A/N: So, I was re-reading WAVC, trying to pick up on leftovers strands and the like, when I started reading over a bunch of my rejected material. Some of it, I liked better than what ended up being in the story, and I started wondering if I shouldn't re-edit those chapters. Then, I realized how much of a headache it'd be, and I'd never get the story finished if I kept doing that. Plus, it's unfair to my readers.
So, in order to stop any stupid thoughts in the future, I decided to publish my rejected chapters here. PLEASE NOTE: These are in various stages of editing, so the writing in a few places may be pretty bad.
As for this first piece of rejected material, it's part of chapter 12, where Harry takes a Portkey to Durmstrang. A quick read should tell you why I rejected it.
Harry stood in a small, green meadow, surrounded by ancient forest and not much else. He looked down at the Portkey in his hand – immediately he reached for his wand. Where was he?
Hedwig had come baring the Portkey yesterday, after Harry had written to Professor Sirko regarding his attending Durmstrang. The professor, according to the letter, was kind enough to open the school to Harry and begin his training; he was to use the Portkey at 3:00 pm today.
So where was the professor?
Flashes of the graveyard kicked off in Harry's mind and he took off at a run, aiming for the nearest tree line. He reached it in a few seconds, then turned to his right and ran around the perimeter thirty or forty yards.
He stopped after finding some bushes to hide behind and looked back out across the meadow to see if anyone followed him, hoping that they would think he ran in a straight line, rather than curling back around.
He also thought about getting his robe out of his trunk, but that would entail removing the charms that had shrunk it, then recasting them afterward – two things that would slow him down if someone was after him.
A sharp crack echoed across the meadow.
Harry took another step back into the forest and raised his wand.
"Harry?" a voice cried out. "It's professor Sirko. I know you're here, this entire meadow is charmed to let us know when someone arrives."
Harry waited until he could see the professor's face before he stepped into the opening.
"Aah, Harry – good to see you."
Harry barely cleared the tree line before he stopped, wand raised. "Why were you late to lunch the last time I saw you?"
"I was spending time at the ministry watching your memories."
Harry lowered his wand, but didn't put it away, and walked up to the professor. "Why did the Portkey bring me here?"
The Professor took in the clear blue sky and distant mountains before answering. "This used to be the grounds of Durmstrang, but there are too many Muggles around now. Shortly after Grindelwald attacked the school in his war, we relocated and refused to tell anyone the location.
"Now, everyone uses a Portkey or Apparates here. Durmstrang staff meets them and escorts them to the new location." He gestured towards the wood and three older teenagers stepped into the clearing.
The wizard was tall, probably 6' 2" and at least fourteen stone. He had brown hair and a rough complexion that the Veela on his left seemed quite attracted to; judging by the way she was attached to his arm. Harry looked over to the other witch and realized that she too, was a Veela.
"Who are they?" he asked.
"Seventh Years. The two on your left are our equivalent of your head-boy and head-girl. The other witch is the same as one of your seventh-year prefects. They were at school today, so I asked them to come with me to greet you."
"By watching me in the woods?"
"I wanted to know how you would respond to unfamiliar surroundings." Professor addressed the wizard approaching them. "So what do you think?"
Markus made a show of looking from the tips of Harry's toes all the way to the top of his head, then settled into eye-contact as he spoke. "Sehr gut, mein Freund," he said as he extended a hand to Harry.
Harry shook it, noticing the strong but restrained grip.
"His instincts are excellent, Professor. It took maybe a second before he drew his vand, another couple seconds and he was running to the tree line." He pointed where Harry had entered the trees. "He surprised me by coming out over there."
The professor looked down at Harry. "Impressive. Markus is German. His parents served in the Magical Bulgarian government as Aurors and are training him for the same job. It seems to be a family profession. He will be one of your dueling partners this year."
"I looked forward to it, Harry Potter." Markus gave him a slight grin. "Ve vill get to know each other much this year, I think."
Harry nodded as the professor continued the introductions. "And this is Azzurra, our female prefect."
Up close, Azzurra was stunning. Offset by slightly olive skin and pink lips, her eyes were the deepest yet clearest blue eyes he'd ever seen. They had to be the reason behind her name.
"Buon giorno, signore. It is very nice to meet you," she greeted him.
And paired with a slight Italian accent? This Markus was a very lucky wizard.
"Hello, Azzurra, nice to meet you too." Harry shook her hand and tore his eyes away from her, not wanting to stare.
"And this, is Jaleena." Professor Sirko finished the introductions.
Jaleena smiled at Harry, but the smile darkened quickly. "Er trägt neue Verletzungen und. . ." she stepped in to Harry and breathed in deeply. "You have been around a Veela that cares for you."
"I guess," Harry answered, too surprised to say anything else.
She was about to respond when Professor Sirko interrupted them. "We should get back to the school and let Harry get settled."
He produced another Portkey and activated it. The five of them found a place to touch the foot long stick and Harry found himself being yanked off his feet again.
Yeah. Pretty horrible. I was trying to show Harry learning from his battles, but there would have been no reason for him to think about circling back, let alone learning how to walk/run in the woods, etc. Also, the entire scene was just flat, with little to no push for the story itself. So I cut it.
The next scene is familiar, but since I cut out Azzurra already meeting Harry, I had to change this scene for what was eventually published. What follows is the original stuff:
An hour later, Harry had finished unpacking. Each bed had a full-sized desk next to it, complete with lamp and chair. There were four beds in this room, two sitting against the wall that ran against the back of the castle, and two that sat against the opposing wall of their dorm room. One bed and desk was already occupied with someone's personal items, so Harry took the opposite bed, as far away from the doorway as possible.
Harry wondered if the same company supplied beds to all magical schools.
With the unpacking finished, he settled into reading the works by Shelley that he had taken from the Delacour home (with permission). One particular passage had confused him, and he was intent on learning it for a reason he couldn't identify.
"Harry?" A female voice called, "How are you getting on?"
He looked back over his shoulder from his desk to see Azzurra glide into the room, looking more like an angel than a human being. Her hair was gently swaying in a non-existent breeze as her supple body was backlit in a soft glow. Harry wanted to spill all his secrets to her, even brag that he'd fought the Dark Lord – defeated him three times now without any help.
Instead, he bit down on his tongue and commanded himself to stay in the moment. "Fine, I think. I'm unpacked at least."
Azzurra giggled and sat down on the bed next to him. "You are very impressive."
Harry raised an eyebrow. "How's that?"
"Well, you are fifteen years old, I think, right?"
Harry nodded.
"Most men twice your age can't hold a conversation with me until after they've spent almost a month here, and that's only if they spend time with me every day."
"Oh." Harry marked the place in his book and put it down.
"Be prepared, Harry. There are a quite a few Veela around here, even a few full Veela like me that would love to spend time with a young Wizard who can look past their attraction. Add to that the fact that you're very handsome, have good tone, and those Vulgaire clothes make your culo look very nice, and you just may be in trouble."
"Culo? Do I even want to know. . . ."
"I believe you Brits call it your 'arse'." She paused for a second. "And blushes as well? You are in trouble."
Harry cursed the fact that every woman he met lately seemed to enjoy making him do that.
"I think I'll hide up here all year," he mumbled.
"Why? What's wrong with having a few Veela chasing you?" she teased.
Harry couldn't answer and his expression twisted into something half-way between sadness and hurt.
Azzurra leaned her head a little to the side. "I sense a story that is not happy, and probably has to do with a witch. I'm sorry, Harry."
"S'okay."
The silence grew uncomfortable before harry remembered something she said. "You're a full Veela?"
"As full as it gets, and Italian on top of that."
"But, I thought that in order to become a full Veela, it had to be offered to you by the Zekānōt and you had to go through the Gegenumenou?"
Even at the young age of fifteen, Harry knew this would probably be the only time in his life that a Veela would stare, dumbfounded at him.
"You know about us?" A second voice asked.
Harry turned to see Jaleena in the doorway. What was with Veela coming to visit him in his dorm room?
"Ahh, yeah. It was explained to me one time."
"By whom?" Jaleena asked.
"Someone that I thought cared about me," Harry answered, not able to keep a clamp on his words as he was momentarily caught up in the combined magic of both Veelas.
"What—"
Harry was relieved when Azzurra put a hand on Jaleena's arm and shook her head.
"To answer your question Harry, yes, you're right. Most Veela, like Jaleena here, must go through the ceremony in order to become full Veela. There are a small handful such as myself, that are born with all our magic already."
"Does that put you in the running to be a flock leader?" Harry asked.
Azzurra's eyes widened, "You do know much about us – and yes, it is possible," Azzurra finished in an almost purr. "You are going to have to be careful, Harry, the amount you know. . . ." She narrowed her eyes and stood up, took the two steps necessary to close the distance, and leaned over, her face inches from Harry's face. She turned to the side and placed her lips on his cheek, just after the edge of his lips, then leaned back with a disgusted look.
Jaleena gave her a confused look, then her own eyes widened in recognition. She did the same thing, then sat down on the bed next to Azzurra.
"Harry," Jaleena began. "If you have any questions this semester about anything, including Veela and relationships, feel free to come and speak with either one of us, okay?"
He was so out of his league at this point in time that Harry couldn't even grunt a response. Both Veela laughed.
"Hey! You're not leaving me for the new kid, are you?" Markus asked from the doorway.
"I don't know, he's cute when he blushes and his culo is quite nice," Azzurra answered, and winked at Harry.
He blanched.
"In that case, mind if I have an affair with Jaleena?"
All three Durmstrang students broke out in laughter. The two Veela took his hands and pulled him out of his chair. "Come on Harry," Jaleena said. "We'll show you around on our way to dinner."
Neither witch let go of Harry's hand the entire time they explored castle, with Azzurra's boyfriend walking in front of them.
Dinner was a quiet affair, though Professor Sirko joined them. They talked over classes, asked about Harry's knowledge of Transfiguration and Potions, and made notes on strengths and deficiencies. Before Harry knew it, it was ten in the evening.
Markus and he went back to their dorm room and prepared for bed.
"So, what did you think of your first day?"
"Confusing," Harry said with a chuckle.
"Naa, the Castle's easy to find stuff in. Staff and faculty are on the first floor, classrooms are on the second floor, dorms are on the third floor, and the Dining Hall is at the far end of the first floor."
"That's not what I meant," Harry confessed.
"I didn't think so, but I forgot to tell you that earlier."
Harry pulled his shirt off and changed for bed, then climbed underneath the covers. It was already cold in the room and it was in the middle of the blasted summer!
"I found it quite odd that your girlfriend and her best-friend, both of whom are Veela, held my hands half the night, and you had no problem with it."
Markus pulled his own nightshirt over his head and climbed into bed. "They were trying to make you more comfortable with them so that you wouldn't get lost in their magic. Physical touch can help that. Normally, they wouldn't dare walk around that way with someone, but since you can fight the magic, they decided to spend the time with you."
"How do you know that?"
"They watched you in the meadow this afternoon and saw how you were able to fight off Azzurra's Veela magic. There are only a few wizards at the school that can do that, so the Veelas tend to befriend them quickly. It lets them feel normal, instead of being gawked at."
Harry snorted. "I guess I can understand that."
"Good. Now get some sleep, Professor Sirko wasn't kidding when he said you were going to start training tomorrow."
The final product ended up being somewhat different, and I think I like it better for the most part.
The next scene starts out similar to what ended up in the story, but really changes. I felt that I wrote myself into a corner, so you can tell where I stopped. There was just too much revealing going on about Harry and Fleur. That's part of the reason I cut this out, and another reason I changed the scene above.
X
"So, Harry, ready for your Transfiguration lesson?" Azzurra asked after lunch two weeks later.
"Would it change anything if I said no?" he answered,
"Probably not. Learning two years worth of charms in about two months is like trying to build Rome in a year. Pretty much impossible, even more so if you take time off."
"Yes ma'am."
"That is not how you get in the teacher's good graces, Potter."
Harry bit the inside of his lips to stop from laughing.
"Alright, if you're going to be a difficult student," – she smirked – "What are the five Principle Exceptions to Gamp's law?"
Harry plopped himself down in a chair. "Can't produce food or love, restore life or body parts destroyed by Dark Magic, create precious metals or clothing, or transfigure something into a giver of knowledge."
Azzurra tilted her head back and widened her eyes. "Very good, Harry. Let's see you transfigure a few things."
She tossed a few marbles, a snuff box, and a cup onto the desk.
"Transfigure the marbles into something larger."
Harry waved his wand.
"Duro!"
Three marbles turned to stone.
"Hmm. I'm both impressed and not so impressed." Azzurra said as she inspected the stone marbles. "They are just a little larger, and the same shape as before."
She waved her wand and they went transformed back to their original state.
"Again. This time, I want them to double in size."
Harry tried it again and produced three large, oblong stones, each one about three times the original size.
"That's better. Now, what impressed me is that you're transfiguring three objects at the same time. How are you doing that?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I haven't ever done that before. I just happened to look at them and decided I was too tired to do it three times, so I concentrated on all three at once."
"Really?" she asked. "That was the first time you accomplished multi-item Transfiguration?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Azzurra's gaze turned distant and . Harry felt a large lump develop in his throat, suddenly missing Hermione.
He jumped up out of his chair, "I have to go take care of something," he said and rushed from the classroom, and came to a dead stop. Where could he go? If he went up to his dorm, Markus would probably be there – which also left him with no chance to get his Invisibility cloak. If he went outside, Professor Sirko would probably see him and come ask why he wasn't in class learning about Transfiguration. At least at Hogwarts, he had options when he wanted to be alone, and if he really wanted to be alone, he could pull out the Marauder's map the twins gave him and. . . .
Harry barely made it into the next classroom and shut the door before he was overwhelmed with the emotions of the last two and a half months.
The memories pressed in on him in a relentless pursuit to steal every last piece of self-control he had – Hermione, Ron, and He in Hogsmeade together; the three of them meeting up at Diagon before their Second Year; all the time spent at the Burrow. . . .
More memories rushed in as the tears began to pour out– The twins and Alicia and Katy and Angelina on brooms day after day, night after night; Seamus taking the mickey out of Ron until Ron chased him around the common room cursing him and everyone else who got in the way, Molly Weasley suffocating him with a hug that comes from a mum loving someone so much—
Tables flipped over and chairs flew through the air, snapping into pieces against the walls and windows. But soon that wasn't enough. He pulled out his wand and cast curse after curse, destroying anything in the room. He picked up another chair and hurled it back across the room, hitting it with a reducto Curse. The chair shattered, raining wood and metal against the wall.
"HARRY!"
He turned to see Professor Sirko standing in the doorway, with Azzurra behind him.
"Why have you buggered up my entire classroom?"
He didn't have an answer – and if he did, he wasn't going to say anyway.
"Azzurra tells me that you seemed fine, then a second later, you excused yourself and came in here to tear up the furniture. Is that true?"
Again, he remained silent.
Azzurra whispered in Professor Sirko's ear and stepped back. The professor abruptly turned and exited the room, the soles of his shoes slapping the marble floor as he walked down the hall.
Harry looked around at the destruction. Had he really destroyed every desk in the room? Pieces of wood, metal, and assorted instruments littered the floor. There were even a few remnants embedded in the stone walls.
The stones looked familiar, now that he was focused on them. They were the same type of stones that he had spent all summer lifting and carrying and settling into place. He was so sore that first week, but more than once, Fleur made him lie on the floor of the sitting room as she straddled his back, working out the kinks with those soft, delicate hands.
Hands he would probably never hold again – just more loss, even if she wasn't his to lose in the first place.
It didn't matter, however. He'd lost everyone else. Every last bloody one of—
Glass vials hidden behind cabinet doors shattered, as did the glass windows, but the wailing of a fifteen-year-old boy, who had fallen to the floor, drowned out the sound.
"They're all gone! I can't bring them back!"
"Oh, god, Harry." Azzurra closed the distance and pulled him into her. Jaleena, having been summoned by Professor Sirko, ran through the doorway at that moment.
"What—?"
"I think we need to know," Azzurra cut her off.
Harry was barely aware of the silent conversation taken place between the two veela. Finally, Jaleena nodded. "If I do this, we tell him as well."
"It's not our secret," Azzura said. "But I'll talk to Markus."
He felt a second pair of hands on him. "I want to ask your permission to do something."
Jaleena's cute button nose and full lips were barely visible as tears welled up and poured out unbidden and unwanted. "Do whatever you want." he dropped his wand curled in on himself, feeling like a lost little boy again.
He felt a soft hand delicately laid on his arm, followed by a rasp of inward breath. They remained liked that for longer than Harry could remember until she spoke again.
"Harry," Jaleena quietly said his name. "It's okay, Harry."
She wrapped her arms around him and he couldn't help but feel better, though he noticed that she wasn't pushing her magic into him like Fleur did.
Harry didn't catch her looking at Azzurra and slowly shaking her head in disbelief. But he did feel when her arms wrapped around him as well.
