The canary effect lasted for a little more than a minute, and when it had finished Malfoy's features had returned to normal and the feathers covering his body had fallen off. The pub's patrons were still laughing hysterically at what they had seen and Malfoy's face grew red in embarrassment and anger.
"This isn't over, Potter. Don't think for a second it is!" Malfoy yelled and turned to leave the pub with Pansy following close behind him.
"Oh Harry, that was priceless! Why couldn't I have brought a camera with me?" Daphne said between laughs. Harry was still trying to control his laughter when he reached for his Butterbeer and took a drink. As the cool liquid went down his throat he felt his mood change and his laughter abruptly died. His amusement was replaced by a strange sense of unspecific anger. Daphne noticed his change in attitude and looked at him curiously.
"Harry? You ok over there?" she asked.
"Of course I'm ok. What the bloody hell do you think?" he snapped back at her angrily. A small voice in his mind was softly asking him what he was so mad about, but it was hard to focus on with so much anger running through his head.
"What's gotten in to you?" Daphne replied, getting a bit upset herself. "One minute you were laughing and the next you're a pissed off jerk."
"I'm a jerk, am I? Well maybe Malfoy was right about you, Greengrass." Harry answered, though the voice inside him questioning his attitude seemed to be getting louder. Daphne looked ready to hex him when her faced dropped into an expression of concentration.
"Harry, give me your drink." she commanded.
"Get your own!" he said back, raising his voice even higher. Daphne reached over and took his Butterbeer anyway. She carefully raised the glass to her nose and smelled it, scowling as she set it down. She then picked up her own drink and repeated the process, a strange smell not normally found in Butterbeer was coming from both of them.
"Potter! Get a hold of yourself and settle down." Daphne said forcefully, demanding he comply. "Somehow Malfoy managed to put something in our drinks. From the way you are reacting I would guess it is the Draught of Rage. It makes you angry and prone to violence for about ten minutes. You can fight off the Imperious Curse, you can fight off this!"
Harry wanted to yell at her for telling him to settle down, but the voice in the back of his head was growing louder and agreeing with her assessment. He knew there was no real reason for him to be mad at Daphne. Malfoy though, he was the one that deserved his anger.
"Why? What was he trying to do?" Harry asked, still trying to quell the anger he could still feel boiling beneath the surface.
"He put some in my drink, too. If we had both gotten it in our systems we would probably be cursing each other by now, and then we would be in real trouble. Plans like this have worked before. Remember from History of Magic? Some dark lord snuck the Draught of Rage into his enemy's food supply and just let them kill each other. This could have been very dangerous, Harry." Daphne explained. Harry simply nodded, most of his concentration was still focused on removing the foreign thoughts and feelings from his mind. Slowly, he could feel the anger towards Daphne ebbing away. His anger towards Malfoy, however, was still present.
"Come on." Harry said, rising to his feet. "Let's go find Malfoy." Harry was walking towards the door before Daphne could even begin to protest. Once outside the pub Harry began to look around hoping to spot Malfoy.
"Harry, you're still feeling the effects of the potion." Daphne said as she caught up with him. "Let's go back inside and wait for it to wear off. If you still want to find Draco then I will help you."
"There!" Harry said, pointing towards a tree towards the outskirts of the village. Malfoy, Parkinson, Crabbe, and Goyle were all sitting by the tree watching the Three Broomsticks. Apparently they had been expecting Harry and Daphne to provide entertainment in their potion induced rage. Harry began running towards them with Daphne following close behind. Harry was still quite angry, but he could feel the effects of the potion influencing him less and less with every passing moment. Malfoy and company saw him coming and seemingly thought it would be funny to have him chase them because they had gotten up and started running away from Harry and Daphne.
"Harry, stop!" Daphne yelled. The urgency in her voice caused Harry to drop his pursuit and turn to face her. "There are Dementors that way!" Harry frowned and appeared to think about what she had said. Casting a quick glance towards where Malfoy and his friends had run to Harry closed his eyes and attempted to calm himself. Finally he was certain that the effects of the potion had worn off.
"Then we have to go." Harry answered reluctantly. "None of them can cast a Patronus, we can. As much as I'd like to curse him, I can't just let Malfoy die. Not even he deserves that."
"I've never cast a Patronus against a Dementor. I'm not sure I can." Daphne said softly, the worry clear in her voice. Harry responded by walking over to her and bringing her in to a tight hug. After a few moments, Daphne lifted her arms and returned the hug. She tried her best to ignore her worries and concentrate on the comfort Harry was providing.
"You can do it, Daphne. I know you can." he assured her. She opened her mouth to respond but was stopped when Harry leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss was brief, but somehow Daphne thought it was exactly what she needed. "Let's go." Daphne nodded and together they began running towards where they had last seen the others. Harry worried that he had lost them, a fear that only increased as he felt a cold chill travel down his spine. The Dementors were nearby. He looked towards Daphne to see that her eyes were wide open with a look of shock on them, she could obviously feel the Dementors as well.
As they came over a snowy hill Harry gasped when he saw that the Dementors had Malfoy and his friends surrounded. The four Slytherins were casting a variety of curses at the deadly creatures, but none of them worked. There were six Dementors in total, and at the moment they seemed to be toying with the children. Perhaps they were already enjoying the fear that they were provoking. Even from this distance the Dementors were able to affect Harry strong enough that he could faintly hear his mother's cries for mercy at the hands of Voldemort. 'No!' his mind screamed at him. 'I will not be afraid.' Harry gave Daphne's hand a squeeze in encouragement and they headed towards the group. As they prepared to cast their Patronuses Malfoy and Parkinson decided to run, leaving Crabbe and Goyle behind. Three of the Dementors followed the two students as Harry realized that he and Daphne were both going to have to successfully cast the charm if they were going to be able to save their classmates.
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