Chapter 10- The Dementor and the Toad

'Therefore, the Valerian Root can be utilised in different ways, whether it be used in a mundane manner such as in Treacle Fudge, or magical like it's used in the Draught of Living Death.'

He put down his quill, finally finishing his Herbology essay on the properties and uses of Valerian Root. It was not due until next Monday but he had decided to get it done that night as he knew he would be set a rather lengthy essay for both Ancient Runes and Arithmancy. He moved over to the seat by the fire, craving the warmth that it brought.

He reflected on the day, it had been a mixed bag to say the least. On the one hand he had to deal with both the interactions with Hermione and Neville, things he would have rather avoided but knew would be necessary. He could not go on showing animosity to Neville, publicly that was, instead he had made the boy think he had forgiven him for his error, when in actuality the apology had irritated him even more. His friendship with Hermione had thankfully ended, after the surprise of her doing such a thing had worn off his initial nonchalant reaction did turn into a sense of disappointment. After all they had been close friends for the past two years; deep down though he knew it would not take long to move past it and he could forget any insecurities he had about no longer being friends with her.

One surprise that turned out to be rather interesting was the group he ended up sitting with in Ancient Runes. He actually rather enjoyed the short time he spent with the two Slytherins and Hufflepuff.

Blaise was rather quiet but seemed to enjoy irritating Daphne and Susan, both of whom seemed to tolerate but not quite like each other. The snide comments that they greeted each other with was evident of the fact.

Susan was known for her vanity and, well, bitchiness; having asserted herself as the center of the Hufflepuff second years.

Daphne was more reserved than Susan, he knew she kept herself separate from Malfoy and his ilk, yet there was something rather intimidating about her. He also wondered about her reference to 'them', clearly she had some level of disdain towards muggleborns. The three of them had clearly done their reading over the summer as they, along with Harry, answered a fair amount of questions, much to the chagrin of Hermione and Pansy Parkinson.

'My sister is rather fond of you' Daphne had explained, telling him about how when she had returned from her holiday Astoria had not shut up about meeting him at dinner. The youngest of the Greengrass family had apparently settled into the ways of Slytherin very easily and made friends with her classmates, unlike Daphne she did not have to watch who she was friends with so no-one mistook friendship for an unofficial alliance. That was all she had said on the way to their Arithmancy lesson. Blaise however was more than happy to strike up a conversation, which was rather surprising as it seemed his belief that the Ambassadors son was quiet was actually a misconception. He was slightly disheartened when he realised that Malfoy was taking Arithmancy with them, which meant that the conversation had cooled when they saw him.

Arithmancy, much like Ancient Runes, was a highly academic and demanding subject meaning the work load was heavy and detailed. They had been assigned seats to desks of two and by chance he was paired with Blaise, whilst Daphne ended up having to sit next to Malfoy. From the looks of it the two of them held no negative feeling to each other, exchanging small talk as they waited for the other seats to be assigned. For all he knew they could get on quite well, although he had never noticed them together, it could be completely different in their common room.

Professor Vector had spent the hour going through the structure of the course and their textbook Numerology and Grammatica, and the type of work that would be set. The double Arithmancy they would have on a Tuesday would be normal theoretical teaching, the hour on Wednesday would involve more group work and focus on the practical uses of the subject. The Monday lesson would act as a review for the previous week and then introduce the focus for the next topic.

Dinner that evening had been rather uncomfortable. He was not oblivious to the looks he and Ron got when Hermione walked straight past them to sit further up the table by Ginny. Part of him was worried that things had ended so quickly, but he had changed a lot recently and didn't care as much as he probably should have. Perhaps that should have worried him as well.

Whilst Ron had spent the evening stuffing his face, again, Harry ended up chatting to Dean and Seamus about his Summer and all the changes that had happened. They were pretty disappointed when he told them he wasn't going to be sleeping in the dorms anymore, but he promised he'd show them round his new room when things had settled down. He'd not been as close to those two as he was to Ron, but after spending two years with them they had all settled into a friendship of sorts.

Harry put down his quill and cast the drying charm at the parchment, he decided to go to bed so he could get up early tomorrow and speak to Dumbledore about visiting Fudge with him. He also had double transfiguration in the morning and didn't want to imagine what McGonagall would do to him if he slept in, Lord or not.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

He arrived at breakfast early after speaking to Dumbledore and settled to read the newspaper when Seamus and Dean sat in front of him, the Irishman looking particularly peeved.

'I don't get how you do it Harry, tried three times to get Weasley up but he just ended up throwing his wand at us. Nearly poked me bleeding eye out' Seamus huffed, aggressively stealing the piece of toast Dean was just about to bite into.

Harry grinned and patted him on the shoulder, 'I'm surprised you even bothered to try, if the fear of McGonagall won't put the fear in him to wake up then I don't know what will'

Dean groaned, 'It's a double as well, bet she will set a load of work'

After they'd ate and there was still no sign of Ron, Harry decided to head to class early whilst the boys waited for Lavender and Parvati to finish. He and Hermione avoided eye contact as he walked in and saw her sat at the front; he headed straight to the back. A few minutes later other students started to trickle in, and he found it interesting that Blaise and Daphne came to sit next to him, rather than the other Slytherins.

'Weasley won't mind if we sit here Hadrian?' Blaise asked him as he dropped into the seat next to Harry.

'He'll more than mind' Harry said with a smirk, 'but he's not here and you are so…'

'You should have heard Parkinson and Malfoy last night; you would have thought you murdered their families the way they were speaking about you.' He saw Daphne shift her attention towards Blaise, eyes widening slightly at his statement.

Harry was surprised as well. 'And why are you telling me this? I thought Slytherins had to present a united front after all'

'Because I'm bored and quite frankly I don't give a shit about house unity when someone as interesting as you comes along' Blaise said leaning back in his chair, leaving Harry rather speechless.

'Have you got the reading done for runes yet? I spent most of the night taking notes on it' the two boys descended into a conversation whilst Daphne sat on the end silently.

She was furious. Not with Blaise, if anything she found it quite funny. But that Parkinson bitch had screamed at her in the common room this morning about sitting next to Potter in Ancient Runes. Daphne couldn't wait until she was 15 and would become Heir Greengrass, it would stop Parkinson trying to assert herself. She missed Tracey, the two of them had been childhood friends and had faced everything together, and when Blaise joined them to make their trio it was perfect. But now she was gone, with just the two of them left. She was broken out of her thoughts as McGonagall strode in, silencing the class.

'Welcome back third years… Lord Potter, where is Mr Weasley?' she started and stopped, taking note of the only missing student.

Harry just shrugged in response.

'Boys?' She asked Dean, Seamus and Neville.

'We did try' answered Dean uncomfortably, he didn't want to get Ron into trouble but at the same time he didn't want to risk her blaming them.

'Very well' she said, her accent getting stronger, 'As I was saying. This year is when things step up a notch, and I expect you all to pay attention and work hard. Not only do you have new subjects to take, but you will find the workload increases for your core subjects as well' She took a look at them all to emphasise her words.

'The first spell we will be looking at this term is Lapifors, which is the transformation of an inanimate object into a… any guesses?' But before she could call on someone to answer, in burst Ron panting and red faced.

'Sorry I'm- late professor- it won't happen- again' he breathed heaving through the statement'. She looked furious.

'Mr Weasley I had thought this would be the year that you wizened up, yet once again I am disappointed in you.' Ron looked down, ears tinging red at being called out in front of everyone. 'You will certainly not make the same mistake again, and to make you learn this clearly action must be taken. Twenty points will be taken from Gryffindor-'

'SILENCE' she yelled when all the Gryffindors started complaining, Harry included yet sans Hermione. 'Hopefully Mr Weasley you will start turning up on time, else it will detriment the whole house. Now sit down, and you will be serving detention with Mr Filch for the remainder of this week.'

Ron turned around from the desk searching for Harry. Harry didn't think it was possible for him to reach such a darker shade of red, but Ron seeing the seats were taken up by Slytherins. His shoulders hunched and he looked like he was about to blow when McGonagall said, 'Sit Mr Weasley, I will not say it again'. He angrily flopped down onto the seat by Hermione.

'Now as I was saying, the Lapifors spell transfigures an inanimate object into a rabbit' she had to stop and glare when Lavender and Parvati squealed. 'The first hour we will go over the theory and the second hour you will spend practicing. Now who can tell me where this spell originates?'

Ron confronted him as they walked to Defence, Harry was dreading seeing Lupin and didn't want to have to listen to Ron rant endlessly, so Harry pulled him into an empty classroom on the way.

'Shut up' Harry said shortly seeing Ron was about to yell, 'Listen to what I'm about to say because I don't want to lose you as a friend, but things can't and won't carry on as they did before, will you listen to me?'

Ron just nodded.

'I have changed a lot over the Summer Ron, and I get that it may be hard for you, but it was even harder for me. I've had to change and adapt because I had no choice, but you do have a choice. You can decide to accept these changes and remain friends, and that includes not getting pissed at me for sitting with Blaise and Daphne, or we can end it here. Just like it ended with Hermione.

With that Harry stormed out with Ron following behind him silently. They made it in time for defence but barely say down before they were old to stand up again and to follow Lupin.

'You okay Hadrian?' asked Blaise as he slowed down to walk next to him whilst Daphne wasn't paying attention.

'Well let's see' Harry exhaled harshly 'Yesterday I lost one of my best friends, today I just had to tell my other best friend to decide if he wants to remain being that way. And now I have to have a class with this twat who apparently knew my parents extremely well but never decided to reach out to me!' towards the end he was practically whisper shouting.

Blaise grabbed him on the shoulder tightly and whispered to him 'You need to stay calm Hadrian; I get you are angry but don't let these people see you that way. It will do more harm than good.'

Harry was left with nothing to say as they arrived at the teacher's lounge, which was soon empty of staff after Snape left, but not before insulting Neville whilst doing so.

Harry stood at the back of the class whilst Lupin told them of the Boggart, he didn't like the idea of everyone seeing his worst fear. He didn't even know what his worst fear was, most would think it was Voldemort, but Harry didn't think it was.

After teaching them all the spell they had to line up to face the Boggart. The sight of Neville turning Snape into wearing the clothes of his Grandmother was hilarious and he didn't think he'd be able to look at Augusta the same. Ron's fear was spiders, Dean's was a Mummy, Blaise's was an older man who looked similar to him (he noticed Blaise was rather subdued after that). The sight of a deathly pale Astoria was too much for Daphne to handle and she stepped out of the line quickly, there was no way to turn that fear into something funny.

It was his turn next. He stepped forward and the dancing Banshee looked at him for a moment before it began to change. The banshee folded in on itself, getting darker and darker as what started to look like black strips of cloth formed on itself; the room grew colder and suddenly before Harry there was a Dementor floating.

Screams filled the air as everyone, including Harry stumbled back towards the door as the beast started to lift his hood. He began to feel how he did on the train but before it could worsen, Professor Lupin strode in front of the boggart and the Dementor had barely transformed into what appeared to be the moon when he turned it into a deflating balloon and banished it back into the cabinet.

'Right er yes, well- we will end the lesson there and continue with some theory after lunch' Lupin awkwardly dismissed them early. He saw Hermione looking at him with concern, but he brushed off her looks, he needed to get ready to see the Minister to try get rid of those monsters.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Harry felt rather confident walking through the halls of Hogwarts in his royal blue robes. The nutrition potions he had been on had meant he had started to fill out and his posture improved meaning he strolled confidently on his way to Dumbledore's office. The man had recommended Harry change into something more formal to make the minister take him more seriously; despite the minister trying to schmooze Harry at the last Wizengamot he was less likely to take him seriously if he turned up in his school uniform.

He walked past Susan and her Hufflepuff minions, she decided to let out a wolf-whistle after he passed her causing her friends to giggle and stammer. He didn't look back and she knew he wouldn't, but he smirked all the same.

'Jelly Baby' stated Harry as he walked towards the statue protecting Dumbledore's office, walking up the steps and into his office after knocking.

'Ahh Harry, very dapper looking' smiled Dumbledore, who ironically was wearing rather odd robes covered in watch patterns. The opposite of dapper.

'Thanks, Albus shall we get this done with?' Harry followed Dumbledore over to the Fireplace and they flooed to the Ministry.

The sight of Albus Dumbledore and his unusual robes were not an atypical sight to see in the Ministry Atrium, everyone knew Fudge constantly tried to get his insight and pass it off as his own. However, the sight of the young Lord Potter striding alongside caused those in the lobby to slow their movements and stare. Madame Bones, however, quickly flooed back to her office and called in Auror Tonks.

'Tonks' she yelled out, causing the young recruit to speed into her office 'listen to me carefully, Lord Potter is on his way with Dumbledore to I assume the minister's office' she was hurriedly writing a note, folding it and then passing it to the younger woman.

'Make sure Lord Potter gets this note, but don't let anyone see' Tonks nodded affirmative then hurried to grab some papers from her desk, she had a plan.

The minister's office was surprisingly understated, from what Harry had seen of the man he thought it would have been decorated in riches. He broke his observations and listened to the end of Dumbledore's argument before starting his own.

'Cornelius, what Albus has not yet told you, is that on the train to Hogwarts one of those beasts you decided to let roam-' He was interrupted when the door to the Minister's office opened and a toad-looking woman walked in, dressed all in pink. Harry had a brief memory of her from the Wizengamot session and Cyrus telling him that it would be a 'misfortune' if he had to speak to her.

'Ahh Minister so glad I could catch you… Chief Warlock, what brings you to the ministry today?' the toad woman spoke.

He saw Dumbledore turn to the woman with a strained smile 'Madame Umbridge a pleasure as always, I am just here to speak to the Minister about some matters relating to Hogwarts' he said 'perhaps your business with the Minister can wait? We shall not be much longer'

'Now now Albus don't you worry, anything you tell me you can tell Delores' bumbled Fudge after noticing how his Undersecretary's eyes took on a glint.

She let out a titter before looking at Harry, 'Mr Potter shouldn't you be in class? Perhaps Dumbledore hasn't taught you the rules hmm?'

Harry was lucky he didn't develop a twitch in his eye there and then, she spoke to him slowly as if he was the dirt under his foot. It reminded him horrifically of Snape.

'Perhaps it is you who needs to be educated Madame Umbridge, I am the Lord of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter and Heir Black, you would do well to remember who your betters are and to not question their actions' He hated how whiney his voice sounded, despite everything he was still just a teenager and his control on his emotions was slipping.

Umbridge took no notice of this and started to redden as he spoke.

'N-now my Lord I can assure you Delores meant no offence she was simply… concerned for your education… isn't that right Delores?' The minister bumbled trying to de-escalate the situation.

Harry just looked the woman up and down dismissively before continuing on with his story, 'Whilst on my way to Hogwarts a Dementor boarded the train and tried to suck out my soul. Thankfully a professor was able to save me but if he hadn't then I would be an empty husk right now, my line would be extinct and who knows how many the dementor could have gone after'

Fudge paled as the gravity of the situation sunk in, yet Umbridge could not give up the chance to sway the Minister against the boy.

'Excuse me, Lord Potter, but the Ministry is in complete control of its Dementors' she wore such a smug grin, he understood why Cyrus had said what he said.

'I shall remove fifty percent of the Dementors from the school over the coming day Albus, not all of them as there is a mass-murderer on the loose, but I can see the need to reduce them. You have my apologies Lord Potter, now if you would please excuse me I have rather a lot of work to get through. Delores please stay for a moment would you' Fudge had gone slightly sweaty throughout the interaction, if the Potter boy had been left without a soul then that was his career over, the Wizengamot and public would demand his head.

Harry strode out of the office with Dumbledore following, barrelling straight into the pink haired Tonks knocking a stack of folders to the floor.

'Shit' he cursed and knelt down to help her pick it up, pulling her into a half hug when he did so, it probably wasn't the correct protocol, but he didn't care, the toad-face had riled him up.

'It's fine, just dropping some reports off for Madame Bones, I'll tell mum to write, I find out my schedule for next week so you should come around. She already misses you' she said standing with a wink.

Harry and Dumbledore flooed back to Hogwarts and the Headmaster congratulated him on their efforts.

It wasn't until he got back to the safety of his room that he took the note that he pushed up his sleeve after Tonks had shoved in his hands, not even Dumbledore had noticed.

Lord Potter,

Please come to Bones Manor, Kent tomorrow at 6pm? It is urgent. Please keep this secret, if you are unable to attend at that time please write me.

Madame Bones

He threw the letter into the embers of the fire, he was curious as to what she wanted, and the way in which she delivered the news.

Either way it was time to get back to classes, he wondered if Susan would sit with them in Ancient Runes again.

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Malfoy Manor, Wiltshire

'That damned half-blood met with the Minister today, encouraging him to reduce the Dementors at Hogwarts' Lucius complained to Narcissa as he strode out of the fireplace casting a cleaning charm to rid his robes of the soot.

'And which is it this time?' Narcissa asked, although she didn't really care. She had grown tired of constant complaining years ago; her husband was a powerful man and a shrewd politician, but by the Gods did he whine. 'And why is that a bad thing? I don't want those ghastly beasts around our son'

'The Potter boy' he spat out, 'He and Dumbledore visited him earlier. And as long as Draco didn't do anything stupid he would have been fine' he started to pace.

'With the boy making his debut so unexpectedly, Fudge is desperate to get the support of Potter as he is one of the Eight and the boy-who lived' He sat down by the fire and took the glass of whisky Narcissa had left out for him.

'I believe a small donation should remind the Minister where his true loyalties should lie' he murmured taking a sip.

This piqued her interest, the boy was already making moves and riling up her husband. The young Heir Black would have to be careful; politics wasn't just a chess game but a battlefield as well. One thing that disgusted her was Lucius' way of gaining power, bribery was an effective tool; yet the Black family had always used fear and intimidation to get it. That ensured loyalty that was less likely to waver.

She turned her eyes from the fire and noticed Lucius staring at her, whisky glass empty. It took him longer than she thought to notice the silk robe she was wearing, her long creamy legs on full display. She could see in his eyes the lust he felt for her. They rarely slept together, whilst she was attracted to him she had always preferred the female body, but she still enjoyed their time together.

Lucius stood up silently and took her by the hand, dragging her to their bedroom.

She smirked as she trailed behind him. The lust and fertility potion she had put in his drink before he arrived would hopefully get her pregnant on her first try, and if not she had plenty of ingredients to rebrew the potions. She would get her child, one that would live up to the Black legacy. One that would make it worth the hours she had spent that day purging the contraceptive potion from her person.

AN:/

Okay so a HUGE APOLOGY for how long this has taken to get out but my uni work never seemed to let up and life in general has been hectic so these updates will be slow as I have little time to write them but they will be done!

Some quick notes on reviews: Yes I know Tracey and Roger aren't related but I decided they would in this, also its amazing to see people replying such kind messages to my AN, thanks for understanding 3

This was a shorter chapter than the last but would people prefer quicker updates and smaller chapters or longer chapters with slower updates?

I'm on summer holidays currently which means I will be able to get some chapters out. I am also working on a Game of Thrones story with a male Tyrell OC so make sure you click follow author and that story If you fancy it :) I will be working on both stories at the same time

Under this will be the authors note I posted April 2020 which clarifies my situation more.

For the next couple of chapters, I am considering weaving in the perspectives of the other three main characters, potentially even having it as a whole chapter but we shall see. God writing this chapter made me realise how much I love this story and where I want it to go! Thank you all for your understanding and for sticking around for so long!

Please follow/ fave/ review :)

Aegon

AN from 20th April 2020 : I am so sorry for how long it has been! And I am sorry for doing an AN as a chapter but I just wanted to finally update everyone on the situation so I'll delete this when I post the next chapter. Yup that's right! I'm still planning on continuing this story, I told yall I had no intentions of giving up and I meant that! but life just gets in the way.

The two main issues have been University and Mental health, Uni has took up so much of my time with the constant reading and essays that the thought of writing this has been so daunting that I kept avoiding it despite wanting to continue it, and I was also diagnosed with depression and anxiety (fun) which has taken its toll on me.

The next chapter should be out this month! and then I will be finishing Uni so will have loads more time to work on this and some other ideas I have!

Sorry once again and see yall soon!