Hunter

Chapter 3

It was exactly one week into the semester, and Harry had already moved all of his things into an abandoned tower and had found a place to practice his aim. He no longer slept in the Gryffindor Tower, not after he found a house elf going through his trunk on Dumbledore's orders.

He had learned from second year not to keep anything valuable in his trunk. It was all in his bag, which he kept on him at all times. His trunk was just for school, and easily replaced if necessary. Harry fully believed in being prepared, and part of that meant being ready to leave the school without notice.

It wasn't like he would miss school after all, and he already had everything he needed to live in the real world as he like to think of it.

~

Umbridge looked at the Gryffindor fifth years with barely contained glee. Potter was missing, and it gave her a reason to give him detention without coming up with something!

"Where is Mr. Potter?" she asked sweetly. It was enough to make the children gag.

"He said he wasn't going to waste time with someone who obviously has no idea what they were doing," answered Hermione.

"He is not a Ministry-approved teacher, and he has no excuse not to be in class," said Umbridge primly.

"Considering you aren't even going to let us practice spells, I can see why he decided it wasn't worth his time," said Ron loudly.

"Detention Mr. Weasley!" said Umbridge primly, then added, "And a week's worth of detention for Mr. Potter when I get my hands on him."

What she didn't count on was Harry borrowing one of the old brooms and using the 'alohomora' charm to get to class and avoid her. Since he didn't sleep in the Gryffindor Tower anymore and had the Marauder's Map, it was impossible for her to find him. And the fact he started to order food to come to his room direct made it very hard to catch him that way.

In fact it took three days for Hermione to successfully catch him in the library, and that was because she had gotten a permission slip from McGonagall to the Restricted Section!

"Yo. What's up Hermione?"

"What's up is that the Toad Bitch is torturing students with an illegal quill. Ron came back from his detention with words written in his own blood on his hand, and I know she's been putting first years through the same thing," said Hermione.

"Ah. I had hoped that she would spend all year trying to catch me instead, but apparently she's a multitasker," said Harry irritated.

"What do you plan to do?"

"Well considering McGonagall gave me permission to play my new favorite game called 'avoid the Toad', there's only one thing I can do."

"And that is?"

"Call in the expert."

"Who?"

~

"Hey kid, was wondering if you were going to call me or not!" said Loki far too cheerfully for Hermione's sanity.

"Hey Loki. Got a special case for ya! There's a woman in this castle torturing children with an illegal quill, and she doesn't seem to be falling for my little game of cat-and-mouse. I heard stories from the other Hunters that you have this habit of dealing with people like that and I figured you would have an idea of what to do with her," said Harry.

"Damn. How old are these kids?"

"Eleven, and she seems to be targeting those of non-magical birth or anyone who disagrees with the Ministry," said Hermione.