I'm glad that my readers are finding the story quite well written, and I appreciate all the comments and reviews I'm getting... Keep it going everyone, you have no idea how motivating it is... ❤️
Of course, I don't think I need to mention this, but to anyone who might be wondering... No, we do not have the Triwizard tournament... the Goblet of Fire in this story. Of course, the tournament exists in the world, but it is not going to be conducted this year in this version of events.
Well, now that, that's out of the way, here is Chapter 53... Enjoy!
"I have never seen anything like that before," began Harry excitedly. "Some of the things we saw there... I hadn't even thought of them before..." he added. Daphne, who sat beside him was listening to his recitation of the quidditch world cup final with great interest. "Their speed, the communication..." sighed Harry awestruck. "Unbelievable..." he added.
"It must have been one magnificent event... I can't even imagine," retorted Daphne, mesmerised by the way Harry had described the whole experience. The conversation soon turned towards Daphne, who was raving about the time she had with her cousins, who had visited her family over the summer.
Everyone on the Hogwarts express seemed to be high in spirits. Harry and John had arrived at platform 9 ¾ together. They found the Weasleys pretty soon thereafter and a few moments later, Hermione also joined the group.
Harry was looking forward to seeing Daphne for the first time since he had seen her at the end of the 3rd year. The moment he saw her on the platform, Harry excused himself away from the group. While John, Hermione and Ron were sitting in one part of the Hogwarts Express, Harry and Daphne were enjoying some time alone in a different part of the same train.
Harry and Daphne were going back and forth over many of the things that had happened or had done over the vacation. Amongst those conversations also included a bit about Lockhart. Unsurprisingly, Daphne seemed to be excited and was looking forward to his classes.
"Everyone is calling him brave for taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts," said Daphne.
Harry remained uncharacteristically silent.
"You don't think so?" asked Daphne, surprised.
"I don't know about brave... but I definitely am not a fan of him teaching us," replied Harry sulking.
"Why?"
"We had a run-in, a couple of years back. He was signing at Diagon Alley. The moment he saw me, he made a big deal of getting photos together. He lied to get more publicity... It's not much, but I just didn't get a good feeling about him," replied Harry.
"If it makes you feel any better, anybody would want to have a photo taken with you," retorted Daphne with a smirk.
Harry blushed a little in response.
"How did you like your birthday gift?" asked Daphne, blushing a little.
Harry stared at her with an intense expression, with a slight smirk.
"That was quite imaginative..." replied Harry. "And would have got me in trouble had it... fallen on the wrong hands," he added cautiously.
"There's a lot more of that... some in my head, some drawn out..." retorted Daphne with a naughty smile.
"Woah," exclaimed Harry taken aback.
"I'm looking forward to living some of it..." retorted Daphne, with a flirtatious smile.
There was something about the way Daphne could easily transition any normal conversation into an intimate one that pulled Harry closer to her.
There was a silence that lasted for more than a few seconds. Daphne looked at Harry yearningly. Harry was staring at her taken aback by her boldness. However, he hesitated to act on his urges right there on the train and instead returned a smile. Daphne smiled in return.
"That God for that note... Had I not read that... It was milliseconds away from being snatched away and opened by Daisy," replied Harry, breaking the silence.
"You're not the only one who gets off on danger... Potter," retorted Daphne and kissed Harry's cheek. Harry smiled happily in response and lay his head on Daphne's shoulder.
"What all did you do for your birthday?" asked Daphne, resting her head over Harry's.
"Nothing too crazy... All of us were there together for the first time... So, that was nice," replied Harry with a satisfied smile.
"What do you mean?" asked Daphne, curiously.
"Well... Daisy and Dudley are always there for my birthday... Ron was there last year, but Hermione and John weren't... This time around I made sure all of them could be there... The 6 of us basically spent the whole day out..." replied Harry nonchalantly.
Something had irked Daphne. Harry didn't notice it though. And Daphne didn't understand it. It had to do with the fact that Harry had invited Hermione over to his house. Daphne tried hard to brush it off, but the rest of the journey was marred by this.
However, to the random students who walked by their compartment, the couple seemed even more comfortable with their PDA than ever before.
Once the express reached its destination, everyone made their way to the castle. The great hall looked just as grand as it always did. Harry and Daphne shared a couple of pecks on the cheek and separated out to their respective houses. Harry casually made his way to the Gryffindor section and sat down beside Ron, who had saved him a seat. Hermione sat beside the other side of Ron and John beside her. The ravenous students tucked into their feast and everything seemed perfect. Once everyone was done with their meal, Albus Dumbledore got up and made his customary beginning of year speech, welcoming the first year's students, congratulating the new Prefects, the head boy and girl and of course, there were a few warnings from Argus Filch that he did not miss. And then finally it came to welcoming the new additions to the staff. And this year there was just one.
"And finally, allow me to introduce, formally," said Dumbledore and turned back to glare blankly at Gilderoy Lockhart, "your new Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, Gilderoy Lockhart," he finished and gave a round of applause. The majority of the students joined in on the applause.
"We all have something to learn about his experience and expertise," he added with a smile and walked back to his seat.
And there was sitting amongst the staff of Hogwarts, Gilderoy Lockhart with a beaming smile. Perhaps a trained eye which knew what to look for would have noticed a tinge of anxiety in his expression.
There was a contrast between their morning breakfast and afternoon lunch. Ron, Hermione, Harry and John were having their morning porridge and eggs in relaxed silence. Hermione and John seemed to be muttering about something under their breath, Ron seemed engrossed in the newspaper he was reading and Harry seemed sleepy.
And then suddenly, Ron exclaimed, "Wow!" and diverted all of the other's attention to himself.
"What happened?" asked Hermione.
"Looks like the papers have found another piece of news to go on and on about," replied Ron and handed Hermione the paper pointing to an article.
"I have read somewhere about him..." sighed Hermione and handed the paper to John.
"Grindelwald..." sighed John a few seconds later. "Looks like he's going to be released," he added.
"Who?" asked Harry, curiously.
"I don't know much about him. Just that he was a dark wizard... And was imprisoned for his acts in the 40s, I think," replied John.
"He's getting released from Azkaban?" asked Harry, shocked.
"Nurmengard... Not Azkaban... And yes, someone has placed a request on his behalf to have him released," replied John.
"But why?" asked Harry.
"There isn't much here about it," replied Ron. "Apparently, it's a detailed request and it seems the Confederation is considering it," he added.
But before they could continue, they had all realized that they were getting late for their classes and left for the same. By the time they came back to the great hall that afternoon, they had all forgotten about Grindelwald and the only thing on their mind was Gilderoy Lockhart.
"You two are being way too harsh," protested Hermione.
"Too harsh? The guy is the worse than Quirrell," retorted Ron, irritated.
"And he is so full of himself," added Harry.
"Just because you hate being treated like a celebrity, doesn't mean you can hate Lockhart," responded Hermione.
"That... is not the point," argued Harry. The moment Lockhart had entered their class, he had picked out Harry as his protégé. And he had spoken in detail about how Harry had taken inspiration from himself.
"He lied, Hermione... I barely spoke with him for a few seconds... and that was like 2 years ago. What was he going on about inspiration? Lying prick" added Harry, angered.
"His achievements speak for himself," retorted Hermione.
"No," remarked Ron.
"What?"
"He speaks about them way more than they speak for themselves," replied Ron.
John had been silent till then.
"Will you say something?" asked Hermione looking at John.
John grinned. "I uh... have to agree with Ron and Harry. He seems a bit... I don't know what's the word I'm looking for..." replied John.
"Not you too," gasped Hermione, disappointed.
"Maybe he was nervous," suggested John. And that seemed to appease Hermione. "Let's see how he goes," he added.
However, by the end of the first couple of weeks, even Hermione started to doubt herself. And by the end of the 3rd, Hermione had joined Harry, Ron and every sane student in school in their opinion of Lockhart.
"Absolute nutter," remarked Ron, angrily as he walked out of the class.
"If this is how his classes are going to be like, we are going to be done for," retorted Harry.
"I found out something about him..." added John getting the other 3 intrigued. "We were wondering why they chose him to be our defence against the dark arts professor, weren't we? Well... as it turns out, he wasn't supposed to be," he added.
"What does that mean?" asked Hermione.
"Dumbledore mentioned that they were trying for someone else... But, Lockhart leaked it to the papers and anybody who'd listen that he was going to be the next defence against the dark arts professor. And before anybody could do anything, the papers were raving about Lockhart..." replied John.
"That git," remarked Ron, angrily.
"That is so... exactly what I'd expect him to do," retorted Harry.
"Yeah, basically their hands were forced. They had to appoint him," added John, sulking.
A couple of days went by. Harry had a feeling that everywhere he went, he saw Lockhart's white teeth grinning at him. But he convinced himself not to think about him. And just like that, Harry was living his life. One evening, Harry found himself approached by Angelina Johnson while he was with Daphne.
"Harry," called out Angelina.
"Angelina," exclaimed Harry. "Congratulations on the captaincy," he added with a smile.
"Thanks, Harry," she replied with a smile.
"So, what's up?" asked Harry, curiously. She couldn't have been there to ask Harry about quidditch. Everybody in the school knew he was suspended.
"Harry... can we..." said Angelina hesitantly looking at Daphne.
"Oh... okay... I'll be back," said Harry looking at Daphne, confused and walked away from her, with Angelina.
"What happened?" he asked once they were away from Daphne.
"Harry... I want you in the team training sessions," said Angelina.
"What?" asked Harry, confused. "Angelina, I'm suspended, remember?" he added.
"Well, you are suspended from playing for us, for the cup... Not necessarily from practising with us," she replied sheepishly.
Harry smiled in response. "Are you sure it won't cause trouble?" he asked.
"We'll be fine..." replied Angelina.
"I'm in," replied Harry happily. "So, whose your new seeker?" he asked.
"You're gonna be surprised to find out..." replied Angelina with a smile. "It's Colin," she added.
"Colin?" asked Harry, wondering who she meant. And then it struck him a couple of seconds later. "Colin Creevey? The 3rd year... who always has his camera with him?" asked Harry, shocked.
"The same... turns out, he isn't too bad on the broom," replied Angelina with a smile.
"Cool... let's see what he's got," remarked Harry with a smile.
The following evening, Harry went to the Gryffindor practice session with his firebolt by his side. The moment he reached, his eyes fell on Colin.
"Harry," he exclaimed, excitedly.
"Colin," responded Harry with a smile.
"Don't worry... I don't have my camera with me," retorted Colin with a bright smile. Harry chuckled in response.
"Why would you, haven't you gotten enough photos of me already?" retorted Harry, with a chuckle.
"Plenty," chuckled Colin in response.
Colin was decent with his flying skills. He also seemed to have the knack for spotting the snitch. Gryffindor's side also had a new keeper in Cormac McLaggen. Harry was enjoying himself on his broom, and the practice session went like a cool breeze on a warm summer afternoon. However, trouble found Harry in the form of the other 3 quidditch teams. They had all complained to their respective head of the houses. The captains of the Slytherin, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff quidditch teams interrupted Gryffindor's following training session, with a note from their respective house heads.
"What is the meaning of this?" asked Angelina as she made her way, away from her team. Harry, who had the rumours followed her along.
"He's suspended," said Montague, Slytherin's captain pointing at Harry.
"Well, this isn't the quidditch cup, is it?" retorted Harry.
"You are not allowed to play quidditch," added Cedric. "Here's a note," he added and gave the one he had to Angelina.
"You are suspended from playing quidditch in Hogwarts... till the end of the year, Potter," added Roger Davies, captain of the Ravenclaw team.
"Oh that is ridiculous," retorted Angelina, angrily.
"The words said to me were... and I quote, you are suspended from the quidditch team for 1 year... I'm not in the team, am I?" retorted Harry.
"Well, the note we have says otherwise. Unless you want any trouble, I suggest you move along..." replied Montague.
"I can't see one from Professor McGonagall here... Guess, we don't have to do anything," replied Angelina confidently.
"We can do this 2 ways... you can move along, quietly... or..." began Montague. The other 2 captains seemed taken aback by his tone, but tagged along.
"Or what, Montague?" retorted Angelina, angrily.
"We'll make him move," replied Montague taking out his wand. Harry and Angelina were both quick on their wands. Cedric and Roger both took out their wands too but seemed defensive.
"What do we have here?" came the voice of Gilderoy Lockhart out of nowhere. And the quidditch players found themselves approached by an excited Lockhart and lowered their wands immediately. Everyone did apart from Harry.
"Harry, Harry, Harry," he exclaimed, his large white teeth gleaming. "Lower your wand, Harry. I'm here, aren't I?" he added beaming. Harry reluctantly lowered his wand.
"Tell me, why is everyone charged up here?" asked Lockhart.
Every house' quidditch captain then began outpouring a tale of what was fair and what wasn't, while Harry remained quiet, annoyed at everything that had just transpired.
"There is no need for violence while I'm here," said Lockhart finally, still managing a big grin. "Harry, Harry, Harry... I understand... It's natural to want to help your team. But, rules are rules. I feel it is my duty to help you become a better person," he added looking at Harry. Angelina watched the scene, confused. Harry, just the same. "Walk with me, will you?" he asked and took Harry's arm. There was a strength to his grip that suggested it wasn't a request, even though Lockhart's face was grinning. Reluctantly, Harry left the practice session and walked with Lockhart. Angelina began protesting once more, but Lockhart told her to seek help from Professor McGonagall.
Once Lockhart and Harry were a few feet away from the players, Lockhart spoke up, "I must apologise. I didn't realise that by singing your praises, I was harming you as a person. I don't like giving detentions... actually, let's not call it detention. I want you to spend an evening with me. We can then talk in length about how to live the life of a celebrity," said Lockhart as Harry watched in shock.
"You're giving me detention? What for?" retorted Harry angrily.
"We may start with how to accept a situation gracefully. You know, once I was in a small village in South Africa. They weren't happy to see me there. And wanted me to leave. I was unfairly treated, just like you may feel right now. But what did I do? I didn't say anything. I left the village and lived in a small hut, just outside. After a few weeks, a gentleman came looking for me and invited me back into the village," replied Lockhart.
"What has that got to do with anything?" was what Harry wanted to say, but he remained silent instead.
The following morning, at breakfast, Harry received a note from Lockhart.
"I can't believe I'm about to say this... I officially hate Lockhart more than I hate Snape," exclaimed Harry loudly.
"Did you speak with McGonagall?" asked Ron.
"I didn't... but Angelina did. And I can't play quidditch... under any circumstance, for any reason, anywhere inside the castle this year," replied Harry.
"I can't believe she said that," retorted Ron, disappointed.
"Well, to be fair, I expected that. But, I have no idea why I got to do detention with that... Ugh," sighed Harry, angrily.
The classes had just gotten over. Harry had rushed out of his class to spend some time with Daphne, before his detention with Lockhart.
"I'm bored of his classes," remarked Daphne. "He's charming," she added and got a glare from Harry. "And he has a really pretty face... his hair is amazing... and his voice is just..." she continued and got interrupted by Harry.
"Oh, for crying out loud... I feel like throwing up," retorted Harry, annoyed. Daphne burst out laughing and held Harry's face with both hands.
"You look cute when you get annoyed..." she remarked with a big smile. "Cuter," she corrected.
And just then, the couple was interrupted by a familiar voice.
"Potter and Greengrass..." exclaimed Draco Malfoy as he walked up to the pair.
"Malfoy," exclaimed Harry, surprised. Daphne looked a little disgusted.
"Holding hands, practically sitting on each other... you might as well start snogging and put on a show for all of us," remarked Draco with a smirk. Daphne immediately let go of Harry's face and shifted a few inches apart.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" retorted Harry, a little annoyed.
"Don't look so pissed off. I just wanted to give you my condolences. Looks like you won't be playing against me this year, after all," replied Draco.
"Ireland won the quidditch world cup final," said Harry with a straight face.
"What?" asked Draco, confused.
"Oh, I thought we were saying things we found out a few months back," replied Harry, sarcastically.
"Ha ha... quite funny, Greengrass taught you to make jokes now, Potter?" smirked Draco.
"Leave us alone," shot back Daphne.
"Ooh... looks like someone found their voice," retorted Daphne. Daphne stood up instantly and went dangerously close to Draco. Harry followed suit, however only to prevent anything from happening between the two.
"Leave... me... alone," said Daphne fiercely.
"Daph..." whispered Harry and placed his hand on her back gently.
"You two are cute... I have had my fun... bye," replied Draco with a smile. "For now," he added and walked away.
"I loathe that white-headed idiot," remarked Daphne, sitting back down angrily.
"He was just pulling our leg... and you gave him the satisfaction he wanted," replied Harry, calmly.
"He always tries to get on my nerves... I hate his whole family, every single one of them," retorted Daphne, still cross.
And this time it was Harry who had his hands across Daphne's face. "Relax..." he whispered and moved closer to her.
"Har..." muttered Daphne under her breath as the rest of his name drowned in anticipation. In all their time together, she had always been the first one to initiate any type of physical intimacy. So, to see Harry do, what she thought he was about to do took her aback.
Harry got as close as he possibly could, without physically touching Daphne and whispered in her ear, "I really did love that gift... seeing us like that, even though it was just a small portrait, gave me some ideas on what we should be doing," he said.
Daphne swiftly turned her head and grabbed Harry by the neck for a deep kiss. Both of them struggled with their lips at first, but a couple of seconds in, it all fell into place naturally.
"Woah," gasped Harry and let out a deep breath. "Wow," he added.
"I have wanted to do that... for so long," she whispered and gave another quick kiss.
Spirits were high for Harry when he entered Lockhart's office a while later.
"Welcome to my office, Harry," greeted Lockhart.
Harry gave a weak smile in return.
However, the spirits fell underground pretty soon as Lockhart, in his usual style began talking about his achievements. Once he had spoken his heart out about his achievements, he turned his attention toward Harry's behaviour.
"It's all my fault... I gave you a taste for success, something that not everyone gets. And that has made you lose focus on some basics," he said as Harry watched in disgust. "The life of a celebrity isn't easy, Harry. You must behave in a certain way, and say certain things. For instance," he added and pointed at a pile of letters. "All these people want to see me, talk to me, know about my life. I won't say these things to them. But you? You're special, Harry. I want to see the best happen to you," he added.
Thanks was definitely not going to be Harry's response. He had decided to bite the bullet and nod along with everything Lockhart was going to say. But some of the things Lockhart threw at Harry, made him question his self-control.
And then Lockhart said something that almost made him jump out of his chair.
"I know what you're thinking... It's alright for him to say, he is already a world-renowned wizard. But, Harry, when I was 14, I was just as much of a nobody as you are now, in fact, I was even more of a nobody..." he said with a big smile and glanced at Harry, with a sharp stare, "what with all that business with You-Know-Who," he finished, with a slight tremor in his voice.
Pretty soon after that, Lockhart had tasked Harry with addressing some of his envelopes, while he continued raving about himself.
Harry had decided to blankly respond with, "Yeah", "sure", "of course" and anything else that could come to his mind.
A couple of hours went by just like that. Harry was beginning to get hungry, and he was really tired of Lockhart speaking non-stop.
"How can a man speak so much continuously?" thought Harry to himself.
And just then something happened out of the blue.
Harry was reading out the name on the next envelope, "Frank Bryce, Little Hangleton," he muttered under his breath.
"What did you say?" asked Lockhart, looking rattled. He snatched the envelope from Harry's hand and read out the address. Harry looked at him, taken aback. After a few seconds, Lockhart seemed back to his usual self.
"Big fan of mine, Mr Bryce. Met him just a few days back, the old fellow... Loves me like his son," said Lockhart with a forced big grin.
"That was definitely weird," thought Harry, but didn't make much of it. The name didn't ring a bell either.
"I hope you learned a thing or two, Harry," said Lockhart.
"Of course," replied Harry blankly.
"You may go now..." said Lockhart. Harry had just made his to the exit when Lockhart added, "you're special, Harry," he said with a big smile.
"Thanks, Professor," replied Harry and bolted out of there, the moment he could.
"Dungbomb on Justin, electric shock to that 3rd year Gryffindor kid, a puking Lavender and a nosebleed that wouldn't go away for Michael..." said John, counting one by one with his fingers. "Did I miss anything?" he asked.
"Nosebleed for a few Slytherins," replied George.
"And the one that got constipated," added Fred.
John facepalmed with a chuckle. "Why are you doing this?" he asked.
"We vowed to make your life better..." replied Fred.
"And we also need some subjects for our products," added George.
"You can't possibly make the whole school your test subjects. And I don't want you to, just because they happened to say a few things about me," said John. "I have already accepted your apology. Honestly? You don't have to do these things to make me feel better or make my life better. It's all good," he added to the twins' disappointment.
It was a fine Saturday afternoon. John made his way from the Gryffindor common room to his favourite spot, the lake. He walked past the castle grounds and was making his way towards the spot near the lake when he noticed Hermione running towards him. As it turned out, a moment later, she ran past without even noticing him.
"Hermione," exclaimed John, surprised. She didn't seem to slow down. Intrigued, he ran after her. Within seconds, he had caught up to her.
"Hermione," he called out and noticed that she was in tears. "Hey... what happened?" he asked trying to get her to stop. After some struggle, Hermione stopped trying to get away and came to a still.
"What happened?" asked John, alarmed.
"I went looking for you at the lake... And I saw..." began Hermione but did not finish the sentence. "I saw..." she added, but couldn't bring herself to finish what she started. And suddenly, she grabbed John into a big hug and started sobbing.
There were no prizes for guessing that this had something to do with Harry and Daphne. John maintained the hug for a few seconds, till Hermione came to a steady-state.
"You have to help me," she muttered under her breath.
"Hermione... what you're asking of me... it is beyond me. And it is extremely dangerous," replied John faintly and cautiously.
"Please?" begged Hermione in a whisper. "I can't take it anymore..." she added, gasping for air.
"Decluttering your mind... it has to be a natural process. We should never tell or let anyone do it for us," said John. But he couldn't bear to look at the expression on Hermione's face. "Fine, I'll help you," he added after a few seconds.
And to his relief, he saw a relieved Hermione Granger.
Ron and Harry were about to go to sleep, in their dormitory. And they had just finished their usual rants about Gilderoy Lockhart.
"I wish Remus was still teaching," remarked Harry, sulking.
"Those sessions were brilliant, mate," agreed Ron. "With this git teaching us, we aren't getting anywhere," he added.
The boys sat in silence for a few seconds. And then suddenly, Ron's eyes brightened up, and they both looked at each other like they knew what the other was thinking.
"We can, can't we?" asked Ron.
"We could... just us, though? Or..." remarked Harry, looking excited.
"You mean? Oh, that'd be brilliant," replied Ron.
"But where?" asked Harry.
"We will figure something out..." replied Ron, excitedly.
"That makes you, me... John and Hermione will be there of course... Daphne? Surely... who else?" asked Harry.
"That's enough, ain't it? I mean, we can only have those who'll be fine with John being there," retorted Ron.
After a few seconds, Harry added, "Malfoy?" he asked.
Ron thought for a second and replied, "why not? I mean, he knows John and Jane had nothing to do with it. If he's willing, sure, we can take him," replied Ron.
"We need a name... something cool," said Harry.
"Right..." replied Ron, nodding in agreement. And with that excitement in the air, the boys went to sleep.
The idea of a group of people practising magic on their own, because their Professor wasn't capable enough, was something that was going to happen in this world as well.
PS - That's all for 53... Chapter 54 will be out next week... And it has some *juicy* stuff in it... Stay Tuned!