Title: Harry Potter and the Staff of Merlin
Author: Legolas-gurl88
Disclaimer: I am not J.K. Rowling. No, stop saying I am! No, go on! It's actually quite flattering! Yet, even so, none of these works belong to me, except Harry's present… that was my idea! Yippee! I actually own something… sort of… oh boy… let's just say that's J.K. Rowling's idea too.
Author Note: Sorry for delay… reason at bottom of page…
Story time!
9. It Was the Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times…
"Today, we will be learning how to produce a Befuddling Potion; not as strong as a Confusion Concoction, nor does it last as long, but it is a faster process to make and comes in quite handy. It will last long enough for the potion maker to make the Confusion Concoction to completely wipe out the drinker's suspicions or certain memories." Snape began his lecture. "However, it takes patience and carefulness in order to create it, because the ingredients must be to the exact measurement or the potion will not work correctly. The ingredients and measurements will be on the board. Ten points from the first buffoon to mess things up." His eyes darted in the direction of Neville, who gulped. "Begin."
He gave his wand a slight flick and writing appeared on the board. There was a rustle and the students went to the student ingredient storage cupboard to gather the ingredients.
Everything went fine during the first twenty-two minutes of the class, then things became a little wild when Neville added too many Salamander Hearts to his potion and it began bubbling and fizzing and sending liquid all over the floor.
"Ten points from Gryffindor, then," Snape said, smirking as he waved his wand and the mess disappeared.
"Oh, he's horrible!" Hermione whispered, adding two-thirds of a pint of Bluemoon Grass to hers, Harry's and Ron's potion as Harry was grating the turtle scales and Ron was measuring diluted bubotuber pus into a cup. "Making Neville nervous by predicting that he would mess up!"
"He'd done okay yesterday in Hagrid's class," Ron whispered, bringing the measuring cup up to his eyes. Harry tipped the finely grated turtle scales into to the potion, which instantly turned a sickly gray color.
"Just wait another three minutes exactly, then you can add the bubotuber pus in, Ron," Hermione informed.
"I'll time it," Harry said, looking at his watch. Hermione returned to Ron's conversation.
"Well, of course he'd done alright in Hagrid class," she hissed, "Hagrid isn't someone that would make him nervous. He didn't pressure him into petting the Fire Crab."
"Yeah, I s'pose." Ron said. "But I think that Neville should learn to be a little more brave."
"He's come an awful long way, though, considering what his past was like. And he's become quite good at the Stunning Charm."
"That's because he had to do it a lot last year when Sirius-- at the Department of Mysteries." Harry said, eyeing his watch, "Three, two, one. Alright, Ron, add the bubotuber pus."
Ron poured it into the cauldron, which hissed.
"Now, we have to wait while it simmers." Hermione said.
"I wouldn't fancy drinking that." Ron said, peering into the cauldron of sticky, gray goop. "At least, now that I know what's in it."
"Harry, why don't you chop the lionfish quills?" Hermione said. "And have you thought about what you're going to say for the Slytherins?"
"No," Harry said, taking up the knife. "I suppose I'll tell them what I told you, leaving out the things that Voldemort doesn't know. The thing is, is that I don't want the Hufflepuffs to be deprived of knowing."
"Maybe we should start up D.A. again," suggested Ron.
"No, Ron, I--" began Harry, but Hermione finished.
"Harry's got enough to be worrying about than the D.A. meetings." she said bossily.
Suddenly, Crabbe and Goyle's potion erupted, sending goop and sparks everywhere. The people around them backed away, causing their potions to erupt when the exact ingredients weren't added at the right time, causing a riot. It took Snape a while to calm everyone down enough for him to be able to erase the mess. Snape gave Crabbe and Goyle a meaningful look, then stalked off towards his desk.
"Oh sure!" Ron whispered, "He took points of Neville, but never takes any off of any of the Slytherins."
"All we can do is bear with it," Harry said, emptying his bowl of chopped lionfish quills into the potion."
"Done." Hermione said. "Now, we just wait for it to simmer-- that'll take another ten minutes-- we'll be done before the end of class!" She said this proudly, beaming at Ron and Harry for not messing anything up.
After wishing Harry a good luck, Ron and Hermione made their way towards History of Magic and Harry made his way towards the door of the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. Just before his hand touched the doorknob, Malfoy pushed him out of the way and Crabbe and Goyle pinned him to the wall as they pushed him aside to enter after Malfoy. Harry readjusted the strap of his bag and walked inside. What he met was an incredibly loud noise. All the Hufflepuffs were sitting at their desks but the Slytherins were shouting, singing verses from "Weasley is our King," standing on the desks and bewitching paper airplanes into heading strait for Harry. He pushed them aside as he made his way to his desk at the front of the room.
"Sit down!" he yelled. No one heeded him. "I can take points off if I really need to!" he warned. No one was listening. "SIT!" he yelled even louder. Instead, a paper airplane came strait for him, hitting his nose with it's pointed tip. He grabbed it and crumpled it up and set it on his desk.
"VOLDEMORT!" he screamed loudly. Suddenly, all noise ended. The Hufflepuffs all flinched and the Slytherins looked shocked.
"Sit down," Harry said.
"What if we don't feel like it, Professor Potty?" Malfoy said, constructing a paper airplane.
"Then I can take off points." Harry said again.
"I'd like to see you try," Malfoy said, narrowing his pale eyes.
"Five points from Slytherin." Harry said, "Sit down or it will be more… I'm not jesting about this!"
The Slytherins all grudgingly sat down, looking sulky and angry that they couldn't protest without losing points for their house.
"Good," said Harry grimly, "Now, the first thing I need you to do is to tell me who this is." He turned around, grabbed up the chalk and began writing TOM MARVOLO RIDDE on the board again. When he got to writing the 'V' in, he felt something hit the back of his head and turned around and looked down. A crumpled piece of paper was on the floor. He picked it up and unfolded him. It read;
Vote for Cedric Diggory-- The Real Hogwarts Champion!
Harry looked up grimly.
"Nice one. Now lets get started." he turned around and continued to write out the name.
"Who is this?" Harry said.
"Don't you know, Potty?" Malfoy said without raising his hand. "I thought you had to know in order to teach us."
"Shut up, Malfoy, or tell me who this is-- you ought to know."
"It's your Mudblood mother's father's Great Aunt's nephew's neighbor's uncle's dog, twice removed." Malfoy smirked.
"Very funny," Harry said, his anger bubbling just like the Befuddling Potion, "But not as funny as this is gonna be; Ten points from Slytherin."
Malfoy's smirk wore off. Harry smiled angrily.
"See? Apparently, your face is funnier than your jokes."
The Hufflepuffs applauded.
Malfoy, however, stood up and rushed to the front, leaning over Harry's desk to look him strait in the eye.
"If you give my father away, Potter, I swear, you'll be laughing out of the other side of the face after I get done with you." he muttered quietly, so only Harry could hear.
"I've heard better threats from my mother's father's Great Aunt's nephew's neighbor's uncle's dog, twice removed, and he's a stupid mutt."
Malfoy shot Harry the angriest look he's ever given him before.
"Sit… down… now..." Harry said slowly and dangerously.
Malfoy turned and walked toward his desk and grudgingly sat down, smirking at Harry the whole while he was up at the front of the room.
The lunch bell couldn't have rung sooner.
"Great class, Potter!" The Hufflepuffs all shouted at Harry as they packed their things up and left the classroom. The Slytherins all left without a word, but instead rushed to the Great Hall, probably checking to see if fifteen points had really been taken off from them. Harry was last to leave the classroom and he saw Ron and Hermione waiting for him.
"Thank Merlin!" Ron said, "He's still alive! And here's me, thinking he wouldn't survive!"
"How was it?" asked Hermione.
"Horrible." Harry said, "No one would listen and Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins kept throwing things around the classroom."
"You win some, you lose some," Ron said, thumping Harry's back understandingly. "Come on, I'm starving."
"I don't think I can face the school." Harry said, yet he walked with Ron and Hermione.
They all walked to the Great Hall and as Harry entered, the Slytherins all booed, causing everyone to turn and stare at what they were booing at. Only after Harry had sat down between Ron and Hermione did the booing stop.
"Hey, Harry," Harry heard a voice behind him. He turned to see Cho.
"Oh, hey," Harry said, "Look, I'm really sorry for how I acted on the train, I was just--"
"Oh-- no-- it's alright, Harry." Cho said, blushing. "I just wanted to say that I heard you were Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and I wanted to congratulate you." She leaned down and kissed his cheek.
Harry could feel the stares of everyone else's eyes on him.
"Look, Cho, can we finish this later? I mean, everyone's watching." he said. To his complete horror, Cho's eyes filled with tears and her face turned red.
"Oh, alright… I suppose we could talk later… I can see that you're embarrassed by me!" she shrieked dramatically.
"What-- no, Cho! I never said--"
"But you were thinking it, weren't you, Harry!" Cho said, tears now pouring down her face.
"No-- look Cho-- we can just step out in the Entrance Hall and talk--"
"No! I don't even see why I came over here!" Cho said. "Obviously, you're way too preoccupied to think about me!"
"Cho--"
"Leave me alone, Harry! Just leave me alone!" Cho said and she turned on her heel and ran out of the Great Hall. Harry could hear laughs echoing. He turned back around and stared at his plate of untouched food, horrified and angered.
"What-- what does she want from me?" Harry asked. "I never said any of those things!"
"She just thought you were embarrassed by her," Hermione said.
"Did it show that she thought that?" asked Harry sarcastically. "I don't know why I even bother to set things strait between us. I can't talk to her for five minutes without her getting all worked up about something."
"She's becoming more of a problem everyday," Ron said, eyeing Harry's untouched cornbread, "You going to eat that, mate?"
"Help yourself." Harry said, pushing his plate towards Ron. "But don't help me, Ron, because-- no offense-- you're comments aren't helping at all."
"Sorry." Ron said, starting on Harry food.
"Look, Harry, if it's bothering you that much, just go set things strait with Cho." Hermione said.
"What's the point? She'll just tell me to leave her alone, start crying and run off, then come back and ask if I want to go to Hogsmede with her, then get worked up and decide to embarrass me in public. Like I haven't got enough things to be thinking about without worrying about keeping her happy."
"Hey, Potter!" Harry heard Malfoy's voice behind him. "Your girlfriend dump you?"
"Shove off, Malfoy," Ron said.
"You're just angry that your brother got to Delacour before you had a chance!" Malfoy said.
"Shut up, Malfoy and worry about your own relationships." Harry said, standing up, grabbing his bag and stalking off without another word to Ron or Hermione except "See you later."Outside the Entrance Hall, Harry heard sobbing from behind one of the statues. He peered around them and came face-to-face with Cho.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked, offering Cho his hand and she took it and he pulled her to her feet.
"N-nothing." Cho said, wiping her face with her sleeve. "I-I'm just--"
"Trying to figure out the best ways to embarrass me?" Harry finished angrily, remembering that he was supposed to be mad at her-- but it was hard to be mad at her when she was just standing there, looking so helpless.
"Look-- about that-- I'm sorry." Cho said.
"What else is new?" Harry asked, starting to walk up the stairs with Cho.
"I'm just having a hard time getting my life back together." Cho said. "What with Cedric and all-- it's just been hard on me. I mean, my boyfriend died--"
"My parents died." Harry reminded her.
"Oh… right… but still, you can't remember them." sniffed Cho.
"That doesn't mean I don't miss them more than you miss Cedric. They were my parents, Cho."
"Let's not get into that conversation." Cho said.
"You've been trying to talk to me about it for so long." Harry said and they stopped at the top of the stairs.
"Yes… well… I thought you'd understand what I'm going through." Cho said.
"I do, I just don't understand why it's worth so many tears." Harry said.
"I'm sorry." Cho said again. "I guess I've been thinking more about myself lately. I shouldn't be so short with you." She rushed right at him and dug her face into his shoulder, hugging him and sobbing.
"Calm down," Harry said, horrified.
"I'm s-so s-sorry, Harry! I r-really like you! I'm j-just h-having a hard t-time adjusting to e-everything!"
"It's fine," Harry said, patting her back, feeling slightly awkward at the fact that he and Cho who had just been seen arguing in the Great Hall, were standing at the top of a flight of stairs, embracing, with Cho crying on his shoulder. Cho then leaned in and kissed Harry deeply."Well," Cho said after she quickly broke away from Harry, who was shocked at her sudden move. She stepped away from Harry uncomfortably and they stared at each other for a few seconds.
"Well…" repeated Harry, his eyes wide and his body numb with surprise.
"T-thanks." Cho said, wiping her eyes.
"No problem," Harry said as though they had not just shared a moment kissing, but having a nice friendly chat instead.
"I-I'll see you around, Harry." Cho said.
"Right." Harry said shortly. He remained where he was, watching Cho as she walked around the corner and out of sight.
Later that night, which was closing in on ten o'clock, Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting around the fire in the Common Room and Harry was telling Ron about what happened with him and Cho while Hermione copied down her History of Magic notes for Harry.
"And she just leaned in and-- and--" Harry stammered bashfully. Ron looked as though he were about to laugh. Harry couldn't continue with what had happened. "Then she said good-bye and walked away as if nothing had happened." he finally finished.
"Well, it's nice to know you two are making up." Hermione said, handing Harry her completed notes, "There you are, Harry."
"Thanks a ton, Hermione," Harry said, his stomach growing heavy as he took the nine-and-a-half pages of History of Magic notes from her.
Wednesday went rather well, compared to other days Harry had experienced, but Thursday was when he taught Slytherin and it was only twenty points later that he was able to get them to be quiet so he could teach them. After the class was over, he stepped out of the room and breathed a sigh of relief; he didn't have to teach anyone on Fridays and he could just live the life of a normal teenager on Fridays.
That morning, a ruffled looking owl landed in front of him, knocking over his Pumpkin Juice. He took the letter from its leg and it flew away. The letter read;
Harry,
Come by my place tomorrow, if you have the time.
Hagrid
Harry folded up the letter. Time? What time did he have? As long as Hagrid didn't want him to baby-sit some strange animal that had no shyness in the skill of maiming or injuring, he supposed he could go.
That night, after a normal, almost-carefree day (except being assigned a huge essay by McGonagall) Harry received another owl. It flew through the open window of the Common Room (which was opened in order to air out the stench of the stinkbug in which a First-year had attempted to make disappear, but enlarged it, causing it to become scared and give off an odor ten times the stench it would have been had it been normal-sized) and dropped a heavy parcel on the table in front of him.
"What's this?" Harry said, mostly to himself. He read the card that was attached to it.
To: Harry
From: Ron and Hermione
Happy Birthday!
"Oh, that must be your birthday present, Harry." Hermione said, setting down her quill.
"Wow," Harry breathed, "it's massive!"
"Well, are you going to stare at it, or open it?" Ron asked. Harry reached for it. Several others that were nearby all turned their heads to watch as Harry opened what must have been the largest birthday present he'd ever received.
When all the wrappings were off, Harry gazed at what sat before him, his jaw dropped in awe.
It was a miniature Quidditch Stadium, probably a foot and a half in length. Three miniature goalposts sat at either end of the Stadium and tiny stands were placed all around, as though waiting for a crowd to arrive soon. Real, miniature grass was growing, trimmed almost down to the ground and there were blank flags attached to the middle goal post on either side of the small set.
All those who had been watching Harry open the present looked as stunned as he felt. This present was amazing! And under the stand, therewas a small box that read 'Equipment."
"It's a miniature set of a Quidditch Stadium," Hermione said unnecessarily. "Here's how it works." She pulled out her wand. "You just tap the little box and say 'Lascivio.'" She did so and fifteen tiny figures on broomsticks sailed out, all in white robes except one, who was in a referee outfit, carrying a tiny box of what Harry assumed were the Quidditch balls. "Then, what you do is you tap one of the flags and give the name of the team you want playing. Right now, I'll say 'Gryffindor!'" she tapped the flag on the right and it immediately bore the colors red and gold and seven of the figures on broomsticks' robes turned the pattern of the Gryffindor teams' robes and half of the stadium filled with mini people, all waving Gryffindor flags. She tapped the other flag and said, "Slytherin!" and the flag turned green and silver as did the remainder of the Quidditch players.
"If you want them to be your team from when you were in Third year, just tap the Gryffindor side and say 'Team Three Years Previous!'" All of a sudden, three of the players had the faces of Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet, the two players with the clubs turned into the faces of the Weasley twins, the one nearest the goalpost grew the face of the old crazed team captain, Oliver Wood and Harry recognized himself flying higher than the other players.
"The beauty of this thing is," Ron said, "Is that you can also replay games that have already happened. Watch," he pulled out his own wand and tapped the box, "Quidditch World Cup, Two Years Previous!" and all the players' colors and faces changed names and a tiny, hamster-sounding voice of Bagman shouted, "And now, please greet-- the Irish National Quidditch Team! Presenting-- Connolly! Ryan! Troy! Mullet! Moran! Quigley! Aaaaaand-- Lynch!" The Bulgarian and Irish teams began a play-by-play of every move that had happened at the Quidditch World Cup. When the Bulgarians made their first goal, miniscule Veela marched out onto the field and began a dance, though it didn't affect anyone, due to the fact that the Veela weren't real.
"Amazing!" Harry said as Krum and Lynch both went into a dive and Lynch crashed. Tiny, flea-like Leprechauns formed a giant hand, giving off a rude sign in the direction of the Veela.
"If you want to replay a game, just say what game it was and how many years previous it happened," Ron said.
"You can also create your own game," Hermione said. "Just tell the players what you want them to do."
"I'm going to have to borrow this in order to try out Quidditch moves." Ron said.
"And when you're done, tap the box and say, 'Finite Quidditch!'" All the diminutive players zoomed back into the tiny box under the stadium and all the balls flew back into the crate that the now-faceless referee was holding before he too soared into the box and it snapped shut on its own accord. Harry looked at Ron and Hermione, speechless, his mouth still open.
"It's the newest model--" Ron said.
"Very expensive, but we knew you'd put it to good use--" continued Hermione.
"Just came out two months ago--"
"It was out of stock when we went to the Quality Quidditch Store to buy it, so we ordered it--"
"Don't expect anything for Christmas--"
"Do you like it?"
Harry didn't say anything. Instead, he just sat, gawking at his birthday present; the best one he'd ever received. But his phase of silence told Ron and Hermione all they needed to know.
"We're glad you like it!" Hermione said, running to Harry and giving him a small hug, "Happy Birthday, Harry!"
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That was so much fun to write! I loved the idea of Harry's b-day present from Ron and Hermione and I can't wait to get feedback from you guys about it! Sorry about the delay. My e-mail and internet hasn't been working for three days and I've also been so busy, that I've been writing in the dead of the night in order to write at all. What did you guys think of the chappie? Not as long as I would have hoped and it showed another side of Harry (during his D.A.D.A. lesson with Malfoy) but overall, I think it was a complete success! PLEASE REVIEW! Review time!
Huggiebear- Draco was rather nasty, but I thought, the way that J.K. Rowling writes him, he was quite nice to Harry in the DADA class! Thanks a bunch!
Facil Glow- I can't wait for the future reviews of yours and thanks for liking my story!
Vicster- EVIL DRACO! He can be so nasty sometimes!
The evil witch queen- As you could see by the 35 points that the Slytherins lost due to Harry, he can take points from Malfoy. About the Fire Crab thing, I wanted someone to go and pet it, but I wanted to be someone that wasn't Harry, that was not predictable in any way and I chose Neville for the obvious reason that he is (though he gets better in the most recent book) a klutz. But that's why I thought he'd be perfect! Alright, let me know when you update!
Lady Aioria- I'm a'postin' in order keep your personalities from reviewing! AHHHH! Runs far, far away to avoid personalities! LOL!
Black Sentinel- Haven't heard from you in a while! Welcome back! I'm glad that your 'problems' are all taken care of… I've had a hard time with life too, juggling everything that I have to do… it's pretty hard, but being a Capricorn, I like to make people think that noting is wrong with me when a lot is troubling me. Yup, Uric and the Fire Crabs were from the game, but they added a nice touch, don't you think? I've never read comic books, but the most interesting comic books that I wouldn't mind taking a gander at would have to be the Spider-man comic books. I LOVE the movies! They are AWESOME! Do you like Spider-man? My friends all think Tobey Maguire is cute, but I kinda like James Franco (Harry Osborne). Actually, they both have their ups, but Orlando Bloom takes the cake! Sorry… I'm converting to my girly self! AHHHHH!
JeanieBeanie33- Updated from the first day of what? Oh, from when you reviewed? Well, you're welcome! I hate it when someone is writing a story, but then they don't update for, like, SIX MONTHS! So I try to avoid that and I attempt not to take longer than 2 weeks to post unless I'm on vacation.
Starsmiles- I'm glad that Neville volunteering surprised you, 'cause that's what I was aiming for! YAY! Yup, Ron said 'Voldemort' but the thing I like about Ron is that he changes a lot and I supposed that he only said 'Voldemort' 'cause everyone else did, but he wouldn't say it by himself. Was it really a cliffie? Well… a mild cliffie, nonetheless! YAY! Thanks again!
Fuji the Hobbit- I didn't know you were Canadian! Cool! I have cousins that live in Canada. Everyone's proud of their heritage. I always suppose that Canada is just as good as America, because we share a whole Island (North America. Even though South America is attached to North America, it doesn't count, because they are only attached by a bit of land). Just because I'm curious, how did the events of 9-11 affect you? I don't want to be out-of-style or anything, but what does F.R.E.D. stand for? But, yup, I'm American and I'm muy proud-o of it! I love America! But I also love Canada! But I love England too! And all the other places that have good sight-seeing things and everything!
Charmed-103- Harry would be too much of a Moody if he always shouted 'Constant Vigilance' at everyone, but I can see in my mind, Harry walking in with a wooden leg and a crazy eyeball, so that made me laugh! But how did you like how Harry handled class?
Phoenix Friend- Thanks!
Spicy-Mango 713- Thanks a lot!
Ellen- Even though it doesn't seem like it's loading, it really is. That's how works, I suppose, but no harm done! You got me 7 extra reviews! Trin called me a few nights ago and we talked for, like 2 hours, so I must apologize for the low minutes she will have on her calling card when she returns into the safe hands of Oregon! It was fun, though!
Leggylover03- Thanks!
Well, that's about it! Thanks for all the reviews, guys and I'm really happy that I actually finally updated! PLEASE, in your e-mail, give me feedback on Harry's present… also, before I leave, I'm sorry that Cho kissed Harry (for those who were dissing her in past chapters! LOL!) but I just like the relationship Harry and Cho have, because it's similar to Harry's dad's relationship with Lily when they were Harry's age. Well, I'll talk to you later! Luv y'all!
May broomsticks be in your dreams!
Luv,
Legolas-gurl88
L