Harry rose gracefully to his feet. He gave them a slight bow before saying, "I apologize for my interruption of this most prestigious of gatherings. I am afraid my manners are not on the level of a gathering such as this. Ms Patel merely wished for me to see for myself the society that my parents and I sacrificed so much in defending. I am pleased to say in this she succeeded admirably. And now if you would excuse me?"
And with that Harry walked out.
Padma sat stunned in her seat as she watched him walk out. The little speech was totally out of character from her last two months of friendship with the famous boy. Harry was generally quiet and a bit shy although occasionally he showed glimpses of something else behind his walls.
Caught in her own musings, Padma missed the rest of the gatherings initial reactions to Harry's impromptu speech. Then she noticed Susan's embarrassed expression. Padma glanced around now taking notice of a few embarrassed faces and several angry or annoyed ones. Ernie looked rather amused again. Padma replayed Harry's words in her mind.
'Oh Merlin' she gasped in her thoughts. 'He just told off the entire room!'
Padma stood. "Excuse me; I am going to see after my guest."
Fortunately it was just a few steps to the door. To her surprise, Ernie was right behind her.
"That was bloody brilliant," Ernie snickered once they were out of the room. "They can't really get upset with his words but what he implied… that was awesome!"
"It was not awesome!" Padma retorted as tears started down her cheeks. "Harry just offended everyone in that room! Not that they didn't deserve it, b-but I brought Harry to help him, not make things worse."
Ernie looked a bit uncomfortable but simply shrugged. "Most of them already had their minds made up. The Dark families hate him. The Light families put him on a pedestal. And the Neutrals like my family are the same place they always are… on the fence."
Padma acknowledged his comment with a small nod. Her daddy had said something similar. Varish Patel owned on of the largest import/export businesses in the magical world and did significant business with the Muggle world. He often spoke at home of the isolationist stance of the magical world and its dangers.
"Well, I am off to find Justin," Ernie announced. "I promised to give him my assistance in improving his flying. I believe he wishes to try-out for the Hufflepuff Quidditch squad next year. He heard McGonagall almost got Potter onto the Gryffindor squad this year. Cheerio!"
Padma smiled a bit as she watched the boy strut off. Ernie was one of the sweetest and most thoughtful boys she knew but he really came off like an arrogant berk sometimes.
Padma turned now and started walking to the Gryffindor tower. She wanted to apologize to Harry for dragging him to the stupid social. Besides, maybe she could catch Hermione to talk about the Potions assignment. They needed three uses of Trileaf Simitoil and she'd only found two.
14 December 1991
"Harry, where do you disappear to all the time?" Hermione asked."
Harry looked up from his meal to see a number of curious faces looking expectantly at him. He simply shrugged. "Around. I like to explore. I feel cooped up if I stay in too long."
Ron leaned forward and whispered, "Harry, mate, there is something we need to tell you about." Harry peaked over his glasses to make eye contact with Ron. Ron supressed a gulp and said, "No, it's about something different."
Hermione said, "We went looking for you the other week, Ron, Neville, and I. It was after curfew and Fitch and his horrible cat were chasing us. We ended up on the third floor where Dumbledore warned us not to go." She noticed that the Weasley twins were now listening to their conversation.
"It was horrible; we barely got out with our lives!" Ron supplied. "It was some kind of monster with three heads!"
"I didn't even want to be there," Neville mumbled. "I just couldn't remember the password to the dorm again."
Harry smiled. "Oh, you met Fluffy."
"Fluffy!" Ron exclaimed in an outraged voice. "Fluffy! You mean that monster has a name?" From the shocked expressions on the Weasley twins' faces, Hermione surmised they had met the monster dog also.
Harry shrugged. "Well, that is what Hagrid told me. Fluffy is his."
"When did you talk to Hagrid?" Fred (or is it George?) asked.
"Um, since the first week we were here," Harry answered after some thought. "He gave me a note our first morning here inviting me down for tea. Apparently he really liked my mum and dad. He wanted to give me a birthday present. That's when I got Hedwig."
Hermione had wondered where the snowy owl had come from. Before she could comment, the owl in question suddenly flew in and landed on Harry's shoulder.
.....
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