FicWad

There is an alternative story of the 'The Ritual of Control' on this site. The name is 'The Ritual of Control - The Alternative'. That story is more graphic and according some reviewers more realistic.


A/N: Beta readers are Kaze and Eiri
A/N: This chapter: Tensions in the Great Hall and part I from the punishment

-----

A/N: Last scene from the previous chapter:
.....

'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches ... born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies ... and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not ... and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives ... the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies ...'

Dumbledore believes that the prophecy indicates that I am the only one with the power to defeat this evil creature with the name Voldemort.

That is the reason why Voldemort is hunting me, time after time. That is your punishment. I belief that I have no chance fighting against Voldemort, and will soon die, and you girls are going with me into the grave."

Harry walked towards the door from Hermione's bedroom and left the room.

-----

All the girls were shocked ... nobody moved and everyone was looking at the door, where Harry was a moment ago. Millicent looked at Pansy.

"Does that mean we are going to die?" Millicent asked in a trembling voice.

Pansy sneered at the trembling girl. "No, that means we are more screwed then we thought."

Daphne hit Pansy on the shoulder. "No, that means that we are being double crossed by Snape and the Dark Lord. They never planned that we would survive this thing with the Enslavement potion. We have nothing else that we can change."

"I think that Harry Potter is a wild card," Lavender answered. Daphne and Pansy looked in surprise at Lavender. Lavender continued. "I watched him closely over all these years, and Harry Potter might be many things save a a weak wizard. He is strong, and he becomes a stronger wizard everyday."

"That is true," Hermione said with a thoughtful expression on her face. "He already confronted Voldemort several times, and he always came out of those confrontations alive. I can't say this for anyone else in the world, except for Professor Dumbledore."

"You heard Harry," Ginny said tiredly. "We are all in the same ship. When one of us sinks, everyone sinks. I think we need to talk to Harry and see what he wants."

The girls nodded.

"Harry!" yelled Lavender.

Harry came into the bedroom. "What is it," he said tiredly.

"What do you want us to do?" Ginny asked.

Harry looked thoughtfully.

"Tomorrow, the Hogwarts express will be leaving Hogwarts. I assume that Dumbledore is going to let us go to Grimmauld Place. I think that we are going to use a portkey. He would never allow us to go on the train.

"That means that we have one evening left for some fun and the first implementation of your collective punishment.

"I asked Dumbledore to let us eat in the Great Hall. When he allows us to eat there, this is what I want you to do.

"Pansy, Millicent, and Daphne, you will walk up to Draco Malfoy in a sexy way, stand in front of him, and slap him in the face. You Lavender, Hermione, and Ginny will follow the three Slytherins in a safe distance with your wands at ready. When one of the Slytherins does something drastic, you hex them. Then you all come back to me, do you understand that?"

"Yes"

"Fine"

"Dobby"

Dobby popped in front of Harry.

"Yes, Harry Potter, Sir?" Dobby said happily. "What can I do for the greatest wizard of the world?"

Harry smiled at the little house elf. "Can you be so kind as to ask professor Dumbledore to come to the Room of Requirement, please?"

"Yes Sir. I do what you ask," he said, bowed and popped away.

"Now we wait for Dumbledore."

After several minutes, the headmaster entered the Room of Requirement. He glanced briefly at Harry, and smiled understandingly.

"Professor Dumbledore, are we allowed to join the students in the Great Hall for our last dinner for this school year, sir?" Harry asked politely.

Dumbledore smiled lightly. "Yes, you all are allowed. I will prepare a separate table for all of you to sit on. One thing I do not want, and that is that you talk about this Ritual of Control. Also I don't want that you talk to anybody about where you are going to when the school vacation starts."

Harry turned to the girls.

"You heard the professor. Nobody talks to anyone without my permission," Harry barked.

All girls nodded their heads in resignation.

The headmaster's eyebrow went up. "I see that you have taken control, Mr. Potter."

"Yes Sir."

The headmaster smiled faintly. "I'll leave the door of the Room of Requirement unlocked on my way out." He turned and left the room.

-----

Harry and the girls were standing in front of the entrance door of the Great Hall. Harry could hear the noise of the students, while having dinner. He could distinguish the loud sound of Ron's voice ... he was laughing.

He pushed the door open ... and walked into the Great Hall, followed closely by the girls. All sound stopped... you could hear a mouse walking over the floors. Harry looked into the Great Hall, and saw a smaller table in front of the teachers' table. He assumed that was their table ... nobody was sitting there now.

He looked up to the teachers' table, and saw that all the teachers were present. The headmaster was looking at him with a curious expression on his face. Next to the headmaster was Snape. He seemed to look anxious, before his face changed into his usual mask, and sneered.

Harry and the girls walked up to their table, and Harry sat down. He looked pointedly at the girls and then to the direction of the Slytherin table. The girls froze ... sighed ... and walked towards the table with the Slytherins.

Lavender, Hermione and Ginny walked slower, and pulled their wands out, while Pansy, Millicent, and Daphne quickened their pace, their wands at ready behind their backs. Their hips were making extra movements while walking, and smiles were on their faces. The Slytherin boys were paying a lot of interest to Daphne, who was a very beautiful girl. All three girls had their eyes fixed on Draco Malfoy, whose eyes were wide open with a surprised expression on his face.

When the three Slytherin girls reached Draco, they smiled sweetly at him. Draco smiled broadly, and wanted to open his mouth to say something witty, his chest already swelling.

Suddenly the sound of slapping was heard throughout the Great Hall. All three girls slapped Draco Malfoy straight on his face. They turned and walked calmly back towards their own table.

Draco's face was red because of the stinging slaps, and looked stunned at the girls, not fully comprehending what had happened. Theodore Nott pulled his wand and muttered a curse. The dirty yellow beam of the curse traveled fast towards the girls. Hermione called a protego shield and the spell was diverted. Ginny and Lavender fired each a Stupefy spell back at Nott, who was thrown over the table on the ground, ten meters from the Slytherin table, taking Gregory Goyle with him.

The girls walked slowly and carefully to their table and sat down, while everyone in the Great Hall stared at them, stunned at the public display. Harry was paying close attention to Snape, who was fuming in his seat. The greasy black haired professor jumped up from his chair in rage and pointed to the girls.

"You have a whole month's detection, beginning tonight," he roared. "And hundred points from ... " he looked perplexed, only now understanding that his Slytherin girls were directly involved. Then he looked to Hermione, Lavender, and Ginny. "... from ... from ... Gryffindor ... and ... and a month detention."

"You can't take points from the houses, because the house pointing system does not work after the end feast," Harry said loudly.

His voice traveled everywhere in the Great Hall. Everyone was anxious with what the potion professor was going to do.

"Neither are you going to give a minute's worth of detention, Professor Snape because we are all leaving tomorrow and I don't trust you for one penny," Harry continued with a smile on his face.

Snape could not believe his ears. His face became red, and he snarled. He pulled his wand and pointed it at Harry. There was a nasty curse on his lips, but before he could fire the curse at Harry, six wands were pointing towards him from the girls, who were surrounding Harry on their table.

It was deathly quiet in the Great Hall.

"Have you ever heard about an enslavement potion, professor Snape?" sneered Harry with a loud voice and a big smile on his face. "Care to explain the use of such a potion?"

Snape paled instantly, and his wand dropped from his hands. Headmaster Dumbledore glanced in a confused manner at his potion master. "Severus?"

Snape looked hesitatingly to the headmaster. "Nothing, headmaster" and fell back on his chair, looking paler than ever. "Nothing wrong ... I made a mistake ... the house allocating of points system is not working, and I forgot that the vacation starts tomorrow. No ... there is nothing wrong ... nothing at all," he stammered. He looked at Harry. "Continue as you were, Mr. Potter," he said.

Snape took his fork, and started to eat his soup.

Professor Flitwick sniggered, and continued to eat. "Nice show."

Professor McGonagall smiled, while she beamed proudly at her best pupils in front of her sitting at the separate table. "Good show."

Dumbledore looked suspicious to Snape, but said nothing further.

Harry looked at the girls with approval, and started to eat. "Eat," he commanded.

The girls immediately started to place food on their dishes. Nobody said a word. Everyone in the Great Hall was looking at the people on the separate table in total shock. They were already surprised and very pleased because of the show, but they were utterly shocked because with just that single command from Harry, the girls were immediately obedient.

While Harry and the girls were eating in silence, their eyes diverted on the table, the sound in the Great Hall became slowly louder. Most of the students present were discussing the latest move from Harry and the girls, wildly speculating.

Ron and Dean stood up from their table and walked towards the separate table where Harry and the girls were.

Hesitatingly, Ron glanced at Harry, but turned towards Hermione. He had a glum expression on his face. "Hermione, can we talk in private, please?" He had his hands behind his back, and looked expectantly at Hermione.

Hermione briefly caught Ron's eye, and turned to Harry with her eyebrows raised. Harry shook his head, and frowned. Which in turn made Hermione level her gaze at Ron.

"No," she said.

Ron spluttered indignantly at the abrupt answer.

"No?"

"Are you deaf, Weasley?" Daphne sneered. "You stink, go away!"

His face quickly reddened. "What the ..."

Before he could say anything more, seven wands were pointed at him.

"One word, Weasley, and you will follow Nott's example," Daphne sneered. "And now be a good little boy, and get your arse out of here."

Dean warily eyed the girls then grabbed Ron's arm. "Come on, Ron. We are not welcome here, let us go."

Ron's face became even redder. "I will not, "he yelled, and roughly pulled his arm from Dean's grasp. "Will you go out with me, Hermione?" he asked desperately.

"No"

"No?" Ron asked, shocked.

"Go away, you prat, before you get hurt," Ginny said with a smirk. "Borrow one of the books off the twins that will teach you properly how to ask a girl out." All the girls were laughing.

Ron glared at Harry, and his face turned into an ugly purple color.

"You, Potter, you get everything you want," he hissed. "You cross-eyed bastard ..."

"Mr. Weasley!" the voice of professor McGonagall echoed throughout the Great Hall. "Watch your manners, young man," she hissed softly, while sending him a fierce glare.

Ron swallowed, looked at his professor, then briefly to Harry, preparing himself for a new turn at his best friend. The headmaster harrumphed. Ron looked briefly to professor McGonagall, nodded shortly, turned and walked briskly back to his place, followed by Dean.

The headmaster approached the table with Harry and the girls. He smiled and addressed the group.

"Come in twenty minutes to my office, from there you floo to Grimmauld Place."

-----

A/N: Next chapter: Shocking events at Grimmauld Place
A/N: Beta readers are Kaze and Eiri