Erised's Bane
Author's Note: Hi. I'm sleepy so I apologize in advance if this chapter is screwed up. Uhm...I've kind of been planning this chapter for a while so it's pretty much writing itself, but other parts of it I'm winging it. So there...I think I need some chocolate to wake up or something.
I can't believe I got so many reviews for the last chapter by the way! Almost twenty! I've never gotten that many for single chapter before, it makes me feel so special. All warm and fuzzy. And they were all good reviews too. How nice...
Disclaimer: How many of these have I written? They get a little irritating after a while. But anyway, J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter and not me. The original characters in the story are mine but if anybody wants to use them, eh, why not? I don't mind. Just e-mail me first.
Chapter Twelve: Stunning Revelations
"So anyway, auditions for Chaser on the team are tonight, so make sure you're there. I don't know what you've gotten me into." Ron sighed as he ran a hand through his hair and peered out at the crowd of people milling about as they entered the hall.
The morning after the first DA meeting was yet another of a great many shocks that seemed to be resounding through Hogwarts lately. Even though the message had been reiterated a thousand times, nobody could see just how any of the houses would ever get along and at the moment, even Dumbledore might have had to admit that such a thing surely seemed impossible.
News of the standoff between the three Slytherin members of the DA and virtually every other person in the group had spread like wildfire and thus when Harry appeared with his two friends the following morning, it was to immense applause from the house tables of Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and of course Gryffindor, and to hisses and boos from the Slytherins.
"Do they have to do that?" said Hermione with a blush as they sat, deliberately trying to ignore the winks being sent her way by Ernie Macmillan. "I mean, I only did what any other person would have done."
"Come off it, Hermione." Ron said. "That was great. Harry didn't even have to lift a wand, everybody else did it for him."
"I'd rather not lift my wand." Harry said in a low tone. "Or I'd probably be trying one of those spells Young has been teaching us. Or maybe even one she hasn't."
"Have you got any information on the Anti-Magic Barrier?" Hermione said as she poured herself a goblet of juice. "I've searched, but it's just like looking for Nicholas Flamel again. Don't know where to look and I just can't seem to find it."
Harry shrugged. "Something like that would probably be in a book you could only find in the Restricted Section. I don't know, maybe you could ask her."
"Of course I couldn't!" Hermione said in surprise. "She'd think I was planning on using it sometime. I just want to learn about it, I don't want to use it. Well, that is unless Ron is willing to let me test it on..."
"No way." He said firmly, shaking his head. "If you want to peel somebody's skin off, it won't be mine."
"Coward." Harry said with a laugh.
"Would you like to try it?" Hermione asked. Harry immediately quieted and the next few moments passed in silence until a great flapping of wings indicated the mail. Harry looked up among the mass of gray and brown-feathered bodies but saw no Hedwig among the group. It didn't surprise him, as he had gotten a letter from Remus the day before, but it did disappoint him slightly as he had become used to the information he received, though it was little.
He sighed and looked back down, turning his head when his friend made a small sound of surprise.
"What's this?" Ron said, picking up a letter Pig had just dropped at his elbow. "Mom usually doesn't send her 'don't you dare get killed with Harry' letter until Friday." He flipped the envelope open as he took a large sip of pumpkin juice. Harry had just turned to ask him what the letter was about when he saw Ron's eyes widen and he spat out the mouthful of juice all over the table.
"Oh, gross!" Hermione said, making a face and scooting away. "What was that for?"
"I...I can't believe..." he took a deep breath and shook his head, his mouth open and gaping in a fashion that reminded Harry of a fish out of water. "It's impossible." He said resolutely. "Bill...and...and that girl..."
"What are you talking about?" Hermione said in irritation. She leaned over the table and delicately pulled the letter out of Ron's hands, avoiding the spray of pumpkin juice. She looked at it for a moment before gasping and making a soft sound of pleasure. "Oh, how sweet! I'm so happy for you! Your mom must be thrilled!"
"What is it?" asked Harry, who was still observing Ron's fishlike state.
"It's Bill and Fleur." Hermione cooed. "They're engaged!"
"What?" Harry immediately choked and reached out for the letter. He scanned it and rescanned it, getting the gist summed up in a few words. Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour were to be married the next summer. He laughed and tossed the letter back to Ron. "Congratulations, Ron. Look's like Ginny's finally got a sister."
"I asked her out once!" Ron said, turning bright red. "And now my brother is engaged to her? I didn't even know they were dating!"
"Of course you did." Said Hermione incredulously. "You said it yourself...private lessons, indeed."
"I never knew it was serious!" Ron moaned. "I thought he was just checking her out!"
"Not all male/female relationships are based on appearances." Hermione said coldly. "For your information, there are some people that see past physical appearances to the individual inside..."
"Shove it." Ron said, rolling his eyes. "I don't intend to fall madly and desperately in love. I'll take my wand and my broomstick and be perfectly happy."
"Just like a boy." Hermione said in annoyance. "You've never even had a girlfriend before, what would you know about it?"
Ron blushed hot and snatched the letter dangling from Harry's fingertips. "So what if I haven't? You aren't exactly running after the fellows, now are you?"
Hermione sniffed and turned her nose up at Ron. "A girl has a right to be choosy. I don't want to end up with some slimy git...unlike some people, I care about the real person. And you must be forgetting that I Victor and I did almost..."
"Shove it with Krum already." Ron huffed. But then a sudden gleam glinted in his eyes and he turned to Harry with a short laugh. "It's kind of strange, isn't it? You competed with Fleur and all that, and here she is marrying my brother. Bet she's eager to see you."
"What?" Harry blinked. "Why would she be seeing me?"
"Because you're invited to the wedding." Ron said. "As if you wouldn't be, mum considers you part of the family, and so do the rest of us for a matter of fact."
"A wedding?" Harry felt his eyes widen and suddenly remembered a horribly fussy affair he had once been forced to attend with the Dursleys--the wedding of one of Aunt Petunia's old friends. Though he had only been eight or so at the time, he still could distinctly recall yards of lace, loads of flowers, and the horrible stench of perfume that had seemed to saturate his hair and skin and made him choke for days afterwards whenever he caught a whiff of it. "When is it?" he asked.
"Near the end of school." Ron said. "I reckon we'll get the day off of lessons. Remember when Dean's older sister got married? He left for two days, and it was a muggle wedding at that."
"Well, I just hope everything goes all right." Harry said after a long moment. "It really should have been planned for some other time."
"What do you mean?" said Hermione with a frown.
"In case you haven't noticed, the end of the year usually spells bad news." Harry said wryly. When Ron and Hermione didn't respond, he stood up. "And to think other people just have exams to worry about." He sighed and walked from the hall, not noticing the person that slipped from their chair and followed him out.
He was halfway down the hall when he heard a faint footstep and quickly turned, hand automatically reaching for his wand. Sighing when he saw the familiar mop of messy brown hair his hand relaxed. "Hi, Megan." He said as she made her way towards him. "How has school been for you?"
"Fine." She said with a faint blush. She walked up to him and stopped a couple of feet away. "I wanted to say thank you for being so nice to me. Dumbledore is helping me look for somebody who might be able to take me in after the summer. He reckons it might not be too safe in a muggle orphanage or something like that."
"I guess not." Harry said, feeling a pang of pity for the little girl whose situation so reminded him of his own. "Have you made many friends?"
"Oh, yes." She said happily. "And I hope we stay as good friends as you and Ron and Hermione."
He felt a surge of warmth. "If you can have friends like that, then you're as lucky as anybody." He winked. "But if they're exactly the same you might have to spend a majority of your time keeping them from killing one another."
She laughed and scuffed one of her worn sneakers on the stone floor. "You're really nice, you know. I mean, you might be famous and all but you don't act like people would think."
"I guess not." He said. He looked at her for a moment, seeing she had come to discuss something other than simple matters. It was an earnest sort of gleam in those eyes that gave her way. "Was there...something you wanted?"
"Yeah." She spoke softly, looking at the paintings knowingly, having obviously realized by that moment that they had minds of their own. Satisfied that most of the frames were empty or the figures within chatting amongst themselves, she turned back and nodded faintly. "I was wondering...you are in charge of the DA aren't you? I mean...you know how to teach people stuff about dueling?"
"I guess so, yes." He said slowly, watching the intense look of hope in her eyes.
"Well...we were wondering..." she said softly, "...a couple of friends and I wanted to know if maybe you could teach us a few things? I mean, we're only first years but we know what's going on and we're...scared." she stopped, unable to go on as tears filled her large blue eyes.
"It's okay." Said Harry nervously, wondering to himself how he could calm a nervous and very frightened eleven-year-old girl. He glanced around and spotting an empty classroom placed a hand on her shoulder and led her inside. She gave a small sob and sat down in one of the chairs, rubbing her eyes. "Now why do you think you need me to teach you?" he said, kneeling down in front of her uncertainly.
"Because...because of what we are." She said, sniffing. "We're...mudbloods." She shivered when she said the word and looked down, scuffing one of her sneakers on the floor.
"Don't call yourself that." Harry said, understanding from experience what a derogatory term 'mudblood' was. "You're just as good as any other witch, and even better that a lot of them." He said. A flood of relief washed over him when she gave a nervous chuckle.
"It's what they call us." She said. "Me and my friends, Justin and Kate. That Malfoy boy, the Slytherin...he called us a bunch of sniveling mudbloods and said first chance Volde...You-Know-Who gets, he's going to show us all a Killing Curse firsthand."
Harry felt a small jolt and reached out to grab Megan's shoulder, to comfort not only her but himself as well. "You're safe here at Hogwarts." He said sternly. "Voldemort and his stupid Death Eaters aren't going to get to you as long as Dumbledore is around...as long as I'm around."
"It's not him I'm scared of." She said. "It's the others. They're all so afraid to be around us right now." She ran a hand across her eyes. "I just want to know what to do if anybody tries anything. Nothing to...nothing to hurt them. Just so they can't hurt us."
Harry took a deep breath and looked at her for a long moment. "How many of you are there?" he asked.
"Just my friends." She replied, looking down. Harry knew he might be dooming himself to impossibilities in an already hectic schedule, but something about the fear he felt around her made him realize that he wasn't the only one suffering at the return of Voldemort to the magical world. And so he made his decision then and there.
"I'll do it." he said with a nod. "All right, Megan? You know where the DA room is; why don't you bring your friends around tomorrow afternoon? I'll get you started on some basic things, but I don't think you should use it unless you really have to."
Megan, who was looking considerably happier, stood up and smiled. "Do what you say and not what you do, right?" she queried.
"Right." Harry said with a grin. "See you tomorrow, Megan." She smiled back and he watched her as she turned and headed out of the door. Hearing the bell ring, he turned away and began heading towards Snape's dungeon. Hermione caught up with him halfway and handed him his bag.
"You forgot this in the hall." She said as she took up his pace and walked alongside him.
"Oh." he said, blinking. "Thanks."
"I saw Megan Wyatt heading after you when you left the hall. What did she want?"
Harry thought for a moment and finally shrugged. "She and a couple of her friends wanted some help with defense stuff. She seemed..." he trailed off, realizing he had been about to say 'afraid to be a muggle born', because he realized at that moment that Hermione must be going through the same thing. "Have you been threatened?" he asked, stopping and turning to look at her.
"What?" she said, blinking.
"It was something Megan said, about being threatened by Malfoy and his bloody friends because her parents were muggles. Have they said anything to you?"
"Oh." Hermione said, blushing. "That. Well...they haven't said anything directly but I've overheard...oh, what are we talking about this for?" she turned and began heading back to class. "Listen Harry, I've learned by now not to give a flip what Malfoy thinks. Of course he's saying things, he's a Slytherin and his dad is one of Voldemort's right-hand men. Do you think he's just going to go out on a limb and say 'Hey! Mudbloods are all right after all!'"
"No." Harry began walking after her. "I guess not. I guess it just didn't occur to me just how hard a time it was going to be for people who are muggle born." He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry." Hermione admonished. "It isn't like you don't care. I mean, you have a lot more to be frightened about than anybody. Harry Potter is number one on his 'To Kill' list. Us mudbloods are only number two." She smiled faintly at her ill attempt at humor. "That was really stupid wasn't it?"
"No, it wasn't." Harry said. "I guess I just don't think about other people as much as I should."
Hermione stopped and turned to him. "Are you mad?" she said, furrowing her brow. "You sometimes care too much. And that's something that people have taken advantage of for a long time. I don't want you worrying about me, Harry. I'm a big girl; I can take care of myself. As for Megan..." she took a deep breath, "Harry, I think you had better let me teach her."
"What?" Harry blinked. "Why?"
"Because despite your efforts, Voldemort is still coming inside your head and if he were to see any connection with Megan..." she averted her gaze for a moment, "well, she's helpless and young. He'd use it against you. Megan is...safer...with me."
"Oh." He sighed. "I guess you're right." He said, ignoring the pain and the voice that told him he should have known it before--because he had already killed most of those he cared about.
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Hitching one leg over the side of his broom, Harry rose into the air and immediately felt the weight that had been pressing in on him for days stay on the ground as he ascended higher and higher into the sky. When the Quidditch field had grown small under him, he began running experimental laps around the perimeter of the stadium, steadily urging his Firebolt faster and faster until the world around him was only a blur. He even managed a small laugh as he turned a fast loop upside down before hearing a loud shout and slowing as he watched a red-haired figure in scarlet robes flying towards him.
"You fly like that in all our games and we're golden." Ron said as he pulled up in front of Harry and paused to hover slightly in the air. He was grinning. "Glad to see you're early. No detention?"
"Not this time." Harry replied. "I'm eager to see the auditions. Who do you think will get the Chaser positions besides Ginny?"
"Don't know." Ron said. "I'm just glad we aren't needing a new Seeker this year. Or a Keeper for that matter." He said with a grin.
Harry laughed. "Of course. When's everybody due to arrive?"
"Any minute now." Ron squinted and pointed to a bunch of figures moving on the edge of the grass below. "In fact, there they are now. You go on and stay up here, I'm going to run down and give a little speech." He ran a hand through his hair and grinned. "Captain privileges." Harry watched as his friend left him and went down to talk to the congregation of would be Chasers. He was still watching as the two beaters who had been on the team the year before mounted their brooms and rose up to meet him.
"Hi." Said the burlier of the two nervously. "I'm Jack Sloper." He ran a hand through his hair and looked at Harry in admiration. "I've been watching you in Quidditch since first year. You're a terrific Seeker--course, I'm way too big to be a Seeker, so I've got to stick to Beater position."
"Well...thanks." said Harry. "And you're Andrew Kirke?" he asked the other. Kirke nodded.
"Yeah. It's a shame we didn't get to play together on the team last year, really. I wish the Weasley brothers could have taught us a thing or two before they left. But you're here this year. And we'll get that cup again if it's the last thing we do." He said in a war-like manner that made Harry almost jump in surprise. After looking at them for a moment he shrugged.
"I think we can do it." he said matter-of-factly. "The team isn't the same one I had first year, but from what I've seen it works pretty well." He looked down at Ron. "And we've got a good captain too."
He looked back at Kirke and Sloper, suddenly seeing the strange look in their eyes. "Are you sure about that?" Sloper said hesitantly. "I know Weasley is your friend, but he didn't exactly do that great of a job last year."
"Yeah." Kirke said. "We all know you should have gotten captain, Harry." He said. "You should have taken it, really. I mean, with Malfoy in charge of Slytherin..."
"What?" Harry felt his heart jump and his broom almost took off without him. "Draco Malfoy is the captain of Slytherin?" he hissed.
"You didn't know?" Sloper said. "Guess you wouldn't, Snape just made it official this morning. His mother got him a new broom and everything in advance, so I guess it wasn't a surprise to him."
"A...new broom?" Harry said nervously, knowing what was about to come.
"Yeah." Said Sloper sickly. "A Firebolt."
Harry, too stunned to respond, was still staring at Ron in shock when Ron rose back up into the air with half a dozen hopefuls trying out for the position of Chaser. Ginny smiled and waved and Harry gave her a sharp nod in return as he was still trying his best not to fall off his broom at the news he had just heard. Malfoy, a Quidditch captain? Harry didn't know what his own father might have thought of Harry passing up the position when his worst enemy had that of the rival team, but he imagined the reaction wouldn't have been pretty.
"All right." His attention was diverted away from his thoughts and he turned back to Ron, who was holding a Quaffle and tossing it back and forth. "Potter, Sloper, and Kirke are going to defend the goals so I can watch what's going on. I've got a score sheet here and I'll use it to keep track of who makes any goals. Uhm..." he paused for a moment, breaking concentration as he looked down at the sheet. "What was I going to say?" he muttered in annoyance, making his sister snort and Kirke and Sloper exchange wide grins. "Oh, right!" Ron said after a long moment. "The six of you are going to divide up into two teams, and after twenty minutes we'll change the teams up. The teams are...Weasley, Brown, and Hunter and...Creevey, Creevey, and Thomas." Harry glanced over as the people grouped together and got a small surprise as he saw Lavender Brown pinning a golden star on her robes that matched that of Ginny and a pudgy girl with blonde hair. She looked up at that moment and smiled, leaving Harry taken aback at the stunning intensity of her gaze.
"Harry, will you get in place?" Ron said in exasperation. Harry glanced at the goal posts and saw that Kirke and Sloper had already taken their places where he had been momentarily distracted.
"Oh, right." He said as he took position in the center of the goals. Ron picked up a whistle that was dangling from a cord around his neck and shouted out something inaudible to the chasers. He saw the Creevey brothers glancing around--Colin was laughing at something Dennis had said as the two of them were rising in the air and Harry had realized that Colin had changed much from the annoying, camera carrying pest he had used to be. Gone too was the look of admiration in his eyes, something which he was eternally grateful for.
A moment passed and suddenly Harry heard the sharp trill of the whistle and was immediately on guard as the blur of the red quaffle began streaking back and forth in front of him. He careened back and caught one that was lunged towards his midsection, making him let out a whoosh of breath. Ginny grinned at him and saluted before aiding Lavender in tossing a quaffle just out of reach of Dean Thomas. He saw a particularly vindictive look in Ginny's eyes and suddenly came to the realization that it was very likely the two of them were no longer together.
He saved two more goals but many went by, and it wasn't because he was a bad Keeper either. To his surprise there seemed to be some very talented players auditioning...certainly none that were at present doing badly in any way. After a while Ron blew the whistle again and motioned Harry over. "What do you think of Ginny, Lavender, and Dean?" he asked as he looked over.
"I think they're all right." Harry said. "But...erm...I wouldn't suggest putting the three of them together." He said.
"Why not?"
"Because...it appears as if Dean and Ginny are no longer an item, and though admittedly you are a good strategist it would be the worst dynamic in the world to put a pair of chasers together that hate one another." Harry said sarcastically. Ron blinked and looked over...sure enough, Ginny and Dean were shooting one another spiteful glances.
"Right...right." Ron said. Harry noted a satisfied tone in Ron's voice but knew better than to comment on it. "Uhm...so how about Ginny, Lavender, and Colin Creevey then?"
"That might be all right." Harry said. "But you had better put the three of them together to make sure." Ron nodded before blowing his whistle.
"All right! Colin Creevey with Weasley and Brown! Dennis Creevey with Thomas and Hunter!" Harry thumped Ron on the shoulder reassuringly, seeing the nerves clearly jumping from his friend, and took his place back at the goals. The whistle blew again and the competition restarted. Only five minutes had to pass before Harry saw that the three he and Ron had decided on were perfect for the team...granted, Dean Thomas did have more skill than Colin Creevey but the fact that Ginny took an opportune moment to bounce a quaffle off his head reassured his decision.
Ron saw it too and blew the whistle for the final time. "All right!" he said happily. "The new chasers for the team are Ginny Weasley, Lavender Brown and Colin Creevey." The three of them cheered and fell in on each other as the others scowled. Their happiness was short-lived.
"Next practice is tomorrow morning at five!" Ron said. "Be there or you're off the team!"
"Oh God." Harry heard Ginny muttering as she descended towards the ground. "The spirit of Oliver Wood strikes again."
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Sorry the darned chapter took so long but I really haven't had as much time as I could have wished! Anyway, it's here for your viewing pleasure now. Please leave a review for me because I eat them like candy. Unless they are flames, in which case I will use them to burn down the Band Hall at my school so I don't have to go to another band camp. Ahh....
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you like where this story is going so far. This chapter was particularly interesting and as I am writing it at one in the morning you can bet I will probably not like it as much when I am actually awake and reading it, so excuse me for anything that was really stupid or something. Thank you.