“So you’re supposed to eat with them.”
“Strangely enough, there aren’t rules on that.” Hari picked up his bowl of rice and began to eat.
“So I thought I would see what it’s like over here.” He leaned back, balanced on the bench and sighed.
Conversations started up around him and he enjoyed just letting them talk without even the chance of his involvement.
X
X
His afternoon was spent in a similar manner.
He wondered what the giant pipe-tunnel behind a girl’s bathroom was for, sealed with some sort of other-language password—snake?
Didn’t Uncle Pein speak snake?—but didn’t find it interesting enough to try opening it.
Instead, he found three routes from the dungeons to the kitchens, one of which led to the ovens.
Hari wasn’t sure about that.
He got the feeling that it probably had ended in a corner or something originally.
X
X
At dinner, Hari was sitting with the group that had somehow ended up stuck as his friends.
They were in the middle of a discussion of the house—specifically its lack of points and prospects for changing that state of affairs, when Hari suddenly stood up and trotted over to the double doors.
When they swung open, Hermione Granger found herself grabbed by the arm and towed to the Slytherin table.
She was surprised to find that her feet really didn’t touch the ground until she was standing in front of a bunch of green-trimmed people who looked even less happy to have her there than her yearmates in Gryffindor.
Pansy glared.
“What’s she doing here?”
Hermione looked at the hand holding her arm.
“Loathe as I am to agree with Parkinson .
.
.
I’m wondering the same thing.”
“Oh, right.” Hari pointed to Hermione.
“You guys always get so difficult about wandless magic.
I figured I’d show you her, since she can do it.”
Hermione blinked.
“We discussed it yesterday, don’t you remember?” Hari poked her forehead.
“It’s in there somewhere.”
“You mean the accidental magic?”
“You blew up a bathroom.”
“By accident.”
“So?
Now you just have to learn to do it on purpose.”
“But I’d get in trouble for blowing up bathrooms!”
“Firstly, if I’m anything to judge by—”
“You aren’t,” chorused his friends.
“—then you wouldn’t get points taken away, let alone anything else,” Hari finished, ignoring the interruption.
“Besides, I think you’re taking my words too literally.
I didn’t mean that you should learn to blow up bathrooms, just not rely on silly bits of wood.”
“But .
.
.
but wands are—”
“Irrelevant, yes,” interjected Hari.
Now sit down and have dinner.
Your first lesson is tonight in the common room, just after lights out.”
“But .
.
.
but .
.
.” Hermione was trying to pick a place to start.
“But I’m in Gryffindor.
You can’t have lessons in the common room.”
“Eh.” Hari sat down and picked up his chopsticks.
“That applies to other people.
I’ll see you after lights out.”
Hermione threw her hands up and stormed off to the Gryffindor table.
“Why do you want to teach her?” asked Daphne.
“Really?
Because I’m trying out a new teaching technique.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.
I’m going to ignore her objections and make her learn.” Hari smiled at his friends.
“If it works, I’ll use it on you guys.”
The others looked at each other and shared a shiver of dread.
“N-no need,” said Pansy.
“You don’t have to put yourself out,” added Blaise.
“It’s no trouble,” replied Hari.
He paused, eyes closed, and cocked his head.
“Incoming.”
Hermione stormed back over.
“Will you teach me to fight?”
“What?” Hari’s tone was surprised—something his friends had never heard before.
“Teach me strength.
I’m tired of being picked on!
I want power so no one can do that,” she pointed at the Gryffindor table where the younger years were jeering and the older ones just looked confused and suspicious, “to me again!”
Hari shrugged.
“Sure.” He looked over at Tracy and Pansy.
“Budge over.”
“No!” snapped Pansy.
She was suddenly shunted over.
“Wasn’t asking.”
Hermione sat slowly, a bit shell-shocked.
“That could be an issue,” commented Hari, head to one side.
“Her sitting here?” grumbled Pansy.
“The redhead idiot is suggesting that your roommates throw you—or at the least, your things—out the window tonight.”
“I hate Gryffindor,” snarled Hermione. You are reading on g.com, the official source.
Tears began to form in her eyes.
“I want out!”
Blaise smirked.
“Spoken like a Slytherin.”
Hari snapped his fingers.
“That’s an idea.”
“What is?” Blaise sounded wary.
In answer, Hari waved his hand and the trim on Hermione’s clothes shimmered, turning gold and red into silver and green.
“Welcome to Slytherin, Granger.”
Daphne blinked.
“I don’t think you can do that.” Hermione nodded through her stunned look.
“Is this going to turn into another of those arguments where you tell me I can’t do something and I do it?”
“No!” growled Hermione.
“But you really can’t change someone’s house.
Once the Sorting Hat Sorts someone, that’s it!
It’s in the rules and everything!”
“Ten points to Hari Potter for his extension of interhouse friendship,” called Dumbledore from the high table.
“I’m sure Miss Granger will be happy in her new house.”
“But .
.
.
but .
.
.” Snape began.
“That’s final, Severus,” said Dumbledore.
“The House Elves have already moved her things into the new dorm room.”
Snape grinned broadly.
“Maybe we’ll actually have some points!” he crowed.
“Or at least I’ll have points to take from Potter.” He began to dig into his food with greater enthusiasm as Minerva started to argue with Dumbledore to try and keep the single highest point-scorer in her house.
“That didn’t just happen,” declared Hermione.
“It did,” replied Pansy in a dark tone.
“An actual mudblood in the house.
What is Hogwarts coming to?”
“Its senses?” asked Tracy.
“She’s top of our year—well, not counting Hari.
But we don’t count him for anything reasonable.”
“You’ll get used to it,” Blaise took one of Hermione’s hands from across the table and patted it.
“I have a feeling you’re getting sucked into Hari’s orbit.
Reality has only a vague relationship with him and we’re on the outskirts of it.”
“So lessons tonight,” said Hari.
“School work can wait.”
“No it can’t!”
“Wasn’t a request.”
“You’re being awfully bossy today,” commented Daphne.
“Normally I don’t care enough.
But I’m going to be teaching Granger wandless magic.” He looked over at Hermione.
“Once I break you of your habit of thinking books are all-knowing.”