Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
I tried really hard to not use ideas from NoFP in this chapter, rewrote about halve of it, but just to be save: Some of the ideas in this chapter come from the story Nightmare of Futures Past by S'TarKan.
With the rewrite the elves were unfortunately moved to the next chapter, but I think this is my longest chapter yet so it makes up for that.
Big thanks to my springboard pbdp (het jou hoek lyn en sinker, mhahahahaha)
To my old and trusty beta Weasel Debater, keep up the good work.
Lastly a warm welcome and thank you to my new Beta sarini
Chapter 9 Duelling Fate
That afternoon after they got back from Hagrid Harry went up to his dorm to write letters to Ginny, Mrs. De Villiers and Master Li. His master still did not know of the magical world and Harry had instructed Hedwig to drop of the letters to him in the night in front of his door. Harry planned to tell him at Christmas when he would be visiting him. He wanted to share his world with his Master that did so much for him over the years. He reckoned that he had already told one muggle, another would not matter much. He could not care less about the stupid ministry and their regulations. Mrs De Viliers knew all about their new world and he knew she could not wait to hear back from her two favourite ex-students.
The letter to Ginny was where the real problem lied. It was very difficult to write to her; he was not supposed to know her yet and he had to remind himself that she was only ten. She was not the Ginny he had loved and lost. She was not his Ginny. He did not want to scare her away. He wrote a letter that he hoped would start a bond of friendship. In his letter he thanked her again for helping him on the platform and told her about what happened in the week that had past. He was quite surprised to see how long it was once it was finished.
'To who's the novel mate?' Ron asked when Harry pasted himself in the common room chairs.'
'Oh, I met this really nice girl on the platform the day we came here; we decided to become quill palls.' Harry answered.
'What's your girlfriends name Harry?' Neville asked with a grin.
'She is not my girlfriend. Harry answered with a blush and could not help adding the word "yet" in his mind. 'She is a girl that is my friend, kind of like Hermione. Her name is Ginny.'
'Oi, that is my sister.' Ron said sitting straight, eyeing Harry.
'Oh, I didn't know that.' Harry lied, feeling horrible as he did it. 'Looks like all Weasleys are the nicest people there are. I'm starting to love your family Ron.'
Harry thought about all the Weasleys he had known in his other life, not everything was bad about it. He did have good times. The twins alone had a whole section in Harry's mind that was patronus worthy.
Ron did not say anything more – how could he complain after a compliment like that – his ears did start to glow a little red though.
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That Sunday morning they started their training bright and early. Harry led his three friends at slow jog around the Hogwarts Lake. Harry was planning to work towards the level of fitness he had in his other live. After all the years of training under the guidance of Master Li, Harry had become a bit obsessed with physically training his body. His obsession is what led him to the discovery of bodymagic. His memories of the Hit Wizard squad in his other life spurred him on even further. He could clearly remember how it affected their efficiency and power during the war. They had more agility and could duck and dodge curses more easily, sometimes seemingly without any effort. Moody had tried to drill it into Harry before he died but it was too little too late. Harry often trained with the military wizards in an effort to make up for what he lacked. Unfortunately he never got to the level that the war required. Because of their lack of skills he and his friends suffered injury after injury till their numbers slowly decreased. Harry often blamed some of their losses on their fear to get up close to the enemy and fight dirty.
Somehow, Harry would have to teach that to his friends this time, without them getting suspicious of him. He intended for his friends to be able to defend themselves the best way he knew how. If he had to form Dumbledore's Army all over again in this timeline, then he intended to make it an army in more than just name. He really regretted that he did not continue with the DA in his sixth year, maybe if he did, more would have responded the night Dumbledore died. Starting the DA again would take a lot of planning and some mild deception. This worried him because he had realized that he was rubbish at sticking to a plan and he hated to lie to his friends. His whole situation was starting to wear on him. He was just so tired of it all. He wanted out desperately; having the safety of the future world rest on your shoulders was indeed a heavy burden to bear.
His friends panting behind him made him look back and drew him out of his thoughts. He saw they were starting to tire. He realized all of them were breathing hard. Neville's face was pale and sweaty and it seemed like he just couldn't catch his breath. Nonetheless, his three friends were following him even if they were about to pass out. Hermione surprisingly was the fittest of the lot and could almost keep up with Harry's pace. Harry slowed his pace to the immense relief of his three weary friends. He led them at a fast walk back to the castle as a cool down. Harry did not want his friends to cramp up after their first day. That would only discourage them and Harry could not afford that; his friends needed to be in top shape for his plans to work.
They cleaned up, showered and went to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were the only ones there that early in the morning but the food appeared the moment they sat down. 'House elves really were wonderful creatures,' Harry thought with a smile, wondering if SPEW would see the light in this time line.
After they had finished he led them to a secluded spot on the lakeshore. He was not yet ready to give away the location of the room of requirements. As yet he still had to start his training in the Dark Arts but his unexpected visits to the infirmary interfered with his planning. He was also starting to think that it would be safer to wait until he got his invisibility cloak before he started to sneak around the castle.
Harry started off by teaching them the disarming charm Expelliarmus. He reckoned they must first build up their magical strength before attempting to protect their minds with magic. If their magic was still unstable it could be dangerous. Teaching them this "simple" spell was more difficult and took a lot longer to do than Harry had expected. He could not blame his friends though; they only had a week of magical education and could not possibly be expected to grasp their magic yet. They needed to get used to how it felt to use their magic. They needed to discover the flow of energy that was hidden inside of them. He did not know how he could speed up the process. 'I guess only practise will do that,' he thought.
His friends were exhausted after their efforts. Only Hermione had managed the spell after an hour of trying. Although she was used to using her magic, she still had trouble using her wand as she was more accustomed to doing everything wandlessly. They all lay on the grass under a tree looking at the clouds.
'Harry,' Hermione said after a while, 'how do you know all this stuff you want to teach us?'
'I read a lot, you know that,' Harry answered still looking at the sky.
'Yes, but I also do a lot of reading – in fact more than you – and I still don't know half of it.'
'I don't know, Mione, I just do, and I have an affinity for defence I guess,' Harry tried to answer nonchalantly; inside he was nervous as hell. She really was the smartest witch he had ever met.
'She's right, Har, how do you do some of the things you do? That thing you did on the train was amazing,' Ron joined in.
'Yeah, wandless magic is supposedly incredibly difficult,' Neville said. 'Me Gran once told me that only the most skilled sorcerers like Dumbledore could do it.'
'Don't know, it's not that difficult. Right Hermione, you just focus your magic and channel it through your fingers instead of your wand. We've been doing it for years now,' Harry shrugged.
'That's another thing,' Hermione started again, sounding a little angry. 'Why are you holding back in class? I know you can do all those things in your sleep, and without a wand at that, but you act as if you barely have a grasp of magic. Why do you let me get all the credit in class?'
'You're a brilliant witch, Hermione. You deserve all the credit you get. I mean, you learn everything so fast; it took me years to get some of the things you figure out in seconds. I'll never be as clever as you. Besides, I would sort of feel like cheating if I did it in class. I mean, I did have about six years of a head start,' Harry answered.
'What do you mean, Harry?' Neville asked.
'Well I made myself a wand, so actually I have years of practise while you are just starting out now.'
'That would explain a lot,' Ron said sounding almost relieved. 'You were really starting to freak me out with some of the things you do; I couldn't understand how you did it. It makes sense that you would have more skills considering you have been using magic a lot longer than we have.'
'Yeah,' Neville agreed.
'Well you'll soon be just as good as me, if you just keep practicing. The more you use magic, the easier it is to use. Once you are comfortable using your own power there really isn't a limit to what you can do. I mean I can do wandless magic, I'm a metamorphmagus, an animagus, an excellent Occlumens and I'm starting to grasp Legimency, not to mention all the alternative magic Hermione and I discovered, oh and there's the whole snake thing.'
The friends just nodded, astounded by their friend. He did not brag with his skills; he was rather encouraging them to improve themselves. Harry did not notice his friends' reactions and continued talking.
'Oh by the way, Neville, Amberile asked if you could get her some of the treats you give to Trevor. Apparently, the little snake has developed an appetite for it. She said that seeing as she's a reformed "person" now, it would not do to steal a poor toad's food.
Neville just laughed at that. 'Sure mate, who can deny that pretty lady anything. You're so whipped. Besides, I know she'll hiss your ears off your head till I get it for you. You really should have gotten a less chatty snake.'
'Don't let her hear you – she might just decide to drop all of her good intentions and bite you. Believe me, it would not be nice. I still haven't managed to brew an antidote for her venom,' Harry laughed back.
'It's not nice to threaten your friends with a poisonous magical snake, Harry,' Hermione mockingly scolded, joining in the fun with this pretence.
'Well then, I would propose that you not insult her. She really is a sensitive soul,' Harry answered with a wicked grin. The friends all started laughing, enjoying the day together.
They did not know that they were being watched the entire time they were outside by a tabby cat with markings around her eyes.
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Harry was particularly careful when classes resumed on Monday. The situation with Snape and Malfoy was deteriorating far faster than he remembered from the other time line. He had hoped the incident on the train would have encouraged the Slytherin to reconsider his path. Instead, it must have infuriated the pureblood so much that he made double the effort to be the most hateful person Harry had ever met. Snape's repeated failures to violate Harry's mind seemed to have also set the professor on the warpath.
Harry was thankful that he only had to deal with them in the potions class. The rest of the time he tried to avoid them, which was fairly easy considering his knowledge of the castle.
As Thursday arrived and their time for their first flying lesson got closer, Harry was still wondering what he should do. He nervously played with his food as he debated with himself. 'Retrieving Neville's Remembrall in my other life had gotten me a spot on the Quidditch team as the seeker. On the other hand, Neville had to fall off his broom and break his wrist.' Harry did not want to change events this early. However, he doubted if his spot on the Quidditch team was really that important. He enjoyed playing the game and flying immensely, even though he had not gotten to play since that last pick-up game at The Burrow before he went of to find those cursed Horcruxes.
Harry clenched his jaw. 'To hell with bloody Fate!' he thought with resolve. 'I'm not going let my friend get hurt, even if it is just a broken wrist.' He still had conflicting ideas fighting each other. 'Anyway,' he tried to convince himself. 'If I change things too much, well, they could hardly turn out worse, could they?' He truly did not know if it could get worse but he really hoped not. 'As long as I don't completely mess up and blow my cover, I'll change as much as I can, and Merlin helps anyone that tries to threaten my friends this time around.'
'Hey mate, are you ok?'
Harry blinked and looked up into Ron's concerned blue eyes. 'Wha…?' he asked still stuck in his thoughts. Then he registered what Ron asked. 'Oh, I was just thinking a bit.'
His friend frowned. 'Your not worrying about the flying lesson, are you?' Ron asked in a comforting tone. 'It's really a lot easier than it looks. I mean with all your other talents it would hardly be a problem to learn how to fly.'
He glanced over at Hermione who was frantically paging through Quidditch Through the Ages, trying in vain to grasp the secret of flying before the lesson'She would never change in that regard,' Harry smiled faintly at that thought.
'Bill and Charlie said that their muggle-born friends all started off really nervous, but ended up doing great. However, Fred and George complain that the school brooms start to vibrate if you fly too high, or always fly slightly to the left. So you should still be careful. Then again with the stuff they do on brooms you could hardly blame the broom for bucking a bit.' Ron laughed.
Harry looked over at his other friend Neville, but the timid boy was staring down at his plate, not eating anything, only playing with his food. He wanted to reassure his friend that he would do fine; he would make sure that Neville did fine.
Neville, as if in a spot and caught up in his own world of fear and doubt, did not register that. 'My gram never let me on a broom at home. She was afraid I would break my neck, or any bone for that matter.' Any questions Harry had about interfering on his shy friend's behalf were wiped away by the hopeless and worried look on his friend's face. Fate would have to alter her plans.
'I've never flown either, Nev,' Harry said, while adding in his head,'in this life.' It was another of those little lies that came down to relativity. Harry was starting to hate them, even if they were necessary. At his moment he would say or do anything to reassure his friend. 'We're in the same boat really. I don't have an advantage like in the other classes and I don't think this is something you can learn from a book. Ron will have to show us how it's done. He's the expert of the day.'
Neville nodded and began to tentatively take bites of his food. Ron's ears went pink at the praise, but he did not seem to want to show off as much as Harry remembered. They were even spared that ridiculous hang glider story he had told Harry in the previous time line.
The arrival of a barn owl cheered Neville slightly. It had brought him a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.
'It's a Remembrall!' he explained. 'Gran knows I forget things—this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red—oh...' his face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, '... you've forgotten something...'
'There is a spell I can put on it so that instead of red smoke, it will show you a picture of whatever you've forgotten.' Harry offered. 'Just don't forget where the Remembrall is.'
'Would you? I'd really appreciate that. I can never remember what I forgot.'
'No prob, Nev.'
At that moment Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, snatched the Remembrall out of his hands. This time Harry did not even bother to get up and he gestured for Ron to stay seated.
'Malfoy, I warned you on the train, I've got an AK specially reserved for you.' With that, Harry summoned the Remembrall out of the ferret's hands.
Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash. 'What's going on?'
Harry answered. 'Draco and I were just having a little chat but I think he will be leaving now. Isn't that right?'
Scowling, Malfoy quickly left for the Slytherin table, Crabbe and Goyle trailing behind him.
'Harry,' Hermione asked in shock. 'Why did you threaten him like that?'
'That wasn't a threat. That was a promise.' he answered coldly thinking of how Ginny died again.
Before Hermione could say more though, Hedwig swooped down with two letters attached to her leg. Harry's face brightened when he saw from who they were. They were letters from Mrs. De Villiers and Ginny. Harry did not mind showing his letter from his old teacher to Hermione, but the one from Ginny he did not want to share with his friends. They were still taunting him for writing to a girl he had only met once. They also seemed a little upset about what had transpired between Draco and himself just now. He got up and went to Gryffindor tower to read his letter in private.
The arrival of the letters totally changed his mood and that confused him. Why would one letter affect him so much? He thought he would be happy to receive letter from Ginny once again, but at the moment he felt incredibly sad.
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At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns towards a smooth lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.
Harry's heart could not help but leap as they walked to their first lesson. He loved flying – the feeling of absolute freedom, no pressure or expectations, just open air and space. It had been such a long time since his last flight that he did not even mind the creaky old school broom. He caught Ron's eye as they approached the Slytherins gathered around the broomsticks.
'We must keep a sharp eye out today, be on alert,' he whispered to Ron.
The redhead just frowned at him confused. Harry rolled his eyes, still whispering he explained, 'I don't trust the Slytherins. Most of them are nasty little brats.'
Understanding dawned on Ron and he gave a curt nod. Harry made sure he was walking in the middle of Neville and Hermione when they arrived.
Madam Hooch's introduction went the same as he remembered; she still had short grey hair and yellow eyes like a hawk.
'Well, what are you all waiting for?' she barked. 'Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up.'
Harry glanced down at his broom. It was old and some of the twigs stuck out at odd angles. This was definitely not his Firebolt; he missed that broom so much. It had been broken in one of the battles during the war. Trying to escape on a broken broom was not a fun experience.
'Stick out your right hand over your broom,' called Madam Hooch at the front, 'and say 'Up'!'
'UP!' Everyone shouted.
Harry's broom jumped into his hand at once, but again it was one of the few that did. Hermione's and Neville's had simply rolled over on the ground.
'Neville, Hermione…' Harry whispered, 'just say up, not in a commanding tone, I mean... just say it?'
They both gave him a confused look before replying.
'What do you mean?' Hermione asked but Neville just tried it and immediately his broom jumped into his hand.
'Oh, I see,' she said and also did the same, then looked back at the grinning Harry and thanked him.
'No big,' Harry replied happily.
Clearly, confidence had something to do with one's flying ability because Neville had managed to summon his broom a lot quicker this time around.
Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry, Ron and Neville were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.
As they prepared to take off, Harry put a reassuring hand on Neville's shoulder. 'Calm down, Nev, take it slowly. You won't be left behind, you'll do fine and I'll be right there with you. We have your back mate. Make sure you don't kick off too hard okay,' he said quietly. 'We don't want you zooming through the clouds.' As a reply Neville just nodded with a nervous smile.
This time Neville kept it under control and only raised a couple of feet into the air. Madam Hooch had them repeat the exercise a few times until everyone was comfortable. Then she began to explain how to turn and he and Neville both turned smoothly.
This was really boring for Harry. He wanted to experience the sense of freedom he always felt when he was zooming through the sky at brake neck speeds. Hovering on an old school broom was agony.
Harry smiled at the relieved Neville. 'See, it isn't that difficult.'
'No it's not, I think that I actually enjoy flying, maybe I can ask Gran for a broom this Christmas.'
Madam Hooch let them now fly around a bit so they could get a better feel for flying. Harry and Neville slowly went up higher and higher as Neville gained more confidence. They were up quite high when Neville's Remembrall slipped out of his pocket.
Harry immediately plunged after it. It was an instinct born out of years of playing Quidditch. He sped forward, leaning downwards and gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball, the wind whistled in his ears, mingled with the screams of people watching. He stretched out his hand and a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom up, flying back to the stunned Neville with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.
'Here you go, Nev,' Harry smiled.
Before Neville could thank him, Harry saw Draco crashing into Hermione knocking her of her broom. Harry's blood went cold, Madam Hooch's back was turned to them and she would not be able to save Hermione. He did not have time to panic. He immediately went into action mode; years of fighting in the war had taught him that. He flew as fast as he could towards the falling Hermione and at the same time he pushed as much of his power as he could into the levitation spell wandlessly. He did not even think of hiding his power or using his wand – he was working purely on instinct.
Hermione slowed considerably, but he could not make her stop falling. She hit the ground with a thud. She had knocked her head on a rock and was unconscious and had broken her left leg. Harry landed beside her only a few seconds later. By the time the startled teacher reached them, he had already preformed the preliminary first aid charms. All without a wand.
Hermione was secured on a spine board with a neck brace Harry had conjured out of thin air; he also splinted her leg and was busy doing a pain relief charm.
The whole time while he was busy, he muttered. 'Not again, not again. I can't handle losing you again. I won't let it happen, Fate can't have you. Not again, not again…'
'Harry,' someone said touching his shoulder. It was McGonagall. Harry did not know when she had arrived but he was relieved to see her.
Looking up at her, his hands started shaking violently as shock set in. He was as pale as a sheet. She took his hand and pulled him up and with her wand she started to levitate the stretcher with Hermione on it. 'Come, Harry, we must get you both to the hospital wing.
'I should have been faster. I should have been able to stop her. I failed her.' Harry said in barely a whisper.
'Harry, you saved her life.' McGonagall said gently. Harry did not hear his head of house he just kept on berating himself for his lack of skill. 'It's all my fault, it's all my fault, it's all my fault…'
Harry was numb. He had tried to consciously do things differently, but Fate pushed back, letting events unfold just like the previous time only Hermione got hurt instead. 'Did this mean that fate was a spiteful bitch that didn't liked to be changed?' Did he cause Hermione's injury by trying to change things? 'Was everything going to happen the same way again?' It seemed like he had made a difference already with Neville, actually in all of his friends, but was he just fooling himself? Were his friends' changed attitudes not going to make a difference … were all of his friends still going to die defending him? Was he only making their fates worse?
He was operating pretty much on autopilot as McGonagall led him along the corridors to the infirmary.
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Professor McGonagall was lost in her own thoughts.
She could not get the events of the day out of her head. She had seen the whole thing happening. She was keeping an eye on Harry just like she had promise the headmaster. She had seen how gently Harry had encouraged the shy insecure boy Neville. 'He was really a good friend for that boy.' This was supposedly the first time that Harry had ever ridden a broom but he looked as if he had been doing it for years, giving advice and helping the others. She had almost had a heart attack when he had caught Neville's Remembrall, but he did that without a thought, as if he did that every day for fun. At that moment she was all excited about finding a new seeker for her house Quidditch team.
And then it happened.
Hermione fell from her broom at a considerable height. This would most surely have killed the girl if Harry did not step in. It all happened so quickly she did not even have time to transform into her human form and try to help. What was amazing was that Harry did an extraordinarily powerful levitation charm without a wand. He was not even supposed to know that spell yet. First years usually learned the ordinary levitation charm, but the charm that was specifically for levitating living beings was much more advanced and difficult. What was even odder was his knowledge of first aid and healing charms. Moreover, it did not look like this was the first time he had to do something like that. He did that with the skill of a practised mediwizard – still without even thinking of using his wand.
When they reached the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey commended her for the precautions she took to stabilise and securing Hermione. The nurse was very surprised when she shook her head and pointed to the muttering boy beside her.
She really did not understand why Harry was reacting so strangely. He kept blaming himself, criticising himself over and over again. He did not seem to notice anything around him. He did not respond when she talked to him. In an effort to get his attention she stood right in front of him, her hands on his shoulders, and looked him straight in the eyes. What she saw there really scared her. Those eyes looked so hollow, so haunted, and so very afraid. She saw such mental torment. What on earth could have caused this boy so much pain, self-loathing and fear? He looked absolutely lost and somehow very old and tired.
Why did he blame himself for something he had no part in? He saved his friend's life. He was a hero, but he acted as if he had pushed the girl of that broom himself.
Initially, he did not want to be treated. They had to reassure him several times that his friend was fine before he would let them near him. He insisted that there was nothing wrong with him and that his friend needed attention, not him. He still was as white as a ghost and shaking as if he was in a fit. It took two calming draughts before he stopped shaking, and then he still continued blaming himself over and over again.
After a while his tone started to change. It sounded so hateful and filled with malice. It did not make any sense though. He said something about him killing a ferret with his bare hands this time. How could you kill something twice, and why did he want to kill a ferret anyway? That was really scary to hear.
He absolutely refused to take a sleep potion. Eventually, they had to stun him to give him the potion. Apparently he had something against that potion and this was not the first time he had refused it. They decided to force it on him because the calming potion did not seem to work and they could not give him more of it. They were also starting to fear that he would hurt himself or others in that state.
Madam Pompfrey was actually more concerned over Harry than she was over Hermione. She could easily heal broken bones and concussions. Harry's condition though…
Harry was in a state of severe shock. It was strange, he had been totally calm and in control while things were happening, but the moment he had seen her and she had taken over the situation, he lost it.
Harry needed help, she knew that. He seriously needed help. The only thing was… she did not know how to go about getting it for him. They really did not know what was wrong with him and she knew Dumbledore would never consent to Harry leaving the castle to get a better diagnosis. She was slowly loosing her trust in his judgement; she would follow his orders for now but would use more discretion when reporting back.
She also had the suspicion that Harry would not acknowledge that he had a problem and would also refuse any help.
The biggest problem was that Poppy was not qualified to deal with psychological problems. She was a great healer but this was beyond her skill.
McGonagall knew Dumbledore would say that they needed more information to make a better decision. For now she would try to build up a better bond with the boy. Maybe if he trusted her he would open up a bit around her.
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Harry woke up the next day at around ten in the morning. He had a colossal headache and he knew that was the after-effect of the dreamless sleep potion. He felt slightly annoyed that they had forced it into him but he had kind of lost it. At that moment he was back in his old life, he had relived all of his friends' deaths. It had been so real; it was not like his dreams. It had felt like he actually was there again. He also felt so powerless at that moment; he had felt like all his efforts were in vain. Fate would not allow him to change things. He would have to live through everything again; he would loose everything and everyone again. They would all die and it would be his fault entirely and he was powerless to stop it.
He also felt frustrated with his body. If he were at his former power level he would have been able to prevent Hermione from hitting the ground.
Maybe it was a good thing that they had restrained him. He was so angry and out of it that he would have killed Draco in cold blood if he had come across him. He felt that his soul was already blackened by all the Death Eaters he had killed, and he knew he would have to kill more people before this was over. 'Better not start the killing at eleven, the longer I can wait, the better.' He looked around him and saw Hermione in the bed next to him.
'I see you've decided to wake up,' She smiled at him.
'Yeah, but I feel like crap. How are you?' he asked. He was immensely relieved to see that she was fine.
'I have a very big headache and my leg is still a little bit sore but considering what happened I'm just fine.'
'I'm very glad your okay, Mione. I was so worried about you. I'm so sorry I didn't stop you from falling,' he apologized.
'Harry, you saved my life, why on earth are you apologizing to me? I'm the one that should be thanking you, you're a hero.'
'No, I'm not. I should have been keeping a closer eye on you. I should have…'
'Harry, no!' Hermione interrupted him. 'You couldn't have done anything to prevent this. Bad things happen. We must learn how to deal with it. It was not your fault. I don't want you to blame yourself; you're not responsible for what happened.'
Harry just shook his head. She would not convince him that easily. She did not know how much this was a result of his interference with Fate.
'You know you scared everyone badly. They were more worried about you than they were about me.'
'Really? Why?' Harry asked confused.
'Oh, Harry,' Hermione said.
'What?'
'Never you mind,' she answered with a smile. 'You know you're one of the best friends ever.'
Harry smiled back at her. 'Well at least one good thing came out of this whole thing.'
'And what, pray tell, is that?' she asked
'We're missing potions,' he answered with an evil grin.
'You know you're really insufferable sometimes. What if we missed something important today?'
'I seriously doubt that,' he answered. 'So, when will we be able to blow this joint?'
'I'm not sure,' she answered.
They lay there and chatted almost the entire morning. Later on Professor McGonagall and Oliver Wood came to visit.
'Potter, this is Oliver Wood. He is the captain of the house Quidditch team,' Professor McGonagall said. Harry tried to arrange his face as if he did not know why on earth she would be introducing him to Wood.
'Harry, you're a natural flyer. I've never seen anything like what you did yesterday when you caught that thing Neville dropped in mid air. Was that your first time on a broomstick?'
Harry nodded silently, a necessary fib to preserve the time line.
'Ever seen a game of Quidditch, Potter?' Wood asked excitedly.
Harry shook his head. It would not do to talk about games and a world cup that had not happened yet.
'You're just the build for a seeker,' said Wood, staring at Harry. 'Light, speedy, we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor, a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say.'
'I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first year rule. Heaven knows we need a better team than last year. Flattened in the last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks...'
Harry had just become the youngest Seeker in about a century. Again. He never imagined getting to play Quidditch would cause him to feel this much dread, did this mean that Fate could not be change? Was she a bitter bitch, set on her course?
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'You're joking.'
Harry and Hermione were discharged just before dinnertime. Harry had just finished telling Ron and Neville what had happened in the infirmary when Professor McGonagall had visited him. Ron had a piece of steak and kidney pie halfway to his mouth, but he'd forgotten all about it.
'Seeker?' he said. 'But first years never…you must be the youngest house player in about…'
'A century,' said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry. 'Wood told me.'
Ron was so amazed, so impressed. He just sat and gaped at Harry.
'I start training next week,' said Harry. 'Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret.'
Fred and George Weasley came into the hall, when they spotted Harry they quickly hurried over.
'Well done, Harry,' said George in a low voice. 'Wood told us. We're on the team too. We're the Beaters.'
'I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year,' said Fred. 'We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us.'
'Anyways, we've got to go; Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school.'
'Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you.'
Harry smiled at the twins; he remembered all the times he snuck out of school using that very same passage. He wish he had the marauder's map but knew there were no way the twins would part with it at present; hopefully they would still give it to him in his third year.
Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up – Malfoy, flanked by the two gorillas Crabbe and Goyle.
Even with his desire to avoid tempting Fate again, Harry did not want to rise to the bait when Malfoy tried to trick him into agreeing to a duel during dinner. Harry had finally decided that he did not want his friends involved in his end of year confrontation with Voldemort. If he agreed they would run into Fluffy again. He could not let that happen. He did not want Ron to get hurt like the last time he went after the stone. Neville was also an unknown factor; they were not such close friends in the first year the previous time. What would happen if he went along on that quest?
'You're a coward, attacking a girl when no one is watching,' Harry hissed after another nasty comment Draco made about Hermione.
'I'm not the one that went insane when someone got hurt. I bet you'll faint when you see blood. You're really pathetic, Potter.'
'You have no idea what you're talking of Malfoy. If you had any idea what I've seen in my live, what I'd been force to do, you'd piss in your pants and be a twitching heap.'
'That's big words for someone that doesn't want to duel.'
'I've never liked violence. It truly doesn't achieve anything except destruction and heartache. Anyway your girlfriends would feel left out.' Harry pointed at the two gorillas behind Draco.
'I'd take you on any time, on my own,' said Malfoy. 'Tonight midnight, if you dare.'
'You're really not going to drop it till I accept?' Harry asked annoyed. Draco just did not want to take no for an answer.
'No I'm not. You accused me of cowardice but don't want to accept a duel.'
'I'm not afraid of losing; I'm afraid I might forget myself and kill you.' Harry did not say that aloud, he projected it straight into Draco's mind with Legilimency. 'I really don't like killing people but for you I'm willing to make an exception. It really doesn't matter to me if I kill you now or later, it would just be such a bother having to escape from Azkaban. I'm planning to stay in school for a bit longer and that would interfere with my plans.'
Draco paled at this unexpected intrusion.
'Of course, just wondering if you'd chicken out?' Harry said aloud, watching Draco's reaction. 'If you want a true Wizard's duel, how about one in front of the whole school? I can make arrangements with Dumbledore. We can duel tomorrow after dinner, here in the Hall, in front of everyone,' Harry said as Draco's face paled even more.
'Go ahead,' he whispered thinking that Harry was bluffing.
'As you wish,' Harry turned around, and headed over to the headmaster.
'Excuse me, Professor Dumbledore, are students allowed proper wizard duels at Hogwarts? Ones that are watched over by the staff, and school?' Harry asked as Dumbledore looked back at him curiously.
'Of course, there are a few rules to the school duels though; naturally the three unforgivable curses aren't allowed. Standard ministry regulations apply. I doubt that would be a problem with you first years,' Dumbledore explained and Harry nodded smiling at the comment about the unforgivables. He turned back to Malfoy, who was still standing there staring back at him in shock. Harry turned back to Dumbledore.
'Sir, Draco Malfoy has just challenged me to a dual. Though I don't like fighting I've accepted. The problem is that he suggested a duel for tonight around midnight, but that would be after hours. I would hate to lose my house points for unsanctioned fighting and being out of bounds. I was just wondering if you would allow us to dual tomorrow after dinner, here in the hall?' Harry asked.
Dumbledore smiled but was a little concerned, it seemed every time he thought he had young Harry figured out, something would pop up and he had to work on a new theory. Harry always acted strangely adult. Any "normal" first year would just have snuck out at night without a second thought about the rules and house points. Yet here was Harry asking permission for a formal dual. He was curious of what would happen in this dual and decided to allow it. It was not standard to let first years fight; they usually did not know enough to even merit a try. He knew Draco had extensive home schooling and Harry had…he did not really know, but it would be interesting.
'Of course, I would like to see what you'll do,' he said as he stood up to speak to all the students.
'Everyone, I have just received some news. Those who have nothing to do tomorrow evening after dinnertime, feel free to stay down here in the hall. We are having an official Wizarding duel between Mr. Potter and Mr. Malfoy, although a few rules do apply. The dual ends when the first wizard is disarmed, not when the first wizard dies.'
'You understand that right?' Dumbledore asked softly, a bit worried.
Harry nodded, 'Unfortunately, yes.'
'Very well, we will be looking forward to the duel,' Professor Dumbledore said as everyone in the Great Hall began to whisper and talking excitedly.
'Harry, I thought you said you didn't like fighting, why then your answer?' Dumbledore asked in a whisper only Harry could hear over the noise of the hall.
'That little ferret almost killed one of my friends, but he doesn't seem sorry at all. It also seems as if he is going to get away with it because there weren't any witnesses except for me. He and his little minions claim it was a freak accident. However, I ask you to consider, if he is capable of attempted murder at eleven, what will he be willing to do in the future? Also remember who the boy's father is,' with that Harry walked back towards Draco, who looked like he was about to faint from shock.
'See you on the battlefield. No seconds. Good luck.' Harry whispered as the Slytherin took a few steps back slowly, before glaring at him.
'Yes, good luck indeed, Potter. You'll need it,' he said as he smirked at Harry, before walking away. This last attempt at bravado looked laughable considering his pale face.
'Harry! Why'd you do that? We don't know enough magic yet!' Ron said as Harry sat back down at the table.
'I know a few spells that can knock him off his feet for a while,' Harry said as he took a bite of his now cold pie. 'Anyway you know that I know a lot more than I'm letting on.'
'Harry, what you did... that was pretty smart.' Harry looked up to see Hermione standing there. It surprised him; he thought she would be the least happy of his friends.
'Thanks,' Harry said 'It's a lot better then wandering around the school at night, and I won't lose Gryffindor any points if I'm caught. Not to mention if Malfoy backs out, he'll look like a bloody idiot. You know I'm doing this for you, don't you?' Harry smiled as Hermione sat down beside him.
'Thanks, Har, but you know you really don't have to do it,' Hermione said as she helped herself to a piece of pie.
'No, I really do, I can't let him hurt the people I love and get away with it,' Harry answered sombrely.
Hermione started to blush.
'That goes for Neville and Ron as well. I really do love all of you. You're the first and best friends I've ever had and I will not let anything bad happen to you.' Not this time…
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The next morning Harry got up early, before his friends awoke. He quickly scribbled a note to Ron telling him not to come looking for him as he wanted the day alone to prepare for his duel with Draco. It was a Saturday so he would have the whole day for himself.
He then showered and snuck out to the room of requirements. The room was the same as it was for the DA meetings. He was very pleased, this meant he did not need to sneak his books up there. He had only to ask the room and a copy of the book he wanted and it would appear. He also saw a new addition. There was a practise dummy in the middle of the floor. That would be very useful.
He took a few select books from the shelf and settled himself on the pile of cushions. He needed a couple of low level jinxes. He did not want to use the high-level curses he knew. His objective was not to hurt Draco. No, that could wait. He wanted to scare the little brat. He wanted Draco to piss his pants. He wanted to humiliate him so bad that he would not dare show his ugly face for a week.
Harry found some interesting stuff. One passage was specifically insightful. He read that the Cruciatus curse worked on the same principle as a simple tickling charm. If he could vary his intent while doing the tickling charm, the result would be the same as that evil curse. It would not be nearly as painful, but it would be painful enough to leave Draco screaming for mercy. All the students would think Draco could not even handle a light tickling charm.
Harry knew that was nasty, but he really did not care. Years in battle had hardened him.
Another useful spell he found he could modify was the confundus charm. Harry could change it so it would almost work as the imperious curse. He did not think he would use that one, but it was still useful to know.
Years ago he would have had a problem with using Unforgivable curses or modified spells to achieve the same purpose. Yet that day in the ministry when Sirius had died he had crossed over a line he could never get back over again. The moment he cast that pain curse on Belliatrix he had lost his innocence. From there everything just snowballed and he was forced to use nasty and sometimes illegal means to survive. Not that there were any laws at that time, there wasn't even a ministry.
Just as he was getting stuck in his negative thoughts, Hedwig arrived in the room with a letter for him. Harry did not know how she had gotten in there, but he was so glad and surprised to see her that he did not even think about that.
She had brought him a letter from Ginny. That was enough to cheer him for the rest of the day.
She said she was ever so surprised to receive letters from him. She really didn't expect him to write to her. Boys usually forgot stuff like that and he did not even know her that well. She was still surprised that he was the Harry Potter. Everything happened so fast on that day that they never introduced themselves properly. She did not have a lot to write about as the Burrow was a boring place without the boys to liven it up. But she expressed her hope that he would write to her again and promised him that her next letter would be longer.
Harry hoped that she was slowly becoming his friend. He did not want to repeat that embarrassing butter dish incident in this life.
To regain his focus after reading the letter he worked trough some of his katas. He needed to centre himself again. He concentrated on his breathing and fluent motions. He let his magic flow through his body using his bodymagic. Once he was focused, again he started to practice his magic. When he was tired, he would take breaks and play his guitar a bit before he continued practicing his fighting skills.
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The evening came quite quickly, and Harry was surprised to see that nearly everyone in the school had stayed behind in the hall. The staff table was promptly banished to create a duelling platform. It was the same size as a standard competition platform. Professor Flitwick would be the judge because he was an excellent duellist himself and knew all the rules that applied to a "friendly" match.
Dumbledore's loud voice could be heard over the excited students in the hall.
'Students, settle down, settle down,' he said. Once everyone was silent he motioned to the two opponents. 'Harry, Draco, please take your positions on the platform. The duel will begin in three minutes. As you all know, this duel will have no seconds. The teachers and I have decided that whoever wins this duel will earn their house fifty house points.'
At that the Hall was a buzz once again. Gryffindor and Slytherin could not believe their luck. Fifty points would help either house a lot in the competition for the house cup. The question was who would it be …? Once it was silent again Dumbledore continued.
'This is truly a great opportunity to prove your worth to your houses and I hope you do us proud. We as teachers will also be able to see how well the first years have advanced in the last few weeks.'
Harry hurried to the front, and heard a cry of loud cheering come from the Gryffindor table as he walked down the row; the Slytherins of course were booing him. Harry watched as Draco walked onto the platform, the Slytherins cheered, but it was covered by the booing from the remaining three houses.
'Scared Potter? Please don't faint when it gets nasty.' Draco sneered.
'You little ferret.'
Harry took in the professional duelling stance, his body slightly turned to present a smaller target. Moody drilled it into him in his other live; it had saved his live on countless occasions. Moody had taught Harry a lot in the short time they were together before the old Auror's death. He had learned not to try to block an unknown spell with a shield if it was possible to dodge. Also he learned to never stay still in one place for too long – if you fell to roll out of the way and to use that momentum to get up again. Harry remembered he had spent a whole day practising how to fall, roll and get up.
Harry bowed at Draco; Draco did not do the same. He clearly had no idea what proper duelling etiquette was or he was too arrogant to bow to Harry. This did not bother Harry in the slightest. He then bowed at Professor Flitwick who was the judge. He now stood calmly waiting for the spark that would signal the beginning of the dual.
The moment Harry saw the red sparks he waved his hand over the crowd of spectators wandlessly erecting a ward to shield them from stray spells and also preventing the interference of other students and teachers.
Dumbledore was the only person to even notice that. He could see and feel the magic that surrounded the two combatants and their judge. This was a very advanced and powerful ward and he was sure he would be the only one able to break through it. Why did Harry cast it, it must be draining some of his magical energy? Wouldn't he rather be at his full power when duelling? An even bigger question was, how did he know how to even do it and where did he get the power to sustain it? This was another display of advanced magic and again it was achieved wandlesly and seemingly without any effort.
Draco started off by using a disarming spell, which Harry deflected with protego, a simple shielding charm.
Anybody that knew anything about duelling knew you never began with a disarming charm. It was pathetic really.
'Furnunculus,' he said in barely a whisper as Draco ducked the spell by rolling out of the way. Cheering could be heard from the Slytherins, but Harry was just warming up. He was gauging Draco's speed and agility, sizing up his opponent. This was a joke, compared to some of the opponents he had faced in his other life.
'Come on Potter, is that the best you can do?' Draco asked as he struggled to get to his feet.
'No, that was only a starter's meal,' Harry said as he smirked at the first year.
'Tarantallegra!' Draco shouted. Harry did not even bother to move, Draco's curses were so weak it would not even register on his shield charm. It did not even have enough power to bounce back; it just sort of fizzed out.
This was a disappointment. Harry never expected a real duel but he did think Draco had at least a bit more power than this. 'Why was it so difficult to kill him in the other time line? He was such a weak pathetic little thing. I could be nice and end this lame excuse for a duel immediately but I won't, time to play a little bit.'
Draco tried multiple curses against Harry but he just stood there looking bored.
'Come on Potter, don't just stand there. Fight me!' Draco screamed in frustration.
'Is that really the best you have?' Harry asked. 'Okay, my turn.'
Harry quickly fired of a few curses in quick suggestion just like the Hit Wizards had taught him. He intentionally missed Draco and soon the little Slytherin was surrounded by a circle of fire.
'I thought we should heat things up a bit, hot enough for you?' Harry taunted.
Draco did not know what to do; he had never before landed himself in such a pickle. Harry was Muggle raised; he was not supposed to know any of this stuff. How did a person that was such a klutz in class manage to do all this?
'Too hot I guess,' Harry laughed and with a wave of his wand all the flames disappeared.
Draco was furious. He started to shoot a lot of nasty and dangerous curses at Harry
'Furnunculus! Densaugeo! Diffindo! Reducto!'
Harry easily blocked them. This was better; this was what he expected from the start. 'I knew the little ferret was holding back.'
'I see you finally decided to fight instead of playing with stupid jinxes,' Harry taunted.
'Shut up Potter!' he spat back.
'There's no reason to be rude,' Harry said. He then did the tickling charm he had planned to use. He made sure to say the spell loud and clear that every one knew exactly what he used. This way Draco would be humiliated and he could not get into trouble later on.
Draco fell to the ground screaming.
'This is only a tenth of the pain you feel under the Cruciatus curse,' Harry projected into Draco's mind. 'Voldemort loves using it on his followers to keep them in line. It is also part of the initiation ceremony. Do you really want to experience this pain everyday? Stay away from the dark side. Trust me dark magic is not fun to do; it contaminates your very soul. This is your last chance to change your life, the next time we duel I will not hold back.'
'Surrender, Malfoy?' Harry asked as he lifted the charm, Draco got to his feet.
'Never,' he whispered as he held his wand out to attack.
'Protificus…'
'Expelliarmus!' Harry shouted pushing all his power into the spell, Draco flew through the air at a high speed hitting the wall with force. His wand landing in Harry's outstretched hand. Draco was knocked unconscious.
Harry just shook his head; this was not what he had planned to do. He really felt sick with himself. Draco was weak and I had taunted him just like a no good Death Eater. I am just as bad as they are. How can I be a fighter for the light, if my heart and soul are just as dark as the people I want to fight? If he continued with his quest, he did not know if he would get through it with his sanity intact. Why was Fate so cruel? He did not want to be evil – at this stage he did not even wanted to be magical. He would have been so much happier being an ignorant muggle.
'And the winner is Harry Potter! Gryffindor has just earned themselves fifty house points. Congratulations Mr. Potter!' Flitwick announced. The whole school burst out cheering except for the Slytherins.
Harry did not hear any of that. Tears were streaking his cheeks as he turned and ran before anyone could stop and congratulate him. He ran out of the front doors over the lawn and straight into the forest. When he was sure no one could see him, he transformed into his griffin form and ran deeper into the forest. He did not want to think and being a beast he had much more primitive thoughts, but he felt as if his Animagus form was a mockery. He did not feel pure as the griffin was supposed to be. He felt so dirty and tired. He wanted to rage, to scream, to destroy something. This was too hard for him; he could not go on anymore. He hated Voldemort, he hated Draco, he hated Fate, but most of all he hated himself. He could not stand being himself anymore.
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Every one in the hall was shocked about Harry's quick and much unexpected departure. No one even noticed where he went. It was total pandemonium in the hall. Dumbledore dismissed the students and told them to go to their respective common rooms. He then left Draco in the care of his Head of House. Snape would need to take young Draco up to the infirmary. 'I need to find Harry and Fast!' Dumbledore thought. He was able to see his face as Harry ran by. He saw so much hate and sorrow in those eyes. He really did not understand what was going on. He really did not like it when he was not in complete control.
Dumbledore got to his office and immediately search his silver instruments. He was not able to detect Harry anywhere. 'How was that possible?'
Harry was a puzzle to him, a really disturbing puzzle. After that day when he had first met Harry, he was afraid that Voldemort might be possessing the young boy. Then the sorting came and he was very relieved that Harry ended up in Gryffindor. There was no way that Voldemort would be sorted into that house.
His relief did not last long however. First there were the nightmares and weird sleeping habits, then the constant headache. Harry never wanted to go and get help; his friends always had to drag him there. Then there was the potions incident. After that, he and Minerva kept a close eye on Harry. It was shocking when she reported to him what Harry was capable of. Was it possible for an eleven year old to become an animagus without any magical tutoring or guidance?
The fact that the boy was a Parselmouth was another thing to worry about. Strange though, Harry's friends did not seem to care about that.
The day of Hermione's flying accident was the day that scared him the most. Harry had displayed so much skill and knowledge but … What was the matter with this young talented boy? He was so strong and yet so fragile at the same time. He was so calm and mature all the time and then he would totally lose control over his emotions. Harry was a very conflicted person.
Tonight's duel was another piece of the puzzle that was Harry Potter. How did he know correct duelling procedure? Harry had a perfect duelling stance; this was supposed to be the boy's first duel ever. No matter how much you read, you could not get that out of a book! And that ward he had erected. Why? And the spells he used. All simple low level jinxes but the way he used it…
Another thing, why on earth did Harry react like he did after the dual? If he had lost, it would have been expected. However, he had won. He had won without any effort on his part. He had looked almost bored. Why would he be so sad that he had won?
'I know he doesn't like fighting but this has to be about something else…'
'Why can't I find him? Where is he? What is he doing now? WHAT WAS GOING ON???'
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Oops he lost it again. Don't worry. Harry will get a bit of help and comfort in the next chapter. He won't stop being slightly loopy but he will cope a lot better.
Can't wait to finish the next chapter, it's where the real fun begins.
Thanks again for all the nice reviews and questions.
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Bad news. I will have a very nasty week (three tests, two assignments and performing in a show of my drama group) so I won't even have time to sleep let alone write anything, so unfortunately the next chapter will be late. Sorry. Life what can I say, it happens.
Amberile B-)