Coming Silence
Ch: 12
Harry smirked to himself as he watched Severus fly around his room like an overgrown bat. It was his third class of the day with Severus and Harry had to admit that- when on the other side of that glare- the Potions Master was rather funny. It was second year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Severus had already made one student almost burst into tears.
"You call that a Shrinking Solution, Young? I wouldn't even use that to shrink a slug. Didn't I clearly say the color should be blue, Redrew? That looks gray to me." Harry sent apologetic glances to the unfortunate victims behind Severus's back anytime he could.
Severus looked at his watched and snarled, "Class is over. Bottle your potions and clean out your cauldrons. Then get out of my sight." The class scrambled to obey their Professors orders and soon everyone was rushing out the door.
Thankfully there was only one class left before lunch. Harry didn't know how long he could go before bursting out in laughter. Severus wouldn't appreciate it, seeing as to how he wouldn't understand why Harry was laughing. Then again, he'd probably only chalk it up to insanity anyway.
Harry straightened his pile of graded papers as Severus slumped into the chair next to him. "You're rather funny, you know that, don't you?" He pushed the pile of graded first year essays over to Severus.
"May I ask why you think I am funny, Mr. Potter?" Severus picked up the essays and placed them in his top drawer. A few early students filed in and looked at the two in surprise. With a quick glare from Severus, they hurriedly turned away.
"It's Harry. And the way you swoop around the room with your trademark glare is funny. To me, at least. You really should put a patent on it and try to sell it."
Severus snorted to himself. Another pile of essays labeled "The Properties of Shrivelfig and Wolfsbane Are-" were quickly pushed in front of Harry, waiting to be graded.
"What's this? Do I look like your slave?" he teased, watching Severus roll his eyes. The older man was getting used to all the teasing Harry shoved his way.
"Hardly but since you're here, you can make yourself useful. And try not to be too kind when grading these."
"Are you saying you only want me for my unique grading qualities?"
"Unique grading qualities?" quoted Severus. "I wasn't aware that you had any unique qualities."
"Oh, so you're saying you only want to shag me?" Harry smiled to himself as he watched Severus become more flustered as the sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin class slowly took up their seats and waited for their Professor to finish his conversation.
"Harry, do shut up."
Harry grinned and caught Ginny's eye. She merely raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. Harry mouthed 'Dumbledore' before she nodded in understanding. He turned to the essays beneath him and after reading the first one, sighed. No wonder Severus graded so hard, this one was absolutely atrocious. After a while he started slashing out whole paragraphs, adding in correct information in the margins with scathing comebacks that did even Severus proud.
Soon the class was over and Harry was following Severus to the Great Hall for lunch. "I can see why you grade your papers the way you do. Merlin, don't they know how to look in a book for the answers?"
"You finally realize the extent of stupidity these students possess?"
"Yes. I wouldn't say its stupidity, just disinterest in the subject. One of the essays had a paragraph comparing wolfs bane to hemlock, and hemlock wasn't even suppose to be apart of the essay!" They sat next to each other and Severus- unaware of his actions- filled Harry's glass for him. "That's an understandable mistake, seeing as to how wolfs bane and hemlock share similar properties, but it was one of the fifth year essays that really kicked the bucket. He was doing really well in the first four inches, and then he goes off comparing the swiftness of the Medusa Poison to Quidditch.
"I quote, 'The Medusa Poison is known for its swift paralyzing effect. Much like that of a Seeker diving for the snitch, it takes a very observant mind to administer the antidote. The Seeker has to have quick reflexes getting to the snitch before the other Seeker to win a match.' As if we don't know what a Seeker does, honestly."
"Really. And what did you say in reply?"
Harry swallowed his Shepard's pie before answering. "I said if he wanted to write a book on Quidditch, then become an author. Until then keep his Neanderthal mind out of the clouds and on the assignment. When I want to know about Quidditch I'll notify him."
"Pretty good, considering it was you who graded the essay. Not up to my standards, of course, but no one can reach them."
Harry chuckled and continued eating. Malvorn quickly sat down and thrust a letter under Harry's nose. It was from Ittana. His eyes widened as he scanned the page and he frowned. "Is this true?" he asked in Demonish. Roltac nodded as he sat on the other side of Malvorn. Kasha stood in front of them, waiting for orders from her King.
"It's true. Tolmet left shortly after you did."
"The thing about his disappearance that worries me," said Malvorn, "is the fact that no one can trace his whereabouts."
"What do you mean? Ittana says he took a Gate, but she didn't know to where. Everyone except Tolmet's followers are ecstatic that he's gone, but she sounds worried." Harry stared at the note in his hand and he couldn't shake the feeling of doom.
"They can't trace him because he took a multi-Gate. Half way down his first Gate, he opened another portal," explained Malvorn. "They said his first portal was aimed towards Nelzar, the Realm of Darkness."
"Why would he want to go there?" asked Kasha. The Realm of Darkness was a completely dark world, having a Veil blocking the sun's light from reaching the ground. It was made of snow and ice, its inhabitant's only monsters and those that thrived from the Dark.
"I don't know. Their heir was killed, from what I have heard. Unless he is helping in the Revolution," replied Roltac. Harry slowly shook his head.
"No. That is not where he was going. Not originally, anyway."
"Then why go there?" asked Kasha.
"Can you think of no other reason? It's a decoy trail. A way to hide his true trail. But where was he heading? Unless." No, he couldn't. Could he? Harry shook the thoughts from his head and turned from his thoughts.
"Enough of this. We'll discus it later, if they find any more information. What have you guys been up to lately? I haven't seen any of you for a while, now."
The three conspirators shared a look and a grin. "We have been out exploring the grounds. The Forbidden Forest in particular," replied Roltac, buttering the toast in his hand.
"And what did you think of it?"
"It has a lot of- interesting creatures in it." Kasha smiled as she rounded the table to take her seat. If her King had no orders for her, then she wanted to eat while she could. "Also, we have mapped the Forest in its entirety, as well as places we think need to be more protected in case of an attack. Malvorn has the map and we will give it to you when I say it's complete."
Harry looked at the two males in amusement. "She knows more about defense than I do," said Malvorn in answer to Harry's unasked question. They asked Harry about Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't answer, he asked Severus. Sirius and Remus where introduced to the other demons and soon Severus was telling Remus about the potion. All in all, it was one strange and companionable lunch.
Eight 'o clock found Harry ensconced in the Great Hall, waiting for everyone to finish filing in line. It was the first night of the Dueling Club and, not knowing exactly how to proceed, Harry had drug an unwilling Severus along. When he had asked why, Harry replied, "I need someone who actually knows what their doing up there with me. And who else knows as much about Dueling than you?"
Harry had won out eventually. Whoever said flattery doesn't get you anywhere was lying. "Welcome, everyone, to our first ever Dueling Club! Some of you may remember Lockhart trying to teach you this, but I don't consider anything he did in the realm of actual teaching.
"The other Professor helping you learn to Duel is Professor Snape." Severus nodded briefly from his perch next to Harry. "Now, our first lesson is learning the appropriate stance. You walk to your fellow dueler and raise your wand in front of you. Bow slightly. Turn and walk eight steps away. Hold your wand in the ready potion, and on the count of three, you each cast your spell.
"The first spell will be the Disarming Spell, which is Expelliarmus. Professor Snape and I will demonstrate. Malvorn, here, will count down to three. Ready?"
The two professors- as Harry was now being called- preformed the necessary steps. They bowed and walked away, each turning to face the other. They raised their wands in the readied positions and waited.
"One, two, three!" shouted Malvorn.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" the two shouted at the same time. Two identical red lights flashed across the platform, meeting in the middle with a flash of light. Both Professors where knocked back.
"This was the correct way to cast this charm. Now, we will pair everyone up, and you will practice the Disarming Charm. After that, we will teach you how to block this charm."
They moved around the room pairing individual students up. Ginny was placed with Neville, Hermione placed with Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, while Severus paired up Malfoy and Ron. Seeing this particular pair, Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Since I can't place him with you, I might as well place Malfoy with someone else he hates."
"You are very morbid." Severus only smirked. They both knew that the only way to make Ron learn was to pair him up with some one like Malfoy. The competition will force Ron to learn.
"Ready? On the count of three-one, two, three!" Spells flashed in all directions as the students fired off their spells. Amazingly enough, Malfoy didn't even try anything sneaky on Ron. He did exactly as he was told- which made Harry suspicious.
When Harry looked at the blond boy, he received a very innocent smile in return. "Malfoy's up to something."
"Of course he is, he's a Slytherin. I expect he's thinking of ways to barbecue Weasley."
"I don't know. I think he's waiting to try something else," louder Harry said, "Good work, everyone! Well done! Now we are going to learn a simple blocking charm- Deflectus. This charm won't work on every charm sent your way but it will block a few. Now, as Professor Snape tried to disarm me, I will block it using Deflectus. On the count of three."
Severus shouted the Disarming Charm at Harry but before it could connect home, Harry shouted, "Deflectus!" The spell shot off the makeshift shield and shot towards the wall.
"That is what will happen if you do it right. I want you and your partners to take turns practicing the Blocking Charm. One the count of three."
Spells flew left and right as Harry and Severus passed the practicing the spells. They helped each student with both spells and the movements that went with them. Harry gave Malfoy a suspicious glare as he passed but the blond only smiled as he effortlessly blocked the Disarming Spell sent his way.
Harry turned to help another student when a shout was heard behind him. Acting on instinct, he threw up a highly advanced shield, which rebounded the spell onto the castor. Turning around, he saw Ron on the floor, his wand feet from where he had stood.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for that outrageous show of cowardice!" roared Severus as he rushed over. Harry narrowed his eyes.
"What was that, Weasley? Throwing the spell when my back was turned? I would have expected more from you." The redhead glared from his position on the floor, reaching out to his wand. He muttered something under his breath that Harry couldn't understand but he knew the gist of what was said.
"Do you think you could beat me in a duel, Weasley?" he asked in amusement. A calculated look was thrown his way by Severus but it only took him a minute to catch on.
"Probably. You have been gone for two years. After all, I learned from Hermione."
Harry smiled as Malvorn shook his head. Ron, whether he knew it or not, was a goner.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, kiddo," said Kasha from the sidelines.
"Don't tell me what to do, wench," shot Ron. Harry's face instantly closed down and the room started to drop slowly in temperature.
"Fine. If you think can beat me, then I challenge you to a duel. Get up on stage, Weasley."
The redhead looked like he wanted to protest but slowly got up and nodded. He followed Harry up onto the stage as everyone gathered around. They bowed to each other and headed for the opposite ends of the platform. Harry raised his wand and stared at his opponent. Ron looked at Harry with a look full of loathing.
Malvorn sighed but slowly started the countdown. When he reached 'three', Ron shot of the Leg-Locker Curse. Harry immediately deflected it with ease, sending out the Laughing Charm. Ron just glared at him in shock.
"That is all you got, Potter?" he sneered. Severus grinned slightly. He knew what Harry was doing- getting his opponent to underestimate him. It was a tactic used a lot over the years.
The curses flew faster and faster, Harry starting to throw more advanced curses Ron's way. After the Heating Curse- which caused the victim to slowly burn (a slightly dark curse)- was thrown at Ron, the Weasley boy started to worry. More and more advanced curses were thrown until, finally, Harry got bored and went in for the kill.
"Lumos Noir!" he shouted. The curse struck dead center. A howl went up as Ron grasped his face, falling to the floor. Harry had blinded him.
"Don't ever think you know more spells and curses than I do, Weasley. You don't."
Severus applauded from his spot on the floor. Students looked at him like he was crazy but he just ignored them and the howling coming from the blinded student.
"Well done, Harry. I never knew you had that much Slytherin in you. What he did," he said to everyone, "was lull his victim into a false sense of security. Weasley, thinking Potter did not know advanced curses, grew arrogant. When Potter moved in for the kill, it was unsuspected and therefore, effective. Never think you know more than the person you are dueling because they may just be using the tactic Potter just displayed."
Harry removed the curse from Ron, saying, "This class is over for tonight. We will meet and expand on these lessons on Thursday. Hope to see you there. Now, off to bed!"
Hermione quickly helped Ron to his feet and led the boy from the Great Hall. Harry smiled grimly at her backwards look as he jumped down next to Severus.
"Well done, Potter. Now what did my Uncle say about you and Slytherin?" asked Malfoy.
"Didn't you know? The sorting hat didn't want me in Gryffindor originally."
"Really? Where did it want you?"
"If I hadn't protested? Slytherin."
Two slightly shocked looks met his and with a cheery smile, Harry waltzed out of the hall, intent on going to bed.
AN: Longer than the last chapter and I hope everyone is enjoying this. Chapter 13 should be out soon and can anyone guess where Tolmet went? And who is Voldemort's (one of them, anyway) inside informant? Thank you for the reviews. Enjoy! ~Cheers
Harry smirked to himself as he watched Severus fly around his room like an overgrown bat. It was his third class of the day with Severus and Harry had to admit that- when on the other side of that glare- the Potions Master was rather funny. It was second year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws and Severus had already made one student almost burst into tears.
"You call that a Shrinking Solution, Young? I wouldn't even use that to shrink a slug. Didn't I clearly say the color should be blue, Redrew? That looks gray to me." Harry sent apologetic glances to the unfortunate victims behind Severus's back anytime he could.
Severus looked at his watched and snarled, "Class is over. Bottle your potions and clean out your cauldrons. Then get out of my sight." The class scrambled to obey their Professors orders and soon everyone was rushing out the door.
Thankfully there was only one class left before lunch. Harry didn't know how long he could go before bursting out in laughter. Severus wouldn't appreciate it, seeing as to how he wouldn't understand why Harry was laughing. Then again, he'd probably only chalk it up to insanity anyway.
Harry straightened his pile of graded papers as Severus slumped into the chair next to him. "You're rather funny, you know that, don't you?" He pushed the pile of graded first year essays over to Severus.
"May I ask why you think I am funny, Mr. Potter?" Severus picked up the essays and placed them in his top drawer. A few early students filed in and looked at the two in surprise. With a quick glare from Severus, they hurriedly turned away.
"It's Harry. And the way you swoop around the room with your trademark glare is funny. To me, at least. You really should put a patent on it and try to sell it."
Severus snorted to himself. Another pile of essays labeled "The Properties of Shrivelfig and Wolfsbane Are-" were quickly pushed in front of Harry, waiting to be graded.
"What's this? Do I look like your slave?" he teased, watching Severus roll his eyes. The older man was getting used to all the teasing Harry shoved his way.
"Hardly but since you're here, you can make yourself useful. And try not to be too kind when grading these."
"Are you saying you only want me for my unique grading qualities?"
"Unique grading qualities?" quoted Severus. "I wasn't aware that you had any unique qualities."
"Oh, so you're saying you only want to shag me?" Harry smiled to himself as he watched Severus become more flustered as the sixth year Gryffindor and Slytherin class slowly took up their seats and waited for their Professor to finish his conversation.
"Harry, do shut up."
Harry grinned and caught Ginny's eye. She merely raised her eyebrows in a questioning look. Harry mouthed 'Dumbledore' before she nodded in understanding. He turned to the essays beneath him and after reading the first one, sighed. No wonder Severus graded so hard, this one was absolutely atrocious. After a while he started slashing out whole paragraphs, adding in correct information in the margins with scathing comebacks that did even Severus proud.
Soon the class was over and Harry was following Severus to the Great Hall for lunch. "I can see why you grade your papers the way you do. Merlin, don't they know how to look in a book for the answers?"
"You finally realize the extent of stupidity these students possess?"
"Yes. I wouldn't say its stupidity, just disinterest in the subject. One of the essays had a paragraph comparing wolfs bane to hemlock, and hemlock wasn't even suppose to be apart of the essay!" They sat next to each other and Severus- unaware of his actions- filled Harry's glass for him. "That's an understandable mistake, seeing as to how wolfs bane and hemlock share similar properties, but it was one of the fifth year essays that really kicked the bucket. He was doing really well in the first four inches, and then he goes off comparing the swiftness of the Medusa Poison to Quidditch.
"I quote, 'The Medusa Poison is known for its swift paralyzing effect. Much like that of a Seeker diving for the snitch, it takes a very observant mind to administer the antidote. The Seeker has to have quick reflexes getting to the snitch before the other Seeker to win a match.' As if we don't know what a Seeker does, honestly."
"Really. And what did you say in reply?"
Harry swallowed his Shepard's pie before answering. "I said if he wanted to write a book on Quidditch, then become an author. Until then keep his Neanderthal mind out of the clouds and on the assignment. When I want to know about Quidditch I'll notify him."
"Pretty good, considering it was you who graded the essay. Not up to my standards, of course, but no one can reach them."
Harry chuckled and continued eating. Malvorn quickly sat down and thrust a letter under Harry's nose. It was from Ittana. His eyes widened as he scanned the page and he frowned. "Is this true?" he asked in Demonish. Roltac nodded as he sat on the other side of Malvorn. Kasha stood in front of them, waiting for orders from her King.
"It's true. Tolmet left shortly after you did."
"The thing about his disappearance that worries me," said Malvorn, "is the fact that no one can trace his whereabouts."
"What do you mean? Ittana says he took a Gate, but she didn't know to where. Everyone except Tolmet's followers are ecstatic that he's gone, but she sounds worried." Harry stared at the note in his hand and he couldn't shake the feeling of doom.
"They can't trace him because he took a multi-Gate. Half way down his first Gate, he opened another portal," explained Malvorn. "They said his first portal was aimed towards Nelzar, the Realm of Darkness."
"Why would he want to go there?" asked Kasha. The Realm of Darkness was a completely dark world, having a Veil blocking the sun's light from reaching the ground. It was made of snow and ice, its inhabitant's only monsters and those that thrived from the Dark.
"I don't know. Their heir was killed, from what I have heard. Unless he is helping in the Revolution," replied Roltac. Harry slowly shook his head.
"No. That is not where he was going. Not originally, anyway."
"Then why go there?" asked Kasha.
"Can you think of no other reason? It's a decoy trail. A way to hide his true trail. But where was he heading? Unless." No, he couldn't. Could he? Harry shook the thoughts from his head and turned from his thoughts.
"Enough of this. We'll discus it later, if they find any more information. What have you guys been up to lately? I haven't seen any of you for a while, now."
The three conspirators shared a look and a grin. "We have been out exploring the grounds. The Forbidden Forest in particular," replied Roltac, buttering the toast in his hand.
"And what did you think of it?"
"It has a lot of- interesting creatures in it." Kasha smiled as she rounded the table to take her seat. If her King had no orders for her, then she wanted to eat while she could. "Also, we have mapped the Forest in its entirety, as well as places we think need to be more protected in case of an attack. Malvorn has the map and we will give it to you when I say it's complete."
Harry looked at the two males in amusement. "She knows more about defense than I do," said Malvorn in answer to Harry's unasked question. They asked Harry about Hogwarts and when Harry couldn't answer, he asked Severus. Sirius and Remus where introduced to the other demons and soon Severus was telling Remus about the potion. All in all, it was one strange and companionable lunch.
Eight 'o clock found Harry ensconced in the Great Hall, waiting for everyone to finish filing in line. It was the first night of the Dueling Club and, not knowing exactly how to proceed, Harry had drug an unwilling Severus along. When he had asked why, Harry replied, "I need someone who actually knows what their doing up there with me. And who else knows as much about Dueling than you?"
Harry had won out eventually. Whoever said flattery doesn't get you anywhere was lying. "Welcome, everyone, to our first ever Dueling Club! Some of you may remember Lockhart trying to teach you this, but I don't consider anything he did in the realm of actual teaching.
"The other Professor helping you learn to Duel is Professor Snape." Severus nodded briefly from his perch next to Harry. "Now, our first lesson is learning the appropriate stance. You walk to your fellow dueler and raise your wand in front of you. Bow slightly. Turn and walk eight steps away. Hold your wand in the ready potion, and on the count of three, you each cast your spell.
"The first spell will be the Disarming Spell, which is Expelliarmus. Professor Snape and I will demonstrate. Malvorn, here, will count down to three. Ready?"
The two professors- as Harry was now being called- preformed the necessary steps. They bowed and walked away, each turning to face the other. They raised their wands in the readied positions and waited.
"One, two, three!" shouted Malvorn.
"EXPELLIARMUS!" the two shouted at the same time. Two identical red lights flashed across the platform, meeting in the middle with a flash of light. Both Professors where knocked back.
"This was the correct way to cast this charm. Now, we will pair everyone up, and you will practice the Disarming Charm. After that, we will teach you how to block this charm."
They moved around the room pairing individual students up. Ginny was placed with Neville, Hermione placed with Terry Boot from Ravenclaw, while Severus paired up Malfoy and Ron. Seeing this particular pair, Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Since I can't place him with you, I might as well place Malfoy with someone else he hates."
"You are very morbid." Severus only smirked. They both knew that the only way to make Ron learn was to pair him up with some one like Malfoy. The competition will force Ron to learn.
"Ready? On the count of three-one, two, three!" Spells flashed in all directions as the students fired off their spells. Amazingly enough, Malfoy didn't even try anything sneaky on Ron. He did exactly as he was told- which made Harry suspicious.
When Harry looked at the blond boy, he received a very innocent smile in return. "Malfoy's up to something."
"Of course he is, he's a Slytherin. I expect he's thinking of ways to barbecue Weasley."
"I don't know. I think he's waiting to try something else," louder Harry said, "Good work, everyone! Well done! Now we are going to learn a simple blocking charm- Deflectus. This charm won't work on every charm sent your way but it will block a few. Now, as Professor Snape tried to disarm me, I will block it using Deflectus. On the count of three."
Severus shouted the Disarming Charm at Harry but before it could connect home, Harry shouted, "Deflectus!" The spell shot off the makeshift shield and shot towards the wall.
"That is what will happen if you do it right. I want you and your partners to take turns practicing the Blocking Charm. One the count of three."
Spells flew left and right as Harry and Severus passed the practicing the spells. They helped each student with both spells and the movements that went with them. Harry gave Malfoy a suspicious glare as he passed but the blond only smiled as he effortlessly blocked the Disarming Spell sent his way.
Harry turned to help another student when a shout was heard behind him. Acting on instinct, he threw up a highly advanced shield, which rebounded the spell onto the castor. Turning around, he saw Ron on the floor, his wand feet from where he had stood.
"Twenty points from Gryffindor for that outrageous show of cowardice!" roared Severus as he rushed over. Harry narrowed his eyes.
"What was that, Weasley? Throwing the spell when my back was turned? I would have expected more from you." The redhead glared from his position on the floor, reaching out to his wand. He muttered something under his breath that Harry couldn't understand but he knew the gist of what was said.
"Do you think you could beat me in a duel, Weasley?" he asked in amusement. A calculated look was thrown his way by Severus but it only took him a minute to catch on.
"Probably. You have been gone for two years. After all, I learned from Hermione."
Harry smiled as Malvorn shook his head. Ron, whether he knew it or not, was a goner.
"I wouldn't say that if I were you, kiddo," said Kasha from the sidelines.
"Don't tell me what to do, wench," shot Ron. Harry's face instantly closed down and the room started to drop slowly in temperature.
"Fine. If you think can beat me, then I challenge you to a duel. Get up on stage, Weasley."
The redhead looked like he wanted to protest but slowly got up and nodded. He followed Harry up onto the stage as everyone gathered around. They bowed to each other and headed for the opposite ends of the platform. Harry raised his wand and stared at his opponent. Ron looked at Harry with a look full of loathing.
Malvorn sighed but slowly started the countdown. When he reached 'three', Ron shot of the Leg-Locker Curse. Harry immediately deflected it with ease, sending out the Laughing Charm. Ron just glared at him in shock.
"That is all you got, Potter?" he sneered. Severus grinned slightly. He knew what Harry was doing- getting his opponent to underestimate him. It was a tactic used a lot over the years.
The curses flew faster and faster, Harry starting to throw more advanced curses Ron's way. After the Heating Curse- which caused the victim to slowly burn (a slightly dark curse)- was thrown at Ron, the Weasley boy started to worry. More and more advanced curses were thrown until, finally, Harry got bored and went in for the kill.
"Lumos Noir!" he shouted. The curse struck dead center. A howl went up as Ron grasped his face, falling to the floor. Harry had blinded him.
"Don't ever think you know more spells and curses than I do, Weasley. You don't."
Severus applauded from his spot on the floor. Students looked at him like he was crazy but he just ignored them and the howling coming from the blinded student.
"Well done, Harry. I never knew you had that much Slytherin in you. What he did," he said to everyone, "was lull his victim into a false sense of security. Weasley, thinking Potter did not know advanced curses, grew arrogant. When Potter moved in for the kill, it was unsuspected and therefore, effective. Never think you know more than the person you are dueling because they may just be using the tactic Potter just displayed."
Harry removed the curse from Ron, saying, "This class is over for tonight. We will meet and expand on these lessons on Thursday. Hope to see you there. Now, off to bed!"
Hermione quickly helped Ron to his feet and led the boy from the Great Hall. Harry smiled grimly at her backwards look as he jumped down next to Severus.
"Well done, Potter. Now what did my Uncle say about you and Slytherin?" asked Malfoy.
"Didn't you know? The sorting hat didn't want me in Gryffindor originally."
"Really? Where did it want you?"
"If I hadn't protested? Slytherin."
Two slightly shocked looks met his and with a cheery smile, Harry waltzed out of the hall, intent on going to bed.
AN: Longer than the last chapter and I hope everyone is enjoying this. Chapter 13 should be out soon and can anyone guess where Tolmet went? And who is Voldemort's (one of them, anyway) inside informant? Thank you for the reviews. Enjoy! ~Cheers