Harry Potter: The Saviour's Awakening

When the issue of obliviation came up regarding the victims, Lockhart also slipped out about his books. Further clarification revealed that they were all fake, and that he had Obliviated the original people who had done those feats of magic and had taken credit for it so as to boost his popularity. The books he had sold gave him a lot of money and that was the only reason he had applied for the Defence post at Hogwarts. Hundreds of students buying his entire collection of books had increased his sales revenue drastically.

Finally, Harry got what he wanted. Sirius Black, Cyrus Greengrass and Lucius Malfoy did not like what Lockhart had done and had planned to do. His entire monetary assets were seized and were to be divided among the four victims equally. To someone like Harry who came from old money, the amount he received was insignificant to count, but to the Weasleys, it would greatly alleviate their financial strain, especially since they got half of Lockhart's fortune.

When it came to the punishment, Cyrus Greengrass gave a speech about how the man's crimes against the boys were a violation against Mother Magic herself and as such, it shouldn't go unpunished. Lucius Malfoy also agreed, pushing for the verdict. Surprisingly, Dumbledore did not try to stop it and Lockhart was sentenced to the Dementor's kiss, but he did suffer intense disapproval and backlash at hiring Lockhart in the first place. When the next edition of the Daily Prophet was released, people were shocked to stillness about the extent of Lockhart's crimes. Some of them felt ashamed in believing the worst of a twelve-year-old boy when the man himself was a monster, but they were still digesting the fact that the Boy-Who-Lived was a Parselmouth.

No one sent any letters of apology.

...

A week later, Harry came back to Hogwarts. Having already finished breakfast, he slowly made his way over to the Potions classroom when he literally ran into someone.

"Uff!" cried Daphne as arms wrapped around her waist to stop her from falling. "Get your hands off - Harry !"

She immediately rushed into his arms and hugged him tightly. Harry smiled softly as he hugged her back. He had really missed her over the past several days.

"How are you?" she asked softly. "I heard about what happened; the entire school was in shock."

"I'm fine," said Harry quietly. "But Sirius is making me go to a Mind Healer to help deal with what happened. I tried to say no, but he wouldn't listen. I'll have to go to St Mungo's every weekend for a few hours."

"That's good isn't it?"

"Talking to a stranger about my feelings?" said Harry, his left eye twitching in annoyance. "If it hadn't been for secrecy oaths, I would never have agreed, despite Sirius not giving me a choice in the first place. How have you been?"

"I've missed you," she admitted softly.

A small smile made its way to Harry's face as he pulled her closer to him. Their lips touched briefly and after several seconds, they broke apart. Harry looked at her tenderly, moving closer to nuzzle his face against hers, breathing her scent deeply.

He really had missed her; more than he cared to admit.

...

It was now the first week of March and the castle had quietened somewhat. There had been no more attacks for a long time now and people thought it was finally safe. Harry was just returning from Quidditch practice when he heard the voice again.

" Kill… Rip… so hungry… Kill this time…"

He stopped mid-step, his heart thumping a mile a minute. He had a choice. He could ignore it and be blamed for it anyway or he could find out what the creature was and maybe find the attacker at the same time. If he caught the attacker red-handed, the Ministry of Magic would finally have a lead as to what was causing the attacks. With that in mind, he rushed towards the opposite direction of Ravenclaw Tower, listening to the sounds which were rapidly fading.

He was in the fourth-floor girl's bathroom. Tentatively opening the door, his eyes widened when he saw Hermione Granger and Penelope Clearwater lying on the floor in front of the sink with a mirror above. He went forward to check and he confirmed that they were petrified. There was no sign of any wizard or creature nearby. How had the attacker fled so quickly? This was not possible!

Just as he was about to leave, Peeves showed up in the corridor outside, signing to himself. "What are you up to, Potty?" he said in a sing-song voice. "Potty, Potty, you are such a dorky -"

Peeves stopped singing when he caught sight of the petrified girls inside the bathroom. Before Harry could even begin to do damage control, the poltergeist was yelling at the top of his voice.

"MURDER! Murder in the bathroom! Attack! Ataaaackkk! No one is safe in this castle! Run for your lives!"

Harry sighed as he leaned against the wall. There was no escaping this. He had found the girls inside the bathroom; a place he had no business being in. What explanation could he give now?

....

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