Demon Contract
9foxgrl
Year One
Pt. 2
"Here we are." Draco said as the train stopped. All four had changed into their school robes an hour ago.
Draco and Hermione had discovered on the ride that they liked a lot of the same Muggle and Wizard authors. The occasional spat on politics sent them arguing. They argued for a ten minutes on the rights of half-breed creatures and would have gone on for hours until Harry put his foot down and threatened to hex them. Neville came out of his shell a little bit when Hermione brought up the subject of magical plants. He had a great deal of knowledge about them, apparently so much that Draco claimed he could pass Potions without a problem.
"He clearly has a knack for Herbology. It's like with those Muggle children who had ADHD. They are talented, just no one will take the time to acknowledge it. They specialize in other areas."
'True Rynder. Do you think that he is a good ally?'
"Yes. All of them are. Just don't tell them about me until absolutely necessary."
'I understand.' Harry thought as he followed his new friends to the boats. He spotted Hagrid yelling for all the first years to climb in.
The four took the nearest one together.
"So Neville, did you get a toad or any thing as a pet?"
"No, my Gran wanted to, but stuff kept coming up. My Uncle wanted to give me a toad. My Gran refused, said I could wait a week for an owl or something."
"At least you can get a pet. My Mum and Dad still aren't sure if I can have one."
Harry looked up at them.
"Well if either of you need to you can borrow my owl." Draco offered.
"Or my messenger bird." Harry added.
"Don't you mean your owl? And why didn't you have it on the train?"
"I didn't want an owl. I got this one special from a friend back home. She doesn't like cages and would have pecked my eyes out if I stuck her in one. So she's probably flying around hunting right now. You'll meet her later."
"Umbra is probably out hunting for a cow or something now. There is only so long we could keep her appeased with birds and stray cats."
On the way across the cloud cover lake Neville asked if even if they got sorted into different houses could they still be friends. Draco agreed as long as they met in private. If any news reached his father about him associating with a muggleborn he would be forbidden from coming back to school. Harry didn't mind either way. Rynder knew he may not have shown it, but Harry was happy that he finally had some friends.
When they arrived at the castle they were greeted by Professor McGonagall. She lead them up to the Great Hall and had them wait while they got ready for them.
"Have you heard? Harry Potter is supposed to be coming this year." exclaimed a redhead to the dark boy next to him. "My brothers swore they saw him on the train, but they won't tell me what he looked like."
"Have you seen him yet?"
"No not yet. I can't wait though."
"Do you think he remembers how he defeated You-Know-Who?"
Harry grimaced.
"I bet he will be in Gryffindor like his parents were." another student exclaimed.
"No one's fate is decided on who their parents were, if that was true any one who was a distant descendant of every dark wizard would be in Slytherin. The other houses would be bare. Its up to them to decide their own path in life." Harry said aloud.
"What do you know?" one of the bigger students chortled. "You look to small to be old enough to come here. And what's with your hair?"
Harry peered at him from behind his bangs. He smirked.
"You will know when you meet him."
Professor McGonagall came back out and escorted them up to a wooden stool with an old hat sitting on it.
"Oh you may not think I'm pretty,
But don't judge on what you see,
I'll eat myself if you can find
A smarter hat than me.
You can keep your bowlers black,
Your top hats sleek and tall,
For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat
And I can cap them all.
There's nothing hidden in your head
The Sorting Hat can't see
So try me on and I will tell you
Where you ought to be.
You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve, and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart;
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuff are true
And unafraid of toil;
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you 've a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind;
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You'll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
To achieve their ends.
So put me on! Don't be afraid!
And don't get in a flap!
You're in safe hands (though I have none)
For I'm a Thinking Cap!" (Harry Potter & the Philosopher Stone)
"Abbot, Hannah"
"So we put on the hat and it sorts us?" Harry whispered to Draco as he watched a terrified girl run up.
"Yeah, I forget that you were raised by Muggles." Draco whispered back as the hat shouted "Hufflepuff!"
"Yes, you were raised in a proper magical family, lucky you." Harry said coolly. 'Of course, I was trained by Demons.'
"Granger, Hermione."
"Gryffindor."
Out of the corner of his eye Harry saw Draco look disappointed.
"Longbottom, Neville."
"Gryffindor!"
Harry shot a wave of positive energy at Neville. The boy looked calmer after it hit and sat down next to Hermione.
"Malfoy, Draco."
The hat was not on him for a second before spouted "Slytherin."
"Potter, Harry."
Harry walked up trying to ignore all he stares and whispers of his name.
"Relax, it will be all over quick." Rynder whispered. "You will need to lower your mind's defenses for a moment however."
'I understand.' Harry replied as he dropped his mental shields for the moment.
"Ah! Mr. Potter. So finally we meet. No jump? Not the kind to be thrown off guard easily eh? Where to put you? You are loyal like a Hufflepuff, but you won't fit in there. You are brave, yet not as rash as many Gryffindors. Your parents fitted in quite well. Intelligent and love to read, a strong Ravenclaw side there. You are also sly and cunning like a Slytherin…Hmm…difficult indeed."
'Slytherin will be just fine.' Harry replied to the hat.
"Slytherin? But perhaps Gr-"
'Just say Slytherin already!' Harry argued.
"Slytherin? But you are not-"
"If you don't say Slytherin you godforsaken hat I will turn you to ash." Rynder cursed in his regal demonic voice making the hat jump slightly off Harry's head. Harry bit down on his lower lip to keep steady. Rynder's regal voice was loud, as a future king should.
"Who or what was that?" the hat asked befuddled.
"A very unhappy demon. Say a word to the old man about my presence in Harry's mind and you will be in a owl's nest before you can scream for help!"
"Very well….SLYTHERIN!"
Harry quickly turned up his mental shields as he took off the hat. He inwardly smirked at the gasps and stunned faces of the other students and staff. Though Harry couldn't see him, Severus was stunned and nearly lost face at the fact the son of his old rival would be under his care. Dumbledore however was perplexed why Harry had been sorted into Slytherin. He didn't seem to be sly or cunning at all.
Outwardly Harry looked solemn and bored as he walked to the Slytherin table. He was stunned when the two identical red heads jumped up from the Gryffindor table as he passed them. They saluted him like muggle soldiers.
"GOOD LUCK IN THE SNAKE PIT HARRY!" Fred yelled.
"WE WILL MISS YOU IN THE LION'S DEN!" George added.
"STAND TALL AND SHOW THEM THE ERRORS OF THEIR WAYS! SHOW THEM THE LIGHT!" the two yelled dramatically.
Rynder laughed. "I like those two. They are the human versions of Loki. We should introduce them!"
'Not if you want the sky to turn green and the grass blue.' Harry said quoting his demon combat teacher Lilith.
He took the seat next to Draco and smirked.
"Told you I would be in this house." Harry muttered. "Now I need to get Fred and George a gift."
"Why?"
"For distracting everyone so I could sit down." Harry said. "Do you know any good joke shops I could owl post too?"
Draco nodded. The two chatted as the rest of the students were sorted. Harry grimaced as he felt someone try to knock down his mental shields.
"He's mad isn't he?" Harry asked after Dumbledore completed his odd speech.
"Dad thinks he is. He might just be going senile."
Harry winced as there was another attempt to break his mental barriers. This time it was stronger.
"Something wrong?" Draco asked as the food appeared.
"Nothing." Harry said as he felt another nudge. 'Rynder can I-?'
"No. I'll keep your shields up. Eat. Lilith will kill me if you die of starvation."
Harry placed a piece of chicken and some salad on his plate before starting to eat. The girl in front of him raised her brow at how little he was eating.
"Oh no." Draco whispered. "Here we go."
"What?" Harry asked as he finished off his salad.
"Harry, you're too thin." the girl exclaimed as she shoved a bowl of mashed potatoes at him. "Eat more properly or else you will get knocked over by a simple stunner!"
"Er…"
"Pansy Parkinson. The ever vigilant mother hippogriff." Draco said. "This is Harry, the most unconventional wizard from a light family."
"A skinny, underweight, brat defeated the Dark Lord?" Pansy said with a laugh. "He looks like he could be blown over by the wind!"
'Err…Rynder…I think this girl is possessed by Lilith.'
"She's not. Thankfully Death forbid if she was. I would be terrified."
"I'm not that skinny. I'm scrawny. It helps with my stealth."
"Why the bloody hell do you need to be stealthy for?"
"Staying out trouble and possibility of pranking the twins over there." Harry said as he felt his senses prickle from another nudge. Whoever it was stopped when they realized that his mental shields were strong.
"Oh God. The ultimate prank war." Pansy moaned.
Draco smirked.
"Draco Malfoy, get rid of that smirk. Neither of you will take part in a prank war with them or Merlin as my witness I will hound you two for the rest of our seven years here."
Two Days Later
"Today we will be transforming these matches into sewing needles. Remember to visualize the intentions!" Professor McGonagall said as she walked around.
Harry took out his wand and started to envision the match turning into a needle.
"That is a peculiar looking wand." Draco commented. The dark wood stood out especially. "What's it made of?"
"Willow wood and heartstrings from a thestral." Harry muttered as he tried to transfigure the match.
"That…sounds like a dark magic wand." Draco whispered. He made his own attempt only to turn the match silver.
Harry snickered. "The only difference between light and dark is how you use it."
He flicked his wand and successfully changed his entirely.
"Very good Mr. Potter. 10 points to Slytherin."
Harry just smiled. "Harry 1. Draco 0."
Draco smirked. "A contest to see who can master spells the fastest?"
He quickly changed his match into a needle. "I'll take that bet."
Later on in the day Harry and Draco managed to meet up with Hermione and Neville in the library.
"Oh, I can't wait to write to my parents about my first two days here! I just wish they had gotten me an owl!" Hermione sighed. "I guess I could borrow one of the school's owls."
"You can borrow Umbra." Harry said as he looked up from his essay. "She's not an owl but she's fast."
"Umbra? You mean that's what that large crow that scared us all awake this morning?" Draco asked.
"Umbra is not a crow, she is a falcon." Harry argued. 'A sky demon falcon at that.'
"What do you mean scared you all awake?" Hermione asked.
Draco sighed. "Well it was around six o'clock and Flint came in telling us we needed to wake up, apparently seven o'clock is not a descent hour. Harry woke up instantly but we didn't. Apparently Harry's bird didn't like that and began to screech in our ears and attack us in our beds until we got up. Flint was laughing himself to death over it. Professor Snape heard all the ruckus and came up to find his prefect rolling around howling with laughter, while the rest of us were trying to dive under our beds to save our hides."
Harry and Rynder snickered.
"You trained Umbra well Harry."
'Thanks to you Rynder.'
"What did Professor Snape do?"
"He laughed." Draco said in a hollow voice.
Neville dropped the book he was reading. Hermoine looked up from her essay looking frazzled.
"What?" he sputtered.
"He laughed?"
"Scared us too." Draco said with a shudder. "Thought the world was coming to an end."
"After Flint calmed down and explained to him what happened he made me call off Umbra so they would come out of hiding." Harry said with a grin. "He even said that if we don't want to wake up on time he'll just let me keep Umbra in the dungeons at night." " I also heard Flint say to him that Umbra might be able to motivate some of the Quidditch team." Draco said with a shudder. "I pity the bastards."
"Why was your messenger bird in your dorms in the first place?" Neville asked.
Harry grimaced. He couldn't flat out tell them that Umbra had come to deliver a message from the Underworld about a demon loose in the castle. 'Well Rynder?'
"Not yet. They still haven't earned enough trust from me."
'Very well.'
"Umbra used to scare off my cousin when he tried to come into my room and trash my things. She's very protective of me." Harry said.
"But attack your room mates?"
"She hates lazy people. Think of her as…well…the bird version of Snape." Harry commented.
"Merlin forbid if that bird befriends Snape. We'll be doomed." Neville muttered.
The four shuddered. A bird with Snape's attitude plus the real Snape. No one would be safe.
To Be Continued….
Side Story- Harry's New Wand
Harry followed Hagrid into Ollivanders to get his wand. Harry was anxious to finally get a hold of a wand. So far he had been trained in using demon magic that relied on runes to focus it from his magic core. If it weren't for the runes that were tattooed on his skin he wouldn't be able to use it without damaging his core.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. I was wondering when I would see you." said a spry old man as he came down from a rolling ladder.
After a dozen wands Ollivander found one that seemed to make him really excited.
"Holly with a phoenix feather core."
Rynder frowned as Harry took a hold of the wand. It was a light wand, he had no problem with that. However, he sensed the core came from the same bird that gave Harry the scar. Now this he couldn't have. If Harry ever came across Voldemort his wand would be useless. Rynder made his magic flare in Harry causing the wand to explode in Harry's hand.
Harry dropped the fragments in shock.
'Rynder!'
"I will explain later. Choose another wand."
After a few more tries Ollivander handed Harry the nine and a half inch willow and thestral wand. It emitted purple flames at the touch.
"Well now, won't this be interesting. There hasn't been a wand of this kind since…well ever."