Harry was still fairly popular around school after defeating the troll,
the Slytherin's looked at him with pride and he was now the unofficial
face of Slytherin house. Plenty of rumours were spread about him,
some saying he summoned lightning to destroy the troll and even
one that said he befriended the troll and it fell as he was escorting it
out of the castle.
The teachers had begun giving him respectful looks, Professor
Flitwick was particularly interested in talking to Harry. He asked
Harry to show the spells he used when fighting the troll, and after
Harry had showed them Flitwick had complimented his perfect
technique and offered to teach him more spells.
An offer that Harry quickly accepted, Flitwick was a former duelling
champion and it would be foolish to refuse to learn from him. The
man bounced with excitement at the idea of teaching Harry who had
become his favourite charms student.
Harry also soared through his classes, as usual. Much to the
annoyance of one Hermione Granger, who for some reason had
begun acting like she was Harry's rival while Harry couldn't care one
way or another about if she beats him in class. Ronald Weasley still
disliked him but he disliked everything that's Slytherin so Harry didn't
really care about the redheaded idiot. Harry's brother had chosen to
avoid Harry, Harry didn't really seem to mind as it just made his days
more peaceful.
Soon it was the night before the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch
match, Harry had just come back from one of his extra lessons with
Professor Flitwick, Harry noticed that he still had a few minutes until
curfew so he had decided that he had better hurry up and get back
to the common room.
On his way there he was greeted by an interesting sight, Malfoy
along with Crabbe and Goyle stood smiling evilly at Adrian Potter,
Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. Harry noticed three wands
on the floor and realised that they were probably belonging to Adrian
and his friends. Crabbe and Goyle cracked their knuckles, while
Malfoy stood with his arms crossed and his head held up high.
"So Potter" Malfoy drawled "I'm going to make you suffer, for what
your brother has done"
"What? What the hell did Harry do?" A confused Adrian asked
"He stole Daphne Greengrass from me, I can't make Potter pay
because he is currently the unofficial face of Slytherin" Draco said in
a disgusted voice "god, this place has gone to the dogs. Wait till my
father hears about this, half-bloods roaming around like kings,
disgusting. But back to you, I cannot hurt your brother so I'm going to
hurt you"
"Without your wand?" Adrian pointed out that the boys had put away
their wands
"Yes, it's much harder to prove and twice as fun" Draco smirked
"Nicely done" Harry clapped and alerted everyone to his presence,
Draco and his goons turned around to look at him "I have to admit
it's a good plan, if you don't use magic then they can't prove it's you
when they examine your wands. Plus it'll be their word against yours,
would work if you weren't dealing with the boy-who-lived, my brother
could kill you and Dumbledore would somehow justify it."
"Potter" Malfoy snarled "what are you doing here?"
"I'm standing, what does it look like I'm doing?" Harry said
sarcastically before turning to his brother "and you three, you got
disarmed by Malfoy and his apes of all people?"
"He took us by surprise" Adrian defended himself and his friends
"Of course he took you by surprise" Harry sighed "he's a Slytherin! A
pretty pathetic one that most of the house hates but still a Slytherin,
he's not going to directly challenge you, is he?"
"Don't ignore me!" Malfoy demanded
"Malfoy" Harry said "shut you mouth, I've beaten you in a magical
duel and don't bother challenging me to a battle of wits as you are
currently unarmed. Your two boyfriends won't be much help either,
so your options are to fight me with your fists or the second option
which I highly suggest, you walk away"
"Boyfriends" Ron snickered behind Adrian
"You be quiet Weasel" Harry ordered "the blond idiot is not the only
person I can insult and I'd rather deal with one idiot at a time, that's
actually a lie as I'd rather not deal with any of you but one is
preferable to two"
"You won't do anything!" Ron said in disbelief
"Well you're right, I wouldn't touch you, lord knows what kind of
diseases I'd get from you"
"Disease?!" Ron roared "What do you think I am?!"
"Manure with legs"
"How dare you?! You slimy snake"
"Snakes aren't slimy, they're smooth" Harry said automatically "Now,
I'm sorry if you're offended but I was not insulting you, I was simply
describing you"
"You are insulting him and stop doing that" Hermione interrupted
"you might think those jokes make you funny and smart but you're
not"
"Still smarter than you" Harry shrugged
"No you're not" Hermione disagreed "I'm the smartest person in the
year"
"Just because you can repeat what you've read in a book?" Harry
scoffed "That doesn't make you smart, it makes you an idiot with a
good memory"
"I'm not an idiot!" Hermione shouted
"Uh huh, sure" Harry said in a voice that showed he didn't really
believe her "wait a sec, why am I wasting time with you? Malfoy, do
as I said and get lost"
"You can't tell me what to do, you think you're so brilliant Potter?"
Malfoy responded "Let's see how you do without magic"
Goyle charged at him, he pulled his right arm back and threw a
punch at Harry. Malfoy smiled, he was hoping to see Potter lose a
few teeth. Ron had no sympathy for Harry at all, Hermione had a
little and would have had more if Harry had not insulted her.
Harry ducked Goyle's punch and responded with his own punch
which hit Goyle in the stomach, Harry followed this up with a punch
from his left hand which hit Goyle in the face, Harry grabbed Goyle's
head and slammed it against the wall on his left.
Harry rushed forwards, Malfoy removed his wand but before he
could fire off a spell Harry had ran past him and struck Crabbe in the
face, causing him to stagger back a little. Malfoy swung his arm and
was about to fire off a spell when Harry caught his arm with his left
hand and used his right to grab Malfoy's collar, in a blur Malfoy found
himself flying over Harry's head and landing on the floor.
Harry followed with two quick punches to Malfoy's ribs and was cut
off from a third when Goyle had gotten up and grabbed Harry, he
pulled Harry and slammed him against the wall. He let go with his
right hand and struck Harry in the right side of his face, Crabbe had
ran up and punched Harry in the same spot.
Harry powered through the pain and continued to fight, he struck
Goyle in the knee with a kick, causing the taller boy to drop a little.
Harry took the opportunity to punch Goyle in the face, the sound of a
broken nose echoed before Goyle had reached the floor.
Crabbe hit Harry in the face once more, in the exact same spot then
he grabbed Harry by the neck and pushed him against the wall,
Harry responded by poking Crabbe in the eye. He wasn't afraid to
fight dirty, and it worked as Crabbe's grip had loosened a little. Harry
grabbed Crabbe and moved his head to the side before quickly
pulling the boys head forward so his face struck the wall that Harry
was pressed against.
This had the effect of causing Crabbe to let go, he moved back and
turned around, his hands came up in an attempt to alleviate some of
the pain in his face. Harry didn't want to give him a chance to rest,
Harry ran at the opposite wall and jumped on it, he pushed off and
was in the air for about two seconds before he kicked Crabbe in the
face.
As Harry landed on his feet and Crabbe landed on his back, the
golden trio were looking with astonishment and amazement while
Malfoy had a regretful look on his face. Malfoy was struggling to get
up, his ribs still hurt. Adrian was looking at his brother with
amazement in his eyes, his brother who was top of his class and had
defeated a troll could also fight.
"What is the meaning of this?!" A voice snapped and they turned to
see Snape rushing towards them. Malfoy smirked, he could use
Snape to get the rest in trouble , but Harry beat him to the punch.
"Professor" Harry spoke quickly "Malfoy was threatening my brother
and his friends when I arrived, I told him to stop. Goyle then tried to
attack me, I fought him and Crabbe off and struck Malfoy twice
before you arrived."
"Tell me exactly what happened" Snape ordered, eyeing the other
three Slytherin's
"Yes sir" Harry nodded "Goyle tried to punch me but I ducked and
punched him once in the stomach and a second time in the face
before I slammed his head against the wall. I then punched Crabbe,
Malfoy tried to get a spell off but I took him to the floor and punched
him twice in the ribs before he could do anything.
Crabbe and Goyle then pinned me to a wall, they got about a punch
each before I started fighting back. I kicked Goyle's leg and punched
him in the face when Crabbe punched me again, I poked him in the
eye slightly so he'd loosen his grip then I slammed his face against
the wall and he let go. I did a run up and jumped off the other wall
before kicking him in the face, then you arrived and that's about it"
"That's about it?" Snape repeated slowly
"Oh, and I got to insult everyone here before the fight, so silver
linings" Harry responded
"You three" Snape said after shaking his head and looking at the
golden trio "is what Mr Potter says true?"
"Yes sir" Hermione answered "Draco disarmed us, then they were
about to attack us when Harry appeared. Harry did insult us before
he was attacked and he fought them off until you arrived"
Snape looked at Goyle who had a bleeding nose and a black eye
before he looked at Malfoy who was clutching his side and Crabbe
who had a bruise on his face and a bleeding nose. He then looked at
Harry who had nothing other than a bruise on his right cheek
"Come with me, you will all accompany me to the hospital wing"
Snape commanded and the students followed. The trio were at the
back, Draco and his goons were taking the time to glare at everyone
while Harry was just yawning as he walked alongside Professor
Snape.
"What happened?" Madam Pomfrey asked as they all entered the
hospital wing
"Hogwarts walls and Mr Potters fists apparently" Snape replied "I'd
like you to check them all over and then once you have time check
the Gryffindor's. They were not involved in the incident but it might
be prudent to check anyway."
"Yes, I agree" Pomfrey quickly nodded and went about firing
diagnostic spells and giving each student a check-up. A few minutes
later she and Snape were in her office.
"Well?" Snape said
"Mr Malfoy has a broken rib, Mr Goyle has a black eye and Mr
Crabbe has swelling on his face, both have broken noses and the
three lions are fine."
"What of Mr Potter? The Slytherin one?"
"Just a little bruise on his right cheek, his hand is undamaged which
is good. Malfoy, Goyle and Crabbe will have to stay overnight but Mr
Potter and the lions can go"
"Hmm, very well, I will inform them" Snape turned and left, he then
made his way over to the students.
"Potters, you both along with Miss Granger and Mr Weasley may
leave. You three will expect your head of house to talk to you about
this incident and I will do the same for you Mr Potter soon"
"Yes sir" Harry nodded
"Good, now leave" Snape turned and walked away as they left.
"Uh, thanks" Adrian said to Harry "where did you learn to fight like
that?"
"I had a few different teachers" Harry shrugged
"How long have you known how to fight?" Hermione asked
"Most of my life" Harry answered slowly, hoping the tone of his voice
would discourage more questions but Hermione continued.
"Do you have a black belt? My dad has one in Karate, he was
thinking of trying boxing as well but I was never interested in that sort
of stuff. I don't approve of violence, I..."
"Look" Harry interrupted "I'm tired and am in no mood to answer
twenty rapid fire questions or learnt more about your personal
history, now take a breath because you will run out with the way
you're going" Hermione blushed in embarrassment
"Why did you help us?" Ron asked "You're a Slytherin and Malfoy is
a Slytherin"
"House has nothing to do with this" Harry replied "Draco wanted to
hurt you guys so he'd get to me because he's upset that Daphne
likes me more than him. I helped you because it would give Draco
something to think about the next time he gets another scheme in his
head that involves me"
"You didn't do it just because I'm your brother?" Adrian asked
"Please" Harry scoffed "the brother who hates me because I wear
green instead of red? You want me to risk myself for the brother who
doesn't like me because he can't see past a school house?"
"Hey, Slytherin's are evil" Adrian argued
"I'm a Slytherin and I just saved you from Malfoy and his goons"
Harry pointed out "besides, it may surprise you to know that Malfoy
is not very popular in the Slytherin common room"
"What?" Adrian blurted out is surprise "Why?"
"Because he's a stupid idiot who keeps going on about his name and
his father" Harry answered "to you guys he's a spoilt brat, to the
Slytherin's he's a spoilt brat that makes things difficult for the rest of
us. Do you know how hard it is to be in a house when everyone else
thinks you're exactly like Malfoy?"
"What? You're not?" Ron said with about as much tact as a piece of
rotting wood
"No, my mother is a muggleborn so why would I care about blood
purity? I'm proud of our family history but not to the point where I'm
willing to use it to lord over everyone every day."
"So you don't hate muggles?" Adrian asked
"No, I believe in equality, which is why I hate everyone equally. Now
if you'll excuse me, I have to go" Harry turned the corner and made
his way to the common room.
Once Harry was inside the common room, he scanned it until he
found Tracy and Daphne sitting with Blaise Zabini. Harry yawned
before making his way over, he sat down next to the group, Tracy
and Blaise were currently engaged in a battle of chess while Daphne
was watching.
"You're late" Daphne said to Harry, she then noticed the slight bruise
on his face "what happened to you?"
"Hmm, oh, Crabbe and Goyle punched me in the face"
"Checkmate and what?!" Tracy turned to Harry, Blaise also looked at
the raven haired boy and all three were waiting for an explanation.
"Don't worry" Harry said "it was a decent trade, they got a combined
three punches in whilst I broke their noses and slammed their heads
into a wall. And as an added bonus I got to punch Malfoy and I think I
broke a few of his ribs, so bonus"
"Okay Harry" Daphne spoke slowly "tell us exactly what happened"
"Fine" Harry sighed before telling Daphne what had happened. By
the end of it Tracy was furious, Blaise was surprised and Daphne
was part way between anger and concern.
"You're not hurt, are you?" She slowly placed her hands on the
bruised part of his face
"Nah" Harry replied "I've had much worse from a lot tougher,
Pomfrey looked me over and said that my handsome face will go
back to normal by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. She could've
immediately fixed it today but they had apparently ran out of supplies
and are waiting for more to come"
"Wait, what do you mean you've had worse?" Daphne asked as she
removed her hand
"I've got into a few fights over the years" Harry answered "usually
with at least two people against me"
"Why have you gotten into fights?" Tracy asked curiously
"Sort of had to" Harry answered as he stood up "alright, I've got to go
sleep early if I want to make it on time for the game tomorrow. Good
night" Harry quickly made his way to his room.
"He's going to be the death of me" Daphne sighed "I can't believe
him, he gets into a fight with three people and acts like it's just a
normal day for him."
"Probably is" Blaise said "we don't know much about his life before
Hogwarts"
"Well, let's ask him" Tracy said
"No, I don't think we should" Daphne replied
"Daphne's right" Blaise agreed "notice how he immediately left when
he was asked about it, I'd let him tell you when he's ready"
"Since when did you get all wise?" Tracy raised an eyebrow
"Since shut up" Blaise reset his chess game "now come on Davis,
I'm going to beat you this time"
"In your dreams" Tracy scoffed
"Idiots" Daphne shook her head
The next day was the day of the Slytherin versus Gryffindor quidditch
match, Harry had been wished good luck by Daphne, Tracy and
Blaise. He made his way over to the Slytherin locker room and got
changed into his uniform, he picked up his nimbus 2000 which he
had received from Professor Snape and made his way to the team
meeting.
"Potter" Flint, the quidditch team captain said "what happened to
your face?"
"Crabbe and Goyle's fists" Harry answered "but I gave them mine in
exchange so it's fair"
"I don't really care as long as it doesn't affect your game"
"You're such a caring person" Harry said sarcastically "makes you
wonder why everyone thinks Slytherin's are heartless bastards"
Soon they left and arrived in the field, Flint shook hands with Oliver
Wood, the opposing captain. Although shaking hands wasn't an
accurate description compared to trying to crush each other's hands,
after that everyone got on top of their brooms and lifted into the air.
Madam Hooch brought out a box with the quaffles, bludgers and
snitch. First she released the snitch which flew up and hovered in
front of Harry for a second before going to the Gryffindor seeker and
hovering in her face for a second, and then it disappeared.
The Gryffindor seeker was a second year names Rachel, Harry had
never seen her fly but she did fit the seeker build with her small and
thin body. The whole team got ready for the match to start, Madam
Hooch laid out the rules and everyone waited. The bludgers flew into
the air, followed by the quaffle and the game began.
The Gryffindor chasers got to the quaffle first, and flew straight to the
Slytherin's post with the Slytherin's chasers following. Harry and
Rachel had both began looking around for the snitch, both hoping to
spot it before the other one.
"And Angelina Johnson scores! Ten points to Gryffindor!" Came the
magically amplified voice of Jordan lee, the quidditch commentator.
The game kept going on, Harry tuned everything else out and kept
scanning the field for the snitch, he was tempted to use magic to
speed things up but decided that he didn't want to cheat, the same
could not be said for the rest of the team who were stretching the
rules to the fullest and hitting everyone just enough to be allowed but
not enough to break a rule. They did occasionally break rules but
none of them looked ashamed, some were a bit sad but more likely
because they were caught.
As Harry was scanning, he noticed that Rachel occasionally glanced
at him to see if he had discovered the location of the snitch yet. He
was brought out of his thoughts when his broom suddenly decided to
go on autopilot and began moving all about on its own. It started
bucking and moving in any direction it could with the hope of
throwing Harry off.
Fortunately Harry had quickly gotten over his surprise and held on,
he tightened his grip as much as he could. Everyone looked at him
with shock and bewilderment, whereas Daphne and Tracy and
Blaise were concerned and panicked.
"What the hell is happening to him?!" Daphne shouted
"Maybe he lost control of his broom" Blaise suggested
"Have you seen Harry fly? No way he'd lose control" Tracy replied
"must be something wrong with his broom"
Quirrell was particularly pleased with himself, his curse would soon
throw the Potter brat off that broom and to his doom. Unfortunately
for him Snape had begun a counter curse and was trying to stop
him, but Quirrell wasn't afraid, he had the dark lord on his side.
He was brought out of his thoughts when Snapes cloak had caught
fire, Snape jumped to his feet in an attempt to put it out and knocked
Quirrell over, breaking his eye contact. Quirrell looked up and saw
Potter had regained control of his broom, this was bad, his master
would be angry.
Harry had no time to think about what happened to his broom as he
saw Rachel going for the snitch; he zoomed after her and flew right
next to her. They both began racing for the snitch, they were neck
and neck and both were getting closer.
Harry was tempted to hit her like the other Slytherin's would have
done, but he decided not to. He'd win this game with skill, not
violence. The two dived when the snitch did, they looked at each
other, before focusing on the ground. They sped up slightly, but then
the ground got closer, Rachel decided to pull up.
Unfortunately for her, Harry decided to keep going, he continued
chasing the snitch and barley pulled up in time to avoid crashing into
the ground. He was flying straight after the snitch and had opted to
go for a standing position on his broom, he was getting closer. He
reached out, in a second or two he would have caught the golden
ball, he reached and he fell.
He landed on the ground, his broom rolled away, every eye was on
him. He got back to his feet, when he began coughing.
"I think he's going to be sick" Tracy whispered to her friends
Harry opened his mouth and the snitch popped right out and into his
hands, Harry held it high up and the cheers began. The Slytherin
crowd cheered and screamed, Tracy the resident quidditch fan had
jumped to her feet and began clapping. Blaise shook his head in
amusement and also began clapping, so did Daphne even though
she vowed to make Harry pay for worrying her.
After the quidditch match Harry had to endure much praise from his
house, Daphne and friends had asked him what happened to his
broom and he told them he didn't know and he would ask somebody
about it.
The next day Harry was cornered by Hermione Granger, Ron
Weasley and Adrian Potter when he went to the library so his
homework. Harry mentally groaned when the three came over, they
walked right up to him and were looking particularly pleased with
themselves.
"Hey Harry" Adrian said
"Why do you look so happy?" Harry asked "Found a damsel that
needs rescuing?"
"We wanted to talk to you, in private, it's important. Can we go
somewhere else where we won't get overheard?"
"Fine" Harry sighed "Meet me by the lake in ten minutes"
"Why ten minutes?" Ron asked
"Because I estimate it will take two to three minutes for me to finish
my homework and two to one minutes to pack everything away then
four or five minutes to get to the lake. Plenty of time for you though,
now go on."
The three didn't look particularly happy at being dismissed but left
the library, Harry got to the lake ten minutes later and looked at the
three who looked back at him.
"Now" Harry said "what do you want?"
"Well, we wanted to thank you again" Hermione spoke "for saving us
from Malfoy and his goons"
"Lovely, but I doubt you wanted a private conversation just for that"
"No" Adrian shook his head "we wanted to let you know that Snape
was the one jinxing your broom"
"Snape?" Harry raised an eyebrow
"Yes, Snape" Adrian nodded
"It's true" Hermione said "we saw him, he was making eye contact
with your broom, I know a spell when I see one and he wasn't
blinking."
"What proof do you have that it was him?" Harry asked
"Didn't you hear her?" Ron interrupted "She just told you that Snape
was using a spell to kick you off your broom"
"No, she told me that Snape was using a spell" Harry replied "for all
we know he could have been using the counter curse to whoever did
use the spell"
"No" Hermione shook her head "when we set him on fire, it stopped
and..."
"Wait" Harry interrupted "you set him on fire? And you actually just
admitted that?"
"Look, we were saving your life" Adrian said "you should be thanking
us"
"Fine, thanks, now you actually set him on fire? What kind of lunatics
are you?"
"Would you have preferred to have died?" Hermione glared at him
"I would have preferred you tell McGonagall or someone else and
they could have confirmed it. But look, I appreciate the effort and
your honesty. I don't think Snape did it however, but thanks again."
Harry turned around and began walking away.
"Hey" Adrian called out and Harry stopped and looked back at them
"that's it?"
"Yes" Harry nodded "unless you have anything else you need to tell
me about?" The three all began looking at each other "I'm guessing
you do have something to tell me, what is it?"
"It's Snape" Adrian said eventually "we think that he's trying to break
into the third floor corridor"
"May I ask why you think that?" Harry asked
"The day of the troll attack, Snape had a limp, we think he'd gotten it
from when he tried to get past Fluffy" Adrian said
"Fluffy?" Harry raised an eyebrow
"It's a giant three headed dog" Ron said
"A cerberus? Dumbledore's put a cerbrus in a school? He really has
lost it, wait, how do you know? Did Dumbledore tell you?"
"No" Hermione shook her head "we ended up there by accident"
"Of course you did" Harry sighed, there was no way that the
Gryffindor golden boy and boy-who-lived just happened to stumble
on it "how did you stumble up on a three headed dog?"
"We was walking then the staircases changed" Hermione answered
"then Filch came and we ran so we didn't get in trouble, we ended up
hiding when we realised where we were"
"Hmm, fine but I don't think Snape stole it"
"You're only saying that because you're a Slytherin" Ron replied
"No, I'm saying it because it's too obvious." Harry responded "think
about it, imagine you wanted to steal whatever was in that corridor"
"Oh, it's something to do with Nicholas Flammel" Ron blurted out and
Hermione elbowed him
"Anyway" Harry continued but vowed to look up Flammel later "if you
wanted to steal something then you'd be drawing less attention to
yourself. Snape has always been attracting attention, everyone
knows not to piss him off and he's worked with Dumbledore for
years. He's too obvious a suspect, don't you lot ever read books or
watch TV? It's always the least obvious suspect"
"This is not a book!" Hermione snapped "This is real life!"
"Says the muggle raised witch at the magical school that houses
giant three headed dogs and has students that fly on broomsticks"
Harry commented dryly "either way, believe what you want, now I'm
going unless you want anything else"
"Actually, the headmaster wants to talk to you" Adrian said "told me
to bring you whenever possible"
"Fine" Harry said "lead the way"
The Potter brothers left Hermione and Ron and made their way up to
Dumbledore's office with an awkward silence, neither were willing to
say anything to the other. Apart from a yawn from Harry, neither
made much noise, soon they reached the headmasters office.
"Hello Mr Potter" Dumbledore greeted Harry "thank you for bringing
him here, Adrian"
"No problem sir" Adrian smiled
"Now Mr Potter, firstly I'd like to commend you on your quidditch
victory" Dumbledore turned his attention back to Harry "I must say, it
was an impressive catch, I've never seen a person use their mouth
to catch a snitch before. An ingenious method, if I do say so myself"
"Thank you sir" Harry replied "but I doubt quidditch is the reason
you've called me up here"
"You would be correct, firstly I was made aware that you are
contracted to marry Miss Daphne Greengrass"
"I don't see how that is your concern sir" Harry said calmly but he
was clenching his fists as he spoke
"I'm simply worried about you" Dumbledore said in his grandfatherly
voice "such a huge responsibility for one so young. I can understand
if you are upset, and if you wish then I can help you get out of the
contract" Dumbledore hoped that this would help get Harry on his
side
"No thank you sir" Harry refused
"No? Are you sure?" Dumbledore asked
"I'm sure sir, I already have a way out of the contract should I chose
to take it"
"Should you chose to take it?" Dumbledore repeated "are you saying
that you're considering marrying miss Greengrass?"
"Not this every second but yes, I am"
"Don't you think you're a bit too young to be worried about these type
of things?" Dumbledore asked
"I'm only young in physical age sir" Harry said slowly "I am more
than willing to accept responsibility for my actions" Dumbledore
thought on Harry's words, it sounded to him like Harry may have had
some traumatic experience in his life, it would have likely caused him
to grow up faster, that would explain the boys attitude.
"Is there anything else sir?" Harry asked
"Yes, there is" Dumbledore said "after your incident with the troll, I
had confirmed that your story was true by asking the portraits. I must
say, that it is was an impressive story and achievement. I would like
to know where you've learnt those spells, they should not have been
taught in your year"
"Library, and older students" Harry answered "I looked at spells in
books, sometimes I asked older students to show me them, other
times I practise just based off theory. Plus I ask the teachers for help
sometimes"
"Hmm, impressive" Dumbledore said, not entirely convinced that the
first year in front of him could already perform such advanced spells
from just simple studying "May I ask what spells you have learnt so
far?"
"The disarming spell" Harry answered "which I practised on Daphne,
her book flew right out of her hand. I've learnt some random spells
such as cleaning charms and pretty much anything I could get my
hands on"
"You seem to have an incredible thirst for knowledge" Dumbledore
replied "may I ask why you feel the need to learn these spells?"
"A combination of things sir" Harry responded "curiosity is one
reason. Interest is another, as is boredom"
"Ah, of course" Dumbledore chuckled "are those your only reasons?"
"There's also value" Harry said
"Value?" Dumbledore asked
"My education is paid out of my trust vault" Harry began explaining
"and that is just a small portion of the Potter vault, money is valuable
and a lot of it has been spent on my education. I don't intend to
waste it, I want to make the most of my limited time here"
"My dear boy, there are more important things than money"
Dumbledore said benignly
"Tell me that when you don't have any" Harry responded coolly "now
I don't intend to be rude sir but unless you have anything else to say,
I'd like to go and rest"
"Ah, but of course, however I have one more thing I'd like to say. I've
noticed that you occasionally sound like a much older person
Hadrian, why is that?"
"Some of us had to grow up early sir" Harry replied emotionlessly
"now, goodbye" Harry turned and left, leaving behind a confused
Adrian and a thoughtful Dumbledore.