#and peeves and dumbledore and a dementor

[wisteria-lodge]

What do you think JKR did best in Harry Potter, and what do you think she did worst?

I'll just do the first five good and first five bad that pop into my head.

GOOD

JKR writes about grief and fear extremely well. It's complex, nuanced, visceral, messy. When I pull out really good passages of her writing, that's almost always what they're about.

She has a good eye for friend group dynamics. Harry, Ron and Hermione work. The way they crack and splinter, the way that two of them will gang up on the third and then work it out, that's really well observed. Their banter works. Their arguments work.

She has an incredible knack for side characters. There are SO MANY of them, and most spend very little time on screen. But the details we get are memorable, interesting and well-chosen - not only do you remember who all these people are, it's perfectly reasonable that your favorite character is like, Tonks - even though we barely see her.

JKR never wastes a transition. These books have a *lot* of scene transitions, and they are used to drop characterization, clues, worldbuilding, or build suspense. You never get "Harry was late to class." You get "Harry was late to class because Peeves had vanished two-thirds of the stairs up to the astronomy tower." It's a good trick for making a world feel alive, and make a mystery feel satisfying. Also, JKR ends *chapters* really well.

She's good at naming things. Good place names, product names, character names. They're memorable, whimsical, build a really strong brand identity and no wonder themed entertainment based off this series does so well. It's hard to invent a word that means something to your audience, but she's good at it. Dementor, apparate, muggle, Slytherin, Gryffindor. There's a ton of specialized vocab in this universe, and that's how she gets away with it.

BAD

... she's good at naming so long as the thing she's naming exists in Western Europe. The second it doesn't, we run into problems *real* quick. No-Maj? Cho Chang? Ilvermorny and the four houses Wampus, Pukwudgie, Horned Serpent and Thunderbird?

JKR can't write romance. It's strange, because her grasp of family and group dynamics is so good, but she just can't write a romantic couple being romantic. She can write pining, she can write longing, she can write cringingly awkward couple, arguably she can even write exes - but she will bend over backwards so the two halves of a romantic couple never actually have to be in the same scene, interacting with each other. In HP this mostly shows up in the way the Harry/Ginny stuff (and the Ron/Hermione stuff...) falls flat, and Remus/Tonks comes out of absolutely nowhere. But the Cormoran Strike books and the Fantastic Beasts movies clearly *want* to be romances, and she just can't do it.

Being uber-femme/girly in the Harry Potter books is consistently a very negative trait. Pink, bows, ruffles, painted nails, styled hair, being interested in fashion, being interested in boys (versus boys being interested in you...) It hovers somewhere around being pathetic and being villainous. If you're girly, you can redeem yourself by becoming a mother (like Fleur) or you can reject girliness (like Hermione - who can look all pretty and femme for the Yule Ball, but "that's far too much bother to do everyday.")

There is often a disconnect between a character's actions and the way the way that character is framed by the text. Like, JKR obviously has a very clear idea in her head of who Severus Snape or Draco Malfoy or Molly Weasley is... and that idea does not 100% make it onto the page. Most characters are hit with this to some degree. Someone like Ron is the exception: I do think that the version of him on the page and the version of him in JKR's head are exactly the same.

There is a very *young* sort of moral simplicity in these books... kind of. The Ministry of Magic gets more nuanced and grey as the story goes on, Dumbledore and his plan gets more nuanced and grey... JKR clearly wants to make the thematic underpinnings of her story more complex and adult... but the Slytherins are all just the bad guys. That's not a stereotype, that's not 12 year old Harry with a simplified worldview, they're all just like that. They all run away from the final battle (and/or want to turn Harry over to Voldemort.) She goes out of her way to make Snape an honorary Gryffindor, when it would have been easier and better to just... say that this is a guy who used slytherin traits in a positive way? There is something very deep in her that just wants an infallible force to pick out the Good People, and then put the Good People in charge. that's literally the plot of fantastic beasts 3.

[celestialseawitch-ff]

🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹 🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹

“Alright, Mr. Potter?”

“I’m fine, Professor McGonagall. He healed Hermione. She’s going to be okay now. Right?”

The last part was addressed to John. The man looked up from where he was fishing out a cigarette. He nodded as he went to light it. 

“This is a hospital wing,” Professor McGonagall snapped.

John sighed and tucked the cigarette away for later. 

“And just who do you think you are, sir?”

John raised a blond brow at the professor. “John Constantine. And yourself?”

“Professor Minerva McGonagall. I am the Deputy Headmistress of this school. This is our headmaster, Professor Albus Dumbledore.”

John waved at Albus dismissively. “We’ve met. Who’s the Death Eater?” He looked pointedly at the dark wizard from before that now stood behind Albus like an attack dog.

Albus drew his shoulders back. “Professor Snape is not a Death Eater. I’m afraid you're mistaken, John.”

John snorted. “Right, about as good and light of a wizard as you are, I’m sure.”

Albus’ eyes flickered with anger. Considering how well Albus tended to keep his emotions in check, John saw that for the win that it was. He smirked at the old man.

“You’re certainly one to talk, John.”

John shrugged. He wasn’t known to be one of the most powerful sorcerers in the world because he looked pretty.

“Severus says you claim to have been sent here by letter,” the headmaster continued, “but as far as I can recall, you’re still blacklisted from the ICW.”

John snorted. “Yeah, thanks for that by the way. Being wrongfully accused of ritual murder wasn’t on my bucket list but it sure was fun to fight off all those dementors.” His smirk widened. “Tell me, have they replenished their stock yet? I’m itching for a little fun while I’m around.”

Minerva gasped as she moved between Harry and John as if to shield the child with her body. Harry looked unconcerned, his eyes focused on John with curiosity. 

“John,” Albus insisted.

John rolled his eyes. He fished out the letter and handed it to Minerva. “I haven’t broken any rules. And I assume I was asked here only so the ministry wouldn’t break any rules either.”

Minerva eyed him warily as she opened the letter.

“I’m afraid you already have, John,” Albus said. “You did blood magic. That’s highly illegal. And on a minor. It pains me to need to alert the ICW and the British Aurors, but something tells me you won’t go quietly.”

John grinned. He could feel Albus’ growing annoyance with him at his blasé attitude. It had always riled the man up that he couldn’t get into John’s head. John always used it to his advantage. He prided himself on being one of the only bastards out there that could pull one over on Albus Dumbledore.

Minerva took in a sharp breath of air as she pressed a hand to her chest. She looked up from the parchment to John with wide eyes. “You’re Miss Granger’s birth father?”

Harry’s head shot up. The other adults all went still with shock.

John leaned back in his chair and rested his feet up on the end of the bed, ankles crossed. He linked his fingers together as he rested his elbows on the arms of the chairs and grinned up at Albus.

“Guess I didn’t break any laws, Albus. Blood magic is allowed between family relations, most notably in the use of healing spells. Guess you’ll just have to make up false allegations… again.”

Albus took the parchment from Minerva and read it over. The anger rolling off of the old wizard was palpable. John looked across the bed to Harry who was eyeing the headmaster suspiciously. 

“Well,” Albus said at length, “how good that you were finally able to show up for your daughter, John.”

John chuckled noiselessly. “Honestly, I’m a bit offended you haven’t noticed the resemblance – or the attitude.” He smirked. “Or the extra curriculars. Tell me, how is that poltergeist doing?”

Albus blinked widely. “Hermione is the one who got rid of Peeves?”

John shrugged. “Been teaching her everything I know. I’m sure you’ve noticed how locked down her mind is. Like I’d send her anywhere near the likes of you without first making sure her head was a locked vault.” His eyes ticked over to the Death Eater. “Good thing too.”

[princesscatalina99]

Harry Potter Golden/Silver Trio Era Discord RP Group

18+!

Themes May Include: Strong Fantasy Violence, Strong Fantasy Violence, Small Private Fantasy Sexual Scenes, Small Consumptions of Alcohol & Drugs, Strong Dark Fantasy Themes that may make people uncomfortable

Small Introduction:

Hey there! I have done many iterations of this and honestly I just miss it! I hope you all will take the time to read this over as i spent a lot of time on this and it's not fun when people don't read everything.

Plot:

This does go chronologically through Harry Potter's years at Hogwarts and the struggles he deals with as well as his friends and enemies at school. But not only will we be following Harry Potter but some other characters.

My main character, Catalina Thorne, has gone through quite a lot. Not by any means as much as Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. But she has dealt with things her classmates and friends could scarcely ever go through. She had to watch her life unfold as a lie and had to lie about the true death of her family. She has to keep a secret of the family safe. The one person she shouldn't trust her secret to is the son of a death eater. But Catalina, the shy sweet innocent girl that she plays, goes and gets a crush on the worst person she can, Draco Malfoy. Can she manage to keep her family secret when her boyfriend's family is one of the darkest wizarding families? Find out!

Rules:

1. Please make sure you know Wizarding World lore and background. I will make a channel for information if anyone has any questions.

2. Sexual activities must happen in a private channel and with the proper procedures. The students can only do this if you are in year 5. Younger years are allowed to do hand holding and kissing and the like.

3. You are allowed to play as many characters as you can control. Just please don't play too many that it's a burden for you.

4. Any ocs are allowed. Just please provide a bio and picture and let it be approved beforehand.

5. Please no fighting for ships. I have set some but if you want to create one, let me know

6. I will need help to make this group as making groups isn't my forte. I'm not great at creating a bots channel. So if you want to help me, please inform me immediately.

7. I would like you all to be semi literate to literate and speak in full sentences. The more details, the better!

8. If you need a refresher course in how to make bots and tulls, let me know. I forgot after a while but once you learn, it's not hard to do!

9. Have fun and make friends!

Canon Roles and My OC Roles-

Beauxbatons:

Fleur Delacour:

Gabrielle Delacour:

Olimpe Maxime:

Creatures:

Buckbeak:

Chinese Fireball:

Crookshanks:

Dementors:

Dobby:

Firenze:

Golgomath:

Hedwig:

Horntail:

Lucy the cat: Taken by me

Nagini:

Mrs. Norris:

Unicorn:

Death Eaters & Allies:

Alecto Carrow:

Amycus Carrow:

Antonin Dolohov:

Augustus Rookwood:

Avery Jr:

Barty Crouch Jr:

Bellatrix Lestrange:

Corban Yaxley:

Crabbe Sr:

Fenrir Greyback:

Greyson Thorne [talk to me about playing this character]:

Goyle Sr:

Lord Voldemort:

Nott Sr:

Peter Pettigrew:

Pius Thicknese:

Rabastan Lestrange:

Rodolphus Lestrange:

Scabior:

Thorfinn Rowle:

Travers:

Walden Macnair:

Durmstrangs:

Igor Karkaroff:

Viktor Krum:

Ghosts/Poltergeists:

Bloody Baron:

Fat Friar:

Helena Ravenclaw:

Myrtle Warren:

Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington:

Peeves:

Gryffindors:

Alicia Spinnet:

Angelina Johnson:

Colin Creevey:

Cormac McLaggen:

Dean Thomas:

Dennis Creevey:

Fred Weasley:

George Weasley:

Ginny Weasley:

Harry Potter:

Hermione Granger:

Katie Bell:

Kenneth Towler:

Lavender Brown:

Lee Jordan:

Neville Longbottom:

Oliver Wood:

Parvati Patil:

Percy Weasley:

Richard O'Reilly: Taken by me

Romilda Vane:

Ronald Weasley:

Samantha Rockwell: Taken by me

Seamus Finnigan:

Hogwarts Teachers & Staff:

Alastor Moody:

Albus Dumbledore:

Argus Filch:

Aurora Sinistra:

Bathsheda Babbling:

Charity Burbage:

Cuthbert Binns:

Dolores Umbridge:

Filius Flitwick:

Gilderoy Lockhart:

Horace Slughorn:

Irma Pince:

Minerva McGonagall:

Pomona Sprout:

Poppy Pomfrey:

Quirinus Quirrell:

Remus Lupin:

Rolanda Hooch:

Septima Vector:

Severus Snape:

Sybill Trelawney:

Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank:

Wilkie Twycross:

Hufflepuff:

Beatrice Haywood:

Catalina Thorne: Taken by me

Cedric Diggory:

Ernie Macmillan:

Grim Fawley:

Hannah Abbott:

Justin Finch-Fletchley:

Roman Harmon: Taken by me

Susan Bones:

Zacharias Smith:

British Ministry:

Amelia Bones:

Barty Crouch Sr:

Cornelius Fudge:

Kingsley Shacklebolt:

Rufus Scrimgour:

Muggles:

Dudley Dursley:

Petunia Dursley:

Vernon Dursley:

Order Members:

Aberforth Dumbledore:

Alice Longbottom:

Arabella Figg:

Carson Thorne [please talk to me about playing this character]:

Charles Weasley:

Dedalus Diggle:

Elphias Doge:

Frank Longbottom:

Hestia Jones:

Mundungus Fletcher:

Nymphadora Tonks:

Sebastian Thorne [please talk to me about playing this character]:

Sirius Black:

William Weasley:

Winky:

Parents:

Amos Diggory:

Lucius Malfoy:

Narcissa Malfoy:

Xenophilius Lovegood:

Ravenclaws:

Anthony Goldstein:

Cho Chang:

Duncan Inglebee:

Eddie Carmichael:

Grant Page:

Jason Samuels:

Jeremy Stretton:

Luna Lovegood:

Marietta Edgecombe:

Marcus Belby:

Michael Corner:

Padma Patil:

Penelope Clearwater:

Randolph Burrow:

Roger Davies:

Terry Boot:

Xiaojung Starling: Taken by me

Slytherins:

Adrian Pucey:

Blaise Zabini:

Daphne Greengrass:

Draco Malfoy:

Elizabeth Farnon: Taken by me

Flora Carrow:

Graham Montague:

Gregory Goyle:

Hestia Carrow:

Marcus Flint:

Millicent Bullstrode:

Pansy Parkinson:

Theodore Nott:

Vincent Crabbe:

Ships-

Harry Potter × Cho Chang (year 5 fling)

Harry Potter × Ginny Weasley (years 6-7)

Ronald Weasley × Lavender Brown (year 6 fling)

Ronald Weasley × Hermione Granger (year 7)

Dean Thomas × Ginny Weasley (year 5-6)

Draco Malfoy × Catalina Thorne (years 3-7)

Theodore Nott × Catalina Thorne (year 6 fling)

Richard O'Reilly × Xiaojung Starling (year 7)

Elizabeth Farnon × Pansy Parkinson (years 4-7)

Lord Voldemort × Bellatrix Lestrange

Arthur Weasley × Molly Weasley

Vernon Dursley × Petunia Dursley

Rubeus Hagrid × Olympe Maxime

Lucius Malfoy × Narcissa Malfoy

Remus Lupin × Nymphadora Tonks

Bill Weasley × Fleur Delacour

Please comment accordingly. I spent a lot of time on this using intense research and time on this.

[ao3feed-snape]

Madeline Greyhawk: The Girl Who Loved the Half-Blood Prince

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/DqrCLpY

by Calabyrinth

The Boy Who Lived is safe, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been vanquished, the Order of the Phoenix disbanded, the Death Eaters went into hiding, or killed, or were escorted to Azkaban along with the Dementors who were reemployed; as well as Sirius Black the Mass Murderer in prison where he belongs. The trolls descended back to the forest to rarely be seen again and all the families that had been Imperioused have been released from their spells. Madeline Greyhawk had been waiting for this moment for years, since the moment her brother got his letter, and now was her moment. Walking to the platform where all the teachers sat, there lay a single stool where a dingy hat lay peaceful, grimacing at its new students. Madeline grew more nervous as she waited, frequently looking over to her big brother for reassurance. One by one, each student was called and after they were sent to their house's tables, until finally it was her turn. Looking at Gregory one last time for confidence she sat on the rickety wooden stool and smiled at him, he smiled back. As soon as the hat touched her head, she heard the voice call out, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and the smile that was wide across Gregory's face was gone.

Words: 1474, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage

Categories: F/M

Characters: Severus Snape, Albus Dumbledore, Minerva McGonagall, Madeline Greyhawk, Gregory Greyhawk, Greyhawk - Character, Original Female Character(s), Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Cuthbert Binns, Aurora Sinistra, Irma Pince, Poppy Pomfrey, Rolanda Hooch, Wilhelmina Grubbly-Plank, Sybill Trelawney, Wilkie Twycross, Slytherin Students, Hufflepuff Students, Ravenclaw Students, Gryffindor Students, Quidditch Players (Harry Potter), Peeves (Harry Potter), The Bloody Baron (Harry Potter), Helena Ravenclaw | The Grey Lady, Nearly Headless Nick, Lily Evans Potter, Tom Riddle | Voldemort, Garrick Ollivander

Relationships: Snape x Hufflepuff, Severus Snape/Original Character, Madeline Greyhawk x Severus Snape, Snape x OC - Relationship, Severus Snape/Original Female Character(s)

Additional Tags: Love, Romance, Hate, Jealousy, Mystery, School, Explicit Sexual Content, Sexual Tension, Secret Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, Underage Sex, Vaginal Fingering, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Light BDSM, Grooming, Magic, Witch - Freeform, Wizard, Fluff and Smut, Toxic Relationship, Light Bondage, Emotional Baggage, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Forbidden Love, Angst and Hurt/Comfort

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/DqrCLpY

[clioeshistoria]

The fact that h*rmione is paired with everything that breaths (or not) is proof that jk didn't bother to develvolp other female characters, besides H*rmione "what every female character should be like" Gr*nger...or it just means that her character has no personality? Idk

Pretty sure there's a fic out there pairing her with a dementor....

[elliemarchetti]

The Road to a Perfect Summer

Just a quick one-shot for Fremione’s Fabulous Summer Bingo in which I tried to cover every square of the card. Enjoy!

Words: 1.8K

Rating: Teen and Up I suppose?

TW: if mentioning sex is triggering for you then don’t read this, but I swear it’s just a couple mentions and nothing too specific. Teenagers crazy hormones, that’s all. 

After Peeves revealed to Dumbledore it was Sirius Black who scarred the Fat Lady’s portrait, all the Gryffindors were sent back to the Great Hall, where within ten minutes they were joined by the rest of the students, all equally confused.

“The teachers and I need to conduct a thorough search of the castle,” Professor Dumbledore told them as Professors McGonagall and Flitwick closed all doors into the hall. “I’m afraid that, for your own safety, you will have to spend the night here.”

Although they were in different places in the room, Hermione and Fred’s eyes met with astonishing speed. They had no reason to search for each other, there was absolutely nothing between them, yet when Dumbledore conjured hundreds of purple sleeping bags, the twins sneaked up to the corner occupied by her, their brother and Harry.

“Do you think he’s still in the castle?” George whispered, anxiously.

“Dumbledore obviously thinks he might be,” said Fred.

"Don't you think it's strange that he chose to do it on Halloween?" Hermione asked, as they climbed fully dressed into their sleeping bags and propped themselves on their elbows to talk. “The one night we weren’t in the tower…”

“He must’ve lost track of time, being on the run,” said Ron. “Otherwise, he’d have come bursting in here.”

Hermione shuddered, and Fred moved imperceptibly closer.

“The true question is how did he get in,” observed George.

“Maybe he knows how to Apparate,” said a Ravenclaw a few feet away.

“Or he disguised himself,” ventured Lee Jordan, lying right next to George.

“He could’ve flown in,” suggested Ron, but Hermione knew none of those options were valid, not with Hogwarts' defences preventing Apparition and the Dementors patrolling outside the walls. As Percy shouted for silence, the candles went out all at once, the only light now coming from the silvery ghosts and the enchanted ceiling, mirroring the sky outside. Only much later, when everyone was already sound asleep, Fred saw a single shooting star right above his head. He wished there could be more nights like this, where Hermione Granger, even if only in her sleep, sought for his hand, unaware the opportunity would soon present again. They were in the infirmary, and although Madam Pomfrey reassured them Harry would wake up after the bad fall caused by the Dementors invading the Quidditch field, it hadn’t happened yet. Hermione cried silently for a while, tears mingling with the rain dripping from her curly hair, but finally exhaustion got the better of her and she fell asleep on his shoulder, their hands intertwined. No one wanted to wake her up, so when the Healer asked for everyone to leave, Fred carried her in the Common Room and slept at the sofa’s feet, just to be sure no one would bother her. He was kind of worried for the deep dark circles under her eyes and her overall ashy complexion, so different from the tan she had when she came back from France. In those months, Fred though a lot about the letter she wrote him over summer. To be totally honest, it was him who started the correspondence, sending her some innocent photos from Egypt. He said to himself he did it because he knew Ron wouldn’t adequately update her on the wonders they say, and he certainly wasn’t expecting an answer, but when Errol came back, all dishevelled for the long trip, with a letter addressed specifically to him,  his heart almost burst with joy. In the envelope, there was also a Muggle photo of Hermione, wearing a one-piece swimsuit, smiling happily after she climbed a particularly high reef.  Her face, shoulders and tights were a deep red, but she didn’t seem to care about the sunburn. That shot immediately became one of his most precious treasures, and se he watched it for the umpteenth time, he decided to ask her to spend a few days at the Barrow the next summer. Luckily, his father winning those tickets for the Quidditch World Cup made things infinitely less embarrassing with his parents, and despite his mother found out about the Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, she wasn’t too rude with their guest, at least until she tried to defend them about the toffee he and George gave to Harry’s cousin.

“You shouldn’t have done it. Now she’s going to blame you for anything too now,” Fred told her once Mrs. Weasley stopped screaming. They were hidden in a nearby field, laying in the grass watching countless little white clouds rushing by, carried south by the wind.

“Someone had to do it, not everything you do is just plain wrong,” she replied, adjusting the denim jacket she tucked under her head. With a stretch of the imagination, she could imagine it was a soft pillow, and she was as weightless as the clouds, headed for a light-hearted adventure.

“I hope someday she’ll understand us,” Fred went on, more lost in Hermione’s side profile than in the blue and white sky. “It’s not just about making people laugh, we want to create something of our own, something nobody has ever done before.”

For some strange reasons, Hermione found it honourable, perhaps more so than Percy’s desire to take the social ladder.

“She’ll understand, you’ll open your own shop and she’ll be you customer too,” Hermione replied, closing her eyes to enjoy the peace and silent those daydream exuded. No more screaming matches in the kitchen, no more cold stares at the dinner table, and most of all, a true lab for the twins to experiment in, so no more explosions coming from their bedroom. A little too perfect for the Weasleys, but after all she liked to let her imagination run wild once in a while.

“And will you be too?” Fred asked in a whisper, making her shiver. She didn’t know what exactly was happening to her, but it’s been months since she started to get along more with her best friend’s brother than with Ron himself.

“I won’t need to be you customer to know all the products, you’ll come to ask desperately for my help and my infinite knowledge will finally be appreciated,” she joked, crossing Fred’s half amused and half amazed gaze.

“Not even for Penelope’s Purple Pussy Cats?” he asked, feigning offense.

“Not for those, and not even for one of your cheap love potions,” Hermione added, getting closer and closer to her friend’s face, drawn like iron to a magnet.

“You definitely don’t need those,” Fred concluded, cancelling the ridiculous distance separating them. Although he had thin lips, they were incredibly soft, and despite his lively character, he kissed her gently, as if they had all the time in the world and he wanted to woo her by stroking her rosy cheeks with trembling fingers. Hermione lost all sense of time, and perhaps even of space, for it was with utter amazement she felt a raindrop fall on her bare shoulder.

“You can’t be serious...” Fred muttered, his eyes turned to the suddenly leaden sky. The storm hit them fully as they tried to run home, and while they slipped through the front door soaked and covered in mud, Hermione couldn’t help but think she would kiss him for hours, hiding in a hallway or pressed against the wooden walls of his room, if only there weren’t all those people at the Burrow. The problem turned out to be even greater at school, but they managed to keep the situation under control until the summer after her fourth year, when everyone joined Sirius at Grimmauld Place. The first to express her perplexities aloud was Ginny, when in honour of the Summer Solstice Fred didn’t took off the flower crown Hermione made for him. The older of the two girls begged the younger Weasley to keep the information to herself, but Ron soon became suspicious too, seeing that Fred, who along with George could now Apparate, did nothing but sneak out to bring their common friend whatever she craved at the moment.

“First it was marshmallows, then iced coffee, I’d understand if it was something from Honeydukes, but those are Muggle things and they can be only for you,” he said, in his embarrassed and twisted way to explain the matter. The quieter of the twins obviously already knew everything, so with the start of her fifth year it seemed natural to go public, as much as possible under Umbridge’s dictatorial regime. Hermione just found a comfortable place to read in the Room of Requirements when Lee, Fred and George joined them along with Cho Chang, much to Harry’s delight.

“It’s bizarre,” said her boyfriend, frowning around at it. “We once hid from Filch in here, remember, darling? But it was just a broom closet then...”

A shiver ran through Hermione’s spine, forcing her to squeeze the pages of Jinx for the Jinxed harder than she wanted. She remembered perfectly well that day on the beginning of the year, her moans muffled by Fred’s kisses, his hands making their way under her skirt... She had to close the book shut to get a grip on herself and not rush out with him from the first official meeting of the Dumbledore’s Army.

“You did it on purpose!” Hermione exclaimed as they came back to the Common Room, while Lee and George moved far enough to give them the much agonized space. “You wanted to distract me to get the better of me with disarmament spells!”

“You know I’d do anything to win,” he teased her again, and for the next two weeks there were no more discussions about the methods he and George choose to test their new products, only long passionate kisses and a couple stolen caresses, after which came the Terry Boot incident. The Ravenclaw was so enchanted that Hermione could cast a flawless Protea Charm his words sparkled a little jealously in Fred, who decided he had to mark his territory. They nearly broke curfew that time, but for a moment, Hermione forgot even her Prefect duties and dreamed of their naked bodies for several nights to come. After the lifetime ban Professor Umbridge inflicted on nearly half the Gryffindor Quidditch Team things calmed down a little, but Hermione knew the twins would find the perfect way to get back at her, which came in the form of the biggest and most elaborate prank they ever set up, involving a lot of fireworks, some Stinksap stolen from Professor Sprout’s greenhouse, a Portable Swamp and the confiscated brooms, which reached the twins still attached to the chains used to fasten them to the wall.

“Only two months left, and then we’ll have the best summer of our lives,” Fred told Hermione before flying off into the glorious sunset, accompanied by a tumultuous applause and Professor Umbridge’s indignant screams.

[lunarfly]

Harmione Essay: Physical contact — a changing pattern (by Turambar)

Hello! This is an essay written many years ago, before the release of HBP&DH. It doesn't belong to me so credits to the original writer(Turambar)! It was written on the CoS forum, I'm not sure if it's still saved there but I have a word document with all of the essays. Anyways, this essay has no ship/character bashing. Again, this essay isn't written by me. Enjoy!

The evolution of this pattern of physical contact between Harry and Hermione is very interesting.

PS to POA:

1) If we look at the very scene where the trio become friends, a curious aspect of this pattern rears its head: Harry is physically decisive, Harry and Hermione have physical contact in a time of crisis and Ron is to one side looking on. "Harry yelled at Hermione, trying to pull her towards the door."

2) At the end of the book she initiates the hug and he feels very embarrassed since displays of physical affection are totally foreign to him. "Hermione's lip trembled and she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him. 'Hermione!' 'Harry - you're a great wizard you know.' 'I'm not as good as you,' said Harry, very embarrassed as she let go of him." Then there's the nice moment in the hospital wing when he realizes she wants to hug him again but is glad she holds herself in because his head's hurting.

3) In POA, having previously seen Harry jump on a troll for her and wrestle Millicent Bulstrode off her - both while Ron is present - Hermione turns to Harry for emotional support through a physical gesture, grabbing his arm when the trio see that the Fat Lady has been slashed (by Sirius). "Harry, Ron and Hermione moved closer to see what the trouble was. 'Oh my -' Hermione exclaimed and grabbed Harry's arm." Again Ron is present but Hermione turns to Harry.

4) The Shrieking Shack/Time Turner scenes, when they are nearer their 14th birthdays than their 13th ones, are where the pattern accelerates and becomes noticeable.

It is mostly Hermione initiating contact. Harry is accepting of this contact and only indicates she should let go of his arm at one point when her grip causes him to lose feeling in his fingers.

Shrieking Shack:

"She now grasped Harry's arm painfully hard"

"Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm again."

"Hermione's grip on Harry's arm was so tight he was losing feeling in his fingers. He raised his eyebrows at her; she nodded and let go."

Time Turner:

"In here!' Hermione seized Harry's arm and dragged him across the hall to the door of a broom cupboard, she opened it and pushed him inside."

"Hermione nudged him and pointed towards the castle."

"Hermione was holding Harry very tightly around the waist."

"Peeves!" Harry muttered, grabbing Hermione's wrist. "In here."

5) So to summarize:

a) Up to this point, apart from a couple of occasions where Harry has grabbed Hermione, the contact between them has been initiated by Hermione.

b) It has occurred at times of crisis/stress and generally involved Hermione seeking support, reassurance and protection from Harry.

c) Apart from the hug and flying on Buckbeak it has involved arm contact.

d) Despite embarrassment over the hug - understandable since it's presumably his first since he was a baby - Harry is still mature enough to pay a compliment - 'I'm not as good as you'. But he's comfortable with the contact, he doesn't question it and his indication to Hermione to release his arm is not a rejection of her: she has no qualms about grabbing him again.

GOF:

6) Here we see a change in the pattern to Hermione initiating contact in moments of fun/joy/excitement/relief.

Veela:

"She reached up and pulled Harry back into his seat."

"Hermione was soon tugging on Harry's arm. He turned to look at her, and she pulled his fingers impatiently out of his ears. 'Look at the referee!' she said giggling."

First task:

"Then before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug."

Dobby:

"Harry!' she panted, skidding to a halt beside him (the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised). She seized Harry's arm and started to try and drag him back along the corridor."

"Oh come on Harry, I want to show you!' she seized his arm again, pulled him in front of the picture... and pushed Harry hard in the back, forcing him inside."

Hexes:

"...catching up with Harry and Ron in the Entrance Hall and pulling Harry's hand away from one of his wriggling ears so that he could hear her."

The end:

"'Bye, Harry!' said Hermione, and she did something she had never done before, and kissed him on the cheek."

7) Things to note about this:

a) IMO it reflects Hermione's growing self confidence which is very evident in OOTP

b) Hermione appears to have an increasing wish for physical contact with Harry. For instance is it really necessary for her to touch his hands and pull them away from his ears (twice) to gain his attention. Wouldn't a tap on the shoulder have sufficed? And isn't hand to hand contact quite a lot more intimate than tapping someone on the shoulder?

c) Harry only initiates physical contact once, during the Dark Mark chapter: "He [Harry] seized the other two and pulled them down onto the ground." There is no description of how he reacts to the joint hug Hermione gives himself and Ron.

d) This pattern coincides with a growing mental closeness between Harry and Hermione: a lot of instances of them knowing what each other is thinking and also of Harry becoming more interested in what Hermione is thinking. It also coincides with Harry becoming more reliant on Hermione: needing her friendship when he has his falling out with Ron and her knowledge and skill to help him get through the tournament.

OOTP:

Now we finally come to the most interesting part of this whole pattern. It has changed again.

Harry's feelings towards Hermione are in transition and that flows through into a river of confused thoughts, emotions and actions about various subjects.

Just in the welcome scene, for instance, there are phrases such as: "found that he was not sorry" "the words tumbling over one another in a rush" 'but before he knew it, Harry was shouting" "every ... thought ... was pouring out of him" that help to show he's not on top of things.

8) The hug

"Followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair. Hermione had thrown herself on him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

"HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you! Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless - but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us - the Dementors! When we heard - and that Ministry hearing - it's just outrageous. I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of underage Sorcery for use of magic in life threatening situations -"

"Let him breathe, Hermione," said Ron. (Harry gives description of Ron)Still beaming, Hermione let go of Harry."

a) When compared with the pattern of the previous books this has to be the most intense and sheerly physical sign of affection and joy Hermione has ever lavished on Harry. Compare it to their first hug in PS: that was a moving embrace, this is almost a rugby tackle.

b) Neither Harry nor Hermione want to let go. Harry doesn't make any move to. Hermione only lets go after Ron intervenes.

c) For the first time, we are told how Harry feels: a "warm glow that had flared inside him". This feeling incorporates seeing both friends, but it starts when Hermione hugs him, as I've explained previously.

9) Snape's class:

"Salamander blood, Harry!" Hermione moaned, grabbing his wrist to prevent him adding the wrong ingredient."

Hagrid's cabin:

"Get under here!" Harry said quickly; seizing the Invisibility Cloak, he whirled it over himself and Hermione while Ron tore around the table and dived under the cloak as well ... Hermione gasped; Harry clapped a hand over her mouth ... Harry made to pull off the Invisibility Cloak but Hermione seized his wrist. "Not yet," she breathed in his ear. She might not be gone yet."

Quidditch:

"As they rose from the table, Hermione got up too, and taking Harry's arm she drew him to one side."

Grawp:

"Hermione walked right into him and was knocked over backwards. Harry caught her just before she hit the forest floor ... "Good!" said Hermione, as Harry set her back on her feet."

"Grawp's hand had shot out of nowhere towards Hermione; Harry seized her and pulled her backwards behind the tree, so that Grawp's fist scraped the trunk but closed on thin air.

"Bad boy Grawpy!" they heard Hagrid yelling, as Hermione clung to Harry behind the tree, shaking and whimpering."

Out of the Fire:

"Get over here," muttered Hermione, tugging at Harry's wrist and pulling him back into a recess."

"Harry grabbed Hermione and pulled her to the ground."

"Hermione had been dropped, too, and Harry hurried towards her."

"Hermione gripped his arm tightly."

"Harry could feel Hermione shaking as Grawp opened his mouth wide again and said in a deep, rumbling voice, 'Hermy.' 'Goodness,' said Hermione, gripping Harry's arm so tightly it was growing numb."

"One of the giant's massive hands reached down. Hermione let out a real scream, ran a few steps backwards and fell over. Devoid of a wand, Harry braced himself to punch, kick, bite or whatever else it took as the hand swooped towards him."

"Pebble-sized droplets of Grawp's blood showered Harry as he pulled Hermione to her feet and the pair of them ran as fast as they could."

"Harry and Hermione moved together instinctively and peered through the trees."

The Department of Mysteries:

"The circular wall was rotating. Hermione grabbed Harry's arm as though frightened the floor might move too, but it did not."

"She grabbed his arm and pulled, but he resisted."

"He seized a handful of Hermione's robes and dragged her forwards."

"Harry raised his wand but to his amazement Hermione seized his arm."

10) The major change to the pattern from all the other books is that Harry is a far more active participant.

Instead of being the more passive rock that Hermione clings on to, he is much more forcibly protecting her. He reacts very instinctively and decisively.

From being mostly one-sided in the sense that Hermione was doing most of the grabbing, it is now much more even. There's more full-on contact rather than just arm grabbing.

If we compare Harry's actions in the forest scenes of OOTP with the Shrieking Shack/Time Turner scenes he is far more protective and physical with Hermione than before. In POA they were facing the Whomping Willow, a werewolf and dementors, in OOTP a giant and centaurs.

The way Harry shapes up to Grawp without a wand shows almost a desperation to protect Hermione. When his arm starts to go numb in OOTP, same as it did in POA, this time he doesn't ask her to let go.

11) Overall this changing pattern reflects the changing nature of Harry and Hermione's relationship:

Hermione has been the one to develop and realize her feelings for Harry but now Harry is catching up just as Hermione for a while was the dominant participant in the pattern but it has evened with Harry's full involvement.

[ramblings-of-a-mad-cat]

A hphm character tier list please!! Bonus point if added reasoning/ explanation!

Have a great day :3

I doubt there are any placements on this list that would truly surprise anyone, but let's go through the different rankings. I didn't name them, by the way. Those were the categories that were already offered. I could have renamed or recolored them I suppose, but I didn't wind up doing so. Let's go in ascending order.

"Avada Kedavra." Self explanatory. Three of these characters are absolutely evil and irredeemable pieces of trash. And then there's Lockhart. He's just here because he pisses me off. Granted, so does Rita Skeeter, but she doesn't ruin an entire dating quest. At least when she shows up, it's because it's a quest about her. Fenrir Greyback purposefully infects children and describes them as "delicious" so...yeah. I'd put him even lower if I could. Albus Dumbledore's placement is also not a surprise if you know me. I hate him with all of my hate. Patricia Rakepick is also here and I doubt I need to explain why.

"Send to Azkaban." They don't bother me as much as "Avada Kedavra" but I am still not a fan. The Volde-clown Boggart is personally annoying in presentation but also as a plot device. For Peeves, there is the Prank storyline of Year 5. Enough said. The Weird Sisters creep me out, Filch and Mundugus are generally annoying, I discussed Rita, and the Dementor literally calls Azkaban home. That leaves Wormtail. I don't passionately hate him but he's not exactly a good person either.

"Kinda Sus" This is where I placed all of the characters who I, for whatever reason, do not trust or otherwise find shady, the ones who give me a bad feeling. This doesn't have to be plot related either, for cases like Ethan Parkin or Madam Hooch, it might just mean that their behavior is sometimes questionable. Of course, this is also something of a joke, like putting the Red Cloak on the list. For someone like Moody, it's more obvious - everyone knows I don't trust him. Characters like Bilton and Madam Villanelle are technically on our side, but they could be spies. If a character is a known villain, but their agenda and the depth of their evil is unclear, like The Dark Witch and the White-Robed Wizard, they also go here. Jacob and MC being placed here is somewhat of a joke, but it's also somewhat meta. Jacob is like Moody, his intentions are still unclear to me. And the game keeps teasing the idea that MC may fall to the Dark Side.

"Do you even go here?" Wow, do you ever stop to notice how many characters HPHM actually has? And this tier list included all of them, even the ones I would never have thought of. I literally just used this category to place all of the characters who do not technically attend Hogwarts school, though in a few of those cases like Aurelie, it definitely came off as more amusing. Additionally, I used this ranking for all of the characters who could be considered forgettable. Either by the fandom or the game itself, such as the prefects and poor Elora Dunn. Look, if the tier list has to actually list their name in the picture so that I can remember who they are, maybe they don't need to make the list, that's all I'm saying.

"Don't care." Mostly interchangeable with "Do you even go here." Again, the cast is so huge, that I'm not going to go through every character that I placed here. These past two rankings can mostly act as a summation for the majority of the characters for whom I don't particularly like or dislike. Emily Tyler hasn't returned or been developed as an antagonist in a while, so I don't care. Trelawney giving another prophecy is boring and conflicts with canon, so I don't care. Cedric Diggory is one of the most in-your-face examples of fanservice I've ever seen, so I don't care. But again, not all of these are negative. I think the Red Cap is funny, even if his storyline is brief. I love seeing Dobby, Arthur and Molly. I always love seeing them. I could go on.

"Ok." For the characters who, when I look at them, my immediate reaction is a generally positive one. I could probably get interested in a fanwork about these guys. For many of them, there is great potential to be explored but it just hasn't happened very much. Diego would not have been this high a year ago, but he's been fleshed out. Characters like Andre, Duncan, and Tonks...whenever they're in the spotlight and get genuine development, I'm interested. It just happens so rarely. The same goes for the Weasley boys, for Badeea. Other characters go here because I personally like them, even if they aren't that relevant. People like Aberforth and Percy. But two people can wind up here despite being very different and my having completely separate feelings about both of them, like Alanza and Ben.

"Like." Everyone that I would probably write a fanwork about someday, if I could actually motivate myself to finish my current WIP. Talbott, Chiara, and Jae are genuinely interesting and compelling. They might not make my top five, but they would make my top ten. I will always love Flitwick and what HPHM has done for him, I don't even care. Keep in mind, this doesn't mean I condone everything that the character has done...Ismelda has a lot to answer for, but it doesn't mean she's not interesting. And Penny can be very interesting too, but usually only when she's put under intense stress. As heartless as it is to say. You may also be surprised to see Myrtle here, but similar to Flitwick, I just love what this game did with her. Some of these could rise or drop a ranking pretty easily too. Like in hindsight, maybe I should have switched Duncan and Myrtle. It's not a big deal either way, I guess.

"Must be protected at all costs." Self explanatory. For the most part, these are all my favorite characters in the game, and the ones who I would lay down on railroad tracks for. Another character who climbed higher over time is Skye. If it wasn't for how much people message me about her, I may not have gotten quite as invested. My love for Orion is well documented, Rowan is the reason I started playing this game, Beatrice was the breakout character of Year 6, and Tulip x Merula is my OTP for this game. I could gush about any one of these kids for six paragraphs but the bottom line is that they are my favorite characters. It is at this point that we have entered "top five" territory.

"GOD TIER ~ ALWAYS" Characters who reign supreme and are factually flawless. It's not surprising to see characters like Dennis and Fang up here because critters are, generally speaking, leagues above humans simply by default. We can also see her majesty Queen Bean ruling from the sky, guarded by her champion, the arbiter known as Erika Rath. You are entitled to your wrong opinion if you fail to see the divinity of these characters.

[shipforshippers]

Just like Bella, Harry also don't like wet and cold things, in Chapter 9: Grim Defeat...

Cedric Diggory is such a good surprise to read here! He doesn't have much of a presence here but he is a welcome addition.

Since teachers are finding a reason to walk along with Harry after Fat Lady's incident. Does it mean Snape did the same thing? We all know Snape by the end of the series came to care for Harry but when did it actually start? My headcanon is around this time Snape realized that Harry needs protection and started to care for him although he has not so good way of showing it. This also explains Snape's actions towards the climax of the book.

Am I turning into a Pro-Snape blog, now? Since it seems like I am then I have to admit I LOVE nasty and demanding Snape! It just hits different! When Snape has to substitute for Lupin, the interaction between his students and him is pure devilish. Snape's description throughout this chapter could be straight out of the romantic lead of Mafia Romance minus cigarette, alcohol, and adult stuff... Yes, Indeed this blog is turning into a Pro-Snape blog! Good discovery on Valentine's day! For my own remainder, these books are children's books! God Help!

When I started watching Harry Potter movies I was the same age as our trio. Whereas many of my friends had a crush on Harry because he was the main character. I always had a crush on Ron! I found him adorable, sweet, and loyal, all of those things that he is. And my love for him has increased tenfold since I read he cursed Snape. Dare I say, it made him cool!

You are telling me, all the older students who are giving or given O.W.L.S and N.E.W.T.S in the Quidditch team didn't think of doing 'Impervius' spell on Harry's glasses? ok.....

Who was near Harry's bed? It can't be just Peeves? Harry talking to Crookshank is so cute. Almost like a big brother talking to a younger brother.

Dementors on Hogwarts ground was the scariest thing, Dementors scares the shit out of me! The only thing I agree with Dumbledore is on no zone for Dementors in Hogwarts ground!

I don't know why but Oliver drowning himself in the shower is somehow funny to me. Honestly, when Oliver was explaining the points system for the Quidditch cup I didn't understand a word! On other hand, I feel bad for Harry and his broomstick...

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

That's it from me. Thank you for reading!

[missnight0wl]

Who do you think imperioed Ben in Y4/5 in the Red Cloak incidents?Was it Pettigrew?If so,was he getting orders from R at the time to do so?Did they threaten to reveal he's alive if he didn't follow their orders?How did they even find him or knew he is still alive?Also,who tampered with the ice/fear/forest vault and avtivated the curses if it wasn't R?If R didn't want MC to go after the vaults at first,surely they wouldn't tamper with those first vaults?Or did Ben accidentally activate ice vault?

Pretty tough questions, but I’ll try my best to explain how I see it.

Let’s start with Pettigrew. Honestly, I really doubt that he responsible for the Red Cloak incidents. In fact, I believe that his role was supposed to limited to delivering the vault portrait to Hogwarts. Yes, his activity in Y4 would technically make sense as that’s when Percy arrived at Hogwarts (even though we officially met him only in Y5), but other things also don’t make much sense. For example, while I don’t believe that Pettigrew had anything to do with any of the Red Cloak’s attack, it was pretty clear that he was responsible for putting the Imperius Curse on Rowan in Y5Ch19. But look how different this situation was. It happened in the middle of a day when there were quite a lot of people in the Courtyard, Rowan didn’t wear the red cloak, and moreover – in one of the option Rowan decides to kill MC!

But it doesn’t make any sense. We know that at that point, R still needed MC for the Legilimency door. They wouldn’t do anything to hurt MC! Yes, Rowan didn’t use anything super deadly (since Barnaby actually took that spell on himself, and he seemed to be more or less fine), but still. So… here’s what I’m thinking.

R find out about Pettigrew somehow, and they blackmailed him to take the vault portrait to Hogwarts. I have no idea how they found out, but we’re talking here about an international organisation that apparently didn’t have much problem infiltrating both Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. So, I imagine that they have their ways to do pretty much anything. Anyway, Peter was supposed to deal with the portrait, but then Rakepick saw his name on the Map and was hot on his trail. He panicked and decided to use Imperio on Rowan as a distraction from himself. He knew something about the previous attacks, but not enough to do it properly. Also, I don’t think he knew much even about the portrait itself. Like, here’s our interaction with him in Y5Ch20:

I’d say that he seems to be way more bothered by Rakepick and the Map. And maybe that’s just me, but it kind of seems that he’s not exactly aware of what the portrait is. He asked “The Portkey?” as if making sure if they’re talking about the same thing because R told him just as much. Also, he doesn’t seem to be interested in chasing Peeves for stealing it. Sure, he is upset, but he can also tell R that he did his part of a job. Peeves is not his problem anymore.

And I’ll just remind in this place: I don’t believe Pettigrew was with Rakepick and Jacob in the Portrait Vault. He seems kind of clueless here, and not particularly interested in the portrait at all. Rakepick lied to us about him. Why? I dunno, perhaps she hoped that we’ll continue this investigation, but unfortunately, all the kids present to hear her story are too dumb for that, and nobody realised that Pettigrew’s presence has no sense for a timeline. This, or Jam City screwed up.

So, who was responsible for the Red Cloak incidents then? Frankly, I have no idea. It wasn’t Rakepick for sure. Rakepick herself told us at the very beginning of Y4 that we have to continue our search for the Cursed Vaults, while the Red Cloak told us to stay away from the Cursed Vaults AND Patricia Rakepick. It’s not only contradicting, but also, it’d pretty stupid to bring up her own name. I also doubt that it was Merula. Sure, maybe she was able to learn wandless magic over summer, but she’s 17 now. She was just 14 at the time of the attacks – there’s no way she was able to put Imperio on Ben. It could’ve been her under the Red Cloak at the beginning of Y5, though, when we talked with Ben. It’d just mean that she wasn’t controlled, she simply delivered the message.

Anyway, it seems to me that there should be someone else – someone we don’t really know about, probably an adult. They don’t have to be at Hogwarts all the time, but they could fill for Merula where more skills are required. I mean, there definitely was someone who brought a Dementor to Hogwarts in the Patronus TLSQ. Moreover, Jacob moved his research to his secret room to avoid Filch, Snape, and R – meaning that he also might’ve been suspecting that R has their members at Hogwarts.

Now, to the second part.

All right, here’s an important thing: just because R didn’t want MC to go after the Cursed Vaults before Y5, it doesn’t mean that they didn’t want to go after them themselves. The thing is that they wanted to use Jacob for that. What I mean by that is that I assume that the siblings are needed to open the final vault – or at least one of them is. My other assumption here is that you actually have to be prepared for that, and it involves personally going through all the previous vaults. That’s why they were forcing Jacob to break one curse after another. It wouldn’t be enough to get him for the final vault (or one vault earlier for the Legilimency door) – he had to go through the whole process.

I also imagine that there had to be a reason why R had to start from the first vault again. I mean, otherwise, why wouldn’t they just take Jacob to the final vault after his expulsion? One possible explanation here would be that there’s some kind of time limit for reaching the final vault. They didn’t get there in time, so the whole thing reset.

Now, imagine this. R has Jacob, prepared for the final vault. Unfortunately, the cycle of the Cursed Vault reset. However, it doesn’t have to mean that Jacob’s preparation is also cancelled. They just have to break all the previous curses, but it doesn’t really matter who would do this. Maybe it’s even better if each curse was broken by somebody else because then it’d mean that none of those people would be fully prepared for the final vault. So, maybe they wanted to give Merula a chance at breaking them, maybe they were planning to control Ben in order to quickly break all of them. Or they’d even switch students.

But then, there was MC. And MC is a dangerous competition for R. They’re one of the siblings who are able to open the final vault. Dumbledore has his eye on them, and he’d probably be more careful than he was with Jacob. And then, that damn Rakepick comes into play. And R just doesn’t want to be bothered with MC, manipulating them to work with them, making sure that they’re prepared for the final vault, dealing with Dumbledore and Rakepick and whatnot. They already went through all of that once. They just want to break all the curses quickly and use Jacob at the end.

So, I believe that it was R who was purposefully activating each curse. The question would be: “who did they use to do it?”. It could’ve been Merula, or controlled Ben, or that potential unknown adult who was also responsible for controlling Ben. Anyway, there was one clue in Y5Ch3 we unfortunately never returned to:

I imagine that the same person might’ve had something to do with the previous curses as well, they just never were noticed. Although…

There’s one weird thing that might be also connected to that. When Ben was missing at the beginning of Y2, we were asking around about him. This is when we learnt that both Dumbledore and Snape were already interested in Ben for some reason.

But there were some other pretty intriguing lines…

The Forbidden Forest is weird in particular because, in normal circumstances, Ben would be terrified to get anywhere close there. Let’s remember we talk about Y2 here. So, we have “a corridor upstairs” which could be related to the Vault of Ice or the Vault of Fear, we obviously also have the Forest Vault. The Dungeons and the Kitchens might be related to the maybe-not-entirely-removed House-Elves plot. But then… it’s odd that Ben would be doing something with those vaults so much in advance (or that R would make him do that). I’m really not sure how to view it...

See, this is why I wish so badly Jam City would focus on the lore of the Cursed Vaults (instead of dating, for example).

Anyway, none of it is a definite answer, but honestly – I don’t have definite answers. Still, I hope it does make some sense. I really tried to capture my reasoning without making it too long and complex.

[halothenthehorns]

All in the Family

Chapter 130: Beyond the Veil

Sirius saw something black fluttering as he stumbled around and only had a moment to be grateful at least he was about to hit something soft when a strong pair of arms grabbed him. He groaned as James hauled him to the ground instead, both of them now facedown on the cold stone floor.

He sat up and decided against pushing him down the stairs in retaliation, he was too grateful Prongs was okay. James sat up with a very peeved look on his face they'd successfully stopped him grabbing that stupid thing, now Sirius looked around critically to make sure there wasn't anything else to worry about killing them.

Regulus, Evans, he and James were up on some sort of raised dais, that creepy black thing that had so fascinated Harry and a few other kids fluttering along with no breeze in sight. Sirius concentrated for a moment but heard nothing whisper-like at all, but he still found himself grateful James had stopped him from stumbling through that as he probably was about to, it gave him the creeps even more in person. The book was resting on the arch holding it into place.

The other four had landed in a scattered mess all around, sitting up plenty fast and looking around in concern. He watched as Peter and Longbottom immediately looked to that thing as well, and seemed far more intrigued than anything. Wormtail didn't even get up, staying in place and watching the movement with that critical eye of his. Longbottom got slowly to his feet and actually began moving forward, despite the fact Alice was at the opposite end of the room and he didn't even seem to notice.

Remus was too, but he had eyes only on Sirius as he moved slowly down the steep stairs farther into the pit. Sirius quickly averted his eyes and made to grab the book, and scowled in frustration when James beat him to it. He gave it a toss though and called, "here Moony, get us out of here please?" Eyes still on Sirius with that expression he probably should have felt something for, but he'd been numb so long now he wasn't entirely sure what himself. He'd just known he shouldn't let Prongs grab that, so he'd stopped him. He'd gone through the motions of letting Remus comfort him, but even then it had felt more like watching someone else move his hand. Even the brief flair of emotion he'd felt being held by Moony had almost undone him, so he'd just screwed the lid tighter on all these bubbling emotions.

A spike of fear finally shot through his consciousness as Remus stuttered, "B-Beyond the, the Veil." He'd never heard Remus so terrified in his life as he whispered that and dropped the book, shaking his head in remorse as he mouthed he wouldn't do it.

It was the same look James had on his face since Harry had that vision, still there now as he grabbed Sirius and pulled him forcefully down the stairs to grab the book and still not leaving an inch of space between them. His son or his brother, Sirius had known from the beginning as well as anyone James was being torn in two now with both in such danger and he was actually going to force himself to read the results rather than waiting around for anyone else to figure it out. Sirius knew he should stop him, but he couldn't hold onto the feeling long enough to act on it.

Sirius was still clinging to his nothingness, an absolutely useless shell as he listened to Death Eaters arriving, taunting Harry and those teenagers with knowledge of what Harry now had in that Prophecy. He wondered if this is what those long years in Azkaban would feel like, just shutting down and not thinking for as long as possible, listening to sounds and refusing to react lest a Dementor was drawn back to you.

He didn't want to be! He wanted to hug James and tear that book away, stand on top of that stupid arch if he had to and read to save Prongs from this, he wanted to hold Remus and promise he'd never be alone, to check on Peter and Regulus to make sure they were okay. Someone should probably check on Evans too, he couldn't even imagine how she'd be dealing with all of this, her kid in danger because of him. Hell, he even felt for Longbottom and Alice, they'd never asked for any of this and their kid was in just as much trouble as his godson!

Every time he caught himself moving though he just doubled down on his new resolve, if he acted on a single one of those impulses he'd probably just make things worse, again! Somehow, someway he'd manage it in this room.

Harry was in trouble now. Bellatrix and Malfoy were taunting them all with promises of an answer while Harry's gang worked out a silent plan to get themselves away. They were mocked with vicious lies about Sirius's involvement being nothing more than a dream, and honestly they still couldn't believe it.

Whether a lie that had brought Harry there or a lie to sway them into running only to have him as a hostage still, Harry was given no true time to collect himself as the plan was put into motion and the Prophecy room was destroyed, scattering Dumbledore's Army and their enemies all about this place. Nobody had the inclination to go traveling through the other rooms in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the destruction as the war began taking victims from both sides.

Harry, Neville, and Hermione had been separated from Luna, Ron, and Ginny with half a dozen Death Eaters after each.

Neville's nose and wand were broken, and two Death Eaters were down, one more spectacularly than they'd ever be able to imagine with that baby head. Hermione went down in a flash of purple, and so did a Death Eater via Harry in retaliation.

"Frank?" The true fear in her voice didn't really register though.

It was more James looking around, actually distracted from this that had Sirius doing the same, but he did feel another beat of shock to see him tugging on Alice's hand to be let go, eyes glazed over as he still watched the blackness. Lily had jumped down and joined them, but he wasn't acknowledging the two girls one bit, mouthing something none could hear. Alice looked near tears he wasn't even reacting to the knowledge Neville had apparently just lost his dad's own wand in the fight, he wasn't really reacting to anything anymore either.

A shot of real panic finally washed over Sirius as he turned wildly back around and saw Peter was edging onto the stairs, small tentative steps but still just as riveted on that thing. Regulus was right in front of him on the dais, waving his hand pleadingly in front of his face and holding his wand dangerously, but Peter wasn't fighting as hard to get away, he just couldn't seem to stop looking.

"James, read faster," Sirius stated, finally moving again towards the pair. He didn't care if they hated him even more later, he'd drop dead rather than not react to this! James reached out to grab him though, nearly hyperventilating with stress. "It's alright Prongs," Sirius promised, squeezing the hand that trembled along his shoulder, finally meeting his eyes again. "Get us out of here."

Sirius finally getting his spark of life back bolstered James like nothing else could have, he swallowed and nodded with determination while Sirius and Remus went up the steps to get the other two. Peter went down backwards obligingly, but still had a very drugged sort of expression like he had no clue of anything except that small fluttering movement. James was reading with a vengeance now though, his strong voice carried in the whole room as Harry and his friends managed to regroup, but couldn't seem to get out of there.

Regulus put a firm hand on Peter's shoulder until he sat down on the ground and still he craned his neck to keep the thing in sight. Longbottom was really struggling against the girls now, pushing them away with force and calling, "Dad?" He wasn't going for his wand yet, but Sirius wasn't going to let it go that far.

He'd feel bad later for this as well when he aimed and petrificus totalus, causing Longbottom's limbs to snap together and he fell to the ground stiff as a board. There wasn't a chance anyone was going near that thing now as Harry came crashing back into this room alone! Every one of his friends were out of commission in one way or another, his godson had the prophecy and nowhere to run but up there in a mockery for the center of attention he was so like James for.

Neville wasn't going to stand for that though, broken nose and useless wand as his only form of attack while he descended into the fray. Alice made such a terrifying noise of fury Sirius jumped to be between her and James, but her vengeance for Bellatrix Lestrange mocking her child was not to be directed at anyone in here as she stayed by Frank's side and held his petrified hand.

The Cruciatus curse was set upon their child and Sirius couldn't just stand there doing nothing! He knew that pain, his godson had been subjected to the same from Voldemort, he made to go over there and promise Neville would live through it and anybody who said otherwise would pay, but the ghost of Prongs and Evans weren't going to swoop in and save anybody this time, the Order arrived.

James moved again and wasn't letting go this time, holding Sirius firmly to his side and balancing the book carefully as he rushed in amongst the others. This should have been a good thing, Sirius kept telling himself as he put an easy arm around James's back this time and held him just as close in commiseration. This should have been exactly what they were hoping for, Sirius up and around on his feet to the rescue, Harry would get out of there in no time now!

They kept expecting flashes of light to blind them from the battle, the eight of them were all staying low to the floor now even if they didn't need to and James was practically whispering the dreaded back and forth. Remus was holding his hand now and he didn't know or care who had started that as the prophecy was broken and everything felt so hopeless right now.

"Dumbledore?!" Sirius repeated in a great sigh of relief in case anyone had missed what Prongs had said. He moved to get up and dance around the room in excitement, maybe even try a few of those doors now and skip along merrily in here! Everything was supposed to be fine now, their headmaster could best Voldemort, nothing else was going to happen in this room while that white beard was around!

Prongs hadn't stopped though, his grip on Sirius turned to bruising force as he was still battling Bellatrix and Sirius laughed in wild delight for the idea, it was high time he got to bloody do something useful in this future like that!

Whatever words had appeared next though seemed to have frozen him over, and Sirius leaned in impatiently, still high on his jubilation to read more in confusion than anything Bellatrix had hit him with a spell! The nerve of her sent him into a fit of anger now, reading in a temper what James never could and not even realizing what he'd said until far too late.

Sirius had been the one to fall into the veil, and he did not come back out.

[l0vege0rgie]

HATE ME [CH. 1]

GEORGE WEASLEY X OC FANFICTION

warnings/tags: not a lightweight story. setting is ootp onwards. slow burn. angst with happy ending. major and minor character deaths. future warnings in future chapters.

posted in wattpad as well!

CEDRIC DIGGORY had died no less than a year now. Not only his death will be remembered, but as well as who he entirely was. Ever since the school year started after the heartbreaking tragedy during the Tri-Wizard Tournament, everything had been different.

The sky looked duller, the wind felt more harsh.

Hogwarts had been infiltrated by the Ministry, with Dolores Umbridge acting as headmistress and High Inquisitor. The Inquisitorial Squad had been created to support the Ministry's decree about the education being taught to them, but that is nothing compared to an army created during the same year. Dumbledore's Army. Determined. Driven. Motivated.

Dumbledore's Army was a secret organization lead by the famous Golden Trio. There were a number of them who joined, maybe about 30. Some out of fear, but most out of their own willingness. It wasn't intended to become an army for an upcoming war, it was only intended for Harry Potter to teach willing students of the Dark Arts, which, apparently, weren't being taught at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

Adhara Burke was one of the unexpected, if not the only one, member of the said organization. Although not a Slytherin, her father was one of the co-owners of Burgin and Burkes, a shop in Diagon Alley that was mostly known of its shady artifacts. She wasn't a bully like Malfoy, but she certainly wasn't as friendly as the others in the group.

"Ready your wands, everyone!" Potter announced once everything was cleared outside the Room of Requirement. Adhara silently took a hold of her wand she kept hidden in the inner pocket of her robe. Sitting at the back made it easy for her to observe everyone. They all had their own circle, their own pairs, she was the only one alone at the back. The Weasleys (excluding Ron) huddled together, the Golden Trio at the very center, Longbottom and the others on the other side, and here she was.

She tried to not roll her eyes. Times like these she wished she joined the Inquisitorial Squad with Malfoy instead of wasting her time here. But then again, she'd learn more of DADA here.

They were being taught to cast their own Patronuses for the third time this week when a tall redhead approached her. "Hey, Burke," the guy, who she realized was one of the Weasley twins, greeted. "Weasley," She replied, acknowledging him.

This was her first interaction three weeks after being a member of Dumbledore's Army.

Adhara saw the Weasley's lips twitch upward into a large smile. His eyes glistening. "Have you already summoned your Patronus?" He inquired. She still doesn't know if he's Fred. Or George. She didn't really pay attention to them as individuals and always saw them as a duo who just liked to team up with Peeves in pranking the whole of Hogwarts.

"Not yet," She replied in a flat tone.

"Well, we got plenty of time. Mine's a magpie, you know. A bird. Lot would say that having a magpie as your patronus would mean you're an intellectual," He blabbered and raised his brows when he said the last part as if it was interesting enough for her.

"And you're telling me, why?" Adhara asked, not even looking back at Weasley and focused on her hand gestures. She sinply didn't care. She's more confused as to why the other half of the Weasley twin bothered to go near her and talk to her.

She saw in her peripheral how the Weasley guy scratched the back of his neck and smiled sheepishly. "Right, well, I've been eyeing you for sometime now-"

"You were what?"

The girl immediately looked at him with wide eyes, her mouth open from shock. "Huh? Oh- no, no, it's not like that!" Weasley immediately said and waved his hands in front. "I, I just noticed you were always alone during meetings. So, so I tried to approach you today," His voice slowly went soft after the small panic.

Adhara looked at him accusingly, still. "I don't even know which Weasley twin you are." She said and turned her back before walking away. She stopped abruptly and looked back, "Don't follow me." She added and walked away completely.

She just went to the other side of the room.

Flicking her wand with the right gesture, a circle, she tried casting the incantation. "Expecto Patronum," she casted. A soft glow illuminated the tip of her wand, but it was only a shapeless cloud of mist. Potter had commended her. "Burke, that's a good one. That can shield you from dementors and could buy you time," he then told her to do better and try to cast an actual Patronus. A corporeal one.

So she tried. Again, and again, and again.

Think of happy memories, Adhara. Think.

She rummaged her mind for any memories that were joyous enough. She thought of the time she first landed her feet in Platform 9 3/4.

That's good. That'll work.

She began drawing another circle using her wand and said the incantation once more, this time a little louder, "Expecto Patronum!" This time she felt the magic on her fingertips, as the tip of her wand bursted with light. She anticipated it would be another cloud of mist, but it turned to a beautiful, blinding, and dazzling Bay Stallion. The horse trotted elegantly around Adhara, and then trotted further around the whole Room of Requirement.

Everyone stared in awe.

"That was wonderful! You successfully conjured a corporeal Patronus!" Hermione Granger said, her eyes glimmering with excitement. The rest agreed, and watched the stallion disappear in a mist after a few seconds.

She said nothing and just smiled thin. She could feel someone was staring at her. Clicking her tongue, she looked at her side. The pestering Weasley was looking at her, his smile even larger than earlier. Was that even possible? She felt her jaw hurting just imagining it in her head.

As if on cue, he was already walking his way to her. "That was a really amazing Patronus, Burke. Mine is nothing compared to yours," He immediately said after being near her again.

"I know."

Weasley gave a barking laugh.

"Didn't know you had that comedy in you, Burke. I'm George, by the way. George Weasley."

[bush-viper-cutie]

“One Eyed Witch” || YEAR 3 – Ch.19 (HP au)

                              Chapter List

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Day posted: 9/11/2020

Word count: 3, 010

Relationship: EVENTUAL severus X oc (slow burn)

Rating: E for everyone

Warnings: none

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A/N: This is my first fan fic I’m writing mainly as a way to practice. This is a retelling of the hp books with an inserted character. Although most every character will be written about, this is mostly for the pro snape fandom. Please do not fear, although this is a severus x oc story, it is an incredibly slow burn as I do not intend for them to get together at all until after the final book events. Chapters will be posted twice a week.

This derivative work follows the events of the Harry Potter books by Jk Rowling and is intended as a fun way to practice my writing. Thank you for reading :D

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It took a month, but Harry’s spirits seemed to finally have recovered fully from October’s horrible first game of the season. Heather noticed his mood change from quiet and constantly annoyed to loud and annoying but cheerful. The second Ravenclaw flattened Hufflepuff and Gryffindor was put back in the running, it confirmed for her how very simple Harry’s emotions were sometimes.

“Be quiet!” she hissed at him.

He rolled his eyes at her and leaned away from Ron and went back to stirring his potion.

She shook her head and glanced at Professor Snape who had been eyeing them from behind Neville. If it wasn’t for Neville’s inability to follow safety procedures, they’d have gotten yelled at and sent to detention already for all of Harry and Ron’s snickering.

“But could you imagine the look on Malfoy’s face when you flash a dementor away?” Ron looked over at a glaring Malfoy and back. “Make sure to flash them towards him.”

Harry held in a laugh and nodded. “There might not be any at my next match. Professor Dumbledore’s been keeping them away really well. The sky’s not even dark anymore.”

“Harry,” Heather hissed again. “Can you please focus on one class at a time? Your potion’s about to bubble over!” She took his stirring rod and dispersed the bubbles before they spilled over onto his dried cocoons and turned them to ash. “We still have two weeks before the holidays! And Professor Lupin still needs to feel better.”

Harry seemed to have calmed down and focused for the rest of class. The bells rang in the distance and it was time to turn in their potions. Heather packed her things and rushed to keep up with Harry and Ron who were attempting at bolting out the door to get as far away from Professor Snape as possible.

“Where’s Hermione?” Ron looked around.

Heather and Harry looked around too at all the exiting students and spotted her brown bushy hair already outside. She noticed them searching and waved at them from the corridor over everyone’s bobbing heads.

“How.” Ron frowned.

Heather narrowed her eyes at Hermione, feeling her suspicion growing. They were almost out the door when Draco called her from his seat.

“What’s he want?” Harry frowned.

She shrugged. “Probably Quidditch stuff… I’ll see you guys after lunch.”

They let her stay behind reluctantly and watched her make her way back down to the front of the class from outside the room before walking away.

She walked up to Draco who was leaning against his desk with Crabbe and Goyle right behind him, writing out stuff on long rolls of parchments.

“What were they laughing about, Potter? They kept looking over at me. Are they planning something?”

She almost laughed. “They’re not ‘planning’ anything. Harry’s just happy Hufflepuff’s not going to win the Quidditch Cup this year.”

Draco smirked and looked back at Crabbe and Goyle. “I didn’t know he’d be so excited for Slytherin’s victory.”

Crabbe and Goyle laughed and nodded.

“Focus.” Professor Snape’s voice made them jump and turn back to their rolls of parchment.

Heather looked back at him, absolutely astounded that he’d let students stay behind to finish what looked like extra assignments or to just hang out in Draco’s case.

“We’re playing Ravenclaw next, pretty sure. Flitwick still needs to decide on which team but they always think they have a chance against Slytherin’s for some reason. So I’m sure we’ll be playing them.”

Heather already guessed that by the way Marcus was making them practice the trickiest of plays that he normally saved for Ravenclaw. Her shoulders still ached from yesterday’s early morning practices.

Draco pushed himself onto the table and sat with his feet on a stool. “So, have you and your dumb brother found a way to get permission to go to Hogsmeade?”

Heather shook her head and smiled. “No. Why? Eager to see us there?”

His face turned pink and he scoffed. “As if.”

She heard a deep sigh and turned to see Professor Snape rubbing his temples at a botched potion he was holding up. He shook his head and set it back down among the other jars that had been turned in and sipped from his mug. She noticed four jars set aside and recognized one of them as her own, based on her crooked label. She smiled and turned away. Her potion had been grouped in with the other near perfect potions from class.

Now her sprit’s remained as high as Harry’s knowing that despite Professor Snape’s constant look of disgusts at her potions, she was at least on the same level as Draco and among the top in the class.

“Heather? Earth to Heather?” Hermione waved her hand in front of Heather’s face.

Heather blinked. “Hmm?”

“I SAID, what do you want from Hogsmeade? If I’m going to get you a present today I need to know and preferably before the line leaves.”

Mr. Filch was holding up the line, waiting for precisely twelve o’clock to let them go despite everyone being present and ready to leave a minute early.

She put a finger to her chin and thought. “I’d really like to start growing plants in my dorm. So maybe a nice pot? There are fallen leaves on the ground in the green houses that I’m sure Professor Sprout won’t miss.”

“Take one of the carnivorous ones with the long tongues and grow it next to Pansy.” Ron dodged Hermione’s hand.

“That’s a terrible idea Ron! Please tell me you won’t do that.”

Heather frowned and shook her head at Hermione and winked and nodded at Ron.

“Heather!”

“Oh of course not!” She crossed her arms.

Harry sighed. “Line’s moving. See you guys.”

They waved Ron and Hermione goodbye and watched them leave down the stairs.

“Go on, move away!” Mr. Filch shooed them away after all the other students had left.

Heather kept her eyes on the falling snow outside for a few more seconds before pulling Harry into the eerily quiet castle. They were on their way to the library, per usual during Hogsmeade weekends, when they were pulled behind a corner by Fred and George.

“Follow us young nifflers – ”

“And let your days of treasure hunting be over.”

Fred and George smiled wide and motioned for them to follow. They followed them into a nearby classroom and sat at one of the desks while they secured the door closed.

“What’re you guys doing?” Heather looked at them wearily as they checked all around the classroom.

“We have something to give you.” Fred walked back to them as George finished inspecting the closet.

George joined them. “Early Christmas present from us, to the both of you.”

“To share.” Fred winked and took out something from inside his cloak pocket.

He twirled it in his hand and smacked it down on the desk. Heather recognized it at once and turned to watch Harry’s bewildered reaction.

“Spare parchment? Very old spare parchment?”

Heather smiled. Harry didn’t know what it was.

George looked at Heather and winked. “No Harry, it’s more than that. This is how we do it.”

“Do what?”

Fred smiled wickedly. “Everything.”

“See, Harry,” George stood straight and put a hand to his heart. “Back when we were young little first years, we got in trouble with Filch.”

“He sent us to his office where we noticed a drawer labeled ‘Confiscated and Highly Dangerous’ while he yelled at us about the Dungbomb we let off in the corridor.”

“What’s so dangerous about old parchment?”

Fred chuckled and hit George’s shoulder. “He still doesn’t get it.”

George crossed his arms. “He really doesn’t.”

Heather tilted her head at the map. “Wait… Filch knows it exists?”

Fred shrugged. “Not sure if he ever found out how to work it. Being a squib and all.”

“But he probably guessed at what it was, r’else why would he have confiscated it?”

“But what IS it?” Harry reached for it, but George swatted his hand away.

“Let us finish Harry!” George opened the parchment up.

Fred took out his wand and tapped it.

Together they said, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.”

The second their mouths closed at the last sound the ink on the map began to spread from the point of Fred’s wand. It spread like a spider’s web and fanned out in every direction until the words began to blossom and turn green.

‘Messrs. Mooney, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aid to Magical Mischief-Makers

Are Proud to present

The Marauder’s Map’

Heather grinned, remembering how cool she thought it was. She looked over at Harry who looked beyond intrigued. George opened it further and suddenly every detail of Hogwarts was visible to them. They could see the castle, the grounds, the edge of the lake, and tiny ink blots moving around with tiny, scribbled names attached. There weren’t many in the castle, and even fewer out in the grounds.

“It’s a map… to all of Hogwarts?” Harry pointed at a dot labeled Professor Dumbledore, who was pacing back and forth in his office.

Heather pointed at Mrs. Norris, who was stalking around in the second-floor corridor. They spotted Peeves in the trophy room.

“Wait a second,” Harry gasped. “Are those – ?”

Fred grinned. “Secret passages.”

Heather frowned. “They lead to – ”

“Hogsmeade.” Fred and George chorused.

“Seven secret passages in all.” Fred tapped on four of them. “Filch knows about these. But these ones – ” He pointed out the three others. “We’re sure he has no clue ‘bout these.”

“This one’s caved in… And that one’s really dangerous. The Whomping Willow’s planted right over it so don’t even bother. This one though…” George grinned. “Right into Honeydukes’ cellar.”

Heather inspected the secret passageway they were talking about and noticed their little dot selves right next to it.

“The entrance is at that one-eyed humped witch statue outside the room here,” Fred pointed. “But something very important you have to remember.”

“You need to wipe it after you’re done.” George tapped the map with his wand.

“Mischief managed,” they both said and the map cleared.

“Money, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. We owe ‘em everything.” Fred said solemnly.

“Alright well, we’ll see you in Hogsmeade.” George tapped Fred’s shoulder and they both left the room.

Harry reached for the map but Heather snatched it up fast. “Harry. Have you forgotten we’re not supposed to go? It’s not safe?”

Harry took it from her hands. “Except if we had gotten the signatures we’d be there already! So technically… it’s fine.”

Heather huffed angrily.

“Besides. We’ll be going from Hogwarts directly to Honeydukes. So we can’t run into Sirius Black. It’s the safest way, really.”

Heather narrowed her eyes at him. He had a point and she hated it. “You know what the Weasleys say about magical artifacts… Dangerous ones Harry.” She waited for him to look at her. “If it can think for itself, and you can’t see where it keeps it’s brain – ”

“Don’t trust it,” he finished. “But Fred and George are Weasleys and have been using this thing for years. It’s fine, alright?”

She sighed, giving in. “Fine… meet by the witch in five minutes. You can’t go out like that. You’ll catch a cold.”

They snuck out of the room and went their separate ways, meeting back at the witch in their Weasley green sweaters and old hand-me-down knitted black hats. They stood by the witch and while Harry looked around for anyone, Heather opened up the map and traced her finger along the passage. She looked at the old crone and back down at the map and a tiny speech bubble had taken over the label of her name.

“‘Dissendium’,” she said and the witch began to move.

The hump opened wide enough to fit them one at a time.

“Quickly go, go!” Harry pushed her in.

She stepped in and felt a decline. “Lumos… Careful on your way down – AH!” Harry had knocked her over and they both tumbled down the slope onto earthy ground. Heather stood and dusted off. She picked up her wand and map. “Mischief managed,” she tapped it.

“I’ll hold it,” Harry reached for it.

Heather pulled it behind her back. “You have the cloak. I should have the map.”

“No way. If Pansy or Malfoy find it, then it’s good as lost. If Ron or Neville do then it’s still safe.” He reached around her and tore it out of her hands.

She pushed him away and straightened her sweater. She’d bring this topic back up later. It wasn’t fair he got to keep both things, especially since they were supposed to share it and own it together.

“Let’s go.” He led the way down the passage.

The passage curved and bent, twisted left then right until finally, after almost an hour, Harry tripped over stone steps. Heather picked him up and made her way up the steps, feeling something level graze her head as she climbed. She put her hands up and pushed, feeling the flat ceiling come loose.

She shifted the loose stone tile and pushed it back, poking her head up into what looked like a cellar full of barrels, crates, and large sack bags. She looked around and saw they were alone.

“Clear,” she whispered and climbed out.

Harry moved the stone tile back and headed for the wood steps. They heard laughter and voices and a distant high-pitched bell with the sound of a shutting and opening door.

A door opened nearby, and they jumped apart and hid behind boxes. A man came down the stairs and headed for the opposite wall, searching deep inside one of the barrels. She looked over at Harry and he jerked his head up. They both climbed back on the stairs and headed up and out of the cellar through the open door.

They were standing behind the counter and quickly ducked down, creeping out from behind and straightening out as they reached the main floor of the shop with all the candy and other people. There were so many Hogwarts students picking out treats and sweets that no one paid them any attention at all.

There were tall, curved shelves of sugar treats in jars, baskets, boxes, and tubes. There were all variations of cream consistencies, from frosty drinks to chewy nougat. There were squares and circles and swirls of colorful candy. And in a jar to Heather’s left were blue sugary springs that bounced and hit the glass lid, trying their very best to escape – or jump into her mouth. She wasn’t sure.

“Can you imagine how crazy Dudley would go here?” Harry laughed.

“I’d rather not.” Heather nudged him towards the door.

Harry stepped away from the rows of dark chocolate frogs and stopped at a barrel of exploding toffees. Heather remembered a second year in the common room eating one when it exploded in her mouth and got all over her teeth. She was picking it from her teeth for a week.

“You don’t want those.” She pulled him and spotted Ron and Hermione in the very back just as she reached the door. “Oh look!”

They headed to the ‘Unusual Tastes’ section and stayed quiet behind Ron and Hermione as they looked at a tray of blood-flavored lollipops.

“No, I don’t think they’d like those,” Hermione shook her head.

“What about these?” Ron held up a box of Cockroach Clusters. “They might – ”

“No. Well maybe Harry – ”

“Definitely not Harry,” Harry spoke up quickly.

Ron and Hermione jumped and turned around.

“How’re you two here!” Hermione frowned and crossed her arms.

“You two apparated?” Ron’s jaw dropped.

“You can’t apparate from Hog – ”

“Hogwarts, yeah.” Ron rolled his eyes. “How’d you two get here?”

Heather shushed Harry before he opened his mouth. “Too many sixth years here.”

Harry nodded. “What’ve you got so far?”

Ron opened up his bag of Honeyduke sweets. “Just the usual. Every Flavor Beans – ”

“Not every flavor,” Heather murmured.

Ron rolled his eyes. “Some Fizzing Whizbees, levitating sherbet balls – Hermione’s Toothflossing Stringmints – black pepper imps, Ice Mice, exploding bonbons, and sugar quills – also Hermione’s.”

“Restock,” Harry gave him a thumbs up and turned. “What should I buy?”

“You brought your money?” Heather looked at Harry incredulously.

“You buy loads of books with yours and I don’t complain.” He pushed Ron away and together went to look at the Jelly Slugs in their tank.

Heather and Hermione looked at each other and sighed before joining them.

“Oh, don’t try those.” Ron took the Acid Pops from Harry and put them back. “Fred gave me one once and it burned a hole in my tongue. Mum gave him a walloping with her broom after that.” He shivered. “Maybe I will get the Cockroach Clusters for Fred this year. I can put ‘em in a peanut box.”

They spent another hour looking at sweets and tasting as many samples as they could. In the end Harry ended up buying a large bag of sweets that he had to split and stuff into several of his cloak pockets. Heather walked over to Hermione who was standing by the door.

“It’s a blizzard outside,” Hermione said as Heather approached. “You’re lucky. Otherwise it’d be very easy to spot you in here.”

Heather nodded. “You know there was no stopping Harry. I had to go with him.” She dropped her voice, “I know more spells than him,” she smiled.

Hermione sighed. “How did you get here?”

Heather looked over at Harry and Ron who were making their way over to them. “We’ll tell you soon. Just not in here.”

Harry gave Heather a chocolate frog leg – still kicking – and bit into the other leg. “Where should we go?”

Hermione looked around. “Well. If it’s really that secret, we should talk in the Three Broomsticks.”

Ron cheered. “Butterbeer!”

They opened the shop door and stepped out into the blizzard, squinting hard and headed for the tiny inn.

~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~ * ~~~

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[mixedsnape]

I'm illiterate and just listened to the audio books so i probably missed it but what did dumbledore do please rant to your heart's content

sklfjfdk i accidenyl exited the page so now i gotta rewrite everything, theres probrably more, but its late.

left harry alone on the doorstep of relatives he doesnt fucking know int he muddle of the night, as an infant, without consulting anyone and against the wishes of another proffessor.

i will reiterate, did no legal checks, barely a background check (which he then disregards) and then doesnt fucking check on the kid again for 11 years.

had arabella figg spy on harry meaning either he knew how harry was being treated adn ignored it or arabella was an unreliable spy which he would have known

the special boy can play dlying murder soccer at 11 no problem, but you need parent permission to go tot he little village apparently

would have know sirius was innocent or at leave could have gotten him a fair trial because fukcing everyone got a trial, bellatrix got a trial, wha tt he fuck

keeps information from harry to get him to do what he wants basically, straight up said that eventually he was keeping shit from him because he accidently started caring about him meaning he said Whoops my

everything to do with the philosophers stone, if we ignore the fact that he was basically baiting harry into there, he still placed a dangeorus artefact surounded by dangerous traps to lure a dangerous man into a school full of children who, as we see, could easily get past them (or, yknow, fucking die like the trio almost did)

similarly, set the mirror of erised there, knowing anyone could come across it when its been known to drive people mad

kept the school open with a fucking bassilisk on the loose, what the fuck, he was alive and teaching the last time that happened, he was there for moaning myrtles death

locked sirius, yknow the abuse victim with the 12 years of trauma, in the house he was uuuuuh abuse in? like, there were other places he could have none, literally any black property, out of the country, any other house that could be hidden, literally.

allowed hagrid to teach, like i like hagrid hes cool but he literally can not be trusted to run a classroon, he brought a fuckign illegal dragon into the school

allowed teachers to dole out bullshit punishments includign sending 11 year olds into the forbidden forest at night, locking a 13 year old out of the dorms while a mass murderer is on the loose and doing  nothing (presumably) about a grown man trasnfiguring a child into a ferret

no, seriously, letting 11 year olds wander around the murder forest int he dead of night searching for whatevers MURDERING THE FUKCING UNICORNS

is so clearly biased towards gryfindors, its wild

continued to send abused students back to their homes, no matter how much they begged to stay at hogwarts

treated 11 year old abuse victim grew up in london during ww2 tom riddle like a fucking evil mastermind from the first time they met instead of like, getting the kid therapy.

high key, even if he didn’t trust tom riddle, letting him teach at hogwarts would have given him a way to directly supervise him at all times!

*gestures towards lockhart*

*gestures towards grindlewald*

*gestures towards the dementors*

shld have snapped the elder wand in half, but thats just a pet peeve

allowed remus to teach without insuring he would be taking his wolfsbane and having no safely measures in place for when he didnt, putting the whole school in danger

in my opinion, his ignoring and avoiding harry during 5th year and not fucking helping him or telling him shit directly led to harry and co storming the ministry, going right into a trap and sirius fucking dying.

did jack shit about hte marauders almost bullying, sexually assulting adn almost killing severus, and who knows who else they treated like that, and continued to downplay their abuse until he fuckign died.

prepared no one for his fuckign deaht, wow

groomed harry, a child, to die, as a child, with no knowledge as to why he had to sacrafice his life until the very last moment. lets be honest, the final battle could have happpened at any age for harry and dumbledore would have let him fucking die.

had the same general low regard fro muggles as teh rest of the wizarding world

employed filch, the functionally disabled squib, to be the glorified janitor of a magic school.

did nothing to help harry during the triwizard tournament thing which is pretty fucking wack considering he was 14 and completely unprepared.

doesnt tell harry jack shit. doesnt tell anyone ajck shit.

in general acts like an abusive father figure who does whatever the fuck he wants no matter how much it hirts others because its For The Greater Good. no im not projecting, shut up.

also heres a long as reddit thing about why dumbledore sucks that i have been recomended but havent read through

[hufflly-puffs]

This is obviously not the first (and not the last) post about Rowling using the so called Ring-structure in her Potter books, meaning that the events in the books mirror each other, especially book 1 and 7, book 2 and 6, as well as book 3 and 5 (book 4 is an outsider and should not be counted). Here are some mirrors that I noticed though the list is obviously not complete. Feel free to add your own thoughts.

„The Philosopher’s Stone“ & „The Deathly Hallows“

Harry arrives at the Dursleys // Harry leaves the Dursleys

Dumbledore uses the Deluminator // The Deluminator is passed on to Ron, who uses it to find his way back to Harry and Hermione

Hagrid carries Harry on Sirius’s bike to the Dursleys // Harry leaves the Dursleys with Hagrid on exactly this bike

First mention of Godric’s Hollow // They visit Godric’s Hollow, including the former home of the Potters

Harry gets Hedwig // Hedwig dies

Harry’s first Quidditch game, he catches the Snitch with his mouth // Harry gets the Snitch from his very first game, opens it at the close

Dedalus Diggle is mentioned for the first time // Diggle is later one of the Order members escorting the Dursleys from Privet Drive

We learn that most wizards are too afraid to use Voldemort’s name and call him You-know-who instead // There is a taboo curse put on the use of the name Voldemort

Hagrid introduces Harry into the Wizarding World // Hagrid is the one who carries Harry’s body, watches him leaving this world

Both Ollivander and Griphook are introduced // Both become prisoners at Malfoy Manor and later escape through Harry’s help

We learn that the wand chooses the wizard and about the connection between Harry and Voldemort’s wand // Voldemort learns about this connection as well, uses a different wand to beat Harry, wand lore becomes an important topic in the final book

There are rumours about  dragons at Gringotts // There are actually dragons at Gringotts

We first see King’s Cross station, where Harry leaves his old life behind // King’s Cross station is what Harry’s ‘heaven’ looks like, with the possibility to leave his life behind and move ‘on’

When we first meet Ron we learn that he is afraid not to live up to his family’s expectations // While destroying Slytherin’s Locket we learn that Ron is still afraid he is not good enough

Neville is sorted into Gryffindor // Neville proves to be a true Gryffindor, pulls out sword of Gryffindor from the Sorting Hat

The new students wonder how the Bloody Baron got covered in blood // Book 7 reveals the answer to that

Harry gets the Invisibility Cloak // History of the cloak is revealed, family heirloom, turns out to be one of the Hallows

First time Harry sees his parents is under the cloak in the Mirror or Erised // Last time he sees them he is hidden under the cloak again, using the Resurrection Stone

First time Grindelwald is mentioned on Dumbledore’s  Chocolate Frog card // We learn more about Dumbledore’s relationship to Grindelwald

First time Harry visits the Forbidden Forest, sees Voldemort there // Last time he visits the Forbidden Forest, final fight with Voldemort

First time an unicorn dies in the forest // ln book 7 someone innocent is sacrificed there as well

The centaurs prophecy that the Dark Lord will return and that Harry will die // Prophecy comes true

Harry wants to go alone through the trap door, but Hermione & Ron follow him //  Harry wants to hunt Horcruxes alone, but Hermione and Ron escort him

“‘Don’t you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort’s coming back! Haven’t you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over? There won’t be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He’ll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn’t matter any more, can’t you see? D’you think he’ll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the House Cup?’” // This is exactly what happens after Voldemort takes over

In order to win the chess game Ron has to sacrifice himself // In order to defeat Voldemort Harry has to sacrifice himself

 “Chamber of Secrets” & “The Half-Blood Prince”

Harry finds a mysterious book, Riddle’s dairy, trusts Riddle, later revealed to be Voldemort // Harry finds a mysterious book, Potion’s book of the Half-Blood Prince, trusts Prince, turns out to be Snape

Ginny is introduced, has a crush on Harry // Harry falls in love with Ginny, they become a couple

At Borgin & Burkes Harry hides in the Vanishing Cabinet, watches Draco looking at a cursed necklace and a Hand of Glory // Harry spies again at Draco who visits Borgin & Burkes, cabinet Harry used as a hiding place will later be used to get Death Eaters into Hogwarts, Draco uses both the cursed necklace and the Hand of Glory in his attempt to kill Dumbledore

Tom Riddle is introduced, learn that he later became Voldemort // We learn all about the backstory of Riddle/Voldemort, how Riddle became Voldemort

Arogog is introduced // Arogog dies

All Slytherins are portrayed as evil, house of all Dark Wizards // Slughorn is introduced as a more nuanced Slytherin character, Draco gets an redemption arc/becomes a more complex character

Peeves destroys the Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts // Draco repairs exactly this cabinet

Riddle’s diary is introduced, acts like it has a mind of his own // Later revealed to be a Horcrux

Harry suspects Draco to be the Heir of Slytherin, which turns out not to be true // Harry suspects Draco to be a Death Eater, which turns out to be right

Harry and Draco duel at the duelling club, Harry uses Rictusempra, a tickling charm // Harry and Draco duel at the girl’s toilet, Harry uses Sectumsempra and almost kills Draco

Moaning Myrtle is introduced // In book 6 she comforts Draco

Cornelius Fudge is introduced // Fudge resigns in book 6

Harry and Ron use Polyjuice Potion to transform themselves into Crabbe & Goyle // Crabbe & Goyle use Polyjuice Potion to transform themselves into little girls

 “Prisoner of Azkaban” & “The Order of the Phoenix”

Sirius is introduced // Sirius dies

Harry uses magic during his summer holiday but is not punished // Harry uses magic during his summer holiday and is almost expelled from Hogwarts

Dementors are introduced // Demontors attack Harry at home

Hermione uses a time turner throughout the whole school year // All the time turners at the Ministry get destroyed

Sirius breaks out of Azkaban // Bellatrix and other Death Eaters break out of Azkaban

Professor Trelawney & divination class is introduced // It turns out that Trelawney is an actual Seer and made a prophecy about Harry and Voldemort

Harry learns more about his father, idolizes him // Through Snape’s memory Harry learns that his father hasn’t always been as kind as he thought he was

Harry uses the Knight Bus to travel to Diagon Ally // Hermione uses the Knight Bus to travel to Grimmauld Place, Weasley use Knight Bus to travel to Hogwarts after Christmas break

Harry pretends to be Neville on the Knight Bus // Turns out that the prophecy about Harry could have referred to Neville as well

In the first DADA class with Lupin the students confront a Boggart // Molly contronts a Boggart at Grimmauld Place

We learn about the Fidelius Charm // The Fidelius Charm is used to hide Grimmauld Place

[missjosie27]

Year 3 Part 6- Tulip Karasu

Hey, guys.

New chapter is up. Sorry it took so long, I've been dealing with some highly personal stuff. It's not going to get any easier so things are going to be a bit unpredictable for awhile.

But that being said, I hope you all like the content as usual and please let me know what you think of my interpretation of Tulip!

Tonks did indeed have a plan, but it was risky, even by their group’s standards. Rowan and Ben were not at all convinced of its merit.

“Let me get this correctly. Tonks is going to pretend to be Snape and report that Peeves is messing up the Transfiguration classroom while you sneak into his office and take back your brother’s quill?” his best friend asked while they ate dinner in the Great Hall.

“Yup,” David replied, taking a bite of his steak. “Pretty much.”

“You seem entirely too unconcerned.”

He gave a nonchalant shrug.

“What choice do I have? I’d have to break into his office somehow and get it back.”

“There are many ways to get Filch to leave his office,” Rowan told him. “But impersonating a teacher is probably the most dangerous. Especially Snape. What if the real one catches you?”

“We’re doing it Friday evening,” David explained. “By that time, Snape will be brooding in his bedroom and won’t even be aware of what’s going on.”

“He could always find out later,” Ben pointed out.

“And how could they prove it was me? Mates, we got every angle of this plan covered. I promise.”

Rowan adjusted his glasses skeptically.

“I just hope Tonks knows what she’s doing. I hope you both know what you’re doing. This could go spectacularly wrong.”

“It’s the only way to find out more about my brother. I’m taking that chance, plus I owe that mean old geezer what for.”

“And what about the cursed vaults? More boggarts keep popping up everywhere. Are you still content to heed Dumbledore and your parents?”

It was the million galleon question. More than ever, David felt the pull to continue to investigate the vaults. But despite what people thought of him, he was not going to purposefully seek trouble. Family mattered more. Not the vaults. But was it time to concede the two were irrevocably linked?

“I’ll have to do a rain check on that,” he told Rowan who looked at Ben.

Neither one of them seemed reassured.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was quite impressive...and bit odd that Tonks knew Filch’s habits so thoroughly. David didn’t mind pointing it out to the metamorphmagus either.

“If you spent half the effort in Herbology as you do tricking Filch, you wouldn’t be spending every other Tuesday with Sprout shoveling dung.”

Tonks clutched her heart in mock offense.

“Merlin’s beard, Dave. You wound me to the quick. The art of hoodwinking this mangy caretaker is an art just as important as any academic mark.”

David snorted.

“Right, whatever you say.”

“Do you want your quill back or not?”

They were in the same corridor as Filch’s office, about thirty feet away, peeking around one of the corners. Tonks wore her usual ensemble of a ripped t-shirt, boots, gray woolen tights, and denim shorts, but she summoned a huge mess of robes from her bag and put them on. The effect was to make her look like a pint sized dementor without the hood.

“Of course.”

“Then follow my lead.”

“Where did you get the robes?”

Tonks couldn’t help but grin.

“Penny has a contact with one of the house elves. Also helps that our common room is right by the kitchen and laundry room.”

“One of these days one of you has to sneak me in there, I swear,” David said eagerly.

“All in good time,” the pink haired witch said with a wink. “For now, it’s showtime. Follow my lead, and stay hidden until Filch is out of sight.”

Without another word, she transformed into an exact replica of Professor Snape, walked promptly down the hall and knocked on the third door to the left.

The jangly, old caretaker opened it immediately, Mrs. Norris purring by his shoes.

“Professor Snape, sir! What can I do for you?”

It was evident that Filch had a great deal of respect as the man bowed as low as his aching joints would let him. David supposed it had something to do with Snape’s reputation as a harsh, no nonsense disciplinarian.

“Yes. It is I: Severus Snape. Potions Master and head of Slytherin. I have a job for you.”

Much as he hated to admit it, Tonk’s acting was atrocious compared to his own stint as the Potions Master. He slapped a hand to his forehead.

“We’re bloody doomed.”

But thankfully, Filch was no Dumbledore when it came to discerning through disguises.

“What seems to be the trouble?”

“Peeves is currently wrecking the Transfiguration classroom and I thought you were just the man to fend him off. I would have done it myself, but I have too many papers to grade.”

“Yes, sir, Professor Snape. I’ll go head him off right now. Come, Mrs. Norrus.”

The caretaker hobbled off, his beloved cat in tow. David was sure to remain plastered to the wall as he went by. When out of sight, he went back towards Tonks, who by now had returned to her normal self.

“That was quite a performance.”

“Thank you, kindly. The Transfiguration classroom is pretty far away but I reckon you still only have fifteen minutes before he realizes he’s been tricked and comes back. Search that office as quickly as you can.”

“Right. You’re amazing, Tonks,” he said sincerely to her.

“Praise me later. Go!” she urged him. “I’ll stand guard and give a signal when you have five minutes.”

Wasting no more time, David used a simple unlocking spell on the door, which opened with a small click, granting him access to its contents.

Inside was a jumbled mess of filing cabinets, papers, and notes that surrounded a heavy wooden desk. Boxes of contraband lined the walls. There was a bowl and sleeping area for the mangy cat as well as a cot for a human being. Hanging from the walls were shackles, which were the best maintained objects in the entire room. They were shiny, well oiled and ominous, as if they were being prepared for use in a seconds notice. On top of that, there was a light draft from an unknown source.

David couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pity for the man but there was little time to dwell on that. He needed to find this quill and fast.

“Filch’s office is just as cold and depressing as I imagined,” he surmised to himself.

Peering around the mass of boxes, cabinets, and contraband he gave a frustrated sigh.

“It’s going to take me forever to go through all this rubbish.”

He began looking through the drawers and various boxes, ignoring the damp smell of moth balls and cat hair. There was nothing much to report, files on various students who had attended the school many years ago, confiscated items such as fanged frisbees and nose biting tea cups. No doubt he’d been on the receiving end of many prank items.

“This is taking too much time,” he muttered.

Then David realized he’d been looking in the wrong place. Quills were small items most likely to be kept inside a desk…

Quickly, he turned around and began scrummaging through Filch’s hardwood desk and soon enough in the second drawer from the right, there it was.”

“Gotcha!” he cried out triumphantly.

Just then, there was a knock on the door indicating five minutes left. He’d made it with time to spare.

Time to get the hell out of here

He and Tonks laughed all the way back to the Gryffindor Tower where she saw him off, both surprised the plan went off without any hitches.

“He’s going to be furious tomorrow,” the pink haired witch chuckled. “Peeves was actually in the Astronomy Tower. Oops.”

“I guess it pays being a metamorphagus,” David said with a grin.

“The teachers all know, of course. I’d never try to fool one of them, but Filch is an exception. Plus, this was important to you.”

David felt his heart warm with gratitude. For as clumsy and goofy as she could be, Tonks really was a true and loyal friend. She had proved that yet again.

“Thank you.”

“Any time, mate. So what do you think this quill contains anyway?”

Rubbing his fingers on the soft, smooth edge of the feather, David only had one thought in mind.

“Something that belonged to my brother. And another key to finding him.”

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back in the common room It didn’t take long for David and Rowan to get started in analyzing the quill. Though it was late, they were careful to stay quiet so as not to be overheard.

“This quill looks remarkably similar to the one we found on Ben during second year. Do you think it’s ‘R’ again?” Rowan asked.

R was still a mystery to them all. There had been no sign or message from the group since last year and without more evidence to go off, finding out who they were would remain unknown for the time being.

“I don’t think so. Madam Rosmerta said this quill belonged to my brother. It was on his person when the Ministry hauled him away for questioning before leaving it behind.”

“Only one way to find out,” his best friend shrugged.

Laying the quill out on one the tables, David cast the untransfiguring spell.

“Repifarage!”

Almost immediately the quill turned into a brown, leatherback notebook. On the bottom right corner was the name ‘Jacob H. Grant’.

“Whoa…”

Wasting no time, the two young Gryffindors opened it up to the first page. It contained a bevy of symbols and a language that looked suspiciously familiar.

“Ancient Aramaic,” Rowan breathed out. “The same inscription we saw in our first year and on the walls of the ice vault.”

“It’s becoming a common theme,” David said. “Can you decipher it?”

Rowan nodded as he picked up the book and studied its contents.

“I can but it’ll take me a few minutes. Not exactly easy to decipher messages in a dead language.”

“Only a few minutes?” David teased him.

Rowan blushed. “Shut up.”

Indeed, the prowess of his highly intelligent and book smart friend proved quite useful as it only took him a short amount of time to work out the message, constantly tapping the pages with his wand while muttering underneath his breath.

“Alright, I think I have the basic gist of it.”

“What does it say?”

Rowan cleared his throat but spoke in a low whisper as a few sixth year stragglers passed them by. No doubt they were returning from a party of some sort.

“‘These boggarts must have something to do with the curse protecting the next vault, which means someone found it first. If I don’t hurry, Hogwarts is doomed.’”

“History seems to be repeating itself, then,” David mused to himself.

“And look at this!” Rowan said in a hushed, excited tone. “A location of where he conducted most of his research. It’s near the greenhouses on one of the lower corridors.”

David’s heart began to race with anticipation. He hadn’t felt a sense of urgency quite like this since the previous year.

“Just like he told me last year in the ice vault. ‘Find my room, David’. We need to get into it, pronto.”

“You go find it while I take Sunday to decipher the rest of this notebook,” his best friend told him. “We can cover more ground that way.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take Bill with me. He’ll be more than happy to do more investigating into this vault. Plus, he can use his prefect status as a cover just in case a teacher comes along.”

“Tell him I said hello!”

“Rowan, we see him almost every day.”

“I know...I just...never mind.”

David smiled and shook his head. He often wondered just how far Rowan’s admiration of Bill Weasley went. But he shrugged off that thought.

It was time to find his brother’s room.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Sunday was always a lazy day, even by Hogwarts’ usual busybody standards. Most students were content to lay around, sleep in, catch up on homework, or hang out with their friends. For David Grant and Bill Weasley, however, that time was spent searching for a random room that contained possible information about a cursed vault.

“This is definitely an unexpected development, but not an unwelcome one,” Bill told him as they walked along the lower corridor. “How did you find out about your brother’s secret room, Dave? You never explained that when you asked me to come along.”

“He kept records of his search for the Cursed Vaults. Madam Rosmerta gave me a black quill at the Three Broomsticks that once belonged to him. Turns out it was a hidden notebook. Rowan deciphered one of the pages and we found the location of the room he used for his research.”

“That’s huge,” the eldest Weasley commented, clearly impressed. “I’m amazed you deciphered it so fast.”

“Thank Rowan. He’s a genius when it comes to that sort of stuff.”

“Of course. So this place is somewhere at the end of this hallway?”

“Past the greenhouses. There’s supposed to be an anonymous room with a dark wooden door.”

Bill swelled up with pride.

“Well then let’s go find it. Now that I’m a prefect, I can make sure that students are out of the corridors if we need some privacy. Plus the teachers won’t think to question us.”

“Didn’t think you’d get those kinds of perks, did ya?” David elbowed him with a grin.

“Being a prefect is something I’m truly thankful for. But I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy being able to move more freely throughout the castle because of it,” Bill laughed.

Moving forward, they scoured the corridor, glancing around for any sign of their quarry. When there was no door to speak of, David had an idea.

“Let me try something.”

Visualizing an old, dark brown, wooden door, the third year Gryffindor cast a revealing charm. And sure enough, in a tiny corner packed away to the left underneath an archway of stone, one materialized.

“Blimey, David. I still can’t believe you know that spell. McGonagall says most students don’t even attempt vanishing and revealing until sixth year.”

“She says I have the chance to be a certified master in the subject before I turn 17,” he replied, trying not to brag. “I dunno, I guess I’m just naturally good at it.”

“Ever think of becoming an animagus?”

The third year Gryffindor shrugged.

“Not really. The idea of changing into a smelly animal isn’t all that appealing.”

“Fair enough,” Bill chuckled. “Now let’s check out this room.”

But they were in for a frustrating surprise. Upon closer inspection, there was a yellow padlock with two keyholes around the handle.

“Well this sucks,” David muttered.

“I’m sure we can get around it with an unlocking spell,” Bill encouraged.

David withdrew his wand and gave an ‘Alohomora’ but nothing happened, much to his chagrin.

“No good.”

“I’ll try busting it down,” the eldest Weasley said, taking out his own wand. “Flipendo!”

It did not have the intended effect. The spell ricocheted off the door narrowly missing his head and creating a scorch mark on the opposite wall.

“Guess we can cross that method off the list.”

“Must be sealed with some kind of spell beyond our means to break,” Bill surmised. “We’re going to have to find another way.”

It was then that David finally noticed something he hadn’t before: scrawled, tiny writing at the bottom of the lock.

“Look at this,” he pointed. “Property of Tulip Karasu. He looked towards Bill for clarification. “Who the hell is that?”

“I actually know of her,” the Prefect explained. “She’s a Ravenclaw in your year. Apparently, she’s always in detention. Bit of an eccentric from what I’ve heard.”

“Oh, joy,” the third year Gryffindor snarked. “Guess we have no choice but to confront the nutter, eh?”

“Either that or we’re not getting through this door.”

There was no question on what to do next. Whoever this Tulip Karasu was, they would have to somehow convince her to give them the key or enchantment to unlock the secrets inside. Another roadblock in the enigma that was fast becoming the next cursed vault.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn’t take long for David and Bill to track down their desired person. Tulip was known to hang out in the Transfiguration room after school hours and it was actually Andre Egwu who pointed them in the right direction.

“Just be careful,” he told them at breakfast. “None of us really interact with her that much, but she’s weird even by Ravenclaw standards.”

“We’ll be alright, Andre,” David thanked him. “I’ve taken down an Ice Knight before. I think this shouldn’t be too hard.”

The black teen gave a knowing shrug.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

And so the two boys agreed to meet outside the Transfiguration classroom once lessons were done for the day. Ben had unfortunately landed in detention after Ismelda blew up his cauldron and laid the blame at his feet. Rowan was assisting Madam Pince in the library. Upon meeting in the corridor once more, Bill gave him an inquisitive glance.

“I forgot to ask, David. Given everything that’s going on, does this mean we’re all in on the vaults again?”

The third year couldn’t deny that finding his brother and the vaults were undeniably linked by this time. And what’s more, that inescapable, consuming drive was back. He could feel it in the very essence of his soul. He wanted to find Jacob and this vault by extension. If that meant saving the school from a few boggarts, so be it.

“Yeah,” he replied back with a reassuring look. “We’re back.”

Bill grinned.

“I was hoping you’d say that. Come on, let’s see what we can find out from this girl.”

Sure enough inside, there was a third year girl dressed in Ravenclaw colors. She was writing something on a sheet of parchment, giving no indication she was aware of any other presence in the room.

“That reminds me, how do you want to approach this?” Bill asked him.

“Ask nicely and hope she cooperates?” David whispered to the side. “She can’t be that unreasonable.”

Upon approaching the desk Tulip was sitting in, he was able to garner more of her physical features. She was fair skinned, thin, with dark brown eyes that took on a slight Asiatic quality. Long, red hair draped down past her shoulders and like Merula, took certain liberties with the uniform; her sleeves were rolled up and she wore brown oxfords, light blue socks with black tights underneath. To top it off, she also donned a necklace that looked suspiciously like a dungbomb. On the left side of the desk was a green toad which David thought was peculiar but thought nothing more of.

“Uh...excuse me? Tulip? Hi, I’m David Grant. I know your time is valuable and you’re probably very busy, but I really need your help.”

The response they received was bizarre to say the least. The Ravenclaw girl didn’t even bother to look up from her writing.

“Little flower...smells so sweet, so soft and delicate.”

David and Bill gave each other sideways glances, eyebrows raised.

“Uh...did you hear what I asked, Tulip?”

“I’m very busy. Talk to Dennis until I’m finished.”

“Who’s Dennis?” Bill asked, highly confused. He looked down at the toad in front of them, which gave a loud croak. “And what is that?”

Tulip again didn’t bother to look up from whatever she was writing.

“That’s a toad. His name is Dennis.”

Bill resisted rolling his eyes, while David had to suppress a laugh. This girl was barmy.

“We know what a toad is,” the third year Gryffindor said. “What’s that thing strapped to its back?”

It was only now that both boys noticed there was an object tied around the toad’s midsection, which looked suspiciously like…

“A dungbomb,” came the girl’s reply.

“As a prefect and a Weasley I can safely say that is the case,” Bill affirmed.

“I don’t smell anything.”

“It will when it explodes.”

Sure enough, the detonation timer was already set, a quiet ticking permeating through the odd conversation. It was only then David realized the gravity of the situation.

“Son of a...Tulip! How do I disarm this thing?”

“I can’t just give you the answers to my test. I need to know if you’re worthy of my help.”

He looked back towards Bill, panic growing on both of their faces.

“Wait a minute can you actually disarm a dungbomb?”

“If there's a method, I’m not aware of one. Fred and George set them off all the time. I’d say we only have about 10 seconds before it goes off.”

David was in no mood to be smelling the end of yesterday’s lunch and they had mere moments until the fateful explosion. Mind racing, he struggled to think of a solution.

“Wait, Bill. Use that new charm you were showing me the other day.”

“Which one?”

“The bubble head thingy.”

“You mean the bubble head charm?”

“Yes!”

Bill looked very perplexed now.

“How is that supposed to-”

By now David had cut the smelly projectile from the toad’s back and tossed it into the air.

“Cast it now!”

With precise aim, Bill understood his meaning and hit the dungbomb with a liquid blue bubble, enveloping it at the moment of detonation. Inside a greenish gas swirled about before the charm was lifted allowing the noxious air to pass harmlessly into the air.

“That was way too close,” the elder Weasley muttered.

“We didn’t disarm it but we got rid of it at least,” David offered.

“I assumed you would,” Tulip cut across them. By now she had ceased writing and looked upon both boys with great interest. “Getting rid of a dungbomb is nothing compared to breaking the curse on a Cursed Vault. I was quite jealous to be honest. I’ve always wanted to be told off in front of the entire school at the Welcoming Feast.”

“Er...right. May I ask why?” David asked, still unsure of what to make of this person.

“Because rules are made to be broken and Hogwarts has far too many rules,” came the mischievous reply with an equally mischievous smirk he felt oddly drawn to. “You inspired me David Grant. I knew I had to be the next one to open a Cursed Vault. I immediately scoured this castle for clues until I found an abandoned room that your brother used to research the vaults. To prevent anyone else from going in, I fashioned a key with two locks.”

“Well I’m flattered. But I can only assume you have the means to get inside?”

“I do but only partially. One key is in my possession. The other I agreed to give to my accomplice.”

David didn’t like where this conversation was heading. Every time he thought he had the answer to getting into his brother’s room, something else thwarted him.

“And who would this accomplice be?”

Tulip again gave him a curious, eccentric stare.

“I need to know I can trust you before I tell you that, David Grant. Meet me in the Great Hall tonight for dinner. We can chat one on one.”

David was tempted to put his foot down and just demand for the information and they key right then and there but he withheld his frustration. That kind of tactic wouldn’t work with someone like Tulip, especially since she held the key to his brother and the latest vault...quite literally. Of all the houses, he had the least amount of experience with the Ravenclaws.

It seemed as though he was about to get an education. Bill gave him a shrug as if to say ‘couldn’t hurt’.

“Alright, then. I’ll see you there.”

Tulip gave another mischievous smile in return.

“Excellent.”