Harry Potter and The Secret of Sabriel
An original fanfiction by Karura
Chapter 3-Conflicting Interests
Disclaimer-All characters in this story are copyrights of J.K. Rowling. Except for Sabriel, who is a copyrighted character of Karura Koremanu, 2000. Enjoy!
"So, why don't you just stand still and let me give you the beating you're begging for?" Sabriel sneered, punching a fist into her palm, stepping towards Malfoy with a look of malice in her eyes. Sabriel was eye level with Malfoy with her heeled boots on, so she could look straight into them, giving him a fright. Malfoy was afraid, but he didn't show it. Seemingly undaunted, he stood up straight and said, "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. I have better things to do than beat her up." They walked out of the car, and Sabriel laughed. "The little runt was scared of me, eh? Heh, guess being raised by a rich wizard made him soft. He's all talk anyway..." Harry finally got the courage to speak up. "Um...excuse me?" he said. Sabriel turned to the three friends, seeming to just notice they were there.
"Oh, sorry about that, but that little ...arrrgh... He was starting to tick me off." Sabriel said, laughing, "It's funny how people can act so brave and be so stupid." Ron laughed and said, "I'd have to agree with you on that one..." Sabriel shot a sidelong glance at him. "Case in point..." she muttered under her breath. Harry retorted, "Hey, what the heck is your problem?" Sabriel turned to Harry. She said, "That's none of your business...Hey!" Sabriel narrowed her eyes. "You're the rude kid I bumped into in Diagon Alley, aren't you?" Sabriel asked, her eyes getting the angry look again. Harry remained unnerved, "Talk about rude, YOU were the one who bumped into me!" he snapped. "Sabriel grabbed Harry by his shirt collar and growled "You little twerp! Why I oughtta-" Her words were interrupted by a large "OUCH!" from Harry. Sabriel looked down to see a young wolf cub biting on Harry's leg, growling deeply.
Sabriel laughed, let Harry go, and gently lifted the wolf into her arms. "There, there, Apollo, it's OK..." Sabriel coaxed it, then laughed as he licked her on the cheek. Hermione asked, "What-what the heck is that?" pointing to Sabriel's arms. The cub stopped licking Sabriel and growled at Hermione, who took a step back. Sabriel smiled and replied, "Like him? His name's Apollo. I got him from the shelter back home. No one would take him 'cause they all said he wouldn't live past 5 years. I said bull and took him in. Isn't he the cutest thing?" Ron looked at the cub. It had rusty brown fur and electric blue eyes. And it was so small it could almost fit in the palm of your hand. "I guess you have a point, Sabriel," Ron remarked, "It is pretty cute..."he extended a hand to pet it, but the cub growled and snapped it's sharp teeth. Ron quickly with drew his hand, a peeved expression on his face. Sabriel laughed and said, "Hey, even roses have thorns. Well, I'll see you guys later, then?" She looked each one of them straight in the eyes. When she turned to Harry, however, he suddenly felt the same sensation he felt in Diagon Alley a few days ago. Hermione said, "Sure." Sabriel nodded. "All right then. See you later!" She started to walk out of the car when Hermione realized it. "Wait, you don't know our-" she was cut off as Sabriel held up a hand. "Hermione, Ron, Harry." she replied, pointing to each of them. Smiling at the shocked expressions on their faces, she shrugged and said, "I get clues."
OoOoOoOoOo
When the train finally reached it's destination, Harry's leg had swollen to twice it's normal size. He limped off the plane (with Ron's support) mumbling, "Stupid wolf. What kind of breed WAS that?" The second the trio stepped off the train, Harry's leg shrunk back to it's natural form. Harry bent down and examined it. " Hm. How odd. There's not even teeth marks from that bite..." Ron exclaimed, "Well, you're fine then! See? She's not so bad." As they walked up the steps to Hogwarts, Hermione looked at Harry's leg with concern. "Are you sure you shouldn't go see Madame Promfry, just to be sure?" she asked. Harry snorted, "Please. That's just what I want to do, see the nurse on my first day back..." Ron agreed, saying, "He's got a point, Hermione." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys..." she muttered. "Hey you guys!" a voice called. The trio turned around to see Sabriel running up to them, Apollo clutched in her arms. "Geez, you three walk fast!" she complained, laughing. Ron replied to this saying, "Well, the crowd would trample us if we didn't. Hey, you sure Dumbledore's gonna allow him in the building?" He motioned to Apollo. Sabriel dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. "He's just a wolf cub! He's also very obedient. How much trouble can he get into?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I wish she hadn't said that..." he groaned.
Just then, Crookshanks let out two soft mews. Apollo's well-trained ears perked
up at the sound, sniffing the air for the source. He peered inside Crookshanks' cage, eyes narrowed, teeth bared, growling at the now terrified cat. "Hey!" Hermione cried, "Your wolf is scaring my cat!" "So?" Sabriel shrugged, "What's your point?" "Make it stop!" Hermione insisted. "I can't do that." Sabriel replied. "Why not?" Hermione pressed on. Before Sabriel could answer a stern voice interrupted. "Miss O'Conner?" Sabriel turned to see Professor McGonagall, wearing the same stern look as always. She continued, "Miss O'Conner, may I see you in my office for a moment, please?" Sabriel nodded and turned to the threesome. "Gotta go. See you at the feast!" She walked towards Professor McGonagall and entered her office. As the door closed, Ron lowered his voice and asked, "Harry, what do you think?" "Of what?" Harry asked. "You know, the new girl. I've never seen her around Hogwarts before. " Hermione interjected, "So? Maybe she was home-schooled or something. She isn't any first year..." Hermione trailed off, leaving the conversation at a standstill as they entered the banquet room, sat at the Gryffindor table, watching the new first-years be Sorted.
OoOoOoOoOo
Sabriel exited McGonagall's office, pleased with her choice of classes. Sabriel
knew so much about potions, she earned the right to skip the class entirely. Pleased with herself, Sabriel walked down the empty hallway, sounds of The Sorting being heard in the distance. The silver bottoms of her dragon-hide boots clacked on the tile, setting an eerie echo through the hall. Sabriel gently petted Apollo as "Gyre, Sharon" was called up front and immediately proclaimed a Hufflepuff. The sounds of The Sorting became closer as Sabriel approached the banquet room. Suddenly all was silent. Sabriel stopped short, and clutched Apollo as her knees gave way. Sabriel tried her best not to drop him as she set him on the ground, to the best of her ability, and clutched her sapphire brooch. *No," Sabriel thought, *I won't let it control me again. Think of Apollo, Angela, Uncle..* Sabriel shut her eyes, fighting the change that scared so many... Apollo let out a whimper, and licked her hand. With this, Sabriel's eyes snapped open. Sabriel sighed, and stood once more, picking up Apollo with shaky hands. "Thank you," she whispered, "You saved me again." She paused as single, hot tear ran down her cheek. "I'm afraid of myself, Apollo." she whispered. Sabriel walked down the rest of the hallway in silence, walking into the banquet hall just as the final first year placed on the hat. "RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat shouted. There was a great uproar from the Ravenclaw table as people stood to shake the newcomer's hand. Sabriel put a weak smile on her face, and walked over to the Gryffindor table, hoping no one saw the incident in the hall.
But somebody did.
OoOoOoOoOo
Ron looked at Sabriel sat down at the table. She was smiling, but her skin was pale and clammy. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Sabriel," Ron asked gently, "Are you all right?" Sabriel's bright eyes widened slightly. "Hm? Oh, I'm fine, really. I must be a little tired." Sabriel replied, the color beginning to return to her face. Just then, the room fell silent as Dumbledore stood at the podium and proceeded to speak. "Welcome!" he greeted with a broad smile, " It's another fantastic term at Hogwarts! I see some new faces, and familiar ones as well..." as the usual banter continued, Hermione nudged Harry. "Look!" she hissed, "Hagrid's not here!" She pointed to the first empty place at the table. Harry replied, "Hermione, I'm sure he's just ill or something." Then Dumbledore said, "And without further ado, I'd like to welcome a new teacher to our ranks this year. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Professor Clearwater!" There was half-hearted clapping as a new woman at the head table stood. She was African-American, and had long, wavy blonde hair which complimented her light lavender eyes. She took a small bow at the little applause she received and sat back down again. Sabriel narrowed her eyes, retaking the cold look she held when Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw her on the train. "Sabriel, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "That woman...something about her seems awfully familiar. We'll see..."Sabriel muttered.
She then noticed the empty plates that were once before her piled with food.
Sabriel picked up a fork and proceeded to eat. All the tables were talking and laughing, and Sabriel noticed that each person had a specific someone to talk to. It made her feel a small, brief stab of jealousy and hurt, but she quickly pushed it away. She had been alone most of her life. Why would it be different here? Sabriel sighed and pushed around some vegetables on her plate. Hopefully she could just keep her head down, get through three years, and graduate a full witch. Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sabriel turned around to see Professor Clearwater standing behind her. "Oh, hullo. May I help you with something?" popped out of Sabriel's home-school-trained mouth. She cringed, but Clearwater barely seemed to notice. She merely said, "So, you are Sabriel O'Conner." Her voice was naturally soft and patronizing, but most definitely American. A yank, as some people called them. Sabriel remained unnerved. "How perceptive" she said politely. Professor Clearwater merely smiled. "I have a feeling you'll be easy in my class. I knew your parents." Sabriel frowned. "My parents have been gone for quite a while now," she said tensely," They have nothing to do with me being here." Clearwater let out a small laugh. "If you say so, Sabriel." she said smugly. Clearwater smirked and walked away, her black robes flowing behind her.
Sabriel growled. She didn't like her, and she had a notion that the feeling was
mutual. "Uh..Sabriel..." Ron said. Sabriel snapped back to reality and looked at him. "Oh, sorry, what?" she asked. Ron motioned to the fork she was holding. Sabriel noticed that she had bent the fork almost completely in half. "Whoops!" she said, laughing
half-heartedly, "Guess they'll be short a fork now..." Harry asked, "What was that all
about." Sabriel shrugged. "I don't know," she replied, "Something' about my folks. Who
cares?" she replied, turning back to her food. Just then Malfoy approached her. "Joy,"
Sabriel sarcastically said, "More good news." "Gee, becoming a teacher's pet already.
What a shame." Malfoy said, smirking, as cocky as always. Still sarcastic, Sabriel turned to him and said, "Ah, Mr. Draco Malfoy. To what DO I owe this EXTREME pleasure?" She smirked as Malfoy scowled. "Meet me tonight in the library around midnight. Unless
you're a coward?" Malfoy challenged. "Fine." Sabriel said coldly, "Just don't chicken out." Malfoy scowled and walked away. "It was Sabriel in the library with a patronus spell." Ron joked. Sabriel let out a laugh. "I wish," she replied.
OoOoOoOoOo
That night, at midnight, Sabriel woke up. She silently turned off the alarm and
reached under her pillow for her brooch. Suddenly she felt something smooth, almost like liquid. She gripped the object and pulled it out. Even in the darkness, she could tell that it was definitely silver. There was a note attached to it: "This is an Invisibility Cloak. Use it to sneak into the library tonight.-Harry" Sabriel smirked. "Guess he's not so bad..."she whispered to herself. She pinned the Cloak to her brooch, sneaked past the Fat Lady, and whisked off, silently, to the library. By the time she arrived, Malfoy was already there. "You're late," he said, not looking at her. "Sorry, Draco." Sabriel replied," I'm never punctual. Well, what did you want to talk about?" Malfoy paused at this point, his eyes went softer. Sabriel got a confused look and pressed, "Well?" Malfoy turned to her. "I saw you fall in the hallway." he replied, "What happened?" Sabriel's eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Someone saw.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, so this had very small action in it. It's the first day!! Well,
fear not, there will be in the next chapter as Sabriel meets Snape...with hilarious results. Sankyuu SOOOOO much for reading my lil' ficcy!!! ^^ Oh, and BTW, Professor
Clearwater is actually my vision of Mihoshi with longer hair, lavendar eyes, and a
REALLLY bad attitude. ^-^
An original fanfiction by Karura
Chapter 3-Conflicting Interests
Disclaimer-All characters in this story are copyrights of J.K. Rowling. Except for Sabriel, who is a copyrighted character of Karura Koremanu, 2000. Enjoy!
"So, why don't you just stand still and let me give you the beating you're begging for?" Sabriel sneered, punching a fist into her palm, stepping towards Malfoy with a look of malice in her eyes. Sabriel was eye level with Malfoy with her heeled boots on, so she could look straight into them, giving him a fright. Malfoy was afraid, but he didn't show it. Seemingly undaunted, he stood up straight and said, "Crabbe, Goyle, let's go. I have better things to do than beat her up." They walked out of the car, and Sabriel laughed. "The little runt was scared of me, eh? Heh, guess being raised by a rich wizard made him soft. He's all talk anyway..." Harry finally got the courage to speak up. "Um...excuse me?" he said. Sabriel turned to the three friends, seeming to just notice they were there.
"Oh, sorry about that, but that little ...arrrgh... He was starting to tick me off." Sabriel said, laughing, "It's funny how people can act so brave and be so stupid." Ron laughed and said, "I'd have to agree with you on that one..." Sabriel shot a sidelong glance at him. "Case in point..." she muttered under her breath. Harry retorted, "Hey, what the heck is your problem?" Sabriel turned to Harry. She said, "That's none of your business...Hey!" Sabriel narrowed her eyes. "You're the rude kid I bumped into in Diagon Alley, aren't you?" Sabriel asked, her eyes getting the angry look again. Harry remained unnerved, "Talk about rude, YOU were the one who bumped into me!" he snapped. "Sabriel grabbed Harry by his shirt collar and growled "You little twerp! Why I oughtta-" Her words were interrupted by a large "OUCH!" from Harry. Sabriel looked down to see a young wolf cub biting on Harry's leg, growling deeply.
Sabriel laughed, let Harry go, and gently lifted the wolf into her arms. "There, there, Apollo, it's OK..." Sabriel coaxed it, then laughed as he licked her on the cheek. Hermione asked, "What-what the heck is that?" pointing to Sabriel's arms. The cub stopped licking Sabriel and growled at Hermione, who took a step back. Sabriel smiled and replied, "Like him? His name's Apollo. I got him from the shelter back home. No one would take him 'cause they all said he wouldn't live past 5 years. I said bull and took him in. Isn't he the cutest thing?" Ron looked at the cub. It had rusty brown fur and electric blue eyes. And it was so small it could almost fit in the palm of your hand. "I guess you have a point, Sabriel," Ron remarked, "It is pretty cute..."he extended a hand to pet it, but the cub growled and snapped it's sharp teeth. Ron quickly with drew his hand, a peeved expression on his face. Sabriel laughed and said, "Hey, even roses have thorns. Well, I'll see you guys later, then?" She looked each one of them straight in the eyes. When she turned to Harry, however, he suddenly felt the same sensation he felt in Diagon Alley a few days ago. Hermione said, "Sure." Sabriel nodded. "All right then. See you later!" She started to walk out of the car when Hermione realized it. "Wait, you don't know our-" she was cut off as Sabriel held up a hand. "Hermione, Ron, Harry." she replied, pointing to each of them. Smiling at the shocked expressions on their faces, she shrugged and said, "I get clues."
OoOoOoOoOo
When the train finally reached it's destination, Harry's leg had swollen to twice it's normal size. He limped off the plane (with Ron's support) mumbling, "Stupid wolf. What kind of breed WAS that?" The second the trio stepped off the train, Harry's leg shrunk back to it's natural form. Harry bent down and examined it. " Hm. How odd. There's not even teeth marks from that bite..." Ron exclaimed, "Well, you're fine then! See? She's not so bad." As they walked up the steps to Hogwarts, Hermione looked at Harry's leg with concern. "Are you sure you shouldn't go see Madame Promfry, just to be sure?" she asked. Harry snorted, "Please. That's just what I want to do, see the nurse on my first day back..." Ron agreed, saying, "He's got a point, Hermione." Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys..." she muttered. "Hey you guys!" a voice called. The trio turned around to see Sabriel running up to them, Apollo clutched in her arms. "Geez, you three walk fast!" she complained, laughing. Ron replied to this saying, "Well, the crowd would trample us if we didn't. Hey, you sure Dumbledore's gonna allow him in the building?" He motioned to Apollo. Sabriel dismissed the subject with a wave of her hand. "He's just a wolf cub! He's also very obedient. How much trouble can he get into?" Harry rolled his eyes. "I wish she hadn't said that..." he groaned.
Just then, Crookshanks let out two soft mews. Apollo's well-trained ears perked
up at the sound, sniffing the air for the source. He peered inside Crookshanks' cage, eyes narrowed, teeth bared, growling at the now terrified cat. "Hey!" Hermione cried, "Your wolf is scaring my cat!" "So?" Sabriel shrugged, "What's your point?" "Make it stop!" Hermione insisted. "I can't do that." Sabriel replied. "Why not?" Hermione pressed on. Before Sabriel could answer a stern voice interrupted. "Miss O'Conner?" Sabriel turned to see Professor McGonagall, wearing the same stern look as always. She continued, "Miss O'Conner, may I see you in my office for a moment, please?" Sabriel nodded and turned to the threesome. "Gotta go. See you at the feast!" She walked towards Professor McGonagall and entered her office. As the door closed, Ron lowered his voice and asked, "Harry, what do you think?" "Of what?" Harry asked. "You know, the new girl. I've never seen her around Hogwarts before. " Hermione interjected, "So? Maybe she was home-schooled or something. She isn't any first year..." Hermione trailed off, leaving the conversation at a standstill as they entered the banquet room, sat at the Gryffindor table, watching the new first-years be Sorted.
OoOoOoOoOo
Sabriel exited McGonagall's office, pleased with her choice of classes. Sabriel
knew so much about potions, she earned the right to skip the class entirely. Pleased with herself, Sabriel walked down the empty hallway, sounds of The Sorting being heard in the distance. The silver bottoms of her dragon-hide boots clacked on the tile, setting an eerie echo through the hall. Sabriel gently petted Apollo as "Gyre, Sharon" was called up front and immediately proclaimed a Hufflepuff. The sounds of The Sorting became closer as Sabriel approached the banquet room. Suddenly all was silent. Sabriel stopped short, and clutched Apollo as her knees gave way. Sabriel tried her best not to drop him as she set him on the ground, to the best of her ability, and clutched her sapphire brooch. *No," Sabriel thought, *I won't let it control me again. Think of Apollo, Angela, Uncle..* Sabriel shut her eyes, fighting the change that scared so many... Apollo let out a whimper, and licked her hand. With this, Sabriel's eyes snapped open. Sabriel sighed, and stood once more, picking up Apollo with shaky hands. "Thank you," she whispered, "You saved me again." She paused as single, hot tear ran down her cheek. "I'm afraid of myself, Apollo." she whispered. Sabriel walked down the rest of the hallway in silence, walking into the banquet hall just as the final first year placed on the hat. "RAVENCLAW!" the Sorting Hat shouted. There was a great uproar from the Ravenclaw table as people stood to shake the newcomer's hand. Sabriel put a weak smile on her face, and walked over to the Gryffindor table, hoping no one saw the incident in the hall.
But somebody did.
OoOoOoOoOo
Ron looked at Sabriel sat down at the table. She was smiling, but her skin was pale and clammy. She looked like she'd seen a ghost. "Sabriel," Ron asked gently, "Are you all right?" Sabriel's bright eyes widened slightly. "Hm? Oh, I'm fine, really. I must be a little tired." Sabriel replied, the color beginning to return to her face. Just then, the room fell silent as Dumbledore stood at the podium and proceeded to speak. "Welcome!" he greeted with a broad smile, " It's another fantastic term at Hogwarts! I see some new faces, and familiar ones as well..." as the usual banter continued, Hermione nudged Harry. "Look!" she hissed, "Hagrid's not here!" She pointed to the first empty place at the table. Harry replied, "Hermione, I'm sure he's just ill or something." Then Dumbledore said, "And without further ado, I'd like to welcome a new teacher to our ranks this year. Our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher is Professor Clearwater!" There was half-hearted clapping as a new woman at the head table stood. She was African-American, and had long, wavy blonde hair which complimented her light lavender eyes. She took a small bow at the little applause she received and sat back down again. Sabriel narrowed her eyes, retaking the cold look she held when Harry, Ron, and Hermione saw her on the train. "Sabriel, what's wrong?" Hermione asked. "That woman...something about her seems awfully familiar. We'll see..."Sabriel muttered.
She then noticed the empty plates that were once before her piled with food.
Sabriel picked up a fork and proceeded to eat. All the tables were talking and laughing, and Sabriel noticed that each person had a specific someone to talk to. It made her feel a small, brief stab of jealousy and hurt, but she quickly pushed it away. She had been alone most of her life. Why would it be different here? Sabriel sighed and pushed around some vegetables on her plate. Hopefully she could just keep her head down, get through three years, and graduate a full witch. Just then, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Sabriel turned around to see Professor Clearwater standing behind her. "Oh, hullo. May I help you with something?" popped out of Sabriel's home-school-trained mouth. She cringed, but Clearwater barely seemed to notice. She merely said, "So, you are Sabriel O'Conner." Her voice was naturally soft and patronizing, but most definitely American. A yank, as some people called them. Sabriel remained unnerved. "How perceptive" she said politely. Professor Clearwater merely smiled. "I have a feeling you'll be easy in my class. I knew your parents." Sabriel frowned. "My parents have been gone for quite a while now," she said tensely," They have nothing to do with me being here." Clearwater let out a small laugh. "If you say so, Sabriel." she said smugly. Clearwater smirked and walked away, her black robes flowing behind her.
Sabriel growled. She didn't like her, and she had a notion that the feeling was
mutual. "Uh..Sabriel..." Ron said. Sabriel snapped back to reality and looked at him. "Oh, sorry, what?" she asked. Ron motioned to the fork she was holding. Sabriel noticed that she had bent the fork almost completely in half. "Whoops!" she said, laughing
half-heartedly, "Guess they'll be short a fork now..." Harry asked, "What was that all
about." Sabriel shrugged. "I don't know," she replied, "Something' about my folks. Who
cares?" she replied, turning back to her food. Just then Malfoy approached her. "Joy,"
Sabriel sarcastically said, "More good news." "Gee, becoming a teacher's pet already.
What a shame." Malfoy said, smirking, as cocky as always. Still sarcastic, Sabriel turned to him and said, "Ah, Mr. Draco Malfoy. To what DO I owe this EXTREME pleasure?" She smirked as Malfoy scowled. "Meet me tonight in the library around midnight. Unless
you're a coward?" Malfoy challenged. "Fine." Sabriel said coldly, "Just don't chicken out." Malfoy scowled and walked away. "It was Sabriel in the library with a patronus spell." Ron joked. Sabriel let out a laugh. "I wish," she replied.
OoOoOoOoOo
That night, at midnight, Sabriel woke up. She silently turned off the alarm and
reached under her pillow for her brooch. Suddenly she felt something smooth, almost like liquid. She gripped the object and pulled it out. Even in the darkness, she could tell that it was definitely silver. There was a note attached to it: "This is an Invisibility Cloak. Use it to sneak into the library tonight.-Harry" Sabriel smirked. "Guess he's not so bad..."she whispered to herself. She pinned the Cloak to her brooch, sneaked past the Fat Lady, and whisked off, silently, to the library. By the time she arrived, Malfoy was already there. "You're late," he said, not looking at her. "Sorry, Draco." Sabriel replied," I'm never punctual. Well, what did you want to talk about?" Malfoy paused at this point, his eyes went softer. Sabriel got a confused look and pressed, "Well?" Malfoy turned to her. "I saw you fall in the hallway." he replied, "What happened?" Sabriel's eyes widened in surprise and shock.
Someone saw.
AUTHOR'S NOTES: Okay, so this had very small action in it. It's the first day!! Well,
fear not, there will be in the next chapter as Sabriel meets Snape...with hilarious results. Sankyuu SOOOOO much for reading my lil' ficcy!!! ^^ Oh, and BTW, Professor
Clearwater is actually my vision of Mihoshi with longer hair, lavendar eyes, and a
REALLLY bad attitude. ^-^