Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 13
A month had passed since Halloween and the situation had evolved mostly as it could be expected: while Hogwarts at large was not particularly interested in Hufflepuff's major loss of points, the older students took it on a personal level against all first year's boys showing their displeasure with mean comments, rude behavior and an overall constant pressure on them. Harry could not care less, unsurprisingly, limiting itself to shrugs, roll of eyes and other signals that he found whoever tried to antagonize him quite silly; his dorm mates though, less thick-skinned, looked miserable and felt themselves unusually isolated from the rest of the house. There had been no other 'confrontations' between them and Harry, so much so that they went back already to talk civilly, but it was obvious that a rift between the 'followers' of that night and their 'mastermind' persisted. so Harry found himself with a lot of extra free time and less people to fill it with.
"Hey, watch out" said Harry to an older Hufflepuff that almost run him over in the middle of the hallway.
"You watch out, Potter" was his answer. Another sour student, apparently.
"Mmhh, maybe Hufflepuffs are not as harmless as they look" commented Malfoy, who was walking right next to him. Some steps behind them Crabbe and Goyle were following, but they could have not been there for all that they were saying.
"That was pretty much the worst of it. What would Slytherins do, if you got them angry?" said Harry to him.
"To me? Nothing, no one would dare. But I get your point" was Draco's answer.
While still not a common occurrence, Draco had started to talk more to Harry since Halloween. When interrogated by a sarcastic Harry about his 'talkative new disposition' his answer had been that he could not care less of the internal feuds of Hufflepuff, and that a proper wizard should not be so easily isolated by a bunch of half-bloods and muggle lovers. While tempted to answer on how, by Malfoy's standards, he was a muggle-lover too Harry decided that there was probably a better moment to antagonize the boy. So, he let Draco tag along, for now.
"With the Christmas break it should all be over anyway. My class will get back half of those points, and the time off school should do the rest" said Harry.
"I wonder if Sprout gets the irony of how the worst part of her punishment is how boring gardening is."
"She seems to be having fun the few times she joins us, so the answer is probably no."
"...weird woman" said Malfoy.
The two were walking towards the library: Draco needed a book and an Harry lacking anything better to do at the moment accepted to go with him. The last month has been excessively quiet: only in hindsight he had realized how the huge length of his punishment meant no chance to even discuss access to his money with Dumbledore, and without that he could not start any of his planned preparations for the eventual, and in his mind still distant-looking, confrontation with Quirrell. Being unwilling to risk any extra drama by stealing what he needed from the professors' supplies or going to Diagon Alley just to rush things meant that he literally had nothing specific to do, and as a consequence he was quickly falling into apathy.
"This school is getting really boring really fast" said Harry to no one in particular. Draco answered anyway.
"I am quite fine. Plus, Quidditch season has finally started. Have you seen how we trashed Gryffindor?" said Malfoy, having a genuine smile on his face for once.
"Yes... ok, Quidditch is fine, even if having two matches a month is not often enough" said Harry.
"There is also flying by ourselves. Good practice for next year, when I can apply for the team."
"How likely is for you to be accepted, in your 2nd year?"
"More than you think, Potter" said Malfoy. "Not many are willing to commit to the training regime anyway, and being small is a bonus. Plus, I am really good."
"...mah" was Harry's diplomatic comment.
"So, here we are. Do you need to complete this Transfiguration assignment too? I may help, if you ask nicely enough" said Malfoy.
"Done already. I'll take something to read, since I am here."
"Suit yourself. Bye, Potter" said Malfoy, while turning and walking towards Madam Pince to get whatever tomes he needed for his homework. His two classmates immediately followed.
Turning around, Harry started scanning the shelves for anything to read. He was not methodical in what books to take, switching from the few wizards-written fiction books to history to advanced texts on magical subject: these last ones always drew a weird look from Madam Pince, but he was not willing to stage some grand scheme only to avoid suspicions over them so he took them anyway and told to the few who asked about them that he just enjoyed the drawings – ignoring any follow up. Let the questioners think whatever they wanted of his answer, he was not in the mood for extra efforts.
Picking up a book about rare magical beasts, he chose a comfortable couch and just sat down: he had at least 2 hours to waste before dinner time.
Stretching, Harry stood up from his couch: judging from the lack of lights coming from the windows it was time to move to the Great Hall. Not many people were left inside the library anyway, and those who were had known faces: students who really liked reading, a lot of Ravenclaws and Hermione. At her sight Harry sniggered a little, feeling a bit guilty immediately afterward.
Pushed by his boredom he went closer to her, observing what she was doing: more homework, unsurprisingly. Unnecessary longer than what had been requested by the professors too, he was ready to bet.
"Go look at something else" she said, after turning her head one second to check who it was.
"I'll go look at my dinner. You should, too" he answered, and then walked away, not feeling nowhere friendly enough to deal peacefully with her at that moment. The results would not be pretty.
"I heard Hufflepuff is ignoring you, lately. Is it hard to be alone, Potter?" she said, stopping him on his tracks. 'Maybe she is trying to be nice' thought Harry, deciding to make an extra effort and to be nice as well. If he could deal with a young Malfoy...
"No, it's not, and they have their reasons. I'm sure we'll make peace eventually" he said, smiling. He must have seriously miscalculated her deeper intentions, though, because Hermione's expression was not friendly at all.
"Oooh, sure, for you they'll make an exception. The boy-who-lived, everyone will be your friend again in no time. Being a jerk does not count, not with that scar" she said almost hissing.
This stunned Harry for a couple seconds – why all that venom? He did not dwell on that thought for long, anyway: a smug smile appeared on her face and Harry, irritated already at feeling attacked right when he hoped for a reconciliation, started talking without constraints.
"You got me, Granger. You should go tell it to the other Gryffindors, it worked so well the first time" he answered and she looked shocked, and maybe a little ashamed. His mouth was still running, unfortunately.
"What's that face, now? I can't be the first to make it clear your opinion is unwanted" he added. At this Hermione took her bag and most of her papers, leaving in a hurry; Harry could clearly hear a couple sniffs while she passed by. No more hungry, or angry, he sat down at her table feeling more guilty than ever. 'Why always her' was his only clear thought for a while.
In the end he collected all the remaining books and notebooks on the table and went to talk to Madame Pince.
"Excuse me, but a friend of mine forgot these here. Could you keep them until she comes back to pick them up?" he asked to the serious looking woman.
"Leave them here. What is her name?" she asked.
"Granger, Hermione" said Harry. At these words, Madame Pince appeared even more stern.
"...are you the one that made her run away crying?" she asked. Harry did not answer, facing her condemning gaze while remaining expressionless.
"I'll keep them. Get out" she finally said and Harry left, without bothering to salute.
'Ok, now I feel really bad' he thought. Suddenly, he quickened his pace walking towards the floor up where the entrance to Gryffindor's tower was. Unsurprisingly, due to the hour, many Gryffindors of all ages where coming from that direction. Finally he noticed two familiar faces.
"Parvati, Lavender, hi."
"Hi, Harry! What are you doing here?" answered Lavender.
"Being a good boy, apparently. Did you see Granger lately?"
"Yeah, she ran to our room just minutes ago. Why, what did she do?"
"We had a fight, and I was quite mean. I feel guilty now" said Harry.
"Oh. She probably deserved it, don't feel too bad" added Parvati, without any apparent meanness. This didn't help Harry, as it pushed home how Hermione was isolated in her year.
"Yeah. Listen, i wondered if you two could go and talk with her. Let her unwind a little" he said.
"Harry, it is almost dinner time" said Parvati.
"I know, I don't expect you to skip it. But still, I would really, really appreciate that. I will owe you a big favor, I promise". This made the two girls a bit uncomfortable: they were probably unused to this kind of pressure. In the end, with Harry keeping his stare on them, they seemed to cave in.
"Maybe we can go and check on her a little. Tell her you are a monster or something" said Lavender lightly. Parvati, next to her, remained silent.
"That's a good idea; she probably just needs to be listened to. Thank you" he said.
"What did you really do, Harry? This is weird" asked Parvati with a puzzled look in her eyes. Harry itself was unsure how to answer, how to explain what he was thinking.
"She got what she deserved, Parvati. But I can deal with... what we said, obviously she can't" he answered eventually.
"Anyway, we better go or this will take forever. You owe us, Harry" said Lavender.
"I do, and thank you again" he said, watching while they retreated towards their 'secret' entrance to their common room. They started chatting the second they turned their back, and it was not hard to imagine what kind of explanations they could come up for his unusual behavior. 'Oh, well' was his only reaction. He did what he could, and there was nothing else to add.
Feeling marginally better, Harry walked towards the Great Hall.
A normal dinner followed, filled by chatter with his classmates (mostly the girls) and good food.
'This is definitely one perk of being here' thought Harry, and not for the first time. While he was eating, he noticed Parvati and Lavender coming inside the hall followed by what still appeared as a sad-looking Hermione. The two girls smiled at him, but nothing more. During dinner, instead, he could see Hermione sending towards him, once or twice, a venomous stare. At least she seemed to have regained her spirit – and she was certainly talking more with the nearby girls. A lot more.
'It's the best i can do for you' he thought, sadly.
After everyone was done eating, all first years went back to Hufflepuff's common room and sat down in their usual corner. The night's topic was the usual mix of what happened in classes, gossips and plans; only a couple boys were still busy with their homework. Zacharias and Justin, instead, seemed surprisingly engaged in a friendly conversation – about older Hufflepuffs.
"I swear they are going overboard. It's not like we are the first to lose points, and I made sure to tell everyone how we are getting half back anyway! What is their problem?" said Justin.
"For being the house of the friendly people, I must agree how this is quite disappointing" commented Zacharias.
"Yes! I am not saying it would have gone better in Slytherin, mind you, but what about Gryffindor? Don't they have those two guys that lose points constantly?"
"Who, those Weasley twins? Yes, they are famous for that. They probably lost hundreds of points since their first year"
"And no one seems to care there. ...bah" sulked Justin, falling deeper in his couch.
"At least the Christmas break is close. I would not mind going back home for a while" added Zacharias, sitting down himself.
"Yeah. In one strike we will get back most of those points and leaving this stupid place. Give me a television... well, my house" said Justin, diplomatically stopping himself in his tracks.
"...yes, I too would not mind my broom at home, and getting out of here. I could go to Diagon Alley" said Zacharias, with an unusually sincere smile on his face.
'Christmas...' thought Harry, who was overhearing the conversation while lazily reading the textbook for Transfiguration. That was a detail he had not thought much about, and yet it was not a matter that could be ignored. The easier, lazier choice would be to remain at Hogwarts but the mere idea of wasting more days in the castle, without even the classes and most of his peers to entertain him, literally made Harry shudder. No, that was not an option – even beside the fact that he needed to go to Diagon Alley to buy some supply he needed, and the break would be by far the less complicated moment for that. So, leaving the castle was his choice... to go where? If necessary, he could get some wizarding tent and camp out somewhere, but it would be just as useless and as boring.
'…..the Dursley' thought Harry. His opinion of them had vastly improved over the years, especially thanks to the sort-of-friendly relationship he struck with Dudley during his life, but actually going back there and facing their hostility all day long was not a pleasant prospect.
'Maybe I could just stun them once I am back' he thought ironically; of course, that was not truly an option for his law-abiding mindset. Tempting, sure, but not really acceptable. Harry could already imagine what would mean finding a compromise with them at this point in time, when they were still angry and dismissive of him. His wand, and subtle or explicit threats would certainly be involved, too.
'Would it?' he thought, suddenly in the mood again for planning and working. While unhappy about it, they still had taken him in instead of just dumping him in some orphanage. Unless Dumbledore somehow bribed or magically influenced them, but that did not seem his style. Maybe with a good mix of polite respect, authority and common sense he could get a compromise.
'He is a businessman, after all...' thought Harry, thinking of his Uncle. He could not deny how, from their point of view, he had been a source of troubles and 'abnormality' so offering a chance for less troubles and drama could be a powerful incentive. Maybe.
'Whatever' he finally thought, deciding to give it a rest for tonight. There was still time to face the problem, and no need to overthink it. Standing up, he went next to Wayne and Ernie which were busy completing their homework. Classes and chores were a neutral enough topic to be discussed with them, and he was certainly still valued for his overall ability to 'explain clearly' every new lesson, so soon they were deeply immersed in a talk about spells and magical theory. Just another day at Hogwarts.