Beta: None
Original Release Date: 5/27/16
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in the canon Harry Potter universe or any other universe.
Chapter Forty Nine – A Disheartening Letter
Sitting down at the deserted Gryffindor table the next morning, Harry stifles a yawn before adding food to his plate, not wanting a lot to eat. Taking a few mouthfuls of pumpkin juice, Harry is interrupted by an unusually smiling Oliver Wood.
"Potter, during our Quidditch practices this week—" begins Oliver before Harry interrupts, "Wood, I've got detention all this week in the evenings until curfew, as do Fred and George."
Taken back at the news, Oliver repeatedly opens and closes his mouth without sound for several moments before giving Harry a glare and muttering an angry, "Thanks Potter."
"Just thought you'd have wanted to know!" calls out Harry as Oliver strides out of the Great Hall.
Several moments later a male voice remarks, "Wood didn't look very happy to see us."
"Probably because he found out that we three won't be making it to practice this week" answers Harry without looking up.
"What's the difference? Other than you having a faster broom of course, unless he's heard from another from the team since break" adds George.
"Everyone should be back later for the feast" muses Harry finishing a small bowl of porridge.
"Mister Potter, I believe these headphones are yours" remarks a voice from behind Harry, holding out a pair of headphones.
Turning around, Harry takes the offered headphones before saying, "Thank you professor. Were they of any help?"
"Very much so, thank you. I think that they will be useful in our future plans" answers Remus with a smile before departing for the staff table.
Several hours later as students return to Hogwarts, everyone joins together in the Great Hall for the feast.
"So Neville, have any fun over the break?" inquiries Harry curiously.
"Yeah, mum and dad got me my own greenhouse for Christmas. Been trying to decide what to grow in there though.
"Mandrakes might be useful, if you want to do some potion making" suggests Harry.
"That'd be useful for practice during the summer breaks" remarks Hermione with a smile.
"That would be the only real time I'd have to take care of anything I begin to grow. So I couldn't raise anything terribly time consuming" adds Neville with a wistful look on his face.
"Why not dedicate a portion of the greenhouse to be used by your parents while you're here at Hogwarts for plants like potatoes, tomatoes, and the likes?" suggests Ginny.
Pausing to mull over the thought, Neville replies with a smile on his face, "That is a great idea, Ginny. It would allow the greenhouse to not sit idle most of the time and would help put some food on the table."
/*the next day after classes*/
Finishing his meal quietly, Harry grabs his bag and heads to the Charms classroom, as per Professor Flitwick's instructions earlier that day. Arriving at the deserted classroom, Harry takes a seat at the front of the room, putting his headphones on before retrieving his Omni Play and starting the music, isolated from the rest of the world.
Feeling a hard tap on his right shoulder, Harry pauses his music and removes his headphones before coming face to face with visibly angry Professor Flitwick.
"Mr. Potter, I called your name several times to no avail, please explain yourself!" instructs Professor Flitwick with a frown on his face.
"I'm sorry professor, these headphones block out all sound, even if I'm not listening to music" answers Harry sincerely, placing the headphones back in his bag.
Pausing, Professor Flitwick asks in a softer tone, "Mr. Potter, do you mind if I take a look at what you called those things?"
"My headphones? Certainly professor" answers Harry withdrawing the headphones and handing them to Professor Flitwick.
"Curious. And you say you couldn't hear me, correct? By chance were you listening to music while you were using them?" inquiries Professor Flitwick curiously, inspecting the headphones with great intensity.
"Yes sir."
"Do you have any objections to me putting them on and giving them a try?" asks Professor Flitwick attempting to disguise the interest in his voice.
"No objections sir. You can change the song through my Omni Play" answers Harry with a smile, handing his Omni Play to Professor Flitwick.
Several minutes later Professor Flitwick gingerly takes off the headphones and hands them and the Omni Play back to Harry, smiling, "Mr. Potter, such an exquisite set of devices. The charm work it would take to replicate these devices, it must be astounding complex! I would love to discover how everything came about, especially the spells required to create such devices!"
A few hours later after explaining the gist of how the devices were charmed, how they interact with each other, Professor Flitwick claps his hands together with a large smile on his face, "Wonderful, simply and beautifully wonderful! You have a knack at Charms, just like your mother did. Mr. Potter, I do believe it is going on curfew, so make haste back to your common room. And thank you for the wonderful explanation of the charm work, it is very inspiring!"
Departing from the classroom, Harry makes his way back to the common room, pausing slightly as George enters the hallway, patches of dirt on his robes.
"George, what did you get to do?" inquiries Harry, tone lacking enthusiasm.
Sighing, George answers wearily, "I helped Professor Sprout with repotting some…I don't even remember. But it could have been worse I'm sure."
"I wonder how Fred fared with Professor McGonagall" muses Harry as the two walk alone up the moving stairs.
Visibly shuddering, George answers, "It would be better than being with Snape though."
Also shuddering, Harry remarks, "Almost anything would be better than serving a weeks' worth of detention with him."
"What might two students be doing out at this late hour? One might think you are up to…no good" draws a familiar voice from behind them.
Turning around and seeing Snape, Harry answers calmly, "Good evening professor. We were just on our way back from detention, sir."
Staring at the duo with his soulless black eyes for several moments, Snape finally instructs curtly, "Mr. Weasley, make certain you do not arrive to my class tomorrow with dirty robes", before striding away in the opposite direction, cape billowing.
Checking his watch, Harry says with urgency, "George, we need to hurry if we are to make it back before curfew", before jogging towards the common room.
/*the next day*/
Gathering around Hagrid's hut, the bundled up students resume tending to their flobberworms, not wanting to be out in the chilly air any longer than necessary. Spotting Hagrid with darkened patches on his clothing, Harry walks over and asks in a quiet tone, "Is there something wrong, Hagrid?"
Sniffling, Hagrid answers, "None yeh business", before rubbing his eyes with a grimy hand.
"Hagrid, I just want to help if there is something I can assist with" answers Harry kindly.
Pausing, Hagrid shaking pulls out a letter and hands it to Harry, who begins to read the smudged writing to himself. Several long moments later, Harry returns the letter before speaking, "You aren't being held responsible for Draco Malfoy's accident. And that you have to take Buckbeak to a hearing at the Ministry of Magic on April 20th, that can't be too bad. I bet you can make a case or something. I'll gladly testify to help out Buckbeak."
"Jus' worry about yeh self. Buckbeak and I will be fine" answers Hagrid gruffly, but not unkindly.
Returning to his flobberworm, Harry keeps quiet for the rest of the lesson, returning to the inviting castle for warmth before the next lesson. Standing outside the Charms classroom a little while later, Harry whispers to a nearby Hermione about Hagrid's letter and the exchange that followed.
"Do you think that the committee would accept testimony from students?" inquiries Hermione quietly and curiously.
Shaking his head, Harry answers, "Probably not. But I still feel that we should try to help in some fashion."
"Ugh, I wish that there was a database or something that contained research papers on magical topics, so we can see if there are any similar situations, and be able to cite the books we got them from" remarks Hermione, disappointment laced through her tone.
"Perhaps you and Luna can work together to solve that problem. I'm sure Sirius and Remus would love to see something done about it. At least Remus would love it, I know that much" adds Harry as the line begins to move into the Charms classroom.
A few hours later at the evening meal, Hermione eats quickly and quietly, taking her bag and disappearing from the Great Hall.
"Hey Neville, know anything about why Hermione just took off from the Great Hall?" asks Harry curiously.
Shaking his head, Neville replies, "Earlier she only said she had something on her mind and needed some time and space to figure through it. Why do you ask?"
"Hmm. Well, you know her best, so I'll take your word for it. I'm just concerned about her. She seemed distracted in Charms and almost put all of her ingredients in the cauldron during Potions" answers Harry.
"Don't worry so much, once she's got something on her mind, Hermione won't stop until it's resolved" remarks Neville with a grin.
"That is true" says Harry, finishing his meal and heading off to the Charms classroom for day two of his week long punishment.
Sitting down, Harry pulls out a piece of parchment from his bag and looks over the diagram and wording everywhere. Tracing the various lines and connections, Harry loses himself in his work until the sound of Professor Flitwick chuckling and saying, "'Snape Detector'? Sounds like a curious project you have there Mr. Potter."
"Oh professor, I'm sorry about that. I'd like to keep this secret, if you understand" apologies Harry flushing.
"Don't worry Mr. Potter, I shall keep your project to just us. However, I would love to hear how you propose to achieve such a lofty goal" answers Professor Flitwick with a smile.
"It's fairly simple sir. I only need to access the framework that Remus and Sirius established to allow students find where they are on a map and how to get to where they want to go, then request only Professor Snape's location and establish some form of boundary to alert you when he is nearing you. Part of the problem is the constant notifications of say being in a classroom with him, how wide a 'boundary' would be to allow enough time to make an escape or disappear from the vicinity, etc" answers Harry perplexed.
"Oh ho, I think I can help you with the first part Mr. Potter. You only need to activate the notification portion after classes have ended for the day and stop them before classes resume for the day. However, the latter portion I am afraid that I cannot assist you with" answers Professor Flitwick.
Scribbling down some notes on the parchment, Harry smiles and says, "Thank you sir, that makes some sense, and something I hadn't considered previously. A time based set of parameters, so many things could be done without human interaction."
"You're quite welcome Mr. Potter. Now to your detention, let's begin with moving books to their proper places, using charms that we have learned in CLASS, and not any spells that you might know from outside of class" instructs Professor Flitwick, taking a seat to watch Harry in action.
Hours later of being stopped to use a spell from class and not from other sources, being taught the minute differences between spells on usage, and fervent wrist work, Harry is finally let go for the evening, slowly taking the stairs back to the common room, exhausted. "I'm sure it's disheartening for Hagrid to have received that letter. It's all Malfoy's fault for not paying attention" murmurs Harry to himself sadly.
"I, or even we should do something to brighten Hagrid's day and help keep him from worrying so much."
Author note: Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, etc! Did my vision of Beauxbaton excite anyone? Did it disappoint anyone? I honestly wanted to hear more about Beauxbaton in the series, but I suppose that could be a separate series or book. Two and a half years and we are at forty-nine chapters. This has exceeded my expectations, and it's thanks to everyone!
-blackangel150 – Yes, romance is in the air, but is it love, or is something else? I haven't decided what role Beatrix will play yet, if anything more than a minor role.
In regards to the Triwizard Tournament, I'll say that I have a few things planned for it that should keep things interesting (at least in my mind). One last night, I debated on making the 'Snape Detector' a crowd sourced map, where the students post where Snape had been seen last, appearing on the map.