Unknown Prophecy

Chapter 16

“You okay there, Ron?” Harry asked, pretending to care about his well-being. Harry continued to tug his trunk in a way that threw off what little balance he had.

“Yeah,” he grunted as his shoulder banged hard into a door frame as they made their way toward the back of the train.

“You seem to be limping,” Harry said, sliding open the door of an empty compartment and leading Ron in. Once in, Harry lifted his trunk like it was nothing and stuffed it in the overhead bin.

“Oh … I hurt my leg a while back,” Ron told him truthfully. The next part was less so. “You see, I was out exploring one night and a whole group of Dementors came after me. I jumped on my broom and flew as fast as possible. I dodged between the trees and whipped between houses. Just as they were about to grab me, I shot high up in the air. Of course, they followed after me. I flew so high that I even passed through the clouds!” Ron bragged, very excited to be talking to Harry Potter about his “adventures”.

‘Soon the papers are going to read RON WEASLEY AND HARRY POTTER SAVES HOGWARTS FROM FIRE BREATHING DRAGONS!’ Ron happily thought to himself. ‘Then I’ll have all of the fame and gold that I deserve!’

“Really?” Harry asked as he sat down. He didn’t know what Ron was going to do about his own trunk, and he really didn’t care.

“Yeah! I was brilliant. As they swooped in on me, I dove into a perfect Wronski Feint. All of the Dementors flew after me, and I expertly dodged their hands. Then … At the last second … I pulled up! They all slammed into the ground. I saved the day!” he declared. Harry raised an eyebrow.

“Then how did you hurt your leg?” he asked. Ron was brought out of his daydream. He seemed to forget that he was supposed to be explaining his injury before going off on a fantasy-filled tangent.

“Oh … Well … As I pulled up, my leg clipped a rock …” Ron thought quickly before his face lit up. “ … and I flew off my broom and hit the ground. Then as I lay there, injured and bleeding, the whole group of Dementors surrounded me!”

“Then what happened?” Harry asked him.

“I pulled out my wand and swung it around like Merlin! Golden dragon fire shot out of my wand and burned all of them to a crisp!” he proudly stated as he puffed his chest out. “They’re even talking about giving me an Order of Merlin!”

Harry whistled appreciatively. “That’s brilliant!”

“It is … isn’t it?” Ron smiled smarmily.

“You must be a true hero,” Harry said with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice. Ron didn’t seem to notice. He was too wrapped up in his moment of glory.

“Well, I don’t like to brag but …” he began before getting cut off by the compartment door sliding open. In came the Weasley twins, Fred and George. They were carrying Ron’s beat-up, old trunk between them.

“Here you go, Ronnikins!” Fred said, stuffing the trunk next to Harry’s.

“You almost forgot this,” George joined in, messing up Ron’s hair.

“GEROFFME!” Ron cried out as the twins rubbed his head until his carrot-orange hair was sticking up in every direction.

“Fred and George Weasley, at your service,” the twins said simultaneously and bowed to Harry.

“Harry Potter … Pleasure to meet you both,” Harry returned the greeting. The Weasley twins would be useful to have on his side … until he finally decided to punish them for their betrayal. It wouldn’t be smart to play his hand too early though. It wasn’t long before they left the compartment, leaving Ron to continue regaling Harry with tales of his heroics. Only a few minutes later, the train lurched and began moving. They were off to Hogwarts.

Seconds after leaving the platform, Harry began seeing faces through the window of his compartment door. Most of them happened to be girls sporting pink cheeks and worshipful gazes. ‘The Hogwarts experience is going to be so much better this time around,’ Harry thought as he waved to a group of third-year girls. They burst into giggles and ran away, allowing another group to take their place. Ron was getting annoyed at the amount of fans that he had. He would send the girls hateful glares, but the girls never noticed. They were too busy staring at Harry.

“ … and then I said, ‘Look here, fella! I don’t care how many wands you have pointed at me! I’m not handing over my sack of gold!’ … and then I started punching all of them …”

Harry was starting to get a headache from all of Ron’s bullshit. The boy wasn’t this bad the first time around. “I’m going to the loo,” Harry suddenly said, cutting Ron off mid-fantasy. He got up and slipped out of the compartment. Thankfully, there was a lack of girls hanging around his door. He did, however, see Cho Chang’s head sticking out of an opened door down at the end of the train car. She looked his way and blushed fiercely. Harry tossed her a handsome smile. He heard her squeak in embarrassment and quickly retreat back into her compartment. The door slammed shut. Harry softly chuckled as he moved down the train, checking out who was sitting in the furthest cars. He saw the Weasley twins with Lee Jordan, and the three female Gryffindor Chasers were in a compartment not far away from them. Harry took a quick peek. His eyes immediately zeroed in on Angelina. She was wearing a skirt that was bunched up and long, black socks that ended right before they reached her knees. Her light brown skin and budding body had his cock instantly hard. She was chatting away with Alicia while Katie flipped through a copy of Witch Weekly, which just happened to have his face on the cover. As Harry looked in, Magazine Harry looked up at him before glancing at Angelina’s exposed thighs. Magazine Harry then looked back at him and winked with a salacious grin. Harry answered back with a wicked smile of his own. It seemed that Harry and the magazine were on the same page. He slipped away before being spotted.

In the next car, there were even fewer students than before. As he made his way down to the far end, Neville Longbottom moved past him, calling out for his lost toad. Harry shook his head and moved on. In the last compartment of that car, Harry smiled as he saw the familiar bushy, brown hair of his former best friend. Hermione Granger was sitting in the compartment alone, reading through a large tome that Harry knew to be Hogwarts: A History.

Harry had gone over his plan for her a hundred times. Practically every time he did, his plan changed. There were times when he wanted to kill her with his bare hands. Fortunately for Hermione, she was quite gifted and would prove to be useful to him. However, he couldn’t just let her act on her own and trust that she wouldn’t betray him. From studying her over the last couple of years, he knew that she was a complete psycho. From her diary, Harry learned that she had been studying serial killers to determine how they had been caught. Apparently, most of them had become too brazen and self-assured. Hermione decided to come up with the perfect cover. She was to be the innocent bookworm who would never hurt a fly. Of course, that was only for show. The real Hermione Granger would cut your nuts off and have the House Elves serve them up for dinner.

Her attitude intrigued him. She could be very useful to him and his plans for the future. After all, Voldemort had Bellatrix. It was only fair that he had his own psychotic pet. The only problem was her loyalty. Harry had thought it over many times before deciding to go the Voldemort route. He was the only one able to give Bellatrix an outlet for her psychosis, and she loved him for it. Harry would attempt the same thing. He would obviously keep a close eye on her and track her every movement. If he had to, he could change his plans for her and secure her loyalty through less than legal means. That would be risky, but he would go that route if need be. Harry reached out and slid the door open before entering. As he did, Hermione looked up from her book. Her eyes immediately widened.

“You’re Harry Potter!” she chirped. “I’ve read all about you!” she said. Harry smiled and closed the door. He flicked his wand behind his back, casting a Compulsion Charm on the door to keep others away from the compartment.

“Good things I hope,” Harry replied.

“Oh, yes! You’re quite the hero,” she smiled. Harry could hear the disdain in her voice. She wasn’t a good enough liar just yet to hide her true feelings. In Hermione’s eyes, do-gooders were less than human and should be severely punished.

“I do get around,” Harry said, sitting beside her. He couldn’t rush this. Upon seeing that Hermione was his “friend”, Dumbledore would coerce her into spying for him. How long that would take, Harry didn’t know. He knew that it wouldn’t take long, however. Despite what the uninformed believed, Dumbledore couldn’t just look Hermione in the eyes and see all of her thoughts and memories. Passive Legilimency didn’t work like that. Although, he could see flashes of her memories if he used the proper spell. Harry wouldn’t put it past the old man to hit her with the spell and Obliviate the memory of it from her mind. Dumbledore would likely do something like this to make sure that she wasn’t some bumbling idiot like Ron. Harry guessed that that was the reason why she was chosen over the redhead. Ron was too much of an idiot and would likely spill the beans the first time he became angry at Harry. Because of this, Harry couldn’t do his own proper coercing until after Dumbledore got to her. To make the old man move first, Harry needed to show that Hermione was his friend, which wouldn’t be hard.

Even though Hermione was sick in the head, she was still human and craved friendship. She just couldn’t help but betray them. That was her nature, like the scorpion and the frog. She had an uncontrollable urge to hurt people and do bad things. Unbeknownst to her, that was a major reason why her life was being spared.

“I’m Hermione Granger,” she said, doing her best to act normal. Her act was pretty good, Harry thought. She already had years of practice acting like a good, little girl. “It’s nice to meet you,” she added with a smile.

“It’s nice to meet you as well,” Harry smiled back as he studied her face. From her diary, he found out that her prominent front teeth were actually a sore point for her. She had been made fun of since they had first grown in. The students in her school were actually quite ruthless with the insults. One little boy was particularly bad. Somehow, he ended up falling face-first onto the concrete floor. His jaw had been shattered and was wired shut until it finally healed. “You have a cute smile,” Harry told her.

The smile instantly left her face, and she suddenly looked defensive. “You don’t need to lie, you know,” she told him, slightly glaring.

“I’m not lying. You’re quite pretty. You have a great smile and big, pretty eyes.” Hermione rarely ever received compliments for anything other than schoolwork. Her cheeks instantly turned pink, and she turned away. She sighed.

“My teeth are way too large. Everyone always says that I look like a beaver,” she told him honestly.

“Look this way,” Harry said. Hermione’s head turned, and she looked at him. He whipped out his holly wand and silently pointed it at her. Hermione squealed as she felt something strange happening in her mouth. Her hand instantly went up and covered her mouth. Before she could get angry and yell, Harry conjured a hand mirror and held it up for her. Hermione gasped as she looked at herself.

“They’re perfect!” she said, amazed at what magic could accomplish. She kept her teeth together and spread her lips as though she were about to brush her front teeth. Slightly turning her head from side to side, she examined her newly shrunken teeth. “Is it permanent … or will they go back to normal?” she asked him, looking away from the mirror.

“Permanent,” Harry answered. Hermione examined herself again. This time she smiled into the mirror, staring at her reflection.

“Thank you, Harry. That was very kind,” she told him. To Harry, it almost sounded genuine, but with Hermione, one could never truly tell. Still, Harry played the part.

“You’re welcome.”

“How can you do magic so well?” she suddenly asked. “I tried some simple stuff at home before reading about the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery,” she admitted, confused over the situation. “I stopped practicing after that.”

“Underage magic isn’t tracked prior to going to Hogwarts. The Ministry tracks underage magic by placing a Trace on you. If magic is being used around someone with the Trace, the Ministry will assume that it is the child doing the magic. Obviously, kids with magical parents can get away with it since they live in magical homes, and their parents are constantly doing magic. You, as a Muggleborn, won’t have that excuse,” Harry told her. Hermione’s face became twisted with indignation.

“But that’s not fair!” she declared.

“It sure isn’t,” Harry chuckled. “Anyway, most people don’t know it, but here in his country, the Trace is placed upon first-year students when they first enter the Hogwarts Express.”

“That means …”

“That as of right now, we both have the Trace on us,” Harry finished her thought. “To answer your earlier question, I’ve been doing magic for years now, and I’ve gotten very good at it,” he bragged. Harry held out his empty palm before a ball of light appeared. Hermione was enraptured by the sight of the ball of light changing shape. It morphed into a small dragon before taking flight. Its small, glowing wings flapped while it circled overhead. After a few moments of this, it dive-bombed Hermione and blew fire made of light at her face. She squealed and tried to block her face, but both the dragon and the fire disappeared before it even reached her. Hermione looked at him with wide eyes. Harry saw pure greed in her pretty, brown eyes. She wanted his powers for her very own.

“I’m not going to stop practicing magic over the summer either. I don’t plan on waiting to turn seventeen for the Tracing Charm to naturally break,” Harry told her.

“But won’t you get into trouble?” she asked.

“Yes … unless someone already knew how to break the Trace early,” Harry smirked. Now he had her full attention.

“You know how to break the Trace?” she asked, desperate for the knowledge.

“I never said that,” Harry smirked. “Such a thing would be illegal.”

“C’mon, Harry! Please tell me,” she begged in a cute voice. When Harry looked at her, her eyes were big and shiny. It was the cute look that he had seen her use on adult men to get whatever she wanted. She scooted closer to him and placed her hand on his forearm. “You can trust me.”

Harry refrained from snorting out loud and smiled at her. “Even if I could do something like that, it would be saved for only my closest friends and allies … But who knows, maybe you’ll end up being one of them …” Harry told her, leaving that carrot hanging. The greed in her eyes was as clear as day. Hermione wanted power, and she was desperate for it. Being able to use magic outside of school seven years early was huge in her eyes. She wanted it. She wanted it badly, and Harry knew that she would do anything for it. There was no doubt in his mind that she would be glued to his side for the time being. Before either of them could continue, the door slid open.

“There you are!” Ron’s annoying voice echoed through the small compartment. He walked in uninvited. “I’ve been looking everywhere for you,” he said, sounding annoyed. Hermione looked at him with a sour expression. It was obvious that she didn’t like what she saw.

“And you are …?” she asked, looking as though she didn’t really care who he was, which was likely the truth.

“I’m Harry’s best mate!” he said proudly, puffing up his chest.

“Is he really?” Hermione turned to Harry and asked.

“He likes to think so,” Harry smiled.

“Let’s go back to our compartment, Harry,” Ron said, looking at Hermione. It was clear by the way he said “Harry” that Hermione wasn’t invited. “We can talk more about my adventures!” Harry rolled his eyes and turned to Hermione.

“Why don’t you come and sit with us, Hermione?” Harry made sure that she knew that she was invited. Ron’s face became surly-looking. Hermione, on the other hand, smirked at Ron and smiled at him in a sickly-sweet fashion.

“I would be delighted, Harry.”

She hopped to her feet and stood on her tip-toes to try and get her trunk down. Harry, however, towered over her and easily managed to get it down all by himself. She looked impressed.

“You sure are strong,” she truthfully said. “My trunk is full of books. It’s so heavy that two Prefects had to help me put it up there.”

“I’m strong too!” Ron joined in, glaring at Hermione. “Watch! Harry, let me show you …”

Ron yanked the trunk from Harry’s grip. Immediately, it was obvious that it was too heavy for him. The handle slipped from his grip and the corner of the heavy trunk came down directly on his big toe.

“AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGH!” he cried out in tremendous pain. He hopped around on one leg, holding his damaged foot. Unfortunately, because of his previous injuries, his hopping ended prematurely. His leg buckled, and he fell over, banging his head on the bench seat.

“UGGH! Wha … happen …?” Ron asked, dazed.

“Just great!” Hermione huffed, looking down at the crumpled mess that was Ronald Weasley. “He drooled on my shoe. Gross!” Hermione wiped her shoe off on Ron’s pant leg. “Anyway … lead the way, Harry.”

Harry chuckled and led Hermione to his compartment. After getting her settled, Harry called for a Prefect and told them where Ron could be found. ‘This first year is already shaping up to be more amusing than the last one,’ Harry thought as Hermione sat down so close to him that their legs were touching.