Harry Potter and The Shadowed Light

A peacock and two weasels

Previously

Glancing over at Luna's timetable, he saw she would have to suffer Lockhart straight away.

"I'm sorry, Little Moon, but if it helps he shouldn't be here all year. I have plans for him," Harry said, seeing her forlorn expression.

"Oh, are you going to feed Aithusia?"

Harry thought for a moment. "If that's her name, then perhaps," Harry agreed. He hadn't known the basilisk's name yet, but he was going to go out on a limb at guess it was Aithusia.

"She would like that, she gets very lonely."

"Then I'll try to visit her," Harry promised, making Luna once again smile brightly.

~

September 2nd 1992, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Scotland

Making his way to Herbology with the rest of his year mates, Harry noticed both Draco and Neville sending Ron sly glances. Looking up, Harry noticed how jumpy the redhead looked and how his already pale skin seemed even whiter, the dark bags under his eyes standing out.

"What did you do to him?" Harry asked, watching in amusement as the redhead's eyes seemed to dart around.

"Well, last year I found out he hated spiders," Neville said. "He would actually scream like a girl—"

Neville was cut off when Susan hit him. "Not all girls are afraid of spiders," she said.

"I know, sorry. Anyway, he would scream like he had seen a troll whenever he saw one."

"So Neville and I went looking for a spell or charm that would make him think he would see spiders," Draco said.

"But the best part is that I also placed a charm on his robes, all of them, so that he would feel like they were crawling on his skin. Not all the time, but sporadically, so hopefully he won't notice the charm on his robes," Neville finished.

Harry laughed. It was genius - evil, but genius.

Walking towards the greenhouses, Harry was actually looking forward to the lesson as he would be with all of his friends; sure, they would most likely be potting mandrakes again like last time, but at least he had a chance to talk to all of his friends. However, before he reached his destination, he was accosted by none other than Colin Creevy. He had forgotten about the boy's almost manic hero worship - he had grown out of it or at least mellowed before his death during the final battle.

The blinding flash made Harry growl as he fought his reaction to obliterate the camera, his war-honed instincts fighting to come out.

"You're Harry Potter! You're my hero! I read all about you - I'm Colin, Colin Creevy. I tried to get put in Ravenclaw like you, but the hat—"

"Enough," Harry growled out, holding up a hand. "I understand there are books out there that paint a picture of me as being some hero, but I'm really not. I'm just a regular student like everybody else."

"But you're the Boy-Who-Li—!"

"No, and another thing: I hate that title. I lost my parent that night, all it does is remind me of that fact. I'm nothing special and I would ask you to please not take my picture again without my permission. Actually, don't take anybody's picture without permission; most people will find it incredible rude."

Colin looked both awestruck and devastated. "O-okay," he squeaked.

Feeling bad, Harry sighed. "It's okay to have heroes and look up to people, Colin, even looking up to me. But you should only do it to people who deserve it, whose actions actually merit praise. And I do understand that you're excited, but taking people's photo without their permission isn't polite - ask beforehand. Most people will probably be happy for their picture to be taken."