CHAPTER 4: On A Scale From Lupin To Lockhart

Harry moaned as he sat on the comfortable cushions of the Hogwarts express. It had already been an exhausting day. The moment he'd arrived on the platform whispers had followed him like dark clouds. Everyone was talking about the article his aunt had done over the summer. He'd really thought it would be old news by now, hence why he's agreed to it in the first place. He probably should have known better. The compartment door opened. Harry looked up and groaned near silently. Seamus, Dean, and Neville were standing in the doorway, shifting their feet as if standing on eggshells. Even Snuffles huffed before he let out a booming bark. The three boys jumped.

"Hiya Harry…" Dean finally said "nice summer?"

"...No," Harry said honestly. Dr. Emmeline said that was a struggling point of his and he needed to start being honest about his feelings. "It was pretty lousy."

"I'll bet." Neville said before he broke out into a smile "what with how last year ended."

"People are still talking about the seizure you had in the history exam." Seamus admitted as he took the first step of normalcy and flopped into his seat "the Slytherins have been calling you a spaz."

"Fuck them," Harry grumbled angrily.

"Damn right about that." Dean agreed with a laugh. Then he made a pointed look at Snuffles.

"Oh right," Harry said with a wince before he removed the large dog's vest. Instantly Dean was rubbing the dog's head.

"Hey, old boy! Keeping Harry safe this summer, yeah?" The dog barked loudly with a rhythmic thumping of his tail. The door opened again. Harry looked up and his heart jumped into his throat. Cho was standing in the doorway. She had one of her sweet smiles on. The kind he'd first fallen for. Suddenly Snuffles stood, hackles raised and growled low in his throat. The Asian girl blinked in horror.

"Snuffles…" Harry said worriedly. But the dog shook his hand off. Then someone tapped Cho on the shoulder.

"Excuse us," Hermione said flippantly before she and Ron pushed past the girl. Ron smiled at her before closing the door in her face and closing the blinds.

"Guys…" Harry said in shock "what was that about?!"

"Don't tell me you've forgotten how she treated you last year mate!" Seamus argued in his own horror. "She's bad news."

"That's no reason to be rude!" Harry argued.

"She's obviously just trying to save her own skin, Harry," Hermione argued. "She was practically a social pariah last year. It's not likely that anything has changed."

"But-" Harry began to argue when suddenly there was yet another knock on the door. The Ravenclaw prefect, who Harry thought looked a little familiar, poked his head into the compartment, looked around, and sighed in relief.

"Oh good, you're all together." Then he straightened up, looking rather official. "Professor Slughorn has requested you to join him in the dining car."

"Dining car?" Harry asked in confusion.

"Since when has the express had a dining car?" Ron said, sounding hurt.

"I'll go meet him." Harry griped tiredly. "Stay here, Snuffles." The dog yelped and cocked his head at Harry in a panic. "Trust me."

"Hang on, who is this Slughorn bloke anyway?" Seamus demanded with a frown.

"Professor Slughorn? Obviously, he's the new addition to the staff to replace Umbridge." Hermione said with a roll of her eyes.

"Oh right," Seamus said with a blush. Then he frowned "alright but what does he want with Harry anyway?"

"Actually." the boy said with a grin. "He's asking for Harry, Neville and Hermione."

"What?" Neville said in confusion as he gave Harry and Hermione a look. "Why us too?" Harry felt his stomach twist.

"Er… well I sort of mentioned that Hermione was the top of our class," Harry admitted. "I met him over the summer." he frowned then shrugged "probably just wants to meet you face to face."

"Still doesn't explain why he wants me as well,'' Neville complained even as he stumbled over Ron's gangly limbs.

"I have no idea," Harry said truthfully.

"But The trolley 's coming by soon!" Ron whined, "we always get loads!" Harry rolled his eyes

"Here." he said before he dug into his pockets and handed Ron a few galleons "pig out on me. Don't let Snuffles eat any chocolate."

"Sure thing mate!'' Ron said looking a little happier. The prefect cleared his throat impatiently.

"Right, sorry," Hermione said with a wince.

"Okay but wait! Before you go I gotta know: on a scale of Lupin to Lockhart where does this slug whatever fit on the competence scale?" Dean asked

"Where does Umbridge fit on that one?" Seamus asked with a few confused blinks.

"Oh that bitch is on a whole other separate scale," Dean said matter of factly.

"Let me put it this way," Harry said as he stood up, tossing Snuffles' vest and leash on his seat. "You'll know when you meet him."

"Fuuuuhhhh-" Dean said with a groan before it was cut off by the four of them leaving the room.

"Nice to see you again Anthony," Hermione said cordially.

"Oh!'' Harry cried "Anthony Goldstein! I knew you were familiar! Wait… you weren't prefect last year were you?"

"Actually I was.'' Anthony admitted with a wince "I ditched the badge during D.A. . Didn't want to infringe on your authority."

"Oh… thanks," Harry said with a blank look.

"How's your sister?" Hermione asked cordially.

"She's good, thanks. She got accepted into the French Academy of Charms."

"Oh, that's excellent!" Hermione said with a grin.

"Speaking of…" Anthony said before he trailed off and gave Harry a glance "I'm glad to see you in better spirits." Harry's mood instantly soured.

"I'm fine alright!" Harry snapped "I'm tired of people thinking I'm made of glass!" the boy flinched back with a blink.

"What?" he asked in confusion, then his eyes lit up "oh! I'm not talking about the article. I saw you at the twins' joke shop. You were having a panic attack.'' Harry blinked then paled in horror.

"Oh god, that was you?! I'm so sorry I drew my wand on you, Anthony." the blond shook his head.

"It's fine. I could tell you were spiralling, I was well aware of the risks." Anthony assured him. "You see, my sister suffers from anxiety, and she can have some pretty destructive panic attacks. She's gotten a lot better now but it does tend to flare up a bit when she's under a lot of stress."

"Anthony and I ran a study group alongside D.A. for a while." Hermione admitted with a smile at the blond teen "he was really helpful. He taught me how to redirect my exam jitters in a more effective way."

"Oh hey Harry, are you still doing D.A. this year?" Neville asked with a grin "I did way better on my OWLS than I ever expected. Gran was so impressed she actually took me to get a brand new wand."

"Really?! Oh, Neville, that's great!" Hermione said with a grin.

"I don't know." Harry admitted with a shrug "It depends on Slughorn I guess."

"Speaking of," Anthony remarked as the four of them came to an unfamiliar car door. As it opened Harry barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes. The car was decked out like a bloody palace. There were green velvet seat cushions around a dazzling mahogany table inlaid with silver. On the table was a series of silver platters laden with fruits and delicate cucumber sandwiches. A gilded tea set floated around occasionally refilling matching teacups. The entire car was in Slytherin colours, but the bright sunlight made it much more inviting than grim as Harry remembered the Slytherin common room. The car was already home to several other people. Blaise Zabini was glowering in the corner beside a pair of twins Harry had never noticed before. There was another Ravenclaw looking around with a nervous air about him. In addition, there was a tall athletic Gryffindor draped effortlessly on one of the fancy chairs. Next to him, looking much less relaxed was a very stiff and uncomfortable-looking Ginny Weasley. Finally was a Hufflepuff who was biting her lip in worry.

"Ah!'' Slughorn cried, seated in a throne-like chair at the head of the table. "There he is! The man of the hour!"

"Hello, professor," Harry said with a smile.

"I see your dog hasn't joined you at Hogwarts." the man said with evident relief.

"No, he has." Harry corrected, internally smirking as Slughorn's face twitched "He doesn't have great table manners though. So I left him with my friends."

"That was probably best." Slughorn confirmed before he smiled again "Never mind all that! Come in come in! Don't stand in doorways! Ah, Mr. Goldstein, I see you managed to find Miss. Granger and Mr. Longbottom as well!" Anthony nodded and turned back towards the door. "Oh come now my boy don't make yourself scarce so quickly, come in, sit!"

"Er, I have prefect duties to attend to." Anthony tried. But Slughorn merely chuckled.

"Oh I'm sure they can manage without you, that is why they have two after all," Slughorn remarked with a stressed wink. Hermione's smile twitched. Neville meanwhile turned his head to Harry with suffering in his eyes. Harry tried to smile reassuringly. The boy looked away again. "Though I must say, I'm rather disappointed in the crop of Slytherin prefects." Slughorn said glumly "I sent them to look for your cousin Harry and neither could find him."

"Potter's cousin doesn't go to Hogwarts." Blaise suddenly piped in with an unimpressed quirk of his eyebrow "and even if he did I doubt he'd be in Slytherin."

"Oh, you'd be surprised." Hermione said matter of factly "Dudley can be quite sly when he wants to be."

"Doesn't… doesn't go to Hogwarts?" Slughorn stuttered out.

"Dudley is homeschooled." Neville piped up.

"Homeschooled?" Slughorn repeated looking terribly bereft. Then he leaned back and sighed "that… is a terrible shame. A very terrible shame." but Harry could see the way Slughorn was tapping his fingers on his armrest. He was practically seething. Harry barely held back a smirk. Quite sly indeed. But after a few Slughorn shook himself and gave a smile "well no matter. Though I wonder." his frown returned. "Why do you attend and not him, Harry my boy?"

"Er…" Harry began, quickly trying to come up with an excuse. What would Dudley say? Then he thought of something Hagrid had said the first time they met "well my aunt wanted to homeschool me. She's quite overprotective-"

"I'll say." the entire student body responded at once. Slughorn blinked in shock while Harry groaned.

"Evidently your aunt is very infamous," Slughorn remarked with a weak chuckle. "However did you convince her to let you come?"

"I didn't have to," Harry admitted. His smile grew nostalgic as he remembered all of the stories Sirius had told him of his parents "It was my mum's wish that I attend." As soon as he said this, Slughorn's face fell. His eyes grew far away before he rather suddenly turned to one of the others and began the cycle of interrogation anew. Harry frowned at that but was grateful to be out of the oily man's radar for a few moments.

"Oh, I've just noticed." Slughorn said with a frown "where is young Miss. Bones?'' Harry's head shot up. Susan had been invited as well? The Hufflepuff, who had been revealed to be Melinda Bobbin, heiress to a successful apothecary chain, shifted in her seat.

"Susan wanted me to tell you that she's flattered, sir, but that she couldn't really muster the energy for a big party today… it's only been a month since…" the girl trailed off. Slughorn's face instantly fell.

"Oh! Oh dear, how insensitive of me! I had completely forgotten. You be sure to tell Miss. Bones that it is no trouble! No trouble at all. Such a terrible thing."

"What terrible thing?'' Harry asked in worry. Half the room turned to Harry and looked at him like he'd grown a second head.

"Have you not been keeping up with the news Harry?" Slughorn asked, "Rather unwise in this day and age if you ask me."

"My aunt cancelled our subscription to The Prophet after our defamation suit," Harry admitted.

"Ah yes… that." Slughorn said with sudden waver "a fine example of your aunt's overprotectiveness." Harry scowled. Well, excuse him for not putting up with the prophet demanding he be set up at st mungos for psychological testing. He wasn't a nutter, and if he had to sue a paper for dragging his name through the mud, thank goodness for good lawyers. "The Bones family was attacked last month." all of Harry's previous frustration bled away. "Rumor has it that You-Know-Who himself led the attack! A terrible terrible thing. Both of young Miss. Bones' parents were killed, and Madam Bones has disappeared. Some claim she has been murdered as well. Others still claim that she's gone into hiding. And if that is the case, that uncertainty is probably best." Harry let out a gust of air. That certainly explained the lack of letters from Madam Bones. She'd been quite close to the family for the last two years. "I believe Young Miss Bones is living with her uncle now. He's an Unspeakable. Very high up in the chain of command, supposedly."

"Where was Susan?" Hermione asked with worried eyes.

"She was over at Ernie's." Melinda said with sad eyes "for his birthday party."

"A blessing and a curse I'm sure." Slughorn admitted with a sigh "to know that her parents were killed while she was in joyous revelry." Slughorn remarked, trailing off. The compartment went silent. Everyone was contemplative. "But that is the age we live in… tragedy can strike when we least expect." The Slughorn shook his head "ah but I've kept you all long enough. I'm sure you'd love to get back to your friend. Though before you all scurry off; I'm planning on hosting a small dinner party, around all Hallows Eve. You're all more than welcome to attend.

"Sure," Harry said with a smile. Neville Ginny and Hermione gave Harry a horrified look. Slughorn beamed.

"Excellent! I look forward to seeing you, Mr. Potter. Now then! Off you pip!"

"What the bloody hell was that?" Neville muttered at Harry in horror.

"Later," Harry muttered back.

"Oh, Harry!" Melinda cried as she rushed to follow the Gryffindors. "Susan wanted me to tell you that: 'she's not going to be working on that project this week.' She said you'd know what that meant."

"Right. Thanks, Melinda. Can you tell Susan… that I'm sorry?" Harry offered weakly. Melinda smiled at him and nodded before dashing off.

"I need to start reading the prophet again."

"They haven't written a single article about you since July," Neville admitted with a snicker. "Your aunt scared the kneazles out of them."

"Good," Harry muttered darkly. But his mind was still moving a mile a minute as he thought about what this year had in store.

A/N: Hello! No quirky notes this week!

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-TTC