"You have certainly made an impression, Master." Angela said just as Harry and her arrived in the common room.
"You know you don't have to call me 'Master'?" Harry said as Jet slithered down placed himself on the arm rest of a chair.
"I know," Angela shrugged with a small smile on her face. "now that you've made your speech..."
"Was it a speech?" Harry asked, "It felt more like a rant."
"Let us call it a 'one sided debate'." Angela replied. "Anyway, after today the whole school is never going to look at you the same way again."
"Good," Harry nodded. "I am not going to waste time on them if they're not going to learn from their mistakes." Harry said just before the common room door opened. Tracey entered first, followed by Daphne. Before Harry could even say 'hello' the two girls quickly rushed forwards and pulled him into a hug. "O...kay, what's this for?" Harry asked as he awkwardly hugged them back.
"Are you alright?" Tracey asked as she and Daphne took a step back to look at him.
"Why?" Harry asked.
"I believe that they may or may not be worried about your mental and emotional health." Angela said in a dry voice.
"Oh, well I am fine." Harry said to Tracey and Daphne. "No, I really am." Harry added when they looked disbelieving. "Don't get me wrong, I'm not at my emotional or mental best but it's nothing that won't be fixed by a good night sleep." Harry said as he sat down in the chair, one hand began stroking Jet.
"You had better not be lying." Daphne sighed as she and Tracey sat down on the sofa next to his chair. "By the way, can I just ask a question? What..."
"What were you thinking?" Tracey interrupted before Daphne could finish her sentence.
"...What she said." Daphne said as she gestured to Tracey.
"If you mean what was I thinking when I basically verbally smacked down the whole school then the answer was something along the lines of 'these blithering idiots need some sense slapped into them'." Harry calmly replied. "This is the second time in two years that they have turned on me, it's about time they take a hint. And if they don't after today then I am just not going to bother with them." Harry finished with a shrug.
"He makes a good point," Angela agreed. "besides, after today nobody is going to openly accuse Harry of being the heir of Slytherin, not unless they want everyone else to start breathing down their necks." Angela said just as the other Slytherin students began entering.
"By the way, Harry," Daphne suddenly spoke. "do you think there is any chance that you and I can train together?"
"Train together?" Harry asked.
"Yeah, after the dueling club I've gotten a bit of a taste for it." She said with a small grin. "So do you think we can practice together?" She asked in hopeful voice.
"Sure thing Daph, we can start tomorrow." Harry smiled.
Meanwhile in the headmaster's office another conversation was taking place.
"The brat is just as much, if not more, of an attention seeker than his father." Snape growled. "He couldn't handle his problems so he goes about and makes a big show and..."
"Shut up Severus!" The other three head of houses snap at the same time, shocking Snape into silence.
"You have no idea what you had just witnessed, do you?" Professor Sprout said, shaking her head at him like he was a child who didn't know how to put his own clothes on.
"What you just saw was not 'James Potter' showing off, and while we are on the subject, James Potter is dead!" Professor McGonagall yelled at him. "I've seen the graves! I've seen the dead body! The man is dead, let your grudge die with him and stop projecting the sins of a dead father on the son who never knew him!"
"Minerva is right on both points," Professor Flitwick agreed. "but back to the current topic of our discussion, what we saw was not James Potter showing off, what we saw was Arcturus Black and Charles Potter going about their business."
"Potter's grandfather? What does he have to do with this?" Snape asked.
"Ah yes, you've never had the pleasure of meeting him." Professor Dumbledore replied. "Let's just say this, I am nearly a hundred percent sure that I am more magically powerful than Charles Potter, but with that being said I would avoid fighting him at all costs. If he didn't die through natural causes then there would have likely been a great deal less living death eaters at the end of the last war." Dumbledore added.
"You fear him?" Snape looked at Dumbledore with disbelief. "You don't even fear the dark lord!"
"I hold Charles Potter, Arcturus Black and Voldemort as the same in that they will both do whatever it takes to reach their goals and that I have a healthy level of respect for how much damage the three can cause." Dumbledore responded. "Once, during a Wizengamot meeting, a few people made the mistake of getting on Lord Potter's bad side, Lord Potter gave a speech that took about two minutes and by the end of it he ended up embarrassing the men so bad that many openly laughed at them. A few days later they tried to attack him before another meeting, that day Lord Potter walked into the meeting without a scratch and with all those who attacked him unconscious and levitated behind him. He dropped them in the middle of the room, told the Minister of Magic to 'clean this shit up' and went to his seat as if this was just a regular occurrence for him.
Young Harry may share similarities with his mother and his father but I believe he is more like his grandfather, a Potter of old, a fierce warrior that will not be pushed around and will be ready to show why when it counts. Since that seems to be the case I would recommend controlling yourself around Mr Potter, Severus. You may come to regret it in the future if you do not."
"And what of Arcturus Black?" Snape said with a sour look on his face. "How is the boy like him?"
"Do you know what the difference's are between Harrys grandfather and Arcturus Black?" Dumbledore calmly asked.
"No." Snape said in an impatient voice.
"The houses they were in and the families they were born in, the two may as well have been brothers with how similar they acted." Dumbledore replied. "Lord Black was naturally more Slytherin like than Lord Potter but both were extremely powerful wizards that did not tolerate disrespect from anyone, nor did they bend their knees to anyone."
"Seeing Mr Potter delivering that speech was just like seeing a younger version of the two," Professor McGonagall said in a soft voice. "though admittedly with less swearing."
"And what is important is the fact that Mr Potter, as Severus has said, brought a lot of attention on himself." Professor Sprout replied. "Now, nobody will be able to openly accuse him of being the heir of Slytherin."
"Speaking of, do you intend to have words with Mr Macmillan?" Professor Flitwick asked.
"Oh, indeed I do," Professor Sprout quickly nodded. "that sort of behavior will not be tolerated, I will make sure the whole house knows that."
"I intend to do the same with my house." Professor Flitwick said with Professor McGonagall nodding to say that she would do the same.
"Honestly," Professor Sprout scoffed. "you-know-who coming after him because he was a future dark lord. Potter wouldn't become a dark lord."
"It is a possibility." Dumbledore said quietly but he may as well have shouted it out since everyone had heard him.
"Albus," Professor McGonagall gasped. "surely you do not think that the boy will become a dark lord?"
"I do not think he will become a dark lord, I do however believe it is a possibility." Dumbledore replied. "Harry shares many similarities with Voldemort, beyond speaking to snakes. Both are intelligent, driven wizards who will do their best to get what they want, both are talented and handsome and capable of convincing overs to follow them. You have seen the effect Mr Potter can have when giving a speech, and that was simply a speech to convince people he is not the heir of Slytherin, what if he was older and made a speech in an attempt to convince people to join him?" Dumbledore paused to allow that to wash over the four head of houses. "And you all might recall Mr Potter mention how it was thanks to him that the word 'mudblood' was used less, if that is truly the case then how?"
"What do you mean?" Snape asked.
"How did Harry Potter reduce the use of the word?" Dumbledore asked. "Did he use his words? Did he use force? A combination of both? I am not saying that Mr Potter is a dark lord, nor am I saying that he is going to become one, I am merely stating that he very well could be if he wished to."
"W...what do you wish for us to do?" Professor McGonagall gulped.
"For now? Simply act as you have always done." Dumbledore replied. "Harry is no different from any other witch or wizard in the fact that he can turn dark, the same possibility is open to everyone in this room. Like I said, I doubt that Harry will become a dark lord, you will all treat him the same and none of you will act any different to him. Remember, he is simply a student that needs our guidance, nothing more." Dumbledore said in a firm voice.
Dumbledore truly believed that Harry wouldn't become a dark lord, he was hopeful that that would be something he would always believe.
"Oh, close one Daph." Harry said as he casually leaned out of the way of a disarming spell. Harry and Daphne were currently in an abandoned classroom along with Jet and Tracey who was there to watch the two, Angela would have come too if not for the fact that she had a different timetable and class to go to.
"Could you at least pretend that I am challenging you?" Daphne sighed before sending a body bind at Harry.
"I could." Harry said after he blocked her spell. "But then I would feel like I am lying to you." Harry said before he fired a wind blast at Daphne who was unable to avoid it and was pushed to the floor.
"Ow." Daphne said through gritted teeth as she sat up. "Next time let's remember to put softening charms on the floor."
"Okay, that's enough." Tracey sighed as she walked over and helped Daphne up. "You, Daphne, are going to sit down and rest." Tracey said as he guided Daphne into a chair. "Now, stay still." Tracey said as she walked behind Daphne and applied some healing charms. "Luckily you've got nothing worse than a few bumps and bruises, I don't really know how to heal anything other than that."
"A goal for the future, I suppose." Harry said as he sat down opposite Daphne. "You did good, Daph. Well done."
"Are you kidding?" Daphne said with disbelief. "I didn't even hit you with a single spell."
"You still did good," Harry shrugged. "I'm serious. You all call me a dueling prodigy, well I would like to say that you're not at my level but you are very good for a second year. Now, once Tracey stops taking care of you then I will show you how to improve."
"Well luckily for her, she's done." Tracey said as she stepped back. "She'll need to rest of course but she should be fine for now. But please don't end up hurting each other again."
"We'll do our best." Harry chuckled just as he and Daphne stood up. "Alright Daph, now get into your dueling stance." Daphne nodded before doing so, Harry looked at her stance and saw it was a copy of the same one that he used during the dueling club, Harry gave her an approving nod before he stepped around so he was behind her. "Okay, your stance is alright but it can be improved."
"How?" Daphne asked.
"First of all keep your legs slightly wider," Harry said as he tapped her legs with his foot, Daphne nodded and did as Harry told her to do. "excellent. Okay, now keep your wand slightly higher." Harry said as he placed his hand on hers and raised her wand slightly higher, he didn't notice the brief widening of her eyes. "You want to keep it around chest height," Harry told her as he looked at her. "because if you don't then you'll just raise your wand when you fire anyway."
"Like this?" Tracey asked as she got into the same stance.
"No, you're making the same mistake as Daphne." Harry replied.
"Oh, could you adjust me like you are doing to Daphne?" Tracey asked in a shy voice.
"Um, sure." Harry nodded after a moment.
"But finish me first." Daphne said quickly as she used her free hand to grab his hand and place it on her wand hand.
"Um...okay." Harry eventually said.
As Harry, Tracey and Daphne kept talking they were being watched by Jet who was looking between all three of them. As he was doing that there was one thought that kept going through his head. So much so that he couldn't help but say it out loud to himself, thankfully Harry didn't hear it.
"I am not qualified to talk to him about girls." Jet said as he shook his head.
The lesson continued for several more minutes when Angela stormed in, looking like she wanted to rip someone's head off.
"Whoa, what happened to you?" Harry asked.
"Lockhart," Angela all but growled. "the bloody wanker can go and fuck off back to his fan club." She said in an angry voice as she placed her stuff on a desk and sat down.
"What did he do?" Tracey asked.
"The stupid, bloody blonde peacock tried to convince me that it would be better if I gave up my position as Harry's vassal." Angela snarled. "Then the idiot tried to 'subtly' suggest that he offer to show me the 'benefits of an older man'."
"So the dumbass is a pervert as well?" Harry said with a roll of his eyes, Harry really wasn't sure if that was an improvement on the homicidal, Voldemort possessed teacher.
"Shouldn't you tell someone?" Daphne asked.
"What? You mean the teachers? That won't work." Angela said as she shook her head.
"She's right," Harry nodded. "yeah she could tell someone but the teachers won't be able to do anything without proof and the idiot hasn't really done anything that can be held against him. Plus this is Lockhart, if she's going to accuse someone as famous as him then she is going to need bigger than him saying some stuff. With that being said keep an eye on him."
"What would you like me to do if he does try something?" Angela asked. "As your vassal, what I do represents you, how would you like me to react?"
"Hmm, if you think it's necessary then I want you to try and take him down as quick as possible, stomp on his groin, get help then re-stomp the groin." Harry replied.
"Will do." Angela smiled brightly.
Eventually there was another attack, Justin Flinch Fletchley was the victim this time. Most of the school at this point realized that it wasn't Harry who was responsible and the very few who still did believe that Harry was responsible were not really willing to say it out loud, even Ron was smart enough to not say it out loud.
Things were made worse when it became known that Professor Dumbledore was removed from the school for not being able to stop the attacks, many took this news horribly as they believed that Dumbledore was the only reason that there wasn't any mass attacks. It was also announced that Hagrid, the games keeper, was arrested for being the heir of Slytherin. This helped calm very few people as the majority of students knew that there was no way in hell that Hagrid was the heir of Slytherin. In fact most Slytherin's felt insulted that people believed Hagrid to be the heir of the founder of their house.
It was near the end of the year when Harry found himself in the library, he had just completed his homework and was reading a book on dueling while Jet lazily rested on Harry's shoulders. Harry was brought out of his thoughts when someone rushed towards his table, he looked up and saw a Slytherin girl quickly stop in front of him. The girl had brown eyes and brown hair in a ponytail, a thin face that was very red at the moment, likely due to running which she probably did if how out of breath she was was any indication. She was a young looking girl so Harry assumed she was a first year, actually he did remember seeing her in the common room a few times, though if he remembered right then she was a twin, which brought to mind the simple question of 'where is her twin?'.
"Can I help you?" Harry asked the out of breath girl.
"I...I need your help!" She gasped out. "Chamber...secrets..." She said,
"Shush!" Madam Pince, the school librarian, hissed from a few desks away.
"Please...help me." The girl begged, tears dripping down her face. Harry did a mental sigh before he quickly put his books back in their shelves, he grabbed the girl by her arm and lead her out of the library. A minute later they were in an abandoned classroom, Harry closed the door and applied a few privacy spells that Tonks had taught him.
"Okay, you start with your name and your year and then you tell me the problem, go." Harry said, looking at her.
"F...Flora Carrow, first year, my...my sister was taken into the chamber...you've got to help me!" She begged.
"Why aren't you going to a teacher?" Harry asked.
"They can't do anything!" She cried. "Please, my sister was taken into the chamber with that Weasley girl and the Lestrange boy. I overheard the teachers talking about it, they're going to shut down the school."
"Why did you come to me for help?" Harry asked as he digested the information.
"Because you're a parslemouth, if anyone can get into the chamber then it's you." She said quickly.
"I don't know where the chamber is." Harry reminded her.
"I do!" The girl said quickly. "Me and my sister worked it out, please! I am begging you! I will give you whatever you want! Just please help me!" She said, tears flooding out of her eyes. Harry didn't doubt that she was telling the truth, neither did Jet. So after a very long mental sigh Harry undid his spells.
"Let's go and save your goddamn sister, but we're making one stop first." Harry said as he grabbed her arm and lead her out of the classroom.