Chapter 80 Returning Home

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Daphne just silently watches as the landscape passes them by, but regardless of the changing scenery, the train continues on its path.

It's a beautiful sight to see since it is a clear sunny day. She feels the comfortable warmth of the sun shining through the glass window. This along with the sounds made by the train somehow has immersed her into a state of relaxation and simple comfort.

Daphne has never felt like this before. Is it because the school year is over or something else. She then turns to Harry who is sleeping in the seat opposite of her.

Daphne wonders how can Harry even sleep like this with Tracey and Oscar chattering on about something or other. It must be some type of localised silencing spell.

Daphne can't help but look at Tracey and Oscar, she remembers at the start when Oscar was just a shy and sullen boy. He would hardly talk and choose to mostly stay silent, but Tracey with her endless talking and friendly nature slowly but surely broke the boy out of his shell.

Now they are such close friends that Daphne sometimes worries that she might lose her position as Tracey's best friend to Oscar. But she always tries not to come between the two of them because Merlin knows Oscar could use someone like Tracey in his life.

Daphne smiles at Tracey and Oscar who are both in their own little world right now before turning to Harry who is just sleeping in his seat without a care in the world while leaning his head against the wall.

Harry's messy hair is even messier than usual, Daphne can't help but wonder how it will feel running her hands through those messy locks of black hair. Are they as soft as they look?

Daphne quickly shakes her head in a futile attempt to get those thoughts out of her head. She then glares at Harry but her glare has no effect on the green-eyed boy who continues to sleep. She can't help but hate Harry, every time she is near him she has these weird thoughts in her head.

Daphne is a practitioner of Occlumency, she is natural legilimence for Merlin's sake. But when it comes to Harry she has no control whatsoever over her own thoughts. It is ridiculous how much sway potter has over her.

All of this should send her running, just being near him is dangerous but she can't stay away. There is something deep inside Daphne that trusts Harry at a level she can't even comprehend. From the core of her being Daphne somehow just knows that Harry would never hurt her.

And this is not even the most ridiculous about Harry. Daphne from the moment she found out about Astoria's curse, has been trying to find a cure for her sister. From as far as Daphne could remember Astoria's curse has been looming over her head, but as soon as Harry said that he will take care of it, the sense of dread and helplessness has completely disappeared from Daphne.

This doesn't make any sense but even though Harry hasn't done anything Daphne just knows Astoria will be fine. This doesn't mean she has stopped her efforts to find the cure herself but even after getting access to Hogwarts's restricted section, she hasn't found anything. Without Harry seeing that her efforts are going nowhere would have slowly started to kill her from the inside by now. But now there is no such thing, no sense of dread looming over her head, no thoughts nagging at the back of her mind that Astoria is running out of time.

Just his mere presence alone allows Daphne to be at peace, Daphne just doesn't know why. But after fighting this feeling for so long she is done, she doesn't understand it but Harry somehow releases her from her worries and burdens. She is free and that's all that matters at least for now. She can figure out the why and how later.

But apart from the effect Harry has on her, there are all sorts of things about him that make no sense to her. Like the fact today Harry was talking to Dumbledore before they all boarded the train. While this just looks like a student talking to the Headmaster but Daphne noticed that they are suddenly somehow closer than that. Something has definitely changed between the two of them but she doesn't know what.

Or that fact that Harry just helps people just because he can. The werewolf incident on his first day was a clear indication of that, then he saved them from the troll. But the final sign was when Harry told the Weasley twins to prank anywho insults the werewolf students in the school and more importantly, the twins just listened to him. Being raised as the heiress of House Greengrass Daphne was taught from a young age by her father that nobody helps anyone without a reason. People are never that kind or nice in real life, they always want or accept something in return, and being able to see into people's minds from a young age Daphne completely accepted this as a fact.

Until she met Harry, somehow his actions made her realise that yes somehow against all odds Harry is just that kind and nice person. While she can't look into Harry's mind but after knowing him for nearly a year she is forced to accept that fact. While Daphne would prefer that if Harry was more selfish and ambitious and she thinks that being this kind is incredibly naive but Daphne can't help but respect him.

Just like her all the movers and shakers of House Slytherin can't help but respect Harry. After near a year, all the faction leaders or those intuitive enough have realized that while somehow Harry has gained control of their House he has no intention of actually doing anything with it. But this is a good thing for their House because with Harry at the top they don't have to fight between themselves and this has provided a stable environment for them all.

Harry is obviously oblivious to all of this but even if he knew it wouldn't matter because of his utter disregard for such things as power and influence.