"Now, back to you," the messy-haired boy turned back to the embarrassed redhead. "Anything else?" he inquired, folding his arm in a 'I know you don't' way.
Ron rubbed his nose and thought real hard for about three minutes and then sighed in defeat. There was nothing he could use that he could prove. Anything he said would be the opposite of Harry being a glory hound. So he just shook his head and stepped back. There was a flash of guilt in his eyes, and he opened his mouth to say something, but snapped it shut, and shook his head again.
"Right, that's what I've been told so far. That I didn't like my fame, and would hide when people gossiped about me," he stated as he spread his piercing look around the room, making many bow their heads in shame, "and generally tried to stay out of the limelight. Right?" he asked his ex-mate, who mutedly nodded.
There were many that wanted to step forward, but the icy glare made them stop.
"Well let me tell all of you right now, this new me won't put up with your bullshit. If you want to talk about me, expect to do it to my face and we'll… discuss it. If you think I'm going to hide my head and play good boy, think again. Now, some of you might say I'm an arsehole, but I really, really don't care. Fred, George, Hermione, I need one of you to show me where my stuff is," he finished, looking at the twins and Hermione.
"Right you are, Harry, my lad," George said as he jumped up from the couch where he and Fred sat and watched. Fred got up too and they made their way to Harry. Hermione came as well, and the four of them went to the stairs.
Right when they would've gone out of sight, Harry turned and addressed the entire House, making the whispers stop immediately. "Oh and one more thing, those of you that thought we were friends in the past will have to… remake being friends with me now. I wasn't lying when I said I can't remember, so your telling me we're friends isn't going to cut it. Besides, there is a good chance that I might not stay here at Hogwarts. Who knows?" he shrugged at the gasps. "What I'm trying to say is that it's all a clean slate for me. I can only go on what I know now. However, negative people need not apply," he finished as he purposely looked at Ron, and then he whirled around and followed Fred.
"Harry, are you sure you should have done that? You might have burned some bridges," Hermione asked as they ascended the stairs.
"Or I might have opened some doors," he rebutted. "I mean, come on, I've lived in this castle for three years and I only have two friends my age. Just how big of an arsehole was I?" he threw his hands up as Fred made it to the door of the forth-years' room.
"You were just shy," she said, patting his arm and then following the twins, who were making a beeline to Harry's trunk, which was standing open and looked like it had been rummaged through.
"That's not right," Fred said as he looked inside. There were only clothes and books showing.
"What are we looking for?" Harry said, trying to hold his temper that people went through his things.
"Well, your Cloak for one," George said, picking out the clothes and laying them on the bed.
"Bring me my Invisibility Cloak," Harry demanded the air as he lifted his wand and held out his other hand to catch it.
"That's not how…" Hermione started only to stop and stare when the Cloak flew to his hand from Ron's trunk. "How…? What…?" she stuttered as she sat on the bed in complete shock. She was going to question him, but the look on his stony face said to leave it for now.
"Right," our hero stated. "Whose trunk is that?" he asked, pointing to where his family heirloom came from.
"That would be ickle Ronniekins," George snarled, very upset with his brother.
"Well, there went all chances of him being my friend again," the young wizard growled, not that it was much of an opportunity to begin with, but now...
"He might have been keeping it safe," Hermione hedged carefully, not wanting to believe that Ron would take something so valuable.
Harry nodded, conceding the point; he would have to ask the other boy. Later. When he cooled off. If he confronted the redhead now, well the coppers might get called.
George stomped over to his younger brother's trunk and looked through it, and pulled out the map and some of Harry's other trinkets. He looked under the bed and pulled out Harry's Firebolt. He exchanged looks with his twin and they nodded. There was going to be a family meeting soon, this could not go unpunished.
"Right, questions later," Harry said as George handed him his things. He then turned and put most of it back in his trunk and locked it with a thought. "Tell me what this is, and how it works." He opened the parchment and saw it was blank, so he sent a questioning eyebrow to the three around him.
So the twins and Hermione showed him the map, how to activate and deactivate it, and pointed out how to get out of the school. They made sure he knew how to get in the tunnels, and discussed the best ways to go. Harry was still thinking sci-fi, and wondered if he could set up some sort of magical radar that would work like the map. That way he'd have one wherever he went. That would be so wicked.
"Well, I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to make my escape," Harry sighed, after looking out the window and seeing nothing but stars.
"Why?" Fred asked.