Somewhere Safe - Chapter 15

Happy New Year :)

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Lunch was a quiet affair. Harry tried not to let the encounter with this Hermione get to him. Having Rose and Iris next to him helped. They gave their gentle support. Hermione showed up a bit later than everyone else. She glared at him, but it didn't look like she had been crying.

He caught sight of Ron and realized he hadn't spoken to this version yet. The ginger was with some other students that Harry didn't recognize. What he could hear of the conversation made it clear they were talking about quidditch.

"How are you doing?" Iris asked softly, rubbing his shoulder.

Harry sighed and shrugged. Iris snuggled against him. He kissed her on the top of the head without a second thought. She giggled. Rose rolled her eyes.

"Are you ready for potions?" Rose asked.

"I'm looking forward to it." Harry replied with a laugh. "That's a first for me."

"Why?" Iris asked.

"The potions professor, if you could call him that, was horrible." Harry chuckled dryly. "The strange part. You know him."

"Oh?" Iris asked looking up at him. "Who?"

"Flapper." Harry said with a smile.

"No." Iris smacked him on the shoulder. "Uncle Sev is a sweetheart."

"The Snape in my world isn't." Harry shook his head. "I met Flapper. They don't even look alike."

"Weird." Iris said with a sigh.

"All of this is." Harry whispered.

"In a good way?" Iris asked, leaning closer against his side.

"Yeah." Harry smiled. "I think so."

They got up and made their way to the potions room. Iris stuck close to them for a good portion of the walk. He didn't know what class she had, but he doubted that it was anywhere near the dungeons.

"Oi, Potter." A girl said as she stomped over to them.

The trio looked up as she approached. She wore Ravenclaw colors and looked familiar. Her black hair was cut short, styled spiky. She wore a pair of earrings that were jewels in the shape of an apple with something swirling inside of it. The look was as punk as one could get while still being in uniform. She wore it well.

"You tried to kill my dad?!" She yelled.

Harry cocked his head to the side. "Your dad?"

"Professor Riddle, you twat." The girl growled.

Harry stared at her in shock. He had completely forgot about her. Riddle had a daughter.

"Don't call Harry a twat, cunt!" Iris yelled back.

"Iris!" Rose snapped at her little sister.

"I'm not talking to you, Potter." The Ravenclaw girl pointed a finger at Harry. "I'm talking to him."

"What's your name?" Harry asked, his voice had gone cold.

The girl noticed the change. She shifted to look at him.

"Delphi Riddle." She tried to sound confident.

"Listen carefully. I do not say this to brag." Harry said calmly. " I killed a basilisk in my second year. I walked out of the largest wild acromantula colony a few months before that. In third year, I banished a horde of dementors. I defeated one of the worst Dark Wizards in the last century, twice, before third year. If I wanted your father dead, Dumbledore would be looking for a new professor."

Delphi stared back at him. Her eyes were wide with shock. The confidence from a moment ago seemed far away. There was something else in her eyes that looked eerily similar to how Sirius looked when he first escaped from Azkaban. He wasn't sure if he liked it.

Harry turned away from her and calmly continued on his way. The clear dismissal showed how little he considered her as a threat. It wasn't until he made it to the potions lab that he realized that he was alone. He looked around to find only Professor Tonks in the room. She stared back at him.

"Mister Potter." She said with a small wrinkle of her forehead. "You're early."

"Oh." Harry blushed. "Sorry."

Professor Tonks smiled. "Students don't start showing up early until after I assign homework."

Rose joined him a moment later. She was out of breath. Professor Tonks watched her hurry over to Harry with a shake of her head. Harry tried to look normal as he began to unpack his supplies.

"What was that?" Rose hissed.

"Hm?" Harry didn't look at her.

"Don't give me that." Rose grumbled. "You threatened a professor!"

"No, I didn't." Harry shook his head.

§You said you were going to kill him!§ Rose spoke in a hiss.

Harry paused for a moment to realize she was literally speaking in a hiss. She was a Parselmouth, just like him. A weight that he had carried since second year lifted from his shoulders. It wasn't something Voldermort had left behind.

§I said that if I wanted to kill him, he would be dead.§ Harry replied. §There is a difference.§

"Miss Potter. Mister Potter." Professor Tonks said sharply. "No Parseltongue in class. Miss Potter, you know this."

The two went quiet as the rest of the students filed in. For once, Harry was thankful they shared potions with Slytherin. He didn't think he could keep cool if it had been Ravenclaw. The other students seemed interested in him. They stole looks at him and spoke in whispers. Harry hoped it was because of his sudden arrival, not the encounter in the hallway.

Everything fell away once class started. Professor Tonks was engaging and had a sharp sense of humor. She started off with theory, discussing the development of the potion, the effects, and the technique used for the actual brewing. All the while she peppered in questions, handed out points, and answered the few that arose. By the end of class Harry felt that he had learned more about potions than he had in the last year, or more.

Rose walked close to him as they made their way back up to the castle proper. It seemed like all of the classes were in the same location. The worried looks and silence returned. Her friends had filled in around them, talking among themselves.

§What?§ Harry asked finally.

§Are you going to be ok§ Rose pulled him to a stop. §Professor Riddle has probably heard about what you said already. If not, we're with Ravenclaw next.§

Harry shrugged. §People will think it was just talk.§

§Was it?§ Rose asked, worry clear on her face.

Harry shook his head. §I did embellish the acromantula bit. I had help with that one.§

They continued on toward class.

§You're a Parselmouth?§ Harry asked.

§No, why?§ Rose rolled her eyes. §Iris and the twins are too. We use it when we don't want people to overhear. It's rare enough.§

§Riddle speaks it.§ Harry said.

Rose stumbled a step. "He does?"

Harry nodded. "Why?"

Rose shook her head. A bright blush flushed her cheeks. Harry chuckled as they continued on. Unlike potions, the DADA already had students in the room when they arrived. It was a good mix of Gryffindors and Ravenclaw.

"Popular class." Harry commented.

"Mister Potter." Professor Riddle spoke from the front of the room. "A word."

Harry nodded. Rose squeezed his hand before he moved to join the professor.

"I understand you had an encounter with my daughter." Professor Riddle spoke evenly.

"Yes, professor." Harry had to force himself to keep his voice calm.

"Your parents." He paused. "The Potters explained to me your connection to the Tom Riddle from your world. I am not him. This time, I will give you a warning. There will be no point loss or detentions."

Harry nodded.

"Be careful around Delphi, Mister Potter." Professor Riddle added.

Harry looked at him, arcing an eyebrow.

"I say this as her father, not your professor. She has a wild spirit. Takes after her mother that way." The older man chuckled. "She isn't much for subtly and she is an impressive duelist."

"I'll keep that in mind." Harry said with a nod.

"That will be all." Professor Riddle said. "I hope to show you that I am my own man, not this specter that poisoned your world."

Harry gave another sharp nod, not sure what to say to that. He turned around to head back to Rose when he caught Delphi staring at him. That fire in her eyes hadn't dimmed. She watched him intently as he made his way through the class.

"Welcome back." Professor Riddle spoke loud and clear. "I'm sure you're all eager to get started."

There was a wave of excitement in reply. Harry looked at Rose, noting that she was practically bouncing in her seat.

"Let's do a quick review." The professor said with a sly smile. "Miss Granger. What are the three As?"

"Accept, Assess, and Act." Hermione answered quickly.

"What does that mean?" Professor Riddle changed his attention. "Mister Goyle."

Harry turned toward the student. He couldn't remember ever hearing him talk. Goyle being in Ravenclaw was a big change as well.

"Accept that this is happening. Assess the situation. Act, find cover, move to safety, or fight." Goyle spoke in a steady rumble.

"Five points to Gryffindor and Ravenclaw." Professor Riddle pointed to the chalkboard.

The Three As appeared on the board. Each had a line of explanation underneath.

"Miss Red Patil." Professor Riddle pointed to Parvati. "Two shield spells."

"Resulto and Protego." Parvati answered quickly.

"Miss Riddle." Professor Riddle pointed to Delphi. "The difference?"

"Resulto focuses against physical damage while Protegocan block magical as well." Delphi explained.

"Five points to each." The Professor smiled. "What are the other stages of Protego? Miss Potter."

"Duo, Maxima, Horribilis, Totalum, and Diabolica." Rose answered.

"What are two other shielding spells?" Riddle asked. "Miss Carrow."

"Boucle and Aegis." A girl that Harry couldn't see answered.

"Another five for each." Riddle replied. "Now." He clapped his hands. "Who wants to try them out?"

Everyone in the class raised their hands. All of the students stood. Harry did as well, not sure what was going on. Professor Riddle waved his wand. The desks and chairs slid toward the edges of the room. They shifted and stacked nicely out of the way. A moment later chalk lanes were drawn on the floor.

"Form a line." The Professor directed. "When it's your turn, cast at least two of the shields mentioned, baring the Totalumand Diabolica."

Harry wasn't sure why everyone was so excited. They lined up and went through the class, each casting the shields with minor issues. The chatter really picked up once everyone had gone through.

"Everyone ready for a tournament?" Professor Riddle asked.

The class cheered.

"No spells above Class Two, winner stays on." Professor Riddle instructed as he formed a dueling platform. "I will count officiate. Any volunteers?"

All of the students raised their hands.

"Excuse me, Professor." Harry spoke up.

"Yes, Mister Potter?" Professor Riddle asked.

"I'm not familiar with dueling." He said. "What is a Class Two?"

That earned some snickers.

"Nothing deadly, or grievous bodily harm." The professor explained. "Breaking bones, altering the body to a harmful extent, and transfiguring the environment with intent to maim or kill."

Harry nodded. That was simple enough.

"The duel ends when an opponent is disarmed, concedes, or forced from the dueling area." Professor Riddle continued. "You'll get the hang of it after you've seen a couple."

Ron stepped up on one side of the platform and a Gryffindor that Harry didn't recognize joined him. They bowed to each other, and the professor counted them down. It was over fast. The unnamed Gryffindor had his feet knocked out from under him and was promptly disarmed. Ron preened at the applause.

A few more duels went by with Ron staying on as the victor. That was until a blonde Ravenclaw stepped onto the platform. Harry thought she looked familiar but didn't know her.

She instantly put Ron on the defensive. A quick string of spells ended with her holding his wand. Ron's shoulders slumped. She returned the wand to him with a gentle flick of her wand.

"Who is that?" Harry asked.

"Hestia Carrow." Rose answered. "She has a twin sister in Slytherin."

Harry nodded. That was where he knew her. He was pretty sure both twins were in Slytherin back where he had come from.

A couple of Ravenclaw and Gryffindor students were soundly defeated. Harry didn't recognize any of them. He started to notice something, there seemed to be more witches than wizards in the class. Now that he thought about it, that had been the same case in the other classes as well.

Padma Patil stepped up. The two stared each other down. Everyone around the platform took a step back. The air grew thick with tension. Once the duel started the spells snapped back and forth. Harry could feel the magic.

"Enough." Professor Riddle hopped up onto the center of the platform. "Whatever is between you two will not be settled in my classroom. If you are intent on dueling, there is a platform for that." He looked from one witch to the other. "Step down, both of you."

Harry looked to Rose for an explanation. She shrugged.

"Another two volunteers." Professor Riddle said.

There was a general grumbling as Hermione took one of the spots. She stayed on for quite a while. Her dueling style was rigid. Every spell she cast was precise and by the book. She rarely dodged, sticking to shields, or countering. It wasn't long before she had the longest streak so far. The majority of the crowd had settled to sulk.

"I'm better with a sword." Ciri muttered as she returned to her spot near Rose.

The excited whispers started up again when Delphi took the open spot. Harry noticed the waning attention was now back in force.

It was clear why once the duel started. Where Hermione was controlled and precise, Delphi was focused chaos. None of her wand movements matched the spells she was casting. On top of that, she was chaining spells together that shattered Hermione's shields. Delphi moved so fast that she held two wands for a long moment before Hermione realized she was unarmed.

Hermione waited for Delphi to cross to the dueling platform. The Ravenclaw tossed her the wand without a thought. Hermione caught it, she sent a glare to the girl before stepping off the platform. Instead of gloating,

Delphi stared directly at Harry. The wildfire in her eyes burned bright.

"Scared Potter?" She mocked.

Harry looked at Rose.

"Excuse me for a moment." He said as he stepped onto the platform.