I know I said I'd be posting twice on Sunday, but a review mentioned posting on Wednesday and then Sunday, so I decided to go with that. Don't expect this to happen again until I'm ready to post twice a week, which will be mid-July at the earliest and late-July if I'm being realistic.
Thanks to Arnel for the Beta.
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Return of an Alpha | ||||||
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Category: Alternate Universe Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, Angst, Drama Warnings: Death, Mild Language Story is Complete Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 409 Summary: For three years, Harry has been Becoming Alpha of Hogwarts. Now another Alpha is returning, bringing with him darkness, chaos, and battle. Watch as sides line up for war, and people and society change. Hitcount: Story Total: 169700; Chapter Total: 3971 Author's Notes: |
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“They’re trying to kill us,” Blaise moaned as he threw himself under the large tree close to the lake after Potions class on Friday. “We’ve got so much homework and this is only the first full week we’ve had so far.” “Blaise, we have OWLs next year,” Hermione said sharply as she sat down with her back against the tree, giving the boy laying on his back a disappointed look. “Hermione, that’s almost two years away!” Harry groaned. “I know it’s important that we do well on the OWLs,” he added when she glared at him, “but starting this early is going to do anything but help us. We’ll be so stressed out by the time the tests come that it’ll be a miracle we can even concentrate on them. They’d do better to keep to a pace that doesn’t stress us out but still makes sure we learn what we have to so that we pass next year.” “You do have a point,” she admitted with a sigh. “Hey, Harry, where’s Ginny?” Tracey asked suddenly, or at least it seemed sudden to everyone but Harry. “I’m not sure,” he said, trying hard not to smirk. “She said she’d meet us out here when she was done with class, and she had Herbology last, so she should be here already.” “Her friends probably just held her up or something; you don’t have anything to worry about,” Neville said quietly, and Harry smiled at his shy friend who rarely showed his confidence except during training. “Let’s see if we can’t figure out where she is,” Harry said, pulling out his Journal and moving to sit next to Tracey, who was smirking a little. “I solemnly swear I am up to no good,” he said clearly as he placed a finger on the middle page of his Journal, and everyone turned to stare at him quickly as he looked at his Journal with a proud look on his face that was a mix of a smirk and a smile. “What the bloody hell are you doing, Harry?” Blaise demanded, and not even Daphne reprimanded him as she stared at the emerald book. “Looking for Ginny,” he replied as the newest function on his Journal activated. Before everyone’s eyes, the right page of Harry’s Journal split in half, the bottom part of it with the section on it for writing while the top was to show the conversation. On the middle page of the Journal, a list of all the floors of Hogwarts, all the Common Rooms, the grounds, the forest, the Quidditch Pitch, Hagrid’s hut, the kitchen, the lake, Dumbledore’s office, the greenhouses, and the Great Hall appeared. The leftmost page had a list that said Slytherins, Gryffindors, Ravenclaws, Hufflepuffs, Teachers, Magical Creatures, and Guests. Harry tapped on Gryffindor, and it listed each year, each a different color. Tapping the light green of third year, a list of each student who was a Gryffindor third year appeared. After tapping Ginny’s name, Harry watched as the middle section of his Journal changed from the list of places in Hogwarts to a map of the grounds in front of the castle, where a star-shaped dot outlined in deep purple and going between light green and red every seven seconds was labeled Ginny. It was headed towards the group. Looking at the group by the lake, Harry saw a lot of stars outlined in the same deep purple, some dots sky blue while others were green or red as they, too, changed colors every seven seconds. In the lake, regular purple dots were labeled Merpeople while brown dots that showed the centaurs moved around in the trees behind the group. “What — what is this?” Hermione gasped, and Harry looked up to see that everyone but Tracey was staring at his Journal in disbelief. “Have you shown them the map yet?” Ginny asked as she reached the group, but then Harry saw her look at everyone’s faces and the Journal in his hands, and she laughed. “Never mind, I already have my answer.” “We haven’t gotten to the explanation yet, so you’re just in time to help,” Tracey told Ginny with a laugh, and Ginny groaned slightly, though she was smiling afterwards. “What is that?” Hermione demanded again. “A map, Hermione,” Harry said with a laugh. “A Marauder’s Map, to be exact.” “But — but how is it in the Journal?” she stuttered in amazement. “I helped these two find the charms they needed as they used the information on how to build the Journals and the Map to build this,” Ginny said with a smile. “It took them at least a week to get it right.” “You — you knew?” Daphne demanded, looking a bit angry. “Did you really just ask that, Daphe?” Theo asked, finally getting over his shock as he smirked at her. “This is Ginny we’re talking about here, and we all know Harry can’t keep anything from her.” “Oi!” Harry exclaimed angrily, but Ginny looked at him with a raised eyebrow, and he sighed, knowing it was true. “See?” Theo said smugly. “Oh shut it, Theodore,” Harry snapped, and Theo glared at the use of his full name. “Boys,” Tracey sighed, and Harry looked away from Theo to look at his Journal again. He tapped a little square at the bottom right of the actual map, and it went back to the list. After tapping the third floor, Harry was pleased to see that the section McGonagall had showed him, Tracey, and Gin was changed to look like the design on the paper they had given the professors. Even better, she, Flitwick, and Dumbledore were in the rooms, obviously working on the area. Before anyone could see what he was looking at, Harry flipped the map to the Gryffindor Common Room, raising an eyebrow as he saw the twins were running all around the room. He didn’t think he wanted to know what they were up to. “Are you going to put that into our Journals?” Neville suddenly asked, drawing Harry’s attention back to his friends before he shared a look with Tracey. “Maybe sometime soon,” he told his friends, and they all made disappointed sounds that had he, Tracey, and Ginny chuckling. “Why not now?” Theo whined, sounding younger than his fourteen years. “We have our reasons,” Harry said mysteriously as he and the girls shared looks. They were both smiling as it was obvious to Harry they were thinking about the secret rooms, which had yet to be named. “I hate it when they’re like this,” Blaise stage-whispered to Theo, who nodded in agreement while the three laughed. “Sorry guys, but I think you’ll agree with us when we say that the wait will be worth it,” Ginny said, knowing that both the rooms and the map would please them when their friends got them both. “You three are evil,” Theo muttered, and they only laughed as Harry put his Journal away again and relaxed with Ginny and Tracey on either side of him, enjoying the autumn weather. Har ry: Are you ready, Gin? Ginny: In position. Harry: Trace, do you have the powder and potions to go with the string and traps? Tracey: All in the pouch you gave me. Harry: Then let’s set this up and watch the effects. Ha rry was trying very hard not to laugh as he watched groups of students enter the Great Hall for dinner Monday evening. He and Tracey had spent their double period of no classes — because it was Arithmancy time — going around and putting potions and powder on strings and other traps Ginny had placed all around the school. Only the three of them knew the spell to counter the traps, so none of them would accidentally trip their own prank. As they all walked into the Hall, a final string was in place that everyone set off. Within five minutes of walking into the Hall, anyone who had walked past another of the traps suddenly had a prank pulled on them, resulting in most people being pranked multiple times. Some people had been jinxed with random colors ranging from the House colors to pink to orange to neon green. Another prank was animal parts adorning each person. A few had cat ears, some had tails, fur sprouted in random areas, there were even a few people with wings on their backs while others had wolf faces; it was crazy, especially when someone had been hexed with more than one animal spell. One of the best pranks was the one to the clothes. Many people found themselves wearing robes of different Houses or dress robes. There were many students in Muggle clothes instead of robes. What was the most hilarious to see were the people in Muggle clothes of the opposite gender. The special prank all three of them had pulled, however, was done by using the Map to find the twins’ last class while using their Journals to figure out the boys’ magical signatures so that the trap would only work on them; it would cancel out any other pranks that might have been placed on them. When their prank activated, both of them screamed and drew attention to themselves. Both of them now wore Slytherin robes with fake snakes around their necks, arms, and legs along with their torso. Their hair was still red, but it had taken both Tracey and Ginny together to persuade Harry to leave it alone, saying it would only give it away quicker that he had been part of this particular prank. Many of the students weren’t pranked, though it was mostly those who had been in Herbology, Care of Magical Creatures, or had a free period. The paths from the library and outside had been clear of traps, as had the main passages from the Common Rooms, giving the three pranksters an excuse for being un-pranked. The professors had also been left alone. Even better, though, was that Harry knew no one could leave the Great Hall for the next thirty minutes because the string in the doorway was enchanted to stop anyone still pranked from passing over it. There were strings at every other entrance into the Hall as well. “Did you do this to us?” Blaise demanded as he gestured to the frilly dresses on him and Theo. “Of course not,” Daphne replied a bit harshly, obviously not noticing as Harry had that Blaise had been looking at him. “He was talking to me, Daphe,” he said softly, and she looked at both he and Blaise apologetically. “Did you?” Blaise asked again, and Harry just shrugged. “The war games from this summer were useful, weren’t they, Harry?” Draco asked with a smirk, obviously trying to get him into trouble with Blaise and Theo. “This is such a great prank, Harry!” Theo said as he finally recovered and looked around. “Look at everyone; they’re all enjoying it now!” He was right. Around the Hall, everyone had finally gotten used to the new looks and began moving around to check out the other pranks on everyone. Some were comparing themselves to one another. Those who hadn’t been pranked were checking out the others. Harry could even hear people trying to guess how it had been done, seeing as most people in the same classes had the same pranks done on them, though many had more or less depending on which corridor they’d taken. Blaise groaned, and Harry knew from just one look at his face that it was because he had realized he couldn’t really be annoyed with Harry after seeing how the others were reacting. “Just change me back, please,” he said as he put his face in his hands. “You’ll be back to normal in less than twenty minutes,” Harry said after checking his watch. “Each person is only pranked for thirty minutes exactly after it activates, then it all goes away completely. “You’re a pain in the arse, did you know that?” Blaise stated with a glare, and Harry just smiled at his friend. “I’ve been meaning to ask you guys, how do you like Professor Moody?” Hermione asked the next morning at breakfast, probably remembering because Blaise had just groaned as he remembered they had Defense right after breakfast. “His first lesson was a bloody nightmare,” Theo muttered, and the rest of the Slytherins nodded. “Why?” Padma asked, surprised. “Imagine being in a room with an ex-Auror who is teaching the children of Death Eaters about the Unforgivables,” Harry said for his friends. “He was glaring at them as if everything their parents had done with the curses was their fault. It was a nightmare to go through.” “Even worse was when he mentioned Harry is the only one to have survived the Killing Curse,” Tracey added. “You should have seen his face when he…” She trailed off, looking at Harry. “When I realized how my parents had died,” he finished for her, smiling sadly, and most of the others realized why it had been such a hard lesson. “I didn’t realize…” Hermione said softly. “It’s fine,” Harry said. “Just don’t expect most of us to enjoy Moody, not with our different pasts.” “Come on, we’d better get going to Moody’s class,” Daphne said, and the other Slytherins all stood up to go. “I’m going to be putting the Imperius Curse on you all today,” Moody snarled as the Slytherins watched him pace at the front of the room, his wooden peg leg making a sound with every other step. “Sir, that’s illegal!” Tracey exclaimed, and Harry knew the two of them were among the only two who were able to say anything right now. “If you want to leave, then go ahead and leave, but Dumbledore wants you to know how it feels to have it placed on you,” Moody told her, walking up to stare her in the face. “You can try and learn how it feels when someone is trying to control you, or you can stay here and learn from me.” Beside Harry, Draco was shuddering lightly, and Harry could see almost the entire class was scared. He knew none of them would take having Moody place the Imperius Curse on them well. It was bad enough they had to deal with him teaching them all with how he treated them and their parents, mostly their fathers, but to have him use the curse that would give Moody total control of them? Harry thought they would rather leave the class for the day. “So, are you all going to stay, or are you going to leave?” Moody asked harshly, and Harry had to fight down the urge to glare at him, carefully keeping his mask up while working on strengthening his Occlumency shields, knowing they would help as he wasn’t leaving. Around the room, Harry saw Crabbe and Goyle looking at Draco next to him, obviously afraid of the curse, but unsure if they should leave or not. Pansy seemed to be about to jump out of her seat and run, but she was still thinking. Millicent Bulstrode had stood up and was leaving the room, unwilling to let him curse her. Looking at his own friends, Harry saw that Blaise had a hard look on his face, as if he was steeling himself up to do something he was dead set against. Beside him, Theo was looking around the room, his eyes wild, before they settled on Tracey and his face as went hard. Daphne was a bit more relaxed than the others, but she was still tense and didn’t look like she was happy about this. Tracey shared a look with Harry, and he knew she was scared but willing to try it, if only so that she could protect the others from the chance of her being controlled. Draco looked at Crabbe and Goyle and nodded at them. They both looked relieved as they left the room in a rush, and Harry knew that Draco cared about his friends enough to not put them through something like this if they didn’t want to. One look at those two boys leaving, and Pansy followed, though she gave Draco a pleading look that he shook his head at before leaving. “I’m staying,” Draco whispered in a shaky voice, and Harry nodded in response. He knew how hard this was for his friends, but they were all willing to do it. “At least some of you aren’t afraid to try,” Moody said with what seemed like a hint of pride in his voice, though Harry thought he was imagining it as the man’s face was hard. “Now, stand up so that I can move these desks out of the way.” Harry and his five friends stood up quickly, grabbing their bags as Moody waved his wand to move the desks to the walls of the room. Then, they all moved to place their bags on the desks and sit on top of them. “Who’s going first?” Moody asked quietly, looking at each person’s face, as if trying to decide who was the least afraid. “Potter, let’s start with you,” he finally said, and Harry stood up. He had been expecting to go first anyway, seeing as it would make it easier on his friends. “Imperio,” Moody snarled as he pointed his wand at Harry once he was in the middle of the room. It was the most wonderful feeling. Harry felt a floating sensation as every thought and worry in his head was wiped gently away, leaving nothing but a vague, untraceable happiness. He stood there feeling immensely relaxed, only dimly aware of everyone watching him. And then he heard Mad-Eye Moody's voice, echoing in some distant chamber of his empty brain: Dance like a ballerina… dance like a ballerina… Harry felt himself begin to turn, ready to being dancing, when another voice woke up in his mind, louder than Moody’s. Why? it asked. There’s no reason to do this. Dance like a ballerina… I don’t have to, the voice said again. It’s a stupid thing to do, that’s for sure. Dance like a ballerina… Don’t think so. There’s no reason for me to. Dance like a ballerina! NOW! No thanks. Harry began to spin around when the other part of his mind stopped him, and he fell on his bum, wincing at he felt the pain from landing on the hard stone floor before the fog disappeared from his mind. “He fought it!” Moody snarled, though Harry could see he was pleased as he stood up. “You damn near beat it. Just a few more moments and you would have had it. Let’s try again.” The second time, Harry managed to throw it off, and he moved to go sit next to Tracey on the desks by his friends. They were all staring at him, slightly awed. “That was amazing, Harry,” Tracey said as Moody called Blaise up. He just nodded in response, watching his friend. Blaise stood in the middle of the room with Moody staring at him, and suddenly Blaise walked over to one of the few desks not in the room and bent his legs, obviously about to jump on it. He jumped on top of it but then fell off it, a pained expression on his face. “It seems we have some strong people in this group,” Moody said, sounding a bit surprised. “Zabini, you fought it as well, though not as well as Potter. Try again.” After another five times, Blaise finally had it down enough that he was able to throw off the curse after a bit of work, but before Moody could make him do anything. Daphne went up next, and Moody made her spin around in circles. At the end of it, right before he took the curse off, she fell down and Moody nodded once. She was put under the curse a few more times until she could fight it off, though it still took her a while. When Draco went up, he was shaking, but he looked Moody right in the eyes as he had the curse put on him, as if saying he was going to prove him wrong. Moody just smiled slightly and used the curse, his smile growing smugger as Draco was placed under its influence. Before their eyes, Draco grabbed his left forearm and began laughing. Suddenly, Draco yelled and ripped his hand away from his arm, glaring at Moody. He was shaking with rage, and Moody was staring at him, a bit shocked. It seemed he hadn’t thought Draco would be able to throw off the curse. Of course, what he had been making Draco do probably set off the blond, seeing that he had been trying to make him act as if he was a Death Eater holding his Mark and laughing. “How dare you!” Draco shouted, shaking with rage still as his hand flew to his holster and he glared at their teacher. Before anyone knew what was happening, Draco was pointing his wand at Moody, and the ex-Auror had his on Draco. Harry rushed over to his friend and put a hand on the boy’s wand arm, pushing it down gently. Draco didn’t fight Harry, but it was obvious he wanted revenge on Moody for what he had done to him. Harry knew that they had to get Draco out of there, and it didn’t help that Theo was also glaring at Moody, though he wasn’t shaking as badly as Draco. Blaise, Daphne, and Tracey were as mad as Harry, but they realized the danger of letting their anger show until they had gotten the pair out of Moody’s range. “We’re done,” Harry stated with a hard tone to his voice as he pulled Draco’s wand from the blonde’s hand and gestured for Tracey to get their bags before helping him. Without a backwards look at Moody, though his senses were on high alert for any noise, Harry took his bag from Tracey and flung it over his head while still keeping a firm grip on Draco’s wand arm. Tracey grabbed his other arm while Daphne and Blaise did the same to Theo. Together, all six left the room, being careful not to let Draco or Theo go back and attack Moody. “How could he?!” Draco snarled as the group finally reached the fourth year boys’ dormitory in the Slytherin dungeon. They had gone there to get away from prying eyes, and also because Moody couldn’t get down there without their knowing. “I can’t believe he did that!” Theo yelled, and Harry quickly put up a silencing charm on the room so that no other Slytherins would come running to see what the problem was. It was a good thing their Defense class was supposed to be a double lesson today as it meant no one would be expecting them until lunch, which was over an hour away. “He was trying to make it seem like you were a Death Eater,” Blaise said darkly, and Draco and Theo growled as they thought about it. “I’m willing to bet he was going to do it to me as well if we hadn’t left,” Theo muttered, and no one could deny that it was a real possibility. “Do we actually have to learn from him?” Daphne asked softly, and Harry knew that they were all upset by this. “Unfortunately,” Tracey replied just as softly, and they all sighed sadly. “Why?” Draco suddenly asked, and everyone looked up at him, startled. “Why does he treat us as if we’re our fathers? It’s as if we’re the Death Eaters to him, not them.” No one could say anything as they didn’t have an answer to it. They all knew that that was exactly what Moody was doing, and there was nothing they could say in response to it because they didn’t know why. It was going to be a very long year if Moody was teaching them all like he had been, Harry knew. AN: So... The Journals have a Marauder's Map in them, my Trio pranked the school, and I've shown Defense class with Moody from the Slytherins' POV. Good chapter? |
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