Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Strange Conversations
"Supremacy."
Harry stepped into the Slytherin common room to see Malfoy whispering furiously at Greengrass. Harry pretended not to notice his existence and looked around to see which housemate met his eyes.
The answer was not many. None, if you counted those that were previously on the friendlier side with Harry. Of course, most of the upper years couldn't be bothered to play along with whatever Malfoy had cooked up for him, so they weren't included in Harry's observation.
Harry acted like he couldn't be bothered to care about what was happening and walked to an older student.
"Sinclair."
Harry ignored the irritation he could see in the older girl. There weren't many times Sinclair was feeling cheery when he greeted her. Maybe it was because Harry only brought her more work. In his opinion, Penelope Sinclair could only blame herself for being a natural at creating wards.
"Potter," Penelope said with a put-upon tone, "I assume it's for your room?"
"For my room," Harry repeated before adding, "Thank you for your time."
"At least you're polite," Penelope muttered as she stood from her seat, "Let's go."
Other than being a genius at all things related to wards, Harry also liked that Sinclair didn't put on any airs. Not that she didn't want to, but because they had already signed a contract last year for the purpose of using her skills for this exact reason.
All Harry had to give in exchange was gold. He loved when there was a transaction as simple as this. Too bad most Slytherins weren't strapped for gold like Sinclair.
"You're lucky, Potter. I wouldn't have agreed if I knew how far you would fall this year."
Harry glanced back at Sinclair as he led her to his room. He wasn't aware that she sympathized with the radical purebloods… then again, it was more likely that she couldn't be bothered to deal with the looks she would get for helping him.
"Sorry about that, but a deal is a deal, Sinclair."
"Oh, I know," Penelope rolled her eyes at the tone Harry used on her, "Just don't expect me to extend our deal. You only get three requests."
"As long as you fulfill the contract," Harry nodded as they arrived at his door, "I assume I should stay outside to keep out of your way?"
"Correct," Penelope confirmed, "I'll be done in a bit, Potter."
Harry leaned on the wall across his room as Sinclair shut the door behind her. Even though there was a contract backing this transaction, Harry still felt the itch to barge in and throw her out of his room. It had always been his sanctuary, where there was no need to be alert, so he was obviously resistant to letting anyone else inside.
Still, Harry waited patiently for Sinclair to finish her work. He must have found the wall particularly interesting because he almost missed Nott trying to hide his existence as he passed by to go into his room.
"You alright, Nott?" Harry asked casually, only for Nott to rudely ignore him and shut the door behind him. If it was anyone else, Harry might have felt a flare of anger, but Nott was so pathetically timid that he couldn't be bothered.
To think Harry might have turned out like him if the Dursleys physically abused him. As he continued to wait, he considered getting his muggle relatives a gift. Of course, that was only a thought. Harry wouldn't give them a single copper if he could help it.
"Done. Anything else, Potter?"
Harry blinked to see Sinclair looking at him impatiently. He hadn't realized that enough time had passed for her to finish.
"That was fast," Harry commented as he looked over her shoulder into his room.
"I didn't have to do much. You only asked for three wards to be cast."
Harry's lips twitched, wanting to ask if she was trying to humble brag. It was rather remarkable for a sixth-year to cast one ward, let alone three.
"I see," Harry said as he stared at her thoughtfully, "Maybe I asked for too little from you."
"Too late for that," Penelope had a smirk on her lips, "You have two more, Potter. Next time, meet me privately before asking. I don't want the others to think I have too much contact with you."
Sinclair walked off like she was in a hurry, leaving Harry rolling his eyes at her back. She was sorely mistaken if she thought Harry would let her go so easily. He was sure that Sinclair would change her tune when she saw what he had to offer. Especially if she wanted gold as bad as he suspected.
Harry stepped into his room and closed the door before staying quiet for a few seconds. Of the three wards he had asked Sinclair to cast, the only one he could test right now was the one that isolated his room from all external sounds.
The eerie silence told Harry that it was working as intended, not that he had doubts. The contract wouldn't let Sinclair half-arse the casting. The other two wards dealt with locking out anyone that didn't have permission to be inside his room. One simply denied entry, and if that failed, the other ward would activate and attempt to repel the intruder.
These wards wouldn't be enough to stop a competent adult wizard, but Harry wasn't protecting against any of those. It was his housemates that were the concern.
A simple Colloportus would have done the trick in the first or second year, but Harry had to deal with the annoyance of students being a little more skilled in the third. Hence the reason he made a deal with Sinclair.
Harry opened his trunk and pulled out a notebook before sitting on the bed. This was what he used as he tried to see what would work. He didn't dare to make any changes to his contracts carelessly. Harry would write down the new clauses and carefully review possible loopholes.
Only then would he feel comfortable using it.
It was times like these when Harry wished he had the services of a barrister. Surprisingly, or perhaps not, good ones were hard to come by in Magical Britain. They were either from families that would sneer at Harry's attempts to hire them or, for the ones that would take his business, worked for said families.
Harry was about to start scribbling a rough replacement of the secrecy clause when he heard knocks that visibly rattled his door. He looked up to stare in confusion before irritation quickly set in. Harry hadn't had to deal with inspections since the first year, so he had completely forgotten that they existed.
Mainly because these 'inspections' were used to harass students out of favor with the purebloods in power. For Harry's year, it was either Malfoy or Greengrass, making it obvious who was bothering him.
When the loud knocks repeated, Harry sighed and stood up, placing his notebook back in the trunk before walking to the door. As expected, when he opened the door, Harry saw Malfoy and his two loyal hounds.
"Potter."
Harry marveled at the sheer spite in Malfoy's voice. It was almost a talent to express so much emotion in one word.
"Greengrass isn't here to save you this time."
Harry nodded solemnly as if he agreed with what Malfoy said. Technically, what the blonde said was true. Greengrass wasn't here.
"That seems to be true," Harry said while looking around as if Greengrass would suddenly appear, "You don't suppose you could call her? She's a much better sight than your ugly mug."
"You think you're funny, Potter?" Draco sneered, "You'll find that you won't be able to strut around the castle anymore. It's about time I put you in your place."
"That's not the first time I heard you say that. You know, Malfoy, threats lose their effect when you don't follow up on them."
Harry didn't take his eyes off Malfoy when Crabbe and Goyle grunted and puffed their chests out. If they tried to barge into the room, Harry figured he would get to test the wards earlier than expected.
"Stop!" Draco held up a hand to stop them, "Idiots! Did you forget that Sinclair went with Potter? I told you to stay put!"
"Come now, Malfoy. Why would you stop them? Make this useless conversation worthwhile by letting them test Sinclair's wards."
Harry wasn't surprised to see that Crabbe and Goyle were confused about whether they should do as he said or not. That was another thing that he marveled about Malfoy.
Hogwarts was the premiere institution for learning magic in the British Isles. With only the best and brightest having the privilege to attend. The fact that Crabbe and Goyle were able to be here told Harry of how much sway the Malfoys had.
"You'll get yours, Potter," Draco glared at Harry, "Sinclair's wards won't keep you safe when you leave your room."
Harry tilted his head slightly and stared blankly at Malfoy. It was usually at this moment that a poorly cast spell would be thrown at him. The caution that Malfoy was showing was something new.
"Good for you, Malfoy. You're not as stupid as I thought. I thought that the two morons following you were leeching away at your intelligence."
When Malfoy smiled at him without a hint of anger, Harry's concern shot to new levels. He wasn't scared of what Malfoy could personally do, but his reaction so far told Harry that Malfoy was confident with whatever he had planned.
Unfortunately, Harry's reaction was noticed.
"Scared, Potter? You should be. I want you to look over your shoulder whenever you walk the halls. Half the fun will be watching you be nervous about when you'll get cursed."
Harry already planned to make Malfoy's life miserable this year, but the arrogant shite just made him even more motivated.
"Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. Potter doesn't seem to appreciate my warning."
Harry watched the three walk away for a moment before closing the door. He went straight to his trunk and pulled out a shimmering cloak before rummaging around for a cursed item he had found in the Room. Harry gingerly took out an innocuous wooden box and ensured it was sealed.
He had the unfortunate pleasure of being affected by this when he carelessly brought it out of the Room. Harry considered himself lucky that it didn't have a more permanent effect. However, it would be perfect to use on Thompson.
Malfoy's sudden confidence made Harry realize that getting Greengrass on his side would no longer be 'nice.' It had become paramount.
Harry could find a way to deal with Malfoy and his sycophants, but if the more competent Slytherins that followed Greengrass stood by or, for some strange reason, willingly helped Malfoy, it would be a bad year.
Thankfully Thompson existed as a convenient tool to make that happen. Harry had intended to take his time to make it seem like the amount of work required was significant, but obviously, that was no longer an option.
Harry pulled the cloak over his head and left his room with the box in his hand. Most of his housemates had left the common room, so his exit wasn't detected. Even if someone noticed, they wouldn't have seen anything since Harry's invisibility cloak did its job.
He went directly to the fifth floor, where the entrance to the Ravenclaw common room was located, and climbed the spiral staircase.
"I am light as a feather, yet the strongest man cannot hold me for much longer than a minute. What am I?"
Harry had to admit that getting into the Ravenclaw common room was a right pain in his arse. He pitied the Ravenclaws having to answer a riddle whenever they wanted to go to their room. It was a bit much. Thankfully, the one the eagle knocker gave Harry this time was fairly simple.
"Breath."
The door swung open to reveal a beautifully decorated common room that Harry thought might be the best in Hogwarts. Slytherin might have a direct view into the lake, revealing the fascinating ecosystem underneath, but Ravenclaw had the benefit of being located in a tower. Personally, Harry would trade the view of the bottom of the lake for the stunning mountains.
"Nobody's there. Why did it open?"
Harry snuck past the students who came to the opened entrance curiously when they couldn't see anybody step inside. One significant obstacle with getting to Thompson was how Ravenclaw students were roomed.
It was done by intelligence, though Harry couldn't figure out how that was quantified. So there were some rather odd groupings because of it. Since this was the start of the year, Harry didn't know much about who was where… except for one. Luckily, he could use this as another opportunity to make Goldstein realize that he wasn't safe even in his own common room.
… And maybe it was also to soothe his frustration with Malfoy.
"Hello, Harry Potter."
No matter how stealthy Harry fancied himself, an embarrassing gasp escaped his lips at the unexpected greeting. He stared in shock at the tiny blonde girl looking directly at him.
Harry wondered if he was just hearing things and moved two steps to the right to see if Lovegood's eyes would follow him.
They did.
This was the first time this had happened. Harry had been inside the Ravenclaw common room before when Lovegood was around and had gone unnoticed by the girl. There was a momentary thought of his cloak failing, but since there were plenty of other Ravenclaws that obviously couldn't see him, that wasn't true.
"How can you see me?" Harry whispered after he moved closer to her.
"You're standing in front of me. Are you trying not to be seen?" Luna asked innocently.
If it wasn't Luna Lovegood saying that to him, Harry would have thought they were playing with him. This became another thing that made Harry salivate over getting Lovegood on his side.
"I am. Do you mind keeping this a secret?"
"Not at all," Luna smiled, ignoring some students who noticed her talking to air point at her while laughing, "I think you're doing something good today, Harry Potter. There's no reason to stop you."
Harry stilled, equally amazed and scared at what Lovegood seemed to know. Of course, he didn't outwardly show that.
"Does that mean you changed your mind about me?"
"One right does not change what you're capable of."
Harry always wondered why Lovegood said that. She made it seem like he would be a villain to be feared, even though Harry couldn't ever see that happening. Despite that, Lovegood was happy to talk with him whenever he was around her.
"Right, well, I know where your earrings are. Would you like those back?" Harry figured that doing something nice for Lovegood wouldn't hurt since she would keep his presence secret.
"Oh, you can keep them. The nargles must have contaminated them by now."
"… If you say so," Harry muttered as he shook his head in confusion, "I should get going."
"Goodbye, Harry Potter."
Harry nodded, going over the strange conversation in his head as he continued in the direction of Goldstein's room.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone