THE LIGHTNING LORD

Chapter 25 : Spy network ?

It was now the middle of January and Hedwig still hadn't returned. Harry was beginning to get worried and before he was about to get hysterical, Hedwig arrived at night on the 16th of January with a letter. Harry sighed and stroked her feathers. "You gave me a fright girl. I was so worried. But you did an amazing job. Go get some rest. I'll make sure to save you some crunchy bacon tomorrow morning" he said to the bird.

Hedwig hooted tiredly and headed to the Owlery to get some well-deserved sleep. Harry opened the letter and smiled.

Dear Lord Potter,

It is a pleasure to correspond to the decedent of William and Isabel Potter, as they were both exemplary students of ours. But we would like to get to the point and confirm that no property of ours has been taken. Albus had requested the stone to study it, but let me assure you that it is not the real one. He is not the first person to try to take the artefact away for his own gain, not will he be the last.

We also greatly admire your character. You had the opportunity to steal the object believing it to be genuine, but you chose to contact us instead. You are a very interesting boy, Lord Potter and we look forward to more letters from you in the future.

Speaking about something interesting, your owl is very special indeed. We have strong anti-mail wards around our home and we were shocked to find this beautiful snowy owl holding a letter. We have allowed her into the wards so that we can keep in contact. And please write to us in the future. It is difficult to find smart, idealistic boys these days.

Best Regards,

Nicholas and Perenell Flamel

PS: We already knew about Albus's trap before we received your letter. Here's a tip for you from two old mentors, start working on a spy network. You can never start too early.

Harry thought about the spy network. The Potters had impressive devices to spy on people. Both the Potters and the Blacks had a knack for taking out their opponents. The Blacks were feared because they were known assassins, but no one could pin the blame on them as there was no evidence. But the Potters didn't bother with killing for they robbed their opponents until the other party was destitute instead. The best part was that no one even now knew or even suspected that the Potter family was behind it. There were large vaults in Potter Castle filled with treasures from enemies and what no one realised was that both families relied primarily on house elves.

House elves had their own brand of magic and could not be easily tracked by wizards. They used this to their advantage to track down their enemies. This was the primary reason behind the large number of elves bonded to the Potter family. Elves needed the bond, it was the only way they could survive and reproduce. Without the bond with a witch or wizard, they would grow weaker and die.

But right now, that wasn't his concern. He was extensively training in the Room of Requirement for the upcoming U-13 Duelling Championship. He showed Daphne the room and she was all for it. It gave her a place to study and at the same time watch him train. He had started teaching her some defence spells as well. She had received some hate mail and howlers after Skeeter's article, the loudest one from Molly Weasley and he didn't want her to be defenceless against them. This resulted in him also training her in Occlumency.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - TIME SKIP - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The rest of the school year went by without any problems. He was still the best in class; Horace Slughorn was still praising him and buttering him up; his training continued and the final exams were rapidly approaching. What else happened was that Harry and Daphne's relationship continued to deepen and now considered each other as best friends as well.

On Daphne's birthday in March, Harry took her to the Room of Requirement. "Close your eyes" he said to her and opened the door to the room.

Daphne, amused by his antics decided to humour him. Harry stood behind her, covered her eyes with his hands and gently led her inside the enchanted room. Daphne couldn't help but smile at Harry's effort in making it a special birthday. She could feel his warm hands on her face and it gave her Goosebumps. They may be betrothed, but Harry was also her best friend and that made her heart swell. She may be friendly with others in their year, but she considered all of them to be friendly acquaintances and she knew it was the same for Harry as well. It was quite shocking how close they had become since Yule. Unknown to her, because of the vow she had made to Harry, magic itself was helping them form an unbreakable, intimate bond with each other.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now" said Harry softly in her ear. Daphne opened her eyes and gasped. It looked like she was standing on the top of a very high cliff and there were fireworks in the sky above. She had to admit it was a very beautiful sight. Just then, another bunch of fireworks exploded in the sky, forming the words 'HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAPHNE' in the air.

"You did all of this for me?" she whispered with tears in her eyes. While her parents and Astoria celebrated her birthday with her, no one had ever done anything so special for her. She had never expected Harry to do anything of this sort as they didn't know each other so well. After all, they had met only last September, and there was no need for him to go that extra mile to make it so special.

"Of course I did. You deserve it, Daphne. You may be forced to marry me, but I promise you that I would go to the ends of the earth to make you happy. It may sound very cliché, but I sincerely mean it. If not for this contract, you probably could have found a guy who truly deserves you. But instead, you ended up with, with a freak like me" he whispered silently, looking away from her.

Daphne stood there stunned, but her instincts took over. She grabbed Harry in a hug. He stiffened as usual, but his arms slowly went around her waist. After a minute, she pulled back slightly and cupped his cheek and said, "Listen to me very carefully Harry. You are not a freak! Forget what those stupid muggles told you. You are a very special boy. I never realised you had self-confidence issues; you do such an amazing job of hiding it. But it isn't necessary."

"Harry I have watched you duel. You are way ahead of your peers. You said that if not for the contract I could have found someone better. And pray tell who that person is? I assure you there is no one better! Harry have you looked in a mirror lately? You are considered by almost the entire student population as one of the most handsome boys in the school! And you're only eleven! So tell me, who could be better?"

"Let me also make one thing very clear. We may be forced to get married to each other but that does not mean we have to live happy lives. We could have chosen not to talk to each other and just tolerate each other for life. But we chose not to do that and decided to accept each other. You don't have to do anything special for me because you feel obligated to or because of guilt. I'll accept any special gestures only if your heart is in it. Do you understand me?"

Harry smiled slightly and said "Yes ma'am". Daphne chuckled, kissed him on the cheek softly, rested her head on his chest and hugged him tightly. Harry blushed madly but decided to enjoy the moment.

At the end of the year, Harry practically sailed through the exams and as usual, stood first in their year while Daphne and Padma Patil were tied for second and Hermione Granger took the place of third. Hermione was furious that she had not come first, but no one paid much attention to that. While Slytherin managed to win the Quidditch cup much to Gryffindor's dismay, Ravenclaw managed to win the House Cup because of all the points Harry had been awarded during the year. There was a huge celebration as Ravenclaw hadn't won the cup for many years now.

On the last day, when they got into the train, Harry smiled when he realised that he was finally returning home; he was returning to Potter Castle after finishing his first year at Hogwarts.