Episode 8. Part 1

Episode 8. Part 1

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- "A Harry Potter coupe?" Seriously? - Harold squinted at the twins in exasperation as he walked past the third door with the screaming sign. The Hogwarts Express was full, and so the boys were only too glad that the twins had gone to the train station before everyone else, so that they could take their seats and not be seen by their families.

- In every carriage...

- The whole train! - they proudly exclaimed.

- What for? - Dudley asked.

- "We're sitting in the headmen's compartment," George explained, opening the door of the compartment with the "headmen" sign. - We won't be disturbed here, because not many people know that there are only two headmen's compartments, and headmen themselves rarely sit in them..." The twins helped the juniors pack up their company and everyone sat down on the padded couches. It was just under an hour before the train left.

Half the journey from London to Hogsmeade this year had been spent by half the students searching for the Boy Who Survived, Even-Sirius-Black. But he was never found, though he was peacefully and shamelessly napping on Daphne Greengrass' (the only one who found her hero) lap...

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- We're not there yet, are we? Then why are we stopping?! Also, on the bridge?! - With a strange panic in his voice, Dudley asked the company. He had just anticipated something, the shadows, the fear, the shouting...

- Grandfather said that the train will be watched over by Dementors, the guards of Azkaban," Daphne answered quietly, worried about her little sister, whom she had left with other friends. - They're looking for Black. - As soon as she'd finished speaking, the lights in the compartment, like the rest of the train, went out, and frost began to spread across the glass and metal and plastic. The door began to open slowly, and in the twilight the boys saw a shadow blacker than black. It was wrapped in thin black rags and seemed to be flying over the floor rather than walking. Dementor. He breathed in air, making the thin cloth where his face should be move and retract. The boys saw empty eye sockets and a toothless mouth. The creature itself looked like a clad human skeleton, except taller than the average adult. The Dementor was looking for a victim. The Dementor was breathing. And with each breath he siphoned out all the positive emotions from the boys, making them feel as if there had never been joy or happiness in the world. It left behind a feeling of sadness and hopelessness. And then there was the cold. And it had that effect on everyone but Harold.

Harry heard his mother scream, but not for the first time. Harry saw the pain distorted faces of the Dursleys, burning alive in his fire. Harry saw the blank stares and heard what seemed to him to be the death rattle of the terminally ill cousin for whom he had become involved with horrible people. Harry saw the body of a little girl who was conscious being cut open alive in order to cut out her organs and then sell them. He had too few truly happy memories, but plenty of bad ones. And, in the presence of the dementor, Harold could feel the warmth and hope leaving him. Tears streamed down his face, but he didn't notice them. He reached for the ancestral dagger to sever his carotid artery...

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- Harold James Potter, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU..." Dudley yelled, cursing at his brother and would have heard the whole train if the twins hadn't put a muffling spell on their compartment. He was frightened, for he had never noticed his cousin's suicidal tendencies before. They only stopped him at the last moment, when Dementor left them to check out the next compartment, and they were able to breathe freely. Potter had to be tied up, and now as a group they were spewing fear and other emotions that had come from the Azkaban guardian on him. Harry looked at his friends in a phlegmatic manner, mentally agreeing with all their accusations. And indeed: what had gotten into him?! Sure, he'd had six very, very scary moments in his life, but he'd survived them, dealt with his emotions, and...

What he hadn't realized was that what made him stand out from the crowd was how the Dementors worked on him. And they affected him far more than the others. For the rest of his life, they were creatures to whom he was utterly defenseless...

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- Harold, Dudley, this is Blaze Zabini," Draco introduced his friend. - Blaze, these are my, no exaggeration, friends, Harold James Potter and his cousin Dudley Dursle. Zabini has been absent from school for almost two years, for... family reasons," Malfoy explained. - But he was at the placement. - After a mutual handshake and the usual cheers, the inquisitive Slytherin, who sincerely hoped to find friends, including Potter, his supposedly suzerain, could not help but quiz them sarcastically:

- I wonder how the Boy Who Survived, the hero and hope of the world, the hereditary Gryffindor, could be friends with the sons of several Death Eaters, pillars of darkness? - Harold rolled his eyes, sniffling:

- First of all, I don't care about faculty affiliation, just like I don't care about my friends' parents. I've always believed that children shouldn't be responsible for their parents' mistakes. Secondly, Blaise, the hat was sending me to Slytherin, but my brother had already been assigned to Gryffindor, and the public was expecting me to. I didn't dare disappoint them. - Dudley and Draco stared at the hero stunned, but when they remembered what he had said about cunning people hiding among those who would not be suspected of being cunning, they calmed down. - And thirdly, last year I was called the New Dark Lord by most of the school and shunned me like a leper.

- The Dark Lord and about two dozen of his followers? - Zabini raised his eyebrows, remembering what his friends had written to him.

- Right," Theodore confirmed. Blaise's eyes lit up, and rubbing his hands together, he asked again:

- What are the terms of the game?

***

- It's amazing, Harold! A secret room has so many possibilities. You can make potions out in the open in here! And dueling, and..." Theodore chattered once they were in the main hall of the Chamber of Secrets. The school year this year began on a Thursday, and so, having finished Friday, the cousins decided to go down to the dungeons of Salazar Slytherin. At a brief meeting, it was decided to bring friends as well, those they trusted. Especially since Sashi was asleep after a very successful summer hunt and threatened to sleep for a few more months, waking up occasionally. And then - the winter, when snakes, if not hibernate, become sleepy. And in the presence of "masters", the basilisk was just a giant, but cute beastie.

It was harder to choose who to trust. The Weasley twins were among the circle of confidants without question. Then there was Theodore, Neville, and Blaze. The latter wasn't as trusted, but he knew something was up, so he asked for it, repeating his ancestor's vassal oath to the Potters. He could no longer betray. The boys invited Draco, too, forcing him to swear to secrecy. Daphne Greengrass, Susan Bones, Hannah Abbott were invited as girls to dilute the company. Granger was not invited. Dudley said she was too proper and might report someone for breaking the rules. And the fact that she was a Muggleborn had an impact, too, since they were despised by many "confidants." However, that didn't stop her from inviting other Muggle children. Then there was Terry Booth and Michael Corner, whom the cousins had become friends with during their first year. They bonded over their love of learning, and then they did spell research together for Flitwick. Both Harold and Dudley had confidence in them. They invited Ernest MacMillan and Justin Finch-Flechley to join them. In short, there was a large group. And none of the "chosen ones" were surprised that Harold had found the secret room, none were frightened, and none continued to believe that he had not committed the attack. That - that was very important.

The boys looked around the rooms of the Chamber of Secrets with delight and gathered to discuss their impressions.

- Yes, it's even possible to live here," Korner stretched enviously.

- Hannah Abbott wrinkled her nose at the millennia-old piles of dust in the corners of the stately stone room.

- I have an idea! - Malfoy exclaimed, interrupting his classmate. His eyes glowed with excitement. And, judging by the way he lifted his chin and protruded his chest, he had once again come up with what he thought was a "brilliant" idea. The cousins looked at each other dolefully, but Draco seized the moment while everyone listened to him. "We're not all very friendly with each other, but we're friends with Potter," the last name was said in a dismissive tone. - So why don't we form a secret club in this place? And Potter would be in charge, because we couldn't get in without him. - The boys looked at each other and nodded enthusiastically...

- What do you think, Harold? - Dudley sighed, looking at the crowd of trusted friends.

- I think we need a connection they can't trace," he replied thoughtfully. He didn't like being a leader, nor did he like noisy company, but he'd wanted more friends most of his adult life, ever since the days when he'd lived in the closet under the stairs and his cousin and a bunch of friends had chased him all over Littlewinging. Of course, there was no telling how their venture would end, but he liked it as much as anything secret and forbidden. Yes, Harry was in agreement: the idea was good, because that way they could learn and develop faster than the school program.

At that moment, magic, like a living thing, held its breath: one of its children had chosen the path, which meant that the world was about to undergo significant changes...

***

- Mr. Potter, Mr. Dursle, you're the only ones left," the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor said, smiling. He was looking forward to seeing the magic and prowess of an old dead friend's son. But on the other hand, he feared that the fear of the Boy Who Survived might become the fear of all. He had many speculations about how Potter's boggart might turn out. Could it be like James's? Or maybe it was like Lily's? Could it be Lord Voldemort? Or, impressed by the events of the summer, would the youthful imagination give away the face of an old friend and traitor, Sirius Black?

But the teacher had no answer to his question. Potter knew how to... surprise:

- Forgive me, Professor, but I refuse to stand in front of a boggart," Harry said firmly, even shrilly coldly, squinting his eyes, which sparkled like overflowing emeralds of light magic. - My fears are my weaknesses, they are my own business, my own life. I don't want to show them to anyone. This lesson, I'm sorry to say, is criminal. It's an invasion of privacy and an attempt to ferret out weaknesses. I..." Lupin was so stunned by the completely non-Gryffindor response of a Gryffindor student, the son of such familiar and kindred people, that he could not immediately pull himself together. He understood that the boy did not know him. But his wolf nature considered him part of his pack, and therefore resented this attitude toward his first lesson. That was probably why he himself got beastly-looking, squinted, and pursed his lips in a stubborn manner, especially since it was fair:

- Mr. Potter, this is the ministerial program, and to get credit from me, you're going to have to do it. Ridiculus is the only spell against boggarts, and third year Hogwarts students are required to learn how to fight boggarts. All of them, no exceptions.

- The only one? - Harold raised an eyebrow as if he were Nuneus Snape. - Well," he strode boldly toward the swirling cloud of black smoke. Boggart sensed a new target, and while he was looking for fear, while he was forming... - he missed the danger. Harry used the fire jet spell, Incendio. A cloud of black smoke erupted, contrary to expectation. There was a heartbreakingly thin, almost ultrasonic squeal, after which the Boggart settled to the floor in ashes. - My boggart is defeated," the Boy Who Is Sometimes Called the New Dark Lord said with a proud grin, blatantly rubbing the ash on the classroom floor. - And notice, Professor, that when you find yourself alone with your worst nightmare, it's hard to concentrate to realize who's in front of you, and how to fight it. The Incendio is easier to remember than the Riddiculus spell, and it's... more effective, because it destroys rather than disorients a boggart. And it's not just effective against those things. Please give my cousin credit for the lesson. I assure you, he has a perfect command of Insendio. And the Ridiculus will not be hard for us to repeat on occasion.

- Hold it after class, Mr. Potter," the stunned Lupin could only utter. Soon the bell rang, and the students, including Dudley, after jotting down their extracurricular assignments, headed off to their next classes. Harold, on the other hand, waited obediently. Remus was afraid to be alone with him, and yet he had to ask, "So, do you really think my first class is criminal?

- I'm sorry, Professor, but yes," Harry snorted convincingly. - Maybe you wanted to build ties between the feuding faculties this way, by means of a shared secret. But you forgot that we're children. Children of the Eaters, children of the Muggles whom the former hate, and children of the organization that Dumbledore created to fight the former. Do you really think it was a good idea to show us each other's fears?

- In that case, why did you say so when it was your turn, instead of at the beginning of the lesson? You were quietly watching your fellow students' fears," Remus smiled thinly. Potter blurted out a smile, scratching the top of his head:

- Touché, Professor. - Remus quirked an eyebrow, "Why the show, then! - I'm not really going to show my fear to anyone. But it's the perfect excuse to talk to you.

- What do you want?! - And Harold told everything he knew about the death of his family, and that Sirius Black had had nothing to do with it. He said that he knew that his professor was a werewolf, and that he was a friend of his parents, and that Sirius and James had become animagi for him. He also told him that Petigrew was alive, and that he was hiding at school as Ronald Weasley's pet. Finally he suggested that Lupin meet with Black...

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