AN: Well here is the next chapter and I must say that I don't know much about law so a bit of guess work went into those bits. Something doesn't quite feel right with the first parts of this chapter but I couldn't think of what or how to do them so I hope that is okay. One note: My troll would NOT be taken out by being brained by its own club, trolls are tougher than that and I hope you enjoyed the fight.
Right now I don't know whether to thank a user named Zaralann or curse him. I've just got tangled up with him in an omake war and I can't help but post one regardless of what it is. His omakes make me feel insignificant. I can write stories but not snippets. If anyone wants to join in on our little war then feel free. You can find it here:
topic/139203/95299150/1
I'm going to go through all my chapters between now and when I next update to try and correct tense and break up the text a bit to make it easier to read. I'll be raising the rating to M as well. Apparently blood and gore does not belong in a T rated story.
I think that's all for now. Christmas will come about in the next chapter or two so happy inter-story Halloween for now and get your crimbo prezzies ready.
Enjoy the chapter
Beta'd by: NIX'S WARDEN
Chapter 11 – The Law and Trolls
Harry was really peeved off.
Just when all the chatter about him had died off it had found new life. He hated it, the way some people asked him how it was done, some asked where they could learn it, some even asked him to teach them. There was one elder Ravenclaw girl who got on her knees and begged! He ran away from that one pretty quickly and he seriously hoped the muttering about sacrificing her first born to him had been a joke!
He had been out on the grounds escaping it all when Hermione had cornered him, his room was useless now as everyone just waited outside the door for him. He'd taken to using the Kaleidoscope to travel between his room and broom cupboards throughout the school. He was now sat on a rock and leaning backwards, supported by his splayed hands. Len was next to him basking in some of the last sunlight before the cold set in.
A shadow fell over them and Harry looked up to see a silhouette of bushy hair. He had wondered how long it would be before Hermione's curiosity got the better of her. No doubt she had thoroughly researched wandless magic in the last couple of days.
"How did you do that?" She questioned, though demanded wouldn't have been far wrong. "You said you had been separated from the wizarding world and I was there when you got your wand so how can you be so much better than me?" Oh? It looked like she was a little jealous, best nip that in the bud.
"I was separated from the wizarding world but that is not the only community that practices magic. From the age of five onwards I was raised as a magus. What I did back there was a product of that. A magus may use a mystic code, that is an object through which magecraft is enacted, but more often than not their basic thaumaturgy is done without any aid. As for class work, I have been reading about magic for years now. Before you ask, no, I cannot teach you magecraft. It is not out of a desire to be mysterious or appear superior it is simply because of an incident in my youth that means I am capable. You will not meet a witch or wizard who is capable of thaumaturgy apart from myself." She looked put out. Hopefully she would be satisfied. Harry had no wish to answer a multitude of questions, one or two at the most and only to one he was considering a friend.
"Could that incident be repeated so that others could do what you do? And can everyone do the same things?" Harry sighed. It looked like she would not be dissuaded that easily. He would answer these two questions and no more.
"Yes the incident could be repeated but there is a lot of meaning behind it and not something to be done casually, it is literally life changing and if the details became known then the wizarding world would vilify me as a monster and deride me as sub-human so I'd appreciate it if you kept this conversation to yourself. As for your second question, no. Everyone has a specialisation, they have an element and origin that shapes what their main focus is. My element is spirit and my origin is being. Make of that what you will but I am answering no more questions!" He snapped at the end and just lay down on the flat-topped boulder beneath him.
Harry could hear Hermione grumbling but she asked no more questions. She sat down on the boulder next to him and he could feel her gaze return to him whenever she thought he wouldn't notice. Dammit, he hoped this would die down quicker than the last time.
xxxxx
Harry's irritation grew ever greater over the following week. He was still hounded by the general student populace but he maintained a stony silence in regards to their questioning and requests. The professors treated him differently instead, most of them gave him appraising looks but did not speak any differently. The exceptions were Snape, who treated him just the same as hi did before, and Mcgonagall. His transfiguration professor always kept him in her sight and stared a burning hole right through him. He could smell the fear on her, he could see the wariness in her eyes. It was like she expected him to just stand up one lesson and go on a killing rampage. Harry ignored it completely. He threw himself into making his reaction tables and his pace picked up greatly. At this rate the tables would all be finished by April instead of the end of the school year as had been expected before.
There was one person however who he was having a far harder task of ignoring. The almighty weasel kept heckling Harry every chance he got, it was ridiculous! He shouted at him in the corridors about how his parents would be disappointed in having the next dark lord as a son and they should have killed him at birth, how he should have been expelled because he had obviously done dark rituals to be able to do what he had, how his family must be a bunch of dark, evil freaks who had fed him children's' blood as he grew up. It was the last one that nearly made him snap and kill the twerp. Harry didn't much care about insults directed at himself but NOBODY was getting away with talking like that about his family.
xxxxx
The students came down to the great hall one morning to find an odd sight. There, dangling from the ceiling by thick chains was Ronald Weasley. The boy had been covered in bruises and was apparently unconscious. There was a sickly sheen of sweat running down his body which was all on display, he was not wearing a stitch of clothing. On his back was painted the words 'Punch me, I'm an idiot' in large black letters.
The professors immediately went to break the chains holding him there but found them to be resistant to whatever spell they tried. The weasel was left hanging there until the chains shattered into nothingness about half an hour before first period. He fell to the floor and smacked his head. He awoke screaming.
"The girl, the girl!" he cried. He sobbed and whined and twitched and moaned as he kept muttering about a blue haired girl with crimson eyes skipping down the corridor. He was so incoherent that he didn't even seem to notice he was naked before the entire school. Madam Pomfrey soon dragged him off to the hospital wing to try and find what was making him sweat and shiver like he was. He would not be seen until the next morning with heavy shadows under his eyes and a rather yellow complexion to go with it.
xxxxx
It seemed, however, that the ginger fool really couldn't take a hint. Everyone had already guessed that it was Harry that had done so and a number of students had seen him freeze when the red head had made the comment about his family. No one was going to be foolish enough to tickle that sleeping dragon! The redhead had managed to learn to avoid family matters when irritating the boy-who-lived though. He stuck to calling him a freak and other things but when that got no reaction he decided to up the ante.
A dung bomb went flying through the air towards Harry Potter and everyone watching held their breath and not just because of what Weasel had thrown. It was a good shot anyone could admit, the unique hair colouring meant the target was easily distinguishable. What none of them had expected was for a lock of his hair to rise up independently and knock the dung bomb right back at the sixth Weasley male.
Fred and George who had been watching raised their wands in the air and a pair of smoky tens where soon hovering in the air when the dung bomb found its target in their brother's open mouth. That had gotten a few laughs from everyone and it had taken a little of the attention off of Harry that he was most grateful for.
xxxxx
It was the end of the month and time for the first full staff meeting of the year. All of the professors where gathered in the second floor staff room which was the largest of them. Dumbledore sat at the head of the table and looked around at all those in attendance, even Hagrid, Filch and Madam Pince and Pomfrey where here. He asked the general questions like if all the first years could navigate the castle by now and how where the third year students handling their electives before moving on to more specific questions.
"I've noticed a rift in our current first years. Would anyone like to give their input on this?" Dumbledore asked to the room. It was Pomfrey who replied.
"If you mean the ill-will between Mr Weasley, Mr Malfoy and Mr Potter then I damn well have noticed! I've had the first two in my infirmary from what Mr Potter has done to them. Mr Malfoy was bad enough but what did Mr Weasley do to deserve that!" She was incensed that someone would purposefully harm another, she took her healer's oath seriously.
"You mean you haven't heard the degrading comments that Mr Weasley showers on Mr Potter on a regular basis?" Snape enquired "It seems that Mr Potter finally snapped when the boy made derogatory comments about the family he occasionally mentions."
"I heard about that too, it seems everyone is asking about Mr Potter's magic but he isn't answering." This from the runes professor, Babbling. "It has been going on since that interesting duel with Mr. Malfoy. I myself have been wondering what he could do with runes if he takes my elective. That's if he doesn't already know them."
Madam Pince spoke up next "He spends a fair amount of time in the library. He doesn't check many books out and seems to be reading a wide variety of topics. He reads about the various different branches of magic and how they differ from one another. He also reads up on sapient magical beings though I don't know why."
Dumbledore went on to ask about his progress in class which each professor replied in the positive. Minerva didn't look happy about it but it was when Severus spoke that everyone paid attention.
"Poppy, how are those potions I've given you recently?" Everyone blinked at the seemingly off topic question before turning to the matron.
"They've been better than any I've ever used before. I've been meaning to ask whether it's a new recipe or something. They are certainly more effective I can tell you." The room looked back at Snape and where thrown by the growing smile on his face.
"All those potions where produced by Harry Potter himself from the basic ingredients and with no deviation from the standard recipe. Rather promising results if I do say so myself." Snape chuckled to himself which made a few staff members jump, when did Severus Snape laugh? "he has also taken on an extra-curricular project that will probably make my job easier, we will see with next years students whether it is an aid or not though I do believe it will be." No one could really believe it. Praise from Snape was like finding a diamond in llama faeces.
"Really Severus? Has Mr. Potter ever spoken of any other things outside of the syllabus?" Dumbledore was digging for information and would take anything he could get. It was disappointing that the one Harry was closest to was Snape. If it had been anyone else then they could have driven him away from the corrupting dark arts but, as ever, Severus needed to maintain his cover and remain ambivalent at best to them.
"He speaks fondly of a Euryale and Stheno whom he thinks of as sisters and someone named Zelretch as a surrogate grandfather. There are other names such as an Altrouge and an Arcueid who he generally calls Arc as well but the name most often on his lips is Len, curiously this Len girl shares a name with his cat. He never speaks of much besides his interactions with them and no surnames are ever used nor a location given. I'd almost think he was a Slytherin when he starts playing word games with me and he doesn't even seem to notice it." Well that was partially useful. Perhaps this Euryale was the godmother that had replaced Alice Longbottom. It was another name to search for in wizarding genealogies which where perhaps the most boring things that showcase the written word.
Their deliberations where interrupted by an owl winging its way into the window and depositing itself in front of Dumbledore. The headmaster reached for the letter it carried and took notice of the wax seal on it, a wand with a padlock on it, the official seal of the DMLE.
Dumbledore paled, he hadn't thought that Harry would actually get a letter to the ministry. He had charmed the owlery to divert all such mail through him for editing. How had he done it? Dumbledore had a bad feeling about times to come.
xxxxx
How Harry had done it was actually relatively simple. A week ago he had penned a letter to Madam Bones of the DMLE. Her niece was a student in his year so this should have an effect on her, it also gave her someone she trusted to corroborate the story with. He had put on a hooded cloak and tucked his hair out of sight. The cloak shadowed his eyes making his face indiscernible, the floor length cloak was fastened in front so he was completely hidden.
He didn't know where the Ministry of Magic was so he couldn't go straight there. Instead he took himself and Len to the Leaky Cauldron and paid a single silver sickle for use of the floo. He stepped into the fireplace and Len curled herself in his arm as he clearly intoned "Ministry of Magic" and with that the two vanished into the floo network.
It was the most uncomfortable experience either of them had had. They stayed as still as they could as they watched fireplace after fireplace flicker past. Harry reinforced his eyes and his reactions and observed some of the ones they passed. He saw a large hall lined with portraits, he saw a rather cosy looking kitchen, he saw what he thought was the headmaster's office if Dumbledore sat behind the desk was any indication and those where just a few of the ones he caught sight of.
He was spat out of a fire and he stumbled a moment to regain his balance. He straightened and looked around. People where hurrying about in and out of the fires which flared whenever the floo powder was thrown on them, there was a fountain presided over by the most ridiculous golden statues Harry had ever seen. Wizards decried centaurs, goblins and house-elves as substandard and build such egocentric statues that Harry was surprised that they hadn't wiped themselves out in war by this point. If he had been displayed as such then he would certainly have made his displeasure known, it was sickening.
Harry opened his cloak enough for Len to set herself on the ground and he handed the letter to her. "I will wait for you here, take care of yourself." and so saying he kissed the top of her head as Len took off with his letter in her mouth. No one paid any attention to the cat weaving in between there legs.
xxxxx
Amelia Bones sat in her office and leaned back. It had been nearly a month since her niece and ward had left for Hogwarts. Susan was such a delight to raise though it was such a shame she didn't have much spare time as the head of the DMLE to attend to her. Amelia had been horrified when the poor girl's parents had been slaughtered at the end of the last war. Everyone thought that it was now safe with You-know-who gone and the celebrations had begun. That no one had ever found the ones responsible was just another reason for Amelia to apply herself both in law enforcement and to be there for her orphaned niece.
It had been a quiet day today. There was usual a spike in crime around the start of the children's holidays much to her displeasure but since she had been promoted to head of department she was out on the street less and was able to delegate such tasks. She looked at the photos on her desk, there was one of Susan shortly after she had been born cradled in her mother's arms who was stood with Susan's father and one of an eleven year old Susan in her new Hogwarts uniform grinning widely.
She looked up as she saw her door open but no one came through. She had her wand in her hand in an instant and cast a quick hominum revelio. It came up negative. She edged closer to her door and took a glance out, the corridor looked no different than usual. There was the usual hurry of people from one section to another and none of them looked anymore concerned than was normal. She sighed, she was getting wound up for nothing. She turned towards her desk.
She came face to face with a black cat sat there, she locked eyes with the feline before taking note of the letter in its mouth. Amelia raised her eyebrow "For me?" she asked and the cat nodded in reply before dropping the letter on he desk. Amelia cast a quick few detection spells at the letter and came back with nothing but parchment, ink and wax. She quickly put the letter in the top drawer of her desk before following after the departing cat. It was quite distinctive and easy to follow even if most didn't care about what a cat was doing. She followed it into an elevator and cast a disillusionment charm on her self. The cat seemed to be looking right at her and laughing, there was definite amusement in those intelligent red eyes.
Amelia was concerned. If it wasn't for her hominum revelio spell showing that the cat wasn't human she would have guessed it to be an unregistered animagus but that wasn't the case. The cat saw nothing wrong with Amelia following her as if it had nothing to hide. She made note of the large black bow and the pompoms that hung around the cat's neck. That would help identify the cat if that was what it normally wore.
She followed the cat all the way to the atrium where the cat wandered over to a cloaked figure hidden in the shadows in the corner. The cloak was pulled back for a moment and Amelia caught a flash of purple before the figure knelt and picked the cat up before disappearing without a sound.
Amelia headed back to her office in confusion. The deliverer of the letter wished to remain anonymous but they seemed to hold no ill-will towards her. If she had not already checked the letter she would have expected an attempt on her life or something given the cloak and dagger nature of delivery.
Back in her office she retook her seat and placed the letter on the table in front of her. Her curiosity got the better of her and she opened it. She read through the letter and then read it again to make sure she hadn't been mistaken.
She was livid. If this letter was to be believed a student had cast the rotting death curse in the great hall in front of the entire school and had not even been reprimanded for it. She would have to ask Susan about this and see if a duel had actually taken place before using the letter alone as proof.
xxxxx
A few days later Amelia was looking at Susan's reply. Yes, there had been a duel but that was all the letter said. Amelia was a little disturbed by this. Susan knew when she asked about something that she wanted to know about it, this short reply was most unlike her. It looked like she would be investigating this matter at Hogwarts and this was something she would not be delegating. She'd also be checking the owlery while she was there for any disruptive enchantments.
It took a while to get the paperwork sorted but as soon as she sent her letter to the headmaster she took herself and two aurors to Hogwarts. She would get this sorted as soon as possible.
As she walked up the path to the school she could see Dumbledore himself hurrying out of the castle towards her, the letter she'd sent in his hand. She'd been so annoyed at the old man when he advocated shorter sentences for the death eaters at their trials when they had been rounded up at the end of the war and as the chief warlock he had the right to administer veritaserum and had not used it. Amelia might respect the man for his achievements but his morals where something she would never agree with, she believed in proper punishment not this twisted form of rehabilitation that Dumbledore supported.
Dumbledore soon arrived before her and started talking "My dear Amelia, can I ask why you are here?" he did not want interference at Hogwarts, it was HIS domain.
"Stuff it headmaster, that letter in your hand should tell you why I am here. There was a duel here where an illegal curse was used. I'll need to ask the staff and student to recount the events and formulate a follow up report based on that. The actions I take then will depend on the report that is compiled." Dumbledore didn't move out of the way.
"There's no need for something that extreme, it was just a slight disagreement between students that has already been resolved. It is best to leave these things alone and not incite tempers again." Amelia would have none of it.
"That is for me to decide headmaster. That the duel took place here has no baring on whom should investigate a report of illegal curses." In reality she should have delegated the task but there was no reason she shouldn't investigate personally. "Now can you at least tell me the name of the two students in the duel. I will set up in one of the questions before sending for those I wish to question. I will start with you."
Amelia marched round Dumbledore's ineffectual attempts at stopping her and strode into the castle. The students in the great hall watched as she and her aurors walked past the doorway and towards the room where the first years had waited for their sorting. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Dumbledore had followed them there. Setting up a dictation quill and parchment she began her questioning.
xxxxx
It was a number of hours later when the last of the students she was interviewing had left, she had done two per year per house to get as accurate picture as she could. She had done the staff after Albus and had asked for Mcgonagall and Snape to be the ones to answer her questions.
Surprisingly, for her at least, the Slytherin head was the one more forthcoming with answers. Minerva had sat rigidly on her chair and declared the whole duel a ridiculous farce that should not have been enacted to begin with, most unhelpful. Snape however had described the spells used at the start, purely by Mr. Malfoy and how Mr. Potter merely dodged them all. When she asked why he didn't cast back she found what the terms of the duel had been. She had found the entire premise ridiculous and all about soothing a pureblood prince's bruised ego. She snorted, she could already guess that Lucius Malfoy was greasing palms as she spoke.
After the majority of the students had been questioned she decided to ask the two participants themselves about the events to see how their stories added up. Before she could however the door creaked open and Susan stepped inside.
"Auntie, I've heard that you've been asking about the duel a week ago. Rumour is that you received a report from an anonymous source. Why didn't you react to it when I mentioned it in a letter?" Amelia's eyes narrowed, her monocle digging into her.
"The first thing I knew of it was when a strange cat delivered a letter to my office." Susan's eyes lit up.
"A black cat? One with red eyes, a large black bow and pompoms hanging off it?" She asked. Amelia wondered about that. If the cat was that recognisable she could find who had sent it.
"Keep it to yourself but yes that's right. Do you know this cat?" If she did this would be so much easier.
"Yes, Harry has a cat just like it. It's always with him except in potions and herbology. It never leaves his side and spends most of its time sat on his shoulder." Well that at least gave her a suspect as to who sent the letter. No wonder he had been so wrapped up, as famous as he was he would have been mobbed by the public.
Amelia spoke a little more with her niece before saying goodbye and sending one of her aurors to retrieve Draco Malfoy for questioning. She looked at what she had recorded while she waited. It was pretty damning stuff. The duel definitely did take place and even Dumbledore had said so, he had been so slippery when being questioned and answered everything with a question or half-truth, that was confirmed. The spells used where also rather typical, at least to start with. Draco Malfoy had apparently used a variety of curses ranging from a disarmer to a stunner to cutting curses and the like but nothing beyond that. It wasn't until that he got frustrated by Mr. Potter casually side-stepping every spell sent his way that Malfoy decided to use the rotting death curse.
It was then that the duel became interesting to her. Aside from the use of a deadly dark curse it was how Mr. Potter had replied for that which was the most curious bit of it. Apparently he had back handed the curse with his bare skin and had not just received no injury from what would normally be a foolish action but had actually redirected the curse which had proceeded to eat through the duelling shields that had been set up and consume the headmaster's chair. Given the way the headmaster had been acting she had to wonder if Mr. Potter had aimed that spell, she wouldn't have blamed him if he actually had.
The spells, if that's what they where, that Harry Potter had used where not anything that could be recognised. Professor Snape had said he'd never even seen their like before and he was aware of a far greater range of spells than she was due to his learning of the dark arts and other branches of magic. Apparently he had wandlessly summoned a number of ghostly blue orbs which had launched his opponent into the air and proceeded to bombard him impacting him with physical force leaving him bruised and bleeding afterwards. Mr. Potter had then pointed at Mr. Malfoy and a black orb had appeared at the tip of his finger before launching itself at the defeated Slytherin. This had Amelia curious and she would definitely ask him about them when she questioned him.
She looked up as the door opened and auror Tinwhistle led a strutting Draco Malfoy in to the room. She regarded him carefully as he sat across from her. Either he was supremely confident in himself or he was an idiot. She started off the questioning by addressing the dicta-quill on the table between them.
"Dicta-quill on. This is Amelia Bones, head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement questioning Draco Malfoy on the events on Tuesday the twenty-fourth of September nineteen ninety-one. Also in attendance are senior auror Myers and junior auror Tinwhistle. Questioning now begins. Mr. Malfoy what can you tell me about the events preceding the duel itself?"
Draco looked at Madam Bones as he answered "I was minding my own business as I was leaving the great hall when I passed Harry Potter at the Hufflepuff table and heard him make disparaging remarks against my character and then I..." Amelia interrupted him.
"Can you tell us what Mr. Potter said about you that made you turn around?" This hadn't been in any reports so far and if he couldn't give examples then he was likely lying.
"I'd rather not repeat such things, suffice to say they where very disrespectful of someone of superior breeding." Amelia frowned at this. That could be taken as if Mr. Potter had insulted him because he was a pureblood or it could simply be Malfoy trying to use his status as a boost to his argument. Nevertheless she let him continue.
"I politely request that he stop with such comments and he replied that every one was true. I admit I acted foolishly when I challenged him but he disregarded me saying he didn't need a wand to win such a duel. I wanted to show everyone what Potter was and the duel was made public. We duelled then and there. At first he did nothing but dodge my spells and nothing else. I decided to use a curse I had come across in a book I had found in the library. It had not been in the restricted section so there shouldn't have been a problem and there was no warning about it being illegal. I may be guilty of using an unknown spell but no one could be held accountable of it in such a circumstance. When that was done Potter did something. I don't know what and the incantation he used I did not recognise. I remember being pelted from all sides like someone had taken a beaters bat to me. I collapsed on the floor and I could see some foul black thing at the end of Potter's finger before I passed out. I spent the next day and a half in the hospital wing recovering from whatever Potter did to me. I find it deplorable that he remains unpunished." The spells seemed to match up with the other accounts but she didn't believe for a minute that the boy had found an illegal curse in the library that easily. The only books that could describe that should be in the restricted section and those would give a name and description and not the actual incantation necessary to cast it.
"May I ask what book this was that you found the spell in?" She doubted she'd get an answer and like a god of prophecy she was right.
"I don't recall. I was just browsing the shelves at random through boredom so I couldn't even tell you where it was." She had expected no less but dismissed him and asked Tinwhistle to fetch Mr. Potter while she looked over what the quill had recorded.
It was irritating. The boy had confessed to using it but without malicious intent the worst that she could do at present was levy a fine of five hundred galleons against him for irresponsible use of unknown spells and put a black mark on his record. A respectable amount but not much when it came to the vast Malfoy fortunes, as the Malfoys where primarily investors then the mark on his record wouldn't mean much of anything. She sat there and waited for the final person she wished to question to arrive.
xxxxx
Harry had heard about the investigation going on and had kept out of the way. Len had been sat in the shadows and with Shared Perception they both watched who went in and out of the room. They saw as Amelia Bones took in a variety of different students for their statements: male, female, all blood statuses and all years. Harry approved with the measures she was taking to get the full story. He was unsurprised when Susan Bones herself went in, she had not been summoned by the younger auror so it was likely she went to visit her aunt than for any purpose involving the investigation.
When Draco Malfoy went in Harry decided to return to the castle from where he was, the edge of the forest, in preparation for when he was called. He avoided the students as he made his way there, using Len to scout where people where and was soon hidden in the shadows where Len had been all this time.
He watched as Draco Malfoy left the room. He was strutting around as if he owned the castle, Harry wondered how his statement had gone. He didn't have to wait long until the younger auror left the room. Harry stepped forward.
"Looking for me?" The auror jumped out of his skin as he turned around to find a slim young child. The voice had been quiet but high pitched. The boy was odd "Harry Potter?" He asked haltingly. He wasn't expecting this to be the wizarding worlds saviour. The boy nodded anyway and stepped towards the door, a strange cat perched on his shoulder.
As he stepped into the room Harry looked around. There was a desk with Madam Bones sat behind it, to her left was a man wearing auror robes who appeared to be in his sixties. The auror that had led him in sat on Madam Bones' other side. Looking up she furrowed her brow at him and asked "You would be?" Harry sighed, it seemed the law enforcement didn't even recognise him despite all the statements she had received. Perhaps she had focused on actions and forgot to get a physical profile or maybe she believed those stories about how he looked.
"My name is Harry Potter. I believe that your auror was looking for me or am I wrong?" Amelia rose her eyebrows at that. She was older than both Lily Evans and James Potter, she'd been years ahead of them but she still knew what the two looked like. This boy before her looked like neither one of them. He looked nothing like the stories would have you believe either but there on his shoulder was that cat that she had seen and Susan said it never left Harry Potter's side.
"You are right and I guess I have you to thank for bringing this to my attention." The boy didn't react in any visible way. He cocked his head to one side and said.
"I do believe that this is the first time we've met unless you're referring to prior November nineteen eighty-one in which case I do hope you forgive me in forgetting you." Amelia gave him a sharp glance just to see his lip twitch a minute amount. She almost laughed. Here was someone who was going to be totally honest with her but wasn't giving anything away. She preferred it to constant evasion like what Dumbledore peddled.
"Very well then," She turned and addressed the dicta-quill on her desk, activating it and giving all of the necessary legal information to make it official before turning back to Harry. "What can you tell me of the events preceding the duel?"
"Myself and Draco Malfoy have never seen eye to eye, even at our first meeting on the train here. He referred to myself as a half-breed freak based on my appearance alone, to Neville Longbottom as a squib and complained of the stench of mud when he saw another with us, muggle-born Hermione Granger. I asked him to leave us be and he refused telling us that a freak like me needs to learn my place and that I and the rabble and that there was plenty of room for the right sort of person. I told him to quit it or he'll regret it and he ordered Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle to 'show me what a freak gets at Hogwarts'. I did not like the implications and restrained and overcame all three without causing a single injury except, if the smell was correct, for Draco Malfoy urinating on himself. They left the compartment and Mr. Malfoy's parting comment was 'wait until my father hears about this'." Harry stopped and waited for the quill to finish writing what he had been saying.
Amelia was rather curious about the method that Harry had used to chase the three off with. "How did you cause the three to leave you alone?" Harry looked back up at her and replied.
"With a lesser form of what they used against us. They attempted to use actual violence and I used the threat of violence. I was successful. I would have used another method but they would not respond to reasoning nor our requests. It seems to be the only language they understand." Amelia nodded before asking him to recount the day of the duel.
"I was sat at the Hufflepuff table. I tend to sit apart from the others as I am not one for idle chatter. I could feel someone's glare on me and I looked around behind my blindfold and my sight came to rest on Malfoy. He rose from his chair and approached me with Crabbe and Goyle beside him. He challenged me to a duel saying that I would be no challenge to a real wizard. I told him that I have no wish to turn my wand upon him and he took the statement to mean that I would duel him without a wand as I was informed by Cedric Diggory of my own house whilst Malfoy approached the staff table. I was beckoned up there and told that the duel was to be immediately in front of the staff and students of the great hall. I handed my wand over to Bathsheda Babbling for the duels duration." Amelia nodded again. He was providing a surprising amount of detail and she would have to check with this Cedric Diggory about his claims. The name Diggory wasn't unfamiliar to her as there was an Amos Diggory who worked in the Department for the regulation and control of magical creatures.
"And what happened during the duel?" This was the interesting bit. She needed to know what his view of it was and how it corroborated with the rest of the statements.
"I did not have a wand with which to cast so I wanted Malfoy tired out. He cast a number of spells at me that can be found on the Hogwarts syllabus even if they weren't first year spells. They included stunning spells, cutting curses and gouging and piercing hexes. He aimed primarily for the torso making it easier to predict and dodge his attacks. I will admit I was getting excited. I could feel the adrenaline in my system knowing that a single bad dodge would have me injured and requiring medical help. It was then that Malfoy cast the rotting death curse at me and me, being high on adrenaline, decided to swat the curse aside where it ate through the duelling shield placed around us and destroyed the headmaster's chair. I decided that enough was enough and proceeded to knock my opponent out. I conjured semi-corporeal orbs of force with which to impact him. I was surprised when he remained conscious and hit him with a gandr curse to keep him down and, as he was now out cold, I was the victor of the duel."
"You conjured these force orbs wandlessly and this gandr curse was also wandless?" She had to ask.
Harry nodded and a single orb appeared above his shoulder. He also raised his hand and pointed at the wall. A black orb appeared there. "The orb currently over my left shoulder is something of my own making. As it is it can do little more than leave a bruise. The gandr curse which I currently have pointed at the wall is an obscure and rather unknown Scandinavian sickness curse that causes a general lack of health. It lasts between twelve hours and several days depending on the energy put behind it." With that the two orbs dissipated and faded away.
Amelia had been eyeing the two balls of energy warily before returning her attention back to the one who had caused them to appear. "In the statements already given they said that you incanted something before summoning your force orbs. Why did you not this time?"
Harry looked at her and said. "This time I only summoned one. When I duelled Draco one could have been easily avoided and as such I conjured a great deal more. If I create more than five or so then I do need my aria for the task." Harry didn't feel too bad about telling the DMLE this. The records weren't available to the general public and as such the only ones who could find out would be anyone who wanted to open the case and they would have to go through official channels. Amelia Bones from what Harry had found had a reputation for abiding by the law. As this incident happened at Hogwarts that means anyone that held a position at that institution would also have to go through official channels meaning Dumbledore could not simply appropriate the file due to his other positions.
Amelia had no more questions for Harry and dismissed him as she went back over the interview. Everything that she had officially asked had been answered completely and she had even got to see an example of the magic he used. Nevertheless she got the feeling that Harry had held an awful lot back as well. He had not told her what the incantation or aria, as he put it, was nor had he told her the maximum number of orbs he could produce. He had not told her what else he could do or why he could do it. In hind-sight her report was drastically short of details and she was only now realising it. She wanted to tear her hair out in frustration.
xxxxx
Over the next month news about Malfoy being fined five hundred galleons for irresponsible use of an unknown spell as well as having to pay for the headmaster's new chair managed to rein in the ferret somewhat. He still glared at Harry during every lesson they shared and whenever they passed in the corridors. He also continued to mutter derogatory comments under his breath that Harry's sharp ears caught anyway but even he was not stupid enough to comment on his family, he did have some survival instincts no matter how stunted they had become.
The red head on the other hand was just as obnoxious as ever and had taken to sniping at Hermione as well. Every time he did so he always awoke either in pain, in a compromising position or both, He also always awoke screaming about a red-eyed blue-haired girl that was starting to become a school myth that appeared to torment the youngest Weasley male whenever he was alone. Whenever one of these rumours was mentioned in range of Harry, the boy found he couldn't look at Len and maintain a straight face.
It all came to a head on Halloween. Which landed on a Thursday that year. Gryffindor had double charms first thing and Hufflepuffs a single period after lunch. Harry was free that morning and, after his daily work on reaction tables, went walking around the castle. At the start of lunch he headed off towards the kitchens. He had no wish to be amongst other people right now. Today was the anniversary of the day he became an orphan. Being in the school and doing the magic that his parents would have done brought it all crashing down on Harry like it never had before. He supposed that being surrounded by reminders of his dead parents whenever a professor compared him to oner or the other and simply being in an environment that they spent a lot of time in wasn't helping.
He had first entered the kitchen when he had baked a cake for Len's birthday on September ninth. That day hadn't gone completely to plan as it was the Monday after his first weekend away but Len seemed to appreciate his cake after anyway.
He'd been down a few times since then and had brought recipe books with him and cooked with the house-elves on occasion. As a result, the meals getting sent up to the great hall where much more balanced and healthier, he also improved some of the recipes while he was at it. Hermione had even commented on it at one point which was certainly a boost to Harry's ego. The elves had let him analyse them as well and he'd been able to figure out a bounded field that could keep them away, it was a dastardly tricky thing, Harry had spent two weeks trying to work it out.
Regardless, Harry decided to eat his meals down there today and avoid the festivities in the great hall. After a good meal of fish and fruit, something he was rather fond of, he left for his charms theory lesson where they learnt about the difference between directly used charms and constant use charms, the former being something immediate like a colour change charm and the latter being something gradual like the levitation charm. Apparently the Gryffindors had been learning just such a charm that morning.
The lesson following that was defence and Harry looked around the room for Hermione as soon as he stepped in, she usually beat him there this period. He didn't see her. Sliding down beside Neville he asked about Hermione. The Longbottom heir glared in the direction of Weasel, that confidence boost had really done its job, and told him of how said redhead had insulted her after charms that morning and hadn't been seen since. Harry spared a glare for the ginger menace silently promising to find a way of introducing him to Primate Murder without anyone being suspicious of him.
Harry didn't concentrate very hard that lesson and as such missed most of what Quirrel was saying about vampires. What he did here almost had him rolling in laughter, the 'strongest' vampires of this world would be nothing to all but the weakest of apostles in his own and the way they feared them was humorous to him. He wondered if he should ever bring Arc or Altrouge along to any of his lessons before dismissing the idea as silly. He waited for the lesson to be over so he could hunt down Hermione and fix whatever the Weasel had done to her. As it was, no sooner had Quirrel dismissed them than Harry was already a fading after-image left behind where he was before.
xxxxx
How hard could it be, Harry thought, to find a single girl in a castle? He hadn't counted on not being able to get a whiff of her prana scent that smelled of old books and dusty tomes. Wherever she was she had been there a while without moving around to give him a trail to follow. He was irritated by this when he eventually did get a scent in his nose.
Unfortunately for him this scent was more real than a way of identifying magic. Harry stood there as a troll walked across the corridor and entered a room to his right hand side. Harry didn't care about the troll, it had done nothing to him so hee wasn't going to bother it.
That was true up until he heard the feminine scream that gave him a sinking feeling.
Harry reinforced his body to its limit and raced back to where the troll had gone. Harry ripped the door off its hinges in his haste to get by. There, crouched frozen in fear, was Hermione with the massive troll raising its proportionally large club down towards the unmoving girl.
Harry really didn't think about what he was doing next, he just did it.
He dived across to Hermione with his reinforcement and managed to grab her and roll out of the way but not before taking a hit with that troll's massive weapon. Harry could already feel the bruise forming across his back. If it hadn't been for his reinforcement and the fact the tree trunk in the troll's hand had some give in it due to the freshness of the material then he would surely be greeting death right about now. He had managed to get them both out of the way but now the troll was between them and the exit.
Dammit, this really wasn't looking too pretty right now. "My soul is a weapon" he intoned and with that a halberd appeared in his hands. It was almost two metres long from the end of the shaft to the tip of the blade. Runes for various effects where engraved on the blade itself and, most deadly of all, the blade was coated in gorgon venom. Harry remembered when he had tried Shirou's 'tracing' out and he could only manage things he was rather familiar with. This halberd was one such thing, he had been there when the base weapon had been forged and shaped, he had etched the runes there himself and it had been him to coat the blade in gorgon venom.
Since his blood adoption he had been unaffected by snake venom and now, years later, it would take something potent to slow him down so the venom coated blade was ideal for him. If he managed to nick or cut himself he needn't worry overly much on the effects and he had a fairly lethal weapon to hand. The weapons he favoured where the halberd and kusarigama, he also was fond of the chains that had been forged and then etched with runes too.
He placed himself between the troll and Hermione as the club came down. He braced himself with reinforcement and held the shaft up to meet the club. Harry was hammered down and he could feel his joints protesting. He looked up as the troll pulled the club back again and he rapidly traced chains that he threw towards the trolls legs. The chains wrapped around them and the troll tottered for a moment but stayed upright.
In the intervening time Harry had pulled his arm back and released the halberd in an overarm throw as if it was a javelin with a cry of "Thurisaz!" a rune on the blade above the hilt crackled with electricity that flowed over the blade as it arced its way towards the troll.
The blade flew for the troll's head but was knocked a little aside by the troll's flailing club. It clipped the troll's temple and the electricity arced across part of its face and ear. This enraged the troll who now looked at them through one good eye and one charred one. The ear on the side of its head was now nothing more than a blackened and burnt lump and a tracery of burns covered part of its face, it was a shame the the heat from the lightning weakened the gorgon venom as it did.
The troll roared at them in rage and ran towards them. Harry thought he would try something to get out of the way. He grabbed Hermione and with her over his shoulder he jumped sideways towards the wall willing it with all his might to remain there.
He did. He was now stood horizontally on a wall. He got over his shock quickly though as he still had to deal with a rampaging troll. He ran up the wall and round before throwing Hermione bodily from the room. She was out of harms way and he could now focus on killing the troll instead of defending her.
He sized it up and was not happy with the result. Trolls had notoriously magic resistant skin and the only reason his spear had worked was because he'd channelled a large amount of prana into it before incanting the lightning rune etched on it. A purely magic attack was next to useless against something like this. He was now so pissed that he'd had Len searching elsewhere in the castle for Hermione, it would take far too long for her to reach him now.
Harry traced another blade, this one a two handed claymore and he maintained his reinforcement as he jumped at the troll and started trying to embed the blade into his foe while avoiding the wild swings of the club. He aimed for joints and what would be pressure points on a human but that damnable thick skin was such a hindrance. One lucky swing from the troll and Harry's right hand was crushed as the blade was knocked from his grip.
He traced another blade, a one handed gladius and set to work. Unlike the large claymore the smaller gladius was designed for thrusts and its sharp point aided Harry in forcing the sharp blade through the troll's thick skin, allowing the blade to penetrate deeper into the beast.
The troll appeared woozy. The gorgon venom was taking its toll and had spread rapidly through its system. When the venom reached the brain it would be over but the troll didn't seem to want to go easily, there was also how the venom wasn't fresh and quickly lost strength despite it being the one of the most potent of venoms when used immediately.
It moved drunkenly towards the doorway and Harry would not let it set one foot further into the castle proper. He couldn't tell when another would come by and he would not risk another interfering if it became a prolonged fight. Hermione was already gone and his reinforced ears picked up no signs of any bar him and the troll being nearby.
He would use it, the greatest weapon he currently had, he would hope that it would be enough to stop the troll in its tracks.
Harry reached up and with one hand he gripped the side of his blindfold. With his back to the doorway and the troll the only thing before him he could be sure that this was safe.
There was a tiny click that was barely noticeable but that was the sign that he could remove the blindfold which he ripped off his face.
He matched eyes with the troll and forced as much prana into his eyes as he could. They glowed brightly and his multi-coloured glare did not move from the troll as he fed them a ridiculous amount of prana in order to petrify his target. The troll wobbled about on his still chained legs but once he matched gazes with Harry it was all over. His eyes despite using mystic means to convey it carried a physical effect that the troll's hide wouldn't be able to counter.
Ordinarily it would take a full second for him to turn a non-magical human to stone and three for any of the wizards of his world. The troll would be even slower taking about thirty seconds of constant eye contact. This wasn't ordinary circumstances though, Harry was actively pouring as much prana as he could towards his mystic eyes effect.
The troll managed to take four steps before the stone had completely overtaken its body.
Harry collapsed on the floor, completely wiped out. He replaced his blindfold back on his face and laid back. He could feel the bruise that was making itself known on his back where the troll's club had hit him but he didn't care much for that. He healed much quicker than most and it would be gone in a day or two.
Harry heard footsteps rapidly approaching and turned to find Hermione accompanied by several professors approaching from down the corridor. It was always when things where over did the cavalry arrive. He didn't want to show them his petrifying effect but he didn't have the time to do much about it as they soon arrived in the doorway.
Dumbledore looked pleased to come and rescue him and Harry swore he saw a smug grin on his face. That was until they saw the troll however, or should he say amazingly accurate troll statue done in granite.
"Mr. Potter, I think we need an explanation."
xxxxx
It was in the great hall that Susan Bones was the first to notice their table's missing occupant. Since her auntie's investigation she had spoken to Harry now and then, not enough to be friends but she had had more contact than most with him. A quick glance around the hall showed no sign of purple anywhere apart from Dumbledore's robes. She was just about to ask everyone what was going on when professor Quirrel came rushing into the hall with his turban askew and a flushed expression on his face. The entire hall went silent as he rushed halfway up to the head table before crying out.
"Troll! Troll! Troll in the dungeons! Thought you ought to know" before fainting dead on the spot. The entire hall erupted in pandemonium at that until several loud firecrackers from Dumbledore's wand managed to get everyone's attention.
"QUIET! All students are to follow their prefects to their common rooms. Myself and the staff will-" He was cut off by the doors opening again but this time an unkempt and slightly bruised Hermione Granger burst into the hall screaming.
"Harry's fighting a troll, second floor! Help him!" Everyone's eyes went wide at that. Their mysterious first year was now having a tangle with a troll? What wasn't that boy going to do.
"Very well Miss Granger, lead the way. It seems that our troll has moved since Quirinus made his escape. All students are to remain here. All staff except Severus and Minerva defend them. You two, with me. Quirinus you come as well. Perhaps you can tell me if it is the same troll when we find it." Dumbledore called as he made his way out of the hall.
The four professors hurried off towards the second floor where even now sounds of battle could be heard. Quirrel seemed reluctant to continue the chase and was at the back of the line. If it wasn't for Snape's eye on him he may just have fled, the coward.
They rounded a corner to see Harry Potter halfway out of the door, he had one hand on his blindfold as if to remove it but why was anyone's guess. They looked past him to see the troll frozen in mid-step. There was chains wrapped around its ankles and a halberd embedded in a wall that was webbed with scorch marks and the blade was slick with blood, there was a claymore near the destroyed sinks and that was also soaked in blood as well as the shorter blade that lay at Harry's feet.
Dumbledore stepped towards harry and spoke "Mr. Potter, I think we need an explanation."
