It's All Just Temporary with a Bit of Necromancy

Chapter 18: You're Among Your Trusted

You're Among Your Trusted

It was Hogsmeade weekend today and the Great Hall was loud and boisterous. Students all eagerly discussing the first trip of the year. Hermione sat beside Ron and across from Ginny and Neville. Hermione's stomach twisted in anticipation for the day's events. Luna had received a note from Harry at the beginning of the week telling them to go to the Three Broomsticks at two that afternoon. He said there would be a reserved, private room for them.

For her birthday last week, Harry had made a show of sending her a parcel at breakfast that was immediately confiscated by the Headmaster. Hermione and Ron had then been called to the Headmasters office after lunch and were told that the package had been a portkey meant to kidnap them so that Harry could then torture them for information.

Dumbledore had even let them read the letter attached and Hermione had had to bite her tongue to stop the giggles at how over the top it was. It had been in Harry's scratchy writing, and it went on for two pages on how worried and scared he was and how much he knew that if her and Ron were with him it would just be so much better and that if they came to visit him, things would be okay. The pleading and desperation would have been heart wrenching if Hermione hadn't already known that Harry was perfectly fine and living nicely in Voldemort's manor.

Dumbledore had reiterated how crucial it was for them to come to him for any information they had on Harry and the two had dutifully agreed.

This was why Luna received any correspondence Harry tried to send. If it wasn't through Luna then through Snape. Neville or Ron would be called to stay behind after class under the pretense of getting a detention for destroying a potion. That night they would relay the message before continuing on to the detention Snape had still given them.

The start of the school year had been the hardest, now a month later things were settling. All of the students turned to them for confirmation of the Headmasters accusations. Because they were Harry's best friends so they obviously would know whether he had really turned Dark.

Hermione and Ron suffered the worst but Ginny, Neville, and Luna got questioned as well since they had gone to the Ministry at the end of last year. Their position as spies had been dicey for a bit but they had practiced ways to both appease the Headmaster while also dropping seeds of doubt to the students.

"It isn't really hard to believe that Harry would turn Dark, I mean look at his track record," one would start to say, usually Ron or Ginny would take this role. "Parseltongue and that whole Chamber of Secrets nonsense."

"Though, he did slay the Basilisk and save the school," another, typically Luna or Hermione, would innocently say, a fake look of frustration splayed on their features.

"All a ploy. I mean the Headmaster wouldn't have allowed such a Dark monster to live at the school. Right?"

"And then those special privileges. I mean a Quidditch player as a first year? Dark magic for sure."

"Odd that the Headmaster would have allowed such a thing if it was so obvious that an eleven year old was Dark though."

"Well what about the TriWizard Tournament? He had to have been doing Dark Magic, right?"

"The Headmaster would never have allowed it. I mean, the Headmaster wouldn't put his students at risk just for the sake of one. Right?"

"Unless, the Headmaster didn't know?" This would be voiced with the hesitancy of someone unwilling to believe that such a beloved man would ever sacrifice others. Neville usually had this line because coming from the bumbling, shy Gryffindor the seeds of doubt were more believable. "But he's the Headmaster, he'd have to know that one of his students was Dark from the start. Because, Potter has to be Dark, right. Because the Headmaster says so."