Platform 9 and 3/4 was teeming with security. The Aurors and hit wizards swarmed all over the place and watched everyone with beady eyes as if expecting the escaped Death Eaters to jump out of some kid's trunk.
'They really don't think of them as human. As if they could be up to attacking this early after getting out of Azkaban'
While Narcissa hugged Draco, Lucius clasped Harry's hand within his.
"I hope this year goes well, Harry. I will probably visit at some point, but it's all up in the air at the moment"
"I'm looking forward"
"Just-keep your head down. Be careful. You and Draco both. Don't draw unwanted attention"
"We won't. The-He already spoke to us about that"
Lucius studied Harry for a moment.
"You stand high in His eyes. I'm proud of you. Any parent would be"
Something seemed to block Harry's throat. He nodded, unwilling to speak.
Lucius clapped him on the back before walking over to where Narcissa was finishing talking to Draco. She swapped places with him, coming over to hug Harry.
"Be careful" she whispered. "I don't know what I would do if either of you-if either of you was taken from me"
"Don't worry. That's not going to happen. I promise you"
She stood up, wiping at her eyes.
"Make sure you keep that promise"
"I will"
"Come, Harry! We need to get on already"
Narcissa smiled weakly as Harry turned, pulling his trunk behind him, and joined her son.
She stood next to her husband as the train bellowed steam and its pistons fired up. They stood, watching as it pulled off into the distance.
"They'll be fine" he whispered to her.
"I know. It's just that-everything's changing, so fast. Isn't it?"
Lucius nodded.
"They'll be fine" he repeated. "Come, let's go home"
With a sharp crack, they disapparated.
The train had started moving. It shook under Harry's feet as he and Draco made their way towards their usual compartment.
"This is why I hate getting on this thing so late" Draco said, as a few first years ran past, almost knocking over his trunk. "Much better to just get here early, get a good seat before it starts"
"Yeah". A compartment door swung open just behind Harry, forcing him to pull his trunk forward. "It's so annoying"
"Hey"
They turned around, to see Flint standing just outside the newly opened compartment.
"Hey"
"Listen" he dropped his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "I was thinking. What about Montague?"
"Not now!" Draco hissed.
"Yeah, we'll talk later. But it could work. Ask Snape"
"Cool. Cool" Flint looked abashed and scurried back to his seat.
They carried on walking towards their compartment.
'Why do we have to sit in the furthest fucking place? Merlin'
Harry could see people pointing him out to their friends. Through open doors and windows, he heard his name mentioned. Along with words such as "muggles", "orphanage", "abuse", and "arson".
'I knew this would happen when I agreed to that article. Fuck. I wish there had been a better way'
Draco turned to him and started saying something. He cut off as they heard a snatch of conversation through an open door ahead.
"Such a shame you couldn't come, Neville! It was amazing! You should have seen Krum, he's a genius!"
'Ah. Weasley. What else could brighten up my day but hearing his voice?'
Harry would have been perfectly happy to just walk on past Weasley's compartment, but Draco had a wicked grin on his face.
Harry nodded.
They walked into the compartment just in time for Weasley to say: "and we were in the Top Box, too! Best seats in the place!"
"For the first and last time in your life. I mean, you can only sell all of your possessions once, right?" Draco drawled.
"I don't know," Harry said, causing all the faces in the room to turn to him. "I mean, how much could they have gotten for all their stuff in the first place?"
"Leave him alone!" Granger cried shrilly. Harry just looked at her.
Weasley's ears glowed bright red, and his sister put her head down next to him. Longbottom watched, eyes wide, looking like nothing more than a frightened rabbit.
"Planning on entering, Weasley?" Draco asked, snidely. "You know, eternal glory and fame"
"What are you talking about?" Weasley growled.
"You don't know?" Draco chortled. He turned to Harry. "He honestly doesn't know!"
'He looks like Christmas has come early'
"I mean" he turned back towards Weasley, "you've only got a brother and a father working in the Ministry. Harry, when did father tell us?"
"Easter time, I think?"
"Then again, they probably don't talk about important things around your family"
"You can never trust a blood traitor," Harry said, shaking his head in mock consternation.
That seemed to be enough for Weasley. He jumped up, face now matching his hair, and drew his wand.
Harry already had his in his hand.
"Not so fast Weasley," he said, twirling it around his fingers. "Don't you remember last time I had to deal with you?"
"Must be convenient" Weasley spluttered out, "having a sob story to get you out of trouble. Just because you had a shitty childhood, doesn't mean-"
Maybe he realized he had gone too far, or maybe he noticed the look on Harry's face. Either way, Weasley stopped talking suddenly, shame and anger written across his face.
"What did you say?" Harry hissed.
Weasley started saying something, hands raised in a conciliatory gesture. Harry couldn't hear what he said. Blood pounded in his ears, and white-hot rage blinded him.
He growled out an incantation, and a blasting hex knocked Weasley off of his feet.
He flew backward, hit the train wall, and crumpled on the floor.
"What the fuck did you say?"
As he advanced on Weasley's prone form, a part of his mind heard Granger shout "Expellia-"
He spun on her, shouting out another blasting hex. It didn't hit her as cleanly, but it still knocked her off balance and made her drop her wand.
Snarling, he turned his wand on Weasley. "Praefoco"
At first, there was no visible sign of the curse working. Harry kept his wand trained on Weasley, and after a few seconds, the redhead started letting out choking noises and began scratching at his neck.
"RON! STOP IT!"
He turned his wand on Weasley's sister and growled out yet another blasting hex. She flew backward, the back of her head smashing straight into Longbottom's face.
Dimly, he heard Draco call his name.
He pointed his wand at Weasley again, cutting off the gasps for air. The boy stared at him with wide, terrified eyes.
"STOP IT! YOU'RE KILLING HIM!"
He kept his wand on Weasley. By now, his neck was a dark, mottled color, and his face was starting to purple. His hands clenched at his throat as if to tear away the invisible force choking him. His legs beat out a mad tattoo.
Harry's wand flew out of his hand, over his shoulder. He spun around, to see Draco facing him, his own wand as well as Draco's pointing at him.
"Out. Now"
Harry looked into Draco's furious eyes.
'Fuck you!'
"Give me back my wand"
"Harry, get out of here. Come-"
"Draco, give me back my fucking wand"
Draco ran. Harry gave chase, ending up in an empty compartment. As soon as he followed Draco in, he was hit with a full-body bind. He fell, and Draco stood over him.
"What the fuck was that?! What the fuck were you thinking?!"
Harry tried to speak, to shout back, but his mouth wouldn't move.
"You could have killed him! What part of keeping a low profile weren't you listening to?"
'Fuck you!' But the thought didn't carry the same venom as it had before. Slowly, cold realization was seeping in.
"Clear your fucking mind, mate"
'Fuck' Harry thought, horrified. 'What have I done? Oh, fuck. This is bad, this is bad'
"You are seriously out of line, Harry. Calm the fuck down, ok?"
'I'm fucked. I've-oh God, I've really fucked up'
"I'm going to take the body bind off, ok? Just-just don't be all mental. Otherwise, I'll stun you, ok? Just breath. Finite"
"Oh shit, Draco, we've got to go back, we've got to obliviate them, fuck, oh-"
"Harry. Breath"
Harry did so, slowly standing up before slumping on the bench.
"Fuck. Draco, what are we gonna do? I mean-"
"Just breath, ok? Let me think"
Harry did, horrible images of him being expelled and sent to Azkaban coming to his mind.
'What if they interrogate me? Fuck, I can't stand up to that! Fuck, fuck, fuck!'
"We can't obliviate them. I mean, I've never done it, have you?"
"No, but I know the theory, and-"
"And if you fuck it up it'll be a lot worse. No, obliviation is right out. We could leave it, hope they don't say anything?"
Harry shook his head. "They'll need the hospital wing. We can't just leave it"
"Listen. Even if they talk, father and Snape will get us out of serious trouble"
Hope blossomed in Harry's heart.
"You think so?" He whispered.
Draco looked confident. "Of course. Father's on the board of governors"
'God, I hope that will be enough. The Dark Lord is still gonna be pissed. I'm fucked. I'm totally fucked'
"We could still try apologizing," Draco said, lips curled in distaste. "I mean, that way, if they do talk about it, we can pass it off as a heat of the moment thing-"
"That's what it was! I wouldn't have done that if I had thought about it! I mean, fuck!"
"I know, I know. And you need to sort that shit out. You knew you would get comments when the article ran, you told me so!"
"Yeah, But I still wasn't prepared"
"Harry" Draco sighed. "You need to be. You're my best mate, but I can't cover for you every time. If this type of thing keeps happening, father won't be able to either, no matter how well-connected he is"
"I know," Harry said quietly, as shame and fear crunched his stomach. He stood up, Draco right behind him.
"I'm not giving you your wand back. Not till we're out of that room"
Harry nodded mutely.
The compartment they had fought in was empty. It was an absolute mess. A bunch of students were congregated outside it, talking and looking at the overturned trunks and spilled food. Dread clenched Harry's innards as he heard a prefect saying something about students getting hurt fighting, and having to take an emergency portkey to Hogwarts.
"That's it," He said to Draco, as they settled back into their empty compartment, "I'm fucked"
"You're not," Draco said, although he didn't look as confident as he had earlier.
"Draco," Harry said, putting his face in his hands, "I almost killed him. I don't know how badly I hurt the others. They had to take a fucking emergency portkey. I didn't even know there was one on this train"
"Makes sense. I mean, they can't just leave us cooped up here with no way to get help"
Harry didn't move.
"Harry, relax. You'll be ok. They won't expel you, you're the Boy-Who-Lived for Merlin's sake!"
Harry let out a jagged laugh. Draco went on. "You'll probably get detentions and lose us a bunch of points. But there's no way they'll expel you"
It was the most uncomfortable train ride of Harry's life. Draco spent the whole time trying to cheer Harry up, promising him he wouldn't be expelled, while Harry just sat there, unmoving. Images filled his head, of his wand being snapped, of him being chained to a chair in front of the Wizengamot. Of the Dark Lord turning his rage upon him.
At one point, Theo came looking for them. He walked into their compartment and started saying something, but Draco quickly waved him away.
When the train finally pulled to a stop, Harry and Draco got into a carriage. Harry turned a morose face toward the Hogwarts express as the carriage began moving towards the castle.
'Would they send me back on it? Where would I even go?'
Draco only broke the silence as they were pulling towards the castle.
"Look," he said, voice cracking. "Snape's there. It's gonna be ok, Harry"
They got out of the carriage, right in front of where Snape was standing.
"Harry, with me"
"Sir, I-"
He silenced Draco with a look.
Harry walked behind Snape, his stomach turning more and more leaden with each step. They ended up in Snape's office, where he sat at his desk and stared at Harry, eyes glittering coldly.
"Granger had broken ribs. Miss Weasley had a fractured collarbone. Longbottom had a broken nose and a concussion. Weasley will need to be in the hospital wing for several days. He almost died. He has severe bruising, and injuries to his vocal chords and trachea. Explain yourself"
Harry swallowed, "I-He-"
"Tell me, how many times must I repeat myself before it can penetrate your thick skull? Do you require me to lead you by the hand? I was under the impression that you were not a child. I see I was wrong"
"I-I got angry. I couldn't control myself. I could think, and-"
"Exactly! I have told you time and time again to learn to control your emotions, but you ignore my advice! How am I to help you if you will not pay heed? How am I to guide you if you act as foolish as an infant?"
Shame filled Harry.
"What am I meant to do?" He whispered. "When I'm so angry, that I can't think? That I can't clear my mind, I can't decide what to do?"
"I told you!" Snape slapped a hand on his desk. "I told you to take time for yourself every single day! You didn't listen!"
"I-I was busy"
"No excuses! The only reason you are not being expelled is that Dumbledore feels guilt with regards to you! The only reason legal action will not be taken against you is that Weasley is stupidly noble enough to accept that he egged you on!"
Warmth filled Harry at those words. "I-I'm not being expelled?"
"You should be" Snape sighed. "You almost murdered a fellow student. You should be expelled. You won't be. However, Dumbledore will be meeting with you. Tonight, in fact. I hope you have thought of what you're going to say"
"Just that I was too angry to think, and that I didn't even realize what I was doing. But-"
"And when he asks where you learned that spell from?"
Harry just looked ahead mutely.
Snape shook his head. "Idiot. You don't think" he cleared his throat and spoke louder. "Last year, I gave you a permission slip for the restricted section. While in there, you browsed some of the other books. Understood?"
"Yes"
"Why were you so angry?"
"He-Weasley, he mocked me about the orphanage. I just snapped. And I-"
"Yes. That could work. Dumbledore will accept that. You need to play it up. Tell him how angry you've been since the article ran, how Weasley's mention of it caused your anger to override your self-control. How terrible you felt once you realized what you had done. If you manage to play this off, he will not suspect you. And your Master's fury will not be directed at you"
"He-He knows?"
"He will, when next I report to him"
"Do you have to?" Harry said, hating the whinging tone his voice had taken on.
Snape looked at him implacably.
"I have no choice in the matter" his voice softened slightly. "I do not believe he will be too angry with you. You have served him very well, and this is only your first mistake"
'I hope you're right. Oh god, I hope you're right'
"But you must understand this. I've said it before, and you seem to have been incapable of accepting it. If you do not learn to control yourself, you will be of no use to him. A few seconds longer under that spell, and you would have caused irreparable damage to Weasley. Where would you be then? And if this type of thing keeps occurring, you will surely end in Azkaban. And mark my words, you will gladly prefer Azkaban to your Lord's fury. This is not a game"
"I know it isn't"
"So why do you persist in acting as if it is? I'm warning you now. The next time you pull a stunt like this, I will not be there to save you. Perhaps then you will understand that your actions have consequences"
"That won't be necessary, sir. I promise"
"Won't it? I'm beginning to think it is the only way you will learn"
Harry kept his face focused on the floor until he could feel the burning shame begin to recede.
"You will be meeting with Dumbledore after the feast. The password is honeyed wasps. He will tell you further about your detentions"
"I hate him"
"Dumbledore?"
"It's his fault, all of this. He sent me to live with muggles, let me live in that place"
"He knows that. Which is why he wants to try to stop you from hating him"
Harry snorted. "As if"
"It would be very beneficial if he would believe that he is successful in that goal. Lead him on. And you will be apologizing to all those you attacked, and to Weasley when he is out of the Hospital Wing. Make it seem sincere"
"I will"
Snape studied him for a moment. "If you pull this off correctly, it could end up being beneficial. If Dumbledore believes you have truly worked through your anger at him, he will be far less likely to suspect you. Just be intelligent about it. You're a Slytherin. Act like it"
Snape stood up. "Now come. We have probably already missed the Sorting"
They had missed the Sorting. Harry sidled into his seat next to Draco, more grateful than ever that the Slytherin table was close to the entrance.'If I had to walk across the whole room…'
"So," Blaise asked the second Harry sat down. "What did Snape say? I'm guessing you're not kicked out, but-"
Harry looked around at all the curious faces. Pansy was studiously not looking at him. Draco just shrugged apologetically before interrupting Blaise. "Everyone heard rumors. Figured it's better they knew the truth, instead of whatever half-baked bullshit Finnegan was saying"
"What did he say?" Harry asked, curious despite himself.
"According to him, you Crucio'd Weasley"
Harry had to laugh at that.
"Yeah, that never happened. Meeting Dumbledore tonight, he's gonna discuss my punishment with me. Snape said he thinks it'll be detentions, so not too bad"
Daphne snickered.
"Only you, Harry. Nearly kill a Gryffindor and you get detention"
"Yeah," He said, shifting uncomfortably, before diving into the food and ignoring all the other conversation entirely.
He finished eating still a few minutes before the speech would begin. He noticed Dumbledore looking at him gravely, and turned his face to look at the man to Dumbledore's right. His face was covered in scars. His nose looked like someone had taken a chunk out of it. One of his eyes was clearly fake and kept rolling around, stopping for a few seconds here and there. When he raised a hip-flask to his lips, Harry noticed that he was missing fingers.
'Must be Moody. Merlin, he looks like he's fought a lot'
Silence fell across the hall as Dumbledore stood up.
So!" said Dumbledore, smiling around at them all. "Now that we are all fed and watered, I must once more ask for your attention, while I give out a few notices. Firstly, I would like to welcome my dear friend, the celebrated auror Alastor Moody to Hogwarts. He has graciously agreed to spend the first year of his retirement passing on his wealth of knowledge as your new Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor"
There was polite applause, as Moody scowled at the crowd.
"What happened to Lupin?" Daphne asked.
"He's gonna be helping my godfather out. They don't want him to be living alone once he's released, so Lupin volunteered"
Harry stopped talking when Dumbledore went on.
"Mr. Filch, the caretaker, has asked me to tell you that the list of objects forbidden inside the castle has this year been extended to include Screaming Yo-yos, Fanged Frisbees, and Ever-Bashing Boomerangs. The full list comprises some four hundred and thirty-seven items, I believe, and can be viewed in Mr. Filch's office, if anybody would like to check it."
The corners of Dumbledore's mouth twitched. He continued, "As ever, I would like to remind you all that the forest on the grounds is out-of-bounds to students, as is the village of Hogsmeade to all below the third year.
"It is also my painful duty to inform you that the Inter-House Quidditch Cup will not take place this year." Ignoring the muttering this piece of information caused, Dumbledore went on, "This is due to an event that will be starting in October, and continuing throughout the school year, taking up much of the teachers' time and energy - but I am sure you will all enjoy it immensely. I have great pleasure in announcing that this year at Hogwarts we are to have the honor of hosting a very exciting event over the coming months, an event that has not been held for over a century. It is my very great pleasure to inform you that the Triwizard Tournament will be taking place at Hogwarts this year."
Gasps filled the room as people started talking. Dumbledore raised his voice slightly.
"Some of you will not know what this tournament involves, so I hope those who do know will forgive me for giving a short explanation, and allow their attention to wander freely.
"The Triwizard Tournament was first established some seven hundred years ago as a friendly competition between the three largest European schools of wizardry: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons, and Durmstrang. A champion was selected to represent each school, and the three champions competed in three magical tasks. The schools took it in turns to host the tournament once every five years, and it was generally agreed to be a most excellent way of establishing ties between young witches and wizards of different nationalities - until, that is, the death toll mounted so high that the tournament was discontinued."
There was some mumbling in the hall at that piece of news.
"There have been several attempts over the centuries to reinstate the tournament," Dumbledore continued, "none of which has been very successful. However, our own departments of International Magical Cooperation and Magical Games and Sports have decided the time is ripe for another attempt. We have worked hard over the summer to ensure that this time, no champion will find himself or herself in mortal danger"
"The heads of Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving with their short-listed contenders in October, and the selection of the three champions will take place at Halloween. An impartial judge will decide which students are most worthy to compete for the Triwizard Cup, the glory of their school, and a thousand Galleons personal prize"
Far more excited muttering filled the room then.
But then Dumbledore spoke again, and the Hall quieted once more.
"Eager though I know all of you will be to bring the Triwizard Cup to Hogwarts," he said, "the heads of the participating schools, along with the Ministry of Magic, have agreed to impose an age restriction on contenders this year. Only students who are of age - that is to say, seventeen years or older - will be allowed to put forward their names for consideration. This -" Dumbledore raised his voice slightly, for several people had made noises of outrage at these words,- "is a measure we feel is necessary, given that the tournament tasks will still be difficult and dangerous, whatever precautions we take, and it is highly unlikely that students below sixth and seventh year will be able to cope with them. I will personally be ensuring that no underage student hoodwinks our impartial judge into making them Hogwarts champion. I therefore beg you not to waste your time submitting yourself if you are under seventeen"
Harry distinctly heard someone further down his table say "fuck that"
"The delegations from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang will be arriving in October and remaining with us for the greater part of this year. I know that you will all extend every courtesy to our foreign guests while they are with us, and will give your whole-hearted support to the Hogwarts champion when he or she is selected. And now, it is late, and I know how important it is to you all to be alert and rested as you enter your lessons tomorrow morning. Bedtime! Chop chop!"
Dumbledore looked straight at Harry and nodded his head slightly. Harry stood up, heading out before the rush.
"Good luck" Draco whispered as he walked out.
"Good evening, Harry"
"Good evening"
Dumbledore templed his fingers, peering at Harry over them. "You know why you are here"
Harry nodded.
"Please, Harry. Tell me what happened"
"I-we were walking past their compartment. Draco said something, and Weasley said something back. So I said something, and Weasley- he said something about my childhood" the words tumbled out of Harry's mouth. He looked Dumbledore in the eye, expecting to feel the man trying to read his mind. But he didn't.
"And then?" Dumbledore said quietly. Harry noticed some of the portraits seemed to be craning their necks to hear. One witch had actually dropped into the portrait below her and was making no effort to hide her eavesdropping.
"And then I-I lost control, sir"
"When you say you lost control, what exactly do you mean?"
"It's just- I was so angry. I've been so angry ever since that article came out, and when Weasley said that it just tipped me over. I just didn't think, not at all"
"Harry" Dumbledores voice was weighed down with pain. "I understand that you're upset. I truly, truly do. But your actions today- they were terrible. Mr. Weasley was seriously injured"
"I know," Harry said, wringing his hands, "and I'm sorry! I wish I hadn't done that! But I wasn't thinking! I couldn't think, not then! I just wanted to hurt him!"
"My dear boy. Your anger is justified. You were hurt, you suffered greatly. But your anger is dangerous. It can and will turn you into a bitter, lonely, hateful man if it does not end you up in Azkaban. Unless you learn to deal with it. Unless you learn to control it"
Dumbledore paused for a minute, blinking his long eyelashes.
"Mr. Weasley did not cause your suffering. He had no hand in it. He has been raised in a warm, loving family. He has no possible frame of reference for understanding what you went through. He made an extremely foolish and hurtful comment, without knowing what effect it would have on you. He did not deserve your anger to be turned upon him"
Dumbledore looked at Harry directly. "Tell me, Harry. Do you feel angry at me?"
Harry nodded, causing one of the portraits to gasp.
"The audacity! Albus, you should-"
"Not now, Simon. Not now. Harry. I deserve your anger. I severely wronged you. And I hope one day you will be able to feel something other than anger towards me"
'Again with this bullshit. I don't care what you think!'
"Do you enjoy feeling angry?"
"No," Harry said, sullenly.
"I am going to give you a choice. What happened earlier, with Mr. Weasley cannot simply be ignored. I could assign you detention after detention, remove hundreds of house points. I could ban you from Hogsmeade, I could force you to assist Mr. Filch in his duties. I could suspend or even expel you"
Dumbledore sighed deeply. "But none of that would truly help you. You could be a wonderful, happy man. A tremendous asset to our society. You have so much potential, so much to give. You could truly change the world. But you need to change yourself, first. You need to learn to control your anger. And so, here is your choice. Either I assign a punishment to you, which will truly not assist you in becoming all that you could be. Or, you could see a mind-healer once a week. He would come into Hogwarts, and you would meet with him in private. No one would have to know. Of course, Professor Snape and I would be checking in with him, to follow up on your progress, but other than that, no-one would know"
Dumbledore looked at him, unspoken plea burning in his eyes.
"Please, Harry. You can be so much. This will help you"
"I'm not crazy," he said quietly.
"No, you are not. And this will help ensure that you do not become so"
'Do it. It'll make it easier to convince him you're better. And maybe it actually will help. That would be good'
"I'll do it. Meet the mind-healer, I mean"
Dumbledore smiles, looking every inch a congenial grandfather again.
"Excellent. Professor Snape will inform you once the details are finalized. I also expect you to apologize to those you fought with"
"I will"
Dumbledore nodded. "One more thing. The spell you used. Where did you learn it?"
Heart racing, Harry stuttered a bit as he answered. "In the restricted section"
"You received permission for the books that contain that spell?"
Harry shook his head. "But Professor Snape gave me permission for a potions book, and I was just curious, and well" he shrugged, looking down.
"Ah, curiosity. It can often be applauded. After all, curiosity is what has led us to new frontiers of knowledge. But some things are better to remain in the realm of curiosity, and not in the realm of acquired knowledge. And Harry, I understand well the pull of the Dark Arts. The pull of all forbidden knowledge, in fact. But please, Harry. Be wary of such branches of magic. They can twist one away from all vestiges of humanity"
As Harry was standing to leave, Dumbledore spoke again.
"Would you like to continue our meetings from last year, Harry?"
"I-not now, sir. I just can't-not yet"
"Of course. Of course. When you feel ready, I will be here"
Dumbledore stared morosely at his office door. Behind him, the portraits of Headmasters and Headmistresses past tried to gain his attention.
Somehow though, terrible as the conversation had been, he felt hope. This truly could be the turning point in Harry's life.
'Perhaps he simply needed to explode, before being able to put himself back together'
And if he was right about Voldemort being back, it could not happen too soon.
Lying in bed, Harry found his mind whirring with non-stop thoughts.
He had already told Draco what the outcome had been with Dumbledore. He told him the truth. Everyone else would simply be told that he was sitting in detention on a weekly basis.
'This could actually work. Like Snape said, I can really make Dumbledore think I've moved past my hatred of him. In fact-brilliant! When I ask him for lessons again, he'll see that as a positive sign!'
'But what about the mind-healer? If he's gonna be reporting back to Dumbledore, he'll know if I'm actually changing or not. Fuck. This isn't gonna be easy'
Eventually, troubled thoughts gave way to a thin, troubled sleep.
All in all, it wasn't the best start to the school year.