The Darkness of Harry Potter
Chapter Three
***
The remains of the summer flew past too quickly. Harry spent it at home, as both Ron and Hermione spent the last week of the holidays away - Ron went to stay with his brother Charlie in Romania, and Hermione went with her parents to France. Harry was content to stay with Remus, who seemed to spend most of his time with his nose deep in a book. This left Harry to his own devices, and he frequented Diagon Alley, walking up and down, talking to acquaintances and, mostly, hanging about in the latest boutique to open in the alley.
Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was a small shop with a lot on offer. Before it opened, many had speculated that it would take a lot of custom away from Gambol and Japes joke shop, but since the Weasley twins offered such a new and original selection of goods, this wasn't so. Gambol and Japes specialised in the traditional trick which children would never bore off, and the Weasleys offered them something a little bit different. As Harry browsed the shelves, he noticed many familiar items from when he had known Fred and George Weasley at Hogwarts. One of his favourites was the wide selection of extendable ears, and he stocked up on very realistic false eyes, which could be placed over your eyelids and make you look wide awake while you took a snooze during particularly boring History of Magic lessons. The large range of trick sweets were as popular as they had ever been - puking pastels for faking illness, exploding strawberry bon bons for creating a distraction, chewing gum which made you float, colour-change gobstoppers which not only changed colour themselves, but changed the colour of your skin. But the thing Harry liked best about the shop was it's proprietors.
"HARRY!" Fred appeared from the back room as the bell above the door jangled. He vaulted over the counter and gave Harry a tight hug. "Great to see you! George, get out here, it's Harry!"
The half dozen customers in the shop turned to stare at Harry, who went pink and waved feebly. George came out of the back room and grinned at Harry. "Hey, Harry! Great timing, we were just looking for a new vict-er. . .tester." George held out a handful of little shiny balls, like cake decorations, which jiggled about in his hand, climbing over each other in a desperate struggle to stay at the top of the pile. They seemed to flow, like little blobs of liquid, and they glistened in the light.
"What are they?" Harry asked, peering curiously at the things. They were oddly familiar.
George lowered his voice and beckoned Harry away from the other customers. "Our most amazing breakthrough, Harry! They're invisibility pills. Made from similar stuff to your invisibility cloak, these generate an invisibility field from inside when you swallow them. These are really just prototypes, but they're perfectly safe so I thought I'd let you and Remus give them a try." Fred and George were in a kind of awe of Remus, one of the creators of the Marauder's Map. They often sent him their new products, asking for his opinions, and he was always pleased to test them out. Harry pocketed a fistful of the little glistening drops.
"So how's life, Harry?" Fred asked cheerfully. Harry told them about Remus and Kail, which they took as good news. However, they didn't like the idea of a friend of Lucius Malfoy teaching at Hogwarts.
"Uh-oh, you'd better make sure you've got plenty of pranks lined up to play on him!" laughed George.
Fred scowled. "You'd better make sure you get away with everything too. I dread to imagine how he'd punish miscreants."
George nodded frantically, then darted around the shop, collecting up items he had decided Harry wouldn't be able to survive the next school year without. "Don't worry about paying," he insisted. "If it wasn't for you, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes would still be nothing but a dream."
"And we'd be trainee accountants by now," added Fred, pulling a face.
George vaulted behind the counter again to serve a customer. Harry wondered, as Fred led him out to the back room, if it was physically possible for the Weasley twins to walk round something rather than jump over it. "Look, Harry, we were actually hoping you'd drop by today." His face was suddenly serious. "We heard from Percy recently. He wasn't interested in us or mum and dad -" Fred scowled deeply - "but he wanted us to tell you to be extra careful this year. I told him to go and boil his head for you."
Harry grinned. "Thanks. Did he say why I had to be extra careful?"
"Nope. But he probably heard about this friend of the Malfoys or something."
"Yeah." Harry decided he didn't want to talk about Percy and quickly changed the subject. "So these invisibility pills actually work, then?"
"Absolutely!" said George's voice behind him. "They last half an hour each. You can take another when the half hour's up if you need to. And if you need to become visible again before that, you take one of these. . ." He wandered off to find the reversing pills.
"You only need one, mind," said Fred. "We're not quite sure what happens if you take more, but it can't be good."
George came back and handed Harry a dozen small orange pills. They lay still in his hand, unlike the flowing invisibility pills. Harry pocketed them.
"We're closing for lunch now," Fred announced.
"And we'd be honoured if you'd join us, Mr Potter."
***
Harry showed the invisibility pills to Remus, who peered over the top of his book at them. He put down the volume ("Revised Theories on Involuntary Lycanthropy" by Lydia Lamarr) and reached out to pick one of the little silvery blobs up between his thumb and forefinger. He pushed his glasses more firmly up the bridge of his nose. "Harry, do you know what these are made of?"
Harry shook his head. "Looks a lot like my dad's invisibility cloak though."
"Yes. . . I think they include something which is the active ingredient in the cloak. Do the Weasley twins know that Obfuscated werewolf hair is potentially very harmful if ingested?"
"Obfuscated werewolf?" Harry asked.
"There are lots of types of werewolf, Harry. More than we know about. Obfuscated werewolves may be very rare, or they may be very common. They're seldom seen, but that's saying nothing. They mostly live in Asia, and they have the power of, well, obfuscation. They're difficult to see. They blur with their surroundings and essentially become invisible when in their transformed state. I used to know one, he wasn't a bad chap." Remus squeezed the pill between his fingers. "The fur of this werewolf isn't like fur, it's sleek fibres, like your invisibility cloak. That's mostly woven out of everyday fibre, cotton or something, with the fur woven in."
As he examined the pill, Harry grew curious. "What sort of werewolf are you then?"
"Me?" Remus laughed. "I'm your common or garden European werewolf. Harry, I wouldn't take these pills."
"Fred and George said they'd been tested."
"Yes, but still, I'd rather you didn't. I'd better talk to the twins about this. . .And you'd better start packing. Don't want to be late for the train in the morning."
With his mind buzzing about werewolves and invisibility cloaks, Harry went up to his room to pack his trunk. He had a lot to think about as he lay in bed, waiting to fall asleep, and his mind drifted, all of its own accord, to wondering who had become Head Boy. . .
***
"I don't BELIEVE it!" Ron yelled when Harry met him and Ginny on platform nine and three quarters.
Harry blinked. "What?"
"Draco bloody Malfoy!"
"What's he done now?"
"I've no idea, but it's got him the Head Boy's badge!"
"You're joking?" Harry stared in horror at Ron, who shook his head.
"It's going to be awful," whimpered Ginny. "He hates me, he really hates me, I'm going to be in so much trouble. . ."
"Ginny, stop babbling," Ron snapped. "I reckon Dumbledore's gone senile over summer. That must be it, he'd never make *Malfoy* head boy!"
"It's Hermione I feel sorry for," said Harry. "Does she know yet?"
"Well she hasn't shown up." Ron stared over the heads of all the other students. "She'd better hurry up or she's going to be late."
They were forced to abandon their lookout for Hermione if they wanted seats on the train. The last carriage left was the one right at the back, and Harry, Ron and Ginny joined Neville inside. Moments later the door opened again, and a blond head peered in. Then the rest of Draco Malfoy followed it. He had magically enlarged his Head Boy badge so it was unmissable on his black robes.
"Where's Granger?" he demanded.
"Not here yet," said Ron.
Malfoy stared at them all. "Right. Well when she gets here, tell her to . . ." he stopped. "Tell her I'll be back to talk to her. Please," he added, then left.
Ron burst out laughing. "Did you see that? This is great, Harry! I never thought of this. Not only do we have to watch our step now Malfoy's Head Boy, but he has no be *nice* to us or he'll get his stinking badge taken away!"
Harry grinned appreciatively. Moments later, Hermione came panting into the compartment, and seconds after that, they started to move.
"It's not like you to be late," said Ron, as Hermione sat down next to him.
"I'm not late, I just had to stop in Diagon Alley to pick up a few things. . ." And she dropped a huge pile of books on Harry's feet.
"Ow! Hermione, I thought you bought all your books already?"
"I bought all the set texts, yes, but I though I'd do some additional reading."
"You must have two dozen books here!"
"Yes, well, I'm doing a lot of subjects, aren't I?" Hermione swept her hair out of her face and settled down in her seat.
"Oh, Malfoy's looking for you," said Ron, grinning.
"Malfoy!?" Hermione exclaimed. "Why?"
"Guess who's head boy?"
Hermione's mouth opened and shut a couple of times. "*Malfoy*?"
"Yep."
"Has Dumbledore gone mad?" Hermione had jumped out of her seat again, and strode towards the door. "I'd better go and see Malfoy, then, find out if it's true." And she left.
Hermione didn't return for the rest of the journey to Hogwarts. Ron suggested they go and find her, but Harry didn't think she'd appreciate that.
There was still no sign of her as they filed into the great hall.
"Is she avoiding us?" Ginny whispered, searching the hall for Hermione.
"I doubt it, she's just got a lot of Head Girl stuff to do, I expect," said Ron, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Here, can you see the new guy?" He pointed up at the staff table. Harry stared along the row of familiar faces, and shook his head.
"Back." Hermione took her seat between Ron and Harry.
"Oh, and where've you been?" demanded Ron.
"Nowhere. Has the sorting started?"
"Nowhere near."
"Oh good."
They sat and watched as a line of red-faced first years stumbled onto the stage, and McGonagal put the sorting hat down on its stool in front of them. The hat finished its song, and then began to call the new students one by one to sit on the stool and pull the hat over their heads. Slowly, the line of children shrank, and the new students were sorted into their houses. Somebody very small and dark haired sat beside Harry, still shaking nervously.
"Hi," said Harry kindly, in a spontaneous effort to make the boy feel more comfortable. Instead, the boy gave Harry a look of pure fear and went back to staring at his hands, which were on the table in front of him. Harry glanced at Hermione, who had been watching.
"I'm Hermione," she said to the boy. "And this is my friend Harry. What's your name?"
The boy glanced up again. "G-G-Gary," he stuttered. "Gary M-M-Mooncalf."
"Strange name," said Ron, joining in.
"Shuttup," hissed Hermione. "It's a very nice name, Gary."
The boy went bright pink and examined his hands again. Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. But they were saved further embarrassment as the plates on the big tables began to fill with delicious food.
"Excellent!" said Ron, tucking in immediately. Harry was about to help himself to some potatoes when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow! Hermione!"
"Look." Hermione gestured towards the doors of the great hall. A man had entered, walking casually past the tables, waving at Dumbledore and finally stopping at the Gryffindor table. Everyone was staring at him except Harry, who noticed the small boy next to him was trembling more than ever, and seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
"Alright, Gary?" said the man, smiling amiably at the boy. "Nice to see you're in Gryffindor. I'll see you first thing tomorrow. Good luck!" And then he ambled up to the staff table and took his seat next to Professor Snape, who was glaring angrily at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at Gary, who forced a small smile.
"That's my uncle. He's a teacher."
"What's he teach?"
"Defence Against The Dark Arts. He's really good at it."
The three exchanged another long look, then stared at the new teacher. He was almost lounging in his chair, waiting for something. Dumbledore stood up, and this act alone caused the hall to fall silent.
"If I could interrupt your feast for a mere moment," the Headmaster said, smiling faintly, "I'd like to introduce to you our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who appears to have found his way here at last. Please welcome Professor Rinaldi."
Everyone stared at the lounging man for a few moments, and there was a smattering of applause before the students turned their attention back to their plates. Harry didn't think Professor Rinaldi looked too evil, but didn't say anything in front of the teacher's nephew, even if said nephew was having trouble handling his cutlery in his nervousness. His attention was slowly drawn to the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy was surprisingly not sitting with his old cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Apparently they weren't suitable companions for the Head Boy any more. Instead he was sitting with Blaise Zabini and a Slytherin prefect Harry didn't know.
Draco Malfoy. Now there was an enigma. Someone Harry had put a lot of effort into hating, and yet the slim blond held a kind of fascination for him. It was almost impossible to define why, but Harry was pleased Draco was Head Boy. It meant, of course, that Malfoy could no longer get away with picking on those smaller or weaker than him, but Harry was neither of those any more. Perhaps this year would be a good year to end the enmity between himself and Draco Malfoy. After all, Harry would rather not have any enemies at all.
But all that was for later. Right now, Harry had plenty to take his mind off his problems. He was back with his friends, and lessons would begin the next day. This year was going to be tough at Hogwarts, but when it was over, his life would finally be his own. Better make it a good one then, he thought, as he ladled another huge portion of potatoes onto his plate.
To Be Continued. . . ?
***
A/N: All the stuff about the invisibility cloak is from my imagination. If you don't agree, I'm not stopping you making up your own theories, but this is the best I could come up with. Mmm, obscurities.
Next chapter will be up as soon as I find time to write it. I've got a few fics going, and as you may know I have a very short atten. . . Ooh, look, something shiny. . .
Chapter Three
***
The remains of the summer flew past too quickly. Harry spent it at home, as both Ron and Hermione spent the last week of the holidays away - Ron went to stay with his brother Charlie in Romania, and Hermione went with her parents to France. Harry was content to stay with Remus, who seemed to spend most of his time with his nose deep in a book. This left Harry to his own devices, and he frequented Diagon Alley, walking up and down, talking to acquaintances and, mostly, hanging about in the latest boutique to open in the alley.
Weasleys' Wizarding Wheezes was a small shop with a lot on offer. Before it opened, many had speculated that it would take a lot of custom away from Gambol and Japes joke shop, but since the Weasley twins offered such a new and original selection of goods, this wasn't so. Gambol and Japes specialised in the traditional trick which children would never bore off, and the Weasleys offered them something a little bit different. As Harry browsed the shelves, he noticed many familiar items from when he had known Fred and George Weasley at Hogwarts. One of his favourites was the wide selection of extendable ears, and he stocked up on very realistic false eyes, which could be placed over your eyelids and make you look wide awake while you took a snooze during particularly boring History of Magic lessons. The large range of trick sweets were as popular as they had ever been - puking pastels for faking illness, exploding strawberry bon bons for creating a distraction, chewing gum which made you float, colour-change gobstoppers which not only changed colour themselves, but changed the colour of your skin. But the thing Harry liked best about the shop was it's proprietors.
"HARRY!" Fred appeared from the back room as the bell above the door jangled. He vaulted over the counter and gave Harry a tight hug. "Great to see you! George, get out here, it's Harry!"
The half dozen customers in the shop turned to stare at Harry, who went pink and waved feebly. George came out of the back room and grinned at Harry. "Hey, Harry! Great timing, we were just looking for a new vict-er. . .tester." George held out a handful of little shiny balls, like cake decorations, which jiggled about in his hand, climbing over each other in a desperate struggle to stay at the top of the pile. They seemed to flow, like little blobs of liquid, and they glistened in the light.
"What are they?" Harry asked, peering curiously at the things. They were oddly familiar.
George lowered his voice and beckoned Harry away from the other customers. "Our most amazing breakthrough, Harry! They're invisibility pills. Made from similar stuff to your invisibility cloak, these generate an invisibility field from inside when you swallow them. These are really just prototypes, but they're perfectly safe so I thought I'd let you and Remus give them a try." Fred and George were in a kind of awe of Remus, one of the creators of the Marauder's Map. They often sent him their new products, asking for his opinions, and he was always pleased to test them out. Harry pocketed a fistful of the little glistening drops.
"So how's life, Harry?" Fred asked cheerfully. Harry told them about Remus and Kail, which they took as good news. However, they didn't like the idea of a friend of Lucius Malfoy teaching at Hogwarts.
"Uh-oh, you'd better make sure you've got plenty of pranks lined up to play on him!" laughed George.
Fred scowled. "You'd better make sure you get away with everything too. I dread to imagine how he'd punish miscreants."
George nodded frantically, then darted around the shop, collecting up items he had decided Harry wouldn't be able to survive the next school year without. "Don't worry about paying," he insisted. "If it wasn't for you, Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes would still be nothing but a dream."
"And we'd be trainee accountants by now," added Fred, pulling a face.
George vaulted behind the counter again to serve a customer. Harry wondered, as Fred led him out to the back room, if it was physically possible for the Weasley twins to walk round something rather than jump over it. "Look, Harry, we were actually hoping you'd drop by today." His face was suddenly serious. "We heard from Percy recently. He wasn't interested in us or mum and dad -" Fred scowled deeply - "but he wanted us to tell you to be extra careful this year. I told him to go and boil his head for you."
Harry grinned. "Thanks. Did he say why I had to be extra careful?"
"Nope. But he probably heard about this friend of the Malfoys or something."
"Yeah." Harry decided he didn't want to talk about Percy and quickly changed the subject. "So these invisibility pills actually work, then?"
"Absolutely!" said George's voice behind him. "They last half an hour each. You can take another when the half hour's up if you need to. And if you need to become visible again before that, you take one of these. . ." He wandered off to find the reversing pills.
"You only need one, mind," said Fred. "We're not quite sure what happens if you take more, but it can't be good."
George came back and handed Harry a dozen small orange pills. They lay still in his hand, unlike the flowing invisibility pills. Harry pocketed them.
"We're closing for lunch now," Fred announced.
"And we'd be honoured if you'd join us, Mr Potter."
***
Harry showed the invisibility pills to Remus, who peered over the top of his book at them. He put down the volume ("Revised Theories on Involuntary Lycanthropy" by Lydia Lamarr) and reached out to pick one of the little silvery blobs up between his thumb and forefinger. He pushed his glasses more firmly up the bridge of his nose. "Harry, do you know what these are made of?"
Harry shook his head. "Looks a lot like my dad's invisibility cloak though."
"Yes. . . I think they include something which is the active ingredient in the cloak. Do the Weasley twins know that Obfuscated werewolf hair is potentially very harmful if ingested?"
"Obfuscated werewolf?" Harry asked.
"There are lots of types of werewolf, Harry. More than we know about. Obfuscated werewolves may be very rare, or they may be very common. They're seldom seen, but that's saying nothing. They mostly live in Asia, and they have the power of, well, obfuscation. They're difficult to see. They blur with their surroundings and essentially become invisible when in their transformed state. I used to know one, he wasn't a bad chap." Remus squeezed the pill between his fingers. "The fur of this werewolf isn't like fur, it's sleek fibres, like your invisibility cloak. That's mostly woven out of everyday fibre, cotton or something, with the fur woven in."
As he examined the pill, Harry grew curious. "What sort of werewolf are you then?"
"Me?" Remus laughed. "I'm your common or garden European werewolf. Harry, I wouldn't take these pills."
"Fred and George said they'd been tested."
"Yes, but still, I'd rather you didn't. I'd better talk to the twins about this. . .And you'd better start packing. Don't want to be late for the train in the morning."
With his mind buzzing about werewolves and invisibility cloaks, Harry went up to his room to pack his trunk. He had a lot to think about as he lay in bed, waiting to fall asleep, and his mind drifted, all of its own accord, to wondering who had become Head Boy. . .
***
"I don't BELIEVE it!" Ron yelled when Harry met him and Ginny on platform nine and three quarters.
Harry blinked. "What?"
"Draco bloody Malfoy!"
"What's he done now?"
"I've no idea, but it's got him the Head Boy's badge!"
"You're joking?" Harry stared in horror at Ron, who shook his head.
"It's going to be awful," whimpered Ginny. "He hates me, he really hates me, I'm going to be in so much trouble. . ."
"Ginny, stop babbling," Ron snapped. "I reckon Dumbledore's gone senile over summer. That must be it, he'd never make *Malfoy* head boy!"
"It's Hermione I feel sorry for," said Harry. "Does she know yet?"
"Well she hasn't shown up." Ron stared over the heads of all the other students. "She'd better hurry up or she's going to be late."
They were forced to abandon their lookout for Hermione if they wanted seats on the train. The last carriage left was the one right at the back, and Harry, Ron and Ginny joined Neville inside. Moments later the door opened again, and a blond head peered in. Then the rest of Draco Malfoy followed it. He had magically enlarged his Head Boy badge so it was unmissable on his black robes.
"Where's Granger?" he demanded.
"Not here yet," said Ron.
Malfoy stared at them all. "Right. Well when she gets here, tell her to . . ." he stopped. "Tell her I'll be back to talk to her. Please," he added, then left.
Ron burst out laughing. "Did you see that? This is great, Harry! I never thought of this. Not only do we have to watch our step now Malfoy's Head Boy, but he has no be *nice* to us or he'll get his stinking badge taken away!"
Harry grinned appreciatively. Moments later, Hermione came panting into the compartment, and seconds after that, they started to move.
"It's not like you to be late," said Ron, as Hermione sat down next to him.
"I'm not late, I just had to stop in Diagon Alley to pick up a few things. . ." And she dropped a huge pile of books on Harry's feet.
"Ow! Hermione, I thought you bought all your books already?"
"I bought all the set texts, yes, but I though I'd do some additional reading."
"You must have two dozen books here!"
"Yes, well, I'm doing a lot of subjects, aren't I?" Hermione swept her hair out of her face and settled down in her seat.
"Oh, Malfoy's looking for you," said Ron, grinning.
"Malfoy!?" Hermione exclaimed. "Why?"
"Guess who's head boy?"
Hermione's mouth opened and shut a couple of times. "*Malfoy*?"
"Yep."
"Has Dumbledore gone mad?" Hermione had jumped out of her seat again, and strode towards the door. "I'd better go and see Malfoy, then, find out if it's true." And she left.
Hermione didn't return for the rest of the journey to Hogwarts. Ron suggested they go and find her, but Harry didn't think she'd appreciate that.
There was still no sign of her as they filed into the great hall.
"Is she avoiding us?" Ginny whispered, searching the hall for Hermione.
"I doubt it, she's just got a lot of Head Girl stuff to do, I expect," said Ron, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table. "Here, can you see the new guy?" He pointed up at the staff table. Harry stared along the row of familiar faces, and shook his head.
"Back." Hermione took her seat between Ron and Harry.
"Oh, and where've you been?" demanded Ron.
"Nowhere. Has the sorting started?"
"Nowhere near."
"Oh good."
They sat and watched as a line of red-faced first years stumbled onto the stage, and McGonagal put the sorting hat down on its stool in front of them. The hat finished its song, and then began to call the new students one by one to sit on the stool and pull the hat over their heads. Slowly, the line of children shrank, and the new students were sorted into their houses. Somebody very small and dark haired sat beside Harry, still shaking nervously.
"Hi," said Harry kindly, in a spontaneous effort to make the boy feel more comfortable. Instead, the boy gave Harry a look of pure fear and went back to staring at his hands, which were on the table in front of him. Harry glanced at Hermione, who had been watching.
"I'm Hermione," she said to the boy. "And this is my friend Harry. What's your name?"
The boy glanced up again. "G-G-Gary," he stuttered. "Gary M-M-Mooncalf."
"Strange name," said Ron, joining in.
"Shuttup," hissed Hermione. "It's a very nice name, Gary."
The boy went bright pink and examined his hands again. Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance. But they were saved further embarrassment as the plates on the big tables began to fill with delicious food.
"Excellent!" said Ron, tucking in immediately. Harry was about to help himself to some potatoes when Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ow! Hermione!"
"Look." Hermione gestured towards the doors of the great hall. A man had entered, walking casually past the tables, waving at Dumbledore and finally stopping at the Gryffindor table. Everyone was staring at him except Harry, who noticed the small boy next to him was trembling more than ever, and seemed to have forgotten how to breathe.
"Alright, Gary?" said the man, smiling amiably at the boy. "Nice to see you're in Gryffindor. I'll see you first thing tomorrow. Good luck!" And then he ambled up to the staff table and took his seat next to Professor Snape, who was glaring angrily at the Gryffindor table. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at Gary, who forced a small smile.
"That's my uncle. He's a teacher."
"What's he teach?"
"Defence Against The Dark Arts. He's really good at it."
The three exchanged another long look, then stared at the new teacher. He was almost lounging in his chair, waiting for something. Dumbledore stood up, and this act alone caused the hall to fall silent.
"If I could interrupt your feast for a mere moment," the Headmaster said, smiling faintly, "I'd like to introduce to you our new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, who appears to have found his way here at last. Please welcome Professor Rinaldi."
Everyone stared at the lounging man for a few moments, and there was a smattering of applause before the students turned their attention back to their plates. Harry didn't think Professor Rinaldi looked too evil, but didn't say anything in front of the teacher's nephew, even if said nephew was having trouble handling his cutlery in his nervousness. His attention was slowly drawn to the Slytherin table, where Draco Malfoy was surprisingly not sitting with his old cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. Apparently they weren't suitable companions for the Head Boy any more. Instead he was sitting with Blaise Zabini and a Slytherin prefect Harry didn't know.
Draco Malfoy. Now there was an enigma. Someone Harry had put a lot of effort into hating, and yet the slim blond held a kind of fascination for him. It was almost impossible to define why, but Harry was pleased Draco was Head Boy. It meant, of course, that Malfoy could no longer get away with picking on those smaller or weaker than him, but Harry was neither of those any more. Perhaps this year would be a good year to end the enmity between himself and Draco Malfoy. After all, Harry would rather not have any enemies at all.
But all that was for later. Right now, Harry had plenty to take his mind off his problems. He was back with his friends, and lessons would begin the next day. This year was going to be tough at Hogwarts, but when it was over, his life would finally be his own. Better make it a good one then, he thought, as he ladled another huge portion of potatoes onto his plate.
To Be Continued. . . ?
***
A/N: All the stuff about the invisibility cloak is from my imagination. If you don't agree, I'm not stopping you making up your own theories, but this is the best I could come up with. Mmm, obscurities.
Next chapter will be up as soon as I find time to write it. I've got a few fics going, and as you may know I have a very short atten. . . Ooh, look, something shiny. . .