Chapter 6: Moon Child
Previously: "When you see your Master, tell him that I'll be coming for him and his little club of masked, inbred morons, WHOEVER they may be. Tell him Hades has a special place in the underworld reserved just for him and his little asskissers and I intend to send each and every one them there."
Its been a week since Harry had been forcibly brought to Hogwarts to compete in the Triwizard Tournament but there are already predictions floating around that he had absolutely no chance against the other, far better trained chosen champions.
While he didn't really care one way or another about those predictions, how he was being depicted by what passes for their official newspaper was another matter altogether. According to the Daily Prophet, somebody qoted that he was 'an arrogant, dangerous and violent squib who seeks undeserved glory by mocking the sanctity and traditions of the Wizarding World with his participation in the tournament'. Never mind that he was being singled out to be a casualty.
Harry knew from his talks with Sirius and Remus that the Daily Prophet was practically owned by the Ministry Of Magic so it really didn't take a genius to figure out where they got the quote from.
The Daily Prophet did get one thing right though. Harry Potter IS dangerous especially when motivated which they thankfully did. This made him all the more determined to win it all to prove his detractors wrong.
Now all he had to do was figure out how to handle the negative publicity that was being leveled against him. That and how to get back at a certain pair of blonde bitches without getting implicated for their part in spreading the said negative publicity.
"You filthy mudblood! You'll pay for what you've done to Goyle!"
"Speaking of blonde bitches." Harry mutters to himself as he goes to look at what was going on. He turns the corner and sees two groups squaring off in the corridor. One group consisting of Malfoy, his pugnosed fangirl whose name he didn't know and his pet gorrilas (one of which seemed to have a mushroom growing on his head) while the other group had his godbrother Neville, Ron and a blonde haired girl with a spaced out expression wearing the colors of the Ravenclaw house standing protectively in front of Hermione who was covering her mouth fearfully.
"Sod off Malfoy! You prats started this whole thing. We were just defending ourselves." Ron snapped.
"Know your place weasel. You should be happy that we're even paying attention to you." Draco shot back. "You can't stand the fact that we're better then you lot in every way so you attacked us for it."
"Bollocks. We were just minding our own business here till you picked a fight with us." Neville stated angrily. "YOU just don't like it when somebody stands up to your shiite."
"That's because you mudbloods and blood traitors have no right to talk back to Draco!" The lone girl in Draco's entourage shrieked.
Harry was seriously considering just turning around and walking away since this business was clearly between the two feuding houses, but the sudden appearance of the Slytherin head gave him pause.
"Oh this can't be good." He mutters as he watches Snape walk towards the feuding sides with a malevolent gleam in his eyes.
"What is going on here?" The potions professor demands looking first at his Slytherins before turning his gaze towards the group of Gryffindors and the lone Ravenclaw.
"Sir! We were just walking along the corridor when they attacked us without warning." Draco said before pointing towards his cohort with the mushroom growing on his head. "Goyle was hit with some sort of mushroom growing spell too."
"So... Your entourage can't seem to keep out of trouble can they, Longbottom? And now your escalating it to blatant assault on your fellow students?" Snape said with a sneer. "That will be 200 points off for each of you and detention for the rest of the year."
"But sir! Draco and his group started the fight!" Ron protested then gestures towards Hermione who revealed her face showing that her two front tooth seemed to be growing at an accelerated rate, making her look like some sort of demented chipmunk.
"That's another 200 points for lying Mister Weasley." Snape drawled, glancing at Hermione. "And I see nothing wrong with Miss Granger."
With a strangled sob, Hermione turns and starts to scamper away in shame but runs straight into Harry who couldn't stand the blatant favoritism he was seeing and had stepped out into view. He gives Hermione a reassuring smile before looking at Snape and his house students.
"Wow. If this is the sort of treatment I should look forward to, then I'm glad I didn't enroll in this school." Harry said.
"What are you on about Potter? This is between students of Hogwarts and is therefore none of your concern." Draco said with a sneer.
"Shut up you little bitch. The adults are talking here." Harry said in a dismissive tone as he stares at Snape. "Or at least, I hope I'm talking to an adult instead of a bully. Is that how you really do things here Professor Snape? Issue punishments without getting your facts straight?"
"I will not be talked to like some..." Draco started to say before a look from Snape stops him cold. The Potion Master then regards the son of his hated enemy with a cold, calculating look. Knowing the the identity of his father, Severus didn't want to overly antagonize him lest he suffer Barty Crouch's fate. Yet neither was he willing to allow him to dictate his manner of issuing disciplinary actions. "Though crudely put, Draco is correct Mr. Potter. This is Hogwarts business and you have no say in how I dole out my punishments." He then gives Neville's group a distasteful look. "And I should also inform you that this particular group of students along with a few others are well known troublemakers and members of my house are their frequent target of choice so you'll have to forgive my protectiveness."
"Being protective is all well and good Professor Snape." Harry allowed. "But seeing that harm was obviously inflicted on BOTH parties and none seem willing to back down from their statements, don't you think its better if we call it even and let bygones be bygones in this instance? You DO know that if you punish them now like this then they WILL get back at your house in some other ways for what they think to be the unfairness of your punishment. So wouldn't it be better NOT to give them a reason to do so?"
Snape regards him with an unreadable look before speaking. "As I have said before, the manner of which we punish our students is none of your concern." Snape said as he turns his back on Harry. "But your words have some merit I suppose. In the spirit of mutual understanding, I shall revoke my punishments and overlook this incident for now. But know that if this happens again, the penalties will be most... Severe. Make sure it doesn't."
"Thank you Professor Snape. Good day to you." Harry said before leading the Gryffindors away from the scene. Presumably towards the infirmary to get Granger treated.
"Godfather! Why did you revoke your punishment? The squib and his bloodtraitor and mudblood friends attacked us first! Are you just going to let that stand unchallenged?" Draco demanded, earning him a grave look from his godfather.
"Draco. You and I both know what the truth is." Snape said. "But what I don't understand is why you persist in confronting them when you can spend that time better by proving your worth through your studies here."
"That's because they don't belong here. None of these blood traitors and mudbloods do." Draco snarls. "They're a disgrace to everything our society stands for."
"And yet Longbottom's group constantly outperforms most purebloods in this school. Blood purity means nothing if you cannot excel." Snape drawls. "Take me for instance. Need I remind you that I myself am a halfblood and yet that has not stopped me from becoming the youngest potion master in recent history."
"And then there is Mr. Potter." Snape continues with a grim look. "I am giving you this warning now Draco. Do NOT try to provoke him as you would Longbottom and his irk. You've experienced first hand how he makes people pay for their transgressions against him. But what you don't know is the extent of his abilities."
"What? He's nothing but a physically gifted barbarian squib." Pansy cuts in with scoffs. "What can he do?"
"I can assure you that he can do quite a bit more then physical harm Miss Parkinson. And I do not believe he makes ANY exceptions either. No matter what house you may be, if you have wronged him, then he WILL retaliate in kind." Snape answers evenly, turning his stern gaze at the suddenly nervous looking Slytherin female before looking back at Draco. "There are also forces involved here that you cannot even begin to comprehend and if you wish to continue with your course of action against him, then you will do so at the risk of your very life and magic. Are you certain you want to risk that?"
Draco's face was turning an interesting shade of red at the revelation and Snape couldn't tell if it was from rage or humiliation. But he didn't really care either way. He fulfilled his godfatherly duties by warning him and weather or not Draco heeds his warning was entirely up to him. He did deem it prudent to leave him with a parting nugget of wisdom as his head of house.
"You are a member of the House of Slytherin Draco. More importantly, you are a member of the Noble House of Malfoys." Snape said. "Childish provocations are beneath you. If you truly wish to undermine your enemies and prove your superiority here here, you will do so with definitive actions and not just empty words. Is that understood?"
"Yes godfather." Draco answers glumly after a moment's silence.
"Excellent. Now take Goyle to the infirmary before going to your next class." Snape orders. Watching Draco and his cohorts leave, the Potion Master wonders if Draco was even capable of surpassing the potential of Longbottom and his friends through his own performance without intervention. As much as he hated to admit it, the Longbottom heir's improvement was staggering and coupled with the sheer brilliance of Granger and the surprising intelligence of the the second youngest Weasley despite his rather crude behavior, they were a force to be reckoned with.
Then there's Harry Potter. He carried his emotions on his sleeves and was not afraid to let it show. He should have refrained from antagonizing him after the first time so the student body would not have been treated to the sight of a sixteen year old boy putting a professor on his ass. It was a mistake associating him with his father. A mistake he resolved not to do again.
(Infirmary)
"Thank you for your assistance back there." Hermione said to Harry after having her two growing front tooth fixed by the Mediwitch.
"It was no big deal." Harry replies. "I did it because it was the right thing to do. I hate bullies and had your group have been the ones doing that to them, you would've been the ones I was smacking down."
"The way you talked to Snape was still wicked though." Ron stated. "Never thought I'd see the day that slimy git backed down from anyone, let alone a student."
"And I've got to reiterate, I'm not exactly a student here, remember?" Harry pointed out. "Plus, haven't you ever consider that he was deliberately being like that because he was protecting his house?"
"Well naturally. He's the head of Slytherin. But that doesn't excuse his blatant favoritism." Ron argued hotly.
"And it doesn't." Harry allowed. "But look at it from his perspective. He represents a house baring the stigma of being the house of Death Eaters. Sure some may follow in their parent's footsteps but not everyone there are bigots. Your discrimination of an entire house because of the actions of a few is not helping and it's got to stop. Snape only does what he thinks is necessary to protect those in his house who doesn't buy into all that bigotry."
Ron was about to argue against this but was stopped by Neville. "Stop it Ron. Harry here is right. All this time, Gryffindor and Slytherin have been at each other's throat and I for one, am getting a little tired of the conflict."
"But they always start the fight." Ron said.
"Do they always?" Hermione asks pointedly. "Sure Malfoy and his irk tends to be the instigators but what about the others?"
For this, Ron had no response.
"Hey. That is just me. Your opinions are your own. Just give some thought to what I said." Harry said before turning to the spaced out companion of the Gryffindor trio. "By the way miss. I never caught your name."
"My name is Luna Lovegood. It's finally good to meet you Mister Potter." The blonde girl said airily.
Harry raises an eyebrow at her statement. "FINALLY good to meet me? Is she expecting me or something?" He thought to himself. "Errr…. Nice to meet you too Luna."
Luna nods approvingly. "I've had dreams about your arrival here Harry. That and the fact that there's an unusual absence of wrackspurts in the school lately."
Harry glances at the three Gryffindors in mild confusion and they could only shrug their shoulders helplessly, having grown used to their friend's unusual behaviour. "Ummm…. Let me get this straight Luna. You've had DREAMS about my arrival here? Exactly how long have you been having these 'dreams' about me?" He asks, not bothering to ask what the hell wrackspurts were because he wasn't sure he'd like the answer.
"Long enough to know that your presence will change the magical world." Luna stated in an uncharacteristically solemn tone and serious expression. Harry realized with a start that her sudden shift of expression reminded him of a seer receiving one of her visions. If that was the case, then this girl must have divine lineage in her ancestry as well. Maybe not a direct offspring but a legacy which warranted further investigation.
"And also, my father wanted an interview with you." Luna suddenly added in her normal airy manner.
"An exclusive. Right." Harry said, filing away his thoughts about Luna's divine lineage for a later time. "Does your family run their own newspaper or something?"
"Or something." It was Neville who answered him with a mild grimace.
"Something wrong with the newspaper her family runs?" Harry asks.
"Nothing bad per se." Neville answers reluctantly, glancing at Luna who looked wholly unconcerned. "It's just that the Quibbler mostly concentrates on…. Special interest stories rather than real news and is not really taken very seriously in general."
"Huh…. Is that right?" Harry mutters, thoughtfully looking at Luna before an idea that pops into his head makes him smile. "Tell me something Luna. Being the daughter of a journalist, would you say that my participation in this tournament will warrant a visit by your society's official publication?"
"They most certainly will." Luna answers.
"And what are the chances that they will try to sensationalize whatever it is I'm going to do here?" Harry asks again.
"Sensationalize, scandalize or anything else they may fancy to make the government look good and probably make YOU look bad in the process." It was Hermione who answered with a smile of her own, having been the one who realized where Harry was going with this conversation. "You DID after all, make a fool of the son of one of their major sponsors."
"If that's the case then Luna, I have a proposition for you." Harry said, smiling broadly now. "How would the Quibbler like exclusive rights to The Boy Who Lived?"
Author's Notes: Whew…. This took a while to hash out. I know I promised a once a week update but real life issues prevented me from doing so. As usual, R&R please