X
XIX
XIXIX "Power Without Control" XIXIX
'I'm with Hermione in an empty classroom and she's suggesting spells for me to try to cast without my wand. It's fun to experiment, but she can't give me direction the way the Nicolas can. My spellwork is really sporadic and shaky.
'I'm disappointed by this, even though the very fact that I can do wandless spellcasting makes me more powerful than Voldemort, more powerful than Dumbledore.
'I can't believe that this is my life. I don't feel unusual. Wandless spellcasting doesn't feel unusual. I could do this two years ago, but it never occurred to me it was something special. I feel like I'm in a fog of some sort. A dream.
'I'm a fantasy of myself.
'Hermione's telling me about what she is learning about prophecies. Trelawney made her read tea leaves. Hermione claimed to have seen a grim in hers, an obvious dig on Trelawney's last attempt to teach her how to read tea leaves. Trelawney must not have gotten it. She let her read a book as a reward.
'Hermione says that prophecies predicting someone's downfall have a 70 rate of accuracy. But she hasn't yet found data about prophecies that specify someone as the cause of someone else's downfall. Apparently, person-specific prophecies are often destroyed after the person's death if the prophecy didn't come true. They are assigned "false prophecy" status, rather than "inaccurate prophecy" status for some reason. She's still trying to figure that one out.
'My friend who doesn't believe in Divination is reading books owned by a person who has predicted my death thousands of times, searching for statistics that will validate that the prophecy of my battle with Voldemort is true, and can be accurately translated to mean that I will conquer him and not die.
'That's irony for you.
'When we're done we go to dinner, and Ginny tells me all the plans she has for tonight's DA meeting. Asking her to help me was one of the smartest things I have ever done.
'Ron tells me some ideas he has for the Quidditch practices. Next week we're having practice every night in preparation for the Hufflepuff game. Then three weeks later is the Slytherin rematch. Ron comes to me with practice ideas kind of sheepishly, like he's afraid I'll think he's stepping on my toes. But they're really great ideas, and I'm so distracted lately. I can't focus on anything. I'm always lost.
'When I'm in class, I think about Legilimency. When I'm at Quidditch practice, I think about wandless spellcasting. When I'm in the common room, I think about my upcoming potions experiments with Snape and Perenelle. When I'm in DA meetings, I think about the war.
'And then, I'm always thinking about Malfoy. I can't take watching him like this during meals, with his girlfriend hanging all over him. That's it. Starting tomorrow morning, I'm sitting on the other side of the table.
XIXIX
Just over a hundred people showed up to the DA meeting that night, including a large group of first and second years who had previously been too shy to go to the meetings. Ginny and Harry split their two divisions into seven platoons based on skill and ability. The youngest platoons were led by third or fourth years. The oldest platoons were led by the most powerful veteran DA members.
The platoons spent the first hour practicing spells by dueling. Harry and Ginny walked from platoon to platoon within their divisions, amazed by the swift progress.
The platoons spent the next two hours battling each other. One by one, each of Harry's platoons scrimmaged against a comparable platoon from Ginny's division. The rest of the DA lined the walls, watching the battles through the shields they had cast around themselves, yelling support.
Ginny's platoons won five of the seven matches. Afterwards, she chastised Harry for not encouraging cohesion among his groups.
"But we get new members every meeting," Harry countered. "The groups change from day to day."
"All the more reason to encourage group unity. They're not going to get the opportunity to choose who is around them when they are attacked by Death Eaters. They have to be able to join together with anyone and everyone who is there to form a temporary camaraderie when faced with a common enemy."
"But we can't keep re-dividing them every time get new members. It just takes too much time."
"I know," agreed Ginny. "We might want to keep the platoons as they are now, and just keep adding members to them as necessary. If they get big enough, we can split the platoons into squads. Then maybe we could randomly pair the squads from time to time, so that they still feel comfortable working with whoever happens to be there."
Harry laughed. "Lupin was right. This really is becoming an army."
Ginny narrowed her eyes. "It won't if you can't get your division to work together. Maybe you should get each of your platoons to choose a mascot or something. That might help overcome some of the inter-House rivalry within the platoons."
Harry nodded. "Yeah, if they have a common symbol, maybe they can get past the House symbols that separate them."
Harry glanced at the clock and then wondered if it had always been there on the wall of the Room of Requirement. Ginny sighed.
"Harry, at some point I expect you to tell me who it is that you are always sneaking off to see." Harry looked at Ginny guiltily. "Whoever it is, is distracting you from a lot of things you're working on. Your mind is always somewhere else, and you are always frustrated about something. It's not like you to keep secrets, so I know that this... relationship or whatever it is can't be good."
Harry opened his mouth to make excuses, but Ginny cut him off.
"I'm just saying that I'm here for you. I'm your sister and I expect you to come to me, okay?"
"Okay," said Harry quietly.
He slipped on his invisibility cloak. The door opened and closed, and Ginny was alone. She sighed. It was really hard to shut out her own feelings in order to be there for Harry for anything, including romances and heartache.
She thought about the Order, and the latest news. She and Ron didn't get much information from their parents, but their older brothers wrote them regularly with news in code. Things outside were getting worse.
If the prophecy was true, and Harry was the only one who could put an end to all of this, then it was more than worth it to her to help Harry in any way she could. She'd do it even if the fate of the wizarding world didn't depend on him. He was worth it.
XIXIX
Harry made his way out of the castle. So far, he was always the first one out to the lake, so he hadn't had to worry about Malfoy realizing Harry was invisible during his walk down to the beech tree. But this time, he saw a figure waiting for him.
Harry took a detour so that he was coming to the beech tree from another direction than the castle. He slipped off his cloak, and headed to Malfoy who was watching the castle doors.
"Oh hey, Potter," he said. "Where have you been?"
"I went for a walk after the DA meeting. No rest for the weary, and all." Harry winked and Malfoy made a face.
"Why do you bother with the DA?" he asked.
Harry shrugged. "Someone's got to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. I can't believe Fudge was thick enough to suspend that class. Now, of all times!"
Malfoy rolled his eyes. "No, what I mean is, why you? Don't you have enough to deal with as is? I mean, Voldemort is a rather formidable enemy, and instead of preparing yourself, you're trying to prepare all these kiddies he doesn't give a damn about. He's after you, not them. When are you going to wise up?"
Harry smiled just slightly and shrugged his shoulders again. He couldn't bring himself to trust Malfoy enough to tell him anything about his extra training. "Everyone is in danger, not just me. I have to do what I can to protect them."
Malfoy shook his head with condescending disbelief. "Classic Gryffindor. Shame, really." He sighed. "Whatever. It's your ass, not mine. All I know is that if it were me, I'd be training 24 hours a day. I'd suggest you do the same."
"Maybe I will," said Harry.
"You ought to," said Malfoy. "He's not going to wait for you to say you're ready, you know. The less prepared you are, the better for him."
Harry looked at him suspiciously. "Do you know something?"
Malfoy scoffed and said sarcastically, "Of course. The Dark Lord told me all of his plans to kill you, his greatest nemesis, right after he tortured me for befriending you."
Harry stepped closer, and gently took hold of Malfoy's waist. "Well, you should have known better than mixing company like that."
Malfoy looked him in the eye, suddenly serious. "You haven't told anyone, have you, Potter?"
Harry shook his head.
"Good," he said. "I'm putting my life on the line to be here with you. You owe me for that."
"What—for the privilege of shagging you? Are you saying you're here out of pity?"
"Of course not, Potter! You know what I mean."
Harry nodded, but he wasn't sure he did. Did Malfoy really think he was so much better than Harry that Harry owed him, especially after Malfoy had pursued him for so long?
Harry considered pursuing the topic, but then Malfoy started kissing Harry's neck, and all of his thoughts disappeared. He was lost once again.
XIXIX
The next morning at breakfast, the owl post brought a letter each to Harry, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione. They opened their letters in sleepy silence, each of their eyes widening as they read through them. As they reached the ends, they all looked up at each other, and yelled out at the same time.
Harry, Ron, and Ginny all yelled out, "Brilliant!"
Hermione yelled out, "Arsehole!"
They looked at each other for a second, stunned.
Then Hermione dove in. "Victor wants me to set up a meeting with you, Harry. Acting like I'm your goddamn secretary, or something!"
"What a git, 'Mione," exclaimed an indignant Ron. "Are you okay?"
"Oh, shut up, Ron!" she grumbled. "You always wanted us to break up. You'll forgive me if your comfort seems a little self-serving at the moment."
"That's not fair! You're one of my best friends. How could you possibly think that I don't really care about your feelings?!" said Ron, barely concealing his anger.
Hermione looked up at him in silence for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry, Ron. You're right. I had no right to say that."
"It's okay," he said, calmly.
"What was your letter about?" she asked.
"Huh?" Ron looked down at his hand, clutching some apparently forgotten good news.
Ginny cut in. "Fred and George are having their Grand Reopening next week! They sent us invitations!"
"Of course we can't go 'cause we have school," said Ron, "But still, it's brilliant that they're reopening!"
"It's going to be a huge party on Diagon Alley," said Ginny.
"That's great!" said Harry.
"Yeah," said Hermione, looking from Ron to Ginny to Harry. "Why didn't I get one?"
"Dunno," said Harry. "But I didn't get one either. This is from Lupin. He's been released from St. Mungo's!"
"Brilliant!" they all yelled out.
They toasted their pumpkin juice to their good news. Harry held up his glass to Professor Dumbledore, who toasted his as well. As an afterthought, Harry turned around and held up his glass to Malfoy, just like he would have done before he started sleeping with him.
Malfoy scowled at him, and Harry knew he had a hard day of fights with the Slytherins ahead of him. There was no way they would let him get away with mocking their Death Eater parents like that.
But Harry had maintained the charade, so Malfoy was safe for another day. Snape would be proud.
XIXIX
Harry and Ron both fell asleep in divination that day. They had sat a little bit away from the rest of the Gryffindors so that Lavender and Pavarti wouldn't keep them awake with their giggles about how cute Firenze was when he was stargazing. This turned out to have been a major mistake when they woke up to find that they had been quietly hit with painless hexes.
Ron was startled to find when he awoke that he could not see. An image of a serpent covered his entire field of vision. Harry found that his hair had grown quite long. In the darkness of Firenze's classroom, it had grown long enough to cover much of the forest floor surrounding him. It was so long in fact, that Harry had trouble standing up due to the weight on his head.
The Slytherins laughed nastily as they exited. The hexes had been cast quietly in the middle of class. Because of their painless nature, Harry and Ron had slept through them and class had not been disrupted in the slightest. There was now no way to prove who had cast the spells.
Harry used his wand to cut of about 15 feet of his hair so that he could walk Ron to the infirmary. They hadn't walked the length of the hallway, when it had grown at least another ten feet. Harry cut it again, but this time, was seen by Filch, who gave Harry a detention for making a mess in the hallway. During the time it took for Filch to yell at Harry, Harry's hair had grown another 20 feet.
Filch followed Harry and Ron to the infirmary. Each time Harry cut his hair so that he could continue to walk without stumbling under the weight, no matter how fast he cleaned it up with a Cleaning Charm, Filch would hit him with another detention. Eventually, a few DA members came along and helped Harry by just carrying his hair behind him so he wouldn't have to cut it anymore.
Harry had three detentions and nearly a hundred feet of hair by the time he and Ron got to the infirmary. Madam Pomphrey came in, highly put out to be seeing Harry and Ron again. "Can't you two stay out of trouble?" she demanded.
"We choose not to," said Ron wryly.
"Yeah," said Harry with a smile. "Anyway, it's the easiest way to get sent to come and visit you."
"Oh you!" said Madam Pomphrey, swatting at Harry. She performed a simple counter curse on Ron, whose vision returned nearly to normal within minutes. He still had a vague after-image of a serpent, but Madam Pomphrey assured him it would fade completely within an hour.
She gave Harry a Hair Growth Slowing potion that was often used when a witch or wizard got a haircut they particularly liked. The bad news was that it would take a full day to slow his hair growth completely back to normal. In the meantime, Harry would just have to keep cutting it. Harry groaned.
The Great Hall erupted in laughter when Harry entered for dinner. There was a certain amount of snide jeers from the Slytherin table, but most of the rest of the laughter was a good-natured ribbing that Harry took as well as could be expected. He sat once again with his back to the Slytherins.
Hermione had put a Self-Braiding charm on his hair, so that even as it grew it stayed pulled back in one neat braid. He was very thankful of that when he began eating, because it stayed out of his way, and out of the Gryffindors' food. The potion had begun to slow Harry's hair growth, so that throughout dinner, his hair only grew sixteen feet total. Ginny cut his hair twice while they ate.
One of the side effects of the hex was a voracious appetite. His body was using a lot of energy to keep the hair growing. Harry ate as slowly as he could, but Ginny remarked that he looked ravenous.
Snape swept past the Gryffindor table, pausing for a moment to sneer at Harry.
"Mr. Potter, you are well aware that the school's dress code states that male students' hair must be kept trimmed above the collar of their robes. Ten points from Gryffindor, and you will serve a detention with me tonight."
Harry could hear the Slytherins laughing. He and his friends scowled, and complained loudly to the rest of the Gryffindors of the injustice. But quietly, Harry was relieved Snape had done that. He had been nervous that his hair would grow out beneath the invisibility cloak tonight and he would be spotted going into the dungeons for his Legilimency lesson. He was sure that Snape had thought the same thing.
That night, Hermione was helping Ron catch up on his Transfiguration homework, so Ginny and Neville walked Harry down to the dungeons for his 'detention.' He told them it would probably be well past curfew by the time he was done, so he would be safe walking back alone.
He entered Snape's classroom and closed the door behind him. Snape was sitting at his desk, sneering at him.
"Mr. Potter," he said as Harry approached, "For your detention this evening, you will be scrubbing the floors of this classroom. You may not use magic, and that includes wandless spellcasting. You may go when you have finished."
Harry's eyes widened just slightly and he caught Snape's eye, and quickly read him.
He was joking.
'Very funny,' Harry thought at him.
'I thought you would think so,' Snape thought back with a small smile. "I see you have been practicing," he said aloud, after casting a silencing charm so that no one could listen from outside the classroom.
Harry blushed. "A little," he said guiltily.
Snape sneered at him. "Honestly, Mr. Potter. One does not need to be a Legilimens to know what you are thinking and feeling, when you offer the information so freely to anyone who so much as looks at you."
Harry looked at him quizzically. "Sir?"
"Your body language, Mr. Potter, your facial expressions, and your words tell all. You feel guilty about practicing on whomever it was that gave you those 'hickies', I imagine. Dumbledore helped you master Occlumency, but I wonder why he bothered when you continue to insist upon wearing your heart on your sleeve."
Harry gazed at Snape impassively. "Is this better?" he asked.
"Much. Your enemy is at this school, Mr. Potter. You are surely aware that the Dark Lord has students watching you. They watch for your reactions to every move he makes. He is watching for signs of weakness. For this reason, it was a particularly impressive move that you resurrected the DA when you did, rather than cowering morosely when attacks began to happen in your name."
"It was Hermione's idea," admitted Harry.
"Then you have chosen your friends well," said Snape. "You have also once again allowed honesty to get in the way of better judgment. If you must insist on being humble, be humble with your friends. To everyone else, you must project strength of character. The Dark Lord must never know when you are having a bad day, because he will then learn how to create more bad days for you, thus weakening you until you are in no position to fight him."
Harry nodded. "That makes sense."
They began their lesson in Snape's office, setting up a simple Alarm Charm to alert them if anyone should enter the classroom. Harry had a huge stack of Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw first year essays to pretend to work on grading if someone should enter. He sat directly across from Snape, who sat behind his desk with the Gryffindor and Slytherin essays.
Snape began by explaining to Harry what to look for to pick up more complex thoughts than simple words or phrases. Harry was finding this lesson much easier than the last. He felt like he was getting the hang of Legilimency. Pretty soon, they had moved on to abstract ideas and emotions.
When Snape mimicked the mental processes of 'love', Harry was caught for a second.
"What are you doing?!" he demanded, rising from his seat. He carefully raised his Occlumency shields until they were as strong as he could muster. "You said I could trust you!"
"And you can," said Snape impassively. "You had a strong reaction to that last one, and as our minds were linked, I could not help but catch your current emotional associations with that concept."
"You were digging! I felt it!" Harry was nearly shouting now.
Snape's eyes flickered imperceptibly, but it was enough for Harry. He slipped into Snape's mind for that moment.
"What do you mean 'that powerful'? How powerful am I?! What did you see?!"
"Harry, please sit down," said Snape quietly, motioning to Harry's chair.
"No! Tell me what you saw!" Harry was fuming. He felt betrayed.
Snape stood up and leaned over his desk. He glared Harry down, his eyes blazing. The sight called to mind Professor Dumbledore when he dueled against Voldemort. "Mr. Potter," he said authoritatively, "Sit down."
Harry squared his stance and glared back at Snape evenly. "Tell me what you saw."
Snape stood up straight and folded his arms across his chest. A small smile played on his lips as he looked at Harry. Slowly the smile grew. Then he started to laugh.
Harry was taken aback by seeing Snape laugh a genuine laugh, but he stood his ground. He glared at Snape while Snape sat back down and conjured some tea and scones. He poured them both a cup of tea, and again asked Harry to sit down. Harry did so slowly, still eyeing the Potions Master.
"Have something to eat, I know you're hungry," said Snape. Harry shook his head once, and leaned back in his seat, waiting for an explanation.
"Harry, your hair has grown at least twenty feet since we've been here, but beyond that, you have been projecting hunger since you arrived here. Even now, with your Occlumency shields as strong as they are, you are projecting hunger. Some of the feelings that people have are so visceral that it takes many years of effort to be able to fully cloak them. I commend you on your strength of will, but as there is food in front of you, I see no reason for you to wait any longer to satisfy you appetite."
Harry continued to glare at Snape impassively.
"Indeed," said Snape after a long pause. He sipped his own tea and waited another moment before continuing. "In the same way that you are currently projecting hunger, for the past week you have been projecting much frustration over romantic difficulties. You have concealed quite well the nature of these issues, so naturally we have been concerned."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, Mr. Potter, myself included. As I have previously explained, you are being carefully watched, and any difficulties you have will be reported to the Dark Lord. While our minds were linked, you had a visceral reaction to the concept of love, projecting to me a combination of other emotions, including lust, guilt, fear, and the ever-present frustration. I attempted to sort through your projection to determine if you were in any sort of trouble."
"And what about your thoughts dealing with my power?"
"You were able to feel me sorting through emotions you were projecting. That takes an amazing amount of power. And, I might add, after our link had been severed, you must have looked past my Occlumency shields in order to know that I had been thinking about your power. That is something that the Dark Lord cannot do, and he is an extraordinarily powerful Legilimens."
Harry took a deep breath and released it slowly. He softened his glare at Snape while he thought through all of this information.
"So I'm more powerful than Voldemort at this as well?" he asked carefully.
"You're more powerful than he is. He has more control than you do. For that reason alone you are not yet ready to face him. But if you agree to continue training, you will gain more control, and you will have nothing to fear of him."
Harry looked Snape in the eye. His shields were up, but Harry could see through them. He was telling the truth.
"I can feel that, Mr. Potter."
"You just implied that that was a great feat. You must be quite powerful."
"You felt it when I sorted through emotions you were projecting. That is a great feat. You are carelessly rummaging through my mind. Noticing that takes only skill, of which I have plenty."
Snape was still holding his eye even though Harry had not withdrawn from his mind. He did not lower his shields, but he clearly knew that Harry could see past them. "You trust me," said Harry.
"Yes I do," said Snape. "Do you still trust me?"
In answer, Harry leaned forward and took his cup of tea. He sipped it slowly, looking Snape in the eye. Snape knew how hungry Harry was, and wondered why he wasn't eating.
"I'm projecting strength of character," said Harry.
"Beg your pardon?" asked Snape.
"That's why I'm not eating. There is no reason for me to let you know that I am hungry. I'll let my friends know when I am hungry."
Snape narrowed his eyes, but Harry could tell he was amused.
A light tone sounded. Harry quickly picked up a stack of papers and pretended to be grading them while Snape waved his wand, clearing away the tea and scones. Perenelle walked through the door.
She looked at the two with a big smile and said, "Oh, look at you two, grading papers like old chums!" She turned to Harry. "How's my long-haired guinea pig?" she asked with a light laugh.
"Perenelle, I'm starving," said Harry as he stood to hug her hello. He smirked at Snape who conjured more tea and scones, and a plate of sandwiches for Harry. Snape attempted to glare at Harry while doing so, but when Perenelle turned around, a smile forced its way onto his face.
"Severus! How do you do?" They leaned across his desk and kissed each other lightly on the cheek. Harry's eyes were wide as he watched Snape and Perenelle make friendly small talk. Snape was actually beaming with happiness.
Presently, Perenelle turned back around. "Merlin! You are hungry!" Only then did Harry realize that he was eating, and indeed was already working on his second sandwich.
"Yes, Harry was just telling me about his strength of character," said Snape, with a friendly smirk and a raised eyebrow.
Harry swallowed and said good-naturedly, "I was actually talking about trust and friendship, Sev."
"Harry, I am still your professor," Snape began.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! My bad!" The two looked at Perenelle. "The room seemed kind of tense when I walked in, so I was a bit liberal with exuding friendship. You can go back to calling each other 'Professor Snape' and 'Mr. Potter' now."
Harry looked at her wide-eyed. "You can do that?!"
"Sure thing, kiddo. Kind of neat, huh?"
Harry laughed. "Yeah!"
Perenelle walked over to stand behind Harry, and began to run her fingers across his still braided hair. "We've got to do something about this, though," she said. "You both need haircuts."
Snape narrowed his eyes at her, and this time, succeeded in his intended glare. "Perenelle, I have told you—"
"And Severus, I have told you, if you refuse to take care of your hair, the potions fumes are going to continue to make it all greasy, and will ruin it! If you let me cut it short, it won't take two seconds to apply the protective tonics in the morning—"
"I do not wish my hair to be short."
"Then take the time to apply the tonics."
"I'm a very busy man."
"Then let me cut your hair."
"Perenelle," said Snape definitively, "No."
Harry looked up and saw Perenelle make a mock-pouty face at Snape. Then she turned her warm eyes back to Harry.
"Maybe Severus won't let me help him," she cast a quick glare at the Potions Master, "But you will, right, Harry?"
Harry smiled. "Can you make it stop growing so fast?"
"Well, let's just see, shall we?" She undid the braiding charm, and ran her fingers all along Harry's scalp, massaging it softly. Her eyes were closed. Eventually she muttered "Capillus Tardus."
Harry took a deep breath. He wondered if he really could feel his hair stop growing, or if he had just imagined it. He did feel his hunger die down.
"Now, let's cut this overgrown mop!" Perenelle said happily. She walked around Harry a few times, studying him purposefully, and finally reached toward him. She pulled at his locks with her left hand. Then, with determined precision, she swept the fingers of her right hand across his hair where she wanted it cut. Harry's seven-foot-long locks fell to the ground in clumps. When she was done, she handed Harry a mirror.
His hair was shorter than he had ever worn it. It still stuck up in all directions, but at its new length, it looked to be styled in carefully messy spikes. He looked really good.
Harry smiled up at Perenelle. "Thanks!" He stood up and hugged her.
With a wave of his wand, Snape cleared up the last of Harry's fallen hair, and snapped, "Are you quite ready for the potion now?"
Harry looked up at him, caught off guard by his sudden return to Snape-ness. He nodded impassively, and sat back down. "What have you got for me today?"
"It's a variation of a simple lucid dreaming potion," said Perenelle. "We've spliced it with a very mild bonding potion to see if it aids in your locating Voldemort."
"And if you do," Snape said sternly, "You are NOT to try any of your newfound Legilimency skills. You have not yet mastered the art of treading lightly. He may recognize your capabilities. If he cannot use them to his advantage, he will certainly find a way to keep you from using them to yours."
Harry nodded. "Understood."
"And Harry," said Perenelle, "When you wake up in the mornings, or in the middle of the night if it happens, use this pen to write down your dreams. It is charmed to aid in memory retention."
"Harry," said Snape, looking Harry in the eye. He lowered his Occlumency shields completely as a show of good faith. In return, Harry did not look into his mind. "It is also charmed so that you can't leave anything out. This is not because we don't trust you, but because we may not realize something is important until later. For that reason, Perenelle and I have sworn an oath of secrecy in regards to the dealings of the making of this potion. Anything you write with this pen, or tell us, goes no farther unless you choose it to. Do you agree to this?"
"Yes, I do. Wait a minute, does this mean you can't take any credit for making these potions?"
"We're not doing this for the glory," said Perenelle. "We're doing it for you."
"But this will be a major accomplishment," said Harry.
"For which I would be killed," said Snape.
"And if I took credit for it, you would be killed. And I wouldn't want to lose my favorite guinea pig," said Perenelle with a smile.
Harry marveled that they were putting so much effort into helping him, expecting nothing in return. He wanted suddenly to hug them both and promise that after he defeated Voldemort he would tell the world how much they helped.
"Mr. Potter, kindly take your heart from you sleeve. It is rather disgusting to see such baseless gratitude."
Harry sneered in his very best Snape imitation, and said, "Quite."
Perenelle laughed.
XIXIX
Harry left Snape and Perenelle for the night once the conversation turned to arguments dealing with the complexities of potions brewing. As he slipped down the hallways, he checked his watch and realized it was probably too late to go to the lake. Malfoy doubtfully would have waited that long for him. It was a shame, really. Harry wanted to show off his new haircut.
And Harry had Malfoy (or one of his friends) to thank for it. He thought about Snape giving him detention in the Great Hall, and then pretending that he really was going to make Harry serve detention. Harry had an idea.
He slipped on his invisibility cloak and headed through the hallways, back past Snape's classroom, from which he could still hear voices. He continued past the cold and darkening dungeons, until he found himself standing in front of Snape's doorway, staring at a stone carving of a serpent that would only slither out of the way to Snape's password.
"Do you understand parsletongue?" Harry asked.
"Yes," said the serpent. "No one has spoken to me in that language in fifty years."
Harry shuddered, realizing the last person must have been Tom Riddle. All the same, he continued, "I am a friend of Professor Snape's."
"The invisible one he has brought here," said the serpent. Harry was still cloaked.
"Yes, that's me. I was wondering if you would be willing to play a bit of a joke on him with me."
"Doing what?"
"The next time he changes his password, refuse anything he suggests. Come up with ridiculous phrases instead."
"Professor Snape is very serious. This will be a great joke."
"Thank you," said Harry.
He turned and headed back to the common room.
He noted with a smile when he entered through the portrait hole that quite a few members of Gryffindor House (mostly females) dropped their jaws at the sight of Harry.
"Wow, Harry," said Ginny breathlessly. "You look incredible!"
Harry blushed bright red. He felt a bit uncomfortable that Ginny would say that, but still, he reasoned, if even his sister thought he looked good, Malfoy was surely going to... well, something good.
He sat by the fire with his friends and played exploding snap until it was late. He trudged up the stairs and changed into his pajamas. Just before he climbed into bed, he cleared his mind, and then drank one vial of the potion Snape and Perenelle had given him. He laid out the pen and a piece of parchment on his beside table.
Harry climbed into bed and stared up into the darkness, waiting for sleep to take him.
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A/N: Thank you everyone for reading. Please review; I love it when you do!
Wintermoon2: Yay! Yes, it does have to do with his emotions, but the ability is there regardless, he just hasn't learned how to control it yet. And I'm trying to keep in mind that they're all teenagers, despite the terrific things they have done. Hence, Hermione and Ginny's way of getting rid of Ron when they wanted to talk alone. By the way, I have to email you soon- I had a minor epiphany about your sequel and I wanna see if I'm right!
Usually Immaculate Aristocrat: Thank you! I'm trying to find a balance of how much fun Harry would let himself have, because he does have a lot of worries on his mind, but he can't be stoic all the time. And I'm glad you liked the subtlety. Please keep reading.
Pamela: Thanks for reading again! I'm glad you're enjoying! And don't worry about the account thing. That doesn't make you a whore. Of course, if you really are a whore, there is nothing wrong with that...
GotRyceBo: Haha, yeah, thick as cream. But sweet cream, so that's okay, right? I like Malfoy too. I can't wait until he gets more airtime in the story. Thanks for reading!
Vasquaz: That's an interesting scenario. I don't think that's going to happen in this story, so let me know when you write about it, so that I can see how it plays out! Thanks for reading!
OTAKU SQUARED: HERE'S ANOTHER CHAPTER. I HOPE IT IS TO YOUR LIKING! THANKS FOR READING!
Spidermonkey-Demon: What do you think are the chances that JKR will pay me royalties if she brings back a character she owns in a way that I came up with in a fanfic? Slim? None? Better than me winning the lottery? That means it's still possible, right?
Yuki Kurai: Great friend to have a good fight? Yes, yes indeed. I like that. I think that just might come up in the story now. Hmm... thanks. I'm glad you're enjoying, and yes, this will be a long story.
Plus, first announcement- I'm in the planning stages of the sequel already, because I think too far ahead. I hope everyone sticks around for it.
Thanks for reading, please review!