Chapter 48: A Line Crossed
"Is it that hard to transfer to another magical school? It's very easy in the non magical world but there are significantly more schools to choose from." John said curiously.
"I'm not sure. I don't know of anyone that has ever transferred before. I do know that some families choose to home school their children and others go into quasi apprenticeships instead of traditional schooling." Remus said, drawing on his experience as an educator.
"I know that my family used to hire tutors for some children but most of us either went to Hogwarts or Durmstrang." Sirius said helpfully.
"Do you think that we can hire some tutors this summer and see if the children would prefer that to regular schooling?" Annabelle asked everyone.
"I think that we could teach them a few things ourselves." Remus said while flicking his thumb indicating that Sirius would help teach.
With the beginnings of a plan in place, the adults spent the rest of the evening discussing various differences in the two worlds.
Hermione had received the letter from her parents to the Headmaster stating that she was not to be involved in the second task. She had made a copy and given it to Professor McGonagall to deliver for her. The look on her professor's face was one of pity and understanding and it did nothing to bolster her spirits.
Now that they knew what the second task entailed it seemed that time seemed to speed up. The weeks flew by and now the task was upon them.
Harry had become extremely tense over the last couple of days. He was constantly looking over their shoulders to make sure that the teachers wouldn't corner Hermione and sprite her away. He did not believe that Professor Dumbledore would honor the note sent by Hermione's parents.
It was during a break in between classes when someone finally pushed Harry too far. Malfoy and his goons were being their usual idiotic selves, picking on people in the halls. Harry had been on his way to meet Hermione after class when the trio had turned their bullying attention towards her.
"Well, look what we have here." Draco drawled as he stepped in front of Hermione, preventing her from reaching the steps down to the Great Hall.
"Go away Malfoy." Hermione said scathingly to the blond haired boy.
"Now that isn't any way to talk to your betters you filthy little Mudblood. Perhaps we should teach you some proper manners." Draco said with a sneer.
The three of them were all facing Hermione and not paying attention to their surroundings. If they were, they might have noticed Harry Potter stalking up behind them, fury etched on his youthful face.
Harry had his wand in his hand, when Malfoy took a step towards Hermione he reacted much the same way as when Ron accosted her. He had stepped to the side of the hallway to prevent him from accidentally hitting Hermione.
His first spell banished Malfoy into the wall at such a high rate of speed that there was a sickening crunching sound when he hit, knocking him unconscious in the process.
Before Crabbe could turn around Harry had hit him with a stunner to the back, causing him to fall face down. The crack of Crabbe's nose and jaw breaking when he hit the floor was audible from ten feet away.
Goyles' first, and only, mistake was enough to ensure him a stay in the hospital wing with his friends. He had stepped towards Crabbe when he fell rather than turning towards their attacker.
Harry did not hesitate; his third spell of the encounter was another banishing charm. Its power, coupled with Goyle having his back to him, sent the large boy flying face first into the alcove to the side of the hall. He crashed into the suit of armor with such force that it blew apart, sending pieces of metal all over the hall while burying him beneath the chest plate.
The entire encounter had lasted less than fifteen seconds and it left the three Slytherin students bloody and broken on the floor. Not a single spell had been uttered aloud the entire time.
Stepping over Crabbe's fallen body, Harry said to Hermione, "Are you okay?"
Hermione was breathing heavily. She had felt the cold determination of Harry's emotions come through their bond right before he attacked. She had not seen, or heard, him come up behind Malfoy and his two goons. "I'm fine, thanks to you. Perhaps we should get going before someone comes along and finds you here." Hermione answered with a slight tremble in her voice.
She was a bit shocked at how violently Harry had reacted but at the same time, it made her feel safe. He had promised that he would do anything he could to protect her. Hermione knew that she could probably handle any one of her attackers in a one on one situation. Three against one was definitely more than she would have been able to tackle.
For his part, Harry was extremely glad that Hermione wasn't hurt. He felt that it was long past due for Malfoy and his cronies to learn that bigotry and attacking people would no longer be tolerated.
Dumbledore, and the majority of the Wizarding world, did not seem to want to make sure that there were consequences for acting a certain way. 'Why keep tolerating behavior that would land most people in serious trouble without issuing some type of punishment?' Harry pondered.
Turning the other cheek only went so far. If you gave people enough chances, they were just going to think that they were allowed to behave a certain way and walk all over you.
Harry was done turning the other cheek. Malfoy and his thugs were just the first to feel the consequences for their actions but he was sure that they wouldn't be the last.
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