Imogen a Harry Potter taleChapter 62
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"Islington Town Hall does civil weddings," said Dee.
Dee and Draco were back at Whittington Hospital, staring at a computer screen in a nurse's area. Strictly speaking, Dee had no right to be there, but she'd volunteered at the hospital long enough to be given a bit of leeway by the staff. Besides, it was the graveyard shift, and the two teens were unlikely to be noticed any time soon.
"Your hands are still shaking," observed Draco.
"And you wonder why? After how you brought us here? You've got a hell of a lot of explaining to do."
"True, and I will explain everything, just as soon as your name is "Malfoy."
"Damn. They're booked up," said Dee, closing the applicable page on the web site for booking a wedding. "But now that I think of it, there is a third method to change my surname. Adoption's out, you've already explained. And it might be hard to get a wedding date on short notice. But maybe I could file paperwork to get my name legally changed to 'Malfoy'. Then you could tell me everything."
"No good," said Draco. "You have to be related to me. Merely having the same surname won't be enough to - " Draco's explanation was cut short by the powerful Malfoy family magic preventing him from disclosing family secrets. He struggled, and then continued.
"- to let me tell you what you want to know. Are you having second thoughts?"
"Are you kidding? Somehow you transported me from god only knows where back to the hospital, and you're damn right I want to know how you did it. You violated the fundamental laws of physics, and if you think I'm going to just let that pass, you can forget it. I'd say a "I do" a thousand times if that was the price of finding what who you are, or what you are."
"What time does this town hall place open?"
"Nine, but they don't do weddings right when they open, and they're booked up, anyways."
"Let's get some sleep. We'll go there tomorrow morning, and I'm sure they'll be able to squeeze us in."
"But where will I go? I can't go back to my mother's: that's the first place the police will look for me, if they've identified me."
"Stay here. I won't be gone long, and when I return, we'll be married. After that, I can tell you everything."
"And where will we go then? Where can we stay?"
Draco smiled.
"Hogwarts."
The magical obstacles protecting the Malfoy estate were not intended to keep out family members, and Draco passed through these as if they did not exist. His entrance onto his family's property went unnoticed, other than by one of his father's white peacocks sitting on a hedge bordering the lane.
"Silencio."
The albino bird's cry of alarm died in its throat.
"I always hated those damn things," whispered Draco to himself, proceeding along the path, staying close to the hedges and in almost complete darkness. The sky was heavily overcast and little moonlight penetrated. Draco did not follow the path all the way to the front door; a more careful entry to the home was called for. He stepped onto a side path and began to follow its long, winding route towards the back of the house, past the gardens (dormant now but a verdant splendor each spring and his mother's pride), past the water fountains, now silent but which burbled cheerfully in the summer, and the numerous garden gnomes, paralyzed by a Petrificus curse, decorated and then left to stand forever as silent sentinels of the estate.
Draco reached the back of the house, most of which was taken up by the Quidditch pitch. Before starting at Hogwarts, Draco had spent many a happy hour on the family estate, playing past sunset until the last rays of twilight were gone. Beyond the pitch was another path through the forest which, if he followed it, would take him to the very edge of the estate and the small cottage where he and Dee had hidden a few days earlier. On that occasion, he had been able to smuggle the badly stunned Dee onto the estate only because she was unconscious, magical barriers being no proof against a being incapable (however temporarily) of thought.
Draco approached a window at the east wing of the home, one which looked out onto one of the Quidditch goal posts: the window to his bedroom. Draco opened the window silently and effortlessly, without making use of his wand. Years earlier Draco had made sure of his ability to exit and enter the house quietly and without detection, and his parents never knew about his late night antics with his friends. Draco lowered himself carefully to the floor of his bedroom and closed the window behind him.
"Lumos."
Draco noted with satisfaction that his bedroom was untouched, his weak wand light revealing that his room was in exactly the same state as when he left it the previous September. His extensive potion making apparatus was untouched. His book cases were full, including the shelf of texts filled with his own copious annotations. A poster of Lasrina Brodie, keeper for the Kenmare Kestrals, stared down at him from a wall. The poster was a gift from Goyle. Seeing Draco, the poster's subject began to disrobe.
"None of that," said Draco, "I'm a married man now." His petrificus curse forever froze Lasrina, never to take her clothes off again.
Draco had no worry that a creak of a floor board would betray his presence; the floors of the ancient manor were of stone. As a precaution Draco silenced the hinges and knob of his door with a charm, and only then did he gently sway the door open. He stood with his back against the wall, listening intently. He took his pulse and counted, and only when the number reached six hundred without his having detected any sound did he step into the hallway, his wand out. There was no chance of an encounter with a house-elf; the enslaved creatures moved about the manor by apparition, or in the narrow passages that ran parallel to and behind the walls. He moved softly out of his room, and into a hall not very different from those at Hogwarts.
Draco crept along the wall past the spare bedrooms used for guests, the exercise room, the dueling room, and his parent's bedroom where his mother at that very instant lay awake, frantic with worry over her missing son, and to the main staircase. Then up the staircase and to his right, Draco found what he expected: the door to his father's study, his father's presence in the room betrayed by the glow of fire and candlelight coming from under the door.
Lucius Malfoy massaged his hand, trying to ease the writer's cramp. Unlike his son, he had never learned to use the wand with his left hand, and so had no magical means of reducing the inevitable strain that followed hours and hours of writing. He had always been a hard worker — noblesse oblige and all that — but of late he had additional reasons to immerse himself in the Dark Lord's service. For one thing, keeping himself busy was a way of holding at bay the terror of his missing son. Draco was the only surviving Malfoy, the only person through whom the ancient family name could be passed on. The family titles, the estate, the extensive family interests; all these would one day be Draco's. But if Draco were gone? The wealth accumulated over more than two millennia would be passed on to the next male in line, a distant cousin in a deservedly obscure branch of the family who had disgraced himself by being sorted into Hufflepuff. Lucius gripped his quill tightly and commenced once more to write.
There was another reason for Lucius to be particularly diligent in the Dark Lord's service. If Voldemort detected any flagging of spirit, any diminution in his minion's enthusiasm, he-who-must-not-be-named might think that it was Lucius himself who was behind the boy's disappearance, and that Draco had been hidden by the Malfoy family as a prelude to a betrayal of the Dark Lord. It was commonplace for wizarding families to take precautions with vital family members before embarking on a risky course of action.
The fire was getting low, and Lucius levitated a large log from next to the hearth and deposited it into the flames. Above the fireplace the face of his late father Abraxas stared out at him from his portrait, painted when Lucius' father was about the same age as was Lucius now. The artist had captured to the full the patrician haughtiness of the subject. Over the last few years, the portrait seemed to have acquired other attributes as well, and Abraxas stared out at Lucius almost with an attitude of reproach, as if the wounds the son had inflicted on the father in the last decades of his life had animated the portrait with a spirit of malevolence.
It had not been from choice that Lucius had unlawfully deposed his father and banished him to live in the cottage of the edge of the Malfoy estate. But the Dark Lord needed the full resources of the Malfoy clan behind him, and Lucius' father had no interest in becoming a Death Eater. As an alternative to allowing his father to be executed, Lucius had taken the matter into his own hands and, with his wife's help, had cursed his father so that the man exhibited all the signs of dementia. The healers suspected nothing, and everyone thought that Lucius was being dutiful by keeping his witless father close to home, rather than sending him to Saint Mungo's to be cared for by strangers. And so Abraxas had lived out the remaining years of his life, for the most part confunded, the rare episodes of lucidity lasting long enough only for him to become aware of his desperate situation before his son or daughter-in-law confunded him once more. Abraxas was grateful when the Dragon pox carried him off.
Lucius' mistreatment of his father caused him another worry, that his son was not dead, but alive and in league with Voldemort. Perhaps Voldemort saw in Draco a more eager, useful follower than he did in Lucius. Perhaps Lucius was to suffer the fate he had inflicted on his own father. It was not out of the question that Narcissa would help Draco, just as she had helped Lucius when it was time to get rid of his own father.
Lucius remembered the great sense of relief he had felt fifteen years earlier, when he had first heard the news that Voldemort's power was broken and the evil wizard was gone and probably dead. To be a follower of Voldemort was almost as dangerous as to be a foe, and many a time Lucius had wished that he could have maintained an easy neutrality in the battle between Voldemort and the rest of the wizarding world. But the first step, once taken, was irrevocable, and Lucius had been fully committed. With the return of Voldemort, the nightmare had begun once more.
Lucius put his quill to paper and was soon immersed in yet another letter, responding to a report from an agent sent to pick up the pieces of a Voldemort spy network, blown as a result of some fool's loose tongue. Lucius did not hear the door to his study open. Perhaps it was the way the flames in the fireplace fluttered with the change in air currents that alerted him to the presence of another.
"Draco!"
Lucius' love for his son made him leap up from his desk; his years of training and experience made him reach for his wand as he did so. But his son too had been trained, and far too well. In a trice Lucius found himself seated once more and paralyzed by the force of his son's wand work.
"Not exactly a nice way to welcome a prodigal son, reaching for your wand like that," observed Draco. "Perhaps mother can do better."
Lucius wondered what Draco could have done to deserve the appellation 'prodigal' but was interrupted when the boy raised his wand, and Lucius felt his jaws pried open, and his voice forced to summon the house-elf on night duty. There was a short, powerful pop. Blink appeared in front of the fireplace, turned to Lucius and bowed.
"You summoned me, master?"
Once more Lucius felt the odd sensation of his voice being controlled by another, and heard himself say,
"Fetch Narcissa this instant. It is urgent."
The house elf disappeared, and a few minutes later, there was a muted pop outside the door to the study. A short knock, and then Narcissa stepped into the room. A few steps more, and then Draco came out from behind the door where he had concealed himself. In an instant Narcissa was as helpless her husband, paralyzed by unfilial magic.
"I don't have all that much time, and I'll try to make this as brief as I can," began Draco, "but I owe you an explanation and it's high time you heard it. But first, some domestic business to attend to."
Draco waved his wand again, and Lucius against his will was compelled to summon the entire staff of house-elves. Six small figures soon joined the Malfoy family in the study.
"On this occasion, my son acts with my authority," said Lucius. This was all Draco could force the man to say and do without having to resort to the Imperius Curse. It was enough.
"Thanks, Dad," said Draco, turning to the elves. "I've good news for you all. From this instant, you are all free, everyone of you. If you like, you can remain in the service of the Malfoy clan, but only on the condition that you be paid. If you would prefer other service, I'm sure you will find a place at Hogwarts with Dobby." After speaking these words, Draco gave each elf an article of clothing, this being the only magical means of freeing them. Draco's socks each freed an elf. Another elf received the gift of a handkerchief, and with it, the freedom for which she had yearned for over sixty years. Narcissa's slippers liberated another pair, the belt to Lucius' robe completing the evening's manumission.
There were many house-elves who would be inconsolable at being summarily dismissed from a secure position as a loyal retainer to an ancient wizarding family. But no such elf existed at the Malfoy manor, a house of horrors for any servant, and no sooner had the elves been given their freedom than they disappeared, never to be seen again.
"Now that that's dealt with, time for more pressing matters."
A few more waves of Draco's wand, and his parents were no longer paralyzed, instead restrained by a powerful binding curse.
"You're worse than Potter! He lost me only one house-elf; you just turned away six more!" Lucius was beside himself, for house-elves were, for all practical purposes, irreplaceable. Lucius' rage was so great he temporarily lost the power of speech as totally as if he'd been subjected to the silencio curse.
"Improvident child! Is this how you reward us? By squandering your inheritance before you've even acquired it?" Narcissa could not imagine what life was going to be like without house-elves to attend to everything. She would actually have to hire servants, and perhaps even pay them! And what could she do if a servant murmured, or gave short answers? With elves, she could order one to use the whip on another. But with human servants, Narcissa could do naught to discipline them other than dismissal.
"I'm sure the elves will all find good homes. Let's move on to more important matters. I'm about to give you some news. While it's possible that what I'm about to tell you will make you happy, it is also possible that it may upset you greatly. The chain of events starts not with me, but with you, and the fact that neither of you was at King's Cross station to meet me when I came home for the Christmas Holiday."
Imogen ate her breakfast in silence, her head slumped over her plate as she mechanically shovelled food into her mouth, while at the same time she tried to finish a note she was writing to her friend, the centaur chieftain Magorian. She drained another cup of coffee, her third, but what did that matter: no one was counting. "That's your third cup of coffee," said Angelina Johnson. "If you keep that up, you'll spend your first class running to the bathroom half the time." "Mumble...
Flitwick noted the tension in the air the moment he stepped into the large classroom used for the Dueling Club. Every single member of the club was present, not one student absent due to illness or an unfinished assignment. Neville, not fully recovered from his encounter a few days earlier with a giant, was nevertheless in attendance. Even Flint was present, despite the detention Flitwick himself had handed out to the boy earlier that day, confining him the the Slytherin common room for...
"What a pretty tiara," said Ginny, picking up the crown from where it lay on the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. It was dinner time, and the enchanted ceiling mimicked the black, cloud-filled sky. The tables were lit by numerous candles, and the jewelled tiara sparkled in the warm glow. "I'm sure I look charmingly regal," continued Ginny. "What do you think?" she added, turning to Harry as the others at the table smiled at her indulgently. "You look great," said Harry. "You...
Imogen's hour glass chimed softly by her bed, the sound barely audible. Imogen heard it only because she was sleeping very lightly, and had gone to bed only an hour before. She rose, and moving to Hermione's bed, gently woke her friend. The two dressed in silence, undetected by Padma and the snoring Lavender Brown. Reasonably sure that they had not been heard by their two dormitory mates, Hermione and Imogen stepped softly down the stairs to the common room, their way dimly lit by the lumos...
After the meeting at which Harry pointed out to Ernie the error of his ways, Harry made a practice of using the prefects' rooms for strategy sessions, secret meetings and dueling practice. Useful as the rooms were for Harry's purposes, they could also be used by the prefects who were not members of their group, along with the head boy and head girl. There was always the chance that Goldstein or Abbot or any of the other prefects might try to gain access to the rooms when Harry and his...
Thanks to over one hundred days' hard work, extra help from her professors, tutoring from Hermione and other classmates, frequent use of the time turner and not a little talent, Imogen had virtually completed fourth year in her chosen subjects - potions, transfiguration, charms and defence against the dark arts. In this last subject, she was in fact rather ahead of her peers —other than Harry— for her classmates' education in this subject had been quite neglected in their first and second...
"All set to go?" asked Harry. Hermione nodded as she drank the last of her coffee. The Weasleys at the Gryffindor table indicated their assent as Harry looked around him. Harry rose, and accompanied by Ginny, headed out of the Great Hall. Ron and Hermione followed a few minutes later. The rest (Imogen, Neville, the Weasley twins and Angelina) headed out in ones and twos at short intervals, their departure unnoticed in the usual morning bustle. Some went directly outdoors, having brought...
Dumbledore's nap lasted a long time, and while the aged wizard slumbered in the spare bedroom upstairs, the domestic life of the Weasleys, shattered by the news of Ginny's death, had suffered almost equal disruption by the discovery that the news was false. Both of the girl's parents were desperate to hear Ginny's account of the battle from her own lips. But Ginny was unable to give intelligible answers to her parents' questions. A home remedy was required. Sitting the girl down in the...
The students were in unusually high spirits as they began to file into the Great Hall for dinner that evening, for all those in third year and up were permitted to visit Hogsmeade the next day - except for the few who lacked parental permission slips or who were denied permission as a particularly cruel form of detention, the misery of these unfortunates increased by their friends' cheerful and rowdy banter about the fun they'd have the next day. Imogen entered the Great Hall along with the...
That evening in the common room Harry and his friends lounged about in front of the fire, discussing recent events. Hermione, with her gift of almost perfect recall, narrated the story she alone had heard in its entirety from Draco's own lips. The Muffliato charm ensured that a group of third years seated in the far corner and working on a History essay would hear nothing. Ginny and Ron listened with rapt attention as the tale unfolded, the teens drinking the last of the butterbeers...
Imogen picked up another plate from the table in the Burrow's kitchen, and began to wash it, her motions mechanical, her face fixed in an expression a calm she did not feel. Eleven had seated themselves for breakfast: the six remaining Weasley children, Mr. and Ms. Weasley, Harry, Hermione and Imogen. Breakfast had been sombre, with none of the usual raillery associated with the Weasley clan. Imogen finished washing the plate, and passed it to Hermione to dry. "I feel so totally out of...
The dangers attendant on the Forbidden Forest had one advantage, for they made it an excellent place for a secret meeting, and no place inside the forest was better for a meeting than that section of the Forbidden Forest which itself was forbidden, the territory of the centaurs. The centaurs had taken much of the forest as theirs in ancient times, their territorial claims long accepted by the other inhabitants of the forest. These other creatures had no choice; quarrelling with the semi-human...
"More toast anyone?" Like any parent, Molly Weasley enjoyed stuffing food into her children, and there were five of them having breakfast in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. The presence of Hermione and Harry could not quite make up for the missing Charlie and Percy, but Mrs. Weasley was delighted to have them all the same. The kitchen would not accommodate everyone, and so breakfast that morning was in shifts, the last one being the Weasley family and the friends of their children. One...
Imogen's return to Hogwarts after the Christmas holidays was in circumstances entirely different from her first trip to the school. Then, in September, she had been a confused and ignorant girl. Things were different now. Thanks to her hard work over the holiday (which had lasted a full three weeks) she was fully caught up in her chosen subjects, easily the equal of most Hogwarts' fifth years, and superior to many. This time on the train she brought with her no trunk, only her owl and her...
A young girl stood still, her trunk on the ground next to her, an owl cage in one hand as she looked about in mystification, her face betraying her confusion. The girl's hair was as blond as blond could be, long tresses done up in twin pigtails that would have been suitable on a younger girl, but not on a young lady of about fifteen years of age or perhaps older, the muggle clothing she wore not designed in any way to hide her shapely figure. Her owl, Olwyna, screeched at the noise and...
"Impedimentia!" shouted Ginny as Fred ran towards her. Her brother tripped and fell heavily. He was up in a second, but - "Stupify!" This knocked Fred unconscious, and it was a few seconds before he was able to rise to his hands and knees. Ginny raised her wand, but Harry called for her to stop. "Excellent, Ginny. Now what would you use if Fred was a death eater?" "The killing curse, of course," said Ginny. "Why do you keep repeating that? You must have told us a hundred...
Outside in the hall, Professor McGonagall wasted no time. "I must leave Hogwarts shortly, and I did not have to time wait until you finished class to speak with you. I take it you noticed Hermione was not around this morning?" she asked. "Yes," replied Imogen. "She wasn't at breakfast and she's not in potions." "I can't tell you where she is, Imogen, but -" "Professor," said Imogen in a tone that a slightly annoyed teenager might use with her parents, "I know where Hermione...
Rita Skeeter stepped out of Mr. Edgerton's office, having dropped off the most recent of her reports, setting out for her parole officer (for that, in effect, was Mr. Edgerton's function) the life she had led in the previous week. Absent from the report was any mention of her second visit to Nurmengard in the company of Harry and Sirius Black, for her activities outside of working hours were none of Edgerton's business. In any event, the biography (now close to completion) she was writing...
The burrow was every bit as wonderful as the books had described it, thought Imogen. She had been there for several days now, along the Weasley family, Hermione and Harry. Sirius too was staying with them, and every nook and cranny of the convoluted home had a bed, cot or mattress to accommodate a family member or guest. Imogen knew that everyone was 'supposed' to stay at Grimmauld Place, at least according to the books imbedded in her memory. But it was perfectly obvious to her why this...
A few days previously Skeeter had been working away in the Ministry library. The library was huge: an enormous, flattened cylinder resting on its elliptical base, resembling the famous operating theatre at Padua, except built on a truly vast scale. The main room was easily a hundred yards in length and half as wide. The walls rose up and up to a ceiling that soared at a height no Muggle architect would consider, but which was trivial for the wizards who had designed the place. At intervals...
On the wall above Dee's head was a framed photograph with a glass cover, and Draco used it to watch the two men as they worked their way towards the back of the restaurant, one of them making inquiries of the restaurant patrons, while the other stood back, one hand in his pocket, his gaze sweeping the restaurant repeatedly. Draco reached across the table. "I hope you won't mind if I borrow these for a minute," he said, removing Dee's glasses from her face and putting them on his own....
Friday morning, and like the rest of the students the Gryffindors got out of their beds, if not with eagerness then at least with less reluctance than usual, for it was the last school day of the week, and the following Saturday was the first Hogsmeade weekend of the term. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked forward to the Saturday with considerable anticipation. Harry was excited because they would all be meeting at the Hog's Head to recruit students to the Defence Against the Dark Arts club,...
"Imogen! Why aren't you at Hogsmeade with your friends?" Professor Flitwick had heard noises in an unused classroom, and investigating, he had found Imogen working on some fourth-year charms that she had been having trouble mastering. Taken by surprise, she looked down at him, her hair a bit out of order as a result of her exertions. She had not troubled to put on her full uniform, and was wearing only a blouse and a skirt, her face flushed red with effort. Professor Flitwick was glad that...
"You have received but few hints of your past, and they have been so subtle that I doubt you picked up on them. Do you recall your first visit to Grimmauld Place, and what the portrait of Mrs. Black screamed at you?" "Yes." There was a long pause; Imogen by her silence passed a test. "You really do take my instructions literally, don't you? How rare in a teenager. I give you permission to speak freely." "My recollection of things not in 'the books' is very far from perfect, but...
"Malfoy's back!" The cry was taken up by others as the news quickly spread through the Great Hall. Ron stopped chewing, his open mouth gaping in astonishment as he saw Draco's tall, thin form make its way towards the Slytherin table. "Oh Ron, do close your mouth, please," said Hermione absently, watching as Malfoy headed towards his accustomed seat, greeting his friends noisily as he did so. A throng formed around him, through which Pansy struggled until she finally succeeding in...
"I have to admit I have no idea what this is," said Hermione, staring at the odd arrangement of shelves before her. She and Imogen were in the boy's dormitory. The school's founders in their wisdom had protected the girls' sleeping quarters from the intrusion of any boy, but the boys' dormitory, in their view, was in need of no such protection, and so the two girls accompanied by Neville, Ron and Harry were able to climb the stairs to the fifth year boys' quarters and admire Imogen's...
There was only the slightest pause after Ernie's announcement before many a hand reached for a wand, only to come up empty: Harry understood his friends very well, and had he not confiscated everyone's wand, Ernie would have been instantly subjected to multiple curses. Ernie was also fortunate that the small room was very overcrowded. Fred and George stumbled over each other as they rose. Ginny too attempted to get at Ernie, but in the commotion could not get past her brothers. Only Imogen,...
"It's like he's disappeared!" explained Hermione. "I watched carefully during my shift, and I know Angelina and Ginny did the same. We just can't find any sign of Draco on the Marauder's map." Breakfast was still two hours away, and she was in Moaning Myrtle's second floor bathroom, along with Harry, Imogen, Angelina and the Weasley siblings. It was now a routine for them to meet every morning at this hour to discuss their efforts to follow Draco's movements on the Marauder's Map....
As Harry, Ron and Hermione made their way to Snape's potions class, Ron wondered if Hermione would carry her little joke too far. The night before the Gryffindor common room had witnessed the second annual Useless Spell contest, and Ron was still suffering under the effects of the curse Hermione had placed on him. Harry's offering for the contest was a charm that untied a person's shoelaces. But this was judged by Fred and George to have a practical use - it could be done not just to...
It was now two weeks into the term. Harry and his Gryffindor friends headed out from the common room, on their way to their second Dueling Club meeting with Professor Flitwick. There they would be seeing a number of other students, most from Slytherin, the balance made up of those former members of Dumbledore's Army who had decided to stay with Harry when he'd terminated the DA. The last meeting of the defence against the dark arts club had been most unpleasant, for Harry had faced a...
Shortly after lunch the students of Gryffindor and Slytherin houses eyed each other warily in the hall outside the door to Professor McGonnigal's transfiguration classroom. It was rare indeed for two houses to double up in any class but potions, but now and again it was necessary, either to make up for a holiday or some other quirk in the schedule. Draco leaned casually against the wall, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. He stared straight ahead with an expression of studied indifference. Nearby...
Professor McGonagall was not accustomed to being addressed in such fashion - especially not by a student. Everyone knew her reputation - 'tough but fair' was the usual description people used. To this could one could fairly add that Professor McGonagall was not to be trifled with; she was impatient of silly excuses and disliked intensely having her time wasted. But to be spoken to by a student in words that bordered on the peremptory - this was new. The professor stifled the immediate reply...
The door to Madam Pomfrey's office opened, interrupting Draco's narrative before he got very far. Draco instantly closed his eyes and settled himself back on his bed. "Obviously Draco has more friends than I thought," Pomfrey said. "And I'm glad you're all being so quiet; I haven't heard hardly a sound since you came in. But really this is too much. Only one of you can stay." Turning to Hagrid, she added, "I mean only one student of course, Professor Hagrid. You're welcome to stay...
"Imogen, there's something I really need to talk to you about. I didn't want to say anything, but I just have to. It's about - " Hermione paused, having difficulty coming to grips with what had to be said. But then she got some help. "Ron?" asked Imogen. "How did you know?" gasped Hermione, relieved that Imogen was willing to discuss the topic, yet annoyed that Imogen had even noticed Ron's attention. Imogen reminded Hermione of discussions they'd had over the last two weeks,...
Imogen had no idea how to get to the Potions room, and so once she was inside the school, she looked about, hoping to spot a fifth year whom she knew to be in Potions. Ahead of her she saw the back of a tall boy with bright red hair - Ron. She fell in behind him at a short distance, and kept pace with him as he effortlessly made his way to the depths of the castle. While keeping an eye on him, Imogen looked around in the hope that she would memorize the way there. She had learned in the last...
After the feast, the prefects of each house called for their first years to follow them, and to mind that they did not lose their way. "That's right," said Ron to the youngsters in his charge. "A few years back a couple of firsties didn't do as they were told and wandered off - never did find them, I don't think..." "Oh, knock it off, Ron!" said Hermione, exasperated. "It's scary enough for them as it is." She turned to address them. "Just follow me - everything will be just...
The next morning was her first experience of the regular routine at Hogwarts. Up early to get ready and dressed, then off to breakfast at the Great Hall. She had slept only a few hours and was utterly exhausted, stumbling down the stairs with the rest of her house. But as she approached the Great Hall, her stomach began to growl. Barely had she taken her seat when a wonderful breakfast appeared on the table - like no other she had ever had. Fried tomatoes - she hadn't known that people fried...
" ... and so that's what happened, professor. I didn't mean for things to turn out like they did, but it just happened." Having finished her rather lengthy story, Imogen lapsed into silence. There was only stillness in Dumbledore's office, as he and Professor McGonagall contemplated Imogen's detailed account of events inUmbridge's class. At McGonagall's bidding, Imogen had gone to see her after dinner, to let her know how her first day at Hogwarts had gone. The Gryffindor head of...
Introduction: Harry recovers at Shell Cottage (please read authors note at the end) This story does not reflect the attitudes or characters in the Harry Potter series, or have any affiliation with the author. Chapter 7 part 1 Hermione began to shake Harry as she tried to wake him from his exhaustion. What? No it cant be Ron, said Hermione hysterically as she shook Harrys arm vigorously. It was Ron, replied Harry as with a groan he sat up on the beach and felt sand-grains fall from his hair....
"You stupid, stupid Muggle." Vivian Jones had not been expecting to hear these words. Her day had started normally enough. She'd gotten up very early as usual, and headed out to work: a 40-minute commute on the 401 into Toronto. Almost always the first to arrive at work and the last to leave, the morning had been normal enough: she'd come in around seven a.m., and started right to work reviewing a request for a bid that had come in, a new condo to be built in the downtown core. She sent...
"I'm getting too old for this," thought Professor McGonnigal. She was sitting at the head of a rather sparsely-populated professors' table in the Great Hall, assuming Dumbledore's place in the headmaster's absence. It was not that this task was not in any way taxing. But Dumbledore had ordered her to watch the school in his absence, and it was the waiting she found difficult. She would much rather have been in the depths of the forest than sitting at a table, listening to the chatter of...
As the weeks passed, Imogen found she was able to work harder and more effectively as she gained experience. She resorted to the time-turner with increasing frequency, and her typical day was thirty hours long. She was beginning to truly believe that she would meet her self-imposed goal of catching up with her peers by the start of the second term. She'd kept the list of curses given her by Professor Flitwick, and had learned a few of them. Anyone challenging her to a duel now might get a...
Christmas day, and dinner at 12 Grimmauld Place. Thanks to McGonagall's skill, although the external physical dimensions of the dining room had not increased an inch, it was now able to accommodate most of the Weasley family and friends along with numerous members of the Order. Arthur Weasley was not present, for the recent hearing had been a great strain upon him. His wounds had reopened, and he had been taken back to St. Mungo's. The healers had repeated their assurances that Mr. Weasley...
"Thank you very much for coming; it means so much to all of us," said Arthur Weasley, shaking Dumbledore's hand. Dumbledore only nodded by way of reply. He was near the end of his strength, the visit to the Burrow being his fourth such call of the day. Ernie MacMillan's family had handled the news with tremendous calm and courage, but after that, things had been much more difficult. Dumbledore's visit to the mother of Marietta Edgecombe had been truly terrible. Mrs. Edgecombe was a widow...
A few days later Olwyna was soaring above the forest, nearing the end of another journey to Surrey and back, bearing yet another letter from the unemployed wordsmith, Rita Skeeter. It was early in October, and the day a glorious sudden return to the warmth of the summer just passed. Olwyna was not more than an hour from her perch in the Hogwarts owlery, but she was very hungry, and had to break her journey for a quick snack. Dropping to tree level, she kept a close watch on a clearing...
"How is he doing?" asked Hermione, closing the infirmary door quietly behind her. "No change so far," whispered Montague, drawing Hermione away from Draco's bed. "It looks like he's still out cold, but Pomfrey says we shouldn't talk around him, because you never know - maybe he can hear us. Mind you, he's hardly moved a muscle during my shift. At least his face has stopped twitching — Pomfrey says that's a good sign." "Madam Pomfrey, if you don't mind," said the healer,...
Neville leaned against a wall in Borgin and Burkes, flipping through a book of rare curses. The descriptions were in Old English, dating from Chaucer's time, and the calligraphy was so ornate as to render the text incomprehensible. But the illustrations were clear enough. Positively gruesome. Neville turned the book sideways to look at a painting of a man who had been turned inside out. Unseen by Neville, Old Borgin bowed his customer out of the shop, and then dropping the obsequious manner...
The end of fifth year was cheerful, but anti-climatic. Imogen was sure she had performed well on her final exams, not at the level of her friend Hermione, to be sure, but she was confident that she'd obtained O.W.L.s in all her chosen subjects. At the end of term feast, Gryffindor easily won the house cup, Dumbledore awarding one hundred points for each Death Eater that a student had killed in the final battle at the Ministry. The thousand points Gryffindor gained thereby made its victory...
The cell was not as Harry had imagined it would be. He had expected a dark, nasty place: damp and smelly as well, with unpleasant insects crawling about. But the room would have been bright had the day not been so overcast, for the cell had large windows on three sides, giving a view of the sky and sea when the clouds permitted. The furniture was sparse: a bed, a small desk and chair along with a bookshelf was all the room contained. A gaunt, aged man sat cross-legged in a far corner,...
"A very unusual specimen, I must say," said Bathsheda Babbling, running a pencil lead back and forth over a piece of fine parchment, the etching on the blade of Harry's knife gradually appearing. "Where did you get this weapon? The script is unlike any I've ever seen." The Ancient Runes professor prided herself on her knowledge of the languages of magical folk, ancient and modern, and was delighted to find something with which she was completely unfamiliar. "A Christmas gift," said...
I first Read this story 3 days ago here on this page but it was not completed, so my OCD kicked in and i looked for the rest. So i am in no way a writer and this is not my story, however i though it would be nice to post it here for those like me who go crazy with unfinished workl can sleep easy. I hope you all enjoy it as much as i did.Thanks you OldWolf who is the first person i see post it and from what i can see is the original writer.Harry awakens with a groan. He feels the back of his...
Harry can feel himself smile reassuringly, "How can I help?"Cho's heart skips a beat as she sees Harry's smile, one so loving, so compassionate, so unlike the bastard who had made her publicly humiliate herself. "I was wondering if you would mind me not sleeping with you tonight."Harry chuckles and says, "Tonks talk got through huh?"Surprisingly, Cho doesn't take offence at Harry's laughter nor his question. "To a degree, at the minimum it got me thinking. I need to process this more...
A quorum for a sitting of the Wizengamot was a mere seventeen of its members. When the prosecution of death eaters had been at its peak, often double that number had been present. But today, the day before Christmas, the hearing chamber was full, all fifty-one members in attendance and the packed chamber giving a sense of importance and urgency to the proceedings. The only other occasion in the last ten years on which the chamber had been full was the prosecution of Harry Potter a few months...
Only the day after her sentence started and just prior to the end of the year, Rita Skeeter submitted the first of her reports to the Ministry, as required by the terms of her release. When Dumbledore had proposed this as a part of Skeeter's sentence, he believed that the Wizengamot would think it hard punishment indeed to compel Skeeter to catalogue her humiliation on a regular basis. As usual, Dumbledore had judged correctly, for many of the members believed that Skeeter's reports would...
Chapter 7 part 1 Hermione began to shake Harry as she tried to wake him from his exhaustion. ‘What? No it can’t be Ron,’ said Hermione hysterically as she shook Harry’s arm vigorously. ‘It was Ron,’ replied Harry as with a groan he sat up on the beach and felt sand-grains fall from his hair. ‘You must have been mistaken Harry,’ said Hermione shakily, her eyes wide in a manic shock. ‘It was Ron,’ repeated Harry weakly. ‘But..,’ ‘Hermione,’ said Harry more forcefully, cutting Hermione...
Part 9 and there was Three Harry woke feeling his wives, wives I have two wives, he smiled, laying next him, his eyes closed. Hermione snuggled up to him, her leg over his, Ginny on his other side pressing into him, their heads on his chest and shoulder, their breasts against him, he could feel their breaths on his skin, their heart beats, Hermiones wetness on his thigh, Ginnys hand gently holding his erect manhood. He laid there thinking of how his life had turned around it the last years. ...
This is a fanfic of 'Charmed' and Harry Potter, the characters are owned by their respective owners. Harry Potter gets 'Charmed' By Eric Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were trapped in Snape's Office after hours. Snape was at the door blocking their escape! "I know you're in there, Potter!" he said happily, gloating. "At last I have you red handed, Mr. Perfect Porter! This time not even Dumbledore will keep me from punishing you all!" He started to open the...
Chapter 1 *2 months later* ‘Happy Birthday, Harry!’ cheered the occupants of the dining table in the Weasley household, as they all raised their goblets in celebration of Harry’s 18th birthday. ‘Thank-you everybody,’ replied a beaming Harry as he looked around at the various people around the table. Every member of the Weasley family was sat smiling back at him, except for Ron who was still away on his self-imposed exile. ‘Well open up your presents then Harry dear,’ said Mrs Weasley...