A brief look of puzzlement crossed Daphne's face as she frowned, "I heard them say they couldn't find your room." The look blossomed to confusion as she concentrated. "I.. can't seem to remember where your room was, though… I thought…" Her voice trailed off and she grasped on to her original thoughts.
Harry couldn't help the smirk that crossed his face now. He had seen the fidelius charm at work many times and could always tell when someone tried to remember a bit of information that they once knew but could no longer recall.
Daphne's eyes narrowed at the expression that crossed Harry's face, though she misunderstood what the smirk was directed at, "You think it's funny? This is Slytherin. Bole and his cronies will come after you as a group sooner or later. Even being a friend of Malfoy will only keep them from going too far."
Harry blinked and stared in surprise at her. His surprise lasted just a second before he chuckled softly. He had tried to stop it, but he just couldn't help it. A very small chuckle of honest amusement. A feeling he hadn't felt in far too long.
His response did not seem to please Daphne, if the way her surprised expression melted into one of anger was anything to go by. "You do! This... this is a joke to you! You think your connections with Malfoy will protect you from them!"
Harry couldn't stop the snort of laughter again, but he regained his control, though amusement was still spread upon his face. "You think I sought out Malfoy and allied with him for my protection? Maybe you should ask Draco about that." Daphne scowled a little bit, and flippantly responded, "Draco is easy to figure out. He wants to be top of the hierarchy, and only allowed you to flock to his side to increase his own perceived standing. But, in reality, he is a pale shadow of his father, and his father was happy to serve at someone's feet. The son of Lucius Malfoy is all talk. You will not rule this House with Draco as your only ally."
Amusement once more crossed Harry's face. He couldn't deny the truth of what Daphne had just said. it was fairly accurate. Of course that was before Draco died. There was also the minor detail that he couldn't care less who ruled the teenaged hierarchy of Slytherin house.
"People can surprise you with their intentions, Miss Greengrass. However, while this is potentially intriguing to watch you freely give your opinions on your housemates, its ultimately not very interesting as I'm more than capable of forming my own opinions. You still haven't answered either of my questions. What do you want, and why would you think I had anything to do with the wards?"
His eyes never left hers, and kept his expression bland, showing only mild interest in her statement, he chanced a brief connection with legilimency. Harry wasn't being arrogant when he felt that he was probably one of the best legilimens in the world. Harry had discovered the hard way, brute force interrogations weren't always successful. Especially if someone broke someone's mind before finding important information.
He kept his touch feather light and subtle. He could see she had occlumency training, and had no interest in her realizing what he was doing. He couldn't chance a deep connection and read her thoughts, but he could get an impression of her emotions and tell whether or not she was lying.
Daphne's eyes narrowed at Harry's reply, "I saw your face when the professors struggled with the wards. I saw your expression when that singing voice made itself known. I saw Malfoy look at you when the sixth and seventh years came screaming out of the hallway. Finally, I saw your smirk... the pride you held in your own work. It was pretty much like the one you've got now."
He didn't bother denying the smirk, and responded in the same partially amused voice, "I do believe quite a few people were barely controlling their smiles while watching the top members of the so-called "hierarchy" of the house flounder around like children. I don't see how that makes me the culprit, or even the prime suspect. I'm sure the professors would punish me if I was. If they had any proof… or if I was stupid enough to admit to it being me."
Daphne's eyes were narrowed, once again thrown off by Harry's manner. She seemed to slump slightly in acquiescence. "Fine." The word came out from gritted teeth before she smoothed her expression out.
She took a moment to gather her internal composure, "You're right of course. No one would admit to doing anything. Let's say... hypothetically, you were aware of someone in the Slytherin dorms who could ward and protect rooms well enough to stump the teachers and trap all of the upper years, keeping students safe in their rooms. Hypothetically, if someone wanted protection for their younger sister, a third year Slytherin, what compensation do you believe this Wardmaster would accept for his time and efforts?" The amused look slid off Harry's face. He didn't actually know much about Daphne Greengrass, but he did vaguely recall that she had a younger sister. He couldn't even remember her name, though he thought she might have been a Ravenclaw in his old world.
"That's what this conversation was about? You couldn't ask that right off the bat? Rather than playing 'hypothetical' games or accusing me of assaulting our… noble peers?" Harry couldn't keep the sneer out of his voice at the word 'noble'. He still had a hard time as classifying the majority of them as anything other than 'future corpses'.
Daphne couldn't stop a snort that escaped her when Harry so effortly denigrated her fellow Slytherins. She looked astonished at her break in composure before regaining it quickly. "So if you can protect your own room, why can't you protect your sister's room?" When he saw her start to speak he quickly added, "Hypothetically speaking, of course." Harry rolled his eyes as he tacked on that statement and spoke as if talking to a child.
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