Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
Nicolas Flamel
[Page 231 - Harry wished he could forget what he'd seen in the mirror as easily, but he couldn't. He started having nightmares. Over and over again he dreamed about his parents disappearing in a flash of green light, while a high voice cackled with laughter.]
Everyone had to wince at that, their sympathy for the boy growing. Harry fidgeted under their pitying looks, once again being reminded how much he hated attention. Even his friends were giving him those looks, though at least they tried to be discreet. Nice of them to try, although they were rubbish at it. Sensing his discomfort, Lily put her arms around him from behind, her fingers gently carressing his black locks. Harry subconsciously snuggled into her, his face heating up when he noticed everyone watching his every move but couldn't care less. Besides, his dad and his friends were doing brilliant jobs at scaring them away. He should probably learn how to do that impressive scowl of theirs that would put even Snape to shame. He supposed there was no need to worry since they'll have loads of time together now since they were back-
Harry tensed, suddenly overwhelmed by doubts and troubling thoughts. Were his parents actually back or whoever - or whatever - returned them would whisk them off by the end of the reading? It didn't seem too impossible, considering all the things that went wrong in his life when it started looking good. So was all this just for the show? Just to let him have a taste of what his life would be like with his parents by his side and take it all away? He didn't know what kind of state he would be when - if, he angrily corrected himself - that actually happened and he was also concerned for Sirius and Remus. He knew they saw his dad as their brother, and if he died for the second time, they would never stop blaming themselves for allowing it to happen again, regardless of it not being their fault. But how could he stop it? It wasn't like he could just persuade or fight someone that he knew nothing about, but he couldn't just let his parents go again, he would never forgive himself for that-
"What's wrong?"
Harry started, his gaze snapping up to meet the warm green eyes of his mother. She looked concerned, small creasing of her eyebrow giving it off as well as the slight down-turned lips. Glancing to the side, he saw his dad frowning as well, and realized that he was shaking slightly, his hands clenchd into fists. He quickly unclenched them, smiling reassuringly for their benefit. "Nothing. Just thinking, that's all."
They looked unconvinced, but dropped the subject for now. Which he was relieved about, since he didn't want to tell his fears in front of hundred pairs of ears listening in - not that his secrets were guarded at the moment. He knew there wouldn't be a secret left for him to keep by the end of the reading session that no one knew about; heck, everyone would know his secrets that he didn't even know about. Speaking of secrets, he really should work on how to prevent the DA members from getting expelled, but that seemed near impossible with the book being the proof itself. Hermione and he would get even more harsh punishment as they had lied about the whole thing before and Harry couldn't help but feel sorry for her. He knew how much education mattered to her and she would be absolutely devastated if she got kicked out of Hogwarts.
Harry sighed, deciding to visit those thoughts later on. All these thinking were making his head hurt and now wasn't the greatest time to concentrate. He decided to just let the sensation of his mom's soft fingers and enjoy watching his friends' creative ways of scaring people. Honestly, he should really stop Sirius from acting like a madman and the others adding special effects like blood and fake knieves(Really, can't they see how awkward he was handling an axe and they didn't even feel pain when it just went through them? He supposed wizards weren't that observant or common sense. There wasn't any other explanation because if not, at least one of them would have noticed how they can't run like that if it was a real knife that sliced their legs. The horror movies that Dudley used watch was much more believable than that). He had already made several students cry, and that certainly wouldn't work in his favor when someone tried to prove his 'guiltiness' again. He really should do it now... Just after watching him scaring few Slytherins... And Ravenclaws... And Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs... And the most aggressive ones about proclaiming he was crazy and Voldemort wasn't back... Fine, he wasn't really going to but could you really blame him? He never denied there wasn't a Slytherin in him and besides, it would be rude to ruin their fun.
[Page 232 - "Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!" George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words.]
Charlie snorted in amusement at that, glancing at his younger brother. "That's got to have hurt."
"Damn right, it did." George muttered, grimacing as he recalled the dreadful taste of mud in his mouth. "I really wasn't expecting that and Oliver really should have told us when we were on the ground, safe and sound without any danger of falling face-first to the ground." The former Quidditch Captain stuck out his tongue at the younger Gryffindor, ignoring Angelina muttering, "very mature".
"Well, you should have been focusing. During the match, it takes only one second of distraction for the opposing team to gain points! Giving your full attention to your surrounding and not letting anything distract you is essential for winning-"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Fred cut him off, looking bored. "Essential key for victory, concentration, cooperation between your teammates et cetera, et cetera. Honestly, Oliver, we can recite your speech on Quidditch from sleep from how much you've drilled into our heads."
"Want us to give it a go?" George piped up, their eyes glinting mischievously. Katie and Angelina immediately lunged to cover their mouths, knowing from experience that if they started their parody of Oliver's speech, it would result in heated protesting and argument of the importance of Quidditch and how they should be not insulting the brilliant sports (Oliver) and proclamation of Oliver's romantic interest in the sports (the twins, of course). Harry grinned at the utter relief on the girls' faces, understanding their desperate need to stop yet another fight. No need to repeat the whole broom fiasco. The Weasley twins had jinxed Oliver's broom to have kiss marks all over it and to make a preening sound everytime the Gryffindor sat on it which he, in return, pranked them back for their skin to be in boisterous neon pink and 'I LOVE Quidditch!' in sparkly rainbow color on their forehead with their hair pulled back so the writing was shown clear. As they pranked back and forth, the rest of the Quidditch team members were caught in the middle. They had to bear the glaring of their Head of the House and try to prevent their prank war spreading to other people while being accidentally pranked themselves from time to time. It had taken two weeks, tons of death threats, some physical violence inflicted willingly by the girls and chunks of House points and piles of detentions being thrust upon them that they finally stopped.
"Well, must have been a quite shocker for you. Loads of pressure, no doubt, since his favoritism isn't quite a secret." Bill commented, leaning back with his arms behind his head, effectively bringing their conversation on track.
"You can say that again." Katie groaned, pulling a face as she remembered that time. "Oliver ran us ragged non-stop for hours. I swear he would've continued doing so if it wasn't for madam Pomfrey and Professor McGonagall setting up limit for maximum practice time. I bet that was the first time anyone had to stop someone from practicing too much."
"Oi!" Oliver yelled indignantly, his cheeks flushed up in bright red, but even he couldn't deny the fact. The rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch members snickered in response.
[Page 233 - "Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested. "Really break your leg," said Ron.]
"Real charming friends you've got there, Harry." Dean snorted, shaking his head disbelievingly. "I see why you three get along so much. You all lack common sense. Well, except for Hermione but she also can't be called 'normal'. "
"Thank Merlin you didn't listen to them!" Oliver burst out and Angelina nodded along. "Yeah, just because you don't like the referee doesn't mean you can abuse yourself like that-"
"If you had backed out, Gryffindor would have lost because of our loss of seeker." Angelina stopped, rounding on her former Quidditch Captain with a scandalized expression on her face. "That's what you're worried about?"
"Yeah, why? Something wrong?" Oliver looked genuinely confused, and it took him few minutes of everyone staring at him incredulously that he finally got it. "Oh, right! Yeah, Harry, you shouldn't break your leg just because you don't want to participate in the game." He amended, his face flushed in bright red. Angelina sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. "Honestly, Oliver. Sometimes I wonder if it's okay to leave you like this. I mean, your obsession with Quidditch too much to be healthy. Maybe you should go see a healer." She suggested, half-serious, half-joking.
"Says the girl who's as obsessed as Wood." George coughed, easily blocking a horn tongue hex aimed at his direction.
[Page 235 - "I've found him!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here - listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!"]
"You searched the whole library, including the Restricted Section with the risk of detention, only to find the information on a chocolate card?" Hannah exclaimed incredulously, not able to believe how easy it should have been for them to find the information but only stumbled upon it after months of exhausting research in the library.
"Story of my life." Harry muttered sullenly, picking at the hem of his shirt. Susan patted his back comfortingly, genuinely sympathetic for him. Anyone would be frustrated and outraged when months of hardworking turned out to be for nothing. His whole life seemed like a twisted comedy with a tint of thriller and spoons of adventure added to the mix. No offence to him but that book about his life would have been a bestseller if it was published. Or get forbidden by the Ministry for all the dangerous stunts those three pulled and little kids - and some immature adults - trying to copy them.
"If we just ate some Chocolate Frogs, we could have avoided going to that library." Ron sighed mournfully, longing for the time he'd lost researching when he could have been doing other things. "Such a waste of time."
Hermione rolled her eyes, tired of his attitude. "Stop whining, Ron. Besides, it was a good learning experience for all of us and we learned a lot about wizard and witches through the ages."
"Yeah, because learning about the dead people's lives are so important." Seamus mocked, rolling his eyes. "Anything else is much productive than sitting there and staring at the printed dead tree until your eyes fall out. What's the point of reading anyways? You can just ask someone or watch a movie about it."
Harry and Ron exchanged looks, alarmed as they knew right away he had said a forbidden word in front of one of the most famous book lover in the entire Wizarding World.
"Should we warn him?" Harry winced worriedly, looking up at Ron like a lost puppy.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going near them, just look at her!" Ron jerked his chin towards Hermione who was practically glowing in her anger, her eyes blazing and looking like a Viking warrior ready for war. "Besides, he does kind of deserve what's coming next. It's his fault that he pissed her off and he kept insulting you from the first day of school. Don't think I didn't notice how he and his group of friend tried to corner you during the first week. Why do you think I didn't leave your side all that time?"
"Oh... You noticed then?" Harry blushed, scratching his head ruefully. While he had been grateful for Seamus and his gang backing off, he hadn't realized Ron had done it on purpose. Guess he should really give him more credits. "So we're not going to interfere?"
"Nope. Come on, we should probably scoot towards that side. Don't want her to round on us."
"Yeah. You get Ginny, Luna and Neville, I'll get Hannah, Susan, and the twins. Oh, and Dennis and Colin, too."
"I thought you didn't like their attention." Ron teased but immediately went to the mentioned three, dragging them by their arms to where adults were sitting, Harry right behind him.
"What the hell?" George hissed, frowning when Harry pushed them behind the astounded adults, yelping when Hannah tripped and landed on top of him. "Look at that and tell me that isn't dangerous."
Ron jerked his chin towards Hermione who seemed to have swirls of black energy coming out of her. People near her shivered, wondering about the sudden drop of temperature and the urge to run and hide. The twins' mouth turned into a perfect shape of 'o' as they as they recognized the kind of danger the foolish Gryffindor had gotten himself into, they immediately followed Harry and their brother's act of defense: hiding behind the adults and praying to every single Gods and Goddesses in existence to not let them get involved. They knew exactly what was going to happen and they had no wish to experience it ever again. So instead of resisting, they helped the two to conceal others behind the grown ups, clutching their shoulders to prevent them from moving and revealing their hiding position.
"Harry, what-?" Remus tried to turn around to face the emerald eyed teen but was stopped by an index finger to his lip and a pleading look from Harry. He frowned to let him know he still didn't know what was going on but faced forward again as he trusted Harry to not fool around without any particular reason.
"I mean, really, what's the point of having a library at a magical school? No one goes there except for the Ravenclaw nerds and geeks like Granger." Seamus continued on, still not realizing the fact that he was digging his own grave. Harry and Ron snapped and had to be held back to avoid physical injuries and possible murder, at least not in public and especially not in front of Umbridge. On the contrary, Hermione merely stared at him, her lips stretching into a smile. Harry paled, abandoning his plan to give Seamus a piece of his mind reluctantly and scooted near the adults. He recognized that icy smile as the calm before the storm and if there was one thing he learned from his years with Hermione, it was to never be near her when she was furious.
"Well, then, Seamus." The said teen froze, recognizing her tone as the approaching danger. Unfortunately for him, he didn't listen to the alarm bells ringing inside his head and foolishly pushed on, facing her with a scowl. If he noticed the teens huddled up behind the adults, he didn't seem to take that as a warning even if Hermione's best friends were amongst those who had taken refuge there. "What?"
Ron winced, knowing Seamus won't survove this unscathed. If that was him - though he had no wish to be at the wrong end of Hermione's temper - he would practically beg for forgiveness before it was too late.
"Just to clarify, you think reading is a useless activity and we should ban all the books from this such a wonderful magical world where you can just ask a magic mirror or floo call someone for information. Or you could just watch a movie or TV since you are well accustomed to the muggle world instead of picking up a book and urging your brain to translate the symbols written on it into words, is that right?"
"Yeah, so? What are you gonna do? Throw a book at me?" Seamus sneered, though his voice was hesitant and unsteady as he started to realize his mistake of provoking Hermione. She was very powerful and knew loads of curses that she can use. He frowned when he saw the seat next to him wasthat was usually occupied by Dean was empty and found him far away. He mouthed, good luck, and tried to smile at him reassuringly but it came out more like a grimace of pain.
"Contrary to your belief, there are many people who love reading and we, like me, take insult to our books as a personal offense. And you, Finnigan, managed to unite all of us to give you some lesson. You'll never be able to speak badly about our books ever again after we're done with you."
Seamus gulped audibly, his face paling as he finally realized the seriousness of his situation. Now he thought about it with a clear mind, it was a very bad idea to insult books in front of Hermione but in front of a hall full of book lovers? It would be a better idea to jump in front of Voldemort and show him a picture of a nose. At least that guaranteed him a quick, clean death - this was far from clean.
He desperately looked around to see if there were any way to get out of this mess but what he saw only made his stomach drop. From the High Table Madam Pincers glared viciously as if he had insulted her baby right in her face, which wasn't far from truth actually. Every Ravenclaws, half of Slytherins and fair amount of Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors all glared at him, ready for war.
Harry felt slightly sympathetic for him, knowing how vicious Hermione could be when she was determined for revenge. Forget Voldemort, it would be a miracle if he stayed sane after tonight. Harry only wished she wouldn't go to far to actually make physical injuries or cause any serious mental harm. After all, he and Ron also wished to extract revenge on the teen - he had insulted her which was far from okay - and they couldn't do that if he was sent to St. Mungos.
[Page 235 - "I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading." "Light ?" said Ron...]
"For once I agree with my brother. How on Merlin's name can that be considered light?" Ginny looked incredulously at the older girl whose face had turned pink. "And how the hell are you not in Ravenclaw? Not at I want you to go but I mean, really? What was the Sorting Hat thinking?"
"Debatable." The males of the trio mumbled under their breath, earning a light smack from Hermione. "Ow! Hermione!" Harry whined, rubbing his head with his lower lip sticking out in a pout.
"What? It's true and you know it!" Ron protested, scrambling backward in order to avoid the witch. Even Neville nodded in agreement, having had the experience which proved she wasn't just a bookworm. She was a bookworm who had the ability to use all the knowledge she had to fight against whoever she needed to and win. "Yeah, I still can't forget the time when you put Full Body Bind Curse on me. I had to stay like that for hours until you came back and did the counter jinx. That still comes up during my nightmares you know."
"I'm really sorry about that Neville. I honestly forgot about the whole incident with what happened that night." Hermione winced, nervously chewing her bottom lip. She still felt terrible for leaving Neville alone in the Common Room and not even remembering him. To be fair, a lot of things had happened that day but it still didn't help her feel any better.
"I told you, she is dangerous." Ron grinned in triumph but that quickly melted into fear as she rounded on him with her wand in hand. "Whoa! Ouch! Hermione, can't we just talk this out - ow! That hurt!"
"It was supposed to hurt, you moron!"
"You are one hell of a bloodthirsty woman!"
"Ron, if I catch you I swear I won't be held responsible for what happens to you."
"ACK! Harry, help!"
The Gryffindor pretended not to hear the cry of help as he had no wish to be included in the fight that Hermione was sure to win. Knowing the exact things his friend was capable of from all the years he had spent with her - she had punched Malfoy, after all, who seemed to remember the incident since he was subconsciously rubbing his cheek - he had no wish to be subjected to her wrath. Besides, Ron had brought this himself, what with calling her dangerous and all. Thus, why he was the only one calmly listening to the book as his two best friends were fighting, or more correctly, one hexing the other into oblivion, while the others watched the fight in varying degree of concern of the boy's safety.
[Page 236- "Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"]
"Philosopher's Stone?" The whole Ravenclaw students gasped in shock, immediately talking to their neighbors in excited chatter. Terry smacked his own forehead in exasperation at himself. "I should have known. How could I have been so stupid? It was staring right at my face!"
"No wonder Snape was after it! Who wouldn't? Even I want it." Cho exclaimed to Marietta, their eyes gleaming at the though of gold and immortality. "I know right? I wonder if Harry has it now. I mean, it's obvious he'll try to protect it, so maybe he got the stone?" Marietta glanced at the raven haired teen, her desire showing on her face.
"I get that all of you are all wise and smart but is anyone willing to share with the class?" Lee Jordan asked aloud if a bit petulantly at being left put of conversation. Terry was the first to answer, perking up at the opportunity to share his knowledge.
"The Philosopher's Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal." He recited, having memorized the explanation from the book word by word. Sirius let out a low whistle, looking impressed. "I can see why that was moved to Hogwarts for protection."
"Being rich and living forever isn't the most important things in life. Many don't realize that. They should stop chasing pointless dreams and start pursuing things that's really worth it." Luna shook her head sadly, her usually dreamy eyes narrowed into slight frown. "Some devote their whole life for money or for probation. They don't realize that in the process they lose their family until it's too late." At this, she looked directly at Percy, who ducked and avoided her unnaturally sharp gaze that seemed to pierce right through him, similar to Dumbledore's. Forcing himself to ignore her gaze, he pretended to scribble some notes on his parchment, where he had written down some major happenings of the book; well, not exactly a book as it was Harry Potter's life written on paper so perhaps a biography of some kind.
Mrs. Weasley bit her lip, betrayal of her son still cutting her deep and she couldn't help but blame herself for being part of the reason why he chose such way. If she had just raised him more correctly and showed him that grade and money wasn't everything, he might be sitting next to them, laughing with them instead of next to the that idiotic Minister, unable to even bear to look at his own family-
Her train of thoughts were abruptly halted by her husband who placed comforting hand on her shoulder. Thanks to all those years those years they've lived together, he knew exactly what she was thinking. He also blamed himself and he couldn't - wouldn't - let her suffer through it alone.
The Weasley siblings fell unnaturally quiet, their lips set into hard line and their hands clenched so tightly that their knuckles had turned white. Even the twins sat still, not hint of a laugh on their usually cheerful faces. They might act silly and untactful all the time but even they knew when was the right time for jokes and when wasn't and this clearly wasn't the kind of situation that you could soften up by cracking some jokes.
Percy ducked his head behind his parchments, pretending to write down some notes in order to avoid his family's gaze on him. He had been so sure he was on the right side and did everything to ensure his family came with him as well. He yelled at his parents, said insults that he knew would be a dagger to their hearts but voiced them anyways, sent a letter to Ron filled with cruel accusations of Harry even when he was certain the raven-haired teen would read it and did so many awful things that he shouldn't have done. Even then, he didn't really feel guilty because he had no doubt the Ministry was right and if the time came and his family realized their mistake, he wanted to have higher position and power so his family wouldn't have to endure any harsh punishments, which was why he was so eager and did his best to everything even if it was simple things. But now, sitting here and listening to Harry Potter's life, the one he had thought of his brother once, the one he had hurt when he should have been smart enough to realize slandering a child wasn't the right way, the one who glanced at him every now and then with those emerald eyes filled with betrayal, hurt, anger, guilt and so much pain, he wasn't so sure of his choices. He wished he could be there next to his family, laughing at some silly joke his siblings said but it was too late for that. The Minister wouldn't let him go, he might even go as far as to fire both him and his father and slander their family's name. Then what would happen to the rest of his family?
[Page 237 - "Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.]
"Hermione! I thought you were the sensible one in the group!" Katie exclaimed, looking scandalized. "No wonder he looked so pale at the game. He looked like the grim reaper came and told him he was going to die that day or something."
"Grim reaper?" George cocked his head to the side, frowning slightly. Katie paused, just realizing he was a pureblood - unlike most who acted like a real git. "Grim reaper is the personification of Death. It looks kinda like a dementor with its black cloaks and being a skeleton and brings around this huge scythe. He comes to people who are about to die and brings them to the underworld so I guess it's like the Grim in the Wizarding world."
"Oh?" Fred leaned back, corner of his lips curling up into a smirk. "And do muggles fear this grim reaper?" He tried the foreign word, finding a rather nice ring to it.
"Well, yeah, I guess since seeing it means you are about to die." Katie shrugged, squinting suspiciously at his rather savage expression. "Now what are you planning to do? I swear, if you try to break into the girl's dormitory one more time, I'll-"
"Not to worry, my dear darling." George grinned, immediately getting what his twin was thinking. "If you must know, I think my incredibly handsome and unbelievably smart brother has thought of yet another amazing idea of greeting our wonderful guests with. Now, what kind of a host will we be if we keep letting them be on their own?" He gestured to the three Dursleys who were huddled up, leaning as far away from Hagrid and whispering to themselves. Vernon, the most aggressive and unsubtle one, occasionally glared at the direction of his nephew and his friends, muttering something under his breath. He seemed to have forgotten how protective they were of Harry unlike his wife who looked back and forth between them anxiously, chewing on her lips. Dudley didn't seem to notice or care how tense his parents were and only proceeded to search the ground and tables for a Chocolate Frog, freezing whenever something made a shuffling sound or a noise resembling a frog's croak.
Susan and Hannah immediately scooted closer to them, their cheeks flushed in excitement at the thought of another prank. "Well? What's the plan?" Hannah groaned impatiently, drumming her fingers on her thigh in agitation.
"Well, we were thinking-"
"Or rather I was thinking." Fred interjected, looking pleased at himself. George rolled his eyes at the smug look on his face but continued, used to his antics. After all, they had been together for their entire life and they knew each other better than themselves.
"We were thinking," he stressed, glaring at his twin, daring him to say otherwise. "since muggles are scared of these - what was it called? Grim ripper? Grim reaper? Yeah, that. We could maybe conjure up an illusion or be disguised as one to scare the living daylights out of them."
"I never thought I would say this to anyone, least of all you two, but guys, that is a brilliant plan. I'm in. When do we start?" Hannah grinned wickedly, leaning forward in anticipation.
"As soon as possible." George promised, his own grin matching hers.
"Of course, it wouldn't hurt to, ah, let a few others join in our welcome party. I'm sure dear Hermione-"
"-and our darling sister."
"-would have both skill and new ideas to perform these events."
"I'll get Hermione." Susan volunteered, glancing at the mentioned Gryffindor. "She and I are rather good friends, especially after our, um, first welcome party. I'm sure it wouldn't be that hard to convince her."
"And I'll get Ginny. I'm sure she would agree as soon as I tell her about this. But we might have to restrain her a little. The last time we did this, her idea got a bit too much creative. And violent."
"Nothing's too much creative. Violent, well, depends on who you are asking the question to."
"I had no idea I would have so much fun in pranking people. Guess I understand why you two enjoy it so much." Susan grinned, suddenly freezing when she thought about her aunt. "Merlin, my aunt's gonna kill me."
"Nah. We are doing justice so she won't be mad. In fact, I bet she'll be proud and even want to join us." George smirked, glancing at Madam Bones sitting in the High Table. "Actually, that's a great idea! She might be able to tell us about some loopholes so we can place some charms on their houses. Nothing harmful of course. Well... Not physically, at least. Mentally? I can't guarantee that one."
"I'm not even sure their mental states are healthy at the moment. How can anyone neglect their own nephew under the ridiculous excuse of him being 'not normal'? Everyone's different from each other and unique in their own ways so why are they trying to be 'ordinary' so desperately?" Susan shook her head, once again struck by the sheer difference between Harry and his relatives. Thank Merlin he didn't turn out like them, that would have been disastrous.
Amelia Bones watched her niece interacting with her friends fondly all the while she wrote down her own notes. She didn't trust Fudge to be honest enough to not order Percy Weasley to write the things in a way for it to be in his favor. She knew the kind of man he was. He wasn't a genius or a brave man but he wasn't stupid, at least not in politics and gaining advantage. He had criticized Barty Crouch when the whole fiasco with his son happened, earning people's trust and showed them he had connection between them and wouldn't hesitate to tell them if such things happened again. He knew how to twist the facts around and using the contents to keep people's faith in him so he could maintain his position. Even now, he had attacked Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore in all means available to make people lose faith in them and side with him. He may be too much of a coward to face the facts, but he had enough Slytherin traits in him to make him dangerous, especially when he had the power as the Minister of Magic.
[Page 238 - Harry didn't see how he could - yet he sometimes had the horrible feeling that Snape could read minds.]
Dumbledore chuckled, his right hand stroking his long beard which he was rather proud of. No one really understood how hard it was to keep it in such good condition. If he didn't care for it for even a single day, it would stick out in every direction and puff up like a angry cat's tail. Hmm, speaking of cat's tails, was Arabella doing okay? He knew she would beat herself up if she learned the Dursleys' treatment of Harry as she had become quite fond of the boy. Although he should probably explain to her that not everyone loved cats as she did and showing a young child pictures of her deceased cats wasn't exactly a good way to form a bond.
Albus shook his head, coming back to the matter at hand. So young Harry had suspected Severus for reading his mind which wasn't so far fetched as it seemed since he is a master in both Occulemency and Legilimency. So he was rather sensitive to Legilimency which was good as it will be easier for him to detect intrusion. But all he could do at best was sense someone in his mind, helpless to do anything but let the other look into his thoughts and memories which brought him to the problem at hand. Harry needed to learn Occulemency in order to protect him from Lord Voldemort. He couldn't teach it himself or Voldemort might force his way further into Harry's mind to learn more about himself which would be fatal to child's mind. Perhaps Severus, then? He is very skilled in the art but the problem was he still couldn't get over his hatred for James and therefore hated Harry and vice versa. So how could he convince the two to get along just for few hours? Hmm... Perhaps he could ask Lily? After all she had always managed to keep Severus, James and Sirius calm during the meeting for the Order.
Speaking of Lily, how could she be here? He was certainly pleased when they appeared, if a lot shocked, but it was very curious thing to ponder about. He had never heard of such thing as bringing back the dead in such manners like this. They weren't even half transparent like the ghosts but flesh and blood like normal human being. He would have to search the library but whoever orchestrated this whole thing - leading Dolores to the book of Harry Potter's life and bringing the Potters back - must be a very powerful being. If he could just figure out who this being is and how and why he or she is doing this... Well, whoever this being was, he found himself looking forward to its next move.
[Page 238 - Harry knew, when they wished him good luck outside the locker rooms the next afternoon, that Ron and Hermione were wondering whether they'd ever see him alive again. This wasn't what you'd call comforting.]
"Damn right it isn't." Astoria muttered under her breath. "They should really learn how to properly comfort others without scaring them."
"Language." Daphne chided, but she couldn't hide a smirk tugging at her lips.
"What? You can't honestly blame me for pointing out their obvious lack of skill in emphasizing with others. And people think us Slytherins are awful at it." The younger girl complained, her eyes dimming as she thought of her first attempts at making friends. Daphne sighed, remembering that incident far too well. When she had boarded the Hogwarts Express for the first time, she had befriended quite a lot of kids in her age. Daphne had hidden her House at the time, not wanting to risk destroying the bond her little sister had formed, but turns out all her efforts were for nothing. As soon as Astoria was sorted into Slytherin, all her 'friends' refused to even look at her, some even outright glaring and insulting her right in front of her face. After that, Astoria grew more self-conscious and kept to herself, contrast to her bubbly and outgoing personality she had before.
"At least this whole reading thing is starting to change their opinions about us." Daphne nudged her, trying to lighten her mood. To her relief, she grinned, nodding her head. "Yeah, I guess. I just hope it continues this way and they don't go back to their original attitude." She hummed in agreement, glad that she seemed to be coming out of her shell. But she knew they had to be careful of what they say. With the Dark Lord coming back, they had to be very cautious of their actions lest they be branded as blood traitors and hunted down.
Glancing to the side, she froze when she met a pair of pale grey eyes staring at her. Tense, she subconsciously lifted her chin higher, her face hardening into the mask of Ice Queen, as her House mates say. She stared back at Malfoy with cold, blank eyes but her heart thudded in her chest wildly. She knew it will only take just one word of their conversation for the Dark Lord to hear for them to be severely punished and she knew he knew that. But she would do anything to keep her family safe, even if that meant dueling the heir of Malfoy family.
To her shock and utter relief, Draco only gave her a small smile - not one of the threatening, taunting smile but a real understanding one - and subtly leaned into her. "You should be more careful. Don't want others to get the wrong idea and cause any unfortunate incidents." He whispered, not a trace of malice in his tone, and looked into her eyes briefly, his own eyes filled with genuine concern, before looking away.
She thanked her lucky stars and exhaled slowly, closing her eyes briefly in order to calm her heart. It seemed he wasn't going to rat them out any time soon. Half of the students would faint in shock if they saw what happened here but in reality, almost none of the young Slytherins wanted to join the Dark Lord. They were kids after all and although they were ambitious, they didn't want to go so far to actually kill people. But of course there were some who really believed in what he said and she was lucky Draco wasn't one of them.
Shaking her head to clear her mind, she rested her chin on her sister's head, relaxing her body. "What is it?" Astoria peeked up, frowning at her tired expression. "Nothing. Must have stayed up too late last night." She didn't seem convinced, but she shrugged and focused back to the book as Daphne played with her hair. For now, she would forget all about the Dark Lord and just focus on spending time with her sister. After all, Potter's life was rather entertaining.
[Page 238 - Little did Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse. They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.]
"You- what? But I - what?" Harry spluttered, his mind failing to provide him with things to say.
"What? You thought we would just let you go on Quidditch match after what happened last time? Not a chance." Ron scoffed, looking away when he met Harry's eyes, his ears reddening in his embarrassment.
Hermione grinned fondly at how her two boys were so easily flustered when confronted with emotional situation. Harry looked so moved and touched by such a small act of concern for him while Ron tried to play it cool but the anxious fiddling with the hem of his robe and the corner of his lips twitching upwards betrayed him. She found them rather adorable that she wanted to tease them mercilessly but decided against it lest she ruin the moment between the two. She knew how much Ron had beat himself up after their fourth year. Especially because of the slight tension between the two that fortunately vanished after few weeks but that didn't stop Ron from blaming himself again. The last thing she would do was interrupt their bonding moment so he would stop looking so guilty from time to time. Honestly, it wasn't only Harry who had the whole 'all of this is my fault so I have to take the full responsibility' problem.
"Um... Thanks, I guess. No, really, I really am grateful." Harry grinned bashfully, scratching his head. Ron shrugged, muttering back, "you're welcome", still not looking up from his apparently very fascinating robe which he had worn for years. Of course there must be something he hadn't noticed after all this time even with the chance of studying the fabric all those years. Really, she wasn't judging him, why would she ever do that?
"I'm just thankful you didn't have to use it." Sirius sighed, massaging his temple. Knowingly or unknowingly, he effectively saved the two Gryffindors from the awkward silence, which they were grateful for. "I don't think I'll be able to let you fly on the broom anymore. And that's big coming from me. Wait, did you fall off your broom after that?" He squinted suspiciously at his godson, not able to relax until he knew for sure he didn't get into any more trouble whilst playing Quidditch.
"I didn't fall off my broom that you don't know of." Harry was quick to assure, recalling the incidents. Twice in his first year, none in his second year - well, he did get hit by a bludger but he didn't exactly fall off his broom - once in his third year but Sirius saw that - probably. Maybe he left before he saw that but he was not going to remind him of that now - Quidditch was cancelled in his fourth year and he was banned to participate in the game by Umbridge at the moment. So yeah, technically he didn't fall off that Sirius didn't know of. His parents and Remus on the other hand... Well, surely they could handle one tiny more surprise?
[Page 239 - Harry could have laughed out loud with relief He was safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try to hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.]
Dumbledore was touched at the sheer faith Harry had in him, which made him feel even more guilty at how he had avoided him all year. And if what he suspected was right, he had to die in the end by Lord Voldemort to end the war that was sure to occur. Harry had fought his foe so many times to stay alive and save his friends and yet he had to give himself in to protect his loved ones.
He sighed, everything going exactly as he predicted but he did not feel victorious or proud. He was just a manipulative man who made everyone into chess piece, orchestrating people to go to the exact place he wanted them to be at the precise time and still held onto his kind grandfather mask. Although it was for the greater good and other's it still didn't make him feel less of a monster to push a young boy into his ultimate death without him knowing and just watch.
Sometimes, he had to wonder if he was any better than Tom Riddle. Lord Voldemort stood in the front line, creating fear and chaos while leading his army to the battlefield with the strategy to win. He, on the other hand, stood in the back, predicting people's every move and moved them like chess pieces. They were the exact opposites, yet the same.
Aberforth would call him a monster for his actions along with everyone else if they saw his true-self and he had to agree. What kind of a person would plan such a terrible fate for a young child unless he was a monster himself? He didn't even check on young Harry to see if he was adjusting well and as ashamed as he was to admit this, but a dark part of him wanted the Dursleys to mistreat him so in the future he won't have any trouble for laying himself down to save the others who were worth much more than him.
He closed his eyes briefly, heaving a yet another sigh. Every time, he had to ask himself if he was actually worthy of calling himself the leader of the Light. His own sister had been brutally murdered for his foolishness of believing in the greater good and trying to pursue it and yet here he was, aged into an old man but not any wiser. This time, he was willing to sacrifice a child for winning the war, for the greater good even after the his big mistake. What did that say about him?
Opposite to people's belief, he wasn't perfect, far from it, in fact. He made mistakes, he was never sure of the choices he made and he desperately wanted to confess his plans to someone. But he could never allow himself for if he told the wrong person, thousands of innocent lives would perish and he could not risk that. Even if the person agreed with him and swore on his life to keep it a secret, it was still awful as he would feel the guilt every second and it would destroy him from the inside. He had no wish to place such a burden to another, better for him to bear it alone.
"Albus? Are you well?" He turned to meet Minerva's concerned gaze and had to chuckle to himself, her incredulous look making him chuckle harder. It was so like her, always looking after her cubs, clawing at anyone who dared to come near. Hmm, did that make him her cub as well? He certainly could imagine himself with a cat's ears and a tail, his white whiskers trailing on the floor as he walked. Oh, it seemed his laughter was worrying her as well as others. Better to assure nothing was wrong with him then, before one of them do anything drastic.
"I am perfectly fine. Why wouldn't I be?" He winked, smiling when she rolled her eyes and turned her attention back to the book. His mood dimmed slightly but decided to save those dark thoughts for later, when he was alone in his office in the company of his pensive and his trusty companion, Fawkes.
For now, he had to focus on finding a way to stop Dolores and Cornelius from using Harry's life against him. He already had to deal with his entire life being read to the entire school, some which he doesn't even no about for it was about his possible future and it was no secret that as soon as the control over the post owls were lifted, the information would spread across the whole world in less than a day. After all, Harry was a hero not only to Britain but also to many other countries as well. The last thing he needed was people twisting around the facts and creating some wild stories to humiliate the boy. It was the least he could do for Harry to try to stop the situation from happening.
[Page 240 - Ron snapped. Before Malfoy knew what was happening, Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.]
All Weasley siblings stared at Ron, their jaws hanging open and their eyes so big that he feared they'll fall out. Bill had almost fallen off his own chair in his shock, scrambling to stop himself from falling down.
"You-" Charlie choked on his own spit, struggling to complete the sentence. "You fought Draco Malfoy? You? "
"Yeah, I bloody well did." Ron scowled, offended by his disbelieving tone. "Problem?"
Ginny whistled, looking at her brother in new light. "I never knew you had that in you." Strangely enough, that didn't soothe his nerve.
"Why are you so surprised about that anyways?"
"You always scream like a girl because of a tiny spider." She deadpanned, her eyebrow raised in a manner that said 'are-you-seriously-asking-me-this'. "I admit, I thought you were so brave and unshakable before but the first time you ran away screaming your head off because of a spider - which, mind you, was barely larger than my thumbnail - was the day my fantasy was shattered. That was when I was six and I had hard time trusting you from then."
"It's not my fault Fred and George turned my teddy bear into a giant spider!" Ron protested, his face reddening in embarrassment as well as anger. George scowled, jabbing his youngest brother in the chest with his finger. "Oh, and you didn't do anything wrong?" Fred hmphed in agreement, his arms crossed over his chest.
"I was three! What was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe don't touch your brother's stuff like you're told to?" Fred shot back sarcastically, still upset over the whole affair. That toy broom was their favorite, earned after years of begging and pleading and months of sacrificing their play time for doing chores. And just when their mom finally bought it for them, Ron had to go and ruin it, hours and hours of hardwork gone just like that.
"Look who's talking. You have no regard to my privacy whatsoever and now you're telling me to respect yours? I don't think so."
"I'm older than you! Of course you have to respect your older sibling!"
"Well, I'm younger than you so you need to respect mine!"
"MUM!" The three of them yelled in sync, rounding on Mrs. Weasley to decide who was right all the while shooting off insults to each other. Mr. Weasley quietly dragged his seat farther away from them while trying not to look like he was running away. Needless to say, he was failing miserably and was caught by his wife before he could even get three inches away.
James winced, seeing himself in Arthur's place. Choosing instead to change the subject rather than to continue watching the scene, he turned to Neville, clapping his shoulder a little too enthusiastically. "Well done to you, too! Keep standing up for yourself, yeah? Now back straight, chin up, and give us a confident smile."
Neville blinked, doing as he was told albeit a bit hesitantly. Lily grinned fondly, glad that the shy child seemed to get out of his shell. Alice and Frank were good friends of theirs and she heard what happened to them. The poor boy had experienced the same thing as Harry, if not worse. She had considered adopting him as she knew James wouldn't reject the idea. In fact, he would get the necessary forms himself all the while chattering on top of his lungs about how great it would have another son and what kind of stuff he'll do together and where they'll travel to and what kinds of presents he'll buy him. But Albus assured that Ausgusta was raising him. She was a nice person though a bit conservative and stubborn and they were on friendly terms with each other. She should pay her a visit soon as she wouldn't know what was happening in the school as Umbridge was controlling the floo network and mails.
Umbridge would probably isolate the whole school and let no information slip out until she find a concrete fact that she and Fudge can use against Harry and Albus. Honestly, those Ministry idiots never learn a lesson. They would probably come to their help pleading and beggin when Voldemort finally reveals his presence. Well, good luck to them as she had absolutely no inkling to let them make her son like a war hero ready to fight for them when it was only yesterday they slandered him mercilessly.
"Uh, Mrs. Potter?"
A squeak of plea stopped her trail of thoughts as she turned to meet Neville's nervous eyes. "Call me Lily, please."
"Umm, well, the thing is Mr. Potter-" He trailed off, his face morphing into grimace. He didn't need to add anything more as the situation was clear. James was chattering nonstop that reminded her of the incident when he got sugar high once - it involved Truth or Dare with Sirius, a giant hole in the wall, handful of terrified screaming muggles, hoards of angry muggle police and exasperated members of the Order. Needless to say, she never let him near any candy from that day - and was currently telling Neville about the pranks he and his friends had pulled. It was rather interesting, but the way how James and put his arm around his shoulder and how close his face was, it would be overwhelming for anyone, let alone Neville who was a very shy child. Plus, the man next to him was dead only few days ago.
"James, cut the poor boy some slack. You're scaring him which isn't surprising considering your history of interacting with strangers." Lily grinned slyly when he blushed to the root of his hair.
"That was an accident! How was I supposed to know muggles weren't used to see a pet owl?"
"You complained, very loudly as I recall, about how your owl had a bad temper and never delivered your post on time to a muggle as a conversation starter." Lily raised her eyebrow at him challengingly, effectively rendering him silent. She grinned, giving Neville a wink over her husband's shoulder who was struggling to find a reasonable excuse to his behavior, receiving a grin in return.
[Page 240 - she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.]
"Nice concentration, Hermione. Now I finally know your secret for getting full marks for every single exams." Ron drawled, ducking in order to avoid a smack aimed at his head. "But seriously, some help would have been appreciated. In case you haven't noticed, it was me and Neville against those three, two of them not lacking anything in size and strength to be a bodyguard."
"You won, haven't you? And besides, Neville fought Crabbe and Goyle, not you. You only fought against Malfoy." Hermione didn't bat her eye at his whine, far too used to it to genuinely feel sorry, and managed to land a blow on him. "You two were great, but I wouldn't recommend doing it again any time soon."
Neville blushed, ducking down to hide his face while Ron grinned from ear to ear like an idiot. Hermione giggled, them looking exactly like two puppies who got praised by their owner for the first time. "Aww, who's a good fighter? You are." She cooed, scratching his chin like one would do to a dog. With a startled yelp, Ron jumped backwards, almost falling off his chair in his haste, his face completely red. "What the - Hermione!"
"What? I just wanted complimented you for doing a such a good job against those three." She blinked innocently, her eyes round in fake shock. Neville was having difficulty in breathing because he tried to suppress his laughter. Harry coughed, effectively getting their attention, though Hermione looked very reluctant to give up the opportunity to tease Ron.
"Hate to interrupt your fun but Umbridge is looking at us and I suggest changing the topic before you get detention for 'harming your fellow students in an unfair fight'. I don't know about you but I don't want to spend more time with her anymore than I have to."
They nodded, instantly following his advice. They didn't dare turn around lest they risk her taking off House points for some absurd reasons but they could just picture her face flushed in anger and frustration.
[Page 242 - Harry jumped back on his Nimbus Two Thousand and took off. Gliding silently over the castle he saw Snape enter the forest at a run. He followed.]
"Do you always have to know every secret in the world?" Justin face palmed, unable to believe he had followed Snape even when he had suspected he was the one who tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone. If it was really him who had released a troll in a school full of children as a distraction and even risked getting bitten by a giant three-headed dog for a chance of getting the stone, who knew what he might do if he caught a little first year who knew about his plan? "Who knew you were so nosy?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Harry scratched his head ruefully, trying to find an excuse but coming up with none. It was true his curiosity did him more harm than good and it was only thanks to his friends and his luck that he was alive until now. "I really should stop poking my nose into other people's business."
"Nah. You wouldn't be Harry if you don't run around trying to solve mysteries and save people. But you shouldn't run into danger on your own, of course. It's dangerous." Ron quickly added when Hermione elbowed him hard in his ribs. Harry grinned, promising not to do any reckless things much to their relief.
"Oh, come on. Stop talking like I'm the only one who do dangerous things. You two also do it with me."
"Excuse you. Unlike you, I try to stop you before going with you and even then I try to plan before running head first into some poisonous creatures." Hermione hmphed, crossing her arms across her chest with one eyebrow raised.
"Yeah, and what're we supposed to do, sit there and watch you run into your possible death?" Ron snorted. "Never happening."
"Well, I'm glad I have you two with me to stop me from doing anything stupid."
"You better be grateful. We don't even ask to be paid after all those hard work we do."
[Page 243 - An owl hooted loudly and Harry nearly fell out of the tree. He steadied himself in time to hear Snape say, '-your little bit of hocus locus. I'm waiting.]
"You really shouldn't jump to conclusions before you have all the fact, Harry." Luna chided gently. "You never what information you might be lacking or if the nargles are trying to fool you. They have a queer interest on trying to confuse humans. Apparently our reactions amuse them."
"I won't throw accusations around without having a concrete proof first." Harry promised, the blonde smiling back in return. Ginny grinned, happy that he was taking in her strange quirks so well. So many bullied her merely because of her strange habits and belief and it was a relief to see her have a friend besides herself. "Hey, now that I think about it, you remind me of Alice in Alice in Wonderland."
Ginny exclaimed, recalling the muggle book Hermione had lent her last summer. It was about a strange world filled with even stranger characters even to her standards and she reckoned the author had a distant family who was a wizard to have such a wild imagination. She liked it and asked Hermione if she ever heard of magical mushrooms which could shrink or enlarge someone, much to her amusement.
"I bet you'll be best friends with the Mad Hatter. Your personalities match well together, I think." Dennis chirped excitedly, the book being his favorite book. One of his childhood dreams was to find the rabbit hole to the Wonderland and he had hoped the wizards knew of some kind of portal to the world only to be disappointed when they didn't even know what he was talking about.
"Now that you mention it, she really would adjust perfectly in there." Harry laughed, having watched the Disney movie while Dudley watched it as he served breakfast to his relatives. It just felt right for Luna to be with the Hatter, drinking tea and sitting under a tree while having a serious discussion with the Cheshire Cat about why cats could evaporate when humans can't.
"Wonderland?" Luna cocked her head to the side, her grey eyes round with curiosity. "It sounds like a wonderful place full of wonder. I think I'll like that book."
"Trust me, you'll love it." Hermione grinned, happy that someone took interest in literature. "I'll let you borrow it if you want, I have it in my trunk. I'll bring it here tomorrow morning."
"Thank you, Hermione. I would like that."
[Page 243 - "Very well," Snape cut in. "We'll have another little chat soon, when you've had time to think things over and decided where your loyalties lie."]
"Professor Snape tried to steal the Philosopher's Stone?" Dennis squeaked, his eyes wide and alarmed at the fact as did most of the first years. Colin glanced anxiously at the Potions Master, bitiing on his thumbnail which was torn apart into awful shape from how much he had chewed on it during the past few minutes. "Does that mean he's immortal?"
The Weasley twins looked absolutely scandalized at the mere thought of it, shuddering in displeasure with their nose scrunched up as if they've smelled something awful. "You mean he'll be teaching at Hogwarts forever? Ew. No thank you."
That was all they got to say before Lily smacked them soundly on their heads, scolding them for not respecting their professor. They howled in pain, doubling over while clutching their sore heads, few drops of tears trailing down their cheeks. "You didn't have to hit that hard!" George protested, groaning in a poor attempt to appeal her sympathy. Fred couldn't even say anything from the inflicted pain and only kept moaning. Lily daily ignored the two thanks to years of experience with having to live with James and Sirius.
Instead, she turned to look at her childhood friend. Yes, they fought and had a huge fallout but he had apologized for that, far too much in fact, and just one argument couldn't destroy their years of friendship just like that. He was the only one she could tell about her unique power and trust him to keep it a secret and not look at her strangely or call her a freak and she was the same to him. It was also thank to him that she wasn't completely lost and confused when she first entered the Wizarding World and she didn't have to worry about being alone in a completely foreign world.
Much to her annoyance, he never looked at her direction, immediately looking away when their eyes met. His posture was tense, ready to spring into action in any moment, his eyes darker with the horrors he have seen, the after effects of the war. She recognized the look on his face, she had seen it in a mirror after an ambush where only she and several others survived. There was guilt as he would probably blame himself for her death and a bit for bullying her son which she would say a few choices of words about. Shock and slight denial lurked behind his eyes as well and she couldn't honestly blame him for that when even she still wasn't completely over the fact that she had somehow came back to life. There was also determination in there, too, which meant either he would do his best to protect her this time around or he would do anything to avoid her for the rest of their lives or both. Well, he should brace himself because she was determined to get her friend back and if she was anything, she was stubborn.
She should probably try to bring Harry and Severus to stay civil to each other. Well, she had managed to get even James and Sirius to stay in friendly terms with Severus and she could do it again. Now for where she should corner him... Hmm, should be somewhere where people don't come often so they can have some privacy and she had a feeling they would have a long conversation.
Snape shivered at the High Table, suddenly having a very bad feeling that he was going to have a nasty shock sometime soon.
[Page 244 - "So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm. "It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron.]
"That's a cheerful way to end the chapter." Neville sighed, eyeing the trio with a suspicious glare. "Why do you three always have to go looking for trouble?"
"We don't go looking for trouble. Harry does." Ron pointed accusing finger at the said Gryffindors who immediately denied it. "I do not!"
"Was there any year that didn't involve any dangerous stunts and just peaceful everyday normal life?"
The three best friends exchanged looks, their guilty silence enough of an answer. "Thought so." Neville sighed again, rubbing a hand over his eyes tiredly. "I swear I'm going to have grey hairs by the time we finish this book and I'm not even sixteen yet!"
"You? What about us? I'm old, technically dead now, and I have to listen to all these crazy thing my own son had done while my wife and me-"
"My wife and I." Remus automatically corrected him, his teacher instinct kicking in even while he wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying.
"-were gone." James finished, letting out a dramatic sigh. "I fear my poor abused heart can't handle all the stress it's going through. I won't even be surprised if it fails me any moment now."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Lily rolled her eyes, smacking him on the head. Not even acknowledging his yelp of pain, she rounded on the three of them, her green eyes narrowed, giving off an aura that just screamed run away while you still can! Molly also joined her, her hands on her hips with a look that all the Weasley children knew very well. They could hardly pass three days without receiving that look, after all, but despite how often they were subjected by it, the effects never failed to scare them.
"You three are in serious trouble." The two mothers said in sync, which made the others glance at each other and back out really slowly, not even daring to breathe. Good thing they did because the three Gryffindors had to listen to full lecture of danger, why they should avoid danger, the danger of being in danger, why danger was dangerous and how to avoid danger. It seemed like it would never end and all of them had to let out a sigh of relief they weren't the ones who were receiving it. No matter how Gryffindors craved adventures, they instantly knew this wasn't a risk they were up to. Hufflepuffs knew this was no place for them to step in and Ravenclaws knew better than to draw attention to themselves. Slytherins were adapted to take in the situation and choose the road that gave them the most benefit and right now, their survival instincts were on high alert, warning them from approaching the angry mothers. So unfortunately for them, the trio were on their own for now.
"Do your think they'll ever stop?" Ernie asked to no one in particular. No one answered but just watched the five of them warily like one would look at a battle field. Fred waved aside his concern, knowing fully well how angry and concerned mothers tended to act since him and George were usually the ones to cause it. "They'll chew them out for a bit, yell what might have happened and all the worst case scenario, become teary-eyed and hug them, telling how much they're glad they're still okay and ground them for a month or so. No big deal."
"Looks pretty big to me." Susan muttered, not used to mother's fiery temper.
"Oh, don't worry. It will pass soon. Probably." George added in after thought. "Thanks. That's really reassuring." Susan scowled playfully at him, lightly hitting his arm.
"Well the chapter's finished. Do you think we should tell them before starting?" Bill looked around hesitantly, no one willing to get closer to them.
"Are you kidding? I'm not going near them even if you pay me a million galleons." Charlie shuddered, making a face.
"Guess we'll just start without them, then."
I AM SO SORRY! I know, it has been way too long since the last update and I tried to post the new chapter two days before but for some reason it didn't load and the final writing had turned back to the version before I finished editing it. So I had to rewrite it real quick so please bear with me if there are a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes.
KoreanMusicFan: Well, although Poppy did see the scars, Umbridge has full support of the whole Ministry and she has the control over mails and floo network. So even if she somehow manages to get the information out, it will be denied by the Ministry and remember, most of the wizards hate Harry at the moment which is why she won't have big support. So that's why she's keeping that information for later when people start doubting the Ministry.
Dark Serpent Cat: Thank you so much for your advice! I realize Fudge does seem to be too quiet considering the situation so I'll make sure to include him more as well. I tried to include Astoria more in this chapter and hopefully it doesn't seem too awkward. As for Aberforth and Ariana, I'll see what I can do.
I hope this chapter was worth the wait and met up to your standards. I really am sorry for the long wait and hopefully you enjoyed it and it kept you entertained at least a bit. As always, thank you for all of you who have read, reviewed, favorited and followed my story and please let me know what you think.