Chapter Text
“HARRY POTTER!”
“Fuck,” Eren muttered, too quitely for anyone to hear.
Professor McGonagall was running towards the startled group of first years, some still clutching their brooms. There were murmurs of concern. Eren straightened his posture and awaited McGonagall’s outburst.
“Never — in all my time at Hogwarts —”, Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, “—how dare you — might have broken your neck —”
Eren gulped and felt as if he had just prodded a sleeping lion. Maybe a very motherly sleeping lion, anyway. McGonagall seemed more worried than angry, but she was intimidating nonetheless. It was a strange combination that Eren, quite frankly, wasn’t all that comfortable with. Brought back to reality by the protests of his young housemates, Eren watched as those he barely knew defended his supposed innocence.
“It wasn’t his fault, Professor —”
“Be quiet, Miss Patil —”
It really was unfair, he’d like to think, that those around him knew his new name and history but he knew practically nothing about them. Not that he wanted to. Eren heard the redheaded Weasley try to defend him as well.
“But Malfoy —” Ron was stopped by the stern glint in McGonagall’s eyes.
“That’s enough, Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now.”
Eren caught Hermione’s gaze as he followed McGonagall. She seemed to be silently scolding him. Eren also saw Malfoy and his two bodyguard-like goons’ triumphant faces as he left, walking quietly in Professor McGonagall’s wake as she strode toward the castle.
‘Why am I following her? Since when do I respect authority?’
A voice inside his mind replied to his question.
‘When you were in the scouting regiment you followed orders all the time. Until you betrayed them and wiped out most of the world’s population, that is.’
Eren scowled.
‘Shut up. I kind of like it here. Don’t mess with my head.’
‘But I am your head. I am YOU.’
“Potter! Keep up with my pace.”
Eren had stopped without even knowing it. He realized he was now near the entrance to the grand Hogwarts castle.
“Yes, professor,” he followed.
Up the front steps, up the marble staircase inside, and Professor McGonagall didn’t say another word to him. She wrenched open the doors and marched along the corridors with Eren practically trotting to keep up with her. Eren wondered where McGonagall was taking him. Was riding a broom really that serious of an offense? Maybe she was taking him to Dumbledore, maybe she would try to expel him. He wondered how he might feel if he was expelled from Hogwarts. It was most definitely not what he had been planning on. He certainly didn’t want to go back to the Dursleys, nor did he want to wander the streets of England like a beggar.
Inadvertently, Eren’s stomach twisted slightly when he imagined the prospect; to be alone again.
‘What about Hermione?’
Eren was surprised that the thought of the nerdy girl had even crossed his mind. What had gotten into him lately? He really needed to sort out his emotions.
Eren almost bumped into Professor McGonagall when she stopped outside a noisy classroom. She opened the door and poked her head inside.
“Excuse me, Professor Flitwick, could I borrow Wood for a moment?”
Wood? Thought Eren, a little bewildered. Why would McGonagall ask the charms professor for wood when she was fully capable of conjuring some up herself? Eren still didn’t understand half of the complicated wizardry laws out there. Was wood a code word or perhaps another professor? Before Eren’s pondering could continue much longer, the door to the charms classroom swung open.
Wood, as it turned out, was a person. The boy was a burly fifth-year boy who came out of Flitwick’s class looking confused.
“Follow me, you two,” said Professor McGonagall, and they marched on up the corridor, Wood looking curiously at Harry.
“In here.”
Professor McGonagall pointed them into a classroom that was empty except for Peeves, who was busy writing rude words on the blackboard.
“Out, Peeves!” she barked. Peeves threw the chalk into a bin, which clanged loudly, and he swooped out cursing. Professor McGonagall slammed the door behind the poltergeist and turned to face the two boys.
“Potter, this is Oliver Wood. Wood — I’ve found you a Seeker.”
Wood’s expression changed from puzzlement to delight.
Eren’s expression changed from puzzlement to complete bewilderment.
Wood smiled, “Are you serious, Professor?”
“Absolutely,” said Professor McGonagall crisply.
‘What the fuck is happening?’
McGonagall continued, pride tinting her voice.
“The boy’s a natural. I’ve never seen anything like it. Was that your first time on a broomstick, Potter?”
Eren nodded silently. He didn’t have a clue what was going on, but he didn’t seem to be being expelled, and he felt strangely relieved.
“He caught that thing in his hand after a fifty-foot dive,” Professor McGonagall told Wood, “Didn’t even scratch himself. Charlie Weasley couldn’t have done it.”
Wood was now looking as though all his dreams had come true at once.
“Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?” Oliver Wood asked excitedly.
“No.”
“Wood’s captain of the Gryffindor team,” Professor McGonagall explained.
Eren had finally put two and two together, and he did not like the picture that had formed. In fact, he felt like he had deepthroated a titan’s toe.
“He’s just the build for a Seeker, too,” said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him.
‘What the hell is a seeker?’
“Light, speedy, we’ll have to get him a decent broom, Professor — a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I’d say.”
‘Why does everything in the wizarding world have the dumbest name?’
“I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can’t bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn’t look Severus Snape in the face for weeks…”
“I don’t want to be on your sport team.”
McGonagall and Wood’s faces both went blank for a second, as if they were processing what Eren had just said. McGonagall was first to break the suddenly awkward silence.
“What do you mean by that, Potter?”
Eren had trouble keeping eye contact with McGonagall’s stern gaze.
“I don’t want to play that game you were talking about,” he shrugged, “I’ve never seen a match or a game of whatever you call it, and it sounds dumb.”
Professor McGonagall peered sternly over her glasses at the boy she thought was Harry Potter.
“I… didn’t anticipate that you would refuse my offer, Potter.”
Wood butted in, “But Professor! You just said he is a natural!” Wood turned to Eren, “You have to join! Quidditch is the heart and soul of house pride here at Hogwarts!”
“But I don’t want to play your sport,” said Eren.
McGonagall cleared her throat, making the exchange between her students cease.
“Potter, it’s quite amusing that you think you truly have an option here. If it were any other teacher who saw you on your broom earlier, you would already be on a train back to London. I still have the authority to expel you, Potter, so I kindly suggest you reconsider your response.”
‘That sly witch.’
Eren took a breath. He did not want to be expelled from Hogwarts. He did not want to be alone again.
“Sure, I’ll play Quinoa.”
“Quidditch,” Wood corrected.
McGonagall’s gaze softened ever so slightly.
“I want to hear you’re training hard, Potter, or I may change my mind about punishing you.”
Then she suddenly smiled.
“Your father would have been proud,” she said. “He was an excellent Quidditch player himself.”
“Oh.”
Eren didn’t exactly recall James Potter all that well and he still considered Grisha to have been more of a father to him than James, although neither were exactly model parents. It didn’t really matter, since both of them were dead anyway.
Wood pulled Eren out of the abandoned classroom and started blabbering to him about how he was the “youngest house player in a century,” and “we’ll start training you next week, Harry,” and “wait until the Slytherins hear about this”.
It was dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Hermione a fabricated version of what happened after he had left the grounds with Professor McGonagall. Hermione munched on a piece of toast with jam.
“Harry,” she said, “McGonagall’s super strict — she must really favor you in order for you to get off scot free like that. Must be part of the Boy Who Lived rhetoric, because your personality sure doesn’t do you any favors.”
Eren made a face of mock-hurt.
“Your words cut deeper than a knife, Hermione. They really do.”
They both smiled and went back to eating.
Eren had found that the longer he stayed at Hogwarts, the more he became accustomed to the richness of the food. Tonight, he was shoveling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the emotional drain of the afternoon. Eren finished quickly, and left the dining hall, ready to have an early night of rest. Of course, nothing Eren set his mind to ever went his way, and two annoyances blocked his exit from dinner. Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried to him, effectively keeping him away from his oh-so-comfortable bed.
“Well done,” said George in a low voice. “Wood told us about you joining. We’re on the team too — Beaters.”
‘Great. I still have to memorize all the retarded names and rules that come with Quidditch.’
“I tell you, we’re going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year,” said Fred. “We haven’t won since Charlie left, but this year’s team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us. Said you were a bit of trouble though, didn’t want to join at first.”
“We knew you’d come around, Harry,” said George.
“Thanks?”
“Anyway, we’ve got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he’s found a new secret passageway out of the school.”
“Bet it’s that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.”
Fred and George had disappeared and Eren successfully made his way into the entrance hall and was about to start ascending the staircases up to Gryffindor tower when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by his goons, out of breath, as if they had jogged to catch up to him.
“Had your last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?”
Eren turned back towards the staircase and started walking up it and completely ignored Malfoy.
“Oi! Potter! You filthy half-blood! Don’t you dare ignore me!”
Eren stopped in his tracks.
“Bastard. What do you want? If you want to fight, be prepared to lose.”
“I’d take you on anytime on my own,” said Malfoy, “Tonight, if you want. Wizard’s duel. Wands only — no contact. What’s the matter? Never heard of a wizard’s duel before, I suppose?”
“Sounds dumb. And boring. Fuck off you prick.”
Eren ascended the staircases fast enough for Malfoy to never catch up. By the fourth floor, all Eren could hear was the occasional, faint cry of “MY FATHER WILL HEAR ABOUT THIS!”.
Much later that evening, Eren found himself having trouble falling asleep. All of his dorm mates had drifted off at this point, but Eren was still very, very awake. It frustrated him greatly. He was sweating, which made his sheets feel really uncomfortable and damp. He rolled over for what seemed to be the hundredth time that night and felt defeated in his attempt to sleep.
They pulled on a dark robe, picked up his wand, and crept across the tower room, down the spiral staircase, and into the Gryffindor common room. A few embers were still glowing in the fireplace, turning all the armchairs into hunched black shadows.
He had reached the portrait hole with no trouble and as it creaked open he stepped into the hallway, he noticed that the portrait was empty.
‘I heard something.’
It was a sort of snuffling.
“Mrs. Norris?” Eren said, squinting through the dark.
It wasn’t Mrs. Norris. It was that sniveling boy from the flying lesson, Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as Eren crept nearer.
“Thank goodness you found me! I’ve been out here for hours, I couldn’t remember the new password to get into the tower. My gran’s going to kill me.”
“Keep it down, Neville,” said Eren, “The password’s pig snout but it won’t help you now, the Fat Lady’s gone off somewhere.”
“How’s your arm?” said Eren with a sigh.
“Fine,” said Neville, showing him. “Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute.”
“Ok. Well Neville, I’m just wandering around because I can’t sleep. Don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t leave me!” said Neville, scrambling to his feet, “I don’t want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron’s been past twice already.”
Eren internally groaned.
“Fine. Just don’t talk. I’m trying to clear my head.”
“Okay Harry!”
Eren and Neville walked in silence.