The train got there without any incident, at least from the perspective of Harry Potter and the other people in his compartment. The young mage sat down at the Gryffindor house table, with Hermione sitting down on the other side. Neville sat down close to them, and Harry watched the first years file in one at a time, a smile crossing his face.
"So, do you realize that someone who should be here is not?" Harry asked as he eyed the group and Hermione's eyes widened when she thought about it and as a result nodded her head very slowly.
Sure Ron was not welcomed but now they were curious about what happened to him. Harry felt that Ron was like a dumb animal in some ways, he needed to make sure he knew where he was at all times. This fact was because the belief that Harry thought his stupidity was something that endangered him by osmosis. The young wizard closed his eyes as he thought a little bit and suddenly focused his hearing when he heard Snape in a rage.
Normally Harry was not going to be too bothered by anything Snape said at any time but he heard Ron's name, so that diverted his attention towards the greasy Potions teacher.
"I do wonder if Ronald Weasley was dropped on his head as a child," Snape stated to Dumbledore and McGonagall in an undertone.
"Who would think that was a good idea to drive a flying car to Hogwarts?" McGonagall asked as she turned around a scowl twisting around her face as she thought about it. No logical reasoning crossed her mind.
That was the million galleon question, one that neither Snape nor Dumbledore wanted to even bring up. Neither had a good answer either for what went down and both looked equally flummoxed, even Dumbledore who always saw the best in people. The two of them closed their eyes, with scowls crossing their face when they thought about it. They threw their heads back and both of them appeared to be grasping for words.
"I would have a word with Mr. Weasley about his conduct," Dumbledore answered and neither Snape nor McGonagall had found their tongue enough to ask whether or not Dumbledore meant the father or the son. They suspected that Arthur would have some questions to answer when the Ministry caught wind that he been enchanting a Muggle automobile and Merlin only knew what else.
"Is there any clue where the car has gone?" McGonagall asked as her eyes widened at the thought.
"I have no idea and Ronald Weasley is unable to tell us given the state of his condition," Dumbledore answered as he looked a bit sad. He had great hopes for the youngest Weasley but then again he had great hopes for all his students and many times they had been misplaced.
"So what's up Harry?" Fred or maybe it was George, Harry hadn't bothered learning the difference yet. Then again, he was not sure if they even knew the difference half of the time. Given all of the times they pulled the wrong twin joke, Harry would not be surprised if those two had pranked themselves inadvertently into forgetting their own identities.
"Well I've got some news about your brother," Harry stated and Fred and George looked at him. "That'd be Ron."
Fred or George eyed Harry carefully, before one of them said. "Ginny said he missed the train."
Hermione was curious about this and she listened to what Harry picked up. She knew he had really good hearing, at least that was her best friend informed her. The young wizard smiled a little bit before he turned to the twins and decided to drop the bombshell to the best of his abilities. He was one who enjoyed milking that moment when he threw his arms together before the bombshell was dropped.
"Your father charmed a car to fly, didn't he?" Harry whispered to the twins.
One of the twins offered a sheepish grin and they nodded in response. "Yeah that is kind of a mania with him."
"Drives Mum bonkers…well more bonkers than usual."
Harry folded his arms and nodded, Mrs. Weasley did have a few issues from the few glimpses he saw of her. Unfortunately for Ron, a lot of those issues affected him and caused him not to be a brain surgeon. The young wizard took a moment carefully to hum and build up anticipation for what he was going to say next.
"Well your brother, took the car, and drove it into a tree," Harry stated as he heard more information from the Headmaster, Snape, and McGonagall despite the fact they were edging further way. Despite that fact, his hearing was strong as ever before. "Something called the Whomping Willow."
Fred and George widened and looked a bit amused and also a bit horrified.
"Well the Whomping Willow doesn't appreciate getting hit."
"And if Ron drove the car into the tree…"
The pause was long and Harry watched the eyes of the twins widen like saucers before he offered a smile. He really could really say no more about that and Hermione shifted, she was trying to laugh.
"Greetings students of Hogwarts!"
'Oh no,' Harry thought as he heard the bright and sunny voice of Gilderoy Lockhart when he got up to his feet and waved. It was quite the absurd sight when one really thought about it. Not to mention a good thing that Harry did not eat, for he had the desire to upchuck all of his food immediately.
"I know you are about to have your meal but I've taken upon myself to tell you a bit about myself, even if you should have read my autobiography," Lockhart stated in a bright and sunny voice when he waved at them, bouncing up and down.
'Oh great Rao,' Harry thought as he wanted to bang his head against a wall.
Heat vision was so tempting, it was really tempting now with the young wizard carefully watching him. Just burn his head off, it was so easy he could focus it and save everyone, hell he might get an Order of Merlin for it.
Lockhart would have to wait another time for there were too many innocent people in the crossfire. Plus if he accidentally struck Snape, the grease fire might consume the entire Hall.
"Naturally, my fame doesn't need an introduction, but since I'm here, I might as well grace you with one anyway," Lockhart continued and Harry saw Snape with a similar look on his face.
To Harry that was the worst thing possible, the fact is that he and Snape were forced to have some kind of common ground. He put his hands on his head, before he threw his head back and wanted to bury himself somewhere. The young wizard was only mildly glad that Lockhart started this now. Because if Lockhart started this speech after dinner, there would be the greatest projectile vomit ever or at least the most massive one, well at any rate it would set some kind record.
Harry decided that he was not really going to listen to this, so slowly and surely, he slid out the mirror that he had, before he tapped on the edge of it, a smile crossing his face.
"Sersi, guess what?" Harry asked as he called up the goblin princess.
Sersi smiled when she picked up the mirror. She had been getting done filing papers at the bank, the most boring and tedious job in the world. The rumor mill was running wild. "Bill Weasley's youngest brother was seen flying a car over the country to Hogwarts."
"Well that wasn't what I was going for but yeah, he was," Harry responded as he let Lockhart drone on in his self-indulgent speech. "And he crashed the tree into the Whomping Willow."
"So, he survived right?" Sersi asked, figuring that was the case. Despite theories to the contrary, human stupidity was not often rewarded as it should be and that was with a slow and agonizing death.
Harry responded by shaking his head. "Yes, he crashed into the Whomping Willow and received some head trauma. No one quite knows what happened to the car actually but the common theory I've overheard with the teachers is that…."
"Its gone wild hasn't it?" Sersi asked with amusement crossing her face.
"Well it has a mind of its own but yeah, it going wild is not out of the realm of possibility," Harry fired back when he shifted the mirror in his hand. Lockhart still droned on and on, with no end in sight. Harry wondered if the torment would ever stop or at least halt a little bit. He sighed.
"You seem stressed out," Sersi responded as she ran her hands through the top of her hair, the goblin princess looking at Harry through widened eyes.
"It's just this idiot is giving this long overblown, and pompous speech and it's lasting about ten hours," Harry answered with a long and rather poignant sigh.
"Ah, Lockhart, I've had the misfortune of reading one of his books," Sersi stated with a disgusted look on her face. The fact humans allowed those books to exist made another goblin rebellion seem to be rather tempting. The young goblin girl took a moment to throw her head back and sigh. "Hang in there Harry, I know it's rough."
"I know, I always do," Harry answered with a smile crossing his face, before he offered his next question to her. "So how is the Granger project coming along?"
Hermione's ears perked up when she heard her name and she wondered what Harry had in mind. Sersi wasted no time in explaining the situation in great detail to him.
"Well, we've got our hands on the property, it turns out its lapsed," Sersi answered when she decided to allow that point to be milked a little bit. Harry spotted that the natives around them got very restless. "The human bankers were very helpful in getting us what we need. Also, David Granger only owns a minority share in the Dental Practice, if you want to sign the papers, you can get the shares from the other shareholders. Some of them are quite strapped for cash."
"Get it ready and send them to me, I'll get them signed," Harry responded, a calculating expression dancing in his eyes.
"What are you doing exactly Harry?" Hermione asked, she bit down on her lip nervously.
"I'm teaching your father some respect," Harry answered in a brisk voice and this allowed Hermione to shudder, she had no idea what that entailed but she was sure that it might not be fun for her father. Not that she really sympathized with him that much after the hell that he put her mother through.
Harry went on with his meeting with Sersi, hammering out some of the more minor financial details whilst Lockhart gave the self-indulgent history of Gilderoy Lockhart.
Dear Pamela:
Your last letter was interesting, but brace yourself because I've had a hell of a first week and that's not at term that I use loosely. Oh where to being, where to begin, oh where to begin?
Well Ron's going to miss most if not all of his second year as well. He received a grade three concussion apparently. The lack of brain cells he must have left is alarming. I'd like to say that's his karma coming back to bite him in the backside after putting me on the radar of Lockhart. Seriously, Lockhart's stalking is bad. Although this new first year, Creevey, he might be worst.
At least if I'm going to be stalked, I want it to be a fairly attractive red haired female that does it and not some dude. Might sound weird, but I've got standards that I'd like to maintain no matter what, but Creevey….well I can't say that he grew up here, so he has no excuse for his stupidity.
Moving back to Lockhart, as much as it pains me to do that, the guy is unbearable to be around, likely a pedophile, can't even get his facts straight, and he can't even teach a class. Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher and he can't even deal with Cornish Pixies. At first I thought he was winding us up, due to the fact that they really aren't that dangerous. Pests that you want to strangle yes, but they're not that dangerous.
Then again, given Lockhart's personality so far, he is in pretty good company with these pixies. Hermione, Neville, and I, we managed to take care most of them. After Lockhart got a group of second year students to do his dirty work, which really tells you all that you need to know. You know, you'd have to be pretty blind or stupid not realize that this guy is a fraud.
Then again, given that some of these people don't know the end of their wand from the end of their arse, I wouldn't be surprised. He gets fan mail and half of the girls in this school scream. You'd think the fucking Beatles landed circa 1960s with the reaction this guy gets. He's like a living Ken Doll and twice as stupid.
Well enough about self-important blonde twats. Quidditch season is back on and whilst I don't mind Wood getting me up at the crack of dawn for practice, I would have liked some bloody heads up. And I'm still trying to figure out how he got access to my room. I'm wondering if he asked Minerva, she's nearly as obsessed with this bloody sport as he is.
He'll have to understand that he should not take the fact that I nearly blasted his head off to be personal. It's just he woke me out of a sound dream.
So, anyway, getting back to the subject of the morons, which I seem to run into constantly in this place; wow my life does sound rather messed up. But I digress. Also oddly enough back onto the subject of self-important blonde twats that I have the misfortune of dealing with, Draco Malfoy is on the Slytherin Quidditch Team. It isn't because he is a great member of the team, no that wouldn't be it at all. You don't even need to read between the lines of what's going on here. His father brought new broomsticks and magically he's on the team.
Of course, the joke might be on him because I've got some inside information about the Nimbus 2001 brooms. Apparently there was a lot of quality that was sacrificed for them as opposed to the 2000 models. So while the brooms might seem to be better, they are likely to crumble apart quicker than the 2000. They're also very likely to wedge a splinter up someone's arse.
Again, pardon the vivid imagery.
I could buy my team brooms, better brooms, but they don't need them. I could beat Malfoy with both hands tied behind by back and blindfolded. From what Lucretia tells me, he's a decent flier, but he loses focus in the air easily. Arrogance will become his undoing and that's what I will use to take him down.
Still Quidditch practice has increased, even though I've told Wood not to worry about anything. It's in the bag and all that. Have some faith in me.
But I guess that is too much to ask.
Nothing else is going on around here other than the standard homework, third year classes have increased the workload. Depends on what the teacher want Hermione and I to do. Shouldn't be too bad, it's not until fourth and fifth year where things get challenging but I'll worry about that later.
That's it for now.
Talk To You Soon,
Harry
Hermione and Harry sat outside the Quidditch fields underneath the invisibility cloak. The two of them sat next to each other, watching the Slytherin Quidditch practice. Call it a morbid curiosity on his part, but Harry was curious to see if the new broomsticks made a lick of difference or if it was the same old thing as it always was regarding Malfoy.
"I don't know much about those brooms but they don't look half bad," Hermione responded but Harry smiled, to an untrained eye that might not seem that bad.
"They don't look half bad but it's how they work in the long run that is the key," Harry responded as he turned to her and explained what he heard. "The Nimbus racing broom company is pissing their pants because of the new Firebolt coming out next year. They rushed the 2001 model out, less than five years after the original. Normally they release a new Nimbus every ten years, so they could perfect the broom."
"Fascinating," Hermione answered in a dry tone of voice but Harry turned around.
"Well Nimbus lost their sense of business, it is because they're going to end up shooting themselves in the foot with their poor attempts to get the Firebolt's key audience away with the grand launch this spring," Harry whispered to her. "They are sorely mistaken."
It wasn't obviously to the untrained eye but when Harry watched it, he saw it. He saw the slight faults that already developed in these state of the art Nimbus 2001 brooms. The 2000 or even the 1900 models would handle much better in the long run. Crossing his arms, Harry watched the brooms fly around in a circle, but they went off to the side, slightly shaky.
"Malfoy doesn't know how to handle such a quick broom," Harry added as he watched it before keeping a close watch on Flint and the rest of the Quidditch team. A slight smile crossed his face before Harry added as an afterthought. "And the rest of them don't know as well."
Hermione saw one of the brooms veer out of control and Draco screamed when he slammed down hard onto the ground. The next movement was something that almost any man in the world could sympathize with. The broom sprung out with a solid clang struck Draco Malfoy directly in the crotch, causing him pain, blues, and agony.
"Oh that's got to hurt," Harry stated in a whisper as he winced, he really had to say that was one where his sympathies did kind of lie with Malfoy or they would if he was not such an arrogant twat. Considering that he was, there was no sympathy to be had.
And sure enough, Malfoy was yelling and cursing, blaming Flint for distracting him.
"Just remember Malfoy, you're only on this team because your father hooked us up. I can still make your life a living hell if you give me a reason to!"
Harry smiled; he could tell that Flint was at the end of his rope regarding Malfoy as well, the yelling got louder and more intense. His patience faltered more as practice continued to heat up. He was taking a moment to really ream Malfoy out with what happened and how he did not really earn this spot on this team.
"If you don't beat Potter to the Snitch when we play Quidditch, I won't be happy," Flint stated as he bared down on Malfoy, looking ready to chew him up and spit him out. Given some of the rumors that Harry heard about Flint's family, it would not surprise him in the slightest.
Harry decided to breech one topic that he had been avoiding for a while but he figured since he was sitting here next to Hermione, he might as well say it. He slowly turned towards his friend and broke the ice.
"So what did you do to Creevey?"
Hermione offered a smile. "Mmm."
"Colin Creevey, what did you do to him?" Harry asked with a smile on his face, seeing through Hermione's innocent act instantly.
"Oh, I asked him really nice and politely to buzz off and kindly leave you alone," Hermione responded with a faux expression of innocence. He raised an eyebrow and the life debt made her decide to tell the truth. "I put a spell on him where he breaks out into hives every time he feels compelled to be a nosy little stalker."
"Oh, well do you think he'll learn his lesson?" Harry asked her but Hermione responded with a shrug.
"Only time will tell," Hermione remarked as they continued to watch the Slytherin team Quidditch practice, as comical as it was.
Harry was half tempted to take notes but it seemed as if the only strategy to a Slytherin Quidditch game was to cheat one's ass off. Not that was a bad strategy, in some ways, Harry found it to be almost clever but it was not something that was conductive to long term playing against a more cunning enemy. Which was amazing given the fact that the Slytherin house prided itself on being the cunning house; Harry did wonder if that needed to be reevaluated.
The young wizard watched, yep the Slytherins were a group that prided quantity over quality that was something else that he noticed. Brute force was what was going to win the day for them and not any kind of strategy. Flint might have had a few brain cells but one could not really tell. The other gorillas that followed him, there was no doubt in Harry's mind that they didn't have much going for them upstairs.
They could have brooms that were a hundred times better than what was handed to them by Malfoy and his father. Not that Harry was worried although the brooms did fly well for the moment. Even if there were a few distinct faults that he kept his eye on carefully.
He did take a few notes mentally, the first Quidditch match of the season was in early November, and he doubted that these brooms would handle well out in the cold. There was a fault to them that made it hard to turn them around in the air.
He would grab the Snitch, and make Malfoy think twice about his false bravado. He would break the land speed record in doing so, if he could manage it. There would be plenty more opportunities to spy on the Quidditch team underneath the cloak although Harry noted that Flint at his worst was not as fanatical as Wood. Then again Flint barked at the Slytherin Quidditch team for their stupidity.
Not that it was unfounded but that was a mental note that Harry made. There was something about Quidditch Captains that made them extremely fanatical.
Daphne knew that this was coming, then again calling people out of their stupidity tended to lead to them taking great offense to it. There were a lot of fools in the world, and an alarming number of them resided in the Slytherin house, the supposed house of the cunning. It alarmed her to see the number of people who helped bring their house's reputation down such.
It happened today in class; she decided to call out Lockhart on one of his claims in class, in front of witnesses. Lockhart could not refute or disprove her claims of falsehood. She was calm and collected, reasoned, and that was not something that Lockhart expected. In fact, Daphne saw something from Lockhart and that was anger.
It was no surprise that the mysterious messages were spread to the castle that gave documented proof of the falsehoods that Lockhart presented in his books. Daphne could add a few more that they missed, and if a hundred students came with a hundred different things, that still wouldn't scratch the top of the list.
Daphne was told to report to Lockhart's office after dinner to have a discussion about her attitude, which was fine. Harry nailed Lockhart twice as hard but Lockhart had enough brain cells to know that trying to force the issue with Harry Potter and trying to exert his authority was not going to work out in his favor. Andromeda Tonks for one would roast Lockhart on a spit.
The blonde Slytherin remained calm and collected, and there were two people who knew that she was called for this meeting with Lockhart. Her sister Astoria was the first person who knew and there was Potter. Potter warned her to keep on her toes around Lockhart and Daphne took that warning to heart.
There were few things that rattled Daphne however and she took this meeting as an opportunity to settle a slight score. Lockhart took credit for many things that were not in his menial capabilities to something that Daphne was pretty sure that one of her family members did. She heard the story, so did her mother and father when he was alive. Yet, this charlatan passed off the deed as his own in his fiction. Most people would let that go but Daphne was not about to let it go.
Her blood boiled at the thought that Lockhart could be making gold off of the heroic actions of her aunt. Her aunt died a year ago so she was not alive to deny Lockhart's story but Daphne felt it burned into her head. How she beat the Banshee that Lockhart claimed victory over.
Lockhart called her to talk about her attitude, which was fine. Daphne figured that he opened the door for her to confront him.
Daphne raised a hand and knocked on Lockhart's door, she was not about to let this one go without an argument. The girl tapped her foot and rolled her eyes when she waited for him.
"Stop preening and answer the door, Lockhart," Daphne answered as she bit down on her tongue and rocked back a little bit, waiting for him to answer the door. She was already annoyed that she had been called here.
The door opened and Lockhart flashed one of those smiles that caused Daphne's skin to crawl a little bit.
"Miss Greengrass, I'm glad you could make it!" Lockhart stated in a cheerful voice but Daphne's expression soured.
She didn't have a choice, not really.
"Perhaps we could clear the air about you being misguided in class today," Lockhart remarked as he invited her inside. Being a teacher, Daphne knew that she had to follow him inside, although she felt much like a fly being lured into a spider's web. "I think we can forget that entire business and it's obvious why you lashed out how you did."
Lockhart paused and smiled.
"You have a crush on me, quite understandable, but you have no way of expressing it," Lockhart responded in a brisk voice. "I must say, if you wanted an autograph, all you had to do was ask and I would have happily given it to you. Anything for a fan, anything for a fan, dear lady."
Lockhart offered a bright smile and Daphne wanted to take a beater bat to his teeth.
"I don't want an autograph, I don't have a crush on you, I want you to admit that you're a fraud," Daphne responded and this caused Lockhart to grow rigid for a moment before he slowly turned around, looking over his shoulder, with a slight smile crossing over his face.
"I beg your pardon?"
Daphne was not fooled by the innocent act, not even for a second. She watched him carefully and took in a deep breath before she spoke slowly. "My aunt, Estella Greengrass, she was the one who defeated the Banshee that you claimed to in that pile of drivel you call a book. In fact, you didn't do any of these things, did you? You took credit for the works of others."
Lockhart paused when he turned around, his attention to Daphne.
"You're a fraud, you didn't do anything," Daphne responded but suddenly she felt her arms and legs snap together and she fell back on the ground.
"You've got a lot to learn, Miss Greengrass," Lockhart responded as he eyed her downed body, she was unable to move now. "It wasn't the work of someone who was lazy to get those books out, oh no far from it, far from it, I worked hard to gain my reputation and I will not have some second year ruin it."
Lockhart hovered over Daphne with a lecherous smile on his face.
"I've fine-tuned my memory charm, it's a specialty of mine, first I did it during my years at Hogwarts and then to random people on the street, it was amazing, you could do anything to them and they would never remember," Lockhart commented in a swift voice, a far off expression in his eye. "I can make them forget what I've done with them in a snap of a finger, just like that."
Daphne realized the implications of this and was sickened by them. She felt her stomach turn into knots that she could barely handle and try to escape everything but she was trapped and Lockhart could do anything that he wanted to her. It sickened her and scared her even to be this much out of control.
Before Lockhart could take a step forward, some force sent him flying backwards. A loud crack could be heard as Lockhart collided with the wall in agony before he slumped to the ground. Daphne felt herself scooped up and sped halfway across the school towards the hospital wing.
"Potter," Daphne responded as she found herself cradled in his arms.
"I take it he was going to do something to you, wasn't he?" Harry asked, his voice was calm although he likely broke several of Lockhart's bones.
He needed to make sure Daphne was okay and then he would send a tip to the hospital wing to check for memory charms.
Given that Lockhart was here for over a month, he may have succeeded with other potential victims.
Daphne sat at the edge of the bed in the Hospital Wing; needless to say, she could have handled that better. Of course, for all she knew, she could have already confronted Lockhart about the matter and got her memories erased and who knew what else. That was why she was nervous about what Pomfrey was doing to her. The wand tapped on the edge of her temple and Daphne waited a little bit, feeling the pressure of the magic wash about her. The blonde closed her eyes a little bit and waited for the news, whether it be good or bad, to be given to her.
"So what is it?" Daphne asked and Pomfrey decided to give her a smile before she stated what the situation was.
"There is good news, Lockhart didn't remove any of your memories," Pompfrey responded when she looked at Daphne. "Other than the ordeal you went through, you are perfectly one hundred percent normal and could be checked out tonight."
Daphne understood that if Harry had been five minutes later….she didn't want to even want to think about what would have happened. The fact that Lockhart used that memory charm before wasn't the problem. It was the fact that he used the memory charm before and went undetected for so many years that was the huge problem. Daphne recalled that point with picture perfect clarity and closed her eyes, as she focused on the matter at hand.
"Professor Lockhart, on the other hand, suffered half of the bones in his body being broken, along with a concussion, a cracked sternum, and a shattered pelvis," Pomfrey stated, she tried not to wish harm upon others being a Hogwarts Healer. "Several students have symptoms of having their memories modified and I need to sort out this problem."
Even if Lockhart wasn't injured, given what Pomfrey uncovered, Dumbledore would need to find a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher to begin with. Despite that fact, Lockhart was injured, battered, bruised, what have you, and Pomfrey thought that her sympathies lacked a little bit with that twat. He tried to hit on her last week, as if she had the time to read his books. What Dumbledore was thinking when he hired the man, Pomfrey did not know. She would have to subject the man to a neurological examination.
"So will that be all?" Daphne asked, she hated hospitals, they made her feel so vulnerable. She never liked to be in them, after watching her father die slowly when she was very young.
She closed her eyes, Lockhart caught her off guard, that made Daphne resolve to re-double her efforts and take some private study beyond what this school taught. It made her want to slap herself for letting her guard down so much. Memory charms were dangerous and Lockhart decided to use them to the worst possible application.
"Yes, that will be all, Miss Greengrass," Pomfrey responded and Harry showed up there. The Hogwarts Heal spun around to watch Harry with a crisp expression. "Mr. Potter."
"Madam Pomfrey," Harry responded with a brief smile.
"I take it you are here for your check up to make sure your memories have not been tampered with," Pomfrey when she looked at Harry, who responded with a nod.
"Yes, even if a fool like Lockhart could not really get the drop on me," Harry responded with confidence when he eyed the healer and turned around with a smile. "But then again we must be sure of these things. Memories are a precious thing and what Lockhart did….well he better get comfortable with Azkaban."
"If I have anything to say about it, he will," Pomfrey stated with conviction burning through her eyes and Harry believed that she would keep her word. She did the scan for residual effects of memory spells. "And you are good to go Mr. Potter."
"I'm glad I am," Harry responded when he got to his feet, that was a tense last few moments and he hoped to really get some things done. The young wizard carefully got to his feet as several more students filed in.
Daphne followed him, there was a moment of silence that existed between the two of them, she had no idea what she needed to say. So the Slytherin said one word that she never thought that she would be in a position to say.
"Thanks."
What galled Daphne a little bit about the situation was what her moment of arrogance cost her, it caused her to become indebted to someone and despite the fact that someone was Harry Potter, it still made her feel extremely vulnerable and frustrated that she showed even a tiny amount of weakness.
"Well, you learned a valuable lesson," Harry responded walking until he slid to a stop outside of the door leading to the private quarters he retained. He worked out a deal with McGonagall, although how he worked out that deal, well that was a private matter. "Lockhart looked like a tool but he did have one valuable tool up his arsenal, that being his little memory charm."
"I can't believe I fell for that," Daphne stated and she edged forward, but Harry threw an arm around her, before he pulled her in tightly.
She allowed him to touch her, because it relaxed her. There was something about him that dropped her defenses down to their lowest. The blonde dragged her feet a little bit around the ground before she dropped onto the bed.
"Lockhart was someone who was far more dangerous than he looked on the surface," Harry responded, the memory charm was prone to a lot of abuse. It wasn't like he would be in the position to use it or abuse it any more for a long time.
"Yes, I thought that he was a complete stooge but I guess I was wrong," Daphne responded as she closed her eyes. "I guess that's a huge dose of reality that I wasn't ready for."
Harry smiled at her. "Well he was a teacher, so one might expect him to be trustworthy. It just goes to show us that….expectations can be misplaced."
Harry wondered how desperate Dumbledore was with hiring Lockhart. Or if he even bothered to look for everyone else, Harry was certain that Andromeda might have accepted the job, if she had been given the proper amount of motivation.
"It's a fortunate thing that you were passing by," Daphne responded before Harry smiled towards her.
"I would have done that for anyone, no one deserves to be victimized by someone like him," Harry responded to her. "At least nothing happened."
'Others weren't lucky,' Harry thought to himself, what Lockhart used his memory charm for, well it was fortunate that something dire did not happen.
"So I want to thank you," Daphne answered as she placed her hands on Harry's shoulder. "In the same way that Granger thanked you after the troll."
"Oh, you do realize that you'd be admitting that you owe me a debt until it is sufficiently paid," Harry answered as he brushed her hair back and looked into her stunning blue eyes.
"I realize that but given that I planned on seducing you by the end of third year, this just speeds up the time table slightly," Daphne answered, when she dropped her robes to reveal the tight white blouse that she was wearing, the short skirt that showed off her impressive legs, and she kicked off her shoes and socks to reveal her bare feet. She cupped his crotch, but Harry grabbed her arms.
She flew back onto the bed and he crawled over the top of her. She squirmed until Harry ground his covered crotch into her center. Bending down, Harry whispered in her ear.
"Who is seducing who?"
Daphne shivered, when she felt his mouth on hers and she returned the kiss hungrily, sucking on his lips, when Harry rolled his hands down her body and down her back. He was going to take his reward, one way or another.
Gilderoy Lockhart winced he had never been in more pain in his life until now. After being caught with his hand in the cookie jar, there was an instant where he understood what true pain was. Whatever attacked him, they had done so without mercy. It tore him to the bone thinking about what they've done and Lockhart's eye twitched for a moment. What if they came back and finished the job that they started? For the rest of his life, he would sleep with one eye open, holding his pillow tight.
No he didn't need to worry about that, he was in the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts, one of the safest, most secure areas on the planet. And he was going to be moved to St. Mungos in the morning, so there was nothing to worry about this. No doubt the girl could be bought, women were obviously driven by shiny objects. That would allow him to buy her forgiveness and that situation will be smoothed over.
Footsteps could be heard but Gilderoy made himself silent and closed his eyes. He did not say anything, not one word. The Hogwarts healer was coming by to treat him. Bound by her oaths that she could do nothing to hurt him, no matter how much she wanted to, Lockhart felt safe and secure. His security blanket wrapped tightly around him when he rested back on the bed.
Little did Lockhart know that it was not the Hogwarts healer that was creeping around these hallways. Had he known that she was here, then he would have been afraid, very afraid, of the person who came around and crept towards him.
She waited in the shadows, with a potion bottle in her hand, careful to charm it so nothing, not even the slightest finger print stuck to it. As far as Lockhart knew, this was his pain medication but it was a subtle and rare poison that would slowly cause his vital functions to shut down.
His body became numb suddenly and his eyes opened to see a face in the shadows. Lockhart tried to open his mouth, once, twice, and then thrice, but there was nothing to it. Not one sound escaped his mouth; it was like torment beyond anything. He tried to move, tried to shout, but there was no way for him to escape. There was no easy way out for him.
"Gilderoy, it's bad enough enough that you tell blatant lies in your books and pass them off as true," she responded as she watched the pathetic wreck on the bed. "Believe it or not, Harry Potter is someone that doesn't have the time going around rescuing people whenever he pleases. So when you put Daphne in the crossfire, you made a big mistake, you insufferable ponce."
The blonde in the shadows smiled as she watched Lockhart. If he was able to move, he would squirm but he needed to be paralyzed for this little murder scheme to work, so watching the fear dance in his eyes would sufficient, she watched the hope drain slowly from his eyes.
"Dozens of overweight house wives will cry themselves to sleep for what I'm going to do," the blonde responded, a sad smile crossing over her face. There was remorse, even though said remorse was a front. "I don't do this out of any joy, or any desire to kill people, but out of necessity. I do it to weed those out of this world who do not belong. And when you hurt Daphne, that was an annoyance. What you tried to do to her, it would have annoyed me, but it would have been something that would have got you sent to Azkaban and nothing more."
The blonde flicked her hair and a smile crossed her face, a sweet little smile that did match her malevolent eyes. The blonde whistled through her teeth a little bit but kept herself firmly on the mark.
"That would have annoyed me, yes it would have, but it was the fact you inconvenienced Harry Potter's life that angered me," the girl whispered and she tipped the pink liquid into Lockhart's mouth. "First, your lungs stop drawing in air. Then your heart stops pumping blood. Kidneys fail, your bladder bursts, all slowly to the point where it seems like it's a freak ailment. The poison in your system flushes itself out in time but not before your vital organs are burned out. And not before it seeps to your brain, killing your already limited number of brain cells."
She lowered her voice to an even creepier whisper.
"Brain cells die one at a time, not that it'd take long in your case," she whispered. "You will be left an empty headed fop, useless, nothing more than a mannequin. But for you it might be a step up."
She edged away and Lockhart was placed in a stare of awareness but to the outside world, he would be asleep, rendered catatonic. He would feel every waking moment of pain as his body shut down, slowly, painfully, like she deserved.
He wanted to scream but he couldn't. That would be his fate for the remaining weeks and months of his life.
"So new pets tonight, Harry?" Kara asked with a bright smile when she turned up along with Faora.
"Yes," Harry answered, wishing once again he could touch this perfection of Kryptonian beauty. Then again, that could apply to both Kara and Faora, both of them were stunning and looked delicious enough to eat.
"You deserve as many women as you can get and then more," Faora stated as she fondly stroked Harry's hair. She rubbed his shoulders. "Daphne and Tracey are good specimens and they will help you with the urges that cannot be fulfilled as much with merely Hermione."
"I'm glad you approve," Harry responded before Faora ran her hands through his hair.
"I trust your judgment and your taste," Faora answered and Kara nodded.
"So you got rid of that idiot," Kara responded when she rolled her eyes. "You know, if you ever wanted a case that would prove the stupidity of humans, you really don't need to go much further than that guy."
Harry laughed, that was so unfortunately true. Lockhart really abused his position and Harry shuddered to think what might have happened if he got away with much more. He suspected that they would never know, for better or for worse. Daphne was saved and Lockhart would be in St. Mungos for the foreseeable future.
"You do have a bit of a savior complex," Faora mused and Harry eyed her nervously. With the tone of her voice, he did not know whether she was being critical or not of him. "Which is fine, providing it doesn't develop into a hero complex. Saving the world is fine, but doing it past all sense is not fine."
Kara smiled, Faora told her something a long time ago that rang true in her head and she had to repeat it to Harry. "People love a good hero but they love a good hero falling even more."
That was a point that Harry swiftly nodded. The young wizard leaned forward but Faora was not done speaking to him.
"So, you've won big time, that's good," Faora responded in an appraising voice before her hand wrapped around Harry's. Kara threw her head back, mentally counting down the days where she could do that. "Of course, people might expect you to solve all of their problems now."
"All they know is that Lockhart had been using memory charms against people and he was injured trying to so against Daphne, although I suspect the nature of the rumors will bring out accusations," Harry responded as he nodded.
"Well you're going to have to discourage the rumors, or perhaps shift them over to the point where people talk about why Dumbledore hired someone who didn't have any qualifications to teach," Faora suggested as she put her hand on her chin, before turning around a little bit. "It's up to you but I know that you'll do the right thing."
"I will," Harry offered with a grin spreading over his face, when he thought about what he was going to do, so there was damage control that was needed next.
Andromeda Tonks knew that she got the better end of this deal, when Dumbledore called her this morning on the Floo. Being owed a favor by Albus Dumbledore was a position that many people would give their right arm for. And now she had a favor that she could cash into at any time in the palm of her hand. All Andromeda had to do was cash that ticket in and she had Dumbledore in a place that was not beneficial for him.
The witch looked at Lockhart's lesson plans and snorted when she thought about what he set out before her. It would not surprise the eldest Black daughter if Lockhart only took the job to sell his fiction. It was a brilliant business move. She read a couple of his books and been appalled about the glaring inconsistencies that swam in those glorified pieces of trash. They would not even be fit of papering the cage of a pet, she closed her eyes when thinking about that.
A new lesson plan would have to be developed, and there would be changes, many changes, but Andromeda was ready to make those changes. Fortunately, if one could say that, this change happened on a weekend. That gave the witch plenty of time to make the necessary changes that would lead to her taking control of this class. The fragmented and fractured teaching in this class had been appalling but it was time to right the ship and hopefully make the rest of this year seem less of a waste.
A knock on the door brought Andromeda out of her senses. She knew who it was and suspected him arriving.
"Come in," Andromeda responded as the door opened and Harry walked inside, to face her with a smile.
"So Dumbledore gave you the job," Harry responded as he watched Andromeda who had a smile across her face.
"Yes, I had him over a barrel, got a few more concessions from him regarding you," Andromeda answered and Harry's raised eyebrow indicated that he wanted to know more about her. "Don't worry about it, although once your exams are done for your seventh year, you will be considered of age. So that would be halfway through your fourth year."
Harry smiled before he offered his statement in the most direct way. "I can't wait to get out of this place."
"Yes, but you can make up for the disappointment that several of the attractive young women would have without you if you were unable to tend to their needs," Andromeda responded with a grin crossing her face, when she removed her robe to reveal the white buttoned up blouse that she wore, along with a short skirt, stockings, and high heeled boots. Slowly, she unzipped her boots and pulled off her flesh toned stockings to reveal her sexy feet and legs, wiggling her toes and feet. "And taking this job, it will give me more chances to sample this not so little thing."
Andromeda grabbed his crotch in her hand, squeezing him and causing Harry to close his eyes, with a lustful moan.
"I'm ready for you as always, Andi," Harry breathed as he placed his arms around her mature body and pulled her into a long kiss which she returned.
Harry, Kara, and Faora were on the Astral Plane the night after Halloween.
"Oh, Harry, going to a Deathday Party would be an educational experience," Harry commented in an accurate imitation of Hermione's voice which caused Kara and Faora to snicker. "That's the last time I follow Hermione's advice on something like that. The food was rotten, the music was worse, and I meant Myrtle who was the most depressed ghost that I've ever run across."
"That's amazing given that you'd figure most ghosts would be depressed given the fact…well you know, that they're dead," Kara answered as a hand was placed to her chin in thought and the blonde closed her eyes. "Still, she sounds pretty morbid."
"She angsts about everything, it's the worst thing ever, at least Nick's angst is only based on the fact that he wasn't decapitated properly, perfectly understandable and I'm pretty sure the Fat Friar has found a way to be on drugs, given how bloody happy he is all the time," Harry responded as he looked at the two girls. "And you know what the worst part is."
"What?" Faora asked, morbid curiosity getting the better of her.
"She haunts a toilet," Harry dead panned.
Kara's eyes snapped open and an exasperated look crossed her face. "Seriously?"
"Yes, and you know if she haunts a toilet, she could be in the plumbing and if she's in the plumbing…..you know this makes going to the loo a potentially mind scarring experience," Harry added as he threw his head back and gave a poignant sigh. "So apparently, someone was attacked today."
"Attacked?" Faora asked, alarmed that this supposed safe place was compromised yet again. She could only be with her brother in spirit until the time was right but this alarmed her. "Who was it?"
"Well it wasn't a person, it was a cat," Harry responded and Kara raised a critical eyebrow. "It belonged to the caretaker, her name was Mrs. Norris."
"That's a weird name for a cat," Kara mused, but then again, she was a Kryptonian, so what did she know about proper cat naming etiquette?
"It does beg the question of what happened to Mr. Norris," Faora responded in a completely serious voice. She got serious once again. "But never mind, did you see anything?"
"Not until the aftermath, when the little message was left on the wall," Harry stated as he put his hand to his forehead and threw his head back offering a slight sigh. "Which means they want their handiwork noticed."
"Which makes them far more dangerous," Kara responded with a gri, tone in her voice.
"I agree," Harry answered as he tapped his foot on the ground and recalled it with clarity. "The Enemies of the Heir Beware, the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again."
"Foreboding," Faora commented in a dark voice and she bit down on her tongue, before rolling her eyes back. "But what does it mean?"
"It means there is trouble and I'm in the middle of it," Harry stated as he turned to both of the girls. "Malfoy yelled, and Snape saw Hermione, Daphne, and I standing in the middle of it. So naturally he put two and two together as only that greasy pile of rabies infected bat droppings can."
"But the real question is did Dumbledore believe it?" Kara asked as she watched Harry.
"Dumbledore doesn't want to believe that the horse he's banking on is anything but the golden child he's dreamed of," Faora interjected before Harry answered with a smile, that much was extremely true when they thought about it.
"So Snape thinks it but Dumbledore believes that you were not behind it," Kara added and Harry responded with a nod.
"And the rest of the school is going to likely draw the wrong conclusions," Harry answered as he spun around. "The best thing to do I think is to ignore what is happening entirely."
Kara was impressed, and so was Faora, both girls smiled and nodded.
"That is the best, isn't it?" Faora asked after she mulled it over in the back of her mind.
Those who were guilty often tried to profess their innocence the loudest, therefore Harry was going to go the right way with not even bothering to dignify the accusations of the people. Despite everything and despite the fact that some people wanted to make it true, no one could be completely convicted by public opinion.
"So, who do you think is behind the attack?" Kara asked him.
"Petrification is really advanced dark magic, beyond the capabilities of the students of Hogwarts," Harry added with a shrug.
"Or so they say," Faora responded, she was confident that Har-Zod would be capable of such magic after a time. There was nothing that she felt was out of his capabilities. "So what are you going to do?"
"Well, nothing, and it might be an isolated incident," Harry offered, hoping that they would forget about it in a couple of days.
At least that's what Harry's hope of what was going to happen. Of course, he would need to look into the mystery of the Chamber of Secrets. He got a sense that it was opened once before and the teachers knew far more than met the eyes. The question was what and how, but Harry would make his move when the time was right.
After the events of that Halloween night, there were millions of rumors flying through the air, but there was no way to confirm or deny the rumors of what happened. The one person who was in the center of the rumors, he was not about to address them in any way, whether or not they would be good, bad, or indifferent.
Harry found himself quite amused by the words of the other people, who thought they could get inside his head. Why would he attack a cat of a caretaker that he barely even interacted? Filch wanted to see punishment and Snape was more than ready to fan the flames, because of some amount of spite. Other than the time where he humiliated Snape during his first year, Harry could not think of anything that he personally did to Snape. His father may have done plenty to Snape but that should have been buried the moment James was.
There was some kind of grudge held there before the moment that Harry entered the school, for reasons that he could not properly figure out. The wizard closed his eyes when he thought about it, all of the rumors, all of the thoughts, all of the whispers, it was getting to the borderline nature of absurd.
"And you would think that people would have better things to do with their time," Hermione commented in a low tone of voice.
Harry watched as Fred and George Weasley made a spectacle of him.
"Heir of Slytherin coming through….."
"Seriously evil dude coming this way…."
"Hide your children and your animals!"
Harry was in two minds about this. The first mind was that it drew attention to him but the second mind was that it painted the thought that he could be this Heir of Slytherin to be quite frankly absurd. Plus, if people actually engaged their brains, they would realize one simple truth. Hypothetically speaking if Harry attacked people, he would not go for the cat.
"And the fact your stalker went down the other day, that's going to put the spotlight on you," Daphne whispered as she walked towards Harry. "No one with a brain cell doesn't think you did that, and you've had an alibi both times as you did it."
"Guilty until proven innocent," Hermione responded as her stomach turned a little bit.
"Sadly, that's how the people in this world work," Neville added when he walked up.
Harry was pleased his cynical nature was rubbing off on Neville but a red haired Hufflepuff girl walked up towards Harry. She spoke quite breathlessly when she watched him.
"Harry, I want you to know that I don't believe that you're doing any of the things that they're saying that you're doing," the redhead girl stated before the girl found her ability to speak. "I'm Susan Bones, second year Hufflepuff…."
"I know who you are Susan," Harry answered with a smile crossing his face. "So how is your aunt doing, she's the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, is she not?"
Susan nodded feverishly before her eyes snapped up and focused on Harry. "Yeah, she's….fine I think. She makes a point not to talk about work at home."
"That's for the best," Hermione responded, she remembered the times her father brought work home. That brought her to the next subject when Susan left after a few parting words. "So how is your project…."
"Well your father is being investigated for shady business practices," Harry answered in a delicate voice and Hermione blinked for a moment when Daphne and Neville looked towards them. "It appears that he's been funneling funds to his own bank account."
"Mum didn't know about this," Hermione responded as she tightened around Harry's hand.
"I know she didn't," Harry responded before he made a moment to excuse himself. He had a letter to address that he received this morning.
Dear Harry:
Well, sadly that's how things go too often I think. People jump to the worst possible conclusion. You were right to not even acknowledge their claims. I mean, if you start professing that you're innocent, they might think that you'll have something to hide.
But seriously, I'm doing fine where I am, don't have that much time to write back, as I would like. It took me a little while to get this letter out to you because of that and I'm really sorry. I hope that we can get together eventually; I don't think that we've had that much time to scratch the surface of our meetings.
School work's busy, driving me kind of nuts, but that's the price of being an honor's student. And my grades are holding steady. I don't even need to ask how you are doing.
I must be doing the right thing, they're asking me to tutor someone and she's promising, although a little rough around the edges. She does have potential, so they want to bring it out. I like a challenge, so why not.
Hope to hear back from you soon.
Regards,
Pamela.
Harry was prompt to fire back with a letter of his own. He dipped a quill into ink and put parchment to paper, before scratching out a response.
Dear Pamela:
Yes, unfortunately, no matter how much I don't want to admit it, that's how people do think. And I'm refusing to acknowledge it. There are some classmates that are making an absurd spectacle out of everything.
Another attack this week, my stalker got knocked off. Which might look bad for me. It's a good thing I got an alibi all things considered. Andromeda reminds me that's a good thing legally, so the Ministry and Board of Governors can't do anything. Only the idiots in the school can spread rumors, although Andromeda keeps a close eye on them. Hopefully that will keep certain parties off my back, at least for a little while. Crossing my fingers and hoping the best, even though I kind of expect the worst.
That did sound oddly pragmatic and depressing as well.
The Quidditch game was weird. Malfoy can't even fly worth a crap but it took me much longer than usual to find the snitch due to the fact that this Bludger kept attacking me. I managed to outmaneuver it. I don't even know what the Slytherins were thinking, I didn't even get a busted finger out of this.
Yes, we should meet up eventually and often. I'll get back to you later. I'm sure that I've told you enough where you're seriously considering my proposal.
Good luck with your tutoring, let me know how it pans out.
Talk To You Later,
Harry.
Harry waited for Hedwig to take a moment to rest her wings before he sent the letter off. Tonight, there was the meeting of a new dueling club, which could prove to be useful. Andromeda gave him the heads up about it, for she was running the club along with Snape under Dumbledore's instruction. They would be starting the dueling club with a mock duel between the two of them.
Harry smiled, he was hoping for some kind of accident involving Snape. Then again, when one considered that Snape was an accident to begin with, it was just as well. Still, while Snape and Harry only shared eight words during their entire time at Hogwarts, there was an undercurrent of hostility between them. Lucretia popped in on weekends to check Harry and Hermione's work and they were above all expectations.
Super hearing was a blessing and a curse, as there were times where Snape mentioned some coarse words about Harry and how his head would be inflated thanks to the special treatment that he could get. It was oddly hypocritical, as if anyone got preferred treatment from Dumbledore, it was Snape.
"Thank you for joining us today for this dueling club," Andromeda remarked with a smile as she saw the students that had shown up to participate. She had Madam Pomfrey on call, because quite frankly, they were expecting more than a few casualties. When young wizards and witches got together, there were going to be more than a few problems and chaos was about to reign, it was going to be potentially insane. That was something that Andromeda realized from the get go and she tried to make preparations as necessary.
Therefore, the witch hoped to minimize these casualties the best she could. Thankfully, a prodigal knowledge of defensive enchantments put her in the driver's seat and hoped that everything would not end for the worst, at least too badly. The dark haired woman kept an eye on the situation and the students had her rapt attention.
There were so many people there and she doubted that many of them would stick past the night. No it was not the ability to learn how to duel that brought them down but the curiosity factor that a dueling club existed was what brought them all there and some misguided intention that dueling could be learned in a day. Andromeda understood and respected that, a smile crossing her face when she awaited the situation before her.
Snape stood beside her, obviously in an attempt to undermine her but Andromeda smiled, ready for that. She'd give Snape a lesson that the Potions Professor would never forget. After she learned about what the teacher tried to do to Harry on his first day at Hogwarts, Andromeda decided that it would be best to give him some tutoring in the fine art of magic and defensive arts.
It didn't matter to her that Harry defended himself and embarrassed Snape, no that was never enough for this particular witch. She wanted to see him humiliated. One embarrassment for Snape would never be considered efficient. The witch turned towards him.
"I believe that Professor Snape has volunteered to be my partner for this demonstration today," Andromeda stated as she stared down Snape, not blinking at all. "Now if this was a real duel and a formal challenge, I would not hold back anything."
'Because if it I was, I would kill him in principle,' Andromeda thought to herself but given that Dumbledore and the rest of the teachers watched this duel, Andi had to pick her spots wisely.
"But since this an exhibition, neither of us will aim to kill," Andromeda remarked casually and crisply when she eyed Snape. "You still do want to go through with this duel, Professor Snape?"
"Of course, Professor Tonks," Snape answered in a silky voice as he stared down the woman, confident in his abilities. Defeating one of the Black daughters in a duel would give him great bragging rights that were needed with his pureblood contacts. Plus it would give Snape a chance at vengeance, given he was certain that it was Andromeda Tonks who taught Potter how to shield his mind and humiliated Snape as such. The Half Blood Potions Master kept his gaze on his opponent. "I'm ready when you are."
"On three, Snape," Andromeda answered, keeping her ears open and her eyes on Snape. There was nothing he could do that she was not prepared for. Their father made sure Narcissa, Bellatrix, and Andromeda began to learn about the noble art of dueling since they barely left the cradle and the intensity of the lessons made sure they longed for the grave. "One, Two, Three."
Harry, Hermione, Daphne, Tracey, and Neville watched the duel with rapt attention.
"Snape's done," Harry breathed to them and Hermione watched eagerly, waiting for the carnage to come to light.
Andromeda sent one spell and there was no mistake about it, Snape was pretty good with a wand. Of course, that meant very little against someone who was just a little bit better. The dark haired woman blocked his attempt at a counter strike. There was a large "oooh" coming up from the crowd when Snape felt his legs twitch and spasm when she got a partially connected spell.
"Even spells that partially connect can be fairly effective," Andromeda commented as she fired off a few more spells. His knees twitched and turned to the right, then slightly to the left. "Case in point."
Snape was caught off balance and there was the laughter of students that echoed through his ears. They laughed at him, and that caused him to be lit up.
Andromeda smiled, it was no fun winning a duel against someone who was not going to put up a fight. In fact, in many ways, it was like taking candy from a baby. Two spells collided with each other and Andromeda thought that one looked borderline dark. No doubt she could hear Dumbledore warming up the "I'm very disappointed Severus" about now and he would only receive a slap on the wrist like he received a misdemeanor.
She alternated between dodging, deflecting, and countering the spells, all three methods worked out rather well all things considered. The woman wanted to run down Snape's defenses and find a hole in them. It was all about observing your opponents movements far more than firing any spells. In fact, it was very possible to win a duel without firing a single offensive spell, if one picked their spots right.
Harry watched the duel with interest, he was mentally taking notes. He could see that Andi backed Snape slowly into a corner where he became more unpredictable but at the same time, it was hard for him to fight out of this corner that he was pinned into. The green eyes of the wizard watched the progress of the enemy.
"She's got him," Daphne whispered in a sing song voice.
"But when will she go in for the kill?" Tracey wondered, watching what transpired.
"Wait and see I guess," Harry remarked as he carefully eyed the situation at hand.
There was a huge explosion that rang around them all, and Snape went flying head over heels, before he crashed onto the stage. The impact knocked him out cold and caused his wand to fly up into the air, before landing several feet away from him.
Andromeda's smile widened a little bit before she bowed down from him. "And that is why you don't let your emotions get away from you."
The students looked on in rapt attention and nodded, before the dueling club could begin. Andromeda waited a few weeks before starting this club for a reason, so she could get an accurate assessment of everyone in this dueling club circuit.
With everyone paired up, the real games could begin.
"Third year….well it wasn't too bad," Harry remarked in a crisp voice and this was the thing that set Hermione off a little bit, with the brunette witch closing her eyes in thought.
"Not that bad, really Harry?" Hermione asked him and Harry patted Hermione on the shoulder, offering a smile towards his friend.
"No it wasn't that bad, a few new classes but really maybe only a half of a step up since the last year," Harry remarked before he watched Hermione. "You need to relax."
"I am relaxed," Hermione responded but Harry rubbed her shoulders, challenging pulses of magic. The brunette breathed a little bit, carefully biting down on her lip. He had magical fingers, no pun intended and they stroked her. "Harry….I need to…."
"You need to what?" Harry asked Hermione, running his fingers down the back of her robes, on her spine. The brunette witch shivered and Harry knew that she was putty in his hands. "Did you hear about the rumors?"
"That you're planning on knocking off half of the school," Hermione remarked when Harry kissed the back of her neck carefully, planting his lips on her flesh and brushing them slightly against her.
"Please, it'd be more than half if I was doing something, ninety five percent of this school are utterly moronic," Harry responded when he wrapped his arms around her. "And the rest are me, Neville, the twins, and some really hot women."
"You consider the Weasley twins to be actually someone that you accept?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow, but Harry reached his hands underneath her top, cupping her breasts slightly when he breathed in her ear.
"Like it or not, they do have some form of creativity but never mind," Harry responded, when he pulled Hermione's robes off to access her body easier. "If I can harness it properly, they could really be something."
Hermione nodded.
"Fourth year can't come soon enough," Harry breathed, when he inched underneath her skirt and played with her a little bit. "But I'll get my fun any way I can, and I order you to loosen up and de-stress. You're going to pass whether or not you study yourself into a coma or not."
"Yes, master," Hermione responded before she threw her arms around him and pulled herself into his lap. "How may I serve you tonight?"
A grin crossed Harry's face. "Very well."