the instruction for potions was like talking to a brick wall about the colour of grass.
When the secretary at the front desk sent an aeroplane with the message that Albus Dumbledore was in the building demanding to speak to someone about a bill, Poppy smiled to herself. The betting pool was skewed now – everyone thought he'd be here last month yelling and several healers hoped that Molly Weasley would still be here when the headmaster arrived.
Both of the twins made a complete recovery and the Weasleys returned to the Burrow at the end of November. The hospital was noticeable quieter without Molly yelling at Fred and George all day… every day…
Pomphrey gathered her wand, pensive, and files. She'd never meet with Dumbledore in private; while she was convalescing in Saint Mungo's and began her physical therapy, a series of compulsions cast by the headmaster wore off. The result was that she mastered the stinging hex with her left arm within two days and hoped the day would come when she could cast it on Albus Too-Many-Names Dumbledore.
"Ah, Poppy," Dumbledore greeted the former Hogwarts mediwitch. "I see you've recovered nicely."
Poppy sniffed and turned her figure to the left to deposit her bag on the table, leaving her pinned up, empty right sleeve for the headmaster to ignore.
"Are you certain I can't entice you to return to Hog…" Albus began to say before a large welt seared across his left butt cheek underneath his gaudy robes.
"Ow!" he yelled slapping the welt.
"Apparently, we have a poltergeist who strikes out at guests with poor manners," Poppy explained, daring the wizard to say otherwise.
"Your injury has changed you, Poppy," Dumbledore said sadly.
"That's Administrator Pomphrey to you Mr Dumbledore," the former mediwitch corrected him. "Now what's this about a bill you are challenging?"
Dumbledore stood straight and declared, "Saint Mungo's has mistakenly billed me for the treatments provided to George Weasley and Frederick Weasley. I am certain an audit will show that there's no obligation on my part to pay…"
"You told Mrs Molly Weasley that you would cover all costs for their care while at the hospital."
"I never…"
"We have the memory," the administrator said, motioning toward the single memory pensive on the table. "Would you care to refresh your memory?"
Dumbledore's frown would have scared any dragon off a horde of gold but Poppy had already dealt with snot-nosed purebloods in her time at the hospital.
"Do you know how to use a single memory pensive?"
"Of course," Dumbledore replied as he stuck his finger into the small bowl. He watched Molly's memory of his floo called where he told her of the twins being injured and he did indeed assure the witch he would pay for their treatments.
'I only meant to pay for Fred's peg leg and George's fake fingertips… not to replace the leg and grow new digits on hands and feet!' he groused in his mind.
As he pulled his finger out of the pensive, he accidentally pulled the ceramic bowl off the table, and watched it crash to the floor. The wisp of the memory faded away instantly.
"How clumsy of me," he admitted. "And the memory is lost too."
"Don't worry Mr. Dumbledore, we have multiple copies of the memory in storage and also at Gringotts," Pomphrey informed her guest. "Everyone can learn of your generosity in helping the unfortunate students injured at your school."
Again, Dumbledore frowned. Pomphrey shook her head, adding, "And the price for the pensive will also be charged against your account with payment due before 5 January."
She looked at Dumbledore and smiled, "Saint Mungo's does not extend credit in many cases but with the large amounts of Galleons you've already spent this fall, I can offer you the option of making three payments at the first of each month for January, February and March."
Dumbledore turned and stormed off without replying so Poppy marked his account as due in full on 5 January.
*(+++++)*