Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling and Scholastic own the
characters and settings and all that. I
just own what I made up.
A/N: Wow, I got this chapter out pretty fast. I guess the ideas just came quickly, and now
I actually planned out the story (well, most of it)! This chapter will probably be the last one that doesn't have any
major action in it. The next chapter is
when it really gets interesting. Anyway, this one's interesting enough. Oh, yeah, and in it, there's tarot card readings. I don't know anything about that kind of
stuff; I got the names of the cards and what they mean from twistmag.com. Thanks to anyone who reviewed or who reviews
in the future (hint hint). Please,
please, review! I'll take any kind
(preferably not flames, but hey, I'll take whatever kind I can get). Constructive criticism will be greatly
appreciated. Okay, now I'm going to
stop babbling and let you read the chapter.
Harry Potter and the Prism of Light
Chapter Three
"Snape's
gone off to spy on Voldemort?" Harry said incredulously.
Hagrid
looked around wildly. "Ssh, ssh,
don't let anyone hear! Anyway, yer not
supposed ter know, and there's nothin' you can do about it know, so just forget
about the whole thing!"
"But
how does Dumbledore know Snape's not spying on us for Voldemort? For all we know, they could be plotting our
deaths at this very moment!" Ron said darkly.
Hagrid
shrugged his broad shoulders. "I
don't know. But Dumbledore's the
smartest wizard I know, an' he's usually right, so I'm trustin' him! When he sent me an' Maxime off to the giants
this summer, I wasn't sure it was right, but I trusted him, and it all went
fine!"
"You
went to the giants this summer?" Hermione asked, staring wide-eyed at
Hagrid.
Hagrid
groaned. "There I go again! Listen, you are going to be late for yer
next class if yeh don't get goin'. Yeh
got the morning off tomorrow, don't yeh?"
Hermione,
who had already memorized the schedule, nodded.
"Well,
come down to my hut then, and I'll explain all about it then. But don't go tellin' anyone about
this!" Hagrid warned as they began heading back to the school.
***
Harry
and Ron made it to Divination just on time. They sat in two overstuffed, velvet armchairs as far away from Professor
Trelawney as possible.
"Welcome,
students," Trelawney said in a quiet, slow voice. "I hope that all of you will have a
safe year, although I do sense a few things about you already."
Harry
groaned and wondered how Trelawney would predict his death this year.
"This
year will bring about great change in the wizarding world," Trelawney
continued. She gazed at everyone in
turn and then went on. "Miss Patil
and Miss Brown," she said, addressing Parvati and Lavender, "your
Eyes will only grow stronger as the year progresses, but beware. Your crystal gazing abilities are
weak."
Parvati
and Lavender gasped. "Oh,
Professor, we'll work extra hard!" Lavender said.
She
nodded and kept speaking. "I can
also sense that, in mid-spring, there will be dramatic weather changes."
"Oh, no!" Ron
said in a low voice. "Could it
be... summer coming?"
Harry
stifled a laugh as Trelawney glared at them. "These changes are not just part of nature. They are vital to the future of the
wizarding world."
She
cleared her throat. "I have time
for just one more prediction before we begin the new lesson. This is the most unclear of the three, but I
sense that it will be the most crucial of the lot. While I was crystal gazing this summer, I saw faces. I could not see exactly who they were, but I
could tell that they were Hogwarts students. Then, suddenly, in a whirl of silver and white, they melted into a
mysterious triangle. I could detect
that this triangle will either destroy or save the world."
"Oh,
yes, a triangle's going to save us all," Harry whispered to Ron.
"Now,
on to today's lesson. We will be
working with tarot cards today. Oh, and
you," Trelawney said, gesturing at Neville, "please pick up your deck
of cards quickly after you drop them. You'll drop them just before the class ends, and I don't want you to be
late for your next lesson."
Each
student received a deck of tarot cards. Ron and Harry were supposed to interpret each other's future. Harry followed Professor Trelawney's
instructions and began turning the cards over.
"Let's
see, you've got a Star card. That
means... er...an important person will enter your life and you'll learn from
them," Harry said, reading from the book.
"Well,
you've got an Ace of Cups. That means
that good things are on the way and you'll have happiness in the future,"
Ron said.
They
continued through the boring lesson and raced out of the room as soon as the
class ended (after helping Neville pick up his deck of cards). They then met up with Hermione in Herbology.
***
After
Herbology with the Ravenclaws, the Gryffindor fifth years headed up to the
common room, where they had an hour break before dinner. The common room was filled with first,
third, sixth, and, of course, fifth year Gryffindors, and it was rather
crowded.
Harry,
Ron, and Hermione sat around a table to talk. They were chatting about their day when Aurora Malfoy sat down in the
only unoccupied chair. They stared at
her.
"Look,
I don't particularly want to sit here. There's no other place to sit, though," she said, shrugging.
"You
can sit here, we don't mind," Harry said quietly. He sort of pitied her; she didn't have any
friends, and the Slytherins made fun of her constantly because she was a
Gryffindor Malfoy.
"So,
er, how d'you like Hogwarts?" Ron asked.
She
raised her eyebrows. "You
seriously want me to answer that?"
Ron
shrugged. "Just making
conversation. So you don't like it
here?"
"Would
you like being harassed by your brother's friends all day?" she asked
sarcastically. Then she looked
down. "It's better then
Durmstrang, though," she muttered.
"Oh,
yes, you went there before, didn't you?" Hermione asked.
"Yes,
but I didn't have any friends there, either. Everyone was all into the Dark Arts, and, well, that's just not exactly
my favorite thing in the world," she said. "It's more for my dirty, evil, scumbag of a brother, but of
course he didn't have to go there."
"You
mean you don't like your brother?" Hermione asked skeptically.
Aurora
laughed. "Ha! Of course not! Who could like him? He's so annoying it's depressing. And he's... into the Dark Arts," she
added, lowering her voice slightly."
"You
mean you don't like the Dark Arts?" Ron asked.
"Of
course not!" Aurora said, shocked. "Why would you think that?"
"Well..."
Harry said, looking at his friends for support.
"Your
brother doesn't exactly have the reputation of a good wizard, if you get
what I mean. Plus, he despises
Harry. They're sort of... enemies. And, well, you're his family, so..."
Hermione said tactfully.
Aurora
rolled her eyes. "Labels are for
cans, not people. Just because I'm a
Malfoy doesn't mean I'm into the Dark Arts. And, anyway, I'm an enemy of my brother's, too."
"You
and your brother don't like each other?" Ron asked.
"Like
each other? We positively detest
each other!" she said, her eyes widening in horror at the thought of
liking Draco.
"Oh,"
Harry said. "So you don't like
being his sister?"
"Of
course not. It's even worse than you
think, though. Draco and I aren't just
brother and sister. We're twins,"
Aurora said.
"Twins?"
Harry asked. "If you're twins,
why'd your parents send you to Durmstrang, and your brother to Hogwarts?"
"Well,
I've never been interested in the Dark Arts like the rest of my family. I've always wanted to be a good witch- a
goal that my family has never respected. So, since Durmstrang teaches the Dark Arts, they sent me off there,
hoping it'd knock some evil into me. It
didn't. So they just gave up and sent
me to Hogwarts. That was most likely
because of all the stuff that went on at Hogwarts last year. 'Maybe you'll get yourself killed, like that
Diggory boy,' was what my father said. That would be a dream come true for him," Aurora explained.
"But
why did Draco go to Hogwarts?" Harry asked. "I'm sure he'd love taking Dark Arts classes at
Durmstrang."
"My
mum wouldn't be able to take it. 'Poor
little Draco, thousands of miles away from his family'," she
mimicked. "My mum wanted him close
to home, so they sent him here. No one
really cared about me, so being far from home wasn't a problem," Aurora
said matter-of-factly.
"Time
to go to dinner," Harry said, looking at the clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Aurora began
heading down to the Great Hall.
"Aurora,
all that stuff sounds like it must be difficult to go through," Hermione
said sympathetically. "If you ever
need someone to talk to, we'll be here," she offered.
Aurora
narrowed her eyes and scowled just like her brother. "I don't need anyone's help. I'm not a baby," she said.
Ron
shrugged as she stalked away. "She
may be in Gryffindor, but she's rude, cranky, and sarcastic."
"She's
a Malfoy," Harry answered dryly.
***
After
dinner, Harry trudged to the library to meet Draco so they could begin their
project. Draco was sitting at a table
in the back, near the History of Magic section.
"Potter,
you're here, finally. Lets get this
thing done so I can talk to you as little as possible," Draco said, giving the
infamous Malfoy scowl.
"Oh,
come on. You know you got the best
assignment! We don't even have to do
any research. I know enough about
myself!" Harry said, annoyed.
"Well, then, lets make it a bit harder for
you, shall we? I want to play you in
the skit," Draco said smoothly, smirking.
"What?"
Harry said. "You can't do that!"
"And
why not?" Draco said.
Harry
sighed. He knew he'd never win this
battle; he might as well just give in and play whoever else there was in his
life. "Okay, whatever, you can be me."
"Good. You can be… well, Voldemort, your parents,
those Muggles you live with during the summer holiday, those friends of yours,
and whoever else comes up," Draco said.
Harry
groaned. This was going to be a lot
more work for him than for Draco.
They
worked over the next few hours writing a script, fighting, planning costumes
and spells to use for effect, fighting, practicing the skit, and fighting. After a few hours, surprisingly, they were
finished.
Harry wearily trudged back to the common
room, which was empty. He went up to
his room, flopped onto bed, and immediately fell asleep.
***
The
next morning, Harry woke up late, as he didn't have any morning classes. He, Ron, and Hermione headed down to the
Great Hall, had a quick breakfast, and headed for Hagrid's hut.
"Good
mornin'!" Hagrid said, greeting them merrily as they entered the hut. He held Fang back by a thick leather leash
and tied him to a leg of the table as they sat down.
"How
are yeh?" Hagrid asked.
"Fine,"
Harry responded.
"Would
yeh like a cup of tea or something?" Hagrid asked.
"No,
thanks. What we would like, though, is
for you to tell us about the giants," Hermione said firmly.
Hagrid
sighed. "I'd hoped you'd have
forgotten about that by now."
"Forget? Hagrid, it's giants!" Hermione
exclaimed. "How could we forget?"
Hagrid
sighed. "All right. I suppose yeh want the whole story?"
They
nodded.
"Okay,
then. Yeh know that Dumbledore wanted
Fudge to make peace with the giants. Well, since Fudge refused, Dumbledore decided to take matters into his
own hands. Since Maxime and I are both
half-giants, he decided we'd be the best people for the job.
This
summer, right after yeh all left for home, Maxime and I headed off to where the
giants live - a remote mountain range far away from here. When we got there, we almost got attacked,
but the giants calmed down once they saw who we were. They invited us to their village, a bit reluctantly, but still,
and we got to talking with them.
The
giants agreed to make peace with us. They signed a treaty that said that they'd be kind to us and not take
Voldemort's side. In exchange, we've
got to work toward their acceptance in the wizarding world by witches and
wizards everywhere."
"So
that's it?" Ron asked.
"No,
there's more. Well, after the
negotiations went on for a bit, I actually met up with my mum!" Hagrid
said giddily.
"Oh,
Hagrid! That's wonderful!"
Hermione said, delighted.
Hagrid
nodded. "Yeah, it is. She didn't really treat me like a son, but
she wasn't outright rude. She was
actually a bit shy."
"So
have you talked to her since then?" Harry asked.
"Yeah,
we owl each other pretty often. It's so
nice to have a mum again!" Hagrid said. A single tear dripped down his cheek and he wiped it away.
"Sorry,
I know I'm gettin' a bit mushy on yeh," Hagrid said. "I'm just so happy, yeh know?"
Hermione
beamed. "Yes, it's wonderful! I'd like to meet your mother someday,
too. A real giant... it sounds
fascinating!"
"Yeah,
maybe you can meet her one day," Hagrid said. He looked out the window. "Oh, you'd best be going back up to the castle. Sixth year Hufflepuffs are just leavin' the
castle for Care of Magical Creatures, and I've got to get the Giviltinks out of
their pens."
Harry
didn't dare ask what a Giviltink was, and the trio headed back to the castle.
***
Their
last class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor
Figg. Harry was very interested as to
what kind of teacher she was.
"Hello,
class," Professor Figg said briskly. Her eyes hovered on Harry for a moment and he realized that there seemed
to be something very familiar about them.
"I
will be your teacher this year for the so-called cursed position of Defense
Against the Dark Arts. You have a very
solid background, but I'm here to expand that background. You see, I am very experienced with facing
the Dark Arts. I was, well, actually, am,
an Unspeakable. I can't really tell you
all what I do, just that I know what it's like to be up against the Dark
Arts. That's what we'll be doing this
year; I'll be giving you practice in fighting the Dark Arts," she said
seriously.
The
lesson began. "We'll start with
curses. Professor Moody- or, rather,
Crouch," Professor Figg said darkly, "taught you about the
Unforgivables very thoroughly, so I don't think we need to do those. We'll begin this semester learning about
curses that cause negative emotions. Today's lesson will be about the Odium Amo Populi Curse. Can anyone tell me what this does?"
Professor Figg asked.
Hermione
was called on. "The Odium Amo
Populi Curse makes the cursed person hate their loved ones."
"Correct, five points to Gryffindor. The Odium Amo Populi Curse makes you feel only hatred for the people you loved before the curse - family, friends, and anyone else you love. There is a counter potion, which is very complicated. Tomorrow we will actually make this potion, but today I'll just tell you its ingredients. Write them down, you'll need to remember," Professor Figg instructed.
***
"All
right, class. Who would like to present
their project first?" Professor Binns said dully.
It
was a few weeks later in History of Magic class; it was the day the projects
were supposed to be presented. Harry
thought that, though it had been quite difficult working with Draco, they would
do well. Both of them had their lines
memorized, and the skit was full of special effects.
"We'll
go," Draco said.
"Thanks
for asking me first," Harry whispered.
"I
wanted to go first," Draco hissed.
"Fine,"
Harry said.
They
headed for the front of the room and performed the spell to put on their
costumes.
"Harry
Potter was born fifteen years ago in Godric's Hollow," Harry began.
"Wah! Wah! I'm hungry for attention!" Draco said.
Harry
shot him a dirty look. The 'I'm hungry
for attention' line wasn't in the script.
"His
parents were Lily and James Potter," Harry continued.
"Make
me famous! Make me famous!" Draco
said. It was another line not in the
script.
Harry
sighed as the Slytherins burst out laughing. He had a feeling this skit wasn't going to work out exactly how he'd
planned.
***
"You
ruined it," Harry said.
"I
made it funny," Draco contested.
The
two were just leaving the History of Magic classroom after it ended. They were fighting over their skit, in which
Draco had continued to make fun of Harry throughout the entire thing.
"Ruined
it."
"Made
it funny."
"Ruined."
"Made
funny."
"Ruined."
"Made
funny."
"Maybe
to your Slytherin goons! If we don't
get a good grade on this, it's all your fault!" Harry said.
"My
fault? It'll be your fault!"
"Yours."
"No,
yours."
"It
won't be mine!"
"It
will."
"It
won't."
"It
will."
It
wo-"
"WILL
YOU TWO BE QUIET? YOU SOUND LIKE TWO
YEAR OLDS!" Aurora Malfoy shouted
at them as she came out of the classroom. She brushed by them, tossing each a dirty look.
"Well,
someone's got an attitude problem," Harry and Draco said at the same
time. They glared at each other and
stormed off in opposite directions.
***
The
next few months flew by, and nothing remarkable happened. Soon it was nearly time for Christmas
break. Ron and Hermione were staying to
keep Harry company; after all, the only other staying Gryffindor was Aurora
Malfoy, and he definitely didn't want to hang around her.
The
first day of Christmas break, Harry woke up late and headed down to the common
room, where Hermione and Ron were already in the middle of a fierce match of
Gobstones.
"Go
read the sign on the wall by the fireplace," Hermione said distractedly,
watching Ron, since it was his turn. "It'll interest you."
Harry
found the sign, which was bright orange.
Dimple and Hither Wizarding Carnival
Come one, come all
to the greatest wizarding carnival in the world!
Dimple and Hither
Wizarding Carnival has fun games, food, and loads of prizes!
Place: Hogsmeade
When: December 26
Admission: Free
for all Hogwarts students
Come and have fun!
"Sounds
fun," Harry said.
"Yeah,
it is. We went to one of those
wizarding carnivals when I was younger, and it was really fun," Ron said,
finally making his move.
Hermione
grinned triumphantly, made her move and cheered. "I win!" she said.
"Aw,
no, I was so close!" Ron said. "I think you cheated!"
"Cheated? How do you cheat at Gobstones?"
Hermione said, laughing.
"I
don't know, but you did," Ron stated firmly.
"You're
just a sore loser," Hermione said.
"Am
not! I could've won!" Ron said.
"Fine,
then! If you're so sure, I challenge
you to a rematch!"
"Good,
I accept your challenge!" Ron said, his face breaking into a grin.
***
By
the time the rematch was over (Hermione won again) it was lunchtime. The three Gryffindors headed down to the
Great Hall and ate lunch. They then
visited Hagrid for a while, did some homework, and played another few games of
Gobstones. Before they knew it, it was
nighttime.
Over
the next few days, Harry, Ron, and Hermione had much fun. They stayed away from Aurora Malfoy and all
Slytherins. Soon, it was Christmas
morning.
***
Harry
yawned and sat up. He realized it was
Christmas and hopped out his bed, grinning at the pile of gifts at the bed's
foot. He hollered for Ron and the rest
of the fifth year Gryffindor boys to wake up and dug into his first present.
Ron
had gotten Harry a box of Chocolate Frogs (they didn't have the Fancy Feet Potion
in them, fortunately). Hermione had
bought him Broomsticks Throughout Time, a book about Quidditch
broomsticks. Sirius sent him a Wizard
Watch. Where the number twelve would be
was "Time to go". In place of
the three was "In mortal danger". There was "You've forgotten something" in place of the six,
"You're late" instead of the nine, and things like that for all
twelve numbers. It sort of reminded
Harry of the clock in the Weasleys' kitchen.
Harry's
last gift was from the Dursleys, but it couldn't really be called it a
gift. It was a cheap plastic spork.
A/N: And that's the end of Chapter Three! Not the best one, I know, but I wanted to
get it out so I could concentrate on the next few chapters, since they're very
important. Please, please, PLEASE
review! I really want reviews so I know
what kind of stuff you want and how I can improve my stories. You don't even have to do that, though. Just review- any kind!!! Thanks!