The Contract

Chapter 98

Flipping the journals closed, Harry sighed in satisfaction. The three two-way journals all belonged to different people. Corvus, Rabastan and of course, Sirius. There was one from his friends Sheikh Abd al Alim and his family, so that made four two-way journals altogether but he only had three out at the moment. If he wanted to write to anyone else, he would need to do it the normal way. He was glad to have these journals, it was so much better than having to traipse all the way to the Owlery to send of mail. Not only that but this way was very secure, even if someone succeeded in getting into his trunk, and opening the book, they wouldn't be able to see anything.

They'd be naught but empty books.

Scooping the three books up, already dressed for the day, he slid Rabastan's into his backpack and the others into his trunk. He and Rabastan spoke numerous times a day, while Corvus always left it until the evening just after curfew and spoke for a while before Corvus told him to get some sleep.

Shouldering his bag, he mentally made sure he had everything he'd need, glancing at his pocket watch he winced. His friends were going to go nuts again, they really disliked him appearing late. It's like they had a compulsive need to know where he was at all times. They were still adjusting according to Rabastan, they hadn't been able to help him when he needed it most. That had affected them whether they knew it or not. That the protectiveness would calm as their hypervigilance eased as well.

Sniggering softly, he left the Dormitory, his own section of the room by far the most neat and tidy. That's not to say his room mates were untidy, but Harry was used to keeping his area clean, one because it had been one of Corvus' rules, to keep his room clean and it was now habit. He'd take keeping his room clean over being beaten and forced to clean up after the Dursley's any day.

Walking down the boy's staircase, voices began to echo up, until he could hear them. Wondering why anyone was still in the common room. Ravenclaws were not one for hanging around when it came to breakfast and classes. Not unless they returned quickly to grab a book.

"How did a stupid loony like you end up in Ravenclaw?!"

"Loony Luna!" chortled another.

"Or better yet Loony Lovegood!" sniggered one of them.

Harry slowed a frown on his features as he tried to figure out who the voices belonged to. He didn't spend an awful lot of time around the girls, and they were definitely girls' voices. So, figuring out who was doing it was not going to work. He could hear the thudding of books and stuff falling on the floor. Like someone was emptying out their bag, pursing his lips, this was the actual first act of bullying he'd seen at Hogwarts. Not that he'd been around overly much, twice he'd been absent from school for extended periods of time.

Peering around the boy's staircase, he noticed three girls, he at least recognized them right away. Cho Chang, who was holding a letter (Luna's exam results) in her hand, she was on the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as a seeker. She was from all intents and purposes quite popular. She was with her best friend Marietta Edgecombe and Sue Li.

On the floor at their feet, not even attempting to defend herself, utterly resigned to the bullying she was undergoing, a blonde girl he couldn't quite recall her name. He spent most of his time at the Slytherin table with his friends after all. He couldn't recall her being sorted, was she a first year? Either way she was much younger than Cho and the others. Cho herself was fifteen-years-old. Shaking his head in dismay as he watched her tear the girl's parchment to shreds, then proceeded to do the same to her books.

Fury roared through Harry, his mind going to him being in that very same position. Dudley and his gang bullying, beating and tearing his books to shreds when he was in primary school. Wand out he flicked it, repairing the books, uncaring that the half the book she was still holding caused the other half to lurch up and catch her in the nose causing Cho to cry out as the sickening crack of her nose cartilage breaking.