Chapter 029
Surprisingly, once he opened the door there was no one waiting right outside.
"Hunh!" he said, before leading the two of them down the stairs.
As Neville, who was only a half pace ahead of Harry, stepped off the last step it was for Harry to see the very big surprise of no one saying anything. However, the reason for that was immediately identified as two aurors who stood with wands drawn and their backs to the wall either side of the exit through the back of the portrait.
As Harry walked in he looked quizzically at both.
Knowing he would be asked why they were there, the older of the two said, "Madam Bones wanted to make sure no one, including your housemates, were going to bother you and pressure you for information, Lord Potter. As such, we'll be keeping an eye on you."
Harry thought about that for a moment before he said, "In that case, let her know I appreciate it when you next speak with her."
"Will do, Lord Potter," smirked the auror.
"I take it you re-informed this lot that trying to... let's say... press me for information would be viewed as witness tampering? And may very well have led them to unwillingly discovering what the inside of a DMLE holding cell looked like?" asked Harry.
"No," smirked the auror. "Same idea, but as it related to the inside of an Azkaban cell."
"Ah!" exclaimed Harry. "Then, again, thank you."
The auror merely nodded back with the same smirk.
Harry turned to his erstwhile housemates and said, "All the information that I provided, couched as 'entertainment' while I figured out how to complete the task, was my memories I swore on my magic and life was true."
With a flick of his wrist he had his wand in his hand and snap-raised it to cast before anyone even realised what he was doing. "Expecto Patronum!" he firmly intoned.
Appearing almost as if his wand bucked in his hand, the Patronus mist leapt out of the tip of his wand and immediately formed into the almost solid appearing, silvery-ghost, corporeal shape of his father's animagus form of a buck deer. It then stood on the floor, about eight feet in front of Harry, appearing to look about for threats.
A few moments later it appeared it didn't see any and spun about to stare at Harry, waiting.
Harry softly said to it, "Thank you, Prongs. You may go." And the Patronus fizzled away.
With the Patronus now dissipated, Harry continued, "As pretty much all of it also implicated a number of staff members of the school in the commission of crimes, Madam Bones has taken copies of those memories, plus others, to start her investigation into said staff members and said others. As such, I have become her primary witness for the Wizengamot in proceedings she is very likely to bring against those staff members and others. This, she explained to you all in the Great Hall.
"I also have little doubt most of you are wondering why I did it. If you don't know, then no amount of me explaining it to you will improve your understanding of it. If you do know, then I obviously do not need to explain it to you. Therefore, there is no need for me to say anything.
"If you do not like that, I do not care. If you don't know, then ask someone who does know why I did it; because you will get no answer from me. The only people in this tower who currently hold my respect are the two aurors you see standing over by the entrance, Heir Longbottom and Miss Hermione Granger. Maybe someone else will have the patience with you to use little enough words, and speak slowly enough, for you to get some measure of understanding."
He was about to leave when he turned back and said, "Oh! If you're wondering why I don't give a shit about your questions - or you, for that matter - I remind you how almost all of you treated me up to now for this year. And I remind those of you who were students here two years ago of how you treated me during that whole Heir of Slytherin nonsense. You may have forgotten, or thought I had forgiven you, but I have not of either."
That was apparently enough for Ron. He blurted, "But, you had the Headmaster and Professor McGonagall charged!" The boy had finally gathered up his courage enough to try to berate Harry.
Before Harry could verbally cut him down, though, the same auror spoke first. "He did not, Mister Weasley. This is not the MaCUSA, magical America, where citizens can have someone charged. Here, the citizenry can only file a complaint. It is only Madam Bones who can file charges.
"I also remind you that Lord Potter did not even file a complaint. He only played for you, if you were in the audience, memories through a pensieve.
"It was Madam Bones who, off her own cognisance, is now filing those complaints and converting them, on the spot, to charges.
"I'll also inform you that she would not do that unless she was very sure of the crimes being committed, who committed them and her chances of securing convictions of the people being so charged.
"As a fully qualified auror with years of experience, I can assure you it is my opinion that both Albus Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, to name the two you mentioned, are guilty of numerous crimes. Neither deserves your support, and you're either a fool or an idiot if you do."
Weasley bristled at the verbal slap down, "But... he's Dumbledore!"
"That is utterly irrelevant," the auror immediately snapped back.
Weasley grumbled about it under his breath for a couple seconds before he suddenly spun away and stomped up the stairs to the boys' dorms in a right royal snit.
Watching him go, the auror looked at Harry and said, "I can now see why you seemed so relieved you'll now be able to completely break off your friendship with that boy."
Harry shrugged back with a grin on his face. "I don't believe he ever was truly a friend. His friendship of me was more a selfish act on his part. He wanted to be known as the best mate of the famous Boy-Who-Lived. Losing that is what's got him so snotty."
It had been Harry's intent to only wait long enough for Hermione to rejoin him before heading for the 'Come and Go Room' Dobby had shown him. That was soon after it became too uncomfortable to stay in the Gryffindor Tower after his name came out of the Goblet. However, with the two aurors seemingly permanently stationed in the common room to make sure he wasn't bothered by his own housemates, he felt it was safe enough to remain. So, he found a seat on one of the spare couches and relaxed.
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―==(oIo)==―
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When she re-entered the common room from the stairs leading to the girls' dorms while wearing an angry scowl on her face, Harry was about to ask Hermione what was wrong when she practically snatched him by the hand and said, "We're leaving!" before trying to drag him towards the portrait hole.
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