I certainly have no rights to Harry Potter, but this won't stop me writing this story. However, you probably already know this. As it is my specialty, and as in my other big stories, this shows how things go if something went different right at the beginning. Please note that I'm not a fan of bashing and also don't expect the pairings to differ from canon. However, the path to them sertainly will be quite different. I also want to try and subvert certain plots and things that became common in the fandom over the years.
For now, the story will update every second Saturday, until I say otherwise.
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Chapter 21: Return With Obstacles
"I can't wait to see the Express!" Mark said excitedly to his parents while the group waited for the Weasleys to arrive. As usual, they would take the longest, but it would still be plenty of time before the train would leave.
This was a case of like father like son. Thomas always had a liking for old steam engines and Mark clearly had inherited the interest, as he really wanted to see the Hogwarts Express. After all, the Express was a 19th century original and you didn't see many of those anymore.
"Yes, Mark, but be a little more patient, please," Veronica told her son, being amused by his enthusiasm. "Also remember that in four years you will ride it yourself."
"That's still so long away..." For a boy his age, four years would be a long time. Not to speak of the two years until he could enter the preschool.
Considering the usual chaos on that day, they had planned with plenty of time to spare so that it wouldn't result into a run to the train. The Weasleys, having been burned badly with waiting until the last minute in the past, agreed readily to try and arrive early to avoid problems. Additionally, this year September 1st was a Tuesday, and thus King's Cross was packed with people, thus planning ahead could only pay off.
Mrs. Weasley had given her husband quite a talking-to once she'd found out that the family car - a rather old Ford Anglia - held even more enchantments than she'd known. In this case being capable of being bigger inside without expanding the outside of the car, so that there would be space for everyone. Despite her not being happy with Arthur, even she had to admit that there was little other choice in order to transport the whole family if they didn't want to rely on the floo.
The Lovegoods on the other hand had insisted on using public transportation - something that many wizards would chalk up to them being eccentric by wanting to do things the Muggle way. It was somewhat telling however, that the Lovegoods had already arrived despite that fact, while the Weasleys were still missing. The Longbottoms would be waiting on the platform itself, arriving there by floo.
"You would think having their own car, they would have arrived earlier than you," Jean remarked to the Lovegood parents while waiting.
"To be honest, I find it kind of strange myself, considering we've had to wait for the train. Hm, must be one of those things that only happens if you have more than one child," Xenophilius mused and saw the telling look his wife was giving him.
"Ah yes, that's something we wouldn't know about," Jean said, also getting what the silent exchange was about, adding a silent 'at least not yet'.
Thomas meanwhile whispered to Sirius "By the way... I noticed the press is no longer harrassing you or Harry. Noticed that when we visited Diagon Alley and how they held back even with Lockhart around. Did you do something?"
"Oh, not much, just reminded certain people through my solicitor that I don't appreciate unwanted press coverage. If I want it, I approach them.," Sirius replied, looking pleased with the results.
Finally, the Weasleys arrived in a somewhat chaotic group.
"Sorry it took us so long. There had been some...eh... delays," Arthur said, giving Fred and George an annoyed look. "Good that we still have time to spare."
"Oh, Ron, are you still trying to rename your owl?" Hermione asked Ron when seeing the owl cage on his trunk. Ron's attempts to give his owl a different name after its unintended christening had been the talk of their letters since the shopping trip.
Ron rolled his eyes. "No, he simply doesn't want to accept any other name." Ron gave his sister a highly annoyed look, which she tried to ignore, despite knowing this indeed had been her fault. "So I keep it 'Pig' for short. I know it sounds stupid, but he at least listens to that name."
Finally, they were ready to go through the barrier when seeing that student traffic was about to increase and they didn't want to get into the middle of that. Harry wanted to go first, pushed the trolley with his trunk forward and... -clong- The trolley hit a solid brick wall, causing Hedwig to protest.
Harry looked in disbelief at the unyielding passage after backing off a bit. "What the...? Hey, there is something wrong!"
Arthur stepped forward and discreetly tested the passage with his wand. "Solid. How is that possible? After all, the barrier has never before failed."
"What's going on?" Remus asked when seeing that suddenly students and parents were no longer going through the barrier. Testing the barrier by himself, he got the same result. "How is that possible? Also, this needs to get fixed fast, there are still dozens of students incoming."
"I'll notify the responsible department. With my connections in the Ministry, that should get quicker results," Arthur promised.
Ten minutes later, two Ministry wizards had arrived and inspected the barrier. By now there already was a massive backlog of students and not only was the mood explosive, but it also started to attract too much attention. The Ministry workers were cursing while inspecting the barrier, causing several raised eyebrows. It had to be a bigger problem.
"Well, what's the verdict?" Sirius asked.
"Someone seriously messed around with the magic of the barrier. No chance we can repair that on the fly - it also would cause way too much attention. We have to ferry everyone through public floos for them to catch the train," the worker said, barely holing back a curse.
"Can everyone still make it all in time?" Remus asked.
The other worker grimaced. "No, that's impossible. We have to tell them to delay the train until everyone is aboard. I can already imagine what we can read in the evening edition of the Daily Prophet."
Remus did know what that was about. In all the time the Express had been used, there had been only one time where it couldn't leave King's Cross on time on September 1st. That had been in 1944, when just minutes before departure a German V-1 had impacted into the tracks just outside of the station, causing the train to be delayed for hours while the tracks were being repaired.
"What is going on?" Mark asked impatiently.
"Oh, there's something wrong and we instead have to go through fireplaces to get to the train," Sirius told the young boy.
Mark's eyes lit up. "Travel through fireplaces? Yay!" He did not notice his mother looking less than eager to do so. Not after the one time she'd done so when Sirius had told her how a floo worked.
"You think we have to thank that Dobby for this chaos?" Remus whispered to Sirius.
"The barrier only closed when Harry was about to go through. What does that elf think he can accomplish with this?" Sirius asked.
"Perhaps all the years of abuse caused him to become a bit strange? Remember his previous attempts," Remus suggested, before leaving to redirect everyone to the nearest public floo - which was a bit away - in order for them to still get to the platform.
"Mr. Lupin!" Remus saw a family of four approach, the older of the two sons clearly being a first year. Remus recognized him as having gone through the preschool. "Sir, is something going on?" the father asked.
"The passage to the platform is blocked Mr..." Remus honestly couldn't remember the family name.
"Creevey. My son Colin went through your preschool and my son Dennis is about to start it," Mr. Creevey explained. "So, eh, what do we do now?"
"Well, there is an alternate entrance to the platform, but that means all of you will experience for the first time the floo teleportation network. It's something not everyone likes," Remus explained.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Creevey said, looking a bit faint at the description while her sons looked eager for the experience.
o
"Boy, talk about an exciting start of the year! And we are not even at Hogwarts yet," Neville remarked when the train finally left almost an hour late. "You think we have that weird house-elf to thank for that? After all, he seemed pretty determined to keep Harry away from Hogwarts."
"Don't call him weird!" Ever since that incident, Hermione had read a lot about house-elves and it was only thanks to Remus talking sense into her that she was not starting some kind of crusade. "Let's see in what state of mind you would be after years of abuse!"
"Hermione, don't start with that again! Last week you've ranted to me in a ten-page latter, written in your tiny handwriting, about the whole elves thing! I've had my share of that topic!" Ron warned her.
"Hrmpf!" Hermione than saw Crookshanks giving her an annoyed look, like he had heard that particular topic too often as well, before the cat put his attention to the two owls, especially the hyperactive one. Perhaps being in his pet carrier for even longer than normal also had annoyed the cat.
Seeing her cat being fed up with the topic convinced her to drop it. "All right, I'll drop it. But you better believe I'll learn more about it."
"Would be weird if you don't. Once you are passionate about something..." Ginny said. "But really, you think that was Dobby's doing?"
"Considering the other things he did to keep me away from Hogwarts, it probably was him. I know Uncle Sirius realized this as well and he promised to tell me what came out of the whole thing. But I don't think there's any way to find out to which family Dobby belongs to," Harry agreed, but saw the problem.
"Yes, it is difficult when there is no documentation at all on these things," Luna mused while searching in her trunk for the newest Quibbler. "You would think the Ministry documents which households have such powerful beings. A strange oversight - my father thinks it's on purpose for families to hide how well-off they really are."
"Which is kind of stupid, considering how many of the old families love to show off their money." Ginny then looked to Neville. "No offense, Neville."
Neville waved it off. "Oh, it's all right. My family is not in the habit of showing off their wealth since the time of my grandparents. I don't know what exactly happened, but unlike others they became a lot more modest about it. On the hand, Gran once told me the Malfoys have peacocks as pets in their gardens just because they could."
"Very nice. It certainly is fitting they selected the symbol of vanity," Luna remarked while fiddling with something that came with the magazine.
Making themselves comfortable, Ginny then said "It'll be a bit strange that it's my second year, but also the first sorting I attend. After all, I missed all of it apart from Luna and myself."
"Trust me, apart from the drama surrounding our own sorting, nothing much happened. Well, apart from the fact that Slytherin gained their first muggleborn student in thirty years. Still, I expect this year to be rather boring," Hermione remarked while pulling a mystery novel out of her trunk.
"Considering under normal circumstances Ginny and me would have been sorted today, it is indeed interesting that we will see this sorting as boring," Luna remarked while fiddling around with something that looked like a flat rubber fish the size of her hand.
"Too bad you two didn't do the boat ride last year. That one actually is fun." Ron then stopped himself, clearly thinking about something. "Hey, why don't you ask Hagrid if you can do the boat ride today?"
"Ron, we can't just ask such things from the teachers," Hermione said, reminding Ron that Hagrid now was a teacher.
"Well, I don't see the harm if Hagrid is all right with it. The worst that can happen is him saying no," Neville said, remembering his own boat ride.
Hermione looked to Harry, who only shrugged. "If Hagrid gives his OK, there's nothing wrong with it," Harry told her.
Ginny certainly liked the idea, still feeling a bit sad she had missed a good part of the experience that came with going to Hogwarts the first time. "Eh, Luna... do you want to...?"
Luna gave her a small smile. "It will be a nice experience, and perhaps we can make some friends with the new first-years?"
They certainly would recognize some of the new first-year students from the preschool, since those had been in the year directly below them. Like that Creevey boy for example. They had already met him on their way out of King's Cross and he had been as excitable as ever, talking about the special camera he got. They got the feeling that should he be in their house, he would become a common sight to them.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Why am I every trying?"
Right then Ron's owl Pig again made a ruckus, only to suddenly fall silent after Crookshanks hissed what most likely was a warning. Seeing that the noise was over, the cat made himself comfortable. And while it was difficult to read the expressions of an owl, it seemed Hedwig was relieved that the younger owl finally was shut up. All of their pets certainly had personality and it was interesting to watch their interactions.
While getting confortable, Ron asked Harry "Mate, did you also notice the strange looks Fred and George gave Sirius?"
"Yes, they are hardly subtle after all. No idea what this is about and they surely won't tell," Harry waved it off, seeing no way to learn what is going on.
In a different compartment, three friends had made themselves comfortable as well.
"Well, that certainly had been a little too much excitement," Daphne remarked on the strange circumstances that caused the train to be delayed.
"I'm just glad my parents ditched me right at the entrance of the train station. I don't want to imagine them in the middle of that chaos... let alone the idea of them traveling by fireplace," Dudley said, thinking back to the chaos at King's Cross.
Dudley shuddered at the idea of how his parents would have reacted to that. They already didn't want to enter the platform, so actually being forced to use some kind of magical teleporter to get there had to be much worse for them. He didn't even want to think of his father's reaction. Considering Vernon's temper, that would have ended very ugly. This was the one time time he was glad his parents were so apathetic towards this part of his life.
"You've written me about it, but I honestly don't get it. My own parents are always so supportive of me that I can't imagine yours being so..." Millicent struggled to find the correct words for it while petting her cat Archimedes. "I thought a year would be enough to warm them up about it."
Dudley snorted. "Fat chance. They've actually had three years and nothing changed,"
"I'm still trying to understand the concept of you having known about magic for so long," Daphne remarked. "But then again, considering many of the old blood families encourage training at home before Hogwarts, I guess it's only fair. Not to speak of..."
"Please, keep him out of it. Both of us have no wish that our connection gets public," Dudley stopped Daphne. Both girls remembered that Dudley wanted to keep his connection to Harry Potter stay secret.
"Sorry, we forgot..." Millicent apologized. "You think the usual suspects will be worse this year? After all, the previous one had not been kind to them."
"I don't think even Malfoy is dumb enough to try the same thing again after it failed so badly," Daphne commented.
"Let's hope. The guy might act all high and mighty, but he always creates a huge mess in the dorm and expects others to clean it up. What a spoiled brat," Dudley snorted.
"Well, then he and Parkinson are a match made in heaven. She is also incredibly messy, after all, and just as bigoted as him," Millicent concluded, remembering some of the messes Parkinson had left for the poor elves to clean up.
Some time had passed while the train continued its journey on a higher speed than normal in order try and make up the the late departure.
In their compartment, Harry and friends had just bought some things from the trolley lady and were enjoying their packed lunches, when suddenly the door was slammed open. They felt like groaning when seeing the usual suspects: Malfoy and his gorillas, this time together with Parkinson. If these four thought so little of them, why were they seeking them out?
"Well, look who we have here..." Draco said, clearly having become impatient after searching the train for them. "And I already thought you got lost this morning. That's what happens to people who don't even use the correct way to the platform. Losers."
"Are you that desperate that you now search the train for us?" Hermione asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.
"Better watch your mouth, Granger." Pansy Parkinson had a special dislike for Hermione. Maybe it was due to their first interaction or Hermione being muggleborn, but Parkinson always disliked her more than Ginny and Luna. "You don't want to say something that could end badly for you."
"At least I don't have to resort to threats," Hermione threw back.
"Don't you have anything better to do with your time?" Harry asked, making no secret of his annoyance.
Draco clearly was trying to keep himself under control - with some success. "I would not bet on this year going well for you, Potter. There will be some surprises waiting for you... but you'll see in time."
"If you don't want to say it, why waste time coming here? You can hardly scare us by being so cryptic," Ron waved off Draco's attempt to be intimidating.
Malfoy however didn't seem to take the bait. "Oh, let's just say my father made sure that you won't ever see the Quidditch cup again. But I won't spoil the surprise," Draco added.
"Honestly, Malfoy, why are you seeking us out? Are you compensating for something?" Ginny asked, though his statement was a bit strange, then gave him a knowing look. "Oh, don't tell me your mother tried to forbid you to have Parkinson around. After all, she didn't seem impressed with her."
Draco became red, clearly from embarrassment and anger. Pansy on the other hand only became red with anger. "You Weasel! What Draco and me are doing is none of your concern! For that alone I'll make you drink from Myrtle's toilet!"
"You would be well familiar with that toilet.," Luna remarked, her face staying neutral. "After all, Myrtle told us girls how she made you scrub it extra clean."
Pansy trembled in sheer anger at the reminder of her humiliation. "You little retarded bint... Better watch out in the corridors when you are alone!"
The group then quickly retreated and slammed the door shut so hard it cracked the glass.
"Honestly, this almost felt like a dog trying to mark its territory." Hermione made no secret of what she thought of this little visit. "What are they trying to accomplish with this? Also, Ginny, Luna, you know she normally is gunning for me. Why make yourselves targets?"
"We're targets anyway. Parkinson hates us as much as she hates you. Do we need a reason to help our friend to get less attention from her?" Ginny told Hermione.
"I'm a bit concerned about what he said about Quidditch. I don't think it's just him still being salty about having been unable to join the reserve team last year," Neville, who had been silent the entire time, observed. "You think there is some kind of nasty surprise waiting for us there?"
"I can't imagine what it could be. While I know the Slytherin seeker graduated, I sincerely doubt Flint will let Malfoy into the team - he simply likes winning way too much," Harry wondered. "I think he just wanted to scare us."
"Yes. Since Malfoy likes using his father for the heavy lifting... I can't imagine what kind of bribe would make Flint consider having Malfoy in the team," Ron added.
It was at that point that the door opened and Percy looked into the compartment. "I heard some noise from here. Did something happen?"
"Nah, it just were Malfoy and Parkinson wanting to annoy us." Ron then remembered Malfoy's words. "Hey, Perce, Malfoy talked about the Slytherin team getting a huge advantage this year. You have any idea what he talked about?"
"Well, I'm right now not exactly up to date with affairs in Hogwarts..." No way Percy would tell that it was due to spending time with his girlfriend. "However, good that you brought this to my attention. I can certainly try to find out if it is an unfair advantage. Now I have to continue my rounds, see you later."
After Percy left, they went back to whatever them were doing before Malfoy had interrupted them. After all, it still was hours before the train would arrive at Hogwarts.
...a few hours later...
It was an interesting meeting taking place in the building of the Home Office at 102 Petty France. Those present were themselves surprised that the Prime Minister himself had announced it at such short notice, meaning something had happened they had no information of. Considering their occupation and the PM not wanting to meet at Downing Street, it had to mean the man had been contacted by the Minister for Magic about something.
That in itself would have been a small wonder. Ever since Fudge had taken office, there had been zero communication after his initial visits to introduce himself to the Prime Minister. Such silence was never a good thing. They had accomplished many things during that time, all their efforts starting to bear fruits. So it created the question if they had been discovered or something in that line.
Finally, John Major entered, causing everyone to stand up to greet their superior. He walked to his seat at the head of the table and everyone sat down when he did. He didn't say anything for a few moments, before breaking the silence. "Now, first off, does anyone here have an idea why I called for this meeting?"
There was silence at first, before one man spoke up. "Sir, the only recent incident reported to us was, that many of the Hogwarts students again left King's Cross and used alternative means to enter the platform, But other than that..."
"It is connected to that incident," Major revealed. "About an hour ago, I had an illuminating conversation with Cornelius Fudge, the Minister for Magic."
That revelation caused significant unrest. Fudge was a rather arrogant little man - at least to people without magic - who clearly had an intense dislike of sharing any information with the Prime Minister. That essentially had been the first visit since Fudge's introduction to the PM, meaning there had been complete silence for almost two years. Considering the many potential issues both sides could have worked on, that silence spoke volumes.
"But Sir, what could the Minister have wanted to talk about after such a long time of silence?" a woman asked.
"Well, it could hardly be called a conversation when Fudge was highly reluctant to finally get to the point. It was more a test of my patience. The barrier that allows them access to the train platform failed, which forced many students to use their fireplace network to reach the train," Major finally explained.
"That explains our observations. However, Sir, why would he contact you for this matter? Certainly not to simply inform you," another man asked.
The Prime Minister barely held back a snort. Not that anyone would have faulted him for showing his annoyance more openly; not after the difficulties he was going through currently. The Pound Sterling was in difficult waters and trouble with the ERM was at the horizon. Even worse were his troubles connected to the Maastricht Treaty. He knew a very long battle was ahead of him against rebels in his own party and in the House of Commons to get it ratified. No, his second term without doubt had started under a bad star.
"As it turns out, the repairs are more difficult than anticipated and can't be done while the station is in use. Thus he demanded of me to find a way to evacuate King's Cross for an hour or two, before he left," Major finally revealed, which caused quite some outrage.
"Demanded?!"
"King's Cross is one of the most important train stations in London!"
"The sheer nerve...!"
The Prime Minister waited for a bit until everyone had calmed down. "That was my reaction as well, but of course I didn't show it. Alone the fact that he fully expects to have the authority to dictate demands to us is telling. Yet, we have to find a way, otherwise who knows what they will try to get the same result?"
No one wanted to imagine that and a man took the word. "Sir, perhaps we can pretend that we got an anonymous tip that the IRA could have planted a bomb in the station? We could empty the building that way without creating many questions."
There was agreement around the table, that this would be a relatively painless solution, depite the traffic chaos it would still cause. "Good, once the details are decided I can tell that picture in my office to relay it to Fudge. However, this incident makes it particularly clear we have to triple our efforts. Time is running out if they now already put in demands."
...at the evening, Hogwarts great hall...
"Thank all goodness it seems that this year's sorting won't have the same drama as last year's one. I doubt the school would have survived had it come to that," Neville said while they watched the start of the sorting from the Gryffindor table.
"I think it will be next to impossible to top that," Kellah Miller remarked from further down the table with a snort. "The only way to top that would be to nuke the school." That remark caused some confused faces.
The train had managed to make up for the lost time and did arrive in time for everything to be done in an orderly fashion. Though there had been some small changes.
When the train had arrived, Ginny and Luna actually did ask Hagrid if they could ride with the first-year students on the boats, since they had missed out on that due to the confusing way they got accepted into Hogwarts. Hagrid had agreed, saying that with his new job he did have the authority to do so, and thus they had ridden over the lake by boat and once everyone had reached the entrance hall, Hagrid had escorted the two of them to the others.
It was a bit weird to watch the whole thing from the house table, but they knew they had to look forward to witnessing five more sortings. However, judging by how different this was from the previous sorting, it certainly wouldn't lose its novelty factor. The hat actually had used a different song this year and also sneakily told everyone barely disguised that it won't test everyone's nerves like it did last year. That hat certainly had quite some lip.
Then there was the one new face at the faculty table. Lockhart hadn't even tried to look humble; in the contrary, he tried everything to arouse attention. His aquamarine robes were shouting for attention and he clearly seemed to enjoy all the attention he got from students - especially from the girls.
God... that had been me as well? Hermione thought with a sinking feeling when seeing the crush these girls got on Lockhart.
Ginny and Luna - in her own, dry way - had needled her mercilessly over her crush on Lockhart after the visit to Diagon Alley. Even her reminding Ginny of her own crush on the Boy-Who-Lived had not helped, since Ginny had brushed it off by saying her much younger age had been at play and being friends with the real Harry was much better. Hermione on the other hand, Ginny had reasoned, was old enough to understand when having a girl-crush.
I've read his books carefully, like Mr. Lupin suggested. And now seeing this... Hermione had always prided herself being a logical girl, so being shown how she had acted did come as a nasty shock. Though she would reserve judgment until seeing what his teaching was like.
"Well, not that we will be without drama. Just look at Snape," Ron remarked.
Indeed, Snape looked like he was barely keeping himself from doing bodily harm, and it was quite obvious who the source of his anger was when seeing him look with contempt to Lockhart. Lockhart himself however seemed completely oblivious to Snape's intense dislike of him.
"Guess he doesn't like windbags with polished teeth," Harry said.
"Yes, I'm in! I'm in!" That was Colin Creevey. The boy looked really happy to be in the same house as them. The boy had a camera hanging from a strap, and right after reaching the Gryffindor table made several photos of the hall. "Man, my parents won't believe it until I show them these!"
"Well, he certainly is excitable," Ginny remarked when Colin sat down near them. "Thank all goodness he won't treat you like a celebrity. He even promised so to us on the boat."
"And I'm glad for that..." Harry sighed in relief. Thanks to Colin actually having met them a few times during the preschool - even though he had been in the year behind them - the excitable boy understood that Harry didn't want to be treated like a celebrity and thus respected his privacy.
The sorting itself was not that remarkable, apart from the fact that two new students without magical parents - a boy and a girl - were being sorted into Slytherin. That created some discussion why the hat had started doing so beginning with last year. The two students themselves were quite a bit big for their age and certainly didn't look like they were easily intimidated despite their young age - perhaps exactly why the Sorting Hat had selected them.
"Some in that house clearly don't like that the times are changing," Luna observed when looking over to the Slytherin table.
Indeed, while a good part of the Slytherins looked rather indifferent to that development, others looked quite unhappy at having their house being 'contaminated'. Almost everyone of the latter group were the usual suspects from older or bigoted pure-blood families. Malfoy and Parkinson looked especially sour, with Crabble and Goyle trying to ape their expressions.
The sorting other than that however did not run into any trouble and the feast started after the final student was sorted..
"Finally we get to the meat of the matter," Ron said in excitement while filling his plate.
"Ron, if you insist on eating so much, at least don't make puns about it," Hermione told her friend while filling her own plate with a far more moderate portion. "I certainly value our meals more, now that I know someone is putting hard work into it."
"Somehow it always returns back to that topic..." Ron muttered - though not loud enough for Hermione to hear.
The feast certainly was just as good as the one at their own sorting, proof of how good the house-elves were at their job. The new first-year students were a bit shy about mingling with the students from the upper years, but that would go away with time. There also were funny scenes, like when Colin made a photo of Myrtle and she posed to show off her best side.
Over at the Slytherin table, Dudley actually was talking to the two new Slytherins from non-magical families, reassuring them that if anyone gave them grief for their heritage, to stay firm and should things escalate tell Professor Slughorn. It felt a bit weird for Dudley to give advice on such things, but he just went with it.
Once those two went back to eating, Dudley turned to his friends. "What do you think, did I cause that change?"
"Who knows what that hat thinks? I only hope that my sister Astoria will be fairly sorted next year," Daphne remarked, then watched Pansy acting like a snob with her table manners. "Jeez, ever since she's hanging out with Malfoy, she really puts on the high-class act at times."
"Let her. After all, it's only her who looks like a fool," Millicent said, then speared a potato with her fork. "I honestly don't want from which family I am dictate how I have to act."
The feast went on until finally everyone was well-fed and Dumbledore took the word.
"Now that all of us got plenty of the delights provided by the kitchens, there are some announcements to be made," he opened. "First of course is the reminder that the Forbidden Forest outside the castle is that for a good reason. Age lines have been drawn so that no student can enter it, so please don't try." Clearly, the Headmaster knew by now that he had to repeat the warning each year.
"Additionally, tryouts for free places on regular and reserve Quidditch teams will be held on the second week." The Headmaster waited a moment, before he continued "Now, furthermore, since Professor Kettleburn retired last year, our gamekeeper Rubeus Hagrid has ascended to be the new Care for Magical Creatures professor. Give him the same respect you gave his predecessor."
Thundering applause filled the great hall, proof how popular Hagrid was with the students. Hagrid himself blushed a little at this proof how much the students liked him. He also thanked all goodness that he'd had so much time to prepare for this moment. He didn't even want to imagine himself stumbling into the job without any prior training.
Dumbledore waited until the applause was over, before he continued. "Additionally, like each year we've got a new professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts. I'm sure all of you already know Gilderoy Lockhart."
There again was frentic applause... but this time it was oddly divided and quite a bit less than for Hagrid. It seemed that Lockhart was a rather polarizing figure with the students and that you either worshiped him, or couldn't wait until he was gone again. Lockhart himself seemed to ignore this and instead gave the whole hall a bright smile.
The Headmaster then announced "And now it's time for the school song!"
There was lots of groaning from the older years.
...the next day...
It was still a bit surreal to wake up back at Hogwarts after Summer break. Still, as Harry was walking towards breakfast with his friends, he heard a humming noise from his pocket and knew that it was Sirius, who had promised to tell him if anything had come out about the problem with the barrier they had experienced. So excusing himself for a moment, Harry slipped into an unused classroom to answer the call.
"Good morning, Harry. I hope I didn't catch you at a bad moment," Sirius greeted his godson.
"No,. I was just walking to breakfast." Harry knew he would have to get used to having such a direct line now. "So, is there anything new about the barrier?"
"Not exactly much, apart from the fact they did rule it a clear case of sabotage. Of course you won't read that in the Daily Prophet, as there is a news block in place." Sirius then looked rather amused. "The Minister also has had the nerve to demand of the Prime Minister to find a way to close down King's Cross so the repairs can be done."
"Demand?" Harry honestly wondered if this Minister Fudge really was that arrogant. "Kind of bold of him to do that."
"I know. From what I gathered, and Arthur was a big help in that, is, that many in the Ministry wonder if someone convinced Fudge that's a smart idea or if he came up with that 'brilliant' idea on his own. One way or another, they say that certainly caused needless damage to relations with Downing Street." Sirius clearly was not amused by what he had heard.
"Oh dear, politics," Harry sighed.
"Well, I don't want to bore you anymore and I need to leave for the precinct, so watch out for yourself." Sirius then cut the connection.
Putting away the mirror, Harry made haste to reach the great hall, where his friends had kept free a seat beside them. He saw McGonagall being busy with handing out the schedules for this year, so Harry asked about that while sitting down.
"Let's see. We have double Herbology first. Then we got Transfiguration before lunch break. And as the final class of today after lunch... yuck, we got Lockhart today as well," Ron said while reading the schedule for the day. "Of course we got him right on the first day. Not to speak we've got him three times a week."
"That will be a madhouse," Ginny groaned. "Last night in the dorm was bad enough. Lavender, Parvati and Fay are huge fans of Lockhart and they couldn't stop talking about him. It was some kind of torture. I don't even want to imagine the Ravenclaw girls we have Defense with going crazy over him."
"Don't remind me..." Hermione added before chewing a little too hard on her cereal, her very bushy hair looking much wilder than normal as if to visualize her mood.
Ginny and Luna knew there were some other reasons why Hermione was so annoyed with their dorm mates, but they would never reveal those to the boys. Essentially, being the oldest girl in their dorm meant that Hermione also generally was the first to start certain changes in her body. The other girls seeing Hermione putting certain female hygiene products onto her bathroom shelf and that she had started wearing a bra had resulted in lots of invasive questions and quite a bit of envy that she already was this developed.
No wonder Hermione's mood was not the best this morning.
After Breakfast was done, they quickly made their way to the greenhouses where Herbology was taught. However, they did get an unpleasant surprise when seeing who was standing in front of the greenhouses with Professor Sprout: Gilderoy Lockhart. This day Lockhart was wearing turquoise robes and an equally turquoise hat with gold trimmings. Ron and Ginny both mimicked vomiting at the eye-burning sight.
The other students watched how Sprout was working hard not to lose her composure while listening to whatever the man was telling her.
"Oh my goodness, I had not thought we would see him this early," Parvati said, quickly checking her hair, despite it being in its usual long braid.
"What do you guys think he's telling her?" Dean wondered, seeing that Sprout's mood was not in the positive area.
"Well, whatever it is, she clearly doesn't like it," Seamus added.
Lockhart finally seemed to notice their audience. "Just been giving Professor Sprout some good advice! But I don't want you running away with the idea that I'm better at Herbology than she is! I just happen to have met several of these exotic plants on my travels..."
"Greenhouse three today, chaps!" Professor Sprout called, looking like she only wanted to escape his presence.
That caused some talk. Last year they had only worked in greenhouse one. Greenhouse three meant that they would this year deal with plants that were somewhat more difficult to handle - meaning the plants were also more dangerous as well. Everyone started to enter, but when Harry, as the last, want to go in, Lockhart suddenly blocked his way.
"Harry! I've been wanting a word - you don't mind if he's a couple of minutes late, do you, Professor Sprout?" Judging by Professor Sprout's scowl, she did mind, but Lockhart said, "That's the ticket," and closed the greenhouse door in her face.
Harry was stunned at such rudeness, when Lockhart addressed him. "Harry, Harry, Harry." Completely nonplussed, Harry said nothing."You are honestly wasting your potential, my dear boy."
"What are you talking about?" Harry wondered, disliking where this was going.
"When I was twelve, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now. In fact, I would say I was even more of a nobody! I mean, quite a few people have heard of you, haven't they? All that business with He-who-Must-Not-Be-Named!" He glanced at the lightning scar on Harry's forehead. "I know, I know - it's not quite as good as winning Witch Weekly's Most Charming-Smile Award five times in a row, as I have - but it's a start, Harry, it's a start."
Harry was baffled at this, but Lockhart was not done. "Take it from someone who has been there, Harry. Time is not waiting for people like us. If you want to make the best of your fame, you have to become more proactive about it! My door is always open if you need advice on how to manage your career!"
Lockhart then left and Harry after some moments felt angry that the man treated the tragedy that killed his parents as some sort of first step into becoming a celebrity. With a dark cloud over his head, Harry entered the greenhouse, Professor Sprout having waited for him. She handled him a pair of earmuffs, then addressed the class.
"We'll be repotting Mandrakes today. Now, who can tell me about Mandrakes?" she asked.
Several hands went up. Sprout selected Neville to answer. "Mandrakes are used for restorative potions that can return people who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state. However, handling them is difficult, since the cry of a Mandrake is fatal."
"Precisely." Professor Sprout then noticed the unease of the student. "Don't worry, the Mandrakes we work with are still very young, so the worst that can happen right now is you either faint, or wet yourself. Earmuffs on! I'll show you one and demonstrate what to do."
They did so, and what Professor Sprout then showed them was one of the more disturbing sights they had seen - though of course nothing could top Voldemort at the back of someone's head. The root system of the plant she'd pulled up looked like a muddy, ugly baby with mottled green skin. That thing screamed until it was safely put into a new pot with fresh humus.
"Now, groups of four. And not the usual suspects!" Clearly, Professor Sprout wanted the houses to intermingle more.
Harry was not surprised to see Ginny partner up with him - they worked quite well together. They were joined by two Hufflepuffs, Justin Finch-Fletchley and Susan Bones. "Considering we couldn't work with plants before entering Hogwarts, this is quite different," Justin said, feeling no need to hide that fact due events in the previous year having already pretty much revealed that muggleborn students had some sort of magical education prior to Hogwarts.
"Oh, I believe Mr. Lockhart would be really good at this. He after all has written a book about it which is on our book list," Susan said with a blush.
Was I like THAT when pining for the Boy-Who-Lived? Ginny wondered, before telling Susan "I honestly don't get the appeal."
Susan looked a bit shocked. "Oh, you don't? But...?" She then gave Harry a look. "Oh, now I understand."
Harry wondered what that was about, but Justin spoke again. "Never thought I would do stuff like this. After all, I was earmarked for Eaton. Still, my parents couldn't be prouder of me." No word about Lockhart. Perhaps Justin was a bit more skeptical due to the social status of his family.
Any further conversation was stopped when they had to put on their earmuffs. Working with Mandrakes - highly uncooperative Mandrakes at that - proved to be an ordeal and it almost felt like a punishment. Thankfully, they were told to wear some outer robes over their uniforms for this class, since otherwise all of their uniforms would have been dirty by the end of the class.
"Well, that was distinctively unpleasant," Hermione said once class was over. "First year Herbology was more like working in Mum's garden. But this felt like the Little Shop of Horrors."
Neville looked surprised that Hermione of all people disliked a class. "Really? I honestly didn't mind the work."
Neville's friends gave him strange looks and Luna decided to give it directly to him. "Neville, not everyone has a talent with plants like you do - even I found the Mandrakes unpleasant. Since you are so good with this... are you sure you don't have plant material in your fingers?"
Neville didn't know what to answer to that last thing, which was really Luna-esque.
o
The day had progressed without further complications. After Herbology, they were shown in Transfiguration how to transform beetles into coat buttons. That was a bit more challenging than what they did last year, but they had managed to get satisfactionary results - of course with Hermione acing it. Lunch came after that and now it was time for the final class of the day - the very class they were dreading.
"So, how bad do you think this will get?" Ginny asked while they were on their way to Defense - their final class of the day. Having never been a big fan of Lockhart, she didn't get why other girls went so gaga over him... not to speak of her own mother.
"Considering how he ambushed me before Herbology to tell me how to become a better celebrity? Expect the worst," Harry said, still having that incident in bad memory. "Thank all goodness he is not expected to actually teach us anything serious, I know that for sure after last year."
Harry was playing at the arrangement, that the real Defense work for the first four years actually was done by the students themselves without any input from a professor. The constant rotation of teachers made that the only way they learned the needed material. Last year, Quirrell had taught them next to nothing of worth, but in retrospect there had been a good reason for that. Considering it was Lockhart this year, their hopes were not very high.
Entering the classroom and walking to their seats, they already saw Lockhart standing at the front like an entertainer wanting to start his show. Hermione also felt her mood sink when seeing how many of the girls doodled crude love messages and hearts onto their parchment. If that was setting the stage for what was to come, then she now felt even worse about her crush.
Finally everyone was seated and Lockhart took the word, holding an edition of Travels with Trolls that showed off his face on the cover. "Me," he said, pointing at it and winking as well. "Gilderoy Lockhart, Order of Merlin, Third Class, Honorary Member of the Dark Force Defense League, and five-time winner of Witch Weekly's Most-Charming-Smile Award - but I don't talk about that. I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!"
He waited for them to laugh; a few people smiled weakly, but that was it. "I see you've all bought a complete set of my books - well done. I thought we'd start today with a little quiz. Nothing to worry about, just to check how well you've read them, how much you've taken in-"
Harry listened with only half an ear and barely heard that they had half an hour for this. He looked down at his paper and read:
1. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's favorite color?
2. What is Gilderoy Lockhart's secret ambition?
3. What, in your opinion, is Gilderoy Lockhart's greatest achievement to date?
On and on it went, over three sides of paper, right down to:
54. When is Gilderoy Lockhart's birthday, and what would his ideal gift be?
Harry rolled his eyes at this blatant display of narcissism, now knowing without doubt they would learn nothing in this class, then noticed the reactions of his friends. Ron and Ginny were barely stopping themselves from laughing, clearly having had no expectations at this class. Neville was turning the paper around, seemingly wondering if this test was a trick and the real questions written on the back. Hermione was blushing, clearly embarrassed now that Lockhart's incompetence as a teacher was shown to her beyond any doubt.
Even Luna's eyes were wide in unpleasant surprise, as she clearly had not expected that! "Is he serious?" she whispered to them, showing none of her usual aloofness.
"I think he is," Neville whispered back, having given up on finding any hidden questions. "You must be quite shocked that you are being so direct."
"Perhaps I'm still in shock..." Luna's behavior was unlike normal. "This is a mockery..."
Hermione for her part had given up on stopping her blush. "What was I even thinking...? This is horrible."
Seeing that this test was pointless, everyone in the end decided to follow the example Ron and Ginny were setting, by giving highly creative answers which if read carefully were actually questioning or even mocking Lockhart. After all, they had lost all respect for the man at this point. That actually made this mockery of a test fun again and half an hour went by fast.
Half an hour later, Lockhart collected the papers and rifled through them in front of the class. "Tut, tut - hardly any of you remembered that my favorite color is lilac. I say so in Year with the Yeti. And a few of you need to read Wanderings with Werewolves more carefully - I clearly state in chapter twelve that my ideal birthday gift would be harmony between all magic and non-magic peoples - though I wouldn't say no to a large bottle of Ogdeds Old Firewhisky!"
At least the six friends were not alone in their realization that this class was a joke. While most of the girls were star-struck, many of the boys looked outright annoyed. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan from their year were clearly holding back their laughter. Stefan Schuster on the other hand whispered things along the lines of "what a crap school is this to hire a clear fraud?" No one could blame him for his frustration.
Lockhart meanwhile had skimmed through the papers. "...but Miss Lavender Brown knew my secret ambition is to rid the world of evil and market my own range of hair-care potions - good girl! In fact" - he flipped her paper over - "full marks!"
"Oh, thank you so much! I've read all of your books..." Lavender stammered, while some girls looked at her in envy.
"Of course it would be her..." Hermione sighed when looking at her dorm-mate, who was blushing at the attention. Lavender was the kind of girl who would know this stuff. To her embarrassment, she herself had known the correct answer as well.
"Now for something practical!" Lockhart announced, lifting a big, covered cage onto his table. "Now - be warned! It is my job to arm you against the foulest creatures known to wizardkind! You may find yourselves facing your worst fears in this room. So don't accidentally provoke them!" he said, then lifted the cover. "Cornish pixies!"
The pixies were electric blue and about eight inches high, with pointed faces and voices so shrill it was like listening to a lot of budgies arguing. The moment the cover had been removed, they had started jabbering and rocketing around, rattling the bars and making bizarre faces at the people nearest them.
"If he thinks Cornish pixies are dangerous, what does that say about him?" Luna commented, having regained her balance in the meantime.
"By now nothing surprises me about that man," Harry remarked, somehow having expected this. He then saw that all of them pretty much had already packed their bags. "Better be ready. I have the feeling this could get ugly considering his incompetence."
Lockhart heard the laughter from many students, clearly having expected a different reaction. "Right, then," Lockhart said loudly. "Let's see what you make of them!" That said, he opened the cage.
The six friends wasted no time. Jumping up they made a run for the door while the pixies shot in every direction like rockets and started rampaging, turning the classroom into a battlefield. Panicked, the students followed the example and made a run for the conveniently open door to escape this pandemonium of a progressively destroyed classroom.
"Come back, they are only pixies!" Lockhart called when seeing the last student run out. "All right, I undo it! Peskipiksi Pesternomi!" That spell however had no effect, apart from a pixie dumping the contents of an open inkwell onto Lockhart.
Ron slammed the door to the classroom shut as soon as only Lockhart remained inside. "Oh no, HE can put them back into that effing cage! No way I'm going back in there!"
"The elves will certainly not think much of Lockhart after seeing that mess," Neville commented. "Granted, they will be estatic to clean it up, but they won't be impressed when hearing what caused the mess in the first place."
Seeing that this had been the final class of the day, and that there was no way the lesson would continue, they made their way back to Gryffindor Tower.
"You think he'll call for help from the other teachers?" Ginny asked her friends.
"Well, if he can't even manage to stuff pixies back into their cage..." Harry mused, then saw Hermione's expression. "Hermione, I understand you are disappointed."
"He sounded like such a great person..." Hermione sighed. "Perhaps I should have been more aware. After all, remember those books that had been written about you."
Harry and Ginny grimaced at the reminder about the adventure books. Both of them had long since decided to see the person in those books as the Boy-Who-Lived, who was a separate person from Harry Potter. The difference was, that those books had been written without Harry's consent, while Lockhart had actually written his books by himself -or at least used a ghostwriter - and thus had actively encouraged that picture of himself in public.
Now that Harry thought about it, that actually was an interesting difference between himself and Lockhart.
...at the evening, staff room...
It was the evening after the first day of classes for the year, and the teachers had gathered in the staff room. Normally, they would only do so after a week of classes, but considering some of the events of the day, the teachers had insisted to meet tonight already. There was one topic they really needed to discuss with the Headmaster.
"Headmaster, no offense, but what exactly were you thinking when hiring Gilderoy Lockhart?" Professor Flitwick asked about the one teacher who was not present. "Granted, we've had some questionable teachers over the years thanks to the situation with the curse, but at least they still knew how to teach."
Flitwick's opening finally allowed other teachers to voice their concern. "Today's disaster proves without a doubt the man is not qualified to teach," Professor Sinistra remarked. "I was hearing the noise in the room since I was walking by and I managed to freeze the pixies in mere seconds - something Lockhart didn't manage to accomplish."
"And he didn't even bother to call for help," Professor Rogers added, looking very unamused. "The Defense classroom is in shambles, most of its inventory destroyed beyond even repair spells. It will be quite costly to replace all of the inventory."
The interesting thing was, quite a number of the teachers did remember Lockhart from his school days, having been his teachers. Thus the contrast between then, when he had been a big-mouthed but otherwise unremarkable student, and now, was especially glaring. They knew people could change over the years, but such a massive change in barely a decade was very jarring and quite a bit disturbing.
"Not to speak of the casual disrespect he is showing to the staff, like he is the most important person in the entire castle," Professor Sprout added, remembering all too well how he'd closed the door in her face after telling her how to do her job. She then saw that McGonagall still hadn't said anything, despite normally being so outspoken. "Minerva, you have nothing to add to this?"
To their surprise, McGonagall sighed. "I didn't say anything, because I already know the horrible truth. Albus, please tell them what you have told me."
Dumbledore also looked less energetic than normal, sitting deeper in his armchair than normal. "As much as I want to replace him with a different person, that sadly is not possible. Gilderoy Lockhart was the only applicant for the post."
There was a silence of disbelief, before Professor Vector asked the obvious question. "But... how?"
"Even after these years with nothing happening, the post of Defense professor has gained a bad reputation. There is no prestige connected to a post you can only fulfill for a year as a glorified replacement part." Dumbledore stopped for a moment, before he continued. "Quirrell's death scared away even those we usually select for the job. Lockhart was the only applicant and thus despite my reservations, I had no choice but to accept him, least the Ministry would take control of Defense fully."
"Well, that's a wonderful way to start the year," Snape commented, making no secret of his intense dislike of Lockhart. The man was a glory-hound, something he intensely disliked. "So we are stuck with him for an entire year, despite his obvious incompetence?"
Snape had other reasons for disliking Lockhart besides the man's obvious incompetence and him having to fix Lockhart's shortcomings later on. Lockhart exhibited many of the negative traits he had accused James Potter of having - like that need to show off and a massive ego - only way worse. If he were to be honest, in comparison to Lockhart even the worst he had imagined James Potter to be was downright harmless. To Snape, Lockhart was a living nightmare.
Dumbledore sighed again, showing how intensely he disliked the situation. "Sadly, yes. Severus, I know I'm putting a lot onto your plate, but can I count on you to make sure next year that those currently in fourth year won't have fallen too far behind?"
"It shouldn't be too difficult. After all, by now no student takes these classes seriously anymore. The damage should stay limited. I'm more concerned about that man turning our school into some kind of celebrity madhouse." If anything, Snape looked even more disgusted. "I'm surprised he was not in your circles, Horace."
Slughorn held up his hands in defense. "Oh no, I never saw any potential in him. I groom those who can go far with talent or due to their status. I'm honestly puzzled how Lockhart got so famous. I also certainly don't want him anywhere near my activities."
"Ah yes, concerning that..." Dumbledore remembered. "I had a trusted expert check his books, and he found very interesting discrepancies. Gilderoy's rise to celebrity is under some doubt. We should all watch out for the signs if there is more to it."
That reminded them of something they had heard in the last war: 'constant vigilance'. Oh yes, they would keep a close eye on Lockhart and make note of all the strange things and screw-ups. No chance they would let him do as he pleased.
...Quidditch pitch, September 5th...
It was the first Saturday of the school year, and that meant Oliver Wood would call the team together for their first training unit. Harry sat down with the others, being quite relaxed. Perhaps that was due to their Thursday Defense class being canceled. Rumor was, Lockhart had still been busy at that point with getting all the ink out of his hair.
Unlike last year, there were no vacancies to be filled in either of the teams, thus they could skip any tryouts and right away go to talking how training would go. Thankfully, them winning last year had eased Wood a bit, so they were sitting on team benches at the pitch at a more reasonable time at the morning. A few other Gryffindors were present as well, wanting to see what a Quidditch training looked like. Wood didn't look especially pleased, but had no reason to send them away.
"Ron, would you please stop chewing on that toast?" Wood then said, giving Ron an annoyed look.
"Oliver, it was your idea to make us come here before breakfast was properly done. So don't complain about me getting my needed energy," Ron said while chewing.
"Just get done with it quickly," Wood said, before turning his attention to the portable blackboard that stood close by. "All right. Last year we did win the cup... but that was by the skin of our teeth. In order to defend it this year, we do have to get better. I did come up with some good ideas over the summer."
Wood then started to explain his ideas, using the blackboard to visualize his ideas. It was... actually surprisingly engaging. Their audience certainly thought it to be interesting, some of them feeling it was a pity that no spots had been free on the team. One of the spectators was Colin holding his camera, and he didn't miss the chance to make a great picture in which Oliver was in the middle of his explanations to the team.
"You look really excited about that," Neville observed. "Are you sending these pictures home?"
"Oh yes! While my parents already have seen a lot in the preschool, they really want to see what I'm doing. Also, my brother Dennis asked me to make lots of pictures," Colin explained while putting down his camera. "My father being a milkman means our lives are rather boring, so this is exciting the whole family."
Wood was just done drawing a diagram of a maneuver when noticing Colin's camera. "No photos please."
"Calm down, Oliver. He's in our house," George to their Captain.
"Also, he's making the photos for his family, so what harm could it be?" Fred added.
"Well, all right..." Wood turned back to the blackboard, explaining the tactics he did envision.
Halfway through, Ron did raise his voice. "Hey, Oliver, do you mind if I make some suggestions?"
Wood seemed to mind, but was too polite to say so. "What kind of suggestions?" Ron then started to explain what he would alter and after some minutes, Wood looked rather impressed. "Ron, please stay after training. These were good points, so I have some questions for you."
Shortly later they started the practical part of the training, causing Colin to make more photos.
"Impressive, isn't it?" Hermiones asked the excited first-year. "Though, no way I could do any of that. I learned how to fly a broom, but that's it. It certainly isn't my favorite way of transportation."
"Oh, yes..." The way Colin blushed made it obvious he wasn't that great on a broom, either.
In the air meanwhile, Katie Bell had just managed a complicated evasive maneuver, when she spotted something at the far end of the pitch and quickly made a beeline for Wood. "Oliver, we've got a pitch invasion!" she called, pointing to what she'd seen.
"Curses...!" Oliver grumbled when seeing the complete Slytherin team enter the pitch. Blowing his whistle to signal everyone to land, Oliver landed close to the invading group. "Flint, I booked the pitch! What is your team doing here?!"
"Well, you booked it, but only for the morning. It's our turn in half an hour. We're just a bit early... wanted to show you our new seeker," Flint said, giving Wood a knowing grin.
"New seeker?" Wood knew that the Slytherin seeker had graduated, but had expected the reserve seeker to ascend to the position. Seeing that the boy in question looked rather frustrated, it was clear something was going on. "Who is your new seeker?"
They parted ranks, thus showing who their new seeker was. It was Malfoy, who looked rather smug at his new position.
"The brat is your new seeker? How did that happen?" It was obvious Angelina knew of Draco's reputation.
"Oh, let's say it was due to generosity," Draco said smugly. The Slytherin team held out their brooms, and it was clear that all the brooms were brand-new. "Nimbus 2001; just came out last month. You can now forget that cup, we have that in the bag."
It was at this point that Harry and his friends did remember Malfoy's words from during the journey to Hogwarts. That certainly did explain a lot about what Malfoy had been hinting at. Malfoy's father had made sure to give the Slytherin team an advantage by opening his wallet - and clearly with the condition to make Draco the seeker in return.
"Talk is cheap," Harry said, giving Malfoy a hard look. Harry also noticed Dudley looking rather embarrassed, like he didn't want to be part of all of this, but had no choice in the matter. "What good is a new broom if you ride it like a camel?"
"Oh, do I hear hidden jealously, Potty? After all, your sorry broom is now so much yesterday's news," Draco said, looking in glee how some of the Gryffindor team looked rather angry.
"So that is how the great Draco Malfoy accomplishes something." Hermione, who up to then had been silent, spoke up from the sidelines. "You couldn't manage to get onto the team on your own merits, so you whined up to daddy until he agreed to bribe the team so they take pity on you."
That wiped the grin off Malfoy's face. "No one asked for your opinion, you filthy little mudblood," he spat.
Hermione paled. Years of being bullied at school had made her sensitive to when she was being insulted. She might not know what that insult exactly meant, but she did have enough information to feel deeply hurt. Judging by the look of outrage from others, they clearly knew what it meant. Ron was about to draw his wand in anger, but Harry was faster.
"Take this, Malfoy!" Harry shouted, and then without warning a jinx hit Malfoy.
"Waahhhbbllgglllllll-lll-ll" Malfoy's eyes widened in horror and disgust when suddenly he started to vomit slugs. The Slytherin team looked in horror at the sight and quickly carried Malfoy away to get help. Although... Dudley didn't look very broken over Draco's predicament, though Harry resisted the temptation to ask.
"You'll regret having done this, Potter!" Flint cursed while they left the pitch.
"Yes, I got several great photos of that tosser belching up slugs!" Colin said with delight, patting his camera.
"Hey, can you make duplicates?" Fred asked, then looked like he was cooking up a diabolical plan when Collin said yes. "Looks like a certain someone will regret his choice of words very soon."
"I like how you think, Fred," George added.
"Harry... thanks for coming to my defense. However, they'll surely report that and you'll get punished," Hermione said, not having expected her friends coming to her defense so explosively.
"Then I'll get punished! I couldn't let that stand." Harry noticed the looks Hermione gave him. "Ron told me some time ago, what that word means... Oh, he also gave me the spell, said it's good to use on tossers."
Ron looked a bit uncomfortable, but still decided to explain. "It's about the most insulting thing he could think of. Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who is muggleborn - you know, non-magical parents. To them, people like you are dirty blood... if they even see you as people at all."
"I know Mr. Lupin told us about it and I got a taste of it... but never before was it that directly into my face." Hermione did look a bit hurt. "It was humiliating."
"The fact stands that Malfoy was only insulting you because the truth of him being appointed is not very glorious," Luna observed while pushing her glasses up her nose. "His actions certainly speak for his character."
As always, Luna's quite accurate observations hit the nail onto the head.
o
Harry should have known things would go bad.
Now, on the broom situation, the team had quickly determined that Malfoy's bribe had been rather stupid. After all there existed different types of brooms for a reason. While the Nimbus 2001 was a really nice broom for a seeker, it was less suited for a chaser, even less for a beater and pointless for a keeper. After all, there was a reason why Ron and Ginny were so happy with their own brooms, since they did fit with their positions (and Ginny's broom also was good for a chaser position).
After all, the brooms they were using were not like these professional league brooms. Those easily could be adjusted for every position on the field, while normal brooms like theirs couldn't.
No, his actions against Malfoy were now catching up with him. Not that Malfoy was getting away with his slur - everyone who had been present stood behind Harry like one man and confirmed Malfoy's usage of the disgusting term. Still, you don't curse someone like that without consequences. However, when Professor McGonagall revealed his punishment before dinner, Harry looked like he'd been run over by a lorry.
"With Professor Lockhart?!" Harry asked to make sure he'd heard correctly.
Clearly, McGonagall was not thrilled either with inflicting Lockhart on someone. "Professor Lockhart right away jumped at managing your detention, not giving any of the teachers a chance to speak up. Sorry."
It certainly was not that common for students to have detention on the weekend, but having to spend several hours with Lockhart was a nightmare coming true for Harry. "What exactly am I supposed to do for him?"
Even though she tried hard, McGonagall's dislike of Lockhart bled into her answer. "He wants you to help him answer his fan mail."
I would take a caning over this... Harry thought, feeling like he was going to death row.
However, there was no way to escape this, so at eight in the evening, Harry reported to Lockhart's office, preparing for the worst. The door flew open at once and Lockhart beamed down at him. "Ah, here's the scalawag!" he said. "Come in, Harry, come in!"
The decor of Lockhart's office was what Harry had expected it to be. Shining brightly on the walls by the light of many candles were countless framed photographs of Lockhart. He had even signed a few of them. Another large pile lay on his desk. Harry already felt sick at being surrounded by so much Lockhart.
"You can address the envelopes!" Lockhart told Harry, as though this was a huge treat. "This first one's to Gladys Gudgeon, bless her, who is a huge fan of mine..."
The minutes snailed by while Harry let Lockhart's voice wash over him, occasionally saying, "Mmm" and "Right" and "Yeah." Now and then he caught a phrase like, "Fame's a fickle friend, Harry," or "Celebrity is as celebrity does, remember that." This was just as bad as Harry had imagined it to be. The candles burned lower and lower, making the light dance over the many moving faces of Lockhart watching him. Harry moved his aching hand over what felt like the thousandth envelope, writing out Veronica Smethley's address.
Harry was thoroughly miserable by this point.
Suddenly he heard something that was not Lockhart's prattle about his fans. It was a voice, very faint and somewhat hissing. "Come... come to me... Let me rip you... Let me tear you... Let me kill you..."
Harry gave a huge jump and a large lilac blot appeared on Veronica Smethley's street. "What in all names...?!" he wondered aloud.
"I know!" said Lockhart. "Six solid months at the top of the bestseller list! Broke all records!"
Harry suddenly realized that Lockhart didn't seem to have heard the voice. "Professor... I thought I was hearing someone. Didn't you?"
"Oh, no one here but the two of us... but look at the time! We've been here nearly four hours! Id never have believed it - the time's flown, hasn't it? Well, off you go!" Lockhart released him.
It was late enough that the common room in the tower was empty. Harry however didn't care, for him that was what he needed. Walking upstairs for a moment, he saw that the others were already sleeping. He quickly got his communication mirror from his trunk, then walked back downstairs. In the reddish light of the dying fire in the fireplace, Harry called Sirius, hoping his godfather wouldn't mind being called at this time.
"Hello, Harry. A bit strange of you to call this late." Judging by the picture in the mirror, Sirius was still up.
"Sorry for that, but something strange happened and it couldn't wait," Harry apologized.
"Oh, don't worry. Diane and me were watching a late-night film on the telly when you called," Sirius waved it off, then turned the mirror so Diane was seen. "Hello, Harry. Isn't it a bit late to be up?" Diane teased him.
Harry then told Sirius of the day's events - with Sirius looking distinctively unamused by Malfoy using that slur - up to when he heard that strange voice which Lockhart had not heard. "So, Uncle Sirius, I don't think hearing voices out of nowhere is normal. What do you make of it?"
Sirius for his part was glad that Harry was reasonable enough to call a trusted adult when strange stuff like this happened. That was a good sign his upbringing had given his the correct priorities. "First off, I don't think that was just in your head. And the wording of it... Remember what Dobby said. Harry, if anything strange happens, tell me right away. I don't like whatever that is..."
"Don't worry, I will."
Harry for his part hoped that the voice had been only in his head, since he had no wish to have another year ending with something out of the ordinary happen.
to be continued...
Next Episode:
"The Heir Rises"
Notes:
Here the notes.
As you see, Dobby did try his canon tactic, only this time the effects of it are far more severe, especially due to Harry actually getting to the station in a very timely manner. This also gave me a chance to show how Fudge's tactic of non-communication until he wants something is making things worse with the government.
Since here they do get on the train - as the whole car scene would have been nonsensical in this universe - all the scenes in the train are new. Even though it's not said in many words, his reactions prove that Draco does care for Pansy.
That of course also gave me the chance to write the sorting and the feast. I sprinkled in lots of stuff into those, unable to resist the chance to do so. Also... are things changing for Slytherin? Remember that in the course of this year, we WILL get a deeper look into the dynamics of the house.
Surprised that Luna does find the Mandrakes unpleasant? Even she has her limits.
I actually made Lockhart's disastrous first lesson even more humiliating for him. Not to speak of the fallout that followed. Here the teachers pretty much know right away he's useless.