The Unknown: A Harry Potter Story

Chapter 23: Shaken Resolve

The next morning after everyone else left their dormitory, Harry explained to Jason what had happened. Harry and Hermione got caught after they dropped off Norbert with Charlie's friends, they left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tallest tower. Then when they were brought to Professor McGonagall's office they found out that Neville had snuck out to stop Malfoy from turning them in and got caught as well. The worst news of all was that in punishment, Harry, Hermione, and Neville were all given detention, and each lost fifty points for Gryffindor. Losing a total of one hundred and fifty points and dropping Gryffindor from first place to last.

Gryffindors passing the hourglasses that recorded the House points at breakfast thought there'd been a mistake. Almost everyone was sure there was a mistake. How could they have lost a hundred and fifty points in one night? Then the stories started. They varied wildly and each student would tell a different story, but every story had one thing in common. The famous Harry Potter and a couple of stupid first years lost all of the points.

Harry was suddenly the most hated person at Hogwarts. The Gryffindors all hated him for ruining their chance at winning the House Cup that year. The Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on Harry because they were longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. The only ones that seemed happy with Harry were the Slytherins, who whistled, clapped, and thanked him every time he walked by.

Jason and Ron both stood up for Harry, trying to convince him that it would all blow over eventually, but that only put them in the crosshairs of the rest of the school. Slowly but surely people stopped talking to Jason and Ron as they continued to associate with Harry. More than once, people had come to Jason and directly told him to stop talking to Harry or it would "ruin his image." At first, Jason outright ignored them, but the more people told him to and the worse people treated him, Jason did feel tempted at times to give Harry a wide berth until everyone forgave Harry.

Hermione and Neville were also miserable. They were less well known than Harry so they had an easier time than him, but none of the other Gryffindors were willing to talk with either of them. Hermione stopped drawing attention to herself in class, no longer answering questions, and hardly looking up from her work. Neville constantly looked like he was going to burst into tears at any moment. He was inconsolable and neither Jason nor Ron could cheer him up. Neville rarely even spoke to them when they tried to console him and completely refused to speak about what happened that night. From all Jason could tell, Neville was mad at Harry and Hermione and none of them were willing to talk about why.

Since no one was willing to talk to them anyway, Jason, Harry, Ron, and Hermione ended up keeping to themselves. They spent a lot of time studying in the library to avoid people. They spent hours upon hours memorizing ingredients in complicated potions, learning charms and spells, and reviewing dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions. If there was one good thing that came out of their situation it was that they were all on track to pass all their exams.

Jason was also partially glad they had started to focus more on their school life, as without their additional adventuring and sticking their noses where they didn't belong he was able to keep a more balanced schedule. Between studying for exams, Quidditch practice, and his dueling lessons with Professor Flitwick, Jason didn't have much more time he could have devoted to whatever trouble they would be getting themselves in any way.

Jason's life found a happy balance this way and there was no temptation to get into trouble. One day, about a week before exams, Jason sat in the library reading the book Professor Flitwick had given him in preparation for their lesson the next night and he had picked out a pretty interesting chapter. Next to him, he could hear Hermione testing Ron on Astronomy when Harry approached.

"Big trouble," Harry said, taking a seat next to Jason. "I just saw Quirrell leave a room. He was pale and on the verge of tears. When I checked the room he came from, another door to the room was open. I'm sure it was Snape. Professor Quirrell finally broke."