Harry did not expect a team of Auror's to be in the middle of Dumbledore's office on a random Wednesday evening, but then again he wasn't even expecting the events of the past half an hour to even have occurred. Truly a strange evening.
Professor McGonagall had dropped by to a) make sure that her student was alright and b) to scold him for once again running into trouble. She also said that his circle of friends had been informed of what happened, and that he was totally fine. That was good - he didn't want them worrying.
Sirius had also burst in, frantic. He had run over to Harry and placed his hands either side of his head, demanding to know if he was alright. Even after he assured him about five times that none of the spells even hit him, his godfather was still worrying.
After that, Harry had to stay and listen to the Auror's interrogate Zacharias. Bletchley and Harper were now fully conscious as well, though they were still bound. As you could imagine, they were still pissed that their plan hadn't worked out, and they knew fine well they were going to get into serious amounts of trouble for possessing an unregistered Portkey and trying to transport Harry elsewhere. They were as venomous as a snake in their threats and insults. Eventually they had to cast a Silencing Charm in the boys direction so that they were mute throughout the questioning.
The Auror's addressed the elephant in the room first of all - Dumbledore's suspicion that Zacharias Smith had been placed under the Imperius by the two Slytherin's. Rufus Scrimgeour, who had been appointed by Minister Bones as the Head of the Auror Department, was a gruff looking (and sounding) man. He was almost perfect for interrogating; he was intimidating, but at the same time he was good at speaking calmly.
The other Auror's that had come along were Hestia Jones, Kingsley and Dawlish. Harry would have liked to see Tonks and Mad-Eye as well, but you couldn't have everything. He willed himself to sit and listen ardently to what was being said.
"Mr Smith, you say that you do not remember anything past dinner time?" Scrimgeour asked, leaning across Dumbledore's desk and eyeing the boy cooly.
"That's correct, sir." Smith replied, albeit a bit shaky. He had been permitted to drink some Veritaserum.
There were a few moments of silence as the Head Auror thought carefully about his next question. "How is it that you came into contact with Mr Bletchley and Mr Harper initially?"
"They approached me one day in the boys toilets during a lunch break, I think. They expressed a wish to acquaint and later befriend me, out of the blue. I thought it strange, but accepted. I started sitting with them and their other Slytherin friends at dinner and break times, and thought them genuine. I didn't even think they would have any ulterior motives - else why would they just target me?" Zacharias answered truthfully, as he was bid.
"You didn't find anything off or suspicious?"
"No, not at first. Never would I think I was being used for something."
"Did they ever ask about Potter's Defence Association group? Or about him in general, since they would have known about you being a member?"
"Not that I'm aware of, sir."
"Has this been the only occasion where you find yourself in a location you can't remember ever getting to, Mr Smith?"
Zacharias replied. "That I'm aware of."
Scrimgeour straightened up. "Do you remember what you were doing at dinner? Say, just before you were supposedly placed under the Imperius?"
"I had dinner with some of the Slytherin seventh years that Harper knows. Nothing happened then, it was just a normal everyday conversation I was having with them. I then remembered that I had a note from Professor Trelawney saying that she wanted me to come to her classroom. I left the Great Hall, but I don't remember ever arriving at the North Tower… And next thing I know I'm sat against a wall, with Potter and Madam Hooch leering at me that I'm going to be expelled."
It certainly sounded to Harry like Smith had been placed under some sort of curse unknowingly. He felt a bit bad for him - Zacharias had been lured into a false sense of security and been made to come along to things without his knowledge or consent, it seemed.
"A note from Professor Trelawney, eh?" Scrimgeour looked puzzled. "Do you take Divination as one of your subjects, Mr Smith?
Zacharias shook his head. "Not since last year, sir, it's a god awful subject. I did think it very weird for her to want to talk to me, but the handwriting looked like hers, so I didn't question it and therefore went along. Obviously, it sounds like it was a trap all along."
"That will be all for your questioning, Mr Smith." Scrimgeour said, not that kindly. "Potter, your turn."
Harry sat in the same chair Smith had been in and consented to taking the Veritaserum, which Dawlish swiftly gave him. Rufus Scrimgeour gave him a few moments before speaking. "Mr Potter, what were you doing leading up to the botched attack?"
The potion partly spoke for him. "I had Quidditch practise with the rest of my team, sir. I was the last one in the changing rooms, so I offered to lock up. I was soon left on my own, or so I thought."
Scrimgeour nodded. "I have been briefed that Smith, Bletchley and Harper here were hiding in the out of order cubicle?"
"That's correct, sir."
"And that you kept hearing noises coming from that cubicle, so deduced that somebody was in there?"
Harry nodded.
"Describe the attack."
"As soon as I considered the out of order cubicle as being a possibility, the door to it was already opening. I quickly cast the Human Revealing Spell, which subsequently revealed Bletchley and Harper to me. They were pretty annoyed about that, so they sent out a lot of offensive spells. I honestly have no clue how long we were battling for, but I eventually knocked out Harper first before offering Bletchley to hand himself in. He said no to that, and that was when he signalled to Smith - under the Imperius, - to lob the Portkey over the cubicle and to attempt to kidnap me." Harry explained.
"Speaking of that Portkey - it is currently under investigation. It's planned destination is obviously our top priority to find out, as whoever was on the other end had plans to hurt you, Potter. We will let you know the results as soon as we get them." The Head Auror explained.
Harry was satisfied with that, though he had an inkling that the process of finding that out could potentially be lengthy.
"One more thing, Potter: you said that you extended an offer to Mr Bletchley to 'hand himself in'? Can you clarify what you meant by that?" Scrimgeour seemed to eye him with something that seemed to resemble part curiosity and part wonder.
"Well, I knew that Bletchley was a fourth year, who would therefore not stand a chance in hell of succeeding to beat me, a more experienced fifth year. I said to him that there was dignity in handing himself in, owning up to his mistake, and that his punishment would be a little bit less harsh. He obviously didn't take up my offer, hence why we're all here." Harry explained, gesturing to the silent, mouthing form of Miles Bletchley. I hope Slytherin has a Reserve Keeper.
Scrimgeour nodded slowly, and then waved him off. "Kingsley, unsilence Mr Harper. We'll talk to him first."
It was like unmuting a muggle television - the room went from being partially silent to suddenly being filled with volume again, as Harper was loudly protesting (still) as you'd expect.
"Sit down and shut your mouth, you stupid boy!" Scrimgeour barked when the seventh year tried to leer in his face. Harry flinched slightly.
Harper was bound to the chair - for everyone's safety. The lads noises of frustration and fury were clear to everyone; it was like a seething growl mixed with a bit of hyperventilation. The Truth Serum was virtually shoved down the boys throat, with the combined efforts of both Kingsley and Hestia. He prepared himself for some Death Eater plans and mantras to be spoken about.
"Now you listen to me, boy. How did you come to learn that Mr Potter would be in the quidditch changing rooms this evening?" The Head Auror put his first question to the boy, walking closer and closer to Harper.
"Miles knew that Gryffindor had their practise tonight, and that Potter would likely be worn out from it. It was pure luck and chance that he stayed back to lock up by himself."
"How did you get into the changing rooms?"
"We snuck in when the team were out practising, as we knew Madam Hooch would be out with them as well."
"Who initiated this plan?"
"Me and Miles both."
"For what reason?"
"Our families are closely tied with the dark lord. Our parents wish to be in his favour and to join his ranks, so they were the ones to give this idea the go-ahead. The dark lord approved. Lucius Malfoy manipulated someone at the Ministry to give him a Portkey, which the dark lord then programmed for us. He gave us simple instructions - to bring Harry Potter to him, however possible."
Harry felt himself go cold, though he knew a story like that was coming. Voldemort had planned to kill him tonight… who knows, it could have so easily succeeded, especially if he didn't knock Harper out when he did. But the fact that piece of information had just implicated Malfoy Snr...
Scrimgeour grunted. "That damn Malfoy... " He then snapped back to the present. "Who else was planning to be there with your master, eh? Were there any other Death Eaters? Give me their names!"
The potion spoke for Harper. "Mine and Bletchley's parents, Goyle Snr, Crabbe Snr, and Nott Snr. A handful of others were to be there as well, such as Antonin Dolohov, Fenrir Greyback, Bellatrix Lestrange, her husband and his brother."
That had meant that some of the escaped Death Eaters were there, and Harry would have likely seen them had the Portkey hit him…
Scrimgeour paced for a few moments, then rounded on Harper again. "Where was this Portkey planned to arrive at, eh? You tell me, boy!"
Dumbledore hastily told Scrimgeour not to raise his voice too much, and to let the Veritaserum in Harper's system reveal all. Which it did. "The same graveyard where the dark lord was revived last year, during the Third Task, which Potter witnessed. Master thought it would be fitting - to kill him in the place where he was supposed to die originally."
"I think we have all we need to know now, Ru-"
"-No, Kingsley, there's still some more things I need to ask him," Scrimgeour cut Kingsley off, and leaned ever closer to Harper still. "Where is this graveyard you speak of?"
"He might not know that, sir-" Dawlish tried to say.
"Silence!" Scrimgeour barked, causing Harry to flinch once again. The man was looking very eager to hear Harper's predicament.
"My father explained the graveyard is located in Little Hangleton, wherever that is." You could tell that Harper really didn't like how the Veritaserum was speaking for him.
"That settles it, then," Scrimgeour stood to full height, "that's the end of the questioning."
It was silent for a few moments. "Are you not going to question Mr Bletchley, sir?" Hestia asked.
"Why would I? Harper here told me everything I needed to know and what I needed to go on. All that needs to be done now is to detain them."
Harry was pleased at that. Though Dumbledore wasn't exactly on the same page. "Arresting them?"
"Obviously," the Head Auror said in a particular tone as he threw his coat on, "they're Death Eater sprogs, Albus. We can't just let them go free when they just carried out a plan for their comrades!"
"I didn't say we shouldn't," Dumbledore said calmly, "they need to be taken out of school for the time being and be held in custody where they can't carry out any more plans. It just seems a bit rash to do that when we do not know if they had anybody else lined up to be involved in future plans."
Harry could see the logic in that. So did Scrimgeour. "Very well. We'll ask both Harper and Bletchley. More Veritaserum, Hestia, if you will."
It took less than a minute for them to get answers. Though there were only three other people who were meant to be involved in a future plan to cause havoc, they were people who were meant to have the Imperius placed on them. They were called Fergus Cawley, Niles Hanley and Timothy Morcott - all Slytherin's who were supposedly neutral. The two boys, with the go-ahead from Voldemort, were meant to place those three students under Imperius to have them unknowingly and forcibly join the Death Eaters, and have them take part in plans - much like they had just done with Zacharias. At least they won't be roped in now, Harry thought, gladly, they won't get wrongfully arrested in the future now.
After that, Rufus Scrimgeour proclaimed that Harper and Bletchley were under arrest until further notice for casting an Unforgivable Spell, being involved with Death Eater's, and attempting to kidnap Harry. He sat and felt a weight be taken off his shoulders when the two Slytherin's were bound and led away through the Floo, hopefully to never see the light of day again. Harry knew that half of Slytherin were probably going to be in uproar over the next few days once the news was broken to them, and that he would be blamed…
When they were gone, Smith turned to him. "Potter, I'm sorry-"
"-Don't apologise," Harry said instantly, "I know that you were placed under an Imperius, Zach, it wasn't your fault nor will you be punished for it. I'm sorry for saying that you would be."
The Hufflepuff looked very grateful, and for once even smiled at him. They shook hands to be sure that there were no hard feelings. Harry couldn't help but not take his eyes off the word TRAITOR, which was still spelled out in boils across Smith's forehead. "It's done that because you unknowingly got involved with people that had Death Eater sympathies," he explained to him, "McGonagall put an enchantment on the sign-up sheet to the DA to automatically reject anyone dark, basically."
The Headmaster turned to them. "I'm sure you two will be desperate to get back to your common rooms after the recent events. Since this is an ongoing investigation, may I remind you both to tell as minimal as people as possible?"
Harry nodded, swearing to only tell his closest and most trusted friends. It took a few moments for Zacharias to nod, but he did in the end.
Remus was outside the office, and had been since the Auror's had arrived. Dumbledore had said before they left that he was going to escort them back to their respective common rooms. They dropped Smith off first, who said a hasty and awkward farewell. As soon as they started walking up to Gryffindor Tower, Remus started speaking. "You're definitely alright, Harry?"
"Yeah," he replied honestly, "I'm still a bit shaken about that Portkey being lobbed at me, but the main thing is that it didn't hit me. I just can't believe I was attacked again."
"Neither can I," his honorary uncle and Defence teacher rubbed a hand down his face, "I haven't stopped thinking about how close you came to being torn away from the school, to wherever that damned thing was meant to go... "
"I'm just thankful that Bletchley and Harper won't get the chance to do it to me, or anyone else, again." He said, sighing a bit as they climbed the stairs.
Just as they got to the top of the Grand Staircase, a flash of pain in Harry's head gave him a scare. He immediately winced and made a noise of discomfort, and could feel himself crippling.
"Harry?" Remus was on high alert. The man's voice was almost distant.
A dark and dank scene was visible to him. A whole crowd of people, looking unnerved despite being intimidating themselves. They were all dressed in black.
"My lord? Surely there's been a slight delay-"
"-THEY ARE NOT COMING!" Came a huge bellow, which could only be Voldemort. It was as if Harry was him. "THE PLAN HAS FAILED, YOU IDIOTS! IT'S A WONDER I'M NOT LOST FOR WORDS!"
"My lord, my son was very eager to carry out this plan, you know yourself, he and young Miles offered!" A man stepped forward, hands together, as if pleading. "Mayhaps the team had a longer practise than usual, and that's what's keeping them?"
Tom Marvolo Riddle felt nothing but fury. "Your son has failed in the very mission he thought of, you insipid man! He and Bletchley both have made a mockery of us in their utter incompetence!"
Even Bellatrix Lestrange and Antonin Dolohov were looking a bit uneasy. He saw the platinum blonde hair of Lucius Malfoy - gripping his cane, as if bracing for an impact.
The pain in his scar truly seared when Voldemort suddenly started casting Crucio at random, on his own 'loyal' followers. About three people started dropping to the grass, screaming, which sent the rest into terror.
"Harry!"
Harry found himself back to reality. He was on the ground, up against a pillar, with Remus leaning over him, looking frantic. He realised he was sweating a bit. "He's utterly furious," was all he said, "I was meant to be there after all... "
Remus offered a hand to help pull him up. Once he was back on his feet, he wiped his forehead. "I thought you were learning Occlumency to prevent this sort of stuff from happening?" Remus scolded.
"I have!" Harry insisted as he fixed his glasses, "I have an Occlumency shield around my mind, which I strengthen daily. I thought the visions had stopped, honest. Maybe it was just because he was downright fuming that it managed to break through the shield.. I don't know."
Remus wasn't entirely convinced. "Well, you better get that shield strengthened again before You-Know-Who realises."
"I will, before bed." Harry said nonchalantly, and went to walk forward again. He quickly realised that Remus wasn't walking with him. He looked back at him. "Is something else wrong?"
"No, no, it's just something Sirius said when he left Dumbledore's office - well, when he was dragged away, more like." Remus said, shaking his head as if to say never mind.
"What?"
"Well… Don't take it seriously, Harry, but as he walked away I heard him muttering that he was going to have you homeschooled-"
"-Pardon?" Harry started suddenly.
"-if attacks on you continued." Lupin finished.
He certainly wasn't expecting that. Sirius surely couldn't be serious about that? Harry wasn't sure if he'd survive a day being homeschooled - especially if it applied to only him. That would mean Amelia and Dorea going to Hogwarts without him. He would miss out on so much if he was confined to learning within Black Manor… Though he adored the house and all it had on offer, he loved Hogwarts that little bit more - it was special, a place of memories and new beginnings. His work with the DA was only getting started as well - surely Sirius couldn't take that away from him?!
"Well, that's not really for him to decide." Was all Harry said: not with any venom aimed at Sirius himself, he just hated the idea.
"He was probably just shaken in the moment, y'know how he gets. Overprotective. It took five minutes for you alone to convince him that you were 100% fine. He probably isn't considering it at all now - and even if he was, I would tell him it was stupid." Remus said in an attempt to settle Harry, which worked. Probably just an empty threat after all, said in part-jest.
When he eventually got back to the common room, it was basically empty - apart from the Weasley's, Hermione, his sisters and the Quidditch team. It was fair to say he was bombarded on all fronts that much he felt like a muggle celebrity that had been caught in a scandal.
"You were attacked! Again!"
"Who did it, Harry?"
"Are you okay?"
"McGonagall said you were almost kidnapped!"
"I swear, if you can't play Saturday…"
He put his hands up to stem all the questions being thrown at him a hundred miles and hour. He nodded to Angelina first; who was likely desperate to know if his chances of playing on Saturday had been hindered at all. "You better not be hurt, Harry-"
"-I'm fine, Captain. None of the spells even hit me, so I will be playing." He answered straight away, and Angelina Johnson's face relaxed.
Next, he looked to his twin sister. "Who attacked you?" She had asked.
"Miles Bletchley, and a seventh year Slytherin called Harper. The both of them also placed Zacharias Smith under the Imperius so they could get him to do their bidding." He answered, and mostly everyone gasped at the end.
"He threw the Portkey?" Ron tried to piece it together, sounding nervous.
"Yes, though he was Imperiused." He nodded.
"Where was the Portkey meant to go?" the Reserve Beater, Sloper, voiced.
"It was meant to deliver me to Voldemort directly, where he was to kill me."
Everyone gasped and looked on-edge. Ginny in particular.
"What happens now?" Katie Bell asked.
"Well, the Auror's arrived in Dumbledore's office, and questioned the four of us with Veritaserum. The Head Auror, Scrimgeour, then arrested Bletchley and Harper for three crimes and took them away." Harry replied, and they all hung onto every word.
Eventually, everyone agreed to go to bed. Harry especially was knackered - he was still in his outfit from quidditch training, which he realised he hadn't freshened up. He simply didn't have the chance to.
He was never more glad to finally touch down and climb into his bed. He felt a slight feeling of dread when he thought of when the story eventually broke - maybe it already had. Slytherin were not going to be impressed that two of their own had just been arrested and were likely going to have their wands snapped, and he knew that there would be hostility. Especially considering Bletchley was the Slytherin team's Keeper - if Gryffindor beat Hufflepuff tomorrow, then it would mean they'd face Slytherin for the Quidditch Cup Final in May, and the team would need Bletchley. However, he was likely to be expelled…
He felt a bit easier when he knew that his friends would back him up - both his oldest and newest. The Slytherin DA members would almost certainly have his side too - they mostly kept separate from the rest of their house anyway, so they'd have his back both publicly and privately.
In fact, he knew then that he could count on them all.
The next few days were a bit shaky. As always, news spread very quickly around Hogwarts, and by Thursday afternoon the whole school knew of the attack on Harry, which had happened barely twenty four hours ago. Amelia had no doubt that Theo, and subsequently Blaise, Barnaby, the Greengrass sisters, Liz and Tracey would back her brother's corner - and they did with loyal gusto. Theo and Blaise took it a bit too seriously - they acted like bodyguards and even went to the toilets with Harry 'just in case'. Daphne, Astoria, Liz and Tracey took care of keeping an eye out for any Slytherin females who may feel vengeful - the four of them stayed true to their house's attributes and used equal amounts of blackmail and cunning in order to shut down any hateful comments they heard uttered towards Harry. There was also a change in Hufflepuff - since Zacharias, one of their own, had been placed under the Imperius, the house had taken it upon themselves to conduct thorough checks of their fellow peers, meaning they were truly living up to their loyalty trait.
The Ravenclaw's were in on it too. Members of the house, such as Cho, Anthony, Terry, Padma, Sue, Lisa, Badeea and Tulip used both their knowledge and wit in order to conduct checks on house members without their knowledge. Badeea and Tulip had combined their specialties in creating spells and pranking respectively to come up with an effective solution: in order to prevent another Francis Selwyn situation, Tulip had acquired some muggle voice recording devices (god knows where and how she got them), which Badeea promptly formatted and secretly placed in each Ravenclaw dorm. The trick to them was simple - they would only activate and start recording someone's voice if the words 'dark lord', 'Death Eater's', 'our lord', 'the plan', 'attack Potter', or any other language which dark magic users might use whilst speaking about future plans. The idea was to quell any future planned attack without the person's knowledge they were even being recorded. Amelia loved the idea once it was explained. Badeea Ali was something of a genius for a fourth year - as creating spells required immense skill in Arithmancy, and the girl was creating a complex, word-recognising spell that was likely more advanced than NEWT level.
The Gryffindor's were a bit more upfront. On the Friday evening, mere hours before the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor game, Fred and George were feeling daring. Since Harry, Amelia, Dorea, Ron and Hermione had gone to the Room of Requirement anyway, the twins had an idea just to check there were no Gryffindor's thinking of allying with Voldemort - they already had a prank product lined up (a soda drink which was laced with Veritaserum) which made the person who drank it reveal any unconscious thoughts regarding anything you asked them. The beauty of it was that the person being asked would not remember being questioned. The Weasley twins played it off like they had just come back from Honeydukes cellar and took a whole batch of fizzy juice, which they offered for free to anyone. As predicted, a lot of students came up to bag themselves a free drink. The twins then started questioning - and thankfully none of the students' answers had given them any cause for concern or alarm. That would definitely make them sleep easier at night - nobody in Gryffindor at least was planning on being Death Eater scum. When the twins told them about their findings when they got back, Harry was honoured they'd done all that for his safety and security, but said they really didn't have to. Fred and George just shook off his concern though, and said he and Amela were practically family that they'd do anything to protect. Amelia had grinned at that.
Saturday morning was upon them, which meant the game was on them at last. At breakfast, Harry went down with his sister, godsister, Hermione, Ron, Ginny and the twins. Just as they came off the Grand Staircase, a group of Slytherin boys that included Montague and Warrington stood in front of them and leered.
"Why'd you grass in my Keeper, Potty?" Montague snarled. "You think you're so invincible? He'll be out in no time!"
"You best be counting your blessings if you beat Hufflepuff today, Potter, for when you face Slytherin in the final we will run you lot into the ground!" Warrington hissed.
"Really?" Harry replied neutrally, "That will be quite hard for you to do, especially considering the fact that our team has always beaten yours, and you have no Keeper to stop the goals going in."
Fred and George guffawed, and Hermione was shocked but very impressed. The Slytherin's were fuming. "You nasty little-"
"-I'd advise you not to finish that sentence, Wilson." came from in front of them, which belonged to Remus.
The Slytherin's begrudgingly nodded, but glared at them once last time before slinking into the Great Hall. Remus approached them. "Good luck today, guys." The man said happily, patting them on the shoulders as they walked past. They thanked him, and on a happier note went towards Gryffindor table.
Their other friends joined them, even Megan, Wayne and Zacharias. They had friendly discussions - and didn't once talk about the match. Instead they talked about the National Quidditch League standings, and about the teams in it.
They were discussing the chances of Pride of Portree (who were playing the Montrose Magpies today, conveniently) when Harry felt a tap on his shoulder. He thought it was just going to be another well-wisher, but was surprised when he turned, for it was Barnaby Lee.
"Hey mate," Harry nodded in welcome.
"Hi," the boy said, "good luck for today. I was just wondering if I could talk to you?"
Harry nodded and went to get up, although he noticed that Fred and George, sitting across from him, looked ready to get up and follow them. He looked at them. "It's fine, guys, Barnaby is a DA member."
The twins nodded, though watched them leave the hall. Since the Entrance Hall was deserted, they just went there. "You alright, Barnaby?" He asked, noticing the boy looked a bit on-edge.
"Kind of," the fourth year replied, "I've just had a lot on my mind lately. Since you're a go-to person for a lot of people, I just decided to come to you.."
He nodded slowly. "If it's more of a private matter, I could cast a Silencing Charm around us in case anyone hears?"
Barnaby nodded vehemently. "Yes, please."
Harry did so. When he tucked his wand away, Barnaby took a deep breath. "Okay, here it goes. This is probably gonna sound a bit like repetition, but my situation is a bit different. So I know that Blaise and Theo live with you at some random location, and I was there with you guys when we were brewing and Blaise explained why he wanted to live with you, and it got me thinking. What Blaise said about his mum and her boyfriend wanting to Dark Mark him made me realise something: my parents are likely going to say the same thing to me. Now obviously I'm not like them - I've never been a pureblood supremacist ponce, so I'd hate every second of being a forced Death Eater. But my mum and dad are both members of the Death Eater's, y'see - they're not in his inner circle, and they barely attend meetings, but they agree with his beliefs. Ugh, I'm probably rambling… But what I'm saying is this - I do not want that life for myself. I don't want my parents to force me to be someone that I'm not. But they don't care about that in the slightest; they'd force me into it anyway. The DA made me realise long ago that being a child of two Death Eaters doesn't have to mean I have to resign myself to that kind of life as well; I want to be able to flourish in the real world, not the oppressive one You-Know-Who is desiring. If I remain living with my parents, they'll mark me whether I want it or not, but if I leave… I really feel like that would give me the best hope of succeeding in life."
Harry listened patiently. He was glad that he thought of creating the DA at all - for people like Barnaby, Blaise and Theo wouldn't have a safe place to vent and crash after all, and he wouldn't have prevented as many Death Eater hopefuls from going over to the dark side.
"Are your parents abusive at all?" Harry asked.
"My dad is cruel, and is indifferent to love. He's kind of the reason I have this strong, tough-guy persona. He once screamed at me for crying because he murdered some Pixies in front of me. My mum is similar, though she does care about me, I guess. That sounds terrible, you'd think 'caring' would be a standard requirement for parents. My grandma also supports You-Know-Who."
Harry nodded as he stared at the green-eyed boy. He made his decision right there and then. "You can come and stay with us. In fact, I'm still yet to ask my godfather if Blaise can come - I can do that after the match. I'm sure he will accept, though I'm not sure if he'll let anyone else come lest the house becomes known as Black Sanctuary."
Barnaby laughed, which was nice to see after he'd been quite tense and nervous before. They walked back into the Great Hall, relieved. Angelina was soon on him. "Have you eaten? We need to get down to the pitch, see what conditions are like and all that."
"Yeah, I did." He said, and nodded farewell at Barnaby, who said one last good luck.
The Gryffindor team and the Reserve's walked down to the pitch quite leisurely, though Angelina was quite serious. Ron fell in beside him. "What was Barnaby speaking to you about?"
"He's also going to become a resident of Black Manor." Was all Harry said as they passed a few Hufflepuff Reserve's.
Ron nodded. "That house is bound to become a sanctuary during the inevitable war."
Harry chuckled, having just said something like that a few minutes before.
In the changing rooms, Angelina had their usual team talk once they were all changed. "Right, so this is another crucial game - if we win, and we must, we'll face Slytherin in the final. But we will only get to the final if we score adequate points today. I've done the maths - Harry, please try and hold Summerby off long enough until we get to one hundred points up before you think of catching the Snitch, will you? Then it will really propel us into first place, and we get our one-way ticket to go into the final."
He nodded, mentally noting that piece of vital information. He would have to deploy every tactic known to man, but the team was in really good form, so he knew it wouldn't take that long for them to get ten goals.
"Also, it's potentially our second to last game," Angelina said, and gestured to Fred, George and Alicia as she said it, "which means it could be my last game as Captain if we lose. I know I've taken my role a bit too seriously, but if this is the last time we meet as a team, I just want to thank you all for putting up with me, and us, over the years. Together we've all been pushed to our limits, but we've become stronger because of it, and it really shows in our gameplay. You all are amazing; as players, people and contributors. Truly, it feels like I've shared the role of Captaincy with you: you've all spoken to me whenever I've wanted to gage opinions, and we've never had a disagreement or fallen out. How many other teams can boast that? Truly, you're all incredible. I hope we can all meet one day in the future when we're all graduated, and who knows, maybe we'll have a little team reunion game in ten years time?"
They all chuckled at that, and even Harry was getting a bit emotional. He wasn't going to cry or anything, he just felt a bit sad how it was possibly their last game together.
"Let's do everything in our power to not make it our last team game, eh?" Fred voiced all of a sudden.
George was right on cue to speak after him. "Yeah, let's not dwell on the 'what ifs', let's go out there and win, so that we can play our last game in May instead of today!"
They all whooped and cheered at that, and chanted a bit. Harry vowed himself to keep his wits about him, and to prevent Summerby from getting anywhere near the snitch until Gryffindor had 100 points.
An hour later, they were striding out onto the pitch, now changed and ready for action. The stands were packed, as Quidditch games usually were. He grinned up at Amelia, Dorea and Ginny, who were in the stands but on standby in case Harry or any of the Chaser's had to be substituted off. Jack and Sloper were with them too, looking enthusiastic.
He'd been excited to face this strong Hufflepuff team for a while now. He wasn't that worried about Summerby, the Seeker and therefore his direct opponent, as the boy had only managed to catch the Snitch once this season, but nonetheless he'd watch out for him. He waved at Megan, Wayne and Zach good-heartedly as the Captain's shook hands, and they mouthed good luck before obtaining seriousness and game-faces as they mounted their brooms. Ron was puffing nervously as he flew to his hoops, though he looked focused and ready.
Hooch blew the whistle and threw the Quaffle up into the air. Katie was immediately vying for it, but Cadwallader won the aerial battle. The Captain was already soaring towards Ron. Harry tore his focus away as he started his hunt for the Snitch, though he'd learned by now to keep one ear out for Lee's commentary.
"Could we have a goal within the first minute here? It certainly looks possible! Cadwallader soars past Johnson and Spinnet, dodges a Weasley bludger. He prepares to take his shot… aims.. And sc-OH NO HE DOESN'T! Ron Weasley in goal has just stopped that with the tips of his gloves! Spectacular!"
He was pleased that Ron managed to save it, hoping it would give him confidence for the rest of the match. He noticed Summerby was tracking him, following him - rookie mistake. Harry smirked brightly as he soared off in one direction, as if he'd spotted the Snitch, and Summerby was soon scrambling to accelerate. Then, with one swift motion of his Firebolt (the beauty of it being such a top-of-the-range broom) drifted it around so he was facing the opposite direction, and zoomed right past Summerby.
"Potter's completely done Summerby there! Oldest trick in the book, but they still fall for it!" Lee laughed into the magical microphone, and the crowd was buzzing. He knew that Sirius and Remus were either mesmerised or killing themselves laughing over in the teachers stand. A flustered Summerby soon continued tracking Harry.
Ten minutes passed before the first goal went in - and it was a Gryffindor one, thankfully. Angelina had drifted her broom all the way around the goal hoops and simply flung it in, causing the crowd to go wild.
"Nice stuff from Angelina Johnson there! I've been saying she's the best for years and she still won't go out with me to Hogsmeade-"
"Jordan!" McGonagall's voice suddenly could be heard around the stadium.
"Sorry, Professor. Just adding a bit of humour, is all. Back to the game now - Gryffindor are ten points up, Hufflepuff nill. Spinnet has the quaffle now - oh, not anymore, as she's had to dodge a strong bludger from Megan Jones. That reminds me - I have a message request from a Mr Adrian Pucey who would like it very much if Miss Jones went with him on a date to the Three Broomsticks next term-"
"-JORDAN!"
"It's a shout-out service, Professor, completely harmless!"
Harry laughed and shook his head back into action as he properly searched the pitch for the much-desired little golden ball, pausing for short intervals to see if he could find it without moving. As he did so, Hufflepuff got their first goal, courtesy of Zach. Half of Slytherin took up the chant "Weasley is our King", which irated everyone greatly. Please don't feel crap, Ron, Harry prayed, we need to get to the final.
"You're not doing much Seeking, Potter!" Angelina snapped him back into action, as his Captain soared past as she was going up the pitch to aid Alicia in getting to the goal hoops. Quickly leaning forward so he was moving again, he noticed that Summerby wasn't doing much either - in fact, he was spectating.
Harry saw a flicker of gold dangling near where Wayne Hopkins had been poised, and took off in an instant, the wind buffering his hair. Though he didn't plan on catching it yet, he wanted to be near its general vicinity at all times to block Summerby off. The burly Seeker hadn't even noticed. Stay like that the whole game, mate, Harry half-joked in his head, that will make my mission much easier.
"Spinnet is really determined today, as she gets closer and closer to the Keeper's area - and she scores!" Lee said, the crowd going wild. "This is what Quidditch is all about! Gryffindor 20, Hufflepuff 10!"
Only eight more goals and I can end the match, Harry said, keeping calm as Summerby received a bollocking from his Captain as he wasn't doing anything.
Things seemed to be going his way, for Gryffindor received a penalty, as the third Hufflepuff Chaser had purposefully elbowed Katie in the face as she was tackling him for the quaffle. Angelina took the shot - and scored again. Seven.
Hufflepuff were soon on the offensive, but were desperate to not fall too far behind that their Chaser's kept on getting fouled. Cadwallader wasn't too impressed at that, you could imagine. However that soon proved to be very hypocritical as the Hufflepuff Captain tried to grab Katie by her shoulders to halt her in her tracks barely ten minutes later. Since it was a limited contact sport, another penalty was awarded, to Cadwallader's fury.
Katie took it, though it only just went in and no more. Six.
Half an hour more passed, and two more goals had gone in for Gryffindor, though Hufflepuff were coming back with a vengeance. It seemed that Hufflepuff kept pushing into Gryffindor's end of the pitch every minute, but was always stopped and pushed back. The Snitch, which Harry kept a five metre distance from, soon started taking Harry on some laps, both around and above the pitch's boundaries.
After coming back down about a hundred feet, Harry realised that the score was now Gryffindor 90, Hufflepuff 80. It was unbelievably close and could probably go either way, but he was keeping good tabs on the most important ball of the match and was ready to catch it when the Gryffindor score was 100 or more. He willed Ron to hold off the goals for just a little bit longer. Despite the score, from what he had heard it had been Ron's best match in terms of saves - he'd saved five overall. Harry was nothing but delighted when he dipped down to listen and heard Lee proclaim that Ron had pulled off an excellent save.
As soon as Gryffindor got to one hundred points, the snitch seemed to dart away - for Harry momentarily lost track of it in his giddy celebration. It dived straight downwards, so much so it looked like Harry was pulling off a Wronski Feint. Summerby had long since stopped marking him, and Harry let out an excited noise when he saw the Seeker look right at him and resume his hunt. He really thinks I'm pulling off a Feint! He thought with immense smugness.
Making sure he was in sight of everyone, he concluded his dive by sharply pulling up and straightening out his Firebolt. Lee Jordan was getting excited.
"Spinnet puts another one in! What a girl! To think she was injured for three months as well! Incredible feat- what's this?! Potter is in a downwards dive - oh my word, that's a flicker of gold! He's going for the Golden Snitch! Summerby's shaking his head, look, he thinks Potter's pulling another trick on him, but he's about to get a fright! Now he scrambles towards him!"
In one swift motion, Harry caught the Snitch.
"Summerby's not going to get there in time at all! POTTER HAS CAUGHT THE SNITCH! Gryffindor have won 260-90! They're in the Quidditch Cup Final!"
The stands erupted with cheers as Harry triumphantly pulled up, proudly showing off the Snitch clasped between his fingers as she shoved his hand in the air. Fred and George both barrelled into him at the same time, meaning that he'd almost been winded. His ears were ringing. It was that loud. He was sure that the twins had taken up the chant of "Potter's Still Got It", but couldn't be too sure as he was now surrounded on all sides.
A sea of faces were wishing him congratulations and chanting, and all he could do was thank them. Amelia, Dorea, Ginny and Hermione were sprinting through the crowd and all four of them pulled him into a group hug, which the rest of the Gryffindor team soon joined. Megan, Wayne and Zach patted him on the shoulder and said well done for a great game (well, he thought that was what they said, anyway). The DA members either hugged him, praised him, or both.
When the crowd finally started to move towards the castle, Fred and George burst into a run. "Gotta prepare for the party in the common room!" They said. He found himself being pulled to a halt, again, as Sirius and Remus pulled him into individual hugs and said how well he had done. He was sure Sirius was rambling about how much he resembled James when he flew, but he couldn't be too sure.
The parties after a House had won a Quidditch match, however close the result, were always hectic. Fred and George, as always, provided the food and drink - namely sugary sweets and butterbeer. It lasted well into early Sunday morning, and even McGonagall made an appearance - though it was only to tell them off for being up so late.
Sunday in itself was pretty chilled, since tomorrow marked the school breaking up for Easter break. A lot of friendship groups were spending as much time together as possible, since those going home wouldn't see each other for two weeks. The weather was pretty decent for their last day of term - so much so that a lot of people were sitting outside and lapping up the sun. A lot of the fifth years were sat by the Black Lake and were discussing their study groups.
"Me and Sue have made a list of the spells you should all go over during the break, so that when we come back we only have to practise casting them." Hermione explained, and passed around sheets of parchment containing a list of Transfiguration spells from first to fifth year.
"Me and Megan have done the same thing for Care of Magical Creatures," Tracey called out as she handed out a list of creatures to study to those who did the subject.
By lunch, everyone had about a half dozen sheets of parchment on them. Harry wondered just how much he was going to be able to cover - what with Blaise and Barnaby now living with them and what not. He would definitely have to prioritise his workload, and learn to say 'no' to some things if he was already busy. Not to mention he had to revise Arithmancy…
After lunch, a lot of people were heading to the library to either study or to sign some books out to take home during Easter. He knew he didn't really have to do that, since Black Manor had a library, so elected to stay with Ron, Amelia and Dorea in the Great Hall.
"That reminds me - you should really ask dad about Blaise and Barnaby." Dorea said.
Harry had almost forgotten, stupidly. Luckily, his godfather was still up at the staff table having lunch. He got the attention of his Slytherin friends (which took a minute or so for them to notice), and they came over.
"Let's go up and ask, so that we don't forget tomorrow." He said to them, and they nodded. The three of them approached the staff table. Sirius eyed them curiously.
"Hello, Harry, and you two. What's up?" His godfather asked, facing them.
Harry lowered his voice a bit. "Please don't get annoyed, but it is my wish that Blaise and Barnaby here come and live with us."
Sirius raised his eyebrows. "Why would I be angry? I'll admit that it's kind of defeating the purpose of the Manor being top secret, but I will never deny any of your friends' refuge at the place, Harry."
He breathed a sigh of relief, and looked to the fifth year and fourth year either side of him. They did the same, smiling, and each put an arm around him as if they were thankful.
"Thank you, Professor Black." Blaise voiced, sounding quite airy.
"Yeah, you've probably saved our skins." Barnaby said, laughing nervously.
Sirius smiled. "We'll talk about it more when we get home tomorrow. I'll add you to the house's security wards now."
Harry smirked knowingly when the two boys flinched back at the electric shock-type feeling that went through you when you were added to security wards. They walked back towards their tables, the two Slytherin's still smiling.
"Will we meet you on the train or something so we're not trying to find each other on the platform?" Barnaby asked.
"Definitely," Harry said, "we'll save some space in a compartment for you two, and Theo as well. When school breaks up tomorrow morning, will we meet you in the Entrance Hall?"
Blaise nodded. "Sounds like a plan."
"Great!" Harry clasped his hands together, looking forward to it. "I can't wait for you two to see the house, You'll just love it."
"I hope you really do have a Potions room in the house, Potter, else I'll be so disappointed and may just pack up and leave." Blaise said, jokingly. They laughed.
"Oh it does, and you'll love it." Harry said, before the two of them left to go back over to the Slytherin table. He had half-thought of telling them about Regulus Black, but decided not to - anyone could overhear them and go into meltdown. Besides, he wasn't even sure if the man had moved in yet.
Before he knew it, he was waking up on Monday morning first thing. Early morning sunrise was seeping in through the curtains of the fifth year boys dormitory. The sky was something of a light pink, and looked gorgeous.
He had packed his trunk the night before, as had everyone else, but he quietly double-checked it again just to make sure he had everything. Since his slight paranoia was telling him he'd forgotten something, he triply-checked. Shaking that aside and telling himself he did have all his things, he got dressed into his muggle clothing. Since the weather looked glorious, he threw on a simple t-shirt and jeans, though took a pullover out too in case it got cold. Out of his dormitory, only Seamus was staying at school for break. The boy claimed it was because he would be closer to extra resources if he needed them, and also due to the fact he'd never spent a holiday at school before. He wouldn't be totally alone - Anthony, Padma, Parvati, and others such as Justin and even Ernie were staying as well, since they were also people who were serious about revision and passing their exams.
He went down to breakfast then, and was surprised to see only Astoria Greengrass in the Hall. Shrugging, he decided to go over to his fourth year friend.
"Mind if I join you?" He asked to be sure.
The girl grinned up at him. "Do you really need to ask by this point, Harry? Of course you can."
"Just making sure," he said, sliding down into the seat opposite her. "How have you been?"
"Really good, actually. Classes are going pretty good, though that's easy for a fourth year like me to say - I don't do any exams." She replied, taking a sip of coffee.
"It all goes downhill in that retrospect next year," he reminded her, smirking, "OWLs are a nightmare, especially on the homework front."
"Yeah, Daph has said countless times." Astoria replied, drinking some more. "I'm not sure if I said before how much I enjoy the DA, Harry."
"I can tell you enjoy it," he said, "you're always smiling and work well with others. Ginny said she had particularly bonded with you."
The girl smiled. "Gin's great. She's actually coming over to my house during break, on the 7th. Penny Haywood might be coming too, but she has to alternate time with her muggle friends so they don't get suspicious. Tulip wanted to, but her parents are a bit strict and don't like the idea of her Flooing halfway across the country whilst they're at work."
He nodded, pleased that Ginny was finally getting to go over to her friend's house after being disappointed she couldn't do so over Christmas. A thought came to him then. "Is it alright if I ask this? I want you to honestly say what the non-DA Slytherin's think of me."
Astoria was surprised at that question, but took a few seconds to think. "To be honest, there's an even divide. The house seems to be split into four groups: one quarter absolutely hating you and all your friends, another quarter simply disliking you and not believing anything you say, one quarter loving you - DA members, obviously, and the final quarter don't really care."
He could easily pinpoint which Slytherin's fit into which category. "Fair enough. Has there been any shift since Bletchley and Harper were arrested?"
Astoria was all too eager to let spill. "A dramatic shift of opinion, but still even numbers. There was uproar even among the neutral ones once the news broke. However, we in the DA got them to pipe down." At that, the girl looked triumphant.
"Do I want to know?" He chuckled.
"A healthy dose of slyness and cunning, oh, and Daph did threaten few of them."
He almost choked on his tea. He knew he could count on them to defend his name. They talked a bit more. "Any plans over Easter?"
"Mostly just relaxing, I think. The fourth year exams aren't until the end of May anyway, so I've still got ages to revise. I have a feeling Daph will be cooped up in her room with her nose in her notes, though." Astoria replied.
It was then that Liz Tuttle made an appearance, as did Daphne and Tracey. Pansy Parkinson and Millicent Bulstrode weren't far behind them, though they sent him an ugly glare as they walked down the Slytherin table. Sooner after that, Theo and his two new housemates made an appearance. Theo went over to sit with Amelia at Gryffindor table whilst Blaise and Barnaby sat with them.
The Hogwarts Express departed Hogsmeade at eleven a.m for London, so at ten a lot of people went up to their common rooms and dormitories to do some last-minute packing and saying goodbyes to those remaining in the castle for the holidays. Hermione had done one last jaunt to the library to find some extracurricular books to read, so Fred and George really took the opportunity to sell some of their products. As a result, the common room was pretty noisy and crowded. Harry had to dodge a third year trying to put a Headless Hat on his head as he was going up the stairs at twenty past to bring his luggage down.
Amelia went to fetch Hedwig from the owlery, with Dorea going as well, and Ginny went with them to also get Pigwidgeon. They agreed to meet in the Entrance Hall to make things easier. At half past, just before the door opened to let them leave for Hogsmeade Train Station, did Blaise, Theo and Barnaby find them. The Weasley's, Hermione, Dorea and Amelia found them too, though they had to shuffle through the crowd.
They boarded the train and grabbed the first empty compartment they found. Fred and George left them to discuss the business with Lee. They seen Sirius and Remus walk past their compartment, and stuck their head in to say they were only two compartments up from them if they needed anything.
Soon enough, the train hooted and left Hogsmeade. Half an hour into its departure, the trolley lady was making her way up the carriages, stopping by to sell them all sorts of delicious confectionery. Harry insisted he was buying for everyone, and his arms were soon ladened and near overflowing. "My mum loves Choco Balls!" Theo claimed. "D'ya mind getting me a few more, Harry, so I can give them to her? Here, use my sickles."
After a while of eating and talking, Barnaby got out a set of Exploding Snap for them to play. It was a tense game, and everyone flinched when their cards went up with a bang. Ron, ever a master of wizarding skill games, managed to win in the end, beating Blaise.
Just over two and a half hours later (though it felt less than that), the train had pulled into King's Cross Station at last, marking the official start of break. As they disembarked the train and on to the platform, they quickly located Sirius and Remus. The Weasley's said farewell, as they sighted their parents near the barrier, and Hermione was meeting her mum and dad near the station entrance.
Blaise and Barnaby were practically bouncing on the balls of their feet, they were that excited to go to Black Manor. Harry knew that they were going to love it as much as he did.
.