CHAPTER 19: Slytherin Manoeuvres (Part 6)

The Great Hall

8:30 p.m.

"The perpetrators of this heinous attack will be caught." Umbridge promised the Great Hall later that evening, standing in front of the golden podium as she addressed all the students before dinner. Her tone was cold, long gone was its faux cheerful colour she paraded around with her sweet smile and her nettling laugh. Few people had actually witnessed Umbridge like this, not even in her detentions did she lose her phony demeanour. It had only been the two times when Neville had challenged her during one of the Defence classes that the concealed side - the true side of Umbridge - had come out of the shadows. And even then, it had only been a glimpse.

"This behaviour may have been acceptable in the past, but not anymore. It is this type of exploits, this wicked and vile actions which have defined Hogwarts for the previous four years, that has forced the Ministry's hand."

Harry looked around the Slytherin table, seeing that everyone around him was looking anywhere but at him. Everyone but Montague, who he could see sitting at the opposite end. He was smiling at him, a smile that, to anyone else, would've hidden his anger very well. But after everything he'd been through with Montague, he could see it plainly. The creases in the corner of his eye as he forced the smile, the way his eyes were cold and emotionless, a complete antithesis to the rest of his face.

A part of him was shocked how he wasn't shitting himself as he was once again faced with the prospect of fighting Montague, of reliving one of his worst memories. But as he stared back at the boy, he couldn't help but let out a smile of his own. One that was the opposite of Montague's. Warm and genuine.

"Things at Hogwarts are far worse than I could have ever imagine. I will not stand for the chaotic atmosphere and subpar standards that have risen ever since I left this great institution. I will have order. Which is why I have taken it upon myself to summon a group of Aurors from the Ministry that will be posted all around the school and will find the disgraceful students who have attacked their own peers. When you are found out, and I promise you, you will be, I will make sure you are expell-"

The sudden loud crash interrupted Umbridge as everyone's attention shifted to the entrance of the Great Hall. The two large doors opened, magically stopping before they could hit the walls beside them, as Albus Dumbledore calmly stepped inside. He was wearing his set of purple robes, along with a small smile wrinkling his weathered face.

"Forgive me for the interruption, Professor Umbridge," the Headmaster said as he walked in between the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw tables towards the other teachers. "But I heard that tonight there would be sticky toffee pudding on the menu. I couldn't help but come for a bite."

"No worries, Albus," Umbridge bit out. "In fact, it is quite good of you to come down here. Today, of all days. I assume you've heard of last night's events."

"Naturally," Dumbledore's smile faded. "It is a shame what has happened here, but, fortunately, Madam Pomfrey has confirmed that all three students will be as good as new in no time. I can only hope that there isn't another… incident like this one. That would be truly unfortunate." For a second, Harry could have sworn Dumbledore's eyes had flicked towards him. Uncharacteristically, he shifted uneasily in his seat, but then the Headmaster's eyes were gone. It was highly unlikely Dumbledore actually looked at him, it's not like he ever mattered to him. He probably had been looking at the Slytherin table as a whole rather than directly at him.

"Incident?" Umbridge repeated with a strained voice. "This wasn't a mere incident, it was a calculated attack from a group of vandals against some of the most distinguished and well-mannered members of Slytherin House. It can't go unpunished."

"Oh, it won't. I can assure you of that. I will punish these students myself if they are ever found out."

"I'm afraid you won't." She spat viciously. "As a matter of fact, I have called the Aurors, they'll make sure these delinquents are properly penalized. Perhaps a stay at Azkaban should teach them some manners."

"That is regrettable," Dumbledore told her, looking anything but. "It will be a shame to turn away the Aurors at the gates. I do hope Rosmerta allows them to use her floo rather than them been forced to stay the night in the village."

"Turn them away?" Umbridge laughed spitefully. "With what authority? I am the High Inquisitor. The Minister himself gave me this power."

"Indeed, you are. However, the High Inquisitor only has power in academic related matters. It does not give you the right to allow external officials that have no relation to the Department of Education. That is still left within the Headmaster's power."

Umbridge's smile grew painfully, Harry could almost see the vein in her forehead popping as she stared at Dumbledore. "For now."

Dumbledore bowed slightly at her before turning to the student body. "Now, I do believe we are all famished." As he said this, a mouth-watering banquet appeared in front of everyone. Roast beef, turkey with vegetable dressing, lasagna bolognese, bacon and broccoli salad, treacle tart, sticky toffee pudding. It didn't matter how many times Harry witnessed a feast suited for a king materialize on his table, he would never stop being awed by it.

Before Umbridge could react, Dumbledore had left her standing in front of everyone as he calmly strolled to his golden throne, idly making conversation with the teachers. From the Slytherin table, Harry smiled amusedly. Sure, he wasn't a fan of the Headmaster, but he couldn't help but appreciate whenever someone humiliated Umbridge. Regardless of knowing this wouldn't be the end of it - not when Umbridge was involved.

Slytherin Common Room

October 18th, 1995

1:45 a.m.

"How can you be so calm?" Theo asked him later that evening.

The common room was empty. Everyone had gone to sleep hours ago, leaving the couches in front of the fireplace to Harry, Pansy, and Theo. It had been a quiet night for the Slytherins, especially compared to the events of the previous day. Though, quiet did not mean subdued. There was an air of uneasiness strong enough to choke everyone inside the common room. Murmured conversations replaced the usual commotion as Harry and Montague took opposite sides of the room.

Even without three of his closest goons, there was still a small group of sixth and seventh years surrounding Montague as they sat on the main couches, while Harry only had Theo and Pansy with him on the desks. The rest of the students had either gone to their dormitories, or where awkwardly drifting in the centre of the room, treating both sides like the plague. He was even surprised that Malfoy and Daphne had strayed towards the middle, looking back between both parties.

But besides a few glares and glances sent in his direction, Montague had been harmless. Harry wondered how long that would last.

"You did hear about what I did to Montague's lapdogs, right? I think I'm good."

"I was talking about Umbridge. When she finds out it was you who almost killed those students, she'll surely expel you."

"Only after making you serve unlimited detentions for the rest of the year." Pansy commented absent-mindedly as she continued reading her Potions book.

"I appreciate your faith in me," Harry rolled his eyes. "Truly, what would I do without you?"

"It's not like there's any real threat, at least not now." Pansy said. "Dumbledore clearly doesn't want anyone investigating the attack, he'll hold off the Aurors for now. And if anyone's going to figure out who attacked those morons, it's going to be Dumbledore."

"I still don't understand why he did that. No offence, Harry, but the Aurors should've definitely been called."

"I'll take that as a compliment," he winked.

"When has Dumbledore ever let the Aurors into the school? I mean, at one point, there was a giant snake going about the castle petrifying Mudbloods-"

"Pansy," Harry warned. He had never been a fan of the word, his mother had been a muggle-born after all. In his first-year, he had tried to stop people from using it, but that just led to more abuse and bullying from the rest of his year-mates. And after everything that went down, he'd decided to just stay quiet and blend in the shadows. Though the spike of anger every time he heard it numbed as the years went by, that didn't mean he liked the word. Now that he was gaining power in the house, and since Montague threatened Hermione the other day, he had insisted on Pansy stop using the word. She hadn't been happy but had complied, to an extent. He was only lucky that Theo hadn't used it ever since fourth-year started.

"Muggle-borns." She rolled her eyes at him. "It was honestly a miracle that none of them got killed. Then when Black escaped, Dumbledore actively fought against any sort of interference from the Ministry. He managed to succeed, but since he doesn't have jurisdiction outside the grounds of Hogwarts, the Ministry took advantage of that and placed the dementors there - same thing with the train."

"No wonder he was so pissed whenever they entered the grounds." Theo commented.

"Yeah, well, it's impossible to make dementors listen." Pansy said. "Even the Ministry has a hard time at making them stay in Azkaban, they often wander around, some even reaching land from time to time. Anyhow, the only reason why we have Umbridge is that Dumbledore couldn't actually find anyone for the Defence Against the Dark Arts spot. And now the Ministry is taking advantage of her placement to slowly infiltrate the castle and battle Dumbledore from within. It was obvious that Dumbledore wouldn't give the Ministry more power by letting the Aurors inside."

"So I'm safe as long as Dumbledore stays Headmaster," Harry chuckled lightly at the irony.

"Not just you," Theo said grimly.

"Longbottom, Granger, Weasley, pretty much anyone and everyone that stands against her."

"Then we shouldn't let her think anything of the sort."

"Exactly," Pansy gave him a proud smile.

"Still," Theo continued. "You pretty much told the whole house it was you who attacked the students. If Montague wanted to get rid of you - really wanted to get rid of you, why wouldn't he simply go to Umbridge and accuse you. I mean, that's what I would do."

Harry laughed, hiding the way he felt his chest tighten. "Should I be concerned?"

Theo looked at him for a moment before letting out a genuine chuckle. "Please, I'd rather snitch on your loud snoring than that. At least I would gain something from it."

Relieved by the reassuring smile Theo was giving him, Harry leaned back on the couch again.

"Yes, you are right in saying that the smart thing to do in most situations would be to snitch on Harry." Pansy began. "It would be an easy way to get rid of a threat without lifting any fingers. But not in this case. Harry made an all-out challenge to Montague, in front of the whole common room. If he snitches on Harry, it would scream that he is either too scared or too weak to take him on. Montague's reputation would forever be tarnished by it, something that would be avoided by beating Harry himself. He would lose all the respect of the Slytherins, that's the main reason why Malfoy has never been viewed as the leader of our year, no matter how hard he tries. He hasn't done anything himself, he usually depends on his daddy, it makes everyone think he's weak."

"Not to mention that Montague is an arrogant arse who doesn't see a possibility of him losing." Harry muttered.

"Besides, we don't actually know the punishment Harry would suffer." Pansy continued. "We still don't actually know if she can expel Harry - today we saw Dumbledore still has some power over Umbridge. Especially since he's the last existing Potter, one of the richest and most powerful houses in Wizarding Britain."

"Yeah, but the Potters haven't been on the Wizengamot since Charlus died back in '79." The two of them turned to look at Theo. "Father forced me to learn everything I could about the Wizengamot." The boy mumbled bitterly.

"I have a spot in the Wizengamot?" Harry asked, not bothering hiding the confusion he felt. He'd heard of the Wizengamot in passing, but he always brushed it off as something for old pure-blood families. Not something a measly half-blood like himself would have access to.

"You don't know?" Theo almost gasped.

"Yes," Pansy answered, barely hiding her annoyance at his ignorance. "House Potter is an Ancient and Most Noble House, which means you have six seats in the Wizengamot. You should really start looking into this, Potter. You aren't allowed to actually claim your position as head of your house, thereby claiming your position in the Wizengamot and all the other aspects being Head of House conveys, until you're of age. But it's important you learn about it."

"Yeah, no shit." Harry bit out, annoyed that he didn't know something as crucial as this, already thinking of ways he could find out more about the Wizengamot.

"Anyway," Pansy carried on. "There is no guarantee Harry would be expelled, so it wouldn't be smart to actually snitch on him without having that confirmation. After what Harry did to the others last night, he would react even more violently."

"Besides," Harry added coolly. "For as smart and cunning as Montague is, he won't stand that it's me who's challenging him. He'll want to finish me himself."

"How can you be so sure?" Theo asked.

"Because I want to be the one who finishes him."

Potions Classroom

9:00 a.m.

The following morning, the Slytherins had Potions for first period with the Gryffindors. The moment Snape entered the classroom, with the students not far behind him, the professor began jotting down instructions on the board. He had been in a particularly foul mood today, having tried to provoke Harry into losing points twice already, and succeeding once with Neville.

"Potter!" Snape barked before he could even sit down.

"Yes, sir?"

Snape glared at the slight impertinence in his tone. "Sit." He ordered coldly, pointing at the table right in front of his desk.

Harry mentally sighed, cursing Snape to every hell he could think of. "Yes, sir." He grabbed his bag from the foot of the stool where he had dropped it and began making his way towards the appointed table when he heard Snape again.

"Greengrass. You will join Mister Potter today. Do try and make sure he doesn't ruin your work."

"Yes, sir." Daphne answered. Her tone immediately made Harry turn towards her. She ambled towards him, looking more like a lost puppy than the snobbish girl he was used to. Any other day, she would have been smirking, strolling towards him and thinking nothing of him, other than an annoying half-blood. But today was different, and it immediately put Harry on edge.

"Lovely," Harry muttered, low enough, so only Daphne would hear him. "I'm sure we'll have loads of fun."

Daphne didn't say anything back.

"Turn to page seventy-one. Today you'll be brewing a wit-sharpening potion, lord knows you all need it." The whole classroom was silent as they stared at Snape. "For today, dimwits!"

The class immediately sprang into action. Pages were flipped in an almost maniacal manner as people rushed towards the ingredient table. Snape, meanwhile, kept his eye directly on Harry and Daphne.

"You go for the ingredients, I'll find the recipe," Harry ordered Daphne, and after a slight hesitation, she nodded and rushed away.

The wit-sharpening potion had been one they saw near the end of their fourth-year, and it had been challenging, even for the likes of Pansy and Hermione. So going into it, Harry had expected it to be a living hell. Specially since he was working with Daphne fucking Greengrass, of all people. Why Snape had had the brilliant idea of putting them together for this, Harry had no idea. The only thing he had succeeded at was pissing him off.

But the more time he worked with Daphne, the more he became guarded. She had been letting him take the reins, doing everything he ordered and, whenever she corrected him, she was unusually polite about it. It was vexing. Was this some sort of play from Montague? A way for him to let down his defences? If so, it was having the complete opposite effect.

"Here," she told him as she passed him the cut ginger roots. He hadn't even told her to cut them yet. "You're gonna need them soon, I'll get started with the newt spleens."

"What's your fucking problem!?" Harry hissed at her, acutely aware he'd gained Snape's attention.

Daphne blinked. "My problem?" She asked with trepidation. Trepidation. Daphne Greengrass wasn't shy, she wasn't bashful and introverted. Daphne Greengrass would've hissed back at him, not letting him talk to her like that.

"Yes, your problem. What game are you playing? What do you think you're gonna get by acting like the innocent victim?"

Daphne looked around quickly. "Please, not here."

Please!?

"Yes here," he spat. "What the fuck do you want, Greengrass?"

"I want out, o-okay." Daphne glared, probably hating the fear in her voice, before composing herself. "I'm done, okay. I won't mess with the Gryffindors, I won't talk to you ever again if you want, but I'm done. Just leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone. Hell, take the bloody leadership spot you want so much, I don't care anymore."

Harry blinked, staring at the girl in front him and seeing a total stranger. "What?"

Daphne opened her mouth, only to immediately bite her lip as she stared at him intently. "I'm done, just leave me out of your war with Montague. Leave me out of whatever fucking plans you have."

"You were the one who brought Montague into this in the first place!" Harry all but snapped. "I tried to play nice with you, but your fucking ego couldn't take playing second fiddle, could it? And then, you couldn't fight me on your own, you went ahead and got Montague! Of all people - Montague!"

"I didn't-" She stopped. "It was a mistake, okay! It was a fucking mistake! I didn't want this to go this far! I only wanted for you to listen to me! To follow me and do what I tell you to do!"

"You wanted me to be your little slave like Davis and Bullstrode. Did you really think I would just be good with that?"

"No, of course I bloody know you're much smarter than any of those idiots!" She hissed. "But what, you thought you could just suddenly join the group, as if you hadn't been a major arsehole to us for the past two years whenever we wanted to include you, and then ask to be treated as king! You were being out of line, I only wanted to put you in your place!"

"And what, now you don't? What, do you want us to hold hands, sing Kumbaya, be best friends forever?"

"I just want to be left alone," she said coldly. "I just don't want to end up like those people you almost killed."

"Do you think I had a choice!? They were going to ambush me! They would've done the same to me, so don't you for a second ask me to apologise."

"I wasn't!"

"Did you know?" Harry interrupted, his voice low as he glared intently at them.

"Of course I didn't know! I swear, it was Montague! That… that… that…" She couldn't continue, looking away in shame. "You have no idea the thing's he… what he wants to…"

"What?"

Daphne shook her head. "He has ears everywhere. If I tell you… Just, please. Leave me out of this. I promise, I won't help Montague anymore. I won't do anything against you, I swear."

"I'm supposed to just believe you've turned on Montague because you're… what - scared? You've never let anyone walk all over you, what's so different about Montague?"

Daphne looked through his eyes and into his soul. "I've met some real monsters in my life, Potter. Seen some shit that would make you want to hurl your lungs out. Montague… he's just as heinous and perverted as any of them. He has plans for you, he hates you with a burning fury, and he won't stop until you're dead or worse. If you knew…"

"What?"

"I can't say, I won't say. Just please… don't hurt my sister."

As everyone around him fumbled with their potions, Harry stared at the broken girl in front of him. He had never seen Daphne like this, had never seen the usually cold girl break her composure to this magnitude. Harry knew from experience just how vile Montague could be, and in four years, he had no doubt he was much worse now. There was no insincerity in the person in front of him, and it scared him to his very core.

"Don't give me a reason to," he said coldly.

That's it for this chapter! I hope you liked it. One more left before I finally explore the events of Halloween 1991, I'll try to put out a new chapter before the year ends, but since I'm visiting family, I can't promise anything.

Now, I will address this since I know I'll be getting a lot of questions about it. The Wizengamot. I still don't know if, when, or how I will use it. This chapter was a way to introduce it and make it so that, if I wanted to, it wouldn't be used at all. I will say this before anyone thinks this: THIS WON'T BE A SUPER HARRY FIC WITH GOBLIN FRIENDS WHO TAKES A MILLION SEATS IN THE WIZENGAMOT AND BEATS EVERYONE AND EVERYTHING WITHOUT LIFTING A FINGER

Alright, I had to get that out of my system before people made assumptions because that's the last thing I want. I'm still deciding on if I'm going to use the Wizengamot or not - but if I do, it won't solve anything and everything magically. In fact, it would most likely add more problems to Harry than it solves. I'm hesitant to use it since this would lead one step closer to me using more POVs other than Harry, therefore making the story longer and longer. Something that is already happening, seeing as how I've already had the Snape and Neville POVs and have others planned.

Either way, if I don't use the Wizengamot explicitly, it will also serve to give Harry more power and status inside Slytherin House rather than him having nothing to offer outside Hogwarts.

Finally, I'd actually love to know your thoughts about both the Wizengamot and more POVs. I'm curious to see if you'd like to see them in the story or not, and it might add to my internal struggle of whether to use it or not. I will just reiterate, this will never become a super-Harry fic like a lot I've read, I hate that concept tbh, it removes all the conflict the fic should have.

Also, I know these past few chapters have been shorter than usual, and that will be the case until I'm back home. I don't have a lot of time for myself, and updating more often gives me more motivation to write. So, I'm writing this chapters shorter to kinda trick my brain into writing more. Once I get back home, I promise we'll go back to the 4 - 4.5k mark I usually aim for.

Thank you for continuing reading, favouriting, and commenting! It means a lot to me!