The Boy in the Cupboard

Chapter 14

"You can't smell, either." Ron muttered.

Harry said, in sudden realization. "Peeves feel touch."

"Don't ask Peeves or the Bloody Baron about their bloody privates, mate."

Harry, much to his friends' relief, stopped asking ghosts about their privates, though he did start asking about ghost parties in the "Shriek Shack". The two words sounded almost identical when Harry said them.

"We've been to a ghost party, and it wasn't there." Ron sighed. "You'd have to be bloody mental to want to attend one of those again."

"Ron," Hermione hissed, though whether her reprimand was about potentially offending Harry or the approach of Nearly Headless Nick seemed lost on Ron.

Harry, haltingly, invited Nick to a party in the shack.

"I've never been," Nick said stiffly. "I've heard a very rough crowd lives there. None of the ghosts go there, not even the Baron."

"Besides, you leave during Gryffindor parties," Ron pointed out. Indeed, crowds often made Harry uncomfortable after years of isolation. During Harry's first year, he'd often looked like he wanted to bolt from the Great Hall, but was unwilling to leave the food behind.

The following day, Harry skived class to go to the Hogwarts gate, which was closed. He tugged desperately at the bars in completely ineffective attempts at transfiguration.

Harry howled and Padfoot barked. He'd been there, before the dementors sucked the life out of him. Most prisoners tugged at the bars when they first arrived. Being trapped on the Hogwarts grounds was, of course, vastly preferable to Azkaban.

Harry gave up on the bars, attempting to scale up the stone pillars beside the gate, gazing at the gargoyles sitting atop the pillar.

Harry gave Padfoot no mind until Padfoot started pulling him back to class. Harry really was James's son, that was for sure, and while Sirius had often dreamed of Harry carrying on the legacy of the marauders and getting into all sorts of mischief, he hadn't expected it to be quite like this.

"Where were you?" Colin asked once Padfoot had pulled Harry back to class.

"Ghost party," Harry grumbled. He sulked for the rest of potions, mashing Ginny's ingredients for her vigorously, seeming glad to be able to destroy something in his anger.

After some badgering, Harry explained "Gargoyles bugger off ghost party."

At dinner that night, Ron said "Trelawney predicted your death again. Maybe you'll start a ghost party then,"

"It's not funny, Ron." Hermione frowned, though Harry started chortling. Both his hands were above the table, thankfully. He was laughing, perhaps, at how Malfoy still edged away from the Baron.

Harry developed an intense interest in the Shrieking Shack, which only caused most of his peers to view him even more strangely. Harry insisted on going to the next Hogsmeade trip, despite Ginny deciding to wait for Luna and Colin.

Padfoot watched Harry even more closely than usual, but Harry somehow managed to slip out of sight, even without the aid of James's invisibility cloak. Padfoot found Harry close to the shack, smacking the boarded up windows.

"It's no use," Fred told Harry through stifled laughter.

"We've tried. There's no way in." George said.

Padfoot had an image of Harry vanishing the glass at the zoo; of course, Padfoot knew there was nothing in the shack now, but he didn't want Harry to be ostracized for letting the rumored, violent ghosts out in the village.

Remus pulled Harry away from the shack, exchanging a look with Padfoot.

"We're not going in there," Remus told Harry, surprised he even wanted go go near, given his complete shutdown in the passage to Honeydukes.

"Shriek shack." Harry replied, stubbornly.

"Nothing happy happened here," Remus sighed wearily, trying to lead Harry away, but Harry planted his feet.

"Ghost party." Harry said, matter-of-factly. "Party happy happened here."

"There aren't any parties." Remus's mouth was thin. "Nothing in there but dust and cobwebs and broken furniture."

"Spiders." Harry grinned, glancing back at the house. "In there spiders' cobwebs."

"You're not getting me in there, even if you paid me." Ron muttered. "Throw your party somewhere else, and I might go."

Luna, of course, had a whole list of creatures that might be inhabiting the shack when Harry brought it up later. Hermione scoffed and insisted their time would be better spent studying, or, in Harry's case, working on therapies rather than planning parties.

Ginny read the assigned sections of her course books out loud to Harry. Once, Malfoy passed, drawling that Harry couldn't understand.

"He's listening, he's just not showing it." Ginny replied furiously, as Harry flicked small pebbles towards Crabbe and Goyle.

Students grew stressed as the end of the year exams approached. A few grumbled that they wished they'd gotten Harry's exams- matching pictures instead of writing essays; identifying different plants and ingredients in potions and Herbology.

"Bet Crabbe and Goyle would fail your exams," Ron smirked.

Hermione, especially, seemed increasingly overworked, and had exams scheduled for the same time. She hastily shoved her exam schedule in her bag when Ron pointed it out, and Padfoot was distracted by Harry practically choking on eggs because he was inhaling them so quickly.

One breakfast, while Hermione read quickly from her Arithmancy book, Harry sported an expression much like Ron's- a mix between exasperation and complete boredom. He signed several words across the Great Hall to the Baron. "book Hermione sleep yawn"

Boring, the Baron signed back. Padfoot stopped chewing, a sausage dangling out of his mouth in surprise. Was the Bloody Baron trying to increase Harry's vocabulary?

Boring, Harry signed back. Party go.

Harry stood up. "Shriek shack."

"No, Harry." Ron sighed.

Hermione didn't look up from her book, but paused her reading to remind Harry, "You've got Herbology today,"

Harry, Ginny and Colin went to the greenhouse instead, which was infinitely brighter and more cheerful than the shack. Harry kept mentioning the shack, to Ginny's exasperation.

The next time Harry brought the shack up, he covered his ears and mimicked the cry of the mandrake.

Ginny was startled into laughter. "Yeah, this place was a shrieking shack, too."

Harry stared up at the glass ceiling, the glass walls. "Ghost walls through."

"They're transparent, like ghosts," Luna confirmed.

"Ghost through wall." Harry tapped the glass impatiently, vanishing a panel like he had at the zoo. Professor Sprout replaced it with a flick of her wand.

Harry, thanks to Neville's patient tutoring over the years, passed his Herbology exam with flying colors.

Luna invited Helena to a nice chat by the greenhouse later. Neville was all to eager to join, to sit near the plants and talk with an equally shy ghost.

Sirius figured he could spend the evening with Remus; it would be a full moon, and though the Wolfsbane potion kept Remus tame in his wolf form, he'd still obviously appreciate Padfoot's loyal companionship like the old days.

They'd told Harry's friends not to bother them unless it was an emergency, and Sirius was sure nothing would happen. Harry had his ghost party with Helena. He might not exactly trust Luna with keeping Harry out of trouble, but Neville was reliable.

Sirius and Remus sat together on the couch, talking more than snogging. It felt comfortable, even though Remus was due to turn in a few hours when the full moon rose.

Suddenly, a knock hammered on Remus's door. Neville's voice came, anxiously, through the wood. "Harry's gone!"