Chapter 8
The next morning, bright and early Harry was waiting outside Draco's room when Draco came out, looking slightly bleary as he saw Harry leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. Draco managed a smug grin, "I see you didn't enter my room."
Harry shrugged a little bit in response. "I didn't even bother to try. It's 4:28."
Draco frowned at Harry, there was an air of self-assurance that Harry had at the moment that made Draco wonder if it was all a bluff.
Draco had only slept about four hours, which was pretty good for him over the past week. His body seemed to be adjusting to it. Draco had been plagued by nightmares since he entered this world. And there was something about sleep that left him feeling like he was dead again, so it still made him uneasy.
Draco had spent almost an hour in bed the night before, thinking about this world. He didn't think there was a word that had been invented to describe how relieved he was to find Potter on the train. He had spent a week wondering if he had journeyed through the mirror alone. Thankfully his parents were naturally distant and left him to his own devices, unless he was required for familial duties.
He had a hard time even thinking of his parents as his parents at the moment. Draco remembered with bitterness their complete lack of action regarding him when Voldemort had killed him in the past world. They both seemed like they were the same in this world as well. Draco's memories of both worlds and their actions matched almost perfectly and it made him angry. However, he managed to keep it to himself as he went through his days.
He had gone with his "Father" to the quidditch World Cup. When he saw Iris he wondered for just a moment if she had Harry's memories from their world, but one look at her eyes had told him all he needed to know. Iris had had a troubled and distracted air, but he could tell her eyes hadn't seen the memories he knew of his world.
Draco had barely paid attention to the match. He had thought that that he was alone on this world, and had no idea how he might avoid the same fate that he had ended up with in the other world. The magical world in ruins and himself dead before he was 23.
That all changed after the cup. He and his mother had left afterwards and skipped the post-match revelry at his father's insistence. Which was a good thing as his father and several friends had dressed in full death eater regalia and terrorized the people there, reminding them that the death eaters were still present.
The first time it had happened, in the old world, Draco had seen it as a sign of power. The death eaters having the entire wizarding world cowering in fear before them. Now Draco just felt ill at the whole thing.
However, Draco remembered as his father apparated home, shouting for one of the house elves to bring him a wound cleansing potion. His father had been hit in the arm by a piece of wooden debris, that was still lodged there. When Lucius described the battle, he did so between snarls of rage, and talked about the assailant thinking it was two or three wizards who had counter attacked. Draco had been surprised that anyone had stood up to them since no one had in the last world.
Until his father had described the whirlwind.
Draco had heard that same spell described more than once by a frustrated Bellatrix in his old world. She had been incensed that it was impossible to flank or to corner someone when they used that spell. And it was dangerous just being close by that spell, because if it moved or sucked in a death eater, they were as good as dead.
When Lucius described the spell, Draco knew without a doubt that meant that the Harry Potter he knew was present on this world.
For the next week he had kept his eyes open as he watched anytime they were in public looking for any sign. Today he had been checking every compartment in the train on the off chance that Potter might show up there. He hadn't known what to expect if he actually saw Potter. However he had not expected to find Harry the way he did. When Draco had seen him, Draco had been shocked to see the familiar, unscarred and youthful face, minus the glasses, looking back at him.
Draco wasn't even sure what he was going to do until Potter had held a wand up with the end sparking threateningly. The way that Potter was so blasé about either obliviating him or killing him had made the decision for Draco. If Potter was here, then that meant that he wasn't going to just let things stand the way they were. If there was one thing about Harry that Draco knew with absolute certainty, it was that he wouldn't be able to help jumping in to interfere, so things didn't end up the same way.
Draco knew that Potter wasn't going to trust his word, and Draco couldn't blame him. Draco had sworn the loyalty oath without hesitation. He knew it was the only thing that would keep Potter from carrying out his threat. Draco was honest enough with himself to admit that he wasn't doing it because he was suddenly this good person, fighting for the light or anything like that. His actions were purely out of self-preservation.
However, Draco had been quickly disabused of the notion that this was exactly the Potter he remembered. Draco was surprised at the harshness that crept into Potter's voice from time to time. Nor was he quite prepared for the bitterness or the level of disgust that entered Potter's voice when talking about himself.
Three times now he had seen Harry tense up in anger. Each time his eyes had begun to gleam, or outright glow. Though thankfully two of the times were in private and the other they hadn't gone to outright glowing otherwise Potter's reaction would have drawn a crowd. Draco was forced to wonder if Harry wasn't, in some ways, more damaged than Draco was after dying. But he kept his concerns to himself.
Draco looked at Harry curiously, "Did the upper years try and bother you last night?"
Harry smirked and shook his head and gestured for Draco to follow him, as they headed toward the entryway of the common room. Harry kept his voice down as they walked, despite the fact that there was no one in the common room. "I told you, I wasn't worried about it."
Draco glanced toward the direction of the first year rooms and raised an eyebrow at Harry.
Harry just shrugged enigmatically and murmured the password to exit the common room. Draco almost stopped and went to investigate the first year rooms, but decided against it at the last moment. He was almost positive Harry had done something, however Draco realized if he went to investigate at this time of the morning then he might get caught up in the aftermath.
Neither of them spoke as Harry led them through the halls. Neither one of them were eager to draw the attention of sleeping portraits or ghosts who roamed the halls at this early point in the morning.
When Harry finally led them out of the castle, Draco looked at him curiously. "Okay what are we doing?"
Harry grinned mirthlessly as he guided Draco out across the grounds toward the Black Lake. "Simple. We're going to start getting ourselves in physical shape."
Draco frowned in puzzlement, "You mean like a…. muggle?"
Harry frowned, he had never liked the word muggle, but realized it was a personal preference and knew that a cultural word was the least of his concerns at the moment. He also took it as a positive sign that Draco didn't use an other more foul term. Harry could tell Draco was making some adjustments that he knew he was going to need to around Harry. That or perhaps being dead did change a person.
Harry gestured around, "You want to survive? Sometimes magic isn't going to save you. You need to be as fit as possible. Sometimes that ability to move just a little bit faster or go just a bit farther physically will save your arse."
Draco sighed and shook his head, he wanted to argue. This was not what he had in mind when he had been so adamant about training. "I don't see how this helps us more than working on magic. You know, dueling, practicing and that sort of thing."
Harry nodded in agreement, "I don't disagree. However if we go dueling now, you will likely end up magically exhausted before we have classes today. My plan was to work out physically in the mornings, then do the same magically after classes are through."
"What makes you so sure that I'd be the one magically exhausted?" Draco asked with a huff of indignation at the presumption.
Harry didn't say anything, he just looked at Draco with a raised eyebrow.
"Oh. Right. Toe to toe with the Dark Lord." Draco looked abashed for a moment. He felt more powerful than he remembered since he had gotten a body in this world. But he realized that part of that could be the fact that he actually felt anything besides the sensation of being disembodied. However, Draco didn't think that he could truly match Harry, given the brief flashes of power that he had seen, and felt when Harry had gotten angered.
To Draco's surprise, Harry didn't so much as smirk at the unspoken implication that he was more powerful, he merely nodded. This more than anything reminded Draco that any semblance of their old relationship of competition was gone. Not that Draco had truly expected anything else, but habits were habits.
Harry chuckled, "Now come on enough delaying the inevitable, we're going swimming."
Draco blinked, distracted from Harry's deflection by his last statement. "Swimming?"
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"Why in bloody hell are we going swimming Potter?" Draco demanded as he followed Harry to the lake edge.
Harry paid Draco's demanding tone no heed as he kicked off his shoes and shed his cloak. "Don't call me that. You'll slip when people are around. And a couple of reasons. First it works your whole body. Secondly, the water keeps you moving, even when you stop to take a breather, treading water takes energy. Lastly, the water's chilly."
Draco scowled as he reluctantly began to kick off his shoes and shed his cloak. "Of course the water is chilly. What has that got to do with it?"
Harry was already down to a pair of shorts and a sleeveless shirt. He had his arms crossed and was clearly waiting on Draco. He debated on ignoring the question and just pushing Draco to finish disrobing enough to start. "Wizards are a pampered lot. They don't like pain. Between pain relief potions, calming draughts and even memory charms to erase the memory of pain, they aren't used to being hurt. It's part of what makes the experience, pushing your body when it's not easy and comfortable. Oh, and no cheating and using warming charms."
"You say "they" like you're not a wizard." Draco scowled as he stripped down to just a pair of shorts and his loose undershirt. He could see that Harry had a wrist holster strapped to his right wrist; one that securely held his wand but kept it for easy access. Draco blinked and did a double take when he noticed that Harry had one on his wrist, and one on his leg. He wondered why Harry would need more than one. Deciding it was something he might ask later, Draco made a mental note to owl order one later in the day.
Harry shrugged, and turned and walked out into the water wading as it got deeper. "Debatable. I definitely wasn't raised as a wizard. I'm more used to pain and discomfort. There was a time I thought there could be nothing more amazing than to be a wizard, right after I was told. But that was a long time ago."
Draco frowned as he considered Harry's words, but his thoughts were interrupted as he followed Harry out into the water with a grunt. He couldn't restrain a shiver as he started to get deeper, "You weren't kidding about it being bloody cold!"
Harry snorted in amusement as he waited for Draco to catch up. "Wait until we swim in December. You'll miss this warmth." Without further comment he took off in a freestyle stroke.
After a moment processing that statement, Draco was on his heels.
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It was two hours later, and dawn had lightened up the sky when they both were back on shore where they had started.
Harry was standing on the ground, stretching a bit, breathing heavily. "Stand up and stretch, it'll keep you from getting cramps."
Draco was on the ground on his back panting for breath, but he dragged himself up to his feet, to try and copy the stretches he saw Harry doing.
Harry knew that he was probably more fit than most wizards. His enforced summer exercise regimen kept him fit. Harry idly wondered if his cousin and friends would have continued "Harry hunting" if they knew it did a great job of keeping him in shape. Of course Harry had never really thought about it in those terms when he was this age the first time.
Harry had to grudgingly admit that he was somewhat impressed with Draco's level of fitness, and level of stubbornness. Draco had only lagged behind on the final trip back across the lake. Harry had played it safe and discreetly cast a monitoring charm on him as they swam. He definitely did not want to explain things to someone in the chance that Draco got a cramp and ended up drowning. Though he had resolved that he would face any of the explanations needed if the choice was an inquisition or god forbid, giving Draco Malfoy mouth to mouth. "That wasn't bad. We'll keep getting better as the days wear on."
Draco was still panting heavily but he managed to nod in response. The swim had been miserable for him, but he was determined not to let Harry leave him behind. He was thankful that he spent so much of his summer's playing quidditch when he was this age. It may not have kept him as fit as possible but twisting and turning and throwing did give him at least some semblance of a workout. "You plan to do this every day?"
Harry nodded, "At least school days. Weekends we may try and find something else to do. Shake things up a little." Draco groaned at that, and muttered something about insanity.
Harry shifted his shoulders a little bit. He had been mostly truthful with Malfoy about everything. However there was another reason for the morning exercise. Harry was readjusting to the movements of this body. It still felt… weird to him.
It had been a week since Harry had arrived in this world in his old body. He'd started to make adjustments, but still felt off to him. There were times that he found his right eye bothered him. The first few days it seemed like it was always either watering or it was too dry. Harry had spent several years with the fake eye there, and even something as simple as blinking felt strange to him. However, that had shown significant improvement over the last week.
His leg however was a different story. Whenever Harry wasn't thinking about it he still tended to put most of his weight on his right leg and favor his left. It wasn't until Perenelle had asked him for the fourth or fifth time to re-examine his leg that he realized what was going on. He had spent so long walking with the limp that he was having to adjust to not limping. And since the movement was a conscious one, it seemed somehow more ingrained to him.
It was the reason that he had made no attempt to see if he could shift into either of his animagus forms yet. Harry didn't think shifting to them would be a problem, but shifting back might be far more problematic. At the moment Harry felt like he was still in a stranger's body. It was like wearing a set of clothes that should fit, but for some reason weren't sized right, and fit oddly. It was still stiff and uncomfortable at times. Doing this physical activity was forcing him to use this body and become familiar with it all over again.
Harry looked over at Draco, shivering in the cool morning air, as dawn had not quite broken around the castle yet. He took pity on Draco and snapped his wand into his hand, and threw out a couple of drying charms on Draco's clothes and then his own. Draco nodded gratefully as he gathered his clothes up and put them back on, once again noting how handy the wrist holster Harry had was.
They were in the castle and walking toward the common room when Draco spoke up again. "I'm going to order a wrist holster today. I didn't like being out on the lake without one."
Harry frowned, though he didn't break his stride. "I hadn't thought about that. Don't bother. I've got a couple spare you can use."
Draco hesitated and then nodded. He opened his mouth somewhat awkwardly to express his thanks. Thanking Potter of all people felt weird. Instead he returned to their earlier conversation. "Have you figured out anything more about who we might get to give us some decent instruction?"
Harry frowned and shrugged a bit, "At the moment it will probably be me trying to see what we can learn from one another until we figure out someone who might be able to help us actually make stuff up as we go. If I thought I could get away with it I'd be tempted to free the real Moody and get him to to put us through our paces. That would probably be the best option I can come up with. But again he'd probably just run to Dumbledore."
"What do you mean the-" Draco started to ask but was cut off by a screech in the air. He looked around startled at the sudden sound.
Harry didn't even blink, or look away from Draco, he merely raised his arm just in time for a white snowy owl to land on it, carrying a letter. Harry turned his head and smiled, reaching up to stroke Hedwig's feathers, "Hey girl, fancy seeing you this morning."
Hedwig gave a "preck" of acknowledgement and stuck the leg holding the letter out for Harry to take. She butted her head affectionately against the side of Harry's. Afterward however she fixed Draco with what could only be qualified as an angry glare.
Draco stared at the owl for several seconds before turning to Harry. "You even managed to find your bloody owl?"
Harry shook his head, at the same time there was an indignant protest from Hedwig. "No, Hedwig came through the mirror and followed me here. I don't think she trusted me not to get myself in trouble without her."
There was a hoot of assent from Hedwig as she continued to glare at Draco.
"Your owl followed you to this world." Draco repeated dryly. "Do you do anything normally?" Draco asked sarcastically, though any joining comment was cut off by a loud and aggressive "precck!" from Hedwig as she stared at Draco, accompanied by what could only be construed as a threatening flap of her wings.
Draco stared at the owl for several seconds before he found himself looking away, there was something intense about the gaze. "I don't think she likes me." Draco stated hesitantly.
Harry turned his attention to opening the letter that Hedwig delivered, he replied absently. "I don't doubt it. She's rather protective of me. And you were friends with Umbridge when she hurt Hedwig back in fifth year." A frown of consternation crossed Harry's face. Talking about events that were both technically in the past and a time still in the future of this world was weird to him.
Hedwig gave a hoot of agreement and continued to glare menacingly at Draco. It was only a few more moments before Draco spoke up. "Would you tell her to stop staring at me like that? It's bloody creepy!"
Harry shook his head slightly, turning his attention from the letter in which he only had gotten to the opening line, "Nope, the best you can do is apologize to her and hope she knows you really mean it. Apologies that include bacon tend to go over better. Then again I've never been part of breaking her wing. So..."
"I didn't break her wing! You want me to apologize to your bloody owl? Are you mental?" Draco sputtered as he switched from denial to disbelief.
Harry shrugged apathetically before turning his attention to Hedwig for a few moments to stroke her plumage. "It's your funeral." He murmured, his mouth twisted in a slight smirk of amusement.
Draco grinned momentarily before he frowned realizing that Harry sounded completely serious. He shook his head and decided not to make any rejoining comment. "Who's the letter from?"
Harry turned his attention away from Hedwig and back to the letter in his hand and resumed opening it, "It's from Nicholas. I only sent him a quick letter this morning, I just didn't expect a reply this quickly."
Draco shifted a bit to slide around to Harry's left side, but a warning hoot, caused him to stop and reassess. He realized that Hedwig was currently perched on that shoulder, and something told Draco that getting too close might not be beneficial for his long term health. So he awkwardly shifted and sidled around to look at the letter from Harry's right side. Draco pointedly ignored the hoot of amusement and satisfaction that came from the snow white owl.
After a moment's hesitation Harry tilted the letter to show him. There was nothing to be gained from hiding it.
Ares
Congratulations on getting sorted into Slytherin. I hope you didn't forget to pack anything in your trunk. You spent plenty of bloodytime packing it. We hope you enjoy your classes. Perenelle solemnly insists on making sure that you're eating enough.
Sincerely,
Nicholas Flamel
"That's it? Seems kinda…" Draco trailed off not sure what to put into words.
Harry frowned a little bit, he wanted to make a comment, but had to concede Draco had a point. It was also an awfully long parchment for such a short message. Then his eyes widened in realization. "That's because the message is hidden." Harry turned his arm over and out of the lining of his wrist holster he pulled a very small knife.
Draco watched him with interest, his eyes widening in surprise when Harry produced a knife and cut the tip of his finger, dripping a few drops of blood onto the parchment. Draco was disappointed when nothing happened as Harry returned the dagger to the inside of the wrist holster. "Nothing happened."
Harry smirked and then put his finger to the paper, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
Draco watched in amazement as the words on the paper faded out and so did the blood mark, and then a great deal more writing than had been there before replaced it.
Thank you for your letter this morning. I hope you are not surprised by the fast turnaround as you know we don't sleep much by nature. I want to update you on several things.
First, if you're reading this message you no doubt have realized how to get this text, if not the rest of this writing is going to be pretty damn pointless. I know you trust your owl, however Perenelle suggested that we hide our correspondence behind additional security; something she is certain you'll agree with.
I was doubtful but she prevailed upon me. All of our letters shall be written under this code. Only someone who knows the password to get into your trunk (Perenelle modified the charm after a bit of experimentation), and someone with our unique blood qualities will be able to see these letters. At the bottom you will find instructions on how to modify the charm to suit your needs so that you can send your letters the same way.
Secondly, we have the information on the prisoner that you requested. He is still in Azkaban. He was caught immediately after killing another wizard. He had a brief "trial" in which he refused to say anything for himself. Several members of his family attempted to speak for him to secure a more lenient sentence. When asked if he had anything to say for himself he merely rolled up his sleeve to show the Dark Mark. However there are a few odd things of note.
First, he surrendered without a fight to the aurors. Secondly, this occurred almost a month after the downfall of the Dark Lord, and had not been named by any of the other death eaters. Lastly according to Aurors notes he has said nothing since he went to Azkaban.
If you decide to do what I think you will, be cautious. Secure an oath. Despite what the note said, you do not know this person's motives or allegiances. Also, be aware that should you free him, we will be unable to shelter him, even if he should provide an oath. It may be possible to track someone through their mark, or even control them. We will not expose our sanctuary and ourselves to that risk.
Thirdly, the goblins capitulated to our demands. The chalice we sought within that madwoman's vaults has been delivered to us. Right now it is hidden remotely and well, and we are not likely going to be affected by it. However we will destroy it upon your request.
At that point the handwriting shifted from neat square letters to a more flowing script, that Harry immediately determined was Perenelle's.
Nicholas really enjoyed arguing with the goblins, though I believe we may have almost touched off another goblin rebellion. Not that I think that would have bothered my husband much. It's also not like the goblins need much provocation, since looking at them wrong can be cause for an uprising. They refused to give up the item, they didn't care how cursed or dark the object was. The goblin's direct response was, " Wizard problems are wizard problems and mean nothing to us. We don't care what wizards put what in their vaults. We guard and maintain the vaults."
At that point the goblin also managed to insult my husband enough that Nicholas decided to threaten the goblins. Which I think he enjoyed a bit too much. Nicholas informed them that if they didn't turn over the cup then they would regret it. You can guess how the goblins took that statement.
Draco had been reading along the letter too, and he didn't understand everything written, though he was mentally composing a list of questions to ask. However reading that last line he whistled lowly, "He threatened the goblins? Does he have a deathwish? He's lucky to survive that. What on earth could be that valuable?"
Harry shrugged and spoke quietly, "It's something that Voldemort valued on our world, and appears to be the same here. It was in the possession of your aunt actually." Harry turned his attention back to his reading.
The goblin asked if we were threatening them. Nicholas, being dramatic, of course assured the goblin that he would not dream of physically harming a goblin. Then he put on his best innocent face, (something he doesn't do well at all) and asked what might happen to the goblin bank and economy if he were to use his most famous invention to turn every brick and stone in Diagon Alley into gold.
Draco laughed out loud when he read that and Harry elbowed him lightly, though he couldn't keep a small smirk off his face as he imagined just how much enjoyment Nicholas got out of threatening the goblins and getting away with it.
That got their attention. After some negotiation we have the cup in exchange for three vials of our Elixir of Life. Not a bad price all told. Ragnok seemed pleased in the end. Though we made sure that was after making sure he understood exactly what the Elixir was and was not capable of.
Now onto other topics.
I am uncertain as to why the wards at Hogwarts would seem weak to you. It has been a very long time since we were in the area. However I am aware from those experience the wards there were second to none. Given the location of the castle and the ambient magic given off by the students of Hogwarts, the wards should remain incredibly powerful. I am unaware of the location of a ward stone, and the headmaster controls the wards.
Perhaps the headmaster has them low to allow the arrival of other schools. Relations between schools of magic historically were very poor. Unlike the present where schools tend to be geographically oriented, in the past schools competed for students. Often several of them would vie for the same students. The disputes became quite bitter. Occasionally even leading to one school attacking another.
The Tri-Wizard tournament was instituted during that time. Though it wasn't originally referred to as "Tri" since the number of schools for a short time reached almost a dozen. The tournament was seen as a quantifiable and visible way for schools to establish bragging rights and claim to be the best for prospective students. This was a less destructive way to establish dominance. It has winnowed down to the "Tri-Wizard" tournament because those are the only three european schools left.
Though I never made a close examination of Hogwarts' wards, they were built to withstand a full-scale and protracted war. This would have included attacks from other schools. So it's entirely possible that the Headmaster needed to lower the wards to allow the other schools entrance.
They are either down at his command or something else has weakened the wards. I suggest you investigate. Finding the central wardstone would probably be a good place to start.
It is interesting that you mentioned the arrival of another person from your world. That's very curious. However I'm not sure it clears anything up. Based on what you told me he came through the mirror as a ghost.
"You told them about me?" Draco half asked, half demanded, more than a little bit of anger in his voice. In Draco's mind he had a brief flash of paranoia at being discovered and then revealed to his father and then by extension Voldemort.
Harry nodded, looking completely unperturbed at Draco's outburst. "Of course. They have been more than helpful, and we were trying to determine if we could figure out any more information about the ritual Voldemort created and possible results. Perenelle is probably the foremost expert in the world."
Harry paused there and looked as if a thought had just occurred to him. "Oh… wait. Unless you've become an expert in magical artifacts and rituals while you were dead… or in the last week."
Draco frowned and shook his head. "What? Of course not."
Harry shrugged, "Then yeah. Gonna consult the woman with hundreds of years of experience in rituals." He turned his attention back to the letter.
Draco frowned but had no rebuttal, so he turned his attention back to the letter as well.
The impact of a ghost on this sort of ritual is a complete unknown. The desires of ghost tend to all be about returning to life, so I have no doubt that was probably his first desire. He could have been included as a tag along in your trip. The interesting thing you mentioned was the sound you say this former ghost described of the screaming he heard of Voldemort. Unfortunately that could mean any number of things.
In some of my more esoteric collections I did find research that mightapply to at least some of the results of this ritual. You say your new ally is in his body on this world, and that he has the memories of both souls. That dovetails with something a researcher theorized about nearly 11 centuries ago. However as it was never possible to be tested, it was nothing more than an academic theory and a postulate rather than anything firm or based on any experimentation.
Your oathbound's soul showed up in this world, where there already existed his soul. It existed within his body, since he was still alive this world. The free floating soul would have been pulled toward his body, and one of two things would have happened, either a fight for the host body, or based on what you've told me a melding of the souls. I would be very interested in running some tests and getting some magical readings sometime in the future.
However, I must confess I am uncertain whether this gives us any insight into the Voldemort from your world. There are too many different variables. Yes, your oathbound melded with the soul in his younger body. That could have been because he was a ghost, and an unbound soul. Or it could have been because they were the same person at one point.
However you had a body when you came through the mirror and did not meld with your counterpart of this world. Either because her life experience at this point in life was too different or because inherently she is not you. You asserted that your body was restored to it's previous status. How? I am uncertain.
Further, the Voldemort from your world came through in a body that was essentially a homunculus, with a soul that was likely in tatters, into a world where his counterpart would be in a different homunculus, with soul pieces scattered far and wide.
For all we know he could have or may yet emerge in this world, just how he was. Or his soul could combine with another piece of his soul. It's entirely possible that the soul from your Voldemort combined with one of Herpo's foul creations. For all we know it could already rest completely helpless in the cup or one of his other creations. I think that makes gathering them even more imperative than previously thought.
Thank you for the warning about the letters, but it is unnecessary. Once you were out in public we expected the letters to come in. All mail is directed to a post box where it is checked for malicious magic, then transported here through more wards to check for more magic. We fully expect that there will be a minor spectacle. Nicholas is practically cackling with glee at the opportunity to meddle and cause chaos.
I will remind you to also please be careful. As we told you before you left, while the Flamel name will protect your history from nearly all investigative eyes, and give you a certain stature, it will also put a target on you for others. I know you claim to be used to it, however I am merely restating my reminder.
I hope you're giving AD absolute fits as he tries to figure you out.
~Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel~
P.S. I hope you liked the charmed parchment. It was your idea we used and applied it to paper. Instructions to replicate it enclosed.
Harry lifted his head and looked out across the lake, lost in thought for a few moments while Draco read through the end of the letter.
"Okay… I have some questions." Draco stated bluntly.
Harry shrugged a little bit and then reached up to stroke Hedwig's plumage again absently while he had a far away look in his eyes as he gazed out upon the lake. "You can always ask. I can't promise to answer. Needless to say you share nothing about this with anyone."
"What prisoner were they talking about in Azkaban?" Draco asked, glancing at the letter again, making sure he had several of his questions firmly affixed in his mind.
Harry glanced around confirming that no one was around at the moment. "Regulus Black."
Draco frowned a little bit. "Regulus is a loyal Death Eater I think… At least according to what I've heard around my father. He was from an old family and was a decent dueler. He wasn't exactly Inner Circle, though he was probably the closest thing to it. The Dark Lord trusted him. I believe."
Harry shook his head. "It was a front. Or at least I believe so. He stole something very valuable from the Voldemort. I've confirmed that he did the same on this world. On our world, he was successful in his theft but he didn't survive the attempt. He is an enemy of Voldemort, but on this world he did survive."
Harry furrowed his brow in thought. "But he is now in Azkaban, but given his family was reasonably rich, and includes Sirius. If he opposed Voldemort and shared the information they would have let him out. But he has not spoken to anyone as far as the records indicate. So I want to know why he is still in Azkaban."
Draco frowned a little bit and refrained from asking an obvious question and then his eyes widened. "Oh bloody hell. You're going to break into Azkaban aren't you?" His voice dropped to a low hiss.
Harry nodded slowly coming to a firm decision even as Draco spoke. "Probably. Yes."
Draco ran a hand through his still damp hair as he looked at Harry. "You're serious."
Harry refrained from making a comment about that being Regulus' brother. He just nodded in response. "At the very least I need information from him. I also don't like the idea of someone sitting in Azkaban who shouldn't be."
Draco sighed a little bit, but rather than question Harry's decision merely asked "When?"
Harry tilted his head thoughtfully. "I don't think I have anything pressing happening this evening."
Draco looked startled at that, realizing just how serious Harry looked. After several long seconds he shook his head. "You know. I'm not sure whether my estimate of Granger and Weasley just went up or went down."
Harry stiffened slightly, and narrowed his eyes as Draco. "What do you mean?"
Draco shrugged slightly, "Well, either they were way braver than I thought, for following you on these little adventures of yours… or crazier. I'm not sure which."
"They were the best." Harry said, with a ring of finality in his voice making it clear that the topic was closed.
Draco picked up on Harry's mood and nodded, instead choosing to change the topic. "Even if you manage to break in, and Regulus did betray the Dark Lord on this world, and you manage to get him out. None of which is certain. Where is he going to hide?" Draco demanded.
Harry frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know. I probably could shove him in my trunk if I move some stuff around. Though I suppose making him sleep on a pile of your gold would be a little bit uncomfortable."
Draco blinked and a confused look crossed his face. "What do you mean sleep on my gold?"
Harry sounded nonchalant, but he couldn't keep a bit of amusement off of his face. "Yeah… in our own world. We hid out in the goblin tunnels for a while after they were sealed. One of us knew a secret and warded way into the tunnels. So when I was getting a crash course on curse breaking and wards by possibly the last living goblin trained cursebreaker, we made a point to visit the vaults of alot of death eaters and take their gold. We were still foolishly idealistic that when the war was over we could rebuild."
Draco looked completely scandalized. "You broke into our vault? And you still have that gold?"
Harry shrugged. "Bill wanted me to get hands on practice. Said he never found someone who took to runes and warding as fast as I have. That I was a natural. So yeah, we broke into most of the vaults. There were no goblins left alive to protest. I have a lot of gold in my trunk. Along with other odds and ends."
Draco held up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Okay, we'll come back to that. As much money as you have. That doesn't say where you would hide a fugitive like Regulus, and hiding him in your trunk is not an option.
Harry nodded, focusing on the matter at hand. "I'm not sure where it might be a good idea to hide him. It's obvious we can't trust any of our respective relatives. And we need somewhere that is completely secure."
Draco nodded in firm agreement. "Not to mention a secret from anyone else. Since the Ministry is bound to go all out in a search. They got a major black eye last year when my aunt escaped Azkaban. Having someone else escape is going to have the public in an uproar. So we need someplace secret, safe and secure. I'm not sure either of us know of anything that fits that bill."
Harry frowned and stiffened, rubbing his fingers over the parchment slowly as he considered his thoughts. "I… may know someplace."
Draco tilted his head curiously at Harry's expression. "Where?"
Harry spoke slowly, though his words gained steam. "It's protected by some of the best wards on the planet. People know of it, but very few people knows where it's located, and only two… three people have access. And I bet I can make some adjustments so that only I have access."
Draco was looking completely confused. "Where is that?"
Harry turned his attention to look in Draco's eyes. "The Chamber of Secrets."
Draco opened his mouth to say something and then stopped. "You really went down there second year didn't you?"
Harry nodded, and tilted his head curiously, making the invitation for Draco to speak his thoughts.
Draco frowned slowly nodded, "The only problem would be sneaking him in the castle. Otherwise… that might actually work."
Harry nodded in agreement and then chuckled. "Well, I'll need to swing by there sometime today to make sure it's in the same place and check to see if Dumbledore put any sort of wards or warning on the entrance to the Chamber. There are several passageways in and out of the castle. I'm sure we'll be able to get him in one of them."
Draco nodded slowly and then blinked as he realized the enormity of what they were discussing. "You're really going to do it aren't you? Break into Azkaban and break someone out?"
Harry nodded, "I already said that I would. It just adds one more thing to an already busy week."
"What else do you have planned? Should I be concerned as to whether or not the castle will remain standing after you're finished?" Draco asked, only half sarcastically, the other half with real curiosity and concern.
"Well, I have another item of Voldemort's that I have to pick up, though that hopefully shouldn't take long at all. Since it's hidden in the castle. Then, like I said, I have to take out fake Moody and free Moody. Then I have to begin trying to figure out Voldemort's next moves." Harry stated blandly.
"Okay, two things. What are so important about these items of Voldemort's? And what do you mean when you say fake Moody and real Moody?" Draco asked curiously.
Harry frowned and tilted his head, his expression a combination of puzzlement and curiosity. He spoke quietly. "Voldemort has taken steps to insure immortality, creating a item of dark magic called a Horcrux that he stored a part of his soul in. As long as those items exist he can't die. We're working on destroying them."
Draco frowned, he had not heard the term but he understood the process that Harry outlined. "How many of these items did he make?"
Harry frowned. "We.. I mean myself and my friends thought he made seven on our world. But it's possible he made more or he had other ways he was insuring his immortality. We have already discovered two, though one was a fake that Regulus placed after he took the real one. I checked the location of another that was on our world and it was not there. So we're searching for them. There was one stored in Hogwarts on our world. I'm going to find out tonight or tomorrow depending on time."
Draco frowned and nodded slowly. "And that bit about Moody?"
Harry nodded, glad Draco kept up with his explanation. "I figured you knew about that one. In our world Moody was impersonated by Barty Crouch Junior during this year. He was the one that put my name in the goblet of fire. He was the one that helped resurrect Voldemort." Harry couldn't help as anger bled into his voice at the thought of Crouch.
"I knew you were too bloody innocent to put your name in. You looked scared to death when your name was chosen... And how do you know it's the same on this world?" Draco asked curiously, crossing his arms and looking at Harry curiously.
Harry frowned a little bit, not liking the mention of that year, because it brought to mind all the disasters that followed. "Watch him. He drinks from his flask about once an hour, and every so often he has a tic. One where he flicks his tongue. That's not Alastor Moody. That's Barty Crouch Jr. He's probably here to put Iris into the tournament under his master's orders." Harry explained.
"If you know that, why haven't you stopped him? I thought that you were trying to stop Voldemort from coming back." Draco frowned.
Harry nodded a bit, he had debated that very same thing with himself this evening. "I thought about it and that's what I'm going to do. However I can't just stand up and point at him and accuse him of being a death eater. And I certainly can't just go accusing Moody of being someone that everyone believes is dead. That would get me locked in St. Mungo's for sure. Or make Dumbledore wonder how I knew, and no lie on earth would be able to cover that up."
"So what are you planning to do?" Draco asked curiously. Trying to come to grips with the idea that their teacher is a polyjuiced death eater.
Harry shrugged a little bit. "I'm hoping to provoke him into attacking me during our first Defense lesson. If I do that, then I can expose him publically. I know it's not the most solid of plans but it's the best I've come up with it. "
Draco paused for a moment and then nodded his head with an amused grin "Actually… that's pretty brilliant. You're playing to your strengths."
Harry frowned curiously. "What do you mean?"
Draco chuckled softly in amusement. "If anyone could piss off a death eater enough to lose his cool and break cover and have them start throwing curses, it's you. You've got more experience than anyone at pissing off death eaters and Voldemort."
Harry's lips quirked in slight amusement at the statement and then sighed a little bit and looked guilty. "I thought about not exposing him. Because when I do expose him, then I have no idea what Voldemort might do next to try and come back. And I already checked the Riddle house, where Voldemort holed up in our world. He isn't there. So I'm trying to work with what information I can."
Draco frowned but reluctantly nodded. "Then why are you going to be exposing him if it's going to cost you that advantage?"
Harry's eyes narrowed a bit and fixed Draco with a glare. "I'm not going to turn into Dumbledore and treat people as pieces on a board. Putting aside the risk of having him around students, If I don't expose him, Iris ends up in this fucking tournament that could get her killed. I will not have that on my conscience."
Draco frowned. "You survived it, what makes you think she couldn't?" He could tell by Harry's expression that he was on thin ice, but Draco was honestly curious.
Harry shook his head. "I survived on luck. It was a miserable year. And all it would have taken was that dragon being a split second faster. And let's not forget that Cedric Diggory died in the process."
Draco was forced to nod in agreement to that.
Harry murmured, lost in thought. "I still never understood how Dumbledore claimed to never know. He was a good friend of Moody and was a master legilimens…" He trailed off and stopped mid stride, as he spun to face Draco. They had been making slow progress away from the lake toward the castle. He fixed Draco with a stare "Do you know occlumency?"
Draco frowned at the sudden change in topic. "Of course. All pureblood families start teaching their kids, all of us have at least the most rudimentary of shields."
Harry's eyes were fixed on Draco, "How good are yours?"
Draco furrowed his brow further, "They're good." At Harry's skeptical look Draco continued, "Probably not good enough to keep out a determined assault from the Dark Lord, but short of that I should be okay… Lucius never would accept anything less than excellence."
Harry frowned and stared at Draco intently for several long moments. He had spent far too much time around Draco when the other boy had spent all his time bragging. Harry wasn't going to just take Draco's word for it. He hesitated, once more considering the merits of simply obliviating Draco and dealing with the consequences later, before finally asking, "Do you mind if I test them?"
Draco furrowed his brow further and then shook his head slowly. He knew that Harry was asking for access to his mind, but for once he wasn't trying to hide anything. "Go ahead."
The words were barely out of his mouth before Harry's eyes locked on his and Harry dived into Draco's mind with Legilimency. He hadn't even bothered to raise his wand or speak an incantation.
Harry had gotten quite good at this during the war, entering the minds of any death eaters that they had managed to capture. He had become quite the adept. Harry was honest enough to admit to himself that he had been a complete failure in learning the defensive side of the mind arts, at least consciously. Now, no amount of work he put in would allow him to learn occlumency. He was aware that only a combination of his freakishness and constant mental assaults had caused his mind to protect itself.
On the other hand, he had become a master of the offensive side of mind magic.
Harry found himself inside Draco's mind, before a set of firm occlumency barriers. Testing them, Harry pressed here and there at them looking for weaknesses Finding none, he then gathered his strength and hit Draco's shields with a blunt force strike, putting a large deal of power behind the impact. Draco's shields shuddered under the blow but held firm.
Harry had to admit that Draco's shields were strong against that sort of attack. He could sense Draco gathering concentration to repel him. Then Harry shifted tacks slightly, and focused his attack to a pinpoint and thrust forward. The barriers barely slowed this thrust. Harry found himself in Draco's mind for several seconds. It was easy to read Draco's shocked response before Harry pulled back out of Draco's mind and memories.
This all happened in the span of a few seconds. One moment Draco was giving Harry permission, and the next he felt a presence in his head, feeling around the edges of his occlumency barriers, pushing here and there. Then Draco felt Harry hit his barriers like a beater bat, but his barriers held. He tried to push Harry from his mind completely when suddenly he felt Harry burst through his barriers in one sharp thrust and enter his mind.
Draco reeled with shock. After he had progressed to proficiency in occlumency, even his father had never been able to breach his barriers like that. Certainly never without a wand. Harry pulled out after a few seconds. When Harry's presence left his mind, Draco staggered back and put his hand to his head. "What did you do?!" He demanded of Harry.
Harry watched Draco with concern. "I wanted to see how strong your barriers were."
"How did you get through them so fast?" Draco demanded, actually angry at much at the ease of intrusion as the intrusion itself. Draco was rubbing his forehead from the after effects of the pain of having his shields being breached.
Harry shook his head, "I learned during the war. I'm very good at Legilimancy. Otherwise your barriers are strong, and you should be able to hold off Dumbledore and Snape without too much problems. And you'll definitely notice their presence in your head quick enough to get away."
Draco shuddered a bit, as he patched the hole in his defenses. "I'm going to hold you to teaching me how to defend against that." Draco rubbed a hand over his forehead and murmured, "What about you? I assume you have occlumency barriers then?"
Harry chuckled, "I assure you, my mind is well protected from any assault. Not so much occlumency though. I can't exactly show you, or do anything more than describe how to guard against attacks like I just used. But we ought to be able to practice until you get the hang of it."
Draco frowned but let the comment pass, deciding to change topics. "So you're really going to break into Azkaban tonight?"
Harry chuckled, snapping his wand into his hand and with a quick gesture a small wordless incendio torched the parchment that Harry had the message on to ashes. "That's the plan. C'mon. Let's get back to the common room and get washed up."
Draco nodded and turned to follow Harry back inside. "I'm coming with you tonight."
Harry tilted his head to observe Draco thoughtfully as they headed back up the path to the castle. He didn't agree, but didn't disagree, instead chose not to comment as he thought about the pro's and con's.
They were walking in silence and approaching the castle gates when Harry, acting on instinct, pushed Draco one way as he rolled the other, just as the red energy of a spell passed through where they had been standing a moment before.
While Draco sprawled to the ground from the sudden push, Harry came out of a roll with his wand already in his hand. He remained in a crouch as his wand swept the area that the spell came from. His senses on high alert. His wand already sparking as he prepared to fire a blasting curse.
It took him only a moment to track the source of the spell, and another few moments to realize that it wasn't an attack of any sort that was aimed at him. Instead he found himself staring off a little distance away, near the side of the Beauxbatons coach. There two people were engaged in what Harry quickly determined based on their movements and facial expressions was a duel rather than any sort of real combat.
Harry kept his wand in his hand as he waited for Draco to scramble to his feet. Harry idly noted that Draco had found the source of the spell as well and had his wand out.
Harry watched with curiosity, he noted the two people, women clearly, were circling each other, and he noticed the one facing them had her mouth moving. Harry easily understood that they were behind a silencing spell,
It took him only a moment to recognize one of the two people circling each other was the blond haired Fleur, and the second was a dark haired woman of about the same age. However the dark haired woman had circled to face them and clearly had seen them, or probably more likely had seen Harry's wand out and sparking. Harry watched as she held her hand and wand up to end the duel, saying something. Fleur immediately turned around to look at them with a look of surprise on her face.
Fleur waved her wand and clearly dispelled the silencing spell that had surrounded them. "I'm sorry, we didn't think anyone would be up quite this early. Neither of you were hurt were you?" Fleur''s tone was filled with a level of concern, despite it being raised to carry the 30 or so meters separating them.
Harry frowned at the tone and then quickly lowered his still sparking wand looking slightly abashed, not having realized he was still holding it threateningly. Harry shook his head, "No apologies needed. I was distracted with something and wasn't watching my surroundings."
Fleur hesitated for several seconds and walked towards them, while the dark haired girl had her head tilted speculatively as she looked at both Draco and Harry. "Pardon our rudeness then. We believed no one would be up this early and were just getting some practice in. Neither of you were hit were you?"
Harry shook his head, but it was Draco that spoke up before Harry could say anything. "We're fine, thanks to good reflexes and no thanks to you shooting random spells off at people!" Draco's voice was cold, and more than a trifle angry.
The dark haired girl seemed taken aback, and Fleur's expression had turned stormy. However neither of them had a chance to speak before Harry interjected.
Harry held up his hand to stop Draco from saying more. "Malfoy, enough. It was an accident."
Draco huffed a bit at Harry's admonishment before he sighed a little bit seeing Harry's hard expression, before turning back to the two french students. "My apologies. I was caught off guard and am still wound up." His apology came out stiffly and sounded reluctant at best.
Harry turned his attention back to the Fleur. "You'll have to forgive Draco, he's not used to having spells surprise him. The last time it happened… well… the results were rather serious." Draco snorted slightly in response, his face still a trifle angry to that, but said nothing.
Fleur turned to regard Harry thoughtfully. "And you are?"
"I'm H… Ares Flamel." Harry said, cursing inwardly. He really needed to remember to get used to that name a bit more. He did marvel at how much this Fleur was like the Fleur of his world, their voices were the exact same.
That got a reaction from both girls, as their eyes widened slightly, though Fleur was the one to ask the question. "Any relation to the Immortal Alchemist?"
Harry sighed and rolled his eyes a little bit, "That seems to be the most common question. Yes. I'm his heir, not that being heir is likely to be important given the whole "immortal" thing." Fleur's face looked speculative, and the other girl's looked doubtful as she sized up the two of them. Harry just sighed and flashed the ring on his hand, making it visible for a few moments. He saw Draco smirk out of the corner of his eye, but this time he kept his mouth shut.
Sensing his irritation at the question Fleur's tone was apologetic, "We 'eard rumors last night at ze table during dinner, 'a new student with ze last name Flamel'. Though no one at our table seemed sure if you were any relation to the Alchemist."
"Well, Hogwarts was the same way, they were all quite in an uproar as well." Harry replied.
Fleur laughed a little bit but it was the dark haired girl who replied, "I am Aimee, and this is my friend Fleur." She said with a gesture at her blond haired friend, who smiled politely at the two of them. "We're students at Beauxbatons."
"Thank you for that. I'm sure we never would have guessed given the accent, the location of them near the Beauxbaton's carriage, or the uniforms." Draco said with a roll of his eyes.
Harry was about to reprimand the other boy when he was distracted by a shake of Fleur's head, flicking her silky blonde ponytail from where it had come to rest on her shoulder. His gaze snapped to her face, eyes narrowed as his instincts perceived the sudden spike in desire to drink in her beauty as a threat. Her features hadn't changed but suddenly the light blue of her eyes, the softness of her skin, and her other admittedly flawless features wove a captivating tapestry that something in him wanted to fall into without thought.
Harry mentally shrugged off his sudden fascination with the beautiful girl, recognizing the focused allure for what it was. He resisted the urge to snort in amusement as he turned his attention back to Draco, who was staring at Fleur with a slack-jawed, glassy-eyed adoration that reminded him of how Ron used to get around her.
Harry sighed a little bit and reached up and smacked the back of Draco's head firmly enough to jolt him forward slightly. Draco jerked forward slightly and then jerked slightly in surprise.
Draco rubbed his hand on the back of his head, with a frown, rubbing it. "Hey.. what's the big idea?"
There were stunned looks all around. Fleur was staring at Harry in shock. Aimee was alternating between staring at Harry and staring at Fleur in surprise.
Harry was staring first at his hand and then at Draco in shock. He hadn't made a conscious decision to hit Draco, but the situation had felt so familiar he hadn't even needed to think about what to do. He seemed to recover first though. He turned and looked at the two girls, his polite expression having faded, leaving his face as though it had been carved from stone. "I'm sorry for the rudeness. It was very nice meeting you Aimee. You too Miss Delacour."
Harry didn't give them time to reply to his sudden abruptness instead he gripped a slightly resistant and still frowning Draco by the arm and guided him away from the girls and quickly into the castle.
Harry only made it a few steps inside the castle when Draco pulled his arm out of Harry's grip. He opened his mouth to say something and then saw more clearly the expression on Harry's face.
Harry had closed his eyes a few moments, taking a breath to push back the sudden surge of loss that threatened to overwhelm him.
"Ron, Ron!" Hermione's voice from across the table said rising in irritation.
Harry glanced over from the book he had open to see Ron sitting next to him staring off to the side. Ron had been writing something, but his quill was currently frozen and unmoving on the parchment and ink was pooling on the page. Harry followed his gaze to see Ron's brother's fiance Fleur had come in and sat down at the other end of the table, looking pleased about something. He felt the flush of warmth emanating from her direction and ignored it. Ron had also improved around Fleur, he no longer felt the need to shout when in proximity to her, or tried to get her attention, but occasionally he still slipped… like now.
When Ron ignored the fourth repetition of his name, Harry sighed and reached over, and smacked the back of his head. Ron's head jerked forward, and he seemed to snap back to himself.
Hermione was rolling her eyes in exasperation, "Honestly!" Before she turned her attention back to her book, muttering about boys and a lack of sense.
Ron flushed guiltily and his ears turned red before he looked down at his parchment. Several moments later he murmured out of the corner of his mouth, "Thanks, mate." Relieved he wasn't on the receiving end of a Hermione lecture.
Harry grinned slightly and shook his head again, "No worries."
Harry shook his head, freeing himself from the sudden memory. The similarity between that action and how he had just acted with Malfoy had been jarring. That was added to the fact that years of experience had conditioned him to react to even the slightest hint of mental influence with immediate force, so it took a conscious effort to restrain the urge to turn his wand on her, and only the slight non-threatening familiarity of the effect had stayed his hand.
"What happened?" Draco's voice had a sound of concern in it. He was watching Harry with a worried expression.
"Veela allure. You were enthralled. I snapped you out of it. At least you weren't drooling." Harry replied as his face slipped back to an expressionless mask.
Draco nodded slowly, "I'd honestly forgotten she was a Veela. I wasn't prepared. But I meant you. Are you okay?" Draco's tone was filled with worry.
Harry frowned, Draco… concerned? Yes. Hell indeed had frozen over. "I'm fine. I just remembered something and it caught me off guard."
Draco watched him for several seconds, he was wondering if Harry had thought that one of the two girls had represented some sort of actual threat, or had on their old world. "Are you going to be adding something else to our to do list for the day?"
Harry shook his head and his mouth tilted upwards in slight amusement. "No, like I said. Just a memory." He gestured, cutting off any follow-up questions. "C'mon. I want a shower before breakfast." Harry also made a mental note that if Malfoy was serious, that he needed practice until he could throw off an Imperius curse.
Draco watched Harry as he moved away from him, and then stopped and turned around to walk the other way with a mutter. "Sorry, Slytherin common room. I forgot."
Draco shook his head and fell into step beside Harry. His urge to reprimand Harry for his actions was forgotten as they walked and Harry seemed to once more be focused. He was also angry with himself for falling under the sway of a compulsion so easily. He was a…
Malfoy.
Draco frowned, he always used to throw his name around like it had meant everything. But now that he was really looking. It… meant nothing. Less than nothing. It meant his family was weak willed and sycophantic. Draco had determined to change things, and yet he'd just failed his first test when a girl about his own age had him completely at her mercy. Draco was determined to change that.
However, as he watched Harry he couldn't help but think. He had seen the pained expression on Harry's face as he mentioned memories. Draco had died on their last world. But he wondered, if maybe, just maybe… there were fates that were worse than dying. He didn't ask the questions, quite sure that Harry wouldn't answer at the current moment.
They didn't talk as they came back to the common room entrance, Draco quietly said "Fraternity" to the wall and entered the common room.
What they found was utter chaos.
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Fleur stared at the two retreating figures in astonishment. Her friend Aimee was standing beside her desperately trying not to break out into giggles.
It had been a particularly frustrating week for Fleur. She had been tortured at the World Cup. Fleur was just happy she had shielded her sister from almost all of it. Gabrielle had only been hit with a moment of the cruciatus, before Fleur had tackled her and interfered. She had never felt agony like that before. Fleur had been certain that she was going to die. And the only thing that kept her from wanting to die while she was under the torture curse was knowing that then they would turn their attention to Gabrielle.
Then out of nowhere they had been saved. By a man who saved them despite being faced with overwhelming numbers. All that they knew of him was that he spoke with an english accent, had green fire for eyes, and apparently knew exactly who she was. The person also put off more power than anyone she had ever encountered in her life. When he was casting she had felt the deluge of his power surrounding him. Felt like it was surrounding her and it overwhelmed her senses.
Fleur's father had been contacting different friends and connections in order to find out who it was. He had even let it known that there would be a significant galleon reward for anyone who could provide a legitimate lead. It was as much a personal search on behalf of his family as it was for the truth of what had happened.
There were all sorts of silly rumors regarding Veela and life-debts, up to including that it required the sacrifice of the veela as a wife or even as some sort of a slave to the person who had saved them. None of those rumors were accurate. A life debt for a veela meant the same as a life debt for any other wizard. Not that that made the idea much better. The one who owed the debt to the other would one day be obliged to repay the deed by doing something beneficial to or for the person they owed. As this bond is magically binding, the indebted could commit the repayment without acknowledging it, or even against their will. Debts were also important to the family in general, and her father was determined to thank the stranger for saving his daughters.
And yet, he had found absolutely nothing. Fleur knew her father was frustrated by his lack of ability to come up with something. She had heard him say several times to her mother. "Somebody with that sort of power doesn't just show up out of nowhere without someone knowing who he is."
While Fleur's thoughts had revolved around her mysterious saviour, she also had vowed she would do all she could never to be put in that position again. In an effort to bring her level up, she had been getting up early every day to get some dueling practice in. Fleur had started with her father, when she had been sufficiently recovered from the cruciatus she had been put under at the World Cup.
Her father had his duties to attend to, though the events at the World Cup had made their family paranoid enough that Fleur's mother Appoline had joined the Beauxbaton's delegation in order to keep her eye on her daughters. Gabrielle was still scared to sleep alone and woke up several times with nightmares. Her sister followed Fleur practically everywhere now. Fleur didn't mind mostly because she barely let Gabrielle out of her sight.
This morning Fleur had convinced her friend Aimee to be her dueling partner and they had been practicing when apparently one of their dodged spells had nearly hit students that Fleur had assumed just emerged from the castle.
While one of them had been polite, if stilted, the other one had been outright rude to both of them. Especially after the boy flashed his family ring, it seemed like the two of them were intent on looking down on she and her friends.
In response Fleur had focused her allure deliberately on the both of them. She couldn't narrow the focus of it enough to only hit the one who had been rude, but figured it would teach the two of them a lesson.
Fleur did not get the results she had been expecting.
The blond haired one had reacted exactly as she had become accustomed to. He had succumbed to the force of her allure immediately.
However it was the reaction of Ares Flamel that had left her flabbergasted. She could count on one hand the amount of times someone managed to break through the effect of her allure when she had deliberately focused it. However it hadn't looked like he had broken through it. He had not even gotten a dazed look. He had completely resisted the effect of her allure. Instead, it looked like he had gotten angry.
She had heard of a few occasional cases of people with such mental fortitude to completely resist the allure, though they were incredibly rare and all were older more powerful wizards like Albus Dumbledore. Fleur herself had never actually met someone like that. Even her father could be enthralled for a few seconds by her mother.
Fleur had been too stunned to do anything other than stare as Ares had snapped the other boy out of his stupor and dragged them both off.
Aimee was practically bouncing in excitement. "Oh my god, 'e 'ad the ring! So it's true! And… and... 'e completely ignored your allure!"
Fleur flushed red and glared at her friend. "I'm sure it was a fluke or something."
If possible Aimee's grin got wider, "What if it wasn't? Wait till I tell the others we met the son of the Alchemist and 'e is immune to your allure!" She didn't wait, instead was already headed toward the carriage with excited steps.
The name of Nicholas Flamel was very well known in France. Both for his work in Alchemy and that he and his wife had lived there for nearly a century. One of his old houses still stood as a tourist attraction in Paris, as the oldest stone building in the city. It was toured by muggles regularly. They had no clue that the unbreakable, stasis, and assorted other charms on the masonry would probably hold for centuries longer.
The fact that an heir for that family had come out of nowhere would undoubtedly send a ripple through the magical community. Of course news tended to linger in magical community since the attack at the World Cup still dominated the papers nearly a week later. Aimee was undoubtedly just as excited to get back to the carriage to share that confirmation as she was anything else.
Fleur rolled her eyes half in exasperation, and half in amusement as she followed her friend back toward the Beauxbaton's carriage. Aimee was probably her best friend, out of a close knit group, and it had evolved naturally. In her earlier years when she had less control of her allure, it tended to draw attention to her. Aimee had become adept in neatly pulling that attention away from an embarrassed Fleur through sheer exuberance and audacity.
Her mind still on the interaction they had just had, both on the apparent immunity of Ares Flamel, and on his actual reaction. She also tried to shake the odd sense of familiarity that she had gotten, and that she still couldn't shake. There was also something oddly familiar about the dark haired boy that she couldn't put her finger on. She couldn't shake the feeling that she knew him from somewhere, but nothing was coming to mind.
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When the common room entrance opened, nearly every person in Slytherin house was gathered in groups and talking amongst themselves, though people moved between the groups. Draco blinked in surprise and came to a stop, Harry beside him. They were nearly barreled over by a fifth year prefect as he rushed past them and out of the common room.
Draco looked around puzzled, before heading toward where a group of fourth years had gathered in one corner of the room. Harry could see Draco headed toward a group of five girls and four guys all gathered together. Harry recognized Crabbe and Goyle easily. He also recognized Millicent Bulstrode and Pansy Parkinson, so Harry assumed it was a group of fourth years. He recognized one of the girls as the one who had ridden in the carriage with him yesterday, and vaguely recognized the other two boys in the group, but couldn't put names to faces. The other two girls were complete unknowns to him.
Draco walked up to the group, and Crabbe and Goyle both immediately backed up to give him space to talk to the huddled group. Harry remained quietly at Draco's shoulder, though his attention was on all the different groups in the room.
Draco tilted his head curiously, "What's going on?"
Blaise Zabini turned his attention to Draco with a raised eyebrow. "Where have you been? Everyone has been out of bed for nearly half an hour because this." He gestured toward the first floor corridor. Blaise was a tall dark skinned man, with high cheekbones and slanting eyes. The expression on his face was one of aloofness.
Draco shrugged and kept his expression bland. "I was showing Ares around the castle."
"This early in the morning?" Blaise demanded with narrowed eyes at Draco for a few seconds while Draco just shrugged in an unconcerned fashion. Blaise turned his attention to Harry and met his eyes with an evaluative look. "Pardon my rudeness, we've not been introduced, I'm Blaise Zabini."
Blaise held out his hand to Harry who after a moment's hesitation shook the hand politely. "Ares Flamel." Harry kept his tone formal and polite. He honestly couldn't remember what side the Blaise of his world had ended up on, nor what his fate had been. He thought it likely that Blaise had died with so many others during the Battle of Hogwarts.
It was one of the two girls Harry didn't know, who seemed to practically bubble with the need to share. She was an attractive girl with light brown hair that fell to just below her shoulders who seemed to burst in on the conversation. "Something happened to all the sixth and seventh years when they went to break into the first year's rooms this year!"
Draco glanced back at Harry before frowning curiously. "What do you mean? One of the first years stopped them from getting in this year?"
The brown haired girl shook her head quickly, "No, not one. All of them. The sixth and seventh years are all… petrified." Her voice dropped, the word petrified brought up remembrances of their second year where petrification's were occurring all over the school.
The girl seemed to snap back to herself as she looked at Harry and she blushed. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself. I'm Tracey Davis."
Harry nodded his head in response since she didn't offer her hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ares Flamel."
Draco brought their attention back to the topic at hand, "They're all petrified?" Worry battled with concern in Draco's tone as he once more glanced back at Harry, while his face was still a mask of blandness, his eyes danced in amusement.
It was the dark haired girl with deep blue eyes that spoke up this time. "They're not petrified. But close. They can't move. And we can't move them. They're stuck. Completely. And none of the fifth year prefects seem to be able to cancel the spell." She narrowed her eyes as she met Ares' eyes. "So you give your name to them?"
Harry shrugged, though he met the girl's stare unflinchingly, his lips quirking ever so slightly in amusement. "They introduced themselves first. Besides, you've clearly found out my name at this point." Harry watched as the bubbly Tracey Davis seemed to settle in contently next to the girl, though her attention was split between the first floor corridor and the conversation happening here.
The girl frowned before scowling and saying "I'm Daphne Greengrass."
Harry nodded as her name clicked. He had remembered her face vaguely but not her name, and certainly not what happened to her after the war broke out. "Pleasure. As you've heard I'm Ares Flamel." He found himself meeting her eyes for several long seconds before his attention was drawn by Draco.
"Have they tried to use a finite on them?" Draco asked curiously, bringing the attention of the room back.
"One of the first things they tried. One of the fifth years ran off to go get Professor Snape." Blaise responded blandly. Or at least he tried to. Harry could tell that there was an air of amusement in his tone.
Only one person in the group caught the ghost of a smile that crossed over Harry's face for the briefest of moments at Blaise's statement, before his face returned to the polite and curious mask. Daphne's eyes narrowed ever so slightly at that, though she struggled to keep her face impassive. There was a great deal she wanted to find out about "Ares Flamel", however she needed to observe and figure out more things first before initiating any sort of confrontation. If her suspicions were correct, she would be asking him for a favor very shortly, and the stronger her negotiating stance was, the better.
Harry looked around the common room for several moments his eyes taking in all the conversations, but since it seemed like it was nothing more than conversation he shrugged lithely and then moved away from the group.
Tracey frowned as he turned to leave, "Where are you going?"
"Shower and change before class. Nothing to do down here but stand around." Harry said in an offhand tone as he made his way toward the fourth floor corridor. Only Draco noticed the tenseness of his shoulders as he turned his back to the room.
The eyes of the fourth year group followed him as he left the group.
"You two seem friendly." Blaise commented as soon as Harry was out of earshot.
"We get along well." Draco responded, his tone light, though knowing he'd have to navigate the conversation carefully. He turned his attention back to the first year corridor giving him somewhat of a distracted air.
"How long have you known each other? You seem awfully familiar to have just met on the train yesterday." Daphne spoke up, her eyes fixed on Draco. Here was someone else who seemed to have changed a great deal over the summer, even if none of the others realized it yet. Added up with everything else she had observed, she was watching every twitch Draco made.
Draco chuckled softly. "We have known each other awhile. Though I had no idea he was going to be coming here for school." Draco was inwardly pleased. One thing he had learned as he matured was that sometimes bland understatements and misdirections could be infinitely more fun the empting bragging about his parentage.
Daphne's eyes narrowed further at Draco's reply. She knew he was lying, if Draco really knew there was a Flamel heir, he would have lorded his knowledge over the rest of his classmates with accompanying grandiose claims of friendship. Now he was understating things, and only in response to questions. He was actually acting like a Slytherin for once. Before Daphne could press him further, she was cut off.
"Is he really in line to inherit the Flamel fortune? What's he like?" Pansy asked, eager for information, as she sidled up close to Draco. She had been silent up till now still seething over the curt dismissal a conversation with Ares had resulted in the night before.
Draco rolled his eyes, he had forgotten how pretentious and materialistic Pansy could be. She seemed to be focused on that even as she pressed into his side. "You saw the ring yesterday. You know that's impossible to fake." His voice was in a drawl that verged on the edge of mocking.
Pansy flushed but didn't say anything in response. It was Blaise that spoke up next, "How is it that none of us knew the Flamels had an heir? They are recluses, but that is information I'm sure that would have gotten around to the families like lightning. I know the owlery was nearly empty last night with messages home."
Draco shrugged and chuckled softly, "Maybe they just didn't want the hassle, or preferred to keep him hidden."
Tracey shook her head, "As soon as everyone finds out, they're going to be buried under an avalanche of mail."
The last boy, a tall wiry one whose expression had been nothing but haughty, half sneered out at the others. "Of course Draco is making friends with the Flamel heir. Everyone will be in a rush to as soon as they hear back and are given the go ahead from their parents. The Flamels coming out with an heir is likely to be as much news than the Tri-Wizard tournament. With their wealth alone everyone would be clamoring, but throw in the Wizengamot seat of an Ancient and Noble House, and I bet marriage contracts fly to the Flamels by the dozen. Better to ingratiate yourself first before everyone else rushes in too."
"Nott is right, their wards are going to be working overtime anyway. I'm sure all their mail is routed through a post box somewhere. You know how reclusive they are. That makes me want to know how you two know each other." Blaise observed dryly.
Draco shrugged and smiled enigmatically. "All I will say is that Ares and I have some common ground. I think I can be relatively certain when I say Ares isn't likely to make friends with sycophants or people who want to befriend him for his name alone." It was better to leave things unexplained than it was to try and make up something, especially on the spur of the moment. Draco pulled away from Pansy and turned and began to head back to his room.
"Where are you going?" Pansy demanded, in almost a whine.
"Ares had the right idea. Nothing to be done here, and I could use a shower too." Draco called over his shoulder as he left the room.
Six of the eight fourth years remaining, exchanged glances. Different thoughts running through their heads.
The other two wondered if they could leave for breakfast yet. Crabbe and Goyle never were the smartest of people.
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When Harry came out of his room some time later, he was carrying a school bag and was dressed in his school uniform. He still felt weird dressing in green and silver, though he had to admit that it was less jarring on the eyes than red and gold could be. Draco was pacing up and down the corridor by the rooms.
Draco jumped when Harry seemed to literally appear from out of nowhere. "Where the hell were you?" he immediately demanded.
Harry tilted his head, as an amused look briefly crossed his face. "What do you mean?"
Draco gestured, "I can't find your room!" He had taken a quick shower and grabbed his bag with the necessary things he'd need for class during the day, then Draco had gone to find Harry, only to realize Draco didn't know where he could find him. Despite Draco having been certain that he had shown Harry to his room the night before, for the life of him, he couldn't remember where that room was.
Harry nodded and chuckled, "Of course not. I told you I was capable of protecting myself." He had put far more extensive wards and protections around his own room, than he had around the rooms of the first year students.
Draco frowned, "But that doesn't explain how you managed to make it so I couldn't find your room."
Harry chuckled softly and nodded. "A fidelius charm." The fidelius charm not only required a lot of power to produce, it also required a lot of skill at making the charm hide something within someone's soul. It was extra difficult when the person casting it was trying to hide the secret within himself.
Draco froze mid-stride and turned to look at Harry with a surprised expression. "You put your room under the fidelius?" Draco brought himself up short and held up his hands before Harry could reply "Wait, of course you did. Yourself as the secret keeper I presume?"
Harry nodded. "It was one of several wards and charms I put up there."
Draco chuckled softly. "Well that explains why you weren't worried about being bothered last night." He could hardly be surprised by the extent that Harry was able to hide things. Draco was forced to wonder how many skills Harry had felt necessary to learn.
Harry nodded and then leaned forward to murmur very quietly, loud enough for only Draco's ears. "The room of Ares Flamel is the last door on the right in the fourth year corridor of the Slytherin dormitories."
Draco frowned and then his eyes went wide as a door seem to pop into existence where none had been before. He was brought out of his distracted air when Harry tossed something at him. Reacting instinctively Draco caught the object and looked at it. It took a moment to realize that it was the wrist holster Harry had mentioned.
Draco smiled thankfully, immediately rolling down his sleeve to attach the holster and fit it comfortably onto his arm. Once it settled on, Draco slid his wand into it.
Harry just watched as he slid the wand in. His voice was solemn when he spoke. "That was used by one of the bravest and best people I've ever known. Don't ever give me a reason to regret giving it to you." He idly wondered if the universe was appreciating the irony of Draco gratefully accepting a wand holster once worn by Neville Longbottom.
Draco's head shot up and tilted his head curiously, wondering who Harry meant. However Harry's face was impassive and not at all forthcoming. Rather than press the issue, Draco just nodded in understanding.
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Draco and Harry made their way back to the common room.
Harry was surprised to see that the issue had grown enough that not only was Snape there, but so was Professor Dumbledore and Professor Babbling, the professor of ancient runes. They were deep in conversation and for just a moment Harry couldn't prevent a brief smile of amusement at the scowl on Snape's face, as well as the consternation reflected on Dumbledore's expression.
The three of them were in discussion, and hadn't bothered to bring their voices down. Or rather Snape and Dumbledore were in discussion, Professor Babbling was casting what Harry quickly ascertained to be diagnostic spells. It was hard to tell from this angle what the results were, though Harry was fairly certain he knew what they should be.
"What do you mean the wards are beyond you?" Snape demanded of Dumbledore, surprise flickering across his features.
Dumbledore shrugged a little bit, "I am in control of the wards guarding the castle itself. These are independent of those. Therefore I can't just shut them down."
"Then just dismantle them." Snape said with a scowl. "Students are trapped in there."
Dumbledore shook his head, "These are very complicated. I'm having trouble making heads or tails of them. I wouldn't want to trigger a reaction of some sort." Dumbledore was running his hand through his beard as he peered thoughtfully down the hall.
"How are we going to get the students out then?" Snape demanded.
"I suppose it's possible that Fawkes may be able to—" Dumbledore began but was cut off.
"These are absolutely brilliant!" Professor Babbling suddenly blurted out with a laugh of amusement.
Dumbledore and Snape turned to look at her with different expressions. Snape's was deeper than his normal scowl, while Dumbledore was merely curious. Bathsheda Babbling had stopped her casting and crossed her arms over her chest with a very pleased smile.
"Have you figured them out Bathsheda?" Dumbledore asked curiously.
The attractive teacher adjusted her glasses on her face before nodding. "I would love to meet whoever put these up. They are quite literally a genius." When she got no response from either Snape nor Dumbledore she continued. "The doors all have a number of wards tied in together in a way I've only seen once before really."
"Please elaborate if you would Professor." Dumbledore encouraged. He considered himself relatively experienced with wards and runs. However, Bathsheda was definitely one of the foremost in the field of both Ancient Runes and warding, because of the crossover that occurred between the two different fields of study. It also happened to be pretty much all she was adept at.
The entire common room was quiet as they listened to the Professor talk, practically hanging on her words, and the professor seemed to be well aware of it. She was practically bouncing with excitement. "First, let me test a theory." And with that she strode purposefully into the hall to the first door where one of the sixth years remained frozen. She ignored the protests from both Snape and Dumbledore as she ducked and moved around the frozen form of the student to enter the room and then came walking back out to her original position.
Nodding to herself having gotten the verification she needed. "These wards have several things tied into them. First and most easily distinguishable, is a ward that determines the intent of anyone entering. That is probably why nothing happened to anyone who investigated. It also explains why our new first years are out here in the common room, rather than trapped in their it makes me curious why these other students tripped the wards." Bathsheda narrowed her eyes as she glared at both Dumbledore and Snape.
Snape kept his face impassive, "Believe me, they will be disciplined for that." Snape was actually pleased that they had been caught in the act. He and Dumbledore could discipline them without worrying that they would take it out on a specific member of Slytherin House. Assuming of course that the perpetrator of the wards remained anonymous.
But Dumbledore partially cut Snape off with a wave of his hand, "I had already managed to pick out the intention ward. As for the students, I'm sure they had the intention of pranking the first years."
Harry's jaw clenched briefly at that, but he managed to keep control of his temper. He knew Dumbledore's tendency to excuse actions because of youth or mistakes would come back to bite Dumbledore. But Harry was determined not to let it affect himself.
Bathsheda glared for a few more moments before turning back. "And that's where the genius begins. The intent wards activate everything else. If there is no ill intent the entire ward remains inactive. After that, a number of things are activated. Though I can't determine in what order they're activated in."
Seeing her audience well and truly entranced, she continued. "One ward snaps up and immobilizes them. Sort of the same as a petrificus totalus. They're aware of the passage of time but unable to move. One spell locks them down in place so they can't be moved from that spot. Another ward produces some sort of… shield. So they can't be easily hurt. Another ward is some sort of… sound ward." Babbling broke off thoughtfully at that.
"A ward that prevents them from hearing us?" Dumbledore frowned curiously at that. If they were completely immobile, he wondered why it was necessary to cut them off from sound as well.
But Professor Babbling shook her head. "No, they aren't completely cut off from sound. It's not a silencing ward. It's producing some sort of sound. I'm not sure what. But it's producing it for them to hear."
"But it's not physically harming them at all?" Dumbledore clarified quickly, wanting to make sure he understood the entire picture.
Babbling quickly shook her head. "Not at all. At least as far as I'm able to tell."
"I'm curious Professor, where else have you seen this?" Dumbledore asked, his fingers stroking through his beard.
"The only place I've really seen this is with goblins and their master cursebreakers. They're experts at tying wards in together, though I will admit that this would be considered a fantastic job, even for the goblin masters." Babbling frowned thoughtfully as she tapped her lips.
"No matter where you've seen it, is it possible to undo it?" Snape asked irritably.
Babbling shook her head, "I wouldn't even know where to begin truth be told. However!" She held up her hand to forestall complaints or protests. "I would say that it's unnecessary." When Babbling was sure that she had cut off both professor's protests, she continued. "There's also a timer tied into the wards. If I've judged it right, within a matter of twenty or so minutes, the wards will reset, releasing them for us."
Harry had to keep the expression off his face. He had never taken class with Babbling in the previous timeline, which made his learning curve far steeper when he worked with Bill Weasley. But Harry had to admit she had pretty much hit the nail on the head with her analysis. She had even caught the sound ward, which he had tied right in with the petrifying ward. She had missed three wards that he had tied into one, but since they weren't active at the moment he wasn't surprised.
Dumbledore looked somewhat at a loss for a few moments, before speaking, "Well, then we shall simply have to wait to see if they're released shortly. Will the wards dissolve completely or will we have time to study them further?" He asked Babbling curiously.
Babbling shook her head "Oh no, you misunderstand. The wards won't be gone. They'll merely reset. Allowing those captured free, then they'll be back to full strength."
Dumbledore frowned at that. "I guess we'll have to work out some other place for the first years to stay until we can untangle these wards."
"Why would we have to do that Headmaster?" Babbling asked with a puzzled frown.
"We can't have our first years at risk for being trapped every time they venture into their rooms." Dumbledore replied with a puzzled frown of his own.
"Then there are no worries. As long as they don't intend to hurt the residents of the room they enter then the wards remain completely inert. In fact these are probably the safest first year rooms in the castle. And since the Slytherin's are encouraged to ward their rooms as practice, I see no problem with the protection." Babbling stated with certainty.
Dumbledore frowned thoughtfully at that, and then nodded, "Good point." Though Dumbledore was still clearly looking thoughtful as he considered who might have put up such a detailed and complex ward.
Snape's face was blank though he was wondering the same thing. However anything he might have said was cut off by the sound of a loud a nasal child's voice singing a familiar children's song that never ended.
The song repeated twice as everyone looked around at one another in shock, before it faded off after the verse. There was silence for several long moments before the silence was broken by a scream.
First one scream, and then another and another joined as the sixth and seventh years came scrambling out of the first floor hallway as if being chased by a pack of wild dogs. They tripped and stumbled over one another in their haste to get away from the first year rooms and into the safety of the common room.
Everyone seemed caught off guard, and even Draco seemed surprised as he glanced at Harry. Harry however remained completely impassive, the only sign of any sort of change was the slight quirking of his lips into a small smirk, though that was gone in a flash.
Harry hated to admit it, but he had gotten the idea from Dudley.
When Harry was seven or eight, Dudley had apparently heard the song on some television show, and then had spent the next week walking around singing it loudly around all the neighbors, and especially around Harry. He had even gotten his friends in on it and they would take turns. Harry had thought he was going to go crazy. It actually made Harry miss the game of Harry Hunting. Even his Aunt Petunia had gotten fed up with it.
Snape caught the arm of one of the sixth years that was scrambling past and demanded loudly. "What happened?"
The panicked sixth year looked up at Snape and seemed to snap back to reality, "Oh god, it was horrible. I can't get them out of my head! The song just wouldn't stop!"
Snape's stared at the sixth year for several moments before releasing him. Then he shifted his gaze to where the group of students had gathered away from the first floor corridor.
"Mr. Bole perhaps you will be better able to explain what has happened than Mr. Grandlow seems capable of at the moment." Snape's gaze stopped when he met the eyes of his seventh year male prefect, whom he fixed in place with a glare.
The seventh year prefect came forward, taking a moment to gather a breath before straightening his back and trying to gather his composure. He chose his words carefully based on the presence of both Snape and Dumbledore. "Last night, during our traditional late night welcome to the new students in Slytherin, we attempted to enter their rooms. Only one or two seemed to have any wards at all. But the instant we stepped into the rooms we were trapped."
At this point Lucian had to swallow a bit before he continued, a slight tremor in his voice. "I couldn't move, and then this… song started playing. Did you hear it?"
Snape shook his head slightly, "We heard a song briefly, Mr. Bole, was that the one you heard?"
Lucian swallowed again, "I don't know. It was like a… child's voice singing. A song that wouldn't end. It went on and on…." Even as he said the words his voice began to take on the tune of the song, until he trailed off at the end and the sixth and seventh years gasped and covered their ears.
There was some shudders from students as they seemed to gather close to one another for protection distinctly a good distance away from the first year dorm corridor. The sixth year they had spoken to initially called out. "Merlin, don't say the bloody words! You don't want the song to start again!"
"I assure you, Mr. Grandlow, that you are no longer under the effects of any spells," Dumbledore reassured the sixth year. "You may be feeling its consequences, however. You never know when the magic of music may stick with you. I still find myself occasionally whistling a tune I once heard near a muggle circus, and that was nearly fifty years ago!" He whistled a couple of bars with a smile at the memory before he seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation.
The horrified look that the boy sent the Headmaster was so amusing that Harry just managed to prevent from snorting in amusement. But the smile on his face died before it really formed. He had remembered it was Dumbledore talking. No matter how much he told himself this was a different world, he still didn't trust the old man.
"Move along, Mr. Bole, and Mr. Grandlow, we are already late for breakfast, you are not ready for the day." came Snape's drawling voice. "You've shamed yourself enough for the morning."
The Sixth year scampered around the adults, probably heading straight for the bathroom after being frozen in place for hours. The rest of the sixth and seventh years followed, Lucian waited a few moments to see if they had anything additional to say to him before he followed the others.
The entire Slytherin room watched them leave, there were murmurs among each group of students as they watched the students leave.
With an inscrutable squint of his eyes, Dumbledore watched them leave and then turned to ask the attractive brown haired professor, "Are there any more effects tied into the ward, Bathsheda?"
Bathsheda had watched with an amused smile on her face as the students scrambled out of the room. "I don't know. I'd need more time, to unravel these and frankly these wards could take me a month of serious study on this while class is in session. I hardly think it's worth disrupting the students lives that much, unless you wish to get a cursebreaker to dismantle them. I can tell they're purely defensive in nature."
Touching his beard, Dumbledore kept his silence for a few seconds before nodding and turning to address the Potions Master. "Severus, I believe that last night's ordeal has been enough punishment for your students. And from what we can tell, this ward will do nothing but protect your first years, so I believe that for the moment, we should adjourn to the Great Hall, for breakfast."
Harry watched as Snape scowled, but simply acceded to the Headmaster's wishes and turned to the students of Slytherin. "You will follow us to the great hall. The older students will join us in time."
Snape turned without another word, his customary billowing robes giving his movements a dramatic flourish. Harry had always been impressed by Snape's robes never seeming to get caught on anything. Or knock down anything. That happened to those who tried to spell their own clothes to act like that. Harry secretly believed that Snape enjoyed watching people fail to copy his dramatic flourish without success.
Harry just stood with Malfoy, until the group decided to move as one, following Snape to get some breakfast.
Harry was completely unaware of the intense gaze that flicking to him as he walked with Malfoy. Daphne Greengrass knew she had to talk to Ares sooner rather than later. And felt she had enough to negotiate for the favor she needed.
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Author's notes!
Wheee! Chapter! - Don't expect another long one for a little bit. :P But those who complain about a slow moving story. Yeah that's a valid criticism, but as you can see things are starting to move.
1) okay a couple of things to get clear here. Just because I describe someone as attractive, or heaven forbid they have a conversation with Harry does NOT mean that he's going to end up with them. So get over that!
2) Some of you were upset that I stuck him in Slytherin. I felt it was where this Harry would fit. It also provides alot of interesting interactions, dynamics and as the hat said, would be most suitable for his quest.
3) I'm sure some people are going to cry foul about Harry being good with wards etc. I've said that he is a natural. I'm sorry, but JKR did everything she could not to make anything special about Harry at all. Yeah. I think he can be special and that's what I've done. As you can see from interactions he's not suddenly "I AM MERLIN 2.0" That may be where he ends up :P but he's not there yet.
4) I'm sure some of you are going to be upset that Harry didn't flay the naughty Slytherins alive or something or crucify them on wooden death traps. Bear in mind. That was the warning shot across the bow. It only gets worse from there. And what happens when (because let's face it, it's a matter of when, not if) people discover he's doing it?
5) Draco... as all of you can see. Draco can still be a douche. He's matured, but he isn't suddenly a paragon of light! He needs to mature as well.
6) I have had some suggestions for casting James and Lily. Those have produced some very interesting suggestions. Next chapter I will post a list of finalists. Also, i need an actress for Babbling. So feel free to share ideas for that as well!
7) So... we see some interaction with Fleur and like i said, it's not immediately ZOMG LOVE! and we get to see some interactions with Daphne in this chapter as well. For those who complained that Harry is paranoid but not paranoid enough. He's also not perfect, prone to making mistakes and under significant emotional stress :P
And for those who still don't accept...
*Bonks you with the magical wand of suspension of disbelief. Which is shaped remarkably like a crow bar. Weighs the same too*
8) Thank you to Lethum for his collaboration on this, he keeps me from going completely off the rails, and is hard at work on the next chapter. He is declining to speak to the press. so no author notes from him this time
9) I also want to thank Formulaic for beta-ing our work and provide me a sound board. (And for the times I light his hair on fire out of boredom or frustration... or amusement.) He's got a good start to a fic, "Throwing out the Script" you should check it out! It's just starting but it made me laugh
Lastly, as always... when you review, feel free to suggest actors for various roles, and ideas. I almost *always* respond to reviews that put anything more than a modicum of thought in them
