The Dark Lord's Literary Appreciation Society

Chapter 20: The (Not-so) Forbidden Forest

Harry sighed. He knew he would again be getting yelled at a lot for the things that happened in this chapter. He really wasn't looking forward to it, especially since none of it had been his fault, exactly. McGonagall had assigned the detention, Hagrid had carried it out, Draco had been mucking around, and Voldemort had attacked him. The most dangerous part he'd had to play was sitting on a centaur's back. As that centaur had only recently saved his life, it had seemed like a logical and safe choice.

Nevertheless, he braced for the eventual squawking he would have to endure.

"They won't say anything, Harry," Corvinus glanced his way. "They have nothing to complain about in your actions, unless something happened I don't know about." His voice lifted toward the end, indicating a question, but not demanding an answer.

Harry shrugged. "They'll still blame me. They always do."

"Harry," Corvinus voice was low and serious. Harry lifted his eyes to meet the other man's. "They won't say anything," he repeated. "They won't say anything at all. Not to you."

Oh. Harry offered a small smile and a nod of thanks, ignoring the fluttering of his stomach and the twitch in his fingers.

Corvinus returned the smile, and Harry's heart seemed to beat double time. "I suppose they'll have a thing or two to say to me, though."

"You were really scary," Harry offered, trying to surreptitiously wipe his damp palms on the arms of his chair.

"I am a Dark Lord," Corvinus' smirk should be outlawed. That's all there was to it. "It's sort of expected."

"Right," Harry nodded. "I look forward to hearing you explain that to Severus and Bella."

Corvinus glanced out at them. "And Narcissa," he added with a grimace. "Ah well, a bridge we will cross when we reach it, hm?" He waved his hand and the book began the next chapter.

...Things couldn't be worse

"Oh Merlin, Potter," Avery rolled his eyes. "That's a bit dramatic, isn't it?"

"I was eleven," Harry smirked. "It felt pretty dire at the time."

...of trouble this time.

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, there was a reason for that."

Corvinus glanced at him, "A reason?"

"Yeah, I couldn't see how to avoid trouble because there really wasn't any way to do that." He paused in thought for a moment. "I mean, I suppose we could have stunned Filch and made a run for it, but that seemed a bit drastic."

Corvinus was obviously repressing a smile. "Probably better to just accept the detention at that point."

"Ya think?"

...except for classes.

"Why is that, Professor?" Theo glanced at Snape. "It would be helpful to have access for study sessions."

"The astronomy professor or a Head of House would have to be there, Mr. Nott," Severus answered. "In the early seventies," he paused and cleared his throat. "A student fell from the tower. You are not permitted to be there without a responsible adult to prevent further tragedies."

Harry frowned. He looked sharply at his professor, and then around the room at those who might have known what happened. They all looked haunted. He clenched his jaw and figured that the student who fell might not have fallen accidentally. It would also explain why the dormitory windows in Gryffindor tower would only open three inches for a breeze.

...he was wrong

Avery grinned. "Ah, let that be a lesson to you, young Potter. Things can always, always be worse."