Disclaimer: Harry Potter and friends belong to J.K. Rowling. I make no money from this story.
A/N: Any italics in the story are either flashback/thoughts or quoted directly from the books.
Also, this fic is listed as 'M' rating, mainly for later chapters/books, so I am assuming that anyone reading this story is 'of age' and has no objection to sometimes adult oriented material. If you do object, please find something else to read.
Well, folks, here's the next chapter…
This chapter is a bit longer than previous chapters, but I am hoping to make this length my new goal for most of the chapters in the future.
Please review, your feedback helps my writing improve and inspires me to write more content more often. ;)
Also – bold lettering is Parseltongue.
HLP 2 – Slytherin Secrets
Chapter 4:
Harriet followed Rhonda into the Ford Anglia, eyes wide. Somehow the car had expanded to fit eight people, six large trunks, two owls, complete with cages, and Scabbers' cage comfortably. Mr. Weasley saw her looking around and smiled at her, "Undetectable extension charm," he explained as he slid behind the wheel.
Harriet grinned back, "Cool."
The ride to the Leaky Cauldron was noisy as Frederica and Georgia teased Patricia almost mercilessly about her boyfriend, Peter Clearwater. She could see Patricia getting redder by the minute, but knew if she said anything it would only make matters worse, so she was quite relieved when Mrs. Weasley finally threatened to take away the twins' experiments if they didn't leave Patty alone. Harriet was the only one who saw Patricia wince at the nickname, and resolved herself never to call the young woman by such an unfavorable name.
Diagon Alley was busier than Harriet had ever seen it, but before she could do more than wonder, they were inside Gringotts. She felt embarrassed when they stopped at her vault first and all of the Weasleys could see how much gold was in it. She felt ashamed when they arrived at the Weasley vault and she watched as Mrs. Weasley scraped every last coin out of the vault to by Gryff's and the girls' school supplies with. It was a crime how little Mr. Weasley was paid for a job that was vital to the secrecy of the wizarding world.
Once they were back outside, the group split up. Patricia headed off to buy a quill, and the twins wandered off, looking for their friend, Lee Jordan.
Herman was waiting for them on the steps of Gringotts, accompanied by his eldest sister, whom he introduced as Cassandra. Cassandra was a taller, female version of Herman, right down to the chocolate brown eyes and frizzy hair. Mr. Weasley greeted her with enthusiasm, excited by the idea of meeting a muggle. Mrs. Weasley dragged a reluctant Gryff off to the second-hand robe shop, admonishing Rhonda and Harriet to meet her at Flourish and Blotts in an hour and warned them to steer clear of Knockturn Alley.
The three of them spent the next hour wandering around Diagon Alley, checking out the shops. They separated at one point when Harriet wanted to go into Quality Quidditch Supplies and neither of her friends cared to join her. Rhonda and Herman wandered down to the Menagerie to look at the animals.
Harriet gazed around the shop in awe. She had never seen so much Quidditch stuff in her life. Her uncle enjoyed having the Quidditch Cup in his office, but he had little interest in playing the game. She was in a corner of the shop, looking at the new Nimbus 2001, when she heard a familiar voice behind her.
"I promised Flint we would get new brooms for the entire team. It was the only way he would let me be seeker," Draco's nasally voice sounded from the front of the store. Harriet peered around the corner to see Draco Malfoy standing next to a tall Platinum haired man who couldn't be anyone other than his father.
"Perhaps some Cleansweep Thirteens for all of you then," Mr. Malfoy suggested, admiring the latest Cleansweep model.
"But dad, Potter has a Nimbus 2000. Our team will never win with Cleansweeps. We need the Nimbus 2001's."
Harriet and the shop owner both winced as Draco's whine reached another decibel; even Mr. Malfoy was beginning to look harassed. He looked over at the Nimbus 2001 displayed in the window, and Harriet could see him calculating the cost of buying seven of them. She couldn't imagine buying new brooms for everyone on the team. "Pathetic," she whispered to herself as she turned back to the rack of seeker's gloves she had been examining before they walked in. She chose a pair for herself, made of Ukrainian Ironbelly leather, and wandered over to the chaser section.
She and Gryffin had discovered they shared a mutual love of quidditch over the last couple of weeks she had been there. Harriet recalled the countless hours they had spent flying competitively against each other. They'd tried to convince Rhonda and the twins to join them with no success. She'd been astounded at how good his flying was. If he hadn't been so determined to pick up a chaser position in a year or so, she'd have been worried he was after her spot. Harriet examined the supple leather chaser's gloves on display, and finally settled on a pair of black Chinese Fireball gloves. She planned to present them to Gryffin for his birthday tomorrow.
"Would you like me to wrap those up for you, miss?" The clerk asked as she laid the gloves on the counter. Before she could answer, she heard Draco's sneering voice behind her.
"Potter, what are you doing here?"
The storekeeper gaped at her, his eyes going up to the scar she had tried to hide behind her bangs. She ignored him and turned toward her nemesis.
"Isn't it obvious, Malfoy, I'm buying quidditch supplies. That is what you do in a quidditch supply shop isn't it?" She asked, adopting the same sneering tone he had just used.
"Watch your tone around your betters, young lady," Lucius Malfoy scolded her. She looked them both up and down before turning her back on them; sure she was safe in the presence of the shop keeper.
"No thanks on that wrapping; I'll have Mrs. Weasley help me with it later. What is the total?" She inquired, in a hurry to leave.
"Ten galleons," the clerk replied. When she opened her mouth to question that amount, he shook his head and looked pointedly over her shoulder.
She clamped her mouth shut and paid the galleons, but she couldn't resist a parting shot as she exited the store. "I don't see anyone here who is my better. I'll see you on the quidditch pitch, Malfoy. It's nice to know Professor McGonagall isn't going to have to worry about losing the cup to Slytherin this year."
She left the shop before either Malfoy could retaliate, pondering the actions of the clerk. The gloves had been priced at eight galleons a pair, but he'd only charged her ten. Why had he given her a discount? She had a sneaking suspicion it had to do with her response to Draco. She got the feeling the owner didn't like the Malfoys much.
It didn't take long for her to find Herman and Rhonda. They were at Fortescue's Ice Cream Shoppe. As they ate their Peanut Butter and Strawberry ice creams, she told them about the Malfoys. They had a good laugh over the idea of Draco Malfoy as Slytherin's new seeker.
"We're sure to win the cup again this year with him as seeker," Rhonda laughed, taking another bite of her cone.
HLPHLPHLP
An hour later, they headed to Flourish and Blotts. They were by no means the only ones making their way to the bookshop. As they approached it, they saw to their surprise a large crowd jostling outside the doors trying to get in. The reason for this was proclaimed by a large banner stretched across the upper windows:
GILDEROY LOCKHEART
will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
Today 12:30 P.M. to 4:30 P.M.
"We can actually meet him!" Rhonda squealed. "I mean, he's written almost the whole book list!"
Harriet rolled her eyes. It figured that the only books Rhonda would take a real interest in would happen to belong to a man Harriet's uncle had scathingly condemned as a narcissistic glory hound. When she asked, he'd told her that they had gone to school together and the boy was notorious for making outrageous claims about things he had supposedly done.
The crowd around her consisted mostly of older witches, though there were a few wizards of varying ages and a few younger witches gathered around as well. A harassed looking wizard stood at the door, saying, "Calmly, please, ladies….Don't push, there….mind the books, now…."
The three of them found themselves pushed inside by the crush of the crowd. There was a long line stretching to the back of the shop. A tall, blonde wizard was seated there, signing his books. They each grabbed a copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2, before joining Cassandra Granger and the rest of the Weasleys in line.
"Oh, there you are, good," said Mrs. Weasley. She sounded breathless and kept patting her hair. "We'll be able to see him in a minute…."
Gilderoy Lockheart came slowly into view, seated at a table surrounded by large pictures of his own face, all winking and flashing dazzling white teeth at the crowd. The real Lockheart was wearing robes of forget-me-not blue that exactly matched his eyes; his pointed wizard's hat was set at a jaunty angle on his wavy hair.
Harriet and Gryffin shared a look of disgust at the elated sighs coming from Mrs. Weasley, the twins, and Rhonda. Only Patricia seemed unaffected by his looks, her nose was currently buried in The Standard Book of Spells Grade 6.
A short, crabby-looking photographer was shifting around, taking photographs with a large black camera that emitted puffs of purple smoke with every blinding flash.
"Ow, watch where you are going!" Rhonda cried.
The camera man looked over at her where she was rubbing the foot he'd just tromped on. "Stay out of my way, girl. This is for the Daily Prophet," he snarled at her.
"Big deal, You should still watch where you are going," Rhonda snarled back, tears leaking down her cheeks.
Gilderoy Lockheart looked up, and saw Rhonda hopping around. His gaze moved past Harriet for a moment before returning and zeroing in on her. He stared for a full minute before he jumped to his feet, exclaiming loudly, "It can't be, Harriet Potter?"
Harriet hunched her shoulders as the crowd murmured around her. She hated being the center of attention – except at quidditch games, of course, but that was because she felt she'd earned that.
The crowd moved aside as Lockheart came forward. He wrapped his hand around her arm and dragged her to the front of the crowd. When he let go of her arm, she tried to slide back into the crowd, very self-conscious about being the center of attention. Lockheart grabbed her again before she could move, keeping a firm grip on her arm as he pulled her around to face the camera. "Smile, my dear, together you and I are worth the front page," he smiled down at her, draping his other arm over her shoulder to keep her in place. She could feel his hand caressing the back of her shoulder. She shuddered, trying unsuccessfully to pull away again. "Ladies and Gentlemen," he said loudly, waving for quiet. "What an extraordinary day this is! The perfect moment for me to make an announcement I've been sitting on for some time! When young Harriet here stepped into Flourish and Blotts today, she only wanted to buy my autobiography – which I shall be happy to present to her now, free of charge –"The crowd applauded again. Harriet sent a pleading look towards Rhonda and Herman. From her expression, it was obvious that Rhonda was oblivious to her discomfort, but both Herman and Gryff looked fit to kill. Both were struggling futilely against the crowd, intent to come to her aid, but the press of people was preventing any forward motion.
"She had no idea," Lockheart continued, giving Harriet a little shake that caused the glasses to slide to the end of her nose, "that she would shortly be getting much, much more than my book, MAGICAL ME. She and her school-mates will, in fact, be getting the real magical me." Harriet's groan was drowned out by his next words, "Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I have the great pleasure and pride in announcing that this September; I will be taking up the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."
Harriet groaned again as the crowd applauded. She wrenched herself out of his grasp but hadn't gone more than a couple of steps before she was pulled back and presented with his entire works. She was staggering under the weight of the books when Gryffin, slightly farther ahead in line than Herman, pushed his way through the crowd to her side. "Let me carry some of those," he whispered, taking two-thirds of the stack from her, his cauldron swinging from his wrist, several very used books inside.
"Take them all, please," she hissed back at him. "I'll buy my own –"
"Bet you loved that, didn't you, Potter," Harriet had no problem recognizing Draco Malfoy's sneering voice. He stopped in front of her, hands on his hips.
"Famous Harry Potter," he said, "can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page." He was almost in her face until Gryff, half a head taller than he was, pushed him away.
"Leave her be, she didn't ask for any of that," Gryff snarled, glaring at Malfoy.
"Potter, you've got yourself a boyfriend!" Malfoy drawled.
Gryffin and Harriet both blushed scarlet. Rhonda and Herman joined them at that moment, both carrying huge stacks of Lockheart's books.
Draco paled as he realized he was now outnumbered, and was beginning to back away when he felt a hand fall on his shoulder. Lucius Malfoy stood behind him, sneering down at them with a look nearly identical to the one Draco usually wore.
"Well, well, what have we here? Blood Traitors, Half-bloods," he made the word sound like an epithet, "and –" he trailed off as Arthur Weasley came up behind them.
"What's going on here?"
"Well, Well, Well – Arthur Weasley."
"Lucius," said Mr. Weasley, nodding coldly.
"Busy time at the Ministry, I hear," said Mr. Malfoy. "All those raids….I hope they're paying you overtime?" he reached into Gryff's cauldron and extracted a very old, very battered copy of A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO TRANSFIGURATION.
"Obviously not," Mr. Malfoy said. "Dear me, what's the use of being a disgrace to the name of wizard if they don't even pay you well for it?"
All three of the Weasleys present flushed scarlet.
"We have a very different idea of what disgraces the name of wizard, Malfoy," Mr. Weasley said.
Harriet began inching backwards, tugging at the sleeves of the others, trying to pull them back from what looked like it was about to escalate into a brawl. Herman quickly got the same idea, and began pulling Rhonda back though the crowd. He was successful, but by the time, Harriet got a good grip on Gryff's arm and began trying to pull him back, the crowd had closed in around her.
"Clearly," Mr. Malfoy said, his gaze straying over to where Herman's sister was standing, watching apprehensively. "The company you keep, Weasley…and I thought your family could sink no lower –"
Harriet pulled Gryffin back just as his cauldron went flying. Mr. Weasley had thrown himself at Mr. Malfoy, crashing them into a bookshelf.
"Go Dad!" The twins yelled encouragement at their father. "No, Arthur, no," Mrs. Weasley shrieked. The crowd rushed forward, knocking more bookshelves over in the process.
Suddenly Hagrid waded into the crowd, crushing the fallen books beneath his weight as he moved toward the struggling combatants. He pulled the two men apart. Mr. Weasley's lip was cut, and Mr. Malfoy had a black eye where he'd been hit by a book. He still held Gryff's old Transfiguration book. He thrust it at him, eyes glittering with malice.
"Here, boy – take your book – it's the best your father can give you –" Pulling himself out of Hagrid's grip, he beckoned to Draco and swept from the shop.
A/N: Italics in this chapter is text taken from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. I decided not to add any more to this chapter as we are already over 2500 words. I will cover Gryff's birthday party and the trip to the platform in the next chapter. From here on out, things are going to diverge more strongly from book 2.
Yes, before you ask, Lockheart is going to be portrayed as a much bigger creep than he was even in the books. Harry saw him from a boy's point of view. Harriet will be seeing him in a different light altogether.