The Plot Thickens
The first thing Harry did when he woke up was facepalm. Then he grabbed the mirror to call Sirius. His roommates were all getting ready for the day, so he took the mirror into the bathroom, which was empty.
“Sirius Black,” he said, and waited for his godfather to come to the mirror. When the other man’s face did appear, he said, “I forgot to coat the daggers.” He was very upset that he had forgotten that. It was a major part of his plans to keep safe. They trained for it.
“The queen did it while you were exploring. She even got a few human sized ones for you. The goblins were not impressed that we had defiled the goblin made knives. However, Ragnuk stepped in and said we could use them, but they had to be returned when we were done,” Sirius said, quite quickly. He wanted to make sure that Harry didn’t panic. “I’d give them back if I were you. You don’t want the goblins on your case. They can be downright vicious,” he added as a warning.
“That’s a relief. I’m glad she can make decisions like that,” the teen said, putting the mirror on the sink and washing his tired face. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they get all the goblin made stuff. Perhaps you can give them back all the shite you have in your house.”
“I will, I already promised,” Sirius said seriously, then he grinned. “Your queen is a right hoot. She’s witty and sarcastic, and she can hold her own in an argument. She got on well enough with Ragnuk, that’s for sure,” the dogman said, having had a funny conversation with the queen and the king while Harry, Luna, Bill, and a few doxies explored the Chamber of Secrets.
Bill had joined them when they had finished uncursing the items the RoR got for them. It hadn’t taken long for him and his team to do the job, the whole of them came and met everyone in the chamber. Bill was amazed at being in such a place. It was like a curse-breakers dream to be there. Unfortunately for him, the curses in the place had long ago been undone. Probably from Slytherin’s heirs. It only made sense that they used the place, until the line all but died out. After all Riddle did.
Luna had been allowed to have the diadem with the orders not to show it to anyone until Voldy was taken care of. Then she was to give it to Flitwick. She agreed to this arrangement. She was given a mokeskin bag to carry it in.
Bill and Ragnuk decided to put the rest in the doxy bag. To which the queen was most thankful. Even free from the curses, they still radiated dark magic. Like a demented afterglow. She relished the feeling, and her family would benefit from it in the long run. They were dark creatures after all was said and done.
“Now all we have to do is wait for Voldy to make his move,” Harry said, thinking of scenarios that might happen. He knew that it was only a matter of time before the man came after him. He had been waiting for it since the man arose from the dead. His dreams had stopped, but that didn’t stop him from worrying. “I’ll keep my guard up,” he added for his godfather’s benefit. He knew how the man fussed.
“Just don’t do anything foolish,” his godfather said in a firm voice, confirming what Harry was thinking. “I’ve only just got you back. I don’t want to lose you.” His face was quite serious, like he was giving an order that he knew his godson would follow to the best of his ability. “I’m just worried,” he added, softening his features.
“I won’t do anything dangerous. Well, I’ll try not to,” Harry stated, finishing combing his untamable hair. “You know me, bad luck just seems to follow me around.”
“I know your father was much the same way, only to a lesser extent,” Sirius said fondly, remembering all the times James had been caught when the rest of them got away. It had turned in to a betting game in the end. James would do his best not to get in trouble, but inevitably he did.
“I’ll keep all my stuff in the bag, that way I have it if I need it. Are you sure it can’t be summoned?” Harry asked, not that he doubted the man, but his life might depend on it. It was the plan to begin with, and he hoped by saying it, the man would calm down. It wouldn’t do to have his godfather die of a heart attack at such a young age.
“I’ve made it as magic proof as I could. As far as I know you should be okay,” the man said, wondering if what he said was true. Harry’s life was on the line. He knew his spell work was good but was it good enough. He could only pray that it was.
“Then we’ll just have to trust the doxies, and my magic to see me through,” the teen said, putting his comb away and picking up his wand. He did a teeth cleaning spell and was now ready to get dressed for the day. “I have to go,” he said, picking up the mirror. “I’ll talk to you later,” he added, going towards the door.
“Alright, Harry, have a good day,” Sirius said in a cheerful tone. He didn’t want Harry to think that he didn’t trust him, so he put on a happy face. There was so little good in the boy’s life, a bit of happiness would go a long way.
“Not bloody likely,” Harry said, pausing at the door. “I have Snape first thing,” he finished.
“Just don’t let him get to you,” Sirius said, trying to be supportive. He knew the man was a git, but maybe now that he got his dream job, he might lose that stick in his arse. “Just do your best. I’ll talk to you later,” he finished, ready to start his day.
“I’ll try. Bye,” Harry said and signed off. He then went to get dressed and gather his stuff. He really needed to remember to take his bag with him into the bathroom. Not that he didn’t feel safe in the Gryffindor dorms, but a habit only develops if you make it one.
Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Neville went to breakfast and talked while they ate the normal fare of a good English breakfast. Halfway through, Luna joined them.
“Luna, what are you doing here?” Ron asked, stopping eating long enough to do so. “You’re a Ravenclaw,” he added like it was a sin.
“Harry is my friend,” she answered as she served herself up some eggs and toast. “I like sitting next to my friends,” she added, picking up the toast and delicately nibbling on it. She gave the impression that she didn’t have many friends, and that Harry was the only one.
“I met her yesterday,” Harry answered the unasked question, which was strictly true. “She’s my new friend,” he added to verify what she said, and that she was welcome by him. He knew what it was like to not have friends, and how important it was that you stuck by the ones that did befriend you.
“Yes, we were both looking for a lost room,” she said, vaguely, spooning her eggs onto her toast and taking a bite.
“Oh, did you find it?” Hermione wanted to know.
“Yes, but it disappeared again,” was the honest response.
“Oh,” was all the bushy-haired girl said, wondering if it was an important room.
“Why did you never join Ginny for breakfast?” Ron said, glancing at his sister, who was glaring at Luna.
“We’re not friends anymore,” the little blonde said sadly. “She thinks I have designs on her man,” she finished with a sigh. “She thinks everyone has designs on him,” she lamented, sad that her friend had turned out so… petty. She wasn’t sure if that was the correct word, but that’s how it felt to her. She and Ginny had been so close once, but their first year here had put paid to that. The other girl had gone through something life changing and it really did change her. Not for the better. And Luna felt bad about that.
“Who is her man?” the protective older brother asked, glaring at every male within viewing distance. Quite a few were looking back, not sure what set the redhead off this time. Most just lifted eyebrows at him.
“Harry Potter, of course,” Luna said, waving to the shocked boy. She did get a small bit of pleasure from seeing the gobsmacked look on the teen’s face.
“I swear, I’ve never even looked at Ginny that way,” Harry said as fast as he could, holding up his hands in a ‘I didn’t do it’ gesture. There was no way he was opening that can of flubber worms. After he had rescued her, she had become close to a stalker. That was not something he looked for in a girl.
“Oh, that,” Ron said, deflating. “Ginny’s had a crush on you since she was five,” the redhead explained, resuming eating. He wasn’t going to worry about such a trivial thing. He trusted Harry not to take advantage of Ginny. The other boy was just too honorable to do anything.
“I thought as much, which is why I don’t do anything to encourage her,” Harry said, picking up his fork and eating his fried mushrooms.
“We’d better hurry, we’ve got Snape next,” Hermione said, finishing off her mixed fruit. Ron and Neville groaned that they did have DADA first. Both were wary of Snape, for different reasons. Ron because he thought the man was a git. Neville because he was terrified of the dungeon bat that would cut him up into potions ingredients. Harry was actually looking forward to seeing if the man was going to teach. Their last few teachers had been okay. Lupin was good, but kinda bland. And while the faux Moody was good, he was overly aggressive. Maybe Snape would be somewhere in between.
They made their way to the DADA classroom, which they were sharing with the Hufflepuffs. Everyone filed in and sat near the back, no one wanted the front row.
Snape came in in his usual flare, robes billowing behind him. He stalked to the front of the room and sneered at the fact that no one trusted him enough to sit in front of him.
“Your past teachers were abysmal,” he started, and there were murmurs of protest and agreement. “I will be catching you up to where you need to be. You will be studying hard, or you will feel my displeasure,” he continued, pointing his wand at the blackboard, where words appeared. “This is the list of books I expect you to read by next week,” the man said, pointing to the list of five books. “There are plenty of copies in the library, if you share.” He glared at the class, as if asking them to defy him.
Having finished his speech, he started going over what they should have learned during their first year. Which most of them knew, but they were thankful for the review. It was their OWL year. Snape turned out to be a better DADA professor than he was a potions teacher. He was concise, which made it easier to deal with. He didn’t ramble, he didn’t studder, and he didn’t ask questions. However, unlike potions, he did answer them.
Unless the teen’s name was Hermione. Snape completely ignored her hand with a sneer. He even barked at her once to lower her hand he was not going to call on her. She was affronted, but she didn’t raise her hand again. He was the teacher after all.
Neville and Ron were taking notes like they never have before. They knew that this year was important, and they wanted to be able to pass their tests. Most of the class felt the same way, so Snape lectured, and the class got hand cramps.
After an hour of the lecture, they were released. Harry and his friends left together. “That wasn’t so bad,” Harry commented as they wandered down the hall.
“How can you say that?” Ron asked, looking at Harry like the boy had lost his mind. “I can’t move my fingers,” he complained, with Neville nodding in agreement. His fingers did indeed seem to be stuck in a crooked form. Like he was an old man with arthritis. He was moving them to get some range of motion back. Neville looked the same.
“At least I learned something,” was the rebuttal. His hands were not liking him much either, but it was a good class.
“What did you learn?” Hermione asked, not sure which part was new enough to be considered learned. “I mean, you should have known it all anyway,” she added, tucking her mass number of notes in her bag.
“I learned something too,” Neville said, supporting Harry. “I learned that Snape doesn’t scare me if a cauldron isn’t involved.” He had actually been impressed with Snape. The man did know his subject. He was loads better than the last four teachers. Not that he didn’t like Lupin, but Snape was more concise. It was easier to follow his lecture.
“I learned that Snape knows his stuff,” Harry said, clapping Neville on the back, and making his other two friends frown. “I’d forgotten most of the stuff he was teaching. Well, not forgotten, per se, more like never used most of it. So, that means I needed the review,” he added, getting his note from the bag that had the list of books on it. “Maybe I’ll write Sirius and ask if he has these books,” he said, still walking down the hall with his friends.
“If he does, will you let me borrow them?” Hermione asked, perking up at new books.
“Of course, I will,” the dark-hair teen said, giving her a smile. “But only in the common room. That way everyone can share,” he stated, not wanting her to take them to her room. He might not see them in time to finish the reading. She wouldn’t keep them, but she would hold on to them until she was done with them. And to her that meant having read them three or four times.
“That sounds fair,” she said, knowing her habit of hording books would not win her friends this time.
“I’ll write him later,” he stated, moving to the next class which was Charms.
Charms went the way of DADA. A lecture on first year material, and lots of note taking. Everyone groaned when they left the classroom. All of them glad it was lunch time. They made their way to the Great Hall, and all sat together, with a variety of sandwiches and soups. Everyone complained about their hands hurting. But the upper years just laughed at them and told them it gets worse.
The rest of the day was similar. It was after dinner that they moved to the library. Even those that normally didn’t go, such as Ron and Dean. They each got one of the books Snape had assigned, and they were all quietly reading and taking even more notes.
Time passed and Mrs. Pince kicked them out. They went back to the dorm and settled in to relax after a long day. Playing chess, and exploding snaps, was a good way to unwind. Soon enough, it was time for bed. Harry closed his curtains and called Sirius.
“Hey, Sirius, I have a list of books that I need. Do you think you can see if you have them?” he asked, after the greetings were over.
“Sure, I can look. What are the titles? If I don’t have them, I can get them,” Sirius said, then listened and wrote the five titles on a piece of parchment. “I have three of them, and I’ll send them tonight. I’ll get the other two tomorrow.” He glanced at the list again and then put it to the side. “I take it Snape behaved. Otherwise, you’d be bitching right about now,” he asked, glad that Snape didn’t cause any undue stress to the teen.
“Yeah, he’s actually a pretty good DADA teacher,” Harry said with a bit of awe. Not enough to think the new DADA professor was a star teacher, more like he was shocked that Snape could teach.
“Well, it has been his dream job since school,” Sirius said with a nod. “How was your day otherwise?” he asked, not wanting to talk about the man he didn’t like.
“Long,” Harry said and went into a mini rant about the amount of note taking he had done that day.
Like the upper years, Sirius laughed, “It get’s worse.”
“That’s what everyone says,” Harry said, deflating. He had hoped it got better, but he was one to persevere. He would meet this challenge head on.
They talked about simple things for about ten minutes then signed off. Harry called Queenie. “Have you heard anything?” he asked her, knowing the spies were everywhere by now.
“There’s a plot to kidnap you,” she said, a frown on her face.
“Really, tell me all about it,” Harry said with a furrow on his brow.
“It is a simple plan. The one called Malfoy is upset that his father is in prison, and he blames you. He thinks he can get in good with Voldy by bringing you to him,” she said, her frown increasing.
“This might be the chance we need to end this. Find out all you can, and I’ll talk to Sirius when we have all the information,” he said, thinking hard on how he could use this to his advantage. It would be a good opportunity to finish Voldy off once and for all. He just needed to know what the next horcrux was so he could take care of it first.
“I’ll have my men find out,” she promised, not liking it, but she agreed it would be a good trap.
“I’ll bid you goodnight, then,” Harry said with a huge yawn.
“Goodnight,” she said as she dove back into her bag.
“Well, that was good news,” Harry said as he settled down to sleep, only for his mind to work overtime. He wasn’t going to get any sleep for a while.