Somewhere Safe - Chapter 18

The later half of the day was on par with his old world. Transfiguration was currently focusing on turning animating inanimate objects with an increase in complexity over the next month. Once again, his magic proved to be working on another level that it had previously. He was able to make a teapot walk around on his first attempt. By the end of class, he had it dancing.

Herbology was interesting, but still beyond him. Professor Sprout was working together with Professor Tonks to supply Potion Ingredients. It expanded the topic to include the various ways the growing methods impacted the use. Neville shined in the class, happily adding extra bits of knowledge and trivia along with the lesson. Unlike other Professors, Sprout was delighted with the input.

"Rose." Harry had her stay back after Herbology.

"What's up?" Rose asked as she stole a look around.

Delphi seemed to be lurking nearby throughout the day. She was just waiting for Rose to slip up so she could get closer to Harry. They had to make sure they had plenty of space between each other. Another person with them was also a safe bet. Right now, it was Lavender.

"I need to go to talk to Madam Pomphrey." He said in a low voice.

"Did you lick the Snozeberry Root?" Rose snapped. "Professor Sprout, and Neville, told everyone multiple times not to. I don't care how sweet it smelled; you're going to have explosive-"

"I didn't lick the Snozeberry Root." Harry cut in. "There's something… different about my magic since I got here. Yesterday in Charms, that wasn't normal for me. And In defense? I'm good, but I'm not that good."

"Alright." Rose sighed. "Let's go."

"No." Harry shook his head. "We're practically daring Riddle to make a move."

"You can't go alone." She crossed her arms as she stared hard at him.

"I can take him." Lavender chimed in happily.

Harry motioned to the other girl. Lavender smiled broadly.

"Fine." Rose grumbled. "Let me know once you get back. Otherwise, I'm sending out a rescue party."

"You could do with an adventure." Harry teased.

"Dueling Riddle is adventure enough." Rose rolled her eyes. "I'm serious. Check in once you're back." She turned to Lavender. "Stay with him."

"Yes, ma'am." Lavender saluted her.

Rose sighed. She tossed her hands up as she walked away. Lavender's smile turned wicked when she looked back at Harry.

"Just couldn't wait to get me alone?" Lavender walked her fingers up his chest. "Nice little tease about Charms. Don't think I missed that."

Harry gulped. It took a concentrated effort to step back.

"I enjoyed yesterday." Harry guided her hand away from him. "But I was telling the truth. Something feels different. Knowing my luck, it's going to turn out that I'm about to explode."

Lavender paused, staring at him for a moment. She shrugged.

"Alright." She moved out of the way to let him pass. "To Madam Pomphrey then."

They walked for a couple of minutes in silence.

"So…" Lavender drew the word out. "Is it true you killed a basilisk?"

"Yeah." Harry chuckled. He rolled up his sleeve to show her the scar. "I stabbed it through the mouth. One of its fangs gave me this." He turned his arm to show a slightly smaller scar on the other side. "Phoenix tears healed me up."

"Why did you stab in it through the mouth?" Lavender gawked at him.

"I was twelve, how else what I supposed to kill it?" Harry rolled his eyes.

"You killed a basilisk when you were twelve?" Lavender asked slowly.

"Salazar Slytherin placed a basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets to protect the school." Harry explained as they walked. "Someone took control of it and was using it to attack students. One of my friends had a little sister, she was kidnapped by it, and we went down to rescue her. There was a cave-in so I had to face it alone."

"At twelve." Lavender repeated.

"If you think that's impressive, I should tell you what I did in my first year." Harry chuckled.

"What did you do in your first year?" Lavender grabbed his arm and pulled him close against her.

Harry wasn't sure if she did it on purpose, but his arm ended up squeezed between her ample breasts. He forced his eyes to face forward.

"Escaped a Cerberus, which isn't as hard as it sounds." He added the last part quickly. "Then I fought a possessed professor and killed him."

She stopped. The sudden change practically yanked his arm out of the socket.

"You killed a professor?" The color was quickly draining from his face.

"He was possessed." Harry repeated. "And he attacked me multiple times through the year. It wasn't until the end that I figured out who it was."

"I'm not sure that makes it ok." Lavender said softly as she started to walk beside him again.

Harry shrugged. The fell into an uneasy silence for a few minutes. Only the sound of their footsteps and the occasional passing portrait provided any noise.

"What about last year?" Lavender asked. Her voice was hesitant, bracing for the answer.

"Aside from the Dementors, last year wasn't too bad." Harry replied.

"Now I know you're having me on." Lavender laughed. "Why would you ever get anywhere near a dementor?"

"Is there an Azkaban here?" He asked.

She nodded.

"Don't tell me, you had to go, and singlehandedly stop the dementors from rebelling." Lavender rolled her eyes.

"No." Harry chuckled. "That would have made sense."

"I'm afraid to ask, but you've got me curious now." Lavender watched him from the corner of her eye.

"There was this suspected dark wizard, he was innocent but we didn't find out until much later, who escaped from Azkaban. He was an unregistered animagus and they didn't have him in a warded cell. All he had to do was starve himself until he was thin enough to slip through the bars." Harry explained.

Lavender was completely hooked on his story. So much so she didn't realize they were standing outside of Healing Ward.

"The Minister, in his infinite wisdom, decided that the best way to protect Hogwarts was to station Dementors here." Harry continued. "As it turns out, I smell wonderful to Dementors, and they attacked me a few times. I had to learn the Patronus charm to keep them away."

"You can cast a Patronus?" She asked. "Come on. Most Aurors can only cast a mist."

A sly smile crossed his face.

"What do you want to bet?" Harry asked.

"Pardon?" Lavender countered.

"You do think I can cast a Patronus. I say I can. What do you want to bet?" Harry wiggled his eyebrows at her, earning a giggle.

"Fine." She crossed her arms under her breasts. The look on her face told him she knew what she was doing. "You'll be my date for the first Hogsmeade weekend. I pick where we go. And if you win?"

Harry thought for a moment. She adjusted her arms and leaned forward, pressing her chest against him. All the blood rushing below his waist was making it hard to think.

"Show me your tits." The words tumbled out of his mouth before his brain could catch up.

"Mister Potter." Lavender purred. "How bold of you."

A tidal wave of embarrassment washed over him. He opened his mouth to apologize. She stopped him from speaking with a finger against his lips.

"Deal."

Harry didn't even have to try to reach for a memory. He already felt amazing.

"Expecto Patronum." Harry forced himself to focus on the spell rather than her.

The familiar shape of Prongs appeared in the hallway next to them. Except, it didn't look like normal. Usually, Prongs appeared to be made of mist. Now, he looked solid, as though a real stag had wondered through the halls. Even the coloring was lifelike.

Prong scanned the hall before looking back to Harry. The stag noticed Lavender and gave a little chuff that sounded like a laugh. Prongs did one final look around the hall before he faded away.

"Morgana." Lavender whispered.

Harry stared at the space where his Patronus had been moments ago. This was not normal. He needed to speak with someone, and fast. Harry shifted to head into the Healing Ward, only to find Lavender was blocking his path.

"A deals a deal." She shrugged.

Smoothly, she grabbed the bottom of her shirt and bra, then lifted it up. Harry's jaw dropped. Her large breasts looked firm; they were capped with galleon sized pink nipples. She flipped her bra and shirt back in place far too soon for his liking.

"Too bad you won." She sighed. "You would have gotten a feel on our date." Lavender giggled as Harry continued to stare at her now covered chest. "We're here."

Harry shook his head, trying to get his brain to start working again.

"Right." He said. "Right."

Harry pushed open the door and stepped inside. Madam Pomphrey stood nearby watching as a witch in Hufflepuff robes waved her wand in the air above another student on a stretcher. He didn't recognize either of them.

"Back so soon, Mister Potter?" Madam Pomphrey chuckled as she watched him approach.

"I needed to speak to you about something that's happening to me." Harry got the words out before he lost his nerve.

He knew that anyone he told would tell him to talk to Madam Pomphrey, so he decided to skip the step. Speaking to her on his own was harder than he expected.

"Of course." She patted the Hufflepuff witch on the shoulder. "Bring me the results once you've finished. We'll go over them together."

The Hufflepuff witch nodded. She only spared Harry a quick glance before returning to her work. Madam Pomphrey motioned for him to follow. She led him to another stretcher and closed the curtains for some privacy.

"Take a seat, Mister Potter." Madam Pomphrey patted the stretched. "Tell me what brings you here."

"Ever since I arrived, my magic has been…" He searched for the word. "Different. It's more powerful and easier to use. In charms the other day I was casting silently and didn't even realize."

"Hm." Madam Pomphrey tapped her chin. "The best course of action is to run a full diagnostic. When you were here previously, I did a quick scan. I didn't find anything out of the ordinary."

She reached in a pocket in her robes. Her arm up to the elbow disappeared in the fabric.

"A robe with expanded pockets." She said when she saw the look on his face. "Every witch should have them." She held up a square block of dark wood. "Hold this."

Harry stared at her for a moment. Slowly, he held out his hand. She placed the block in his palm. He relaxed when it didn't do anything. A sudden jolt of energy zipped through his body.

"Aaugh!" Harry yelled.

"Don't be so dramatic." Madam Pomphrey chuckled as she took the block.

"What was that?" Harry shook the tingles from his hand.

"It inspects and measures your magical core." Madam Pomphrey placed the block on a sheet of parchment. The dark color faded away. A moment later text appeared on the parchment. She read whatever it was before turning back to him. "I'm going to need some of your blood."

"How much?" Harry asked warily.

"Three drops." Madam Pomphrey drew a thin silver blade from her pocket. "Your hand please."

Harry sighed. He held out his hand. There was a blur of movement. He felt a pinch on his palm before he had a chance to react. Impressive, considering he regularly chased snitches. Madam Pomphrey pressed the blade to the same parchment. The small bit of his blood spread out to cover the lower half of it. That should have needed a lot more than three drops. Slowly, the blood faded away leaving a single line of text behind.

"You appear fine." Madam Pomphrey said with a sigh. "Aside from a rather large magical core, there doesn't appear to be anything out of the ordinary."

"There's something else." Harry said blushing.

"Go on, Mister Potter." Madam Pomphrey soothed. "There is little that can surprise me these days."

"Girlsarehittingonme." Harry said quickly.

"A little slower please." She smiled at him.

"Girls." Harry took a gulp of air and let it out. "They are hitting on me. Yesterday, a girl was… groping me in class. I bumped into another girl, and she started to grind against me."

"Was this unwanted contact?" Madam Pomphrey sounded more serious than he had ever heard.

"Surprising, but not unwanted." Harry blushed. "Is there something wrong with me? Maybe my magic is doing something to them? Like with Veela."

Madam Pomphrey gave him a warm smile.

"Mister Potter." She patted him on the shoulder. "You are an attractive young man and also happen to be a powerful wizard."

"This didn't happen where I came from." Harry shrugged.

"I was told some details about your world." Madam Pomphrey said. "From what I understand, you had something more pressing than girls to worry about."

Harry laughed. He nodded.

Madam Pomphrey leaned in close to share a secret. "Think about your world, what would happen if a new student appeared at the beginning of the year? One you've never met before. You may be in your fourth year, but you weren't here for the last three."

"I'm the Nimbus 2001." Harry muttered.

Madam Pomphrey made an amused sound. "Will that be all?"

"Yes. Thank you." Harry sighed. "It's good to know I'm not going to explode or something."

"Do you need someone to show you back to your common room?" Madam Pomphrey asked.

"No." Harry shook his head. "I know the way and I came with a friend."

Lavender was waiting for him near the door. She was turning tongue depressors into stick figures and making them patrol a small table. Judging by the pile misshapen broken pieces, she had been up to it for a while.

"Are you going to explode?" She asked as he approached.

He chuckled. "No."

"We've still got time before dinner." Lavender said as they headed out. "I can think of a few things to pass the time."

"Lav." Harry smiled at her. "Riddle and Rose are already set to duel to be my girlfriend. I don't think you want to get all tangled up in that."

"Or I can challenge to winner." Lavender smirked at him. "I know I wouldn't be the only one."