Chapter 12 - The Best Laid Plans

For the rest of September, the students settled into their schoolwork and routines, especially those new to the various Quidditch teams like Hufflepuff's Chasers. Harry, Hermione and Susan practiced regularly and intensively, enough that they improved further in their coordination and tactics but most of all in their teamwork. It also meant the girls regularly needed more massages, or so they claimed. Since providing them was relaxing to Harry, he never turned the girls down, nor the other teammates though his skills weren't quite as high for the guys.

As October began, the other teams heard about the massages from the Boy-Who-Lived and Cho approached him, blushing as she asked if the rumours were true regarding them. After glancing at his Hufflegirls who didn't seem to mind, Harry nodded. "Yes, it's true I do give massages."

"Would you be willing to come down after the next Ravenclaw practice to give me one? Please? You'd think that at least one Ravenclaw would have mastered the muscle relaxation spells, but they require a degree of control and skill that takes a lot of work."

"I would be happy to, Ms Chang, as long as I can make it there." Harry replied. A quick check of schedules revealed that while it would be a bit of a squeeze, he could just make it before one of his classes, as long as it didn't take much longer than he expected. Harry was glad she hadn't been more explicit because it was obvious to him that one reason she needed the massage was her chest development, and he resolved to make sure he had a chaperone. The last thing any of them needed was for this to start rumours.

After the massage, Cho was hooked. She had to agree with Susan, the boy had magic hands, and she loved how he made her feel.

As October was ending, the number of meetings between the various girls increased, with the final meeting just a week before Halloween the last of the girls made her choice. Megan had agreed the night before, and with Leanne Moon they had all the Hufflegirls on board as well as Daphne Greengrass who said he was the only one for her, he ticked all the right boxes. Padma, Parvati and Lavender weren't ready to commit themselves just yet for various reasons including parental and school reactions as well as just unsure if they could accept being one of many.

The following Saturday morning, all six girls approached Harry, taking him to a deserted classroom and locking it with spells as well as a barricade. Harry grinned at their precautions before it faded, picking up on their mood. "Whatever this is, it's obviously serious, girls. What do you want to talk about?"

Daphne stepped forward a half-pace. "Harry, we've been talking and thinking a lot, and we have come to a decision, one we need to ask you about since it involves you too." She smiled. "We do think you'll like it, at least we can't imagine anyone in your place who wouldn't, anyway."

Hannah stepped up next to her. "Yes, in fact it's something that many guys dream about."

Susan blushed and took her spot in line. "And we want to offer it to you, to ask you, really-"

Hermione interrupted, "Would you date us, Harry?"

Megan and Leanne posed, smiling, "Would you date all of us?" They all took positions around him, waiting.

Harry was stunned, unsure how he got this lucky, and yet even as he thought that, he knew it could still go so badly for all of them. It took him a little while of his jaw flapping before he could speak again.

"Girls, you're each very special to me, and nothing would make me happier than to accept this chance for all of us to become closer. However, there is something I have to tell you first.

"You see, the girls you each met while staying with me who live with me in Cranleigh, well, they asked me on my birthday if I would date them, too. Given that they're already willing to share, there is a chance they might agree to this, but I don't intend to cheat on any girl so I won't start now. I hadn't mentioned it here because they asked me to keep it quiet, but you also deserve to know why I can't say yes yet. I do have a way to ask them, if you want me to."

The girls were shocked, someone had beaten them, not just one, either but five girls. A quick discussion and they all nodded firmly, Hermione taking the lead. "Yes, Harry, please ask them. I know you've known them longer than any of us, and we wouldn't want you to dump them just like that either." If he had been the type to do it to others, they would be worried about him doing it to them.

Harry nodded, making five clones and dispelling one with a pop to send a message to his clones at home, the others each taking a girl's hand while they waited. Thankfully for all concerned they didn't have to wait too long, as the local girls, as his parents called them, were all happy to come to the park to meet up with him.

While the Cranleigh girls were startled by the development, they agreed that if those six girls wanted to really date him without the conditions they had wanted, he could if he wanted to. "But," Ashley put in, "we do want to get to know them better before we fully consent to this. This is still a big thing to us, Harry." She hugged him tight, making him aware of her growing body. "We're trusting you with our hearts, so please don't break them. If you think these girls are trustworthy, then we'll give them the benefit of the doubt for now. But, do you think we could meet them all over the holidays? We need to get to know them, Harry."

"Yeah, we could compare notes, too." Michelle added impishly.

Harry smiled, "I'll certainly invite them over. Meaghan and Ella, you've met one of them, Hermione." The girls nodded. "It is a reasonable condition to want to meet them, and I know I hope you all get along. Whatever happens, I don't want to lose any of you from my life, you're wonderful people."

"Of course we are!" Stephanie grinned and they shared a laugh and some hugs, before going on to talk about other things like the football and school where they were all doing well.

Back at Hogwarts, Harry got the message when one of his clones watching the meeting dispelled itself, and he smiled at the girls, most of whom were getting fairly anxious. "Ok, I've talked to them, well technically a clone has, and they gave their conditional agreement. It'd be so much simpler if I could get a mobile phone signal here. Anyway, they want to know you better before they give a final answer. So they're, we're hoping that you can visit over Christmas for at least some of it. Is that ok, girls?"

Daphne just hugged her Harry tight and nodded, "Yes, fine by me, I was hoping to visit you during the holidays anyway. Which one's the real Harry?"

The one she was holding smiled. "That's me, why?"

"This." And she looked in his eyes, slowly getting closer as she leaned in, kissing him sweetly on the lips.

After the moment ended, Susan tapped her shoulder. "May I, please?"

Daphne nodded and got up, taking a seat on the clone's lap while Susan sat down, draping her arms around his neck and gently pulling him to kiss her. Susan took her time but had to come up for air much too soon and opened her eyes seeing a smiling Hermione waiting for her turn. Hannah pouted for a moment when Hermione beat her there, but consoled herself that at least she would get her chance.

Hermione came up at last, a beautiful smile lighting her face and gave a last squeeze before moving out of the way to take a seat in the lap of one of the clones, his arms around her and pulling her in for a second, longer kiss, just as the other clones were already doing for Daphne and Susan. When she came up, Hannah had already switched for Leanne, and Megan was cuddling with her own Harry clone, watching it all.

The seven students happily settled in there, talking and cuddling and kissing, until they were driven out at last by the approach of lunch, knowing that they would be missed by their friends if they didn't make an appearance, plus Daphne was mortified when it was her stomach that made the first protest about food, setting off the others.

"Oh of all the times! I know it's because I skimped on breakfast. I was so nervous how you would react, Harry." He just gave her a squeeze and a smile, and admitted he was getting hungry too.

In the Great Hall, there wasn't much of a stir, surprisingly enough. They had made no announcement of the change, and staff and students alike were now accustomed to seeing the Boy-Who-Lived surrounded by girls. If the girls happened to be smiling a little more, sitting a little closer, well, what of it? By this time, most of the school knew of Harry, or at least, knew that he wasn't trying to court fame, especially as he didn't have any outspoken detractors on the staff. Perhaps the Headmaster might have been tempted to manipulate opinions, except for the minor matters of having no real time to consider the problem of how to go about it, nor any spare time to really monitor the plan if he'd put it into place.

Daphne and Susan caught the eyes of the other girls who were at the first meeting, the ones who hadn't been with them that morning, and gave a smile to tell them, "Yes, girls, Harry did accept us all, and we couldn't be happier."

Padma tugged at Hermione's sleeve and whispered in her ear, "Hermione, do you think you and he would accept others in or have I missed my chance? Damn, I wish I'd had the courage to be with you this morning!"

Hermione smiled and whispered back, "Honestly, he's an amazing kisser, Padma, and we can talk later about it with all of us. Would you be willing to have Harry at the meeting too?"

"Not just yet, Hermione, I don't think I can talk to him about it, not while I'm unsure how the others feel about the idea too, anyway. And if any of you object, I don't think there'd be any point to asking Harry, is there?" Padma asked.

"Probably not, anyway, we definitely will have that meeting, you'll never guess what happened" She grinned evilly at Padma, intent on holding the surprise over her to help get her to the meeting.

Padma groaned. "Alright, alright, I know your plan, and it's working. Now, what's the plan for tonight? Are we still on for our not-Feast with Harry?"

"Oh, of course. I didn't even think about cancelling it, and I don't think the others would try, do you?"

Padma shook her head and smiled, "Thanks, Hermione."

Harry overheard this, wondering just how many others would be involved, and also if his life could get any stranger, as he and his magical girls ate a rather substantial lunch. He found it strange that he could work up quite such an appetite just sitting around but knew better than to ignore his body's calls for food.

That evening, Harry's friends all headed to their usual room for their study sessions, now converted for having a nice dinner with friends, a relatively quiet affair in deference to Harry who was the reason they were skipping the Feast.

It was later that night that the two big events happened. First, Harry and his girls announced their relationship to the rest of their friends, still very much in the early days where anything could happen. Second, the Weasley twins were on their way back into the main part of the castle after visiting the Gryffindor House ghost at his Deathday party, when they followed a strange hissing until they spotted a message daubed on the wall in foot-high letters.

THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS HAS BEEN

OPENED. ENEMIES OF THE HEIR, BEWARE.

Underneath the message, hanging from the torch bracket, was Mrs Norris, the dread feline ally of Argus Filch, enemy of noble pranksters everywhere. The cat was hanging by her tail from a torch bracket, stiff as a board, eyes wide and staring. The twins were shocked out of their wits for a long moment before they decided to back away through a large puddle, ducking down a corridor before anyone could spot them and accuse the pair of having it in for the cat, which they did, and doing something about it, which they did not.

They made it into the Great Hall just as the Feast was ending, blending into the crowd with a skill that befit their chosen profession of pranksters. They grabbed a quick bite to eat and followed the crowd out of the Great Hall, letting the other students find it for themselves, hearing Malfoy's gloating voice "Enemies of the Heir, beware! You'll be next, Mudbloods!"

The clone Harry had stationed in the Hall overheard too, and slipped out, spotting the flush on the usually bloodless face, the cold eyes alive as Malfoy grinned at the sight of the hanging, immobile cat and what he hoped it implied. The clone replaced and dispelled itself, letting the rest know what the evil little ponce had done, as well as the message written on the wall that had sparked the cry.

Soon after that, Argus Filch the caretaker came shouldering his way through the crowd, calling "What's going on here? What's going on?" On spotting his beloved feline hanging stock still he fell back, clutching his face in horror. "My cat! My cat! What's happened to Mrs Norris?" His eyes scanned the crowd, not seeing any of his normal suspects. "Who?! Who murdered my cat?! I'll kill you! I'll -"

"Argus!" Dumbledore's voice sliced through the man's rant and cleared a path for him and a number of other teachers. In seconds, he had swept in past the students and detached Mrs Norris from the torch bracket.

"Come with me, Argus," he said to Filch.

Lockhart stepped forward eagerly, "My office is nearest, Headmaster - just upstairs - please feel free-"

"Thank you, Gilderoy."

The silent crowd parted for them, with an unseen clone quickly overtaking them on the way to the fop's office. As Dumbledore moved off, Lockhart, McGonagall and Snape all followed hurriedly after him to the indicated office, the clone slipping in and taking station on the ceiling watching them. Dumbledore laid the cat on the polished desk and began to examine her, his crooked nose barely an inch away from the cat's fur, his long fingers gently prodding and poking. McGonagall was almost as close, her eyes narrowed, while Snape loomed behind them wearing a most peculiar expression. He looked like it was taking all his will not to smile, even as Lockhart was hovering and making inane suggestions.

"It was definitely a curse that killed her — probably the Trans-mogrifian Torture — I've seen it used many times, so unlucky I wasn't there, I know the very counter-curse that would have saved her. …"

Lockhart's posturing was punctuated by Filch's dry, racking sobs. As much as Harry detested Filch, he felt at least a little sorry for him. He knew he would hate to lose Cesarina, and it was not because she was such a useful ally.

Dumbledore was now muttering strange words under his breath and tapping Mrs. Norris with his wand but nothing happened. She continued to look as though she had been recently stuffed.

"… I remember something very similar happening in Oua-gadogou." Lockhart claimed, "A series of attacks, the full story's in my autobiography, I was able to provide the townsfolk with various amulets, which cleared the matter up at once. …"

The photographs of Lockhart on the walls were all nodding in agreement as he talked. One of them had forgotten to remove his hair net.

At last Dumbledore straightened up. "She's not dead, Argus," he said softly. Lockhart stopped abruptly in the middle of counting the num ber of murders he had prevented.

"Not dead?" choked Filch, looking through his fingers at Mrs. Norris. "But why's she all — all stiff and frozen?"

"She has been Petrified," said Dumbledore.

"Ah! I thought so!" interjected Lockhart triumphantly.

"But how, I cannot say. …" Dumbledore finished, ignoring the interruption.

"It was those Weasley twins, I'll bet twenty Galleons!" Filch cried.

"It would take Dark Magic of the most advanced -" Dumbledore attempted to reply.

"If I might speak, Headmaster," Snape inserted silkily. "The Weasleys in question were absent during the Feast, as were a number of Second Years. Questioning them may prove useful. We do have a set of suspicious circumstances here, and while I would tend to believe the Weasleys were to blame since they have such a careless attitude to rules and good order, I find it hard to believe they have the talent, the connections or the wealth to pull this off. Nevertheless I am sure that under firm questioning, they will be able to shed additional light on the matter."

The Hogwarts rumour mill was as efficient as always, spreading the news all over the castle with less and less resemblance to the truth with every yard removed from the scene. Students were grumbling that it was just another stupid prank by the Weasleys or that they wished they'd gotten to the demon cat first. Soon the rumours crossed and mixed as rumours will. Fred and George were painted alternately as heroes of the student body by those whose activities had been curtailed by Filch's cat. This included a smattering of upper years, smarting at their romantic excursions being interrupted or prevented entirely. Other rumours painted them as cold-blooded murderers, setting the whole thing up just to further their own reputations.

The sign that had appeared with the cat seemed entirely forgotten in these versions, while other rumours went into unbelievable detail about what the sign could mean, or were just plain unbelievable. Soon enough, the original wording of the sign was forgotten as the rumours mutated further, until some enterprising soul decided that it was meant to be "Enemies of the hair, beware!" Supposedly, this was a reference to the Weasley red that all members of that large extended family sported, a warning that the Weasleys had finally (finally?!) snapped and were now going to respond aggressively to further taunts about their family's lack of wealth or status as 'blood traitors'.

This last rumour had one Draco Malfoy alternately laughing at the prospect and incensed at breakfast the next morning that his preferred version, that it was Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets and the Heir of Slytherin was about to cleanse the school of mudbloods, had been all but forgotten in the gossipping about those damned redheaded paupers. He complained, well whined, at his House table to his minions Crabbe and Goyle and anyone who would listen, since his minions couldn't really be said to provide intelligent conversation. Naturally, he was overheard by Harry and by half the school though most dismissed it as just more of the same from the Malfoy mouthpiece. Draco wanted to cry, his father had assured him this year would be a glorious one, instead everyone thought that it was the Weasels doing something!

He wasn't the only one upset at this development, as fellow Second Year student Ron Weasley was seething with jealousy, something he thought he was getting over now that he was on the House Quidditch team with his brothers as a Seeker, just like his brother Charlie. Soon, he consoled himself, just a week until the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin where he would get to show up that poncy git Malfoy. Still, he was getting more attention if only by reflection because of the twins and the rumour that it was a warning to look out for all Weasleys.

Lastly, his little sister Ginevra, or Ginny, was upset, she had no idea what was going on, and couldn't remember what had happened after she went to the bathroom last night until she was back at the Feast. She wasn't sure what had happened but refused to ask any of her brothers, they were all insensitive gits. Now, her brothers were being congratulated or blamed for killing a cat! What in Merlin's name was happening at this school! In the back of her mind, a presence was also angry, his announcement had gone horribly wrong. He resolved to do something about that at the next available opportunity. For now though, he had to recover his strength.

Life settled down slowly. The rumours did not want to die about such a juicy subject, even after the infamous pair had been called into Dumbledore's office with their Head of House and for some reason Professor Snape present. They were questioned about their recent activities and their whereabouts the night of the Feast. After a gruelling session, even Snape agreed that there wasn't enough evidence to expel the bastards, as he had put it at a staff meeting which one of Harry's clones had managed to attend.

The Second Years had also been called in, all those who had missed the Feast, where Snape was surprisingly civil as long as the Gryffindors were silent. While Harry was angry at the blatant bias, he was too aware of the advantage this allowed him by virtue of his new relationship with one of Snape's own Snakes. Daphne took the lead in the conversation, telling her Head of House that they were all absent from the Feast in order to have a quiet commemoration of those who were lost that night. Snape's expression tightened and he nodded, accepting it at just that, walking out of the office. Dumbledore had a few more questions for Harry directly, ostensibly just making sure that Harry was okay but also painting him as a helpless child to the others.

Soon, they were allowed to leave and spent the Sunday afternoon outside near the Lake, rugged up against the cold and talking about everything in the last twenty-four hours.

The next week was mostly a welcome respite except for the History of Magic class where Hermione asked the ghostly Professor Binns about the Chamber of Secrets. Unlike most of the school, she hadn't forgotten the sign or its mention of the chamber, something that she and Harry had been discussing since they found no mention of it in any of their regular books and the slice of the Library that Harry's clones had copied didn't include any references either. He had checked, by asking his family to scan the thousands of books at home. A few hours later, they had the rather negative answer. And since the Library was not organised along those lines, his clones couldn't just hunt down the right books either, so they were still stuck with copying every book.

Professor Binns at first rejected her question as mere myths and legends.

"Please, sir, don't legends always have a basis in fact?" insisted Hermione.

Startled, the ghost conceded her point and was about to move on when he noticed that he had the entire class' rapt attention, something that hadn't happened since he was alive. He gave a lecture off the cuff about the Founders, calling them the four greatest wizards of their age, and how they built the castle together far from prying Muggle eyes. For a few years, they worked well together before their differences grew, in particular a rift between Slytherin and the others. Slytherin wished to exclude certain youngsters who nevertheless showed signs of magic. He believed, according to the ghost's tale, that magical learning should be kept within all-magic families. He didn't trust those from Muggle families, showing that the bigotry of today had old roots indeed. After a while and a serious argument between Gryffindor and Slytherin, the latter left the school.

These were the facts from 'reliable historical sources', leaving Harry skeptical and resolving to check them himself. The similarities between Wizarding Britain and the racism of other societies left him suspicious of their histories. At his 'real' school, they had discussed the rewriting of history by the winners, over and over, until events were buried as myths and legends while the 'official' histories often became little more than fantasy.

When Binns consented to talking about myths and legends, Harry's interest rose. The story went that Slytherin built his own hidden chamber in the castle, something that struck Harry as sensible enough if only as somewhere where the wizard could go to get some peace and quiet.

"Slytherin, according to the legend, sealed the Chamber of Se crets so that none would be able to open it until his own true heir arrived at the school. The heir alone would be able to unseal the Chamber of Secrets, unleash the horror within, and use it to purge the school of all who were unworthy to study magic." Binns paused, glaring at the class.

"Naturally, the school has been searched many times for evidence of such a chamber. It does not exist. A tale told to frighten the gullible."

He dismissed further pursuit of the matter, returning to his 'solid, believable, verifiable fact' which he got wrong as usual and the class returned to their customary torpor. After class, Hermione and Harry had a lively discussion on the deceased Professor's lecture and his dismissal of it as a mere 'foolish story'. Hermione was inclined to believe the Professor until reminded of the city of Troy, thought a myth for thousands of years until its rediscovery. That gave her pause and she nodded, slowly, accepting that the mythical Chamber may just exist, at least. The news that the Chamber hadn't been found despite the searches suggested that if it existed, it was hidden from casual seekers, possibly requiring some sort of key tied to something about the Founder.

There wasn't much else going on, and the school had just about returned to their normal lives except for Filch who was often found camped out by the message and where his beloved feline had been Petrified. The next weekend however shattered the idea of normality. The Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin had finished late, neither Seeker managing to spot the Snitch for an hour, and another twenty minutes before Malfoy was able to get within a foot of the elusive ball. Thankfully for the other Houses, the two Keepers were doing a great job of blocking the relatively few shots on goal, and the Beaters were keeping each others' Chasers occupied including some rather nasty play from first Slytherin and then Gryffindor to keep the scores low.

Finally, the two Seekers decided on an unusual tactic, a game of chicken played on broomsticks flying at their top speed a hundred feet off the ground. Then the Gryffindor Seeker decided to up the ante by trying to perform a Sloth Grip Roll, seeming to think that would save him from the consequences of slamming into Malfoy at the combined speed of both their brooms which would at best fling him without support hurtling forward and then into the ground. The almighty CRACK! as both brooms found their marks slamming into the opposing boys made most wince, and Snape was ready and cast a spell to slow his student's fall. McGonagall was shocked for a moment but likewise got herself in motion, first casting a spell to Transfigure the ground under them into an enormous mattress then her second spell slowed down the redhead too. With both Seekers suffering broken bones and internal injuries, reserves were called in, and the reserve Slytherin Seeker proved himself more than a match for the Gryffindor replacement, catching the Snitch only fifteen minutes later.

That night, the clone Harry had left monitoring the Marauder's Map noticed a group of staff moving in the middle of the night, surrounding the dots representing Fred and George Weasley. He made an additional clone and sent it to investigate, the clone dashing to the last known location as the group were making their way towards the Hospital Wing. He quickly tracked them from there to their path, slipping inside the domain of the School Matron unseen.

Dumbledore sent McGonagall to fetch Madam Pomfrey, rousing the irritable witch and she returned pulling on a cardigan over her nightdress, gasping when she spotted the self-named Terrible Twins now stuck like statues.

"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey whispered to Dumbledore, bending over one of the twins.

"Another attack," said the old man. "Minerva found them on her rounds of the school."

"There were some spilled potions and ruined notes by them and another large puddle nearby. Whatever they were doing down that corridor was interrupted without much warning." McGonagall added. "What does this mean, Albus?"

"It means," said Dumbledore, eyes on the silent redheads, "that the Chamber of Secrets is indeed open again."

While Madam Pomfrey clapped a hand to her mouth, McGonagall stared hard at the Headmaster. "But, Albus, surely, who?"

"The question is not who but how" Dumbledore said distractedly, before looking up, eyes twinkling and assuring both women that all would be well now that he was on the trail. This had the desired effect, calming them and allowing the Headmaster to slip out before they could ask more questions.

In the morning, the news had already spread somehow throughout the school by the end of breakfast. The rumour mill was again hard at work. Naturally the earlier 'truth' that the twins were behind it all was now all but consigned to the dustbin, only a few diehards still contending that it was them but their attempt at a repeat had backfired. Instead, most were now looking around with suspicion, especially at the Slytherin table, saying that it was obviously the Heir of Slytherin instead, just as Draco had been proclaiming all week, something that painted a big target on the blond's back for being right all along.

The blond in question, instead of keeping his head down as would have been both sensible and the Slytherin thing to do was basking in the attention. He could perhaps blame it on the after-effects of his stay in Madam Pomfrey's 'care' where his injuries had been healed quickly, but his mind may not have been up to its usual low standards. As it happened, this did more to convince Harry that Malfoy wasn't behind the attacks than anything else since it showed just how lacking in cunning the little boy was. If Malfoy had been in control of a monster able to Petrify people, he wouldn't have started with just a cat, nor stopped at just a couple of Weasleys when there were still three more upright and getting on his nerves just by breathing. And if his rhetoric was to be believed, he would have targeted the Muggle-borns in the school first, hitting as many of them as early as he could so he could gloat more. Malfoy for all his ego simply lacked the patience, wit, cunning or restraint to have acted like this.

His father, on the other hand, could have gone about it this way, if Susan's stories from her aunt were to be believed. It would certainly pay to keep eyes on Draco, though, as well as others in the school. From what he had seen and heard, there was no known cause for the Petrifying of the cat and the twins, or at least none that were being treated as plausible by the various adults. Sadly, that didn't really mean that much since Harry had little faith that they were as widely read as they could have been. And he already knew that Dumbledore knew far more than he was letting on, which was about what he expected of the political animal. Keeping secrets and telling half-truths and lies was simple survival for many in the political arena, after all.

Unfortunately, those very traits meant that he hadn't picked up anything more from the staff meetings he arranged to attend secretly, and he had yet to get a clone into the man's office. That magical guardian was oddly effective at disrupting his clones, he suspected there was too much active magic around. Harry was idly wishing for some of the rumoured bugs that spy agencies supposedly used, even as he was unsure if they would fare any better. At least it would be a decent test of the claim that they wouldn't function at Hogwarts.

Harry was brought out of his musings when Hannah shivered and complained that she was afraid, prompting him to hug her to him until she relaxed and smiled. Harry considered the matter and asked his girls for a quiet word later. When they settled into a disused classroom, Harry asked "My ladies, would you like me to try to get a clone inside your dorm? I would feel better if I knew I could go help you no matter where in the castle you were, and well it would mean you could get me wherever you need me."

He and his clones cuddled quietly with his girls as he let them talk it over. Hermione and Daphne both brought up the big question, how would he do it. "After all, there are alarms on all the girls' dorms and I wouldn't want just any boy able to barge into my room." Daphne signalled her agreement with Hermione with a nod.

Harry considered the irony since he'd already had each of the Hufflegirls do the same to him. Megan Jones in particular had almost seen far more of him that she'd intended. Only his quick reflexes had allowed him to duck back out of there and get dressed before he walked in from the boy's showers. After that incident, he had taken to stationing one clone on watch just in case.

"Well, I have a few theories for how the alarm works to detect that there's a boy in there. If any of them are right, I'll be able to get in without tripping it, but I wanted to run the idea by you girls before I tried them." He grinned at them. "After all, they are your bedrooms and well, it's better to be safe than sorry. We're learning such interesting spells but I have no wish to see just how creative you can be with how you apply them to me."

The girls smiled and conceded the point, then talked more before nodding. Susan spoke for the group. "Ok, Harry, among other things we're now curious if you can do it."

He grinned and the girls smiled back before Hannah added, "and if you can do it, then we can get more hugs!"

They were all happy about that, and decided to try it straight away. Harry had clones on lookout duty as they got to the Common Room and the girls moved in to shield him from view before he tried the first way, getting carried in by Leanne and Megan. Next, they tried but failed to lift him with a Levitation charm. Or rather, they could lift him but it was very tiring for any of the girls to lift him that way for any time, though Harry could lift the girls easily enough. While that could work, much to their surprise, it wasn't the most practical method, especially if he had to get in to help one of the girls, so they next tried Harry giving a running jump through the area. As long as he didn't brush the floor in the section in question, Harry thought it could work.

Since the area was nearly five yards long, it was obvious why they thought it was a safe bet that boys couldn't do what Harry was about to try. Such a jump would take an Olympic level athlete. Harry was mindful that his parents, as paranoid as they were, would not like him revealing any of his abilities short of pressing need which this wasn't, however sweet he was being to the girls. He recognised their concerns, but his girls were more important to him than hiding so much of his capacity, besides he wanted his girls to know more of his secrets and this one would not cause too much trouble if it happened to get out. The magicals would likely just consider it a normal part of his fitness rather than really thinking about it, or so he thought and hoped.

One long jump later, Harry made it with a foot to spare, smiling at the astonished girls who mobbed him, hugging and checking him over to be sure he was real. "That was amazing!" Hermione gushed, aware as most weren't that such a feat was miraculous, the rest putting it down to Harry being, well, special. They knew he didn't like the fame of being the Boy-Who-Lived but that identity still affected some of their preconceptions. They expected Harry to be amazing in a way they wouldn't of just about anyone else.

They pulled back at last, letting him make more clones to give each of them a cuddle before they showed him around, pointing out things they had on display and so on, all present thinking of having Harry in bed with them before pushing away those thoughts as far too soon. Harry was too busy suppressing his own libido to notice the blushing faces of his girls before they got themselves under control.

After that, one of the girls went out to check the coast was clear before they all left, heading out onto the lawn on one of the increasingly rare dry times to talk about the discovery. They let Daphne and the other girls who were in on his secrets know of his ability to bypass the alarm if needed.

Daphne was quick to realise that this meant the Hufflepuff girls would have an advantage, but knew there was nothing she could do about it. She only had a single thought: 'Damn that stupid Hat!'

Harry was amused the following morning before breakfast when his clones' memories revealed that McGonagall, after some initial concern over her students' condition, seemed more relieved than anything that they would not be causing further mayhem within the school at least until Professor Sprout's mandrakes had matured enough to be processed for the potion that would cure them. He had already decided that he would step up to help cure boredom that year, and this seemed like a good chance to show Hogwarts that pranks could be funny, entertaining and not hurtful. Plus, this would be a good way to test the staff's response to the unusual. Certainly he understood McGonagall's reactions, and she had been concerned first before the guilty relief set in. Their activities reflected on her, after all.

He gave it a week before he decided to make his mark, literally, on Hogwarts. The castle woke to find that the old stone floors and walls were now cleaned up better than ever. Harry had planed both and even glazed the walls so no more would robes catch on the rough walls. He had considered and rejected other things for this first foray into pranking at Hogwarts. That included things like putting Dumbledore's face on the castle or grounds at a massive scale, or using fluorescent pink or yellow in the glazing to make it eye-searing. He would never use orange like that, it was too holy for that.

That morning, he went for his usual run, grinning on the inside as he anticipated the reactions from everyone. He was wondering whether that nasty little man Filch would be happy or outraged at the changes. After all, Harry had just done the man's job for him and done it better than Filch ever could. Would he be pleased at not having to do that work, or outraged at being shown up?

The girls of Hogwarts he expected would mostly be supportive, after all having to repair their clothes so often would never be welcome, he thought. The guys he thought wouldn't much care about that bit of it, but they might like how he had made the place a little easier to get around. No more tripping on uneven stonework for them. He had seen how that creepy boy in Gryffindor, er Creevey boy, had been tripping up a lot as he tried to snap a photo of Harry. 'That bloody boy's lucky I didn't snap him, instead! Just what did his parents teach him that he thought sneaking up on a student to take a candid photograph was a good way to introduce himself?!' Harry grumbled, his fame was definitely a pain at times. He caught himself just as he was agreeing with Malfoy and Snape's gripes about 'foolish Gryffindors', resolving to have an extra hot shower to get rid of such nasty tendencies as agreeing with those two.

Running inside, he took his shower as intended and headed out to the Common Room, unable to restrain a smile as he waited for the reactions from his fellow 'Puffs about the changed décor. He had cleaned all the Hufflepuff area extra well, especially the marks from a thousand years of wands tapping the 'secret' code. Still, it's not like any of the Houses had a secure entrance. With Daphne's help, he knew the Slytherin password just about as soon as she did and sometimes even before all the Snakes did. Via the Patil twins, he got the same help for the Gryffindor entry and Padma had happily shown him the Ravenclaw Common Room after answering the relatively easy riddle. Observing the twins had shown him the statue of the one-eyed witch in front of another 'secret' passage, as well as the password. By now, Harry figured he knew the castle about as well as some of the staff, and better than just about any student, from real experience rather than from just the Marauder's Map. As Binns had said, no one had claimed to have found the Chamber of Secrets, and that included Harry so far, though he was determined to find it himself if it existed.

Harry was brought out of his mental meandering by the gasps from the girls, followed by the boys a second later, at his little prank. "What in Merlin's name happened?" Megan demanded. "The place is clean!" She grinned now. "No more dirt, it's like magic!"

There were a few chuckles especially from Harry who knew that magic was the one thing it wasn't. His clones had worked to use Water and Earth techniques to clean and improve the castle, with mild Fire ones to work on the walls. They walked cheerfully to the Great Hall, taking their places at the table and grabbing breakfast favourites.

The following weekend, Harry was pleasantly surprised by Michelle's decision to kiss him as they watched television while over at his place, right in front of the other girls. With some improvement from his experience kissing his magical girls, he kissed her right back, holding her tenderly and conveying his affection for her. He obviously was doing something right as she moaned and melted against him. Still a chaste kiss, but she came up smiling as did he.

"Wow!" both breathed at the same time. She felt so good kissing him, she went right in for more, tightening her arms around him and ignoring the show on tv. She was hardly alone in that as the other girls were watching her too. While none of the others decided to emulate her quite yet, they were all thinking about it a lot, and they all found themselves more affectionate with him, cuddling closer.

Harry was glad for the extra clones he could now use, as he had a lot going on. There were the nightly raids on the Library, copying books, there were the clones left at home in Cranleigh to keep up his life there and also continue his training, the clone left watching the Marauder's Map and now clones patrolling the castle and grounds trying to find whatever it was that had attacked the students.

The first week of December was slowly sliding past when one of his clones overheard a conversation from the Forbidden Forest. Ghosting closer, he heard a couple of voices along with a lot of clicking sounds whenever they talked, making comprehension more difficult.

"It's so cold and there's never anything to eat here. I'm going up to the castle, get some of that fresh meat just walking around."

"No! You know Aragog has forbidden it, you know he dotes on that big one that raised him."

"Can't I get a little one? I'm sure they'd never miss it," the first replied, wheedling.

"No, not even a little one. If I can't have any, neither can you." The second's voice was about what you would expect from a sibling's complaint.

"Fine, then, I won't. But it won't be like this forever."

"Yes, if Hagrid leaves, I doubt old Aragog would object to us having a little snack. Still, it's not like that's going to happen."

"More's the pity," agreed the other.

Harry was chilled at the thought of these beings just going up to the castle to eat people, and decided to investigate. Ghosting his way through the forest from tree to tree, he was soon all too aware of just who and what had spoken. Spider, giant ones, at that, had strung their webs across part of the forest they had established as their colony. Harry was once again struck with just how negligent Hogwarts was with the safety of those in their 'care' who were held captive for 9 months of the year. There were hundreds of massive spiders evidently with a taste for human flesh living less than a mile from students! He would have to keep watch and assess their strengths and weaknesses. Attacking them without that information risked defeat or, just as bad, some of them escaping and attacking students. From that day on, a clone was permanently on duty watching the spiders with wires set up to alert him if they started to leave the Forest for any reason.

Harry threw himself into his Quidditch training with Susan and Hermione in an effort to distract himself from his worries. He knew he had left a clone on duty and unless he started the fight himself, that was the best he could do for now so he needed to think about other things. The first Hufflepuff game was coming up and that worked nicely to help get him back into the swing of things.

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