Hairball and Nymphikins

Consequences

The next morning, when the Slytherin students were allowed to return to their house’s dormitory, they all got to see what was left of the troll’s attempt at entry. Though the majority of the rubble had been cleared away, along with the body, the damage to the doorway itself was still clearly evident. More than one student sent an awed look in Harry’s direction, which he tried to ignore in favor of going to pick up his Potions book from the night before. Then, he joined his friends in their dorm, and got ready for the day.

Unfortunately, most of the school’s population seemed intent on watching the Boy-Who-Lived throughout his classes and the halls, hence why Harry went and hid in the library as soon as he could. While perfectly willing to stand up to the scrutiny when he had to, the first year also just wanted some bloody privacy to recuperate in.

That was where Hermione cornered him, eager to ply him with questions about all the details about what was going on with the Headmaster and the third floor corridor. He answered what he could, up to a point.

“What I said last night is pretty much all I know, honestly,” Harry eventually sighed, sinking further down in his chair. “Now, I mean no offense, but please stop asking me about it.”

The Gryffindor immediately looked crestfallen, and started to get up from her chair. “Right, then, I’ll just leave you alone...”

“I didn’t say you had to go, Hermione, it was just a request for a change in subject.”

Cheered, she settled back down, pulling out a Defense Against the Dark Arts book to read. Harry got to enjoy blessed silence for a while, hidden in a corner behind both his acquaintance and a wall of textbooks. Whenever someone’s footsteps approached, the boy shrank down to avoid being spotted, staying put until whoever it was had moved on.

Inevitably, however, a very persistent person managed to track him down.

“So this is where you’ve been hiding,” Draco snorted, leaning over the makeshift barricade to peer at his slouching cousin. “You know that’s dreadful posture to be in.”

“Oh, shut up and get back here before someone spots you.” As Harry was up against the wall, Draco was forced to pull up a chair on the other side of Hermione, who immediately introduced herself to the blonde. He shook her hand with minimal reluctance, then got distracted by the girl’s choice of reading material.

“Isn’t that Defense material for third years and up?”

“Mm-hm. I wanted to start reading ahead, especially since a troll got in last night. Has Harry told you about his theories on who was behind it?”

“No?”

“Well, really, I shouldn’t be surprised, he only came up with them when we were discussing it earlier - look, this is the list I’ve started based off what he said.” Startled, because he hadn’t realized she’d written down his spoken thoughts, Harry glanced over to see what Hermione was showing his cousin.

It was indeed a list of the teachers he’d mentioned, with added notes on who had what suspicions laid against them based off of their subjects and personal details. Draco’s eyebrows went up as he studied it. “Is it just me, or are you two intent upon solving this mystery, despite it being an adult matter?”

“Well, you know adults, Drakey. They discount what we ‘young and uncouth punks’ notice in favor of their own theories.” Harry rolled his eyes. “Besides, I tried to ask Professor Snape about what was going on, and I know it’s something serious by the way he told me to keep out of it.”

Hermione frowned. “He might just be trying to keep you from getting into more danger, then. I mean, it can’t be a coincidence that the troll managed to seek out the one student who was alone in the whole school, and then fight its way past a warded door in order to get at you.”

Both the boys grimaced. “That’s a thought. Although, honestly, I can’t help but think it was just my best-double-yule luck acting up again.” At the utterly baffled look sent his way, Harry elaborated. “That’s what we use to refer to my ‘Boy-Who-Lived’ status - bee double-you el, see? It all boils down to the fact that I’ve got the bad luck to wind up in deadly situations, but the good luck to survive them.”

“Situations, plural? Besides the night with You-Know-Who?”

Draco let out an unexpected cackle. “Two others. One from before we met, which Nymph loves to refer to as the ‘Harry Apparated Onto The Roof and Won’t Come Down Again’ misadventure. The other’s from a couple years ago, involving a prank which went wrong, followed by my cousin here and Ronald Weasley avoiding my aunt’s wrath by hiding in a sewer for two hours, only to nearly get washed away when an unexpected thunderstorm opened up. They both had to stay in bed with colds for a straight week.”

Hermione turned wide eyes towards Harry, who could only scowl and shrug. “Like I said. The best-double-yule luck.”

The three of them continued to talk for a while, Neville and Ron eventually finding their hiding place as well. Harry was delighted when Hermione invited them into the discussion, even if it took his redheaded friend a bit longer than the others to relax with her present.

Unfortunately, the downside of their group fully assembling was that more people noticed and drifted past in order to get a glimpse of Harry, something the boy didn’t take well in the slightest. They decided to pack up and find somewhere else to hang out, Hermione swept up and along with the boys before she quite knew it was happening.

Knowing full well the more populated areas of the castle would be useless as far as privacy went, the group of five searched some of the empty classrooms near the library. The best of the lot was a large, open room found by Neville, with a bunch of musty old pillows stacked against the far wall. The lot was arranged into a sloppy circle, Hermione smartened them up with a quick cleaning spell, and then the children settled down to continue their conversation.

“So, you’re absolutely certain Snape couldn’t be the one-?” Ron didn’t even get a chance to finish his question before both Harry and Draco were sending threatening glares his way.

“Yes, Weasley, because if you paid attention, you would know Professor Snape had been with the group that took down the troll. There’s no way he could’ve been with them and headed off to the third floor corridor at the same time.”

“Alright, alright, don’t get your knickers in a twist, Malfoy.” The redhead folded his arms and scowled. “But you know as well as I do he’s a-”

“Ron.” Harry interrupted. “He was my mum’s best friend before and during school. If nothing else, I know he didn’t let the troll in when I was the only student still in the dungeons.”

“...Fine. I’ll leave off.” The other boy finally subsided.

“So,” Neville piped up a moment later. “Do we even know what the secret package is and why someone would want it?”

That set off a round of theory-making that got progressively more wild, with Ron and Draco proposing the more ridiculous of the suggestions. By the time they had to leave for dinner, the more sane members of the group were quite certain it wasn’t a monster or high-priced jewels, but were considering the possibilities of some sort of powerful artifact.

With the children gone, an old wizard who’d been inspecting the room under a disillusionment charm before they came in finally revealed himself, smiling as his eyes twinkled.

“Well,” Dumbledore murmured, still staring at the door. “Isn’t this a remarkable turn of events.”

Harry should’ve known there’d be a response to the joke he made at Gryffindor’s expense while explaining about the troll incident. After dinner that evening, as he was on his way back from taking a couple letters up to Hedwig in the Owlery, the eleven year old got cornered by a trio of fourth years wearing red and gold ties.

“Oy, Potter!” Their leader stepped in close, forcing Harry to back up against the hallway wall. “We don’t appreciate you being so disparaging about our House, Potter. And I think, Boy Who Lived or not, you need a lesson in being more courteous towards Houses better than your own.”

“Funny,” Harry said, eyes darting around as he debated possible escape routes. “Here I thought all the Hogwarts Houses were supposed to be equal.”

“Yes, well, you thought wrong.” The taller boy threw a quick punch, only for Harry to duck it and dart out under the bully’s arm. He tried to race away, only for one of the others to catch the back of his robe.

“Let me GO!” Harry yelled, kicking backward and connecting with the boy’s knee. Spinning in place, he managed to pull himself free, but then the third of the Gryffindors caught him in a bear hug from behind.

“You sure we can’t use spells on the little blighter?” The bully who’d been kicked growled, rubbing at his knee. His leader shook his head.

“They’d be able to prove we did it by checking our wands, then. But like this? It’ll be the Snake’s word against ours, and everyone knows Slytherins are slimy liars.” With that, he drove his fist into Harry’s gut, causing the smaller boy to double over with a slight wheeze.

“HEY!” All of them looked to see Percy Weasley bearing down on the group, expression thunderous. “What in Merlin’s name do you think you’re bloody DOING?!”

“Um...”

“Oh come on, Weasley!” The leader of the trio spoke up, trying to sound reasonable. “You heard that crack he made about us last night. We’re just making sure he doesn’t do it again-”
“Thirty points from Gryffindor,” Percy cut him off with a hiss. “Each. Now, get back to the dorm, where I expect Professor McGonagall had better be able to find you later. GO!” He barked when none of them moved. The three fourth years took off, scrambling to flee before they annoyed the prefect any more. From where he stood hunched over with his arms wrapped around his midsection, Harry scowled at their retreating form.

“Bloody tossers,” he grumbled. A hand on his shoulder caused the boy to look up.

“In light of what just happened, I won’t take points off for language,” the fifth year remarked. “But don’t tell anyone. Are you alright, Harry?”

“No, but I will be. It was only the one hit - I’ve had worse in a couple scuffles back at primary school.”

“Even so, I think I’d better escort you to Professor Snape’s office.”

“Thanks, Percy.”

They had to move slowly at first, but as the pain dulled Harry was able to straighten up and walk quicker. Soon enough, they reached the right dungeon door, and Percy quickly knocked.

“Enter!” It took a moment after they entered for the Potions professor to look up from some paperwork, and then he was promptly up and moving towards them. “Mister Weasley, Mister Potter, what is this?”

“I’m ashamed to say some members of my House thought they could get away with attacking Harry, Professor,” Percy explained. “I arrived just in time to see one of them delivering a blow to his torso.”

Snape growled even as he whipped out his wand to run a diagnostic spell on the first year. “Which students?”

“Helliwell, Bucket, and Hawksworth. They’ve been deducted thirty points each and sent back to Gryffindor Tower to await Professor McGonagall.”

“Use my floo to call your Head of House, Mister Weasley.” As soon as the prefect was occupied, Snape bent down a bit to better look Harry in the eyes. “Mister Potter. Have these dunderheads attempted to bully you before?”

“No, sir. This is the first time.” He gave his professor a wary look. “You aren’t going to chop them up for potions ingredients, are you?”

“Much as I would dearly enjoy doing so, I think the Headmaster would take it the wrong way. He always coddles the Gryffindors,” Snape added under his breath. A moment later he straightened up, as the fireplace flared and Professor McGonagall stepped out.

“What is this about an attack on Mister Potter?” The witch demanded, striding over to them with Percy right on her heels.

Both professors listened intently as Harry described the incident, along with Percy’s view of events after his arrival. McGonagall was incensed that three of her Lions thought it was acceptable to physically hurt a first year due to a single offhand comment, while Snape was simply flat out furious. He was all for deducting further points, but Harry spoke up and dissuaded him, pointing out that Percy deserved to gain points for stepping in when he could have just looked the other way.

“I don’t see why he should be given House points for accomplishing one of his assigned duties, Mister Potter.” Nonetheless, Snape let the matter drop. He did insist, however, on being the teacher that the bullies reported to for their detention, something that McGonagall didn’t even try to fight him on. In fact, Harry rather suspected she was quite pleased about the Potions professor’s commitment to overseeing their punishments.

“Where in Merlin’s name have you been?” Draco demanded as soon as Harry got back to the dormitory. He and the rest of the first year boys were preparing to head to bed for the night. “Do you realize how far past curfew it is? Professor Snape’s going to have your head!”

“Professor Snape’s the one who escorted me back from Madam Pomfrey’s,” Harry deadpanned. His cousin’s eyes widened, and suddenly he had the attention of everyone in the room.

“...What happened?” Blaise was the first to ask.

Shrugging, Harry moved to change out of his uniform into some pajamas. “I got ambushed on the way back from the Owlery. Some Idiot Gryffindors thought to teach me a lesson for apparently ‘insulting’ their House last night.”

“Are you alright?!” Draco asked, alarmed.

“Yeah, they only got one hit in before Percy Weasley showed up and ordered the lot of them off. Then he helped me down to Professor Snape’s office, we told both him and Professor McGonagall the whole story, and while the three idiots have been given detention with our beloved Head of House, it’s entirely possible they won’t survive the tongue lashing their own Head’s going to give them.” Harry snickered, still picturing the look on McGonagall’s face as she left through the Floo. “Anyway, Professor Snape wanted to make absolutely certain I was fine, so he escorted me to the Infirmary for a look-over before coming back here.”

Slowly, his cousin shook his head, looking torn between continued concern and exasperation. “It’s physically impossible for you to keep out of trouble, isn’t it?”

“Seems so! Oh, and Aunt Andy and Uncle Ted are going to be coming up this weekend - after Professor Snape Floo-called them while Madam Pomfrey was running her scans, they’ve decided that Dumbledore needs a talking-to.”

The other boys weren’t quite sure why Harry appeared so smug with that statement, but Draco had gained his own evil grin as well. “Oh, please tell me I can watch. Or at least listen in!”

“I don’t know about that, but I do promise, first time we have access to a pensieve, I’ll show you the memory of it.”

“Well, I suppose that’s good enough.”