Chapter 10, Pimples and Potions
"speech" – speech
^speech^ - parseltongue
speech – non-verbal speech
'words' - written
"Albus, this is unbelievable," Minerva said softly.
Severus and herself were seated in front of the Headmaster's desk like naughty school children. Things were not at all moving forward the way they had planned and now they would have to improvise a new direction to take.
The Headmaster gave an eye twinkle and nodded, "This is certainly an unforseen complication."
No kidding, she thought bitterly, they had worked with the assumption that Potter would be placed in Gryffindor even without Hagrid's influence. She couldn't believe how the boy's own family could treat him so coldly and yet the boy seemed to be friendly and warm, like any true Gryffindor.
"A Ravenclaw, Albus, the boy is a Ravenclaw," Minerva almost spat, "You know what a quarter of those kids are? They are Deatheaters' children, Deatheaters! And the ones who aren't are so cold. They care about nothing but research. James and Lily's son in such a house? Preposterous."
Severus hadn't said a word. Minerva had noticed ever since meeting the boy for real that Severus hadn't been nearly as vocal in his loathing of Harry Potter or even James for that matter.
"What did you manage to uncover from his mind?" Albus asked the potions' master.
Whilst being at Hogwarts for those short few days Harry had his thoughts read almost constantly by Severus, for the greater good of course. And yet even with this insight into the boy's mind they had found nothing to suggest that he wasn't the normal child they were hoping for, but then again they hadn't delved too far into the boy's thoughts.
"Nothing Albus, I can't even manage to reach his mind. It's like he became an Occlumens overnight," Severus said in a controlled voice.
Albus' eyes lost their twinkle; that was always a cause for concern. He gave a long thought before slowly saying, "It might be a long shot but if someone with power managed to tap into the boy's mind they could be controlling him, which would account for the sudden skill in Occlumency," the Headmaster stated. Now that was a worrying thought.
Severus spoke again his dark eyes glinting, "That is not all. I wasn't able to reach the minds of the students he sat near, a Miss Granger and Mr Weasley."
The Weasley's had nearly always been exclusively Gryffindors although admittedly there were a few Hufflepuffs in the mix. As the Head of Gryffindor house she had been disappointed not to get all of Molly's children epically after she had promised to keep a close eye over Ronald. His parents were worried about him, perhaps with good reason.
"What should we do Albus?" she asked.
To any other the scene would look odd; two professors, top of their fields, looking to the aged man for orders with awe but it was Dumbledore and neither teacher could really see their lives any differently than accepting his views.
The Headmaster gave the question some thought before pushing his half-moon glasses back up his nose. "We'll keep a close eye on the three of them and decide a course of action based on their behaviour. We must keep them in our sights or our only hope might be lost to the darkness," the words left a solemn and dark feel in the air and both adults nodded, they would trust the Headmaster's judgement.
Ron awoke in a sweat. He had another nightmare. This time it had been Harry instead of one of the usual family members that had gone on a killing spree. Shivering Ron bunched up in his blanket and suppressed the dream as far down as it would go. He didn't need Hermione, or worse, Harry finding out about this. Besides he knew it was stupid, he had the same dream almost every week with a different person stalking around St Ottery Catchpole with a sharp glittering knife, stabbing every- Ron whimpered.
"Are you okay Ron?" the cold voice of Harry Potter asked. Ron felt a chill run through him but ignored it.
Ron had to struggle to keep his voice level, "Yeah mate, sorry about that. I had a bad dream," he muttered.
"No worries, I was up already," was all the reply Ron got.
Ron waited a few agonising moments before he heard the bathroom door snap shut and the shower getting turned on. Sighing he collected himself. He hated the nightmares but by now he knew how to deal with them.
Once he was calm he snatched his knife, which was on the bedside table still in the mokeskin pouch. He wasn't sure why but playing with the knife, twirling it in his hand, kept him calm. Maybe it was because he knew he could protect himself should the dream ever become reality.
Hearing the shower stop Ron knew he needed to proceed with the day and quickly collected a uniform for the day.
When Hermione woke a few hours later her dorm was bustling with girls getting ready. A pretty little Indian girl was brushing her long black hair when Hermione quickly went for her shower. When she got out the girl was still brushing her perfectly straight hair. Hermione gave a snort and started trying to get her tie to sit properly.
Hermione had never tied a tie before and had no clue about how to get it right. She called out to Mandy Brocklehurst, a red head who looked the friendliest. All she got was a distracted 'hmmm' from the girl who was putting make up on.
"Um, could you help me with the tie? I don't actually know how to tie it up," Hermione asked shyly.
Mandy gave her a slow head-to-toe look of disgust and spoke firmly, "No." The girl went back to her lipstick, which was a delightful shade of harlot red.
Hermione gave a look of outrage and then picked up her satchel with a scheming smirk. She knew exactly how to deal with bullies.
"I'm so sorry Mandy. Oh by the way you have a huge zit on your face," Hermione announced in a cheerfully as she stepped closer to the red headed girl. Hermione's voice had gotten the attention of their other dorm mates.
Mandy turned back to Hermione and said in a scathing voice, "I don't believe I do."
Hermione squinted at the girl's clean forehead, "Oh silly me." And with that she walked off. Hermione was at the top of the stairs when a piercing shriek was heard. Hermione gave a low chuckle and continued down the stairs.
When she got to the second floor of the common room she saw her two boys pouring over two thick textbooks and as she drew near she realised that they were in a mental conversation that she couldn't even feel. Feeling a bit neglected she took a seat beside them.
"Oh, hey Hermione," Ron said cheerfully flashing her large a grin.
Harry didn't look up from his book but she heard the whispered, "Good Morning," and felt him pressing on her mind and let him in.
We are discussing non-human rights, 'Mione. Harry sent frustrated, Ron thinks that humans should be put above non-humans. Please help me out here, tell him that Werewolves have as much right to good jobs and pay as we do.
Hermione could feel Ron's internal growl. I don't think that. I just stated that I could understand someone refusing a Werewolf a job or giving him lower pay as he is a risk to the business, both heath and economic wise.
Wrong Ron, a Werewolf is no more dangerous than any other human outside of the full moon. Any jobs that do not take place on the night of the full moon shouldn't affect a person's ability to get a job or his pay. The Werewolf is human over ninety percent of the time.
As interesting as their argument was Hermione knew it was going nowhere, each boy being stubborn as hell, so she spoke up.
"What got you two started on this anyway?" she whispered out loud.
Harry put down the book and grinned sheepishly, "We checked the noticeboard and the debate team put the topic for Saturday up early, 'Non-human rights with a focus on Werewolves, Vampires and dangerous beings'. We started discussing which side we would take and it kind of escalated." Ron nodded also looking guilty.
Hermione laughed softly at them, "Do either of you remember what else the notice board said?"
Ron shook his head but Harry closed his eyes and recited each notice;
"Aside from the debate team's first message there was a location of their first meeting as well as for the gobstones club, potions club and the chess team. There was also a list of the school and Ravenclaw house rules and an old notice about a dead student from 1943," Harry chanted in a bored voice, "Oh and a notice that said timetables are passed out after breakfast."
Hermione gave a quick smile, "Then should we go before you two fire up again?"
Ron nodded and then squinted at her, "How did you get your tie in a knot?"
By the time the trio arrived at the Great Hall, Hermione's tie now fixed, they were engaged in a friendly argument.
"If you were a werewolf would you be so considerate of your employer giving you less pay?" Hermione asked.
Harry nodded, "You would then be juggling money and finances on top of the complications of being a werewolf."
"This is so not fair! You're ganging up on me," Ron stated as they sat at the table of blue.
Harry gave the red head a feral grin, "It's not our fault that we share the same opinions."
With a groan Ron mentally admitted defeat, "For now," he added out loud.
Across from them at the Slytherins' table Ron could see two first years, Crabbe and Goyle, eagerly stuffing their faces by the handful. He wrinkled his nose in disgust and pointed them out.
"They're going to choke eating like that," he said out loud.
Hermione and Harry snorted and picked out their breakfasts. Ron did the same, choosing only from what the other two had selected, after all that was the only way to be sure that the food wasn't contaminated.
As Hermione finished her first bite of French toast she gestured to him, as if to say 'it's clean.' He nodded gratefully and took a large clean bite off his own toast.
"Are you afraid of choking? And what about diabetes?" she asked softly.
Feeling her mind Ron realized that she was curious by his habits. He shook his head, "I chew thoroughly and other than that I'm not going to be able to prevent choking. I simply never eat alone," then he raised an eyebrow confused, "What is diabetes?"
Hermione frowned and chanted, probably word for word from some sort of muggle book, "A disorder of the metabolism characterized by inadequate production or utilization of insulin and resulting in excessive amounts of glucose in the body."
He gave her a blank look before turning to Harry for translation. He looked just as blank.
"Oh, honestly," Hermione sighed, "it means that your body can't process certain chemicals like sugar properly and that can make you very sick. It can sometimes develop from eating excess fatty foods." (1)
"Oh," Ron said, he thought he understood. He looked down at his pile of sausages and bacon before putting half of it back, "thanks Hermione." Had he said it to anyone else it would have seemed sarcastic but Hermione smiled appreciatively and went back to her toast.
For a few minutes they sat eating silently, Ron could feel Harry buzzing with an idea.
What has you so excited? He sent.
Imagine magically strengthening muggle diseases. The potential for warfare would be astronomical. There would be so much money involved and not to mention being able to play with fatal diseases like that. Can you think about the power one would have by introducing bio-chemistry and magic?
Ron didn't totally understand everything that Harry was thinking but from the visions accompanying the message it he got the gist. He understood that it could lead to thousands of people, mainly muggles, dying horribly. And what was worse was that Harry understood that too and yet still thought about benefits and the fun side. Ron couldn't believe that this was the same boy who had been arguing about equality for non-humans not ten minutes ago.
Harry aside from the huge amount of people that would be bound to suffer from that there is also the fact that it is very risky. First, you could make and mistake and kill yourself and second, you could get us all killed if a Death Eater or some lunatic decided to unleash a disease on the school.
Ron could feel Harry's enthusiasm deflate.
You're right. I wasn't really serious about it, it was just fun to think about really, Harry sent with a mental pout.
Ron wanted to laugh but instead just sent Harry his amusement. The bond between their minds seemed to react completely to their wills and worked so well that they were consciously able to send emotions via the link. It was really strong after only one night. Ron realized that the link would probably start to set itself even deeper into their minds soon. Later they might even start sharing dreams at night.
Looking up at the head table Ron noticed Professor McGonagall narrowing her eyes at Harry. After a few moments she hadn't let up and Ron quietly sent a message to alert Hermione. She could let Harry know.
Harry felt Ron's amusement at his mental antics. It was that feeling Ron's amusement was different to feeling his own. Actually it was very similar only there was a clear sense of difference and separation to the emotion and it was his mind that seemed to just know that it had come from Ron rather than Hermione or himself. It was completely weird and otherwise indescribable.
Harry was brought out of his musings by a tap on the shoulder from Hermione.
"What?" he asked slightly annoyed.
She gestured to the head table where Professor McGonagall was staring at Harry. The Gryffindor Head looked away as she realized she was caught.
"I thought that the Professors wouldn't be as caught up in your fame," Hermione whispered teasingly, "I hope McGonagall realizes she is too old for you."
Harry shook his head with a laugh, "McGonagall is probably still trying to work out how I ended up in Ravenclaw when my parents were in Gryffindor. Did you know that she was so convinced that I was a Gryffindor she even introduced herself as my 'future-Head-of-House' and got this little knowing smirk when I told her that I didn't think I was Gryffindor material. Nice to know I wiped that smirk away."
He noticed Ron frown.
"Ron? Do you think differently?" Harry asked suddenly unsure of his statements.
Ron shook his head, "You're mostly right, I think, there is just something I can't put my finger on about that look. Yesterday that Snape guy looked at me with the same thing only he had a much more guarded expression so I couldn't identify any emotion. It's like a glint, I think it's magical. And whatever it is it seems to be pissing them off."
Harry frowned, none of that sounded good.
"Can you use magic to read minds?" Hermione asked softly.
Harry gasped, "Legilimency; it's a magical art that invades people's minds. Could they be using this against us?"
Ron quickly looked around reminding Harry of a paranoid old man he had met once.
Use the link, if they are seeing our thoughts it won't matter but maybe something else is going on and it would be better to be safe, Ron sent.
He had a point and so Harry sent back all the information he knew about legilimency and its counter skill occlumency.
You said that it was making them angry? Hermione asked.
Yeah but it's more like they are confused. Maybe they don't understand how our minds are connected? Ron suggested.
Harry sighed, We can't rely on assumptions with this. We need to find out for sure what they are up to.
How? They both sent.
We follow them. There is no way to get the information from their minds so we must try to get it another way. We should stalk them, they are probably working together so they must meet up at some point right?
Ron and Hermione shared a look. As time lengthened Harry became annoyed as it was obvious that they were discussing his plan without him. Finally Hermione weakly sent;
What if they know we are following them? They might sense us.
Harry bit into a piece of toast thoughtfully, We have to learn occlumency.
Just then Flitwick the Head Ravenclaw called out for first years. The rest of the hall was leaving, classes must have begun.
(1) I'm sorry if any of this information is wrong, this is simply what I understood from and a short film in Physical Education. Please let me know if my explanation is incorrect.
Hello. Interestingly I (almost) got hit with a cyclone. I'm fine and no one died (from the cyclone) which is good. But it did make my story wait due to a backup of 'emergency homework', whatever that means. I'm listening to One Republic – Marching On as I write this. It fits Harry Potter so perfectly I think. Expect the next chapter to actually have classes, also some more twists involving my two favourite Weasleys.