(A/N: Thanks to all who responded to my questions! I really needed the
advice. It seems that the overwhelming response was to continue through
all the chapters and stick to at least a vague outline of the books, though
it was pointed out that I have changed so much already that I would
doubtless have to change much more. There are only answers to one reviewer
at the end of the chapter, he/she needs to be set straight on a few things.
The rest of you all thanks for your advice! As for the other questions, I
believe that you will have to continue reading to find out which of those I
have decided on. Oh and thanks to all who said that they loved my story
and all that other stuff : ) That kind of stuff really makes my day.)
Chapter 8: The Ministry and Other Troubles
Harry woke feeling slightly ill. 'Darn it, I hope I am not sick for Halloween.' Harry was really looking forward to this date as Dumbledore had said that there would be a big party in the Great Hall. He had also heard from Fred and George Weasley, that Halloween was one of the best times at Hogwarts.
Harry had had a run in with the Weasley twins in a secret passage almost two weeks ago. Needless to say, both the twins and Harry were very startled to see each other. Harry let slip that he knew about the passageway because his father and godfather had discovered most of them. After he said this the twins had gone into a conversation about who they could have been.
Slyly Fred had asked, "So, your father and godfather didn't have nicknames did they?"
Harry, sensing that they knew something about his relatives answered in the affirmative.
"They didn't happen to be Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony, or Prongs did they?" George had asked, looking slightly excited.
Harry answered that Padfoot was his godfather, and that Prongs was his father. George, looking a little nervous had asked, "Is Padfoot Sirius?"
Harry sighed, "Why don't we find a room and sit down, this could take a little while. After finding an empty room Harry told them the entire story, and they showed Harry the Marauder's Map.
Harry smiled, and told them that that one had been Moony's. He had lost it a long time ago. Harry then took out his and showed them. This one was Sirius'. It has a few more passageways and rooms on it, because Moony had lost his before they graduated, and they had found a few more secrets after that. After this run in, Harry and the twins had been on great terms, especially so because they were both on the Gryfindor quidditch team.
Harry quietly slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake the others in his room, and dressed. After this he grabbed his Nimbus 2000 and headed out to the quidditch pitch for an early quidditch practice with the team. As he reached the common room he saw Fred and George head out the portrait hole and ran after them.
"Hey, wait up guys!" They stopped and let Harry catch up with them.
"Hiya Harry," said Fred, or George, Harry still couldn't tell them apart.
The other twin looked at the tired Harry, "Hmmm, looks like you don't enjoy Wood's idea of an early practice either."
Harry shook his head, "I think that this is insane. We should practice when it is at least light outside." Soon they reached the doors and opened them, revealing the slowly brightening morning sky.
Harry shivered, it was beginning to get cold now that October was almost over. The three students finished the walk to the quidditch pitch. Upon arriving they saw that Wood was already there. As Fred put it, "Probably has been here for at least an hour already."
It wasn't long later that Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, the three chasers showed up and Wood assigned them all something to practice. Basically, today they would all play a game. The chasers would try to score on Wood, who was keeper, Fred and George would try to keep the bludger away from the team, and Harry would just try to keep catching the snitch over and over again. Harry had become quite good at this and because he could fly so well it was not hard for him to stay with the snitch. Harry caught the snitch a total of ten times during the hour-and-a- half practice session, a personal record.
"Alright team," said Wood after the practice was over, "the next practice will be the day after tomorrow, that gives you all two days to rest." The team groaned. "Hey! Do you want to win the Quidditch Cup or not?" They all mumbled that they did, but that they didn't want to practice again so soon. "Come on guys! The first match is against Slytherin in two weeks! We have to get in all of the practice we can! Alright, dismissed."
George groaned, "He is so much like a dictator."
"Yeah," said Fred, "The next practice would have been tomorrow but it is Halloween, and Wood knows that none of us would show."
Harry nodded in agreement; he was tired and hungry. After dropping off their quidditch things in the dorms the three headed down to the Great Hall to get some breakfast. Upon arriving the Weasley twins said 'cya' to Harry and went to sit by their fellow third years. Harry headed off towards Ron and Angie, who he spotted sitting with Dean Thomas.
All three greeted him as he sat down. "Hello all," he had replied.
"So Harry," began Dean, "how was quidditch practice?"
"Terrible as usual. We have to get up too bloody early," said Harry grabbing a croissant.
"Well," began Ron, "at least you are on the team."
"That's true, but I'm beginning to wonder if the sleep deprivation is worth it," Harry replied with a chuckle. Then, changing the subject, "What do we have first today?"
It was Angie that answered, "Care of Magical Creatures."
Harry smiled. He liked Hagrid a lot. He came across as a very helpful guy, just a nice guy overall, if somewhat a little slow or careless. "Cool, wonder what he will have for us today?"
"Please anything but the sirens he had last time," Ron said to the heavens. It wasn't just me that was being drawn to them, Hagrid too.
"Yeah," said Dean, "lucky you stopped them Harry."
Harry groaned, any way he turned conversations they seemed to always end up on him and his powers, which nobody yet knew the extent of.
Soon the three began the walk to Hagrid's hut, where nearby Care of Magical Creatures took place. As they approached the hut they all gasped. Hagrid had a unicorn in the front. It seemed to either know or trust Hagrid, because it did not run away at his touch or presence.
"Hello Hagrid," said Harry.
"Why 'ello 'Arry! 'Ello everybody."
"Hello Hagrid," said Dean, Angie, and Ron simultaneously.
"Hagrid," questioned Harry, "where did you get the unicorn?" The other three nodded their heads, wanting to know the answer as well.
"Oh 'im?" Hagrid pointed at the unicorn. "I met 'im in the forest one day. Was a bit injured 'e was. Well I wrapped 'im up good and we've kept in touch a bit. I asked 'im if 'e would 'elp out with me lesson today."
The four students grinned in anticipation. "That's great Hagrid! So we are learning about unicorns today?"
"Yep, now if you don't mind, I 'ave to get back to tendin 'im for a minute."
The four turned and began talking excitedly about the unicorn. It wasn't long before the other students began to show up and soon the class was avidly talking about the upcoming lesson. Presently it was time for the class to begin.
"'Ello class! As I can see, you 'ave all noticed the unicorn. I'm glad that you like 'im, for we will be learnin about unicorns fer the next two weeks." The class began to talk excitedly about his new development. "Now, now," said Hagrid trying to quiet the class, "who 'ere can tell me what the property of a unicorn's horn is?"
Instantly a hand shot up, nobody had to look to know that it was Hermione's. "Is there anyone besides 'ermione? No? Alright then." He pointed at her giving her the floor.
"The unicorn's horn, or alicorn, has the power of removing any poison. If dipped in poisoned water, the water will be cleansed. Many antidotes are made from alicorn, though it is a rare find." It sounded as if she had a textbook in front of her.
"Very good 'ermione. Now, let me tell you all a bit about the unicorn."
Hagrid's talk continued for the next forty-five minutes, until the end of class. When the bell rang the students reluctantly walked off towards the castle. Harry quickly summoned his books for divination and sighed. He and Ron, though they sat together, hated that class. Everybody knew that Trelawny was a fraud, well, everyone except a Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Even Hermione disliked professor Trelawny.
The class ascended into the high astronomy tower, where divination was held. Instantly the smell of incense hit them and many began to cough. Upon climbing the ladder into the classroom they looked around, but Trelawny was nowhere to be found. Fifteen minutes into the period, still no sign of the professor. Of course the class in general was not worried or upset by their professor's absence, in fact, many were elated.
The joy was short lived however, as twenty minutes into the period their mystical professor glided into the room. "Ah my dears, I'm am sorry for having detained you. However, something urgent came up, and it required my attention."
Harry couldn't bite back a retort, "Ah, I thought that nothing came as a surprise to you professor. Couldn't you have informed us yesterday that you would be absent for most of the class, and that you didn't require our attendance until thirty minutes into the period?"
"Oh Mr. Potter, I never said that I didn't know that it wouldn't come up. I knew perfectly well, I, oh dear!" Trelawny shrank her eyes back into her head and quivered a bit. Her quick movements scared half of the class out of their seats. Suddenly her eyes came back into place and she seemed in control of herself again. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I'm afraid that your death will be coming soon."
Harry rose out of his seat and walked towards the trapdoor. "My dear, where do you think that you are going?"
"I thought that you might know, professor," he spat out her title, "I'm leaving. I will not have some old FRAUD predicting my death, trying to scare me into believing her silly antics. I see right through you, that performance was just to cover your revealing mistake. Good-bye!" With that Harry stepped down the ladder and his footsteps began receding down the hall.
"Alas, I was hoping that somehow I could deter him from doing that, but the fates had decreed long ago. But now that we are only left with those who really appreciate the art, we can begin to learn more earnestly."
All of a sudden, half of the class stood up and walked to the trapdoor. "My dears?" Trelawny asked.
"Oh professor, I'm so sorry. It seems that another of your predictions have been false, we are all quitting. Trelawny fell back into her chair. She couldn't believe it, half of her class had just quit. She had been surprised when Harry had, but the rest? How was she going to continue teaching after this?
Ron went to find Harry with Angie, who had quit the class along with him.
*********************
Harry was walking towards the Headmaster's office; he needed to speak with Dumbledore about his quitting divination. He needed to get signed up with another class soon anyway. It wasn't long before he came up on the gargoyle that marked the entrance.
'Hmmm, I have no idea what the password is. Oh well, I guess I can wait around. Somebody has to come by sooner or later.' With that Harry sat on the ground, and pondered recent events in his life.
He did not have to wait long however, because soon the gargoyle began to move, and the voice of Dumbledore and another man could be heard. They were arguing.
"I need to speak with him Dumbledore. You know that you cannot protect him from us forever. We need to question him about Black." Harry cringed hearing his godfather's name spit out like on would say Voldemort's.
"That as it may be Fudge, I cannot allow you to do so. I believe for your own safety as much as his."
"My own, certainly Albus you do not mean to say that the boy is dangerous."
"Not at all Cornelius. However, I believe that since he has now heard, we should let him decide." Harry shocked that Dumbledore knew that he was there, cringed back from the pointing hand.
"Ah Harry," began the other man, "let me introduce myself. I am Cornelius Fudge." At Harry's confused look he added, "Britain's minister of magic. I would like to ask you a few questions regarding Sirius Black, your caretaker of ten years."
Harry nodded his head. He couldn't think of anything else to do. Part of him screamed, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You cannot let him question you! Do you realize that you might accidentally give them something that they need to find Sirius?'
The other part was egging him on, 'Come on Harry, you said that you would get Sirius proved innocent this year. This is the best chance that you have.' Eventually the side for going won the argument and Harry agreed to go with Fudge.
"You will have to question him on school grounds Fudge, and I demand to be able to be present," insisted Dumbledore. Fudge gave his consent to these terms.
[30 minutes later, in a little known room in Hogwarts]
Harry looked around. He was seated directly across from the questioner, an auror. Lining the wall were a few others; two aurors, Fudge, and Dumbledore. Harry was glad that Dumbledore was present, he would stop the questioning if it got out of hand. Harry was waiting nervously for whoever the questioner was to begin. It only took a minute while he was getting the papers together.
"Alright Harry, let me begin by first introducing myself. You can call me Hilton, and you already know what I do. First off I need your permission in writing to question you. A document and a quill were slid across the table to him. Harry picked up the quill, but before he could sign Dumbledore snatched up the parchment and eyed it meticulously.
"Harry, remember to always read anything that you are going to sign. In here it says that they want to test you under Veritiserum. Do you agree to this?"
Harry shook his head, "No, I do not want Veritiserum. I will give you the truth without aid."
Dumbledore then took his wand and muttered some words. The document was illuminated and the change took place on paper.
"Albus! What are you doing! We need the absolute truth!" yelled Fudge angrily.
Dumbledore's eyes flashed with anger. "Cornelius! You need the truth about what happened! But if Harry is under Veritiserum you will question him about where Black is! And that may be something that he does not want to release!" Fudge cowered under the gaze. Dumbledore waved his hand for Hilton to continue.
"Very well then. First off, Harry, is Sirius Black guilty or innocent of the crime of working for Voldemort."
"He is innocent."
"How do you know?"
"He showed me."
"Showed you?"
"His memories. He showed them to me using a spell."
"And so you saw the events of that night?"
"Yes."
"Tell us what happened."
Harry told them all of what he knew. He told them that Pettigrew was the one that had turned to Voldemort, that his parents had made him the secret keeper at the last minute. He told them of Sirius' encounter with Pettigrew that night, that was how he knew to go to Godric's Hallow. He told them of Sirius' talk with James before he died, that it was at James' request that Sirius took Harry. He saw one of the men against the wall flinch at what he was saying, as if the words were a physical blow.
Hilton continued, "Where is Sirius Black now?"
"I'm not going to answer that question."
"Why not?"
"Because I know that you won't give him a fair trial. It is quite common belief that he is guilty. I doubt that any jury could be convinced to see otherwise."
"Harry, you must know that the ministry is fair and thinks things through logically."
"And you must understand that I don't see why you still think that he is guilty even though I am still alive." Harry's voice was rising, "You don't understand, you couldn't understand that he is like a father to me. He taught me morals, and I love him. I love him like the father that I don't know; the father that I don't know because Pettigrew betrayed my parents!" Harry noticed the same man flinch. "Soon enough I will be able to prove this to you." Harry turned his gaze to the man shrouded in shadows. "Who are you?"
"That is not part of this interview Harry," said Hilton trying to swerve Harry from his questioning of this man.
"I want to know who that man is. I think that I have the right to know who is witnessing."
"He is correct," said Dumbledore quietly. "He does have the right to know."
Fudge sighed and motioned forward with his hand. The man in the shadows stepped out and lowered his hood.
"You," Harry almost growled, "after our meeting you still doubt?"
"Harry, please don't do this to me. I have believed that it was Sirius all these years. Don't try to take away my hate, it is the only thing that kept me alive after Lily and James were killed," answered the voice of Remus Lupin. Harry could tell that he was close to tears.
"You should never have had the hate. Did it never occur to you that Peter could have done it Remus? Surly you must see that it could not have been Sirius. I am alive, Peter would have killed me where his master had failed."
"He may have tried to do worse," retorted Remus. "He could turn you against the law. Could try to make you kill aurors."
Harry jumped to his feet, and he felt the fire return. He hadn't felt it since he had last met Remus; the man was so stubborn. "Remus you damn well why I fought, you were talking about the kiss! Do you think that after that I would let you take him? He raised me, I love him like a father! Perhaps I could care for you too, if only you would put this childish 'holding onto your hate' behind you!" Harry was yelling now, and Remus was involuntarily backing up. The other wizards present were ready to act should anything happen.
Harry looked around the room, his eyes piercing all of those accusing. "I'm done with this meeting," he announced coldly and began to walk to the door. The other auror moved to block it. Harry looked around once more and muttered some words under his breath. Then he disappeared.
"What in the hell?" cursed Fudge loudly. "I thought you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts Dumbledore!"
"You can't Cornelius, you can't," came the bemused reply. 'Harry is much more powerful than I first thought him to be. And yet I believe that I have not seen the full extent of his powers yet. I wonder when the child will come clean to the world, and more importantly, to himself.'
Remus stood in though, first Harry, then the voice, and then Harry again? When would he come to put this childish hate behind him? When would he look at this situation in an unbiased way again? He didn't know if he could.
*********************
Harry appeared in the Gryfindor study. He needed some private time. 'Why did I do that? I should have just blown the guy out of the way. I shouldn't have used my air element.' Harry sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs inside the study. 'Dang teleporting makes you tired.' Harry began to think about what he should do. Should he come clean to Dumbledore, he was beginning to trust the man. 'If I tell him, will he tell others?'
Harry's mind was in turmoil, there were just too many questions. Finally he decided to put off the problems until he was in a more peaceful state. He picked up Necromancy: The Ideas and Spells Behind It and began to read on calling shades. Harry had attempted this once in the safety of the study, but he feared to be in a place where none would be able to reach him. On that attempt he had succeeded in calling up a shade of one who had died. However, Harry apparently did not understand necromancy enough to speak with the shade, to ask it questions. It had simply droned on and on about how it had died and other things that Harry thought pointless. He desperately wanted to be able to call a specific shade, and to be able to converse with it, but that would take a very long time, much of that time spent in practice.
After finishing the section on shades Harry picked up the sword and amulet that he had taken from his vault. He had not too long ago discovered a spell that would reveal the enchantments that were attached to an object. However, the results of Harry's attempt to discern what kinds of spells were applied to these objects were a failure; at least to some extent.
The spell had worked correctly and had given the incantation that had been said to apply these charms but Harry couldn't find what these incantations were for. He suspected that they were the incantations of long forgotten magic. This Harry found interesting. Why do magics die out? He had heard many talk about the magic of old, magic so powerful that mountains were moved and dragons subdued. Harry wanted to learn more about these magics, if only to find out what the enchantments on his artifacts were.
After reading the passage on summoning shades a few more times Harry practiced sword fighting with a dummy opponent. He was actually becoming quite good, and he had to up the fighting experience of the dummy several times in the last few weeks. Eventually Harry noticed the time, midnight.
'Crap, I'm gonna be in for a lecture when I get back.'
**************************
Harry awoke to gleeful shouts of "Halloween! It's Halloween!" He groaned. What was so special about Halloween anyway? Sure everybody said that it was the greatest, but he was tired. And he didn't even want to wake up on birthday's if he was tired. "HALLOWEEN!" someone yelled right into his ear. That person was lucky that Harry was so tired, or he would have been hexed from here to next week.
Harry slowly opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. Someone had thrown open the sheet over the window, and the sun was shining through brilliantly. His eyes snapped shut. Again he tried to open his eyes; again he failed. Finally Harry turned over moving his eyes away from the window and opened them again. This time they stayed open. Slowly he turned back over, allowing his eyes to adjust to the amount of light. Finally he could see around the room. It was Dean Thomas that was jumping around like an idiot. The other first year boys seemed to be of the same position as Harry, Halloween was only important in the evening.
Eventually however, Harry got up along with the rest of the boys, and went down to the common room. There he met up with Fred and George.
"Hey guys," Harry started, "Do you want to play a quidditch match with the whole of Gryfindor house?"
The two seemed to consider the idea and then nodded. "If everyone else wants to, I don't see why not."
So Harry shouted, "Does anyone want to go play a quidditch match?"
Soon enough they had fourteen people willing to play. The teams were decided. Harry, Fred, George, Ron, Angie, Dean Thomas, and Katie Bell, would make up one team. The other team would be, Wood, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Percy Weasley, Neville Longbottom (he had still not improved on a broom), and Seamus Finnigan.
The two teams headed out to the pitch and mounted the school brooms. Much of the school had heard about the event by the time playing started and there were many spectators, almost none Slytherin. Even some of the teachers had come out to watch. Madam Hooch refereed the game.
"Players, mount your brooms!" They all did so. "Ready! GO!" With that all of the players soared into the air, Harry faster than the rest and the balls were released. Instantly Katie Bell, from Harry's team, the falcons, had taken the Quaffle. She passed it to Ron who caught it and immediately passed it to Angie, who dodged a bludger and threw the ball towards one of the three goal hoops. Wood however, being the excellent keeper he was, caught it.
The game continued on, with Wood's team, the lions, winning by fifty points. The score was 100-50. Wood was just too good of a keeper and Angelina and Alicia were well-practiced chasers, who handed the ball very well together. Harry realized that he had to get the snitch.
Currently the lions were in possession. Angelina passed the Quaffle to Alicia, who passed flew into a twist to avoid Ron, and tossed it to Seamus, who was nailed by a bludger in the side. He dropped the Quaffle and Katie almost instantaneously picked it up. She passed it to Angie, who in turn passed it to Ron. Ron pushed his old broom to the limit, dodging a bludger and Neville, who happened to fly right at him uncontrollably, and ducked under Wood. Ron tossed the ball up and scored.
"HURRAY!" Half of the Gryfindor watchers erupted. It seems that even they had taken sides.
Then it happened, Harry saw a flash of gold in the center of the action, he dove. Harry knew what his broom was capable of very well, and he flew like it. Three chasers, who were handling the Quaffle, Neville Longbottom, whose erratic movements made flying around him dangerous, and two bludgers, blocked the way to the snitch.
Harry gracefully navigated through the chasers, who split apart as he flew through them straight at the ground. Harry could hear Percy Weasley right on his tail. He pushed his broom faster. He managed to get past Neville, though he was almost hit by the bludger bat he was holding. There were only the bludgers left, and they seemed to be intent on smashing him.
Harry wasn't too familiar with dodging bludgers, but his natural flying skills made up for this. The two bludgers were weaving in and out, attempting to make Harry slow, Harry however, timed his burst of speed and put it on, sliding right through the two bludgers. He heard a 'thunk' behind him signaling Percy's removal. He was so close to the snitch, slowly he reached out his hand.
The crowds saw the two dive, saw the close encounters and saw Percy Weasley get creamed by two bludgers. They were yelling themselves hoarse over the amazing dive, now if only he could finish it off!
Harry reached out further to try to get the snitch. 'Just a few more inches,' he thought. He stretched himself a little further. 'Just one more inch!' He reached out and grabbed the snitch, but overbalanced himself in the act. His broom shot down towards the ground at an incredible speed. Harry's eyes opened wide with fear, but he held onto the snitch. Instantly his reflexes took over and he realized that he needed to pull his broom handle up fast; faster than he could ever normally do.
The crowd gasped at the sudden change of direction and instantly realized the danger that Harry was in. The girls began to scream and the boys couldn't. Their mouths were hung open in fear at what was about to happen. They waited for the 'thunk' to come.
It never did. Harry swung his legs up backwards from straddling the broom. He landed them on the back of the stick and stood, forcing the broom handle up very quickly. The result was Harry changing directions from straight down to horizontal in about one second's time. After correcting the alignment he slid back down onto his broom and landed' he still had the snitch.
Instantly the team and the crowd swarmed him. And he groaned as he realized that he had once again pulled off a stunt that would be remembered throughout Hogwarts history.
***********************
Harry, Ron and Angie were walking back to the Great Hall to participate in the feast, when they saw a form go running by them in tears. 'Hermione,' was the only thought that ran through Harry's head. 'I really shouldn't hold our first meeting against her. I mean, she was kind of like me, well sort of. We both came from somewhere that we didn't know anyone here. We both weren't popular, though I suppose I would have been. Maybe I will talk to her sometime again. I really do hate being mean to her.'
The same types of thoughts were running through Ron's head. He was never very nice to 'Miss Know-It-All' as he called her. Really, she wasn't such a bad person; just a little bit paranoid about house points and a little eccentric about learning. She also couldn't stand people doing things wrong. But really, she wasn't that terribly bad.
When Angie saw the girl run by crying she turned to look at Harry and Ron. She knew that they weren't very nice to her and she wanted to see their reactions. Surprisingly she found them deep in thought. 'Oh well, I suppose I could tell them to talk to her later. I mean she really does deserve a chance,' Angie had been talking to Hermione now for some time. Both considered each other friends but right now Angie wanted to get to the Great Hall, 'Besides, it seemed like she wanted to be alone right now.' She attempted some more to justify her going to the Hall without Hermione. Finally she just went on with Harry and Ron, who hadn't seemed to notice their partner's quick absence.
**********************
Harry opened a pumpkin and out popped some candy. He grabbed it up and started to open more, getting as much candy as he could. Ron and Angie were doing the same. Harry conjured a sack to put all of the treats in and quickly called several more pumpkins to him with magic. These he opened as well, pouring their contents into the sack. The three were having a great time with the feast. So far they had had dinner, been congratulated by Dumbledore on a great game, and were now gathering candy for the next few weeks. They were laughing and talking, that is until Quirrel came in.
"Ridgeback! Ridgeback attacking the castle!" He fainted.
'Oh shit.' That was all that Harry could think. Ridgebacks were a very feared type of dragon, all evil by nature. All very powerful. They had strong legs, with razor sharp claws. They had poisonous saliva. Not that that mattered, since if you were bit you were most likely eaten. They could breathe fire, and had their own type of magic. Yes, Harry was very scared indeed.
Apparently so was the rest of the hall. Only two words could have described what happened next: complete pandemonium. Students were running around, grabbing their faces in terror, pushing each other out of the way, trying to move into a corner, as if that would protect them.
"SILENCE!" a voice rippled through the hall, stunning the panicked into silence. It was Dumbledore, "All students will proceed CALMLY to their common rooms. Prefects lead the way. Faculty, come with me.
Quietly Dumbledore led the staff out of the room, leaving Quirrel behind. Harry noticed that Snape had slipped off somewhere as well. Quietly the students proceeded with the directions given to them. Quietly, not calmly. They were at a full sprint up the staircases and down the corridors of Hogwarts. All except Harry. Harry had one thought on his mind, 'Hermione.'
Harry ran to the front doors, and opening them sprinted outside, and down to the lake. That is where he had seen Hermione going, and he hoped to Merlin that she still was. As quietly as he could he sprinted down to the lake, and didn't slow until he saw her, idly picking flowers and grass and tossing them.
"Hermione!" he said a little louder than he had wanted to.
She looked over at him and then seeing who it was focused back on what she was doing. Harry ran over to her.
"Hermio -"
"What do you want?" she snapped. Harry could see her eyes were still red from tears. "Did you come here to make fun of me? Can't you see that I was perfectly happy wit -"
"RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Hermione stopped talking, stopped breathing. For a few seconds she just paled. Then, "What was that," she asked fearfully.
"That," said Harry shaking, "is a Ridgeback, and the reason I came out here. Now lets go!" Hermione nodded her head and she and Harry began to sprint back to the castle, hoping to get there before the Ridgeback saw them.
Dumbledore and the staff were standing in the towers of Hogwarts, silently watching the beast fly around them. Needless to say, they were quite afraid. Nobody seemed to notice the lone student run across the grounds towards the lake, they were all focused on the dragon. No one noticed the two students coming back, except for the dragon. It flew full speed to block the escape path of the two students. The professors turned and gasped, there was nothing they could do, they were too far away.
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(A/N: Awww come on, you didn't really think that I would do that to you did you?)
Harry and Hermione ran, faster than they had ever run before, apparently it was not fast enough. Before they could scream, they dragon was looming in front of them, its massive wings spread wide. Its mouth ripped open and unleashed a terrible scream, knocking Hermione to her feet. Harry was more afraid than he had ever been in his entire life, but he knew what to do on instinct.
"Hermione RUN to the trees!" he yelled at her. She obeyed immediately, running to the forest, she fared better in their than out with the dragon. Harry stayed to give her enough time to escape. "Oh Godric help me now," he whispered staring up at the enormous entity hovering above him. With those words he felt strength enter his body, and he found that the effects of the dragon fear no longer held him.
The dragon opened his mouth to breathe out a column of flame; Harry erected a flame shield. 'God I hope this works.' Harry looking up could see the flames come out of the dragons mouth, could hear the roar of the fire approach him, and could see the flames hit the fire shield; it held. He saw them licking at the shield, trying to break through. He could feel the heat of the air rise, obviously his fire shield could not keep out dragon flame in its entirety. He prayed that it would hold. He needed to get a spell off, he needed to beat the dragon, if only to save Hogwarts.
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The staff looked down at the figure, and the onslaught under which it was holding. There was no doubt in any of the professors' minds who it was down there anymore. It could only have been Potter. The boy had displayed remarkable magical ability, as far as the staff knew, he would be the only student capable of even erecting a fire shield. They could only watch the battle, and hope the shield held. It did.
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The dragon flame stopped, the shield had held; but Harry Potter couldn't waste time rejoicing yet, the dragon was still flying before him. It brought its claws together and unleashed a spell. A frightening bright red ball of energy was sent spinning at Harry, who jumped and rolled to the side. Where the ball hit the earth heaved, and came sections came up, and then fell back down, covering where Harry would have been standing. Harry decided to strike back.
"Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais! Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais! Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais!"
As he chanted, a ball of bright bluish white light began to form in Harry's hands, which were held together palms facing towards each other not touching, wrists in contact. Harry could feel the energy that he was drawing on flow through his body and into his hands. He was in ecstasy. The magic flowing through him felt like a sensual message, it felt like it was cleansing him. He was losing his control, and he fought to hold onto it. For this spell he had drawn on chaos magic. He was not yet very adept at this type of old magic, but he had learned enough for this. However, right now he was drawing on more magic than he had ever had before, for Harry knew that this was his only chance. He had to fight the ecstasy; it threatened to overtake him. If he let it the magic would explode back to the ground, killing Harry with its raw force. Harry twisted his hands in a fluid motion, bringing them back together pointed at the dragon.
Harry let the energy go, the magic was let out in the form of a large bluish white beam, a beam that looked, and was, pure power. Harry began to mutter the second part of the spell,
"Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara."
Each muttering became progressively louder until he was screaming to hold the power of the spell in check and focused. His body was draining the magic, and his energy as well. He could feel his muscles relax, his entire body become fatigued. Still he chanted until the last of the magic was gone, he couldn't even see if he was successful; Harry Potter collapsed.
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Dumbledore stared down at Harry, fearing for the child. He knew what was going to happen; or did he. He was most surprised when Harry dodged the dragon's earth heaving spell. Then he heard the boy begin to chant. How this was possible he did not know, however, upon a quick glance around he saw that the other professors heard it as well. Dumbledore could not understand the words, but he felt them pulling power to Harry. He felt magic rushing by him, answering Harry's call. He saw that magic begin to form in Harry's hands. It formed in the shape of a ball of bright light. Dumbledore didn't know what the spell was, or what it could do, but he could sense the amount of raw power in that one concentrated area inside Harry's palms.
It was then that he realized that Harry could easily be the most powerful wizard on the planet, perhaps ever.
Dumbledore intensely watched as Harry released the energy in the form of a bright bluish white beam straight at the dragon, and heard the chant change. Still he could not understand the words, though he longed to. Dumbledore saw the beam take the ridgeback full in the chest, and he heard its scream.
It seemed odd to Dumbledore that even over the intense piercing scream of the dragon he could hear the words that Harry was chanting, but he was fascinated, terribly fascinated with what was happening. The dragon was beginning to dissolve. It started at the chest, and spread out along its body.
Then the beam stopped, the dragon was dissolved, and Harry collapsed. Dumbledore saw a figure run out of the woods to Harry, and kneel down by him. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff rushed down the stairs to get to 'the boy who lived.'
*********************
Dumbledore reached the unconscious Harry first of the staff. He bent down to check his pulse. It beat; Harry was alive, but just barely. Quickly he lifted Harry off the ground and rushed him to the infirmary. Hermione followed, she was crying hysterically.
Once at the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey forcibly gave Harry five different potions. He had an extreme case of magical shock, and his condition was not going to improve for some time. After taking the potions there was nothing that could be done for Harry but let him rest, and hope he pulled through.
Once all this was done Dumbledore turned to Hermione. "Now my dear, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I'm so sorry Headmaster. I was out by the lake during he feast crying. Terry boot had made fun of me. I had no idea that the ridgeback had come. Harry came out to try to get me to run back to the castle. I wouldn't listen to him until I heard it roar." Hermione shook with fear at the memory, then continued. "He tried to sneak us back to the castle unnoticed, but we didn't make it. He told me to run for the trees, I did. I just left him out there. Then he fought it and - oh Headmaster is he dead?" Hermione was openly sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks. She kept muttering over and over, "It's my fault, it's my fault."
Dumbledore tried to console her. "Don't worry Hermione. Harry did what he had to do. He saved more than just your life today. Here. Lay down and take this." Dumbledore handed her a dreamless sleep potion. She took it and almost immediately her eyes closed. Dumbledore sighed and then stared back down at the unconscious, unmoving, barely alive, form of Harry Potter.
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(A/N: Sorry about getting this chapter out a little late but the length and a minor case of writer's block stopped me from getting it out yesterday. Thanks for your patience. I also wanted to tell you that I will not be able to update until at least Monday because of Thanksgiving and my family taking a trip up north. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and didn't mind that I changed the troll to a dragon. I mean, what kind of a challenge would a troll be to this Harry? CHEERS!)
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Nameless Reviewer - If you are going to flame the story, don't be such a coward as to not put anything in the name or e-mail block. At least give me something to call you by. Alright, now that that is out, let me continue with your review:
You have already distored it from it's origonal form! Harry with Blond and Brown hair dosen't work; it just dosen't! Maybe if you get Hermione, Ron and Harry back together and dump the stupid oc, you might be able to salvage it though. I like this fic...sort of, but you went WAY too fast with it. I can't remembe a chapter that didn't start on Harry's birthday. You can't just go from year to year to year without a summery or something. Plus, if your forgeting, this is Britain we're talking about! Do you think people go to boarding school and just start playing acid rock on conjured up stages during breakfast? No, they don't. I'm sorry if this is kind of rude but it seems as though you took a story and just...I don't know, are you American? That would explain everything!
You are correct, I have distorted it from its original form. I'm okay with you not liking Harry's look, but really I don't even mention it besides when he gets it. In the first book, if I may so humbly point out, Hermione is not liked by Ron and Harry until Halloween, or this chapter, in which she begins the steps towards friendship. So if you could have patiently waited . . .
Also, do you REALLY want to know all the BORING details of what Harry and Sirius did all year, basically stuck in one house? Okay here they are. Harry and Sirius played a game of cards over the year, they also flew on broom some. Oh yeah, they ate and slept too. Ummm, that's about it.
Britain we are talking about! Well, lets see, I think I made it perfectly clear in my story that Harry was German. He didn't grow up in Britain at all so that argument really doesn't apply. Besides, if you call New Found Glory, Finch, Yellowcard, Blink, and the like ACID ROCK, then I'd hate to hear what you call real acid rock. Hell, I doubt if you have heard of those bands if you are calling them acid rock.
Then you accuse me of being American, which I am, but you go on and DISS Americans. Really I don't think that that was necessary at all. In Arizona, where I live, that is how we are. 11 year old boys play "pop punk," what that music is called here, on guitars. I don't even know what nationality you are, and even if I did, I wouldn't make a generalization or stereotype. Personally, I just don't think that your comment is acceptable. Thanks for reading my point of view, if you did.
Chapter 8: The Ministry and Other Troubles
Harry woke feeling slightly ill. 'Darn it, I hope I am not sick for Halloween.' Harry was really looking forward to this date as Dumbledore had said that there would be a big party in the Great Hall. He had also heard from Fred and George Weasley, that Halloween was one of the best times at Hogwarts.
Harry had had a run in with the Weasley twins in a secret passage almost two weeks ago. Needless to say, both the twins and Harry were very startled to see each other. Harry let slip that he knew about the passageway because his father and godfather had discovered most of them. After he said this the twins had gone into a conversation about who they could have been.
Slyly Fred had asked, "So, your father and godfather didn't have nicknames did they?"
Harry, sensing that they knew something about his relatives answered in the affirmative.
"They didn't happen to be Padfoot, Wormtail, Moony, or Prongs did they?" George had asked, looking slightly excited.
Harry answered that Padfoot was his godfather, and that Prongs was his father. George, looking a little nervous had asked, "Is Padfoot Sirius?"
Harry sighed, "Why don't we find a room and sit down, this could take a little while. After finding an empty room Harry told them the entire story, and they showed Harry the Marauder's Map.
Harry smiled, and told them that that one had been Moony's. He had lost it a long time ago. Harry then took out his and showed them. This one was Sirius'. It has a few more passageways and rooms on it, because Moony had lost his before they graduated, and they had found a few more secrets after that. After this run in, Harry and the twins had been on great terms, especially so because they were both on the Gryfindor quidditch team.
Harry quietly slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake the others in his room, and dressed. After this he grabbed his Nimbus 2000 and headed out to the quidditch pitch for an early quidditch practice with the team. As he reached the common room he saw Fred and George head out the portrait hole and ran after them.
"Hey, wait up guys!" They stopped and let Harry catch up with them.
"Hiya Harry," said Fred, or George, Harry still couldn't tell them apart.
The other twin looked at the tired Harry, "Hmmm, looks like you don't enjoy Wood's idea of an early practice either."
Harry shook his head, "I think that this is insane. We should practice when it is at least light outside." Soon they reached the doors and opened them, revealing the slowly brightening morning sky.
Harry shivered, it was beginning to get cold now that October was almost over. The three students finished the walk to the quidditch pitch. Upon arriving they saw that Wood was already there. As Fred put it, "Probably has been here for at least an hour already."
It wasn't long later that Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell, the three chasers showed up and Wood assigned them all something to practice. Basically, today they would all play a game. The chasers would try to score on Wood, who was keeper, Fred and George would try to keep the bludger away from the team, and Harry would just try to keep catching the snitch over and over again. Harry had become quite good at this and because he could fly so well it was not hard for him to stay with the snitch. Harry caught the snitch a total of ten times during the hour-and-a- half practice session, a personal record.
"Alright team," said Wood after the practice was over, "the next practice will be the day after tomorrow, that gives you all two days to rest." The team groaned. "Hey! Do you want to win the Quidditch Cup or not?" They all mumbled that they did, but that they didn't want to practice again so soon. "Come on guys! The first match is against Slytherin in two weeks! We have to get in all of the practice we can! Alright, dismissed."
George groaned, "He is so much like a dictator."
"Yeah," said Fred, "The next practice would have been tomorrow but it is Halloween, and Wood knows that none of us would show."
Harry nodded in agreement; he was tired and hungry. After dropping off their quidditch things in the dorms the three headed down to the Great Hall to get some breakfast. Upon arriving the Weasley twins said 'cya' to Harry and went to sit by their fellow third years. Harry headed off towards Ron and Angie, who he spotted sitting with Dean Thomas.
All three greeted him as he sat down. "Hello all," he had replied.
"So Harry," began Dean, "how was quidditch practice?"
"Terrible as usual. We have to get up too bloody early," said Harry grabbing a croissant.
"Well," began Ron, "at least you are on the team."
"That's true, but I'm beginning to wonder if the sleep deprivation is worth it," Harry replied with a chuckle. Then, changing the subject, "What do we have first today?"
It was Angie that answered, "Care of Magical Creatures."
Harry smiled. He liked Hagrid a lot. He came across as a very helpful guy, just a nice guy overall, if somewhat a little slow or careless. "Cool, wonder what he will have for us today?"
"Please anything but the sirens he had last time," Ron said to the heavens. It wasn't just me that was being drawn to them, Hagrid too.
"Yeah," said Dean, "lucky you stopped them Harry."
Harry groaned, any way he turned conversations they seemed to always end up on him and his powers, which nobody yet knew the extent of.
Soon the three began the walk to Hagrid's hut, where nearby Care of Magical Creatures took place. As they approached the hut they all gasped. Hagrid had a unicorn in the front. It seemed to either know or trust Hagrid, because it did not run away at his touch or presence.
"Hello Hagrid," said Harry.
"Why 'ello 'Arry! 'Ello everybody."
"Hello Hagrid," said Dean, Angie, and Ron simultaneously.
"Hagrid," questioned Harry, "where did you get the unicorn?" The other three nodded their heads, wanting to know the answer as well.
"Oh 'im?" Hagrid pointed at the unicorn. "I met 'im in the forest one day. Was a bit injured 'e was. Well I wrapped 'im up good and we've kept in touch a bit. I asked 'im if 'e would 'elp out with me lesson today."
The four students grinned in anticipation. "That's great Hagrid! So we are learning about unicorns today?"
"Yep, now if you don't mind, I 'ave to get back to tendin 'im for a minute."
The four turned and began talking excitedly about the unicorn. It wasn't long before the other students began to show up and soon the class was avidly talking about the upcoming lesson. Presently it was time for the class to begin.
"'Ello class! As I can see, you 'ave all noticed the unicorn. I'm glad that you like 'im, for we will be learnin about unicorns fer the next two weeks." The class began to talk excitedly about his new development. "Now, now," said Hagrid trying to quiet the class, "who 'ere can tell me what the property of a unicorn's horn is?"
Instantly a hand shot up, nobody had to look to know that it was Hermione's. "Is there anyone besides 'ermione? No? Alright then." He pointed at her giving her the floor.
"The unicorn's horn, or alicorn, has the power of removing any poison. If dipped in poisoned water, the water will be cleansed. Many antidotes are made from alicorn, though it is a rare find." It sounded as if she had a textbook in front of her.
"Very good 'ermione. Now, let me tell you all a bit about the unicorn."
Hagrid's talk continued for the next forty-five minutes, until the end of class. When the bell rang the students reluctantly walked off towards the castle. Harry quickly summoned his books for divination and sighed. He and Ron, though they sat together, hated that class. Everybody knew that Trelawny was a fraud, well, everyone except a Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil. Even Hermione disliked professor Trelawny.
The class ascended into the high astronomy tower, where divination was held. Instantly the smell of incense hit them and many began to cough. Upon climbing the ladder into the classroom they looked around, but Trelawny was nowhere to be found. Fifteen minutes into the period, still no sign of the professor. Of course the class in general was not worried or upset by their professor's absence, in fact, many were elated.
The joy was short lived however, as twenty minutes into the period their mystical professor glided into the room. "Ah my dears, I'm am sorry for having detained you. However, something urgent came up, and it required my attention."
Harry couldn't bite back a retort, "Ah, I thought that nothing came as a surprise to you professor. Couldn't you have informed us yesterday that you would be absent for most of the class, and that you didn't require our attendance until thirty minutes into the period?"
"Oh Mr. Potter, I never said that I didn't know that it wouldn't come up. I knew perfectly well, I, oh dear!" Trelawny shrank her eyes back into her head and quivered a bit. Her quick movements scared half of the class out of their seats. Suddenly her eyes came back into place and she seemed in control of herself again. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I'm afraid that your death will be coming soon."
Harry rose out of his seat and walked towards the trapdoor. "My dear, where do you think that you are going?"
"I thought that you might know, professor," he spat out her title, "I'm leaving. I will not have some old FRAUD predicting my death, trying to scare me into believing her silly antics. I see right through you, that performance was just to cover your revealing mistake. Good-bye!" With that Harry stepped down the ladder and his footsteps began receding down the hall.
"Alas, I was hoping that somehow I could deter him from doing that, but the fates had decreed long ago. But now that we are only left with those who really appreciate the art, we can begin to learn more earnestly."
All of a sudden, half of the class stood up and walked to the trapdoor. "My dears?" Trelawny asked.
"Oh professor, I'm so sorry. It seems that another of your predictions have been false, we are all quitting. Trelawny fell back into her chair. She couldn't believe it, half of her class had just quit. She had been surprised when Harry had, but the rest? How was she going to continue teaching after this?
Ron went to find Harry with Angie, who had quit the class along with him.
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Harry was walking towards the Headmaster's office; he needed to speak with Dumbledore about his quitting divination. He needed to get signed up with another class soon anyway. It wasn't long before he came up on the gargoyle that marked the entrance.
'Hmmm, I have no idea what the password is. Oh well, I guess I can wait around. Somebody has to come by sooner or later.' With that Harry sat on the ground, and pondered recent events in his life.
He did not have to wait long however, because soon the gargoyle began to move, and the voice of Dumbledore and another man could be heard. They were arguing.
"I need to speak with him Dumbledore. You know that you cannot protect him from us forever. We need to question him about Black." Harry cringed hearing his godfather's name spit out like on would say Voldemort's.
"That as it may be Fudge, I cannot allow you to do so. I believe for your own safety as much as his."
"My own, certainly Albus you do not mean to say that the boy is dangerous."
"Not at all Cornelius. However, I believe that since he has now heard, we should let him decide." Harry shocked that Dumbledore knew that he was there, cringed back from the pointing hand.
"Ah Harry," began the other man, "let me introduce myself. I am Cornelius Fudge." At Harry's confused look he added, "Britain's minister of magic. I would like to ask you a few questions regarding Sirius Black, your caretaker of ten years."
Harry nodded his head. He couldn't think of anything else to do. Part of him screamed, 'WHAT ARE YOU DOING! You cannot let him question you! Do you realize that you might accidentally give them something that they need to find Sirius?'
The other part was egging him on, 'Come on Harry, you said that you would get Sirius proved innocent this year. This is the best chance that you have.' Eventually the side for going won the argument and Harry agreed to go with Fudge.
"You will have to question him on school grounds Fudge, and I demand to be able to be present," insisted Dumbledore. Fudge gave his consent to these terms.
[30 minutes later, in a little known room in Hogwarts]
Harry looked around. He was seated directly across from the questioner, an auror. Lining the wall were a few others; two aurors, Fudge, and Dumbledore. Harry was glad that Dumbledore was present, he would stop the questioning if it got out of hand. Harry was waiting nervously for whoever the questioner was to begin. It only took a minute while he was getting the papers together.
"Alright Harry, let me begin by first introducing myself. You can call me Hilton, and you already know what I do. First off I need your permission in writing to question you. A document and a quill were slid across the table to him. Harry picked up the quill, but before he could sign Dumbledore snatched up the parchment and eyed it meticulously.
"Harry, remember to always read anything that you are going to sign. In here it says that they want to test you under Veritiserum. Do you agree to this?"
Harry shook his head, "No, I do not want Veritiserum. I will give you the truth without aid."
Dumbledore then took his wand and muttered some words. The document was illuminated and the change took place on paper.
"Albus! What are you doing! We need the absolute truth!" yelled Fudge angrily.
Dumbledore's eyes flashed with anger. "Cornelius! You need the truth about what happened! But if Harry is under Veritiserum you will question him about where Black is! And that may be something that he does not want to release!" Fudge cowered under the gaze. Dumbledore waved his hand for Hilton to continue.
"Very well then. First off, Harry, is Sirius Black guilty or innocent of the crime of working for Voldemort."
"He is innocent."
"How do you know?"
"He showed me."
"Showed you?"
"His memories. He showed them to me using a spell."
"And so you saw the events of that night?"
"Yes."
"Tell us what happened."
Harry told them all of what he knew. He told them that Pettigrew was the one that had turned to Voldemort, that his parents had made him the secret keeper at the last minute. He told them of Sirius' encounter with Pettigrew that night, that was how he knew to go to Godric's Hallow. He told them of Sirius' talk with James before he died, that it was at James' request that Sirius took Harry. He saw one of the men against the wall flinch at what he was saying, as if the words were a physical blow.
Hilton continued, "Where is Sirius Black now?"
"I'm not going to answer that question."
"Why not?"
"Because I know that you won't give him a fair trial. It is quite common belief that he is guilty. I doubt that any jury could be convinced to see otherwise."
"Harry, you must know that the ministry is fair and thinks things through logically."
"And you must understand that I don't see why you still think that he is guilty even though I am still alive." Harry's voice was rising, "You don't understand, you couldn't understand that he is like a father to me. He taught me morals, and I love him. I love him like the father that I don't know; the father that I don't know because Pettigrew betrayed my parents!" Harry noticed the same man flinch. "Soon enough I will be able to prove this to you." Harry turned his gaze to the man shrouded in shadows. "Who are you?"
"That is not part of this interview Harry," said Hilton trying to swerve Harry from his questioning of this man.
"I want to know who that man is. I think that I have the right to know who is witnessing."
"He is correct," said Dumbledore quietly. "He does have the right to know."
Fudge sighed and motioned forward with his hand. The man in the shadows stepped out and lowered his hood.
"You," Harry almost growled, "after our meeting you still doubt?"
"Harry, please don't do this to me. I have believed that it was Sirius all these years. Don't try to take away my hate, it is the only thing that kept me alive after Lily and James were killed," answered the voice of Remus Lupin. Harry could tell that he was close to tears.
"You should never have had the hate. Did it never occur to you that Peter could have done it Remus? Surly you must see that it could not have been Sirius. I am alive, Peter would have killed me where his master had failed."
"He may have tried to do worse," retorted Remus. "He could turn you against the law. Could try to make you kill aurors."
Harry jumped to his feet, and he felt the fire return. He hadn't felt it since he had last met Remus; the man was so stubborn. "Remus you damn well why I fought, you were talking about the kiss! Do you think that after that I would let you take him? He raised me, I love him like a father! Perhaps I could care for you too, if only you would put this childish 'holding onto your hate' behind you!" Harry was yelling now, and Remus was involuntarily backing up. The other wizards present were ready to act should anything happen.
Harry looked around the room, his eyes piercing all of those accusing. "I'm done with this meeting," he announced coldly and began to walk to the door. The other auror moved to block it. Harry looked around once more and muttered some words under his breath. Then he disappeared.
"What in the hell?" cursed Fudge loudly. "I thought you couldn't apparate in Hogwarts Dumbledore!"
"You can't Cornelius, you can't," came the bemused reply. 'Harry is much more powerful than I first thought him to be. And yet I believe that I have not seen the full extent of his powers yet. I wonder when the child will come clean to the world, and more importantly, to himself.'
Remus stood in though, first Harry, then the voice, and then Harry again? When would he come to put this childish hate behind him? When would he look at this situation in an unbiased way again? He didn't know if he could.
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Harry appeared in the Gryfindor study. He needed some private time. 'Why did I do that? I should have just blown the guy out of the way. I shouldn't have used my air element.' Harry sat down on one of the overstuffed chairs inside the study. 'Dang teleporting makes you tired.' Harry began to think about what he should do. Should he come clean to Dumbledore, he was beginning to trust the man. 'If I tell him, will he tell others?'
Harry's mind was in turmoil, there were just too many questions. Finally he decided to put off the problems until he was in a more peaceful state. He picked up Necromancy: The Ideas and Spells Behind It and began to read on calling shades. Harry had attempted this once in the safety of the study, but he feared to be in a place where none would be able to reach him. On that attempt he had succeeded in calling up a shade of one who had died. However, Harry apparently did not understand necromancy enough to speak with the shade, to ask it questions. It had simply droned on and on about how it had died and other things that Harry thought pointless. He desperately wanted to be able to call a specific shade, and to be able to converse with it, but that would take a very long time, much of that time spent in practice.
After finishing the section on shades Harry picked up the sword and amulet that he had taken from his vault. He had not too long ago discovered a spell that would reveal the enchantments that were attached to an object. However, the results of Harry's attempt to discern what kinds of spells were applied to these objects were a failure; at least to some extent.
The spell had worked correctly and had given the incantation that had been said to apply these charms but Harry couldn't find what these incantations were for. He suspected that they were the incantations of long forgotten magic. This Harry found interesting. Why do magics die out? He had heard many talk about the magic of old, magic so powerful that mountains were moved and dragons subdued. Harry wanted to learn more about these magics, if only to find out what the enchantments on his artifacts were.
After reading the passage on summoning shades a few more times Harry practiced sword fighting with a dummy opponent. He was actually becoming quite good, and he had to up the fighting experience of the dummy several times in the last few weeks. Eventually Harry noticed the time, midnight.
'Crap, I'm gonna be in for a lecture when I get back.'
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Harry awoke to gleeful shouts of "Halloween! It's Halloween!" He groaned. What was so special about Halloween anyway? Sure everybody said that it was the greatest, but he was tired. And he didn't even want to wake up on birthday's if he was tired. "HALLOWEEN!" someone yelled right into his ear. That person was lucky that Harry was so tired, or he would have been hexed from here to next week.
Harry slowly opened his eyes and instantly regretted it. Someone had thrown open the sheet over the window, and the sun was shining through brilliantly. His eyes snapped shut. Again he tried to open his eyes; again he failed. Finally Harry turned over moving his eyes away from the window and opened them again. This time they stayed open. Slowly he turned back over, allowing his eyes to adjust to the amount of light. Finally he could see around the room. It was Dean Thomas that was jumping around like an idiot. The other first year boys seemed to be of the same position as Harry, Halloween was only important in the evening.
Eventually however, Harry got up along with the rest of the boys, and went down to the common room. There he met up with Fred and George.
"Hey guys," Harry started, "Do you want to play a quidditch match with the whole of Gryfindor house?"
The two seemed to consider the idea and then nodded. "If everyone else wants to, I don't see why not."
So Harry shouted, "Does anyone want to go play a quidditch match?"
Soon enough they had fourteen people willing to play. The teams were decided. Harry, Fred, George, Ron, Angie, Dean Thomas, and Katie Bell, would make up one team. The other team would be, Wood, Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson, Percy Weasley, Neville Longbottom (he had still not improved on a broom), and Seamus Finnigan.
The two teams headed out to the pitch and mounted the school brooms. Much of the school had heard about the event by the time playing started and there were many spectators, almost none Slytherin. Even some of the teachers had come out to watch. Madam Hooch refereed the game.
"Players, mount your brooms!" They all did so. "Ready! GO!" With that all of the players soared into the air, Harry faster than the rest and the balls were released. Instantly Katie Bell, from Harry's team, the falcons, had taken the Quaffle. She passed it to Ron who caught it and immediately passed it to Angie, who dodged a bludger and threw the ball towards one of the three goal hoops. Wood however, being the excellent keeper he was, caught it.
The game continued on, with Wood's team, the lions, winning by fifty points. The score was 100-50. Wood was just too good of a keeper and Angelina and Alicia were well-practiced chasers, who handed the ball very well together. Harry realized that he had to get the snitch.
Currently the lions were in possession. Angelina passed the Quaffle to Alicia, who passed flew into a twist to avoid Ron, and tossed it to Seamus, who was nailed by a bludger in the side. He dropped the Quaffle and Katie almost instantaneously picked it up. She passed it to Angie, who in turn passed it to Ron. Ron pushed his old broom to the limit, dodging a bludger and Neville, who happened to fly right at him uncontrollably, and ducked under Wood. Ron tossed the ball up and scored.
"HURRAY!" Half of the Gryfindor watchers erupted. It seems that even they had taken sides.
Then it happened, Harry saw a flash of gold in the center of the action, he dove. Harry knew what his broom was capable of very well, and he flew like it. Three chasers, who were handling the Quaffle, Neville Longbottom, whose erratic movements made flying around him dangerous, and two bludgers, blocked the way to the snitch.
Harry gracefully navigated through the chasers, who split apart as he flew through them straight at the ground. Harry could hear Percy Weasley right on his tail. He pushed his broom faster. He managed to get past Neville, though he was almost hit by the bludger bat he was holding. There were only the bludgers left, and they seemed to be intent on smashing him.
Harry wasn't too familiar with dodging bludgers, but his natural flying skills made up for this. The two bludgers were weaving in and out, attempting to make Harry slow, Harry however, timed his burst of speed and put it on, sliding right through the two bludgers. He heard a 'thunk' behind him signaling Percy's removal. He was so close to the snitch, slowly he reached out his hand.
The crowds saw the two dive, saw the close encounters and saw Percy Weasley get creamed by two bludgers. They were yelling themselves hoarse over the amazing dive, now if only he could finish it off!
Harry reached out further to try to get the snitch. 'Just a few more inches,' he thought. He stretched himself a little further. 'Just one more inch!' He reached out and grabbed the snitch, but overbalanced himself in the act. His broom shot down towards the ground at an incredible speed. Harry's eyes opened wide with fear, but he held onto the snitch. Instantly his reflexes took over and he realized that he needed to pull his broom handle up fast; faster than he could ever normally do.
The crowd gasped at the sudden change of direction and instantly realized the danger that Harry was in. The girls began to scream and the boys couldn't. Their mouths were hung open in fear at what was about to happen. They waited for the 'thunk' to come.
It never did. Harry swung his legs up backwards from straddling the broom. He landed them on the back of the stick and stood, forcing the broom handle up very quickly. The result was Harry changing directions from straight down to horizontal in about one second's time. After correcting the alignment he slid back down onto his broom and landed' he still had the snitch.
Instantly the team and the crowd swarmed him. And he groaned as he realized that he had once again pulled off a stunt that would be remembered throughout Hogwarts history.
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Harry, Ron and Angie were walking back to the Great Hall to participate in the feast, when they saw a form go running by them in tears. 'Hermione,' was the only thought that ran through Harry's head. 'I really shouldn't hold our first meeting against her. I mean, she was kind of like me, well sort of. We both came from somewhere that we didn't know anyone here. We both weren't popular, though I suppose I would have been. Maybe I will talk to her sometime again. I really do hate being mean to her.'
The same types of thoughts were running through Ron's head. He was never very nice to 'Miss Know-It-All' as he called her. Really, she wasn't such a bad person; just a little bit paranoid about house points and a little eccentric about learning. She also couldn't stand people doing things wrong. But really, she wasn't that terribly bad.
When Angie saw the girl run by crying she turned to look at Harry and Ron. She knew that they weren't very nice to her and she wanted to see their reactions. Surprisingly she found them deep in thought. 'Oh well, I suppose I could tell them to talk to her later. I mean she really does deserve a chance,' Angie had been talking to Hermione now for some time. Both considered each other friends but right now Angie wanted to get to the Great Hall, 'Besides, it seemed like she wanted to be alone right now.' She attempted some more to justify her going to the Hall without Hermione. Finally she just went on with Harry and Ron, who hadn't seemed to notice their partner's quick absence.
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Harry opened a pumpkin and out popped some candy. He grabbed it up and started to open more, getting as much candy as he could. Ron and Angie were doing the same. Harry conjured a sack to put all of the treats in and quickly called several more pumpkins to him with magic. These he opened as well, pouring their contents into the sack. The three were having a great time with the feast. So far they had had dinner, been congratulated by Dumbledore on a great game, and were now gathering candy for the next few weeks. They were laughing and talking, that is until Quirrel came in.
"Ridgeback! Ridgeback attacking the castle!" He fainted.
'Oh shit.' That was all that Harry could think. Ridgebacks were a very feared type of dragon, all evil by nature. All very powerful. They had strong legs, with razor sharp claws. They had poisonous saliva. Not that that mattered, since if you were bit you were most likely eaten. They could breathe fire, and had their own type of magic. Yes, Harry was very scared indeed.
Apparently so was the rest of the hall. Only two words could have described what happened next: complete pandemonium. Students were running around, grabbing their faces in terror, pushing each other out of the way, trying to move into a corner, as if that would protect them.
"SILENCE!" a voice rippled through the hall, stunning the panicked into silence. It was Dumbledore, "All students will proceed CALMLY to their common rooms. Prefects lead the way. Faculty, come with me.
Quietly Dumbledore led the staff out of the room, leaving Quirrel behind. Harry noticed that Snape had slipped off somewhere as well. Quietly the students proceeded with the directions given to them. Quietly, not calmly. They were at a full sprint up the staircases and down the corridors of Hogwarts. All except Harry. Harry had one thought on his mind, 'Hermione.'
Harry ran to the front doors, and opening them sprinted outside, and down to the lake. That is where he had seen Hermione going, and he hoped to Merlin that she still was. As quietly as he could he sprinted down to the lake, and didn't slow until he saw her, idly picking flowers and grass and tossing them.
"Hermione!" he said a little louder than he had wanted to.
She looked over at him and then seeing who it was focused back on what she was doing. Harry ran over to her.
"Hermio -"
"What do you want?" she snapped. Harry could see her eyes were still red from tears. "Did you come here to make fun of me? Can't you see that I was perfectly happy wit -"
"RRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!"
Hermione stopped talking, stopped breathing. For a few seconds she just paled. Then, "What was that," she asked fearfully.
"That," said Harry shaking, "is a Ridgeback, and the reason I came out here. Now lets go!" Hermione nodded her head and she and Harry began to sprint back to the castle, hoping to get there before the Ridgeback saw them.
Dumbledore and the staff were standing in the towers of Hogwarts, silently watching the beast fly around them. Needless to say, they were quite afraid. Nobody seemed to notice the lone student run across the grounds towards the lake, they were all focused on the dragon. No one noticed the two students coming back, except for the dragon. It flew full speed to block the escape path of the two students. The professors turned and gasped, there was nothing they could do, they were too far away.
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(A/N: Awww come on, you didn't really think that I would do that to you did you?)
Harry and Hermione ran, faster than they had ever run before, apparently it was not fast enough. Before they could scream, they dragon was looming in front of them, its massive wings spread wide. Its mouth ripped open and unleashed a terrible scream, knocking Hermione to her feet. Harry was more afraid than he had ever been in his entire life, but he knew what to do on instinct.
"Hermione RUN to the trees!" he yelled at her. She obeyed immediately, running to the forest, she fared better in their than out with the dragon. Harry stayed to give her enough time to escape. "Oh Godric help me now," he whispered staring up at the enormous entity hovering above him. With those words he felt strength enter his body, and he found that the effects of the dragon fear no longer held him.
The dragon opened his mouth to breathe out a column of flame; Harry erected a flame shield. 'God I hope this works.' Harry looking up could see the flames come out of the dragons mouth, could hear the roar of the fire approach him, and could see the flames hit the fire shield; it held. He saw them licking at the shield, trying to break through. He could feel the heat of the air rise, obviously his fire shield could not keep out dragon flame in its entirety. He prayed that it would hold. He needed to get a spell off, he needed to beat the dragon, if only to save Hogwarts.
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The staff looked down at the figure, and the onslaught under which it was holding. There was no doubt in any of the professors' minds who it was down there anymore. It could only have been Potter. The boy had displayed remarkable magical ability, as far as the staff knew, he would be the only student capable of even erecting a fire shield. They could only watch the battle, and hope the shield held. It did.
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The dragon flame stopped, the shield had held; but Harry Potter couldn't waste time rejoicing yet, the dragon was still flying before him. It brought its claws together and unleashed a spell. A frightening bright red ball of energy was sent spinning at Harry, who jumped and rolled to the side. Where the ball hit the earth heaved, and came sections came up, and then fell back down, covering where Harry would have been standing. Harry decided to strike back.
"Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais! Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais! Eres su dominea cara es tu eres somo actin tu nea saras dais!"
As he chanted, a ball of bright bluish white light began to form in Harry's hands, which were held together palms facing towards each other not touching, wrists in contact. Harry could feel the energy that he was drawing on flow through his body and into his hands. He was in ecstasy. The magic flowing through him felt like a sensual message, it felt like it was cleansing him. He was losing his control, and he fought to hold onto it. For this spell he had drawn on chaos magic. He was not yet very adept at this type of old magic, but he had learned enough for this. However, right now he was drawing on more magic than he had ever had before, for Harry knew that this was his only chance. He had to fight the ecstasy; it threatened to overtake him. If he let it the magic would explode back to the ground, killing Harry with its raw force. Harry twisted his hands in a fluid motion, bringing them back together pointed at the dragon.
Harry let the energy go, the magic was let out in the form of a large bluish white beam, a beam that looked, and was, pure power. Harry began to mutter the second part of the spell,
"Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara. Ares su camara, eres tu camara."
Each muttering became progressively louder until he was screaming to hold the power of the spell in check and focused. His body was draining the magic, and his energy as well. He could feel his muscles relax, his entire body become fatigued. Still he chanted until the last of the magic was gone, he couldn't even see if he was successful; Harry Potter collapsed.
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Dumbledore stared down at Harry, fearing for the child. He knew what was going to happen; or did he. He was most surprised when Harry dodged the dragon's earth heaving spell. Then he heard the boy begin to chant. How this was possible he did not know, however, upon a quick glance around he saw that the other professors heard it as well. Dumbledore could not understand the words, but he felt them pulling power to Harry. He felt magic rushing by him, answering Harry's call. He saw that magic begin to form in Harry's hands. It formed in the shape of a ball of bright light. Dumbledore didn't know what the spell was, or what it could do, but he could sense the amount of raw power in that one concentrated area inside Harry's palms.
It was then that he realized that Harry could easily be the most powerful wizard on the planet, perhaps ever.
Dumbledore intensely watched as Harry released the energy in the form of a bright bluish white beam straight at the dragon, and heard the chant change. Still he could not understand the words, though he longed to. Dumbledore saw the beam take the ridgeback full in the chest, and he heard its scream.
It seemed odd to Dumbledore that even over the intense piercing scream of the dragon he could hear the words that Harry was chanting, but he was fascinated, terribly fascinated with what was happening. The dragon was beginning to dissolve. It started at the chest, and spread out along its body.
Then the beam stopped, the dragon was dissolved, and Harry collapsed. Dumbledore saw a figure run out of the woods to Harry, and kneel down by him. Dumbledore and the rest of the staff rushed down the stairs to get to 'the boy who lived.'
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Dumbledore reached the unconscious Harry first of the staff. He bent down to check his pulse. It beat; Harry was alive, but just barely. Quickly he lifted Harry off the ground and rushed him to the infirmary. Hermione followed, she was crying hysterically.
Once at the hospital wing Madam Pomfrey forcibly gave Harry five different potions. He had an extreme case of magical shock, and his condition was not going to improve for some time. After taking the potions there was nothing that could be done for Harry but let him rest, and hope he pulled through.
Once all this was done Dumbledore turned to Hermione. "Now my dear, do you want to tell me what happened?"
"I'm so sorry Headmaster. I was out by the lake during he feast crying. Terry boot had made fun of me. I had no idea that the ridgeback had come. Harry came out to try to get me to run back to the castle. I wouldn't listen to him until I heard it roar." Hermione shook with fear at the memory, then continued. "He tried to sneak us back to the castle unnoticed, but we didn't make it. He told me to run for the trees, I did. I just left him out there. Then he fought it and - oh Headmaster is he dead?" Hermione was openly sobbing, tears streaming down her cheeks. She kept muttering over and over, "It's my fault, it's my fault."
Dumbledore tried to console her. "Don't worry Hermione. Harry did what he had to do. He saved more than just your life today. Here. Lay down and take this." Dumbledore handed her a dreamless sleep potion. She took it and almost immediately her eyes closed. Dumbledore sighed and then stared back down at the unconscious, unmoving, barely alive, form of Harry Potter.
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(A/N: Sorry about getting this chapter out a little late but the length and a minor case of writer's block stopped me from getting it out yesterday. Thanks for your patience. I also wanted to tell you that I will not be able to update until at least Monday because of Thanksgiving and my family taking a trip up north. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and didn't mind that I changed the troll to a dragon. I mean, what kind of a challenge would a troll be to this Harry? CHEERS!)
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Nameless Reviewer - If you are going to flame the story, don't be such a coward as to not put anything in the name or e-mail block. At least give me something to call you by. Alright, now that that is out, let me continue with your review:
You have already distored it from it's origonal form! Harry with Blond and Brown hair dosen't work; it just dosen't! Maybe if you get Hermione, Ron and Harry back together and dump the stupid oc, you might be able to salvage it though. I like this fic...sort of, but you went WAY too fast with it. I can't remembe a chapter that didn't start on Harry's birthday. You can't just go from year to year to year without a summery or something. Plus, if your forgeting, this is Britain we're talking about! Do you think people go to boarding school and just start playing acid rock on conjured up stages during breakfast? No, they don't. I'm sorry if this is kind of rude but it seems as though you took a story and just...I don't know, are you American? That would explain everything!
You are correct, I have distorted it from its original form. I'm okay with you not liking Harry's look, but really I don't even mention it besides when he gets it. In the first book, if I may so humbly point out, Hermione is not liked by Ron and Harry until Halloween, or this chapter, in which she begins the steps towards friendship. So if you could have patiently waited . . .
Also, do you REALLY want to know all the BORING details of what Harry and Sirius did all year, basically stuck in one house? Okay here they are. Harry and Sirius played a game of cards over the year, they also flew on broom some. Oh yeah, they ate and slept too. Ummm, that's about it.
Britain we are talking about! Well, lets see, I think I made it perfectly clear in my story that Harry was German. He didn't grow up in Britain at all so that argument really doesn't apply. Besides, if you call New Found Glory, Finch, Yellowcard, Blink, and the like ACID ROCK, then I'd hate to hear what you call real acid rock. Hell, I doubt if you have heard of those bands if you are calling them acid rock.
Then you accuse me of being American, which I am, but you go on and DISS Americans. Really I don't think that that was necessary at all. In Arizona, where I live, that is how we are. 11 year old boys play "pop punk," what that music is called here, on guitars. I don't even know what nationality you are, and even if I did, I wouldn't make a generalization or stereotype. Personally, I just don't think that your comment is acceptable. Thanks for reading my point of view, if you did.