Changing Ideals

Body



Disclaimer: Fly! Fly! I shall escape with all the Harry Potter characters, my pretties will make sure of that! Ah ha ha ha ha! Anyway, in all seriousness, I do not own anything you might actually recognize. Poor me.

Italics=Ron\'s thoughts

Chapter 6: Classes, Retaliation, and Other Things

What the bloody hell is going on?!?! I thought I knew Harry. Well, scratch that. I\'m willing to bet my last Galleon that he did enter his name into the Triwizard Tournament. Always has to be the bloody center of attention, no matter what! Why can\'t he just be normal and let others be in the spotlight just once? Hmm? I mean, I\'m a Gryffindor and a wizard. I\'ve helped Harry do everything except for the Triwizard Tournament. But who gets all the frickin\' attention? That asshole, Harry Potter! Why didn\'t he just die with his parents? Gah! He\'s so frustrating.

Great. Just great. There he is, sitting at the enema\'s table acting like he didn\'t just betray the entire wizarding world! Ooh, if there weren\'t any teachers around I\'d give him what for. From now on, he\'s my enemy number one. Screw Malfoy, Potter\'s my target. Heh, I\'ll see if I can\'t get my brothers in on this, I bet they\'re just dying to get back at him as well. I mean, the prat shorted us a seeker!

Looking at Ron, Hermione wondered what was going on in his head. He had this look of utter loathing, if not down right hate, on his face. She certainly hoped it wasn\'t directed at the person she thought it was. Sure, she was a mad at Harry for not telling them this or for not sitting or talking with them on the train, but he had a good reason. Or least she hoped he did. They shared everything. Of course she didn\'t know that this was very untrue. Harry only shared what he thought it was prudent to share and left out anything else.

\"Come on Ron, Double Potions with Slytherin is getting ready to start. We don\'t want to give Professor Snape a reason to get us into trouble,\" Hermione said, ever the voice of reason.

\"Yeah, yeah,\" Ron said. Snorting, he then said, \"I bet perfect Slytherin Harry Potter will waltz in late and not receive any form of punishment now that he is a traitorous Slytherin. Hell, I bet he\'ll make a potion in class that is poisonous and he\'ll make one of the Gryffindors his test subject!\"

SMACK! The resounding slap echoed throughout the entire hall that had quieted when Ron had risen his voice in his protests. \"RONALD WEASLEY! I CAN\'T BELIEVE YOU! THIS IS HARRY! OUR FRIEND! I don\'t want to speak to you again until you calm down. If you would just think about this rationally, I\'m sure you\'d see that Harry must have a good reason for this. He isn\'t going to stay in Slytherin. He\'s probably just trying to figure out what You-Know-Who is up to and then he\'ll be back here with us, the same old Harry we know and love,\" Hermione stated.

\"Hmph. Well, I doubt it. The way he acted to Dean, and then not even attempting to apologize. He\'s a Death Eater, or about to be initiated as one. What \'til my mom finds out. She\'s liable to blow up the school with the Howler she sends to Harry,\" Ron\'s voice took on a maniacal mad man\'s quality while he contemplated the idea of Harry being blown to smithereens by his mother\'s letter.

\"Oh, grow up Ron. Now come on!\" Walking in silence to the Potions room, Ron and Hermione sat at tables as far away from each other as they could get while remaining on the Gryffindor side of the class. Slowly, the room filled with students, but no Malfoy, Potter, or Snape to be seen. Hushed whispers broke out, wondering where the three missing occupants could be.

\"I can tell you exactly where they are, a fire meeting with You-Know-Who. They\'re probably finalizing plans to attack the school and kill all the muggle-borns and anyone who sympathizes with them. I hope you\'ve all said good-bye to your parents,\" Ron said pompously.

Luckily for Ron, during his speech the three aforementioned people entered the room, and together the three managed to restrain Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who were ready to cross the room and pummel the shit out of Ron.

\"Mr. Weasley, for your ineptitude to come up with anything remotely imaginative, and blatantly supplying your classmates with false information, that will be 15 points fGryfGryffindor. You will also serve a detention tonight, with me at 8:00 p.m. I expect you won\'t be late or it will be more points lost. I\'m quite sue you would not care to be the unfortunate wretch responsible for putting Gryffindor into the negative, so I suggest you sit down, close your gaping mouth, and refrain from speaking throughout my class!\" Snape barked.

\"Now that Mr. Weasley has chosen to grace us all with his silence, we will be making...\" Snape gave them their orders, paired them up, and all the students set out to work. The Gryffindors were being especially cautious, no one amongst them wanting to fuel the anger that was radiating off of Professor Snape. Even Neville managed to make his potion correctly, with little assistance from Hermione. Evidently, others did not want to join Ron in his little detention with Snape. \"Crabbe, Goyle, Parkinson, Zabini, and Bulstrode, please stay after class. I\'d like to have a word with you.\"

After everyone else had left, Snape motioned the remaining students up to his desk. He explained that one Saturday there was to be a meeting between them, along with Draco, Harry Potter, and himself about him now being in Slytherin. Harry had both the seal of approval of Severus and Draco and they wanted to give them a chance to get to know Harry as well, not just accept him because they were told to. The meeting was to occur during breakfast in the dungeons. Breakfast would be served to try to keep them as comfortable as possible, but questions pertaining to Harry\'s home life or what happened on the night of the third task were not to be asked. These were things that Harry would reveal to those he believed deserved to know when he trusted them and they trusted him. After everyone agreed to be at the meeting, Professor Snape wrote them a note to get them into their next class without punishment and sent them on their way.

Entering Defense Against the Dark Arts, Blaise Zabini took the letter up to Professor Lupin who looked at it and asked them to please take a seat. He then reintroduced himself to the students and told them that they would be working on the \'Patronus Charm\' for the next month due to the fact that they had to be ready for a possible war in the near future.

\"Now, who can tell me anything about the Patronus charm?\" the professor asked. Raising his hand, Harry was called on for an answer.

\"The Patronus charm is a very advanced charm that is used to ward off Dementors. It focuses your happy thoughts and gives them a shape to drive the Dementors away because they thrive on negative thoughts and memories. The shape of a persons Patronus depends on the individual. The more powerful the happy memory, the more powerful the Patronus,\" Harry stated.

\"Excellent answer, Harry. 15 points to Slytherin. Now, the incantation is \'Expecto Patronus\' and, well, Harry, why don\'t you demonstrate? Harry here has been able to do this charm since he was 13. I taught him in his third year.\"

Walking to the front of the class, Harry concentrated on the exhilarating feeling and memory of the day he left the Dursley household for good. Saying the incantation, Harry watched as the stag magically burst forth from his wand and charged at the wall. When it noticed that there were no Dementors around, it turned around and trotted over to Harry. Reaching out and petting it for a moment, Harry then ended his spell and sat back down.

\"Now that was a very powerful example of a Patronus. I have never met another witch or wizard who was capable of producing a Patronus that they could touch! Excellent work, Harry, 25 points to Slytherin for a marvelous example!\" Class continued on with others attempting the Patronus and Harry helping his fellow Slytherins attempt to master the difficult charm. After class ended, Professor Lupin asked Harry to stay behind.

\"Um, sir, I hope you aren\'t too disappointed in me. It\'s just that I no longer fit with the Gryffindors and I\'ve never felt like I was where I belonged until now. So, Professor...\"

Interrupting Harry, Lupin said, \"Harry, I couldn\'t be prouder. I\'m also sure that your parents would be proud of you. You stood up for yourself and what you believed in, and you are being who you were meant to be, not what others wanted you to be. I also would like you to call me either Remus or Moony when we aren\'t around other students. I consider you to be like family.\"

\"Thank you, Moony. I\'m glad you feel that way. Wait \'til Padfoot finds out. Oh, he\'s living in my apartment. I thought you\'d like to know. If you want to write him, I\'m sure he wouldn\'t mind,\" Harry said. They stayed a few more minutes in the classroom, just chatting and catching up when Harry\'s stomach rumbled loudly. Giving Remus a sheepish look, Harry mumbled something about being too nervous to actually eat breakfast and now that it was lunch, well he was hungry. After leaving Moony and heading to the Great Hall, Harry felt a pair of arms wrap around him and pull him into a nearby empty classroom.

\"Well, well, well. What do we have here? If it isn\'t the famous traitor, Harry Potter,\" Ron said in a scathing voice.

\"What the hell is wrong with you Ron?! Let me go!\" Frantically twisting around, Harry finally managed to get away from Ron and saw the strange look on his face. Before he even had time to contemplate what was going on, Ron was upon him, hitting, kicking, and screaming obscenities. Gathering his wits about him, Harry got into the fight as well. They rolled around on the dirt covered floor until Harry\'s senses came back to him and he pulled his wand out of his pocket. Cursing Ron, Harry got up off the floor, used a sleeping charm on Ron, healed himself, and then Ron. It wouldn\'t do for him to get into trouble just because Ron was being a prat. Leaving him in the room, after locking him in and making sure his wand was not anywhere with in reach to him, Harry made his way to the Great Hall.

Scathing looks met Harry as he entered the Great Hall, and the majority came from the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. The Ravenclaws did not seem to have a problem with Harry\'s new House and went on with their daily activities. Cutting comments were said loud enough for Harry and the rest of the Slytherins to hear, causing them to bristle in irritation.

\"Enough! I will not have one more student say anything condescending towards Mr. Potter, or the Slytherin house. The next person I hear will have a large quantity of points taken from their House and a week\'s worth of detention!\" Dumbledore yelled, drawing surprised eyes towards him and gasps at his announcement when they realized that he was telling the truth.

\"But Sir, he\'s a traitor! I bet he really killed Cedric...\" Ernie McMillan was cut off by Dumbledore\' angry voice. 75 points were deducted from Hufflepuff, and he received a week\'s detention.

\"Now continue eating your lunches and then go to your classes. Be good. All of you.\" Here he gave a stern glance at thyffiyffindor fifth years that seemed to be sulking for some reason. He had a pretty good idea why they were being the way they were, so he would have to keep a close eye on them. Over at the Slytherin table, the students were fuming.

\"How dare they! How dare they say that about us and our new Slytherin! He may have been a Gryffindor at one time, but now he\'s one of us! We stick together, we defend each other!\" The seventh year\'s speech was met with approval by others and they started their plans for retaliation against the two Houses that had wronged them.

\"So, Harry, do you think it would be possible to get you to tutor us in Defense Against the Dark Arts? I mean, Greg and I tend to do well in our classes, but that one we just can\'t seem to get the hang of. It is really bringing down our over-all view on grades,\" Vincent said to Harry.

\"Sure I can. How about we start tonight after dinner and we have study sessions together every night after dinner on days that we have DADA? Does that sound good to you?\" Harry asked.

After agreeing to what Harry had proposed, the two eagerly dug back into their lunch, oblivious to the amused glances they were receiving. They didn\'t realize that their zeal for food had earned them the bias that they were nothing but bodyguards that did nothing but eat. That between the two of them, there wasn\'t even one entire brain. How wrong could people get? Maybe everyone should just throw out what they thought about the Slrinsrins and just forget about trying to figure them out. After all, to actually know them, you had to be a Slytherin.


Getting up from the table, the Slytherin fifth years moved as a unit to their next class, Herbology. Luckily this class was held with Ravenclaws. They wouldn\'t have to put up with the Gryffindors again until tomorrow\'s Transfiguration lesson and then Care of Magical Creatures. Herbology went smoothly and the Slytherins moved on to their last class of the day, History of Magic with Hufflepuff.

Entering the room, the Slytherins made sure to sit together and ignore the Hufflepuffs in the room. Luckily, Professor Binns was always so boring, that the majority of the class was fast asleep. The only person paying any attention was Harry. He took notes on all the pertinent information and then used a duplicating charm to give them to the other Slytherins after the class ended. Finally dinner rolled around.

TBC

Well, hopefully you all liked that chapter and the reactions of the rest of the school. Eventually things will settle down and won\'t be that bad. People will eventually come to accept this new Harry.