I do not own anything from the harry potter universe, unfortunately.
"Normal Talking"
'Thoughts'
"Parseltongue"
Harry yawned as he stretched out in his bed. He hadn't talked to the girls yet, he had decided to give it a day. He wasn't exactly jumping on the opportunity to try and explain something to them that could sour everyone's day. So he let the day pass and now he was going to talk to them, Demona was being quite insistent about it if the fact that his sheets were suddenly flung off and his legs were pulled out over the bed was any indication.
"I'm going, I'm going." He said a bit groggily as he stood up feeling her instance through their bond. Quickly changing into a pair of pants and a long-sleeve blue shirt he threw on his hoodie and made his way to the bathrooms to rinse his face and brush his teeth.
Harry was an early riser, years of being in the Dursleys made it a necessity, so he wasn't surprised when he entered the common room only to see next to no one in the common room. Daphne was not among them so he decided to wait around a bit for her to come out then he would go with her to find Susan and Hermione.
Lucky he wasn't completely alone as he saw Jones sitting on one of the sofa's a book in hand. It was odd seeing her like this, not bad but whenever she was acting normal… ish he would always feel like she was just waiting for the right moment to pounce. That moment looked like now as she turned to notice his appearance and grinned.
"Morning lover-boy." She cooed at him as he rolled his eyes and took a seat on the same sofa.
"Morning. What are you reading?" Harry greeted and asked as Jones closed her book to look at the title.
"Sex in the kingdom." She answered causing Harry to blush heavily at how open she just made that statement and how she didn't even seem to care about it in the least. Then she started to snicker which turned into a cackle.
"Oh! You make the best reactions with your face!" She laughed out her shoulders shaking with her amusement "It's just a book of charms!" Said showing him the cover and indeed it was just a normal charm's book. Harry scowled at her as he huffed, though the power of his scowl was diminished greatly due to his blush. Jones just giggled for a little while longer before resuming her reading.
"So, how did your date go?" She asked the same playful smile still on her lips as she flipped the page. At her question, Harry smiled softly remembering the date.
"It was nice." He said and Jones glanced at him waiting for him to continue but when he didn't she rolled her eyes.
"That's it? That's what I get? Come on I need details… did you snog her real good?" She asked as Harry's blush which was starting to fade came back full force.
"No!"
"So… you didn't want to snog her? Was she not worth a snog?" Jones asked a slight glint in her eye.
"No! I-I mean… yes I guess… it was just the first date!" Harry said with the image of the girls leaning in for kisses was now at the front of his imagination as Jones laughed giddily kicking her feet up and down.
"Okay, okay fine. You got some new clothes though. You look good." She said looking at Harry's much better looking and fitting pants and shirt.
"Yeah th- she took me shopping." He said looking down at his shirt.
"Good taste, nice pick." She said but Harry shook his head.
"They mainly did the shopping I just tried it on." He said as Jones's brows scrunched up slightly.
"You picked some stuff out for yourself though… right?" Jones asked looking towards Harry who again just shook his head.
"Not really."
"Why not?"
"Oh… I don't know… I just didn't."
"Why don't you start from the top beginning to end." She instructed him and Harry did so. He told her how he went all over Hogsmeade visiting the shops and getting to know the girls. Though he was careful to make sure that he didn't let slip that he was actually on a date with three separate girls at the same time. He described Honeydukes, the book shop, and the music shop. He was very happy while talking about it which made Jones feel a little better.
But when he got to the part where they went clothes shopping and the haircut she pursed her lips slightly. The way Harry told her about it made it seem like he truly enjoyed the experience except for a few parts like the payments. But Jones didn't like one little fact that seemed to be pervasive throughout his retelling of events.
"Harry, did you give your opinion during that time or did you just go with the flow?" She asked and Harry shrugged.
"I just kinda went with it. It wasn't bad though." He said and that was the truth. In all honesty that was the first time he had ever been clothes shopping in his life, and he had absolutely no idea what to do. So, he was content to sit back and let the girls guide him through.
"Harry, sorry but that doesn't sound very nice to me." Jones said as Harry looked towards her to see her uncharacteristically looking at him with concern.
"What do you mean? It was nice."
"No, it is nice that she was willing to buy your stuff. I mean that you didn't voice your opinion." Jones said before marking her page in her book and closing it. She then brought her feet up under her as she turned to face Harry fully.
"Okay… crazy big sister time. Harry, you shouldn't just let yourself be… used like that." Jones said and Harry was honestly confused.
"What do you mean? She wasn't using me."
"I'm not saying that they meant to. But it is how it's coming across. I've had a lot of guy friends who have never stood up for themselves in a relationship and come out of it hurt."
"I didn't need to; she was being really nice."
"I'm not saying that she wasn't… Okay look all I am saying is that if something is bothering you, especially on a date don't be silent about it. It may have been fine this time, but it might not be next time." She said trying to get her point across, Jones knew exactly what could happen to someone if they were never given a choice. Her father was a testament to that, the last thing she wanted was to see someone she had grown very fond of being in a similar situation. No matter how innocent it may appear.
For Harry's part, he sort of understood but was still a bit confused. He mentally cursed the Dursleys for his lack of experience with anything outside of serving them. Even with his time at Hogwarts, he was always preoccupied, usually with not dying to handle things like life skills. So while he could somewhat understand what Jones was saying it didn't completely click for him.
"I… think I get it." Harry had finally answered.
"I'm not trying to ruin your first dating experience, I'm sure she didn't mean to be so… controlling. Just when the next date comes around don't be such a pushover." She said and Harry nodded.
"On that note…" She continued as she reached over ruffling his hair. Harry was amused for a moment until he suddenly felt her fingers press into that place on his neck where it met the collar bone. The sudden jolt he felt was like tickling but made him squirm so much worse as he tried to imitate a turtle and tucked his head in.
"Megan!" He cried out as she just gained a wide grin as she brought her other hand over to get the other side causing him to gasp. She laughed maniacally as she continued to torment him playfully but relented once she was sure that the seriousness of their conversation was gone. She hated being serious.
"Jones!" Harry whined as he scooted as far from the older girl as he could who just cackled.
"We were being far too serious!" She said simply.
"You started the conversation!"
"Details." She waved him off with a smirk. Neither of them noticed but Daphne had woken up and came to the common room. But when she caught their conversation, she quickly hid behind a corner and listened in. She heard what Jones said and couldn't help but feel guilt bubble inside her. Looking back, she mentally kicked herself realizing that in hindsight both Susan and Hermione had been a little too excited about the whole clothes shopping thing.
When she caught what Hermione said about him only having hand-me-downs and what he said about his relatives not wanting to spend money on him made her want to pamper him. She obviously got way too into it and forgot to consider him in full. She made a mental note to bring it up with the others when they had their girl talk time.
Walking in she made her over to Harry and got his attention by gently brushing his hair as he turned. His eyes softened when they connected to her and despite the conversation, she had just heard she felt butterflies dance in her stomach as she smiled.
"Morning." She greeted as Jones looked between the two before smirking. When Daphne looked towards Jones, she simply raised an eyes brow and shot the blonde a meaningful look and Daphne nodded letting Jones know she understood.
"Alright get out of here lover-boy. Your ladies are waiting." She said as Harry just rolled his eyes and stood moving with Daphne to the exit but stopped as he realized what Jones just said as he whipped around to look at her, but she just winked at him. He blushed at being found out but if anyone was going to figure it out it was either going to be Blaise or Jones. As the pair left Jones just re-opened her book, though the cover suddenly shifted as it now read 'Sex in the Kingdom.'
Jones just giggled a little perversely as she flicked the page over.
With Harry and Daphne, they began to make their way over to the Hufflepuff dorm to catch Susan. Though Daphne grabbed his hand as they walked and Harry looked over to her.
"I… overheard what you and Jones talked about." She admitted, "I'm sorry, we should've been a little more considerate—"
"No, it's okay," Harry said quickly cutting her off. "Look, I'm not really… the best when it comes to this sort of stuff." He admitted gently squeezing her hand. "It's a bit overwhelming for me, I mean dating one girl is something I didn't think I would even get to experience. Three girls? That's a miracle all on its own." Harry said his heart rate quickly racing as he spoke.
"But still, we should've been—"
"You girls were all amazing yesterday. Look there's a lot I haven't told you… stuff about my… my relatives." He forced out as Daphne squeezed his hand and he could feel a flood of warmth and encouragement from Demona. "But I can say that when you told me you would spend money on me… it was the first time someone said something like that to me. It was our first date, my first romantic experience ever. I don't know what I'm doing but that's… that's part of the journey I guess." Harry said a blush forming on his cheeks.
"We're not going to get it right the very first time." Harry continued as he offered her a smile. She returned it and quickly gave him a peck on the cheek.
"Even so, I promise we will be better in the future." Daphne promised and Harry simply nodded. He didn't entirely think it was that big of a deal, but he still meant everything he said to her and took Joneses words to heart.
The pair continued and when they reached Hufflepuff they saw a couple of students begin to trickle out.
"Hey is Susan up yet?" Harry asked one of the older Hufflepuff students who scoffed at him and continued on. Harry was confused at first before he remembered that Hufflepuff still thought he cheated his way into the tournament.
"Hey! He asked you a question." Daphne said her eyes narrowing at the boy who went to reply but was cut off by Cedric coming out of the dorm.
"Harry! Morning." The other champion said with a smile as he noticed the younger champion. Then he took notice of how Daphne was glaring dangerously at the other Hufflepuff student.
"Something wrong here?" Cedric asked looking towards his fellow Hufflepuff though the boy just shook his head.
"Not at all." The boy said before leaving.
"Did you guys need anything?" Cedric asked knowing full well that something definitely was going on. He would have to have a real discussion with his house about their continued behavior.
"We just wanted to catch Susan is all." Harry said and Cedric nodded.
"She was still getting ready, but she should be coming out any—"
"Harry?" They heard a familiar voice as the pair smiled seeing the buxom strawberry blonde friend step out of the Hufflepuff dorm.
"And Daphne, not like you care…" Daphne said trailing off a bit at the end, but it was playful. Though Susan still approached and hugged the girl.
"Welp see ya later Harry, have you figured out anything with the Egg yet?" Cedric asked but Harry just shook his head as both boys groaned.
With that, Susan joined the two forming a trio and when they were out of sight, she quickly pecked his cheek.
"I… don't think I am going to get used to that." Harry said idly rubbing his cheek as Susan giggled.
"You haven't seen anything yet, just wait till we start snogging." Daphne said causing Harry and Susan both to blush.
"Daphne! Control yourself." Susan chided but Daphne just giggled. The trio made their way over to the Great Hall knowing full well that Hermione would be in there before any of them. As soon as they arrived they saw Hermione true to form waiting for them at the end of the Gryffindor table. Once she spotted them she smiled and rose to join them.
It was here that the group sat at the Slytherin table for an early breakfast. Harry was sure to give Demona her usual morning ham which she took gratefully. The group ate in comfortable silence before Demona sent a surge of slight urgency through their bond. Harry looked up seeing the girls before gulping down his nervousness. If he didn't do it now Demona would just nag him endlessly.
"Um, girls… I need to talk to you about something." Harry said as the girls looked at him, Daphne had a slight flash of fear flash through her eyes. They might've talked about what Jones said but she was still worried.
"Is everything alright?" Hermione asked concerned and Harry wanted to nod but couldn't, knowing that the subject he was going to broach was not going to be pleasant.
"Is… is it about…" Daphne began before Harry shook his head.
"No, no it's something else, I just need to talk to you in private." He said and the girls nodded finishing up their breakfast and following Harry to his usual training room. Demona manifested out of his shadow and padded over to a nice dark corner of the room and curled up watching the group.
"She's a lot bigger up close." Hermione said with a hint of nervousness.
"She's a big softie don't worry about it." Demona rewarded Harry's statement with a snort as she maneuvered herself so now her back was facing him.
"Oh, look now you've upset her." Susan said walking over to the large wolf and gently stroking her fur. Susan wasn't as hesitant as the other girls, seeing how Harry seemed to be able to handle creatures like a Graphorn she had full confidence in his ability to control the Hellhound.
"What did you need to talk to us about?" Susan asked looking towards him still patting Demona. Harry looked to the other girls locking eyes with each one. A bundle of nerves making themselves known as Demona gently flooded him with warmth through their bond as Harry slowly nodded.
"I-It's about Dumbledore."
"Dumbledore?" Hermione asked confused.
"Yes, he… well I don't know." Harry said not sure how to explain it. The girls were confused and Harry took in a breath and just went with the tried and true method of 'start at the beginning'.
"Okay, so last Wednesday Dumbledore called me up to his office not all that surprising."
"Why wouldn't that be surprising? The headmaster calling you up to his office should be worrying if anything." Daphne said.
"Not really for me, he does it almost every year now." Harry explained and Hermione nodded.
"It's true."
"Is it because of all the trouble you get into?" Susan asked. Most of the school was aware that Harry, Hermione, and Ron often got into incidents, but they could never get any concrete information on it. There were theories of course like it was fairly obvious that Harry dealt with whatever was plaguing Hogwarts in their second year. Then there was his connection with whatever was going on with Sirius Black. Even their first year was highly suspect with the ludicrous amount of points the former golden trio won for Gryffindor.
"I don't get into trouble." Harry defended and Hermione nodded.
"He really doesn't, at least not on purpose."
"Look, we can talk about that later back to the point, Dumbledore invited me to his office. Like I said this was last Wednesday after the first task. He wanted to talk about me about my performance and… he wanted me to give up the magic I've been practicing." Harry said as Daphne cocked her head to the side.
"What? Why?"
"He says it's dark magic, he tried to explain that using the magic could change me, I think his exact words were 'cause me to do things I once thought unthinkable' or at least something like that."
"So, he was concerned? You don't seem so different to me." Hermione guessed, so far she didn't see why this had to be a private conversation.
"It… he wasn't concerned. It's hard for me to explain, it was like he was demanding not asking. Then something happened. I looked into his eyes and suddenly I started to agree with him, everything became kinda, I don't know, foggy? Like I was suddenly underwater and all I could hear were his words. Demona got me out of it though." Harry said looking back at the Hellhound who's tail began to wag ever so slightly at the mention of her deeds.
"Anyway it freaked me out and I left, I've been doing my best to avoid him ever since. Though that's not all." Harry went to continue but Daphne spoke up before he could.
"Wait before that you said you looked into his eyes?" Daphne asked her eyes narrow as Harry recognized her full Slytherin mode beginning to activate.
"Um yeah, why?"
"And only after that you felt compelled?" Daphne asked again her voice now had a rather dangerous growl to it.
"Yes." Harry answered not exactly understanding what she was getting at.
"Oh, that bloody! No good! Wrinkly piece of hippogriff shite!" Daphne suddenly hissed out her face in a twist of anger.
"Daphne language!" Hermione admonish but Daphne whirled on her and the Gryffindor found it very hard to live up to her house values in the gaze of the angry blonde.
"Bugger language! That man tried to manipulate Harry with Legilimency!" Daphne growled as Harry's and Hermione's brows scrunched up in confusion before Hermione's eyes widened.
"Wait isn't that like telepathy?" Hermione asked remembering reading about it briefly.
"Not exactly, it's much deeper than just that." Susan said rejoining the group as she wore the same expression as Daphne but was softer with how she held it. Daphne looked ready for murder; Susan just looked ready to smack someone.
"Legilimency is the mind art's, reading thoughts, viewing memories even ones that the victim has forgotten. Legilimency is a requirement to become a mind healer but to true masters, it's much more dangerous. You can effectively alter a person's mind, force them to think things you want them to think, even alter their memories how you wish them to be." Susan explained as Harry and Hermione both had matching shocked expressions.
"A-And you think Professor Dumbledore did that to Harry?" Hermione asked shocked and more than a little mortified. The thought of a staff member of this school doing something so heinous and horrid to a student they were sworn to guide and protect, was unthinkable.
"Almost certainly, from what you described and the fact that it only happened when you looked into his eyes. I'm sure of it." Daphne said the scowl still present on her face.
"That's not all." Harry said a feeling of betrayal swimming in his mind at what he had just learned.
"There's more!? Harry uncompliant Legilimency is bad enough, uncompliant Legilimency on a minor is pretty much guaranteed time in Azkaban!" Susan exclaimed.
"Yes, there is more, I had a dream…" The girls looked confused before Hermione's eyes widened.
"O-One of those dreams?" She asked and he nodded.
"What dreams?" Daphne asked as Harry took in another deep breath.
"I have… visions. That involves Voldemort." Both Susan and Daphne shivered just hearing the name, but Hermione was able to stand strong.
"These visions, they show me things and Voldemort said something. Something about Dumbledore and everything I've gone through these past years at Hogwarts." Susan and Daphne looked between Hermione and Harry.
"What things?" Daphne asked cautiously.
"You remember our first year when Quirrell 'disappeared'?" Harry asked and the two girls nodded and Harry braced himself "He didn't just disappear or run off… I… I killed him." He said and flinched a bit when he saw Susan and Daphne reel back as if they had been struck.
"What? Why? What happened?" Susan asked trying to wrap her head around what she had just heard. Harry… no Harry was no killer!
"It's a long story but basically Quirrell was a traitor and hosted the spirit of Voldemort and he wanted to get the Philosophers stone in order to get a proper body." The two girls turned to Hermione who just nodded.
"We had to get past all these puzzles that were meant to protect the stone but only Harry was able to make it to the end." She explained the memories of that night still clear in her mind.
"That's the thing, Hermione. According to my dream, those were not traps to protect the stone, they were meant to test us, or rather me." Hermione looked to him as he continued "Then in our second year when the Chamber of Secrets was open isn't it weird that Dumbledore didn't close down the school? Students were getting attacked left and right and the rest were in danger. Yet he kept the school open." He explained and the fact that he was basically repeating Voldemort made him want to puke but he held it in.
Daphne and Susan had already thought about this in second year, it was very odd, but they never wrote home about it.
'Wait why didn't I?' Both girls thought, they didn't write about anything except their lessons and other mundane things but never about the danger the school was in.
"He kept it open for me so that I would find the Chamber and face Slytherins monster, he even sent Fawkes to help me." Harry explained adding that last part as he remembered how the phoenix magically arrived and somehow knew where he was to deliver the hat and the sword.
"Wait! You faced Slytherins monster!?" Daphne exclaimed and Harry slowly nodded.
"How?" Susan asked in pure disbelieve.
"Fawkes, he blinded it for me, and the sorting hat gave me the sword of Godric Gryffindor, I used that to kill the Basilisk." Harry explained as Daphne and Susan paled considerably.
"D-Did you just say a Basilisk?" Susan asked her voice low and again Harry nodded.
"You killed a Basilisk?" Daphne asked as Harry pulled up his sleeve to show his puncture scar.
"How, you should be dead no one can survive Basilisk venom." Daphne said gently tracing the circular scar as Susan laid her hand on Harry's face as if, for a moment, she couldn't believe he was real with her eyes wide in shock and disbelief.
"Fawkes, he healed me before I could be killed by the venom. It was Voldemort again, or at least a past version of him. It was bound to a diary and possessed Ginny Weasley. Dumbledore knew it was a Basilisk, if Hermione could figure it out after a night in the library and figure out how it was getting around the school there's no way Albus Dumbledore didn't know about it. Yet he still kept the school open and even sent his phoenix to aid me. How did he know I was in there in the first place? How did he know where to send Fawkes?" Harry said as he looked over to Hermione who seemed to be having an internal conflict with what Harry was bringing up.
"Then there was third year."
"You're not going to tell us that he was the one to let Black out to hunt you down as another sick test?" Daphne asked and Harry shook his head.
"No, Sirius is a different story. It was the Dementors, how is the world's most powerful wizard going to allow dementors anywhere near castle's ground where students could run into them? Along the perimeter sure, but on the grounds? And he proved that he had plenty of power to send them away whenever he wanted to, like at the quidditch game. He wanted me to face them. Or at least he wanted me to overcome them." Harry said remembering Voldemort's words.
"What about Black?" Susan asked.
"Sirius was never guilty. He was here for Pettigrew."
"He killed Pettigrew." Daphne stated but Harry again shook his head.
"No, Pettigrew framed Sirius right after Pettigrew betrayed my parents, it was never Sirius." As he was explaining a sudden thought came to him.
"And that's another thing, Sirius is innocent, and Dumbledore knows this and yet doesn't do anything about it. Instead, he lets Sirius be on the run and that forces me to stay…" he trailed off, usually, he would never have come to this conclusion but the words of Voldemort and what Dumbledore did to him in his office had shaken his faith to the core if there was any left at all.
"Stay where?" Susan asked gently taking his hand as Harry felt his throat become tight and his breath became shaky.
"With my muggle relatives." He answered lowly as Hermione looked at him with watery eyes.
"Wait why would Black being innocent let you live away from them?" Susan asked as Harry looked towards her and Daphne.
"He's… He is my Godfather." If the girls were already at their limits with being shocked, they firmly pushed those limits.
"Gods Harry." Susan whispered out shaking her head slowly. This was a lot to process.
"And what about this year?" Daphne said her eyes becoming narrow. "Who's to say Dumbledore wasn't the one who snuck Harry's name into the goblet? Maybe this is some kind of new twisted test for him?" Daphne said as Harry shook his head.
"I don't think so, he seemed genuinely shocked when my name came out. But honestly, I don't know." Harry said as Hermione just walked over to the side of the room and leaned against a wall slowly sliding down until she was on the ground.
"I-I just… I can't believe it. I've never thought about it before but… if what your saying is true… oh gods!" Hermione said taking in a sharp breath covering her mouth. Harry went to her side and kneeled in front of her taking her other hand in his as Daphne and Susan came over.
"I trusted him! I thought he… I thought…" Hermione gasped out unable to bring herself to form words.
"There's more…"
"What do you mean there's more!?" Hermione was barely able to process this revelation as is. The headmaster, the man who defeated Grindelwald and was a pillar of light in the magical community, a man she trusted and even looked up to had tried to violate her best friend's mind and has been apparently creating or at least contributing to the dangerous situations that almost cost Harry his life! She was supposed to be able to trust him, they all should be able to trust him, and yet here they were.
"I've found out he's planning something, I don't know what but after he failed to… control me, he's now going to try something else to get me back onto 'the right path'." Harry explained.
"How do you know this?" Daphne asked.
"I conjured snakes before the first task remember, they were the ones who informed me about the Dragons and now about Dumbledore's plan, they also have sensed something in his office. Something with my magic on or in it." Harry explained.
"Do you know what it is?" she asked, and Harry shook his head.
"No, but I've asked my snakes to get it and bring it to me." Harry said as he took a position beside Hermione. Gently he put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her into him just like when she found him in the Gryffindor common room.
"It's okay Hermione." Harry tried to soothe her as she just violently shook her head.
"No! No, it most certainly is not okay! You could've died! I… I just can't believe it." Hermione said sniffing slightly as a few tears escaped her eyes. "We should be able to trust him and here he is trying to kill you!"
"I don't think he's trying to kill me, if he was, he wouldn't have sent Fawkes in second year." Harry reassured. "According to my vision Voldemort believes he's trying to mold me; he wants to turn me into a weapon against him."
"And a weapon of light shouldn't use dark magic." Daphne concluded.
"So, you're just a means to an end to him?" Hermione asked her voice wobbly Harry nodded slowly. He wished it wasn't true, but the logic and Dumbledore's recent actions made it hard to believe otherwise. Susan reached forward and grasped Harry's free hand.
"Harry, my aunt, she's the head of the DMLE if I write her about this, she can help you." Harry looked at her.
"Are you sure?"
"If even half of what you just said is true, absolutely. Just the Legilimency on its own if enough."
"She could probably look into Sirius Blacks case as well. If you can provide memories and a statement for her to take, she could get him a trial." Daphne offered, kneeling to the floor placing a comforting hand on Harry's knee. Harry looked between the two girls and nodded his head.
"If you think it will help."
"It will… what about whatever Dumbledore is planning now?" Daphne asked not forgetting that the old bastard was still plotting something.
"I don't know, just avoid him for now I guess." Harry suggested he honestly didn't have a plan for dealing with Dumbledore and the mere fact that he needed one made Harry feel sick with betrayal.
The group just sat there for a while with Demona eventually coming over to curl around them protectively while they just sat in silence and processed everything. Susan had taken the other spot next to Harry and he placed an arm around her while Daphne sat between his legs and laid her head on his shoulder.
Harry just sat there grateful for their presence and looked to Demona before sending a feeling of gratitude through their bond.
'You were right.' He thought very glad that Demona had pushed him to share this with the girls. Honestly, if it wasn't for Demona he probably would've just bottled this up and kept it to himself. This was a much better alternative to that.
"It's just crazy, Sirius Black is your godfather and is innocent," Susan said quietly.
"He's amazing honestly, maybe I can introduce you sometime." Harry said then felt dread. If he introduced the girls to Sirius, he would have no problem sniffing out the situation. Sirius had this uncanny ability to just know about this sort of stuff and the incessant teasing that would follow made Harry want to groan just in anticipation.
"Do you keep in contact?" She asked and Harry nodded.
"Yeah, as much as I can. I can't send Hedwig to him too much if at all since I don't know where he is most of the time and such I could be sending Hedwig to a different country. Plus, she's recognizable and someone could track her and find us out. Usually, he sends messages to me and I reply and send whatever owl he sent back. He can contact me in the fireplaces too. He's only done that once so far." Harry explained.
It felt really nice to sit there with the girls as they all processed what he had revealed. But alas the moment could not last forever and the group had to stand.
"Do you think we can talk to the other teachers?" Hermione asked as they stood and Harry looked thoughtful but Daphne disagreed.
"That's probably not a good idea." She said shaking her head.
"Why, you don't think that they—"
"No, or at least I hope not. But if we went with them with this they probably wouldn't take us seriously. And even if they did that could still be a problem they could inform Dumbledore without understanding the gravity of the situation. Or they could give us away by confronting him, no this is better kept between us. At least until Susan can get through to her aunt." Daphne explained as Susan nodded.
"Daphne's right, my aunt told me about a few cases like this, it's always better to catch them unprepared and off guard."
"But… Dumbledore can read our minds, how do we keep a secret like this from someone who can do that?" Hermione asked as Harry thought about it.
"Well, does it only happen when eye contact is made?" Harry asked and Daphne nodded.
"Yes, the only other way for him to look into someone's mind without eye contact would be to use his wand. He won't do that if there are witnesses around."
"So just don't be alone with him." Harry concluded and Daphne nodded.
"Yes… we also shouldn't tell anyone else about this, that means no Blaise and No Jones. None of our other friends can know, if they do then that is just one more person that he could get the information off of." They nodded at that.
"So, how do I give your aunt my memories?" Harry asked Susan.
"Oh, I know how to do that, my aunt showed me how to retrieve memories. I can extract the memories and send them to her with my letter."
"Is it hard?" Hermione asked and Susan shook her head.
"Not if you know what you know what you're doing."
"Should we do it now?" Harry asked and Susan shook her head.
"No, I need something to put the memories in and I need to write the letter. I just need to get some vials." Susan explained.
"Okay we have a plan, Susan will get everything ready for her aunt by the end of the day. And until we hear back from her we do not look at Dumbledore and avoid him at all costs."
"And under no circumstances do you spend any amount of time alone with him." Harry added and she nodded.
"But what if he calls Harry to his office again… or me?" Hermione asked, she felt horrid about this situation already. The idea of facing Dumbledore on her own was very worrying, not a feeling she ever thought she would have to associate with the headmaster.
"Don't go alone… in situations like that you can request your head of house to accompany you." Daphne said and Hermione slowly nodded.
"It's going to be okay Hermione." Harry reassured as she smiled at him.
"You're the one that's in danger here, you already have enough to deal with, with the tournament and all. You shouldn't have to deal with this too." She said and Harry shrugged.
"Just add it to the pile." He tried to joke but that seemed to set off Daphne as she regained her scowl.
"There shouldn't be a pile in the first place!" She hissed out as Harry took her hand.
"I agree, but there is… but with you girls, I feel like I can face this one." He said with a smile and that seemed to calm the girl down a bit as she nodded.
"So… what are we going to do in the meantime?" Daphne asked after taking a few deep breaths to help calm herself.
"I have to go and start my letter and get some vials. How about we meet after dinner is here okay?" Susan asked gesturing to the classroom. Harry shook his head.
"No, not here, Dumbledore knows this classroom and knows I train here. It has to be somewhere else. Any ideas?" Harry asked as the girls looked thoughtful.
"What about the second-floor bathroom?" Hermione suggested thinking of the bathroom they would use for girl talk.
"That could work."
"Wait, the second-floor girl's bathroom?" Harry asked and Hermione nodded.
"You've been in there before; remember we brewed that Polyjuice potion." Hermione said and Susan and Daphne looked at her.
"What? When was this?" Daphne asked.
"It was second year; we were trying to figure out who the heir of Slytherin was. Hermione, that's where the Chamber of Secrets is." Harry explained, he had never actually gotten around to telling Hermione where exactly it was located. At that, the girl's eyes all widened.
"We've been meeting at the entrance of the Chamber of Secrets?" Susan asked a bit shocked, she wasn't sure how much more shock she was going to be able to take.
"Yeah, but it's perfect no one goes in there so it's a great spot." Harry said and the girls nodded.
"O-Okay then after dinner we'll meet up in the bathroom." Hermione said a little wobbly thinking about the fact that the home of the monster she was petrified by was pretty much under her nose these past few days.
"What are the rest of you going to do?" Susan asked moving towards the door.
"I'm going to train here, it'd probably be better to not change my routine much right?" Harry said and Daphne nodded.
"Right, in that case, I should go hang out with Tracey and Blaise to keep up appearances, we don't want to let Dumbledore think anything is up by acting differently all of the sudden. Hermione, you should come with me." Hermione nodded at the blonde girl's word. Before she left she quickly went back to Harry and enveloped him in a hug and kissed his cheek.
"We can do this." She encouraged and he nodded with a smile. Not wanting to be left out Daphne and Susan quickly came back to offer him their own hugs and kisses and the group separated. It was head he felt a wet but warm nose press under his arm nudging it upwards as he turned his head to see Demona. With a smile still on his face, he quickly began to pet her massive head in a show of affection.
Through their bond he started to feel something come off of her, the closest thing he could come up with was gloating as Harry rolled his eyes.
"I already admitted you were right. What more do you want?" Harry said playfully and an image entered his mind of a large steaming turkey. He laughed at that giving her a mock sigh of exasperation. "Fine if I have to I'll see if Misty can spare an extra big turkey just for you." He said and felt a flood of appreciation before Demona melted back into his shadow.
Pulling out his wand he maneuvered to his usual spot and brought his wand up. He still had a while to go before he was ready to even attempt to Protego Diabolica, but he was making steady progress.
Shortly after the group separated and Susan had made a B line for her dorm Daphne and Hermione found themselves wandering.
"It's just hard to believe… isn't it?" Hermione asked as they walked, and Daphne bumped her.
"Not here." Daphne said before leaning in to whisper "Portraits." Hermione looked around and never really considered the painting that hung on the walls. However, she trusted Daphne and kept quiet. The girls wandered for a bit and after failing to find Tracey or Blaise they decided to head for the library. Once there they quickly made their way to the usual table they now used.
"Is it okay to talk now?" Hermione asked and Daphne looked around, despite the few older students the library was pretty empty on weekends.
"Yeah, just keep your voice down." Hermione nodded.
"It feels so unreal right?" She asked and Daphne looked contemplative.
"I don't know, I don't know Dumbledore like you and Harry. With my dad being who he is we probably barely show up on his radar." Daphne stated.
"Right… were there many people like your dad?" Hermione asked.
"What do you mean?"
"Like those who were forced to serve. I never really considered it until I met you." Hermione clarified and Daphne looked thoughtful.
"I couldn't really tell you; my dad doesn't talk about it and tries to avoid it as best he can. The only ones who seem to keep in contact are loyalists. He only really talks about those days with my mother, and she tells me and my sister some things but not everything." Daphne explained.
"I see… Daphne… I'm scared." Hermione said as Daphne gave her an incredulous look.
"I feel like you've been through worse than this, I mean you were petrified by a Basilisk before." Hermione shivered at being reminded of that memory. It had been one of the worst experiences of her life. Being trapped in your body but unable to do anything about it. It was surreal like being in a cage with no windows even though she was pretty sure her eyes were open.
"I know, but this is different… it's so much closer to home. This is Dumbledore we're talking about. Harry and I trusted him."
"Hermione, this isn't going to be easy. But Harry needs us to stay strong, I'm glad he told us."
"I'm actually surprised he did." Hermione admitted "A lot of the times Harry won't seek out help, like when the tournament started. He didn't go seeking help, right? Instead, he tried to deal with it on his own." She explained and Daphne nodded, it was Snape that found him and brought him to Slytherin. Daphne didn't know the specifics, but she knew Harry didn't ask Snape for his help.
"He trusts us." Daphne said and Hermione smiled. Just that fact alone made her feel warm inside and she was sure it had the same effect on Daphne if her smile was anything to go by.
It would be several hours until the group came back together for dinner. Harry had effectively worked himself to the ground with his training and was currently filling his plate with enough food to feed three people. Though he was able to eat like a civilized human being, unlike a certain red-headed boy who never even heard of table manners.
The four had acted normal as best they could and in the presence of their friends it was much easier.
"So where have you guys been all day?" Blaise asked and they shrugged.
"I was training today." Harry answered.
"We were just relaxing for the most part." Daphne said gesturing to herself Susan and Hermione.
"Any luck with the Egg?" Blaise asked looking back to Harry who shook his head.
"Nope, to be honest I haven't really touched it at all this weekend, I've had my mind on other things." Harry said and Jones smirked.
"Yeah… having a love life can be so distracting." She said wistfully "Though the snogging makes it worth it, not to mention when things really start to kick off… then you get to…"
"Stop! Stop! We are eating and I don't trust wherever your mind was going with that." Tracey said shaking her head. Jones just laughed.
"Oh? Like your mind doesn't go there sometimes. I see the looks you get… especially when you're looking at a certain someone?" Jones asked as Tracey blushed and became much more interested in her food.
"What? Do you fancy someone Trace?" Daphne asked and Tracey just picked at her food.
"Yeah, we're… talking, I guess. Well, I'm talking to him he's a little shy." Tracey said with a fond smile.
"Oh, the shy ones are the freakiest. Get him in a broom closet and you'll see." Jones said as Tracey just rolled her eyes.
"Maybe I'll try that, given that he doesn't faint first." Harry had listened to the conversation and couldn't help but remember spotting Neville and Tracey talking in the corridor before he met the girls in the library the other day. It took him a second to put two and two together as his eyes widened and he snuck a glance towards the Gryffindor table. His eyes locked onto Neville who hadn't noticed him, but he saw the boy glancing in his direction. Or more specifically Tracey's direction, though every time he did he would just gain the fiercest blush and look away eyes wide as if he couldn't believe what he was doing.
"Okay… speaking of love how did your date go Harry? I never got the chance to ask?" Blaise asked shaking his head at the girls. Hermione, Susan, and Daphne all peeked towards him which Jones noticed but only because she was looking for it. Harry for his part smiled widely happy to remember his first date. Even with Jones's advice, it was still a good memory to him.
"It was pretty fantastic actually. She was nice." Harry said before gaining a light grin thinking about the teasing the girls had subjected him to before their date and thought to get some payback.
"She love's stories, especially fairy tales though she insists on calling them folk tales." Harry explained pleased to notice the blush on Hermione's face.
"Aren't those the same thing?" Blaise asked.
"Don't let her catch you saying that. She's also a baker, she loves chocolate, and I honestly can't wait to try her cakes." Harry said and Susan blushed this time as just like on the date her mind went the entirely wrong direction with that cakes comment.
"She's also really talented, we went to this music store and she picked up this thing called an ocarina. It was honestly magical." Unlike the other two girls, Daphne was able to control herself better but still gained a light dusting of red on her cheeks.
"Sounds almost too good to be true. Sure, you didn't just dream the whole thing?" Blaise asked teasingly and Harry rolled his eyes. He reached for his cup and went to take a drink but suddenly he felt a pressure around his wrist and his hand was jerked backward his cup flying behind him. The hustle and bustle of dinner and talking voices helped cover the sound of the crash but it was still notable to those in the vicinity. Especially his friends.
"What'd you do that for?" Blaise asked startled at the sudden action of his friend along with everyone else looking concerned.
"I… I don't know." Harry said looking back as he got up to retrieve his cup. Sitting back down he placed it on the table and just like always it filled back up. He brought the cup up to his lips again and the same pressure gripped his hand and again flung the cup.
"Harry?" Susan asked concerned as he now got the attention of some of the nearby Slytherin students who were looking at him curiously.
"That wasn't me!" Harry quickly claimed, looking back at the cup. He then took his sleeve and brought it down so he could check his wrist and saw a black slightly wispy tendril around it. Pulling the sleeve back a little more he saw that it continued down his arm. Looking under the table by his feet he saw a familiar pair of smoldering eyes staring back at him. He sent a feeling of confusion through his bond and received a feeling of caution in response and an image of his cup came to his mind.
He brought the cup up again, but this time sniffed it, it was just normal juice nothing special and it didn't smell weird.
"Hermione, can I see your cup please?" he asked, and she looked at him oddly before he sipped the offered drink not receiving anything from his bond nor did she whip his hand back.
"What's going on?" Tracey asked thoroughly confused with what Harry was doing.
"I don't know Demona doesn't want me to drink from my cup apparently." Harry said as Susan, Hermione, and Daphne looked to the shadows under the table in understanding.
"Who's Demona?" Blaise asked.
"Oh, that's right I didn't tell you—"
"Potter, what is the meaning of this?" Before Harry had to explain what he meant it would seem that Snape had seen the little fiasco and had come to investigate.
"Um… I'm not quite sure sir, there appears to be something wrong with my cup or drink." Harry said picking up his cup and handing it to the professor. Snape took the cup and inspected it waving his wand over it his brows suddenly scrunched up.
"It appears someone has attempted to spike your drink, no doubt some form of prank." Snape said though the way he said it was odd. His demeanor became tight and slightly abrasive though he hid it well. "I will take this to properly identify whatever the substance is." Snape said though Harry could tell he wasn't letting on as much as he truly knew. He didn't get the chance to question it as the professor simply walked away from the group cup in hand.
"That was weird." Blaise said not entirely understanding what was going on.
"Hey, can I throw my drink on the ground too?" Jones asked holding her cup as Harry quickly shook his head.
"No! I didn't do it on purpose."
"Did someone hex the cup or something?" Tracey asked.
"You mentioned something about Demona? Who's Demona?" Blaise asked as Harry looked around to make sure the other Slytherins had gone back to their meal. He leaned in and so did the others, except for Susan, Hermione, and Daphne who already knew.
"You remember the big wolf I 'conjured' during the first task?" he asked, and they nodded. "Well, she's kind of still around." He said looking purposefully down. Blaise, Tracey, and Jones looked confused for a moment as they glanced down under the table and all three went wide-eyed and slightly pale, even Blaise.
Under the table in the shadows by Harry's feet was Demona with the top half of her head poking out like an alligator and her smoldering eyes in plain sight. The three sat back up rigidly even the usually cool Jones.
"H-How long has she been there?" Blaise asked and Harry gave a sheepish smile.
"Well technically I conjured her before the first task, and she's been around ever since." Harry explained as the three slowly nodded.
"Is… is she safe?" Tracey asked and Harry nodded.
"Yes, absolutely she's actually very nice." Harry said making the same statement that he made with the girls after their date.
"So, she was the one making you throw your drink?" Jones asked and Harry nodded. The rest of the meal went on after that, Jones was the first to recover and began to ask questions about Demona but carefully so as not to give it away to anyone. Blaise and Tracey were still a bit nervous, but they were coming around as well. Harry promised to properly introduce them later as he finished up his dinner sharing his drink with Hermione who didn't mind at all.
After Dinner, Harry and the girls excused themselves as they began to make their way to the second-floor bathroom as planned weaving in and out some of the other students to look as inconspicuous as possible. Once they got there they quietly slipped inside and Susan produced a letter and ten vials in a small case.
"Okay I got the letter all sorted out and we can put the memories in these." Susan said holding the small box of vials. "We just need to figure out which memories we are going to send."
"Which ones do you think we should send?" Harry asked as Susan looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Perhaps the ones that highlight the danger the school has faced and help incriminate the headmaster. A long memory of those traps you talked about in first year should suffice and a second memory of Quirrell." Susan explained.
"What were the traps for anyway? Were they for Quirrell?" Daphne asked.
"They were meant to protect the Philosophers stone." Hermione explained as Daphne and Susan both looked at her like she had just declared her love for Voldemort himself.
"Dumbledore… placed the Philosophers stone here? In the school?" Daphne breathed out. "Why would he do that? Gringotts would be a much safer option."
"I think that's where it was originally, I think Hagrid picked it up when he took me to Gringotts for the first time."
"We should get a memory of that; it shows that Hagrid took it from Gringotts only to transfer it to the school full of children." Daphne said but Harry felt very uncomfortable with possibly incriminating Hagrid.
"I don't want to get Hagrid in trouble; besides I never actually saw the stone." Daphne looked to Harry for a moment before nodding her head.
"Okay fine but we still need the memory of the stone being in the school. So that's three we have right now."
"Why did Hagrid take you to Gringotts anyway? I know now you were muggle raised but it should've been a teacher, Hagrid wasn't a teacher in first year." Susan asked looking curious, but Harry didn't have an answer.
"I don't know, he just took me to Gringotts and had my key."
"Wait, Hagrid had your key?" Daphne said again her eyes narrowing.
"Um, yeah?" Harry said not fully understanding why that was a big deal.
"Harry, that's your vault key. In the absence of you and your parents, it should've been returned to Gringotts, and they would give it to you upon your first visit." She explained.
"But the goblins asked for it as if I did have it."
"That's because they didn't have it themselves." Daphne explained and Susan continued in her stead.
"She's right Harry when my parents… died… our vault key was given over to my next appointed legal guardian, my aunt. But if she, heaven forbid, died then it would be placed in Gringotts until I became eleven, or whoever my new legal guardians might be required it and they would only be able to take funds for me and only use it on me." Susan explained shuddering at the thought of losing her aunt.
"We need a memory of that Harry." Daphne said and when he went to protest, she cut him off "I know you don't want to get Hagrid in trouble, but he was obviously acting on Dumbledore's orders so he won't get in any real trouble." Daphne assured and after a moment of thinking he nodded.
"Alright but only if you're sure he won't get in any real trouble." Daphne nodded.
"Okay, then we should probably get a few memories from second year." Susan said and now Hermione jumped in.
"We should get a memory of Fawkes in Dumbledore's office." She suggested and the others looked at her.
"So that we can prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Fawkes does indeed belong to Dumbledore so that when it's shown that Fawkes went into the Chamber it can be known that Dumbledore would have to send Fawkes for Harry and thus would prove that he did know where the Chamber was and that some of his students had entered it." She explained and Daphne nodded.
"You know what granger… you wouldn't make a bad Slytherin." Daphne said and Hermione blushed a bit.
"I don't know, I don't think green is my color." Hermione said.
"It's a good idea, so a memory of Fawkes with Dumbledore and a Memory of Fawkes coming to Harry's aid while he fights the Basilisk… I still find that hard to believe." Susan said
"I find it hard to believe that I survived." Harry agreed "Fawkes and the Basilisk are kinda all wrapped into one so I can fit all that into a single memory." Harry offed and Susan nodded.
"Okay, so that's six memories, what about third year."
"I'll give you every memory you need to clear Sirius's name!" Harry exclaimed excited at the prospect which caused the girls to smile.
"We can do that, but we have to be careful we don't want to accidentally incriminate him of anything so no memories where Sirius is acting like a murderer okay?" Susan said so Harry wouldn't be giving them memories of Sirius attacking Ron or going at him with a knife, even if he was technically going for Scabbers AKA Pettigrew.
"I need to give memories of Pettigrew." Harry said.
"You've seen him?" Daphne asked and Hermione and Harry both nodded.
"Yes, he's an Animagus, he was hiding with the Weasleys as a rat." Harry explained and Susan and Daphne shivered.
"That is deeply disturbing." Daphne shuddered just thinking about having an unknown Animagus in her home.
"So, two memories then? One that proves Black's innocence and one showing Pettigrew alive." Susan summed up.
"Maybe three… I have a good memory of Sirius saving us from a werewolf." Harry said and Daphne and Susan both just shook their heads.
"I'm not even surprised anymore." Daphne said resting her face in her hands and Harry laughed at that.
"And just think this year's not even over yet." He joked which caused the other girls to laugh lightly.
"So that's nine, we should get one of you having to deal with Dementors on school grounds." Hermione said but Daphne shook her head.
"I don't know about that one."
"What? Why not?" Hermione asked confused.
"If this is going to go as smoothly as possible, we don't want to upset or give the Ministry any pause for supporting us. While it was Dumbledore that allowed the Dementors on school ground it was the Ministry that sent them here in the first place. We are already going to push them with Sirius Black, imprisoning an innocent man is bad enough. If we add that little bit with the Dementors it could turn them on Harry. Plus, I think the other memories will be more than enough to incriminate Dumbledore already." Daphne explained.
"With the situation with my father my family had to become very skilled with navigating the Ministry and understanding just how much to push and when to back off." She added looking at the two girls who nodded understanding her situation.
"Hey, I never did ask, but Malfoy said something about your father on our date. Is everything okay?" Harry asked, this was the second time the subject of her father had come up in conversation.
"Now it is… my father… Harry, you have to understand that not everyone who served the Dark Lord did so willingly." Daphne explained carefully as Harry's eyes narrowed.
"Why is that important?"
"My father was a Deatheater." Daphne said and Harry reacted worse than he should have as he looked towards Daphne with wild disbelief and a scowl. "He was pressed into it though! He didn't want to serve but he did it to protect me, my sister, and my mother." Daphne quickly explained but Harry was still a little on edge.
"Harry, I swear he did not support you-know-who, nor did he support anything he did." Daphne pressed hoping to any god that would listen that this didn't turn Harry away from her.
Harry for his part was in an internal conflict, he had seen what the Deatheaters liked to do at the world cup. That poor muggle family was tortured and humiliated in front of hundreds of wizards and witches who just ran without batting an eye only caring for themselves. Draco's father easily one the vilest men he knew, besides Vernon, was a Deatheater. Harry was very displeased with the information but stopped short of voicing it.
He remembered the talk he had with Sirius in Gryffindor's common room. When Harry had told him of Jones Sirius had mentioned a Deatheater by the name of Dizzy Jones that actively avoided killing people if he could help it.
"Did your father ever kill anyone willingly?" Harry asked, this would be the deal-breaker for him. If she said yes, then he couldn't forgive the man or overlook his involvement with Deatheaters. If she said no, then he would give her father a chance.
"No never! The only thing he did was destroy a couple of buildings and widespread chaos. Though he hated doing even that much to people, he was tortured for his lack of bloodlust but never wavered. It's one of the few things he's proud of himself for doing while he was forced to serve." Daphne explained and the girls noticed Harry relaxed visibly as he let out a breath he didn't even know he was holding.
"What else is he proud of? I find it hard to believe that he could be proud of anything he had to do." Harry asked and Daphne smiled.
"He was one of the few Deatheaters that actively smuggled Muggleborns to safety during the war. He would make a show of destroying their homes and all that but he would sneak them out first so they could go into hiding." Daphne explained a proud smile present on her face. Her father may have come home a broken man, but he was still a man worthy of respect.
"That's amazing." Harry said honestly "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions like that." Harry apologized but Daphne shook her head.
"If anyone has ample cause to be hesitant or suspicious of any Deatheater it's you. But thank you anyway." She said coming forward and placing a kiss on his cheek. Susan and Hermione smiled at the interaction before Susan got them back on track.
"Okay, we have sufficient memories, nine should be more than enough to get my aunt's attention. Though she's more thorough than I am so she may want to come down and get more memories from you. She's probably going to have to come here to get a statement from you anyway."
"Wouldn't it be better for Harry to give a statement outside of Hogwarts, just to limit the chances of Dumbledore catching wind of this?" Hermione asked and Susan nodded but Harry disagreed.
"No, I can't leave, if I try to leave the Goblet will think I'm running away and strip me of my magic. So, until the tournament is over I can't leave Hogwarts." He explained and Susan looked thoughtful.
"Alright, my aunt can come to Hogwarts, she can come to visit me as cover and sneak off with you to get your statement and whatever other memories she needs." Susan said and Harry nodded.
"Okay, so how do we do this?" Harry asked and Susan sat on the ground and placed the vials next to her. She smiled as she motioned for him to sit down in front of her but facing away. When Harry did so he felt her hands on his shoulder and guided him down. A fierce blush made its way to his face as she laid his head on her lap, though she was pretty much matching it. She couldn't help the ever so slight smug look she shot Hermione and Daphne as she did this.
She might have been a Hufflepuff, but she could still seize an opportunity when she saw it.
"Okay, just run through the memories and I will pull them out, you shouldn't feel a thing." Susan said wand in hand. Harry nodded and began to run through the memories one by one as she requested them. Though she did take this opportunity to brush up against Harry a little bit, placing a comforting hand on his collar or his head. Feeling him rest in her lap was already sending her heart into overdrive as she collected his memories.
Daphne and Hermione felt a little miffed at Susan's little play but relented. They would just need to be crafty and create a situation that could lead them to the same or similar results. It took about ten minutes for Susan to successfully pull out the nine chosen memories and place them in the vials securely. By the time she was done, she had nine vials filled with wispy white energy of the memories stored safely in the box with only one remaining empty.
"I'm sure that my aunt will be much more thorough when she comes but this will get her attention." Susan said closing the box but still had Harry's head in her lap, she didn't mind that as she played with his black locks.
"You know you can get up now." Daphne said and Harry blushed a little realizing just how comfortable he had actually gotten and quickly sat up. Susan pouted at Daphne who just rolled her eyes.
"How are we going to get this to your aunt? Owls?" Hermione asked and Susan shook her head.
"No for something important like this there is only one way I trust. Flecky!" Susan called out surprising Hermione and Harry, but a moment later there was a pop and in front of Susan stood a house-elf. This house-elf was dressed in a rather nice if a little shabby brown suit and had bright brown eyes.
"Mistress-to-be Susan be callings for Flecky?" the house-elf asked and Susan smiled with a nod.
"Yes Flecky, I need you to take these directly to my aunt. Let her know that is of utmost importance and requires her immediate attention and discretion." Susan explained handing the letter and the box to the elf who took them graciously with a bow.
"Of course, missies Susan, I will be going at once." The elf bowed once more and with the package in hand popped away.
"Wait, you have a house-elf?" Hermione asked appalled at learning this making Susan more than a little confused with her reaction.
"Of course, most if not all pure-blood houses do. Technically Flecky is the head elf and there are five others." Susan explained and Hermione looked mortified while Harry looked concerned.
"Why the face Hermione?" Daphne asked having house-elves herself.
"They're slaves how else should I react!?" Hermione asked incredulously and Susan looked like she had just been smacked.
"My elves are not slaves! No elf is, where would you get such a ridiculous notion from!?" Susan demanded looking more than a bit upset at the accusation that she had slaves.
"That's what they are! They can't disobey you they can't argue, and they're not allowed to think for themselves! What else is that besides a slave!" Hermione accused.
"Okay, Hermione let's calm down." Harry said hurriedly seeing the upset expression on Susan's face made him feel incredibly uncomfortable. Though now Hermione turned to him but before she could say anything Daphne quickly cut in.
"Wait! Hermione, you're Muggleborn so I understand where you might be coming from. But house-elves are not slaves, at least they aren't to the majority of us. Elves have a symbiotic relationship with the wizard or witch they are in service to. They need to serve us or else they die, the wizard or witch supplies them with magic, and in return, they serve the wizard or witch." Daphne explained quickly as Hermione listened.
"Susan and her family treat their house-elves very well and so does my family. In fact, the Bones family is looked upon as very favorable among light families for its kind treatment of elves. So, the fact that you are accusing her of slavery is very inappropriate and hurtful." Daphne explained further being sure to look pointedly at Hermione as the said girl looked towards Susan to see she was quite hurt by Hermione's words.
Hermione suddenly felt guilty, seeing Susan upset was something that just shouldn't happen, especially with how kind and sweet the girl is. And knowing that it was her that caused it made Hermione feel all sorts of wrong as she looked toward the buxom teen.
"I-I'm sorry… I wasn't thinking." Hermione apologized quickly as Susan shook her head.
"It's alright, you didn't know."
"I shouldn't have said those things though, especially when I didn't know." Hermione continued.
"Just, don't say that again… it made me very uncomfortable." Susan said and Hermione nodded quickly agreeing.
"Hermione, maybe I can lend you a few books on the wizarding etiquette." Daphne offered, hoping to avoid this whole dilemma from happing again.
"Yes, please and thank you." Hermione quickly agreed, wanting to avoid a repeat of the situation if she could. This was very embarrassing for her and she did not like it one bit. The group continued to talk for a while longer mainly about what would be happening next, but Susan informed them that her aunt probably wouldn't be in contact for maybe the next few days.
"Right so until she contacts you, we should just keep acting normal and keep our heads down." Harry said and the girls nodded.
"And maybe we should deal with that before anything else." Daphne said her finger pointing behind harry to see two of his conjured snakes slithering towards him.
"Speaker, the task is done." The constrictor Harry recognized from yesterday spoke. Next to the female snake was another slightly larger Python slithering next to her.
"Really? It was only yesterday though." Harry hissed to them as the constrictor gave the best grin it could.
"We are noble serpents, Speaker! It was hatchlings play to retrieve the object, the elder one didn't even have any protections against us." The serpent hissed proudly as the other python slithered forward. It reared up slightly and opened its mouth and soon after its body began to convulse and for a moment Harry was confused as to what it was doing but soon had his answer.
His answer came as a silver ring was suddenly ejected from the Pythons mouth with a small clatter as it hit the floor and came to a rest. Harry took out his wand and quickly cleaned the ring and picked it up where he immediately felt it warm in his hand.
Like when he bonded with Demona he could feel tendrils of foreign, yet familiar magic begin to reach for him, and his magic seemed to respond in kind. Before he knew it, he felt something like a bond be forged as his magic melded seamlessly with the ring's magic. It was strange and yet not so and for some reason the magic from the ring gave Harry a feeling of Deja vu in a way.
"What is it?" Hermione asked looking over his shoulder along with Susan and Daphne.
"I don't know." Harry said rolling the ring in his fingers to better examine it. The ring was silver in color and rather thick becoming wider at the head and thinner as it spun around. The face of the ring held an engraved bird of some kind, most likely a falcon that held what looked like a crown in its talons. The entire face of the ring was surrounded further by a vine-like design that snaked around the length of the ring as well.
"Wait… that's…" Susan began but was too shocked to continue. Both she and Daphne seemed to be beside themselves upon seeing the ring in Harry's hand.
"This was in Dumbledore's office?" Daphne asked and Harry nodded she then gained an almost evil grin "If he wasn't in hot water before, he certainly is now."
"Why? What is this?" Harry asked turning to the girls and Susan finally found her voice.
"Harry… That's the Potter's family ring."
_SCENE_
Oh shit! It's chapter nine! Hey again people and I deliver unto you another rather long chapter but I didn't want to break this sequence of events up. Harry is still training of course and Jones is giving him some big sisterly advice. Daphne will be more considerate of Harry on dates and be sure the other girls are as well. Harry is stepping out into his own with the help of Demona and trusting others with his problems. Will he tell the girls the full details about what happened to him in the hands of the Dursleys… hopefully! Let me know what ya'll think and until next time this has been you Average, Ordinary, Everyday Fallen Angel