Erised's Bane

Author's Note: Hiya! Well, here's another chapter for your hopeful enjoyment. I'm sorry if there are any errors, but it's one in the morning, I can't get to sleep and really there is nothing better to do, so here you go. Hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I only own Harry Potter in my dreams. Literally, the other night I had a dream about Harry Potter. And Sirius was there to...and then he died. Just like in the book, and no I am not joking. I even visited his grave and put flowers there, even though he can't really have a grave because he doesn't have a body to have a grave...well, whatever. At least I got to chat with him! HAHAHAH! Take that, suckers!

Chapter Five: The Grapes of Wrath

Despite the morose atmosphere that hung over the castle and the infrequent visits of his friends, which only served to put Harry more on end than ever, time passed quickly and before he knew it the final few days had come on his summer stay at the castle and his peaceful if tense vacation was drawing to an end. As he walked along the corridor the evening of September First, contemplating the coming arrival of hundreds of students on the Hogwarts Express, he was struck with a sort of wonder that the halls could be exactly the same, yet so different when filled with the laughing, crying, and emotional turmoil of so many bodies.

With a shudder, he was reminded that above all things that were occurring in the world, defeat could only come when such things were taken away from the school.

Reminded that in less than an hour his friends would be arriving permanently, that he would no longer have to endure days on end of silence with only his own dark thoughts to keep him company, he was cheered slightly, though nothing could take from his mind the fear that something would happen. Something always seemed to happen. He shook his head and continued on, tapping his wand against his palm. In a place where he learned everything he knew about magic, his inability to use it the past month had been the most devastating aspect of all. But soon, soon term would start, and he would try as hard as he could to continue the charade, even though it was one he no longer believed--that he was just like any other student, ready to start the year.

"Hello, Dobby." Harry muttered when he saw a house-elf in a sweater careen out into the hall in front of him. He immediately regretted his words when he heard a loud, shrill shriek emanate from the small creature. It turned and Harry saw that it wasn't Dobby--it was the female, Winky, who had once worked for Barty Crouch, who had been set free at the Quidditch World Cup two years before.

"I am not Dobby." She slurred. "I is Winky, you, and don't be confusing me with Dobby. Dobby is traitor...a traitor..." she said, her large eyes blinking. Looking closely, he saw that Winky was wearing one of Dobby's sweaters. He could only assume her poor care of her clothing had been the end of them.

"Sorry." He muttered, starting to walk away.

"Has you seen my master?" she said suddenly, rocketing forward and catching him on the hem of his robes. "My Crouch, sir? He needs me." She said. "He is having most difficulties without his Winky, sir."

"I'm....sorry." Harry said, pulling himself out of her grasp. "I don't..."

"WINKY!" Harry glanced around when he heard the pattering of Dobby's feet against the floor. He caught Winky and pulled her around. "Why is you out here, Winky? Why is you not in the kitchens, where you is safe?"

"Winky is looking for her master." She said, her head falling back. She let out a moan and a fat teardrop oozed from one large, bloodshot eye. "Winky is needing her Crouch."

"Crouch is not your master." Dobby said. "She is a free elf, now. Why does not Winky like her freedom?"

"Winky is not a traitor!" she shouted. Harry jumped when a statue standing nearby exploded with a loud crack. "Winky is not betraying her master, like Dobby is! Winky l-l-loves her m-m-master!" Winky sobbed, recoiling from Dobby.

"Do you need any help?" Harry said in astonishment. Sadly, Dobby shook his head.

"No sir, she is always like this after having too many Butterbeers." He said quietly, his batty ears trembling with emotion. "Go on, Harry Potter sir, I is taking her away now to get better. For a little while."

He started to pull Winky away but she jerked out of his grasp, reeling on her heels. She blinked once and suddenly fell backwards. "Is she all right?" Harry said suddenly, stepping forward. Dobby grabbed him by the knees and he stared at Winky for a long moment before she emitted a high-pitched snore.

"Winky is sleeping, sir." Dobby sighed. He pulled her up. "Harry Potter must be getting ready to greet his Wheezy and Hermoninny. Dobby will take her now."

Harry watched them disappear down the hall. If Hermione saw this, she might rethink her house-elf liberation campaign. He thought, furrowing his brow. Then again, she doesn't give up easily...

Shrugging, he pulled himself away from the spot where he had been standing for the past few minutes and continued on until he came to the door of the Great Hall. He glanced outside over the lake at a clear, beautiful sky and let his feet take him out of the castle towards it. As he walked along the bank, he saw the giant squid swimming close to the surface, his tentacles churning a trail. He paused near the old tree where he had seen his father in Snape's memory and sat, stretching out his legs and staring across the water. His hand wandered to his pocket, where something was moving slightly, and he extracted the snitch Remus had given him for his birthday.

But that's the difference between my dad and me. Harry thought as watched the feathery wings beating against his hand. James Potter was doing everything he could to show off...and Harry Potter wants nothing more than to just hide from it all.

He released the snitch for a moment and let it zip away before he caught it. "This could come in handy, actually." He said out loud. "At least my reflexes..." He caught himself as he realized what he was saying. He didn't want to be a weapon against Voldemort...he didn't want to have to train to fight the darkest and possibly most powerful wizard known. So why was he sitting here on a warm summers day, waiting for his friends, and thinking that he could use a snitch to prepare him for a duel with Voldemort?

Making another catch, he shoved the snitch into his pocket and stood again, staring out across the lake towards Hogsmeade. He glanced at his watch...the train would be arriving any moment. He thought about perhaps asking if he could meet them before deciding against it. He'd just wait it out and meet his friends when they finally arrived...bitterly he imagined them having a time of it on the train while he waited for them like some kind of pet.

These thoughts resounding in his mind, he sat back down and leaned back, staring into the cloudless sky. In a matter of minutes the pleasant warmth of the day and the silence that had fallen of the lake, combined with endless nights in which he woke fitfully near midmorning, caused him to drift away until he was fast asleep, the shadows of day's final light resting on his face.

"That's him, that's him right there!"

"Oh my gosh, it's really Harry Potter....look, you can see the scar and everything."

"Did he really see You-Know-Who come back? My mum wouldn't let me read the paper, she said it was too scary for me, but I heard them talking about it..."

Harry woke with a start when he heard the voices from nearby. He saw a group of first years, stepping out of a boat onto the bank nearby, huddled in a small group staring at him. Turning red, he stood and began walking feverishly towards the castle, ignoring their whispers as he stepped inside and jogged towards the tables, where everybody was already seated.

"Where were you?" Hermione hissed when he took the place saved between her and Ron. "I thought something had happened."

"I was taking a nice pleasant nap under the tree by the lake." Harry muttered sheepishly. "And I was woken up by a group of gabbling first years."

"Brats." Ron snorted, earning a reproving glare from Hermione. "So, did you hear who this year's prefects were?" he said, looking down the table.

Harry shrugged. "Not really. Who?"

"Ginny's friend Kathleen and Colin Creevey?"

"Oh, really?" Harry said, glancing at the bespectacled boy who was hastily chatting to a brunette who currently had her head cocked to the side. "Haven't heard much about him lately. Guess the Harry Potter Fan Club finally dissolved."

"First Ginny, now him." Ron sighed. "Oh well, I'm sure there's still somebody out there who loves you. I'm positive half the first-years have already developed an obsession."

"It's all we heard on the train." Hermione said, blushing when she saw Harry's horrified expression. "They were all chatting about you, saying how they were all going to try and get your autograph to send back to their mums and dads."

"My advice?" Ron muttered. "If you see a brat coming at you with a pen...run."

Harry laughed as the first years entered the hall and he was immediately stricken with a sense of guilt that he couldn't place until he noticed the young girl who was almost drowning in the group of others, so small was she. Megan Wyatt...he had forgotten about here. "You see that girl?" Harry whispered to his friends, "the one with the short brown hair?"

"Yeah." Ron said. "Scrawny one, isn't she?"

"I met her this summer." Harry said. "Her parents were killed in that attack in Surrey."

"What?" Hermione said suddenly. "I didn't know any wizards..."

"They weren't wizards." Harry said quietly. "Her parents were muggles. She was there when I was arrested, I just kind of forgot when everything happened."

"Poor girl." Hermione said, biting her lip. "I hope she gets in Gryffindor...she deserves it."

Aware that as he was watching the group of first-years, half of them were watching him, he turned his face back to the table and waited when he heard the sorting hat brought out. He peeked up when he heard it readying to sing.

Things have come as I predicted,

But you haven't got a clue,

Just how dismal now the future is,

So I'm here now to guide you,

There's much to learn, and much to see,

And so much that we regret,

But with wit, and strength, and courage,

And ambition, don't forget,

We will pull together now,

And we will remain forever strong,

And the sorting hat is now here,

To sing another song.

For as long as I've been fated,

I've been set to separate,

To Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw,

To the houses they deem great,

Yet to Hufflepuff and Slytherin,

Go others who must wait,

And they see that there are those,

Who would retain those elder lines,

So the Sorting Hat will retain itself,

As it has these other times.

A silence like the year before fell as the hat ended the last lines of it's song. McGonagall raised her hand and the idle chatter was stopped. She looked down at the list in her hand. "Adams, Harriet." A young girl stepped up and sat, taking a deep breath when the hat was placed on her head. A moment later and... "Hufflepuff!" applause rang out as she made her way to the table and sat.

They watched as Sarah Banks, Thomas Derry, Simon Dross, and Gina Everett became a Hufflepuff, a Ravenclaw, and a Gryffindor repectively.

They watched the ceremony proceed until only one girl was left. "Wyatt, Megan." The young girl ascended the steps, her gaze flickering to Harry for a moment. He gave her what he hoped to be a reassuring nod as she sat down and the hat was placed on her head. After a long moment, the hat finally shouted GRYFFINDOR and she came back down and sat across from Harry, smiling falteringly.

"You make it here all right?" he asked kindly. She nodded quickly.

"Yeah. I knew I was right about you...I knew you were like me. But I didn't know you were famous." She added, when she noticed people staring down the table at him. Harry forced himself not to look at them and kept his eyes on her.

"I'm not famous because I want to be. I'm only famous because I'm not dead. And that's not something you'd like to be famous for, is it?"

Megan giggled nervously and opened her mouth to speak when Dumbledore rose, causing her to snap it shut and stare back up at him. "Hello, everybody, and welcome back to Hogwarts." He said, though in a tone that lacked his usual cheer. "Though times lately have been trying, I don't doubt that we will be able to make the best of what we can of the days ahead. We must stick together. We must be strong." He sighed and glanced back over the students.

"My one hope is that this year we will be able to keep focus of that which is most important...that we show a united front and keep our minds open." He sighed. "But enough of that. I would like to make a few special announcements before the feast begins. Because of the highly dangerous nature of the Forbidden Forest, anybody caught even attempting to enter it will receive detentions of no less than a month." He paused for a moment as a low murmur broke out and waited until the voices died down. "Secondly, I would like to announce that we have appointed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. May I introduce to you Sabrina Young?" Applause began anew as a woman with long dark hair stood, nodding. Her eyes flickered for a moment to Gryffindor table before she sat again. "And with that out of the way," Dumbledore said, "Let the feast begin."

Harry glanced down at the table as it filled with food and he reached out for a plate. "This looks great, I'm starving." Ron said as he began piling his plate with food. "Too bad none of the food today has your face on it, Harry." He grinned as he took a large bite of his food.

Harry grinned back and looked across the table at Megan, who was involved in conversation with the Everett girl who had also joined Gryffindor. "What classes are you taking, Harry?" said Hermione. "You never told me how you did on your O.W.L.S."

"Well, I'm taking all the basic classes." Harry muttered. "Even potions. But I'm dropping History of Magic and Astronomy, as well as Divination.

"What?" Ron choked. "But I'm still in that class!"

"Guess you'll be making up predictions on your own." Hermione snorted, leaning back. "But why drop Astronomy? I mean, you never know when it could come in handy..."

"Yeah, if I ever get blown off course on the open sea." Harry muttered as Ron laughed. "Listen, I'm taking the things that matter. And unlike you, I won't subject myself to extra work."

"You're staying in Care of Magical Creatures though?" Ron asked. "I mean, I know it's pretty much a nothing class...we'll probably get killed. Have any idea what Hagrid has planned this year?" Ron asked.

"Disappearing snakes." Harry muttered. He glanced up when Ron's fork clattered to his plate. "What, doesn't that sound like fun?"

"You've...you've seen them already?" Ron said, his face paling a little.

"I've talked to them already." Harry replied, making Ron shake his head. "Don't worry, they aren't vicious. At least not to me."

Ron mumbled, "That's cause you speak their language." Hermione and Harry shared an amused glance.

"Well, at any rate I don't think I would quit even if we were studying Hydras." Hermione said. "Hagrid really needs our support right now."

"Yeah, I guess so." Ron swallowed the bit of bread he had taken a bite of. "So Harry, you coming back up to the dorms tonight?"

"Actually..." Harry said slowly, "I'm not. I've woken you guys up one too many times in the middle of the night. I think I'll be staying where I am. Besides, think how convenient it will be to have our own space. I mean, you guys can visit. All you have to do is ask one of Lord Hornswaggle's friends to come announce you."

"All right." Ron said. "But it's going to be awfully strange without you there, really."

"What do you know about the new professor?" Hermione asked suddenly as she looked up at the woman. "I don't know anything about her. Look at how she's talking to Snape...I think they know one another."

Harry glanced up and saw that Hermione was correct. She was involved in deep conversation with Snape, and though they appeared not to be attacking one another neither looked pleased to be found in the other's company.

"Better keep her from unsheathing those claws." Hermione said. "I really do think she'd murder Snape if she got a chance..."

"Yeah, they don't seem to like one another much, do they?" Ron said with a shrug. "Then again, who really likes Snape?"

Harry was laughing when the remnants of dinner disappeared and desserts appeared on long trays. He ate a bit of his plum pudding before standing with a sigh. "I really don't want to be around to sign autographs when the hounds are unleashed." He said. "Chat later, okay? I'm going to my room."

"Bye." Hermione said. "I'll see you tomorrow. If I'm not mistaken, we have Transfiguration first thing."

Harry waved as he slipped from the hall and wandered back up to his room. "Good night." Lord Hornswaggle said absently, taking a swig from a large bottle lying on the table in front of him. His four friends already appeared to have had too much and were sprawled out, talking raucously.

When he was back in his room, he sat down in front of the fire, pulling a book from the shelf and leafing through it as he listened to the passing of people outside--the feast was over. He glanced up when Lord Hornswaggle stumbled into the empty frame in the room, almost falling over. It was obvious that he was now profoundly drunk. "There's a girl out here." Said Hornswaggle. "Name's Margaret or Maggie or something."

"Oh. Okay." Harry stood, wondering who could be interrupting him, and walked over to pull the door open. Megan was standing there, staring up at him.

"Hello, Harry." She said. "I hope I'm not bothering you, but I overheard you telling your friends how to get here and..." she paused, turning red. "I expect you don't really care much, seeing as I'm just a kid, but would you mind if I were to come and talk maybe once in a while? I mean, you're famous, and you never knew your parents, but you kind of know how things are."

"I wouldn't mind." Harry said quickly, seeing as how the young girl was on the verge of tears. "But haven't you made any friends yet? I'm sure you'd rather talk to them."

She turned red. "Well, maybe but...well, when they heard how my parents died they kept asking me questions, and then when I was coming down my hall one of the Slytherins, an older boy, called me a mudblood and they said that was really offensive to people...like me."

"Oh." Deflated, Harry stared at her for a moment. "You could talk to my friend Hermione about that, I'm sure she'll help. She comes from a muggle family too. Don't worry, Megan. I guess...things might turn out all right for you."

"Really?" She looked at him hopefully, and Harry could only hope that he wasn't lying to her.

"Yeah." He managed to smile. "But why don't you go up to bed? You've probably got potions tomorrow, and you have to be prepared for the teacher. Snape...ah, he doesn't exactly like Gryffindors."

Megan scrunched up her nose. "He was that greasy-haired man, wasn't he? He seemed kind of...unpleasant."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, well, he hates me even worse that anybody else in this school. You'll get used to him."

"Yeah, okay." She started to turn away. "Well, thanks for being nice to me. I know I'm probably annoying you, but..." she blushed. "You're really nice, and even though you're famous you're just a normal person, right?"

"Sure." Harry said with a small laugh, thinking just how off the mark she was on that last comment. "Good night, Meg."

"Night." He closed the door and heard the wall on the other side sealing up. Slowly he walked back to the bed and slowly started pulling his robes off. For the first time in a while he thought back to his first year, how he had met his friends and overcome simple challenges...even the obstacles he had overcome to face Voldemort that first year seemed miniscule in comparison to the challenges he faced now.

He could only hope that for a young girl like Megan, the years would pass uneventful, with only the usual challenges faced by a Hogwarts student. But the fact was, with the rise of Voldemort, he knew she wasn't safe...hadn't it always been one of his goals to rid the world of Megan's kind...mudbloods? Just how safe was she?

He shook his head and lay down, watching the stars twinkling in the open window. His hand unconsciously gripped the golden badge that hung around his neck as he fell into restless sleep, his mind weaving in and out of dreams.

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Hiya all!

Well, I hope you liked this chapter. I like writing Megan, though parts of her, and I am not ashamed to admit it, are blatant self insertion into this story. But of course! I deserve to be there! And because I am a writer, it is possible. Isn't that great? Well, my hair isn't short and I'm not scrawny, but that doesn't mean her personality isn't my own. Ha, well, forgive my weirdness right now. Thanks for reading, and as always...

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...PLEASE REVIEW!!!