MTLNOVEL Chapter 10: Chapter 10
Chapter 10:
Snape was a special kind of asshole for the following two hours, not just to Longbottom and Granger, but to him as well. It seemed that the ten points he removed from him weren't enough to quench his daily ire against him, and he decided to satisfy it by having him constantly re-do his potion over and over again and giving him a Dreadful for the day.
Harry had taken everything with stride, though at times it was harder than he expected. He'd mastered his impassive mask in Snape's class, though it looked more like a passionate glare since he didn't have a bright resting face. In a way, it was one of the most useful things he'd gotten from that class, as it had been essential to build his image inside the house. But even with all the practice he'd gained from the class, there were times today when he wanted to make one small remark, even if Snape didn't hear it - but he ended up refraining himself from doing so.
It was what Snape wanted, and he wasn't going to fall for it like Longbottom did - who lost another twenty points for getting into an argument with him. Subtlety was never one of the Gryffindor's strong suits, and especially not now when he was increasingly aggressive and rash. He was never like this, not even last year when the whole school turned against him for the tournament, but it seemed that after whatever happened in the third task, it began the downward spiral Longbottom was currently in and which Harry was sure would end up with a massive explosion.
After Potions, the Slytherins had a period of Charms with the Hufflepuffs, where the only eventful thing to happen was at the beginning of the class when the badgers all but interrogated them about what had happened in the dungeons with Longbottom, Weasley, and himself. Harry had always been amazed of how fast the secrets spread around the school, and this was no exception - it was honestly a wonder he'd managed to keep the Room of Requirement as secret as he had.
He had to admit, seeing the Slytherins almost gushing about the duel to the Hufflepuffs was extremely satisfying for him, as he sat back and listened to everything without saying a word about the event. He'd occasionally nod or smile, but when asked a direct question, he wouldn't answer.
For the first time in his life, Harry felt as if he was finally being recognized for something, and he was becoming intoxicated by the mere feeling. There was no way he would ever go back now that he'd experienced something as amazing as this.
The following class, a period of Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, had been a demonstration of just how fast rumours spread around Hogwarts. And while the Claws were much more subdued with their praises, they were still intoxicating.
When class ended, Harry stayed back and stalled by asking a few questions to Professor McGonagall. He needed to talk to the other Slytherins, and he couldn't chance arriving first and them having sit elsewhere, so he'd have to arrive a bit later and confront them. He'd tried various times to talk to them, but Parkinson and Greengrass had skilfully avoided him and only smiled cheekily at him.
It was a good thing he did, because, just like he expected, the Slytherins were huddled around in their usual seats rather than on his own like yesterday. Harry walked confidently, unable to ignore all the whispers that had begun when he stepped into the Great Hall, and took his place in between Parkinson and Nott.
"Alright," he began, interrupting the current conversation. "What was that?"
"This is a private meeting, Potter, so beat it."
"Private my arse, Malfoy."
"Don't make kick you out of here," the blond warned.
"You must be joking," Harry laughed. "You just saw me kick both Longbottom's and Weasley's arse without breaking a sweat. Trust me when I tell you, I think I'd enjoy kicking yours as much as theirs."
"Maybe you could beat me on a one on one duel-"
"Maybe?" Theo laughed.
"But I have a little thing that you don't called friends."
"Who? Dumber and Even Dumber?" Blaise began chocking on his water from nearly laughing after Harry said this. "Please, if you're going to threaten me, at least make it believable. Now, if Malfoy doesn't mind, I'm taking over this meeting."
"I bloody mind, Pott-"
Harry shut him up with a silencing charm.
"You know, you should really consider learning non-verbal castings, I mean, this is just getting too easy." Harry said offhandedly as Malfoy tried and failed to speak, much to everyone else's amusement, who enjoyed not helping him with the counter-curse. "Anyone else wanna learn the value of wordless magic?"
When no one said anything, Harry turned towards Parkinson expectantly, who was shooting him a small grin.
"Well, you remember how we were looking for a way to listen in to the conversations of the trio?" Daphne continued at Harry's nod. "Well, Malfoy and Greengrass spent all of last night looking for something that would basically act as a live beacon that would transfer the sounds from an object to another."
"A microphone," Blaise added, earning a scowl from Daphne at the mention of a muggle concept.
"And you found it?" Harry asked.
"Yep," Daphne confirmed. "It wasn't a spell, more like a small ritual involving a few runes engraved on two objects."
"Which is why you needed the distraction."
"Exactly." Parkinson confirmed. "The plan was for Malfoy to cause a fight and give us a few minutes to engrave the runes into Weasley's bag, but you ended up doing an even better job than we could have even imagined."
"Why Weasley's?"
"Because no one would think of someone tagging Weasley," Blaise answered. "Longbottom's stuff is the obvious target, and Granger would notice something wrong. But no one would think of Weasley, and he would only notice there's something wrong when he finds it stored in his attic in like thirty years or something."
*****
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