Chapter 26: Venting

Harry returned to his common room and sat with a thump. He slumped in the chair as angsty teenagers were wont to do. His friends all stared at him with various levels of concern. Though for different reasons. Hermione was concerned that Harry was in trouble. Ron was concerned that Harry was going to blow at any moment. Neville was concerned that Harry was angry for a good reason, and he was worried what that reason would be.

"What happened?" Hermione asked, worry showing on her face. Her hands were wringing together.

"Same old shite," Harry said, ignoring her warning about his language. "The headmaster is trying to run my life," he added, slouching further in his chair.

"He wants you to go home to the Dursleys?" Ron asked, knowing Harry hated it there.

"Yes, and to spy on Sirius," Harry said, anger pouring off him like lava.

"That's just wrong," Neville said, looking at his friend with sympathy.

"Well, he's in for a big surprise if he thinks that's going to happen," Harry fumed, trying to get his ire under control.

"I'm sure," Hermione said, looking torn between telling him to respect the headmaster and standing up for her friend.

"I'm done talking about this, let's talk about something else," Harry said, his voice much calmer.

So, they talked about classes until bedtime. Harry went to his bed and spelled the curtains. He called Sirius. They exchanged greetings and Harry told him about what Dumbledore had said.

"I should kill that bastard," Sirius said, his eyes bright with hatred. "I should strangle him with his own beard," he snarled, his hands in fist in front of him.

Harry could see how angry the man was and wanted to prevent his godfather from going to prison. "I set the doxies on him," he said, with a great deal of mischief. "They'll prank him and bite him. He's in for a bad few days," he added, his smirk said it all.

"Good," Sirius said, his eyes twinkling with malice. "Serves that old man right. Who does he think he is? Dictating other people's lives."

"That's my thoughts as well," Harry said, then he thought of something. "Who is going to be in Hogsmeade to see if I get kidnapped?" he asked.

"I will," Sirius said, tilting his head in question.

"Can you check me for tracking charms? I wouldn't put it past the old man to have a few on me," he asked, not overconcerned, but cautious just the same.

"Yeah, no problem," his godfather stated, getting the hint that Harry didn't trust Albus in the least. That was okay, he didn't either.

"Put one of your own on my bag. If they can't see it, maybe it'll be overlooked when I land. That is if the doxies can't revive me," he said, with some concern. The plan was a solid one, but anything could go wrong.

"I can do that. We'll follow the portkey, but if we can't, we should be able to follow the tracking charm," Sirius said, grinning at the initiative Harry was taking.

"Well, I'd better get to bed. I want to be up early to see what chaos my doxies have done," the teen said, with a huge yawn. All of the practicing he had been doing was making him weary. However, it was necessary. He needed to be prepared for any eventuality.

"Get some sleep," Sirius said, holding back his own yawn. He was tired from lack of sleep and his own practicing. The whole group made sure to spar daily. They too needed to be prepared. It didn't help that he was so fucking worried about Harry. It made him practice harder than he ever had before. Not even in the last war did he work so hard.

"Goodnight," Harry said, moving to put the mirror away. He would get his reports from the queen in the morning. He just hoped that the men left behind made it back.

"Goodnight," Sirius said, and signed off.

Harry put the mirror away and was asleep before his head hit the pillow.

Hphphp

The next morning Dumbledore showed up in the Great Hall with yellow canary feathers in his blue beard and hair. He also looked decidedly ill. His face was tinting green and there was a nauseous quality about it. He pushed his plate away, as if just looking at it made him want to barf. He stood and addressed the student body.

"Due to a rash of doxy bites, the castle will be fumigated come Yule break. Everyone must have somewhere to go. Ask your friends if your family is unavailable. We will be sending home a notification stating such," he said, then held his stomach and sat down.

Harry was just glad his bag would be with him at Sirius's house. They could spray all they wanted, his doxies would be safe. He had already been told what they had done to the headmaster, and he was glad he had a front row seat. It served the man right, trying to dictate other's lives.

Many of the students were laughing with him at the sight of the headmaster looking so colorful. Not that they wanted him sick, it was just so rare to see him out of sorts. The twins were leaning on each other trying not to fall, they were laughing so hard.

"Doxies, at Hogwarts," Luna said, not even glancing in Harry's direction.

"It does seem unlikely," Hermione agreed. "I would think the house elves would keep the pests under control," she said, with some anger that the house elves would be expected to. however, the headmaster had taken her aside this summer and explained all about the bond the little guys needed to live. She now knew that the ones here at the school were treated well. It was just some of the older purebloods that treated them like slaves. She was still determined to make sure they were treated properly since she could not free them.

"It's a shame they have to close the school," Luna said, her voice dreamy as usual.

"Mum's not going to like that," Ron said, knowing his mother preferred they stayed at the castle. It was a money saver to have them here. Feeding his family cost a lot of coins.

"I'm sure if you ask, someone will let you visit them," Hermione said, spooning some jam on toast. "I would invite you, but my parents would never let a boy stay over. I am left home alone while they work. There would be no chaperone." She bit into her toast.

"You can stay at my place," Dean offered, knowing his parents wouldn't mind. Especially, if he told them why. They were good people and more than willing to help out a fellow student.

"That's nice of you, Dean," Harry said, eating some porridge this morning. He wasn't into anything heavy after the anger he felt most of the night. Though he had felt much better after talking to Sirius. "If that doesn't work, you can spend it at Padfoot's place," he added, not sure if the other boy would want to. Not after Sirius had kicked his family out. Still, it was Molly that was the cause of that. He was sure his godfather didn't have anything against the kids. Well, maybe Ginny, mostly because she was mooning over his godson.

He looked down the table at said girl and saw her looking at him. She quickly looked away and blushed. Definitely not inviting her.

The rest of breakfast was spent talking about what they would be doing for Yule. Then it was time for class and the whole of the Great Hall emptied.

Hphphp

The school plodded on as normal. Mostly. There were still a rash of doxy pranks and bites. Now that the headmaster had been bitten, they didn't hold back. They still didn't go for the kill, but both Snape and McGonagall were harassed by them. There were many classes that were easy because the teacher was too ill for intense teaching.

The problem was that no one could find them. With the hats they were invisible. So, they could sneak up on anyone and shoot arrows at them. The arrows were always retrieved, so there was no evidence of foul play, other than the results. The twins were still being blamed for the pranks, but since they couldn't find the doxies, they couldn't pin the bites on anyone.

Harry was thankful for his little army to be so protective of him. The reason they attacked McGonagall was because she was particularly strict with him after he bad-mouthed her in the common room. She was being petty. Snape was a no-brainer. He was just a vile man, who needed to be taken down a peg or two. Just because he could teach DADA, didn't make him a nice man. He never stopped bad-mouthing Harry, in public or private.

It was now time for Hogsmeade weekend and Harry was called once again to the headmaster's office. The password was the same, so Harry gave it and ran up the stairs. Not that he was anxious to see the headmaster, more like he wanted to get it over with. He knocked and was bade to enter, so he did.

"You wanted to see me?" he said, slumping in a chair without invite. He cared little of what this man thought of his manners. As far as he was concerned, the headmaster deserved no respect.

"It has come to my attention that you will be going to Hogsmeade," the old man said, with a questioning tone.

"Yeah, what of it?" the belligerent teen asked, not sure what the headmaster was going to say, but he had an inkling.

"I think it would be best if you stayed in the castle," Albus stated, folding his hands on his desk.

"Nope, not going to happen," Harry said, sitting up straight. "I'll sneak out, and you can give detention until I leave school. Take as many house points as you want. I'm going," he stated firmly. There was no way he was going to let this guy ruin his plans.

"Harry, Voldemort has returned. You must be kept safe," Dumbledore said with that grandfatherly voice of his.

"And the rest of the student body? Are they not important?" the teen asked, folding his arms over his chest.

"Not as important as you, as well you know," the headmaster said, a frown on his old face.

"That is not the type of attitude a headmaster should have," Harry pointed out, thinking of his friends and how they would feel if they heard what he just had.

"You know the reasons I say such," the old man said his voice firm.

"I'm going to Hogsmeade, one way or another. My godfather is going to be there, and he is expecting me," Harry said, standing up and going to the door.

"If Sirius cared about you, he would agree with me," the headmaster said, trying to stop the boy from making his escape, short of using magic.

"Don't you dare try to tell me Sirius doesn't care. He knows more about my life than you do, and he is willing to die for me. More than that he is willing to kill for me. Can you say the same?" the boy said, his hand on the door handle.

"All life is precious," was all Albus had to say to that.

"I see we differ on something else. If that is all, I'll be on my way," Harry said, wrenching the door open and heading down the stairs.

On his way out of the school, three other teachers tried to stop him. Flitwick, Snape, and McGonagall. Even Filch tried. However, he had his permission slip, and they had no grounds to stand on. His opinion on the staff of Hogwarts sunk even lower. He didn't think that was possible. All three teachers, and the caretaker, had doxies poised to strike as soon as Harry was gone. That way nothing can be pinned on him.

Harry met up with his friends at the gate and they all walked to the village. It was a nice peaceful walk, and they all admired the old-fashioned town from the top of a hill. It was picturesque if nothing else. With the thatched roofs, and wooden houses and shops. To the muggleborn it was straight out of a fairytale. To the wizard born, it was just another wizarding town.

They browsed the shops for a bit, then separated to do their own thing. Harry headed over to Hogshead tavern. That was where he was meeting Sirius. Draco was following him, so he kept to the busy streets until he was ready for the git.

Sirius was nursing a butterbeer when Harry arrived. Harry went to the bar and got one of his own.

"Hello, dogfather o' mine," he said as he sat across from the man, who looked very worried.

"Hello, godson," the man said, with a winning smile, trying to hide his concern. It didn't work. His face was etched with stress lines and dark circles were under his eyes. Harry could tell he hadn't slept well in a while.

"Everything going as planned?" Harry asked, mindful of the people littered around the bar. He tried to keep his voice calm, and he succeeded. He didn't want to make his godfather anymore wary of the plan than he already was. It filled his heart with joy that the man cared so much but broke it just a tad that he was the cause of such stress.

"So far," the other man agreed, worry in his tone. "You can still back out," he said, looking like he wanted to grab Harry and run. "No one will think less of you," he added for emphasis.

"I know," Harry said, patting the man's arm with some empathy. "It's got to be done," he said, his voice firm. "You know it does," he added with a trace of sympathy. While he put up a good front, he too was afraid. He was about to face Voldy after all. The man deserved his reputation as the darkest wizard this century.

"I know," Sirius said with a sigh of resignation. "Aberforth, we're going to use one of your rooms," he said to the bartender. He got up and grabbed his butterbeer. He motioned Harry to follow. What they needed to do was not for public viewing.

Harry rose and grabbed his bottle too. He wouldn't trust anything left alone in this establishment. It might be doctored if left unattended.

The man grunted and pointed to the one they could use. He then went back to wiping the bar with a rag that could use a good cleaning.

Sirius took Harry to the room and ran his wand over everything Harry had on him. There were tracking charms on his glasses, his shoes, and his wand. Everything that Harry carried with him every day.

"I figured he'd do that," the dogman said as he removed them.

"Yeah, I knew he couldn't be trusted anymore. Though, he'd tell us it was for my own good. So that he could rescue me if I get in trouble," Harry said, not quite as angry as his godfather.

"Let me add one of my own," Sirius said, thinking on where he might do such.

"Let's ask Queenie if we can use something of hers," Harry said, lifting the bag and calling her out.

"Good idea. That way if it is detected it won't be found," the other man said, looking at the queen as she came out.

"Can we use one of your items to put a tracking charm on?" Harry asked her when she sat on his shoulder.

"Of course," she replied, diving back into the bag, and bringing out one of the shoes that had been put in there.

"That'll work," Sirius said, putting the tracking charm on it. "If we're not there in an hour, pull it out. The bag might interfere with the charm," he said to Queenie.

"I will," she agreed, thinking that that was a sound plan. She would be staying with Harry anyway.

"Thanks, Queenie," Harry said, opening the bag so she could drag the shoe back in.

"Good luck," she said as she flew in.

"Last chance to back out," Sirius said, one more attempt to change the boy's mind.

"No," was all Harry said, moving to leave the room. No matter how frightened he was, he was going to go through with it.

Sirius just sighed again and followed. Harry waved to Aberforth and left the tavern. He made his way back to the village proper using the back roads this time. He soon noted that Draco was indeed following him. He also knew that Sirius was shadowing Malfoy. He tapped the bag to let them know to be ready.

It was when he was behind the Three Broomsticks that Draco struck.