Disclaimer – It has come to my attention recently that I unfortunately do not own Harry Potter. Who knew.

Author Note – I enjoy writing short stories for my own enjoyment but at a suggestion from a friend, I have decided to start posting some of my stories that I am working on or have completed. All feedback is welcome (hopefully constructive!) Looking forward to what you think!


As the trio approached the last corner before the entrance to the Great Hall, Harry froze as he heard laughter ahead of them, causing him to realize what he was about to walk into. Unfortunately, the momentum of the students behind him was too great and he was unable to stop Ron, Hermione, and himself from being pushed around the corner. Just as he suspected, he was greeted by the sight of the three Slytherins standing in front of the Great Hall doors holding the Daily Prophet and laughing.

They looked up and their laughter intensified as they noticed Ron was in the newly arrived group of students.

"Hey Weasley, looks like your Dad made the paper," the center Slytherin student said.

'Wait…what…' Harry mumbled under his breath. Harry missed what was being said as he kept starring at the trio, recognizing the bookends, Crabbe and Goyle…however in the center was …Cassius Worthington…?

Where was Malfoy…?


After getting over his initial surprise at not seeing Malfoy with Crabbe and Goyle, Harry recovered and helped Hermione grab Ron before he leapt towards the boys who were taunting him about his family.

Hoping to calm Ron down and prevent his friend from doing anything he would regret. Harry called out to the trio, "What's wrong Crabbe and Goyle? Did Malfoy finally realize he could do better than you two and forced you to find someone else to tell you what to do? For what it is worth I do not think he is much of an upgrade."

Harry could see that his words relaxed his friend, so Harry proceeded to let him go and took a step away as he heard Worthington reply, "Don't you think to insult me, you are nothing but a half blood, who thinks he is special."

"At least he knows his parents cared for him and didn't find him in the zoo." Ron shouted back.

Harry let out a small chuckle as he turned to look at his friend, surprised by the joke. However, as he made eye contact with Ron he watched as his friend's eyes widened in horror. Seeing the expression on his friends face Harry instinctively moved as he heard Worthington try to curse him. It was this quick reaction that saved him from a much more serious fate, as less than a second later he felt a sharp pain in his cheek as a sickly purple curse flew by, occupying the area his head had just vacated.

Harry spent a second mentally chiding himself as he dropped into a crouch and spun around, prepared to retaliate on his opponent, trying to ignore the burning sensation in his cheek which was becoming more and more noticeable.

As Harry finished his turn and raised his wand, he heard a loud bang. This caused Harry to turn what remained of the momentum from crouching into a roll, attempting to dodge the next incoming spell … however nothing flew by.

Harry raised his head as laughter started popping up from the students around the Entrance Hall and he looked towards the subject of the laughter. There in the middle of the Entrance Hall, sitting atop a pile of robes, was a sloth.

"Curse an unarmed opponent…" 'Moody' began shouting, however Harry was quickly distracted by the sensation in his cheek.

Harry shook his head as he stood up and could not help but think about how similar the events of the encounter had occurred compared to those in the past, although he was still wondering where Draco was and why it had not been him. As his cheek throbbed Harry's thoughts went to the curse, extremely glad he had managed to avoid it. While he had been unable to identify the curse as he had not been able to recognize what Worthington had shouted or the appearance of the curse that flew by, it surely looked a lot more serious than the one Draco had thrown at him.

"You alright Harry? Good reflexes by the way. Professor Moody came around the corner just as you went into the crouch and intervened, although…" Ron paused and in a slightly louder voice continued, "I don't see any difference."

This was met with laughter by individuals surrounding them, even Harry let out a smile as he was turning to look at his friend and suggest to him that he should probably stop trying to insult the Slytherins, as that is what led to this fight.

However, as he completed his turn, before he could open his mouth to address Ron, he saw Hermione's face freeze and transition to shock and then fear.

"…Harry…your … your cheek…" she uttered out in a small restrained voice.

Harry started to reach up to his cheek before Hermione shook off her fear and leapt forward grabbing his hand. "Don't touch it, we need to get to Madame Pomfrey. Now!"

Harry looked at Ron as his friend tried to hide a look of disgust on his face, "Want me to come, mate? Hermione is right though, you better get that checked out."

'How bad was this curse, it did not even touch me' Harry thought.

Attempting to lighten the mood, Harry indicated 'Moody' and the sloth, "It's alright Ron, I am sure I remember my way to the infirmary. Stay here and let us know how this all ends up."

With that, he took off down the hallway quickly catching up to Hermione. As they rounded the corner to head to the staircase, they ran by McGonagall who appeared to be heading in the direction of the incident. They did not slow down to answer the surprised look on the Professor's face, knowing that without a doubt someone in the Entrance Hall would be able to provide the details she was likely to ask about.

By the time Harry and Hermione reached the infirmary the slightly distracting pain had increased in severity but had seemed to plateau at what could best be described as a sensation similar to his skin being repeatedly scratched by nails.

Madame Pomfrey, who had been standing by a large closet organizing vials turned around to see what the intrusion was, "Mr. Potter I was wondering when I would receive my first visit from you and here …"

She paused as she noticed his face, immediately becoming serious.

"Over here. Sit on the bed. What happened?" She proceeded to get out, as she took out her wand and began performing a diagnostic spells.

Before Harry could even respond, Hermione very quickly communicated the exact scenario that had occurred, including a very specific description of the curse.

Madame Pomfrey paused for a second when Hermione had described the curse, questioning the accuracy of the description.

After confirming that she was positive as to her description, Madame Pomfrey finished her diagnosis, before stepping in front of Harry.

"You are quite lucky Mr. Potter, that the curse your friend described did not actually connect with your skin, otherwise it would have irreparably burned off skin on your cheek. Well … maybe not irreparable but certainly would have resulted in you requiring a lengthy and extremely painful stay at St. Mungo's as they attempted to regrow your skin."

Harry looked at her in shock, feeling a huge sense of relief his reflexes had managed to get him out of the way.

"I have a couple of salves that I will need you to apply ever hour for the rest of the evening. However, by morning you will be right as rain and, best of all, it will not even scar. You might experience a little tenderness in that cheek for the rest of the week, but even that to will soon disappear. I will be right back … Ms. Granger please stay here with him and make sure he stays here and does not get into any further trouble."

Harry looked at Hermione and smiled at his friend who looked almost as pale as Sir Nicholas.

"Thanks for coming here with me Hermione and thanks for making me come here immediately. But I am fine you need not worry."

As he said this, he saw her eyes shift to his cheek before immediately darting back up to look into his eyes.

"Well ok … I will be fine. You heard Madame Pomfrey, I will be as good as knew by morning. Same old loveable Harry in mint condition."

Hermione looked at him, a ghost of a smile forming on her lips but even that refused to break the look of fear in her eyes.

"I am alright Hermione, I promise. Probably Ron and I taunting them was a bad idea, however to give me credit I honestly did not think Worthington could move nearly that fast … I mean even before Moody he was literally a sloth."

Hermione looked at Harry sternly, however little by little the ghost of a smile reappeared and slowly grew in size before she could not hold back her laughter at the statement.

A minute later, Madame Pomfrey returned with the salves, for him to apply and found the two of them laughing together. Smiling, she handed him the salves, explained how to use them, and suggested he spend the next couple of hours here; before turning and letting them know that she was off to see Dumbledore to file a report, as that was a dark curse and definitely was not permitted to be used by students, much less on other students.

After applying the salves which immediately numbed the area, a sensation Harry was extremely grateful for. Harry looked over at Hermione, "Thanks Hermione , I mean it, you are always there for me, I do not know if you realize how much I appreciate you…and Ron for that matter, always being there for me. It is something I never thought I would come to rely on … So let's be honest, how does this make me look? Ruggedly handsome?"

Hermione froze looking aghast at being asked that, before eventually overcoming the absurdity of the question, "Well it gives you character I can not deny that, even though it makes your face a little less attractive than before."

Harry smiled, "Ooo so you find me attractive, consider it noted."

He watched as she froze and tried to sputter out a response, before he laughed and continued, "I am just joking Hermione, I know what you mean."

Hermione looked relieved at Harry for letting her comment drop.

Harry looked at the door before looking at Hermione, "I think I will take Madame Pomfrey's advise and stay here. Not feeling too hungry at the moment and I feel me showing up with my face like this … " Harry waved in the general direction of his cheek. "I feel that would cause quite the spectacle."

Hermione released a hollow laugh as she looked at his cheek.

Harry paused and looked at Hermione, "Do you happen to have a mirror on you? Other than seeing everyone constantly reacting to my face I do not actually know what it looks like."

Hermione reluctantly reached into her bag, "Are you sure Harry?"

Harry winced at the hesitancy in her voice, "I am sure Hermione, I would rather know what it looks like rather than have someone try to describe it to me … I feel that would end up being worse. And I would always worry that it was actually worse than being described and the person was just trying to spare my feelings. Plus, madame Pomfrey said it will fully heal tomorrow."

Hermione nodded slowly before reluctantly handing over her mirror.

Harry angled the mirror towards his cheek and gazed at his cheek slightly recoiling. The center of his cheek contained several scratches that went the length of the cheek and looked to be blistering, however the edges were peeled up and appeared to be blackened.

Harry looked at Hermione who once again adopting a pale complexion.

"Well you aren't wrong its definitely not pretty to look at. I am fine though Hermione. The salves numbed the area although I feel a slight tugging sensation almost as if the skin is trying to pull itself together. Certainly glad I do not feel like heading down to the Great hall for supper… this is indeed quite the beauty mark."

Hermione could not stop a guffaw from escaping as she started to look more at ease as she accepted her mirror.

Harry continued, "Do not worry Hermione, I am fine. Although I find it unbelievable that this much damage occurred from a spell that narrowly missed. I am just glad it missed that spell probably would have resulted in me actually getting seriously hurt … or worse… missing classes."

Hermione was unable to refrain from actually laughing at this. "Just as long as you do not go and do anything stupid for payback."

I promise I won't do anything without thinking Hermione … although perhaps I will need to see if I could enlist the twins services for a little pay back …"

Hermione shook her head as she looked at Harry.

He smiled and looked at Hermione, "But before we were rudely interrupted by that little incident we were talking about Arithmancy and Ancient Runes…"

Hermione smiled a large smile and looked at him, "Merlin, Harry I almost totally forgot that is right! You were accepted into both of the classes! I am so happy, I had full faith in you and I am so happy your hard work in the summer paid off! It is a much better choice for you than Divination. These are great classes and will open so many doors for you once you finish school, allowing you to decide what you want to do."

Harry smiled at Hermione's sudden change of mood. "Thanks Hermione it was a relief hearing both professors say they were welcoming me to their classes. Although I am at least one class behind on Arithmancy … what did I miss out on while I was doing the evaluation?"

Just like that Hermione seemed to put the entire situation with Worthington behind them as she frantically reopened her book bag and began reciting, almost verbatim the entire lecture.

By the time Madame Pomfrey had returned, Harry and Hermione had managed to completely cover the material of the Arithmancy class and even managed to review Herbology.

Hermione was really impressed with Neville's discovery of a more effective way to collect pus from the Bubotubers and made sure to add it to the notes she had at some point in the day found time to make on the morning class.

After observing Harry for one final hour, Madame Pomfrey decided that Harry was fit to leave and while the injury had not fully healed yet the skin itself had grown over the gash and as long as he continued applying the cream would be successful in completely healing by morning.

With that the two Gryffindors headed back towards their tower prepared to call it a night after the long and emotionally draining day. The trip was largely uneventful and they managed to avoid running into anyone that stopped them and asked them to repeat what had happened.

However, once entering the common room Harry's luck finally ran out.

There sat Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Neville.

Seeing that it was Harry that entered the doorway with Hermione, the boys jumped to their feet and rushed over to their friend.

"Harry how are you…"

"Mate that was intense…"

"You should have seen it! I have never seen a sloth bounce…"

"The sloth? … I have never seen McGonagall so furious, she tore into Moody. But once she found out what happened to you she tore into Worthington. I have never felt sorry for a Slytherin before but even after what he did I almost felt sorry for him…"

Harry laughed and held up his hands and pleaded, "One at a time guys, one at a time."

With that Harry and Hermione joined the boys on the couches as Ron proceeded to recite, step-by-step, what had occurred once Harry and Hermione had left. Once he finished his retelling of events, Harry explained what had happened and what the curse was.

The severity of the curse caused all four boys' faces to blanch. After a second, it was Neville who broke the silence. "You are ok right, Harry?"

After assuring him that he was fine, Harry told them he was exhausted and was ready to wash up and head to bed. With that Harry and Hermione got up and headed to the staircases to their respective dorms.

"Thanks again Hermione, I really appreciated having you there."

With that he turned and headed up to his bed ready to put the entire day behind him.


D.J. Scales - hmmm where indeed was he, thanks so much!

jkarr - It was a good thing he had such a good mentor!

zega606 - Thanks for the feedback, chapter seemed to come out alright!

fortinpatric - Glad you enjoyed :)

Lord Halcyon - Glad you are enjoying it so far!

Mark1 - And thus it begins!

Guest - ;)

Guest - Where indeed ...

shizkane - Glad you are enjoying it!

Sdw - Working on conversations but think its coming together very well!


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