Chapter 10: Last Straw
Harry was looking nervous. Hermione must have asked him five times if he was all right, to which he answered, "Sure, I'm fine," but Kentarre knew better. She smiled at him, the first genuine smile that he had gotten from her all year. "Potter," she informed him, "you worry too much."
"I do not!" he protested, but his eyes didn't quite meet Kentarre's.
The four of them were standing and talking in the Entrance Hall during break later that day. The other students were milling around; well, except for Fred and George, who were, as usual, the noisy center of attention. If Kentarre heard correctly, they were taking orders for their trick merchandise. Kentarre herself had bought something from them earlier this week; she had something special planned for the trick wand she had bought. She had been tinkering with it, and finally it was ready.
Just then, the bell rang to get back to class. Kentarre and the others headed outside to their next class: Care of Magical Creatures. Malfoy and the other Slytherins were already there when they arrived, chatting loudly as usual. When Malfoy saw Kentarre, his eyes flashed, and he pushed apart Crabbe and Goyle to swagger up. "So, Potter," he crowed, "you heard about me and Kentarre? Yeah, sorry, old boy, but it seems you're too late again." Harry scowled at him, but Kentarre was ready. "Yeah, about that, Malfoy," she said, coming up and putting her arm around his shoulders. As a result, he smirked and gave her an expectant look. She smirked back and went on, "I think you'll find all you need from me in here." With that, she handed him a wand- or, what appeared to be a wand. Malfoy took it, and a few seconds later there was a BANG, and the wand was no longer a wand. Instead, it was a piece of parchment with writing on it. Malfoy read the writing and scowled. He glared at Kentarre. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked heatedly. Kentarre said, "Nope. I mean it." Malfoy's scowl turned into a scrunched up face of complete fury. He crumpled up the parchment, threw it on the ground at Kentarre's feet, and stormed away. Harry picked it up and read it softly to the others. "Dear Draco, I don't feel that this is working out and I think we should stop seeing each other. Signed, Kentarre. P.S. I don't want someone getting hurt. I hope I didn't offend you." Harry chuckled appreciatively. "Why'd you do that?" he asked Kentarre. "Poor kid," she murmured loud enough for the others to hear. "He didn't really deserve that. But he was getting kinda boring. I was only letting him indulge himself for a while, and then I decided I didn't like it. That's all there is to it."
Hermione looked thoughtful, then she also began to laugh. "So the joke was on him?" she asked gleefully. Kentarre nodded, and Hermione finished laughing. "I love it when that happens," said Hermione. Ron chuckled appreciatively. "Yeah, like the time that Malfoy got detention with you two in our first year!" he said, and Harry and Hermione gave him suddenly dirty looks. "What?" he asked, and Hermione replied, "You didn't get detention, remember? You were too busy healing from the place where Norbert bit you." Ron scratched his head. "Oh, yeah..."
Kentarre wondered to herself, *Who's Norbert?*, but she didn't ask, deciding she didn't really want to know.
Just then, Hagrid came out of his hut. He was carrying a large barrel in his enormous hands, and an awful smell came from it. Everyone who was near pulled their robe collars over their noses to muffle the smell, and Hagrid looked puzzled. "'Ere, now, it's not that bad," he said. "What is that?" asked a Slytherin girl. Hagrid pushed the open barrel towards the students, who backed away, and said, "Tha's pickled snake's tails. There's a secret teh these lil' pieces, an' I'm 'bout teh show yer." Hagrid walked over to the pen where the wraiths were being kept. Just then, the wraiths were rather cute; they were now disguised as chicks that looked as though they were only a few days old. Hagrid dug out a handful of the tails- which, for anyone else, would've been enough for three handfuls- and threw them in the pen. Immediately, the chicks went for them, keeping their guise as they tore at the foul-smelling snack. The class looked on as the wraiths began to change back into their original, scaly form, but this time it was different. The wraiths, even as they ate, were squealing and shrieking in what was, unmistakably, agony. One of them lashed out with its teeth at the students, who all jumped back in alarm. Hagrid, however, seemed to think it normal. In fact, he was beaming. "See there?" he boomed at them. "Th' snake's tails made 'em turn back inta their orig'nal form. That effect won' wear off fer another couple o' hours. That's an old trick that isn' in yer book. I had teh look pretty far fer that piece of information, but I finally found a farmer who'd found a method teh eradicatin' wraiths. He said teh feed 'em pickled snake's tails and then run 'em out yer own way. Said it'd turn 'em back fer a good while, dependin' on how long yeh pickled 'em and what kind o' snakes yeh used."
Harry looked disgusted and completely uninterested, but nonetheless he said, "So, Hagrid, what kind of snakes did you use?" Hagrid said with his eyes still watching the wraiths, who were now writhing with fury but making no more wrenching noises, "I used a mix of a few kinds, mos'ly non-poisonous, 'cause he said those were the best. I used mos'ly coral, but there's a few garden snakes and some blue racers." When Hagrid said "non-poisonous", several people visibly relaxed a little, Ron being one of them.
When class was over, Ron said, "Well, I think Hagrid's definitely improved in his lesson plans. He's going now for the moderate yet interesting instead of the terrifying and lethal." Hermione gave him a scolding look and said, "He tries his best, but Malfoy's not making it any easier for him. We should go see him this weekend." The other boys nodded, and Ron glanced at Kentarre. "You'll come with us?" he asked her. Kentarre, however, wasn't listening. She was staring at the forest and walking rather slower than the rest of them. "Kentarre!" Harry called, but she was gradually slowing and not paying any attention to them. Her face was turned away from them, staring towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry stopped and went back to where she was standing, saying, "Kentarre! What's wrong?" She did not look at him, but put her hand to his chest to stop him, then put one finger in front of his face to tell him to be quiet. Harry followed her eyes and saw nothing but the shadows of the forest. He looked back at the girl next to him and saw that her eyes were narrowed, searching. "What is it?" he mumbled after a pause.
Kentarre then seemed to make some kind of decision, because she did not answer him but began walking very swiftly back to the castle. *Something made it come back,* she thought darkly, *and I bet I know what it was.*
Back in the castle later that evening, Kentarre sat in the common room, brooding. She knew that she would have some time to think if she went directly up here, because no one was here due to the fact that dinner was being served. Kentarre enjoyed the few moments of peace, and used them to get some real thinking done.
*All of these events are leading up to something, and I have not been able to nail it down yet. Why? What is so obvious that I'm not seeing it? All right, calm down, Kentarre. Think; what is it that he's hoping to accomplish here?* She pondered this self-imposed question for a moment, and suddenly the pieces clicked. Perhaps it was some special magic in the moonlight, but somehow, tonight she was able to piece it all together. She didn't know why she had not been able to do so before, but tonight was somehow a turning point in her campaign.
Kentarre rose from her seat and went to the portrait hole. She exited silently and closed it shut behind her with such precision that the Fat Lady looked at her suspiciously and said, "What are you up to, young lady?" Kentarre ignored her and began walking down the hall. The woman in pink called after her, "Hey! Don't walk away when I'm talking to you! How rude!"
The hallways were dark and unpopulated. Kentarre loved this time, because dinner was not required, merely offered. While everyone ate, she had free rein to go where she pleased unhindered. However, now she was on a mission.
She spotted Harry in the Great Hall in his usual dinner seat. Next to him, of course, were Hermione and Ron. Neville, Dean, and Seamus also shared dinnertime with the trio.
Kentarre walked up to them, attracting a few glances from fellow classmates, which she ignored. She bent over to whisper in Harry's ear, "It's time. We have to go." Harry looked at her questioningly, but she hissed at him, "Yes, now! I'm sure that he's already waiting."
Harry muttered an explanation to Ron, who was on his right, and then Ron passed this on to Hermione, who was on his other side. Kentarre held back after Harry got up; her wand slipped out of her robe's breast pocket- whether it was on purpose or accidental, Harry couldn't tell- and she bent over to pick it up. She muttered something inaudible to the other two and seemed to slip them both something from inside her sleeve. When she straightened, she nodded at both of them, who nodded back.
Kentarre then swept out of the Great Hall with Harry at her tail. Harry asked her, "What was that about?" Kentarre handed him something small and black, instructing him, "Clip this to your ear." He looked at it and saw that it was a small device that looked like an earphone that Muggle children used for their Walkmans, except this had no cord attached. Harry asked, "What's this?"
"It's a communicator. I gave Ron and Hermione one each for safety precautions, though I doubt we'll need them."
"Why is that?"
"Because I know how to handle what we're coming up against."
"I thought you said you didn't know what we were fighting."
"Don't make this any more complicated that it already is, Potter. Just follow my lead and my instructions, and you will come out all right."
Under normal circumstances, Harry would have protested, but the imperiousness in her voice stopped him. He had never heard her speak like that; most of the time her voice was soft and dark and, at times, menacing, but now she seemed almost like a general in charge of an army: all business.
Kentarre led Harry down the corridors to the Gryffindor portrait hole. "What are we here for?" he asked her as she gave the password. The painting swung open, and Kentarre told him, "I have to get something. Potter, go and get your broom and meet me back in the common room."
Harry did as he was told, while Kentarre disappeared up the girls' stairs. She came down holding a package that was long and thin and looked suspiciously like the package that Harry had received through owl mail during his first year. Indeed, it was the same kind of package: a flying broom. It was a model Nimbus Two Thousand and One, and it looked as though it had been used, though the package had been wrapped tightly. Harry asked her as the pieces clicked in his mind, "You got that from the pawn shop, did you?" Without looking at him, she nodded. She discarded the wrapping and held the broom in her left hand, and Harry took his up as well. "Let's go," she said, the finality in her voice giving him a chill.
She led him out of the portrait hall, down several corridors and up countless flights of stairs. When they finally reached the South Tower, which was, under normal circumstances, restricted to teachers only, Kentarre disregarded all signs that said they were not supposed to be here and climbed the final set of stairs. Harry hesitated for a split-second, setting himself. Kentarre continued on, and Harry, not wanting to keep her waiting or get left behind, advanced.
They reached the final chamber at the top of the tower, and Kentarre allowed Harry to catch his breath. "So... what... do we do.. now?" he panted. Kentarre turned to the window. "We wait," she said. "He's not here yet, which gives us the advantage." Harry asked, "How do you know he's not here? He could be hiding." She gave him a withering look, which silenced his inquiry.
And so they waited. There was not much light in the room, save for the trickle of pale moonlight that seeped in through the lone window. Harry could not tell how long they waited, but it seemed as though they stood there, motionless, for an eternity. Cold air permeated the room, making Harry begin to shiver. His warm breath made little puffs in front of his face.
Suddenly, Kentarre stiffened, and Harry heard a noise coming from outside the window. Kentarre flattened herself against the wall, and Harry backed out of the light. Harry could not see much, but he did see Kentarre bare her teeth and hear her sharp intake of breath. Noiselessly, she braced herself on the windowsill and seemingly flowed out over it, her black cloak blowing out behind her with a rushing sound. She whispered, "Follow me," on her way, and Harry, though more clumsily, followed.
Under the window was a small drop, and Harry landed with a muffled thunk, barely keeping his balance. Snow completely smothered the roof, outlining every slope and curve and dip. Kentarre was there, and she held her hand, palm facing him, out, but whether it was to silence him or tell him to stay still or both, he could not guess.
Just then he noticed the shadow at some obscure corner of the roof, off to the left a ways, watching them. Kentarre's eyes were locked on this dark figure; her eyes were narrowed and mistrusting, and though Harry could not see them well, he thought he saw a glint of anticipation. However, he told himself, this could be due to any number of things, like the light or the angle from which he saw them. Her hand remained extended slightly behind her, and she took a few steps forward and to the right, waiting.
The figure straightened from his low vantage point on the sloping roof and stood, dark and defiant, facing Kentarre. "Well, well, well," said the figure in a voice that Harry knew he recognized, "Kentarre. I must say, I knew you would come, but I didn't think you'd bring a guest." Kentarre's resonant voice answered him, "Well, you know me, always full of surprises."
The man chuckled. "That you are, Kentarre, that you are. However, you'll find that I have a few surprises of my own. Ah, there's one of them right now."
Harry felt a chill that seemed not to be due from the freezing conditions, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He instantly felt as though he was being watched, but when he turned, he saw nothing but the wall of the tower. His eyes traveled all about the roof, but he saw no one that was not supposed to be there.
Kentarre's voice was confident. "Believe it or not, I thought of that. I knew you'd bring your little shadow along- that's what they're for, are they not? However, your little stooge does not intimidate me. And I think you know full well that I'm not afraid of you, so why don't we just get on with this?"
Another chuckle came from the dark figure, and the man said in a voice edged in spite, "Yes, the Kelohr does not frighten so easily, does she? Well, that's not all I've got up my sleeve."
Suddenly, Harry felt not one, but several pairs of eyes on him. Once again, he scanned the surroundings, but he could find no eyes to match that haunting feeling of being watched. Meanwhile, Kentarre visibly tensed. "Potter," she muttered over her shoulder, "keep on your guard. It looks like we're in for a rough night." Harry nodded, and then, because he wanted to say something and could not think of anything else to say, he whispered, "Good luck."
Kentarre smiled a wry smile. "Right."
The dark figure said, "Well, Kentarre, it appears our time for reunion is up. Now you die." Kentarre smirked. "We'll just see who has the last laugh, Learst!" At this last, the man seemed to get angry. "Very good, Kentarre," he growled, "but just because you've figured out who I am doesn't mean you can beat me."
"On the contrary, it does. I know you don't have the power to beat me."
"Ah, but do you dare show your true powers in front of one so young?"
Kentarre's eyes widened in shock, and then she began to swear under her breath. Harry looked at her with question in his eyes, but she did not look at him. Instead, she clenched her teeth and said, "Learst! You will pay for this!"
At that, the man Learst laughed, making Kentarre's eyes narrow. "No, Kentarre," he said, "this time it will be me taking the revenge." The man threw off his black cloak, and Harry saw in the dim, frosty moonlight that he was wearing a kind of battle outfit. Kentarre stuck her left hand under her robe and felt the blue glow. *I'm glad this cloak is so thick,* she thought gratefully.
Just then, while Kentarre was warming up, she heard a long, slow ring, as of steel. She looked up sharply and saw the man pulling out a long, shimmering broadsword. The ring seemed to echo in the cold, clear air, and Kentarre saw Harry jump backwards against the tower wall.
Kentarre's face registered surprise, then confidence again. "Well," she said, "I didn't know it was going to be like that." Then she pulled her left hand out, careful to keep it still hidden by a fold of her cloak. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry trying not to appear as if he was straining to see, and she couldn't help but smile. Meanwhile, she was gathering her magic. Kentarre whispered a single word, and there was a faint flash of lightning blue light. In her hand, she now held an exquisitely designed two-handed broadsword. Wordlessly, she pushed it out in front of her at a slant across her torso, and Harry could now see, in the silvery moonlight, that there was a shimmering, polished red stone, about the size of a robin's egg, set in the hilt. The hilt's guard was made of silver and carved in the likeness of an eagle, with its head curving gracefully over the top of the flawless blade. Harry had never seen anything like it before, so cruelly beautiful, and it quite took his breath away.
The man in black charged Kentarre, and there was a loud clang as the two swords made their first meeting. The two of them pulled apart, and then came again, this time making swipe after parry after feint. Harry stood, motionless in the snow, watching the exchange with astonishment. *Where did Kentarre learn to swordfight like that?* he wondered to himself as the spectacular battle continued. *The only instruction like that that somebody my age could get is fencing instruction, but this is not fencing; this is swordplay.* Harry did not know much about this subject, but he knew enough from the movies that Dudley watched to know that the two were quite different. *Boy, would Ron like to see this...*
Just then, the man made a fantastic leap into the air, and Kentarre leapt up to meet him. Harry did not realize it for several seconds, but when he finally noticed, it made him wonder. *Nobody can jump that high... wait a minute!* For indeed, both Kentarre and the man were riding on broomsticks, still swinging at each other in midair. They would collide, and fall backwards, then speed towards each other, collide, and fall back again, each time attacking at a different angle. For a moment, Harry felt the impulse to whoop out loud, but that seemed somehow out of place.
Without warning, the swords scraped together with an earsplitting screech, and sparks from the two edges rained down. Harry impulsively lifted up his hand to shield his face, but he felt nothing. Upon lowering his hand a few seconds later, he saw that the man called Learst was floating alone in the air, pivoting in one spot, trying to see where Kentarre had gone. Harry likewise searched the sky, but Kentarre had indeed disappeared.
Just then, Harry saw out of the corner of his eye a bright blue flash. When he looked, the flash had gone, but in its place came shooting, like a comet in a night sky, something that had a trail of a similar color. It sped straight towards the suspended man, and when it arrived, Harry saw that it was the girl in blue. He looked closer, and he saw that she was carrying a sword just like the one Kentarre had just been using. Harry's eyes widened, watching the girl's every move. He tried to look even closer, just to be sure that it was the same sword, and he caught a flash of red out of the midst of the tangle. It was the same sword. She was using the same sword.
The feeling of being watched intensified, and Harry wrenched his eyes from the struggling couple to look around, to see what was watching him. He saw nothing, and was about to go back to watching the fight when a hissing voice spoke from somewhere behind his right ear, saying, "It's very interesting, isn't it?" Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around-- but saw nothing. "Who's there?" he asked nervously, and the same voice replied from the same position, "You mean Kentarre didn't tell you about me? My, my, my. Well, there's nothing that she could've told you that would help you now; you're mine." Harry continued to search, trying to find an explanation for the voice that seemed so close. The voice laughed a coarse, rasping laugh that was completely devoid of mirth. Harry thought he could see a dark flicker in the corner of his eye, but when he tried to see it, it disappeared and the reappeared again to dance mockingly at the edge of his vision once more. "Who are you?" he asked, beginning to feel more than a little worried. The words "you're mine" echoed back at him in a tiny little whisper that repeated itself over and over again.
Suddenly, something solid hit him from behind, throwing him facefirst into the snow. He hit on his hands and knees, a shocking chill running through him. Harry scrambled to his feet, trying to brush himself off while still searching for the unseen source of the voice that seemed so close. He pulled his wand out, brandishing it in front of him. *Okay, now,* he thought, *What would Hermione do? What would Ron do?* Harry stood, his feet apart, his wand ready, waiting.
Without any sort of warning, a fierce wind struck up, seemingly, out of nowhere. However, Harry was almost certain that it was this unseen opponent that was causing the wind. It was strong, and Harry was forced a few steps backward before he caught his balance against it. It bit at him, blowing his robes back and whipping his hair into a frenzied resistance. He couldn't let it beat him, for he would go flying towards the wall again.
The wind, for some strange reason, stopped then, quite abruptly, and Harry, who had been pushing against it, went flying forward, attempting to regain his balance. Then he was rushed by another invisible wall, and the collision was so hard and head-on that it sent him right back to the wall, where he hit his head and blacked out.
When he woke up, however, he suspected that he had not been out for long, because the sound of swords clashing was still going on. *How can they go at it for that long?* he asked himself, but his head hurt too much to allow much room for thinking.
He opened his eyes, and he realized that the voice that had tormented him was gone. He was lying on his back on the snowy rooftop of Hogwarts. Harry sat up and shook himself, preparing to get up. He never got to that part, however, because at that time, there was a pause in the battle noise, and a swooshing noise followed the brief pause. He looked up and saw that both of the fighters had gone. Then he saw them; they were flying at great speeds, and the girl in blue was chasing the man in black. It was too fast and too far away to see anything, but Harry attempted it anyway, determined not to miss anything.
The two of them dived and swooped, dodged each other and used all manner of evasive maneuvers to get away from each other. The blue trail that was the mysterious girl suddenly got brighter, and she shot a beam of blue light at the man. He barely dodged it and then turned around in midair. They had stopped almost on the other side of the tower, and Harry moved to see. There they floated, staring at each other. The man had resheathed his sword, and he now held out a wand. "So, Zorensei," he said breathlessly, "it comes down to this."
"You fight well, Learst," she replied in a voice that was deep and resonant and vaguely familiar. "However, I doubt that will be enough to save you now. I have no restrictions; there is nothing to stop me from killing you."
Learst laughed. "Nothing, Zorensei?" There was a pause, and Harry felt something very strong grab his wrists and slam them against the stone tower wall. His feet at the ankles were similarly handled, and Harry had to bite his lip to keep from crying out in surprise. He saw the girl above look down at him, shock on her face. She began to swear, and Learst laughed. "You never thought that your own witness could be used against you. Well, I have every intention of making him watch your demise."
"I'm not finished with you, Learst! I'm very well aware that your little tricks are going to save your neck, but that doesn't mean I'm finished! You may survive this night, but I promise to make it the most miserable one you've ever had. It's time to finish this, Learst!" With that, she held her hands out in front of her and yelled, a long, loud yell that pierced the very night. Her hands began to glow blue, and the light grew and grew and grew. It seemed, to Harry, that time had slowed down, and everything that he saw happening was in slow motion. The blue light from her hands, once it had reached its maximum strength, spread outwards from her hands and separated into separate strands that acted like a web or a net, closing themselves about Learst. The girl, as if she held the lead ropes, pulled the blue light towards her, and Learst, inside the 'net', was forced towards her. Finally they were close enough to touch each other, and the blue girl put her hand into the web and grabbed the front of Learst's shirt, pulling him to her. She muttered something in his ear, something Harry couldn't hear, and then she let him go.
The net grew brighter, and the girl allowed it to float away from her, and then abruptly pulled it back, winding up and then throwing it out towards the Forbidden Forest. The net of blue sailed away over the trees and then sank among them, pulling its trapped prisoner with it. The girl watched it go, and then she turned to Harry. "You'd better let him go," she said loudly, and Harry realized that she was not talking to him. The thing that was holding him hostage hissed and cursed at her, but finally it loosened its death grip on Harry's limbs, allowing him to break free. The thing cursed again at the suspended girl, and then it was gone. The girl glanced once more in the direction that she had thrown Learst, and Harry looked up at her in wonder. *Who is she?* he wondered.
He massaged his wrists absent-mindedly, and then, on a whim, he called up to her, "Why don't you come down?" She shrugged. "My night's not over yet, Potter. I didn't throw him as far as I should have, and that net will only last for a few more hours. He'll be back at school tomorrow, but I want you to be careful, all right? Not everyone is as trustworthy as they look."
He faintly wondered what she could mean by that, but he didn't have time to ask, because at that time she flew off in another direction, leaving him to his confused thoughts and numbed fingers.
Harry went back in through the tower window and thought, *Oh no! I bet everybody's already gone to bed, and I don't have my cloak! This is really bad.* He poked his head out of the tower and listened hard for movement from the bottom of the stairs. Hearing nothing, he crept down, attempting to keep his robes from making noise. When he got to the bottom, he checked around, waiting for someone to come down the hall. He slunk quietly down the correct hallway, stopping periodically to listen for patrollers in the corridors. He came to an intersection and ducked around a corner because he heard a simpering voice say, "Did you catch a scent, my sweet? We'll find them, we will." Harry knew that voice in an instant; it was Filch, and Ms. Norris was with him. It looked as though he'd have to make a run for it, and he didn't want to wait around for them to catch up with him. Harry took off down the hall that he had hidden in, hoping to run fast enough to get a good head start. This turned out to be a bad idea, however, when he nearly bumped into Professor McGonagall, who had her back turned to him.
He quickly doubled back and hid behind a tapestry, praying that she hadn't heard him. She had.
"Who's there?" she called sharply. "Come out this instant." Harry held his breath and remained absolutely still. If she caught him, he would have a whole week's worth of detention. She poked around in the area where he had been, coming within feet of where Harry was now pretending to be part of the scenery. The professor, after a thorough search of everywhere that Harry was not, to Harry's relief and gratitude, moved off, muttering about someone who couldn't have gone far. When her footsteps had faded, he waited to make absolutely certain that no one else was out there, waiting for him to come around the corner. When he was satisfied, he emerged and went on, pleading with whatever unseen being was listening that around every next corner was not Professor Snape.
Finally, with several other encounters with the prowlers of the hall but no sightings, he made the long journey back to the Gryffindor common room. When the portrait hole closed behind him, Harry felt as though he could sing, but he caught himself just in time. In two armchairs in the middle of the room, Ron and Hermione, who had apparently tried to stay up to wait for him, slept with their heads on their shoulders. The fire had been reduced to fading cinders, and the room was almost completely dark, except for the silvery light that came from the waxing moon outside the window.
He moved towards the window, not wanting to wake his friends up just yet, and he noted that the moon was less than a week from the full. It was large and oval, and the pale light it shed saturated everything; he found that even the snow looked whiter under its gaze. He opened the window, and received a shocking bout of goose pimples as the crisp, early-December air touched his face.
Suddenly, from somewhere out in the snow, he heard a soft, sweet, singing voice. It was female, and it was among the most beautiful he had ever heard. Something down in the lawn caught his eye, and he looked closer, seeing that it was the girl in light blue, the one Learst had called Zorensei. She was standing feet apart in the snow beside a leafless tree, looking up at the moon and singing in a voice that somehow carried all the way up to the Gryffindor tower window, where Harry now stood. Harry heard a stirring from behind him, but he ignored it. He attempted to catch the words of the song, and suddenly they became clearer to him.
In the moonlight I felt your heart
Quiver like a bowstring's pulse,
In the moon's fair light you looked at me.
Nobody knows your heart.
When the sun has gone I see you,
Beautiful and haunting, but cold,
Like the blade of a knife, so sharp and so sweet.
Nobody knows your heart.
Hole of your sorrow, grief and pain,
Locked away in the forest of the night.
Your secret heart belongs to the world
Of the things that sigh in the dark,
Ah, the things that cry in the dark.
The song ended, and Harry stared at the girl so far below. She leapt up into the tree and sat with one leg propped on the branch and the other dangling down. There she sat, and Harry watched her, wondering what she would do. After a few minutes, she stood on the branch and lifted completely off of it, floating down to the ground to land softly on the fluffy snow. Then she walked slowly until she came to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There she disappeared into the shade of the trees, and he saw no more of her.
"Who's that, Harry?" asked a voice from behind him, making him jump. Hermione had awoken and walked up without his noticing. He said, "Wake up Ron. He should hear this too."
When Ron was fully awake (this took some doing), Harry proceeded to tell them all about his night on the rooftop of the school, and they listened with interest. Hermione asked him once, "Did you recognize Learst?" Harry told her, "I couldn't see his face. When he was down on the roof, it was all shadowy, and when he was in the air, he was moving too fast or he was too far away. Something told me he did it on purpose so I wouldn't recognize him."
"So you think it was someone you know?" she asked, and Harry thought about this. "I don't know anyone named Learst, but that name could be made up-- or the one I know him by could be. Though I can't think of who he could be." After a pause, Harry went on in explaining the night's events in as much detail as he could. Ron was most intrigued by the creature that knocked Harry out for a while but that he couldn't see. "It's not healthy knowing something like that's about," he said with a shudder.
When Harry came to the end of his story, about seeing her just now down in the snow, Hermione said, "Oh, so that's who that was. That was her?" Harry nodded, unable to say anything. He knew that, somehow, the girl Zorensei was familiar just as the man Learst was, but he couldn't match a name to either of them. He went through the names of everyone he knew at school, and two names caught his attention. At first, it seemed impossible, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it began to make. His face must have betrayed the deep thinking he was doing, because Ron said, "What's up, Harry?"
Harry ran his ideas past his two friends, and they took them and ran them over in their minds. "Of course!" exclaimed Hermione in a whisper. "This all makes sense! Harry, you're a genius!" Harry shrugged. "It seemed like our last hope. I don't like it, but..."
Ron was scratching his head. "But... if she... and what about..." he began to say, but Harry interrupted him. "Hermione!" he cried, coming to a sudden conclusion, "there's one way to be sure. Go up and check if Kentarre is in her bed." She looked at him briefly, and then seemed to come to the same conclusion. She nodded and wordlessly half ran up the girls' staircase.
The two boys waited silently for five, six, seven minutes. "What's taking her?" Ron said finally. "All she has to do is sneak in and pull open the drapes just a bit to see if she's in there." Harry said, "Wait... here she comes." For indeed, there were footsteps coming down the stairs that Hermione had gone up-- but there seemed to be more than one pair of feet.
Hermione emerged first, and behind her came Kentarre. Harry and Ron exchanged surprised glances with each other, and then Kentarre said, "So I hear you're having some doubts about me, Potter?" Harry risked a quick glance at Hermione, who gave a helpless shrug. Then he said, "So you heard."
"Well, Potter, it's like I said; I'm not who you think I am and I never was. However, the person that you think I am may have changed since I told you that. Is that true?"
Harry nodded. "Where did you go during the battle?"
Kentarre's lips curled into a small, mysterious smile. "Wouldn't you like to know? Well, you'll know soon enough, although I daresay by now you've already figured it out. Time will tell, Potter, time will tell."
Disclaimer: I do not own the song written above, I simply used it because I'm the fanfiction author and I like it. It's actually the English version of the theme song for the anime movie Mononoke-Hime, also known as Princess Mononoke. So if you recognize it, good for you- if you don't, now I'm telling you what it is, so go watch that movie! It's excellent. ;-)
Harry was looking nervous. Hermione must have asked him five times if he was all right, to which he answered, "Sure, I'm fine," but Kentarre knew better. She smiled at him, the first genuine smile that he had gotten from her all year. "Potter," she informed him, "you worry too much."
"I do not!" he protested, but his eyes didn't quite meet Kentarre's.
The four of them were standing and talking in the Entrance Hall during break later that day. The other students were milling around; well, except for Fred and George, who were, as usual, the noisy center of attention. If Kentarre heard correctly, they were taking orders for their trick merchandise. Kentarre herself had bought something from them earlier this week; she had something special planned for the trick wand she had bought. She had been tinkering with it, and finally it was ready.
Just then, the bell rang to get back to class. Kentarre and the others headed outside to their next class: Care of Magical Creatures. Malfoy and the other Slytherins were already there when they arrived, chatting loudly as usual. When Malfoy saw Kentarre, his eyes flashed, and he pushed apart Crabbe and Goyle to swagger up. "So, Potter," he crowed, "you heard about me and Kentarre? Yeah, sorry, old boy, but it seems you're too late again." Harry scowled at him, but Kentarre was ready. "Yeah, about that, Malfoy," she said, coming up and putting her arm around his shoulders. As a result, he smirked and gave her an expectant look. She smirked back and went on, "I think you'll find all you need from me in here." With that, she handed him a wand- or, what appeared to be a wand. Malfoy took it, and a few seconds later there was a BANG, and the wand was no longer a wand. Instead, it was a piece of parchment with writing on it. Malfoy read the writing and scowled. He glared at Kentarre. "Is this some kind of joke?" he asked heatedly. Kentarre said, "Nope. I mean it." Malfoy's scowl turned into a scrunched up face of complete fury. He crumpled up the parchment, threw it on the ground at Kentarre's feet, and stormed away. Harry picked it up and read it softly to the others. "Dear Draco, I don't feel that this is working out and I think we should stop seeing each other. Signed, Kentarre. P.S. I don't want someone getting hurt. I hope I didn't offend you." Harry chuckled appreciatively. "Why'd you do that?" he asked Kentarre. "Poor kid," she murmured loud enough for the others to hear. "He didn't really deserve that. But he was getting kinda boring. I was only letting him indulge himself for a while, and then I decided I didn't like it. That's all there is to it."
Hermione looked thoughtful, then she also began to laugh. "So the joke was on him?" she asked gleefully. Kentarre nodded, and Hermione finished laughing. "I love it when that happens," said Hermione. Ron chuckled appreciatively. "Yeah, like the time that Malfoy got detention with you two in our first year!" he said, and Harry and Hermione gave him suddenly dirty looks. "What?" he asked, and Hermione replied, "You didn't get detention, remember? You were too busy healing from the place where Norbert bit you." Ron scratched his head. "Oh, yeah..."
Kentarre wondered to herself, *Who's Norbert?*, but she didn't ask, deciding she didn't really want to know.
Just then, Hagrid came out of his hut. He was carrying a large barrel in his enormous hands, and an awful smell came from it. Everyone who was near pulled their robe collars over their noses to muffle the smell, and Hagrid looked puzzled. "'Ere, now, it's not that bad," he said. "What is that?" asked a Slytherin girl. Hagrid pushed the open barrel towards the students, who backed away, and said, "Tha's pickled snake's tails. There's a secret teh these lil' pieces, an' I'm 'bout teh show yer." Hagrid walked over to the pen where the wraiths were being kept. Just then, the wraiths were rather cute; they were now disguised as chicks that looked as though they were only a few days old. Hagrid dug out a handful of the tails- which, for anyone else, would've been enough for three handfuls- and threw them in the pen. Immediately, the chicks went for them, keeping their guise as they tore at the foul-smelling snack. The class looked on as the wraiths began to change back into their original, scaly form, but this time it was different. The wraiths, even as they ate, were squealing and shrieking in what was, unmistakably, agony. One of them lashed out with its teeth at the students, who all jumped back in alarm. Hagrid, however, seemed to think it normal. In fact, he was beaming. "See there?" he boomed at them. "Th' snake's tails made 'em turn back inta their orig'nal form. That effect won' wear off fer another couple o' hours. That's an old trick that isn' in yer book. I had teh look pretty far fer that piece of information, but I finally found a farmer who'd found a method teh eradicatin' wraiths. He said teh feed 'em pickled snake's tails and then run 'em out yer own way. Said it'd turn 'em back fer a good while, dependin' on how long yeh pickled 'em and what kind o' snakes yeh used."
Harry looked disgusted and completely uninterested, but nonetheless he said, "So, Hagrid, what kind of snakes did you use?" Hagrid said with his eyes still watching the wraiths, who were now writhing with fury but making no more wrenching noises, "I used a mix of a few kinds, mos'ly non-poisonous, 'cause he said those were the best. I used mos'ly coral, but there's a few garden snakes and some blue racers." When Hagrid said "non-poisonous", several people visibly relaxed a little, Ron being one of them.
When class was over, Ron said, "Well, I think Hagrid's definitely improved in his lesson plans. He's going now for the moderate yet interesting instead of the terrifying and lethal." Hermione gave him a scolding look and said, "He tries his best, but Malfoy's not making it any easier for him. We should go see him this weekend." The other boys nodded, and Ron glanced at Kentarre. "You'll come with us?" he asked her. Kentarre, however, wasn't listening. She was staring at the forest and walking rather slower than the rest of them. "Kentarre!" Harry called, but she was gradually slowing and not paying any attention to them. Her face was turned away from them, staring towards the Forbidden Forest. Harry stopped and went back to where she was standing, saying, "Kentarre! What's wrong?" She did not look at him, but put her hand to his chest to stop him, then put one finger in front of his face to tell him to be quiet. Harry followed her eyes and saw nothing but the shadows of the forest. He looked back at the girl next to him and saw that her eyes were narrowed, searching. "What is it?" he mumbled after a pause.
Kentarre then seemed to make some kind of decision, because she did not answer him but began walking very swiftly back to the castle. *Something made it come back,* she thought darkly, *and I bet I know what it was.*
Back in the castle later that evening, Kentarre sat in the common room, brooding. She knew that she would have some time to think if she went directly up here, because no one was here due to the fact that dinner was being served. Kentarre enjoyed the few moments of peace, and used them to get some real thinking done.
*All of these events are leading up to something, and I have not been able to nail it down yet. Why? What is so obvious that I'm not seeing it? All right, calm down, Kentarre. Think; what is it that he's hoping to accomplish here?* She pondered this self-imposed question for a moment, and suddenly the pieces clicked. Perhaps it was some special magic in the moonlight, but somehow, tonight she was able to piece it all together. She didn't know why she had not been able to do so before, but tonight was somehow a turning point in her campaign.
Kentarre rose from her seat and went to the portrait hole. She exited silently and closed it shut behind her with such precision that the Fat Lady looked at her suspiciously and said, "What are you up to, young lady?" Kentarre ignored her and began walking down the hall. The woman in pink called after her, "Hey! Don't walk away when I'm talking to you! How rude!"
The hallways were dark and unpopulated. Kentarre loved this time, because dinner was not required, merely offered. While everyone ate, she had free rein to go where she pleased unhindered. However, now she was on a mission.
She spotted Harry in the Great Hall in his usual dinner seat. Next to him, of course, were Hermione and Ron. Neville, Dean, and Seamus also shared dinnertime with the trio.
Kentarre walked up to them, attracting a few glances from fellow classmates, which she ignored. She bent over to whisper in Harry's ear, "It's time. We have to go." Harry looked at her questioningly, but she hissed at him, "Yes, now! I'm sure that he's already waiting."
Harry muttered an explanation to Ron, who was on his right, and then Ron passed this on to Hermione, who was on his other side. Kentarre held back after Harry got up; her wand slipped out of her robe's breast pocket- whether it was on purpose or accidental, Harry couldn't tell- and she bent over to pick it up. She muttered something inaudible to the other two and seemed to slip them both something from inside her sleeve. When she straightened, she nodded at both of them, who nodded back.
Kentarre then swept out of the Great Hall with Harry at her tail. Harry asked her, "What was that about?" Kentarre handed him something small and black, instructing him, "Clip this to your ear." He looked at it and saw that it was a small device that looked like an earphone that Muggle children used for their Walkmans, except this had no cord attached. Harry asked, "What's this?"
"It's a communicator. I gave Ron and Hermione one each for safety precautions, though I doubt we'll need them."
"Why is that?"
"Because I know how to handle what we're coming up against."
"I thought you said you didn't know what we were fighting."
"Don't make this any more complicated that it already is, Potter. Just follow my lead and my instructions, and you will come out all right."
Under normal circumstances, Harry would have protested, but the imperiousness in her voice stopped him. He had never heard her speak like that; most of the time her voice was soft and dark and, at times, menacing, but now she seemed almost like a general in charge of an army: all business.
Kentarre led Harry down the corridors to the Gryffindor portrait hole. "What are we here for?" he asked her as she gave the password. The painting swung open, and Kentarre told him, "I have to get something. Potter, go and get your broom and meet me back in the common room."
Harry did as he was told, while Kentarre disappeared up the girls' stairs. She came down holding a package that was long and thin and looked suspiciously like the package that Harry had received through owl mail during his first year. Indeed, it was the same kind of package: a flying broom. It was a model Nimbus Two Thousand and One, and it looked as though it had been used, though the package had been wrapped tightly. Harry asked her as the pieces clicked in his mind, "You got that from the pawn shop, did you?" Without looking at him, she nodded. She discarded the wrapping and held the broom in her left hand, and Harry took his up as well. "Let's go," she said, the finality in her voice giving him a chill.
She led him out of the portrait hall, down several corridors and up countless flights of stairs. When they finally reached the South Tower, which was, under normal circumstances, restricted to teachers only, Kentarre disregarded all signs that said they were not supposed to be here and climbed the final set of stairs. Harry hesitated for a split-second, setting himself. Kentarre continued on, and Harry, not wanting to keep her waiting or get left behind, advanced.
They reached the final chamber at the top of the tower, and Kentarre allowed Harry to catch his breath. "So... what... do we do.. now?" he panted. Kentarre turned to the window. "We wait," she said. "He's not here yet, which gives us the advantage." Harry asked, "How do you know he's not here? He could be hiding." She gave him a withering look, which silenced his inquiry.
And so they waited. There was not much light in the room, save for the trickle of pale moonlight that seeped in through the lone window. Harry could not tell how long they waited, but it seemed as though they stood there, motionless, for an eternity. Cold air permeated the room, making Harry begin to shiver. His warm breath made little puffs in front of his face.
Suddenly, Kentarre stiffened, and Harry heard a noise coming from outside the window. Kentarre flattened herself against the wall, and Harry backed out of the light. Harry could not see much, but he did see Kentarre bare her teeth and hear her sharp intake of breath. Noiselessly, she braced herself on the windowsill and seemingly flowed out over it, her black cloak blowing out behind her with a rushing sound. She whispered, "Follow me," on her way, and Harry, though more clumsily, followed.
Under the window was a small drop, and Harry landed with a muffled thunk, barely keeping his balance. Snow completely smothered the roof, outlining every slope and curve and dip. Kentarre was there, and she held her hand, palm facing him, out, but whether it was to silence him or tell him to stay still or both, he could not guess.
Just then he noticed the shadow at some obscure corner of the roof, off to the left a ways, watching them. Kentarre's eyes were locked on this dark figure; her eyes were narrowed and mistrusting, and though Harry could not see them well, he thought he saw a glint of anticipation. However, he told himself, this could be due to any number of things, like the light or the angle from which he saw them. Her hand remained extended slightly behind her, and she took a few steps forward and to the right, waiting.
The figure straightened from his low vantage point on the sloping roof and stood, dark and defiant, facing Kentarre. "Well, well, well," said the figure in a voice that Harry knew he recognized, "Kentarre. I must say, I knew you would come, but I didn't think you'd bring a guest." Kentarre's resonant voice answered him, "Well, you know me, always full of surprises."
The man chuckled. "That you are, Kentarre, that you are. However, you'll find that I have a few surprises of my own. Ah, there's one of them right now."
Harry felt a chill that seemed not to be due from the freezing conditions, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. He instantly felt as though he was being watched, but when he turned, he saw nothing but the wall of the tower. His eyes traveled all about the roof, but he saw no one that was not supposed to be there.
Kentarre's voice was confident. "Believe it or not, I thought of that. I knew you'd bring your little shadow along- that's what they're for, are they not? However, your little stooge does not intimidate me. And I think you know full well that I'm not afraid of you, so why don't we just get on with this?"
Another chuckle came from the dark figure, and the man said in a voice edged in spite, "Yes, the Kelohr does not frighten so easily, does she? Well, that's not all I've got up my sleeve."
Suddenly, Harry felt not one, but several pairs of eyes on him. Once again, he scanned the surroundings, but he could find no eyes to match that haunting feeling of being watched. Meanwhile, Kentarre visibly tensed. "Potter," she muttered over her shoulder, "keep on your guard. It looks like we're in for a rough night." Harry nodded, and then, because he wanted to say something and could not think of anything else to say, he whispered, "Good luck."
Kentarre smiled a wry smile. "Right."
The dark figure said, "Well, Kentarre, it appears our time for reunion is up. Now you die." Kentarre smirked. "We'll just see who has the last laugh, Learst!" At this last, the man seemed to get angry. "Very good, Kentarre," he growled, "but just because you've figured out who I am doesn't mean you can beat me."
"On the contrary, it does. I know you don't have the power to beat me."
"Ah, but do you dare show your true powers in front of one so young?"
Kentarre's eyes widened in shock, and then she began to swear under her breath. Harry looked at her with question in his eyes, but she did not look at him. Instead, she clenched her teeth and said, "Learst! You will pay for this!"
At that, the man Learst laughed, making Kentarre's eyes narrow. "No, Kentarre," he said, "this time it will be me taking the revenge." The man threw off his black cloak, and Harry saw in the dim, frosty moonlight that he was wearing a kind of battle outfit. Kentarre stuck her left hand under her robe and felt the blue glow. *I'm glad this cloak is so thick,* she thought gratefully.
Just then, while Kentarre was warming up, she heard a long, slow ring, as of steel. She looked up sharply and saw the man pulling out a long, shimmering broadsword. The ring seemed to echo in the cold, clear air, and Kentarre saw Harry jump backwards against the tower wall.
Kentarre's face registered surprise, then confidence again. "Well," she said, "I didn't know it was going to be like that." Then she pulled her left hand out, careful to keep it still hidden by a fold of her cloak. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Harry trying not to appear as if he was straining to see, and she couldn't help but smile. Meanwhile, she was gathering her magic. Kentarre whispered a single word, and there was a faint flash of lightning blue light. In her hand, she now held an exquisitely designed two-handed broadsword. Wordlessly, she pushed it out in front of her at a slant across her torso, and Harry could now see, in the silvery moonlight, that there was a shimmering, polished red stone, about the size of a robin's egg, set in the hilt. The hilt's guard was made of silver and carved in the likeness of an eagle, with its head curving gracefully over the top of the flawless blade. Harry had never seen anything like it before, so cruelly beautiful, and it quite took his breath away.
The man in black charged Kentarre, and there was a loud clang as the two swords made their first meeting. The two of them pulled apart, and then came again, this time making swipe after parry after feint. Harry stood, motionless in the snow, watching the exchange with astonishment. *Where did Kentarre learn to swordfight like that?* he wondered to himself as the spectacular battle continued. *The only instruction like that that somebody my age could get is fencing instruction, but this is not fencing; this is swordplay.* Harry did not know much about this subject, but he knew enough from the movies that Dudley watched to know that the two were quite different. *Boy, would Ron like to see this...*
Just then, the man made a fantastic leap into the air, and Kentarre leapt up to meet him. Harry did not realize it for several seconds, but when he finally noticed, it made him wonder. *Nobody can jump that high... wait a minute!* For indeed, both Kentarre and the man were riding on broomsticks, still swinging at each other in midair. They would collide, and fall backwards, then speed towards each other, collide, and fall back again, each time attacking at a different angle. For a moment, Harry felt the impulse to whoop out loud, but that seemed somehow out of place.
Without warning, the swords scraped together with an earsplitting screech, and sparks from the two edges rained down. Harry impulsively lifted up his hand to shield his face, but he felt nothing. Upon lowering his hand a few seconds later, he saw that the man called Learst was floating alone in the air, pivoting in one spot, trying to see where Kentarre had gone. Harry likewise searched the sky, but Kentarre had indeed disappeared.
Just then, Harry saw out of the corner of his eye a bright blue flash. When he looked, the flash had gone, but in its place came shooting, like a comet in a night sky, something that had a trail of a similar color. It sped straight towards the suspended man, and when it arrived, Harry saw that it was the girl in blue. He looked closer, and he saw that she was carrying a sword just like the one Kentarre had just been using. Harry's eyes widened, watching the girl's every move. He tried to look even closer, just to be sure that it was the same sword, and he caught a flash of red out of the midst of the tangle. It was the same sword. She was using the same sword.
The feeling of being watched intensified, and Harry wrenched his eyes from the struggling couple to look around, to see what was watching him. He saw nothing, and was about to go back to watching the fight when a hissing voice spoke from somewhere behind his right ear, saying, "It's very interesting, isn't it?" Harry nearly jumped out of his skin. He whirled around-- but saw nothing. "Who's there?" he asked nervously, and the same voice replied from the same position, "You mean Kentarre didn't tell you about me? My, my, my. Well, there's nothing that she could've told you that would help you now; you're mine." Harry continued to search, trying to find an explanation for the voice that seemed so close. The voice laughed a coarse, rasping laugh that was completely devoid of mirth. Harry thought he could see a dark flicker in the corner of his eye, but when he tried to see it, it disappeared and the reappeared again to dance mockingly at the edge of his vision once more. "Who are you?" he asked, beginning to feel more than a little worried. The words "you're mine" echoed back at him in a tiny little whisper that repeated itself over and over again.
Suddenly, something solid hit him from behind, throwing him facefirst into the snow. He hit on his hands and knees, a shocking chill running through him. Harry scrambled to his feet, trying to brush himself off while still searching for the unseen source of the voice that seemed so close. He pulled his wand out, brandishing it in front of him. *Okay, now,* he thought, *What would Hermione do? What would Ron do?* Harry stood, his feet apart, his wand ready, waiting.
Without any sort of warning, a fierce wind struck up, seemingly, out of nowhere. However, Harry was almost certain that it was this unseen opponent that was causing the wind. It was strong, and Harry was forced a few steps backward before he caught his balance against it. It bit at him, blowing his robes back and whipping his hair into a frenzied resistance. He couldn't let it beat him, for he would go flying towards the wall again.
The wind, for some strange reason, stopped then, quite abruptly, and Harry, who had been pushing against it, went flying forward, attempting to regain his balance. Then he was rushed by another invisible wall, and the collision was so hard and head-on that it sent him right back to the wall, where he hit his head and blacked out.
When he woke up, however, he suspected that he had not been out for long, because the sound of swords clashing was still going on. *How can they go at it for that long?* he asked himself, but his head hurt too much to allow much room for thinking.
He opened his eyes, and he realized that the voice that had tormented him was gone. He was lying on his back on the snowy rooftop of Hogwarts. Harry sat up and shook himself, preparing to get up. He never got to that part, however, because at that time, there was a pause in the battle noise, and a swooshing noise followed the brief pause. He looked up and saw that both of the fighters had gone. Then he saw them; they were flying at great speeds, and the girl in blue was chasing the man in black. It was too fast and too far away to see anything, but Harry attempted it anyway, determined not to miss anything.
The two of them dived and swooped, dodged each other and used all manner of evasive maneuvers to get away from each other. The blue trail that was the mysterious girl suddenly got brighter, and she shot a beam of blue light at the man. He barely dodged it and then turned around in midair. They had stopped almost on the other side of the tower, and Harry moved to see. There they floated, staring at each other. The man had resheathed his sword, and he now held out a wand. "So, Zorensei," he said breathlessly, "it comes down to this."
"You fight well, Learst," she replied in a voice that was deep and resonant and vaguely familiar. "However, I doubt that will be enough to save you now. I have no restrictions; there is nothing to stop me from killing you."
Learst laughed. "Nothing, Zorensei?" There was a pause, and Harry felt something very strong grab his wrists and slam them against the stone tower wall. His feet at the ankles were similarly handled, and Harry had to bite his lip to keep from crying out in surprise. He saw the girl above look down at him, shock on her face. She began to swear, and Learst laughed. "You never thought that your own witness could be used against you. Well, I have every intention of making him watch your demise."
"I'm not finished with you, Learst! I'm very well aware that your little tricks are going to save your neck, but that doesn't mean I'm finished! You may survive this night, but I promise to make it the most miserable one you've ever had. It's time to finish this, Learst!" With that, she held her hands out in front of her and yelled, a long, loud yell that pierced the very night. Her hands began to glow blue, and the light grew and grew and grew. It seemed, to Harry, that time had slowed down, and everything that he saw happening was in slow motion. The blue light from her hands, once it had reached its maximum strength, spread outwards from her hands and separated into separate strands that acted like a web or a net, closing themselves about Learst. The girl, as if she held the lead ropes, pulled the blue light towards her, and Learst, inside the 'net', was forced towards her. Finally they were close enough to touch each other, and the blue girl put her hand into the web and grabbed the front of Learst's shirt, pulling him to her. She muttered something in his ear, something Harry couldn't hear, and then she let him go.
The net grew brighter, and the girl allowed it to float away from her, and then abruptly pulled it back, winding up and then throwing it out towards the Forbidden Forest. The net of blue sailed away over the trees and then sank among them, pulling its trapped prisoner with it. The girl watched it go, and then she turned to Harry. "You'd better let him go," she said loudly, and Harry realized that she was not talking to him. The thing that was holding him hostage hissed and cursed at her, but finally it loosened its death grip on Harry's limbs, allowing him to break free. The thing cursed again at the suspended girl, and then it was gone. The girl glanced once more in the direction that she had thrown Learst, and Harry looked up at her in wonder. *Who is she?* he wondered.
He massaged his wrists absent-mindedly, and then, on a whim, he called up to her, "Why don't you come down?" She shrugged. "My night's not over yet, Potter. I didn't throw him as far as I should have, and that net will only last for a few more hours. He'll be back at school tomorrow, but I want you to be careful, all right? Not everyone is as trustworthy as they look."
He faintly wondered what she could mean by that, but he didn't have time to ask, because at that time she flew off in another direction, leaving him to his confused thoughts and numbed fingers.
Harry went back in through the tower window and thought, *Oh no! I bet everybody's already gone to bed, and I don't have my cloak! This is really bad.* He poked his head out of the tower and listened hard for movement from the bottom of the stairs. Hearing nothing, he crept down, attempting to keep his robes from making noise. When he got to the bottom, he checked around, waiting for someone to come down the hall. He slunk quietly down the correct hallway, stopping periodically to listen for patrollers in the corridors. He came to an intersection and ducked around a corner because he heard a simpering voice say, "Did you catch a scent, my sweet? We'll find them, we will." Harry knew that voice in an instant; it was Filch, and Ms. Norris was with him. It looked as though he'd have to make a run for it, and he didn't want to wait around for them to catch up with him. Harry took off down the hall that he had hidden in, hoping to run fast enough to get a good head start. This turned out to be a bad idea, however, when he nearly bumped into Professor McGonagall, who had her back turned to him.
He quickly doubled back and hid behind a tapestry, praying that she hadn't heard him. She had.
"Who's there?" she called sharply. "Come out this instant." Harry held his breath and remained absolutely still. If she caught him, he would have a whole week's worth of detention. She poked around in the area where he had been, coming within feet of where Harry was now pretending to be part of the scenery. The professor, after a thorough search of everywhere that Harry was not, to Harry's relief and gratitude, moved off, muttering about someone who couldn't have gone far. When her footsteps had faded, he waited to make absolutely certain that no one else was out there, waiting for him to come around the corner. When he was satisfied, he emerged and went on, pleading with whatever unseen being was listening that around every next corner was not Professor Snape.
Finally, with several other encounters with the prowlers of the hall but no sightings, he made the long journey back to the Gryffindor common room. When the portrait hole closed behind him, Harry felt as though he could sing, but he caught himself just in time. In two armchairs in the middle of the room, Ron and Hermione, who had apparently tried to stay up to wait for him, slept with their heads on their shoulders. The fire had been reduced to fading cinders, and the room was almost completely dark, except for the silvery light that came from the waxing moon outside the window.
He moved towards the window, not wanting to wake his friends up just yet, and he noted that the moon was less than a week from the full. It was large and oval, and the pale light it shed saturated everything; he found that even the snow looked whiter under its gaze. He opened the window, and received a shocking bout of goose pimples as the crisp, early-December air touched his face.
Suddenly, from somewhere out in the snow, he heard a soft, sweet, singing voice. It was female, and it was among the most beautiful he had ever heard. Something down in the lawn caught his eye, and he looked closer, seeing that it was the girl in light blue, the one Learst had called Zorensei. She was standing feet apart in the snow beside a leafless tree, looking up at the moon and singing in a voice that somehow carried all the way up to the Gryffindor tower window, where Harry now stood. Harry heard a stirring from behind him, but he ignored it. He attempted to catch the words of the song, and suddenly they became clearer to him.
In the moonlight I felt your heart
Quiver like a bowstring's pulse,
In the moon's fair light you looked at me.
Nobody knows your heart.
When the sun has gone I see you,
Beautiful and haunting, but cold,
Like the blade of a knife, so sharp and so sweet.
Nobody knows your heart.
Hole of your sorrow, grief and pain,
Locked away in the forest of the night.
Your secret heart belongs to the world
Of the things that sigh in the dark,
Ah, the things that cry in the dark.
The song ended, and Harry stared at the girl so far below. She leapt up into the tree and sat with one leg propped on the branch and the other dangling down. There she sat, and Harry watched her, wondering what she would do. After a few minutes, she stood on the branch and lifted completely off of it, floating down to the ground to land softly on the fluffy snow. Then she walked slowly until she came to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. There she disappeared into the shade of the trees, and he saw no more of her.
"Who's that, Harry?" asked a voice from behind him, making him jump. Hermione had awoken and walked up without his noticing. He said, "Wake up Ron. He should hear this too."
When Ron was fully awake (this took some doing), Harry proceeded to tell them all about his night on the rooftop of the school, and they listened with interest. Hermione asked him once, "Did you recognize Learst?" Harry told her, "I couldn't see his face. When he was down on the roof, it was all shadowy, and when he was in the air, he was moving too fast or he was too far away. Something told me he did it on purpose so I wouldn't recognize him."
"So you think it was someone you know?" she asked, and Harry thought about this. "I don't know anyone named Learst, but that name could be made up-- or the one I know him by could be. Though I can't think of who he could be." After a pause, Harry went on in explaining the night's events in as much detail as he could. Ron was most intrigued by the creature that knocked Harry out for a while but that he couldn't see. "It's not healthy knowing something like that's about," he said with a shudder.
When Harry came to the end of his story, about seeing her just now down in the snow, Hermione said, "Oh, so that's who that was. That was her?" Harry nodded, unable to say anything. He knew that, somehow, the girl Zorensei was familiar just as the man Learst was, but he couldn't match a name to either of them. He went through the names of everyone he knew at school, and two names caught his attention. At first, it seemed impossible, but the more he thought about it, the more sense it began to make. His face must have betrayed the deep thinking he was doing, because Ron said, "What's up, Harry?"
Harry ran his ideas past his two friends, and they took them and ran them over in their minds. "Of course!" exclaimed Hermione in a whisper. "This all makes sense! Harry, you're a genius!" Harry shrugged. "It seemed like our last hope. I don't like it, but..."
Ron was scratching his head. "But... if she... and what about..." he began to say, but Harry interrupted him. "Hermione!" he cried, coming to a sudden conclusion, "there's one way to be sure. Go up and check if Kentarre is in her bed." She looked at him briefly, and then seemed to come to the same conclusion. She nodded and wordlessly half ran up the girls' staircase.
The two boys waited silently for five, six, seven minutes. "What's taking her?" Ron said finally. "All she has to do is sneak in and pull open the drapes just a bit to see if she's in there." Harry said, "Wait... here she comes." For indeed, there were footsteps coming down the stairs that Hermione had gone up-- but there seemed to be more than one pair of feet.
Hermione emerged first, and behind her came Kentarre. Harry and Ron exchanged surprised glances with each other, and then Kentarre said, "So I hear you're having some doubts about me, Potter?" Harry risked a quick glance at Hermione, who gave a helpless shrug. Then he said, "So you heard."
"Well, Potter, it's like I said; I'm not who you think I am and I never was. However, the person that you think I am may have changed since I told you that. Is that true?"
Harry nodded. "Where did you go during the battle?"
Kentarre's lips curled into a small, mysterious smile. "Wouldn't you like to know? Well, you'll know soon enough, although I daresay by now you've already figured it out. Time will tell, Potter, time will tell."
Disclaimer: I do not own the song written above, I simply used it because I'm the fanfiction author and I like it. It's actually the English version of the theme song for the anime movie Mononoke-Hime, also known as Princess Mononoke. So if you recognize it, good for you- if you don't, now I'm telling you what it is, so go watch that movie! It's excellent. ;-)