Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Book 1, Chapter 9
Posted Date: June 7 2021
Harry's first impression of the headmaster's office after he went up the stairs past the gargoyle sentry, stopping before a floor-mat with an alert rune embedded in it, and through the door riddled with charms?
Opulent to the point Harry wondered about the price tag.
The office was a large and beautiful circular room that boasted many windows and portraits, supposedly those of past headmasters or headmistresses, with what appeared to be the immediate predecessor hanging right behind the claw-footed desk that looked like it could fetch a large sum on the market for both craftsmanship and possible age. On both sides of the desk by the walls were shelves upon shelves of old books and tomes with the odd scrolls of parchment nestled at intervals, the different covers and wordings making Harry's fingers twitched at the prospect of reading possibly advanced theories of magic or even those that had been forgotten by time. A number of delicate-looking silver instruments that whirred and emitted small puffs of smoke were found on a number of spindly tables that honestly looked like a mere push of the finger would break the legs without effort. There were several celestial globes stuck onto pillars of stones erected around the office, giving the room an odd feel of rituals being performed there. At the second level behind the desk accessible by two staircases by the sides, it appeared to be a giant globe hung from the ceiling which blocked the window behind it, giving it a very holistic view with the light hitting it from behind.
It honestly felt that the room was designed to give a powerful impression for first-timers, and Harry got the impression that this was the feeling the headmaster would want him to have, if he were there for that matter.
Harry had to give a nod at all the subtle indications of Dumbledore's favoritism towards Gryffindor and his bias against Slytherin when he made his way to the office. The sentry itself was an indicator; a Griffin guarding a door, Griffin-Door. And from what Harry could see around him, the color 'green' appeared to be limited around the office as opposed to other colors, primarily red and gold, to show Dumbledore's support for Gryffindor, only appearing on books that looked ancient and supposedly on text regarding 'dark' magic. There was even a stone slab in the corner that depicted a golden lion holding down a black snake and biting its head off, to show how the 'light' triumphs over the 'dark'.
"Honestly." Filius who had arrived with him in capacity as part of his role as the head let out a hum of annoyance as he looked at his pocket watch. "He called for you and yet he is not here to greet you!"
"On the contrary, he is around." Harry merely glanced around.
"Oh, what makes you say that?"
"He would not just call someone up and not be here to greet, unless he has a habit of doing it to all guests. In this case, I know that he has been seeking a meeting with me for some time, especially with the restrictions placed on him from the restraining order. Given the timing and the placement, he would want to impress me with whatever he has planned." Harry moved closer to the shelf to look at the titles. "If I were to guess, he is either by the bookcase on the left where the platform is covering the top, or standing at the top of the staircase, under an illusion spell and watching my moves while wasting both of our time." Harry turned to look at the stairs with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that right, Headmaster?"
With that statement, the air shifted and the old mage appeared at the top of the staircase, dressed in deep purple with clashing red and yellow, his eyes twinkling away. Harry made sure to keep his eyes directed around his nose or above the head; he may have Occlumency and other protections in place, but this was a wizard that had years of experience and power behind him who likely had mastered Legilimency to an art form. No matter his own dislike or distrust, Harry cannot deny that this was a man who could easily take him down even in his advanced age. Even now, without direct eye contact, Harry could feel the first layer of his external protections beginning to heat up from whatever was directed at him.
He would need to add more layers later.
"Correct, Harry. How did you guess?" The wizard asked, ignorant of what's going on in Harry's mind.
"Elementary. There is the distinct scent of the lemon glaze from the dessert served at lunch and what appears to be remnants of icing on your table." Harry answered with a half-truth. The thing about disillusionment charms was that while it worked great in areas that had few colors and objects, it did not grant true invisibility nor hide the scents of the user, rather the application of the spell merely bends light around the person or object in question if they were still. Harry answered the bit about the scent, but kept back the bit on the light from the second level having an odd shimmer around the wizard's hidden form as he moved, reminding him of the cloaking from that alien warrior from the film hunting down Arnold. "Also, Harry is not my first name, and you will address me as Mister Potter."
"Now Harry, it is fine." Dumbledore spoke as he came down the stairs.
"It is not fine." Harry answered back without giving the old man time to build up steam. "We are not familiar with one another, no matter how much you want to believe. As the headmaster of a school, it is to be expected that you address a student professionally." By this point, Dumbledore was down the stairs and moving to the desk.
"But Harry, I have been good friends with your parents." The old wizard stated as he reached it.
"That relationship was with them, not with me. Do not assume otherwise." Harry smoothly rebuked as he made his way back to the front of the desk. Dumbledore let out a sigh and gave the disappointed grandfatherly look which Harry mentally gave points for trying to be convincing but not really affected. "Now then, what is the school matter that you wish to talk about?"
"Harry, can we not have a normal conversation?" The old wizard was tenacious to say the least. "I merely wish to have a good relationship with you as I did with your parents. There are also matters of great importance that I must tell you, many of which are confidential that need to be told privately, and these restrictions are not helpful." Harry was really glad for his Occlumency as it helped to keep his emotions from showing on his face. Instead, he merely raised an eyebrow in response.
"It depends greatly on the position you are using at the time of the conversation." Harry folded his hands behind his back while applying more power to his mental protections.
"Position?" The confusion was evident in his tone and in both the elders' expressions.
"If you are the headmaster, you can only discuss school matters. If you are the Chief Warlock, you can only deal in legal matters that do not cut into other matters. If you are simply Mister Albus Dumbledore, the civilian, then I might listen provided my true guardian is around. Which is certainly not you, illegally claimed or otherwise." Harry might have emphasized on the word a little too much, but he had the right, ignoring the raised eyebrow from the Charms Professor. "I won't bother with the ICW position since that is just a position to act as a tiebreaker on the international level. Not to mention using that in local matters of minor severity is considered a little over the top."
"While you are in the position of Headmaster, you also cannot claim loco parentis over me since" - Harry held out a hand and counted them down - "One: I already have a set of guardians that are taking care of me. Two: In this school, Professor Filius Flitwick is my magical contact who claims loco parentis within reason. Three: Your position has been stripped of those rights, with said rights now under the management of the Lily Evans Foundation and updated to ensure everyone is properly taken care of. There is a fourth point but I will keep that to myself." Harry spoke while mentally thinking about said point that would be very useful in the long run. "And lastly, there is the restraining order which came about because of your supposed handling of my care. Among the terms written, one point is indicative for this and future meetings: You can only interact with me as headmaster to a student, not anyone else, and not overstepping your boundaries. That includes referring to me in such a familiar manner, so you will refer to me as Mister Potter, not with my first name or other nicknames." He paused before continuing "Now, may we discuss the school matter?"
The old man let out another grandfatherly sigh as he sat in his chair and gestured to Harry to sit down. The young boy took a moment to examine the chair before taking a seat on it. "Lemon Drop?" The old wizard offered a big glass bowl of yellow candy to him.
"No thank you. I do not snack on sweets." Harry refused more for safety, having read how easy it was for people to potion others. Dumbledore merely shrugged as he took one for himself before turning to the Charms Professor who was still standing. "Thank you Filius, you may leave."
"By Mister Potter's request, I am staying as his head of house by his request. This is also in accordance with the restraining order on you." Filius answered without pause.
"Now Filius, he is perfectly fine, he is safe under my care and I am sure you have matters to attend to."
"Albus." Harry felt the hair on the back of his neck standing slightly at the tone the small professor was using as he spoke. "Perhaps you need a refresher on what has happened in the past few months if not the years before that, and certainly the conversation that was going on for the last minute. You are currently under a restraining order that, among the terms dictated, stated clearly that Mister Potter is never to be left alone with you at all times. While at Hogwarts, if you desire to have a meeting or a conversation with him, he must be with his head of house, otherwise be with his guardian. In that sense, you also cannot try to subvert it with another professor, or anyone else for that matter unless Harry or his guardian approves them. Even if said professor is the head of another house, which means you cannot use Severus as you would no doubt have wanted today if not for his appointment outside of Hogwarts. Otherwise, you must have forgotten, or be really confident on the punishment that would result in your magic being stripped away, which is considered the best-case scenario."
The tension in the room grew as the professors looked each other in the eye, a battle of wills supposedly being fought between them in the space above the table. Harry was employing his Occlumency to ensure that he did not show any expressions to indicate his slowly growing wariness that this could turn very ugly. While he did not believe Dumbledore would do something so foolish this early on, Harry also did not know what limits the old wizard would cross, based on what he had read up on him and the current environment they were in. He just prayed he did not need to invoke the emergency protocols this soon.
The tension got cut by the sounds of something singing and the room suddenly getting brighter with a fireball appearing above the lone bird perch in the room. Despite wanting to see what was going on, Harry maintained vigilance on Dumbledore just to be on the safe side, and for a moment it appeared to be a good choice as the old man had looked at him and paused in the middle of reaching inside his robes for supposedly his wand. Harry kept a tight grip on his own wand and one of his protection devices on the other, knowing it won't be much for now but it had to count for something. Harry growled inwardly at the heat of his mental protections going up faster in the brief moment, clearly this old wizard has quite the habit of peering into other people's minds.
"Ah, you have good timing." To his credit, the old man did not linger and proceeded to gesture his hand at whatever had arrived. "Meet Fawkes, my companion for many years." Harry did not take the bait and merely adjusted himself when his vision was filled with bright red feathers. He almost pulled out his wand when a soft trill calmed him down enough to see a beady eye looking back at him. With a few seconds to control himself, Harry leaned back to see what had landed on the chair.
Currently perching on the armrest was a goodness to God phoenix with scarlet feathers covering its body with a bright red and gold plumage adorning the wings, with a tail of gold as long as a peacock's swaying behind it. Harry noted the talons and its beak were a bright gold and worryingly sharp, and its black eyes shone with a curiosity as it looked back at him with the head tilted to the side while thrilling softly. The gold aspects of its body appeared to glow with a light that Harry could believe the facts of the phoenix easily seen in the darkest of areas easily. All in all, it was a majestic creature that Harry felt he needed to be very polite in addressing.
Harry took a quick breath before speaking "It is a pleasure to meet you this evening, noble creature. I trust you are well." He added that last bit noting the graying tips on the wings and the slightly aged look it sported. Fawkes in turn trilled again pleasantly, apparently pleased that Harry addressed him nicely and snuggled into his neck briefly before returning to its perch.
"Very well, it is best that we get to the heart of the matter." Dumbledore looked at Harry with the look that was supposed to be a 'Disappointed in You' expression, which Harry would think might be effective if not for the situation. "I understand there was an altercation between you and Mister Weasley earlier in the afternoon."
"The altercation as you put it is nothing more than a disagreement that Weasley has been pushing for too many times. I did not once raise my wand during the 'altercation' and kept dodging the boy's rather pathetic attempts to punch my face while the staff that were in the hall did not do anything to stop it." Harry watched the old man as he spoke "Not even when he attempted to attack Hermione Granger with a possible hex."
"Witnesses stated that you have used magic on him." Harry's response was a raised eyebrow at the rather one-sided view of the situation.
"Your witnesses must have been from those that came right as Weasley attacked us then, and likely a small handful given that you did not ask the ones that were already in the hall that saw what was going on. The only magic that I have used was a protection spell placed on my hand to redirect the spell back at him when he raised his wand at Miss Granger." Harry spoke calmly while considering how the old man wanted to play it.
"Mister Weasley claims that you were the one who had attacked him after he graciously asked for your hand in friendship." Dumbledore apparently wanted to lambast him in a manner that would likely piss any other person off. Too bad for the old man, Harry had goblins test his patience many times over when it came to the finances.
"Mister Weasley evidently has a selective memory" Harry folded his hands while crossing his leg in a manner that he recalled his lessons for high society and using a tone that if Professor Snape were around, he would approve greatly with a scary smirk. "This is the same Mister Weasley who has constantly ignored my refusals and blatantly lying to everyone by claiming that he is apparently my best mate who had gone on so many adventures and brought him gifts, despite the fact that I have never once laid eyes on him before coming to Hogwarts, let alone going on said adventures and giving him gifts. I have even warned him to stop spreading such lies otherwise he is liable for suing." Granted that last bit was something he added on, but Harry had been considering doing that for a while since the buffoon clearly did not listen.
That bit was helpful as the old wizard was not expecting that, but managed to pull himself together quickly. "Mister Potter, it is not good for you to tell such lies, and Mister Weasley has insisted on his word."
"Even if I do have proof of my truth?" Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a crystal cube that had a ball of light glowing in the center. With a flick of the thumb, the crystal glowed and projected the recording of the incident with Weasley, from the beginning when Weasley kept bugging him all the way to when Filius dragged the boy for punishment. In the entire duration of the video, Harry kept an eye on Dumbledore's expressions to see the reactions. They were minimal, but the wincing and frowns were clear enough to know that Dumbledore could not just ignore it.
And if he did try, well… It was a good thing he had a backup plan.
"That is a remarkable item you have, Mister Potter." Filius remarked as he watched the recording.
"Indeed, one of my better purchases. The recording crystal is designed such that it can capture everything around it for a full day before the capacity is filled. It has been secured in a manner that no one can tamper with the recording, so people cannot claim the recording to be a fabrication." Harry answered as the recording came to a close. "I know for a fact that the DMLE has gotten an order for these crystals to aid with their work."
"And may I ask why you have such a device on you?" Dumbledore asked.
"For situations like this." Harry answered promptly as he palmed the crystal in his hand. "It is to make sure that anyone who tries to claim otherwise would need to back it up. For instance, you are insisting that I am the aggressor despite the witness statements proving that I am merely defending myself and Miss Granger from the attempted hexing by Weasley. If need be, I can also swear an oath to ensure the validity along with Pensieve memories."
"Now Harry…" Dumbledore paused at the glare by Filius and the narrowed eyes by Harry. "Mister Potter, I do not believe such a device is infallible nor is it necessary to have that or take an oath. Perhaps I should take the crystal." Harry let out a smile at that.
"Sure, you can have it." He paused before adding on "This is just one of a few copies I have on the incident. I figured you would need one to review, I already sent one copy to the education disciplinary department to let them know what happened." That definitely got both of the professors' attention.
"Why did you send that? There was no need to do that, I am sure it is a big misunderstanding." Dumbledore showed the first chip in his tone despite keeping his expression.
"Oh, so now it is a misunderstanding?" Harry could not help the snark as he looked at the old man. "When a student gets attacked by another in the middle of the Great Hall and the staff are not doing anything to stop it, it becomes a question of whether standards are being upheld for the student's safety. Regulations in both the charter and the current Ministry laws state very clearly that a third party that has no affiliation to both students and the staff will be required to act as a mediator to ensure that there is no bias. It is already proven that you have been letting standards drop in both safety and education, and that you have been letting the perpetrators go with merely a slap on the wrist. It is also common knowledge that the Weasleys are one of your supporters, or at the least the elder Weasleys. You canceling Ronald Weasley's detentions and trying to punish me despite evidence showing otherwise is just proof of that, so you will not be allowed to handle this in house. Since entering the Magical Side of Britain, I do not have contacts with the people in the Ministry so I can declare not being associated with a third party. The education department handling disciplines is one area that does not have anyone either of us can influence, that part I made sure before coming here." Filius was certainly impressed given the smirk that he was clearly straining to hide, while Dumbledore did not look happy about the possible leak of information.
"You should not have done that; this could be done without bringing in anyone else. This is a small matter, so it would be best that you cancel the request." Dumbledore was laying it thick with the chiding.
"It cannot be canceled, it is standard procedure." Harry looked at him with another raised eyebrow "Surely you have no reason to fear this, all you have to do is follow proper procedure and ensure the correct party is being punished?"
Dumbledore leaned back in chair and attempted to give the 'Disappointed Grandfather' look, but Harry merely looked back while suppressing his expression to deal with the incoming heat from his mental protections. Harry wondered if it was appropriate to have those cowboy showdown tunes going on at this point when the old wizard spoke.
"Mister Weasley was merely trying to be your friend, why won't you give him a chance?"
Oh, so he was going to pull that card huh?
"The manner in which he goes about trying to be friends is honestly atrocious; he keeps shoving people around in wide corridors, interrupting talks and discussions I am having with other students, constantly belittling other people with very harsh titles like Squibs or Birds. Not to mention being too pushy with the whole house system." Harry resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the mental reminders of the boy's attempts to praise Gryffindor. "He keeps on calling every other house a different derogatory name while insisting that Gryffindor is the only house of honor and whatnot."
"Mister Weasley is just looking out for you, as am I, Mister Potter. After all, some of the students you were talking to are of the unsavory type." Harry's eyes twitched at the manner the old wizard just declared some students to be bad, and he could tell from his Force reading that Filius was almost dumbstruck by the old wizard's words and audacity. "Those students are from very Dark Families, the same families that worked with Voldemort after all. He would want you to be safe."
Well, would you look at that? The old wizard just opened up some targets for him.
"So... you are saying that you agree with Weasley that someone like Neville Longbottom, Scott Fawley and Susan Bones, heirs and heiress to their respective families that are reputedly 'Light', are considered 'Dark' and I should not fraternize with them." Harry had to suppress the smirk at the old man's minor twitch. "Because these are the very people that Weasley keeps on interrupting and calling them 'useless', 'brainless', 'people who are trying to drag me to the Death Eaters' and other names that I know the prefects have been penalizing him a fair number of times. At one point, he almost called Miss Bones a very bad name to refer to a female, which I will not say."
"Did he now?" Filius took the tone of one about to deliver punishment. "It seems I need to have another chat with him later, perhaps with Minerva and Pomona in it." Harry decided to ignore that and focused on the old man.
"As I said, these are the people who keep getting shoved around and get interrupted by the red-head who clearly has shown no manners or remorse in doing so. Something I find very surprising and somewhat problematic, considering his family happens to be one of the Twenty-Seven, despite the lower ranking and the state. I would have thought that he would have been raised on the proper procedures to conduct himself in public." Harry had to think about his readings to get that right.
"You are still young, my dear boy. You should not need to concern yourself with the old greetings, Mister Potter. Mister Weasley had the right idea to ignore them, they are outdated and should be abolished." Dumbledore stated as a fact. "You too can ignore it and just address your fellow classmates in the same manner. It would be fine." Harry could hear Filius choking at that statement, understandable that Dumbledore was essentially screwing over years of tradition with that statement.
"Maybe they are old, maybe they are not. What I do know is that the old family lines use them, including my family, and it would be remiss if I were to go about acting like some uncultured baboon who accidentally insults someone on some perceived error. I will not dishonor my family in such a manner." Harry tapped his fingers in a manner similar to that TV series he had briefly glimpsed of some mastermind as he considered his next set of words. "And I must say, it is a little presumptuous of you to consider ignoring the tradition of greeting fellow nobles and lords, given that you are supposed to be the Chief Warlock of Wizengamot, and you are meant to greet them accordingly by their ranks. To not do so is rather rude to say the least." Harry had to wonder what the old man would say now.
"Well, I suppose if you wish to continue with those traditions, I cannot stop you." Dumbledore appeared to be sucking on a very bad lemon while saying that before clearing his expression. "I am sure though that you can let this faux pas go on Mister Weasley's behalf. The both of you can overlook each other's differences and work together on some common ground. You should learn to forgive Mister Weasley, use this opportunity to be friends with him." Dumbledore said it in a manner that sounded like a priest trying to pass down bible sayings, not helped with the slight grandstanding of his arms wide open and his eyes twinkling away. It may be more persuasive if not for his security ward suddenly going on overdrive to stop a mind-probe and possible compulsion to follow him.
"That is my choice, not yours." Harry spoke in a definitive manner to show that he was not taking any crap from the old wizard, along with shutting the mental barricades to stop the intrusion "And you contradict yourself there. You claim that Weasley should be forgiven and granted a second chance, yet earlier you stated that some cannot be trusted and avoided at all cost. Is that really the attitude a headmaster should have?" Harry raised a finger to stop the obvious words coming out "It is a rhetorical question, I know what should be the attitude, and what is your attitude." Harry tilted his head 'innocently' "I believe the particular school matter is over, so I can leave? I do have homework to be completed." To compound that, Harry took a gamble and got out of his seat and moved along with Filius to the door.
Three, two, one…
"Stop, Mister Potter. You have not been given leave."
'Like clockwork.' Harry turned to face Dumbledore who was sporting a stern expression while standing, with his magical aura building slightly to likely intimidate him. Harry merely raised his own enough to cover his senses to ensure he did not get overwhelmed by the feeling, inwardly amused at the old man's attempt to get him to heel while wondering why he and Filius looked surprised at his action. Something to think about later.
"The matter is already completed, so the only reason you are stopping me is either there is another school matter, or you are thinking something is not yet resolved." Harry stated as a fact.
"Indeed, it is not. There is still the matter of your punishment." That got a reaction from Filius who promptly stomped forward with a snarl that reminded Harry of the goblins from Gringotts.
"Punishment for what?" Filius glared at the old man.
"Mister Potter does not understand that force is not the way to forgiveness, and the fact he dares to not follow my advice is clearly a detriment." Dumbledore said it like it was obvious.
Obviously stupid in Harry's opinion.
"And what about Weasley?" Harry calmly asked.
"He has already been punished with house points deducted earlier. You however will be serving detention with me." Dumbledore raised a hand to stop Filius from trying to argue. "This is a school matter, so I have the final say." Harry raised an eyebrow while crossing his arms. To some of the sheep that made up Magical Britain, it might make sense, but the fact that Dumbledore actually did this was a little weird, was he not supposed to be some great wizard?
"Really, and the fact that you are trying to circumvent the restraining order is just a coincidence." Harry could only shake his head at the man's insistence. "Even if I am serving detention, it cannot be with you since it violates the rule again that you are trying to get me alone. If I am serving detention, it is with a different staff member. And even then, this detention does not hold as I already have proof that I did not attack first and Weasley attacked me. The only other reason you, the headmaster of the school, are trying to be this heavy-handed despite the warnings…" Harry tilted his head to the side "You want to pull a negotiation." At that, Harry could see that he guessed right as a brief gleam appeared in the old wizard's eyes. Best to derail whatever he had planned.
"If I were to guess, you are hoping that in exchange for a light punishment or no punishment on my part, I am to retract the copy of the recording that I had sent to the department, in hopes of containing this in-house despite the fact that is the right thing to do." Harry looked on with narrowed eyes. "Am I correct?" Again, the two older wizards had different expressions on their faces, but Harry focused more on the old wizard.
"It would be difficult to stop the procedures, but I am sure that I can smooth it out with the workers on this misunderstanding. All I would need is the recording to be removed or declared invalid, along with an apology from you to them for wasting their precious time. Then perhaps I might overlook this little problem." Dumbledore gave out his words with a tone that practically screamed smugness and arrogance at the supposed victory. Rather than be bothered, Harry gave a laugh as he turned to his head of house.
"I won the bet; you owe me 2 Galleons." Filius grunted with an amused smirk at this point while still looking angry.
"I fail to see what is so funny." Dumbledore frowned at the two. Harry was making sure to have this memory protected for the goblins and his solicitor to view to see their reaction.
"I should thank you for confirming my thoughts and winning a bet with the professor on your possible reaction." Harry did not bother hiding the smirk as he held up another recording crystal, this time glowing a dull red. "I now have proof that you are close to abusing your power in order to railroad the punishment and procedure, along with possible subjugation of a student's rights."
The old wizard looked stricken at that admission while Filius looked amused at that. Harry also saw the wizard's arm slowly moving to the side and decided on a gamble.
"Oh yeah, there is one more feature about the recording crystal that made it such a hit with the DMLE." Harry acted innocently as though he had just recalled a tidbit. "It follows the concept of security cameras, in which someone can use two crystals in pairing mode with one acting as a storage medium. It makes it such that the second crystal can hold a copy of the first as it records co-currently with a feature to cut it off in the event of failure, even over long distances. So, say someone tries to destroy this one," Harry waved said crystal in question "along with removing memories, the second crystal will still be recording in a safe location of the user's choosing, like say, oh I don't know… the place where a solicitor or an investigator could be listening in to the recording." If anyone were seeing him now, they would say that Harry was giving out the smile of an angel that did not meet his stern eyes. "And considering the restraining order that is currently on you, it would be very suspicious if I were to suddenly lose all memory or act differently towards you and others after one meeting with you when I went about making a report on a possible assault. On that note..." Harry titled his head to the side "Can you state for the record that you are giving out proper punishments to us students?"
The atmosphere in the room got heavier as the elder wizards and the portrait occupants who had faked their sleeping figured out that an eleven-year-old was effectively blackmailing the headmaster of the school with proper procedures and legalities, even the phoenix looked on with something close to incredulity and a touch of amusement. Harry was wondering if he needed backup when Filius added in on this.
"You also appeared to have forgotten one thing, Albus. I was there dealing out the punishment for Mister Weasley and compiled the witness statements. It would seem that I did the right thing of submitting my claims along with my own memories to the committee handling the inspection if this is the behavior to expect from you when handling students." It was at this point that Harry noted Filius's wand was already in his hand and primed to fire off a spell if required. "Will you do your job properly, or does the committee have to do that for you?" The silence that set in after that seemed to drag on until Dumbledore let out a sigh.
"Very well, since the both of you decided to make this such a big issue, I have no choice but to revise the punishments." Dumbledore gave a rather theatrical sigh "Mister Weasley shall have the detentions reinstated" The expression on his face made it clear he did not want to do so "As for you Mister Potter." He paused at Filius, lightly tapping his wand on his leg. "You will not be punished for the incident, but 30 points will be taken for your disrespect towards me." Harry restricted himself to a shrug, not truly caring about the points that much since he knew it was just petty revenge on Dumbledore's part.
"At least now, the matter is closed." Harry glanced at Filius "May I be excused now? I do have some assignments to be completed." Filius nodded and the two moved in a manner that they could keep an eye on the headmaster. Right as Filius was about to close the door, Dumbledore went to ask one thing.
"Permit one question out of curiosity. What happened to your scar?" Harry glanced at his professor before turning.
"If you are referring to the one that everyone keeps asking about, I went to a healer to get it removed and patched up years ago, evidently it was cursed as something came screaming out of it." Harry gave a half-truth since his self-made wards did the job of purging it, and his visit to the goblin healers did the rest for him. "Whatever it was in my head, that really pissed the healer off, kept cursing like a sailor." The old wizard went stiff at that, increasing Harry's suspicions that he knew something about it, maybe even left it there in his head all those years without doing a damn thing about it.
"I see." Dumbledore waved a hand to dismiss them, but Harry paused to say one last thing, a little out of spite.
"Oh, and headmaster? You might want to replace your guest chair. It appears to be in need of repair with the wood chips trying to poke through my clothes and spells wanting to pull out my hair along with some old traces of truth compulsion." Harry shrugged with a corner of his mouth twitching "Just thought you should know." With a mental nudge of the Force, the door closed at that point, and the two made their way down the staircase quickly, through the corridor leading to the office and around the corner. Filius briefly raised a finger to alert Harry to stay quiet and to follow him back to Ravenclaw Tower, walking past his office and into a small classroom right next to the door keeper to his dorms. After letting Harry inside, Filius flicked the wand to put up some wards before letting out a sigh.
"Really Mister Potter, that was a very risky move you pulled at that last moment." Filius huffed while turning around.
"I had to think of something to stop him from trying to reach his wand." Harry scratched the back of his head. "It was clear from the get-go that Dumbledore had wanted to keep this in-house and try to get me into a detention with either himself or a teacher of his choosing. The restraining order is currently set to a minimum punishment alert so that he could function on an everyday basis, but it would seem that he would try to push it as hard as he can if it means I am under his thumb. I would need to notify my solicitor on this."
"Those recording crystals you have demonstrated earlier? Do they have those capabilities as you stated?" Filius asked, his curiosity evident now that the meeting was over.
"The primary function does go for at least a day, with some models allowing for close to three days." Harry took out the crystals in question and showed him side by side. "As for the one that I used to record Dumbledore's confession, the bit regarding distance monitoring is actually still in a testing phase." Filius blinked at that.
"Are you telling me, Mister Potter, that you bluffed the headmaster?" Filius asked incredulously, to which Harry simply smirked in reply.
"That feature has been in the works for sometime and meant for the future models, but there were issues with the image and audio streaming over distances. The furthest it can go without losing the quality is within a building. As long as it holds a recording though, it is fine with me." Harry answered while holding the crystal in question. "I will be making copies of this to send back home just in case." Filius rubbed his forehead as he took the time to digest what his student was telling him.
"You want to ask about my scar?" Filius chuckled at that.
"Was that obvious?"
"It would be better if you confirmed it. Regarding what I said, it was true to some extent. There was something in my scar that got purged from the wards that you had experienced upon your first visit, it still left traces in the scar that the healers found during my first checkup. I learned enough curses in the goblin tongue to start my own dictionary." Harry answered with a dry tone. Filius increased the rubbing of his forehead at that.
"About what you said regarding the guest chair in Albus's office, was it true?" Filius asked with a glance between his fingers.
"It certainly felt that way, considering how my protection spells were reacting to the chair." Harry lifted his sleeve and pulled it to reveal some stitching inside. "My robes have been layered with charms and runes that act as the first layer of protection from wear and tears with anti-hair summoning charms along with anti-compulsion charms. Sewn under it is a material similar to Kevlar that helps to prevent stabs and cuts if the first layer gets penetrated, followed by another layer of materials with the same charms and spells to prevent stronger compulsions and curses. I am also wearing a small tank top and shorts of a tough material with similar spells to ensure that my skin will still be protected in the event I must remove my robes from a fire." Filius blinked at that description of Harry's protection.
"Then what about the hair on your head and the blood from your hands or legs? They are exposed, especially your head."
"Runic bracelets to ensure that blood and hair cannot be removed from my body, and a small stick-on tattoo at the back of my neck for my head. My shoes also have runes to prevent any sweat or blood coming out from my feet." Harry answered promptly with a touch of pride at his work, remembering how long he took to get those working to ensure that nothing can be taken without his permission. Reading up on those rituals and stories of people using blood to bind contracts or even kill made him realize how potent blood magic could be and properly paranoid at the possibility of him losing blood in the world where people would be gunning for him. It would require something that was goblin-made to try and cut past the first set of layers, and even then, he had another set of protections in place. Those he was keeping secret just in case.
Harry got knocked out of his musing when he noted the half-goblin professor being quiet and stared at him with an open mouth. "Is there something wrong sir?"
"Have you ever met a man named Alastor Moody by any chance?" Filius asked with a strained voice. Harry threw up his hands at that query.
"Seriously, who is this guy that everyone seems to be comparing me to? The only thing I know about him from is that he is some Auror known to be very good at arresting criminals and extremely paranoid. Do I really resemble this guy in the behavior department that much?" Harry asked incredulously. "I am getting tempted to write to him about this."
"No~ you do not need to do that!" Filius waved his hand and gave a nervous laugh. "Best not to disturb him for something this minor and no need to disrupt your studies. Hehehe!" Harry looked at him as the old half-goblin was pacing in front of him, muttering something under his breath about two entities that should never meet to avoid the world ending.
Now he was really tempted to look the man up, if only to understand why everyone asked him the same question or why they keep trying to stop him from meeting the man.
"Mister Potter." The professor turned to him with a serious expression. "While this situation has been resolved, I would prefer that you keep caution at this point. You were able to get around the issue for now, but the headmaster is definitely coming for you now that there is an opening, not helped with your attempt to essentially blackmail him. Even with the restraining order, he can try to get another meeting, or even 'accidentally' bump into you alone in the corridors."
"Oh, he will." Harry crossed his arms. "There had been a couple of times he had tried to catch me alone in the corridors, it was only thanks to some quick footwork that I slipped past, but he is getting persistent."
"Perhaps it is best that you write to your guardians about this." Filius lightly tapped the side of his pants as he considered the available options.
"I already warned them about the meeting earlier on. They had been on standby ever since you dragged Weasley out of the hall." Harry went to check his watch with a hum "I have another 15 minutes before they decide to check on me and to release the information to the Board just in case."
"... You seriously prepared for this?" Filius asked in disbelief.
"Considering all of the stories I have been getting of Dumbledore stonewalling investigations into the school and letting perpetrators go with merely a slap on the wrist, even if there was evidence of something going on, I will want to make sure that this cannot continue." Harry stated as a matter of fact "It is one thing to say to protect the victim's identity, it is another thing entirely to let the perpetrators go without much punishment and to try and keep his own reputation intact. They will only get worse if he keeps giving them 'second chances' like candy. Best way to cut him off is to procure the evidence and secure it in a manner he cannot get rid of easily or put it under wraps. That is why I sent one copy to my guardians and another to the education department."
Filius let out a whistle with a raised eyebrow. "For one who has only officially met Albus once, you have gotten a better handle of his personality than most."
"I just happen to have people who had met him before as guides." Harry shrugged in good nature. "They have plenty to say about it, some with very colorful language."
"In that case" Filius waved his wand to dispel his wards "We have best to get going, the last thing we need is for you to get caught outside for whatever reason."
"Hence why you brought me to the classroom closest to the entrance, just in case." Harry nodded.
"Just in case." Filius smiled before leaving him alone in the classroom, pausing at the door briefly. "Remind me again, Mister Potter, what are the main issues of the Josephus Theory?" Harry raised an eyebrow at the OWL level question but proceeded to explain based on what he recalled from the book loaned to him. The professor hummed as he listened to the answer. "Very good, well-reasoned indeed." He looked at him with a glint in the eye "I believe that is worth 50 points for that answer. And it just so happens to bring us back to the original points with extra points, what a coincidence." With that he left, leaving Harry to shake his head in amusement.
Very tricky, Professor Filius Flitwick.
Harry sighed as he leaned against the desk and let the tension out of his body, thinking about the meeting he had with the headmaster. He would not lie; he was quite nervous during the meeting and was downright crapping his pants when performing that last action. He may have prepared as much as he could, but he was still an eleven-year-old who officially started his magic education. He was not some cocky ass prodigy who could outwit a chess-master on a dime, that sounded like some amateur writer's attempt at fiction. As stated, the only reason he got away this time was thanks to fore-knowledge provided by others who had interacted with the old wizard before and helped him plan accordingly. He got some idea of the man's personality up close, so he would have something to base other plans on, but he would hope that his interactions with the old man were minimal.
Harry took a few moments to calm himself before flicking his wand to check himself and the room for charms or people in the area, before pulling out a rune stone and pulsing some magic through it, a brief screeching emitting from it before he stopped. After that, he pulled out from his pocket a device that resembled a smaller version of a hand-held radio and fiddled with the knobs while inserting an earpiece to his ear. After getting the desired results in the form of a green light on the bulb, Harry pressed a button by the side and spoke into it.
"This is Harry Potter; can I assume that you got all of that?" The sound of clicking filled his ear softly as he listened carefully and nodded. "Yes, you can hold off for now, but keep the copy along with this recording just in case. I will send another in a short while to the account manager for safe-keeping. That ought to cover all the bases." A bit more clicking came about, its contents making him sigh in tiredness. "No kidding, I am really lucky this time round. He will likely push his luck very soon." Harry checked his watch before continuing. "I got to go now, see if you can tell the others about this, thanks." A bit more clicking in his ear and Harry kept the device in the pocket, checked himself once more, and left the classroom to head to the common room with a hidden smirk.
Step one done.
~ooOOoo~
"Hey Harry!" Terry waved him over to the noticeboard in the common room. "Everything okay? You are not in trouble, right?"
"In trouble? No." Harry shook his head while inwardly rolling his eyes at the memory of the discussion and the fact that a few of his house mates were not so subtly listening in. "As for the former, that depends on how you view it. Dumbledore had evidently overridden Professor Flitwick's punishment for Weasley on grounds of it being 'a minor argument', and tried to scold me for using magic despite the fact that I only used a shield charm to defend Hermione when Weasley took out his wand to hex her, not to mention the other witnesses proving that he was the one who shot first."
"But Weasley was the one attacking and badmouthing us all this time!" Michael Corner grumbled at that news.
"Not that it matters. He stated, without saying any names, that I was the aggressor. Then after I showed proof of Weasley attacking me and Hermione and make sure to push for the punishment, he tried to tell me that I should, and I am quoting him at this, 'learn to forgive Mister Weasley, use this opportunity to be friends with him', all while twinkling away. When I refused and gave my reasons, Dumbledore then attempted to assign me the detention despite the testimonies from all the witnesses and only backed off when Professor Flitwick reminded him that he was there at the incident and about the commission coming to inspect us. Pity really, Professor Flitwick looked ready to introduce some goblin persuasion on him pulling that stunt." Harry let out a frustrated sigh while cracking his neck, mentally thinking to hold back on some of the things he had done until a later date. "For a guy who does not have the job as a preacher, he sure acts like one, for the wrong people as well."
"Seriously? Man, this sucks." Terry shook his head. "I mean, you told us about the bullying issue, and I went to check on the newspapers and the records, even asked the seniors and saw it myself. But you are telling me that Dumbledore is trying to place the blame on the person helping instead of the aggressor?"
"It has been that way for some time apparently." A third-year who just walked past paused to tell him. "People have told you and I about how Hogwarts is supposedly the safest place to learn magic, but that may be restricted to external attacks. Behind these walls, while it seldom gets deadly, it is a question of whether you can keep your head without getting hexed, cursed or even a potion in your drink every now and then. And depending on the attacks, Dumbledore may be good at his job, but he is more liable to make the victim sound like the aggressor while merely taking points away or at the most granting a mild detention for the attacker. Gryffindor is his Ala meter, so odds are good that the members can get away with a light smack of the wrist unless something really screws up."
"And while Slytherin house does have a good number of attackers cursing at us, it will be stupid to think that the other houses do not have their own set of bad eggs, even our house has a few, that I cannot deny. And good luck with Weasley, his family is known for being one of the more hardcore supporters of the headmaster, not to mention them being members of Dumbledore's former house." The senior turned to Harry at this "And on that note, you might need to prepare for a prank or two heading your way."
"The infamous Weasley Twins." Harry stated as a matter of fact rather than a question. He had heard about them roughly a couple of months before coming to Hogwarts, mostly from overhearing a few students complain while shopping at Diagon Alley. They were a pair of pranksters that had been known to go a little over the top with their amusement and target a number of people heavily that annoyed them or just be plain naughty, Slytherin constantly getting the blunt end of the pranks but not restricted to them solely. Even the first years are not safe from them, Harry had seen what happened to one of the Hufflepuff First Years when the boy unknowingly ingested something in his drinks and sprouted donkey ears and braying like one. The boy was traumatized and the seniors were looking a touch murderous at the twins.
For Harry's part, he had unwittingly stopped two of their pranks targeted at the Ravenclaws with his paranoia of checking his food and a couple more at others when he entered a few classrooms, so they had been gunning for him for a while now. In his mind, the twins were just another facet of Hogwarts's infamous track record for unrestricted bullying. He did mention to Flitwick and others about the pranks and the commission having an eye on the learning environment if it was conducive, and that they could write about the bullying going on for their viewing.
Considering the looks on the seniors, Harry got the impression the twins would be expecting plenty of detentions and complaints in the future.
"Okay, I am so~ writing this down." Terry took out his book and wrote down a note about the incident, muttering something about unequal punishments and abuse of power. Ignoring him for now, Harry turned to the noticeboard to see any new updates and sighted an announcement on flying lessons that was coming up.
"So, we are about to have lessons with Hufflepuff by the weekend." Harry turned to the third-year who was still there. "Anything we need to know about the lessons, Daniels?"
"One, never mess around with Professor Hooch. She is strict and she will eat you alive if you fool around with the brooms." The now named Daniels spoke as he looked at the notice. "Two, be careful with handling the brooms for the lessons, most if not all are really old, the charms may not be updated for some time."
"Wait, what?" Michael blinked at the second point. "Are the brooms really that bad?"
"Worse." Daniels snorted while a couple of others nodded in agreement, "when I say old, I meant the brooms themselves are practically ancient, they should be in a museum if not be turned into kindling. I know for a fact that Professor Hooch has been trying to get the brooms replaced but something about budget cuts making it impossible to do so. I actually wrote that bit down for the commission coming up, something about it bothered me. My first lesson had the broom split right down the middle and almost got me doing the splits, in mid-air."
"I see." Harry, the other first year males, and a few of Daniel's friends who were listening in winced as one at that image.
"Anyway, good thing you have the lesson with Hufflepuff. Less chances of problems." Daniels changed the subject with a shudder. "If you were with Gryffindor, you would likely have to deal with a few reckless fools who would want to challenge you. With Slytherin, depending on the individual, they could hex you or get you into trouble with Professor Hooch while making themselves look pretty. And less said about getting those two in one group the better. I believe you have heard of the Potions classes the two houses attend."
"Hard not to." Terry snorted as he finished his quick reminder. "They appeared to be legendary in terms of the number of sabotages, injuries or scuffles going on. I have heard about Snape being biased, although he does not seem to be that bad in our lessons, aside from him complaining of us not performing well and not doing a lot of explaining."
"I think we only got by thanks to Potter here." Michael gestured with his thumb at Harry. "He seems to tolerate us with whatever knowledge Potter has been spouting with those pop quizzes he keeps giving. It distracts him enough to let us work through our potions without interruptions. Though seriously, why won't the teachers switch the houses around for the potions lessons if it is already known that Gryffindor and Slytherin tend to mess with one another."
"I know McGonagall has been complaining about it, but nothing much has happened on that point. While we are on the subject of potions." Daniels turned to Harry with a curious expression. "How on earth did you manage to get Snape to give us this many points? He only ever grants them if he is in a good mood, and even then, it would be at maximum ten on a good day before he takes them back and removes more points." A few of his friends leaned forward themselves to figure out the secret to getting Snape to award more points.
"From what I have heard of him and my brief interaction with him, this is a man who has earned his achievements at a young age and ultimately forced into a role where he has to impart his knowledge on a group of children who would not be mature enough to appreciate the fine arts of potions making." Harry began to talk while mentally noting everyone in the room listening in, subtly or not. "He has a job that cannot afford to have people messing around in the event of an explosion or poisoning, and when people don't listen to him and make those mistakes…" Daniels nodded slowly at that. "It becomes a bit of a cycle; he tries to get children to listen only to have it spit back in his face. He gets angry and gives less instructions, which in turn gets more in trouble."
"As for the pop quizzes, I think it is a mix of him trying to trip me up and seeing how far I have studied on the subject."
"Trip you up?" Daniels blinked at that. Harry paused to consider what he wanted to say.
"From what little I have gathered on him and my family's history, Professor Snape had a rivalry going on with a few people back when they were students themselves, my father included. The professor was a Slytherin, my father was a Gryffindor. And as you know, the rivalry between the two houses is bad, but if you have that type of rivalry during the war…" A few of the seniors winced at the reminder and the thought of how the rivalry could have escalated during that period.
"It is an understatement to say that the two were adversaries. Professor Snape did manage to get along with a few people back then, one who was a dear friend that they both knew and my father did not like that." Harry shrugged to illustrate the idea and hopefully stop the conversation as it was heading for uncharted waters. "There is more information but that is private for him. So long story short, the pop quizzes were to see if I am a lot like my father or not. So far, I am lucky as it has been reported that my father sucked in potions. And in some odd manner, Professor Snape likes the fact that someone could understand the subject enough to answer his questions and not mess up in lessons."
"Well, I guess that is good. And on the bright side, we are getting more points from Potions than ever before!" Daniels's exclamation drew laughs from the others. "In any case, it is a good thing that you guys are not bunched together into one flying lesson. That would have been a mess if not for the fact that the school brooms are so bad that Madam Hooch had restricted the numbers." Harry nodded while privately thinking that Dumbledore would have wanted to get him more involved with Gryffindor given the emphasis he had placed on Ronald Weasley. It was clear from all of the interactions thus far that the Weasley boy had been seeking his companionship as a means to be popular and to become a possible source of information for the old man, though likely the latter would only happen if Harry would let him into his circle, which would only happen if pigs fly in the middle of the apocalypse while doing the Can-Can dance and playing the bagpipes. As a side note, Dumbledore would likely want Harry to be associated with a 'Light' family, given the ridiculous descriptions of those story books or 'factual' manuscripts that kept on going about Potters being a 'Light' Family despite his heritage saying otherwise.
That would also tie in partially to a certain illegal contract that he had found within the first year of entering the magical world with the goblins. It was already voided on grounds of Dumbledore not having the authority to do so, but they held on as evidence for a bigger case against him and a possible case for the family in question.
This was going to be a headache.
~ooOOoo~
The next few days passed without much incident, aside from Harry making an effort to talk with Neville, Parvati and Hermione about their lessons and everyday life so as to maintain a connection formed on the train, even sitting by their tables to discuss minor matters. While Parvati and Neville were doing fine, he was a little concerned for Hermione who appeared to be getting marginalized for her desire for knowledge and her somewhat-bossy attitude that made a number of her own house members get a little nasty with her, Ronald Weasley being at the forefront of that. He made sure that she was at least welcomed to the Ravenclaw table to discuss lessons and other matters while trying to keep her 'bossiness' in check. She was also reminded that as one of the new-bloods sponsored by his foundation, she was essentially under the protection of several families provided she met the expectations listed in the contract and did not do anything illegal that could endanger the families, which included the divulging of secrets of said families or himself, since he was the co-founder of the foundation. While the majority of the sponsee understood and agreed to the terms, Hermione seemed to be struggling with the concept of hiding anything from authority, and rather worryingly, from Albus Dumbledore if asked.
That made for a very trying conversation in which Harry had to use examples from their regular lifestyle to demonstrate how others in power cannot just get others to tell or show secrets, and that she was under no obligation to tell anyone regarding other people's secrets. He even had to use her parents as an example to prove that they themselves do not tell anyone with higher authority than them unless given proper reasons. It took about a couple of hours and a few other new-bloods to help get the idea through, but Hermione seemed to understand it enough to agree.
Harry did not have the heart to remind her about the fine print in the contract that dealt out harsh punishments if she did divulge anything about him despite the repeated warnings. A part of him figured that was a proper precaution in case she did do so, but he resolved to tell her in the future if she gained more of his trust.
By extension of his friendships, Harry ended up having an 'in' with their houses and talked to a few of the other students, mostly from his batch and a couple of seniors. From them, he learned a great deal of what was going on in other houses of sorts and could make an assessment of who was the 'leader' of the packs. He also enjoyed his discussions with the other new-bloods and half-bloods who were under the protection of his foundation and able to trade ideas with them. Justin Finch Fletchley for one was happy that someone else was selected for Eton (not to mention surprised that Harry had completed a few of the subjects at that place as part of his advanced studies) and could understand what he was talking about the subjects provided, with the two often discussing on economics and law that made many around them dizzy from all the jargon going on. Justin also ended up becoming good friends with Terry since Terry's father worked as a lawyer and he grew up learning some of the trade. It was fun to watch the two discuss in detail on the differences of law on both sides of the magical world and modern Britain, and how they wished to have a unified set of laws to aid prosecutors.
For a few of those listening in, they seemed scared for some reason every time they talked about the different laws regarding the punishments. Harry was not sure if the reason Justin and Terry kept it up was so they could scare them with the legal jargon.
He also had a brief talk with those in the upper years to see who were the power players that could influence the juniors. It was not like he did not speak to those in Ravenclaw, rather it was a little stifling what with the rest burying their heads in books. There were some nice seniors while a couple gave him some problematic feelings along with making his intent wards go off slightly:
There was Roger Davies, a third-year British Pure Blood distantly related to Tracey Davis from his year, who had a somewhat prideful attitude that grated on a couple of the others who acted like some wannabe Cassanova. He also had a tendency to get angry when people proved he was wrong on some matters, proving he did not like it if people 'showed him up' as someone put it. Harry made a mental note to stay away unless necessary.
Then there was Cho Chang, a pretty second-year Pure Blood who hailed from China and made him a touch uncomfortable when she was around to talk to him. She was smart based on the few interactions and what he had seen of her work, but there was something about the manner she kept talking to him and how his intent wards kept blasting alarms in his head that made him very wary about her. There was also something about how Padma looked every time Cho came around during their discussions that made him a little uneasy at her expression.
Harry was not sure about it, but he got a bad feeling about this.
He genuinely enjoyed his talks with Cedric Diggory, a very nice third year Hufflepuff whom he had bumped into when leaving the greenhouse and struck up a discussion on just about anything. He seemed to embody everything that was good about the house, and he could tell that the young man could handle whatever came his way. The boy was also quite popular with the ladies it would seem, given how even the fifth-year girls kept giggling around him, but kept being humble which was supposedly inherited from his mother based on discussions with others, and what little he saw, he was also a touch clueless about his popularity.
Although for whatever reason, and he suspected the Weasley Twins for this, whenever Cedric got near a window on a sunny day, Harry got the impression of stars sparkling around him...
From Gryffindor, this was a touch hazardous for him, partially due to the fact the vast majority of the denizens firmly believed that he was either missorted and had to be brought into their house, or that he had 'betrayed his parents' for being in another house. Harry had to resist palming his face at the weird ideas they had about the sorting. Did they honestly believe the British Magical World was split into four houses, and that they could only depend on their own? Did they not read any of the previous war transcripts that showed Gryffindor had its fair share of Death Eaters and criminals? Heck, there were four kids in that house whose fathers were accused of working for Voldemort!
At least the Chasers from the Gryffindor Quidditch Team were nice and more importantly, do not buy into the whole sorting issue, even if the older girls enjoyed ruffling up his hair and pinching his cheeks like those from his own house. And he was not sure why Katie Bell kept blushing around him when talking or ruffling his hair.
Harry did have to limit his interactions with some of the people who kept trying to know him quite intrusively, such as one Lavender Brown who was a little too forward and nosy for his liking, not to mention one major chatterbox who can't seem to understand the meaning of secrets. Also being around her seemed to bring out more 'girliness' out of Parvati, something that Padma was in despair considering how her actions could be misinterpreted and evidently their father was a very strict man who cared a lot about their image. And of course, the fewer interactions he had with Ronald Weasley, the better.
Meaning, none whatsoever.
As for Slytherin house, the progress was slower than a snail considering how a vast majority appeared to hate him for his supposed deeds with Voldemort or his success, while the remainder were watching him from the sides, seemingly trying to find a weakness to bite on. For the first years, the girls were never close enough for him to interact, while on the guys' side, Zacharias Smith seemed to make it his mission to antagonize him while trying to gain a foothold in the house. Harry figured he had to keep an eye on him in case he tried something.
Harry did make a tentative connection with Blaise Zabini, an Italian first year with a knack for wise-ass cracks and sarcasm, and Theodore Nott, another pure-blood first year who was more bookish than the others and was glad to have some intelligent conversation with a dash of curiosity. With some reservations from the others, Harry managed to get them into the study group that he started forming to get together and as an attempt to unite the houses together.
As for Draco Malfoy, that… was complicated.
(Flashback, one day after meeting Dumbledore)
Harry was at his house table having his sandwich that he made for himself and taking a few notes on an idea he got from reading his spell book, his house mates discussing the new lessons a few feet away. He was thinking about applying the idea to one of his experiments when he got to his assigned lab-room to see if it worked before showing it to Filius. He had demonstrated a few of these to the half-goblin and had gotten tentative approval to continue them, so he was hoping with this latest idea, he could expand on them further under wraps.
A drop in volume prompted him to look up to find one Draco Malfoy looking a little skittish at the stares from those near them. "May I help you with something, Heir Malfoy?" Draco seemed to gulp at the question, the use of his position, and at a couple of third-year Ravenclaw seniors looking on with wands lightly tapping the table and eyes trained on him, before taking a deep breath to calm himself down.
"Heir Potter, may I have a quick word with you?" Draco glanced again at the others before looking at him. "In private?" Harry raised an eyebrow at that request while feeling out with the 'Force' to test his intentions. Aside from nervousness, he was genuinely wanting to talk, and from what he could feel, there were no people waiting in ambush anywhere nearby. He was admittedly intrigued, so he decided to get up from his seat (while quickly moving his meal into a food container and shrinking it), cleaning himself off and facing him.
"Very well, Heir Malfoy. Shall we?" Draco nodded and moved towards the doors of the hall, with Harry following after he assured the others that he would be careful. They went to one of the closer classrooms and went inside, with Harry feeling out with his senses again to test for anyone under cover. Once the door was closed, Draco turned to look at him with pinched lips before taking a breath.
"Heir Potter, I wish to formally apologize for my behavior and words during our first introduction a week ago. It was rude of me to think that you would give up your friends so readily just because I showed up. If you're willing, I'd like to try again."
Harry stared at the blonde boy for a moment, mentally amused at the nervousness the albino was portraying while trying to figure out if the latter was serious in his apology. Finally deciding to offer another chance, he replied, "Thank you, Heir Malfoy for your sincere apology. You're correct that it was rude and yes, I am willing to give it another try, provided you are able to do so." He got a little closer and held out his hand, "Hello, my name is Harry Potter Evans."
Draco let out a slightly embarrassed huff before reaching out to shake his hand, "Hello, my name is Draco Malfoy. No additional name."
"See? Not too difficult, was it?" Draco rolled his eyes while Harry laughed in good nature. "So…what's your impression of the school so far?"
"It... is different." Draco answered after considering his answer. "Some of the teachers are good, others are not."
"Let me guess on the latter. A certain stuttering professor?" Draco gave a snort as his answer. "Well hopefully when the commission comes along, he won't be around or at the least picks up the pace."
"That is wishful thinking." Draco seemed to relax a little to answer. "With Dumbledore around, it will be very difficult to get him to do anything. My father is on the Board of School Governors, and even he has trouble trying to get him to agree to certain terms."
"Perhaps." Harry answered while mentally noting that tidbit for later. "But with the Ministry now focusing their eye on Hogwarts, Dumbledore cannot hide whatever issues that deal with education. With the score records showing how low Britain is, I doubt they would want to be shown up by the others."
"I suppose." Draco paused as he looked at me "I heard that Weasley almost got away with the punishment but is now serving detention with Flitwick. What happened exactly if I may ask?" Harry hummed before giving a condensed version of the 'talk' without mentioning the personal bits. On his part, Draco looked faintly impressed by his action and the usage of the recording crystal.
"I think you are the first one to get one above the headmaster." Draco commented after Harry ended the talk. "Father had often commented on how Dumbledore enjoys giving second and third chances to a lot of people while leaving the victims high and dry."
"When dealing with a man of his long experience, you need an ace up your sleeve." Harry answered. Draco looked thoughtful at that before nodding.
"Forgive me for being presumptuous, is there something else you wished to talk about?" Draco looked a touch panicked before clearing his throat.
"Heir Potter, I understand that you are well informed regarding the current society. However, you have yet to enter different circles. If you want to make friends with the right people, I could help you there." Draco offered in a somewhat formal tone, holding out his hand. Harry noted that this was a repeat of their last meeting, but this time he appeared to be genuine in his desire to meet as opposed to bulldozing his way previously. Harry also knew that Draco was the son of Lucius Malfoy, current head of the Noble House of Malfoy and one of the supposed 'Imperiused' Death Eaters. No doubt he was asked to approach Harry in order to establish some form of connection and to hopefully use that to get whatever he wanted at the ministry. Harry paused at this before smiling inwardly.
This could work.
"That's a very generous offer and I would be an idiot to not accept to be on friendly terms with those whose families are successful in our society." Harry said shaking Malfoy's hand, knowing to refuse to do so would be seen as an affront. "However, I would like to point out that we are still eleven-year-olds, so while we are learning the politics of society, we should at least learn to, what is that phrase? Oh right, 'cut loose'. Also, I wish to know you a little better before I can call you a friend." Draco looked a little bothered by that so Harry pressed on.
"By the way, don't take this the wrong way, but you should work a bit on your approach. You'll have to do better to have success in Slytherin." Harry commented.
"What do you mean, Potter?" Draco asked, confused and a bit annoyed. Clearly, while he was pleased that Potter had more or less accepted his offer of being acquaintances, he was a touch offended by him saying his approach wasn't the best.
"I do not want to beat a dead horse, but it bears reminding." Draco looked at him weirdly at that, reminding Harry that this was a magically raised kid. "If you recall the last meeting, you were rude to the people around me at the time. The proper procedure would be to greet everybody after asking for our attention, especially the ladies. It is considered a huge breach in the principles of etiquette, given that you were raised following the pureblood tradition, I would have expected you to follow them almost instinctively." Harry watched Draco wincing at the reminder.
"I'm not a very resentful kind of guy and you do regret your actions, so I'll just let it slip but I expect a polite behavior in the future. It wouldn't look good on me if I was acquainted with somebody who didn't manage to keep polite and behaves respectful, even if he doesn't like a person. You see, even if you think somebody is below you in station, you should avoid showing it to them. Everybody has his own strengths and weaknesses, and you never know when you need to ask for a favour. Perhaps you insulted the only person that knows how to solve a problem you have before and you would therefore be unable to solve it due to your actions. Or you insulted said person's best friend, boyfriend or girlfriend. You limit yourself by that behavior." Malfoy looked like a deer caught in headlights having the facts confronted like that.
"Then, and this is only a well-meant bit of advice, so please don't take offence, you seem to be used to getting what you want by using your family name. I understand being proud of your ancestors; I myself enjoyed learning about my ancestry a few years back. But on your part, you should make a name for yourself. Slytherin is supposed to be the house of cunning and ambition. How do you want people to view or say about you a few years down the road when you've graduated from Hogwarts?" Harry held out both arms to the side and gestured with his left.
"Do you want them to go 'Oh, that's Lucius Malfoy's son who just graduated from Hogwarts'?" Harry then gestured with his right.
"Or do you want them to go 'Oh, that's Draco Malfoy. The guy who… insert what you think you want people to say, perhaps someone who was Qudditch Captain who led his team to victory, or Head-Boy at Hogwarts, or even future candidate for Minister for Magic'?" Harry paused for effect "Which do you think would be more pleasing to you?"
Harry could tell that Draco was ingesting what he had said but kept silent on this to let the message sink in. As much as he loathed doing this, the art of manipulation was to let people do what they wanted to do, but what still worked in your favour. And the Malfoy name having ties to the Ministry meant influence, even if there was a very high chance in the future that Lucius would serve Harry's head on a silver platter if he saw the opportunity to do so. What could tip the favor for him was the boy's behavior, ambitions, and obvious desire to make his family proud. Draco was clearly used to having his father on his end to get his way in life, but with this little speech, Draco would start questioning if he wanted to stay in his father's shadow forever, or be known for his own actions, for his own achievements.
If he could get Draco to think for himself, much could be won.
And considering the spark in Draco's eyes, he may have just got it done.
"Thanks, Harry. You've given me something I'll think about." Draco answered with a grateful tone and a confident smile. Harry nodded before motioning with his hand to his ear, then his mouth, and then to the two doors of the classroom. Draco looked puzzled before widening his eyes, but Harry motioned with his fingers to be silent and go to the door and motioned Draco to do the same. Draco understood what he had planned and with a glint of mischief went to the other door to place his hand on the handle. Harry then spoke out while lifting a hand.
"I am glad to be of assistance. Now that we are done with our business." Harry counted down with his fingers as he talked before opening the door at the same time as Draco with his, revealing their respective first-year housemates and friends who had collapsed onto the ground from losing their balance without the door. "Shall we greet our guests?" He had the feeling that his eyes were doing the twinkling effect that Dumbledore does for his own pair.
"Err… Hi Harry?" Terry waved his hand lazily while Michael groaned underneath him.
"How did you know they were listening in?" Draco asked with a hint of amusement as he looked at his friends from Slytherin who were also in a groaning pile.
"We are kids." Harry snorted. "There will always be someone wanting to listen in since we won't be learning the charms until later, and they will wonder why we are discussing it alone." Draco tilted his head before nodding in agreement.
(End Flashback)
Yes, things were slow going with Draco, but at least Harry would not have to worry about getting stabbed in the back for the moment. They may not be friends yet, but it was preferable than having someone come after him on some perceived slight. And the conversation had some effect on him, but it was early so Harry would watch him.
Harry shook his head at the memory and proceeded to make his way to the area for the flying lessons. With any luck, things would be simple for that period.
A few weeks down the road, Harry would be banging his head against the wall for tempting Lady Luck, while Terry would be laughing his head off at his reaction, with Padma and Su patting his back in amusement and mock pity.
~ooOOoo~
"I think Daniels may have been underestimating the brooms' condition a little." Harry looked down at the brooms on the ground with a critical eye, noting with a touch of trepidation at their worn states.
"More like a lot." Terry lightly tapped at the broom closest to it only to have it lose more twigs from the already depleting tail-end. "I am having second thoughts about this."
"I guess it is a good thing we came early to check on the brooms." Padma had a notable hitch as she tried to find a broom in decent condition, along with Su who was notably pale at the prospect of flying the old brooms. "Though trying to get a good one may be like finding a needle in a haystack." Harry turned to see a few of his friends looking none too confident themselves while searching for a sturdy broom, Neville being the most obvious with his fear. Unfortunately, time was not on their side.
"Well, what are you waiting for? Stand by your brooms!" Professor Rolanda Hooch, their flying instructor who had been there and waiting, spoke out while the remainder of their two houses came from behind. Harry ended up between Neville and Padma, with Terry on Neville's other side, trying to ignore the Hooch mumbling about the lack of good brooms and budget cuts.
"Neville, you might want to take a chill pill." Terry looked at the nervous wreck that was Neville with a frown. "Yeah, the brooms suck but we should still be safe. And if anything, you have a better shot since you are raised around magic."
"But I never really flown before, Gran keeps thinking I will fall." Neville gulped while he looked at his broom that honestly looked pathetic in Harry's eyes. "I keep tripping and stuff, so I never get to take a broom up." Harry frowned inwardly at that mention, but decided to hold off on his thoughts. Looking at his own, Harry noted its relatively better state than the others and the rather decrepit state of Neville's that had an odd feeling from it, before he came to a decision. As Professor Hooch turned to check on the other students, Harry grabbed his and Neville's brooms and switched them quickly.
"Harry?" Neville, Terry and Padma looked at him with confusion.
"His broom looked worse, so I switched it with mine." Harry shrugged. "Better be safe than sorry."
"But Harry…" Neville tried to refuse, only for Harry to place a hand on his shoulder.
"It is fine, don't worry." Harry patted his shoulder and looked back to the teacher who had gone to the front and turned to face them.
"Good afternoon and welcome to your first flying lesson. Well, let's not twiddle our thumbs; this is a completely practical lesson so there is little need for your wands. Hold out your hands over your brooms and say 'Up'." Professor Hooch instructed. Harry held his hand out over the broom and firmly said "up".
'Smack! SNAP!'
The ones closest to him turned to find Harry holding onto the handle while the tail-end lightly spun in the air before crashing to the ground, stabbing it with the broken end, looking ominously like a grave marker stand-in.
"Oh dear, not another one," Professor Hooch sighed while palming her face, "Still, at least it snapped now and not while you were in the air. Stand back for a moment Mr. Potter, you can borrow from one of your classmates later." Harry nodded with a glare at the broken broom and took a few steps back to watch the others try to get their brooms up, although it was clear that the broom snapping only made them more nervous, even for those who had been around magic for a while. "With feeling!"
"Up!" Terry and a few others were clearly getting frustrated from the flopping of the brooms, others seemed glad that the brooms were not responsive. Harry looked at their actions for a moment before turning to Professor Hooch with a thought.
"Professor, is there a spell to catch them in the air or to soften the ground?" The professor turned to Harry with a raised eyebrow.
"There is a spell, Mr. Potter. Why do you wish to know?"
"I just figured since the brooms are easy to break and many of us are first-timers, would it not be prudent to have the ground soften to avoid issues? It may also help with confidence as we can be assured with the thought of not injuring ourselves too much." Harry explained to the flying instructor who gave a thoughtful expression.
"Hmm. That is a good point." She then directed a stern look at him. "Perhaps you have other ideas for this?" That was definitely worded as a statement and not a question, clearly wishing to see where he was going with this.
Harry was willingly obliged with a demonstration. He had been feeling a touch underwhelmed with the studies if he were honest.
Flicking his wand out from the holster, Harry turned to face the open space next to them and paused in fake thoughtfulness, already knowing what he wanted to create but trying to hold back some of his strengths. Giving a nod, Harry gave a few flicks of the wand glowing at the tip before raising his leg and stamping it hard. A couple of the students were about to laugh when the ground started to shake causing a few to stumble slightly. After a moment, four pillars of stone rose from the ground, creating an enclosure that had a small rock boundary around it big enough to let a few people fly in comfortably. A second flick of the wand caused the pillars to start glowing with some symbols on them before fading away, with the tips connecting with each other with a thin beam of light, while a third flick saw a grid like netting appeared briefly a little above the ground.
"Here you go Professor, one flight enclosure for anyone who wishes to play it safe. The symbols on the pillars are there to ensure that anyone going inside will not go outside unless they wish to go higher, in which case they need to come back down to exit. The netting is there as a fail-safe if they were to fall from the broom." Harry turned to face Professor Hooch and asked in an innocent voice, "But I do not know the spell for cushioning the ground, can you help to cast the spell and perhaps give us a couple of pointers?" Behind the surprised professor, Harry could see a few of the others with open jaws, while Terry stuffed his mouth with a fist in an attempt to stifle the laugh from the 'innocent act', and Padma, Lisa and Su shook their heads in good nature.
"Erm, yes. Of course." Professor Hooch shook her head and directed her wand at the ground, muttering "Puppi Supra Terranium" while jabbing to release a light brown spell at the ground, making it glow before fading. "That was the spell to help the ground be soft and act like a bouncy pillow. If anyone wished to test it out, you can do but please be quick with it." That got a fair number of the students to enter the enclosure to see what it was like, until Neville tripped and fell only to bounce lightly into the air while the ground acted like an air cushion before settling down. That prompted the others to jump a few times to test it out, and it was clear after a few moments that a few had forgotten about the lesson when Professor Hooch cleared her throat loudly. With a few blushing, they went to grab their brooms and return to the enclosure, with Harry using his wand to connect a beam of light that he said acted a safety rope to ensure they did not fly over or out of the pillars if they lost control, between their bodies and the pillars. A few students gave grateful looks for that, while the Ravenclaws had the look that told him that he would need to explain about the spells later.
"Now that you have assured yourselves that you are safe, it is time for you to learn to fly." Professor Hooch looked at the neat rows of students with brooms between their legs. "I want you to take a few moments to calm yourselves, then when I give the signal, all of you will kick off the ground and hover for a few seconds before lowering yourself down. Ready?" She looked at the few sporting uneasy expressions while Harry looked at them. She then counted down and placed the whistle in her mouth when one of the Hufflepuffs pushed off the ground too early and her broom went too quickly. Before any could react, the pillars glowed and her brief flight slowed to a halt before pulling her down back to the ground by the now visible tether, allowing her to disembark and take a deep breath.
"Now that is very handy." Professor Hooch commented while quickly checking on the student before determining her safety "Mister Potter, I might need your help to monitor the situation while I conduct the lesson. I will get to you once a few of them pass my test." Harry nodded his agreement and settled himself nearer to his friends as Professor Hooch started in small groups.
"Good thing you know how to put up this netting and pillars." Terry raised an eyebrow with a teasing smile when Harry came to their end "yet you do not know how to soften the ground?"
"There could be an easier spell for all I know." Harry answered while shrugging. "I was only thinking about slowing down if not stopping the broom from going crazy, or to catch the person flying through if they fell off. The times when I tried to soften the ground in case the net fails were unsuccessful. I either changed the ground into solid granite or some weird jelly that nearly swallowed the test dummy whole before turning back with the head above ground." Terry paused to imagine the scene before wincing.
"Yeah, that would be bad. I do not fancy getting my bones crushed or buried." Harry nodded before frowning at Neville who looked to be on the verge of a panic attack despite the assurance of the enclosure. Thinking quickly on his feet, Harry stepped forward to grab his hand before gently removing the broom from him and placing it on the ground.
"Neville, stop what you are doing, and look me in the eye." Neville looked perplexed at the order but did as he said while the others closest looked on. "I want you to close your eyes and take five deep breaths slowly while thinking whatever helps you relax, like reading a book or tending to the plants. Do it now." Neville followed his order clumsily, visibly relaxing around the third breath and not panicking by the last breath. "Now let's see if we can get you to relax for flight. First, have you ever climbed a tree or perhaps had one lift you up?" Neville was about to start panicking again at the first part before pausing at the second to think.
"Not to the first, Gran does not allow me to climb anything. As for the second" Neville looked around as though to check if his grandma was around "There is a cousin tree to the Whomping Willow, the official name is too long, so I just called it the Lasso Willow because the branches act like rope to tie up any invaders and throw them about before releasing them. It is around the Longbottom compound, so I visited it a few times when Gran is not around. It allows me to sit on the branches and lift me up to the tree line to see the surrounding area."
"Okay, that is a good example." Harry pointed to the broom by their feet. "Now let's try that image. Close your eyes and think of the broom as the branch of the tree you mentioned. You want the branch to come to you, you do not feel afraid of it. When you are ready, call out to it." Neville followed his words and took a breath before reaching over his broom.
"Up." With that, the broom rose off the ground and into his hand, smoother and quieter than his earlier attempt. Harry raised a hand to get the others to keep quiet.
"Okay, now you have the branch in your hand. Take a seat on it and imagine you are sitting on top of the branch and you want the tree to raise you up slowly to see above the treeline." Harry watched as Neville seemed to focus too much on it. "No need to strain your thoughts, just think it naturally. Just think of the broom as the branch and let it lift you up on its own." Right as he said it, the broom slowly picked Neville off the ground and hovered a little above the others, prompting a few to mutter in excitement. "All right now, do you have the image? If so, you can open your eyes slowly." Neville did so and gasped in surprise at himself in the air, and aside from an initial wobble, Neville kept himself afloat and started to slightly move around in the air while keeping near to Harry, a widening smile appearing on his face.
"Well done, Mister Potter." Harry blinked and turned to find Professor Hooch close by with her eyes on Neville. "Those are some rather good instructions you have there. Have you flown before?"
"Nope, this is my first flying lesson." Harry shrugged. "Neville has a nervous disposition that requires a little handling." Professor Hooch let out a hum as she watched the nervous boy wave at the others as they cheered him on.
"Maybe you can help with the others?" Professor Hooch directed her thumb behind her, who were flying about a little crazily. "I need to deal with the silly ones." Harry thought a while before nodding. It could be educational for him as well from a third-person standpoint.
And so, they passed the lesson with Harry helping as best as he could for others, some using the same examples as Neville's, with them having better confidence to attempt moving higher and faster. Others required a finer touch and different image to get them to move, like a magic carpet from Arabia (Harry had no idea why this idea worked for the girls, but did not question it or the giggling) Harry did make sure to remind them to remain in the enclosure for their protection if they do not want to fly too high. Towards the final ten minutes, three quarters of the class had completed their lessons and got down, tired but happy with their progress, with a few moving out of the enclosure to try their hand getting higher. Harry was about to get his turn on the broom when something decided to disrupt the lesson.
'GONG!'
Harry snapped his head towards the pillar that was currently glowing a light red on one side, his thoughts on flying replaced with alertness. His worry heightened when a second 'GONG!' reverberated in the area and the pillar glowed brighter.
"Mister Potter, what was that?" Professor Hooch came to his side, her eyes also looking at the pillar.
"Get everyone down on the ground, someone is attacking my pillar. I will buy some time." Harry told her before making his way to the pillar to try and strengthen the runes, while Professor Hooch turned to yell at everyone to come back down to the ground. Harry got to the pillar just as a third 'GONG!' sounded with the pillar now almost red on one side, pausing to check the runes before placing a hand on it. With a deep breath, Harry decided to pull a Yoda moment and poured his 'Force Magic' into the pillar to strengthen it while trying to find where the attack was coming from. With his eyes closed, he did not see the pillar changing green and connecting with the other three pillars to form a more visible barrier, but the others definitely saw it around them.
"Whoa!"
"What is going on?"
"Is Harry doing that?" Padma's voice could be heard from the question, but Harry focused more on protecting them from imminent attacks, and…
Right there!
With another quick pulse, the pillar started to have arcs of electricity gather around a point to form a small ball of plasma before firing off to the entrance leading to the west side of the school, earning a loud yelp from someone in that direction. Harry waited a bit more only to feel the person leaving, but hung on until the presence was gone before letting up on his magic.
"Dude, that was wicked!"
Harry blinked and turned to find Terry looking like he had ingested enough soda to rival a spring ready to launch with the excitement issuing from him, along with Padma and Su looking very interested at what he did. A few of the others were also wondering what had happened while two looked to where the plasma attack went. Professor Hooch came to his side before the others could overwhelm him with questions.
"Mr. Potter, what just happened?" Professor Hooch demanded as she alternated her sights between the pillars and the entrance that the attack went to.
"Someone was attempting to break down the pillar, thankfully the rune protections held on long enough for me to reinforce it a little." Harry answered as he expanded his senses in the background to see if the attacker was still about. "I activated the secondary defence to track and attack the person in question. Looks like that person got away for now."
"I see." Professor Hooch spotted a few students still in the air outside of the enclosure and cursed under her breath. "Those kids really should have better senses than this, I already told them to get down!" Harry was about to remark when his senses flared wildly and his barrier glowed brightly again with another 'GONG!' Before anyone else could react, a scream drew their attention to Lisa who was getting carried away by her broom, unable to remove her hand from it. Two more screams occurred when two others started drifting away in the opposite direction.
"Everybody else on the ground, drop your brooms this instance and move away!" Professor Hooch commanded them as she took out her wand to deal with the two moving into her direction. With a flick, she managed to slow the two down long enough for her to summon ropes to wrap around them and tie them to the nearest pillar. "Mister Potter, can I ask for your assistance to bring those two down? I need to grab Miss Turpin down." Harry was way ahead of her, using the pillars and the rope's connection to gently but quickly bring the two young flyers down to the ground within the barrier.
"Merlin!" Harry turned to find Professor Hooch cursing as Lisa's broom seemed determined to avoid being summoned and kept on moving in sharp turns while climbing, the girl's screaming getting softer in the distance. "I can't get to her, and the brooms are all too old for me to move!" Harry felt out with his senses and growled at the reappearance of whoever it was that tried to destroy his pillars. It would appear that someone wanted to disrupt the lesson and aimed for those outside of the enclosure since the pillars canceled out any spells coming from outside. Among the spells aimed at the barrier, Harry could tell there were compulsions spells with the odd command to 'fly with a broom', and with all the brooms around, he got the impression that many would have done so only to fall later.
Harry merely brought out the pillars partially from boredom and paranoia, looks like the latter came out on top. Now he may have to display something else.
"Terry, Neville, Justin, Michael!" Harry called out to the four. "Gather three others and go to each pillar. When I give the command, I need you guys to pour as much magic as you can into them! Think of it like using your wands but bigger."
"Why? What are you going to do?" Michael asked while the others started to look for the closest ones to help out. Harry answered by looking up to where Lisa was.
"I am going to assist Professor Hooch to help Lisa, but the attacker from earlier may still be around. Hurry!" Terry grabbed Anthony, Su and Padma to move to the pillar Harry was at currently and placed their hands accordingly. Harry looked at the rest before nodding. "Okay, pour it in!" The others notably slumped as the pillars drank their magic hungrily, with Harry noting that they would not last long. Harry flicked out his wand and stood next to the flying instructor, knowing that this required some fine-tuning that could not be done wandlessly.
"Professor, I am going to attempt to extend the tether to Lisa and bring her above us. It won't last long with the distance, so I hope you have a longer alternative when she comes over." Without waiting for her reply, Harry waved his wand in a circle and thrust it in the direction of Lisa, forcing his intentions to the pillars he had made. Answering to his call, the tips glowed brightly and shot off as one towards the girl, encasing her in a bubble and stopping her flight. Harry grunted as the strain of maintaining the bubble built up inside him while trying to bring her in, but with a bit of effort he managed to get her somewhere above them, close enough for Professor Hooch to secure a rope around Lisa to hold her while conjuring a few giant mattresses spread out and stacked to catch her just in case. Only when Professor Hooch gave the okay that Harry released his hold, panting slightly from the exertion.
He was going to need to step up his Force training, that should not have taken that much effort.
"Erm, Harry? Can we stop now?" Terry called out to Harry with a slightly strained tone. Harry gave a quick check before answering back "You guys can stop now." The students selected to help out let out a tired sigh as they pulled back their arms, cutting off the magic and making the pillars dimmed.
"Right then, let's get you down Miss Turpin!" Professor Hooch called out while waving her wand at the rope to pull her down. Every other student standing around began to relax from the sight of the girl getting rescued, but Harry could not help the feeling something was about to go wrong. It was as Lisa was about to enter the enclosure when he felt a flare of magic appeared somewhere and Lisa's broom suddenly gained a second wind and pulled away hard enough to snap the rope.
Harry hated being right at times like this.
"Miss Turpin!" Professor Hooch attempted to use a broom only to break in her hands. "Damn it!" Harry felt out with his senses to see which broom was ideal for her and noted with trepidation that almost all of them appeared to have suddenly obtained 'Brittle Broom Syndrome' and would snap upon first contact, all except one that was oddly enough the closest to him. It would appear that someone wanted him to be the one to use it. Another scream drew his attention to Lisa who had flown off enough to be away and had lost her grip on the broom, sending her plunging to the ground where a statue with a raised sword was below, the tip aimed right for the sky and her back.
The hell with flying, he had a better option.
"Teleportation, don't fail me now." Harry gritted his teeth and 'pushed' hard with his magic, causing the ground beneath his feet to crack briefly as he reappeared right beneath Lisa and grabbed her in mid-air, wincing slightly from both the pain going through his legs from the effort and the screaming from the girl. Harry looked down briefly to note the height before focusing again on his intent.
'Imagine the platform.'
Harry focused on what he wanted before using a leg to 'kick' the air beneath him, the space below his feet suddenly turning opaque and cracking with a definite sound as it briefly slowed his descent before disappearing with the brief glow of a magic circle appearing around his soles. Harry did not stop kicking beneath him, alternating his legs to 'kick' to solidify the air beneath him and to slow down the eventual fall, and more importantly away from the statue. When he was roughly three feet off the ground, Harry took one last breath to kick the air before letting himself drop to the ground and landing on his feet, lightly hissing in pain as his knees protested from the sudden impact. He waited for a while before looking at Lisa who had thankfully stopped screaming and was still holding a death grip on him.
"We are on the ground now, you can let go." Lisa opened one eye to see him before she turned her head around to see that they were, slackening her grip in relief. Harry quickly adjusted his grip to let her stand on her two feet only for her to collapse on her knees, now that the adrenaline from her near-death had worn off.
"Miss Turpin! Mister Potter!" The two of them turned to find Professor Hooch rushing to them with the other students following behind, and much to his chagrin, Professor McGonagall and Filius coming out of the school side entrances and doing the same. He let out a sigh as they came closer, knowing that this was likely to be a long week to a month.
"Professor, can we take a rain check on that flying lesson?"
~ooOOoo~
"Bloody hell, that was a mess and a half." Harry groaned in his chair back in the safety of his room and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He had to spend a bit of time aiding Professor Hooch to get everyone on the ground and away from the broomsticks, and then followed by questioning from Professor McGonagall and Flitwick on the spells used for the barrier and what he did to save Lisa. After that he had to deal with his very enthusiastic classmates that were only held back by Terry who helped to distract them long enough for him to make a getaway to his assigned lab. He just knew that the rumor mill of Hogwarts would get very outrageous with this story, probably something along the lines of him being Magic Jesus summoning Merlin to save people or whatnot.
That would be messed up.
Adding to that, Harry went to examine the broken brooms he had gotten permission to clear his mind only to find spells that were certainly NOT meant for flying. He knew there was something odd when he had examined the broom he had switched with Neville and purposely reinforced his hand to make it break to avoid the issue, but it was upon closer examination that he realized one spell on that broom was a time delayed compulsion to make the flyer have a sudden bout of nervousness and jump ahead, the other was to make the flying spells go crazy before failing at once. The second spell was also found on the other brooms and was fresher than the first, and both required skin contact to work.
And people said he was paranoid to be wearing thin latex gloves spelled to look like actual skin with additional charms to disable contact spells, it was for situations like this that ensured that he would not be affected directly for the most part. It was practicing Constant Vigilance!
(Somewhere in London, a certain soon-to-retire Auror was about to leave for the night when he was suddenly struck with the desire to check the latest 'guest' who had paid the fine for being drunk and was about to be released on bail by his friend. Within minutes of checking him, said criminal was back in his cell, along with his friend who was charged with carrying a hidden weapon, an unlicensed wand and a notebook with details on the latest goods on the black market that would close quite a number of old cases, and a list of contacts for people Amelia had been seeking to place in Azkaban for a while. The old Auror could only thank the stars for reminding him of Constant Vigilance!)
In any event, this was a big concern, and Harry made sure to note it down for the commission while preparing a copy along with a recording to ensure this would not get swept under the rug. He was not sure if it was done as a malicious prank or not, but he did not like it one bit. After that, Harry went back to the Great Hall for dinner only to be besieged by his housemates who were wanting to know how he created the enclosure, followed by complaints from Gryffindor and Slytherin for not being able to fly because McGonagall had stopped all the lessons until the brooms could be examined for tempering and safety measures could be included. Chief among them were Ronald Weasley and Zacharias Smith who seemed to have it in their heads that he was to blame for the lessons being canceled.
As for those curious about what he did, it took some fast talking and a quick copy of notes that gave a light explanation to get them off, but Harry got the impression that the girls he knew from his House were not going to let him go so easily.
Sigh~ this was so troublesome.
The light chime of a bell drew his attention to the Gringotts mailbox that was glowing a light green, indicative of a mail that was high priority. Harry grunted as he moved to open the lid to find a single letter inside it, pausing at the name written and the small note attached with the letter. Reading the note first, Harry frowned at the contents as he considered the complications.
Now, one might wonder why he had Hedwig and the Gringotts mail box at the same time. The white owl was meant for his regular posts with the occasional personal post, while the mailbox was strictly for the major paperwork and documents pertaining to his estates and other matters. There was an arrangement made with Gringotts where all the mail was routed to the Goblins for testing before sending it to him via the two methods, with the owl granted some of the highest protections to ensure that she was protected and the mail was not intercepted. But on the off chance that she got attacked or the mail was lost, it had been charmed to return to the bank before getting through his mailbox.
It would appear that their contingencies came through, Hedwig evidently got intercepted despite the protections and the mail had to be magically sent through his mailbox to avoid being taken. This was rather problematic as it proved that someone (likely an old wizard with a long beard) was now trying to see what mail he would have, and while he may have his mailbox, he would need to be on the alert in case someone managed to crack the magic around the goblin wards and try to restrict the mail. Harry shook his head to clear his mind before picking up the actual letter.
To Mister Potter,
May your enemies tremble before you and their wealth bleed from the corpses.
Let me start by saying that if this letter were to appear in your mailbox as opposed to being carried by that magnificent owl of yours, there is a chance it has been intercepted and would have been sent immediately to ensure it has not been compromised. If Hedwig did deliver this, there is no reason for alarm.
I am pleased to inform you that your individual investments have been going steadily and we are expanding the aforementioned businesses from our last talk in the process. There is also the matter regarding the property you wish to purchase for the expansion of tenants at the alley, we would need to meet up at the earliest convenient timing if we wish to beat the market. We can also discuss some of the improvements you have planned for the building to be used for Miss Caroline's business.
The issue regarding Albus Dumbledore is troubling, your solicitor is currently going through the restraining order again to ensure there are no loopholes. You can rest assured that you can only be in the old wizard's presence for school matters and with your head of house or one of your choosing if not guardian. There is still the matter of him not returning the primary heirlooms; we may have to step up the procedures if we want to get them back. For the moment, the restrictions and protections have been increased to ensure that he does not attempt to circumvent more than required.
Please remain vigilant around Dumbledore, the man did not get to where he is by being a genial grandfather. Even now, he is still trying to find a way to get back the guardianship, otherwise transfer it to someone who works for him. There are also other rules he had allowed the other politicians to make that could limit you in movement and freedom if they figured it out. We are working on the case against him, but even with the recent news and reports, he still has a fair bit of support to maintain his positions, and people he could direct to attack you while keeping his hands clean. You may have protections, but you are in his realm.
One more matter before concluding this letter. Kuro Hoshi from the museum wishes to inform you that the final details regarding the unveiling of the artwork 'Return of the Hound' is almost complete and we might see it done by Christmas if not the new year. He is now conversing with Nebula and Jeremiah on the final stages.
I hope to hear your reply soon.
Sharpclaw the Fourth
Accounts Manager of Gringotts
Harry read the letter twice to make sure he got the words correct before placing the letter down on the desk and leaning back in his chair with his headache gone and a smile appearing on his face. Looks like some matters were going well outside of Hogwarts that he could afford to direct some attention to others. While the bit on Dumbledore was troubling, at least they had backup plans to use. Of course, he would prefer never to use them, but it was better than not having any plans whatsoever.
But the last matter in the letter…
Harry smiled wider as he went to grab the bag of chips from his drawer. He had been wondering about a certain issue ever since he came into the magical world and found out about his family. This was a matter that had understandably pissed a lot of goblins when they found out the truth, and while they could force the issue, they were still considered 'sub-beings' that the Ministry would merely humor their request at best or downright reject with extreme prejudice at worst, and that did not take into account Dumbledore having too much power and popularity on his end that would let sail pass without much issues. It was in subsequent meetings with them that Harry thought of playing the long game: building up evidence against the old man while chipping away the pillars of his power.
It would be slow going, but the cracks would be enough to show people that there was something behind his mask, and Harry merely let those who hated the old man continue to do his work freely while letting Harry's group of advisors get on with the secret task so that they could slowly bring about the changes required. It had taken 3 years, but a major piece of the puzzle was ready to be placed on the board. The results of this would surely anger a good many of the British Population and send shockwaves about the magical world, but this would help get Harry away from Dumbledore even further. The results would not worry him too much if it failed, but he would prefer this matter to succeed to provide some cover for him.
It was labor intensive with lots of investigation and plenty of coded messages exchanged, but this was about to be unveiled in a very big manner. And Harry loved the results when it all came together.
It was as easy as taking a potato chip out of the bag... and eating it!
Just as planned...
… Why did he have the sudden urge to write down names and dates in a black notebook of all things?
Author Notes:
I'm ALIVE!
Hope you enjoy this chapter, apologies for the late entry. Covid is really messing up my work life, since I have to work harder to not get pulled out of the job. It sucks!
My depiction of Dumbledore might be weird to some of you all. I admit that I am basing whatever I have read from both JK Rowling and the other stories on this site to try and create a base template for the old wizard for me to expand on. Hopefully it works.
Let's see if people can tell the secret at the end, shall we?
Until then, I will put my pen down for now...