I did write this a while ago…Pretty sure I stole some stuff from Danganronpa. Ah…younger me had some great tastes at least.
Okay, I do not own Harry Potter. And because there are some elements in here from Danganronpa, I don't own that either.
"Harry…Harry!"
Harry woke up to see Meli floating over him looking wide-eyed and panicked.
"What is it?" Harry whispered.
"I think I found a horcrux." He hissed, "I've been able to feel it since we got here, but I only just found it."
Harry's eyes widened, he was definitely awake now. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and looked through his trunk, quickly looking beneath the false bottom and retrieving the basilisk venom knife and strapping it to his leg under his pyjamas, safely sheathed so as not to arouse any suspicion. He then put the false bottom back on and put on his invisibility cloak.
The two made their way into the common room, then out into the hall.
Meli led Harry towards the west end of the castle. Was it by the Ravenclaw common room? Harry wondered, thinking on what he knew about Horcruxes. Instead, Meli veered off and up one of the staircases. Harry quickly followed behind, climbing up the stairs determinedly.
Eventually, he was led up to the seventh floor, down the left corridor. Hey passed by a tapestry. Baranabas the Barmy, Harry recalled his history lesson on the man depicted. They passed back and forth three times and Harry was about to ask Meli if he really knew where he was going, when a door appeared opposite the tapestry.
"This room makes its self into whatever the person passing by it needs it to be." Meli explained, "It's also the Hogwarts lost and found."
"Hogwarts has a lost and found?" Harry wondered puzzledly. It certainly wasn't all that efficient if no one knew about it, was it?
Harry opened up the door slowly to find a room filled to the brim with all sorts of random objects, piles and piles. It seemed to go on forever.
"Bloody hell." He whispered with awe.
He entered through the door, closing it behind him as he went inside. There were all sorts of things in the room, broomsticks, jewels, furniture…how did someone lose a couch anyways?
He decided that was a query best pondered on at a later date as he looked over at Meli,
"Where's the horcrux?" he rolled up his pyjama pants and took out his dagger.
"This way." Meli said, flying off down the somewhat clear path.
Harry wandered along cautiously. There was no telling what was in here, nor what curses some of these items might carry.
Meli finally stopped,
"It's there." He said, pointing at what looked like a tiara.
It took a moment for Harry to recognise it for what it was,
"The lost diadem of Ravenclaw." He breathed. He shook himself, immediately noticing a compulsion on the cursed object. If only he could save the thing without having to destroy it…maybe, Harry thought, if he carefully administered the venom, he could rid the thing of the curse without having to break it.
Kneeling down, he took out the dagger and focused his magic. A bead of black liquid gathered around the tip of the blade, then dripped down onto the artifact. It started to sizzle immediately. A black, wraith-like thing came flying out of the diadem.
It fled, disappearing, dissolving before it even had a chance of escape.
"It's gone." Meli let out a sigh.
Harry swallowed, sheathing the dagger and strapping it to his leg. The diadem seemed to be okay. He could sense it was still radiating magic.
Since the metal hadn't been nicked, the diadem shouldn't have been impregnated with the venom, but it was best to deliver an antidote quick.
He reached into his pyjama pocket, withdrawing the antidote of phoenix tears and dripping two tears onto the diadem, then, with a handkerchief, he wiped it down, making sure it was properly cleaned. He corked the vial and took the diadem with him out of the room and into the hall. He was definitely going to come back later.
"Thanks, Meli. I can't believe you actually found the lost diadem." Harry said excitedly, wondering what exactly he ought to do with it. It was supposed to make the wearer smarter, but he wasn't really sure he cared for that.
"What are you going to do with it?" Meli inquired curiously.
"I was just thinking about that. Honestly? I have no idea." Harry admitted as they passed down the stairs, only for Harry to see some movement out of the corner of his eye.
But it was definitely interesting. Maybe he could make a project out of studying it later. With those thoughts in mind, Harry returned to the Gryffindor dorms without anyone noticing he had been gone.
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Quidditch, Harry decided was a spectacular thing. He loved the rush, the thrill of it all, he loved the game whole-heartedly. It wasn't exactly the game part he enjoyed the most though, it was the flying overall. The way it cleared his head, the feeling of absolute freedom, of not being restricted. Like his problems were so small and unimportant. All there was, was him and the wind.
Ron had made the Quidditch team during tryouts, but he didn't appear to be all that confident during the game at all. It didn't help that the Slytherins seemed to zone in on him and taunt him mercilessly.
"Weasley is our king!" they shouted, causing Harry to have to resist the urge to growl.
He hated bullies. He had gotten so many memories back of being bullied himself, that it hurt and frustrated him to see people pompously being so cruel to others without any sort of consequence. It seemed clear now that the teachers weren't about to step in. All the other houses were looking at Slytherin distastefully and Harry couldn't help but thank whatever deity was up there that he hadn't been placed in Slytherin.
Ron accidentally, and clumsily knocked Katie Bell and Harry sprang into action quickly, foregoing the snitch in favour of helping her. He made it there just in time to catch Bell before she could hit the ground.
"You okay there?" Harry asked her.
"Yeah." Katie grimaced, "Thanks, Har."
"Don't mention it." Harry told her, helping her back onto her broom, "This has gone on long enough. I'm catching the snitch, that good with you?"
"Do it." Katie agreed, and Harry took off, faster than he had before, rolling passed a bludger effortlessly. The Slytherin seeker, Malfoy had seen what he was doing, but was far too late to stop his hand from shooting out and grasping the snitch in his hand.
Everyone, save for the Slytherins cheered. And then, to everyone's surprise, Harry simply dropped the thing, he looked up at the teachers, then back at the Slytherins. He took out his wand, then cast a voice amplification charm on himself,
"I never thought I could be ashamed to be a Hogwarts student, but today, I most certainly am."
That had certainly caused them all to go silent and freeze.
"What you did just now, making fun of Ron, was one of the most disgusting examples of bullying I have ever had the misfortune to witness. Shame on you. Shame on all of you. It's easy to say that it was Slytherin's fault, but they did it, because they knew they could get away with it, and that, in my opinion is even worse. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil, is for good men to do nothing. You can justify your actions or inactions all you want, but that won't ever make what I saw today right. I am disgusted with all of you, and I'm sure there are others here that feel the same." Harry turned around and started walking out of the stadium, leaving a silent crowd behind him.
As he left for the change rooms, Katie Bell caught up with him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Harry…are you alright?"
Harry let out a sigh, shoulder's slumping a bit,
"I'm fine, just a bit frustrated. I just don't get how they can't see what they're doing is wrong."
"Bloody hell, mate." Ron came walking in, "I can't believe you called them all out like that. That was brilliant…thanks, Harry."
Harry shot him a slight smile,
"Sometimes you need to speak up, whether it's for yourself, or whether it's for someone else. Even if it's terrifying." His eyes dimmed slightly and he quickly felt the pull of a memory.
There was so much blood. Everything was stained red. His body hurt, but it didn't matter at all anymore. Not when he was dead.
"Sensei?" Harry whispered, eyes wide and terrified, "Ren! Ren, please wake up, please wake up…" Tears fell down his face uncontrollably.
The man's brown eyes opened, but they were unseeing,
"H-Harry…li-live…and…be…ama..zing…"
"Ren…Ren? Ren!"
The memory faded, but Harry's eyes remained dim,
"Bullying is what got him killed…" Spot's danced in front of his eyes, growing thicker and thicker and his vision became more black. He started to lose all sensation in his legs and he felt himself falling.
"Harry!" He heard someone scream, though he couldn't identify who before the blackness swallowed him up.
Even if it hurts, even if the pain never goes away. I'm so happy. I got to know this amazing person. I got to meet this man who showed me there was more to life than pain and hunger. I got to meet him and I'm so happy…that's enough for me.
A warm glow…like a smile and brown eyes looking down at him lovingly.
Harry's eyes slowly opened, dully looking up at the ceiling. He felt something wet on his cheek and realized he'd been crying in his sleep. He used his sleeve to brush away the tears, thinking back on Ren Tatsuya.
He'd died with a smile on his face. He'd wanted him to smile, to be happy. But when he'd died…it felt, in that moment that the world had ended. That was when he'd locked his heart away.
He sat up in his bed, sheets falling down his body.
"Oh, Mister Potter!"
Harry turned his head, though not in a startled manner to see Madam Pomfrey looking at him with concern.
"Are you alright? Does anything hurt?"
Harry shook his head,
"A bit of a headache." He admitted.
"What did you remember?"
Harry blinked in surprise,
"Sorry?" he said suddenly, shocked at the question. Did she know his secret?
"From my scans, it says here that you were repressing a memory of sort, something traumatic. You reacted rather badly to it coming back." She looked at him with concern, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Harry looked down, bringing one of his legs to his chest.
"When I was little…there was this man…He saved me from Dudley's gang. My cousin used to gang up on me with his friends and play this game called 'Harry hunting.' That's when I met Ren Tatsuya. He…he stopped them. He was the only adult that ever did anything for me, really."
Madam Pomfrey listened patiently, there was a hint of understanding in her eyes. No pity or condescension making Harry think she might have gone through a similar experience in the past.
"He ran a martial arts studio. He let me come over whenever things at the Dursleys became too…intense." Harry swallowed hard, "He called social services so many times…but it was his word against the rest of Private Drive, and my aunt enjoyed spreading rumors about me…When I was ten, Dudley had managed to rally almost all the kids in his class…I couldn't defend myself against all of them, so I ran and ran…all the way out onto the street. They were closing in on me. That was when a car turned a corner and…suddenly I was pushed out of the way but…Ren saved me. He got me out of the way but…he was hit. There was so much blood."
Madam Pomfrey's lips thinned. She knew it would be something traumatic, but she hadn't thought he'd seen someone die like that…
Harry took in a shaky breath. He understood now, what he'd been doing. His parents had died for him, Ren had died for him. Who else was going to give their life to protect his? Sirius? Hermione? Remus? Cho?
He couldn't let that happen. He felt the ice building up inside him, wrapping around his heart and dragging it behind heavy doors where no one would ever touch it.
And then he felt warmth.
Madam Pomfrey had sat herself down beside him, wrapping her arms around him.
"You lost your father too, didn't you?" Harry whispered, causing the woman to give a start.
"Mister Potter, how did you know that?"
Harry smiled slightly,
"Oh, I have ESP."
"What?"
"Just kidding."