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 31: Morning Conversations
The next morning, during breakfast, several owls entered the Great Hall and began making their deliveries.
One landed in front of Hermione with a newspaper.
"Thank you," said Hermione before feeding the bird a small piece of sausage. "Now let's see…"
Ron peeked over her shoulder. "What does it say? Is there something about us?"
"Ron, stop. I can't read like this." Hermione pushed him away.
"There is nothing on the front page at least," Ginny said as she watched from behind Hermione.
Hermione passed a few pages to check. "It's very strange… the Minister of Magic was there as well, why would it not mention anything? Especially about… You-Know-Who being there." She whispered the last part, not wanting others to hear her mention the name.
'What do you think about that?' V sent him a mental message.
'The Minister must be scared. What do you think Voldemort is going to do next? Will he still be interested in the Prophecy?'
'Prophecy or not, he will still try to get rid of you. And the old man as well,' V said. 'Also, even if they don't make it public immediately, now that his presence is no longer a secret to the Ministry, he may become more active.'
'Will he dare to attack Hogwarts?' Harry asked.
'I don't think so. He is no doubt wary of Dumbledore and knows that the castle defenses are no joke. He will look for something that will give him some advantage.'
'Like what?' Harry wondered.
'I have no way to know that. The two of us were once one and the same, but that is no longer the case. It's been too long, and I—'
'It's okay. I know you two are not the same anymore.' Harry tried to sound reassuring. 'You are my friend after all.'
'Then, as your friend, I will tell you to be careful. He will still be dangerous to you. What you need to do is—'
'I know. The Horcruxes,' Harry said. 'We already have one, and from what you told me, there should be another one hidden inside this castle.'
'The Room of Requirement,' V said. 'Remember to get that one before it's time to leave. And if you can… destroy them as well. No point in delaying that part, lest they end up falling into the wrong hands.'
Harry nodded. He had already planned on doing that.
"Hey mate, are you listening?"
Harry felt someone touching his shoulder and turned his head, only to find Ron staring at him.
"Yes?"
"I was asking you if you saw my sister punch Malfoy yesterday."
"Ron! I don't want to talk about that." Ginny looked flustered.
"I still can't believe you did that…" Hermione crossed her arms. "You could have gotten into so much trouble."
"Didn't you do the same in your third year?" Ron reminded her.
A blush appeared on Hermione's cheeks. "That was… different."
"Wait, Hermione. You did that?" Ginny asked. "Why did you never tell me about this?"
"It's not something to be proud of," Hermione exclaimed.
"I disagree." Ron shrugged before glancing at Harry. "So, did you see it?"
"Of course. I was next to her when it happened." Harry responded. "Ginny punched Draco with enough force to put him on his butt. He and that other boy left immediately. Draco appeared to be ready to cry."
"Oh, this is great! I wish I had seen it myself." Ron sounded super excited.
"Aren't you worried that he could be going after your sister?" Hermione asked Ron in a soft tone.
"If he tries anything, I will also kick his butt." Ron frowned. "I am all recovered now from our previous battle." He huffed.
"You didn't do much battle to be honest…" Hermione muttered under her breath.
Ron didn't hear her, and instead, he patted Harry on his back. "But mate, you really left me shocked yesterday. Jumping from the window like that. You should have seen Madam Pomfrey's face. It was hilarious, hahaha."
"He did what?!" Hermione looked at him with shock.
"You jumped out of the window?" Ginny asked. "I thought you had come running." She never saw Harry approach, so she assumed he had been nearby, but then she remembered that Harry was supposed to have been visiting Ron at the infirmary.
"How did you do that anyway? Did you have a broom with you? I didn't see you pulling one," Ron asked with curiosity.
"No, I… just flew for a bit." Harry wasn't sure how to explain it. To him, it was a simple bit of magic, or at least it was now. He didn't even need his runes for something like that.
"You flew without a broom?" Ron sounded confused. "Is that even possible?" He instinctively turned to their friend Hermione.
She thought about it for a moment. "I think I read about such magic, but… that is supposed to be super advanced stuff. Can you actually do that? Who taught you that? Was it the Headmaster?"
"Actually, that would be me." V spoke with a tone of pride.
Harry glanced up. "Seriously?"
"Well, is that a lie?" V asked.
"The hat taught you magic?" Now Ron was even more confused. "Can hats do that?"
"How am I supposed to know that?!" Hermione responded.
"Seriously, Harry…" Ginny stared up at the magical hat. "Are you going to tell us where you got it from?"
"I made him." Said Harry.
"Sort of..." V corrected him.
"Yes, sort of. I suppose."
"You know I trust you, but...I have a hard time believing that, Harry." Hermione said.
"It's okay, we don't really care where that thing came from. I think it's pretty cool." Ron hurried to say before someone else commented. He also thought that Harry was lying, and he actually stole it from the Ministry, but was trying to cover for his friend.
"Y-yes, it's very cool. Who cares where it came from?." Neville noticed what Ron was doing and joined in the conversation.
"Did you just call me 'thing?'..." V sounded indignant.
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