Harry Potter and the War of Sorceresses
Disclaimer: Owned by JK Rowling and Squaresoft, I might as well put this here since I've added a rather lengthy Author's Note anyway.
A/N: Hi! I'm putting Author's Notes in here again mwhahahaha oh well such is life. Welcome to Chapter 18. I'm also posting the first chapter of a new HP fic I'm starting, and its totally unrelated to this one but it's all about the Marauders so if you're interested it's called "To Live Again" and it really needs input! Oh and would anyone be interested in a side fic about the Marauders and the FF8 characters going to school together, of course I would still continue this one too. Please let me know what you think. Now, back to the fic at hand and its wonderful Reviewers:
Pandora: Thanks for pointing out that mistake heheh yeah I just thought about that Paravati IS in Gryffindor oh and I've been spelling Slytherin wrong all this time too *sniffsniff* curse my mortal mistakes! Heh. As for Hermione and Draco……while I DO like the idea of a Hermione/Draco pairing and I have enjoyed other fanfics with them as a couple I have a different idea for this particular fic. Sorry. But you shall see. And I really hope you don't hate me for it.
Jasmine Black: Thanks for putting a link to my stories on your site, which is a great site btw and I encourage all HP fans to go there esp. if they love the Marauders (but who doesn't?!) - online.net/~jasmine/ is the address for people who don't know it.
Heather: Thanks so much for reading and leaving your wonderful reviews! I always appreciate your input (
Shawn: Thanks (
Strawberries and Blueberries: Thanks (
Calikocat: Don't feel bad I always fall behind reading fics I like too. ( Thanks for reviewing. And Zell should be coming in a few chapters hehheh!
Thanks to everyone for Reviewing it means soooo much!! (
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Chapter Eighteen The Heir
It was the night after the rather eventful practical in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hermione was still in a bitter mood from having to spend the entire day lost in the forbidden forest with Draco Malfoy, and Harry just finished recounting his own strange experiences when Hermione frowned even further. "Harry don't you get it?"
"Get what?" Harry asked irritably.
"You were talking to the snake!" Ron told him, "It was enough to freak anyone out."
"What do you mean? I was just telling it not to attack that girl." Harry defended himself, but he too was frowning, he knew that he had talked to the snake but he didn't see why everyone was so upset about it.
"It sounded like you were telling it to bite her!" Ron exclaimed.
"What are you talking about? Couldn't you hear me?" Harry asked.
"No! You were speaking in snake-talk."
"It's called Parsletongue." Hermione told him, "And Harry it is very rare. Slytherin, the wizard the Slytherin House is named for, could speak it. That's why their symbol is the snake." She continued frowning and seemed like she wanted to say more but thought better of it.
"Oh my god…" Ron gasped; suddenly he thought what she had, "Harry what if YOU'RE SLYTHERIN'S HEIR??"
"What!" Harry gasped, he practically jumped. It was bad enough the entire school had been avoiding him, giving him strange looks and whispering behind his back, he didn't need his best friends thinking he was the descendent of an evil wizard! Or was that what everyone at Hogwarts thought? Was that what they were whispering about?
"Harry, this guy was alive like, thousands of years ago!" Ron exclaimed.
"He's right, Harry you could be the Heir and not even know it." Hermione said sadly.
"That means I somehow released this petrifying monster on the school without even knowing it?" Harry said in disbelief. "How? Why? It can't be!"
Harry looked to his two friends desperately for help but saw only their helpless gazes and shrugs. They could not give him answers. Suddenly the door to the Gryffindor Common Room slid open and Professor Heartilly entered, she looked slightly paler than she usually did and uncharacteristically worried.
"Harry, would you come with me, please. The Headmaster would like to speak with you." She said softly. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances with one another and then looked at Harry, they were all wondering what Dumbledore was thinking . . . did the Headmaster know about the incident in the forest and suspect Harry of being Slytherin's heir?
Harry gulped and pushed his round glasses up his nose nervously but got up from the couch and followed Professor Heartilly through the portrait hole and down the hallway until they came to the stone gargoyle. "Gum drops." She said and the gargoyle twisted around to reveal the set of spiralling stairs that led to the Headmaster's office. "Dumbledore loves Muggle candy…" Rinoa explained as she led Harry up the stairs, he however, did not really care about that at the moment.
When Harry entered the office he was taken aback by how huge and impressive it was. There were rows of bookcases and desks covered in parchment and scrolls. "Wait here, okay?" Rinoa asked and went up the staircase to the second level of the spacious room.
As she left, Harry's eyes fell upon a large red, rather splendid looking bird that was sitting on a perch. Harry went over to him and smiled a little in spite of his worry about the Headmaster suspecting him, the bird seemed comforting; it was just so big and beautiful. He reached a hand towards its large head when it suddenly burst into flames!
Harry caught his breath and jumped backwards, as he watched, horrified, the bird turned into a flaming ball of fire and crumbled to a pile of ashes on its perch. He was still staring at it horrified when Dumbledore walked up with Rinoa and Squall. "What's wrong, Harry?" The wise old man asked kindly.
"Y-You're bird, sir, there was nothing I could do—he—he burned up." Harry stammered.
Dumbledore, to his surprise, chuckled softly and gestured for Harry to come closer to the pedestal. Harry moved towards it and saw to his utter amazement a new baby bird was sitting in the ashes, crying.
"Faux is a Phoenix, Harry, a remarkable bird, when they get to old they burst into flame and our born again in the ashes. Their tears can heal the severest of wounds and they can lift amazing amounts of weight. Truly remarkable." The Headmaster appeared lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the baby bird and did not say anything more for some minutes until Rinoa broke the silence with an intentional cough.
"Hm? Oh of course, yes," Dumbledore said pleasantly rousing himself from his memories and turning to Harry, "Harry, Squall was just in here to tell me about what happened in the Forbidden Forest, of course I already knew . . ."
"Sir! Please I swear I didn't petrify Nafia and I didn't let anything lose in the school!" Harry pleaded.
Dumbledore's kind old eyes twinkled and he smiled at the boy, "Of course you didn't Harry, I never thought that you did." Harry was surprised but breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir," Squall said, stepping forwards and gesturing to the others, "I think we should tell him."
"Tell him what, Mr. Leonhart?" The Headmaster asked kindly, but his eyes betrayed the faintest flash of worry that Harry failed to catch.
Squall turned away from them and crossed the room, head lowered, he appeared to be thinking very hard, finally he turned back to the group and shook his head, "Nothing. Forget it."
"Perhaps, Harry, there is something you wish to tell us?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry looked at the Headmaster and saw absolute kindness and wisdom, he thought heavily about the heir, about the petrifaction and Dobby the house- elf but he shook his head and before he even knew it the word "No." Was out of his mouth and he walked away from the three adults and left Dumbledore's office.
After Harry left the office, Rinoa turned to her husband with a frown, "What was that about, 'tell him?' Tell him what? You don't mean the prophecy! He's too young, besides--"
Squall frowned and shook his head. "He's clearly worried about something Rinoa."
"The monster loose in Hogwarts!"
"No, there's more to it than that." Squall said but his face was set in its usual expressionless hard exterior and he said no more.
Rinoa put her hands on her lips and bit her lower lip, obviously unhappy with Squall's quietness but she turned to Dumbledore, "Sir what do you think of all this?"
He sighed, "My dear I fear it will grow much worse before it grows any better . . ."
*****
Harry walked through the hallway quickly, it made him nervous to be there by himself, not that he was afraid something was going to attack him, but that he was afraid he would stumble upon some other horrible accident and take the blame for that as well. He did have awfully rotten luck lately, come to think of it. Harry frowned and finally slowed his pace, watching a crowd of spiders scurry across the floor and into a small crack in the wall. He followed them with his eyes and noticed carefully carven snakes engraved on the wall. Harry slowly felt them with his fingertips. Why could he talk to snakes? Was he really the heir of Slytherin? Was Nafia getting hurt somehow his fault?
"Why the hell does this all have to happen to me?" He thought aloud miserably.
"Because that's life." Said a voice behind him, Harry jumped slightly and spun around, to his great surprise, Squall Leonhart was standing there, he wasn't wearing regular wizard robes, but a pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket. He must have changed from when Harry saw him in Dumbledore's office a few minutes ago. Harry also noticed a silver griffin on a chain around his neck. A griffin for Gryffindor, no doubt. For a long moment Squall stood there silently frowning and it really did not seem like he would say anything more, then as though it took an effort for him to socialize with people he began: "Listen, Harry I just wanted to let you know that you really are your father's son, for what it's worth."
". . . You were a friend of my dad's weren't you?" Harry asked.
Squall looked mildly surprised by this and shook his head slightly, "Did Rinoa tell you that? Don't take this the wrong way, but . . .we were never really friends, James and I; he was always breaking rules and getting into trouble. I was more—reserved. I knew him because I was dating his best friend's twin sister, Rinoa. But for all our—differences—I will admit that James was one of the most admirable wizards I've ever known, and he was one of the only others I knew to be able to swing a Gunblade."
"A Gunblade? What's that?" Harry asked.
Squall waved his hand a little and a weapon magically appeared in his grip, it was like a muggle gun on the handle, except that it stretched out into a long blade like a sword with a griffin engraved on the side.
"Wow!" Harry breathed, unable to stop himself. He walked over and examined the Gunblade closely; it was a very deadly looking and impressive weapon. "That's amazing, my dad really used one of these?"
"Yeah." Squall said with a slight shrug, "There were only three students in the entire school back then who could use them. The other was a boy in Slytherin. It doesn't matter, he's dead now." A dark look seemed to cross Squall's face but it passed quickly.
"Do you think I could learn to use something like this?" Harry asked excitedly.
Squall's face seemed tense, as though making conversation took a constant effort for him, but he shrugged, "I wouldn't know. Probably not for a few years, but then, who knows? Dumbledore would probably be happy to have another Gunblade user in Hogwarts, it's considered an honour for a school, though right now the only other student to use one is a girl at Beauxbatons School in France. It'll also help you get a job as an Auror, if you're interested in that line of work."
"Yeah." Harry nodded, "I think it's really cool!"
"It's a lot of hard work." Squall told him seriously.
"Yeah I know." Harry agreed, "But it's an important job." And exciting, he thought but it didn't seem like Squall would be impressed by that so he didn't say it.
Squall however seemed to read his mind, and he smirked slightly, "Yeah, just like James . . ." He said, leaving Harry to return to the Gryffindor dorms in much better moods than he had been in before.
When Squall turned the corner after leaving Harry, however, Rinoa tackled him suddenly in a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey what was that for?" Squall asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I SAW that, you were going out of your way to cheer Harry up, weren't you?" She told him, grinning.
Squall shrugged. "Whatever. The kid has a lot of hardships ahead of him, I think we both know that."
"Still that was awfully nice I mean, for you, Squall!" Rinoa giggled, "I mean you actually talked to him!"
Squall glared at her in annoyance but said nothing, "Anyways, the Christmas Holidays are coming up. I suppose you want to stay here and keep an eye on the school?" He asked.
"Yes," Answered Rinoa, calming down, "We can't take the risk of this thing attacking again . . .and oh my god, Squall, what if the monster isn't all . . . you know what . . . you remember what else sleeps beneath this school . . ."
Disclaimer: Owned by JK Rowling and Squaresoft, I might as well put this here since I've added a rather lengthy Author's Note anyway.
A/N: Hi! I'm putting Author's Notes in here again mwhahahaha oh well such is life. Welcome to Chapter 18. I'm also posting the first chapter of a new HP fic I'm starting, and its totally unrelated to this one but it's all about the Marauders so if you're interested it's called "To Live Again" and it really needs input! Oh and would anyone be interested in a side fic about the Marauders and the FF8 characters going to school together, of course I would still continue this one too. Please let me know what you think. Now, back to the fic at hand and its wonderful Reviewers:
Pandora: Thanks for pointing out that mistake heheh yeah I just thought about that Paravati IS in Gryffindor oh and I've been spelling Slytherin wrong all this time too *sniffsniff* curse my mortal mistakes! Heh. As for Hermione and Draco……while I DO like the idea of a Hermione/Draco pairing and I have enjoyed other fanfics with them as a couple I have a different idea for this particular fic. Sorry. But you shall see. And I really hope you don't hate me for it.
Jasmine Black: Thanks for putting a link to my stories on your site, which is a great site btw and I encourage all HP fans to go there esp. if they love the Marauders (but who doesn't?!) - online.net/~jasmine/ is the address for people who don't know it.
Heather: Thanks so much for reading and leaving your wonderful reviews! I always appreciate your input (
Shawn: Thanks (
Strawberries and Blueberries: Thanks (
Calikocat: Don't feel bad I always fall behind reading fics I like too. ( Thanks for reviewing. And Zell should be coming in a few chapters hehheh!
Thanks to everyone for Reviewing it means soooo much!! (
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Chapter Eighteen The Heir
It was the night after the rather eventful practical in Defence Against the Dark Arts, Hermione was still in a bitter mood from having to spend the entire day lost in the forbidden forest with Draco Malfoy, and Harry just finished recounting his own strange experiences when Hermione frowned even further. "Harry don't you get it?"
"Get what?" Harry asked irritably.
"You were talking to the snake!" Ron told him, "It was enough to freak anyone out."
"What do you mean? I was just telling it not to attack that girl." Harry defended himself, but he too was frowning, he knew that he had talked to the snake but he didn't see why everyone was so upset about it.
"It sounded like you were telling it to bite her!" Ron exclaimed.
"What are you talking about? Couldn't you hear me?" Harry asked.
"No! You were speaking in snake-talk."
"It's called Parsletongue." Hermione told him, "And Harry it is very rare. Slytherin, the wizard the Slytherin House is named for, could speak it. That's why their symbol is the snake." She continued frowning and seemed like she wanted to say more but thought better of it.
"Oh my god…" Ron gasped; suddenly he thought what she had, "Harry what if YOU'RE SLYTHERIN'S HEIR??"
"What!" Harry gasped, he practically jumped. It was bad enough the entire school had been avoiding him, giving him strange looks and whispering behind his back, he didn't need his best friends thinking he was the descendent of an evil wizard! Or was that what everyone at Hogwarts thought? Was that what they were whispering about?
"Harry, this guy was alive like, thousands of years ago!" Ron exclaimed.
"He's right, Harry you could be the Heir and not even know it." Hermione said sadly.
"That means I somehow released this petrifying monster on the school without even knowing it?" Harry said in disbelief. "How? Why? It can't be!"
Harry looked to his two friends desperately for help but saw only their helpless gazes and shrugs. They could not give him answers. Suddenly the door to the Gryffindor Common Room slid open and Professor Heartilly entered, she looked slightly paler than she usually did and uncharacteristically worried.
"Harry, would you come with me, please. The Headmaster would like to speak with you." She said softly. Ron and Hermione exchanged glances with one another and then looked at Harry, they were all wondering what Dumbledore was thinking . . . did the Headmaster know about the incident in the forest and suspect Harry of being Slytherin's heir?
Harry gulped and pushed his round glasses up his nose nervously but got up from the couch and followed Professor Heartilly through the portrait hole and down the hallway until they came to the stone gargoyle. "Gum drops." She said and the gargoyle twisted around to reveal the set of spiralling stairs that led to the Headmaster's office. "Dumbledore loves Muggle candy…" Rinoa explained as she led Harry up the stairs, he however, did not really care about that at the moment.
When Harry entered the office he was taken aback by how huge and impressive it was. There were rows of bookcases and desks covered in parchment and scrolls. "Wait here, okay?" Rinoa asked and went up the staircase to the second level of the spacious room.
As she left, Harry's eyes fell upon a large red, rather splendid looking bird that was sitting on a perch. Harry went over to him and smiled a little in spite of his worry about the Headmaster suspecting him, the bird seemed comforting; it was just so big and beautiful. He reached a hand towards its large head when it suddenly burst into flames!
Harry caught his breath and jumped backwards, as he watched, horrified, the bird turned into a flaming ball of fire and crumbled to a pile of ashes on its perch. He was still staring at it horrified when Dumbledore walked up with Rinoa and Squall. "What's wrong, Harry?" The wise old man asked kindly.
"Y-You're bird, sir, there was nothing I could do—he—he burned up." Harry stammered.
Dumbledore, to his surprise, chuckled softly and gestured for Harry to come closer to the pedestal. Harry moved towards it and saw to his utter amazement a new baby bird was sitting in the ashes, crying.
"Faux is a Phoenix, Harry, a remarkable bird, when they get to old they burst into flame and our born again in the ashes. Their tears can heal the severest of wounds and they can lift amazing amounts of weight. Truly remarkable." The Headmaster appeared lost in his own thoughts as he stared at the baby bird and did not say anything more for some minutes until Rinoa broke the silence with an intentional cough.
"Hm? Oh of course, yes," Dumbledore said pleasantly rousing himself from his memories and turning to Harry, "Harry, Squall was just in here to tell me about what happened in the Forbidden Forest, of course I already knew . . ."
"Sir! Please I swear I didn't petrify Nafia and I didn't let anything lose in the school!" Harry pleaded.
Dumbledore's kind old eyes twinkled and he smiled at the boy, "Of course you didn't Harry, I never thought that you did." Harry was surprised but breathed a sigh of relief.
"Sir," Squall said, stepping forwards and gesturing to the others, "I think we should tell him."
"Tell him what, Mr. Leonhart?" The Headmaster asked kindly, but his eyes betrayed the faintest flash of worry that Harry failed to catch.
Squall turned away from them and crossed the room, head lowered, he appeared to be thinking very hard, finally he turned back to the group and shook his head, "Nothing. Forget it."
"Perhaps, Harry, there is something you wish to tell us?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry looked at the Headmaster and saw absolute kindness and wisdom, he thought heavily about the heir, about the petrifaction and Dobby the house- elf but he shook his head and before he even knew it the word "No." Was out of his mouth and he walked away from the three adults and left Dumbledore's office.
After Harry left the office, Rinoa turned to her husband with a frown, "What was that about, 'tell him?' Tell him what? You don't mean the prophecy! He's too young, besides--"
Squall frowned and shook his head. "He's clearly worried about something Rinoa."
"The monster loose in Hogwarts!"
"No, there's more to it than that." Squall said but his face was set in its usual expressionless hard exterior and he said no more.
Rinoa put her hands on her lips and bit her lower lip, obviously unhappy with Squall's quietness but she turned to Dumbledore, "Sir what do you think of all this?"
He sighed, "My dear I fear it will grow much worse before it grows any better . . ."
*****
Harry walked through the hallway quickly, it made him nervous to be there by himself, not that he was afraid something was going to attack him, but that he was afraid he would stumble upon some other horrible accident and take the blame for that as well. He did have awfully rotten luck lately, come to think of it. Harry frowned and finally slowed his pace, watching a crowd of spiders scurry across the floor and into a small crack in the wall. He followed them with his eyes and noticed carefully carven snakes engraved on the wall. Harry slowly felt them with his fingertips. Why could he talk to snakes? Was he really the heir of Slytherin? Was Nafia getting hurt somehow his fault?
"Why the hell does this all have to happen to me?" He thought aloud miserably.
"Because that's life." Said a voice behind him, Harry jumped slightly and spun around, to his great surprise, Squall Leonhart was standing there, he wasn't wearing regular wizard robes, but a pair of black jeans and a black leather jacket. He must have changed from when Harry saw him in Dumbledore's office a few minutes ago. Harry also noticed a silver griffin on a chain around his neck. A griffin for Gryffindor, no doubt. For a long moment Squall stood there silently frowning and it really did not seem like he would say anything more, then as though it took an effort for him to socialize with people he began: "Listen, Harry I just wanted to let you know that you really are your father's son, for what it's worth."
". . . You were a friend of my dad's weren't you?" Harry asked.
Squall looked mildly surprised by this and shook his head slightly, "Did Rinoa tell you that? Don't take this the wrong way, but . . .we were never really friends, James and I; he was always breaking rules and getting into trouble. I was more—reserved. I knew him because I was dating his best friend's twin sister, Rinoa. But for all our—differences—I will admit that James was one of the most admirable wizards I've ever known, and he was one of the only others I knew to be able to swing a Gunblade."
"A Gunblade? What's that?" Harry asked.
Squall waved his hand a little and a weapon magically appeared in his grip, it was like a muggle gun on the handle, except that it stretched out into a long blade like a sword with a griffin engraved on the side.
"Wow!" Harry breathed, unable to stop himself. He walked over and examined the Gunblade closely; it was a very deadly looking and impressive weapon. "That's amazing, my dad really used one of these?"
"Yeah." Squall said with a slight shrug, "There were only three students in the entire school back then who could use them. The other was a boy in Slytherin. It doesn't matter, he's dead now." A dark look seemed to cross Squall's face but it passed quickly.
"Do you think I could learn to use something like this?" Harry asked excitedly.
Squall's face seemed tense, as though making conversation took a constant effort for him, but he shrugged, "I wouldn't know. Probably not for a few years, but then, who knows? Dumbledore would probably be happy to have another Gunblade user in Hogwarts, it's considered an honour for a school, though right now the only other student to use one is a girl at Beauxbatons School in France. It'll also help you get a job as an Auror, if you're interested in that line of work."
"Yeah." Harry nodded, "I think it's really cool!"
"It's a lot of hard work." Squall told him seriously.
"Yeah I know." Harry agreed, "But it's an important job." And exciting, he thought but it didn't seem like Squall would be impressed by that so he didn't say it.
Squall however seemed to read his mind, and he smirked slightly, "Yeah, just like James . . ." He said, leaving Harry to return to the Gryffindor dorms in much better moods than he had been in before.
When Squall turned the corner after leaving Harry, however, Rinoa tackled him suddenly in a big hug and kissed him on the cheek. "Hey what was that for?" Squall asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I SAW that, you were going out of your way to cheer Harry up, weren't you?" She told him, grinning.
Squall shrugged. "Whatever. The kid has a lot of hardships ahead of him, I think we both know that."
"Still that was awfully nice I mean, for you, Squall!" Rinoa giggled, "I mean you actually talked to him!"
Squall glared at her in annoyance but said nothing, "Anyways, the Christmas Holidays are coming up. I suppose you want to stay here and keep an eye on the school?" He asked.
"Yes," Answered Rinoa, calming down, "We can't take the risk of this thing attacking again . . .and oh my god, Squall, what if the monster isn't all . . . you know what . . . you remember what else sleeps beneath this school . . ."