Ten minutes later, Remus and the others arrived in the Headmaster's Office to see Harry sitting in a chair opposite of Professor Dumbledore's own chair. "Ah. We were waiting for you three. I assume Remus filled you in on the details of why Mr. Potter may be facing immediate suspension?" Professor Dumbledore asked the three teens. At the same time, they all shook their heads since Remus did not tell them anything besides the fact that Harry was possibly being suspended. Albus rubbed the bridge of his nose, since this was quite possibly going to take awhile to explain. As he was trying to find a way to explain, Sirius bursted through the doors looking a bit ragged. When he saw everyone who was there, he knew that this was way more serious than he had originally thought. "What is going on Albus?" Sirius asked the headmaster. Albus flicked his wand towards the others and conjured enough seats for them all to sit in. Of course, Daphne and Sirius took the seats closest to Harry, while Ron, Hermione, Lupin and McGonagall took a seat in the other chairs.
"As I was about to explain, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe are all in the Hospital Wing for serious injuries caused by Mr. Potter here. If they didn't get to the Hospital Wing when they did, I'm sure that they would've been fatal injuries instead." Albus told the others. Every pair of eyes in the room looked over at Harry, who was just looking down at the floor. The last traces of anger leaving his face quickly. "Mr. Malfoy is the worst off though. Six broken ribs, a fractured arm, a broken right leg and a broken nose. There was also some internal bleeding according to Madame Pomfrey's report. Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe both have a broken arm and two broken ribs apiece." Albus continued. The silence that followed after his explanation was almost maddening, but it was quickly broken by Sirius. "Care to explain why you attacked Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle, Harry?" Sirius asked his godson with concern heavy in his voice.
"Care to explain to me why none of you told me that you found a way to dispel Shade from me?" Harry retorted quickly. This caught everyone's attention and brought the room back into silence. "That's what I thought. Listen. Suspend me or whatever you want to do. I'm not going to apologize to those bigots. They wanted to start a fight, well I finished it for them." Harry told them all. "Harry. This is serious. If they suspend you, then you are going to miss a few months of one of your most important school years." Hermione told him. Harry looked at his best friend or who he thought was his best friend with a frown. "Oh so now you care about what happens to me? Couldn't do that with the ritual to get rid of Shade huh?" he asked her bluntly. Hermione opened her mouth to say something else, but closed it almost immediately. She could feel the tears building up in her eyes, and blinked furiously to keep them from falling. "Harry, I know you're upset but you need to understand that we were doing what we thought was best for you." Sirius calmly told his godson.
"THAT ISN'T FOR YOU TO DECIDE! THAT IS FOR ME TO DECIDE, AND YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO MAKE THE DECISION FOR ME!" Harry yelled out in anger. He didn't notice but in the midst of his outburst, he stood up quickly and caused the chair he was sitting to fall backwards onto the cold, hard floor. His body was heaving and anger and Shade was just listening in with a smirk. "That is good Harry. Give in to your anger." he told Harry tauntingly. Harry continued heaving, trying to get his emotions back under control but it was hard since he felt heavily betrayed by everyone in the room. Albus sighed then looked to Sirius and McGonagall before bringing his piercing blue gaze to Harry. "Mr. Potter, I am afraid I have no choice but to suspend you for the next two months. On this day in the month of March, you will be allowed to return to the school. However, I am also going to have to revoke your Hogsmeade privileges as well. Go collect your things and come back here when you are done, so we can create a Portkey to send you home." Professor Dumbledore told Harry with sadness and disappointment in his tone. "Don't bother. I'll just fly back home on my Firebolt." Harry told them. With that, he walked out of the office with the door slamming behind him.
"I don't know if that was the Harry we all know and love or if it was Shade who was controlling Harry." Daphne told the others. "That was our Harry. I've never seen him this upset. Speaking of Shade, I'm assuming that is how Harry found out about the ritual?" Sirius asked the other three. They all nodded in silence to answer Sirius' question. "Shade is proving to be much more of a higher threat than we thought. If his words are enough to change Harry this much, then think about what would happen if he could permanently and fully control Harry's body." Albus told them all. He then looked at Daphne and nodded at her. "Ms. Greengrass, you will need to hurry and finish all of the necessary preparations for the ritual. We need to get Shade out of Mr. Potter as soon as possible." he told her with a tone of importance. "Of course Professor Dumbledore. It should be done in two more weeks." Daphne told him. "I'll go check on my godson. As I've said before, I have never seen him this upset." Sirius told the others before taking his leave as well. Everyone that remained in the Headmaster's Office stayed in utter silence, until one by one they all left the office.
Harry was thinking about everything that happened in the last hour, as he ran up the Grand Staircase towards Gryffindor Tower. His thoughts began with how Daphne and everyone lied to him about how to get rid of Shade and ended with him remembering how he attacked Malfoy and his cronies. He was coming down the Grand Staircase after blowing off a little bit of steam in the Room of Requirement, when Malfoy and his goons ran into him on the Third Floor. "If it isn't Potty. I see you're all alone there Potty. Did your friends finally wise up and leave you?" Draco asked with a smirk. Harry glared at the Slytherin male, which silenced him for a bit. Crabbe and Goyle however cracked their knuckles since they were getting ready to pound Harry's face in for all of the times he and his friends embarrassed them. "Now really isn't the best time to be messing with me, you pathetic little ferret." Harry told Draco threateningly. "Oh that isn't very friendly Potty. I get it though. It's hard to deny the part of you that you inherited from your filthy little mudblood of a mother." Malfoy tauntingly told Harry.
It was at that moment where the dam of Harry's emotions cracked and caused him to emotionally burst in anger. Wave after wave of his magic flooded the corridor they were in, and made Draco and his cronies step back in fear. Before they could even think about running away, Harry had his wand out and pointed it the group of Slytherin bullies. He wanted them to physically hurt. He wanted them to remember why they should have never messed with him in the first place and for that he needed a spell. He didn't care what spell it was, just as long as it got his anger and his message through. The wand that had been with Harry ever since he was eleven years old gladly provided such a spell automatically. A dark orange arc of light erupted from Harry's wand and struck the three Slytherins, causing them to be blasted into a wall. When the arc of light disappeared, they were on the ground and Harry was standing. His body heaving in a fit of rage. His parents were a sensitive subject and having them being disrespected right in front of him was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back. It was unfortunately at this moment that Professor McGonagall came upon the scene and escorted Harry to Professor Dumbledore's office after making sure that Madame Pomfrey came and collected the three injured students. "I am sorely disappointed in you Mr. Potter." McGonagall had told him.
Harry was brought of his memories when the Fat Lady was repeatedly asking him for the password to enter the Gryffindor Common Room. "Mimbulus Mimbletonia." he told her in an irritated mutter. The hinges of the Fat Lady's portrait swung open, allowing Harry to enter the Gryffindor Common Room one last time for the next two months. With a deep sigh, he slowly walked up to the Boys' Dormitory to collect his things. Upon entering the dormitory, the first thing that caught his eye was the photo he had on his nightstand. It was a moving photo of Harry's parents dancing with each other. Harry's heart sank since he had just realized that he had let his parents down by getting suspended. He sat on the edge of his bed and grabbed the photo, holding it as if it were the only thing keeping him together. There was a light knock on the dormitory door and Sirius opened it, revealing his head. "Need any help packing pup?" he asked Harry. Harry just shook his head and continued looking down at the photo of his parents.
Sirius sighed and shut the dormitory door behind him. He then took a seat besides Harry and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I get that you feel betrayed. Understand that I do get that. I've felt that once before in my life. However, you cannot deny that we were all worried about you. Especially after Shade threatened to kill you if we used the ritual against him. That's why we kept it secret from you. None of us liked having to keep it from you. Especially Ron, Hermione, Daphne, Albus, Lupin, McGonagall and myself. We just wanted to keep you safe, because after all of the bad that happened in your life, we did not want to add even more. You deserve something good to happen. Like when you met Daphne in your Fourth Year. That was the happiest you've seemed to be in years. All we want for you is to be safe and to be happy and to not have to keep worrying about whether you are going to live or whether you are going to die." Sirius calmly explained to Harry. Harry nodded in understanding seeing as how he was now emotionally drained and not blinded by betrayal and anger.
"Doesn't stop me from being suspended though. I just let my parents down and for what? Letting my emotions get the best of me and nearly killing Draco, Crabbe and Goyle? I'm surprised I'm not being expelled." Harry stated to his godfather. "The reason you are getting suspended and not expelled is because of the fact that it was self-defense. Draco and his friends were about to attack you after all. That makes all of the difference in the world." Sirius told Harry with a smirk on his face. "As for your mother and father, I think that they would understand. Sure they'd be upset, but they would understand and still love you unconditionally like I do." Sirius continued. Harry placed the picture of his parents back onto the nightstand and began packing with the help of his godfather. It was going to be a long two months away from Hogwarts. "I plan on leaving immediately, so can you tell the others that I'm sorry for everything?" Harry asked his godfather. Sirius removed his wand from his robe pocket and pointed it at the door of the boys' dormitory. The door opened to reveal Ron, Hermione and Daphne eavesdropping on the two. "Something tells me that you can tell them yourself." Sirius said with a smile.
Harry looked down at the floor since he couldn't bring himself to look at his friends, and most importantly, his girlfriend. "I, uh…." Harry began to say. He heard footsteps approaching him, but he still didn't bring up his head. A few seconds later, he felt a sharp and stinging sensation running through his face from being slapped on his cheek. At that moment, Harry knew it was Daphne who approached him and she was indeed mad. Of course though, she had every right to be. He had went off on all of them in the Great Hall and been stupid enough to get himself suspended from school for the next two months. "Daph I-" he began to say, but he was interrupted by a full head of blonde hair obscuring his vision. "Don't do that again. You hear me?" she asked him in a sad whisper. Harry simply nodded at his girlfriend in acknowledgement. "Remember mate. We're always here for you. Even when you don't think we are." Ron told Harry. "I know Ron. I know." Harry answered after Daphne finally released him from a hug. It was tough for him to talk with all of her hair by his mouth.
After Daphne let Harry out of a hug, Hermione initiated one. It was going to be a long time before she saw her best friend again. Yet, when it came to Hogwarts and magic, two months was more like a week or two. Time seemed to move that fast for witches and wizards. "I'm going to miss you too Hermione." Harry told her after their minute-long hug. When they finally released each other, Professor Dumbledore made his way into the Gryffindor Boys' Dormitory. "Mr. Potter, I am saddened that I have to send you away from Hogwarts for the next two months. However, I hope by the time you come back that we will have everything prepared for your little problem." he told Harry. A sparkle shone in his blue eyes. Harry silently nodded at Professor Dumbledore and grabbed his belongings.
Walking out of the Boys Dormitory, they all headed into the Common Room where almost every single one of Harry's friends, along with Professor McGonagall, were waiting for him. "We're going to miss you Harry." Fred told him while giving him a clap on the shoulder. "Yeah. This place won't be the same without our very own trouble magnet." George told Harry with laughter in his tone. "I'll make sure that your homework is sent to you through Hedwig. Can't have you unprepared for your O.W.L.s, Mr. Potter." Professor McGonagall told him with a smile. Harry returned a weak smile to his Head of House and looked around at all of his friends in Gryffindor House.
He knew that he was never going to be alone but after the nightmare he had the other night, it made him happy that he was surrounded by the people he loved when he was leaving Hogwarts for the next two months. He wasn't even surprised that they all knew about it. Since it was Hogwarts that they were in, news travelled faster than a person that was apparating. "Thank you….I mean it everyone. Thank you for everything. See you in a few months." Harry told them. The weak smile on his face grew to a full smile, as tears began to form in his eyes.
"No need for the water works Harry. You're going to be gone for two months. That will fly by in no time." Dean Thomas told him with a smile. Harry playfully punched Dean in his arm, before wiping his eyes with his left arm shirt sleeve. He was trying to be indifferent about the whole situation and leave with his dignity fully intact, but after leaving his dormitory to see all of his friends there to see him off made him happy and overly emotional. What made him even more emotional was when everyone walked him to the front of the school. Not like he needed the protection, but he could really use the company.
The Knight Bus was waiting right outside of the wrought-iron gates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry was surprised that it was not Stan Shunpike who greeted him, but instead a female witch who appeared to be in her early 20s. She was extraordinarily beautiful to say the least, but Harry wasn't remotely interested in her. After all, he had Daphne as a girlfriend. He was quite content with her and no one else. That didn't stop him from looking though unfortunately. She had shoulder-length light brown curly hair, almond-shaped hazel eyes and some natural-shaped lips. Even her skin was light brown, but a few shades darker than her hair. If he were to use a comparison, her skin was close to the same as Katie Bell's.
"My name is Valentina and I will be your conductress for this evening Mr. Potter. Do not hesitate to tell me if there is anything I can do to make your ride more enjoyable." Valentia told Harry. Both Harry and Daphne couldn't help but notice the extra emphasis that the female had put on the words 'ride' and 'enjoyable'. Harry had to stop Daphne from withdrawing her wand and hexing the woman when her back was turned. The glare that Daphne gave Harry when he did so scared him a lot.
"Listen Daph. There's no way that I would ever even think of being unfaithful to you. Shade is another story, but I will do everything in my power to keep him suppressed for the entire bus ride. Okay?" he asked her in a whisper. She sighed and nodded at her boyfriend, while still glaring at the Knight Bus conductress. Then, while Valentina was looking at Harry, Daphne drew him in and kissed him fully on the lips. She didn't stop for a full ten minutes, which cause the conductress to look on in jealousy and the others quickly found something else to look at.
"See you in two months, my love." Daphne told him with a smile after she broke off the kiss. She made sure to put emphasis on the words 'my love'. Harry smiled, yet groaned at how his girlfriend was acting. He was smiling because it was obvious how much he meant to her, which was exactly how much she meant to him. He groaned because he was seemingly pulled into a competition for one girl to make the other one jealous. Seeing as he was a guy who hated attention, this was definitely almost unbearable.
Picking up his suitcase, he stepped onto the Knight Bus and turned around to see his friends one last time. They all waved and smiled at him as the doors to the Knight Bus closed. The last thing he saw was Daphne, Ron and Hermione looking up at him with a smile before the Knight Bus took off. This caused two things to happen. The first thing was that it sent Harry flying towards the back of the bus. As a result of the first thing, the second thing happened. He was accidentally knocked into Valentina, who was waiting to show Harry where he was sitting.
After picking himself up, he helped her up like the gentleman that he was. "Sorry about that." he apologized rather pathetically. She shook her head at him and gestured him towards his seat. Not needing any further instruction, Harry quickly sat in his seat and began to look out of the window. He wasn't aware of it, but Valentina occupied the seat right across from him, studying him while he was distracted.
"Come on Harry. A very fine and ripe woman is sitting right across from you for the taking. Forget about Daphne and have a little fun. Live a little, my friend." Shade goaded. Harry just ignored the voice of the insufferable, irritating and interfering spirit of Shade. He wasn't going to do anything that would hurt Daphne in any way, shape or form. Even if it ended up killing him.
"You're no fun Harry. Why couldn't it have been Draco who walked into my corridor? Or Crabbe? Or Goyle? They would be all up on Valentina in seconds, even if they had a significant other. Alas. I get the goody-two shoes that wants to save the world and everyone in it." Shade complained in thought. "You could always, I don't know, expel yourself from me. Since I'm such a disappointment and all." Harry suggested in thought. Shade began to laugh at the attempt that just happened. He laughed for a full ten minutes before going quiet. Every now and then, Harry would hear a chuckle inside of his head from Shade.
"Um….excuse me? Harry?" Valentina called out. This managed to snap Harry out of his thoughts and his gazing at the speeding scenery outside of the Knight Bus. He brought his attention to Valentina since it would be incredibly rude if he didn't do so. "May I help you with something?" Harry had asked her gently. Valentina looked as if she were struggling to find a right way to say the words, so she just came out and spoke them. By the time she had finished talking, Harry's jaw was dropped in disbelief.