Last chapter of the day! Remember, give thanks and comments!
Disclaimer in Chapter 1! Will add as it becomes necessary.
Harriet's good mood lasted even through her first run in with the traitors. It would seem they didn't know what she looked like since she didn't need help getting to the platform and no one had seen her scar. So when she bumped into them on the way to the boats there was a bit of a confrontation. They had yelled at her, drawing the attention of all the other first years, so Harri made sure to make her apology perfectly polite while fantasizing about their disembowelment. She obviously had spent too much time with Loki before.
Now she was just waiting to be sorted so she could see their faces when they realized that they had already made a mistake.
"Potter, Harriet." McGonagall called.
Harri strode to the stool, ignoring the hushed whispers and the gaze of the master manipulator from the teacher table. Just as the hat was lowered over her head she saw the traitors sharing a shocked look. 'Hello hat.' Harri greeted.
'Hello Miss Potter.' The hat acknowledged, 'Oh I see it should be Lady LeFay.'
'Potter is fine.' Harri said.
'Very well then. Strange, I see this is the second time I'm sorting you. First time for me. I was correct before; you would do well in Slytherin. Even more so now with all the plans you have in the works and as its Lady.' The hat said.
'I am quite aware of that but it needs to be Gryffindor.' Harri sighed, 'You can see what I have planned. I need to be a snake in lion's clothing. Besides I am the heir to Gryffindor too.'
'As if Gryffindors care about something like that.' The hat snorted, 'Are you sure you can't make things work with Slytherin?'
'Sorry hat, I can't have what I do looked at too closely. Gryffindor is the safest for me.' Harri said firmly.
'You do know I could say Slytherin and you couldn't do a thing about it.' The hat mused.
'If that were to happen I'd have to play fetch with you and what is now MY basilisk. They just love eating enchanted hats.' Harri returned.
The hat chuckled in her head, 'Very well Lady Slytherin, better be...' "Gryffindor!" He shouted out loud. The Gryffindor table exploded in cheers, the loudest coming from the twins who stood up and pulled her to sit between them when she walked over. She giggled as they hugged her between them, causing the table to look between them warily. For the rest of the sorting and Dumbledore's welcoming speech she whispered back and forth with the twins.
Finally, the food appeared and everyone dug in with gusto. Across from Harri and the twins sat Lee and Oliver who were eyeing the three's comfortable banter with trepidation. "So," Oliver started, drawing their eyes to him, "Have you three met before?"
"Nope!" They all three said in unison.
"We just found her on the train!" George said with a grin.
"Isn't she cool?" Fred asked.
Harri pouted, "You make me sound like I was an abandoned puppy that you've found and decided to keep."
"Ah but you are an adorable puppy." Fred cooed.
Harri pressed a hand to her chest and scoffed, "Please! If anything I'm a cat!"
"Oh kitties got some claws!" George teased.
The rest of the table sat watching this interaction with slight horror, Harri had to suppress her grin as she continued bantering with her mates. She knew most people couldn't keep up with the twins, she was one of the few, so seeing someone who was on the same wavelength as them must having be rather terrifying for those who had experienced their pranks the last two years.
Unfortunately, the traitors attempted to save the rest of the table. "What are you doing down there?" The know-it-all asked from her spot next to Neville, "First years are at the end of the table."
Harri tilted her head slightly, "I'm sitting with my new friends." She turned overly large eyes to Oliver and he froze, "It's not against a rule to sit with different years is it? I want to stay with Fred and George. I don't want to move."
"No!" He said a little too loudly, leaning forward, "Gryffindor doesn't really have a seating system. You can sit with whoever you want!"
Harri let her eyes go back to normal, "Thanks so much!" She said with a grin.
Oliver blinked and drew back, "What just happened?" He asked hesitantly as Lee chuckled and the twins almost cackled.
"Works every time." Harri giggled.
"That's brilliant Harriet!" The twins crowed.
"Maybe you can use that to get Oliver to let up on the early morning quidditch practice." George said.
Fred groaned, "Yeah those are awful." He wrapped both arms around Harri, "Please, please, please?" He whined; George quickly joined in on her other side.
"It has to be early in the morning to get in all the practice we can." Oliver protested.
Harri nodded, "Sorry I agree with Oliver on this one. Good quality practice time is important in anything you want to get better at."
"But Harriet!" The twins whined.
"Think of all the awesome tricks you'll be able to pull off with extra time." Harri said, "When I got my books I got one on quidditch and some of those maneuvers look pretty awesome."
The twins shared a look over Harriet's head and nodded, "Show us which ones and we'll learn them." George said.
"And next year when you can have a broom we'll teach you." Fred promised.
"What sort of tricks are you wanting to learn?" Ron butted in from down the table, "I could teach you!"
"And you are?" Harriet asked with a frown.
"Our annoying little brother Ron." Fred offered.
"Who apparently forgot everything mom taught him about manors." Perch chipped in from further along the table.
"And that's our annoying older brother Percy." George told her.
Harri's mouth twitched in an urge to smirk, "Is the rest of your family annoying as well?"
"Pretty much." Fred answered.
"Except Charlie. Charlie is awesome." George added.
"Of course he's awesome." Lee laughed, "He's a dragon handler."
Harri's eyes lit up, she loved talking about dragons. She and Charlie had been great friends last time, especially after they discovered that with a little time she could pick up on the different parseltongue dialects that the dragons spoke. "Really? Have you heard what kind of dragons he's working with?"
Lee smiled, "Last I heard from the twins he was in Romania working with a pod of Welsh Greens getting ready for mating season."
Fred latched onto Harriet's arm, "Dragons are cool but pranks are way more interesting."
"Yeah, you can play with pranks." George said with a pout.
Harri smiled softly at them, she knew the bond had reacted but she didn't expect the jealousy yet, even as small as it was. "Yeah but just imagine riding on a dragon." The twins looked to at least consider that.
Hermione butted in at that, "Riding a dragon would be incredibly dangerous not to mention impossible. They would never let you close enough to get on their back."
Harri frowned at the traitor, "I'm not entirely sure who you are but you keep interrupting like your part of this conversation so I guess I'll answer your little criticisms." The twins snickered and Lee said what Harriet thought was something close to 'oh snap'. "First of all, life is dangerous. I could fall on my quill the wrong way and bleed out, I could choke on food and not have anyone around me to save me, I could fall asleep and just not wake up. The point is that you can't live your life afraid of everything. Better to live well now than regret not doing so on your death bed." Around her the other Gryffindor's were nodding, "As for it being impossible, that's ridiculous. It's been done before, its fallen out of practice because the people who did it were Nagas and they could speak to the dragons."
Hermione looked bewildered, "Where did you learn that?"
Harri lifted an eyebrow, "A book."
Hermione's eyes lit up, "Could I borrow it?"
Harri scoffed, "No, I still don't know who you are and if I remember correctly you yelled at me because I simply bumped into you on the way to the boats. Why would I want to lend my book to you?" Hermione reeled back and Harriet turned back to her mates. The rest of dinner continued much like that. Harriet would talk with the twins, Lee, Oliver, and Neville and Ron and Hermione would try to shove themselves into the conversation.
Finally, Dumbledore stood to give the last minute announcements and lead the school song. Just like the first time, the tune the twins chose was a funeral dirge; Harri chose to just hum along, not wanting her voice to give away anything. When they were dismissed Harri stood up to go but frowned when Dumbledore shouted for her to report to his office over the noise.
"Already getting in trouble huh?" George teased.
"What did you do?" Fred asked.
Harriet shrugged, "I haven't done anything that I can think of." She fiddled with her emergency portkey bracelet. "McGonagall is our head of house right?" She asked them.
"Yeah, why?" They questioned.
Harri gave them a lopsided smile, "I'm not comfortable being alone with most adult males. It has never ended well for me in the past."
Their eyes went wide at the insinuation and they crowded closer to her to keep her separate from the exiting kids, "Do you want us to go with you?" George asked softly.
"That is if you're comfortable with us." Fred said hurriedly, George's eyes widened at that and they took a step back.
Harri smiled at them, "I'm comfortable with you two, but it's probably best you don't come with me. I wouldn't want to get you in trouble before the year even starts." She gestured toward the head table where McGonagall was still sitting, talking to Madame Pomfrey. "I'll just ask Professor McGonagall. She's our head of house, it's her job."
The twins shared a look before nodding, "Alright but we'll wait for you at the entrance to Gryffindor tower." Fred said.
"And if you don't show up in an hour we'll mount a rescue." George promised as they both hugged her, George in front and Fred from behind.
"Thanks guys." She mumbled happily, her soul singing from being completely enveloped in her mates. When they released her, Harri made her way up to the head table through the now empty hall. She drew in on herself and made sure to present the victim Dumbledore was expecting, "Professor McGonagall?" She called softly when she stood at the front table.
Both older witches turned to her and gave her smiles, "Hello Miss Potter. What can I do for you?" McGonagall asked.
"The Headmaster has called me to his office and I would be grateful if you could come with me." Harri said carefully.
McGonagall's eyebrow shot up, "Is there a problem Miss Potter?"
Harri huffed internally but kept her face a mask of pleading, "I'm not sure, but I don't like to be alone with adult men and I was told you were our head of house."
McGonagall and Pomfrey's eyebrows rose at that but the professor stood, "Very well Miss Potter. Let's go."
Harriet followed behind her obediently as they made their way to the Headmaster's office. Once they reached the gargoyle guard Harri made sure her glamour was tight around her and her mental shields were up with harmless made up thoughts in front of the barrier. Stepping into the familiar cluttered office she felt both relief and confusion. Relief because Fawkes was there as well and confusion because in front of the Headmaster's desk sat her trunk with a house elf next to it.
Dumbledore stepped from behind his desk with a smile on his face, "Ah Miss Potter, thank you for coming." He looked over to McGonagall, "Minerva did you need something?"
"I asked her to be here." Harriet said, she pushed memories of Vernon's beatings past her shields as she looked imploringly up at Dumbledore, "I don't like be alone with people." She felt Dumbledore skim her surface thoughts and fought not to strike out at the intrusion.
Dumbledore gave her a smile and his eyes twinkled, "Very well. It's your right to have her here. She is your head of house, but I do hope you will come to trust me. I want only the best for you dear girl." Harri forced herself not to gag as she pasted a hopeful look on her face and nodded. "Good." Dumbledore said, bringing his hands together, "Now, as to why I called you. Do you have something that hisses in your trunk? It has scared the poor house elves and I was not able to get into it to reassure them."
Harri was able to show genuine confusion, "Not that I know of sir. My trunk only has three compartments," 'Actually there's five.' She snickered in her head, "One for my clothes, one for my books, and one for my potions things." 'And one for my more questionable books and one for my weapons.' She thought happily, "None of that stuff hisses as far as I know." 'True.'
Dumbledore nodded, "Very well. Would you open your trunk so we could see what the problem is then?"
Harry nodded, "Of course headmaster." She stepped forward and knelt in front of her trunk, after keying the lock to the main compartment she opened the lid.
She fell backward in surprise when three long slim head popped up from the trunk, *Surprise!* came three excited hisses before they looked at her shocked face and then over at the Headmaster and McGonagall. *Oh shit.* they hissed in unison.
Was that a bit of a cliff hanger? Why yes, yes it was! Mawhahahaha!
See you next Thursday for Checking In with Bruce, Clint, and Tony and the thrilling continuation!