by Technomad
Actions Have Consequences
As it happened, Ron's injuries were nothing Madame Pomfrey couldn't handle easily, and he was out of the hospital wing the next day. As he got ready to head back to the Slytherin dorms, he looked up to see Professor Snape entering the room, with Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Dudley Dursley in tow. He gulped; this did not look good.
All four Slytherins were soon sitting side-by-side on a long sofa, with Hermione between Harry and Ron. Ron could feel that she was shivering, so he put his arm around her shoulders to reassure her, and she gave him a brief smile. Harry took her hand, and she gave him a smile, too.
"Do you children know what you have done?" Snape asked, his face unreadable.
"Er…we got you that thing you were looking for?" ventured Ron.
"What you did, Mr. Weasley, was to easily defeat precautions that were intended to keep full-grown wizards and witches at bay. I can't begin to tell you how pleased I am with you!" Ron relaxed; maybe they weren't in trouble after all? "You four are the toast of the Slytherin common room!"
Professor Dumbledore entered the room and gave the four Slytherins a smile. "I should also tell you that you saved Professor Quirrell's life. The entity possessing him was draining his vitality, and he would have been dead in short order had you not managed to drive it away, Mr. Potter. But I'll let his mother do the talking." He gestured, and a faded-looking older witch entered, her eyes glistening with tears.
Madame Quirrell grabbed Harry's hand and kissed it, making him blush bright red. "You saved my son! You saved my boy! Oh, bless you!" she sobbed.
"All part of the service, ma'am. No tip necessary." Harry turned to see Dudley giving him a look; his cousin recognized that line! They exchanged winks.
"Sir," asked Hermione, "what was the entity possessing Professor Quirrell, anyway?"
Her big dark eyes widened in fear at the answer. "That was Lord Voldemort, Miss Granger. After his unfortunate mishap at the hands of Our Mister Potter, here, he became a disembodied spirit, and he now seeks a body of some sort to return to power with."
"And he possessed Professor Quirrell?"
"Yes, Mr. Dursley, he apparently did so while poor Professor Quirrell was traveling in Albania before returning to England for this school year. I have been trying to determine just how he managed to survive in Albania, with no luck so far. I do not think he'll be back here any time soon."
"So we're not in trouble?" Hermione looked hopeful.
"In trouble? Dear me, no! In fact, you've each won fifty points for Slytherin, which should put you in the lead for the House Cup this year." The four friends grinned at each other. Slytherin had generally not done well in the competition for the Cup since the fall of the Dark Lord, since many people blamed all Snakes for the actions of some of them. Their abysmal showing in Quidditch and the shenanigans some of them insisted on getting up to didn't help, either.
"However, we do wish you to keep quiet about this. Now, off to your dorms with you. Exams are coming up, and you need to get back to your studying." Hermione let out a squeak at the thought of exams, and all four Slytherins beat a hasty retreat.
The next day, they found out that the word had somehow or other got all around the school. They suspected Draco Malfoy; the blond pest had never understood the concept of discretion, and everything that was in his normally-empty head came spewing out his mouth.
"Did you really take down another troll? How?" That was Cormac McLaggen, a particularly-arrogant Gryffindor second-year. Before that, he had treated all Slytherins as though they were something sticky and smelly he'd stepped in on the street. Now, he was all but fawning over the quartet.
Hermione grinned rather nastily. "Like so!" She waved her wand, and Cormac howled in surprise as his feet slipped out from under him. As he struggled to rise, he found himself assailed by phantom enemies, and he flailed and thrashed, while Harry, Dudley and Ron all laughed. Hermione, more ladylike, contented herself with a proud smile.
"Miss Granger, I would appreciate it if you let Mr. McLaggen up. I am sure he now understands how you were able to overcome a full-grown troll." The voice came from behind them, and they jumped. Hermione waved her wand, and McLaggen got to his feet, his face red with anger. As he turned to stomp off, the four friends turned to find themselves facing Professor Snape. "It is not always well to show off all of one's capabilities, Miss Granger. While we teachers are gratified by your intelligence and grasp of the material, there are times when we would also like to hear from some of your classmates, who seem to think they have taken vows at the Monastery of Eternal Silence. This is no reflection on you; any teacher prays to have a student of your calibre at least once in his or her career."
"Oh!" Harry could see the penny dropping in Hermione's mind. "Thank you, sir. I'll keep that thought in mind."
After that, tests were coming up, and all four friends bent to their books. Hermione willingly helped Ron, Harry and Dudley with their revising, and when the tests actually came, none of them had any particular problem.
In the absence of Professor Quirrell, who was in the Intensive Care section of St. Mungo's, the Defence post was taken over by a rotating panel of teachers; Professor Grubbly-Plank was the main substitute, but all of the teachers contributed according to their areas of expertise. Flitwick went over offensive and defensive charms. McGonagall explained how transfiguration could be used against Dark Arts, and how a Dark Wizard might use it for his own purposes. Sprout explained offensive and defensive uses for magical plants. Hagrid spoke at length about magical creatures and defenses against them, and Snape contributed information on Potions' place in a defensive arsenal.
The change was met with great general approval. "We're learning more in a few weeks than we would have in years under Quirrell!" Harry heard one of the Ravenclaws exulting to his girlfriend.
When the tests came, the four friends found them no particular challenge. Slytherin House had long kept track of what was likely to show up on tests, and the upper-level Snakes made very sure that their younger Housemates were up on the things that were likely to be asked on the tests. Before the tests, the whole House went through intensive drills, including simulated exams proctored by the seventh-years, just so that nobody'd be unprepared when the big days came.
A few days after the tests, the results came back. Hermione ripped hers open, and let out a squeal of joy. "I passed! I passed everything! Oh, I'm so happy!" Her smile seemed to light up the whole room.
Harry, Ron and Dudley were just as happy.
Dudley gloated: "Mum will be so pleased with me!"
Ron smiled, and said: "My mum won't know what to think. On the one hand, these grades will have to please her, but on the other hand, she still wishes that I'd been in Gryffindor. I'm the first Slytherin in our family since we can remember, and she's always thought this House was a nest of dark wizards." A scowl flitted across his face. "Dad told me she threw an epic fit when she found out about my Sorting."
Harry wasn't opening his grades, at least not right then. Instead, he was scanning a letter that an owl had dropped by his plate that morning. He gasped, and the other three looked at him. "Look, Dudley! It's from Balalaika!" In the sudden silence, he read aloud:
Dear Harry and Dudley:
I have received a letter from your Professor Dumbledore, praising you very highly. Apparently, not only are you doing quite well in your schoolwork, but your initiative and courage saved one of your teachers from what he calls "a fate worse than death." What that means, I do not know, but I wish you to know that I am very proud of both of you. You are credits to Hotel Moscow.
Even though Petunia and I are very pleased with your progress with your school work, Roanapur without you is somehow not the same. We look forward to seeing you again over the summer holidays, and I am sure that I can find work for you to do. Many things have happened here since you were here last, but I am sure that you will adapt quickly.
I also look forward to welcoming the good Miss Granger over the summer. Seeing how she and Roanapur react to each other will be very interesting.
All of us here are eager to see you again.
Balalaika.
Harry was swept by a sudden wave of homesickness. He suddenly remembered Roanapur, with its narrow, crowded streets, its thousand-and-one exotic smells, its tropic warmth, incredibly intensely, and while he loved Hogwarts and had also found that he loved the land of his birth, Britain was no longer his home. It was just a little while, but he'd be back in Thailand, and he looked forward to that day as much as Balalaika did.
Dudley was also looking homesick. "It'll be great to see Mum again," he muttered.
On the day that they left Hogwarts, Harry and Dudley both felt very sad. "It's just for the summer," Harry told his cousin. "We'll be back here before we realize it!" Then he grinned. "And just wait till we see your Mum, and everybody else we know in Roanapur!"
Ron looked wistful. "I wish I was going to Roanapur, too," he muttered. "We don't really have the money for a lot of traveling."
Dudley and Harry looked at each other. "Let's think about this, Harry," said Dudley. "Hermione's coming to Roanapur, and it'd be great to show Ron the town, too."
"But would Mrs. Weasley like that idea?" Harry was doubtful. "She's a proper sort, and Roanapur…isn't too proper, I'm afraid." He winked at his cousin. "We can put our heads together, and maybe we can figure something out. He's right; it would be a lot of fun to show him Roanapur, and I'd really like to see him over the summer."
"We can always ask Balalaika and see what she thinks." That settled it. To both boys, Balalaika was the arbiter of all things, and if she said that ways existed to bring Ron Weasley to Roanapur, then he'd be brought. The train lurched into motion, and the four friends settled in for the long trip south.
END Chapter 17.
