Unofficial Portkey Archive

The bruises healed quickly, eventually disappearing with the aid of Pomfrey's potions. Blaise kept his ears open for any word of subterfuge, but it appeared as if none of their fellow Slytherins harbored that much ill-will towards the Boy Who Lived. That being said, it was just as conceivable that they were aware of Blaise's soft investigation and kept their mouths shut. They were in Slytherin for a reason after all.

Yet, Blaise still came up with something.

"I paid off a couple First Years..." Blaise started.

"Paid off?" Tracey interrupted.

"Yes, paid off." Blaise waved her off impatiently. "How do you think I get people to talk? I got them to start talking and while they could have just been making it all up, they all report a lot of activity in the other House's dorm rooms the night they jumped you, Harry."

"All of the Houses?" Harry mused.

"Yes. All except for Slytherin. We're as close as we can to ruling out any Slytherins from this. I don't think even Malfoy would have the stomach."

"You're right. Physical violence isn't his style. At least, not when he's doing the kicking. Crabbe and Goyle maybe but none of them were that big. They were all of average height and, for the most part, I couldn't recognize their voices. Malfoy definitely wasn't the leader."

The blond boy in question was sitting on the other side of the Common Room, sprawled out on a plush, leather couch. Harry, Blaise, and Tracey were in the corner of the room. Harry was leaning against the wall, keeping an eye on everyone while Tracey sat in a chair next to him and Blaise knelt on the floor beside a table. Presently, it was roughly a week after Harry's trip to Pomfrey and their classes had rotated from Ravenclaws to Hufflepuffs in Battle class.

Harry's efforts to crack the cypher on Granger's cryptic page were fruitless so far. There weren't any discernible patterns in her shorthand even after Harry had summoned the books necessary for research in that regard. Most of the theories were over his head. He was never the best at solving logic and riddles, traits that were probably needed for Ravenclaws. Unfortunately, he couldn't consult anyone on the topic lest he reveal Granger's secret. Part of him thought that Granger was probably just having a laugh at him and that the hieroglyphics meant nothing, but she didn't strike him as the type for practical jokes.

"But all of the other Houses?" Harry continued his line of questioning. "Even the Gryffindors?"

"Yes. Furthermore, Granger was out too that night."

"It wasn't Granger." Harry shook his head.

"How do you know that?" Tracey asked.

"It's not her style. She beats me in Battle class, not jumping me with three other people in a dark hallway."

"Say, what'd you ever do with that note she gave you? It didn't make any sense to me," Blaise wondered.

What's the harm?

He kept it in his back pocket at all times, fearful that anyone would discover it. It was a paranoid thought and, truth be told, others were just as unlikely to crack the code as he was. Still, it comforted him to keep it there and as he pulled it out, he missed the surprised looks on both of their faces.

"Here," Harry handed it to them. "Maybe you'll have better luck at it than me."

Tracey snatched it out of his hand quickly, scanning the page and bringing it so close to her face that the tip of her nose was touching the parchment. Her eyes squinted, the blue of her eyes just barely visible as she tried to make sense of the gibberish. She shook her head after a moment, handing it to Blaise.

"I don't understand why she gave it to you in the first place. What is it?"

"I don't really know. I think it might be a spell or something or maybe the spell she used to make a copy of herself. Either way, I haven't been able to crack it."

"There doesn't seem to be a pattern of any sort." Blaise ran his pointer finger across the words on the paper, his dark skin scrunched together in thought. "I don't see anything either, Harry."

Recovering the inscrutable parchment, Harry folded it neatly and stuck it in his back pocket with a sigh. "I don't want to have to talk to her, but this is frustrating to me. What is this thing?"

"I think she's just playing with your head. Trying to throw you off so she can cheat and beat you again," Tracey said.

"She didn't cheat," Harry said dismissively.

"Maybe not, but it wasn't fair."

Their discussion came to an abrupt end as a bell rang for them to return to class. They were heading to Moody's Dueling class, paired up with Ravenclaws for this particular lesson. The herd moved about, the senior students moving effortlessly around their smaller counterparts. Harry led the way, moving craftily through the crowd. The banners of lists hung above his head and Harry spotted himself on the Master List at 27th. Scanning the columns, Harry found the Third Years list and saw Slytherin was first for the time being with Gryffindor second, Hufflepuff third, and Ravenclaw last.

Preoccupied with the standings, Harry bumped into a solid mass, throwing both of them off balance. Whoever it was, a Hufflepuff by the look of his robes, mumbled an apology and kept on moving with his group. Curious, Harry chanced a look back to see who it was but his back was already to him. Still, he could identify him by the hair and watched as that boy tried to hide an obvious limp. It was almost too small to notice, but Harry could see it from his vantage point. That boy was definitely favoring his right foot, the same right foot that Harry had rolled over in a vain attempt to escape the bullies.

Justin Finch-Fletchley.

* * * * * * *

Harry was poor during Dueling class and Moody noticed it, barking and yelling at him frequently as they continued to try and master the art of nonverbal spells. While he accomplished the task of nonverbally casting a Stinging Hex easily, he had more difficulty trying cast multiple spells in a row. While Harry was convinced that he could have easily performed under normal circumstances, his mind was wandering to that awkward gait of Justin Finch-Fletchley.

He had to be one of the four.

It was by pure coincidence and accident that Harry had run into him, yet it revealed all he needed to know. Justin Finch-Fletchley, he of the supposedly genial Hufflepuff House, was one of his attackers. But it didn't make any sense to him. He tried to think of anything he could have personally done to the Hufflepuff but found nothing of note. At worst, he had defeated him during one of the Battle class, but he had been victorious over several people during Battle class and not all of them had taken to accosting him in the middle of the night.

It was almost inconceivable to him that Finch-Fletchley could be one of the bullies yet who else would have their ankle untreated for so long to still have a limp? It was near damning evidence in Harry's eyes and his blood boiled a bit as he thought about it, causing his Stinging Hex to have a little extra purchase on it.

"Ah, shit!" Tracey yelped, flailing her hand.

"Oh bollocks. I'm sorry, Trace," Harry apologized, lowering his wand and approaching her remorsefully.

"What's wrong with you today? You're all off."

He walked closer to her until he was standing side by side. Moody was yelling at Lisa Turpin about something or the other, so Harry figured he had some down time to chat. Pretending to show her the wand movement, Harry whispered, "I think I found one of them."

Tracey's blue eyes widened and she furtively looked around to see if anyone was paying attention to them. Blaise was partnered up with Daphne, so he was beyond approach while everyone else seemed busy with their spells.

"Who?"

"Justin Finch-Fletchley," Harry muttered as low as he could, making a show of waving his wand.

"Finch-Fletchley," Tracey scoffed disbelievingly. "You can't possibly think that a Hufflepuff would..."

"Hufflepuffs aren't any different from other Houses. I'm sure they have a bad egg or two."

"But Finch-Fletchley." Tracey still couldn't quite believe it.

"I'm forming a plan to find out more, but be careful, alright? I don't want them coming after you."

"It's you they're after, Harry." She turned to him, dropping all pretense of faking a spell. "Don't walk alone at night and don't spend as much time in Trow's classroom. That's how they're going to catch you."

"I know, I know." Harry ran a hand through his hair, eager to get out of the classroom and investigate the matter.

"Love birds! Get back to work before I send both of ya to detention!" Moody hollered from the other side of the room, making Harry and Tracey burn red as their classmates laughed and teased them.

They had a free period next, so after informing Blaise of Harry's suspicions, they asked a few First Years again and found that the Hufflepuffs were just exiting from Transfigurations. It would be terribly conspicuous if all three of them were tailing the Hufflepuff group so Tracey volunteered to walk as if she were heading in the same direction. Harry and Blaise tailed behind her by quite some distance.

Their sleuthing proved unremarkable however. Justin did nothing more than hang out with his friends, Ernie MacMillan and Susan Bones. After classes were over, they headed to the lake for a nice sit down on a breezy day. Winter had not yet befallen upon Hogwarts so there was some time still before the grounds were covered with tightly packed snow. Harry, Blaise, and Tracey sat off some distance, pretending to be engrossed in their conversation. Yet, after all that time, Justin didn't even glance their way.

"Are you sure it's Finch-Fletchley?" Blaise was the most skeptical of them. "I don't know if he has the balls to kick you."

"You saw his limp, didn't you?"

"It is there." Tracey pointed out.

"It could be from a number of things. Maybe he tripped over some stairs like you did, Harry." Blaise pointed out.

"No," Harry shook his head. "It's gotta be him."

I need to have a lead somewhere.

So unknown to either Blaise or Tracey, Harry did start forming a plan. Later that night, as they retired to their bedrooms, Harry laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. There was nothing he could do but wait until the rhythmic sounds of breathing filled the room. He held his wand to his chest, his ankles crossed below him and his arms crossed in front of him. The soft sighs and movements of his sleeping dorm mates filled the void and it was around 11 when Harry decided to move.

Still fully dressed, Harry slipped his shoes on and walked towards the door. He paused in front of it, sparing a look at Malfoy's curtains. They were drawn together, like everyone else's, but Harry remained there for a minute, trying to gauge if the rich, blond Slytherin was behind it. There was no way to tell. For now, it seemed as if Malfoy was in the clear.

Exiting, Harry crept along the railing, confirming that no one was in the Common Room. It was late and the only people that were up were a few Seventh Years that didn't care if he left. Taking great care to stay quiet, Harry left the Common Room without looking back.

Even at night, the castle wasn't asleep. Soft murmurs of ghosts and piping were a constant hum in the background and there were still a few students and more than a fair share of teachers patrolling the hallways. Harry avoided them easily as their footsteps loudly preceded them. Still, he sought to be careful to avoid the teachers and patrols. Yet, he wanted to be found, not by the patrols, but by the bullies.

The timing of their attack wasn't a mistake. Obviously they knew of his schedule and habits, particularly his proclivity to be found in Trow's classroom on late nights. It stood to be reasoned that they would also know the entrance to the Slytherin Common Room judging by the interception of his route. While Malfoy might not have been actively involved in the beating, it was just as likely that he gave them information on the route Harry would take to return from Trow's classroom.

Loud footsteps clattered along the ground and Harry pressed himself into an alcove, waiting for the patrol to walk by. It was a Hufflepuff Prefect by the looks of it, but not Finch-Fletchley. No, the attackers would be quiet and try to sneak up on him if they were awake at this hour. Harry knew that it was unlikely they would be out at this random time of night. Most likely, they would try to attack him again when they knew he was anywhere else but the Slytherin Common Room. It would take too much time and resources to plant someone outside of the Common Room at all times. Still, Harry was searching.

Another patrol passed and Harry melted into the darkness once again, careful to take off his glasses so a random light wouldn't reflect off it and give away his position. The patrols were steady, a mix of Prefects and professors, but nothing Harry couldn't handle. Still awaiting some sort of stealthy movement, Harry was about to give up and retire to his room when he heard a humming.

It was a small girl, had to be a First or Second year since Harry didn't know her. She was clutching something to her chest, walking placidly and humming a tune to herself. It was quite odd, if Harry were to be truthful, but he avoided her nonetheless. To his great surprise, three bodies emerged from the bottom of a staircase, blocking this girl's way.

"Well, well, if it isn't Loony Lovegood." One of them said in an obviously mocking tone.

The small girl froze, clutching whatever it was even closer against her chest. The two others fanned out to either side, effectively trapping her. Harry knew the formation they were taking and reasoned that they didn't just want a night time chat with this girl.

"What's she got in her hands, Roger?" The older girl asked the speaker.

"It's another weird conglomeration, Marietta," said the other boy.

The one named Roger laughed as he took a step closer to the little girl. The little girl hummed to herself, the tune seemingly faster as she took a matching step back. Harry was unaware of how hard he was holding his wand.

"It's okay, Loony. I just want to see what you've got there," Roger cooed as Marietta snickered. Harry couldn't match the names to the faces as he hardly interacted with any of the older years.

Loony mumbled something and Roger knelt down with an innocent look on your face. "What was that, Loony?"

"You're going to take it again," she whispered.

"Now Loony." Roger tutted. "Be logical. If I wanted to take it, I would have just grabbed it out of your hand. We both know I'm stronger than you. Now be reasonable and let me see it. I just want to know what you made this time."

But Loony didn't move, her head tucked down as she kept humming that unrecognizable tune to herself. The sliver of light shining through one of the windows cast it directly on her, setting her in the spotlight as the three older students, Ravenclaws Harry assumed, surrounded her.

"Oh give it her, Lovegood," Marietta impatiently stepped forward, snatching the jingling object out of her hands.

It looked to be some sort of necklace made out of bottle caps. When Marietta realized this, she chuckled lowly, swinging it around her finger.

"Be careful with it, please," Loony pleaded in a soft voice.

"You're going to break the poor girl's heart, Marietta," the unidentified boy said.

"Oh shut up, Belby, I'm just having a little fun."

Marietta kept twirling it around her finger, the light of the moon occasionally flashing off one of the bottle caps. Hopefully, this was the extent of their teasing, intentionally malevolent but light hearted in objectivity. After all, there were ways to be attacked in the middle of the night.

"Can I have it back?" Loony asked.

"Well, I have it so its mine. Don't you know the rules of ownership, Loony?" Marietta mocked.

"But I made it."

"Did you now? But I think you gave it to me, unless you're saying I'm stealing it from you. Am I stealing it from you, Loony?"

There was a quiet silence, the soft whirl of the necklace of bottle caps whirling around constituting as the background noise. In a soft whisper, a thing would have been unrecognizable with just another modicum of noise, Loony said, "Yes."

The necklace of bottle caps fell to the ground, a noise that, in the moment, seemed loud enough to wake the castle. Marietta was no longer smiling and Roger was shaking his head with a small grin on his face.

"You're calling me a thief? That's very disingenuous of you, Loony. I'm no thief and you have no grounds to call me that." Marietta produced her wand and Belby chuckled, stepping out of the way to avoid any collateral damage.

"You stole my necklace," Loony said in a wobbly voice.

"I did nothing of the sort. I have two witnesses here that say I didn't steal anything."

"She didn't."

"I didn't see a thing."

Roger and Belby chimed in at the same exact moment, watching the torment with a tired but amused grin. From the looks of it, this was not their first time exacting this sort of punishment on a girl who had done nothing more than walk back to her Common Room. Harry thought of Dudley and the games he would play when they were back at home. Every answer would always be negative and even when he kept his mouth shut, Dudley would find some way to say that he was insulting him. Marietta was no different.

Harry could easily just let this happen. The worst thing they could do was hit her with some spell, but Harry doubted it would be anything meaningful. They were just toying with her, enjoying their power over her, but they wouldn't do anything for lasting damage. After all, Loony needed to be around next time. He could have just let this moment pass and go on undetected in his mission to find another set of bullies.

But he wasn't going to find that other group tonight.

"Give it back to the girl."

Harry stepped out of the shadows, his robes draped around him as he stood with his back to the moonlight. The added effect obscured his face and his body, allowing him to hide the fact that he already had his wand out beneath the sleeve of his robes. He could see Marietta and Roger squinting at him as well as finally seeing Loony's face.

She was a blond girl with large eyes, eyes larger than anyone else's. Underneath her robes, her clothes were an assortment of colors and she was already wearing a strange necklace and some other assorted jewelry that other girls would never have worn. He could see why people picked on her.

"Potter?" Roger asked aloud. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you three the same, but I think we all know what you're doing. Give it back to the girl, Marietta." The warning sounded more threatening in his head. Aloud, it was just a squeaky voice.

"Potter, get out of here. This is inter-house business," Belby ordered.

"It seems you don't do a good job of taking care of your own house."

"You little shit. I always hated Slytherins." Marietta was totally ignoring Loony at this rate, an accomplishment so far.

"And I always hated ugly people. Guess we're both stuck there." Harry shrugged ineffectually.

From an early age, Harry realized that attacking a strength was a decent ploy. Marietta was pretty, to an objective and unseasoned eye, and any threat of that attractiveness was seen as an immediate affront. Roger, obviously older than the other two, must have realized what Harry was doing. Yet, he was a little too late.

"Marietta, don't!" He cried, but there was no stopping her.

"Stupefy!"

It was an obvious spell, so transparent that Harry had already begun planning his next series of spells before she even said it. Marietta, he could handle. Just from that brief moment of torture she had enacted on Loony, Harry knew she was impatient and uncontrolled. Though her mark was on target, Harry produced a weak shield and ducked to simply deflect it. He shot back with a Jelly-Legs Jinx, but that wasn't his true intention. In a successive motion, he swept his wand upwards, dousing her with a spray of water that provoked a shrill scream.

He didn't mean to stun her. He meant to embarrass her.

"Roger! Do something!" Marietta screamed.

But Roger balked, looking warily at Harry. Unlike Marietta, this one had a brain.

So its true that Ravenclaws are at least somewhat intelligent.

"Roger! Belby!" She stamped her foot, her hair stringy and ratty from the water.

Roger conferred with Belby, whispering behind a cupped hand while he kept his eyes on Harry. Harry relaxed his posture somewhat, his wand still at his side and the moon to his back, obscuring him slightly. After a moment, Roger broke the impromptu conference.

"Get out of here, Potter," he ordered.

"Don't tell him to get out of here, punish him!" She was apoplectic, sure to attract a Prefect or a professor.

"Shut up, Marietta!" Roger yelled back at her. "There's no point in continuing this and your stupid screams are going to wake every professor up and send them this way." Turning to Harry, he took a deep breath after he finished berating his fellow Ravenclaw. "Go, Potter. We'll leave Lovegood alone."

But Harry kept his ground, intent on sending a message. It wasn't enough that they would leave her alone this time. "Excuse me if I don't believe you."

"Potter..." Roger impatiently growled, "...this is none of your business."

"But it's our business now."

Tracey appeared from behind them, her wand drawn and unlike Harry, she had it pointed at the older Ravenclaws. Blaise and Pansy flanked her, their wands drawn but more apprehensive looks on their faces. Only Tracey seemed unfazed, but Harry knew the older Ravenclaws were more than capable of handling her. All together though, they stood a fighting chance.

"Oh you have to be shitting me. Roger! These are a bunch of Third Years! Let's take care of them," Marietta pointed her wand at Tracey.

It was Belby who intervened.

"Roger, let's go," he said quietly. "The situation isn't in our favor."

So Ravenclaws are capable of thought.

And Harry knew that Belby wasn't talking tactically. It was three versus four, but Belby and Marietta were both Fourth Years and Harry knew that Roger Davies was definitely a Fifth Year or higher. Stronger and more experienced, they could give them a good fight even outnumbered. But Belby was talking about overall justification. Their original reasons for leaving the Common Room so late at night was kaput and since there was no point in tormenting Lovegood in front of others, it was a zero sum situation for them.

"Let's go, Marietta," Roger said with ice in his voice and a glare sent in Harry's direction.

Her mouth dropped, droplets of water falling from her drenched robes. "You can't be serious!"

"Now, Marietta," Roger ordered one more time, ascending the staircase without looking back. Belby was lone gone up the stairwell.

Four against one, Marietta wasn't so confident.

She sent a withering look at Lovegood, a promise that she would pay later for this intervention, but fellowed the older Ravenclaws until they were out of sight. Once she was finally gone, Harry relaxed the grip on his wand and sighed. Lovegood immediately rushed over to the puddle of water, picking up her necklace of bottle caps and holding it tightly against her chest. Tracey approached Harry, a none too happy look on her face.

"Fancy meeting you here," Harry chirped.

"I'll have time to yell at you later, you stupid ass. We need to get out of here before professor's arrive."

Harry nodded once, accepting that his bullies weren't out tonight. Pansy and and Blaise were already walking forward as lookouts. Turning to Tracey, Harry asked, "How'd you find me anyways?"

Tracey huffed, "Pansy saw you leaving the Common Room as she was on her way back -"

"What was she doing out?"

"Snogging someone."

"Who?"

"Does it matter?!" Tracey threw her hands in the air. "After wandering around for a while, we heard screaming and yelling and came your way."

Harry opened his mouth to ask another question but a floaty voice stopped him.

"Harry!"

It was Lovegood, chasing after them with something clutched in her hand. It wasn't the necklace of bottle caps, but a neatly folded parchment.

"You dropped this," she said breathlessly.

"Oh." Harry immediately snatched it from her hand. "Why...errr...thank you."

"And thanks," she mumbled quietly. "You didn't have to do that."

Tracey was tugging at his arm as Blaise ran his finger in a circle, the universal motion for, get a move on! But Harry wanted to leave one morsel of advice for this girl.

"Don't show fear, Loony. Especially to Marietta."

Her lower lip trembled, obtusely wide eyes as large as saucers. "But I'm not as good as dueling as you."

"You don't have to be," Harry explained, "You'll probably lose, but they won't like it. They won't like it one bit if you're not scared."

He knew the lesson sounded paradoxical. Why tell her to be scared if he knew she would continued to be picked on. Yet, it was when Harry stood in the face of Dudley and it was when he didn't cry or show fear to Vernon that enraged them the most. They bullied him to feel powerful and nothing felt as powerless as ineffectiveness.

"You'll understand," Harry patted her on the head and turned away with Tracey's insistence.

"Harry! The parchment. I don't know what it means, but all the numbers add up to a 100," Luna quickly spit out, aware they had to move on.

"Oh Merlin," Tracey groaned, forcefully pulling Harry's arm at this point. "Who gives a bloody damn about Granger's secret parchment."

I do.

The four Slytherins darted back to their Common Room amidst approaching teachers and away from Luna Lovegood, standing in a puddle of water with a necklace of bottle caps clutched tightly to her chest.

* * * * * *

"He showed action...and moral courage."

"Better yet, he knowingly faced adversaries stronger than he. I only wish the Davis girl wouldn't have interrupted. He underestimates his capabilities. Edgecombe and Belby would have been defeated and he would have given Davies a challenge."

"He's not ready for that just yet. Strongest in his Year? By far, but power grows with maturity. His body is still learning."

"I only wish that the Muggleborn girl weren't so involved. His obsession with her child's notes are cumbersome to his learning."

"But he's learning to think differently and once he cracks her simple code, perhaps he will be more perceptive to critical awareness instead of overpowering all of his opponents."

"Her notes have no application outside of this school. She is limited and I don't know why you insist with her."

"She is different. The boy has surrounded himself with people that say yes to his every whim. Even the Davis girl can't say no to him, but the Muggleborn girl....she's different."

"She's mundane, an act that will quickly be sussed out once everyone discovers her means of victory. It is not special, just a cheap trick that others are unaware of."

"I would hardly call it a trick."

"I don't care what to call it. Once he is done with this stupid exercise, I want no more of her influence."

"Come now, she is not dangerous to his learning."

"Yes, she is."

"...she won't hurt him."

"Then what is her purpose? What is the meaning beyond this? Her powers of intellect are unquestionable, but I can't give him her brain. There is so much to be done and yet you insist with the Muggleborn."

"She is good for him. She makes him question herself. An ounce of humility will go a long way to his progress in self-assessment."

"She will destroy him. He will question himself until he's unable to perform in a duel. He will question himself so much that he will shred apart his strong base. Do you not see how the Davis girl looks at him?"

"And what are you so afraid in the Muggleborn that you aren't afraid of in Davis?"

"That is not what this is about."

"It is about this! He needs to build relatio-"

"I DON'T WANT HIM TO BUILD RELATIONSHIPS! I WANT HIM TO SUCCEED!"

"...I apologize. You are directing this."

"I am and you have grown too bold. There will come a time when the darkness will return and I have not rebuilt this school, changed the governing board, and reshaped students for years to come just to build some inane relationship. He is here for one purpose and for one purpose only."

"I understand..."

"But? I know you mean to interject something here."

"...I think you may find that it will be more difficult to control Harry Potter than you think."

* * * * *

A/N: Thoughts? Observations? After some research, I concluded Roger Davies to be at least two years older than Harry. They never quite specify, but he is the oldest Ravenclaw in that confrontation. The next chapter will deal with a discovery from Harry, a battle between Houses, and a revelation.

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