A deafening silence filled the Great Hall. Jake couldn't believe what he'd heard. He looked over at his raven-haired friend, and he wasn't budging, "Harry, go on," Jake whispered to him.
Harry turned to him and he looked beyond Jake, assumedly looking at all of the Gryffindors, "I didn't put my name in," he said blankly, "You know I didn't."
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore called again, "Harry! Up here, if you please?"
"Go on, Harry," Jake urged him, and Harry reluctantly got to his feet. Jake could see the glares of every Hufflepuff at the table next to him, and they all wanted nothing more than to pin Harry's head on a pike.
"This is not good..." Hermione understated.
Ron, however, was in a right state, Jake could see that much, but he managed to be holding it in better than one would've thought.
"Someone wants him dead... someone at this school..." Jake whispered to Hermione.
"I was thinking the same thing... that leaves us only one question," she said, looking at him as Harry disappeared through the double doors.
"Who here at Hogwarts did put Harry's name in that Goblet..." Jake was going to kill the person when he got his hands on them when he found out.
Hermione had held her breath all the way up until the Blue-White flames went out of the Goblet, in which she exhaled carefully. She had expected Jake's name to come out of the Goblet as well, quite honestly. Dumbledore told them all to make their way back to their Common Rooms or respective living arrangements outside the Castle. When they all stood up from their seats, Ron almost broke out into a run ahead of them. Hermione knew that Ron got jealous of Harry, her time at the Burrow this past summer proved that much, but for Ron to actually think that Harry would put his name in the Goblet was ridiculous. Ron was supposed to be Harry's best friend, and for him to believe Harry would want to actually enter underaged, to Hermione that was honestly and utterly ridiculous.
When they got into the Entrance Hall, the talk grew louder, and lots of Hogwarts students were saying really nasty things about Harry, things they'd never say in front of an Authority Figure. They both made their way into the Common Room in time to see Ron ascending the Boy's Staircase, "He's in a right state, he is," Seamus said to them as they went and sat down on a loveseat. Hermione pulled a book from her robes and continued from her place from earlier, "D'you really think Harry entered his name?"
"No, I don't think he did," Jake looked at Seamus, then behind the Irish Boy when he saw the Twins getting things ready for a party, "I don't know why we are celebrating."
Seamus turned around, looked back at Jake and shrugged, then walked over to see what they were doing.
"Leave it to the Twins to use any excuse to party," Hermione said after a brief glance in their direction, "even at the expense of an underaged Wizard being forced into a Tournament with an age-restriction."
"Since Ron's being an ass right now, Harry is going to need the both of us as his support through this. I can only imagine how afraid he is. Even if he doesn't show it, he has to be scared deep down," Jake said with a look in her direction.
It was about twenty minutes later when the Portrait swung open and Jake and Hermione heard the other Gryffindors pester Harry, "You should've told us you entered!" They heard Fred bellow.
"How did you do it without getting a beard? Brilliant!" George roared excitedly.
"Oh if it couldn't be me, at least it's a Gryffindor!" Angelina was heard saying.
"You'll be able to pay back Diggory for that last Quidditch Match, Harry!" Katie Bell had shrieked, probably in Harry's ear.
Jake watched as Harry got pulled in multiple directions. Being the friend he was, he let Harry suffer for about ten minutes before stepping in, "Alright, alright! That's enough!" He yelled, but no one heard him. " Sonorus ," he said with his hand pointed to his throat, "ENOUGH!" His loud outburst got everyone to shut up and stop talking for a moment. He aimed his hand at his throat again, " Quietus ... That's enough, Harry has had a long day, and finding out he's going to have to compete in the Tournament he didn't even enter into is enough to take a toll on a Fourth Year. He looks exhausted, let him be for the night," Jake said, and everyone realized how, in their excitement, they didn't even listen to a word Harry had said.
"Thanks..." Harry said quietly as the partying started back up, but everyone left Harry alone after that.
"No problem. You going up to bed?" Jake asked him.
"That was the plan... but... you both believe me, right?"
"Of course, Harry!" Hermione stood up and walked over to him, pulling him into a hug to show that she was there as support, "It's obvious that someone... w-well... wants you dead."
"Not like it's anything new, just the method in how they are doing it," Jake said.
The look on Harry's face was one of appreciation, "Thank you, both of you."
"Of course, oh uh..." Jake paused for a second, "Ron might not be so believing... he walked ahead of us the whole way to Gryffindor Tower, and disappeared up the stairs a little while ago, not even staying down to party it up with everyone."
"We just thought you should know," Hermione said solemnly.
"Thanks... better get it over with, though..." Harry said and somberly walked up the stairs.
"You think it will go poorly?" Hermione asked Jake as they sat back down.
"I know it will... Ron gets jealous of Harry easily, I'm sure you've noticed..." Jake said, and Hermione knew all too well that he was right.
"When are you going up to bed?" She asked, continuing her book.
"At least a half hour from now, just to give things a chance to fizzle out if need be," Jake said, his gaze lost in the fireplace.
"Okay, if you want to talk about anything at all, I'll be here," she smiled at him, knowing he couldn't see it. He didn't bother her for the half hour he stayed down in the Common Room, but he bid her goodnight with a hug and went up the stairs. She smiled at him as he walked away.
*******
Jake and Hermione were walking back from the Great Hall the next morning, Hermione carrying a napkin stacked with toast, "I hope Harry eats something this morning... Going without eating isn't healthy... I'm also unhappy with the fact you seemed to eat so little for Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner since at least, what, the Summer?"
"Yeah... but you had me see reason, for that I thank you," Jake smiled at her and they were about to speak the password to the Fat Lady when the Portrait swung open, revealing Harry coming out of the Common Room.
"Hello," Hermione said, holding the napkin of toast up, "We brought you this... Want to go for a walk?"
"Good idea," Harry said in a grateful tone.
They went downstairs, crossed the Entrance Hall quickly without so much as a glance towards the Great Hall, and were soon striding across the lawn toward the lake, where the Durmstrang ship was moored, reflected blackly in the water. It was a chilly morning, and they kept moving, munching their toast, as Harry told them both exactly what had happened after he had left the Gryffindor Table the night before.
"It's a relief that you both at least believe me, not counting Dumbledore, McGonagall, and Moody," Harry said as they came to a stop near the Lake's edge.
"Why wouldn't we?" Jake asked him, "The look on your face said it all."
"The question we've been asking, without much traction, is who did put your name in?" Hermione asked rhetorically, "Because Moody is right, Harry... no student could have done that, except for Jake, but he didn't put your name in, I know him better than that," she said, turning ever so slightly pink in the face, "and no one Seventeen or older would've done it for you either-"
"Have either of you seen Ron?" Harry asked suddenly.
"Yeah, he was at Breakfast," Jake said.
"Does he still think I entered myself?"
"Well... no, I don't think so... not really ," Hermione answered awkwardly.
"Smooth," Jake said dryly.
"What's that supposed to mean, 'not really '?" Harry asked.
"Oh Harry, isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked despairingly, "He's jealous!"
" Jealous ?" Harry asked incredulously, "Jealous of what? He wants to make a prat of himself in front of the whole school, does he?"
"Well, not quite what Hermione meant, but that's not entirely out of the question either," Jake said, his voice neutral as his gaze was elsewhere.
"Look," Hermione said, being patient with Harry, "it's always you or Jake after last year who get all the attention, you know it is. I know it's neither of your fault," Hermione was choosing her words carefully, "I know you don't ask for it... but - well - you know, Ron's got all those brothers to compete against at home, and you're his best friend, and you're really famous - he's always shunted to one side whenever people see you, and he puts up with it, and he never mentions it, but I suppose this was just one time too many for him to handle..."
"Great..." Harry said, sitting down, "really great..." he rested his arms on his knees as he looked out to the Lake. Jake and Hermione sat beside him, "So... what do you both suggest I do? Follow him around until he listens to me? Because he made it clear last night that that wasn't going to happen."
"You wanna know what I do think we should do once we get back up to the Castle?" Hermione asked him.
"Yeah, give Ron a good kick up the-"
" Write to Sirius ," Hermione interrupted, "You've got to tell him what's happened. He asked you to keep him posted on everything that's going on at Hogwarts... It's almost as if he expected something like this to happen..."
"If I tell him, he'll just come barging into the Castle tomorrow-"
"You don't know your Godfather as well as you think, Harry," Jake interrupted, "Sirius wouldn't risk going back to Azkaban just to make a grand appearance at Hogwarts. He's lost twelve years of his life in that place, he won't risk anymore if it means not seeing you again. Besides, Fudge, as far as I know, never revoked the Dementor's use of their Kiss on him if he ever was near one."
That thought obviously didn't help Harry, but now knowing that Sirius wasn't going to just appear inside the Castle seemed to be a little comforting.
"Plus," Hermione got their attention, "I think Sirius would want you to tell him. He'd want to hear it from you, Harry, instead of a Secondary source."
"Like what?"
"The Daily Prophet for starters. Something like the Triwizard Tournament is always worth talking about, especially with a Fourth Champion involved," Jake explained.
"The Tournament is famous, and you're famous. I'd be completely surprised if you weren't mentioned in the Prophet . You're already in half the books about... Voldemort, you know?" She mentioned, still obviously not used to saying the name.
"Okay... okay, I'll write to him," Harry said, throwing his last bite of toast into the lake. They all stood up and watched the piece be taken by a giant tentacle.
"I'll never get tired of seeing that," Jake said as they returned to the Castle.
"So, who's Owl am I going to use?" Harry asked.
"A School Owl. It's the safest option right now," Jake said.
They went up to the Owlery and Hermione being the brilliant Witch she was, had a Quill, Ink Bottle, and Parchment with her for Harry to use.
He silently wrote the letter, the sound of Quill scratching against Parchment being the only other sound in the Owlery. "Finished," he said, looking over to them when he was done.
As the word left his mouth, Hedwig had flown down onto his shoulder and held her leg out, waiting for him to attach it.
"I can't use you, Hedwig, I'm sorry, but so no one finds him, I've got to use a different Owl," Harry said and looked at his Owl. She had a look of hurt written on her feature, "I'll give you half my breakfast in the morning if you show up with the Owl Post, how's that sound?"
She looked at him for a moment and just flew back up casually to roost, "I guess that's a yes," Jake said as Harry got another Owl and sent it off with his letter.
*******
Jake had a feeling that once lessons started back, things wouldn't get easier for Harry, but he didn't realize just how wrong he was. Not only did it not get easier, but it had actually got worse.
The rest of the School thought along the same line as the Gryffindors, that Harry had entered his name into the Goblet of Fire. None of the other Houses were happy about it, though, especially the Hufflepuffs. While usually on excellent terms with Gryffindor, the entire House had turned cold towards the entirety of Gryffindor House.
Hermione had noticed that the Hufflepuffs wanted to give Harry a piece of their mind, but since Jake was always around him for lessons and meal times, they didn't dare say anything at all. They were afraid of Jake, she knew that much, with how powerful of a Wizard he was. She didn't figure he'd actually bring physical harm to them, but just the possibility alone was enough to deter them.
Hermione had also noticed that morning at Breakfast that the Beauxbatons girls, at least a small handful of them, kept glancing over at the table, but whether it was to look at Jake or the Second Hogwarts Champion, she didn't know.
In Herbology, Ernie and Justin were more noticeably angry with Harry than Susan or Hannah, both of whom were still upset with him greatly. None of them talked to Harry at all while they were repotting Bouncing Bulbs. They did laugh unpleasantly, however, when one of the Bulbs wriggled from Harry's grip and smacked him in the face.
Ron still refused to talk to Harry, but that wasn't unexpected. Hermione and Jake sat between them to prevent any unnecessary conflict.
When they found themselves in Care of Magical Creatures outside, the Slytherins were already there, and Jake could see the Sneer on Malfoy's face, even from Forty Yards away, "Ah, look boys, it's the Champion," he had said to Crabbe and Goyle the moment Harry had gotten in earshot, "got your Autograph books? Better get a signature now-"
Jake wasn't going to put up with Draco that morning. He had whipped his wand out and pointed it right at him, "Shut the fuck up or I'll let you relive the Ferret life, you worthless half-squib."
Draco turned red in the face as the Gryffindors laughed rather loudly. "Alright, that's enough fun and games," Logan said as he walked up between them.
"Control your Housemate, Pendragon, or I'll do it myself," he lowered and holstered his wand.
Hagrid showed up and any leftover tension evaporated. He was carrying a tall stack of crates and had to explain to them the reason the Skrewts had been killing one-another. Apparently it was because of pent-up energy, and Hagrid had said that they'd be taking the Skrewts for short walks as a proposed solution.
Malfoy, as expected, had a problem with this, "Take this thing for a walk?" He had repeated in disgust, staring into one of the boxes, "And where exactly are we supposed to fix the leash? Around the sting, the blast end, or the sucker?"
Jake had just pulled on his Dragon-hide gloves when Hagrid had demonstrated, " 'round the middle. Harry - come here an' help me with this big one,'' Hagrid had called him over and began speaking to Harry.
"What do you think Hagrid is saying to him?" Hermione asked as she began to put the leash on one of the Skrewts. There were so few now that she and Jake shared one.
"I don't rightly know... not even a guess as to what Hagrid could be telling him," he replied as he held the Skrewt in place for her.
Of course, he was the only one to have little trouble holding it in place. The Skrewts, being over three feet long each, were no longer shell-less and colorless; they had developed a kind of thick, grayish, shiny armor.
Hermione saw many students having trouble holding onto their Skrewt, even if it was in a crate, and was thankful she had Jake to help her. Then again, she'd have just held it in place with a spell and attached the leash that way had Jake not offered. She felt a little bad for not bringing it up to him, but she'd be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching him work; she could just imagine his muscles flexing under his clothing as he held the Skrewt in place for her.
She was thankful that he brought her from her thoughts a moment later, "Well, I guess we should walk it now. Do you want me to hold the leash? It's being unruly in that crate."
"No, just set it down, I've got it," she said, smiling. He lifted it out of the crate where it began wriggling aggressively in his hands, and set it on the ground. Hermione watched as the Skrewt scurried away, so she steeled herself and was ready for when it jerked forward.
At least, she thought she was, but the Skrewt was way stronger than she realized. She felt her feet lift off the ground as the Skrewt started scurrying, and her heart practically stopped. She was ever so thankful for Jake being there, as his quick reflexes allowed him to get in front of her and catch her before she had a chance to hit the ground. She still had a hold of the leash somehow as her arm was pulled, but Jake prevented her from going anywhere, 'He really is an amazing guy...' she thought to herself.
"Good reflexes, Jake," Hagrid called over to them, "Ten Points ter Gryffindor for quick action."
After seeing that, everyone else in class was more cautious with their Skrewts, and thankfully none of the rest of them almost escaped. Although, because the Skrewts had Blast-Ends, sometimes they would explode and drag a student who wasn't careful, but never-the-less, they were fine.
*******
A couple of days passed and Hermione and Jake both noticed that they were some of the worst days Harry had ever had at Hogwarts. The only time to really come close to this was back in Second Year that they could recall when a lot of students thought he was Slytherin's Heir and he was attacking his fellow students.
Jake was out early on the Third day that had passed, running the perimeter of the grounds like he had been almost every day since getting to Hogwarts. He had gotten completely used to the run now, even though it was getting quite cold, he didn't end up even getting remotely exhausted until the final stretch back up the Stone Path towards the Giant Castle Doors. He did have to run past the Durmstrang Ship and the Beauxbatons Carriage during the run, but seeing as how no one ever brought it up to him, he figured they all had still been asleep. It was early in the morning, after all.
He was standing in front of the Castle Doors, his hands on his waist as he controlled his breathing, " 'ello," a feminine voice sounded behind him.
He turned around, still heavily breathing, and saw Fleur standing there, "Oh... hello..."
She was smiling at him with gentle eyes, " 'ow are you doing zis morning?"
"I'm doing alright... now that I've just... ran the perimeter of the grounds... how about you?"
"I am doing well, I do not zink I've properly eentroduced myself yet? I am Fleur Delacour, apologies Monsieur Jereemiah Keedd, but I already know your name. I 'ad asked Madeleine to get your name for me. I 'ope you do not mind?" Fleur asked him.
"No... not at all..." he looked at her for a moment, "congratulations on being a Champion," his breathing had finally gotten under control.
"Zank you, eet ees an 'onor to be ze Champion for Beauxbatons," her alluring gaze was on him, she knew it was, but she saw that it was not making him act differently. This intrigued her because she had yet to walk up to a Male and not have them try and impress her with wild stories that were not true. She decided to put it to the side for now, "Ees eet conseedered insensitive eef I ask 'ow you got ze Eye-patch?"
He gave a light laugh, "A Boggart incident. Showed me something I didn't like, I got angry, and destroyed both it and the wardrobe it had been in. A piece of the wardrobe had lodged into my eye, but Madam Pomfrey, the School's Matron, she wasn't able to regrow the eye," he shrugged.
"Well, I zink zat eet makes you... attracteeve," she tried just once more to see if he would be enticed by her words, but he still remained unmoved, "When I stepped off ze Carriage last Friday, you were ze first 'ogwarts student I noteeced amongst the crowd, because of ze Eye-Patch. I deedn't know you were only Fourteen, zough... you look very mature for your age, Jereemiah. I 'ope you do not mind me saying so?"
"Not at all," he smiled at her, "well, I'm going to go and shower, we'll talk later, okay?"
"Yes, we most definitely will," she smirked at him and turned around, walking back to the Carriage.
He watched her walk away for a moment before turning and going into the Castle. He went up to Gryffindor Tower and bathed to be clean and ready for the day ahead.
During their Charms class later that day, Professor Flitwick had them practicing the Summoning Charm in class, and upon Special Request, asked Jake to summon things Non-Verbally. He sighed, but did as he was asked and pointed his wand at the object, and it suddenly flew across the room at him, where he caught it with ease.
"Most amazing! Five Points to Gryffindor!" Professor Flitwick praised him.
Harry, on the other hand, performed poorly, much like Neville had, and the both of them were the only ones to receive Extra Homework from Flitwick.
"It's really not that difficult, Harry," Hermione had said to Harry as the three of them left class. She had been making things zip around the classroom, much like Jake had, but she had been saying Accio each time, whereas Jake didn't say it beyond the first time. "You just weren't concentrating properly-"
"Wonder why that was," Harry said darkly as Cedric walked by, Hermione noticed that he was still wearing the S.P.E.W. badge, and a large group of simpering girls following him, and they each gave Harry a look of contempt, but said nothing, most likely because of Jake being there, "Still - never mind, eh? Double Potions to look forward to this afternoon..."
Potions was always disliked by every House except Slytherin, because Professor Snape was the most biased Professor Jake had ever seen, Magical or Muggle. Being Double Potions was only worse because it lasted longer. Jake knew they were going to have a rougher time than usual, with Harry being a Champion and all, and the Slytherins weren't going to let this go easily, especially Malfoy. He already took every opportunity he got to pester the hell out of Harry, and if Care of Magical Creatures was anything to go by, Potions was going to be worse, because Snape let Malfoy in particular get away with a lot of things.
When Jake, Harry, and Hermione had arrived at Snape's classroom in the dungeon after lunch, they found the Slytherins waiting outside, each and every one of them wearing a large badge on the front of his or her robes. Jake knew they weren't S.P.E.W. badges, because Hermione would've told him if any Slytherin besides Pendragon had bought one, and none of them had thus far. Upon getting close to them, he saw the wording on the badge in bright luminous red letters, even in the dimly lit underground passage:
SUPPORT CEDRIC DIGGORY-
THE REAL HOGWARTS CHAMPION!
"Like them, Potter?" Malfoy had asked loudly as they approached. "And this isn't all they do - look!" He pressed the badge into his chest, and the message upon it vanished, only to be replaced by another one, which glowed in a luminous green:
POTTER STINKS!
The Slytherins all howled with laughter, except for Pendragon, who wasn't wearing one. The ones who had Badges like Malfoy all pressed them into their Chest until the message POTTER STINKS! was shining brightly in a sea of green all around Harry.
"Oh very funny," Hermione said sarcastically to Pansy Parkinson and her gang of Slytherin girls, who were laughing harder than anyone, "really witty ."
"No, Hermione, don't you understand? It's the most genius thing they've ever done," Jake said, causing the Slytherins to stop laughing, and Hermione to look at him like he'd gone mad, "They now have the word of an Eight year old plastered on their chests for everyone in the school to see how childish and immature they really are. This will really let our Guests know to avoid them, because I doubt they want to be seen associating with such immaturity."
All of the Slytherin there, even Crabbe and Goyle, two blundering idiots who should not have passed First Year, had taken the badge off and handed it back to Draco. Even Pansy, who always looked like she wanted nothing more than to seduce Draco and take him back to her bed, had taken hers off and handed it back to him. Draco, fuming with anger, dropped them and pulled out his wand, Harry doing the same. Jake hadn't taken Malfoy seriously, and he would come to regret it in a moment.
Harry and Draco both yelled at the same time, but two different spells.
" Furnunculus !" Harry yelled.
" Densaugeo !" Draco bellowed.
The two spells collided midair, ricocheting off one another, and Jake hadn't been able to react in time. Harry's spell had hit Goyle in the face, and Malfoy's had hit Hermione in the face. Hermione fell to the floor, and had begun whimpering in a panic as her hands clutched her mouth.
"Hermione!" Jake yelled, going to and kneeling down next to Hermione. He had to fight her to move her hands from her mouth, but upon doing so, he saw that her front teeth were growing at an alarming rate. They grew to past her bottom lip, her chin, then were going to be longer than her neck soon - panic-stricken, she felt them and let out a terrified cry.
"And what's all this noise about?" A soft, deadly voice sounded through the otherwise quiet corridor. Snape had arrived, and the Slytherins clamored to give their explanations. Pendragon was the only one trying to tell the truth, but Snape pointed a long yellow finger at Malfoy and said, "Explain."
"Potter attacked me, sir-"
"We attacked each other at the same time!" Harry shouted quickly.
"- and he hit Goyle - look!"
Snape examined Goyle, whose face now resembled something that would have been at home in a book about poisonous fungi. "Hospital wing, Goyle," Snape said calmly.
"Malfoy got Hermione!" Ron shouted, " Look !" He pointed to Hermione down on the floor.
So Snape could see the damage, Jake forced Hermione to reveal her mouth, her incredibly enlarged front teeth - she was still doing her best to hide them, but Jake kept her hands aside until Snape got a good look. When Jake had let go, she failed in hiding her teeth with her small hands because they had grown past her collar bone by that point. Jake helped her stand up, and was planning how to brutally murder each of the Slytherin Fourth-Year girls for doubling over in silent giggles at Hermione's situation.
Snape looked coldly at Hermione, sneered evilly and said, "I see no difference."
Jake paused for a moment, 'What!? Did - did he really just-' He looked at Snape, and heard Hermione let out a whimper. He looked and caught a glimpse of her tear-filled eyes as she turned on her heel and ran. She ran all the way down the corridor and out of sight, and he was paralyzed to the spot, still unbelieving that Snape actually said that. Really, he shouldn't have been surprised, but he didn't think even Snape would be that callous.
Harry, Ron, and every Gyffindor there besides Jake, who was still in mild shock, began yelling and complaining, but only Harry and Ron had been insulting Snape and calling him names, "Let's see," Snape said in his silkiest voice, "Fifty Points from Gryffindor, and a detention for Potter and Weasley. Now get inside, or it'll be a-"
Jake came through the crowd out of nowhere, his eye had turned a dull red, grabbed Snape by the scruff of his robes, and slammed him into the wall beside the door to his classroom. Before he had a chance to reprimand Jake, his throat had started being closed off from Jake's hands being around it. Jake had lifted Snape off the ground, pressed his thumbs into Snape's larynx, and was on the verge of strangling the life out of the most hated Professor at Hogwarts.
Before he could completely go through with it, Hermione's voice, his voice of reason, rang out in his head, telling him to stop. He tossed Snape aside, who was coughing and holding his throat gingerly. His eyes had watered and he couldn't see.
Jake turned around and saw the terrified looks on the Fourth-Year Slytherins and Gryffindors. He was furious, and he needed to get out of the Castle, and quickly. He almost sprinted up the stairs and out the front doors through the Entrance Hall, just to get outside fast enough. When he felt the cold hit his face, he walked down the path and he about twenty yards away from the Castle when he lost it.
He roared with anger; explosions had sounded around him like artillery bombarding the ground, sending dirt and grass everywhere. Windows from the Castle had blown outward and inward, and an entire classroom wall had blown onto the Grounds. Specifically, it was the Transfiguration classroom, and McGonagall's Third-Year class for Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had been interrupted.
The Durmstrang and Beauxbatons students all came out of their respective living spaces to see what had happened, and they were both surprised and slightly worried. Mainly afraid that he would damage their Ship or Carriage, but the students looked on in awe.
When he let all of his rage out, Jake collapsed to his knee, feeling suddenly quite exhausted. A second later he fell forward and blacked out.
*******
Jake awoke some time later, sitting in a chair in Dumbledore's office. He blinked his eye several times to clear his vision and saw that Dumbledore sat across from him, with both McGonagall and Snape flanking the Headmaster. His mind wasn't clear, but when Dumbledore spoke, it was impossible to miss the disappointment in his voice, "Jake, I am very disappointed in you... attacking a Professor like that. What could possibly have provoked you to do such a thing?"
"Kidd," McGonagall said, not giving him a chance to speak, "You have attacked Professor Snape and through your actions, there are now two black bruises where he claims you tried to choke the life out of him. Is this true?"
Jake was silent for a long moment, glanced at Professor Snape with a look of pure hatred, and then looked at his Head of House, "My only regret is not going through with it."
McGonagall gasped, Snape looked like he was about to take off every point Gryffindor currently had, and Dumbledore's face became Neutral, "Kidd, what are-"
Jake's voice started off calm, but grew louder and more violent as he went on, "You should be thanking me for not killing you, you loathsome, biased, despicable, horrid excuse for a Hogwarts Professor!" Jake was a hair-width away from following completely through with his previous attempted murder, "Did you even bother to tell them why I attacked you?"
Dumbledore was the one to speak first, "He didn't give us the whole story, I feel," he eyed Snape.
"Headmaster, I told you-"
"Just shut the fuck up, Professor ," Jake spat, "I'll tell you what really happened," Jake turned to Dumbledore, "His Slytherin students have a badge that reads ' POTTER STINKS ' as half of what it says, to taunt Harry. I mocked Draco and he got angry, drawing his wand, as did Harry. They both tried to curse each other, and their spells ricocheted in midair. Harry's hit Goyle, Draco's hit Hermione. Snape told Goyle to go to the Hospital Wing, and when he looked at Hermione, these were his exact words," Jake paused and looked at Snape, " I see no difference ," he looked at Dumbledore again, "causing Hermione to cry as she ran to the Hospital Wing on her own."
Dumbledore merely looked at Jake for a moment, then said, "Severus, Minerva, leave us a moment."
"Headmaster, surely you don't-"
"I believe he said... to leave us," Jake looked menacingly at Snape.
Snape sneered and left, almost pulling the door off its hinges when he did. McGonagall left behind him and closed the door gently. When they were alone, Dumbledore spoke, "Jake, I cannot condone what you did to Professor Snape."
"I don't honestly care if you do or not, but I have only one thing to say," he stood up and walked right up to Dumbledore's desk, "if Snape says or does something cruel like that to Hermione one more time, I am not going to hold back and I will kill him." Jake turned to leave, having nothing left to say and not wanting to hear what Dumbledore had to say.
"Jake, going around threatening Professors-"
"I am not threatening Professor Snape, Headmaster!" He yelled and turned, looking at Dumbledore with his one eye, "I am making a promise to you; control Professor Snape, or you will suddenly find yourself lacking a Potions Professor. This is his Last Chance, I will not give him another," he turned to leave.
Dumbledore knew Jake wasn't joking. He would have to do something about Snape, without giving away to the fact he needed the Professor at Hogwarts. Dumbledore was afraid of making Jake angry, quite honestly. He couldn't contest the power of Merlin for very long, if at all, if he were to try and control Jake through force. For now, he'd have to appease Jake, at least a little bit, but he feared Jake was taking a dark path.
Jake opened the door, and saw Professor Snape smiling evilly, "Get the fuck out of my way," he said, looking at Snape, and pushed past him, almost sending him stumbling. He walked down the stairs and out into the Corridor. He could only imagine how angry Hermione was going to be with him when she found out he almost strangled the life out of Snape. She was fine with insulting Professor Snape or the Slytherins if they needed it. She was even fine with him man-handling Draco a time or two, but physically assaulting and almost killing Professor Snape, he could see her being more than just angry with him. He didn't know how much time had passed, so he wandered to the Potions classroom.
Upon arriving, he discovered it was empty. He sighed and decided to return to the Common Room, feeling mentally drained. He'd check on Hermione in a little while when he was feeling better. He said the password, walked in and sat down in one of the comfy armchairs. It was comfortable, really comfortable. Sure enough, he closed his eye and actually fell asleep a few minutes later.