❝𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗼𝗻 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗸𝗲?❞
❝𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦.❞
𝗛𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗣𝗢𝗧𝗧𝗘𝗥 had a few, perhaps a little or more than a palm of qualms in his life. First up was the whole "The Boy-Who-Lived" shenanigans, then there was an ungodly am...
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XLVI. STRAWBERRIES AND BROOM POLISH, YOU KNOW
━━━━━━
"What if I roll the stone away?
They're gonna crucify me anyway"
MARJORIE COULDN'T SAY THAT DEFENCE Against the Dark Arts was much of a success, but it did go better than she expected. The moment class ended, Marjorie bade Daphne a simple goodbye, and didn't waste a second more but to catch up to Harry and the others.
"That was brilliant, Harry!" chortled Ron.
Marjorie, catching the tail end of Ron's praise, couldn't help but chime in with her own take. "Brilliant, you say? It's more like you're asking to be get murdered in the middle of the night," she quipped, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't it bad enough already that he's got a list of why he should murder you? Don't add another,"
"You really shouldn't have said it," said Hermione, frowning. "What made you?"
"He tried to jinx me, in case you didn't notice!" fumed Harry. "I had enough of that during those Occlumency lessons! Why doesn't he use another guinea pig for a change? What's Dumbledore playing at, anyway, letting him teach Defense? Did you hear him talking about the Dark Arts? He loves them! All that unfixed, indestructible stuff —"
"Well," said Hermione, her frown deepening, but there was also a furrowed brow of curiosity. "I thought he sounded a bit like you."
At that, Harry looked both appalled and offended.
"Like me?"
"Yes, when you were telling us what it's like to face Voldemort. You said it wasn't just memorizing a bunch of spells, you said it was just you and your brains and your guts — well, wasn't that what Snape was saying? That it really comes down to being brave and quick-thinking?"
Harry was so disarmed that she had thought his words as well worth memorizing as The Standard Book of Spells that he did not argue.
"Harry! Hey, Harry!"
They wheeled around as Jack Sloper, Marjorie recognised as one of the Beaters on last year's Gryffindor Quidditch team, was hurrying toward them — well, more so Harry, holding out a roll of parchment.
"For you," panted Sloper. "Listen, I heard you're the new Captain. When're you holding trials?"
Harry took the parchment, his eyes narrowing as he studied the handwriting on the scroll. "I'm not sure yet," he said, his mind already weighing the possibilities. He privately mused that Sloper would be either really lucky or need to make a significant impression to secure a spot on the team. "I'll let you know."
