The Prince

Chapter 6

The Talks

Harry Potter didn't know where to go. The shock of Ronald Weasley's betrayal had unnerved him. He knew that he would need a long time to recover from that. He could not believe that Ron could have been so vicious. He had known that Ron was prone to jealousy, but this was far beyond that. He wondered what had happened to make him turn.

Almost unconsciously, he had walked into Neville Longbottom's cell.

"Deep in thought, Harry?" said a soft voice, jerking him out of his reverie.

"Uh, hello, Neville."

"Hello. You have grown quite handsome. Or is it merely Glamour?"

Harry shook his head and smiled at the good-looking man in front of him. Neville was no longer the chubby boy he had known.

"You've become pretty cool, too."

"Thanks. Why are you here?"

"I gave an offer to your leader."

"Draco?"

"Yes. He will tell you about it."

Neville nodded. Then he asked suddenly, "Why did you turn, Harry?"

"I never turned, Neville. I am as Light as I always was. I merely did what needed to be done."

"Do you mean to say that we needed a tyrant?"

Harry nodded, muttered a good bye and left. He spent the next half-hour visiting the rest of the prisoners.

Most of the prisoners shared Ron's opinion of him. The Weasleys appeared to hate him whole-heartedly. Molly Weasley accused him of having stole three of her sons from her and leading them to their dooms. Ginny spat at him and yelled that he ought to be hanged publicly. Arthur Weasley looked so disappointed in him that it took him all his self-control to keep his eyes dry. Harry kept his mouth tightly shut all the time except for saying "Hello" and "Goodbye" because he was tired of defending himself. He bore all the jibes and taunts impassively.

Lee Jordan accused him of snatching his best friends away from him. Almost everyone there accused him of betrayal and tyranny. Pansy Parkinson said, "You had us all fooled, Potter; we really believed that you were Gryffindor's Angel. Seems we all were gravely mistaken. You would have made the Dark Lord proud."

The last person he visited was Oliver Wood, who had been Quidditch captain in his first three years at Hogwarts. Harry had always respected Wood, for he had been an excellent captain and Keeper. The fanatical glint in his eyes, which had been for the Quidditch Cup years earlier, was ever present, except that they now wanted his death.

"You may try all your tactics, Potter, but we will bring down your rule, destroy your life and kill you, not necessarily in that order. I promise you that, Potter, I promise you that," Wood had said, his tone so venomous that it had shocked Harry.

Harry left the prison in a gloomy mood. He instructed his guards to allow the prisoners to meet for an hour and then be taken back to their cells. Then he headed back to his room and collapsed on the bed, contemplating the motive of his existence.