The Rise of a Dark Lord by LittleMissXanda

Chapter 11: Damned if you do, Damned if you don't

Notes:

Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling. No money is being made.

Beta: noirekitsune

A.N.: There were several people that didn't like the fact that Luna and Neville were in the court, they said that it made no sense, that they hadn't proven their worth so Harry shouldn't have accepted them. Well, I don't agree, you may not remember but Draco and Blaise hadn't done anything to prove their worth either, before they joined the court. Harry didn't even like Draco all that much. And the others accepted them so easily because Harry brought them, it's as simple as that. Harry made them re-evaluate their beliefs in blood purity, making them accept Neville and Luna would be a walk in the park for him, aside from that, they worship Harry, Harry could tell them that the sky is green and the grass is blue and they would believe him. Well, probably not, but you understand what I mean.

Chapter 11 – Damned if you do, Damned if you don't

It was the last Saturday before the students went home and it was the last visit to Hogsmead for that term, and Harry was walking towards the gates with his friends, when he was run over by a little blond missile.

"Luna." he murmured with a small smile.

Two weeks had gone by since the morning that they had found Luna, and they could already see the differences in her. She was still a bit dreamy, but she looked much happier.

Harry remembered perfectly well the reaction several girls in Ravenclaw had when Luna sat with them. Everyone in the Great Hall was surprised, well, shell shocked may better describe how they had looked, but only those girls in particular looked that enraged. It was also that same day that those girls proved that just because you were in Ravenclaw didn't mean you were smart.

As soon as Luna left the Great Hall and their presence, the girls followed her, something that didn't go unnoticed by any of them. Naturally they followed, and they arrived just in time to see one of the girls shove Luna against a wall.

The girls stopped as soon as they saw them, they tried to convince them that they had only been playing around, that they had been worried about Luna, of course Harry hadn't believed them, however he didn't let it show, and thanked the girls for looking after Luna. Convinced that they had gotten their way, the girls left, and as soon as their backs were turned, Harry cursed them.

It was an undetectable curse, and it was practically invisible while being cast, something for which he was grateful, it made cursing them without attracting their attention much easier. The curse would start working when they thought or talked bad about Luna, or when they thought or talked about hurting Luna, and it only started working three hours after being cast, and considering that he had no intention of being anywhere near them when that occurred, it would be almost impossible to blame him.

The curse itself wasn't one of the worst that he knew, but it was one of the safest that he could cast at school. Any time that they talked, or thought negatively, about Luna they would start to feel pain. At first it would be nothing bad, it would be as if they had been pricked with a needle, however the more they thought, or talked, about Luna the worse the pain got. First the amount of needle pricks would grow, until they felt that they were being pricked all over their bodies, and then the intensity of the pain would grow, until it felt like they were being poked with hot needles all over their bodies. According to the book, there was the possibility of the person subjected to the curse to go insane or even die because of the pain but Harry wasn't holding his breath, they were Ravenclaws, he guessed that they would eventually discover what was causing it and stop it.

However, the girls in question didn't appear to be the most intelligent, considering that the night before at dinner, two of the five girls he had cursed started screaming in pain and had to be taken to the Infirmary.