King's Cross Station was busy as always, filled with tense and excited energy as young wizards and muggles hurried to catch their trains.
"See him yet?" Ron whispered, standing on his tippy toes and peering over heads as Harry shook off the knot in his stomach about needing a guard to walk to the train station.
"No, he's supposed to have his own guard. Right?" Ginny questioned as Mrs. Weasley ushered them into 71/2 platform with the help of Tonks.
"Maybe." Harry replied, looking around the platform for Ness's trademark baseball cap, "But I seriously doubt that."
"Maybe he's on a late plane?" Ginny offered as they slowly moved for the train, ignoring the hushed whispers and points aimed at Harry as they searched.
"Why would he take an aeroplane?" Ron questioned earning a deadpan stare from Ginny, "He lives in America. Remember?"
"That place has always been bad news." Hermione muttered as Mrs. Weasley's fussing grew and Sirius leaned against Harry's leg, silently comforting him with his giant green eyes as he thumped his tail.
But Ness never showed, forcing the group to climb aboard the train after good byes and hugs while Sirius attempted to smuggle himself onboard. Earning Mrs. Weasley's ire as Ginny giggled at the event.
"He looks like an actual dog!" she giggled pointing as Sirius huffed and looked away, his ears low in defeat as the train lurched forward and began its journey to Hogwarts.
"You don't think Ness is skipping the train, do you?" Ron asked as Ginny went to find her friends.
"Absolutely not!" Hermione insisted, "That would cause even more trouble than what its' worth!"
"Would it?" Harry wondered, remembering the unease that followed Ness's name in a conversation. He was a dangerous variable who was still deciding on if he was with them, or against them.
And their lack of communication with the boy was worrisome. Maybe it was for the best that he didn't attend Hogwarts, even if Dumbledore was adamant about having him attend.
"Well, let's focus on finding a car, we can see Ness during dinner." Harry said, restraining himself from adding, "If he decided to keep attending." As Hermione and Ron nodded in agreement.
Of course, finding an empty car was easier said than done since everyone had taken advantage of being early and not searching for a friend, forcing them to go with Ginny in hopes of sitting with her and not a random stranger waiting to weasel out the truth about what had happened at the hearing.
Of course, that meant sitting with Selvis Karma, who glanced at them over his book and rolled his eyes, "Great. You summoned the new corrupt cops." He snarked, glaring at Luna Lovegood who was reading a magazine upside down.
"Summoning bugs must be out." The girl hummed, earning a perplexed expression from Hermione who moved to correct her when Ginny shut her down with a look. "Couldn't find a better car to sit in?" Selvis questioned, "Decided to sit with the lowly traitors—ow! Weasley!"
Ginny ignored him as the boy went on, fussing about his bruised pride and ego as Luna just giggled at his antics. "No sign of Ness?" Harry asked, a pit of a worry starting to form as he sat down beside Luna.
"Selvis claimed to have seen him." Ginny glanced at Selvis who bluntly said, "I'm protecting you all by not informing you where he is."
Harry stiffened a little, the image that had been haunting him over the summer of the world shaking and boiling with rage appearing in his mind's eye. Maybe…maybe it was a bad thing that Ness was here.
"Is he alright?" He found himself asking, scowling when Selvis shrugged his shoulders, "No clue."
"Apparently, Ness gave him the cold shoulder." Luna explained, "Guess he's in a bad mood."
"Is that even possible?" Ron asked, "Every time I've seen him he's been in a good mood."
Huh, so he had been. The boy had been sporting a casual smile whenever Harry had spotted him in-between classes and meals. As if he was gliding through school until the very end where— he cringed and shook his head.
He wouldn't go there, not yet. With a small, hopefully unnoticeable deep breath he looked up and found everyone intently listening for something.
But what? What were they—wait, what was that sound of small explosions and someone yelling 'Fireball'? with renewed vigor. Harry glanced down, blinking in surprise at a simple red blanket he hadn't even noticed covering the bottom of the seat.
They exchanged looks before Luna got on her hands and knees and lifted up the blanket. "Oh, there you are Ness."
A soft, "So much for my nap." Floated up to them as Luna stepped back and allowed Ness to roll out from the bottom of the car, a blank expression on his face as he studied the ceiling.
"In my defense, I didn't tell them." Selvis stated as the shock slowly wore off. Ness gave a small hum of agreement and sat up, stretching out his legs before he resumed playing a game on his sticker covered Gameboy.
"Uh…Ness?"
"What." They recoiled slightly at the blunt reply and the sight of Ness's eyes. The normally unnerving but warm coal black eyes were dulled into a pale shade teetering on being a solid black or a cold grey with barely any life in them. It greatly contrasted his bright rainbow hoodie which was filling in for his hat.
Harry forced himself to go on as Ness's eye bore into his soul, "Why were you hiding under the bench?"
"Trying to take a nap before my timely demise." The deadpan didn't help the startled atmosphere as Ness cringed and held up a cheery sign that read, "Sorry."
"Apparently, I'm more sensitive to magic than before—I'm already getting a headache from being around guys." He held up the sign again before trying to change the subject, "So, what have you guys been doing over the summer?"
It was unsettling to see Ness force a smile but his friends went with it, Luna talking about a hunt through the woods to hunt down Bigfoot, entering a 'heated' argument with Hermione about Bigfoot being real or not while Selvis simply said he had been helping his parents out at work. Refusing to say what they did when Ron asked.
"He's Aladdin." Ness supplied, smirking at his joke as Selvis looked at him and shot him a glare for good measure, "I have no idea who this 'Aladdin' person is but I assure you, I hate him."
"You hate almost everyone." Ness pointed out.
"And?"
"I spent my summer helping mom clean out Grimmuld Place." Ginny explained, earning a sharp look from Ron that changed to shock as Selvis chirped, "Oh right, Snuffles place."
"You-," Ron started when Luna cut him off with a hum, "Ginny keeps us in the know about Dumbledore's actions."
"Is he doing anything dumb yet?" Ness asked, "Besides, ya know, being burned alive by the media?"
"What?!"
Ness shot him an almost bored look and remarked, "Mystic Informer has been having a field day about Hogwarts." A small genuine grin appeared, "It's awesome!"
Harry looked at him in shock then at Selvis who laughed, "I know right? I'm loving the letter from Overprotective Soccer Mom!"
"That was a bit much though." Ginny admitted while Luna mused, "The revolution begins now."
"Mystic Informer?" Harry repeated, feeling the knot of worry morph into one of cold anger at the familiar name. He could slightly understand the distrust toward Dumbledore, but not everything was his fault! It had merely spiraled out of control!
"You remember that reporter, Chip?" Ness asked, "He works for the Mystic Informer which is some American Wizarding paper."
Luna hummed in agreement as Selvis pulled a copy out from his bag, "They've been milking everything from the Fiasco known as the Tri-Wizard Tournament and picking apart Hogwarts and the Ministry!"
Ron stiffened a little as Ginny gave a small nod of agreement, "I like their cuddle writer, Maybell Stuffings, she writes goofy little stories and tries to make sense of the 'grown up' world with her teddy bear, Honey."
"I wonder if she knows about the American Wind fairies." Luna mused as Selvis shot her a look and opened his magazine, "Here's my favorite story so far—Our staff is a bit worried for those attending Hogwarts, outrages theories aside as our reporter reports never seeing and or hearing about a student consoler after a brief interview with Dumbledore over the summer. It's vague at best and most likely wrong given the man's colorful wording to give his school and air of mystery but Chip Adams reports-, "When asked about student mental health and how Dumbledore would be helping the families of Earthbound and Potter—the most effected in this whole fiasco during the school year he promises that his teaching staff shall do the best they can to help them. When asked about having a teacher dedicated solely to mental health he replied that would be looked into this following year."—
"Meaning that students over the course of each new generation which has been plagued with terrorist attacks and infestations within the castle have been relying on therapists and friends outside of the school to stay mentally healthy. This doesn't bode well for Dumbledore who I personally believe needs to get ready to either step down as Headmaster or reevaluate his school procedures and staff."
Selvis finished with a grin as Ness groaned, "Great, so I'll just be stuck relying on my book of happiness to get through this year." Earning a confused look from Hermione as Ron asked, "What's a school counselor?"
"The person you talk to about serious or personal issues." Harry explained, "A trained therapist for kids basically."
"Which our school doesn't have for some odd reason." Ness said, sarcasm dripping in his voice as he held up the sign.
"Do we need one?" Ron questioned, "I mean, we have friends and teachers to talk to if we need help."
"Yea, but will they keep it to themselves or drag others into the problem?" Ness countered, "Friends are great and all, but they can't beat a professional at work who can understand the entire problem."
"Sounds like you've been to one of those quacks." Selvis noted, flinching as Ness shot him a glare, "Yea, and that 'quack' has been very helpful limiting my nightmares and getting back on track." He snapped, grimacing and flashing the sign again.
Harry had the sinking feeling that Ness would be using that sign a lot given his growing frustration. It was almost abnormal. "Nightmares?" Hermione questioned, shooting him a scathing look, silently scolding him for withholding dreams over the years and not informing an adult.
Ness nodded and adjusted his hood, "Well Hermione, one doesn't walk away from nearly getting killed without a scratch." They flinched as Ness once again flashed the sign, "PTSD, it's mostly minor but it's still there. I'm officially unnerved by grown wizards and the color toxic green. It triggers some minor flashbacks."
Luna murmured an, "Oh dear." As Selvis and Ginny exchanged looks, trying to figure out what to say to that. Harry didn't have anything to say either, he had heard about people having PTSD, but he had never dealt with them, or their triggers. What does one say to a boy dealing with nightmares of how he died?
Thankfully, they didn't have to say anything since Ness threw them for a loop again, "Speaking of therapists, you should see someone Harry."
Huh?
"Me?" Harry questioned as the others looked at Ness in disbelief, "No, the other kid with a lightning shape scar." Harry grimaced at the sign then at Ness's explanation, "We escaped from a bunch of cultists who killed me and tried to do the same to you. There is no way in heck that you are perfectly fine with this."
Hermione and Ron looked at him in surprise, realization then guilt as Harry replied, "I'm fine, just a little shook up-,"
A low drum beat started to play, cutting him off as a guitar followed, then another guitar deeper than the first. It stopped as quickly as it appeared, but it was enough to remind him of the graveyard, the vibrations—Ness.
"Just a little shook up." Ness deadpanned, putting a boombox away with a frown, "Right. Perfectly A-Okay."
"What was that?" Selvis questioned as Luna mumbled, "Rock music?"
"100% rock. Which is what my most powerful attack is based off of." Ness shot him a look, "You are not fine Harry. No one is."
"I beg to differ-," Selvis started to splutter when Ginny elbowed him and changed topics, "So who do you think the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher is? Someone competent?"
"Depends, Dumbledore's track recorder isn't the best." Selvis sneered, ignoring Harry's angry scowl as he leaned back in his seat, "Probably some renowned teacher given all the public backlash Dumbledore's been facing."
Luna perked up a bit happily 'exclaiming', "Maybe we'll be taught by Merlin's daughter, Morgan!"
"Absolutely not!" Hermione exclaimed, "Morgan is almost a carbon copy of Morgana!"
"Well at least we'll actually learn something." Selvis retorted, "My father is going to have a conniption with how little I'm learning in Defense Against the Dark Arts!"
Ness shrugged and returned to his GBA, "Who cares? I just want to go home away from all this insanity." Disrupting the light mood once more with his blunt manner. Were all PSTD victims this bitter? He was going to have to look it up later, but for now he could focus on trying to talk down Hermione and her renewed efforts of S.P.E.W as she tried to get Luna, Selvis and Ness to join.
Selvis scowled at her and snapped, "I'm pretty sure that House Elves like work Granger."
"How badly mistreated are they?" Luna questioned looking a little intrigued, Hermione was looking hopeful until Luna added, "Are they as badly treated as the Snuffle-Wuffleges? Those poor things are treated like puppets on that show Sesame Street!"
"Ness?" Hermione tried but Ness merely bit his lip, drawing blood and focused on his game, not trusting himself to give a kind answer.
"Face it Hermione. The elves are happy this way." Ron said as Hermione threw her hands up in outrage and began squabbling with him. Everything was…mostly fine, until they had to get dressed for school. Ness shot his robe a murderous glare and did something to cause the car to vibrate before he caught himself and muttered, "Sorry." Before reluctantly pulling it on.
"Robes trigger you as well?" Selvis asked, looking torn between teasing him or just keeping his mouth shut.
"Anything black and a symbol of death triggers me." Ness grumbled, "I didn't bother looking at my robes this entire summer."
"Then how did you get new ones?" Ron asked, pulling his on and proudly pinning his on. "My sister bought them for me. I got books." Ness replied, "She measured me before hand, so we could get everything and leave."
Ron nodded as Hermione announced that she and Ron had a prefects meeting to attend, earning a gag from Selvis and a low hum of from Luna, who had returned to reading her magazine.
Harry wished them luck before realizing that this meant being left alone with Ness and his friends, one of which he wasn't prepared to trust as Selvis wrote something down in a tiny green notebook.
"So, any idea of what to focus on in our club meetings?" Ginny asked, pulling out a notebook of her own. "Ness being here is sort of answered thanks to You-Know-Who."
"Hooray for being a weapon." Ness deadpanned before he snapped, "Oh come on!" and closed his now dead Gameboy. "Oh, we're nearing the barrier." Luna mused as Ness grumbled, "Wizards! We can totally shatter your mind but we won't let you rot it with video games!" and slumped against the wall.
He had refused to sit next to anyone and had been propped up against the window for the ride. Something Harry couldn't understand as he entertained himself with called 'Puyo Puyo'.
"Can we now focus on kicking Dumbledore out of the school?" Selvis asked, shocking Harry to his core as he exclaimed, "But he's the only one protecting us from Voldemort!" causing the light-hearted atmosphere to drop as Selvis looked at him in disbelief, "Oh sure. HE'S protecting us from You-Know-Who." The Slytherin remarked his eyes narrowing, "Just like how he protected us from his followers and murder buddies while actively throwing you to the wolves!"
"He has done no such thing!" Harry snapped, recoiling as Ness spoke up, "Oh yea sure, so allowing his two under age students to attend a dangerous tournament wasn't throwing us to the wolves."
"And allowing a fraud who actively endangered us with his fake teachings is being completely supportive." Ginny added.
"Or allowing a vastly unstable student to attend a dangerous environment." Luna added, glancing at Ness who didn't seem fazed by the verbal jab. In fact, he seemed happy that someone realized he was a danger.
Harry opened his mouth, but no words came out. The anger was there but unable to make up a remark at the valid points they all had and the small voice of doubt frantically pointing to Ness, the boy who had scared Voldemort into fleeing with his men after failing to kill him.
But they were wrong! Dumbledore was the greatest wizard of all of Europe! He wouldn't—he wasn't— Harry scowled and swallowed his anger, ignoring the angry prickling behind his eyes as he focused on his shoes. Refusing to look up.
He heard vague, "Oh dears." From the girls but Selvis was quiet, probably basking in his bloody victory as Ness changed subject, talking about some voice he had heard while wishing to be expelled or—
"You want Hogwarts to close down!?" his ears rang from the very statement as Ness looked up at him, his expression torn between looking frustrated but also neutral, "So far. I have yet to see Hogwarts good qualities."
If he hadn't been swimming in anger at Ness wanting to close down the only good part of his life down he would have noticed the careful tone Ness had taken on, attempting to restrain his visible frustration.
"It's teaching us how to be wizards! Giving us a home away from home!" Harry retorted, "And now, it's acting as a shelter for whatever Voldemort has planned for us!"
Ness grit his teeth, "Maybe for you, but so far all I see is a death trap!"
"A death trap?! No one's died at Hogwarts!"
Sorry Myrtle…
"OH. I see, so I didn't die last school year!"
"Well you're still standing!"
"Says the boy who defied fate!"
"Uh, guys?" Harry ignored Ginny and plowed on, "Maybe I was meant to defy fate Mr. PSI User!"
"Well, have fun doing that in-between surviving that Death trap of a castle! Pretty sure all the teachers just want to see you die given this school's track record!"
"The only who wants me dead is Snape wanker!"
"Ya sure?! Since Trelawney was having a blast predicting your death! Professor Kale told me so!"
"Boys."
"And that didn't happen, now did it!?"
"Hm. Maybe because I'M here saving your butt as you go off and fuss like a toddler! So far, you've done nothing worthy of your title of being called the Boy who Lives since you seem to be DATING death!"
"I didn't want to lose my parents!"
"GUYS!" Ginny snapped.
"FUNNY. Since I didn't want to come to this backwards world and watch my best friend nearly die! Thanks to incompetent teachers!"
"The teachers aren't incompetent!"
"YA WANNA BET?! I have at least THREE names gunning for Worst Teacher ever!"
"How are we all not dead yet?" Selvis questioned as the lights flickered at a dangerous rhythm.
"Really?! Is Moody on that list? Since you were his favorite student?"
"You wish! Since he loved you to death as well! Probably couldn't wait for you to slip down the stairs so he could say 'oops! He dead!"
"Grammar Ness-," Selvis started when Ness shot him a murderous look, prompting the boy to hide behind Ginny for protection. There might have been a faint whine for help, but Harry couldn't really hear over the burning desire to shut Ness up…Which was pretty hard to given how witty the boy was with his words.
"Well at least I wasn't bribed into murdering my friends and competition!" Ness's eyes took on an obsidian black as the lights started to die out completely, "You take that back. Right now." Ness hissed, his neon hoodie creating a horrific image in the dark.
"Then get out of my school." Harry snapped, "Since you seem to hate Hogwarts so much, why not leave?"
"I've been trying too but that old coot is having too much fun torturing kids." Ness retorted, a dull haze of red appearing in his line of vision. "OH. MY BAD. I meant Dumbledork! King of being a major screw up and manipulative jerk who enjoys jerking others by the chai-,"
"DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT DUMBLEDORE LIKE THAT!"
"Harry!"
He was vaguely aware of someone grabbing his wand arm and the sound of a door flying open and—
"Stupify!" He blinked or tried to and found himself pointing his wand at Ness, something in his hair and the train completely dark. "Ness. Out into the hallway." Someone ordered their voice soft but stern, "Count to twenty and wait for me."
There was heavy breathing before someone grunted, "Fine." And closed the door behind them. Probably Ness, the little wan—
"Lumios." The teacher said, allowing him to see…a man wearing glasses wearing a nebula patterned sweater under his robe. "Harry, breath." The teacher ordered, "Malfoy, go get the other prefects and tell the other students that they can use Lumos until the power's fixed."
There was a pause before the teacher said, "Malfoy." Snapping the boy out of whatever was going on with him. "R-right, professor." Was he…shaken? What could have scared him to the point of making the snot nosed snake into dropping his facade? Well, besides Barty Crouch Jr. making him a bouncing weasel for all to see.
"Selvis, go with him and ensure that he actually does it." The teacher ordered, "And thank you for alerting us to the argument."
"It wasn't like I had a choice Professor Kale." Selvis retorted, sounding a bit weak kneed, "I didn't want to die after all."
"Plus, you were the closest one to the door." Luna murmured, sounding faint. "I'm…going to try and find the sweets trolley." Ginny mumbled, murmuring Lumos under her breath and disappearing into the darkness.
Professor Kale nodded then turned back to him, "Now Harry, I'm going to free you. Understood?" he nodded or tried to nod as Professor Kale undid the spell.
"Good, now what happened?"
Harry blinked feeling a little drained and sensing an oncoming sore throat as he croaked, "Ness and I got into an argument, about Hogwarts." Even though Professor Kale was being remarkably calm about this whole thing he couldn't help but feel a little guilty as he pressed on. "Ness wanted Hogwarts to close down since he couldn't see any good points about the school and I, sort of snapped."
"I'm sensing there's a but here." Professor Kale prodded.
Harry bit his tongue and mumbled, "He and his friends also stated that Dumbledore wasn't exactly fit to be headmaster after the Tri-Wizard tournament before the argument started."
The man gave a small nod and glanced up at the shattered lights. "Er, sir what happened while we were arguing?"
"Ah, Ness lost controls of his abilities for a moment."
Harry paled, realizing why everyone looked so shaken. A stone of guilt forming as he realized that if Professor Kale hadn't shown up then he would have pushed Ness over the edge and seriously damaged the train in the process. Or maybe gotten everyone on the train killed. "I didn't mean for everything to-," Harry started when Professor Kale held his hand up, "I know, this is a touchy subject for you both. And at the moment Ness isn't in a mentally safe place."
"Sir?" Luna prodded, looking a little scared for her friend, "What do you mean?"
"Well, he's still recovering from the Killing Curse incident of course, which means that his magic is a bit shaky and a double-bladed sword for him at the moment." One that had broken all the lights in the train, "According to his mother Ness will be facing a serious of headaches and as a result, easily aggravated until he's mentally healed."
Luna gave a small nod as Professor Kale nodded and moved to check on Ness, pausing for a brief moment to add, "It's not completely your fault Harry. It's clear that you have profound respect for Dumbledore and Hogwarts, something Ness doesn't have given his time here."
An echo of "I've been trying to leave here!" replayed in his mind as Professor Kale closed the door, leaving him alone with Luna.
"…Were we really that bad?" Harry asked after a tense moment. Hating the silence that stretched on until Luna softly replied, "You guys were in your own world. Ness, I guessed entered his battle phase or something since he was just waiting for you to strike while the yelling and flashing just got worse. I'm surprised the train didn't derail."
"…I see." Harry dropped his head into his hands and bit back a groan of frustration. The school year was already off to a rotten start and knowing his luck it was only going to get a lot worse.
Ow. Was the only thing Ness could register as Professor Kale read a book, sitting beside him and reading a book as they rode the train—wait, this was a carriage. Was he seriously that out of it?
"Well smarty pants, you DID attempt to turn Flash into a physical attack." The snarky voice reprimanded, earning a mental scowl as Ness focused on his shoes and breathing, struggling to remember Ms. Anita's breathing exercises.
Counting to twenty had worked, for about five seconds before the headache that had been growing behind his eyes returned with a powerful vengeance, probably because they were literally on the castle's door step.
"Great. I'm here and on the wrong foot with Harry. Whoop dee do." Maybe he could teleport himself back home? He'd already done it to avoid that wizard lurking at the hotel door, so why not here? It was tempting, and he was actually about to put it into action when Professor Kale grabbed his arm. His presence unusually soothing as he gently said, "It'll be different this year Ness."
"Sure, and I won't get caught up in a murder scheme." He quipped, the words—as usual—out of his mouth before he could stop it. With a groan he flashed the sign and slumped against the carriage wall.
"Well…it'll certainly be interesting-," Professor Kale started before he paused, his eyes wide for some reason.
"Professor?" he glanced up at the man then at the castle they were standing in front of, "Something wrong?"
"Do you sense that?"
"…Sense what?" At the moment, all he could sense was relief and—oh wait, why did he feel…at ease here? This school was full to the brim with magic and yet he felt like he was exploring Twoson trying to rescue Paula from the Happy Happy Cultists. Charged with energy but a sense to be wary of everything.
"Something's wrong." Professor Kale murmured, "Something shouldn't be here…but what?" Ness had a feeling the something was him but didn't dare add on as they moved inside for dinner or tried to. A high pitched cough caused Professor Kale to falter and look at a woman standing by the door, seemingly waiting for them.
"Ah, you're the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Umbridge, right?" Professor Kale stated giving her a friendly smile which Ness felt was a bit much for the pink covered toad—Never mind.
"Correct." She answered returning the smile with one that seemed a bit stiff in his opinion. Perhaps he should listen to the never-ending warning bells—wait…they had been quiet the entire carriage ride to the school. Was this Umbridge woman really a threat—
"Ah yes, Mr. Potter right on time." Well that was a nice jerk from daydream land. He looked over his shoulder and to see Harry walking with Hermione, Ron, Luna and Ginny.
It was tempting to wave hi, but he doubted anything positive would come out of it, not when Harry's words were still eating away at him.
"Ah, that's our cue to leave." Professor Kale started nudging him forward as he moved to say something to Harry over his shoulder when Umbridge cut him off, "Ah, a moment please."
Ness shot her a look of confusion then of distrust at how her smile widened, "Mr. Potter and Earthbound were the ones behind the blackout on the train, correct?"
"Yes, a small disagreement pushed to dangerous levels thanks to a small condition Ness picked up during the Tri-Wizard tournament." Professor Kale answered his tone hardening a bit, "Luckily no harm was done so it'll be a brief separate dentition with me and Professor McGonagall."
On second thought, maybe his instincts were right to treat this woman as a threat as she moved to speak, her sugary tone dripping something he couldn't figure out at the moment. "Is that so?"
"Yes, I was the first teacher on the scene and I'm well aware of Ness's current situation. Unless, you have a different suggestion?" A silent battle was being fought as the two in question looked from teacher to teacher, "No, no. I merely wished to hear the outcome for such reckless behavior." Umbridge stated turning away with a sweet smile, "Enjoy the feast boys."
"If I got a bucket of water, do you think she'd melt or just be set on fire?" Ness asked startling Professor Kale to give a snort before he caught himself, "No, Ness. Now come along, we're going to be late. And Ness, no buckets of water."
"Why water?" Ginny asked catching up to him as they moved inside the Great Hall and sat down at the dinning table."It melts witches." Ness deadpanned, allowing a small smirk to form which slipped off when he spotted Umbridge sitting at the teacher's table.
She wasn't doing anything wrong but…she just set off all warning bells, even louder than the ones warning him to attack the wizards around them, chatting and searching for the first years.
Ness promptly tuned them out, only zoning back in when the Sorting Hat sang a morbid song of warning, very insistent on being wary of those from the stars, the mistakes of the past and the one with scars. Unnerving everyone before the sorting began and the new students were put into houses.
As usual, Dumbledore went to stand up with a tight but reassuring smile as he prepared to launch into his beginning of the year speech. Ness purposely tuned him out, lowering his witch hat so he wouldn't have to look at the man who dragged him back for another year of torture.
He was saying something, telling them to unite and stay strong when Ness suppressed a groan and looked up at the ceiling, "Hurry up and end already!"
Al* te R#$
Ness perked up a little in confusion when five items flew high into the sky, electing startled screams from the students as they watched the five items—plates loaded with bread suddenly combust into flames thanks to a barrage of lightning strikes. The startled screaming morphed into full blown terror as the voltage level sent their hairs on end and set the chandler aflame.
"Calm down!" teachers ordered, pointing their wands at the melting gold and trying to put out the flame only to be foiled by more items flying up and exploding.
"Everyone! To your dormitories!" Dumbledore ordered as the fire grew worse, the smoke floating down below as students poured out into the Great Hall, glad for the order they were already obeying out of pure fright.
"What. The heck?" Ness wheezed, his headache now a dull stabbing sensation as Hermione and Ron checked on everyone. "I suppose, one of the hat's warnings come to life." Ginny mumbled, looking shaken and a little dizzy.
"Great. We're being attacked by terrorists." Ness concluded before he went to bed. Biting back a laugh at someone's hopeful, "The rest of the week will be fine you guys!"
If Hogwarts had taught him anything, it was that nothing would go right. And it didn't, the very first few days of school was riddled with more disruptions, thankfully not as violent as the exploding plates and food but still, unnerving and very annoying.
Meals was riddled with burned or under cooked food, something that wasn't the fault of the Houseelves but the plates summoning the food to the table, as if someone had hexed them to rapidly cool or heat up the objects placed on their golden surface. Every class so far had at ended early thanks to being plagued with an unexplainable event.
In Professor Snape's class the boiling cauldron froze and refused to unfreeze until the end of the day, forcing the teacher to teach a lesson on the value and dangers of certain ingredients.
Professor Bins would be in the middle of a long-winded speech when a girly giggle would scare him through a window, promptly ending history class for the day since he refused to come back in. Hagrid's classes went…smoother than usual actually, the monsters were all tame and almost docile allowing them to get better interactions with them for some bizarre reason.
Professor Flitwit would fall asleep the abruptly awake at least six times a class, no one knew why he just did.
Professor Sprout had to deal with plants suddenly exploding into flames at least twice a class and Madam Pomfrey had an influx of students reporting feeling dizzy and woozy after looking at a strange painting that left them feeling depressed. No one could find the painting, not even the troublesome twins.
But after Ness's first Defense Against Dark Arts class they could all agree that Umbridge was going and was having the worst luck out of all of the teachers.
"I wonder what she'll be like." Ginny mused as Ness studied his letter about dentition with Professor Kale, "A wicked witch." Popped out of Ness's mouth, forcing him to flash the sign and earn giggles from their schoolmates as they hurried to class.
"Happy thoughts Ness."
"Easier said than done. My head feels like a piece of glass forced to withstand metal and rock music at full blast."
"…"
"It hurts a lot."
"Thank you."
They entered the classroom and took their seats, surprised to find the simple message of, "Turn to page 39 in your books!" on the chalkboard followed by some basic classroom rules. That…didn't sit right for him as he pulled his book out and ignored the rustle of wands being placed on desks.
"Good afternoon class!" Oh god she was a perky sunflower. He did not need false cheer after being haunted by exploding candles. Yes, they exploded around him. Why? He had no freaking clue and wished it would stop.
"As you command."
And the voice was back. GREAT. He should have been a bit more concerned by that weird, distorted voice but he was distracted by Umbridge saying, "Put your wands away, we have no need for that here."
What.
"What?" Annnd he said it aloud. Peachy. She shot him a pointed look with a cheery smile and reprimanded, "I didn't see your hand Mr. Earthbound."
He bit his tongue to hold back a snark of, "Probably because I was to stunned to remember." As Henry raised his hand, looking confused.
"Yes Mr…?"
"E-erand," Henry supplied, "Don't we um, need wands to practice defensive magic?"
"Normally, yes but this course has been approved by the Ministry of Magic." Umbridge answered prompting one of the flower twins—Rose maybe?—to raise her hand.
"Yes Ms…?"
"Ribbons. But call me Rose." Rose answered before asking, "Shouldn't we be practicing defensive magic? I mean the castle seems super haunted."
Something outside fell with a loud metal bang. "And angry." Rose added with a small cringe.
"This is merely a string of elaborate pranks set off by trouble making students."
"Who have been stalking me and blowing up candles?" Ness questioned earning a squawk of, "That's why the hallways are so dark!?" from someone as Umbridge all but growled, "Hand, Mr. Earthbound."
Bella Field went next, raising her hand and asking, "Is the Ministry really prepared to give us a course to defend ourselves?"
"Yea. The Triwizard fiasco wasn't exactly controlled." Mike Wharf drawled glancing at Ness who was glad to see that SOME wizards had their minds focusing on the real problem.
"Hands," Umbridge reprimanded, "And that is merely something Dumbledore cooked up to put public distrust in the Ministry's supporters."
"Count to ten." He told himself, leaning back and looking at the ceiling to calm himself down. He didn't need to start another fight—
"Is there a problem with this Mr. Earthbound?" DID SHE JUST WANT A FIGHT TO BREAK OUT OR SOMETHING?!
He bit his tongue and shook his head no, chanting a mantra of, "Say nothing." As Umbridge pressed, "I need words Mr. Earthbound."
"No." short and to the point, now move onto Ginny who was waving her hand like a flag.
"No what?"
WILL YOU—"No. Miss. Toad." The sign sorry was already flashing in the air as the waving for attention stopped and Umbridge's eyes bulged slightly, "Excuse me?"
"Read the sign." He sighed, dropping his head on the solid piece of wood. He had been so close to getting away without berating a teacher. SO. FREAKING. CLOSE.
"Words. Earthbound."
He shot him a look of, 'can you not read or something?' and took a deep breath, "I'm sorry Professor-," an ugly smile appeared then dropped as he bluntly added, "That no one taught you how to read."
For a moment, no one said anything, then— howls of laughter erupted from the boys as Henry gave a nervous titter.
"I suppose this letter is pretty useless for you." Ness remarked, pulling out the letter he was supposed to give every teacher, "What. Letter Mr. Earthbound?" Umbridge (She doesn't deserve a fancy title.)
"The one I keep forgetting to give my teachers about my new condition." He explained opening it and reading it aloud, abruptly ending the light hearted mood.
"Dear staff and caretakers of Hogwarts, Ness Earthbound has been diagnosed with PTSD—and until he can come to terms and cope with nearly being murdered and the stress introduced headaches from requiring attending Hogwarts, he shall be cranky, quick witted with remarks and difficult to work with.
"If he starts to enter a negative mood and or starts a fight allow to leave and/or send him to the nurse's office or his dormitory to give him some time to calm down and recuperate.
"From, his therapist- Maria Anta, signed by Maria Anta and Marisa Earthbound."
"…Now can we practice defense spells?" Henry asked, his eyes wide as the others looked at their books with small scowls and unsure looks. "We will be doing it by the book. Now read." Umbridge ordered her patience snapped as Ness got up, figuring it was a good time to head to the nurse's office before he created more of an uproar.
"Where are you heading Mr. Earthbound?"
"…Guys. She can't hear either." Ness concluded earning another roar of laughter, Ginny almost fell out of her chair laughing as Umbridge's face turned various shades of red. "I'm heading to the nurse's office. To cool off." He explained, purposely saying it slowly to ensure that she heard it this time around. Maybe it was selective hearing?
"Has this 'PSTD' been clarified by the school nurse?"
Why…? Okay sure, credibility was good but considering the fact that his mother and doctor signed it doesn't that mean something? Plus, was Pomfrey even trained to give a psychological exam to someone? So far all she had done was waved her wand like Cinderella's Godmother. Or maybe the Fairly Odd parents.
"It's the first week to school." Ness deadpanned, "My mother already sent a letter to Dumbledore about this and several letters from my therapist."
"Who is?"
"A therapist. Unless no one taught you about the wonders of mental health." Ness deadpanned, scowling as the class watched with baited breath.
"Has she been vetted by the school?" Umbridge pressed.
"I don't think this crazy school HAS mental health support." Ness retorted, "She's someone a concerned news outlet recommended when I got home."
"So, she's a wizard."
"She's a muggle. Who is bound by the law to keep her mouth shut." Ness clarified, "Why does this matter? I'm a disturbance and I'm leaving."
Umbridge gave a weird hum that greatly unsettled him. "…Okay, I'm not the only one creeped out by this right?" Ness questioned pointing to their 'teacher'. Relived to see everyone nodding in agreement.
"This letter is void."
He blinked and looked at her in disbelief, "As well as your 'condition'." Umbridge continued, "It will continue to be void until you get checked out by a certified therapist-,"
"She is certified." Ness interrupted, frustration bubbling in his mind as the migraine returned with a vengeance, "Even more certified than you Toad."
"That, is debatable."
"How. I needed help, she gave it to me and you are-," he stopped as realization hit him, turning his frustration into full blown anger. "You're a muggle hater."
The room grew cold as Umbridge stated, "It is far too dangerous for muggles to know the truth about the magical world."
"That's not it. For all you know I could have just skirted around what actually happened and told her I was kidnapped by a bunch of crazy people with neon green knives who tried to kill me and my friends." Ness countered, "All you know is that she's a muggle and a therapist which APPARENTLY wizards don't know about!"
"Volume level-,"
"I'll control my freaking volume when YOU stop trying to provoke me!" Ness retorted, "Why the heck are you even here if you're going to teach us absolutely nothing!?"
"Point." Someone called as Umbridge turned several shades of red. "Detention." Ness scowled and snapped, "For what?! Yelling or stating the truth?!"
"My office after dinner." Umbridge continued ignoring him as he struggled to control Rockin' begging to be released, "You can join Mr. Potter in a little lesson of telling the truth."
"Professor he can't be with Harry!" Ginny interrupted, "They were the ones behind the blackout!"
Soft murmurs of, "Oh geez." And, "Detention or not, putting them together sounds awful."
"Well then, Earthbound should have thought of that before he started lying about himself."
Oh you have-, "OH. I SEE. I'm the liar here!" Ness exclaimed, "Even though your BOSS allowed not one, but TWO deadly murderers slip free to help Voldemort! Oh! Can't forget how you tried to cover it up by murdering Barty Crouch Jr. and nearly killing my mother and sister in the process!"
Loud gasps as Ginny solemnly backed him up, "I saw it nearly happen, Dumbledore and Professor Snape had to jump in and stop the Dementors."
If there had been any doubts about the Ministry's credibly then they had been cleared away as the Fourth years looked at her in horror. Control completely gone as the bell rang and freed them. "Ohmygosh my best friend's dad works there!" Henry muttered rushing off to meet her and nearly colliding with some Slytherins moving to class.
"What. Did someone murder your puppy?" one of Selvis's friends remarked with a crude smirk that slipped off when Rose sobbed, "The Ministry's trying to kill us with lies!"
"Excuse—huh?" a girl exclaimed looking at Rose in shock as Ness tried his best not to storm past them, "Oy! What's going-," someone started when Selvis stopped him and murmured something about finding out later. Only one thing was clear as the dinner rolled around with the thought of Ness heading up to the woman's office.
Nothing. Was fine at Hogwarts.
You know, when writing Ness's slight PTSD (I'm not saying full since I don't feel that it's a serious case since there are very few triggers for it at the moment and I don't want to mess up portraying it.) and having him point out the lack of therapists in the castle I couldn't help but wonder how the students were coping with everything going on.
I mean, the pureblood wizards and Muggle born students with an active wizard parent in their life is going to cope just fine with magic and the supernatural around them. But how are kids like Harry- who had no clue magic was real and no active wizard parents- or Hermione who had Muggle parents who were most likely in the dark about how dangerous magic could truly be since they never went to Hogwarts themselves going to cope with the fact that the things they saw in fairy tales and video games are real, out to kill them and are seriously dangerous to fool around with?
Sure, the teachers are doing their job by teaching them the basics and easing them into everything but one misstep in a spell can have serious and unnerving consequences, like Hermione turning into a cat in Book 2 thanks to grabbing the wrong hair for the poly juice potion.
And if we take into account how crazy Harry's school years were it's a miracle no one collapsed from the stress of- monsters breaking into Hogwarts, possibly being turned into stone at anytime, being used as someone's puppet (Ginny.), A werewolf teacher, A serial killer who broke into Hogwarts, a teacher who assisted in murder and could have killed anyone of them at anytime, The fact that someone everyone knew and was well liked among the student body is dead thanks to Voldemort, a that a teacher was undermining any attempts for them to learn self defense, cursed objects being smuggled into Hogwarts by unknowing students to kill them and Voldemort's crazed generals personally teaching them at school with torture.
And that's not counting how messed up it is to have Cho-chang seemingly date Harry to try and replace Cedric (I might be wrong, but I remember that Cho only went out with Harry for some sort of flame that Cedric had.) after seemingly moving on.
...Yea, I'm dangerous with theories and the fact that I actually took a basic Psychology class this year isn't helping.
Worry for the mental health of the students aside- I mean, I understand that it isn't important story wise to go over the mental health of the student body but Harry seriously needed someone to talk someone who could understand his problem from a neutral view since Book five is when he starts to spiral into being a much more active and 'I'm the only one who can do this hero' thanks to Cedric's death and lash out a bit more with anger and rash decisions.- how was Ness and Harry's argument?
I feel that the starting points are good since Harry has been shown to be like Voldemort in feeling that Hogwarts is his true home and that Dumbledore is practically a guardian before his godfather showed up (and died. RIP Black.) and Ness had been experiencing nothing but pain and fear for his loved ones, but how's the execution? I'm unsure about Harry responses since after talking it over with my little sister we realized that Harry had never been in a full blown argument where he's able to defend himself or tear down his opponent with just words.
He's always been on the sidelines, throwing in one liners at the very end or blowing up at someone since his point of the story is either ignored or undermined. (Book 4 when Harry insists that he didn't enter the cup but Ron didn't believe him. and Book five where TOAD provokes him into dentition and refuses to heed his warnings which leads to Harry taking it upon himself to save Black since he felt no one would listen or get to him in time and Book six when he got into arguments with Ron and Hermione over the smallest things, granted the Half Blood Prince thing was a small concern. I think. But Hermione, if I'm remembering correctly had no real reason to stay mad at Harry after he revealed he didn't give Ron good luck and was just tricking him into proving he's better than he thinks.)
In short, was Harry's angry responses okay for his defense or not against Ness's responses? Ness I feel is fine since he's going through a lot and has a lot at stake by going to Hogwarts but...yea.
Also, Thank you again Lily Baron for the review! :D I have no words on how to reply other than burying my face in a pillow and mentally screaming at the praise since I tend to see myself as a mediocre writer who either makes the characters talk to much or explain to little. Also,are you a psychic? Since one of my few career plans is to become an author with original stories since I spend almost everyday writing or drawing up characters for stories that I never have time to write or feel confident enough to show to other people outside of my household.
And to Tail-Dei-Dei-Mon, this story probably doesn't have a lot of reviews because- A. It's hard to find thanks to 's weird set up of organizing cross-overs. (I tend to find super awesome stories by snooping around other authors favorites since it's too tedious to comb through every story and or cross-over the website has to offer for a quick read.) B. People are probably just lurking since the term 'review' is mostly used to give criticism or advice and not for simple comments of 'This is a super awesome story!' or 'Can't see what else you have written!' and C. There either can't find anything wrong with the story to point out or just want to give silent 'This is so cool!' from afar since they don't know how to put what they want to say into words. I'm actually C and B since I can appreciate the story and work put into it but I have almost nothing to say that isn't just mad gushing about how cool it which in hindsight is a little embarrassing to type out if you aren't a bold or confident person.
Sort of wishing had a kudos system to show authors that someone likes the story but has no idea what to say to convey what they feel. -_-
