Midnight Protector | Harry Potter FanFiction

NINETEEN

The following morning was probably the most excruciating Harry could remember. Every wizarding publication had released a special edition covering Harry's speech that arrived during breakfast. The 'Daily Prophet' had a large picture of a confident looking Harry standing at the podium, silent words escaping his lips, covering half of the front page underneath a headline that read 'Savior Harry Potter Announces Peace Plan'. His speech was written word for word underneath his picture while editorials covered the rest of the paper. It seemed that every employee at the 'Daily Prophet' had an opinion and felt the need to publish it. Surprisingly, no one criticized a word Harry said.

'Witch Weekly', however, decided to broaden their criteria. On the cover was a picture of Harry staring off to the side for a long moment before his gaze fell and a soft smile appeared on his face beside large bold letters that read: 'Harry Potter, from The-Boy-Who-Lived to Our Protector and Savior'. Underneath that in flashing letters were the words 'Limited Edition'. Groups of girls crowded around anyone who received an issue, swooning and giggling every time a page was turned.

Harry seriously thought he was going to either die from embarrassment or pass out from the overabundance of 'uncomfortable' emotions he was picking up on. Either way, leaving the Great Hall as quickly as possible seemed to be an extremely good idea.

Classes were absolute torture. For hours at a time, Harry was trapped in a room with female classmates who lusted after him and male classmates who resented him. The two opposite emotions constantly battled for dominance every class, leaving Harry with one large headache by the end of the day. Frustrated, exhausted and in the middle of a migraine, Harry retreated to his rooms instead of the Great Hall for dinner. He really didn't think he could handle any more foreign emotions without passing out.

Regardless of the reason, Harry had to admit that he had never slept so soundly without the aid of a potion. The moment his head had hit the pillow, he had been dead to the world until he woke to sunlight filling his room the next morning. Truthfully, Harry could think of a number of better ways to get a full night of sleep. After all, feeling like your head was going to explode wasn't something Harry wanted to repeat on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, the day wasn't any better than the previous but for different reasons. All of the teachers seemed to have snapped out of their stupor and started taking points for any disruption in their class. This only intensified the attention Harry received when classes weren't in session. Eating in the Great Hall was certainly out of the question as well as spending any sort of time with a large crowd. Thankfully Ron and Hermione realized what was really happening and took it upon themselves to allow Harry to have as much space as possible. Ron had even threatened to hex a group of first years that wouldn't leave Harry alone and cursed a group of older Slytherins that took it upon themselves to mock the entire situation, earning him a day long detention on Saturday, a Hogsmeade weekend.

Ron accepted the detention proudly, claiming that someone had to do something since the teachers weren't. Professor McGonagall hadn't been pleased with the comment but also didn't correct his assessment. Besides, the only reason it was so bad for Harry was only because he was empathic, an ability that nearly the entire population at Hogwarts were unaware of.

Harry was rudely awoken at dawn the following morning by Hermione pulling off his bedcovers and nearly pushed out of bed. At first, Harry wanted to hex her into oblivion but, after he cleaned up and left his room, he was glad she woke him so early. The halls were practically empty as was the Great Hall. Harry couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief as he sat down and dug into breakfast. After the last two days, Hermione's concern was easy to ignore.

"I talked to Ron last night," Hermione said, finally breaking the silence. "He asked that we pick up some chocolate frogs and try not to have too much fun without him."