Harry Potter Breaking The Chains

"Believe it or not, Mr. Potter, I was already well aware of that. I chose you despite that, knowing that you would consult your friend and have him help you with the strategy if you were captain. I wanted you as captain because you're a natural leader. You may not have been able to build the strategies, but you would have led them to victory. I hope Mr. Weasley will be able to get over his insecurities enough to lead the team."

Harry was slightly dumbfounded at her explanation. "Thank you, Professor. I'll be sure to help him along the way as best I can."

"I have no doubt you will. Now hurry along," she said with a genuine smile peeking through her stern composure.

Harry smiled in return and nodded, hurrying out the door and into the Great Hall. All eyes focused on him as he strolled through the hall to the Gryffindor table. He barely noticed the enchanted ceiling or the floating candles as he focused his attention on his destination. He saw that his friends had left him an open seat next to Ron and across from Ginny. Hermione was sitting across from Ron, and Neville was on the other side of Ron. As he walked towards the table, the hall was abuzz with whispered conversations, mostly stemming from the female populations. Girls from all years giggled and whispered back and forth to each other behind their hands. Harry caught a couple stray words being murmured, causing a faint blush to creep onto his otherwise composed face. He finally made it into his seat and was immediately bombarded by Ron.

"What did McGonagall want?" he asked.

"Professor McGonagall, Ron," Hermione corrected.

"Right," he said. "What did she want?"

"Dumbledore wants me to meet him in his office after the feast," Harry said with a grimace.

"What's wrong?" Hermione quickly asked noticing the expression.

"Huh?" Harry asked thickly. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just not looking forward to going back to his office. The last time I was there I kind of destroyed half of it."

Ron sputtered while Hermione looked like she might have a heart attack. Neville's eyes bugged out, but Ginny just looked somewhat surprised but mostly amused. "You did what?" Hermione shrieked.

Harry glanced around as a few heads turned in there direction. "Keep it down, would you?"

Hermione didn't even bother to look sheepish. "Why did you destroy the Headmaster's office?"

"I had a very bad night," Harry retorted darkly.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ron asked dumbly before catting on. "Oh…" A silence hung in the air.

"You know," Hermione started, "you've never really talked to us about that night."

"I know," Harry said straightforwardly. "You saw fit to remind me several times over the summer."

A look of hurt flashed across Hermione's face followed by one of indignation. "You can't go through this alone, Harry. You need to talk to us about what's going on."

"Not everybody deals with grief in a textbook manner, Hermione," Harry said pointedly referring to the "gift" she'd given him for his birthday.

"And some people don't deal with their grief at all," she shot back at him.

"And what would you know about it?" he asked her sharply.

"Nothing. That's the whole point, Harry. You haven't let any of us in. I know that more went on that night that you're not telling us. It's time to stop with the secrets and tell us what's going on."

"I think that's my decision to make," he told her coldly.

"I'm not going to drop this, Harry. I will find out what you're hiding from us," she told him matter-of-factly.

"I'm not some problem for you to solve, Hermione," Harry frigidly intoned.

Seeing that Hermione was not going to let it go, Ginny quickly asked, "So what do you think Dumbledore wants to talk to you about?"

Harry shot her a grateful smile and replied, "You'll find out soon enough. The sorting's starting." Sure enough Professor McGonagall was leading a group of small, timid looking First Years into the hall from a side door. They stood in front of the head table as Professor McGonagall strode forward placing a stool in the middle of the room. She set a worn, old hat on top of it. The hat sat motionless for a moment before it opened its mouth, for this hat had a mouth, and regaled them with a song explaining the difference between the four houses and stressing the need to unite together in the face of the coming trouble.

"Same thing as last year," Ron commented offhandedly.

"That's because we haven't made any progress towards uniting the four houses. Now shush, the sorting is starting," Hermione scolded.

Ron made a face, but Hermione's attention was already directed toward the front of the hall. Harry glanced at Ginny, and the pair shared a smile and shook their heads at the two sitting next to them. The sorting went by with just the occasional rumble of Ron's stomach followed by a, "Bloody hell, would they get on without it already. I'm hungry." Or something of the sort, anyway. Hermione would automatically reprimand Ron and command him to pay attention.

Finally "Zeller, Erin" was sorted into Hufflepuff, concluding the sorting ceremony. The Headmaster stood from his seat in the middle of the head table and spread his arms out. "Welcome to yet another year at Hogwarts. There is a time for speeches, but that time is not now. Tuck in." He sat down abruptly as food appeared on all the tables across the hall.

There was a small cry of approval at the appearance of the food, followed by a general murmur of conversation mixed with eating. Harry and his friends didn't talk much as they ate through their meals.

At one point Hermione commented, "That must be the new DADA teacher," gesturing toward the only unfamiliar professor at the head table.

"'Ou d'ou reck'n 'e 's?" Ron asked around a mouthful of food.

"Honestly, Ron. That's disgusting. Don't talk with your mouth full," Hermione admonished. "Whoever he is, he can't be as bad as Umbridge."

"I'll second that," Harry inserted.

"Even Lockhart was better than her," Ron commented, mouth free of food. He shifted his gaze to Hermione and said, "But then again, some of us were actually quite taken with him."

Hermione blushed slightly, but answered, "That was years ago, Ron. We were only second years. Let it go."

Ron looked like he was going to pursue his point, so Harry quickly interrupted. "As long as we're allowed to use our wands in class, and we don't get punished for telling the truth, I'll be happy." He unconsciously rubbed the back of his right hand where the words "I will not tell lies" could still be seen etched into his skin.

Ron and Hermione both shot him sympathetic looks, and they all resumed their meals. Soon enough, the food was disappearing, and Dumbledore was again rising from his seat at the head table. The noise died down quickly as the student body noticed the Headmaster rise.

....

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