Harry Potter and the Loss of Innocence

Ioci

Story Summary:
Harry is stuck at Privet Drive and has much to think about. A crazed wizard out to kill him. The death of his godfather and friend. The Prophesy looming in front of him. And not even one note from his friends. That's been Harry's summer holiday thus far, so can you blame him for wanting it to end? But should Harry really be looking forward to a year filled with surprises of all kinds and not all of them good? *HP sixth year fic following OotP and not incorporating HBP*

Chapter 37

Chapter Summary:
Harry has a great couple of weeks... Though the Hufflepuff/Slytherin game leads to a bit of a misunderstanding with Filch, people are being sent to jail during the DA meeting, and Harry has a talk with Dumbledore... But all in all, it's a good few weeks.
Posted:
07/31/2005
Hits:
4,165
Author's Note:
WOW! Finally! I'm back! I'm sorry that it took this long for 37! I truly am, but every time I tried to submit this, either I couldn't cause they weren't taking them or there was a problem and a hundred house-elves were trying to fix it... but... here it is!


Chapter Thirty-Seven: Few in Written History

Hey, Mr. Hero,
Walking a thin, fine line
Under the microscope of life.
Remember your roots, my friend.
They're right down below,
'Cause heroes come and heroes go.

~Creed: Are You Ready?

"Avelgule!" Harry shouted, aiming for Thia's head. The spell flew right past her ear.

"Ingravesco!" Thia shot back at Harry. As he moved to his right, he realized that a second one was heading straight at him now. The curse hit him square in the chest and he fell to the ground heavily. He felt as if he weighed a thousand pounds. Keene had just taught him this curse. It was a curse few people knew, including Death Eaters, so Harry was planning on teaching it to the D.A. once they were ready for it. But in order to teach it, he'd need to learn the counter spell. What was the counter?

"Tenuis!" Harry spoke the incantation, thankful that it didn't require a wand movement. He rolled to the side as a stunner hit the ground where he had just been laying.

"Tres Flechum!" Harry shouted. The three arrows flew toward Thia.

"Accio desk!" she said, causing a desk to fly in front of her. The arrows thudded into the wood as she shot a spell at Harry, "Diffindo!"

Harry ducked the severing charm and sent a stunner at Thia. She ducked the first one, the second one, but the third hit her, square in the chest. Harry expected her to stumble, barely. He hadn't put a lot of magic behind that spell, but she fell to the ground, out cold.

Harry rushed to her side, falling to his knees when he got there. "Ennervate!" he said, casting the spell to wake her. She sat up, rubbing at her eyes groggily. "Are you alright, Thia?" he asked her nervously.

She looked at him with eyes as round as saucers. "Am I alright?" she repeated. She took a moment to sort her thoughts out. "Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't even notice you cast that. Did you whisper it?" Harry nodded. "Really! Well," she said jumping up, "that's great!"

"Why?" Harry asked nervously. "This isn't a new way to torture me is it? 'Cause Bryant's been working me extra hard since I beat him, just once, last week."

Thia laughed. "Yes and no. It's great, because it takes 'mature' magic to act like that."

"'Mature'?" Harry asked seriously doubting her.

"Okay, so that's not the best way to put it," Thia admitted. "In fact, it's a horrible way to say it. Let me think of a better way to explain it, as you clean up." Harry shot her an unhappy glare and then turned to put the room back in order. Once the room was clean, he looked over at the thinking Thia.

"So?" he asked curiously.

"I can't figure out how to explain it right," she answered with a shrug. "So just bear with me and if you're still confused when I'm done, we'll go find Keene. All right?" Harry nodded. "Okay, most people force power into a spell by how loud and how earnestly they say the spell. Some even force the power in by exact wand movements. That's fine, for most people. Actually, fine for all but the ones with the most potential. Follow?" Harry nodded.

"But I just whispered that spell. I didn't even expect it to knock you out," Harry informed her.

"Yes, that's the odd thing about this," Thia said, nodding in understanding. "You didn't speak louder or more forcefully nor did you force the magic in with your movements. You didn't even put more power in by thinking about it, which is normally the case in this third way. It just happened. Which could be one of two reasons." Thia stopped and started thinking. Harry waited patiently for as long as he could.

"And those are--?" Harry asked impatiently.

"Well, because you just stumbled on this talent, it might be a fluke and you'll have to think about it in the future," Thia finally started. "But you managed this back in November, remember? The weekend we found out that Vance was Minister. Right before Voldemort sent you that invitation." Harry nodded. "Well, I completely forgot about it with all that excitement, but I just remembered it. The other reason is more of a guess, so don't go quoting me on it." Harry nodded.

"It could be that you're an exception to the rules." Harry groaned. "I know you hate it, and more than likely I'm wrong. I need to talk this over with the others. I'm not an expert at this. I can't even do what you just did, so bear with me. I'll get back to you after I speak with the others about it."

"Can't I come along?" Harry asked longingly.

"No," Thia said after a moment's hesitation. "I don't think they'd like talking about you with you there. But I'll see if I can get them to talk with you later." Harry nodded. He wouldn't get a better deal. "See you tomorrow during class."

"Yeah," Harry replied with a sigh. Thia looked at him with concern.

"What's the matter, Harry?" she asked.

"You know my mum's gift?" Harry asked as an answer. Thia nodded. "Well I haven't opened it yet."

"You haven't opened it?" Thia exclaimed in amazement.

"No, between forgetting about it with everything that's been going on or complete nervousness, I haven't gotten around to it," Harry explained. "I know it's horrible of me, but I'm not sure if I want to open it."

"Why's that horrible of you?" Thia asked. "I always have a hard time reading any letters written to me by deceased friends. And unfortunately, that's a tradition among Aurors."

"But I want to, until I slip my finger under the tape," Harry explained.

"Then just open it," Thia replied with a laugh. "Harry, I can't tell you what you should do. Lily was your mum, not mine. She left that for you, not me. It's your choice." Harry nodded. "Lily was the closest thing I've had to a sister. I know that whatever she left for you, she wants you to have it. And it'll probably help if you opened it. Lily was good with things that dealt with feelings. Except when your dad was involved, that is." Thia started to laugh at memories long gone and nearly forgotten. "Look, Harry, your parents loved you. James left you their rings. Those meant the world to him. Lily would have left you something just as important."

"Yeah," Harry said quietly. "Thanks. See you tomorrow."

"Tomorrow," Thia said in farewell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You knocked her out?" Hermione asked later that night, after Harry explained what had happened and what Thia and he had talked about, with the exception of the gift.

"Yeah," Harry answered.

"That's amazing, Harry," Hermione breathed out, excited beyond belief. "There aren't many people who can do that! Merlin was supposedly able to and there are reports that Dumbledore is capable. Some of the legends surrounding the four founders say that all four were talented with that form of magic. This is unbelievable, Harry. You'd be one of the few in written history!"

"Thanks, Hermione," Harry said sarcastically, "but I'd rather not be one of the few. It's bad enough being the only person to have survived the Killing Curse."

"Oh, I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione apologized immediately. "I didn't think of that."

"That's okay, Hermione," Harry told her. "I didn't mean to snap. So, that's what Hermione thinks. What about you two?" Harry asked Ron and Ginny.

"If it'll help you, then I'm happy," Ginny said, squeezing his hand and snuggling closer to him.

"I think it's bloody brilliant," Ron said excitedly. "Think of it. You wouldn't have to say the transfiguration spell in order to change Malfoy into a ferret. And if you didn't say it, they can't prove you did it!" Harry laughed with Ron.

"He does make a nice ferret, doesn't he," Harry laughed. "Bet he'd bite you if you tried to pet him." Hermione made a disgruntled noise and Harry turned to her. "You can't actually be taking Malfoy's side, Hermione. You are, after all, the only one of us to actually hit Draco without provocation."

"He did provoke me!" Hermione sputtered out. This caused Ron and Harry to laugh harder. "Go ahead and laugh. I'll just tell Moaning Myrtle that you both have huge crushes on her."

"You wouldn't?" Ron asked, horrified.

"I would," Hermione replied. The couple continued arguing for a bit.

"I'm going to bed," Ginny said, interrupting the lovers' spat that Ron and Hermione had started.

"I'll walk you to your stairs," Harry said, thankful for the excuse to leave.

"I can walk myself," Ginny told him.

"I know, but I want to head to bed too, so we're both going the same way. We might as well walk next to each other." Ginny smiled up at him and took his hand. They walked to the stairs and kissed each other goodnight.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Saturday was the Slytherin versus Hufflepuff game. The weather was perfect for a Quidditch game, and Harry hoped it'd be a good game. He wasn't surprised, though, when the Slytherin chasers scored three times in five minutes.

Ginny sat to his left and Ron sat to his right. Hermione was on Ron's other side. The Gryffindors were staying neutral in this game. Neither team was in contention for the cup, unless something unbelievable happened. This year's cup would be won by either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw. And if Harry had to bet, he'd bet on Gryffindor.

The game was about an hour long. It ended in a thrilling chase of the snitch by both Seekers. Sephra missed the snitch by scant centimeters, so Summerby was able to catch it. Even with those 150 points, Slytherin won. "It's 200-180, Slytherin!" Dean's voice called out. "Slytherin's chasers won it for them!"

The student body headed to the Great Hall, talking about the game excitedly. Slytherin's chasers were amazing. The main discussion was whether Gryffindor would have won against this Slytherin team.

"I think they'd have lost," a Hufflepuff boy walking near Harry said. "Sure Gryffindor's girls are good, but did you see the way Slytherin's chasers flew today. Even if Harry Potter caught the snitch, I'd say they'd have lost."

"But Gryffindor's chasers are more experienced then Hufflepuff's," the Ravenclaw talking to the boy said. "They'd have confused Slytherins chasers without..."

"Do you guys want to head to the common room?" Harry asked annoyed. The three nodded. "I hate getting talked about, even if it is positive."

"Yeah," Ron mumbled in answer.

"Do you think we'd have beat them?" Ginny asked after a moment.

"Yes," Ron and Harry said right away. "Hufflepuff's chasers just let Slytherin's control the tempo of the game," Harry continued. "You girls would have disrupted them and set the tempo yourselves. Just like Ravenclaw did, back in January."

"Not to mention, that Gryffindor has a better keeper than Hufflepuff," Ron added pompously.

"Shove it, Weasley. No one likes a big head," Harry said, pushing Ron into a suit of armor.

"Hey, get back here, Potter!" Ron yelled, trying desperately to untangle himself from the pieces. The three others continued walking, though it took Hermione's all not to turn around and help him. "Okay, this isn't funny! I can't get out!" Harry and Ginny started laughing, but they turned around. They got Ron out of the mess and tried desperately to put the armor back together. None of them noticed Mrs. Norris slink away.

"Okay, I think this goes on top of this piece," Harry said, trying to make it fit.

"No, it goes under," Ginny said, grabbing the metal from him.

"Well, I got these pieces to fit," Ron said, showing them what he had accomplished. Two pieces were shoved together and Harry could easily tell that they didn't go together.

"I don't think that goes there, Ron," Hermione said with a laugh. "That's an arm piece and that's a leg piece."

"You're right, missy," Filch's voice said. "And you're all in trouble. If I have my way, you'll be hung upside down for this. It takes me five hours to put one of those back together!" He started to head to his office. "Well, come along. I need to write up detention slips."

"Deten--" Ron started before Hermione stepped on his foot. Filch continued muttering about the good old days as he led them to his office. Harry didn't want to serve another detention. The one last week with Snape had been bad enough. Not to mention Harry could think of better things to do with his time.

"Sit," Filch ordered them.

"There aren't enough chairs," Hermione pointed out stupidly.

"Are you wizards?" Filch asked. They nodded. "Then conjure your own." Hermione blushed and Harry had a hard time not hitting the man. That was uncalled for. Harry conjured four cushy chairs for his friends and they sat in them. He stared at Filch, in a disconcerting fashion. "Ah, here we are. Names: Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ronald Weasley, and Ginerva Weasley. Crime: destruction of school property. Suggested Punishment: three nights of detention." Harry's jaw dropped. That's outrageous!

"Are you sure only three nights, Mr. Filch, sir?" Hermione asked in a small penitent voice. Ron and Harry looked at her, but Harry vividly remembered every time Hermione had lied to get them out of trouble, take the troll as the first of many examples. "I'd be tempted to give students such as ourselves, two prefects and two Quidditch players, at least five nights of detention."

"Do you really think so?" Filch asked surprised.

"Yes, sir," Ginny said, jumping into the lie headfirst. "We completely tore that suit of armor apart. I think Ron damaged those two pieces he shoved together, so you will need to fix those, Mr. Filch." The man muttered something under his breath.

"Suggested Punishment: five nights of detention," he muttered as he wrote out a new sheet. "Now all I have to do is give this to your head of house."

"We'll take it, sir," Hermione said, almost in tears. "I'd rather get that yelling out of the way."

"Hm, you'll take it to her, will you?" Filch asked suspiciously. Hermione nodded.

"She's a prefect, sir," Harry said pessimistically. "She hasn't lied to a teacher once in all the years we've been here. A liability to my rule breaking, you see. But she's good at fixing essays, so I've kept her around. If she tells you that she'll take it, she'll take it, sir." Filch stared at him hard.

"Well, give it to her tonight!" he commanded them, handing Hermione the paper. "And what's the matter with him?" Filch added pointing to Ron. Harry glared at him, which only made the problem worse. Ron's face was screwed up in a funny way: he was trying not to laugh.

"Oh, he's dreading the Howler our mum will send when she hears of this," Ginny answered gloomily.

"It's okay, Ron," Hermione said, taking his head and hiding it in the hair on her shoulder. "McGonagall won't take away our badges. She can't." Harry hurried them out of the office, up two flights of stairs and down another corridor before stopping and hitting Ron's head. Hermione hit his stomach and Ginny hit his arm.

"You almost ruined that, you prat!" Ginny said, hitting his shoulder again. "I can't believe you! You're a Weasley! How can you not be able to keep a straight face?"

Before Ron could answer, Hermione turned to them. "Let's get this to McGonagall and then complain." That sobered Ron up right away.

"You mean we're actually going to take it to her?" Ron asked surprised.

"Of course," Harry answered. "Filch will ask about it, after all we're going to get five nights worth of detention. I can't believe he took the bait. You're amazing, Hermione."

"What about me?" Ginny asked feigning hurt.

"I'll tell you what I think of you when your brother isn't around," Harry told her with an evil grin. Ginny laughed, but Ron blanched.

"Be careful, Potter," he warned.

"I'm very careful, Weasley," Harry replied airily. "Gin would bite my head off if I wasn't." Ginny laughed harder and grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the angry brother. Hermione dragged her stunned boyfriend after them, searching for their head of house. They found her in her office.

"Professor," Hermione said, sticking her head in the door.

"Come in, Miss Granger," McGonagall said cheerfully. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, we were sent here by Filch and I'm not sure I agree with the punishment," Hermione told the older woman, handing her the slip of parchment.

"And what exactly did you do?" McGonagall asked peering over her glasses at them.

"We knocked a suit of armor over," Harry replied. "We were even trying to fix it, not that we were helping much."

Ten minutes later, they left the office. They waited until after climbing another two stairways and walking down a few corridors before they let out a laugh.

"We only lost 12 points!" Ron said, jumping into the air.

"And we don't have a single detention!" Harry said laughing. He picked up Ginny and whirled her around. "This is great!" Ginny was laughing too hard to stand by the time Harry set her down. She fell to the ground and just laughed. Harry sat next to her. "I can't believe we had to talk McGonagall out of visiting Filch! I'd have loved to see her have a go at him! He wouldn't know what hit him until it was too late."

"Let's get going," Hermione said nervously. "It's past curfew and I don't want to repeat that." Harry nodded, standing. He helped Ginny stand and supported her so she could laugh and walk at the same time.

"You're barmy, Ginny," Ron told his sister. Ginny only laughed harder. "Harry, can you shut her up, I don't want her to give away our position to Mrs. Norris." Harry smiled obligingly and captured Ginny's mouth with his. "Not like that!" Ron cried in horror. "I think I'll be blind for life."

Ginny smiled up to Harry happily, and Harry smiled back at the most beautiful and gorgeous and amazing woman he had ever met. They stood there looking at each other, while Ron tapped his foot impatiently. She really is the most wonderful, gorgeous, loving, amazing, gorgeous, intelligent, funny (have I mentioned gorgeous?) girl I have ever met

"Okay, Potter," Ron said finally. "Eyes off my sister and walk to your room!" he ordered. Harry obeyed, but he kept Ginny's hand in his.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Get up, Potter," Bryant barked. Harry stood again, putting his sword in the ready position. He and Bryant exchanged blows. Harry managed to attack and defend in equal measures. The fight was going on for forty minutes when someone coughed politely. Harry followed Bryant's lead and grounded his sword, turning to see who had arrived. It was Dumbledore.

"Good day, Lon," Dumbledore said cheerfully. "I need to speak with Harry for a moment." Bryant nodded.

"Then that's it for the day," Bryant said in his hoarse voice. "When you're done talking, take two laps around the lake." Harry nodded and Bryant took the proffered sword. Dumbledore watched the retreating back of the weapons master.

"How are you, Harry?" Dumbledore asked taking a seat on a log. Harry sat crossed leg across from him.

"You wouldn't mind if I stretched while we talk, sir?" Harry asked. "I don't want to cool off before those laps." Dumbledore nodded. "As for your question, I'm fine. Haven't had any overly troubling dreams in a long while. Been sleeping well. Been eating and my grades are way up. And I'm still talking to my friends, which is an added bonus." Dumbledore smiled. "How are you, Headmaster?"

"Oh, I'm well, Harry," Dumbledore answered. "Though another birthday has come and gone and I only received books and horrible devices to help with work. Can a wizard not get a decent pair of socks?" Harry smiled.

"You could have mine, sir," Harry offered, pulling off a shoe.

"I'll think I'll pass on that, Harry," Dumbledore said smiling and waving a hand in front of his face. Harry had to agree, the sock stank. "But down to business." Harry nodded; glad to know what the man wanted. "I'd like to talk to you about your summer plans. You'll be seventeen at the end of July and I can't keep you at your relatives' against your will. However," Dumbledore said putting his hand up, "you do need to spend some time there. Can we come to some type of agreement?"

"We can try, Professor," Harry answered. "How long would you like me to stay?" Harry felt himself wishing for Tonks. She was really good at this bartering stuff. He was rather horrible, but there was no way he'd spend more time with the Dursleys than he had to.

"Through June and most of July," Dumbledore offered. Harry stopped himself from rolling his eyes. There was no way he'd spend that long there. He nearly went insane every summer before and he knew that he'd go insane if he stayed through most of July.

"How about a week?" Harry countered. "It's not long, but it's about all I can handle from them."

"It surely isn't as horrible as you say," Dumbledore replied. "July 15?"

"No, two weeks after school get's out," Harry said. Dumbledore shook his head no. "How about June 21, first day of summer?" Harry offered the old man with a smile.

"Isn't that two weeks after you return home?" Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye. Harry cursed his luck. "But it would have been a good way to start a season. How about that Friday, the 26th I believe."

Harry thought it over. Could he handle three weeks with the Dursleys? It's better than two months, he told himself. "Fine, June 26th. This June 26th," Harry amended and Dumbledore laughed. They sat for a few moments in silence. "Professor, has Thia talked to you about last Thursday?" Dumbledore gave Harry that penetrating look that Harry hated so much.

"She did," Dumbledore answered curtly. Harry looked at the man, surprised. "It's a horrible gift, Harry. I'm not going to lie to you about it. Sure, it has its advantages, but it's a huge burden. I will start training you next fall. I want you to promise me that you won't use it in a juvenile way."

"I promise, Professor," Harry said, looking the old man in the eyes. "Professor, what's Voldemort up to?" Dumbledore sighed and looked out past the lake.

"We aren't exactly sure," Dumbledore answered. "Though we have a new spy, he is a new recruit among their number and he does not get the information Professor Snape was able to get. It is rather frustrating at the moment." Harry nodded.

"Well, I need to start my laps," Harry finally said. "Thank you for talking with me, Professor." Dumbledore stood and smiled at Harry.

"It was my pleasure, Harry," the old man returned. As Harry started to run, he watched Dumbledore walk back to the castle. That was rather informative.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Good evening," Harry told the D.A. that Friday. "Can I have your attention?" Harry asked staring pointedly at Ron, Hermione, and Ginny who were arguing amongst themselves. They quieted and looked at Harry respectively. "As Ginny has told me a billion times, O.W.L.'s and N.E.W.T.'s are in two weeks time. Do you want to have meetings then? Or should we just wait until after exams for the last meeting of the year?" The group looked at each other. "We didn't have this problem last year, due to other problems. It's up to the fifth and seventh years. I should remind the Gryffindor chasers here that our last game is that Saturday as well. And that goes for the Ravenclaws, too," Harry said, smiling at Cho. He would enjoy catching that snitch. Cho had been trash talking for weeks now.

"I think we'd rather continue during those weeks," a Ravenclaw answered. "Give us something to distract ourselves with." Harry nodded.

"If you'd rather study during the meeting time, I completely understand," Harry told the group. "I'm might have to skip to cram for my Transfiguration exam," he added, smiling at Professor McGonagall. A few people laughed. "Alright, we're going to do something new today. As you may have noticed at the start, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were arguing. They have no idea what I have planned, but they've made their guesses. And they're all wrong," he said looking at them.

"We're going to split into three groups of twelve. Each group will pick a leader. The object is to capture the other two teams' flags." Harry continued to explain the rules. It was basically going to be a mock battle.

Thia and Remus entered the room along with Professors Flitwick and Sinistra. Harry waved an arm at the entering adults. "These wonderful people have agreed to referee this. I'm joining in and I thought it was a bit much to expect just Professor McGonagall to watch. You all remember Professor Lupin?" Harry said pointing to Remus. Everyone nodded and a few called out hello. Lupin smiled and nodded in reply. "Okay, here are the groups." Harry read off three lists. He had purposefully put himself in the worst group. Ron was in one, by himself, and Hermione and Ginny were in the third.

It was a modified game of capture the flag. Each team had fifteen minutes to set up a defense and plan an offense. Harry accepted the role of leader for his group, but made them come up with the plans. He changed the plans a bit, but not by much. Soon the fifteen minutes were up and the game began.

Harry smiled. It was chaos. Several students were overwhelmed by everything that was going on. Those students were quickly captured. Harry noticed some of his teammates being led to a jail zone. His role was to break them out. Hermione and Ginny were guarding them. Harry smiled again. This should be fun.

Harry carefully weaved his way through the crowd, making his way slowly to the jail zone. Harry animated a table and used it to distract his friends. They turned to deal with insane table. "Jail break!" Harry shouted, dragging some of his team members back to safe territory. He made it across safely, but looking back, he could tell Ginny was furious. Harry looked over at the other jail zone and saw more of his team there. He started to head that way, when he noticed a red head heading toward his team's flag.

"Oh, no you don't Weasley!" Harry shouted. "The flag!" he shouted again. Harry ran as fast as he could, taking aim at his best mate. "Stupefy!" Ron rolled under the stunner, rising to his feet close to the flag. That's when Hannah Abbot's stunner hit him. Harry smiled, again. Ron had fallen for that one. Harry dragged Ron to the jail zone dropping him to the ground with little ado.

The "meeting" continued in chaos for another 45 minutes, before Harry's team finally managed to get both flags. Even if they had to steal the girl's flag from Ron's group, they had still gotten both. His friends were furious. "You cheat, Potter," Ron grumbled.

"So do you, Weasley," Thia replied. "The game was fair and Harry didn't carry his team, so stop complaining." Harry smiled thankfully at Thia.

"What did you guys think?" Harry asked the group as a whole.

"It's confusing," Cho replied instantly. "I wasn't sure who was on my team and I couldn't figure out what everyone was doing." Harry nodded.

"It was an adrenaline rush," Ginny answered. "I was able to cast spells without any difficulty that normally are a problem for me."

"Okay, anything else?" Harry asked again. When nothing was forthcoming, he turned to Ron's group. "You guys had a good plan. You didn't worry too much about captives you took, but you made sure to rescue your own. What you needed to do was during a jailbreak, nip over and grab the enemy's flag. Take your last jailbreak on my team's side. You had five people over here, plus one person who had rescued everyone. That's half your team. With the three members of that group," Harry said pointing to Hermione's group, "there was mass chaos. All you need to do was send one person and they would have had the flag."

"But if you knew that, you'd have gotten us," Ron told Harry.

"But I was breaking free my team members from Hermione's jail," Harry explained. "You had us out numbered on our own turf. Four of my team on Hermione's turf, three on your turf. That leaves five on my turf and they were trying to re-capture nine." Ron nodded.

"And, Hermione, your group had a good plan if your team had a few more members," Harry said. "You wasted too much of your man power protecting captives. That's how Ron's group managed to get your flag. Freeing your captive teammates and guarding your flag is more important than guarding the jail; though that was a great tactic to get your flag back. Too bad it was ruined by a fluke." Hermione nodded bitterly. Ginny had twisted her ankle while, well, walking. Harry smiled at his girlfriend.

"What about your group?" someone asked.

"They did pretty okay, if you ask me," Harry responded. "We got lucky that both flags were kept at the same spot. Two people concentrated on rescuing captive team members, five on guarding our flag, and five on capturing your flags. We could have been a little better at sneaking around your guys' turf, but it wasn't too bad."

"How did you notice all that?" Susan asked, impressed.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked confused. Thia let out one laugh before Remus clamped a hand over her mouth. "Thanks," he said to the man.

"I barely knew what I was doing, let alone what my own team was up to," Cho replied. "I had no idea whatsoever what the other teams were up to until it was too late."

Harry blushed slightly. "Oh, it's just, well, I've learnt, I mean," he started, but closed his mouth before he gave Thia a better reason to laugh. He hated when someone pointed out something extra that he had learnt in his outside studies.

"I've been learning how to see everything," Harry explained. "It's really rather boring, training that is, but it's loads of help. Thia, stop it," Harry told the witch. "I thought you were an adult." Remus let out a short laugh that got him an elbow in the stomach. "Thia," Harry said again in warning.

"Sorry," she said without actually meaning it.

"Just think of the example you're setting," Harry said, trying to hide his smile. He knew he'd get her to bite.

"Ladies, do not let your brothers, older or younger, laugh at you," Thia said in her "teacher" voice. "A good elbow to the stomach can do wonders for your relationship with them." McGonagall looked at her in slight disapproval. "But then again," she said back-tracking quickly, "you really shouldn't hurt your brothers or anyone else for that matter. Especially when you have such wo--"

"Don't say anything you'll regret, Thia," Remus told her with a smile.

"Okay, if you two are done disrupting my class," Harry said, thankful to have authority in the matter, "I'd like to continue." Thia nodded, glancing nervously between McGonagall and Remus. "Today we were evenly split. Next week, we'll split into four even groups. The week after will be two equal groups. The two weeks after that will be groups of different numbers and different terrains. And then the week after them, well, what do you guys think of having an extra long practice? I have a surprise for you all. But we'll need more time."

"How much time?" Blaise asked curiously.

"The more the better," Harry answered. "Ideally three or four hours." There were some groans. "What else are you going to be doing the week after exams?" Harry asked.

"Nothing," Zacharias Smith answered. "It's fine with me. Just as long as we don't go past curfew." There were several nods of agreement. Harry smiled.

"Well, we'll talk about it closer to the date. Until next week, have a good time."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What did you say?" Voldemort said calmly. Rookwood was shaking in fear.

"I'm not sure if it's a weapon, my Lord," he answered terrified.

"The legends clearly say it is a weapon, Rookwood," Voldemort said softly. "Are you saying that I can not read?"

"No, Master," he croaked out. Voldemort sent a force that slammed the man into the wall. Rookwood clawed at an invisible hand around his neck. The other Death Eaters watched in terrified silence. Harry watched in horrified silence, his scar bursting with pain. Finally the man fell to the ground, breathing quickly and greedily.

"Explain yourself, Rookwood, and keep it short and to the point," Voldemort said in a falsely bored tone.

"I found another legend, my Lord, and it mentioned it as a charm to remember the past," Rookwood hurriedly explained. "It didn't say anything about it being a weapon. Ravenclaw's granddaughter wrote the text herself. It's more reliable than the legend we have now."

"Is that so?" Voldemort said in a tone that Rookwood should have caught onto.

"Yes, my Lord," the man said earnestly. "It actually poked fun at the legends surrounding it that said it was a powerful weapon."

"Is that so?"

This time Rookwood heard the tone and blanched to a deathly white. "My Lord, no disrespect was meant..." He trailed off, knowing that his fate was already sealed.

"Do you think that maybe Ravenclaw's granddaughter was lying to throw those such as ourselves off the scent?" Voldemort asked rhetorically. "Protecting herself and those that came after her? Rookwood, I'm rather disappointed. Goodbye."

"No, my Lord!" he cried out in one final plea for life.

"Avada Kedavra!" Rookwood fell the short few feet to the ground, dead before he hit. Dead, in fact, before he had even started to fall.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Harry! Are you alright, mate?" Ron yelled as Harry tried to untangle himself from his sheets. He had fallen out of bed and that was what had woken him up.

"I'm fine, Ron," Harry said as calmly as he could. He was shaking and he tried to hide it from his worried roommates. Neville got out of his bed and helped Harry untangle himself. "Thanks, Neville. I'll be right back," he said to the others and then sprinted to the bathroom. He barely made it in time, but, as he stared at the contents in the toilet, he had made it. He wiped his mouth off and flushed the toilet. He rinsed out his mouth, looking at himself in the mirror.

He looked horribly pale. His scar stood out on his white forehead, red as blood. His hands wouldn't stop shaking. Actually, his whole body was trembling. Why had that bothered him so much? Because Rookwood didn't deserve to die, Harry answered his own question. Not like that at least.

Harry couldn't believe that Voldemort would just kill his followers like that. It was disturbing. No wonder Blaise had picked this side. That was no life to live. Always afraid you'll piss Voldemort off, afraid that he'll kill you or your family. Harry made his way back to the dormitory.

"Did you make it?" Ron asked without looking at Harry.

"Yeah," Harry said, staring at his messed up sheets. "I'm going to go down to the common room to think; why don't you guys go back to sleep?"

"And let you deal with that on your own? No way, Harry," Dean said getting out of bed. He pulled out a stash of chocolate. "Let's eat our way through this. It's bound to make you feel better." Harry nodded and started opening a Chocolate Frog. Five frogs later, Ron decided to open his mouth.

"What did you see?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Harry said around a mouth full of chocolate. "It doesn't matter," he lied. Ron sensed that and gave him a severe glare. "All right. Voldemort got pissed off at one of the Death Eaters, Rookwood actually. He killed him." There was stunned silence as the other boys just stared. "Like I said, it doesn't matter. No one innocent died." Harry knew that Ron knew that this was really bothering him, but Ron kept his mouth shut this time.

There was a long silence as everyone ate the frogs. Finally, Neville looked over at Harry. Harry just ignored the look and continued eating. "So your next game is a week from tomorrow," Neville finally said. Harry nodded. "Are you guys ready?"

"Of course we are, Neville," Ron answered. "We have been for ages."

"Did you guys hear about the Harpies taking the league title, without losing once?" Seamus asked. "Completely undefeated. Hasn't happened in like 50 years."

"It's kinda hard not to have heard when I'm dating their biggest fan," Harry grumbled good-naturally. "At least it's better than hearing about the Chudley Cannons. No offense, Neville."

"None taken," Neville replied.

"Well, I took some offense," Ron said heatedly. "First you insult my sister, then you insult my team. What next, Potter?" Harry laughed.

"Well," Harry said trying not to laugh too hard, "you know a certain bushy haired girl in our year freaked out earlier this week. I guess she just realized that our N.E.W.T.'s are a year and two weeks away." The boys all started laughing. Hermione had a major melt down during the D.A. meeting on Wednesday. This started every fifth and seventh year throwing hexes and various items at her.

"I know, but where would we be without her?" Ron asked with a huge smile on his face.

"Well, we would be stuck in Devil's Snare, old bones by now," Harry said seriously. "And even if we had managed to get past that, I'd have drunk the wrong potion, and even if I had managed to get through that, I'd have failed every single exam, along with you." Ron nodded in agreement.

"Dang, you owe a lot to Hermione," Dean said softly.

"Oh yeah," Harry answered. "You couldn't ask for a better know-it-all for a best friend, right Ron?" Ron's ears turned a wonderful crimson. "See, Ron thinks so too!" The boys laughed at Ron and continued going through the chocolate. Harry pulled out his stash and added it to the pile, along with Seamus, Neville, and Ron. As Harry started to feel tired again, he saw something that nearly gave him a heart attack. It succeeded in completely waking him up.

"What you got there, Harry?" Ron asked, seeing Harry's stunned face. Harry shook his head and tried to hide the card he was looking at. "Give it here, Harry," Ron commanded. Harry didn't, so Ron decided to tackle Harry. They wrestled for control of it until, finally, Ron laughed with triumph. He settled back and smiled at Harry in an annoying fashion. Then he looked at the card.

"Bloody hell!"

"What is it?" Seamus asked the stunned boy. Harry was now blushing furiously.

"It's nothing," Harry said, hoping that they'd let it drop.

"It's not nothing, Harry," Dean said, snatching the card from Ron's fingers. "Bloody hell!" Dean said, repeating Ron. "I don't believe this. Look at this Seamus, Neville."

Seamus and Neville moved over and looked at what Dean held in his hand. All three stared at it in disbelief and then simultaneously looked at Harry. He was staring at them, not really seeing them. He couldn't believe what Dean now held. It just wasn't right.

Harry Potter

CURRENTLY SIXTH YEAR AT HOGWARTS

As the Boy Who Lived, Harry Potter won his way into our hearts
when You-Know-Who killed James and Lily Potter, leaving him an orphan.
His most notable accomplishments include surviving the Killing Curse,
winning the Triwizard Tournament, escaping from You-Know-Who after
he returned to his body, and challenging You-Know-Who before Christmas last. Harry Potter enjoys playing Quidditch and spending time with
his friends and housemates.

"Ah, that's nice of you, Harry," Dean said sweetly. "You like spending time with us."

"Shut it and give that here," Harry said angrily. "How do they know what I like to do? It's not like they asked me." He took the card and tore it in half.

"That's bloody brilliant, Harry," Ron complained. "I was going to give that to Ginny for her birthday. I'd even frame it for her." Harry felt his temper rise. He took a deep breath and counted to ten.

"I don't know why they made a card of me," Harry told them, holding his temper in check. "But do not say a word to anyone about it. I don't want the added attention." Harry looked each of the boys in the eye. "Not a word." They nodded; though, Ron wouldn't look him in the eyes afterwards. Ron had better not tell Ginny, or he'd never hear the end of it.


Author notes: Well, I promise to submit 38 as soon as i'm done with this, so I'll keep it short here...

Just a few thanks... Jeep044 (did I get the numbers right? I'm going by memory only...) and GoneCrazy and Erica...12 is it? (I really should check, but that would take time, and time is something I don't want to waste...) Wow! you made the huge rush at the end fun! and you cacked the code! hehe... Gracias!

The code is this: the whole fic, from beginning to end, is on fanfiction.net ... I strongly suggest you go look there, 'cause one can never tell when the next chapter will be put up, even if I submit them all tonight (which I'm gonna try to do)

Hope you enjoyed, very sorry that I didn't accomplish my goal of getting it all up by July 16... See you next chapter "The Year Ends"... wow, now that's a brilliant chapter title...

~Ioci