CHAPTER 79: Lost Souls (Part 3)
Hogsmeade Village
March 31st, 1996
11:45 a.m.
It was a gray, unwelcoming Hogsmeade that greeted him as he apparated into one of the dead-end alleyways. Rain hailed from above, melting the last bit of stubborn snow from a winter storm, and a gloomy air spread across the village. And for as much as Harry might have wanted to curse Umbridge for making his day so much harder than it otherwise would have been, it had been her mandate that allowed him to blend in so easily with the rest of the students who were spending their day in the village. Still, Harry came prepared.
He'd spent the past day holed up in his room at Grimmauld transfiguring his school robes, shrinking them slightly before changing the emerald green edges into a crimson red and altering the snake in the sigil into the boastful lion. His only comfort was the fact his transfigurations wouldn't last more than a couple of days. Besides, crafting his preparation for today meant he was able to ignore Mrs Weasley's absence from Grimmauld Place.
She had left his room without a word that night, standing up and shutting the door in what almost felt like a daze. And even as he heard the door close behind him, Harry hadn't dared turn back until he blew out the candles in his room and threw himself onto his bed. He didn't blame her for leaving like that, he'd just practically admitted to murdering dozens and enjoying it. He had just hoped she'd be there the next morning and the two would ignore their conversation. But she hadn't returned the following morning. Nor the morning after that.
And knowing she had left because of him, because she couldn't bear to look him in the eye after what he'd just said hurt much more than any angry look he had been expecting.
He'd gone off without breakfast that morning, not saying a word to any of the other Order members and apparating into Yaxley's new safe-house. The man gave him the flask filled with polyjuice and transfigured his features just enough to not be noticed at Hogsmeade. He hated the blond and puffy hair, his overtly crooked nose, and the ice-blue eyes. Most of all, he hated the blurry mess the world had become without his glasses. Whatever damned third-year he snatched from the street had better have good eyesight.
Harry was not proud to admit how hard it was just to make it through the village. By the time he had crossed that little arch bridge out of the village and into the path to Hogwarts, his new face had become the cover picture of what too many butterbeers did to a Hogwarts student. In his defence, the village was filled, and the village suddenly had various loose bricks that almost seemed to be placed there just to fuck with him. The original plan had been to just pick off some random straggler on his way to the castle, but seeing as he'd barely managed to walk through the village without tripping his way into a broken nose he wasn't too confident about his performance along the long road.
However, as he went about carriage hunting he found that fate might not be fully out to get him. It was a Ravenclaw boy from the blue he could make out off ok the cloak, and though Harry wasn't particularly sure if he was a third-year, he was really short, so it didn't really matter. Leaping into the carriage and barely managing to keep himself from falling, Harry shut the door behind him and hit on it three times before it started moving.
"Oi, my friends are still out there!" The boy cried out in a shrill voice only to be silenced by Harry's stunning charm.
"They'll get the next one," Harry said, casting a couple more stunning charms at the boy just in case before plucking one of his hairs and adding it to his flask. The potion sizzled, and before the smell began to repulse him so much that he'd hesitate he chugged down a mouthful of the potion. And thank fucking God for the kid's normal eyesight. But still, as he checked himself in the mirror Harry was still not convinced. Looking between his reflection and the other boy he saw the issue. He sighed, muttering a few curses here and there before taking off his robe and switching it with the kid's. He struck him with yet another stunning charm for good measure before taking out his cheap invisibility cloak and covering him with it.
When they reached the gates at the entrance of the Hogwarts grounds, the carriage was abruptly stopped, but Harry remained seated even as the Auror opened the door and peeked inside. "All good, kid?" He asked and Harry nodded. The rookie shrugged before closing the door once more and hitting the carriage again. And after making sure that they were long past the Auror checkpoint and out of sight of any wandering kids, Harry levitated the boy - still covered by the invisibility cloak - and set him down what felt like a few feet away from the road. He'd be fine within the Hogwarts wards, worst case scenario the kid would wake up in the middle of the night, freaking out, and get detention or whatever. It didn't matter. By that point, he'd be long gone. Besides, the little moron seemed annoying. He probably deserved this.
The reconnaissance trips he'd taken over the past week had alerted him to the presence of Aurors inside Hogwarts. It made sense for it to be the first thing Umbridge did after superseding Dumbledore - it was what she'd wanted from the beginning - but he was surprised by just how many Aurors she actually had. They weren't just at their outpost at the entrance to the grounds or at the exits of the castle where they made sure no one was sneaking anything inside or outside. They were inside, walking the halls constantly. In the Great Hall. The library. There seemed to be nearly two rookies per floor plus the ones outside.
Most of them seemed bored out of their minds as they watched over the students, and Harry couldn't bring himself to blame them. He could picture spending weeks, months, going through Auror training just to be set to stand in the halls and do their best to imitate a suit of armour. Well, at least they weren't attacked by the other suits of armour when they got bored.
They didn't talk much or attempt to stop him from roaming the halls, though they did stare every once in a while. And as he made his way up the Astronomy Wing he also realised that various portraits on the wall were catching his movements. More concerning were the small pink portraits of cats that sat and stared in their best imitation of a muggle picture. However, the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy was big enough that there were no other portraits on the wall, and the ones that were nearby couldn't see into this blind spot. Harry couldn't help but snort at Umbridge's design blunder before he began pacing in front of the wall. And once the door appeared, and he opened it, he realised that his configuration of the Room was changed. Worst of all, it wasn't empty.
For fuck's sake.
Shutting the door loudly behind him, Harry gained the attention of the five students in front of him who were seated at a table. The room had been transformed into a copy of the Hogwarts library, only instead of it being lit up, and lively it looked like it was pulled out of an abandoned manor that was immune to any source of light. Because of course, it was. They were fucking Slytherins, after all.
"Oi," Malfoy snapped down at him. "Beat it. This is a private meeting."
"Do us all a favour, Sleekeazy's, and shut your fucking trap, okay?" Harry gave him a sardonic smile before walking past the group.
"I thought you said no one else could enter the Room?" He heard Theo hiss at Pansy, who was looking at him oddly.
Harry ignored them as he addressed the Room. "Hello sweetheart," he said. "Missed me? Because I sure missed you."
The Room responded almost immediately, shifting all around them. Harry had said let there be light, and the Room complied, and soon enough everything was back. His old study. The duelling arena. The small library in the corner. He was home, and Harry couldn't help but take a moment to let it all in and smile.
"How did he do that?" Daphne asked.
"Harry?" Pansy followed, ignoring the others as she made her way to his side.
Harry turned to her, the scrutinizing look on her face hiding all the hope and fear and worry hidden behind her eyes. The look brought back all the feelings he buried that afternoon in Swinley Forest, and they were only intensified by Theo coming up behind her and looking him over, but still, Harry couldn't bring himself to let himself bask in them for long. "No, it's your sister, Sally," Harry rolled his eyes and walked past the two of them. "What did you morons do to my Room? More than that, how did you keep accessing it?"
"You gave us access," Pansy shrugged, seating back with the others. "Me and Theo at least. The Room recognizes us because you trust us."
"And them?"
"What are you looking at us like that for?" Malfoy complained. "We're supposed to be a team, remember? The Auror Avoiders… or whatever."
"We're not a team," Harry said.
"The three of us are on the Quidditch team together," Theo reminded him and Harry cast him a glare.
"My point is that we're not friends. We're not bonding over burying fucking Montague, okay. And if you're here because Snape told you to keep close and not let me do anything stupid then don't, because I'm not planning on staying, and I've done way too much stupid shit by this point."
"Like losing your wand?" Blaise asked, and Harry felt a little twitch in his brain at his taunting tone. "Yeah, it's not like you depended on it or anything, right? It must suck not being the big boy on campus anymore, right?"
Harry snapped his wrist and Black's wand sprung from the hidden holster within his robe. Blaise's eyes widened right before he was blown off his feet by Harry's banishing charm. The four others stared at him as if he'd just sprung a third, fourth, and fifth eye, and Harry shook his head and pocketed his wand again. "Might not be my own, but at least I'm better off than you sorry lot."
"Who told you about Umbridge taking our wands?" Daphne asked.
"My fairy fucking Godmother." Harry snapped. "Now get the fuck out of the room so that I can do my shit and please, feel free not to come back once I'm gone."
"Harry," Theo called out to him. "We invited them. They're our-"
"Your," Pansy interjected.
"Fine. They're my friends. You can't just leave the castle and expect us - me - not to hang out with them anymore."
"Theo," Harry took in a breath, forcing himself to calm down. "I don't care who you bring to the Room. It's fine. Whatever. But right now, I need to use it. So forgive me for not being too thrilled about being spied on while I go about my business."
"Using your brain now, Potter?" Daphne mocked. "Something big must have happened while you've been skipping classes."
"Oh, honey. You have no idea."
"Just a bit," she smiled. "Still, I know where I'm not wanted. Come on, boys. We'll meet you two for lunch?"
"Sure," Pansy said.
"Wait," Malfoy spoke up. "So we risk our lives defending your name or honour or whatever, and you just come back and treat us like rubbish? That's not very genuine of you."
"That's not how you use the term, you dimwit." Theo sighed.
"Risk your lives?" Harry asked. "The fucking books here are now papercut-proof. How the fuck could you risk your lives for me while in here?"
"He's exaggerating." Pansy glared at Draco.
"I'm not exaggerating," Malfoy said in his manliest voice. "Longbottom was like one second away from going full Potter on us!"
"Longbottom?" Harry turned to Theo. "What the hell happened? He attacked you?"
"I baited him," Theo said. "I was pissed, and he was talking about helping Eli track you-"
"He's helping Eli?!"
"Not yet," Pansy said matter-of-factly. "At least we don't think so. But they've been in contact."
"That… mother fucking… and you five stupid sods confronted him about it?"
"It's not like Theo gave us much choice," Blaise said.
"What were you thinking?" Harry snarled at his friend.
"I was angry-"
"That's a fucking piss poor excuse you berk! As much as we may like to mock Longbottom, he's still miles ahead of you in any duel."
"We know-"
"Then why did you do it?"
"Well, we didn't before," Malfoy said.
"I'm surrounded by bellends," Harry mumbled.
"It's fine," Theo told him. "It was just a night in the infirmary. Longbottom didn't actually use any harmful spells."
"I'm going to kill him. I'm going to fucking murder him."
"No, you're not," Pansy declared.
"I'm considering it."
"How touching," Daphne drawled.
"What are you even still doing here? Don't you have a beater to shag somewhere or are you moving on to seekers?"
Draco suddenly lit up and Daphne glared at him. And before any real argument could break out Blaise ushered the two of them out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Pansy and Theo.
"That was uncalled-for," Pansy reprimanded him, though she didn't seem too bothered by it.
"I don't trust her."
"And you shouldn't," Theo added. "Frankly, she seems just a bit too interested in you. Then again, it could be a more shallow interest, but still. Regardless, she's been helpful recently. And unless you want any more conflicts within the house, I think it's best you play nice with the others. Who knows, you might make more friends."
"They're going to be Death Eaters-"
"Blaise won't."
"Maybe not, but Draco and Daphne definitely will be."
"Theo's still got a point. Keep your friends close and all of that," Pansy pointed out. "We're not saying we should suddenly be the Silver Sextuple or anything of the sort. Just… don't be a dick."
"But that's part of my charm." Harry deadpanned.
"It's really not."
"Why did you want them gone?" Theo asked. "What were you hoping to do in the room?"
Reaching into his cloak, Harry fingered the three pieces of his wand before pulling them out and throwing them on the table that appeared in front of them.
"Is that…?" Pansy asked, staring at them almost reverently.
"Your grandfather couldn't fix it. Dumbledore's trying an alternative, but it's probably not going to pan out. And after… I can't keep doing this with someone else's wand."
"Doing what?" Theo asked.
"Longbottom was right, wasn't he?" Pansy asked. "You're behind the pub attacks. You're going after Montague."
"Already went after him… it didn't end well."
"He beat you?" The mere idea seemed preposterous to Theo.
"He let me beat myself." Harry justified himself. "Using this wand… it tires me out. He let his cronies make me reach my breaking point before he came in to finish the job."
"Didn't really do a good job at that," Pansy pointed out.
"And all the others?" Theo asked. "The people you killed?"
Harry suddenly couldn't look Theo in the eye. He turned around as subtly as he could, but he could still feel Theo's gaze burning at the back of his skull. He opened his mouth, fully intending on telling him the truth, but it resisted him. "You two should go," he ended up saying. "Before Umbridge catches on that you're not where you should be."
"That's not an answer, Harry."
"Well, it's the one you're getting!" Harry screamed, quickly turning and slamming his fist on the table. And if he had thought Theo would have been startled by his force or more inclined to back down, he would have been wrong.
"You don't get to do that," he forced the words out, and it was clear it took a lot of effort not to raise his voice. "You were gone for months. No letters. No nothing. We thought you were dead. Or captured. Or worse."
"What could be worse than dead or captured?"
"I'm not screwing about here," Theo bit out. "You let us think that you're dead, and then you come back and you- you- you say nothing? No explanations, no 'I'm sorry guys, I'll try to keep in touch once I'm back out there playing vigilante.' You just barge in, order us around, and think you can disappear on us again?"
"Yeah," the words came out of his mouth faster than he could catch them. And once they were out Harry couldn't help but shrug. "Pretty much."
Harry didn't have enough time to be surprised before he felt Theo's fist break against his jaw. Harry staggered backward, and though he saw Theo prepping for another blow, Harry didn't attempt to stop him. "I spent months looking for you!" He screamed down at him, gripping him by the shirt. "Spying on Longbottom. Trying to find anything I could about where you were and how to get to you. And this is what I get? Fucking spat in the face?"
"Theo-" Pansy tried getting between the two of them, but Harry raised his hand to stop her.
"I didn't ask you to do that."
"You didn't have to," Theo gritted out. "That's what friends do. They give a shit about each other."
"What do you want from me, Theo? You want me to apologize? Because I won't."
"I want you to stop being an arsehat."
"I'm not being an arse."
"Yes, you are. And we both know that if we hadn't been here when you came, you wouldn't have sought us out. So it's time you stop isolating yourself or pushing us away. Because we're not going anywhere, Harry! Pansy and I… we're fucking staying - even if it pisses you off. And it's about time you get that."
"There's nothing to stay for, Theo," Harry said softly. "For as much as you'd like to wish that everything will just solve itself soon and the three of us are going to ride off into the sunset all happy and free, that's not going to happen. This is it for me. Hunting Eli and Voldemort and every other dark and scary son of a bitch that's just waiting for us in the dark. That's my life. It's all there is to it… it's all there's gonna be for me. And you two deserve more than that."
"You don't get to choose what we do or don't deserve," Pansy said.
"Maybe not… but I'm not gonna be the one to bury you. I can't do that. Not again."
Theo and Pansy had only got more stubborn in their months apart from Harry, and it quickly turned out to be more annoying than endearing. In his defence they forced his hand, he didn't have much time, and he would rather not waste it arguing in circles with his friends. Still, they were rather pissed off when the Room had literally thrown them out into a random Hogwarts hallway. They yelled and threatened, but were ultimately silenced when the door closed in their faces.
Theo had reached out and Harry's first instinct had been to close that door rather than go through it. And as much as he wanted to go through it, he knew he couldn't. Not really. The two of them may have deduced what he'd been doing. They may, intellectually, know all the shit he'd done while they were stuck at Hogwarts. But they didn't really know. They didn't understand. They were just kids… them and everyone else in this castle.
They were better off without him.
But still, that nagging ache persisted even as he got to work on his wand. Though work wasn't exactly the term he would use. Communicating with the Room was always a rather ambiguous thing. And though the two of them had managed to understand each other over their years together, he'd never actually brought something like this to it. It's not like he could just throw the wand pieces on the floor and tell it to fix it.
And yet, that's exactly what he did. But he wasn't surprised when nothing happened.
"Come on," Harry said out loud. "If anyone can fix a bloody wand it's you. You make things come out of thin air, for fuck's sake."
Silence.
"Well, fine. Give me some books on wandlore and I'll fix it myself."
Three books appeared on the table in front of them, but he'd already read them all at the Black Library. There was nothing there that would help him.
"Other books," Harry snapped impatiently. "Give me every book you have on wandlore."
And again, the Room remained still.
"Just do something!" He shouted. "Anything! Just- please. Help me."
The lights dimmed and an air of sadness filled the Room, but yet again, it remained intact. The Room did nothing because there was nothing to be done. His last avenue ended up being as much of a dead end as the rest of them. And Harry took it out on the Room, flipping the table over and kicking the chairs. He destroyed the Room as much as he could without touching his wand. He didn't know if he was taking his anger out on the sentient Room or on its unfeeling furniture, but it didn't matter. And when everything around him had been dealt with and a punching bag suddenly appeared just a few inches in front of him, hovering, waiting for its turn, Harry felt all his anger suddenly seep out of him and leave him a frustrated, impotent mess.
He hadn't known what to expect and had never dared to fully believe this would work. And yet, he still felt the same disappointment he would have felt if he had let himself hope.
Harry turned to his watch and felt the noose around his neck tighten. He was low on time, and his venture had ended up being as worthless as Yaxley had told him it would be. Pulling out the Marauder's Map, Harry's eyes travelled to the hallway leading toward the Grand Staircase before a name caught his eye. Longbottom was making his way up the Grand Staircase, and the corridor where the one-eyed witches' statue was was clogged with students. He couldn't go just yet. But it didn't matter to him, as he'd gotten a sudden idea. And as far as ideas went, this might just be the least idiotic one he'd had all month.
Pulling out his flask, Harry took another sip out of the revolting potion and shuddered before picturing a Gryffindor cloak in his mind right before it appeared in his hand. And as he changed the robes, Harry called out to the Room. "Do me one last favour, love," he said as he knelt down and picked up his wand pieces from the floor. "Open up an exit at the fifth-year Gryffindor boy's dormitory please." The door immediately began forming on the nearest wall and Harry gave a soft smile at the Room. "Thank you. I'll… I'll see you once I get back." He said uncertainly before opening the door and stepping into the mess of a dormitory.
Clothes were littered everywhere, it was hard to tell which belonged to whom, and the musky smell of sweat filled his nostrils. But Harry ignored it as he pocketed the map and his eyes found Longbottom's bed. He wasted no time, throwing open the curtain as he rummaged through his bed. He went over the sheets and looked inside the pillows and under the cushion before he remembered that Longbottom was a grade-A dumbarse. The nightstand drawers were filled with sentimental junk and parchments of half-finished essays. But what caught his eye was the stack of letters near the back.
There were a few letters from Granger and Weasley dated during the summer and winter breaks, but he quickly dropped those when he found his correspondence with Eli buried at the bottom of the stack. He quickly shrunk all of Montague's letters - as well as the unfinished draft that would make for Longbottom's next letter to the twat, before shoving them inside his pocket and moving onto Longbottom's trunk. Harry was only slightly surprised by the lack of any locking charm placed on it but didn't dwell on it much. His heart started racing as he began pulling out all the muggle clothes and unused textbooks before he reached the bottom of the trunk and Harry's fingers brushed over the silky, ethereal texture he was looking for.
He pulled it out, but he didn't do it in a brash or brusque way as he had with the rest of Lonbottom's belongings. He didn't even know why, he could still feel the timer ticking in his ear, but he slowly picked it up and stared at it in awe. His hands ran through more and more of the fabric, and it grew warm and inviting in his hands. He felt a jolt of electricity ran through his body, suddenly making him more awake. More alive. More connected to his magic than he'd been since Black had snapped his wand.
The last time Harry had felt something as powerful as this feeling had been the day he first touched his wand at Ollivanders.
"We're going to be late," Harry heard a shrill voice from below, snapping him out of his trance.
"What's Umbridge going to do," another voice sulked. "I already have detention with her for the rest of the term."
"Yeah, but we don't." Weasley's voice was clearer as he spoke. "As much as we want to be there for you, mate, we're not exactly itching to throw ourselves into Umbridge's torture sessions.
Harry's eyes snapped between the mess he'd made in the room and the cloak in his hands. And before he could start doubting himself, Harry shoved the cloak into the pocket of his cloak and hurried out of the room. Rushing down the stairs, Harry nearly tackled the three Gryffindors right before he reached the fourth-years' dormitory.
"Oi, watch it!" Weasley snapped at him, and though Harry would have loved nothing more than to tell him where he could shove his wand, he instead squeaked out an apology before rushing past them. Granger's queer look didn't go unnoticed, though. He rushed down the stairs and right as he reached the bottom he heard the outrage from above. The common room was filled with people, he couldn't just pull out the cloak and disappear here. And as much as he might want to steal one of their hairs to change his appearance, he'd already used the Ravenclaw boy's hair for the entire flask.
"Shit," he muttered to himself, fully aware of Longbottom and Weasley rushing down. As fast as he could walk without being too obvious, Harry made his way through the common room and reached the portrait. Harry opened the portrait, seeing a few kids rushing towards the grand staircase before he heard the rage-filled growl from behind him.
"Hey, you!" Longbottom snarled as he staggered into the common room. And before he could say anything else Harry immediately leaped out of the portrait door and sprinted away. But Longbottom was now taller - faster - and the lust for blood that shone in the boy's eyes told Harry he could not outrun him. He made a quick right, noticing Longbottom had already jumped out of the portrait too, and Harry gave a half prayer as he pulled out the invisibility cloak and put it over him.
He'd forgotten just how it felt to be hidden under this cloak, it made the cheap one he'd bought last week look like a toddler's half-baked attempt at creating an invisibility cloak. He didn't even feel like he was in the same plane of existence as everything around him. Like he was caught inside his own air bubble deep within the ocean. The world outside was now covered in a slight blue tinge, and when Longbottom and Weasley quickly turned left it was almost in slow motion.
"He put it on!" Longbottom hissed just as Granger rushed into the scene behind the two boys. "He kept on running. He had to have."
"Ron, Neville, don't!" Granger called out just as the two of them seemed to be ready to begin sprinting again. "He's gone. You're not going to catch him."
"We can try!"
"He could be anywhere by now, and we don't even have our wands. Unless you can somehow physically catch him, then it would be useless. Besides, you're not even supposed to have an invisibility cloak, remember? If you advertise it like this you'd only be doing Umbridge a favour."
"So I just let him get away with it?" Neville cried out.
"I'm not saying that. But he's a Hogwarts student, just like the rest of us. And with the Aurors checking us when we leave for Hogsmeade or send a package to someone, there's no way he can get the cloak out of here. We have plenty of time to find it and get him to give it back."
"He is a Gryffindor too," Weasley said, brightening. "We can corner the little rat later tonight."
Longbottom looked more appeased, if only slightly, but Granger didn't seem too sure about Weasley's words. Harry waited a few minutes after the three of them had continued their way down to the Great Hall before he took off the invisibility cloak and pocketed it again. Quickly checking the map once again, Harry noticed that most of the students were at the Great Hall or nearly there. There were a few names roaming some of the halls, Aurors most likely, but Harry managed to map out a clear path toward the statue of the one-eyed witch.
He took his time as he made his way down, and though he bumped into an Auror or two on his way down they didn't say anything other than instructing him to hurry down to the Great Hall. This is what Umbridge wanted the Aurors here for? Fucking hell, the portraits are more useful than them. Still, as Harry purposefully avoided the Aurors it meant that he went around the Grand Staircase and had to climb back up to reach the statue. He climbed up the stairs and passed the House hourglasses as he turned a right only to crash onto the last person he had ever wanted to see.
Severus Snape sneered down at him with all the haughtiness of Oedipus in his prime. His eyes stayed fixed on his face before briefly glancing down at his robes for a second. Then something changed in his face, and before Harry could say anything he was shoved against a wall in the empty corridor and had a wand pressed against his forehead.
"Who are you?" Snape asked humourlessly.
"Professor Snape?" Harry squeaked out, attempting to keep playing the part.
"Last I checked, Mister Ferguson was a Ravenclaw student. Not a Gryffindor one." Snape reached into Harry's pockets and fished out the flask before smelling it. "Polyjuice. So I will ask again… who are you?"
"Are you sure you ought to be pointing your wand at students like that, Snape?" Harry couldn't help himself anymore. "Last I checked, Dumbledore still has a very short leash on you. Tell me, how does it feel being the Order's bitch?"
Snape scoffed, tightening his grip on Harry's shirt. "Not feeling inclined to talk? Do not worry, I have my own ways to get the information I need." Snape's wand pressed painfully against Harry's forehead, and he couldn't help but close his eyes and brace himself for the incoming Legilimency attack. Snape uttered the words, and he immediately felt that probe push into his mind only for it to suddenly crash and dissipate. Snape howled in pain, swaying backward as he clutched at his head.
Harry blinked, trying to understand what just happened before he quickly snapped his wrist and launched a blasting curse at Snape. Snape was launched back, tripping on his own legs and landing arse-first into the ground. And as Snape looked up at him with a mix of shock and anger, Harry finally understood.
"You can't get in my head anymore," Harry uttered, and the words felt like a burden had been lifted over his shoulder as soon as they left him. The two stared at each other for a second before Snape's eyes widened slightly.
"Potter?"
Harry raced forward and kicked the bastard in the face. The back of his head crashed roughly onto the ground, knocking Snape out cold. And as Harry towered over his tormentor, his hands nearly vibrating with bottled-up anger, he found it easier than he expected to turn his back on the professor and keep walking towards his destination.
Severus Snape would get what was coming to him… but right now, Harry had bigger things on his mind.
That's it for this chapter, thank you all for reading!
Next chapter will be the finale of the Lost Souls arc. Be excited!
By the time I'm posting this, I'm ELEVEN chapters ahead, and I have started the arc titled Two Minutes To Midnight, which is a small two-part arc right before the climax begins! If you are interested in learning how to get early access to them, join my discord server using the following link: discord . gg / jyPfbGqhJT
As always, thank you for reading, favouriting, and commenting! I appreciate all of you! :)