Chapter 249: Stormy Vision
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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.
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29 September 1994, Hogwarts Scotland
Harry laid down under the shade of his favourite tree near the Black Lake. The air was crisp, hinting at the approach of autumn, carrying with it the sweet scent of fallen leaves mixed with the earthy musk of the forest beyond. He calmly watched as the rich, golden-brown leaves rustled and danced softly with the occasional breeze. It was oddly hypnotizing in a way.
He couldn't help but enjoy the moment, relishing it as much as he could. After all, it wouldn't be long until he would need to leave Hogwarts and spend his years abroad.
If there was a way to describe his time in Hogwarts in his year, it would be oddly calm, and maybe even slightly boring. For all of Dumbledore's mistakes, the man really knew how to make the castle interesting.
All in all, the changes weren't all that bad, in terms of academia, of course. McGonagall herself stayed as the Senior transfiguration professor, probably having found to candidate to be good enough to replace her. Unfortunately, McGonagall decided to only take OWL students and up and left the rest to a small team of Junior Professors who were barely adequate enough to transfigure matchsticks into needles, let alone challenge Harry in any meaningful way.
He had tried asking them a theoretical question regarding the possibility of magical contamination if someone swallowed a conjured object, but the idiots just stammered, pointed Harry to a tome that was unrelated to his question and just continued the lesson. The lessons weren't that bad, but they were nowhere near McGonagall's level, and it showed how the students were learning.
Funnily enough, Defence Against the Dark Arts got a competent instructor in the form of Kingsley Shacklebolt. It was part of a collaboration program between Hogwarts and the DMLE, where they would send in a single Senior Auror every year to teach the subject, in exchange, they would have first pick on the Hogwarts Graduates, and they could even form apprenticeships before their graduation. It was a clever way to bypass the curse on the defence position, which was amusing since Harry probably destroyed that curse during his second year when he destroyed the Diadem in the Room of Hidden Things.
Lockhart's past caught up with him, and Lupin left of his own will… While it might look from the outside that the curse was still in place, it was obviously a coincidence. After decades of incidents, very few people cared enough to apply for the position for more than a year. So, the past two professors leaving after a year might have just been nothing more than a subconscious decision…
The curse obviously didn't work like that. Harry had gotten bored during a weekend and made a list of every way the defence professors left the position. Most of them were just accidents or just bad luck… They felt more like someone's handiwork and it was always in the castle. Lockhart's scandal happened outside the castle mostly, and Lupin had just left of his own free will. Yet, Harry couldn't tell if Quirrell was under the curse or not. It would have been counterproductive for Voldemort to curse himself for no reason, especially considering how weak he was at the time. Then again, Voldemort wasn't exactly known for his sanity.
Harry couldn't help but wonder how long it would take the school to realize that they could just hire any Defence Professor without fearing for their lives. It would have been amusing that, after a few decades or so, someone accidentally becomes the defence professor twice in a row and everyone would realize that the curse would be over.
Back to Kingsley Shacklebolt, Harry had to admit that this particular appointment took him off-guard. He didn't know if the man was in Dumbledore's pocket or not, but he knew his stuff. The Auror specialized in foreign magics and curses, and he definitely knew his stuff. What was odd in seeing him in Hogwarts was the fact that he was up there as one of the best Aurors in the DMLE. He was one of the more respected ones, just behind Rufus Scrimgeour and Amelia Bones. This whole thing could just be political and have nothing to do with Dumbledore at all.
Still, Harry remained on guard whenever the man was near. Caution was never a bad thing.
His musings were interrupted by an amused voice, "I swear you spend more time here than you do in the castle."
He turned and saw Daphne smiling mischievously at him, "I'm just taking my fill of this place before leaving."
"You're so sure you're going to be selected then…"
Harry snorted in amusement, "Well, yeah. From the rumours running around, they want about as many students for every year, starting from third year."
"I hope I get chosen too. It's a shame that Tracy and Blaise aren't signing up…"
Ah yes, Blaise and Tracy decided to have nothing to do with the European tournament, a wise sentiment if Harry said so himself. Tracy wanted to cement her position in the Court of Slytherin, and Blaise just said some stuff about him already having visited most of Europe, but Harry could tell he just wanted to stay near his girlfriend.
Harry could see the advantage in Tracy's decision. The truth was that anyone with a brain wanted to enter the European tournament, especially the Slytherins. The connections that could be made during the events could last a lifetime, and no one could take it for granted. This put Tracy in a prime position to rise in the Court as there would be a lot of missing members from their house.
The blonde continued, "We're almost late for Slughorn's class."
That statement made Harry groan. Horace Slughorn replacing Severus Snape as the Potions Senior Professor and Head of Slytherin House was another major change in the faculty. And while the man was miles better at explaining potions than Snape, he was a lot more annoying to deal with.
Dealing with Severus Snape was easy… If you ignored him, he would just find some other poor Gryffindor or Hufflepuff to torment. But Slughorn was completely mesmerised by Harry's skill in potions, praising him every time, saying how much he reminded him of Lily Evans, a comparison that made him uncomfortable considering how people talked about her.
He walked back to the castle, grumbling at another class where the man would keep praising his possibly psychopathic, possibly not dead, mother.
The two Slytherins entered the classroom in the nick of time and sat down next to an impassive Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom.
He didn't want to get involved in Neville's life, but he had to admit that he looked better. He stopped being a wreck and to Harry's Arcane hearing, it was like he was getting more stable, more controlled. Which was good, it gave fewer opportunities for the Horcrux in his head to possess him. And it was all probably thanks to the muggleborn next to him. It was truly a wonder just how much a single true friend could help someone.
It was sad that Harry could have never been this friend to Neville, but he was glad that the boy had found someone. Even if Hermione Granger was starting to disturb him.
The muggleborn had obviously gone through some very thorough training in the Department of Mysteries because her spells were stronger and faster. She was also visibly smarter, even if it was more in a mechanic way. The girl still had no imagination to save her life and liked structured spells and arithmancy instead of true spellcasting, but it was still better than almost anyone else her age. Truth be told, she was actually beating out Daphne quite frequently, much to the blonde's discontent.
Hermione hadn't gone out of her way to speak with him, firmly taking Neville's side on the matter. Not that Harry really cared enough to go out of his way to do so. The rest of the school's reaction to her was a lot less subdued. People kept pointing fingers at her for a couple of weeks, and her housemates often found her new silent disposition to be quite disturbing when they compared it to how she used to be.
He had been so lost in thought that Harry forgot how long they started brewing a forgetfulness potion. He had almost made a few blunders that he corrected using his Arcane Hearing, and as usual, Slughorn ran to his station with a wide smile on his face, "Perfect! As expected of Lily Evan's son. You'll quickly surpass her if you continue this way."
Harry gave the man a forced smile, "I hope so, Professor."
"You know what, Harry? Before I forget, there was something I wished to speak about with you and Miss Greengrass after class. Why don't you wait in my office until then? Feel free to eat the toffees on my desk…"
Harry nodded and walked to the man's office, followed by Daphne.
As he expected, every surface of Slughorn's office seemed to be adorned with memorabilia, each piece carefully chosen to reflect the prestige and potential he saw in his most favoured students. The walls were lined with shelves that groaned under the weight of photographs in silver frames, capturing moments of triumph and victories that the man would brag about to everyone who entered his office.
In one corner of the room stood a tall, glass cabinet filled with various trophies and awards, gleaming under the soft light that filtered through a stained-glass window, casting colourful patterns on the polished wooden floor. Among these were Quidditch cups, academic accolades, and even a small, but prominently displayed, Order of Merlin. Each item was meticulously labelled with a small, handwritten note detailing the recipient's name and the reason for their recognition.
Across from this, a massive desk was cluttered with papers and notes. Huh, so the man hadn't given up on his career as a potion master then… It was quite impressive that he could handle teaching so many classes while doing some personal research at the same time.
The research looked quite impressive, focusing on enlarging magical circuits temporarily, something that was very foolish, to say the least, and stupidly dangerous. Even if, by some miracle, it worked, the control alone over the new circuits would take far more time than the effect of the potion to perfect. Either way, it was still an interesting avenue of research.
The potion master then arrived a few minutes later, with a large smile on his face, "Ah, Harry, Daphne. I see you're admiring my collection…"
And then the man spent ten minutes bragging about his students. Harry tuned most of them out, waiting for the man to get to the point, "…She still sends me tickets to her matches. Now, you're probably wondering why I asked you to come here."
They both nodded and the man continued, "Well, there's no other way to say this but Professor McGonagall has approved your applications to join the Hogwarts Delegation for the European tournament. As you probably know, this is an honour, to say the least, but that also means that there a a lot of things you need to know about before we leave next month."
Harry nodded while listening raptly. Things just got interesting…
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In the heart of the Department of Mysteries, two Unspeakables finished up their reports respectfully to their leader, Saul Croaker, "So, we were able to finish the repairs in the time room and added the savings to our yearly budget."
"Good work. I expect you to start going back to work tomorrow."
They nodded and left. In his office, a man groaned in exasperation the moment his privacy charms were up, "Who would have thought I would miss the brats? This place is a fucking nightmare."
With a flick of a wand, the form of Saul Croaker melted away, leaving the face of a disgruntled Severus Snape. An amused Lily Evans melted out of the shadows, "I never expected you to miss your time in Hogwarts."
"I hate Croaker even more, now. Why didn't he just submit to your authority… Things would have been a lot simpler then."
Yeah, and they also would have had access to some of the sensitive files the man had on the department. So far, they have been working with Lily's admittedly knowledgeable experience regarding the department, but getting access to its resources was still illuding them. Damn Croaker for blowing himself up. Seriously, who the fuck does that?
"Come on, Sev. Isn't a small part of your Slytherin heart happy with the power you now hold, with the authority you have over one of the most powerful groups in the country."
Severus disgruntedly nodded before a small owl of parchment appeared out of nowhere and turned into a small letter for the redhead. Lily smirked slightly at the content and he couldn't help but ask, "Anything good?"
"Harry Potter is now officially part of Hogwart's delegation from the tournament."
Ah, the Granger girl must have sent the message, "How are you going to proceed?"
"I believe it's time for me to meet my son," the redhead answered ominously.
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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr
I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.
Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.