Unnerved, Harry scrambled back on his hands and feet to get away from the stone figure. Anger left him in a rush of cold hard fact. He had just petrified somebody while in his human form.
Harry reached out for his wand and beckoned it with a hiss, taking comfort in the warmth of the holly in his hand. Equilibrium restored, he stood up and warily approached the solid figure.
Flitwick dropped down beside him and touched James on the shoulder. "He's a rock," Filius said, surprised. "I thought… I don't know what I thought." He looked at Harry.
Uncomfortable, Harry gripped his wand a little tighter just as Hermione and Luna came running up to them. Hermione crashed into Harry, both tilting precariously until he steadied her. She was babbling; her words were so jumbled up he couldn't make anything out.
Luna gave him a dreamy-eyed gaze, and congratulated him on his victory while absently pulling her wand from behind her ear. Harry glanced at Flitwick who nodded confirming her statement and Harry managed a grin. He had won.
The magical barriers dispelled in a flicker of golden light and suddenly noise erupted from all around them. Harry and Hermione jumped, startled at the noise, while Luna smiled benignly, her wide blue eyes focused somewhere past their shoulders. From the sound of it the whole school was in an uproar.
Dumbledore appeared with a flash of fire and sound, courtesy of Fawkes, followed by McGonagall, Daniel, Sirius, Remus, Lily and what seemed like the whole staff arriving by broomstick. Lily dashed over to them the fastest, James' name tearing from her lips and disappearing with the wind over the side of the castle. Her hands came up to her mouth in horror and she turned away, hugging Daniel tightly to her as he ran up.
Dumbledore assessed the situation and quickly sent McGonagall, Sprout and Snape off to round up their houses and get them settled, however unlikely it was, in their common rooms and dormitories. Flitwick didn't budge at the Headmaster's order, staying where he was. It would be McGonagall's job to gather his convocation of eagles and guide them back to their westward tower.
"What have you done Harry?" Dumbledore frowned, his whole demeanor deeply disapproving.
Hermione fell silent, her eyes wide beside Harry, who straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. "Won the duel…" he answered stiffly. "Sir."
Dumbledore reached out and touched James lightly on the shoulder and, finding him sturdier than expected, he rested his hand there fully. "You've petrified him," Dumbledore said gravely. "A kind of petrifying I haven't seen before… unless…"
Harry spared the Headmaster a glance and felt a probing at the surface of his thoughts. He forced himself to remain relaxed and thought of his light breeze. Instantly he connected with it and knew Dumbledore kept skating around his purpose for entering his mind.
He gave Dumbledore cold hard eyes and raised a brow. Startled, the Headmaster stopped and the wind faded away. Intrusion and expulsion were both subtle.
"Finished?" he asked wryly.
Dumbledore peered intensely at him from over his spectacles. "Evidently."
"Good," Harry returned brusquely. "Now I really should be going."
"What did you do to Dad?" Daniel growled, glaring at Harry from over Lily's shoulder.
"I disabled him." Harry said coolly. "Don't worry, you'll get him back eventually. Professor Sprout has second years always working on a mandrake crop. Perhaps Professor Snape can brew the elixir to counter James' unfortunate state if you ask him nicely."
"I oughta hex you straight to--"
Harry laughed, cutting Daniel off abruptly. "You couldn't best me in a duel. Don't try me out of one."
Daniel steamed, turning red in the face and Harry turned away from him only to run into Sirius. Harry bumped into the taller man's chest and took a step back, rubbing his nose lightly. Sirius looked positively furious. He was mouthing something Harry couldn't hear.
He darted a look over the dog animagus' shoulder and saw Remus holding his wand up lightly in one hand with an amused expression on his face. The werewolf was holding his friend back from advancing further. When their eyes met, Remus' expression cooled and Harry took another step back before turning around.
That was when he noticed. He was surrounded; Daniel and Lily on the left, Dumbledore behind him, Remus and Sirius on the right with Luna and Hermione clustered with him in the middle. Harry glowered, his shoulders tensing.
"I really must be going," Harry insisted stiffly. "After all, I am no longer a student. I need to go down and pack my trunk and leave school property."
Dumbledore frowned. "I don't think so, Harry. We have some matters to settle first--"
"I'm going," Harry repeated firmly. "I don't have to stay. You are not in charge of me anymore, Headmaster." He glanced at the girls on either side of him. "Luna, Hermione, you can stay here or come with me back to the common room."
Dumbledore raised his wand. Harry hit him with an unexpected silent and wandless full body bind and marched over to the door before anybody could react. The door burst open before he reached it. Striding through it, the winds pushed him halfway down the first stairwell before the door slammed shut behind him. And though he strained his ears, he could not hear any following footsteps.
The floors were devoid of life. That is not to say however that it was lifeless, the portraits and suits of armor were gossiping worse than ever. Their voices filled the halls with a dull roar, a white noise so intense the buzzing was nearly distracting. When a few of them caught sight of Harry they spoke even louder.
Harry swept past them, ignoring their shouts and demands. A few ghosts drifted along in a whir of translucent movement scandal-mongering in hushed voices. Peeves was the most vocal of them, but that wasn't a shock. The poltergeist was busily regaling and pantomiming the duel to rapt portraits and other ghosts.
Keeping his head down, Harry ducked into a side passageway going down two levels more than he needed to get past them. He backtracked up the first intersecting staircase and climbed it to the seventh floor hurrying down to the Ravenclaw tower. Several fourth years were peaking out of the portal when Harry strode into view. They all ducked back inside.
The librarian looked up in her portrait. "Password?"
"Adalbert Waffling."
The portrait swung open to a large cacophony of noise, the room was filled with the weight of sound. Harry slunk through and dozens of eyes spotted him. They nudged their friends and suddenly the volume dropped leaving a phantom buzzing. Harry paused at the edge of the portal, keeping the portrait from closing, poised for retreat.
"You're a Parselmouth!" a voice yelled out from the back, sounding scared.
Harry scowled in the direction of the voice. "Fuck off."
The students shrunk back in fear at the hissing quality of his words. Harry pushed through and climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories. The door swung open at his approach and Harry crossed the threshold. The sight that met him made him smile.
Luna was helping Hermione climb through the window. Hermione lost her balance and fell on top of Luna with an oomph of surprise. She scrambled up and helped Luna stand, then glanced up and gasped in embarrassment. Harry grinned at them.
"Harry!" Hermione said as Luna reached across her to pluck the broom from midair.
"How'd you guys get the broom?" he asked as the door swung shut and sealed itself from intruders with a squelching sound.
"Luna summoned it out from under Professor Snape when he was returning to the roof."
"He fell most spectacularly," Luna commented absently as she shrunk the broom and placed it in her robes.
"Luna," Harry said questioningly as he stopped in front of her. "Why was my getting expelled a good thing? You said approaching Daniel after charms was the time to do it but I don't see the good in this. I need to take my N.E.W.T.s they're all I got."
Luna stared at him unwaveringly, her big blue eyes unblinking. "The two plovers you must acquire are out of the school. You can't very well get to them if you are here wasting time."
"N.E.W.T.s are not a waste of time!" Hermione said scandalized. "They're the most important evaluation of our life determining the very careers we can pursue!"
Harry looked at Luna calculatingly. "Plovers mean Horcruxes don't they."
She nodded, tucking her wand behind her ear. "Sprechen sie deutsch?"
"Er… no."
"You'll need a translator spell then," Luna said simply pulling a torn piece of parchment from her robes.
She handed it to him. Harry took it and quickly unfolded it scanning the text.
Hermione took a peak over his shoulder and read behind him. He could smell the flowers that made up her shampoo as her hair fell over his arm. Harry breathed in deeply for a moment before glancing back at Luna.
"So you got me kicked out of school to find Voldemort's Horcruxes," he clarified.
"Ja."
Harry shook his head in disbelief. "Perfect. Just bloody well perfect. You know Luna, you're completely loony."
Luna laughed, Hermione kept shooting him concerned glances, and he was developing a headache. Harry took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. The door banged open; Harry whipped around, his wand held pointed at the intruder before he even had time to register who was coming in.
"I knew your reflexes were good," Professor Flitwick said, taking his hat out of the line of fire and holding under his arm. "Too bad I'm shorter than the average wizard or you'd have been spot on for my nose."
Harry dropped his wand and eyed his former Head of House. "What's going on?"
"I am… aha… here in my official capacity to tell you that the Headmaster would like to see you."
"And your unofficial?" Hermione asked, taking a step closer to Harry.
"You showed remarkable talent, Harry," Flitwick said, addressing the young wizard. "Quite unlike any I've ever seen including your brother and… aha… dare I say, the Headmaster himself. I'm sorryI never took the opportunity to find out for myself about you. Dumbledore told me you were a trouble maker and a liar, but with talents and compassion like yours, I fear Dumbledore is misspoken."
Harry cocked his head and frowned. "What I did wasn't an act of compassion."
Flitwick smiled and waved his wand casually conjuring four chairs. He beckoned everyone to take a seat. "Did you not include vindication for Miss Granger in the duel contract? Her name has been cleared and now your brother is facing a Ministry inquiry. It'll likely go nowhere with Dumbledore helming your brother's campaign but nevertheless it'll aha… leave people wondering."
"Why are you here?" Harry repeated warily.
Flitwick set his hat on his knee and looked Harry in the eye. "I want to be of assistance to you. Misjudging one of my eagles so badly has left me feeling shaken and; on the one hand allowing me to help you will make me feel less guilty for my previous wrongdoings, while on the other hand, allowing me to get to know you as I wish to do so. Perhaps one day to be worthy of being called a friend."
Harry raised his eyebrows in amusement. "That was pretty straight forward, Professor."
"Indeed," Flitwick squeaked. "Honesty, I feel is the best foot forward right now. Do you not agree?"
Harry nodded. Luna summoned Flitwick's hat from him, startling the tiny wizard. She examined the inside and plucked a white hamster from it. Hermione looked perplexed at the blonde witch's actions as did Harry. Luna conjured a bubble and placed the hamster inside. As an afterthought she created a little wheel and then placed the hat on her head.
"Er… Luna?" Harry asked. "What's--"
"I heard the bootplinky inside Professor Flitwick's hat. It said it was cramped, so I let it out. Of course I couldn't let it go just anywhere," she said, setting the bubble on the ground. The hamster took off running its bubble into the foot of the beds and trunks.
"Of course," Hermione said vaguely with a glazed look in her eye. She shook her head, clearing the cobwebs.
"Good show," Flitwick chortled. "Five points to Ravenclaw."
"Thank you, Professor," Luna said dreamily.
"Now Harry," Flitwick started, leaning forward. "Since the Headmaster has foolishly decided to aha… expel you I wanted to let you know you can always come to me for help. Honestly, I don't know what Dumbledore was thinking. You haven't even taken your N.E.W.T.s; how can you get yourself a decent job? Sure you have perfect O.W.L.s, but even so, you'd be hard pressed to land yourself a low level position at the ministry. You're far more likely to end up as a night guard there or at St. Mungo's and that's no way to live. No way to live at all."
"How can you help me, sir?"
"I would like to offer you a place to stay. My home in the country that I use during the summer, should do until you've managed to get your feet under you. Also if you are free I could help you on the weekends to study for your N.E.W.T.s. It would be tough, but luckily we've already started the last semester and I could easily garner your assignments, classwork, and homework from the other professors. I could tutor you either at my home or we could meet somewhere in Hogsmeade to partake in these lessons."
Harry considered Flitwick for a long time. The tiny professor just sat there somberly, waiting for the young wizard's verdict. Hermione looked like she wanted to tell him to take the offer, she was practically green with envy at the thought of private tutoring. Harry knew it would be hard work, but it was something he felt he couldn't let Dumbledore take from him.
"How would I sit them?"
"I would speak with the examiners and see if I could work you into their busy schedule somehow."
Harry looked to Hermione, then to Luna, before nodding to Flitwick. "Okay. I accept."
"Oh good," Flitwick said relieved. He conjured a quill and summoned a scrap of paper. He scratched down something and handed it over. "That is my Floo address and Apparition coordinates. I'm afraid my Floo is communications only, not full travel. Partially for security reasons and partially because I enjoy Apparating over Flooing."
"I think they're both terrible ways to travel, sir."
Flitwick laughed. "Yes, yes, of course you're right, but I find popping from place to place to be a heck of a lot cleaner."
"Thank you, sir," Harry said, tucking the paper into his pocket.
"I'll Floo you later this evening to see that you got in all right," Flitwick said, standing up. The others copied him and he banished the chairs. "Girls, be sure to escort Harry to the front gates. Take as long as you need, you won't be deducted house points."
"Thank you, Professor," Luna said, picking up the hamster and handing it to him. "The bootplinky wishes to go with you."
Flitwick smiled. "Yes, dear, I'll be sure to give him a proper home. My hat, though, if you will."
Luna took it off and returned it. Flitwick placed it on his head and left, closing the door behind him.
"I guess this is it," Harry said, shaking his head. "I really am expelled."
"It's not too bad," Hermione said tentatively, unsure of his reaction. "At least you'll still be able to sit your N.E.W.T.s."
Harry nodded and gestured with his wand at his few belongings strewn around his bed. The miscellaneous objects flew into his trunk and the lid slammed down the lock clicking into place.
"I'll leave you here, Harry," Luna said, leaning up and kissing him on the cheek. "Do watch out for the sedaeraths."
Harry smiled bemusedly and watched her flounce away. Hermione stayed rooted on the spot, her face flushed.
"Thank you for clearing my name," she whispered softly, watching him with big brown eyes.
Harry nodded, stubbing his toe into his trunk. "Any time."
"Harry," Hermione began hesitantly.
Harry looked up. She dug into her robes and pulled out the two mirrors he'd left by her bed the other night. She held one aloft and gestured at him with it.
"Please, take it. I want you to have it."
Harry accepted the mirror and placed it in his robes. "I had wanted to be the one you gave it to," he said, remembering when he had first purchased them after opening his bank account.
"I wanted you to have it too," Hermione said simply.
She bit her lip as if contemplating something. Harry watched fascinated despite himself. Oblivious to anything else, she leaned forward and it was too late; her lips pressed lightly against his and he sucked in a shocked breath. Heat sizzled all the way down to his toes and his hands crept to her hips unknowingly.
Hermione pressed herself into his arms and Harry held her tightly. Her tongue darted into his mouth, hesitant and eager all at once. She was reclaiming him, he thought vaguely in the back of his mind, as he was her.
She stood up on her toes, clutching his head, making the kiss deeper. She drank him in like a person who'd been thirsting in the desert only to be granted an oasis. Thoughts spun wildly out of his head just like with their first kiss until he knew time not.
A cool place in Harry filled with warmth, as if it had only been waiting for this. The image of her kissing Daniel this way stopped him. The warmth rapidly fled as Harry grabbed her arms and removed them from around his neck.
"Too much, too fast," he whispered hoarsely, releasing her and stepping back.
Her eyes filled with tears as she nodded. "You should get going, then," she said bravely.
"Hermione," he said unthinkingly. She looked up at him with hope glimmering behind her tears. He was struck again with how delicate and beautiful she was. "I--I--"
She looked away, clasping her trembling hands in front of her. "You won't mind if I don't join you do you? I don't think I could bear watching you leave."
"I'm sorry," Harry finished lamely, picking up his trunk. "I'll call you."
"The password's Serion."
Suddenly, Harry felt his throat thicken and he swallowed past the emotion. "Thank you," he said, turning to
leave.
"I'll send Hedwig to you," Hermione promised as he quit the room.
Then he was down the stairs and past the portrait before he even realized his feet were taking him anywhere. The walk
out of the castle was his longest and most miserable experience. The portraits still gossiped and the suits of armor
clanked loudly behind him. Harry averted his gaze until he reached the second floor.
He angled down to the girls' bathroom and met the empty bathroom with despondency. He felt so cut off from
everything and everyone. A sad pyrrhic victory.
He called the Chamber to open and walked down the stairs to the feeding chamber below. A sleeping Oorjit rested curled on the floor in his nest. All around, everything felt hallow. Harry looked at the door to the main opening and thought for the wildest moment that maybe he could seek refuge here in the castle, before he shook his head clear.
§Oorjit, I'm leaving,§ Harry called down.
Oorjit raised his head blearily focusing on Harry before him. He thumped his tail on the ground. §All right, see you when you get back.§
Harry shook his head, holding aloft his lightened trunk. §For good, Oorjit. I've been kicked out of Hogwarts.§
§What?§ the occamy hissed, flapping his wings in agitation. §You've been expelled?§
Harry nodded. §I dueled with Daniel. I won.§
§I'm coming with you,§ Oorjit declared, waking up fully and jumping up into the air.
§I was hoping you'd say that,§ Harry said, feeling relieved.
Oorjit landed on Harry's shoulder, a tad to heavy to sit there comfortably. They found an alternative and the occamy rode wrapped around his back, his wings a small compact lump on the underside of Harry's robes.
Harry walked up and closed off the Chamber, locking the opening with the password being Serion's name, same as the mirrors. He looked around the stalls once, missing Myrtle's dour presence poignantly, before departing and quickly navigating to the Great Hall where he found Dumbledore waiting for him.
"Packed, are you?" Dumbledore asked as Harry slowed down.
"Yes," Harry replied tersely. "Seeing me off, are you?"
Dumbledore nodded. Gesturing to the corridor, Harry followed the tall old wizard to the front doors. Dumbledore unlocked them and gave Harry an obscure look.
"You can still join the Order. It's not too late."
"Bridges, Headmaster," Harry replied stiffly, "bridges."
"Yes," Dumbledore said stroking his beard. "I guess they're all but ashes now."
"Sir."
"I'm truly sorry for this, Harry, but you left me no choice."
"You had choices," Harry returned glaring up at Dumbledore. "You just chose wrongly."
Dumbledore said nothing and opened the doors. Harry stepped out quickly and felt the Headmaster's gaze upon him all the way down to the front gates. It started raining and Harry hurried to the boars. He spun around at the last second gazing up at Hogwarts.
It sat there glittering on the hill and Harry could picture it the way he remembered seeing it the very first time from the lake on top of the cliffs these hills turned into. New beginnings he had thought then; broken promises he thought now.
Turning, he crossed the wards and walked down the path through the opening in the forest. A figure broke free of the woods, startling Harry. He drew his wand.
The hooded figure stopped and raised his hands in a sign of peace. Warily, Harry lowered his wand, keeping it out for the time being.
"You've not returned my Lord's last message. His patience is at an end and he requests that you meet with him in person."
"I'm afraid the likelihood of that is as low as my reinstatement into Hogwarts."
Another figure stepped out of the forest and tossed a small object at Harry. Harry jumped backwards to avoid catching it and fell over his trunk, landing heavily on the floor.
"That'll be pretty likely then, won't it guv'nor," said the new comer, tossing another object at Harry.
It fell on his chest, the familiar pull of a Portkey tugging behind his navel alerted Harry to the trouble that he was in.
º«««º»»»ºEnd Chapter 35º«««º»»»