Tangled with Destiny

"By 'we,' I assume it's the other faculty. And I'm going to guess you think I can help him because I know how to stand up for myself against bullies as well as being one of the top students here?" I asked dryly. I got an awkward cough as a response, and I bit back the urge to groan and lambast the man for foisting his own problems onto me.

I hesitated for a moment before speaking. "I… alright, I'll do this," I agreed, even though a large part of me was screaming that this was a bad idea.

"Excellent!" Mr. Garden said with a grin. "You two can sort out your own schedules, I hope?"

"Of course," I replied, hiding a note of bitterness. "May I be excused?"

I was waved off, and I quickly left the small office. I darted into the nearest bathroom and immediately began having a panic attack, chest heaving violently as I tried to reconcile the fact I had just taken a huge step into canon.

"Shit, shit, SHIT!" I snarled, before a semblance of control was exerted over my emotions. I wrestled my mind back into order with my Occlumency training.

'I'm going to have to resume my training,' I thought to myself, annoyed. I'd fallen out of practice with it, only really using it to organize my memories these days so I could ace quizzes and tests and keep my potion recipes as well as rune and arithmancy studies in line.

Now, though, I was going to double down and focus more on the mind shielding aspect of the mental discipline. I had no idea if Dumbledore would find out about me being near Harry, and while I doubted it, I was not going to take any risks at all. No old man or greasy snake were going to probe my mind, damn it!

Once I was calm enough to return to class, I pretty much ignored everything else that day. My mind was whirling with thoughts and ideas, the largest of which was 'How much should I interfere with Harry Potter's life?'

'I could try and get him away from those assholes he calls relatives,' I mused. 'One call to social services, and bam! I get those child abusers thrown in jail!'

But I instantly discounted it. 'No, won't work. If Figg doesn't tattle, then I bet Dumbles will figure it out regardless. Plus, can I risk Harry's safety? His relatives are shit, but those damned blood wards keep him safe. They sustain the love barrier around him, which is the only reason he'll be safe from Quirrell and Tommy boy in first year. And while I am highly skeptical about the exact functions of the wards, I don't know enough about the subject to check, or do anything else.'

'Perhaps I can at least be a shield for him?' I wondered. 'Couldn't hurt to protect Harry from Dudley if nothing else.'

Eventually, I couldn't take it anymore. My mind was too full of Harry stuff to concentrate of school, and so when the last class of the day rolled around, I went up to the teacher instead of sitting down.

"Mrs. Dott?" I began. "I have a meeting with Mr. Garden about the student I'm supposed to tutor."

"Do you have a note?" she asked, and I shook my head.

"I, uh, kinda forgot it back at his office," I replied sheepishly.

"Who are you tutoring?"

"Harry Potter, Mrs. Dott."

She blinked at me, then grimaced. Apparently, Harry was known to the rest of the teachers, even those in the higher years.

"Alright, then, go along," she sighed. "Homework is pages twenty-one to twenty-three in the booklet."

"Got it, thanks Mrs. Dott!" I said, turning around and leaving the classroom.

I walked down the empty hallway towards the lower year classrooms. As I did, a thought crossed my mind.

I'd heard some fan theories back on my old world about Harry Potter being a Horcrux of sorts. That the reason his relatives were so horrible to him was because of Voldemort's soul. I personally didn't believe that myself. It assumed that the love shield which kept him safe was selectively permeable. Why would something designed to repel and restrain Voldemort's very being allow part of said man's soul to leak outwards and poison its surroundings? It made no sense.

Plus, Harry spent over the half the year away from them starting in his First Year at Hogwarts. Surely if he had been a Horcrux the other students would have been driven mad by his mere presence? And it wasn't like magical folk were more or less resistant than Muggles to the baleful influence of the soul anchors, so that argument couldn't be made.

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