The Secret Society Chapter 36

Read Previous Chapter Here

Character Images

AN: Next chapter on Sunday

Harry repressed the urge to outwardly show his nervousness. He had been waiting outside the entrance to the Headmaster’s office for a few minutes, but the time for his assigned detention had passed thirty seconds ago.

Call him far too paranoid, but Harry suspected Dumbledore was not a wizard who was late without warning.

He kicked that thought out of his mind and decided to wait a little longer.

Harry stood silently before the statue for what seemed like ten minutes. After that, he had to admit to himself that there wouldn’t be a detention today. At least not at the scheduled time.

Harry returned to the Slytherin common room with a frozen face to hide the increasingly chaotic thoughts in his mind. After bursting into Myrtle’s bathroom to derail Greengrass's plan, he had made his way to meet Dumbledore.

If Harry had been looking for bright spots in this missed detention, the only one that was obvious was to find out if Greengrass and her ilk had already spread that he was the cause of the recent hospitalizations.

And if they hadn’t, find out what she wanted to keep the silence.

Harry had been resorting to violence far too much recently. Of course, he didn’t exactly have a choice with the recent matter, but with every day that passed, the duel with Malfoy seemed to be more and more foolish.

If he had swallowed his pride and taken down Malfoy while humiliating him as he always did, none of these issues would have existed to begin with.

Harry’s fingers twitched when he entered his common room and noticed that Malfoy was once again surrounded by his sycophants.

Nothing had changed since the duel other than the fact that they didn’t dare meet his eyes. Thankfully, a quick glance around the room signaled to him that the ones close to Warrington and his group weren’t looking at him with even more hatred or fear.

At least this might be salvageable.

Harry locked eyes with Greengrass and made his way toward her.

“Potter.”

“Greengrass,” Harry nodded, staring at the boy sitting beside her until he moved. He took that spot and glanced at Zabini and Davis, who did their best to seem invisible.

“Do you have something against Starkey?”

Harry blinked, turning to Greengrass, and gave her a puzzled look.

“You just gave him a death glare, and it’s not the first time you have done this,” Daphne waved her hand in the direction the boy had left.

“I didn’t even know it was him,” Harry admitted, ignoring the little snort of amusement coming from Davis, “Not do I really care to waste time on this. Shall we?”

Greengrass gave Davis and Zabini a look before pulling out her wand. “Muffliato.”

“Did you say anything?” Harry asked immediately.

“About what?” Daphne returned with an innocent look.

“Look, Greengrass. I really don’t have time to quibble about small matters such as this. Don’t add this pile of shit to my already shit-filled plate.”

“Charming analogy, Potter,” Daphne grimaced in distaste, “Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. And neither do Zabini or Davis.”

Harry hummed as he nodded slowly. “I supposed there’s something I can do for you.”

“I want my sister to have a look at the Room,” Daphne said immediately, clearly knowing what she wanted before Harry entered the common room.

“And Zabini?” Harry asked with a raised brow, not agreeing or disagreeing with her request.

“I can deal with him myself,” Daphne waved off his question casually.

Harry nodded, though he was wondering how she would go about that. It wasn’t his business in the end.

“That could be possible,” Harry started slowly, “But other than your word that Davis wasn’t the leak, you haven’t shown me actual proof.”

“I’m going to get it for you, even though I think this is ridiculous,” Daphne replied with irritation, “You know what I think is your goal? You want me to do this work for you.”

That wasn’t Harry’s intention at the start since he actually thought Davis was the issue, but now that he put the onus on Greengrass to prove him otherwise, that was now his goal. Of course, this would have only worked if Greengrass needed to play nice with him.

Harry once again thanked Merlin for letting him come across the Room. His treasure never failed to be useful.

“I can let Davis have a look,” Harry ignored Daphne’s accusation, “But you do know that she won’t be stepping a foot inside without a handshake, correct?”

“… That was a given.” It seemed like it hurt Daphne to get those words out.

“Very well, you have a deal, Greengrass,” Harry held out his palm, a simple contract ready. After they had shaken hands, he asked, “Now that’s over with, what were you doing in Myrtle’s bathroom?”

“That has nothing to do with you,” Daphne said as she leaned back into her chair, “Unless you want to tell me what you wanted that ghost for.”

Harry was about to agree to a mutual drop of the subject when a hush suddenly fell on the common room.

When he saw Greengrass look behind him with wide eyes, he knew exactly who was standing there.

“Come with me, Potter.”

Harry’s only sign of nerves was his slight touch of the ring he was wearing. He stood from the chair steadily and nodded at Greengrass as if he was expecting this. However, what really was happening was a near panic attack.

The talk with Greengrass had taken his mind off Dumbledore and the deep trouble he was likely in.

Harry turned to see Snape staring at him with an unwavering gaze.

“Professor.”

Snape gave him a single node before turning, striding out of the common room with a billowing cloak. He didn’t bother to check if Harry was following him, but then again, why would he?

Harry noticed that they were heading to Snape’s office, and while it was a relief that he wasn’t being led to Dumbledore, this did bring up other questions. He spent the time it took to get there using his occlumency to calm himself down and prepare for the questioning.

“Take a seat,” Snape ordered as he moved to the other side of the desk.

“What’s this about, Professor?” Harry tried to sound confused as he sat down.

Snape had his elbows on the desk with his hands clasped together. There was nothing said for a few seconds. “Have you been targeted recently by your housemates?”

Harry stared at him dumbly, not expecting concern of all things to be heard. He took a moment to think of his answer before firming his heart. Since the deed was already done and likely suspected, it was better to put himself as a victim.

“… There may have been a few threats on my person.”

“I see,” Snape said with a dry tone, “And would this happen to be the consequence of your challenge with my godson.”

“You misremember it, Professor,” Harry’s heart raced, unaware that Malfoy was his godson. This was a bigger disaster than he initially thought, “Malfoy was the one that challenged me. I wanted nothing to do with it.”

“I am not disputing that with you, Potter,” Snape said calmly, “I know of my godson’s arrogance.”

Just when Harry’s heart slowed, Snape got to the point of this sudden meeting.

“The question now is how much of the damage you caused on Warrington, Darkmoor, and Lockewood was due to necessity.”

“Who?” When Snape shot him an unimpressed look, Harry regretted his mostly feigned ignorance. To be fair, he really had forgotten the names of the boys that had attacked him with Warrington till now.

“The Headmaster is wondering how to proceed,” Snape continued, ignoring Harry’s outburst, “He has informed me of an agreement between the two of you that makes it difficult to treat this fairly.”

“I see,” Harry suddenly realized why Dumbledore didn’t meet him today.

“No, you don’t,” Snape retorted flatly, “There are certain oaths that a Headmaster of Hogwarts must take. Headmaster Dumbledore is giving you the benefit of the doubt by sending me as a proxy. I suggest you tell me your side of the story and leave nothing out.”

Harry was aware that they were speaking as if it was already a given that he was the one who sent Warrington and his friends to the hospital.

“What will happen if my explanation is found unsatisfactory?”

“Your wand will be snapped, and you will be expelled.”

Harry went over his options before coming to realize that he likely didn’t have a choice. However, he didn’t want to tell Snape this.

With the fondness that he had heard from some of the Slytherin students from families filled with Death Eaters, confessing anything to Snape would be stupidity of epic proportions.

“I’m sorry, Professor,” Harry said firmly, “I'd rather say this directly to the Headmaster.”

“Then we are at an impasse,” Snape leaned back, giving him a stare that said they would sit here as long as it takes, “The Headmaster feels otherwise.”

“Am I to be held here until I do so?”

“Hogwarts is not a prison,” Snape motioned to the door behind him, “You may leave whenever you wish. But do understand that your time here will be finished if you do so.”

Harry eventually nodded, not willing to gamble on that being a bluff.

“I was ambushed by them. With three wands against me, control of the spells I was casting was the last thing on my mind. My one goal was to escape, and I was successful.”

“So, you permanently disabled a student for life, almost killed another by causing severe brain damage, and then decided that using the Memory Charm was necessary to escape?”

“The first two, absolutely,” Harry nodded with confidence, “The Memory Charm was a precaution since I heard rumors about the Death Eaters having a lookout for me due to what my parents had done.”

Harry thought Snape’s eyes flashed with emotion for a second, but it disappeared before he could confirm it.

“And you are telling me the whole truth?” Snape asked, seeming to be worried about that the most, “There is nothing the Headmaster might learn that would change the story you just told me?”

“I’m positive, Professor,” Harry confirmed, making Snape nod slowly.

“Very well,” Snape stood up, “Wait here, Potter.”

Harry watched Snape leave the office before pulling out the map. He noted Dumbledore in his office before teaching Snape’s dot. Curiously, his head of house was heading toward the staff housing.

To confirm, Harry tracked him all the way there before frowning in confusion. He decided to look at his usual targets when Snape stayed in his room for over a minute and almost had a heart attack.

Dumbledore was almost outside Snape’s office.

Harry quickly folded the map and put it inside his robes, running his hands over his robes as if he was about to meet Fleur.

Not even a few seconds later, Dumbledore entered Snape’s office with a severe look on his usually kindly face.

“Be seated, Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore stopped Harry from rising as he walked past him to take the seat Snape had vacated, “Quite an eventful few days, is it not?”

Harry nodded, waiting for the Headmaster to move past the small talk.

“My plan to teach you the mind arts was interrupted yesterday,” Dumbledore's eyes flashed, “It has been some time since a student under my watch has had such a mishap. It caused me quite a problem with the current atmosphere at the Ministry.”

Harry didn’t even think about that. Dumbledore was still being vilified, and all this accomplished was to give them additional weapons to use.

“We had a deal, Mr. Potter, but I’m afraid that we must create an exception. I must see your memories to clear you of the crimes I suspect, and to satisfy the oaths I took when becoming Headmaster.”

Harry’s heart sank, knowing that his inner thoughts would reveal his clear disregard for their lives. He had assumed that the consequences wouldn’t be so severe with how casual Dumbledore had been with his infractions. However, it seemed that he had finally crossed the line.

Permanently harming a student at Hogwarts.

“I will give you two options,” Dumbledore either didn’t notice the fear Harry displayed, or he ignored it, “Legilimency, or you can provide an uninterrupted memory for my pensieve.”

“The latter,” Harry blurted out.

“Very well,” Dumbledore pulled out his wand and stood up, “May I?”

Harry squeezed the armrests and nodded, knowing that he had to avoid thinking of Thompson and the reason he was in the secret passageway. The only memory he should focus on was Warrington and his friends getting demolished by him.

“Remember, I want the entire memory of the duel. From before the first interaction started to when you walked away.”

That meant the map could not be hidden. Harry immediately wrote it off and nodded, letting Dumbledore place the tip of his wand on his temple before focusing on what was needed.

A strand that looked like silvery liquid was pulled out by the Headmaster before it was placed in a small vial.

“I will take a look at this and get back to you, Mr. Potter,” Dumbledore said as he put a stopper on the vial, “If all goes well, I expect our lessons to begin tomorrow.”

Next Chapter