Chapter 5: Renegade Tower.
The first day of classes for Harry wasn't fun, the first class with Lockhart was the same as the last timeline, but before the class Lockhart congratulated him for using the 'Black scandal' as a way to increase his fame. His potion class was nastier than ever, Snape didn't hide the contempt he had of his new situation outright breaking his potion vial when he brewed it perfectly. But conflicts started to appear at lunch time.
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat to have lunch with Ginny and her two female Gryffindor friends Demelza Robins and Natalie Fairbourne. Ron and Hermione were debating about Lockhart and whether he was a fraud or not. Harry was getting acquainted with Ginny's friends. Michael Corner from Ravenclaw approached the happy group and talked to Ginny, "So, It's true. The dark lord here seduced a pretty damsel like you. Don't worry, I'm going to rescue you." He took his wand and sent a curse to Harry.
Harry quickly drew his wand and cast a protego charm.
"A shield charm, so this confirms this. Ravenclaw was right in declaring war on you." Reacted Corner.
"How did Ravenclaw fall into this?" Asked a stone-faced Luna Lovegood that was approaching the group.
"Why are you defending Potter?" Retorted Corner.
"Ginny is my best friend, I trust her judgement. Ravenclaw is the house of the intelligent, is a shame that today's Ravenclaws aren't like that." Luna explained.
"Now I know why people call you Loony, you are a traitor to Ravenclaw" Corner screamed.
"The only Loony here is you." Ginny replied.
"I'm watching you." Corner said while going away from the Gryffindor table.
Harry had his afternoon classes without incident. Some people started to fear him because he used a shield charm.
Some hours later, Ginny, Natalie and Demelza were in the common room after their first transfiguration class. When Ginny received a message in her renegade coin.
7th flr trll tpstry
"Natty, Mel, I have a project with Harry, and I want to invite you." Ginny said to her friends.
"Is not a dark thing?" Demelza asked jokingly.
"Is not." Gin-Gin answered.
Ginny and her friends then went to the tapestry of Barnabas the barmy, where they found Harry and Ron waiting.
"Where is your bushy friend?" Demelza asked bluntly.
"She decided that studying was more important than having some fun." Ron answered.
"I don't understand why you are friends with her." Natalie commented. "I've heard nightmare stories about her from her roommates."
At that moment, Harry saw a silhouette running around the corner, so he decided to investigate it.
When he approached the corner, he found Colin Creevey with his camera, so he grabbed him and dragged him to the group.
Ginny scolded, "Colin! I told you Harry is a boy like you or my brother. If I see you acting like a creep again, you'll have bat bogeys attacking every orifice."
"Okay."
A loud voice was heard "Harry. I Hate you!". The group turned to see that the origin of the voice was Katie who was dragging Oliver Wood with her, Katie's friend Leanne was laughing behind them. "I didn't understand your stupid message. I had to ask our captain and now he wants to join."
"He can join." Harry said.
"No! You don't understand, we'd have to be more restrained in his presence. We won't be able to have fun!" complained Katie.
"Hey! I'm here, you know. I'm not Percy. If it doesn't affect our chances for the quidditch cup, I don't care about what you do." Oliver said.
Harry the looked at Leanne, "You, Katie's friend. You can join as well."
"You don't care that I'm a Hufflepuff?"
"No. I understand that Hufflepuff has some weird mob mentality. I fear more about your safety if you associate with me."
"Don't worry about that. If I'm targeted for not believing in the stupid 'Black by name, Black by nature', I'll sleep with Katie in her dorm."
The group then received another message.
R0m8s atkd m, Hpstl wng. LL
Ginny's face was red in anger, "They attacked Luna!"
"Ravenclaw is going to suffer," said Demelza.
Five minutes later, the last five members of the group arrived, Fred, George, Lee, Angelina and Alicia.
"So, the entire quidditch team is on this?" Oliver asked.
Harry then paced three times in front of the tapestry, then a door appeared across the hallway.
"That is our meeting point." Harry announced. "Let's go."
After the group entered the room. Ron asked, "What is this room, and how I don't know about it?"
"This is the room of requirement, a room that can turn in anything you want. I found out about it in some letters from my father Sirius gave me."
"You said anything you want?" asked Oliver.
"Just think about what you want now." Said Harry.
The room then turned into a full size quidditch pitch, then it started to rain.
Oliver commented, "Perfect quidditch conditions."
Fred said,"You created another monster, Harry."
Katie yelled, "NOOOOOOOO!"
Oliver assured, "Don't worry, I'll just use the quidditch pitch, mind games are a big part of quidditch."
The room then turned into a replica of the Gryffindor common room. Everyone took a seat.
"Ok. We need to deal with that stupid war. I don't understand why Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw turned on you so easily." Ginny ranted.
"I think that was because of the farce that was the house cup last year, both McGonagall's disproportionate point deduction for being out of bed, and Dumbledore's point awarding after stringing the Slytherins." Harry replied.
"That doesn't make sense, because Slytherin, aside from Snape, was awfully quiet and they have the more reason to be pissed about Dumbledore." Ron questioned.
"I know what happens, some sources told me that Malfoy has some plans. He bought himself a place in the Slytherin quidditch team and some new brooms." Harry explained.
"OoH! they are going to taunt us. Thanks for informing." Said Oliver.
"We should learn some hexes, I brought this book my brother gave me, he bought it in Egypt. I learned the bat bogey hex from there," said Ginny while taking her book from her handbag.
Demelza and Natalie started to read the book, "Why are the incantations to those spells in those weird languages?" Demelza asked.
"Egyptians like to use Greek incantations or Arab incantations." Ginny answered.
Changing the topic, the George asked, "Can this room create passages to other parts of the school?"
"Yes."
"We want an entrance to the Hufflepuff common room." Fred asked.
A door to the Hufflepuff common room appeared.
"Cool." The twin jumped in excitement, "We are leaving this meeting, if something else important happened, Alicia and Angelina will inform us." The twins ran through that door and the door to the Hufflepuff common room disappeared.
After that, Fawkes with the sorting hat decided to visit the room.
"What brings you here, Mr. sorting hat?" asked Demelza politely.
"The castle told me you were here, and I know you need my help. And my name is Roy." The hat answered.
"Are you referring about finding a safe place for my friend Luna?" Ginny asked.
"Yes, but not just your friend."
"Aaah. Is about having a safe haven for the Slytherins we rescue from Malfoy." Harry commented.
"Correct. Your girlfriend here told me that plan when she was sorted. There are two abandoned towers that belonged to Hufflepuff and Slytherin, before they decided to move to the dungeons, you can use one of the portraits lost in the room of hidden things as a guardian," Roy explained.
"Where are those towers?" Harry asked.
"You can ask this room for an entrance to those towers, then you can scout the way out." Roy explained.
"Thank you, Roy." Ginny said.
The group then spent some time learning hexes from Ginny's book. Two hours later, Harry decided to end the meeting giving Oliver, Leanne, Demelza, Natalie and Colin a renegade coin each. Harry was slapped by Alicia when Oliver found out he could use the coin to call for practice. Ginny invited Colin to the newspaper club.
While the rest of his siblings were having their meeting with their friend groups in the room of requirement, Percy Ignatius Weasley was a man on a mission. After the arrest of Barty Crouch, he decided to study every time the ministry was not the ideal institution. He and his girlfriend Penelope Clearwater were at the library reading all the old newspaper articles since the turn of the century.
"Percy, look at this." Said Penny pointing to a series of headlines from the late 60's.
"Interesting, the opposition inside the ministry against the minister Bobby Leach, contrasts with his popularity. Is pretty interesting that after his illness, Abraxas Malfoy went quiet." Percy commented.
"It looks like Abraxas Malfoy was the one that took minister Leach from the government. After that, it looks like no muggleborn wizard has ever been in a high position in the ministry again."
"Look at those laws," said Percy pointing to another stack of papers, "All subtle obstacles to people that aren't from certain pureblood families. I was angry with my father because I thought he was only a bumbling fool. But now I see that he was probably someone that stuck to his principles."
"I told you Perce, the only people that don't consider your family worthy of respect are the ones that don't deserve to be listened. Look at the Malfoy brat, always insulting your family and calling people like me mudbloods."
"Thank you, Penny."
"I'm worried about the state of the wizarding world. The war between houses is becoming stupid. Is like those people don't have critical thinking."
"Pureblood families believe in reputation and don't bother to know the people themselves. This is something I've realised with all that happened. I remember that mum was always wary of the Blacks, even if her Aunt Lucretia was one, or her mother-in-law, my grandmother Cedrella, was another. I'm sure if it wasn't because I was there when Pettigrew was exposed, I would be like the people of the other houses."
"I think the problem is our classes of history of magic, the teacher only drones facts and only teaches things from before Dumbledore was born. My muggle sister told me that she in history classes had debates about what was taught."
"That is! We need a debate club, that can be an indirect way of teaching current history and also can be a way to build critical thinking."
"A debate club, that's cool!" said a Hermione Granger that approached them.
"You are Ron's friend. Why aren't you with him?" inquired Percy.
"He and Harry were going to have hang out with your sister Ginny and her roommates. I didn't want to hang out with your sister and her friends. I gave them the excuse that I was studying." Replied Hermione.
"Do you know someone to recruit for the debate club?" Percy asked.
"Neville Longbottom, he had a confrontation with Harry on the train, I think he needs to develop critical thinking. Also, this club would help him with his confidence. Also, it would make him understand why Harry decided to live with the Blacks." Hermione answered.
"Everything points to the Blacks, everything about Pettigrew and Black should be clear with the stupid news article, but everyone just can't look past the Black surname." Penelope commented.
"Harry told me to ask Ron about Pettigrew, but I prefer to ask you about that." Hermione told Percy.
Percy gagged, "Do you know why Ron has an owl now instead of Scabbers?"
"No, I just assumed Scabbers died and he got an owl as consolation."
"Harry gave Ginny a book about animals, she started to suspect about Scabbers' lifespan, then mum did a spell to reveal animagi, Scabbers was an animagus, then we called the aurors, and the aurors revealed Pettigrew."
"Now I see why you have that face."
"Now we are checking every animal we encounter."
The three students then kept discussing about what topics to board in the debate club. Until one of Percy's roommates delivered him the edition of the evening prophet.
Barty Crouch jr. alive: He was under the imperius for 12 years.
Percy while seeing the headline thought to himself, if Crouch didn't follow the law, who will.
Sirius and Andy were dining when Sirius' mirror started to vibrate, "Harry Potter." Said Sirius.
Harry's face appeared in the mirror and was laughing.
Andy asked, "What happened, what's so funny?"
"Hufflepuff. I made enemies with them because of you. Ginny has a plan for them, but this situation is fucking funny. I'm pretty sure I have more enemies in Hufflepuff than Slytherin."
Sirius inquired "Do you still want to do the Nimbus 2001 plan?"
Harry scoffed "No, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw pissed me off. I already have another plan for Malfoy."
"Cool, If Malfoy keeps being a nuisance next year, I have some ideas. But now, I'm waiting to be medically cleared, so I can participate in the duelling circuit, to improve my brand."
Harry teased, "Your brand? You are talking like a businessman."
Sirius replied, "I'm going to be a businessman. I must look and behave the part."
Andy announced, "Harry, I started a potions mastery, so I can usurp Snape as potion mistress and head of Slytherin when the time comes."
Harry replied, "About that, we found a place to house the Slytherins that aren't in Malfoy's sphere of influence. That way we can chip his influence away little by little."
Andy asked, "Is in your secret room?"
Harry answered, "No. The sorting hat told us of an abandoned tower that belonged to either the Slytherins or the Hufflepuffs. Ginny set a portrait from the room of lost things as a guardian and took another portrait to act as a passage to the shrieking shack, where the newspaper club is going to be."
Sirius asked, "Is in the map?"
Harry replied, "Yes. Also, Ginny's friend Luna was attacked by her housemates, so she is the tower's first resident. Ginny and her friends Demelza and Natalie also decided to move to that tower to keep Luna company."
Andromeda inquired "What about the basilisk?"
Harry said in response, "I don't think is going to be viable right now to kill it, because people are suspicious of me, they are scrutinizing every movement I do."
Sirius requested, "Don't kill it, I have a plan for Moony, I'll convince him to take the DADA job next year, and then have him kill the basilisk and gain an order of Merlin."
Harry said, "Cool. That way we can get a seat in the Wizengamot."
Sirius replied, "Not just that, we gain the opportunity of improving the standing of werewolves in the ministry and piss off the toad. Then when we earn enough money from our businesses, we are going to buy Ted a seat in the Wizengamot"
"Good, that way we piss off Malfoy, Fudge and Umbridge."
"What about the teachers? How are they?"
"Snape a little more horrible than usual. Lockhart was more annoying than in the other timeline. The other ones are the same. No one is doing anything for the increased aggression in the hallways."
Andromeda asked, "What about my nephew?"
Harry answered, "He has been quiet, we expect something for the first quidditch practice. That reminds me, I also don't want Nimbus 2001s for Gryffindor, the victory against the ferret would be better."
Sirius celebrated, "Good. I don't want to give money to Nimbus, company loyalty to Firebolt."
A realization hit Harry, "So you want to give Firebolts to the quidditch teams next year?"
"Yes. Investor privilege."
"Cool!"
"Did you find out the last news?"
"What happened?"
"Barty Crouch jr. was found and was given the dementor's kiss."
"Great, so now all of Voldemort's loyal followers are either in prison or dead."
"Now we have to deal with the ones that aren't so loyal."
"I have classes early tomorrow, I'll call you tomorrow at the same hour." Harry said before disconnecting the mirror, then he put away his mirror in his trunk and fell asleep.