CH 83

Harry hated to admit it, but he had gotten the idea from Dudley.

When Harry was seven or eight, Dudley had apparently heard the song on some television show, and then had spent the next week walking around singing it loudly around all the neighbors, and especially around Harry. He had even gotten his friends in on it and they would take turns. Harry had thought he was going to go crazy. It actually made Harry miss the game of Harry Hunting. Even his Aunt Petunia had gotten fed up with it.

Snape caught the arm of one of the sixth years that was scrambling past and demanded loudly. "What happened?" The panicked sixth year looked up at Snape and seemed to snap back to reality, "Oh god, it was horrible. I can't get them out of my head! The song just wouldn't stop!"

Snape's stared at the sixth year for several moments before releasing him. Then he shifted his gaze to where the group of students had gathered away from the first floor corridor.

"Mr. Bole perhaps you will be better able to explain what has happened than Mr. Grandlow seems capable of at the moment." Snape's gaze stopped when he met the eyes of his seventh year male prefect, whom he fixed in place with a glare.

The seventh year prefect came forward, taking a moment to gather a breath before straightening his back and trying to gather his composure. He chose his words carefully based on the presence of both Snape and Dumbledore. "Last night, during our traditional late night welcome to the new students in Slytherin, we attempted to enter their rooms. Only one or two seemed to have any wards at all. But the instant we stepped into the rooms we were trapped."

At this point Lucian had to swallow a bit before he continued, a slight tremor in his voice. "I couldn't move, and then this… song started playing. Did you hear it?"

Snape shook his head slightly, "We heard a song briefly, Mr. Bole, was that the one you heard?"

Lucian swallowed again, "I don't know. It was like a… child's voice singing. A song that wouldn't end. It went on and on…." Even as he said the words his voice began to take on the tune of the song, until he trailed off at the end and the sixth and seventh years gasped and covered their ears.

There was some shudders from students as they seemed to gather close to one another for protection distinctly a good distance away from the first year dorm corridor. The sixth year they had spoken to initially called out. "Merlin, don't say the bloody words! You don't want the song to start again!"

"I assure you, Mr. Grandlow, that you are no longer under the effects of any spells," Dumbledore reassured the sixth year. "You may be feeling its consequences, however. You never know when the magic of music may stick with you. I still find myself occasionally whistling a tune I once heard near a muggle circus, and that was nearly fifty years ago!" He whistled a couple of bars with a smile at the memory before he seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation.

The horrified look that the boy sent the Headmaster was so amusing that Harry just managed to prevent from snorting in amusement. But the smile on his face died before it really formed. He had remembered it was Dumbledore talking. No matter how much he told himself this was a different world, he still didn't trust the old man.

"Move along, Mr. Bole, and Mr. Grandlow, we are already late for breakfast, you are not ready for the day." came Snape's drawling voice. "You've shamed yourself enough for the morning."

The Sixth year scampered around the adults, probably heading straight for the bathroom after being frozen in place for hours. The rest of the sixth and seventh years followed, Lucian waited a few moments to see if they had anything additional to say to him before he followed the others.

The entire Slytherin room watched them leave, there were murmurs among each group of students as they watched the students leave.

With an inscrutable squint of his eyes, Dumbledore watched them leave and then turned to ask the attractive brown haired professor, "Are there any more effects tied into the ward, Bathsheda?"

Bathsheda had watched with an amused smile on her face as the students scrambled out of the room. "I don't know. I'd need more time, to unravel these and frankly these wards could take me a month of serious study on this while class is in session. I hardly think it's worth disrupting the students lives that much, unless you wish to get a cursebreaker to dismantle them. I can tell they're purely defensive in nature."

Touching his beard, Dumbledore kept his silence for a few seconds before nodding and turning to address the Potions Master. "Severus, I believe that last night's ordeal has been enough punishment for your students. And from what we can tell, this ward will do nothing but protect your first years, so I believe that for the moment, we should adjourn to the Great Hall, for breakfast."

Harry watched as Snape scowled, but simply acceded to the Headmaster's wishes and turned to the students of Slytherin. "You will follow us to the great hall. The older students will join us in time."

Snape turned without another word, his customary billowing robes giving his movements a dramatic flourish. Harry had always been impressed by Snape's robes never seeming to get caught on anything. Or knock down anything. That happened to those who tried to spell their own clothes to act like that. Harry secretly believed that Snape enjoyed watching people fail to copy his dramatic flourish without success.

Harry just stood with Malfoy, until the group decided to move as one, following Snape to get some breakfast.

Harry was completely unaware of the intense gaze that flicking to him as he walked with Malfoy. Daphne Greengrass knew she had to talk to Ares sooner rather than later. And felt she had enough to negotiate for the favor she needed.

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