Chapter- 34 : Interrogation Part - 9

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Inwardly he was chortling in glee at the stunt he had just pulled and his heart beat enthusiastically in excitement at finally dishing out something of what this bunch of tossers were due.

"Let him up," Dumbledore croaked from somewhere out of sight and someone obediently fired off the counter-curse.

Without the charmed rigidity of his body Harry slumped and his shoulder blades scraped along the cold stone as he slid to the ground. He landed with a harsh thud and scrambled to get on all fours and on his feet as quickly as possible.

Order members surrounded him in a wide circle, all of them pointing their wands at him and looking thoroughly displeased. Dumbledore was sitting in his plushy arm-chair once more, being fussed over by Mrs. Weasley as he sipped slowly from an ornate golden goblet.

"This," Harry said slowly with an exaggerated arm-wave, "is one of the reasons I want to be left alone. We do not get along. Especially if some of you feel like you can curse me any time you damn well please."

"Nobody is cursing anyone," Dumbledore said a little hoarsely, followed by a minor bout of coughing. "Everybody here wants to help people."

Harry bit his lower lip in thought. They weren't going to just let him waltz out of here, maybe it was time for another of his barely-there concessions.

"I stand by what I said, I will not reward you for your actions, but maybe I could share what I know with Madam Bones. It is her job to protect people after all."

Dumbledore grimaced. "I would prefer that you deal with us directly but it is clear that neither of us are quite ready for that just yet. As long as you share any and all information with her that would be acceptable."

"Albus!" Moody objected harshly from somewhere out of sight, but the sound suddenly cut off as someone forcibly silenced the man.

"Are we done here then?" Harry asked, feeling a little weary now that the adrenalin was fading.

"As soon as you sign the contract," Dumbledore answered. "It would be in all our best interests to finish our remaining business for now, it seems."

Harry stared at him for a minute, but slowly approached the pile of parchments laying on the table by his side.

"You'll get me my compensation, all information on the ritual and everyone will leave me alone?" he checked.

"You'll agree to teach, postpone prosecution and share what you know with Amelia?" Dumbledore countered.

His mind whirling Harry considered his options and then slowly reached for the pile. This was probably the best he was going to get for now.

As he quickly read through the contract to check if it was the same as the one Dumbledore had sent him a week ago McGonagall made her voice heard for the first time.

"Albus," she protested primly, "we don't even know if he can teach."

Her grumbling protest sealed the deal for him as he realised that he'd claimed to be a Divination prodigy only because it would upset the woman. With a flourish he signed the contract Harry White at the bottom.

"I promise not to show up to class drunk," he said with a jaunty salute at the woman as he sauntered towards the doors.

They were still closed and he tilted his head as he gestured between them and the Headmaster.

"If you would, boss," he said mockingly. Reluctantly Dumbledore shot a pair of spells at them.

No sooner had Harry set foot across the threshold than they slammed shut behind him, followed by the sounds of pandemonium erupting from within. A second later that too cut off as someone silenced the Great Hall.

With exaggerated cheerfulness Harry whistled a jaunty tune as he wandered down the hall, smacking his lips. His last comment to McGonagall had given him an idea and he set a course for the Entrance Hall and the wide world beyond.

After a day such as this, surely he deserved a drink.

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