Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
Author's Note: Well what can I say. It's been a while. I'm not going to make any excuses. But I'm back and I hope you like the new chapter. Thanks
Chapter 11
Unlikely Help
"Malfoy." Harry replied as he starred intensely into the Slytherin boy's eyes. Malfoy had a smirk on his face that made Harry very uncomfortable. All three Slytherins had their wands drawn and pointed at Harry. Harry could feel his wand in his pocket, and thought about drawing it out, however he knew that if he made any sudden moves, he would be on the receiving end of a curse.
"You know Potter," Malfoy said as he began to slowly approach Harry, "it's not safe for anyone to be walking around the castle alone. Especially now that Dumbledore is incapacitated." The temperature in the owlery seemed to have dropped about twenty degrees as Harry starred into Malfoy's foul eyes and contemplated his next move.
"Thanks for the advice." Harry said in a tone that tried to portray that he was not at all worried about his current situation. Crabbe and Goyle where still standing at the door with their wands fixed on Harry while Malfoy had lowered his as he approached Harry. "So what are you doing here Malfoy? Sending an owl to your Deatheater father to celebrate Dumbledore's illness?"
"I resent the implication." Malfoy said as he began to circle around Harry. Harry never took his eyes off him as he made his away around him. "Actually I must admit that we saw you come down here and wanted a word with you."
"Do they even know how to talk?" Harry said sarcastically as he flashed a smile over at Crabbe and Goyle. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the smartest comment for Harry to make but he could never resist taking a shot at a Slytherin. The large Slytherins abandoned their post at the door and were walking at Harry angrily until Malfoy put up his hand and stopped them when they were about 10 feet away.
"Well, I'll grant you they're no gentleman." Malfoy said with a snicker. "But they are good for some things." The next moment happened so fast that Harry didn't even have time to react. He saw Malfoy nod his head out of the corner of his eye and the next moment heard two shouts of Expelliarmus. Harry was sent flying into the wall and crashed face first against the hard concrete, which startled quite a few of the owls that were now hooting harshly. As he lay on the ground, he realized that he was bleeding from the nose and thought to himself that it was definitely broken. He opened his eyes and got to his feet with the help of the wall as he noticed Malfoy bend down and pick up his wand, which had apparently flown from his pocket.
"I think I can handle things from here boys." Malfoy said as he examined Harry's wand. With that Crabbe and Goyle left the owlery closing the door behind them. "It never had to be like this you know. If you had just shook my hand and embraced me as a friend, then none of this would have happened. My father is on the run because of you. My family is a laughing stock because of you." Malfoy was starting to get angry Harry could see but at this point without a wand there was nothing he could do except try and calm him down.
"Voldemort used your father just like he's used the rest of his Deatheaters." Harry replied trying to appeal to Malfoy's sense of logic. "All he cares about is his own power." Malfoy seemed to consider Harry's thoughts for a second and the anger on his face turned into a wicked smile.
"You may be right." He said. "But when it's all over, one way or another he will have the power and when that day comes, those who were loyal to him will reap the benefits. I for one intend to be there."
"What makes you think that Voldemort would even need you." Harry replied. He figured that his best bet was to keep Malfoy talking long enough and hope that someone that could help him would stumble into the owlery. "Your father failed him last year."
"True, but the dark lord realizes that my father has and always will be valuable to him, and I intend to be as well." His expression was almost vacant as he starred at Harry's wand. "I know that the dark lord can't use his wand against you because this wand is its brother. What do you think he would say if I told him that I disposed of your old wand. I think that would earn me a lot of praise." Harry was speechless. He knew that if Voldemort found out that he could use his wand against Harry, then that would make him a lot more vulnerable.
"This is a nice wand Potter. What's it made of?" Harry was still using the wall to keep himself up as he starred Malfoy down. "Well no matter." Malfoy said, conceding the fact that Harry wasn't going to answer. He looked it over a few more times and then snapped it in half and flung the pieces at Harry.
At that moment, the pain that had been going through Harry's body had disappeared. He cried out at the sight of his wand breaking and sprang to his feet to try and grab ahold of Malfoy. A surge of energy ran through Harry's body and came crashing out of him in a jet of light that sent Malfoy flying clear across the room. Harry looked at his hands in astonishment and began walking towards Malfoy who appeared to be unconscious. Somehow, he had sent a very powerful spell at Malfoy without the use of his wand. But now, he had problems. Malfoy would know that his wand was obsolete and Crabbe and Goyle were no doubt still standing outside the door waiting. Somehow, he would have to find someone who could do a proper memory charm on Malfoy so that he could not tell Voldemort what he knew. So, Harry picked up Malfoy's wand and knowing that he had to act quickly, did the first thing that came to his mind.
"Crabbe, Goyle, get in here." Harry shouted doing his best imitation of Malfoy's voice. The two boy's opened the door and came through quickly.
"Petrificus Totalus." Harry stated with a flick of his wrist at the first boy who had come through which happened to be Crabbe. Goyle was in too much shock to even offer any defense and so Harry was able to hit him with a similar spell easily. Harry approached the boys who were lying there like two big rocks and it took all his effort to drag them one at a time and drop them next to Malfoy. Knowing that he had to act as quickly as possible, Harry realized that he had to find a professor that was friendly to the Order. Unfortunately, the professor whose office was closest to the owlery was Professor Snape. Harry ran through the dungeon and approached Snape's door and for the first time in his life, was hoping that Snape was there.
"Professor." Harry shouted as he knocked repeatedly at the door.
"What is it?" The Potions Master retorted sternly as the door flung open quickly.
"I have a problem." Harry replied quickly. "I need you to come with me to the owlery now." Normally, Snape probably would have questioned Harry's motives but the look in his eyes caused him to get up and follow right away. As they made their way through the corridor, Harry began explaining his story to Snape. He conveniently left out the part about knocking out Malfoy with some sort of wandless magic and instead told him that he was able to overpower him physically and take his wand away. When they made it to the owlery and opened the door, Snape saw the three bodies laying in a row in the corner of the room.
"Can you ever get through a day without running into some kind of trouble Potter?" Snape said smugly as he peered at Harry out of the corner of his eye.
"Sorry." Harry retorted. "I really do love when I get surrounded by three Slytherins and my wand gets snapped." The sarcasm was not lost on Snape and he gave Harry a nasty look as he continued to assess the situation.
"Do you still have Malfoy's wand?" Snape said as he was looking around on the ground around Malfoy.
"Yes, here." Harry said as he handed Snape the wand.
"Alright, go pick up your snapped wand and make sure no one finds out about it being broken." Snape demanded. Harry went over and picked it up the two pieces and felt his heart sink a little. That was his first wand ever and he knew that it was very special. "Now get out of here, I will take care of the rest."
"Alright then." Harry replied as he began to exit the room. He was suspicious about leaving Snape to make sure that Malfoy was taken care of, but right now he really didn't have any other option but to trust him.
"And remember Potter." Snape yelled as Harry was almost out the door, "you will report to me on Monday night for Occlumency lessons." Harry nodded and began to make his way back to Gryffindor Tower. On the way, he remembered that he had wanted to meet with Professor Altesterio to discuss revamping the DA group but he reasoned that that could wait until later. Right now, he needed to talk with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
Upon reentering the common room, Harry found that his friends were in the corner talking and the rest of the common room was seemingly empty. Harry hadn't realized it but it was already past midnight. It had been a long day and exhaustion was starting to catch up to him, but Harry knew that he must first consult his friends about his recent encounter.
"What took you so long?" Ron exclaimed as Harry approached. "We were just about to set out after you."
"I had a little run in at the owlery." Harry stated not realizing that has face must look horrible after his run in with the wall of the owlery. "Malfoy and his two baboons cornered me."
"Oh Harry!" Ginny cried as she put her hand over her mouth and came to his side. Hermione followed suite and conjured a wet towel to wipe away the blood that had now dried up around his face. Before he could even open his mouth to tell them that he was alright, Ginny had muttered some sort of incantation that hit him square in the face. He felt his nose begin to burn and tighten as he heard the bones snapping back into place.
"Thanks." Harry said as he put his hand to his nose to examine it. "When did you learn to do that?"
"I've just been brushing up on some healing charms, but that doesn't matter right now." Ginny proclaimed passionately. "How did this happen?"
"Well as I said, they surrounded me in the owlery." Harry began to explain. He decided that despite Snape's direction to not tell anyone about his broken wand, he would tell his friends because if he couldn't trust them then he couldn't trust anyone. So he told them the complete story, (except the part about the wandless magic) and they all sat there listening intently until he was finished. When he was done, Hermione was the first to speak.
"This is an odd move for Malfoy." Hermione started. "Especially with his family under so much scrutiny, I wouldn't think that he would come out so blatantly in favor of Voldemort. Did he think that you wouldn't tell anyone?"
"I don't think he cares Hermione." Harry answered. "He could always deny that he said any such thing and besides without Dumbledore, who is going to reprimand him?" They all understood his point. Without Dumbledore, Hogwarts would not run under the same type of order.
"I'd say the first thing you have to do is get a new wand." Ron said. Harry nodded in agreement but very quickly realized that it might not be as easy as it sounds. It would be a difficult task to walk into Ollivander's and get a new wand without anyone finding out about it.
"We'll take care of that in the morning." Harry stated. "Right now I think we all need to get some sleep." They all agreed and they made their way up to their respective common rooms bidding each other good night on the way. Harry drifted off to sleep hoping that tomorrow would bring better times.
"Wake up Harry Potter. Wake up." A familiar voice said as Harry was trying to shake the sleep out of his eyes and reach for his glasses. When he fixed them to his face, he saw the familiar big round eyes of Dobby at the foot of his bed.
"Hi Dobby." Harry said with a very scratchy voice. "What is all the fuss about?"
"Dobby is delivering you a note and wanting to tell Harry Potter that his owl is waiting for him at the window in the common room."
"Thanks Dobby." Harry replied as he took the note. Dobby must have been busy because without another word he snapped his fingers and was gone. The note was from Professor Altesterio and he wanted him to meet him in his office as soon as he could. Harry reached over and threw a robe on and continued down to the common room, which appeared to be deserted which made sense considering it was very early on Saturday morning. He headed towards the window and saw Hedwig scratching softly against the window.
"Thank you Hedwig." He said as he detached the letter that was tied to her leg. "I don't have any treats but I'll come visit you later with one." Hedwig gave him a mildly angry hoot and flew out the window in a flash. Harry tore open the letter quickly and his eyes flew directly to the bottom to confirm that it was from Fred and George.
Harry,
Of course you can count on us mate. We've been trying to join the Order ourselves but Mum keeps on insisting that we don't. But we have ways of making her listen to reason. We'll report back when we know anything.
Regards,
Fred and George
This was a big relief to Harry. Fred and George always seem to know more than they should and this was an opportunity for them to use that to their advantage. Harry knew that if anyone could help him spy on the Order, it was them.
With that out of the way, Harry fixed his attention on the note from Professor Altesterio. He had a lot to talk to him about. For some reason, Harry felt that he could trust Altesterio. He even thought that he would ask him what to do about his wand situation and they would definitely have to discuss the DA group. So Harry went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and made his to the back of the room towards the office door.
"Professor." Harry said as he gave the door a few taps. "It's Harry."
"Come in." A voice responded.
Harry opened the door and saw a man sitting behind the desk that he wouldn't have expected to see in a million years.
"Dumbledore?" Harry shouted.
Author's Note: Well what can I say. It's been a while. I'm not going to make any excuses. But I'm back and I hope you like the new chapter. Thanks
Chapter 11
Unlikely Help
"Malfoy." Harry replied as he starred intensely into the Slytherin boy's eyes. Malfoy had a smirk on his face that made Harry very uncomfortable. All three Slytherins had their wands drawn and pointed at Harry. Harry could feel his wand in his pocket, and thought about drawing it out, however he knew that if he made any sudden moves, he would be on the receiving end of a curse.
"You know Potter," Malfoy said as he began to slowly approach Harry, "it's not safe for anyone to be walking around the castle alone. Especially now that Dumbledore is incapacitated." The temperature in the owlery seemed to have dropped about twenty degrees as Harry starred into Malfoy's foul eyes and contemplated his next move.
"Thanks for the advice." Harry said in a tone that tried to portray that he was not at all worried about his current situation. Crabbe and Goyle where still standing at the door with their wands fixed on Harry while Malfoy had lowered his as he approached Harry. "So what are you doing here Malfoy? Sending an owl to your Deatheater father to celebrate Dumbledore's illness?"
"I resent the implication." Malfoy said as he began to circle around Harry. Harry never took his eyes off him as he made his away around him. "Actually I must admit that we saw you come down here and wanted a word with you."
"Do they even know how to talk?" Harry said sarcastically as he flashed a smile over at Crabbe and Goyle. In hindsight, it probably wasn't the smartest comment for Harry to make but he could never resist taking a shot at a Slytherin. The large Slytherins abandoned their post at the door and were walking at Harry angrily until Malfoy put up his hand and stopped them when they were about 10 feet away.
"Well, I'll grant you they're no gentleman." Malfoy said with a snicker. "But they are good for some things." The next moment happened so fast that Harry didn't even have time to react. He saw Malfoy nod his head out of the corner of his eye and the next moment heard two shouts of Expelliarmus. Harry was sent flying into the wall and crashed face first against the hard concrete, which startled quite a few of the owls that were now hooting harshly. As he lay on the ground, he realized that he was bleeding from the nose and thought to himself that it was definitely broken. He opened his eyes and got to his feet with the help of the wall as he noticed Malfoy bend down and pick up his wand, which had apparently flown from his pocket.
"I think I can handle things from here boys." Malfoy said as he examined Harry's wand. With that Crabbe and Goyle left the owlery closing the door behind them. "It never had to be like this you know. If you had just shook my hand and embraced me as a friend, then none of this would have happened. My father is on the run because of you. My family is a laughing stock because of you." Malfoy was starting to get angry Harry could see but at this point without a wand there was nothing he could do except try and calm him down.
"Voldemort used your father just like he's used the rest of his Deatheaters." Harry replied trying to appeal to Malfoy's sense of logic. "All he cares about is his own power." Malfoy seemed to consider Harry's thoughts for a second and the anger on his face turned into a wicked smile.
"You may be right." He said. "But when it's all over, one way or another he will have the power and when that day comes, those who were loyal to him will reap the benefits. I for one intend to be there."
"What makes you think that Voldemort would even need you." Harry replied. He figured that his best bet was to keep Malfoy talking long enough and hope that someone that could help him would stumble into the owlery. "Your father failed him last year."
"True, but the dark lord realizes that my father has and always will be valuable to him, and I intend to be as well." His expression was almost vacant as he starred at Harry's wand. "I know that the dark lord can't use his wand against you because this wand is its brother. What do you think he would say if I told him that I disposed of your old wand. I think that would earn me a lot of praise." Harry was speechless. He knew that if Voldemort found out that he could use his wand against Harry, then that would make him a lot more vulnerable.
"This is a nice wand Potter. What's it made of?" Harry was still using the wall to keep himself up as he starred Malfoy down. "Well no matter." Malfoy said, conceding the fact that Harry wasn't going to answer. He looked it over a few more times and then snapped it in half and flung the pieces at Harry.
At that moment, the pain that had been going through Harry's body had disappeared. He cried out at the sight of his wand breaking and sprang to his feet to try and grab ahold of Malfoy. A surge of energy ran through Harry's body and came crashing out of him in a jet of light that sent Malfoy flying clear across the room. Harry looked at his hands in astonishment and began walking towards Malfoy who appeared to be unconscious. Somehow, he had sent a very powerful spell at Malfoy without the use of his wand. But now, he had problems. Malfoy would know that his wand was obsolete and Crabbe and Goyle were no doubt still standing outside the door waiting. Somehow, he would have to find someone who could do a proper memory charm on Malfoy so that he could not tell Voldemort what he knew. So, Harry picked up Malfoy's wand and knowing that he had to act quickly, did the first thing that came to his mind.
"Crabbe, Goyle, get in here." Harry shouted doing his best imitation of Malfoy's voice. The two boy's opened the door and came through quickly.
"Petrificus Totalus." Harry stated with a flick of his wrist at the first boy who had come through which happened to be Crabbe. Goyle was in too much shock to even offer any defense and so Harry was able to hit him with a similar spell easily. Harry approached the boys who were lying there like two big rocks and it took all his effort to drag them one at a time and drop them next to Malfoy. Knowing that he had to act as quickly as possible, Harry realized that he had to find a professor that was friendly to the Order. Unfortunately, the professor whose office was closest to the owlery was Professor Snape. Harry ran through the dungeon and approached Snape's door and for the first time in his life, was hoping that Snape was there.
"Professor." Harry shouted as he knocked repeatedly at the door.
"What is it?" The Potions Master retorted sternly as the door flung open quickly.
"I have a problem." Harry replied quickly. "I need you to come with me to the owlery now." Normally, Snape probably would have questioned Harry's motives but the look in his eyes caused him to get up and follow right away. As they made their way through the corridor, Harry began explaining his story to Snape. He conveniently left out the part about knocking out Malfoy with some sort of wandless magic and instead told him that he was able to overpower him physically and take his wand away. When they made it to the owlery and opened the door, Snape saw the three bodies laying in a row in the corner of the room.
"Can you ever get through a day without running into some kind of trouble Potter?" Snape said smugly as he peered at Harry out of the corner of his eye.
"Sorry." Harry retorted. "I really do love when I get surrounded by three Slytherins and my wand gets snapped." The sarcasm was not lost on Snape and he gave Harry a nasty look as he continued to assess the situation.
"Do you still have Malfoy's wand?" Snape said as he was looking around on the ground around Malfoy.
"Yes, here." Harry said as he handed Snape the wand.
"Alright, go pick up your snapped wand and make sure no one finds out about it being broken." Snape demanded. Harry went over and picked it up the two pieces and felt his heart sink a little. That was his first wand ever and he knew that it was very special. "Now get out of here, I will take care of the rest."
"Alright then." Harry replied as he began to exit the room. He was suspicious about leaving Snape to make sure that Malfoy was taken care of, but right now he really didn't have any other option but to trust him.
"And remember Potter." Snape yelled as Harry was almost out the door, "you will report to me on Monday night for Occlumency lessons." Harry nodded and began to make his way back to Gryffindor Tower. On the way, he remembered that he had wanted to meet with Professor Altesterio to discuss revamping the DA group but he reasoned that that could wait until later. Right now, he needed to talk with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
Upon reentering the common room, Harry found that his friends were in the corner talking and the rest of the common room was seemingly empty. Harry hadn't realized it but it was already past midnight. It had been a long day and exhaustion was starting to catch up to him, but Harry knew that he must first consult his friends about his recent encounter.
"What took you so long?" Ron exclaimed as Harry approached. "We were just about to set out after you."
"I had a little run in at the owlery." Harry stated not realizing that has face must look horrible after his run in with the wall of the owlery. "Malfoy and his two baboons cornered me."
"Oh Harry!" Ginny cried as she put her hand over her mouth and came to his side. Hermione followed suite and conjured a wet towel to wipe away the blood that had now dried up around his face. Before he could even open his mouth to tell them that he was alright, Ginny had muttered some sort of incantation that hit him square in the face. He felt his nose begin to burn and tighten as he heard the bones snapping back into place.
"Thanks." Harry said as he put his hand to his nose to examine it. "When did you learn to do that?"
"I've just been brushing up on some healing charms, but that doesn't matter right now." Ginny proclaimed passionately. "How did this happen?"
"Well as I said, they surrounded me in the owlery." Harry began to explain. He decided that despite Snape's direction to not tell anyone about his broken wand, he would tell his friends because if he couldn't trust them then he couldn't trust anyone. So he told them the complete story, (except the part about the wandless magic) and they all sat there listening intently until he was finished. When he was done, Hermione was the first to speak.
"This is an odd move for Malfoy." Hermione started. "Especially with his family under so much scrutiny, I wouldn't think that he would come out so blatantly in favor of Voldemort. Did he think that you wouldn't tell anyone?"
"I don't think he cares Hermione." Harry answered. "He could always deny that he said any such thing and besides without Dumbledore, who is going to reprimand him?" They all understood his point. Without Dumbledore, Hogwarts would not run under the same type of order.
"I'd say the first thing you have to do is get a new wand." Ron said. Harry nodded in agreement but very quickly realized that it might not be as easy as it sounds. It would be a difficult task to walk into Ollivander's and get a new wand without anyone finding out about it.
"We'll take care of that in the morning." Harry stated. "Right now I think we all need to get some sleep." They all agreed and they made their way up to their respective common rooms bidding each other good night on the way. Harry drifted off to sleep hoping that tomorrow would bring better times.
"Wake up Harry Potter. Wake up." A familiar voice said as Harry was trying to shake the sleep out of his eyes and reach for his glasses. When he fixed them to his face, he saw the familiar big round eyes of Dobby at the foot of his bed.
"Hi Dobby." Harry said with a very scratchy voice. "What is all the fuss about?"
"Dobby is delivering you a note and wanting to tell Harry Potter that his owl is waiting for him at the window in the common room."
"Thanks Dobby." Harry replied as he took the note. Dobby must have been busy because without another word he snapped his fingers and was gone. The note was from Professor Altesterio and he wanted him to meet him in his office as soon as he could. Harry reached over and threw a robe on and continued down to the common room, which appeared to be deserted which made sense considering it was very early on Saturday morning. He headed towards the window and saw Hedwig scratching softly against the window.
"Thank you Hedwig." He said as he detached the letter that was tied to her leg. "I don't have any treats but I'll come visit you later with one." Hedwig gave him a mildly angry hoot and flew out the window in a flash. Harry tore open the letter quickly and his eyes flew directly to the bottom to confirm that it was from Fred and George.
Harry,
Of course you can count on us mate. We've been trying to join the Order ourselves but Mum keeps on insisting that we don't. But we have ways of making her listen to reason. We'll report back when we know anything.
Regards,
Fred and George
This was a big relief to Harry. Fred and George always seem to know more than they should and this was an opportunity for them to use that to their advantage. Harry knew that if anyone could help him spy on the Order, it was them.
With that out of the way, Harry fixed his attention on the note from Professor Altesterio. He had a lot to talk to him about. For some reason, Harry felt that he could trust Altesterio. He even thought that he would ask him what to do about his wand situation and they would definitely have to discuss the DA group. So Harry went to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and made his to the back of the room towards the office door.
"Professor." Harry said as he gave the door a few taps. "It's Harry."
"Come in." A voice responded.
Harry opened the door and saw a man sitting behind the desk that he wouldn't have expected to see in a million years.
"Dumbledore?" Harry shouted.