Harry apparated into Hogsmeade and made his way to Honeydukes
so that he could make his way through the passage there. He had
decided to use this passage instead of the one in the shack as it took
straight to the fifth floor and much closer to where he needed to be. It
didn't take him long to access the passageway as the shop was still
busy so he slipped through the crowd with ease.
Upon reaching the end of the tunnel he removed the map from his
jeans and consulted it to check that the coast was clear, it was.
There were a few small groups dotted around but most of the
students were either in the Great Hall with Umbridge and her goons
or in their common rooms.
He exited the tunnel and followed the instructions that Pettigrew had
given him. He reached the 7th floor and found the tapestry of
Barnabus the barmy teaching some trolls how to dance, it was quite
an amusing depiction.
He walked backwards and forwards thinking that he needed the
room of hidden things and on his third pass a large very old oak door
appeared.
He entered the room and was amazed at what he found. The room
was stacked from floor to ceiling with various items of furniture,
books and many other items. Instead of wasting an opportunity like
this he called for Dobby who appeared instantly wearing what
seemed to be a dragonhide jacket and matching trousers.
"Dobby" he addressed the elf. "I want you to go through this room
and find anything that could be useful" he instructed. "If you find
anything valuable then open up a new vault with Gringotts and place
it in there, I'm sure the school could use the gold" he finished.
"Yes Harry Potter sir" Dobby answered with a salute and began the
arduous task.
Harry went about his own task looking for the diadem and found it
much quicker than he had anticipated, he felt it before he could see
it. He could feel the strong wave of hatred coming from the item that
was conveniently boxed for him.
"Dobby" he called again. "Could you take this to Baron Black please"
he requested. "Do not touch the thing inside the box though it is very
dangerous" he instructed firmly.
Dobby shuddered as he took the box but disappeared nonetheless.
He appeared again a moment later and informed Harry that he had
done as he asked to which Harry thanked him.
Harry left Dobby to his work and exited the room. He opened the
map again to make sure the coast was clear for him to leave
unencumbered. What he saw made him frown. The majority of the
students were in their common rooms as before but there were
around 40 people in the Great Hall, a strangely mixed group that
Harry suspected would not be in such close proximity of each other
voluntarily. He checked the time and saw that dinner had been
finished some time ago. Harry was confused and looked at the other
groups on the map. Nothing seemed particularly out of place. He
recognised some of the names and they all seemed to be with
people in their own houses, he shrugged.
He was making his way down the fifth floor corridor again when he
heard a raised voice coming from a classroom on his right and
paused to listen.
"I should of known you and your disgrace of a sister were
fraternising with the enemy" the familiar voice shouted. "Hold her still
I'm going to teach the whore… argh you dare hit me? Crucio" the
voice finished with a roar.
Harry was immediately furious. He had been on the receiving end of
the curse himself and knew how painful it was. He didn't hesitate, he
flicked his wand into his hand and aimed it towards the door, blasting
it into a thousand pieces.
The occupants of the room were shocked to see a rage-filled Harry
Potter enter looking murderous.
Harry recognised them all immediately; Malfoy, Crabbe, Goyle and
Nott. Malfoy had his wand pointed towards the crumpled form of
Daphne Greengrass who was twitching and screaming on the floor.
Harry growled and fired a bludgeoning hex at the blonde boy
banishing him face first with a sickening crunch into the wall. The
other three simply gaped at the turn of events and before they could
react they were all stunned and bound on the floor in thick black
chains.
He approached the prone form of the quivering girl and reached out
to grab her shoulder gently so not to startle her. She whimpered and
recoiled further at his touch.
"It's ok Miss Greengrass, you're safe now" he comforted her quietly,
causing the girl to turn to him slowly her eyes full of tears.
"Potter?" she asked just above a whisper in disbelief.
"Yeah it's me" he replied with a soft smile.
Without hesitation the girl flung herself into his arms and sobbed
uncontrollably. Harry instantly wrapped his arms around her and held
the distraught girl to him closely.
"It's ok you don't have to worry anymore" Harry whispered
attempting to both calm and comfort the girl. "I will make sure he
ends up in Azkaban" he vowed to her.
It seemed to ease the girl considerably being held by him and he
couldn't help but notice how comfortable it was for her to be there,
something just felt right. It wasn't like a hug that Mrs Weasley would
give him nor Hermione. This was gentle and did not suffocate him
the same way. He could feel a tingle running through him at her
touch and her scent was something he had never experienced. It
was simply intoxicating, a smell he would never forget. Reluctantly
he gently removed the girl from his arms and looked at her, she was
definitely much calmer now.
"He was going to rape me" she suddenly said clearly still shocked by
what had happened.
"Is that right?" Harry replied, his expression darkening considerably.
"That's why I kicked him" she replied quietly and began to shake
again.
He turned and approached the boy on the ground and looked at him
with disgust.
"So you've gone from being a nuisance to a disgusting criminal have
you Malfoy?" he questioned the blonde who was looking terrified.
"What's wrong Draco? Don't like it when there is someone who can
fight back?" he asked. "You are going to Azkaban you filthy little
bastard and good riddance to you, but first" he continued looking at
the boy with complete contempt before stomping with all of his might
between the boys legs causing him to scream. "That's what you get
for trying, had you succeeded I would have removed it" he spat.
He bound the boy in chains as he had his companions and turned to
face the girl again.
"What the hell is going on in this castle?" he asked her.
"Umbridge" Daphne answered simply.
Harry removed the map and checked it and saw that the same group
were still in the Great Hall.
"What is that about?" he asked the blonde indicating the strange
assembly of people.
"Oh no, she caught them all" she noted worriedly. "We have been
meeting since the beginning of the year and she and her idiot squad
caught us" She explained.
"I assume that's not a good thing" Harry intoned.
"They'll all be expelled" Daphne responded.
Harry let out a deep breath. "How bad is it?" he questioned the girl.
"Unbearable" she replied despondently.
"Ok I'll check it out" he conceded, this was not the plan but it seemed
like he had no choice now seeing how bad it was for himself
especially what he had witnessed here.
"I'm coming with you" Daphne said clinging to him again.
Harry could see she felt vulnerable and didn't want to be alone.
"Ok" he replied removing his cloak from his pocket. "Cover those
morons with this, we will have to take them with us" he instructed.
"Wow an invisibility cloak" Daphne said in awe taking the cloak. "And
what is that map?" she asked pointing to the parchment.
"Something my Dad and his friends made" he replied dismissively.
Daphne covered the other 4 in the cloak and walked back and clung
to Harry again.
"Why are you here anyway, shouldn't you be with your harem or
something?" she questioned the boy a little bitterly.
Harry just raised an eyebrow at her and shook his head.
"You shouldn't believe what you read in the media Miss Greengrass"
he suggested.
"So you're not holstering your wand all over the world?" she asked
with a smirk causing Harry to sigh.
"You read that article too?" he questioned her exasperatedly.
"Oh come on Potter" she responded. "There must be some truth in it,
you said yourself that there is some truth in rumours" she pointed
out.
"Not in this case" he denied vehemently. "I can assure you I have not
been holstering my wand anywhere" he denied sincerely.
This certainly silenced Daphne. Either Potter was a very good liar or
he was in fact telling the truth.
"Do you know the disillusionment charm?" he asked her to which she
shook her head. "Ok come here" he requested.
He placed the charm on them both and pulled her close to him so
not to lose her and levitated the four beneath the cloak behind them.
They made their way to the Great Hall and entered to another scene
that made Harry very angry.
He saw many people he recognised cut or injured to some degree
sat at a single table on the left, the rest of the furniture had been
banished to the other side of the room.
He saw Hermione, Ron and various other members of his house and
others even a couple of Slytherins. The state of them made Harry
see red.
Umbridge was stood at the head of the table with three aurors and a
collection of older Slytherin students clearly keeping watch over the
roughly handled group. His anger rose to the point where he lost
control of his magic and the disillusionment charms and levitation
charm ended causing the four under the cloak to hit the ground with
a loud clank.
Everyone turned to see Harry Potter stood in the door way with his
arm wrapped around a Slytherin girl. The group at the table simply
stared open mouthed at the two while Umbridge and her cohorts
stared dumbly.
"What the fuck is going on here" Harry demanded angrily.
Umbridge snapped out of her stupor and approached him
addressing him in a sickly voice that made his skin crawl.
"Ahh, Mr Potter I assume?" she questioned. "And Miss Greengrass,
we have been looking all over for you" she simpered.
Harry instinctively pulled the girl behind him protectively.
"You must be Umbridge" Harry replied neutrally. "I heard that you
looked like a toad but I didn't realise the resemblance was so
uncanny" he said with disgust causing the woman to flush in anger
and a few stifled bouts of laughter to break out from the seated
students.
"How dare you" she screeched.
It was then she noticed the four bound students that were partially
visible from where the cloak had slipped off.
"Oh I will have you locked up for this" she hissed gesturing to the
students on the ground.
Harry saw some of the Slytherin students stood with the aurors
reaching slowly for their wands.
"If any of you reach any closer for those I will peel your arseholes up
over your ears" he warned dangerously causing them to stop in their
tracks and look at one another stupidly. "And you will find it will be Mr
Malfoy who will be going to Azkaban and I will push for him to be
executed, the Cruciatus does carry a life sentence after all" he said
knowingly to which Umbridge blanched.
"You Mr Potter are trespassing" she screeched. "You are not a
student here this year and whatever happens within these walls is
not your concern" she spat.
"I think you'll find that when students are being treated like this" he
said gesturing to the seated group, "then it is everyone's concern" he
retorted.
Umbridge began backing away to the safety of her own group and
spoke when she reached them.
"You will regret this Potter" she vowed to the young man wagging a
finger towards him. "These aurors are going to be taking you in" she
told him confidently.
"Aurors?" Harry asked with raised eyebrows. "Aurors are supposed
to protect the magical community and if they are allowing some of
the most vulnerable people in it to be subject to this then they are not
aurors they are scumbags just like you" Harry replied casually
readying himself for the inevitable attack.
"Dawlish" Umbridge screeched. "Arrest him" she commanded.
Dawlish stepped forward with a sneer on his face. He drew his wand
but he was not quick enough. In a blink of an eye Harry had drawn
his wand and fired a bonebreaker hitting the man in the knee,
causing him to collapse to the ground screaming in pain. He then hit
Daphne with a cushioning charm and wandlessly banished her to the
side.
The other two aurors drew their wands and went on the attack. Harry
dodged the spells with ease making sure the line of fire was not
aimed at the students.
He caught the spell of one of the aurors and hissed at it, sending it
back to its caster with blistering speed. The spell found its mark and
as it hit the man a very large green snake appeared and coiled itself
around him, wrestling the man to the ground.
" Hold him" Harry hissed at the snake which quickly subdued the
auror it had in its grasp.
" Avada Kedavra" the last man screamed and a jet of green light
hurtled towards Harry who did not have time to dodge. Instinctively
he conjured a brick wall that managed to form just in time to be
struck by the curse smashing it into several dozen pieces which
Harry quickly banished at the man, hitting him with several of the
fragments. He then quickly bound him in the same black chains he
had used earlier and did the same to the whimpering Dawlish who
was still clutching his legs.
" Crucio" he heard Umbridge screech and felt the curse hit him
before he could react.
There was no doubt in his mind that it was painful but it was nothing
compared to Riddle's or even any other types of pain he had felt in
his life. Umbridge really was a weak witch.
He turned to look at her in annoyance as she was trying with all of
her effort to cause as much pain to the teen as possible. Harry
growled and simply banished her with a flick of his wand and bound
her the same way he had her cohorts.
He turned to see the rest of the students looking at him in awe.
Before he could even think of saying a word a brown blur had
launched itself into his arms and he found himself in the crushing
embrace of Hermione.
"Harry" she shouted with joy. "What are you doing here?" she
questioned.
"It's good to see you too Hermione" Harry replied shaking his head.
"I had to get something" he spoke in a tone that meant she should
not ask any further questions which she understood.
"Decided to show yourself at last then" a bitter voice cut in.
Harry turned to see Ron who looked terrible. The boy was glaring at
Harry who was just shocked by his attitude and appearance.
"You come back and save a snake, but where were you when my
mum and Ginny needed you?" the redhead shouted. "What we aren't
good enough for you anymore, is that it? you didn't even come to the
funeral" he spat in disgust.
Harry was furious with the boy. He felt bad for him but he would not
allow him to vent on him or blame him for things that were out of his
control.
"I think you'll find Ronald I was at the funeral" Harry replied coldly. "I
went under my cloak so I wouldn't be a distraction when that day
was about them" he explained.
Ron just gaped but managed to compose himself.
"They still died Harry, and where were you, you're supposed to be
this great and powerful wizard but you couldn't save them could you"
he spat again. "And then you just turn up here and you're using dark
magic and saving snakes" he added.
"Let me explain something to you, all of you" Harry replied
addressing the room. "It is not my responsibility to save you all if I
can then I will but you have to take responsibility for yourselves, I am
only one person I can't save everyone" he said heatedly. "Let me ask
you something Ron" he continued to the shocked room. "It's been
almost a year since you've known he's back, what have you done to
prepare?" he asked rhetorically. "Let me guess, you've sat on your
arse talking about quidditch and slacking off" Harry deducted and
seeing the guilty look on the boy's face, he knew he was right.
"We've been practicing" Hermione cut in timidly.
"What have you been working on?" Harry asked slightly surprised.
"Stunning and disarming and a few jinxes you learnt last year" she
explained causing Harry to shake his head.
In a flash Harry had drawn his wand and stunned her and turned to
address the shocked group.
"If you were in a fight and you found your friend like this" he said
gesturing to the unconscious girl, "what would you do?" he asked.
Neville stepped forward and pointed his wand at Hermione.
"Ennervate" he said confidently rousing the girl.
"Don't you think the Death Eaters know that?" Harry asked them
exasperatedly. "Stunners are for aurors wanting to arrest someone
and have no place on a battlefield" he intoned shaking his head.
"Then why don't you teach us?" Neville asked.
"I can't teach you what I use" Harry replied shaking his head.
"What because you'll go to Azkaban for using dark magic" Ron
asked sarcastically.
"No because it is my family magic" Harry explained causing those
who understood to nod. "But I have some books that I can send you"
he offered.
"So your family is dark?" Ron asked. "I knew it, that's why you saved
the snake" he said nodding. "That's it" he suddenly said in
realisation. "It must have been one of the snakes who snitched on
us" he shouted triumphantly.
Harry just shook his head at the boy.
"How do you know it was a Slytherin?" he asked the redhead.
"Oh come on Harry" he pleaded. "You can't trust any of them they're
all on his side, there has never been a decent person from slytherin"
he finished confidently.
"My grandmother was a Slytherin" Harry replied coldly causing his
friend to pale. "And she was a healer and was not dark" he added
glaring at the boy.
"Your grandmother was a snake" Ron stammered.
"Yes, Dorea Potter who was born Dorea Black" he explained to the
gaping group who had speculated on this very subject. "And I would
have been a slytherin also if I didn't meet that prat before the sorting"
he explained pointing at Malfoy. "I had to beg the hat not to put me
with him" he finished a little bitterly.
"You were almost a snake?" Ron asked wide-eyed.
"I am just as much a Black as I am a Potter" Harry answered with a
shrug. "You soon learn though that houses mean nothing away from
here" he explained. "Everywhere you could get a job will have a mix
of houses, it means nothing" he finished firmly.
The students in the room thought on what Harry had said.
"Where are the rest of the professors?" he asked the rest of the
students.
"They have to stay in their own quarters after 7pm" Daphne
answered shyly.
Harry shook his head and placed his wand to his throat.
"Can everyone in the castle please come to the Great Hall" his
amplified voice sounded throughout the building.
" Expecto Patronum" he intoned quietly and whispered to his
Thestral which then galloped out of the castle.
"Miss Greengrass I am going to be taking these to the ministry" he
explained gesturing to the bound people. "Would you mind coming
with me? Your father will be there, I just need you to explain what
happened" he requested of the girl who just nodded her consent.
"Thank you" Harry replied giving her a warm smile and causing her
to blush.
"What on earth is going on here?" the shocked voice of Professor
McGonagall rang throughout the hall.
"Just dealing with some vermin Professor" Harry replied giving the
older witch a cheeky salute.
"Potter?" She asked disbelievingly. "What are you doing here?".
"Just visiting" Harry answered with a shrug. "It turns out that
Madame Umbridge and her associates" he said gesturing to the
various bound people, "were either torturing or allowing people to be
tortured" he explained clearly disgusted.
"It had gotten that bad?" the witch asked clearly upset.
"It had" Harry replied. "But I will be taking them with me so you
shouldn't worry" he spoke comfortingly.
"You have to call the aurors" she replied urgently.
"Professor three of these are aurors, apparently" he responded
gesturing to the men in the red robes.
"Potter you are going to be in so much trouble" she gasped
worriedly.
"Well I have apprehended an attempted rapist who also used the
cruciatus curse and 3 so called aurors who attacked me and clearly
allowed other students to be mistreated" he explained causing the
woman to pale considerably. "Oh and that disgusting toad who tried
a piss-poor attempt at using the cruciatus on me" he added. "I'm
sure the wizengamot will be lenient" he finished.
"Rape?" she gasped disbelievingly.
"It seems that our resident ferret here like to get his kicks like that"
he replied coldly.
"And why is Mr Malfoy in such a deplorable state?" she asked with a
raised eyebrow.
"Self-defence Professor" Harry replied innocently to which the
woman just shook her head.
It was then that Harry noticed a small girl at the front of the crowd
who had blood on the back of her hand and clutching a red quill. He
frowned and approached.
"Can I see your hand?" he asked kneeling in front of the girl who
looked very nervous but passed it to him. What he saw made him
furious.
"How did this happen Miss?" he asked her.
The girl said nothing but handed him the quill which was clearly not
ordinary.
"Do you know what this is?" he turned and asked McGonagall
showing her the quill. She just frowned and shook her head.
"It is a blood-quill" Snape cut in in shock.
"I assume it is dark if you know what it is" Harry replied.
Snape nodded.
"And very illegal, they are only to be used for signing certain
documents, they are heavily regulated" he explained still apparently
shocked.
"Did Umbridge make you use this?" Harry questioned the girl who
nodded.
"Ok, I want you to tell professor McGonagall all about it" Harry
instructed. "She will make sure it gets passed to the aurors" he
finished. "Is there anyone else that this has happened to?" he asked
the room and several tentative hands were raised.
Harry growled.
"All of you write down what happened and pass it to a professor" he
instructed them all.
"What is your name?" Harry asked the young girl softly.
"Natalie McDonald sir" she answered quietly.
"Well Natalie, I'm Harry" he said giving her a smile. "Colin?" he
called causing the mousey-haired boy to approach. "Could you take
a picture of this?" he asked gesturing to the wound. The boy
complied immediately and Handed Harry the photo which he
pocketed along with the quill.
"Now Natalie, would you like me to heal that for you?" he asked the
girl again who just nodded shyly. "OK it might hurt a little at first but I
promise it will feel better after" he explained.
He drew his wand and traced the wound hissing gently in
parseltongue. The girl hissed a little in pain but didn't pull away.
"See" Harry said placing a gentle kiss on the back of her hand, "all
better" he added with a smile.
"Thank you" the girl whispered.
"Now all that is left is for me to receive my reward" Harry declared
with a nod.
The girl hesitated for a moment but reached in to her pocket and
pulled out a single silver sickle and held it out to Harry.
"It's all I have sir" she said disappointedly.
Harry just shook his head and chuckled.
"I already have more money than I could ever spend" he informed
her. "I was thinking something more along the line of a hug from a
pretty girl" he added with a grin.
The girl looked around clearly looking for a girl that he could hug.
"I meant you" Harry confirmed with a chuckle and opened his arms.
The girl approached him nervously and Harry pulled her into his
arms and picked her up causing her to giggle.
"Definitely worth the effort" he declared placing her gently back on
her feet.
"For fuck sake Potter you come here for the simplest of things and I
find you here hugging children, angling for Fudge's job are we?"
Arcturus asked entering the room.
"Never" Harry replied firmly. "But I am planning on giving him a huge
kick up the arse" he added. "Now make yourself useful you grouchy
old git and start taking these" he instructed gesturing to the bound
people. "You did call the meeting?" he finished questioningly.
"Watch your tongue you insolent bastard, you're already in for a
cursing and yes I called the meeting, I, unlike yourself am not a
complete moron" he retorted angrily.
"Language, there are children around" Harry pointed out.
"No worse than what they say" the older man grumbled but began
levitating the people out of the hall, he made several portkey's and
placed them on the bodies causing them to disappear. "The old coot
is waiting for them in the antechamber" he explained.
Without saying a word he left the castle and headed towards the
gates to apparate, he was not fond of portkey's.
"Shall we Miss Greengrass" Harry addressed the girl offering her his
arm which she blushed at but accepted.
"When will we see you again Harry?" Hermione asked.
"We will catch up soon, I promise" he replied sincerely to his friend.
He was sad to be leaving but he had other things to attend to.
Before they exited Tracey gave Daphne a grin and a wink to which
the girl blushed at an even deeper shade of red.
Harry led the blonde through the gates.
"Have you ever apparated before?" he asked.
"Yes, my father takes me along sometimes" Daphne replied.
Harry took her arm and apparated them away, it was going to be a
long night.
(BREAK)
The pair appeared outside the ministry and Harry caught Daphne as
she stumbled to which she smiled nervously. They quickly made their
way through the empty atrium and past the guard on the desk who
just seemed to stare at Harry apprehensively while checked their
wands in. It wasn't long before they found themselves in the
antechamber Where Arcturus and a very angry and upset
Dumbledore were waiting for them.
"Is what I have been told true?" the headmaster asked sadly.
"Yes Professor" Harry replied. "Malfoy and his friends here did try to
assault Miss Greengrass in that disgusting way and the aurors here
facilitated Umbridge and her disgusting forms of Punishment. She
and Malfoy both used the cruciatus curse also and the last 3", he
indicated to Nott, Crabbe and Goyle, "were helping Malfoy in his
attempt" he finished angrily.
"I see" he sighed. "I am sorry you had to experience that Miss
Greengrass" he said remorsefully.
"You have nothing to apologise for sir" the blonde replied genuinely.
"It was lucky that Potter was there" she added, swallowing at thought
of what could have transpired.
Harry saw this and put a comforting arm around her.
"Cornelius really is not going to like this" Dumbledore mused shaking
his head. "These are some of his personal guard, his secretary and
all of these students have parents in there" he finished.
"Well Fudge should have kept a tighter reign on his staff and chosen
his associates more carefully because right now I don't give a damn
about Fudge, this might not get him kicked out of office but it will
certainly give him some much needed accurate publicity" Harry
explained angrily.
"Or he could ruin your reputation and have you thrown in Azkaban"
Arcturus pointed out.
"I don't care about my reputation either and I very much doubt that
Azkaban would be so difficult to break out of without the dementors"
he shrugged in reply.
"Very well" Dumbledore intoned. "The room is ready and I believe
Baron Black managed to inform the media" he added, his eyes
gently twinkling once again.
"We can't afford for him to cover it up" the other man explained.
(BREAK)
Cornelius Fudge was very annoyed as he sat in his seat waiting for
this no doubt pointless session to begin. He had been at home
enjoying a very fine glass of scotch when he got the call and of
course he immediately sent for Lucius as he always did for aid in
meetings such as these.
He was at the edge of his patience when the door to the chamber
opened revealing Albus Dumbledore and Arcturus Black, just the
sight of them had him on edge. He was about to address the pair
when he spotted none other than Harry Potter and an unfamiliar
blonde teen, it was what the boy that was levitating behind him that
caught the man short.
"Daphne?" Jonathan Greengrass called to his daughter who
immediately ran in to her father's arms. "What is going on?" he
questioned the girl.
"It's ok Dad Harry stopped them" She answered cryptically.
Before the two could speak anymore Fudge found his voice.
"How dare you Potter, those are my aurors and my Senior
undersecretary" he roared spraying spittle in various directions and
turning purple.
Harry was undeterred by the man's anger and was immediately filled
with rage himself.
"No Fudge, how dare you" he replied dangerously. "How dare you
expose school children to filth like this" he hissed gesturing to the
pile of bodies.
"Excuse me?" the man replied clearly taken aback by the lack of fear
and venom in the boys voice.
"You heard me" Harry growled angrily. "Your undersecretary and
these sorry excuses for aurors were torturing children and this
disgrace of a human being" he added pointing to Malfoy, "attempted
to rape a young lady" Harry finished, the emerald fire roaring in his
eyes.
Fudge just sputtered dumbly clearly not knowing what to say.
"Is that my son?" Malfoy asked disbelievingly and wide-eyed.
"Yes it is" Harry spat. "He and his friends here tried to rape Miss
Greengrass and your idiot son used the Cruciatus curse on her" he
explained to the blonde man who was quickly looking nervous.
"Is that true" Jonathan Greengrass roared as he got to his feet.
"It is sir" Harry replied. "But they were unsuccessful beyond the
curse" Harry answered trying to placate the man. "There is an
abundance of proof and I am happy to be questioned in any way you
see fit, I am sure those four won't be so keen to be questioned under
veritaserum" he finished knowingly.
The entirety of the room was in shock, this was not something they
had envisioned would be occurring during this meeting.
Jonathan simply wrapped his arms around his daughter and took his
seat again looking very pale at the thought of what could have
happened to his little girl.
Harry took advantage of the silence and addressed Amelia Bones.
"Madame Bones, what is the current sentence for attempted rape?"
he asked.
"Attempted rape is 5 years in Azkaban" she replied shaking herself
from the shock.
"And the use of the cruciatus curse?" he followed up with.
"That would get you a life sentence or execution" she answered, her
expression darkening.
"And the killing curse carries the same even for aurors unless it is a
life or death situation, am I right?" he asked further.
"Indeed you are Lord Potter" she informedm.
"And what about this?" he asked removing the quill and the photo
from his pocket and handing it to her. She paled when she
recognised the offending item.
"Where did you get this?" she asked seriously.
"Madame Umbridge was forcing children to write with it as
punishment" he explained. "The other students are all writing
statements and I imagine they will find their way to you soon
enough" he surmised.
"Well that will most definitely see Madame Umbridge in prison for the
rest of her days" Amelia responded.
"Can you not see the boy is lying" Lucius Malfoy tried desperately.
"I have more than enough evidence to prove it Malfoy, are you
questioning my honour?" Harry asked the man dangerously his eyes
beginning to glow again.
Malfoy faltered at the glare the boy was giving him and swallowed
deeply. He was rescued from the staring match by Fudge.
"For goodness sake the boy is clearly deranged" he shouted pointing
accusingly at Harry.
"The only persons mental credibility that should be questioned is
yours Fudge" Harry retorted. "Your own aurors, you own secretary
and the son of your closest associate, it doesn't look good does it?"
Harry questioned sarcastically. "And let me tell you I don't trust you
to lead a waltz and yet you are leading our entire country" Harry
finished shaking his head.
There was a significant amount of cheering at this.
Fudge was simply dumbfounded. He hadn't really noticed the
implications of the people involved. The boy was right, it really did
not look good.
"Surely Lord Potter" he began in his best political tone, "we can find
a way to deal with this without having to send usually upstanding
members of our society to prison" he tried reasoning with Harry. "It
must have been a momentary lapse in judgement, they must have
been caught up in the heat of the moment" he explained with a nod.
The entire room were watching Harry, waiting to see what the young
man would do. This could be a defining moment for him, this is how
people would see him from now on, how he responded in this
moment.
"Stop trying to make excuses for them, this was not a heat of the
moment thing, this has been a continual and systematic approach to
discipline by your staff, and these morons", he added gesturing to
the students, "decided they wanted in on it, but they took it too far"
Harry replied unwaveringly.
"Then you will be arrested also for attacking them" Fudge spat
angrily.
"Fair enough" Harry shrugged and held out his wrists. "It just makes
you look even more incompetent than what you are and what do you
think the public will think when they learn that you had me locked up
for stopping their children being tortured by your staff?" Harry
questioned.
Fudge was clearly in a bind. Either way this was not going to end
well for him. The boy would not be swayed to drop the matter and
Cornelius knew that either way he was going to have to be making
serious reparations in some form. He sunk back in his chair defeated
knowing that it would be much better for him to just accept what had
happened and weather the storm instead of adding fuel to an already
roaring flame.
The members of the wizengamot were more than a little surprised at
how well the fifteen year old handled himself. They knew that one
day he would be quite the political force, be it ally or opposition.
"And just who are these other three students" Amelia asked having
written down the major points of the meeting.
"That would be Crabbe, Goyle and Nott" Harry replied to which
Amelia wrote down.
There was a sudden shout of rage from one of the gathered
members and a man stood up pointing his wand at Harry.
"You dare attack my son and accuse him of such a disgusting thing"
he roared. "I will kill you Potter" he finished breathing heavily.
To everyone's surprise it was Lucius Malfoy who intervened.
"Sit down Theodore" he hissed. "We will handle it" he said with a
sharp look.
Harry knew that Malfoy was already formulating a plan to get his son
off the charges but he would do everything he could to stop it.
"No" the other man shouted in rage. "I will not have this half-blooded
bastard accuse my son and get away with it" he finished shaking in
his anger.
"Well Lord Nott" Harry replied casually. "You could always make that
a formal challenge, if you so wish".
"Theodore" Lucius hised warningly.
"Oh and you think you can take me do you?" the man asked
laughing at the teen. "Then so be it Potter, I am going to wipe the
floor with you" he spat.
"That didn't sound like a formal challenge to me" Harry intoned with a
raised eyebrow.
"I, Theodore Dominus Nott challenge Harry Potter to a duel by the
honour of my family" he stated firmly.
The gathered people in the room gasped. It was a very rare thing for
a challenge to be made in such a way.
"I get to pick the place and you can pick the date" Harry replied not
wanting to be caught in a trap.
"Fine" Nott spat.
"Then I accept" Harry declared, causing a red glow to surround the
two.
Lucius sat back in his seat defeated. The Dark Lord was not going to
be happy and Nott had no idea what he had just gotten himself in to.
Chances are he was either going to be killed by the Dark Lord for his
foolishness or by Potter in a duel.
"If that is all" Amelia cut in. "I have some prisoners to process" she
explained. "Notification of trial dates will be issued to all of you
pending the gathering of evidence" she informed the room.
With that the wizengamot filed out, headed by Nott senior who
stormed from the room.
"You did well Potter" Arcturus praised. "And good job on not backing
down from the challenge, it would have not looked good on you if
you had" he said knowingly.
"It's his funeral" Harry replied to which the man grinned.
"Remember, never underestimate an opponent" the older man
warned. "The Nott's are well known for their duelling ability" he
informed the younger man.
"Who said I was going to duel him?" Harry asked. "As far as I am
concerned it's a fight. I know he doesn't plan on playing nice so I
won't either" Harry declared firmly.
"Good" the older man replied. "I will see you at home" he finished
nodding over the teens shoulder.
Harry turned to see Jonathan Greengrass approaching with Daphne
still wrapped in his arms.
"Lord Potter" the man inclined with a bow. "It seems that I have to
once again thank you for coming to the aide of my family" he added
with a shake of his head.
"It will always be Harry Sir" Harry responded. "It does seem I have a
knack for it" he chuckled.
"Then you may call me Jonathan" the man replied. "You, if anyone,
has earned that right" he spoke sincerely. "You do seem to have a
tendency for it" he added. "A tendency that I am of course grateful
for" he finished.
"And your family seems to have a tendency for landing themselves
in these situations" Harry pointed out causing the man to chuckle.
"That they do" he mused. "Well then I can only hope that you are
around to get them out of them" he added with a grin.
"You can count on it" Harry replied looking at Daphne whose cheeks
had turned pink.
"Well Harry I must be getting my daughter back to school" the man
intoned much to the obvious displeasure of his daughter which Harry
caught.
"I'd be glad to escort her, if you don't mind?" Harry offered.
Mr Greengrass smiled knowingly.
"You know" he said scratching his chin. "There is no man I would
trust to escort my daughter anywhere apart from myself" he
continued. "But I think I can add to you that very exclusive list Harry"
he finished with a warm smile. "Thank you" he said sincerely offering
the young man his hand which Harry accepted immediately.
"Anytime" Harry returned.
"Well Daphne I imagine your Mother will be writing to you first thing,
enjoy the peace while you can" he advised. "And I will see you soon"
he added pulling his daughter into a final hug. "I hope we get to see
you soon also Harry" he added before making his exit.
The teens followed shortly with Harry escorting Daphne out of the
ministry and apparating her back to Hogwarts. They walked together
to the front doors in companionable silence and reached them
quicker than either of the teens wanted to.
"Well Miss Greengrass" Harry began. "I do hope we get to meet
sometime under better circumstances" he spoke sincerely. "And
when you don't feel the need to shout at me" he added with a
chuckle causing the girl to blush.
"I'm sorry about that" she said quietly. "I was just confused" she
continued shaking her head.
"Confused?" Harry asked frowning.
"I was confused about how I feel about you" she replied in just above
a whisper.
"Was confused?" he questioned raising an eyebrow.
Daphne nodded. "I'm not so confused anymore" she admitted shyly
looking the boy in the eye. "Thank you Harry" she said gratefully and
reached up, kissing him on the cheek.
"You called me by my first name" he acknowledged in surprise.
"Then you should call me Daphne" she replied with a soft smile.
"I'm sure I can do that Daphne" he responded.
There was a momentary silence between the two in which Daphne
broke.
"Goodnight Harry" she bade farewell reluctantly squeezing his hand
gently.
"Goodnight Daphne" Harry returned softly.
Daphne turned to leave but was stopped by the boy.
"Daphne?" he called. "The day in Hogsmeade" he continued. "Your
patronus didn't work because the memory wasn't strong enough" he
explained. "Your concentration is fine" he finished with a small smile.
"That is the happiest memory I have" she replied dejectedly looking
downwards.
Harry approached her, placed two fingers under her chin and raised
her head.
"Then we need to give you a better one" he suggested to the girl and
placed a gentle kiss on her lips to which she immediately responded
to.
The pair melted in to each other, caught up in how amazing the
feeling of this moment was, a moment that neither would forget.
"Try now" Harry whispered softly to her.
Daphne removed her wand and focused on the feeling she felt in
that moment and allowed it wash over her.
" Expecto Patronum" she intoned quietly not breaking the eye
contact she was sharing with the boy.
The misty shield she was used to seeing was not present. In its
place stood a large ethereal and pure white winged horse which
made her gasp.
"That is quite something" Harry said in awe noting the similarity to
his own.
"I did it" Daphne uttered in disbelief.
"You did" Harry responded proudly with a smile.
"Thank you" the girl squealed and threw herself in his arms, kissing
him again.
"You're welcome" Harry said warmly when she broke away.
"I have to go" Daphne sighed sadly. "But I don't want to".
"Then I had better write to you" Harry replied still smiling.
"I'd like that" Daphne admitted happily.
"Goodnight Daphne" Harry said placing a final kiss on her cheek and
turned away and began his walk to the gates.
"Goodnight Harry" Daphne whispered touching the spot where his
lips had just been.
Both the castle and the common room were both empty as Daphne
made her way to her dorm. She entered her room to find an
expectant Tracey and Astoria still awake and clearly waiting for her
to return.
"Are you ok?" Tracey asked, concerned for her friend.
Daphne nodded.
"I'm fine Tracey" She responded. "Much better than anyone of them
will be" she continued. "Harry tore Fudge and the rest of them a new
one" she explained in amusement.
"Harry now is it?" Tracey questioned the blonde with a raised
eyebrow, who began blushing instantly. "Ok spill, what happened?"
she demanded.
"Nothing happened Tracey" Daphne replied trying to busy herself by
preparing for bed, but she couldn't hide her smile.
"Oh come off it Daph" the girl huffed exasperatedly. "I would have
been all over him the moment we left the castle" she said. "He's
gorgeous, he's powerful and did you see how he handled that little
firsty?" she asked. "My ovaries nearly exploded at how good he was
with her" she finished.
"Tracey!" Daphne gasped in shock. "He just helped me with my
patronus" she dismissed with a shrug but couldn't stop the smile
forming at the memory.
"And how did he do that?" Astoria cut in.
"He kissed me" Daphne answered shyly, blushing further.
"He didn't" Tracey stated in shock. "What was it like?" she asked.
"Amazing" Daphne whispered.
"And how was that supposed to help with your patronus?" Astoria
asked with a frown.
"He said that my memory wasn't happy enough and he kissed me,
he said I needed something better" Daphne shrugged.
"And it worked?" Tracey asked in disbelief to which Daphne nodded.
"Show me" Tracey demanded.
Daphne removed her wand and cast her mind back to feeling in the
moment she had shared with Harry.
" Expecto Patronum" she intoned in a somewhat dreamy voice and
the beautiful winged horse formed before the trio.
"It's like his" Astoria whispered.
"Huh?" Daphne asked confused.
"His is a Thestral and yours is a winged horse" Astoria explained.
"They look so similar" she finished.
Tracey just stood and stared, for once in her life she was
speechless.
"Are they that alike?" Daphne asked quietly.
"Almost identical" Tracey breathed.
Daphne ended the spell causing the other two to snap out of their
awestruck states.
"So you and Potter then?" Astoria asked her sister.
"I don't know" Daphne replied shaking her head. "He said he would
write to me".
"And what about his harem?" Tracey asked with a smirk.
"I may have asked him about that" Daphne answered sheepishly.
"He said none of it is true, he is either a very good liar or he was
being honest with me" she mused.
"What do you think?" Astoria questioned.
"I don't think he was lying at all, the boy is too honest for his own
good" Daphne answered without hesitation.
"We will just have to wait and see if he writes" Tracey responded
with a nod. "But for now I am tired and need my bed, you know how
grumpy I am if I don't get enough sleep" she intoned knowingly.
"Goodnight you two" Astoria said with a yawn and exited the room to
head to her own bed.
Tracey and Daphne finished getting ready for bed themselves and
got in, both exhausted from the day.
"Night Daph" Tracey called from her bed.
"Goodnight Tracey" Daphne replied.
Daphne stayed awake for some time replaying the day throughout
her mind. It had been bad to start with and only got worse when they
had been discovered by Umbridge. But again Harry Potter came to
help her when she needed it most. Daphne Greengrass fell asleep
that night the happiest she had ever been, her continuous smile
would attest to the that.
She needn't wait long for the promised letter from Harry. Much to her
and the other twos surprise, she received her very first letter the next
morning at breakfast much to her relief and delight