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Balance Factor Chapter 8

Year Two

Ripples

Harry entered Flourish and Blotts, his eyes searching the crowd. He ignored the fact that a man with a shining smile was there, getting his picture taken, moving through the crowd and heading to the rows of books in the back. He looked through the titles, selecting two books. One was called Defensive Items the other called Advanced Potion Making. He then moved to the Magical Creatures isle, looking for a good book.

At least, until he was almost flattened by the camera man. Harry shot him a nasty look, shifting out of the way and moving deeper into the isle, but the man who was being photographed saw him.

"Could that be… Harry Potter?"

There was a sudden hush and the camera man turned. Harry ignored them, selecting a title of Dangerous Beasts and How to Tame Them.

"Harry Potter!" The camera man cried, grabbing him by the arm. Harry jerked, an angry look crossing his face as he was pulled towards the man.

"Gilderoy Lockhart," Lockhart introduced. Harry leaned back away from him, but was swept into his embrace. "Together, you and I are worth the front page!" He grinned widely. Harry's eyes narrowed.

"Please remove your hands from me before they are permanently removed from your body," Harry said slowly. He was completely tense, his eyes flashing emeralds. Lockhart seemed completely unfazed by his tone, or perhaps he didn't hear him.

"I will be working at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in a month's time!" Lockhart declared. Harry murmured a soft "Oh Merlin."

Harry endured it for a total of three minutes before hitting Lockhart in the face with Defensive Items. Lockhart released him in surprise and Harry stalked back into the crowd, looking quite ruffled. The Weasleys had arrived soon after, heading to the front of the crowd with Mrs. Weasley.

"Famous Harry Potter can't even go into a bookstore without making the front page," Draco commented, his tone without malice, but his words biting. Harry growled.

"I hope that camera man publishes the last four seconds of that," he growled. Draco laughed.

"You mean when you hit him in the face?" Draco grinned.

"The idiot deserved it. He barely felt it. Hard-headed, he must be."

Draco smirked, but was cut off from replying by a cane on his shoulder. Lucius Malfoy stood behind him.

"Now, now, Draco. That's quite enough." He spoke in a cool voice. "Why… If it isn't Harry Potter." He offered his hand. "Lucius Malfoy."

Harry raised an eyebrow at the hand before lifting his own to shake it. "Harry Potter, as you know."

Lucius pulled him forward. "Forgive me, but… That scar… Is legend."

Harry frowned. What is with people and pulling him around today? He let Lucius part his hair and stare at the thin line, frowning. "So are dragons to muggles and muggle weapons to wizards. Not everything is as it seems, Mr. Malfoy." He grinned, his emerald eyes glinting. "You should take care as to see where your loyalties lie. Death is not merciful."

Lucius let Harry go as if he was burned by him. The elder wizard frowned and glanced at Arthur Weasley as Arthur came to collect Harry.

"Come on Harry, it's too crowded here, let's go," Arthur said.

"Well, well, well, Arthur Weasley…"

"Lucius," Arthur said curtly, a small frown on his face. Harry hurriedly paid for his items and slipped out of the bookstore, predicting the impending fight. Sure enough, a few seconds after he exited, there was an uproar in the bookstore.

"What was that about?" Ron asked, looking at Harry as the crowd dispersed. Harry shrugged.

"Lucius Malfoy provoking your father, I imagine," Harry said. Draco slipped out, righting himself.

"Honestly…" he said, scowling. He paused as the rest of the Weasley family, apart from Arthur and Molly exited the bookstore. Fred and George gave him a small grin each, but Ginny scowled. "You'd think my father had a schoolboy crush on Arthur Weasley."

"My mind has just been poisoned," Ron moaned. Harry snickered.

-0-

"Potter, where are you?" Draco asked. Harry glanced at the mirror around his neck and looked down over the Hogwarts Express. Ron had gotten the brilliant idea to fly the car to Hogwarts after Hedwig's cage refused to open. Harry had thrown up a barrier over the car to prevent it being seen by muggles.

"Uh… Flying…" Harry said. Draco frowned.

"Flying? But…"

"Yeah. Hang on." Harry threw open the door and looked down at the train. "Which cart are you in? Third or fourth?" He spoke over the roar of the wind, Ron doing his best to navigate with the wind pressure.

"Uh, fourth, but why?"

Harry didn't reply, landing smoothly on the top of the train. He steadied himself and started to run on top of the train, jumping down and landing between carts four and five. He knocked on the door for the fourth cart smoothly.

"Oh… Merlin!" Draco said after opening the door, looking horrified. Harry grinned.

"Surprise!" He said.

Harry had to make several trips to the car to get everything, but by the time they were finished, the Hogwarts Express was slowing down. Harry jumped down with Ron after Ron told the car to go home, landing smoothly on the platform. Several people jumped when he fell from the sky, but most of them ignored it.

"You're insane Potter. Absolutely insane," Draco said, walking towards the carriages. Harry followed him and hummed.

"I know. But we got here in one piece. And really, that's all that matters, right?" Harry said, parroting Draco's words from earlier.

"Great. I'll never be able to live that one down, will I?" Draco asked. Ron laughed.

To say that Hermione was stunned with the story of their travels was an understatement. Harry smiled a she yelled at them for doing such a dangerous thing and "what if you had been killed?!" along with "what if you had fallen to your deaths?!" worked their way into her shock. Harry knew it was just from worry though.

-0-

Harry swore, by the end of this, he would kill the human called Gilderoy Lockhart.

If his whole touchy feely business wasn't bad enough, apparently the human was asking for a death wish.

Lockhart had introduced himself when he entered the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom, grinning widely. Harry sat there, looking at the large stack of books. He hadn't even bothered to read the pile, as the first one he picked up looked like complete garbage. Really, Harry had better things to do than read the pile of Lockhart stroking his own ego.

Harry sat at his seat, flipping through the exam Lockhart had passed out. He glared hatefully at it, simply putting his name on the paper and leaving it on his desk, ignoring it. Draco, who was sitting behind him, looked at the packet nervously, slightly confused. Hermione was scribbling furiously, concentrating very hard on something. Ron was sweating, biting his lip.

Harry closed his eyes, sinking into his inner core. His Factor hummed quietly in his core, split half between Light and Dark. Harry sat down in front of his orb, looking at it calmly. Meditation came easily to him, Hogwarts responding to his call. Magic vibrated around his core, slowly being absorbed by his Factor.

"Harry?"

Harry stiffened, but slipped out of his inner core carefully. He opened his eyes.

Draco was looking at him, slightly concerned. Harry paused, slightly confused. This was the first time someone had interrupted him while he was meditating. The first time someone had noticed his state. Lockhart, apparently, had collected the papers, babbling something about people not knowing much about him.

Harry gazed at Draco, surprised. He smiled a little, wondering if it had just been a fluke or perhaps Draco had noticed because he was his friend. Or perhaps Draco was just magically powerful enough to notice.

He would have to test that out later.

"I'm fine." Harry said softly. Draco nodded, looking back at Lockhart. Harry turned forward, just as Lockhart had put a cage on a desk.

"Yes, Cornish Pixies," Lockhart declared proudly, pulling off the cloth covering the cage. Several students scooted back in their seats, but most students just looked a little bored.

Harry looked at the cage, a little apprehensive. Lockhart wasn't planning to…

"Let's see what you all make of them!" Lockhart declared, opening the cage.

The pixies shot out like bullets. Harry jerked back, springing to his feet in shock. That stupid little-!

Paper flew everywhere. Quills scattered as the students ran out the door, screaming. Harry remained in the classroom, swinging his books at the flying pixies. Hermione and Ron were both trying to knock the pixies out of the air. Draco ducked a particularly vicious pixie, which was flying around with something that looked sharp. Harry smacked it out of the air.

"Right well," Lockhart said, looking at the four left. "I'll leave you four to tidy up then." He brushed out of the room, portraits flying across the room by mischievous pixies.

"Can you believe that little-" Ron growled, knocking out a pixie that had started to pull on Hermione's hair.

"He's just trying to give us some hands on," Hermione protested, hitting another pixie. Harry rolled his eyes, but it was Draco who responded.

"Hands on?! He didn't have a bloody clue what he was doing!" Draco growled. "When my father hears about this-"

Hermione shot a spell into the center of the room. All the pixies froze. Harry was panting a little, looking murderous.

"Draco, I would not be opposed to having Lockhart fired within the first week of school," Harry said, glaring at the door where Lockhart had vanished to.

"Professor Lockhart, Harry," Hermione said.

"That man is no Professor," Harry growled.

-0-

Draco remained in a bad mood throughout the entire day. Not even Harry could cheer him up. Just as well, Harry looked murderous. Hermione looked excited regardless. Harry glared at her homework planner when he saw her drawing little hearts around Lockhart's time schedule.

Ron was openly ranting about Lockhart. Harry had chosen to ignore him, rather than snap at him in anger.

"Hey Harry!"

Harry blinked rapidly at the flash of light, still chewing his apple pie, paused in mid chew. He looked at the newcomer and frowned. Had he just gotten his picture taken?

"I'm Colin Creevey. I'm in Gryffindor too!" Colin said excitedly, the camera in his hand, a wide smile on his face. "I wanted to ask you… if I could take a picture of you and Professor Lockhart. And then, maybe you could… sign it?"

"No," Harry said, scowling. "I thought I already did get my picture taken with him for the Prophet."

Colin pulled out the newspaper and showed Harry the picture. Harry's lip twitched in amusement. Apparently, his picture had something against Lockhart as well, fighting against his grip and hitting him repeatedly with the book Defensive Items.

"I wanted a better picture," Colin admitted. Harry looked at him calmly before speaking.

"No Colin. I don't appreciate getting my picture taken," Harry said, shaking his head. "I'm just a student here."

"Potter!"

Harry turned to see Blaise offering a book to him. "Yes?"

"I heard you had bought a cursed cane-head. I thought you might appreciate the history behind it," Blaise said. Harry paused, taking the book.

"Thank you, Blaise," Harry said, tilting his head. He looked at the cover and spotted a picture of the cane head on the cover. "I'll return it when I finish it."

"How long have you had it?" Blaise asked. "The longest time someone's owned that cane head was one year."

"Two months," Harry said. Blaise nodded.

"Be careful, Potter," Blaise said. "Dark Artifacts are no joke. I would give it away as soon as I could, but Draco said you seemed pretty attached to it. So you won't do that, will you?"

"No, Blaise." Harry took another bite of his pie. "I won't just give it away. It's actually quite important to me."

Blaise shrugged, moving back to the Slytherin table. Most of the newer students started to whisper. Harry saw Pansy Parkinson confront Blaise, who simply shrugged at her furious face. Harry tore his eyes away from the Slytherin table, glancing at the book and traced the skull with a finger. He closed his eyes, the cane head pulsing warmly in response to his Factor.

"You bought a cursed cane-head?" Ron asked, apparently paying attention now. His rant was over.

"Yes," Harry said, reaching into his extendable sack, pulling out the cane head. He showed it to Ron and Hermione, smiling lightly. "I found it in Borgin and Burkes. It was pretty pricy, but worth every Galleon." He fingered the cool metal, placing his head against it, almost lovingly.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione looked worried. "Maybe we should tell Dumbledore about it…"

"Let me read the book about it first," Harry said. "I'm certain it won't harm me though."

"How are you so sure?" Hermione asked. Harry gave a mysterious smile.

"It's one of those things… That I find particularly fond of. A feeling, you could guess," Harry said softly. Hermione nodded slowly, but still looked doubtful.

"Mr. Potter," a voice said behind himself. Harry paused as he glanced behind himself.

"Yes?" Harry asked, looking at the Headmaster. His tone neither showed weakness nor apprehension. Dumbledore smiled a little.

"Ms. Parkinson has just informed me that you may carry a potentially dangerous artifact," Dumbledore said. "I would like to examine it."

Harry glanced at the Slytherin table, spotting Parkinson almost immediately, giving him a nasty grin. He looked up at Dumbledore and smiled a little.

"I don't know about dangerous, but that'll be fine." Harry stood up, leaving his plate still full of apple pie, glancing at Hermione and Ron. "I'll meet you back in the common room, okay?" He swung his book bag over his shoulder. Dumbledore looked pleased, nodding.

"Carrying dangerous things, are we Potter?" Snape said as they passed. "Potter's too good for the rules."

Harry ignored him and made his way up to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore said the password Jellybeans and the gargoyle jumped aside. There was an instant rush of wings and Fawkes swooped down, landing on the perch right next to Dumbledore's desk.

"This is Fawkes, Harry," Dumbledore said, stroking the bird's feathers. Fawkes crooned softly, looking very old and tired. The phoenix turned to look at Harry and Harry tipped his head at it.

"Hello, Fawkes," Harry said quietly. "Now then, you wanted to see the artifact?" He looked at Dumbledore and then reached into his pocket, taking out the cane head. "You shouldn't touch it, though I can. There is lingering magic in this object. Magic that should never have been introduced into this world." He smiled, holding it out to show Dumbledore. Dumbledore gave a sharp inhale.

"Where did you obtain such an object?" Dumbledore asked, his blue eyes not twinkling. He looked quite serious. "This has killed a fair couple of people, I'm sure you're aware."

"This draws out the darkness in your heart, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said softly, shaking his head. "It drives you mad with your own thoughts and feelings. It is not an item meant to be held by wizards. Muggles could hold it safely, as they do not have magic." He closed his hand on it, sighing deeply. "It is a precious item that belonged to someone who really mattered to me. It holds both power but responsibility. Duty and your true nature. Wizards and witches cannot hold it because of their magic. It will suck the magic right out of you and leave nothing but darkness."

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore said, looking at him, placing an arm on his shoulder. "I don't think you should be in possession of such a dangerous object."

"If not me, it will taint everyone in the school, Professor," Harry said. "Bringing it here with me is a better idea than leaving it to destroy Diagon Alley. Truthfully, this object probably hasn't been in the wizard world for very long, and it's already caused two wars. This object has been here for perhaps a hundred years." He smiled, sliding it back into his pocket. "Professor Dumbledore. You are a brilliant Headmaster. One of the best, if not the best Hogwarts has ever had. But you need to learn that in this world, you are only human. You make mistakes and there are things you do not understand. There is no one in this world that understands the balance like I do."

"Harry…" Dumbledore said softly. He looked a little shocked, old. Harry smiled a little.

"The world is a large place, Professor Dumbledore," Harry said softly. "Knowledge is not meant to be learned by everyone. But you are wise. I believe you can handle the knowledge of this universe. It is too early now to give it to you though."

"Harry… Where did you obtain this knowledge?" Dumbledore asked as Harry turned to leave. Harry paused and then looked at the Headmaster.

"From the universe, Headmaster. It has sung to me. Spoke to me. Asked for my assistance. And I willingly give it."

-0-

A/N: Read and Review, as always~