Disclaimer: 

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

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 52: Dungarian fever?

He spent a total of three days at home.

There was a lot they had to talk about but with so little time, they decided to postpone any serious talk to the summer vacations.

James seemed to be extremely busy with work and only came home late at night.

Lily did her best to pretend that nothing had changed after his revelation and continued to treat him the same way. Harry could tell what she was doing but did not point it out.

Holly was thrilled to have him home for a few days and Lyra didn't seem to care much.

She received some basic explanation about the events at Hogwarts and didn't ask any further.

The lack of reaction his sister had after finding out about the attempt against his life was somewhat concerning. But something he didn't have time to worry about right now.

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His return to school didn't call for much attention.

He was just a first year and most of the school didn't even know he existed. 

Even in his own year, he only talked with a few students.

"You are back!" Hermione greeted him with a smile after he entered the common room. 

She seemed to be the only one who had noticed him.

"Are you feeling better from the…dungarian fever, was it?" She asked, looking a bit unsure.

'By Merlin's pants!, what is a dungarian fever?...is that the excuse Dumbledore promised to make?.' Harry wondered.

"I'm fine now, thanks." He hoped that she would not ask any questions about this 'disease' that he hoped at least existed. In case she goes for some research at the library, if she hasn't done so already. 

"I'm glad to hear that." She felt relieved.

"Did I miss anything interesting?" He asked.

"Yes actually. Just the day after you left, the Headmaster informed us that Professor Nayar had to go back to India for some urgent matters that could not wait until the end of the school year." Hermione explained.

"Oh… that's too bad. He was a good professor." It wasn't a complete lie. Nayar had been a good professor for the most part. If you don't count the whole 'trying to murder students' business.

Hermione nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I liked the way he explained things, but do you know who is replacing him for the rest of the year?" she asked with excitement in her voice.

"The Headmaster?" He said.

Hermione looked at him with surprise.

"Yes! How did you know?"

'Because the same thing happened after Quirrell was reduced to ashes…'

"Educated guess." 

"Hi, Harry!" 

Harry and Hermione turned their heads to see Neville, Ron, and Seamus descending the stairs of the bedrooms.

"Hello, guys." Harry greeted the trio.

"Where were you?, I thought you quit school or something." Commented Ron.

"He was sick, remember? Professor McGonagall said something about some fever or something." Added Seamus.

"Dungarian fever. " Neville corrected.

"I have an aunt who had that a few years ago. Nasty thing…she spent several days in the bathroom." 

'Okay…I don't wanna know…' thought Harry. 

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Everything went back to normal business after that.

He had expected Dumbledore to call for him for one of his private meetings at his office that he had grown acostume during the years.

He knew the old man had some doubts about his story but Harry was unsure of what kind of conclusions he could be making.

The fact that he didn't call for him could mean that his worries were not severe or the Headmaster was worried about his father's reaction if he called Harry to his office in order to read his mind.

After all, this version of Harry was not an orphan that no one cared about. He was the son of a head auror and one that Dumbledore was hoping to bring to his side again.

After the inquisitive look he received from Daphne on the first day of his return, he was waiting for a note to land on his table at any moment.

But to her credit, the girl managed to hold on until Friday.

As usual, he snuck around using his invisibility cloak and found her sitting on a bench, close to their usual meeting room.

She gave a cry of surprise when he threw the cloak over her, revealing himself.

Her expression moved swiftly from shock to anger and she hit him on his chest with her tiny fists.

"Don't do that again, Potter!"

"Did you notice that you only call me Potter when you are angry?"

This question earned another punch to the chest.

Deciding to keep his mouth shut, he guided her to the room.

"We shouldn't take too long. I'm sure the Headmaster is trying to keep an eye on me."

During the entire week, the people inside the paintings have shown a lot of interest in him.

Following him around wherever he went.

That's why he had been avoiding going to either, the room of requirements or the castle foundation.

"Are you going to tell me what really happened to the professor?" Daphne went right to the point.

"I know he didn't just run away."

"Can't tell you that." He answered.

"Do I not have your trust? My family made a magical binding contract with yours. Betraying you would have very serious consequences, as you already know!" She raised her voice with an unusual display of emotion.

"Calm down, I'm not trying to insult you or your family's integrity…how good are your occlumency shields?" Harry asked 

Daphne raised an eyebrow.

"Why?"

"Because if you want me to reveal that kind of information, I must be sure that no one can steal it from you."

"Are you suggesting that someone may use legilimency on me?, here in Hogwarts?" asked the blonde.

Harry nodded.

"Father said that they are good, for my age."

Harry took his spare wand from the holster.

"May I test them?"

Daphne looked hesitant but eventually nodded. This seems to be the only way to get her answers.

"Legilimency." 

She felt like a hammer had smashed her head open and fell backward with a painful cry.

"What the bloody hell was that, Potter!" She shouted.

It was a good thing he warded the room with a silencing charm. 

"That was a half-assed attempt to invade your mind. I'm not very skilled with the mind arts so I don't have the subtly that…others have. But I can still say with confidence that your occlumency shields are...trash, for lack of a better word."

"What?!" She looked ready to bite him.

'I guess with her shields broken, the Ice Queen is not that good at keeping her emotions in check' Harry concluded.

"Calm down. I may have an idea." He added.