After the end of Chapter Seven I lost all inspiration for a big while. I have only rediscovered the passion of writing. And to those who waited for a very long time for an upload. I am deeply sorry. I lost a good deal of inspiration. But I am doing my best to continue this story and beyond. I am open to suggestions. Also (Spoiler Alert) my second attempt at action is explored in this chapter, please let me know on any areas to improve, or if it was enjoyable. Thank you and enjoy.
Of Progress and Battles
As with all stories of boys who turn into men, time passes. In the story of Harry Potter and Ron Weasley time had a curious effect. Their training, as time passed on, was the stuff of myth and legend, as it was too hard and difficult for a pair of 11 year old's to endure.
They started with very simple exercises and drills as they were instructed by Serena at one of the multiple abandoned classrooms that Hogwarts offered.
Ron was without a doubt the one that worked the most, the hardest, and the one that suffered the most pain...
"Come on Ron, another one!" Harry shouted to him as he looked upon the defeated body of his partner.
"Harry... it is... too much" Ron all but begged.
"Was it too much for your brothers when they set that spider on you" He said, "Was it too much when your brothers bullied you unchecked, was it too much for you to be neglected by your mother and only honored by your father when he could." Harry said
"No, it never was enough" Ron realized, "It was never enough"
Ron was never a stranger to pain, he had experience it early and was used to it, but he was not used to self inflicted pain as what he was doing right now.
With tremendous strain on his will and whatever power drove him then, he pushed himself up to perform the pushup he was trying to do. He could literary feel the weight of the two magical bricks that were on his back. And as soon as he finally pushed up, he went down without his chest touching the floor in order to make another one.
Ron Weasley used to be complacent with pain, sometimes even embraced it, now he was a master of pain. To Ron, pain was adrenalin, pain was euphoric, pain gave you power to do things that most muggles and wizard would consider impossible. Pain, Ron would later discover, is an enormous source of magical energy, that when directly harness, could increase a wizard power almost ten-fold.
This made Ron a very powerful wizard as the more damage he takes, the more dangerous he became. But that my friends is a story for another time.
"Good" Serena said, "Make him work for his achievements, the more pain he has the more powerful he will become"
"Hey I heard that" Ron said. Over the passing of the months Ron had grown accustomed to Serena and had come to have a basic understanding of parseltounge, and even though he is not capable of speaking it himself, he is able to have a basic understanding of the words spoken. Both Serena and Harry are confident that, with more practice and time, he would be able to become a full parseltounge, and may be able to use parsel-magic, a branch of magic long forgotten that only Harry Potter, and perhaps Tom Riddle, are able to use.
Ron's destiny looked very promising, as with Harry, he is destined for greatness. But no story of Heroes are accomplished alone. Another set, or rather "Trio" of Heroes had made themselves known throughout Hogwarts. They will be called the Golden- Trio in the future by the rest of the Hogwarts staff and students and will be revered and celebrated for their accomplishments, for most of the time anyway.
The two groups of heroes path's crossed a few many times, one of them incredibly crucial as it altered the life of more than one...
Hermione Granger was a bright student, one of the brightest the house of Griffindor had ever had. But with this great gift, she also had major setbacks. One of the major ones involved bulling as she only had two real friends, William Potter and Neville Longbottom. They were incredible friends, but they were not near her enough of the time as they had other friends to pass the time with.
One particular case of bulling got incredibly bad and offensive by a comment of the Slytherin Draco Malfoy that drove Hermione to tears. She ran to the girls bathroom during the Halloween feast.
The Halloween feast was in full swing when Hermione arrived to the bathroom. Sweets and treats filled the awsome tables of Hogwarts. The mood was incredibly happy and filled with ecstasy as children enjoyed their childhood and young adults who while not children anymore, were sure reminiscent of their own Halloween celebrations.
Only 3 students were missing from such celebrations as one was currently crying in a bathroom, and the other two were delving deep into magic that such a childish event as Halloween were well below their priority list...
"Remember Ron, you must concentrate on your surroundings" Harry instructed his friend.
"He will not be able to, he is too headstrong to achieve full magic sentinece" Serena argued
"Have some faith in him, I used to have problems doing it too." Harry countered.
"Yes but you are destined to be a Serpent Lord, he is just an ally, with no destiny but his own." Serena said
"Exactly, if he can will himself to do it he will, I have faith in him, he will not disappoint." Harry said.
Ron was in a state that could only be describe using words yet to be thought of. He was making an attempt to fuse with magic. Something he had tried time and time again through countless meditating sessions, only this time, it looked like he might have succeeded.
He sensed the room he was in as well as both Harry and Serena's life force. Then the blue-like vision expanded to the whole hallway, the wing, and eventually the whole castle.
He sensed the Great Hall, how majestic and awesome it looked with all the Hogwarts decorations in it. The thoughts of the numerous students circled on Ron's head. They were nauseating, so he decided to stay away from them for the time being. Being around them where enough to cause a headache that would last for at least a week.
Then something unexpected happen a professor came through the doors and into the Great Hall panting and sweating like he were running for something. There was something odd about him. Ron couldn't help but feel uneasy as he sensed him from his meditating position.
And then sudden chaos, only to be silenced by some words of the Headmaster.
Two things were clear to Ron Weasley after this series of events.
1.- Something came into the school and is running freely inside the castle.
2.- The students are going to their common rooms, meaning the crisis will solve itself on its own.
But then, as if destiny called for him, he sensed a girl in a bathroom who probably had no idea of the danger inside the castle.
And then he sensed it, a mountain troll walking through a hallway, and if it maintained its current path it will enter the bathroom the girl was using.
Ron did not hesitate for a second, he woke up from his meditation and sprinted out of the room leaving his partner and mentor behind.
He went running as if his life depended on it, but there was something off about this... shit he was still blindfolded his entire front face was covered in a blank cloth when he was meditating. It is this time when he realized he was still using his magic vision.
When he arrived to the bathroom, it was almost completely destroyed, with a troll about to deliver a strike with his club to a cornered Hermione.
"Hey brute-head! Deal with someone your own size!" He yelled as he prepared a pretty powerful fireball.
The troll ignored his remarks as he made his strike towards the girl.
FLUSHH! A fireball slammed against the brute head as the troll missed the girl by some centimeters. Hermione flied through the air as the force of the club was enough to send her flying. She landed near some rubble where she hit her head with the floor making her go unconscious, but not before making a quick glance towards her soon will be savior...
Now the troll had his full attention to Ron who stood ready for a fight of magic versus brute force. The troll prepared his weapon and rushed towards a combat ready Ron Weasley, youngest of the Weasley brothers.
As the Troll approached Ron's reflexes kicked in, he prepared and fired his two handed flamethrower spell as the troll rushed and at the last second dived out of the way.
CLASHHH! The Troll slammed straight into the rock solid wall of the bathroom, making a huge dent in it.
The troll stumble for a bit, but he seemed relatively unharmed, almost as good as when he started.
Ron knew he was in deep trouble too, if he didn't improvise the troll would get him sooner or later, his magicka reserves will run out soon if he didn't find something more effective.
The troll rushed again, this time more furious than before. This time Ron was willing to try something different. He fired two lightning spells from his two hands. Massive lightning erupted that stopped the troll in his tracks. Lightning filled the room as Ron tried to stand his ground as the troll furiously tried to reach him. A stalemate was occurring, one that would benefit both parties.
On one hand, the Troll was at least, partially susceptible to lightning, a possible weakness, while Ron was quickly running out of magicka to use, and his previous training had his stamina drained.
After a quick decision made by Ron, he let go of his lightning making the troll use his forward momentum against him as Ron dived out of the way as the Troll hit the wall... went through the wall and into a classroom that was next door to the bathroom.
Ron, driven by the heat of the battle followed the troll into the next room. As soon as he got in the classroom a rock disintegrated near him as it hit the floor. He was sent flying back. He hit the wall and landed beaten by all accounts. The troll came to him crouching as he was greatly injured. He prepared to deal the final strike. He took position to deal the lasting blow to him and end him.
To Ron every fiber of his being was in pain, pain like he never felt before. But pain remained him, it remained him that he still had a battle to fight. He still had a will to fight, to kill. He might feel pain like no one will, but he had one thing normal muggles and wizards don't, a mastery of pain.
As the club came down upon him, time slowed down. Resolve filled his being as he lifted both his palms and made an instinct-driving "push spell" that was so powerful the troll got knocked over and fell to the floor. A sharp "Crack!" was heard as he broke his two powerful legs. He was not getting up anytime soon.
Then Ron got up. He levitated the troll's own club above his head and prepared to strike.
"Not so funny now that somebody those it to you now" Ron said to the troll as he had the life of the troll in his hands and with one fluid motion, he brought his hand down and smashed the troll's face with his own club. Blood sprayed throughout the bathroom as the epic battle came to an end.
Ron then went to the girl that he spent all this trouble rescuing. Hermione Granger, he remembered her from the train. He felt from the beginning that she was bossy as all hell and was sure way smarter than both Harry and he combined. When he saw her on the train she was ordinary, not unlike many other smart girls. But this Hermione looked anything but normal, with rubble and dust surrounding her, she looked anything but the image of a survivor.
As Ron looked at her he realized that there was some kind of beauty to her appearance. He immediately switched his thoughts to others as he realized how stupid those words sounded. "Maybe in another life" he said to himself as he turned away to get out of there before the teachers and headmaster arrives.
And so Ron slayed his first troll, and so finalized the first encounter between the golden trio, and the mysterious duo. Where one fights on the spotlight, one fought on the shadows, with no praise, no rewards, no recognition.
