I've gots the next chapta!! Enjoy!
Oh, I now have a job! I know, I did the squeeling dance. What can I say? I'm just a highschooler with a car and no income. I needed this. Updates won't come as fast as before. (Not that they were fast.)
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harry hopped over a fallen tree quite cheerfully. The forest always seemed to make him happy. Being excited was an odd feeling to Harry. It was true that he got excited by many things, but the last few weeks had been both tiring and stressful. Not sleeping left a lot of time for thinking.
It was rather odd, Harry thought as he moved with a cat like grace through the trees. His mind was changing, and to say it was frightening wouldn't be all that far from the truth. He loved the new emotions he felt, especially when he was in the forest with Kilian, but other emotions and thoughts could easily beat back that happiness and excitement.
Harry was not foolish to think that he would be fine with just taking the potion once a week. Although he should take it twice a week, he didn't dare for fear of becoming addicted to it. Also, the person who took it also needed at least a few hours of sleep. Harry didn't even get a minute.
Harry was worried this could damage his mind and sanity. Sleep was essential for not only the body, but the mind. Not enough sleep could turn you insane. Harry already noticed his attitude changed easily, but put it off as just being a teenager.
The smarter and more Slytherin part of him disagreed. There was an extremely high chance that if Harry did not sleep for the next two months, his sanity could start slipping away. It would only get worse if the weeks dragged on. Harry could only hope the potion wouldn't lose its effect on him until he could figure out some way of keeping Voldemort out.
But there was another part of Harry that fought against this decision. That part of him was the one that loved to run through the forest at night, practice his shuriken's and to get away from it all. That part was his dragon side.
It would always be there, like another voice in his head that did not speak with words, but with emotions. The world was beautiful at night, Harry couldn't deny that. It was like looking into a whole new world. Harry vaguely wondered if he would think that way once he could fly. He was pretty sure he would.
"Hello, Harry," Kilian greeted, shooting an arrow at a target and hitting the bull's-eye.
"Hey," Harry called back, taking out his weapons and getting ready.
And then there was this new strength he had. The electricity his magic created, it was addicting and felt so good. It was his energy, but it wasn't like a drug. It was more like his endurance. It had been small at first, but with Harry's new training program it had grown.
"Nice try, Harry," Kilian said, seeing him throw one shuriken at the target but miss the middle by at least five inches.
Harry's magic, and everyone else's for that matter, relied not only on practice and powerful spells, but physical activity. A broader, stronger body could handle more magic. Too much magic in a body that could not handle it could actually be ripped apart.
That was why most rituals that gave the caster more magic and power were forbidden. If the body could not handle it, there was simply no point.
Harry grimaced at his target. "But not good enough. I can't even throw two yet".
"True, but then again, this is only the second week you have practiced with that type of weapon. You'll get better." Kilian turned back to her own weapon and shot another perfect bull's-eye.
And through all this, Harry briefly wondered if it would all be worth it.
"You're right," Harry said, taking out another shuriken and took careful aim. After about half a minute of eye the target, Harry let loose and watched at the shuriken only landed three inches away from the middle, causing him to grin.
And Voldemort. What about all his mind tricks and manacles? Harry and the Headmaster had had very little luck with finding any information on them. There was simply no explanation of how they came to be.
Every single book Harry read was the same. It all told of how one creature was put under the power of the manacles and what they did, but other than that, there was nothing.
"How's it going at your school?" Kilian asked.
Harry shrugged, tossing another shuriken. "Pretty good, actually. Herbology is pretty good since Neville is my partner and my Transfiguration and Charms grades have gone up a lot. Potions is better than ever, which pisses off Snape, but I'm not doing so well in History or Astronomy."
Kilian snorted angrily at him.
Harry blinked up at her, bewildered. "What?"
"How can you be failing Astronomy? Reading the stars is so simple that even a month old fawn can do it!"
Harry glared. "So sorry for not being a centaur," he said sarcastically.
"You should be. Now, come here."
Harry stared at her suspiciously. "What for?"
"I'm going to teach you Astronomy."
Harry's jaw dropped.
But there was still a chance that Harry could break the manacles. It wasn't a sense of using brute force, but more with mind magic or perhaps sheer will. Professor Henson, the Ancient Runes professor, had examined the manacles and, under a sworn oath, had not told anyone else.
It had taken a full week for Professor Henson to write down all of the runes engraved on the manacles but even then Harry was sure the overexcited teacher hadn't gotten all of them. Professor Henson was not the best at hiding his excitement. Ancient Runes excited him, and even in a situation such as Harry's, he ignored all around him and treated Harry like an experiment.
It was frustrating, but Harry bore with it. It wouldn't do any good to punch the teacher in the face when he was the only one to fully understand the ancient carving. But that still didn't mean Harry would be left out in the dark.
What was more frustrating than having to deal with a professor who thought of him as an experiment was receiving curious and disbelieving looks when he asked for some books on Ancient Runes. What, did both Henson and Dumbledore think he would sit back and let them do all the work? No, Harry would be the one to find a way to break the magic and control, not them.
The few books Harry did have when he bought them in Knockturn Diagon Alley proved to be too hard to understand. And although he didn't buy any books on the manacles, since he wasn't thinking at the time, he still managed to buy many books on classes he didn't take and even some that Hogwarts did not offer.
"Are you seriously going to teach me Astronomy?" Harry questioned, raising an eyebrow at the frustrated Centaur.
"Of course I am, you foolish human," Kilian said. Harry rolled his eyes. "Now, do you know anything about the stars?"
Harry looked up at the sky for a minute before pointing up. "There's the big dipper."
He could practically feelthe disbelief rolling off Kilian.
Hermione was a godsend, Harry decided. After he had explained his problem with Professor Henson, she immediately took him under her wing and taught him the basics. Harry had never felt more grateful to anyone in his life. Hermione would make a great teacher.
She had a large amount of patience, and she did not snap at him or give him pity when he could not understand something. And because of that, Harry knew he could take a step, although a bit small, toward letting her in on his secrets. He showed her some of his advance books, although none of the dark books, and she leeched onto them like a flea to a dog.
Ron was another matter entirely. When Harry showed some of his advance books, once again being careful at not showing any darker books, Ron had instead only demanded to know why Harry hadn't shown them to him earlier and why he was studying so much.
"We'll start off with an easy one," Kilian said in a brisk tone. Oh yea, she meant business. Harry assumed it was because a Centaur would not associate with someone who couldn't even handle Astronomy. "That one is Corvus, also known as the Raven."
Harry looked up at the stars, trying to find where she was pointing at.
Ron hadn't even tried to study the advanced subjects Harry and Hermione had buried themselves into. And for some reason, Harry just didn't care. For the first time in his life, he felt smart. After so many years of being called dumb or never being able to amount to anything by the Dursley's made everything different.
Harry could truthfully say he understood some of the more advance forms of magic, even if it was just the basics. But still, Harry was content.
"Surely you know about the Milky Way?" Kilian asked in a sarcastic tone.
"Of course," Harry responded with a sly grin. "I know that it is made up from two-hundred billion to four-hundred billion stars and have thousands of clusters of nebulae and bunched up planets."
Kilian just waved him off. "Anybody could know that."
Harry responded by rolling his eyes.
And at the end of the day, when Harry questioned if it was worth it…
"C'mon, slowpoke," Kilian called, galloping off. "The best place for stargazing is in a clear field."
"I'm coming, I'm coming," Harry grumbled after her, running to catch up and cracking a grin.
"And while you train on getting faster," Kilian said with a drawl, "make sure you practice on your balance."
Harry scowled when he tripped over a root he hadn't seen until the last minute. Harry had always prided himself on having good balance, especially after making spectacular dives in Quidditch.
"And how do you want me to do that?" Harry asked with the same drawl as Kilian.
"Figure that out for yourself, human."
"What, no hints for little ol' me?" Harry asked playfully.
Kilian snorted, swishing her tail as she turned to face Harry. "Not this time."
…he knew the answer was yes.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Ok, listen up you lot," Angela said sternly, her face so set that not even Fred or George made a joke. "We have a bunch of wannabie's over there that want to make the team."
Harry, along with the rest of the team, glanced at the dozen or so students that showed up for tryouts. It was a great loss, having Wood from the team, but having new blood was always good. Harry grinned at Ron, hoping his terrified friend would ease up.
"We need to be tough on these kiddies. Don't hold back, you all know how tough a game can be and not everything goes according to the rules."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
"Good," Angela said firmly. "Katie, Alicia and I will warm them up a bit, but after a while, I want us all to start switching positions." She turned to Harry. "That means you'll have to be a Chaser and a Beater. I know you don't have any experience with it but Wood once told me you were pretty good."
Harry blushed, remembering the frantic swing he made when the iron ball made a rush for his head in first year.
"No need to worry about the snitch, especially since no one is dumb enough to challenge you for the seeker position."
"You know," Fred said with a frown, "for being a bunch of brave fools, not one Gryffindor challenged us for our position."
Katie rolled her eyes. "Why else, Fred? It's because we've been on for so long that no one is stupid enough to challenge us or have had as much experience as us."
George sighed dramatically. "What a shame. "And here I was hoping to pick my replacement for next year."
"You can worry about that later," Angela said, shouldering her broom. "Right now, we have Keeper tryouts. We were lucky to book the field today, especially with that Umbridge woman. She's been absolutely horrid to all but the Slytherin's."
Everyone turned to look at Harry.
Harry blinked, somewhat taken aback. "What?"
George clapped him on the back. "Now, it's not like we blame you," he said good naturedly, "but there have been rumors of you breaking desks in her DADA class."
"Err…" Ok, so that happened, what, three time? It wasn't his fault that woman made him so angry that his magic lost control and lashed out at the desk. He had almost raised his voice at her as well, but if Tagger hadn't stopped him, he was sure he would have had a week of detentions from her.
"Just be sure to watch that temper of yours," Alicia said cheerfully.
"Yea, yea," Harry waved them off. "Now, what about finding us a new Keeper?"
"Woot, woot!" the twins yelled and jumped off to the frightened kids.
"Merlin help me," Angela muttered as she walked up to them as well.
Harry, Alicia and Katie laughed before meeting up with the others.
"Listen up!" Angela shouted. "We're gonna start out with a few warm ups. I want you all to fly around the entire field three times. This is not a race, so do not think the first one here gets on the team or the last does not. Alright, go!"
Harry watched as all the kids who tried out took off, Ron somewhere in the middle. Jumping up onto his own broom, Harry eagerly joined the twins in the air. He took a deep breath, feeling the cool air rush all around him.
The wind felt so good against him, ruffling his hair and beating against his face. The smell of fresh air being so refreshing and wonderful coursed through his body.
If only his wings could…
"Harry!"
Harry snapped his eyes open, not aware he had shut them. "Huh? What?"
Fred flew up to him. "Your hand," he whispered furiously.
Harry looked down and gasped. "Crap." His hand had transformed into a scaly claw. Quickly reverting back to normal, Harry let out a sigh. No one else had seen it.
"How did that happen?" George asked quietly, staring at the large group making their second loop around the field.
"I don't know," Harry said. "I was just thinking about how good the wind felt and as wishing my wings could make me feel this way."
"Ah, so that's it," George said, a strange light in his eye.
"Happened to us a couple of times in the beginning," Fred added. "Sometimes we would get these instincts to make a den or perhaps eat a certain type of food for weeks. We noticed all you eat is meat now."
Harry nodded. "So I guess I'll just have to watch out for stuff like that."
They flew in silence, watching the group make their final lap and head over to the Keeper goals.
"Angela's being tough on them."
George grinned widely. "Well, she's no Oliver Wood, but she's one tough captain!"
"She needs to be, especially since this is her last year and she wants the Quidditch cup," Fred said, raising his eyebrows at his brother.
George ignored Fred and flew off to join the others. Fred winked at Harry before flying off, leaving a very bemused Harry.
The rest of tryouts were grueling for both the team and the ones who were trying out. Harry was greatly relieved that he had been working out; otherwise he feared his arm would fall out from throwing the quaffle and hitting the bludgers so much. His respect for his teammates grew quite a bit after that.
Three tests had been performed on the 'wannabies,' as Fred and George liked to call them, since they believed no one could take Oliver's place. The first test had been endurance. They had to fly back and forth as fast as they could from the far left hoop to the far right hoop in ten minutes.
If you slowed down, you were less likely to make the team since endurance was essential for Quidditch. The second one was much tougher than the first. The quaffle was thrown right at the Keeper, but a bludger was always right behind it. Not only did each person have to catch a quaffle that had been thrown very, very hard, but they had to dodge the bludger.
There had been a lot of accidents from that particular test, and Harry was not afraid to admit these tests were somewhat scary, especially with a red faced Angela yelling out orders.
They were at the final test. Harry was happy to see that Ron had made it so far. Most of the group had either given up or had been sent to the Hospital Wing, courtesy of Fred and George Weasely when it was their turn as beaters. For the last test, the remaining four were to stop the quaffle, no matter where it went, and avoid the bludger. They had to do this five times.
"Ron looks like he's about to faint," George said as he floated beside Harry.
"He'll be fine," Harry said, defending his friend.
However, it was pretty obvious that Ron was pretty scared. He kept fidgeting and was very pale.
"Well, at least there's only four left," George said. Harry nodded in agreement.
He watched as the first two managed to block three out of five shots. The second actually caught the fourth but dropped it as soon as he saw the bludger. The next up was Ron, and Harry flashed him a thumbs up. Ron grinned back weakly but showed strong determination as he faced Katie.
Katie smirked at him. "Ready, Weasely?"
Ron nodded.
Grinning her evil grin, Katie threw the quaffle at the far left hoop. Harry's heart dropped as Ron shot off in the wrong direction. Ron tried to turn around to catch the large ball, but the devious bludger made him give up on that one.
"Ron's not doing too hot," Tagger said, watching the proceedings with interest. The small dragon had been quiet the entire time, but occasionally gave a small opinion.
Harry tilted his head, showing Tagger that he agreed with him.
The last four shots were all successfully caught, however, and Harry had to fight the urge to cheer for Ron. He had to show equal support to all, and showing favoritism was not good.
"Ok," Angela said. "Next up is David Raver."
Harry assessed the last player. David Raver, a sixth year with a large build, light brown hair and teal eyes, flew up confidently. He was good, Harry admitted. The guy had a lot of endurance and he just radiated calmness. He would be an excellent addition to the team, and seemed to work well with others, but being loyal to Ron, Harry hoped David didn't save all the throws.
Still, despite being loyal to Ron, Harry was impressed with David's saves. Not only did he catch the first one and escape the bludger with plenty of time to spare, he kicked the quaffle back at Angela and punched it the third and fourth time, once again, directly at Angela. Yea, Harry was very impressed.
Not only did David block each shot, he had hit it back to one of the chasers without wasting time, which was no small feat, mind you. Even Oliver had trouble with that. Harry watched with barely concealed interest as he saw Angela make the last shot. Although they would still have to talk amongst each other to decide who out of the four made Keeper, this could very well tell who would be getting that position.
"Rhg!" Angela heaved the quaffle with all of her strength. Harry watched, as did everyone else, as David shot out toward the left hoop. His fingers, almost grasping the quaffle, drew back as the bludger, who had gained an ungodly amount of speed, flew right past him. Good thing too, otherwise David would be missing a few a fingers.
David scowled angrily but shook his head and just grinned as he landed down with he others. He was interesting, Harry decided.
"So what do you think, Angela?" Katie asked.
Angela shrugged. "The first guy, John or Johnny I think, was ok. He could definitely use more practice and maybe with about a years worth of training he can tryout again. The second guy is out for sure. That leaved Ron Weasely and David Raver. What do you guys think?"
"Ron's pretty good," Harry said slowly. "He saved four quaffle's and with a bit more practice he could be a force to be reckoned with." Harry paused for a moment. "But that David Raver was something else. He's calm and seems like someone who can really work well with others. I wonder what he's like chasing a snitch. That would be fun to find out."
Alicia snorted and ruffled his hair. "Think about that later, runt."
Harry mock scowled at her. "I'll tell you what I told Hermione," he said, folding his arms and looking serious.
"And what's that?" Alicia asked with a grin.
"I'll be taller than most of you by the end of the year."
The rest of the team snorted.
"Ok, while Harry keeps dreaming here," Angela said.
"Hey!"
"We need to pick a Keeper," Angela continued, ignoring Harry. "What do you two think?" she asked the twins.
"Well, we would be lying if we weren't picking favorites if we said our brother," Fred said thoughtfully.
"But we're not here to pick favorites," George added. "The Raver kid has some talent."
Fred, George and Harry exchanged a few glances at Ron as the three girls talked amongst themselves. They already knew what Angela's decision would be.
Angela nodded and walked over to the nervous group.
"Ok, listen up!" Angela shouted. "We've all come to a decision, but first I want you all to know that you did a spectacular job and those that did not make the team still have time to make the team next year."
Harry inwardly grimaced as he thought about Ron's reaction. Angela was getting close to making the announcement.
Angela looked at David and smiled. "Welcome to the team, David."
David grinned, his eyes wide with shock. "Thank you," he said, shaking Angela's hand. "I promise I'll do my best."
"That's all I ask for," Angela told him. "For the rest of you, I'm sorry, but don't leave with hard feelings. You all did great and with a little more training each of you are bound to get a spot next year."
Harry glanced at Ron, and blinked a little as he saw an extremely angry Ron. His face was red and his eyes, they were so accusing. "Ron—" Harry started, but broke off as Ron turned away and stalked off to the castle.
"Don't take it personally," Fred said, leaning on his broom as he stared at Ron's retreating form. "But he kind of expected the position to be handed to him. Ron's my brother and I love him, but he just didn't have what Raver over there had."
Harry didn't say anything. He clenched his fist. He would need to talk to Ron soon.
"Harry Potter?" a voice behind him asked.
Harry turned and saw David.
David stuck out his arm. "I guess we're team mates."
Harry returned the gesture and grinned. "I guess we are. Just to warn you," Harry said dramatically, eyeing Angela, "but I think you picked a bad year to join. See, Angela here will be trying to beat Wood's intense speeches." Harry smiled, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Think you can handle it?"
"I'm not that bad, runt!" Angela called.
"I love you too!" Harry called back.
David chuckled nervously. "Everyone here is pretty tight."
"That's 'cuz we've all been playing together for a few years," Katie said.
"I'm sure you'll grow onto us," Alicia said with a smirk. "That is, if you can handle the twins over there."
David warily eyed the cheshire grins on Fred and George's face's and stood bravely. "I said I'll do my best on the team, no matter what it is, even facing the famous Weasely twins."
"Famous are we?" George asked.
"Of course! Handsome fellows like us were sure to attract attention."
"I agree! You know, I think I might just like ol' Ollie's replacement."
The twins hugged a very bemuse David at the same time and broke apart after about thirty seconds.
David scratched his head. "Uhm…"
Harry reached up to him, his hand almost on his forehead.
"What are you doing?" David asked nervously.
"Saving you from an unfortunate incident," Harry responded and grabbed the rubber fly off of the other boys' head. Harry stared at the fly. "What is this?"
"3… 2… 1!" the twins screamed.
Harry only had a millisecond to toss the rubber item. The small fly erupted in green smoke, covering the twins from head to toe. Once the smoke cleared away, Fred and George were completely green. Hair, skin, even clothes. Two devil horns sprouted from their forehead and tiny, eight inch wings sprouted from their backs.
"Hey!" they shouted in unison.
Angela sighed. "Welcome to the Gryffindor Quidditch Team, David."
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harry smiled tiredly as he put his broom next to his bed. Even though he was disappointed that Ron hadn't gotten to be Keeper, he was glad it was David who made the team. He had a lot of skill and warmed up quite a bit, especially after what happened to Fred and George.
Speaking of the two Weasely's, they were in a corner in the Common Room, looking quite evil with their new look, and could be heard from across the room how they would get revenge on Harry.
"Bring it on!" Tagger had shouted at them. "Harry can beat both your asses!" A proud Tagger had turned back to Harry, expecting backup but only gawked as Harry ascended the stairs to his room.
Harry was so exhausted and into changing his clothes that when a hand landed on his shoulder; he jumped about a foot in the air and brought out his wand.
"Woah! Harry it's me!" Ron exclaimed, staring at the wand in his face.
Harry sighed. "Sorry, Ron."
Ron just nodded and stayed silent.
Harry fidgeted as the silence wore on. To make the silence more bearable, Harry took out an Ancient Runes book to take down so he could study with Hermione.
"Why, Harry?"
Ah, so he finally asked.
"Why what, Ron?"
Ron's ears turned red. "Why did you choose that sixth year over your best mate?"
"I didn't, Ron," Harry told him patiently. "I gave my opinion about both you and David. It was Angela that made the decision."
"David, is it? I seem to recall saving as many goals as he did."
"It's not just about the saves, Ron," Harry said, this time in exasperation. "There's more to it than that. There's skill and…"
"So you're saying I'm not good enough?" Ron demanded.
"What? No! I didn't say that, Ron."
"Well, sure as good said it!" Ron said angrily. "What? Am I not good enough to be on famous Harry Potter's team?"
Harry stared, not believing what he was hearing. This was fourth year all over again. Harry honestly could not deal with this, especially now. "Ron," Harry said carefully, "there's more to this than just Quidditch, isn't there?"
Ron mumbled something.
"What was that?"
"Secrets!" Ron just blurted out. "What's with all the secrets?"
"What secrets are you talking about?" Harry asked, wondering gif he had been too obvious about certain things. It was true he would tell Ron and Hermione a few things in the next few months, but it was still too early.
"The trunk!" Ron said, pointing to the trunk next to Harry's bed. "Why does that have anti-theft charms and a numbing charm on it?"
"You tried to get into my trunk?" Harry asked, starting to get a little angry.
"And Diagon Alley! And studying. Harry, what's with all the studying?"
"Diagon Alley," Harry said with a laugh. "Is that all you care about! Sometimes I just need to keep things to myself, Ron. Everybody does that! And as for studying, I'm actually enjoying it." Harry continued before Ron could say anything in surprise. "And I love to practice new spells and exercise in the morning.
"I enjoy getting more and more powerful everyday. The feeling I get when I know I've accomplished a difficult spell or solved a question to some answer that plagues me really makes me feel good. Do you get what I'm saying, Ron?" Harry asked quietly. "If I haven't spent much time with you, I'm sorry, but Ron," Harry said weakly, "do we always have to be together twenty-four seven?"
Ron scowled. "It's not like that; it's just that you're my best mate, Harry. We used to do everything together. Why can't it just stay like that?"
Harry stared. It suddenly came to him that even though he had decided to study with as much vigor as possible and had matured quite a bit, Ron had not. Ron also didn't have a drive to become strong. He didn't have an old, powerful enemy after him.
But he did have brothers he wanted to surpass, Harry reminded himself.
"Ron, you know I've offered to study and practice spells with you and Hermione. Hermione has taken the offer, why not you?"
"Because it's studying," Ron defended.
"So?" Harry demanded. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? I want to get strong. We have O.W.L.s this year. Pretty soon, we won't be in Hogwarts anymore. Three years will pass by quickly, and if we don't have a good teacher to teach us what we need, I sure as hell am not going to sit by and do nothing. When I leave Hogwarts and look for a career, I want to be powerful."
This time it was Ron that stared. "Don't you even hear what you're saying? To me, it sounds like you care about nothing but power. Is that all you care about? What happened to caring about your friends, huh!?"
"Ron…"
"No," Ron interrupted. "If you're going to turn your back on your friends, you're no better than You-Know-Who!"
"That's uncalled for!" Harry snarled. He didn't have to take this. Just because Ron didn't like his new study habit did not give him any right to say such a thing.
"I think it is, Harry," Ron said boldly, standing over Harry. Harry didn't back down. Ron just snorted scornfully and left the room, leaving Harry alone.
Harry fumed silently. He was not like Voldemort, and never would be. Just because he wanted to get a little stronger and learn to defend himself didn't mean he was power hungry. And what was wrong with being powerful? Dumbledore was strong but no one bugged him about it.
"Don't dwell on this too much, Harry," Tagger said, growling a bit as he circled the room. "Let Ron cool down, this is one argument where you are not the one that needs to apologize."
Harry nodded. "You're right, but I just don't understand why such a little as Quidditch would blow Ron's top off."
"He's wanted to be on the team for a while, Harry," Tagger reminded him gently. "Now, I'm not saying he acted irrational and it certainly wasn't your call to choose him, but maybe a few kinder words could have been spoken."
Harry hung his head. "I didn't… I thought…"
"I know," Tagger said quietly. "Things will be alright with time."
"Thanks, Tagger."
"No problem. Oh, and don't forget to take that potion tonight."
Harry grimaced. "Might as well just get it over with and blow off a little steam."
"Good call."
Harry jumped into his trunk and shut the lid before heading toward his personal potions lab. His nose twitched as he entered the room before making his way over to a silver cauldron.
Filling a vial with exactly 1/3 cups of the light blue liquid, Harry downed it all, making a face as he did so. It had a horrible taste, reminding Harry of raw onions and mustard. Quite an odd combination but the potion still served its purpose as Harry felt his body fill with energy.
"Ready for some more lessons?" Tagger called, already heading toward the small gym.
Harry nodded as he followed Tagger, his eyes resting on the egg he had gotten from Knockturn Alley for a few seconds.
He couldn't help but wonder when it would hatch…
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Harry, will you at least tell me why you and Ron aren't talking?"
Harry shrugged and leaned on his hand with his elbow next to his breakfast plate. "I dunno, just a little fight. Ron's a bit mad about not making the Quidditch team and doesn't like that I've been studying so much lately."
Hermione huffed. "That is completely ridiculous!"
"Yea, I know."
"Harry…"
Harry stayed silent.
"Harry." This time the voice was much more firm. "Is there something you wanted to talk about?"
Harry felt his shoulders slump. Even with the potion from last night, he felt horribly tired from all the stress. He had only worked out for an hour before spending the entire night working on Occlumency. While he had gone a long ways because of that, he was slightly held back because of Ron's words.
"Hermione," Harry said quietly, "do you think I'm like Voldemort?"
Hermione blinked, not expecting such a question. "What brought this on?"
"Well, you know with all the studying and stuff. Me wanting to be more powerful and learn new spells, stuff like that. Does that make me power hungry?"
"What?" Harry glared as Hermione started laughing. "I'm sorry, Harry," Hermione said from in between giggles, "but that is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. So what if you want to study and learn? That's what a school is for!"
"I guess your right," Harry said carefully. "But am I not spending enough time with my friends because of that?"
Hermione rolled her eyes. "Harry, we can handle a little time away from each other. We're not five. I've been doing the same thing. With all the homework and reports we've been getting, I've had had to spend more time in the library. You've noticed, right?"
Harry nodded. "Yea, but Ron—"
"Forget Ron," Hermione said impatiently. "Jut because Ron is acting like a child does not mean you have done anything wrong. You're the one that's matured, Harry. And while I do know that one of the reasons you want to be strong is to stand up to Vol…Vold…" Hermione paused to take a deep breath and said, "Voldemort."
Harry raised an eyebrow, smiling at the blushing Hermione. "See, 'Mione? Not to hard."
Hermione shot him a look. "But I also know that you're studying because you enjoy it. I can see how happy it makes you to master a complicated spell and I can tell how interested you are in Ancient Runes, even if your interest was only sparked by that horrible manacle."
Hermione scowled at the invisible manacle on Harry's wrist. Harry grinned and patted her back. "Thanks, Hermione. You're a real friend."
Hermione beamed. "I'm here for you whenever you need something or need to talk, that's what friends are for."
"I know that, Hermione, and I'd like to take you up on that offer."
Hermione lifted her eyebrows, trying to mimic Harry but failed. "Oh? And just what is that you need this time?"
Harry smiled, mischief sparkling in his eyes. "Well, I just need some advice. What do you know about business?"
Before Hermione could say anything, the Great Hall was filled with hundreds of owls, alerting the students that it was mail time. Harry looked up hopefully, wondering if the small, sonic owl would be among the rest. He was disappointed when no sonic owl came to him but his disappointment disappeared when Hedwig soared over to him and dropped a few letters in his lap.
"Thanks, girl," Harry said, handing a few stripes of bacon to Hedwig. "How's Padfoot doing? I haven't seen you guys for a couple of days."
Hedwig gave him a hoot that could have been translated as, 'Come visit or else.'
Harry chuckled and rubbed her feathers, earning an affectionate nip. Once Hedwig left, Harry turned to his letters. He smiled in satisfaction and eagerness as he saw a Gringotts letter and a letter from the Werewolf Center. He put those in his bag so he could read those in private. Instead, he turned to the third letter and opened it.
Hey, Stray!
How's life at the castle? Hopefully good, cuz I need to hear some interesting news. I've been bored out of my mind all week. Nothing new back at the garage. Although, Gadget did finish a new car he had been working on for about three months. He managed to sell it to a nice little company and made quite a bit.
So business is ok, but my personal life sucks! No boyfriends to make me feel better. You wouldn't happen to know any hot guys interested in a wolf demon, do you? Anyway, we gotta get you back here sometime. Maybe during vacation or something. When do you get out of school for a while? I know you have Christmas, but I was just wondering if you had something before that. Make sure you find a way to get here!
Oh, and Kaz took off. She sends her regards but she said it was time to take off. Apparently Kaz needed to catch up with her tribe and move on. I have no idea where she went or if she'll even come back. Oh, that's kind of rude to write about. Oh well!
Jack say's hi and so do the others. Yes, even Switch, even if she won't admit it. Maybe you should write a letter to her. Remember, I know that you know that I know that you have the hots for Switch.
From, Ash.
Harry shook his head as he read the letter. The hots for Switch? Not likely. He was interested in any type of relationship like that. Besides, he liked Switch just as a friend, even if her scowl was more intimidating than Snape's.
"Who's that from?" Hermione asked.
"Just a friend I made over the summer."
"When did you make a friend over the summer? She's obviously a witch since she wrote back with Hedwig."
Harry glanced at his bushy haired friend. "She was the girl who did my hair." He ran his hand through his hair, glancing at a few green strands. "We ended up talking for a while and kind of become pen pals."
"She works at a barber shop?" Hermione asked.
"What?" Harry asked, blinking at her.
"The girl you're writing to. She works in the barber shop where you got your hair done?"
"Oh! Oh, yea, she does."
Hermione gave a strange look but stood up instead of saying something. "C'mon, we need to get to History."
Harry nodded and got up as well. "Yea, class starts in five min— oof!" Harry slammed into the table, getting eggs and juice all over him and causing quite a few heads to turn his way.
Harry lifted his face out of some egg and glared at the one that pushed him down. "You!"
Vox, the blue little demon, chirped loudly and buried his head into Harry's back.
"Gerroff!" Harry struggled to get the winged beast off him but a wrestling match was ensued as Vox made no move to let go. "Hermione, get him off me!"
By then, every single head had turned to stare at the commotion. Laughter was coming from each house and Harry soon gave up in a huff, glaring at the little menace.
"What's the matter, Potter?" Malfoy's taunting voice rand throughout the laughter. "Can't hand a little rat? Or perhaps you're so weak that…"
What ever Malfoy was about to say, no one ever found out because Vox launched himself at the unfortunate blond. Vox had apparently taken offense to being called a rat.
"Get it away from me!" Draco shouted, trying to wave off the frustrated Eerie and still get a good curse in. "Get it away, I said!" Harry watched it all, amusement clearly written on his face.
"Potter!" a voice snarled. Harry groaned and turned to face a livid Snape. "Control that creature of yours and get it out of here."
Harry threw a bewildered look at the angry animal and wondered how he could get it to calm down. Should he? Malfoy running around screaming like a little girl was pretty entertaining…
"Potter!"
Or maybe he should do something.
"Er, Vox!" Harry called. "Vox!" he called again when the Eerie didn't turn to him. Sighing, Harry grabbed a piece of ham and walked over to the Slytherin table. "VOX!"
Vox turned around and chirped happily at the sight of fresh meat. Snatching the piece of meat, Vox flew off with a thankful squawk, but not before hitting Harry over the head with his tail.
"Bloody thing," Harry muttered, rubbing his head.
"Potter."
Harry sighed as he heard Professor Snape for the third time. "Yes, Professor?"
"That will be thirty points from Gryffindor for disrupting breakfast."
Harry's jaw dropped at the unfairness. "Disrupting? It was that blasted Eerie!"
"Another ten for arguing with a teacher," Snape said with a sneer. "Shall I take more for being a slob?"
"A slob…?" Harry looked at himself and realized he was covered in food and juice.
"I think fifteen points will be enough."
Harry glared and pulled out his wand. With a flick of his wrist, he was completely clean. "There, happy now?"
Harry scowled and walked off, not listening as Hermione started speaking. When they finally reached Binns classroom, Harry just plopped down in farthest seat and stared out the window.
"Harry," Hermione whispered quietly as Professor Binns started his lecture.
Harry glanced at her. "Sorry, Hermione, but today is just not a good day. That little demon follows me everywhere, Ron is being a git, Snape is once again being unfair, and to top it all off, I have Divination next. Life kind of sucks for me right now."
"Then next time you'll make a decision that will benefit you in the future, and not take the easy way out," Hermione told him.
Harry rolled is eyes, thinking of her extreme dislike for Divination. "Maybe…"
For the rest of class, Harry just took notes for the first thirty minutes before taking out a fresh piece of paper and a pencil. What should he draw? Harry tapped his chin in thought. He was in a strange mood, so he might as well draw something strange.
"You're drawing a crow?" Tagger asked after a while as he watched Harry draw a large figure with a beak.
Harry eyed Tagger for a moment before shaking his head, just enough for it to look like he was clearing his head. Tagger stared at the picture that was slowly coming to life. It wasn't a crow, but a raven. And not just a raven, but a demon. Or could it be considered an anthro?
Harry had looked up demons and found that another term for some demon was anthro. That usually involved animals but Harry wasn't sure if was a fake term, if they meant the same thing, or was something completely different.
The picture was indeed a Raven demon. Standing on it's legs and holding out its talon like arms, Harry drew a bit more detail on its wings on its back. Its head was to the side, showing only one eye but as Harry shadowed it, its eyes becoming black, they almost held a sinister look to it. Its beak was opened just a little bit, which could make someone believe it was smirking.
The tail feathers, dark and pointy, stood out nicely against the wings that were slightly folded. Harry took a deep breath as he started on the chest and finished detailing the legs.
"Oh my gosh," Hermione said once class was over, looking at Harry and his drawing. To Hermione, Harry looked almost like he was in a trance. His eyes were slightly glazed over, telling Hermione that he enjoying this thoroughly and was deeply into this. But what freaked her out was the drawing. While the strange creature was beautiful, a severed head held its hands made the picture much too gory for Hermione.
But that was only one of the things Hermione noticed. Harry was drawing with his left hand.
"Harry," Hermione said, breaking Harry out of his stupor. "Class is over."
Harry blinked up at her. "Oh." He started to put his stuff away but Hermione stopped him.
"Harry, I didn't know you could draw so well."
Harry shrugged, feeling slightly embarrassed.
"But why did you have to make it so gory?"
"Gory?" Harry repeated.
Hermione pointed to the severed head that had blood dripping off of that. "I'm afraid to see that colored," Hermione joked.
Harry stared at the drawing. "I guess I did draw that."
Hermione stared but decided to prod. "I didn't know you were left-handed either."
"I'm not," Harry replied, finally putting the picture away.
"You were drawing that picture with your left hand," Hermione pointed out.
Harry didn't say anything.
"Harry, draw something for me," Hermione said, an almost knowing glint in her eye.
"Why? What do you want?" Harry asked, completely bewildered.
"Because I want to check something. I think I might know why you didn't realize you switched hands. Um, and what to draw?" Hermione thought for a moment. "Draw me a pretty flower holding a bloody knife."
Harry stared. "Are you serious?"
Hermione folded her arms. "I am."
Harry snorted. "If that will satisfy you."
"Don't worry, Harry, it will."
Hermione stared at Harry as he began to draw. She helped lead him through the hallway so he didn't run into people as they both made their way to their next class. Although she kept an eye out for people who might run into them, Hermione never stopped watching Harry's hands.
When Harry finished the flower, he wiped his head and switched hands.
Hermione didn't say anything. Instead, she watched Harry's eyes get that glazed look, but he was not out of it. His left hand drew the blood almost expertly, drawing a few drops falling to the ground.
Harry stared at the picture when he was done before handing it back to Hermione. "Here you go."
Hermione beamed. "I think I know what happens!"
"Err, what?" Harry asked.
Hermione rolled her eyes. "For only the thing that we were trying to figure out. Look, you started out with your right hand because you were drawing something nice, calm, beautiful, stuff like that. But when you moved onto the darker stuff, like blood and gore, you switched to your left hand.
"I think that when you want to draw peaceful hands, you only your right. As for the darker parts of art, you move to your left hand instinctively."
Harry felt his eyebrows rise in bewilderment. "Is that even normal?"
"I don't really know," Hermione told him truthfully. "I never really studied art because I never really saw the point."
"What, you didn't have an imagination when you were a child?" Harry teased.
Hermione mock scowled. "No, Harry. I believed in science, history, stuff that I could see."
"I bet you almost had a heart attack when you found out you were a witch."
"Almost," Hermione agreed. "My family and I thought it was a cruel joke at first, but when Professor Flitwick levitated the tables and did a juggling act, we knew it was true."
"Professor Flitwick came to your house?" Harry asked.
"Yes, teachers usually give muggleborn students their letter in person," Hermione told him.
Harry frowned. "They didn't do that with me," he told her quietly. "They actually sent me hundreds of letters, but I didn't even get to open one until Hagrid picked me up."
"Well, you are Harry Potter," Hermione teased. "Maybe they decided to do something different?"
"Maybe. Anyway, letters aside, do you think it's normal to switch hands like that?"
"I don't really know," Hermione said again. "Why don't you ask Professor Flitwick? He's made many magical painting using advance charms. I don't think it's the same, really, but why not give it a go?"
"I think I will. Anyway, want to meet in the library after this period? I need to finish that essay for Snape and I wanted to work a little more on Ancient Runes and Hieroglyphics. I wanted to see if they're related somehow."
Hermione looked excited at the thought. "Ooh, I've never thought about something like that before. Egypt just never came to mind. Anyway, try not to kill each other when you see Ron, ok?"
"I can't make any promises, Hermione, but if he says something, I might just need Neville to whip out a giant plant and give it a knife to make him stop."
"Harry!" Hermione said exasperatedly.
"What?" Harry said innocently. "I mean, c'mon, Hermione, a flower and a knife?"
"It was the only thing I could think of," Hermione said defensively.
"Uh huh, suuuure."
"Well," Hermione said with a huff, "you need to get to class. It starts in five minutes and you are on the wrong side of the castle."
Harry looked around and noticed he was indeed in the wrong area. "Shit!"
"Watch your language, Harry!" Hermione called after him.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"Ron."
"Harry."
Ron didn't say anything else and Harry plopped down on his chair with a sigh. Class was going to be a long one. He was right when Professor Trelawney swept into the room with her usual dramatic flair and started the next lesson.
They had to do more dream stuff, all of which Harry made up, and everyone one was pretty much bored out of their minds. It was even worse when Ron refused to speak to Harry. Harry, a little more than annoyed, finally just hung out with Neville. Unfortunately, this only seemed to make Ron even angrier.
Honestly, what did the boy expect?
Did he think Harry would stay by his stubborn side and plead for forgiveness? Well, that certainly wouldn't be happening. Not by a long shot.
"I expect you all to start seeing a deeper meaning in your dreams," Trelawney said suddenly, looking each student critically in the eye. "I want a one foot essay on a specific dream that might be a road to your subconscious."
Jaws were dropped by this.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Harry was pretty sure there was some God out there that hated him. As if it wasn't bad enough that he couldn't sleep, was hunted by an evil Dark Lord, and couldn't talk to Ron, but now he was surrounded by a group of Slytherin's – alone.
Ron had pretty much abandoned Harry after Divination and Harry had been forced to walk alone to Potions. Even now, with class over and Harry the last one out, he had been abandoned.
"Well, well, well," Malfoy drawled. He smirked at Harry. "All alone, Potty? That's a bad move on your part, especially in dungeon territory."
Harry lifted an eyebrow. Dungeon territory? Could Malfoy possibly have picked a stupider name?
"What, got nothing to say?" Malfoy taunted.
"No, not really," Harry said neutrally. Seriously, he really didn't. Instead, he just eyed the ones surrounding him.
Crabbe and Goyle, Malfoy's faithful lackeys, were there of course, as well as Parkinson, Knot and one other that Harry didn't know. One kid, Harry noted, was leaning against the wall, not in the little fight or having anything to do with it, but was obviously watching the proceedings with great interest.
Harry frowned, thinking of who that was.
He didn't dwell on it for to long as he noticed Malfoy's wand. Harry whipped out his own, pointing it in between Malfoy's eyes.
Malfoy smirked, though Harry noted with satisfaction that there was a bit of fear in those gray eyes. "You don't have the guts, Potter." Malfoy's obvious discomfort did not keep his voice from speaking boldly.
"Are you willing to test that?" Harry drawled lazily. "Believe me, if you curse me, I will gladly curse you into oblivion."
Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry, wondering if he was telling the truth. His eyes, though, traveled to the others surrounding him and he smirked. "Maybe, but I don't think you can handle all of us at once."
"We'll see," Harry growled, wondering where on earth the other Gryffindor's were at a time like this.
There was a moment's pause before hexes were thrown out.
"Stupefy!" Averte Statura!" "Incendio!" Temerarus!" "Stupefy!" "Stupefy!"
"Contego!" Harry shouted, creating a shield that circled around him and protected him from the oncoming spells. He frowned as the three stunning spells ricocheted away and hit the walls, as did the other three curses. Crabbe and Goyle were obviously too thick to come up with any spell of their own or just followed Malfoy's every move.
Harry winced about as a conjunctivitis curse hit his shield. It didn't hurt him, but making this type of shield used up a lot of magic, and too many spells hitting it would cause him and the shield to grow weaker.
"Sabbia!" Harry shouted angrily, knocking both Crabbe and Goyle away with some vicious sand pellets.
"Hit him!" Malfoy snarled. "Furnunculus!"
Harry ducked the boil hex and could hear Pansy scream in horror as her face erupted into painful boils.
"You should really practice your aim, Malfoy," Harry taunted.
"Watch out for the one behind you!" Tagger shouted. Harry turned around and got hit in the shoulder with a cutting hex.
He hissed angrily as his shirt ripped a little, but surprisingly, he couldn't feel much pain.
"He has a stinkin' dragon's vest on," the unknown boy snarled at Malfoy. "Most of our curses are weak against that."
"Ignore it," Malfoy ordered, turning to face the kid. "Just do as you're told, Davis."
Malfoy turned back to Harry, thinking he would be held back by someone but was surprised to see a wand in his face. "Bad move, Malfoy," Harry said with a growl. "Averte Statura," he said lazily, causing Mafloy to fly back and land with a sickening crack.
Malfoy's little gang was silent, just staring at their fallen leader. They turned to look at Harry, fear noticeable on their faces.
"Get out," Harry said strongly but quietly.
They all scattered and Harry was left alone. It wasn't until he heard clapping did his gaze fall onto the other boy, the one who had leaned against the wall the entire time and did nothing.
"What an… interesting display."
Harry tensed. "What do you want?" Harry asked boldly, assessing this stranger.
The boy looked Harry over with a critical eye, as if deeming him worthy. He must have passed the test because the boy moved closer to Harry. Although Harry could see that the boy didn't have his wand out, he kept his own in his hand.
The boy nodded, eyeing the wand and it almost seemed like he was approving of Harry's method.
"What do you want?" Harry asked again, this time with impatience.
The boy shrugged. "Nothing, really. I've just been bored lately, especially with Malfoy taking over more so than usual. Slytherin Common Room ain't all that fun anymore."
"Right… and this has to do with me because?"
Again the boy shrugged. "I just wanted to watch the show. Besides, you've got me curious."
"And how did I spike your curiosity?" Harry asked warily.
"This morning at breakfast."
Harry blinked. "You mean with that bloody Eerie? If you want him, you can have him."
The boy laughed. "Not that, Potter. No, I'm interested in what you did after it went away."
Harry didn't say anything, clearly wondering what this guy was talking about.
The boy sighed. "Nonverbal magic, Potter," he said almost exasperatedly.
"Umm… what?"
The boy's eyebrows shot up. "Don't tell me you actually performed it without knowing when you banished all that food!"
Harry thought for a moment. "Oh, that."
"Oh, that," the boy mocked. "Potter, do realized how many people can perform nonverbal magic?"
"I don't know."
"Not a lot, Potter."
Harry was strongly reminded of P by that particular statement. "So, your point being?"
The boy smiled. "Well, I told you I was bored, didn't I?"
"Yes…"
"Congratulations, Potter, you're my new experiment."
"Your new what!?" Harry could feel a headache coming on. This boy was really weird.
"You heard me, Potter. Be sure to be more entertaining from now on. See ya."
"Hey, wait!" Harry called. "Who the heck are you?" Might as well ask his name.
"Blaise Zabini."
With that, he disappeared, leaving a very bewildered Harry. It wasn't until later that Harry thought it all over with Tagger that he realized what just happened. Zabini was a Slytherin and was good at hiding what he truly wanted but was still able to leave hints.
Earlier, he had stated that things were getting a little out of order in the Slytherin dormitories. Either Zabini really was a freak who needed the weirdest entertainment, or it was that he was looking for an ally.
"He's an interesting guy," Tagger said thoughtfully. "Keep an eye out for him and see what happens. Remember, he's pureblood and that means he knows a lot of stuff. Also, you need to remember that not all Slytherin's are with Voldemort."
Harry nodded carefully, thinking about the events. He had been lucky the others had thought he had a dragon vest on but that wasn't too surprising. It's not like someone would say, "Hey! You have scales growing on your arm!"
"Your right," he said. "We'll just have to see what Zabini really wants.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"So this fake seer wants you to write about a dream that leads to your subconscious?" Kilian asked incredulously.
Harry nodded tiredly. "Yep, the crazy nut."
"What is wrong with you humans?" Kilian exclaimed, throwing up her hands in despair. "Except you, I mean," Kilian added when she saw Harry's face.
Harry rolled his eyes. "I don't know why the Headmaster allows her to stay. I mean, it's not like she's actually ever made a true prediction."
"Of course not," Kilian snapped. "Predictions are only made by Japanese fortune tellers. No other seer can predict anything, but they can still see tid bits into the future or past."
"Is there a difference?" Harry asked.
"Of course there is!"
"Yea… So how's it going with your herd?"
Kilian made a low neighing sound in anger. "Horrible as always. 'Don't do this, Kilian. Kilian, why can't you act more like a girl?' or 'What did I say about touching weapon?!'" Kilian snorted in anger.
Harry winced in sympathy. "Ouch. You have it bad."
Kilian waved it off. "It's not that bad with my parents. It's just this one Centaur. His name is Tak, son of Bane."
This time Harry winced in pity. "I remember Bane. Not a very nice fellow."
"Nice? Maybe when the stars disappear. Anyways, Tak, the annoying little git, keeps taunting me about the hunt."
"The hunt?" Harry asked.
"The hunt is when all the male Centaurs of a certain age go out into the forest for three days without adult supervision and bring back the largest kill they make. It's a large ceremony, kind of what makes them a man or something."
"Jealous?"
"Of course! Do you know how much I want to hunt and prove to everyone what a great weaponist a girl can be?"
Harry thought about it. "Yea, I know how much you want to be one."
Kilian and Harry didn't say anything after that, instead preferring to stay in a peaceful silence and practice their own weapons.
As morning started to come, Harry waved back to Kilian before she disappeared into the forest and hoped that she could prove how good she was at archery to her herd before he threw on his invisibility cloak.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Life at Hogwarts seemed to get even stranger for Harry. DADA was soon becoming his least favorite subject and Potions was just strange. Blaise had taken to being Harry's partner most of the time. By Blaise's snickers whenever Harry and Snape argued, Harry could surmise that the boy was very amused.
It also caused a lot of strange talk in the Gryffindor and Slytherin houses. Some would say Harry was going dark or was being lured into the Snakes nest. Other's said that Blaise was turning on the other Slytherin's or that Harry had talked him out of being 'dark.' All the rumors were completely ridiculous and Harry noticed that Blaise didn't even care.
The first few days had been taxing. Harry really had no idea how to react to the strange boy. Zabini seemed to be out of it most of the time, though not as bad Luna, and would say the strangest but most interesting things. Slowly, over the course of the week, Harry slowly got used to Blaise and his weird statements and obvious wants for entertainment.
Still, that didn't mean he didn't complain about Blaise almost every night with Kilian.
"At least this guy just wants some entertainment," Kilian had said, daring Harry to argue. "Tak is still an outright bastard who uses every excuse in the book to get me in trouble."
But Blaise also had the strangest tendency to appear whenever Harry was alone and disappear when others showed up. It was a bit spooky. Still, Harry couldn't really do anything. Blaise hadn't attacked him and was more of a pest than anything.
But that didn't stop Tagger from saying he could be useful.
Ron was still ignoring him, and that was really taking its toll on Harry. It hurt that his best friend would give him the same treatment as last year, especially when he had promised nothing like that would ever happened again.
Harry wrote to Sirius, asking for his opinion, but was disappointed when Sirius just told him to wait for Ron to cool down. Not very helpful, Sirius.
Hermione and Kilian still managed to make him happy, and the letters to Ash were going well. It was just basically them telling each other how life was going. Meeting Dumbledore every Sunday was also a bit taxing, though more so with Harry's patience.
Nothing new had been found out about the blasted manacles and Harry was very tempted to just fall asleep and beg Voldemort for the answers. He didn't though, because he had his pride and stubbornness. He wouldn't fall asleep until he could block out Voldemort with his mind.
Which brought up another problem. Harry had no way of knowing if his shields could block anyone out since he had no one to practice with. Perhaps there was a book that could help explain?
Even with all these obstacles, Harry's life still managed to get even worse. Although all his orders for his wand came in, he had no way of going down to the Chamber just yet. He always had the strangest sense that someone was following him.
Classes were becoming more of a challenge, and Harry's miracle potion wasn't so amazing anymore. It seemed like it was losing its touch, because Harry was getting more and more tired even after only a month.
And if that wasn't bad enough, he hadn't received a letter from the sonic owl and Kilian's herd had decided to pay the two a surprised visit. It had shocked the both of them. Kilian had done a good job of sneaking away, but apparently this Tak was just a little more than eager to get Kilian into the worst kinds of trouble.
"Oh, shit," Harry whispered to Kilian as her herd surrounded them angrily one night. "What are they gonna do?"
"I don't know," Kilian whispered back. Her voice was strong, but Harry could detect a slight waver and knew she was scared. "Disobeying Centaur laws is huge. It could result it death or banishment."
Harry gulped. "Are you sure?"
"Dead sure."
"I was afraid you'd say that," Harry said, eyeing the Centaurs get closer and closer.
There was definitely going to be trouble.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Hey! So sorry I haven't updated in a while. I'm even more sorry about this crappy chapter. I really needed a type of summary chapter that would basically start the actual story. Yes, I can tell that you're in disbelief. What? Didn't you already start the story? No.
This is basically the beginning that will be super duper important for not only the rest of the story but the sequel. So, I'm sorry if you're disappointed in this chapter but at least you'll be able to look forward to an exciting one! And I'm sorry if yu don't like ron the way he is, but I don't really like him.
This fight was just begging to happen. Ron is jealous prat who always wants to prove he's better. Don't worry, he'll get better. Remember, Ron has not matured yet.
Hmm, I think I'll update again in the middle of June because I'm super busy with homework, reports, a birthday party for a friend, and finals coming soon.
Oh! And my birthday is May 24th! I'm happy!
Please review!
