JB21Q
patreon
Bonded chapter 22
🕑 Added 2022-06-15 23:26:25 +0000 UTCChapter 22 - One door opens
'Where the bloody hell is he?' Harry mentally cursed as he walked down the halls of Hogwarts, trying to find one Remus Lupin, unfortunately, he was not able to find the teacher in his classroom or office or the great hall and now Harry was intent on walking through the whole school if necessary to find him.
'What are we going to do when we find him?' Venom asked.
'Not a clue,' Harry admitted honestly. 'I just need answers. Like where the fuck has this guy been all of my life and what the fuck was he thinking when he tried to kiss my mother, and then I'll either walk away or punch him...or both.' Harry told Venom just before they turned around a corner and spotted Malfoy walking in their direction along with Crabbe and Goyle.
"Oh great, it's Potter." Malfoy sighed, looking as if he had just stepped in cow dung. "I suppose it's bad enough that you have to stay in this castle, but do I really have to..."
"Get fucked, you gormless, limp-wristed, idle sod!" Harry impatiently cut off Malfoy as he walked past him and turned a corner before the blonde could respond, Harry was in no mood to listen to Malfoy's crap.
It was a minute later when Harry eventually found Professor Lupin, Harry had turned the corner and found himself staring at Lupin who was chatting with Tonks who Harry noticed was smiling up at the older man.
'That's our Tonks! You womanising bastard!' Venom indignantly roared in Harry's head.
Harry did his best to ignore Venom and walked over to Tonk and Lupin who both appeared to be discussing their jobs, Lupin was currently telling Tonks about a class he had earlier involving some first-year Gryffindors and Slytherins and how he had to do his best to prevent them from trying to hex each other. Lupin had trailed off when he and Tonks noticed had noticed Harry approaching.
"Wotcher Harry," Tonks greeted him with a smile.
"Hey Tonks," Harry greeted her warmly before turning to Professor Lupin. "Sir, I need to talk to you." He told the older man in a neutral voice.
"Does this have something to do with class?" Professor Lupin asked curiously. "I should let you know that I'm expecting great things from you, Mr Potter, I imagine most of your teachers do as well. Producing a patronus charm at your age is nothing short of extraordinary." He complimented.
"Yeah," Tonks quickly agreed. "I know plenty of aurors that can't do the spell, a few of the aurors around here told some of the other aurors and eventually word began spreading. I've heard that a ton of aurors are actually quite jealous because of you, they didn't like getting showed up by someone who is still a Hogwarts student." She finished and grinned at him.
"Thanks," Harry gave her a brief smile before turning back to Lupin. "And no, what I want to talk to you about doesn't have anything to do with class or school or anything like that."
"Oh?" Professor Lupin asked, looking confused. "Then what did you want to talk to me about?" He asked.
"I need to talk to you about some private business between the two of us," Harry began. "I have questions and you have the answers I need for those questions."
"I must confess, Mr Potter, that I don't really know what you're talking about." Professor Lupin frowned. "What private business do we need to discuss?"
"You can't think of anything?" Harry asked incredulously. "What about the fact that you knew my parents and didn't say anything?" He asked, earning a surprised look from Tonks and a shocked look from Lupin.
"Harry," Lupin began. "I..."
"Or how about the fact that you acted as if we've never known each other before?" Harry pressed on. "Oh, and here's a big one, how about we talk about why you tried to get my mother to cheat on my father with you?"
"H...how did you know that?" Lupin stuttered, looking a bit paler than before while Tonks stared in between the two of them.
"My mother left diaries," Harry lied. "and don't change the subject. You've got answers and I want to hear them."
"I...fine," Lupin let out a deep sigh. "I understand, are you willing to wait until after your next lesson with me before I give you those answers?" He asked, suddenly looking a lot more tired.
"Fine," Harry answered after a few moments of thinking. "But if I don't get my answers then..."
"You will," Professor Lupin cut him off. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go and prepare for my next class." He told them and walked away before anyone could respond.
"Well...that was awkward." Tonks helpfully commented once Lupin was gone.
"Sorry about that," Harry apologised to her, running a hand over the back of his head. "I was kind of hoping to catch him alone." He admitted.
"Don't worry, I've seen far more awkward things than that," Tonks said dismissively. "I once was working on this case with old Shacklebolt and we both caught a guy who had cheated on his wife with her mother-in-law and just as we burst into the door we found his wife and her mother-in-law catching him with his sister-in-law."
"That's a lot of laws," Harry commented.
"Almost as many as he broke," Tonks shrugged. "Anyway, like I was saying, that's nowhere near the most awkward thing I've ever witnessed. I hope you get the answers you're looking for." She added.
"Me too," Harry said, smiling at her. "So, how are you?"
"Fine, mostly," Tonks gave him another small shrug. "Still going through my daily routine, the kidnapping thing was quite annoying." She added, earning an amused snort from Harry. "What?"
"It's just the way you're so casual about being kidnapped," Harry explained with a smile on his face. "It made me imagine how Hermione would react."
"What do you mean?" Tonks asked in a confused voice.
"Whenever I joke about my near-death experiences she gets upset," Harry began explaining. "Like if I say 'it's a shame that bludger didn't kill me, I could've gotten off from doing homework,' she'd get angry with me for joking about what is 'clearly no-joking matter'."
"She's quite uptight, isn't she?" Tonks spoke carefully, not wanting to offend Harry.
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "She does have her good qualities, really, but yeah. She's not perfect."
"Not like us, eh?" Tonks grinned as she playfully nudged him.
"Yeah, exactly," Harry laughed. "We're both pure pinnacles of perfection."
"Ooh, nice alliteration," Tonks gave him a slow clap.
"Thanks, spent quite a lot of time with Professor McGonagall, picked it up from her." Harry grinned.
"Oh, she was always good at that," Tonks grinned. "I once heard her call a boy a 'bullying, bad-mouthed baboon'."
"You ever hear her call someone a 'petty, petulant piece of porcupine droppings'?" Harry asked.
"Once," Tonks answered. "Right before she called one girl a 'venomous little vicious viper'."
'What's wrong with being 'Venomous'?' Venom questioned.
"What did the Slytherin girl do?" Harry asked, ignoring Venom with practised ease.
"Oh no, it was a Hufflepuff," Tonks told him.
"Huh? Well, guess I'll go and reexamine my personal biases," Harry said after a short pause. "Though in my defence it was more because you had said 'viper' than anything else. Anyway, what did she do?" Harry asked again.
"Cheated on a test and got caught, twice, blames somebody else both times," Tonks told him whilst shaking her head. "Wasn't really smart enough to fool a ten-year-old teacher, let alone a pissed-off older one who had just spent the last hour undoing some idiot's attempt to turn himself into a dragon."
"Turn himself into a dragon?" Harry blinked.
"Yeah, ended up with scales instead of skin and fire kept shooting out from both ends," Tonks said, her lips twisting as she tried to not laugh as the memories she possessed of the event shot through her head. "Normally it wouldn't have taken her so long to undo it but he had tried a combination of spells and a potion to do it."
"Wow," Harry shook his head with disbelief. "Are you kidding me?" He asked.
"Nope," Tonks shook her head, popping the 'p'. "Professor McGonagall was furious with him, contacted his mother, the next morning Mrs Weasley sends a howler that ends up deafening half the school."
"Wait, Mrs Weasley?" Harry blinked. "This was one of Ron's brothers?"
"Charlie Weasley," Tonks answered. "The boy was obsessed with dragons, still is, last I heard he left the country to work on a dragon reserve."
"Yeah, Ron told me about him," Harry replied. "Still, that's a bit obsessive, don't you think?"
"A bit more than a bit," Tonks snorted. "He and I actually used to date before."
"Oh?" Harry shifted slightly. "Really?" He asked, for some reason his opinion of Charlie Weasley dropped down even lower.
"Yeah, but he was adamant about going to the dragon reserve, so it didn't really work out," Tonks added while Venom sent images to Harry's head, images that were pretty much Charlie's head getting bitten off. "Between you and me, it's why I do my best to avoid the older Weasleys, it's a bit awkward with past history and it doesn't help that his mother always tries to convince me to get back together with him."
"Wait, Mrs Weasley wants you to leave Britain and go to a dragon reserve?" Harry asked in a confused voice.
"Oh no," Tonks shook her head. "She wants him to move back to good old Britain and get a nice job at the ministry, then he gets back together with me," Tonks answered, rolling her eyes.
'Fat chance!' Venom hissed.
"Hmm," Harry hummed, not knowing what else to say.
"Anyway, I've got to go continue my rounds around the school," Tonks said. "I'll see you later, Harry."
"Yeah, sure," Harry quickly agreed. "I'll see you later, Tonks," Harry called as she began walking away.
'You two would make definitely some very powerful offspring.' Venom commented.
'Shut it.'
(.)
"They'll definitely win the next match though," Harry commented to Ron as the two sat together in the defence against the dark arts classroom, waiting for Professor Lupin to arrive. Nearly all the students, bar the judgemental ones like Malfoy, enjoyed Professor Lupin's lessons as the man was not only knowledgable and capable but also allowed the class to participate in practical lessons while also seeming to love his job, making him a step up from the previous two teachers they had had on the subject.
Harry, on the other hand, had been looking forward to it for those same reasons but also for another, after the lesson was finished he would corner Professor Lupin and one way or another he would get the man to reveal what he knew about Harry's parents and have him answer Harry's questions, like what the hell that man was thinking when he tried to kiss Lily Potter.
"No way on Earth, mate," Ron shook his head and stared at Harry like he was trying to explain basic addition to a particularly dim three-year-old. "The Chudley Cannons will slaughter the Falmouth Falcons, their defence has gotten a lot better this year."
"Ron, you say that about every team they face against," Harry pointed out, resisting the urge to roll his eyes at the redhead's stubbornness. While Harry did not know anywhere near the same amount as Ron when it came to quidditch teams thanks to living in the muggle world most of his life and returning there when he wasn't at Hogwarts, especially when Ron was his main source of information on the subject outside of a few magazines, he did know enough to know that the Cannons were not the 'gods of quidditch' that Ron seemed to believe them to be. The team lost far more matches than they won and could never seem to hold a decent player for a good enough amount of time. Still, despite all of this, Ron would never waver from his firm belief that they were indeed the best quidditch team ever to grace the world. Harry was honestly not sure if he should be more impressed by Ron's loyalty or annoyed by Ron's lack of connection to reality. He wondered if all sports fans were like this, he knew that his roommate, Dean Thomas, would be more than willing to argue against anyone who disagrees with him on who the best football team was.
"I wonder where Professor Lupin is," A voice commented, the two turned their heads to the side and saw Hermione sitting at the desk next to them.
"When did she get here?!" Ron hissed with disbelief to Harry who narrowed his eyes slightly at Hermione. Neither of the two boys got to say or do anything more as the next second the door to the classroom snapped open and the whole class went quiet, Harry's eyes widened near instantly. He only knew one teacher who opened doors like that and he sincerely hoped that the person who opened that door was not the same one. Unfortunately for the young wizard, he wasn't as lucky as he would have liked.
"Quiet." Barked Professor Snape as he stormed to the front of the classroom, his cloak billowing behind him, the pale-skinned man made an abrupt stop at the front of the classroom before turning to face the classroom. "Turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four." He told them without any preamble, the majority of the students quickly opened their books and began searching for the page that Snape had demanded.
"Where's Professor Lupin?" Harry asked, having not even reached for the book on his desk.
"That's hardly any of your business, is it, Potter?" Snape sneered at Harry. "Needless to say, he's not here right now, is he? He finds himself unable to teach this class today, for one reason or another, therefore it falls upon my shoulders to waste an hour of my life trying to install a small amount of knowledge into that thing in your head that you claim is a brian, all I ask in return is that you try your best to not be an irritant for me, is that too much to ask?"
"You could have just said you don't know," Harry told him in a bored tone, quite used to Snape's long-worded insults.
"Turn to page three-hundred and ninety-four," Snape ordered as he glared at him.
'I'll turn you upside down in a second, mate.' Venom threatened, even though he knew Snape couldn't hear him.
"If it's all the same to you, sir, I think I'll excuse myself." He told Snape. Harry had barely stood up and picked up his school bag when Snape had decided to 'calmly' respond to him.
"Sit down you arrogant brat!" Snape barked loudly, causing many nearby to flinch.
"I left your lessons for many reasons and thank you for demonstrating one of them," Harry pulled out his wand and flicked it. "Pack." Harry cast the packing spell, and his book along with his quill and pot of ink shot off the desk and into his bag. He mentally thanked Professor Flitwick before deciding to finish his conversation with Snape. "I'm not doing any detentions or classes with you, and I've already informed Professor McGonagall of that fact. Now, if you don't mind, I'll leave the classroom." After having said his piece, Harry turned around and walked towards the door, he had barely reached it when a spell flew over his head and hit the door, Harry heard the sound of the door locked before he let out a deep sigh and turned back around to see Snape holding his wand and glaring at him.
"Get back in your seat, Potter," Snape growled. "Now."
"No," Harry pointed his wand at the door. "Alohamora." Harry cast the unlocking spell and was pleased to hear the door unlock. Unfortunately, it was then hit by another spell, Harry ignored the temptation to growl and cast the unlocking spell again, only this time it didn't open the door.
"You might think you know everything, Potter, but you don't," Snape told him with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Now get back to your seat or..."
"Or what?" Harry asked.
"Or I'll make you." Snape threatened.
"You'll force me to do something in front of this class full of witnesses when you know that we're supposed to stay away from each other, have fun with that." Harry snorted before he turned back to the door. Harry muttered some nonsense under his breath, barely making it loud enough to be heard as he waved his wand over the door and pretended to cast a spell. As far as he was concerned it was better for them to believe that what he would do next was in fact a result of magic and not pure physical strength increased via alien. Harry flicked his arm out and his fist connected with the door, breaking off a small portion of the door, and causing it to swing open. "Finite Incantatem." Harry calmly cast the counterspell on the door, ignoring the shocked reactions from the others. He figured that casting the spell to end spells on the door would help sell the idea of it being magical instead of pure physical strength, besides it also helped him since it would provide an explanation if Snape or anyone else didn't find any spell of his on the door.
"Potter!" Snape spoke loudly once he recovered from his shock. "You damaged school property."
"Yeah, well you have magic, don't you?" Harry retorted. "Fixing it should be easy for you, you can ask Hermione if you need help," Harry added and walked out of the room before Snape could respond.
Comments
Q
I think my response might be a tad late since you posted this question a week ago, but I didn't respond because at the time I hadn't seen the question mark at the end. To answer your question, it was partly that but also because well....he does have magic, broken things shouldn't really be an issue outside of collectables.
Christian Jeffress
Thanks for another great and really fun chapter, I’m really looking forward to the confrontation with Lupin. Also looking forward to a reunion with Sirius Black, as well as access to the black family library.
Prashast Vats
that last line was too good!! :) a throwback to first year "are you a witch or not?!?!" ?
