Professor Potter

Chapter 69

Chapter 69 

"Good, I'm glad to see you four can be where you're supposed to be when you so choose," Harry said as he stood facing the three young Slytherins and his godson Ted. 

They were standing in front of Hagrid's hut in the waning light of an early November afternoon. In the face of the repeated infractions committed by this group of youngsters Harry had arranged with their Heads of House to take a hand in their disciplinary requirements. He used his own history at Hogwarts for the inspiration for this particular event. 

"Now, since you gentlemen seem to have a difficult time getting along, I thought you might gain a bit of perspective by doing something together. You're going to assist me in a search of this part of the forest. There might be a large snake loose. I'd like to look for any signs of it," Harry said. 

The four boys were looking at Harry wide eyed. One of the Slytherins, by the name of Rutherford, said, 

"You can't be serious. The sun is almost down and you want us to go stumbling around the forest looking for some bloody great snake?" 

Harry stood with his arms crossed, regarding the youngster with a cocked eyebrow. 

"Umm, sir." 

"Better. First of all, I've taken many walks in the Forest and I've never stumbled. Second, when I was your age I took a similar trip looking for something that was killing unicorns and I came out of it just fine," Harry answered matter of factly. 

"This is ridiculous. You just wait until my father hears about this," Rutherford said. 

Harry smiled, and not with humor. He fixed the boy with those penetrating green eyes and said, 

"You might want to reconsider that comment, Mr. Rutherford. If I recall correctly the school has yet to contact your parents about your recent transgressions. Do you want to be the one to bring all this to his attention? Particularly when you consider how close you all are to getting expelled. I imagine that would be rather an embarrassment for them." 

The three Slytherins remained silent but looked extremely uncomfortable. Ted looked more thoughtful and said to no one in particular, 

"I'm not arguing. I'd rather get eaten by a giant snake than have my grandmother find out about all this." 

Harry had to stifle a smile at the note in Ted's voice at the dour acceptance of his fate. Then he squared his shoulders and said, 

"Alright, gentlemen. Wands out and in we go. Me first." 

"Wait a minute," one of the other Slytherins said. "You want one of us to be at the back of the line? What if something comes at us from behind?" 

"I suppose I could bring up the rear, but do any of you know your way around to lead us? And what if something comes at us from the front?" Harry asked. 

The boys shared panicky looks as Harry headed off into the forest using the now very familiar trail. Ted gave a shrug and plunged in after him. The other three hesitated a moment and then hurried after in a near run to close up the distance. The gloom under the trees deepened quickly as the sun neared the horizon. Their first stop was the clearing where Amanda had her frightening encounter. Harry looked at the boys and said, 

"Alright, gentlemen. I want you to take a careful look at the ground around the edge of the clearing. Look for anything that might indicate a snake or something snakelike had been moving around. You can poke around in the bushes but don't go into the underbrush yet. And I'd suggest you pair up." 

He watched as two Slytherins went off to slowly poke around the edges of the clearing to their left. Ted and the remaining boy, not the one he had the punch up with that Anton interrupted, looked at each other, shrugged a bit and began looking to their right. Harry said nothing and then made his way to the spot where the apparition apparently appeared to Amanda. There was no lingering sense of the cold or death and corruption that he felt that last time, but that wasn't surprising given the time that had passed. He crouched down to examine the grass and bare undergrowth. If the apparition had had any affect on the greenery he couldn't detect it.