AN:/ Hey guys, i'm starting to make up for lost time here. This isn't my best, or my most exciting, but if i want to go anywhere with this story i have to develop a plot beyond, "Batman in Hogwarts" so this is a little bit of that plot development. Just some strategic manuvering for later in the story. Bare with me.

Batman Doesn't 'Do' Magic

Chapter 11

by: deadlydaisy8o8

Originally Uploaded: Sunday, August 10, 2014, 4:43PM

Class the following day was interesting to say the least. To the rest of the student body it seemed that Batman only appeared for a brief moment, and then completely vanished before the next class was due. Now that Batman was in possession of the map, it was even rarer to catch a glimpse of the man. It had been approximately two weeks now, that Batman had been at the school and the rumors surrounding what he was and why he was there were not lacking imagination.

Many of the younger years were convinced that he was a dark wraith. A demon that could disappear in and out of the shadows, and would not hesitate to eat any of them if he became so inclined. The upper years, believed nothing so ridiculous, the most widely believed rumor in this instance was that Batman was a Vampire and the reason he disappeared so much was because he couldn't stand the sun.

These of course were not the only rumors. Some said that Batman was half Dementor, and that he was forever cursed to wander in the shadows sucking the happiness and cheer out of his own emotions, while dampening the happiness of others around him. Others had said that Batman had appeared in the great hall because he had been thrown out of the underworld and was being punished.

There were a few, however, a small few, who did not believe any of this tripe and were very frustrated that the rest of the student body was coming to such conclusions. It had quickly become apparent who these few were and it did not take long for those already slightly alienated who believed Batman was something different, to be ostracized completely for daring to believe that Batman was anything but completely and utterly evil.

"Shhh. Justin, let me see. It's going to be okay sweetie. I have to see so I know if we're going to have to go to Madame Pomfrey." Mandy Thurgood was a seventh year Hufflepuff, and the only reason she wasn't in Ravenclaw was that she had an undeniable need to mother hen.

"No, I don't want to go to the infirmity. The other boys will just laugh at me and call me stupid for not being able to take care of it myself." Justin Vreeland was a first year Ravenclaw, and he was sporting a sprained ankle from a second year that had sent a tripping hex his was in the hall.

"Justin, don't listen to them. We know you're not stupid! You are very smart. Why else would I need your help with my potions homework?" Bethany Tillima was a first year Hufflepuff. After her first transfiguration class with Batman, the rest of the first years had been wary of being her friend. After Mandy had had her own experience with Batman, she had quickly taken the little Hufflepuff firsty who could be found sitting alone in the common room, under her wing. Justin still shook his head in refusal to go get medical attention. There was a sigh from the last chair at the table in the Library.

"Look Justin, I know a lot about being clumsy. You really should go get it looked at my Madame Pomfry. I promise you will feel a lot better and if we're quick about it, no one even has to know that you went. I know all the good shortcuts and detours." Neville Longbottom looked sympathetically to the tear stained Ravenclaw, his charms homework slightly askew and forgotten at Justin's arrival to the table that had become the unofficial meeting place for the four. Justin finally looked up at the words of the Gryphindor and seemed to actually consider the advice coming from someone who would know about such things. Neville gave the Ravenclaw a small smile as he stood up and held out his hand.

"Okay." With a sniffle and a wince, Justin shuffled onto his good leg and leaned on Neville's shoulder, Bethany quickly picked up hers and Justin's things, before moving to his other side, while Mandy did the same for her and Neville and secured the rear of their little convoy.

The trip the infirmary was slow going, but they did make it without running into anyone who would use their injured party to their own advantage. Madame Pomfrey my was not pleased when they arrived.

"What have you four gotten yourselves into now?" Mandy grimaced ever so slightly at the matron. What happened was not Justin's fault. Mandy pursed her lips and answered for Justin who was being maneuvered up onto the bed that was just a little too tall for the diminutive first year.

"Justin was on his was back to his common room when someone in the hallway fired a tripping hex at him as he was about to go down the stairs. Luckily he caught himself on the banister and all he has is a twisted ankle." Madame Pomfrey tutted as she moved briskly over to the little first year.

"Justin dear, can you take your shoe off so I can get a better look at that foot?" All the answer that Pomfry got was a small whimper. Madame Pomfrey just shook her head and vanished the shoe and sock. The small ankle underneath was already starting to swell. Madame Pomfry hummed in disapproval before she waved her wand over the injured extremity. An orange glow emitted from the tip of her wand.

"Lucky for you its just a sprain. You will only have to be here for the next half hour while the potion I give you does its job." Another flick of her wand and a vial full of a periwinkle concoction flew to her hand. She uncorked the vial with a pop and handed it to the boy.

"Drink up and I'll be back in a while to let you go. Your friends may stay as long as they don't make too much of a commotion." She leveled her gaze at the three other students who looked defiantly back or averted their gaze to the ground. With that Madame Pomfrey let them be.

Justin grimaced before he pinched his nose, brought the vial to his lips and sucked it all down in one big gulp. As soon as he swallowed he started to gag and his face got red. Mandy spotted a glass on the stand beside the bed.

"Agumenti" She quickly handled Justin the water and he sucked it down, only lowering the glass when it was empty. He regained his breath.

"Pulpy Onions." There was simultaneous recoil from the rest of the group. Neville grimaced as he spoke.

"Well, you're ankle is starting to feel better, yeah?" Justin experimentally wiggled his toes and got a twang of pain for his efforts.

"I think its getting better. The potion needs more time to work, I guess." There were nods all around and then a sigh of resignation from Bethany at the end of the bed.

"There's nothing we can do to stop this, is there? The whole school already knows what we think about the Batman, and even if we denied it, people wouldn't believe us." Neville frowned at the tone of resignation in Bethany's voice.

"You know we couldn't do that anyway. Not after he's helped us." The other three put their heads down for thinking of misaligning themselves with the man who had made their lives more manageable.

Even though Batman had made no more conscious efforts to help them, his actions were still being perpetuated. Batman was still required to attend the third year Potions class with Gryphindors and Slytherins, and while Snape had strategically not paired Batman with Neville again in the hope that Neville would fail, Batman still conducted himself the exact same way he did with Neville with the others, if with significantly less intensity. If Batman were always within earshot of Neville's station, or if Snape seemed to be avoided his more acerbic comments when Batman was around, then it was no direct fault of Batman's.

Word of what had happened to Marcus had spread to everyone but the teachers. Most students were smart enough to avoid talking in front of the paintings and the gossip had avoided authority because of this. As the rumors flew, the harassment Mandy had been experiencing her entire career at Hogwarts abated. The reputation of being placed in Hufflepuff even though she was smarter than most Ravenclaws had most believing she was a complete pushover. Though Mandy was no more or less courageous and stubborn than anyone else, she could not stand up to the entirety of the Slytherin house on her own. Marcus had made more than a few lewd comments about her in the past, and though she wasn't sure, the night that Batman had intervened Mandy had been afraid for her innocence. After her encounter with Batman, no one wanted to risk getting near her bad side. And for the first time in six long years Mandy was left to her schooling in peace.

Justin could not prove that Batman lingered in the shadows of the first year flying lessons, even though he was no longer required to attend them, but Justin could have sworn he'd seen the point of his cowl or the flutter of a scalloped cape more than once in the scaffolding of the spectator towers, or in the long shadow they cast on the ground. He admitted to himself it was entirely possible he was making things up, that he was seeing things because his brain was trying to make him feel better about being several tens of feet off of the ground, but Justin liked to think that Batman was there, even if he wasn't, because then he knew he could trust Batman to catch him if he fell.

Bethany's reason for believing in Batman was the most tenuous. If anything Bethany had a reason to resent Batman because he had driven any would be friends away, but Bethany did not see it that way. She saw it as the reason she had gotten to know Mandy, Neville, and Justin, the big sister she had always wanted, the boy who was just as clumsy as she was, and the smartest nicest boy in her year. Bethany saw Batman as the reason she had met her best friends and she would never trade that for anything. And if her friends believed in Batman and wanted to fight for him, she would be more than happy to be by their sides, not just because she was loyal, but because she had been helped by Batman too, and she knew they were right.

Mandy heaved a great sigh and spoke with a tone of resignation and defiance. "We carry on then, I suppose." Neville smiled hesitantly.

"We carry on."