Outsider Chronicles: Black Zodiac
After being splattered by a drunk driver, the last thing I expected was to wake up a Wizard. Last thing? Hardly, the last thing I expected was to be the twin of everyone's favorite ferret Well, this is gonna be fun. OC centric, fem-Harry.
And we are once again back. Since I don't have anything to address here, lets dive straight in. Enjoy!
Chapter 2
After wishing our parents goodbye, Draco and I boarded the Express and immediately separated, with Draco moving off with his asskissers *ahem* I mean friends, Crabbe and Goyle, with Pansy Parkinson on his arm. I on the other hand, made my way further up the train in search of an empty compartment where I could wait for my friends to arrive. While waiting, I passed the time by reading the book on Focus Gems Ollivander had given me to get a better idea of what exactly Zodiac Lance was capable of.
Apparently, the staff was far more than a simple magical focus like a wand, instead it had a powerful AI built into it with enough computing power to put the theoretical Quantum Computers of my previous timeline to shame. Exactly how that was possible the book didn't say, but I guess the logical answer was simply magic. In addition to acting as a focus, the staff could also automatically create powerful barriers that went well beyond even the strongest shield spells, even able to block the Unforgivables, although doing that was hugely draining. They also had numerous built in spells that were capable of wide scale destruction. However, despite the fact I was now a human artillery unit, anything that required fine control was well beyond me, so no healing or Legilimency for me!
I was so engrossed in the book that I jumped when Tracy snapped her fingers right next to my ear. Apparently the others had arrived a few minutes ago and had been trying to get my attention.
"Sorry guys, but this makes for an interesting read," I said, rubbing the back of my head in embarrassment.
"It looked it," said Daphne, "What is it?"
"Information on my wand," I said, holding up my focus.
"What about it?" Asked Blaise, "Looks like a normal wand to me."
"Zodiac, log on," I said.
"ACKNOWLEDGED, ZODIAC LANCE POWERING UP."
The wand glowed, before extending out into its active form.
"Woah, thats cool!" Exclaimed Tracy, leaning forwards to examine it.
"Thanks," I said, "Apparently my magics to dense to use a normal wand, so I have to use this. Not that I'm going to complain though. Logout."
"POWERING DOWN."
The staff shrank back down to wand form and was returned to the holster strapped to my arm. At that moment, Lucy, who had been sleeping in my robes, stuck her head out of my collar, blinking sleepily as she looked around at the newcomers.
"Daww, so cute!" Sqeed Tracy as she spotted the little lion, "Here kitty kitty!"
Lucy gave Tracy a look that could easily be translated as 'get this thing away from me!', before turning her head to the door. She hopped out of my robes and trotted to the door, batting it open with her paw and revealing Holly stood on the other side, looking even more nervous than she had entering Madam Malkins. The baby Nemean Lioness looked up at Holly for a moment, before rubbing against her legs, purring happily.
"Huh, that was unexpected," I said, "Lucy doesn't normally take to people that quickly."
I stood and picked up Lucy, before guiding Holly into the compartment and sitting her down, plonking Lucy in her lap where she curled up, purring happily as Holly hesitantly began to rub her ears.
"Guys, this is Holly," I said, "I met her in Diagon Alley. Holly, this is Daphne Greengrass, Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini and you've already met Lucy."
"Hello," said Holly quietly, eyeing the three Purebloods through her fringe.
The action also served to give us a clear look at her forehead, which, as expected, was marked with the familiar, lightning bolt scar. While some might have immediately acting like tits and scare the shy girl, my friends only reaction to spotting the scar was a slight intake of breath, before they ignored it. Again, the Neutral families used their heads more often than the Lights and Darks, preferring to step back and take everything in before acting. It would take a real idiot not to see that the last thing this shy girl needed was to be treated like some kind of hero.
Speaking of idiots, a short while later, after the train started moving, the compartment door opened to reveal the red-headed form of Ronald Weasley. Now, while I didn't really like Ron very much in my previous life, the fact Harry was a girl here meant I was willing to give him a chance. Well, unless…
"Oh, wrong compartment," said Ron with a sneer, "There's no way Holly Potter would be sitting with a bunch of slimy snakes like you."
He did that. The moron shut the door, leaving three angry Purebloods and a highly exasperated me.
"What a moron," I said, "I pity the fools who have to share a dorm with him."
"Speaking of, what houses do you guys want to get into?" Asked Tracey.
"Ravenclaw," I responded immediately, "I know I won't fit into Hufflepuff, Gryffindors right out, even if its just because I don't want to put up with my brothers ranting and there's no way I'm sharing a common room with Draco for the next seven years."
That triggered a discussion between Daphne, Tracey and Blaise over houses and which would be best to be in. I just sat back and pulled out a cat toy that I used to play with Lucy. Holly seemed content to just sit and watch the discussion, still petting Lucy. The lion cub looked like she was in heaven as she batted at the catnip filled toy in front of her while Holly rubbed her belly.
Things continued in this vein until lunchtime rolled around and we were interrupted by the snack trolley. After we pooled our funds and buying enough sweets to feed Ron Weasley in the average bashing story for 10 minutes, the others resumed their conversation while Holly curiously studied the wizarding sweets, particularly the Cauldron Cakes. Noticing her interest, I grabbed one of the cakes and offered it to her.
"Here, it won't bite," I said.
Holly looked hesitant, before taking the small cake and, with another nervus look at me, took a tiny bite. She froze, her eyes widening slightly, before the cake vanished in a flash and she was licking the chocolate residue of her hands.
"Cute," I muttered before I could stop myself.
Holly blushed brightly and ducked her head, but not before shooting the pile of cauldron cakes on the seat a look of longing. I suppressed the urge to give the girl a hug, instead pushing the stack of cakes towards her. Her eyes lit up and she shot me a grateful and surprised look, before going to work on the chocolaty treats.
"Not a word," I said, pointing at Tracey and Blaise, who were grinning at the exchange.
"I have no idea what you mean," said Blaise, going back to the book he was reading.
Tracey on the other hand had no such quarms.
"Daww, thats so cute!" She said, "Little Leos got a crush!"
I immediately went red and hid my face behind a book as the others burst out laughing, including Daphne. I shot her a betrayed look, which she responded to with a grin. I glanced at Holly, but she was to distracted with her cakes to notice the exchange. However, that didn't change the fact that she looked absolutely adorable as she bit into the cakes, her eyes closed and little blushes of pleasure on her cheeks. If this was an Anime, I had no doubt that she'd be a chibi with floppy dog ears and a big, fluffy tail. It didn't really help that the ribbons she wore in her hair did actually look a bit like ears and seemed to be twitching in response to her emotions.
Fortunately, a distraction arrived before I could succumb to the desire to squeal like a girl and hug Holly, losing my man card in the process. Curse my weakness for cute things!
The distraction in question was a knock at the door, which opened to reveal a nervous looking Neville Longbottom and a bossy looking Hermione Granger.
"Can we help you?" I asked, doing my best to keep the releaf out of my voice.
"Has anyone seen a toad, Neville heres lost one," said Hermione.
I winced at the tone in her voice, a faint hint of condescendence and bossyness. Oh dear, I really hope I can do something about that before it gets her in trouble.
"Sorry, we haven't," said Tracey.
"Hang on," I said as they turned to go, "Let me try something."
I pulled my wand out.
"Whats your toads name?" I asked, ignoring the curious look Hermione was giving my wand.
"Um, Trevor," said Neville.
"Accio Trevor the Toad," I said, waving my wand towards the door.
Their was a startled croak and a large, fat toad shot into the compartment and into my hand. I handed the slimy critter over to Neville with a grimace. I hate toads.
"What spell was that?" Asked Hermione once Neville was done thanking me, "I didn't see it in any of our course books."
"Thats because the summoning charm isn't taught till the fourth year," said Daphne, "It requires decent amount of focus to pull off and most 11 year olds aren't capable of it."
I shrugged and slipped my wand back up my sleeve.
"Really?" Asked Hermione, looking intrigued, "But I thought First years couldn't cast upper year spells. I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard. I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough. I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?"
I sighed deeply as my companions shot looks at one another, a little taken aback by the speed of Hermiones speech.
"Some spells require too much magic for First Years to pull off, which is why their not taught until later" I said, "The Summoning Charm is not one of them. As for our names, this is Daphne Greengrass, Blaise Zabini, Tracey Davis and Holly."
My pureblood friends nodded as I pointed at each, maintaining the 'proper Pureblood image' before the scion of the Longbottom family. Holly meanwhile was eyeing the newcomers wearily as seemed to be normal for her.
"And I'm Leo Malfoy."
The reaction was immediate as Neville paled and Hermione scowled. I sighed as I took in their expressions.
"Let me guess, you've already met my idiot twin? Well you don't need to worry, I'm nothing like Draco."
Neville relaxed slightly, but Hermione still looked weary.
"But I read that the Malfoys are a Dark family," she said.
Daphne, Tracey and Blaise all winced at that and sat back to watch the fireworks. My face immediately went completely blank.
"I suggest you leave Miss Granger," I said, my voice perfectly level.
I hated being tarred with the 'Dark' brush just because of my last name. While I highly doubted I'd ever be considered 'Light', I was very much Grey thank you very much! Hermione looked surprised at my sudden change of mood, but I was too busy suppressing the urge to blast her with Zodiac Lance to notice.
"But…"
"I agree we Leo, Granger, you should leave," said Daphne.
"Yeah, he really doesn't like being marked as Dark because of his family name," said Tracey, eyeing my clenched fists, "The last idiot who did that ended up with a broken jaw."
That got Hermione moving and she vanished with Neville in tow. I took a deep breath and tried to get my temper under control before I put my fist through the window or something. An odd affect of having dense magic was that it also affected the body, making muscles and bones denser and thus, stronger. While not superhuman, my strength was definitely higher than the average 11 year old boy. I was distracted from my anger when a small hand touched mine and I looked up to find myself looking into a pair of large, green eyes. Holly and I stared into one another's eyes for a moment, before I nodded and relaxed, my anger ebbing as quickly as it had risen. Despite not saying a word, Holly had still managed to convey a sense of understanding. Of course she did, she'd know all about being associated with a label assigned by others. I smiled at Holly, before looking down at Lucy as she hopped into my lap and curled up, providing another source of comfort.
I also pointedly ignored the looks I was getting from the others.
The next annoyance didn't come until the sun set and the lamps turned on, shortly after we all changed into our school robes and was, as expected, my idiot brother and his sycophants.
"Ah, here you are Leo," he said, "I've been looking for you all trip."
"Yeah right," was the thought going through all our heads.
"I was hoping that you'd come and join me in my compartment," continued Draco, "It is, after all, only proper for us to sit together."
"Sorry Draco, but I'm sitting with my friends," I said, indicating to my companions.
This also served to draw Dracos attention to Holly.
"Oh, and whos this?" Asked Draco, barging into the compartment as if he owned the place, "Whats your name girl?"
Holly shrank back behind me in response to Dracos harsh tone and how he was looming over her.
"Well? Answer me?"
I grabbed Dracos arm and shoved him away from Holly, placing myself between them.
"Enough, Draco," I snapped, "Can't you see you're scaring her?"
Draco looked like he was going to argue, but the sight of Daphne, Blaise and Tracey fingering their wands and Lucy stood at my feet, hackles raised and teeth and claws bared made him think twice. He turned on his heel and marched out of the compartment, pausing at the door.
"You should be careful, brother," he said, "Raising your hand against your future head of house like that."
I raised my eyebrow at the threat.
"Draco, I am the heir to the Black Lordship," I said.
Draco scowled at that little reminder. Due to the laws of the Magical World, the oldest child always inherited the fathers name, meaning that Draco would one day be Lord Malfoy, while the rest of the children inherited any other Lordships from the mothers side. Since their was (officially) no Lord Black at the moment, that meant that, should Sirius snuff it without a will, the Black Lordship would automatically default to me. And that particular Law was one of Merlin's Laws, the cornerstone laws of the Magical World that could not be changed by anyone other than Merlin's heir.
Draco stormed out of the compartment, leaving me to sit back down. I turned to Holly, intending to ask if she was OK, only to be confronted with a look of awe and gratitude that was actually a little intimidating.
"Nicely handled Leo," said Blaise.
Just then, a voice echoed through the train.
"We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."
We all began to pack everything up, including the few sweets that hadn't been eaten. Lucy would have been put back into her cat crate, but she point blank refused to leave Holly, which was understandable since the girl now looked really scared. I placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, doing my best to ignore the slight flinch. She seemed to draw some strength from my touch however and shot a small smile at me.
The train slowed right down and finally stopped, heralding a crush of people in the halls as everyone pushed their way toward the door and out onto a tiny, dark platform. We stayed in our compartment until the crush died down slightly before following. The air outside was cold, making me glad I'd payed a bit extra for robes with warming charms built in. A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students from one end of the platform, followed by a deep, heavily accented voice.
"Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Holly?"
Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads, causing Holly to shrink back behind me slightly. Hagrid didn't seem to notice however and continued to call for the first years.
"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"
We followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path, slipping and stumbling over exposed roots and in wet mud. Nobody, being too focused on trying to keep their balance.
"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud "Oooooh!"
The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers. I took in the sight of Hogwarts laid out before me, mentally noting that the real thing was about 100 times more impressive than how it appeared in the films.
"Well, lets get this party started."
And thats the end of this chapter! As always, a few things.
First, no, I am not bashing Hermione. Like in canon, she's going to start out as fairly grating and it might take a while for her to completely shed all of her annoying qualities, but she is going to be a friend.
Rons a moron. No change their.
Magic affecting Leos strength. I don't really think that it's too far out of the realms of possibilities. The idea of magic having an affect on the body is one that has been covered in other storys, mine just happens to be a bit more specific. Well, specified in a different way than most. I mean the normal trope is magical power affecting the size of people *ahem* 'assets'.
So heres a question, should I have Holly get a Focus Gem in the future after the Horcrux is destroyed? If so, I'd kinda like to see what you'd like it to look like and what abilities it should have based on its name, Black Eclipse. If the answer is yes, the best idea will likely be used.
Until next time, please review!