Guys, I completely forgot to upload the chapter Saturday. I'm sorry.
(Word Count: 3,584)
Draco had been giving him the side eye throughout the day whenever they crossed paths. Though he tried to be subtle about it, it was obvious that he wanted to get some sort of update on how the diary search went.
He had put it off last night because he had to handle Lockhart, and he had put it off throughout the day… mostly because he was hanging out with his friends.
So, when Draco gave another annoyed look his way during dinner, he gave a small tilt of his head toward the side entrance. Draco rolled his eyes—Harry caught the distinct thought of 'Finally!'—before giving a quick nod as if he hadn't been cursing him in his mind all day.
Harry cleaned his mouth with a napkin, excused himself from the table, and slipped out of the hall to one of the quieter passageways. Draco arrived several minutes later, with as stern a glare as he could muster and his arms folded.
"Well?" he said tersely, "You've kept me waiting the entire day. Have you found it yet?"
Harry shook his head. "No."
Draco scoffed. "Then what was all that on the train? You sounded so certain."
"I knew it was on the train somewhere, but it's not like I know who has it. And I don't have a way to magically sense it," Harry said. "I searched the entire train, every single compartment. No one had it out, and no one happened to be thinking about it for me to pick up on anything."
Draco frowned. "You read everyone's minds?"
"Only the surface thoughts. I didn't probe deeper. Though I probably should have, considering I didn't find anything," Harry grumbled.
Draco stared at him for a moment, "That's disturbing. I didn't know you could do that."
Harry chuckled wryly. "Did you forget about my little stunt last year with the mind magic? Of course I can use legilimency. I warned everyone to learn occlumency. Judging by how things went yesterday, I'd say no one bothered."
Seeing Draco was still bothered by it, Harry patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I didn't bother searching your mind."
Draco slapped his hand away. "So your 'vision' was wrong, then?" he pressed. "First it didn't go to the Weasley girl like you said, and now you can't even find it. How am I supposed to trust this?"
Harry shook his head. "No, the vision is real, Draco. The problem comes from Fate. She doesn't like it when you try to change the future. The same thing happened last year, I knew the troll would attack Hermione last year, so I tried to stop it from happening. The specific circumstances changed, but the attack still happened. All I managed to change was where it happened."
Draco looked at him, confused. "You talk like it's a person."
Harry didn't answer that directly. "Look, what matters is this: the diary didn't go to Ginny, but it didn't disappear either. Fate would make sure that it still ends up here in the castle with one of the students. Most likely a first year to match the foreseen future more closely."
Draco didn't look convinced.
"So what?" he said sharply. "That doesn't prove it's here. For all you know, my father could've gotten rid of it entirely, so no one can find it!"
"You think I haven't checked that option? If he had gotten rid of it, he would have sold it alongside the rest of the dark artifacts he had sold to Borgin and Burkes. When he didn't plant the diary on Ginny as I expected, I immediately went there to check," Harry said.
Draco blinked. "You did what?"
"I searched through the memories of Mr. Burkes to check if your father had sold the diary to him, Just in case," Harry said calmly. "I had to be sure.."
Draco stared at him like he'd just admitted to breaking into the Ministry.
"You went digging through the mind of the shopkeeper, looking into my father's business?" He said slowly.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't care he sold off dark artifacts, Draco, relax. Anyway, he sold other things, but not the diary. Combined with everything else it's enough for me to treat it like it's here. All I need you to do for me is to keep an eye out on the Slytherin students for anyone acting strange. Though I don't think it's too likely for the diary to be in Slytherin, I do need someone to keep an eye just in case."
Draco hesitated, then, quietly, "And you're sure it's not likely to be in Slytherin?"
"I think it's unlikely," Harry said. "Your father wouldn't risk it ending up near you if he could help it."
Draco's expression shifted slightly, seemingly accepting the reality of the situation.
"Fine," he said. "I'll keep an eye out for it, but I'm not sneaking into people's trunks for you."
He had come a long way from what he was in the canon story. In the canon, Malfoy would make remarks like "filthy mudbloods" and "you'll be next". He even said he wished Hermione would be the next Hogwarts student to die to the Heir of Slytherin.
Now, even if reluctantly, he is helping to stop it.
"Don't worry, I'll handle the trunk-rummaging myself."
"Good," Draco nodded tersely, and left without another word.
~~ ITW,H ~~
Later that evening, when they were all in the common room, Harry grabbed Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Ron. They grabbed the table in the more isolated corner.
Harry took a seat and put up a Muffliato spell for privacy. That made them realize that this wasn't going to be a normal conversation.
"Do you guys remember when we met at Flourish and Blotts, the day of Lockhart's book signing?" Harry began.
Hermione nodded, "Yes, you and Malfoy were acting like you were up to something. You said you would explain everything later."
"Right, well, this is about that. Let me first tell you about the future I saw for this school year.…" Harry went on to tell them about the attacks on the school, the petrifications, the basilisk, and how Ginny was possessed by a diary that contained a piece of Voldemort.
"So I enlisted Draco's help in getting my hands on the diary when his father was supposed to slip it into Ginny's cauldron. The only problem is, he never did. But I know it is here somewhere, I just don't know who has it," Harry finished.
Their faces were pale.
Neville moaned, putting his face in his hands. "First it was the thief working for you-know-who, now this year we have this? A piece of you-know-who himself and a basilisk? I want to go home!" He whimpered.
"Blimey, Harry," Ron gulped. "You mean to tell me Ginny was supposed to be possessed by You-Know-Who this year?"
"'Supposed to' is the wrong word here, but that's what I saw. I don't exactly know what happened to make Lucius change his target," Harry said.
"So that's why you checked my cauldron! You wanted to make sure the diary wasn't there!" Ginny said excitedly, piecing it together. She looked at him sweetly. "You wanted to save me."
Harry tightened the control over his legilimency so he didn't inadvertently overhear any thoughts he was probably best not to.
"Yes, with something like this diary is extraordinarily dangerous, I had to be sure," Harry said.
"You said it contained a piece of Voldemort, but what exactly does that mean?" Hermione asked.
Harry looked around the common room. There were a handful of students at the couches and tables around the room, but no one was paying any attention to them. The muffliato spell was holding.
He leaned in closer to whisper anyway. These were his best friends, and they'll be on his side no matter what anyway, so it was safe to tell them. "What I'm about to tell you cannot leave this table. You cannot tell anyone. do you understand?." He looked each of them in the eyes, getting confirmation from them before he continued.
He went ahead and explained about horcruxes, and his goal about finding a way to purify them without damaging the item itself. He didn't say anything about the ones he already had or the fact that he was one himself, but it was enough for now.
If they were pale before, now they were all as white as ghosts. Actually, Neville looked a bit green, like he was going to throw up.
"So this is why you-know-who's not dead dead?" Hermione asked. "I was wondering how the philosopher's stone would help him last year, because nothing I've read about it said it could bring back the dead. But if he's still technically alive, then it makes sense!"
"But why do you want to purify these horcruxes? I mean, this one's just a diary. Why try to save it?" Ron asked.
"Because some of the other horcruxes were made from artifacts from three of the four founders of Hogwarts. Ravenclaw's diadem, Slytherin's locket, and Hufflepuff's cup," Harry said. "It would be a waste of not just the school's history, but the history of magical Britain itself."
Hermione's eyes gleamed. "Ravenclaw's diadem! You mean we can actually find it? It's said to enhance the wisdom of anyone that wears it!"
"I have it right now. Though it's still a horcru—"
"YOU HAVE IT!?" Hermione jumped out of her seat in excitement. Everyone else gawked at him.
"Yes, but it's not safe. It's still a horcrux right now, so you can't wear it yet. Then if I manage to purify it, I'll have to run a lot of tests to make sure it's actually safe to wear again," Harry said.
"Can we see it?" Ginny asked curiously.
"No, there are powerful compulsion charms on it to force anyone nearby to put it on, which will either curse you or possess you. It's best not to risk it," Harry explained.
"Hold on," Ron interjected, "You mean you've already started gathering these horcruxes on your own? Why didn't you bring us along?"
Harry gave him a look. "The diadem was hidden here in Hogwarts, so I could just swing by where it was hidden and grab it. And as I said, it is charmed with powerful mental compulsions, which none of you could fight against. Except Hermione, but her occlumency is largely untested."
Hermione frowned as Ron's abjection made her realize he had gone off on his own to get something dangerous. "I know I don't have a lot of practice with it, but surely having someone there just in case would have been safer."
"Probably, but you're underestimating how skilled I am at occlumency. It couldn't affect me. I was perfectly safe," Harry said. "Anyway, for this school year, I need you all to keep an eye out for anyone acting suspiciously, or generally out of it. The person with the diary will be more and more isolated, disoriented, or distressed. I hope we can find them before Halloween, which is when the diary will be strong enough to possess them for the first time. Ginny, I especially need your help on this, because you have the closest contact with the first years, and it's most likely with someone in your year."
Ginny nodded resolutely. "I'll find it."
~~ ITW,H ~~
Over the next week, Hogwarts settled more fully into the term's new schedule.
Classes became routine, homework began piling up—well, for everyone else it did, Harry got it done the same day he got it—and Lockhart's Defense lessons quickly proved to be exactly as disappointing as the first one suggested. He did not bring any more creatures, which Harry personally counted as a success, but his lectures were shallow, self-absorbed, and frequently wandered away from the actual topic into personal anecdotes.
The girls in the class grew more visibly disillusioned by the day. With each class, they struggled more and more to find something in their idol worth defending.
Ron and the rest of the boys found this hilarious.
The study group resumed as well, which was a relief. It was nice to have something normal in the middle of everything else. They met in the same empty classroom Harry had arranged to use last year, and gradually everyone returned to their usual places. Hermione came with her stack of books, Neville with his Herbology notes, Susan and Hannah together, Terry Boot, Daphne Greengrass with Tracey Davis trailing along beside her, and the Patil twins.
Harry had asked Ron if he wanted to come, but he seemed to have lost interest in it and preferred to spend his time elsewhere.
Dean Thomas was similar. He had started out coming every week, if only to get help on the homework, but Harry had expected more from the members of the study group than just helping with homework. Everyone needed their own goals in magic, something they were striving towards outside of the standard curriculum. Dean tried at first, but his motivation had waned and he stopped coming towards the end of the first year.
One absence stood out to Harry. Blaise Zabini was not here. He had never been the most enthusiastic participant, he was always more reserved, but he had been consistent last year and never missed a week.
Tracey noticed Harry looking toward the door and grimaced.
"He probably won't come," she said quietly.
Harry turned back to Tracey. "Why?"
Tracey shifted in her seat, glancing at Daphne.
Daphne sighed and explained."His mother told him to stay away from you."
Blaise's mother leaned more towards the dark faction, so it's not surprising on that front, but the woman seemed to be fine with their friendship last year. Actually now that he thought about it, she had wanted to get closer to Sirius. Could something have happened there? Did she make a move on him only to get rejected?
Harry put the thought aside. He would deal with that later. For now, the group was here, and there was something else he wanted to discuss.
Once everyone settled down, Harry stood at the front of the classroom and cleared his throat. "There's something I wanted to tell you all," he said. "Professor Flitwick and I are working on restarting the Hogwarts Dueling Club."
That immediately got everyone's attention.
Susan grinned excitedly. "Really?"
"Yes," Harry said. "It'll be supervised by Professor Flitwick, obviously, and the goal of the club will be to prepare everyone in it to participate in next year's dueling tournaments."
Terry looked interested. "Will it be open to all years?"
"That's the plan," Harry said. "Though there'll be different levels of practice depending on experience."
Tracey leaned forward. "Are you teaching?"
"Professor Flitwick is teaching, though I'll likely act as a teaching assistant working with students who need extra help."
Hermione looked pleased, though not surprised. "That would be really useful. Most students don't get any real defensive practice outside class."
"Especially this year," Terry muttered, "Lockhart couldn't defend himself from a wet sock."
That earned a few laughs.
Hannah smiled, though she looked a little tired. "Susan, you should definitely join. Though I don't know if I want to join a tournament."
Neville looked even less convinced. "I'm not sure I'd be any good at dueling. I can hardly cast spells as it is."
"That's the point of practice," Harry said. "And it's not just for people who want to compete. Everyone should know how to cast a shield charm under pressure."
Susan nodded seriously. "Auntie says the same thing."
The rest of the meeting shifted after that, the study group's usual homework routine turning into a lively discussion about dueling spells, and whether Flitwick would let them attempt anything more advanced once the club was properly established.
Off to the side, Hermione was talking to Daphne. "Hey, Daphne, do you know occlumency or legilimency?" She whispered.
"I know a little bit of occlumency, but no, I don't know legilimency. Why?" Daphne whispered back, matching her tone.
Hermione deflated. "Oh, no reason. I just need some more practice with occlumency and wanted to find someone that could use legilimency on me."
"Why don't you just ask Harry? I thought he was teaching you both," Daphne asked.
Hermione blushed, glancing back at Harry, who was pretending he couldn't overhear them. Having a crow's hearing was a bit unfair. "I can't," She said uncomfortably.
"Why not?" Daphne asked bewildered.
"I just can't, okay?" Hermione herself didn't really know why, so how could she explain it to Daphne? Harry had already been helping her practice the mind arts last year, but the thought of continuing that this year made her anxious for some reason. "If you don't know legilimency, then just forget I asked. Thanks anyway."
~~ ITW,H ~~
A few days later, Neville seemed to be a bit down. It was after DADA, as they were walking down towards the study hall. Neville kept glancing toward the Hufflepuffs as they split off down another corridor to head to transfiguration, and eventually he sighed.
"What's wrong?" Harry asked.
"I haven't really been able to hang out with Hannah much lately," he said.
Harry glanced at him. "You two have gotten pretty close. Have you even written to each other over the summer?"
Neville nodded. "Yeah. And we talked a lot last year. It's just… I don't know. She's always busy now, or gone before I can catch her."
Harry followed his gaze toward the corridor where the Hufflepuffs had disappeared.
"Hufflepuff's schedule barely lines up with ours this year," Harry said, placing a hand on his shoulder sympathetically. "We only have defense with them during the day."
Neville frowned. "Really?"
"Yeah. Most of our classes are with Ravenclaw or Slytherin now."
Neville seemed to think about that, then relaxed slightly. "Oh. That makes sense, then."
"Probably," Harry said, a cheeky grin slowly growing. "You know… you could always ask her to meet up sometime instead of waiting to run into her."
Neville flushed. "It's not like that!"
"I didn't say it was," Harry said, the grin growing wider.
"Wipe that grin off your face," Neville grumbled under his breath, but he looked less worried than before, which had been the point.
"What's not like that?" Hermione asked, not getting the insinuation.
"Neville likes Hannah," Ron explained with his own cheeky grin.
Hermione froze in place.
~~ ITW,H ~~
Harry was eating with Hermione, Ron, Neville, Ginny, and Luna—who decided to come eat with them, ignoring the convention of sitting with your own house—when Colin appeared beside the table with his camera clutched to his chest, looking a bit more frazzled than usual.
"Hi, Harry!" Colin said brightly. "Have you seen my camera case anywhere? I thought I had it earlier, but I can't find it now."
Harry blinked. "No, sorry. Where did you last have it?"
Colin grimaced, scratching his head. "That's the problem. I don't really remember when I lost it. Maybe outside Charms? I know I had it after breakfast."
Ron stared at him. "You lost your camera case?"
"Not the camera!" Colin said quickly, clutching it tighter as if Ron might accuse him of losing that too. "Just the case."
Ginny frowned. "Again, Colin? You know, you should just talk to a teacher about this. It's unacceptable."
Colin looked embarrassed. "I know, I know. I'll find it."
He hurried away again before anyone could say much more, darting between tables toward the doors.
"Wait! I can just cast Accio!" Harry called after him, but Colin didn't seem to hear him. Seeing him gone, Harry shrugged.
Ginny watched Colin leave, then shook her head. "He's been like that a lot lately."
Harry looked at her. "Losing things?"
"Yeah," Ginny said. "And looking a mess. He was so excited on the train, but now he always looks like he's running late or trying to keep track of too many things at once."
Hermione's expression softened. "Is he alright?"
Ginny hesitated. "I think some people have been giving him a hard time."
Harry looked back toward the doors Colin had disappeared through. "He's being bullied?"
Ginny winced slightly. "I think. I haven't seen anything personally, but he talks about you a lot. I think everyone is kind of fed up with him."
"That's horrible!" Hermione said indignantly.
Ron groaned. "Of course he does."
Harry sighed. That was exactly why he had been trying to keep some distance from Colin. The boy's admiration was uncomfortable enough on its own, but if it was making him a target, that was even worse.
"I'll keep an eye out for the case," Harry said. He would have just used accio, but he didn't have a clear picture of what his case looked like. He hadn't seen it personally. He needed Colin to picture it for him, or he would just summon any of the camera cases on campus.
Ginny smiled faintly. "Thanks."
~~ ITW,H ~~
By the end of the month, Harry had very little that was truly useful.
Draco had heard nothing strange from Slytherin. Hermione had noticed several oddities that turned out to have perfectly ordinary explanations. Aside from those, there was no one that screamed they were being drained of a parasitic diary.
That was frustrating, but not unexpected. Tom Riddle was a naturally cautious person, so he wouldn't reveal himself until he was ready to make a move. Perhaps he would have to wait until Halloween after all.