AN: Alright, I've gotten my thoughts in order about where the next couple of chapters are going to go and someone has agreed to be my Beta so please give thanks to NIX'S WARDEN who is making sure I'm making sense to all of you. In this chapter I got one 'boiling pot' out of the way and furthered another so expect that to blow up in a chapter or two. I am fairly amazed at the rate at which I've gotten this story out. It's only been what? three weeks and this will make it about ninety thousand words. I have had a few thoughts on how the grail war will go when I get there (between third and fourth year) and how I can implement the results into the potterverse without it blowing it completely out of existence. If anyone has any ideas about anything then let me know by review, PM or the new omake thread I added to my forum which can be found either on my profile or at the following address:
forum/Fate-s-Gamble-Behind-the-scenes/139203/
For now however please enjoy this chapter.
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 10 – Interrogations.
When Dumbledore asked him to meet him after class Harry simply raised an eyebrow, not that it was very noticeable with the blindfold, and nodded. After he was told where to find the headmaster's office and the password ( Dairy Milk) he headed off for a shower. He was curious what the headmaster wanted, perhaps the old man had noticed he wasn't in the castle over the weekend. It could also be a number of other things as Harry didn't believe for a minute that the headmaster usually got directly involved in student affairs.
Their magical theory lesson expanded upon what magic is and how it interacts with matter in Harry's first period. It was interesting but Harry had already read about it in a fair amount of detail and his attention wandered back to whatever Dumbledore might want to speak about.
This was also true in transfiguration where they where making notes on the difficulty with transfiguring certain materials into certain others. Gold was one thing that could not be transfigured into but no one currently knew why. Harry still had the meeting to come on his mind and Mcgonagall picked up on that. He absently replied with theory they had yet to touch upon without looking up at her. He missed the twitching of her eye and her generally sour expression but the rest of the class didn't and sniggers brought Harry to the present long enough to hear Mcgonagall's mutter of "How the bloody hell he isn't a Ravenclaw I'll never know." This amused Harry and he managed to keep his attention on the lesson until the lunch break.
That afternoon was the charms practical and Harry was having fun with the dancing charm. They where meant to be making a grapefruit tango but Harry had already done that and currently had said mango doing a rather amusing waltz with an orange while an apple, two bananas, a lemon and three kiwi fruit where dancing around an upright pencil in imitation of a traditional maypole dance including string instead of the usual ribbons. Flitwick was ecstatic and gave him twenty points for it. Harry didn't care for the points, this was damn amusing and he wondered what kind of effect this charm would have on a person. The lesson progressed and eventually everyone got at least one piece of fruit dancing but Harry's, that had now grown into some kind of ballroom imitation, had surpassed all others.
Harry was rather disappointed when four o'clock came and the lesson ended. He helped put the fruit away and told Flitwick he was supposed to see the headmaster now. Flitwick said that he would accompany him as far as the gargoyle that guarded his office as it wasn't too for from the staffroom and they set off together. Harry told the professor about the mannequins he was hoping to retrieve by the next weekend and Flitwick replied with how he would have to layer the charms on them and what sort of order they would have to be in, first would be the activation / deactivation charm before layering on the charms that regulated difficulty and then the charms to make it start and stop fighting. After that would be something like computer subroutines that would recognise the weapon in its hand and how to utilise it with the top most charms being the ones that would imitate teamwork when multiple dummies where used before the last spell sealed all of the previous ones to the anchor which, in this case, would be runes that Harry carved consisting of Raido for energy, Uruz for strength, Eihwaz for defence, Teiwaz for warriors, Ehwaz for motion and Berkana for new life.
The two hardly noticed the looks they got in the corridor as they headed for their destination. It was only when they stopped in front of the gargoyle did Harry sheepishly rub the back of his head and apologise to Flitwick who told him that there was no need and he had really enjoyed their conversation before bidding him goodbye and leaving for the staffroom.
xxxxx
"Dairy Milk" Harry enunciated clearly for the gargoyle. He waited while the statue moved to one side before stepping on to the revolving staircase that was spiralling upwards. He reached out with his senses and marvelled at the prana he could feel running through everything around him. He felt the staircase beneath his feet and, unless he was mistaken, it was powered by runes carved into the underside of the steps. Harry waited at the top of the stairs when they stopped, he could feel some kind of bounded field in front of him. Wards where a lot more structured than bounded fields making them that bit more accurate and easily moulded, bounded fields on the other hand where easier to set up and more difficult to destroy. A ward would collapse if you destroyed two many anchors whereas a bounded field did not have physical anchors but covered a predetermined area.
Harry crouched down and looked closely at where the wall met the floor. He grinned. There in front of him was a rather minute rune array that most would not even notice and those that did would think it a scratch or a scuff mark. There was an identification ward separating the moving staircase from the landing with the door. Harry decided to mess with the headmaster a bit and sketched Algiz, Kano, Laguz and Dagaz in the air and channelled his prana into it focusing on the ward in front of him. He felt as if he was wrapped in bubble-wrap for a moment until everything was normal again. He checked and he did indeed have a constant if small drain in his prana showing the bounded field he'd anchored to himself was functioning.
He stepped forward through the identification ward and it felt like he had stepped through a waterfall as he did so. Cutting off the prana flow Harry knocked on the door in front of him. He waited a moment before Dumbledore opened it and poked his head through. It was rather comical really. He looked at Harry and then his eyes flickered to the identification ward and found it fully functional. Bewildered he looked back at the boy who looked completely indifferent to everything. Shaking his head in confusion Dumbledore stepped back and opened the door wide.
"Come in, come in my dear boy." He said "I'm sure we don't have to have our chat on the landing of all places." Harry stepped in and raised an eyebrow when he found that he and the headmaster were not alone. Professor Snape was standing in the corner and Mcgonagall was stood beside Dumbledore's chair.
"May I finally have the pleasure of knowing why I have been called to your office? As far as I am aware, no other student has had such a pleasure headmaster." Harry decided that ignoring the my boy comment was best. It sounded diminutive, condescending and possessive. Three things he'd rather the headmaster didn't think of in relation to him. Snape's lip quirked a bit and Mcgonagall's lips pressed together. "It is also curious that the deputy-head is here as well as the potions master. Should I have perhaps come with my head of house headmaster?" Mcgonagall's visage became even frostier and Snape's lip became a more defined smirk.
"Nothing like that my boy, just a few things to satiate an old man's questions." Harry looked directly at Dumbledore when he said that and replied in a hard tone.
"The only information that you, as the headmaster, should be privy to is my guardian in order to have a means of communication in an emergency. Her name is Stheno, an owl can deliver a letter to a drop box in London which is connected to her residence. What else do you need to know?" Dumbledore and Mcgonagall looked taken aback by the venom laced steel and frost in his tone. He reinforced his ears when he saw Snape muttering something and caught "Why he isn't a snake I'll never know." Harry grinned at that, he did consider himself a snake, insofar as a gorgon at least. He thought of gorgon as his primary species with vampire and human as secondary.
"I just need to know why you aren't living with your family. They miss you terribly and want to know when they'll see you again." Dumbledore told him. His family? He lived with his family, regardless of blood or not they WHERE his family and damn anyone that messes with them.
"I do live with my family. You will have to change your question to make sense as that one didn't" He was damned if he was going to make it easy for him. They probably meant the Dursleys and they would miss him like they missed their favourite rubbish bin. In other words, not at all.
"I am afraid that the people you live with are lying to you. You need to return to your loving aunt and uncle at Privet Drive. They are your blood relatives." Harry gave a feral smile but made sure his fangs remained hidden. The blood adoption meant that they where his blood relatives whether they had started out as that or not.
"What do you mean? My family are blood relatives of mine. Do you have any proof that shows they aren't?" Of course he wouldn't. He wouldn't even know a thing about them. As powerful as Dumbledore may or may not be, he couldn't travel between dimensions.
"Not as such, no. However, you have yet to prove they in fact are really related to you." Now this one Harry could answer quite easily, he had asked about it after all and the laws would lend credence to it.
"If they hadn't been blood relatives of mine then the adoption would have had to go through the ministry to be scrutinized but it wasn't. The goblins always make sure everything is within the law and they are aware of my guardianship. You're not saying that the goblins are wrong are you? It would not help your equal rights position in politics if you discriminated against them without proof." Yeah, that really wouldn't go over well and Dumbledore would be left scrabbling for justification that may well damn him.
Harry grinned as he felt a legilimency probe. Now, most people thought that legilimency needed eye contact. That's true for the inexperienced and beginners but a master of the art simply needs to have the target in view. There where three such masters at Hogwarts and two of them where in this room. Snape did not seem to be against him and had a small smile on his face, Dumbledore on the other hand had steepled his fingers on his desk and had furrows in his brow. He obviously did not expect an eleven year old to be capable of repelling him and stopping his casual mind rape.
"Naughty, naughty headmaster. That's not very nice. In fact I'm almost certain that unwarranted legilimency attacks are a criminal offence even if it is rather minor." It was also damn difficult to prove to, one reason why it was rarely brought to court.
"How dare you! The headmaster would never do such a thing!" Harry had been wondering when Mcgonagall would erupt and thought about how best to reply.
"If that is so then I am sure that our dear head would be willing to say so under veritaserum or a truth oath. I would of course reimburse our resident potions master for the trouble it would cause." Dumbledore shifted uneasily for a moment before opening his mouth.
"Now, now. Calm down Minerva, Harry here just seems to have a few trust issues. In fact, why don't we speak of that? It is not good to isolate yourself from the world in this way Harry. You need friends. I could partner you up with some people and then there would be no need to run away from school on a weekend." Harry snorted, so someone had caught on to the fact that he hadn't been in school. From the looks of it though Dumbledore was the only one. Mcgonagall seemed as if she was going to combust any second so Harry decided to head her off.
"I have made the acquaintance of Hermione Granger of Gryffindor. She and Neville Longbottom, also of Gryffindor, seem to be the only decent people in this castle that are in a similar age bracket to me. I also have a reliable method of going back and forth between here and my home. I have friends back there that I wish to remain friends with and that means not leaving them alone for the better part of the year. I also visit with my family who like to make sure I am happy and healthy. Owls can't be used for a few reasons which is one part of why there are drop boxes for communication." Dumbledore looked put out by this put he wouldn't drop it yet.
"What do you mean by the only decent people in the castle? There are a number of good people here." Dumbledore would see if he could get the matter of Ronald Weasley sorted if he could get the right questions in.
"They are the only two people who have not stared a hole into me looking for a scar or gawked at my hair colour and blindfold. The rest of the castle think it is their right to demand knowledge on what it is like for a one year old to watch his parents be murdered and if he remembers what their murderer looks like. They seem to think that those ridiculous story books featuring my name could be true and forget that they are FICTION. I am not a storybook character, I am not perfect and I am no one's thrall." Harry was getting more and more irritated as time went on. His upper lip had curled back and his sharp teeth where on display with his fangs in full view, his hair had begun to get more restless and was waving out around him and was in constant motion. He had clenched his fists and the creaking of bone was clearly audible. Both Mcgonagall and Dumbledore looked alarmed and Snape was assessing him coolly as if identifying him as a threat that had yet to become active. Harry calmed himself, it was no good getting irate as that may make him slip in what he says and he doesn't want to give the manipulative old geezer anything to work with. He had given Stheno's name because he would have access to that anyway but that was it.
Dumbledore gulped, he could feel something that he would class as killing intent wash over him. It was muted and restrained and that was what had him worried. An eleven year old should not have that, not even the little that had actually passed over him. What on earth had happened to the boy in front of him. He hadn't paid much attention to it before but the boy's steps where graceful and predatory. He was like a mythical creature, both majestic in power and deed, whether those deeds be light or dark, as well as hidden like a panther stalking prey in the dark and would strike like a snake when its meal had been found. He could see that this boy needed his guidance back to the light and Dumbledore would have it no other way. The question was how to do it.
Mcgonagall had frozen. She felt like a kitten confronted with a sabre-toothed monstrosity, one that had all the fluid grace of a dancer and the power of a demon locked into a single child. She did not know what the intervening years had done to the boy she had once bounced on her knee but she would bet that something not human had influenced the child. He was like an animal in the wild that had been caught and tamed. He may follow the rules but he was still feral underneath it all and he would lash out if anyone brought any more chains down on him.
Snape was definitely curious about this boy. He was the son of a woman he had loved dearly and a man he despised, yet Harry resembled neither of them in either personality nor appearance. He had none of Lily's gentleness, he was blunt and honest, he had none of Potter's arrogance, what he did he could back up, he had neither of their tempers, Lily would instantly ignite and burn hot and quick whereas Potter would have planned a rather humiliating prank before dropping the issue. Harry had a slowly deteriorating temper that combined a sharp and venomous tongue with all the grace of a predator on the hunt. It was a wonder to see it in action but it was also one of the scariest things he'd seen. The boy seemed to radiate killing intent unconsciously which kept everyone pinned in place while his tongue dripped venom on whoever had brought him to this state. The boy was irritated here, Severus really didn't want to see what would happen to the one who actually made him snap.
"My home life is no concern of yours headmaster, I will however retrieve a signature from my guardians when next I am home so you do know, for a fact, that that is where I go on weekends. Good day to you all." With that Harry turned and stalked off.
The rest of the week fell in to the same pattern as last week. Alistair had told him of the marriage contract when he came by that evening and of how Dumbledore had been muttering of betrothal rituals and Weasleys. Harry had decided he would talk to everyone back home about it over winter break. The highlights for that week where his extra-curricular activities regarding reaction tables in potions and their first flying lesson.
xxxxx
The former of the two, the potions reaction tables, took place in Snape's classroom where harry set out three hundred glass tumblers in a grid pattern sixty by sixty but missing out on a diagonal from the top left to bottom right. First years used sixty different ingredients in their potions and so he decided he would make a table for them first, a separate table for each potion base starting with water. Each glass was half full of water and had two ingredients added to it and the reaction noted down in a table Harry had made. He included the visual changes as well as smells and any changes in temperature and on the PH scale (i.e.:acidity). He only got the single potion base done for the sixty ingredients when he had to leave and get a late lunch but professor Snape seemed rather impressed. Harry also mentioned how glass was non-reactive when he had been asked about what he was using as mini cauldrons. He also spoke of how the wizarding world had never changed their mixture for pewter and how it contained lead. Snape looked rather green when Harry told him about heavy metal poisoning and instantly said he would change the required cauldron material to copper for next year as well as tell his current students to do the same.
Harry said he would return Friday afternoon when he was free to continue his reaction tables. Snape told him that he had sixth years then and said he could use the classroom next door to carry on with his project. Seeing as his first and only lesson on Friday was double potions he thought he could get the next three bases done for the basic sixty ingredients. When he was done with first year ingredients he wondered if professor Snape would allow him to extend his reaction tables into the additional twenty ingredients used up until third year and then the further fifteen they used until their OWLs. The NEWTs used another thirty ingredients which totalled up to one hundred and twenty-five ingredients used in potions from first to seventh years which would require fifteen thousand six hundred and twenty five reactions per base. As there was seven bases that was one hundred and nine thousand three hundred and seventy-five reactions total.
If he took out the summer and winter holidays, which he would be spending at home, he had thirty-nine weeks of school total. If he did reactions only during school week days he would need to do almost two thousand and nine hundred a week or five hundred and sixty every week day. That was double what he had done that morning nearly. Harry grinned, he liked a challenge and this was a challenge worth undertaking. He would work quickly tomorrow and see if he could finish all seven bases using first year ingredients and then he would ask Snape about letting him use the classroom in the evenings and in his free periods to continue his project. He didn't think Snape would object, especially if he promised to duplicate each table for him to use in classes and a large one of all one hundred and twenty-five ingredients to put up.
Snape watched as Harry left his classroom and focused back on that mornings experimentation. He could see now why he was a Hufflepuff. Monday's encounter had shown his great care for those he considered family and today had shown a methodical and hard working student. He had overheard the boy muttering about continuing this into later years ingredients. He had no problem, this might even teach the dunderheads something or at least cause fewer explosions. He was quite pleased with the boy and no longer thought of him as either Lily's son nor the Potter spawn but simply as Harry which was something of a misnomer if you considered how complex a person he truly was. Snape chuckled to himself as he wandered back in to his classroom to prepare for his next class, second years. They where barely better than first years he grumbled to himself as he shut the door behind him.
xxxxx
On Thursday Harry, along with the rest of his year group headed outside for their flying lesson just before half four and found four lines of broomsticks laid out in a circle around Madam Hooch, the flying instructor. Harry chose a place at the end of the Hufflepuff line that touched Gryffindor's. On that side of him stood Hermione and on her other side was a clearly nervous Neville. On the other side of Harry was Susan Bones followed by Hannah Abbott.
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Barked out the hawk-eyed flight instructor. "Put one hand of the broom and say up! Come on now, get it together." Everyone did so and about one in ten brooms actually shot into people's hands. Most of these looked completely unsurprised by this and Harry guessed they had flown before. Harry's was one of those that shot straight into his hand. He had flown a little before coming to Hogwarts, during the summer, and found he had natural talent for it. His father had been a seeker but Harry thought that chaser was a much more rewarding and involved position.
Madam Hooch came amongst them and corrected their grip whenever she came across someone holding it wrong. Weasel sniggered when she told Ferret he'd been doing it wrong for years but was quickly put in to place when she turned to him. Soon enough everyone had mounted their brooms and were ready for first flight.
Looking to either side Harry noticed the panicked look on Neville's face and whispered so only those near him could hear "Neville, wait. Take a breath and calm yourself. Everything will go fine. You can do this and it'll be no problem. Think of it as a plant. Wood is part of a tree and you're good at herbology so this isn't a problem" Thankfully the boy managed to calm down somewhat and gave a somewhat shaky smile at Harry.
It wasn't long before the entire class was in the air and drifting lazily about. Harry preferred to keep low and flat, following the contours of the land. He was rather enjoying this, he could smell the earth beneath him and feel the warmth of the sun above him. The shadows of the other fliers where chasing each other across the grass.
There was an almighty crash and Harry had to dodge aside to avoid a pair of falling bodies. He pulled up and saw that Weasel and Ferret had landed in a tangle of limbs. He chuckled, he wasn't surprised that it was the two that had crashed, he thought it delicious irony that the two who had bragged loudest this past week had made fools of themselves in the first lesson.
Harry watched with a chuckle of amusement after Hooch had marched them up to the castle after laying in to them about dangerous flying and childish behaviour. It turned out that Malfoy had insulted Weasley and his family about affording a broomstick and the Weasel had implied that the Ferret's parents where infertile, a decidedly large insult in the wizarding world, the result of which was the two diving at each other and ending up on the ground. Harry looked around and saw Neville and Hermione who had stuck close to him near the ground and gave them a nod before landing and dismounting. Hooch had said the lesson was over and he decided to practice a few of the spells he'd listed as suitable for combat, a simple cutting curse and a piercing hex.
xxxxx
That weekend he managed to get a hold of fifteen mannequins which he presented to professor Flitwick the following Monday. He had also approached professor Snape about expanding his reaction tables and had received permission to use the adjacent classroom whenever he had free time. Homework was easily completed, especially this early in the year and Harry was enjoying it now that everyone was no longer nagging him with questions. He was cordial with everyone but didn't really interact much with anyone besides Hermione and, since the flying lesson, Neville. He was trying to build Neville's confidence up, living in a pureblood house the boy had ready access to theory and he knew a few things that even Harry didn't. It was practicals that he seemed to fail at. The wand movements where fairly good and his pronunciation was fine when he managed to not stutter but something seemed to be inhibiting him. It was about a week later that Harry found out what it was.
Neville was repeatedly casting the knockback jinx on a chair in an abandoned classroom while Harry watched on and Hermione had her nose buried in one of Harry's books she had borrowed. He'd been at it a while and eventually just collapsed into a chair while dropping his wand which rolled away from him. Harry stood and went to retrieve the wand. "I just can't understand it," Harry said "Your wand movements are correct and your incantation is too but something is stopping you from casting properly. What is it?" He was getting frustrated. To him, hard work leads to a result but all this effort had produced nothing conclusive. He bent and picked up Neville's wand. It felt smooth and Harry was sure he could feel the impression of fingers and a hand in it. The impression however was much too large to have been Neville's. Now he looked at it, the wand didn't look particularly new either. He knew Weasel's wand hadn't originally been his, who in their right mind would buy a wand with the core poking out, but Neville was from a family of old money and could easily purchase a wand. "Neville, are you sure this wand is yours? I think it's someone else's."
Neville looked up at Harry before looking at the wand "It was my father's. Gran wants me to grow up to be a good wizard like him and if his wand was good enough for him then it's good enough for me." Harry simply shook his head at the naivety before deciding to tell him something.
"Neville, I tried every wand in Ollivander's shop and not one of them worked for me. I had to get one custom made. My father's wand was mahogany and my mother's was willow. Mine is neither and has a rather weird core too. Just because something works for one person doesn't mean it will work for another. This Saturday meet me in the entrance hall at eight and we will get you a new wand. If your Gran wants to remember her son then that is all well and good but she shouldn't impede you in doing so. Think of it as a late birthday present." Neville went to protest but eventually Harry talked him in to it.
On that Saturday Harry was waiting patiently by the front doors for Neville at quarter to eight. He was dressed in his usual style and Len was perched on his shoulder. It was at five minutes to eight that Neville turned up and came over to him.
"Right," said Harry "let's get out of sight for a moment and we'll be off." He dragged Neville into a side corridor and after glancing around to make sure they where alone he used the Kaleidoscope to take himself and Neville to Diagon Alley that was just opening up. He walked swiftly with Neville hurrying along to Ollivander's wand shop and entered.
"Mr. Potter, I do believe I have seen more of you than any other customer since I started in this business. May I ask about your reason for being here this time?" Ollivander seemed curious about why he had returned again before looking at who had followed him in. "Ah Mr. Longbottom, I expected you quite a while ago I must say. Unless my guess is off then you are here for your wand. As much as I enjoy a challenge I don't think you will be as troublesome as your companion was." Once Neville and Harry indicated that was their purpose here Ollivander began fetching various wands for Neville to try. He ended up with a thirteen inch cherry wand with a unicorn tail hair core. As always Ollivander wouldn't let him get away without mentioning something about it. "That wand will be good at defensive spells such as shields, it will do well in charms and it shows you have a far gentler nature than Mr Potter here. Cherry is also a prized wand wood for the japanese too" harry paid the seven galleons for the wand as Neville looked it in wonder with a large smile on his face. This would help his confidence issues at least. He took Neville back to Hogwarts before disappearing off to the clock tower for his weekend.
xxxxx
Draco Malfoy glared across the great hall towards the Hufflepuff table. There sat Potter, eating by himself while students chattered around him. The half-blood freak had disrespected him since the train ride here. Who did he think he was to disregard a superior pureblood like himself? Who was he to threaten him with a muggle blade? What really pissed Draco off was how good Potter was in classes. He was always one of those who got the spell first and when asked he always gave a full answer without badgering away like that mudblood Granger. People had said that the way he walks was predatory and proud, Draco thought he was simply scared and was being cautious. Now that near squib Longbottom was improving in class and rumour was Potter was responsible. As if it wasn't bad enough that the ridiculous freak was a good flier, he had seen how Potter had followed the ground so well, anyone else would have crashed being so close to the ground and going at that speed. He would show everyone that Potter was a freak and not someone to be in awe of. He should have people's attention, he was the pureblooded scion of house Malfoy, he was rich and of good heritage, he knew his etiquette and he thought himself far more attractive than the freak in the blindfold with purple streaks in his hair and his unnaturally pale skin. Honestly, why everyone thought so highly of him Draco would never know. He decided that he would show that half-blood up right now and he rose from the table flanked by Crabbe and Goyle and made his way over to the Hufflepuffs and stood behind Potter before addressing him.
"You think you're so good don't you Potter?" It seemed that third year Diggory had noticed him. "You wouldn't stand a chance against a real wizard. I challenge you to a duel if you think yourself capable of such a task." He smirked. There was no way he could loose to someone that had grown up outside the wizarding world. His father had used his wand to teach Draco for two years now and he knew a few spells that would work well.
Harry was irritated. He had been wondering when the ferret would finally get the courage to face him and he had been thinking about the reaction tables with Snape when he had been interrupted. He didn't like being interrupted and didn't think Draco would actually have a chance against him. He sparred against enforcers for goodness sake and his thaumaturgy was more suited for combat than any spells they'd learned in class thus far. He decided to turn the boy away.
"I have no wish to turn my wand upon you Malfoy, there is no need for it." He had turned and was looking at the ferret over his shoulder and was confused when the boy smirked.
"If those are your terms we will duel immediately then half-blood." He said before marching up to the head table. Harry glanced at Cedric Diggory who had been listening in and whose eyes had just gone wide.
"Yes?" Harry asked. He was not particularly concerned but was curious about what he'd apparently done.
"You said you didn't need to turn your wand on him but you didn't specifically say no to the duel. As the challenged you can set the terms. He can take what you said to mean you would duel him without a wand!" Harry looked up to where Malfoy was at the head table, talking to Snape. The professor's eyebrows had rose and he looked towards Harry who cocked his head to one side before Snape turned to Dumbledore. Harry was unsurprised when the headmaster gestured for him to come up. He did so which didn't go unnoticed in the great hall.
"Mr. Malfoy here has told me of a duel with some interesting conditions. What can you tell me Mr. Potter?" Dumbledore asked him.
"Mr. Malfoy challenged me to a duel without giving a reason. I said I didn't want to turn my wand on him." Harry replied succinctly. Snape raised his eyebrows and Dumbledore furrowed his brow. It was obvious to them how Malfoy had taken that and it couldn't be refuted without Harry giving a public apology which would be humiliating, especially given what the terms where.
Snape was curious as to how this would work out. Draco was a Slytherin and, more importantly, his godson. He would have to support Draco here to maintain a credible role. Dumbledore however was wondering if this humility would allow him to use his grandfatherly persona to get an in with the boy himself and decided to make the duel public.
"You do know Harry that what you said can be taken as an acceptance to duel without a wand?" The headmaster looked at Harry. He was confused by how calm he appeared about it. "You could however make an apology before Mr. Malfoy. I am sure in the circumstances that people would understand, after all I doubt I could win such a duel myself." He and Snape where even more confused by the way Harry's lip quirked upward at the end of that sentence.
"If I am to duel then so be it. I will not back down and I will not apologise for something I should really have no need to apologise for." Harry stated in a completely unnerving monotone.
"You do know that physical contact between participants is not allowed so there will be no muggle fighting if that is what you where hoping." Snape decided to caution the boy. A fist would be an immediate forfeit in a magical duel and be a fine for the one committing it.
"I am aware." Was all that was said in return.
"Very well then," Dumbledore turned to the hall at large which had gone rather quiet since Harry had been called to the head table "Students, it seems there is to be a duel with rather interesting conditions." He turned to Harry "Mr. Potter, if I may hold on to your wand for the duration of the duel." He was holding out his hand but Harry would be damned if that meddling old coot would be the one to have it. Harry walked down the table and held his wand out in front of professor Babbling. She raised an eyebrow but accepted it anyway. Snape smirked, it had been understated and the younger ones and the more dense would miss it but Harry had just made it known that he held the headmaster in less than stellar favour. Glancing at his Slytherins he could already see this being muttered about amongst themselves. Mcgonagall looked like she'd swallowed a fly, she knew what refusing to hand his wand over had shown and she was none too thrilled at the implied disrespect.
Looking put out Dumbledore soon regained himself "Very well then. Duelling to the death has been outlawed except in particular circumstances so I will remind you that this duel is to incapacitation or forfeit only. Give me a moment to raise some shields." He waved his wand around and Harry could feel some sort of prana constructs appear around the two of them though nothing was visible. He nodded his head before walking off to one side and waited while Malfoy went to the other.
"On my mark," Dumbledore called "Three. Two. One. Begin!" And with that Draco began with a shouted cry of 'IMPEDIMENTA'. He planned to immobilise the half-blood freak before humiliating him. Harry on the other hand had merely reinforced himself and stepped aside casually as the spell went past him. He cocked his head to one side and his lip twitched while looking directly at Malfoy. This infuriated the blonde Slytherin and he started casting faster and faster.
"Immobulus, ipedimenta, stupify, locomotor mortis, diffindo, defodio, petrificus totallus, flipendo, tarantallegra, rictusempra!" he managed to get himself up to an appreciable rate of fire after half a minute of constant casting but Harry kept side-stepping them almost lazily. Draco saw red and decided to use something a little nastier.
Many of the staff gasped as the rotting death curse left Malfoy's wand and headed for Harry, that was a dark curse that carried with it a hefty fine! What shocked people more however was when Harry didn't move out of the way when it headed right for him.
Harry was inwardly laughing. This was so easy, the only spells heading for him had been direct action spells that only enacted themselves when they made contact and therefore where useless if they hit nothing. Wide area spells like banishing or blasting curses would have worked better. He was all the more amused when Malfoy decided to use an illegal curse on him in front of so many witnesses. He channelled prana into his hand reinforcing it to his limit before channelling more over the top until a barely discernible distortion appeared there. He back handed the curse away from him and into the shields Dumbledore had erected. The curse ate right through them and headed towards Dumbledore himself who moved aside only to watch his throne-like chair disappear as if devoured by ravenous termites. Everyone looked back up as Harry decided to finish the match.
Harry activated his circuits with a thought, his mental trigger was a drop of blood falling into an already full goblet "My soul is a weapon" he incanted and focused on the boy in front of him. He limited the prana as he didn't want to kill him but he would certainly leave a mark.
Everyone blinked as a semi-opaque sphere of energy appeared above Harry's left shoulder and again as another appeared and another and another until there was almost fifty such spheres around him all pulsing slightly. Their breath caught in their throats as first one then two then five of them pelted towards Malfoy and knocked him off his feet. They didn't stop there however as the next batch curved around and came at him from below knocking him into the air where he was surrounded and became pummelled again and again by orbs of magic.
It was over relatively soon. Malfoy lay bruised and bleeding on the floor before him but was obviously trying to get to his feet. Harry decided to end it there and not humiliate the boy further. He raised one hand and pointed a finger at him like someone with a pretend gun. Everyone watched as a black orb appeared at the tip of his finger before shooting off and hitting Malfoy square in the face. Draco collapsed and his wand rolled away from his open hand. Harry looked towards Dumbledore awaiting the declaration of the victor but Dumbledore was looking at him slack-jawed.
Glancing up and down the line of professors he saw much of the same. Sighing he forced his prana at the duelling shields which Dumbledore erected and, without Dumbledore's focus, they shattered. He walked towards professor Babbling who was one of the few who didn't have to pick her jaw up but was regarding him rather calmly truth be told and held his hand out for his wand which she handed over. It wasn't until harry had stalked from the hall that the staff and students once again regained their higher functions.
xxxxx
The great hall burst into conversation. What they had just seen was unreal. A first year had just wandlessly beat down another student in a public duel. Granted that the opponent was another student but it was still an amazing feat. A number of Ravenclaws had rushed off to the library to try and research what had just happened, Hermione had as well. The students where loudly wondering if Harry would teach them. All except the Slytherins and one Gryffindor. In Slytherin house the only ones who where chattering excitedly where the younger ones who weren't subtle enough. The older ones where casting significant glances around and trying to work out who was likely to know how that had happened and learn it themselves, Slytherins where all for their own advantages after all.
The silent Gryffindor was one Ronald Weasley or Weasel as Harry was fond of thinking of him. This boy was boiling over with rage and jealousy. If Potter had just accepted his friendship back on the train then he could have gotten him to spill all his secrets and make him a super-wizard too! It was so unfair. How could Potter be so powerful? Where did he lean how to do that? Why couldn't it have been him who did all the cool stuff? Damn Potter and his stupid weird magic, damn him and everything he had. How could he get revenge on the boy for showing off like that? Potter had obviously asked Dumbledore to let him make himself look cool seeing as everyone had just stopped talking to him and precious Potter couldn't have that now.
Away from the scheming ginger, the head table was awash in mutterings of their own. Snape kept out of it but had an ear open listening for anything useful. It became painfully apparent however that the rest of the staff knew nothing about whatever Harry had just done. Snape himself was rather amused, Draco had tried to make a fool of the boy and in a move worthy of a Slytherin Harry had given him a resounding beat down. He was rather envious of Pomona if he was honest. The boy kept himself apart from the rest of the students maintaining an air of mystery as unintentional as it might be, he had kept his true strength secret as well. Everyone had thought him a well-read first year and, though he was rapidly advancing in practicals now that he had learnt the basics, no one had ever thought him capable of the show of power that they had just witnessed. Dammit, if it wasn't for his hard work and lack of ambition Snape was sure that the boy would have been his. It was most infuriating.
Mcgonagall was reminded of what Harry had said on his stance to killing back when she took him to Diagon Alley and she was worried. With such obvious power available to him he would be nigh unstoppable if he ever decided he wanted to follow in He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's footsteps. She could clearly see how bored he was during the duel and when he finally decided to retaliate he had shown no visible signs of weariness. She didn't know how much damage he could do if he decided to go all out and she really didn't want to either. That boy was someone she would be wary of, his cat already set her instincts off and now this just compounded it. It was obvious that he could have killed the Malfoy boy with neither effort nor care for the lost life. He was dangerous and she'd be damned if she let him kill any of her students.
Dumbledore's thoughts where going a mile a minute. Was this strange magic the 'power he knows not' from the prophecy? How much was the young boy capable of? Just what kind of magic was that anyway? He really needed to know but the boy's occlumency would mean he was aware if he made a legilimency attack. Perhaps it was worth forcing away whatever slight shields the boy may have to find out and then obliviate him afterwards. He had to know what it was and the boy's occlumency couldn't be strong enough to resist the obliviation, could it? Perhaps he could slip some truth serum into his food or drink? No, that last one would have him spilling everything in the great hall and only Dumbledore himself could have that knowledge. He needed to use it to maximum efficiency in the coming fight with Voldemort after all and as the leader of the light he had a right to that information. The rumours he was hearing where worrisome. That the boy was Merlin's reincarnation, that magic itself had blessed him, that he had simply forced his will upon the world and that he was a being of magic that had replaced the boy and not Harry himself. Though worrisome by themselves what was more so was that for all Dumbledore knew they could be true and this was a situation that could not continue!
Gathering himself he directed Pomfrey to Mr. Malfoy on the floor before scurrying out of the hall where he stopped. What should he do first? He could either track the boy down and attempt a full legilimency assault or he could research what other forms of magic there where in the world. Perhaps what Harry had done was commonplace in one magic culture or another. Wandless magic was not unheard of after all. He himself was capable of wandlessly summoning an object or a weak banisher but that was it and he was considered one of the most accomplished with it. He was not capable of what he had seen the eleven year old pull off as if it was nothing. He decided to head to his office and he would check on Mr. Malfoy later and see if the results could give him some clue to whatever had happened back there. He would use his pensieve to see if his memory could show anything he could not immediately remember.
xxxxx
"My soul is a weapon" Dumbledore watched as that single single statement seemed to be the herald for what was to come. He watched as those blue orbs appeared from nowhere and pelted into the Malfoy boy. The black orb that came from his finger however had required no words unless the previous statement was still affecting it but he honestly couldn't tell.
Removing himself from the memory Dumbledore now knew exactly three things about Harry's strange magic: one, it was powerful, two, it seemed to have stemmed from that strange incantation he had used, three, it had reacted to Harry's will, there was no plausible explanation as to why the orbs had acted in such a manner. The scary thing was that at times four groups of them had been moving independently of each other meaning Harry could somehow concentrate on four things at once. Dumbledore didn't know how that was even conceivable as each person had a conscious mind and an unconscious one whereas Harry had displayed a quality that would need four separate levels of a mind to enact. He decided heading to the hospital wing and seeing what Madam Pomfrey had to report on the victim could give him.
Dumbledore hadn't expected the boy to still be there. He was conscious now but was groaning and whimpering on one of the beds. He looked to Madam Ponfrey for an answer and she replied with "He's ill." He kept looking at her willing her to elaborate and she sighed before doing so. "I don't know how. There is no cause just the effect. It's as if his body just convinced itself that it was sick and decided to reproduce the effects, that is all I can come up with and I've even flooed St. Mungo's. They've never seen anything like it. Unless you can get Mr. Potter to reverse the effects all I can suggest is that he waits it out and hopes it isn't permanent. None of the cures I've tried have alleviated the effects at all. Pain relief potions are useless as is fever reducer and even general health potions. I've tried various others but nothing is working at all." The matron was obviously rather peeved that there was something that wasn't life threatening she couldn't do anything about.
Raising his wand Dumbledore cast a few diagnostic charms at the incapacitated boy and came back with exactly what Madam Pomfrey had told him. The effects of general lack of health without apparent cause. A curse would normally have created the effects and could have been traced back to that and then the counter-curse would have caused the effects to cease but it seemed as if whatever Harry had hit him with had caused the effects without needing to remain to maintain them. This was troublesome and it decided his next course of action. He would have to track young Harry down and get answers directly from the source. He assured Madam Pomfrey that he would send him there when he found him before stepping out of the infirmary and casting a point me spell. According to it Mr. Potter was downstairs. He guessed he might be in his room in the Hufflepuffs' den and the wand led him exactly there. He knocked on the door and waited.
xxxxx
After leaving the hall Harry had headed to the only place that he knew would give him peace, his own room. He had marched off in quite a mood. Honestly, he had tried to politely turn down the duel but it seemed the wizarding world couldn't even abide by the same manners as everyone else. How could his declining violence be seen as him mocking the blonde ferret? It was inconceivable to him and he got irritated when things didn't make sense. When he made it down to his room he threw himself onto onto his bed and laid back. A moment later he felt Len in her human form lay next to him and cuddle him. He smiled a little. He could always count on her to try and get him out of his funk. He looked towards her and saw her worried eyes. Len might not speak much but her eyes where some of the most expressive that Harry had ever seen. It may just be him but he had never had any trouble understanding what Len meant when those eyes where tuned on him. Right now she wanted to comfort him and take away his irritation with the wizarding world in general and, more specifically, one ferret that would find itself in need of more than a makeover if it continued as it was. He sighed and wrapped his arms around Len who buried her face into his shoulder and the two remained like that for a while.
This was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Harry didn't want to answer it but the knock came back and then again. Whoever it was they were persistent. Harry looked at Len who, understanding immediately, switched back to being a cat and perched herself on his shoulder. She wrapped her tail around his shoulders which she didn't normally and Harry drew extra comfort from this as he opened the door to find the Headmaster on the other side.
"Yes headmaster?" Dumbledore for his part was looking past Harry and into what he could see of the room. There where shelves of books filling the room. The bed, drawers and wardrobe that was standard where in there but whatever room they didn't take up was occupied by shelves of books. He caught a glimpse of some of their titles 'Bounded field basics' was one and 'Theory of the root' was another. One book was open on top of the drawers but it was written in a language that Dumbledore couldn't decipher. His gaze came back to the boy in front of him. He noticed that his cat was once again on his shoulder. Now that he thought about it the cat had sat itself at the end of the staff table when the duel was announced and had kept its gaze focused on Harry throughout. It was a rather unusual display of intelligence and made Dumbledore leery of it. Looking up into the crimson gaze of its eyes he saw a frightening intelligence in them as he would expect from something sentient like a human, goblin or centaur. What made him even more wary was the way the cat seemed to be scrutinising him. It was ridiculous but Dumbledore was sure that this cat was a bad enemy to make and it was firmly attached to Harry Potter. Dumbledore then remembered his purpose here and made to take a step in to the room only to be met with an invisible forcefield or some such over the doorway. He stumbled a bit when forced back but gathered himself and addressed Harry, who had yet to step out of the room.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. I was wondering if I might ask you a few questions, if you don't mind?" Harry gave the man a hard glare, not that it could be seen beneath his blindfold, and merely replied.
"You can ask but that doesn't mean I'll answer." Dumbledore supposed this was as close as he was going to get to an invitation and began to ask his questions.
"I was wondering if you would care to tell me how you managed such an impressive display earlier despite not having your wand on you." Harry snorted. If Dumbledore thought he could replicate magecraft then he was sorely mistaken.
"No, I wouldn't care to divulge my every secret to you. No magus would but you wouldn't even understand what I meant by that. Before you ask, no, it is impossible for any wizard or witch to replicate and is the result of a specific event in my past I shan't share with you." Dumbledore made a note of the term magus to research later before asking his next question.
"Mr. Malfoy is currently in the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey can't seem to find what is wrong with him. Could you at least provide the counter-curse to alleviate the poor boy of his pain?" There was the traditional guilt trip but it wouldn't work as Harry really didn't care for the ferret one bit.
"Once again, no. The last thing I hit him with was a gandr shot, a Scandinavian sickness curse and there is no counter. He'll recover in a day or so, there is no permanent harm done which is more than could be said for me if that illegal dark curse he used against me had done as it was supposed to. I don't suppose you are going to discipline him for that are you?" Harry didn't think he would. From what he'd seen and read Dumbledore was an extreme example of a pacifist. He did not even use force when the country had been embroiled in war. He expected the man would brush this under the rug and talk about how there was no need due to it not working or some such rubbish.
"Come now Mr. Potter. He ended the duel far worse than yourself, is there really a need to add insult to injury? No harm was done so I see no reason to add insult to I injury and let bygones be bygones." Well, he almost got it right. Too bad for the old coot that Harry wasn't a gullible little pawn.
"So headmaster, you see no reason to discipline a student who used an illegal curse that could have resulted in death in front of hundreds of witnesses? Well, I do. I will make sure to inform the DMLE of what happened and submit to their enquiry. If consequences of actions are not enforced by you then I will seek those that do enforce them. Now, please leave me headmaster." With that Harry closed the door in his face.
Dumbledore had frozen. No one had shown such opposition to him in recent years apart from those who refused to see the light and allow him to shepherd them towards a brighter future. He was left staring at the innocuous looking door that he knew would be impervious to any spell he would use on it and with his thoughts on the similarities between the boy on the other side and another he had failed half a century ago. He was so caught up in the similarities that he didn't think of any differences they might have had. That would prove to be a distraction as Harry was already penning a letter to the department of magical law enforcement. Harry didn't make threats. He made promises.
xxxxx
Off in his quarters one teacher thought of what he had just seen. It had been amazing and powerful. He was interrupted by a voice echoing from somewhere behind him. The voice wanted unicorn blood and he had only one reply he could give.
"Yes M-master, r-right away."