บท 68: Beetle in the Bed
Harry's POV
Harry was just about to serve himself some dessert, when his brain went into Yellow Alert. He looked around, but didn't see an adult anywhere near him. He was confused until, he noticed a beetle in Luna's hair. He looked at his map and it read Mrs. Wiggles, so he knew it was an Animagus. Normal animals and pest don't have names, unless they were pets, like Mrs. Norris. So, even if this wasn't an Animagus, he should put it in a jar, so he could return it to its rightful owner, right? He was sure this was a human in animal disguise, though. And judging from the coloring he knew just who this was.
Quick as a wink he blinked, and the bug was stunned. He wandlessly floated it into his non-TARDIS pocket, knowing it wouldn't kill her. Though he might later, if she was here to hurt him or his friends and judging from the fact that she snuck into the castle, well… he'd see. Yeah, it wasn't a nice thought, but only a conniving person would sneak into Hogwarts. They had to be up to no good.
The rest of dinner was uneventful as the gang talked of classes and Magical Theory they had read. Hermione was getting frustrated that Luna and Neville were making arguments that contradicted what she was saying, but they never gave up their source. The twins asked if they could read the books, and Harry agreed that he'd get it to them tomorrow at lunch. Finally, everyone got up from the table and made their way to their beds. Well, Luna went and talked to her Head of House, but the Gryffindors called it an early night.
Harry was in his room, sitting on his bed. He took out the bug, placed it on the other end of the mattress, and then waved his hand to make them reform to their human form. An unconscious dual colored woman was laying on his bed. 'I knew it was Skeeter. Oh, this will be fun,' was his wicked thought as he glanced at his map to confirm it. He tied her up and woke her.
"Hello, Rita, what can I do for you today?" he asked kindly. He was making plans for this bitch, but the spell from the Howler would be a good start, so he was going to play innocent for now.
"You could untie me and let me go," she said coyly, which really with the jinx made her look ridiculous.
"No, I don't think I will. At least not until you tell me why you were sneaking around the castle," he demanded with a wave of his hand, placing a truth spell on her.
"I wanted to get some dirt on you," she said airily, like it was okay to let him know that.
"Really? Well, if you wanted an interview all you had to do was ask," Harry said, settling into his pillows. He took out his wand, released the spell, and said, "Shall we start."
Rita wasn't about to let that opportunity slide, so she quickly dug into her purse and withdrew her Quick Quotes Quill, some parchment and she settled at the end of the bed. They talked for a good while, Harry telling her how he woke up in an alley in London missing his memory, and the abridged version of rest of the two weeks since. She smiled wickedly, thinking she could spin this to make the boy look weak. Her revenge would be sweet.
Harry grinned like he had no idea on her thought process. He just continued with his tale, until he was done. He left all the major things out of course, but gave her enough to think she had a juicy article.
When he finished, she got another coy look on her face and said, "Thank you so much, Harry, may I call you Harry? Anyway, I will make sure to write this up and I'll see you on the front page." With that she put her notes in her bag, turned back into a beetle and flew out the open window.
Harry waved his wand and shut it when she was gone. He then broke down and laughed his arse off. When he was done, he talked to his mind crew about setting up holograms outside mind. He really liked the idea of scaring annoying people off with Worf. They went over how it could be done, until he was too tired to continue. He went to sleep and had his favorite dream about women dancing in the moonlight.
The next day, he got up, ate with his friends and went to see Sirius. This time casting the invisibility spell on him, so he wouldn't be bothered by teachers.
Sirius was in a great mood, he just kept smiling and getting vacant looks, so Harry figured he had gotten some and left it at that. "Did you read the book?" he asked instead as he settled in his chair.
Winky popped in and set up a tea tray then mumbled something about housework and left. The dogman never even noticed his head was so high in the clouds.
"Sirius, the book?" Harry said louder, snapping the man out of his daydreams.
"What? Oh, yeah, I'll have to shore up my Occlumency, but I think I will be able to do some of the easy stuff. But like you said, I will have to unlearn everything I've been taught. It'll be hard," he said, his smile leaving his face. He really wanted this to work, but he still had doubts. He'd go over the book again when Harry left.
"Nay, as long as you think you can, you will," our hero argued with a wave of his hand.
"If you say so," the dejected man stated, not really believing the teen.
So the two sat and discussed Merlin's methods until lunch. Harry excused himself and ran to the castle, remembering to cast the invisibility spell. He really didn't want to have to talk to the old man again. As he entered the school, he saw the Bloody Baron, who didn't see him. So he shot the spell to hold him and floated the ghost to a greeting room. "Hello, Damien, I've been wanting to talk to you," he said with a smirk.
"How are you doing this magic? Nothing can hold spirits," the bound ghost asked, running his hand over the shield that preventing him from leaving.
"Just something I picked up," the teen said as if it were unimportant.
"Very well, what can I do for you Mr. Potter?" the Bloody Baron asked, hoping the child would now call him by his title. He truly hate when people used his human name, it was too painful.
"I just want to know what happened that night. I know Snape has something to do with my memory loss and I know you know how," he stated, all signs of friendliness gone. "And don't give me that story you gave the Head arsehole." He glared pointedly at the ghost.
"Everything I told the Headmaster was true," the spirit sniffed.
"But, not the whole truth. See I have this niggling feeling that I should remember you, Snape and what happened that night, and I wouldn't put it past the man to take that memory to save his skin. So tell me what happened and I might help you peacefully move on," Harry said smugly.
That was something to think about. While he still wanted to be near Helena, he felt he had done his penance for her murder. Then again, can you really do enough reparation for that type of crime? He debated it in his head and got a narrow look in his eyes. Perhaps the boy could talk to his love, and then maybe he might be able to leave on his own. "Will you talk to the Grey Lady? All I want to do is show her how sorry I am," Damien asked, still floating in that marvelous shield.
"I can ask, but no promises. Is that what you have Snape doing?" the dark-haired wizard asked.
"That and one other thing, though he is not keeping his part of our bargain," the ghost confessed with a scowl.
"Right, I'll do my best, but really after all this time, I wouldn't expect much. From what Luna tells me, she really hates you," Harry said with a bit of pity.
So the Baron told the young boy what occurred the night, hoping that this human would keep his word. They talked for a while and Harry left to eat lunch, after waving his wand and releasing the shield. He went to the Great Hall and sat with his friends. He looked at the twins and remembered his promise, so he reached in his TARDIS pocket and made two copies of the Gryffindor book. "Here," he said as he handed them over, "if you finish this one I have a few more you might like."
"Thanks, Harry," they said as one and dived into the books.
"So, how was your day?" he asked his friends and they settled into eating, all the while Harry was going over what to do with the information he had. He knew he could just out and out accuse the man, but with twinkle-eyes being his mentor that might not happen. So he glanced at the twins and came up with a plan.
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