Stone Pinions
By Lochar
Disclaimer: I own several things, but none of them have to do with copyright and trademark.
A/N: Gee, I'm just turning them out. I'm on a roll, don't know how long it'll last. Thanks for reading.
Chapter 11: Help intended, not taken, not welcome.
Harry slowly walked into the Great Hall the next morning, yawning, his eyes bleary, and hair even messier then normal. Looking towards the Gryffindor table he saw amidst the usual chaos of auras, the soft red that signified Ginny was there. Right near her were the auras of Ron and Hermione, so he moved towards them to find himself a seat.
Sitting down next to Ron and across from Ginny, he yawned again before starting to fill his plate.
"You ok, mate? You were tossing and turning all night. About kept the rest of us up." Ron asked.
Harry quietly finished filling his plate before he looked at Ron. "It was disgusting, Ron. I had nightmares all night I think."
"I didn't sleep well at all, either." Hermione added quietly, her voice distant. "Professor McGonagall told me I could talk to her if I needed to about it. She'd probably say the same to you Harry. I think I'm going to take her up on the offer."
"I probably don't want to know, but what happened?" Ron asked, looking at his two friends with concern.
Harry gave him a strange look. "You're right, but you didn't go to look? I would have thought you would after hearing about it."
Ron shrugged. "By the time I got there, Professor Dumbledore and Flitwick had put up some sort of privacy charm that made everything so blurry you couldn't tell what happened. I think Filch was still behind it, but we couldn't hear anything."
"A privacy charm?" Hermione asked, the idea catching her interest. "I wonder how it would be done…" She trailed off, thinking of the subject, apparently glad for the distraction.
"She didn't die gently." Ginny added softly.
Harry quickly looked over at her. "What?"
"Mrs. Norris. She didn't die gently."
Harry's face saddened, upon realizing she witnessed the scene from the night before as well. "You saw it too, I guess?"
She nodded. "I was one of the first ones to get there, before Professor Dumbledore cast that charm." She shuddered. "There was… so much blood."
Hermione nodded, understanding the feeling. "You want to talk to Professor McGonagall with me, Ginny?"
"I'm here as well. I don't know what I can do, but I can listen if you want." Harry said, wanly smiling at her.
Ginny started at that.
Harry shrugged. "I owe you, but that's not what it is. We're friends, right?" Harry continued on without waiting for an answer. "I saw it too, so it's not like I'd be any more grossed out about it than I already am."
Ginny smiled back at them slightly. "Thanks."
"It's not a problem." Harry said, nodding. Hermione and Ron voiced their agreement.
Harry was about to say something else, when a flicker in Ginny's aura caught his eye. "What was that?" He whispered to himself. Slowly he released some of the pressure holding back his Mage Sight, letting the auras of the room become stronger.
Harry frowned as he saw several thin, sickly green lines running through her aura. Concentrating again to move further out of the Sight, he looked at Ginny again. Now that he knew they were there, they were even slightly visible without using more of the Mage Sight.
"Are you sick, Ginny?" Harry asked, obviously concerned.
"Huh? No, not really. Exhausted, but I don't think I'm sick." Ginny answered with a little confusion.
"You've got some weird streaks of green in your aura. I don't think I've ever seen them before."
Ginny now looked somewhat concerned and patted herself, seemingly trying to feel her aura with her hands. "I don't feel sick."
"Maybe you're getting sick and Harry can see it happening?" Ron said, putting a hold on his gorging long enough to join the conversation. "You never feel sick until the worst of it hits, Ginny."
"Should you go see Madam Pomfrey then?" Hermione asked.
Ginny shook her head. "I don't think she could do anything if I'm not sick yet." She shrugged. "If I get sick, I get sick. I'll have to drink horrible tasting potions eventually and I'd really like to not do it today."
Harry laughed a little. "I can understand that. Just don't get too sick, alright?"
"Sure. I'll try not to."
The fluttering of wings caught their attention, and they looked up to see the mail owls flying into the Hall. Not seeing Hedwig flying in to steal some of his bacon, Harry turned back to his food only to find a letter drop into his lap a minute later.
Surprised, he looked up but couldn't tell which of the multitude of owls had dropped it off. Shrugging, he looked at the envelope.
H. Potter
Great Hall
Gryffindor Table
After having read the addressee, Harry looked up at his friends. "Are these things charmed or something? It's written for exactly where I'm at."
"Yeah. There's a charm Mum casts on her letters before she gives them to our owl if she wants it immediately delivered. If you don't, the owl just drops it off wherever it considers your home. It probably had to be charmed to get to you here, instead of going back to your Muggle aunt and uncle." Ron said, taking a break from eating. "Who'd send you a letter though?"
"Dunno." Harry opened the envelope.
Mr. Potter,
This will probably be my first and last letter to you for a very long time. I hope you had or will have a good Halloween as I'm not sure when this will get to you. Your classmates have finally learned to see Chi so I will be leaving for my home. Normally this is where I would yell at you for your mistake, but Professor Maison has done an adequate job of that I think. Instead, I will give you some advice. Third years are to take two extra electives, which they choose at the end of their second year. Regardless of what you choose for your second elective, I strongly suggest you take Ancient Runes. It is a very interesting class and you would do well in it, I think.
I must go now, but I am curious. Has your friend Miss Granger ascertained the trick to the book I gave her, so she may learn from it?
Sensei Uzuki
Harry looked up from the letter. "It's from my Sensei."
"Oh, he's going home then?" Hermione asked.
"Right." Harry nodded. "He didn't even get mad at me about my accident. I guess because Professor Maison already is punishing me. He gave me some advice about electives for third year too." Harry paused, considering the last line of the letter. Deciding not to beat around the bush, he went on. "He also said there's a way you can learn the stuff in that book, Hermione. There's a trick to it. I guess to find the basic stuff that you need to know to do the really advanced things in that book."
Hermione's eyes widened. "No way." She breathed. "I've read that book cover to cover."
"It's magic." Ron laughed.
"I'm going to get it, right now." Hermione said as she was already starting to stand up.
As she rushed out of the Great Hall, Ron suddenly grinned. "Don't be late for class, Hermione!" he called after her.
Harry looked at Ginny, who shrugged and giggled quietly. Harry grinned back at her.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ginny's aura lost the strange green streaks the next day and she didn't get sick, so Harry just shrugged it off to her having seen Mrs. Norris' death. The next two weeks were quiet, but filled with work as Hermione plowed ahead with the school books with Harry and Ron steadily keeping up with her as well. The alchemy text resisted all of her efforts to unlock its hidden secret which took up the rest of her time. Everyone in the castle slowly starting calming down as the weeks passed by with no new trouble. Well, trouble not given by Filch that is, whom went from one end of the castle to the other handing out severe punishments for anyone that even slightly broke a rule in an apparent attempt to make someone confess to the murder of Mrs. Norris.
Harry grinned as he sat watching his friends. Both Ron and Ginny were making a lot of improvement, but his other female friend on the other hand…
Hermione growled before opening her eyes and glaring at the ceiling. "I was doing so well, and now I can't get that book out of my head." She started sulking, and looked around aimlessly.
Ginny opened an eye and peered at Hermione. "I saw you put it in your bag, so why don't you work on that instead of bugging us then?"
"I want to learn wandless magic too!"
Ginny shrugged before closing her eye and continuing on with what she was doing.
Hermione sat there for a moment before letting out a weary sigh and scooted over so her bag was in front of her, digging in it and pulling out the alchemy text again. She opened it up to the first page, her hand tracing the words.
"Giving up already?" Harry asked her.
She shook her head, not looking up from the text. "Just delaying it. Your Sensei said there was a way to get the first parts of this, so he obviously wants me to. I think I'll take your teacher's words first, before yours Harry."
Harry nodded. "Alright then." He stood up, stretching. "I'm going to warm up then start my forms."
Harry slowly started his warm up, stretching out muscles that had been sitting in one place for the past hour as he worked with his friends. After a few minutes, he felt limber enough to start.
Falling naturally into one of the Tai Chi stances, Harry brought the Void around him and started. Step forward with a palm strike, block high with the other arm. Step back and lift the leg to block a kick, return it with a soft roundhouse. Two steps forward and channel his Chi into a sidekick, removing that opponent. Step forward again, turn, and block the middle against a new attacker.
Closing his eyes, Harry quickly flowed through and finished the form. Without pause, he quickly moved through each form, slowly working more and more Chi into his routines until each move had the force of Chi behind them. At the last kick, Harry's eyes flew open when he felt his Chi laden foot hit something and actually get blocked by it.
Professor Maison stood there, grinning, with Harry's foot caught in his hand. In his other hand he held Harry's staff. "Very nice, Mr. Potter. Now, add the staff to your routine and do as well." Maison let go of his foot and then tossed the staff to him.
Harry caught it, and bowed. "Yes sir, Professor."
Moving back into the modified position he'd been taught to use the staff with, Harry started again. Step forward low attack with the end of the staff, and then catch the returning blow in the staff's center. Block the kick, roundhouse followed by a head attack with the staff. Step forward and sidekick, knocking his opponent away.
He stopped after that, thinking about that last move. "Professor Maison? Wouldn't the staff get broken if I blocked a Chi attack?"
Maison nodded. "Normally, yes. But if you recall I told you about an advanced ability to extend your Chi over your weapon. If you did it as an Iron Fist, it would gain the same benefits that your own punches do. Namely, stronger hits and nearly impossible to break."
Harry nodded, looking at his staff. He closed his eyes and channeled his Chi, pushing it first into his hands then trying to extend it out into the staff. The staff seemed to actually resist the Chi unlike his own hands or even the hilt that Dudley still had. Straining, he barely managed to cover the part of the staff in between his hands before he let it go with a loud gasp.
Professor Maison just nodded. "As I said, an advanced technique." He walked over to Harry, pulling out his wand. "Thankfully, you do have an advantage. You're a wizard, and there is the Crudesco charm." As he said the spell, he tapped the staff. "Now it would probably take Sensei Uzuki to break it using physical force."
Harry raised an eyebrow, before slamming the end of the staff as hard as he could down on the stone ground. The staff just vibrated and then stilled, completely whole. "Awesome."
"The only problem with doing something like that, is the Statute of Secrecy. If you fight someone while using a charmed weapon, it would be quite illegal."
"Drat."
Maison smiled at him. "So I would suggest you keep attempting to surround the staff with your Chi." He looked over to where Ron, Ginny, and Hermione were still sitting. Ginny was watching, Hermione was still reading and Ron still had his eyes closed. "And you might want to wake up Mr. Weasley before he drools on himself."
Ginny looked at her brother before reaching behind him and smacking him upside the head.
"Huh? Wha?" Ron looked at his sister. "Dang it, Ginny, I almost had it."
Hermione looked up from her book and frowned. "You were asleep, so I doubt that. You may have dreamed it though which I doubt is good enough."
Ron's retort was halted temporarily by a large yawn. "OK, so maybe I fell asleep. I still think I was really close."
"Maybe." Harry interrupted, before the two of them could really start arguing. "Keep trying though."
Ron nodded and closed one eye. He gave Ginny a look before closing the other eye. Both Ginny and Hermione had a quiet laugh at that.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
"Ladies and Gentlemen, wizards and witches of all ages,(plus the lousy Slytherins.) Welcome to the Gryffindor versus Slytherin match." Came the voice of Lee Jordan.
"Mr. Jordan." McGonagall's warning voice rang out over the packed quidditch pitch.
"Right, right, sorry." Lee's pseudo-chastised voice responded. "Anyways, this is the last match until after the Christmas holidays, so let's all enjoy a good game, without too much cheating from the Slytherins."
"I will take the microphone from you..."
Harry grinned as he flew out onto the sunny pitch from the Gryffindor changing room behind his teammates, while listening to the bickering between Professor McGonagall and Lee. After a moment of silence from the announcers' box, Lee spoke again.
"Today's match will determine whether or not Slytherin learned last year that cheating doesn't pay. And Professor, that's the honest truth everything considered. With the Gryffindor team on the field, here comes the Slytherins."
Harry watched as the Slytherin team flew out from their own changing area and circled the pitch once before hovering on the other side of Madam Hooch.
Madam Hooch waved both team captains towards her, and they floated down and landed. Harry could hear her voice, magnified like Lee's was. "Now, I want a good game. Clean and fun. Do you understand me?" Both captains nodded. "Good. Shake and then get back in the air."
Oliver and Flint grasped each other's hands, less shaking going on than trying to crush the other. After a moment, they split up and flew back up to their respective positions. Harry was surprised to see Flint make it back up faster.
Madam Hooch blew her whistle and threw the Quaffle into the air. Flint and the other two Chasers rocketed towards the Quaffle, much faster than Harry's own teammates.
Harry frowned as he saw a somewhat familiar blond head speeding towards him. Grimacing, he recognized the Slytherin. Draco Malfoy.
"So, Potter. How do you like the new brooms my father bought for the team?" Malfoy maliciously grinned as he moved his hand to show off the writing on his broom. Nimbus 2001.
"Not bad." Harry looked at the broom. "But you know, a good broom doesn't mean a good player."
Malfoy scoffed. "It doesn't matter the skill level of my team, Potter, even though a group of newborns could fly circles around the pathetic Gryffindor team. I can easily beat you to the Snitch without trying and win the whole game."
"Whatever." Harry turned and flew away, eyes open for the small golden ball that was the Snitch. He did amusedly note that Malfoy was marking him, instead of searching out the Snitch himself.
The first thirty or so minutes of the game was surprisingly without any accidents, as the Slytherins apparently had decided to try to prove themselves the better players with their brooms. But as the score on both sides mounted at an almost even pace, the Slytherins started to play dirty once more. Harry winced as one of the Slytherin beaters 'mistimed' a Bludger hit and almost completely broke Katie's broom.
Suddenly Harry heard a shout and turned in time to watch the other Bludger coming straight at his head. Grimacing, Harry dived down below the iron ball only to watch in puzzlement as the ball curved sharply all by itself and sped back at him.
Cursing, Harry pulled back up out of his dive and quickly moved across the field, passing both Fred and George to have them hit the Bludger away. Turning as he heard shouts again, ready to move, he watched something extremely odd. Both Fred and George were hitting the Bludger as hard as they could anywhere except towards him, but the insane ball kept turning around and trying to come at him.
Glancing down towards the teacher's box, he noticed no one chanting like Hermione had described to him the year before. Snape actually wasn't even watching him, but the Gryffindor goal posts.
"Watch out, Harry!" one of the twins yelled and Harry pulled up on his broom sharply, watching the Bludger zoom underneath him, catching his broom's tail and knocking him off balance. The hit caused him to lose focus for a moment and he felt his control over his Mage Sight slip. "Dammit." Harry cursed before realizing it wasn't as bad in the air. There were only the other players, their brooms, and the Quidditch balls that had magical auras this high in the air.
Dodging the rogue Bludger once again, Harry looked around. If I can find the Snitch fast enough, maybe they can stop that stupid Bludger. In Alicia's arm was the Quaffle, and Fred was smacking the other Bludger towards a Slytherin Chaser. The magic in both balls was a pure white, but as Harry looked to the other Bludger, he noticed what looked to be a yellow aura grasping it and throwing it back at him. "Bollocks, that's what's making it go after me... and where's the stupid Snitch?"
Harry looked around, but didn't see anything else in the air at the moment. If it hadn't been for the rogue Bludger that something was throwing at him, he would have been grateful for it at least making Malfoy stay well clear of him.
There! A quick flash of a small aura, before it seemed to hide behind the Bludger that was currently trying someone's best to knock him off his broom. Now, how to get it without getting my head taken off? Harry tried darting around, making the Bludger attack him and leave the Snitch alone long enough for him to grab it, but the Snitch bounced around as well, usually getting behind the Bludger again. Harry noticed it tended to stay hidden from both him and Malfoy though.
"This is really going to hurt..." Harry muttered to himself, allowing the Void to encompass him. He buried himself as deeply as he could in it, well away from where his emotions were touching the edges of it. Channeling as much of his Chi into his fist as he could while still maintaining concentration on the Bludger, Harry solidified it. "Iron Fist versus an iron Bludger. This is really gonna hurt…"
Harry was flying at the iron ball when the yellow aura grabbed it again. Whatever was holding it hesitated at Harry's maneuver, allowing Harry the chance to pull back his fist and punch as hard as he could at the ball.
While he couldn't see his own Chi, he had a fair idea what was happening, as he felt the energy protecting his hand start to crumble. But at the same time, spiderweb-like cracks were forming on the Bludger, both physically and on the magic that infused the ball. Finally Harry felt the last of his Chi drain from his fist and the knuckles crack. But the Bludger gave as well, breaking into half a dozen smaller metal chunks. Quickly reaching out with his other hand, Harry grabbed the Snitch that was about to dart away from its no-longer-there hiding place.
Holding it up to show Madam Hooch, he quickly guided his broom down to the ground, the pain quickly starting to eat its way through the Void as it pounded on his mind, demanding to be heard. Landing, Harry made sure that the game was over before releasing the Snitch and pulling out his wand. Focusing on stopping the pain, he channeled his magic through the core, watching the magic expand and then enter his arm. After a few times, the harsh edge trying to cut into the Void dulled slightly.
Pointing his wand at his arm to again try to stop more of the pain, he was surprised to have it pulled out of his hands. Looking up at Madam Hooch's stern face, he grimaced. "I broke it. Really, really badly. Can I have my wand back to try to stop the pain, please?"
"No." She handed his wand back anyways. "Go to the Hospital Wing, now. And if you attempt to cast one more spell on yourself before she looks at you, I will personally remove you from your Quidditch team for the rest of the year."
Harry's face turned white. "Right." Stuffing his wand back in his pocket, he raced off towards the school doors. Two redheads and a brunette followed behind him.
Harry felt he had probably set some land speed records in his run, regardless of the fact that he'd jarred his arm at least twice in the run to the Hospital Wing. As he ran, he quickly stopped as much of the magic as he could in his eyes to turn down his Mage Sight. Pushing open the door to the Hospital Wing with his good hand, he walked in.
"And what are we here for today, Mr. Potter?" Madam Pomfrey looked up from her desk.
Harry held up his bad arm slightly. "Punched and destroyed a Bludger with only my fist?" He grinned weakly.
Pomfrey immediately stood up. "Excuse me?" Her face showed shock, before she shook herself and grabbed her wand. "Sit down. Now."
Nodding, Harry did so. The pain was very close to breaking into the Void now, so Harry was very interested in stopping it.
Muttering a spell, Pomfrey waved her wand over his arm. "You've shattered nearly every bone in your fingers and hand, and there are stress fractures running up your arm all the way to the shoulder. And almost half of the nerves from your wrist down have been deadened somehow, which seems to be cutting off from some of the pain you should be going through. Still, there's enough active that you shouldn't have been able to make it here on your own."
"Umm, can we fix it without the questions? Let's just say I was trying to stop the pain on my own before I got here, alright?" Harry quickly asked.
Pomfrey gave him a hard look. "And what did you cast on yourself, then?" She stopped to think for a moment on what he could have used.
"Uhh, just used my magic and concentrated on stopping the pain."
Pomfrey sighed. "Children should not mess around with healing magic. I see I am going to have to ask a few of the Professors to repeat this instruction to their first years again. Since you seem to only have somehow turned off the nerves and not destroyed them completely, I can fix that as well. But as for the bones in your hand and arm, we'll have to remove them completely."
Harry winced, but didn't argue. After a moment of intricate wand movements and muttered words, Harry felt a melting sensation in his arm, followed by the removal of the pain that threatened to overwhelm the Void.
"I fixed the nerves and removed the bones." Pomfrey rummaged through a cabinet for a moment, before pulling a potion out. "Drink up. This will regrow the bones in your arm, but do expect a fair amount of pain. Just deserts for casting magic on yourself, I think. You'll be here the night while they regrow though."
"Yes Ma'am." Harry took the bottle with his still working hand and drank. The potion was thick but seemed to slide right down his throat. He immediately felt a tingle starting at his shoulder.
"While you're here, you'll receive no visitors for the first few hours until I am sure that you'll actually be able to receive them. I've seen grown men reduced to tears to replace the bones in a foot." Madam Pomfrey turned and left the area, casting a spell which drew a curtain barrier from the main area of the Wing.
Harry sat down on the bed, nothing to do but watch the ceiling. "Boring already." Harry laughed to himself, before wincing at a twinge of pain coming from his arm.
"Great Wizard Harry Potter Sir, Dobby was telling you that it was dangerous at Hogwarts." A voice said.
Harry turned to his side, seeing a little house-elf had popped into existence. Harry wracked his brain for a moment, before frowning. "Weren't you the house-elf that tried to get me in trouble at home?"
"Dobby is sorry Harry Potter Sir, but Dobby had to. Bad things is happening at Hogwarts, and Dobby tried to get Harry Potter Sir away from them." Dobby proceeded to bang his head on the bed railing. "Bad Dobby! Dobby is not supposed to be trying to get Harry Potter Sir to leave Hogwarts!"
"Leave Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "What do you..." Harry trailed off, focusing more on Dobby. The little elf's aura was colored the same shade of yellow that had grabbed the Bludger. "It was you. Your aura was grabbing that stupid Bludger and throwing it at me!"
Dobby looked up, his face showing shock. "Dobby knew Harry Potter Sir was a great wizard, but Harry Potter Sir sees auras?" Dobby smacked his head a few more times on the bed railing. "Bad Dobby, bad!" He repeated that a few more times, before popping out of existence again.
Harry leaned back in the bed. "Well, that was entirely unhelpful."
