Harry Potter gets smart and takes control - The Goblet

Chapter 75 The Aftermath

She nodded, "me too," she agreed, "But you did the right thing. You have every right to call him up on it. And to leave. You didn't do anything wrong, he just doesn't understand," she said, placing a cautious hand on his shoulder. Harry flinched again but didn't move away.

Hermione hesitated a moment, before telling Harry exactly what she had done.

"We couldn't risk it getting back to Dumbledore that you know, either about the compulsions or that you're not so ignorant of your parents. And I didn't know what else to do. He wouldn't take an oath, and he could have slipped out of it," she babbled, "I'm no good at legilimency so I couldn't obliviate him with that, so I used the simpler, confundus-obliviate."

Harry stared at her, wide-eyed as she kept babbling, explaining.

Finally, she ran out of words and trailed to a stop with, "say something! Please..."

But he didn't know what to say, so he just hugged her, hard. And she hung on for a long time, hugging him back just as desperately.

"Thanks," he whispered hoarsely, "you shouldn't have done it, but I'm glad you did."

*

They got back just in time for dinner and then met up with the others in the kitchen.

"How was it?" Neville asked when they sat down.

"Not up to talking about it," Harry said, flatly feeling exhausted.

Neville nodded, looking worriedly at Hermione.

She smiled reassuringly at him and said, "it wasn't great, but what did you three get up to?"

They frowned at her worriedly, but Neville started telling them about the plants he and the twins had been talking about in the twins' latest prank sweet. Maybe it would distract Harry from whatever had happened with his godfather that was bothering him so much.

"Remember the ton-tongue toffee?" Fred said

Harry winced at the idea of what the Dursley's would do to him for that, but then remembered he was never going back and grinned at the twins. It had been hilarious and served Dudley right. He was never going back to the Dursley's. Not ever.

"We're going to make more like that." Fred continued

"A range of sweets that do different things," Said George

"Brilliant!" Harry said, trying to bring his attention onto that and not the disasters meeting with his godfather, or the memory of his relatives.

"What else are you thinking of?" Hermione said interestedly, "how are you going to do it?"

But as interesting as it was Harry couldn't focus on it. All he could think of was the look on Sirius's face and how Harry had been sure for a moment that Sirius would hit him. That and Sirius words were ringing in Harry's head over and over.

You walk out, don't expect to come back!

Yeah! You keep running!

Snivillus doesn't count! He's not an inferior, he was a no-one, a nobody, Harry, he was nothing

nothing, nothing, nothing.

I'm nothing.

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

You shut your mouth, Harry James!

You take that back, Harry James, take it back!

Take it back! Take it back! Take it back!