The Purge
Instead of disclaimers, I'm posting trigger warnings. Mentions of child abuse in this chapter.
Also, Harry may be homicidal, but he's still a teenage boy.
Title is a Gilbert and Sullivan reference (as was "Behold the Lord High Executioner").
Oh, and a side note. I have sad news for the people who have been following "What Should Have Happened in Harry Potter." It seems the Fanfiction administrators felt the story violated the guidelines and deleted it.
You've but to Look in on Our Resident Djinn
Harry was used to awkward stares. He was even used to people following him. So the attempt of the two Slytherin girls to sneak up and catch him alone was rather pitiful. However, he decided to play along with their little game and led them to a somewhat secluded stretch of hallway, after first ascertaining that Sally-Anne had noticed this and started following the two girls in case they tried anything.
"Potter!" one of the girls finally called out.
Harry gave a short sigh, his hand already hovering over his wand in case of an attack, and turned to face Daphne Greengrass and Tracey Davis. What surprised him, though, was that neither seemed angry and both had some sort of boxes tucked under their arms.
"Miss Davis, Miss Greengrass," Harry greeted evenly.
"Mr. Potter, we aren't sure how you did it, but we know you were involved in the deaths of Draco and his two goons," said Daphne.
"I don't know what you mean."
"Come off it, Potter," said Tracey. "Your Golden Boy routine may work on some but we know you either were the one who did it or you know who did it."
"Let's just say that you weren't the only girls who were hurt," Harry said, glancing quickly at Sally-Anne Perks who was standing just up the hall. "What makes you so certain that I was the one behind the murders, though?"
"Most people hated Malfoy enough to want the little bastard dead," said Daphne. "But it would take someone with skills worthy of Salazar himself to get away with it. You may look like a typical Gryffindor, but word on the grapevine is it's just a cover."
"A number of Slytherins think you may be responsible," Tracey added. "But so many of us are terrified of what you might do to us if we attempted to rat you out, not that anyone even has any proof it was you. Daphne and I have decided that, as long as you're not going to hurt us or our families, we will cooperate with you in whatever schemes you may be devising. It's the least we can do for the one who avenged our honor, even if you didn't do it for us specifically."
"I'm not going to commit myself to an answer," said Harry. "But as long as you haven't harmed any innocents or don't interfere in justice being delivered on those who did, I'm reasonably certain whoever is behind the attacks will leave you and your loved ones in peace."
At that point, the two girls shoved the boxes they'd been holding into his arms.
"What're these?"
"Peace offerings," said Daphne. "While no one in my family is a Death Eater, we do have some…questionable spells. You'll find a compilation of some of the more useful ones in my gift."
"My family mostly deals with wards," said Tracey. "There are some extremely valuable ward-breaking tools in that box, Potter. Don't lose them."
"And you're giving these to me because…?" said Harry.
"Do we have to spell it out for you, Potter?" said Tracey, clearly irritated. "As Slytherins, we know what side to back. Consider this a sign of our good faith."
"Well, thank very much, Miss Davis, Miss Greengrass."
"Oh, and, Potter, I'm sure you know by now which Slytherins are of the same ilk as Malfoy and his goons. However, I happen to know a few more names from other houses. I'd be willing to share them with you."
"Thank you, Miss Davis," said Harry. "Shall we discuss it after dinner this evening?"
Daphne and Tracey exchanged looks.
"Why, Mr. Potter, are you asking me on a date?" said Tracey.
Harry blushed and sputtered.
"Eight o'clock in the Astronomy Tower," Tracey said with a grin. "Don't be late."
Voldemort rubbed the bridge of where his nose would be if he had one. It had been an extremely frustrating few weeks. Three old magical bloodlines ended; not that Crabbe and Goyle were the perfect poster boys for pureblood society, and the Malfoy spawn was such an annoying little shit that Voldemort would probably have killed the boy himself, but the fact remained that someone had the audacity to kill three of his future recruits.
That could not go unpunished.
It was like the late seventies all over again. The mysterious person who'd been bumping off his Death Eaters in the middle of the night and had never been caught. Lucius even said that he'd been hiding when the person attacked Malfoy Manor once and had witnessed them killed his cousin Cassius Malfoy. The attacker, a woman according to the account, had allegedly ripped Cassius Malfoy's skull out and beat him to death with it.
When Voldemort reminded Lucius that such a thing was not physically possible, the man had said with a shudder: "That's what Cassius thought, too."
There had been a suspicion running rampant that it was the mudblood Lily Potter who had perpetrated those acts. Voldemort himself had three times faced Lily Potter in battle and had been furious at how close she came to defeating him; not that she could've killed him, what with his horcruxes. It had surprised him, though, how she didn't fight back when he attacked in Godric's Hollow back in '81. That alone should have made him suspicious and was probably why he ended up disembodied for thirteen years.
Still, he doubted that Lily Potter could've been behind the murders of his Death Eaters. And it was impossible that she had any hand in the more recent attacks. The possibility that her son might have anything to do with them was so ridiculous Voldemort would have laughed if anyone suggested it. There was no way Dumbledore's Golden Boy would have the guts to kill anyone, which was precisely why the brat was going to die at Voldemort's hands.
The attacker struck eight more times over the following weeks. Each victim was a male from Slytherin, each one had done horrific things to other students, and each one died slowly and painfully. No matter what they did, the DMLE couldn't figure out who the culprit was. Several more days passed and two pureblood boys from Ravenclaw were found mutilated; lists of their crimes against their fellow students were pinned to their chests.
Umbridge was fuming. In her rage, she'd attempted to have the aurors arrest Harry Potter; the boy had been far to cheerful lately and it only stood to reason, in her mind, that he was the guilty party. However, as it was illegal to question an underage student under Veritaserum without consent from their guardian, Harry simply had to bring up his alibi. Umbridge's accusations fell apart within minutes.
Still, the school was left with a terrible problem, and Dumbledore himself was feeling the greatest strain. How was he to convince people that Voldemort was back when he couldn't even convince them that he could stop the rampant murders at his school? There was increasing pressure from the parents to either have him removed or to close down Hogwarts entirely.
"Attention, students," he announced at breakfast one morning in mid-October. "As I am sure you aware, we have been having a series of unpleasant…incidents here at Hogwarts. I assure you, we are doing all in our power to put an end to these attacks."
"Yeah, like you did such a great job three years ago!" someone shouted from the mass of students, causing discontent to rumble through the crowd.
"Please, everyone, settle down," Dumbledore continued. "We are still in the middle of an investigation. I promise you that this will all be sorted out in due time. However, I have been informed that if there is so much as one more incident, the Board of Governors will be taking severe action."
Harry fought to suppress his smirk. One more attack and the old bastard would be booted from the school is what Dumbledore meant. It was clear just by looking at the headmaster that he was on thin ice over a piranha-infested lake whilst being weighed down with an anchor. In all honesty, Harry really couldn't care less what happened to Dumbledore; the man had long been overdue for retirement, if not being imprisoned for his incompetence.
"If anyone has any information about the attacks, I urge you in the strongest possible sense to come forward. Thank you."
Theodore Nott was no idiot; in fact, he was probably the last genuinely Slytherin boy left in his house. Well, he and Blaise Zabini, but Theodore had a disadvantage that Blaise didn't have. While Theodore Nott hadn't done anything himself and personally didn't give a rat's arse about pureblood dogma, he was fully aware of the fact that his father was a Death Eater. So, the only sensible thing he could do to avoid the fate he knew was coming was to meet with the one person who could save his life.
"Um, Potter, can I speak with you?"
Theo flinched a bit under the glares from the Gryffindor table as Harry stood and followed him out of the Great Hall. Theo knew very well that Potter only followed him because he knew he was the most dangerous thing around and that Theo wouldn't stand a chance if he tried anything.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Nott?" Harry said after putting up some privacy charms.
"I know you're the one behind the attacks."
"Well, you certainly are straightforward, aren't you?"
Theo tried to make himself look as small as possible, not easy when Potter was a full head shorter.
"The thing is, I wanted to come right to the point and tell you that I never did anything like what those others did."
"But you held your silence on it and didn't report it, did you?"
"I did! I told Snape about what those bastards Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle did to Daphne and Tracey but he just dismissed it. He said that I was just making it up and that, even if it was true, that's what girls are supposed to be used for. I think he may even have done as much to students himself. I don't have any solid proof, but I've heard things. I'm certain it's happened to some of the older Slytherin girls, but I don't know about the other houses."
Harry grit his teeth. Snape was going to suffer a slow and agonizing death. True, he was already on Harry's list, but now he was bumped a few steps up the ladder until he hovered just under Voldemort.
"Thank you for telling me this, but why do you care?"
Theo shuffled his feet nervously.
"My father is a Death Eater," he admitted with a resigned sigh. "It would be impossible to deny that, especially to you. But I am not like him, I don't want to be anything like him. My father is a monster who's not above hurting his own family. He killed my brother Daniel when he found out he was a Squib. Cut his throat right in front of us. He beat my mother to death with a Bludgeoning Hex because she gave birth to a daughter, my baby sister Eleanor. I have an older sister, Francine, but my father kept her out of Hogwarts to 'homeschool' her as a cover for what he's actually doing."
"And what has he been doing?" Harry's voice was now as cold as ice.
"He's used her since she was eight as a way of making deals with other Dark families," Theo said, clenching his fists. "It's part of an old and illegal pureblood tradition. She's nothing more than prostitute for my father to use to cement his alliances and back-room negotiations. I saw one of these deals take place when I was only seven. I heard her screaming as I watched, helpless, from where I was hiding. I couldn't stop it; I couldn't save her from it."
Theo's eyes were filled with angry tears.
"I just want you promise that, when you go after the adult Death Eaters, that you make my father's death as horrific as possible but spare my sisters. God only knows what's been happening to Eleanor while I've been here at Hogwarts."
Harry paused for a moment and stuck out his hand, which Theo eagerly shook.
Harry was now in a bind. His list only seemed to be growing and he needed to take action against the adult Death Eaters soon. Snape was a dead man walking, but Harry couldn't touch him while Dumbledore was still running the show. However, that could be easily taken care of. He just had to create a distraction that would draw the attention of the aurors from Hogwarts so that he could set Dumbledore up for a dramatic fall.
Thankfully, the Nott situation would be useful. He would take down a Death Eater, save some innocents, draw attention away from Hogwarts, and be able set up Dumbledore's dismissal from the school before the first class on Tuesday. All in a day's work, really.
Hermione looked with concern at her best friend who was currently fast asleep in the middle of History of Magic. She suspected that Harry hadn't been getting much sleep and she doubted he was studying. No, she had begun to suspect that Harry was seeing someone and hadn't bothered to tell her! Hermione had noticed Harry was spending an unusual amount of time away from her and Ron (though the latter was more understandable, considering Ron still hadn't apologized), often in the company of girls Hermione hadn't thought Harry even knew the name of. When she shook him awake at the end of class, he hopped out of his seat and headed straight for the door, only for Hermione to grab him and drag him off down the corridor to a secluded spot to give him a piece of her mind.
"All right, Harry James Potter, I want answers and I want them now," she said.
"Hermione, please, I've had a long night's studying and I'm very-"
"Don't even think of pulling the 'I was studying' line on me, Harry Potter. I know exactly what you are up to."
"You do?" Harry said nervously, thumbing his wand and dreading the thought of having to Obliviate his best friend.
"Yes, I do. And I am outraged that you didn't think to tell me."
"Well, it's not exactly something that's easy to talk about."
"You know you can tell me anything, Harry," Hermione said, sounding exasperated. "I could have helped you, but you didn't even think to bring it up."
"Wait, so you're okay with what I'm doing?"
"What you choose to do in your spare time is up to you, Harry, but it's important that you at least let me know so I won't worry about you when you stay out all night."
"How do you know-?"
"Oh please, the person who's shown up in the common room to give you an alibi is so obviously Luna Lovegood, Polyjuiced to look like you. The only reason no one else has figured it out is because almost everyone in Gryffindor is an idiot, or else so worried about the exams next semester that they don't pay attention."
"So, you'd really like to help me with what I'm doing?"
"Of course I would, Harry. You know I'd support you in anything."
"Great! Because I need an extra hand when I go to torture Mr. Nott to death and get his two daughters out of their abusive environment tonight."
"Wait, what?" Hermione's said, not sure she understood what she'd just heard.
"You said you'd help me with my purge of the magical world. As I just told you, we're hitting Nott's house and setting up something to get Dumbledore booted from Hogwarts. Come on, I'll introduce you to my fellow conspirators." He grabbed her hand and cheerily led her down the hallway.
Hermione's brain, meanwhile, had just gone completely blank for the first time in her entire life.
