Author's Notes: A big thanks go out to all of you who read my stories in the past week. During the past week, the number of hits for this story exceeded the hit count of my previous story, The Legend of Zelda: Land of My Dreams, passing 6,000 total hits along the way. And a special thanks go to my reviewers.
ProfessorChris: Yeah, Harry is certainly not happy to see Draco and Snape in his home, but he'll have to deal with the circumstances. But Harry is a reasonable person, as we all know. And as for the mind thing, Geoff banished the Horcrux from Harry's mind in order to leave it, and thus did not have to remove any of his memories. Thanks for the support.
Last week's Monty Python reference was a password used during the chapter. The password, "How to recognize different trees from quite a ways away," is actually the title of the third episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus. Another British reference I added into the chapter (albeit a very subtle one) was the song that reminded Harry of puppets. This refers to the Genesis song "Land of Confusion," whose music video is extremely memorable for its use of demented-looking puppets representing the members of Genesis, along with many other people, including then-US President Ronald Reagan.
Seven years since September 11, 2001. My best goes out to all the family members and friends of the victims of that terrible tragedy, as well as to the hope that we can one day put our differences aside and live together in peace.
And now, on to the next chapter. Be prepared, this one is a bit long.
Chapter 14: Week Two at Hogwarts
It was Monday morning and the seventh year Defense Against the Dark Arts students were continuing their studies of the Unforgivable Curses. Today's focus was the Imperius Curse and ways to spot someone who was being manipulated by it. The class was just about to end.
"The Imperius Curse has a dual nature," Professor Gryffindor explained, "On the one hand, it causes no obvious pain like the Cruciatus Curse and does not kill. However, the very nature of this spell is quite terrible, when you stop to think about it. This spell takes away the victim's free will and makes them like a slave. It is with very good reason that the Imperius Curse is considered an Unforgivable Curse. However, and I hope you are never forced into doing this, this curse can be one of the most helpful tools you can ever find. That said, don't use it."
There was a little bit of chuckling from the students in the classroom as the bell ending the class period. "Done already?" Geoff asked aloud, "Another short essay for homework, six inches of parchment on the ways the Imperius Curse has been used. Please try to include something unorthodox in your essays. Trust me. There have been a lot of creative uses of this particular spell."
As the class began to file out of the room, Geoff noticed that Pansy Parkinson was in no hurry to leave the classroom. "Miss Parkinson, I'd like to have a word with you," he said with an uninterested tone.
Pansy glanced suspiciously at Geoff for a moment. "I handed in my essay, professor," she retorted dismissively as she turned back to her fellow Slytherins.
"Miss Parkinson, this isn't a request," Geoff informed her, "I would like to talk to you alone. Now."
Geoff now had Pansy's undivided attention. "I'll catch up with you guys later," she told her house mates as they left the classroom. She stood up and walked up to Geoff's desk. "Is there something wrong with my essay, sir?" she asked, making sure to add a sarcastic edge to the final word.
"Your essay was a bit unoriginal and bland, but that is not what I want to talk to you about," Geoff replied, "You will stop teaching the Killing Curse to those not in this class, is that understood?"
At first, Pansy was shocked by the fact that her professor learned of this and began to panic. However, she quickly composed herself. "Professor Gryffindor," she stated slowly, as if she were innocent, "I have no idea what you mean by that."
Geoff sighed as he pulled his wand out of his robes and pointed it at the classroom door, slamming it shut immediately and locking it in place. "Don't play games with me, Parkinson," he warned as he stood up from his seat behind the desk, "I warned you about abusing that curse, but it seems that you didn't listen."
"Professor Gryffindor, I have not been teaching the Killing Curse to anyone," Pansy lied, "Are you going to judge me by the company I keep?"
"No, Miss Parkinson, because your own record speaks for itself," Geoff retorted, "You joined Dolores Umbridge's 'Inquisitorial Squad' two years ago here. From what I understand, you did some very shady things then."
"All under Professor Umbridge's orders," Pansy pointed out quickly.
"Still, from what I've heard, you were rather eager in violating the privacy of your fellow students," Geoff continued, "And that greatly concerns me, to be honest with you, Miss Parkinson."
"Yes, I suppose that invasion of privacy is so much worse than torture and murder," Pansy replied sarcastically, intentionally accusing Geoffrey of those acts.
Now she had gone too far. Geoff stormed over to where Pansy was standing and looked down at her face. "Miss Parkinson, don't you turn this conversation against me," he ordered firmly, "I informed you that abusing the Killing Curse in any way would be grounds for immediate expulsion from Hogwarts. I have learned that you were teaching the Killing Curse to those who have not been authorized to learn it. Now, what would you say I should do with you?"
Pansy paused for a moment, knowing that the jig was up. She was about to be expelled from Hogwarts. Someone in Slytherin had not only betrayed her, but betrayed her to a Gryffindor. To Pansy, it was the ultimate insult. And she wasn't very confident in the abilities of Crabbe and Goyle to figure out just who had snitched on her. "If you feel I have broken the rule you set forward, then you should punish me as you see fit," Pansy replied as she slowly reached into her right pocket for her wand. She wouldn't be leaving Hogwarts without a fight.
Geoffrey smiled slightly when Pansy said that. "Yes, I should expel you," he affirmed, "But I am not going to."
Parkinson was once again caught off-guard by Professor Gryffindor. "You aren't going to expel me, sir?" she asked cautiously, not believing her ears.
"No," Geoff replied as he shook his head, "I am not going to expel you this time. For now, I will let you off with a warning. But let me make this absolutely certain. If I ever hear that you have been teaching the Killing Curse to anyone outside this classroom or abusing it in any other way without my explicit permission, you will be shown no leniency. You will be packing your bags and leaving this school, never to return. Have I made myself clear, Miss Parkinson?"
"Perfectly," she replied with a forced smile.
Geoff looked at her for a moment. She has no intentions of listening to me, he deduced from her body language, She plans to start indoctrinating the Slytherins again once she weeds Megan out. However, he was confident that Megan would cover the tracks on her end well enough. "That will be all Miss Parkinson," Geoff finally said, "You may go now."
Pansy said nothing as she picked up her belongings and left the classroom. Although she showed a calm demeanor, she was in a rage inside. Someone in the Slytherin family had betrayed her to the enemy. And once she got back to the common room, she would find the traitor and demonstrate to the entire house what the price of treachery was.
--
Megan was sitting in one of the green chairs in the Slytherin common room on Tuesday afternoon, finishing the reading that had been assigned by Professor Gryffindor in the previous class for today's class when Pansy Parkinson and several other seventh year Slytherin students walked into the room, carrying on a conversation that had started about an hour ago.
Just act normally, Megan, she thought to herself, Pansy doesn't have any evidence against me.
"What about her?" Crabbe inquired as he pointed a fat finger at Megan.
Megan continued to read, though her muscles grew tense. But Pansy scoffed at this suggestion. "Could someone remind me how Draco put up with you two idiots for six years?" she asked rhetorically.
"Well, he . . . " Goyle began.
"Shut up!" Pansy snapped, "I wasn't expecting an answer to that! Crabbe, what in Merlin's name would make you accuse her?"
"Well, uh, I saw her sitting next to the kid who told us to go into the prefect's car while we were on the train coming here," Crabbe informed, "So she had to be involved with that."
Pansy rolled her eyes as she turned to face her thickheaded henchman. "Crabbe, that was before she was sorted," she reminded him, "And she ended up here and he ended up in Gryffindor. So obviously they aren't working together."
You couldn't be more wrong, Megan thought with satisfaction as she let a smile hidden by the book cross her face.
"I don't know about that, Pansy," Daphne Greengrass stated, "I've heard from Professor Slughorn that Megan and Henry Gryffindor get along very well in potions. Maybe she could have passed information to Professor Gryffindor through his son."
Suddenly, Megan felt very sick. Pansy took a moment to think about this, and Megan felt the knot in her stomach loosen greatly when she saw Parkinson shake her head. "No, Professor Gryffindor wants to show us that he won't play favorites," she reasoned, "He wouldn't have accused me unless he had real proof. A second-hand accusation from his son wouldn't do it. Someone in Slytherin directly told him what we have been doing. I'm certain of that."
At least someone is using their brain here besides me, Megan thought, still feeling a little tense, though.
"It has to be a first year," Pansy said to herself, "A first year who doesn't understand how things work here. I want all the first years in the common room right now."
It was an order, so those that surrounded Parkinson went off to gather the Slytherin first year students, who were scattered about the castle at the moment, but not in class. It took Crabbe and Goyle a few moments to figure out what to do, with the former leaving through the portrait with Daphne to find the Slytherin first years who were out and about while the latter went up to the first year boys' bedroom.
That left Pansy alone in the common room with Megan. And of all the seventh year Slytherin students, she was the one Megan was most afraid of. Megan knew that she had the brains to put all the scattered and hidden pieces together. The real question was if Pansy had found enough of those pieces yet to discover Megan as the saboteur. Megan didn't think she had, but she wouldn't give her anything to work with, either.
Pansy glanced at Megan twice and then slowly walked over and sat down in another green chair next to her. Megan had a good poker face, but decided to play it safe by continuing to hide it with her book.
"Defense Against the Dark Arts is a bit boring, don't you think?" Pansy opened the conversation.
"A little bit, yeah," Megan lied. It was actually the course she was best at and she enjoyed it a lot, but she understood that Pansy wanted to hear that she was interested in performing the Dark Arts themselves, not defending against them. "Gryffindor must be the worst teacher of the subject you've ever had," she said.
"No, Lockhart was completely incompetent," Pansy corrected, "Gryffindor isn't the worst teacher of the subject. I hate to admit it, but he knows what he is talking about and how to teach it well. He's actually one of the better teachers we've had in that position, now that I think about it. Next to Professor Umbridge and Professor Snape, of course."
Megan made a mental note to ask Geoff about those three names the next time they talked. Hidden in her room was a chart and a list of notes of every person she heard about in this world, drawing connections and seeing exactly what was going on. "Professor Slughorn is nice enough, though," Megan commented.
"Sure, if you're in his little club," Pansy stated disparagingly, "Then he latches onto you and your success, from what I understand."
"Nothing wrong with that," Megan replied nonchalantly, trying to show she had nothing to hide, "So what has gotten you so angry all of a sudden?"
"Someone in this house is snitching to Professor Gryffindor on us," Pansy informed.
At this, Megan put her book down quickly and looked at Pansy with a face of disbelief. "Are you serious?" she asked incredulously.
Pansy shrugged. "It's the only conclusion I can think of," she offered as support, "Unless you've seen someone from another house in here, that is."
Megan paused for a moment as if to think about that possibility, then shook her head. "No, I haven't seen anyone else in here," she replied, "Who do you think it is?"
Pansy shrugged again and shook her head. "I have no clue," she admitted, "But I'd bet it's one of the first years. Most of them don't understand how Slytherin House works yet, at least not how you and I understand it."
Megan nodded her head. Inside, she was filled with relief knowing that Pansy truly did not suspect her of any wrongdoing. "So why have you come to me if I'm not the one who told Professor Gryffindor?" she asked.
Pansy smiled a little. "Because you seem to be in close with all of our first year house mates," she answered, "I want you to convince the guilty one to confess. Otherwise, if I don't have a name, all the first years will suffer. And that includes you too, Megan."
Megan put on an appearance of shock when she heard this. "That doesn't seem fair, Pansy," she retorted.
Pansy smiled even wider, which made Megan feel even sicker than before. "Who said life was fair, Megan?" she asked rhetorically as the first years began to enter the common room.
Once all the first year Slytherins had returned, they were lined up against a wall, facing into the room and the seventh years there. Megan did not join her fellow first years, as she felt Pansy did not want her to. She was right on that point.
"Slytherin first years," Pansy began as she paced slowly down the line of them, "Yesterday morning, I was confronted by Professor Gryffindor about how I have been attempting to teach my fellow house mates the Killing Curse. And I know he only confronted me about it because someone in this house told him about it. I thought I was going to be expelled from Hogwarts because one of you snitched on a fellow Slytherin.
"Now, how do I know it was one of you first years? Well, that's simple to explain. You have only been here a week, and you're not quite sure how this house works. Well, now is a good time to show you what happens to traitors.
"Here's the deal. Either one of you is going to admit that you told Professor Gryffindor what we were doing in here, or all of you will suffer. I may not be able to use the Killing Curse yet, but I do know how to use the Cruciatus Curse." At this, there was a genuine look of fear on about half of the faces of the first year students. "And for those of you who don't know what that is yet," Pansy continued, "Let me just say that you don't want to know what it's like. So, for the sake of your fellow first years, whoever violated the privacy of this house should step forward and admit their fault. I assure you, even the person who did this will be better off if they come forward and confess than if they don't."
At this point, all the first year students started looking at each other. Megan knew exactly what was happening and stood up, planning to shut it down immediately. "No, no one accuse anyone else here in public," she stated, "We'll talk about this later in private. That's all."
And with that, the matter was closed. Pansy looked at Megan suspiciously as she saw Megan motion her to a more isolated area of Slytherin House.
"What are you up to, Blaire?" Pansy accused.
"Whoever told Professor Gryffindor made a mistake, but you can't seriously expect the guilty one to come forward in front of everyone, do you?" Megan inquired, "I know I'd never trust that person again."
"What exactly are you suggesting?" Pansy inquired.
"We'll take care of this privately," Megan explained, "We'll settle this with whoever told Professor Gryffindor without anyone else knowing who it is."
Pansy thought about this and decided that Megan had a point. "Alright, I'll go along with this," Pansy agreed, "But remember, if you can't get me a name, all of you will suffer. You have a month, Blaire. For your sake, you better not let me down." And with that, she turned and left the room they had been in.
Megan remained there for a little bit, processing what had just happened. She doesn't suspect me, but she will punish me if I don't give her a suspect, she thought, What do I do from here? Condemn an innocent student for what I did? She shook her head at this thought. No, that's out of the question. Well, I have a month to think about this. One thing was certain to Megan, though. She would have to talk to Geoff about all this.
--
Henry was leaving the Astronomy Tower with his fellow first years in Gryffindor and Ravenclaw in the very early morning hours of Thursday. At the moment, he was talking to Mohammad about the flying lessons they would have on Friday afternoon.
"I really want to play a sport while I'm here," Mohammad stated, "But it sounds like Quidditch isn't a very physical sport. Isn't there anything more physical at Hogwarts?"
Henry shook his head. "No, but Quidditch is plenty physical, trust me," he assured, "Once you start practicing, you'll see that's plenty true. And from what I understand, Slytherin always plays rough."
Mohammad chuckled at that notion. "Well, they're going to be in for a rude awakening when I give them a lesson on rough play," he retorted.
Henry chuckled, though there seemed to be something forced in Mohammad's mannerisms at this point. However, he decided that it wasn't worth pursuing at this time. Plus, he wanted to speak with his father about a few things. "You go on ahead, Mohammad," he said as he stopped walking, "I want to see my dad."
"Just don't get caught by that Filch character," Mohammad replied as he continued walking to Gryffindor Tower.
Henry found the nearest staircase and made his way down to the second floor where his father's office was (Professor Gryffindor had sleeping quarters in his office, as did most of the Hogwarts teachers). However, as he neared the office door, another figure that was about five feet tall came into view approaching the same door. Henry moved into a nearby shadow and waited for the figure to step into the light of one of the wall-mounted torches. When this occurred, Henry recognized the person immediately.
"Megan, what are you doing?" he asked as he came out of his hiding place.
Megan wasn't expecting Henry to be here. Before she handed in her Dark Arts homework in class yesterday, she wrote "midnight tomorrow" on the back of the parchment the homework had been written on, trying to tell Professor Gryffindor to be ready to meet her at that time in his office to discuss the Slytherin affairs. She didn't want to be seen talking to Geoffrey if she could help it. And while she was confident that she and Henry were alone in this section of the castle, she didn't want to take any chances.
"No, get away from me!" she half-shouted as she began running back down the corridor she had just walked down.
"Megan, wait!" Henry shouted as he ran after her, "What's wrong?"
"Leave me alone!" she cried out, hoping to force Henry away from her, "Just leave me alone!"
However, as Megan rounded the corner, she found that she and Henry had not been alone in that section of the castle. She yelped as she saw what seemed to be a grotesque, hunchbacked figure standing before her.
"What's all this ruckus, young lady?" Argus Filch asked tersely as he walked toward Megan.
Megan stood rooted to the spot she was standing. She wanted to run away, but she realized that she was in trouble now. Running would only make the problem worse. Besides, she had nowhere to run, as she heard Henry's footfalls coming closer as he continued to run down the corridor.
Filch obviously heard them too as he lifted the lantern in his right hand higher in the air and tried to look over Megan. He was about to speak out loudly when he decided against doing so and instead whispered to Megan, "Looks like I got two troublemakers tonight."
At that moment, Henry came into view from around the corner. "Megan, I . . . ," he began, but stopped when he saw Filch standing behind Megan.
At this point, Argus came to the worst possible conclusion immediately. "Henry Gryffindor, already chasing the little girls around the castle, are we?" he asked in a nasty way.
Henry shook his head and backed up slowly away from Filch. "No, it's nothing like that," he claimed with both hands out in front of him. What is it with people assuming the worst around here? he wondered to himself.
"Oh yes, of course you say that," Filch replied, "Just wait until I hang you with those manacles."
At this point, Henry was utterly mortified. Oh bloody hell, he has me now, he thought.
Meanwhile, Megan's mind was racing as well. While she would be hailed as a hero in Slytherin for getting a Gryffindor in more trouble than anyone had gotten into since Fred and George Weasley left Hogwarts. However, questions would start popping up after that. Exactly why was a Gryffindor chasing after her? And just what was she doing near Professor Gryffindor's office at that hour of the night? Pansy would add it all up and realize that she was being double-crossed. And the outcome of that was something Megan didn't want to think about. Someone get me out of this, please, she pleaded to herself.
"What's going on out here?" a voice familiar to both Henry and Megan asked as another set of footfalls were heard, "Henry, is that you?"
"Dad!" Henry shouted with relief.
"Professor Gryffindor, I'm glad you showed up," Argus said as the newest addition to the Hogwarts faculty rounded the corner.
"Argus, just because a couple of students are out of bed just after Astronomy class is over doesn't mean they are up to trouble," Geoffrey chided the Hogwarts caretaker, "Megan here is no Fred or George Weasley and I know I raised Henry better than that."
"Obviously not good enough, Geoffrey," Filch corrected, "I'm pretty sure that your son was making . . . unwanted advances toward this girl."
Geoff immediately rounded on his son. "Henry, is Argus telling me the truth?" he asked.
"No!" Henry replied strongly, "I was coming down to see you, Father, and than I saw Megan here approaching your door. I called out to her and she just ran off."
"You're a liar, boy!" Filch roared, "I heard her crying out for you to stop chasing her! You two aren't even in the same house. What are you doing going after her, anyway?"
"Argus, please," Geoff said tersely, shutting down that line of thought, "If you are going to criticize my son for his selection of acquaintances, then you should torture me for my best friend being a Slytherin."
Filch put his hands in the air defensively. "I have nothing against you, Geoffrey," he clarified.
"Miss Blaire, Henry; come with me to my office," Geoff ordered, "Argus, I'll take care of this myself. And lets keep this incident between us."
Filch nodded in agreement. "I'll let you take care of your own house," he said as Geoff began to walk off with the two first year students. Filch was extremely confident that Geoff would do just that.
About a minute later, Geoff opened the door of his office and let Henry and Megan enter the room. He shut the door behind him and then turned to face his son. "Henry, explain yourself," he demanded, "What are you doing down here at this hour? You don't need to come down to this floor to return to Gryffindor Tower after Astronomy."
"I just wanted to talk to you about Quidditch tryouts, that's all," Henry claimed, "Headmistress McGonagall told us to talk to the Head of House if we had any questions."
"So she did," Geoff affirmed, "What do you wish to know about that?"
"Well, flying lessons are this Friday afternoon, right?" Henry asked.
Geoff nodded to his son. "Indeed they are," he confirmed, "And you'll be flying about with the first year Slytherins. Just remember to follow Madam Hooch's instructions and don't fly out too far. After that, if you want to try to play for the Gryffindor House Quidditch team, tryouts will be held two weeks after that."
"Thanks," Henry said in reply to all this. He would forward this information to Mohammad later.
Geoffrey then turned to look at Megan. "And Miss Blaire," he began, "First year Slytherins don't have a class this late on a Wednesday night. What are you doing out and about?"
There was something in Geoffrey's voice that told Megan that he got the message she tried to convey to him, that he knew the real reason why she was here. However, she didn't want to let Henry in on what was going on. She decided to use the easiest excuse in the book when it came to Slytherin, one that Henry would easily believe.
"They're just so mean," she began slowly with a tone of despair, "They're always talking about killing mudbloods and torturing blood traitors and the like. I just can't understand how some people can be so hateful. I just want to stand up and shout at them about how wrong they are, but I can't. They'd kill me if I did." By this point, tears were starting to flow from her eyes. And they weren't fake. Megan had always been good about bottling up her emotions, but she could make them rise to the surface if she needed them to.
"Megan, please, don't cry," Henry said in an attempt to cheer her up, "Not all Slytherins are bad. Just look at Professor Slughorn. It's not all bad being a Slytherin."
"That's easy for you to say," Megan retorted, still fighting through the tears, "You're in Gryffindor. You're surrounded by people who always do what's good and right and couldn't harm a fly even if they wanted to."
Geoff decided to shoot this one down and get Henry out of his office. "Megan, I was in Gryffindor when I was a student here," he explained, "And I know for a fact that not all Gryffindors are saints. At least one that I knew in Gryffindor has betrayed many people to their deaths, including students he went here with for a full seven years."
"You mean Pettigrew?" Henry inquired.
Geoff sighed upon hearing the name of the one whom he blamed the most for all that had happened to him. "Yes, I mean him," he replied, "You already know this story, Henry. I'd like to tell Megan here about it as well. Please go back to Gryffindor Tower and get some sleep."
"Yes sir," Henry answered, "See you in Potions, Megan." He then left the room, closing the door behind him.
Geoff offered Megan the nearest chair and he sat down behind his desk. "Your tears are real," he remarked, "You try not to show it, but all that talk in Slytherin really gets to you."
Megan was finally able to stop crying at this point. "I won't do that in front of the others in my house," she stated, trying to show Geoff that she wasn't weak and could be trusted.
"No need to prove yourself to me, Megan. I know how strong an individual you really are," Geoff assured her, "I got your message. I've been waiting for you to come. What do you need to tell me?"
"Pansy has started a search for the one who told you about what she was up to," she informed, "She is sure that it was a first year student, but she doesn't suspect me."
Geoff chuckled. "No, I think she looks at you as something of an apprentice," Geoff figured, "She knows this is her last year here, so she wants to make sure Slytherin is left in good hands. You're definitely the most intelligent first year Slytherin, so she definitely made a good choice."
Megan nodded. She had perceived the same thing. "The problem is that if no one comes forward to take responsibility for my actions within a month, all the first years are going to be punished with something called the Cruciatus Curse," she reported.
Geoff showed no change in demeanor upon hearing this. "I suspected that such a thing would happen," he admitted, "Do you think she was serious about this action?"
"I can only assume that she is going to follow through," Megan replied, "Pansy doesn't brag a lot, but from what I understand, she does back up everything she says. What should I do at this point?"
Geoff thought for a moment before answering. "I think I'll come up with something on this account," he said, "You just keep me aware of what's going on in Slytherin and we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Now, I believe I owe you that story about Peter Pettigrew."
"Can we talk about this Harry Potter first?" Megan requested, "I've been hearing a lot about him and I want to know why he's so important."
"Actually, I was planning on using Peter to segue into Harry," Geoff informed Megan, which obviously satisfied her, "Peter Pettigrew was at Hogwarts at the same time I was a student here, though he was three years ahead of me. He was sorted into Gryffindor, along with a number of my close friends. Among them were James Potter, Lily Evans, Remus Lupin, Sirius Black, Frank Longbottom, and Alice Prewett. James, Remus, Sirius, and Peter were especially close to each other and formed their own little band. It was as if you'd never see one of those four without the other three around somewhere."
"But you told Mr. Filch that your best friend was a Slytherin," Megan pointed out.
"Yes, that was so, and despite what has happened, still is true," Geoff answered carefully, "My best friend in Hogwarts was Severus Snape, who was sorted into Slytherin in the same year Peter, Remus, James, Sirius, and Lily were sorted. They were all three years ahead of me. I was also good friends with Sirius's younger brother, Regulus, who was two years ahead of me in Slytherin."
"What about Severus made him your best friend?" she inquired.
This was a question that Geoff had never come up with a good answer for. "To be honest, Megan, I still don't know," he replied, "We met on my first train ride to Hogwarts and from that point forward, we had a mutual respect going. Maybe he saw me as a ticket to finally fitting in at Hogwarts; he had always been a bit of a loner. Of course, James mocked me constantly for always hanging out with someone who wasn't just in a different year, but was also in Slytherin. But I didn't care about his opinion of my friendship with Severus, and I don't care what anyone else thinks about it."
Megan noticed that Geoff seemed quite defensive on this point. "What? Did he do something wrong?" she asked.
Again, Geoff had to hesitate on answering this. "He made a . . . lapse of judgement in his fifth year at Hogwarts, which was my second. You see, he grew up in the same neighborhood as Lily Evans had, and from what I've heard he always had a deep-felt love for her. But because of this one incident, he lost her forever, which drove him into being one of Voldemort's followers and ended up on the opposite side of the line from her."
"Did he kill her?" Megan inquired.
"No, he would never have done that," Geoff asserted strongly, "Voldemort killed Lily himself, although beforehand Severus begged him not to."
"What was this incident?" Megan questioned, "Did he slap her or something?"
"He accidently called her a mudblood," Geoff corrected, wincing at the painful memory, "I saw and heard everything. James had just humiliated Severus for what seemed like the thousandth time that week. Lily came to try to stop it all, but Severus lashed out at her and called her that. He lost the one he loved forever, all over a word."
"I can't blame her," Megan stated, "I'd be pretty upset if someone did that to me."
"I ended up getting unofficially ostracized from Gryffindor for a while after what I did in response to that," Geoff recalled, "The morning after the incident, when I arrived at breakfast, I saw James and his band with Lily at the Gryffindor table while Severus was all alone at the Slytherin table. You see, this incident occurred during the examination period, so there weren't as many people at breakfast. I approached the Gryffindor table and I stared at James, trying to make him feel guilty. I walked up next to where he was sitting and he asked me, 'If you got a problem with me, Geoffrey, just spit it out already.' And so I did just that. I spat in his face and sat down across from Severus at the Slytherin table."
Megan's jaw dropped upon hearing this. "You must have gotten into so much trouble for that," she commented.
"James didn't tell anyone," Geoff replied as he shook his head, "I wanted him to feel as embarrassed as he made Severus feel, and I think I succeeded. Lily and I had an argument later over what happened, but James never tried to get back at me. Though he never did stop bullying Severus until late in his seventh year, I think he got the message on that one. In any case, James and Lily ended up dating each other and got married late in my fifth year at Hogwarts, in 1979. James and I had patched up our differences by that point. And being on Voldemort's hit list kinda made him realize that he had to change his ways."
"So when does Harry Potter enter into this picture?" Megan asked.
"Harry was born on July 31, 1980, a little over a month after my sixth year ended," Geoff answered, "He was a splitting image of his father . . . well, except for his eyes. He has his mother's green eyes. It was actually the second new addition to my family of friends in as many days. Frank and Alice got married and Neville was born the day before Harry was. I believe you may have seen him around the castle a little."
"Gryffindor with a round face and light brown hair?" Megan guessed.
Geoff nodded. "That's the one," he affirmed.
Megan shrugged. "He doesn't seem to be the sharpest tool in the shed," she pointed out bluntly.
"Don't talk about my godson that way," Geoff warned, but not in a serious way, "He is quite the genius at Herbology. I wouldn't be surprised if he comes back and teaches it one day."
"So why is Harry Potter so important in all this?" Megan inquired, "And what does Peter have to do with it?"
This was the part of the story that had left a permanent scar on Geoff that he would never allow to heal. "You see," he began slowly, "The Potters had survived three attacks by Voldemort by the time they went into hiding in 1981, a few months after I left Hogwarts. I offered them a way out of Britain entirely, but they were adamant about staying here. So a spell was performed that hid their home as long as the Secret-Keeper didn't give up their location."
"Peter betrayed them," Megan concluded, "Didn't he?"
"Yes," Geoff confirmed quietly, "Just a week after they went into hiding, on Halloween night, 1981, Voldemort found and murdered James and Lily Potter. However, when he proceeded to kill Harry, the curse bounced back off Harry's forehead and hit Voldemort instead."
"Then how is he still alive if he was hit with his own curse?" Megan asked, now confused, "Or is the current Voldemort a fake?"
"Voldemort used the darkest of dark magic to split his soul into pieces before this happened," Geoff explained, "I won't tell you anything more about that, other than I am working on finding those pieces of his soul and destroying them. As for the reason why Voldemort tried to kill Harry, I will say that a prophesy of some kind was issued concerning a child born around the time he was who would be able to defeat the Dark Lord. Voldemort caught wind of this and concluded that Harry was who the prophesy meant. And that is the story of how Peter Pettigrew earned my eternal hatred and why Harry Potter is so important in all this. Anything else you want to ask me about?"
"Yes, a few things," Megan affirmed, "First, you never told me why Severus Snape is not teaching here anymore."
Geoff wanted so dearly to avoid this, but he figured that she wouldn't let it slip past her. "Several months ago, he killed Headmaster Dumbledore," Geoff admitted, "I don't know all the details, but on the surface he showed that he is a Death Eater. However, one thing I know is that you can never be sure of Severus Snape by his outward actions. He is still my friend, but that doesn't mean I support his actions. You see, Dumbledore was, if anything, a master strategist, and I cling to the belief that he planned his death at Severus's hands in order to make Voldemort believe that he was on his side."
"Alright, second question," Megan continued, "Who is Professor Umbridge?"
At this, Geoff wished he could have a bottle of the strongest liquor to drink in order to forget about this person completely. "She was appointed as the teacher of this subject in this school two years ago by the Ministry for Magic," Geoff answer after he had rolled his head and eyes to display his disgust for this woman, "Her first name is Dolores. What she was really here to do was to make sure that Dumbledore wasn't building up an army of students to overthrow the government. I don't know where Prime Minister Fudge got that idea from, but it cost us a year of time in which we could have been hunting down Voldemort's followers. If I saw her on the street, I would probably call her some very terrible names."
"And lastly, what about Professor Lockhart?" Megan asked.
Geoff finally had something good to laugh about, and he gave the heartiest laugh he had given in a long time. "Professor Lockhart, whoever came up with that idea needs to be examined for insanity," he commented as he was still laughing, "He was the teacher of this class five years ago. He was an author who wrote many books on how he had dealt with various dark creatures and spells, but he was a fraud. He was a total incompetent, but at least he looked good doing it, which is more than I can say for Umbridge. A spell he cast to wipe Harry Potter's memory backfired on him and he is now quite unaware of anything, really. Sad, but entertaining, I must admit."
Megan smiled as she nodded her head. "What about your other friends?" she asked, "Sirius, Alice, Frank, what of them?"
Geoff's smile disappeared immediately. "Except for Remus and Severus, they're all gone," Geoff replied darkly, showing this was a place he didn't want to go, "That's all you need to know about that."
Megan got the message. She stood up. "Then I guess that's all for now, Professor Gryffindor," she said, and for the first time noticed the owl sleeping in the large bird cage behind Geoff's desk. "By the way, that's a nice snow owl you have there," she complemented.
Geoff glanced back over his left shoulder. "Ah yes, Merlin," he said, "Well, he's been acting a bit strange lately. I guess he's pining for the fjords or something like that."
"Or maybe he's looking for a mate," Megan suggested from out of the blue.
Geoff thought for a moment about that. "Maybe, I'll have to see if that is the case," he replied, "If so, I think I know where I can go for help on that."
"Right then, I'll talk to you later," Megan said as she left the office, closing the door behind her, and made her way back to Slytherin house. She had a lot of new information to digest. And now more of the puzzle that was Geoffrey Gryffindor was starting to come together for her. From what she had discovered, Geoff had been the typical Gryffindor at Hogwarts; brave and righteous, but never crossing the line that separated good from evil. But now, he was a man who had crossed that line multiple times and thought little of it. Something had caused him to change, and Megan now figured it was losing so many of his friends.
I wonder if I could handle such tragedies, Megan wondered to herself as she continued on her way.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey made a mental note to bring Merlin back to Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place in two weeks to meet Hedwig.
--
The following morning after breakfast, the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins were having their joint Potions class. As usual, Henry and Megan were sitting at the only joint house table with Mohammad and a Slytherin boy with blood red hair and green eyes who was usually a bit quiet. His name was Michael Piller, who seemed to be Megan's best friend inside Slytherin house. At the moment, they were working on a boil cure potion.
Henry looked up when he heard a loud hiss and splash from behind him. "Oh, bloody hell, what happened?" a Slytherin student shouted as he hurried to wipe the potion off from his shoes.
"Oh no, you were supposed to add the porcupine quills to the potion AFTER you took it off the fire, Terence!" Professor Slughorn half-shouted as he rushed over to stop the red boils on his feet from becoming too bad.
Henry stifled a chuckle at this, while Megan simply looked on in disgust. "These are very simple directions, how can you screw them up?" Megan asked herself quietly.
"Sometimes you just forget to read the whole thing, I suppose," Henry replied.
"It's not right of you to say those kinds of things about your own house mates, you know," Mohammad pointed out.
"Mind your own business," Michael said quietly. He may as well have shouted because that startled Mohammad greatly.
Megan took a deep breath. "No, he's right," she admitted reluctantly as she weighed crushed snake fangs on her scale, "He was doing okay, he just tried to rush."
"You can't do this too quickly," Henry said, "This is a very simple potion, but we're going to encounter much more complicated ones in the future. And if you skip a step, the results could be disastrous."
Megan nodded in agreement. She had already looked a little ahead in her Potions book and saw what Henry was talking about. However, she was looking forward to making a few of these potions.
"So, Megan, how are you feeling now?" Henry inquired, obviously referring to the incident earlier this morning.
"Better," she answered as she poured the snake fangs into her cauldron.
Michael looked up at this as if he were listening for something incriminating. Mohammad and Henry both noticed this. In fact, it seemed like all the first year Slytherins had been on edge about something for the past few days. Henry knew it had something to do with Pansy Parkinson, as she was still at the school for some strange reason. But Henry decided not to talk any more about this as he set his cauldron on the fire and looked back to his directions. Megan did the same a few seconds later. "How long do we keep this thing on the fire?" Henry asked. The directions didn't specify how long to wait before removing the cauldron from the fire.
"Lets just wait and see what it does," Megan replied as they waited and looked at the cauldrons. After a few minutes, the potion suddenly changed color to a sky blue.
Megan smiled when this happened. "Now we take it off the fire," she informed Henry as they removed their cauldrons and then added the porcupine quills to the cauldron. Henry stepped back from the table after this, but his cauldron did not melt. Henry signed with relief upon this.
"Come on now, you didn't think it would actually blow up in your face, did you?" Megan chided Henry playfully as she stirred the contents of her cauldron, "We followed the instructions to the letter."
Henry laughed as he stirred his cauldron's contents as well. "You can never be sure," he pointed out, "The ingredients we're using might have some impurities that can make the instructions completely meaningless or extremely dangerous."
"I would think that Professor Slughorn would take more care than that when getting these ingredients," Mohammad noted as he put his cauldron on the fire, "He's a very good teacher, I think."
"Well, what have we here?" the just-mentioned potions' teacher said as he walked over to the table and examined how the students were getting along, "Michael, if you want to keep up in this class, you'll have to work a little faster than that."
"Yes Professor," Michael replied as he started to work faster on his potion.
"Mr. Hazan, don't feel the need to rush, you're doing fine," Horace told Mohammad as he noticed his intense gaze on the cauldron.
"Thank you Professor Slughorn," Mohammad replied as he relaxed a bit.
Slughorn then turned to look at Megan, Henry, and their potions. "Ah, but here we have two good potions already made up by Mr. Gryffindor and Miss Blaire," he stated rather loudly to the classroom as he took a sample of the potion out of both cauldrons, "Lets see if they have done this correctly." He took the samples over to Terence, who had alarmingly large red boils popping out of his shoes now. Henry was slightly sickened by the sight.
"Don't worry Terence, you should have confidence in both Miss Blaire and Mr. Gryffindor," Slughorn assured the Slytherin student as he applied one sample to the boils on his right foot and applied the other sample to the ones on his left foot. After a short wait, the boils began to shrink and a huge smile crossed Slughorn's face.
"Make sure you see Madam Pomfrey about those boils as soon as you can, but you should be fine," Slughorn instructed Terence.
"Yes sir," Terence replied dejectedly as the professor continued to walk around the room, inspecting how students were coming along with the potion. The bell ending the class period rang about ten minutes later.
"Alright, for homework, I want an explanation of why adding the porcupine quills to this potion before you take it off the fire actually causes boils instead of curing them," Slughorn informed the students as he waved around his wand and cleaned up all the unfinished potions, "This will be very informative and will be a starting point as to how certain ingredients relate to each other and to heat. There is no minimum length as long as you can explain the process by which this can go horribly wrong, as we saw today."
As Megan and Henry were packing up their items to leave class, Professor Slughorn walked over to them and collected the potions that were in their cauldrons. "A job well done by both of you," he congratulated them as he put their cauldrons back on the table, "And let me welcome you both into my Slug Club. Henry, I believe you know what that is."
Henry nodded with a large smile on his face. "My father told me all about it," he replied.
"Yes, your father was a star student at Hogwarts, and one of my favorites," Horace pointed out, "In fact, I was so upset when he left the school that I left with him."
Henry and Slughorn both burst into laughter at this, while the gears in Megan's head starting to spin again. Geoff left Hogwarts in June 1981, I think, she reasoned to herself, And I seriously doubt this is the real reason Professor Slughorn left the school at that time. Maybe Voldemort had something to do with this.
"When's our first club party?" Henry inquired.
"Halloween, of course," Professor Slughorn replied, "So make sure you dress your best for that. If you have any other questions, I'll be happy to answer them."
Henry shook his head, indicating he had no other questions now. However, Megan did have one question relating to the Slug Club. "What will happen at this Halloween party?" she asked.
"Oh, you'll figure it out quickly enough," Horace answered, "Basically, you walk around, eat some food, and talk to other members of the club about things."
Megan nodded as she watched Henry leave the dungeon. She had another question to ask her Head of House. "Professor Slughorn, why did you really retire from teaching here?" she inquired.
Slughorn paused for a moment and pondered what to say at this point. "If you must know, Miss Blaire," he began, "I didn't want to be pressured into joining the Death Eaters at that time."
Megan nodded and walked toward the door of the dungeon with her bag.
"Oh, and Miss Blaire, don't be afraid to call Henry a friend just because he is in a different house," Slughorn called, "I know Miss Parkinson must be calling on you to distrust everyone outside of Slytherin, but I know that Geoff taught his children to be upstanding individuals."
If only that was what Pansy was telling us, Megan thought wistfully. "Yes Professor," she replied as she left the dungeon.
--
On the next day's afternoon, on the second Friday in the Hogwarts school year, the first years of Gryffindor and Slytherin were walking to a grassy cliff overlooking the Forbidden Forest. The Gryffindors appeared a bit more excited by the whole affair, with Henry and Mohammad racing each other to the brooms. The Slytherins hung back a bit, still worried about what was going to happen to them, though Megan had reassured them all last night that everything would be fine. She had talked to all of them individually and heard the truth; none of them were the ones who betrayed Pansy. However, many were pinning the blame on others at random, which did not please Megan at all. She understood the Slytherin mind set, but she didn't like it. She would have to inculcate a culture of not accusing others without proof among her peers.
Meanwhile, Mohammad had beaten Henry easily to the top of the cliff. Within the next minute, the rest of the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins had joined them and Madam Hooch. In front of her, twenty brooms were lined up in two rows of ten on the ground, waiting for their riders.
"First year students, pay attention to me," Madam Hooch announced and then waited for all the students present to give her their undivided attention, "I am about to show you how to ride a broomstick. It is a fairly simple thing to do when you know what you're doing. Everyone, please select a broom. It doesn't matter which one you choose; this isn't a competition."
As Henry picked up his broom, he checked the old handle for what kind of broom it was. Upon seeing it, he dropped his jaw in disgust. "Shooting Stars?" he asked incredulously, "I know we're only first years, but give me a break!"
"What's wrong with them," Mohammad asked as he grabbed his broom, "Except for the fact that they look old?"
"Well, they are old, very old," Henry explained, "They made these back in 1955. And they really didn't hold up over time. These ones won't be fast at all."
"Mr. Gryffindor, please," Madam Hooch chided, "We aren't going to be playing Quidditch out here today. And I don't want you getting reckless with a faster broom."
"Besides, Gryffindor, we don't even know if you can use one of these correctly," one of the Slytherin boys commented nastily, "You'll probably fall off into the forest and break your neck."
"You take that back, you little . . . " Mohammad started to threaten the Slytherin as he took a step toward him before Henry and two Gryffindor girls restrained him from going any further.
At the same time, Megan turned toward the Slytherin who started this confrontation and glared at him. "If I were you, Will, I wouldn't provoke them again like that," she warned her house mate as everyone looked back at Madam Hooch, who was none too happy at the moment.
"If anyone here attempts to provoke another into violence, I will start docking house points," she warned, "Now, to start, you must mount your brooms." She then took her broom, an old Comet 180, and demonstrated the process. All the students did the same.
"Um, shouldn't we be sitting on the broom handle itself?" Mohammad inquired after he found he was sitting on an invisible cushion of air rather than the broom handle itself.
"No Mr. Hazan, we shouldn't," Madam Hooch explained, "That is the effect of the Cushioning Charm, created in 1820. Before then, wizards and witches did ride on broom handles. Not comfortable."
No kidding, Megan thought with a smile, grateful that she wouldn't have to go through what Muggle cyclists called "saddle sores."
"And now, in order to start flying," Madam Hooch instructed, "You simply push off of the ground with your legs, like so." And with this, she squatted slightly, then pushed off the ground. Sure enough, she rose into the air on her broom and flew around gracefully for about 20 seconds before she landed on the ground again with a soft thud.
"And just come down slowly and land on your feet," Hooch concluded, "Now, lets see you all try, one at a time. Mr. Gryffindor, your father has always been a big Quidditch fan. Show them how it's done."
Henry nodded with a smile as he gave himself a huge push off the ground and rose about 30 feet in the air, his ascent slowing as he rose. It wasn't the first time he had flown on a broom, but the feeling was always exhilarating to rise through the air and achieve flight, something man was not supposed to achieve. However, that glee came to an abrupt end as Henry realized that he was actually falling slowly now toward the ground again. He had to turn around in order to avoid falling into the Forbidden Forest.
"Oh, what? Come on!" Henry shouted with frustration as he came back down to the ground again.
"I told you," Will remarked with a chuckle. Megan gave him a glare to shut him up.
Madam Hooch simply sighed. "I knew this would happen eventually," she remarked as she shook her head, "We'll have to get these brooms replaced. I've wanted to do this for years. Perhaps Headmistress McGonagall will agree to get us some reliable Tinderblasts."
But Mohammad wasn't ready to give up on this endeavor. He gave himself a huge push off the ground and rose quickly into the air. "Yeah!" he shouted with amazement as he rose through the air and started to fly around with more grace than his broken down broom should have allowed him to do. With a huge smile on his face, he went into a loop-de-loop maneuver.
Upon seeing this, Madam Hooch's eyes went wide with shock. "No, stop! Mr. Hazan, stop!" she cried, but he obviously didn't hear her.
"What's so dangerous about that?" Megan asked aloud. She figured that the loop would be perfectly circular.
"Brooms always fall faster than they climb," Henry answered simply, "Loop-de-loops are risky maneuvers even with Firebolts if you aren't high enough. Mohammad could nosedive right into the ground."
Megan and Henry watched as Mohammad climbed higher into the air. His climb stopped as he went completely upside-down. Looking down at the ground below, Mohammad could have decided to abort the maneuver and simply flip the broom over. Instead, he smiled as he pulled his broom handle again and began to dive toward the earth below. He felt a rush of adrenaline as the air rushed over his face and through his black hair. He watched as the ground came closer to him at a frightening rate. Mohammad remained calm and continued to pull up on the handle, confident that he would not hit the ground.
"He's too low," Henry said in a worried tone, "He needs to turn toward the Forbidden Forest. A professional Quidditch player I saw once needed more height then that, and he was using a Firebolt."
"Firebolt?" Megan inquired.
"The best broom there is," Henry explained as he turned toward Mohammad, "Mohammad, turn toward the forest now! You're not going to make it!"
But he would have none of it. He didn't need the extra room; he was determined to finish what he had started. As he came dangerously close to the ground, the broom finally started to lift and went parallel with the ground and leveled out with just three feet to spare. "Yes!" he shouted with a fist pump as he finally realized that he had pulled it off.
"Oh my goodness!" Henry shouted as he ran after Mohammad's broom, "Mohammad! That was amazing!"
Mohammad turned back and saw Henry. When he saw this, he slowed down and let his friend catch up to him. "This is the most incredible feeling I've ever had in my life!" he shouted, "Being a wizard is great!"
Henry smiled. "This is just the beginning, Mohammad," he replied, "Just the beginning!"
--
"Wow, I never thought I'd ever fly on a broom," Megan told Henry as they climbed a staircase inside the castle after dinner on that same Friday, "The feeling was just so . . . well, it's something I can't even put into words."
Henry smiled as the two continued on. "I understand what you mean," he replied, "You think you'll try to get onto the Slytherin house Quidditch team?"
"I'll try, but I doubt I'll make the team," she answered, "It seems like my house has an aversion to having girls playing on the Quidditch team. Plus I'm a first year. They're never allowed on the house teams."
"Those are going to have to change. If Slytherin wants to win the Quidditch Cup back from us, they're going to have to change some things. What worked ten years ago is not going to work now," Henry retorted.
And how would you know what worked for Slytherin ten years ago? Megan asked herself, Well, his father seems to be a big fan of Quidditch, so he probably grew up with this stuff. "What about you?" she inquired, "Are you going to try to make the Gryffindor squad?"
"Yeah, but I know I'm not going to make the first team because we only have one spot to fill," he answered, "And I know Mohammad can ride any broom better than I can. I think he has a great shot of making the first team, but you almost never see first years on those squads. The last first year to play in a house match was Harry Potter for Gryffindor six years ago. And before him, no first year had played in a house match in more than a hundred years."
"So I guess the odds of either of us playing Quidditch this year are rather slim," Megan surmised.
"Well, first years are put on the reserve teams all the time," Henry corrected, "And they play matches against the other houses and practice. So that's where I'll probably end up this year."
Megan nodded and looked around. She was surprised to find herself on the seventh floor of the castle, next to the staircase that led to Gryffindor Tower. She sighed and said, "It's going to be a long walk back down to the Slytherin common room."
Henry chuckled as he and Megan walked up the stairs to the portrait of the Fat Lady. "Megan, you seem to be trying to distance yourself from me," Henry decided to say, "What's going on?"
Megan knew that this conversation couldn't be avoided forever. She thought carefully about how to answer this inquiry. "I know you don't care that I'm in Slytherin, and I don't care about you being in Gryffindor," she began, "But there are a lot of people in my house who keep threatening us about being too close to anyone in Gryffindor. And for now, I don't want to rub anyone in my house the wrong way. For now, I have to show that I am in agreement with current Slytherin culture."
That explanation satisfied Henry for now, though it disappointed him to know that Megan was suffering in Slytherin. "But we are still friends, right?" he asked her as they reached the portrait, "Invisible choir."
"Of course," Megan replied with a smile, "Lets just keep that hidden from everyone else in Slytherin for now." But Megan decided to have a little fun with her friend. "That was a very stupid thing you just did," she pointed out in an ominous monotone, "Giving me the password to your common room like that."
Henry needed a few moments to process these last words, but once he did, a look of horror filled his face. Megan saw it and laughed.
"I had you going there for a minute, Henry," she explained with difficulty, "You don't seem to have any trust in me after all."
Henry started chuckling in spite of himself. "It just felt so weird, just then," Henry admitted, "Like I had just visited the Twilight Zone or something."
"You watch that show?" Megan inquired.
Henry nodded as he stepped through the open portrait hole and gasped. "Ginny, are you okay?" Megan heard as she leaned through the hole in the wall to take a look at the situation.
Inside the Gryffindor common room, she saw Henry approaching Ginny Weasley, who was sitting in a chair next to the fireplace. Her face was in her open palms and Megan could hear that she was crying. She could also hear that Ginny was moaning the name "Harry" over and over again.
"Henry, I'm going to get your father," Megan told Henry as she ran back down the staircase.
"Megan, why . . . " Henry began to ask as he looked back at the closing portrait hole, but she was already gone. Henry turned back to Ginny and tried to comfort her unsuccessfully.
--
Geoffrey Gryffindor was reading some parchments in his office on the second floor when he heard a loud banging at his locked door. Upon being disturbed, he sighed. "Hang on, I'm coming," he called as he got up and walked over to the door. After he unlocked and opened it, he saw surprised to see Megan there. "Miss Blaire, what's going on?" he inquired.
Megan needed to catch her breath for a moment. Once she had done that, she answered, "Ginny Weasley needs help. And it's related to Harry Potter."
Geoff knew what was happening immediately and groaned. "Oh, bloody hell, why now?" he asked rhetorically, "Megan, unless you have other obligations at this time, go back to the Slytherin dormitories, please."
Megan nodded as Geoff closed his office door and began jogging down the hallway toward the staircase. Megan heard him mutter, "The young ones today, they don't understand what it means to sacrifice . . . ," but she couldn't hear anything more after that. She followed Geoff's orders and returned to her common room.
--
When Geoff reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, he gave her the password and entered the common room to find that Ginny was starting to yell at this point. She was also drawing a small crowd around her, including Geoff's son. "Ginny, please, calm down," Henry pleaded.
"Everyone, please leave the common room," Geoff ordered, "Let me talk to Miss Weasley in private."
The dozen or so students who had gathered around her obeyed their Head of House and went back to their rooms. Once this had happened, Geoff got down on his left knee in front of Ginny so that they were at the same eye level. "Ginny, listen to me," he began calmly, "I saw Harry last weekend. He's fine, trust me."
"Trust you?" she replied, her voice quivering with sorrow and anger, "You're the one who has taken him away from here, away from me. Harry should be here! You're the reason he's not!"
"Ginny, I haven't made Harry do anything against his will," Geoff retorted gently, "You knew he needed to go after Voldemort's Horcruxes. He told you as much at Dumbledore's funeral, from what he told me. He still wouldn't be here, even if I wasn't involved."
"Why did he have to leave me like that?" Ginny asked, more to herself than to Geoff, "Does he not love me?"
"Ginny, I can tell you that Harry misses you very much," Geoff assured, "But you have to understand that life can take us in directions we don't want to go. Harry doesn't want to be away from you, but he wants to protect you from the harm that he's facing. And right now, the safest place in all of Britain is Hogwarts. Harry wants you to stay here, where he knows you'll be safe."
"But isn't it safe at Grimmauld Place?" Ginny asked desperately, "He's staying there, and it's safe from attack, isn't it?"
"... But you're so independent,
You just refuse to bend, so I keep bending 'till I break . . . "
Geoff had to admit that Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place was secure unless he was terribly mistaken about where Severus's loyalties truly laid. But that was completely beside the point. "Ginny, there are things going on that you wouldn't understand," he explained, "And Harry doesn't want you getting involved in this. What he will have to do is very dangerous. But he will succeed. He must succeed."
Ginny was starting to understand that, once again, Professor Gryffindor was right. She understood that this was Harry's destiny to fulfill and that he wanted her to stay out of the line of fire. But she wasn't over her missing love yet.
Geoff finally decided to give in to her. "I underestimated your love for Harry," he admitted, "Ginny, I'm going to see Harry next weekend. If you write him a letter, I can deliver it to him personally."
At this, Ginny's face lit up and the tears ceased to flow. "You really mean that?" she asked.
"Absolutely," he replied unequivocally, "And if Harry wants to write back to you, I'll give you his letter when I get back."
Ginny nodded. She knew this was the best deal she was going to get.
"However, you cannot write anything about where Harry may or may not be or what he may or may not be doing," Geoffrey warned, "Do you understand?"
"Yes," she answered immediately with a vigorous nod.
"... But you always find a way to keep me right here waiting.
You always found the words to say to keep me right here waiting.
And if you chose to walk away, I'd still be right here waiting.
Searching for the things to say to keep you right here waiting . . . "
Geoff smiled as he stood up again. "Good," he replied, "Now, you have some things you need to work on, like making sure your homework is done well so that you can play Quidditch and make sure that Headmistress McGonagall can hand me the Cup in May."
Ginerva smiled. "I'll get right on it, Professor Gryffindor," she answered as she stood up and left the common room.
It was a deal he had to make, but Geoff still wasn't happy about it. "No wonder we are such a weak people today," he muttered as he left the room and walked back down to his office, "Whatever happened to sacrifice? Whatever happened to strength of will? Whatever happened to all those virtues that allowed the generation that came before me to triumph over Grindelwald and Hitler? Lord Voldemort is nothing compared Grindelwald, but we allowed our vigilance to falter in the past fifty years. That is the only reason Voldemort ever became a threat to us." This muttering continued even after Geoff locked the door of his office from the inside again.
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Author's Notes: There are actually a couple things I want to say about both this chapter and the previous one. I'll start with the previous chapter.
Voldemort's claim to Harry that he and Harry aren't very different from each other is actually very worthy of thought, as it is very true, I think. Both were orphaned when they were just infants and then raised in places where they didn't receive much love at all growing up. Both of them are half-blooded wizards who found their way to Hogwarts. And both are very intelligent and talented. However, something caused these two individuals, so similar in so many ways, to be mortal enemies. I don't know if Rowling meant to cause so many similarities between the hero and the villain, but considering that Rowling notes that Voldemort went after Harry instead of Neville (another boy who fit the prophesy of Voldemort's rival perfectly) because Harry was so similar to him, I think she did intend it.
Originally, I had Harry's tirade against Snape ending a little earlier than it did in the final version. I extended the tirade to give Snape a reason for lashing out, and that was the mentioning of Snape calling Lily a mudblood, which is undoubtably his worst memory. And it also allowed Snape to, correctly, tell Harry that he didn't understand him at all.
Snape saving Geoff's life will also be seen in Chapter 26, which I am working on right now. That chapter will also explain why Snape hasn't forgiven Geoff for what happened on the night of October 31, 1981.
And now for this chapter. I portrayed Pansy a little differently in this chapter from what I show her being in future chapters. Here, she's your typical Slytherin thug, which I decided to change between this chapter and her next appearence in Chapter 17. I'll explain this when we get there.
And yes, I decided to use the Severus and Lily thing from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in this story. A lot of things just wouldn't make sense in the whole of the storyline without it.
And now, I have a chance to rant about the current state of humanity. Back in Chapter 12, Megan told Geoff that both of them believed the world has grown too soft to function as it needs to. And in this chapter, I show a manifestation of that trend; Ginny's unwillingness to sacrifice what she wants for the greater good. I will admit that doing things "for the greater good" can be used to justify absolutely horrible things. However, it is my belief that we, as a society, are not willing to sacrifice just a few of our modern comforts for the sake of, say, winning a war. Back in World War II, people accepted many sacrifices for the sake of winning the most terrible and important conflict in human history. I cannot see that happening today. Perhaps we shouldn't be expected to sacrifice in the face of an enemy who hide in caves and use outdated weapons and tactics, but now I see people claiming that 2,000 deaths is too many to lose in a conflict and I get really upset. Using that logic, we would have stopped fighting the Nazis after a single week, if that.
Sorry about the rant, but I just need to put it out there. And until next week, read, review and enjoy.