Harriet Potter

I wore the Invisibility Cloak and followed Dumbledore back to the castle. He took me to the school hospital along a secluded path and left me with Madam Pomfrey.She made a fuss and gave me a full body check, and she kept saying "silly girl", which made me baffled.Fortunately, she seemed to be quite satisfied with the dressing of the wound on my lower back, which gave me an extra night to come up with an excuse about how the wound was caused during the flight.When Ron and Hermione stormed into the hospital later, she was uncharacteristically nonchalant, unnecessarily making things difficult for them about cleanliness, and not letting them in until I begged her to let them in.

"Harry!" Hermione seemed to want to hug me, but stopped herself just in time, "Your injury...?"

"It's okay, nothing serious." I replied, "Madam Pomfrey insisted that I stay here overnight. I'm more worried about what will happen when the bandages are removed tomorrow morning. It doesn't look like a flight accident."

"I told you earlier, Harry will be fine." Ron smiled and took a chair for them each. "But what happened? You haven't shown up all day."

"I've been in the Hog's Head," I said, and told them what had happened, interrupted by exclamations.

We talked about Malfoy for a while, then fell silent when Madam Pomfrey came in with her hospital gown.She threw the suit on my bed, gave Ron and Hermione an eviction order on the theme of getting patients to rest early, and didn't exit the ward until they promised to leave as soon as possible.

"What happened to her?" I asked.

Ron and Hermione looked at each other in embarrassment for a while, and finally Ron spoke first, "That's what it is, buddy. We need to find an excuse to stop people asking why you disappeared."

"I heard about the flight accident." I didn't know why, "So how do you explain that I suddenly decided to skip class and go out to fly?"

"That's right, everyone saw that you were arguing with me." Hermione said cautiously, "Our explanation is that you are in a bad mood."

"And then?" I looked at their expressions and began to understand, "Tell me you didn't tell everyone that Hermione stole my boyfriend."

"Well, not as bad as it sounds." Ron's ears were red. "But it's kind of, well, that's what it is."

I glared at them, and they avoided my eyes.

"Sorry, Harry," said Hermione eagerly, "Snape and McGonagall both told us to keep the fact that you were attacked a secret, and we could only think of a way to divert everyone's attention."

Another time I'd be surprised that Snape even thought of informing Ron and Hermione, but—"You told me you turned both of you into liars and traitors to cover me, and now you're apologizing to me? "

"Considering it's mainly covering for that bastard Malfoy, I kind of regret it." Ron laughed.

"I can't believe it!" I yelled under my breath, "It took us so long to get rid of those rumors! You two got together and people started to forget about them, and now you're admitting it All of them?"

"Don't act like we're enjoying it!" said Ron angrily. "Just wait and see, it might be in the papers tomorrow. I like Skeeter all over again!"

"Ron!" Hermione shot him sideways. "This will pass, Harry, it won't be long before it dies down. Didn't we come here before?"

But that's without any of us acknowledging them.It could be seen that Hermione didn't quite believe that either, but it wouldn't help to say more.Madam Pomfrey entered the ward with another cup of sleep-promoting potion. Ron and Hermione said good night and left without waiting for her to urge her.I drank the medicine and changed my clothes reluctantly. She watched me and muttered until I pretended to fall asleep before leaving.I was blindingly sleepy, but restless before falling asleep, wondering how much more of this sympathy I had to deal with next.

When I took the bandages off the next morning I insisted that the wound was scratched by a sharp flake of stone when I fell off the broom, I could tell Madam Pomfrey didn't believe it, but I've dealt with legions of restless teenage wizards and wizards for years Her experience obviously made her used to not asking more questions.But judging from her attitude, if it weren't for the location of the wound, she would suspect that I did it myself, which made me reflect on what I usually show that makes them think I am so vulnerable.

As expected, the following week was almost a replay of Rita Skeeter's report in the fourth grade after it was published, the only difference was that it was not published, and it was not known whether the matter had not yet spread or Dumbledore had intervened.The boys saw this as an opportunity to sneak in, and the girls offered their sympathy, which they had prepared long ago, to get more talk from me by the way.Hermione's not-so-resolute suggestion that we should act separately for a while to give that lie more credibility was met with unanimous opposition from Ron and I, and it would be ridiculous to do this, and Malfoy doesn't deserve so much.

Speaking of Malfoy, I rarely saw him at the Slytherin table all week, and he was absent from Potions altogether.The malevolent part of me wished so fervently that he was locked up in the basement, alone, with his own horrible thoughts, while my rational mind wondered what was going on with his family and what the Order of the Phoenix had in store for them.Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy are the exact same thing as their only son, but they are a family and no one who has had one should ever lose it.

But a more insidious voice reminded me that I didn't want the Malfoys alive for such noble reasons.I knew what I was going to do the moment the door opened, and I waited, and as soon as Malfoy and the others appeared in my sight, I would kill them with the Shadowless Curse.It's the only spell I'm sure will kill them, and the Room of Requirement will return to my control when they die.When I show up in the hallway on the eighth floor covered in blood, everyone will automatically assume that I was attacked, and I can claim that I don't remember anything, and Malfoy and the others will stay in that room forever, no one can turn up.

I'm almost there, and I know I can.I was so desperate to live, even at the cost of someone else's life.Looking back I'm amazed at how much I could have calculated in those few seconds, I told myself I knew the difference between murder and self defense and I would never hurt innocents, but I never thought I would Planning to kill someone isn't it?The memories Dumbledore displayed pieced together the story of a handsome and outstanding boy who became Voldemort, and none of the owners of those memories could have predicted the ending.I no longer know what will become of me.

Now, however, I don't have to think about it and focus on Dumbledore's mission, which is all I need.Before Dumbledore left, he told me that he would not give me private lessons until I got Slughorn's memory. He might not know what was going on in my head, but he could always notice all the changes in me. And deal with them in time - or maybe he knew last night, my brain has nothing to hide from Snape, even if I wanted to.

"Harry," Slughorn opened the door and looked at me in faux surprise, and I knew he was faking it because I'd been banging on his door for over half an hour and I heard the gramophone on the third knock The voice was hastily cut off. "It's too early... I usually get up late on Saturdays..."

"Sorry to bother you, Professor." I looked down at my toes. "I just... want to talk to someone so much. But I don't know who else to talk to about it."

Slughorn hesitated for a moment, alert. "What do you want to talk about, Harry?"

"My mother," I said softly, sensing the predictable effect of the word on Slughorn, "maybe you've heard that something happened lately . . . Be there for me, give me advice. I wonder what she'd do, and I don't... I don't know anyone else who understands her before she..."

"Oh my God, boy," said Slughorn immediately, as I entered his office, my head bowed, "My dear, Harry, of course. I can't say I know Lillie very well." Vance, but I did pay attention to her more than anyone else, after all, she's so..."

He poured me butterbeer and assured me that every bottle in here had been tried by the elves to make sure it was poison-free - Hermione would be screaming at him for it.We sat at the table and talked about events that happened 20 years ago or more.The Muggle-born witch Lily Evans attracted the attention of the Potions teacher with her extraordinary talent in the third Potions class after she entered school. constructive questions.Her potion scores were always at the top, and Severus Snape was her biggest competitor for the highest score, and also her partner when configuring potions that required cooperation.

"Severus Snape?" I choked on my butterbeer. "Is that... that Snape?"

"Yeah, can't you think of it? They're two completely opposite types of people." Slughorn smiled slyly. "Of course, he is also a very talented lad, but he is always a bit gloomy and never follows Others are close, same as now. But Lily is an exception, who can refuse her? Once—”

"Are they friends?"

"Well, I think so." Slughorn was a little surprised at my eager interruption, "for a while... then they had a fight, maybe? They talked and didn't sit together anymore anyway, But Lily would be his partner sometimes, or he would be alone."

I was horrified, thinking back to the way I saw my mother standing up for him in Snape's memory before, was it purely out of righteous indignation? "When did it start? After the OWLs?"

"Well... I don't remember exactly, maybe." Slughorn lost in memory, tugging at the tip of his beard, "But it always happens slowly, and I did when I was your age. After a few times, I thought they would be good friends for life. Alas, people and people are like this, and they don’t always develop in a good direction.”

Since Snape and my father were enemies, the fact that he also knew my mother shouldn't have shocked me so much.Spotting Slughorn's look of confusion, I realized I'd been in a daze for too long. "Sorry, Professor. I'm just too surprised that my relationship with Professor Snape, well, has never been great..."

"I've heard that too, maybe Severus is still thinking about the first few grades he lost!" Slughorn chuckled.

We chatted all morning, drank three bottles of butterbeer and a bottle of wine, and before I left for lunch, I asked Slughorn to borrow a potions textbook. Ghorn was a little stupefied.

"You can come to me anytime, boy. If you need it," said Slughorn, looking uncharacteristically shrewd and calculating.

"I will, Professor," I said, more earnestly than I'd hoped.

I didn't close the office door until I turned away from Slughorn, who welcomed me despite the way he looked at me telling me he knew what I was really looking for.I figured it was for my mother, but the sudden sincerity still made me struggle to hold back tears on the way to the auditorium.