The New Kid
Disclaimer: The usuals... the only character I own is Jon, and the few concepts about Elementism. Also, I set this in Harry's fifth year simply because his fifth year hasn't been written yet ;)
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It was the start of a new day at the Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and it was already off to a foul start for one fifth-year by the name of Harry Potter. Harry, a short, jet-black haired young man was racing down the halls towards his Potions class, trying his best not to be late. He was running so fast he even ignored the fact he bumped right into Professor McGonagnall ("Watch where you're going, Potter!!"), and he nearly tripped down a flight of stairs in his mad dash to Potions class. He entered the door just as the bell rang.
"You're late Potter." Snape said with suppressed glee. "Five points from Gryffindor." Harry scowled and took his seat next to his best friend, Ron Weasley. Snape had already begun one of his lectures; this one was on a potion that, when consumed, would make the drinker buzz like a fly instead of speak normally. It was only about ten minutes into the lecture when the door to the Potions dungeon was rapped on lightly. Snape opened the door to find Professor McGonagnall and the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, standing in the doorway. In front of them stood a young man, who appeared to be Harry's age. The boy was indeed an interesting sight. He had flaming red hair, even more red than Ron's, and his eyes looked like sapphires. He wasn't tall, but he looked muscular, and his blue eyes seemed to take in everything.
"I'll return in a moment, students." Professor Snape announced after a few moments of muttering to Dumbledore and McGonagnall. He motioned for the mysterious boy to enter. "This is Jon," Snape told the class. "He recently joined Hogwarts." With that, Snape left, shutting the door. The class broke into silent chatter, wondering just who Jon was. Harry found it very odd a teacher was not lef to supervise the class in Snape's absence.
"Where do you come from?" Dean Thomas finally asked.
"I'm from America." Jon said simply. His voice was sonorous, and carried even a somewhat melodious style to it. The accent was definitely strange.
"America?" Drawled Malfoy. "No wonder! That explains your weird hair and eyes." The Slytherins chuckled at Malfoy's attempt at humor.
"And the sneer you have in your voice explains why you're a Brit." The Gryffindors laughed at this.
"What House are you in?" Ron asked Jon.
"Gryffindor." Harry smiled. The new kid was a Gryffindor, just like him. Harry made a note that he'd have to talk to Jon sometime. Meanwhile, Hermione had raised her hand.
"I'm not the teacher," Jon said with a grin. "But do you want to ask me a question?" He pointed at Hermione, who blushed slightly.
"Your hair and eyes... why are they such strange colors?" She blushed even more. Jon chuckled lightly.
"It's because of the magic I practice."
"What?" Malfoy asked. "Hair-dying?" The Slytherins laughed loud at the joke.
"No, Elementism." The reply earned Jon bemused looks from all, except Hermione. That didn't surprise Harry much.
"What Element do you control?" Hermione asked, her voice filled with awe and wonder.
"Not Element," Jon said with a sly grin. "Elements. I'm a Dualwielder." The perplexing looks on everyone's face grew even more puzzling.
"What's your name, Miss?" Jon asked Hermione.
"Granger! Er, Hermione. Hermione Granger."
"Hermione... what a beautiful name." Hermione blushed, while Draco rolled his eyes heavenward.
"I don't think I like your attitude, kid," Jon said, turning his icy blue gaze to Malfoy.
"So?" Malfoy said, defiant.
"Stay out of my way," Jon said in a dangerous voice. "Unless you'd like to find out what it's like to spontaneously combust." The Gryffindors smiled openly at the quivering Malfoy.
"I'm going to tell Professor Snape you were threatening me!!!" Draco declared. Jon just shrugged, and said, "If you want to." Jon started to walk away, and Malfoy had a triumphant look on his face. Without warning, Jon spun around quickly, and Malfoy's quill disintegrated into ash.
"Let's that be a lesson to you, Malfoy." Jon smirked and started walking towards an empty desk, near Ron and Harry.
"That was great!!" Ron said, patting Jon on the back.
"Thank you... Ron Weasley, correct?"
"Yeah, how do you know me?"
"Your father is well-known in America, being he's in the Ministry of Magic and all."
"Wow..." Ron smiled in awe of the news that his father was an international star.
"And you..." Jon said, turning to Harry. "Must be the famous Harry Potter, destroyer of Voldemort, the Dark Wizard." Harry blushed slightly, never being called such a thing, while Ron blanched slightly at the mention of Voldemort's name.
"Yeah, that's me..." Harry said modestly.
"I've read a lot about you, Harry, and I've wanted to meet you." Jon grinned. "So, what House are you guys in?"
"We're both in Gryffindor."
"Truly? Spectacular! We'll have to talk sometime." Harry was definitely beginning to like Jon already. He noticed that Hermione had sneaked over to their desks.
"You can do Fire magic!!" Hermione squealed.
"And Water magic." Jon added.
"Amazing..." Hermione said. Harry could almost tell that Jon was very intelligent, and he knew that Jon and Hermione would get along very well. He suddenly envisioned them spending hours at a time arguing obscure magical concepts. The door opened once more, and Snape reentered the classroom.
"Sorry for the slight delay." He said tersely. "Now, where did-"
"Sir, the new kid burned my quill!!" Malfoy ejaculated. Snape's face went from startled, to shocked, to grim in under two seconds. He turned his dark, baleful eyes to where Jon was sitting.
"Is this true, Hyland?"
"Yes, it is, Professor."
"Why did you burn Malfoy's quill?"
"He saw fit to insult me in front of the class. Seeing as you weren't here, I decided to give Mr. Malfoy over there a demonstration of what I do to people who irk me." Harry's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets as Jon told Snape, in a calm voice, what he had done. Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
"Just because you're new here doesn't mean you can break the rules and suffer no consequences, Hyland." Snape growled. "Ten points from Gryffindor." Snape's large nose wrinkled slightly. "And anymore demonstrations of your... abilities will earn you a detention." Jon said nothing, but Harry could tell, from the look in Jon's blue eyes, that he was not pleased with Snape's interdiction. Snape put on a smug look, as did Draco when Snape has finished delivering his ultimatum. Snape continued his lecture on the Fly Buzzer potion.
"I'm sorry for getting Gryffindor a point penalty," Jon mumbled to Harry.
"Don't worry about it." Harry muttered back. "Snape does this all the time to Gryffindors." Jon arched an eyebrow, and Harry mouthed, "I'll tell you later." Harry went back to scribbling down notes on what Snape was saying. Jon was obviously an interesting character, and Harry couldn't wait to talk to him privately. That was, if Hermione didn't steal Jon first. Harry was positive Hermione would question Jon on every aspect of Elementism before the sun went down. For the rest of Potions, Harry sat there, quietly copying notes down. It was at times like this he was reminded of how boring Snape was.
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I want to see how well this is received before I write more… comments are welcome!!