A/N: The next chapter will be in 2 days. It will be updated on June 17, 2022 ataround 9:00 AM Pacific Standard Time.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any works by J.K Rowling.

Chapter 12

Throughout the day, Daphne would watch Harry be boiled in anger.

She tried bringing up the subject to him multiple times, but his only response would always be, "I don't want to talk about it," or a simple "another time."

No one else would make snide comments like Ernie had done, not even Malfoy during their transfiguration class. Apparently, word had gotten out about what happened in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class (or Daphne had learned, 'DADA'), and the students no longer felt like dealing with Harry's mood swing.

Not to mention his menacing glare would deter anyone who even thought about picking on them.

Harry did eventually calm down a bit an hour before dinner. They were currently making their way down to the hospital wing, after Madame Pomfrey sent a message to Professor Flitwick during their charms class to send for their checkup.

"Flitwick seemed cheerful." Harry muttered. "Wonder what happened to the other guy that we met yesterday."

"I don't trust him," Daphne said distastefully. "He definitely wants to know about us. Just like Penny said, he's one of those 'true Ravenclaws' that Penelope warned us about - always seeking knowledge."

Harry didn't say anything else. Eventually after a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the hospital wing.

Madame Pomfrey was already waiting for them inside. She had 2 beds open and immediately ordered them to get on them.

The healer ran another series of checks on the two of them. The results must have been good, because she was smiling once her diagnostics were finished.

"You two are looking a whole lot better than yesterday. Just keep up with the potions and I'll have the two of you back to normal in no time."

Madame Pomfrey conjured a standing mirror for Daphne and Harry. What the two of them saw made them gasp.

Already Harry himself had grown at least an inch. When his robes were removed, he could see his rib cage showing a whole lot less. His skin started to show a bit more fat, and the best thing was, this seemingly happened all in one day.

Daphne seemed to be doing just as well. Her body started to grow and fill out. Her face was fuller and she was a bit taller than before. All in all, if anyone was looking, they could tell she would grow into a beautiful young woman.

"M-M-Madame Pomfrey…" Daphne stammered. "I-It's amazing!"

The Madame chuckled at her reaction. "I have something else as well," she said.

In her hands were a small stack of paper. She handed it to Daphne who looked inquisitively after her.

When Daphne read the papers, she raised her eyebrows questioningly at Madame Pomfrey.

"Apprenticeship papers," Madame Pomfrey explained. "You have a knack for healing, dear. It'd be a waste if I didn't offer you this. A few times a week with me after your classes are finished, and I'll see to it that you'll be one of the best healers out there once your schooling is finished."

Daphne just stared at the papers in shock. She couldn't believe what was in her hands.

She looked to Harry, silently asking for his opinion. He only nodded, and she knew that he was telling her to take the offer.

But a part of her was still unsure. Everything just felt so sudden.

When Madame Pomfrey saw her shocked reaction, she decided to give the girl some breathing room.

"However…we do not need to commit to anything today," Madame Pomfrey said kindly. "Come tomorrow, and you'll have a feel of what we'll be doing. We can do a trial run for a week or so, if that is something you want."

Daphne let out a sigh of relief when she heard what the healer said. It would definitely give her some time to think it over.

"O-oh…um thank you, Madame…" Daphne said, still shocked. She watched as Madame Pomfrey walked over to Harry's bed to discuss something with him.

It wasn't that she didn't want to try her hand at being a healer, but it was the long term commitment. Oftentimes, apprenticeships already decide what you'll be doing in the future. She didn't know if there was perhaps something better for her.

"Madame? I can't accept this!"

Daphne blinked. She must've spaced out because Harry was almost jumping out of his bed at whatever Madame Pomfrey had said.

"You will accept it!" The healer shouted. "Merlin, do you know how hard it was to get you in?"

"Um excuse me," Daphne interjected. "What's going on?"

Madame Pomfrey scowled. "Your boyfriend here is refusing my offer to get his lung regrown at St. Mungos.

"I can't afford to pay you back Madame! And I'm not her boyfriend!"

"Bah, don't change the subject," Pomfrey said, waving her hand. "It's done, all paid for. If you don't go, the money I paid will be lost. So don't worry about the money. It's my gift to you."

"Madame…" Harry muttered. He awkwardly rubbed the back of his head, looking down. "I…I don't know what to say."

"Well you can do me a small favor then."

Madame Pomfrey paused for second, causing Harry and Daphne to look at the healer expectantly.

"Call me Poppy," she finally said. "Both of you."

Harry and Daphne both tilted their heads, not exactly sure why she was asking that. When Madame Pomfrey saw their head tilt, she went on to explain.

"Merlin knows how hard it is for a woman my age to be called 'madame' all the time," she complained. "And besides, I'll be seeing a lot more of you Daphne, and by extension you as well Harry. Make an old woman like me feel a bit younger, would you?"

Hearing Pomfrey's explanation made Daphne giggle. Harry looked a bit nervous but still chuckled a bit awkwardly.

"Okay…Poppy," Daphne said, with a grin. Daphne then turned to Harry and crossed her arms, doing her best to give him a stern look.

"Now, Poppy has given you a very nice gift, Harry. What do we do after accepting it?"

Harry just stared at her incredulously. Daphne was laughing internally but still kept her best stern face on.

"Well?" She pressed.

"Thank you…Poppy." Harry said, through gritted teeth.

Poppy's laughter boomed throughout the hospital wing. "It's nothing, dear. They should be ready for you in about a month. Just keep up with your potions and try to avoid getting any more injuries."

Harry just nodded, and Poppy took it as a sign that everything was alright. She moved towards the exit and motioned for them to leave.

"Now, off with the two of you. Dinner's in 10 minutes, and I do want the both of you to get your nutrients. Shoo!"

Daphne and Harry eagerly hurried out of the doors, hearing that dinner was about to be served.

"See you, Poppy!"

"Thank you!"

"And remember to see me tomorrow evening, Daphne!" Poppy shouted, calling after them.

＊＊＊

Harry's mood had drastically increased. He excitedly went on about how he was finally getting his lung back. Daphne just smiled, glad that he would finally start to get better.

They met up with Penelope outside the great hall after greedily devouring as much as they could. She just raised her eyebrow when she saw them slowly trekking towards her, patting their stomachs and yawning.

"I assume dinner was good?" Penelope asked dryly.

Her only response from the 2 hungry eaters were a set of grunts.

Penelope just let out a sigh and beckoned them to follow her.

They followed Penelope through the castle, eventually leading up to 7 sets of stairs. They finally reached a corridor, where Penelope just started pacing back and forth.

"Uh Penny?" Harry started asking. "What are you doing?"

"Shhh!" Penny hissed. "Give me a second!"

Harry looked a bit taken aback, so he just stayed quiet.

After a few minutes, a door suddenly appeared which caused Harry and Daphne to jump.

"Woah! Where did that come from?" Daphne shouted.

Penelope just came behind them and pushed them forward through the door. She quickly ran in front of them once they were inside, and spread her arms.

"Welcome, to the Room of Requirement!" Penelope exclaimed.

What they saw inside made their jaws drop.

The room was fairly large and open. A fireplace was built into the wall in front of them. A living room area was to their right, with a few sofas and a table, with books stacked on it. To their left was something similar to a training ground, with armored dummies lined against the wall.

Penelope excitedly moved to the living area and picked up a book, quickly flipping through it.

"Penny, would you mind explaining where we are?" Harry asked.

"I told you, Room of Requirement." Penelope said, as if that explained everything.

"Right…but what exactly is this room?"

Penelope blinked for a second before slapping a hand to her forehead.

"Oh! Sorry, I forgot to explain huh?" Penelope apologized. "Me and Percy found this room last year while we explored the school. Apparently, it only appears when you're in desperate need of something - turning into whatever kind of room that's needed. And…I'm in desperate need of a place to teach you guys!"

"How often do you and Percy use this room?" Daphne asked.

"Pretty often."

"So, what type of room do you usually have it turned into?"

"You…are too young to know."

Daphne just looked at her weirdly before shrugging and decided she didn't want to know. The girl was definitely weird at times and Daphne definitely wasn't in a hurry to know what she did in her own time with her boyfriend.

After Penelope finished skimming through the book, she had Daphne and Harry head over to the training ground.

From there, she told them to show off whatever spells they knew.

Daphne showed off a few first-year spells, including the rope binding spell from yesterday.

Harry was a different matter. He verbally said the spells but just made hand motions to send them out.

Penelope just stared in amazement at what Harry could do. At one point, Daphne was sure that Penelope was drooling.

It did make her a bit uncomfortable seeing Penelope's reaction. Who was she to drool over HER Harry anyways?

"That's amazing! How fast can you cast? Is there a limit? Do you feel tired? Show me another spell!"

Penelope was bombarding Harry with questions in which he just stood there awkwardly trying to answer them. Not that she gave him a chance to say anything.

After a few minutes, Penelope calmed down. She was still excited but managed to speak somewhat normally to the two of them. In her hands was a notebook where she had begun noting everything Harry did.

"Okay, Harry," Penelope started. "How many more spells do you think you can actually cast?"

Harry was breathing heavily at this point. He had casted a fair number of spells and started to feel the toll on his body,

"May…be…3 more…tops…" Harry panted.

Penelope nodded and began making more notes. "Okay, I think that's enough for now."

She placed down her notes and began her teaching.

"Harry, every spell you cast makes you increasingly tired, correct?"

"Yeah…"

"And we tried having you use your wand, but you couldn't really produce much…"

Penelope turned to Daphne and began to explain Daphne's performance.

"Your spells are powerful," Penelope said. "But unrefined, Daphne. You're just throwing them out for the sake of it. No matter how much power they have, it's not going to matter if they don't hit."

"Not to mention you're wasting a lot more energy than needed, just for one simple spell."

At this point, Penelope had conjured a drawing board with the room's magic. The board had a picture of the human body and various notes on it. She ordered the first years in front of her to sit down on chairs, in which she had room conjure as well.

"Do the two of you know what a magical core is?" Penelope suddenly asked.

Harry and Daphne both respectively shook their heads. Seeing this, Penelope went on to explain,

"A magical core is something all witches and wizards have. It is the source of our magic and power."

She pointed on the board where the abdomen was.

"Your magic doesn't come from your wand," she explained. "All of it comes from the core. The wand is merely a tool - a catalyst if you would, to project that magic. Your strength doesn't come from the wand - rather it comes from you."

"…"

"…"

"Um Penny?" Daphne interjected. "Aren't we supposed to learn this in class? I thought you would teach us spells."

Penelope groaned in annoyance.

"Yes! You're going to learn this stuff. In your 6th year!" Penelope complained. "The teachers here are incredibly slow, and most of the time they'd rather have you learn the history or the applications for the spells. What I'm teaching you is crucial knowledge that should be learned from the beginning."

Daphne frowned at one of the things she said. "Wait, aren't you a fifth year, Penny? How do you even know about this stuff?"

"I'm a Ravenclaw."

"Huh?"

"Anyways…" Penny stretched, trying to change the subject. "My point is that the best way to improve your magic is to practice and get your body used to it - or rather your core. So, I'm going to show you two how to manage your magic."

She then vanished the chairs Harry and Daphne were sitting on, causing them to stumble onto the ground, earning complaints from them.

"Now, we'll actually get started." Penelope smirked evilly

＊＊＊

Penelope had them attack her both at once.

Their spells merely bounced off of her or completely missed. Penelope had shown them her arsenal of spells, performing each one of them flawlessly.

The two first years just stood there tiredly, but Penelope wasn't done. She began making small improvements on both their casting, pointing out different motions to make and adjusting their stances.

An hour later, Harry and Daphne were being dragged by Penelope back to Ravenclaw tower.

"See you two Friday night!"

She immediately took off after making sure they were back in. They didn't even get a chance to ask where she was going.

Harry and Daphne collapsed on the common room sofa. They were both too exhausted to make their way back to their room, so they just laid there.

"She really…made us do all that…huh," Daphne panted.

"Yeah…she's…a slave driver…."

After a few minutes, they were finally able to sit up, no longer feeling as tired as they did.

Daphne glanced over at Harry. His mood seemed to be getting better, but she still wasn't sure if he really got over what happened earlier today with his mom.

But she needed to ask. They couldn't just leave it hanging like that. They never did, especially with something as important as this.

Besides, Friday was their training session with Penelope, the same time as his detention. Mentioning it now would kill 2 birds with one stone,

"Harry, we should remember to tell Penelope about Friday," Daphne said. "And I'll ask for the schedule with my apprenticeship.

Harry just frowned. "We don't need to tell her about Friday."

"What do you mean? It would be rude if we missed it without telling her."

"I'm not going."

"You're not going to detention?"

"No," he said curtly.

"Harry, if you don't go, you'll get in trouble," Daphne argued. "Besides, she's still your mom. Maybe she does have another side you haven't heard about."

Harry scowled. "She's not my mom!" He snapped. "She lies, that's what she does! She manipulates people! All she cares about is being hailed as ``the mother of the boy who lived'!"

"Harry…just give it a shot…" Daphne pleaded. "If you don't attend, they'll make it tough for you! And what if they expel you?

"Come on, Daphne, stop bringing this up. I don't want to talk about it."

"This is important! We can't just leave it hanging! You know we always talk about things - especially something important such as this!"

"WELL I DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT!" Harry roared.

"So when?" Daphne snapped. "I've given you all day, already. How much longer then?"

"Never."

Daphne let out a groan of frustration. She jumped up from the seat and started pacing, glaring angrily at Harry.

"Staring at me won't change my mind," he said.

"UGH! You're just so stubborn!" Daphne shouted at him. "If you don't like her, fine! But don't you care about your education? We worked so damn hard to get here, and you'll just throw it away because of some family drama!"

At this point Harry stood up as well. His face was red with fury and he shot right back at her.

"My family drama-" Harry growled. "-was my dad constantly telling me I was worthless! My mom ignoring me in favor of my brother! Being locked up and starved! What do you know about 'family drama'?"

"I KNOW THAT MY FAMILY IS DEAD!"

Silence.

Daphne averted her eyes and her head hung low.

"My parents are dead." She said hoarsely. "Gone. A-a-and you! Yo-yo-your mom! She's alive!"

Her voice was barely audible at this point. It was just a low whisper, so quiet that one would have to be incredibly close just to hear.

"I would've given anything for her to come back," Daphne croaked. "Even if she came back a monster, I would at least have my mom."

"Daphne…"

But he didn't get the chance to even say anything, nor be able to grab her hand.

Because Daphne had already left.

A/N: Yeah, I'm not mean enough to leave a full week before the next update. Hence, why I pushed myself to get 2 chapters out this week, albeit a shorter chapter for this one. Again, next update this Saturday (basically my same upload schedule).

I did say, (many many) chapters ago that Harry and Daphne were both the same in so many ways, yet also different. This is what I mentioned coming into play.

No, they don't appeal the detention because A) they don't trust the adults B) They don't exactly have a good relationship with Flitwick C) They probably don't even know they could appeal it.

Pomfrey will soon have her reason on why she decides to help them.

I shall say no more, as the next chapter will be more important. Consider this a bonus/teaser chapter.

Also, I will probably not be reading reviews for this chapter until the next one is published (because I don't want any outside influences/bias while I'm finishing it up).

Thanks for reading!