All characters belong to J.K Rowling.
CHAPTER ELEVEN—The Dueling Club
He sat up quickly and looked over at Colin's bed, but it had been blocked from view by the high curtains Harry had changed behind yesterday.
"That's obvious; no professor would've wanted you to see them"
"It was eerie, they looked stone like, grey, and they were cold" –Ron said, remembering Hermione.
As Harry passed the library, Percy Weasley strolled out of it, looking in far better spirits than last time they'd met.(…) "Oh, hello, Harry," he said. "Excellent flying yesterday, really excellent. Gryffindor has just taken the lead for the House Cup — you earned fifty points!"
"That's because he was snogging"—Ginny said, amused at her brother's embarrassment.
"Ginny! Don't say that"
Ginny looked at her mother amused—"Mom, it's just a word"
"I didn't know you knew such a word.
"I know another one, but I don't think he was doing that in the library"—Ginny said, her mother looked scandalized. Her brothers were trying hard not to laugh, and at the same time they hated to know their sister knew such things.
Harry forced a laugh, watched Percy walk out of sight, and then headed straight for Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He couldn't see why Ron and Hermione would be in there again.
"Yeah, why are you there again?"
"Do you realize…"—the trio said looking at up at Ginny-"How close you were to you know, dying"—some adults look concerned at the redheads words.
Hermione, who had been able to see a glimpse of the Basilisk, paled—"Yes, days later."
"It's me," he said, closing the door behind him. There was a clunk, a splash, and a gasp from within the stall, and he saw Hermione's eye peering through the keyhole. (…) "Harry!" she said. "You gave us such a fright
"That's because you're doing something you're not supposed to"—McGonagall shook her head disapprovingly
An old cauldron was perched on the toilet, and a crackling from under the rim told Harry they had lit a fire beneath it
"You did the potion in the toilet"—Snape expressed incredulously
"I made sure it was clean"
"The sooner we get a confession out of Malfoy, the better," snarled Ron.
"I see why you would blame it on him, but didn't you learn anything from the year before, to not jump to conclusions." —George said
"Lucius Malfoy must've opened the Chamber when he was at school here, and now he's told dear old Draco how to do it.
"Your assumptions are not wrong. Lucius Malfoy is the bad guy, but not the direct perpetrator." —Bill said.
Moody liked how the kids were able to deduce information, they had good instincts they were still green and needed training, but they were good
"Maybe it can make itself invisible," said Hermione (…)"Or maybe it can disguise itself (…)"You read too much, Hermione," said Ron
Hermione glared at Ron—"My reading has saved our lives…"
"I know I'm sorry, sometimes I don't think before speaking"
"You should start…"
"Stop! No bickering, I have a headache since morning, don't need it to get worse"—Ginny glare at them.
Augusta spoke— "But she's not wrong, whatever is in the castle has to be small for no one to see it"— Ginny and Harry shared a look; they were the only ones who truly knew what the Basilisk looked like. Harry wondered if after the books ended he would be going back down there, he turned to look at Sirius, how would his godfather react if he saw it?
"Hermione isn't wrong"—Remus said quill in hand—"There are multiple magical creatures that can make themselves invisible, but they are not that aggressive to kill or petrified…"-Remus voice turned quiet, a long list of creatures going on in his head. —"It would have to use a stinger, voice, eyes, or venom to do anything like petrifying." —
The Hogwarts professor kept their eyes on the book.
"It's quite obvious once you remember the details"—Luna said
Sirius asked her.— "Luna, do you know what it is?"— She smiled politely while nodding.—"She's quirky"—Sirius whispered to Harry.
"She's a sweet girl. I like her"—Sirius arched in eyebrow at him—"Not like that, pay attention"—Harry said, rolling his eyes.
"You know what, Harry? If he doesn't stop trying to save your life, he's going to kill you."
"Did he, try to save you again?"-Fred asked, unimpressed. It had taken a lot of him and George to keep that bludger from hurting Harry.
"He did, he protected me, actually."
The news that Colin Creevey had been attacked and was now lying as though dead in the hospital wing had spread through the entire school by Monday morning. The first years were now moving around the castle in tight-knit groups, as though scared they would be attacked if they ventured forth alone.
"If Tom would've wanted me to attack them, it wouldn't have matter how many there were together."
That sent chills down the spine of all the professors.
"Susan had been so scared. I did try to make Cornelius allowed me to take some Aurors, but he said everything was under control, that there was in expert in the castle, now I realize he meant Lockhart"—Amelia said, sadly she should've tried harder.
Ginny Weasley, who sat next to Colin Creevey in Charms, was distraught, but Harry felt that Fred and George were going the wrong way about cheering her up. They were taking turns covering themselves with fur or boils and jumping out at her from behind statues.
The twins covered their ears, knowing the screams that were coming. They peeked at their mother who was looking at them disapprovingly, but the screams came from somewhere else.
"What the fuck is the matter with you"—Bill said standing up glaring down at both of them—"I know you were fourteen, but for Merlin's sake does no one in this family has tact. Percy you don't write to mom for everything, you can also write to us"—He said pointing at Charlie— "We didn't leave because we didn't want you any more, we left to seek better opportunities, but we always send letters home, we ask about you…"—Bill was red with rage, he still remembered the terrified little girl that went to visit him to Egypt, they had failed their sister so badly.
"We really are sorry Ginny, we didn't know…"
"It's alright Boys, I'm not mad or anything, and it's been a few years now" –Ginny said, trying to appease her brothers. When she started understanding what had truly happened to her, she had been angry at her brothers for ignoring her, at herself for being so stupid, now she didn't pay attention to those emotions since there was nothing she could do but try to overcome them.
Neville Longbottom bought a large, evil-smelling green onion, a pointed purple crystal
Augusta turned around to look at her grandson, unimpressed—"You were twelve, I won't even try to understand your logic."
"I have to say it was well hidden. Who was selling this?" —Snape asked
"Everyone, who had anything mysterious or odd looking, would say it was a talisman, some Ravenclaw girl sold a Hufflepuff a necklace for seven galleons" –George said meekly, still pale from Bill outrage.
"Damn, that's just plain robbing someone"—Ted said disapprovingly
"Marrieta and Cho I believe it was them, they tried selling it to me"—Luna added
Harry frown, Cho had been a third year; she knew that wasn't going to help.
they had heard that Malfoy was staying, which struck them as very suspicious. The holidays would be the perfect time to use the Poly juice Potion and try to worm a confession out of him.
"It is suspicious if he never stays."
"I believe that was the year fudge celebrated his birthday in France, he invited close friends and since his birthday is the 23 I suppose the Malfoy decided to stay for the holidays"—Amelia said remembering the invitation.
"Pureblood parents, the traditional ones, they don't spend much time with their children"—Andromeda said looking at Harry and Hermione—"mine didn't, I just thought my sister had done different"
"She did"—Snape said defending his friend—"Lucius dragged her, if there were more attacks he wouldn't be in the country".
"Who was watching Draco?"—Kingsley asked
"I was" –Snape answered
The potion was only half finished.(…) Harry privately felt he'd rather face Slytherin's legendary monster than let Snape catch him robbing his office.
Harry said –"I did both and survived"—He whispered to Hermione and Ron, but Sirius and Remus heard it.
Sirius shook his head and Remus rolled the parchment he had in his hand, leaned over Sirius and swiped Harry over the head—"We don't rob Harry." —And he pointed at Snape
Harry rolled his eyes—"I'm sorry Professor that we stole from your private store. I will gladly repay anything that we took."—And with an attitude he didn't know he had, he turned to look at Remus with in expression that said – Areyou happy.
"When you make that Face, you really look like your father"
"The eye roll could've been more intense"—Remus said, slightly shaking his head. He had done his fair share of bad things in his younger years and perhaps that made him a hypocrite, but Harry didn't have to follow their example, he should and could do better.
Molly wanted to say something, she didn't like the attitude Harry was showing, and she knew it had a lot to do with Sirius, but again her own son was stealing and breaking Rules. She would be having a long disciplinary chat with all of her kids.
"I think I'd better do the actual stealing," Hermione continued in a matter-of-fact tone.
Hermione looked down at her lap.
"Miss Granger!"—McGonagall said—"You should be the voice of reason, you should…you are a prefect"
"You made her a prefect for the same reason you made me one, to control our friends, it won't happen"
"Hermione, what would your parents say"—Molly cried
"You are hypocrite Hermione, all term nagging us about our products and here you are stealing from a professor"
"HEY! Leave her alone, she was scared, and we needed answers. Someone had to bloody do something. So calm down, like she said at the beginning of this whole thing, we've had to break the rules to do the right thing. No more nagging at Hermione."—Ron glared at everyone.
The adults all pressed their lips. Tonks was quite happy at Ron for defending Hermione; she had spoken to Hermione and Ginny about their crushes and was glad both boys were finally opening their eyes to what was in front of them, hopefully Remus would do the same.
Amelia was writing furiously, she hadn't been allowed to be on top of this, her damn boss hadn't let her get involved, no she had been left with Sirius mess and the tri-wizard tournament, if only she would've been allowed she would've raided Hogwarts, room by room.
Snape prowled through the fumes, making waspish remarks about the Gryffindors' work while the Slytherins sniggered appreciatively. Draco Malfoy, who was Snape's favorite student, kept flicking puffer-fish eyes at Ron and Harry
Dumbledore sighed; he would be having a long discussion with Severus about his treatment and his teaching. He had left it alone far too many times.
When Snape turned and walked off to bully Neville,
"So it's just a hobby to you?"—Augusta glare at the potion master.—"I will be taking this to the board. If Lucius Malfoy bought his way in, so can I and I promise you I will make your life a living hell"—Augusta glared, almost throwing her purse at Snape.
Snape didn't even flinch, though inside he was fuming. The last thing he needed with the Dark Lord back was people missing with the Job he needed to keep.
The teenagers were impressed with Madam Longbottom, but now Harry understood why Neville was so hard on himself.
Goyle's potion exploded, showering the whole class. People shrieked as splashes of the Swelling Solution hit them. Malfoy got a faceful and his nose began to swell like a balloon;
Amelia was alarmed—"That could've been incredibly dangerous."
"We chose that day because of that potion, we knew it would only swell to a certain limit."
"Yes, but if he had done the potion wrong it could've wounded someone else"—Mr. Weasley said disapprovingly
"He knew it was me," Harry told Ron and Hermione as they hurried back to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. "I could tell."
"You three are very lucky that I can't do anything about this, or you would be having a Very. Severe. punishment.—Snape said in his characteristic pause speech.
"They're starting a Dueling Club!" said Seamus. "First meeting tonight! I wouldn't mind dueling lessons; they might come in handy one of these days…"
"A waste of time"
"Someone told me Flitwick was a dueling champion when he was young — maybe it'll be him."
"Unfortunately, he didn't want to participate with Lockhart"
Gilderoy Lockhart was walking onto the stage, resplendent in robes of deep plum and accompanied by none other than Snape, wearing his usual black.
"Why did you allow him to teach them…you know what I'm not even going to ask any more"—Remus said sounding defeated
"He called Snape his assistant, that would've been fun to see"—
"Professor Snape looked ready to curse him right there on the spot"
Moody, gruff—"I've never understood why they teach people to bow before duelling in tournaments. No one bows before duelling you in real life."
Harry laughed, he didn't know why. It just came out; perhaps the nervousness of remembering the graveyard or the fact that Voldemort loved his dramatics.
"What are you laughing at, Potter?"—Moody half glare
"Voldemort he…"—Harry swallowed, now that he had to say it out loud it didn't seem laughable.—"He made me bow before we duelled."
Sirius grimaced, remembering Harry right after the tournament. —"I'm really sorry that happened to you, pup" –he pulled his godson closer to him.
Snape cried: "Expelliarmus!"
"Ha!"
"What?"—Tonks said looking at Harry
"I forgot he taught us that"—
"That was a Disarming Charm (…)but if you don't mind my saying so, it was very obvious what you were about to do. If I had wanted to stop you it would have been only too easy.
"How did you resist the urge to just take him down a peg or two?"—Kingsley said, he would've had that men cursed and hex to oblivion.
But Snape reached Harry and Ron first. (…) "Time to split up the dream team, I think," he sneered. "Weasley, you can partner Finnigan. Potter —" (…)"Mr. Malfoy, come over here. Let's see what you make of the famous Potter. And you, Miss Granger — you can partner Miss Bulstrode."
"None of those duels ended well"—Ron said, shaking his head. This is one of the reasons he disliked Snape so much, the man went out of his way just to torment Harry.
"Good, never stop looking at your opponent."
He stumbled, but everything still seemed to be working, and wasting no more time, Harry pointed his wand straight at Malfoy and shouted, "Rictusempra!"
Sirius seemed impress—"You didn't fall that's good, it means you have high resistance to spells"
"Potter, don't let your guard down, he's on the floor, finish him"—Mad-eye barked.
Seeing Harry's expression Tonks quickly added—"He means fully incapacitate him, but he's right, imagine he's a death eater you don't wait to see if he's conscious, he's on the floor, make sure either to neutralize him or make sure getting back up hurts."
"Also be prepared for in attack from any position up, down, left, right anywhere"—Amelia added
"And be prepared to kill."—Kingsley said—"Your spells can turn deadly if they connect with another, or you aim them wrong. That's why duels only happen for tournaments or real, life-threatening situations."
"Your Jinx, Hex and curse catalogue has to be extensive as well."—Remus added
All the teenagers nodded, they had discussed the dangers of duelling, and some of them were even working on some spell work to present to the D.A, as a list of spells to use. The more everyone knew, the better.
Molly was not impressed with the people around her; these kids didn't need more encouragement.
Both Neville and Justin were lying on the floor, panting; Ron was holding up an ashen-faced Seamus, apologizing for whatever his broken wand had done; but Hermione and Millicent Bulstrode were still moving; Millicent had Hermione in a headlock and Hermione was whimpering in pain; both their wands lay forgotten on the floor. Harry leapt forward and pulled Millicent off. It was difficult: She was a lot bigger than he was.
"And why did neither of you two fools did something"—McGonagall glare. Snape kept his poker face, Minerva was one of the few witches he respected and didn't dare to fully cross her.
"Ron, you shouldn't have been duelling at all"—Charlie said exasperated
"Doesn't Hogwarts have funds for this kind of stuff? Beauxbatons has a small trust fund for poo… low income families."—Fleur said, and she sent an apologetic smile to Bill, she didn't mean to offend, and he knew it, so he smiled back. Arthur smiled at the girl's quick slip, buthe saw his wife glare, that would be a fun family discussion.
"Yes, the fund was used that year for the Mandrakes, but Mr. Weasley didn't say his wand was broken, and he didn't perform that terrible, we just assumed he was having trouble with the power of his spells. Some students feel the change between first and second years spells"—McGonagall answered.
"Why was Miss Fawcett bleeding?"—Dumbledore asked
"Jinx hit her nose, she was fine"
"Longbottom causes devastation with the simplest spells. We'll be sending what's left of FinchFletchley up to the hospital wing in a matchbox." Neville's round, pink face went pinker.
"Severus, we don't discourage students. Look at what Harry said, don't you feel proud he learned the spell that saved his life last year from you. Neville could learn great things from you, let's work on that, please"—Dumbledore looked at Snape over his half-moon glasses. Snape gave him a curt nod. The rest of the room just looked at them in amusement, consternation, anger, and confusion.
Snape moved closer to Malfoy, bent down, and whispered something in his ear. Malfoy smirked, too.
"What did you whisper?"
"Why can't you mind your business? They are children, let them resolve it like children, you're a grown man"—Sirius barked.
Just do what I did, Harry!"
"What, drop my wand?"
"Oh cub"—Remus said amused.
"I bet he hated that, good the git, deserves it"—Ginny said. This is the Harry I know from the past two summers, she thought. Poor Harry didn't have time to be just a sassy teenager.
Harry smiled when he saw Ginny smile; the girl had been getting paler and paler the more they read, he would have to dose her in calming draught in the final chapters. He stared at Remus, he had called him cub and Sirius called him pup, he didn't know how he felt about that, no one had ever called him anything but boy, freak, or Harry. He wondered what his parents called him.
"Serpensortia!"
The end of his wand exploded. Harry watched, aghast, as a long black snake shot out of it,
"That's what you whispered. That is a dangerous spell"
"No it's not"—Snape defended himself
"It was going to attack Justin, and thinks for that"—Harry glared
Snape lazily, clearly enjoying the sight of Harry standing motionless, eye to eye with the angry snake. "I'll get rid of it…"
"You were trying to scare him."
his legs were carrying him forward as though he was on casters and that he had shouted stupidly at the snake, "Leave him alone!" And miraculously — inexplicably — the snake slumped to the floor,
"Oh no, that isn't good."—Sirius shook his head roughly, passing a hand through his hair.—"I take it people started accusing you of being the heir?"
"What do you think you're playing at?" he shouted, and before Harry could say anything, Justin had turned and stormed out of the hall.
"I became the most feared person in the school"
Snape, too, was looking at Harry in an unexpected way: It was a shrewd and calculating look, and Harry didn't like it.
"In all honesty I wasn't expecting that"—Snape said, the moment he heard the sizzling coming from Potter he had flashbacks of the Dark Lord doing the same thing with his pets, it had been unnerving to hear it again.
Come on," said Ron's voice in his ear. "Move — come on —" (…) Ron steered him out of the hall, Hermione hurrying alongside them.
"Yes, get him out of there"
"A Parselmouth!" said Ron. "You can talk to snakes!" (…) "I know," said Harry. "I mean, that's only the second time I've ever done it.
"But why are you a parselmouth? I don't even remember reading it in the Potter family tree…"
"Neither do, only Slytherin perhaps the Gaunt but…"—Augusta said, everyone missed Dumbledore startled look.
"Can you control it?"—Kingsley asked Harry—"People say it's Dark, but it could become useful, a language of creatures whose venom helps make antidotes would be valuable."
"Especially in the healer world"—Andy said, staring at Harry with wonder.
Harry just stared at all of them—"Um, I can only speak it if there's a snake in front of me or if I imagine one. Who are the Gaunt?"
"The Gaunt are an extinct pureblood family who died because of inbreeding."—Andromeda said without importance. —"If I get you a snake, can you….
No one realized Remus kept reading his parchment or connecting the details in his head, so everyone got a scare when he jumped to his feet yelling—" SNAKE!"
"Where?"—Neville said, lifting his legs from the floor.
"Remus the entire walls have snakes, the couches…"—Sirius said shaking his head at his friend, while everyone looked around.
—"No, idiot, Snake, the voice Harry hears is a snake."
"It's all in the details"—Luna shrugged
"Of course the Slytherin Symbol is Snake"—Tonks said in a dah tone, making everyone feel silly.
Snape rolled his eyes, he didn't want to say it was obvious because that year they all had missed that simple detail, especially when McGonagall came with a list of deadly snakes, and they all dismissed it because of the size.
"Am I right?"—Remus asked Harry who nodded.—"It is a snake now you have to figure what type of Snake"—Harry smiled nervously, only the professor knew about the Basilisk and according to Ginny Mrs. Weasley didn't remember much of what Harry had said, so only Mr. Weasley knew, and he also hadn't confided in his sons.
"I spoke a different language? But — I didn't realize — how can I speak a language without knowing I can speak it?"
"Have you considered having a Snake?"
"No"
"Would you buy one?"
"No"
"Why?"
"I don't…I don't have a very loving relationship with the gift and perhaps never will"
"And now the whole school's going to think you're his great-great-greatgreat-grandson or something —"
"All purebloods are related you might have Slytherin blood or Gryffindor, the only houses that died out was Ravenclaw. Godric had many illegitimate children and Helga had five children, though there is no record of all of them. Slytherin's children were important wizards, their decedents not so much."
Everyone stared at Luna who smiled –"My mother loved History and I have a friend who knows about the founders"—Dumbledore smiled, so Miss Lovegood was friends with the Grey Lady that was rare.
The Dursleys had always forbidden questions about his wizarding relatives.
"The Manor is full of books about the Potter legacy unfortunately only Potter blood can open it because of Family Magic, you can read the Blacks because you're my heir, we can start there"—Sirius said, it hurt to know Harry didn't know about his history, James had always been really proud of being a Potter and his son knew nothing about his family name.
he'd explain that he'd been calling the snake off, not egging it on, which (he thought angrily, pummeling his pillow) any fool should have realized.
"If only it had been that easy"
"Hermione, you're being rude"—Luna said—"Of course he's concerned, he knew the implications".
Professor McGonagall was shouting at someone who, by the sound of it, had turned his friend into a badger.
"In our defence, Lee enjoyed it"—Fred said
"I told Justin to hide up in our dormitory. I mean to say, if Potter's marked him down as his next victim, it's best if he keeps a low profile for a while.
Harry growled in exasperation, Hogwarts had a horrible way of treating him.
"Ernie is a git, just because he's rich he thinks everything that comes out of his mouth is true."—Neville said to the surprise of everyone.
"Hannah," said the stout boy solemnly, "he's a Parselmouth. Everyone knows that's the mark of a Dark wizard
"That's not true, Parselmouth is just a language that a very rare amount of people have."—Amelia said, not liking where this was going.
Potter had some sort of run-in with Filch. Next thing we know, Filch's cat's attacked. That first year, Creevey, was annoying Potter
"This sound exactly like the assumptions you make about Draco"—Fred said curiously
"Why are you defending him"—Ginny said angrily
"I'm not; I'm just pointing it out. Isn't that what these books are for, us to learn…"
Only a really powerful Dark wizard could have survived a curse like that." (…)Didn't want another Dark Lord competing with him. I wonder what other powers Potter's been hiding?"
"The mind of a twelve-year-old is fascinating, now add fear to it, it will believe anything"—Arthur said sadly
"But Ernie isn't wrong, Harry is a powerful Wizard. All the Potters have been"—Sirius confirm, smiling at the boy.
"So that's why Voldemort wanted to kill me? Because I was powerful"—Harry asked him in hush tone
"Yes and No. we will discuss that later, not in this book."—Sirius whispered
"All I saw," said Ernie stubbornly, though he was trembling as he spoke, "was you speaking Parseltongue and chasing the snake toward Justin."
"Like I said, someone that's afraid, needs some to blame"
Charlie laughed—"Ernie was ready to pull the whole Family Tree and hang it in the great hall"
A dead rooster was hanging from one of his massive, gloved hands.
Ginny flinch
"You should've told me something was bothering you"—Hagrid said to Harry—"I could've help"
Harry smiled at the giant.
He was halfway down the passage (…) Justin Finch-Fletchley was lying on the floor, rigid and cold, a look of shock frozen on his face, his eyes staring blankly at the ceiling(…) It was Nearly Headless Nick, no longer pearly-white and transparent, but black and smoky, floating immobile and horizontal, six inches off the floor. His head was half off and his face wore an expression of shock identical to Justin's.
"Really! That's just bad luck"—Ted Tonks.
"No, that's just my luck"—Harry said, a resigned smile on his face
"Harry leave"—Tonks shook her head disapprovingly, Harry was too nice for his own good. It would get him hurt for real one day.
"Did it Kill Nick again?"—Remus said, quickly writing it down.
Peeves stopped, (…)"ATTACK! ATTACK! ANOTHER ATTACK! NO MORTAL OR GHOST IS SAFE! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES! ATTAAAACK!"
"Peeves little shit"—Sirius shook his head
"I don't think Ernie really cared about Justin"—Luna said in annoyance. She disliked people who only cause problems for others.
"Oh, Potter, you rotter, oh, what have you done, You're killing off' students, you think it's good fun —"
"Peeves is just being unnecessarily mean"—
"Professor," said Harry at once, "I swear I didn't —" (…) "This is out of my hands, Potter," said Professor McGonagall curtly.
Andromeda glared at McGonagall.—"You could've been nicer, Harry must've been scared and you acting like he actually killed someone wasn't helping"
"The gargoyle isn't ugly Harry"—Fred said –"Her beauty is unique"
He knew now where he was being taken. This must be where Dumbledore lived.
"This is not how I wanted you to visit Dumbledore's office."
…
Ginny was getting a headache, she wanted to eat and go to bed, perhaps drink the dreamless potion she had rejected from her mother last night. But it was still early, and they had to keep reading. She took a deep breath and tried to get comfortable. She didn't realize someone was watching her.
"Ginny are you feeling alright?"—Harry asked, frown on his face. She looked up and everyone's attention was on her.—"Just a small headache"
"We will stop for today"—Harry stated, they all looked back at him. Snape, Mad-eye and Dumbledore were about to voice against it, but Harry was quicker.—"Kreacher!"
The elf appeared—"Can you make diner earlier today please and get Ginny a potion for her Headache. Call us when it's ready"
Harry got up and looked through the book, all eyes still on him. Sirius was looking at him funny, while Tonks and Hermione were trying not to smile.
—"We still have seven more chapters to read"—
Snape rolled his eyes—"That is the reason we have to keep reading…"—
"We are in a time bubble. Do you have something better to do? Only those who have family should be concerned"
"My husband is used to my long hours"
"Divorced"—Kingsley said
"There you have it"—Harry said to Snape—"Don't worry, you won't miss Voldemort's Christmas Party"—His voice dripping with Sarcasm. Minerva didn't have it in her to reprimand Harry; she had also been watching Ginny and had become concerned with how pale she looked.
Snape glared at the boy, he didn't want more time than necessary with this people.
"I believe it's important we…"
"My daughter has a headache, and I'm sure Harry is also feeling the tension of these books. We don't need to read one book a day."
"Yes,"—Ron said after his father—"The chapters tomorrow will be more vexing, we still have a trip to the forbidden forest that won't be easy on anyone, better we leave the rest for the morning and a break in the afternoon"
"Another break?"—Snape sneered
"Believe me. You will want one"—Harry stated
Kreacher came back and gave Ginny her potion, she excused herself to go lay down on the couch by the fire in the library, with Hermione and Luna going with her. Molly went to the kitchen with Andromeda, leaving only Amelia, Mad-eye the Hogwarts teacher, the Weasley men and Augusta with Neville, the Marauders and both Tonks.
"Mr. Weasley. How much does Mrs. Weasley remembers"
"Not much Harry, I believe her mind was somewhere else and Ginny hasn't said much."
"You know what the monster is?"—Bill asked offended
"I do."
They all looked at him expecting in answer
"I won't say."
Harry looked at Ron who nodded.—"Look, Tomorrow will be difficult, Ginny is already feeling the tension of the book, and she hasn't talked about this with anyone…"
"Be honest boys"—asked Charlie—"How bad is it going to get?"
"Bad, mom and Ginny are going to need extra eyes on them."
Everyone nodded. They all started getting up to wait for dinner in different parts of the house. Snape and Dumbledore headed to the study to have a much-needed discussion.
Soon, Kreacher called for them, and they all headed for dinner. No one spoke, some adults were going over through the events of the last read chapters, dinner was almost over when Harry remembered Sirius saying something about a quidditch memory, and he hoped it was fun because they couldn't go to sleep with the tension they were all feeling.
"So, are you going to tell that story of the quidditch game?" Harry said, looking up at Sirius. Hoping the memory was a fun one.
Sirius smiled and nodded, realizing he had the attention of the entire table.
Remus started chuckling realizing that the group was about to meet Sirius Black Story teller, he was going to make it worth their time.— "It's a story not a theatre play"— Remus said out loud.
"Yes, yes, I know Moony OK. So this was in our 6th year. It was the first quidditch game of the season, and we were lucky to not get expelled"
"Sirius Black, you are really going to tell that story"—McGonagall started shaking her head. Making Remus laugh
"Oh Professor McGonagall doesn't approve, now you really need to tell us"—Fred said moving his plate to the side leaning into the table.
"OK, like I was saying. It was our first game of the season. It was against Ravenclaw your father, Harry, was already the Quidditch captain I had been banned from the game that year, I was a beater."
" Yeah!"—The twin said, happy that they shared something with the marauder.
"But since I wasn't playing, my spot was taken by Marlene McKinnon
"Your girlfriend?"—Luna asked.
"Ah, she wasn't my girlfriend yet. She became my girlfriend after that game."— And for a moment it looked like he was somewhere far away, he smiled and shook his head –"But yes, my girlfriend. Your father and she were playing. Lily, Alice your mom Neville and Dorcas Remus girlfriend…"
All the teenagers turn around to look at their professor, including Tonks. —"You had a girlfriend?" —Ron asked.
"Why so surprised?"—Remus said nonchalant
Ron flush and mumbled in apology, making the wolf laugh
"He didn't only had a girlfriend, he had the hottest girl in the school. I mean, my girlfriend was hot but Dorcas was the envy of a lot of women in Hogwarts."
"That's not a way to speak about women"—Molly said in offended tone. Making the teens laugh.
"He isn't wrong. I worked with Dorcas she was very attractive all de Meadows actually"—Moody said to the surprise of everyone.
Remus laughed trying not to stare at Tonks who was glaring at the floor. –"Yes I had a girlfriend who was also a great friend, move the story along"
"OK, fine. So Alice, Lily, Me, Dorcas and Remus were watching the game and it was going fine, suddenly the Ravenclaw captain decided to take matters into his own hands. When he threw a bludger directly at Marlene, she couldn't see it and I heard James yelling at her. But it was too late and it hit Marlene right beneath the neck and the shoulder, it was a pretty bad hit, Threw her out of her broom almost unconscious and she smashed into the ground really, really bad."
"That was a foul and a very nasty move, could have killed her."—Fred said he had done his fair share of fouls, but no one had been life-threatening.
"We were all in shock and suddenly the whole team was on the ground James is yelling at the captain who turned out to be the beater, I don't remember his name"—Sirius said looking at Remus who shook his head.
To the surprise of everyone Snape remembered—"Jeremy McAlister."— When he realized everyone was looking at him, he just shrugged. He hadn't been happy when he heard Lily had gotten in trouble for defending Potter. He realized everyone was still staring at him—"McAlister was a pain to everyone. Vulgar rich boy"
"He was a git"—Syria said, slamming one hand on the table, Minerva and Augusta glaring at him when their glasses of wine spill, He ignored them and continue.—" So McAllister Pain in the ass for everyone, started arguing with your dad, he called Marlene a bitch, apparently she had said something insulting to his girlfriend and of course, your dad didn't take it nicely."
"Quidditch captains defend their team no matter what"—Ron agreed.
"The McKinnon's and the Potters were friends, and Marlene and your dad had known each other since they were children."—Remus stated and Harry frown, that was also something he didn't know, actually he had never bother to concern himself with his parents friends, Marlene and his dad had been friends, she was also friends with his mom and someone important for Sirius, he wonder if Sirius would be willing to talk about her or if it would be too painful. Sirius kept going.
"James' reaction was to throw a punch, within seconds the whole team was fighting. I was already on the ground and I saw Pomfrey with Marlene, I knew she was alright, so I went to help your dad, the other beater realized and jumps me, I'm on the floor with a punch to the face, and I'm punching back"
"I never got physical on the pitch. It was always after and hiding"—Charlie said, quickly looking away, after Dumbledore, McGonagall and his mother stared at him.
Sirius chuckled at Molly's expression –"While I was on the floor, I saw Remus jumping over me, suddenly both houses are on the floor, I remember your mom and the girls running down the stands screaming our names like crazy and your mom was running towards Marlene when she changed paths because your dad was on the floor." —He said, smiling back at Harry's wide smiled. —"the girlfriends of the boys from the other team were already there and participating in the fight. McAllister's girlfriend tried to tackle your dad, your mom didn't like that, and she tackled the girl down"
"Mom just attacked someone? For dad?"
"Yes" Remus laughed –"She put her entire weight into it" he said, his eyes bright at the memory. Harry's mouth was wide open by this point. His eyes were glistening with excitement, of such story about his parents.
"I thought they didn't like each other."
"The summer before sixth year was when our lives change. Including your parents' relationship" –Sirius said sadly, and quickly went back to the story. –"Your mom is taking her down, it was a sight of slaps and punches, and then I turn around, I see Alice pulling someone off of Dorcas."
"My mother?"-Neville asked in surprise, looking at his grandmother.
Augusta huffed—"Yes your mother I remember this, Frank went to see her during the week because of it. I was not impress and I told her so"
"Yes Augusta, the whole great hall heard the howler" –Dumbledore said chuckling
Ginny was laughing genuinely for the first time all afternoon. "Your parents sound great"— she said, looking at both boys.
Neville was completely amazed that his mother had been in a physical fight. He always assumed she would rather dialogue. — Of course she was she was a true Gryffindor.—He thought
"You're joking, right?"— Hermione said, concern that everyone would react so violently.
Remus shook his head taking over the story— "He's not, I don't know when everything went bad so quickly. We used to have the occasional verbal disagreements but nothing like that, I remember we saw the first punch by James and I knew everything was going to go to hell. Sirius ran, I ran after him and the gaggle of women ran after us yelling like crazy."
"What were they yelling?"—Bill said laughing at Remus choice of words
Remus closed his eyes like in thought.
—"Lily was yelling something along the lines of Sirius stop! And Remus you better not fight! Alice was yelling Marlene's name and Dorcas was yelling different body parts where Padfoot and I could hit"—Remus continued, Sirius was still laughing, it was taking the teenagers by surprise it was rare to see Sirius truly laughing.
—"we are running down the pitch, when I got there, Sirius was rolling around the floor. I see the keeper running towards your dad, he had the beaters bat in his hand, and he's trying to hit him with it. So I ran towards him, I could see Dorcas close to me so I turn around to see where she was to tell her to get off the pitch, and she was tackled by this little tiny thing. I think it was the keeper's girlfriend and the girl is slapping and scratching, then I see your mom, Neville, running towards Dorcas, Alice is pulling the other girl's hair and the other girl is throwing her arms up trying to hurt your mom. Lily was still on the floor, your dad yelling her name trying to get to her"
"At this point, everyone was angry. Both houses were on the pitch either trying to calm things down or joining the fight" –Sirius said sipping his wine.
"I can't believe my mom fought like that. I know she was in Auror but this…its different" Neville stated shock.
"We sometimes corrupted her, she was more friends with Lily and the girls, but your dad was no longer at school. So we kept watch over her."
"Then what happened?"–Ginny asked eagerly.
"We had to body-bind them"
All those students gapped at their professor— "You cursed them?"— George asked, completely impress with McGonagall.
"There was no other way. The moment I saw James face, I saw trouble. James was a very calm man until it involved Lily or his friends. When I turned around, he was already in confrontation. By time, I got down with Filius, Hooch was busy trying to separate the girls; both houses were already in uproar".
"Why did it take you so long to react?"— Amelia asked amusement in her eyes.
"Sincerely it's been so long ago I don't remember but I was just shocked that everything had turned violent so quickly you have to understand."— McGonagall said looking at teenagers. –"The marauders"— she said in a condescending tone.
"I love it when you say our name like that."—Sirius said nudging Remus.
McGonagall rolled her eyes –"I always said they were trouble but they were popular and alongside Lily Evans, Marlin McKinnon and Dorcas Meadow they were considered the attractive people of Hogwarts."
"Even Pettigrew?"—Ron said
"He didn't always looked like that"— Remus said sadly
"He wasn't attractive like the popular pure blood Potter or aristocratic bad boy Black or handsome and kind Lupin"—the teenagers and certain adults looked at Minerva strange. While both Marauders blush.
–"Hogwarts students choose who the attractive ones are every year, you didn't know?"—Dumbledore asked, amused of how two grown men blushed at their old professors words.
"Yes"—the girls said, the boys looked uninterested, though Ron asked himself if he had ever made the cut.
Minerva defended herself—"That was how girls described them, Pettigrew was good-looking in the cute way. The girls were gorgeous, they were popular. Everyone knew who they were, and there were actual bets of how long it was going to take Sirius Black to start dating one of them and how long it would take James and Lily to get together. So obviously people followed them"
Snape almost growled at this. He never understood why people follow their group, they weren't the great thing, and the only one good enough was Lily until she changed for them.
Harry was quite surprise at McGonagall's words. So the Marauders really were a popular group and not only troublemakers like Snape had tried to make him believed, had his mother always been popular, why was she popular for?
"Filius, told me we had to do it before the rest of the students decided to "help". He body bind half of the team, I did mine and hooch the girls. The rest of the school was ordered to go back to their common rooms"
"What did you do when that happened"—Luna asked wide-eye she would never dare to go against her head of house.
"We got scared. Minnie's lips had disappeared. Never seen her that mad"
"The only reason they weren't expelled is because the foul that McAllister did was incredibly dangerous and James told Dumbledore what McAllister had said."
"What happened to him?"
Dumbledore took charge— "he was expelled from playing, he had no remorse for what he did, he felt proud actually."
Ginny pointed at the marauders— "How did you get punished?"—
"We had detentions for one month, Dumbledore allowed us Hogsmeade but we scrap the entire Great Hall by hand on our knees. We cleaned all the armors by hand until they were polished. We helped Hagrid carry the pumpkins for the Halloween feast. Stuff like that."
"You were lucky." McGonagall said glaring at both of them.
"I never said we weren't."
"That was an awesome story."— Harry said shaking his head –"I never thought mom was like that… I mean Dad, you guys but mom…"
"Your Mom was pretty great when she wanted. Especially if it was to defend someone she cared about, all the girls actually. Marlene of course had been incredibly angry at us for defending her honor"—Sirius said eyes up to the ceiling.
Remus laughed but then in his professor voice exclaimed-". Fighting isn't the option, James was impulsive and it almost cost him his badge and it cost us our free time. Do as I say not as I do"—He looked pointedly at all the teenagers.
"Yes, professor"—they all said making Sirius laugh. –"Damn Moony, that was a good imitation of McGonagall"
For a moment everyone smiled.
"We should go to bed."— Molly said, they all agreed and slowly went upstairs.
Harry and Ron found Hermione on the way.
"Mione if Ginny has trouble tonight come get us."— Harry said
"Why?"— Ron asked.
"Because your sister is reliving her death experience Ronald. She needs our support and now I realized we didn't made a good job in helping her through it. Luna and I agree to keep watch over her tonight"
Ron agreed and they walked to their rooms.
Hello guys so I'm back with a few more chapters.
Sooooo quick explanation, the quidditch game memory I don't know where it came from, I was just eating lunch one day and it came to me, I wasn't going to add it because I wasn't sure if it was good, but it feels believable and since we have so little of the Marauder era, we can play with certain information.
I'm working on the grammar errors, but sometimes they just slip through.
Please review and thank you.