Disclaimer: In the beginning, nothing of this will be original. Harry potter and all characters plots and elements that are used are property of the author J.K.Rowling. This is an alternate universe fictional story beginning from the end of year one (Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone), the differences should become greater with each chapter.
'Can we pleassse frezzze himss?' Anubis tried to beg in reference to the prick formerly known as Ronald Weasley. The death glares had gained a frosty edge and Harry had found a balding solution poured into his shampoo (Phobos was the one to smell it and Osirus actually spoke out against the other two's wishes). Considering that this normally would not be enough to get on the serpents' bad side except the itching hex aimed at Harry had hit the three instead (the little Weasley's first spell to actually work as intended since he snapped his wand, though he never found out it had). Most of Gryffindor had been distancing themselves from the green eyed wizard since the "Slytherin incident," but oddly enough this did not faze the boy anywhere as much as he thought it would. He had even taken to waiting to arrive at Professor Snape's class until the last moment so he would have to sit in the middle of the Slytherins. It was easier to take their hostile glares to the ones of his own house mates.
'Not yet, but if he continues acting like such an idiot you may have to get in line behind me,' Harry thought towards Phobos. The three had realised on Tuesday evening that they could communicate through directed thoughts. They then realised that they could bring Harry into the loop while they were wrapped around his arm. The hybrid had taken to exploring Hogwarts on their own in the evenings while Harry worked on his homework (it took at least three attempts to write the Potions' essay. He kept wandering off topic "properties of porcupine quills in reference to healing potions," a foot and a half.)
Colin Creevey had some how gotten a hold of Harry's schedule and there was not a session between classes that the camera happy boy had not bumped into Harry. The only photo Colin had succeeded in taking of Harry thus far had been an interesting one of Harry with his robes and shirt off in school pants walking down a corridor (Harry had tried to run away when Colin had been sitting on his bed when he came out of the bath room) barefoot back to the camera and a rather rude gesture with his left hand over his shoulder. The next day he had cornered the first year and threatened to hex him the next time he saw his camera.
If Creevey was not bad enough on his own Lockhart had borrowed Harry from Transfiguration class to give him a talk about celebrity status. He had heard about the green and purple streaked ebony haired wizard's giving away autographed photos. Harry then replied quite calmly, 'sir I definitely do not give them away. I sell them at a galleon each?' That had stupefied the arrogant bleached bimbo.
Phobos themselves had taken to targeting random people during meals for wrongs that only they could see. They would position themselves near an individual and then eat almost every forkful they could. Ron had been the target a number of times (Harry may have encouraged that a few times but not all of them) the aggressive growling of his stomach in Potions first thing in the morning was amusing, even if Gryffindor lost points for distracting the rest of the class from delicate lab work. Ron's destroyed cauldron was just icing on the cake (who could ever guess that a drop liquid fire would set off skeletal strengthening brew?) Particularly when it exploded as said Weasley had thrown some newt eyes at Harry's brew an instant before (he countered it with some gecko tears) Harry knew he was not making any friends of his house mates but he honestly could not push himself enough to truly care.
Tonight though had been interesting. Harry veered away from the common room (for spending time with Dumbledore's minions had not really appealed to him) and had sheltered himself behind the curtains of his four poster bed. The young wizard had his charms book out for class tomorrow morning. He was trying to find particulars of warming and cooling charms and actually noted similarities with burning and freezing ones. Harry had his glasses off (for even though he kept them on most of the time they could get quite annoying falling down his nose while he was engrossed in a chapter) and had a quill and parchment out taking casting notes. He had already developed a way to diagram wand motions (do you have any idea of how many ways you can flick swish or thrust) The wand movement itself had to deal with the weaving of the actual magic but with enough effort he could force the spell to form without them. The next step was to now try to figure out the differences that the variations of the incantations' affected the magical weave, his magic sight provided for him some key insights into these aspects. First step was to actually cast the charms, "Tepidi" would warm and "Pyrum" would scorch both intended for inanimate objects (a chocolate frog had been the unfortunate test dummy, oh the sacrifices made for education) they both were almost identical in the cast. The warming charm targeted the entire object yet the burning one only targeted one specific point on the surface. Having and idea Harry focused his thoughts on casting the warming charm yet used "Pyrum" as the incantation. The magic was recalcitrant but eventually on his third attempt yielded to his will. This led to the discovery that he could even use "Cryum" (the freeze solid charm) to burn (with quite a bit more will). It came to his "watermelon" experiments to realise that the wording of the spell was only minor in the overall casting, that it was the intent of the caster that truly mattered. If he used the accepted incantations the spells came effortless. Yet the less related the incantation is to the intent the more will is required. In fact when he attempted the summoning charm (without previously having done it with the proper incantation a single time) it took so much effort that the young boy passed out in the process.
...
Harry being the first unconscious of course should have been the first awake.
But three in the morning Friday morning was a bit much.
In his boredom Harry continued his reference of the potions that Damon had given him. Knowing a name was one thing but finding their purpose was a whole other issue. Half of them he could not even find in his rudimentary potions texts. Most of those that he could find in his school books only discussed legislation behind it or outlined the special conditions required for brewing. For instance Veritaserum could only be administrated in the presence of a certified Potions Master (there were only a dozen in England) or that only an Auror or an Unspeakable are allowed to consume Polyjuice potions (very restricted substances) or Intangible elixirs can only be produced in controlled atmospheres (including isolation warding) for their tendency to seep deep in the ground and weaken foundations. Most of those not found in school texts could be found in his additional potions references. There was a series of them though that were labelled in runic fashion that Harry could not find even mention of them in any of his books. Titles like "Slow Death," "Living Hell," "Blood of the Living Dead," "Unicorn Bane," "Pandora's Blessing," "Gorgon Sight," and "Cursed Existence" forced Harry to secure them with his own personal wards in one of the JP3's later compartments. He would have to ask the vampire about them. Then he came to the series of gold, silver, platinum, copper, and titanium flasks. These had runic labels as well as regulating runes. The regulation was not that odd considering many of the quartz and glass vials had them as well but the sheer power held in the runes astounded the curious boy. The labels were given simple names "Life," "Spirit," "Speak," "Listen," "Speed," "Agility," "Protect," "Courage," "Sight," "Banish," etceteras encouraged Harry to set these aside as well until he knew what they were more specifically. Harry was halfway through an article on the potion development process and testing using the Wolfsbane potion as the given example, (even thought this potion was only partially developed it was already released for practical use) when he was doused with ice cold water. Turning around he saw the red head walking out of the door.
Muttering a drying charm over himself (his books he had charmed Wednesday lunch when one of Ron's pranks had almost ruined his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages) Harry walked out the door heading down to catch the end breakfast.
...
'He is a Slytherin already. I figured it out over the summer. He really should just sit over at their table. I mean look at him...' Ron Weasley grumbled at breakfast. The food on his plate kept on vanishing and he was sure that Fred and George had struck a deal with the House Elfs. He had stopped using his utensils believing they were charmed to no avail. He finally gave up and just started eating directly from the serving bowl. Percy was horrified at his brother's actions and it took a minute for half the table to turn and stare at in amusement the entertaining second year. Between eating handfuls of scrambled eggs and porridge he continued his conversation with the non responsive Hermione (she was dumbstruck at his manners as well).
It took the drinking directly from the pumpkin juice pitcher to move her into action. 'Ronald Weasley were you raised in the Amazon?!'
'The blasted House Elfs have been clearing any food on my plate before it even touches it! My silver ware is cursed to do the same! It is the only way that I can get a bloody meal,' to highlight his point Ron proceeded to dump some scrambled eggs on his plate. With the rest of the school watching Phobos was not going to touch it. 'Fine then at least my fork is cursed,' and the dense idiot we all know and love shoves a sausage in his mouth.
'Ron you do realise that you just used your fork to put food into your mouth? Maybe you should go see Madam Pomfrey. Just to make sure that the potion explosion did not cause any brain damage, okay?' Hermione simpered at him.
'I am fine! Okay you don't want me to miss Charms class would you,' Ron tried to placate after his outburst. Everyone looked away seeing that the show was over.
A minute latter Ron was dragged out of the hall by an irate transfiguration teacher.
He was licking maple syrup off his fingers.
...
A beet red Weasley was ten minutes late to class.
Today they were learning a charm to make single bubbles appear in chosen colours. The purpose of this was a review of last year's teachings and an introduction into joining thoughts with the charms.
There was only so much stupidity that people could take before it no longer affected them.
Ron's production of the throbbing green boil on Flitwicks forehead forced the teacher to send him out of class with a note for the headmaster.
What did interest Harry though was a mistake of Neville's. He had not been thinking of a specific colour when casting which produced an ugly puke green bubble as it moved into the sunlight from the window it changed to mauve but when Neville morosely popped it the rain of multicoloured drops encouraged Harry in the attempt of creating a colour cycling one.
By the end of the lesson he had been able to have it shift through the entire spectrum. No one actually noticed when he hissed slightly too thin air.
...
'Corporate takeover', how Juliet Mason loved those words. She and her husband were the last two in the office at their corporate headquarters besides the cleaners. In many other businesses the executive officers only make an appearance for the share holders and leave the grunt work to others. Mason Corporation however was not like that at all. The business had started with the two of them and by heaven it would continue to be supported by the two of them. No job two high or two low that they would not do it to pick up the slack. They were directly involved on all levels of the business and had direct say from architecture to waste basket.
Now back to corporate takeover.
A high tech industry based firm was days before bankruptcy. It would have been successful had they not made one rather large corporate law suit, something with some faulty hospital equipment and a pathology labs contamination. Long story short they lost the case and are days from complete shut down.
Mason Corporation is one three bidders or we should say was, Jules in the last twenty four hours called in all her chips and risked it on a double hostile takeover. SeaCross Communications is/was computer and mobile device communications company that was still riding the technology boom. A meeting in two weeks with the board of directors was expected to be a negative about the expansion and upgrade of the existing networks. This expectation in the last five days have unsettled the stock holders and cut the share prices by a third. With inside information leaked to Chris and Jules, they knew that this would be happening they now controlled seventy three percent of the stock.
The second company was Calipso Technologies. It was mostly an aeronautical and space engineering firm supplying components to different countries/ companies around the globe as well as their own GPS and communication satellite network. Jules has followed their stock for months in order grab a hold of this gem. By Monday morning they would have control of fifty eight percent of above mentioned company. The rest of it can be obtained at a latter date.
Hence 'was' considering they would have all three of the bidders. The CEO of the bankrupt company always cut corners in production, having virtually zero to none quality control. The fact that he slapped Jules' ass the last time they met only made the deal that much sweeter. So at the moment Jules and Chris were sitting up in their office going through several proposals of how to reorganize their future companies to have them run smoother. They already had the internal auditors ready to go through the entire operation.
Capturing three companies in the time frame of two weeks was Jules' highest achievement to date and if asked she would know that it was the extra long office hours that secured them.
So Friday night sounding ideas back and forth as they went over the proposals and the middle of the office a burst of fire and feathers and from no where Phobos appears a meter above the Persian rug the three heads shake back and forth as they blink their collective eyes before they soared around the expansive room before coming to a stop over the conference table where the Masons were going over the proposals. They each hissed into the air before curling around the back of Jules neck and dropping a scroll that they had been holding wrapped in their tail unnoticed by the two adults.
...
Friday 6th September
Hey Jules and Chris!
I got here safe and sound if not a little worse for wear.
I wish I could have written to you sooner and I don't know if you are ever going to get a chance to read this. Every letter sent by any owl in the school takes it through the headmaster's office first. I don't even think that any of the staff even realise the extent of this.
I did something so stupid when on the first day of class. He had covered Hedwig with charms and she is my owl, my first friend. I wanted him to not of tainted this one thing so I started to pull them off. I had not listened to Damon's information about Dumble being a master of the dark arts. The spells...
I did not mean to I tried to undo it but it was still too late. The spells were tied into her soul and when I pulled part of them off her soul shattered. Her body still lives but I do not know for how long. She just sits on the perch she was on when she came to greet me. She breaths but there is nothing in her eyes. Her eyes are so dead. I think sometimes that everyone would be better off if I slipped off somewhere where nobody can find me. Then maybe this won't happen to people I care so much about.
I am sorry for bothering you two, I don't even expect you to be able to respond or even read it.
I have no one here. All the friends I thought I had were nothing more than Dumbledore's puppets. Like marionettes he holds all the strings. Appropriate really, if I cut the strings they fall down like dead weight. Dumble has Ron being a prat. The friends I had were nothing but a way for him to manipulate me. It would be so much easier if he just cursed me and I could be oblivious to it all.
I was happy last year living his lie but now that I have seen his bars I want out of his cage.
I saw something the afternoon after Hedwig...
I don't think I am the first person that he has done this to.
I am not sure if it makes me feel better or worse.
Most classes are going all right. Our Defence teacher is another joke. The positive thing is he is such a prat that there is little chance of him actively trying to kill me. Unfortunately his incompetence might. Today he unleashed a horde of Cornish pixies. His books even mention that though placid in the fields and glen they become quite destructive in enclosed areas. I wonder if he even comprehends what he wrote.
Positive side the lack of peer communications have forced me to study harder...
PRAT! I can't believe the nerve of the old man. Ron just came up to me like the last week never happened. He believes that we are still friends. He punches me just because some kid asked for a picture as well as getting a detention without getting to even throw one back and expects me to jump at a chance of being his friend. Well screw that, I should have taken Malfoy's hand last year, at least then I could know not to trust my friends.
Hermione has not said more than a word to me since we got here. She looks at me sometimes as if I were a rock or something to study. I wonder what she thinks though I am afraid to even ask.
I think that just writing this has helped.
I am going to talk to Phobos for a while before going to bed.
I don't think I am going to send this but thankyou for listening.
Love
Your Charge,
Harry
...
The two Masons were both happy and sad at the contents of the letter. The idea of he leaving their life even considering the short time that they have been with each other was incomprehensible. They wrote telling him of the corporate stuff as well as mentioning that the tutor will meet up with them over Christmas. Harry was to be a part of their whole life not just the one behind the gates of home. They wanted him to be able to understand where they came from and where they are going. They did not want to leave him out of anything even though he would not understand most of it yet.
Jules woke up Phobos at around midnight and sent them back with the letter and a package of sweets that they had intended to send it to him.
...
Oliver Wood has a dream.
He will win this year's Quidditch Cup.
He spent so much time with his game plans that some of his homework was not up to his normally high standard.
Last year they would have one if Harry had just let Quirrel go.
It is the highest priority in his books.
He had been up since four making sure that all of his plays are perfect.
Last year they relied too much on their seeker.
This year would be different.
There! The sky is starting to lighten. Time to get everyone up.
...
Harry has been more perceptive this year than he was last year. He was catching more and more details that another might consider minimal. Tuesday night he saw Wood approach Madam Hooch. He then approached her after words and found that Wood had booked the pitch for Saturday morning. Thursday morning Malfoy received a letter via eagle owl (Dumbledore's charms were interestingly absent) and had a smug smile all through lunch. Harry caught the end of the conversation between Malfoy and Flint.
'Let me try out and they are the teams regardless whether or not I make it,' Malfoy said conversationally (though Harry knew he was nervous by the look in his eyes).
'So we let you try for the position and if my brother beats you we still get all seven?'
'Yes as long as he beats me with out outside help or being caught breaking the rules. Deal?'
Harry's curiosity was peeked by the hopeful tone taken by his Slytherin rival.
'Fine deal, have them here by tomorrow morning and I'll see if we can get on the pitch tomorrow and test you two with Snitch and Bludgers. We will be aiming at both of you. Play until Snitch is caught or until both of you or unconscious. Then we will see who gets the spot. Best Slytherin wins. You will get second string at least. I will talk to the rest of the team. Now get to class, Transfig right?'
The Ravenclaws had placed a third year Cho Chang as Seeker. She was a decent player but she follows the other Seeker more often than looking for the Snitch. It may have worked if she held a faster broom except she did not. So unless the Beaters take out the other Seeker then it is already a lost cause.
Harry was more concerned with the fifth year Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. He actually focused his entire being on finding the winged gold ball, only keeping rudimentary observation of the rest of the players and other balls. Generally speaking his were the best instincts between him and Chang, though he was more likely to be hit with a Bludger.
Last years Slytherin Seeker was decent. He could catch the Snitch and he kept an eye out for Bludgers. Unfortunately he also was a seventh year. Being realistic Harry was positive that his first and only win over him was a lucky break.
Harry had written a letter to the Masons to organize his thoughts and figure out what he was going to do next. It had been really cathartic to clear the air around the loss of his pet. Halfway through the letter Phobos had shown up and asked (read annoyed to the point of frustration, three against one was never fair) what he was doing. Which Harry finally replied to writing a letter.
When Ron came in to reconcile Harry restrained his anger. He was not angry at Ron. He was angry at manipulative old goats. He soon realised that Ron was his minder. If he did not want old goats having greater control of his life he would have to play into his hand. Harry spent half an hour coming up with bigger and better ways of taking care of old goats. Phobos seemed to enjoy this though it was Osirus specifically that reminded us that they could not get caught.
His head hit the pillow and he was unconscious before he knew it.
...
'Colin if you come near me again with that camera of yours I will incinerate it. If you stop me once more for no specific point other than to just say hello I will be forced to borrow Filch's manacles and hang you in your underclothes from the rafters in the Great Hall by your big toes. I want a copy of all pictures you have taken of me by this time tomorrow. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? Nod yes or no,' Harry said while picking up the first year (who actually was the same height as him) after being bombarded by questions about Quidditch.
Colin immediately nodded yes. When Harry set him on the floor he scrambled back up the stairs to the first year dorms. Unfortunately for him and the three Chasers it was the wrong set of stairs. They collapsed underneath them and the three girls crashed on top of the unfortunate above mentioned first year.
Harry, with the picture from Colin in his pocket, just shook his head at the calamity and walked out the portrait hole with his Nimbus 2000 over his left shoulder.
...
'...will make all the difference...'
'Oliver may I make a suggestion before you continue on with your diagrams?'
'Harry? Sure,' the captain was instantly curious about the normally quiet Seeker.
'If we go out on the pitch now and warm up in the air we might be able to better remember the plays you have come up with,' Harry nodded his head at the semi conscious team mates.
The over enthusiastic captain blinked owlishly at the preteen's advice. Looking at the rest of the team he seemed to process their condition and immediately said, 'why not?'
...
Okay Harry knew it took quite a bit of fun out of the effort but his magical senses could never be completely ignored and the Quidditch balls were very magical in nature. The Snitch more so than most. In other words it screamed "I am here," on the side of all his perceptions. He followed it as it wandered aimlessly. The team was worried when he became nothing but a speck in the dawn sky only to plummet straight down to only pull up the last second before flying around all three goal posts.
'Have you seen the Snitch?' Wood asked wondering if Harry had finally cracked.
Harry's hand whipped out to Oliver's right ear only to pull back the said winged ball.
'Should I have another go?'
Wood shook his head in the negative before calling everyone in to describe his new strategies before they actually applied them. He had been rather unbalanced when the youngest team member had released the balls during their "warm up" only to go soaring of into the stratosphere.
'You have got to be kidding me. I booked the pitch for today,' Wood cursed out in righteous outrage. 'We'll see about this!'
Harry realising exactly where this was heading. Noticing the blond hair in the back of the group of green robes, he flew down near the Slytherins and shook his head in dismay at Wood's temper and to make the matters worse two second year Gryffindors invaded the pitch. Knowing how this situation would only deteriorate fast, he watched as the new Seeker came forward and they displayed the seven new Nimbus 2001 brooms. Then the famous Weasley big mouth had to be opened.
'What's happening?' Ron asked Harry. 'Why did you stop? And what's he doing here?'
At this point Harry turned upside down and hung with his head at the same level as the red head staring straight at the said Weasley.
'Quite simple,' stated Harry not liking the implied camaraderie. 'He is the newest member of Slytherins Quidditch team. They have permission to use the pitch and have even extended a polite invitation to join them for invading our scheduled time. I thought we, as the Gryffindor team, were going to be discussing some new plays Oliver came up with so I don't really see the need for confrontation nor do I see a reason for the two of you to be out here? Are you here to watch your brothers?'
He may concede to Dumbledore but he would not make it too easy for him.
'Hermione can I borrow a quill and ink for a minute?' Harry turned to the brown haired girl. She handed one over with out even a hesitation. Harry then pulled out the picture he got from Creevey and signed it "From one Seeker to another -Harry Potter."
'Thanks Hermione, can you take the rabid pet back to the castle before he bites and injures himself?' Harry heard the curse uttered behind him and shook his head. 'Too late,' and Harry pointed Ron off the pitch before turning to the Slytherin team's newest acquisition who was trying to control his laughter. 'Congrats Malfoy. So are you any good? Mind if I join you fellows?' Harry released the Snitch he had been holding before handing the photo to the Malfoy heir and taking off, leaving a speechless Gryffindor team as Hermione dragged Weasley off to the hospital wing.
...
Malfoy looked down at the picture of a shirtless barefoot Harry walking away from him giving him the finger.
Quite appropriate he felt. At least if he compared it to their supposed animosity of last year.
The blond boy had no clue what was going on. He tried to figure out Potter's motive.
'We could never have been friends you know,' Harry spoke to the other Seeker that against his team mates wishes was sitting several hundred feet in the air next to him. He continued his thoughts out loud before the blond could respond, 'you insulted the man that had just rescued me from the Dursleys,' the blond tried to figure out why Harry was confiding in him. 'I already have more enemies than I can take care of in one life time. I don't need ones that I can cultivate into healthier relationships. Your family is not with Dumbledore are they?'
At this point Harry once again hung upside down from his broom, 'Doesn't matter any how...'
Harry pointed his broom down before he let it go and free fell.
...
'Bloody hell!'
'...did you hear?'
'..thousand feet!'
'...let go!'
The whispers and exclamations followed Harry as he walked into the Great Hall at dinner. The entire Gryffindor and Slytherin teams had seen him fall through the field of play. Malfoy had zoomed down after him only to see him grab the broom the last instant before swinging around it three times before dismounting. When the teams had flown down to see what Harry was thinking he tossed the winged ball at the blond haired Slytherin. 'Better luck next time,' and with that he walked off the pitch not to be seen until then. The rumours being aided by a picture taken by a certain first year with impeccable timing.
'Mr. Potter, where were you when I was looking for you during lunch?' Professor McGonagall queried after seeing the second year walking towards the opposite end of the Gryffindor table.
'I was reviewing for potions professor. Is there a reason why you are looking for me?' The boy spoke quietly but his voice had a strange edge to it that made Minerva want to keep this conversation as short as possible.
'You will be serving detention tonight at eight helping Professor Lockhart with his fan mail. Now go ahead and grab something to eat before dinner is over,' she replied before turning back to her seat at the staff table.
...
Harry had in fact spent the end of the morning and afternoon reading the letters that Phobos had brought him from the Masons. Osirus had tried to explain their fire travel but had yet to make it clear until they popped across the room (Harry had taken temporary residence in an unused lounge near the headmaster's office, with permission from Hogwarts) with a glass bauble they had recovered from the lake. After reading the letters he wrote a new one for Damon with details of what he had found out thus far. About Hedwig and her soul binding magic. How the headmaster had most the school spell bound specifically his supposed friends. There were several types of the headmaster's minions.
First were the puppets. These were the people who had so many commands on them that the commands were an intrinsic part of their persona. This included Ron, Percy, and Virginia Weasley and Hermione Granger as well as all of the other muggle borns.
Second were there were the automatons. These were those that the headmaster set the general rules for but left in place with little active command changes. This is a lot of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. These commands were complemented by being raised in the light (Dumbledore is "good") though in most instances Dumbledore only had to ask for his will to be so.
If the first two were the hands of the headmaster the next ones would be better defined as his eyes and ears. Dumbledore knew everything that these hear or see and some of what they think. Harry knew that there had to be blind spots to these and was currently trying to find confidentiality spells or curses that could work.
The fourth were recorders. Dumbledore had access to what they see and here but only when he meets them and retrieves it from the spells memory. These included a lot of Ravenclaw and three Slytherins.
As far as he could tell the "purer" the blood line the less susceptible the wizard was to his influence and Hogwarts' wards actually attempted to block some of his charms though they were quite weak.
He told Damon about how he felt Lockhart was an idiot who hardly knew what was written in his own books let alone skilled enough to do the endeavours he claims in the fore mentioned books. He even wrote his discoveries with the charm casting and his desire being linked. Then he posed a few dark magic questions and queries about the potions from Damon's package.
'...I wish a could talk to you in person and could show you what I mean.
Thanks for listening
Harry'
Phobos then proceeded to carry it with them when they disappeared in a puff of feather and flame.
...
Unfortunately for Harry he was already standing outside his defence teacher's office when the man opened the door spilling light out into the second floor corridor. Harry almost decided to just turn around and plead that he could not find the professor for the detention and deal with the consequences at a later date.
'Ah here's the scallywag! he said. 'Come in, Harry, come in.'
Harry trudged into the office to be met with a most horrifying sight. Hundreds of Lockhart's were smiling and winking at him, from within pictures, in various poses wearing the gaudiest robes imaginable. Several of them were already signed. When Harry sat down at the professor's desk the said man pulled out his seat and sat down. Unnerved by all of the grinning idiot's stares Harry kept his eyes pointed directly at a bare spot on the desk.
'Harry, Harry, Harry,' Lockhart reached out a hand and grasped his shoulder. 'I understand how you may want to get noticed, especially with such a noted celebrity already on the grounds - I can only blame myself for not seeing it earlier,' the man prattled on word the look of horror on Harry's face melted into one of amusement, '- but see here young man, you can't go around diving off brooms, to get attention. A child your age should not be doing such drastic stunts. Just calm down, all right? There will be plenty of time for that later when you're older. Yes, yes, I know what you are thinking! "It's all right for him; he's an internationally famous wizard already!" But when I was twelve I was as much a nobody as you are now. Probably more so, I mean a few people have heard about you haven't they? All that business with He Who Must Not Be Named!' He turned his eyes to Harry's forehead. 'I know, I know, it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming-Smile Award five times in a row as I have - but it's a start, Harry, it's a start.' The irritating man then placed a stack of envelopes in front of the boy who lived. 'You can address the envelopes!' Lockhart exclaimed as if he should humble at the honour of doing so.
Harry only smirked as he wrote down the first name. He wondered if Lockhart had realised he was currently wearing a bright green mud mask?
The boy allowed the man to continue with his asinine commentary; attempting give him a hand as a potential celebrity. Every time he wanted to stupefy him he just looked up and grinned. The man for some odd reason the idiot was encouraged by this. Halfway through the fan mail Harry stopped paying attention to the names he was fed and wrote his own altered fan list.
After he started this the time seemed to fly by. Pratt had not been checking the envelopes and Harry knew it was getting late when he heard something that was a tad odd. Lockhart was talking about a photo shoot he had done in Kenya and was completely oblivious to the dying candles around the room.
Besides the oblivious one a different voice sounded. A snake obviously. He could tell that much from all the conversations with the hybrid. This one sounded vindictive 'Come ... Come to messs bearded one, let me rip yousss ... let me tearsss yousss ... let me kill yousss ... no one will locksss Aegisss up againsss ...'
Harry carefully set his quill down and turned to the professor and waited till the man had a moment of silence so he did not have to interrupt him.
Five minutes later and the wizard lost the last of his patience. 'Hey professor did you know that lack of sleep could prematurely age an individual?' Harry suppressed his laugh as the man felt his face and was horrified to find the mask that was flaking off his skin. Harry was not sure if he still realised it was just a mud mask. 'Look at the time, Harry. We really should be off beauty sleep and all that. See you in class next week...' Harry was not sure if the man continued to talk after he left but he was already out the door and down the hall.
The snake was no longer around and he could not sense any indication of where it had gone.
The Gryffindor common room was almost empty by the time he got back to it. The boys' dorm smelled like polish and it seemed to be directed from Ron's bed. Harry assumed he had been polishing armours or some such with Filch. 'Serves the prick right, thought the tired wizard. Getting into his pyjamas Harry got under the covers and closed his eyes as he tried to figure out where the snake's voice was coming from.
Anyone who thinks Dumbledore always does what is in everyones best interests obviously has no experience with human nature. Human beings when it comes down to it are selfish by nature.
The only reason why I would use slash at this stage is to go against social expectations. To say only slash stories are ruined because of the relationships would be entirely false. I think that even more stories are ruined because the writer attempts to pair off Harry with a girl and then focuses on that reguardless what plot they have.
In these type of stories relationships should be treated like proper application of make up. Used to highlight features but hardly noticable. If anyone wants a relationship I think the author should clearly note it is their intention for such.
OK I just had the oddest idea. If Rowling wanted to use a part of fanfiction story would she have to credit the author? And can anyone imagine the lawsuit that would follow if not? It would be all that man bites dog story right?
Oh and by the way I think I read Slytherin_Damian's profile before I brought up slash.