You're Being Hugged, Harry

by David Silver

33 - Prisoner of Hogwarts

With a slide of metal against stone, his lunch arrived on a platter. Harry went to retrieve it, but noticed it had company. Tucked in just to the side of the potatoes was a sealed scroll. "What's this then?" He took the missive up with his magic, squeaked, and dropped it. "Does that count?"

He had no way of knowing for sure if it did or didn't. Unicorns were creatures of magic. It was just how they existed. He pawed at the scroll with his hooves, awkwardly working free the seal. Thankfully, it fell open, unfurling the moment the seal wasn't holding it shut.

Flurry Heart filled his vision, a magical image of her springing into being. "Is it on?" she asked, looking to the side before focusing forward again. "Hello, brother. They said I could send you a letter, but only through this specific thing." She flared her wings. "So don't try talking back to me, I won't hear it. Are they being mean to you? They said they'll review this before you get it, so they heard me ask that, and I don't care. As if my brother would do anything bad. Stay strong."

She leaned in, nose dancing in the air. "We're doing what we can, from here. I know you can't see us doing it, which is why I'm sending this, so you know we haven't forgotten you the moment you were gone. We'll get you out of there!" She looked off again. "What? Running out? I barely--" The image vanished.

Harry smirked at the aborted message. "You tried." He nudged the scroll aside. "Still, appreciate it." He started his basic meal. It was no taste treat, but it wasn't sour or spoiled or anything like that. It was perfectly bland, as if someone had set out specifically to make neutral food that couldn't insult anyone.

No insults, but little comfort either. At least it kept the hunger away. The water was servicable. It was delightfully water-flavored, and didn't seem to have gone foul in any way.

A knock came from the door. It opened a moment later with the barest of pause. There stood a severely-dressed man, stepping inside. "Good afternoon. Time for that inspection." He waved his wand at the door, bidding it to close so tightly it sealed itself into the wall, as if the door had never been there to start. "I've been informed you're consenting?"

"Uh, yes. Yes." Harry stood up properly and inclined his head forward, presenting his horn. "The other guard... was implying it might hurt?"

"Shouldn't." The inspector strode the short distance, waving his wand in strange lines. "But we never did one for someone with their horn attached. Still, that does afford us an opportunity. If you would, imagine the spell you were casting earlier. We can see if that matches, and it'll make it easier to examine."

"Sure, but it wasn't a spell exactly." Still, Harry did imagine grabbing that spell he could see, grabbing it and trying to pry it loose from the broom. His horn glowed faintly in sympathy with the imagined spellcasting, but he wasn't actually casting the spell.

It seemed enough for the inspector's work. "Hm, yes... I see... You're right, this isn't a standard spell. I should amend, it may be a perfectly standard unicorn spell, but it's not so standard a human spell." He folded his wand away. "Which brings challenges. I couldn't say with confidence what spell it is exactly. But, you can help."

Harry perked. The spells hadn't hurt him, and he could help? "How, sir?"

"Easy." He lifted a hand out and a broom flew over to it, resting in it. "You'll cast a few spells, on purpose. I'll monitor you while you do them. Then, at least, we can rule out a few things you were not doing." He released the broom to hover there in the air. "Ready?"

Harry looked at the broom with obvious skepticism. "Alright? What do you want me to do?"

"Let's start easy. Grab it." He waved at the broom. "Take hold of it.

Harry's horn glowed brighter as he grabbed the broom in the air, securing it in place. "Like that?"

The man frowned at whatever he was watching. "I see... Move it around." He circled Harry slowly as the broom danced and jostled under Harry's control. "Try to bring it to the ground."

Harry threw his head, trying to pull the resisting broom towards the floor. The broom didn't want to go down, and it was a struggling match of powers.

"Stop."

Harry went stiff as a board. "Did that help, sir?"

The man stepped up, snatching the broom from the air. "I think it did. I will have to give my findings, but you clearly were not siezing the broom. That's the good news." He tucked the broom away as best he could. "But your magic looked similar to trying to bring the broom lower, which matches what was going on. I can't exonerate you. It isn't proof you did it, but it isn't proof you didn't do it either."

Harry sank, just the perk up. "Sir?"

"Yes, Mister Potter?"

Harry brought his hooves together. "If I can, can you give me some magic to try to unravel? That'd be way closer to what I was doing, specifically."

The inspector considered that with a soft hm. "No harm." He stroked his chin. "According to the reports, you were attempting to undo a curse. I rarely perform those, nasty things, but I do know a few." He raised his wand and wove it with the dreadful words. He wasn't muttering, like Snape. They had nothing to hide.

The broom wobbled and shook, unable to keep itself level under the power of the curse. "Go ahead."

Harry fixed the curse as squarely as he could, grabbing and tugging at it. He was confronting the curse head-on instead of touching the broom. The inspector grunted, trying to keep up his side of the curse as the two struggled for supremacy, but it was a one-sided match. He was far more focused on watching Harry and his horn.

"I see." He released the curse. The broom hovered peacefully, and Harry fell forward with the spell giving out so suddenly. "I need to report this." He waved his wand at the wall, which became a door for him, and he strode out without another word.

Harry inclined his head slowly. "What'd you see?" But the inspector was gone. He had gone so quickly he left his broom behind. Harry couldn't think of much to do with the broom, so he left it alone and sank with a huff. "Hope he saw something good..."

What felt like forever later, the door opened without a knock. "Mister Potter." A large figure stepped in with a big smile. "What have ya got yerself inta?" Hagrid stepped across the room in two large strides. "This isn't where you should be."

Harry lifted an ear at the friendly giant of a teacher. "Hello, sir. They didn't give me much choice about it... They let you in?"

"That they did." He folded his arms across his chest. "I don't like why, but they did, which means we're leaving."

Harry scrambled up to his hooves. "We are? They let me go? They coulda told me..."

"They sent me to do that." He patted Harry on his pointed head. "You're in my care, for a little while at least. They didn't say it out loud, but seems they decided a magical creature was safer in my hands while they were figuring things out."

Harry's snout wrinkled at that. "I'm a student, not a random magical beast."

"I'd say not." Hagrid waved to the door. "But, in either event, you're free to get out of here."

"Won't argue that." He took off at a light trot, though Hagrid was behind him, following as he left those dreadful basements back up into the school proper. "So..." He turned back to face Hagrid. "Sir? I appreciate you letting me go, but did you need anything else, sir?"

Hagrid hiked a thumb to the side. "For a few days, at least, I'm in charge of you. They're still looking into things, but they said you should be safe enough for the time being. Consider it, what, a formality." He shrugged softly and leaned in at Harry. "Bunch of hogwash if ya ask me. Always so quick to cast blame on not-humans. I know the feeling." With a heavy sigh, he started towards his own abode. "This way."

Harry followed him out to his cozy home. "Do the others know I've been let out?"

"As if they'd give me a moment's rest." Hagrid was laughing as he poked the fire into action. "They know, trust you me on that. They can't wait for you to be able to head back to them." He sank heavily in his chair. "I know better. You're no wild animal. All you have to do is stay around here and I won't ask fer a bit more than that."

Harry's ears perked. "Oh! When do I get my wand back?"

"Still part of the investigation," sighed out Hagrid at that. "But it shouldn't be too long. If they thought they had something, they wouldn't have let you go. Ah should mention, you've made no friends with Professor Snape."

Harry sighed, deflating at the news. "I imagine not... So, they told him then? I sure didn't."

"How could they not?" Hagrid reached over, grabbing a tin of something and working it open in his large hands. "He had to have a chance to say his side'a things. Can't do that without askin' him. Now, gonna start dinner shortly. Yer welcome to share with me."

"I'll take that... Um, what are you having?" Harry sniffed the air, some faint hints of something meaty. Beef? "Did you already start?"

"Hm? Oh, no." Hagrid rose to head to his pantry and start getting things together. "If yer smellin' anythin' at all, probably breakfast. I'll get started."

Hagrid wasn't his first choice of host, but they had already established a friendship and he was amiable enough. There were worse places to be, like the jail he had just escaped.

---

"Have you finished?" demanded the scowling Snape. "Is he going to be properly punished?"

The jailor shrugged. "Sorry, sir. The evidence we have allows for both of your stories. The mark in his favor puts it just on his side. He was clearly struggling with a curse. What curse, and why, we can't say for certain." He folded his arms. "But wrestling with a curse isn't against any rule. That much we know for certain. Mister Potter is innocent of that. With that put aside, we can't hold him. He's a student, and hasn't committed any crimes, even that of a foul play in the sport. Which is far more likely to get you banned than actually jailed, if we're being honest."

Snape slowly brought his fingers together. "Then what do you intend to do?"

"Not much more to be done." The jailor folded the folder shut with a final slap. "The matter's closed. That goes for both of you. Sorry, but we didn't find who set that fire. You're alright, I hope?"

"No thanks to you," he muttered out, moving to leave. "Good day." He slammed the door shut behind himself. "Blast it all." He had other things to do, and skulked off without belaboring the point any further.

---

The school was quieting down. Students had gone home for the winter break. Well, with a few exceptions. Harry was back in his student form, and Ron was there with him. "So, what do you want to do while we're here?"

Ronald waved Harry over, to pat him the moment he was close enough. "We'll hang out. Not a thing wrong wit' that, the way I see it. I've been running low on my Harry time with you being all jailed up."

"Good idea!" Arnavon grabbed them both up in a tight hug. They would not be alone that holiday.

Author's Note:

Harry is let go with not nearly enough evidence to keep him bottled up. Snape seems super happy that the wheels of justice are turning!

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

They haev anti owl wards, but the only anti rabbit owl wards they have is asking niicely for Arnavon to wait for Harrys name to be cleared?

[David Silver]

11718763
Alas, asking nicely tends to work on Arnavon.

[tsaukpaetra]

Justice is delayed. Quite interesting how prejudiced the Half-Blood Prince is. Just because things aren't moving as expected means gives no reason to stress the unwitting participants.
Let's just hope nobody goes trying to blink some other-dimensional-unicorn blood...