Wow I got flooded with reviews after my last chapter. I feel so loved!
At least one person expressed confusion over chapter four so I thought I'd take a moment to explain it a bit more. I literally scribbled (my handwritings fairly awful when I'm inspired - pity the examiners!) it down in about 15 minutes and honestly don't know where it came from but I like it because it allowed me to avoid the train and sorting clichés (plus didn't have to write a song!). Basically the idea was the it was a conversation between three or four student from Hufflepuff (or Ravenclaw but I go for Hufflepuff) as they move from the Great Hall to their common room, that process getting interrupted by a Harry/Draco fight. The main aim, I guess, was to instil a little sympathy for Draco even though he is currently hating Harry, though it also gave a few hints for the future. Hope this clears it up though reading back it seems a bit garbled. Anywho.
Mandidoll - references to Narcissa will be explained soon, promise - well soonish Amythest - I love that line to :-)
And thanks to all the reviewers. It seems the consequence of reviews is that I then feel compelled to write the next chapter straight away. And if I did not have a dissertation due on 23rd April coupled with mini writers block this would have been written and up on Sunday. Anyway, here it is.
Oh and dissertation is no more! Finished! Yippee (
Chapter Five It's My Life
Harry Potter was asleep in his new and final bed at the top of the Gryffindor tower - 'really', he had reflected earlier, 'it should be the first years who have to climb to the top of the tower. We're too old for this.' This comment had sparked off a ferocious if somewhat brief (thank you Hermione!) pillow fight which had cemented Harry's happiness at being back home. And yes, no matter how corny it sounds Hogwarts was his home and his friends had become his family, an occurrence which is somewhat unsurprising when you consider that his real family consisted of an aunt, uncle and cousin who feared him and hated him in equal measure and a godfather who was, to all intents and purposes, a dog.
The current seventh years had become a very tightly knit group in the last two years. Gone were the days when they moved in cliques, the little isolated groups had merged to form a solid, united group of ten who trusted each other explicitly.
It wasn't something they had ever expected or something Harry had ever even wanted, for when he reflected on his parents betrayal he felt a lot more secure placing his trust in only two people whom he knew inside out. But it had happened. It stemmed from Hermione in the first. Growing older she began to want the company of girls her own age to fill a gap Ron and Harry couldn't. Somehow she found herself talking increasingly to her four roommates and bringing them increasingly into her life with Ron and Harry.
The events at the end of the fourth year had also had a profound effect on Dean, Seamus and Neville and they returned to Hogwarts for their fifth year determined to show their support for Harry. The result was that on the first night back Harry and Ron found themselves attacked by their three roommates who told them in no uncertain terms that the Gryffindors would be sticking together, that they wanted to know everything that had happened in the last four years and insisted that they be allowed to help Harry in the future.
At first Harry had been reluctant to place more people in danger, himself least of all, but their constant support had earned his trust and he let them in. In truth Harry was finally beginning to realise what his true role would be in a campaign against Voldemort. He had begun to see that a schoolboy, even the Boy Who Lived, would not be taken out onto the battlefield to fight Death Eaters and other allies of Voldemort. He was slowly realising, or rather accepting, that his role was that of figured head, of icon, of symbol. Harry was to be the flag that people rallied around. Dumbledore would command the troops, Snape, Sirius and countless others would fight the battles but Harry would stand there as the thing they fought for, the constant reminder of why they did what they had to do, lost the people they had to loose. He realised that if he could not accept the people with whom he had shared a room for four years, could not allow them to rally around him, then he would loose the faith of the rest. The Boy Who Lived could not isolate himself, could not tie himself to two people to the exclusion of all others because isolating himself removed the constant reminder of why they fighting. (A/N did I explain this too much?)
So Harry opened himself to this new, larger group and they began to work, to live as a unit. No longer would it be Harry, Ron and Hermione in the library or Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch. Now you would have Harry, Ron, Seamus and Briony talking about Quidditch or you would find Hermione, Jess and Dean working in the library.
But it was the events of the fifth year that had served to cement the friendship. Fudge's stubborn refusal to acknowledge Voldemort's return had allowed him to carry out a very effective campaign to undermine Harry. Voldemort had grasped with relish the knowledge that many students at least half believed that Harry had in someway been responsible for Cedric Diggory's death, a notion which grew in strength when they returned after the summer, mainly thanks to Cho Chang and various Hufflepuff's who were still half convinced that Harry had something to do with the petrification of Justin Finch-Fetchley. It was an unfortunate consequence of the Hufflepuff loyalty that they could fiercely hate anyone who hurt one of their own. As far as they were concerned both the attacks in Harry's second year and the death of Cedric had gone unpunished and unavenged. And Harry was connected to both. As such the sixth and seventh year Hufflepuffs returned with a great distrust and hatred of Harry which all the opinions of their own fifth years could not shake.
So Voldemort took this distrust and used it to further shake the pedestal upon which the wizarding world had placed Harry. Attacks would occur on people when only Harry was around, usually non-fatal for deaths would quickly be proved unlinked to Harry, often mere schoolboy attacks, but enough to create the suspicion that Harry was behind them. Thus he was seen by the shrieking shack talking to Cho Chang, who was then seen crumbling under several schoolboy hexes, he was seen walking back from the Quidditch pitch with Roger Davis, who suddenly fell into an unconsciousness which lasted long enough to compromise the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. There were also more serious attacks when he went into Hogwarts, fans who would not leave him alone were hit by shattering glass and more than one reporter was seen leaving bleeding after trying to talk to him alone.
And the maliciousness of his Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw rivals took the incidents and escalated their severity, with reports of Harry threatening to kill those who merely annoyed him soon flying around the school.
Of course, no one in Harry's year believed the rumours, not even the Slytherins could convincingly talk of them. Of course, the Slytherin's disbelief was mainly founded on the fact that the only person who ever even got a rise out of Harry Potter was Draco Malfoy and he was still standing thus, they reasoned, the stories were rubbish. Even this reasoning was backed by the fact that most of them had heard the truth about Cedric's death from their Death Eater parents.
The situation cleared up before the end of the year, as these things always do for Harry, but this time it was his friends who saved him.
Hermione and Dean, after reading one too many spy books, conjured a type of crystal ball which followed Harry wherever he went (without his knowledge). Thus when the next attack occurred they were able to record the whole thing from several angles and reveal the true culprit, an ex-Slytherin turned Death Eater a few years older than them. They then played the recording to the school and ministry, which bought Harry some reprieve from the gossips.
And as such Harry found himself at the centre of the Gryffindor core of ten and he began to accept this situtation. As such, two years later, Harry slept soundly on the first night of his last year at Hogwarts, simply happy to be home.
END CHAPTER FIVE
Agh the end is so crap but I just wanted to get this out. Will explain/expand the end a bit more in chapter six I think. Eek. Sorry.
This was initial inspiration followed by uncertainty on how to end it hence long delay - sorry. Have started chapter six though but again its resisting. Should be up soonish and will be Draco's side of things i.e. post fight and fifth and sixth year developments - and maybe Narcissa explained. Ooh.
I have landed my self with a situation where I know where I want to get to i.e. chapter seven or so which is where part one starts but I'm trying to get there sensibly without just starting in the middle. Hope this all made sense - feel free to say so though you may end up with an even more incomprehensible explanation!
Anyway, read (you just have but still) and review. Have discovered that more reviews really do mean I want to write the next chapter sooner. Who'd have thought?
At least one person expressed confusion over chapter four so I thought I'd take a moment to explain it a bit more. I literally scribbled (my handwritings fairly awful when I'm inspired - pity the examiners!) it down in about 15 minutes and honestly don't know where it came from but I like it because it allowed me to avoid the train and sorting clichés (plus didn't have to write a song!). Basically the idea was the it was a conversation between three or four student from Hufflepuff (or Ravenclaw but I go for Hufflepuff) as they move from the Great Hall to their common room, that process getting interrupted by a Harry/Draco fight. The main aim, I guess, was to instil a little sympathy for Draco even though he is currently hating Harry, though it also gave a few hints for the future. Hope this clears it up though reading back it seems a bit garbled. Anywho.
Mandidoll - references to Narcissa will be explained soon, promise - well soonish Amythest - I love that line to :-)
And thanks to all the reviewers. It seems the consequence of reviews is that I then feel compelled to write the next chapter straight away. And if I did not have a dissertation due on 23rd April coupled with mini writers block this would have been written and up on Sunday. Anyway, here it is.
Oh and dissertation is no more! Finished! Yippee (
Chapter Five It's My Life
Harry Potter was asleep in his new and final bed at the top of the Gryffindor tower - 'really', he had reflected earlier, 'it should be the first years who have to climb to the top of the tower. We're too old for this.' This comment had sparked off a ferocious if somewhat brief (thank you Hermione!) pillow fight which had cemented Harry's happiness at being back home. And yes, no matter how corny it sounds Hogwarts was his home and his friends had become his family, an occurrence which is somewhat unsurprising when you consider that his real family consisted of an aunt, uncle and cousin who feared him and hated him in equal measure and a godfather who was, to all intents and purposes, a dog.
The current seventh years had become a very tightly knit group in the last two years. Gone were the days when they moved in cliques, the little isolated groups had merged to form a solid, united group of ten who trusted each other explicitly.
It wasn't something they had ever expected or something Harry had ever even wanted, for when he reflected on his parents betrayal he felt a lot more secure placing his trust in only two people whom he knew inside out. But it had happened. It stemmed from Hermione in the first. Growing older she began to want the company of girls her own age to fill a gap Ron and Harry couldn't. Somehow she found herself talking increasingly to her four roommates and bringing them increasingly into her life with Ron and Harry.
The events at the end of the fourth year had also had a profound effect on Dean, Seamus and Neville and they returned to Hogwarts for their fifth year determined to show their support for Harry. The result was that on the first night back Harry and Ron found themselves attacked by their three roommates who told them in no uncertain terms that the Gryffindors would be sticking together, that they wanted to know everything that had happened in the last four years and insisted that they be allowed to help Harry in the future.
At first Harry had been reluctant to place more people in danger, himself least of all, but their constant support had earned his trust and he let them in. In truth Harry was finally beginning to realise what his true role would be in a campaign against Voldemort. He had begun to see that a schoolboy, even the Boy Who Lived, would not be taken out onto the battlefield to fight Death Eaters and other allies of Voldemort. He was slowly realising, or rather accepting, that his role was that of figured head, of icon, of symbol. Harry was to be the flag that people rallied around. Dumbledore would command the troops, Snape, Sirius and countless others would fight the battles but Harry would stand there as the thing they fought for, the constant reminder of why they did what they had to do, lost the people they had to loose. He realised that if he could not accept the people with whom he had shared a room for four years, could not allow them to rally around him, then he would loose the faith of the rest. The Boy Who Lived could not isolate himself, could not tie himself to two people to the exclusion of all others because isolating himself removed the constant reminder of why they fighting. (A/N did I explain this too much?)
So Harry opened himself to this new, larger group and they began to work, to live as a unit. No longer would it be Harry, Ron and Hermione in the library or Harry and Ron talking about Quidditch. Now you would have Harry, Ron, Seamus and Briony talking about Quidditch or you would find Hermione, Jess and Dean working in the library.
But it was the events of the fifth year that had served to cement the friendship. Fudge's stubborn refusal to acknowledge Voldemort's return had allowed him to carry out a very effective campaign to undermine Harry. Voldemort had grasped with relish the knowledge that many students at least half believed that Harry had in someway been responsible for Cedric Diggory's death, a notion which grew in strength when they returned after the summer, mainly thanks to Cho Chang and various Hufflepuff's who were still half convinced that Harry had something to do with the petrification of Justin Finch-Fetchley. It was an unfortunate consequence of the Hufflepuff loyalty that they could fiercely hate anyone who hurt one of their own. As far as they were concerned both the attacks in Harry's second year and the death of Cedric had gone unpunished and unavenged. And Harry was connected to both. As such the sixth and seventh year Hufflepuffs returned with a great distrust and hatred of Harry which all the opinions of their own fifth years could not shake.
So Voldemort took this distrust and used it to further shake the pedestal upon which the wizarding world had placed Harry. Attacks would occur on people when only Harry was around, usually non-fatal for deaths would quickly be proved unlinked to Harry, often mere schoolboy attacks, but enough to create the suspicion that Harry was behind them. Thus he was seen by the shrieking shack talking to Cho Chang, who was then seen crumbling under several schoolboy hexes, he was seen walking back from the Quidditch pitch with Roger Davis, who suddenly fell into an unconsciousness which lasted long enough to compromise the Gryffindor-Ravenclaw match. There were also more serious attacks when he went into Hogwarts, fans who would not leave him alone were hit by shattering glass and more than one reporter was seen leaving bleeding after trying to talk to him alone.
And the maliciousness of his Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw rivals took the incidents and escalated their severity, with reports of Harry threatening to kill those who merely annoyed him soon flying around the school.
Of course, no one in Harry's year believed the rumours, not even the Slytherins could convincingly talk of them. Of course, the Slytherin's disbelief was mainly founded on the fact that the only person who ever even got a rise out of Harry Potter was Draco Malfoy and he was still standing thus, they reasoned, the stories were rubbish. Even this reasoning was backed by the fact that most of them had heard the truth about Cedric's death from their Death Eater parents.
The situation cleared up before the end of the year, as these things always do for Harry, but this time it was his friends who saved him.
Hermione and Dean, after reading one too many spy books, conjured a type of crystal ball which followed Harry wherever he went (without his knowledge). Thus when the next attack occurred they were able to record the whole thing from several angles and reveal the true culprit, an ex-Slytherin turned Death Eater a few years older than them. They then played the recording to the school and ministry, which bought Harry some reprieve from the gossips.
And as such Harry found himself at the centre of the Gryffindor core of ten and he began to accept this situtation. As such, two years later, Harry slept soundly on the first night of his last year at Hogwarts, simply happy to be home.
END CHAPTER FIVE
Agh the end is so crap but I just wanted to get this out. Will explain/expand the end a bit more in chapter six I think. Eek. Sorry.
This was initial inspiration followed by uncertainty on how to end it hence long delay - sorry. Have started chapter six though but again its resisting. Should be up soonish and will be Draco's side of things i.e. post fight and fifth and sixth year developments - and maybe Narcissa explained. Ooh.
I have landed my self with a situation where I know where I want to get to i.e. chapter seven or so which is where part one starts but I'm trying to get there sensibly without just starting in the middle. Hope this all made sense - feel free to say so though you may end up with an even more incomprehensible explanation!
Anyway, read (you just have but still) and review. Have discovered that more reviews really do mean I want to write the next chapter sooner. Who'd have thought?