Author's Notes: Thank you to Lana D for the beta reading.
oOoOoOo
The Bodyguard
Chapter 27: Slytherins and Gryffindors
As the memory Snape stalked off towards Hogwarts, Hermione's whoop of triumph filled the Pensieve. "Draco, you were RIGHT!" she cried. "Professor Dumbledore DID order Professor Snape to kill him!"
"Is tha' wha' tha' was all abou'?" asked Hagrid.
"Yeah," said Ron excitedly. "Do you know what this means?" He looked at Harry. "If Snape's been on our side all along, he must be the one who's been collecting all the-"
"Ron!" Harry's warning voice cut him off, before he could say 'Horcruxes'.
"If Professor Snape has ... those things ... and he's on our side, then we've practically won! Only one more to find and V-Voldemort is doomed!" said Hermione joyfully, flinging her arms around Ron, who shuddered at the name, then eagerly hugged her back.
"He Who Mus' No' Be Named is nearly done fer? Tha's GREA'!" said Hagrid, with puzzled delight.
"Wait," said Draco, pulling the rainbow-striped scarf off his head. The others fell silent and looked at him with curiosity. "Not so fast! We DON'T know where Snape's loyalties truly lie yet. We only know Dumbledore ordered him to kill him, and he obeyed."
"But doesn't that mean-?" Harry began.
"No," said Draco. "Not at all. You're not thinking like a Slytherin, Harry. For all we know, Snape could have been truly loyal to Voldemort, or only loyal to himself, not Dumbledore. He may have been absolutely delighted to receive that order."
Ron winced. "Strange way of showing his delight. Snape was crying!" he pointed out.
"He might have been acting!"
"Nobody could act that well!"
"Snape could," insisted Draco. "He used to boast to me about his acting skills." He frowned at the memory Snape, still walking towards the castle. "Don't you think he was ... overdoing ... the grief a bit?" he asked tentatively.
"I don't get it, Draco," said Ron. "You were the one who gave us the idea Snape must be on our side. Now you're saying the opposite-"
"I've changed my mind," said Draco sharply. "I trusted Snape implicitly for years, and I used to think I could rely on own judgement. After the Vow," he glanced at Harry and bit his lip. "I'm not so sure."
Harry stared back miserably at his boyfriend. Draco looked so sad that he had an urge to throw his arms around him and give him a comforting squeeze. But the non-Vow Draco would have recoiled in horror, Harry told himself. He couldn't inflict himself on Draco, no matter how much he craved his boyfriend's touch, or how much the Vow made Draco seem to want him...
"Professor Dumbledore would have had a thin' or two ter say abou' this Vow," Hagrid growled.
"Yes, that's what Moody said. And Lupin," Harry sighed and pushed both his hands back through his hair.
The half-giant rubbed his chin. "Under a spell ter love yeh?" he said. "There's summat so wrong abou' tha'." He looked sad. "Yeh should be kind ter Draco, Harry."
"I am being kind," said Harry wearily. But he noticed Draco narrow his eyes.
The memory ended. All around them, the stars and the lights of Hogwarts in the distance, winked out. They rose up weightlessly through the warm darkness and found themselves standing around the Pensieve in the dirty back room of the Hog's Head, blinking in the light streaming through the smeared windowpanes.
"That was cool!" exclaimed Ron.
"You!" came a snarling voice behind them. The quartet and Hagrid wheeled around.
Aberforth was standing in the open door, transfixed with rage, at the sight of Draco. The Slytherin gulped, adjusted the rainbow-striped scarf now hanging around his shoulders, instead of covering his face, and looked worried. The landlord's eyes burned with hatred.
"Uh, oh," muttered Hagrid, pushing forward so he was standing protectively in front of Draco.
Aberforth's burning, accusing stare turned to the half-giant. "You let THIS into MY pub?" he snarled, indicating Draco. Harry stepped a little closer to the Slytherin too, and dipped his hand into his robes, ready to pull out his wand at short notice. He'd never seen Aberforth fight, but if he had even half his brother's skill, they were all in serious trouble.
"Now, Aberforth, don' ge' angry!" Hagrid pleaded. "Draco's really sorry abou' Professor Dumbledore. He didn' mean ter-"
With a roar of fury, Aberforth spun around, snatched a battered Beater's bat out from behind his bar, and raised it in Draco's direction, as if planning to smash his brains in. "Didn't mean it? He helped kill my brother, and he didn't mean it?"
"There's no need fer tha', Aberforth. Draco's helpin' us-" Hagrid began, but the landlord rushed headlong at the trembling Slytherin. Hagrid hastily insinuated his massive body between Draco and Aberforth and Harry heard the bat bashing the half-giant's chest, with a noise like something being crushed. "Maybe yeh should leave now," the half-giant said to the quartet, in an apologetic tone, that, surprisingly, didn't sound pained, despite the fearsome blows raining down on him.
Ron and Draco didn't have to be asked twice. They ran for the door.
Hermione ran, then hesitated, looking back as if wondering if she should stay and help Hagrid. Harry also paused. "Go on," Hagrid insisted, waving a huge hand at them, while fending off Aberforth's savage blows with the other arm. Reluctantly, Harry and Hermione left.
Bandaged and hooded heads turned to follow them as they ran through the pub and out the front door, into the blessed fresh air and sunlight. Draco and Ron were already there, leaning their hands on their knees and panting. They could hear, by the sound of thudding blows, and Aberforth's muffled screams of rage, that Hagrid was also leaving. When the half-giant came out, Aberforth stood in the doorway. "And stay out!" the landlord bellowed. "I never want to see any of you in here again! You are BARRED!"
"Wha'? Again?" asked Hagrid, clearly stricken.
Aberforth didn't answer, but slammed the door shut.
"Oh, no!" cried Hagrid, staring at the closed door. He seemed more hurt by being barred, than from the bashing he had just received. "Tha' means the on'y pub lef' in Hogsmeade I can drink a' is the Three Broomsticks! An' Madam Rosemerta don' like hippogriffs in the taproom!"
"I'm sorry, Hagrid," panted Draco. "Are you all right? It sounded like he broke every bone in your body!"
"I'm no' hur'. But he crushed all me dog biscuits," said Hagrid dolefully, emptying masses of crumbs from his pockets. The quartet glanced at each other, with relief and amusement. "Le's go ter the Three Broomsticks now. Me tongue's hangin' ou' fer some Firewhiskey."
"Sorry, but I'd rather not," said Draco. "The last time I was at the Three Broomsticks, I cast Imperio on the landlady, and I have a feeling she'll hold that against me." He handed the rainbow-striped scarf back to Hagrid, and the jacket back to Harry, who put it on.
"We have to get back to the Headquarters anyway," said Hermione. "We've got a lot to discuss."
Hagrid's face fell, and Draco spoke up. "You don't have to go to the Three Broomsticks for Firewhiskey, Hagrid. I can Charm you some right here."
"He can too!" Ron said, in an awed, respectful voice. "You should have seen Draco last night, Hagrid. He must have Charmed litres of Firewhiskey for the Order."
"Is tha' so?" asked Hagrid, staring at Draco in rapt attention.
"I'll show you. Merlin knows, I owe you for saving my life just now," said Draco. Hermione looked irritable as he bent down, picked up a pebble and Transfigured it into a bottle. Then he put it down on the ground, and placed an Engorgement spell on it, so that it swelled up to waist-height. Putting the tip of his wand inside the bottle, he started filling it with Firewhiskey. Hagrid gave a deep rumble of delight, and licked his lips, as fragrant, eye-watering smoke poured from the mouth of the bottle.
When the bottle was full, Hagrid lifted it to his lips and took a sip. "Won'erful!" he cried.
Draco grinned, and cast a Refilling Charm on the bottle.
Hagrid was beside himself with joy. "If tha' ain' the bes' bi' o' magic I ever saw!" he exclaimed, hugging the smoking bottle close to his heart and offering his gigantic right hand to the Slytherin, who shook one of his cucumber-sized fingers with a slight smirk. Hermione rolled her eyes, and Hagrid added, "Thank yeh, Draco."
"Thanks for everything, Hagrid. Take care," Draco said.
"Got ter get back now," said Hagrid. "Goodbye!" The others murmured goodbyes and thanks as the half-giant lumbered off, in the direction of Hogwarts, clutching the enormous, smoking bottle as though it were a rare prize.
"You've made a friend there," Harry muttered into Draco's ear.
"I just hope Hagrid doesn't set fire to his bed, when he's drunk my Firewhiskey," Draco murmured back. "I don't want Hogwarts to burn down."
"He'll set fire to something for certain. Why do you think all the other pubs in Hogsmeade have barred him? Hagrid is a regular arsonist when he's drunk," grumbled Hermione, watching the half-giant turn a corner and walk out of sight. She sighed, as if she realised there was nothing she could do, and she washed her hands of the consequences. Then she turned to Ron and Harry and asked, in a business-like tone. "What happened with Madam Pince?"
Harry and Ron explained how Madam Pince was really Eileen Prince and married to Filch.
Draco listened, with obvious fascination. "I knew Severus was on good terms with Pince and Filch, but I had no idea they were family."
"If we mean to face Snape, and ask him about those ... things ... we need to know as much about him as possible," said Hermione. She looked around at the others and added, "He's the most powerful Death Eater. Possibly the most powerful Dark wizard on Earth. He's won every duel he's ever fought with you, Harry."
Harry gave a humourless laugh. "Not only that, but each time I've fought him, he's tried to teach me!"
"I suppose old habits die hard," chuckled Draco.
"When Snape was running away from Hogwarts, he kept blocking my spells and sneering that I had to close my mind."
"Well, you've closed it now," said Ron. "I dare say Snape will be pleased with your Occlumency, if he fought you now!"
Draco beamed.
"I still couldn't beat him," Harry stated.
"No," said Hermione softly, rubbing a hand over her mouth, obviously deep in thought. "It's strange that in his letter to Draco, Snape mentioned that he knew your Aunt Petunia. Did you know about that?"
Harry shook his head. "Aunt Petunia's never said a word about him. But that doesn't signify. I got the impression she knew a lot more about magic society than she ever let on. And even if Snape knew my aunt, it doesn't mean that he's on our side." Harry grimaced. "If he's met my aunt, he's probably NOT on our side. Ten minutes with my Aunt Petunia would have any wizard lining up to join Voldemort and kill Muggles."
"Why? What did your aunt do to you?" asked Draco.
"Locked me in the Cupboard Under The Stairs for eleven years," said Harry bluntly.
Draco grimaced. "I heard about that, but I thought the Daily Prophet had made it up. It's true then?"
"Yes-" Harry began. But he saw Ron suddenly perk up, like a Jack Russell terrier shown a ball. "What is it, Ron?"
"I know how we can PROVE what side Professor Snape is on," said Ron. The others looked at him. "His Patronus! Spirit guardians can't lie - if we see what shape it is, we'll KNOW where his loyalties lie."
"Snape never showed us what his Patronus looks like," said Hermione.
"Not even when we were studying Dementors in class," said Harry.
"It was a black panther, but perhaps it's changed," said Draco. "I'll send my Patronus and ask him to send his own back." Pulling out his wand, Draco sent his silvery ferret scampering off into the distance.
Harry watched it go. "I don't think you got the Patronus messaging spell quite right just then-" he began.
"NOW look who's teaching all the time," said Draco. He grinned and reached toward Harry, who stepped backwards. The Slytherin frowned. "Let's Apparate back to the Headquarters," he muttered. "You and I need to have a little talk, Harry."
oOoOoOo
Harry had barely stepped over the threshold of the Headquarters, when Draco grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. "What's the matter with you?" he demanded. "First you say you love me, now you've gone all cold and you won't even touch me-"
"I'm staying away from you for your benefit," snapped Harry, pushing Draco's hands off him. "You don't really love me. It's the Vow! You hate me!"
"Are you trying to tell me you know better than I do how I feel?" sneered Draco, his pale eyes narrowing as he drew himself up, every inch an insulted aristocrat.
"Yes!" Harry folded his arms and stared back at Draco, though he could feel his eyes stinging.
"How dare you, Potter!" Draco snarled. Harry noted the use of his last name. The Slytherin tugged at the jumper, t-shirt and jeans of Harry's he was wearing. "I've got my own clothes back now, I'm going to get this Muggle filth of yours off me!" Turning on his heel, Draco stormed off towards the stairs.
Harry stared after him, trying to breath. When his eyes had stopped stinging, he walked into the kitchen.
The kitchen was warm and noisy. The Slytherins were already there, making sandwiches.
Pansy waved merrily. "Come in, have some lunch," she called out.
Not feeling the slightest bit hungry, Harry sat down at the table. Ron and Hermione had already heaped their plates with sandwiches and were tucking in.
"Where's Draco?" asked Theodore, holding a sandwich up to his mouth and taking in Harry's shattered expression.
"Gone upstairs to get changed into a robe," said Harry, not wanting to go into detail.
"What a pity! I thought those jeans suited him," said Blaise, spreading cold, shredded chicken on a roll.
Harry sat there, listening to the cheerful babble all around him. He helped Crabbe and Goyle prepare a mountain of sandwiches for themselves and watched them eat, but he ate nothing himself. Then he heard the Weasley twins in the corridor, talking at the tops of their voices.
"Zonkos say they'll order a hundred hats. Haven't got their order in writing yet, Fred."
"Got to get it in writing or it doesn't mean a thing, George."
The twins burst into the kitchen. Unusually, they were both wearing mismatched trilby hats, in a brilliant shade of orange that clashed horribly with their hair. Ron scowled at them, over his chicken sandwich.
"Harry!" the twins chorused. "How are you?"
"Where's Draco?" asked George.
"We wanted to tell you both, the Virginity Trap is going splendidly. We've sold fifty at our Diagon Alley store alone. When Hogwarts opens next semester, I expect every corridor will be Trapped," said Fred triumphantly.
Hermione looked outraged.
"Most of the kids in the school will need one of these hats to get through the Traps. Five galleons each, and we're going to sell hundreds," said George, doffing his own trilby and bowing to Harry.
Ron looked at the hats and a wicked grin spread over his face. "So you're both still virgins," he said.
The Slytherins sniggered and deep blushes crept up the twins' cheeks.
"Yes, why don't you two just have sex? Then you won't need to wear those hideous hats!"
It was Ginny Weasley's voice, out in the corridor, and when she strolled into the kitchen, Harry got up and gave her a hug. They'd never stopped being close friends, even after they'd stopped dating. Ginny had grown much taller, in the years since Harry had left Hogwarts. She had only finished her schooling there a month before. But Harry was more interested in talking to her, than looking at her.
"My goodness, what's the matter, Harry?" she asked, as soon as she had pulled away from him and got a glimpse of his face. They sat down at the table together, and Harry told her privately about the Vow and Draco. The twins sat on the end of the table, eating sandwiches and still blushing. Ron wasn't looking at them, but he was smiling to himself as he ate his lunch.
Then Draco entered, and Harry's heart froze at the sight of him. Gone was the familiar, casual Draco that he'd fallen in love with, slopping around in his lover's old t-shirt and jeans. Now the pure-blood wore extremely formal black robes, and looked more like an aristocratic, magical business man, like his dreaded father had been, than a teenager and Harry's boyfriend.
His friends greeted him happily, but Draco merely nodded, his face like a thundercloud, especially when he saw Harry sitting with Ginny. He reached into his robes and drew out the Vow. "I got this out of Harry's trunk. I think you should read it, Nott," he said, slamming the crumpled piece of paper down in front of his friend.
"Is it important?" asked Theodore indistinctly, his mouth full of chicken sandwich.
"There's nothing more important," said Draco, his pale eyes narrowing in Harry's direction. "Potter," Draco almost spat Harry's last name. "Thinks I'm some kind of stupid puppet, due to this Vow I'm under, Nott. I want you to read it and tell him otherwise."
Theodore picked up the Vow, with a thoughtful glance at Harry, and began to read. The rest of the Slytherins stood up, and started reading over his shoulder, apart from Crabbe and Goyle, who were still stuffing sandwiches into their faces and didn't seem to realise what was going on.
Ginny glanced at Harry, who nodded sadly.
After a few minutes of reading, Theodore put his sandwich down, as if his appetite had deserted him. His fingers whitened, and clenched around the Vow, crumbling it further. At length, he put it down and folded it methodically, staring straight ahead and saying nothing. His face was pale.
"Well?" demanded Draco.
"Who wrote this?" asked Theodore, his voice unsteady.
"Dolores Umbridge, the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Chief Auror Barnes," said Harry.
Theodore's lips worked, as if he were swearing silently. "They ought to go to Azkaban for this," he said at length. "And so should YOU," he snapped, glaring at Harry. "How could you do this to Malfoy? How could you stand there, in front of the Wizengamot, and SAY this filth?"
"I had no idea what I was doing," said Harry, riddled with guilt and conscious of sounding pathetic. "The Ministry didn't give me a choice. I thought I was saving Draco from Azkaban and I wasn't paying attention to the words. If only I'd known-"
"How could you NOT have known? You were READING it!" Theodore cut him off.
"I didn't understand it! And I was worried about Draco at the time; the Aurors had beaten him, he hadn't slept or eaten and he looked like he was about to pass out," said Harry. He added miserably, "I'm so sorry! I'd do anything to make it up to Draco. ANYTHING!"
"Stop talking about me as if I weren't here," said Draco sulkily.
"I'm sorry, Malfoy. But I have to tell you, because of this Vow, you ARE a puppet!" said Theodore. The rest of the Slytherins gasped. Hermione looked grim.
"I'm not!" yelled Draco, greatly scandalized. "The Vow's GONE, Nott. I don't care what you just read. It used to burn me when I disobeyed Harry, but it vanished days ago. I can do what I like now!"
"Let me guess, Malfoy, the Vow stopped burning you when you fell in love with Potter?" asked Theodore, looking just as grim as Hermione.
Draco's mouth dropped open and his retort died on his lips. He nodded slowly. "How did you know?"
"I know because I read the Vow." Theodore glared at Harry. "And UNDERSTOOD it," the stringy Slytherin added contemptuously, and pushed the offending piece of paper as far from himself as possible. Full of sorrow, Harry picked up the Vow, and tucked it into his pocket.
Draco stared in horror. "Tell me, Nott."
Theodore took a deep breath. "The whole point of the Vow is to make the victim fall in love. Make them willing to do anything for their master. Kill for them! Die for them!"
Hermione made a muffled sound of outrage.
"Once the magic works, and the victim falls in love, the strangling flame isn't needed anymore," said Theodore relentlessly. "The control is internalised and the flame is in their hearts, controlling their thoughts, controlling their every action!"
"So not feeling the Vow isn't a sign that it's gone, Draco, it's proof that it controls you completely," said Hermione. She also had put her sandwich down, as if her appetite was gone. Ron stared, open-mouthed, his last chewed bite disgustingly visible.
"I'm so sorry, Draco," said Harry again. He thought his apology sounded weak and hollow, but he didn't know what else he could do.
Draco sank into a chair. "I am NOT a puppet," he insisted, but he sounded less sure of himself.
"How do we get the Vow off him?" Harry asked Theodore and Hermione.
The stringy Slytherin looked at Hermione and gave a helpless shrug.
"I've been thinking about it," said Hermione briskly. "The Vow can only be broken by death of either the master or the slave. Maybe if you drank a potion of Living Death, Draco, that would fool the Vow into thinking you'd died and it would disappear?"
"That won't work," said Theodore. "Malfoy wouldn't be dead enough."
Hermione pressed her lips together. "Then I don't know how to remove the Vow," she admitted. "The Ministry have thought of everything."
There was silence in the kitchen for a minute. Draco spoke up. "I don't feel controlled," he said. "I feel ... normal." He sat up suddenly. "How do you know if you're being controlled? For all any of you know, YOU could be under a Vow and not know it, because you feel normal. How do you TELL?"
"The only way is to remember how you felt before the Vow, and compare it to how you feel now," said Hermione.
"Did you love me before the Vow, Draco?" asked Harry. It was his last, great hope, that Draco had loved him anyway. But he was sorely disappointed.
Theodore, Blaise and Pansy burst out laughing. Crabbe and Goyle saw them laughing and hastily followed suit, though they clearly didn't know what was going on.
"Loved you? Malfoy HATED you," said Blaise.
Harry felt a knife go through his heart.
"All he thought about was making your life a misery," said Theodore.
"Sometimes we'd wait half an hour in a Hogwarts corridor, just so he could call you names when you went past," said Pansy.
Harry hung his head, and blinked his watering eyes fiercely. Ginny noticed, and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder.
Draco glared at Ginny and stood up so quickly his chair tumbled backwards. "Get your hand OFF him!" he snarled.
The youngest Weasley was never one to shy away from a fight. She stood up as well. "Why don't you make me?" she said angrily, keeping one hand on Harry's shoulder and reaching into her robes for her wand with her other hand.
Draco snatched out his own wand, even as Hermione started to remonstrate with them both. "Harry's mine," he growled. "Don't even dream you're getting back with him."
"I warn you, Weasley," said Theodore in a matter-of-fact voice. "Malfoy here is just a tad spoiled. He gets what he wants, and if he doesn't get it, he destroys it. Merlin help you if you stand in his way."
"Shut up, Nott," snapped Draco.
"I HAVE a boyfriend already, thank you very much," said Ginny, brandishing her wand. "I'm not interested in dating Harry again. But I want to protect him. You don't OWN Harry, Malfoy. You don't even love him. It's the Vow-"
"I don't CARE about the Vow!" shouted Draco. "I FEEL like I love him and that's good enough for me."
"It's not good enough for Harry," said Ginny. "He DOES love you. Merlin knows why," she added, taking in Draco's expression, which was just as disagreeable as it had been at Hogwarts.
"You feel like you love me, but you really hate me," said Harry, standing up as well. "The Vow is a Love Potion. I care about you, Draco. I want to spare you."
Draco stared at him, and, unexpectedly, a smile spread over his face and he lowered his wand. "I understand, Harry. You're my Gryffindor knight in shining armour, trying to save me from the dreaded Vow," he sniggered. Ginny's lips twitched and she took her hand from Harry's shoulder and put her wand away.
"I suppose so," said Harry, feeling a blush spread over his cheeks.
"Gryffindor heroics! You love me, you want me, but you're oh - so - nobly sparing me from your touch."
Harry nodded and Draco gave him a wicked grin and pushed his wand back into his robes. "You know what heroics make me, Harry? Horny!" He reached forward to grab his boyfriend and didn't seem the least bit put out when Harry ducked out of his arms and ran. He chased Harry around the table. The Slytherins started to laugh.
"Get him, Malfoy!" shouted Blaise.
"Stop encouraging him! I don't want to take advantage," cried Harry, ducking under Draco's arms again and running around the other side of the table. He glared at all the giggling Slytherins. Even the Weasleys seemed amused. Only Hermione had a serious expression and seemed to understand the gravity of the situation.
"He wants you to take advantage. So take advantage, Potter," yawned Blaise. "I would."
"That's because you're a Slytherin," said Harry angrily. "You don't care about right and wrong, you only care about getting what you want."
There was an immediate storm of Slytherin protest.
"How dare you?" cried Nott. "You're just being a typical Gryffindor and trying to be stupidly noble. The Vow is your fault and you said you'd do anything to make up for it. If Malfoy wants you, you should let him have you."
"That's right, Harry," panted Draco, grinning from ear to ear. "Come on, Harry, how about a quick shag?"
The Slytherins howled with laughter. The Gryffindors blushed as well as laughed. Hermione frowned.
"No," said Harry.
"Come on, it'll be fun!"
"IT'LL BE RAPE!" shouted Harry and everyone stopped laughing. Draco froze. Hermione nodded.
Harry stared at the Slytherins, panting with emotion. "Shagging Draco, while he's under the influence of the Vow is rape. Unless..." A sudden desperate hope seized his heart. "Unless ... you can prove to me ... did Draco show any sign, any sign at all, of desiring me before the Vow?"
The Slytherins looked at each other and shook their heads.
The knife went through Harry's heart again. He took a deep breath. "Then the fact he wants me to shag him now means it's the Vow. I'm sorry, Draco. I love you but we can't be together any more."
Aware of everyone in the room staring at him, Harry hung his head, walked out of the kitchen and closed the door.
oOoOoOo
The walk up to the attic bedroom had never felt so long. Harry saw one of his teardrops fall on a step, and took a deep breath. No point feeling sorry for himself. He had to put Draco's welfare first.
He let himself into the bedroom, shut the door behind him and locked it. He was about to throw himself down on the bed, but a sixth sense warned him he was being watched. A chill went through him and he pulled out his wand. Something was close by ... something had been waiting to get him alone...
With a crash, something large and black hurled itself against the round window...
oOoOoOo
Author's Notes: I've worked out, I've got to produce a chapter every 3.8 days to get them all done before the Deathly Hallows comes out. Go, Luuuurve, go! ;-)
Please review! Surely I deserve a review or two after all that Hagrid dialect? (Hagrid, I love you but I'm glad you're out of the story now. Your speech is so hard to write! ;-)
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Thank you to the following people for reviewing: Yellowwolf, Eagle-Eyes, Emu Alive and Kicking, Norwegian MoonShadow, Ana Lilly, Crowley Black, aliasangel3, DrarryFan4eva, thrnbrooke, rekahneko, Fmh, Moonsign, Silver-Tiger-Fira, Bad fairy, NinjaoftheDarkness, Katharina-B, PhoenixxStarr, Anoymous, chinadoll27, Silvermane1, feltonxmalfoy, ProperT, Your Mom Is My Heart, Moyima, AngelLuva, LunaSky, Potter's Wifey, HecateDeMort, GreenEyedCatDragon, and Riku-Rocks.
AmaranthineAnathema: Thanks for that amazing review! Your comments about Snape are really intuitive. I hope the next chapters don't disappoint!
sasunaru lover: Thanks for reviewing! P.S. Glad you like the way Snape writes letters! ;-)
bellajen94: Oh yes, Umbridge is still on course for getting hers. I've already written that final chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
ThePotionsMiss: Double Chocolate Stout is real, and my favourite drink. Young's Luxury Double Chocolate Stout is the drink to have in the UK. In Australia, Red Oak do a fine Belgium Chocolate Stout.