kbinnz - Harry's New Home

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Three hours later, Snape couldn't stand it anymore. It was all well and good for that superannuated tabby cat to claim that she wouldn't traumatize the boy, but what did she know about it anyway? He threw down his quill, ignoring the pile of homework that he'd been staring at sightlessly for the past twenty minutes, and stormed out of his office.

When he got to the Great Hall, he slowed his pace. He'd already burst in on McGonagall once this evening, and all he had gotten for his pains was a sense of his own ridiculousness. This time, he'd take a more subtle approach.

Using the stealth he had perfected as a Death Eater, he disarmed the wards, cracked one of the doors and sidled inside, only to halt in utter disbelief.

A wet and filthy Harry, clad only in his singlet and trousers, was happily skating around the room on transfigured scrub brushes, closely following an enchanted pail of soapy water. A second bucket, this time with clean water, followed him, while a busily working mop completed the parade. At another end of the hall, enchanted rags dried and polished the floor.

"You missed a spot, Mr Potter," Minerva called from the far corner, where she was comfortably settled in an armchair with a book in her lap and a pot of tea hovering at her elbow.

"Okay, Professor!" Harry executed an impressive spin and headed back to catch the overlooked patch. "C'n I do the ceiling too, like you promised?" he begged.

"It is close to curfew, Mr Potter," Minerva chided. "And you have forgotten to have the rags wring themselves out again."

"Oops." Harry flicked his wand, and the rags promptly hurried to the nearest bucket and wrung out their excess water. Snape watched, impressed. He hadn't realized how much control the brat had developed over his magic, and even assuming Minerva was providing guidance and assistance, this was an impressive feat for a first year.

Harry skated over to the professor. "Pleeeeeeeease, Professor? I won't be long. I'll just do a quick once-over, okay?"

"Honestly, Mr Potter. You'd think you get enough time in the air with all the Quidditch practices," McGonagall scolded, but then she relented and a wave of her wand had Harry floating upside down and rising towards the ceiling. "And no more belly flops!" she called after him.

"This is so cool!" Harry yelped in delight, twisting around and spraying water from his skates onto the floor below.

Snape managed to close his mouth before any water dripped in, and he turned and left the Hall as silently as he had entered. Behind him, Minerva watched from the corner of her eye as the door closed behind him, and she shook with silent laughter.

TBCтАж

*Chapter 47*: Chapter 47

Not long thereafter, a tired and happy Harry retransfigured the various cleaning supplies into their usual mundane states and shrugged back into his robes. "That was really great, Professor!" he told his Head of House with an enthusiasm he usually reserved for Quidditch.

"I hope, Mr Potter, that you are astute enough to realize that this was not a typical detention. Any future detentions with me are unlikely to engender similar approval," she warned sternly.

"Yes, Professor," he agreed, even as he mentally rolled his eyes. Merlin, how dumb does she think I am?

"Very well, then, Mr Potter. Off to bed with you."

"G'night, Professor," he said happily, giving her a quick hug and running off before she had recovered from her astonishment.

Minerva straightened her robes and cleared her throat in some embarrassment. Harry did seem to have a habit of тАж adoptingтАж people. She began to understand why Severus seemed so worried about the boy's effect on his Evil Bat reputation. The instant a Weasely calls me "Auntie Min", she vowed to herself, I am obliviating the entire school.

Harry reached the Gryffindor tower shortly before curfew, and the Common Room was crowded when he slipped through the portrait hole. His sodden and grubby appearance had the effect of stopping all conversation.

"Merlin, Harry!" Ron exclaimed in astonishment. "What'd she do to you?"

"Oh, Harry, are you all right?" Hermione asked worriedly, while the rest of the Tower clustered around.

Harry's blossoming Slytherin nature again asserted itself. He sighed heavily and told the absolute truth. "Professor McGonagall handed me a toothbrush an' had me scrub the whole Great Hall!"

"Merlin's shorts! Even we тАУ"

" тАУ never got anything like that!" the twins exclaimed.

"Sure, we've had to scrub the тАУ "

" тАУ trophy room and help Hagrid тАУ "

" тАУ clean up the grounds, but scrub тАУ"

" тАУ the Great Hall with a toothbrush? That's тАУ"

" тАУ a new record, Harry!"

"Well, at least he didn't get away with it this time," Lavender whispered to Parvati, a bit too loudly.

"And what exactly do you think he's 'gotten away with' in the past?" Hermione rounded on the other girls like an avenging fury.

They squeaked and cowered back. Nobody messed with Granger. "We didn't mean anything!" Parvati hurriedly backpedaled.

"It's just that Professor Umbridge was saying that heтАж" Lavender's voice trailed off at Hermione's expression.

"You should know better than to listen to Umbitch," Neville said reproachfully. "She's had it in for Harry from the start."

"But he has done a lot of stuff. I mean, like facing that troll and flying around inside the castle," one of the upper years protested.

"What's the matter with you, Spencer?" Oliver Wood demanded angrily. "Didn't you see the whack Snape gave him for that stunt? And that was just what he got in public! Or d'you think old Snape just let him off with a warning? You think he's a soft touch, do you? Maybe you'd like Snape to be your guardian?"

"What's wrong with you people?" Ron demanded. "It's not like Harry's the only one that Umbitch is nasty to! Why are you listening to her all of a sudden? She's an awful teacher and tells a bunch of lies to boot. Even my brother Bill says that he's had to use DADA spells, and he's not an Auror or anything."

"Well, yeahтАж" The other Gryffindors were starting to look a little guilty and embarrassed.

"It's okay." Harry was feeling a little embarrassed too. He wasn't used to having people defend him or take his side. "She's just trying to make trouble for us."

"And we're letting her!" Katie Bell wasn't in a conciliatory mood. "We should be rallying behind Harry and the other lions that she's insulting, not believing her lies. She's a toad and should be stepped on!"

An evil grin stole over Hermione's face. "Splat the toad!" she exclaimed suddenly.

"Huh?" Ron asked.

"I think we should have a student movement," she announced. "Splat the toad! We can spell our shirts to say it and put up signs and that will help all of us remember that she's an awful person that we shouldn't believe! It would drive her mad to realize no one was listening to her anymore!"

"Oooh, we could have special colors to wear to show our support!" Lavender exclaimed.

"And we could wear buttons!" Parvati was getting excited too.

"It's like a whole underground movement," Oliver grinned.

"We know where we can get a few тАУ "

" тАУ harmless pranks that would help!" the twins volunteered.

"Good thing Percy's out with Jones," Ron grinned, nudging Harry. "This way he doesn't have to hurt his neck looking the other way."

By the next morning, the faculty were bemused to see many of the students sporting flashing "STT!" buttons. Initially they appeared limited to Gryffindors, but after breakfast, as the students from the other Houses demanded to know what they were, the numbers increased exponentially, and by lunchtime, students in every House were sporting buttons, affixing banners to their book bags, or otherwise declaring their allegiance to the odd movement. Whenever a teacher would inquire as to the meaning, the students only mumbled vaguely about something to improve school spirit.