A/N: Thanx for all the reviews. I have answered all the reviews for the last chapter at the message board site. The link for it is in the last part of my bio. You can read my replies there. I can't always answer all reviews so, if you have a question or something you'd like me to answer, leave a review for chapter 10. Say you wanna ask about chapter 13, review for chap 10 and write 'chap 13' in your review before you ask questions. If you've already left a signed review for chap 10, then leave an unsigned one to ask your question. I will only answer reviews of Chapter 10 and the answers to them will be found in the link that I mentioned.
Chapter 11: Showdown in the Library
Harry had barely sat down to breakfast on his second day back when the owls swooped into the Great Hall. It was lucky he had chosen to sit at a particularly deserted part of the table because within 30 seconds there was a total of 17 owls in various shapes, colors and sizes perching noisily in front of him. As he removed the different letters and envelopes from the owls, more continued to arrive. Once all the owls had flown off, he turned to the pile of letters in front of him. Harry ate the rest of his breakfast distractedly while opening and skimming through the letters. Most of them were from fans, some who claimed to have written to him before this but their letters had been returned back to them. There were also seven letters from several magazines and papers requesting an interview as well as three letters written by people who wanted to write a book about him and four who wanted to include him in the history books they were writing. Harry pushed away the jug of pumpkin juice so that he could place the letter he was reading and finish it before leaving the Hall. He ran his fingers through his hair absently, thinking about the contents of the letter and the other letters before it. Something compelled him to look up and when he did, he saw four girls at the Ravenclaw table staring at him with something akin to awe. They looked away quickly but Harry caught one of the girls blushing under his gaze. He returned to reading the letter and distinctly heard faint giggling from their direction. He blew out a breath of annoyance, gathering the letters and stuffing them in his bag before leaving the Great Hall. As he passed a corridor facing in the greenhouses' direction, he noticed Neville sitting and eating his breakfast with a girl on the school grounds. Harry quirked an eyebrow. Was that really Neville having a romantic breakfast with his girlfriend? If things had been different, Harry would be burning with curiosity. Now he just shrugged and continued on his way. The rest of the day passed much the same as the first. Harry stopped by the library to pick up several books to help his lessons and also borrow all the editions of the Daily Prophet that covered both his court trials from the library's archive.
The extra defense lesson went well considering Professor Lupin remained strictly impersonal. Harry learned a few sound blocking spells and their theories. They weren't useful against banshee screams but Lupin explained that once Harry had learnt casting them, he would find it easier to cast the complex spell that could be used to block out banshee screams. However, even that strong spell wasn't perfect. The spell could be held for the same duration as the bubble-head charm and had to be renewed after that. This provides the banshee time to break the wizard's concentration through her scream so it is essential that the spell be practiced until it becomes second nature. And just when Harry was beginning to think that the extra classes might go alright after all, Professor Lupin had to drop the bombshell.
"Alright, I think that's enough practicing for tonight. Why don't you sit down, there is something that I need to discuss with you." Professor Lupin gestured to two chairs.
"Harry, your spell work seems to be much better than in your Third Year. It is amazing how much you have improved. I honestly didn't expect you to master all those spells within one day. In fact, I was planning to practice those spells with you for the rest of the week. Since you have already mastered these spells and no doubt tomorrow you will have successfully learnt the final spell, I think we can spend proceed with practicing it on a banshee." Professor Lupin was watching Harry closely as he said this.
For a moment Harry was confused. What did he mean 'practice on a banshee'? Could he catch one like he caught other dark creatures or his classes? Wouldn't that be dangerous? Harry might be turned into a banshai easily. Then it hit him.
"No" he glared straight at Lupin.
"Harry…"
"NO! Absolutely not. I will not agree to that" Harry replied angrily.
"Harry, you are not being sensible. This is a very real threat to you and you need to be prepared for this, should you ever be…"
"I. Don't . Care. I will not put up with this" his statement made Lupin sigh tiredly.
"Harry, your anger at Seamus must not stand in the way of your preparation. Whether you hate him or not, you are still going to have to go to the same classes as him for the next two years. This is a class too even if you are the only student here. No one is expecting you to become buddies with him but you can work together in this class with him. It is the only way you can prepare to deal with any banshees in the future. A boggart banshee isn't real so you can practice the protection spell without any danger of being turned into a banshai." Lupin tried to persuade him.
"No! I think I can handle the banshees on my own. I don't…" whatever else Harry was going to say was interrupted by Professor McGonagall opening the classroom door and walking in.
"Potter, you are still here. Never mind. Professor Lupin, I have spoken to Mr. Finnegan. He has confirmed that his greatest fear still is banshees and he is prepared to assist in these extra classes. However, he does not know the protection spells and I dare say it will take some time and practice before he can master them. Will you be able to teach him as well as Mr. Potter here?" Professor McGonagall questioned.
"I would have but now it won't work. Harry has already learnt all the minor spells and I only need to teach him the final protection spell. I believe he can learn it by the end of tomorrow's lesson. That means Mr. Finnegan will need to take classes separately. Maybe Harry could take extra classes for other subjects until I finish preparing Seamus?" Professor Lupin was looking warily at Harry.
"No, no. This is very important. Alright, why don't I give Mr. Finnegan extra lessons on the protection spells? Mr. Potter could skip the banshee lessons and proceed with veela protection lessons for the time being" Professor McGonagall suggested briskly.
"That can be done. So Harry, is all this okay with you?" Lupin was trying to take advantage of McGonagall's presence.
"No, it's not okay. I don't want to practice on Finnegan's boggart banshee. I am already taking these extra classes when I should be studying the other subjects to prepare for my double exams. I have to suffer his presence all day in class and all night in the dorms. I will not subject myself to more of this. Are you trying to drive me insane?" Harry's anger at being treated like a child finally won over his patience.
"Mr. Potter, maybe you do not realize the seriousness of this situation. You are living in the wizarding world. You will most probably continue to do so even after you leave Hogwarts or at least you will have visit occasionally. Banshee colonies are always situated closer to wizarding areas. It will take only one banshee, only one Mr. Potter. If even one banshee manages to detect you through their magical senses, all banshee colonies will learn of your existence. A Banshai is very valuable to the banshees. The reason for this is unknown but it is an established fact all the same. They will begin to hunt for you. There are charms which can protect a house from banshee invasion but out in the open they are unstoppable. It is almost inevitable that you will someday face an attack. You need to learn to defend yourself against these creatures. Even if you have to suffer Mr. Finnegan's presence for it. And after all, it will take only a few classes for you to learn it. That shouldn't be too hard" McGonagall nodded firmly as if confirming Harry's acceptance of the situation.
Harry grumbled. What was the point? He could shout at the both of them and storm off only to have some prefect come up to him telling him that Dumbledore wants to see him. After listening to three hours of lectures on forgiveness, dealing with pain, blah blah blah…he could yell at Dumbledore and walk out again. And in the end one of the Professors would probably just give him detention and he'd have to do this then. Of course he could refuse to go to detention but that would start a similar chain reaction.
Harry left the defense class and returned to the Gryffindor Tower. After getting his stuff and the cubs from the dorms, he sat down in the Common Room to finish his homework. He re-read the letter he had received after that. And finally, he shifted to the newspapers he had gotten of last year. He had to stop reading after the first three copies that covered the beginning of his trial after the Tournament. He was fuming with anger over the injustice of it all over again. This time it was much more profound. At that time, he had been too consumed with grief to really be angry. But now, reading some of the things his friends and classmates had told the reporters made his blood boil. He walked over to one of the windows in the now-empty Common Room and threw it open. As the cool night breeze swept in, he leaned against the window sill and tried to calm down. The things he had read kept coming back to him. His friends had given the reporters detailed accounts of some of the things that had happened during Harry's first four years at Hogwarts. Everything about him, his quiet nature, his lack of concentration in some classes, his grades, his hobbies, absolutely everything about him had been told in such a way as if confirming his evilness. In his First Year, Potter misled a couple of his friends and managed to lose 150 points for Gryffindor for breaking school rules. They seemed to have forgotten that he had also stopped Voldemort from returning as an immortal. In his Second Year, we found out he was a Parselmouth. He was the one who opened the Chamber of Secrets and released the basilisk to kill off muggleborn students. He must have, no one else in the school is a Parselmouth and that was the only way the Chamber could be opened. It was all hushed up once the basilisk died of course. Heaven forbid anyone accuse the boy-who-lived of endangering the school. So, the basilisk just dropped dead all of a sudden? The 400 points that Gryffindor earned for it and Harry's 'Award for Special Services to the School' must have been a figment of his imagination too, right? And in his Third Year, Sirius Black escaped from Azkaban and tried to contact him many times. No doubt, together they would have destroyed Hogwarts if they had half the chance. What? Oh, right! Black's name wasn't cleared until just four months ago.
Harry straightened with the intention to go up to bed but as he looked at the editions of Daily Prophet lying near his school books, he sighed and sat down. What the heck, he might as well read all of them now. He was bound to get upset every time he started reading them so it would be better to just get it over and done with. It was three in the morning when Harry put down the final edition which happened to be yesterday's paper. Apparently the reporters had tried to seek him out at King's Cross the day before yesterday but had been unable to do so. Dumbledore must have prevented them. Even without a personal interview the reporters had written loads of nonsense based on their own presumptions. Harry wasn't pleased. There must be some laws or something that prevented these idiots from constantly publishing whatever fanciful ideas they had in their heads. Even if there were no such laws, Harry Potter was going to make sure those reporters learnt to double-check everything they published about the-boy-who-lived from now on. With that mission foremost in mind, Harry went to bed, his thoughts on the stuff he would have to find out from the library the next day.
First lesson of the next day was Double Potions. Oh, joy. Harry's feelings towards Potions class had remained unchanged. He entered the dungeons just slightly early and found a place to sit. Taking out his cauldron and book, he sat down to read a book on complex curses that he had picked off at the library. It was proving to be very interesting. He was still reading when the class settled down and Snape entered.
"Well, well, well. Looks like our celebrity is back. So nice of you to join us Potter. You hardly deserve to be here. Your friends at least scraped through Fifth Year but you didn't even bother to attend. But the Headmaster believes you are up to it. We can't disagree with him now can we? So, since you are so brilliant, you can skip a year of schooling, you can no doubt answer a few simple questions I have for you. What is the main ingredient of a snake poison antidote?" Snape smiled maliciously.
"I don't know" Harry answered neutrally.
"Ten points from Gryffindor. Let's try again. Why is powdered griffin claw added to a blood freezing potion?"
"I don't know" Harry didn't look the least bit concerned.
"Ten points from Gryffindor for your severely deteriorated intellect and five points from Gryffindor for your lack of effort."
Harry couldn't help but snort at this.
"Another ten points for your disrespect Potter" Snape sneered at him.
"You think taking points from Gryffindor will upset me? Take as many as you like, I honestly don't care." Harry didn't even look directly at him, his eyes on the scratch on the cover of the book, fingers tracing the tear as if he didn't have a care in the world.
He was smiling inwardly because he knew Snape was riled up.
"Well since House points mean nothing to you, then you should be disciplined through.."
"You can't give me detention, Professor. I have extra classes every evening and you need Dumbledore's permission if you want to give me weekend detention" Harry smiled coolly as he interrupted Snape.
Harry was pleased to note that Snape was beyond furious. He just smirked as Snape stood there breathing heavily as if he was fighting the urge to curse him. Snape turned on his heel and strode back to the front of the class and snapped out instructions for the class. He remained in a foul mood for the rest of the lesson.
Harry exited the classroom after everyone else had already left since Snape had held him back to assign an extra essay just for him. He found Malfoy and his buddies waiting for him in the deserted part of the dungeons that led to the stairs.
"So, back again Potter? Why don't you just shrivel up and die like you're supposed to?" Malfoy sneered crossing his arms as Crabbe and Goyle guffawed.
"What do you want Malfoy? Aren't you tired of the same old taunts and childish fighting?"
"There is nothing childish about a proper wizard's duel. Too bad you always chicken out before we can get anywhere" Malfoy twirled his wand lazily.
Keeping a wary eye on Malfoy, Harry reached for his own wand. He wouldn't put it past Malfoy to hex him without warning.
"But today, today I am going to make you pay" Malfoy's eyes held a blind fury that had never been there before.
"Expelliarmus!" Malfoy shouted before Harry could aim his own wand properly.
Harry's wand flew out of his hand and into Malfoy's before he could react.
"Too bad you don't even have any friends who could come to your pathetic rescue." Malfoy sneered.
"I don't need any friends, Malfoy" he had tolerated enough.
Harry hissed something and Malfoy let out a cry of pain. Harry's wand flew out of Malfoy's hand and returned to him. Malfoy was holding his hand in pain where angry red boils were appearing.
"This is a very special wand, Malfoy. It can only be used by parselmouths, as in me. Next time, just stay away and keep your mouth shut if you want to avoid more pain. Hey, you goons! Get this dimwit to the hospital wing before the basilisk poison kills him."
"Too bad intelligence isn't for sale. Your parents would probably have been more than happy to buy you some brains" Harry threw over his shoulder as he strolled over to the staircase.
A part of him wanted to stay around and make sure those two blokes got the prat to the hospital wing before he dropped dead. But he shrugged and continued on his way instead. He was beginning to regret his parting remark. He had found out about Lucius Malfoy's death only the night ago in one of the Daily Prophet editions. Malfoy was killed in crossfire during a raid by aurors on a death-eater camp.
During lunch in the Great Hall, Dumbledore made an announcement. There were no afternoon classes for the day since the teachers had a special meeting. Students were free to do what they liked. This announcement caused the Great Hall to buzz with chatter the way it used to in the past years. Harry was glad to get a break from all the staring from his fellow school mates. Everyone was wondering what the cause of this sudden teachers' meeting was. Harry heard snatches of conversation around him.
"Maybe a new Dark Lord has risen. Not all the Death-Eaters were captured..."
"I know why. The centaurs in the Forbidden Forest are going to attack Hogwarts. I heard Lisa tell…"
"No, no. I'm telling you, it is the Plague. Professor Trelawney warned us the other day. I always knew she was a great Seer…"
Idiots, Harry thought contemptuously. What will it take to teach them not to jump to conclusions? Harry decided to spend the rest of the day in the library. He was actually glad to have some free time to study. There was still so much to do. The reporters had to be dealt with. Harry deposited his bag on a remote table in the library before going in search of the books that he needed. The library filled up with students while he was searching. As he was flipping through one book, Harry couldn't help but overhear a conversation from a table nearby.
"I really don't know the answer to these Herbology questions. I tried looking in so many books but I just can't find anything about this Crocodile's Tongue. Is it a sea plant or something?" the voice sounded like a frustrated Seamus Finnegan.
"Ask Hermione. She probably knows the answer" Harry would recognize Ron Weasley's voice anywhere.
"She's not here. And if Hermione is not in the library, then I have no idea where to look for her" Seamus complained.
"Ask Neville then. He is over there sitting with that Ravenclaw girl. What's her name again?" Dean Thomas asked.
"Loony Lovegood. How can you forget?" Ron again.
"Ask Neville? Right, and I might also stop by to invite Harry to come and join us, shall I? Are you crazy? Neville probably wouldn't even pass me a rock so I could smash my head with it. I was so horrible to him all of last year" Seamus groaned.
Harry was intrigued enough to stay there, hidden from view by a tall bookshelf, open book forgotten in his hands.
"You weren't the only one. I came up with all those nasty names that we called him. The Slytherins had nothing on us last year. Poor Neville, he didn't deserve all that." Dean sighed.
"Neither did Harry." Ron's voice was choked.
After that there was only silence. Harry returned to his table with the book, wondering what all that was about. That girl he had seen with Neville wasn't his girlfriend? Or was she? What did all that have to do with Harry anyway? He couldn't see the connection.
"Harry? Hi, I have a message from Professor Lupin for you. He says the extra class is still on this evening but it will start half an hour late" the Ravenclaw Head Boy was standing in front of Harry's table, smiling gently.
Harry had heard someone call him 'Nathan' in the Great Hall the other day. Harry smiled back. Nathan was practically a stranger to him.
"So, you're okay with that?" he asked.
Harry nodded thinking about Professor Lupin. Reading the paper last night had revealed that Lupin was under the Luscar curse during Harry's trial. So, basically he couldn't have come to Harry's rescue. Harry wasn't convinced that Lupin would have supported him even if he was able to but since the choice had been taken out of Lupin's hands, Harry couldn't really be mad at him. He was far from becoming buddies with Lupin but at least now classes with him would be more tolerable.
"Right. See you around" Nathan turned to walk away.
"Hey, wait….Nathan, right? Can I ask you something?" Nathan nodded at Harry's question.
"Sure, what is it?"
"Who is that Ravenclaw girl sitting with Neville Longbottom? You know Neville, don't you? That girl, her name is Lovegood or something" Nathan's smile had faltered.
"Luna Lovegood. She is in Fifth Year. She and Neville became close friends over the last year" Nathan's voice was very sober.
"How come?" Harry asked wondering whether the boy would tell him the whole story.
Nathan was quiet for a moment. He sighed and nodded to himself before sitting down in front of Harry. He told Harry what happened the year before. After Harry was expelled from Hogwarts, everyone was talking about how he had gone Dark and was responsible for the all the deaths. Everyone believed he had done it. Everyone except Neville and Luna. Neville had declared that he believed Harry was innocent. That made everyone in Gryffindor and the rest of the school scoff at him. He was ridiculed and scorned. Luna was a strange girl by nature. Her father was editor to a magazine that published very bizarre stuff. She also announced that she believed in Harry's innocence. Ever since then, the two of them had suffered nothing but jeers and insults from everyone. That's how they became friends. They were called names and everyone made fun of them. Since they were rejected by all their normal friends, they were together most of the time. Harry sat thinking about it long after Nathan had left. So there had been someone who believed in his innocence after all.
The next hour was spent studying Ancient Runes. He had just finished his essay when he heard muffled voices nearby. Harry looked up from his book. All the students sitting at the tables near him were quiet and the conversations of others a bit farther were just a distant buzz. From his place at the back of the library, he could see the door and the counter where Madam Pince was currently seated, busy checking a long list and all the tables filled with students. He had returned back to his work when he heard it.
A muffled voice said something like "Just come with me,…..?"
With that, one Hermione Granger followed by one Ron Weasley appeared from behind a bookshelf slightly ahead of Harry's table. The two came to stand directly in front of Harry's table. Hermione looked at Harry then lowered her gaze to the floor. Ron was no more successful in meeting his eye.
"Uhhhmmm…..hi, Harry!…..Uhmm…Professor Vector said that…..she said……that maybe…..maybe I could…..you know…..h-he…uhm….I mean, hhe-help you with your Arithmancy since…since you're just starting this year?" Hermione's croaky voice died away.
She seemed to be near tears, her overbright eyes and sunken face added to her timid and uncertain stance making her look pathetic. Behind her, Ron looked every bit as wretched with a very pale and tired face and awfully disheveled uniform. Harry knew this was all because of him but he wasn't the least bit sorry for it. In fact, he felt a morbid satisfaction at seeing them suffer.
"I don't need you help. Go away" he said coldly.
"….Ha-Harry….please….I know you hate me but….just let me help you….I.."
"I said I don't need your help. Just go away and leave me alone" Harry kept his voice low, noticing that the other students were beginning to turn away from their work to watch them. He remained immobile, sitting in his chair and keeping his eyes on the table.
"Harry, please….won't you let Hermione help you….she can…." Ron tried to say.
"Shut up! I don't need either of you. I don't want your help. Just get lost before I lose my temper" Harry's voice had risen a few notches.
"You have every right to be angry, Harry but please just think about this for a second. Professor McGonagall told me about your double exams at the end of the year and you also have two whole new subjects and… Professor McGonagall thinks it would be best if I could study with you since…" Hermione was just beginning to speak clearly but Harry interrupted.
"I don't care what McGonagall thinks. I will not study with you. So just stay the hell away from me" Harry got up and began to pack away his books.
"Hermione just wants to help. If you'd only let her study with you…." Ron was silenced by the intense fury that shone in Harry's eyes when he raised his head to glare at Ron before looking down again. Stuffing his quill into his bag, Harry lifted it in preparation to leave.
Knowing her chance was about to be over, Hermione gathered her courage and found her voice again.
"You have to let me help you. You are starting on two of the hardest subjects only this year and you have double exams. You have to catch up with last year's studies and prepare for OWLs and the Sixth Year finals. Even with the extra classes, you can't catch up on it all o your own. You need my help!" Hermione's voice ended on a shrill note as she followed Harry who was walking away from his table.
Hermione's last sentence brought Harry to a halt. Everyone in the library was utterly silent, watching him stand there with his back to Ron and Hermione who were both holding there breaths.
Harry's bag was dropped to the floor as he turned around to face them. The look on his face must have been terrible judging by how his two ex-best friends took a step back.
"I need your help?" his voice was a mere whisper but everyone heard it in the complete silence.
"I need your help? I need your help to study for exams? You are willing to help me? Where were you when I was being accused of mass-murder? Why didn't you come to help me then? I needed your help like never before. Why didn't you help me? Why? Why didn't you even listen to me then?" Harry yelled at her.
And in that moment all the pain that he had been trying to keep buried since his release came pouring out in his words. It was as if a volcano had erupted inside him, the searing fire in his heart finally becoming too much, his pain spewing out like lava in his words.
"Why? Why weren't you there at my side? Why didn't you listen to me when I tried to explain? How could you believe I was capable of such a crime? Why didn't you figure it out if you were so smart? How many times, how many times did I try to speak to you? Try to explain I wasn't responsible? Why didn't you two help me then?"
"The three of us have been together since First Year. You were there with me every time. Fighting to keep the Philosopher's Stone safe in First Year, fighting against the basilisk in the Second Year, finding Sirius Black in the Third Year and the Tournament in Fourth Year. What made you think I was so evil? What did I ever do to make you think I could be capable of killing so many people?"
"You were my best friends. You two were the most important people in my life. I would gladly lie down and die for you. I thought I was important to you too. I had always thought, no matter what everyone else said or thought about me, you two would always stand by me. To everyone else I was just a famous name. They had shown they didn't trust me long ago. The Slytherins hated me since the beginning. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs thought I was Slytherin's heir. The other Gryffindors would love me if I won Quidditch or hate me if I lost House Points. All of them were friends in name only, but not you two. I had thought you were my real friends. Couldn't you have just heard me out then? Just to humor me, even if you thought I was a murderer. Didn't I deserve at least that much after four years of friendship?"
"I might have been able to prove my innocence. But I couldn't. I didn't know anything about wizarding laws. I couldn't find out no matter how hard I tried. You weren't there to help me then, Hermione. You didn't bring me any books on wizarding laws. When everyone else turned against me, so did you two. You testified against me. Because of that I was sent to Azkaban. Because even my best friends admitted that I was an evil murderer."
"I spent a year in Azkaban. It seems more like a century. For over a year, I lived guarded by creatures that were my worst fear, reliving the most painful memories of my life, namely my parents' death and the memory of my friends abandoning me. You have no idea how much I have suffered. Do you hear me? You have no idea. I will never trust you again. You are not my friends, you never will be. I will never forgive you for what you did to me. NEVER!"
Harry's voice rang throughout the library. Everyone was as still as statues except Hermione. She had tears in her eyes since Harry's first sentence and by then her body was shaking with silent sobs, her hands clamped tightly to her mouth. Ron made no attempt to wipe away his tears either. As Harry's anger began to leave him, the pain began to overwhelm him and he could feel the sting in his eyes.
It was at that precise moment that Professor McGonagall came running into the library with her hat sitting crookedly on her head. Taking one look at the petrified Madam Pince, McGonagall followed her gaze to the trio standing in silence. Nathan, the Head Boy entered the library slightly behind her glancing warily to where the trio was standing. No one had noticed him slipping out to call McGonagall earlier. Professor McGonagall took a deep breath and strode over towards them.
"What is going on here?" she asked Harry calmly, putting one hand on Hermione's shoulder.
"I was just explaining that I don't need or want any help in my studies. And I would prefer to be left alone. And also that I am not willing to compromise on any issue here." Harry glared at McGonagall, daring her to say otherwise.
Before McGonagall could reply, there was a scurrying noise closing in and the next moment two tigercat cubs had launched themselves at Harry's legs. They growled and pawed at his robes, willing him to bend down. The sight of them seemed to calm Harry a little. He turned away from the other two and sighing, sat down at the table closest to him. The tigercats didn't waste a moment in climbing a chair then hopping onto the table to face Harry directly.
"I'm fine. I'm fine, guys. Will you calm down?" Harry sighed softly again as the cubs prowled on the desk restlessly, coming close occasionally as if to convince themselves that he was alright.
Sensing his troubled thoughts and his pain, the cubs came running there to help him, to protect him. Harry could feel calm thoughts coming from them, trying to soothe him, take away his pain. There was no doubt in his mind that they truly cared about him. He was important to them and they would never desert him like his friends had done. It finally brought a soft, sad smile on his face.
Harry retrieved is bag from the floor and stood up. He didn't look at anyone except McGonagall.
"I don't want a study partner. I will not agree to it no matter what. Nothing will change my mind" Harry looked at Hermione's tear-strained face as he said it.
With that, Harry stalked out of the library, head held high and two tigercat cubs following in his wake.