I'm back baby!
That's right, after over a year and a half, I finally wrote some more for Harry Potter and Childish Things, and it's not a chapter. That's right, it's THREE chapters! One for each day of the weekend. Think of it as an apology for taking so long, and a thank you for sticking with the story despite my apparent neglect.
For those of you who care, the main reason for the massive delay was work related. I finally managed to get two jobs, which, while good for paying bills, takes up a lot of time, and destroyed my desire to do anything besides sleep. It took awhile, but I think I finally managed to find a semi-decent balance between them and will hopefully be able to post at a reasonable rate, but as always, no promises.
So, without further delay, here is chapter seven of Haryr Potter and Childish Things. I hope you enjoy it.
Chapter Seven
Dear Annie,
So far, Hogwarts is basically the same as our school. Sure, we learn how to do magic instead of math and science, but most of the time it's still pretty boring. Heck, we still have History class, and it's even more boring here! I think that might be the reason it's taught by a ghost, so he doesn't bore himself to death.
Anyways, what have you been doing? Has anything interesting happened since I left to Hogwarts?
-Harry
"What're you doing Harry?" Ernie MacMillion asked, just as Harry finished his letter.
"Writing to a friend." Harry replied, "I promised her that I would write to her, and if I don't send this soon, she'll probably yell at me at Christmas. "
"Oh. Well, once you're finished with that, make sure to come down for lunch."
"'Course Ernie." Harry replied, before reviewing his letter. It was a good start, but he would have to do better if he was going to avoid Annabel's wrath come Christmas. Getting used to the magical world was difficult enough without Rex complicating things, but it had been nearly two months since he arrived at Hogwarts, and he still hadn't written her a single letter.
To be fair, keeping an eye on Rex was a full time job, especially since he developed a taste for student's nightmares. If Harry wasn't reigning him in at all times, Rex was likely to fill the Hospital Wing up with insane students. Compounding that issue was his House's work ethic. Harry found himself nearly forced into various study groups, or dragged along for social events, ranging from reading in the library to playing on the Quidditch field. Harry didn't dislike it. In fact, he even enjoyed it, but it did make doing other activities, like writing letters, substantially more difficult.
"Do you think she'd believe me if I said you lost the mail?" Harry asked Hedwig, who glared at him, hooted indignantly, and bit his finger.
"Ow! Sorry, you know I didn't mean it, right?" Harry apologized, over Rex's laughter. Harry shot a glare at his hidden companion, and did his best to keep his annoyance in check. Rex in Hogwarts was a recipe for trouble. He was always sneaking off exploring, demand tribute from the house elves, or "training" his new pet, which consisted mainly of him roaring commands and the Cerberus meekly obeying. With all of the trouble Rex caused, it was a wonder Harry had any time for sleep!
Well, at least the Halloween feast was something to look forward to. Just one more class and a few more hours until it began, and if there was anything Harry had learned during his time in the wizarding world, it was that wizards loved to go overboard.
Harry's expectations were not disappointed. No surprise given how Halloween was the holiday most suited to a magical world. The Halloween Feast was a grand affair, on par with the Welcoming Feast. The various holiday themed decorations, along with a little assistance, created an atmosphere that truly embodied the spirit of the night. Sadly, no one seemed interesting in dressing up like muggles did, despite the advantage would provide such thing.
Unfortunately, the festive atmosphere was ruined, as a flustered Professor Quirrel burst into the Great Hall.
"Troll... in the dungeons... thought somebody ought to know..." Quirrel managed to say, with out stuttering, surprisingly, before collapsing. The Great Hall erupted into an uproar, before the teachers began to quell the panic. During the confusion, Harry managed to sneak off to a deserted hallway, to consult with Rex.
"SO, WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO?"
Harry frowned thoughtfully, "Well, you haven't driven anyone insane lately, and you've been letting me get some actual schoolwork done without bugging me... Plus you've been pretty good about your feeding habits too."
"YEAH, BUT SCARING THOSE SNAKES FOR THEIR DREAMS ISN'T VERY ENTERTAINING ANYMORE."
"So how about you go have some fun with the troll?"
"REALLY?"
"If you promise to behave, then I'll let you go fight the troll."
His partner didn't reply, but cackled madly.
Harry's eyes widened, "Just don't let anyone else get hurt!" he muttered urgently. "If you do that then you can't eat dreams for a month!"
"AW... ARE YOU SURE? IT WORKED OUT ALRIGHT WITH SNAPE..."
"I'm serious."
"FINE..." Rex replied, sounding like a petulant child more than an eldritch horror it was. As Harry was dragged along to the Tower, his best friend wandered into the depth of Hogwarts in search of its prey. Harry watched him go for a moment, before one of the prefects noticed him and dragged him over to the rest of the Hufflepuffs. As they departed, harry couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go horribkly wrong.
Than again, this was Rex we were talking about. it would be strange if he didn't have that feeling.
HPaCT
Hermione stared in horror, unable to believe that the Troll staring at her was there. She had already experienced the last day of her life, but it seemed that the universe intended for it to be her last day as well. As it raised its club to smash her, she couldn't to anything but watch in dumb horror.
The Troll roared, and she flinched, expecting the club to fall on her and crush the brains she was so proud of. When the expected agony followed shortly by death didn't happen, she opened her eyes, wondering why she was still alive.
She immediately wished she hadn't.
Something else was in the bathroom. Something far, far worse than the Troll. The fact that it was fighting the Troll did nothing to mitigate its nightmarish presence. For a brief moment, Hermione hoped that she could use the distraction to sneak by them and escape, but that hope was short lived.
It was obvious that the Troll was no match for this thing. Withing seconds, it was bleeding heavily from gashes all over its body. Consumed by rage, the Troll swung its club at the monster, only to scream in pain as the monster shrugged off the blow, and began to merrily consumed the proffered arm. Once it was finished with the arm, it continued its gruesome meal, accompanied by a symphony of screams as the Troll was eaten alive.
All too soon, its meal finished, and the creature turned to look at the paralyzed Hermione, and flashed a terrifying grin, filled with more teeth and fangs than it should be able to hold.
"HI."
Hermione managed an almost inaudible shriek, before collapsing unconscious.
HPaCT
"HEY HARRY."
Harry looked up from his book, relieved that Rex had waited until things had calmed down and everyone had gone to sleep. A few other times he hadn't been as lucky, leading to awkward and unorthodox deflections.
"Did you have a good time?"
"OH YEAH." Rex grinned, before launching into a gruesome retelling of his conquest of the invading troll, complete with gestures and a poor imitation of the troll screaming like a little girl, which was further ruined by Rex's booming voice. Harry chuckled, returning to his book while Rex recounted his exploits, until a the story took an unexpected turn.
"SO AFTER I ATE THE TROLL, I NOTICED THIS LITTLE GUY LYING ON THE FLOOR. SINCE YOU HAVE HEDWIG TO KEEP YOU COMPANY WHEN YOU CAN'T HANG OUT WITH ME, I GOT SOMETHING TO KEEP ME COMPANY!"
Harry hesitated, knowing that he didn't want to know the answer, before asking the necessary question, "What are you talking about?"
Rex's grin grew wider, before he pulled the unconscious form of Hermione from behind his back. Harry stared in shocked silence, which Rex took to be an indication to continue.
"I'M GONNA CALL HER MRS. SQUEAKERDOODLE, OR SQUEAKLES FOR SHORT."
"Y-you can't keep her as a pet!" Harry spluttered.
"WHY NOT? I ALREADY GOT HER A CAGE, AND I'LL FEED HER AND HUG HER AND LOVER HER FOREVER AND EVER."
"She's a human being!"
"AND I'M A MONSTER. I'M NOT SEEING A PROBLEM HERE."
As they argued back in forth, the girl in question began to regain consciousness. Needless to say, once she saw she was in the clutches of an eldritch abomination, she screamed.
"SQUEAKLES! BE QUIET!" Rex commanded, terrifying her into silence. "SEE? SHE ALREADY LISTENS TO ME!"
"She's listening to you because she thinks you're going to eat her!"
"THAT'S NOT TRUE, IS IT SQUEAKLES?" Rex said, turning to look at his new friend. Hermione remained silent, choosing instead to nod fearfully, instinct directing her to agree with whatever the monstrosity said.
"Rex, put her down."
"BUT HARRY..."
"Put. Her. Down." Harry commanded, sounding like a scolding parent.
Sighing in defeat, Rex set the terrified girl down, who immediately ran to hid behind Harry.
"See?"
"THAT DOESN'T PROVE ANYTHING. SHE JUST WANTS TO GET TO KNOW YOU. YOU KNOW HOW PETS ARE WITH NEW PEOPLE."
"Rex, just go up to my room for now."
"FINE...JUST DON'T LET HER SNIFF YOUR BUTT. PETS DO THAT SOMETIMES YOU KNOW."
The instant Rex vanished from sight. Hermione collapsed in relief, curling up in a ball and rocking herself back and forth. Internally, Harry sighed to himself. It was going to be an awkward night.
HPaCT
After Rex left, Harry was faced with the task of dragging the catatonic girl up to his dorm. While he was a bit worried about his roommates, nothing he or Rex had done had any effects on the deep sleepers, and it was better than someone stumbling upon them in the common room. Rex had already shrunk down to his benign form, a habit which had taken far too long for Harry to cultivate.
By the time Hermione woke up from her catatonic state, Harry had managed to get the specific details about what exactly had happened from Rex. This helped immensely, as Hermione reaction was to say everything that had happen as quickly as possible, as if voicing the events would erase them from history. Harry managed to endure the onslaught of words, until she finally finished.
"Are you alright?" he asked.
"Alright? Alright? I've been attacked by a troll, watched it get eaten alive, and got kidnapped by a dinosaur, who wants to keep me as his pet! Do you THINK I'm alright?" Hermione yelled at the top of her lungs, directing all of her terror into indignant fury.
"Sorry! Sorry!"
"What WAS that thing anyways?" she asked, her more inquisitive side making an appearance now that she had a chance to vent.
"Well, it's kind of a long story..." Harry said, trying to figure out how to explain just what Rex was to someone who had never encountered a monster before. With Annie, it had been easy, since she already had her own, but Hermione was just a normal girl. Sure, she was a witch, but apparently, monsters were something outside of the realm of wizardry. Fortunately, before Harry could get too caught up in trying to figure out the best way to explain it, Hermione shook him.
"Well?"
"Rex is... my partner. He's always around, and always willing to help me out, even if I sometimes don't want him to." Harry began, struggling to find the appropriate words.""
"That's all well and good, but what is he?"
"I honestly don't know." Harry responded, "One day he was just there, and that's all that really mattered."
"There must be some sort of book about it. Hogwarts has one of the most extensive libraries in the wizarding world, and something like him MUST have shown up sometime!"
"Well, I haven't seen any books about anything like him while I've been here."
"Have you been looking?" Hermione asked imperiously.
"Well, no..."
"Well maybe if you put some effort into it, you would have found something by now! You're a Hufflepuff, so you should act like it!"
"It's just never really been a problem. Rex being around was more than enough. I never needed to know more than that."
"What's the point of studying to be a wizard if you're not going to learn anything?" she shouted, before standing up to leave.
"Could you do me a favor? Please don't tell anyone about Rex."
"And why would I do that? He big, and dangerous, and terrifying! How did you even get him into the school in the first place?"
"He saved your life!"
"That's all well and good," Hermione admitted, "but the fact remains that this is the sort of thing that the teachers need to know about. First thing in the morning, I'm going to Professor McGonagall." With that, Hermione all but stormed out of the tower, her previous fear replaced with righteous indignation at Harry's apparent disregard for the safety of the students.
Harry sat for a few minutes, before Rex wandered back into the room, curious about the sudden silence.
"so, what happened harry?"Rex spoke up from his bed.
"She's going to tell McGonagall about you tomorrow." Harry sighed, turning to face his friend.
"don't worry about it harry, no one believed snape about me. they'll probably just put her in the st. mumbo's for a few weeks while they repair her fragile human mind."
"I know, but I don't want that to happen to her. I wish there was something we could to keep her out of the loony bin."
"well, there's not much we can do about that now, but who know? maybe she'll get lucky."
"Yeah...maybe..." Harry responded, doubting the words even as they left his lips.
