A/N: Hello, people! Thanks for liking this fic! :) 14 Communities!
I don't own Harry Potter.
I have no beta.
ENJOY!
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. HELLY-WATERMELONSMELLINFELLON. I FOLLOW BACK.
Harry's sleep was fitful. He tossed and turned several times in the night and ended up laying awake in bed. No matter what he tried, he couldn't get his mind off that Dementor and the pained scream that only he could hear. It had sounded vaguely familiar, that scream. He tried delving into his memory - which was a lot better thanks to that wish Varix had suggested the previous year - to try to find where he'd heard that scream from.
It's wasn't from Hogwarts, so it happened some time before then. But Petunia wasn't the high pitched sort of screamer. She sounded rather masculine when yelling or screaming. Dudley had a high scream, by it was too high to compare to the one replaying in Harry's mind over and over.
Mrs. Figg had never yelled. None of the teachers in primary raised their voices to Harry. But then again, none of them had ever screamed with a scream so filled with terror that it made the hair on the back of Harry's neck rise.
Earlier.
Much earlier.
Harry was rather ignored as a child. Chores. He had them and did them all the time. He was barely spoken to from ever since he could remember. He'd had learned what he could by paying attention to the lessons Petunia would give Dudley while Harry was cleaning. Dudley didn't want to do lessons.
On a loop. The scream echoed inside his head, practically bouncing off the inner walls of his skull.
He winced and the decibel rose and rose.
In an attempt to stifle it, he grabbed his pillow and slapped it over his face.
Darkness.
Screaming.
He sighed, this wasn't working.
A nudge on his arm had him jerking up in bed, looking around frantically. Varix was floating beside his bed. He gave a relieved sigh.
"Wish for a good night of sleep," she ordered in a barely audible whisper.
Why hadn't he thought of that?
"I wish I could sleep well tonight."
Snap.
Harry's body fell back to the bed and darkness and warmth filled him. Much better.
Darkness. A room filled with strange items. Bright green eyes in front of him.
A flash of lightning.
Green eyes of a woman. Red hair, long. Pale face. Woman.
Room is locked. Bars in front of his face.
A look around. Cot. Mobile of dragons dangling above his head.
"Harry."
His name said softly. Two pairs of the same green eyes meet.
"Harry you are so loved… so loved."
A smile.
Pales hands lift, holding something. A feather. No. A quill.
The woman grits her teeth as she brings it into contact with his brow.
Something cold and wet.
Odd.
She winces. Discards the quill.
"Ma^udre` m`staru."
The walls glows red for a second.
Light returns to darkness.
"Live on, Harry."
The door suddenly explodes in shards of wood.
The woman whirls on the intruder, hands held out as if in defense.
"Step aside you foolish Mudblood."
Cold. Deadly. Evil. A voice of destruction.
"Not Harry! Not Harry, please not Harry!" she pleads, desperation in her tone.
Solid. Resolute. Brave. Loving.
"Stand aside you silly girl… stand aside, now..."
"Not Harry! Please… no… take me. Kill me instead!"
A hand reaching behind her. A warm palm pressed to his head.
"Not Harry! Please… have mercy... have mercy! I'll do anything!"
Assurance. She really would do anything.
"Stand aside. Stand aside, girl!"
"No!"
The hand on his head began to heat up. Hotter and hotter.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Bright green, like the eyes.
But this… this wasn't calm or full of love.
This was death and it came swiftly.
The woman screamed. So unearthly. So shrill. Terror captured in mere seconds.
Crimson eyes now. Dark figure. Wand, pale wood.
Inhuman being. Smirking in glee.
"Harry Potter. You will not be a threat to me, any longer."
The being's wand raises, glowing with the green death.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Burning. His forehead burns. It's hot. It hurts.
Make it stop!
Make it stop!
Makeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstopmakeitstop!
Screaming.
Don't know who it's coming from.
Him or the being?
Darkness.
Cold.
Lonely.
Tingling.
Night.
Rest.
Harry managed to sleep well, though his dream - nightmare? - was unsettling. And from what he'd learned of Godric's Hollow and what he'd seen personally, he'd venture a guess that the woman was Lily Potter, with him in the nursery. The glowing walls and the quill made sense.
So his dream was just a memory. And the Avada Kedavra curse was the green light he'd always remembered in his childhood.
What a morbid thing to remember at such a young age.
Getting ready for the first day of classes was a hoot. The bathroom had more showers than the last one did and Harry caught it before anyone else woke.
He shook Ron awake, murmuring about food to get him moving.
They met Hermione in the Common Room and walked down to the Great Hall together.
Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were busy at the Slytherin Table, doing something that looked like fake fainting. Both turned to him and smirked wickedly.
"Hey, Potter!" Malfoy yelled loudly, gaining the attention of the people in the Hall. "The Dementors are coming for you!"
"I'm gonna kick that little brat's ass!" Varix hissed.
Harry's watch disappeared and a black figure appeared behind Malfoy, who had his back facing the wall. The form looked very much like a Dementor. Big, black, cloaked, and those creepy hands.
It reached out and grabbed Malfoy's shoulder. Malfoy screamed, loud, long, and high, trying to pull away. The other Slytherins moved aside instantly, most of them scrambling form their seats, though no one but Malfoy and Parkinson was screaming.
The 'Dementor' disappeared, showing Varix, whose dress had returned to its former length.
The entire Great Hall burst into laughter.
Varix disappeared with a pop, returning to her 'watch' form.
The best part of the whole spectacle, was the fact that the Slytherins were also laughing at the two third years in their House.
Professor Sinistra was walking up and down the Gryffindor Table, handing out their class schedules. Hermione accepted hers with obvious excitement and squealed a bit. "We're starting some of our newer subjects!"
Ron leaned over, "They messed up your schedule. You can't physically do ten subjects a day, there isn't any time. And you'll have so much homework to do. Do you plan to eat at all?"
"I've got it all worked out," she asserted. "That's what I had to talk to Professor McGonagall about on the train."
"But Hermione, you're down for three classes all at nine o'clock! How are you going to handle all of those?"
"It's all worked out. I'll do all the work and attend every other class. Don't worry."
Hermione spread some marmalade on her toast, ignoring the rest of Ron's complaints.
"Hello, Harry."
The Boy-Who-Lived turned and smiled. "Hi, Tom! What's the Ravenclaw Common Room like?"
"Now Harry, that would be telling," Tom smirked, seating himself beside Harry.
"Shouldn't you be at the Ravenclaw Table?" Ron asked, looking distrustful.
"There isn't anything saying I have to partake of my meals at my House table."
"There isn't," Harry confirmed. Having memorized the handbook, he would know.
Hermione simply quirked a brow at him, but went back to her food.
"So, I've been informed that the Gryffindor Trio tends to get into mischief. Will I have to report you this year?" Tom asked, giving Harry a look.
Harry shrugged, "If I was planning some mischief, I certainly wouldn't tell you about it, Mr. Prefect."
"Very Slytherin of you."
"Slytherins don't hold the right to being clever. My fairy godmother is simply teaching me to watch what I say so I don't reveal too much."
"I suppose."
After breakfast and a ridiculous amount of grinning from Hermione and Ron, they went their separate ways. Hermione and Ron went up to find the Divination classroom in the North Tower. Harry had a free period, so he didn't know how to spend it.
"Free block, Harry?"
The teen jumped, clutching a hand to his heart as he turned to see Tom standing behind him.
"Uh… yeah. You too?"
"Yes. Care to go to the Library?"
Harry ended up following Tom to the Library.
"What extra courses are you taking?"
"Obviously Runes, and then Care of Magical Creatures."
"What sort of future do you envision for yourself?"
"Being alive."
Tom cocked a brow, "That's a rather strange vision."
"Well, Voldemort seems to want me dead for some reason. If he comes into power once again, people will probably expect me as the Boy-Who-Lived, to handle him. I'm just a teen and I have barely any experience. He's… ancient. He's powerful. I'm just Harry."
Tom cast his a small glance full of interest, before plucking a book from the shelf and heading on over to a chosen table. Harry seated himself on the other side of Tom.
"How was your summer?" the Ravenclaw asked as he flipped through the pages of his book, eyes scanning the words greedily.
"I got to go to Egypt!"
Tom looked up, "And what did you do while there?"
Harry grinned, mind flashing back to one of his many expeditions with the Weasleys and Varix.
The sky was very blue and the sun shone much too brightly for anyone's tastes. Egypt was looking to be another extremely hot climate.
Harry had to be psyched up in order to leave the hotel. It was cool inside, but the outside was like hell on earth. Even with the offering of fairy made cooling charms, he couldn't be bothered to move.
And then Ron showed up with his brother Bill.
Harry ignored Varix's giggling and simply waved them inside the joint rooms. Bill was smiling invitingly and Ron was talking a mile a minute about visiting some old tomb. They wanted to know if Harry and Varix would like to join their family on their little expedition.
Harry looked to Varix pleadingly, begging with his eyes.
She rolled her shining violets and nodded.
So within half an hour, the Weasleys, plus two, were on their way up the dunes. In the distance, was a large rectangular rock formation, called a mastabas, or so Bill explained. It was basically a tomb.
Since this one had already been checked by the Gringotts' Curse Breakers, it was open for magical tourists. And they would even be selling the items the people were buried with.
Harry had felt a little bad, seeing as it was a part of their history, but it wasn't like you could take things into the afterlife with you. He'd asked Varix just to be certain.
"No. You either go to Limbo, the in between for the incomplete souls, where you must watch everybody move past you and onward, or you go to Animterrera, the next world. There is no heaven, there is no hell. It's basically like having a new life in a new place. You can't age and die. You are a soul construct, and souls can't be killed. They can be removed in a sense. Necromancers have the ability to bring souls back to Viveterrera, this world. And then there are Dêănös. Very much like the Dementors of the magical world. They are A-mortal and never age. They can be destroyed though, but not by many. What happens, is that they eat souls and make them cease to exist in a sense, like the Dementors.
You can't just pop a Dementor and free all of the souls inside, it doesn't work like that. Dementors are… like portals, I guess. Like a black hole wrapped in a black cloak. There is no telling where the soul goes once it's taken. We just know that Dementors feast on souls and happiness and that they don't actually need to eat. As A-mortal non-beings, they have no function. No cardiovascular system, no immune system, no respiratory system, no digestive system, no souls of their own, they require no sleep, and they don't become weak. Dêănös are exactly like this. They are basically the Dementors of the next world and they make you cease to exist.
You cannot take things with you. Animterrera is literally a new plane of existence where all beings go when they die. So that means every creature from every realm, goes there. I'll tell you about the hierarchy later on, it's too much to delve into right. Just know that you cannot take things with you, because your station in that world is already decided the moment you die."
So Harry learned that basically all religion is false and that people can't take things with them when they die.
The amount of preservation on the objects the Goblins were selling from the tomb, was amazing. Thousands of years in perfect condition.
According to Varix, Egypt had many charmers. The magicals of olde Egypt were revered and those who spoke to the animals were considered to be the chosen of gods. Especially those who understood and spoke Purrintongue. As the ancients worshipped felines, those who spoke to them were obviously favored and earned high respect.
Bill Weasley described the kinds of curses placed on the tomb and how many Breakers it took to simply get into the entrance.
From then on, it was an uphill battle with this tomb alone.
Dementors, Jackals - human/dog hybrid creatures with long fangs, carrying sickles and chains - Sphinxes, and serpents, had been set to guard the tomb from robbers and the process of clearing out this one tomb of deceased nobles, took almost fifty years.
That long for a tomb!
Inside, Harry was amazed at the structure and how safe it was to walk on things that looked like they'd crumble in seconds.
Harry, while finding the large sarcophagus interesting, was much more drawn to the markings on the walls, illuminated by the lit torches around the room.
They were of a man, from what he could tell. A man holding a snake. Beneath the picture, was a small paragraph formed of squiggles. He squinted, knowing that his eyesight was perfect - thanks to Varix - and that he shouldn't be having such a difficult time making out what was there.
He squinted harder, feelings his eyes vibrate just a little and the squiggles being to move together, forming words.
In days long past,
The servants of the pharaoh,
Would search far and wide,
For the serpent charmers.
In days long past,
Few were found,
And the pharaoh was angered,
For lack of gain.
In days long past,
Reverence to those,
Who possessed the serpents,
Through their own tongue.
In days long past,
They died away,
Leaving Egypt bereft,
Without respect.
In days long past,
A skill gone away,
Where some still search,
And will find none.
Harry's head tilted, wondering if it was supposed to be a poem. From what he gleaned, Egypt once had people who spoke Parseltongue and it had lost those people some time ago. And they couldn't find anymore of them and lost the respect they'd had from their fellows.
He moved on to the next picture. The snake was alone this time, a Cobra. Its head was reared back and it looked ready to bite, fangs protruding threateningly.
More words.
The mighty Cleopatra's asp,
With venom that kills,
A favored creature among the Speakers,
Guardians of the pharaoh.
Death of the Speakers,
Brings the uncontrolled rage,
The mighty snake has fallen,
And with it, all of Egypt.
So Egyptians loved cats and had guard snakes. Okay.
Bill Weasley noticed Harry's interest and commented, "No one has been able to determine the importance."
"It's not super important. Egypt had Parselmouths at some point, but lost them and the snakes that had been used to guard something or whatever, turned and began attacking. Not much in the story, so far."
Harry moved on to the next picture, jumping when Bill caught his arm. "You can understand that?" he asked, gesturing wildly to the walls.
"Yes."
"That's Parselscript."
Harry's mouth dropped and he looked around for Varix, who was busy trying to pull the twins out of a sarcophagus.
"Varix, Parseltongue has a written form?"
"Yes!" she yelled back. "It comes from the Naga, Hydra, Lamia, Dragons, Drackens, Krakens, Serpents, Quetzalcoatl, and pretty much any other serpent like creature. Some can attain human form and have in the past, married humans, you can say. Parseltongue comes from them and the hybrids born of them, were able to develop a written language. It's like a bunch of squiggly esses that make no sense to people who aren't Parselmouths. You understand it fine because you are a Parselmouth."
The Weasley who had heard that little revelation, turned to gape at Harry, who was paying more attention to Bill's reaction than anything else.
"Ever think of being a Curse Breaker?" the man asked with a grin. "We get too many cursed objects that would be handled easier if we had a Parselmouth on hand."
"You're… okay with it?"
"Sure."
Harry stared in awe, because he'd known that British wizards didn't favors Parseltongue.
Bill's acceptance was another things that made Harry enjoy Egypt.
Harry smiled as he finished recalling the events of that day. Good memories.
"You're a Parselmouth?" Tom asked, eyes wide.
"Yeah. I don't know why either. I was happy that the Weasleys are fine with it. I know that British wizards don't like it."
"Who is Bill Weasley?" Tom asked, bringing Harry fully back to the present.
Harry looked up to Tom. Tom's eyes were less inviting and his mouth was a bit tight at the corners.
"Are you okay?"
"Certainly. Who is Bill Weasley?"
"Oh, Ron's oldest brother. He's a Curse Breaker and he's amazing!" Harry practically gushed, remembering all the things he'd learned about Runes while talking with Bill. "He recommended the Rune books for me!"
Tom nodded calmly, flipping another page in his book, though he wasn't even looking down.
"And how do you feel-"
RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING!
The bell for the next class sounded and Harry jumped up.
"I have to get to Transfiguration, sorry Tom!"
Harry waved and rushed off to find Hermione and Ron.
He found them alright and Hermione was spitting, frothing at the mouth more like.
"It's a complete load of rubbish!" she insisted, even as Harry caught up to them.
"What's wrong?" he asked, coming up beside Ron, who was rolling his eyes.
Hermione looked ready to bite. Her hair was poofing up in the back and her mouth was in a firm line. "Divination is complete rubbish. Be glad you didn't take it because the professor is madder than Dumbledore was and she smells of sherry."
"She told Hermione that she had no skill in Divination and now Hermione is ready to lose it. She also explained that if you don't have the Sight, capital 'S' apparently, then there will be little she can teach us because books cannot take people too far in Divination."
"She right," Harry nodded. "There are books on it in Potter Manor's library and I studied one when contemplating my second class. There are all sorts of Seers. Those who See the future, those who See the past, those who See romantic ties between people, those who See into other realms, Those who See into dreams, it goes on and on. If you don't have the Sight, doesn't matter which one, you won't really be able to utilize anything you learn. Though learning of it to at least know about it isn't so bad."
Hermione's shoulders slumped.
Ron was barreling on however. "She also said that in February, a lot of people would get the flu and she'd lose her voice for a while. And in Easter, 'one of our number will leave us forever'. And she knew Neville would break his first cup and told him which kind to take after it because she favored the pinks ones! She also said his grandmother wasn't well and that he'd be late for the next class!"
"Rubbish!" Hermione hissed as they took their seats in the Transfiguration classroom.
McGonagall was sitting in her seat and Harry's head tilted.
"Professor, aren't you Headmistress now?"
She looked up, "Mr. Potter, to be honest, the only work the Headmaster has to do is regulate whether or not the points being taken are actually allowed and go to the Ministry every month to update the archives. I am perfectly capable of teaching this class as well as being the Headmistress."
"Okay."
The class began, McGonagall was talking about Animagi and then turned herself into a cat. So then that's what it was like. Harry wanted to do it.
With a pop, she returned to normal, glaring at the students. "What is the matter with you all? Usually you're amazed when I turn into a feline."
"Most of us just had Divination, professor," Lavender Brown said quietly.
McGonagall sighed, "Oh. Who is dying this year?"
Harry's jaw dropped.
"Me," came Neville's quiet voice. "Apparently, there was a woman tword the handle of my cup, which means I'll be visited by a female soon. A hook, which means an obsession, a bat which means death, and finally, an octopus which will bring danger. According to Professor Trelawney, the woman will bring danger and is obsessed with killing me."
Harry looked back and forth between the professor and Neville. McGonagall was always strict, she had even asked her question looking annoyed. But the moment Neville explained, she seemed worried and her eyes had softened toward him.
"I urge you to not to think hard on her prediction, Mr. Longbottom. They've never come true. You see, true Seers are very rare and Professor Trelawney-"
She broke off, taking a deep breath. "Just know that it isn't true. She does this every year in order to terrify the new students. Nothing ever happens. I'll have a talk with her."
And class went on, though no one who had been in the class seemed inclined to believe her words.
Lunch came quickly.
Then there was Potions.
Snape presided over the class like a dark cloud of rain. He practically poured annoyance and unhappiness, all over them.
Shrinking Solution.
Harry waved his wand over his cauldron, murmuring the spell Varix taught him to protect his potions from outward harm. He then looked toward the board and then down at his book, finding differences in the recipe.
Harry's head continued to go back and forth. He cautiously cast a glance in Hermione's direction. She was looking at the board, while cutting her daisy roots into even portions. To his other side, Ron was looking at the book, while cutting his roots as well.
Was he supposed to use the book or the board? Hermione's potions always came out right, but his and Ron's usually came out off. They used the book and she used the board.
He didn't feel like asking.
He really didn't want to deal with the backlash from Snape all over a question that most likely had an easy to find answer.
He glanced at the board one more time, before deciding to just eenie meenie minie mo it. He ended up with the board.
So Harry set to cutting up his roots and skinning his shrivelfig.
The classroom was filled with the sounds of cutting and chopping. Some murmurs here and there. Snape glided through the rows of tables, calling out improper cutting techniques and the colors of the potions.
Harry was quick and efficient. Cutting was something he was good at. Slicing, dicing, mincing, chopping, he was good at it thanks to his skills in cooking. Snape had never commented on Harry's skill with a knife, because there was nothing wrong with it. It was just usually everything else that was wrong.
But if Harry was using the book and it was partially wrong, then no wonder his potions never came out well enough.
He proceeded on, slicing his six caterpillars with extreme accuracy and speed, not paying attention to anything else.
"Mr. Potter, you are causing a racket," said a deep voice very closely to his ear.
Harry shivered a bit, turned a bit to see Snape standing very close, looking over his shoulder.
Hermione was busy leaning over his block, staring at the pieces of caterpillar. "They're perfect length," she breathed in what sounded like awe. "You were slicing so fast too."
"Skilled at cooking and that's where it came from," Harry murmured.
"How much cooking?"
"It used to be all the meals. But the House Elves don't want me cooking and we had this huge argument that finally ended in me at least being allowed to cook twice a week," Harry said with an eye roll.
"Mate, their your servants. If you want to cook just tell them. I've never heard of someone wanting to cook when they have House Elves, let alone arguing with them about cooking for themselves. They do as you say. You say you want to cook breakfast and then they go, 'okay' and there you go."
Harry stared at his ginger haired friend, mouth open. All those arguments over the food when he could have just said that he was doing it anyway?!
"Oh."
Ron snorted. "Or you could have just wished for them to let you make breakfast all the time."
Harry head connected with his hand and he groaned. Varix's giggles from his 'watch' weren't helping.
Harry went back to cutting, grumbling to himself.
The potion was underway. Harry was efficient, adding things as they were ordered to on the board. He also ignored the fact that Snape was still behind him.
Red, yellow, purple, green, and now the potion was pink. Close to its final phase. He added one more sliced caterpillar and turned the heat on the burner, down, allowing it to simmer until it turned green once more. The description on the board suggested an emerald green shade to mark it perfect.
Harry watched carefully for the potion to turn before shutting the burner off completely.
He rummaged in his bag for his potion vials and began ladling the potion into them. He marked the first with his name and moved to the front, where Hermione had been a few feet ahead of him, to place it on Snape's desk. Hers looked exactly the same, so Harry had high hopes for his potion being correct.
He couldn't help but ask when they got back to their table, "Mione, did you notice the difference in the potion on the board, or did you decide to do it just because Professor Snape wrote it?"
"I did both version and found Professor Snape's to be better."
"Oh."
So basically, Snape had better versions of the potions they did. No wonder he was a Potions Master.
A few minutes later, Snape called attention to the class. "By now, your potions should be an emerald green color, if you have done them correctly," he sneered. "Ladle them into your vials and place them on my desk."
There was no homework.
They made their way to Defense next.
"Can you believe it? Not a snarky word from him. Not one!" Ron said in amazement.
"He changed a bit after last year, I'm not so shocked."
"So we have DADA next. Do you think this one is competent?"
"Ron!"
"What? The other two weren't."
"Still, he's a teacher."
"Pfft!"
Defense was normal. The classroom wasn't covered in portraits of Lupin or weird creatures like with Quirrellmort. No, it was plain and lacking decoration, but compared to the past two years, Harry didn't mind in the least.
Lupin was standing in front of a wardrobe when they walked in.
"You only need your wands today."
The students shared a look, but put their bags on the floor and waited calmly.
The wardrobe shook suddenly, though it didn't open. Lupin smiled, "Nothing at all to worry about, just a Boggart in there."
Harry saw the looks of horror on the faces of the students and wondered what was so wrong about facing their fears. Unless of course the fear could be dangerous to other people, then maybe.
"Boggarts like dark, enclosed spaces. Small cupboards, the spaces underneath beds, sometimes a wardrobe. This one appeared sometime in the teacher's lounge yesterday and Professor McGonagall allowed me to move the entire wardrobe here for our lesson.
Now, what is a Boggart?"
Hermione, Harry, Neville, Dean, and Millicent Bulstrode of all people, raised their hands.
Lupin pointed to Neville.
"They're shapeshifters."
"Excellent! And what does a Boggart do?"
The same five people raised their hands, Hermione's beating the rest of them up though. But Lupin nodded to Bulstrode.
"They take on the form of what they think someone will fear the most."
"Exactly. Now, does anyone know what a Boggart looks like?"
Harry was chosen this time.
"No one knows."
"Correct! And how can we defeat a Boggart, Hermione?"
"Laughter."
"Right you are! So the moment I release the Boggart from the wardrobe, it'll become what we fear most. How can this give us an advantage though? Someone who hasn't already answered a question, please?"
Zabini answered, "Because with so many people, it won't know what to turn into."
"Wonderful! Ten points to Slytherin, fifteen points to Gryffindor!"
The Slytherins that weren't a part of Malfoy's gang, all looked pleasantly surprised. Harry nodded slightly, happy that Lupin didn't seem to be against Slytherins.
"Now, I'm going to need a volunteer… Neville, how about you?"
Neville let out a small squeak and tried to hide behind Harry, which was pointless because he was at least five inches taller than Harry was. Ron had no mercy anywhere inside him, because he grabbed Neville by the collar and pulled him forward. Harry joined in, giving the shy Gryffindor a bit of a push to get him moving.
Lupin was smiling at Neville, "Now, the charm to repel a Boggart is Riddikulus. You must think very clearly on how to turn your fear into something humorous. So, without your wands I want you all to repeat, Riddikulus!"
"Riddikulus!" they mimicked.
"Once again."
"Riddikulus!"
"Spectacular! Now, Neville, what scares you the most?"
Neville's head turned downward and he mumbled something.
"Really?"
Neville nodded frantically.
"Well, I don't blame you. He frightens all."
Harry knew who it was then. Snape. Neville was most scared of Snape. But why? Though yes, Snape had been mean for a year and a half, before Varix dealt with him. Maybe intimidation. Hm…
"You live with your grandmother, Augusta, correct?"
"I don't want it to turn into her either!"
Lupin smiled calmly, "I wouldn't either. I remember her Howlers."
Neville shivered and nodded.
Lupin leaned in and murmured something in Neville's ear. Neville turned and gave him the most horrified look anyone can manage.
"Do you understand?" asked Lupin.
Neville nodded pulling out his wand though not looking any braver than before.
"Think very hard on it, Neville. Alohomora!" Lupin said, stepping back several feet.
The wardrobe door clicked and it opened with a loud creak. Snape stepped out of the wardrobe, his long, black robes billowing behind him. His dark eyes landed on Neville.
Neville stiffened and raised his wand. "Riddikulus!"
Snape's black robes bled into a green, formfitting dress, a vulture tipped hat on his head, and a red handbag in his hands.
"HA!"
The class burst into laughter, but the loudest was from Variux, who appeared above Harry, holding a camera. "Best blackmail ever!"
She snapped the photo and cackled, before disappearing and since Harry's 'watch' didn't return, she must have gone to develop the film.
Harry laughed harder, because Varix now had a picture of Snape in a dress!
Lupin waved to the students, who all got into a line. Hermione was next.
The Snape Boggart turned into McGonagall, looking absolutely stern and disappointed.
"You failed everything."
Hermione let out a scream of terror, jumping when Harry jabbed her in the ribs. She turned around for a second, before whipping her wand at the Boggart and calling, "Riddikulus!"
McGonagall shrank into a small kitten with a head much too big for it's body. The head pulled it to the floor, where the rest of the body dangled into the air, feet kicking and unable to move.
Giggles filled the room. Dean was next, followed by Parvati and Ron.
A large snake and a large spider. Harry shivered at the spider. Nothing with that many legs should ever grow so large.
Harry was next and he wasn't shocked when the Boggart turned into a Dementor. He was shocked however, when it turned into a woman. A familiar woman. Lily Potter. But her eyes weren't bright as Harry remembered them. They were dull. She fell back, hitting the floor with a thud. Her eyes stared up at the ceiling. She wasn't moving.
And then he realized. She was dead.
But he'd come to terms with his orphan status years ago. So why was this his fear?
Lily's mouth opened suddenly and a chilling scream echoed from deep within her throat. The scream that haunted him all night last night.
The students all shrank away from the sound, covering their ears. Lupin looked horrified at the fallen corpse.
How to turn his dead, screaming mother into something funny. He couldn't think of anything.
With wand in hand, he gave a half-hearted, "Riddikulus." The body on the floor erupted in a shower of white lilies.
He shrugged, still not understanding, but he went to join Hermione and Ron, who both looked horrified.
The class was silent.
Harry shrugged, "I really have no idea. The scream annoyed me but the rest, I don't get it."
Class resumed, though much more somber than before. Harry's supposed fear was enough to bring the mood down. Harry was still trying to make heads and tails of it.
The next class was Care of Magical Creatures. Harry was looking forward to it, as Hagrid was teaching this year. Having passed all the required O.W.L.s with all Os, Hagrid got to apply for the position and was given it happily.
The demon books were brought out while students walked their way down to Hagrid's hut. Ron struggled with his. Hermione had a large leather belt wrapped around hers.
"Varix told me that you stroke the spine in order to calm it down. They purr."
Those who heard him, did so, sighing in relief as the demons settled down.
Hagrid was grinning, waving his hands. "Gather 'round. Got a real treat yer today!"
He began leading them off toward the stables, where there was a large paddock full of creatures. They were large, like horses, or griffins maybe, and had wings like eagles.
Hippogriff.
He remembered reading about them. Seeing as Varix wanted him to read ahead on everything, he knew a lot of stuff already.
"Anyone know what they are?" Hagrid asked from up ahead.
"Hippogriffs!" Hermione and Harry called back simultaneously.
"Well done!"
Hagrid was grinning, "Now, yeh'll need to open yer books to page forty-nine!"
"And how exactly do we do that? sneered Malfoy.
Hagrid turned and gave the blond a look that conveyed all that he thoughts of the blond's intelligence. His voice made it even better, full of sarcasm and obvious questioning of whether Malfoy was altogether in mind. "You stroke the spine of course."
Malfoy glared when Zabini snickered at him.
"Firs' thing yeh need ter know 'bout a Hippogriff is tha' they are very proud creatures. Yeh never insult 'em, it may be the las' thing yeh ever do."
Hagrid said all of this seriously, eyes dark and foreboding.
"Now, if anyone wants ter come and take a closer look-"
Harry felt a small breeze and looked around to see that everyone had taken several steps back, leaving him up front. Hagrid turned around and beamed at him.
"Well done, Harry!"
Well, now he had to go through with it so Hagrid wouldn't be disappointed.
With a sigh and a small glare to Ron and Hermione who shrugged unapologetically, Harry placed a hand on the fence keeping the students 'safe' from the Hippogriffs, and vaulted himself over it in one jump. He smirked at the gasps coming from behind him as he strode on over to his friend turned professor.
He'd seen Bill do that during the summer and practiced in secret. So obviously Varix found out about it and wouldn't let him live it down. Still, it was useful and looked really cool, especially to those who knew nothing about Muggles or how to perform stunts Muggles could do.
"Now, Harry. Yeh always wait fer the Hippogriff ter make the firs' move. It's polite. Yeh approach, bow, and wait. If it bows back, yer can touch him. If he doesn' bow, get away from it quickly.
The grey one, is Buckbeak. Don't blink though, they don't trus' people who blink too much."
Hagrid cautioned Harry with his hand, waving invitingly and then slowing down before making the bowing gesture. Harry was about ten feet from the nearest Hippogriff. It was grey, but it was so much more than that. Like a grey with a brilliant silvery sheen to the feathers. The talons were golden as was the beak. The eyes however, orange. Harry had never seen a being with orange eyes before.
He locked eyes with Buckbeak, the creature's head turning a bit. Harry bowed deeply from the waist, waiting and watching.
Buckbeak blinked a few time, before his head dipped lowly, only once, but it was enough. Hagrid was applauding and smiling brightly.
"Yeh can go pat him now."
Harry was cautious. His steps slow and certain. He raised a hand while keeping eye contact with Buckbeak. The Hippogriff seemed to nod and Harry nodded back.
Buckbeak was warm. His head was soft though.
Buckbeak headbutted him lightly and shifted his head a bit. Harry scratched carefully, eliciting a small purring noise if that was possible.
Hagrid was clapping again and Harry could hear some other clapping as well.
A few moments later, Harry was soaring over Hogwarts while sitting on the back of a Hippogriff.
So much better than a broom!
Harry was a bit sad when he had to dismount, but pet Buckbeak a few more times before rejoining his friends.
"That was wicked, mate," Ron grinned.
"Yeah. It could have been you had you not ran."
"You know how Hagrid is with creatures."
Yes. He did.
Hagrid hatched a bloody dragon in a wooden hut for Merlin's sake!
The students carefully entered the paddock with the winged creatures and began bowing to the ones they approached.
Harry would swear that he'd never met someone as stupid as Malfoy.
The blond obviously felt he was too important to listen to rules and advice or to read his bloody book!
Harry's wand was out as he sent a stunner toward Malfoy, who was knocked off his feet, flying several feet into the air and across the ground. Buckbeak, who had reared back on his hind legs the moment Malfoy insulted him, lowered, looking to Harry.
Harry stalked forward, toward Malfoy.
"Do any of you know what is wrong with him?" he asked the Slytherins, who were huddled together unlike the Gryffindors who were all spaced out.
"Why is he in Slytherin at all? Was it not specified to not insult Hippogriffs or it'll be the last thing you ever do? I thought Slytherins valued self-preservation. I don't see the rest of you doing what Malfoy did."
"How dare you, Potter!" Parkinson gasped, looking affronted. She was the only one. Zabini looked interested.
"Yes, how dare I save your idiot's life. Next time he can die for all I care. I'm simply not letting my friend suffer for the blond's stupidity."
Besides, if Malfoy went whining to his father about this and Lucius Malfoy tried to pull something, Harry could just wish that Hagrid won the case.
"Harry! Please don't use spells on people. It's nice that yeh want ter help me, but yeh could get into trouble. I'll have to take five points from Gryffindor."
The Gryffindors gaped in horror.
"No attacking the other students I'm afraid. But five points to Gryffindor for saving a classmate's life," Hagrid grinned, eyes twinkling.
Harry grinned, so it wasn't that bad.
Tom Riddle, now going by Cadmus Slytherin, paced back and forth. It was the third floor corridor on the right side. There were several unused classrooms and he was using one to pace.
Harry seemed infatuated with this Bill Weasley character.
Tom needed to get Harry's attention. Gain his favor. How?
"My kid spent nearly a month with Bill," a familiar voice called from behind him.
He whirled around, glaring at the fairy who was smirking at him.
"Harry and Bill bonded over Ancient Runes, and Harry thinks Bill walks on the moon, to be blunt with you. You'll have an uphill battle."
"I'll do anything!"
"I hope for your sake that's true."
Tom hissed a string of curses, feeling the need to rip this Bill Weasley in half.
Varix smirked as she left the teen alone, with his doubts and fears. She obviously wasn't going to mention that William Weasley was so straight, the Kinsey Scale went down to a -5 for him.
Let Tom suffer. Make him work for it! Ha!
Though she didn't have all the time to be worrying about that. Harry had been sent a gift from Sirius after classes today. And what was it? A gift certificate for anything he wanted from Honeydukes. For a fucking year!
How was she going to top that?
She needed help. Someone good at getting revenge and also who had a godson of his own. But she wasn't stupid. After threatening him, she was sure Severus Snape wouldn't want to help her. So that was where the photo she took of Neville Longbottom's fear, came in handy.
Blackmail.
Varix thrust herself through the door of Snape's classroom, ignoring his jump.
After closing the door, she waved her hand, making a chair appear. She then threw herself into it, groaning.
"What do you want?"
"I need your mind!"
"Why mine? Why not someone else's?"
"Because you're a Slytherin with good revenge impulses and you have had a godson longer so I need your expertise."
"I do not feel so inclined to aid you in any way, shape, or form."
"I know," she nodded, snapping her fingers and making the photo from earlier in the day, appear. "That's why I have this. Help me and I'll give it to you."
She flashed the photo in his face three times, waiting for his reaction.
"Where did you get that?!"
Ooh, he was a little heated. Varix smirked. "The kids did Boggarts in Defense and you were one of them! Congrats on being a thirteen year old's worst fear!"
Snape, who had stood suddenly, glowered and sat down once more.
"What do you want?"
Varix became animated and at the same time, closed off, if it made sense. She was annoyed and vengeful.
"So, Sirius Black seems to think that he's going to gain Harry's affections and so far, Harry thinks he's amazing. I'm obviously the more amazing and fun godparent and I need to get Harry a better gift than a Firebolt and year of free candy from Honeydukes. Got any ideas?"
Snape blinked a few times.
"Are you telling me… that you and Black are fighting over who is Potter's favorite guardian?"
"It's not as petty as you think, bro. If Harry likes him more and grows attached and all that lovely shit, he may not need me anymore and my contract will be up. And then I can't grant wishes until I get a new kid and I don't want a new kid!"
She was pouting.
Snape looked ready to blow.
"All of this over a boy's affections?"
"It's important to me! I'm losing my baby!"
She leveled him with her best pout, eyes shining with false tears.
He glared.
"You are an adult correct? Act your age!"
"I only just reached my majority! You don't suddenly go from being the age of a kid and then being the age of adult and making the transition overnight you know! I'm still a kid! One year doesn't change my mentality you know!"
"You, who destroyed a Dementor, can't handle a simple problem as this?"
"That's fighting. This is emotions and the raising of a child and all that stuff that I'm new to. Death is really easy I'll have you know."
"I know all too well," he said darkly.
"Yeah, well, good for you. I still need help and I will hold this picture ransom unless you help me outdo Black!"
Snape's eyes sharpened. "That is all?"
"Yeah. Though I admit you cut a striking figure in that dress, I have no other need of this pic. And if I wanted a pic of you, I'd take one now, you'r eyes are all expressive."
His brow twitched, but he did sigh and nod slightly.
"You will give it to me when this is over?"
"Yep! Thanks. So what are we doing?"
"Well, what does Potter like most in the world?"
A/N: Another is done!
-If anyone is wondering why the poems aren't rhyming, I've noticed that in movies when someone translates an old passage that is in a DIFFERENT LANGUAGE, they somehow translate it to a perfectly rhyming English poem. That shit don't happen in real life. People in old Egypt weren't all, 'and let me make sure they can translate it so it rhymes'. It doesn't work like that!
-I got the idea Animterrera from the Soul Society from Bleach. The Dêănös are my version of the Hollows. They're just like Dementors. Simply, the Dementors of the next world.
-A mastabas is a tomb.
-Varix has Tom thinking Bill is a threat when Bill is a 0 on the Kinsey Scale.
-Varix is blackmailing Severus for help against Sirius.
-Bellatrix could be after Neville and not Harry. :D
-If any is curious about the interaction between Severus and Varix, you should be. :)
-Sorry for the wait. I hit a Johnlock roadblock for a week. I should be good now.
How was it? Let me know!
Check out my other Harry Potter fics!
See ya! :D
CHECK ME OUT ON TUMBLR. THE LINK IS ON MY PROFILE. I FOLLOW BACK.