AN: Hello everyone! Welcome back for another week of this story. Please enjoy.
The weekend following the Troll incident was shaping up to be like any other weekend. The Sphinx Club were in their club room doing some studying when Professor Flitwick enters the room. "Mr. Potter, may I speak with you for a moment?"
"Yes sir, is something wrong?" Harry asks, as he gets up from his seat.
"You're not in trouble Mr. Potter, I simply wish to speak with you." Professor Flitwick says.
Flitwick leads Harry down the hall from the Sphinx Club room to the Charms Professor's Office. Flitwick claims a large high chair on the far side of the desk from the door, and motions for Harry to take the chair opposite him.
"Sorry to ask Professor, but what is this about? Did I do poorly on my last essay?" Harry asks, looking nervous.
"No my boy, your essay received an O, like most of your assignments. I have two points of business today, although one is far more important than the other." Professor Flitwick says, readying himself for something that appears to be difficult. "Harry, as you may or may not know, as your head of house I act in lieu of your guardians while you are at school. I am to treat you as though you are one of my own children, and watch out for you while you are under my care. As such, when Madam Pomfrey reported to me about your injuries from the Troll I was very concerned. What concerns me more are the plethora of older scars you have. Harry, are you being abused at home?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asks, his entire body tensing up. He's been doing his best to have the Dursleys fly under the radar as much as he can during his time at Hogwarts, trying to think about them as little as humanly possible.
"Have they beaten you? Starved you? You're safe here, they can't get you here. Madam Pomfrey is duty bound to report any signs of abuse to the authorities, and have done so. As your head of house while you are here at Hogwarts, you are to be in my care while an investigation is being conducted. The only people who know about this at the moment are Madam Pomfrey, myself, and the Young Wizard Protective Services office at the Ministry. Anything you can tell me though, will be helpful in determining what your future looks like. If you say that there isn't any abuse, and the investigative team agrees, you will be going back home as though nothing happened. Something tells me however that that isn't the case." Flitwick says, looking at Harry. A soft friendly look comes across his face. "Even beyond my duty as a Professor at this school Harry, I am rather fond of you. You're a prodigy like your mother, and I don't think I could ever forgive myself if I allowed you to go home to someplace you weren't safe."
"Thank you Professor… The Dursley's… well they aren't exactly very good to me. Up until I received my Hogwarts letter, I had been living in a cupboard under the stairs, while my cousin had two bedrooms to himself. I never had anything of my own before my Hogwarts school supplies, everything was a cast off from my cousin. They sometimes didn't allow me to eat, but since they had me cook most of their meals, I was able to scrounge enough to stop from being truly hungry. Vernon, my uncle, when he was very mad would sometimes beat me. He broke my arm once after I had accidentally ended up on the roof of my primary school. My cousin Dudley would often times knock me down and kick me in the ribs repeatedly. Aunt Petunia never hit me, but she would watch while Vernon and Dudley did, and never stepped in to stop it. There's more I guess… but I really don't want to talk about it." Harry says, tears streaming down his face. "Please don't make me go back there Professor."
"My dear boy, I would never. I understand that this might be hard for you, but if you do it I can almost guarantee that you will never have to go back there again if you don't want to. Can you please give me a few memories of your treatment? I know it'll be tough, but your memories when shown would be some of the most valuable evidence against them." Flitwick says, pulling out a series of vials.
"Yes Professor, go ahead." Harry says, closing his eyes tightly and focusing on a memory. Flitwick pulls it out, then Harry focuses on another one. They repeat this process a few times.
"I'm glad you're letting us help you Harry, no child deserves to be abused, but certainly not one who had already been through such a tragedy. I unfortunately cannot say with certainty what the process after this is going to look like. I imagine within a month we will have a date for your trial, which I imagine would likely be in January. From there, when they are found guilty we will have to look for somewhere for you to live when you are not at Hogwarts. While unfortunately James and Lily Potter lacked much in the way of living family, they had many very close and loyal friends several of which have approached Professor Dumbledore in the past inquiring about where you were so they could ensure you were being well taken care of."
"Why would they be contacting Headmaster Dumbledore? Wouldn't they go to a court or something for that?" Harry asks, confused.
"Headmaster Dumbledore is also the Chief Warlock of the Wizaengamot, which is our primary legislative and judicial body in Wizarding Britain, he was also spearheading the resistance against You-Know-Who during those days, so he was among the first on the scene after their deaths. He found you and sent you to your relatives. I assume that was your parents wishes, although given the circumstances I have my doubts. I do know however that they are your only remaining blood family, as James Potter was an only child, and his parents had died of DragonPox not too long before you were born." Professor Flitwick says.
"Who do you think will be taking care of me then?" Harry asks, nervously.
"You will be involved in the selection process of course, however we will need to filter candidates before we start introducing you to them. You are very famous Harry, and some people may want to use that fame for nefarious purposes. I will not allow some family to take advantage of you though, I'd take you in myself before that happens!" Flitwick laughs a bit. "Unfortunately, given my heritage, I likely wouldn't be allowed to. Professor McGonagall would certainly be willing as well, she was very close to both of your parents as well. Beyond that, perhaps Andromeda Black, or Amelia Bones would be good candidates, they were very close with your parents."
"Bones? Like Susan Bones?" Harry asks.
"Oh yes, that's her niece. She's a member of your club if I'm not mistaken." Flitwick says.
"Yeah, Susan's a good friend." Harry says.
"I'll keep you updated on what is happening as I know myself. For now, I recommend you not tell anyone else, simply to stop gossip about who you will end up with. Now, I have a much lighter point to speak with you about." Flitwick says, his face brightening a bit.
"What is it sir?" Harry asks.
"Would you like to learn to be a competition duelist? Your reaction time with Madam Hooch last month was exemplary, and your take down of the Troll was inspired. You're a natural, and I'd like to make you even better." Flitwick says.
"What's involved in competitions like this?" Harry asks.
"You and a single opponent aim to incapacitate each other, or become a winner through points or a judge decision. There's a platform and rules so it is not just fighting, but it is effectively a lesser form of combat training. While I sincerely hope that the incident on Thursday with the Troll will be the most dangerous thing to happen, I don't think it would hurt to be prepared for more." Flitwick explains.
"Can I have some time to think on it, Professor? While it sounds interesting, I'm not sure yet. Especially with everything else going on." Harry says, looking exhausted.
"Of course boy, I was merely offering today. If you have any more questions I'll be happy to answer them whenever. For now, go back to your friends and enjoy your weekend. I shall keep you updated." Professor Flitwick says, giving Harry a broad smile.
"Thank you Professor." Harry says, as he gets up from his chair and returns to the Sphinx Club room.
"What did Professor Flitwick want?" Hermione asks as Harry reenters the room. All eyes turn to him, and Harry understands now why Flitwick asked that at the same time, it was a convenient out.
"He asked me if I was interested in learning to duel competitively. Said he was impressed with how I handled the Troll and wants to see that talent grow." Harry says, thankful for the half-truth he can easily say.
"Ooh! Now our Troll-Slayer is going to be a Dueling Master? We might need the sticks sooner than we think!" Lavender says, causing Parvati to laugh next to her. Harry flushes red.
"What did you say?" Padma asks, looking at Harry.
"I said I'd think about it. I'm still adjusting to school here, and if I have to add whatever Dueling practices on top of our study schedule, I might start to burn out a bit." Harry says, and the others nod.
"Well, we're really ahead as it is. We could probably stand to slow down." Hannah says, everyone looks at her. "I know we all want to be the best, but if all we do is study, we miss out on a lot of what we're supposed to be here for. We're supposed to have friends and hobbies outside of studying. We've got friends, but have any of us really done much with our free time besides studying?"
"Parv and I have been making a list of the best boys in the school, but that's really it now that I think about it." Lavender says, looking confused. "When did I become the bookworm? That was never me."
"What's wrong with being a bookworm?" Hermione asks defensively.
"Nothing's wrong with being a bookworm, honestly this club has been great for me, but I also understand where Hannah's coming from. Without something outside of studying for us to do, when we suddenly don't have material to work with anymore, or tests to prepare for we're going to be lost because we let it define us so much." Daphne says, as Tracey nods beside her.
"Alright! New homework this week!" Susan says, speaking up. "No studying this week, we're super ahead of everything anyway. Instead we're going to find something else we enjoy doing. Come back next weekend and we're all going to try each other's things."
"Not a terrible idea to be honest." Neville speaks up.
"Yeah, Susan's got it. We'll all find something, doesn't have to be different, but it can't be studying. Sorry Hermione." Harry says. Hermione is pouting in her seat slightly.
"But I like studying and reading." Hermione says.
"We know, but try and find something else. Sure you had something you did for fun that wasn't a book at some point." Tracey says, looking at Hermione.
"We'll break for the common rooms, hope everyone finds something!" Susan says, grabbing her things and heading off. The group all grabs their items and makes for their common rooms.
In the Ravenclaw common room Harry, Hermione, and Padma sit on a couch away from the general commotion. Hermione pulls out a quill and parchment and begins writing something.
"What are you doing Hermione?" Harry asks.
"Writing to my mom and asking about what kind of hobbies I could do without electricity. I did have another hobby besides reading back at home, but it was playing computer games with my dad. We have a Master System back at home. My grandma taught me to knit when I was younger, so maybe I'll try that. Can I borrow Hedwig again, Harry?" Hermione asks.
"Oh sure Hermione. I'll have to think of something too." Harry says, furrowing his brow in thought. Fun wasn't something Harry had ever truly managed to have, any time he ever had that wasn't occupied by chores had always been spent trying to avoid the Dursleys for no other real gain. Working in the garden had been rewarding in its way, but wasn't something he overly enjoyed. Cooking was something other people found nice, but Harry simply did it because he had to.
"Back home my Dadi and I, ugh, my grandmother, would do some weaving together on her loom. I know they make small ones, so maybe I can get her to send out for me to get one." Padma says.
"I'm just totally stumped on what hobbies I could try out. I never did anything back home except for chores and schoolwork." Harry says looking dejected.
"Why not trying to learn how to play that flute Hagrid gave you? I know there's a charm that can check what notes are being played. You could use it to try to figure out what notes each finger position is, then learn to play a few songs." Padma suggests.
"Oh, Do you think Professor Flitwick would teach me that charm?" Harry asks, pulling the flute out of his bag. It is a beautiful instrument, and the fact that Hagrid had made it for him made Harry generally want to keep it close.
"No reason why he wouldn't, I've heard he conducts a choir of students, so maybe he'd like someone to play along with them." Padma says.
"I'll speak to him tomorrow about it then. No reason for me to bother him again today." Harry says, before looking over to Padma. "Want to play Gobstones? I don't know what else to do that isn't studying."
Padma smiles and looks at him. "Sure, provided you don't whine when you get gunk shot at you."
"Ah you see Ms. Patil, it is YOU who shall be gunked on." Harry says in a faux villain voice. The trio laugh and all play their game.
The week that follows has the group meet back up in an attempt to discuss the hobbies they picked up. Drawing names out of a hat, they decide who has to show off their thing first. Parvati is picked to be the first victim.
"I've always been really into fashion, looking at pretty clothes and stuff, so I've tried my hand at designing a few things. Here's the sketches I've done." Parvati says, pulling out a few loosely bound sheets of parchment. On them are some very crude drawings of various dress/robe combinations with small notes about fabric type and color pallets. She obviously had tried very hard on them, and Harry commended her effort.
"This is a good start Parvati, had you done anything like this before?" Harry asks.
"No, and I know my artistic skills are pretty bad. I'm hoping practice will make that better. I'm getting our mom to get me an order form for a craft store, so hopefully I can start working with some fabric in my spare time to make something. Who knows, in a few years I might be making my own dress robes!" Parvati says, putting her hands on her hips in a gesture of pride.
"Alright, next up is… Tracey! Did you find anything fun to do?" Parvati says, as she pulls a name out of the hat.
"So… I didn't really find anything I could do. Back home I used to practice whittling wood down to make wands like I want to do when I'm older, but that's not something I can really do here." Tracey says, looking down dejectedly.
"It's okay Tracey, we're just here to have a good time. Maybe you'll find that you like one of the things we picked and you can join us in it." Hannah says, her hand on Tracey's shoulder.
"Okay, next up is… Susan!" Tracey says, taking her seat back as Susan stands up.
"Okay, I'm really into Quidditch, but I'm abysmal on a broom because I'm afraid of heights. I can tell you the result of every World cup match from 1900 onward, but put me on a broom and I pass out. I had to get a note from Madam Pomfrey that excuses me from the flying portion of broom class." Susan says, her face a brilliant Gryffindor red.
"Hey, it's nothing to be ashamed of. Everyone's afraid of something." Harry says, patting Susan on the back.
"Yeah but it's still embarrassing, especially after your show in our first class. You'd never even held a broom before that day and threw yourself straight into it. I've been trying for years and anything more than a couple feet off the ground and I just faint." Susan says, frustrated with herself. "Moving on, next up is… Daphne!"
Daphne steps up, pulling out a strangely shaped leather-bound book with very thick black pages. "So, as you guys know, I can't stop eating sweets. As such, I decided that I was going to turn that into something practical, so I started collecting chocolate frog cards. I have all of their 'Wizards of Ages Past collection, like the four Hogwarts Founders, Merlin, and Morgan Le Fay' I'm still working on the 'Modern Magical Menagerie' collection, specifically I've been dying to find the Alicorn card, but it's really rare." Daphne's book opens to find many of the pentagonal cards arranged in rows of four, with each card adhering to the darkened cloth pages. Harry recognizes quite a few creatures, objects, people, and places from the various sets. Several spots however, remain empty as a small placeholder card appears there with information regarding what should be in its place.
"Wow, this is really cool Daphne!" Parvati says, ogling the pages. "I'd heard about these on the train ride here. I thought they were really interesting, but didn't think I'd get to see them. If I get any I'll be sure to get them to you. Even if they're duplicates I'm sure you can trade them."
"Please do, I have quite a stock of duplicates that I brought with me in hopes that some other students would also collect them, and maybe we could trade. None of the Slytherins collect them though, saying that they're a waste of money." Daphne says, her cheeks slightly red.
"I know Ron Weasley and his brothers have a collection, write down some of the ones you're looking for and I'll see if maybe they have some duplicates to spare, plus the Weasley Twins are phenomenal at getting sweets into Hogwarts anyway, they may have an arrangement to get the cards from people." Neville says, as he stops to look at a card showing a Troll. "Is this what the Troll in the bathroom looked like?"
"No, that's a river troll, the one in the bathroom was a mountain troll. It's a bit bigger with a kind of brownish-gray skin as opposed to this purple skin." Harry says, pointing out a few differences.
"Turn the page and the Mountain Troll should be there, I had to break up that set because there were two three-piece sets back to back, but they only make collector books with pages for four cards." Daphne says, while pulling the next name from the hat. "Hannah, you're up."
"Okay!" Hannah says excitedly, before pulling out a small basket from behind her. "I really love cooking, but baking especially so I managed to talk Professor Sprout into letting me use the kitchens sometimes, and I made some muffins. Please try them." Hannah says, opening the basket and showing the group a large batch of muffins.
Everyone is excited to taste them, Daphne making noises of extreme contentment. "Oh Hannah, these are great! They're really sweet too!"
"Thanks, I used some honey in the dough on this batch, and I thought they came out really well." Hannah says, obviously proud of her skills. "I want to open up a restaurant when I'm older. Nothing fancy, but just a nice place to unwind with some good food."
"Keep it up like this and I'll be a lifelong customer." Daphne says, utterly devouring her muffin. Harry had seen Dudley get quite into his food, but he never seemed to enjoy it quite the way Daphne was enjoying it now. Harry however had to agree that the muffins were delightful.
"Next up is Hermione!" Hannah says, having pulled the Ravenclaw's name from the hat.
Hermione stands up and from her bag pulls out a bizarrely shaped lump of yarn. "This… was supposed to be a hat, but I'm not very good at my knitting yet. That's what I've been trying to do by the way, knitting. My grandmother taught me the basics a few years ago, and I had always told myself that I'd try and get better, but never really had the excuse. Now I do."
"Oh, that can segue into mine pretty well then, since I've been weaving." Padma says, pulling a small loom from her bag. "Seems like Hermione, Parv and I get to have a bit of a sewing circle!" The group laughs at the joke.
Hermione pulls Lavender's name from the hat, and Lavender pulls out a series of magazines. "I just love all the celebrity gossip, and I've been funneling some of what's happening at Hogwarts to my mom for her 'Rising Stars' column. Apparently her readers are really interested in that seeker from Hufflepuff, Cedric Diggory. His dad is apparently a member of the wizengamot, and the family is pretty wealthy. He's also dreamy, so he's one of the most eligible bachelors at Hogwarts."
"That's interesting," Harry says looking nervously, "You haven't said anything about me have you?"
"Oh, Mom really wants to know, but I wouldn't let her know anything without your knowledge Harry. She has a tendency to scandalize things, so I wouldn't want to get you in any trouble" Lavender says. "You're my little secret til you're older!"
Harry flushes as Lavender pulls out a name. "I got Padma who already told hers, so it's just Harry and Neville now." Lavender says, looking between the two boys. "Neville! Gryffindor courage! You're first!"
Neville flails a bit before regaining his composure. "Ugh, yeah. I like to garden in my spare time, it's why I think I like Herbology so much. I've got a greenhouse back home that I used to spend as much time in as I could. I thought I'd try the same thing here, but since we've had the club I haven't needed to. The time in Herbology, and doing our self study has been enough to keep me occupied, and just having you guys as friends has kept me happy. I'm really glad we started doing this." Neville says, a smile on his pudgy face. Harry understands where Neville is coming from. Before Hogwarts, before magic, Harry had never felt like anyone even cared about him. Vernon Dursley surely hadn't, and while once upon a time Petunia Dursley may have, Vernon had surely removed that part from her. Harry was glad to be surrounded by friends.
"I'm glad you all are around as well. I never had any friends growing up because they would all tease me because I cared more about books than toys or the tellie. You guys have just accepted me for who I am, and I can't thank you enough for that." Hermione says, her normally composed demeanor breaking away to reveal a girl who really just wanted to belong. Taking the initiative for the first time, Harry wraps Hermione into a hug, not as tight as those Hermione has given him, but equally as warm. Padma joins on the opposite side of Hermione, as the rest of the Sphinx Club all huddles in, surrounding the Ravenclaw trio in a bubble of purely positive emotion.
As the group finally separates from that, Neville speaks up. "That just leaves Mr. Trollslayer, so Harry, did you find any hobbies to work on?"
"For the first week of classes, Hagrid gave me a flute made from the antlers of a Peryton. I've worked with Professor Flitwick to learn how to play it a bit. I'm not very good yet, but I'll make some time each week to practice. Here, I'll show you the song I've been learning to get started." Harry pulls out the obsidian black flute and begins to slowly play "Over the Rainbow". Once Harry finishes, everyone claps.
"That was great Harry! I love the Wizard of Oz, so that was really nice." Hermione says, a broad smile on her face.
Harry flushes at the praise, although he's aware that he's not that good at playing the instrument yet. He does resolve to keep practicing however, so that maybe he'll be able to give a proper performance to his friends.
The Sphinx Club, having wrapped up their sharing session, begins to do what they do best, and study while enjoying each others company, getting further ahead of their peers than they already were.
In a brief moment, Harry thinks that they may finish this year's course material before Christmas break, maybe they could even finish second year's before their first year is over. That puts a bizarre proud smile on his face. He had always been told that he wasn't allowed to be intelligent, but this was just another act of rebellion against the Dursleys. Soon enough, he may even commit the ultimate act of rebellion against them, leaving them forever, and finding a family that will love and appreciate him, like his friends do.
Harry smiles, while he's never felt it before now, he's certain that this is what this is. Love. The love he has for all nine people in this room, and the love that they share with him. The love that he has for the place that allowed them to meet, the love for the place that shelters him and provides for him in a way that none had before. Love for the things he has and will learn, and a love for the promise of a future that is brighter than his dim past.
Harry is certain, that love is a powerful thing, and he hopes that he can spread as much love to the world as he can, and hopes to receive even a fraction of it in return.