Chapter 15
Harry almost walked straight to the Headmaster's office before he remembered Dumbledore was Deputy Headmaster and his office was situated beside the Transfiguration classroom. Harry changed directions just in time and marched up the stairs. What the fuck did Dumbledore want with him now? The more Harry thought about it, the more he realized it could be about any number of things. Harry's friendship with Tom Riddle, Harry's involvement in the Ellen Mueller case, Harry's sudden acquisition of his Prefect badge or Harry's successful first gathering of the DA.
Dumbledore was the kind of man who liked to stick his nose in every bit of business, no matter how irrelevant it may seem.
"Come in," Dumbledore called out when Harry knocked on his office door.
Dumbledore was seated behind his standard issue desk. It looked nothing like the ornate monstrosity he'd use once he'd become Headmaster. "Please, take a seat, Ms Hubble." Dumbledore waved towards the empty chairs in front of the desk.
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" Harry asked politely while he sat down in one of the chair, back straight and shoulder squared. Harry was determined to remain unfailingly polite, which was a tactic he'd learned when dealing with hostile members of the public as an Auror. Just kill them with kindness and all that.
"Ah, yes, indeed." Dumbledore leaned forwards a little and folded his hands on top of his desk while he took a few moments to study Harry. It was a simple tactic to make students question themselves as to why they were there and thus make them more open to spilling the beans. But Harry recognized it for what it was and simply sat perfectly still with a bland smile plastered on his face.
Finally, after a few long minutes, Dumbledore spoke, "It has come to my attention that you've started a student club. Is that correct?"
Harry nodded in response. "Yes, Professor." Harry had learned ages ago that when being questioned it was best to say as little as possible for as long as you could. That way you limited the chance of accidentally saying much more than intended.
"A Defence Club?"
"Yes, Professor."
Dumbledore sighed, as though terribly disappointed in Harry's short answers, but in truth probably because he was getting frustrated with Harry's measured responses. "Do you truly believe such a club is necessary?"
Harry raised both eyebrows and looked at Dumbledore as if the man had completely lost his mind. "Most assuredly, Professor."
Waiting for Harry to elaborate, Dumbledore stared into Harry's eyes but to his credit Harry never felt a brush of Legilimency. Perhaps Dumbledore didn't yet use it on older students while he was just Deputy Headmaster. If he tried it on the wrong person and he got caught, he'd lose his job and probably have to appear before the Wizengamot at least. In Harry's first life, Dumbledore had a rock solid reputation and ruled Hogwarts like a benign dictator, so he could pretty much do what he wanted. But this Dumbledore didn't have quite that much power just yet. And Harry thought right at that moment that if Harry was ever in the position of stopping Dumbledore from gaining so much power, he absolutely would.
Dumbledore wasn't a bad man, but he was definitely misguided in ways that made him a very dangerous man.
"It has come to my attention that you're trying to teach the students of this club wandless magic," Dumbledore said and Harry merely nodded in response. There were no laws against teaching or learning wandless magic. Most wizards and witches simply didn't bother with it because it was bloody hard to learn, very time consuming to master and it had little extra use in the daily lives of the average person. "Wandless magic can be very dangerous," Dumbledore said with a stern look.
"So can magic cast with a wand," Harry countered with an amused little smile.
"So it can," Dumbledore conceded with a slow nod. "Yet wandless magic is designed solely to be used in offensive situations, as you explained during your club meeting."
"Minerva informed you well," Harry said with a knowing glint in his eyes. Dumbledore merely smiled in return but didn't confirm anything. Smart man. "I merely explained that being able to summon your wand back to you wandlessly during a duel might one day save your life."
"I'm surprised you believe that any of these students will ever find themselves fighting in a duel to the death," Dumbledore countered.
Harry widened his eyes. "And I'm surprised that you don't believe that, Professor. We are at war, in case you'd forgotten. Both in the magical and the muggle world."
"I had not forgotten, I assure you," Dumbledore said with a bit of a frosty note to his voice. "I merely doubt that our students will find themselves in death defying situations anytime soon."
Harry snorted. He couldn't help it. He hated bringing it up again, but apparently Dumbledore was being rather forgetful. "I was assaulted in this very school, as were several other students, and our lives were threatened, I assure you."
Dumbledore briefly closed his eyes, as though he'd completely forgotten about those incidents.
Harry barged on, eyes narrowed as he glared at Dumbledore. "If I had known how to cast a wandless stunner, for example, I could have stopped Mulciber from assaulting me in the first place."
"Violence is rarely the answer," Dumbledore finally pointed out, much to Harry's utter disbelief.
Rising from his seat, Harry looked down at Dumbledore over his nose. "I will not sit here listening to an old man telling me someone shouldn't fight back against an attacker while their life is on the line. In the future, if you have any concerns about my behaviour or my activities, I will only speak about them with Headmaster Dippet. If you insist on meeting with me anyway, I demand that Professor Driscoll be present as I no longer feel safe in your company. Good day." And with that, Harry turned on his heels and stormed towards the door.
"Ms Hubble," Dumbledore said quickly, also rising from his seat, eyes wide and his expression slightly puzzled as though he couldn't imagine why Harry had reacted like he did.
Placing his hand on the doorknob, Harry glared at Dumbledore over his shoulder. "Stop talking, Professor, before I file an official complaint about your conduct with the Board of Governors." Pushing the door open, Harry walked through it without a backwards glance.
Fuck Dumbledore and every other man who ever thought that people shouldn't learn to defend themselves against assailants who wished serious harm upon them. Fuck all of them. Harry made a silent vow right there and then that if Dumbledore somehow was able to convince Dippet to withdraw his official support from the DA, Harry would take the whole operation underground. He knew how to do it from his first life when Umbridge had made all their lives a living hell. Harry would gladly put the Room of Requirement to good use, have all the DA members sign a secrecy contract and communicate through fake galleons if that is what it took to teach these kids how to keep themselves safe.
As Harry neared the Great Hall, he inhaled a few deep breaths to calm himself down. There was no use in speculating about things that hadn't even happened yet. Such negativity wasn't a healthy way of looking at life, Harry was well aware of that.
Myrtle was still sitting at the Ravenclaw table and much to Harry's surprise, Tom was sitting beside her. Both of them perked up when they saw Harry all but storming towards them, face set in a thundercloud.
"Myrtle was just telling me you'd been summoned to Dumbledore's office," Tom said with a bit of a knowing smirk. "Was it a productive meeting?"
"That utterly useless man!" Harry yelled with much too loud of a voice, causing students left and right to stop what they were doing and stare at her. "He told me how dangerous wandless magic is. At which point I reminded him that casting magic with a wand is just as dangerous and they all bloody well teach that as this fucking school." Harry inhaled a deep breath, nostrils flaring as he glanced around. He spotted a few members of the DA nearby and gave them an intent look. "I swear I will teach you all wandless magic and I don't care for one bloody second if Albus Dumbledore likes it or not. That man is so out of touch with reality it's just plain embarrassing."
A steaming cup of tea appeared in Harry's line of sight and when he looked down in surprise, he saw Tom holding it out for him. "Have a cuppa," Tom said, smile utterly amused. "I'm starting to genuinely worry about your blood pressure."
"You're teaching people wandless magic?" Orion Black asked from the Slytherin table, his eyes wide in shock.
"No!" Harry glared at the boy with Sirius' face. "I mean, yes, I am teaching the DA that, but you are not welcome. Our club is full." Which of course was a lie, but Harry was not going to spend any effort on teaching pureblood supremacists any kind of magic, ever.
Accepting the cup of tea, Harry sank down on the bench beside Tom and took a careful sip. He was far too riled up to think straight, but this kind of injustice had always rankled Harry. And now that it was coming from Dumbledore, it rankled even more. Dumbledore had no problem with secret student groups teaching each other defence as long as it suited him, that hypocritical bastard. Harry quickly sipped more tea because his blood pressure probably was sky high.
"How about we go to the library and look up spells for the next Defence class?" Myrtle suggested in an uncertain whisper.
Harry gave her a grateful smile. "That is an excellent idea. I'll pop by the dormitory to pick up Mrs Ashford, and I'll meet you there." Harry quickly finished his tea and hurried off to Ravenclaw Tower.
When Harry walked into the library, he spotted his friends straight away at a table nearby. Myrtle, Tom, Annabel and Lukas were all sitting together, but there were two other students at their table Harry wasn't expecting.
Both Orion Black and Theodorus Nott gave Harry a bright smile when Harry sat down beside Tom.
"Tom has been telling us such wonderful things about you, Miss Hubble," Orion said with an utterly charming smile that made Harry's throat close up because it made him look so much like Sirius.
Harry glanced to the side. Tom's chagrined expression made it clear he'd done no such thing. Harry knew Tom was a very private person and he doubted very much Tom would ever open up like that about a new friend he'd made.
"Did you bring Mrs Ashford?" Tom asked, ignoring his Slytherin friends.
Harry decided to do the same. "I did, but she's for my eyes only, Tom. You know why."
"Certainly," Tom agreed, looking like he planned to simply read over Harry's shoulder anyway.
With a sigh, Harry pulled Mrs Ashford's compendium from her bookbag and slammed it onto the table, startling everyone else.
"Any ideas for which books to use, Tom?" Theodorus asked as he gave Tom a hopeful look. Harry wondered if that was one of the reasons those purebloods had eventually decided to treat Tom mostly like an equal. Tom was a brilliant student and perhaps those purebloods thought he'd help them with their homework if they were friendly enough to him. Harry doubted very much Tom would ever have fallen for such an obvious scheme.
"Do your own homework, Dorus." Tom indicated the stacks of books around them. "There's plenty on household charms to find if you simply go looking."
"Very well, if you insist," Theodorus said with a tired sigh and pushed himself up from his seat as only a teenage boy can; like it was the hardest thing he'd ever done in his entire life but he was willing to do it because he had nothing better to do anyway.
Harry snorted at the dramatics of it all. Teenagers were just so ridiculous when you thought about it.
While Harry paged through Mrs Ashford to look for household charms he didn't know yet but which could aid him in a duel, Tom scooted closer and closer, centimetre by centimetre, until he could glance over Harry's protective arm and see what Mrs Ashford was revealing on her hallowed pages.
"Get your own fucking book, Riddle," Harry muttered at some point, which only made Tom grin wider as if he loved nothing more than accepting Harry's obvious challenge.
"How about beauty charms?" Annabel said after a while as she was paging through a few Charms books. "They could work in a duel, right?"
"Absolutely," Harry said with a firm nod. "There are many beauty charms that make you feel like your skin is being peeled off. They're great in a duel."
"Really?" Lukas asked, a little doubtfully, while giving the book he was reading on cooking charms a considering look. "Beauty charms?"
"Oh yes," Harry said gravely. One of his former Auror colleagues, Erika, had been absolutely lethal with overpowered hair removal charms. Harry had seen her take down a six and a half foot man the size of a overgrown gorilla by yanking out every single one of his beard hairs with one single charm. That man had to be admitted to St Mungo's for a few days. Apparently he didn't stop screaming from the pain for two hours before they doused him with Draught of Living Death to shut him up.
Harry knew that Charm as well, but it was a bit too much to use in a friendly duel between students in their Defence class. But Harry always kept that charm in the back of his mind and he was not afraid to use it on someone's groin when the occasion called for it.
"Beauty charms. Huh." Orion narrowed his eyes and all but flew up from his chair and disappeared into the stacks. Soon he could be heart whispering with Theodorus.
Harry found a few interesting spells in Mrs Ashford's book and he wrote them down, angling his body in such a way Tom couldn't see what it was. But since Tom kept scribbling things down himself he was still able to get plenty of inspiration of the pages of Mrs Ashford that he could see.
Eventually they moved on to finishing their homework. Harry had a Transfiguration essay to finish, since it had been a rather hectic week and he refused to get a bad mark in Dumbledore's class. He did not want that man to have the pleasure. Right before they all got up to go to dinner, Tom leaned closer to Harry and whispered, "I'll see you tonight at eight for our patrol."
Right. That was a thing. Patrolling Hogwarts with Tom. Harry blinked a few times and then shrugged. As a Prefect it was expected that Harry help keep Hogwarts from being overrun by horny teenagers who tried shagging in every dark corner they could find. That was pretty much what Hermione always had to deal with during her patrols. Well, for the most part.
After dinner Harry decided to take a quick shower and then consulted Mrs Ashford on some beauty charms. Harriet hadn't spent much attention on her appearance, too shy to draw more attention to herself. But Harry thought that trying out some charms now might help him come across some that would prove useful in a duel. And practicing magic, any kind of magic, was never a bad thing.
Harry found a charm that dried your hair without turning it into a frizzy mess. Then he found another charm that curled your hair loosely. Harriet had slightly curling hair, but it was more of a chaotic mess than anything resembling a deliberate look. So Harry tried the loose curls and decided he liked them. Then there was a charm that evened out one's skin and complexion, giving it a healthy shine. Another charm gave the lips a natural rosy hue, and one more did the same to your cheeks. Harry then cast a charm that darkened and filled out his eyelashes and finally one that added the slightest of metallic sheens to his eyelids.
There were also perfume charms as Harry learned, which lasted only a few hours, but which gave the wearer an enchanting scent for a short time. Harry tried one but wasn't sure if she could smell anything.
"Myrtle!" Harry called in the direction of the dormitory. "Myrtle, come smell me!"
"Oh wow," Myrtle said while she stared at Harry, who stood in front of one of the mirrors in his white bathrobe. "You look great!"
"Thanks, but I need to know if I smell great as well. Come here." Dutifully, Myrtle leaned closer and inhaled through her nose and then drew back to give Harry a bright smile.
"That is fantastic, what is that? Very subtle, but really good," Myrtle rambled.
"It's a charm. Want me to do you?" Harry aimed his wand at Myrtle and when she nodded, Harry cast the perfume charm on his friend.
"What other charms did you use on yourself?" Myrtle pulled out her wand and summoned quill and paper from the dormitory while Harry pointed out what he'd used. "I'm going to practice those as well. You look so natural yet very beautiful. Especially the hair looks amazing."
Harry beamed at her and then checked his face in the mirror again. Harriet always kept her hair in a braid, and Harry had done the same, but the loose curls really did make him look mature and even rather glamorous. "Yeah, not bad at all. Mrs Ashford strikes again!"
After that Harry got dressed in his usual school uniform he made his way to the common room, where several students almost certainly got a crick in the neck from suddenly whipping their heads around to look at Harry. Rolling his eyes, Harry marched straight ahead and through the door where Tom already stood waiting for him.
"Hi!" Harry said happily. Tom seemed at a loss for words for some reason while he kept blinking as he stared at Harry's face. "Shall we patrol?"
"Yes. Let's. We're patrolling the sixth and seventh floor tonight." Tom gestured at Harry to fall into step with him. Tom had to adjust his steps significantly, because he was so tall and Harry wasn't, but they managed to walk together just fine through the mostly empty hallways. Curfew was coming up and most students were making their way back to their common rooms anyway.
"Orion and Dorus kept insisting I speak with you so they'd be able to join the DA as well," Tom said while they slowly climbed the stairs to the seventh floor. "The knowledge that you can teach wandless magic has certainly changed their minds about you."
"You mean they're willing to tolerate a little mudblood if they can benefit from it?" Harry translated Tom's Slytherin speak effortlessly.
"Just so." Tom couldn't hold back a grin as he glanced down at Harry with warm eyes. "I shall let them know the DA is not accepting new members at this time, shall I?"
"Good lad," Harry said with a firm nod. "If the rumours are correct, both the Black and Nott families have extensive family libraries, amongst the finest in the land. If they want to learn something, they have the resources to bloody well look it up themselves. We are not so lucky."
"The Potters have quite a nice library as well, I'm sure," Tom said in a reasonable tone while they reached the seventh floor and took a right turn.
"They do. I've glimpsed it when they invited us over for dinner at their mansion." Harry shrugged and brushed some hair out of his face. The curls looked amazing but having all that hair hanging around his face took some getting used to for sure. "But I don't live there and I can't just pop in every time it suits me to use their library."
"Understood. Newt has a small library almost completely dedicated to magical creatures."
"Naturally," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Though he has a fairly extensive charms section as well," Tom added quickly. "He likes to create habitats for his creatures using undetectable extension charms. That's how he transports them."
"Yeah, I loved reading your letters about your travels. I've never been to Africa but you made it come alive on the page." Harry suddenly got a brilliant idea. "Tom, I'm going to ask you to do a funny thing, but will you do it?"
"That depends," Tom said at once. Harry grabbed his wrist and dragged him along to the hideous tapestry opposite the Room of Requirement.
"Okay." Harry stopped Tom and gently manoeuvred him in place. "I want you to walk back and forth three times while thinking about your travels through the African savannah."
"Sure." Tom gave her a very dubious look, as though he expected Harry to spring some prank on him at any moment. But he was still willing enough to walk back and forth and before long a door appeared. Tom gave it an entirely suspicious look while Harry bounced on his feet.
"Open it, and you'll be able to show me Africa, I promise!"
Tom very slowly and very carefully pushed the door open and then let out a loud gasp. A rush of hot air greeted them both while bright sunlight almost blinded them as they stepped out of the dimly lit hallway into the wilds of Tanganyika.
"How is this possible?" Tom gaped at their surroundings. The acacia trees swayed a bit in the gentle wind, the dry grass crunched beneath their shoes and in the distance the mountains stood tall.
"Tom, welcome to the Room of Requirement." Harry beamed at him before looking around at the amazing landscape.
"The Room of Requirement?" Tom still looked as though Harry was pulling his leg yet he couldn't deny what he was seeing. "I've never heard of it."
"Few people have." Harry shrugged and then walked a little further into the African savannah. "I just happened to talk to a house-elf that knew of it and shared the secret with me." Harry gave Tom a bright smile. "And now I've shared it with you."
"How does it work?"
"You pace in front of it, thinking about what you need the room to be. That's all I know." Harry walked a little further still. "I haven't had the opportunity yet to study how the magic of the room works, but it's bound to be interesting."
"Does it have to be a real place, what you think of?" Tom asked as he hurried to catch up with Harry.
"Nah. You can think of a swimming pool if you fancy a dip, or you can think of a comfortable sitting room if you need a moment to relax. The room will provide."
"This is truly amazing. It looks and feels exactly like Africa." Tom looked very impressed as he turned around on the spot and stared at the landscape.
"It's based on your memories, so of course it looks real." Harry considered their surroundings for a moment. "It can't create living things, though, so I'll simply have to imagine the animals."
"Or you could join me on my next expedition and you'll see the animals for yourself," Tom suggested as he stepped closer to Harry.
Laughing, Harry shook his head. "That's very kind of you to invite me. But we've only been at school for a week, Tom. You have no idea what's going to happen. You might end up despising me before he year is over."
"I sincerely doubt that," Tom said, suddenly sounding utterly serious. "But let's rephrase it then. Should we still be friends by the end of this schoolyear, then I invite you to come with me to Africa."
"Very well. Thank you for the invitation." Harry couldn't help the large swell of warmth that coursed through him. "If my parents allow it, I'll happily join you."
"You cannot take that back," Tom said quickly, as if suddenly terrified Harry would one day change his mind. "You've made that promise now."
"I won't," Harry said with a kind of finality that surprised himself. Thing was, Harry knew Tom better than himself. Knew exactly who Tom was at his best and more importantly, at his worst. And the Tom Harry was getting to know now was a Tom he'd happily call a friend for a very long time. "We should probably head back to patrol before people realize we're not where we're supposed to be."
"How many people know of this room?" Tom gave one, longing look over his shoulder before he stepped through the door back into the 7th floor hallway.
"I'm not sure," Harry answered honestly. "Not many students I don't think."
"Let's keep it like that." Tom leaned a little closer. "Let's keep it our little secret."
"Sure." For now, Harry added silently. If he ever needed a space to hold the DA in, especially if they needed to move underground, Harry was using the Room of Requirement. But for that moment he had no desires to share it with anyone else. Sharing it with Tom had been a bit of an impulsive decision but Harry didn't regret it one bit. Seeing Africa through Tom's eyes had been worth it.
They chatted about their Ancient Runes project while they continued their patrol. They found one pair of 4th year Gryffindors snogging behind a tapestry but that was the most exciting thing that happened for the rest of the evening.
"Goodnight," Harry said with a little wave. Tom had walked him back to Ravenclaw Tower. Harry stepped up to the doorknocker and then realized he was in a bit of a pickle. Normally, Harry had taken to hissing at that bloody thing in parseltongue but he didn't want to share that secret with Tom just yet. So solving the fucking riddle it was.
"What can't talk but will reply when spoken to?" the doorknocker asked.
"I hate you so fucking much," Harry grumbled through gritted teeth, glaring at the bane of his existence as a Ravenclaw.
"An echo," Tom called out, trying very obviously not to laugh.
"That is correct!" The doorknocker opened the door, that fucking useless thing.
"Goodnight, Harriet." Tom didn't even attempt to hide his laughter as he walked away.
"So how was your date with Tom?" Myrtle all but pounced on Harry the second he stepped into the dormitory. The curtains on the beds of their roommates were all drawn, so they were already in bed.
"It was not a date," Harry said quickly, waving Myrtle away. "We had Prefect Patrol. It was fine. We talked about our Runes project for the most part."
Myrtle sighed and sat down on the edge of her bed with a starry look upon her face, already wearing a nightgown. "That's so nice. Spending time together while talking about the other times you'll be spending time together."
"Sure. Whatever you say." Harry shook his head and made his way to the bathroom. "I'm heading to bed. Night."
Harry was tired enough to fall asleep almost immediately. His dreams took him to Africa that night, to see the lions and elephants and rhinos. Tom was there, of course, talking about all the creatures in great detail. And then Tom was there with Harry in the Room of Requirement as well, except they were no longer in Africa, but in a comfortable room with a blazing fireplace and a large, four poster bed, and Tom was naked and so was Harry.
Tom lowered Harry onto the bed and slid between her legs before thrusting inside Harry's body, and he kept thrusting and thrusting, dark eyes boring down into Harry's until an orgasm woke Harry right up.
"What the fuck," Harry muttered while his body was still throbbing with a recent release.
Did girls get wet dreams? Was that a thing? As a teenager just starting puberty Harry had frequently woken up with messy briefs after some interesting sex dreams, but he'd had a boy's body then. He just hadn't realized girls got wet dreams, too. Well, perhaps not wet.
Harry reached a hand inside his knicker. Ah. Yeah. No. That was plenty wet.
So girls got wet dreams with orgasms strong enough to wake them up. Harry stared into the darkness and felt a bit miffed that Tom bloody Riddle had, however unknowingly, given Harry his first orgasm in his new body.
Arrogant bastard had to just make Harry feel really good, even in his dreams.