Chapter 11: Ghouls and Duels - October 1992
"They're ready. Here." Hermione passed Harry and Ron a notebook each during their second Room of Requirement meeting. "Lockhart gave me a pass to the Restricted section of the library, which is where I found the best spell."
Ron approved. "Sneaky, but not too underhanded."
Harry looked through the book as she explained, "Regular ink will be visible to anyone. Charm your ink, and only you will be able to read what it says in these journals. Don't forget to write overtop in regular ink, since an empty notebook is suspicious."
Ron asked, "I assume our books aren't linked?"
"Right. This was the limit of what I thought actually-twelve me would have done to hide a regular sort of diary behind a homework journal. I might then have offered the same thing to my closest friends."
Ron nodding approvingly. Harry remembered his thirty minute rant before their temporal trip about the need for secrecy protections to be plausible, else the existence of the measures was a secret itself. Layered, consistent, minimal, and proportionate were other lecture topics from Secrecy Teacher Ron.
Harry appreciated that his friend gave it so much thought since Harry himself struggled enough just executing his directives.
Hermione probably knew that when she offered, "I can dictate some notes to you both, if you like."
Even with all of the charm work in the books and the room, they still used substitutions and codewords when talking or writing. Hermione read them her messages so they wouldn't have to encode similar notes themselves.
Once he had everything down, Harry read what he'd written. Harry mentally translated as he read a list of soul pieces and their key thoughts on destroying each:
1. Diary - Done
2. Diadem - Use venom for destruction within the Room of Requirement.
3. Locket - We need access to Grimmauld or Kreacher. Acturus and Sirius are potential complications.
4. Snake - It's unclear when this horcrux was created. Nagini's death would be obvious to Voldemort, but he would probably not suspect that it was connected to a horcrux hunt. But, if he's strong he might create another horcrux.
5. Ring - This is well-protected and easy for Voldemort to check on. Burn down Gaunt Shack with fiendfyre if quick resolution needed.
6. Cup - It's not guaranteed that the Cup is stored in Gringotts now, and a Gringotts heist would have undesirable consequences. Search at Lestrange manor first?
7. Harry - We need further research on surviving the killing curse. Snape? Backup plan: trap main soul piece.
8. Main - We expect him to go from bodiless to a homunculus soon. Bones of the father destroyed and replaced to weaken. Watch Riddle manor (Hermione), get info from Snape (Harry), and keep on top of news (Ron).
Their plans for the ring, cup, and locket were fairly loose, but they had several years to hunt them down this time. The trio agreed that having well-developed plans was better than making mistakes by rushing. They also wanted to leave the horcruxes that Voldemort might easily check on for later, possibly when they were ready for the final confrontation.
Harry said, "Thanks, Hermione. Great notes."
Hermione moved the meeting along. "Have you talked to Myrtle yet, Harry?"
"Not yet. I realized that she might be at Sir Nicholas' deathday party."
Hermione complimented the idea. "That's a better cover story than seeking out a random ghost in a girl's toilet based on rumors."
Ron wrinkled his nose. "Do you reckon we need to go with you to that party again?"
In the past timeline, Luna had been friendly with the school ghosts. Also, Harry saw the party as a way for him to work on their friendship in this timeline.
Harry bit his lip. "I've already asked Luna, so only if you want to." Harry was relieved when Ron and Hermione didn't seem the slightest bit offended to be left out.
Partway through October, a familiar notice appeared in each common room.
Ginny beelined to Ron, Hermione, and Harry sitting at a table doing homework after she saw the poster. "So, a dueling club."
"I wonder who will be running it," Ron lied.
"Lockhart. I asked him to." At Ginny's words, all three of them stopped doing their homework to look at her.
"Really?" Ron was shocked. "Why?"
Ginny rolled her eyes. "Obviously he's a moron. This is to show the dummies in my year that he's not all that."
Thought this club meeting was earlier in the year than last time, Ron wondered if Ginny had also instigated the club for similar reasons in their past timeline.
As Ginny and the trio continued to discuss the dueling club, Ron noted that Ginny looked at Harry many times. He had a bad feeling about this.
Ginny noted, "First club meeting's on Halloween."
Yes, Ron had a very bad feeling about this.
Hermione was disgusted with her past self, who had a minor crush on Professor Lockhart. But that also gave her some sympathy when trying to get Lavender to see that he was a fraud.
"He's so handsome, though. How could he be bad?"
"Er, have you heard of the muggle novel Sense and Sensibility? That's sort of a plot point there."
"No, what kind of story is it?"
"Romance. It's a favorite of my mums. I think I have a copy of it in here…" Hermione dug through the trunk at the foot of her bed. "You can read it, if you like."
Lavender took the book tentatively, then opened it to the first page.
When Hermione finished her shower fifteen minutes later, Lavender was still reading.
As Hermione took care of her wet curls, she thought about how much nicer they looked even with her new, quick routine. Hermione used to think of her own hair as "bushy". Hermione was never going to go to great lengths for beauty, but she listened to her roommates' advice as a gesture of friendship. More defined curls was a upside.
A downside of "girl talk" was that she also was stuck listening to Lavender and Parvati's thoughts on the professors' hair and fashion choices. This was mostly fine, except for Snape.
Since she knew Harry well, Hermione saw his small reactions to their peers' non-academic comments on Snape. One of the older girls said his eyebrows needed thinning out. His greasy-looking hair was a regular target of Parvati's ire. The shallow criticisms were probably easier for Harry to handle than the more ambiguous remarks, such as speculation about "what he's hiding under those robes".
Hermione's personal opinion was that Snape's hygiene was fine, but he could stand to use some different shampoo and wear a few different outfits.
Hermione repeated a mantra given to her by her roommates: Taking care of one's self is important, and looking nice doesn't make someone less smart.
Later, Lavender had many questions for Hermione about Sense and Sensibility, particularly about Regency England. But she liked the book so much that she implored Parvati to read it, too. Hermione didn't get the sense that the comparison to Willoughby had dampened the witches' respect for Professor Lockhart. But, it was still a great love story.
Hermione told her mum how much her friends liked the novel in a letter. Her mum was so delighted that she sent along three more novels. The witch appreciated the gesture, though she was too busy at the time to read them herself.
Halloween arrived. The dueling club would meet in the early afternoon since it was a Saturday. Then Harry and Luna would skip the feast to go to Sir Nicholas' Death Day party.
Harry was definitely looking forward to the rotten food at the ghosts' event more than a repeat of the second year dueling club.
He thought about not going, which Ron was on board with. However, Hermione was adamant, "It would stand out if we aren't there. Most of the school is going."
Again, Snape showed up Lockhart in his demonstration of the disarming spell. Harry noted that this event in both timelines was the most vigorous praise the potions master got in all of Harry's memories.
Harry was pulled from his thoughts when Ginny put Harry forward for the student demonstration portion.
Lockhart was apoplectic in his excitement. "This is your time to shine, Harry!"
Snape matched him against the same pointy blond boy, though Harry noted that Malfoy was less smug than the previous timeline.
Harry came off well in their duel with his extra years of experience, even holding back a lot.
Lockhart complimented Harry's "roguish confidence."
Snape got in a jab. "One might think that Mr. Potter goes around dueling his schoolmates in corridors regularly."
Embarrassed by how thoroughly Harry was winning, Draco Malfoy called out, "Serpensortia!"
Having lived it before, Harry knew how disastrous knowledge of his parseltounge ability would be for his social life. He resisted the urge to speak to the obviously confused snake.
Professor Snape drawled, "I'll get rid of it." And he took his sweet time.
I'd rather get bit by the snake than be hated by my classmates like I was last time, Harry mused.
As if to punish Harry for his flippant thought, the snake turned towards the crowd.
Sudden as a strike of lightening, the snake bit Ginny Weasley. She had raised her arm to cover her face, and it now had a pair of tiny punctures. She didn't scream, but her face was as white as a sheet.
Professor Snape took charge of the situation immediately. He vanished the snake and administered a general antivenin he had on his person.
Harry felt guilty, but he knew on some level that this wasn't really his fault. Yet, Harry could have stopped the snake, and he didn't. With a sense of unease, Harry joined Professor Snape and the Weasleys' walk to the hospital wing.
Professor Snape directed Lockhart to maintain order with the students as he left, but clearly had little confidence. He shot off a patronus messenger to Professor McGonagall seconds later.
In the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey gave Ginny a calming drought and had her lay down while getting checked out. The matron pronounced that there was some damage to her blood vessels particularly near the bite, but the venom had been neutralized.
Fred, George, Percy, and Ron all looked incredibly somber sitting by Ginny's bed. They were joined a half hour later by their parents, who had Floo'd into the headmaster's office after seeing Ginny's hand on the family clock change.
Hogwarts probably wouldn't have notified them, Ron mouthed to Harry behind his family's backs.
But Harry's thoughts were filled with the gentle-looking doe patronus that Harry caught a glimpse of earlier. Harry reflected that Professor Snape had done an admirable job getting control of the situation, though it was partially his fault in the first place. He matched the two rivals up in front of everyone, then took his time addressing the snake.
Once Hermione arrived, Ron told her and Harry in private, "I think Ginny initiated the Dueling Club as a way to show people that you're better than Lockhart. You did a good job, but you didn't come to her rescue. Who knows, this might fix her crush."
Hermione glared at Ron.
The redhead put up his hands placatingly. "I'm not saying this is karma, just that the results might not be entirely bad."
Ginny was released from the hospital wing shortly before the Halloween Feast and deathday party.
Harry thought it might be in poor taste to appear to go straight to a party from the hospital wing, but Ron and the twins assured Harry that it was fine. If Ginny had opinions about that or anything else, no one knew. She had hardly spoken all afternoon.
Harry met Luna by the kitchens. Not wanting Luna to go hungry while they socialized with the ghosts, Harry had arranged for a small meal with the school elves in advance.
They ate off two trays in an alcove off to the side. Harry was impressed watching the house elves cook and assemble the many dishes of food for the Halloween Feast.
After they finished eating, they went into another part of the dungeons. The music was loud, the food putrid, and the air damp.
Harry exchanged pleasantries with the host, introduced Luna, then danced with her. To be polite, they danced like the ghosts, with arms hovering in the air.
After a few grating "songs," they left the dance floor to mingle. Luna pulled Harry's sleeve over to the Grey Lady.
"This is the Ravenclaw ghost, who would like to be referred to as the Grey Lady."
"How do you do?" Harry bowed a little awkwardly.
The Grey Lady somewhat ignored Harry as she told them about some ghostly drama between the Fat Friar and one of the guests. Luna had tears in her eyes from laughter, while Harry was honestly baffled. Possibly he was missing some wordplay or backstory.
Luna bid her a good evening then said, "Oh, I believe you'll catch your snorknack soon. Then you can rest easy."
The Grey Lady looked, well, haunted. "Thank you for telling me." Though, Harry didn't think she sounded very thankful.
The Fat Friar found them soon after. After jovially correcting some of the Grey Lady's stories about him, he revealed his real reason for seeking them out. He spoke cautiously to Harry, "What has your attention on the seventh floor?"
Harry answered, "Don't most students explore the castle?"
"For places to be sneaky, perhaps. You're a little young for that yet." The Friar raised and lowered his eyebrows.
"Eeugh, right. Not that, I can assure you."
The Friar waited.
"Aren't students entitled to some secrets?" Harry tried.
The ghost nodded, "I suppose. Though we ghosts have a responsibility to the school."
Harry sighed. "I don't think you'd disapprove. Nothing against the school or the people here. Or the ghosts."
Though, Harry reflected that Ginny's new snakebite was a counterpoint to the ultimate harmlessness of the trio's actions.
As if reading his thoughts, the Fat Friar said, "I hope what you said is true," punctuated with a long stare.
Harry shivered, though it might have just been from the normal sorts of dungeon and ghostly chills.
Luna said, "It was nice meeting you. Say, do you know if Myrtle is around here?"
Luna carried a short conversation with Myrtle, who had her eyes on Harry in the same creepy way as before.
The ghost encouraged them to visit her toilet anytime.
This couldn't have worked out better. I even had an enjoyable time, he realized.
When walking back to meet up with the others, Harry asked Luna if she had the Sight.
"Your comment to the Ravenclaw ghost made me wonder," he explained. He also pondered that explanation for how perfectly his evening had gone, although maybe his Halloween bad luck was already used up on dueling club.
Luna spoke very slowly. "I think so, though it doesn't work well around you."
Harry stopped walking. "That… huh." Harry wondered if this is what Time referred to all those months ago. He was no longer a good divination subject, he remembered. "Er, does that bother you?"
"Well, at first I didn't think we were meant to be friends just yet. But I'm glad we are. I think I would have been sad without you."
Harry was happy to hear that, as painfully sincere as it was.
Luna looked Harry directly in the eyes. "Honestly it's a bit of a relief. I don't know that I could bear to get close to someone while getting only true glimpses. It can be hard to know."
"Glimpses of the future, you mean?"
"Or the present. Sometimes the past." Luna looked uncomfortable. "Please don't tell anyone."
Harry agreed.
