Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
...
Harry was, understandably, highly nervous. He had some manner of skill with a wand, enough to hold his own against most wizards, perhaps even capable of taking on a few at a time.
This was not that kind of situation however.
A majority of the Hogwarts faculty stood before him, a few of them which had their wands out. That being said, only a few of the wands remained pointed at him. A few of the professors had seen that Harry didn't mean them any harm. Of course there were some exceptions.
"Remove your mask and reveal yourself!" ordered Janice Lipler. Harry had expected that response from the auror. She may have been brought in to teach the students for the rest of the school year but she was a professional dark wizard hunter at the end of the day. For her to react that way towards a masked individual was incredibly predictable.
"I assure you Professor Lipler, I mean no harm towards you and your fellow teachers," said Harry, holding his hands up where the faculty members could see them. "As for the mask, I'd rather keep it on. No point in a secret identity if you go showing off who you are to everyone."
"While your point holds merit, we do require you to inform us of your intentions," stated Dumbledore, sending a weary gaze over at the auror to lower her wand. Begrudgingly, she did so.
"Firstly, I must apologize for the acts done under my name," stated Harry. "These actions were not done by members of my club and completely go against what we stand for. If you wish for proof I am more than happy to swear upon it."
"That won't be necessary," reassured Dumbledore. "The mere fact that you are willing to swear it tells us much about your character."
"So what you're saying," said Professor McGonagall, sharpening her eyes, "Is that another party has used for name for their own nefarious schemes."
"Indeed I am," said Harry with a slight nod of the head. "Every whisper I hear in the corridor is a blemish on the very acts that me and my companions have tried to do."
"And just what is it that you have tried to do?" asked Snape, his voice drolling out.
"Make magic magical," said Harry as if it was the simplest of statements. "I imagine you'd want me to elaborate but I'll try to keep it brief, there is no telling how long the students outside will remain patient."
"Indeed," said Dumbledore.
"When Muggle born students step through the halls of Hogwarts their eyes light up with joy and wonder. When students who have a magical upbringing come here it's all same old, same old. Everything they bare witness to is something that their parents or siblings do all the time. Our objective is to bring forth that sense of joy to those that have been around magic their entire lives."
"As well meaning as that is, there is still the matter regarding the attack on the other students," declared Flitwick.
"I imagine that all of you wish to find the perpetrators as much as I do," said Harry. "Your discipline and my own however likely don't see eye to eye. Detentions and house points won't cut it. Before you say anything, I'm not intending to do any physical harm to them."
"I would hope so," said Dubledore.
"We are a group who wish to bring joy to others. We do our best to not do so at the expense of others but I believe in this instance our rules will be bent slightly."
"There is still a question that needs to be answered regarding just how you intend to catch the perpetrators in the first place," said Snape. "If you are incompetent and allow them to slip away then the blame will squarely fall upon you and you alone. You are, as you said, Potter Club."
"Which is why it has to be me," declared Harry. "I can already break down a few things. The damage was caused by the use of runes, that alone reduces a severe number of students as the study of runes is only done by a handful of individuals. The runes themselves were also advanced, meaning we can rule out a majority of the third and fourth year students, except perhaps for those who are a bit more unruly. The fact that the deed was done in the dungeons means that it had to be done at a time when Professor Snape was not teaching a lesson. We can also rule out in between classes due to how long the task would have taken. Meaning that it was done by somebody who had access to Professor Snape's classroom, something which I imagine is only permitted by a handful of students."
"You seem to have put some manner of though into this," stated McGonagall.
"I have thought of nothing else since I heard what had happened."
"As much as I'd like to permit you to act on your own, we as the faculty cannot be seen doing nothing in these situations," said Albus as he stroked at his beard. "While we will be doing our own investigations into the matter we will try not to cross paths with you. For the first week that is. After that..."
"Yeah, yeah, I get the idea," said Harry. "One week then and then I'm out of the game."
"For good," stated Snape.
"I figured as much."
"Headmaster, I must protest," declared Professor Liplin. "You are instructing a student to track and hunt down their peers! A student that refuses to give us their identity. What if they injure the wrong child?"
"Considering you seem to be talking about me rather than too me now, I hazard a guess that's my cue to leave," said Harry.
"Out of curiosity, just how do you intend to leave this room?" asked Professor McGonagall. "As you yourself said, the entrance is likely crowded by a majority of the student body. Surely you don't intend to march through the middle of them."
"As cool as that would be, I'll be taking a hidden exit," said Harry as he made his way over to the Hufflepuff tables.
"A hidden exit?" queried Flitwick.
"And how is it that we are unaware of such an exit?" asked Snape.
"Well it wouldn't serve well as a hidden exit if everybody knew about it," said Harry, walking along with his head down before coming to a stop. "To be fair, I have no idea what you're going to tell the students but I'll keep to it. The culprits will be revealed within the week."
"Very well," said Dumbledore as he watched the cloaked figure crawl underneath the table. They could all hear the shifting of stone before the mysterious student left them all standing there.
"Are you sure this is wise Dumbledore?" asked McGonagall.
"If not, I'm sure it will be highly amusing."
"Headmaster!"
...
Hermione walked through the aisles of the library, scoping down each and every lane before she stumbled upon the person she had been searching for. At first she had wanted to call out to them and gain their attention but she refuted. She could see their level of focus and didn't want to interrupt them.
Despite that, they seemed to have noticed Hermione's presence. "Whatever you have to say, I don't want to hear it."
"Look," said Hermione slowly, taking small steps towards her peer. "I can only imagine what's going through your head..."
"You have no idea."
"But if you're planning on getting vengeance on whoever did this..."
"Of course I am," yelled Susan, turning to face her fellow second year. Her eyes were puffy and the residue of tears still clung to her cheeks.
Hermione hesitated momentarily before proceeding forward. "I know your pain Susan, probably more than anybody else. You want to find the people who tarnished the Potter Club name, our name."
The sudden shock of realization came over Susan's face. "How did you...wait, you're in..."
Hermione simply gave her a polite nod to answer the question that was on Susan's tongue. "I've been a part of it from the beginning, just like you Susan," said Hermione. "That's why I know your pain and what's going through your head. After all the time and effort we've put in into making people laugh and smile, to see it tarnished in such a way, it hurts. It hurts badly. I was in that classroom and I could barely contain how upset and angry I was but I had to keep my emotions in check."
"Hermione..."
"Whatever you're planning though, it's not what we need to do," proclaimed Hermione. "Let the teachers deal with whoever dragged our name through the mud. We need to focus on the rest of the students. We need to remind them what we're about, what Potter Club's all about!"
"You know, for people involved in a secret club you shouldn't really speak so loudly," said a new person as Luna Lovegood stepped into view.
"Luna...we...umm..." started Susan, unable to find her vocabulary at that moment in time.
"Hello Susan," said Luna as she put her hands behind her back. "I know we've seen each other at the Harry Potter Fan Club but I don't think we've officially met."
"Umm...yes...nice to meet you?" It came out far too much of a question for Susan's liking.
"And you are?"
"Hermione Granger," said Hermione introducing herself.
"Luna Lovegood, a pleasure to meet you," said Luna.
"So...about all that stuff you just heard..."
"Don't worry, I have no intention of spreading your secret. I've already seen the joy you bring to the school and I wouldn't wish to dampen that in any way," said Luna sincerely. "What you strive to achieve is quite lovely. Most witches and wizards are age are far more focused on far more mundane things."
"Well we wouldn't want Hogwarts to be a dull place now would we," said Hermione, doing her best to perk up.
"You're talking about the most prestigious wizarding school in the United Kingdom being dull," said Susan, shooting Hermione a glance.
Hermione then sent her a look as if to apologize.
Luna gazed on and giggled. She truly was enjoying herself.
...
Harry sat in the confines of the Gryffindor common room, only a handful of students still up at this hour. That in turn made it perfect for him to look over the Marauder's Map, watching for any sort of movement that looked out of place or peculiar. However seeing Filch doing his rounds and Prefects moving about in previously organized routes, it was difficult to find a moment where somebody would be silly enough to make their move without getting caught.
He had tried to recall anything that Hermione or Ron might have mentioned during their fifth year regarding when they were the school Prefects about whether their timings were regular or if they took random paths. Considering what the year had become however he column't recall heads or tails about whether he had been informed about any of that.
He knew that nobody would be foolish enough to return to the scene of the crime tonight, both Professors Snape and Babbling were still within the confines of the potions classroom. Harry imagined that the two of them would be doing their own investigations well into the night. Which of course meant that he couldn't sneak in to do his own search of the area without being caught. Professor Snape may very well have played nice when he had been surrounded by his peers. If he felt like his potions lab was being threatened however, there would be no place safe on the grounds to hide from the man.
Who knew just what level of jinxes and curses would be placed on that lab from here on out. He made a mental note that if the whole Triwizard cup thing happened with him getting inserted into as a champion he would source his own Gillyweed. Neville would not survive were he to try and steal from Snape's storeroom after this catastrophe.
"Whatcha looking at Harry?" asked the familiar voice of one of the Weasley twins from behind him. George if the map was to be correct in this instance.
"The lack of a twin by your side," said Harry, running his finger across the area of the map where they were located. "I thought the two of you would be nigh inseparable after your time in Beauxbatons."
"Our experience apart has taught us that not everything in the world has to be done in a tandem," stated George as he plopped himself beside Harry. "Also after such an enchanting time abroad I know best when o brother of mine requires some time alone to appreciate the finer things in life."
"Is that why I saw him sneaking off with Katie earlier?" asked Harry.
"Did you see them on the map?"
"No, I saw Katie quite literally dragging him out the common room earlier. They haven't returned yet."
"Well at least you're not stalking my brother," said George with a chuckle before he focused on another part of the map. "Though with that being said it would seem Percy has gone off the beaten path with his sweetheart."
Harry scoured the map before he found the aforementioned brother, along with Penelope Clearwater, up the Divination Tower. "Yeah, I'm not even going there," said Harry as he pulled out his wand and tapped the parchment. "Mischief Managed."
"I assume you were searching for the fakes," said George. "After all, the club named after you has been dragged through the mud. It would only be fitting that you find the culprits and bring them to justice."
"Like I really have the capacity to do something like that," said Harry as he tucked the map into his pocket. He was gratefully that despite George knowing that he was the founder of Potter Club that he was still making it sound as if he had no part in it. One could never be too sure just who was listening in. "Since we're not spending this time trying to gaze upon the comings and goings of our our peers, I feel there's something else we need to talk about, man to man."
"Dear Harry my boy, what words of wisdom do you feel I need to impart upon you?"
"The ladies of Beauxbatons, what are they like?"
George couldn't help but chuckle. "Harry, let me teach you a thing or two about French women."
...
Katie Bell stood opposite Fred Weasley after having unceremoniously dragged him out of the common room. She didn't care what the other students thought of the situation, rumours had been circling the two of them ever since Fred had kissed her at the end of their performance of Harry Potter and the Multi Coloured Unicorn. She had pushed them all to the side, especially when she had become a member of Potter Club. If they were thinking that she was vanishing because she was spending time with Fred, then she could act on behalf of Potter Club with much less suspicion.
Now however, she needed to know whether or not the Weasley in front of her was a part of the same club, rumours be damned. "You know Katie," said Fred as he looked about the room. "This isn't exactly the most romantic spot for..."
"Shut it!" ordered Katie, silencing Fred instantly. Given everything that had happened today she was not in the mood to play any word games. "All I want is a straight yes or no answer and if you toy around with it I will hex you from here to next week. Understood?"
Fred wisely kept his mouth shut as he nodded his understanding.
"Are you a member of..."
Before she could finish off her sentence, Fred had closed the short distance between them and slapped his hand over her mouth. Katie was finding herself in a very compromising position given the incredibly close proximity of the two of them. They'd managed to spend some time together before but never this close.
Her heart began to flutter that little bit faster as Fred's eyes pierced into hers. Time seemed to momentarily pause before he released his grip and moved to the door. Katie watched with flushed cheeks as Fred looked outside for anybody that might be listening in before he closed the door behind him. "Katie, think for a moment," he finally said as he turned to face her once more. "After today's events do you really think that there's not eyes and ears everywhere? Dumbledore's likely got the ghosts and paintings on high alert for anything that seems out of place. If I went to so much as cause the simplest of pranks right now I'd be caught before I'd even started setting up."
Fred allowed himself to release a coarse exhale as Katie remained rooted to the spot. She was so used to seeing him in such a joyous manner that it was difficult to see him in such a way. "Look," he said after several seconds of silence. "I know what you want to ask and I know what answer I would give were you to ask that question, and it would be the truth. The people in that club keep their identities a secret for a reason and it's not only to protect themselves but the other members of the club. If someone were to get caught then there is the chance that in order to reduce whatever penalty they might receive they will throw the blame onto others. I for one, do not want that to happen to anybody."
"Now," said Fred as he clapped his hands together. "If I were to be a member of this club, I would imagine a note would go out to its members in the coming days to lay low and don't meet up under any circumstances, there's far too much risk at the moment. In fact, doing anything out of the ordinary will more than likely result in disastrous consequences. However, if I were to ask you whether or not you would like to learn how to make the statue outside of the Charms classroom dance at the end of second period every day, what would you say? Purely for our own benefit and nothing else."
Katie's jaw dropped before she managed to regain some manner of composure.
"Yes Fred, yes I would."
...
The following night, Harry watched over the map once more trying to figure out any sort of person who was out of place. Percy and Penelope were once again moving about the divination classroom once more and Harry had the sneaking suspicion that they weren't there to continue their watch.
There was something out of the ordinary that he had picked up on but was completely aware that this weren't the people who had pretended to be Potter Club. This was most definitely the Potter Fan Club meeting together, the better part of thirty students all crammed together in a single room that made it incredibly difficult to read all the names properly.
One name that he could read was that of Professor Lipler marching down that hallway before pausing right outside the door where they were meeting. He figured that a trained auror would not take kindly to a vast number of students being out after dark.
He really wished he could listen in on this conversation. Still though, Luna seemed to be in attendance. He was sure that she would spill all of the juicy gossip in the only way that Luna could.
...
Hope you enjoyed.