TFA: Chapter 12: Developments & Destiny

> *"It isn't technically against the rules to own a knife at Hogwarts, but don't get caught with this one, will you? Slide the blade into the groove of any door and it will unlock unless it is protected by some seriously powerful, seriously illegal wards. At that point, call me and your dad, because we get bonuses for arrests!"*
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— Peter Pettigrew on the lock-slicer he got Harry Potter for Christmas.

## Summary:

The students of Hogwarts discuss the cursing of Charlus Potter's broom. Harry Potter gets a lot of training in and sets himself to a loft academic goal, and Christmas happens.

## Plot:

**November 9th, 1991:** Charlus Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger visit Hagrid to discuss the cursing of Charlus's Broom in the Quidditch game. Hermione insists that it was Professor Snape doing the cursing, but Hagrid assures her otherwise. During this conversation he lets slip that Nicholas Flamel is part of the conspiracy with the stone. Hermione joins Charlus's friend group as a result.

Tracey Davis, Daphne Greengrass, and Harry Potter discuss what could have happened with the attempt on Charlus's life. Tracey insists it's Snape, whereas Daphne believes there to be other machinations at work. Harry gets tired of dealing with them and strikes a deal with Pansy Parkinson for information on what happened to Terrence Higgs in exchange for neutrality in any future Harry/Draco conflicts, a standing invitation to Harry's group, and an unspecified favor at a later date.

**November 29th, 1991:** Harry gets Calypso Rosier and Grace Weitts to tell him what the end of year examinations are for each of their classes. He wants to know this so he may prepare for them and get as many O's as he can. He also desires to earn a rare O+, a grade only earned by 11 people thus far in the 20th Century. During his research, he learns that Emily Riddle earned many O+'s, beating out all other records for the grade. He remembers a 'Riddle' being the last to communicate with Dungeon Black Mamba Painting, and is intrigued why he has never heard of her since. To earn an O+, one must ace their given exam, and then preform an additional demonstration of magical skill.

He then has another training session with Professor Hurst. He presents the list of spells he knows, and she is impressed by it. After requesting a demonstration of the Protego Shield Charm, she teaches him the Impediment Jinx and Bludgeoning Curse. In previous sessions, he has worked on stance, form, accuracy, dodging, and situational spell use.

**December 9th, 1991:** Charlus, Hermione, and Ron discuss their holiday plans while searching for references to Nicholas Flamel in the library. Ron is certain Harry is going to go dark, while Charlus has a desire to reconcile with his brother, which Hermione pushes him to do. Charlus then explains to Hermione, in a very *unbiased* and *neutral way*, the political situation of Magical Britain when she asks about what Ron means when he says 'The Conservatives' when referring to the Greengrasses.

> *"The gist of it is that The Liberals are the light side — "the good guys". Their leader is Professor Dumbledore and mine and Ron's families are both in that faction. The Neutrals are sort of complicated. They're alright, I guess, but they sometimes vote with the Conservatives, which are led by Lucius Malfoy and are full of "the bad" dark witches and wizards."*
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— Charlus Potter on the political factions of Magical Britain.

**December 22nd, 1991:** While Harry Potter is mostly alone at the castle over Christmas holidays, Pansy informs him of the truth of what happened to Terrence Higgs before she leaves.

Blaise Zabini returns to his family *castello* in Italy, where his mother greets him and, has him contribute his observations to the puzzle she introduced him to over the summer.

**December 25th, 1991:** On Christmas Morning, the Slytherin dorms do away with the pureblood non-sense, and enjoy Christmas. Cassius Warrington, Flora and Hestia Carrow are among the few that remained behind. Harry receives many gifts, and Calypso Rosier's and Cassius's are tests by the darker aligned members of Slytherin. It's the first Christmas Harry received anything noteworthy. He received a great number of contributions to His Library.

## Harry's Presents:

### Apparel

#### Slytherin Cloak Pin

Draco Malfoy gave Harry a cloak pin in the Slytherin Crest.

#### Cloak

Pansy Parkinson gave Harry a quality black cloak with an emerald green trim.

#### Golden Watch

James Potter gave Harry an expensive golden watch as a Lord-To-Heir gift.

### Books

#### Tales of Beedle the Bard

Blaise Zabini sent this book of fairytales to Harry.

#### Book on History of Dark Lords and Europe

Cassius Warrington gave Harry this book as a test of some sort.

#### *The Forsaken Magic: An Introduction To The Dark Arts*

Calypso Rosier gave Harry this book as a test.

#### Book on Curses

Flora and Hestia give him this probably not illegal book.

#### *A Mental Mastery: Intricacies of The Mind*

A book on Occlumency from Charlotte Weitts, with the suggestion that he never be seen with the book.

### Tools

#### Lock-Slicer

Peter Pettigrew gets Harry this to make up for all the Christmases he has missed, and both implies it's not exactly legal and tells Harry to inform him if he uses it on a door and it doesn't come unlocked, because those types of wards are illegal, and he and James get bonuses for arrests.

#### Magical Texting Parchment

Albus Dumbledore gives him and Charlus copies of this parchment so they can communicate with one another and repair their relationship.

#### Disillusionment Ring

An enigmatic Secret Admirer gifts Harry a rare artifact with eavesdropping, human presence revealing, and held breath based disillusionment or Notice-Me-Not capabilities decorated with an emerald serpent.

### Other

#### Sweets

Harry received sweets from both Millicent Bulstrode and Slytherin Attack Gorillas #1 & #2.

#### Potter Photo Album

Charlus Potter gives Harry this gift of Potter Family photos.

## Characters introduced:

Antonia Zabini.

Chronological Order