Chapter 14
"We did not attack you," Harry said before Driscoll could say a word. "You tried to break into our warded property."
Olive sputtered in quiet outrage while Driscoll gave them both considering looks. "Is this true?" Rosemary Driscoll asked, her usually friendly expression nowhere to be found.
"I'm a Prefect!" Olive said much too loudly, tapping the badge on her chest furiously. "I have a right to perform an inspection of our dormitories."
"No, you don't," Myrtle said at once, and then shrank back a little when everyone turned to look at her. "Only the Heads of Houses, after having been given permission by either the Headmaster or Deputy Headmaster, have the right to perform an inspection of a student's private possessions." Myrtle ducked her head a little when Harry gave her a proud smile. "I read the rulebook years ago and I have a good memory," Myrtle mumbled by way of explanation.
"Miss Warren is correct," Driscoll said with a pleased smile aimed at Myrtle. "So you both tried to break into something that didn't belong to you. That still doesn't explain your colourful heads." Driscoll gave Harry a very pointed look.
"It's just a little colour modifier I added to the wards," Harry explained with a shrug, not quite understanding why anyone would want to focus on that aspect of the whole ordeal.
"Really?" Driscoll visibly perked up. "How fascinating. Did you come up with that yourself?"
Harry was about to snort and say that colour modifiers in wards had been around for ages and just about every merchant used them, as did most home owners. But then, at the last second, he remembered he was now living in the 1940s and it was entirely possible those specific wards hadn't been invented yet. Harry truly had no clue when they'd been created. So in the end Harry gave a vague shrug and said, "I just experimented a little. I wasn't even sure if it would work, but apparently it did."
Driscoll looked ready to interrogate Harry for a few hours on how exactly he'd come up with this delightful bit of magic, so Harry decided to interfere. He wanted to stop anyone looking into his magical abilities too much, and he wanted to stop Olive and her cronies once and for all. "Now that we're all here anyway," Harry said, glaring at Olive and Patricia. "I'd like to file a formal complain against Olive, Patricia and Daisy."
"For what?" Driscoll asked with a concerned frown.
"For bullying," Harry said in a hard voice. "Those three have been bullying myself and Myrtle since the moment we stepped into this castle."
"That's not true," Olive insisted at once with a bit of a panicked expression on her face.
"It is true! You call us the M-word all the time," Myrtle countered bravely, her cheeks colouring a rosy red.
Driscoll held up both hands to ward off any back and forth shouting that threatened to erupt.
"If you have a Pensieve, I'd be happy to share memories of all the instances of bullying," Harry said reasonably while giving Driscoll a pointed look.
"What?" Olive shrieked, face paling drastically while beside her Patricia looked like she might actually keel over from shock. "She can't do that. She has no right."
Harry was sure that Olive had just sealed her own faith with those words because at once Driscoll gave her a shrewd look. "I do not have a Pensieve, but the Headmaster does and he did seem very adamant that any instances of students harming other students should be brought to his attention. Follow me." And without further comment, Driscoll turned on her heels and marched out of the common room, the four students hurrying after her.
Dippet wasn't exactly happy to see them, since the man desperately looked like he needed a good night's sleep, but when Driscoll explained why they were there, he immediately agreed this case needed further investigation.
"They're liars," Olive kept insisting while Patricia chewed on her thumbnail with vigour. "They're nothing but liars!"
Meanwhile, Harry stepped closer to the Pensieve and pulled out memory after memory of Harriet and Myrtle being called names, being hexed, having their property going missing or finding it destroyed and having their homework stolen or messed with. After he'd dumped in fifteen memories or so, Driscoll placed a hand on his arm.
"That's enough for now, Miss Hubble. I'm sure we'll get an accurate picture of the situation this way." And without further delay, both Driscoll and Dippet leaned forward to enter the Pensieve.
Olive stood full of impotent fury while Patricia had tears streaming down her cheeks. Neither said anything, but both were shaking with fear and anger. Harry ignored them and pretended to study the portraits of previous Headmasters and Headmistresses that adorned the wall. Seeing Phineas Black filled Harry with a warm wave of nostalgia, but he didn't linger on seeing Sirius' great-great-grandfather. He had more important things to focus on now.
Right after Dippet and Driscoll pulled out of the Pensieve, Dippet turned to Olive and Patricia. "Your badge, now," Dippet said in a voice that brooked no argument, his white bushy eyebrows drawn down in a deep frown. Driscoll looked pale and her mouth was pulled down in a scowl.
Olive shook her head and flapped her hands in a state of near panic. "You can't do this! You can't believe them. Their kind always lies."
Dippet summoned the Prefect badge off Olive's chest with a flick of his wand. "The three of you have two months of detention to be served with Sullivan Strickland, our Care of Magical Creatures Professor. I would expel you if I hadn't already expelled Mr Mulciber yesterday. I do not want to bring more shame to this fine institution, but understand that your behaviour has been absolutely despicable. Dismissed!"
Both Olive and Patricia were crying by the time they hurried out of the Headmaster's office.
"Ms Hubble," Dippet said with a deep sigh, blue eyes watery as he looked at Harry. "I am truly sorry that I'm here apologizing to you again on behalf of some of my students."
Harry nodded in understanding but otherwise kept his mouth shut since there really wasn't anything to say. A lot had gone wrong under Dippet's direction, no matter that Dippet obviously had always wanted nothing but the best for his students.
"Miss Warren," Dippet said, glancing at Myrtle. "I owe you an apology as well."
Myrtle bit her lip and looked very close to tears.
"I know this won't make up for the bullying you have suffered for all these years, but please accept this as a token of my sincere regret." And with that Dippet handed the Prefect badge to Harry. "And for being brave enough to report the bullying I award Ravenclaw fifty points. Each."
Harry stared at the Prefect badge in his hand in wonder. How crazy was it that he finally became a Prefect and all he had to do to accomplish that was to die. Harry remembered the disappointment he'd felt when Ron had been made Prefect. Don't get him wrong, Harry loved Ron and wanted nothing but the best for him. He'd been sincerely happy for Ron. But at the same time Harry couldn't suppress the idea that Harry had accomplished more than Ron during their years at Hogwarts and therefore Harry deserved to be Prefect more. But then the war had picked up and they'd been running and fighting for their lives and suddenly such a silly badge hadn't mattered anymore.
And yet now that Harry was awarded a Prefect badge he couldn't deny that it felt really bloody good.
"Put it on," Myrtle said, smiling at him with obvious pride.
"Yeah." Harry's hands shook a little as he pinned the badge on his chest. "Thank you," he added to Dippet, who nodded in return and then waved them all out of his office.
"Miss Hubble," Driscoll said as they descended the staircase leading down from the office. "About that colour modifier."
Harry wanted to groan and bang his head to the wall. Fucking Ravenclaws and their insistent curiosity about anything new. "Professor Driscoll," Harry said as politely as he could. "Could we do this another time? We still have homework to finish and we have Astronomy in an hour or two."
"Of course, of course," Driscoll said with an apologetic smile. "We'll talk later."
Harry and Myrtle all but fled to their dormitories, which they found empty, thankfully.
"This is so great!" Myrtle said and all but danced around the dormitory, arms outstretched. Harry didn't think he'd ever seen her as carefree as this before. "We're in charge now!"
Harry laughed and shook his head. It seemed that the power was already going to Myrtle's head. For the next hour, Harry finished up his homework, which was all tedious and boring, and then he wrote out the ward with the colour modifier for Tom. He added simply instructions, but he doubted Tom would need them, clever man that he was. Then Harry decided to write a short letter to Ruby Baird from the Daily Prophet as well. Perhaps it was better if the reporter got some answers from Harry instead of some random students who weren't even sure what had happened. So Harry wrote to Ms Baird that he'd be willing to answer a few short questions at his own discretion.
Before they headed to the Astronomy tower they made a quick stop at the owlery where Holly was happy to take the letter to Ms Baird.
By the time Astronomy came to an end, Harry about fell asleep where the stood. He cursed whoever had made the class schedule that year and thought it was a good idea to tack Astronomy onto the day they had the most classes out of the whole bloody week.
The next morning Harry walked into the Great Hall with a spring in his step. People all around them noticed the badge on his chest at once and whispers broke out, especially when later Olive and Patricia entered with their heads still coloured. Daisy trailed after them, face pale while she stared at their shoes. Harry imagined that all three were dreading the post that morning, since Dippet would have informed their parents last night of what had happened. Well, they brought that on themselves, and Harry felt no sympathy for any of them. He remembered vividly how miserable they'd made Harriet's life at Hogwarts.
The moment Tom strolled into the Great Hall his eyes were drawn to Harry, and the second he noticed the badge on his chest, Tom's face broke out in a sharp grin as though seeing Harry as a Prefect was somehow a personal victory for him. Harry rolled his eyes in response. Honestly.
Their first class was double Defence. Galatea Merrythought was an older witch with sharp eyes and grey hair she kept expertly coiffed in a French twist. She noticed at once that things were different in her class.
For one, Harriet Hubble was suddenly a Prefect. And besides that, Tom Riddle, the most desirable student in all of the school, happily sat down beside Harry.
"Welcome, class," Merrythought said while Harry slipped Tom the instructions for the colour modifier wards. Before Tom could tuck them away, Merrythought summoned the small scroll with a flick of her wand. "Let's see what these two lovebirds are writing to each other."
Much to Harry's embarrassment his cheeks warmed noticeably. Beside him, Tom froze in his chair, expression eerily blank.
"Hm." Merrythought took her time reading the scroll while around them students giggled and whispered furiously about the assumed relationship between Harry and Tom. "A ward modifier. Is that your love language, Mr Riddle?" Merrythought asked, clearly deeply amused by the whole situation. "Ward schemes?"
"Tom likes all kind of schemes," Harry said before he could stop himself. "He's not picky."
Merrythought released a laugh and then quickly composed herself again. "But you are, aren't you, Ms Hubble?" Merrythought gave first Harry and then Tom a very pointed look, as if to comment on Harry's choice of love interest.
"We're friends," Tom said in a reasonable tone. Far too reasonable, as it turned out, because no one believed it if the whispers around them were any indication.
Harry sighed. Ah, teenage drama. Such fun.
Merrythought walked up to Tom's desk and placed the scroll in front of him. Then she leaned a little closer and said in an over-the-top whisper, "If this is how she constructs wards, she's a keeper."
Tom's only reply was a tiny, polite smile. He really did have an excellent poker face, Harry was forced to conclude.
Thankfully, Merrythought started the class at that point and for the first hour they went over everything they'd learned over the years up until that point. Then Merrythought took another twenty minutes to explain what was expected of them for their OWLs at the end of the year. Finally, Merrythought leaned against her desk as she observed her class.
"I heard an interesting rumour yesterday." Merrythought gave the class a few moments to imagine what rumour this was exactly and then she moved her gaze towards Harry. "I heard that Ms Hubble cast a corporeal Patronus in the library. Mr Gallegos couldn't shut up about it in the staff room last night."
"People say a lot of things." Harry gazed back at Merrythought without any reaction. He still had some hope he might be able to fly below the radar, even if that possibility seemed to get smaller with each passing day.
"It's true," Orion Black said with a bit of a smug smirk. "It was a mean old lioness that knocked Tom clean out of his chair."
"My Patronus is not mean," Harry snapped as he turned in his seat to glare at Black.
Beside him, Tom snorted and then gave Harry a bit of a disappointed look.
Fuck his impulsivity. Seriously, fuck that shit. Harry ignored Merrythought's triumphant grin, whipped out his wand, and aimed his Patronus straight at Orion Black. The lioness burst out of his wand and stormed at Black with a silent roar. Black's eyes widened almost comically and he scrambled out of his seat, falling over in his bid to get away. All around them students laughed and whispered.
"A perfectly cast Patronus," Merrythought said, giving Harry a very short round of applause. "And cast silently, even."
Fuck his impulsivity. Harry wanted to squeeze his eyes shut and groan at his own inability to think for three seconds. No, he just had to upstage a Slytherin and thereby unwittingly reveal his abilities at non-verbal casting. Instead, Harry just sighed and shrugged his shoulders.
"Ten points to Ravenclaw," Merrythought said with a small but pleased smile. Then she addressed the whole class again. "Can anyone say what a Patronus Charm is used for?" And the next twenty minutes was spent on an impromptu lecture on the Patronus charm, which bored the crap out of Harry.
"Homework for next week should provide a bit of a challenge," Merrythought announced when class was almost over. "Next class we're duelling, but you are not allowed to use offensive and defensive spells. Anything else goes. Get creative."
Around them a large number of students groaned, but Harry perked up. They'd done this during Auror training as well, and Harry had always loved that. Duelling with household charms was a lot of fun, as it turned out, especially because you truly didn't know what to expect.
"Thank goodness we've got Mrs Ashford to help us," Tom said cheerfully as they packed their bags.
"Excuse me," Harry said with a bit of a haughty sniff. "I have Mrs Ashford. You've only made fun of her, if I recall correctly."
Tom chuckled, clearly enjoying bickering with Harry. "I did save her, if you recall."
"Yeah, yeah, but that doesn't make up for the fact that until right this moment you thought Mrs Ashford completely useless, while I have always appreciated her wisdom." Harry gave Tom a cheeky wink. "Find your own books on household charms."
Their next class was Potions and Harry ended up sitting beside a smug Tom once again.
"Ho, ho!" Slughorn said while he looked around the class after everyone was seated. "We've got ourselves a new Prefect! Congratulations, Miss Hubble. And Tom, make sure to bring her to our first Slug Club meeting of the year next week.
"Absolutely, Sir," Tom said, his smirk downright unbearable. Harry wanted desperately to roll his eyes but he also didn't want to offend Slughorn, especially because Harry hoped to create a future for himself in Potions. So Harry simply nodded and smiled and kept his mouth shut.
"So how bad is it?" Harry asked as they walked towards the Great Hall for lunch. "The Slug Club?"
Tom laughed right in Harry's face. "That depends. It can be a bit tedious, but Slughorn is very well connected and always invites interesting guests to talk to us."
Harry sighed and nodded his head. The few times he'd been to the Slug Club in his previous life it had been a rather dull affair, except that one time he'd taken Luna to the Slug Club's Yule celebration. But that was with a Slughorn fearing for his life as he was hiding out at Hogwarts. This Slughorn was far younger and far more carefree, so perhaps his gatherings were more interesting and entertaining as well. "I suppose we'll find out."
After lunch they had Ancient Runes and Harry once again found himself seated beside Tom. Harry didn't mind working with Tom, because at the very least Tom took their classes seriously and didn't faff off like so many other students did. But Harry did still, on some level, feel like he had to keep on his toes around Tom Riddle. As much as Harry liked Tom these days, he hadn't yet forgotten what Tom had the potential of becoming if things went a certain way.
Harry was allowed back in the library and that's where they met with their now regular group to work on their homework.
"I've found some lads interested in joining the DA already," Ben announced with a proud smile.
Harry exchanged a knowing look with Myrtle. Perhaps it was a good idea to recruit from Ravenclaw as well, which Harry had completely forgotten about so far. Then again, he had been rather busy of late.
After dinner they had a House Meeting in the Ravenclaw Common Room.
"Last night it was brought to my attention that Olive, Patricia and Daisy have not conducted themselves to the standards of Ravenclaw House," Driscoll said with a grave look on her face as she stood in front of the assembled students. "Headmaster Dippet therefore decided to take the Prefect position away from Olive and grant it to Harriet instead. He has my full support in this decision. I'd like to remind everyone that my door is open and that if you are being hurt by anyone else at any point you are more than welcome to come talk to me." Driscoll went on to announce a few more, far less dramatic, things and then the meeting was called to an end.
Harry glanced around the common room and with the help of some of Harriet's memories he identified a few older students who came from a muggleborn or muggle-raised background. He approached them one by one.
"Hi, we're starting a self-defence group. Would you like to join?" Harry asked each of them with his most disarming smile. They all needed a bit more information but after Harry gave them a little speech they all agreed to at least attend the first meeting the next morning.
"Should we write down a list of academic goals for the DA?" Myrtle asked once they entered their dormitory. "Some students really appreciate it if they know what they're working towards."
"Sure," Harry agreed easily and for the next hour, they put together a list of goals for their students. Harry copied the list with a few flicks of his wand so they could distribute it amongst the DA members. Harry hoped for around 20 or so students. That would keep the group manageable.
The next morning Harry was full of nervous flutters, but they were the good kind of nerves. The kind that filled you with energy and concentration. As they arrived at the beech tree near the lake after breakfast, Harry noticed that even Tom had been able to recruit another Slytherin. A 7th year woman named Yourou Han, who was a half-blood raised by her muggle family since her magical father had died when she was a young child.
More and more students arrived, most of them muggleborns but a few half-bloods as well. There were none younger than 5th year, but in total there were 17 students, and that was fine by Harry.
"Welcome," Harry said once it seemed everyone had arrived. Tom stepped up beside him and that's when Harry remembered he'd agreed that Tom could teach the group with him. "To our first meeting of the Defence Association. We've compiled a list of Academic Goals that you can all read through at your own leisure."
Myrtle walked around handing everyone a scroll.
"We'll start with the basics, just to make sure everyone is up to the same level," Harry continued, an oddly emotional lump trying to lodge itself in his throat. He remembered doing this a lifetime ago, when they were fighting both Voldemort and the Ministry. He also realized, again, that he would never see any of those friends again. But Harry managed to pull himself together before those memories could overwhelm him.
"Is it true that you can cast a corporal Patronus?" Abbie Pacheco, a 7th year Gryffindor asked with a curious tilt of her head.
"Yes," Harry said with a reassuring smile. "And you will all learn to cast it as well."
"Prove it." This was said by someone sporting a very familiar face. Minerva McGonagall was a 6th year Gryffindor and she gave Harry a most unimpressed look as though she was calling him out on his bullshit. Harry was well acquainted with that particular expression.
Harry shrugged, got his wand out and cast his Patronus. The lioness prowled around but seeing no threat she quickly lay down at Harry's feet.
McGonagall's whole demeanour changed. "You have to teach us. Please!"
"I will, I will." Harry called everyone to order because people had started talking enthusiastically while pointing at the snoozing lioness. "We'll start with some basics, and afterwards I want to get started on some wandless magic because that will take the longest to learn."
Multiple students gaped at Harry in utter disbelief. Others seemed to barely keep it together out of sheer excitement.
"Can you really teach us wandless magic?" Naveen Tikaram, a 6th year Ravenclaw asked in a tone that made it clear he'd love nothing better than to learn it but he was terribly worried he might not be able to.
"I can teach everyone at least some basics," Harry assured him. "What everyone should strive for is to at least be able to summon your wand back wandlessly during a duel. Everything else you learn to cast wandlessly should be considered a bonus."
It took Harry a few moments to calm everyone down again and they got started with basic defensive spells. There was some grumbling about having to cast simple disarming charms and stunners, but students seemed willing to put up with it since Harry promised them wandless magic after an hour of boring stuff. Harry was happy to see that all students had mastered the basic spells and he realized this was because they'd all had one good teacher in Defence instead of a whole string of useless twats who for the most part couldn't teach a fish to swim, as Harry had suffered through in his first life. There were exceptions, like Lupin, but people like Quirrell with his stuttering, Lockhart and Umbridge had held students back to an absurd degree.
"All right, I'm glad to see we're all on the same level. Everyone take a seat in a circle." Harry sat down and around him people found seats on the grass while giving him curious looks. Earlier that morning, Harry had conjured a bunch of small candles and he distributed them amongst the students.
"Today we'll start on learning to blow fire," Harry said and raised the candle up to his face. "Like so." Harry concentrated, blew across the candle and a small flame lit up the wick. Students released plenty of sounds of disbelief and admiration. Harry grinned at everyone and said, "Now you!"
Students laughed left and right and even Tom cracked a smile, though he was still giving Harry looks as though he wasn't sure he'd ever seen him before that day.
"Here's how you get started," Harry explained when everyone was settled down again. "First you relax, meditate for a while. Then you should visualize your magic. See it coursing through your own body. Give it a colour that suits your magic." Harry waved a hand down his own body. "Mine is fiery orange. Yours might be blue like the sky, or green like the grass, or yellow like your favourite dress. Whatever suits you will work. Visualize your magic coursing through you, like the blood runs through your veins and the air moves in and out of your lungs. Once you're able to do that, you can visualize your magic leaving your mouth in your breath and lighting your candle."
"That's it?" McGonagall asked with a dubious look.
"That's it, but it will take most of you a while. Don't rush, take your time, and visualize."
Everyone got started, and Harry kept urging them to take it slow, relax, meditate and visualize. Of course, students all over kept blowing on their candles without any result because they were completely ignoring Harry's instructions.
Tom managed it after five tries and his whole face lit up when his candle sported a small, flickering flame.
"Well done, Tom," Harry said with a proud smile. "Look everyone, stop blowing mindlessly, and look here. Tom managed it."
Harry let the students try for another twenty minutes or so, but no one else managed it which didn't surprise Harry. It really was difficult to learn and would take most at least a few weeks to master. "This is your homework," Harry said as he pushed himself up to his feet. "Remember to take your time. Relax. Meditate. Visualize. Next week we'll see how far you've all gotten."
"Thanks!" McGonagall said happily, tucking the candle in her pocket. More students shouted words of gratitude towards Harry, who waved them all off.
"That was brilliant," Myrtle said, bouncing on her feet. "I'm going to keep trying." She held the candle in front of her face and kept blowing as she walked back to the castle with Annabel and Lukas.
"That was a very good first gathering, I thought," Tom said with an intent look. "You are a natural teacher."
"Yeah?" Harry shrugged, though he was secretly pleased to hear those words. He had always enjoyed teaching. "We had a very motivated bunch of students so I'm sure that helped."
"Undoubtedly." Tom cleared his throat and suddenly looked a bit distracted. "I had a brief talk with the Head Boy this morning, to check your schedule for patrols now that you're a Prefect. It turns out we're both scheduled for this evening. Shall I pick you up at the foot of Ravenclaw Tower at 8?"
Harry blinked, his mind taking a moment to process what Tom had just all said. Prefects had to patrol the halls, Harry had almost forgotten that. And to be honest, the thought of walking through Hogwarts with Tom wasn't such a bad thing.
"Sure," Harry said with a pleasant smile. "You can show me how it's done."
They walked back to the castle together and split up in the Entrance Hall to each go to their common rooms. Harry met up with Myrtle and they decided to go to the Great Hall for some tea and wait there for lunch which would start within the hour.
Right after lunch, McGonagall approached the Ravenclaw table and gave Harry an uncertain smile. "Sorry to disturb you, Harriet, but Professor Dumbledore wants to see you in his office right away."