Chapter Twenty Five - Fluffy

Disclaimer: The Harry Potter universe belongs to JK Rowling, Scholastic, Bloomsbury, Warner Bros and some other high falutin' companies. Me, I'm just a PR professional. I don't profess to own - and would never dream of making any money off - JKR's wonderful world. However, its her sandbox and she's left the gate unlatched so we can go in and play a bit. Which, I've done.

Chapter Twenty Five - Fluffy

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-==(oIo)==-

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A couple of days later, on the Saturday morning of the 2nd of November, he received an owl from Sirius. Sirius wanted to know about his 'tantrum' in the Great Hall on the night of the Halloween Feast.

Sirius wasn't accusing him of anything. Nor did his letter say Harry had actually done anything wrong. He just wanted to hear from Harry what had happened.

When Harry sighed after reading the letter at the breakfast table, Neville asked, "What's wrong?"

"Sirius wants to know what happened on the night of the Halloween feast," he replied. "He and the Greengrasses now know what happened."

"He's not accusing you of anything, is he?" asked Susan.

"No," he replied. "It's more like - he wants to know what happened and is going to the source, namely me, to get the true details."

"What are you going to tell him?" asked Neville.

Shaking his head, Harry replied, "It's easier if I just show him."

He reached into his robes and withdrew a small empty stoppered phial. He held it in his left hand while he flicked the stopper out with his thumb. Drawing his wand, he then focussed on his memories and brought the entire memory to the fore part of his mind. A press of the tip of his wand to his temple and he was shortly drawing the copy of the memory out.

Holding the memory dangling over the now unstoppered phial he let it slide in, before restoppering it.

He then cast an Unbreakable Charm on it before setting it aside.

Anyone bring any parchment and ink?" he asked.

"I have some," replied Hermione, bringing her ever-present bookbag around and onto her lap.

She quickly pulled forth the required material before dropping her bookbag to once more sit snugly at her hip. And offered the stationery to Harry.

Harry quickly wrote off a response before wrapping the phial within the parchment.

After having earlier dropped off that morning's copy of the Daily Prophet and winging away again, Hedwig returned to land in front of him. Harry quickly tied the small bundle to Hedwig's harness before softly kissing the owl on her beak.

She gave a couple of huffs and, once again, took wing. She was out through the high ceiling in a few seconds, on her way to Greengrass Estate.

"Honestly, Harry," said Hermione, after a while. "It doesn't hurt to put pen to paper - quill to parchment, I mean - and actually write what happened."

Harry grinned and said, "Napoleon Bonaparte once said, 'A picture is worth a thousand words'. Harry Potter adds the addendum, 'But, a memory is worth ten thousand'."

"The other advantages a memory has," said Susan, "is that Harry is not as likely to provide a false memory, so they'll know it's true; they may see things that even Harry missed; and the memory will include those things Harry didn't think as important enough to write about, but actually are," said Susan.

When everyone looked at her, she blushed and said, "My aunt told me why memories are so important in trials and debriefings of after action reports. They make a lot of use of such at the DMLE."

Daphne had her own letter. Changing the subject, she looked to Hermione, and said, "My mother said I was to, once again, impress upon you her thanks for the documents you sent her from the British Registrar Office. The more she delves into the information, facts and figures your parents have provided her through you, the more she's able to find to support your assertions regarding the birth-rates in Muggleborns."

Hermione blushed, ducked her head and said, "It was nothing. It only took my parents to write a letter, pay a small fee and wait for the results through the mail."

Smiling, Daphne said, "It may only have been a small act, but it's impact has apparently been astounding on her research. She would also like permission to visit with your parents to thank them personally for their assistance."

"I..." stuttered Hermione. "I'll - ask them."

Smiling, Daphne said, "Thank you, Hermione."

"Well," said Harry, trying to save Hermione further embarrassment, "who wants to go up to the Come and Go Room. Daphne asked me to teach her something a couple of evenings ago; and, I thought the rest of you might like to learn, too."

He was met with six grins.

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-==(oIo)==-

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Harry asked the room to configure itself into the multi-House common room they found when he first showed them the room. It became their meeting place when they wanted to spend time together away from the talking-suppressing library, and away from the other students.

The room allowed them to openly talk amongst themselves, even laugh at some of the stories they told one another. With the addition of the bookcases, it also allowed them access to books to do homework.

Through unspoken agreement, the room was their secret. They never told anyone else about it, lest others take it for themselves and deny them time in it. That may be greed on their part, but everyone else had the same opportunities as Harry to find the room on their own.

Once they were all seated, Harry asked, "Alright, how is everyone's Occlumency?"

The general consensus was that they were all fine - for their age group. All except Hermione.

"How are you doing, Hermione?" he asked.

"I understand the concept well enough," she replied a little depressed. "But I've no idea if I'm doing things right."

"How well does it match that book I loaned you, 'Occlumency for Beginners'?" he asked.

"I think I'm on par for when I have to start setting up my mind traps," she said.

"Then, how's your meditation?" he asked.

"Oh, that I can do quite easily now," she replied a lot happier.

"Okay, good," replied Harry, before turning to the wider audience. "Everyone else is alright with meditating?"

Besides Daphne, he received four nods in response.

"Excellent," said Harry. "Daphne asked me to teach her something she saw me do. So, I did."

Turning to her, he said, "Why don't you tell them about it and demonstrate for them?"

"Thank you," she said back. Turning to the others she asked, "I suppose you all noticed how Harry's magic was palpable and swirling around him when he entered the Great Hall on the night of the feast?"

She received five nods in response.

"Well, I managed to catch up to Harry after he left and we talked for a while," she said. "I wanted to know if he had made his magic flare like that on purpose. Well, he did. So, I then asked him to show me how he did it. And he did that, too."

Daphne sat still for a few moments before her magic began to build around herself. It wasn't long before everyone felt the same electrical feeling on their skin, with hairs standing up on arms. A few of the girls found their hair starting to stand up as if from static electricity.

"Oh, wow!" said Hermione, rubbing her arms.

"Sweet Merlin!" whispered Neville. "That's amazing!"

Hannah softly said, "Your eyes are practically glowing!"

Daphne gently eased the magic back away and sighed.

Gathering herself, she said, "Harry taught me in only a few minutes. He's a really good teacher." She grinned at him and squeezed his hand while he blushed.

"But, why?" asked Hermione. "I know it looks impressive. But, what's the purpose?"

"Part of the purpose, Hermione," she replied. "Is that it'll make you look very powerful, magically. So, if someone starts getting - uppity - with you. You can make them back off in a lot of cases just by flaring your magic like that. It makes people believe you're a lot more powerful than you actually are."

"I'll say," said Tracey, looking quite stunned at her best friend. "It looks quite scary. I'd definitely not want to face off against someone that can do that."

"So it's like a pufferfish inflating itself to make it look bigger than it's predator?" asked Hermione.

"Exactly!" said Harry, firmly. "It also appears to be something you can do that - an aggressor won't realise is just you being a pufferfish. It will make them think you're a lot more magically powerful than you are.

"The idea is to stop an aggressor - an attacker - before they even think of attacking you. If you do that as soon as they become aggressive towards you, I'm hoping it'll make them reconsider actually attacking you in the first place."

"However," said Daphne. "It's pretty much a useless talent if everyone knows about it. Once it gets known it's a - pufferfish, as you put it - no one's going to believe you're magically powerful any more. If it gets out, it can do more harm than good."

"So, do you want to learn how to do this?" asked Harry.

He received five grins right back.

"Alright," he said, "I think it's best if I do this one person at a time."

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Within an hour Harry had taught the other five how to flare their magic, and said, "Now, you all need to practice 'overflowing' your magic like that. However, always remember it's a very tiring thing to do. The more often you practice it, the longer you should be able to do it.

"Just don't - overextend yourselves. I'd hate to see someone finding themselves carted off to the hospital wing due to magical exhaustion, or whatever it is that makes us tired after trying it."

"Further," said Daphne. "It would be best not to do it in public unless you know you're about to be attacked. It may give it away earlier than we want if you do."

"You're suggesting we come up here to practice it?" asked Tracey.

"I've been practicing in my bed at night," replied Daphne. "But coming up here sounds like a better idea."

"You can use the etiquette club meeting room, too; if you like," suggested Harry. "Everyone knows the password, right?"

He received nods in response, even from those who were making another try at flaring their magic.

"But, this is nicer," replied Hannah. "Even if it is a longer walk."

"Not if you use that secret passageway," smirked Harry.

"We could," replied Susan. "But it's dangerous for us to be down there alone. Our housemates told us not to get too close to the Slytherin common room, lest we be attacked by Slytherins."

Tracey shook her head and said, "I don't think you two will find that problem. Only from the older years, if at all. Everyone else is afraid of Harry and they know of your close friendship with him. They won't dare attack either of you, else they - feel his wrath."

Surprised, Harry asked, "Really?"

Tracey laughed and said, "After what you did and said at the feast? Merlin, yes!"

"Daphne wasn't the only one to notice the magic rolling off you in waves and swirling about you," said Neville. "It was damned scary how much power you seemed to be just barely controlling. Even the Professors were a little fearful of you. You didn't notice no one verbally, physically or magically tried to stop you?"

"No," sighed Harry. "It did not occur to me..."

"At least now we know the truth of it," said Susan.

"Yes," said Daphne. "But you still need to remember, Harry was allowing his magic to overflow for quite some time that night. That, alone, means he's actually quite powerful. We just don't know how powerful yet."

"I hope it won't make you fear me," said Harry, not a little concerned.

"Never!" said Daphne with a firm smile and a hug.

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-==(oIo)==-

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That morning Harry had also convinced the others to take a look at the 'banned' third floor corridor 'on the left'.

"That seems quite the odd description of the corridor," said Harry. "I would have thought he'd say the third floor corridor in the east wing, or something like that."

"How are we going to sneak in there to take a look?" ask Hermione.

"Sneak?" asked Harry. "Why on earth would we need to 'sneak'?"

"But, it's forbidden!" exclaimed Hermione.

"No, it's not," said Harry.

"The Headmaster's remarks were that we were to stay out of it unless we wanted to die a horrible death," said Daphne. "So, it's quite alright to go there if that's what sort of death we actually want, right?"

Frowning, Hermione was at a loss for words for a few moments. "But, I doubt that's what he meant."

"Too bad!" smiled Harry, to take the sting out of it. "The man is a master politician, for Merlin's sake. He knows how to choose his words. He can't now say he misspoke. It just makes him look like an idiot."

So, straight after lunch, The Seven, bold as brass, simply walked up to the third floor and into the corridor 'on the left'. They simply walked down the corridor checking each room as they passed. The rooms appeared to be another set of common rooms and dormitories. For which house, they didn't know.

Walking in to one room that was clearly full of dust and hadn't been cleaned in they didn't know how long, Harry indicated quite the number of different sized footprints across the room and to another door.

Harry went to open the door and found it wouldn't budge. "It's locked," he said.

Quick as a flash, Hermione had her wand out and, with a twirl and swish, cast "Alohomora!"

Harry grinned and said, "Nice." He opened the door and, seeing it was dark within, drew his own wand and cast, "Lumos!"

Harry found himself staring at the middle head of a giant Cerberus. The Cerberus was staring right back with all three heads and started to growl in a weird form of harmony.

"Yikes!" he exclaimed. The other six agreed with his expression.

He pulled the door shut and cast "Finite!" to allow the door to relock itself.

"Well, at least we know what was going to deal us that painful death," said Susan, ever the pragmatist.

"Why would anyone want to put a Cerberus in a room inside the castle?" asked Tracey.

"Cerberuses are used as guard dogs in the wizarding world in other parts of the world," said Neville. "I'd say it's guarding something."

None of them heard the sound of two other students enter the room and quietly walk towards them. Until...

"Well, well, brother dear," said one of the Weasley twins, startling the group.

"It appears we have a group of firsties..." said the other.

"... coming to find out the big secret... "

"... the Headmaster is hiding... "

"... under the Cerberus."

"Okay, that's just plain creepy," said Tracey, never really one to mince words.

Both grinned and, in almost perfect sync, said "Thank you," and bowed.

"Clearly you two have been here before," said Harry.

"Of course!" said one.

"A few times," said the other.

"Alright, spill!" said Harry.

The twins glanced at each other before one said, "Below the Cerberus..."

"... is a trapdoor leading down to..."

"... a giant Devil's Snare!"

"... beyond that and through a door ..."

"... you come to a room full of flying keys... "

"... and a couple of brooms."

"We don't know what's beyond that yet," they said together.

"It's like watching a tennis match," said Hermione in awe.

"I know!" exclaimed Harry.

"How do you do that?" asked Susan of the twins. "It must be some kind of passive mind link between you."

"We don't know," said one.

"We just do," said the other.

"It's magic!" they said together.

"And how do you get past the Cerberus?" asked Daphne, trying to get things back on track.

"Music soothes..."

"... the savage beast."

"And the Devil's Snare?" she asked.

"You can burn it out..."

"But that would destroy the trap."

"We just use the Solar Light Charm..."

"... Lumos Solem, to make it back away."

"It's not so much a block to stop anyone getting through. After all, you could cast wards to block students out," said Harry, musing. "It's more like a series of challenges."

"And, as the Headmaster didn't say no one was to come here, it's obviously a competition of sorts," said Daphne.

"A dangerous one, at that," said Hermione. "You can be killed by either the Cerberus or the Devil's Snare, if you didn't know what you were doing. And that takes no account of whatever is behind the keys. Probably more dangerous traps or puzzles."

"Well," said Harry with a bit of a sigh. "We came, we saw, we were unimpressed."

"Homework, now?" asked Hermione.

The others of The Seven grinned in response.

Tracey said, "Sure. Why not."

"Library in ten?" asked Susan.

Tracey replied, "Again, why not."

As they were walking back out of the room the caretaker, Argus Filch, walked in with his pet cat, Missus Norris, at his heels.

"Ah! See here, my pet?" he smirked. "Children out of bounds in the forbidden area."

"What are you on about, Mister Filch?" asked Harry walking up to him; the others, following.

"You're in the third floor corridor on the left, and it is forbidden for you to be here," he continued to smirk.

"Rubbish!" snapped Harry. "Who told you that nonsense?"

Taken aback by the response, Filch said, "The Headmaster announced it the evening after the Sorting. You know this!"

"He did no such thing," said Daphne. "He said, and I quote, 'Stay out of the third floor corridor on the left unless you wish to die a most horrible death'. So, by his own words, if someone wants to die by such a death, they're more than welcome to be here. Is that not so?"

"That's not what he meant!" snapped Filch.

"And yet, that's what he said," she snapped right back.

The caretaker just stood there staring back, a little confused.

"There you have it, Mister Filch," said Harry. "As the lady said, we are not anywhere that is forbidden as you erroneously believe; we have not broken any rules; and you are currently blocking our exit. Please, step aside."

With a growl of anger, the caretaker glared back at Harry before spinning on his heel and storming from the room. "Come, my pet!" he growled. "We shall talk to the Headmaster about this."

As the caretaker, closely followed by his ugly pet cat, left and stormed up the corridor back towards the grand staircase, the Seven and the twins more slowly followed.

One of the twins came forward as they were walking and said, "Ickle Harrikins! That was a brilliant piece of deductive reasoning..."

"Just so, old chap!" said the other.

Harry just shook his head in response and kept walking.

As they reached the grand staircase, the twins continued up it. Harry was about to follow when he turned to the others and asked, "Ten minutes?"

"Ten minutes," replied Daphne as she was heading down.

_‗_

-==(oIo)==-

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At lunch, both Harry and Daphne received summonses to the Headmaster's office. With a sigh he crumpled the note and placed it in his robes.

"Here we go again," he said to the others.

"Another summons from the great and oh-so wonderful Headmaster?" asked Neville.

"Neville!" cried Hermione. "Show respect."

"He, is, Hermione," said Harry. "Respect can be lost even faster than it is earned. The Headmaster has lost any respect most of us have for him. Ergo, Neville is showing the proper amount of respect for the man."

"But, he's still the Headmaster," said Hermione.

Harry just snorted in response. "Only because I fear there is not yet enough evidence to fire him. And only because he made sure he wasn't using his authority as Headmaster when he decided to interfere with my life."

"Oh!" she replied meekly.

"Hermione," said Harry, almost tenderly. "Power corrupts..."

"... and absolute power corrupts absolutely," she finished.

"Precisely," he replied with a smile.

Again, escorted by Professor Flitwick to the Headmaster's office, Harry was beginning to think he should be Headmaster considering how many times, compared to any other student, he was in the office. With a smirk towards Daphne, Harry pulled his spectacles from his pocket and donned them. Daphne quickly copied him. He then used his wand to cast the Eye Twinkle cantrip on them both.

Again, he allowed Daphne and the small professor to enter the room before him. And, again, he approached the Headmaster's desk with his betrothed on his arm. And, again, there was only one chair sitting before the desk. None of the three chose to sit in it.

Professor Snape was in his usual spot. This time, Mr Filch was also present with his pet cat in his arms. He was whispering quietly to the cat while glaring at the two pre-teens.

Harry decided to play it different this time.

"Ah! Harry, my boy!" welcomed Dumbledore.

"Ah! Albus, my unwanted and unwelcomed stalker!" Harry snapped back with his own eyes twinkling and a mock-jovial voice.

That jolted the old man in his seat before he exclaimed, "Harry!"

"Albus!" Harry exclaimed right back.

Dumbledore did his over-acted collapse in on himself of great disappointment. "I'm so disappointed in you, Harry."

Harry sniggered and said, "You know, Albus; that whole act may fool a lot of people, but not me."

That was it for Snape. He snarled, "Potter! You're an arrogant brat; just like your father."

Wearing a stone-like mask as a shield, Harry said right back, "You will watch your tone and language with me, Snape. My guardians have not yet decided their punishment for you. And they will be informed of this latest behaviour." He then sneered back before turning back to the Headmaster.

Snape huffed up, turned a little paler than usual, but shut up.

Sitting a little straighter, Dumbledore looked sad. Ignoring the jibe he said, "Harry; Miss Greengrass; I have summoned you here, this afternoon, as I have received a disturbing report from Caretaker Filch that he found you and your friends in the third floor corridor on the left, earlier today.

"I thought I made myself quiet clear that students were not allowed in that corridor, Harry."

"Really?" asked Harry, putting on a blatant act of surprise. "Gee-whiz! Whenever did you do that?"

"It was the day after the sorting, Mister Potter - Oh, you were not here on the day after the sorting, were you?"

Harry didn't even bother to verbally respond. He merely smirked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, well," said Dumbledore. "Nevertheless, Miss Greengrass is well aware it is forbidden..."

"No, Headmaster," she interrupted. "I am not."

Surprised, he said, "I thought I made it quite clear in my address to the students after the evening meal, Miss Greengrass, that the third floor corridor was forbidden to all students to enter."

"No, Headmaster, you did not," she softly corrected. "Your exact remarks were, 'The third floor corridor on the left is out of bounds to all students who do not wish to die a horrible death'. As such, and by your own words, you stated it is not out of bounds to any student who actually seeks that form of death'. Is that not the case?"

Both pre-teens heard Professor Flitwick chuckle behind them while Dumbledore looked at her in shock.

"You have to admit, Headmaster," said the little professor dryly, "She has a point."

In a glance at Professor Snape, Harry detected the hint of a smirk he was trying to suppress. And, was that an expression of pride in his Slytherin student of which he saw a hint?

Clearly flustered, Dumbledore said, "Yes. Well. Errr - I see that I will have to address the student body, this evening, and make my - decision in this matter much more explicit."

"That would be wise, I think, Albus," said Harry. "You may also want to tell the few who until now don't know that it's a Cerberus that awaits them behind a simple locked door, easily opened by a First Year Charm, the Alohomora, that it actually is a Cerberus. Or, that it's name is 'Fluffy'.

"Or that, if they get past the Cerberus through simply starting a music box in it's presence - and, thus, lulling it to sleep - they may be killed by the giant Devil's Snare that awaits them next.

"I cannot determine how the flying keys may harm them, but, still..." with a throwaway gesture, he said, "What am I saying? Of course, you know all the traps and puzzles that await those who enter. You don't need me reminding you of them.

"But the student body is going to be most disappointed they're not allowed to go there anymore. There are some who think it's all been set up for their amusement. I think there may even be a betting pool among some of them as to who can reach the end of the traps and puzzles first."

Looking at Dumbledore with an expression of mild interest on his face, Harry could see the old man was shocked to his very core.

"Others?" he quietly asked in an almost squeaky voice.

With a mock frown, Daphne replied, "Surely you jest, Headmaster. After all, it only requires you to look down at the floor in the room of the locked door to see just how many footprints of all different sizes there are in the dust upon said floor."

Pushing the proverbial knife in even further, Harry mock-mused and said, "Hmm - I'm actually surprised no one has thought it might be just a bit too dangerous to students to have those things in the castle and decided to contact Aunty Amelia - sorry, Madam Bones - or the Board of Governors, and made a formal complaint to either office."

Dumbledore's face was ashen. Harry was beginning to wonder if they'd pushed him just that little bit too far and the old man was going to have a heart attack on the spot.

He gestured a wave-off motion towards them, while his mind was obviously on other matters, and quietly said, "Very well. Thank you. You may go."

Once they were out past the gargoyle and a little ways down the hallway, Professor Flitwick burst out laughing and they had to stop.

Harry and Daphne were both amused to see the little professor bent at the waist with his hands on his knees uncontrollably laughing his head off.

"Dear Professor," said Daphne, sweetly. "Has some miscreant hit you with a Tickling Jinx?"

That tipped the professor right over then, almost literally. He collapsed onto his butt and fell over onto his back. He was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

After a few moments, he was able to regain control of himself and, with Harry's help, climb back to his feet.

"You two!" he gasped, still trying to regain his breath, "Are the best thing that's happened to this school in a long time!"

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-==(oIo)==-

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