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Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 12. 3rd Year, Part 3. 1993.
Hogwarts settled down over the next month. No new attacks occurred, though the students remained tense and jumpy. Mrs Norris even suffered a few hexes in the corridors as she appeared out of nowhere.
Harry sat in the Great Hall, having breakfast with his friends. Over the last few weeks, he had noticed an increase in the number of students watching him. He wondered if they blamed him in some way for the events in the school. Increasingly, Harry met a random student's gaze to find them staring at him with an intensity that sent shivers down his spine.
Hannah and Daphne sat opposite him, and he leaned forward in his seat.
'Hey guys, have you noticed any strange looks directed at you recently?' Harry asked, and kept his attention on the student staring at him from the corner of his eye.
Daphne narrowed her eyes and nodded, her gaze roamed around the students behind Harry.
'Yes, though they're not directed at us. From what I see, they're centred on you and Holly.' Daphne noted, her blue eyes cold as she looked past Harry.
'It is weird though.' Daphne trailed off, frowning.
Harry glanced toward the staff table and saw his father standing in front of Professor McGonagall, talking to her while they wore furtive expressions. His gaze roamed around the room, it fell on Neville, who looked pale while Hermione patted his back.
Hermione looked up and met his gaze. She gave him a long look and mouthed the word 'class' to him, and Harry nodded.
As his gaze moved on, he saw a dozen other students from different houses sending him intense stares. They weren't quite hostile, but they weren't normal either. With a shrug, he turned back to his meal, only to find his bacon missing.
Holly's giggling beside him identified the culprit.
In History of Magic, Harry sat beside Hermione. Twenty minutes into class and most of the students were fast asleep.
'Harry, I need your help.' Hermione asked and Harry nodded.
'Of course, I'll help. What's wrong?' he asked.
She sighed and bit her lip.
'Neville is freaking out. Everyone keeps asking him to solve the mystery.' She admitted, and Harry frowned.
'How can anyone expect him to do what the Aurors can't do?' Harry scoffed.
'They are telling him to back up his claims he made last year that the school is safe as long as he was here.' She said, and Harry covered a chuckle with a cough.
Hermione sighed.
'We've been trying to investigate, but what happened in the Great Hall that day has affected Neville. He's scared.' She admitted, and Harry ran a hand through his hair.
'Hermione, my dad is investigating. He's been here most days since then, and there haven't been any more attacks.' He said, and she stared at him.
Harry gave a heavy sigh.
'What do you expect of me? I'm still in school like you. What more use can I be than a trained Auror?' he asked.
She frowned.
'You're my friend. My first real friend. You're the boy who saved my life from a Troll, the one who killed a Basilisk with a sword.' She said, her warm chocolate eyes narrowed.
'Those were more luck than anything. You know that.' Harry said, his voice soft.
'Harry, you're special. We all know it.' She whispered, and Harry rubbed her back.
'It's okay Hermione, if I figure anything out, I'll get my dad to help.' Harry said with a small smile, and she nodded.
That evening after dinner, Harry retrieved his homework from his dorm.
A letter sat on his desk. As he drew closer, a grin crossed his face. Harry plucked the letter off the desk and looked at his name in neat loopy letters, a letter from Fleur.
He left his dorm with a few books and parchment to complete his charms assignment, and he sat down at a table with Susan and Hannah. The three took up the whole six-person table with all the books and parchment spread over it.
Susan eyed the letter on top of his books with a smile.
'So, how is Fleur going?' she asked, and Harry grinned. He plucked the letter from his book and skimmed over it again.
Dear Harry,
I did it! I created a set of mirrors, and they work better than I expected. Your mirror will be a part of your Christmas presents this year. I won't be able to see you this Christmas, however, as I will travel to the Veela enclaves in Bulgaria.
My Grandmother lives there, and I will stay with her over Christmas to learn how to better control the Allure.
I'm still being kept separate from the other students, so I feel like a prisoner, and, with my maturing form, my emotions are all over the place. However, the upside to the solitary confinement is that I have plenty of time to study.
Beauxbatons brought in a Veela tutor so I can keep up with the other students.
It is so strange Harry, before my maturation, no one wanted to talk to me. Now, all the boys almost attack me in their eagerness to possess me. The girls are even worse to me now in the few times I've seen them, they call me horrible names, and spread rumours about me.
The staff have confined me to my quarters ever since the first day back this semester.
I hope my tutor is right. She says I'll be able to re-join the other students by February.
What I want most, though, is to see you; you always make me feel better.
Love,
Fleur.
Harry smiled at Susan and Hannah, both waiting for his reply.
'She's having trouble with her maturation. She is lonely and is being kept separate from the other students until she can learn to control her Allure.' He said, and their faces fell.
'I won't be able to see her this Christmas either, she'll be in Bulgaria at the Veela enclaves, learning how to control the Allure. But she completed one of our projects, which is great.' Harry said and Susan gave a soft smile.
'I'm sorry we won't see her at Christmas. I think I'll send her a letter as well, try to cheer her up.' Susan said, and Hannah nodded beside her.
'I think I'll write to our Veela friend as well.' Hannah said.
'Thanks guys, I'm sure she would appreciate letters from the two of you. She doesn't have many friends.' He smiled at the two girls.
He cleared his throat.
'Okay, so what are we working on tonight? Charms, right?' he asked, and Susan chuckled.
'Yeah, that's it.' She said and pulled out her half complete assignment.
After an hour, they were finished for the night and moved to their rooms for bed.
Before going to sleep, Harry sat at his desk and wrote a reply to Fleur. He attached a copy of his latest notes about the mirrors in case they'd be helpful.
Letter complete, Harry locked up his desk, layering privacy and protection charms over each other and he activated some minor wards he'd been able to get working.
With that complete, he climbed into his bed, and used the same protections on his bed. There was someone using the Imperius curse hanging around the school. A little paranoia was warranted.
At least, that's what he told himself.
A week later and there'd been no further attacks by the time the students returned home for Christmas break.
James could not take the whole break off because of the events at Hogwarts, but the Potter family made the most of the time they had together.
Harry and Holly spent every morning on the grounds of the estate. Two or three hours every day of the holiday spent every morning running and exercising in the snow.
Their exercise kept them warm.
The Christmas party came, and they spent the evening with their friends. But there was a tension in the air that didn't just affect the kids. It seemed to Harry that everyone was just going through the motions with the party and left for home when it was socially acceptable.
Christmas morning arrived saw the Potters and the Blacks/Bones' together in Potter Manor together. Though Amelia and James were never with their families at the same time, only one or the other.
Harry sat in his bed, eager for the day and holding his gift from Fleur in his hands.
It was a gorgeous hand mirror; it was ornate and bore intricate silver feather and floral designs flowing around the reflective centre. He grinned as he compared it to the comparatively bland Potter mirror his father had given them for emergencies.
On his lap sat another part of her gift to him, a dark green leather-bound journal. According to the letter that came with the presents, the journal was written by her Grandmother, much like the book Fleur had given him the year before about Veela in general. Except this journal apparently detailed Veela customs, explaining everything from the birth of a child to the death of the elderly.
Harry ran a hand over the rough leather of the journal and looked forward to reading the journal. He hadn't been able to put down the last book on Veela that Fleur had sent him until he'd read it cover to cover.
Harry had given her a thin silver charm bracelet with a single charm dangling from it in the shape of a feather that he'd enchanted to send a ringing sound to him from his watch if she was in danger. It looked much like silver bracelets that his mother had told him that muggles wore. She had shown him one of her bracelets she'd bought in her teens when he'd gone to her for help in finalising his design.
Lily had helped him with designing the enchantment, but he'd done the actual enchanting under her watchful gaze in her office.
He hoped Fleur noticed there was space on it for at least a dozen more charms on the bracelet.
The rest of the Christmas break Harry spent with Holly, Susan, Charlus, and Orion at either the Potter or Black estates. They generally only used the Bones estate for formal occasions and would eventually go to Susan once she came of age, while the Black estate would go to Orion.
The three spent their time studying or simply enjoying time together by the lake on the Potter estate. While relaxing, Harry smiled as the two girls napped in the weak sun under warming wards Lily set up for them. It was so soothing to spend time outside together that it was easy to forget the danger they would return to once the holiday period ended.
Each night before bed, Harry would call Fleur. Sometimes during the day, she would call him when she wanted to hear his voice. He enjoyed the ability to speak whenever they wanted to and knew she was the same. Harry often sat in thought during the break, feeling the separation from Fleur and knew she felt it keener than him, between her maturation and her lack of other friends.
Each time they spoke, Harry wanted to ask her about the feather she'd given him for his birthday. But every time he thought to bring it up, he decided it was something to discuss in person, not over the mirrors.
The day quickly arrived where the three kids found themselves on the Hogwarts Express on their way back to school. Even on the train, Harry could almost taste the fear of the other students. He dreaded going back to the school and experiencing that oppressive fear magnified even further.
As Harry lay in bed that night, he read the journal Fleur had given him. During the break, he'd spent almost every waking minute around people or using the mirrors to call Fleur. He hadn't had much of a chance to sit and read. But after reading the foreword, Harry's Potter mirror vibrated in his pocket.
Dropping the journal, he snatched up the mirror and answered it to reveal Holly's pale face, her green eyes wide with fear.
'Harry. Someone's trying to break into the Ravenclaw common room.' She hissed and looked away from the mirror.
Harry clenched his jaw and wandlessly summoned his shoes with a vague hand gesture.
'Holly, go and hide with Luna. Call dad and I'll meet him there. I'm on my way.' He declared, and she nodded.
'Quickly.' She whispered before the mirror returned to a normal mirror and Harry hurriedly put on his shoes and flicked a hand to the side and willed his wand to him. His reinforced Holly and Phoenix feather wand shot into his hand a moment later.
Harry rushed out of his dorm room and ran past Susan and Hannah on a couch in front of the fireplace.
'Susan, call Aunt Amy. There's someone trying to break into the Ravenclaw common room. I'm meeting dad there in a minute.' Harry called before he leapt out through the exit into the corridor, leaving Susan gaping, white faced at the open doorway.
Harry didn't notice nor care that it was well past curfew.