Episode 10. Part 7

Episode 10. Part 7

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Ronald Weasley was just furious!

This cocky, arrogant, arrogant, arrogant and... and... and more, bastard, the Boy-Who-Will-Not-Be-Dead, was doing everything he could to ruin his life! Harry, damn him, Potter ignored every attempt to hurt him. Didn't respond to Ronald's appeals, to his taunts, including those about his muggle mother, to which the orphan should have responded. Didn't respond to duel calls, or when Ron called Potter a Coward in response. He always noticed the trippings, discharged the traps, and simply brushed off the spells in his face and back like pesky flies. Candy, the twins' inventions mixed with ordinary candy, he did not eat, as if he knew exactly how they looked and what effect they had. Dung bombs planted on the bed simply vaporized them. Though, for some time now, Ronald couldn't even touch the canopy of the false hero's bed, let alone the nightstand, which was enchanted with some kind of jinx against trespassing. He even looked at Ron as if through him, through the air. To Harold Potter, Ronald Weasley simply did not exist, and oh, how it... infuriated!

The powerlessness and the impossibility of revenge was infuriating.

And in the last year it had gotten even worse. Potter knew about the plight of the Weasley family and, as if on purpose, boasted the position of a national hero, money...

lordship! And now the participation in the Tournament, which, no doubt, would glorify him forever, even in the case of defeat and death. Ronald was sure Potter was doing all this to spite him. All those new, expensive clothes, with gold or silver - or maybe even platinum - clasps and hand-stitched, all those manners and posture, the unhurriedness, everything showed Ronald Potter's attitude toward him. And it was contempt. He certainly knew it. How else to explain the ignoring? It was as if the youngest Weasley son was something that was akin to dust beneath his feet.

And Potter was taking everything Ronald desired from him. At first it had been a dream of friendship, now shattered. He had to hang out with those knuckleheads Finigan and Thomas, who didn't appreciate him at all either. Then it was his older brothers, whom he genuinely loved and wished one day to join in on their jokes, of course, because of their popularity, but Ron wouldn't admit it to himself, sincerely believing he was "different." Then Potter took away his crammer, who at one point refused to do his extracurricular assignments for him and started showing up in his cousins' company. He had to study on his own and therefore it was Potter who was to blame for all his "troll" and "weak" grades. Then Ginny...

Oh, his beloved little sister had also dreamed all her life of meeting a "hero," dreaming of becoming his wife. But all her dreams were shattered... Yes, Ronald knew it was Harold who had opened the Chamber of Secrets in their sophomore year. He had seen with his own eyes how he and his brother had done it. So, he had no doubt as to who had made his little sister silent, unsociable, and downright angry. And yes, of course, Potter she continued to protect. He made her his puppet, and she, silly, rejoiced. And Ronald was afraid to speculate what else the bastard had done to her in the Chamber of Secrets before bringing her back.

Then Potter contacted the Blacks. Ronald was not fooled, he knew that it was his enemy who had somehow helped both Sirius Black and Bellatrix Lestrange escape from Azkaban. And then also proved the former's innocence. Ronald knew it was all lies. Potter had probably just bought whoever he needed and had long ago, if not sided with Who-He-Named, he was definitely the new Dark Lord. Otherwise, the former's right hand would not have obeyed him. Ronald had cherished the hope, when Black had first escaped, that he could catch him and the world would finally see his, Ronald's, exceptionalism. And who prevented that from happening? That's right, Potter. And he also took away his trusted friend who understood him, the rat Korosta...

The last year had been really bad. Everyone was talking about Potter. Even Dean and Seamus. And Potter himself was always "shining" in the company of the best girls in the house. He was followed by four of the six Gryffindor classmates, and the girls from the other classes looked on with interest. Even the Ice Queen was hanging out with the Devil-face-who-never-suffers. And Fleur... Oh, Fleur! Ronald was in love with her and delighted in listening to her eternal arguments with Potter. She humiliated Potter and in that she was in solidarity with him, with Ronald. And the moment he dared to ask her to the ball, in public, to beat off Potter, with whom she was once again arguing - Fleur had rejected him. Yes, his hands and knees and voice trembled, for Fleur was beautiful. Yes, he'd picked the wrong words, first calling her "baby" and then asking her to ignore the chump Potter and go to the ball with him. But... She said that she wouldn't look at Ronald even if he were the last male homosapiens on earth and that he could never be called a man, and that she only deserved one... man. With these words she pressed herself against Potter... It was a blow. It broke his heart and made him hate his personal enemy with more passion. He was ready to use the worst of the Unforgivable on him. Yes, Professor Grum had said that a strong desire for it would suffice. He wished, he could. Only... because of his mother, who would have been heartbroken, Ronald hadn't done it yet.

But now he, Ronald, had his chance. Principal Dumbledore had given him a special mission that would finally allow him to get his revenge. Yes, all he had to do was wait, and in the meantime befriend the idiot wannabe Longbottom, the new hero, the chosen one of the world... Too bad Ronald Weasley didn't notice: Neville ignored him as well as Harold...

***

Harold walked leisurely to the Gryffindor breakfast table, tossing a golden egg in his hand as a clue to the second round. He, yawning aristocratically (without opening his mouth and covering his palm), was lazily responding to the Pied Piper's welcoming nods. Suddenly a terrible rumble made half of the students gathered in the great hall choke and the other half shudder. It was like an explosion! And after the rumble there was a clang, then an eerie scream that rolled through the hall in a powerful wave of sound that made the windows shake. Potter stared annoyed at what was left of the broken clue egg. It was a pile of gold, shards of glass, and a strange gelatinous liquid that bubbled and screamed.

The entire Hogwarts froze in shock as they realized what had happened. Some whistled, some howled in horror for fear that a representative of their home school would lose the tournament because of it, embarrassing Hogwarts and themselves, some got upset, and some gloated. The Weasley twins had the un-chewed food spilling out of their mouths into their laps in shock, and Professor False-Gruem barely had time to jump out of the hall and into some kind of den before he started tearing his hair out...

- Oops," the "hero of the day" scratched the back of his head. - Now I don't seem to recognize the clue. What a pity, we'll have to act according to the circumstances," he grimaced pretentiously as he waved his wand and vaporized the clue that had become "garbage" instead of trying to fix it with magic. And then, ignoring the shock of the public, whistling a simple tune under his nose, he still reached the right table, briefly kissed his girlfriend on the cheek, and, landing on the bench, proceeded to breakfast.

Never before had the public been so silent for so long while the "hero of the day" chimed in the silence...

***

- Harry, are you sure you did the right thing? - Dudley asked his cousin quietly.

- I mean, we know what's going to happen in the second round, thanks to you, and what I have to prepare for," shrugged Harold, who was still being looked at to see if he was crazy. It had been a week since the incident in the great hall.

- Brother, the mermaids will try to kill me the moment you see me underwater..." Dursle reminded me with genuine fear, turning pale. - And I can't avoid that kind of captivity.

- Don't worry. I have an idea," Potter hummed confidently and smugly. Though, despite his confidence, he himself was ready to snap out of fear for his cousin. - It would definitely work. But, Harry, the water..." Dudley whispered, barely audible at all, and a moment later he was in his brother's arms, listening to his whisper:

- I'll keep you safe, I swear...

***

- Harry, honey, how about we fill up the club with members? - Daphne murmured, shamelessly tousling the hair of the stranger's boyfriend, whose head was habitually resting in her lap. It was happening, of course, in the Chamber of Secrets. - Do you have any ideas? - Harold was interested, almost purring at the unpretentious caress Fleur had been giving him.

- Yes, my friend, Tracy Davis," Greengrass the elder nodded. - She's a smart girl and guessed long ago where the four Slytherins disappeared to a couple of hours before curfew. She's curious, but she trusts and trusts me, so she doesn't ask or tell anyone about anything.

- Honestly, we were sure you'd bring her and her sister," Dudley cut into the conversation.

- Could we? - Daphne was surprised, and even stopped stroking her nice-to-touch, though not very soft, raven hair.

- Why not? - Harold shrugged, a little disappointed at the end of his friend's caressing. When he realized the Rattlesnakes were staring at him in surprise, he wondered why they thought they weren't allowed to bring their friends. None of them had stipulated that. Strange. Or was it because the club was "secret"?! Then they should have imposed conditions: - Friends, you can bring anyone you want," he assured me. - But there are only a few conditions: One - they must be reasonable enough not to give up our club by falling for tricks like "it's for our own good and safety" or "it's for the greater good." The second is that you have to be sure that they can be trusted and that they trust you. If there was even a single moment of doubt, if even one worm of doubt was born in you, you'd better not bring it. And third - you must be sure that they will want to and will follow our unspoken rules. Otherwise, our secret club will either lose its status as a secret club, or lose the meaning of its existence.

- The guys were clearly interested, and the conditions suited them, so Potter offered: - If you have no doubts about the potential candidates - let's at the next meeting everyone bring those whom he considers worthy. I, by the way, have a few candidates, too... How surprised he was when, at the next meeting, his friends brought the nine he himself wanted to invite. Dudley had brought Bem, a Gryffindor boy from their course and a lonely boy only because he didn't live in their course's boys' dormitory. He was going home to Nigeria for the night. That was the way of his family. So he was a hermit in the faculty, but a smart guy, with a true Gryffindor character. Harold and Hermie also brought the girls in their class: Faye Dunbar, Kella, and Riona O'Neil. Why the latter hadn't been brought along by her boyfriend, Dudley, was yet to be determined. The girls were girlfriends and, not so long ago, had found common ground not only with their cousins, but also with the Gryffindor nerd. So they were welcome, unlike the gossipy Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. The Puffindoos brought Sally-Anne Perks, Terry Booth brought the quiet and inconspicuous Sue Lee. Corner brought his best friend, Anthony Goldstein, who persuaded him to bring his childhood friend Lily Moon, too. The Weasley twins brought Lee Jordan. Daphne brought Tracy, just like she wanted. Well, Harold decided to invite his girlfriend and new friend, Victor Cram, to the club. The club was thus enlarged by twelve people at once.

And, strangely enough, none of the newcomers felt uncomfortable. Everyone had found a place in the secret rooms of Slytherin, company, and something to their liking, which the cousins were unabashedly happy about.

Of course, it wasn't entirely without incidents. For instance, Fleur was jealous of Potter and Daphne. The rat-catchers wondered how, but not even half an hour passed, and Harold was relaxing in the company of both, and they behaved peacefully. Even Dudley was afraid to find out how his cousin had managed to resolve the conflict.

Sashi also woke up at the wrong time, frightening the newcomers to the club, and the old timers, too, who had only seen the Basilisk asleep. Now cousins had to spend a few hours searching for a spell in parseltongue, which allowed to secure non-snakeys from the deadly gaze. And it was a good thing it was a day off! The incident ended well, because the ancient serpent himself seemed to enjoy feeling the teenagers' delight as he rode them through the mazes on his own...

***

- Professor, excuse me, do you have a Jabrosley plant in your storeroom? - Potter cautiously asked Snape after their extra class. Not far from the teacher's desk Dudley was brewing a potion, and he couldn't be distracted. However, he knew what he was going to talk about. He was no longer interested.

- Ah, you solved the clue before you cracked the egg after all," Severus grinned smugly, leaning back in his chair and putting his leg over his leg. - I warned Karkaroff not to get his hopes up for your slip, Potter. - But Harold was unwilling to broach the subject:

- So what's with the toadstools? I would borrow them from you for the duration of the second round and then return them... - How are you going to return them if you have to use them? - The Potions Master cocked an eyebrow ironically.

- I won't," grinned the Boy Who's Been-Been-Unnnnreasonably Self-Reliant. - I'm sorry, Professor, but I don't trust you enough to tell you my plans.

- What if I offered information in exchange? - Severus leaned his elbows on the desk again, feeling that if he did not offer anything, he would lose the "loot". And he didn't want that very much... - Only if you guarantee that you won't interfere. - Snape found the remark reasonable. Potter was not as stupid as his father, and he should have expected something like that. But the guarantee in their case was an oath. A magical oath that could take away magic as well as kill. And the professor wondered if he needed it:

- "Julius Nott is fond of you and your cousin, Lucius speaks positively, and my godson adores you altogether," he enumerated thoughtfully. - And you're also hiding Bellatrix, your godmother. - Yes, Severus enjoyed the consternation in her green eyes and his own smugness," She's a good disguise, but I know her face all too well. And at the same time, Dumbledore is disappointed in you. I'm afraid he was forced to reconsider his opinion of you and I became curious. - He thought silently for a few minutes before deciding: - Yes, I magically swear I won't interfere... - Well, then...

***

- What was it like at Madame Padifoot's? - Harold asked his girlfriend mockingly. The conversation was in French.

- It was disgusting, she grimaced. - Are you trying to take me to all the worst places in Hogsmeade?

- No less, darling," Potter agreed gravely. - Now we're going to the Boar's Head pub. It's so dusty and grimy you can't possibly like it.

- Oh, yeah? Then I'll ask the bartender to spit in your mug of creamy beer," the French girl promised, shivering with cold and wrapping herself tightly in the chic, light and warm stole given by the guy for his anniversary: a month of ruined life. It still wasn't enough, though, and she had to snuggle up to the guy as well. He sighed, took off his unbuttoned black cashmere coat (which he had ordered from a catalog a few weeks ago, and for which the owls had brought a gorgeous feminine stole, which he had, of course, told Fleur), threw it over his companion's shoulders and held her close to him. He could have warmed himself with magic, too. - I hope this service is on the list of services provided by the establishment for a fee?

- You bet it is. Though Abefort Dumbledore would be surprised, he rarely gets that order," the Hogwarts champion replied thoughtfully. - He usually asks you to pour sugar or salt in your tea, which I'll order for you..." "You're very charming. I didn't want to ruin your life for nothing. - As Dudley pointed out, those two were the perfect couple...

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