It was late when Harry returned to the common room, where the Gryffindor team and Neville and the others were waiting for him. []
George and Fred threw him back into an armchair, and he said bitterly and tearfully,"The medicine tastes terrible."
Neville handed him a piece of marshmallow, which he stuffed into his mouth.
"Stop it, Harry. Did you know? Someone wants to harm you today."
Hermione looked and sounded very much like Professor McGonagall.
"It was Snape," Ron explained."Hermione and I saw him staring at you. He was cursing your broom.”
Harry chewed on his marshmallows and mumbled," How is this possible?!"
"We don't have any proof that Professor Snape did it," said Wood, frowning."Besides, why would he do it?”
Ron rolled his eyes and said,"Who knows? He'd never liked Harry anyway, and Quidditch matches were full of surprises, so it was a good time to strike.”
Neville said worriedly,"You'll have to be careful, Harry. He didn't succeed this time, so he'll definitely make a move on you again.”
"You're overthinking it," said Harry, half laughing. Although Professor Snape was a little fierce, he wouldn't murder a student in front of so many people.”
"Harry," said Hermione,"your broom is clearly cursed, Hagrid said nothing but Dark Magic can interfere with it, let alone a Nimbus Two Thousand.”
Neville said,"Who else in this school knows the Dark Arts and hates you so much?”
said Ron,"Yeah, everyone knows Snape's always wanted to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, he must be very good at the Dark Arts.”
Hermione said,"I saw him jinxing your broom, and when he stopped, it went back to normal, though you'd already fallen.”
The team members did not speak, but their expressions clearly showed that they believed them.
Harry sighed in his heart. Snape, your image is really bad.
" But," he tried to explain for someone," it's not just the curse that needs to be fixed on the target. It's the same for the curse! Maybe he wants to save me!"
Ron shuddered and said,"How's that possible?! That greasy old…"
"Ron!" Harry interrupted, frowning, in a very insistent tone,"I believe him!”
Ron said rather disapprovingly,"All right.”
"Professor Snape's the only one staring at Harry?" Did you notice anything unusual about the others?”
"I'm not sure... Professor Quirrell was sitting in the back row of Snape's, and he seemed to be staring at Harry, muttering something, but everyone was worried about Harry's safety at the time..."
Watch out for that guy, Harry thought. Quirrell had not been able to release the troll to ruin the party, so who knew if he would have found a student to cause chaos so he could sneak into the forbidden corridor and steal the Sorcerer's Stone. Although Dumbledore was watching him, Dumbledore was still human and could be careless. He didn't dare to imagine what he would do if anyone in front of him was hurt or even lost their lives because of this.
Alright, alright. He was just worried about these people. What was wrong with that? When he thought about how Wood had shouted at him today, the hand holding his collar kept trembling. He felt that he could no longer tolerate their lack of defense against Quirrell.
Even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, he would not tolerate it.
Harry said childishly, pursing his lips,"Then I'd rather believe it was Quirrell, that guy's a pain in the ass, my scar hurts every time I see him.”
"Harry!" Wood said in horror," How come you never mentioned it? This is a very serious matter!"
Harry stammered,"I... I don't want to talk about it, I don't want people to think... I'm showing off..."
Neville patted him reassuringly on the shoulder and said,"Harry, don't worry, nobody's going to think that.”
Wood got to his feet, paced uneasily, looked down for a moment, and said to Harry,"Harry, that scar of yours, You-Know-Who left it, if it's reacting, it could mean-"
Everyone's face turned pale, and a suffocating silence spread in the lounge.
Alicia squeaked,"Wood, don't tell me-"
" I'd rather be paranoid, Alicia," Wood interrupted her and said in a deep voice." Quirrell doesn't usually act like a dangerous person, but Harry's scar won't just react to him for no reason. We'll have to tell Dumbledore about it and let him be sure.”
Harry looked at him nervously and said,"But…we don't have any evidence…Besides, no one can be sure that it hurts for some other reason. Maybe it's just the previous injury acting up again.”
George pursed his lips. His usually smiling face was unprecedentedly serious. He said seriously,"Wood, don't scare yourself, Harry's right, no one knows what the aftereffects of the Avada Kedavra Curse will be-it's just an occasional pain, that's all.”
Fred nodded."If this goes to the headmaster and it turns out to be a misunderstanding, it'll get Harry into a lot of trouble-the Slytherins are dying for him to make a fool of himself.”
Wood was silent for a moment, then said,"Well, we'll see, Harry. You mustn't be alone with Quirrell or Snape. Don't leak out tonight's conversation, lest it cause panic.”
Everyone present nodded.
"Anyway, someone really wants to hurt you today," said Hermione."From tomorrow on, Harry, you must not be alone, we'll be with you all the time.”
Harry looked at their determined expressions and agreed helplessly.
Even if these guys could face that person, would they still follow and protect him?
It was Gryffindor recklessness, but he felt warm inside and did not hate it at all.
――――――――――――――――――
Harry really was never alone again, and he did not find it inconvenient to be stuck with Neville and Ron. Wood and the others were worried and guarded for a long time. They did not find anything unusual, and gradually relaxed their vigilance. It was just that they kept making eyes at each other in Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which led to a lot of speculation.
As the holidays approached, Harry was the first to sign his name on the list, and Neville and the Weasleys both decided to stay for Christmas.
The common room was much quieter than usual, and they took the most comfortable and warm spot by the fireplace, grilling whatever they could. Harry also took out a lot of spices from the bracelet and roasted a lot of things himself, letting them really see what barbecue was. Neville and Ron ate until their tongues were almost down, and the twins took most of the fruit of their labor. After that, they were often seen pestering Harry to cook, much to his regret.
On Christmas Eve, Harry got his presents ready for Hedwig and the other owls to deliver to his friends, then went to bed early. When he woke up the next morning, there were many gift packages piled up at the foot of his bed.
"Happy Christmas!" he said to Ron, who was unwrapping his parcel.
"Happy Christmas!" said Ron casually, without looking up.
Neville was fast asleep, and they did not wake him up as they quietly opened their presents.
Harry opened the brown, thick-paper package at the top. Inside was a hand-made wooden flute. He tried blowing on it; it sounded a little like an owl. Old Tom had given him a box of precious potion materials, and he had put it into his bracelet. Hermione had given him a thick copy of A Study of Modern Wizarding Development, which Harry had decided to pass the time by flipping through a few pages. The Gryffindor team had given him presents, too. Wood had given him a Broomstick Care Manual, and Angelina and Katie had given him sweets, which made him wonder if he was really as gluttonous as he usually appeared to be.
Neville's grandmother Augusta? Mrs. Longbottom had written a letter to Harry to thank him for taking care of her grandson. Her gift was also a book, Forgotten Ancient Spells and Spells. Harry opened the book and read a few pages before closing it. His eyes lit up as he hugged it and giggled for a while before putting it aside.
Mrs. Weasley had given him a large bag of home-made marshmallows and knitted him a green sweater, which Harry wore with great pleasure. As for the fifty-pence coin the Dursleys had given him, he tossed it to an interested Ron and continued to struggle through the pile of packages.
There were more Christmas presents than he had expected, and most of the first years had spent the evening studying with Harry and the others, practicing spells under his guidance, and had all given him small presents. Perhaps because he knew Harry? Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff had also sent him presents about Potter's childhood.
To Harry's dismay, all the students except Ravenclaw were sending him snacks and sweets.
Alright, I don't hate it anyway.
Having packed up the presents, Harry picked up the last of the light packages.
Unsurprisingly, it was an Invisibility Cloak.
A piece of paper fell out. On it was written: "When your father died, he left me this cloak. Now it's time to give it to you. Use it well.”
The silvery-white, flowing cloak slipped out of his hands onto the covers, and Ron gasped as he rushed to his bed and whispered in awe,"Oh my god! It's an Invisibility Cloak!"
Harry jumped out of bed, put on his cloak, and stood in front of the mirror. Sure enough, there was only Ron's dazed, envious face in the mirror.
"You can try it too." Harry took off the Cloak and handed it to Ron, who took it happily and put it on.
Hmm, not bad, it had indeed disappeared. However, even without using his spiritual sense, he could still find someone there. Heartbeat, breathing, smell…
"Looks like the Invisibility Cloak isn't omnipotent. It's still not enough to rely on external objects. I'll have to practice the Invisibility Technique more in the future. I can't pull it down," Harry decided, stroking his chin.
——
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