Harry Potter And Common Sense

At that moment McGonagall came in dragging two first years one Slytherin and one Gryffindor by the ears both were sporting black eyes and bloody noses. "Poppy! Oh you're already in here. Mr. Weasley?" Her voice held a note of concern. "Mr. Potter?" This time it held a carefully concealed disdain. "Don't tell me you two boys were fighting. What is it with the Gryffindors and Slytherins today? Fine Detention both of you!"

"But-" Ron protested.

Poppy moved to check the younger boys.

Harry, whose throbbing pain climbed another notch, could no longer hold back a groan. Waves of returning nausea were beginning to overwhelm his ability to focus despite pain.

Poppy reminded of his presence, turned back to him and waved her wand over his foot. "Oh my goodness! Which of you boys was so stupid as to use that bone shattering hex?"

Minerva straightened, "Which bone shattering hex?"

"It wasn't us! Honest!" Ron protested sharply. "It was a bloke named Petter Pettigrew!"

"Pettigrew?" both women questioned.

"Yeah. We were in the Great Hall playing chess…" He trailed off realizing Harry probably wouldn't want him to mention the map.

Harry groaned again.

Poppy grimaced as the full results of her diagnostic spell came back. "Well, that tears it. Mr. Potter with the hex that hit your foot I'm afraid I'll have to vanish and re-grow the bones. You're in for a most uncomfortable night, and I'm afraid you'll miss the end of the year feast."

"Whatever. Can you give me something for the pain?

"I'm afraid not, it would interfere with the skelegrow but once I vanish the bones there should be a bit of relief for you."

"Do it then."

Minerva meanwhile realized if Pettigrew were still in the castle he might be a danger to the students so she summoned Albus and, because Potter was a Slytherin, Severus to the infirmary so they could get some answers. "Hold your explanation for the Headmaster, Mr. Weasley."

As Harry's pain reduced he started to follow what Ron had said. When the Headmaster and his head of house arrived he took control of the explanation. "We were playing chess. Neville came in looking for Hannah. I figured we could speed his search by looking at my family heirloom." Harry knew that both Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape knew it existed, if not what all it did, ever since the Draco fiasco the year before. "We found her and Nev left. Ron wanted to get a better look. It showed Pettigrew as being near us in the Great Hall. I knew Pettigrew was a rat animagus so I asked Ron if he had a pet rat."

"I pulled out Scabbers, and the next thing I know there's a wizard holding me at wandpoint and threatening to kill me!"

"Why didn't you summon a teacher, Mr. Potter?" Snape asked.

"It was happening too quickly, and I didn't wish to put any more students at risk."

"Then what happened?" Asked the Headmaster.

"Pettigrew and I dickered terms of Ron's release and Pettigrew's opportunity for escape for a couple of minutes. Then we left the castle heading to the gates. I figured Pettigrew wouldn't honor the terms so when we were close to the ward boundaries. I told Pettigrew it was far enough. That it was time to release Ron. He planned to keep his hostage. I stunned Ron. Traded spells with Pettigrew. He got away after sending the bone shattering hex my way. I almost dodged it completely, but it caught my foot. Then I woke Ron and we came here. I hope that detention you planned for Ron and I is cancelled now, Professor McGonagall."

She blushed slightly, then nodded.

Albus on the other hand wondered. He suspected the boy housed a fragment of Voldemort's soul. From Harry's phrasing, was orchestrating the escape of his parents' betrayer the first sign of him losing a battle for his own soul? "Mr. Potter may I request a viewing of your memory of the event?" Albus wanted to know exactly what had happened and what had been said. "It would be completely voluntary of course."

Harry gave the Headmaster an evaluating look. It didn't take much to see the Headmaster was asking himself the "is Harry dark" question. "Fine, how do I do it?"

Snape stepped forward. "Bring the memory to the forefront of your mind in as much detail as you can then place your wand to your temple, imagine the thread of your memory attaching to your wand them pull the wand away." He knew it would be child's play for Harry since he was an occlumens.

Harry brought the memory forward but deliberately skipped over details of the map. Starting it from when Ron remarked the map wasn't very accurate. Figuring he could claim family magics obscuring the details of the family heirloom. Dumbledore didn't need to know how it worked, so for the purpose of the memory the map would appear merely as parchment. A moment later he pulled his wand away.

Professor Snape handed him a vial. Harry put the memory into it. The Headmaster and the teachers gathered themselves up and left for the Headmaster's office. Leaving Poppy to deal with the the boys.

Poppy gave Harry his dose of Skelegrow.

He barely resisted the urge to spew it and the meager contents of his stomach back out.

Once Poppy was sure he'd successfully swallowed it and it would stay down, she went to deal with the two younger boys and their broken noses.

In the headmaster's office, the teachers waited while the Headmaster got out his pensieve. "Do you believe his story, Severus?"

"He has no reason to lie, Minerva."

"We'll see soon enough."

"It's ready." The Headmaster said. They entered the pensieve.

Severus noticed that the memory was clear and sharp except the parchment in Harry's hands. He couldn't help but smirk at the petulant expression on the Headmaster's face when the parchment proved too fuzzy to examine. He would have to give Potter points for cleverness and skill there.

There was no question it was Pettigrew. Minerva and Severus both quickly realized Harry had probably made the best decisions possible in the Great Hall and on the grounds. His actions had prevented any other students from getting hurt by keeping Pettigrew focused on Harry. His decision to take the hostage out of the equation before Pettigrew got to the wards was not something that would have occurred to either of them, but it was effective.

....

Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.

Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)

Free members get 2 chapters free.

Join Right Now