Well, mercifully that madness with the notification emails has ended, so we can all resume the normal schedule and put those moments of insanity behind us... Even still, many thanks to the many reviews and comments that people sent, as always. Enjoy the new chapter. ~F
Chapter Twenty Five
Prisoner
Severus turned with the other professors, who had all gathered in the staff room after restraining their pupils to their common rooms, as the door banged open, reveal a quite grisly sight. Albus Dumbledore, his robes slashed and wet with water and blood, guiding in an equally soiled Harry Potter and Giverna Weasley.
Madam Pomfrey rushed to them in a flash, knocking aside several people in her haste, and was examining the pair of students with her wand instantly. The other professors bar Lockhart, who had actually fled the castle when they casually made the comment that he ought to have gone with Potter and Albus with how he had boasted of knowing the location of the Chamber all along, all gathered around to hear exactly what had happened down the hidden passage in the girl's toilet.
Albus did not completely disappoint, although it was clear that he left out quite a bit of detail, however it sufficed the vast majority of the other Professors to know that the creature, which had been a Basilisk of all things, was now dead, and the culprit caught and expelled from the school once and for all.
The old man had caught Severus' eye with a dangerous glint, which told the Potion's master that there was a great and terrible truth to the story, of which he was privy to hear at a later time, but with current company that was not to be possible.
"These two need to come to the Hospital wing, immediately," Poppy said, taking each student by the hand and starting to guide them out. "Yes, I quite agree, Severus if you'll come and assist, I think I might need some sort of pick-me-up as well after that ordeal." Albus said casually, and Severus knew that that was his cue to depart alongside them.
It was clear that something had occurred that either needed his expertise in the Dark Arts, or it was about Potter, although Severus believed that in the present circumstances the two could go easily hand in hand. When he arrived in the Hospital wing a short time later, Poppy had already ushered the two students into beds, Potter in the far back while the Weasley girl was next to her office, and Albus had taken a seat in a chair next to Potter, a cup of strong tea in his hands, while the boy had a bowl of some sort of soup next to a vial of potion, dreamless sleep of Severus was to take a guess as he approached.
"Something to make us unable to be overheard Severus, if you please," Albus requested, and Severus cast one of his personal spells, that would fill the ears of listeners with a subtle buzzing, making their conversation quite undetectable.
"Now Harry," Albus started slowly, turning to face the boy dead on, even as Potter pushed aside his half eaten bowl of soup with a look of disgust, although Severus doubted it was regarding the food. "We need to discuss your particular… talents… that you displayed both before and within the Chamber of Secrets…"
And suddenly Severus was terribly worried that his spell might not be strong enough, as the look on Potter's face seemed to be attempting to melt the Headmaster, the chair he was sitting in, and the stone floor beneath it. "How is it any concern of yours, Professor, what magic that I studied long before I ever met you? Why is it that you, in your wisdom, took it upon yourself to imprison me within your school in the first place, as though you deemed yourself my guardian, when clearly you tried at the first convenience to pawn me off to some magic-less relatives that didn't want anything to do with me?" the boy spat back, eyes flashing dangerously between green and red, almost looking amusing in their festivity, if not for the serious tone and weight of the words.
Albus however, wasn't fazed, "I figured we'd reach this point eventually Harry…" he said sadly, almost remorsefully, "but due to many circumstances, I actually am your magical guardian, and am well within my rights to make certain that you are taken care of. And before you start, you are still considered a child in our world, regardless of the level of independence or freedom you had before you returned to us, and whether you like it or not, the rest of the world would not look kindly upon you just going about and doing as you liked."
The boy looked like he had been slapped, the rage clearly boiling on his face, but Albus had only gotten started, his perfectly calm voice cutting like a knife, "As for your dark magic, it is not merely I that am concerned, but if the entire world were to know, they would be greatly concerned, angry even. There is hardly a person in our world who hasn't heard your name, and the things that you, quite unconsciously I assure you, had done while a child. To learn that the vanquisher of Lord Voldemort has himself turned to Dark Magic would crush their spirits, and they would be out for blood, yours and mine."
The Headmaster then moved like a flash of lightning, his wand flicking out and a circle of magic appearing on the boy's wrist, piercingly blue and making Potter wince and hiss angrily, "Now I am most unable to change what has happened, and I truly wish that I had foreseen the possibility for you to disappear into the unknown for eleven years, but what has happened has happened, and we have to deal with those consequences, both of us." Albus continued, as though he had done nothing at all, "But I cannot allow you to use Dark Magic of any sort in the vicinity of students. I understand that it is part of you now, and that you used it to save my life, but it is inherently destructive in nature; and therefore unsafe for the other children, especially with how proficient you seem to be with it."
"And this is supposed to forcibly prevent my using of it…" Potter said scornfully, holding up the enchanted wrist and shaking it slightly, as though testing to see if the ring of magic would rattle like a bracelet.
"No, I doubt that I currently have magic strong enough to bind you completely in that regard, but if it needs be I will make the attempt to do so. This particular charm is to monitor whenever your magic spikes, such as casting a spell, and will report directly to me if Dark Magic of any sort is used near you regardless of where you are. And as your magical guardian, I will come and remove you from any location where you encounter Dark Magic, and you will stay the remainder of the time, whether it is a holiday or the summer, here at the castle where I can make sure that you are not capable of harming another without my direct involvement to prevent it."
"So it boils down to threats and force then…" Potter replied coldly, his eyes burning like small coals.
"If it must, Harry, I will protect the others students just as fiercely as I protected you down in the Chamber," Albus affirmed, standing. "We will leave you now to rest, and think about how best you can accommodate the situation. I hope that you will in time learn to trust us, and these measures will no longer be needed, and perhaps this addiction to the Dark Arts can be broken in time, but until then we have to keep you and everyone else safe.
Albus started toward the door to the Hospital wing, and Severus followed. The old man stopped at the door and turned back, "Oh, and to that end, you will not be going to Malfoy Manor again, as I cannot trust you in the care of Lucius at this time… Good night."
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Albus felt the explosion of magic rage the moment he closed the door to the Hospital Wing. Harry was extremely displeased, borderline violent in his desire to vent his frustration, but the boy wasn't stupid, and knew better now that Albus would not tolerate anything regarding his dark magic. It had served its limited purpose, in both locating the Chamber of Secrets and defeating Tom and the Basilisk, and for that Albus would grant forgiveness for its uses, but otherwise he could not allow Harry to practice such arts in a school full of light and neutral family's children.
It would only take a few words to have a massive amount of complaints and unwanted attention heaped upon the pair of them, and this constraint was as much for Harry's protection as it was for Albus' sanity, or what was left of it if Severus' expression was anything to go by.
"It had to be done Severus," Albus said, snapping the Potions Master from his dazed state.
"Of that I do not disagree, but I wonder what madness we might awaken by blatantly confronting him in such manner." The man replied, deep concern etched in his voice.
"He is only twelve, Severus, and there is still very much a child in him, regardless of how mature he acts most of the time. And if I must, I will temporarily bind his magic to cut him off from the influence of his own darkness…"
Severus winced at the thought, and Albus knew the reason why. Dark Magic was indeed an addiction in every sense of the word, cutting one off from it completely could, in severe cases, be lethal. "We will do all we can, both to prevent such measures from being needed, and to help him if that is what it takes to save him…" Albus said with finality.
He had made his stand, and would not back down from his word. But he had to actually research the ritual spell to do it if it became necessary. "Harry will not be leaving the castle this summer," he added to Severus as they walked in near silence up to his office, "I cannot risk Lucius trying to undo what we've accomplished thus far with Harry."
"So long as Lucius doesn't become aware of it in another method," Severus commented, and Albus knew to what he was referring. It was highly likely that a letter would be soon winging itself to Wiltshire for the Pureblood, if it wasn't already, but Albus was prepared this time.
"Let him try…" he said, as they arrived outside the gargoyle. He had quite a bit still to share with Severus of what he observed down in the Chamber, and it may take all night, so Albus called and elf for some refreshment, and sat with a sigh of relief in his chair behind the massive Headmaster's desk. "Now to relay what seemed to be a more illuminating evening to you, Severus…" he began.
Then he began recounting all of his observations about Harry, Tom and the diary from the point that Albus and Harry entered the tunnel toward the Chamber.
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Lucius wasn't sure if he ought to have been surprised when a Hogwarts owl swooped into his office to deliver a letter from Lord Nobu'tan. The owl did not remain, so Lucius presumed that it was not meant for him to respond, at least not directly.
Unrolling the scroll of parchment, Lucius was immediately drawn to the hasty script in which the message was written. 'Lucius, Dumbledore now aware of the fel magic, but not existence of the Legion. Probable imprisonment within Hogwarts castle soon, plans must accelerate, will join you soon enough. Continue work to locate Tome, and strengthen defenses of manor, will become primary base when we make our move. ~N'
Incinerating the message as soon as he committed it to memory, Lucius sat in thought for several moments. If Dumbledore was in any way on to them, the Nobu'tan was more than correct that Malfoy Manor would need a security upgrade, but nothing to obvious as of yet. He would save such heavy and powerful magic for whatever 'move' Nobu'tan was referring to, probably his own break out of Hogwarts from the flow of the message.
What was even more interesting was what was unspoken in the letter, as no mention of a cut of communication was made, although it was clear that any letters to Nobu'tan directly would be searched by Dumbledore himself at the least, so Lucius would naturally want to send things indirectly through his son.
But also nothing was said regarding the training of the ex Death Eaters in the ways of the warlock, which meant that that aspect of their training was to continue, if not also accelerate, along with their plans to infiltrate the Ministry and take the Grimoire of Merlin.
However the most interesting thing was the clear command to take no actions regarding his imprisonment. That meant that the boy warlock had a plan already forming in his mind, which Lucius was actually quite interested in seeing unfold. Sketching out a quick and direct reply, Lucius called for the family owl and gave it commands to deliver the message to Draco, although it was clear that the message was labeled to 'Harry Potter'.
Rising after the bird took wing, Lucius stretched, relishing the small pops as his joints realigned to their proper positions after sitting for so long in the cramped office. He had a great deal of work to do if he was to prepare the Manor for the return of Lord Nobu'tan. There was also quite a deal of wards and spells he would like to brush up on first, to see if he could prevent adverse effects from the power the Dark Mark still had over those who had served the Dark Lord before the man had been killed.
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Nobu'tan wasted no time in sending off a letter to Lucius, planning out his orders in detail that would only make sense to the Pureblood Lord if the message was intercepted. With only a few months left before the summer began, and the likelihood of his temporary imprisonment in the castle, he had much that he had take care of, mostly regarding what moves would be taken when he went to leave this place.
He had a strong feeling, much as he did while he was in Dalaran, that his separation from it would go less than desirably, with much fallout after the fact. In the first case, with a dead apprentice and Kel'Thuzad chasing after him all the way to Quel'Thalas, and it seemed that Dumbledore would be more than willing to go to the same lengths, if not further, in his efforts to control Nobu'tan for whatever his inane ends turned out to be.
At least, for the time being, he still had freedom of movement, probably restricted to the interior of the castle other than for classes, but that was more than enough for what he needed. The monitor spell upon him was by far the most concerning of his problems however. Dumbledore had mentioned that it monitored the magic within him, which would have caused Nobu'tan to believe that the Arcane and Fel magic would still be usable, but then he had gone to add that it would notify him if Nobu'tan was even near such magic, which added a layer of problems that was most unwanted.
He would not be able to monitor, in person, any of his fledgling warlocks in action for a time, not that they would need direct instruction for a while yet, but still it was most inconvenient for him. Momentarily he had considered just leaving right then and there, showing Dumbledore that the man had no power over him, but he would face more challenges if his plans with Lucius were not prepared for the inevitable move that Dumbledore would make to try and take him back, possible even by force.
He needed the Manor reinforced to withstand any sort of assault, and preferably for them to take at least one of the artifacts that they needed to summon the Legion before the Headmaster had time to react, and that was the purpose behind the letter, as well as his waiting until into the summer before revealing more of his power to the old man.
Otherwise, Nobu'tan spent his time in the Hospital Wing merely resting, as well as plotting out his own personal moves for the rest of the time that the other students would be at Hogwarts. there were still a few things regarding working with Runestones that he wanted to research, but otherwise he was finished with whatever the various Professors were currently offering to teach him, both in and out of classes, as in the coming year the students were to decide on what extra subjects they were to learn, and Professor Flitwick and McGonagall, both of whom were more than willing to answer his many questions in the past, were more and more deferring him to wait and see when those classes began in the coming term.
But, once he was released the next day, things were truly affected in a strange way by the events of the Chamber. For one thing, the entire view of the Weasley children about him had instantly changed, especially that on Ronald. The boy actually approached Nobu'tan and, without saying a word, shook his hand with what appeared to be tears forming in his eyes before he simply turned and walked away. It was odd, but Nobu'tan guessed that the boy truly was worried for his sister after learning the awful truth of where she had disappeared to.
Otherwise, the attention from the rest of the student body started to become too much about the end of the meal, and were it not for Draco stealthily passing a letter into Nobu'tan's hand as the Slytherins departed the hall en mass. It was mercifully a weekend, so the orc raised human took the opportunity to remove himself from the sights of the other children, and holed himself up in the Ravenclaw common room.
Certainly, there were still some there, but significantly fewer that had random questions regarding the events of the Chamber, as members of his house had already been informed by Professor Flitwick of what they needed to know regarding the incident, and that had been enough for the majority of them. Nobu'tan was sitting in the common area of the Tower, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace and trying to study a few last parts of the library books he had checked out on various Runic magic, when he kept getting distracted from his reading by the large statue that dominated the area just next to the entrance of the tower.
From what he had quickly learned his first few weeks in the House, the statue was that of Rowena Ravenclaw, the founder that the Tower, and house in general, was named for. The woman was an interesting looking witch; rather haughty and a little full of herself, according to the manner of which the statue was made, but what drew the warlock's eye was the small tiara or crown that she was wearing. The famed Diadem of Ravenclaw, another of the artifacts that he needed to open the way for the Legion and earn his ticket back to Azeroth. Unfortunately the artifact was deemed 'lost' by wizarding culture and hadn't been sought after for centuries.
There was a question in Nobu'tan's mind however, he had done a small amount of digging when he had learned that a ghost had been attacked by what had turned out to be the Basilisk, and had found that Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, the resident ghost of Gryffindor, was actually a distant relative of the famed Godric of the same house, which made Nobu'tan wonder, could the other three house ghosts also be relatives of their founders?
Unfortunately, the ghost that sometimes occupied the Ravenclaw Tower, known primarily as the Grey Lady, was not present at this time, so the orc raised human had to wait for her to turn up again, as she often was not seen by members of Ravenclaw for days at a time, and could not be found throughout the castle. Where she went, no one knew…
In the meantime, Nobu'tan busied himself with the letter that Draco had passed to him, which had been written by Lucius in response to his hasty message the previous evening. It was a simply few sentences, affirming the commands given, and wishing Nobu'tan speed and safety in his necessary endeavors, and that all would be prepared as quickly as possible for whenever the warlock decided it was time for them to move forward.
Nobu'tan shook his head, typical Lucius; quick and to the point. Nobu'tan tossed the letter into the fireplace when he was finished with it, not daring to risk another finding it, even in its compressed and hopefully indecipherable script, but no more risks were allowed. He was about to return to his book, when a shimmering pale figured phased directly through the nearby wall. The Grey Lady had returned, looking typically forlorn, albeit haughty and proud, and actually taking a moment to study her, Nobu'tan realized how strikingly she looked like the statue of Rowena, but not exactly.
Approaching the ghost, which had moved to float over a desk in the far side and was looking at the spines of various books in the small Ravenclaw bookshelf there, she turned as he cleared his throat. "Yes, may I help you?" she asked, serene but with a tiny sense of annoyance at being disturbed.
"Pardon me, Lady," Nobu'tan started, "but I couldn't help noticing that you look strikingly familiar to the statue we have of Rowena Ravenclaw, and I was wondering… I mean, the other House ghosts are all somewhat distantly related to their founders, I was wondering if you might be…"
"Might be related to Rowena," she finished for him, and inwardly Nobu'tan smiled, knowing that the ghost had betrayed a small smile at the implication. "Yes, I am related to Rowena, probably far more than the others to their respective founders." She said, seeming to draw herself up slightly in retelling her tale, "In life, I was Helena Ravenclaw, Rowena's daughter. Few rarely ask me of my past anymore, and fewer still have the sincere wish to know that I've seen in you, Mr. Potter, so normally I wouldn't have answered, but for you, I share this important secret."
"Dear Lady Ravenclaw," Nobu'tan began again, hoping that the small amount of respectful flattery were enough, "there must be so much that one such as yourself could teach us about the traits and values of your mother, which if I am to guess you strove to fulfill as much, if not more, than we all ought to be here, in the house named after her."
"Many already know what her greatest value was," Helena replied, pointing at the engraving on the base of the statue of her mother, which read 'Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure.'
"True, but perhaps you understand the phrase in a manner that could benefit us, the future generations that would lack some particulars of the context it was spoken or explained in. Does it refers to knowledge as a whole, or particular parts that someone could learn. Is there a hierarchy of what one ought to learn and an order that things are listed it of most worth?" Nobu'tan conjectured, earning a small laugh from the ghost.
"You are indeed a curious wizard, Mr. Potter. My mother would have greatly appreciated your humor, and from what I have seen, she would have wanted to mould you herself after her own image, to raise you up beyond a point you could possibly have dreamed of." She replied gently, smiling at him.
Nobu'tan said nothing, but he already had quite an idea of what that scenario would be like, having lived it already, twice. Over the next few hours he talked with Helena about her mother, and Helena herself, as the ghost seemed to weary of speaking solely about her mother quite quickly, so the warlock kept the movement of the conversation from focusing solely on the achievements and desires of the great founder for too long.
Nobu'tan was carefully steering them closer and closer to the diadem, but he could tell that it was a sore subject for the ghost, and it made sense, as she probably had been hounded by seekers of the lost artifacts for generations. If there was any information that she had to give, she probably would only give it to the most worthy causes that she could find.
So how best to stimulate the ghost to reveal what she knew? Nobu'tan chose to show her a project that needed such extra wisdom to become a reality, something so extraordinary that it must come to pass, yet difficult enough to warrant the diadem's return to the wizarding world. Spreading the rough parchments filled with his notes and complicated Arithmancy and runic arrays across the desk that they shared, he began his pitch, without mentioning the diadem even once.
"You see, look here," he said, pointing at the modeled stones that would be required to power his vast teleportation network, "even in this day and age, reliable transportation is faulty at best, and through these great portals, I hope to revolutionize the entire method of transportation. If you make getting around easier, people have more time to do other things, and thus society at large is benefitted, but I am having a massive amount of difficulty with these rune sequences," he added, gesturing at a compilation of possibilities in both Latin and other earth-based languages, that were meant to potentially join the space-time gap between each set of portals, "I cannot figure out exactly which sets of runic script will accomplish best what I need. Granted I could use trial and error, but the catastrophe if I make a mistake would shut the project down forever."
Falling silent, he watched as the ghost peered with astonishment at his work. No doubt he was impressed by the complexity and level of effort placed by a second year, a mere child in her eyes, but Nobu'tan knew that this level of design was well past those in their seventh year of Hogwarts, or fifth year of taking runes and Arithmancy.
"Mr. Potter, I had been aware that you are something of an extraordinary student, but I had never considered such passion that you had for this. That one problem solved, and you dream already could easily become a reality, and the world would greatly shudder at the changes that would flow from it." she said.
Nobu'tan smiled shyly at the praise, but frowned, "If only I was just a bit smarter though, as there's no one that would fund a project with even one such terrifying flaw in it."
"Well… there could be… no its ridicules…" the ghost started, but Nobu'tan pounced on the thread of speech.
"There could be a way? How?!" he asked excitedly, allowing his boyish voice to rise in volume slightly. The ghost didn't so much as flush, as part of her translucent face grew slightly more opaque.
"I was going to say, that there may once have been a way." She said sadly, gesturing once more at the statue of her mother. "My mother's Diadem, provides just such a burst of insight when worn by one who is as devoted to their cause…"
Nobu'tan allowed his face to droop then, causing the ghost to look at him in concern, "Then it's hopeless, isn't it. The diadem was lost wasn't it? You're saying I should give up for now, let my dream rest and focus on my studies…"
"Absolutely not!" she replied hotly, and inwardly Nobu'tan smiled at his victory. "The Diadem is lost to those alive now perhaps, but I know where it last was, as I put it in its hiding place myself, when I stole it from my mother."
Once more Nobu'tan forcefully projected the reaction that the ghost would expect from a child, that of hopeful giddiness, "So you know where I can find it?" he asked cautiously, as though still controlling his despair from moments ago.
"Well, I did… before another boy came and persuaded me to help him find it…" the ghost said, ashamed. "And now, while I know the location of the Diadem, it is very much unusable by anyone anymore…"
"Did he break it?" Nobu'tan asked, genuinely curious at this point.
"After a manner…" the ghost said sadly, "he took it, and befouled it with Dark Magic, and it will harm any that wear it now…"
"Well, then there has to be a way to remove that magic and return it to its proper purpose!" Nobu'tan said, letting confidence shine through his young voice, thinking to himself about how easy it was to control the ghost's emotions, one she let him into her confidence.
"Yes," she said slowly, gaining confidence herself, "I suppose you of all the house of Ravenclaw would be capable of purging the Dark Magic in the Diadem, with what I've seen you accomplish…"
"Then where is it?" Nobu'tan asked, keeping himself from seeming to eager to locate it.
"In the room of hidden things…" the ghost replied, "If you need to ask, you will never know… but if you know where it is, you need only ask…" she said, a cryptic little smile on her face. She was testing him, to see if he truly was a brilliant as she hoped he was.
Nobu'tan thought long and hard. Knowing of a room and needing only to ask reminded him of only one location in the entire castle. "The hidden room on the seventh floor, that turns into whatever you want it to be?" he responded, and the ghost smiled. "The Room of Requirement, as my mother often fondly referred to it, created using the magic of the Diadem itself, no less; her pride and joy, after her family that is."
Nobu'tan bowed deeply to the ghost, "Thank you so much, Lady Ravenclaw. You've given me hope that my project will indeed live to see fruition."
"And thank you Mr. Potter, for allowing me to hope for the reparation of a grave mistake I make so long ago…" the ghost responded, watching serenely as he packed away his designs and fled the common room. Once out in the corridor however, Nobu'tan paused. Glancing down at the thin band of magic around his wrist, annoyance flared inside him. If he got too close to the Diadem, and it was cursed, the stupid charm would notify Dumbledore instantly. He could simply shatter the charm with his Arcane ability or even a wizard spell of his own, but Nobu'tan didn't doubt that that would trigger the same notification to the old man as well.
So it seemed that he had little choice but to bide his time, as much as he'd want to seize the Diadem now and be done with it, there had to be a level of planning and patience for now. He had to wait until Lucius was well prepared for the Manor to become a defensible place against Dumbledore, so that they could continue their search for the other artifacts once the young warlock broke out of the school and returned to them there.
So it was with a huge, grudging effort that Nobu'tan turned away from going straight for the hidden room on the seventh floor corridor, and instead went downward to the dungeon room where his alchemy and inscription supplies were gathered, to work some more on those items, perhaps write out more scrolls that would assist his students in understanding their abilities.
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Hermione found the end of term exams to be almost as easy to handle as their first year tests, and with the announcement that the Chamber had been sealed once more and the Heir of Slytherin, although not identified to the student body, was captured, all felt at peace in the castle once more. All, that is, except for Harry and the massive amount of brooding he had started ever since the same announcement.
It seemed that the boy had fallen into an almost depression, nearly silent as he walked around the castle after their exams, lost in his own little world and barely speaking with anyone, Hermione included. And from what she noted, it was the same with his friends in Slytherin, although they seemed to understand what was going on slightly more than she, and had not grown concerned or approached him. She had, multiple times, and had been rebuffed with the ever stated, 'I'm fine,' or other deflections that clearly indicated some sort of deeper problem.
So, one morning in the weeks before the leaving feast, she did something unprecedented to everyone in Gryffindor house for living memory. She stood shortly after she finished her food, and approached the Slytherin table, all eyes on both houses turning to her when they realized her destination.
She walked right up to Draco Malfoy, who was chatting quietly with his friends, the same group of Slytherin Second years that were usually so friendly with Harry, and waited for him to acknowledge her.
"Can I help you, Granger?" he asked as he turned to face her. She pleasantly recognized that there was no sneer on his face, and those around him weren't muttering under their breath, just watching her with a quiet contemplation.
"Yes, possibly, Draco…" she said softly, "I had wondered if you knew a bit more regarding a certain mutual friends of ours, and more pointedly, the current mood that he is in…"
Draco nodded slowly, eyes flickering to the Ravenclaw table, "He's skipping meals now it seems," he said slowly, before gesturing for the boy next to him, Vincent Crabbe, to move aside and make room for Hermione to sit.
There seemed to be a near audible intake of breath from the Gryffindor side of the room as Hermione did so, sitting among those of their supposed 'rival' house. "What we do know," Draco said very softly, after Hermione noticed a few of them subtly wave their wands and a privacy field erect itself around them, "is that something happened between Potter and Dumbledore after they went down to the Chamber of Secrets. Apparently it's of the effect that Harry will not be leaving Hogwarts this summer, for whatever reason the Headmaster has…"
"That makes little sense," Hermione said, more to herself than the others, "Why would Professor Dumbledore be taking such a keen interest in Harry's personal life like that, is it really within his rights as the school Headmaster?"
"Loco parentis," one of the other boys, Hermione thought his name was Theodore Nott, said from the other side of Draco, "As Harry is an orphan, Dumbledore does have authority to act in a parental function as the student in question is a ward of the Ministry."
"Unless it goes further than that," a darker skinned boy across the table added, "And Dumbledore is Harry's magical guardian, then he is directly responsible for where and what Potter does both in and out of school."
"So there's literally nothing that he, or any of us, could do about it?" Hermione surmised.
"Pretty much, and I bet that he just wants to be alone, to plan out how he's going to deal with this…" Draco agreed, nodding.
"But what could he possibly do either?" Hermione questioned, confused.
"Remember, that wherever he was for those ten years, he was totally independent," Nott piped in again, leaning forward to look at Hermione around Draco, "He's used to doing what he wants, when he wants to, this is not something that Harry will take lying down. He's headstrong, and magically powerful, he will find a way to at least make a stand against Dumbledore's control."
"But if it's for Harry's safety…" Hermione countered, still unwilling to believe that Professor Dumbledore would do things to control Harry for reasons other than Harry's own good.
"Somehow, I'm inclined to believe that if that was the case, Potter wouldn't be having such a large problem with it." the other boy, Blaise Zabini, replied. Hermione had no rebuttal for that, as it sounded extremely like exactly how Harry would act.
"Perhaps you're right," she acquiesced, "If there wasn't so little time left before the summer holidays, I'd insist we try something, but if it is indeed Professor Dumbledore that is enforcing that Harry stay, I guess we can do nothing but make sure Harry knows were with him regardless."
She shifted for a moment, catching a glimpse of all the staring eyes from her own house table, and sighed, "I guess I better head back before someone at the Gryffindor table bursts a blood vessel or something…" she said sarcastically, which caused the Slytherins to snort in delight.
"Granger, I have to say, you far more interesting that I initially gave you credit for last year," Draco said sincerely, "I look forward to the rest of our time at Hogwarts, competing and collaborating as opportunity allows it…"
"Why, thank you Draco, I look forward to that as well," Hermione said, surprise mounting eve as she stood from the Slytherin table, and turned to rejoin the frowning faces of the Gryffindors, sitting among her fellow mages, who knew partially the reasons she had approached the Slytherins, and therefore didn't ask stupid questions or make accusations.
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Severus was somewhat curious himself as to the conversation that had transpired between Draco and his friends and Miss Granger, especially since they had gone and broken the unspoken tradition of transcending House tables during a meal, but of greater concern to both him and Albus was the absence of Potter from the Ravenclaw Table for the third meal in a row. The Potions Master highly doubted that the boy was starving himself, but the lack of being in the public eye was worrisome, especially with the newly reaffirmed conflict between the boy and the Headmaster.
Fortunately, there were only so many places that the boy seemed to haunt, and Severus went immediately for the dungeon room where he had permitted Potter to set up his curious side projects, involving his odd variant of Potion-making and other things. He wasn't surprised to find the boy hard at work inside, doing at least three separate things at one time, but the small pile of dishes from the kitchen on a nearby desk were at least reassuring that the boy was not allowing himself to go hungry in the turmoil of his work.
Severus did nothing to interfere or interrupt, knowing that much like his own Potions, some of these things might very well be unstable and require the boy's complete attention until they were safely finished, or put undo stasis before the boy could divert his attention further to communicate.
Only when the boy made a flourishing motion with his wand, sending the content of one of his two cauldron fly into the air and start filtering itself into a multitude of glass vials did he even acknowledge Severus, while still flicking his wand at the second to keep it stirring itself as he sat back at a desk with several metal rods, each with curious runs etched into them.
"Come to drag me back into public view as I've been to long by myself, then?" he asked hotly, grabbing a scrap of glowing cloth and slowly dragging a rod over it, and Severus watched as the cloth crumbled into a strange, purple dust what was carefully collected by the boy into a large sack.
"Not in the slightest, now that I know you are here and not off doing something that the Headmaster would frown upon," Severus said quickly, noting how the boy frowned angrily. It was not the normal angst anger of a teenager denied what they thought to be their personal life, but Severus had to admit it was a rather adult sort of frustration, from one used to the normal attributes of freedom of action, to suddenly be in a position of dependency, whether they wanted to admit it or not, and denial of certain presumed freedoms were bound to have a grating effect on one's patience.
"You're anger is both understood and justified," Severus admitted, peering at the boy as he returned to his cauldron, stirring a thick, yellow mixture with a near ferocious motion, "But the Headmaster is only doing what he feels is best for your welfare. There are a great many things in our world that you are just not ready to experience without help yet, let alone the muggle world beyond that."
"And how am I supposed to experience those things to understand, if I'm to spend all my time enclosed in this castle, without any contact with those whom I have already begun association with, merely because one old man things he knows better how to live my life than I do?" the boy snarled back, and Severus looked past the raging twelve year old to the pure kernel of truth within the words. Treating Potter as though he was in Slytherin helped a great deal apparently, with tolerating his idiosyncrasies.
"It is not ideal, that is true," Severus responded, not meeting the boy's comment where Potter probably wanted, but hitting the mark regardless, "but there are many other ways for you to go about learning about our world, especially with all the time you lost with wherever it is that you were all this time. well adjusted though you may have become to this school, it does truly pale in comparison to everything else out there, and we'd feel more confident if you were more aware of the laws and regulations that were in place for how we are to behave, especially around those who do not possess magic."
This was a viably concern of Severus', which was why he agreed with Albus on keeping the boy in the castle. It was clear that the boy had no qualms about using magic when he pleased, and flouting the statute of secrecy was no laughing matter, ever.
"Hmph," the boy grunted, "I do not have time for this sort of useless delay. There is much work to be done and time is running out…" but what the boy meant by that, Severus didn't know.
