The Consequences of Poor Planning
Harry became aware that he was conscious before he was able to do anything about it. His head hurt, his whole body was sore, and he was still too tired to open his eyes even a crack; but he could hear.
"... And you have no idea why it is returning so quickly?" Harry focused on the headmaster, who seemed to be talking with Madam Pomfrey, "It has only been three days now."
"About the same length of time he was out after the Troll." The hospital matron replied, "I can't explain it. His magic is replenishing at the rate of someone half as strong as he is, I just don't understand how this is possible."
"Replenishing too fast?" Harry thought to himself, "Half? What?" That was a mistake, as his head pounded harder at trying to actually think about something, and he fell back into unconsciousness.
Some time later, Harry couldn't tell how long, he regained consciousness. His headache was no longer excruciating, just a dull throb. Trying to crack his eyes resulted in a shock of pain, so he screwed them back shut and focussed on breathing for the moment. As he did, the events that led to him being in this much discomfort came back to him. With a strangled cry he jerked almost upright in the bed before falling back on his side and vomiting fluids.
"Mister Potter! Oh my! Please stay down!" Madam Pomfrey admonished him as she ran over to his bed and used her wand to vanish the mess he'd made.
"Oohh." Harry moaned as he clutched the sides of his head and covered his ears.
"I'm sorry Harry." The matron spoke much more softly, "If you are going to stay awake I need to get your Aunt and the Headmaster. Are you alright?"
With all the control he could muster, Harry nodded his head once; which made him feel like he was going to hurl again.
"There's a bin right in front of you," she continued, conjuring the receptacle beside his bed and renewing the patient governance spell that kept Harry from accidentally rolling off before running a battery of diagnostic spells, "in case your stomach is still in rebellion. I shall return momentarily, there is a charm on your bed that will let me hear if you call for me."
For a time after the matron departed, Harry spent his whole focus on breathing without throwing up again. His stomach felt empty, so he knew it would just be painful dry-retching if he did.
I killed someone… Harry could still remember the screams from Professor Quirrell as whatever was happening when Harry touched him burned the man and melted his skin.
~Harry, are you well?~ Harry heard Najash nearby, probably on the bed with him, ~Do not worry. The False Speaker did not poison you again.~
~I'm sorry Najash.~ Harry replied. ~I… I can't be a healer now, can I? The professor… I killed him,~ Harry recalled now the cutting spell that he had cast before tackling the Defense instructor, ~I tried to kill him. With that spell.~
~A healer's purpose is to take pain away.~ Najash answered after a moment of silence, ~The False Speaker is a great poison, Harry, a plague. A plague brings pain wherever it goes.~
When Harry made no act to answer, Najash continued, ~You do not bring pain, Harry. The one who served the False Speaker was already in pain. Dying.~
~He was already dying?~ Harry couldn't help but ask.
~He allowed the False Speaker to poison him.~ The serpent explained, ~He chose his death. He would have died as soon as the False Speaker left him.~
"Ha-Mister Potter," came the Headmaster's voice, it sounded like someone had bopped him or something when he tried to call Harry by his first name, "how are you feeling?"
When Harry didn't answer, he asked again, "I heard you speaking with your familiar when I came in. Are you alright? Your Aunt is on her way."
"I'm a little better now, professor." Harry answered quietly, Dumbledore was talking much louder than he needed to, "Najash was setting me straight."
"Well, I was hoping you could tell me a little of what happened between you and Quirrell. Your-"
"It was Voldemort." Harry hissed as he cracked his eyes again and fought to bring the room into some semblance of focus. It was hard without his glasses, but he could make out two fuzzy shapes that he assumed were Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey, "Professor Quirrell had him growing out of the back of his head or something. It was nasty."
"Miss Granger and Mister Dursley told us their respective tales the night that it happened, three days ago." Dumbledore admitted, "All of the other students involved are fine, Dudley and Justin are both unharmed. But Miss Granger could only understand some of what was said between you and Voldemort. If you are up to it, I was hoping you could enlighten me."
"I am sure that that can wait until his guardian arrives." Madam Pomfrey interjected, "We shouldn't push him yet, anyways. How are you feeling? Would you like some water?"
"... Sore...," Harry answered slowly, "like I pulled every muscle in my body."
"I was afraid of that." She replied, trying to keep any sound of pity out of her voice, "I have a potion here that will help with the soreness, if you think you can keep it down."
While Harry allowed himself to be elevated by pillows so he could take the potion, Petunia and Professor Mcgonagall were making their way into the Hospital Wing.
"His rate of recovery is incredibly abnormal." The professor explained to Petunia, "Considering how beat up he was, less than five days should not be enough time for his magic to have recuperated; but Poppy's scans tell her that he's approaching what we believe to be his normal range. His body is much slower to recover, by comparison. Which is understandable this time, as there wasn't any particular potion or spell that could be used to fix that until he can tell us more about what happened to him."
"I still don't understand that at all." Petunia answered, "Hermione said that Harry's touch was like fire against the possessed professor. The only thing that makes sense is the protection Lily left on him, but..."
"Hopefully we will be able to learn more today."
"Why are you already here?" Petunia asked of the headmaster when they entered the Wing, quickly brushing past him to grab Harry's hand. Realizing that her volume was painful to her nephew, she spoke softer when she continued, "I thought we agreed that we would call you in after I had spoken to Harry?"
"I just wanted to save time by being here." Dumbledore placated, "I knew you wouldn't tarry."
"Urgh." She groaned before turning back to Harry, "Remus and Sirius will be here in a few minutes Harry. How are you feeling?"
"'Kay." He mumbled, "Dudley and Hermione?"
"They are fine. In class at the moment, I would assume." His aunt answered, "Now, ''Kay' is not an answer to my question. How are you feeling?"
"'M sore." He answered after a pause, "Headache."
"If you think you can keep it down, Mister Potter, I have a potion for the headache." Madam Pomfrey offered, "Severus has spent the last day brewing an extra strength muscle soother for your soreness. It should be ready by lunchtime today, which is just as well since it needs to be taken with a meal."
Despite the headache relief potion, Harry's head was pounding when Padfoot and Moony entered the Hospital Wing. Neither had the presence of mind for an inside voice, and Madam Pomfrey had to threaten to kick them out to quiet them down. Once the five adults were gathered around Harry, with the Matron hovering just outside them watching her patient like a hawk, he began giving his version of the events under the trapdoor.
Since they had already heard most of it, he was asked to start at the moment he saw Quirrell returning on the Map. Instead, he began at the moment he bolted from the classroom they used to exercise in. He explained that in the moment he was just so worried about Dudley that he didn't even think that he needed a teacher and apologized to Professor Mcgonagall, in particular, for not thinking to go to her after everything she'd done to help him and his family so far.
"Be that as it may," Petunia argued, "you should still have kept your head about you. I'm glad that you love Dudley, but that doesn't mean I would want you to trade yourself for him. I know you don't want to hear it, but you will be grounded for the first couple of weeks of summer vacation."
"I understand." He answered. Clearly shocking Sirius who, while certainly worried and angry, still expected his godson to defend his adventure.
Continuing, Harry explained about the interaction between Najash and Voldemort, earning a barking laugh from Sirius and Remus both. Even Dumbledore pensively chuckled as Harry described Najash telling the Dark Lord off.
"Bet that put the fear of Merlin in him." Sirius finally said through his final chuckles, "Old snakeface probably has nightmares about his own pets attacking him after that."
"Well, it definitely psyched him out." Harry answered, his voice gradually getting stronger as he no longer had to fight with a headache, "But I was still stuck between him and the exit, and he knew I was there, so I… uh…"
"I would like to ask about the spell you cast." Dumbledore spoke into Harry's prolonged silence, "It seems, based on Miss Granger's description, to have been a rather violent curse. I was wondering where you learned something like that so young?"
"From Tina." Harry answered without thinking, causing Petunia and Remus to gasp in shock before he explained, "Well, I got the idea from her rather. She said she repaired a plate one time without knowing the spell because she knew that it was possible. Professor Sprout said we would learn a charm for cutting plants eventually, so I just imagined how I thought that would work and did it. I said 'Cut' in Parseltongue since I didn't know the real incantation or anything."
"Are you sure that… that spell was necessary in the situation?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring the glares he was receiving from the other adults, "If all you wanted was for him to leave you, why did you open with a spell that would have undoubtedly been lethal had it connected?"
"Given the circumstances-" Professor Mcgonagall began, only to stop when Harry defended himself.
"Professor Quirrell was basically dead already, right?" Harry returned the Headmaster's question with a question, "Or, he would be dead as soon as Voldemort left him?"
"Er," Dumbledore's eyes widened, "yes but. How did you know that? To be honest, Mister Potter, I expected you to be more affected by what transpired that night."
"Najash told me." Harry replied, "When I woke up I was freaking out because of that spell. But he told me what would happen when Voldemort and Quirrell split up. I agree with Najash, Quirrell he…"
"I understand." Dumbledore answered.
"I wasn't thinking the clearest." Harry admitted, "I just knew I had to protect Hermione and Ron and wasn't sure how to make Volde-Quirrell leave. I wasn't trying to kill him, but I'm glad my friends are okay."
"Wait… Volde-Quirrell?" Sirius asked, breaking into a fit of laughter again with Remus chuckling along, "Oh Merlin I wish there was some way to call him that to his face."
"You don't need to explain anything about that, Harry." Petunia comforted him, pointedly ignoring the antics of his two uncles, "Besides, by that point you knew that it was old 'Mort. There was no question that you were in real danger."
Remus broke when she called the Dark Lord 'Old 'Mort,' doubling over and laughing into the back of his fist. Mcgonagall was composed enough to release nothing more than a single polite chuckle at the pair of marauders, but Dumbledore huffed.
"He may have fallen before his end, but Professor Quirrell still spent many years doing good work here at Hogwarts." He said patronizingly, "I would prefer if we didn't make light of his death, even if we all agree no one here was to blame."
"Yes," Petunia agreed, stifling her own mirth "you're right. I'm sorry, that is in a bit poor taste."
"When can I get out of here?" Harry asked, earning a warning hiss from Najash when he tried to sit up further.
~You are not well yet!~
~Sorry. I was just asking how long the healer thought it would be.~
"Harry?" Aunt Petunia asked him.
"Najash was telling me off for trying to get up too soon." He answered, "Sorry."
"Well," Madam Pomfrey repeated, "At the very least, you won't be leaving until tomorrow. But that is only if you are able to walk today, something I am not letting you try until this evening."
"Was there anything else you wanted to talk to Harry about, Headmaster?" Petunia asked the man, "We would like some time alone with Harry if that is alright."
"Well, I supposed not." He admitted, "Though I expected Mister Potter, or yourself, to have more questions for me."
"What about the Philosopher's Stone?" Harry asked, "What's Mister Flamel going to do with it now?"
"Alas, the Stone was destroyed in the magical backlash that occurred between yourself and Voldemort." Dumbledore answered, "I have informed Nicholas, and he and his wife have decided that they have enough Elixir of LIfe to get their affairs in order. To well organized minds such as theirs, death is just the next great adventure."
Harry's expression made it clear he didn't share the sentiment.
"Did you have any other questions?" He asked once it was clear that Harry wasn't trying to respond.
The look Harry gave both his Aunt and the Marauders made Albus uneasy, but then the boy looked back at him and gently shook his head 'no,' leaving the Headmaster with nothing to do but leave gracefully. On his way out, he pondered the implications of Harry not being curious as to the reason behind Voldemort's obsession with him.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Can you share what made you so worried, Albus?" Minerva asked. After Harry's family left for the day, she had made a straight path for the Headmaster's office. The rest were too focused on Harry to tell, but something about the situation had Albus suspicious, and she could tell. She'd offered small talk, and given him Poppy's final verdict that Harry wouldn't be leaving that night, but now she wanted an answer.
"At first," He answered while watching his small familiar struggle around on its perch, "I was worried over the strength and nature of the spell young Harry threw at Quirrell. I was going to ask him about it, only for him to react in the way he did. I was worried that he did not seem to care that he had attempted to take a life." The Transfiguration Professor scoffed at that, but he continued, "Then, when he said that Najash told him that it was not really murder, I was worried anew. That sort of utilitarian view is unbecoming."
"I do not know about that." Mcgonagall returned, "Was it true about possession? Would You-Know-Who leaving him have killed Quirrell anyway?"
"Yes."
"But how would Najash know that?" She questioned, "Has he demonstrated any such knowledge before?"
"I have not really taken the time to test the creature's knowledge of magic," Albus confessed, "At least, I haven't outside of his knowledge of elements and potions. It never even crossed my mind because Harry explained early in the year about how he and Najash would brew together. I just assumed it stemmed from that."
"Well, whatever is going through your mind," Minerva asserted as she made to leave, "I do not think for a minute that Harry's actions were in any way uncalled-for. I am also pleased that someone was there to keep him from panicking when he woke up, even if that someone was a snake."
After she departed, Albus was left watching Fawkes eye him. The phoenix didn't seem to have any problem with Najash at all, nor Harry; but that didn't line up with Albus' suspicions around the pair. For now, he would trust the bird's judgement.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Hey!" Dudley called, "Do you two want to join us and study? Exams are only a couple weeks away."
"Uh." Vincent Crabbe's eyes were wide as saucers, unsure how to answer.
"Don't mean to be rude but…Draco sorta let slip that you guy's grades aren't the best." Dudley said, turning towards Goyle, "You should revise with us. Harry's the best at helping with practical stuff, and between Draco, Padma, and Hermione I think we have the three most organized revisors in the school."
"Oldest Weasley." Goyle muttered with a smirk, ignoring the kick Crabbe sent him under the table.
"Pfft." Dudley laughed, "Yeah, okay, he's probably the most organized person in the whole school."
"Malfoy wanted us to stay away." Crabbe argued.
"Draco doesn't decide that for our whole group." Dudley fired back before turning back to Goyle and lowering his voice, "Hey, my mum told me that your sister got the Wolfstar Foundation scholarship, you don't wanna have classes with her next year do you?"
Both of the Slytherins looked terrified of that, "Sorry, low blow." Dudley added, "But really, Draco won't have a problem with you joining us. He took you back to Flying Class specifically so Harry could get a look at your broomwork." Probably not the actual reason, if Dudley were to ask him, but he wasn't about to tell them that.
"I don't need this." Crabbe muttered a couple hours later as he held his head and smacked it against the desk repeatedly while Granger's back was turned, "My dad said I would pass if I listened to Malfoy and Nott, I don't need this."
"You'll be more helpful if I don't have to explain everything four times, Crabbe. I wager Nott would agree." Malfoy hissed at him from down the table, shutting him up.
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
When Harry was released from the hospital the fanfare and celebration was short lived. The same morning he rejoined the rest of the school for breakfast the Daily Prophet's front page headline read "Quidditch Tragedy: Bulgarian Seeker Rendered Comatose Attempting 'Potter Play!'" Never before had the attitude of the student body changed so much so quickly. As the paper was delivered, the sound level in the Hall noticeably lowered until anyone speaking could be heard by all around.
According to the Prophet's sports liaison, the Seeker for one of the top Bulgarian teams attempted to do the same thing that Harry did in his game against Hufflepuff. The only problem was that professional Quidditch was much faster, and with none of the room for error that school games had. The Seeker had made a few passes with the Bludger when he decided to try Harry's 'Curve Ball" technique, as named by the article. He hadn't given the iron ball enough space before he pulled his broom vertical, and the Bludger domed him straight on top of the head while he was stalling.
Several people who read the paper while eating were forced to run from the Hall to the bathroom due to the graphic descriptions of the damage done to the man. His skull was fractured and partially collapsed; and it seemed that he would never be able to function normally again even if he did wake up some time in the future. The article ended with a statement from the reserve Seeker who stepped up to finish the game, even going on to catch the Snitch for his injured teammate.
"It is sad that this has happened. But, I have already heard people blame Harry Potter for this. No, it was not Potter's fault! He has shown a dangerous oversight in the game of Quidditch. This must be fixed, so there is not another Blynski."
-Statement by Victor Kurm, Reserve Seeker, Translated into English
"This is why we were so angry, Harry!" Angelina told him with fire in her voice once he'd had time to read the paper, "You and the Twins almost gave us a heart attack that day. When you did that the Bludger was only a few inches from your head!"
"Aunt Petunia is going to be angry at you all over again." Hermione remarked.
"Just great." Harry grumbled. There was a faction in the school that hadn't been happy to see him back that morning, even before the Owl Post was delivered. Hermione and Dudley had told him about them the previous evening, when he'd finally been allowed to have visitors besides his uncles and aunt.
That group was mostly Slytherins, but also contained a subset of students who believed the rumoured version of the confrontation with Quirrell over the official statement by Dumbledore. Unfortunately, the rumour in question was started by an unknown individual who observed the Headmaster apparate into the Hogwarts Entrance Hall and rush towards the third floor, and claimed to have followed him. The way it was told, Harry was attempting some form of Dark Magic he'd learned from Sirius and Quirrell had given his life to stop it. That the official story was remarkably similar, just in reverse, didn't help matters.
"I promise I won't do anything like that again." Harry told the three Chasers on his team, all of whom had been shooting glares at him since the Prophet arrived, "I'm sticking with just helping you three. My aunt said if I did something like that again she'd ground me until I graduated."
"That game is next weekend too," Katie Bell added, "Are you going to be allowed to fly?"
"Madam Pomfrey said I'm clear to fly starting tomorrow." He replied, "So I'll even make the last practise before the game, too."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Welcome back, Harry." Padma waved to him when he entered the library for their study session, a little late due to Quidditch.
"Hey," He replied, "how are you guys coming? What are you working on now?"
"Harry." Dudley called, sounding just as distressed as Malfoy did when he echoed with,
"Potter!"
"Yeah?"
"You have to get her under control." Draco hissed as he grabbed Harry's shoulder and took him over to where Hermione was talking to several other students.
"She's driving people nutters man," Dudley added, "can you get her to tone it down?"
"Harry!" Hermione, Parvati, and, interestingly, Greg Goyle all cried when they saw him; garnering a glare and a warning from the librarian, Madam Pince. Harry could tell at once what Dudley and Draco meant. While Hermione was excited to see him, the other two looked relieved. The stacks of books on the table, and Hermione's animated conversation prior to noticing him, meant that she was being overly pushy and going mental over their exams.
"Hey guys, what are you studying?" Harry asked while looking down at the parchment and books they had spread out. While Parvati told him what subject they were on, Hermione left and returned with more books from the nearby shelves, "Uh, Hermione… I don't think more books are going to help if they didn't get it by reading."
While Hermione seemed to understand what he meant, though she still grumbled about not being prepared enough, Goyle sighed dejectedly and stood up in a huff.
"Wait, stay." Harry insisted, "That came out wrong. What I meant is you need someone to explain it to you in a way you can understand. Let me take a look here and see if I can help."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Yes Dan, I just got off the line with Timothy. I'm just as disgusted as you." Vernon answered the irate man on the other end of the tele, "Forget attaching Harry's name to this, how could they print something this explicit; and with photos?"
"Is that the Grangers?" Petunia asked as she returned from the sink, her voice still shaky from spitting up her tea at seeing the graphic depictions in the paper. There was a moving photograph that cut off less than a second before the Bulgarian was struck by the Bludger; the speed of the ball left no question that it had done significant damage, even if there wasn't a full write-up.
"Yes dear, apparently Hermione never told them about Harry's last Quidditch game." He answered before returning to his call, "Sorry. Give me a moment." Then back to his wife, "I'm explaining what it's about. We need to ask Remus or Sirius if we can keep them from using Harry's name like that anymore, though."
"I've half a mind to ground him again, and kick Remus' arse." Petunia grumbled, "What part of' comatose with brain injuries' is acceptable risk for a bloody sport?"
"He's got to be feeling terrible as well, love." Vernon replied, wincing at her use of profanity. After almost losing both their boys only a few nights ago, this was clearly just one thing too much for her composure, "I think we should write to him and make sure he's alright, and make sure he knows you'll be there for his next game."
"Am I still allowed to threaten him if he does something like that again?"
"Absolutely love." He answered while folding up the paper so the offending images wouldn't be visible, "I would expect nothing less."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"You sure you want to fly with Potter up there?" Marcus Flint loudly asked a Chaser on the Ravenclaw team the morning of the final game, "You might find a Bludger in your skull. Hooch should've banned him after the last game."
That wasn't the only comment made that morning, either. Several students, from all four houses, held similar opinions; and had been expressing them for almost a week. Some were worried that Harry would make the game dangerous, while others still complained about him playing in a non-standard fashion. The latter group was mostly Slytherins.
None of that was going to keep Harry from doing his best to enjoy the game. His teammates had forgiven him, and Aunt Petunia had promised that she, Moony, and Padfoot would all be there to cheer him on again. The only thing that would be different this game is that he wouldn't be trying to find any new way to mess with the game, especially since his ultimate goal of better regulation was already being talked about. He had even written a letter of thanks to the reserve Seeker who'd given a statement in defense of Harry after the incident left him to finish the game.
The game against Ravenclaw, the final game of the year, was without a doubt the closest and most intense for the Gryffindors as well. Having seen Harry fly with the Chasers twice now, the Ravenclaws were properly ready to counter him, by having their own Seeker play fourth Chaser as well.
"Goal for Ravenclaw!" Lee Jordan shouted from the announcer stand, "And what an incredible play! Wood will need to watch out for an extra shooter from now on!"
Ravenclaw's Seeker, a seventh year, was a Chaser for his first two years of play; and was much more competent at handling the Quaffle than Harry. He had thrown the ball straight at the hoops, something Wood wasn't expecting. Since he wasn't actually able to score, and Katie was right there, Wood shouted to her to catch it behind the goals. But Roger Davies had flown straight up from below, catching the Quaffle from behind with only a dozen feet to go, and finished the throw into the hoop, uncontested.
"That was like an Alley Oop from basketball." Dudley said excitedly to a clueless Neville, down in the stands.
"Yeah, but now Ravenclaw is even further ahead." Parvati added from behind them, "I bet Padma a Galleon that we would win. Harry better catch the Snitch."
Up in the air, Harry was doing his best to help Katie and Angelina score again while Alicia was out of position when he saw a glint of gold near the ground. He already had the Quaffle flying his way, so he didn't have time to do anything about it, but Harry recalled Uncle Moony's warning that school Snitches were designed to stop every now and then when not being pursued. If both he and the Ravenclaw Seeker were playing fourth Chaser, then shouldn't the Snitch should intentionally show itself periodically?
Realizing that the other Seeker had also fallen into the trap of focusing too much on Chasing, Harry resolved to try and bring the game around while he figured out if the Snitch had some sort of internal timer. While he wasn't able to throw the Quaffle with as much strength or accuracy as his 'Claw counterpart, Harry was at least able to disrupt his additions to their plays; and after another fifteen minutes he had seen the Snitch stop three times.
About twenty minutes after the first time he'd seen the Snitch, Harry abruptly broke from the Chaser formation towards where it should be if it followed the pattern, but he instead found the golden ball to be flying around on almost the opposite side of the Pitch.
Of course! Harry almost lost his grip on his broom laughing at his mistake while Ravenclaw scored again, putting them sixty points ahead. For five more minutes Harry played the hardest defense he had ever flown, denying two shots by Davies and setting up a chance to score for Alicia, but here was his moment.
Harry broke again, pulling towards the direction that he felt the Snitch would stop, and signalled for the Quaffle to be passed to him. Though he wasn't in position for any of their plays, Katie still threw it to him; and after catching it Harry zoomed towards the Gryffindor stands. With Alicia and Angelina following behind him, he threw the Quaffle backwards just as the Snitch came to a stop only a couple dozen feet away. It didn't even get a chance to start moving again before he'd caught it and pulled out of his charge, almost buzzing the side of the stands as he bled his speed away.
"Potter catches the Snitch! Gryffindor wins four-hundred to three!" Jordan shouted.
"Mister Potter, how did you do that?" Madam Hooch asked as soon as they had landed, stepping close enough that she could ask privately, "You didn't use wandless magic to stop the Snitch did you?"
"No ma'am." Harry answered, handing the golden ball to her, "It was just predictable."
"What!" Roger shouted as the Ravenclaw's Seeker stormed off to their locker after hearing that, "Are you kidding me?"
"Uh. I mean."
"There is no tampering on the Snitch." Madam Hooch announced, looking up from it, "So you don't have to explain it to them; but I would like to know, if you don't mind."
"When Uncle Moony and I talked about playing fourth Chaser he warned me that the Snitch in school games was designed to stop every now and then if no one was close to finding it." Harry explained, "I saw it stop a few times and timed it. I assume it's because neither Seeker was looking for it, but it was really predictable."
"What even made you think to do that?" One of the Weasley twins asked while the other one said, "That was a good show, mate."
"Video games." Harry answered, "A lot of stuff in video games is all about patterns. I'm not that great at it to be honest, but the Snitch was pretty simple when I was looking out for it. I actually tried five minutes ago, but it figured me out. That's why I broke formation with the Quaffle that last time."
"I will bring that up with the School Board." Madam Hooch said, shaking her head in frustration, "You are going to make me retire, Mister Potter. Gaming the settings of the balls isn't technically against the rules, but still."
"Can we focus on exams now? Please?" Hermione asked as soon as she and the rest of Harry's family made it down to the Pitch.
"No! No!" Dudley shouted, triggering Petunia to chuckle, "If you add one more thing to the revision schedule I'm getting you banned from the library!"
"And I'll help." Harry added, "I'm sure a junior Marauder could do it without even getting caught."
Hermione responded with a few inarticulate sounds of indignation before she turned to Petunia for support, "Don't look at me, dear." She smirked, "We told you last year that you didn't need to worry so much over the end of grades. Just because these are magical doesn't mean you should do much different when studying."
o0-0oo0-0oo0-0oo0-0o
"Why did you see fit to inform Amelia of what transpired that night?" Dumbledore asked Remus Lupin once the man had gotten seated in his office, "She gave me quite the earful yesterday evening. I thought we agreed we were not advertising the truth of what-"
"To the students, sure," Sirius interrupted, "but what were you thinking not involving the DMLE?"
"I was thinking I did not want to get Cornelius involved just yet." The Headmaster explained, "He does not react to stress, nor conflict, very well. If he gets wind of this, without concrete proof, he will actively interfere with us simply because he does not wish it to be true."
"Amelia actually agreed with you." Sirius responded, "She's getting a few of her more trusted Aurors and having them start preliminary investigations into how You-Know-Who could have survived."
"I-"
"I am sure you have plenty of theories," Remus stopped him with a raised hand, "and we will want to hear them as well, in due time. But right now we have something else we want to ask about: a certain prophecy. Vernon and Petunia were content to let it lie for longer, but then what happened with Quirrell happened."
"Remus, my boy," Dumbledore exclaimed, eyes widening in shock before he composed himself again, "I'm afraid I can't just share that information with anyone. I'm sure you heard of it from something James or Lily left behind, but the wording of the prophecy is much too dangerous to be allowed to get out. Sirius, what if someone with ill intent tried to take the information from your mind?"
"Then only give me the full wording." Remus insisted, "Sirius can stand outside for a minute. I am a werewolf, you know that getting information out of me though Legilimency is a dangerous prospect, at best. I am not completely untrained in Occlumency, either. Even if the wolf makes holding traditional defensive shields up harder."
"I-" The Headmaster began to dissemble again, only to be interrupted this time by Fawkes trilling a series of calming sounds that washed over all three men in the room, "Alright. But only you, Remus, and you must be very diligent to not let anyone else know."
"I can agree with that." The werewolf answered, "I shall only give Sirius and Harry's family a basic interpretation rather than the exact words. Sufficient?"
Dumbledore nodded, "I will also contact Amelia again and schedule a time when I can share some of what I know and suspect that wouldn't be too troublesome getting out." He sighed and glanced between the two men, knowing that his next statement would sound like he was implicitly blaming them even if he wasn't, "After how the last war ended I have spent these past ten years convinced that I was going to have to figure everything out on my own. Getting new input could prove beneficial."
"Ten years without sharing anything?" Sirius asked, "At your age? No offense, but that's just poor planning."
AN: This chapter is later than I had hoped, but I have already begun the next, and last chapter of Book I as well. Hopefully that one will be ready around Christmas. But by this point we all know how bad I am with self-set schedules.
