Disclaimer:

Harry Potter and all its characters belong to J.K. Rowling. I own nothing but the original characters I create.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

-Author's notes-

Chapter 149: Visiting the Potions Professor

Harry left the tower entrance, and it closed behind him.

The conversation had left Professor Flitwick very riled up.

He was truly not happy to find out about some of his "Ravens" bullying a first-year student.

Harry just limited himself to giving him the facts but didn't try to push things further.

The main reason for this was that he knew the girls who did this and why they did it. Cho Chang and Marietta Edgecombe could be mean sometimes, but they were not evil either.

Luna's encounter with Derrick was just a coincidence and not something they had planned to happen; otherwise, Harry would have taken matters into his own hands instead of letting the professor decide their punishment.

'I will still be having a conversation with those two…'

After all, he was probably the reason for this sudden 'prank' on Luna. Cho had been bitter with him all year for her losses at Quidditch. And she knew that Luna was a friend of his since they sat together often during meals.

So it wasn't hard to reach the conclusion on why this happened.

"Dobby." He called once back in the corridor.

"Master?"

"You think you can remember Luna's shoes? Their size and style? You know, the ones you just recovered a moment ago."

"Dobby remembers! Dobby has a very good memory." The elf said with excitement.

"Very good, Dobby. Tomorrow, I want you to make a trip to Diagon Alley and buy two identical pairs and one of those high-security suitcases. You can take the money from that place where we keep things."

"Of course, Dobby can do it!"

Harry then recalled something.

"Wait… send Mipsy to Diagon Alley, don't go yourself. Better not risk someone recognizing you there. Once you have the items, bring them here. If my parents see you and ask anything… tell them that I will explain later."

The elf disappeared, leaving Harry alone with the stunned Derrick.

It was not hard to convince Flitwick to let him carry the boy directly to Snape since he was the one who knocked him down.

Harry started to walk while making the floating body of Derrick follow behind him.

But after a few steps, he stopped and looked back.

"Finite incantatem."

Derrick's body fell back onto the hard stone floor with a thud, and he woke up.

"Wha… what hap-"

Harry threw another stunner at him before he could get a grip on the situation.

He then grabbed Derrick by one foot and started to drag him across the floor with zero concern for his well-being.

"Much better…" Harry nodded.

"Thud!"

Derrick's head was hit against a wall as they turned a corner.

"It's going to be a long way to the dungeons…."

<><><><><><><>

It was well over an hour after curfew when Harry arrived at Snape's door.

Harry placed a hand on the pommel, and it unlocked immediately.

"What?! Headmaster?" Snape was startled. Dumbledore had never entered his office at this hour without notice, making him think it must be a very urgent matter.

"Not quite…" Harry came inside while still carrying the older boy.

He was a bit surprised to have made it this far, considering Derrick was at least twice his size.

'I must be in even better shape than I thought.'

"Potter?! How did you open my door? What are you doing here at this time? Is that one of my students?" Snape wasn't sure what to get angry at first.

"I'm not telling you. I came to deliver this guy, and yes, he is one of yours." Harry answered.

Snape pulled out his wand, his eyes seethed with fury. He does not remember the last time he was this angry with someone.

"Calm down, Professor, you are going to hurt yourself with that thing," Harry said while pointing at his wand and then walked to one of the shelves, looking for something.

"You better have an excellent explanation for this…" Snape got closer to the stunned boy.

Derrick was in a terrible state after being dragged across seven floors. His robes were torn, his skin was covered in bruises and cuts, his face was hard to recognize, and his limbs were bent in impossible ways.

"What in Merlin's name happened to him?!" Snape was shocked. He had never seen a student get this badly hurt.

"Ah, there it is." Harry finally found the type of glass bottle he had been looking for. He then used his wand to extract a set of memories and placed them in the small bottle.

This, of course, surprised Snape. Pulling memories like that was not easy and required the person to have a decent mastery of Occlumency...otherwise, the memories would be an incomprehensible mess.

"You can go review this later in the Headmaster's office if you need evidence." Harry placed the bottle filled with the memories he prepared about Derrick on top of the table.

"But if you want to know what happened… I caught this waste of oxygen chasing after a first-year girl to assault her."

"What?!" Snape exclaimed with shock.

"That first year also happens to be a friend of mine." Harry added.

Snape looked back at the destroyed boy.

"You did this to a sixth-year?"

"Not directly… but it doesn't matter now."

"Potter, you could end up worse than expelled for this! You coul-"

"Oh, please. Save me the poor attempt to scare me." Harry interrupted him.

"But let me tell you something, the only reason this 'thing' is still alive is that I still have some respect for the old man, and I don't want to kill a student inside his school. Had this happened outside these walls… he would not be breathing right now."

Snape took a step back without thinking after seeing the expression on Harry's face. He was used to seeing eyes like those. The eyes of a cold killer.

'How can a boy this young have eyes like those?' he didn't understand it.

'Is this really Lily's son?'

He had to admit that he had been wrong about the boy. Since the first time he saw that face, he thought he was going to be another James Potter. A troublemaker, a prankster, and a bully… but the Harry he was seeing now was not that… it was something much more dangerous.

"Who are you?" The professor asked.