The Paranoid Harry Potter

Soon Voldemort would know everything. When the boy failed to turn up to meet the Hogwarts Express, it would no longer be a secret. Voldemort would hear of it and he was sure that the first thing that Voldemort would do was send out his own search teams - Teams that would be set to kill or capture Harry Potter.

Unfortunately, there was really nothing he could do to keep the news from breaking. He held absolutely no illusions that Harry would turn up on the train. The damn Ministry's expulsion notice had seen to that.

He had briefly contemplated roping in Nymphadora Tonks to impersonate Harry but he had decided that there would be little point in that. Tonks could not just disappear from her job as an Auror. Even if she could, he sincerely doubted that even a Metamorphmagus of her talent could pull off a long-term deception like that. Hell, the very first time she had to sit on a broom everyone would know that it was not really Harry Potter they were seeing. Eventually the story would break.

Polyjuicing someone else to take Harry's place was also out of the question, simply because they had no supply of source material. Why hadn't he ever laid in a supply of Harry's hair?

What could he do? Soon Voldemort would know that Harry was not at Hogwarts. That he was somewhere out there, alone and unprotected.

What could he do?

...

The two Hogwarts students had split up and searched the entire train but they had not found their quarry. As they met, back at their compartment the two of them felt a sense of acute loss and disappointment. While they had not truly expected Harry to turn up on the train, they had still been hoping - Hoping for a miracle, hoping that somehow he would turn up and join them for another year at Hogwarts.

"Didn't see him then?" asked Hermione.

"No", said Ron.

Hermione sighed, "We'd better get to the prefect's meeting then."

"Do we have to?" moaned Ron. "I don't feel like sitting with the other Prefects at all."

"Ron", admonished Hermione, "Of course we have to. Just because...just because Har...Let's just go. I'm sure it won't take too long."

The two friends sadly made their way to the prefect's compartment.

.....

A furious Hermione made her way back from the prefect's meeting. Malfoy, Draco Malfoy had been made a prefect. Did Dumbledore ever stop and think about what he was doing? Did he even stop and think for one single second about what kind of message making Malfoy a prefect would send to the rest of the students.

This was the same boy who had crowed with glee when muggleborn students were getting petrified back in second year. The boy who made a habit of hurling racial epithets around like they meant nothing. The same boy who had been antagonising and insulting Harry since first year. The boy whose father had been the one to give Voldemort's diary to an innocent eleven year old girl. The boy who had almost gotten Buckbeak executed.

Now, that same utterly vile despicable sorry excuse of a human being had been made prefect.

Well, she thought, message received loud and clear Dumbledore. Obviously in magical Britain actions had obviously no consequences as long as you were a rich pureblood. You could behave as vilely as you wanted to muggleborns and as long as you were a rich pureblood - positions of power and authority would be handed to you whether you deserved them or not.

She had worked hard, had gone to extreme lengths to get good grades and prove herself worthy of becoming a prefect. What had Malfoy done? What effort had he taken to prove himself worthy of being a prefect? And it wasn't just him she realised...she felt sick as she came to a sudden realisation.

She turned and stared at Ron who was currently talking to Neville and that strange blonde girl who was still reading her magazine upside down. Why had Ron been made prefect? Harry had probably been their first choice and his sudden disappearance would have forced them to choose someone else. If he had been there - surely he would have gotten the position? Wouldn't he? Of course he would have. How could they possibly have chosen anyone over Harry.

....

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