The Room of Requirement
When no one spoke for a few moments, Harry asked, "What? None of you has a suggestion?"
One or two of them mumbled something but Harry could not make any of it out clearly.
He waited for some time before Daphne voiced a suggestion, "We should have a name which has no meaning to anyone who is not in this room. We also should not have a name that makes the purpose of this group obvious nor should we use any name which would indicate that we are affiliated with either of the leaders from the last war, Albus Dumbledore or You-Know-Who. I think that it is pretty clear that we all despise You-Know-Who. But, neither do we want to show our unconditional support for our Headmaster. There are many who say that he was too slow to act against Grindelwald and that his refusal to use deadly measures in the last war resulted in countless needless deaths. While we may value him as an ally, he is not the man to lead us. We are not soldiers, but students who are just trying to survive in difficult times. Our leader is Harold Peverell. Our name should have something to do with him and say that we are a third faction, independent of the rest".
Luna Lovegood was the next to speak, "How about 'Children of Magic'? Magic is mother after all".
Harry said, "That's a great suggestion Luna. Sorry to say that I think it is too inclusive. We just want this name to apply to us, here, in this room".
Finally one of the Indian students from Ravenclaw said, "There are many magical creatures in the wizarding world. We could choose one like Dumbledore chose The Order of the Phoenix. We would look at Harry's characteristics, his magical gifts etc. to determine the best name. I will start. We know he is a Parsel-tongue and we could use a snake or a serpent as he has slain a basilisk. We know that he has become fast as a cat and his magical prowess is being talked about so that is also something we can consider".
Luna's countenance brightened, "How about the Order of The Snow-Leopard? They are quick, stealthy, vicious and top predators. That would mean nothing to anyone else".
Hermione huffed, "What is with your fascination with snow-leopards anyway? Not that it is a bad name but they are not native to England. They are found in the Himalayas. What do we have to do with them?"
Luna looked at Harry curiously, "Oh, Harold Peverell knows why I am fascinated with them. The Phoenix is also found in the Himalayas and Dumbledore has bonded with one and named his order after it".
Susan broke up the debate, "Let's keep the snow leopard for consideration. What other names would we like to consider? I would like to get on to some practice today. We all have classes tomorrow".
Harry could not believe that choosing a name could be so onerous but having gone through the dilemma when he was naming Black Storm, he could understand the struggle.
Ronald spoke at last, "What about Defense Association?"
Hermione turned him down, "We are not doing a club recognized by the school but organizing it for our own training".
Tracy Davis who had not said a word in the entire meeting finally spoke up, "So does anyone else have a name to put forward or we are going to wind up without even a name?"
Daphne spoke, "I propose Peverell's Defense League or PDL for short. Alternative name can be Personal Defense League".
People grumbled over it and debated too. In the end, it came down to The Order of The Snow Leopard or Peverell's Defense League. With only two clear choices, Hermione called for a vote and it came down in favour of The Order of The Snow Leopard. The name sounded exciting, much like the noble knightly orders of old. With a flourish, Hermione added the name of the group to the top of the parchment.
Harry found Luna looking at him curiously. He took a moment to study the bronze trim on her clothes signifying she was a Ravenclaw. Ravenclaw! That reminded him what connection he had been missing. She was the one Harsh was hinting at. Luna Lovegood was the third seer at Hogwarts.
With the name decided, Harry addressed them, "As I have seen in the first defense class this year, most of us are far behind where we would be if we had studied under the tutelage of competent teachers regularly for the last four years. So I would start by assessing where you stand in terms of casting and magical prowess before I can start teaching. Let's see you all perform the 'Expelliarmus' jinx".
One of the claws said, "What are we, firsties? Do you think that we can't even perform expelliarmus? How can a simple expelliarmus help us survive?"
Harry addressed the boy directly, "If you think that Expelliarmus is old hat, how about you give them a demonstration, Stewart? You can use expelliarmus and try to disarm me. I won't even try to shield or dodge".
Harry took the boy to a practice range and asked others to stay back because if the curse went astray, it could harm someone.
The boy shot the expelliarmus but it passed inches away from his hand. Harry smirked at the boy, "Stewart, your aim was off by inches. If I were a death-eater, you would be dead already".
The boy bowed his head and whispered, "I am sorry, Harold".
Harry put his wand away and turned to others, "we have 71 people here and I know for a fact that Susan Bones, Hermione Granger, Neville Longbottom, Ronald Weasley, Ginevra Weasley and our extra-ordinary twins have no trouble in casting most of the spells and jinxes that we will practice here. So that leaves 63 of you to be divided into groups. Divide yourselves into 7 groups of 9 people each and they will be looking after your casting and correcting whatever faults are there. I will be roaming around and paying attention to everyone and if it looks like someone needs my personal attention, I will give it to them".
Soon groups were formed and Harry assigned each to a person and told them to supervise people or help them. The Room was echoing with shouts of Expelliarmus however there were many who were not successful with their aim and their spells were going awry and hitting objects instead. Harry kept his wand in his holster and prowled the room correcting those who needed his direct assistance.
Daphne was a witch who was good with a wand and had no trouble in practicing disarming Tracy who by the looks of it was enjoying it.
This year was good for Daphne but she was still far from what she wanted to achieve. She wanted Harold Peverell for herself but it looked like Bones had beaten her to it. Whenever she looked, Susan was always latched onto his arm and not giving Daphne any chance to be alone with him for a minute or more.
She realized that these classes could be the time that she was looking for considering Bones could not object to it. Harry was dealing with a group of 4th year Lions at the moment and she hollered for him, "Peverell, I can't seem to get it right. My spell is missing her".
Harry arrived very jovial, "What is the problem, Daphne? Why can't you disarm her?"
Daphne wailed, "I am getting the incantation right, wand movement right but my spell is missing her by inches".
Harry told her to cast and watched her closely. As she had cast and the spell missed again by a few inches.
He took her arm and said, "Now cast", while he guided the wand movements. Tracy's wand flew through the air to his outstretched hand.
The feeling was indescribable for her. He had grasped her hand softly yet firmly and she could feel callouses from his palm on her skin. His hands were a little rough like he performed a lot of physical labour with them. There was also a scent about him which smelled like fresh cut grass and a cauldron bubbling. His hair was starting to grow bigger than she had seen and it gave him a rugged yet handsome look. The fact that he had grown taller and bulked up a lot didn't hurt either. The emerald orbs were glowing with power and she shivered slightly just looking at them. She felt weakness in her legs and hoped they would not give up and embarrass her.
She remembered how mortified she had been when her father had asked her about the interesting comment that he had made while Lord Greengrass was visiting him and other leaders of the Great Alliance to give his support to Lord Frank Longbottom.
-Flash Back Starts-
As they had returned to Greengrass Manor, they had seen Astoria and Roxanne sitting in the parlor and reading the evening prophet which carried the details of the Wizengamot session of that day. Daphne wanted to escape to her room but a pointed look from Cyrus and she had taken a seat across from her family on one of the chairs.
Cyrus asked a little loudly for the benefit of his wife and younger daughter, "So Daphne, did you forget to tell or willingly omit mentioning that you had sneaked into the Hospital Wing to see Harold Peverell at the end of your last year?"
Astoria looked up sharply and shouted, "What! You sneaked into the Hospital Wing to see him and you have been telling me all these years to stay clear of the boy-who-lived?"
Astoria had been to her Grand Parent's place since the holidays had started so she knew nothing of the developments which had happened. She had been willing to meet Harry Potter due to her fascination with the fictional character of the children's story books. Daphne had told her that it was a bad idea because the Slytherins would not take kindly to what they perceived as fraternizing with the enemy. Astoria was a Ravenclaw and her parents were neutrals they still thought it would have damaged their position if their children were seen mingling with the champion of light.
Roxanne was smirking and turned to Daphne, "I knew that you had fascination for the boy but I did not know that it went as far as you sneaking into the Hospital wing to see him sleep. Exactly how long have you known him anyway?".
Astoria nearly shouted, "You like him? That is why you tried to stop me from seeing him?"
Cyrus turned to his youngest with mirth-filled eyes, "Astoria now is not the time. You can rant and vent your anger later but right now we need to discuss some important house business".
-Flash back ends-
"Daphne? Daphne!", Harry's voice brought her out of her reverie and she found that she had inadvertently clutched his wrist while Tracy was snickering, perhaps controlling herself from laughing hard. She found that others too were starting to look in their direction and she let go of his wrist instantly.
Harry asked her confusedly, "what just happen? Are you alright?"
She genially smiled, "I am alright, Harry. It's just that my mind wandered off somewhere else".
Harry shrugged. "You have no problem with your casting. Only you are not aiming it properly. Expelliarmus is cast at the other person's hand because it disarms them. So if you were to cast it at someplace else like the forehead, it would not work in that case".
He asked her to try again and reluctantly she had to cast it right because there was no reason for her to pretend to fumble or miss.
Afterwards Harry attended to many other students, helping them to correct their casting. When finally he was satisfied that they were able to cast it correctly, he divided them into pairs and told them to take turns trying to disarm each other.
Susan had paired up with Hannah to teach her to cast the disarming spell. Neville was left without a partner to practice with and he paired with Harry. Harry let Neville cast first and let his wand fly out of his hand every time. Wands did not change allegiances in friendly practice. After about 30 or so tries, he started casting the disarming spell at Neville. Neville allowed Harry to disarm him a few times before he tried to pull his old trick on Harry.
As Harry sent his disarming spell at him, Neville tossed his wand into the air. However before he could catch it, Harry had cast the summoning spell and Neville's wand floated to his hand. Neville's wand was powerful but did not sit right in his hand perhaps not being compatible with him. They had practiced for two hours straight before Vikram nudged him from under the cloak and told him to dismiss the students because it was going to be curfew time soon. Harry started sending them out in groups to their houses. As each group passed the great stairs, he could feel his proximity wards chime telling him that the group had passed through there. He had placed the wards so that he would know if someone walked upon them during their session. If someone did, Vikram would send them away.
Two days later
Daphne was irritated and ready to hex Tracy into oblivion. Tracey had been ribbing her about deliberately aiming poorly to get Harry's attention. She even vehemently asserted that Daphne should just drag him into a broom closet and snog his brains out. He would do the rest by himself.
Daphne was getting ready to go to the Great Hall for breakfast. She had over-slept this morning and was now running late with the fear of being late to her first class of the day. She knew it was a bad idea to arrive late to Professor McGonagall's class because she was a stern teacher who never cut anyone some slack. What surprised her was that Tracy had left her behind this morning and did not even wake her up. She was rushing to the Great Hall when, in her haste, she nearly ran into Malfoy who was leaving with his lackeys.
He growled, "Keep your foul presence away from me, Blood Traitor".
Daphne stiffened and snapped back, "You have the gall to call me a blood traitor? When your family is nothing but fugitives from France?"
She left him there seething in anger and proceeded to the Slytherin Table. She heard a loud bang behind her and whirled around to find Malfoy on the floor clutching his ribs while Pansy was holding his head in her lap looking concerned. Standing at the entrance of the Great Hall was Harold Peverell with his wand drawn, eyes burning with rage and his magic oozing out of him forming a gray aura around him.
He pulled Malfoy up by the front of his shirt with one hand and growled, "I warned you Draco. Did you not understand that she is under the protection of House Peverell and House Black?"
"Peverell!" Bellowed Severus, "That will be 20 points off Gryffindor and a week of Detentions with me in the Dungeons."
"Severus", Dumbledore cut in, "I will meet with you, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Peverell and Professor McGonagall in my office immediately." Without so much as a glance backward to confirm that his order was being followed, he swept off and up the stairs to the second floor. Not even a minute passed before they were all assembled in the Headmaster's office.
Dumbledore began the discussion, "I expect you know why you are all here? I will not contradict or undermine a member of my staff in front of the students. This called for a private meeting. Mr. Peverell was only defending one who is under the protection of his House and did not attack Mr. Malfoy first. It was Mr. Malfoy who pulled the wand first when Miss Greengrass's back was turned. There will be no deduction of points or detention for Mr. Peverell".
McGonagall added, "Agreed. In fact for his display of chivalry and righteousness, I award 20 points to Gryffindor".
Harry however was not done. He turned to the Headmaster, "Headmaster, I understand that Mr. Malfoy is a student and as such, you are ultimately responsible for any discipline he receives for his actions while under your care. He has violated a direct order from the lord of his house and I ask permission to deal with him as I see fit".
Dumbledore had a very unusual situation on his hands. It had almost never occurred in the history of the school that a Lord was a student there and it was unprecedented that a scion or vassal of a house had become subject to discipline for violation of a direct order from his or her lord while at the school. Dumbledore knew that he had no right to interfere in this business and he suspected that Lord Peverell knew it too. He was just being polite asking permission first. He thought to delay the inevitable, "Mr. Peverell, this is a school and classes are going to start in a few minutes. This is a task which requires time and deliberation before you decide to punish someone for their insubordination to their lord. I beseech you to deal with it later".
Malfoy was seething with rage by now. Watching Potter and Dumbledore decide not if, but rather when he would be punished was more than he was willing to let stand. "Peverell, I challenge you to a duel on your honour", he bellowed for everyone in the room to hear.
Some of the portraits glared at Malfoy. Some of them exclaimed their disbelief of the arrogance of the boy.
Dumbledore hung his head, "Very well, Mr. Malfoy has challenged Mr. Peverell to a duel on his honour. Such duels are not common practice anymore, much less between students, but according to ancient laws no one can interfere to stop this. Mr. Peverell do you accept the challenge?"
Harry was inwardly smirking. He had got what he was waiting for. This duel would take away whatever support was left for the ferret in the Serpent's pit and tilt more snakes on his side or his fear would keep them neutral.
He straightened and said regally, "I accept the challenge Headmaster. As this is your house, I ask you to decide the terms and conditions for the duel".
Dumbledore sighed, "The Duel will take place this evening after dinner in the Great Hall and there will be only non-lethal spells used. Anyone who uses a lethal spell will be expelled from Hogwarts without being given a chance to make his case as to why he should not be expelled. If Mr. Peverell wins, Mr. Malfoy will have to apologize before the entire school. If Mr. Malfoy wins, Lord Peverell will forfeit the right to invoke any punishment for this incident. Gentlemen, are we agreed?"
Harry gave the Headmaster a formal bow and replied, "I accept your terms Headmaster".
Malfoy tried to give Harry a look that said, "You're dead meat Peverell." and failed miserably, then said, "I accept your terms, Headmaster".
Honour being satisfied for now and being 40 points up for his house, Harry dashed off to finish breakfast.
When he arrived back at the Gryffindor table, he found Daphne already sitting there. She took one of his hands in her hands and said earnestly, "The house of Greengrass is indebted to you for saving me, Lord Peverell".
Harry waved her off. "I did exactly what honour and my position as Lord Black demanded of me. If I had allowed him to curse you after publicly stating that you are under my protection, just think how that would have looked. And if that foul git or any of his goons try something like that again, they will get more of the same that is a promise. Put the word out. Malfoy has challenged me to a duel. For educational purposes, I shall use him as a whetstone after dinner, here in the Great Hall this evening".
Susan saw Daphne's attempt to try to reach out to Harry and fumed but said nothing. There was nothing that she could say without causing more troubles and with a duel to worry about, she did not want to burden Harry with any more bad news.
Hermione spoke up, "A duel, Harry? Are you out of your mind! Dumbledore will expel you".
Harry cut her off, "Don't worry about it Hermione, he has approved and he will be present to witness it".
The look on Hermione's face was worth a million galleons, so Harry whipped out his camera and took a picture of it. The Great Hall was emptying out so the group headed for class.
Classes were buzzing with excitement that day about the upcoming duel. Harry could hardly wait for the evening. He thought long and hard about how the perfect object lesson should look. Malfoy's father was bound to be there as well as the children of some of the death eaters. He did not want to show off too much of his abilities. They would be sure to report back to Riddle with everything they saw. To deliberately dumb down his power, he decided to use the new holly and phoenix feather wand that Dumbledore had made for him while he was in the hospital last year. The thing felt foreign, like a dead piece of wood to him, but he would make it serve. He had also decided that Malfoy would never get a chance to land a single spell.
He had called the Marauders on the mirrors and told them about the duel. Sirius looked extremely angry but agreed that he would let Harry deal with the situation as he saw fit. He also promised that he and Moony would be there for him.
Draco had been taken aside by Snape to a class room in the Dungeons where Snape thoroughly chastised him for his stupidity. Snape who knew that his godson was an idiot gritted his teeth, "Tell me Draco why did you try to attack Miss Greengrass? Did you even bother to consider the repercussions of this act? You knew full-well that she was under Peverell's protection and that he is the Lord of House Black and you still tried to attack her. No one, not me, not even Dumbledore can shield you from the consequences for disobeying your lord. She is heiress of an Ancient and Most Noble House while you are heir of an Ancient and Noble House. Her father has gained significant power in the Wizengamot in the last session and he can brew a storm of trouble for your father. Then, instead of even attempting to apologize for your ill-considered action and taking the humiliation you had coming to you, you challenged Harold James Peverell to a duel. Do you not understand the significance of him taking that name? The Peverells were war mages, the likes of which have not been seen in Wizarding Britain for a thousand years. He has access to all their magic. The odds of you winning this duel are laughable Draco, but I am not laughing", he finished in his very low and slow drawl.
Draco had realized the folly of his actions by now but was not ready to accept it. He ranted to Severus, the only person who still listened to him, "Greengrass had it coming. She has been fraternizing with the enemy. She is also sullying the name of the Slytherin House by making people turn to Potter's side. Besides, I am a Malfoy which means no one can do anything to me. Peverell cannot best me in a duel but I will humiliate him today. Cyrus Greengrass is a money oriented person and the coffers of the Malfoy family are enough to appease his greed. Besides Saint Scar Head is stinks at Duelling or magic in general. Why do you think he lives with Blood traitors, squibs and mudbloods?"
Severus slapped him across the face and growled, "Idiot boy! Never ever let me hear you say that again. Have you learned nothing in the last four years? Our magical prowess defines us and you have been outdone by the same muggle-born every year". As he dismissed Draco, he told him that he would have to inform Lucius and Narcissa because the rules said so and that Lucius would not be happy with his conduct.
When classes let out for the day, Harry had some time to slip away to the Chamber of Secrets for some wand practice. He made an excuse to his friends and donned the invisibility cloak to make the trip. When he arrived at the well-hidden portal, he found Vikram waiting for him there, "How did you know?" Harry said from under the cloak.
"That you would put in some hard-core practice before a Duel?", replied the mystic with the simplicity of one explaining that two plus two equalled four.
Harry opened the portal and the two of them emerged into the chamber. Once the portal closed again, Harry said, "There are two objectives to this duel. The first is not to show off my abilities to Tom's spies. The second is to give Malfoy such a thorough lesson that he will never dare to bother any of my friends again. It is not enough that I should win. He must be completely and utterly humiliated".
Vikram replied, "Yes, Harry. It would seem that Guruji's lessons are sinking in".
They spent the next two hours with Harry getting the dead piece of wood to obey his will. Since he was capable of casting without a wand at all, he was able to do it, but at a fraction of his real power. So far, so good. As for the tactics he would use in the duel, well, Malfoy would just have to find out.
As evening approached, Harry behaved normally despite the excitement of a duel and his magic singing in his veins. As dinner was winding up, the doors to the Great Hall opened thunderously and walked in Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy nee Black. They walked up to Draco and Dumbledore sent them to the chamber beside the great hall where the champions had gone after Harry's name had come out of the goblet during the Triwizard Tournament. Harry subtly cast a snooping spell on Malfoy which would let him hear what was being said in the room. He also allowed his friends to listen in on the conversation going on inside the room.
As the door slammed shut, Lucius Malfoy started shouting angrily. "What possessed you to challenge him to a duel, foolish boy? The Dark Lord is not happy with you because he has marked Peverell to be killed at his hands. Besides why did you challenge him? Did you forget that he is your Lord? That he can throw you out of the Black family whenever he wishes?"
Draco stuttered, "Father... he... he attacked me when I was trying to teach a lesson to Greengrass".
Lucius seethed, "Are you an absolute fool, Draco? Sometimes I wonder if the Sorting Hat bungled somehow when it sorted you to Slytherin. None of your acts are like a Slytherin but more like a fool-hardy Gryffindor. Cyrus Greengrass is the leader of the neutrals and if you had hurt his daughter, he would have the entire Wizengamot up in arms against us. Not to mention the Dark Lord would have been angry over your posturing to appease your ego".
Draco perhaps had looked towards mother for support. "Mother! I did no wrong. I had to challenge him because he attacked me in front of the entire school".
Narcissa said to him kindly. "I love you son but you did not act in the best interests of your family. It does not matter whether what you did was right or wrong anymore because it is done. I just hope that he does not throw us out of the family for this. He is the lord of your family and he ordered you to behave yourself and not to hurt his friends. You disobeyed him. This is out of my hands. All I can do is to beg for clemency".
The door to the Great Hall opened again and Harry had to disconnect the spell. A party of witches and wizards had entered the Great Hall at that moment. Sirius Black was in the lead followed by Remus Lupin, Andromeda Black, Nymphadora Tonks, Theodore Tonks, Alice Longbottom, Augusta Longbottom, Amelia Bones and Lord and Lady Weasley. Lord and Lady Greengrass had come too but they were standing apart from the party which had come to meet Harry.
Dumbledore escorted them and Harry, Neville, Hermione, Susan, the twins, Ronald, Ginevra, Daphne and Astoria to the entrance chamber beside the great hall. The first thing Harry did was to cast some privacy wards around the room so that no one would listen to what was being said.
Harry was hugged by everyone in the crowd and so were the other children in their turn. Then he asked the obvious question, "How are all of you here?"
Mrs. Weasley answered, "The head master flooed me and told me about it and I sent a letter to Arthur at the ministry who informed the minister and Madam Bones. The Minister informed Alice and Augusta. Sirius likewise informed the Tonks family. Since we are all family to you, we decided we would come and see this duel".
Lord Greengrass approached him, "Harry, I am thankful to you for the assistance you provided to Daphne this morning and saved her from harm. The House of Greengrass is indebted to you".
Harry waved him off. "Lord Greengrass, I did what any friend would do for another. There is no debt here. Besides, as I explained to your lovely daughter, I told Malfoy that she is under the protection of Lord Black and he attacked her anyway. Honour demanded that I act immediately".
Sirius turned to him. "Pup, what are you planning to do to him?"
Harry said, "Dog-father, since you are here, would you do me the honour of being my second?"
Sirius's eyes went wide for just a moment, then he said, "My wand is at your service, Pup. But, this is a duel between students. I am sure he will not have his father acting as his second. Does that honour not belong to Neville?"
Harry nodded gravely, "Yes. You are right". Then, turning to Neville, he asked, "Neville, would you do me the honour of being my second?"
One huge, maniacal grin spread across Neville's face, "Yes, Harry, I will! And that git Malfoy had just better hope that I don't have to step in because if I do, they will have to scoop pieces of him with a mop!"
Augusta and Alice gave each other a look that said, "We're going to have to talk to Croaker about what he has been teaching this boy".
Harry said, "As for the target of this object lesson, what I have planned for him is a program of humiliation and pain that his ancestors are going to feel".
Alice said to him sternly, "Harry remember that you should not falter till he is on the ground and not able to fight anymore. Leaving your opponent standing is sign of your kindness but is often interpreted as foolishness".
Augusta calmed her down, "Alice, this is just a children's duel. Harry is powerful I do not think that the Malfoy boy will be able to match him".
The Greengrasses were huddled together the entire time while Harry talked with his family (he considered them his family for obvious reasons). Soon Dumbledore came into the entrance hall telling them that it was time for the duel.
The house tables and staff table had been vanished. Seats had been placed in the great hall arena style and it had been expanded with expansion charms. A duelling ring had been set in the centre of the Great Hall and Vikram was standing at one side.
Harry entered the ring from one side while Draco entered from the other side. It looked like Malfoy had chosen Crabbe to be his second. Vikram was in the ring with them and announced the rules. "No lethal curses will be used. Using any such curse will result in forfeiture and the guilty one will leave the hallowed halls of Hogwarts forever. The duel will continue till one of the contestants is unable to continue".
He then called out, "Bow to each other". Harry bowed gracefully as he had been taught while Draco just jerked his head. Harry took the dueling stance while Malfoy did the same and Vikram spoke again, "At the count of three, start casting".
The mystic called, "One, two, three", while Harry positioned his feet to dodge or sidestep the spells cast by Draco.
Malfoy opened with a severing charm. Harry countered with a shield which he raised effortlessly. Harry's next move was to cast a sticking charm on Malfoy's wand hand so that no matter what happened, Malfoy could not drop his wand and forfeit the duel. Harry was more than capable of casting four or five spells to Malfoy's one, but he was not showing-off here, Harry's shield took Malfoy's next bombarda, the holly wand was really cutting down his power and the shield collapsed. Harry's next spell was a bone-breaker which hit Malfoy in the middle of his chest, making it painful and hard to breathe. Malfoy fired back with confringo. Harry made it look like he tripped over his own feet and side-stepped the spell.
Malfoy had gone for three borderline deadly spells in a row. If Harry were willing to show what he had, he could dance out of the way of everything Malfoy could cast and then laugh as the git dropped from exhaustion, but that was not on the program tonight. This was going to be humiliation with pain that Malfoy would never forget. It was time to get nasty. Harry fired a carefully measured bludgeoner to the middle of Draco's face. He was gratified to see the git land hard on his butt with his nose broken, the blood flowing freely from the shattered mess but more importantly, the eyes filled with tears which would make it impossible for Draco to see clearly. To Harry's perception, the whole battle seemed to go in slow motion. He could see every movement of Draco's wand and he almost knew what his opponent was casting and where it was going before Draco did. Draco's next bone breaker went wide. Harry didn't even bother to side-step. He replied with the levicorpus and hoisted Draco a good ten feet into the air before releasing him. Draco narrowly avoided breaking his neck and Harry could hear the bones in his left shoulder break as he hit the floor. As Malfoy struggled back to his feet, Harry started peppering him with high-powered stingers, carefully aiming each one to make a welt on a different, sensitive part of the body while keeping up a relentless circling motion around his victim. Malfoy went berserk and started casting everything he knew. Most of them went wide, but each time something would have hit, Harry's shield was there in the nick of time.
As the duel went on and on, Malfoy was covered with welts, bruises, blood and sweat, but too proud to surrender and Harry was careful not to cause so much injury that the boy could not stand. Every time it looked like Malfoy had enough and his eyes started to roll up in his head, Harry enervated him, non-verbally with his off-hand. Harry was sure that by now, the boy could not feel any more pain. It was likely that he didn't even know where he was anymore. It was time to finish this.
"Aguamenti!" and Harry hosed Malfoy down with a jet of water. "Levicorpus" and Malfoy was hanging upside-down by one ankle. With a flourish of his wand, Malfoy was stripped down to his y-fronts. With a cushioning charm, Harry let the limp form down, then encased him in ice with the Glacius charm. He took a moment to remove the sticking charm from Malfoy's wand hand and stood back, holstering his wand as Vikram entered the ring.
In a loud voice, the mystic announced, "Malfoy being unable to continue, I declare Lord Peverell the winner". Then he stepped back to allow Madame Pomphrey to minister to her patient.
Harry clamped down hard on his Occlumency shields. He really didn't want anyone to know what he really wanted to do to Malfoy. As it was, Harry didn't have a scratch on him anywhere. He could have disarmed Malfoy and ended the duel in about 1 second, but that would not have made the point he was trying to make tonight. Power must always have a purpose or it is just brutality.
Madame Pomphrey dispelled the ice and examined the ground meat that had been Draco Malfoy just a half-hour ago. He had a broken nose, a grade two concussion, a broken left clavicle, five broken ribs, and countless bruises, welts and lacerations all over his body. Add to that a mild case of frost-bite. There was nothing life threatening. She could patch up most of the injuries in the space of less than half an hour, but the concussion. She conjured a stretcher and a blanket, and then levitated Malfoy on to it. She turned to Dumbledore and said, "None of his injuries are life-threatening. I can have all the broken bones mended in a trice, however, those cuts and bruises will take about a week to heal and I'll have to keep an eye on his concussion for at least three days before I can release him".
Dumbledore said to her gravely, "Take your time Poppy. I do not think that he has any urgent business. In the meanwhile the classes can go on just fine without him for a couple of days".
She trotted off to the hospital wing, levitating the stretcher in front of her. Lucius followed her from the room.
Now that Harry was calming down, he thought that maybe he had overdone it. Vikram turned to the assembled people around the hall, "Harold Peverell has won the duel according to the terms which had been set by the Headmaster. By the terms of the duel, Mr. Malfoy has to tender his unconditional apology to him in front of the whole school when he is conscious again".
Narcissa approached Harry who was talking with Sirius. Sirius nudged Harry to look behind himself. When he turned around, he found Narcissa standing there, wringing her hands and looking uncertainly at Andromeda and Sirius. Harry adopted a formal demeanor and asked her, "What may I do for you, Narcissa?"
She bowed before him, sitting on her knees and her head down, "Lord Black, I have a request to make but I hesitate to speak for fear of rejection".
Harry answered, "You are free to speak your mind before these people who are my family. If your request is just, I may grant it but if it is unjust then I will have to refuse".
Narcissa started speaking, "Lord Black, my son is impetuous, foolish and does not think things through before he acts on them. He committed an offense by going against your will because he could not understand the consequences of his actions. I beg you to forgive this offense of his and do not oust him out of the family".
Harry signaled her to stand, "Narcissa, for such an offence, I would be completely within my rights to strike him from the family tree. In the hope that he may choose another path, however, I chose to discipline him instead. He chose the manner of his punishment when he challenged me to a duel. I have used him for a whetstone in front of the entire school and no less a personage than the spouse of the Minister of Magic and the Head of the DMLE. When he has sufficiently recovered and fulfilled the terms of his defeat, I will consider this matter closed. Because you have chosen to intervene on his behalf, I charge you with the responsibility to train him in his duties to the lord of Black. If he disobeys me again, I will not be so lenient with him. Do you accept this charge?"
Narcissa looked at him with relief in her eyes, "Lord Black, I am thankful for the mercy you have shown upon him and I will do my best to ensure that he mends his ways".
Harry shook his head, "Narcissa, please do understand me clearly. I am sad to say that I do not expect you to succeed and I will not hold you accountable if you fail. Having said that, I will support your efforts in any way I can and nobody will be happier than me if you prove me wrong. I sincerely wish you the best of luck".
As Narcissa was leaving, she gave a nod to Andromeda which was answered so subtly that most of the people gathered there missed it entirely unless they were watching very closely. All the visitors left soon after the duel was over.
When the Gryffindors arrived back at the common room, Hermione as usual, started hounding Harry, "Harry you did not use any dangerous spells on him. How did you win the duel with only such ordinary spells? I know you were not allowed to use lethal spells but you could have used some hexes which are dangerous but non-lethal. You did not even stun him and just pummeled him. The worst that you used was a bone breaker and the glacius charm. Also, you can sidestep any spell or curse then why did you raise a shield?"
Others were snickering but no one dared to laugh knowing that they would only enrage the bushy haired witch further.
Harry sighed, "Hermione, do I have to spello-tape a reminder to your robes to take a breath between sentences? To answer your question, I knew he would not use any lethal spells against me for fear of expulsion from the school so I was not worried on that point. I did not have any concern about beating him, but rather much more concern about displaying too much of my abilities to Tom's lackies, like Draco's father. Besides, for me, the point was not to simply beat him in a duel, but rather to show him up as an arrogant ponce with nothing to back him up but a big mouth. I pummeled him without mercy for a half-hour straight. By the time I was done with him, he wasn't even conscious anymore. But I assure you, he will feel every inch of his body when he wakes up. I just hope that he never and I do mean never raises a wand to me or any of my friends again. The shield and the stumbling about were for show, of course. He never had a chance of hitting me, but I could not make that too obvious".
It was past curfew but that didn't stop Fred and George from starting an impromptu party. They were distributing butter-beers, pumpkin pastries, candies to the students gathered. They had slipped out of the castle during the day from the humped witch's statue and brought everything for the party which they knew they would be having. The party was in full swing and the Gryffindors were having a great time. Although Harry was being polite and accepting of the complements and cheers his house-mates gave him, his heart wasn't really in it. He begged off, saying that he was tired, as soon as he could make it believable.
The twins had also sneaked in a bottle of mead from the Hog's-head Inn which Harry knew would be consumed later in the seventh year dorms. Harry was preparing a nasty surprise for all who were planning to partake in the mead (With knowing magic the bottle could last for hours). He knew that Madam Pomfrey would not give a sober-up potion to the students without reporting them to the Headmaster and they could not brew it when required because it was not a part of the curriculum. He planned to confiscate the Seventh Year boy's stash of sober-up potions and let them suffer for a day for bringing in mead. Not to mention, he had his own stash and he could make a killing selling them if he wished to. Knowing full-well that the seventh years would not go looking for their dorm and carefully removed the phials before going up the five more flights of stairs. He put the whole stash in his trunk where he still had a part of one of the compartments under the Fidelius.
Next morning
Harry woke up a bit earlier than usual. Nudging Seamus awake, Harry told him to get dressed and bring his broom. Seamus was thinking that Peverell has lost it, wanting to have Quidditch practice at this hour of the morning when Harry mounted his broom and opened the big common room window. He gestured for Seamus to follow him. Once they were both outside, Harry gestured with his wand and the window swung shut behind them.
The raven haired wizard led the way to the top of the battlements where nobody ever flies. There was a reason for that. Besides the tops of the battlements being out of bounds for students, which was worth a detention if they were caught, there were all kinds of wards which would swat them out of the air like pesky mosquitoes if they tried to fly over them. Again, Seamus was sure that Peverell had lost his mind.
As they approached the outer wall of the school grounds and were well out of earshot of the castle, Harry slowed down and flew beside Seamus, "Sorry for all the mystery, mate. This is something which has the Headmaster's approval. We'll be fine". Then they landed on top of the great wall. Harry turned to Seamus and said, "There are giant slaying catapults up here".
Seamus started to open his mouth to tell Harry that he was most definitely bonkers when the stone-work seemed to re-arrange itself and no less than four massive, goblin-built siege engines appeared right before his eyes. The Irish student's mouth just hung open in mute surprise.
"Seamus, what I am going to tell you, is something that I have not told anyone yet. Not even Ron, Hermione or Susan knows about it. Voldemort (Seamus yelped) has recruited Giants to his cause and at least 30 of them are on their way to Britain now. I and some friends of mine have made some catapults which can be used to kill them or disable them".
Seamus had been listening to him intently and when Harry finished, he started, "You know Harry, before this year you lived by yourself. Not talking to anyone except for Ron or Hermione or occasionally Neville. I had never thought that a day would come when I would be asked to help you with anything. This year it looks like you have changed. The runty underfed boy that I was used to seeing seems to have disappeared and this more confident, powerful Harry scares me, to be honest. However, I know of your reasons and that you will not hold back when the war comes. I am honored that you chose to trust me with something". Seamus started grinning then, "Now tell me, what I get to blow up?"
Harry grinned widely and laughed, "You could have cut to the chase and just asked me to show you. There was no need for the grand speech".
They spent the next half hour together with Harry showing Seamus how to work the catapults. Unlike the mundane, medieval siege engines, these could be aimed and fired with pin-point precision. There were muggle legends of something they called Greek fire. Thanks to the International Treaty of Secrecy, legends were all the muggles would ever know of it. The stuff of legend was, in fact, a variant of fiendfyre which when lobbed over a wall by a catapult, had devastating effect on everything within the fortifications. Even in all-out war, the use of this stuff was strictly regulated and only used as an absolute last resort. The other things the catapults could fire included exploding rounds, armor-piercing shrapnel and simple, solid boulders. The pivoting mechanism could be easily operated with two fingers and the sights, once you got used to them were pretty straight forward. Most of the cranking energy was provided by magic and supplied through the ley lines of the castle. Harry showed Seamus how to set the range with the cranking energy. What's more, thanks to the goblin smithing, these catapults just got tougher every time they were used. They would never wear out or break in the middle of combat.
By the time they were finished test-firing the catapults and Seamus got the hang of it, he was able to hit a rabbit-hole nearly two miles out. And to dispel any doubt, he fired a second catapult and hit the same target. Harry, looking through his onmioculars at the devastation wrought on the unsuspecting bunny-hole, said, "Well hit, Finnigan! I think that will do for today. You will be in-charge of these beauties".
Seamus asked, "Mate, I can just barely manage one of these catapults by myself and there are four of them. Won't we need more people?"
Harry grinned, "I am glad that you pointed out the obvious. I am recruiting the services of some of the claws and they will assist you with operating these things. I will allow you to come here once a week and practice operating them but you are not allowed to come here during the day. You have to make time either in the dead of night or before dawn".
As Harry returned to the tower, there were a lot of grumbling sixth and seventh years, Girls and boys alike who were suffering from splitting headaches due to consuming the mead last night and not having any sober-up potions to help with their hang-over. Almost half of the Sixth and Seventh years were given detention that day by Professor McGonagall for failing to adhere to standards as were expected from her lions.
During breakfast that morning, Daphne and Tracy chose to sit at the Lion's table. It might have caused tensions all around a week ago but now no one batted an eye over this. In fact, many snakes had started to come over to other house tables and mingle with them. Harry was elated that things were going according to plan. Love & Friendship will be the power that Tom could not have foreseen and these powers will ultimately defeat him.
Daphne was looking very tired and had dark spots under her eyes while Tracy too looked like she had not slept a wink the past night. It was Hermione who asked, "Daphne, did something happen? You are looking tired and not as your usual rosy cheery self".
Tracy snorted, "Rosy Cheery? The Ice Queen? Are you out of your tree this morning, Granger? It is just that Pansy was being a nuisance last night. She kept threatening Daphne that she would teach her a lesson for landing her poor Draco in the Hospital Wing. When I tried to intervene, she pulled up the old filthy blood purity excuse. It was only with Dryden and Everly interfering on our behalf that none of Malfoy's posse harassed us further".
Harry placed his hand atop Daphne's and asked her kindly, "Do you want me to deal with her?"
Daphne was blushing hard and had bowed her head so no one would see her rose tinted cheeks but Tracy was smirking inwardly.
It was Ron who answered, "It would serve no purpose to deal with the pug-faced snake directly or openly. Better make her the victim of some random prank".
Ron had his faults, but even Harry had to admit, the red-head had a gift for tactics. He grinned to himself as he came up with what to do next.
When he was leaving the dungeons after Potions class that day, with a little non-verbal and wandless work, Harry prepared a little surprise for Miss Parkinson. When Pansy entered the Great Hall and was about to sit down, she started levitating in the air. She rose about 20 feet and was shouting; crying in her obnoxious nasal voice while flailing her arms and legs. No one even tried to bring her down or to release her from her predicament. After a minute as she was released, Professor Flitwick already had his wand out and stopped her fall with 'Arresto momentum' before she could have hurt herself.
Dumbledore advised her to take some chocolate for her shock and that was that. There was no way to find the person responsible for her condition however a few of the professors were looking towards the Gryffindor table where Harry sat eating his lunch, nonchalant and oblivious.
Daphne who was sitting among them asked, "Am I seeing things or are the teachers staring at us?"
Neville spoke, "Not quite. They are not looking at us as a group but rather Harry because they believe that he put her in that situation. Not that they can prove it by any means".
Daphne raised an eye-brow, "Really?" She turned to Harry, "Harry, did you do that to her?"
Harry, looking just a bit too innocent, said, "If I were to do such a thing, I would be within my rights because everyone knows that they cannot bother my friends with impunity. If I did not, it is likely because my friends look out for each other".
Hermione asked him, "How did you make her levitate up there? The levitation charm does not work on humans".
Harry, still feigning innocence said, "Hermione, you are just about the cleverest witch I know. I'm sure you can figure that one out".
It was George who answered this time, "It's easy enough to charm her clothes. When they rise, she rises right along with them".
Fred said, "What I can't figure out is how he does the time-delay thing so that he is always beyond reproach when his pranks go off. Could have been useful all the time we had to sacrifice ourselves for our pranks".
Everyone who was sitting around had a good laugh.
The laughter died away quickly when they saw Luna approach the table. They did not want to miss a single precious word when she spoke. Luna walked straight up to Fred, "Hello Gred".
The others gaped in wonder because at times it was not possible for everyone to tell them apart but Luna, who never had much to do with them in the first place had identified them correctly. This also confirmed Harry's suspicions. Luna was a seer.
Fred replied with equal enthusiasm, "Now there is a girl I like. She has our approval. How can I serve you, Luna?"
Luna simply said, "Tracy Davis has been making googly eyes at you for the last few days but she feels that you are too much of a moron to notice her at all".
As was her way, Luna drifted away after causing her share of chaos. Tracy had choked on her food and Daphne was patting her back.
Alicia who was sitting near them asked in surprise, "Do you fancy him? What do you see in this red-head git? It is full of stupid ideas and pranks and nothing else. These two even pranked their dates at the Yule Ball last year. George impersonated Fred and Fred impersonated George. I thought I was at the ball with George and Angelina was with Fred but it was vice versa".
Others were laughing hard hearing everything that had passed between them. Fred was trying to look serious and blush a little but everyone knew that it was a losing battle already. Tracy was trying to hide her blush and when it became apparent that she would not be able to do so, she excused herself from the table cringing that Daphne would be able to rub it in finally.
The Room of Requirement
The meeting in the Room of Requirement was attended by the students enthusiastically. The way Harry had dealt with Malfoy made them all giddy and hopeful. As they all entered the room, Harry met with them at the door keeping it open this time. When everyone was inside, he willed the door to disappear and to be replaced by a blank wall. Vikram had taken his leave of them saying that he could not afford to go missing every now and then and make people curious. As it was, students flocked to him by dozens and even hounded him in the evening with their doubts and questions. The younger years were more enthusiastic and doted on the defense instructor.
As everyone was seated, Harry started addressing them, "The ideal syllabus of the class does not allow us to learn anything more lethal than the reductor curse or deprimo but we need to learn more. Today I will be teaching you Reductor, Confringo, and Bombarda. The reductor curse will reduce anything to rubble while Confringo will blast things apart and Bombarda produces explosions. There are two variants to Bombarda being the Bombarda and Bombarda maxima".
He showed them the wand movements and cast the curses at three dummies in succession leaving rapidly settling clouds of dust. Harry divided the students in groups of six each and assigned them to the seven as the last session and set them to practice casting the curses. The students were to pair up and try to cast at each other. One would cast while the other would defend. Thanks to Vikram's ministrations, they all were good at casting basic shields so there was no way they could be harmed by a stray spell. Students started to try and cast the spells and Harry realized that this was going to be a long session indeed. The students would have to learn to cast the spell first.
He kept walking around and corrected people's aim or showed them the wand movement again while his friends were doing the same with other students. Once he stopped to teach Colin to cast properly again and another time he had to stop and remind Cho to not wave her wand too much. Luna Lovegood was also there and enjoying herself being in the crowd. She was casting perfectly but her aim was off. Something that could be worked upon later, Harry mused. Harry also realized that she was not wearing her shoes and the usual assortment of odd jewelry was also missing. He neared her and asked, "Where are your shoes, Luna?"
She dreamily replied, "I believe the Nargles have taken them. Most of my stuff is also missing but it all turns up at the end of the year".
Harry realized that perhaps her house mates stole her things and Luna was not about to complain. He planned to raise the issue to Flitwick though. Bullying was not something that he tolerated. He also decided to make it a point to send a message by gestures that Luna was under the protection of House Peverell now and to mess with her meant to mess with him.
After about 2 hours had passed and most of them had learnt to cast the spells, he excused them telling them to keep practicing in their spare time before they met for the next week. Harry was also bogged down with Quidditch practice which was taking up two hours a day thrice a week. Angelina was not Wood but she had the same drive and she was driving them all up the wall. The first match of the season was ages away and they had time to prepare them for it but she relentlessly pushed them to do better.
Serpent's Pit
After Pansy's humiliation at lunch-time and with Draco still in the hospital wing, the Serpents were mellowed out and no one bothered Daphne and Tracy at all when they returned to the Slytherin Common Room. There were already a lot of students who were on Peverell's side and the way Draco was dealt with and Pansy had been humiliated even children of hard-core death eaters were not ready to risk her ire. If word got to Harold Peverell, they would be punished. A few of the serpents tried to make her acquaintance and Daphne merely politely made small talk with them while giving no answer about Harry. Some of them expressed their interest in joining him but she told all of them that she would convey their message but that she could not make any promises on his behalf.
As they had entered their dorms, Daphne asked Tracy, "So you like the red-headed prankster and you did not think it fitting to inform your best friend?"
Tracy obfuscated, "He is too brainless and oblivious to even know that I exist. But he is fun and I have hopes of teaching him to be more, shall I say, suave? Besides, I didn't want to give you an opening to torment me. Speaking of which, I couldn't help but notice the colour mounting in your cheeks and the smug smile on your face when The Raven-Haired-one placed his hand on your hand at breakfast this-morning. Or for that matter when he turned the ferret into so many pounds of ground-round last night, on your behalf I have never seen you act like that ever. You need to be careful, Daph; or people will forget that you are the Ice-queen".
Daphne huffed, "Will you please stop using that moniker for me? I am not an ice-queen. With the reason to stay aloof gone, I can be myself finally".
Tracy asked her, "What are you planning to do now, Daph?"
Daphne smirked, "I plan to make him mine, of course".
Next day, The Black Lake
The next day was pretty ordinary. In the pre-dawn light, all of the members of The Order of the Snow leopard were running laps around the lake. As their fitness levels increased, Harry kept pushing the pace and working them harder. Many of them even joined Harry and the giant squid in swimming laps across the lake. It didn't take Harry long to teach them the charms to stay warm while long enough to stay in the water and swim without ill effects. The brutal regimen was not just making them fit and trim, it was also helping them with their spell casting, so nobody complained, they just worked harder. Harry was glad that they were all taking so well to the physical training, but it did cut into his practice time with Vikram.
This morning as Harry was done with his exercises, he came out of the lake after a long swim. Daphne was waiting for him.
He raised an eye-brow at her, "Daphne, why are you here? Don't you have to get ready for classes?"
Daphne said to him shyly, "You still have not answered the question, Peverell. I really wanted to go out with you and the next weekend is weeks away".
Harry sighed, "I have already told you that I cannot refuse anything to Susan. She had claimed the weekend for her own. How could I answer you then?"
Daphne internally seethed but kept her calm demeanour, "Then perhaps you can agree to sneak out of the school with me?"
Harry looked at her in surprise, "What? And risk getting caught and detention or expulsion or even worse, the ribbing of our fellow students? Besides, what makes you think that I have any idea of how to sneak out of school?"
She, joining in with the spirit of the thing asked, "And what if Ms. Bones ever found out?"
Harry said, "No need to worry on that account. A smoldering pile of ash feels no pain and that is precisely what I will be if she ever suspects such a thing".
She rolled her eyes and said, "Well, young Lord Peverell, if the prospect is too frightening for you..."
He gave in, "Ok, ok, Daphne. Meet me in the fourth floor hallway, by the mirror after classes today and I will do my best to make reparations to you for not answering you properly before now". Harry had been so frustrated with witches and their subtle ways that he had just agreed to Daphne's demand to appease her. He thought that he would take her to the Three Broom Sticks, and return after a light dinner and before Curfew.
Breakfast, Great Hall
This morning he chose to sit at the Ravenclaw table beside his year mates. They were the ones he had little interaction with and he was set to remedy that oversight. He had asked his friends to remain at the Gryffindor table while he slipped into a space beside Padma Patil who he thought was least likely to hex him or swat him on the head if he made any bad jokes. A few eyed him curiously but paid him no heed until he called Luna to sit beside him. As it was still the case, the girl was barefoot.
Harry asked her a little loudly, for the benefit of the rest of the Ravenclaws, ""So your stuff has not yet returned to you?"
She answered in her dreamy voice, "The nargles have them and I believe it will all turn up at the end of the year".
Harry turned to Padma, "Padma did you know that the house of Ravenclaw has some bullies among them?"
Padma vehemently protested, "No Harry, there are no bullies in this house".
Harry looked at her incredulously, "Then how do you explain her belongings disappearing? Just because she has different beliefs from other people does not entitle them to bully her or steal her stuff. She is different from most of the other Hogwarts students except you and your twin".
Padma understood what he was alluding to. One thing she did not know was how he had arrived at that conclusion. She asked him in an undertone, "How did you know about this? Of all the Hogwarts students, only Parvati and Luna know it".
Harry whispered to her while smirking, "Let's just say that I have enough confidential information about a number of students to make them nervous. I would appreciate it if you would ask your housemates to return Luna's things by morning tomorrow or I will be forced to go to Flitwick asking him to take action against them".
Mandy Brocklehurst who had just arrived at the table and saw Padma and Harry with their heads together, said to him, "I did not know that you fancy Padma, Peverell. The rumor mill is still churning that you and Bones will be going at it like rabbits any day now".
Harry choked on his food, then said with mock indignation, "What! How crude! Really, I am surprised at you". Then joining in with the spirit of the thing, Harry gave a smug grin and said, "Well, as you know, I took Padma's twin sister to the Yule Ball last year and I thought that perhaps I had dated the wrong twin".
Mandy rolled her eyes, "Yeah, Yeah! Tell that to someone who would believe it".
Harry said, with the same smug expression, "Ok, then, try this one. Susan and I are just good friends".
Mandy made a dismissive gesture and said, "Spread that one out and you can fertilize all of the greenhouses at Hogwarts with it. I can see that I'll have to work a lot harder to get the truth out of you".
Anthony who was sitting on the other side of Padma asked him, "So Harry, are you here to talk about something or just to grace us with your presence".
Harry gave him a big smile, "Now that you mention it, Anthony, I need a team of operators for some interesting machines that I have. Who would be better than the brainy kids whose wit is their greatest treasure?"
Michael asked him, "Where these machines and what are are we to do with them?"
Harry still talking in hushed whispers told him, "I want at least six students on the Astronomy tower at dawn tomorrow. I will show it to you then. For now please do not share this information with anyone except those who are interested".
Lisa Turpin who was a very jovial girl asked him, "So Peverell, has anyone dragged you to a broom closet yet?"
Harry cringed for a second before he realized that others were listening to their conversation with rapt attention, especially the girls. He winked at her, "Miss Turpin, a gentleman never tells".
Others laughed while Lisa turned beet red.
Isobel McDougall who was a shy quiet girl asked him something which threw him off, "Harry, would you go to the next Hogsmeade weekend with me?"
Harry knew he had to refuse her, "Miss McDougall while you are a charming lady and any bloke would be fortunate just to be asked out by you, I fear I have to refuse unless I want a certain Hufflepuff to come after me with her wand blazing. As it is I am rather fond of my limbs".
Everyone laughed while Padma looked like she was considering hitting him on the head but chose not to.
Isobel said to him genially, "It is alright Harry. I had to ask you though just to satisfy my curiosity".
All in all the conversation with the Ravenclaws was better than he had expected. Sure they were driven by logic but they were also fun to be around if they wanted.
Fourth Floor, Four O'clock
As he had planned, he excused himself from his friends saying he had some work to do before he went to the fourth floor. There was Daphne Greengrass as she had promised, dressed in her form fitting robes, her hair undone falling to her shoulders smoothly, a silver tiara sat upon her head and it looked like she had taken some time to get ready for this trip. He was dressed in fine Acromantula Silk robes, dragon hide boots and his cloak billowing behind him. The mop of hair on his head which was longer than it had been in past years looked like he had made an effort to comb it but then gave it up as a bad job. While he was not dressed up as she was, he was dressed as befitting a Lord. Rachael's training had, at least, made him conscious of his appearance and he took extra pains to look smart all the time.
He led her to the mirror on the fourth floor and she asked him, "Did you bring me here to look in a mirror, Peverell? Do you think I am vain?"
Harry raised his hands in a placating gesture, "Not at all Daphne. If you would please wait for a moment, you will know why we are here."
He summoned his wand from his holster and she asked him, "Is it the Holly wand with a Phoenix feather core?"
Harry asked her surprised, "How do you know about my wand?"
She smirked, "The entire castle knows. It was in the-boy-who-lived edition of the Teen Witch Weekly."
Harry choked, "The WHAT?!"
She grinned, "It was published sometime last year. Almost every witch in the castle bought a copy. It had so much information about you, most of it garbage I must add. There were days that hardly a witch could be without a copy of it. Some even kept it under their pillows when they slept".
Harry was mortified, "Please tell me you are joking".
She gave him a bright smile, "I am not, Peverell. There were several girls who wanted to get you to sign their copy. It was only when the Harry Potter Fan Club insisted that you would not welcome that kind of attention, that no one harassed you about it".
Harry was getting paler now, "What did you just say? WHAT club?"
Daphne was enjoying it too much now, "Oh yes, there is a Harry Potter Fan Club which is run by the Weasley girl and the Creevey boy who used to follow you like a puppy. They even host a few Harry Potter nights where they have Harry Potter trivia contests".
Harry was ready to faint. "Oh, this is so bad. I wonder what they would be doing now", he whined.
Daphne finally took pity on him, "Don't worry Peverell. I will find out about it and tell you. I am just surprised that Granger did not tell you. She is also one of the members due to her status of being your best-friend. She writes a monthly column in its newsletter I believe. Anyway you can ask them about it later but right now, we are wasting time that we could be spending in Hogsmeade".
Harry reluctantly nodded and cast some glamour charms on himself. When he was done, he looked like a man in his early twenties with straight brown hair, his skin a shade darker, his eye-brows a little more bushy than normal and His eyes steel-gray. Daphne raised an eye-brow at him, "I know you are adept at magic Harry. You don't have to show me that you can cast glamour charms expertly".
Harry gave her a lop-sided grin, "Daphne, I do not know if you have noticed but every time I step out of this castle, the Daily Prophet gets wind of it and my photo ends up on the front page. You surely do not want the media coverage?"
She nodded, "That would put me in the sights of a number of jealous witches. I surely don't need that. Would you do the charms to me as well?"
Harry cast some charms on her turning her hair to black, shoulder length, her skin a shade lighter and her blue eyes were a shade of brown now and she also looked like she was in her early twenties. She looked at herself in the mirror and after being satisfied with what she saw, she asked him, "How are we going to Hogsmeade?"
Harry opened the secret way behind the mirror with a tap of his wand and uttered the password under his breath. As the door opened, he led her into it before closing the mirror behind him. They travelled for a good part of an hour while talking about little things. Finally they emerged in the village of Hogsmeade near the Cottage on the hill and Harry dutifully offered his arm to her which she was happy to take. He led her to the Three Broom Sticks and they walked in unnoticed and took a private room for themselves. He took a moment to erect privacy wards before they sat down.
When they were seated, Daphne was bursting to ask some questions which could not wait anymore, not when she had waited so long for those answers. She asked him immediately, "What was your life with the muggles like?"
Harry was drinking a butter beer and put it down before he answered her, "The muggles that I thought were my blood relatives were the worst sort that you could imagine. They hate wizards with every fibre of their being. They did not allow me to mingle with other muggles so my experience with them is rather limited. The only muggle I thought I liked turned out to be a squib".
Daphne was surprised, "Squib? You had a squib living near your home and you never knew it?"
Harry nodded, "She came to live there at the end of the last war. In fact, just a week after I was placed with the muggles. She was there to keep an eye on me and to report if Death Eaters found me. Dumbledore had placed her there".
She asked again, "Has Dumbledore always interfered in your life?"
Harry said a little ruefully, "he placed me with the muggles for my safety. He believed that he had no other option. I do not hate him for it but I wish he had taken sometime to see to it that I was being looked after properly".
Daphne asked him the same thing that Susan had asked him the other day, "Have you thought about what you will do with your life after you graduate?"
Harry gave her an answer he had rehearsed after being asked by Susan, "I have decided that I will play professional quidditch for sometime after I graduate. When I am done, I will take up broom making as a skill".
She nodded, "looks like you have sorted your life. I thought you would say that you would research potions considering the mammoth improvements in the field this year".
Harry asked her, "Have you decided on anything?"
She replied off-handedly, "My father owns an apothecary business. We are the second largest potion makers behind Herbs and Weeds. I thought I would take over his business and expand it to make it bigger than Herbs and Weeds. We could have surpassed Herbs and Weeds years ago but they can get a lot of raw materials at a cheaper rate than we do. We have our own green houses but they are insufficient to cater to our needs while they have some supplier who supplies them the raw materials in return for their shares".
Harry was listening to her intently and had a good idea who the supplier was. House Potter had some very extensive Green Houses which supplied raw materials to Herbs and Weeds in return of 20% of their shares. However he did not need to tell her that.
Before Harry could ask anything more, a bull patronus came floating through the air to them and said to him, "Return to Hogwarts. The Headmaster is looking for you".
Harry looked at Daphne who had her mouth open in O, "Was that a corporeal patronus? Who was it from?"
Harry smiled, "Sorry, Daphne. That is a secret which I am not going to give up. We need to be moving. I do not want the Headmaster to launch his Order to search for me. That would be catastrophic".
They hadn't even managed to order dinner yet. Harry ordered a couple of sandwiches to go and paid the bill as quickly as he could. As they came out, he pulled out his broom from under his robes where he always kept it in shrunken form and with a tap of his wand, it expanded. He turned to Daphne, "While I am sure I can fly like I am insane and reach Hogwarts in minutes, I am not certain if you can fly on a broom".
With an impish grin, Daphne replied, "Try me".
Harry said, "OK, then". With that, he mounted the broom and extended his arm to her. She mounted behind him and grabbed him tightly by his waist. Harry kicked up in the air and headed off through the streets as fast as the broom would go.
For Daphne, it was surreal. Sure she had not got to ask all the questions that she wanted but to sit behind him on a broom was different experience altogether. The way he was flying exhilrated her and she wanted to shout at the top of her lungs but gave it up knowing it as a bad idea.
Within a few minutes, they were at hovering near the school. Instead of heading for the gates, Harry steered towards the Forbidden Forest and they landed near the edge of the forest so that no one could notice them.
He turned to Daphne, "I am sorry that we had to cut it short. I will try to compensate for the lost time the next chance".
He asked Daphne to cast a disillusionment spell on herself and go the castle and thereby to her dorms. As soon as she was out of sight, he disappeared only to appear in the Head Master's office.
Dumbledore was anxious and walking to and fro in his office. Vikram and Sirius sat in chairs waiting for him.
As soon as Sirius saw him, he lunged out of his chair and pulled him into an embrace, "Where were you, you idiot boy? We were worried about you".
Harry looked towards Dumbledore, "What happened, Headmaster? Did Voldemort make a move finally?"
Dumbledore shook his head, "No, my boy. The order spies have brought some information for us".
Harry asked anxiously, "What is it?"
It was Sirius who answered, "Pup, Voldemort has recruited at-least 30 more werewolves to his cause. They are on the move towards Wizarding Britain. The Aurors are not able to track them and Frank requested Albus to do something about it".
Harry asked Dumbledore seriously, "What do you want to be done, Headmaster?"
The Headmaster sighed, "I fear there is only one way open to us, my boy. We will go wolf hunting".
Harry wanted to pump his fist in the air and whoop at the top of his lungs but he restrained himself and asked in a neutral tone, "When are we leaving? Who is going with us?"
Sirius answered, "Moody and Moony will be here shortly".
Vikram answered his other question, "As soon as you can get ready. Go and dress up, Peverell".
Harry almost ran to the tower. He found Neville in the dorm with Ron playing a game of chess. Without bothering them, he started to rummage through his trunk and in a few moments, he had his battle armor and mask in his hands with the Sandalwood wand and the Elder wand on holsters attached to his wrists.
Neville asked him, "Where are you going, Harry?"
Harry was of a mind to refuse to tell the boy but Neville had stood with them every time and deserved an answer at least. "I am going wolf hunting, mate", he said".
Neville immediately stood up, "And you did not think to ask me? Did you forget that where a Potter goes, a Longbottom will follow?"
Harry sighed, "Mate, I am sorry. This kind of work calls for silver blades and you are not ready. We will correct this oversight in your training, but you can't come with us tonight".
Ron said hotly, "Because you are better than us?"
Harry shook his head, "No Ron but because Werewolves cannot be easily killed by magic".
Neville snorted, "So you plan to poke them with a stick?"
Harry grinned as he brought his sword out of his trunk, "Not quite, I intend to cut them down with this".
Neville still protested, "I am not allowing you to go by yourself. Either I am coming or you will not go".
Harry turned to him and said sternly, "Mate, the day you are adept at sword fighting, I will not refuse you a place by my side but not today".
As soon as he got dressed up, he descended to the Common Room where all conversation stopped at once. He saw some witches sitting huddled in a group and went out without answering their questions.
As the portrait door closed behind them, Hermione turned to Ron and Neville, "Where did Harry go? Why was he dressed like that? Where did he get a sword?"
Ron took her by her hand, "Let's get out of here and I will fill you in. There are things that we cannot talk about in front of everyone".
As the two exited the common room, they were followed by Neville, the twins and Ginny who was equally curious.
Reviews please
A/N- Thank you everyone for the lovely reviews. I am glad that you all are liking this fic and giving such valuable insights.
Thank you Hypergym for the edits.