Hiding at Hogwarts
~ by Healer Pomfrey ~
All recognizable characters belong to J. K. Rowling, and I am not earning anything by writing this story.
I am not a native speaker of English. Please excuse my mistakes.
18 - Houses
"Dear students, welcome back to Hogwarts," the Headmistress began to speak. "I know that you all are hungry, so I'm going to make it short, but I'd just like inform you about four matters. First of all, Ronald Weasley is back among us after spending the time since the beginning of the school year at Durmstrang. Please welcome him back; he'll be in Gryffindor as before." After a polite round of applause had died down, she continued, "Secondly, by chance Harry Potter has been found to be the heir of all four Founders of Hogwarts, and as such the Sorting Hat insisted that Mr. Potter was not able to remain solely as a Gryffindor any longer but had to belong to all Houses."
"What?" Harry could hear Ron hiss in a very upset tone, before most of the students began to applaud and the Headmistress continued.
"From now on, Harry Potter will live in the Founders' quarters to avoid having to change dormitories frequently; however, he will regularly spend time in all four common rooms and will take turns eating his meals at all House tables. Please welcome him to your own House. If Mr. Potter earns House points, they will be equally awarded to all Houses."
"What about Quidditch?" Marcus Flint, the Slytherin Quidditch captain, asked aloud. "Will Potter be able to play Seeker for our House team?"
"What?" Harry could hear Draco Malfoy's voice. "I'm not going to retire in favour of Potter."
"Wait Draco, you can play Chaser," Blaise Zabini shot back. "Harry is the best Seeker we could get."
Many students burst out laughing, and everyone looked at Professor McGonagall in expectation, as she explained about Harry being the reserve Seeker for all four House teams and captain of the newly to be founded Hogwarts team. Huge applause followed the Headmistress' announcement.
"Mr. Potter, are you going to hold tryouts or how will you put together your team?" McGonagall asked gently, motioning for Harry to stand up.
Harry hesitantly rose from his seat. "Thank you all so much," he began to speak, thoughtfully. "First of all, the Hogwarts team as well as the reserve team will contain members of all Houses, as equally as possible." Ignoring the applause, mainly coming from the Slytherin and Ravenclaw tables, he continued, "Instead of holding tryouts, I will discuss the matter with the four captains and also watch the team practices for two weeks before setting up the teams." He remained pensive for an instant, before he addressed the four captains. "Can we meet here during lunch break tomorrow?"
While the four captains voiced their agreement, Harry saw from the corner of his eye that Ronald Weasley was just about to leave the Great Hall in a huff. Just when the redhead reached the doors, Harry announced, "As my successor to the position of Gryffindor Seeker I recommend Ginny Weasley," before he sat down, inwardly sighing. 'Thank Merlin not even the Slytherins ridiculed or boycotted me,' he thought, 'but Ron won't get over this easily.'
"Thank you Harry," Ginny said, happily smiling at him from the opposite side of the table. "I'd love to be Seeker for our House team."
'Maybe I'd have suggested Ron, but he really isn't good at catching the Snitch,' Harry mused, wondering if he would be able to reserve his former best friend a position on the school team. 'Maybe as Keeper.'
He was pulled out of his thoughts by Professor McGonagall's announcement about the study rooms for each year, which again received huge applause, this time especially coming from the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff tables. "The new study rooms are situated in a so-far unused corridor, not far from the hospital wing. Please make use of them and also invite your friends to join you." A small smile played on her lips, as she finally sat down, causing dinner to appear on the tables within seconds.
"Do you think Ron will ever come around?" Harry voiced his thoughts, more to himself than to his surroundings.
"Ahh Harrykins..."
"... you know him..."
"... he will..."
"... but it might take some time," the twins reassured him, making Harry smile at the twins' usual way of talking that felt strangely comforting.
"Ron is a git and will always be one," Ginny spoke up, sounding very upset about her brother's behaviour.
"Don't worry, Harry. Just ignore him for the time being. There is nothing we can do about his jealousy. We're going to study together in our study room, and it's up to him if he joins us or not," Hermione said, quietly, causing Harry to nod in relief.
"Thanks Mione," he replied, feeling very much reassured by her words.
As soon as he finished eating, he made his way to the Head table. On the one hand, he could not wait to attend the Slytherin House meeting; on the other hand, he was very apprehensive about entering the Slytherin common room. 'Thank Merlin Severus promised to take me with him, so I don't have to go to the snake's den just by myself,' he thought. 'Maybe I can improve my relationship with Draco and some of the others.'
~ The Slytherin common room ~
When Harry uncertainly entered the Slytherin common room after Severus, the whole House was assembled sitting in a circle on the floor in the common room.
"Go and sit with your classmates, Harry," Severus instructed him, pointing to the other side of the room, before he carefully stepped around the students and came to stand in the middle.
"Here Potter," Harry heard Draco shout and instinctively followed the voice, casting the blonde boy a grateful look as he lowered himself in the empty spot between Draco and Blaise.
"Good evening," the professor began to speak. "There is no spectacular news that warrants a House meeting, apart from the news, which the Headmistress already relayed to you at dinner. I merely want to introduce your new House mate to you, and I request all of you..." he cast a warning glare towards the spot, where the seventh year boys were sitting, "...to accept Mr. Potter as one of our own."
To his surprise, Harry found that the atmosphere in the common room was unexpectedly friendly, and the Slytherins seemed to not hold grudges against him. When the professor retreated to his quarters, he soon felt himself surrounded by the members of the Quidditch team, who wanted to discuss his role as reserve Seeker, Quidditch practice and the Hogwarts House team. By the time he returned to his own rooms right before the beginning of curfew, he had not only agreed with Draco and Blaise to have breakfast together at the Slytherin table the following morning, but he also had the impression as if he had already gained several new friends.
~ The third year study room ~
During the following days, Harry was extremely busy, being introduced to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff by their respective Heads of House, attending Quidditch practice of all Houses, and joining his friends in the study room every evening. On the first evening, Hermione, Neville and Harry had been the only students occupying the room, which was extremely comfortable and built around a huge fireplace like the common rooms. However, when Harry was sitting at the Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables during meal times, he invited his classmates to join him, and from the second day onwards, at least a dozen students from other Houses decided to do their homework in the study room.
~ Harry's rooms ~
On Friday evening, Harry tiredly let himself sink into the sofa in his quarters. 'Thank Merlin it's the weekend,' he mused. 'Tomorrow morning, I need to go into Salazar's library to search for the recipe for the Horcruxes. I hope I'll find something quickly, as on Sunday, I have to brew the wolfscure with Severus.'
Since Severus and Harry had received the Order of Merlin for their wolvscure potion, they had diligently spent every Sunday in the lab brewing several batches of the cure, which the Healers at St. Mungo's administered to the remaining werewolves in the country.
"Salazar," Harry hesitantly addressed the Founder, who looked at him in expectation. "Would you be willing to accompany me to your library to search for the Horcrux potion tomorrow morning?"
"No Harry, you're not going anywhere tomorrow," Helga threw in, determined. "You were so busy this week that you have to take some time off and rest."
Ignoring his wife's protest, Salazar nodded eagerly. "Yes, snakeling, I believe that it's very important for you to search for the recipe. Don't expect to find it on the first attempt though." He chuckled, as he added, "I've written more than you might assume."
Harry groaned inwardly, as he drifted off to sleep, not even bothering to return to his bedroom let alone change into pyjamas.
HP
Very early on Saturday morning, Harry took Salazar's mini portrait with him and headed to the Chamber of Secrets to commence with his search. However, as Salazar had predicted, even with the Founder's assistance, Harry did not find what he was looking for at the first attempt. Very frustrated, he returned to his own rooms to leave Salazar's portrait at its usual spot, before he attended lunch at the Hufflepuff table, determined to spend the afternoon in the study room, knowing that at least Hermione, Neville, Draco, Blaise, and Susan, a Hufflepuff third year would be there. To his chagrin, the Ravenclaw third years only rarely joined their classmates in the study room, as they seemed to prefer the Ravenclaw common room surrounding for working on their homework.
~ The corridor leading to Harry's rooms ~
On this same first Saturday afternoon after the beginning of school, Ron Weasley lingered in the corridor in front of the study rooms, casting a longing look at the third year study room. 'I'd really like to go in there. I want to be with Hermione as well. Too bad that she only hangs out with Harry and the Slytherins now. But what would they think if I suddenly showed up?' he mused. 'On the other hand, I'm sick of Harry showing off, and he's surely going to be admired by everyone now that he's captain of the school team.' Letting out a long sigh, he slowly passed along the corridor, listening to the voices coming from inside the study rooms. 'Where might be the entrance to Harry's quarters?' he wondered. Hermione had told him that it was further down the same corridor, however, that the door was invisible to everyone but those, who had been invited by Harry to see it. 'Oh well, apparently I'm not one of them.' A sudden thought crossed his mind, as he eyed the paintings on both sides of him. Each of the paintings held a witch and a wizard in armour, who were riding on horses. 'I'll go to the library and do some research,' he made a for him uncharacteristic decision.
tbc...
Thank you all so much for your valuable feedback. So far, the opions expressed on whether Ron should be good or evil were almost equal, so we'll see what my muse is going to decide eventually.