Chapter 172: Chapter 172: Suspicions

Chapter 172: Suspicions

21^st December 1995, Hogwarts Earth 2

(Harry Potter POV)

“I’m a lot more out of shape than I thought. You’re very impressive, pup, like seriously, you’d probably beat half the Auror recruits in my day. Sayre’s been doing some good work with you. I can’t believe you’re just a fifth year. Why don’t we make this a daily thing until you go back to school? I could definitely use the work out, and I could teach you a few new tricks.”

Harry smiled at his godfather, “I’d like that.”

The dueling session took out every piece of aggression that was in his mind. It was a good way to cope. And maybe he didn’t have his parents back like Neville, but looking at Sirius’ grinning face, maybe it was time to move on with his life. The dog Animagus knew exactly what he needed to calm down, and maybe having a godfather like Sirius would be enough for him.

The rest of the Christmas holidays were spent in a more cheerful manner. Harry’s jealousy over Neville’s second chance with his parents slowly turned into guilt which, in turn, started to fade days later. Harry was more than happy with just Sirius, and his godfather seemed to have similar thoughts.

For the first time ever since he had seen him, Sirius looked happy, carefree, and truly content with himself. There was none of that wildness that was not quite suppressed during the summer, there was none of the pent-up aggression that was bubbling down threatening to erupt at anyone. The daily dueling sessions worked wonders in calming the former inmate down, and it did help him regain a bit of his former abilities as a fighter. Sirius had destressed so much that the dog Animagus had even stayed civil with Snape when the Potions Professor came to Grimmauld Place for an Order meeting and was visibly trying to antagonize his host.

Speaking of Snape, Harry still didn’t know how to deal with the revelation of his former friendship with his mother and his father’s treatment of him. The young Gryffindor still didn’t like him one bit; the way he treated his students, especially Harry, showed how childish the man was, and his reasons were even more petty. Hogwarts houses might matter now, but after graduating, they don’t mean much. So, seeing someone who should be considered an adult, being visibly antagonistic towards certain houses made him incredulous.

Perhaps, Snape was right to hate Harry’s father, and that’s absolutely alright. Sirius had told him some of the pranks that they played on Snape and some of them were straight up malicious. Severus Snape has every right to hate the Marauders with a passion. But there has to be a limit.

He was a man stuck in the past, trying to relive his school years through his students, trying to imagine getting revenge on a dead man through his son. No matter how much Dumbledore said that he trusted the Potions Master, Harry didn’t think that he would ever be able to do so.

Now, onto lighter topics, Harry was finally getting back to Hogwarts. The last Potter hated the fact that he was going to leave Sirius alone, but he was confident that the man would cope with it.

As for the rest of the Order, the biggest news was the Longbottoms’ recovery, which was plastered on the first page of the Daily Prophet when it was announced. Every single Order member that participated in the last war was absolutely ecstatic, and then as usual Ron started blabbing about being there when they woke up.

What followed was an interrogation from Moody, who seemed to be suspicious of his friends returning, for some reason. Maybe he thought that they were moles trying to infiltrate the Order or something, Harry didn’t know for sure what went on in that mad man’s head.

Of course, in a typical Ron like fashion, a couple of days later, he was exaggerating what happened to the Longbottoms so much, that it seemed like he was one push away from claiming to have healed them himself, and not just having been in the room.

But now, it was time to return to the castle. Harry was most excited about his lessons with Sayre, especially concerning Parseltongue; the book he had gotten for Christmas had fascinating implications on the use of the tongue of snakes.

When they got onto the train, Ron and Hermione went to the prefect compartment, and Harry was left alone. The last Potter, bored out of his mind, just decided to sit down and read his book. Surprisingly enough, he was interrupted by the compartment door opening, revealing one Daphne Greengrass.

The girl would have looked emotionless, if it wasn’t for the small upward tilt of her mouth, “Hello, Potter.”

“Daphne. Had a good Christmas?”

The Greengrass heiress nodded, “Yes, my family and I went to Paris for a few days. It was quite relaxing.”

Harry shrugged, “I didn’t do much, just stayed at home.”

Daphne’s eyes seemed to glimmer, “Nothing eventful at all? Not even in a certain magical hospital?”

Harry gulped, “How do you know about this?”

The young Slytherin snorted, “Harry, everyone knows about the Longbottoms. I just assumed with how close you are to Dumbledore; you would know more about it.”

Harry nearly burst into laughter at that, “Me? Close to Dumbledore? Don’t make me laugh. If you add up how much time I spent with him in my life, it wouldn’t be more than an hour. Trust me, when it comes to Dumbledore, I don’t know any more than you do.”

“But you do know about the Longbottoms…”

Harry sighed, “That was a coincidence. I was at Saint Mungo’s visiting Ron’s dad when I saw them. They were healed in front of me. I still have no idea how that happened.”

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Daphne hummed, “So, just one second they were crazy and then they were suddenly better?”

Harry just shrugged, “It was like they were starting to get some clarity. I’m happy for Neville, but they’re still a long way from recovering. The Cruciatus had a lot of side effects on their bodies, like the constant tremors and nerve damage. It’s going to take a long while for them to get back to who they were before, if they ever do.”

Daphne looked contemplative for a second, “It was Sayre, wasn’t it?”

Harry looked shocked at that and stammered, “Why… Why do you think that?”

“It’s always her. Every time something rocks the boat, every time something unexpected happens, it’s always her. First with Umbridge, and then with the Ministry, my sister, and now the Longbottoms… She’s the center of it all. I know that the Dark Lord is back, but even the Death Eaters are unsettled for some reason. Something is happening, something big, and it all comes down to her.”

“You’re exaggerating Daphne. She’s our defense professor, not some super mastermind.”

Daphne shook her head, “No, that’s different. You’re not seeing the big picture. No one is, and that’s the problem. Sayre, in her time as a professor, had somehow, destabilized Fudge’s hold on the Ministry, and denies any relation to Dumbledore’s faction. The Dark Lord is wary of her; Death Eater parents have asked their children to observe her carefully. She healed the Longbottoms in response to the Azkaban breakout. It was like spitting in the Lestranges’ faces at once. Whatever she does, always has high reaching consequences. I’m just waiting to see what will happen next, and I’m also a little scared.”

“Hey, I never said anything about her healing the Longbottoms.”

“But you didn’t deny it. She healed my sister too, you know. After more than a decade of healers, centuries of research, she just took a look at my sister and knew what she had, and how to heal her. She’s the only person who could have healed the Longbottoms.”

Harry sighed, “Fine, she made a deal with Neville that if he impressed her, she would heal his parents. But that doesn’t mean that she is planning something bad.”

“Exactly, why now? That’s the question. She could have waited for years and leveraged her position over the Longbottoms. It’s the smart thing to do as a politician. And she has a politician’s mind. My parents are still freaked out about the debt they owe her, especially since she hadn’t asked for anything. We’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“Daphne, just get straight to the point, what are you getting at?”

Daphne sighed, “I don’t know. I’m just telling you to be careful. You two are close. I just want to know if there’s a chance that she might be a danger to my family. That’s the problem, no one knows a single thing about her. I don’t think even you do, and trust me, we looked everywhere, used every connection, turned over every rock, and came up with nothing. I want to know if my parents are going to be pressured into a third side in the coming war. Because if she’s going to be fighting both the Dark Lord and Dumbledore at the same time or join one of them. Harry, you have to realize that her coming here to Hogwarts can’t be a coincidence, especially with the war coming up. Magical Britain is ready to explode, soon, and everyone knows it.”

Harry was starting to get pissed off, “Daphne, enough with the political talk. What do you want?”

The young Slytherin sighed, “Nothing, I was just thinking out loud. I’m worried, you know. Sayre could ask pretty much anything from my family after what she did with my sister. And she’s a complete unknown.”

Harry could understand this; Professor Sayre has always been different. It was weird to convey it in words. She had this aura of wisdom about her, of silliness, one that reminded Harry of Dumbledore slightly. She always sounded experienced, sometimes she sounded old, sometimes she had the maturity of a child, but it always felt like these were masks, hiding the person that she is underneath.

Truth be told, Harry didn’t know much about Sayre, other than that Sirius knows her, and that she knew his parents. The dog Animagus seemed to trust her implicitly and wasn’t surprised by her involvement in healing the Longbottoms. Maybe he should send in a letter to Sirius for a better clarification. It would help clear both his mind and would help reassure Daphne’s worries.

Harry was sure that his professor wasn’t evil or anything, that she didn't want to take over the world or something as asinine, but Harry had always wondered why she did the things she does, why she chose to help Neville with his studies, why she chose to teach Harry how to fight.

Maybe he’s overthinking this, maybe the woman is just a nice person who wanted to help her students, but she didn’t seem to do the same for other students in the castle. But if only for his piece of mind, Harry was going to ask Sirius for more information.

Sayre had always said that she was on neither the Ministry’s side nor on Dumbledore’s. She’s definitely not on Voldemort’s, considering how much she’s disgusted by him. So, which side is she on?

These questions raced in Harry’s mind as he started to analyze every single meeting, he could remember with the defense professor. A cough interrupted his train of thoughts, “Harry, you haven’t said anything for a few minutes.”

Harry looked at his companion, “Daphne, sorry, I think there’s someone I could ask about Sayre, but even then, I don’t think you’ll have to worry too much about her. She might be mysterious, but you can’t deny that she’s a good person.”

Daphne sighed, “I know. This is all speculation, just in case something happens. Just try to find out what you can, and be careful…”

Harry nodded, and the Slytherin got up, “And Harry,” she smiled at him, “thank you for the gift. The locket was beautiful.”

Daphne turned around and left the compartment, leaving Harry deep in his thoughts.

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