Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or any such franchises. The only ideas that I own are my own that I write down here for you all to enjoy. And unfortunately, I've yet to make any money off of these ideas of mine. (T.T)
Now before I even start the reviews, I need to apparently explain something because I've explained it MULTIPLE TIMES. I don't care if you don't like how Harry or another character acts if your reasoning is that it's not 'like canon' or anything like that. This is MY story and the world I created for it. The characters will likely act differently and that is my choice. If you don't like it and the changes, then I don't know why you're still reading by this point. And if you are still reading by this point, then you have no room to complain.
With that said, time for some reviews!
Otsutsuki no Yami- I had a feeling a fair few people wouldn't be happy with how the last chapter ended. Flitwick will be a major source of support for Harry in the future. But he hasn't gotten to that point yet. As for Harry leaving Hogwarts, we'll see. So far, he can't.
insanecoop- Unfortunately having Harry just leave Britain would make for a very short story. He might leave for a short time for vacations or something, but Harry isn't going to fully leave Britain until the end of the story. Voldemort is going to be an issue that'll have to be resolved.
Zai31- Oh trust me. Harry is absolutely done being the punching bag for the school. Last chapter marked the end of nice innocent Harry. From this point out there's going to be a far different (but not dark) Harry roaming the halls of Hogwarts.
qwe123- So this is a point I'm gonna bring up repeatedly in the reviews. Harry only just managed to turn into his full animagus form a few days prior. The process of doing so takes a lot of concentration. How much can you concentrate when being beaten up?
plums- Harry is never going to be a 'simp' in this story. And as for his reaction to Ron, he basically had his best friend end his friendship and call him a liar. Harry is going through a rollercoaster ride of emotions.
GouberMan- So I've seen Harry getting OP in the Chamber far more often than I've seen good stories with his wand getting burned or destroyed. And just because Harry has learned some new spells and gotten an animagus form doesn't mean he's invincible. He's still only a fourth year who didn't think he had a reason to be on guard. Harry can still be surprised and beaten.
jhechavarria- You'll see what happened exactly this chapter. But as I said above, changing after just learning it takes concentration. Concentrating is hard when being beaten.
LadyPhoenix68- Glad to see someone thought of this. Yes, there isn't going to be any sort of Priori Incantatem to save Harry when he and Voldemort meet. And that's part of the reason the wand had to go.
demonboy121986- Honestly got a good laugh reading this, so thanks for that. As for your spiel, Sirius CAN'T storm the castle and confront Dumbledore. In case you haven't noticed, I haven't cleared him of his charges yet and he'll still be taken away to be kissed on first sight. Harry is not going to be the next dark lord; I've already said that. Moony will not be happy when he hears about this, but for now the man is in the wind. And Remus is a Werewolf. The 'wolf getting unleashed' can only happen on a full moon, in case you have forgotten that important fact. Sirius will be causing some trouble, after he becomes a free man. Until then he can only hide and help Harry from a distance. And what the fuck do you know about my Harry in this story? Are you the author? No. So stop making assumptions that he is a cold-blooded killer or something. And I never once said that Harry's form was more powerful than a basilisk. It can rival one, yes, but it's far from unkillable. A basilisk was such a huge threat mainly because a look from it could kill a person. Harry can't, and never will, be able to do that. Now if you don't like how I write my story, just leave.
Smile Giver11- Yes, yes, I do realize. It's part of the reason why I gave him the form. Plus, Quetzalcoatls are badass. Sorry for the cliffhanger but thank you for the awesome reviews.
vijaypadma9631- So I'll let you in on a little secret that you may or may not spot below. The actions of the people who beat Harry weren't normal. If you're smart and keep an eye out, you'll see what I mean. The entire reason why won't be explained till much later but suffice to say you're right that it wasn't normal.
DS2010- Sirius is going to be a major help, as you'll see. The full transformation was a while coming and I'm really happy to have gotten to that point. Now Harry just has to practice enough to be able to use it. And maybe something more in the future...
N. A. Wennerholm- Harry will have allies in the future. He'll make quite a few in the current school year. But in case you forgot, Harry doesn't exactly have many friends or people he can trust by fourth year. That's going to change, of course, but it will take time. You're also making assumptions about the world I've created. Quite a few things you mentioned have no relevance in this story and won't. As for the allies themselves, you'll have to wait and see.
Puzzlers100- Huh well that's a useful tidbit of info. Thanks!
KatieDanielle79- The second half did have a very different vibe, yes. You'll see how and a bit of why Harry got into the mess he was in during this chapter. As for how Harry and Gabby meet in this way, it was the way I decided to run with and I'm sticking to it. As for the magical form; as I've said above, he's still new to the form. It takes concentration to change until it becomes easier. Five days is not enough time to make the process instinctual to the point it can be done while being physically assaulted.
EP- Thank you! Merci!
joharasbel- Thank you!
Kairan1979- Oh abso-fucking-lutely not. Not even close.
Dhestro- It's an interesting idea, and I agree that it seems like the logical conclusion. And the Potter grimoire may or may not exist. You'll just have to wait and see.
AaronReach- Well wait no more. Here is the next chapter!
Red555- Glad you like it since a fair few people all have issues with it.
POK3MON-MAST3R101- To be fair in this story Quetzalcoatl is a type of magical species. Some non-magicals did worship them as deities but they were hidden away by magical communities to keep the secret of magic.
Damon Phillips- I've never even heard of zeroarashiuchiha before. Hearing somebody else has also done the idea is pretty interesting. I hope I've written a better story of the two of us.
Zeekus Freekus- Feathermane is really good, but it sounds more badass than Featherhead. I wanted a name that sounded good, but also was a bit of a joke. Thanks for the suggestion though.
KiraiZero- Well, read ahead and enjoy then. Glad to have a somebody following the journey.
Tenjo- Not even going to dignify this with a proper response. It's clear you haven't read much of the notes at the ends of the chapters, so I won't even bother. If you're not reading the story anymore it's no real loss. I've gathered a few people who enjoy it and their words mean plenty more than yours does. Goodbye, you won't be missed.
KiraiZero- Well here you go then.
rishi547- Haha sorry bud. Had to include a cliffhanger eventually. But here's the next chapter for you.
Guest 1- While, yes, I could have used an occamy instead of a Quetzalcoatl, I chose a Quetzalcoatl for a reason. I needed something that didn't already exist in the Potterverse.
Guest 2- Harry is not going to be taking his punishment in silence, I can tell you that. Don't make assumptions, trust me.
27elliee- As you wish!
Terek Aboelseoud- I write when I can. But work and college keeps a guy busy.
arata7kasuga- Yes, I mixed up the ages and corrected it later on. Need to eventually go back and change it. I'm glad you like how I'm doing things so far.
scyfly- I'm not a proper writer. I'm just a guy making a story that came to him. I'm not going to get everything perfect, but I try. To answer one of your points and that of another person, there does exist a Potter grimoire. Harry just needs to find it.
Wolfanddragongirl280- Now. Sorry about the wait.
Now, onto A Tale of Wings and Fangs.
Chapter 10
Gabby wasn't well known for being especially strong. And she certainly wasn't strong enough to carry an unconscious young man all the way to the castle or to the Beauxbatons carriage. It was for those reasons that Gabrielle was incredibly thankful for magic.
A hurried levitation charm and Gabby was running as fast as she could towards the Beauxbatons carriage. In front of her floated Harry Potter's unconscious figure, bruised and battered from the assault he'd just endured. Every few seconds a few drops of blood would drip down to the green grass below from few cuts he'd acquired.
Gabby was in a rush, focused solely on trying to get some help for Harry before his condition potentially got worse. The thought of what could have happened if she hadn't stumbled upon the scene was enough to make her sick.
Rushing into the Beauxbatons carriage that was her home for the coming months, Gabby ran through the expanded halls to try and find the room of the one person she knew could, and would, help her.
Thankfully, with it being later in the night, not many people were awake. But there were still a few that saw Gabrielle rushing through the halls levitating a bruised and bleeding boy in front of her. The panicked look on her face was enough get anyone around out of the way.
While Gabby didn't care for the people awake and watching her, word spread quickly through the carriage about the battered condition of the boy that Gabby was floating through the halls.
Finding the door that she needed wasn't hard for Gabrielle, seeing as she was the next door over. Not even bothering to knock she flung the door open and rushed inside with a shout.
"Fleur!"
Her older sister, who had been getting ready for bed, jumped. The older Veela was dressed in a pale blue nightgown and had been sitting on her bed before Gabrielle stormed inside.
"Gabby! What are you doing?"
Holding her hand over her heart, Fleur looked rather irritated at her younger sister. At least she did until she spotted the hovering body in the room.
"Mon Dieu!" Fleur gasped.
"Please just help him!"
Seeing the state Gabby was in, as well as the beaten and battered state of the young man she'd brought with her got Fleur serious in seconds.
"Put him down here." She said, moving towards the small coffee table in the room. A quick swish of her wand had the table transfigured into a small, bare bed that Gabby soon laid Harry out on.
It didn't take Fleur long to realize who she was treating either, as her wand began slow movements over Harry's body. As the grime, dirt, and blood were cleaned away the pale skin and lightning bolt scar were revealed.
"What happened?" She asked, already getting to work as she cast simple healing spells to try and fix the cuts that she could see.
"I was just going for a walk around the lake. I saw a group of students and went to see what was going on. When I got closer, I saw four Hogwarts students holding him down and beating Harry up. I... I tried to stop them. But when I got closer one of them cast a spell and they all ran off." Gabby deliberately avoided Fleur's pointed gaze, knowing how her older sister felt about her getting into trouble.
"What was the spell? Did one of them try to hurt you?" Fleur stayed focused on her task, but the darkened color of her eyes gave away the anger she was feeling.
"No. No, they didn't cast at me. It was a fire spell. They cast it on the ground. When I got close enough, I saw that it was a wand. I think it was his." Gabby replied softly, gesturing to the unconscious Harry.
The room went silent for a minute aside from Fleur's casting. Breaking a wizard or witch's wand was seen as one of the most insulting things that could be done. There was a bond made between a magic user and their wand. Most often a second wand never would replace a broken one outside of a few cases.
But to burn a person's wand? Burning a person's wand was an even greater insult. To fully destroy the wand with no chance of repair or restoration was almost sinful in magical communities.
"You've really gotten good at this, Fleur." Gabrielle commented as she watched her sister work. Under the ministrations of her wand, Harry's cuts and bruises were quickly fading to reveal unblemished skin.
"I really haven't." She replied, looking confused. "I'm just using the same basic healing magics that I use to heal you after we duel."
"But how is he healing so quickly?" Gabby asked, bringing up the question on both of their minds. It wasn't natural for a witch or wizard to heal so quickly.
Just to see what was really going on, after getting Harry to a point where he wasn't in any danger, Fleur stopped the flow of magic and watched as the various bruises and the dark black eye slowly faded away.
Knowing that Harry wasn't in any life-threatening danger, Fleur once more turned to her sister. "Gabby why didn't you bring him to the school healer? You know I'm a better duelist than a healer."
Gabby had the decency to act somewhat embarrassed as she avoided her sister's gaze. The thought hadn't really come to her mind in the heat of the moment.
"I... I didn't think of that. Sorry Fleur."
Suddenly Gabby was pulled into a hug as her older sister wrapped her arms around the younger Veela.
"Oh Gabby. I'm not mad at you, Little Bird. I just wanted to know why." Fleur consoled.
"I need to start practicing more. I know a bit of healing magic, but if I want to be a healer then I need to know more." Gabby looked up at her sister with a determined look in her eyes.
"I'm going to be busy preparing for the tournament, you know that Gabby."
Even before she saw the look on Gabby's face Fleur knew her younger sister would be upset.
"But I can lend you some books I have that have healing spells." She added.
Gabby immediately perked up and hugged her sister once again.
"Thank you!"
After the moment passed, Gabby turned back towards the unconscious figure of Harry laid out on the transfigured bed.
"Should we bring him to the healer?" She asked.
At the question Fleur actually paused and bit her lip, contemplating the options.
"You said that the people who attacked him were wearing Hogwarts robes, yes? If that's true, it might be best to wait until he comes to and ask what happened. I'm not going to risk you getting attacked while bringing him to the healer."
Along with the reasoning, the sun had already set and the area outside the carriage was dark.
"So, we wait?" Gabby asked.
"We wait." Fleur replied, taking a seat in a nearby chair.
-A Tale of Wings and Fangs-
The day after having his name drawn from the Goblet of Fire wasn't much better for Harry than the previous night had been.
Walking to classes had led to constant jeers and whispers from other students about him being a cheater. It was like his second year with the basilisk all over again. Unlike second year, though, Hufflepuff proved to be the worst.
Aggressive taunts and jeers followed him around no matter where he went. By the end of the day, Harry had already decided that classes would be less than helpful. He would learn more on his own and not have to deal with the other houses causing him trouble. None had escalated to violence yet, but the glares and comments were enough to increase the already boiling anger that Harry felt.
What made the situation even worse was his treatment in his own house. The apparent ban on his spot on the Quidditch team was serious. Even with Quidditch not happening for the year, word was already spreading by the end of the first day that trials would he held for the position of seeker.
It hurt to hear something like that, but not as much as it hurt seeing both of his best friends turning away from him when he came close. Almost the entire house would ignore Harry as if he didn't exist most of the time. And the times when they did act like he existed it was mostly to accuse him of being a thief, cheater, and glory hog.
The second day was much of the same, though with a marked change. Harry's presence in classes almost entirely ceased. The only classes he would be going to would be Transfiguration and Charms. Defense was a no since the bad feeling he got around Professor Moody was still present each day.
The low hiss that would come from Asmodeus never went away whenever he was in the presence of the crippled professor.
Speaking of Asmodeus, completing the animagus transformation hadn't done any harm to the bond that the two shared. Harry had been somewhat worried that once he'd made the full transformation that Quetzalcoatl would go silent.
Instead, the bond between the two seemed even stronger. Asmodeus shared almost the same emotions as Harry, but in some ways it was different. It was more animalistic, territorial, wary, and instinctive.
One such instance where the closer bond was shown off was where Harry had gotten an early warning from his animagus form on the third day after the drawing of the champions. Malfoy had tried to hex Harry from behind and a moment before the blonde had pulled his wand, a loud hiss from Asmodeus had made Harry instinctively move.
Thankfully, Malfoy had been unable to cast a spell as Mad-Eye interfered. The way that the transfigured Malfoy-ferret bounced under the control of Moody's wand was amusing, but it didn't do much to make Harry any less uneasy around the man.
While Harry was once more being bullied and treated like garbage, the time he spent inside the Chamber of Secrets grew longer as he used the time that he would have spent in class practicing instead.
Given the fact that he was being forced to compete in a death game, Harry focused hard on learning more spells from the Battle Transfiguration book. He was also able to spend a few hours working with Sirius as well.
A quick enlarging charm had the mirror the size of a full-length mirror. With that done, Harry could easily watch Sirius as he showed off wand movements and tricks that he'd picked up.
"I'm still sorting through the library. Gotta find the books that aren't cursed. When I'm able to find some good ones, I'll be able to teach you some better spells. Give me a few days to get stuff sorted." Sirius had explained.
In the meantime, Sirius had taught him some useful joke spells that could easily be mixed into a duel to trip up opponents.
Not all of his time was spent on training with Sirius though. Some was spent working further on the animagus transformation. Harry had thought that mastering the transformation would have been easier once he'd gotten it done the first time, but that wasn't entirely true. It was in such practice that the strange bond between Harry and Asmodeus became an issue. Changing back from the form of the Quetzalcoatl was difficult and needed a couple minutes of focus. Even just shifting to the form took a minute of focus, far from ready to be used during a duel or a life-threatening situation.
By the fourth day of enduring the constant torment of his peers, Harry was well and truly sick of it. Multiple times he had to keep from hexing a student when they taunted him. Walking the halls, Harry was commonly seen with a scowl on his face, or a glare directed at those who tormented him.
The only time Harry was even seen in the Gryffindor common room was during night after the evening meals. He would sleep, eat meals, and go to the few classes that interested him, but other than that Harry was rarely seen.
It was on the fifth night that Harry realized that he'd gotten complacent and predictable. After another day of training hard in the Chamber and ignoring the jeers and taunts from all four houses, Harry was eager to get some sleep.
Finishing off the evening meal, he made his way to the portrait of the Fat Lady. It still boggled his mind that somehow even the portrait had been convinced that he'd cheated to get into the tournament. Giving the password, he made his way inside. The moment he stepped through into the Gryffindor common room, Asmodeus started hissing loudly.
It was only as Harry turned that he realized the reason for the loud hissing. It had been a warning. But by the time he noticed the wand pointed as his face, the spell was already being cast.
"Stupefy."
-A Tale of Wings and Fangs-
Harry wasn't sure how long he'd been unconscious when he was revived. The sun was still just barely over the horizon, so it hadn't been too long. He was pulled from his thoughts as a pair of arms grabbed his left and right arm.
Looking around, Harry saw Dean and Seamus holding his arms down. The sound of grass crunching drew his attention to the front and the young wizard saw Ron towering over him. The redhead had a glare on his face and a sneer that could match Malfoy.
"We're sick and tired of having a filthy, cheating thief in our common room." Ron spat out.
"So, we're going to do something about it." Another voice called out. Following the voice to its source, Harry saw another student that had been a source of annoyance for multiple years.
A taller, blonde fifth year student stood off to the side of the group, glaring daggers at Harry's pinned form. Cormac McLaggen had been a pain to a lot of Gryffindors due to his constant bragging and boasting. But it was what he held in his hands that got Harry's attention. It was his wand.
"Give me back my wand!" Harry shouted, struggling against the two boys holding him.
"I don't think I will, Potter." With his piece said, the older Gryffindor nodded to Ron and the torment began.
Unlike what Harry had expected, the boys didn't curse him. Instead, Harry felt a fist impact his cheek as Ron swung at him.
He was too stunned to respond at the punch from his previous best friend, but the second blow snapped him out of it. Harry tried to struggle and free himself, but the blows continued to rain down. Hits to his ribs, his stomach, face, and chest were rained down by the larger boy.
After a minute or two of the beating, Ron stepped back and took hold of Harry's wand. As Ron stepped away Harry tried to do something. But without a wand, his only real option was trying to use the animagus transformation. A small ripple of magic had managed to come from Harry, close to getting to the change but he was interrupted before he could make the transformation. With Ron taking hold of Harry's holly wand, Cormac stepped up and began to rain down blows on Harry. The hits were stronger from the older student, but still not as bad as a beating from Vernon.
The pain was enough to snap Harry's focus and cause him to reel in pain. He didn't give the group the satisfaction of shouting out from the pain, but his lip did bleed as he bit down on it.
His ears ringing from a fist to the side of the head, Harry was surprised when the blows stopped. He faintly heard a shout before the group of Gryffindors let him go.
"This is your only warning Potter. Come back to the common room and we'll do worse than this." Cormac said as he turned to run. But just before the group ran off, he turned to Ron, or at least who Harry assumed was Ron. His glasses had been shattered from the first punch and his vision was just a blur of colors.
"Break his wand. Let's see how he does in the tournament without one."
Instead of hearing a snap of wood, Harry's blurry vision instead spotted a gout of flames hitting the ground. But as much as he wanted to try and save his wand, his vision was already fading.
Falling back onto the grass, Harry was barely hanging on to consciousness. The last thing he saw was a blurry figure coming closer and crouching over him. And a pair of blue eyes like the sky filled his vision as a muffled voice hit his ears.
A moment later and Harry let the darkness claim him as he fell unconscious.
Gabrielle then transported Harry's unconscious body to the Beauxbatons carriage, both of the teens oblivious to the audience they'd had.
From a high window in Hogwarts, the figure of Mad-Eye Moody watched the entire ordeal with a dark smile on his face. The smile faded a bit as Gabrielle took Harry away, and the man pocketed his wand and hobbled off a moment later, unseen by all.
-A Tale of Wings and Fangs-
As Harry came to, he was confused to not find the usual sight of the hospital ward that he would normally see after getting wounded.
Even with his blurry eyesight, the light blue hues he could see hinted that he was somewhere else.
"He's awake!" A voice called to his right.
Turning towards the noise Harry saw a blurry figure approaching. Instinctively he sat up in bed, not noticing the lack of wounds or soreness at the time. He snapped a hand out, trying to go for a wand that wasn't there. The lack of familiar wood in his hands made Harry pause, and that gave the blurry figures time to talk.
"Attendre! Wait! We're not going to hurt you." A feminine voice called out, one that actually sounded familiar to Harry. It took a moment for the dark-haired wizard to recall it, but a few seconds later and he did.
"You're the Beauxbatons champion, right?" He asked warily.
One of the figures that he could see moved closer and nodded her head.
"Oui. I'm Fleur. This is my sister, Gabby. She's the reason that you're here." Fleur explained.
"And where is here? Do you have my glasses?" Harry questioned.
"You're in the Beauxbatons carriage." A second, softer voice called out. Harry could only assume that it was Gabby.
"My sister found you being assaulted by a group of students. She brought you here and asked me to heal you. You've been unconscious for an hour." Fleur added. "As for your glasses. They were too broken for us to fix."
"And... And my wand?" Harry asked, his voice just barely above a whisper. He'd seen the flames and he didn't have much hope, but he had to ask.
"It was destroyed. Burned to cinders by a fire spell." Gabrielle's response was as quiet as Harry's, and he could hear a bit of what sounded like regret in her voice.
The desire to just scream and break something was nearly overwhelming at that point. Days of verbal abuse and an actual assault had pushed Harry to his limits. But as much as he wanted to rage against his situation, he wouldn't do so around the two girls that had apparently helped him and healed him.
Swallowing his anger, Harry sighed and thought of what to do. Finally, he came to a realization that there was no use hiding some of his skills. Without a wand it his animagus form would become common knowledge when the first task came around.
Closing his eyes, Harry focused for a few moments before opening them once more. As he did so the room became clearly focused, and Harry was able to see the room around him fully.
The walls were painted a bright white with pale blue accents. Despite the fact that they were inside a carriage Harry saw a window on the wall that looked out towards Hogwarts. There was a large, four-poster in a corner of the room and some other small articles and pictures on a bedside table. And a bookshelf took up a decent portion of one of the walls of the room.
Harry's attention was pulled back to the two siblings as they gasped and stepped back. The reason why was the pair of yellow, serpentine eyes that had replaced Harry's usual emerald greens.
"Harry?" Gabby called out, looking worried and nervous as she saw the dangerous looking eyes roam over to her.
For a moment Harry blinked in confusion before he realized how the strange eyes could be a bit intimidating and startling.
"It's fine. I'm an animagus. I'm doing this so I can actually see."
And see he could. While Fleur was beautiful, something about Gabrielle drew him in far more and held his attention.
"An animagus? At your age? I'm sorry, but that is hard to believe." Fleur shot back. It wasn't meant to be rude, but she was clearly skeptical.
"Why don't I show you? Everyone will see it for the first task. I don't have a wand now, after all." Neither of the girls missed the anger in his voice or the way that Harry glared out towards the castle.
"Oh yes please!" Gabby bounced on her feet in excitement at the idea of seeing an animagus. The animagus transformation was only taught about in the final year of schooling at Beauxbatons and even Fleur hadn't gotten to it yet.
"Good thing I figured out how to do this." Harry mumbled to himself before closing his eyes to focus. For a minute and a half, he was silent and still. Just before Gabrielle was about to ask if something was wrong, Harry's form changed to that of a four-foot-long snake with feathers and a pair of bird-like feathered wings.
It had been one of the things that Harry had found out by accident while practicing changing into his animagus form. He hadn't been able to get a hang of changing his size in the form, but if he thought of the size he wanted to be, Harry could become his animagus form at a smaller size rather than the full, towering size that Asmodeus usually was.
The sisters gasped once more. But while Fleur remained frozen in shock, staring at the winged serpent, Gabby moved in to gently pet the transformed Harry.
Her touch was gentle, and Harry leaned into Gabrielle's hands much like a dog or cat would. The feathers, despite appearing soft, were actually quite firm and rigid.
"What is he?" Fleur asked as she got over her shock. Getting in closer she observed Harry as he curled up and relaxed.
After a few minutes Harry pulled away from Gabby and flew a small distance away from the sisters. Landing on the floor the serpent stayed still for a few minutes before shifting back into the form of Harry once more.
"Apparently I'm a Quetzalcoatl." Harry spoke up as he moved to sit on the edge of the hospital-like bed that he'd woken up on. He wasn't sure why he was being so open to the two girls, but something about the sisters, particularly Gabby, just put Harry at ease and made him want to trust her. It helped that Asmodeus wasn't giving him any warnings about the pair.
"That sounds familiar. But from where?" Fleur asked.
Unable to hide his grin, Harry leaned back and began to check himself over. "I'll let you figure it out. You've already seen it, so it shouldn't be too hard for the best student from Beauxbatons to figure out." He teased. "And thank you for healing me."
"I can't take full credit for it. You seemed to heal yourself after I started to work on you."
"That's... Odd." Harry mumbled, shelfing the idea to try and focus on later. For the time, he had other things to focus on.
"So... What now?" Harry asked.
"Well now that you're awake, and you seem to feel better, you should probably get back to your dorm." Neither Gabby nor Fleur missed the way that Harry flinched before glaring out at the castle again.
"That's not really an option anymore. My housemates just kicked me out of my common room. Literally." He said angrily.
Suddenly the situation Gabby had stumbled upon made more sense and she went wide eyed, covering her mouth in horror. Fleur came to the same conclusion a few moments later.
"Those people who did this to you. They were also from your house?" She asked with a mix of shock and anger.
"And my ex-best friend." Harry added darkly. "It was their way of telling me I'm not welcome in Gryffindor house anymore. No one wants a liar and a glory hog in Gryffindor anymore."
"That's horrible!" Gabby spoke up, tears pooling in her eyes as she imagined what it must have been like.
Before Harry could stop her, Gabby lunged at the boy and hugged him tight. "I'm so sorry. If I'd been walking around sooner, then you wouldn't have been hurt like that."
Unseen by Gabby, Harry tensed up at her hug, arms frozen at his side for a couple seconds. Biting back the immediate response to recoil, Harry wrapped his arms around the girl and tried to console her.
"It's not your fault. They would have done that whether you were there or not. Besides, you're the one that helped me in the end." He pointed out quietly.
What Gabby had missed; Fleur had noticed. The stiffness and way that Harry had tensed up at Gabrielle's hug was painfully familiar. But it was the short look of fear she'd spotted in his eyes that really got her thinking.
After a minute, a slightly red eyed Gabrielle pulled away from Harry and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm acting like a little girl." She mumbled in embarrassment.
Trying to help her sister out a bit, Fleur spoke up. "Harry, is there anywhere that you know of where you can sleep tonight? If your 'best friend' was one of the ones to beat you, I'm not going to let you go take more of that senseless abuse."
"You almost make it sound like you believe me about not putting my name in the cup." Harry commented, trying to lighten the mood. What he hadn't expected was for Fleur to agree.
"I do. Gabby was quite sure that you didn't enter yourself. After seeing how you're acting and how people are treating you, I don't think you would have done this on purpose."
The response actually left Harry stunned and at a loss for words. But soon enough a small smile spread on his lips.
"Thank you. Knowing that someone believes me means a lot. Thank you, Fleur. Thanks Gabby." He replied.
"Now to get back on track, you didn't answer my question. Do you have anywhere you can sleep?" Fleur pointedly asked.
"I could go to the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey might let me stay. But she might just tell me to go back to the Gryffindor dorms since I'm not injured. And it's also after curfew." Harry mumbled.
He tried to think of his options before he perked up.
"Wait! My chest!" He said excitedly.
"Your chest? How would that help?" Gabrielle asked.
"I got an enchanted, multi-compartment chest this summer. One of the compartments is a bedroom." Harry explained. But after finishing his words, he paused and groaned. "But the chest is at the foot of my bed, in my dorm room."
"Why not get a house elf to get your things?" Fleur suggested.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked in confusion and surprise.
"Hogwarts has house elves, yes? The house elves helped a great many of us pack our things for the trip. They can acquire things from all over the places they work at." Gabby explained.
"Is it really that easy? Um... Can a Hogwarts house elf please help me?" Harry called out.
A split second after he'd called, a house elf appeared with a small pop. There, standing in the room with the trio was a particular house elf with a pair of mismatched socks and bright green eyes.
"Great Master Harry Potter Sir called?" The elf asked. The appearance of the house elf drew a large grin from Harry.
"Dobby! You're a Hogwarts elf now?" He asked.
"No Harry Potter Sir. Dobby is still free elf. Dobby just works for school. Magic here keeps Dobby going."
"It's good to see you Dobby. But I need your help. Can you get me my chest from my bedroom and bring it here?" The young wizard asked.
Without even responding the elf popped away once more. A few seconds later and he returned with Harry's chest in tow. But everything was far from as he'd left it.
"Dobby? Why is the chest open?" Harry asked.
And indeed, the chest was wide open, each of the compartments clearly displayed with the lock undone. The only compartment that hadn't been broken into was the more heavily locked bedroom compartment. But a quick look inside the others revealed that all of his things were missing.
"Chest was like this when Dobby found it." The elf replied.
Harry looked heartbroken as he looked inside the compartments. His things were all gone, including the Marauder's Map and the invisibility cloak. Before Harry could get any more upset, though, Fleur spoke up.
"Dobby, was it?" She asked, getting a nod from the elf.
"Could you find all of Harry's things and bring them here? If you can, note down where each of his things were." The older Veela had a particularly nasty look in her eyes as she spoke.
"Dobby can do that! Dobby will find all of Great Master Harry Potter Sir's things." Dobby said eagerly, popping away a moment later.
A small giggle from Gabby filled the room as she stared at where Dobby had been.
"He's rather special, isn't he?" She asked.
Despite his worry and anger, Harry couldn't help but laugh a bit as well.
"Dobby is one of a kind. But he did try to help me, even if it was a roundabout way of doing so."
The trio devolved into chatting as the minutes passed as they waited for Dobby to return. The conversation turned to the Triwizard Tournament and the tasks that would come.
"Why don't you two work together?" Gabby suggested suddenly.
The suggestion made both Harry and Fleur pause and turn to look at the younger Veela.
"There's only supposed to be one winner, Gabby. There have never been two winners of a Triwizard Tournament before." Fleur pointed out.
"It's not a bad idea, though." He admitted. "Working together would make things easier for us both. And I don't care about the prize or the trophy. If I win or we both get to the finals, you can have the prize. I just want to survive this year."
"I... wouldn't be against working together. You already have an unfair disadvantage. So, I'll try to help you if you can help me." Fleur replied after thinking it over.
Before the conversation could go any further, Dobby reappeared inside the room with a pile of things. Textbooks, clothes, robes, supplies, and more could all be seen in the stack. But atop it all was the most important items, a worn book, a single piece of blank parchment paper, a silver mirror, and a folded-up invisibility cloak.
Upon seeing the mirror Harry's hands shot to his pockets, realizing that the communication mirror wasn't in his pockets like it had been. Likely Ron or one of the others had taken it out while he was unconscious.
"Dobby found everything!" The elf called out, smiling happily.
"Thank you, Dobby. Now can you tell us where you found everything?" Fleur asked.
The house elf went on to explain that the various textbooks and clothes had all been scattered and hidden throughout the halls and the Gryffindor common room and the mirror had been in the possession of Lavender Brown.
"What about these, Dobby?" Harry asked, holding the invisibility cloak, the Marauder's Map, and the book on Battle Transfiguration.
"Dobby found the old book in Bushy Hair's chest. Dobby found the others on Harry Potter's Weezy's bed." The elf explained.
While Gabrielle and Fleur didn't know anything about the names that Dobby had mentioned, Harry knew exactly who they referred to. The fact that Ron and Hermione had tried to steal his things after kicking him out of the tower made Harry utterly furious. In his mind he could hear Asmodeus angrily hissing, echoing his rage.
"-rry. Harry!"
The shout brought the boy-who-lived out of his anger and he looked around. The room looked like a small storm had swept through it, items and sheets blown about. Gabby and Fleur both looked rather disheveled as well with their hair messed up and all over the place.
"Sorry, what did you say?" He asked sheepishly.
"Did... Harry do you know what you just did?" Fleur asked, her eyes wide as she stared Harry down. Suddenly she wasn't looking at Harry like he was a child going into a warzone.
"Um... No?"
"Harry. Your magic started going wild. You got all angry and then your magic whipped up around you like a storm!" Gabby explained, her eyes wide as well with a mix of awe and another emotion that Harry couldn't properly identify.
"But I didn't even have a wand?" Harry admitted.
"Harry a wand is just a focus for magic. Powerful witches and wizards can do some magic without a wand. It's more difficult and usually not as powerful, but it's possible. It's one of the things we learn about in our final year." Fleur explained.
"Well maybe I'll somehow master wandless magic in time for the first task." Harry dryly joked.
A pop interrupted the group as Dobby reappeared, the pile of Harry's things arriving with him. None had even noticed the elf leave when Harry had gotten mad, but apparently the elf had done a good job of keeping Harry's things safe from his uncontrolled magic.
Calming himself down, Harry crouched and gave Dobby a quick pat on the head. "Thank you, Dobby. I'll make sure to call you if I need any more help." He promised.
With a smile bigger than any yet, Dobby popped away and left the group in silence. Harry began to gather up his things and sorted them back into his chest. Once he'd finished, he stuffed the Marauder's Map and the mirror in his pocket. He shrank the chest down and pocketed it as well. Tossing the cloak over his shoulders, Harry vanished except for his head.
"Thank you for all your help. I owe you both a lot. I'll go find a little alcove I can hide away in and sleep in the chest for the night. If I find anything out about the first task, I'll let you both know." Harry said.
As he moved towards the door, he missed the silent conversation going on behind him as Gabby stared hard at her older sister. Fleur stared back and the two seemed to convey an entire conversation between them without speaking a word.
Before he could reach the door, the young wizard was blocked as Gabby dashed forward and blocked the door.
"Non, you can't leave." She spoke up.
"I have to agree. It's not right to leave you hiding out in the halls. You can leave the chest here for the night and sleep here, inside it. Tomorrow we can go to Madame Maxime or one of the professors and try and figure out something to do with your situation. Those boys who hurt you shouldn't get away with this." Fleur added as she stepped behind the boy-who-lived.
Harry looked like he was going to protest the arrangement, but a silent, pleading look from Gabby broke his resistance before he could even get going. He wasn't sure why she was affecting him so easily, but he had to figure out soon.
"Fine. But only because it's really late and I don't want to get in trouble." Harry acquiesced.
Harry was given another quick hug from Gabrielle for his words, and he was quicker to respond to the contact. But as Fleur observed, Harry still stiffened up and froze for a bit.
Getting the arrangement properly set up, Harry laid his trunk out in a corner of the room and fleur transfigured the table-turned-bed into a sort of room divider to give herself some privacy.
A whispered password to the chest and the bedroom compartment was opened.
"Goodnight, Fleur. Goodnight, Gabby." Harry said from behind the divider. A few moments later and the sound of the trunk closing echoed in the room.
-A Tale of Wings and Fangs-
After waiting a few minutes to make sure Harry had properly left, Fleur turned towards her sister. Gabby was deep in thought, surprising considering the time she'd just spent around her crush.
"Not going to fawn over meeting Harry Potter?" She teased lightheartedly.
"He wasn't what I expected. He was so sad, so angry. Fleur it hurt seeing him like that. I don't know why; I just wanted to try and make him feel better." The response from Gabrielle was far more thought out and emotional than Fleur had expected. But it did lead well into what she needed to say.
"I might know part of the reason why he is like that. Gabby, do you remember Yvette? How she would act all the time?" Fleur asked softly, leading her younger sister towards the bed.
"She was always really quiet, yeah. But she got really emotional when people pushed her. Everyone just thought she was a quiet kid until we found out last year that her mom had been-"
Gabrielle trailed off as her mind linked the pieces that Fleur was laying out for her.
"You think that Harry was being-" She choked out the words, unable to even finish the sentence as her eyes widened.
"He is acting like Yvette did when people pushed her. And more than that he flinched and froze up when you hugged him. His first reaction when he woke up to seeing us was that he was going to be attacked. I don't know for sure, but I think Harry might have been abused, or is even still being abused." The older sibling explained.
"Mon Dieu!" The younger Veela gasped out.
Tears trailed down Gabby's cheeks as she heard that. The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. Yvette had been a friend in Gabrielle's year, a good one. She was always the quiet type, but during her third year she was moved away. Only after she moved was it revealed that she was going to live with her father and that her mother had been systematically abusing the girl.
Opening her arms, Fleur pulled her younger sister into a hug and consoled the girl as she realized that her crush was likely abused, just like her old friend. Gabrielle had always been incredibly empathic, and at times it could be difficult for her.
As Gabby finally passed out from the emotional stress of the day, Fleur sighed and laid her out on the bed, joining her younger sister and turning off the light in the room.
The best she could hope for was that Harry would be able to get some justice and help the following day from some of the professors. Other than that, she planned to do her best to try and keep the boy alive. Gabby would be heartbroken if Harry didn't survive the tournament.
-A Tale of Wings and Fangs-
Oh boy! And that's chapter 10 done!
Sorry for the wait guys. School has been tough, and work hasn't been giving me the shifts I want lately where I have time to work on the story as often. Thankfully I managed to get this one done so you all get to read it.
Starting from the next chapter onward, I'm likely going to be including the replies to reviews down at the bottom. I'm getting so many reviews that replying to them all takes a lot of space that can be stuffed at the end rather than the beginning.
Starting next chapter, we're going to see the rise of a very new Harry. He's not gonna put up with shit from anyone and he's gonna have a far different outlook on life.
Ron, Seamus, Dean, and Cormac were the attackers. Likely some of you guessed this for a few of them, but I can say now that it may not be what you're all thinking. You'll find out more in the future. But let's just put it this way, Harry will be getting some revenge. He's not going to just sit back and take the abuse anymore.
Thank you all so much guys for the support. It means a ton to me, and I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.
Until next time everybody! Stay tuned for more!