Harry Potter and the Magical Muggle

Chapter 9: Draco´s Revenge

            "Oh, no," Harry groaned staring at his course schedule that Professor McGonagall had just passed out.  "We have Double Muggle Studies this afternoon...and before that Potions.  Oh, shoot me now."

            "Only if you shoot me first," Ron replied, grinning.  Over the years, Ron, after being surrounded by Harry and Hermione, had picked up the various Muggle phrases and sayings and was beginning to fit them into every day occasions, only sporadically becoming confused at the random things that Harry and Hermione had happened to mention from time to time.

            "At least you don´t have Divination to worry about," Hermione pointed out.  Harry was about to reply when there was a sudden rushing noise above their heads.

            "Mail´s here!" Dean cheerfully announced.  Suddenly there were hundreds of owls swooping down to various students, delivering packages and letters before heading off through the windows from which they came.  On this day, however, something wasn´t right.  There were roughly sixty or so owls holding pieces of parchment within their talons just circling the ceiling of the Great Hall waiting until all the other owls had delivered and left before they began their descend.  Although instead of delivering their letters to a respective person, they simply released the parchment from twenty feet above the ground.

            It was a sea of fluttering paper dancing lightly within the air.  It reminded Harry of the summer before his first year when several dozen Hogwarts acceptance letters had come flying through his chimney and littered the air around him.  Reaching up to grab one of the mysterious sheets of parchments, Harry´s heart jumped to his throat.

            Bloody hell.  Within his hands contained one birthday letter from Sirius Black to Harry Potter.

                                           

Dear Harry,

            Happy 15^th Birthday!  Congratulations on winning the Triwizard Tournament, too!  Sorry I haven´t written to you recently, but being an escaped convict from Azkaban makes it hard to find suitable birds to make the delivery.  Although, I have a feeling that I will see you soon, seeing that you will be inducted into the Death Eaters within the week.  Next time, however, try not to blame the Dark Lord for your own murders.  It was not very wise, and tends to make him a bit cross.  Something about not receiving the glory of the kill only the backlash.  Therefore next time, I urge you to be more careful.

I heard it was a Hufflepuff, though, and that is something that you should be proud of.  A bunch of loyal fools is all that entire house will amount to.  The only good Hufflepuff, I say, is a dead Hufflepuff.  Next time try to kill more than one.  I know you are probably not ready for thirteen people in one curse, but practice makes perfect.  Remember to brush up on the Unforgivables seeing how you may need them in the induction.  I will see you soon, Harry, and have a good birthday.

                                                                                                                        Sirius

Harry Potter was shaking in his seat.  A million thoughts were running through his head. The first and foremost was:  This is NOT the letter Sirius wrote to me, not even remotely close.  He was going to be sick.  Hundreds of Hogwarts students were reading the letter and passing it on to their friends.  The sounds of angry bees buzzing met his ears, and he was quickly reminded of the school´s reaction to when he was announced as the fourth champion.  A quick glance at the Hufflepuff table told him that they were not taking the letter well at all. 

 If looks could kill, Harry thought darkly.

"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione whispered softly and placed a hand on his shoulder.  Ron moved on the other side to do same thing while giving him a concerned glance.

But Harry barely heard her for at that moment Draco Malfoy yelled across the hall, "Decide to come clean, Potter!  A bit of a dramatic confession even for the Boy-Who-Lived.  Next time, don´t bother.  We could care less who you decide to kill in a jealous rage.  I don´t think this won you any brownie points in Cho Chang´s favor either.  It´s not nice to kill the boyfriends of the girls you want to shag!"

            However before Harry could react to Malfoy´s taunting, Professor McGonagall was at his seat.

            "Mr. Potter, the headmaster would like to see you in his office, immediately..." (Ron and Hermione also jumped up in support of Harry, while protesting that the letter wasn´t true, but she waved them off and glanced at them pointedly)  "Alone, Mr. Potter, alone."  Harry rose in his seat and lifted his head up high for he would not give the satisfaction to whomever had engineered this prank to see that it affected him in any way.  But obviously, it had.  For his right hand was shaking in rage and his emerald eyes where flashing with dangerous intent.  At that moment, Harry looked so powerful and malicious that it added more legitimacy to the letters.  As he walked with Professor McGonagall out of the Hall and towards the Headmaster´s office, Harry glanced at the other houses.  The Hufflepuffs looked dangerous, the Gryffindors concerned, the Ravenclaws confused, and the Slytherins amused.  As Harry was almost out the doors, he caught the eye of one Draco Malfoy, who smirked and mouthed, "Missing anything?" 

           ~*~

Harry gasped at he entered Professor Dumbledore´s office.  "What...what is SHE doing here?" Harry questioned as he stared dumbfounded at Professor Dumbledore, while his aunt gazed at him coldly.

"Harry, she IS your legal guardian at the moment.  And considering that the situation is serious, I feel that it is in everyone´s best interest that Madame Evans be present for this conference," Dumbledore said firmly.  "Harry, do please, take a seat."

Harry, however, seemed torn between remaining on his feet or sitting in the chair.  Finally, he decided to comprise and stood in front of the chair.  "Am I going to be expelled?" Harry asked anxiously.

"What?  No, of course not.  Frankly, I am more concerned about the inquiry at the Ministry than anything else at the moment," Professor Dumbledore replied.

"Inquiry at the Ministry of Magic?" Harry asked weakly.  "I don´t understand.  What for?"

Professor Dumbledore sighed while his aunt merely looked bored.  It seemed as if she wasn´t even paying attention, which given the circumstances was probably true.

"Albus.  As interesting as this conversation is, I have classes to prepare for AND to attend.  Surely this could wait?" Harry´s aunt questioned in a sickening sweet voice as she ignored Harry´s confused expression.  Professor Dumbledore frowned and turned his attention to Harry´s aunt.

"Petunia, this is a serious matter.  Harry may have to testify about his connection to Sirius Black before the Ministry," Professor Dumbledore explained, "and they will not take kindly to the fact that Harry has aided and abetted a fugitive from Azkaban.  They may insist on Veritaserum being used when he is questioned, but considering his age and prominence if may not be necessary."  Harry froze.  Veritaserum? He thought weakly.  Good lord!  All the secrets I know will come spilling out of my mouth if they ask the right questions.  He thought of all the people he would hurt.  Flashes of Sirius´s face, the Weasleys´, and Hermione´s entered into his mind.  Then he gasped and sunk into the chair, overwhelmed.  The Order!  The bloody Order!  If anyone finds out about the secret society, it will be my entire fault!  Harry´s eyes widen in fear.  And how can they protect the world from Voldemort, if the members were unmasked.  They will be targeted and killed and then the wizardry world will be defenseless considering since the Ministry stills denies that Voldemort has returned, Harry thought darkly.  Perhaps that is one of the main reasons behind the fabricated letter besides humiliation, questioning my loyalties, destroying my godfather, and causing me pain.  Harry winced.  The image of Cedric lying spread-eagled on the ground entered his mind.  "Kill the spare.  Kill the spare," echoed in his head, but Harry tried to shake those memories out and turn his attention back to Dumbledore and his aunt.

"Albus, I do not understand, how the mess my nephew has gotten into should relate to or concern me in any way.  Surely, you can take care of the situation without my help," Madame Evans said coldly.

Just as Professor Dumbledore was about to reply, Arabella Figg walked briskly into his office.

"Professor!  We have a situation brewing in the Great Hall.  The Gryffindors and the Hufflepuffs seem to be in an all out war over recent events.  It is chaos, Albus.  Magical chaos!"  Harry turned to look at the new Defense Against the Darks Arts professor, and fell out of his seat.

"Mrs. Figg?" Harry asked shocked.  Last night at the sorting ceremony, he did not pay attention to the new professor because he was too busy worrying over what house his aunt would be sorted into and praying that it wouldn´t be Gryffindor.  But now standing before him was none other than his elderly neighbor, who on occasion would baby-sit Harry and torment him with stale cake and pictures of her many cats.

"Mr. Potter," she said primly.  "Madame Evans." (motioning her head to acknowledge his aunt)

"Did...did you know she was a witch?" Harry asked his aunt.

"Of course not!  Had I known, we would have never left you with her.  She´s a frea-" but Aunt Petunia cut off her train of thought as Professor Dumbledore glanced at her sharply.  The two women were left to stare at each other menacingly.  Under different circumstances Harry would have found this amusing, but right now he thought he was going to be sick.

"Albus, I...!" Both women exclaimed.  Then turned to each other and once again glared. 

"Oh, by all means have his attention.  We cannot have the ruddy children hexing each other.  It will be a shame if they actually did any damage to one another.  One less rugrat to teach.  One less frea-wizard to grow up.  Oh, the humanity!" Madame Evans said mockingly.  However, Professor Figg chose to ignore Petunia´s tauntings and persuaded Professor Dumbledore to return to the Great Hall to deal with the bloodshed between the Hufflepuffs and the Gryffindors.  However as Arabella reached the door to Dumbledore´s office, she turned to Aunt Petunia and quietly muttered, "bloody Muggle."  At which, Aunt Petunia replied with "sodding freak."

                                                                              ~*~

            "Hermione?"

            "Yes, Harry?"

            "Where are you?"

            Silence.  "The library, of course."

            A chuckle.  "Oh, of course."

            "Harry, you really shouldn´t be communicating with me through the badge unless it has to do with prefect duties.  You remember what Professor McGonagall said about abusing power and being a role model for your peers?"

            "Yes...but this has to do with prefect duties!"

            "Oh?"  More silence.  Then a biting of the lip.

            "Isn´t it the duty of the prefects to know where the other is at all times in case of an emergency?"

            "I suppose."  Shuffling of papers.  A raised eyebrow.  "Are you bothering the other Gryffindor prefects then?"

            A chortle and a pause.  "No, but..."

            "It doesn´t matter.  Come here.  I have things to tell you and issues we need to discuss."

            "Alright.  I will be there shortly."

            And Harry was right.  For not two seconds had passed after he closed the connection between Hermione and himself, when he stepped into the library and made his way to her favorite table.

            "How did the meeting go with Professor Dumbledore?" asked his bushy haired friend.

            "Alright.  It was a bit interrupted with the whole brawl between the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors, but after that we had straightened out what had happened."

            "Which was?"

            "Someone stole my birthday letter from Sirius and charmed it to display that hateful content, which we all had the pleasure of reading over our eggs this morning. (Harry began to run his hands through his hair, making it appear to be even messier than it actually was.)  And then with a simple duplicating charm and the help of some school owls, the end result is the ultimate revenge against Harry Potter," he said bitterly.

            "They stole your letter!"

            "But that´s not the worse of yet," Harry said grimly.  "Someone took my Invisibility cloak, too."

            A gasp.  "Oh no, Harry!" Hermione replied horrified.  "Do you have any idea of who took it?"  Suddenly, an image of Draco Malfoy´s smirking face entered his brain mouthing the words, "Missing anything?"  Harry gasped.

            "It was Malfoy!  That bastard!"

            A frown. "Are you sure?" asked Hermione.

            "Positive.  I´m positive," responded Harry.  "I have no idea how I am going to prove it either, but I will definitely get my cloak back...somehow.  Right now I am more worried about the inquiry at the Ministry, to tell you the truth."

            "Oh, no.  Not about Sirius and his whereabouts?" questioned Hermione aghast.  Harry nodded.

            "They may have to use..." Harry began to say.

            "...veritaserum," Hermione finished in a whisper with her hand over her mouth in shock.  In was common knowledge that ever since the last war against Voldemort, the Ministry began cracking down on anyone or anything that had connections to or knew knowledge about the dark arts.  Since several people had claimed to be "bewitched" by Voldemort in the last war, the Ministry´s new policy was that every interrogation dealing with the dark arts had to be accompanied by the administering of Veritaserum to make sure that they were not being fed false information to led them astray.  Considering since information about Sirius Black would definitely fall under the dark arts category, Harry was sure to be question under Veritaserum unless someone like Professor Dumbledore intervened.  It was being to look like a bloody mess.  Desperate to change the conversation now that it had taken a turn for the worse, Harry realized that an important member of the trio was missing.

            "Where´s Ron?"

            "The hospital wing," Hermione mumbled.

            "What!  Why didn´t you mention this beforehand? Is he all right?  What happened?" Harry questioned frantically worried about his other best friend.

            "During the whole Gryff-Puff War, Ron got hurt, but he is really alright.  I visited him about twenty minutes ago and Madame Pomfrey said that it was only a minor concussion, but he should be "fit-as-a-fiddle" in a day or two."

            "Bloody hell!  What did the Hufflepuffs do to him?"

            "Ernie said something nasty and then Ron´s temper got the best of him...and there was a fight and then the other Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs got involved..." Hermione trailed off.

            "Wow, `Mione.  That was extremely vague.  Thanks.  What did Macmillan say?" (Hermione looked away with a pained expression)  "Was it something about me?" Harry asked suspiciously.

            "I really rather not say," Hermione replied as she glanced down at the table.  Her eyes suddenly lit upon the open book that she had been reading and studying before Harry had come in and sat down.  She sighed and thought, Here´s to trading one evil for the next.  "Remember how we were saying that it was highly odd how your aunt had suddenly gained magical abilities?"

            "Yes..."

            "Well, I was doing some research (A groan from Harry followed by "Why doesn´t that not surprise me?" which was of course returned with a frown from Hermione) and I have discovered that it is impossible for her to just suddenly gain magical abilities.  You cannot just wake up and gain magic.  That´s absurd and ridiculous.  If it was that easy, we would have had numerous problems with the Muggles already."

            "But Professor Dumbledore said it had to be triggered by extreme anger...or a tennis player...or maybe it was an extremely angry tennis player?" Harry mused while scratching his head.  "I wasn´t completely sure where Professor Dumbledore was going with that metaphor, but as we all know he is one beater short of a Quidditch team...a genius, but completely off his rocker..."

            Hermione rolled her eyes.  "Honestly!  As I was saying, you cannot gain magic from random acts of the universe or through shear emotional stress alone.  I mean what Muggle hasn´t had a bad day and gotten worked up over something?  And we don´t see Hogwarts overrun by Muggles do we?"

            "No..." Harry conceded.

            "So that means that there has to be something more.  That emotional stress is not the cause, it´s the trigger!" Hermione said excitedly.

            "And..."  Harry was beginning to get a headache.  He just wished that she would get to the point and fast.

            "I did some checking (motioning to the books) and I found out that I am right.  Emotional stress is the trigger after certain potions and charms are already in place.  I can´t seem to find the exact process probably because it is in the Restricted Section, but..."

            "What are you saying, Hermione?" Harry interrupted.

            "I am saying, Harry, that your aunt is not a witch."

            "WHAT?!"  Which earned a reprimand from Madame Pince and warning to remain quiet since it was the library.

            "Your aunt is not a witch," Hermione repeated, "Someone has strengthen her weak magical reserves by charms and potions and then triggered her reinforced magical ability to manifest, causing her to have the behaviors of a witch.  But the effects are only temporary.  Eventually her magic will wane and she will return to her normal state as a Muggle with some magic in her blood, but not enough to actually perform magic with a wand or even be given the label as a witch."  Harry stared at her in shock.

            "But she has some magic in her then?" Harry questioned.

            "True.  She has some magic in her.  Just like my parents have some magic in them.  How do you think I got mine?  But my mother isn´t a witch and my father definitely isn´t a wizard...they are dentists!  Having a drop of magical blood in you is common...most Muggles do.  That´s how Muggle born witches and wizards are created...the magical combination of two Muggles with a decent amount of minor magic in their blood."

            "How long will she remain a witch?" Harry asked.

            "It´s hard to say," Hermione replied while shrugging her shoulders.  "I don´t know the potency of the potion she was given or the strength of the charms that were cast.  She could be being feed the potion daily underneath our noses, I don´t know."

            "But if that is true, then why would someone do that?  Why would they care if she is a witch or not?" 

            "I don´t know, Harry...unless if she wasn´t a witch she couldn´t have come to..."

            "HOGWARTS!" Harry and Hermione replied in unison as their eyes widen. 

            Bloody hell.  Why would someone want Aunt Petunia at Hogwarts?  What purpose could a magically induced Muggle serve?