AN: This is really as close to action as I'm gonna get until later on in the story. I have two excuses. One: JKR (also known as God) didn't to do huge scary action in Philosophers/Sorcerer's Stone until much later in the book (like Halloween) and my story is a lot more like that one than any of the other books. Two: I'm lazy and I never do anything active, so I don't see why I should have my characters do active things either! So if you want action… I'm sorry. I'm liking Myrmidian a lot. I mean it's about time Snape had some friends! Yeah, spoiler there! Oh yeah, and a note to the Pepper Imp: I've got you in there, so smile.
Slight update. I messed up in the Quidditch talk, so I've fixed that now. Stupid me. I'll just go hide in a corner now.
Another update. Eien caught a stupid mistake in counting. Since I can't count any higher than 3, it's nice to have readers who can. Thankee much.
Author's Rant: Not quite the same thing as the AN. Anyway my rant for now is about the tendency for people to only want to read D/H stories that start and end with sex and have nothing but sex in the middle. Ok, so I'm exaggerating, but please. Draco and Harry do deserve some emotions too. I do admit that I am guilty of falling into the angst trap (I'm really being mean to the emotions of Draco and I feel awful about that), but I'm trying to have Draco and Harry get some happy feelings too. I don't want them building a relationship purely on pity, revenge, lust, or shallow and temporary emotions. I am aiming for caring! So there! Yeah, rant over. ?
Warning: I've already got warnings up, but this is one of the chapters where it gets slashy. So if you don't want to read it, don't. If you feel a need to comment on it, go ahead, but I'd really rather people stick to comments with some constructive stuff in them.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of J. K. Rowling's WONDERFUL creations and I am sincerely sorry about the butchering that they receive at my hands.
Parlance of the Serpent
Chapter 8
"Oh shite! Oh shite!"
Harry ran along a hallway clutching his book bag in his arms. He was late to his first Defence Against the Dark Arts class of the year. He was sure Professor Myrmidian would hate him now. Harry whirled around a corner to see students streaming into the Defence classroom. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan grinned at Harry as he came up.
"Don't worry Harry," said Seamus. "Myrmidian's not even here yet."
Heaving a sigh of relief, Harry brought up the rear. Inside students from all four houses were filling up the seats. This particular class was a highly advanced one that very few students took. By the time Harry got into the classroom the only desk left was in the back, right behind Malfoy. Harry walked to the back and sat down, spreading his books out over the table. The students waited, chatting quietly, for Professor Myrmidian to show up.
The professor strode into the classroom, his dark blue robes billowing around him. His face was calm, but he had a twinkle in his eyes similar to Dumbledore's. He walked to his desk and put down a heavy volume he had been carrying. Leaning against the front of his desk, he folded his arms and examined his students.
"Good morning everyone. As you know I am Professor Humphrey Myrmidian." A piece of chalk began to write his name on the blackboard behind him. "I am very glad that all of you decided to take this course in advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts. Now, before I call roll, how many of you have had first hand experience with the Dark Arts?"
Harry raised his hand with Malfoy and a scattering of other students. Myrmidian looked around the classroom at the face of each student with his or her hand raised. When he got to Harry his eyes flicked up to the boy's scar briefly before he turned his gaze to Malfoy. He paused for a moment, looking at the pale face of the boy in front of Harry with one eyebrow raised, before going back to his teaching.
"Well that's most of you, so if we cover something you have already dealt with I hope you will be able to assist me in explaining it to your fellow classmates. Now please open your textbooks to the table of contents."
Harry pulled open his copy of Lifting the Shrouds of Darkness: A Guide to Combating the Dark Arts, by Philistia Brackenbush. As Myrmidian continued speaking, the chalk on the board jotted down notes.
"As you can see the author split the book into a section on curses and hexes, one on creatures, one on enchanted objects, and one on potions. We will be covering all four of these sections during the course of this year. I do not claim to have complete knowledge of all of these areas, so I have asked my colleagues to assist us. Professors Snape, McGonagall, and Hagrid will be giving demonstrations and extra lessons in the class. I have also asked some members of the wizarding community outside of Hogwarts to help in our studies, including your former teacher Mr. Lupin."
Harry perked up to hear this. Remus Lupin had been his favourite teacher at Hogwarts and was now one of his close friends. After Sirius was pardoned, Remus had visited them and worked with them steadily until Harry began to think of him as a part of the family. Already Harry had learned a huge deal about the Dark Arts from him, both in the classroom and out of it. He had been the favourite teacher of most of the students while he was at Hogwarts. In fact Harry could only think of on person who had actually disliked Remus, and that person was sitting right in front of him.
While other students had smiled or started whispering excitedly, Malfoy's shoulders gave a nearly imperceptible shrug when he heard Remus' name mentioned. Harry couldn't see his rival's expression, but he would have bet his whole fortune that it was a frown. And the only frown in the room. Malfoy would have to get used to being alone in this class, for he was the only Slytherin in the room.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're already looking forward to our lessons," Myrmidian smiled at the class and walked behind his desk. He flicked his wand at the blackboard and it cleared itself off leaving the chalk poised to take more notes. "We are going to start with the section on curses and hexes. Please open to chapter one. Now, Mr. Corner, would you read the first page to us?"
A mousy boy from Hufflepuff began to read laboriously through the text. Harry, a swift reader, ignored his faltering voice and read to himself.
Permotium ExcidiumPermotium Excidium is a highly debated curse in the wizarding community. A witch named Kendra Wilmington invented it in the early eighteenth century. Permotium Excidium is a spell that allows the caster to control the emotions of another person. It has been made an official curse, but it is still highly debated. For years parents would use it to calm their children and get some sleep at night. Wizards would also use it on themselves to cheer up or to accurately create a mood if they were acting. However the Dark Lord and other dark wizards have more frequently used it to attack other wizards and muggles.
It is a very dangerous thing to not have control over your emotions. In the Imperius Curse, the caster has control over the victim's actions, but not their feelings. Because of this the object of the curse can sometimes break free from it. Not so with the Permotium Excidium Curse. The victim has no ability to feel that they are being wronged. If the caster wants their victim to be angry they can often shake it off, but if the victim is forced to love the caster they are powerless. With this curse the caster cannot use magic to control what the person does, they can only try and convince him or her. The Imperius Curse does not work on someone under Permotium Excidium.
"Harry."
Harry looked up from his book and into the eyes of Draco Malfoy. He gulped, feeling the blood rush to his face. Those eyes… so silver… so pretty… He forced himself to look past them and realised why Seamus had whispered his name. Malfoy was not the only one looking at him. In fact everyone was looking at him. Harry tried to think what might have just happened, but he couldn't for the life of him figure it out.
"Mr. Potter," Professor Myrmidian said somewhat dryly. "I would appreciate it if you could stay with the rest of the class in this room. I do not enjoy repeating myself and I hope you will not give me cause to do so again. I was asking if you would explain to the class what it felt like when the Dark Lord had put you under the Imperius Curse and how you dealt with that. Go on, stand up."
Harry stood up, painfully aware that he had turned bright red. Trying to ignore all the eyes on him (especially the silver set) he cast his mind back to the times when he met Voldemort face to face. As Harry opened his mouth to speak, he was aware that he would have to concentrate on not crying.
"Um… Well it was sort of fuzzy. Not in a good way, but really confusing. He kept trying to make me do things, but I'd been practising for those moments. When Barty Crouch was teaching here he made me try to resist jumping on a desk. He did that till I was able to fully resist him. Then the first time I met Voldemort," Harry ignored the usual collective gasp, noticing only that it did not include Malfoy. "I mean the first time I met him back in power, he tried to make me bow down to him and ask him not to hurt me. I was able to refuse. After that I had my friends Ron and Hermione put me under the curse so that I could practise throwing it off.
"I will pretend you did not just say that Potter," Professor Myrmidian did not smile, but gestured for Harry to continue. "Continue."
"Oh, um… right. Sorry sir," Harry paused, hoping Hermione never found out that he mentioned her performing Unforgivable Curses. "When I… when I fought Voldemort with Albus… er… Professor Dumbledore and Sirius Black, my godfather" he added as another small shudder went around the room at the mention of Sirius. Harry was determined to let people know that he was not ashamed of his family. "Voldemort put me under Imperius with the help of some other death eaters and they tried to make me kill some of my friends who he'd taken hostage. I didn't do it, but I couldn't break to curse completely. I ended up cursing off the tip of Ron's finger.
"It sort of felt like going to sleep and listening to a lullaby. It was like Voldemort was singing me to sleep with a song about how right it would be to kill my friends. It's a really terrible feeling because once I broke out of it I felt like I had just done something wrong. It's hard to explain, but when I was under the curse I felt at peace. Just really happy."
Harry stopped speaking and stood still, a little confused as to how to continue. His cheeks felt hotter than a pepper imp and he was sure they were a colour to match. After a few moments Myrmidian motioned for Harry to sit down, which he did with great relief. The professor turned to the blackboard and examined the notes. With his back to the class, he began speaking.
"Thank you Potter. That was a very well put description. Five points to Gryffindor. I'm sure your class mates would also like to thank you for the excellent information you gave them for their notes. Why don't I see any of you writing?"
Papers rustled and students immediately began writing down everything on the board. Harry didn't bother, knowing he would never need notes to remind him of that feeling. He could still feel a few eyes on him, so he stared straight ahead, at the back of Malfoy's head. It was really amazing how pale the other boy's hair was. Harry watched Malfoy's little plait move back and forth with the movement of his shoulder blades as he wrote. It looked so smooth that Harry could not resist reaching out and gently touching the soft silvery hair.
"What do you want Potter?" Malfoy whirled around and faced Harry, his voice a harsh whisper.
"Nuh… nothing," Harry stammered. "Just a bit of… um… in your, uh…"
"Malfoy. Potter." Myrmidian, busy writing on some notes, had interrupted his work and was staring at the pair. "I realise the two of you must of loads to talk about since I know you are so close, but please leave your gossip until later."
Most of the class snickered at the sarcasm, and continued copying notes. Malfoy rolled his eyes and turned back around. Harry exhaled quietly, his pulse racing. He noticed steam on his glasses and took them off to clean them on the hem of his shirt. He would have to be more careful around Malfoy, and that surprised him. Usually he could be counted on to hide his emotions well, but recently he had been lapsing back into his early teenage years of raging hormones, especially around a certain blonde.
"Now that you have finished your notes," Myrmidian said, impatient to continue his lesson. "I will explain what it feels like to be under the Permotium Excidium Curse. I will say this only once so I expect you all to pay attention. I have never been under it personally, but this is what I have gathered from my studies and personal interviews. Potter described the Imperius Curse as a feeling of peace. Permotium Excidium doesn't have a particular feeling because it tampers with your feelings. A victim of this curse would only feel like they were in a particularly bad mood for a time, or a particularly happy mood. The only cloud over the person's judgement would be their emotions, which you teenagers should know is a very thick cloud. Most of the victims of this curse don't even notice that they are under it. For tomorrow's class I want a two-parchment outline of the section on this curse. You will take notes until it is time to leave."
Harry puled out paper with the other students and took notes until the end of class. When it was time to leave he gathered up his things and tried to hurry out, eager to ask Hermione if she knew about this curse. On his way out he saw Malfoy walking along the hall in front of him. Harry slowed down his pace, not wanting to run into his rival. As he walked, staring at Malfoy's back, a short red haired Slytherin bumped into him.
"Watch it," Harry said, not feeling like talking to any Slytherins at all.
"Oh," the other boy turned and bit his lip nervously, his green eyes filled with worry. When he spoke it was with a youthful voice and a heavy Scottish accent. "Sorry Potter. I didn't mean to, honest."
"It's alright," Harry replied, surprised at the redhead's polite tone. He wasn't used to Slytherins being that respectful, especially not of him. "Never mind."
The boy grinned and hurried along his way. As he neared Malfoy he tripped on his robe. His books went flying, one of them catching Malfoy on the back of the head. The blond turned around slowly, his face completely white. Harry winced, knowing the first year would soon be in for trouble. As he prepared to hurry forward and help collect the books, Harry was surprised again. Malfoy reached down and helped the boy up.
"We have to do something about your robes, Nat," Malfoy bent over and started picking up stray books. "I mean if your going to keep flinging school books at my head I'll buy you a whole wardrobe full of robes your size."
The boy, Nat, giggled as he helped Malfoy gather his books. "While you're at it, Draco, could you manage a book bag?"
"Aha!" Malfoy's usual smirk was in place, but with a happy twinkle in his eyes. "Now you're just getting greedy. Come on, back to the common room so we can hem up that oversized sack of yours."
Harry watched, flabbergasted, as the pair walked away together in the direction of the Slytherin common rooms. Malfoy was joking with, being nice, to a first year. Harry felt like everything he had ever known about Malfoy was being turned upside down.
"Interesting, isn't it?"
Harry jumped as Hermione spoke. He turned around and saw his two best friends had come up behind him and were staring at Malfoy and Nat as well. Hermione looked confused and a little pleased. Ron, on the other hand, looked disgusted.
"Revolting," Ron shuddered. "That poor little first year. They're so easily corruptible."
"I don't know," Hermione said, ever the optimist. "Maybe Malfoy has a nice side that we've never seen."
"A nice side?" Ron shrieked as Harry started laughing at the idea. "'Mione. You're really brilliant, but come on. We are still talking about Malfoy, son of You Know Who's top supporter and muggle hater extraordinaire."
Harry stopped laughing abruptly, remembering what Sirius had told him before school started. Ron and Hermione looked at him, confused at his sudden frown.
"Harry? Is something the matter?"
"Oh, it's just…" Harry searched in his mind, trying to cover for his reaction. "It's just… now that he's dead you should really be able to say Voldemort, Ron."
Ron winced. "Well everyone thought he was dead before and you know what happened."
"Believe me," Harry said sadly. "He is most certainly dead. I was the one… I was there, I should know."
Ron turned red and the three of them stood quietly for a moment, not looking at each other. Suddenly Neville Longbottom came up and distracted Ron with a question about magical creatures, unintentionally breaking the uncomfortable silence. The four of them walked back to the Gryffindor common room. Before they got to the Fat Lady Hermione pulled Harry aside.
"Look, Harry," she said with a concerned look in her eyes. "I just wanted to ask you if there's something wrong. Something other than Ron not using the name."
Harry swallowed, not sure of what to say. He had promised not to talk about Malfoy's father to anyone, but he knew that Hermione wouldn't tell anyone. On the other hand he felt strange telling something like this to her and not to Ron.
"If you don't want to tell me it's fine," Hermione added, sensing her friend's discomfort. "I just want to make sure you're alright."
"Thanks Hermione," Harry said gratefully. "It's just that it's not really for me to tell. It's not that I don't trust you, I just would feel strange telling you and not Ron. You know how bad he is at hiding his emotions."
"Right, then I won't press it," Hermione said, her mood lightening somewhat. "I'd better hurry to get my things. Spelling's in fifteen minutes."
"Oh, yeah. Ron and I've got Herbology in half an hour."
The two of them hurried along the hall to the Fat Lady, gave the password ("Occamy eggs"), and went into the common room. Seamus, Dean, Ron, and Neville were sitting by the fire discussing Quidditch as usual. Harry went over to sit with them as Hermione went upstairs.
"We've got a pretty strong offence," Dean was saying. "And Colin's an excellent chaser, but I'm a little worried about the defence. I mean, no offence Ron, but we've only got your sister, who's really not that bad, and Natalie Macdonald for beaters."
"No offence taken," Ron replied. "I love Ginny, but she's nowhere near as good as Fred and George."
"I don't know," said Harry. "I feel pretty safe with Ginny and Natalie out there. I'm just a little worried about Jason Lile."
"Look Harry, you shouldn't worry about Jason," Ron said seriously. "I know he's new to the team and everything, but he's a good chaser. Just wait till the practices really start. My dad works with his mum in the Ministry and he says Jason's been practising all summer."
"Yeah, don't worry, Harry," Seamus chimed in. "With a captain like you, how could you fail?"
Harry blushed and looked around the room, trying to change the topic. He saw the corner of a box sticking out from under a chair and pulled it out. It was a box of S.P.E.W. badges.
"I'll take that," Hermione said, rushing into the room, worried about her next class.
"Oh 'Mione," Seamus joked. "You're not still on about that useless SPEW stuff are you?"
"As a matter of fact I am," she replied as Ron elbowed Seamus in the gut. "And not everyone shares your views Seamus. There are members of the Ministry of Magic who find my campaign ideas very interesting and even students are beginning to care. Just today that Slytherin first year, Nathair Merosus bought a badge and told me he's very interested in joining. What do you say to that?"
"The little one who follows Malfoy around?" Ron grimaced. "I can't believe you even talk to him."
"Oh Ron, you shouldn't judge people before you meet them." Hermione rushed over to the portrait hole and as she went out she added, "He's actually quite sweet."
The group of boys laughed uproariously as Ron's face turned bright red at the idea that Hermione would call a Slytherin sweet. Harry laughed with the rest, but secretly he was thinking that if Malfoy was friends with this "sweet" Slytherin, maybe there was hope for him yet.