Monday November 1st
"Mister Potter, are you even paying attention?"
Harry looked up from the notes he was frantically making for tonight and gave Professor Grubbly-Plank a polite smile. "No ma'am."
What was the point? She had brought unicorns to class, which everyone had been really excited for and then said unicorns are afraid of boys, even though they clearly liked Draco. And then, embarrassingly, when Harry had tried to pet one of them it bit his hand!
Which was, apparently, 'a rather extreme reaction from such a gentle creature'.
Harry couldn't wait to drop Care of Magical Creature after this year. He was sick of everyone seeing how much animals hated him. It almost made him miss Hagrid, who was supposedly on sick leave, but the gang all knew he was out trying to reach a deal with the giants for Dumbledore's gang.
At least the skrewts had liked him.
Grubbly-Plank squinted at Harry suspiciously through her thick glasses. "Well pay attention."
"Yes ma'am," Harry said. He waited until she was distracted by the group of students inside the paddock with the unicorns before he snorted and went back to his papers. The first meeting of the DADA Club was a bit more important than watching everyone else feed apples and hay to a bunch of hateful unicorns.
He looked back at his list and sighed. Never again would he let his friends talk him into doing something mad like this again. Sometimes he had the thought that he didn't even recognize himself anymore. Five years ago there couldn't have been a guilt trip strong enough to make him do something he didn't want to. And look at him now- building 'lesson plans' like a bloody swot.
Though, when he was honest with himself, he knew that he'd been excited to lead a club right up until he saw the final list of signups this morning.
He didn't even know that Hogwarts had that many students.
And now he had to find something to focus on tonight for their first meeting that he could teach.
Which was much harder than it sounded when there were students from first to seventh year all signed up. What could he teach a seventh year that wouldn't be too difficult for a first year? And what could he show the younger kids that the older ones didn't already know?
He'd played with the idea of teaching them all to find their core and channel it through their hands, but Ron had reminded him that since it was a school approved club he had to let people in who weren't necessarily on his side. And it would be the stupidest thing he'd ever done to actively teach potential enemies such a skill.
Susan had been entirely unsympathetic to his dilemma and told him to just set up duels. But Harry remembered how quickly that went sideways from when Snape and Lockhart tried to run a Dueling Club his second year.
Bombarda?
Confundus?
Imperio?
It was sort of bullshit that Barty got to teach them all to throw off an Unforgivable, but Harry would probably be expelled for teaching them how to cast it.
As if it wouldn't save their life when it came down to it. Death Eaters weren't going to fight fairly, why should anyone else?
Harry was still pondering over what to show the students who came to the meeting tonight during dinner. He finally let out a huff and turned to Hermione. "What the fuck am I supposed to teach them all?"
Hermione looked surprised at his abrupt question and raised her brows. "Whatever spell you think is most useful for defense," she said. "A good spell that could save their lives."
"A legal spell," Theo said hastily when Harry opened his mouth. "A good, legal, spell that could save their lives in a fight."
"Don't you mean something that'll come up on the OWL's?" Ron asked with a pointed smirk.
"No I do not," Hermione said hotly. "I wouldn't even care if it was a first year spell. I think teaching kids to defend themselves is more important than tests, don't you?"
Every single person in their gang, and probably some eavesdropping Slytherin students, gaped in disbelief at Hermione.
"What?" she said defensively. "It's true."
"Well yeah," Blaise waved his fork at Hermione. "But we didn't expect you to think so."
"I'm more than just my test grades," Hermione sniffed.
"She's also the amount of books she's read," Draco murmured, causing Susan to chuckle and Luna to tsk disapprovingly.
"Hermione's right though," Neville said slowly. "The whole point of learning defense is to defend yourself. So just teach them something they can use to defend themselves."
"But not something that'll help them kill you if they join Dumbledore or Timmy," Susan added.
"And nothing that'll get you arrested," Theo said seriously.
"Ta, guys. Fuckin ta," Harry groaned.
Because that was super helpful advice.
The nine of them cleared out of the Great Hall as soon as they were done eating, as did many other students. The students were congregating in the Entrance Hall, waiting for dinner to be over and the tables cleared away so the meeting could be held back in the Great Hall.
They had planned on using an empty classroom on the third floor, right up until they saw how many people had signed up.
"I'm gonna..." Harry hesitated while he tried to think of an excuse before shrugging. "I'll be back," he told his friends. He turned on his heel and attempted to run as quickly towards the dungeons as he could without looking like he was running. It wouldn't do him any good if people knew he was nervous about tonight, then he'd just look like a prat who didn't know how to be in charge. Which isn't what this was. There just seemed to be a lot more constraints on his ability to lead a club than there was his ability to lead a gang.
Harry (not 'frantically' just... quickly) knocked on Snape's office door before throwing it open and sticking his head in.
"Sev!" Harry yelled from the doorway. "What spell do I teach tonight?"
"Shield charm," Snape said immediately.
"Brill! Thanks!"
Harry was already slamming the door shut behind him when Snape called his name.
"Yeah?" he poked his head back in the office, trying to keep a level tone.
"Breathe," Snape said. "You are a natural and gifted leader. You will be fine. Good luck brat."
Harry attempted a confident smile, but he was pretty sure it wound up just being a terrible grimace.
A grimace that only deepened when he was standing on the platform where the head table usually sat and looking out over the hall.
Apart from a good half of the Gryffindor's, the ones Harry knows started their own club despite it technically not being allowed anymore, it seemed as if most of the rest of the castle came out to watch.
"Pretend they're water gnats and you're a blueberry cobbler," Luna leaned forward and whispered in what may be the most peculiar advice ever. It did startle a laugh from Harry though which gave him the confidence to start the meeting.
"If you're here it's because you wanna learn defense." Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and let his eyes wander around the room as he catalogued names and faces of the crowd. "If you just want help with homework or some sort of tutoring, talk to her," Harry nodded his head in Hermione's direction behind him. "If you want to actually learn to survive outside of the castle, then I'll help. But-"
"Why?"
Harry looked around the crowd until he spotted the girl who spoke up. It wasn't someone he knew, just an older girl in Ravenclaw robes. "Why what?" he asked her.
"Why are you helping us?" she clarified.
"Because Harry's the best student in the castle at defense."
"And offense too."
Harry sent a quick, confused, but appreciative, look towards Fred and George, who were lounging against the stone wall. Fred winked at him, and Harry had to will himself to not blush and to focus on this.
Why was Fred winking at him?
Did he want to get back together? He said at the party last night he wanted to be friends, but does he wink at all his friends?
Focus.
"They're right," Harry said with a shrug and a half-smile. "I am the best."
The girl, who Harry had been prepared to hate, actually smirked back after she rolled her eyes. "I know that," she said. "I'm asking why you're helping us. What's in it for you?"
"Harry's got big dreams of becoming the defense professor one day and this is going to look excellent on his application," Blaise said sarcastically. Several students snickered, but a few looked terrified.
As if Harry would ever want to sit around grading papers all day. He didn't know how or why Snape did it.
"Does it matter why I'm doing it?" Harry raised his brows. "Or can we get started?"
Nobody said anything else so Harry went ahead and pulled out his wand. "This is an easy spell that could save your life if it's done right, yeah? Protego!"
Harry's chest seemed to puff out on its own at the surprised and impressed gasps of the students in the crowd. "This—" Harry gestured to the corporeal dark purple shield beside him, "—is what you want. So find some space and start. If you need help just put your hand up or something and one of us will help you."
Harry jumped down from the raised platform and waited as everyone seemed to just stare at his still visible shield.
"Sometime today," he drawled loudly, triggering students in to action.
The hour passed by quickly after that.
Harry edged around the room, vigilantly keeping an eye on the wands that were being waved closest to him, and offered comments here and there.
"It's not fu- it's not like that," Harry grit out with as much patience as he could. "Look-" Harry demonstrated the wand movement again for the fourth year who was just twirling his wand like an idiot.
"'Protego,'" Harry said clearly to a lispy first year. "I dunno what 'protecto' is meant to do, but it doesn't seem to work, does it?"
"Why... why don't you have your wand out?" Harry asked Bailey once he came up to his group of second year Slytherin's.
"I'm trying to cast like you do," Bailey said with an earnest smile. "Watch!"
Harry cocked his head to the side as Bailey's brows furrowed and his green eyes screwed up behind his glasses.
"Protego!" the small boy yelled with a wild windmill motion with his arms.
Harry, in what was the largest amount of restraint he had ever shown, did not laugh.
"Not like that," he told him. "Use your wand for now and find me later to talk about wandless magic, yeah?"
"Yeah!" Bailey's responding smile was so excited that Harry couldn't help but smile a bit as well.
Why wasn't everyone as easy to please as Trent Bailey?
Harry waited until Bailey and his little group of friends began the spell before he moved along to the next hand in the air.
"D'you actually need help?" he asked Fred once he got to where he and George were with both their hands raised high.
"I do," Fred said seriously. "I want a purple shield like yours, but every time I do this—" Fred muttered something and waved his wand in a circular motion, "this happens!"
Harry's lips twitched at the bouquet of pink flowers that Fred conjured. "If you're mixing up a shield charm, with a conjuring spell, I don't think I can help you, can I?"
"Probably not," Fred smiled. "But here, you should have these anyway."
Harry had no idea what he was meant to do with an armful of...
"What are these anyway?"
"Bluebells," Fred winked. "We'll just keep working on our shields."
Harry shook his head at that abrupt dismissal and felt like a bit of a prat with an armful of flowers. He focused on his bedside table before pulling on his magic and sending the flowers there with a light tap.
He spent the remainder of his time either sidestepping people who just wanted to talk to him or stopping to help people who actually wanted to learn something.
And, when there was only a few minutes left of the allotted hour, he got back on the platform and whistled loudly for attention.
"Good work everyone."
It hadn't been. A lot of people didn't even get a shadowy shield to form. But Harry knew people liked to be complimented, so he said it anyway.
"I'll have something different for you when we meet again in two weeks. So keep practicing your shields and I'll see you on November 15, same time, same place."
What that 'something different' would be, Harry had no idea.
Nobody seemed to guess at his thought though as they broke off in to large groups and chattered happily about the club.
"Harry! That was great!" Hermione was bouncing on the balls of her feet as Harry's friends crowded around where he stood. "Hardly anyone said anything negative at all!"
"Who said anything negative?" Susan asked her quickly.
"Um..." Hermione glanced at Theo, who sighed.
"A few of the older students were complaining about the easy spell, but they shut up quick once we pointed out that their shield was nothing but mist."
"Idiots," Draco scoffed.
"I thought you did amazing," Luna smiled brightly up at Harry. "And your next meeting will be even better."
"Ta Lue." Harry followed his own friends towards the exit, taking their time so they weren't crowded by the other students who were still hanging around.
"Hey, Harry."
Harry raised a brow at Blaise's whisper and fell back a step to get beside him. "What?"
Blaise tilted his head towards Harry's, and his voice was barely a whisper. "Dumbledore stopped by."
Harry curled his lip up to hide the sudden swoop of unease that he felt in his stomach. "For what?" he breathed.
"I don't know. He just stood in the doorway and watched when you were helping the other students. Then he left."
Harry nodded his head for Blaise's information and pondered it as he walked down to the dungeons.
What possible reason would Dumbledore have for coming and silently watching their club meeting?
He didn't know why he would bother, but he didn't like it.
He especially didn't like the sudden increase in times he saw Dumbledore around the school.
After descending Trelawney's ladder on Tuesday morning, there was a flash of a glittering blue robe before someone shimmered away in to invisibility.
Dumbledore's eyes were on Harry during lunch that same day, never wavering.
A cheerful 'hello' in the corridor when Harry was headed to transfiguration.
He was pretty sure he had even seen him in the stands briefly during his teams practice that night.
It was making Harry paranoid and nervous.
What was driving Dumbledore to stalk him around the school?
On Wednesday, Harry grabbed his knife from Sirius and put it in the holster on his forearm. He put two throwing stars and his red penknife in his robe pockets as well, wanting to be as prepared as possible in case Dumbledore decided to outright attack him.
He hadn't planned on killing Dumbledore this year, but he would if he forced his hand.
His friends were confused by his jerky movements and increasing levels of vigilance for every conversation and move they made that day, but as they weren't being stalked by the fuckin Headmaster he figured they'd get over it.
Harry didn't see much of Dumbledore Wednesday, but that only increased his paranoia.
Why follow him around all day Tuesday then ignore him Wednesday? Did he find what he was looking for? Was he trying to lull Harry in to a false sense of security?
Harry couldn't figure out his game.
It wasn't until his patrol with Hermione that night that he encountered Dumbledore again. The two of them were quietly bashing Umbridge, both disgusted and disturbed by her simpering smiles and coy words every time she was within ten feet of Harry.
"I think you should tell Professor Snape," Hermione said after they checked the owlery for any student outside their bed past curfew. "He could talk to her about it."
"I'm not telling Snape that the defense teacher is a creep," Harry scowled. "He'd just-"
"Be very pleased you told him and take it quite seriously, I'm sure."
Harry pulled up short and stepped in front of Hermione just as quickly as he flicked his dagger handle in to his right hand.
He had been trying to lull Harry in to a false sense of security. And Harry was pissed as hell that it had worked. Because as soon as they closed the door behind them, Dumbledore had appeared practically out of thin air in front of them.
"I'm sorry to startle you Harry," Dumbledore smiled. "I was just hoping I could speak with you for a moment."
Harry checked the corridor they were in quickly and felt his panic rise as he realized that either they had to back up back in to the owlery (which had no alternative exit) or find a way to dart past Dumbledore.
"I'm doing patrols," Harry said as calmly as he could.
Never let an enemy sense your fear.
Better yet- don't have fear for an enemy.
"I'll walk with you then," Dumbledore said. He tilted his head a bit to get a better view of Hermione, who Harry was firmly keeping behind himself. "If Miss Granger would like to join us, she's more than welcome."
This was an ambush.
An ambush that Harry had so stupidly walked right in to.
"Of course." Harry straightened up and smiled politely. "We were just finishing up, I'm headed to the Ravenclaw Tower now." Harry ignored Hermione's quiet huff of indignation. If Dumbledore tried anything, Harry couldn't afford to have Hermione get in the way.
"Lovely!" Dumbledore's smile somehow managed to increase. "After you both then." He turned and gestured grandly down the corridor.
Harry moved so that Hermione could go in front of him so he could keep an eye on both her and Dumbledore at the same time. Hermione narrowed her eyes silently at Dumbledore as she slowly took the lead back to the Ravenclaw Tower. Harry remained two steps behind her and could feel his blood pounding when Dumbledore casually kept pace beside him.
"So! Harry! How has this year been for you?"
"Fine, sir," Harry said.
"Much better than last year I assume?" Dumbledore chuckled.
"Not really." Harry really, really, didn't want to be carrying on a conversation with Dumbledore, but this was a man with too much power to simply turn his back on.
Dumbledore was an enemy who told Barty last year that Harry surviving a fight with Timmy 'wasn't his concern'. Harry was pretty sure that was easily translated to: 'I hope he dies'.
Apparently he was no longer needed as a Timmy shield and Dumbledore was ready for a Harry Potter-free world. Which was a shame, because Harry had no intention of dying any time soon.
"I wanted to speak with you some more about last year," Dumbledore told Harry, entirely ignoring Hermione's presence in front of them. "I understand why you said what you said. It was clever, the way you played the Minister just right."
Harry hummed as he pretended to misunderstand him. "'M not sure what you mean, sir."
"Well," Dumbledore chuckled again-
Which was both annoying and ominous.
"It isn't your name being torn apart in the papers, is it?"
"Harry doesn't control the newspapers," Hermione sneered from in front of them.
"Of course not." Dumbledore's voice was still gentle, but Harry saw the flash of emotion in his eyes.
Dumbledore clearly didn't like being interrupted.
"I was simply saying that it was a cunning lie," Dumbledore went on. "I wish you would have been honest, of course, but I can see now why you said what you said."
Harry hummed again, and felt nothing but relief as they turned in to the corridor that led to the Ravenclaw Tower. Hermione gave him a beseeching look, but Harry quickly shifted his eyes from side to side.
Harry might stand a chance if Dumbledore attacked if he didn't have to watch out for Hermione. Hermione was a genius, but she wasn't a strong dueler.
He was struck with a sudden question-
Had Dumbledore intentionally waited to ambush him on a night he knew he would be with Hermione and not Susan?
Harry wouldn't put it past him.
"Harry?"
Harry glanced up at Dumbledore. "Yes sir?"
Dumbledore's smile was kind, and gentle, and fake. "I said don't you think the time to tell the truth is here now? When people can prepare to protect themselves from Voldemort? Just as you are teaching the students to do?"
Harry mentally counted how many steps until Hermione could enter the tower.
Thirteen.
"I think people are preparing to protect themselves, aren't they?" Harry said lightly.
Eleven.
"Voldemort's a more feared and powerful wizard than Barty Crouch," Dumbledore argued.
"Barty Crouch fooled you, didn't he?" Harry asked.
"He did," Dumbledore admitted. Harry could hear the annoyance in his tone at having to say it. "But if the threat of Voldemort isn't taken seriously then people could get hurt Harry, they could die."
Five.
"I suppose someone should do something about that."
Hermione gave Harry another panicked look as they pulled up next to the Ravenclaw Tower. Harry just blinked at her and willed her to just go inside.
"Goodnight Miss Granger," Dumbledore said with both false cheer and as an obvious dismissal. "Have a pleasant rest of your week."
Hermione bit her lip as she watched Harry for a moment before darting forward and hugging him. "Scream if he tries anything," she breathed directly in his ear. "Tell the portraits to get Snape."
"Night Mione," Harry said casually as Hermione pulled off him. "I'll see you at breakfast like usual."
And if he wasn't there, at least Hermione would know who was to blame.
Dumbledore twiddled his thumbs together and inspected the corridor ceiling while Harry waited for Hermione to answer her riddle and get in the common room. As soon as the tower door closed behind her, he planted his feet to the ground and turned a hard look on the headmaster.
"I said what I said and I'm not saying anything different now," he said shortly. His fingers were wrapped tightly around his dagger handle as he glared up in Dumbledore's cool blue eyes. He didn't need to hold up pretenses anymore. Hermione was gone and, as Snape said, the lines had been drawn last year. "What did you really want to talk to me about?"
"I think you and I have gotten off on the wrong foot," Dumbledore said quietly. "I am not your enemy Harry."
"Must have gotten confused when you expelled me," Harry sneered. "Or when you took me from my godfather and dropped me off with the Dursley's."
"Harry, I truly never meant for your life to be so difficult," Dumbledore said.
If Harry didn't have such an inherent distrust of every word the man said he would almost believe him.
"I have always wanted the best for you."
"Well you did a shit job, didn't you?" Harry spat. "So what do you want from me now?"
Dumbledore seemed to sense that his empty platitudes were getting him nowhere because he drew himself up and studied Harry closely over the top of his half moon spectacles.
"Has Sirius told you of the Order of the Phoenix?"
"Sirius didn't," Harry said with partial honesty. "But yeah, I know about your gang."
Dumbledore didn't seem to know how to respond to that for a moment because his scrutiny only increased. "I would like to offer you an invitation to join."
"No thanks," Harry laughed coolly. "I'm not taking orders from anyone."
"I see." Dumbledore's sudden frown had Harry drawing up on his magic, he had to be prepared in case he decided to attack any second. "And if Voldemort were to offer you a position within his ranks?"
"I'd tell him to fuck off too," Harry said. "If that's all?"
"It is not," Dumbledore said. He stared right in Harry's eyes as he asked his next question. "Have you been having any odd dreams? Visions? Pain in your scar?"
"No," Harry lied forcefully. "I haven't."
How did he know?
Harry carefully checked his occlumency shields as Dumbledore gave him a disbelieving look.
"Are we done now?" Harry asked rudely.
"We are," Dumbledore said with a note of finality. "I regret where we stand."
That didn't seem to need a reply, so Harry nodded and began backing away carefully.
"Oh, Harry?"
Harry paused with his back to the wall. "Yes?"
Dumbledore wasn't even pretending to smile anymore as he looked down his crooked nose at Harry. "I was surprised you didn't ask me why I chose you as prefect."
Harry ran his thumb reassuringly over the handle of the dagger hidden in his right hand. "Snape chose me."
"No," Dumbledore let out a huff of a laugh. A mirthless laugh that put Harry on an edge so sharp he could nearly scream. "Severus didn't choose you, he chose Theodore Nott. I selected you instead. I had hoped that it would endear me to you in some way. I can see I was mistaken. Goodnight."
This time it was Dumbledore who stupidly turned his back to Harry and casually strode back down the opposite end of the corridor.
Harry didn't move for a long moment. He just stood in the corridor with his back to the wall as he considered the entire conversation.
What the fuck?
It took Harry twice the usual time to get back to the Slytherin rooms, as he kept peering around corners and kept his back to the walls. But when he did, he immediately got his pensieve out of his trunk and warded his bed for privacy. He carefully pulled the memory from his mind, as Snape had shown him to do, and put it in the bowl.
He double checked his spells for privacy before plunging in the memory to rewatch the obviously planned ambush and the confusing conversation that followed it.
None of it made any sense. Dumbledore didn't seem surprised that Harry refused to change his story about Timmy coming back. He didn't seem upset that Harry didn't want to join the Order. He did look insultingly relieved that Harry wasn't going to join Timmy's gang either though, as if Harry would bow down to him.
Timmy had his chance to be partners, but since he didn't want to be equals then they would be enemies.
Harry planned on reminding him of that when he killed him.
But...
"There," Harry said aloud to himself. He watched the intensity in Dumbledore's eyes increase tenfold when he asked Harry about any odd dreams or visions or pains in his scar. "How the fuck did he know?" he murmured.
Timmy had been trying to break in to Harry's mind with increasing desperation since the second week of school. Every couple of days it was the same thing- Harry would get a sharp pain behind his scar and he would have to throw up every mental shield he had. It happened at night too, to the point where Harry wouldn't even close his eyes without clearing his mind and putting up his barriers. Barriers that he had to immediately disassemble the next morning lest he cut off access to his emotions and his magic again.
But how did Dumbledore know that?
Harry watched the rest of the interaction again, and ignored the pang in his chest as he read the honesty in Dumbledore's eyes and voice when he said Snape didn't choose him as prefect.
Snape had lied.
Which was surprising. Especially since he was the one always on about the two of them being honest with each other.
'You made me prefect?'
'It certainly seems so.'
'Not anyone else?'
'You are the male prefect.'
Okay. Maybe Snape hadn't explicitly lied to him. But he hadn't exactly been upfront either, had he?
Harry stored the pensieve and the now bottled memory back in his trunk and stared up at the ceiling as he thought it all over.
When his scar twinged only a couple of hours later, Harry scrunched his nose up and tried to think back as fiercely as he could: fuck off.
Anything Timmy was doing that was making Dumbledore take an interest in him had to be a bad thing.
Harry just wished he knew what it meant.
He did come to a decision that night though. An easy decision that he enacted the very next morning at breakfast.
"Hey Theo?"
Harry looked up at the Head Table and caught Snape's curious eyes for a moment before moving his own angry ones over to Dumbledore's cold blue eyes.
"Here." Harry unpinned the prefect badge from his chest and slid it across the table to Theo without ever breaking eye contact with Dumbledore. "That's yours. I don't fuckin' want it."