"Excellent, I didn't know we had two such talented performers in our class!" Lockhart said loudly, smiling brightly, flashing his sparkling smile, the same smile that had won Witch Weekly's Most Charming Smile contest over five times. "Come on, boys, let's put on a show for the class!"
...
The boys stayed frozen in their seats. "Come on, don't be shy. Modesty is always a good quality, but witches like some confidence too," he ranted, pulling Ron out of his seat before he could protest, before doing the same to Draco.
"Talk amongst yourselves, class, while I tell these two fine lads," he patted them on their shoulders, "what they need to do!"
The pair shot Harry hateful looks, but Harry ignored them easily.
"Damn, that was quick thinking," Terry said, leaning in so it wasn't overheard.
"What can I say, we Claws are known for our quick minds and sharp wits," he replied under his breath, just loud enough for his surrounding housemates to hear. The rest of the lesson passed with new levels of amusement, as both Ron and Draco displayed their amazing acting skills to the class.
Halfway through the performance, Padma leaned in and asked, "You know they're going to get you back for this?" mildly concerned as the boys kept shooting him hateful looks.
"Yeah, but what's a prank or two going to hurt? Besides, Draco already hates me and frankly it's the least of my current concerns," he whispered back. "Just do me a favour and watch my back when we're in the halls, I'm not going to make it easy for them."
Padma nodded back and they fell back into silence as they watched the show. As they were leaving class, Harry heard Pansy say to Draco, "Draco, you made a dashing vampire! You got off lightly compared to Weasley though, even Longbottom was laughing at his friend," the Slytherin girl said, trying to provide some level of comfort.
"Shut up, Pansy!" Malfoy snapped heatedly as he stormed off with the girl in tow.
"I really don't know why she puts up with him..." he observed, watching the exchange, wondering if she could be used to get another pair of eyes in the snake pit.
"Don't bother," the smooth and subtle voice of Daphne said from behind him. "Her parents are in the middle of negotiating a marriage contract with Lord Malfoy," she explained, answering both his questions with one statement.
"Oh, unlucky her," he joked, getting a giggle from Tracey and Padma. "What's the reason behind it then?" he probed further, as they started walking to the library to start their homework.
"Lord Parkinson has never been as powerful or as influential as Lord Malfoy, as far as I know, but he's respected by his peers. He could never be the top man himself, but he has the means to help place his heiress in that position," Daphne explained.
Blaise jumped in, carrying on Daphne's explanation in a show of unity. "Lord Malfoy probably wants to secure an ally. From what we've been hearing, his faction is coming apart and Lord Nott is challenging him continuously. Draco and Theo are even starting to take shots at each other," he revealed.
"And Lord Parkinson is in the middle, effectively, of the pair, waiting to take the best offer," he finished.
"Interesting," Harry replied succinctly.
"Very interesting," Tracey added, keeping her voice low.
"Not really," Daphne said dismissively. "Lord Malfoy tried reaching out to my family, trying to arrange a marriage contract for Draco, for either myself or with my sister," the girl sniffed in disgust. "Thankfully, my parents turned it down."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Blaise demanded, clearly taken by surprise at the sudden news.
"I just found out this morning," Daphne replied icily, her persona changing instantly.
Processing all the new information and reaching the conclusion that Pansy was a write-off for the foreseeable future unless something changed, Harry glanced over at Blaise. The boy seemed to have some new fire to him, clearly not liking the idea of his roommate trying to snatch his tentative girl from behind his back. 'Looks like Theo may have just gotten himself a temporary ally. The enemy of my enemy is my friend fits this situation perfectly.'
His musings were cut short as they entered the library, just in time to see a middle-aged Auror chatting away with the librarian as they walked past.
The rest of the day passed effortlessly on his part, no major crisis occurring, as the school started to relax again as the Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match rapidly approached. Naturally, the halls got a bit more lively, jinxes and hexes flying freely between the teams and the more ardent Quidditch fans of the two Houses. The only major bit of gossip in the school halls was the news of the formation of a Duelling Club, which stirred up the students' excitement. Unfortunately, it was being led by their fraud of a teacher, who was growing increasingly unpopular as the students started to realise that they weren't actually learning anything.
He was telling all this to his godfather as they chatted over the mirrors for the first time in a week. "It's great to hear you won your game, Pup."
"Thanks, but I need to be serious for a second. Have you heard of Dolores Umbridge?" he asked, remembering Rita's information.
He watched his godfather shift, frowning at the name. "I recognise it, I think she's the new Undersecretary if I recall, just came to power with the new Minister in this summer's elections."
"That's correct, but there's something you may want to be aware of; she's extremely anti-creature in her views. Her father was caught hunting and killing werewolves for sport. Evidence suggests that she was involved but never charged.
I did a bit of digging on herturns out that she was dismissed from the Creature Control Department for being too overzealous. I can't find any reports though, since they've conveniently gone missing," he explained to his now frowning godfather, who clearly saw the possible danger the new Undersecretary presented. "She probably arranged for them to be destroyed at some point before this summer's elections."
"Thanks for the information; I'm sure Remus will be touched that you care for his safety," Sirius said, grinning broadly at the news.
"No, I'm looking out for you," he said, which caused the man's smile to dim. "I don't like Remus, but he's important to you, and he was to my father. I just thought I would give you a heads-up so that you can keep an eye out for him. The sad fact is that he's a weak link that any of our enemies could use against us."
"Thanks," Sirius said anyway, ignoring Harry's comment about enemies.
"No problem," he said easily, before adding, "By the way, the books you sent me are very useful. I'm already in the process of crafting the beginning runes for the first ward trap."
"Good to hear. Now what about your Animagus form?" Sirius asked.
Smiling fondly at the subject, he answered proudly, "It's a bird, I'm sure of it now. At the current rate of progress, I expect by Christmas I'll know what species it is. Hopefully by the end of my third year I'll be able to fully transform."
"Nice, I always wondered what it would be like to have wings."
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to flying with Serenity," he agreed, looking over to his sleeping owl.
"Oh, by the way, Pup. Remus has been asked by Albus to teach DADA at Hogwarts next year. I don't know if he will, but thought you would want to know," his godfather said casually, as if they were discussing the weather rather than a werewolf teaching in a school full of kids.
"That's going to be... interesting," was all he managed to say, not knowing how to feel about the man teaching at his school. "Do you know what Remus happens to specialise in? Curses and Spells? Dark Creatures? Cursed Items? Combat and Duelling?" he asked, already guessing it would be Dark Creatures, but wanting to confirm his deduction.
"Dark Creatures, and how to protect against them. In the war, Remus was often in contact with the different groups of creatures, such as the vampires and the werewolves, not that it did much good."
"Alright, thanks for the information," he answered, making a mental note to leave any more reading about dark creatures until next year. However much he disliked Remus, he was more than willing to admit that the man was smart and capable from what he had seen. And frankly, there was little point in studying the material now in any more depth, beyond what he already had, if he was going to spend all of next year learning about them from an expert.
"Just so you know, I've got a surprise planned for Christmas. I hope you like it."
He briefly wondered what his godfather had planned before there was a knock at the door. "Okay, I need to get going, take care."
"You too, Pup," Sirius said in parting before the mirror turned back into its normal reflective surface.
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