19 September 1991, Thursday – Birthday
Hogwarts didn't give them much chance to exercise their Animagus talents. With lessons, homework and their other activities, there seemed to be no time left for that. Neither Harry nor Hermione were content about it, though. As Hermione's birthday approached, they decided to celebrate it in their wolf form, something they hadn't yet done there.
That evening, soon after dinner, they sneaked to the shore of the lake. There, hidden by some trees, they transformed and started running about, enjoying their animal form and the abilities it was giving them. They moved farther away from the castle until they were sure nobody could notice them.
They played there, transforming from one form to the other, exercising the enhanced senses of smell and hearing of the wolves yet caressing and kissing as humans.
Later, after resting some more near the lake, enjoying a different togetherness, when they finally returned to their dorms, Hermione said, "It was a most memorable birthday. When can we do this again?"
Since Hermione thought it was a fabulous birthday celebration. Both decided to use their wolf forms more often and not just on special events.
–..–
Ever since hearing about the forbidden corridor, Harry was curious about it. He didn't see or hear anything suspicious when passing near the forbidden corridor. He thought that a wolf might sense better. Still, wolves of any kind would not be welcome in a school full of children. He wondered what he could do.
"I remember reading that an animagus can do a kind of partial transformation, enhancing his senses but not changing form," Hermione told him. "Can't we do just that? We could then sense any foreign scent near the forbidden corridor, or hear whatever lurks behind that locked door and still stay in our human form."
"That could turn useful. Did we take that book with us?"
She smiled. "It took so little space that it didn't matter, and we haven't read it very attentively the first time."
It took them only a few days to master the partial transformation, which required much finer control of their magic, but they had no chance to try it for real. Between attending classes, doing homework and the Quidditch practices, they could barely find time for each other. Being surrounded by others most of the time also showed them the perils of such transformation. There were times when Harry could barely stand the noise, either in the Great Hall or in the corridors. Wolf senses would have made the noise seem much louder, making it really painful. And then, when staying in the common room, and more so in the dorm, he felt lucky his sense of smell wasn't very good. Young teens are known to have quite strong scents, occasionally too strong even for human senses.
It was a rainy weekend when they finally found the occasion to explore. The heavy rain, accompanied by some powerful gusts of wind, kept most students in their dorms or their common rooms, leaving the corridors practically deserted. The two children put on some heavy-duty raincoats before getting out. Nobody noticed them, and they could approach the forbidden corridor undetected. They had already mastered the partial transformation so using it to snoop around was very easy. Their enhanced smell told them there was a very large dog behind the locked door, and their hearing confirmed that, although it did confuse them too.
"I only smell one dog, but I hear two, or even three. This doesn't make sense," Hermione said.
Harry nodded, confirming her findings. "We're not very knowledgeable about magical creatures. Maybe this is some kind of a dog with more than one voice?"
She frowned and then approved hesitantly, "I'm not sure how that can be, but we need to do some more checking. We can probably open the door, but I'd rather not do it until we know better what we may expect in there."
Harry nodded. "I think we should then check for some more information. To the library?"
"Sure! Where else can we look for information?"
There were only a few upper-class Ravenclaw students in the library. Hermione navigated the aisles expertly, pulling several books and letting Harry carry them to their preferred table. They sat down and started leafing through the books, searching for whatever could account for their previous observations.
Harry couldn't refrain from glancing at Hermione, enjoying the intensity of her expression and the total dedication to the search for knowledge, despite searching almost as diligently. He wasn't really surprised when she stopped, read a bit, leafed to and fro for a few seconds and then said, "I think I found it."
"What have you found?"
She pointed at the page in front of her. "A Cerberus. It's like a dog, only it has three heads and can reach an enormous size. It may be quite mean, unless well trained, which makes it very useful for guarding places."
"So, it's probably guarding something of value," Harry agreed. He thought a bit and then smiled. "You know that Hagrid has been trying to make me visit his hut. He also seems to like animals. We may just visit him, maybe along with Neville, making him feel honoured and helping us learn some more."
Hermione smiled back. "Yes, that can do nicely."
Hagrid was thrilled to have Harry Potter visit his hut, and having some additional friends of Harry come as well was like the frosting on the cake for him. He didn't even notice that Hermione was also Potter. After serving the children some tea and his rock cake, he was just too happy to tell them almost everything they wanted to know. Despite Hagrid trying to keep it secret, Hermione was able to confirm her suspicion about the Cerberus and also find out that it was something from Nicholas Flamel that was hidden there. Hagrid's intelligence was no match to the cunning Ms Granger.
A few days later, the two wolves visited Fluffy. While the Cerberus wasn't very friendly, it didn't feel like the wolves presented any danger, especially not to the trap door it was guarding. They still felt relieved to leave that room. Fluffy was HUGE! Each of its heads was larger than the wolves, despite them being quite large.
"Can we do anything to help protect whatever is in there?" Harry asked.
"It's not our job, you know," Hermione reminded him.
Harry shrugged. "The way this place is run, if we don't make it our job then it won't get done. We don't need to get too involved, though. I think we could just cast some kind of alarm on the trap door. Whoever manages to open that door, despite Fluffy, will trigger the alarm. It can then attract the attention of the staff."
She frowned. "We haven't yet learned such charms."
"So what? I'm sure we can find something in the library. We may even ask some older students. If we present it as a prank, I'm sure the twins will be more than ready to help us."
This made Hermione smile. "Alright. We'll search for alarm charms and if we don't find something appropriate, we may ask others."
It took them a few visits to the library, but they found quite a bit. There were various alarm charms and wards. The simplest only made the caster aware of the alarm triggering. They didn't feel these were good enough. The wards could be designed to do much more, but they were very complex and it was doubtful if wandless casting was good enough to erect them.
Then there was the caterwauling charm. Despite its name, it was just an alarm charm, acting quite similarly to the muggle burglar alarms. When activated, they caused some ear-splitting noise that could only be stopped by using the right password. One could choose the kind of noise made and the password. There was also a variation that could be timed, to stop the noise after a predefined time, like some car alarms.
"I think this could be the right way to go. It will do nothing as long as the trapdoor stays intact. Once it's opened, the noise will attract everybody at school, and it will keep the noise even if the door gets closed back," Harry suggested.
"It also has the additional benefit of waking up Fluffy, if the burglar decides to use music to lure Fluffy to sleep, as Hagrid is bound to tell somebody, just the way he told us," Hermione added.
Not wanting to attract unwanted attention, they practised as far away as they could, using their wolf forms to go to the other side of the lake. They first tried casting in human form, putting the alarm on twigs and fallen branches and only making a whisper. It was still loud enough to be heard for quite a distance. They didn't use their wands, of course. By then they had also managed to cast almost silently, barely moving their lips at all.
Then they tried the same in their wolf forms. Silent and wandless casting was a must in this form since they couldn't speak and couldn't hold a wand. It took them more than a week to become proficient with this spell in their wolf form. They also gained enough control to cast this way all the other spells they'd learned.
Finally, they visited Fluffy again and cast a very loud caterwauling spell on the trapdoor. If anybody tried to open it, the whole school would be made aware of it, maybe the Hogsmeade citizens too.
Potter Protection
Harry had not been paying Draco much attention since taking his rune-stone away. The blond ponce hadn't done anything to endear himself to Harry, and as long as he didn't bother him or Hermione, Harry left him alone. Yet Draco didn't do well. Despite mentioning his father on every occasion, having lost the very public duel to a muggle-raised half-blood made him less than popular among his housemates. At first, they only ignored him or joked about him behind his back. When it became apparent that his father could do nothing to help Draco, some became bolder. Most lost all inhibitions when talking about him, even when he was present. Some even bullied him, seeing his loss of status as permission to treat him like a beat-up toy.
Harry was oblivious to this, not wanting anything to do with his former enemy. Hermione, though, kept watching the ponce, if only to make sure he wouldn't try to harm Harry. She was the first to notice some signs of abuse. "Draco's lower lip was swollen, and I think he had a cut on his chin," she told Harry after breakfast.
Harry shrugged. "Why should I mind him? As long as he leaves us alone, I couldn't care less."
She didn't agree. "Harry, the duel made him your vassal. It reflects badly on you if you let others abuse him. A lord should protect his vassals, don't you know?"
Harry sighed. "What do you suggest we do, then?"
"We should first find out the facts. Speak with Draco and find out what's happening. I think he's being bullied by some of his housemates."
Mentioning bullies to Harry was like waving a red cloth in front of a raging bull. "I won't tolerate bullies! Let's find out what happens and then what we can do. We should put a stop to that!"
They had Potions with the Slytherins just before lunch. Harry stopped Draco on the way out. "Come sit with us for lunch. We need to talk."
Draco seemed very unhappy about it, yet Harry could plainly see that Draco's lower lip was still swollen, and a darker area indicated some internal bleeding. He could also see some faded marks near Draco's eyes. He had no doubt about what could cause them.
"Do you like school?" Harry asked after they all sat down.
Draco shrugged. "I thought it would be nicer, but it's alright, I suppose."
"How is living in the Slytherin dorms? I've heard the Slytherins keep mostly to themselves."
"I wish…" Draco said before he grabbed control of himself. "That's usually true."
"Then, are you alone there? Don't you have friends?"
The blond could hold it no longer. "Nobody likes me! Not even my parents! They only demand and command. Even these two bookends," he gestured towards Crabbe and Goyle who were standing a few paces farther, not quite sure what to do, "are with me only because my dad pays for them to be my bodyguards. Not that it did me any good when the older boys wanted to beat me."
Draco realized that he had said more than he intended and shut up at once, yet Harry had already heard.
"I can't allow my vassal to be treated badly. It reflects on me, and I can't have it. I'll make sure they cease doing that."
Harry stood up to speak. He didn't cast any spell, yet his voice sounded loud and clear over all the noise in the Great Hall. "Please be quiet for a moment. I have an announcement to make. Thank you."
The noise seemed to quiet almost at once, as all eyes were turned to Harry. He grimaced slightly at the attention but stayed focused. He was glad that his Gryffindor lordship was no longer secret, so he could use his position to help.
"I've noticed that my vassal, Draco Malfoy, is treated badly by some of the students. I wish to make it clear that insulting my vassal or hurting him means doing that to me by proxy. As a lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Gryffindor, I cannot allow it. Therefore, I hereby invoke the house protection magic. Anybody who tries to insult or harm my family or my vassals will be punished by magic."
Harry paused for a moment, to let it sink in, before going on. "As most of you know, I'm new to this world and don't know for sure how House magic will act, yet I'm quite sure you won't like to be the ones to test it. It will surely not be pleasant. Thank you for your attention."
Harry sat down. "Do you think that's enough to keep you safe in the Slytherin house?"
Draco looked quite surprised. He nodded a few times before he could speak again. "Why are you doing this? I know I wouldn't have cared, had the situation been reversed."
Harry answered sincerely. "I hate bullies. I don't expect everybody to like everybody else, but bullying is something nobody should suffer. The school should make it a rule, actually."
Draco nodded. His behaviour before the duel hadn't been any better than the one he had been subjected to since. He was suddenly reconsidering his previous actions. He couldn't still reach any clear conclusion, but he no longer felt so proud of how he had acted.
Hermione insisted on informing Narcissa about what was going on. Narcissa's reply came the next morning. "I'm glad you made sure that Draco isn't harmed. I hope this may also help him learn an important lesson about how one should treat other people. I'm proud of you!"
The only one who objected to the way Harry acted was Ron. "What do you care if his housemates beat him? He deserves no better!"
Harry knew that moral reasons would not be understood, so he explained it in a way he hoped even Ron could understand. "Draco is now my vassal. He should be able to do whatever I request of him. If I let others beat and harm him, he won't be able to do my bidding when I need him."
It took Ron a few minutes to understand this reason, but he finally nodded reluctantly and went to contemplate it some more.