That Which Can't Be Seen
A Harry Potter Alternate Universe fic
By: Shadow Chaser
Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all characters associated with the books do not belong to me. They belong to J.K. Rowling and Warner Brothers. I own my own original characters. Please ask if you would like to use them.
Author's Notes: Some things, like Harry's schedule, might not stay consistent with the book and plus I'm crunching a lot of things together. It makes for a far more interesting story…And also, I guess I should mention this, some of the HP characters may seem a bit OOC, at least since this is an AU…
Chapter 9 – Flying in Mystery
"Coronum!" James shouted, blasting the spawn that had tried to ambush him with a burst of white light. The spawn immediately disintegrated, but not before the creature howled a call to its dark allies. He immediately heard the multiple howls of other dark creatures within the vicinity and gripped his wand tighter.
"Sir!" Colin came running down the stairs, along with the other Auror with them bleary eyed, having been abruptly woken up by the spawn crashing through the window and by his spell-casting.
"Spawn," he said roughly before heading to the now broken window and peered outside.
"Joint attack," Kingsley Shacklebolt pointed out in the distance where two different bursts of red firecrackers indicated that they too were under attack. Shacklebolt fired off a couple of red sparks himself, notifying the Sirius and Emmeline's groups that they too were under attack.
More unearthly howls filled the air and the lights on some of the houses in the villages abruptly went on as the villagers woke up. James cursed underneath his breath before leaping out of the window, his robes billowing behind him. There were two almost indistinct thumps of both Kingsley and Colin joining him on the ground before they started to blast spells at some of the dark creatures that ran at them.
"We have to get out of the village's boundaries!" he called to the two who nodded and followed him as he cleared a path through a small horde of jaw-nymphs all squealing at him, their razor sharp teeth crackling in anger. He shot a fire spell from his wand at two of them who were climbing onto a nearby house's windows, making its occupants scream in terror and they both were burnt to a crisp, falling down to the ground dead.
Firing off a few more spells, they slowly made their way to the village's borders, making sure that the creatures that were overrunning the village had followed them.
"James!" Sirius' voice to his left made him turn slightly to see his best friend leading his small group towards them, along with more dark creatures. His best friend abruptly turned and fired off a few rapid spells, destroying at least four of what looked like giant slug-like beasts spewing acidic foam all over the place.
James, Colin, and Kingsley along with those in Sirius' group immediately raised protective shields over themselves as acidic goo from the exploded slug-like creatures rained down upon them. A lovely smell started to filter through his nose and he wrinkled it slightly.
The good thing was that many of the creatures that had followed James and his group out of the village shrank back, trying to press their attack, yet unable to do so at the moment due to acid goo flying all over the place and landing on the ground, rotting away anything that touched it, including some of the dirt and grass.
Suddenly, a piercing wail filled the air, eliciting a groan of pain from James as he covered his ears, trying to drown out the horrible noise, but it wouldn't stop. He gritted his teeth and looked through pained eyes to see that the others also had a hard time against whatever was making that piercing wail. However, beyond them, he noticed to his puzzlement that the dark creatures were looking around, as if suddenly docile before disappearing into thing wisps of black smoke. As the last of the dark creatures disappeared, the wailing abruptly stopped, leaving a ringing sound in his ears.
He tentatively lowered his hands from his ears, every fiber of his being tense, ready for a counter-attack of sorts. There was no way it was this easy…
"Sir…I detect no traces of the creatures that attacked us," Colin said after a few minutes of tense silence.
"Are you sure?" James knew that he really didn't have to ask Colin since the man was the best dark creature scryer they had on the force, but he still didn't want to believe it.
"Yes sir," Colin replied, not at all hurt by his questioning, "it's as if they've just disappeared sir. I can't scry any traces of them."
"Potter!" Emmeline's call from behind them made him turn around to see her half-carrying the bloodied form of one of her team, the others in her group following behind her, wands drawn out, eyes wary.
"Where's Appleby?" he asked, wondering where the other scryer of their team had gone to.
"Dead," Emmeline's lips were thin. "Young says that the person they were tailing abruptly disappeared before being replaced by a cockatrice."
James cursed and clenched a fist before glancing at Young whose face was starting to turn a bit gray. "All right, take her to Hogwarts and make sure Madam Pomfrey tells Dumbledore about what's going on, and then I want you back here. We need to regroup…"
"Yes sir," she nodded curtly, none of her playful prankster attitude showing through as she and Young Disapparated with a loud crack, leaving the six other Aurors and him standing by the village's border. The night's sounds had started to return and the various villagers that had come out during the commotion were starting to return to their homes, all though James could sense that an air of fear had started to surround the community.
Glancing out into the darkened woods once more, he turned to face his team and pointed at Colin. "Thatcher, I want you to set up a seven-point scrying perimeter around the area. Regus and Cheng will help you."
"Sir," Colin nodded before Apparating away along with Andrea Regus and Tomas Cheng to set up the perimeter.
"Shacklebolt, I want you and Quinten to examine the dead creatures to see if there's any distinct magical signatures we can garner from it," he ordered.
"We'll need gloves from the villagers," Will Quinten grimaced, staring at the still acidic goo leftover from when Sirius blasted the slug-creatures apart.
"Do so," James nodded.
"And what about us?" Sirius joined him as the others left to do what they were ordered to do.
"We're going to have the fun job of asking everyone in this village what they were doing just minutes ago. Then we're going to ask the next village and then Emmeline's village."
"You know…we were attacked only by really annoying creatures…" Sirius said as they headed into the village once more, ignoring the debris that had littered the streets from the recent fight.
"Really?" James blinked, "I was attacked by a Spawn…"
"Spawn?!" Sirius half-shouted, "but…who…?" A dark look came over his face, "You don't think its Voldemort, do you?"
"I know he has the power to control spawns and other extremely dark creatures…but…I don't think so. I mean, it was only one spawn and it was easily killed."
"You think it could be a Death Eater behind all of this?"
"Wouldn't put it past them; if it is though, we'll have to be real careful. He or she has evaded us for a long time…so they're good…"
"You don't think it could be…"
"No…" James shook his head, cutting off whatever his best friend was going to say, "all of them had been accounted for during the last year of our school year. Even the Weaver's Council said that there weren't any new ones…"
"But like you said, Voldemort's still alive and he is the-"
"I know…" James' gaze grew dark, "and I know Lily is…"
"I'm not trying to imply anything James, you know that, but I do want to put forth that like you said, there's been an increase in dark creature attacks recently…so maybe another Council is forming?"
"If it is…I still haven't felt my powers returning…"
"Yeah…but if it is a Dreamer…"
"I know…"
The next week and a half passed by quickly for Harry as his classes took up so much of his time. He had thought he may learn something about Voldemort or anything about complex spells as he had seen his father do occasionally when he sneaked out of his room, but Defense Against the Dark Arts was nothing more than a joke. Professor Quirrell spent most of the time telling them to read out of their textbooks and regaled stories of different dark creatures and attacks on various Muggle, Wizarding, and even other creatures' populace.
Sometimes, when he was asked to elaborate, Quirrell turned slightly pink and muttered something about the weather before proceeding onto another subject. And whenever Harry sat in the classroom, he always thought it smelled a bit funny. Freed and George were convinced that Quirrell had garlic in his turban to prevent vampires from getting to him. It was also odd that every time Harry stared at the back of Quirrell's turban, he would get small twinges of pain from his scar. The first time it happened, he made a small noise of surprise, startling some of the Gryffindors and Ravenclaws who were sitting near him.
He had decided to ignore it as it kept happening more and more frequently so not to draw further attention to him, but even that was almost impossible now. He was grateful that both Hermione and Ron, both of whom he had become fast friends with, were able to at least clear a path through small pockets of crowds that wanted to see him as he went from class to class.
As far as he was concerned, History of Magic with the ghostly Professor Binns was not one of his favorite subjects. He had fallen asleep many times in the class and woke occasionally to notice that Hermione seemed to be the only one awake, but even caught her occasionally nodding off.
Herbology with Professor Sprout, the head of Hufflepuff was interesting to say the least. In the first three classes they had with her, at least four Gryffindors nearly got their arms bitten off by vicious plants.
In Charms, which was one of Harry's favorite classes so far, Professor Flitwick, the head of Ravenclaw had squeaked out in surprise at seeing him and toppled from the stack of books he had been standing on before climbing back on. However, Flitwick had also treated him like a normal student, much like McGonagall usually did and for that, he was grateful.
All in all, he was happy at Hogwarts, so much that he had put the initial homesickness of leaving his mother and father behind. Even his housemates were getting used to the fact that The-Boy-Who-Lived was in their house and he had become friends with the three other boys in his dormitories – Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnigan, and Neville Longbottom. He had met Neville only once before coming to Hogwarts and that was at the Quidditch World Cup four years ago.
But his initial burst of happiness today evaporated suddenly as he, Ron, Hermione and the rest of the First-Year Gryffindors walked out to one of grassy courtyards attached to the east wing of the school. He knew he should have expected the Slytherins to join in their first broom riding lesson taught by Madam Hooch, but just seeing them after having endured a god-awful morning of Potions with them, irritated him.
First-Years weren't allowed to have their own brooms and it had made him sad at first, but he felt cheered by the thought as he saw that Malfoy was staring at one of the school's old brooms with a look of utter disgust. Apparently the stuck-up rich boy wanted to bring his own broom too.
"Line up, students, line up," Madam Hooch had a shock of grey-white hair that was styled like feathers and had piercing gold eyes that gave her hawkish looks an even more fiercer edge.
The four houses respectively stood in four straight lines, holding their borrowed brooms in their hands. Harry felt a bit nervous as he fiddled with the handle of his borrowed Cleansweep 70. While his father had allowed him to ride his Nimbus 2000 a couple of times before he went to Hogwarts, he didn't really know how to properly ride one. His parents never allowed him near their brooms and he had longingly gazed at the ones during the Quidditch World Cup.
Glancing around, he noticed that many of the other students, especially the Muggle-born students were also very nervous. Both Dean and Hermione looked positively ill at the thought of flying on a broom. Malfoy on the other hand, was whispering stories and demonstrating with his hands a few techniques, clearly indicating to the baited breath of the rest of the Slytherin First Years that he knew how to fly one.
"All right students. Put your brooms down on the ground and stand up straight. Once you've done that, place your hand above your broom and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch said in a loud voice.
The rest of the students did as she had asked and Harry stared at the Cleansweep now lying on the group. "Up!" he commanded in a forceful voice and to his surprise, his broom zoomed immediately to his hand. The shouts of the other students filled the courtyard and he glanced around to see that a few students were having some trouble.
Looking to his left, he saw that Ron had gotten his broom up with two shouts while Hermione was still struggling with hers.
"You have to say it like a command…like teaching a pet of sorts," Harry caught Hermione's eye and told her.
She nodded before taking a deep breath and trying it again. "Up!" the broom zoomed straight up into Hermione's hand and she grinned at him and Ron before nodding her thanks.
A few minutes later, when the rest of the students got their brooms in their hands, Madam Hooch had them mount it and try to kick off gently to hover in the air for a few seconds before pointing their broomsticks down and landing. Everyone was waiting for her to blow her whistle to tell them to start when Neville, nervous and shaking all over, jumped the gun and shot into the air.
Some of the students cried out in surprise as the Gryffindor rose higher and higher, his face panicky and full of fear.
"Mr. Longbottom! Come down this instance!" Madam Hooch raised her wand to help bring Neville back down when suddenly his broom shot off into the distance and slammed against one of the stone walls surrounding Hogwarts. Everyone watched as the boy fell to the ground in a heap before they all ran over.
"Broken wrist…" Harry heard Madam Hooch say as she gently picked up the boy, tears starting to fall down his face. "Come on now…up to the Hospital Wing where Madam Pomfrey can fix you up…"
The crowd of First Years broke apart to make room for her as she headed to the castle.
"If I see so much as a broom in the air while I am gone, that person will be expelled before they can say 'Quidditch'!" she parted her grim warning before disappearing into one of the doors of the castle.
"Did you see that big fat pig fly?" Malfoy immediately said in a loud voice before dipping down and picking a small round object up, "oh look…the idiot left his Remembrall. Maybe if he gave it a squeeze-"
"Give that here, Malfoy," Harry narrowed his eyes in anger. He remembered when Neville received the gift, the day after their first day of classes and had cherished it from his family, especially since it was from his younger sister. The whole group stopped their whispers and stared at him and Malfoy.
"You want it Potter?" Malfoy smiled viciously at him before extending the hand that had the Remembrall in it. Harry swiped at it and missed as the blond-haired boy dangled it out of his reach. "Oops…missed…" Malfoy sneered before mounting his broom and took off. "You want it Potter?!" he shouted back down at Harry, "come and get it!"
Harry immediately felt a wave of anger fill him before he mounted his broom and took off, much to Hermione's and Ron's protests. Ignoring them, he instinctively maneuvered his broom towards Malfoy who had a pole axed expression on his face at seeing him fly.
"Father been teaching you?" the blond-haired Slytherin sneered.
"Actually no…this is my first time flying on a broom," Harry shot back, smirking at the shocked look he now wore.
"Fine then," Malfoy flew higher, "catch me if you can!" With that, the blond took off, much faster than Harry could have anticipated.
He lowered crouched lower onto his broom and willed it to move forward, to catch Malfoy. The air rushed around him as he sped towards Malfoy, chasing him as he flew around and inwardly, while he was angry at the Slytherin, another part of him reveled in the joy he felt while flying. It was so much fun and so wonderful!
He managed to keep up with Malfoy and saw that the boy was getting progressively angrier and angrier before they halted once more, high above the other First Years who looked a lot like specks now.
"Not so tough are you Malfoy? Got no bodyguards like Crabbe and Goyle right?" during one of their classes with the Slytherins, Malfoy's ever present friends Crabbe and Goyle had tried to prank them. However, Hermione was too quick to catch them in the act and they had gotten them in trouble and house points taken off.
"Shut up Potter…you and your stupid Mudblood mother-"
"Don't call my Mum that!" he shot towards Malfoy, intent on ramming him, but the boy ducked out of the way.
"If you're so intent on saving Longbottom's stupid Remembrall, catch it!" with that Malfoy threw the small colorless ball high into the air before it began to drop to the ground.
Harry immediately sped after it, watching it fall its slow arc towards the ground. He didn't really know what he did to catch it, but it involved a flip of sorts and he caught it just before it hit the ground. Pulling himself up on his broom, he skimmed the surface of the grass before dismounting to the wild cheers of his housemates and the others. Only the Slytherins looked put-out with his apparently success.
He was engulfed in hugs, backslaps, and cheers so deeply that he didn't initially hear anything until-
"HARRY POTTER!"
Harry jumped at the sound of Professor Lupin's angry voice and immediately his spirits fell as he saw his father's good friend marching towards them, an indiscernible expression on his face.
"Come with me, this instant," Lupin grabbed him by the arm and he quickly shoved Neville's Remembrall into Hermione's hands before being led away. He briefly saw Malfoy land and smirk at him.
"But Professor…"
"No buts-"
"Uncle Remus…" Harry tried before Lupin held up a hand in silence as he was lead up to Flitwick's classroom.
"Wait out here for a second Harry," Lupin entered the Charms classroom and reappeared moments later with a tall looking boy whom Harry had seen occasionally in the Gryffindor Common Room, usually surrounded by Quidditch maps and textbooks.
"Harry, this is Oliver Wood. Oliver, this is your new Seeker."
Harry's jaw dropped completely…
Lily was in the midst of watching the evening news when she noticed Remus' face in the fireplace. Muting the television set, she walked over to the fireplace.
"Remus?"
"Lily! You won't believe it!"
For a second her heart dropped to her stomach as she feared something had happened to her son just mid-week into the second week of classes at Hogwarts.
"Harry's going to be Gryffindor's new Seeker!"
She blinked and her mind blanked for a second before the only word she could come up with was, "What?!"
"I know, I know…First Years aren't supposed to be allowed to participate in Quidditch House teams, but seriously Lily…you should have seen him fly! If you think James had natural talent, Harry's got them in spades! I've petitioned Dumbledore about it and he said it was fine!"
Lily had never seen Remus this excited before, except on the occasion when he had received his OWL and NEWT scores during their fifth and seventh year. "Is he okay? What happened?"
"Just an incident involving Neville Longbottom's Remembrall, but Lily…you and James have to come to the first Quidditch match! You have to see Harry fly!"
"Okay, okay," Lily smiled and laughed a bit, "I'll tell James when he comes back from his mission."
"Good," Remus nodded, "I have to go…I expect dinner to be a rather interesting affair."
"Thanks Remus," Lily replied before his head disappeared from the fire, leaving her alone again. A smile crept over her face as she shook her head. She was so glad that Harry was having a good time at Hogwarts. She had been initially scared that he was going to be ostracized by the other children just because he was The-Boy-Who-Lived, but it looked like he was being accepted by his peers…
She would have to ask Remus more about her sons' friends or perhaps just meet them when the first Quidditch match of the year came.
Author's Notes:
Wow…this was quite fast. As you can see, I'm starting to breeze over a few things and mash some of the storylines together. And yes, I did give Neville a sister… This is definitely going to start to spin away from the regular Harry Potter universe, though a few events will happen in similar context. Oh yeah…for those of you who've picked up on a clue during Sirius and James' part, you may remember the term "Dreamer" from a very old Harry Potter story I wrote looooong before this one was published. Well, the Dreamers are returning for this fic and I promise, they will be expanded a lot!