Chapter 97: The next morning

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author notes-

Chapter 97: The next morning

Harry sneaked into the common room and walked up the stairs.

As expected, all of his roommates were fast asleep.

He felt very tired already but there was one thing he had to check.

'I need to make sure…'

He walked to Neville's bed and held his wand.

Harry had no doubt that Voldemort had also created the Horcruxes in this world.

Lucius Malfoy confirmed to had the diary for years before it mysteriously disappeared. Like the Raveclaw tiara that was supposed to be in Hogwarts. 

He could assume the rest of them had disappeared too, but maybe he could visit the cave during the summer.

In any case, now that he knows that he created them, there is a chance that Neville…

'What am I going to do if he turns out to be a Horcrux…can I bring myself to kill an innocent boy?..., stop! don't get ahead of yourself. You don't know yet, and still, there could be other ways to remove it.' He calmed down and pointed his wand at Neville's forehead.

The scan he was performing was designed to detect dark magic. Is not meant to detect horrocruxes specifically, but he figured the results would be at least strange if such magic was in there.

"Mmm?..."

He repeated the scan two more times to be sure.

Neville's wound was a cursed scar, he had no doubt of that. 

This is a common occurrence with wounds inflicted by dark magic, it often leaves a residue that prevents it from healing completely, unless is removed. This would make sense if he was hit with a killing curse like him.

But other than that…there was nothing. It was just a normal scar.

"Uff…" He was able to breathe in relief. 

"Harry?..." 

He must have been a bit too loud because he awoke Neville.

At least the boy was still asleep enough to not notice his wand or wonder what he was doing next to his bed.

"Hi, Neville. I just got back…sorry for waking you up."

"Where were you?, Professor McGonagall was looking for you. And also Hermione, your sister, and the other girls. They were all worried after what happened." 

"Ah…" He had forgotten about that. 

'It seems like tomorrow I'll have a lot to deal with....'

"I just needed some time alone," Harry said.

"Well… I'm glad you are fine. And thank you." 

Harry glanced back at him.

"Thank you for what?"

"For saving me, of course. I thought I was going to get bitten by that scary snake… until you stop it. It was very cool." Neville said with admiration.

'Let's hope Mcgonagall also thinks it was cool.'

"Right…you are welcome. Let's go back to sleep, shall we?..." He was not looking forward to the next day.

<><><><><><><><><>

In the early morning, Harry felt the gazes of the school on him as he made his way to his table in the Great Hall.

'How nostalgic…' he thought.

"Harry!" 

As soon as he sat down, he was surrounded by girls. 

This would usually be a good thing, but not when they are angry.

"What was that about?"

"Where were you?"

"Why did you leave like that?"

"How did you kill the snake so easily?"

"Yeah, can you teach me that?"

"Can you guys slow down and ask one at a time?" He requested.

"Then, Mister Potter, allow me to go first." The voice of Professor McGonagall came from behind him.

"After you are done with your breakfast, I will need you to come to my office. I trust you know where it is?" Harry nodded.

"Excellent. " She turned around and walked away.

"Oh…this is not good, Harry. What if this goes on your permanent record?" Hermione said with concern.

"Crushing a snake with one hand? I want that in my permanent record!" Ron exclaimed.

"So, Harry." Lyra sat next to him.

"Is everything okay?"

"I'm fine. Just needed some time alone." He did not want to drag this conversation.

"But…you never came back to the dorm, we waited for you. " Ginny said.

"He did come back. I think it was around midnight." Neville added.

"You were wandering around the castle until midnight?" Lavender asked.

"Harry!, that's against the rules!. "Hermione looked outraged.

"That must be why Professor McGonagall asked you to her office"

"That, and the snake thing." Parvati pointed out.

"Yeah, that was very cool." Seamus joined the conversation.

"Can you teach me that?, I want to crush snakes like that too!." Ron requested.

"You should have seen the face Profesor Lockhart was making, he was so terrified of you!" Ron chuckled.

"That's not funny!. We were all startled by that snake. I can't believe Malfoy got away with no punishment after using a spell like that." Hermione said.

"I'm sure I saw Professor Snape whispering to him. He was probably the one who told him to use it." Lavender said.

"That wouldn't surprise me, he doesn't like Neville," Seamus said.

"That's because he broke most of his cauldrons. I think this was something else..." Parvati commented.

"He doesn't like anyone from Gryffindor to be honest. " Lavender pointed.

"So, Harry. Can you teach me to kill a snake like that?" Ron looked at him with interest.

"No…" Said Harry.

"Oh come on, don't be stingy," Ron whined.

"I did that without thinking. It was just a reaction to being startled by the snake." Harry explained. It wasn't completely a lie, that was just an involuntary reaction. His mind was somewhere else.

"Ahmm…" Ron said with disappointment.

"I wish it was me then…everyone is talking about you now."

"You got lucky then, that was a black mamba. A very venomous snake." Parvati had studied a lot about reptiles, it was a secret hobby of hers.

Harry was smacked on the shoulder.

"The next time don't just run out like that…you had me worried," Lyra looked serious.

"I'll keep it in mind, Lyra... By the way, did something interesting happen after I left?" He wanted to change the topic away from himself.

Ron got excited.

"You won't believe it!. Snape kicked Lockhart's butt in a duel!"

"Yeah, that was the best part of the day!" Seamus added.

"It wasn't like that!" Hermione claimed.

"Professor Lockhart was just demonstrating how to react when you are hit by the disarming charm."

"By flying away and falling on his butt?. I don't know Hermione…" Lavender frowned.

"I agree. He is not as magnificent as my mother always says." Ginny commented.

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