Disclaimer: I own only the obvious, the rest belongs to JK Rowling.
Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 12, I hope you like it.
-Chapter Twelve-
The room was completely trashed. Chairs, desks, books and shards of glass were lying everywhere, making it look like the battlefield it was. Harry quickly got his senses back and carefully walked into the room, always making sure that the ground was safe before putting his foot down. The desk in front of the room was cracked at the middle, the chalkboard was blasted into pieces.
"Someone get Professor Dumbledore, and while you're at it, Madam Pomfrey too." Harry said over his shoulder, and Dean ran off. Suddenly someone groaned from behind the cracked desk and Harry made his way over there, taking out his wand just in case. He found Madisa lying on the floor, she was covered with chalk, torn book-pages, shard of glass and a piece of the chalkboard had fallen on her back. Harry quickly lifted the rubbish off and helped her sit up against the wall. "Professor, what happened?" he asked.
"Wish I knew, Harry." Madisa replied. "One minute I was happily grading tests, and in the next I was glued to the chalkboard. The person was hooded, but tall and definitely a male. That's all I managed to observe before we began to duel. Damn, he was a good dueller. See what he did to my classroom."
At that moment Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and Cassar came running into the room. They stopped dead when they saw everything, but Madam Pomfrey moved straight over to Madisa and started to check the Professor for wounds. Dumbledore pointed his wand around the room, and it slowly took its old form back, books were put together, as were chairs, tables and shelves. In the end it looked just like it had before the duel. Cassar had gone over to Madisa and was quietly talking to her in Elfish, he then turned to Dumbledore.
"If you would allow it, Albus," the Elf began. "Then I could get some Elven priests and warriors to come here and see what we can do about the situation. This room stinks of evil, and not because it is the Defence classroom."
"Alright, they can come if it fits them." Dumbledore said after giving it a little thought. "I would really like to know how someone as evil as you say, got inside Hogwarts without me knowing it."
"The defences would have told you if someone evil penetrated the barrier, right?" Madisa asked, and Dumbledore nodded. "Then what if you invited them to come, and didn't know that they were evil?"
"You don't mean the Durmstrang-students, do you?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"It could be a Hogwarts-student as they are invited here too." The Defence Professor replied. "Or it could also be a Professor."
At that moment McGonagall and Snape arrived and quickly chased the students from the scene, so Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation. Things were getting more and more complicated.
'Hang in there Harry,' the voice said. 'Don't go crazy on me now. We've got to be extra careful now that Elven priests and priestess' are coming to Hogwarts, but first you need a meeting with the Phoenix Agents.'
Harry didn't reply, just sent a note to the Agents telling them to meet him by the picture of Sir Cadogan as fast as possible.
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"You've got to be kidding with us Potter." Zabini said, she and the rest of the Agents were staring at him as though he had grown another head.
"I am afraid not," Harry replied. "Madisa was attacked, the Defence classroom trashed and some Elf priests and priestess' are coming to Hogwarts, and all this because of someone who thinks they are the ruler of the world."
"Are we talking about the Dark Lord, or this new guy that attacked the Fat Lady?" Maxine asked.
"We're talking about the Black Snakes Order." Harry said. 'Do that one more time, and I swear I'll go kiss a dementor.'
'Just listen to me Harry. Summon the Book of Orders, and turn to page fifty-three.'
"Accio book!" Harry said pointing his wand towards the only window in the room. A few minutes later the green book came flying in and into his hands. He turned to the right page and put it on the table so that everyone could see it.
'The Black Snakes Order was founded by Morgana the Sorceress to counteract the Order of the Phoenix. Their crest is a snake biting its own tail, thereby creating a ring, and is tattooed on their right shoulder, or wrist. That way they mark how high in the Order they stand. The higher up on the arm the tattoo is, the higher up in the Order the person is.
The Black Snakes Order act mostly from the shadows as assassins, highly respected Ministry members and take any other position that could give them power, or help in their plans. As said, they work mostly from the sidelines and seldom will go into open face to face confrontations. Their members and Agents are trained to kill first and then ask questions.
However, the Black Snakes Order hasn't been seen or heard from since Lord Voldemort's first rise to power ended on Halloween 1981. Some believe that the Order was whipped out by the Dark Lord, others say that they have gone into hiding. Bidding their time, like a snake watching its prey.'
"Where did you get that book?" Tessa asked.
"It belongs in the family," was Harry's reply. "Now, do we have anything on Krum yet? The fact alone that he was sorted into Ravenclaw does tell us that he is smarter than he looks, something that is very dangerous."
"Well, he has been disappearing at odd times, but that's about all I can think of. Toby?" Tessa turned to her little brother.
"His arm seemed to be injured the night the Fat Lady was attacked, but his team also had Quidditch practice that night, and about the same time the attack happened, so that really means we have nothing." Toby replied.
"What about the rest of the Durmstrang-students?" Harry asked.
"Nothing much," Kate-Lynn Emily Minor, third year Slytherin, said. "A few Dark Arts hexes here and there, but nothing else. Well, at least not in Slytherin."
"There is this guy, Kovavov, that worries me," DiAngelo said. "He tends to disappear at odd times too, just like Krum, and he has a terrible temper."
"Alright, keep a close eye at him." Harry ordered. "Anyone else? No? Damn, these people are good. Anything else we need to take up?"
"Yep," Alicia said. "There is a Phoenix Agent at Hogwarts."
"You mean someone that we don't know about?" Zabini asked and Alicia nodded. "But why would they send another one, without telling us about it?"
"Say that," Harry said thoughtfully. "And who is this Agent? It could be anyone, from the first-years to the Professors themselves." Harry shook his head, trying to clear it. "We aren't getting anywhere with this today. Lets get back to our common rooms before anyone starts getting suspicious." The Agents nodded and headed for the door.
Harry picked up the Book of Orders and started leafing through it, reading a bit here and there. It was an interesting book. It even had pictures of the marks of the different Orders that had existed or still did, and it had the Orders background. The book seemed to update itself when something big happened with one Order or another. A really useful tool in other words.
"We're really in deep shit this time, aren't we?" Zabini asked as she passed him.
"If you put it in those terms, yeah. Really deep." Harry replied looking up at her.
"Are we going to get out this time, or is it time up?" the Slytherin girl asked as the two of them left.
"That all depends on future events, so all we can do is wait and see." With that Harry disappeared through a secret passage on the right, and Zabini continued down to the Slytherin common rooms in the dungeons.
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Harry was chatting with the Fat Lady, who was only happy to tell him the newest gossip around the school.
"A friend of mine told me that Malfoy has gotten himself a girlfriend," she said and then giggled like a schoolgirl. "And another one tells me that Dumbledore and McGonagall are dating. But he always likes to joke around, so I wouldn't take that rumour seriously. Oh, you and your adventures Terry- "
"It's Harry." Harry broke her off. She never got his name right.
"Of course it is Merry," the Fat Lady said motherly. "Anyway, I think you might be interested in this one. That Bulgarian Seeker Krum is rumoured to be a Death Eater. One of my friends swore she saw him flying towards the Forbidden Forest a few nights ago. And she is a very believable source."
"Really?" Harry said, a plan forming in his mind. "My Lady," he continued. "Would you be so kind and tell me everything that your friends tell you? Every rumour, no matter how unbelievable or insignificant, is always based on some sort of truth or other."
"Oh, you are a charmer Nedry," the Fat Lady giggled. "Of course I will tell you everything they tell me. Lets say every day after dinner?"
"Fits perfectly, My Lady, I couldn't have chosen a better time myself." Harry replied, he had given up to make her remember his name. He'd have better luck trying to calm down an angry Whomping Willow.
"Then it's a deal." The Fat Lady giggled again. "Oh, this is so exiting! I haven't had one of you to talk to for only God knows how long. Well, what's the password?" the painting asked still giggling. "That is, if you want to get inside?" she added quickly.
Harry was just about to answer, when one of the Gryffindor second-years, Carla King, came hurrying towards him. She stopped beside him to get her breath back, but always had a good grip on his robe. Harry waited patiently until she could talk again, then raised an eyebrow in questioning.
"I forgot my book out at the Quidditch pitch." Carla said. "I was watching the Bulgarians playing a game with my friends, and had taken a book with me in case I got bored. You have to come with me to get it back, or else Madame Pince will have my head on a silver platter."
"Alright, alright, just calm down." Harry replied. "Was there any teacher supervising the game?"
"No, but Viktor Krum was there, along with that Beater, what's his name? Kovavov! Yeah, that's it," the small Gryffindor said. "He has a wicked swing. You should've seen the game. It was extraordinary! Krum got the Snitch within the first ten minutes of the game, though they were playing extremely dirty."
"Carla," Harry said in a tone that made her look up at him. "I want you to promise me not to go out to watch the Bulgarians unless a teacher is there supervising the whole game. It could be really dangerous. Haven't you learned anything from the attacks that have happened inside the school since the term started?"
"But Harry, Krum is there, he would never let anything happen to the rest of us. Just look what a wonderful Seeker he is."
"The fact that he is a wonderful Seeker doesn't mean that he's good." Harry countered Carla's statement. "In my first year here the Defence Professor, Quirrell, was stuttering and wasn't much of a Professor at all. And in the end it turned out he was one of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, trying to get the Philosophers Stone to resurrect his Master." Harry could see how this information changed Carla's sight on a lot of things. "Your worst enemy is one who can think for himself. Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. And even then don't trust it if you don't have good reason. My parents trusted someone enough with a big secret, and in the end this someone turned them over to the Dark Lord." Harry said as they exited the school. He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, and Carla followed his example. "Now, where on the pitch were you sitting?"
"Not too far up as it was windy, but somewhere in the middle of the Gryffindor stands. Is it true that Sirius Black betrayed your parents?"
"No, it wasn't Black. It was a man nicknamed Wormtail. He could, and still can, turn into a rat. But there is one thing that marks him as an Animagus." Harry stopped to make it more dramatic.
"What?" the little girl was completely taken with the story, and believed every word.
"He has a silver hand, or a silver paw when he's transformed. So if you see a rat that looks suspicious, stun it at once and bring it to me. Deal?" Carla nodded. "Good, now, lead me to the right place."
Harry followed the girl through rows upon rows in the Gryffindor stands, until they reached the middle. There she picked up her book, a book about Elves, and they made their way through the stands and back towards the school.
The two of them walked towards the front doors of the school, chatting happily all the time. Carla told him all about her life here at Hogwarts, and how she loved the place. Harry listened patiently, letting the girl talk herself out, and shooting in comments at the rights places.
"You should have seen it!" Carla said giggling. "Dennis added the Wormwood before the Unicorn Horn, and the whole cauldron began to bubble as though there was no tomorrow. Snape discovered it quickly and ordered us all out of the room, telling us to forget our bags and just get out. He was the last to leave, and had just closed the door when there was a huge bang from inside and the door shook like mad trying to burst open, but Snape held it in place. When we went back in, the whole room was coloured pink. And it glowed." She stopped to giggle again and Harry chuckled. "Of course we lost fif-"
"Quiet." Harry whispered cutting her off. He had heard something from the Forbidden Forest to their right, and was scouting into the darkness while at the same time drawing his wand. He didn't see anything, but he could hear something big moving about in the shadows. Carla stood behind him and had drawn her own wand, she was also keeping watch over his back.
"What do you think it is?" she asked quietly.
"Something that shouldn't have been in the Forest, at least not this close to the school. But it can't be bigger than a big dog." Harry replied. He caught sight of something big and black, but it wasn't Snuffles, he was sure about that. This thing was bigger, much bigger. "Get ready to run towards the school Carla," he whispered not taking his eyes of the thing. "I'll make it focus its attention on me until you get inside."
"But what about you then?" she asked, fear making her voice shake.
"I'll manage," Harry said in a confident manner, more confident than he felt. "The Dark Lord himself has been trying to do me in for over fifteen years now, so I think I have a chance or two."
"Be careful." Carla said and hugged him, then let go and got into a starting position.
"Go!" Harry order and she set off. At the same time the thing from the shadows attacked, and Harry barely had time to rise his wand and yell the first spell that popped into his mind. "Sylanius!" the attacking thing hit a wall of golden light. While it was down, Harry pointed his wand towards it and said, "Parutilis!" and a golden cage of pure electricity appeared around the dizzy creature. It attacked the bars over and over again until it realised that it was no good and settled down, glaring at Harry and never letting its eyes stray away from him.
Harry walked closer to see what kind of creature this was. He had never heard about or seen anything like this. It looked like a big panther, but the tail belonged to a wolf, the claws and fangs were glinting silver and were razor-sharp. The snout was slightly longer than a panthers and the eyes were glaring green slits. The paws were huge and heavy, the legs powerfully built and every muscle was well developed. The creature growled at Harry as he came closer, but he didn't stop before he was a foot away from the cage. It lashed out after him with a paw, but missed by and inch.
"-Stupid human!-" Harry wasn't completely surprised that he could understand the being. The powerful, deep voice was full of hate and loathing. "-I'm going to kill you! You are a coward! Try to meet me face to face if you dare!-"
"-I did meet you face to face,-" Harry replied and the creature gaped at him. "-You seem to hate humans,-" he continued ignoring the comical expression. "-May I ask why?-"
"-Don't you know?-" this was said with as much loathing and scorn as the creature could put into his words. "-We were once allies, fighting against the Dark Arts. Humans and leyries, side by side. Then when this red-eyed snake-man appeared, the alliance was broken. Hundreds of leyries died unnecessary. That's why the rest of us hate you so much.-" The creature stopped to get his breath back. "-You really didn't know about this, did you?-" he asked after a while.
"-No I didn't, but I'm glad that you told me.-" Harry replied. "-The red- eyed wizards name is Voldemort. He calls himself the Dark Lord, though in my eyes he looks more like a Dark Idiot than a Lord. He killed my parents when I was one year old, and since then has tried to kill me time and time again, but I'm still here. I swore to kill the old bastard,-" Harry continued, the leyrie was watching him closely. "-And I am not going to back out on that promise. Interested in helping me?-" he asked.
"-What is your name?-" the leyrie asked.
"-Harry Potter.-"
"-You are the Gamemaster?!-" the creature sounded surprised. "-I always thought that you were taller. Can't have everything I suppose. If you let me out of this cage, I'll talk with the Alpha male and the rest of the pack.-" It chuckled in its own way when Harry hesitated, and when it spoke this time, the voice was filled with amusement. "-You are smarter than you look, young Harry, I'll give you that, and you are right about being hesitant to let me out of here. If I was set on killing you, all your human friends would have found that was left of you, would've been an empty robe, a wand and your glasses. But I give you my word that neither me, nor anyone else from my pack, will attack any student while we consider your offer.-"
Harry thought over it for another few minutes, then preformed the counter- curse and the leyrie was free. It stretched, nodded to him then disappeared into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Not a minute later Carla came running through the doors with McGonagall and Madisa. The two Professors hurried over to Harry and started to interrogate him about what had happened here. Harry just told them that he had managed to scare the creature off with a patronus, and that it had run back into the forest. He also told them that he hadn't seen what it had been, but was pretty sure it had been a nundu. The two teachers ushered him and Carla into the school, and Gryffindor got fifty points for 'sheer dumb luck' as McGonagall put it.
Once back in his dormitory, Harry went straight to bed. He was extremely tired, and the next day the other Elves were going to come. It took a lot of power to keep his mental shields up, and it was going to be extra difficult to block his mind from priests and priestess' who were trained to break through mental shields as easily as it was to rip a parchment into pieces.
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Ok, a long chapter again. Hope you liked it and please review.
Thanks to:
Naia, OlThornbecker, lollipozz, Lily Evans, Sev Rickman, aqualaria, Eve Larne, Beldin235, Aali Lyah, Evelen Megans at Quidditchcamp, Korinna Myorin, Jeah, Anora, Ashley, Pampered Tigeress, WeasleyTwinsLover1112, krystaldragon and Lady FoxFire.
Authors Note: Thanks for the reviews! Here's chapter 12, I hope you like it.
-Chapter Twelve-
The room was completely trashed. Chairs, desks, books and shards of glass were lying everywhere, making it look like the battlefield it was. Harry quickly got his senses back and carefully walked into the room, always making sure that the ground was safe before putting his foot down. The desk in front of the room was cracked at the middle, the chalkboard was blasted into pieces.
"Someone get Professor Dumbledore, and while you're at it, Madam Pomfrey too." Harry said over his shoulder, and Dean ran off. Suddenly someone groaned from behind the cracked desk and Harry made his way over there, taking out his wand just in case. He found Madisa lying on the floor, she was covered with chalk, torn book-pages, shard of glass and a piece of the chalkboard had fallen on her back. Harry quickly lifted the rubbish off and helped her sit up against the wall. "Professor, what happened?" he asked.
"Wish I knew, Harry." Madisa replied. "One minute I was happily grading tests, and in the next I was glued to the chalkboard. The person was hooded, but tall and definitely a male. That's all I managed to observe before we began to duel. Damn, he was a good dueller. See what he did to my classroom."
At that moment Dumbledore, Madam Pomfrey and Cassar came running into the room. They stopped dead when they saw everything, but Madam Pomfrey moved straight over to Madisa and started to check the Professor for wounds. Dumbledore pointed his wand around the room, and it slowly took its old form back, books were put together, as were chairs, tables and shelves. In the end it looked just like it had before the duel. Cassar had gone over to Madisa and was quietly talking to her in Elfish, he then turned to Dumbledore.
"If you would allow it, Albus," the Elf began. "Then I could get some Elven priests and warriors to come here and see what we can do about the situation. This room stinks of evil, and not because it is the Defence classroom."
"Alright, they can come if it fits them." Dumbledore said after giving it a little thought. "I would really like to know how someone as evil as you say, got inside Hogwarts without me knowing it."
"The defences would have told you if someone evil penetrated the barrier, right?" Madisa asked, and Dumbledore nodded. "Then what if you invited them to come, and didn't know that they were evil?"
"You don't mean the Durmstrang-students, do you?" Madam Pomfrey asked.
"It could be a Hogwarts-student as they are invited here too." The Defence Professor replied. "Or it could also be a Professor."
At that moment McGonagall and Snape arrived and quickly chased the students from the scene, so Harry didn't hear the rest of the conversation. Things were getting more and more complicated.
'Hang in there Harry,' the voice said. 'Don't go crazy on me now. We've got to be extra careful now that Elven priests and priestess' are coming to Hogwarts, but first you need a meeting with the Phoenix Agents.'
Harry didn't reply, just sent a note to the Agents telling them to meet him by the picture of Sir Cadogan as fast as possible.
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"You've got to be kidding with us Potter." Zabini said, she and the rest of the Agents were staring at him as though he had grown another head.
"I am afraid not," Harry replied. "Madisa was attacked, the Defence classroom trashed and some Elf priests and priestess' are coming to Hogwarts, and all this because of someone who thinks they are the ruler of the world."
"Are we talking about the Dark Lord, or this new guy that attacked the Fat Lady?" Maxine asked.
"We're talking about the Black Snakes Order." Harry said. 'Do that one more time, and I swear I'll go kiss a dementor.'
'Just listen to me Harry. Summon the Book of Orders, and turn to page fifty-three.'
"Accio book!" Harry said pointing his wand towards the only window in the room. A few minutes later the green book came flying in and into his hands. He turned to the right page and put it on the table so that everyone could see it.
'The Black Snakes Order was founded by Morgana the Sorceress to counteract the Order of the Phoenix. Their crest is a snake biting its own tail, thereby creating a ring, and is tattooed on their right shoulder, or wrist. That way they mark how high in the Order they stand. The higher up on the arm the tattoo is, the higher up in the Order the person is.
The Black Snakes Order act mostly from the shadows as assassins, highly respected Ministry members and take any other position that could give them power, or help in their plans. As said, they work mostly from the sidelines and seldom will go into open face to face confrontations. Their members and Agents are trained to kill first and then ask questions.
However, the Black Snakes Order hasn't been seen or heard from since Lord Voldemort's first rise to power ended on Halloween 1981. Some believe that the Order was whipped out by the Dark Lord, others say that they have gone into hiding. Bidding their time, like a snake watching its prey.'
"Where did you get that book?" Tessa asked.
"It belongs in the family," was Harry's reply. "Now, do we have anything on Krum yet? The fact alone that he was sorted into Ravenclaw does tell us that he is smarter than he looks, something that is very dangerous."
"Well, he has been disappearing at odd times, but that's about all I can think of. Toby?" Tessa turned to her little brother.
"His arm seemed to be injured the night the Fat Lady was attacked, but his team also had Quidditch practice that night, and about the same time the attack happened, so that really means we have nothing." Toby replied.
"What about the rest of the Durmstrang-students?" Harry asked.
"Nothing much," Kate-Lynn Emily Minor, third year Slytherin, said. "A few Dark Arts hexes here and there, but nothing else. Well, at least not in Slytherin."
"There is this guy, Kovavov, that worries me," DiAngelo said. "He tends to disappear at odd times too, just like Krum, and he has a terrible temper."
"Alright, keep a close eye at him." Harry ordered. "Anyone else? No? Damn, these people are good. Anything else we need to take up?"
"Yep," Alicia said. "There is a Phoenix Agent at Hogwarts."
"You mean someone that we don't know about?" Zabini asked and Alicia nodded. "But why would they send another one, without telling us about it?"
"Say that," Harry said thoughtfully. "And who is this Agent? It could be anyone, from the first-years to the Professors themselves." Harry shook his head, trying to clear it. "We aren't getting anywhere with this today. Lets get back to our common rooms before anyone starts getting suspicious." The Agents nodded and headed for the door.
Harry picked up the Book of Orders and started leafing through it, reading a bit here and there. It was an interesting book. It even had pictures of the marks of the different Orders that had existed or still did, and it had the Orders background. The book seemed to update itself when something big happened with one Order or another. A really useful tool in other words.
"We're really in deep shit this time, aren't we?" Zabini asked as she passed him.
"If you put it in those terms, yeah. Really deep." Harry replied looking up at her.
"Are we going to get out this time, or is it time up?" the Slytherin girl asked as the two of them left.
"That all depends on future events, so all we can do is wait and see." With that Harry disappeared through a secret passage on the right, and Zabini continued down to the Slytherin common rooms in the dungeons.
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Harry was chatting with the Fat Lady, who was only happy to tell him the newest gossip around the school.
"A friend of mine told me that Malfoy has gotten himself a girlfriend," she said and then giggled like a schoolgirl. "And another one tells me that Dumbledore and McGonagall are dating. But he always likes to joke around, so I wouldn't take that rumour seriously. Oh, you and your adventures Terry- "
"It's Harry." Harry broke her off. She never got his name right.
"Of course it is Merry," the Fat Lady said motherly. "Anyway, I think you might be interested in this one. That Bulgarian Seeker Krum is rumoured to be a Death Eater. One of my friends swore she saw him flying towards the Forbidden Forest a few nights ago. And she is a very believable source."
"Really?" Harry said, a plan forming in his mind. "My Lady," he continued. "Would you be so kind and tell me everything that your friends tell you? Every rumour, no matter how unbelievable or insignificant, is always based on some sort of truth or other."
"Oh, you are a charmer Nedry," the Fat Lady giggled. "Of course I will tell you everything they tell me. Lets say every day after dinner?"
"Fits perfectly, My Lady, I couldn't have chosen a better time myself." Harry replied, he had given up to make her remember his name. He'd have better luck trying to calm down an angry Whomping Willow.
"Then it's a deal." The Fat Lady giggled again. "Oh, this is so exiting! I haven't had one of you to talk to for only God knows how long. Well, what's the password?" the painting asked still giggling. "That is, if you want to get inside?" she added quickly.
Harry was just about to answer, when one of the Gryffindor second-years, Carla King, came hurrying towards him. She stopped beside him to get her breath back, but always had a good grip on his robe. Harry waited patiently until she could talk again, then raised an eyebrow in questioning.
"I forgot my book out at the Quidditch pitch." Carla said. "I was watching the Bulgarians playing a game with my friends, and had taken a book with me in case I got bored. You have to come with me to get it back, or else Madame Pince will have my head on a silver platter."
"Alright, alright, just calm down." Harry replied. "Was there any teacher supervising the game?"
"No, but Viktor Krum was there, along with that Beater, what's his name? Kovavov! Yeah, that's it," the small Gryffindor said. "He has a wicked swing. You should've seen the game. It was extraordinary! Krum got the Snitch within the first ten minutes of the game, though they were playing extremely dirty."
"Carla," Harry said in a tone that made her look up at him. "I want you to promise me not to go out to watch the Bulgarians unless a teacher is there supervising the whole game. It could be really dangerous. Haven't you learned anything from the attacks that have happened inside the school since the term started?"
"But Harry, Krum is there, he would never let anything happen to the rest of us. Just look what a wonderful Seeker he is."
"The fact that he is a wonderful Seeker doesn't mean that he's good." Harry countered Carla's statement. "In my first year here the Defence Professor, Quirrell, was stuttering and wasn't much of a Professor at all. And in the end it turned out he was one of the Dark Lord's Death Eaters, trying to get the Philosophers Stone to resurrect his Master." Harry could see how this information changed Carla's sight on a lot of things. "Your worst enemy is one who can think for himself. Never trust anything that can think for itself if you can't see where it keeps its brain. And even then don't trust it if you don't have good reason. My parents trusted someone enough with a big secret, and in the end this someone turned them over to the Dark Lord." Harry said as they exited the school. He pulled his cloak tighter around himself, and Carla followed his example. "Now, where on the pitch were you sitting?"
"Not too far up as it was windy, but somewhere in the middle of the Gryffindor stands. Is it true that Sirius Black betrayed your parents?"
"No, it wasn't Black. It was a man nicknamed Wormtail. He could, and still can, turn into a rat. But there is one thing that marks him as an Animagus." Harry stopped to make it more dramatic.
"What?" the little girl was completely taken with the story, and believed every word.
"He has a silver hand, or a silver paw when he's transformed. So if you see a rat that looks suspicious, stun it at once and bring it to me. Deal?" Carla nodded. "Good, now, lead me to the right place."
Harry followed the girl through rows upon rows in the Gryffindor stands, until they reached the middle. There she picked up her book, a book about Elves, and they made their way through the stands and back towards the school.
The two of them walked towards the front doors of the school, chatting happily all the time. Carla told him all about her life here at Hogwarts, and how she loved the place. Harry listened patiently, letting the girl talk herself out, and shooting in comments at the rights places.
"You should have seen it!" Carla said giggling. "Dennis added the Wormwood before the Unicorn Horn, and the whole cauldron began to bubble as though there was no tomorrow. Snape discovered it quickly and ordered us all out of the room, telling us to forget our bags and just get out. He was the last to leave, and had just closed the door when there was a huge bang from inside and the door shook like mad trying to burst open, but Snape held it in place. When we went back in, the whole room was coloured pink. And it glowed." She stopped to giggle again and Harry chuckled. "Of course we lost fif-"
"Quiet." Harry whispered cutting her off. He had heard something from the Forbidden Forest to their right, and was scouting into the darkness while at the same time drawing his wand. He didn't see anything, but he could hear something big moving about in the shadows. Carla stood behind him and had drawn her own wand, she was also keeping watch over his back.
"What do you think it is?" she asked quietly.
"Something that shouldn't have been in the Forest, at least not this close to the school. But it can't be bigger than a big dog." Harry replied. He caught sight of something big and black, but it wasn't Snuffles, he was sure about that. This thing was bigger, much bigger. "Get ready to run towards the school Carla," he whispered not taking his eyes of the thing. "I'll make it focus its attention on me until you get inside."
"But what about you then?" she asked, fear making her voice shake.
"I'll manage," Harry said in a confident manner, more confident than he felt. "The Dark Lord himself has been trying to do me in for over fifteen years now, so I think I have a chance or two."
"Be careful." Carla said and hugged him, then let go and got into a starting position.
"Go!" Harry order and she set off. At the same time the thing from the shadows attacked, and Harry barely had time to rise his wand and yell the first spell that popped into his mind. "Sylanius!" the attacking thing hit a wall of golden light. While it was down, Harry pointed his wand towards it and said, "Parutilis!" and a golden cage of pure electricity appeared around the dizzy creature. It attacked the bars over and over again until it realised that it was no good and settled down, glaring at Harry and never letting its eyes stray away from him.
Harry walked closer to see what kind of creature this was. He had never heard about or seen anything like this. It looked like a big panther, but the tail belonged to a wolf, the claws and fangs were glinting silver and were razor-sharp. The snout was slightly longer than a panthers and the eyes were glaring green slits. The paws were huge and heavy, the legs powerfully built and every muscle was well developed. The creature growled at Harry as he came closer, but he didn't stop before he was a foot away from the cage. It lashed out after him with a paw, but missed by and inch.
"-Stupid human!-" Harry wasn't completely surprised that he could understand the being. The powerful, deep voice was full of hate and loathing. "-I'm going to kill you! You are a coward! Try to meet me face to face if you dare!-"
"-I did meet you face to face,-" Harry replied and the creature gaped at him. "-You seem to hate humans,-" he continued ignoring the comical expression. "-May I ask why?-"
"-Don't you know?-" this was said with as much loathing and scorn as the creature could put into his words. "-We were once allies, fighting against the Dark Arts. Humans and leyries, side by side. Then when this red-eyed snake-man appeared, the alliance was broken. Hundreds of leyries died unnecessary. That's why the rest of us hate you so much.-" The creature stopped to get his breath back. "-You really didn't know about this, did you?-" he asked after a while.
"-No I didn't, but I'm glad that you told me.-" Harry replied. "-The red- eyed wizards name is Voldemort. He calls himself the Dark Lord, though in my eyes he looks more like a Dark Idiot than a Lord. He killed my parents when I was one year old, and since then has tried to kill me time and time again, but I'm still here. I swore to kill the old bastard,-" Harry continued, the leyrie was watching him closely. "-And I am not going to back out on that promise. Interested in helping me?-" he asked.
"-What is your name?-" the leyrie asked.
"-Harry Potter.-"
"-You are the Gamemaster?!-" the creature sounded surprised. "-I always thought that you were taller. Can't have everything I suppose. If you let me out of this cage, I'll talk with the Alpha male and the rest of the pack.-" It chuckled in its own way when Harry hesitated, and when it spoke this time, the voice was filled with amusement. "-You are smarter than you look, young Harry, I'll give you that, and you are right about being hesitant to let me out of here. If I was set on killing you, all your human friends would have found that was left of you, would've been an empty robe, a wand and your glasses. But I give you my word that neither me, nor anyone else from my pack, will attack any student while we consider your offer.-"
Harry thought over it for another few minutes, then preformed the counter- curse and the leyrie was free. It stretched, nodded to him then disappeared into the darkness of the Forbidden Forest. Not a minute later Carla came running through the doors with McGonagall and Madisa. The two Professors hurried over to Harry and started to interrogate him about what had happened here. Harry just told them that he had managed to scare the creature off with a patronus, and that it had run back into the forest. He also told them that he hadn't seen what it had been, but was pretty sure it had been a nundu. The two teachers ushered him and Carla into the school, and Gryffindor got fifty points for 'sheer dumb luck' as McGonagall put it.
Once back in his dormitory, Harry went straight to bed. He was extremely tired, and the next day the other Elves were going to come. It took a lot of power to keep his mental shields up, and it was going to be extra difficult to block his mind from priests and priestess' who were trained to break through mental shields as easily as it was to rip a parchment into pieces.
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Ok, a long chapter again. Hope you liked it and please review.
Thanks to:
Naia, OlThornbecker, lollipozz, Lily Evans, Sev Rickman, aqualaria, Eve Larne, Beldin235, Aali Lyah, Evelen Megans at Quidditchcamp, Korinna Myorin, Jeah, Anora, Ashley, Pampered Tigeress, WeasleyTwinsLover1112, krystaldragon and Lady FoxFire.
