The start of the school year after the holidays was much easier for most of the students, but for Harry, it was much harder than he was used to. All the sixth years had commented on how hard the start of the year was, how the Professors seemed to all agree on making their lives practically impossible, and how they gave them an untold amount of homework. Yes, in general, they all agreed that the sixth year at Hogwarts was extremely hard, and Harry did not disagree with them.
Although it was evident that the level of the classes had risen drastically, Harry didn't find it impossible to keep up, as more than one person had assured him after his OWLs, it was true that it was hard but not to this extent... in fact, he wouldn't have resented it so much if it hadn't been for his classes with Ginna and his participation in the Quidditch team, which stole a lot of the time he could dedicate to studying and doing his homework... the only difference would be, that he might not be able to finish that course in three months as he had done with all the others.
Of course, the Professors had noticed that there had been a drop in the level of learning of the eldest Potter brother, but none of them wanted to say anything, being too aware of the age of the boy, as well as his many different activities to be able to continue advancing courses at the same speed as before... Although the Professors were aware of how difficult the situation was, it was not the same with the headmaster, who did not miss any opportunity to discredit the young man's achievements.
"Anyone would think, Headmaster, that you have something against young Mr. Potter." Professor Snape said at one of the staff meetings, after having heard how the old man criticized the boy and the decision to promote him. "Despite the fact that he has shown exceptional abilities since he started Hogwarts, you have done nothing but dismiss his progress and urging us to do the same. On the other hand, his younger brother Brian, is an average student at best and since he arrived he has done nothing but cause problems... I think I speak for everyone when I say how much we dislike his attitude and behavior, something that you forgive and even encourage. Are you hiding something from us, Headmaster?"
"Come on Severus." The old man said casually. "Your comments are not impartial... your past history with James does not make you speak objectively."
"My past relationship with that piece of junk has nothing to do with the opinion I have of his children. Besides, by that rule, I would also have to detest the eldest of the boys, and on the contrary, Harry seems to me to be a very nice person, as well as an excellent student"
"Leaving aside whether Severus dislikes Brian because of his father or not, I must say that I also agree with him, Brian Potter is at best an average student... the only reason he stands out is because of his bad behavior and attitude, don't forget the incident at the beginning of the year between him and Harry."
"Come on Minerva, you're not going to tell me that you give importance to a simple dispute between brothers?"
"A simple dispute between brothers, Albus!? If Severus hadn't shown up when he did, the boy might well be dead right now!"
"Exaggerations."
[T/N: choke on your Little B*tch boys D*ck!]
"I don't know what you're hiding about that boy, but rest assured that no one else is as blind as you."
"I'm not hiding anything, Minerva."
"What do you mean, Mr.Dumbledore?" said a completely new voice in the room.
"Mrs. Piori... What a surprise to see you here " said the Headmaster, quite surprised.
"And why is that? I think you're talking about my student, right? Then it's normal that I'm here too." The woman answered calmly. "The reason why his performance has also dropped has been because of the addition of my classes... they are classes that take up a lot of his available time." The woman was about to leave when she suddenly turned around. "Let me tell you something, Dumbledore, voices from the future are never easy to interpret, they usually lead to horrible mistakes when not done by an expert, you have been warned. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a class to teach."
After that the woman left the room, leaving behind some very surprised Professors and a somewhat confused, though very stubborn, headmaster... although that didn't matter to her, she already knew what was going to happen, and her warning to Dumbledore had only been so that he wouldn't come back later saying that she hadn't warned him about his mistake. Now she could rest assured that she had given him a warning... the future wouldn't be as he imagined, and when he realized it would be too late. Brian Potter was not the prophesied child, something that anyone with common sense could see... there was no clue except the word of an old man, who had no experience in deciphering something as complex as a prophecy.
The best thing was to let the future take its course and the truth is that everything was predestined, if it had been discovered who the white phoenix really was, he would now be a more concentrated version of Brian, something not only unthinkable but terrible... Many important things awaited the chosen child, great things for which humility was a very important point... Yes, the goddess Destiny knew well how to do her job and she would make it as easy for him as she could, but now, as she had said, she had a lesson to give to the young seer.
She entered the room where she had her classes with the boy and smiled, Harry was already doing the pre-trance exercises, which showed the great dedication he gave to his various studies, these included.
The boy had turned out to be a sweetheart, a truly adorable guy, albeit one who lacked a lot of self-confidence... an unfortunate product of his primary upbringing with his careless parents and which his Uncle Remus's efforts hadn't prevented... She hoped that the many conversations she was having with him would serve to increase his self-confidence.
"Good afternoon, Harry." She said smiling, seeing how despite being in a state of concentration he didn't startle upon hearing her.
"Good afternoon Ginna. What are we going to do today?"
"Well, I thought we could try mirrors... What do you think?"
Harry's enthusiasm for learning was intoxicating, always willing, always cheerful no matter what... it was a pleasure to teach that way.
Harry, for his part, looked at Ginna with genuine admiration, being taught by one of the greatest psychics of all modern times... it was the dream of many people touched with the gift. Plus, there was also the fact that she had taken a special interest in his private and academic life, and after having only Remus for so long, it was nice to have another responsible adult in his life.
In addition, there were also the different conversations he had had with her that had made him think about many things that until then he believed were unchangeable... like that he was also worth it or that his brother was much more important than him... in fact, one of the conversations he had had with her had indicated the exact opposite or at least that was what he had understood.
**FLASHBACK**
"Prophecy is a rather low type of divination... not only is the recipient unable to remember what they had seen, but they also cannot say what they have seen clearly, but is forced to tell the content in a riddle. Mysteriously, prophecy is one of the most respected and considered most reliable methods of divination..."
"Can injustice be done or pain caused in the name of a prophecy?"
"Unfortunately, yes. There have been many times throughout history that great damage has been committed in favor of a prophecy... in fact, many of the greatest crimes in magical history have been because of a prophecy. "Ginna said with a sigh due to what she supposed was the reason for the boy's comment then added, wanting to give him some encouragement. "The most curious thing is that practically all the prophecies have been very misinterpreted, not discovering the errors until it was too late or at the time of fulfillment."
"But sometimes they are well interpreted..."
"No, Harry... prophecies are a coded warning, a warning meant to be misinterpreted, usually so that the real reason for the warning can come true." She contradicted him. "A prophecy can only be correctly deciphered if it is a medium or higher grade seer who tries it... otherwise, the interpreter is bound to make mistakes no matter how great or omniscient a wizard he is. Remember what I'm telling you, even Dumbledore can make mistakes."
**END FLASHBACK**
That conversation had made him wonder if the prophecy that theoretically spoke about his brother was correctly interpreted, and after giving it much thought he had come to an overwhelming conclusion... They had been wrong! It was not only the final comment about Dumbledore that had made him come to such a conclusion, but for the first time in his life he had looked at it objectively and logically, and he had seen that the theory was not supported by any physical fact, only by possibilities... His brother had not shown any kind of ability or power that was special, in fact, in some cases he was a rather mediocre wizard.
After that conclusion he had a new and extraordinary (at least for him) discovery, without the prophecy in between, there was nothing that made his brother better than him, absolutely nothing that justified Brian being treated better than him... nothing. And that made him think that maybe, in fact, he wasn't as worthless as he had been made to believe throughout his life... this revolutionary thought was a trigger to free himself in many ways, for the first time he wasn't afraid to deal with his brother and defend himself, nor to answer back to his parents for their unfair treatment (although that didn't really matter to him anymore, he had Remus and Ginna, why did he want more?)
[T/N: well laa dee da, took you long enough]
The conversations with Ginna also helped in another way, the psychic had made several insinuations about his future and how he was going to influence society... from what she was telling him, he was going to be someone important in the magical world, that initially seemed unthinkable to him, but now... he had given it a lot of thought and believed he knew how he was going to influence society, and in relation to that thought he had decided what he wanted to dedicate the rest of his life to... now he just had to hope it would be possible for him.
In the end, his life was changing in so many different ways that it was almost a shock to realise that they were approaching the end of the term and to see that for the first time, he was not going to take exams at the end of the term... everyone was so nervous that it almost seemed a crime that he remained so damned calm. It was around that time, one morning at the end of May when all hell broke loose on those who should have been his year mates.
Breakfast had started just like always, the two different groups of the course were sitting close but with some seats apart... the great majority of them were talking about the upcoming exams and all the material that had to be studied, as well as different doubts, when the ceiling of the Great Hall was filled with owls that went from one student to another. It was then that they could see one that was carrying what was obviously a black envelope, and silence fell throughout the hall as they watched where it was going, surely to Gryffindor as always.
The bad thing was that this time, she didn't head towards the lion's table, but continued straight ahead until she reached the Hufflepuff table and then began to descend. At that moment, you could almost hear the silence of a pin dropping on the floor, while all eyes were fixed on the girl, who, unaware of the excitement she was arousing, continued to carry the letter to its recipient, a second year, Hanna Abbot.
[T/N: F*CK!]
She picked up the letter with trembling hands and, ignoring the bird, began to open the ominous envelope... then, she read the letter and, crying, ran out of the room. Her companions looked at the letter that had been forgotten on the table with a mixture of surprise and apprehension, but none of them made any movement... none until Harry took the letter amidst angry exclamations from Ernie.
"Don't touch it! That letter is private!"
"In case you haven't noticed, this letter has told her that someone, if not her entire family has died." Harry replied coldly. "It would be much better if we knew who it was so we could help her better."
"Still, the mail is private!" The other complained.
"If you feel like asking her who, go ahead, but I'd rather not make her feel even worse." Then, he took the letter and began to read it quickly under the watchful eyes of the rest of his companions, then he looked up and said in a soft voice... "Her mother died at the hands of Death Eaters... last night, in Bristol."
"But why would anyone want to kill her?" Susan whispered.
"Death Eaters don't need a reason to kill," Harry replied. "They just do it. This time it was Hanna's mother, next time it could be one of our parents or even ourselves. I told you this a long time ago, but you didn't listen. We're at war, and this war makes no concessions to anyone. Now, if you'll excuse me."
After that, Harry got up from his seat and went off in search of his housemate. These were not times for her to be alone, but in the company of people who appreciated her and understood what she was going through... now if only he could find her...
In the end, he found her in a rather hidden corner of the astronomy tower, just as he had imagined. She was crying as a way of showing her sorrow and frustration at a situation that she believed was painful and unfair... but as someone once said, who says life is fair?
"Hanna..."
"Leave me!"
"No"
"Don't you understand that I want to be alone?"
"Yes... but I don't want you to be... "The boy answered as he sat down next to her, ignoring the harsh glare his classmate was giving him.
"And since when have you been worried about me? Ever since you came to school, you made friends outside your house and you left the rest of us aside except for Athenea and Jonathan...!"
"I think that accusation is unfair and you know it... From the first day, you showed your displeasure with my ideas about war, and in a way, you pushed me away." Here Hanna started crying again. "You knew it could happen."
[T/N: I assume this was in the background, though this feels like Harrys being an ass]
"I didn't think it would happen to me... The war was something very far away... something that appeared in the prophet, but that didn't affect me."
"It's our turn... sooner or later Hanna, this time it was your mother, but tomorrow it could be my parents." Harry hugged his housemate and pulled her close to him. "You know we're by your side, right? You can always count on us to help."
"I know and I'm sorry".
"Why?"
"For trying to hurt you. You came all this way to support me and I treated you badly."
"Don't worry... you were within your rights."
[T/N: Yeah man! Harry's finally realising his worth! If you loved this chapter then leave a comment (I love reading them), drop some stones, and write a review! If you're fired up and can't wait for the next chapter then check out the P@treon or the Ko-fi for advanced chapters!]
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