Harry’s Thursday was fraught with mishaps and mayhem, something that was not much different than usual. Unlike usual, though, he and his classmates was not the source of confusion. The students were far more unruly on this day than they had been previously in the week. Harry supposed it was because the weekend was coming. He dimly remembered what it was like to feel happiness at this prospect. The sad thing was, he had felt like that just two weeks ago.
One student had ridiculously tested his potion on himself, instead of the test lizard he had been given, and found himself floating up into the air like a balloon full of helium. Harry had to poke the boy with a stick seven times before the child started to deflate and float back down to the ground. In fact, Harry got a small amount of macabre joy from it, it reminded him of Aunt Marge.
The last lesson was one Harry could have done without. The older students were definitely the ones he wanted to stay away from. He had successfully dodged looking like an unwitting fool in front of the Ravenclaws before… until he had blown it all by spilling the Potion on himself. Now, it was not going to be so easy as getting the others to do the work. Then he questioned himself “ why not get the others to do the work? He was supposed to be giving a lesson long lecture, but why not get the students to once more take on some responsibility for their learning?
He did a simple multiplication charm on the lecture notes Snape had written up and set a copy on each of the tables before the students filed in quietly. They looked nonplussed, and a few of them looked rather grumpy, when they discovered this was not going to be a session where they could fall asleep under Snape’s silken tones. Harry had assumed they would be keenly interested but instead they had that “do we have to?” attitude conveyed by whispers and knowing glances.
Surprisingly, Cho was the first to volunteer reading. She had been tentative when first stepping in the door, and had looked at him somewhat askance, but here she was reading with a soft and melodious lilt in her voice. Harry smiled as she concluded with the first paragraph, and the next student looked at him with a frown before continuing. Cho blushed and looked at the floor. The class read passably well, and Harry didn’t have to worry about stumbling over complex potion names when the students were doing it for him.
The evening brought loneliness and boredom. There was nothing to do but study for the next day. A thought crept into his mind as it struck nine o’clock. He had an invisibility cloak in his possession. Harry went to the cupboard with a grin. As he unfurled the cloak he pondered where to go. Obviously he couldn’t go anywhere he liked, but he hoped it would at least be interesting.
As he put the cloak on, it was fairly obvious that Fidens could still see him, as the furry creature looked up at him almost questioningly, and followed him as he checked in the mirror. Surely enough, there was nothing to see. Not wanting to take any chances, Harry carefully opened the door and went outside. He made sure that this time Fidens had not followed him, and started on his journey to the lower part of the school.
***************
Harry stifled a giggle and temporarily stopped. The Gryffindor ahead of him had just looked behind himself with an uncertain frown. Neville, arms full with a tall stack of books, appeared to be going back to the Library. Harry had half a mind to go and annoy the readers by making an awful racket in the aisles, knowing that Madam Pince would blame one of the students. Meanwhile, he thought it would be fun to tag behind one of his friends.
Neville had unfortunately already tripped twice, both unprompted by his unseen follower. Despite feeling his usual sympathy, Harry had found it amusing. Taking deep breaths so as not to laugh out loud, he was finding it difficult to make as little noise as possible. One of the odd things about Snape’s clothes was that they always billowed around him as if he were gliding on a cloud and Harry had found that this was due to an unusual cut and strength of the fabric. If he came close to a wall, the robes gave an awfully loud swishing sound. Harry made sure his clothes and invisibility cloak was swathed tighter around his body and prepared to give his clumsy friend more grief. It wasn’t that he disliked Neville, of course, he was just bored. Sick and tired of spending the day in a state of complete tension, Harry longed for the chance to be silly. It was bad enough that he had to be abnormally serious as a teenager, let alone be forced to live the life of an uncompromising Professor.
He had just been about to start blowing on the back of Neville’s neck in an attempt to disturb him when he noticed a small line of Ravenclaw students by the staircase at the end of the hall. The first student had said something and then tapped on what Harry had always assumed was a normal balustrade. As soon as they touched it, they disappeared, and each of the other students followed suit. Unfortunately Harry had continued walking without paying attention to Neville. His arm suddenly knocked into something very squishy and as he jumped back he did his best not to call out. Neville span around, put the books down and proceeded to step forward.
“Alright. I know who this is, so just reveal yourself!” Neville said in a low but commanding voice. Harry didn’t say anything. He was frozen to the spot in fear and anticipation. Neville gave a loud sigh and made a noise of irritation. “Look, this isn’t bloody funny. I’ve never done anything like this to you! And I wouldn’t, even if I had an invisibility cloak!”
Harry found himself stepping back again, as Neville’s hands attempted to grasp at him.
“Harry! I’m not going until you apologise. I know it’s you!”
Harry wasn’t entirely sure what to do. It was Harry, but it wasn’t. How exactly would Neville react? He wasn’t so scared of Professor Snape anymore, but this would disturb anyone. Harry felt sure that if he said “it isn’t Harry,” with his new deep and silken tones he could possibly get Snape sacked, or better yet, arrested. What was a Professor doing following students in an invisibility cloak in the late evening? Harry also realised that by doing that he would break his cover and thereby risk his life. Dumbledore was adamant. He must behave. Instead, he ran. Harry ran right past the confused Neville and behind the last Ravenclaw student.
Looking back, Harry saw Neville reaching his hands out with a perplexed expression before falling over his pile of books. Harry smirked and touched the balustrade at the same time as the student ahead. Feeling a sensation not unlike a portkey, Harry found himself exactly where he had hoped. The Ravenclaw common room.