Draco was holding court in the Slytherin Common Room. It would be more impressive if he had a more extensive court. He looked around. Sitting with him were Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Theodore Nott was sitting at a desk writing a Charms assignment.
“Nott, what are you doing? You always seem to be working on Charms.”
Theodore looked up. “I’m trying to improve my Charms assignment. I don’t want to keep coming behind Greengrass in our marks.”
Draco frowned. “Charms are a waste of effort. If my father wants something charmed, he hires an enchanter.”
Theodore shook his head. “You’re missing the point, Draco. Really, you must understand what the Charm is doing.”
Draco pouted and turned to Pansy.
“We need to put Potter in his place. My father told me not to confront Potter again.”
Draco drummed his finger on the padded arm of his chair.
“Potter has been seen talking to the Gryffindor mudblood Granger. I want you to get her alone and warn her off. Can you speak to Millicent; get her to stand guard while you give her a warning.”
Pansy smiled. “Sure, Draco. It’ll be a pleasure.”
-ooOOoo-
Hermione was on her way back to the Gryffindor Common Room. She had been working in the library, and it was now nearly the first year's curfew time.
“Granger! Stop!”
The unfamiliar voice came from behind her. Hermione stopped and turned.
“You’re Pansy Parkinson, aren’t you?”
“That’s right, Granger. I’ve got a message for you. Stay away from Potter. You’ve got no business talking to him. Stay away from him!”
Pansy pushed past Hermione and hurried away. Millicent Bulstrode stepped from the shadows and joined Pansy.
Hermione was stunned. It was like being in grade five again, with the mean girls being horrible to her for no reason other than they enjoyed bullying girls who weren’t in their gang.
Eventually, Hermione shook her head and continued on to the Gryffindor Tower.
-ooOOoo-
The incident was written up in the journal.
Harry wrote back. Harry had heard of the Weasley twins and decided to make them an offer.
To: Alliance
From: Harry Potter
Date: Thursday, October 3, 1991
Time: 9:15 pm
Message: Bullying
Draco has resumed his expected activity.
I was told that Lucius Malfoy would instruct his son to establish a social connection with me when we started at Hogwarts.
Draco has no idea how to do that and simply ordered me to bow down to him when he claimed leadership of the Slytherin first years.
Draco was privately disciplined by his father for his petulant temper tantrum on the first night in the dorm.
How do I know this? I won’t tell you, but trust me on this, Draco was hauled over the coals by his dear daddy.
Draco is now attempting the next step in traditional schoolyard bullying. He will send out the few who obey his orders to try to separate my friends from me and make me depend on him for social status.
LAUGH! CHOKE! CHORTLE!
For me, it is a joke. For you, it may get unpleasant.
The total lack of any school discipline over the furniture smashing shows that Draco will not be restrained by the teachers or the headmaster. As long as he doesn’t have the school sending bills to Lucius, Draco can do what he likes.
Expect more verbal taunts and insults, vague threats, and any jinx that pureblood families regard as harmless fun.
Hermione and Neville should get tuition from George and Fred Weasley on what to expect and how to defend themselves without getting into trouble. Practice in our after-class sessions and pass on anything helpful to Susan and Hannah. Daphne, Tracey, and Blaise can also help. They have been given defensive tuition before arriving at Hogwarts.
Remember, this isn’t about you. It is about me.
Hermione and Neville; watch each other’s backs. You can expect opposition from people other than Malfoy.
Harry
-ooOOoo-
The Lizards Maps were building up in quality detail. So, it was now time for the next step.
The years in Azkaban gave Harry time for many lessons from the experts at living in the castle. The Death Eaters knew the Slytherin dungeons and cellars. Sirius had a specialised area of knowledge.
James, Remus, and Sirius investigated the castle wards. To their delight and horror, they found no barrier to reading what the wards detected. Instead, anyone who could write a few rune sequences could make a moving display of who was where in the castle.
Harry applied the runes to his maps. Moving dots appeared. Soon, there were names attached to each dot. The students, ghosts, teachers, Peeves, the poltergeist, and pets owned by a teacher or student all appeared.
Another top-secret rune sequence was applied, and a tiny ear appeared at the top right margin corner.
Harry leaned down and whispered into the ear.
“George Weasley!”
The map shifted to an empty corridor which branched off from the main hallway on the third floor. A passage, which was marked in dotted lines, branched away from this lonely spot. In that passage were two dots named ‘George Weasley’ and ‘Fred Weasley’.
Guided by the map, Harry found the corridor and the passage entrance. Blaise was with him. Harry asked Blaise to wait at the end of the corridor while he negotiated with the Weasleys.
A tapestry was hanging on the wall of the corridor. Harry lifted the tapestry and found an ancient door. He used his wand to levitate the tapestry while knocking on the door three times.
The corridor had been quiet, but now, the walls seemed to be listening when he knocked.
After a few seconds, Harry acted.
“FRED! GEORGE! OPEN UP! IT’S HARRY POTTER.”
The door opened a crack. “It’s Harry Potter. How did you know we were here?”
“I’ve got a map that shows where you are.”
The door shut, and Harry waited.
The door was whipped open. George grabbed Harry, hauled him in, and shut the door.
“Let’s see it!” “Let’s see it!” The dual Weasley voices demanded.
Harry opened his map book. The light in the passage was dim. Harry handed the map book over and conjured two more bluebell flames.
“It’s the map!” Fred exclaimed.
“It’s the Marauder’s Map!” George replied.
“Only it’s better!” “Only it’s better!”
Harry took his map book from their hands.
“I made a new one. Padfoot told me how the Marauders made the original. So, I’m guessing you have it now, is that right?”
George gasped. “Oh!”
Fred gasped. “Padfoot! You know Padfoot, what about Prongs, Mooney, and Wormtail?”
Harry stared at the Weasleys. “Prongs is dead. I don’t know where Mooney is. As for Wormtail, that is a story I won’t tell you for now.”
George recovered. “What do you know?”
Fred asked. “What will you tell us?”
“What do you want?” “What do you want?”
Harry nodded. “What do I want? I want you to do some work for me.”
Fred frowned. “We’re not free.”
George smiled. “But we’re reasonable.”
There was a short silence. Harry looked around.
“This is a nice little place you have here. What is it?”
Harry conjured three padded armchairs and motioned the twins to sit.
Fred spoke. “Thank you, Harry. This is an access tunnel to the old fortifications. It was blocked off when the new outer walls were built five hundred years ago. We use it to store our experimental stuff and do some new work we don’t want everyone in the Common Room to know about.”
George continued. “It was marked on the Marauder’s Map, so we looked at it to see if it was another tunnel out of the castle. It doesn’t go anywhere, but it is useful for us.”
Harry stared at the twins. “Are you guys willing to trust me?”
Fred looked at George, who shrugged. “You have one of our little secrets. Who knows how many of our other secrets you have.”
Harry nodded. “OK! I need you to train Neville Longbottom and Hermione Granger. They are going to get more harassment, and they are nearly defenceless. They need to be educated on how to spot unfriendly actions before they get hit and hurt. Malfoy and his gang are going to target them.”
George looked at Fred. “OK! Now the important question, what’s in it for us?”
Harry pointed at them both. “Very good! That’s the right question. One hundred galleons a month for a year, each. You don’t have to fight their battles for them. They need your advice. I know you would help them anyway, but they might not want to ask for help, and I want your best effort.”
Fred smiled. “We’ll do our best for them.”
George smiled. “Now you can tell us, who are Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot and Prongs?”
Harry stared at the twins. “Prongs is my father, Moony is Remus Lupin, Wormtail is Peter Pettigrew, and Padfoot is Sirius Black.”
Fred and George were left with their mouths hanging open.
“Sorry, Harry! We didn’t mean to go that far. Black caused your parent's death and murdered Peter Pettigrew.”
Harry shook his head. “I can’t tell you about it yet, but the facts are slightly different. I promise I’ll tell you soon. Look after Hermione and Neville.”
-ooOOoo-
The Halloween Feast was approaching. Harry had no use for special days. Every day was a struggle to survive until Amelia got him out of Azkaban.
The level of harassment started to rise. It went from snarky insults in the corridors to pushing and tripping as the Malfoy gang met any of Harry’s allies. The Slytherin escort was exempted. Lord Greengrass's reputation for protecting his family and friends was well-known in Slytherin. Even Draco was not silly enough to test him.
Neville was hit with a leg locker jinx and had to hop back to the Gryffindor Common Room before he could find anyone to help him.
Harry asked for a new level of cooperation with the Alliance. He suggested organising everyone to travel in groups around the castle and on the grounds. Hermione and Neville would always move together. Susan and Hannah would do the same. As often as possible, the four would meet and stay together.
The Alliance and the Escort would claim an area in the library and always work together. No one was left alone in the library, and near-curfew trips around the castle were never to be undertaken alone.
The most apparent change was at mealtimes. Harry and the Escort started sitting with Susan and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table. Naturally, this got an immediate reaction.
Malfoy, followed by Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle, crowded around Harry as he sat at the Hufflepuff table.
“What are you doing here, Potter? Move back to the Slytherin table, NOW!”
Harry stayed seated and slowly turned to face Draco.
“Draco, that wasn’t very polite. Also, why should I move away from my friends in Hufflepuff?”
Malfoy snarled back. “It’s the rule. You must sit at your house table!”
Harry shook his head. “The rule, Draco, is that we must sit at our house tables during the feasts, like Commencement, Halloween, and Leaving. At any other time, we can sit where we like.”
A shadowy figure loomed over the firsties.
Professor Snape was the owner of the shadow. “Mister Malfoy, stop shouting and take your seat. You may sit anywhere you want. This is only breakfast, not one of the major feasts.”
Professor Snape glared at Harry and stalked off to sit at the staff table.
-ooOOoo-
The day passed slowly with more glares and hissed insults from the Malfoy cronies.
The Slytherin firsties went to their rooms after curfew. Harry received his nightly report from his lizards. The map of the cellars and dungeons was vast, but he finally had the room he was looking for. The wards around the castle did not extend far underground, as was shown by the twin's undetected use of the secret passage to Honeydukes. There were holes in unexpected places. One was a small room next to the kitchen waste collection room.
A gap in the internal stone wall allowed a rat-sized passage into the waste collection room. The waste bins in this room were taken to the edge of the Forbidden Forest to be emptied daily. The contents of the waste bins were gratefully accepted and cleaned up by the forest animals each day.
The lizards enjoyed the feast of small insects which inhabited this room. However, they also had to watch out for the castle rats who regularly raided the bins.
Harry tracked Pettigrew as he wandered around the castle at night. Ronald Weasley made no attempt to keep the rat safe. Pettigrew The Rat regularly made his way down to the cellars. He used the empty room and the rat passage into the feast of leftovers and scraps waiting in the bins.
Harry wrote to Aunt Amelia with the details of his plan.
An animagus detection ward would be placed in the hidden room. When an animagus crossed the room in a transformed state, the ward would trigger an animagus transformation charm. The animagus would be trapped in their human form. Then other wards would prevent the animagus from returning to their animal form. Harry made a concealed door into the hidden room. There was an inner door made of bars, like a prison door, and an outer wooden door, like most other doors in the castle.
Harry set his trap and waited. Two nights later, the lizard patrol reported that a rat-like man was trapped in the hidden room.
Harry sent a message to Amelia, who arrived at the castle the next day with two aurors.
The headmaster was away at some political meeting. Professor McGonagall tried to deflect Amelia with earnest assurances that no security breach had occurred in the castle. Amelia was not to be turned aside. She led a procession down to the kitchen corridor.
A house elf met them outside the kitchens.
Professor McGonagall glared at the elf. “Who are you? You are not a Hogwarts elf.”
Amelia responded. “This is Jules. He is a Bones house elf. The Hogwarts elves have given him access to the castle because he serves my niece, Susan Bones, in Hufflepuff.”
Jules nodded to Professor McGonagall. “The Hogwarts elves asked me to show you the rat-man. The rat-man is locked in a side room. Follow me.”
He took them into a short unused corridor.
“There’s nothing here. What is this, Director? Is this some kind of prank?” McGonagall glared at Amelia.
“I assure you, Professor. You will be very interested in who you will find here.”
Amelia cast Finite Incantatum at the wall. An ancient-looking wooden door appeared.
The unlocking spell was cast at the door.
“Alohomora!”
The door opened, revealing the inner door made of prison bars.
Amelia and Professor McGonagall stepped up to the prison door. Professor McGonagall conjured bluebell flames and sent them into the hidden room as they stood there.
Sprawled on the floor was the untidy form of Peter Pettigrew.
Amelia reacted first. “Pettigrew! You’re alive! You’re also under arrest!”
Pettigrew struggled to his feet and rushed to the door, which stayed locked, and resisted his attempts to pull it open.
He stared at Professor McGonagall. “Professor! Don’t let them take me. They’ll kill me!”
The professor gave an angry cat snarl. “If you don’t go with the aurors, Pettigrew, I will kill you! You framed Sirius Black!”
Amelia turned to the aurors. “Put him in the magic and animagus suppression cuffs before you move him. He must stay cuffed until he is safely in the DMLE cells.”
Pettigrew was dragged out of the castle, crying and whimpering. At least a hundred students saw the rat-like man being taken away at lunchtime. Harry stood in the watching crowd. Pettigrew never recognised Harry.
-ooOOoo-
The capture of Peter Pettigrew was splashed across every wizarding paper and magazine. Credit was given to Amelia Bones and Professor McGonagall, who, it was reported, acted on ‘information received’ to capture the Death Eater. Harry’s name was kept out of the press. The Minister for Magic still did not want Harry Potter to be mentioned. Amelia and Harry agreed. Harry did not need any more attention.
Malfoy cast a tripping jinx at Hermione as she descended the stairs from the Gryffindor Tower. Mysteriously, Hermione did not get injured in the fall. Something seemed to cushion her as she landed on the flagstones.
The jinx had been cast by Malfoy from behind Crabbe and Goyle.
Hermione was sure she heard Malfoy’s voice as the jinx was cast.
She wrote about this attack in her journal.
To: All
From: Hermione Granger
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 1991
Time: 8.15 pm
Message: I was tripped
I was coming down the last steps from Gryffindor Tower to dinner in the Great Hall this evening. Neville was beside me.
I did not see anyone waiting for us.
I heard Malfoy’s voice say, ‘pervoluto’.
I was rolled over down the last of the stairs at a frightening speed.
However, I did not land on anything hard, not the stairs or the floor.
It seemed like there were soft cushions underneath me all the time.
Neville drew his wand and cast the Protego shield charm. The twins had just taught us the Protego charm, an advanced one they had learned this year.
The shield charm was not the cushioning I experienced. The shield charm did deflect a stinging hex that Malfoy cast at Neville.
Harry, have you done something which you haven’t told us about?
Hermione
Harry replied.
To: All
From: Harry Potter
Date: Wednesday, October 30, 1991
Time: 8.44 pm
Message: Sprung!
Yes, I have been up to tricks.
Hermione, Neville, Susan, and Hannah have Potter and Bones house elf guards.
These house elves have been told to protect you when malicious spells are being cast at you.
Hermione’s elf, whose name is Righteous, saw Hermione being hit by the ‘Pervoluto’ spell, which made Hermione rollover.
Righteous placed cushioning charms on the stairs and floor to prevent any injury.
Righteous also confirmed to me that Malfoy cast the jinx.
Please report this to Professor McGonagall. She may not do anything about it, but please make the report and write it in the journal, including the professor's response.
Hermione, you may call Righteous to you by saying her name. Please talk to her and learn as much as you can from her about the wizarding world.
Harry
-ooOOoo-
The first year’s curfew was over long ago. Draco was alone in his room, preparing for bed. His wand was under his pillow; the door had been locked, and he was finally ready.
Draco turned to throw the last of his clothes into the washing bag.
He came face to face with Harry.
“AAAEEEEEE!”
Draco nearly collapsed with fright as he dived for his wand. He grasped the wand and felt it twitch from his hand as it flew to Harry. Harry caught it with his right hand.
Draco hung on to his bed as his knees nearly refused to hold him up.
“HOW DID YOU GET IN HERE?” Draco screamed.
He was puffing and panting as though he had run a mile.
“You know you really should put up better wards if you want to keep me out of your room, Draco.”
“GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”
“Now, now, Draco, you haven’t heard what I came here to say.” Harry lifted Draco’s wand and gently tossed it to the ceiling, where it stuck.
“GIVE ME MY WAND BACK!”
“You’ll get your wand back, Draco, after I’ve gone. What I want to tell you, Draco, is this.”
Harry stepped towards Draco.
“Leave my people alone. Granger, Longbottom, Bones and Abbott are under my protection. Put them at risk again, and you will suffer.”
“You can’t order me around, Potter!” Draco snarled.
“Greengrass, Davis, and Zabini are off limits as well, but you already know that, don’t you, Draco.”
“GET OUT! NOW!”
Harry walked to the door, opened it, and stepped out. The door closed, and Draco’s wand dropped to the floor. It was followed by torrential rain pouring down from the ceiling, only in Draco’s room. Everything in the room was saturated in seconds, and ankle-deep water covered the floor.
274Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVH98Tud4zz
