Death is but the Next Great Adventure

Enemies of the Heir Be-Square

In the last chapter: Harry, Remus, and Sirius go to Diagon Alley to get Harry's school supplies. There, Harry sees Lucius slipping Ginny a diary and wonders what he's up to. Remus and Sirius mourn Harry's upcoming departure for school and have a serious chat about a rather possible and difficult future for their little ward. On the train back to Hogwarts, Harry has an encounter with a certain pair of twins and catches sight of their little sister, who seems different from the last time he'd seen her.

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The year started off without much fuss. Harry's second year at Hogwarts ushered in a new sense of excitement and diligence.

Chatter about Harry's new guardianship had died down significantly since the beginning of the summer, but with Harry's return, people suddenly seemed to remember why they'd been so hyped up in the first place. The rumors and gossip slowly trickled back into the student populace as time went on. Almost eclipsing the dual dread-excitement at the new DADA professor being the renowned author, Gilderoy Lockhart.

Harry tended to ignore it, as he was slowly (and painfully) becoming used to being quite the spectacle to the Wizarding World. His friends, however, were having a harder go at pretending it wasn't happening. For the first time, they were able to see Hermione's rather nasty temper in the face two fifth years who hadn't bothered lowing their voices when Harry and his friends turned the corner, betting on the extent of Sirius's trauma and how 'batty' he was now.

There also may have been some dog jokes thrown in there, considering everyone now knew about Sirius's animagus form from the trial.

Hermione had stomped right up to the two fifth years and released the unholy flood gates that was a young Ravenclaw scorned. It was actually quite impressive watching as Hermione tore down the two upperclassmen verbally with such intensity. She didn't curse once, but there were plenty of exclamations of how pathetic they were and how they had no right to say what they had about Harry and his Godfather considering list 'A' through 'Z' of reasons why their own families were facing troubles and they should show some common decency for other people.

By the end of the verbal flaying, both boys looked positively queasy and ready to bolt. Harry had been inspired by Hermione's rant, so when the pair turned, ready to bolt, Harry decided to dish out his own form of retaliation. Using wandless magic, Harry yanked down both of their trousers before sending a nasty stinging hex at their behinds, causing them to yelp and jump as they ran, which inevitably resulted in them tripping on the trousers around their ankles.

One of the boys had been in the middle of trying to pull up his trousers, so he fell straight onto his face. It was apparent by the immediate flood of blood and the bruised, swollen bulb on the bridge of his nose that it had broken.

The other boy had tried to catch himself with one hand as one reached for his trousers. The second boy was unluckier than the first, since the moment he landed, a sickening crack echoed through the hallway followed by the boy's groan of pain. The bones of his wrist shattered on impact, leaving his hand hanging limply in front of him.

Both injuries would be a quick and easy fix after a trip to Pomfrey's, but they would surely hurt on the way over there. It had been more about hurting their dignity than causing damage to their bodies. Harry didn't enjoy causing pain, but sometimes, the only way to get a dog to stop biting you, was to bite it back.

"You're dead meat Potter! We won't forget this!" The one with the broken nose cursed at Harry as the pair picked themselves up from the ground. His voice was nasally and clogged from the injury, and his eyes were brimming, but his threat was no less serious.