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Harry Potter and the Smallest Change.
Chapter 20. Fourth Year, Part 2. 1994
The weeks passed by with a speed Harry hadn't expected. The ever-elusive House-Elves of Hogwarts, who entire generations of muggle born students went their whole seven years without seeing, were occasionally glimpsed working extra hard to clean the castle.
Hermione's birthday passed with a celebration amongst Harry's group of friends, though a teary Hermione had admitted to Harry that it hurt that Neville and Ron had barely spoken to her since giving her the ultimatum.
No attacks occurred, and Neville remained sullen and quiet. The Boy-Who-Lived didn't speak to Hermione, but he looked lost in classes with only Ron beside him.
Draco had caused no trouble and, according to Daphne, the boy was unnaturally quiet in the common room in the evenings. The blonde boy was still a power in the Slytherin dorms, and the school seemed to hold its breath, waiting for something to happen.
In the last week of October, whispers filled the Great Hall as Harry joined his friends on Monday morning.
Stifling a yawn, Harry sat between Holly and Susan and noticed the two each gave him knowing grins while the other girls looked on with varying degrees of amusement.
'What's happened?' Harry asked.
Both Susan and Holly smiled.
'They put up a notice in the common rooms over the weekend.' Susan said, and Harry frowned.
'What kind of notice?' he asked, and Holly grinned.
'Oh, just announcing the arrival of the other schools on Friday evening.' She said.
Harry's eyes widened, and he couldn't help the smile that came to his face.
Susan held in a giggle, shared by Holly.
'Yeah, we thought that would get your attention.' Holly said, and Harry gave a faux huff at her smirk.
Hermione sat opposite the three and huffed.
'If you don't all keep up with your homework, you won't be there to greet the other schools.' She hissed.
Harry let out a small chuckle.
'How are everyone's assignments by the way?' he asked.
Hermione's eyes widened when the girls rolled their eyes.
'We're all done. We don't just sit around doing nothing when you disappear on weekends, Harry.' Daphne sighed.
Harry grinned and looked at Luna, who stared at him.
'There's an infestation of Nargles at Hogwarts.' She said in her dreamy voice.
She hadn't used it for so long that Harry had forgotten how disconcerting it could be.
Then he blinked as his memory replayed events from his second year, when she'd said the same thing. The mirth in his eyes faded and in an instant his eyes were cold. Beside Luna, Daphne's eyes held a dangerous glint.
Harry gave a quick glance to Holly and saw her dark expression.
He took a breath and ignored Hermione's lost expression.
He met Luna's gaze.
'When did the Nargles start again?' he asked.
Hermione blinked, she opened her mouth to speak, but stilled when Hannah placed a hand on her arm. Hannah met Hermione's gaze and shook her head. Hermione frowned but watched Harry with a quizzical expression.
Luna cocked her head.
'They'd been quiet for the last few years, but over the last few weeks they've come back.' Luna explained.
Harry turned to Holly whose jaw clenched tight, a fire blazed in her eyes.
Daphne looked ready to explode, and Harry turned back to Luna.
'Luna.' He said, his tone cold, and each of the girls shivered at the word.
Luna met his eyes, and Harry gave her a soft smile.
'Where are the Nargles being an issue? In the corridors, or maybe in the dorms?' he asked.
Holly opened her mouth but paused when Luna's expression turned from her usual vacant stare to an icy glare.
'In the dorms, especially the bathroom. Holly promised not to say anything until I was ready.' Luna said.
Luna's voice held none of its usual dreaminess. Now it was cold and filled with pain.
Harry took a steadying breath.
'Is it the same Nargles as before?' he asked, and she nodded.
'There are less now. Many of the old Nargles left the school. But even though there's less, they are more vicious.' She explained in a flat, icy tone.
'Stay put, I'll be right back.' Harry said, forcing a smile onto his face as he rose to his feet.
He stood and walked toward the head table, straight toward Professor Flitwick. The small man blinked at Harry's arrival, unused to students approaching him at the breakfast table, no doubt.
'May I have a moment of your time, Professor?' Harry asked and Flitwick nodded.
'What's the problem, Mister Potter?' he asked in his squeaky voice.
Harry met the man's gaze.
'Do you remember an altercation I had at the start of my second year with the Ravenclaw house?' Harry asked and the Professor's eyes narrowed in an instant. He nodded.
'It's happening again. But this time they are being subtle about it and attacking while she is in the bathroom. They are more vicious this time.' Harry said and Flitwick nodded, his eyes no more than angry slits.
'I hope this will be enough to stop the attacks. But if they continue, I will have to step in, which I do not want to do.' Harry said and rather than reprimand Harry, the Professor nodded.
'You won't have to this time, Mister Potter. This time my Eagles will learn the lesson they seemed to have forgotten.' The Professor declared and Harry nodded, a false smile on his face and he returned to his friends.
He sat back with the group of silent girls and met Luna's eyes.
'The problem will be solved soon, and if the Professor can't do it, I'll step in myself.' He promised, his voice low and noticed a shiver run down the girls at the same time, except for Luna wore a bright smile.
Hermione cleared her throat.
'What just happened?' she asked.
Harry blinked as he turned to face her.
'I'll tell you on the way to History.' Harry said and snagged a piece of toast off Holly's plate.
When they got to History of Magic, Hermione directed them to sit on the far left of the room, in the back corner. She sat on his right, boxing Harry into in the corner.
Harry gave her a quizzical look, and she only shook her head.
He shrugged.
Susan and Hannah sat on Hermione's other side and once class started, the two other girls, along with the rest of the class, settled in for a nap.
Once the class was asleep amid the droning voice of Professor Binns, Hermione turned to Harry and met his gaze.
'The last few nights, I've caught Neville in the common room in the middle of the night. He hasn't been getting any sleep.' She started.
Harry nodded and wondered where she was going with her story.
'I confronted him, and he admitted to having nightmares. But they are weird. He was in the body of a snake, listening to a man and a woman talking to some mysterious figure.' She said and Harry nodded, frowning.
'What does this have to do with me? Why wait until everyone was asleep in class, including our friends?' he asked, and Hermione took a deep breath.
'The people in his nightmares talked about a Ritual, that the Tournament was the best chance they would get.' She said.
Harry's eyes narrowed.
'What made these nightmares? So far they sound like dreams.' Harry asked and Hermione sighed.
'Neville told me that the snake he was inhabiting ate an old man in the summer. In other dreams, the man and woman tortured people, using magic.' She explained, and Harry nodded.
'Okay, those sound like nightmares now.' Harry admitted, and Hermione nodded.
Hermione sat in silence for a moment and played with her fingers on the desk.
'He said that one nightmare revealed the mysterious figure to be a hideous baby with a snake-like face. Neville said that the baby looked like the black mist that escaped from Quirrell in our first year.' She paused and met his gaze.
'Do you know what that means?' she asked.
Harry froze, and his mind spun. He let out a sigh.
'I admit, they could be strange dreams, but unless you've edited them in the retelling, they seem to happen in chronological order.' Harry started.
He quirked an eyebrow at her and she shook her head.
'As far as I know, they have been in chronological order.' She confirmed.
'They could be visions, sent to him somehow. I'll ask my parents if there are any ways this could happen, without using names, of course.' Harry said as Hermione's eyes widened.
'Hermione, with magic, just about anything is possible.' He said and Hermione sat in silence for a moment.
'What do you think this means, if anything?' she asked.
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair.
'We've seen some strange stuff since arriving at Hogwarts. Almost all of it has a connection to You-Know-Who. Now that Neville has abandoned you, I don't think we will discover anything more about these dreams.' He admitted, and her face fell.
'Try to put those thoughts from your mind. We have some study to do for the rest of the lesson.' He suggested, and she nodded, but only gave her parchment a blank stare for the rest of the class.
Later that day, Harry sat in Defence Against the Dart Arts with Susan on one side and Justin on the other. The class sat in silence, waiting for the grizzled Auror to make a dramatic entrance.
After ten minutes, whispers spread through the room and Harry wondered what the man was up to.
'CONSTANT VIGILANCE.' The Professor roared as he fired a Stinging Hex at Justin after he burst into the room.
Justin blocked it with a hasty shield.
Moody hobbled to the front of the room before he turned to face them, his scarred face in what someone could generously call a smile.
'Today class, we will work on throwing off the Imperius Curse.' He announced, and a startled gasp escaped Justin's mouth as his face went white.
Justin's hands shook in his lap, and he gaped at Moody.
'There's a good chance that someone in this room will suffer under the curse at some point in their life, and in that case, this practice might help to throw off the curse.' Moody explained, his good eye slowly moving throughout the class.
'I have special dispensation from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to use this curse for educational purposes in a classroom setting.' Moody said and paused.
'Who is up first?' he asked.
Nobody moved.
Moody frowned.
'Get up and stand in a line, or hexes will fly.' He barked, and Harry let out a short huff.
Harry removed his bracelet and placed it on his desk, then stood and started the line. Behind Harry stood Susan and Hannah and a few Ravenclaws.
The line was complete a minute later, except for one person.
Harry turned to see Justin sitting at his desk, white as a sheet and staring at his desk, a look of horror on his face.
Moody looked like he was about to start shooting hexes, but Harry held up a hand, signalling for the Auror to wait.
Harry moved to kneel in front of Justin's desk.
'Do you need to go to the Hospital Wing?' Harry asked, his voice low.
Justin blinked, then met Harry's gaze.
He took in a shuddering breath.
Justin shook his head, and his eyes narrowed.
'I want to be first.' He said and Harry smiled, squeezing the boy's shoulder.
Harry turned to Moody.
'Can Justin go first?' he asked, and the class burst into whispers.
Moody cocked his head, and a look of approval crossed his scarred face. At least Harry thought it was approval. It was hard to tell.
Justin made his way to the front of the class, trembling and pale. Harry led him there, and with a last squeeze of his shoulder, stepped back with Susan.
Moody pointed his wand at Justin.
'Imperio.' The man said, and Justin stopped trembling.
Justin stood, relaxed, at the front of the line. Then a moment later, he ran to the left of the room, toward the stone wall and did a backflip off the wall and landed on the floor in a smooth movement.
Moody lowered his wand, and Justin blinked. He turned to face the class, now released from the spell.
Justin met Harry's eyes and gave him a single nod before he returned to his desk.
Harry stepped forward, and Moody turned his wand on him.
'Imperio.'
Harry blinked; it was a wonderful floating sensation. Every thought and worry in his head faded away like mist, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness.
It seemed different from the last time he was subjected to the curse from Pettigrew.
There was more power behind this curse, but that seemed to only make it less insidious.
'Jump on the desk.' A voice told him through the fog of his mind.
Harry shook his head.
'No.' he muttered, and whispers echoed throughout the classroom.
It was easier to resist the instruction than Pettigrew's curse, Harry mused. The difference between the two curses was distinct to him.
With another shake of his head, he broke the spell and met Moody's gaze.
'You've been under the spell before, haven't you, Potter?' Moody asked, and Harry smirked.
He knew for a fact that Moody knew he had been the previous year. He'd play along for the class.
Harry nodded.
'Yes, it was at the end of last year.' Harry said, and Moody nodded.
'Would you mind explaining the difference between the two times you've felt the curse?' the gnarled Professor asked.
Harry nodded before he moved forward and turned to face the class.
He took a breath and met Susan's brown eyes.
'At the end of last year, a man named Peter Pettigrew enacted a plan he'd been brewing all year. It resulted in a fight in the bowels of the school.' Harry started and his classmates watched him in fascination.
'During that fight, Pettigrew placed me under the Imperius. He didn't have as much raw power as Professor Moody-' he gestured to Moody.
'- But it's almost like that was an advantage. Pettigrew's curse was almost, like mist, it got everywhere, and it was harder to resist because it wasn't coming from just one direction, if that makes sense?' he said and received blank stares from the class.
'Professor Moody's curse has more power behind it, but I assume he doesn't have the experience of using it for years, so his curse almost tries to overpower your mind into doing what he wants you to.' Harry paused and frowned at his difficulty in articulating what he felt.
'Pettigrew's curse made it seem like the only thing you wanted to do, was what he wanted.' Harry sighed, he wondered if he was making any sense to anybody.
Moody smacked his staff into the ground, breaking him from his reverie.
'Ten points to Hufflepuff for a detailed account. Throwing off the curse completely is a rare skill; I look forward to seeing just what you can do, Potter.' Moody growled, then shooed Harry back to his seat.
Harry nodded and sent a smile to Susan on his way back.
Once there, he watched the curse hit Susan, and she resisted it. A moment of confusion later and Moody's fake eye zeroed in on her bracelet.
'Remove the bracelet, Bones.' He growled and Susan paled and looked at Harry.
He gave her a warm smile and nodded.
She took a breath and removed her bracelet. Susan placed it in her pocket before she turned to face the Professor.
A few moments later, she crouched down, then leapt onto a desk. She flung out her wand and tossed a Cheering Charm at Padma Patil, who was next in line behind Hannah.
Susan jumped off the desk as the curse was lifted and hurried to put the bracelet back on. She let out a breath as soon as it clicked together around her wrist.
'Bones, tell me about that bracelet. I saw Potter remove a similar one before his turn.' Moody asked.
Susan turned to Harry, and he gave her a smile.
'It is a creation of mine; the bracelet helps protect against mind altering spells and potions. I am working with my mother to sell them in her enchanting shop in Diagon Alley.' He announced, and whispers filled the room.
Moody barked out a laugh.
'Good sales pitch Potter. Now, Bones, get back to your seat.' He growled and moved on to Hannah.
Harry placed a hand on her thigh, and she hugged his arm as they watched the other students be subjected to the curse. Each student did an action odder than the last, some quacked like ducks, or barked like a dog. A few did backflips and Padma sung a sweet lullaby to the class.
That evening, in the boys dorms, Harry gave Justin the three bracelets that he'd asked for. The boy had thanked him and disappeared up to Owlery moments later. The other Hufflepuff boy never removed the bracelet he wore and often rubbed a finger against it when he thought nobody was watching.
The next few days passed in a flurry of activity as the castle prepared for the new arrivals and before Harry realised, it was Friday.
In the morning, Harry noticed the Ravenclaw points total was empty and many of the students in fifth to seventh year were not present at breakfast.
Harry sat beside Holly and whispered in her ear.
'What happened in Ravenclaw last night?' he asked, and Holly gave a wicked grin.
'Flitwick cleaned house. Several students were suspended, with threats of expulsion should anything like this happen again.' She said, and Harry nodded.
'If this happens again, let me know, I'll be happy to deter them as well.' He said.
Holly smirked and nodded before turning back to her breakfast.
Classes that day dragged for Harry, but after they ended, he found himself directed outside in the cold to stand at attention near the entrance to the castle. The students stood arrayed in order of years, putting Harry in the middle of the Hufflepuff group.
This made Harry feel a little self-conscious. He looked more like a sixth or seventh year by this stage, and so towered over the fourth years and even those in the fifth.
Harry had to admit that the school looked impressive, a mass of black and red on the far left where the Gryffindors stood. Then came the Hufflepuffs in black and yellow, then the entrance to the school. On the other side of the entrance stood a mass of black and blue students from Ravenclaw, followed by the black and green of Slytherin.
Harry's watch vibrated, telling him it was six. The other schools were due to arrive any minute.