Disclaimer:
I solemnly swear that the literature and works of the Harry Potter Verse belong to JK Rowling, Bloomberg and Warner Bros. The only thing I own are the one-shot ideas that popped into my head and whatever OCs I would create for them. This is a work of pure fiction made solely for fun, constructive reviews will be welcomed, flames will be ignored. Any references to characters in real-life or fiction are purely coincidental. If I could make money out of my ideas, it would be nice...
Mischief Managed Damn It!
Title: Book 1, Chapter 18
Posted Date: July 20 2023
(First week of April 1992, Hogwarts)
"And that is mathematics done!" Harry let out a satisfied sigh as he wrote out the last bit of calculations, but was careful to keep the volume down in the library even though he was in one of the private rooms with Hermione, Justin, Sally, Terry, Padma and Su. The others were by the next table catching up on their magical homework and looking very twitchy at all the work that was granted in preparation for the upcoming exams. With the exception of the magically raised, the rest of them were catching up on their mundane studies, with Harry and Justin dealing with their shared studies from Eton which threatened to overwhelm them. This was more so for Harry who was in the advancement course and aiming to get his A Levels done soon as part of his personal requirements.
No pain, no gain.
"I am not getting any of this." Sally scratched her head with her pen as she glared at her humanities assignment with enough heat that might burn the paper if she could.
"I am seeing numbers, so many numbers." Su looked ready to faint from her own mathematical assignment.
"Bloody Morganna on a stick! How am I supposed to know what is the difference between mandarin oranges and clementine oranges? They are the same for all I care." Terry threw his hands up at the oddity of the question.
"And done! That was fun! What is next?" In contrast, Hermione looked downright cheerful as she ended her physics homework that was normally given for those aged fourteen as part of her requirement for the advancement course she was admitted to. That earned her snorts from Harry and Justin, sniggering from the magically raised, and light glares from the remainder.
"AAAHHH!"
"I am so glad you remembered to put up silencing charms." Justin shook his head at the racket between them. "We would be thrown out by this point."
"Madam Pince is dedicated to her job." Harry answered as he packed his work carefully before pulling out his personal notebook to note down some ideas he got from his homework.
"That is true, I will give you that. But she also scares me." Justin shivered at the thought of the woman. His first meeting of the strict librarian had her putting the fear of Merlin into a third-year who had accidentally spilled some water on an old text. It was not on the words and the paper was not damaged, but she acted like the third-year student had attempted to sacrifice her baby on the altar. That student ran out of the library as fast as he could while Justin attempted to make himself very small to avoid detection before he could make his escape.
"She is actually nice as long as you respect the books and not mess them up." Harry hummed as he paused in his writing before adding a notation.
"That is true, she actually granted me a special spot by the window for me to do my work." Hermione smiled at that bit as she paused in the playful banter of the others' complaints. "She is a really nice old lady, reminds me of the librarian back home."
"It must be brainy kids that would melt the heart of the woman." Michael gave what he might have considered as lyrical wording with an exaggerated pose. That only earned him scrunched up parchment balls to the face.
"Are we done for the day?" Parvati looked up from her work. "I am hoping to get to the lab room to do some practical experiments for potions."
"Are we going to the Joint Room?" Tracey had come by at this point. "I could use some practice in charms and defence." The others nodded as they started to clear up the desks of their written work, all eager to do some practicals. They made sure the place was kept clean and all the books were neatly stacked and grouped together before leaving, knowing the librarian was very strict on the placement.
"Honestly, the Union Corridor and Joint Room are the best things to happen this year." Terry spoke out as they moved. "We can definitely get things done faster and better. Not to mention the protections make it so no one attempts to try and barge in on us unannounced."
"Not that it stops some people from trying." Justin grunted.
"Didn't Dumbledore try to get you to ease the restrictions?" Padma asked, turning to Harry.
"He did, he believed that they were hindering anyone entering the area and that all should be allowed no matter the intent." Harry shook his head. "It was already stated that the corridor would have the intent ward system to ensure that no one would go around trying to steal research, harm the students or be a general nuisance. The ward teams liked them, the Aurors liked them, and Professors Flitwick and Sprout certainly did. Yet Dumbledore believes it segregates the students."
"Like the four house sorting is not doing that already?" One Sophie Ropher, a new entry from Gryffindor to their study group, raised an eyebrow. "We barely interact outside of class and the Great Hall as it is, and this is the only place that we can work together for studies."
"He wants the intent ward removed. That is the ward that keeps stopping him from going through the corridor before getting to the rooms." Harry had to hold back a cackle at the memory of the man attempting to force his way through the corridor. Harry had placed a cushioning rune at the opposite end to catch anyone that would be repelled by the ward system, but that was the first time he saw it in action, and the reaction was way beyond what he expected.
And he had the feeling that Hogwarts was involved with that, given the odd feeling of giddiness he felt from the wards when Dumbledore decided to fly backwards.
"What about the rules? I heard he was a little insistent to get them changed." Justin spoke out.
"That too." Terry answered at this point. "The rules are there to make sure no one tries to disturb everyone else, and it makes sense to have no one bring about house loyalty into the mix. At least in that sense, we do not need to deal with the Gryffindor-Slytherin rivalry. No offence." Terry directed that last part to the members of the stated rivalry.
"None taken." Blaize waved a hand. "Even we know that rivalry is stupid. It is just the older students pushing that silliness."
"May I ask a question about that?" Justin asked a little warily. "I don't get the reason why the two houses get all held-up over the house rivalry. I mean, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw don't act that crazy as far as I can tell."
"It is to do with the whole Light vs Dark philosophy." Parvati answered the boy. "Salazar Slytherin was supposedly the big dark wizard that argued with the other founders over the type of students to be taught. It was something that Godric Gryffindor, the supposed rival, apparently disagreed with."
"You don't sound convinced." Theodore, or Theo as he insisted them to call him, observed.
"My uncle liked to tell Padma and I about listening to history. He said to always check the facts before coming to our own conclusions." The Indian girl remarked. "He had his own doubts about the history of Hogwarts, and considering all the books we could lay our hands on before coming here, it does feel a little suspicious."
"How so?" Fay asked.
"It is the whole Salazar being the dark wizard." Harry took over at that point. "If he was such a bad wizard in the beginning, why is his house still here or built in the first place? The other founders could have just removed the house unless there was some type of magic that made the houses part of Hogwarts, or he was not the bad guy as often portrayed in books. Not to mention, what is considered dark magic by modern standards could have been widely accepted in the past."
"Bold claim, Potter. I can imagine a few people having ulcers at that." Blaize raised an eyebrow.
"I have read a lot of history books before learning about magic, and then a few more on magical history before coming here, and I can state my opinion that history has a tendency to be written by the winners, or by people with bias." Harry hummed as the staircase stopped for them to walk up. "Furthermore, there are not a lot of publishers in Magical Britain, so everyone knows one another and shares stories, and whoever is the most successful will dominate the market for books."
"Is that why you keep ordering books not found in Britain through Gringotts?" Hermione had wondered about that when she asked about the type of books he read for his studies. She was curious about the titles and a little miffed she won't be able to get them from the local book shops easily.
"Magical Britain is extremely strict on what is perceived as dark magic, but often that label gets thrown about like candy for spells that cannot be understood properly or replicated by others easily. And what is considered dark magic in Britain is common elsewhere in the world, and for some academies, required reading for understanding other subjects." Harry replied as they finally reached their destination floor and passed through the ward system that tested them for spells and other issues.
"Such as?" That question got answered by someone else outside of the group.
"Rituals for one. There is a misconception that all rituals are using blood or sacrifices, but there are some that don't need such things." All turned to find Draco Malfoy answering while carrying a small bag while standing in front of the room designated for Harry's and Draco's discussions. "There are a couple of minor rituals that can heal a person without taking sacrifices. That is actually a topic for next time." Draco added while pointing to the small notice board Harry had set up for their discussions.
"Hello, Draco." Harry greeted the boy while the others hung back. "Ready for the exams coming up?"
"As ready as I can be at this point." Draco looked like he wanted to slump over at the reminder, but held back on account of him being in public with others. "There is a lot to cover, and it has not helped that we are doing our exams earlier because of this inspection going on. It might be a good thing that I am holding back on the advancement program that you are doing right now."
"I had been at it for some time now, so I would need to be on the ball. But depending on how well you do for this, we might see you next year." Harry walked up to the notice board to look at the list. "Ah, rituals from magicals and non-magicals. This would be a fun topic."
"Can we join in on that?" Hermione asked with obvious wanting. She had wanted to get in on some of the discussions they had since hearing of it, and looking at the topics in question had made her and some of the others curious about it.
Draco looked at the girl with a somewhat complicated expression while Harry held back to see the interaction. He had watched Draco over the past few months, and the boy was making headway in making connections with Ravenclaw through him, and Hufflepuff through Crabbe and Goyle. Gryffindor was left out partially because Draco had no one outside of Parvati to talk with (and that was stilted at the best of times), and there was the previously stated rivalry between the two houses that got people going stupid. Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were fine since Draco was mostly talking with pure-bloods and the odd half-bloods, but Gryffindors was a no-go, not helped with Ronald Weasley being the antagonist who got in his head that the Slytherin was the reason he could not get close to Harry.
Like Jeremiah said, that kid needed a reality check.
"Very well." Draco gave a slow nod as he looked at her and the others about them. "You and a select few can take part in our sessions. The room is not really that big for all of us, so you might need to take turns. And you do need to follow the rules."
"You can view the topics we are discussing on the board, the ones we have done so far are in the room with recordings." Harry motioned to the board.
"Good thing you have the same security for this conference room as the others, some people have been trying to barge in on us." Draco let out an annoyed huff.
"Let me guess, Weasley?" Michael asked, being a little more comfortable than the rest to chat with him.
"Among others." Draco looked at a plaque fixed to the door. "What makes them think they can come and go if they don't bother reading the instructions?"
"Some think they can do what they want. But Weasley?" Justin waved a hand as though to say 'What can you do?'.
"True." Harry checked his watch. "We better get on with the testing if we want to continue revising."
"I will be on my way then. See you around." Draco nodded his head and moved away from the spot. Despite the offer to study there, Draco had refused on the basis that he wanted to earn the perceived right by making sure he could get into the advancement program. Harry genuinely would like to see him there.
The others went to their shared room with half split to go for their theory studies while the others went to the other areas for practical work. Neville made straight for the room set aside for Herbology, his second haven in Hogwarts for him to spread his roots. Harry was going to revise for the exams coming up, but needed to do one last thing.
"Well, that is less than the other day." Harry commented dryly as he looked at the parchment listing the spells cast on him and the others before they got removed by the security. Majority were listening and tracking charms, but there were a few failed attempts to place compulsion charms on him, and there were a couple of hexes and curses on his friends. Harmless for the most part, but the fact they had it was a problem.
"I thought I felt something on me." Terry looked at the list of spells. "I was not sure what, but the security bands helped." Harry nodded at that. Part of the security involved the arm bands or bracelets used to check and unlock the door, and at the same time they carried several runes and charms to prevent possible intruders from taking the bands for themselves, or to cast compulsions on them.
When the Joint Corridor became an actual deal, there were plenty who tried to get through. For the most part, the majority were just curious enough to see what it was like. For a few others, their intentions tend to set off the protections differently. The Weasley Twins kept getting zapped for their troubles, while some of the rougher crowd got the pinball treatment, complete with the lights and sounds of the pinball games. Harry would swear that Hogwarts was laughing at their treatments with how giddy some of the areas got when some of the offenders tried to force their way through.
These days, the Joint Corridor was exclusively used by those of his year with the exception of a small handful who were getting thrown out due to lack of respect. Their success in their work was not unnoticed, and Filius had considered the possibility of opening up other corridors to allow groups of respective years to do the same with the same restrictions to ensure all would not be disruptive. The feedback seemed positive, although there were those who argued about the rules and restrictions, and Dumbledore seemed determined to not lose more ground on this.
"I am happy that the security is getting stronger." Susan Bones remarked as she came to the table with her books. "Now we don't have to worry about hexes and curses in the corridor." She leaned to check on the list and frowned at some of the spells found. "Listening and compulsion charms too, it seems."
"From what I overheard from the warding team staying behind, it appeared that the castle is really getting involved with protection." Padma pointed to Harry with a smile. "A happy mistake on your part, right Harry?" Harry shrugged at that.
"Just as long as we don't get attacked in the corridors by cursing, trolls and wrathful spirits, I am fine with it." A few snorted at that understatement.
"Harry, how are the other students taking your placement?" Terry asked in curiosity. "I know that for most of us, the second years do not really react that much. Hermione might be getting some friction with her handling more subjects with an early lesson in Ancient Runes, but they are still fine with her. But you are the only one among us taking mostly fourth year subjects."
"Well, Hufflepuff students are okay with me, while the Ravenclaw seniors just took it as both a mark of achievement and a goal to do the same." Harry answered as he paused in his note taking. "Slytherin and Gryffindor are a mixed bag, ranging from indifference to whiny brats to lazy kids claiming I must be using dark spells to do my work."
"Who would do that?" A raised eyebrow greeted Terry's query. "Ah, so the Slytherin upper year students and perhaps the Gryffindor fourth years."
"Along with Ronald Weasley and Zacharias Smith." Harry rolled his eyes as he leaned in his chair. If those two had the right attitude, they would be able to make it into the advancement program. As it was, Harry would actually give Smith some decent odds of it happening and to be advanced by a year since the boy was actually good with transfiguration and potions. Weasley was not likely to do it since he was so lazy, and for all the crap that the older twin brothers had tried to give him or the odd rudeness by the prefect brother, they at least knew how to get serious.
"Not sure about Smith, but I can tell that Weasley would not be studying much. I will be surprised if he is able to pass his exams." Terry commented. Michael snorted at that.
"That will depend on whether he is allowed to coast thanks to his connection with Dumbledore. Everyone knows that the Weasleys are his biggest supporters, he might allow him to go through. I mean, look at the twins."
"Hey!"
"The Weasley Twins." Michael rolled his eyes in good nature to the mock affront from the Indian twins. "Those guys have been allowed to stick around despite all the pranks that have been thrown about. From my understanding, muggle schools would have punished them severely?"
"Yes." Hermione answered with a firm nod. "If we were to use their last prank as an example, they would have been suspended for at least a month." A few looked up in contemplation before nodding; the most recent prank done by the Weasley Twins involved potions to change people's skin tone into different colours and polka dots, some type of transparency spell on the clothes, a few dung bombs, and an exploding toilet. By all rights, they should have been suspended for a month or two, but they merely got point deductions and detentions that clearly were not working.
"Hopefully the commission can do something about those two." Justin replied as he continued with his work.
"In any case, we won't know about Weasley's prospects until we do the exams. Perhaps Ronald Weasley would surprise us and show some sort of intellect to do the exams." That earned snorts from the others, even Neville who had walked out briefly from the greenhouse room.
"Yeah, I am not holding any confidence in that." Harry had to suppress the urge to smirk at that remark from Neville. It would appear the ability to cast spells without a wand and some quiet encouragement has done wonders for the boy's self confidence, and he was able to at least face up to some of his dissenters, Ronald Weasley in particular.
"How about Professor Snape?" Parvati asked. At that, everyone else stopped to listen.
"He is strict." Harry gave it some thought before answering. "As I am still a first year in school, he is making sure that I am there doing actual work and not coasting on my fame. It is also to prove to the other older students that I actually earned my placement in the higher levels."
"How was he like in those lessons?" Harry hummed at Su's question.
(Flashback / Jan 1992)
"What do I get if I were to add crushed bulbs of the Iris Flower to the mix of the Wit Sharpening Potion?"
"Why is it not a good practice to use shaved tusks during the heating process of Darwin's Potion?"
"Why must one use a quarter-inch knife edge for slicing Valerian roots?"
"Which is more useful as an alternative to the teardrop petals?"
The senior students looked at their professor firing out questions at the sole first year student without giving him time to pause, all while said student was doing everything required for the lesson for the day and answering perfectly without a moment's hesitation. He had written down what he needed, rearranged the items used for the potions in the order that he would need to process and add them to the cauldron, tested accordingly and made sure everything was above board and then some. In turn, Professor Snape seemed content to push him as far as educationally possible to see if he could handle them, and unless the others were mistaken, the potions master was actually pleased that someone was able to keep up with his questions and standards.
Thus far, Harry had been in the mixed class of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs, with the odd Slytherin-Hufflepuff or Slytherin-Ravenclaw. The first was the most peaceful, while the others were on the average side given that some of the upper years for Slytherin and the odd Ravenclaw were not happy with his higher placement. The one time Harry was forced into a class of Gryffindor-Slytherin for Potions due to a certain someone, that was a disaster that had Snape spitting tags and outright deducting points left and right for the mess, and it was further supported by the ICW monitor for that lesson, thus leading to Harry keeping to the other groups.
On his part, Harry was keeping up with the work expected of him. Severus Snape for all of his somewhat overbearing strictness was a Potions Master of high standards, and he clearly showed the reason he earned the title of being the youngest to earn the mastery. And Harry could tell that the man was frustrated in having to deal with students who do not appreciate the finer aspects of potion making.
Along with the regular potions lessons, Harry was expected to demonstrate his level of competency by going through other potions not normally taught below fifth year. He was also expected to complete potions with specific ingredients missing in them to prove that he could salvage them, something that was actually tested in the sixth year. Some of the seniors had tried to protest that, but Harry managed to pull through on that segment.
It was crazy, but fun. And he got the feeling that Snape actually enjoyed giving him challenges to test his knowledge and skills.
Snape had a talk with Harry a month after the new term started regarding the ICW broadcasted trials. At least the air was cleared about his supposed hostility towards them and to some extent, Harry. The boy just remarked that since he never knew his father, he can't be anywhere near his father's personality. Harry also stated that he could try to get Sirius to hold off on hostilities if Snape was willing to do the same. The man agreed before telling him more about Lily.
All in all, a productive period.
(End flashback)
"Very strict, he wants to make sure everyone gets the subject." Harry decided to give that answer.
"At least he is currently doing the higher years." Terry remarked. "I do not mind that potions teacher the ICW assigned for the lower years. Though he looked like someone killed his cat when he asked about safety procedures only to have few of us know about it."
"On the one hand, it was meant to be Snape telling us about it, but at the same time, the preparatory guide was somehow left out in the past few years, you would need to go to the bookstores for this." Harry himself would not know if not for Arcturus showing him an example of it to know the proper methods of handling potions.
"Okay, enough talk about Snape and other bits. We need to revise history!" Hermione's proclamation earned her some nods and groans from the more practical-inclined students. Harry chuckled at her enthusiasm and the others' reactions but agreed about getting prepared for the exams.
What did Albert say about this? Oh right?
Time to bring his A-game.
~ooOOoo~
(Second Week of May, 1992 / Examinations)
Harry had to admit one thing. After taking the advancement exams in France, it felt a little bit of a letdown doing the regular exams, but Harry took it in stride as he needed to do this right if he wanted to keep up with the advanced program. It may sound arrogant but he had to read up on a lot of books and text to prepare for the different subjects, and much of the curriculum in Hogwarts was stripped down to accommodate the purebloods in Magical Britain.
It was a little funny to see the expressions of the fourth years when he appeared with them at the hall to take the exams. It was one thing to know that he was in the advancement program when he appeared during their lessons to learn, it was another to know he would be taking the exams of the equivalent year. Some would accuse of favouritism if not for Filius making it clear that he earned it through hard work, and it was best exemplified when most of his other friends in the advancement program also appeared for the second-year exams. Hermione for one looked ready to tackle anyone daring to stop her from taking the exam to go and study for the higher year.
Harry would honestly pay to see that.
The ICW officers were still around to see how the exams were conducted, and for the most part, they were fine with the standards of the exam structuring, but Harry had overheard the officers talking about the curriculum, and it only reinforced Harry's desire to maintain the program he was in that had subjects taught in other schools around the world. He was also thankful that the exams would be done by a group of people separate from the main body to ensure fairness in part of said program. At least on that part, he should be safe from any actions Dumbledore could try to pull despite having less political connections than before.
Today, he was dealing with Charms, and from the get-go, he had to go full-throttle since Professor Flitwick was around to test them and he was given a different set of papers to test his knowledge. Harry could recognize a few questions that would in essence be meant for OWLs and one that he was sure to be meant for NEWTs, but Harry made sure to take his time to write out the answers. For the practical exam, the half-goblin had them in different turns doing spells in random order to make sure there were fewer chances of students trying to memorise the flow. Harry's practical exam had him performing multiple spells ranging from first year to fifth year, along with other spells that he could perform for extra credit within reason. Harry had some fun with this portion.
It took 5 hours in total, but Harry was able to walk out of the classroom with the knowledge that he should be able to get the "Exceed Expectations" grade at the least since he was effectively demonstrating fourth year spells in his first year in Hogwarts. If he got a good enough grade, he could take up OWLS in the coming months.
His attention was briefly broken at the sight of someone going around the corner at the far end of the corridor, the rather colourful robe being an indicator of the owner. Harry frowned at the thought that invaded his head.
Outside of a few attempts in January to find out where he went and other matters, Dumbledore did not request Harry for other meetings, which was okay if not for the fact the wizard had been trying to have impronto meetings with his guardian at the Ministry, along with letters to Sirius that were thankfully redirected to Gringotts as they were carrying compulsions and potions in them. That list was added to the ever-growing list of possible issues and crimes against Dumbledore, but it was frustrating that they could not go against him even with his reduced political hold.
Then there were the odd meetings with different departments and in particular the Education Department that had Jeremiah wondering about the purpose. Even Arcturus was unable to find out and it was making them nervous a little since Dumbledore had time to properly process all that had happened and was starting to get back into the rhythm. They were at least safe with the knowledge that Lady Marchbanks was not a fan of Dumbledore, and that the ICW was still checking on him along with the Ministry to make sure he was not abusing any rules.
One thing Jeremiah did find out was Dumbledore going about asking for the location of the Dursleys, something that everyone was happy that he would not get without issues popping up because few knew that they were moved in secrecy and their records were kept shut. Dudley was sent to a juvenile detention center well away from Surrey partly for safety and because his behaviour was worse than anticipated based on the last visit. Marge Dursley got arrested for her illegal dog farm she had in her place along with Ripper getting put down for constantly attacking him and others.
Still, the old wizard was working too quietly for his liking. Odds were high that Dumbledore was trying to find a way to force Harry into someone else's care if not keep him around Hogwarts. It was not much of a secret that Harry was using this year as a test year to see if he would stick around, and from what Arcturus and Jeremiah had told him, Britain would not allow him to leave so easily.
He could hope for the best. Otherwise, they would need to speed up on the plans that were already accelerated since the beginning of the year.
"Hey Harry!" The boy blinked to find Terry waving his hand in front of him. "Are you still there? Or has your brain gone out from the exams?"
"Nope, just thinking about the set of questions I had to answer for my Charms." Harry let out a huff. "Pretty sure what I wrote was not enough for them."
"Well, I can't say I would know since you are doing fourth year subjects." Terry snorted while the other Ravenclaws of their year group came from behind. "But then, I am also not certain about the one involving that locomotion charm. I think I got the incantation wrong."
"If you are able to get something moving, it should be fine. It is the intent to make it work." Harry answered.
"Please, no more~" Lisa Turpin grabbed her head, looking like her head wanted to explode. Susan and Hannah on their part looked ready to act like zombies with how dazed they were.
"Okay, let's meet up with the others and go somewhere else to relax." Harry barely said that when a bright flash of light appeared by the window, followed shortly by a loud clap of thunder that caused many in the corridor to jump from the volume.
"Oh come on~ we can't go out to enjoy the sun." Justin threw his arms up while the rain started to hit the windows.
"At least we are dry." Michael's 'dry' remark got sighs from everyone.
"Well, we can go back to the Union Corridor." Susan tried to keep their moods up.
"Yeah, why not? I got my hands on some music records to listen to." Harry offered. The others looked out of the window and reluctantly agreed to that idea, and as one they moved to their usual staircase only to find themselves redirected because of Peeves apparently being his usual mischievous self and somehow rupturing the pipes in the corridor leading to their staircase. The ICW officers were talking with the others about this while redirecting the students to the main staircase, with a couple wondering if they could just exorcise the ghost. Many students were actually begging them for this. Harry chuckled as he and the others moved to the main staircase to get to their spot, taking their time to climb given how many were taking it. It was around the second floor that the staircase moved to a different part of the third floor and stayed in that position.
"Great, now we are stuck." Parvati glared at the offending staircase with an intensity that could be associated with the desire for a jackhammer to be used on the stairs. "And there is no other path for us to take."
"See if there is anyone from the warding team downstairs. I think there was one that we passed by." Su went to lean over as much as she could to squint.
"Hey, we are stuck up here!" She called out to someone down below while waving her arm. "Could you please reset the stairs?" Harry could hear someone yelling below before Su drew back. "Okay, one of the ICW officers heard me and is now getting the warders to check out the stairs, but we need to get off this one while they work on it."
"At least it is the weekend, so we don't need to rush our work." Ernie gave a shrug.
"Try telling her that." Justin looked at Hermione who looked like she was having a fit at not being productive in the books. "Hermione, you really need to relax."
"I can't~" A few chuckled in good nature at the whine she gave out while a couple of the girls tried to calm her down. The entire lot went to the landing in time for the stairs to start moving again and get stuck in a different configuration. Su went over the railing to check on the status below with Harry using his mana chain to hold her in place, with a couple of the others looking at the chain with interest.
"Okay, looks like we are not the only ones having issues, a few others are stuck on the other levels. They are doing it one landing at a time." Su leaned back and blinked at the chain around her. "A little tacky for my taste." Harry snorted but retracted the chain and dispelled it later.
"Hey guys." Terry looked about. "I think we are on the third floor corridor, the one that Dumbledore has said we should avoid a most painful death."
"Didn't the Aurors remove whatever it was?" A few turned to Susan for the answer.
"Auntie said that they had to remove a XXXX Class animal, some plants and what looked to be a giant chess piece." Susan hummed as she tried to recall what was told to her. "There were others but I do not know what they are, those three were the ones I remembered the most. I do know that Auntie was very angry about the animal."
"What type of animal would he put in a place like this?" Harry blinked at that piece of news.
"I do not know what it is, but it had to be really bad. Uncle Tony, one of the Aurors, had very selective language for that." Susan looked embarrassed about it.
"Hey guys, take a look at what I found." The group turned to find Ernie a few rooms down the corridor, opening the door of the room in question to enter the room, with a few curious ones following suit.
"I don't think we should be entering there." Hermione dithered on her feet.
"Well, we can't really move away from our spot." Justin pointed that out. "Might as well do some exploring. I mean whatever danger that used to be here must be gone." The others looked uncertain but decided to move with the group since they could do nothing else until one of the warders came to their end. Harry followed up at the end, pausing as the ones before him stopped at the entrance.
"What's up?" Harry asked Susan who was in front of him.
"Not sure, I think the classroom is too small for all of us." Susan answered while trying to peak over while tip-toeing. "I think they found something."
"Well, I will just go back to the landing to see if the warders are done." Harry shrugged and turned around to head back to the landing.
"Come on, Harry. Let's see what they got." Terry got his arm and pulled him along into the classroom where a couple of others were standing in front of a large ornate mirror that had his senses blaring in warning.
"Guys, I don't think we should be here." Harry said as he looked at the inscriptions that were on the top of the mirror. Outside of the first three words, the rest appeared to be gibberish. Yet the magic that was coming off it was making his protections go on full alert, and more worryingly, the ones dealing with his mind were getting heated from supposedly multiple sources.
"Hey, I see myself working at my father's company." Ernie was the first one to be in front and was marvelling at whatever he was seeing in the mirror. "And I got some really crazy hair."
"I am not seeing anything but us." Justin, who was next to Ernie, had a puzzled expression at his words.
"Here, stand here." Ernie stepped aside for Justin to take his spot. The boy did so and looked again only to stare at the apparent reflection. "Now you see me?"
"No, but I am seeing myself at Eton University with my parents next to me, and I think I am graduating on that day." Justin answered as he looked at his arms before looking back at the mirror. "I think this mirror sees the future."
"Really?" A few of the others started to move forward to see what he meant, but Harry held back as his protections were starting to get agitated, and there was a soft hum from one of them that had his fingers tensing for an attack.
"I see myself as a chef?" Michael blinked at his reflection.
"Hey, I won a duelling tournament and a martial arts tournament!" Su smiled at her turn before blushing. "And apparently I have someone next to me." That got a few of the girls to tease her based on her reaction.
"I am with my parents and working for the British government. I am working at an archive dealing with rare books," Hermione could not help her curiosity and looked in the mirror to see what was her apparent future. The others started to move forward to see although Terry held back with Harry.
"That does not sound like the future." Terry remarked.
"No, I don't think it is even real." Harry had been looking at the inscriptions to rearrange the letters in his head. "Erised? No, desire. The Mirror of Desire."
"So it is not really showing the future, rather what we would want to see." Terry blinked before frowning. "That sounds a little dangerous."
"Guys, get away from the mirror." Harry agreed on that and the two tried to get the others to stop.
"Harry." Su turned to place a hand on his arm with a smile. "Come and take a look."
"Yes, take a look." Padma added with a slight slur and placed herself to block him from moving the other side.
"Take a look." His protections were getting hotter from whatever intrusions were going on. Ernie and Justin were behind.
"Take a look." His mind was feeling a little fuzzy as he stood in front of the mirror to see only his reflection.
"Take a look." Should he?
"TAkE a lOok." Maybe he could take a peekā¦
His bracelets shone brightly before a jolt pulsed through his body, knocking him out of whatever was getting into his head. Harry then slammed them together with a quick motion, releasing both a pulse of magic and a ringing sound that got everyone clutching their heads. Harry's eyes quickly noted an odd flash in the corner and then the shimmer of someone's disillusionment coming apart as they tried to move away. His hand shot out to fire off a mana stunner at the person only to have them deflect it away to the ceiling and rushed out of the door and supposedly leaving with a loud pop. "Damn it!"
"Erg! My head." Su cradled her head in her hand. "I think I know why you did it, but mind explaining it just in case."
"My mind-protections were ringing when we entered the room, and you guys were starting to sound like those drones we saw from the movie with Hermione's dad." Harry answered while he checked on her and Padma, before moving to Terry. "That mirror was one of the issues, but someone else was here and supposedly influencing you guys."
"Seriously?!" Susan was looking very angry. "We were having a few months of peace and then someone decided to compulse us?"
"Best to have someone check on you. I may have the recording, but we would need official wording." Harry had to make sure that procedures were done given the amount of complaints Arcturus and Sirius had over the crap done over the years.
"What about this one?" Fay pointed to the mirror. Harry paused to give it a hard look.
"Better get one of the inspectors to check this out." The others agreed and they all moved out of the room with Harry leaving the last. Briefly he paused in front of the mirror to look at it, and the protections were acting up again. Harry had to wonder what was the point of the mirror being here in the first place.
As though in response to his thoughts, his reflection looked back with a tilt of his head and the background changed briefly to that of a vault before reaching into the pocket to pull out a red stone in his hand, nodding his head with a wink, and then placing it back inside. At that moment, Harry felt something in his own pocket, making him stumble briefly at the suddenness. Harry focused on leaving the room and locking the door shut before moving to where the others were now talking with one of the ICW warding members and an Auror about what happened with the stairs.
He would not take whatever was in his pocket just yet until he could get something from his lab to hold it.
~ooOOoo~
Dumbledore cursed as he pulled the invisibility robe off him while entering his office, a precaution that he brought along now a boon given how Potter had somehow removed his disillusionment charm and even did something to the cloak that allowed the boy to see where he was. That was disturbing given that it was the Potter Invisibility Cloak that was supposedly the Cloak of Invisibility that made up the Deathly Hallows, it should be undetectable to any known spells. Dumbledore had to consider the idea that perhaps the cloak knew that Harry was the real owner and allowed itself to be detected so that it could be given back to him.
That cannot happen! He had manipulated matters enough to gain the cloak in his hands, and he was not planning to give it up to the Potter brat without some type of concession, especially since Sirius was likely to demand it back from him. The problem was the bloody goblins were already on his tail, knowing through their brand of magic that he had the cloak and were waiting for an opportunity to demand it back with conditions that would be detrimental to Dumbledore. He may have to give it up temporarily until the next time he could get his hands on the cloak.
As much as he would want to know what were the inner desires of Mister Potter, this was merely a minor step to what Dumbledore had planned. For one, his monitoring spell confirmed that the fake Philosopher Stone he had left in the mirror was now outside, so the boy should have it. If the boy touched it with his bare hands, the delayed spells on the stone should lay on him. If not, at least the cover story of the stone being taken or destroyed would help to cover his tracks regarding the real stone in his possession.
In other areas, the old wizard had been going through plans to keep the brat in his school since the new year, most were turning out ineffective given the boy's enrolment in the accelerated program and his apparent agreement to use this as a test year, along with Sirius, Arcturus and that blasted lawyer Gottwald granting Harry partial emancipation as it was intended by the Potter Will and the bloody Charter for Noble Houses. Even if he had his old position of Chief Warlock, he could not overturn the charter for the families without lots of kickback.
But there was one idea that he was trying right now through the Ministry, and even if it could only work for a year, it should be enough to grant Dumbledore some time to work on plans to keep an eye on him and hopefully guide the boy to his ultimate destiny. He refused to believe that the entity that was in Harry's old scar had been fully removed, after all, he was Albus Perceival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the man who had studied all types of magic, and there was no way that could be removed so easily.
He would have liked to get back the guardianship, but that was a pipe dream given how Arcturus and Albert Thornwood had gotten it themselves. Dumbledore was still holding hope for Sirius to get it so that he could influence him to place Harry in a place of his own choosing for his own "safety", but the young man had yet to reply back to the letters that he had sent. Thankfully he did not put that much effort into that and instead brought someone back into the fold to make contact with Sirius Black, and from the chatter of said someone, he was successful on that front. Dumbledore would need to be patient before he could get the information from his contact and use it to his advantage.
So much to do and plan, but ultimately?
It was for the Greater Good.
(Author's Notes)
About to end Year 1!
