The Hero They Needed: Chapter 19

Chapter 19

“Good morning, class,” Professor Flitwick greeted.

The classroom full of fourth year Gryffindors and Ravenclaws muttered a reply as Flitwick climbed the stack of books leading to his teaching platform.

“Now, then. Today, we will continue our review of the Banishing Charm,” he said. “However, next week, we’re going to move ahead a bit to basic enchanting. After all, it’s not every day that we have a world-famous enchanter in our midst.”

Smiling brightly, he nodded toward Harry.

“I prefer infamous,” Harry grinned, causing the class to chuckle.

“I’m sure you are to some,” Flitwick chuckled. “I heard the Firebolt Broom Company was quite upset you stole the crown for the world’s fastest broom. Now, let’s break into pairs and practice those Banishing Charms.”

Waving his wand in an arc while wiggling the tip, he conjured dozens of cushions in various shapes, sizes, and colors that fell from the ceiling. The students laughed as they hopped out of their seats and tried to dodge out of the way.

“Do you want to partner up again?” Hermione asked.

“Sure,” Harry shrugged.

Walking to the middle of the classroom, Hermione pointed her wand at a cushion sitting near her feet.

“Depulso,” she called.

The cushion shot straight at Harry’s chest, where he caught it easily with one hand.

“Nice,” he said.

Tossing the cushion up in the air, he waited until it fell to chest height before wordlessly banishing it toward Hermione. She squealed and raised her arms as it lightly hit her.

“Can you teach me how to cast silently?” she asked, biting her lip cutely.

“It’s not that hard,” Harry said. “You just think the incantation instead of shouting it out loud. Here, give it a try.”

“I just say it in my head?” Hermione asked. “That’s it?”

“Yeah,” Harry shrugged.

With a dubious look, she aimed her wand at the cushion. Her eyes narrowed in intense concentration, she jabbed her wand forward, but the cushion didn’t move. With a silent huff, she tried again, and still, nothing happened.

“Come on, Hermione, it’s easy,” Harry said. “I learned this when I was eight.”

Hermione directed a glare at him momentarily before turning her attention back to the cushion and jabbing her wand forward. The cushion slid a couple of inches across the floor, and he could see the mild success spark a fire in her eyes.

“Great jo-”

Hermione jabbed her wand forward again, and this time, the cushion shot away from her at high speed and hit him directly in the face. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hands as his head snapped back and his glasses were knocked askew.

“I’m so sorry,” she said quickly. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Harry smiled. “I was trying to taunt you a bit, but I didn’t think you get that angry.”

Hermione blushed lightly, looking abashed. Chuckling, he flicked his wand, banishing another cushion that landed near her feet.

“How about a little competition?” Harry asked, causing her to perk up. “We banish our cushions at the same time. If you get the spell right, they stop each other. If you don’t, you get hit in the face.”

“How is that a competition?” Hermione asked, her brow furrowed.

“Well, if you’re scared…,” Harry said, leaving his sentence hanging.

She rolled her eyes, “Fine.”

“On three,” he grinned. “Ready? One… two… three!”

They both jabbed their wands forward and banished their cushions. Hermione’s didn’t have enough power, causing her cushion to fly under Harry’s. It hit him lightly in the shins just as she raised her arms to block the cushion flying straight at her face.

“Close,” Harry smirked. “But that’s a point for me. Again?”

Hermione nodded determinedly. He counted to three again and they cast their charms. This time, they collided between them and fell to the floor.

“I did it!” Hermione exclaimed.

“Indeed,” Flitwick said from behind Harry, startling him. “Excellently done! Ten points to Gryffindor! Mr. Potter, I regret we didn’t think of a way to reward foreign students this year.”

“That’s alright,” Harry smiled. “I usually lose more points than I gain, anyway.”

“Yes, Professor Wilkinson did warn me about that,” Flitwick grinned. “He specifically warned that I shouldn’t let you get bored, and your little game with Ms. Granger has given me an idea. Class, if I can have everyone’s attention!”

Everyone stopped what they were doing and turned to face the professor.

“Since Mr. Potter has shown such proficiency with the Banishing Charm, we’re going to play a game to put his skills to the test,” Flitwick announced. “All of you will banish your cushions at Mr. Potter. For each one that hits him, you’ll earn your house a point. At the same time, Mr. Potter will try to banish them back at you. For each person he hits, you’ll lose a point. That is if Mr. Potter is up for the challenge.”

“Bring it on,” Harry grinned, motioning with his hands toward the other students.

“Excellent!” Flitwick said enthusiastically. “You may begin in three…two… one… go!”

“DEPULSO!” the students shouted in unison.

Two dozen cushions took to the air. Fortunately, most of them missed their mark. Harry ducked out of the way of a group of three that sailed over his head. Quickly raising his wand, he banished one of the late arrivals back toward the group of students.

“That’s a point from Ravenclaw, Mr. MacMillan!” Flitwick yelled.

Harry flashed Ernie a grin when he was suddenly hit in the side of the head by a cushion.

“Point for Gryffindor, Ms. Granger!” Flitwick shouted. “Well done!”

“Oh, now it’s on,” Harry grinned.

Hermione screamed and ducked out of the way as he banished three cushions at her in rapid succession. She managed to get out of the way in time, but the boy she hid behind, Ron, wasn’t so lucky. One hit him in the chest, and another bounced off the top of his head.

“That’s two points from Gryffindor, Mr. Weasley!” Flitwick yelled. “Banishing Charms only, Mr. Potter.”

Harry grumbled as he dropped his Shield Charm and danced out of the way of another cushion. For the next ten minutes, cushions flew back and forth across the classroom. He got hit more times than he would have liked, but as far as points went, he thought they were pretty even.

“One more minute!” Flitwick called.

Harry was panting and sweaty but smiling as he rushed to the center of the classroom. 

“Come on!” he taunted. “Give me your best shot!”

“DEPULSO!” the class shouted.

Grinning, Harry quickly dodged to the side, revealing Professor Flitwick behind him. The students gasped as the cascade of cushions barreled toward him. They got within a couple of feet of him when the professor suddenly waved his wand, and every cushion, even the ones still on the floor, changed direction and shot toward Harry. He had no hope of banishing that many and quickly found himself on the floor, buried under a pile of cushions.

“Cheater!” Harry yelled, his voice muffled.

The classroom burst into laughter.

“And that’s time,” Flitwick grinned. “I believe that’s a total of two points for Gryffindor and one point for Ravenclaw. Excellently done! I’ll let you all catch your breath for the last ten minutes. For next week, I want you all to read chapters twenty-three of your Charms book.”

“Are you alright, Harry?” Hermione asked.

“I’m fine,” he replied.

Pushing the cushions away from his face, he took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from his brow.

“That was fun but tiring,” he smiled. “I think I’m going to take a nap here for a minute.”

Hermione rolled her eyes as he laid back against the cushions and closed his eyes.

~

After lunch, Harry followed Hermione down to the dungeons to the Potions classroom. The dark, oppressive atmosphere made it feel like he was stepping into a completely different castle. As they stepped into the classroom and took their seats at one of the worktables, he noticed just how quiet everyone was being. It was like the Gryffindors were afraid to talk.

A couple of minutes before the start of class, the Slytherins arrived. They didn’t seem to have the same reservations about talking loudly that the Gryffindors did. When Malfoy spotted Harry, he sneered at him with a glint of anticipation in his eyes.

As the bell rang, signaling the start of class, Snape swooped into the classroom, his cloak billowing behind him, and closed the door with a thunderous slam. In front of Harry, Neville flinched, his eyes downcast.

“Today, we’ll be brewing the Shrinking Solution,” Snape drawled, stopping in front of his desk. “Hopefully, your results won’t be as abysmal as last week’s Melancholy Draught. I expect you to be able to keep up with the work. No exceptions.”

Giving Harry a pointed look, he turned and swiftly walked behind his desk.

“The instructions are on the board,” he said, taking a seat and pulling a stack of parchment toward him. “Begin.”

As Harry walked to the cabinet with Hermione to help her gather their ingredients, he glanced at Snape out of the corner of his eye. Given what Sirius had told him about the man, he was surprised he hadn’t been singled out more. If being ignored was the worst Snape would do, he would return the favor.

Gathering the ingredients they needed, he returned to their table with Hermione and began brewing. Potions was one of Harry’s worst subjects. He had no patience for the tedious process and often found his mind wandering between steps, leading to mistakes. Fortunately, Hermione was more focused, so he followed her lead.

Things were progressing nicely, if a bit too quietly for Harry’s liking, when a dried newt’s tail suddenly bounced off the side of their cauldron and landed on the table. Looking in the direction it had come from, he noticed Malfoy laughing with the two fat fucks he called friends.

“Just ignore him,” Hermione whispered.

Harry narrowed his eyes at the suggestion and watched Malfoy out of the corner of his eye. Not even a minute later, he glanced toward Snape to make sure he wasn’t looking and tossed another newt’s tail in their direction. This one was aimed better and would have gone in if Harry hadn’t slapped it out of the way. The scratching of Snape’s quill paused, and he turned his head just enough to glance over without looking directly at them. A second later, he dipped his head back down over the parchment, and the scratching of his quill resumed.

Harry gritted his teeth in anger. Snape wasn’t going to do anything directly to him, but apparently, he wasn’t above letting his students do his dirty work for him.

“Sorry, but I think you’ll have to finish this on your own,” he whispered to Hermione.

Raising her head, she furrowed her brow and blew a stray lock of hair out of her eyes.

“What?” she asked. “Why?”

Before Harry could respond, Malfoy tossed another newt’s tail at their cauldron. Snatching it out of the air, he turned and launched it as hard as he could. It landed in Malfoy’s cauldron with a splash. A drop hit one of the fat kids’ noses, causing it to shrink quickly. Meanwhile, the potion hissed and fizzed angrily around the floating newt’s tail. Bright purple smoke billowed out of the cauldron, causing all three boys to cough, their voices steadily growing higher pitched.

“Potter!” Snape shouted, standing abruptly and vanishing the contaminated potion with a wave of his wand. “Two weeks detention for deliberately ruining another student's potion!”

“And you’re just going to ignore the past five minutes where he tried to throw that in our cauldron?” Harry asked angrily.

“I saw nothing of the sort,” Snape drawled.

“Bullshit!” Harry barked, causing the students around him to gasp. “I saw you look up the first time it happened.”

With an angry sneer, Snape stalked toward him. Harry stepped out from behind his worktable to meet him.

“You might be used to special treatment where you’re from, but you’ll get none from me,” Snape hissed, his face so close to Harry’s that he could smell his sour breath. “You’re nothing but a bully, just like your father. I bet Black never told you the truth about the wonderful James Potter.”

“Oh, he did,” Harry said. “He told me all about it. The difference is, my dad grew out of it. You’re the one taking out a schoolyard grudge on students. That would make you the bully now, asshole. No wonder my mom chose him over you.”

Snape’s eyes widened furiously, and he snatched the front of Harry’s robes with his fist. Harry responded by drawing his wand and pressing it firmly against Snape’s scrotum. He looked down, his body shaking with suppressed rage, and paused for a long moment before letting go suddenly.

“Headmaster’s office,” he hissed. “Now.”

“Gladly,” Harry replied.

Stowing his wand in his pocket but keeping a grip on the handle, he grabbed his bag from the floor and stormed toward the door.

“Class dismissed!” Snape barked, following after him.

~

“I want him expelled!” Snaped raged as Andromeda stepped out of the Floo and into the Headmaster’s office.

Harry and his headmistress were seated across from Dumbledore at his desk while Snape paced furiously back and forth.

“He’s not a student here,” Esmerelda reminded him calmly before taking a sip of her tea.

“Then I want him arrested!” Snape hissed.

“You certainly could try,” she replied agreeably. “Of course, if that were to happen, I’m sure Harry would like to press charges as well.”

Snape fumed silently, breathing heavily through his nose as a vein pulsed in his forehead. Walking back and forth like a caged animal, he spotted Andromeda and pinned her with a glare.

“Where’s Black!?” he demanded.

Andromeda raised an eyebrow and deliberately made him wait for a response.

“Given the parties involved, I thought it was best if I attended this meeting,” she told him. “What happened?”

“Potter tried to put one of my students in the hospital wing and then drew his wand on me when I confronted him,” Snape snapped.

Harry snorted derisively and folded his arms over his chest.

“That’s enough, Severus,” Dumbledore said firmly before conjuring a chair for Andromeda. “Please, have a seat. Tea?”

“No, thank you,” Andromeda replied, smoothing out her skirt as she sat.

“Now that we are all here and we’ve heard from Professor Snape, Harry, would you mind giving us your version of events?” Dumbledore asked.

“I was brewing my potion with Hermione, minding my own business,” Harry paused and glared as Snape scoffed, “when Malfoy started throwing dried newt tails at our cauldron. I saw Snape look up when he did it the second time, but he didn’t stop him, so the third time he did it, I caught it and threw it back.”

“Mr. Malfoy did no such thing,” Snape drawled.

“Thank you, Severus,” Dumbledore said pointedly. “Please, continue, Harry.”

“Snape tried to give me detention, and I called him out for letting it happen,” he continued. “We got into an argument; he grabbed the front of my robes, and I pointed my wand at his balls.”

Shrugging, Harry sat back in his seat.

“You put your hands on a student?” Andromeda asked, her eyes narrowed angrily.

“I do not tolerate disrespect in my class,” Snape told her.

“I did call him an asshole,” Harry admitted when she looked at him.

“That’s still no excuse,” she frowned.

“No, it is not,” Dumbledore said, causing Snape to scowl. “Severus, can you explain the events from your point of view?”

“All I saw was Potter throw something into a cauldron that sent three students to the hospital wing,” Snape sneered. “When I tried to punish him, he became belligerent and drew his wand on me.”

“Do you deny putting your hands on him first?” Andromeda asked.

Snape glared at her but remained silent, giving her all the answers she needed.

“Perhaps we should let Harry get back to class while we finish discussing this,” Andromeda suggested.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow but nodded in agreement after a moment.

“What about his punishment?” Snape demanded.

“You can inform him later if there is any,” Andromeda said firmly before looking at Harry and nodding.

With a sigh, he got to his feet, shouldered his bag, and left the office. The moment the door was closed, Andromeda rounded on Snape.

“What the hell were you thinking putting your hands on Harry?” she demanded furiously. “Do you have any idea how fast I could have you arrested for that?”

Snape sneered and turned away from her, staring at the wall behind Dumbledore’s desk.

“This needs to end,” Andromeda said firmly as she turned back to Dumbledore. “This is the second time that Malfoy boy has deliberately gone out of his way to provoke Harry. And this isn’t the first time he’s done something like this. I’ve been talking to some of my old friends since I got back, and all of them have heard complaints from their children. It’s an open secret that Snape lets his students get away with murder. That ends now. I will not tolerate Harry being bullied like that.”

Turning to face Snape, she aimed an accusing finger at him.

“And you had best warn your students to stay away from my daughter and Jennifer,” she said angrily. “Today was a warning. Need I remind you that Harry was raised by two Blacks? If he wanted to hurt your students, you would find them in the hospital wing without any evidence of who put them there?”

“Is that a threat?” Snape blustered.

“It’s a warning,” Andromeda said. “You’re second of the day. Perhaps you should heed them. Neither of us will be kind enough to give you another.”

Turning back to Dumbledore, she stood and slung her purse over her shoulder.

“I will not have Harry punished for defending himself,” she said with a challenging glare. “If Snape can’t control his students, they can face their own consequences. I suggest you do something about this bullying problem in your school, headmaster, before it gets out of hand.”

With those parting words, she turned and strode from the office. She could hear Snape complaining as she closed the door, but she didn’t pay any attention to his words. As she reached the bottom of the stairs and entered the hallway, she found Harry leaning back against the wall, waiting for her.

“How much detention do I have?” he asked.

“None,” Andromeda replied, causing him to raise his eyebrows. “And I want you to owl me if they try to give you any. Like I just told Dumbledore, I won’t allow you to be punished for defending yourself.”

“Nice,” Harry grinned. “Thanks, Aunt Andi.”

Andromeda smiled and gave him a hug.

“You shouldn’t have to pay for the mistakes Sirius and your father made when they were young,” she said.

Letting go, they walked side-by-side down the hall. Looking around at the familiar walls, she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

“This place brings back a lot of memories,” she said.

“Good or bad?” Harry asked.

“Both,” Andromeda replied before pointing to one of the entrances to the Transfiguration courtyard. “I met Ted right here in my second year. He was a first year, and he was being bullied by my sister and a few of her friends. They called him all sorts of horrid names.”

“Bellatrix?” Harry asked, to which she nodded.

“Dumbledore lets students bully each other so much at this school,” she sighed. “It’s been going on for decades, and he’s never done anything about it. I think even Sirius would admit they were allowed to get away with too much.”

“But why?” Harry asked.

“I don’t know,” Andromeda admitted. “I think part of the reason he lets Snape get away with so much is to make up for how he was bullied as a student, but that’s just making things worse, and Dumbledore’s smart enough to know that. Or he should be.”

Harry hummed in agreement, and they continued down the stairs in silence for a long moment.

“Could you get in touch with Madam Bones for me?” he asked suddenly.

Andromeda turned and raised an eyebrow.

“Do you want to press charges against Snape?” she asked.

“What? Oh, no. It’s not about that,” Harry said. “That would just be a waste of time. I want to do some test flights with my broom, and I’d rather not cause an incident. Again. Or get chased across England by fighter planes.”

Andromeda sighed, “I wish you would stop making those death traps,” she said. “Fine. I’ll owl her tonight. Just promise me you’ll be safe.”

“I’ll be fine,” Harry assured her.