63. Finding true friends
"What should we do Harry?. He is taking out all his anger on only us Claws." Penelope asked worriedly.
" No Penny. In fact He is not angry at all. He wants the claws to shun me thinking that I'm the reason for their misery, that's his actual goal." Harry said coldly.
" What are you going to do now Harry?" Penelope knew that Ravenclaws really cared about marks. And if they get lower marks just because of associating with Harry, they would immediately distance themselves from him.
"What are you worried about. This is an excellent opportunity for us to know who we can put our trust in." Harry said with a smile.
" Look, in the next 2-3 days I'll be able to find out who will really deserve my friendship and who is not worth my time.
Then I will gather those who really support me and teach them myself." Harry explained further seeing their confused faces.
Harry could have used his aura to make them remain loyal to him thereby foiling Snape's plan but he didn't want to waste his time on sheeps. After 3 days all those who didn't support him would be taken care of by his aura to not affect his position in Hogwarts but he would not let them enjoy the benefits of being his followers.
{POV Harry}
Its been three days since my talk with Penny and others and I can already see the difference in people's attitude. Most of the puffs have started to keep their distance from me after the news spread. Talk about loyalty, heh...
Gryffs have renewed my definition of shamelessness and hypocrisy. In front of me they talk about how bad Snape is and how they hate him, but when Snape comes they all vanish from my side in a blink of an eye. I call them shameless because when Snape goes away they again come to talk to me about how they would like to support me.
Ravenclaws showed the same reaction. Only a few first year boys and girls except Penny, Hermione and Daph still support me. Others are treating me like a plague.
Slytherins.. well they are being Slytherins, sneering and gloating.
On the teachers side the reaction is also mixed. Pamona Sprout acted like she did not understand anything. Flitwick and Mcgonagall nearly gave the same treatment to everyone that Snape gave me. They only calmed down after I told them that everything was under my control. Snape.. he is acting like a kid who was not punished for his mistakes, in one word smug. All the other teachers were indifferent to everything similar to Dumbledore. Dumbledore could clearly see what was happening but he acted as if everything was well and okay.
The actual surprise was from Professor Vector and Babbling.
{Flashback}
'After 2 days of observation I already have an idea of who will be with me. Tomorrow night I will secretly gather all those who supported me using Professor Flitwick's help.' Harry was on his way back to the common room after dinner thinking about his plan.
"Mr. Potter" he heard a voice and turned towards it to find Professor Septima Vector and Professor Bethsheda Babbling standing in the corner, beckoning him.
"Um Professors. Can I do something for you?" Harry asked politely.
"Come with us." Professor Vector said and started walking towards her office with Professor Babbling. Harry looked at their status and not finding any plot to harm him directly, followed them to her office.
"Sit mr. Potter. Don't worry, you are not in any kind of trouble. We have seen what is happening and just wanted to talk to you about it." Vector said gently.
Harry was surprised as he remembered that they never got out of their way to help Harry in the canon. He still nodded in gratitude and sat down in front of them.
"Now Harry generally we do not interfere in Hogwarts politics but we saw that you did not panic and were always observing everything critically." -Babbling said.
" This made us get interested in you. You are a very smart kid Harry. Your actions, behaviour and performance during classes made us realise that." she continued.
" Every Sunday Headmaster Dumbledore calls for a teacher's meeting. Today during the meeting Professor Flitwick tried to bring your matter in front of everyone only for the Headmaster to dismiss it casually with a few words." They looked at Harry deeply. He obviously knew about it as Mcgonagall and Flitwick had told him about it immediately after the meeting, but still frowned in front of both the ladies to not give himself away.
Harry could see disappointment flashing in their eyes seeing his reaction, which they expertly hid.
"Alright Harry, we just want you to know that you have our support. If you need anything or even feel like talking to someone you can come here." Babbling said as she ruffled his hair.
{Flashback end}
I already knew something was wrong with them. After returning to my room, when I checked for them in the marauders map, I found both of them in Dumbledore's office, confirming my suspicion.
Anyway, now I should start using my aura as I can not let the situation deteriorate anymore. I have been keeping my aura active to keep things civil with everyone. I don't want some fool to come and start fighting me out of nowhere.
Moreover if the students' attitude changes without any reason then Dumbledore might even guess about my power of aura. So to be safe I have been keeping it active all the time to not let anyone get hostile towards me.
I should go to my room. Others would be waiting for me there.
{POV end}
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