A/N: Some people wanted to see more of Harry's life at Durmstrang so here is a chapter about it. Warning though, there is some HarryxOC scenes but they don't last long. I merely added them to make Harry appear more like a teenage boy than a robot genius virgin who is waiting for 'The One' to sweep him off his feet. No worries, this is still HarryxDaphne, which will come in future chapters.

Revengeful Heart

Chapter Four: Durmstrang

"Be not afraid of greatness: some are born great, some achieve greatness, and
some have greatness thrust upon 'em." Twelfth Night Act 2, Scene 5

Viktor Krum has always been considered a smart child. When he was seven years old, he managed to find a spell in his parents' library and learn it without any help. The spell itself wasn't too difficult, but the fact that Viktor did it with no assistance, could keep the entire thing a secret and wandlessly perform the spell was a great achievement for a child.

It was no surprise that he was beyond happy when he found someone equally as intelligent. When Viktor met Harry for the first time, the boys almost immediately became friends. Harry was younger than Viktor by almost four years, but it didn't stop the boys from becoming friends. The older boy quickly discovered that Harry was just as intelligent as he was at that age and took it upon himself to teach the boy.

When Viktor was told that Harry was to come live with them and that they would be considered brothers, he became so happy that he conjured fireworks in his father's study and let them off all with accidental magic. It took Mr Krum hours to get rid of the bothersome fireworks, as every time Viktor got excited that day, they started off again.

When the summer came and Viktor finished his first year at Durmstrang, it has been decided that Harry was to join him there next year. By then, the two boys were inseparable, even with Viktor coming home only for breaks and some weekends. Harry was desperate to join his adopted brother at Durmstrang. He was studying almost every day when Viktor was away, in order to catch up with the older boy and be in the same classes as him.

On the first of September of the year Harry turned eight years old, he was travelling to Durmstrang with Viktor, practically jumping in his seat as a magical ship called Калиакра or Kaliakra took them from the Bulgarian port city of Varna to Durmstrang. Both boys were wearing their Durmstang uniform already – blood red robes, fur cloaks and heavy boots.

During their journey to Durmstrang, Harry found out from one of the older students that Durmstang was located on one of the islands scattered near the coastline of Northern Sweden. The Isle of Durmstrang was protected by heavy charms and wards that made it invisible to muggles and wizards alike – unless you were one of the students or school masters.

The journey to Durmstrang took most of the day, sped up with magic. By the time that they arrived to the Isle of Durmstrang, it was dark outside and the waters surrounding the ship and the island were black.

When Harry saw Durmstrang for the first time, he was flabbergasted. The Castle sat upon a cliff overlooking the ocean's dark waters. It seemed to be almost growing out of the cliff, as if it was carved out of it. Durmstrang was a simple yet magnificent construction, with no fancy towers or high arches but still an exceptional piece of architecture. It seemed like almost an entire wall was built of glass windows, glowing from the lights on the inside of the building.

As Harry stood on the docks on the bottom of the cliff, it was difficult for him to look away from the Durmstrang Castle. His eyes seemed to be glued to it, admiring it.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Viktor, as he saw what Harry was staring at.

Harry nodded. "I wish I came here earlier." He replied. "I'm so glad that I got the chance to see it; to – to – to be able to learn here! It's all so exciting, isn't it?"

While Harry's eyes lit up, he seemed like the eight year old he was. Viktor sometimes forgot that Harry was still a child, as he acted so mature most of the time. He grew up so quick; it was refreshing to see Harry acting his age.

Viktor lead the hyperactive Harry towards the carriages, pulled by great Granian horses. They managed to get a carriage with two of Viktor's friends – Russian twins Serafina and Sergei Lukaszenko.

"Aren't you a bit young for school, Harry?" asked Serafina sceptically.

"No, I'm not." Harry grinned. "I took entrance exams for Second Year a month ago and passed, meaning I'll be in the same year as you and Viktor."

"Hear that, Serafina?" Her brother laughed. "We'll have another genius amongst us. We're never going to stand a chance at getting the highest scores now. It was bad enough with just Viktor here!"

Serafina huffed and turned to look out of the carriage window in silence. The Krums' cheeks reddened at Sergei's comment. Harry looked at Viktor uncertainly, noticing that Serafina didn't act too welcoming.

"She'll come around." Viktor reassured. Harry nodded, but was unsure whether Viktor was right. Serafina seemed like a person who took first impressions to heart and it seemed that her impression of Harry wasn't very good. However, he would tolerate her because she was Viktor's friend. He hoped that she didn't act too hostile towards him either, for Viktor's sake.

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the entrance of the Durmstrang Castle. The students were ushered towards the main doors by teachers as soon as they got out of the carriages. It was all a very quick procedure, as it seemed that they were running slightly late. Dazed, Harry followed Viktor and his two friends through the crowd. They were lead through the last part of the courtyard, up the stone stairs and into the Entrance Hall.

The Entrance Hall made Harry feel extremely small. It was an enormous room, well-lit and not extravagant. With the grey stone walls and the black stone floor, the architecture was bulky and simple – more practical than decorative. Some benches lined the walls and a heavy staircase lead to the higher floors. Beside that, there were two doors – one leading outside and the other to the Main Hall. The only decorative thing that could be found were the portraits – some ancient and some slightly more recent – of the previous headmasters of Durmstrang. They dated back to the very founding of the Institute, and every single one of the headmasters was looking expectantly at the students who passed by them towards the Main Hall.

If the Entrance Hall made Harry feel small, in the Main Hall he was microscopic. To put it in blunt terms, the place was humongous. Almost twice the size of the Entrance Hall, the Main Hall could hold three times the population of Durmstrang if needed. The room was lit with the light of the torches scattered on the walls and the candles situated on all the tables.

There were eight tables in total – one for each year and a separate one for the teachers, spaciously separated around the room. One of the tables was put on the raised platform on the opposite side of the room to the entrance – right in front of the wall which was entirely made of glass looking over the cliff and the few hundred feet drop down to the ocean. Once again, practicality won over anything else when the room was designed. The tables were set with fairly cheap cultery and plates, nothing extravagant and the food was set on the tables. It all looked delicious and the steam from the hot dishes danced around above the tables.

Harry was lead to sit with the Second Years. There were twenty-something people in each year apart from the Sixth Year where the number was closer to mid-thirties. They were not separated into Houses like Hogwarts, but into years. There weren't nearly enough of them to separate them into anything else.

It only took mere minutes to have the hundred and seventy-something students to settle down in the Hall. Headmaster Karkaroff loomed over them as he stood in front of his seat, daring the students to make a sound with his stern look.

"Welcome back to Durmstrang Institute." He said. "I expect this year to be as good as the previous ones. Last year we have reached one of the highest academic records for our OWL and NEWT students with 95% of them getting Exceeds Expectations or above in six or more subjects. Congratulations to the current sixth years for gaining such OWL marks.

"The current list of forbidden items can be found in your Year Mentor's Office. The try-outs for the school's four Quidditch clubs will be held later on this month, again more information in your Year Mentor's Office.

"For the First Years joining us this year, your Year Mentor will be School Master Ivanov. He will lead you to the dormitories after the feast."

Headmaster Karkaroff continued to speak about such things as the school rules and the school day as well as listing off the new students. Harry's name was mentioned with the First Years, although it was briefly mentioned that he would be joining the second years. No one seemed to be making a big deal of it and Harry liked it that way. The less he stood out before he got a chance to prove himself, the better it was for him. After all, he would be the youngest in the school by far and there are many who would not hesitate to make his life a misery just because he appeared to be weaker than them.

Harry glanced at Viktor, then at the other people at his table. It will definitely be a challenge to make a name for himself, especially with the many disadvantages, but he reckoned that he could do it.

xXx

It has been five years since Harry first set his foot at Durmstrang. The boy was now in his official sixth year at Durmstrang, but along with Viktor he skipped a year soon after their OWLs and took lessons with the current Seventh Years who were to take their NEWTs that year.

In the past six years, Harry achieved a lot. His life seemed to be an endless study lesson, constantly learning, researching, discussing, reading and taking notes. There was not a minute when he was not thinking of something related to his NEWTs or reasearch. It was exactly that sort of behaviour that aroused the attention of the Unspeakables and made them recruit him into their ranks.

However, even though pretty much all his time was taken up by academics, did not mean that he neglected the vital parts of a teenager's life. During his first year he quickly became friends with Sergei and Serafina – the girl took longer to warm up to him, but after a year of dealing with his existence and her brother's constant nagging, she gave in to his charms.

Harry also took part in Quidditch for one year as a Seeker, but gave it up when the Unspeakables recruited him. His team won with everyone but Viktor's and they only lost to them by ten points.

It was mid-December and Harry was practising some of the duelling spells , in order not to get rusty. He was in the Duelling Room – a vast room littered with dummies, spell books and other useful duelling equipment. He was alone as it was close to midnight and many students were either in their beds or preoccupied with more relaxing things. Usually, Harry would be in his room doing something less physically straining, but he neglected his usual training sessions for the past week and had to get back into habit.

He was growing tired. It was a long day and the spells were draining. Although most of them were basic spells, using a lot of magic for a long period did exhaust a wizard. Harry may be a powerful wizard, but he was no Merlin – he used magic for most of the day and the results were starting to show.

Focused on the task at hand, he did not notice someone walking into the Duelling Room. Spell after spell, his movement was slowing down and sweat broke out on his forehead. Deciding that it was enough for one day, he cast the last Stupefy at the dummy and stopped.

"Having fun?" A feminine voice said behind him. Harry turned on his heel to see an attractive sixteen year old female leaning against the door frame. She was tall and lithe, with a pretty face and long hair.

"Serafina." Harry smiled. "Didn't expect to see you here. Weren't you staying the night at the Village?"

The Village was exactly what it sounded like. On the island that housed Durmstrang Institute, there was a nameless village that worked a bit like Hogsmeade in England. It had a few establishments and shops in order to entertain the students of Durmstrang during their free time. Many stayed there for weekends – especially the older students as drinking was prohibited in the school but not at the village. The shops were owned mostly by Durmstrang graduates or elderly couples. If someone was in need of a bit of spending money, they could also get a part-time job at some of the shops or pubs. All in all, it was a place favoured by the students.

"I was." The girl replied. "But I felt like coming to see you. To make sure that you don't pass out from too much work or something."

"I didn't know you cared." Harry teased, grinning at her.

"I don't." Serafina replied curtly. "But Viktor and Sergei would never shut up if something happened to you."

Harry just shook his head and walked up towards her. She arched her eyebrow at him, looking down at him. He wasn't short by any means, but Serafina had the tall willowy figure that other girls envied, plus she was his senior.

"Viktor is back in or dormitory, so is Sergei. They would probably come and drag me back there if I stayed out after midnight. So no need to worry about me." He grinned cheekily, now only a step away from Serafina.

"Stop poking holes in my excuses and come here." Serafina murmured, taking hold of Harry's hand. The boy did not hesitate, with a confident smile he went to kiss her lips.

They spent some time like that. Kissing, touching, hugging. Nothing that stepped too much out of line (even though in the eyes of their siblings, holding hands was considered a taboo), but it still got their hearts racing. That was what it was all about, getting their hearts to beat like drums, to make them pump the adrenaline through their bodies that little bit faster.

It didn't mean anything. To both of them, it was just a way of experimenting, a fickle teenage thing that would be gone and forgotten as fast as it came.

It was oddly comforting to be able to have a romantic relationship without the serious parts. Harry knew that he would want to settle down with a girl sometime, one day, but for the time being he was having fun and that's what it was all about. Not love, not devotion – just pure, teenage hormones. It was all hormones and nothing hurt.

It continued for a while. Kissing, teasing gropes of her breast. Giggles that escaped when they separated to catch a breath. He was younger, she was older but to them it didn't matter. After half an hour, both felt positively giddy and couldn't stop themselves from laughing at what they just did.

"A lot of girls would kill to be in my position." Serafina giggled as both her and Harry were sat leaned against the wall of the Duelling Room.

"A lot of guys would kill me for being in this position." Harry retorted.

"Yeah..." She smiled blissfully, deciding to lean against him. "You know how you're my gay best friend?"

"I'm not gay though..."

"Yeah, but Sergei is my brother best friend, Viktor is my manly best friend and you're his brother and you're younger than me. Plus, you're the one that I talk about boys and clothes with." Serafina explained, playing with her nails.

"That's true." He smiled. "What about it?"

"My mum told me that a man asked for my hand in marriage."

Silence. Harry knew that Serafina came from a pureblood family who valued traditions, arranged marriages included. "Who is he?"

"He's in your year. The Chaser on Viktor's Quidditch team."

"Nikolov?"

"Yeah, that one."

Nikolov wasn't bad. He was nice enough and his family was wealthy. Good enough grades and it was rumoured that he would be going into professional Quidditch after he graduated.

"I guess that our nightly endeavours will come to a halt then."

"You make it sound like we had a heated forbidden affair." said Serafina. "What do you think of him?"

"He's a nice guy. Will be good to you."

"I sure hope so. Or I'm doing what my cousin did and run away with a muggle." she joked. "Now you need to find someone."

Harry gave her a funny look. "Me? I'm thirteen for Merlin's sake. I'm not going to settle down for a while."

"Keep thinking that, Krum."

"I will."

XVVVX

A/N: And we're back with another chapter :) Sorry for taking forever with this story but I do have a life and other projects ^_^"

It was said earlier but this is more of a filler chapter. People wanted to know Harry's life at Durmstrang so I have you some of it. I'll write more fillers like this and will put them up between the 'storyline' chapters. That is, unless you guys don't want them. There would be more about Viktor, Serafina, Sergei, Harry's lessons and involvement with Quidditch/Unspeakables among other things.

As always, your opinions and reviews are appreciated.

~Bambi