Harry the Innocent
By: CNJ
PG-13
2: Rot Spreading
Harry:
"...so Pig has Fred and George's
letters and drops them under my bed," Ron added as he and I walked into
DADA class together. Once we sat behind Cheria and Hermione, Professor
Littwin came in and we quieted down. For these past few weeks, we've
been studying security charms, including blocking the apparating spell.
Like the one Hogsmeade now has, I thought as we took notes.
"So...there will be a project
due in a month on security spells. Pick one topic of the list I have
here on the board and complete report on it. It can be typed on ten
sides of plaques or handwritten on ordinary parchment at ten meters.
You also can either work alone or in a group. Someplace in the report...add
a mini-demonstration of a security charm." Professor Littwin told
us. Some kids groaned.
"Hey, want to work in a
group?" Cheria asked us. I nodded.
"Yeah..." Ron and Hermione
chimed in. So we'd all work together.
"Look at those four, ready
to butter up..." I heard someone mutter. Were they talking about
us? I wondered fearfully. I tried to ignore whoever it was as we
along with others went up and told Professor Littwin of our plans.
"Clinging onto your cronies
more than ever, Potter?" That voice belonged to Malfoy, who is one of the
most obnoxious jackasses in Hogwarts history.
"No more than you hang on
to your yes-men," Ron shot back. Malfoy glared at us and his cronies
Crabbe and Goyle smirked.
Suddenly Malfoy's pointy
face was next to mine. "You can stop worrying for now, Potter, since
we all know you've been scared to go anywhere without your mirrors..."
"You wish, so just shut
up..." I hissed back. I cringed inside. He'd hit just about
on the mark. I ducked away from him and sat with my friends.
Truth is, ever since Voldemort's return and Cedric's death at the end of
fourth year, I have been nervous about wandering far alone. I'm still
nervous around portkeys also. But I'd never let anyone see it, especially
not Malfoy. My hands were shaking as I sat, much to my dismay.
I clenched my fists to steady them.
"Are you all right?" Hermione
asked. I nodded, then we got started in discussing what we'd do our
project on. I pulled up my notebook, glad to be able to concentrate
on this work and push my upset feelings into the back burner.
We spent most of the class
getting started on our project. Our group had a pile of notes and
the class was winding down when a commotion broke out across from us.
We looked up to see Cetin Warrington and Vincent Crabbe punching at each
other. Cetin grabbed his wand and fired a curse at Vincent, making
him stumble back and writhe on the floor. Malfoy was watching the
entire thing with a smirk on his face.
"What is going on here?!"
Professor Littwin flew back into the room, from where she'd stepped into
her office a minute. By then, Vincent had stopped writhing and was
back up. She looked around the Slytherin side. Malfoy gave
her this falsely charming smile that almost made me puke. Beside
me, Ron pretended to gag. My own hand moved toward them when no one
spoke.
"Mr. Malfoy? Mr. Crabbe?"
Professor Littwin pressed.
"I was just working here
on my project; I don't know what that buffoon named Crabbe was up to,"
Malfoy sat up with a superior look on his face.
"Mr. Potter, you want to
add what you saw?" Professor Littwin saw my hand.
"Crabbe...and Cetin...they
were fighting," I said quietly. "The two of them..."
"Snitch, why don't you,
Potter..." someone muttered from the Slytherin side. Crabbe and Cetin
wound up in weekend detention as well as their parents being contacted.
The class ended and we filed out silently. My heart was banging wildly
and I was shaking. It was lunch time by then, so we headed to the
Great Hall to eat, my friends talking all the way, me quiet and shaky.
Am I the only one here still upset about the fight? I wondered as we sat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...so he just snitched on
them..." I heard someone telling another person as I headed upstairs to
the dorms after a night of studying in the library.
"Who...?" It was Owen Cauldwell's
voice and he was talking to Justin Finch-Fletchley. "Harry Potter?"
I stopped in my tracks on the moving staircase right above them.
They continued talking, unaware of my presence right above them.
"That's right," Justin told
him. "From what I heard, Littwin didn't really know who was fighting,
but Harry pointed them out."
"That figures," Owen snorted.
"Hogwart's golden boy. Not surprising that he kisses up the teachers
here." My heart began banging again and I started to shake.
It was almost a replay of my second year when I'd overheard students talking
nastily about me and I was targeted for cruel gossip. Justin and
Owen are both in Hufflepuff and in my year.
"That boy always does think
he's so much smarter than everyone else," Justin added. I stood immobile
a minute, unable to decide whether to come down and confront them or just
pretend I didn't hear them. Before I could make up my mind however,
they vanished down the hall, leaving me churning inside like a shaken glass
ball full of water.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It didn't end there either.
It wasn't the first time this year, I'd overheard myself being badmouthed,
but it seemed like lately it's getting worse. Several times for the
rest of this week, I'd come into class and see students look at me strangely.
I'd try to ignore them and sit and pay attention in class.
"Well, Potter, looks like
others are seeing you for the arse-kisser that you are," Malfoy taunted
on Thursday afternoon outside the Great Hall before dinner.
"And it looks like others
see you for the jackass that you are," I snapped back and tried to push
past him. Crabbe pushed me rudely back. "Excuse me!" I glared
at them.
"Just you watch your back,
Potter," Malfoy hissed. "Most of the teachers, rots that they are
are letting you get away with murder and your little henches do your bidding,
but soon that will end. If my father and others in the Ministry have
any say in it, most of these teachers will go and competent ones will take
their places...and they won't let you get by with the crap you've pulled
around here!"
"Leave him alone!" Hermione,
Ginny, and Ron came running up. Malfoy back up some when he saw them,
but kept his cold gray eyes zeroed in on me.
"Ahhhh, your little henches
to your rescue..." he singsonged. "Everything just falls into place
for Potter. You have it all so orchestrated that it's disgusting."
With that he stalked into the Great Hall. Malfoy is the one that's
disgusting, I thought, fuming as my friends and I entered the Great Hall
ourselves. My hands were shaking as we started to eat.
My hands have been shaking a lot lately, I realized. I tried to steady
them, but they just vibrated like little motors. Great, I thought.
It was leaving the Great Hall afterwards that things really got to me.
Looking back, I don't know why I let it, but it just...did.
"...doesn't see that side
of Harry Potter..." a Hufflepuff I didn't know was saying.
"She never has realized how sneaky he is..."
"Are you joking?" another
student, I think a Ravenclaw put in. "McGonagall practically worships
the ground Harry walks on and was cronies with his parents, so of course
I guess honoring his dead parents' memory, she'll let him get away
with all kinds of rot. Then he has his friends eating out of his
hand. I bet they're friends with him just to be associated with the
Boy Who Liiiived... " I turned and looked in the direction
of where the voices were coming from. I think I saw them, but they
saw me and snaked on stealthily down the hall. My friends were looking
at me in sympathy and Ron glowered after them.
"Those...shits," Ron spat.
"Wait until I get my hands on them!"
"Thanks, Ron..." I didn't
want Ron to wind up in a fight with them. There's enough trouble
already. "B-but...it's..." my stomach twisted painfully and I was
afraid I was going to throw up right here in the corridor in front of half
of Hogwarts. God, no don't let me humiliate myself that way! I silently
willed my stomach to stop lurching. But I still was upset and didn't
feel up to heading to the library again. "I'm....I'm going back to
the dorm...sorry I can't go with you to the library."
"No problem..." Hermione,
Ron, and Cheria chimed. I headed upstairs and to my dorm.
Once inside, I felt safer,
as if the Gryffindor dorm and the Fat Lady were my shield against the hostile
gossip I knew was going around about me. A few others were
there studying and I joined them. At least I didn't have trouble
concentrating on my studies.
"Are you all right, Harry?"
a second year asked softly. Gina, I think is her name. I nodded.
"Thanks..." I smiled, probably
a weak smile at her. I glanced down at my prefect badge. I
felt a bit better that at least the Gryffindor students weren't into the
gossip. I was still hurting from the scene downstairs,
but being here in the Gryffindor dorms soothed me some and my hands stopped
shaking so wildly. Just then, the door opened and my friends stepped
through.
"...so, it's just a stopgap
measure, not the long-lasting spell," Hermione was finishing. "Harry...are
you feeling better?" she asked as the door closed.
"A little," I sat up.
"Merlin, I'm so sorry about
that mean gossip about you," Ginny told me.
"They're just talking from
ignorance, you know," Cheria added. I looked down at the lion design
in the rug of the dorm and traced my finger over the mane. The entire
rug is red and gold and really beautiful. We were quiet a minute.
"Well, no matter what the
others say, we'll always stand by you, Harry," Hermione told me.
"Thanks..." I looked up.
"So...did you get lots done?" They'd gotten some work done, so I
put in my contribution, which was working out the potion dust that would
activate the mini-charm we were adding to our report. My friends
and I were the last ones awake. It was close to midnight when we
went upstairs. I wrote to my great-aunt, but didn't tell her about
any of the gossip I've been overhearing. But somehow I wonder if
she sees through my facade of bravado of calm. On the outside, I
get the feeling I keep a calm air of being in control, but I have
to fight to keep it because on the inside, I've been feeling out of control
and upset, especially these past few months and it's gotten worse these
past few weeks.
More soon!