People are staring at me, what else is new? It seems I'm caught in a vicious cycle here. Every year the student body alternates from loving the Boy-Who-Lived, to hating him or being scared of him. Oddly it's almost a combination of the two. To the people that Malfoy harassed, I'm a hero, to the loyal mini Death Eaters at out school, I'm still their most hated enemy, and the rest of the school is torn between being afraid of me or liking me.
Ron and Hermione are confused as to why I'm not getting suspended for putting three students into the hospital wing. Ron thinks it was brilliant and is telling highly exaggerated stories about how the whole thing went down, despite the fact he was at the prefects' meeting with Hermione the entire time. I get a week of detention, that's it. Hermione is smart enough to figure out I'm not telling her something, she reads me like a book despite all my training.
People are quiet around me; they don't want to upset me into another "outburst" as the official records are calling it. I stare down the occasional idiot whose eyes are locked on my scar. Sometimes I mess with them. I've received another detention for scaring some 1st years into tears by yelling at them and showing them my scars.
Dumbledore's weekly meetings are getting repetitive.
"Harry, I know I've wronged you, but please don't use this prophecy against us. If you want to succeed you're going to need our help, and alienating us this way isn't helping," he says in that o-so-familiar kindly tone.
"People keep saying I need your help, for training, I know I do, that's why I'm here. For facing Voldemort though, you're dead wrong, there's no way I'm facing him with help. He'll just use them against me. If you want me to be your little tool you have to remove all the weakness," I'm starting to sound repetitive myself; these stupid debates certainly aren't helping me.
He gives an exasperated sigh, looking more tired and old than I've ever seen him.
I sit in potions class, listless, staring at the wall.
"Potter, ten points from Gryfindor for not paying attention," Snape is at it again, totally ignoring the Slytherins that seem just as bored as I am of his lecture. The Gryfindors in the room are all paying attention though; they know they have to if they want their house to have any points left.
I sit in potions class, listless, staring at the wall.
Look at me! I'm still not paying attention, the class is somewhat shocked, but I'm not taking this crap from Snape anymore. Blatant favoritism and harassment has gone on too long, it's just another thing making my life difficult. Someone behind me is kicking me under the table repeatedly. I ignore it.
"Potter! You're losing us points!" hisses Lavender, I hear Snape yelling at me over her harsh whisper, he's taking away a point for every second I don't pay attention. The Gryfindors are panicking, they're not whispering anymore.
"Potter snap out of it! You're losing us the house cup!"
"Harry what the bloody HELL are you doing?"
Snape is in my face, spittle flying everywhere as he yells at me, his greasy hair flailing as he gestures in my face.
"YOU'RE LOSING US POINTS!" screams Lavender, I've never seen her this angry.
I shove Snape out of my face; the surprised look on his face is totally priceless. He's more shocked than the class, and that's saying something. While he's sputtering incoherently I turn to Lavender.
"There are more important things that house points you dimwit!" My fist crashes on the heavy oak table, splitting it down the center. Splinters fly, and her cauldron crashes on the ground, fumes rise from the spilled potion and the cauldron makes a tremendous noise as it slams into the stone floor. I raise the volume of my voice over the students, "I'm tired of this, and I'm not putting up with the blatant favoritism and harassment anymore," I glare at Snape, who seems to have mostly recovered himself.
"You pushed me Potter," his voice is icy, the class is silent, "You'll regret that, I'll get you suspended, possibly expelled!"
"No you won't," I grin on the inside.
"Think you'll get off on your fame? Not this time, the entire class has witnessed your assault!"
"Use your Legilimancy skills on me, I'll show you how I'm going to get off, and why you're going to return the points you took away," I drop my shield.
He can't resist, I knew he couldn't, the class has never seen anything like this. I've been practicing Occlumency with Dumbledore too; I'm good enough now so Snape doesn't know.
"Legilimens!" Hermione is the only one who recognizes the spell, and gasps.
Unlike Dumbledore's sneaky attacks, Snape is totally predictable. He uses the mental equivalent of brute force to shove into my mind, but the shield is gone, and I sense his surprise at the ease of his entry. We're standing in a featureless room. I slam the door behind him. He's confused, how did I learn these advanced skills? He buckles to his knees as I show him my life in fast forward. I spend an extra long time on all the bad parts, and skip over the good.
My mother is screaming as Voldemort kills her.
Voldemort is feasting on Unicorn's blood.
My hands are on Quirrell's face and his flesh is burning.
Ginny lays on the floor of the Chamber of Secrets, unmoving.
I'm fighting a Basilisk.
Dementors are all over; I'm falling off my broom.
Dementors are going to give Sirius the kiss of death.
Gouts of flame many meters long rocket out at me, burning my arm, I'm trying to avoid a huge Dragon.
My friends are bound to rocks under the lake; I'm swimming to the surface, running out of air.
I'm in a maze, terrible things are happening.
Cedric and I take the goblet, Cedric dies. I rewind and show it to him a half dozen times for good measure.
Voldemort returns.
I'm in detention with Umbridge, slicing my hand open over and over.
Hermione is cursed, and falls to the ground limp.
I'm at the Department of Mysteries, watching Sirius fall through the veil over and over.
I bundle up all my pain and shove it into Snape's mind. In the featureless room he falls to his knees winded, I open the door in my mind and leave. In class, the same thing happens, he falls to his knees gasping for breath.
I grab my stuff and walk out of the room.
