Harry had just finished his breakfast when the owl swooped down with
the letter. His puzzlement over who would be writing to him was only
increased when he saw it was a note from Dumbledore requesting his presence
in his office as soon as breakfast was over. He looked over at the staff
table in an attempt to figure out if he was in trouble. No help there.
Professor Dumbledore had his usual twinkle eyed look, though Snape looked
even more surly than usual, if that were possible. Well he'd know what was
up soon enough anyway. At least Malfoy hadn't been around to make his life
miserable for the last few days. He'd been confined to the hospital wing
since fainting in the library. Oddly enough according to what he'd heard
the blonde haired ferret had been placed in a private room and not even his
fellow slytherins had been allowed to visit him. This had improved the
morale of the other three houses of course as Malfoy hadn't been able to
issue any orders to his lackeys as a result. Reaching the gargoyle he gave
the new password, "red licorice" and a moment later was knocking on the
door.
"Ah Harry please sit. We've been waiting for you."
This caused Harry to look round the room and finally notice that in addition to him and Dumbledore both professor Snape and a young blonde girl were also in the room. Whatever was going on must not be too awful anyway. Dumbledore wasn't in the habit of disciplining students in front of other people. But if he wasn't in trouble then what was going on?
"I suppose you're wondering why I've asked you here this morning."
"Yes headmaster."
"Relax Potter you're not in trouble, though you may wish otherwise befrore this morning is over," said professor Snape.
Harry turned to look at the man. He couldn't believe his eyes. Snape almost seemed to be smiling. This was definitly not a good sign.
"Ahem, as I was saying we've been waiting for you. It seems we have a little problem on our hands. You may have noticed that Ms. Malfoy hasn't been in class of late."
Harry felt an odd sense of dread but tried to ignore it. "Yes headmaster I've noticed." The older wizard's words slowly sunk in. "Wait a minute did you say Ms. Malfoy?"
"Yes Harry I did, and no it wasn't a slip of the tongue. It appears that he or rather she was under an enchantment spell of some sort which made her seem to be a boy. The details of how and why the spell was cast I've yet to discover. How it came to be broken is of course a different matter."
"B-but what does that have to do with me?"
"Well when a spell of this sort is cast there's almost always a weak point, a loophole, if you will. Usually it's some sort of powerful force such as love or in rare cases when a very powerful wizard or witch is nearby sometimes the force of their power is enough to upset the balance of the spell. That's what I believe occured in this case."
"I'm afraid I still don't see what it has to do with me headmaster."
"You've always been a bit slow haven't you potter. Must come from spending so much time with the weasel."
Harry turned to look at the girl. "M-malfoy?"
"Who did you think it was Potter your fairy godmother or something," Malfoy said rising from his chair.
"Now, now Ms. Malfoy there is no need to insult anyone. Please calm yourself."
"Fine," he said as he flounced back down into his chair.
"Well as I was saying Harry such spells fail in the presence of powerful magic and your magic appears to have shorted the spell out. As to why you are here now, well another reason such spells are rarely used is that both the enchanted person and the person who breaks the enchantment are affected."
"Affected how professor?"
"Well," Harry noticed the man was trying not to blush, "they end up bonded Harry."
"Bonded?"
"Yes."
"Bonded how exactly?"
"Really Potter I'd even expect the weasel to be faster on the uptake than this. Just thank Merlin that I'm at least an attractive female."
Thoughts seemed to whirl round in Harry's head as he tried to process what Malfoy was getting at. He tried to stand but his legs seemed unable to support him and just as realization began to dawn on him everything went black. Harry had passed out.
"Ah Harry please sit. We've been waiting for you."
This caused Harry to look round the room and finally notice that in addition to him and Dumbledore both professor Snape and a young blonde girl were also in the room. Whatever was going on must not be too awful anyway. Dumbledore wasn't in the habit of disciplining students in front of other people. But if he wasn't in trouble then what was going on?
"I suppose you're wondering why I've asked you here this morning."
"Yes headmaster."
"Relax Potter you're not in trouble, though you may wish otherwise befrore this morning is over," said professor Snape.
Harry turned to look at the man. He couldn't believe his eyes. Snape almost seemed to be smiling. This was definitly not a good sign.
"Ahem, as I was saying we've been waiting for you. It seems we have a little problem on our hands. You may have noticed that Ms. Malfoy hasn't been in class of late."
Harry felt an odd sense of dread but tried to ignore it. "Yes headmaster I've noticed." The older wizard's words slowly sunk in. "Wait a minute did you say Ms. Malfoy?"
"Yes Harry I did, and no it wasn't a slip of the tongue. It appears that he or rather she was under an enchantment spell of some sort which made her seem to be a boy. The details of how and why the spell was cast I've yet to discover. How it came to be broken is of course a different matter."
"B-but what does that have to do with me?"
"Well when a spell of this sort is cast there's almost always a weak point, a loophole, if you will. Usually it's some sort of powerful force such as love or in rare cases when a very powerful wizard or witch is nearby sometimes the force of their power is enough to upset the balance of the spell. That's what I believe occured in this case."
"I'm afraid I still don't see what it has to do with me headmaster."
"You've always been a bit slow haven't you potter. Must come from spending so much time with the weasel."
Harry turned to look at the girl. "M-malfoy?"
"Who did you think it was Potter your fairy godmother or something," Malfoy said rising from his chair.
"Now, now Ms. Malfoy there is no need to insult anyone. Please calm yourself."
"Fine," he said as he flounced back down into his chair.
"Well as I was saying Harry such spells fail in the presence of powerful magic and your magic appears to have shorted the spell out. As to why you are here now, well another reason such spells are rarely used is that both the enchanted person and the person who breaks the enchantment are affected."
"Affected how professor?"
"Well," Harry noticed the man was trying not to blush, "they end up bonded Harry."
"Bonded?"
"Yes."
"Bonded how exactly?"
"Really Potter I'd even expect the weasel to be faster on the uptake than this. Just thank Merlin that I'm at least an attractive female."
Thoughts seemed to whirl round in Harry's head as he tried to process what Malfoy was getting at. He tried to stand but his legs seemed unable to support him and just as realization began to dawn on him everything went black. Harry had passed out.