Chapter 64: The Secret Ally
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 64: The Secret Ally
Over the next few days, Harry tried his best to return to his previous routine, keeping his drastic change inside while pretending that everything was still the same.
He woke each morning, got dressed, and went to classes accompanied by the always watchful Hermione Granger.
He answered the professor's questions, took notes, and avoided bringing attention to himself.
He gave no one any reason to suspect that anything had changed.
But deep inside, the fire still burned.
Harry had yet to have a chance for a proper conversation with Daphne. He had not found the right moment. She was being watched closely, and he did not want to put her at risk.
He knew he would have to find a way to reach her soon, but for now, he was fine with waiting.
A hard sense of determination had settled in his chest as his constant companion. Determination to succeed in his new goal, no matter what he had to do to accomplish it.
<><>
On a Thursday afternoon, something unexpected happened.
Despite having spent the majority of his time minding his own business, there was someone who had not forgotten about him.
Someone with a deep grudge against his persona, who was not willing to let this go, once his pride had been hurt...
Harry was walking through the corridors between classes, with Hermione at his side as always. The hallway was crowded with students, their voices echoing off the stone walls. Harry kept his eyes forward and his face blank.
But then...Ron Weasley appeared out of nowhere and stood before them.
He was flanked, as always, by his two minions, Oliver Rivers and Stephen Runcorn. They blocked the corridor, keeping their arms crossed and a mocking smirk on their faces.
"Well, well," Ron said, his voice dripping with contempt. "If it isn't the pathetic Potter and his new girlfriend, the mudblood. What happened to your Slytherin friends?. Did they finally realise what a waste of space you are?"
Harry stopped, his jaw tightening. He forced himself to stay calm.
'Why is he getting in my way now?' He wondered.
It's been over a month since classes started, and Ron never came looking for him after their brief confrontation at the train.
Now that his mind had been cleared, he found the situation very strange. Weasley was not the patient type.
'Could Ginny have said something to him?'
"Have nothing to say, Potter?" Ron took a step closer to him, and Harry could see his hand reaching for something inside his robes.
"I don't have time for this, Weasley. Dont you have some first years to bully today?"
Ron laughed, a harsh, ugly sound. "Look at you, trying to sound tough. You have friends left, and no house to call your own. Just you and that mudblood." He gestured to Hermione, who stood rigidly at Harry's side. "How does it feel to be stuck with her, Potter? She's the only one who will talk to you now, and I bet she only talks to you because Professor McGonagall told her to...the mudblood would probably do anything she was ordered to do. Dont you?"
Hermione did not seem to get angry after hearing Ron's words, as if she was already used to those kinds of comments. "That is correct, Mister Weasley. If the Chief Inquisitor gives me a command, I will obey it without flaw." She paused. "And I will remind you that fights among students are forbidden, unless you have received explicit permission from a professor. Now, if we delay any longer, we are going to be late to class, so I would advise you th-"
"Oh shut up already," Ron shouted at her. "I won't waste my words with a worthless thing like you. I was talking to Potter."
Harry felt a surge of anger, hot and sharp. He wanted to hex Ron. He wanted to make him pay for every cruel word, every sneer, every insult.
But he remembered his promise. He could not afford to lose control.
Ron's smirk widened. "What's wrong, Potter? Cat got your tongue?. Or are you too scared?" He pointed at the two boys behind him. "Dont worry about them. I can take care of you by myself..."
Then...something strange happened.
A voice rang out through the corridor, sharp and commanding.
"Mister Weasley! What do you think you are doing?"
It was McGonagall's voice. Harry recognised it immediately. But when he looked around, he could not see her.
Ron's face went pale. "Professor?...I, we were just-"
"Get to your class immediately! Unless you want to spend the next month in detention!"
Ron didn't wait to hear more. He turned and fled, Rivers and Runcorn scrambling after him like startled animals.
Hermione looked around, her brow furrowed. "Where is she? I don't see her."
Harry frowned. He had heard McGonagall's voice very clearly, but she was nowhere to be seen. The corridor was empty, except for him and Hermione.
"I don't know," Harry said carefully. "Maybe she's around the corner?"
Hermione frowned. "I should go find her. Someone needs to explain what happened with Weasley. I cannot afford to have a detention on my file."
She hurried off, her footsteps echoing in the now-empty corridor.
And then Harry was alone.
He stood there for a moment, confused. He had heard McGonagall's voice, but it had come from nowhere. And Ron had run like a frightened rabbit.
Something was off.
Then...he heard a voice again, but this time, it was a very different one.
"Neat trick, huh?. Dont worry, Harry Potter. The Professor was never here."
"What?" Harry turned around but found no one. The voice seemed to come from everywhere at the same time.
"Here, grab this."
Suddenly, a small piece of parchment appeared in front of him, floating gently in the air.
Harry's heart raced. He reached out and caught it.
The note only had a few words written on it. Harry found the handwriting very familiar.
It simply told him to visit the kitchen after classes, adding some instructions on how to find the access painting and how to open it.
But what got his attention the most was the signature at the bottom.
This person had written..."A Secret Ally"
Harry read the words three times, his mind racing.
'A Secret Ally?...that can't be...' This was the same thing written on all those notes he received last year. The one that came with the cloak of invisibility and the ones that helped him access the secret room in the third-floor corridor.
He always had the feeling that this Secret Ally was staying inside Hogwarts and was watching him closely.
'He wants me to go to the kitchens...does he finally want to speak with me in person?' Harry wondered. 'But... why the kitchens?'
It seemed like a strange place to meet.
<><><>
The kitchens were located near the dungeons, hidden behind a large painting of a bowl of fruit.
He approached the painting, his heart pounding. He reached out and tickled the pear, as the note had described. The pear wiggled and transformed into a doorknob.
Harry turned it and stepped inside.
The room was vast and warm, filled with the clatter of pots and pans and the low murmur of voices.
House-elves moved through the space with extreme efficiency, their large eyes gleaming as they worked.
A few of them looked up as Harry entered, their expressions curious but not alarmed.
"Can we help you, sir?" one of them asked, a small elf with a tea towel wrapped around his head.
"I'm here to see someone," Harry said. "I was told to come here."
The elf tilted his head. "Who told you to come, sir?"
Before Harry could answer, a small, wrinkled house-elf shuffled out from behind a stack of pots. He was older than the others, his skin thin and papery, his ears drooping. He wore a worn, tattered tea towel that had once been white.
"Leave us," the old elf said, his voice thin but firm. "This one is here to see me."
The other elves bowed and scurried away, leaving Harry alone with the old elf.
The elf looked up at Harry, his large eyes glistening with emotion. "You came," he said, his voice cracking. "You came. I was worried you wouldn't."
Harry stared at him, his mind racing. "You...you are the one who sent those notes?. But you are..."
"Not what you were expecting?" The house elf let out a chuckle. "I suppose you were not expecting an old house elf, right?"
"Well...no." Harry admitted.
The elf nodded before guiding Harry to a corner of the kitchens, away from the working house elves. "Allow me to introduce myself properly." He glanced up at Harry and offered him a well-rehearsed and polite bow.
" My name is Dibble, and I was the personal elf of Fleamont Potter, your grandfather. I served the Potter family for sixty years. Until the time of his death..."
Harry felt the ground shift beneath him. "You knew my grandfather?"
"I knew him well," Dibble said. "He was a good man, kind and brave. He would have been so proud of the young man you have become, if he had the chance."
Tears welled in Harry's eyes. "I never got to know him."
"No," Dibble said, his voice sad. "Your grandfather died on the day you were born. It was a great loss...for you, for the family, and for the world." He paused. "But he left something behind for you. Something important."
"The grimoire," Harry muttered.
"Shhh!. Dont mention that to anyone, Master Harry. That book is more important than you can imagine. It contains the most valuable secrets of the ancient Potter House. Secrets that...many would be willing to kill for."
Harry nodded while thinking of Dumbledore.
"Is that why you are here?" Harry asked. "Is that why you have been keeping an eye on me since I arrived at this school?. Because of that book?"
Dibble looked at him and smiled. "I have been protecting you because that is my duty, Master Harry. As the last member of the Potter House, I am bound to you for what remains of my life. Bound to serve you and protect you."
"Ehm...I have so many questions." Harry muttered.
Right now, in front of him, was someone who had served the Potter House for many decades. Someone who knew about his grandfather, the grimoire, his parents, the war, and so many other things.
The old house elf smiled. "I am sure you do, but this is not the right place to have that conversation." He looked around.
The other house elves didn't seem to be paying them any mind and continued working on tonight's dinner.
"Not the right place?" Harry asked. "If you are worried about someone hearing us, I know of a much safer place, here in the school."
"The Room of Requirement." The elf said.
Harry stared at him with shock.
"All house elves know about it," Dibble said. "But so does the Headmaster...that room is not as safe as you think, Master Harry. Be very careful with it. No place in this castle is truly safe. Remember that."
"Ah..." Harry didn't know what to answer. He had been operating with the idea that at the very least, the Room of Requirements was beyond the reach of Dumbledore, but perhaps he had been too optimistic.
"But let's leave that aside for now. The reason for calling you here today of all days was to inform you that...I have to leave Hogwarts." Dibble spoke in a solemn tone.
"You are leaving?. Why?...why now?" Now that he finally met his secret helper, he wanted to leave?. Harry sounded distraught.
"It is for your own protection, as well as many others. The Headmaster is already suspecting my presence here, at the castle. It is only a matter of time before he finds me. And that is something that must be avoided at all costs." Dibble said. "If he were to get hold of the information held in my mind...that would be a disaster, Master Harry. Thus...I must part from this place before it happens."
"So, you called me here just to say goodbye?" Harry asked.
"Not just that. I also needed to give you this." Dibble handed him a small object.
Harry took it in his hand and looked at it. It was a gold ring, beautifully engraved, and it had a sigil on top. It depicted a stag wearing a cloak.
It was a familiar sigil...the same one he had seen on the grimoire.
"Wait...is this?..."
"Your family ring." Dibble nodded. "It belongs to you now. Make sure to keep it always close, but dont wear it in public, as it would attract unwanted attention."
"My family ring..." Harry stared at it in awe.
"There was something else...something I wanted to tell you in person and not through a note. "Dibble said, " I also wanted to tell you that even if I leave, you will never be alone. There are some people out there who fight for the same cause as you do. An Order of brave wizards and witches who are willing to stand against the true evil that lurks in Britain...the Knights of Walpurgis are on your side, Master Potter."
"Isn't that...the terrorists who attacked the Ministry?" Harry didn't understand why those people would be on his side.
"They are more than that...they-" Dibble froze...he seemed to react to something. His eyes darted across the kitchen. "I need to leave now, or it will be too late. I can feel his eyes on me..."
"The Headmaster?...but how?...how can he kn-"
"Im sorry, Master Potter," the house elf had a weary smile on his face. "I promise to answer all your inquiries the next time we see each other. Until then...stay safe."
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but Dibble disappeared with a loud popping sound.
He stood there for a moment, looking at the space that the elf used to occupy.
'I finally found my secret ally, and now...he is gone, just like that.'
"Excuse me..."
Harry got startled by the sudden voice and hurried to hide the ring inside his robes.
When he looked over, he found another house elf looking at him. "Y-yes?"
"Here." The little creature handed him an apple.
Harry took it without thinking. "Why are you giving me this?. Im not really hungry."
"The old one told me." The house elf responded before pointing at the exit. "And that you should leave quickly."
Harry looked at the apple in his hand before glancing over at the back of the painting he used to get here.
It was not like he had anything else to do here, so leaving was not a bad idea.
He began walking towards the exit, but...just as he was about to reach it...the painting opened by itself.
"What the..."
Harry realized that someone had opened it from the other side, and when he looked at who it was, he froze with fear.
"What are you doing here, Mister Potter?" Professor McGonagall asked.
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