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"It's hard enough to remember my opinions, without remembering my reasons for them!" – Friedrich Nietzsche
Creation Reborn – Book 1: Reincarnation
Harry Potter/Multi
By Shinji the Good Sharer
Disclaimer: I don't own most of the things in this series. All I own is this story itself. All flames will be ignored. Constructive criticism depends entirely on the criticism being "constructive."
Chapter 6
A Tear for the Fallen
The Cuckoos were apparently a set of identical quintuplet girls. Emma confided to him that they were clones of her. Why she had been cloned she was very evasive about but the girls seemed very nice. They were polite and highly intelligent just like Emma but unlike her they shared a hive mind which he found interesting. All five of them were, in turn, interested in him when he tapped into their mind and began to examine how their hive mind worked. As a response they began to try and examine him with their own telepathy.
Emma seemed to find it entirely too entertaining to stop it and when it was time for bed Harry became confused. His friend seemed to find his confusion comical and she led him into her room. The Cuckoos seemed to become annoyed with that act and began checking in on them telepathically throughout the night. Harry merely lay down with Emma who insisted he sleep next to her in her bed and put his body into a dormant state. He couldn't really "sleep" so much as enter a half-conscious state of suspended animation where he was able to sense his surroundings but lost his sense of time. As soon as Emma was asleep he left his body into an astral state and continued his training with thermokinesis high above her three story house.
When she began to stir Harry returned to his body and brought his human body out of its dormant state. Unfortunately this was done just in time for Emma to turn over and one of her large, nightgown clad breasts to come to rest on the side of his head as she hugged onto his back. The door opened and Harry sent a miserable look at the leader of the Cuckoos known as Sophie. She paused and chewed her bottom lip to stifle her laughter before sending a telepathic message that caused her sisters to hurry over. Esme was the second strongest of the Cuckoos and the first to arrive. Behind her came Irma who had demanded he call her Mindee, Phoebe and Celeste.
Five amused teenage girls watched them for a moment before quietly leaving the room. His cosmic senses allowed him to hear their laughter even through the soundproof walls of the room. Lightly patting Emma on the hip, Harry waited as she woke. After a moment she looked down and smiled before going back to cuddling him.
It didn't really matter that her breast was resting on his head. He'd seen her nude many times and she used to bathe him when he was too injured by one beating or another to bathe himself in her dorm's shower. They did have an appointment to keep in meeting his godmother but that wasn't for a few hours. In the end Harry just grunted and turned over before cuddling up to his friend. She was warm and he didn't want to deal with the obvious taunting the Cuckoos were going to give them yet. "We have another hour to sleep before we need to get ready to meet my godmother." he told Emma causing the woman to laugh and hug the small boy. Besides, she really did smell nice early in the morning.
-
The two met Amira at the veela enclave and the women began to trade embarrassing stories about Harry. Both seemed to get along well but Harry was willing to admit their conversation was a little frustrating. They arrived at the fashion show and Harry sat between the two women. Photographers took pictures of the three while reporters seemed to eye Harry. A number took pictures of him sitting with Emma and Amira but none made a move to speak to them with the four veela in rather tight suits wearing dark sunglasses around them.
Giving limited access HUD sunglasses to Amira's personal guards was one of his better flashes of inspiration. They didn't have access to Jarvis but the devices could scan people, work as communications systems, analyze various things and had a wide range of other sensors built in. Each stood nearby but not in the way as they scanned the surroundings with the energy plasma pistols that Harry had designed for them using schematics from his computer on their hips. Harry himself had a pair of them in holsters on the back of his belt while Amira had one in a thigh holster under her skirt.
Finally the lights went down and music started to play. Models began to take turns walking down the runway in all their glamour. Harry sensed one redheaded model pick him up telepathically and look at him before he suppressed his presence entirely. He also shielded off Amira and the minds of the other veela with a cold expression on his face. Emma seemed to feel it too and they shared a look before returning their gazes to the models.
When the veela model, a female named Teresa, noticed them she seemed to take even more pride and care in her new job. Her allure swelled and every male in the room as well as a few females stared at her. Some of the photographers began snapping pictures of her frantically. It was somewhat comical to watch. At the best of times humans had very little self-control but when a veela's allure was at its best they were stupid. Several began striking poses to try and interest her or shouting outrageous claims to try and impress her. Even Amira looked amused at how the men made fools of themselves.
They collected their model after the show and began to leave. In the limousine Harry and Emma sensed something was off and she noticed someone following them. Harry frowned at the brown sedan, red convertible and copper jeep following them. The jeep was driven by a rugged looking man with muttonchops sideburns while the sedan was controlled by a brown haired man with red sunglasses. 'Cute, but none of you have the control or power needed to play with me.' he sent making Emma stifle a giggle as she listened in.
In his mind, Harry focused on heating the rubber of the tires causing them to bubble and finally explode. The three vehicles swerved frantically to avoid traffic. That was apparently very difficult on steel rims. By the time they slid to a stop the limousine was gone and Harry shared an amused look with Emma. Amira pouted because she wasn't in on their joke.
That night Harry had a game in Iceland. He had arranged for tickets for Amira, Gabrielle, Antoine, Apolline and Emma who spent the evening cheering as France won with two hundred ninety points against Iceland's fifty. October 12, 1991 brought France to their first home game against Switzerland who lost to them with thirty points to their three hundred fifty. Taiwan lost on the twenty-seventh with a score of forty to their three hundred sixty points. All in all it was a mostly uneventful month after the fashion show.
-
Cedric Diggory and Oliver Wood often visited Harry's quarters. The girls were banned after attempting to break into Harry's office to get more perfume. Rumor of Harry's room had spread and Ronald Weasley had become highly jealous. Harry ignored him and merely went on with his studies.
Truthfully, Harry wasn't stupid enough to think that Dumbledore had changed his mind. He had invested so much time and waited so long to control Harry that he was simply incapable of changing. His narcissistic personality disorder also made it impossible for him to consider that he had made a mistake. Reading the old warlock's mind has confirmed that he still planned on using Harry but that he had merely added Longbottom to his plans as a possible surrogate incase Harry died too early. If nothing else he was consistent.
On Wednesday, October 30, 1991, Harry received a summons from Gringotts Wizarding Bank in London which requested he arrive promptly with his attorney at four o'clock in the afternoon. Harry did so and had two veela guards with them as well. They reached the first available teller and Harry held up a letter. "Harry Potter here to see a Mr. Dreadgibber." he informed formally in Gobbledygook, the goblin language, while removing his sunglasses politely.
Behind the counter as stunned goblin stared at Harry in shock. All motion stopped as the other goblins and many of the patrons present turned to regard Harry with surprise written all over their faces. There were two kinds of Gobbledygook. The first was basically humans using their own words in ways that sounded vaguely like the worlds of the goblin language. Harry had used the second which was a native language with inflections and tones that humans were not capable of duplicating with their vocal chords. Because of that goblins never taught their real language to humans and had constructed an easier language to speak to special humans without being understood by bystanders.
"How do you know that language, human?" demanded the sharp toothed creature while looking down its long nose at him.
Harry's eyes narrowed at the creature causing it to flinch despite itself. "I think what you meant to say was, "Please let me show you to Dreadgibber." Wasn't it?" suggested the boy as the irises of his eyes began to glow noticeably. When the surface of his desk began to smoke the goblin backed down and he called for another smaller goblin to escort Harry and his associates into the offices.
Within the office they were escorted to an old goblin with a balding head sat at the far end of a long table. Around that table was an old man with a crooked nose and long while hair that Harry easily recognized as Dumbledore, the greasy bat-like form of Severus Snape, as assortment of thirty-six people that Harry assumed was the Order of the Phoenix, Minister Fudge, an albino man with long white hair and cold silver eyes, a stately blonde woman with long golden blonde hair and Draco Malfoy. "What are you doing here, Potter?!" hissed Malfoy angrily in English.
He was ignored as Harry walked into place at the foot of the table with his attorney in the seat to his immediate left and his guards flanking him. "Prince Potter, thank you for joining us." said the old goblin. "King Jareth sends his regards."
A nod acknowledged the greeting as Harry sat back in his chair. "My godmother speaks very highly of him and sends her regards as well." he told the creature. "Why have I been summoned?"
"We have finished our audit of your holdings and account history. The Potters were once the most wealthy wizarding family in the world. Unfortunately the Potter accounts have been drained rather severely since the deaths of your adopted parents. Of the original two hundred seventy-three thousand galleons only three thousand galleons are left." Dreadgibber explained while looking through a folder. "During our audit we noticed that your name was signed to each document in two different handwritings. Both of these signatures began to appear on documents the same Halloween you were taken illegally by Albus Dumbledore. By examining the magical signatures on these different documents and comparing them to those of other accounts we have determined that the ones who signed your name were Albus Dumbledore and Severus Snape. Part of these funds went into their own private accounts while the rest was used to fund an organization called the Order of the Phoenix."
Many humans in the room cringed before turning to glare at Dumbledore and Snape. A perfectly unaffected Harry simply sat while watching the goblin. He didn't seem to care about the money. It was something that disconcerted those present.
"Do you have any opinion about this or what you wish us to do, Mr. Potter?" asked Dreadgibber. "We've cut off all access to the vaults other than by you but Gringotts would like you input on what you wish to do."
Gently leaning back in his chair Harry sighed. "Computer, send a message to my account manager to transfer two hundred forty-seven thousand gold galleons to the Potter vault at the London Branch of Gringotts Wizarding Bank from my trust fund." he requested.
"Message sent." responded the synthesized female voice.
Tapping his top lip slightly, the entity looked at the stunned people around him. "Is there any other business to discuss?" inquired Harry.
Dreadgibber finally found his voice and shook himself. "That's all? That's all it took to restore your vaults?" the goblin questioned.
"That's all it took." affirmed Harry with a bore sounding tone. "What takes people like Dumbledore, the Ministry and Voldemort a lifetime to complete I can quite literally reverse in the blink of an eye. Their power has no significance in the universe. Besides, I'm a multi-billionaire so that amount is mere pocket change anyways. Now is there any other business to conduct?"
It took a moment for the old goblin to recover and nod. "Yes, Mr. Potter. It seems that during our audit it was discovered that Sirius Black, the man who betrayed your adoptive parent's location to the last Dark Lord, left you as his sole heir and heir to the black family fortune worth eighty thousand galleons and a small number of properties." he told the entity. "As he is in Azkaban prison you are the natural choice to govern his finances."
Less than impressed, Harry spent a few seconds contemplating the information before frowning. "I protest!" the blonde woman decreed. "My son is the next in line for succession! The fortune belongs to the Malfoy family!"
"I'm afraid that is not entirely true. The Potters hold a direct descendant to the Blacks through Dorea Black and Charlus Potter. As the adopted heir to the Potter family he is a viable candidate and being older than your son he became the rightful heir during the time that your son had not been born. A young woman named Miss Nymphadora Tonks would have been made heir but when she was offered the title upon turning eighteen but she refused to be "associated with a family of unclean, inbred bigots" as she called the Black family. Mr. Black was also tested and found to be in a perfectly lucid state when he chose Mr. Potter as his heir. Unless Mr. Potter chooses to waive his rights to the fortune the will is perfectly valid." said the goblin.
All eyes turned on Harry. He looked back at the mortals around him with a disinterested expression. "While I don't have any need or desire for the money or properties, from what I've seen of Malfoy's behavior at Hogwarts he does not deserve it. Donate the money to the house-elves of Hogwarts so they can expand the kitchens and facilities they use for taking care of the school and students. Sell the properties as well and split the profits equally between Gringotts and the house-elves of Hogwarts. Make sure the elves know that the money is only to be used to pay for anything they need to take better care of the school and students or for anything they personally need." Harry informed. "Close down the Black accounts after the elves stow away the money where humans can't get to it."
"You can't give away my money!" yelled the albino human. "You're just doing this because you're jealous I'm a pureblood!"
"If you actually had any discipline or self-control I would have just given you the money and property since I don't want it. After seeing you bully children by ganging up on them, having you threaten me twice and generally disgracing both your family and your species with your behavior I have no choice but to determine that you do not have the maturity needed to use any of it responsibly. The Black family properties in their entirety are hereby donated to the house-elves of Hogwarts so they can more properly care for the castle and students there in." decreed Harry causing the albino boy to turn red in the face with anger and grip his wand. "If you draw that wand, I promise that you will be dead before your corpse hits the floor… regardless of how many pieces I break you into." An application of empathy projected a sensation of fear and insecurity fill the mind of the albino human who quailed and cowered away. "Mr. Dreadgibber, is there any other business to discuss?"
The goblin shook his head seeming to have realized that the boy in front of him was far more dangerous than he had first assumed. "No, Mr. Potter." he assured. "I'll see to the arrangements personally."
"Thank you. However, next time please simply send me a notice. I see no reason to waste so much of both our time on such insignificant problems in the future." the entity recommended before handing the goblin his card. "Good day, Mr. Dreadgibber." Without another word Harry left the office with his lawyer and two guards gliding behind him as if with a great deal more pride in being associated with him.
-
Halloween arrived and Harry sat in his Thursday charms class beside Seamus Finnigan with a feather on the desk between them. "One of the most rudimentary skills of all wizards and witches is levitation… or the ability to make objects fly. Does everyone have their feathers?" Flitwick inquired while looking around the room. Granger lifted up her own ostrich feather and waved it around like a puppy performing a trick for its owner before setting it back down. "Good. Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing! Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too - never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said "s" instead of "f" and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest.
After having seen Flitwick use the charm on several occasions to pass out assignments or papers for them to fill out Harry had worked out the charm easily enough. Being able to see the entire electromagnetic spectrum allowed him to see the mana and how it interacted with matter to yield the desired result. "Wingardium Leviosa." he cast with a disinterested tone and guided the feather into the air on his first try.
Everyone stared at the fluffy white feather floating in the air as the metallic gold colored wand rested lazily in Harry's fingers. "Oh, well done!" crowed the little half-goblin professor from where he was standing on a stack of books so he was able to see over his desk. "Everyone see here, Mr. Potter's done it! And on your first attempt as well! Very impressive! Tell us, how did you accomplish this so quickly?"
"I can see magic. Since I can see the mana you use to make your spells work I can easily duplicate them whenever I wish." responded the entity while making the feather spin in an attempt to entertain himself.
Intrigued the tiny man let out a squeak of excitement. "What does that look like?" asked the tiny man.
"How would you explain what the world looks like to a blind person?" countered Harry.
Flitwick paused before he was forced to grudgingly nod. "I see your point, Mr. Potter. Is there any advice you can give your fellow students in how to get this charm down?" he queried.
"If you wish, I can condense the mana enough that you will be able to see it to some degree with your own eyes. It should grant a better understanding of how the spell works to the students." offered the boy.
Practically lighting up the small man nearly fell off his stack of books. "Please do!" requested the tiny being.
Harry got up from his seat and stepped over to the door which was across the room from the professor's desk. He lifted his wand and focused on the mana releasing from the tip causing it to compress and condense until the air around it was distorted enough for the eye to catch the distortions. To everyone else it looked like the shimmering heat inside of a flame without the flame itself as he swished his wand. With a flick the shimmer streamed across the room and struck the professor's desk causing it to spread all around the body of the wooden structure in an instant. It lifted smoothly into the air with a single gesture of the wand and floated across the room and back again before settling into place in front of the tiny half-goblin but backwards causing the students to laugh.
"Thank you, Mr. Potter." the pleased teacher said. "Would you please assist me in correcting the other students?"
"I would prefer not to. I've scheduled to take my Ordinary Wizarding Level and Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests next week and I have the next three months scheduled for me to begin taking mastery exams. While I'm of no delusion that I will fail to pass any of them I would prefer to continue studying to obtain the highest possible scores I can accomplish." Harry informed.
Quite surprised Flitwick nodded. "Of course. I look forward to finding out how high you score, Mr. Potter. Will you be taking your apparition test as well? I can offer you some pointers." he offered.
Apparition was the wizarding form of teleportation. It was primitive and limited to approximately eight hundred miles but it worked. Harry merely reached into his pocket and pulled out a large gold coin called a galleon. "Watch the coin, Professor." the entity instructed and flicked it at the little man's face. There was a loud bursting sound as Harry vanished leaving the dust around him to kick up off the stone floor. He reappeared instantly in front of the little man and caught the coin with two fingers.
"But… But that's impossible!" squealed Granger. "Apparition is impossible inside Hogwarts! I read it in Hogwarts: A History!"
"That is actually incorrect. I believe the book was misprinted with that statement or perhaps the author misinterpreted the wards around the school. It is impossible to apparate into or out of the Hogwarts grounds. When one is inside the grounds they can apparate from one location on the grounds to another such as from class to class but they cannot apparate to any location outside the boundary of the school grounds from within them. What I did is a more efficient natural method. I have no need of apparition." Harry corrected before returning to his seat and opening his tablet computer to return to reading about advanced transmutation of elements.
Flitwick had everyone else return to practicing their levitation charms while Harry read from the book stored in his computer's digital library of every book or document ever written. It allowed for a wide wealth of knowledge that he continued to find intriguing. "Stop! Stop!" Granger snapped in exasperation while stopping Weasley from shaking his wand angrily at the unmoving feather. "You're going to put someone's eye out! Besides, you're saying it wrong. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, not Wingarndium Leviosar. And you need to make the "gar" nice and long."
Weasley grew angry and turned in his seat. "Harry, help me out here!" demanded the ginger boy.
"Do what she says, Weasley. She's a woman and she has a wand in her hand." responded Harry without looking up from his book.
Behind his desk Flitwick nodded with a proud smile. "A wise suggestion, Mr. Potter. How did you come to such a conclusion at such a young age?" wondered the small man.
"I met someone a long time ago that I took the time to debate philosophy with one afternoon in Athens, Greece. One of his students came in and stated his father was arranging a marriage for him and he wanted advice on if he should accept it or not. He told his student: "By all means marry; If you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher." I understand that the young man became quite well known in Greece as a philosophy teacher a few years later." mused the entity causing the diminutive half-goblin to have a good laugh.
"Wingard Levioser! Wingard Levio…!" :: BANG :: All eyes turned to Seamus Finnigan where he sat beside Harry. His face was blackened and his hair was pushed back rather comically. Both of his eyebrows were gone and the feather he had been trying to levitate had turned into blackened smoldering embers.
Next to the scorched boy, Harry glanced up from his tablet to eye him through his sunglasses before returning to his studies. "Congratulations, Finnigan. You invented a spell to make your eyebrows disappear. Now make one to reverse it." recommended the entity causing everyone to start laughing at the embarrassed human.
-
Weasley spent the time after class throwing a tantrum. He began making snide comments about Harry and Granger to his roommates Seamus Finnigan, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom about how neither Harry nor Granger had any friends. Harry ignored the human but Granger rushed off crying to a bathroom on the fourth floor where she locked herself in. She wasn't seen for the remainder of the day.
"Harry!" Cedric called with a wide grin as Harry was moving out of the Hufflepuff dorms and towards the dungeons with his tablet under his right arm. "Why don't you have dinner in the great hall tonight? The Halloween feast is one of the best all year!"
Regarding the human for a few moments Harry finally nodded. "As you wish. I need to check on the delivery of my new chocolate frog line shipments to see if they arrived for the house-elves to set up for the feast. Then I need to complete my survey of the castle with an assessment of Slytherin dormitory. You may accompany me if you like." Harry responded.
That idea interested Cedric who fell into step beside Harry. They moved past the door to the Hufflepuff dorms and walked through the dungeons to a large painting of a bowl of fruit. Harry ran a finger along the pair causing it to squirm and giggle before turning into a door handle that caused painting swung open when it was turned. Inside was a large set of kitchens which had recently been repaired. New cutlery and assorted supplied were present as Harry walked in to see a large number of small green creatures with large tennis ball sized eyes. The creatures all turned to look at him while an old one on a floating pillow arrived to look at them with its floppy ears looming wide. "What is we able to do for you, sir?" it queried.
"I'm here to check on the progress of your renovations to the kitchen and see if the new chocolate frog delivery has arrived." the entity informed.
"We is having gotten the delivery this morning, sir. They is being set up on the tables in the next room for tonight." replied the creature as it began allowing Harry to examine the new ovens, cookery, cutlery and dishes. The steel and cast iron items seemed to be a point of pride for the elves who regarded them as treasures.
Cedric seemed to have been entranced by the two or three hundred house-elves working the kitchens and hurrying about frantically. He followed the pair through the kitchens into the adjoining room where group of tables were set out. On each were at least one thousand pentagonal boxes with the label "Honeydukes Chocolate Frog, 70% Finest Croakoa" in gold print. "Harry, you said there were new kinds of chocolate frogs. Aren't these all the same old ones?" wondered the teen.
Pointing his crystalline electromatrix stylus at the tables in turn Harry directed Cedric's attention to each. "The first table contains our new "White Chocolate Frogs" made of white chocolate. Beside them are the "Dark Chocolate Frogs" made of dark bitter-sweet chocolate. From there we have peanut butter filled, cherry filled, mint chocolate, original milk chocolate, fruit filled and goumet chocolate frogs. Each has its own set of chocolate frog cards depicting famous light wizards and witches, dark wizards and witches, potioneers, non-humans, business people, the original card line, inventors, and an assortment of artists and masters in their various fields respectively. I've had cases sent to the different magical schools around the world as a promotional event to let the customers decide which ones they like the most. Starting next week they go on sale worldwide." lectured the entity while writing down some notes on his tablet. He then thanked the elf much to its surprise and led Cedric out into the hallway.
"Potter! What are you doing here?" demanded Snape furiously as he stormed into the Slytherin common room. "How did you even get in?!"
"I'm completing my report to the British Ministry on reforms to the school. I started at the towers and worked my way down the castle. By the way, there is damage to the support wards here and I sense the lake above the ceiling. Have there been any leaks in the roof in recent years? The students may be in danger of the dormitory being flooded causing everyone in here to drown." inquired the entity causing everyone in the room to pale.
Snape turned red with outrage and sneered. "There has never been any such danger and never will be! You're just here to attempt to gain ammunition against me so you can have me fired like your father would!" yelled the man.
"Actually I have long since finished my assessment of you. Contrary to what you may believe I am a great deal more professional than James Potter was or you and Dumbledore are acting. As difficult as you may find it to understand I don't legitimately find you important enough to produce a personal opinion on you either way. Your evaluation is based entirely on your performance since being hired here and nothing more." Harry told the man while making several notes before checking several torches for how bright or dim they could be.
Sniffing arrogantly the man glared at Harry. "Naturally my work is exemplary, understood?" hissed the man.
"When it comes to your duties as head of Slytherin house, you are indeed correct. You have been very efficient in ensuring the safety of your own house's students. Unfortunately, I have studied your performance as a potions professor and found that the number of accidents in your class befalling the other three houses and a sudden plunge in both their points and grades within your class while a significant raise in both categories in your house bring your ability to conduct yourself ethically and civilly into question. Your verbal and emotional abuse of other house's students along with your active approval of bullying them by Slytherin students you favor means you need appropriate separation from the situation." confided the entity while moving on to check the fireplaces.
Anger boiled to the surface of Snape's face as he fumed. "So you are planning to have me fired!" he accused.
With an annoyed sigh Harry ran his finger over the screens of his tablet as though turning pages in a book until he reached his desired page. "The subject, Severus Snape, exhibits classical symptoms of sadistic personality disorder with overtones of avoidant personality disorder. This produces a compulsive need to degrade, ridicule, humiliate and generally torment others he feels are below him or incapable of fighting back against him in order to make himself feel better about his own social and emotional phobias stemming from an extremely low amount of self-esteem. He shows signs of hypersensitivity to rejection or criticism, feelings of personal inadequacy and overcompensation for feelings of mistrust. It is my analysis that, while he is exemplary in his work as the head of Slytherin House, he is incapable of rationally socializing or performing his duties responsibly with students of other houses in any reasonable regard due to his preoccupation with his own childhood difficulties and insecurities while the stress of working two separate positions increases his level of difficulty in performing his responsibilities. Therefore, it is my conclusion that the wellbeing of Severus Snape and the students of Hogwarts would be best served by transferring Severus Snape to the position of full time head of Slytherin house in order to lighten his work load and better enable him to care for the safety and education of Slytherin dormitory." read the boy before returning to his previous page and going on about his work.
"That's it? You're recommending that I be transferred to a different position?" the man hissed incredulously.
"My interests are not in you, Professor Snape. What you do and what you think do not matter to me in any capacity. I have agreed to make a full report on my analysis of what would best serve the interests of the school from improvements of the wards to grading methods. If I had a private vendetta or interest in you being punished I have far more effective and permanent methods of doing so." decided the entity while examining the assorted furniture before turning to the assembled prefects. "Before I complete my report, do any of you have anything of note that you want to bring to my attention? Problems with the furniture of your dorms, requests for needed repairs or anything like that?"
One of the females stepped forward and spoke. "Would it be possible to get better beds in the dorm rooms? They hurt my back." she told the entity.
"I will put a note in. The other houses have expressed similar requests. However, there is no guarantee that the changes will be carried out. My report is only an analysis of recommendations. It is up to the Wizengamot and board of governors to enact or reject them. Judging by the amount of money these renovations would require to update and repair the castle I would assume that the reorganization of faculty will be done immediately but the renovations will be done slowly over the next few decades if at all." Harry told her calmly. "Was there anything else any of you wish to bring to my attention?" None of the prefects really had anything they wanted to say and Harry left with Cedric shortly afterwards.
-
That night in the great hall, huge jack-o'-lanterns were seen floating around the ceiling. For almost a thousand years the ceiling of the great hall had been enchanted to be like whatever sky was above the castle at the time. Students began raving about the new chocolate frogs with their designs to look like different species. Many liked the gourmet ones done up in different kinds of colored chocolate to look like poison arrow frogs. Cedric and Oliver were talking to each other across from him when he paused and turned to look in the direction of the main castle. "Hmm?" he asked to himself.
"Is something wrong, Harry?" Cedric asked with concern.
"Something is in the castle that shouldn't be here." answered the entity causing those around him to pause.
Oliver's face became serious as he heard that. "What is it?" pressed the boy.
"If I didn't know any better I would think a mountain troll from the mountains by the Quidditch Pitch had wandered in." Harry replied and telepathically began to go through a head count. "Granger is in the fourth floor girl's bathroom. Quirrell is in the north corridor running from it. Oliver, spread the word around the prefects quietly. We don't need to students to panic. Cedric, tell your head of house that something is wrong and not to let anyone leave the great hall until I return. I'm going on ahead to get Granger before she runs into that thing."
With that Harry slipped out of the great hall without being seen increased his speed to blur through the halls of Hogwarts. The passed by the nine foot tall troll fast enough that it didn't even register his presence as it headed up the steps to the second floor. He reached the fourth floor and sped down the corridor until he reached the girl's bathroom and knocked firmly. "Go away!" yelled the petulant girl.
Irritated, Harry pushed open the door and shut it behind himself. He stepped inside and frowned. "Come out of there, Granger!" he whispered harshly.
"This is the girl's bathroom! Get out or I'll call a professor!" cried the girl.
"Shut the blood hell up, idiot!" hissed the entity. "There's a troll in the castle! We're supposed to evacuate!"
The girl steadfastly refused the open the door. "There's no way a troll could get into the castle without the professors knowing! HELP! THERE'S A BOY IN THE GIRL'S BATHROOM!" screamed the human girl at the top of her lungs.
Upon sensing that the troll had suddenly turned in their direction Harry mentally cursed and gripped the door to the stall. Ripping it off its hinges he gripped the human girl by the throat and cut off her screams. "Jarvis, contact the ICW. Tell them we have a category two emergency situation. There's a mountain troll in Hogwarts." he ordered before pulling the human girl out of the stall by her throat. "The troll just heard you and I can hear it coming closer. You're going to stay in the last stall. Curl up in the farthest corner and stay there no matter what happens!"
Angrily tossing the girl out of the way Harry turned to the door and threw his hands forward causing red beams of heat to fire out of them and strike the stone of the door. He considered using transmutation but considered it fruitless as the girl wouldn't shut up and the troll was likely to break down a wall in response causing the building to collapse. While he didn't want Granger killed he also didn't want to kill the troll. It had no idea what was going on.
He wasn't confident enough in his control to use any of his other abilities without killing it and his telepathy and empathy had the possible side effects of crushing the mind of something with such a primitive mind. That left him to barricade the door as best he could which he accomplished by melting the stone of the doorway over the heavy oak doors and forming a force field inside the bathroom to keep it from harming anyone once it broke down the door. "Someone, come quick!" cried Granger. There was a sudden bang as something struck the door. "Now you're going to get it! When Professor McGonagall comes through that door she'll…!"
Whatever Granger had been about to say was cut off by her scream as the door exploded inwards. A nine foot tall, five hundred pound troll roared in anger as its thorny flat feet stomped into the room. Granger began shrieking and backed up against the far wall like an idiot was the creature brought up its club. Wielding a worn tree it swung with all its strength and struck the force field between it and Harry. It let out a cry of anger as it tried again.
"Jarvis, where's my backup?!" demanded the entity as the troll began to beat its club against Harry's force field repeatedly.
The mono-directional speakers did their work as Jarvis' voice filled his ears. "They've just arrived. Estimated time of arrival is currently three minutes." answered the computer.
For two minutes Harry held the force field against the creature. It wasn't until the image of an auror in rather tight robes that revealed her as a female bursting into the room caught his attention that he lost concentration. That was largely due to the exploding hex the woman sent at the back of its head. "No!" yelled the entity as he shifted the force field to block the spell.
Unfortunately this left him open for the club to strike him in the chest sending him flying back through the stone wall beyond. Though his body field kept him from being hurt or even feeling any pain it took a moment to dig himself out of the rubble while his sunglasses clattered to the floor near the hold his body had made. The troll began to flail about and swing its club around frantically. Because of this the aurors couldn't enter. It was for that reason that they kept missing the troll so it stayed unharmed as it thrashed in open fury.
When Harry looked up he noted that the enraged troll had noticed Granger. It roared at her and slowly its club shifted in its hand. The girl looked a great deal smaller even to his eyes as he watched the troll look over her. Almost in slow motion the heavy club began to lift off the ground. Higher and higher it rose into the air over the girl's head.
"No!" Harry yelled as he watched the troll shift its weight. "Don't do it!" called the entity as the former tree, hewn by years of impacts against different things into a club reached its full height of arch. "Don't make me do this!" The troll's club began to move forward and then down as fast and as hard as the creature could make it go. A single, solitary tear fell from Harry's left eye and trailed down his cheek as his eyes glowed with fiery flame scarlet thermal energy.
End Chapter 6
Translations:
Author's Notes:
Chapter 6 of Book 1 is now complete. I know this is a bad place to end it but it just worked a lot better here than where I had planned. Until next chapter, read, review and enjoy!
