Just wanted to tease you all, I just came up with the most delightful twist for later in this story and I think I can manage to make it work into the timeline as well (yaaaay)! hope you enjoy today's chapter!
Mistress Slytherin
There will eventually be homosexual situations:
consider this your warning,
If homosexual situations are not your cup of tea
Than I suggest you turn back now.
I don't want to hear people's biased opinions because honestly, I don't give a crap
Now, for some additional warnings:
ABUSE
VIOLENCE
BAD LANGUAGE
HOMOSEXUAL MALE/MALE RELATIONSHIPS IN FURTHER BOOKS
Mistress Slytherin
Chapter 4
Not a Hero
Harry's eyes shot open and suddenly he was out of bed his wand in his hand the moment he felt the air in the room shift. It took a moment for his sleep addled brain to figure out that he was not in his dormitory, nor was he in his cupboard; rather that he was in a strange room with his wand trained on a stranger. His gaze, despite the striking figure that must have been Draco's father shifted towards Snape who seemed to be struggling not to sigh, frown or smirk leaving a rather interesting expression on his face. Slowly Harry lowered his wand his gaze returning to the tall slender figure of one Lucius Malfoy. His first thought of the man was directed by the man's smirk and the subtle tightening of his pale hand around the head of his cane- the man was obviously Slytherin through and through just like Draco had boasted. Of course where Draco was concerned Lucius Malfoy walked on water and could do anything he damn well pleased without anyone daring to get in his way. Harry however was not to be fooled by first appearances, Lucius Malfoy had power most certainly, a shivering amount that oozed off of the man, but he was still just that- a man.
"Forgive me Mister Malfoy." Harry said settling his wand on the coffee table as a sign of being disarmed though Harry knew that he could just as easily blast a hole through the man in front of him as he had the Troll. The man smirked and his hand relaxed from where it was gripping the head of his cane.
"A bit paranoid aren't we?" He quipped stepping further into the room as if he owned it. Severus, obviously used to the man's attitude rolled his eyes subtly and transfigured the bed Harry had been sleeping in back into a couch.
"Better paranoid than dead sir." Harry said tugging at his rumpled clothes, had he really fallen asleep in them?
"There are spells for getting the wrinkles out of clothes Potter." Snape said casting a few spells in his direction. Harry watched the wrinkles fade from his clothes with a soft ripple and looked up at the man with slight awe in his gaze.
"I don't suppose they would have a book with said spells in Hogwarts library would they?" He said tugging idly at the fabric. Snape snorted and flicked his wand. A book flew out from one of the many shelves lining the walls and into his hands. "Three Thousand and One Ways to Remain Immaculate by Emit Barker" Harry read with idle interest.
"That's my personal book Potter; you'd better return it to me in the same condition that you received it in. Oh, and add another week to your time in my potions stores." He added as a tea set appeared. Harry nodded slowly and sat down placing the book beside him with care. Snape in his own way was telling him to be wary around Lucius Malfoy, yet that the man could be trusted.
"Thank you sir." He said accepting the tea cup that floated towards him. Malfoy seemed to view the interaction with subtle interest his gray eyes flickering between them catching anything that he could from the stoic expressions.
"As you can probably guess, Mister Malfoy has agreed to represent you during your interview with the Aurors." Snape said diving into the topic at hand. Harry sipped at his tea and avoided physical reaction to the announcement.
"I can understand your hesitance to have your muggle relative represent you Mister Potter." Lucius said twisting the word muggle like it were something disgusting in his mouth. Harry, who was used to Draco reacting similarly smiled into his tea. "Of course this case should be relatively easy on your part since you are the hero slayer of the Troll."
He said taking a sip of his own tea. Harry couldn't help sneering at that point. He absolutely hated people calling him a hero.
"When one is faced with a magical creature that has already attacked and killed another human being, it should be instinct to destroy the threat as quickly as possible sir there was no heroism on my part." He said before taking another sip. He could practically feel
Malfoy smirk.
"Of course." The man said diplomatically though his tone said differently. Harry ignored it, again used to similar barbs from Draco.
"By the way did any one find out why that barbaric thing was wandering the hallway clubbing people to death?" Harry said hiding the slight tremble in his hands by placing the tea cup and saucer onto the coffee table. Snape did the same and leaned back.
"No idea." He said in a way which Harry was sure meant 'don't get involved.' Harry sighed and nodded easily.
"Alright but for future reference sake should anything else dangerous and creature-like with an intent to kill find its self wandering the hallways I would rather know about it if you don't mind." He said agreeably. Lucius chuckled and Severus spared him a glare.
"At any rate." Severus said pointedly. "The Aurors are already here and the Unspeakables are going over the area carefully, before we face them I should like to know if there is anything that we should know that we don't already." He said raising an eyebrow. Harry winced. Of course he hadn't really had time to think about it but…
"Do people normally blow trolls up with accidental magic?" He asked nearly sheepishly. He swore he could see the tick in the man's jaw as Lucius burst into a round of genuine laughter.
"Did you forget you had a wand?" Snape said with a sigh. Harry winced slightly at the man's annoyed tone.
"No…my magic…kind of had a mind of its own." He said so that Snape would understand. Dark eyes surveyed him for a moment before nodding to himself.
"Well since I was teaching you the reducto curse already the last spell on your wand should suffice. If that doesn't satisfy them then we could always point out that you are a first year barely learning to control your magic and it was a rather stressful situation." He said easily. Harry nodded in acceptance and relaxed slightly only to jump when the fireplace flared to life and the ashes appeared to form the shape of the headmaster's face.
"Severus, if you could bring mister Potter up to my office? The Auror's are ready to speak with him." He said looking less jolly than he had the night before.
"Of course headmaster." Severus said inclining his head slightly.
"Splendid." The headmaster said before disappearing in a flare of green fire. Harry glanced at his head of house trying not to look as stunned as he felt.
"So…I'm assuming it's a normal thing for faces to appear in fireplaces in the wizarding world?" He said causing the man to sigh and flick his wand at his book case where yet another book slipped out and floated towards Harry.
"Yes Potter, that's another two weeks by the way and spare me the need to warn you about what condition my book should be returned in?" He said before standing and sending the tea set back to the kitchen. Harry nodded.
"Does he know anything?" Lucius muttered in awe. Harry refused to scowl as he retrieved his wand. Snape moved to the fireplace and pulled a ceramic jar from the mantle holding it out to Lucius.
"This is floo powder." Severus said as Lucius took a handful of green powder and threw it into the fireplace.
"Headmaster's office." He said stepping right into the green flames. Harry stared up at Snape with wide eyes.
"Will it hurt?" He asked taking a handful shakily.
"No, though it might be a bit unpleasant." He said taking a handful for himself. Harry took a deep breath and tossed the floo powder into the grate waiting for the flames to turn green before hesitantly stepping into them sighing in relief when they didn't burn.
"Headmaster's office." He said clearly. Suddenly he felt like he was being tugged at and spun around at the same time. It was sheer luck that allowed him to catch sight of the fireplace with enough time to gauge his speed and how not to land in an ungraceful heap. He sighed in relief as he stepped out of the grate and quickly moved away from the fireplace twitching a bit in annoyance as he glared at the fireplace openly. "Well that was unpleasant." He said brushing off the front of his robes. "Haven't wizards ever heard of walking?" He muttered before turning around and realizing that he was being stared at by the majority of the people in the room. The floo flared to life again behind him and Snape strode out gracefully giving everyone his customary withering glare which made Harry feel marginally better. Dumbledore smiled tiredly at them before speaking.
"Very well, now that we are all here let us get started with the introductions." He said gesturing towards the two men in uniformed red robes the first with sandy colored hair and a young appearance, the second a dark haired man with a scar just above his lip.
"These two gentlemen here are Aurors Fredrick Walton and Walter Amos." The tall men tilted their heads forward slightly in greeting. "Beside them are a few of my staff members. Minerva McGonagall here is head of Gryffindor and our resident Transfiguration Professor." The stern woman nodded at them her eyes slightly red from crying. "and Poppy Pomfrey our school nurse." He said nodding congenially at the plump woman before turning his gaze towards them. "I'm sure you have already made acquaintance with Lucius Malfoy he is on the board of governors and I believe that I am correct in assuming that he will be representing Mister Potter as he is still a minor." He said smiling slightly though Harry could sense an obvious dislike for the man. Harry ignored the subtle widening of the younger looking Auror's eyes at the sound of his name and avoided watching the tell tale flush of hero worship. Malfoy however had no such qualms and smirked outright. "And of course Mister Potter's head of house and Hogwarts' resident potions master Severus Snape." Dumbledore said. Snape inclined his head towards the man who looked at him suspiciously though Harry wasn't sure why, most likely because he was a Slytherin- or because of the impressive glare he leveled the fidgety Auror with. Dumbledore clapped his hands together causing Harry to jerk slightly; Snape eyed him with a frown. "Very well, Amos?" He said inclining his head. The dark haired Auror stepped forward with a jerky nod.
"Mister Potter, Lord Malfoy if you would follow me I would like to get your statement and ask you a few questions. We have already interviewed Professor McGonagall, Nurse Pomfrey, headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape however; we will need to walk through what happened after the interview. If you would be so kind as to stay here until we are done interviewing Mister Potter?" He said gazing around at them.
"That would be agreeable." The headmaster said nodding his head shortly.
"Very well then gentlemen if you will follow me?" he said with a glance at Harry and Lucius. Harry steadied himself in his mind making sure to keep his breathing as calm and even as possible as they slipped into the small side room. The Auror whispered several spells that Harry didn't know before finally sitting down on the opposite side of where Harry and Lucius were sitting. "November the first nineteen ninety-one, this is Walter Amos speaking to one Harry James Potter-" Harry tuned the man out as he continued to drone on and focused on keeping himself calm. He hadn't really had time to think about what had happened, but he knew for certain that he would have to omit some things.
"Very well, mister Potter will you tell us exactly what happened last night?" The Auror said inclining his head to the side. Harry took a deep breath.
"I was in the dungeons helping Professor Snape in the potions storerooms-" The Auror leaned forwards slightly.
"May I ask why you were in the store rooms instead of with the other students enjoying the Halloween feast?" He asked cutting in. Harry frowned and grit his teeth.
"I'm not a very big fan of Halloween." He said tightly. The Auror frowned seeming completely confused by the idea.
"May I ask why?" He said furrowing his brow. Harry felt Malfoy tense beside him and something cool and dangerous slithered through him allowing him to focus not on the anger but on getting through this.
"On October 31, 1981 my parents were murdered, Halloween is a time for mourning for me, not a time for celebration." Harry said coldly. "Does that suffice?" He bit out. The man seemed to visibly shrink back seeming to suddenly remember something.
"Ah yes-" He began shuffling his papers awkwardly.
"As Mister Potter's guardian for this interview I would ask that you keep your questioning to the subject at hand." Lucius drawled his eyes flickering slightly. The Auror cleared his throat. Harry remained rigid.
"Umm, so you were in the dungeons helping your head of house." The Auror said unable to meet Harry's eyes. Harry would have smirked at the man's lack of poise if he wasn't so pissed.
"Professor Snape and I were working when we heard a bang from out in the hallway. The professor went to investigate while I supervised the house elves that were helping me clean. When they left and the Professor had not returned I signed out-" The Auror held up a hand.
"This had better be related to the case" Malfoy warned quietly when the temperature in the air around Harry dropped suddenly. The Auror nodded.
"You said you 'signed out' may I ask what that means?" He asked. Harry visibly relaxed.
"Because of the nature of the potions ingredients I often have to stay late in order to catalog them properly. Professor Snape has me sign the note book in case one of the prefects sees me out after curfew and tries to put me in detention. The note book magically notes the date and time when I sign my name." The Auror nodded and jotted something down.
"Very well please continue." He said with a wave of his hand.
"After signing out I was going to make my way up to the feast to grab something to eat and return to my dorms when I heard screaming-" he hesitated the words hard to get out.
"I had thought that Professor Snape must have found them first so I was just going to take a look to see what was happening or to see if the Professor needed me to get help." He breath hesitated. "But when I turned the corner the Troll was standing in front of her swinging his club." He swallowed thickly at the memory and allowed himself a pause to regain control.
"Mister Potter?" The Auror asked leaning forward in his chair. Harry knew his type, the man wanted the story now- because he hadn't been there. He hadn't felt what Harry had felt or seen what Harry saw.
"She was begging for help, screaming." He said his voice quiet and smooth. "And then the troll brought down his club and the screaming stopped." He said his voice holding no inflection, no emotion at all. "Then it lifted the club and hit her again and again." He said remembering the pulpy mess that her crushed body had made. "I don't know many curses especially not ones that would be able to take down a troll, but Professor Snape had taught me one earlier to help break down some of the old wooden cases that were going to be replaced. "So I pointed my wand at the Troll and cast a Reducto- I don't remember anything after that. When I woke up I was in the shower and a house elf was helping me wash off the blood." He finished easily. He was rather proud of himself in the end; he'd managed to keep from embarrassing himself. The silence in the room disturbed him though, especially when the girls' screams were still echoing in his head. Malfoy cleared his throat obviously causing the Auror to startle out of his silence.
"Thank you Mister Potter." The Auror said shuffling his papers again before flicking his wand and standing.
"Now, will you be needing a break or will you be able to do the walk through now?" The man said smiling nervously. Harry frowned.
"We can go now." He said standing. Lucius followed quietly and Harry had the feeling that the man was amused as they made their way back to the headmasters' office. Snapes eyes were on them in an instant and some part of Harry that he hadn't realized was tense relaxed- which in turn made him tense once more this time to the very center of his being. Why was he being so relaxed around the man? The jolt of realization caused him to snap his head up his eyes boring into dark ones. Just what was Severus Snape up to? It was a question he had asked himself many times but still he had no answers.
"Ah, I see that you are done then?" Headmaster said with a small smile on his face. That was another thing- the night before he had trusted Snape instead of the headmaster. Bile rose up in the back of his throat. If there was one thing he had learned it was to never trust an adult. Vernon's beefy hands and the many times he'd suffered by them came to mind.
"Perhaps we should take a break?" Snape's voice drawled and Harry jerked his head up not realizing that he had dropped it while lost in thought. Dark eyes darted towards him before flickering away and Harry felt himself tense.
"Splendid id-" The headmaster began but Harry's voice deceptively calm even in his own ears cut through whatever the man had been about to say.
"If you don't mind headmaster, I think the Aurors would rather get this over with." Harry said curling his hands into fists under the hem of his sleeves so that no one could see them. Snape glanced at him with a sharp frown but Harry was still his heart thudding in his chest but his face blank and his mind struggling. He felt Lucius' raised eyebrow but refused to react. He'd been a fool to trust Snape, how could he have been so weak?
Everything had its price. Exactly what would be Snapes price? He realized belatedly that he had racked up quite a bill- he would have to pay it back and soon or the man would be able to demand something of him later. "Besides I don't want to miss class any more than
I have to." He added turning towards the headmaster whose face had fallen and the twinkle in his eyes dimmed. Lucius Malfoy cleared his throat beside him softly.
"I'm afraid that due to the circumstances the board of governors has decided to cancel the rest of the semester." Malfoy said causing Harry's and Snapes' head to snap towards the man. Dumbledore sighed and nodded.
"I'm afraid that what mister Malfoy has said is true Mister Potter, the other students are packing as we speak." The headmaster said sadly. Harry felt his heart jolt to a stop and he couldn't hide the flinch that jerked his entire body.
"W-What?" He said trembling slightly. "But we still have so much of the semester left how are we possibly going to make up for it!" His heart raced like a bird struggling to get free. Never trust adults…why hadn't he learned that lesson as well as he thought he had? He turned and looked up at Malfoy's impassive face and then slowly towards Snape's cold blank face. "You can't send me back to-" His jaw clicked shut as Snape snapped his attention to him his eyes burning. For the first time in his life he wanted to tell someone, wanted to tell Snape. But he couldn't. He shivered his mind racing to the time he'd told one of his teachers who he'd thought he could trust in grade school.
Miss Green stared down at him with horrified eyes as he told her how he had gotten the burn on his arm. She'd seemed so kind, like she really cared- maybe…maybe she would take him away from that place. She pat his hair down soothingly as she half bent to him speaking lowly to him even though they were the only ones left in the class room. "Go home dear; I'll see what I can do." Hope sprang up inside of him as she smiled slightly down at him.
"Ok." He'd said practically skipping out of the classroom. She would do something about it…and the Dursleys couldn't hurt him any more, maybe…maybe they might actually come to- his mind stuttered to a stop at the word 'love' and his breath caught in his throat. He imagined to himself Aunt Petunia petting his hair and telling him that he was a special little boy like miss Green did- or Vernon laughing aloud in that proud fatherly way he laughed whenever Dudley did something. Without noticing it his short feet sped forward in his rush to get home. Would Petunia hug him? He wondered how her hug might feel…would it be bony like she was? He had never been hugged before but despite the disgruntled look Dudley always got when she smothered him with one of them he had to have endured them for a reason right? His feet brushed the welcome mat of number four and without a thought he pushed the door open a smile on his face for the first time since he could remember.
One look at his Aunt on the phone however had shattered those illusions. "Of course Miss Green you must understand he's a rather troubled child." She said glaring at him coldly her lips white with fury. "His parents were alcoholics, they were killed in a car crash because of it-" Harry's eyes widened in horror. Petunia never spoke of his parents. Tears welled up in his eyes in spite of himself; they had never told him how his parents had died…a car crash? They were drunk? "Yes such a shame, I'm afraid it might have something to do with this, he's constantly coming up with these wild stories. Just last week- oh well maybe I shouldn't tell you- well no I probably should. He told me that old Miss Fig across the street had-" She let out a little horrified gasp. "-had burnt one of her cats alive!" She tutted and Harry sagged back slightly. He'd never said that…why was Aunt Petunia lying about him? "Yes, well I'll let you get back to work, yes of course have a nice weekend." She hung up the phone and Harry shivered at the glint in her eye. "How. Dare. You." She hissed before striding forward and gripping his wrist wrenching him forwards despite his pained grunt as her boney fingers stabbed into his arm bruising him. "You little freak!" She screeched grabbing hold of the long wooden cutting board that sometimes doubled as a paddle when he'd been bad. Harry felt his eyes widen as it flew towards him and cried out when it hit his side sending flashes of white stars skittering past his eyes. Again, again, again she hit him each sweep of her surprisingly strong arms more painful than the last until her grip on the handle slipped and she accidentally hit the side of his head. Pain blossomed and exploded into shimmering stars before he slumped forward unable to feel anything more.
Harry flinched at the memory. His aunt had stuffed a wash cloth in his mouth and taped it over with duct tape, dragged him up to the attic and folded him into a suitcase while he was unconscious before padlocking it and leaving him there. When he woke no one could hear his muffled screams and the cramped space wouldn't allow him to move his arms enough to remove the make-shift gag. He was trapped, unable to move and locked in the darkness. At the time he'd had no idea where he was or when it had happened when he woke. He'd had no sense of time, no contact, nothing but pain and unheard tears. That had been on a Friday; his aunt had let him out on Monday, late in the afternoon when she checked to see if he was still alive. He could still remember her sneer when she realized that he hadn't died by the vicious blow to the head.
"Back to where? Mister Potter." Snape demanded drawing him from the memory. They held too much power over him he realized. He had relied on Malfoy during the interview because he had believed Snape when he said that Malfoy owed him one for keeping Draco out of trouble. Looking back it was a ridiculous excuse. And hadn't Snape said that
Malfoy was on the board of governors? Merlin they had walked in together- was Snape in on this? All at once the emotions that were struggling to boil over inside of him hissed to a forced simmer and then slowly turned very, very cold.
"Never mind, I was being insensitive after all a girl did die." He said smoothly before an idea struck him…maybe… "Even if she was a muggle." He said absently his eyes flickering innocently to catch Malfoy's expression. A flicker of a smile ghosted across his lips and elation welled inside of Harry only to drop a notch at the sight of Snape's furious glare. "I mean, this is a magical world…and we kind of do live next to a forest filled with dangerous creatures." He said his eyes darting away from Snape's expression towards Dumbledore's. The man's face had gone stony but as Harry spoke a spark of light flared within them. "If she was a muggle she probably didn't know that Trolls were dangerous, for all we know she could have been the one to let in the troll. I mean, we talk to ghosts and poltergeists- she might have thought that trolls were just as friendly." He said with a shrug. The others in the room seemed to take hold of the idea like wildfire nodding their heads slowly as they grew accustomed to it- except for Snape. Snape was staring at him, his eyes unreadable. Malfoy let out a low chuckle and raised his cane letting the cool metal slide across his smirking lips lightly in a thoughtful gesture.
"You know- perhaps the boy has a point, after all, he himself hadn't even heard of traveling by floo until Severus gave him the powder and showed him how." He said the barb causing Harry's jaw to tighten. The man was well aware that he was being manipulated, the question was- would he bite? "We have been saying for years that the mudbl- I mean muggle born students are woefully unprepared for such an advanced magical school. If we close down the school because of this incident others, including those born into the magical society will suffer. Already those born into our world are held back because of how unused to magic the muggle borns are. Postpone sending the students home headmaster, I will discuss this with the board." He said his silver eyed gaze darting to Harry who was struggling to remain impassive. He hadn't really thought that far ahead, after all he didn't really know much about wizarding politics yet, but Malfoy had taken the bate and to him, even if he owed the man later as his gaze was suggesting, it was better than returning to Petunia.
The Aurors nodded steadily their expressions thoughtful- or at least one of them was. The other, the one that had been ogling him was only pretending that he was being thoughtful-
Harry could tell that the man had already made up his mind to believe whatever he said.
He realized belatedly that his fame could be useful in the future and took mental note of it. After all if a second grade teacher could believe that her student's tale of abuse was nothing but wild imaginations because the kind and oh so charitable aunt had assured her of it- what could he, poster boy for all that was good and righteous lead the masses of people worshiping him to believe? He wasn't a fool. He'd read up on every scrap of information that he could find about the night his parents had died, especially those few days leading up to the Halloween feast. All he got was fancy dramatized stories that made him look like some knight in shining armor when really he'd only been a toddler.
"Very well, whatever the case may be it still stands that we have a crime scene to attend to." The dark haired and more serious of the Aurors said with a short nod. The headmaster stood and shifted his robes around him.
"Yes, yes of course- now if you would follow me…" The walk down to the destroyed bathroom was a long one. Harry stared straight forward refusing to meet his head of houses gazes or the curious glances Malfoy sent him. Of course the smell hit them first. If the scent hadn't been disgusting enough when the troll was alive it was doubly worse dead. Harry felt his eyes water and flinched slightly when Malfoy pulled his wand from his cane and cast a charm on himself and then with a thoughtful glance at Harry who startled so much at the spell that he nearly fell. The result however was instant and Harry felt relieved when the smell dissipated and the vague smell of roses wafted into him ridding him of the horrid smell.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't cast spells on my students." Snape drawled with only the barest hint of a sneer on his lips. Malfoy snorted.
"Come now Severus no need to get petty, I was just helping the boy out." He said with a smirk. Harry however didn't hear Snape's retort. Instead he stilled his eyes widening slightly at the sight of the blood which had for the most part dried and had pooled far into the hallway. He felt eyes on his frozen form and willed himself to move in spite of them.
He would not be weak again, he would not let himself rely on Snape again- or Lucius
Malfoy, not if he could help it. The Aurors who had lead the party behind the headmaster gasped in shock as they rounded the corner and stepped into the bathroom. Flashes of blood painting the walls, covering him, oozing along his skin and off his clothes made him shudder though he hid it well. The blood sparked something inside of him though, and the fear slowly but surely began to fade as he too rounded the corner. Red…everywhere. He felt something inside him shift…blood; he had hurt someone, something. In that brief moment before the Troll was obliterated Harry had held the power over his life and death. He jumped when magic unconsciously crackled at his finger tips. He stared at them for a moment as if they were foreign before looking up. The others were staring in horror at the scene…except for two people.
Malfoy was watching him. Grey eyes alight with understanding and…excitement? Harry's eyes widened. Had he betrayed himself? Shown on his face the rush he'd felt at the thought of killing the troll? Malfoy's smirk said that he had and he forced himself to look away- only to meet an intense black eyed gaze. Professor Quirrell, the Defense against the dark arts professor had always struck him as being a bit- off. Being a Slytherin had allowed him to see through the stuttering mask the man wore- especially since the man couldn't seem to stop staring at him. At first he had thought it hero worship; others were prone to doing it so why not him? But the look was different… hungry in a way that worried him. He could see the glint of cruelty the man hid in his eyes; it was the same sort of cruelty that he had watched fade from Vernon's eyes. But now…now they were different…wary… One of the Aurors turned and stared at him with blatant shock.
"You did this? Merlin no wonder you-know-who didn't have a chance!" It was the wizard that had interrogated him earlier. A rush of anger slid through him and his eyes narrowed unaware of the fact that all eyes at turned to them in shock.
"How many fully trained wizards-" He said coolly his magic causing the temperature to drop quickly until the dried blood around his feet began to crystallize and become icy. "- do you think the Dark Lord managed to take down during the first war?" He said mimicking Snapes' dangerously silky undertones without realizing it. The Auror blanched slightly and Harry grit his teeth. "Let me rephrase the question hmmm?" He said tilting his head to the side. "How many people died by his hands?" He hissed viciously. "And yet you have the sheer gall to assume that a toddler managed to defeat him?" He said tilting his head to the side. It didn't matter that he was speaking to a grown man, he'd never felt respect for authority, not when it just meant that others had power over him.
Besides, he was angry. "Don't cheapen the deaths of the many that died to protect your peace filled life by believing in petty fairy tales. I may be only eleven years old, but even
I can tell you that whatever happened that night- it was not some happy ever after ending and I am no hero." Silence filled the empty bathroom and Harry took a careful breath calming himself, his head throbbed painfully as his hands unclenched. A low chuckle seemed to snap every one out of their open mouthed stare and Harry turned towards Malfoy who was smirking slightly as he traced the head of his cane across his bottom lip.
"I'm afraid he's spending too much time with you Severus." He said idly. "He's beginning to pick up some of your mannerisms." Harry remained passive despite Snapes sneer.
The rest of the walk-through was made in relative silence, the Aurors refused to look him in the eye as they had him describe what had happened and where he had been. It seemed obvious to Harry that neither man had really taken to mind what he'd said; rather they were impressed by his modesty or some such rot. By the end of the ordeal the one Auror was back to staring at him in awe and the other was simply nervous to be around him. It was all really aggravating, though Malfoy seemed to get a kick out of his suffering. Quirrell too, seemed unable to do anything more than stare at him his eyes dark and calculating even when he was stuttering through his part of the ordeal.
"Well, I think that we should speak to some of the girls' housemates, people who knew her, if she did have anything to do with letting the troll in there would likely be some sign." The Auror's said as they all made their way back to the headmaster's office.
"Excellent we can use that as an excuse to detain the students while mister Malfoy talks to the board of governors." The headmaster said glancing at the man in question over his half moon glasses. Harry, who had studiously been avoiding the mans' gaze glanced up and caught the man's eyes briefly. Something passed through them, something that he wasn't capable of understanding, yet he could swear that it felt like a connection had been made. In the short time the man had been around him he'd decided something about him that Harry wasn't even aware of. Pale lips turned upwards.
"Yes of course." He said before turning breaking their contact as he slipped towards the floo and a moment later spun away in a flare of green fire. The headmaster clapped his hands together, a habit Harry believed he would never get used to, which never failed to make him flinch. "Now, Harry, I believe that you will have just enough time to return to your dorm and climb in bed before the students return from the great hall." He said
pointedly. Harry felt a stirring of rebellion at the open manipulation but quelled it.
"Of course." He said studiously avoiding meeting any ones gaze as he made his way to
the door.
"Oh, Mister Potter, don't forget you left your things in my quarters, I will expect to see you later in order to pick them up." Snape drawled causing Harry to stiffen. The last thing he wanted right now was to be trapped alone with Snape; he man seemed to have a knack for getting him to let his guard down. It was something he couldn't afford. Never trust an adult.
"Of course sir." He said with a jerking nod of his head before slipping out of the room and down the steps.