The Trap is SetThe common room of Hogwarts"s most hated house was quieter then usual. Ever since his public humiliation at the hands of his arch nemisis in the duel during Defence, Slythein"s leader had been sulking in his bunk. Many students took the opportunity given by Draco"s absence to relax, it was wonderful to have a chance to let one"s guard down a bit. Without Draco there was was a significantly smaller chance of having one"s family informed if one were to lapse, granted nearly all of them agreed that the world would be much better if it was a pureblood world . . . or at the very least a world where purebloods were able to keep their privileges but it was so tedious having to say it all the time. Couldn"t some things just be left as given? Why did the little weasel have to send off an owl the minute one allowed their focus to fall on homework rather than the constant discussion on pureblood supremacy?
Draco would never realise how lucky he had been to get through his first year without suffering an . . . accident. In the end, the older students had decided to hold off citing the facts that Draco"s father was an important ministry official and that their Head of House seemed to hold an unhealthy intrest in the boy. Now, with the death of the boy"s father . . . well, let"s just say that things were beginning to change.
IIIIIIIIII
"d.a.m.n that Halfblood," Draco muttered to himself. "I just have to wait, the dark lord will show them, he"ll . . ." Draco paused and a thought began to form. "Why do I have to wait?" Draco mused, "why not set up a trap for that dirty Gryff scarhead?" Draco pulled out a piece of parchment and began to write what he knew about his enemy"s weaknesses. "The Dark Lord ambushed Potter by using my blood traitor cousin, maybe I can do the same thing?"
Draco"s eyes widened in shock as he realized that all he had to do was to make a few small modifications to the original plan and to . . . freshen the bait.
Feeling new energy, Draco lept from his bed and ran down to the common room.
A sort of resigned silence fell over the common room when Draco announced his presence. Back to the old routine . . . for now anyway.
"To me everyone," Draco called out. "I have a plan that will eliminate Potter and leave the way clear for our Lord."
"What is it?" One of the seventh years asked neutrally.
"None of your business," Draco snapped. "The only way this plan could fail is if we have a leak and I am not going to allow Potter to escape death again by letting you know all the details."
"So what are you going to tell us?" The student asked mildly, Draco"s explanation made a surprisingly large amount of sense . . . if one were to ignore the source.
"You"ll all only know enough to fulfill your part," Draco replied with a sneer. "Does anyone else have any questions?"
"I have one," another seventh year spoke up. "Who takes the blame if this fails?"
"You idiots," Draco said arrogantly. "My plan is perfect, the only way it could fail is if one of you were to muck it up. Any INTELLIGENT questions?" Silence greeted the boy"s last question, "good. I want you to buy an owl . . . something black, or perhaps do it up in Slytherin colors."
"I"ll get right on that," the student agreed slowly.
"I"ll also need an isolated room set aside," Draco continued. "And warded so that a duel could be fought without causing any notice."
"I suppose I"ll do that part," one of the questioning seventh years offered. It wasn"t a difficult task, it also wasn"t illegal. If . . . no when, the boy amended. Draco"s plan failed, well . . . depending on how bad it failed it might be nice to be able to turn state"s evidence to get out of any accessory charges. Father always said that courts preferred to use those without too much blood on their hands. Of course, money could usually be relied upon to wash away some of the blood.
"Good," Draco said with a smirk. He knew that they"d all follow his lead, after all hadn"t his father been one of the dark lord"s greatest lieutenants until he went up against . . . well, death? "I"ll also need someone to send a letter from the owl at a prearranged time."
"I"ll do that," another weary student volunteered.
"And I want everyone else to standby," Draco finished. "Find a room near the dueling room to hide in until I go into the dueling room."
"Why do you need that?" One of the students asked, the girl barely managing to hide her smirk.
"I want witnesses," Draco replied. "And I might need you to keep me from being disturbed."
"Fine," the girl agreed.
"Now be about the roles I a.s.signed," Draco commanded.
"So," one of the students whispered to another. "Do you think that idiot"s going to try to duel Potter again?"
"Probably," the other student agreed. "Dumb git"s been whining about how Potter didn"t fight fair and how Potter attacked before he was ready. My guess is that moron"ll lure Potter down, we"ll watch Potter stomp him into the ground, then Draco will scream for help from the "witnesses" and complain if we pretend not to hear it."
"Sounds about right, dumb little b.a.s.t.a.r.d. With his father gone, all he"s got to protect him is Snape."
"We can get around that," the student agreed. "I don"t fancy getting into a fight with Potter, he"s changed."
"Fights dirty."
"And you should look in his eyes sometime," the student continued. "I"ve seen that look on some of my father"s friends . . . you know the ones."
"Yeah . . . guess we won"t be hearing Draco, room had too many wards."
"Sounds right, I"ll tell the others."
IIIIIIIIII
"Is there some reason you called this meeting Amelia?" One of the other department heads asked. Since Fudge"s resignation and subsequent . . . suicide, the department heads had been running the government.
"I have a dead man in one of my cells," Madame bones replied. "And he"s agreed to tell me everything he knows about Voldemort on the condition that he is not sentenced to death."
"So why does this concern us?" The man asked slowly, "seems like the business of your department."
"Before I answer that, let me ask you a question." Amelia replied with a smile, "have any of you noticed that Ministry casualties have been . . . high in the last few weeks?"
"I lost five of my people," the man agreed. "All thanks to that idiot Fudge"s policy of ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away."
"Seven from my department," another agreed. "Four of them in an accident involving fifteen pounds of pudding."
"Pudding?"
"Several of them were death eaters," Amelia replied quickly to get the meeting back on track. "According to the information given by my sources. At least some of them were working for Mr. Black, and I have no idea of what the actual casualty lists might be."
"Are our departments still compromised?" Arthur spoke up for the first time in the meeting.
"I don"t know," Amelia admitted with a frown. "But I think it would be a good idea to investigate the matter."
"Do you really think Mr. Black would allow them to live?" Arthur pondered, "he hasn"t left many survivors in the past."
"I don"t know," Amelia interrupted. "But I"ve already ordered Moody to look into it."
"Mr. Black helps those who help themselves . . ."
"Then what"s the problem?" Arthur asked, "you seem to have things well in hand."
"The problem is the trials from the last war," Amelia explained. "We have at least one innocent man going to prison for crimes he didn"t commit, we have another that we now know escaped from prison with the help of a ministry official, and it"s common knowledge that several death eaters bought themselves out of a kiss."
"So what are you saying?" One of he people prompted.
"I"m saying that it"s long past time we take a look at the way we conduct trials in our world," Amelia replied. "It"s long past time to update our laws and procedures so that these mockeries of justice can"t happen again."
"I agree," Arthur said quickly. "I"d also like to see the last trial"s wars looked over."
"I want every trial looked over," Amelia replied. "We"ll start with the ones that still have people in prison and work from there."
"So what do you need from us?" One of the department heads asked with a frown.
"Your agreement," Bones replied. "Let"s be honest, Mr. Black gutted our chain of command. Several of us are only acting department heads because there isn"t a Minister to confirm our appointments and the rest of us were removed from the chain because that idiot Fudge was too afraid that one of us wanted his job. Mr. Black killed or disappeared everyone in the normal chain and Ministry laws are so confused that it"ll take us months to figure out who"s supposed to be in charge. Whether we like it or not, this group is in effective control of the Ministry until we get a new Minister."
"So what are you saying Amelia?" Arthur asked, his mouth suddenly dry.
"I"m saying that I need your agreement before I do anything," Amelia said. "I refuse to act without a vote of majority . . . to do otherwise would lead to some very unfortunate things."
"I agree," Arthur said. "I don"t think any one of us wants to be the new Fudge."
"Show of hands," Amelia spoke up. "All in favor of my plan . . . I guess the motion pa.s.ses. Next order of business, we"ve got to get a new Minister . . . anyone have any ideas on how to find out who"s supposed to be in charge? I"ve been looking through the mess that Fudge left us and I can"t make heads or tails of it."
"We could try asking my son," Arthur suggested. "He worked as Fudge"s a.s.sistant."
"And he"s also Mr. Black"s agent," Amelia said with a grin.
IIIIIIIIII
"Ok everyone," Harry called out. "I think it"s time to get started."
Harry"s students turned to him with looks of antic.i.p.ation, "what are we doing today Harry."
"Dueling practice," Harry replied. "Remember the rules."
"It"s only cheating if the other guy does it," the students repeated with a grin.
"That"s right," Harry agreed. "The only unfair advantage is the one you don"t have. This is not a game, this is war. The other rule to remember is to do unto others before they have a chance to do unto you."
The students signaled their agreement and broke off into groups. Harry watched as the students practiced the skills he"d been teaching and a smirk formed on his face, this wasn"t a group that he"d willingly take into battle but it was a group that would surprise any attacking death eaters . . . hopefully long enough for help to arrive.
"Harry," Hannah called out. "Could I talk with you for a minute?"
"Sure," Harry agreed. "Come on over."
Hannah licked her lips nervously and walked over to Harry, "I don"t know how to say this."
"Just say it," Harry suggested. "And we"ll go from there."
"I"m sorry," Hannah spoke slowly. "I know I"m letting you down but . . . but I just don"t think I could kill anyone. I"m so sorry Harry, I . . . I"m . . . I"ll leave the group if you want."
"Why would you do that?" Harry asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"Because I can"t fight," Hannah wailed. "I"m useless to you and I let everyone down."
"That isn"t a problem Hannah," Harry a.s.sured his friend. "Do you know why I take the time to run this group?"
"So you"ll have more people on your side when you confront Vold . . . Voldemort . . . Voldemort," Hannah replied nervously.
"No," said Harry. "It"s so you"ll all have a better chance to defend yourselves if the worst happens. I have no intention of leading any of you into battle and to be honest I wouldn"t have a clue of how to lead you."
"Then what about your demonstration?" Hannah had calmed.
"It was the quickest way I could think of to show everyone how serious the subject matter is," Harry explained. "I don"t want anyone playing around with the things I"m teaching you all, it"s dangerous magic and it shouldn"t be played with."
"Thank you Harry," Hannah said in relief. "But what should I do? I don"t want to hurt anyone and I don"t want to leave the group."
"Be creative," Harry suggested. "Lav won a duel with a breast expanding charm, you don"t have to hurt people to win a duel."
"I could do that," Hannah agreed. "What do you want me to do when you"re teaching everyone the advanced spells?"
"It wouldn"t hurt to learn them," Harry said with a shrug. "But if you don"t want to then I"d suggest you find something else to study, I"m afraid I might not be of too much help if want to learn something like potions or healing but I"ll do my best."
"Healing?" Hannah asked with a smile.
"It could be useful to have someone around that can do a little healing," Harry agreed. "Come to think of it, it"d probably be for the best if all of us learned a bit of healing magic."
"And it"d be really good to know how to heal before I have children," Hannah said enthusiastically.
"You and Ron more serious then I"d thought huh?" Harry asked with a grin.
"I . . . um," Hannah croaked. "It"s not what you think."
"Oh?"
"I"ve always wanted to have a big family," Hannah explained. "It"s one of the things that attracted me to Ron, you know how big Weasley families tend to be."
"I know," Harry agreed. "And I think you two are good for each other."
"We"re not that serious but it"s something to think about isn"t it?" Hannah asked nervously, "you don"t think I"m strange for thinking about these things do you?"
"I think you"re still young," Harry spoke slowly. "And I also think you"re at an age when it"s normal to think about what your future might hold."
"Thanks Harry," Hannah said quickly. Blushing, the girl reached up and kissed Harry on the cheek. "You"re a good friend."
"Happy I could help," Harry replied. Harry checked his watch and realised that the time he"d allocated for the normal cla.s.s was drawing to a close. The boy took a deep breath and raised his voice to be heard over the crowd. "Alright everyone, looks like our time is coming to a close. Does anyone have any questions?"
"Is it ok if we come up here to practice later?" One of the first years asked, "I"m having so much fun dueling that I don"t want to stop."
"I don"t see why not," Harry replied. "Just be sure to bring a couple friends, one to practice with and the other to be around in case of accidents. Another thing you could do is ask your Head of House for some advice, I know at least a couple of them are accomplished duelists. If there"s nothing else . . . ok, keep your practice wands and try to do a little self study before the next cla.s.s. I"d like everyone to research a healing spell before our next meeting. Goodbye and good luck."
The advanced group watched silently as the other students left the room and Ron spoke up after the room had emptied. "So what are we gonna learn today Harry?"
"I need some dummies in the corner," Harry said with a smile. "Watch closely." Harry flicked his wand and muttered an incantation under his breath causing a ball of black lightning to shoot out of the tip of his wand towards the targets.
"What the h.e.l.l was that?" Ron said in shock.
"Russian battle magic," Hermione whispered.
"That"s correct Hermione," Harry said proudly. "Russian battle magic was designed to be used by half trained conscripts. It"s the easiest way I"ve found to do a lot of damage to a lot of people. It saw a lot of use in the winter war by troops on both sides and a bit less use in later wars due to the purges."
"Harry," Hermione said slowly. "Where did you learn . . ."
"Is that the only spell?" Ron demanded loudly, "what about defensive spells?"
"Defence isn"t so good," Harry replied. "The wand movement for this spell is a short flick towards the target and the incantation is . . ."
IIIIIIIIII
In the staff room, the Professors were having their first meeting of the new year.
"It"s been a few weeks since the start of the term," Dumbledore said with a smile. "How are the new students doing?"
"We have a good group this year," McGonagall spoke up.
"Good," Dumbledore enthused. "What about the other students?"
"I haven"t had any problems," Minerva said with a smile. "Severus?"
"It"s been a . . . quiet year," Snape admitted with a frown.
"How have your cla.s.ses been Professor Hamilton?" Dumbledore turned to his newest teacher.
"Outstanding," Hamilton replied quickly. "The Potter boy"s outstanding, it was like the material was written for him."
"Harry"s always been good at defence," McGonagall added smugly. "What about Ms. Granger?"
"She spends most of her time glancing at young Potter," Hamilton replied.
"Hormones," Snape snorted.
"I don"t think so," Hamilton said before McGonagall had a chance to retort. "She seems like she"s worried about something."
"Mr. Potter . . . Harry," McGonagall amended. "Has been acting a bit odd since he returned from summer holiday." The room settled on an uncomfortable silence until McGonagall broke it with her next question. "Who else do you have your eye on?"
"Lavender Brown," Hamilton said with a grin. "So far, she"s the only one that has a chance at beating Potter to the top of the cla.s.s."
"Lavender Brown?" Minerva asked in shock.
"She won a duel with a cosmetic charm," Hamilton explained. "And when I a.s.signed papers on creative defence her friends had the best ideas, one of them mentioned using a cleaning charm to blind opponents and another speculated on the possible uses of cooking charms."
"What does that have to do with Ms. Brown?" Dumbledore asked with a expectant grin.
"I asked the girls where they got the ideas," Hamilton replied with a grin. "They all told me that they couldn"t have done it without help from their good friend Lavender."
"Really?" McGonagall asked in surprise, "perhaps I misjudged the girl."
"She just needed the right motivation," Hamilton explained. "She knows a lot of cosmetic charms and you should have seen the way her face lit up when she heard about how Mr. Black used a tanning charm to kill a group of Vampires."
"She realised that all the time she"d wasted on learning to be pretty could be used for something useful," Snape translated. "It"s good to see one of your students using their brain Minerva."
"Why thank you Severus," McGonagall said smugly.
"If only she"d used that newly revealed brain in Potions," Snape finished with a sigh. "She could have been great if the hat had put her in the right house."
"Moving right along," Dumbledore interrupted quickly to forestall the argument he knew was building.
IIIIIIIIII
Hermione woke early that morning and rushed down to the common room to catch Harry before he went to breakfast. Her friend had ducked out of the defense meeting before she"d had a chance to corner him to ask him about where he"d learned about Russian spells.
"Hey Hermione," Ron called out as he walked down the stairs. "What"re you doing up so early?"
"What are you doing up so early?" Hermione countered.
"Going to meet Hannah," Ron replied with a grin. "What are you doing down here?"
"Waiting for Harry," Hermione admitted.
"Oh, well he"s not coming," Ron said.
"What do you mean?" Hermione asked flatly.
"He already went down to get breakfast," Ron explained. "He"s been waking up earlier than everyone else this year, I think he"s been researching new spells in the library."
"d.a.m.n," Hermione growled.
"Hermione?" Ron"s eyes widened in shock.
"What?" Hermione snapped and immediately regretted it, "I"m sorry about that Ron."
"That"s ok," Ron said in concern. "Why don"t you tell me what"s got you worked up this morning?"
"I wanted to ask Harry where he learned those Russian spells he taught us," Hermione admitted.
"Wanted to know if he learned it from the same book you did?" Ron asked.
"No," Hermione said. "I didn"t learn it from a book."
"You didn"t learn it from a book?" Ron asked incredulously, "Then where did you learn about it?"
"Mr. Black rescued me and Tonks from a group of death eaters this summer," Hermione said slowly. "Mr. Black had the Professor rescue us."
"What happened next?" Ron demanded, "where you hurt? Why didn"t you tell me?"
"I didn"t get hurt and I didn"t want to worry you," Hermione explained.
"So what happened next then?" Ron asked, his heartbeat slowly returning to normal.
"We watched from a distance as Mr. Black killed the death eaters," Hermione replied. "He used some sort of explosive device first and then he hit them with a bunch of Russian spells."
"Oh," Ron said in understanding. "He might have learned them at Percy"s wedding."
"Maybe," Hermione agreed. "But I want to hear what he has to say."
"Just don"t push him too hard," Ron ordered.
"I won"t," Hermione promised.
"Great," Ron said happily. "Let"s go meet up with Hannah and go get some breakfast."
"Is that all you ever think about?" Hermione teased, "you"re going to get fat if you keep eating like that."
"You"re just jealous of my girlish figure," Ron retorted as they walked out through the Fat Lady"s portrait towards the Hufflepuff common room.
"What"ll Hannah think when she hears that?" Hermione asked in mock horror, "it must be hard on a girl to have to compete with her boyfriend like that."
"She"s a strong girl," Ron said with a shrug. "She"ll get over it."
"I . . ." Hermione cut off at the approach of one of the new first years.
"Excuse me," a young first-year interrupted. "Could you help me?"
"What do you need?" Hermione asked with a friendly smile.
"I lost my toad," the first-year said slowly. "And I was wondering if you"d help me find it?"
"Of course I will," Hermione agreed.
"Thank you," the first-year said happily. "I didn"t want to go to the Slytherin Prefects because I was afraid that they"d make fun of me again."
"Well I won"t make fun of you," Hermione a.s.sured the young student. Her eyes flicking to look at the green and silver crest on the boy"s robes.
"I"ve gotta go meet Hannah," Ron spoke up. "I"ll talk to you later Hermione."
"Later Ron," Hermione agreed.
"This way," the first-year said quietly. "He"s down in the dungeons."
"That"s to be expected," Hermione a.s.sured the small child. "Toads like dark damp places and it"s not far from your common room."
Hermione followed the first year down several flights of stairs and through a maze of corridors.
"I last saw him in this room," the first year explained as he pushed through a darkened doorway.
"Then we had better start looking here," Hermione agreed. Hermione"s grin disappeared when she noticed that the room was not empty.
"h.e.l.lo mud blood," Draco sneered. "Fancy meeting you here."
"You said you"d give him back," the first year"s voice quivered as he spoke.
"Here," Draco tossed a toad across the room. "Now go wait with the others . . . it won"t be good for you if you try to go somewhere else."
"I"m sorry," the first year whispered as he brushed past Hermione.
"That"s ok," Hermione whispered back.
"It"s time to prove once and for all that your kind doesn"t have a place in my world," Draco sneered. "I challenge you to a duel."
"You want to duel me?" Hermione asked in amus.e.m.e.nt.
"I want to prove that a pureblood can beat a mudblood any day," Draco corrected. "You"re the best mudblood in the school so you"re the best one to use in my demonstration."
"What makes you think that I"ll partic.i.p.ate in this farce?" Hermione asked with a grin,.
"Because Potter thinks the dark lord has you," Draco said gleefully. "If you don"t get back to the great hall soon then it"ll be too late to stop him."
"What?" Hermione"s voice turned serious.
"I have no intention of letting you get out of this room," Draco continued. "Sure you don"t want to duel?"
"Fine," Hermione spat. "Let"s do it."
Draco took a second to adjust his grip and began waving his wand in a complex pattern. A grin adorned his lips in antic.i.p.ation as he thought about what was about to happen to the dirty little mudblood.
Hermione"s frown deepened, she recognized the spell Draco was about to cast. She raised her wand and prepared to cast a quick charm to interrupt Draco"s preparations and hopefully end the duel before it had a chance to begin.
AN: So here it is, the set up for the last chapter
Omake by D.J. Th.o.r.ens
"Harry..." Hermione stopped when she looked across the table. He obviously wasn"t paying attention. Instead, his lips were forming a silent chant while he had his eyes apparently locked on a charms text in front of him. From Hermione"s position it was obvious he was watching the head table from the corner of his eye."Harry, if..." This time his raised hand interrupted her. But he still continued his chant and only sopped when a commotion(?) started at the head table. Hermione, along with the rest of the school, was treated to the spectacular sight of professor Flitwick growing and growing hairy as well. Then, one after the other the same started to happen to the other teachers sitting there and enjoying their breakfast. "Forty-three seconds," Harry said, which he then immediately wrote down before he turned to the girl across the table. "You were saying, Hermione?" "What, what did you do?" The shock was evident in her voice while her eyes stayed locked at the teachers. Those had finished their transformation and now appeared in various state of undress, depending on how well their robes had been able to withstand their sudden ma.s.sive increases in size and bulk and how quick they were on remembering they actually had a tool at hand to solve this particular predicament. Sadly, Albus Dumbledore seemed not yet have caught on. "I"ll tell you later." In all the commotion the fact that the Slytherin students were turning into seven-year-olds was completely lost. Later in the Gryffindor common room. "Don"t freak, Hermione. It"s just polyjuice. And Hagrid"s hairs were the easiest to get. As for the Slytherins, there are some kids in Hogsmeade who don"t mind sacrificing hair for a good cause." "But how..." "A dose delivered with their drinks." "But they would have noticed the taste!" "Now that"s the beauty of it, they wouldn"t. I talked to Henchgirl amongst other things about potions and how simple muggle processes like distillation and charcoal filtering can dramatically improve the qualities of a potion." "So you tried it out?" "Nah. Remember our effort trying to brew a batch back in the second year? I wouldn"t trust myself not to foul it up in a hurry. And the specifics of the process are still traded secret of Black Ink. I simply asked Henchgirl if I could have a sample." "Oh." "Yeah, this fortified version is almost tasteless if you give a spot of vodka to it and it should last a bit longer too. About twenty-four to forty-eight hours. And with vodka and lime, it even runs on a timed trigger. Easier to catch all of them at once. "We have a pranking tradition to uphold and lately we seem to have lapsed a bit."-Omake- Manatheron
Hermione chewed on her fingernails nervously, it wasn"t something she was accustomed to doing, but somehow it just seemed right.
"Ron? Are you sure that maybe we shouldn"t talk to him? I mean he DOES seem happy, but isn"t this a little extravagant?"
Ron shrugged and helped himself to another BBQ.
"Nah, Harry will open up to us in his own good time."
Hermione chewed on her fingernails again before speaking up.
"But he was OPENLY flirting with a bunch of Veela yesterday! And they all kept giggling! Like they knew something we don"t!"
Ron didn"t respond however, his mind playing out some of his favorite Veela fantasy"s while a pickle hung from the corner of his mouth. Seeing this Hermione huffed and then turned back to the stage where Former minister fudge was Holding a golden staff out to our favorite hero.
"with the blessings of Mr .Black, I now Dub you King harry the first! Long live the king!"
Hermione huffed a little bit as the rest of the crowd shouted back "LONG LIVE THE KING!"
Omake by Rijl Kent
Harry, Ron, and Hermione were still eating at the reception, when they were all surprised by the appearance of Mr. Black entering the room.
"Is that who I think it is?" Ron asked.
"It... can"t be." Harry replied looking for the obscured face under the hood.
The three of them watched Mr. Black offer his congratulations to Percy and Penny, and talk for a short time with other guests before he made his way to the three of them. "Enjoying your visit, Harry? Ron? Hermione?" he asked them kindly.
Ron and Hermione just stared open mouthed at Mr. Black. Their stares turned towards Harry when he asked, "Who are you really?"
"Ah, ever the cautious one. I approve. Come talk with me a moment."
Harry followed the figure around a few corners to one of the secure spots nearby. Whoever it was knew the layout well to know the little alcove was secured with privacy spells. When Mr. Black lowered his hood, Harry was astonished to see his own face looking back at him
"Wh?" he said.
The other Harry just smiled and looked at his watch. "Here," he said, handing him the cloak, then removing a little hourgla.s.s on a chain from his neck. "I"m cutting the timing a little close. You need to go soon."
Harry started to understand how Mr. Black managed to show up, and he put the cloak on and activated the advanced obscuring charm. "But... how did you get the cloak and time-turner?"
Harry just looked at the new Mr. Black, and said, "Duh--I gave them to me!" He put the time-turner around his neck.
Harry started to say, "But then where did he, I mean, me get--" He was cut off as Harry turned the hourgla.s.s around once, and he went spinning away.
Harry walked back out the party smiling, saying to himself, "I waited an hour to see that look on my face... It was worth it."
Peace-
-Rijl Kent
"Harry Potter and the Pharaoh"s Charm"
Omake Part 3: The End of the Room of Requirements by MisterQ
A fully equipped and armed Harry stood up and blinked as a thought came into his head and wouldn"t go away.
"You know, Ron. I don"t even have to leave. I can just request the room to bring me a Death Eater. Then, as soon as they appear, I can capture them with these red capture orb ball thingies..." The Boy-Who-Lived had forgotten the proper name of the artifacts he requested that could capture deatheaters without harming them.
Ron stepped over a gibbering Hermione, her brain still imitating Window 98"s "Blue screen of death". "It would take you forever to get ALL the Death Eaters... and I think this room has been pulling objects from alternate realities, too. There are probably an infinite amount of Death Eaters in all the multiverse."
"You"re right, Ron! But what can I do? I really do not want to kill all the Death Eaters everywhere if I don"t have to. " Harry sat back down in his comfy chair and absent-mindedly started spinning the Dark-Lord-Voldemort"s-Head-In-Snot-Filled-Bowling-Ball on the ground as fast as he could with one hand.
Harry looked at the green orb and said, "I request the bowling ball with Tom Riddle"s head be placed on Headmaster Dumbledore"s office desk. Add a note with the words "Courtesy of Mr. Black and Harry Potter" on it."
The orb with the very very dizzy head of a Dark Lord vanished.
"Well, you"re the master strategist. What do you suggest?" Harry shrugged.
Ron requested a similar chair to Harry"s and sat down in it to think. "What if you request the room to make them not be Death Eaters?" he said lamely. "No.. that"s stupid."
"Yes, Ron. That is stupid." Harry said. "So stupid it may just work!"
Hermione opened her mouth to try and retort to that sentence out of habit, but all that came out was a long string of drool and a "Guh!" sound.
Harry, on the other hand, raised his head and said, "I request that the parts of the brain that make every Death Eater everywhere a horrible nasty person, be sent to the Zombie World."
Nothing noticeable happened in the room.
"Is there really a Zombie World?" Ron asked after a moment.
Harry just shrugged.
Zombie World:
"Zombie Dumbledore tell Zombie Harry Potter that Dark Zombie Lord is bad. Dark Zombie Lord keep all brains. He does not share none!"
"Zombie Harry Potter thinks that bad also. Zombie Harry Potter wishes brains fall from the sky!"
"Zombie Dumbledore thinks that stupid wish!"
Pieces of Death Eater brains suddenly started to rain from the sky.
The two decrepit magical zombies looked at each other, blinked, and said what came naturally.
"Brains!"
"Brains!"
"Brains!"
"Lemon Drops.. er.. I mean.. Brains!"
Hogwarts:
The Room of Requirements was created a thousand years ago by all four of Hogwarts" founders in order to do one thing and one thing only: create food for the house elves to use to feed the growing student body. Hey, it was a thousand years ago and without current agricultural techniques, food was sca.r.s.e. The founders figured that with time, the number of students would increase - so they made it that the room would absorb all the ambient energy in Hogwarts. Every time someone magically cast a spell into a wall, emptied a potions cauldron by tapping it, or just used magic - the Room of Requirements would absorb some part of it like a giant magical battery. But unlike regular batteries, with a limit on how much energy they could hold; the Room of Requirements - when full - would use some of the gathered magic to increase its limits. The end result being the single largest hidden concentration of pure magic anywhere on Earth.
So when Harry realized that he had just taken care of all of his problems and obligations to the Wizarding world, he did the only thing he could think of. "I request that Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were back in their rooms without the knowledge of what has transpired in this room since I"ve been here."
Harry"s friends disappeared.
"In fact, I request that n.o.body except myself remember that the Room of Requirements exists or has ever existed." Harry looked at all the artifacts scattered around and realized that there was no need for them any more. "I request that all the artifacts here be placed back where they belong, unless they are evil - in which case I wish them to be no more."
All the various items in the room vanished.
Harry Potter stood in the center of an empty white room that only he knew of. Another thought entered his head and wouldn"t go away.
"I... I request that the Room of Requirements be bonded to me. That the room and all of its abilities and powers were within me and would respond at my call."
Harry stood in the school corridor, right outside where the room should be.
He smiled.
"I request a large tropical drink."
As Harry walked to his next cla.s.s, sipping his drink, he thought about requesting that everyone forget about Harry Potter. He could just be Mr. Black from that point. No longer paraded around as the Boy-Who-Lived or savior of the magical world, but just go on a much, much, MUCH longer vacation as Mr. Black. His island fortress and company ran fine without him. And with his capable support staff, he could travel around the world helping people full time.
But the more he pondered, the more he realized that there was only one chance to have a childhood. One chance to spend it with his friends, playing Quidditch without a care in the world.
So it was a happy Harry Potter that sat down in his chair in the dungeon to learn about potions.
Severus Snape came out as usual and stood behind his desk.
"Gah!" He drooled brainlessly, adding, "Duh!"
It was the best potions cla.s.s ever.
Omake by Celebwen Telcontar
Comte Peirre de Chagney, the latest in a long line of de Chagney Comtes and Comtesses, paled as he saw the man. A very well done concealment charm was on the man"s face, he was dressed in black, and had a large black hat. Peirre had no doubt that the man, obviously the infamous Mr. Black, had a la.s.so in his coat somewhere. It only fit the description. After all, hadn"t Mr. Black, using the name Erik Destler, terrorised Vicomtess Christine de Chagney nee Daae in the mid nineteenth century?
Peirre decided quickly to move to China and never see another live production of any kind. He knew only too well how good the Phantom of the Opera was at killing people! One toss of that Punjab la.s.so, and a person would be hanging by the end of it with a broken neck!
"Philippe," he called to the driver of his old fashioned automobiele.
"Oui, Monseur le Comte?"
"Take me directly home to de Chagney manor, and order a ticket to Shanghai!" Peirre fell back against the seat, hoping against hope that he would live until he got to Shanghai. He was after all related to the Raoul de Chagney, the Vicomte who married the ill.u.s.trious Christine Daae!