The Cupboard Series 2: Hermione's Book Nook

Chapter 32

Auror John Robards sighed as he lent against the stone wall. As expected, the corridor in both directions was deserted. As it would continue to be for the next twenty minutes or so. Then the current lesson would be over and dozens of Hogwarts students would come pouring either out of the classroom opposite or would appear from either end of the corridor heading towards their next class.

Surveillance and protection duty was never much fun. He'd done it before, usually for a businessman or a worker from the Ministry or that one time where he was assigned to a member of the Wizengamot. Each one of those times had been so much easier. Follow his assignee around from place to place, wait untold hours while the assignee did whatever it was that they did and then escort them home for the night where the night shift would take over.

Admittedly, his current assignment wasn't much different. He still was expected to follow his assignee around, escort them where they needed to go while keeping an eye out for trouble and then escort them back to their 'home' at the end of the day. But doing so at Hogwarts where there were hundreds of people intent on making his assignees' life miserable wasn't easy. Not by a long shot.

He'd lost count of the number of shield charms that he'd had to erect to block hexes or jinxs and even one or two curses. Once or twice, he'd even had to erect his shield to stop the hexes that his assignee had sent at his tormentors. The verbal sparring and bullying that he'd heard hissed or yelled at the boy had staggered him. There was always at least one when he was moving between classes, and anything up to a dozen at non class times.

A bell sounded and Robards shot to alert status. Giving his hand a shake, he made sure that his sleeve wouldn't foul up his wand if he needed to snap it into his hand from his wrist holster at a moment's notice. Suddenly, the classroom door slammed open and students in either red-trimmed robes or green-trimmed robes came streaming out of it.

He searched for the distinctive messy black hair and round glasses of the Boy-Who-Lived. Locking onto him, he began systematically sweeping the crowds as he turned to follow the boy. A number of Slytherins gave Potter murderous looks, none more vile than the one directed at him by the Malfoy boy.

As he strode down the corridor, he still couldn't make up his mind whether to thank his boss or to curse her into oblivion. When Madam Bones, the head of the DMLE had assigned him the task of protecting Harry Potter for the next month, he'd been the proudest auror in the department. Having this assignment on his resume was going to do wonders for him. Either that, he now decided after two and a half weeks, or send him bald from tearing out his own hair or straight to St. Mungo's with a stomach ulcer.

A small group of students surrounded Potter and his two ever-present friends and Robards sped up, ready for whatever action might be required. The three of them, he noted, wore the green-trim of Slytherin, sending him into higher alert, despite the fact that they were all girls. He saw the boy smile at the newcomers and he relaxed slightly. He noted that he'd seen these three with the boy before. In fact, he remembered sending in a report about them on his second day. They and their families had been investigated and declared to be on Potter's 'safe list'.

A sudden movement from a cross-corridor caught Robards' attention and he was moving before he'd even noted the raised wand.

Snapping his arm down, his wand shot out into his hand. Half a second later, his protego spell lit up in front of the group of six. With a slight clang a bright yellow spell bounced off and into the nearby wall. Before a second spell could be launched, Robards dropped the shield and swung into action. An expelliarmus, stupefy and incarcerous later, and the seventh year Slytherin was disarmed, unconscious and bound, awaiting the displeasure of the closest professor.