Disclaimer: Standard, J.K. Rowling owns the universe and the characters that appear in her books. I own my additions to it…yadda yadda yadda. For the full disclaimer (that applies to the whole story not just the first chapter, see chapter one).
Chapter 15: Wesley Tinderspoon's Secret
The rest of September went by quickly after that. There were a couple DA meetings in which they practiced curses form the previous year, but other than that not much was going on. Their classes weren't very new either most of them settling on a routine which seemed to be mostly review with a few new spells that Harry found to be mostly dull. Even the occlumency lessons went fine, even the addition of Blaise didn't cause ripples in the group. And since Leon had decided to start taking it slower do to Harry's mishap, they had spent the next few times simply going over meditation techniques.
Harry had fallen into his trance like state a few times over those weeks however he had always had a friend to snap him out of them and for that he was now pretty grateful as he was certain that he would not be passing his classes if they hadn't. It was the second week of October and today was the day they were finishing the polyjuice potion. Normally on the days the rest of the class were working on the potions he and Wesley would be chatting quietly by Neville and Blaise' cauldron, but today Wesley was busy looking around terrified as the potions got ever closer to completion.
Now Neville and Blaise had ended up being a much better team then Harry had thought. While Blaise had not managed to totally remove Neville's fear he had managed to get Neville to help with the potion without messing it up. Harry was certain that some of it had to do with their little talk as Neville seemed to be getting less and less nervous with Snape since then. But he had to hand it to Blaise, he had Neville calmer than Harry had ever seen him in this class.
Of course the class today was going to be exceptionally boring for Harry because he already knew about the potions effects. He and Wesley had studied with Hermione to get their papers right. Harry had made a few mistakes but Hermione had caught them. Wesley on the other hand seemed to be wholly familiar with the potion. Of course his hands shook violently whenever they were writing about it so in the end Hermione had helped him write his essay. Harry still noticed a slight blush whenever she looked at him but it no longer was as pronounced. They had not let him read the essay, and this morning they had turned them in first thing when they had gotten to class. Harry had purposely come early so he could have it done with and avoid possible hassles about interrupting class. Wesley had simply followed obviously trusting Harry's judgment in this matter.
The first hour of the class was spent actually making sure the potion was finished correctly with professor Snape painstakingly looking over each students shoulder to make sure there was no error. Apparently this potion was very dangerous if one made a mistake, although considering the effect it had that wasn't exactly a surprising realization.
"Ok, now that it seems that all of you have done a satisfactory job." He sneered in Neville and Blaise' direction as he said this obviously annoyed that he couldn't chide Neville in front of the class as he most certainly had planned. "Now go to the back and get the specially cleaned vials I have prepared for this potion and then we will be testing it. Each of you will use the potion to become your partner, it lasts for the next hour so assuming you make haste there should be no lasting effects…" He then quickly added, "And make sure that when you put the piece of your partner I the potion that you do it in that corner over there so that if you make any mistakes you will be the only one bearing the consequences." Pointing at the far corner of the room where some cups were lined up.
The class then went to a bustle as people started going back to get the clean vials to put the potion in. Neville was walking back towards their Cauldron with a cup filled with the potion and Blaise' hair, looking quite proud of himself when Malfoy quickly stuck his foot out and tripped him. What happened next was almost too fast to see. Neville fell and the potion flew out of his hands in his and Wesley's direction. Wesley seemed to freeze up as they watched the Potion fly at them in slow motion. But Blaise pulled him below one of the cauldrons and the potion hit the wall with an inert splat where he had just been standing.
Harry had never seen Snape so mad. He didn't even direct his anger at anyone he was simply angry, even when Harry had put fireworks in his cauldron their second year paled in comparison to this. He was yelling at the entire class without regards to house at all about responsibility and being careful with potions for almost a half an hour. He kept mentioning how they were going to be making some incredibly dangerous potions in this class and how someone could have gotten seriously hurt if this was one of them.
Malfoy of course was not targeted in any way, even though it was quite obvious that he had done it. But neither was Neville and that more than anything pointed out the gravity of the situation. Harry wasn't sure why Snape was reacting so badly about this potion. But at least it wasn't a deadly potion that had been in that cauldron when it had happened, even though you wouldn't have known that from Snape's raving.
They never did get to test whether the potions they made had worked. So Snape had handed each person a vial of the potion and said that it was their homework to test the potion on a person and then write a three foot essay on the effects. Apparently Snape was so flustered wit what had happened, something Harry was not used to Snape being, that he totally forgot to assign anything to him and Wesley during this whole thing and at the end of class he very quickly rushed out of the room telling everyone that it had better remain spotless when he got back.
Blaise and Neville cleaned up their cauldron together, but that's not what caught Harry's attention. What caught Harry's attention was Malfoy talking to Wesley. Harry could barely hear what they were saying so he decided to put something they had learned recently in psionics about focusing senses through other senses to the test. So he stared at their conversation and concentrated on the words they were speaking. Sure enough he could hear the end of the conversation quite clearly.
Malfoy was speaking, "…meet me there tonight after everyone in your dorm is asleep."
"Ok…" Wesley looked scared and troubled whereas Malfoy looked smug. He looked like he had everything he needed. Harry wasn't sure what to make of this. There was a sort of guilty feel to Wesley's demeanor, but he couldn't quite pick it out. The fact that he still trusted the boy made him even less able to really see what was going on. Hmm…it has to be tonight then, I will ask Hermione tonight.
Harry noticed that Wesley was much less talkative during lunch then he normally was. He also noticed that Hermione was looking at him even more strangely then she had in that previous defense class, which may have explained his lack of exuberance considering that she was the person he was usually talking too.
Defense against the dark arts had gotten into a pattern now. First they banished their desks to the wall. Which it seemed the majority of the class was getting a lot better at. Then they spent the first half of the class learning curse dodging techniques from various people. This portion of the class was mostly student run. Wesley had taught during some of them, but he was far from the only one who knew about curse evasion. Dean and Justin taught skills they learned from playing dodge ball on muggle playgrounds as kids. Harry had never really played dodge ball as generally games of dodge ball became games of "peg Harry" so these were skills useful even to him. Hermione had taught them a few transfigurations and charms that were very useful for blocking any number of curses including a very interesting decoy charm she said she learned from professor McGonagall over the summer. It when cast correctly drew some of the more common spells to it. Of course casting it correctly requires split second timing and so no one actually succeeded in actually using it usefully. But it was something Harry thought would be very useful if he actually mastered it.
The second half was always spent sparring unless there was a specific lesson that Tonks wanted to teach. So far her lessons had been mostly catch up and things that Harry already knew or were purely common sense. Today was no exception as they were working on stunning spells, and so he spent all of his time waiting around because he wanted to catch Hermione after class to mention talking with her in private after dinner.
So when class ended he quickly walked to the door and followed along side her as she left. "Hermione, I need to talk to you in private after dinner, it's important."
Hermione thought for a second before responding, "Ok meet me in Myrtle's bathroom." Harry then let her rush off to her next class. He was meeting Ron and Ginny about the Quidditch team and didn't want to be late.
Dinner that evening was pretty much the same as lunch although Hermione was glancing at Harry as well as looking at Wesley. Wesley obviously noticed but didn't say anything and when dinner ended he rushed out of the room towards the Gryffindor dorms. Harry felt a little guilty as it was obvious that he was having a bit of trouble fitting in, though at least he wasn't being the target of ridicule. In fact it seemed like the majority of the students seemed to completely ignore him. Hermione left a few minutes later and headed off towards the library. She glanced at him on her way out though, signaling him that she was going to their meeting place.
Harry left towards the Gryffindor dorms before going upstairs and doubling back towards their meeting place. He wasn't exactly expecting to be followed as generally the only people who were out at this time were the order members and some of the prefects. The majority of the students seemed to spend the evening in their common rooms. And currently the hallway to Myrtle's bathroom was quite empty.
Immediately after entering the bathroom he felt a cold chill as Myrtle flew through him, then quickly apologized upon seeing who it was. Harry was polite to her and then told her that he needed to have a private conversation with Hermione. This almost went horribly wrong as Myrtle got an incredibly jealous look on her face, but Hermione saved the day by telling her that she had no intention of getting together with Harry and that she and Harry would make a cute couple. After that she happily flew into her toilet and left the two of them alone. Harry wasn't sure what he thought of this, but it had gotten her to leave at least.
"Ok so what did you want to talk to me about?" She asked in a serious tone.
"I wanted to talk to you about Wesley." Hermione waited for more. "It's obvious that you have figured him out, and after what I saw in potions today I really think that we ought to know who he really is. I trust him but I still would like to know what he is hiding."
"You se that's just it I don't know that we can trust him." Harry didn't follow, he had always trusted Wesley why would now be any different? Sure he had secrets but that didn't automatically make someone untrustworthy. He waited for Hermione's explanation. "You see at first I thought he was a metamorphmagus. You know from how he seemed to bend in that defense class?" Harry nodded. "But then I remembered how he had reacted to the Polyjuice potion and went to the library to check out a hunch." Harry nodded again prompting her to continue. "And when I looked it up I found something rather interesting and very scary. I think Wesley might be a Doppelganger."
"A what?" Harry had no idea what she was talking about.
"A form of shape shifter not unlike a metamorphmagus but much scarier." She looked truly distressed as she spoke. "Doppelgangers can take any form they want and can even change their volume to a degree. Any inanimate objects they become act as if it were what it were making them almost impossible to detect and they can even simulate simpler magical objects, even wands."
"What makes you think Wesley is a Doppelganger though?"
"It says that Doppelgangers can be killed in any way that a normal human can be killed as long as they remain in a form in which that way can work. However polyjuice potion liquefies the morphologic substance that makes up Doppelganger physiology." Harry looked at her oddly. "It melts them on contact regardless of heir current form."
"Well that would certainly make anyone scared. I still don't see why we shouldn't trust him though. After all he has been in my dorm for a month and he hasn't done anything. And besides he just seems so trustworthy." Harry was baffled, why would Hermione distrust him after knowing him or so long?
"You see Doppelgangers also have another effect on those around them… They are telempathic, meaning they affect other people's emotions. They make the people near them feel trust in them. If in fact he is a Doppelganger then that is why we have always trusted him, because it is in his nature to make people trust him, one could watch a Doppelganger kill their family and still feel guilty for even simply turning them in because of the false sense of trust."
Harry sat there unsure of what to say. After all everything that had happened made sense if that were the case. How quickly everyone had begun to trust him. How he had seemed so nice and innocent, too innocent really. How he had taken those second long showers without a wand and why he was so secretive. The problem was that Harry was at a loss. Because he still did trust the boy. But he now didn't know if he really trusted him or if he was being forced to trust him. Then he remembered something else. "Well then how can you explain Ron? He never really trusted him."
"I don't know, it does say that some people are resistant to the effects but other than that I can't say. This is all speculation, however from everything that happened it seems the most likely conclusion." Hermione still looked worried as she said this.
Harry then thought of the conversation between Wesley and Malfoy. "I did see something interesting between Wesley and Malfoy in potions earlier. They were talking at the end of Potions and so I decided to see what was gong on. I heard the tail end of the conversation and Malfoy told Wesley to meet him somewhere after everyone in the dorms was asleep."
"Hmm…I can't believe I am saying this but I think we should follow them." Hermione said.
"I was thinking the same thing. We could wait until Wesley leaves the dorm and then use the Marauder's Map and the invisibility cloak to follow him."
"That seems like a good idea but remember that his name may not even be Wesley according to the Marauders Map." Hermione then slapped her forehead in realization. "I am stupid I should have checked the Marauder's Map as soon as I suspected something."
"Well we can follow him anyway, and if his name is not Wesley then we just look for the name meeting with Malfoy. They are likely meeting alone after all why would he be so secretive about it if they weren't?" Harry was starting to plan out what he was going to do in order to pull this one off as he really wanted to know what the deal with Wesley was now more than anything and finding out why he was meeting with Malfoy seemed like a good place to start.
"That makes sense. Well in any case I'll wait in the common room somewhere inconspicuous doing homework by the fire or something. I'll try to be out of sight as well."
Now that they had a plan with regards to their newest acquaintance they decided to put it into action and head back to their respective dorms to get ready. Hermione stepped out of the bathroom first and when she announced that the coast was clear they both walked to their common room together chatting about whatever came to mind.
Harry was in his bed, he had waited until everyone was doing something and then quickly grabbed his invisibility Cloak and shoved it into his bed sheets. Then he grabbed a stack of paper and put it into his trunk and then removed it including the marauders map, which was there again despite Remus somehow taking it out of his room earlier. He would have to ask him about that later.
He then figured he might as well actually do some homework now, as that was going to be his guise for getting out the map without anyone else noticing so he did being very careful to separate the map form the other sheets of paper as to not ruin it. And after doing an essay for Transfiguration that he had been putting off before he shoved the paper into his trunk again and then shoved the marauder's map beneath his pillow. He looked around, it didn't seem like anyone had noticed. Seamus was asleep already and Dean wasn't there. Neville was pruning his mimbulus mimbletonia on his own facing the window and Wesley was very engrossed reading a book. Harry paid very close attention to Wesley to see if he gave any sign of noticing. He knew his other friends would likely think nothing of what he was doing except possibly to ask him about it later. And if they asked now he'd just lie and say he was going to go outside for a walk because it was getting stuffy and he wanted to be alone. And if they argued he would start getting moody and then they would back off. Except possibly Ron in which case he would probably just tell him something almost the truth. Although he didn't want Ron hurting Wesley before they really knew anything about him, regardless of why he still couldn't distrust the boy until he had reason other than that he may not actually trust him. That would likely be because if the telempathic effect or whatever Hermione had called it if he was a Doppelganger, but it was still how he felt regardless.
But it turned out that Ron was too busy polishing his chess set to notice anything was going on and no one else asked so he simply got into bed and pretended to sleep. Harry wasn't sure how long it was until everyone fell asleep but he made sure to be facing Wesley's bed when they did so that he could see when he left.
Wesley went and checked the beds one by one before he left to make sure they were actually asleep. Harry shut his eyes and laid there as asleep like as he could. He wasn't sure if he snored but he figured if his face was down in the pillow then it wouldn't matter so he quickly turned down while Wesley was checking Seamus bed and was thus not looking at him.
Wesley poked him and he stirred a bit and swatted him away before rolling over again. Harry figured this would make him seem more sleep. He wasn't wrong and after a few more minutes of Wesley presumably looking at him to make sure he was asleep, he heard him go off towards Ron's bed before he heard the door shut and slight noises on the stairs.
Harry waited a few more seconds before he checked to see if he had left and sure enough Wesley was no longer in the room. Harry quickly activated the Marauders map and looked at it. Well, his name is Wesley Tinderspoon at least. He thought as he watched the name go out of the dorms and into the common room. It didn't even stop as it passed Hermione who was sitting by the fire. So far so good, he thought as Wesley left the common room, after which he bounded down the stairs to Hermione.
"I saw him pass, he didn't think anything of me sitting here, or if he did he didn't do anything about it," was all Hermione said before looking at the Map and then trying to fit underneath the invisibility cloak. It was very irritating fitting under it while still being able to look at the map but they managed with an interesting enlargement charm from Hermione and scrunching together in an odd fashion with Hermione behind Harry looking over his shoulder.
Wesley was moving though the corridors at a fairly slow pace, Malfoy was still in his dorm at this point. But Blaise was still moving around in there too and so Harry figured that was why he was still there.
Wesley walked up to a wall that had an empty room behind it but Harry never paid any attention to it before because it didn't appear to have anything in it, he had never seen anyone in it when he was using the map and it didn't seem to go anywhere.
"That's odd, why would Malfoy want to meet him there? He is breaking one of the rules set for Prefects." Hermione said almost to herself.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked her
"Well seeing as we're going there anyway I guess I might as well tell you but you can't tell anyone even Ron. Really it could get my Prefect badge removed for not turning back right now." She then thought for a second before a mischievous snicker escaped her mouth. "Although that is almost worth making that git lose his...almost, but not totally worth it." Harry snickered along with her and they watched Wesley wait in the room. Malfoy had left the Slytherin Common room and was heading towards Wesley's position.
"That room is a prefect Meeting place to be used in an Emergency situation so the Prefects can meet in private. Only the four heads of house and the headmaster know about it besides the prefects….well, and now Wesley and you." Harry nodded and they continued on their way.
They got there before Malfoy and found the entrance to the place was wide open. The room was totally nondescript and in fact had absolutely nothing in it. It was merely a roughly cube shaped room made out of the normal stone of the castle that was big enough to reasonably gold maybe six or seven standing individuals.
Wesley was pacing obviously agitated. Hermione used a quick one way silencing charm on them and they snuck into the room and hugged the side wall behind the cloak where they could see and hear everything that could be said. If he noticed Wesley gave no sign of it.
Malfoy entered the room a few minutes later. He then shut the door, making it certain that no one but those in the room could hear what was being said.
"What do you want?" Wesley asked in a slightly accusatory but still timid fashion.
Malfoy's smile turned into a grin, an evil grin that Harry was not surprised by in the least. He walked up to Wesley and produced a vial. Harry immediately recognized it as the Polyjuice potion he had been handed at the end of class. Wesley very visibly shrank back from the vial and started shaking almost violently. "I guess the question is what can I get out of you now isn't it?" Malfoy said in a very demeaning tone. He then approached Wesley with the vial. Wesley backed away until Malfoy had him trapped in a corner. Harry had half a mind to show himself and stop this now but he decided that it would be better to see what happened. After all they could stop this at any time if it got too out of hand. Plus the fact they he was not supposed to be here was not lost on him. Nor the fact that since there were three Gryffindors here and only one Slytherin, this could very easily be yet another thing turned against Gryffindor house.
"I don't know what you would want." Wesley's response was quick and jolting, he was obviously terrified.
"Well first I want o be totally sure that I am correct about this although it is really obvious now." He darted the vial towards him teasingly never losing his evil grin. "Show me what you really look like." he said. Wesley lowered his head in defeat before he started to change.
What surprised Harry the most was not how much he changed but actually how little. At first it looked like he was going thought a massive change as his Skin began to change from the normal skin color to a dark grayish color. It also looked like it got noticeably smoother then it was, it looked more like rubber now. But other than that he really didn't change much at all. His ears elongated slightly into a more pointed shape but even that wasn't that different. His hair remained the same as did his all the rest of his features. Anyone who took a second to look at him beyond the obvious changes would see that this was the same boy.
Malfoy laughed. "Come on is that the best you can do? Doppelgangers don't have hair and they are noticeably skinnier then people. Come on what is the point of this charade?"
Wesley looked up at him again, "This isn't a charade. This is me, the true form that you wanted to see."
Malfoy looked at him, examined him like a scientist might examine a specimen. He waved his hand through Wesley hair, touched Wesley's hands and looked his face over before saying. "You're a half Wizard aren't you?" Wesley nodded. "Wow, to think that a wizard would ever have the audacity to mate with e Doppelganger! That's rich, your worse then a mudblood."
Wesley cringed with each word and Malfoy seemed to get more and more filled with glee with each flinch. "So I take it I'm right then. One of your filthy parents was a wizard or witch and the other was a Doppelganger weren't they?" Wesley nodded silently, I looked like he wanted to say something but he glanced at the vial in Malfoy's hands and decided against it.
"I should just dump this on you right now and get it over with. But I have a better idea." Wesley's eye's opened wider as Malfoy removed the cap to the vial. He stuck his finger into it and the put the cap back on and put the vial back into his robes. He then took Wesley's hand with into his and turned it palm up before saying. "Potter has that silly goody goody Blaise now and I need someone who I can trust to do what is in his best interest who can tell me what is going on." He then took his finger which had the polyjuice potion on it and rubbed it onto Wesley's palm. The reaction was immediate. Wesley grabbed his wrist with his other hand in what looked like an attempt to steady himself and then turned it to the side. A gooey substance that looked like melted rubber rolled off of it onto the ground. There wasn't much of it but it was obvious that Wesley was in immense pain. He was starting to tear and it was obvious from his expression that he wanted to cry.
"Hmm…I have always wanted to see that…" Malfoy said then he wiped his finger off on Wesley's Robe before producing the vial again and saying. "Think about it." He said. He then walked out of the small empty room through the door, leaving Wesley in the corner where he continued to fight back tears. The next thing Wesley did was put his hand over the puddle of goop that used to be part of it. He started intently concentrating and his expression changed for the worse. If he looked like he was in pain before it was nothing compared to his expression now. He was sweating obviously and his face was locked in a grimace. When he lifted his hand off the ground the puddle was no longer there and he looked slightly less agitated but still in pain. He then shifted back into the human boy whom Harry had become accustomed.
"Ok you can come out now." Wesley said looking around the room. Harry wasn't sure what to do. Had Wesley seen them? Did doppelgangers have some odd power that he didn't know about? In the end it didn't really matter. They were caught and he knew it. Besides after that display it was hard for him to not pity the boy. It was obvious that this was not of his choosing and whether he was trustworthy or not at the very least he wasn't in league with Malfoy.
Harry looked at Hermione motioned removing the cloak and she shrugged, obviously leaving the decision up to him. Her expression was a guilty one, they were caught and they knew it. So he removed the cloak and Hermione quickly waved her wand and removed the silencing charm.
Wesley hopped a little upon their appearance but didn't seem that surprised when he saw who it was. "Oh Harry, Hermione…I figured it Might have been you." He said in a very defeated tone. "So I guess you saw it all didn't you…" Harry wasn't sure what to say. It was rather obvious that they had seen it all as the entrance had been shut the entire time and they couldn't walk through walls. Apparition was not only illegal at their age but it was warded against here anyway. Hermione looked just as lost as for what to say, so he simply nodded.
Wesley then suddenly did a complete turn around and started to get angry. "I can't believe this!" He said, "First I get pulled out of my school and taken to a dump where I was kept for the entire summer! Then I get put into a school that I was not prepared for in any way and put into high level classes too! And now I have to deal with students with polyjuice potions who would like nothing else then to see me melt." He then looked at Harry. "So now you know what are you going to do about it?" He was defiant, apparently Harry didn't seem as threatening to him without a vial of potion. Or maybe he simply lost it? Harry wasn't sure but he could tell that Wesley was in something way out of his control. Harry understood that feeling well.
After his outburst Wesley seemed to calm down a bit and a look of realization came over him. He now looked scared again and turned as if to make a break for the door. Harry moved to the side slightly so that he was between Wesley and the door and then slowly walked towards him. Wesley looked frightened again and he backed up, although not as fast nor as urgently as he had from Malfoy. Harry reached out towards him and he flinched and when Harry took his hurt hand he tried to pull it away. Harry held fast though and simply turned it over to look at his palm. What he saw looked rather painful but not nearly as gruesome as he had thought it would. The skin was grey like his other form's was and it looked scratched and scarred. However it still seemed to be a part of his hand and not that puddle of goo it was before.
"That looks painful." He said to him.
Wesley looked at him surprised, "It is…well it was." He said slowly, "Now it's just stinging slightly…" He thought for a second before saying, "Well…now that you know what are you going to do…" He seemed less scared now, but still wary.
Hermione spoke up, "I guess that depends on you." She said, "I don't know if I can trust you or not knowing what you are. But I can say that at least you seem rather trustworthy beyond my feelings and so I suppose as long as you remain that way I see no reason to make a big deal of this."
Wesley thought for a moment looking at them before saying. "I suppose that's better then I was expecting your response to be. I only wish that I didn't have to put on this stupid charade. It's not like I even pretend to be someone different. I just slightly change my features so I look human. After all, part of me is. I just wish I didn't have to hide the other part of me." He said.
Harry looked at him, looked at Hermione who had an interesting expression on her face that he couldn't place. He then looked back and said, "Why are you hiding it anyway?"
"Because your headmaster wanted me too, and he made it very clear that I was not to let anyone find out about me. Great job I did of that. I think I was sabotaging that from the beginning though. I never wanted to be this nor have I ever wanted to hide what I am. You know that at home everyone in magical world that I know knows what I am and I just be normal around them? Some of them don't trust me but at least I'm not hiding it from them." He then looked down again.
"I know, I don't think you should just go tell everyone but you could go tell your dorm mates?" Hermione said with a soft expression on her face. "I still don't know if I can trust you but at least I like you and that is a start. Maybe if you start coming clean with at least those people you are getting close to then you may find that you are trusted a lot more by those of us who know."
"Maybe you're right." He said, "But what am I going to do about Malfoy? I mean he wants me to basically spy on your for him and who knows what else. And I don't think he would have any qualms with using that potion of his on me if I don't comply." Wesley looked at his palm again and shuddered.
"Don't worry about him he is probably just saying stuff. He knows that you are here for a reason because it is obvious that you are so killing you would be a really stupid move on his part. Still as Hermione said it might be a good idea to come clean to the rest of our group after all more allies is better then less allies. That is a lesson I have had to learn the hard way and didn't actually get until earlier this term."
"Well, thanks for not like trying to kill me or anything." Wesley said.
"Don't worry about it." Hermione said now obviously anything but put off by the boy. Harry only had one more question.
"How did you know we were there? Do Doppelgangers have some sort of sixth sense that we should know about or something?" Harry asked accusatively.
Wesley looked shocked then started laughing. "No silly. What? Do you think I was born yesterday? I put silent alarm charms on the doors to the dorms, the common room, and the entrance to this room. I knew as soon as you passed them that someone did. I could only assume that someone had followed me and was in here invisible but I didn't know who. I knew you had an invisibility cloak and were known for stuff like this so I guessed it was you but I couldn't be certain." Then he laughed again. "A sixth sense? Honestly you'd think we were like super man or something!"
With that the three of them snuck back to their dorms stopping for a short goodbye to Hermione in the common room. Harry had wanted to ask Wesley more stuff, but he figured that could wait until later. He was glad that he hadn't turned out to be some monster but he wasn't sure what to think of the boy. He realized that he had to watch what he felt around him because he couldn't trust it. And there was the fact that Dumbledore had obviously brought him there for a reason. But Wesley had not done anything deplorable nor had he threatened them or anything when they found out about him. And even if he couldn't trust his feeling about the boy he could at least up until now trust the boy's actions. With the slight exception of hiding what he was which Dumbledore saying he had to, was a reasonable excuse.
No what scared him much more than that is why Dumbledore would bring him here in the first place? What that meant for the Order and the war against Voldemort. He found himself falling asleep again and looking across the room at the Wesley who had just fallen on his bed out like a light. He wondered whether he understood what he was dragged into. He wondered if any of them truly understood. His last thought before falling asleep was...Why?
Afterthoughts
Sorry to bust your bubble theKnowItAll but Wesley is not evil. This doesn't mean that he isn't still hiding some things. But I just couldn't make him evil. I like him too much as he is. But don't worry there will be some characters who are evil and this is far form the end of the troubles of all of the characters whether they are my originals or the existing ones.
Hope you liked this chapter and hope you now understand a little more about Wesley Tinderspoon then you did. Review soon!
Nightlit
