I'm going away this week for more than a fortnight and I can't take my laptop with me. Updates will be sketchy depending on when I can borrow the computer at my Grandparents' place. (Warning in advance.)
The first official trailer of Sea of Monsters has been released. I think it's rather good and a bit more in character than the Lightning Thief. I saw the video on 'Shane Carl Montefalcon' youtube account.
Disclaimer: I don't own the original works of Harry Potter. JKR does.
Song – 'Look Around' by David Archuleta
Words – 3930
…
"Super strength. What can beat that?" Daniel announced as he walked next to Harry back to the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Don't say that to anyone. They'd be after your blood." Harry said quickly looking around to see if anyone was watching them.
"Come on, Harry. Don't tell me you're not excited to have this! You can feel the strength, right? I can walk straight through this wall right here and not get hurt!" He said pointing to the side.
"You might be a little disoriented. So I'd suggest you to not do that, Danny." Harry said firmly. Daniel just sighed. Suddenly, he perked up and frowned at Harry.
"My name's DJ."
Harry gave him a look, "Yeah, but you see, I'm going to call you 'Danny'."
Daniel looked confused, "Why?"
Harry gave a shrug and said, "The planet can call you whatever you want. But you look like a 'Danny' to me."
"I… do not!"
"Uh huh."
Harry shook his head in slight amusement as he listened to his cousin's spluttering. Danny really was starting to remind him of Percy. Except Percy, in this case, would have shot back a smart-aleck retort that would have made Harry chase him all over the place.
Splash!
Both Potters stopped short as they realized that a bucket of water had turned itself on them. Hearing Peeves' cackle as he zoomed away, Harry sighed.
"They need to teach us the drying charm in first year." Danny muttered.
…
Small timing intervals between stringing was supposed to ingrained in his mind. Which was why, guitar was playing was easy and relieving.
Harry sighed and closed his eyes listening to the soft music produced. He leaned back against the slanted roof of the Gryffindor Tower and adjusted the guitar comfortably in his hand. Taking a peek at the red music book, Harry marked the page where his mother's last unfinished song lyrics were written.
Unfinished as in, she had written just five words – When I look at You…
Harry stared at those words and put down his guitar slowly. Idly, he wondered if he could write a song with these words as title.
Well that depended who was the person he would choose to be the model of the song, right?
It didn't have to be a romance song. Friendship, siblinghood, platonic love…
Harry felt a little frustrated for no reason. He took a look at his watch and cursed. It was already eight. Within four hours, it'd be Halloween. He had to get the potion from Poppy!
In a second, he was on his feet, bending his knees and flipping through the window below him. The guitar and book was in his tight grip which he released only after opening his trunk. Should he take the Invisibility Cloak? No, why would he need it? It wasn't as though he was doing something illegal…
…
Shivers were running down his spine as he knocked on the Infirmary door. It was a foreboding feeling and Harry kept whipping his head around to see if anyone was watching him with ill intentions. He didn't come across anyone (strangely), but the feeling didn't go.
Suddenly, there was a large rumbling. Harry froze as the sound drifted away. It had felt as though a huge door had been opened after years of disuse.
Pressing himself against the nearest wall, Harry perked up his ears, straining them. For a second, he heard whispers. And then he jumped when the loud sound echoed through the corridor again. Harry started walking away from his intended destination and went right. He started picking up the pace and slid across the rest of the corridor towards the end where there was a large 'Out of Order' sign hanging on the entrance.
He braced himself and held his breath wondering if there was anyone there. After a few minutes, when he couldn't hear anything, he slowly slipped in, ignoring the sign.
The room was dirty and obviously not in use. There was a smudged and smoked mirror with many basins along the side. It was an abandoned washroom. Harry wasn't sure why it wasn't in use. Nothing seemed out of place, except for the fact that it was deserted and isolated.
He walked about pushing open the doors to see if anyone or thing was in there. The place was completely empty except for him. Harry just let out a sigh and shook his head. Then he blinked.
This was a girl's bathroom!
He groaned and half-ran out. What the hell had he been thinking? Just walking into a deserted room like that? It could have been dangerous!
'Now he gets it.' Bolt muttered.
He quickly left the corridor and reached the Hospital Wing. The matron gave him a look-over glance and said, "I still haven't understood what your problem is, Potter. But this is very serious. I recommend a full report at St. Mungo's –"
"Poppy! No! This has been happening for years. I'm alright!"
"Years…" She gave him a glare at pushed him onto one of the chairs in her office.
"Years. That's nice. And I suppose none of the muggles paid any attention to you?"
"I didn't tell them." Harry answered simply, eyeing the Pepper-up potion in her glass cabinet.
Madam Pomfrey got up suddenly and walked over to the cupboard. She took a large flask from it and another jar with a pink coloured substance. Then she took the Pepper-up potion and pushed all three into his arms.
"That's for a dreamless sleep and the paste is for healing long-time bruises and skin marks. And Harry –"
Harry's head jerked up when she called him by his first name. She was giving him a rather pitying look that he disliked immediately.
"If you need to talk, I'm here."
What was this? Therapy?
'She's trying to help.' Bolt argued.
'Does it look like I need help?' Harry argued back.
'Yes!'
"I'm fine." Harry said carefully. He stood up, a bit awkwardly, thanked her and left the room.
…
Ron had decided that he didn't need a third helping of dinner. Muffling a yawn with his fist, he dully looked around. Hermione was still staring at the wall behind him as she ate diligently. He turned to see Fred and George teasing DJ and Colin about the ghosts clearly trying to make up for the accident that happened weeks ago.
He looked at the other tables to see Malfoy whispering in undertones to another second year girl. Most students were in their own world, talking robustly and chatting.
"I don't think Harry's coming for dinner." Ron muttered to Hermione. She looked up in surprise and frowned, "He doesn't have detention, right? What's he doing back at the dorm?"
"Search me." Ron said. He took a look at the entrance and decided, "I'm gonna see."
"Wait!" Hermione took another sip of her water and followed Ron out of the Great Hall and towards Gryffindor tower.
As they reached the door to the Second year boys' dorm, they heard Harry's voice saying, "Why does it have to be pink?"
Ron and Hermione stopped and stared at each other. They carefully pressed their ears to the door wondering what he was doing.
"That's fast." Harry's voice mumbled. There was a glass clink sound and some humming.
"Nearly gone. I should've done this last year."
Some cloth rustling and soft sounds of hitting the carpet. Hermione immediately removed herself away from the door and pulled on Ron's hand.
"Wait!" Ron whispered and knocked on the door.
"Harry? You okay?"
They waited for him to reply. "Fine. Come on in."
Slowly peeking in, they saw Harry seated on his bed, holding his school shirt. He was already in his night shirt and pants. He looked at them quizzically.
"Hello. The night's getting colder, isn't it? Or maybe that's just me." Harry threw his shirt into his open trunk and kicked it shut.
"Wh…what were you doing before we came in?" Ron asked slowly looking around to see anything pink. Nearly everything Harry owned were black.
"You mean before or while the both of you were eavesdropping on me?" Harry asked smartly staring at them and folding his arms. Ron and Hermione blushed a bit.
"Uh…"
"You need to work on your whispering. I could hear it through the door. Try not to breathe when you whisper. That lowers the sound."
"We'll keep that in mind. Thanks for the tip." Ron said and sat down on his own bed.
"So, what's pink?" Hermione asked standing by the bed post.
Harry gave a shrug, "Your faces."
"That's not what I meant. Before."
"Dinner's over, right?" Harry asked, turning to Ron who nodded.
"You missed it. Anyway you already ate before we went to the Hall."
"No." Harry said frowning. Ron looked surprised at that. "But I thought you said you were going back to the Great Hall when we finished our homework for Potions, remember?"
"Yes, but I just had a talk with McGonagall and Danny."
"About what?" Hermione asked stepping closer. Harry leaned back and said, "Well, we've been practicing our Core magic for weeks until it was Ministry approved. Sometimes, secondary sources can be unstable."
"What's the verdict?"
"We're Ministry approved."
"Well, Percy'd be proud." Ron muttered.
"What?" Harry asked suddenly. Ron gave him a confused look before quickly re-iterating, "My brother."
Hermione looked interested, "You know another Percy?"
"Used to be my neighbor." Harry said in a blasé tone.
"Best friend, init?" Ron asked. Harry waved his hands about before saying, "Yeah. So, I guess it's getting late, so…"
"It's only nine, but I guess, I'm leaving." Hermione muttered. She bid them a goodnight and left the dorm.
Ron gave Harry a gauging look. Harry replied in a defending tone, "What?"
"No, nothing, it's just that, tomorrow's Halloween."
"So?"
Ron sighed and said, "Did Madam Pomfrey –"
"Yeah."
So, you're all set –"
"Yeah."
"And now, you'll –"
"Yeah."
…
Next morning, Ron heard a teeth chattering noise. He got up and opened the curtain to see Harry, already breathing out white mists and clad in jumpers, reach for the Pepper-up potion. Within a few seconds, Harry seemed to relax and Ron calmed down.
"It's almost breakfast time…" Harry muttered and Ron shot up.
Through the day, Ron kept a close eye on Harry. Like last year, his friend looked like a vampire and was starting to doubt Harry's claims of not being one.
Yeah, Harry ate human food and had green eyes, not red or gold or black, but still…
"Ron…" Harry said in a warning voice and Ron realized he had been staring at him for a second too long.
"I can't help it, Harry! I… look, this looks serious –"
"I'm absolutely fine. It just looks worse that it is." Harry said firmly sipping up the hot potion after lunch. Ron just shook his head. He saw Hermione keep her lips pressed tightly as though she was about to start ranting at Harry and wanted to avoid it.
"Tell that to Pomfrey." Ron muttered.
"I did!" Harry snapped back and then sighed, "It's much better than last time, too."
"Did you get any sleep?" Hermione asked.
"You changing the subject." Harry said shortly, getting ready for the next class.
Ron kept his mouth shut as they went off to Charms. Before they came anywhere near the room, DJ suddenly ran up to them and gave Harry a rolled scroll.
"Lockhart told me to give you this… You okay?"
Harry ran his hand through his hair, "Yes. I am well and fine. No one has to worry."
Harry read the parchment while DJ shot Ron a look of alarm. Ron just shook his head.
"Unbelievable." Harry muttered, rolling it up. "Lockhart invited me to be his co-chaperone for Valentine Celebrations."
"Valentine? Isn't that in February?" DJ asked.
"Yes. He must have something special for the occasion." Hermione pondered. Harry stuffed the paper into his bag and said, "Thanks, Danny."
"You're not gonna go for it, are you?"
"Of course not. I'll have to have a very tearful and heart-to-heart let down conversation with him now."
The laughter from Ron and DJ was broken with ghostly muttering from the Gryffindor house ghost, Sir Nicholas.
"Half an inch of sinew… isn't break time up, youngsters?" The ghost asked holding a pearly translucent scroll in his hand.
Ron decided that attending a ghost's deathday party was a better alternative to spending hours with Lockhart. Even then, Nick gave them invitation to his party if they did want to come.
"That was nice of him." Hermione observed as he floated away through the armour. DJ blinked at that and said, "Who celebrates deathdays? Shouldn't it be sad?"
"To each his own." Harry muttered and they went on their way.
Ron had to say that Harry did look better than last year. Still, he wasn't so sure when his fingers touched Harry's wrist.
Harry had slipped on some water when they were walking on the second floor towards the stairs to head for dinner. Ron had caught him to steady his balance and felt a little shock at the coldness of his skin.
"Thanks." Harry said breathlessly as he stood and stared at the water.
"The entire corridor's wet." Hermione said, looking along the deserted corridor.
"There's an abandoned bathroom here, right?" Harry said watching the water flow slowly. Ron stared at the water, opening his mind's Core.
"Yeah. Straight from the taps." Ron nodded. Hermione 'hmmed' and said, "That's Moaning Myrtle's bathroom."
"Uhhh…"
"She's the ghost of a girl who haunts the second floor bathroom. Nobody uses it because of her. I've seen her only once. Not exactly a ray of sunshine…"
She walked towards the abandoned bathroom without another word. Harry and Ron followed her.
"Refresh my mind, but why are we walking towards a haunted bathroom?" Ron asked her.
"It's not like she's a wraith, she's just a ghost." Hermione replied and walked into the room ignoring the large 'Out of Order' sign.
"Just a ghost." Ron mumbled under his breath, but Harry frowned at her words.
"Wait! You mean wraiths exist?!" Harry asked surprised. Hermione turned around and nodded, "They're rare. But, yeah. Like the Shrieking Shack in Hogsmeade.
Harry seemed to go into his own world after that. Ron looked at the dirt on the mirror and announced, "I think the tour is over. Can we go back to the land of the Living?"
"She's isn't here." Hermione mumbled.
"I'm hungry." Ron said and pulled the both of them out. They would have gone down the stairs if Ron hadn't seen DJ going up on another moving staircase set.
"What's he doing?" Harry asked as the three of them watched DJ disappear into the fourth floor and appear on the fifth floor stairs.
"He's missing the Halloween feast." Ron frowned. He saw Harry turn abruptly and tell, "I'm going with him. See you guys later."
"Is no one hungry?" Ron asked in disbelief. Hermione sighed.
…
Harry ran up the last of the steps and saw DJ go into the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Muggle riddled." Harry said to Debby and she swung her portrait.
"Danny, wait!"
DJ stopped and looked at Harry in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Following you. What are you doing here?"
"Not hungry." DJ mumbled and went up to his dorm. Harry stood there for a second before going there too.
DJ was seated on his bed stroking the feathers of his barn owl. Harry stepped in slowly and then said, "You never did tell me what you named him."
"Garth."
"Garth?"
"He looks like a Garth to me." DJ explained. Garth hooted and snapped its beak at Harry.
"I don't think he likes me." Harry commented walking towards them. DJ shrugged. Harry sat next to DJ and looked around the room. It was as messy as you would've expected a preteen boys' room to be.
"What's wrong?" He asked and DJ sighed, frustrated.
"Nothing has to be wrong. I'm just sitting here. What's wrong with sitting in my room?"
"Nothing, I suppose. I thought you would've have wanted to enjoy the feast more than brooding on your own." Harry said easily, leaning against the post.
"May be I don't want to enjoy the feast." DJ retorted.
"What's up with you?"
"Nothing! Jeez, what's with people? They celebrate all the wrong days!" DJ half- yelled. Garth let out an irritated squawk at the loud voice and flew to his bird stand.
Harry took just a second to understand. DJ didn't want to enjoy Halloween for the most obvious reason there was.
"My apologies. I should have given it more thought." Harry mumbled. DJ looked at him and said, "You're the only who did. Everyone's been asking me why I was so out of it. Well, I have the right to be. Today just… sucks!"
DJ fell on his back on the bed. Harry frowned. He himself never thought much about it. He purposely kept thinking about other things. It wouldn't do to think about –
"How can you miss someone you don't remember? It sounds silly." DJ whispered staring at the ceiling.
"It's not silly. It's a good thing. You miss someone because even though you may not remember them, they meant something to you. That's something you can never forget, even if you don't remember them."
DJ squinted at Harry, "That makes no sense!"
"You miss them because you loved them and they loved you." Harry simplified.
"Yeah, okay." DJ muttered sounding as though he didn't believe it entirely. He huffed and sat up.
"What did you do last Halloween?"
Harry pressed his lips together and nodded. Oh yeah, this was an excellent question.
"Well, we… as in Ron, Neville, Hermione and me, got locked in the forbidden third corridor." Harry said.
DJ stared at him, "Come again?"
"Ron had somehow gotten Hermione upset. He went to apologize to her. Neville and I followed. Peeves tried to attack us. We ran into the third floor corridor. There was a Cerebrus in it."
"What's a Cerebrus?"
"A large three headed dog. Its name was Fluffy. He belongs to Hagrid."
"Of course. And then?"
"Well the door got jammed when Fluffy jumped on it. There was a trapdoor and we decided that we didn't want to be dog chow, so we went down to fall on a Devil's Snare."
"That killer plant?"
"Yeah. We ran into an adjointing room and came across tiny flying keys."
"Flying keys?"
"Flying keys. There were broom sticks there. So we flew out all the rooms, past Fluffy and blasted the locked door. I don't think we were mentally scarred, though."
"All in a days' work, right?"
"Yes. So, what did you do last Halloween?"
DJ grinned, "I slipped in some old chocolates into Damon's basket. He was sick for hours!"
Harry frowned, "That wasn't very nice of you."
"He pushed me off the monkey bars!"
"How many did you slip in?"
"Just a few."
"A few more couldn't have hurt."
DJ stared at him, not understanding the sudden shift in thought. Then, he stretched.
"As fun as this has been, recounting near death experiences, let's go find something else to do."
"Like what?"
"Something very depressing. Something that would fit with this day." DJ said. Then his eyes widened. "Can we go to Godric's Hollow?"
"What?!" Harry asked bewildered.
"Godric's Hollow is where our parents are, right? Can we go visit them?"
Harry sighed and shook his head, "First of all, I doubt Dumbledore would let us go –"
"But –"
"Second of all, a nightly visit to a cemetery will not be good for you. And third of all, this is not the time to suggest something like this."
"Why not?!" DJ asked shocked.
"No offense, Danny, but people would find going into a cemetery on Halloween night as a joke! So put that thought out of your head –"
"You're just scared –"
"Call me what you want, we are mostly certainly not going there any time in the near future."
DJ glared at Harry and said, "I want to go to Nick's Deathday party!"
"Danny, don't –"
"Oh, is that not allowed? Sorry to inform you, but he gave us an open invitation. I'm going."
He got up abruptly and left the room. Harry groaned and followed.
…
They didn't talk the entire way down. Harry stuffed his hands into his pockets, while DJ kept himself a few steps forward.
Bolt seemed to be on DJ's side, 'No offense, Danny, but people would find going into a cemetery on Halloween night as a joke.' Are you crazy?! He wants to see them! What right do you have to say yes or no?!'
Harry kept quiet. There were particular reasons why he didn't want DJ to see their parents. At least, not at the age of eleven.
Sir Nick's party was a floor above Snape's dungeons. The lower they went, the colder the air became. Harry pulled his robes over himself and braced for the onslaught of ghost celebrations.
…
"Had a depressing time?" Harry asked as they left the party. DJ's teeth were chattering slightly. He rubbed his palms trying to get some heat in them.
"I dunno why, but it felt a bit silly. With Sir Properly-decapitated crashing the party and all…"
Harry shrugged. It did seem rude. DJ sighed and his stomach rumbled.
"I guess you're hungry."
"No duh, Sherlock. I haven't eaten anything since evening." DJ grumbled. Harry frowned. He supposed he could make a few grapes for him.
"Here." Harry said opening his hand out to the first year. DJ stopped in surprise when he saw some purple grapes sitting there.
"They're a little sweet. Be careful of the seeds." Harry said. DJ ate them slowly and exclaimed, "These are really good!"
"Thanks."
"You can make fruits. Harry, that's brilliant."
"Thanks."
"What's your favourite?"
"I like apples. Especially, because they're the hardest to make."
"Why?" DJ asked curiously as they climbed another set of stairs.
"I like to get them perfect. Perfectly red, or pink or green –"
"There are pink app… oh yuck!"
DJ jumped back and nearly tripped on one of the stairs. Harry caught his arm and pulled him away.
"You nearly fell!" Harry said heatedly, "What?"
"Spiders. Look, they're over the banisters. They were on my hand!"
DJ swatted them furiously while Harry watched the spiders. The tiny eight legged creatures didn't scuttle away randomly. In fact, they seemed to be going in lines towards the windows on the side walls.
"That's strange. I've never seen spiders act like that." Harry frowned.
"Look, there are different kinds! This one's tiny, but that one's all brown – look, there's water on the floor!" DJ said staring at their wet shoes. Harry stared at his reflection who said, 'Get ready.'
"For what?" Harry asked out loud. DJ stared, "What?"
"Danny, I think we need to leave." Harry was about to pull on DJ's hand when the latter stopped and asked, "What's that?"
The boys looked at the reflection of the wall in the torch lights. It didn't seem clean…
DJ's jaw fell open and Harry felt speechless. They looked at the wall opposite them where there was the writing, 'The Chamber of Secrets is open. Enemies of the Heir, beware.'
"It's written in blood." Harry said slowly.
"Harry, look at that." DJ pointed at the torch bracket from which a small motionless figure of a black cat was hung.
…
Hope you enjoyed this. R&R.
Q: What do you think of the Sea of Monsters trailer?
Stay tuned for the next update!
Cabba.
