Harry potter : Forgotten Lord

Harry walked into the Defense Against the Dark Arts class, which had already started, before taking a seat next to Padma and getting out his Charms books to read instead of DADA material.

"Harry, I thought you were skipping?" Terry said, having no subtlety.

"Why, this is my most favourite class!" he said with a good measure of sarcasm. "Especially when I get to watch you play the part of a mummy." He remarked, flipping the pages to read up on the Arrowhead Hex he was learning, which shot an arrowhead-like dart from the end of his wand. The charm itself had elements of Transfigurations in it, due to the creation of a physical arrow out of molecules in the air, rather than direct magic like jinxes and curses.

After a couple of minutes of reading, he asked the room, "Any idea where ol' goldilocks is?" giving voice to everyone's muttering.

"No idea, he wasn't at breakfast either," Hannah said with clear concern.

"Maybe Peter got him?" Justin offered, getting a round of chuckles from the boys before Susan and Hannah slapped him. "Don't say things like that, the man could be hurt or in danger!"

"Maybe we should tell a teacher?" Susan said from behind him.

"Okay, you go and find one then," he said, before flipping the page of his book casually. "However, I'm going to catch up on my reading. Why don't you use the chance to catch up on your own work?" he suggested, seeing a few students getting out their own pieces of work.

"You know, if a professor doesn't turn up by the half-hour mark, the lesson is canceled," Antony said a few minutes later. From behind him, Justin added to the mix, "Why can't Snape be late then?" getting chuckles from everyone in the room.

Elsewhere in the castle, the man known to the world as Professor Lockhart was flicking his wand madly at the storeroom door he currently found himself locked in for the hundredth time. Cursing for all his worth, his inability to cast a simple Unlocking Charm on the storage room door. It wasn't until he calmed down enough that it suddenly occurred to him that he could just summon an elf to help him unlock the door, allowing his escape. By that afternoon, a grand story was circling the castle of the famous DADA professor doing battle with evil Peter before getting trapped in a storage room.

However, another story went around about the school, about the man's inability to cast a second-year Unlocking Charm on the cupboard door, which resulted in a number of older students asking the professor to recap the Locking Charm for them. All the blond professor did was refer them to the resident Charms Master and flash a smile. "My dear colleague Filius would be able to teach it better than I ever could," he excused.

Only a couple of teachers suspected what really happened, and one of them was the resident Charms Master.

...

(Halloween Feast)

The Great Hall was buzzing with celebrations as the ghosts gathered around to celebrate the holiday. The security around the school had started to relax a bit, since it seemed that Peter had gone to ground. While it did help him relax a bit, the threat was always there in the back of his mind.

"Smile, Harry, you've made it to another Halloween!" Terry joked.

"Hard to do when you've got a murderer after you," he said lightly, forcing a smile as they walked through the great doors, narrowly avoiding a distressed Ron Weasley, who wasn't watching where he was going.

"Ron, seriously, why are you worried? It was just a rat. So what if it's gone missing? It's not like it did anything special; it just slept, ate, and shat all over everything," Dean said to the devastated Ron.

"It's been in my family for years. Percy found it one day in our backyard, and it was his pet until he started Hogwarts," Ron shot back.

"I find that hard to believe. Rats only have a lifespan of 3 to 4 years. Are you saying that your rat was over 5 years old?" Hermione argued in a factual tone.

"No, it's been in my family for over a decade," Ron protested heatedly, causing Harry's interest to pique at the unfolding argument.

"Impossible," Hermione said, shaking her head with finality. "The only way that could have happened is either your parents replaced it when it died with a new one so you wouldn't be upset, or you have familiar-bonded with it magically, which is extremely rare due to the time it takes."

'Or it could be an Animagus.' Harry thought to himself, wondering if it was possible that Peter had stayed hidden with the Weasleys for over the last decade by acting as a pet. He would have to investigate, as well as tell his theory to Mad-Eye later, even if the Auror was an ass. After all, it would mean he would have his freedom again to move around the school freely.

"What are you thinking?" Padma asked, sitting down next to him, returning from her sister's table.

"Did you hear Ron and Hermione's little exchange?"

"Yeah, I think half the hall heard it," Padma stated dryly.

Harry leaned closer so no one overheard. "Well, a rat Animagus could pretend to be a pet. After all, I doubt an average rat would live for ten years. Plus, the Weasleys were fighting against You-Know-Who with my parents, so why couldn't Peter hide within their home as a rat? Everyone believed he was killed by my godfather.

So he wouldn't have been removed from their wards. And since the Weasleys are light-sided, and if rumors are true, are favourites of the Headmaster," he listed, thinking over Penny's remarks about how Percy boasted about the prestige, "Peter could stay hidden right under everyone's nose and have a means to eavesdrop on any magical developments that could expose him," he whispered quietly in Padma's ear.

"You're right. It would explain why Peter was within Hogwarts as well, if he came with Ron, and why there was no trace of him escaping from the grounds. You should tell Mad-Eye," his friend suggested. "Do you think Peter would willingly stay hidden as a pet for over a decade? It seems desperate."

"Maybe?" he admitted uncertainly. "But what could he do? He faked his death, and if he turned up alive, people would question him on where he's been, and why he ran."

"True..." Padma said thoughtfully before she gave him a stern look. "Just don't do anything rash or stupid."

"Don't worry, I'll tell Mad-Eye the theory after dinner. Besides, Mad-Eye appears to be busy with something," he said, gesturing to the aged Auror limping out the Great Hall doors in a hurry. "It can wait. Anyway, let's just enjoy the feast."

"I guess you're right."

"Yup. Besides, what good would it do? Ron said it himself that the rat's gone missing. Far better to keep the theory quiet until the rat turns up, then spring the 'trap'." He explained, feeling better now that he had another plan of sorts in place.

He enjoyed more of the feast before small talk pulled him in. "So Harry, you think you'll win the upcoming match against Hufflepuff?" Antony asked between bites.

Thinking over the question while reaching for a piece of steak and kidney pie, he eventually answered, "Yeah, no reason why I shouldn't. It'll be their Seeker's first game, plus the Puffs will play fairly, unlike other teams," subtly gesturing to the Slytherin table. "Terry, how was History lesson today?" he asked back, wondering if he missed anything important since he had skipped so he could duel with Tonks.

The blond boy gained a confused expression before saying, "I don't actually remember." Which answered Harry's question nicely, since it was clear that the second year had fallen asleep again.

"Murder! Murder!" The shout went around the Great Hall, causing the students to stir and the staff to rush from the head table with the Headmaster leading the dash out of the doors, with the Aurors following behind him. It took the student body an initial moment to recover before they too started to flood out of the room after the staff. Placing his hand on Padma's shoulder to keep her from rushing away, he instructed, "Slow down, I'd rather not be shouldered and bumped." He lowered his voice as the other students rushed past, "This is either Peter's work, Malfoy's plot, or a stupid overreaction by a portrait."

Walking casually out of the Great Hall, noticing that several Slytherins were hanging back as well, trying to put on a display of indifference. It was all for naught though; Harry could easily see how eager they were to see what had happened. Letting himself be taken with the crowd, he eventually got close enough to hear frantic whispering amongst the students.

Pushing his way through the crowd, he saw Mad-Eye frozen like stone with the caretaker's cat similarly frozen solid beside him.

Upon the wall, the words, "The Chamber of Secrets has been opened, enemies of the heir beware!" were written in blood-red dripping letters.

"That means you, mudbloods!" Draco cried smugly.

"Enough, Mr. Malfoy! Another word and you'll be in detention," the Headmaster snapped, breaking his attention from examining the two statues.

His attention was stolen again as the caretaker arrived, shouting over the whispering crowd. "What have you done to Mrs. Norris, you brats!" before centering his attention on Neville, who was standing closest to the statue.

"Enough! Control yourself!" the Headmaster yelled, actually raising his voice, taking control of the situation. "Prefects, please escort your housemates back to your common rooms. Neville, stay behind."

Shooting a look at Daphne and Tracy, since they too saw the message, he drifted away with the rest of the Ravenclaws.

"Well, this year just got far more interesting... What are the odds that Neville will be somehow involved for a second year running?" he asked sarcastically to his fellow Claws, since it seemed once again the Lion's golden boy was involved.

...

AN :

Yeah I'm a Dad's army fan so thought I'll do a tribute to it, I also thought I'd introduce Peter as well, to mix thing up a bit. So two plots, one year, let fun begin... evil chuckle

Ps : I really need your support guys to Elevate the ranking :)

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