Dorea was the first one awake in the girls dormitory on Monday morning, which she disliked quite a bit, as she normally slept in a bit longer. She stared for a while at the tiny particles of dust she could see floating about in the morning sunlight, before she quietly got dressed and sorted her work out.
Checking her timetable, she had double History, Double Potions, Ancient Runes, and double Defence, which she was dreading, especially since Umbridge had physically restrained her and basically said how much of a failure she was. The woman now haunted her dreams because of it. However, this week was already looking to be better than the last, as she would have no detentions, not if she could help it. Her hand was slightly beginning to heal up, and it cramped less now.
At breakfast, she came down and realised that Harry was already in the Great Hall, and was sitting not at Gryffindor table, but Ravenclaw. He was talking to Luna Lovegood, the girl they'd met on the train.
She sat down with them. "Gosh, are we even allowed to sit at other house's tables?" Dorea wondered as she nodded hello at the fourth year Ravenclaw.
"I don't even care if we're not - if people from all house's can join my club, then surely I can sit and talk to them." Harry said. Luna was reading a magazine upside down.
"How have your classes been, Luna?" Dorea asked politely.
"Not so bad, though Tuesdays are the worst. Today I've got Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Astronomy, double Herbology, and Charms." Luna said, stowing her magazine away. The girl looked at Dorea. "Your father is a good teacher by the way. Though a lot of the girls seem to fancy him."
Harry smirked, whilst Dorea forced a smile. "Oh, yeah, he's brilliant."
More people started arriving gradually. Dorea noticed plenty of people were staring at her and Harry for not sitting at their own table, but she couldn't tell if they were impressed or not. Anthony Goldstein soon came down, and was amazed at them. "Breaking house boundaries, I like it."
They grinned. "House unity and all that." Harry replied, laughing.
"Feel free to sit with me and the others at any time," Anthony said, as he sat down further down the table. They both nodded at him.
They were talking to Luna about the Junior DA group, which was starting up tonight, when they heard a "Hem-hem," from behind them.
Dorea felt herself fill with dread as her and Harry turned around. It was Professor Umbridge. "I do not think this is your house table, Potter, Black."
"It's hardly illegal to mix and mingle with other people, Professor." Harry said, a bit bitterly.
"You will return to Gryffindor table this instant, or we will have another week of seeing each other for detention." Umbridge instructed in her stupid sickly-sweet voice. Harry and Dorea shared a look, and admitted defeat. They said a quick farewell to Luna before they grabbed their plate and bags and took their seats at Gryffindor table. Hermione, Ron and Amelia were there.
"Who does she think she is?" Ron said, as he glared at the woman's back.
"She's just actively discouraged inter-house cooperation!" Hermione was mouthing the woman off.
Over at Slytherin table, Malfoy and his gang were guffawing amongst themselves, and were very clearly on Umbridge's side. They elected to just ignore them.
"Harry, we were actually thinking about something," Hermione spoke up, "since you'll be leading the Junior group of the club tonight, will you be needing any help with it?"
Harry had a think. "There's quite a lot of them, and they're a bit younger so therefore prone to make more mistakes, so yeah, I think I'll need a little help from my friends."
Dorea soon asked if she could join them as well, which he nodded at straight away. Harry felt a bit relieved, as he didn't quite know how he was going to manage teaching students younger than him - especially when first years had signed up.
Monday morning was very sluggish, as History of Magic seemed to last for decades, but at the end of the double period Harry had almost three pages of notes. Double Potions was spent going over their homework essay on moonstone, since only just under half the class had managed to get a passing grade on it (Harry had gotten a reluctant E, as had Amelia, Dorea and Hermione), which irated Snape greatly. Runes went by a bit too quickly, as Harry had really enjoyed the lesson. They had Defence sixth and seventh, sadly, which was spent in more boredom. However, it was soon dinner time, and Harry wasn't quite a bag of nerves, as he knew that the Junior group would go a bit more smoothly than the Senior group in terms of prejudice, but he didn't hold his breath.
At half past six, Harry, along with his twin, godsister and two best friends headed to the Transfiguration classroom to set up. Flitwick came along not long after, and cleared the desks and chairs for them. Hermione was soon explaining the benefits of being there, "It'll give me and Ron more responsibility, I think, given that we're Prefects."
Ron looked bewildered. "Oh, we're actually going to be helpers?"
"Yes," Hermione said obviously, "were you not listening?"
Harry smirked as he turned back to Professor Flitwick. "I want to do that exercise with them which I did with the Seniors, the one about the houses, as I think they'll quite like it. But since I do not know most of them, I'm just going to get them to answer what they think of another Hogwarts house rather than each other."
"Brilliant idea!" Flitwick agreed. "I'm sure the first and second years will have their minds blown by that one. Have you brought a list of the spells you want to teach them?"
"Yup," Harry replied, handing Flitwick the sheet of paper. "I was thinking of starting off quite basic with the Knockback Jinx, and if there's time the Full-Body Bind Curse. I also want to use this session to see which fourth years would suit being in the Senior group better, as I know for a fact that Ginny is."
Flitwick nodded. "Yes, I agree, she is a bit more knowledgeable at spells. Also, it's a very good thing you've picked the Knockback Jinx for them to do today, as the first years only learned it last week. It'll be good for them to practise it more."
At ten to seven, a group of third years arrived. Harry had no clue who they were - he really needed to get his act together and put names to faces. Most of the people who came in were strangers to him, but he was glad when Luna came skipping in, and was followed by Ginny and some of her friends minutes later. Colin and Dennis Creevey turned up too, and looked excited to get going. Daphne's sister, Astoria, entered with a few of her friends, and she approached him. "My sister's told me all about you," she smiled. He smiled back as she went to take her place. He heard Ron quietly mutter that the first years were tiny, and that there was no way they were ever that small, but he was quickly told to shut up by Hermione.
At seven, Harry clasped his hands together and got started. "Okay, now that we're all here, I want us to get started. My name is Harry Potter, as you'll probably already know, and the aim of this club is to not only teach you some life-saving spells, but to also encourage you to make friends with people who you never even imagined to interact with." The first and second years were a bit wide-eyed, but they clung on to every word. "Before we get started, I want us to do an exercise that will surely help us all settle in and work better together. Vicky," Harry looked at the girl from the Keeper tryouts, who looked a bit startled, "be honest, what is your opinion of Slytherin's?"
A few Slytherin students were eagerly awaiting her response. She flushed a bit. "Well, I don't really have anything against them personally, but it seems that most of the bullying in this school is done by them."
A few Slytherin's got defensive, with one third year claiming that other houses weren't innocent in that regard either. Flitwick soon commanded silence.
"Interesting. Barnaby," he called out to Barnaby Lee, a Slytherin boy he knew by reputation only, "what's your opinion of Gryffindor's?"
Barnaby Lee quickly scratched the back of his head, as if nervous. "I have no qualms with them, but a few of them seem to think that bravery and courage are the only traits you ever need to face problems in life."
As Barnaby's predicament carried no offence, people just shrugged or frowned at his comment. Harry could sort of understand where he was coming from. He quickly moved on. "Hope, how would you define a Hufflepuff?
Hope was a fourth year Ravenclaw, like Luna, but she seemed very opinionated. "They're a bit too trusting, I think. They seem to believe that there's sunshine and rainbows everywhere, the way they go about life."
The girl's comment struck up a bit of hostility. It was again quickly dispersed. "Lastly, Diego, what is your opinion of Ravenclaw's?"
Diego Caplan was a fourth year Hufflepuff, known for his love for duelling, and he was friends with a good few people in all years. "They seem to be bookish, and only care about marks and grades, as if exams are the be all and end all."
A few people got defensive, but they didn't go at each other's throats. Harry then got the same people who he talked to to give opinions of somebody in the opposite House, just like he'd done with the Seniors, and when he'd finished off explaining why he'd just got them to do that, some people were looking at him in awe. After almost a minute of applause, he got them to pair off and practise the Tripping Jinx with somebody they'd never worked with before. He could tell the first years were a bit shy and didn't really want to mingle with anybody that weren't their friends, but with some words of encouragement they were soon in a pair. Harry and Flitwick, along with Hermione, Ron, Amelia and Dorea, then walked around the class and observed how people were getting on. Ginny had paired up with Luna, and seemed to be getting on really well. "I'm sure this is no surprise, but I'm sure you two will definitely be able to advance to the Senior Group after this session." He said to them.
Ginny grinned. "Thank goodness, I don't know what I'd do if I was stuck learning first year spells."
He smirked back. Then he remembered. "Which girl here is Tulip Karasu? You know, the girl you said back at Grimmauld Place whose parents joined the Order?"
Ginny looked around the class. "She's paired up with Penny Haywood."
"Who?" He said, as he had no clue what either girl looked like.
"They're over by Diego and Barnaby, Harry." Luna helped him out, and he soon saw them. "Is Penny a Hufflepuff? He asked.
"Yeah, blonde hair. She's such a nice girl, Harry, I can't believe you don't know her." Ginny said.
"I suppose I should introduce myself to them, then." He said, and said farewell to them as he meandered over.
Penny Haywood seemed to have expected him. "Harry Potter, we meet at last." She remarked.
He felt himself get a bit nervous. "You must be Penny Haywood."
"I am. I've seen you all around school. It's quite curious we've never met, as we're both popular people." She said, smiling.
They talked for a minute before he moved to Tulip. She was a bit of a different character. She was a slim girl, with red hair. "Pleasure to meet you, Potter, your friends Fred and George are quite the pranksters, as am I." She said in welcome.
"You too, Tulip. Please just call me Harry." He insisted. He then spoke quietly. "Your parents are members of the Order."
"Yes, they've been to a few meetings. They work at the Ministry, unfortunately, but they have no care for that toff Cornelius Fudge. Honestly, it should be illegal, the way he's got a smear campaign against you." Tulip said.
He was pleased. "I've long stopped reading the Daily Prophet."
He continued his rounds, and mainly spent it getting to know people's names. The first and second years seemed a bit daunted that he was actually talking to them, but they soon relaxed around him.
He glanced at his friends, and saw that Dorea was talking to a Slytherin fourth year girl who Harry recognised but didn't know her name, whilst Amelia was striking up conversation with a Ravenclaw girl. Hermione was helping some second years with their incantation, whilst Ron was over with Ginny.
He suddenly found himself walking past Barnaby Lee and Diego Caplan, and he felt himself stopping to watch. He found it quite satisfying that two people who liked duelling had found themselves in a pair with one another. "You alright, Potter?" Barnaby Lee nodded at him.
"I just came to see how you two were getting on, since I know you're quite advanced and strong." He said quickly. Diego was looking at him thoughtfully.
"I have a question," Barnaby turned to face him, "out of all the people at Hogwarts, I would have thought that you of all people would detest Slytherin's, yet you're willing to accept them into this group. Why?"
Barnaby's question sounded genuine. He was eager to reply. "I don't believe that a House makes you automatically evil. Whilst sadly, it is common for many to become Death Eater's and go dark, I believe that everyone has a choice - to be light or dark, and what matters is the choice that they act upon." He said, thinking back to what Sirius told him. "If this club becomes the reason that potential Death Eaters change their mind and don't join, then that can only be a win in my eyes."
"But you've been targeted time and time again by so many Slytherins?" Barnaby said, neutrally.
"I don't know you that well, Barnaby, but I feel comfortable telling you this," he paused, "You know the man I brought back from the graveyard?"
Barnaby nodded. "Peter Pettigrew, right?"
Harry nodded. "Him. He helped to bring Voldemort back to a human form, and not only that - he was the one that betrayed my parents all those years ago. He was not a Slytherin - but a Gryffindor."
Barnaby's eyes widened. "B-but.. That seems so cowardly? He was a Death Eater, but in Gryffindor, and wasn't brave at all?"
"Yup," Harry replied, "and that's my point - not all Death Eater's are Slytherin's, and evil can come from the other Houses too."
Barnaby tried to take that in. After a few moments, he said, "My dad's a Death Eater, and my mum's dark as well, but not Marked."
Harry didn't realise, he felt awful. "Oh… I'm sorry, I didn't know."
He brushed it off. "Oh, it's fine, you didn't know anyway."
When the session concluded at half past eight, there was a chorus of "awww's" - clearly, they wanted to stay longer, and had enjoyed it, but they obliged anyway. Diego and Barnaby nodded and waved on their way out, as did Astoria and countless others. He was met with nothing but enthusiastic praise from Colin Creevey, which he grinned at.
Ron, Hermione, Dorea, Amelia and Ginny stayed behind to wait for him. "Another very good session," Flitwick said, full of praise.
"Thank you, Professor." He smiled, as he bid farewell to his Charms teacher and left the room.
As they walked back up to Gryffindor Tower, they were met by none other than Dolores Umbridge, who was standing at the top of the stairs. What on earth is she doing here? He groaned. "Hem-hem," everyone froze, "what are we doing prowling the halls at half-past eight at night?"
"Professor, Harry had his Defence Club tonight," Dorea answered.
"Surely you've just seen the others leave?" Amelia said.
"Is this true, Mr Potter?" Umbridge said, sickly sweet.
"It is, Professor."
"Ten points from Gryffindor. It'll be detention for you three again." Umbridge declared, pointing at Harry, Amelia and Dorea.
"What?" Everyone said at the same time. This is unbelievable…
"Dolores, I do not think that is entirely necessary." They heard Flitwick's voice from behind them.
"Oh, Fillius, a man of your intelligence surely doesn't believe that Potter was truly at his 'Defence' Club?" Her voice was shrill.
"As a matter of fact, Dolores, I was at this Club, acting as a referee. You can ask me what spells they learned, if you like." Was Flitwick's answer. All six of them were trying not to cheer or laugh by the fact that Umbridge had just been proven wrong.
The woman went a deep red, but her mouth tightened. "This Club, I am quite sure of it, doesn't have permission to be running."
"Dumbledore signed his approval of it before the start of term, if you must know." Flitwick slightly snapped. "You cannot put them in detention for attending an approved Club at Hogwarts, Dolores."
Defeated, Umbridge resumed her girly voice. "As you say, Fillius." She then drew her eyes level with them. "Back to your common room, then."
When they got back to the common room, they sat down in an unoccupied corner and were spouting off all sorts about Dolores Umbridge. Even Hermione said a few choice words, - it was quite clear that Umbridge was her least favourite human. All Harry could do was sigh and stare into space. They had Astronomy homework for Sirius due for Wednesday, but it seemed like none of them really wanted to do it.
The rest of the week passed at a moderate pace, with even more homework being assigned by the day, and Quidditch practise started up for the Gryffindor team on Wednesday at seven. It would be Ron's first practise since joining the team, and for the most part he performed decently, although did look disheartened whenever he missed a goal. Harry mentally reminded himself to find time to help Ron with Quidditch.
Most people agreed that the highlights of the week was fast becoming the DA. The Senior groups second session that Saturday went pretty smoothly, - they finished up the Disarming Charm and moved on to Stunning Spells, which everyone agreed would take a few weeks to practise since the spell was quite powerful and could cause damage, but Flitwick was on hand to make sure nobody got seriously injured. After that session had ended, Blaise Zabini and Theodore Nott had asked if they could have a word with Harry, which he was surprised at. He couldn't help but feel a bit intimidated by them though - not because they were Slytherin's, but because they were slightly taller than him.
When he was left alone with the two boys, he awaited their query. "We're not quite sure if you've had any Slytherin feedback in particular," Theo started speaking,
"So we'd just like to point out how we… appreciate the inclusion." Blaise finished, with the tiniest smile.
"Oh, thanks guys," he replied. "It's really no problem at all. I was quite curious as to why you joined, as I know you're friends with Draco and that.."
The two boys shared a look. Oh, have they fallen out? He wondered. "It's a bit hard, still being friends with him but also feeling a bit crap when he does nothing but belittle this club and call it stupid, but we are our own people - we're at an age where we can do whatever we like, join whatever club we want, and he can't dictate us." Theo said.
"I know this sounds shocking coming from me, but if Malfoy wished to join one day, I wouldn't agree with it, but I wouldn't stop him either." Harry said.
Blaise and Theo looked shocked, and let out low whistles. "Barnaby said you were accepting, but we didn't think you'd be that accepting." Blaise said, chuckling a bit.
Harry smiled. "Is Barnaby your friend as well?"
"I've known him since I was little - y'know, both our dads being Death Eater pals and that, but yeah, he's a friend of ours." Theo said, casually referring to the fact his father was a Death Eater, which Harry almost laughed at.
Theo and Blaise are actually nice people, he thought, really liking his first impressions of the Slytherin fifth years. He didn't get his hopes up though - what if they were really spying on the club on behalf of Draco? What if this was all an act? Oh stop it, his mind screamed at him, McGonagall made sure that the parchment wouldn't allow snitches into the Club.
The three of them left the Transfiguration classroom, and walked together through the corridors. Just before they reached the staircase that would take Blaise and Theo back down to the dungeons, did they suddenly jump the height of themselves.
"Stupefy!" Someone had called out from the shadows, sending a spell directly towards them.
"Get down!" Harry screamed, placing himself flat on the floor and taking Blaise and Theo down with him.
"What the-" Theo let out, as another spell just missed his head by inches.
Harry had his wand drawn, and Blaise was fumbling to get his out too. The three of them crawled to cover behind a statue. They could hear the attacker slowly stalking towards their general direction.
"What on earth do we do?" Theo whispered as quietly as he could. Despite the fact he'd only had his first conversation with them two just minutes ago, they would now have to battle against the person who had ambushed them.
Harry, who was the closest to the corridor, stuck his wand hand around the statue and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" He damned himself when he heard the attacker block it with a Protego. He felt his heart thumping in his chest. He shared a look with Blaise and Theo, who looked quite frightened despite their intimidating personas, and the whites of their eyes were showing, like a scared animal.
Harry desperately wanted to identify the attacker(s), so that they could be dealt with accordingly. They were definitely male, but they sounded slightly older - a sixth year or a seventh year perhaps? Or what if it was possibly somebody who broke into the school? A thought came to him then - could it be a Death Eater? What if Voldemort is outside right now, with an army of his Death Eater minions? The possibilities were endless.
With Blaise and Theo poised to help, Harry sent out a few more spells from his position, but none of them seemed to be doing the trick - this ambusher was clearly smart. They got a huge fright when the attacker sent out a Bombarda, for it blew up the statue to smithereens and parts of the debris landed on them, meaning they had to cover themselves with their hands.
Thankfully, Harry could hear voices somewhere in the distance. Hurry up, he willed for help to be on the way, we need to capture this person!
"What on earth?" They heard somebody's voice from the staircase, and Harry used that moment of distraction to poke his head around the half-demolished statue and to set eyes on the man. However, he let out a "No!" When whoever it was turned around and sprinted away, almost without a trace.
The first person to come and investigate was none other than Professor Babbling. "What on earth happened here?" The woman demanded, in a tone that was more shocked than angry.
McGonagall appeared, and Harry didn't know if that was a blessing or not. She looked furious. "What is going on here?! Potter, Zabini, Nott, on your feet, now!"
It seemed the whole teaching faculty was arriving, for Snape came jogging on to the corridor and was on high alert when he saw Blaise and Theo, two of his own, covered in the stone dust from the statue and looking very dishevelled.
The three of them eventually stood up and dusted themselves off, and he felt awful - the last thing the two Slytherin boys wanted was probably getting themselves in a pickle with Harry Potter.
Harry was most surprised when Dumbledore stood between McGonagall and Babbling. Gonna look me in the eyes now? Harry thought bitterly, as it took a personal attack for the Headmaster to finally address his existence. "Boys, what happened here?" Dumbledore asked calmly, but his tone was serious.
"We were attacked, Professor." Harry stated for them.
"Attacked?" McGonagall gasped.
"We didn't see who it was," Blaise said, "they sent tonnes of spells at us, so we took cover behind this statue. However, one Bombarda and it exploded all on us, but they ran away that fast we didn't even catch a glimpse as to who it was. They stayed in the shadows the whole time practically."
"Are you hurt at all?" The Headmaster looked to all three of them.
"Harry shoved us to the ground to avoid being hit, but that's the extent of it." Theo said, glancing at Harry and nodding, which he was thankful for. They don't hate me then.
"He shoved you down?" Snape sneered, "to protect his own skin, I bet-"
"Severus." Dumbledore cut him off.
"Harry saved us, actually. He didn't have to push us down and out of harm's way, but he did anyway." Blaise came to Harry's defense.
"What direction did the attacker run in?" Dumbledore asked.
"Straight down that corridor." Harry said, not meeting the man's eyes.
"Severus, with me. We'll go and investigate. Minerva, escort Mr Nott, Mr Zabini and Mr Potter back to their common rooms. Stay alert." Dumbledore instructed, as he drew his wand and strode off down the corridor with Snape without even a glance at them. Harry felt his anger flare, but calmed himself down quickly. The man wasn't worth his time right now.
"I'm sorry you two got dragged into this," he said to Theo and Blaise as they walked down to the dungeons.
"It's fine, Harry, it was completely unexpected." Blaise insisted.
"But the attacker was targeting me," he said, "and either of you could have got hurt.."
"The main thing is that we didn't," Theo said, as they neared the Slytherin common room.
"Right, you two, in you go." McGonagall said, as Blaise and Theo stepped forward.
"We'll see you around, Harry." Theo gave him a small smile and a wave.
"Yeah, and thanks for saving our skin." Blaise did the same, and smiled a bit awkwardly as they stepped into their common room.
Harry and McGonagall walked back up to Gryffindor Tower, initially in a bit of silence. "Sorry about the statue, Professor." He said meekly.
"Potter, you shouldn't blame yourself for this incident." McGonagall said sternly.
He confided in her. "I'm pretty sure I was the target though - who would attack Blaise or Theo? They're very unproblematic. The attacker must have a vendetta against me."
"Whoever it was, they will face punishment, and a harsh one at that." Professor McGonagall said.
"I bet it was Draco," Harry mumbled gruffly.
McGonagall rounded on him. "Do not throw an allegation like that around willy-nilly, Mr Potter. There is no proof that this was done by Mr Malfoy or anyone connected to him."
When they rounded a corner, they were met by none other than Pansy Parkinson. Harry then suddenly felt dread - I bloody hope she didn't just hear me accuse Draco…
"Miss Parkinson, what are you doing wandering the halls? There is a dangerous individual possibly lurking about." McGonagall asked, not in the nicest tone.
"Oh, just finishing off my Prefect rounds, Professor." Pansy replied in faux innocence, although as they passed each other, the girl shot Harry a dark look, which held a bit of glee to it. Oh gosh, she did hear me. The girl stopped. "Wait, did you say there's somebody bad lurking about?"
"Yes, Miss Parkinson." McGonagall replied. "So I'd advise you to get back to the safe haven that is your common room, quickly." The girl nodded, and shot him a glance before turning around and hurrying off.
When they got to the Fat Lady's portrait, Harry asked a question. "Am I… meant to tell my friends about this?"
"Don't broadcast to absolutely everybody, but just tell your circle. I don't want panic to ensue, like the time your godfather slashed the portrait and woke Mr Weasley up. We don't want anybody sneaking out wanting to be the hero either, trying to find the attacker and getting injured." his Transfiguration teacher paused, "I will let you, Nott and Zabini know in the morning if we find the person responsible. Good night, Mr Potter."
Saying farewell, Harry stepped inside, and his friends rounded on him instantly. "God, mate, what took you so long?" Ron said, sighing with relief.
"I have something to tell you," was all he said, ushering Hermione, Ron, Amelia, and Dorea over to one of the corners. "Me, Blaise Zabini and Theo Nott were just attacked in one of the corridors."
"What?!" The four of them gasped, attracting a bit of unwanted attention. He gestured for them to be quiet as he told them what happened.
When he was done, they looked quite shocked. "So you have no clue who did it, but you're certain it was a male?" Dorea asked.
He nodded. "Yeah, that much was for certain. They stayed hidden the whole time, and even when they ran away I had no clue how to identify them."
"But you're mostly unhurt?" Amelia wanted to know, always looking out for him.
"Yes. All we got was dust from the statue on us." He confirmed.
"It was nice of you to also protect Blaise and Theodore, Harry," Hermione remarked, impressed, "I bet they appreciated that."
He blushed. "Yeah, but it was only instinct. They don't deserve to be hit with spells meant for me."
Ron looked curious. "They're nice Slytherin's, then?"
"Yeah, they wanted to talk to me about how grateful they were that I include Slytherin's in the club, and they seemed genuine in their praise." He said.
It was a bit unnerving to think that the attacker could still be in the very same building as him right now, but Harry felt safe within the common room. At ten, he and Ron went up to the boys dorm pretty tired. Amelia, Dorea and Hermione did the same a few minutes later, as they heard them going up the stairs to the girls.
The next morning, Harry genuinely had no clue how he was going to spend his Sunday. He supposed that everyone else was going to be working on homework, so that would take up a good chunk of the day - for he had homework for Charms, Ancient Runes, Potions, and Care of Magical Creatures to work on, plus some notes to do for Arithmancy. The one thing he was glad for was that detentions didn't take up most of his nights.
As he headed down to breakfast with Ron, they got there pretty early, for there were only a handful of people in the Great Hall. Harry got an idea in his head when he saw Blaise and Theo already at the Slytherin table sitting across from each other. "Wanna sit with them?" He asked Ron.
Ron's eyes widened a bit. "Oh, I don't know…"
"Honestly, they're fine with me, so they'll be fine with you." Harry convinced his best friend, and Ron nervously followed him.
"This seat taken?" Harry asked his two new acquaintances, who looked up.
"You've got guts, Potter, I'll give you that." Blaise smirked, impressed at Harry's blatant rule-breaking. Theo looked impressed too. "Morning, Weasley," Blaise also said to Ron, though less certainly.
"Oh, hello.." Ron replied not very confidently. Theo just nodded at Ron in welcome.
"Do you think they've found the person yet?" Blaise struck up conversation. "I'm assuming you told Weasley."
"Yeah, I did," Harry responded, "If they haven't, I won't be overtly surprised. The person ran away very quickly."
The other boys nodded. It took a bit of time, but Ron started warming up to Blaise and Theo. He started talking more confidently, and they soon started talking about subjects. Blaise brought up the topic of Potions. "Potter, you seem to have become the best in the class at Potions." Theo remarked.
"My godfather got me a few books over the summer which really put into perspective how it's important to understand every ingredient and what it does." He half-lied, for he had read that from a book in Alphard Black's library at Black Manor, but they didn't need to know that. "You two seem to score quite well in Potions too," he observed.
Theo barked laughter. "I'd fall apart in that subject if it wasn't for Blaise. He's the smart one."
"I'm better at practically brewing, but Theo is quite good at the theory side of things too." Blaise said.
The four of them were getting to know each other quite well. Ron was telling them about his Keeper tryout when Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. Feeling awful, as he assumed it was professor Umbridge going to tell him off for not sitting with his fellow Gryffindor's, slowly turned around, but it was Sirius.
"Sorry to interrupt, boys, but I'd like to borrow Harry for a few moments." Sirius said, gesturing for Harry to follow him out the hall.
When they got to the empty Entrance Hall, Sirius started speaking. "You were attacked last night, and I've just been alerted to this barely five minutes ago?"
Harry had just remembered. "Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, Sirius, really! Professor McGonagall escorted us to our common rooms straight after it happened, and I assumed she meant for me to stay in there and not leave."
"Our common rooms?" Sirius sounded baffled. "Who else was involved?"
Harry delved into telling his godfather about the attack, and how he, Blaise and Theo were involved. Sirius ran a hand down his face, stressed. "Goodness sake…"
"But I'm fine," Harry insisted, "none of us got hurt, we were behind cover the whole time."
"That's besides the point," Sirius said, "you were a target. Someone tried to hurt you…"
Harry kept quiet as he let the information sink in. After a minute or two, he spoke again. "It was really nice of you to protect your friends in the incident."
"I'm not quite sure Blaise and Theo were my friends before, but we've certainly bonded after it as a result." Harry replied, flushing a bit.
"You might want to sit back at Gryffindor table when Umbridge comes down, kiddo. She'll likely land you in detention." Sirius suggested. Harry nodded, although he did want to see Draco's reaction when he saw him sitting at his House table. He wanted to get to know Daphne, Astoria, Tracey, Barnaby as well… But there would be other days for that.
Harry walked back into the Great Hall with Sirius, which looked about as empty as it had been when he came down. Begrudgingly, he and Ron said farewell to Blaise and Theo as they went to sit back down at Gryffindor table.