Chapter- 18 : Confrontation Part - 2

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Just before the entrance to the Gryffindor tower was an old classroom Hermione had used before for private study time. She grabbed both boys and dragged them into the room. She pushed them inside, closing the door behind her.

Fixing a glare on the Boy-Who-Lived, Hermione demanded, "Now, what was that? And don't tell me that was normal in the magical world! …"

"I'll say it wasn't," interjected a still-shocked Ron. Hermione just kept going as if he hadn't said anything.

"I've read about animagi and werewolves and that was neither! I just lied to a teacher! I have a right to know what is going on!"

Harry frowned at bit and leaned back against a desk. He took off his glasses and glared at her. Hermione recoiled from the unbridled power in his gaze.

"A right to know?" he repeated softly; the undertones of a growl present. "What happened is we just saved your life. Does it really matter how?"

Hermione's demanding pose collapsed. He was right. He had just saved her life. The look in the boy's eyes made a part of her want to run.

"Please?" she pleaded. "I just want to know. I won't tell anyone."

"Me too," Ron added. "I won't tell, mate."

Harry seemed to consider them for a moment before putting his glasses back on. They seemed to diminish the power in his gaze somehow. "Ron knows something about werewolves in the wizarding world. You've probably read about them too. The problem is I am not really a werewolf."

Hermione nodded, her mind engaged. "You changed during the day, it's not a full moon, and your human side stayed in control. Also your form looked different than the werewolves in the books."

Harry gave a wary smile at Hermione's run down. "Something like that," he agreed.

"I was bitten by something a couple of years ago. I guess you could say I got all feverish and next thing I know is it is five days later and I can change into the Beast. Er, that's what I call it. Plus my normal form grew and became a lot stronger. My senses improved in human form too. I used to be almost blind without my glasses. Now I have better than 20/20 vision."

"Why the glasses then, mate, if you don't need 'em?" Ron asked.

Harry took off the glassed and looked at them again. The raw power that made Hermione scared before was back even without the angry glare. She noticed Ron took a step back at the sight. After a second, Harry put his glasses back on.

"These are actually weak sunglasses but the lenses are polarized. The tinting cuts down on the shine from my eyes and the polarization seems to remove the whatever it is that freaks people out. I've tried other glasses but without the polarization people still freak out." A smile quickly crossed Harry's face. "It is great for crowd control though."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, Ron. Anyway, I researched everything I could find in the non-magical world on werewolves and lycanthropy. Then this summer I looked into what the magical world knew about them. But I am closer to a Hollywood version of a werewolf than what the magical world knows."

Harry paused to look first at Ron then Hermione. Hermione could tell he was considering what to say.

"One of the first things I learned from the books is how werewolves are treated in the magical world. I really don't want to become a public freak show." Harry paused a second before wry adding, "At least more of a freak show then the Boy-Who-Lived already is."

Ron slowly nodded with a serious thinking expression that surprised Hermione. In a quiet voice, he said, "My dad works for the Ministry. They don't even see werewolves as human anymore. They are handled by the same department that handles hippogriffs and giants. One of the Aurors was bitten last year. They immediately fired him and said he couldn't have his pension as that was only for humans. His wife left him and took his kids. I heard Dad tell Mum she had their memories changed so they don't remember him anymore. Dad was furious when he heard. They were mates at Hogwarts."

Hermione felt devastated at that. To take away a child's memory of their parent was horrible! "That's barbaric! How can they treat someone that way just because they are infected! It's terrible!"

Ron flinched at her glare. "Don't blame me! Dad tried to help Auror Forman but there was only so much he could do without getting in trouble at work."

Harry nodded grimly. "That is why I don't want this getting out. Honestly, I wouldn't have shown you now but it was kind of an emergency."

Hermione nodded feeling embarrassed that he had taken the chance of exposing himself to save her. No one had ever done something like that for her. Impulsively, she threw her arms around his neck and gave him a strong hug.

"Thank you for saving me," she said.

"You're welcome," Harry replied.

Hermione released Harry's neck. She glanced briefly at Ronald Weasley. His face almost matched his hair colour. "Thank you also, Ronald." She turned back to Harry.

"Well, I have homework waiting and I need to get today's assignments."

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