I own nothing. If the spell is not from the books, it's the Latin translation.
Chapter VIII
August 1990
"Concentrate Danny. Complete the puzzle."
Harry and Danny had spent a majority of the summer together and most of their activities centered on helping Danny with his control. It all started when Harry got home from his first year and sat in on one of Danny's lessons with Remus. Danny was still practicing levitating pillows, the most basic spell, and moving them across the room. Things would progress nicely until Danny would try to levitate multiple pillows which caused them to explode and shower the room in feathers.
It was devastating to Danny's self-esteem that he was still having trouble with the fundamentals after a year of practice. Remus contributed it to a lack of confidence and an unconscious fear of his power.
So to help, Harry and Danny would spend a couple hours a day on performing simple puzzles using levitation. It was during this time that Harry started to learn a lot about how Danny's magic worked. Unlike other wizards, Danny didn't need spells or a wand. He only needed the desire and focus to perform magic. Unfortunately, whenever Danny would try anything beyond levitation something would explode and activate the bracelet.
Remus had come to Harry with the theory that he was a calming influence on Danny and would help build his confidence with his magic. Harry quickly agreed and the two of them started their sessions together. It was now Harry's last week before he had to return to Hogwarts and he was determined to get Danny past levitation.
The puzzle they were working on now was the Tower of Hanoi. It consisted of three poles with four rings of different sizes placed from largest to smallest. The objective was to move each ring from one pole to the other but only one ring could be moved at a time and a larger ring could never be on top of a smaller ring. Everything went great except for a few hiccups as evident by the pile of dust of some incinerated rings.
"So where do you think Uncle Sirius has been the last few nights?" inquired Danny as he put away the supplies after finishing the tower.
"I don't know but Mum and Dad suspect he's found a girlfriend."
"Sirius? Girlfriend?" Danny couldn't believe it. Their Uncle Sirius was a renowned ladies man and had always said that he would never settle down.
"I know right. Dad and Moony have been having a riot holding it over him."
"But they don't know for sure."
"Nah, Sirius hasn't said a word about it."
Danny dropped it. If Sirius didn't want to talk about it than that was his business and Danny was never one to pry. It was strange though, usually Sirius could never resist talking about himself, especially when it was about his dalliances.
"Come on, let's go for a swim." Harry wanted to blow off some steam and the water was perfect during this time of the year. Danny jumped on the idea and was already heading down the path to their private beach.
They spent a few hours swimming and climbing the rocks around the beach before the sun started going down and the rumbling in their stomach forced them to head back to the house. Inside, their family were preparing for their customary Sunday dinner.
It was always Harry's favorite event when everyone in his family would come together and share a meal. Tonight was a special night because both Remus and Sirius had returned from their respective missions for the Order. They were a part of an ongoing investigation to find Voldemort's whereabouts and discover what he was planning after disappearing ten years ago. Currently, they had been following reports that Voldemort had been spotted in the mountains of Peru but had come up with very little, hence why they were rarely at the Cove.
As was customary, Bobby and Gretel had prepared a roast turkey complete with stuffing, Brussels sprouts, roasted potatoes, and carrots (all of Harry and Danny's favorites). For dessert, Gretel would make her special mince pies filled with fresh strawberries and Gretel's very own secret recipe of spices.
They all sat in the dining room and delved into the delicious spread with Harry and Danny leading the way.
"Take it easy, boys, it's not going anywhere," Lily laughed.
"Oh, leave them alone, Lils. They're just growing boys," James said as he reached over and ruffled Harry's hair.
"Besides, mum, what's the point of having a high metabolism if we don't use them?" reasoned Harry as he took a healthy sized bite out of his turkey leg.
Danny could only nod his head in agreement due to the excessive amount of turkey and stuffing he was trying to swallow. He wasn't entirely sure what a 'metabolism' was but he knew Harry did and that was enough.
All of a sudden, Sirius started laughing and almost choked on his food. Everyone amusingly stared at him until he finally cleared his airway and spoke.
"You remember the time that we charmed the Slytherin table so their utensils wouldn't work." Sirius laughed uncontrollably as he playfully poked his fork all over his plate. This caused everyone else to start laughing as well.
"No matter what they did they couldn't pick up a thing so they had to use their hands." James imitated for Harry and Danny by popping a sprout into his mouth.
"James! Use your fork," chided Lily even though she was smiling.
"But that wasn't the best part." James went on, ignoring Lily's protest. "We convinced the house elves in the kitchen to go Italian so all they had to eat was spaghetti."
"Can you imagine? A bunch of uptight purebloods forced to eat with their hands." Sirius was nearly out of breath, he was laughing so hard. "Some of them even refused to eat."
"Sirius, please, you're setting a bad example," said Lily. She always had to try to limit the amount of Marauder rubbed off on her sons. It was a really bad sign that Harry and Danny had stopped eating to listen (and probably so they wouldn't chock on their food as they laughed).
"Don't just look at me, it was Moony's spell." He playfully pointed his finger at Remus who paused halfway from taking his next bite of potatoes. "And it was his idea, too."
Lily stared pointedly at Remus and waited for an explanation. No one ever suspected Remus, especially with how James and Sirius acted, but he was often time the architect behind the Marauder's pranks.
Remus finished his putting his food in his mouth and chewed it a bit before he shrugged. "They made fun of the way I ate." He swallowed the rest. "I was only a day back from a transformation so I was still a little bit wolf."
Lily opened her mouth to speak but James interrupted her. "Now Lily, you promised not to judge us-"
"-on things you did before we got together," finished Lily with a roll of her eyes and then pointedly stared back at James. "Otherwise you would never had stood a chance with me."
James weakly smiled back and took a quick sip of his wine. This only made Sirius and Remus to start burst out laughing.
"What…?" Lily was obviously confused. She looked to James for an answer but he wasn't saying anything.
"Actually, Lily that was the only chance you had," explained Sirius.
Lily was still confused so Remus decided to explain further. "We had a vote to decide if it was okay for James to date you; that was one of the conditions we made."
James looked like he wished he had his invisibility cloak. It was never a good sign when Lily crossed her arms and gave him her death stare.
"Explain."
"I-I mean…we-we-…uh…" James knew he was destined for the couch tonight. Remus, though, decided to save him.
"Don't blame him Lily," he started. "When we first noticed that girls were…well…girls." Remus pointed to Sirius who grinned proudly. "We made the decision that all potential girlfriends had to be approved by the group."
"We didn't want any ball and chains keeping the Marauders from our duty and you were such a…" Sirius stopped abruptly. Lily now had her sights on Sirius and it was a very good thing that he hadn't finished that sentence. Sirius would never admit it but Lily could really scare him sometimes.
"So…" said Remus timidly as he hoped to divert some of the attention away from his friend. "A majority vote was required or the relationship couldn't happen."
"And it wasn't just because of us; their relationships had to be approved too." James added quickly though it really didn't matter. He was the only one that ever had a serious relationship.
Harry and Danny had remained quiet throughout all this but one detail forced Harry to break that silence.
"But there were four of you, what happened if there was a tie?"
"Well, obviously, James wasn't allowed to vote." Sirius explained easily though he was still weary of Lily's death stares.
"But mum got them all, right?" asked Danny. He and Harry were both very intrigued by all this and loved how their mum was putting the fear of Merlin in their otherwise confident uncles.
Sirius and Remus squirmed uncomfortably and both took a bite of their food. It only made it more obvious that it was a 2-1 vote. Lily then looked at James and expected him to answer but he could only shrug.
"I wasn't allowed to be present." He actually did know the final vote but he didn't want to get into any more trouble and was more than happy to let his friends take the heat.
Lily set eyes back then on Remus and Sirius. "So which one of you was it because Merlin knows there's no way Peter would vote against me?" She continued to stare hard at both of them and still had her arms crossed. There was no way she was letting this go until she knew who hadn't wanted her and James to be together. She already suspected who but she decided to enjoy their discomfort for a little longer.
Remus and Sirius were now locked in a battle of wills because they knew that first one to speak would have to tell Lily everything. They both kept their head cast slightly down and focused entirely on their plates.
"Well?" All of Lily's patience was gone.
"Lily, please understand-" Sirius tried to speak quickly but Lily interrupted.
"It's ok Sirius, I figured it was you." Lily smoothly placed her napkin back on the table and folded it neatly. Sirius didn't like how she sounded as if she was building up to something. Lily squared up and looked directly at him and smiled sweetly.
"But I expect to be involved when we vote on your mysterious lady friend."
That raised the eyebrows of everyone at the table. Harry and Danny shared a look and smiled knowingly at each other: no one ever got one over their mum.
"I agree with Lily, Padfoot," James said quickly in an effort to appease his wife. "You can't avoid Marauder Law so we've got to vote."
"She's got a point, you know," added Remus. They were all extremely curious about Sirius's secret rendezvous with an unknown woman.
Sirius, though, looked very peeved that he was now on the spot.
"There's no reason to vote because there isn't anyone to vote on," said Sirius dismissively.
"Bullocks, we know it's a girl. Just admit it Padfoot." James could always say he knew Sirius the best and knew from his personal experience with Lily that it had to be a girl.
"It's none of your business and I'd appreciate it if you all butt out about it." Sirius then stood up and left the table. Everyone was extremely confused by Sirius harsh tone and angry departure. They had never seen him act like that. It made them all even more curious of what Sirius was up to.
September 1990
The week passed and Harry was now back at Hogwarts. It seemed that the summer did nothing to soften his public perception so a majority of the students continued to give him a wide-berth. Harry was glad and was eager to continue his study of magic and physical training in the forest. He had yet, though, to contact the Weasley twins so they could continue the search for the elusive markers of the Marauders. Harry had tried once again to get some hints from his father and uncles but they were all tight-lipped and said that he had to do it on his own. It frustrated Harry and made him wish he knew a few tricks of persuasion that he hadn't learned from his Uncle Sirius.
Speaking of his Uncle Sirius, the issue with his secret rendezvous was left unresolved as he was conveniently called away to investigate a rumor that Voldemort had been spotted in Australia.
Harry, though, didn't have the time to dwell on it as he had the more pressing concern of avoiding King and his gang. It seemed that Rosier was wrong when he said that King would never lead Slytherin. With him gone, there was nobody to stand up to King who appointed himself the new top dog in Slytherin House. Everyone immediately fell in line, mostly out of fear, after King had Hunt break the nose of another seventh year who had tried to challenge him.
It was in the middle of the afternoon and Harry was making his way back to his room after lunch. As he walked down a corridor, he heard raised voices and the sounds of a struggle. His own curiosity got the best of him and he cautiously peaked around the corner.
What he saw was King, Sullivan, and Hunt standing over a small boy in Slytherin colors, probably a first year. King stood back as Hunt and Sullivan tore through the boy's bag. There seemed to be a disagreement over something being taken from King's belongings and the boy being seen near King's bag at lunch. The boy, whose name was Jacobs, was adamantly denying taking anything but King insisted on a thorough search. Already, many of Jacobs's books and personal belongings had been destroyed.
Harry's first thought was that it didn't concern him and that he could easily go another way to get back to the dorms but when he looked at Jacobs he couldn't help but see his little brother. It made Harry think of what he would do if Danny was in this situation. The answer was obvious and it made him recall something Rosier had said.
'Fear and hatred only makes you a bully.'
Harry had originally thought that if he could make people hate and fear him then they would leave him alone. But as he observed King and saw how he used fear it made Harry realize that there was nothing he wanted less than to be associated with people like King.
With that in mind, Harry set his bag down and turned the corner.
"Leave him alone."
King, Hunt, and Sullivan stopped what they were doing and looked at their unwanted guest.
"Sod off, Potter," barked Hunt.
"Yeah, this doesn't concern you," snapped Sullivan.
Hunt and Sullivan went back to ripping through Jacobs belongings but King kept Harry in his periphery.
"I said leave him alone." Harry stood firm and pulled his wand.
King noticed and signaled to the others. Hunt and Sullivan looked over to Harry again and straightened up when they noticed the wand. Neither had forgotten about the embarrassing defeat they both suffered last year. King, though, had been itching for a rematch after Grey had stolen his victory over the Potter scion.
They pulled their wands and took dueling stances with Hunt and Sullivan in front of King. It seemed that Hunt and Sullivan would duel as one while King would wait, as usual, to see if he was needed.
Jacobs, meanwhile, took advantage of the opportunity and grabbed as many of his belongings before scurrying to the side of the wall.
Harry was caught between two choices: he could do just enough to stop them or he could really show what he was capable of. The smart decision was to do the former as to not draw attention and reveal too much of his training…but…there was only one way to really put down a bully.
Harry waited and waited for Hunt and Sullivan to make a move but both of them still hadn't made an indication of attacking. That's when it hit him: they were waiting for him to make the first move. Harry internally marveled at the idea. Three seventh years were hesitant to attack a second year. It did, though, make him have to rethink things and his strategy. He couldn't do the same as their first fight so he had to think of something else; something like this…
He broke out into a dead sprint towards their center but quickly had to change course due to rapid spell fire from Hunt and Sullivan. Harry moved in a random pattern from wall to wall to avoid their spells. He was forced to bend and dodge in some seemingly unnatural ways while still having to block a few spells but it was clear that neither Hunt nor Sullivan were used to firing on a moving target, especially one as agile as Harry. Soon he was only a few feet away and his tactic's full affect came into play.
Hunt and Sullivan looked increasingly panicked and were helpless when Harry shot up from the ground and in an instant stunned both of them. He landed just beyond them and quickly had to procure a shield to stop a reactionary curse from King.
King tried his best to hide his surprise; he had never seen someone move as Harry had and dispatch two people without breaking a sweat. However, he had defeated Harry before and he could do it again.
The two of them immediately started exchanging spells as they circled each other. Like before, Harry knew he had to have the perfect balance of speed and dueling ability. They continued to trade spells as they both searched for an opening.
Several minutes passed without either of them giving an inch. Harry noticed that King only did enough to keep him from losing ground. He seemed confident that he could wait Harry out and it was a good idea. Despite all his training, Harry still didn't have the extra five years of experience that King had and while he was at his highest magical maturity, Harry was still only twelve years old. He needed to end this duel and fast.
Harry had to make quick glances of his surroundings to try and find something he could use. To his left, was a statue of an old headmaster which gave Harry an interesting idea. Harry made a quick move to his right and focused his fire in the same direction. This forced King to dodge left and positioned him directly in front of the statue. King reacted by casting a multitude of advanced spells which forced Harry to retreat behind a shield instead of evading as he'd been doing. He couldn't afford to have King change position.
King was relentless. He bought into Harry's display of weakness and no longer held back. The recoil from his spells against Harry's shield was tremendous. Over and over again, Harry was forced backwards until he heard a pop in his right shoulder; it had dislocated. The pain was excruciating and he couldn't hold back his grimace. He still maintained his shield but with each spell, his pain increased.
King sported a satisfied grin with each spell as he knew he had won. With one last Reducto, he shattered Harry's shield and blasted him back against the wall.
Harry slumped against the ground and visibly favored his injured shoulder. King dropped his guard and began to saunter over to finish Harry. After his first step, though, Harry suddenly raised his wand and fired a Reducto at King's head. King quickly reacted and easily dodged it: just as Harry hoped.
The spell hit the statue and burst into pieces sending a bunch of shrapnel into King's back. King was blown forward onto his stomach and was knocked unconscious.
Harry gingerly got up from the ground still holding his injured shoulder and walked up to his opponent. He used his foot to flip King over and pointed his wand right in his face.
"Enverate."
King slowly opened his eyes which quickly widened as he realized the position he was in. He attempted to move his wand but Harry stomped down on his arm and dug his wand into King's throat.
"Now you listen to me, if you-" King attempted to maintain his authority but was quickly interrupted.
"No! You listen to me. I don't care how important you think you are. I don't care what you think you're entitled to but you will never control this House. You will never control anything. And if you try, I'll be there and you won't like it. Got me?" Harry really wanted to end this and permanently get King off his back.
King tried to get up and continue the fight but Harry pushed him back down with his foot and dug his wand into his cheek.
"I don't like repeating myself."
King tried again to get up but to no avail. He took a moment before he nodded his head and looked away, though he still looked extremely pissed off. Harry took his foot off and started walking towards Jacobs. King took the moment with Harry's back turned to find his wand a few feet from him and slowly inched towards it. Just before he could reach it, though, Harry quickly spun around and hit him in the face with a stunner. The force of the spell sent King spiraling across the floor until he impacted hard against the wall.
Harry grimaced as he turned back to Jacobs. His shoulder really hurt after that last move but at least the fight was over. He looked around at the mess of Jacobs's belongings and rubble. He took a few moments to cast multiple Reparos to fix all the damage. Jacobs had still yet to move and stared in wonder and what he just saw. He watched as Harry checked and made sure the scene was clean of any evidence of his involvement before he gingerly left the hallway, still holding his dislocated shoulder.
"Th-thank you," Jacobs called after but Harry was already gone. Jacobs then gathered his belongings and scurried to tell his friends what he alone had witnessed.
Or so he thought. Stepping out of the shadows from the other end of the hallway, stood Adrian Grey. His eyes full of malice and his wand clutched tightly in his hand.
October 1990
Something was happening that Harry really found irritating. Apparently, Harry forgot to explain to Jacobs that what happened was not supposed to become public knowledge. The rumors hadn't made it out of Slytherin but it was enough to change Harry's perception within the House. He should have guessed that since he was the one to defeat King that people would expect him to replace him as the leader in Slytherin. There were a number of loud arguments from some of the upper years who refused to accept the idea that a second year could be in charge but they were mostly squashed by the majority. If there was one thing Harry had learned about purebloods was that they adamantly protected their traditions and always opposed change.
So, every time he would enter the common room, everyone would stop what they're doing and wait for Harry to address them. He was finding it extremely difficult to maintain his privacy when everyone looked at him to solve their inter-house problems. Thankfully, he still had his father's cloak but he didn't plan on spending his entire school career incognito.
On a Monday morning at breakfast, another thing was about to happen that would only increase Harry's unwanted attention.
It started like any other day. He first had to brush off a few first years that wanted him to settle an argument and then he had to constantly change seats in the Great Hall as more of his peers tried to gain position by being seen as one of Harry's friends. In fact, the only people who left Harry alone were Grey and, up to this point, Greengrass. Grey, thankfully, was still heeding Harry's warning and stayed out of his way. In fact, Harry only ever saw him during meals as he was mysteriously absent outside meals and classes.
It all had to do with that morning's mail delivery. This usually went beyond Harry's notice since he used the mirrors to contact his family and no one else had reason to owl him. Today though, a group of eagle owls swooped in and dropped identical black envelopes to a variety of students; all of them purebloods. Harry, a half-blood, was the only exception but he only gave a moment's attention to the envelope and its unique seal. Harry recognized the two dragons devouring each other in circle immediately. It was the crest of an elite society of pureblood families from all over Europe. All Harry knew of them was from his Uncle Sirius, who had received similar envelopes when he was a child. The way he described it was that these families would host parties every year to "pat themselves on the back for being important." It's well known that most of the ministries in Europe were composed of the oldest pureblood families and a majority of them were members of this society. The Circle, as they were called, carried a great amount of influence and to be invited was considered a great honor, not only for the obvious political reasons but also to allow families with suitable heirs to arrange political alliances through marriage.
Harry had no interest in getting involved with all the political backstabbing and double dealing that was rampart in their society. It was also extremely suspicious that he, a half-blood, received an invitation given the Circle's strict membership restrictions.
He took one more casual look at the envelope before he dismissively tossed it on the table. He looked around and many of his peers looked excitingly at their invitations and were already discussing who their escorts were going to be. The rules were that males were allowed to come alone but females had to have an escort and that person had to have been invited as well. Harry was about to banish any remaining thought of this invitation when he noticed Greengrass staring back him. He also noticed that she had her own black envelope and had a very calculated expression as she seemed to be studying Harry.
'She couldn't possibly be thinking what I think she's thinking,' he thought.
Sure enough, Daphne straightened herself, got up from her seat, and made her way over to him.
'Oh, this is going to be interesting.'
She walked with purpose and maintained eye contact the entire way. Harry stayed completely neutral and did his best to ignore her. She stood there for a moment which made it even more fun for Harry to force her to broach the subject. Eventually, her impatience overcame her and she sat down.
"Potter."
"Greengrass," replied Harry though he refused to fully acknowledge her presence.
"Look, this is how it's going to happen. You can't afford to be seen going by yourself so I'll be your date and when we get there we'll go our separate ways. Deal?"
Harry could appreciate how she framed it like he needed her instead of the other way around but it wasn't going to work.
"No."
"What do you mean?" It seemed like she wasn't expecting him to reject her but she quickly recovered. "It's not like you're going to find anyone else to go with you."
"True." Most of the student body still didn't like him and he doubted he could get a date even if he wanted one. "But I'm not going."
"What do you mean you're not going? You were invited. Do you know how hard it is to get one of these invitations?"
Harry was starting to hear the first signs of her desperation but he still hadn't heard one thing that would make him go.
"I don't care."
He really didn't want to continue this so he grabbed his bag and left the Great Hall. Unfortunately, Greengrass wasn't giving up that easily. She followed him down the hall until she was able overtake him and get in his way.
"Now you listen, I have spent months petitioning the Circle and groveling to scum like the Malfoys, Lestranges, and the rest of those pureblood elitists to get them to just entertain the idea. And I'm not going to let a technicality or you keep me from that ball. So you are going and I will be your date." She put her hands on hips and refused to give ground.
Harry was a little surprised that she told him that much. There were a lot things that he hadn't expected someone like Greengrass to say. First that her family status was good enough to get an invite and, second, that she shared his opinion on the families that made up the Circle. It also suddenly gave him a very interesting idea, one that could possibly help prepare him and his brother in the future; however, he couldn't just say yes.
"Why should I? What's in it for me?"
"Because you owe…" she stopped herself quickly which made Harry wonder what she was going to say.
'What could she possibly think I owe her for?' The very thought was preposterous. The two of them barely interacted and there was never an instance that could call for a debt. The idea was so absurd that he didn't even hear Greengrass's alternative incentive.
"What did you say?"
"I'll give you Potion lessons." Her voice was so dead panned that it almost sounded like she hated the thought of giving him a lesson.
Fortunately, Harry hid how that was just about the worst thing she could say. He gave her a very annoyed look and tried to get past her again but she quickly blocked him.
"Fine, we'll work that part out later but I am not going to take 'No' for an answer."
Harry crossed his arms and pondered for a moment.
'Why does she want to go so badly when she obviously doesn't think too highly of the Circle? Why is this so important to her?'
It definitely would take some investigating but he still had to deal with Greengrass now.
"I'll think about it."
Greengrass didn't look please with his answer but at least it wasn't a 'No.'
"Fine, you have until Friday." She stepped out his way and went back to the Great Hall.
Harry followed her with his eyes and started to come up with a plan to find out everything he could about Daphne Greengrass.
That evening Harry found himself at the back-most table in the library patiently waiting for Fred and George. He spent the day creating a game plan for his investigation into Greengrass and the twins were a pivotal part. Harry didn't have to wait very long as he heard footsteps coming his way.
"Hiya Harry," greeted George as appeared from the stacks and took a seat.
"Buddy!" Fred started towards Harry with his arms open for a hug. Harry just looked incredulously at him and stepped away.
Fred put his arms down and looked disappointed. "Bollocks."
He then took a seat next to George and reached into his robes and begrudgingly placed a few Sickles into his brother's outstretched hand.
"Told ya that wouldn't work," George said smugly as he counted each coin and put them away.
Harry shook it off and didn't bother to address what happened and instead got down to business.
"I've got something new for us to do and we need it done by the end of the week."
Fred and George sat up a little straighter. "You mean this isn't about the markers."
"But we're so close, we only got two left."
"One, actually." Harry corrected them.
"Wait, what?" They said in unison.
"I found the werewolf marker last weekend. I didn't tell you guys?"
With everything that happened ever since he took down King, he honestly couldn't recall if he did or not. He ended up finding Moony's image at the base of the Whomping Willow. He had suddenly remembered all the times he overheard his parents talking about the tree and the knot to push to make it docile and figured it was probably the meaningful location for Moony's marker. He explained it quickly to the twins who seemed a little put out that they weren't included but also excited that they were only one marker away from opening the M and seeing what's inside.
"Well alright then, what's up?"
"First things first." Harry reached into his robe and pulled out one of the Marauder journals and tossed it on the table. The twins contained themselves as best they could as the both reached for the journal. There was a bit of a tussle but Fred ended up with it. Harry could tell that he wanted to start leafing through it but they still had business to discuss.
"I need you two to target someone in my House and you can't stop until the end of the week."
"Who is it?" they asked eagerly.
"Daphne Greengrass, I need her distracted so I find what I can about her," said Harry as he took a seat.
'Plus, she deserves it for that Potions comment,' he added as an afterthought.
Two Cheshire grins formed on the twin's faces, they just love when there were pranks to perform.
Things were working perfectly. All during the week, the twins set their traps and were extremely successful at being a major inconvenience in Greengrass's daily life. Harry really did have to marvel at the level of effort the twins put in their pranks. He did, though, have to convince them that it was important that they weren't the obvious culprits. He stressed that they had make it seem like just another unfortunate consequence of living in an old and enchanted castle.
So, for starters, the twins somehow got the changing staircases to always change whenever she was on them and made it so that every time she would walk past a suit of armor it would stick its foot out and trip her. They also charmed every door to not open unless someone else opened it for her. Harry knew he should feel bad for setting the twins upon her but he was enjoying way too much watching her get visibly angry. Not all the twin's pranks, though, were just to annoy her, some were meant to help Harry get information.
First, on Tuesday, Harry hid under his cloak and followed Greengrass whenever they were outside of classes. Meanwhile, the twins placed a charm on her bag so that all its contents exploded and scattered across the floor. Harry quickly shifted through them and grabbed anything that looked personal, copied it, and put it back.
All he found, though, were notes on potions she was brewing and a letter to her father with details about the Ball. There was nothing that made it seem like she had any alternative motives for asking to be his date. He did find it presumptuous that she assured her father that Harry was going to accept her proposal and that she was going to need her black ball dress by the end of the week. Following her didn't reveal much either since she rarely went anywhere except classes, the Great Hall, the library, and her room. Classes and the Great Hall were inconsequential but finding out what she did while she was alone in the library and her room was going to take some preparation.
So on Wednesday, Harry executed a plan where the twins hid in the stacks and levitated books and crashed them into Greengrass as she worked. The commotion alerted Madam Pince, the librarian, who left her desk to help Greengrass from the attacking books. Harry, under the cloak, used that time to go through Pince's files where she kept the records of what books were checked out. He quickly scanned the records but the only thing he found under Greengrass were books on potions, though he did notice that Grey had recently checked out some books on magical serpents but Harry didn't think that was that important at the moment. What was important was that the only place left to investigate was her bedroom and that was not going to be easy.
It took most of the night to plan but Harry and the twins managed to set dung bombs to go off all along the main corridors after Greengrass got out of Herbology which would force her to take the dreaded hallways where Peeves, the resident poltergeist, normally patrolled and attacked unsuspecting students. To make things even more inconvenient for Greengrass, they also managed to trick Peeves into thinking that she was conspiring to steal his sweets which caused a number of obstacles and booby traps of flying furniture to appear along her way.
This provided Harry, who was conveniently sick and unable to go to Herbology, all the time he needed to try and gain access into her room. First, he had to use a broom he had borrowed from the Quidditch closet so that he didn't activate the wards that prevented boys from entering the girl's hallway. He then had to deactivate the security she had placed on her door. The wards she used weren't terrible complex but well over what a typical second year was capable of, thankfully, Harry wasn't your typical student. Once in her room he found that the gossip about it wasn't exaggerated. The room looked more like a potions lab then a bedroom. There were cauldrons and ingredients jars everywhere and it was very difficult for Harry to float around.
'Does this girl do anything that doesn't involve potions?' Harry had to wonder. Some of the potions were as simple as Pepper-Ups and Zit Removals but others looked extremely complex and Harry had trouble identifying them.
He continued to float through her room and took his time since he was confident that their plan would keep Greengrass occupied for some time. Unfortunately…
The door slammed open and a very angry Greengrass stepped into the room. Her anger quickly switched to confusion and Harry suddenly realized his mistake: he forgot to replace the wards that protected her room. There was nothing he could do about it now so he floated as high as he could and hoped that his cloak held up. He watched as she carefully looked over her ward lines. Fortunately, there was nothing to link Harry to the supposed break-in. She eventually shrugged the matter and settled into her room. Despite the situation, Harry had a unique chance to see Greengrass in her natural element. Unsurprisingly, she worked on potions.
Harry was about to resign himself to witnessing hours of potions brewing when something interesting caught his eye. Greengrass had retrieved a book from her bookcase and opened it on her desk. She then set to work on a cauldron that was placed at the foot her bed. When he took a closer look, the page described a very complex healing potion that apparently had the ability to heal almost any wound overnight.
'No way it was her.' Harry studied her closely and noticed her intensity as she worked. It was amazing how she never took her eyes off the potion, not even when she had to add an ingredient. He didn't want to but he had to admit that Greengrass really was better him, at least, at Potions.
About thirty minutes passed and Harry was really starting to worry that he would be stuck there all night. Thankfully, an urgent knock came from the door. She looked very annoyed at being interrupted but answered the door nevertheless.
"What?!"
"Professor Slughorn wants to see you in his office." Harry couldn't see who was at the door but they sounded a little intimated.
Greengrass took a deep audible breath to voice her annoyance but left nonetheless. Harry released a sigh of relief as he made his escape to his room. He emerged soon after, still under his cloak, and made his way out of the dorms to meet up with the twins. On the way, he passed Greengrass who looked possibly more pissed off and he heard her muttering about bloated walruses.
A few minutes later, Harry approached an empty classroom where he looked around and removed his cloak before he entered. Inside he found Fred and George sitting comfortably in the front row. When they saw Harry enter they both raised their arms in triumph.
"You made it!"
"We got a little worried there when you were late."
Harry dropped himself in the chair behind the teacher's desk. "I got lucky. She came in while I was still inside her room but she got called away to meet Slughorn."
"No, no, no. She got called away by us," George declared proudly.
Harry was confused and waited for them to explain.
"We thought it was weird that you late because…well…it's you and so we managed to break into Slughorn's office," explained Fred.
"Did you know that we can do a fabulous Slughorn impression?" George puffed up as much as he could and sounded almost exactly like Slughorn.
"We waited until a girl walked by and yelled for them to get Greengrass," finished Fred.
"Go on, be impressed," George added with a high five to his twin.
Harry was impressed. These two really were worthy of continuing the Maruader's legacy and he was thankful to have them on his side but there was still something on his mind.
"What happened to our original plan, though?"
"The Bloody Baron showed up," they said together.
That raised Harry's eyebrows. The Bloody Baron was the only entity, besides Dumbledore, that could control Peeves which would explain why Harry's time was cut so short.
"Well it's a moot point anyway."
"You mean you still didn't find anything." Both of them looked very shocked that all their hard work went for not.
"She's clean," Harry said despairingly. It also didn't help that the twins were now sporting matching grins.
"Look at that Fred, Harry's going on a date."
"They just grow up too fast." Fred wiped an imaginary tear and gripped his hands over his heart.
"Both of you can shove it." The twins burst out laughing while Harry have them the two-finger salute.
"Now that that's over, it's time to get back on the search for the final marker."
That deflated the twins a bit which made Harry feel a little better. They looked at each other and shook their heads.
"It's always 'work, work, work' with this guy."
"Yeah, but at least most of its fun and we get paid."
Harry had zoned them out as he now had to think about what he was going to do about Greengrass. He had spent a whole week trying to find something that could give him an advantage over her. He did find something that he would have to confront her about but he found nothing that indicated any ill will towards him or his family. He was slowly resigning himself to a night of listening to uptight pureblood politicians with a girl that had a disturbing obsession with potions. His mind was pondering over different scenarios of how awful that night was going to be that he didn't even notice that the twins were speaking to him.
"I'm sorry, what?"
Fred looked nervously at George before he timidly repeated himself. "We wanted to know if you wanted to come with us to the kitchen."
"You know, to celebrate the work we did this week," George added with a smile but just as timid.
Harry considered it for a moment. He and the twins had never spent time outside of their business together. Harry thought back to what his father had said about not letting what happened with Grey stop him from making new friends. The twins were obviously nothing like Adrian and they had certainly proven themselves as reliable allies and very capable wizards. There was really nothing stopping him and for the first time in a while, he wasn't going to.
"Sure," he said which received a noticeable look of surprise on Fred and George's face. "That sounds like fun."
The Next Day
It was Friday which meant that he had to give Greengrass his answer. His investigation in her motives left him with no excuse to deny Greengrass as his date to a ball he hadn't planned to attend. If it hadn't been for her word choice then Harry would have never considered going to a ball of this nature. When she mentioned that people like the Malfoys and Lestranges would be at this event, it gave Harry his first opportunity to scout out the families that he would likely meet in much different circumstances. First, though, he needed to see them in their world and see just how much influence they carried among the most powerful families in Europe. Greengrass actually gave him a better cover since coming alone would make him seem more vulnerable, though, Greengrass was hardly an ally. She was, however, very determined as evident by her actions that morning.
When he woke up that morning at his usual time of 6 AM, he grabbed his cloak and made his way out of the dorm to head to the forest. Normally, he was the only person up at the time but as he entered the common room he was surprised to see someone standing in the middle of the room.
Daphne Greengrass had her arms crossed and was tapping her fingers impatiently. She was already fully dressed for the day and didn't look tired at all.
'Perhaps I'm not the only one that likes an early start to the day.' Harry shook the thought from his head: he did not want find things in common with Greengrass.
"My dress is black and I expect you to match and I want to arrive on time so be ready by 6PM-" By her tone, it sounded like she wasn't done ordering him around and that wasn't going to stand with him.
"Excuse me," interrupted Harry. "I haven't agreed to anything yet." The two stood in front of each other with neither giving ground. "Just remember who needs who in all this."
"Oh please, if you were going to say 'No' then you wouldn't have given it the week so quit with the power play."
Harry tightened his jaw. She had him there but he still had one card to play that would certainly change things up a bit.
"It was you, wasn't it?" Harry brought himself directly at eye level with her. "Last Christmas, you were the one that healed me."
She didn't even blink at Harry's accusations. "I'm sure anyone would agree that it would be extremely problematic for everyone if you ended up dead in the Slytherin common room."
Harry backed off a little, he hadn't expected such a logical answer.
"Besides, it gave me a chance to test my Essences of Panacea on a live subject."
Harry didn't like the sound of being a guinea pig but it resolved him to the fact that he did owe her.
"I'll guess we'll be even then." He stuck out his hand as a sign of thankfulness and as his answer to being her escort to the ball. It also allowed him to clear the debt with something he was already planning to do so he wouldn't be losing anything. She gave his hand a look before she took in her own with a firm squeeze.
"6 PM, Potter." She then dropped his hand and left back down to her room. Harry waited for her to disappear before he retrieved his cloak and set out for his morning routine with a single thought on his mind.
'It's going to be one interesting night.'