章 11: Chapter 11: Quibbles and Quarrels
"So why did I have to get this huge contraption again?" Shiva asked as she finished plugging in the final wires to the television unit. The telly earned a glare from her when she flipped the switch and the screen remained resolutely black.
"Because you promised we could watch Star Wars and your apartment doesn't have enough magic to short the thing out." Harry snorted and plugged the power cord into the wall. "Forgot the power, Shiva." Snuffles huffed from the floor behind them.
"I thought you were working on that Tech Bane cluster to make these things run without being plugged in."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Tech Assist, Shiva, the Tech Bane is going to burn out any close by electronics not let them work. And neither are remotely ready yet."
"Whatever," Shiva waved him off and hit the button again. This time she grinned triumphantly as the telly flickered to life. "Excellent! Hermione and Neville should be here any minute. Did Daphne and Tracey ever get back to you?"
Harry nodded. "Yeah. Both should be coming via Floo right after Neville. I'm still a little surprised that both were interested in seeing a Muggle movie…"
"Harry," Shiva said shaking her head, "when you describe a story as 'the evil Dark Lord attempts to take over the galaxy using a weapon that can destroy planets only to be stopped by a space wizard who just left the farm' of course they're going to come. Hell, Greengrass probably considers this research for when Voldy comes back."
"Yeah, I guess I did kind of con them a bit," Harry said rubbing his neck a bit sheepishly. "You know I still don't get why you can't stick to one name for Riddle."
Shiva shrugged. "Well, Two Face doesn't quite fit anymore. I still sometimes get hung up with Voldemort itself. Tom is way too informal. Riddle just doesn't seem…evil enough. Moldymort is awful and will never be uttered again. I think I like Voldy though. I may stick with that one."
Harry shook his head responding, "As long as you don't go back to You-Know-Who I guess I really shouldn't complain."
"Right you are, kid."
They were interrupted by a knock at the door. Snuffles stood up and directed a doggy grin at the entrance while Harry went to open up. "Hey, Hermione! Glad you could make it!"
Hermione walked into the apartment a little wobbly and flushed. "Next time I come over, would it possible for Shiva to apparate me? I…did not enjoy the Knight Bus very much." The ginger furred large cat clutched in her arms bobbed its head in full agreement making a small yowling noise.
Harry laughed and gave her a quick hug and scratched the cat behind its ears. "If it makes you feel better, I felt the exact same way after I got off it too."
Hermione blushed slightly but smiled. "Actually it does a little. If that horrible transport can flap the great Quidditch prodigy then I do feel a bit easier about disliking it."
"Hey, Hermione," Shiva called from the living room waving to the younger girl.
"Hello, Professor," Hermione replied ignoring Shiva's rolling eyes at the moniker. Harry chuckled at the ever so slight smirk Hermione had gracing her lips. His friend's humor was subtle but noticeable to one who knew where to look. "This is Crookshanks by the way," she said, holding up the cat. "I hope you both don't mind me bringing him over. My parents had to leave for the day and I didn't want him all alone so soon after bringing him home."
"It's fine, Hermione. He can play with Snuffles if the two get along." Harry eyed the cat. It was almost easier to think of it as a small tiger honestly. The animal was as large for its species as Snuffles was for his. Crookshanks' face was also rather squashed truth be told.
Hermione let the cat squirm loose and he hopped down to the floor of the apartment. "Play nice, Crooks and don't damage anything." The cat gave her a look then deliberately turned and padded over to Snuffles who cocked his head and huffed at the smaller creature. "I just fell in love with him at the store. The clerk said that he kept getting passed over for some reason…I just can't see why; he's part kneazle and just the most brilliant cat I've ever seen." Harry laughed at his friend. It was just like Hermione to completely ignore Crookshanks' somewhat odd features and focus on his intellect.
"Well Snuffles seems to like him and Hedwig hasn't chased him out yet so I think your choice of pet gets the seal of approval," Harry said.
"Oh, I almost forgot to ask, Harry, have you been practicing with that Occlumency book I sent you?"
"Yes, Hermione," he said with an exaggerated sigh. "I still don't see why I have to. I do still have my Reflector Lenses you know."
"And what if someone tied you up and took off your glasses, hmm?" she asked putting her hands on her hips and giving him The Look.
"Then I think I'd have bigger problems than having my mind read."
"Don't complain, Harry," Shiva said grabbing a handful of popcorn. "She has a point and Occlumency helps with memory and organization as well. You don't want to be the only one in your group ignoring it just because you have a rune equivalent do you?"
"Alright, alright!" He held up his hands laughing. "It was just a question you two!"
"So what does your mind palace look like?" Hermione asked.
"Umm, a castle…why?" Harry shrugged.
"I was just curious. Mine's a library." Harry smiled; of course Hermione would make her mind into a library.
"You know I had an ex-girlfriend who actually had Windsor Castle?" Shiva commented. "She took the 'mind palace' thing a bit serious. I know one Muggle-born who used something called 'the Enterprise' too." Hermione's eyebrows rose at that and Harry smirked. That wasn't a bad idea at all. "Apparently he scared his tutor so bad with that that the guy refused to ever enter his mind again. Never did figure out just what the Enterprise was referring to…"
"Well, I guess we know what the next movie night will be huh Harry?" Hermione asked sharing a grin with her friend. Before she had a chance to say anything else the Floo flared to life and Neville's head showed up in the flames.
"Professor Babbling?" Neville asked. "Are we clear to come through? Daphne and Tracey are here as well. We figured it was easier just to use the same fireplace."
"You're good, Neville," Shiva said as she pushed in the brick to open the Floo.
"Alright, we're coming." Neville's head disappeared but a moment later the boy himself came stepping out of the green flames followed closely by Daphne and Tracey.
Harry grumbled, "I hate you all. Why am I the only one who can't stay standing using the stupid Floo?"
"Because you are horribly uncoordinated?" Daphne said with raised eyebrows. The grin on her face showed she was only teasing with the barb.
Tracey smirked. "Nah, it's 'cause of karma biting your arse. I'd put money on you forever failing at the Floo just so that you keep being awesome at other stuff. You can't keep winning everything without losing some after all."
"Haha very funny." Harry shook his head before turning giving Tracey a serious glance. "How are you doing, Tracey?"
The girl shrugged and Daphne gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Been better. The Mind Healer has helped a lot and I still feel like a complete idiot. I really should've known better than to keep talking to something that talked back. At least when I couldn't see where it kept its brain."
"It's not your fault, Trace," Daphne said softly.
"I didn't say it was my fault," Tracey smirked at them all. "I said I was an idiot. Really though, I'm fine. Thanks for asking, Harry."
"How about you, Daph? We haven't really had a chance to talk much…" Harry ran a hand through his hair.
Daphne rolled her eyes and plopped down on the couch. "You worry too much, Harry."
Hermione nodded and sat down next to the Slytherin. "I agree. Good luck getting him to believe that though."
Tracey sat down on Daphne's other side smiling at the two. "It is a little cute though how noble he is. If I liked guys I might develop a crush on him." Snuffles perked up at that looking between Tracey and Harry before chuffing softly and laying his head back down.
Shiva snorted and claimed the armchair before replying, "It's cute until he gives you heart attack."
"I am right here, people," Harry said throwing his hands in the air. "Neville, a little help please?"
Neville laughed. "Sorry, mate. I'm with them on this one." He sat down in the other armchair leaving Harry to collapse into the spot next to Hermione.
"I hate you guys," Harry sighed as he relaxed down.
"Nah, you love us. Why else would you give us presents on your birthday?" Tracey smirked at him.
"They're not presents," Harry grumbled. "They're useful. And here, take it before I change my mind." Harry handed out his completed Comm Stones to the assembled group. "Each are keyed to all the others at the moment as well as one for Tonks so that we can contact the Aurors if something crazy happens again. Just say 'Comm on, contact…' and then the name of the person you want to talk to. To shut it off just tap it and say, 'Disconnect'. You don't have to use them as an earring if you don't want to but the volume is adjusted to assume it's hanging by the ear so if you use it as a bracelet or necklace or something you'll have to hold it to your ear."
"Harry," Hermione said slowly looking at the tiny rune stone and turning it over in her hand, "this is amazing. You should really try to market these."
"He's going to," Shiva said nodding at the girl. "After he gets the clusters so that they don't have to be keyed to other stones at least. Harry was saying something about affiliating with potential business partners after he got back to school." Harry glared at Shiva but rolled his eyes after a minute.
Neville looked over at Harry in confusion. "Really? Who, Harry?"
"The twins," Harry sighed. The rest of the group raised their eyebrows at him. "What? They're brilliant. Have you seen some of the stuff they've invented?"
Shiva frowned. "Their grades suck though…"
"Then they either don't care or they're like me when I started Hogwarts," Harry said shrugging.
"Intentionally doing poorly?" Hermione asked with a frown.
"Yeah. Seriously, Fred and George are amazing at what they do and they have some really good ideas. I heard them mention last year that they were hoping to open a joke shop at some point in the future. I figure if I help them market their shop when they get it running then I can sell some rune stones through them before I get my own place set up in a few years." Snuffles had come over and licked Harry's hand by the end of his little speech and Harry scratched the dog behind the ears.
"That's a very ambitious plan, Harry...I'm impressed." Hermione smiled at him and bumped his shoulder with her own.
"Okay well now that I feel inadequate for being beaten in ambitions by a Gryffindor," Daphne huffed, "can we start this…movie thing?"
Neville laughed and shook his head at Daphne. "That's what you get for slacking Slytherin!"
Shiva just chuckled at their antics and hit the play button, the group twisting to watch the opening scrawl of the video.
"I thought you said we were watching the first one. Why does it say Episode IV?" Tracey asked.
Harry shrugged. "The creator envisioned this as the middle part of nine. He's only made four through six so far."
"Weird."
"That…is a very big ship…" Daphne said with wide eyes staring at the Star Destroyer panning across the display.
"Well at least we know it's fake. It's not like we can make spaceships," Neville said.
"Nev," Hermione said with a snort, "you do realize Muggles landed on the Moon in the 60's right?"
Daphne, Tracey and Neville gaped at Hermione before turning to Harry who just nodded at them. All three immediately twisted to Shiva who also nodded. Neville whistled and Tracey snuggled closer to Daphne. Daphne just shook her head and mumbled, "No wonder my mother says Muggles should be respected…"
"I have to say this is very impressive," Shiva said grabbing more popcorn. "Far more so than I had expected. I may know about movies but I've never actually watched one before. I love how they have the sound going with the pictures! Those white suited guys could really do with improved target practice though…"
"Shhh!" Hermione said waving her hand at the group. "One of the most iconic villains of our time is coming!"
"She means one of the two Evil Dark Lords," Harry helpfully supplied as Darth Vader made his entrance.
Neville nodded approvingly. "Wow. Now we know where Snape learned his swishing cloak trick."
The room erupted into laughter and after a minute or so they finally all quieted and settled in to experience entertainment the Muggle way.
Harry stopped before the barrier to Platform Nine and Three Quarters giving Shiva a short hug. She pulled back and ruffled his hair before smirking at him. "Try not to get into too much trouble on the train okay, kid?"
Harry glared at her before shaking his head laughing. "I think that would start the yearly murder attempts a little early don't you?"
Shiva snorted. "Well going from Two Face to a 60 foot snake does tend to set the bar rather high for this year. Seriously though, Harry, the new DADA teacher is riding the train with you guys just in case Sirius Black tries anything so if something happens get Professor Lupin."
"I will," Harry replied rolling his eyes. He seriously doubted Black would attempt anything. Something just seemed off about the whole situation though he hadn't been able to put his finger on the problem for the past few weeks since it started niggling at him. Hermione would help him figure it out. She was always good with that kind of puzzle.
"Good. I'll drop Snuffles off with Rosemerta before I head to the castle. You can visit with the monster during Hogsmeade trips."
"Do you think Professor McGonagall will let Dumbledore know about the guardian thing?" Harry asked thinking about his signed permission form.
"I doubt it. Not with how she's been standing up to him lately." Shiva shrugged. She didn't particularly care anymore. They hadn't been able to find any loopholes to take away Dumbledore's magical guardianship, but by the same token, her physical guardianship was rock solid with how deeply rooted the paperwork was now. Even the Ministry and ICW couldn't justify obliviating hundreds of people and falsifying the massive amounts of paperwork it would require to take Harry away from her.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I dues it doesn't really matter anyway." Harry squinted up at her. "Do you mind if I call you Shiva in the open now?"
"Just not in professional settings, kid. Like in class. It's Professor there," she said smirking.
Harry laughed and popped a mock salute. "Yes, ma'am." He glanced up at the clock and picked up his trunk and Hedwig. "Alright, I'll meet you there."
"See you soon, Harry." Shiva waved and Harry stepped through the barrier. He hopped onto the train searching for the compartment with his friends. Daphne waved him over towards one near the end.
"Hey, Harry," she said. "A lot of the compartments were full already so we had to share this one. I think the sleeping man is the new DADA teacher."
Harry nodded as he stepped into the compartment and levered his trunk up to the rack. There was a man slumped into the corner with a suitcase on his lap reading R. LUPIN. He was dressed in a robe and coat that was had a fair number of patches on them. The wrackspurt girl from the previous year, Luna Lovegood, was also inside the compartment sitting next to the professor and reading a magazine upside down. Hermione, Neville and Tracey had already taken up seats with Neville sitting next to the younger girl.
Harry sat down beside Hermione and twisted his head so he could see the name of the magazine. "The Quibbler. I haven't heard of that one."
"My father edits and publishes it. When I've finished the rune puzzle for this week would you like to borrow it to read about the Rotfang Conspiracy?"
"What's the Rotfang Conspiracy? And did you say rune puzzle?" Harry asked perking up.
"I did," Luna said in a soft voice. Tracey snorted and Daphne rolled her eyes while Hermione just sighed. "It's not very nice to mock him you know."
Harry smiled. "They're just teasing me, Luna. I tend to have a one track mind when it comes to rune stuff."
"I have heard that yes." She paused before lowering the magazine and smiling. "I think you would find this far too easy however, Harry Potter. And to answer your earlier question, the Rotfang Conspiracy details how the Aurors are attempting to bring down the Ministry of Magic using Dark Magic and gum disease."
"Huh," Harry tapped his chin, "I'm not really a huge fan of the Ministry. Too bad they're using such awful methods though because otherwise I might have been interested to hear more." Beside him Hermione laid her head back against the headrest muttering while Daphne, Tracey and Neville all just rolled their eyes.
"Yes, I am not a fan of the use of gum disease either. I rather like my teeth," Luna said nodding sagely.
"So how was your summer, Luna?" Harry asked.
"Pleasant enough. Daddy and I attempted to find the crumple-horned snorkack but were again unsuccessful."
"That was the one that had the twisted horn right?" Harry asked trying to think back to the few times he had talked to her before.
"Yes, we think so."
"You don't know what it looks like?" Hermione asked frowning at the girl.
"Well we've heard reports but they are conflicted," Luna said shrugging. "I am sure Daddy will find one eventually. If not, well at least the hunts are interesting and afford time for us to spend together."
Harry nodded, laying a hand on Hermione's arm and squeezing softly to stop the reply he knew was coming. "Well I can certainly understand wanting to spend time with your parents, Luna."
She smiled sadly in reply. "Just my father, Harry Potte. My mother passed away when I was 9."
Harry closed his eyes feeling like he had just inadvertently punched the girl in the gut. "Oh. I didn't know that. I'm sorry, Luna."
"How could you know?" She shrugged and picked her magazine back up. "I am almost done with the puzzle. Let me know if you would like to read the article, Harry." Harry nodded and the compartment fell quiet.
Shortly before they reached Hogsmeade station the sky outside the compartment began to darken and grow stormy. Professor Lupin had remained sleeping the entire ride and the students had stayed mostly quiet after the initial burst of conversation with Luna.
"Are we stopping?" Neville asked perking up and rousing the others. "We still have a ways to go…"
"Why is there frost on the window?" Daphne said squinting at the spreading sheet of ice.
The train lurched to a stop and the group's breath started to fog in the air. Harry was going to volunteer to find a prefect to see what was going on but froze before he could do more than open his mouth. Dim screaming started to sound in his head. Not, Harry! Please not, Harry! Kill me instead! I'll do anything, just don't hurt Harry! Harry was only vaguely aware of the door to their compartment sliding open and a tall, dark figure wrapped in a cloak standing outside. The others slid away from the imposing figure. Tracey whimpered and tried to burrow into the seat while Luna curled up into a ball across from him. Harry could only hear the screams of the woman in his mind. The creature in front of him raised its skeletal hand and stretched out to him. There was a rustle from behind him as something heavy clattered to the floor. A green flash filled Harry's vision and he crumpled to the ground. The last thing he heard as he lost consciousness was a firm shout of "Expecto Patronum!"
"…Harry? Harry?" a dim voice washed through Harry's brain. He felt someone's hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes only to shut them again at the brightness surrounding him.
"Urggg," Harry mumbled raising a hand to his head. "Did anyone get the number of that lorry?"
"What's a lorry got to do with anything?" Daphne asked from somewhere behind him.
"It's a Muggle expression Daph. Means he feels awful," Tracey supplied with a slight shudder. "About the same as me and Luna, I'd guess."
"Yeah, but neither of you two fainted," Neville said softly helping Luna to sit back up. She was still pale and slightly shaking.
"Harry?" Hermione said softly leaning over him to peer into his eyes. "Harry, are you okay? That was a Dementor. Professor Lupin chased it away but it had a severe effect on you. You need to eat this." She held a bar of chocolate out to Harry and he numbly took it from her fingers taking a bite.
"Chocolate? Really?" Harry asked raising his eyebrows at his friend.
"It really works, Harry," Tracey mumbled eating a bar of her own. "Nobody is really sure why."
"Daddy says it's because the snagglepuffs make the chocolate as a natural defense against their nightmares. I don't think it works as good as pudding myself," Luna said after swallowing a mouthful of chocolate.
"Well if you run across any snagglepuffs, Luna, thank them for me." Harry slowly levered himself back into the seat with Hermione's help. "What the heck was a Dementor doing on the train?"
"Probably looking for Black," Daphne said wrapping an arm around Tracey and pulling the other girl closer to her side. "We're lucky that the new Professor could do the Patronus charm. Not too many people can do that one and it's pretty much the only thing that works on Dementors."
"Oh shite," Harry moaned slapping a hand to his head.
"Language, Harry," Hermione quickly replied before peeling his hand off his forehead. "And what's the problem?"
"I got into trouble on the train…" Harry said dejectedly. The students just stared at him waiting so he continued in a quiet voice, "Shiva is going to kill me…"
His friends all looked at each other not sure how to respond. Until Luna started giggling softly which quickly turned into a full blown laugh. The rest soon followed suit and the compartment had completely devolved into raucous laughter by the time a dumbfounded Professor Lupin returned.
"That was a very mature response running away there, Harry," Hermione said rolling her eyes. Harry, Neville and Hermione had dropped on the couch in the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry had practically ran up the stairs once the feast had ended, trying to avoid Shiva.
"I swear if looks could kill, that woman would've burnt me to a crisp!" Harry said shuddering. Neville was laughing hysterically and even Hermione shook her head with a small grin on her face. "It's not funny! This totally wasn't remotely my fault. If I'm going to get yelled at for being in danger again then I am at least going to have done something to deserve it first." Harry crossed his arms and pouted.
Hermione nudged his shoulder full on smirking. "Well at least you know she cares." Hermione nodded her head towards a young redhead who had just walked into the Common Room. "And there's Ginny. Did you want to talk to her tonight?"
Harry sighed. "Yeah. You two can come if you want. Depending on how the twins take it I may need backup anyway." Neville and Hermione nodded and stood to follow Harry as he walked over to Ginny, Fred and George. "Hey, guys, can we talk for a few minutes?"
Ginny nodded fast enough to flip her hair and started to walk off before Harry called out, "No, Ginny, you too." The girl stopped mid-step, blushed hard enough to turn her face red, but hurried back to the small group. "Fred, George, do you guys know any strong privacy spells?"
The twins turned to each other frowning before looking back at Harry. "A few…how private do you want this to be?"
"As private as possible," Harry said with a grimace.
Fred nodded and pulled out his wand. "George, I've got the Notice-Me-Not and quieting ones. You get the silencing, aversion and deafening charms."
"That's a NEWT level spell!" Hermione exclaimed staring at Fred as he cast the Notice-Me-Not.
"I told you they were smart," Harry said casting a smug grin at Hermione.
"Done," George turned to the small group and sat down on the chair nearby waving his twin and sister into the others. "What's going on, Harry? It's a little early in the year for the annual Harry's Fun Day."
"I – " Harry stopped abruptly as he processed what George had said. His face burned as he replied, "What do you mean, Harry's Fun Day?"
"Well it seems a little insensitive to call it Attempt To Kill Harry Day."
"Or Defense Professor Fly Off The Handle Day," Fred tossed in.
"Or Harry Fights To Not Die Day." George nodded at Fred.
"Or – "
"Okay, okay!" Harry muttered. "I get the point, guys. And no this is not about that."
"To be fair, you did almost get your soul eaten by an overeager Dementor a few hours ago," Neville said with a shrug. Ginny's face drained of all color and her hands gripped the stool under her hard enough to turn white.
"Thanks for that, Nev." Harry sighed. "Can we please focus everyone? This going to be awkward enough as it is."
Fred and George turned to each other again before dropping the smirks and adopting serious expressions. Fred twisted back to Harry and nodded at him. "Why don't you just tell us what's got you worried, Harry."
Harry picked at his shirt and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed and then started talking, "Okay, I went to Gringotts over the summer with my new guardian. They told me a few things I had been unaware of. One of the chief issues was a…marriage contract."
Neville's eyebrows rose while Fred and George scowled along with Hermione. Ginny just looked a bit confused. "Hermione already knows this," Harry said waving to his female friend. "I figured I should give her a heads up because…well…"
"I tend to overreact sometimes," Hermione said still scowling. "And he was right to. I ranted for nearly an hour about the unfairness and backwards 'traditions' involved in some aspects of the magical community."
"Marriage contracts are barely ever used these days," Neville said frowning. "They're considered old fashioned and most families don't want to risk alienating their kids."
Fred took a deep breath and said, "Should we be getting Percy or Dad here?"
"No," Harry said shaking his head. "I don't completely trust Percy and there wasn't really a good excuse to contact your father yet. I would've told Bill or Charlie to be honest but they're hard to sit down with since both are out of the country."
"Wait, wait," George said holding up a hand. "I get Bill, you two seemed friendly when he was around the other summer but why Charlie and not Percy?"
"Because Percy worships rules and authority," Harry said shrugging. "Charlie worships dragons. He broke up with my guardian over them and he helped us get Norbert out of the country. I trust Charlie because he is more interested in his dragons over anything else in the world."
"That's…very odd reasoning…" George said frowning.
Hermione huffed and rolled her eyes. "You get used to it. Harry's mind works in strange ways sometimes."
"Anyway," Harry said glaring at her, "I'm sure you've guessed who the named parties are in this contract."
Fred nodded. "You and Ginny."
"WHAT?!" Ginny nearly fell out of her chair as she screeched. She jumped up and turned to her brother with fire in her eyes and her wand out. "What the bloody hell!? Why would I have a marriage contract? I'm twelve!" She twisted to Harry with horror written all over her face. "Not that I mind the idea of getting married to you, Harry! I mean, one day, sure! But not right now! This is not my idea, I swear I didn't know about this!"
Hermione's eyes narrowed next to Harry and she shifted forward in her seat slightly covering Harry with her body. "We know it wasn't your idea, Ginny. All the same the point is currently moot. There will not be a wedding imminent."
Ginny worked her mouth for a moment before slowly sitting back down and putting away her wand. "What do you mean?"
Harry sighed. "The contract only had one signature not two. Dumbledore left his section unsigned thank god. Your part however, was filled in. It was signed by Molly Prewett. Would I be correct is guessing that Prewett is your mother's maiden name?"
"Yeah," Fred shook his head. "That's Mum alright. Merlin's balls. When did she sign the thing? Please tell me this was somewhat recent at least."
"No," Harry shook his head, "it was signed November 5th, 1981."
"I was barely 3 months old!" Ginny yelled out horrified. The twins groaned and leaned back in their chairs covering the faces.
"Yeah and my parents were dead for 5 days, Ginny, so trust me I understand."
"November 5th?" Neville asked. He grimaced and sadly shook his head. "My parents were attacked the day before."
Hermione frowned. "Really? November 4th?" Neville nodded frowning at Hermione. She shook her head. "Never mind, we'll talk later. Continue, Harry."
"Umm…okay…" Harry stared at Hermione who simply mouthed "later" at him. "Alright, well anyway, your Mum signed the contract but Dumbledore apparently had left his part blank. When we found out about it we put it into my family vault. No one except me is allowed in there and I can't take anything out until I'm of age."
Fred and George both whistled. "Impressive bit of pranking there, Harrykins." Fred nodded appreciatively at him. "You've effectively prevented both that contract and any others from being enacted either for yourself or Ginny. Well done."
George continued, "And you didn't even have to destroy the contract so if you and Gin Gin do end up getting together then you can just sign it yourself later on."
Ginny sat there frowning before slowly looking up. "Harry? Does this stop me from dating at all?"
"No, Gin," Neville answered shaking his head. "It just stops your mum or anyone else from making a new contract for your hand until the current one is either dissolved or fulfilled. You can still date anyone you want; you just can't get married until Harry decides what to do with the contract later."
"Okay." She nodded. "I suppose I'm okay with that. Why would Mum do this?" She looked torn between hexing something and crying.
"Mum has always thought she knew best for all of us Gin." Fred sighed pulling his sister into a hug. "She's the reason Bill and Charlie left as soon as they graduated. She's the reason Percy is all set to move out the moment he finishes off this year. She's the reason George and I are planning to open shop once we're done here. Mum means well enough but…she's not exactly the best of role models nor does she always consider her actions."
"Dad probably didn't even know about this," George piped in. "If he had the name would be Molly Weasley not Prewett." He scowled. "This is going to be a fun conversation when we get home. I'm going to make sure Bill is there. He can be the one to tell Dad. We've pulled one too many pranks at home for him to take this as seriously as it requires."
"We haven't pulled pranks like this, brother," Fred said. "He'd believe us."
"Yes, brother, but do you really want to be the one bringing this to him when we have beloved older brothers to do it for us?" George raised his eyebrow at his twin.
Fred laughed. "Too true, George. Too true. Ginny, let's go draft a letter to Bill shall we?"
"Should we tell Ron?" She asked before they stood. The twins just raised their eyebrows at her. "Yeah, you're right, that's probably a bad idea." She looked over at Harry and smiled at him. "I'm really sorry about this, Harry. It's probably not a secret that I like you but I don't want you to be forced into anything. Can we talk about this in a few years and decide what to do about the stupid thing then?"
"Sure, Ginny. Thanks for not freaking out too bad. I just figured you should know," Harry said.
"And we appreciate the heads up, Harry." Fred nodded to him. "We'll take care of the family side over the holidays. You may get an invitation to speak to our dad afterwards. Have a nice night you three." The Weasleys walked out of the privacy barriers, but Hermione motioned for Harry and Neville to stay put for the moment.
"Hermione, what's up?" Neville asked. "Why was the date my parents were attacked important?"
"Neville, your family and Harry's were close correct?" He nodded in response to Hermione's question. "Do you know who your godparents were?"
Neville shrugged. "My godfather was an uncle. He was killed soon after I was born. My godmother was Harry's mum. Why?"
"Do you know if your mother was Harry's godmother?" Hermione continued.
"I think she was though I'd have to ask Gran to be sure."
"Where are you going with this, Hermione?" Harry asked.
"I'm not certain," she admitted. "It's just quite a bit seemed to happen within a few days of October 31st, 1981. Your parents were killed. Then you were left with the Dursleys the next night. Two days later Sirius Black, your godfather, was arrested and sent to Azkaban. The next night Neville's parents, your godmother, were attacked. A day later you were entered into a marriage contract, albeit an incomplete one."
Harry gaped at her and Neville's face was so red he looked ready to explode. "Look, Hermione," Harry said quietly, "you both know I am no fan of Dumbledore and I hate how he seems to have been manipulating my life but…you don't think he actually framed Sirius Black and then arranged for Neville's parents to be hurt do you? I don't like the old man but that seems like it's going a little too far."
"I'm just saying that this is an awful lot of coincidences, Harry. There's a famous quote, 'once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action.' " Hermione sighed. "I think we need to look into the Sirius Black case ourselves. That might be a good lynchpin."
Neville took a few deep breaths and slowly got his color and temper back under control. "If the Headmaster had something to do with Mum and Dad…"
"Let's not accuse anyone of anything until we know more, Neville." Hermione said placing a calming hand on his arm.
Harry nodded agreement. "Yeah, remember we were wrong last year about Lockhart being the one to open the Chamber."
"The git still tried to kill us," Neville pointed out.
"True, but not because we were right about our guess. I'll admit this all looks bad but let's poke around a bit. I've been building a list of grievances against Dumbledore, and while there's a lot nearly all of it is technically legal even if it is an abuse of authority. The man may be manipulative but this sounds almost evil and I don't think he's evil."
"Just an arsehole," Hermione muttered. Harry and Neville both gaped at her, mouths hanging practically to the floor. Hermione looked up and glared at them both. "What?"
"You cursed!" Harry uttered pointing at her.
"Well what kind of person draws up a marriage contract for a baby and a toddler?" Hermione crossed her arms and scowled. "Not to mention leaving you with those people and threatening to fire Shiva when she had the audacity to argue with him. Dumbledore is an arsehole through and through. And while I have no intention of proclaiming that from the ramparts I am allowed to curse a bit here and there thank you very much!"
The boys held up their hands. "We're sorry, Hermione," both stated in unison. The girl glowered for a moment before accepting their apologies with a nod.
"You know," Harry said, "it's funny. I was actually going to ask you to help me look into Sirius Black anyway."
"What? Why?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not really sure. Something's been nagging at me for the past few weeks since Shiva told me about it and I honestly can't figure out what the problem is. Something just doesn't sound right…"
Hermione sighed. "Well, I suppose it's a good thing we agreed to check the facts then. We can get started tomorrow. It's been a long day, gentlemen. Let's head off to bed."
"Yes, Mistress Hermione," Neville said with a cheeky grin. He ran up the stairs laughing at the glare his friend sent his way.
"Goodnight, Hermione." Harry gave her a quick hug and then followed Neville to the dorm trying to ignore the last hour or so at least until the next morning.
"Good morning, Luna," Harry said as he passed the younger blonde in the Entrance Hall.
"Good morning, Harry Potter," she replied airily.
"You know, you can just call me Harry," Harry said with a chuckle.
"You don't mind?" she asked cocking her head at him.
"I really don't. The only ones who call me Harry Potter these days are people just interested in staring at my scar and a slightly manic house elf." Harry smiled thinking about Dobby. Hopefully the little guy was living large and enjoying his life with its new freedom.
"Well then, I shall refer to you as Harry, Harry." Luna paused to consider for a moment before sighing and shutting her eyes. "If you wish…you may call me Loony."
Harry frowned at that and stopped before they could make it to the tables. "Why would I want to call you that, Luna?"
"It is what nearly everyone else calls me. I am convinced the wrackspurts encourage it though I have not ruled out the nargles either." Luna's eyes had opened and she turned to look at him. Her face was very carefully set and betrayed next to no emotion. "The term first started when I defeated Ronald in chess while visiting Ginny two years ago."
Harry's gaze swept to Ron and he glared at the back of the boy's head hard enough it was amazing the redhead's head didn't spontaneously explode, before turning back to Luna and smiling softly. "Luna, I have no intention of ever calling you Loony, okay?" He saw her eyes widen but that was the only thing that registered on her face. "And I'll see if I can find some of the…wrackspurts and have a bit of a talk with them about that name also."
"Why would you do that, Harry?" Luna's gaze abruptly shifted from distant and unseeing to piercing and scarily focused.
"Because you seem nice, Luna. I was called names myself for a long time. It wasn't very fun." Harry shook his head. "Would you like to sit down with Hermione, Neville and I for breakfast?"
"Change tables?" Luna asked.
"Yeah. We could always move to sit with you over at the Ravenclaw table if you'd prefer…"
"I…Yes," Luna said nodding. "I would like to sit with you, Harry. May we sit near Ginny as well?"
"Sure." Harry led Luna towards his usual spot sitting down across from Hermione and Neville with Luna plopping down to him. Both his friends shot him a questioning glance but Harry just shrugged smiled prompting the other two to shake their heads and return to their breakfasts.
When Ginny walked into the Hall a few minutes later Harry waved her over next to Luna. "Morning, Luna," Ginny said with a yawn. "How come you're over here today?"
"Harry invited me," Luna said simply.
"Oh. Cool. Can you pass the bacon please?" Ginny yawned again while taking a few slices from the proffered plate.
"Luna," Hermione said after they were all looking a bit more awake. "Harry, Neville and I were going to start looking into a rather old case shortly. You said your father was the editor for the Quibbler, yes?" Luna nodded. "Have you helped him write any articles by chance?"
"I have written a few," Luna said, fingering her radish earrings. "I used to have a column on things the blibbering humdingers said."
Hermione shut her eyes and visibly took a breath before shaking her head and continuing with her query. "Would you be interested in helping us with our investigation? Perhaps assisting in the write up of any potential findings?" Harry smiled over at his friend for the suggestion.
Neville was nodding along as well. "Yeah, that'd be good to have an actual reporter help out."
"I'm not really a reporter…" Luna said glancing down. "I prefer to think of myself as an explorer. A reporter would have far less success finding the crumple-horned snorkack than an explorer."
"Well," Harry said, "you still have more experience tracking down this kind of stuff than we do. We tend to solve mysteries right in front of our noses. This one might take a bit more work."
"You truly want me to help?" Luna looked at Harry with that same piercing gaze from a few minutes ago. He felt like his soul itself was being weighed by this young blonde.
"We do, Luna," he responded not breaking her gaze. Luna blinked slowly and smiled nodding yes to them all.
Ron finally looked up from his third helping of food at that point and noticed Luna sitting nearby. "Why is Loony sitting here?" Fred and George sitting a bit further down the table smacked their heads against the wood.
Harry watched Luna's shoulders slump slightly before her distant smile returned. Harry bumped her shoulder and when she turned to him, raised his eyebrows at her and mouthed 'watch this'. Luna's gaze widened in reply and her eyes focused again.
Harry turned to Ron before Hermione could start in on the redhead. "Hey, Ron, do you remember last year when you tried to steal my Cloak?" The table immediately fell completely quiet. The only people who didn't remember that little incident were the new first years. And even some of them had heard the story already.
"Y-y-yeah?" Ron mumbled starting to pale.
"If you don't want similar wards to mysteriously appear around your bed you should probably call her 'Luna' or 'Miss Lovegood' or really anything but 'Loony'." The silence in the Hall had stretched to include the other three House tables.
Ron's eyes widened but color returned to his cheeks as he got redder and his complexion grew splotchy. "I can call her – "
"Ron," Neville cut in, "remember who your brothers are too. And which side they tend to support in these arguments."
All the red again drained out of Ron's features and he turned to look at the twins who still had their heads on the table but flashed identical thumbs up at Neville. "Right. Yeah. Sure. No problem."
He abruptly shut up and conversations seemed to restart. Harry turned to see Luna staring at him wide eyed. "Fun, eh?" She slowly nodded and giggled a bit.
Harry noticed Snape standing up from his place at the faculty table with a sneer firmly plastered onto his features. Harry sighed and murmured, "Comm on, contact Daphne."
"Harry?" Daphne responded almost immediately. "I assume you're about to want the rule verbatim?"
"Yeah," he replied. "I know we had discussed this for us but it looks like I'm about to need it now instead."
"Shame. This would have been far more fun if I or Tracey cited it. Oh well, just repeat what I tell you when prompted."
"Will do. Thanks, Daph," Harry turned to face Snape as the man walked up to him.
"Lovegood. Return to your table immediately," Snape said with a scowl.
Harry placed a hand on Luna's shoulder keeping her sitting down as he raised his brow at Snape. "May I ask why, Professor Snape?" Again conversation in the Hall quieted down. Harry caught a glimpse of Shiva at the faculty table leaning over to whisper to McGonagall and Flitwick. All three quickly covered their mouths obviously stifling potential laughter.
"Students are to sit at their House tables, Potter. This does not concern you. Now, Miss Lovegood."
"Actually, Professor, that's not true," Harry said with a lopsided grin.
"What are you blabbering about?"
"Harry, said your statement was untrue Professor," Luna stated with a dreamy smile. "Perhaps the wrackspurts have been hovering around you too much?"
"Get back to your table now, you silly girl," Snape said barely containing his sneer.
"Sir, before you interrupted I was telling you that you were wrong about the requirement to sit at House tables," Harry responded calmly.
"Of course they are required to sit at their tables, Potter!" Harry saw Shiva giving him a small salute.
"Well…" Harry started and then waited a moment for Daphne to murmur the exact wording to him. "According to Hogwarts bylaws Section D, Subsection 2, Paragraph 3A, Line 12: 'Hogwarts students are required to sit at assigned House tables only during the Welcoming and Leaving Feast and any specifically designated Special Occasions Feasts such as welcoming a Foreign Visiting School. At all other times, students are encouraged to sit at other House tables with friends, family or acquaintances in an effort to foster inter-house camaraderie and cooperation.' So Professor," Harry said smiling up at Snape, "Luna is not only allowed to sit here, she is actively encouraged to do so."
A pin could have dropped like a cannonball in the Great Hall for all the noise that was going on. Harry caught sight Shiva shaking with her hands desperately clamped over her mouth. Flitwick wasn't even trying to hide his laughter, holding his belly and chortling merrily. McGonagall had a smirk plastered on her lips which – for her – might as well as been her rolling on the floor. Surprisingly the new Defense teacher was also chuckling though he was attempting to hide it if a bit less successfully than Shiva.
Snape just snarled and spun on his heel to stalk out of the Great Hall.
"Excellent work, Harry," Daphne said into her Comm Stone. "We'll make a Slytherin out of you yet. Disconnect."
Dumbledore watched his Third Year students filing out of the Great Hall with mixed feelings. On the one hand he could appreciate a well executed prank even if the victim was Severus. That the prank had been performed simply by knowing the Potions Master's likely reactions and having a rulebook handy was impressive.
On the other hand…Harry had undermined the staff authority quite decisively. And in a distinctly Slytherin fashion. He could see Greengrass' hand in this. A fact that was distinctly worrisome. Even more so – Minerva and Filius tacitly approved. That Bathsheda did not lift a hand in prevention came as no surprise and Remus had been a Marauder so his amusement was expected as well. Dumbledore had hoped that another summer with the Dursleys would have reminded Harry just how precious Hogwarts was as well as how trustworthy its teachers could be.
But Minerva and Filius…Dumbledore was losing control of his faction. Voldemort was moving again.
He could not afford to lose control. Not when so much was at stake.
"Hermione…" Harry said looking at her schedule for a third time and finally giving up rubbing his forehead as he handed it back to the girl. "How can you possibly take every single course at once? You realize three of those classes meet at the same time?"
Hermione blushed and snatched her paper. "I'm surprised you noticed that honestly. I know it will be difficult but I have no doubt I can handle it."
Neville just shook his head at the girl. "Seriously though, why do you want to take Muggle Studies? Your parents are Muggles."
"Well it will be interesting to see them from a witch's perspective don't you think?"
Harry sighed. "I think you should just get a notebook to compile a list of issues if you're going to take that class, Hermione. We're still using quills and parchment plus 90% of the magical population can't even pronounce electricity let alone know what it does. Don't complain to us when you find out the things they teach are a hundred years out of date."
Hermione glared at her friends. "We shall see." The trio walked into the Ancient Runes class waving at Shiva who winked back at them. Grabbing seats near the middle Hermione stopped and stared wide eyed. "Lavender? You're taking Ancient Runes?"
Lavender shrugged, tossing her hair a little. "I've seen some of the things Harry comes up with in the Common Room. It seemed interesting. And besides," she smirked, "just because I love to gossip doesn't mean I can't study as well as the rest of you."
"She's got you there," Neville laughed. "Hello, Susan. I hope you had a good summer."
"Hi, Neville, Harry, Hermione," the redhead said flashing them all a smile. "My summer was great thanks. Harry, I hear some congratulations are in order?" She winked at him and slyly nodded toward Shiva.
Harry nodded back at her. "Thanks, Susan. Tell your Aunt we appreciated the advice by the way."
"Will do. So is anyone else surprised that Millicent Bulstrode is in this course?"
"Harry's exploits have made a rather big impression on her. She's trying to follow in his footsteps a bit," Daphne said as she and Tracey grabbed seats nearby. "Millie may be intimidating, but she's a lot smarter than she looks and she's pretty nice if you can get her talking."
"Well," a raven haired, oriental girl said sitting in front of Harry said, "I for one was planning on taking this class before you starting making waves, Harry. We haven't really been properly introduced yet. I'm Su Li."
"Nice to meet you, Su," Harry said shaking her hand.
"Alright, people," Shiva said, rubbing her hands together and getting the class' attention. "Welcome to Ancient Runes. Let's get started, shall we?"
"I can't believe Hagrid is teaching hippogriffs for the first class!" Hermione muttered besides Harry and Neville.
Harry had just gotten off of the hippogriff named, Buckbeak after a short flight around the campus. The animal was beautiful sure but…"Give me a broom any day. That was not my idea of a fun flight."
"Says the man who flies directly towards the ground at a 100 km/hr," Hermione scoffed.
"Yeah but I'm in control when I do that," Harry grumbled. "How the hell am I supposed to know what my flight partner is going to do if it has a brain of its own?"
"Heads up, people," Neville murmured. "Malfoy's up."
Harry's eyes narrowed watching his self-declared rival stalk towards Buckbeak. He palmed his Fishing Line rune just in case. It had been an idle experiment in pranking over the summer that ended up turning out pretty good. The cluster functioned somewhat like a modified version of the summoning charm they'd learn next year, but this one was directed and could just yank on a distant object and pull it a short distance in whatever direction the rune stone was jerked. He knew Fred and George would have a field day with it when he showed them.
"I still think if the blockhead is foolish enough to annoy the hippogriff you should just let him get hurt," Tracey said from beside the trio. "Getting a bit bloody would serve the ponce right."
"And if he runs to daddy afterwards, Trace?" Daphne commented watching Malfoy sneer at the animal.
"Yeah, I know…it wouldn't be fair to the critter. I still want to see him bloody after he tried grabbing your arse earlier," Tracey replied.
"Well the Whomping Willow is close. Maybe we'll get lucky and the Fishing Line will be a bit stronger than I expect," Harry snorted.
Malfoy glared at the hippogriff who screeched back at him and pawed the ground, obviously rejecting the boy. Malfoy didn't care. "Stupid birdbrain. You're just a pathetic little animal. You'll submit to me." He smirked and strode forward. Buckbeak reared back onto his hind legs talons extended to slash Malfoy. The boy's eyes' widened and he held up his arm to fend the hippogriff off. Harry groaned and stretched out his hand with the Fishing Line. He latched onto Malfoy and jerked the boy away from Buckbeak before the half bird could get in trouble for injuring a student. Malfoy sailed arse over teakettle about 5 meters towards the Whomping Willow though he tumbled to a halt well short of its reach.
"Pity," Tracey muttered, "though I admit seeing his robes flapping over his head like that was satisfying. I would've figured him for a boxers kind of guy, but I guess not…"
"Yes, we certainly have something to taunt him with now," Daphne agreed with an evil little grin.
"You see? This is why hippogriffs should not be shown to Third Year students." Hermione shook her head and sighed at the moronic quality displayed by her yearmate. She was careful to hide the upturn of her lips from her friends. It simply wouldn't do for them to find her laughing at the misfortune of another during a class. Even if that other was Draco Malfoy.
"Headmaster Dumbledore," Lucius Malfoy said as he glided into the Great Hall at the end of the week during breakfast. Draco hurried up to his side. Harry shook his head and raised an eyebrow at Hermione. She sighed and waved him on. Harry stood and made his way towards the staff table along with Hermione, Neville, Daphne and Tracey. Surprisingly, Millicent, Blaise and Lavender all stood as well and followed them. Harry glanced at the others but they just nodded to him and waved him forward.
"…demand the location of the animal in question," Lucius was saying. "Such a dangerous creature cannot be allowed near students and it will be put down immediately. I assure you I will also be seeking the immediate dismissal of Rubeus Hagrid from his post. The man has no business teaching an important class."
"Mr. Malfoy, so good to see you again," Harry said with a smile any Slytherin would be proud of. "I see you managed to dress yourself without the assistance of a house elf."
Malfoy sneered at Harry but did not otherwise acknowledge his presence. Snape on the other hand did. "This does not concern you Potter. Return to your seats. All of you."
"Actually, Professor, if Mr. Malfoy is discussing Buckbeak and the incident in Care of Magical Creatures class the other day than I assure you, this does fully concern me."
Snape sneered and replied, "Well the others certainly should return to their seats then."
"We're present as witnesses, Professor," Millie said earning a supportive nod from Blaise and Lavender as well the rest of his core group.
"Mr. Malfoy," Harry said before anyone else interrupted, "are you attempting to punish Buckbeak for knocking back Draco?"
"Of course, child," Malfoy said, an oily grin spreading across his face. "The Minister has agreed that such an event cannot be allowed to occur in the future."
"Oh well there's no problem then. Buckbeak didn't do anything to Draco beyond rear back in warning. I was the one who jerked him away." Harry shrugged while inside he was cheering in triumph. This was going to be fun.
Draco's face had gone from superiority to confusion to rage but he managed to hold himself back while his father was there. Lucius on the other hand looked dumbstruck. "What?"
"It seems just like the last time you were here," Harry nodded at Tracey who gave the man a predatory grin, "you are operating on horribly mistaken information. I noticed that Buckbeak had reared back and looked likely to fall forward in Draco's direction so I used this," he pulled out a Fishing Line rune stone, "to jerk him out of the way of any danger."
"You did what, Potter?!" Draco exclaimed. His father quickly shushed him though his own face was twisted into a snarl as well.
"Be that as it may, boy, the animal is still dangerous and – "
"Technically a flobberworm is dangerous too, Mr. Malfoy. You could choke on one at least if you tried to eat it." Tracey snorted at that and Lavender looked slightly ill. Harry just smiled and continued, "All students were warned extensively not to approach a hippogriff without receiving a bow. All these people behind me will testify that Draco ignored this warning and proceeded towards Buckbeak – not only without receiving a bow, but also while insulting the animal."
Daphne raised her eyebrows and said, "The equivalent behavior in Potions class would be throwing in several ingredients at once and then tossing spells at the hissing concoction. Neither Buckbeak nor Hagrid did anything wrong. Draco did. Harry Potter saved him from his own stupidity. You should be thanking him."
Lucius' expression settled into one of acquiesce though the corner of his mouth kept twitching as it tried to scowl. "It appears I did not have the full story. Very well then. Good day, Headmaster." He started to turn back towards the doors but Harry got in one last call.
"Should I toss out another glove, Mr. Malfoy?" His only response was the slapping of shoes on the stone.
"Potter," Snape snarled, "detention tonight for assaulting a fellow student!" Harry looked to Dumbledore with raised eyebrows but the old man didn't make any expression.
"Actually, Professor Snape, seein' as Harry was protectin' yehng Draco I think he deserves to be rewarded not punished. 10 points to Gryffindor!" Hagrid said with a large smile.
"I agree, Hagrid," McGonagall said. "You will not be serving detention, Mr. Potter."
"Hey don't forget the others," Shiva threw in, grinning. "All of you guys who came forward as witnesses take five points each. Good show of support and doing the right thing!"
As Harry turned to head back to his seat with the others, he could practically hear the grinding of Snape's teeth behind him.
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