Leaving Illusions Behind
Written by Li Cruz
Chapter Six: Seto's Disapproval or Two Tense Weeks Author Notes:
Signing out
Li Cruz (rantermaster@yahoo.com)
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The next two days were rather tense between Quatre and Harry's companion. Rather tense for the group, not Quatre. Quatre, knowing their caginess around him, was glad to avoid them as much as possible. He spent most of his time, trying to learn at least four years of magic. Seto, who sometimes would talk to the quiet kid, noticed the tension.
"What is going on here?" Seto demanded, sitting down on a couch. Quatre had gone to the library for some reading books.
"He's not normal, not even by wizard standards." Dudley, now a little more comfortable around wizards, answered.
"He's some sort of demon from the Shadow Realm." Marik offered up when Seto's cold eyes scan the group.
There was a long silence before Seto began to laugh. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. This is how Ron and Hermione found them.
"Hey, Harry. What's going on?" Ron asked.
Seto's laughter died away.
"Define normal." His mood had swung a full 180 degrees and he spit the question out. Ron and Hermione blinked. The silence had returned full force. Seto spoke again.
"If he's a demon, he's quite well-mannered and pacifistic for one. Even if he isn't normal, he still deserves a chance." With that, he stood up and stalked out of the room.
"Harry, what was that about?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing."
Ron and Hermione knew nothing about Quatre Snape for the next several day. Quatre often than not took meals in where ever he was studying or working. Seto often than not, learning with him. At the end of the week, Quatre finally made an appearance in the Great Hall for breakfast. He and Seto were going over something on parchment. When they arrived they heard this.
"No, would it be aloe? It does heal burns?" Seto asked.
Quatre shook his head. "Could be a variant to try later but classically it used redroot and dragon bane. Though I don't understand why use it in a fire-retardant potion…"
"Unless it's not just for being fire-retardant." Seto supplemented.
"Could it be intended for dragon-slaying, sir?" Quatre turned to Professor Snape, who was listening to the conversation.
"Not quite sure. It is an archaic potion, dating back to just before the raising of Hogwarts." The professor said with a thoughtful expression. "The idea has some worth to try."
Hermione and Ron gawked the Potion Master and the new boy. They looked both quite alike though Quatre's hair was longer and streaked with color, his skin a nice tan color, and he wore dark muggle clothing that contrast against Severus's black wizard robes. There was a chuckle behind the group.
So I see you have just seen Quatre Snape." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly. "I'm surprised you haven't meet him earlier."
Harry, Yugi, Marik, Ryou, and even Dudley flinched. It was apparent that Dumbledore was a little disappointed in their current behavior toward he young Snape.
There was a crash in the Great Hall. When everyone looked at Aunt Petunia who knocked over a bench, she blushed a bright red. She looked like she had been preparing to go to work. She fumbled to upright the bench before scurrying out the main door. You could hear her mumble about working and what sounded like Rose-Maria as she hurried away.
Ron and Hermione walked up to where Quatre and Seto sitting. Quatre had returned to examining the parchment.
"Um, Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ronald Weasly." Hermione took initiative.
Quatre looked up and caught her eyes. Hermione felt as if he could see not at her but what was in her mind. Her mouth became dry and her temperature seemed to drop. She shuddered, hoping he saw nothing to get her and her friends in trouble. Quatre's eyes widened in if realizing what he was doing and broke the connection. Ron shook her shoulder again. The room had gone quiet.
"I'm sorry." Came a very soft voice. The room continue on.
Quatre began fumbling around in his pockets and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He put them on and looked back up.
Hermione backed up into Ron in fear. Quatre, with the sunglasses on, met her gaze again. He felt the twinge of fear but nothing more. Hermione felt nothing. Quatre sighed softly in both relief and frustration. Hermione convince Ron to come with her.
"What's a matter, Quatre?" Professor Snape asked, his eyes worried.
"I'm not done 'growing' yet." Quatre spoke softly, sitting down with his head in his hands.
After that incident, Hermione and Ron even agreed to avoid him. All of the final week before school, Seto often appeared and scold the group for their behavior. Seto often mentioned that Quatre's own magical abilities were still developing. Yugi often than not felt bad about the situation.
Two days before school was to start, the group including Dudley were sent to Diagon Alley for school supplied and what not. Quatre had mysteriously disappeared that day.
The very first stop was Ollivander's shop. Yugi found his wand with mere minutes. It was a eleven inch ash wand with a core of unicorn mane hair. Marik and Bakura were a close second and third. Marik's was thirteen inch cedar wand with a dragon scale core. Bakura was a twelve inch walnut wand and a core of a magical nighthawk's head feather core. Seto took the longest, and what came of it was a surprise. His was a fourteen inch birch wand with a dual core of a dragon heartstring and a griffon wing feather. Seto scowled muttering about a seer and Quatre, who apparently made a bet with Seto about his wand.
McGonagall and Solomon Motou herded them out the door to the other shops. Harry and Yugi while they were in Blotts watched The Potion Master walk out of Ollivander's shop with a staff.
When they all returned to Hogwarts, it was raining. The teachers went on to their last minute preparations, leaving the teenagers to themselves. Snape had a deep frown on his face when he left the room after propping the staff he brought on the wall. Hermione walked up to it and studied it.
"Wow." She said.
"What, Hermione?" Harry asked, right behind her.
She reached out but didn't touch the staff. "This is made of several type of wand woods."
Ron whistled. "That ain't no toy. Only a truly powerful wizard could use something like that."
Ron looked at it closer. He jumped back and feel on his back. Everyone sweat-drop.
"Steel." He voice came out as a croak. "Bloody hell."
"What?" Everyone chorused.
"..." Ron stared at it for another moment. "Who ever this is intended for is just as powerful as Dumbledore."
"What do you mean, Ron?" Ryou said, his eyes on the staff.
Hermione finally realized what Ron meant when he had said steel. Her eyes widened as she put things together.
"Steel and iron are notorious for magic storage. It can collect magic and store it to be used later. And supposedly it can amplify or dampen the power of a spell."
"But who would need something like that?" Ryou asked.
"Isn't it obvious who is the only wizard we know that doesn't own a wand?"
Seto snorted in the silence. "Not surprised. Quatre's wizarding talents are not even at half of his natural limits."
Everyone looked at Seto like he was crazy. He smirked at them from his seat near the fireplace.
"If he doesn't go to Ravenclaw, he'll definitely be in Slytherin." Muttered Hermione.
"When Quatre lost most of his memories, it locked away something important ."
"What is it?" Harry snapped at Seto, tired of the enigma smirk Seto currently had.
"His ability to control his own talents. If I remember correctly what Dumbledore told me, he lost it because he was trying to."
"That's enough, Seto." Came Quatre's soft tenor out of the shadows.
Seto jumped, before turning. Quatre came out into the light, his face pale and thoughtful. Seto looked away after meeting his eyes.
"There is no need to antagonized them…" It was obvious he left things unsaid.
"Sorry, Quatre." He said clearly respectfully, his eyes lowered.
Yugi and Yami was shocked, well so was everyone else but still.
:Aboiu, did he just?:
::He did. What is going on?::
:Not sure.:
Quatre walked around them and picked up the staff. His eyes sorrowful as he fingered the metal rings. He proceed to the door.
"Where are you going?" Marik asked as he was the closest to the door.
Quatre paused only long enough to say. "Out."
The portrait closed and everyone could hear the Pink Lady calling after him. Harry and Yugi shared a secret glance and nodded only just. A few minutes later, Seto left and he never realized he had a pair of shadows.
Seto came to a stop on the walkway near one of the gardens. Quatre's staff was resting against on the columns. Quatre stood in the garden, his face tilted to the sky. The robe he wore was drenched and his dark hair plastered to his head. Seto leaned against the column watching. Harry and Yugi hid around the corner watching Seto.
Seto watched Quatre, worry softening his blue eyes. Quatre must have remembered something. It was the fourth time during the two week he knew him that Quatre stood in this garden like that.
Seto didn't know why he was drawn to Quatre. Quatre seemed a lot like Dumbledore in some ways. But Quatre wasn't concerned about power. Granted Dumbledore was in a position of power and he was required to keep it. Seto smirked to himself. He wouldn't be surprised if he one day found Quatre in a monastery. Quatre had no preference really toward material things.
Quatre turned and looked at Seto. Seto pulled out a towel as Quatre started to walk to him. Quatre took the towel and began drying himself.
"What did you remember this time?" Seto gently asked. He didn't expect him to answer for he never answered before.
"… Someone who's dead now." Quatre looked straight ahead as he rubbed his hair dry.
"Where they important to you?" Seto asked, noting the dull blue streak in his visible eye.
"Hai. She was like a mother to me." Quatre said slowly and flatly. "She was killed in front of me. The spell, cast, disembowed her and snapped her neck. Though she died peaceful, I never saw or found her killer."
Seto's mask nearly fell apart. To see someone you love die like that, how could Quatre still been going strong?
"I've been remembering her, not just how she died." Quatre said. "But those are the only things I remember."
Quatre draped the towel around his shoulder and grabbed the staff. Seto followed as Quatre walked the walkway toward the Great Hall.
Yugi and Harry wandered back to the Gryffindor, both lost in their thoughts. They could barely hear what the two said to each other but what they hear suggested someone was dead.
Both now felt a bit bad for avoiding Quatre Snape, someone who was no doubt heading to Slytherin. Harry and Yugi had agreed on this earlier. Yugi was now sure of it, concerning the fact Seto had so quickly back down. Harry had said the Snapes he ever heard of went to Slytherin. Also with all that power supposedly at his disposal, he could easily dominate any house.
Before entering the Gryffindor, they shared one more look. This one was full of worry for the future.
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++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Next on Leaving Illusion Behind:
Chapter Seven: The Sorting
Written by Li Cruz
Chapter Six: Seto's Disapproval or Two Tense Weeks Author Notes:
Signing out
Li Cruz (rantermaster@yahoo.com)
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
The next two days were rather tense between Quatre and Harry's companion. Rather tense for the group, not Quatre. Quatre, knowing their caginess around him, was glad to avoid them as much as possible. He spent most of his time, trying to learn at least four years of magic. Seto, who sometimes would talk to the quiet kid, noticed the tension.
"What is going on here?" Seto demanded, sitting down on a couch. Quatre had gone to the library for some reading books.
"He's not normal, not even by wizard standards." Dudley, now a little more comfortable around wizards, answered.
"He's some sort of demon from the Shadow Realm." Marik offered up when Seto's cold eyes scan the group.
There was a long silence before Seto began to laugh. Everyone looked at him like he was crazy. This is how Ron and Hermione found them.
"Hey, Harry. What's going on?" Ron asked.
Seto's laughter died away.
"Define normal." His mood had swung a full 180 degrees and he spit the question out. Ron and Hermione blinked. The silence had returned full force. Seto spoke again.
"If he's a demon, he's quite well-mannered and pacifistic for one. Even if he isn't normal, he still deserves a chance." With that, he stood up and stalked out of the room.
"Harry, what was that about?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing."
Ron and Hermione knew nothing about Quatre Snape for the next several day. Quatre often than not took meals in where ever he was studying or working. Seto often than not, learning with him. At the end of the week, Quatre finally made an appearance in the Great Hall for breakfast. He and Seto were going over something on parchment. When they arrived they heard this.
"No, would it be aloe? It does heal burns?" Seto asked.
Quatre shook his head. "Could be a variant to try later but classically it used redroot and dragon bane. Though I don't understand why use it in a fire-retardant potion…"
"Unless it's not just for being fire-retardant." Seto supplemented.
"Could it be intended for dragon-slaying, sir?" Quatre turned to Professor Snape, who was listening to the conversation.
"Not quite sure. It is an archaic potion, dating back to just before the raising of Hogwarts." The professor said with a thoughtful expression. "The idea has some worth to try."
Hermione and Ron gawked the Potion Master and the new boy. They looked both quite alike though Quatre's hair was longer and streaked with color, his skin a nice tan color, and he wore dark muggle clothing that contrast against Severus's black wizard robes. There was a chuckle behind the group.
So I see you have just seen Quatre Snape." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled slightly. "I'm surprised you haven't meet him earlier."
Harry, Yugi, Marik, Ryou, and even Dudley flinched. It was apparent that Dumbledore was a little disappointed in their current behavior toward he young Snape.
There was a crash in the Great Hall. When everyone looked at Aunt Petunia who knocked over a bench, she blushed a bright red. She looked like she had been preparing to go to work. She fumbled to upright the bench before scurrying out the main door. You could hear her mumble about working and what sounded like Rose-Maria as she hurried away.
Ron and Hermione walked up to where Quatre and Seto sitting. Quatre had returned to examining the parchment.
"Um, Hello, I'm Hermione Granger and this is Ronald Weasly." Hermione took initiative.
Quatre looked up and caught her eyes. Hermione felt as if he could see not at her but what was in her mind. Her mouth became dry and her temperature seemed to drop. She shuddered, hoping he saw nothing to get her and her friends in trouble. Quatre's eyes widened in if realizing what he was doing and broke the connection. Ron shook her shoulder again. The room had gone quiet.
"I'm sorry." Came a very soft voice. The room continue on.
Quatre began fumbling around in his pockets and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. He put them on and looked back up.
Hermione backed up into Ron in fear. Quatre, with the sunglasses on, met her gaze again. He felt the twinge of fear but nothing more. Hermione felt nothing. Quatre sighed softly in both relief and frustration. Hermione convince Ron to come with her.
"What's a matter, Quatre?" Professor Snape asked, his eyes worried.
"I'm not done 'growing' yet." Quatre spoke softly, sitting down with his head in his hands.
After that incident, Hermione and Ron even agreed to avoid him. All of the final week before school, Seto often appeared and scold the group for their behavior. Seto often mentioned that Quatre's own magical abilities were still developing. Yugi often than not felt bad about the situation.
Two days before school was to start, the group including Dudley were sent to Diagon Alley for school supplied and what not. Quatre had mysteriously disappeared that day.
The very first stop was Ollivander's shop. Yugi found his wand with mere minutes. It was a eleven inch ash wand with a core of unicorn mane hair. Marik and Bakura were a close second and third. Marik's was thirteen inch cedar wand with a dragon scale core. Bakura was a twelve inch walnut wand and a core of a magical nighthawk's head feather core. Seto took the longest, and what came of it was a surprise. His was a fourteen inch birch wand with a dual core of a dragon heartstring and a griffon wing feather. Seto scowled muttering about a seer and Quatre, who apparently made a bet with Seto about his wand.
McGonagall and Solomon Motou herded them out the door to the other shops. Harry and Yugi while they were in Blotts watched The Potion Master walk out of Ollivander's shop with a staff.
When they all returned to Hogwarts, it was raining. The teachers went on to their last minute preparations, leaving the teenagers to themselves. Snape had a deep frown on his face when he left the room after propping the staff he brought on the wall. Hermione walked up to it and studied it.
"Wow." She said.
"What, Hermione?" Harry asked, right behind her.
She reached out but didn't touch the staff. "This is made of several type of wand woods."
Ron whistled. "That ain't no toy. Only a truly powerful wizard could use something like that."
Ron looked at it closer. He jumped back and feel on his back. Everyone sweat-drop.
"Steel." He voice came out as a croak. "Bloody hell."
"What?" Everyone chorused.
"..." Ron stared at it for another moment. "Who ever this is intended for is just as powerful as Dumbledore."
"What do you mean, Ron?" Ryou said, his eyes on the staff.
Hermione finally realized what Ron meant when he had said steel. Her eyes widened as she put things together.
"Steel and iron are notorious for magic storage. It can collect magic and store it to be used later. And supposedly it can amplify or dampen the power of a spell."
"But who would need something like that?" Ryou asked.
"Isn't it obvious who is the only wizard we know that doesn't own a wand?"
Seto snorted in the silence. "Not surprised. Quatre's wizarding talents are not even at half of his natural limits."
Everyone looked at Seto like he was crazy. He smirked at them from his seat near the fireplace.
"If he doesn't go to Ravenclaw, he'll definitely be in Slytherin." Muttered Hermione.
"When Quatre lost most of his memories, it locked away something important ."
"What is it?" Harry snapped at Seto, tired of the enigma smirk Seto currently had.
"His ability to control his own talents. If I remember correctly what Dumbledore told me, he lost it because he was trying to."
"That's enough, Seto." Came Quatre's soft tenor out of the shadows.
Seto jumped, before turning. Quatre came out into the light, his face pale and thoughtful. Seto looked away after meeting his eyes.
"There is no need to antagonized them…" It was obvious he left things unsaid.
"Sorry, Quatre." He said clearly respectfully, his eyes lowered.
Yugi and Yami was shocked, well so was everyone else but still.
:Aboiu, did he just?:
::He did. What is going on?::
:Not sure.:
Quatre walked around them and picked up the staff. His eyes sorrowful as he fingered the metal rings. He proceed to the door.
"Where are you going?" Marik asked as he was the closest to the door.
Quatre paused only long enough to say. "Out."
The portrait closed and everyone could hear the Pink Lady calling after him. Harry and Yugi shared a secret glance and nodded only just. A few minutes later, Seto left and he never realized he had a pair of shadows.
Seto came to a stop on the walkway near one of the gardens. Quatre's staff was resting against on the columns. Quatre stood in the garden, his face tilted to the sky. The robe he wore was drenched and his dark hair plastered to his head. Seto leaned against the column watching. Harry and Yugi hid around the corner watching Seto.
Seto watched Quatre, worry softening his blue eyes. Quatre must have remembered something. It was the fourth time during the two week he knew him that Quatre stood in this garden like that.
Seto didn't know why he was drawn to Quatre. Quatre seemed a lot like Dumbledore in some ways. But Quatre wasn't concerned about power. Granted Dumbledore was in a position of power and he was required to keep it. Seto smirked to himself. He wouldn't be surprised if he one day found Quatre in a monastery. Quatre had no preference really toward material things.
Quatre turned and looked at Seto. Seto pulled out a towel as Quatre started to walk to him. Quatre took the towel and began drying himself.
"What did you remember this time?" Seto gently asked. He didn't expect him to answer for he never answered before.
"… Someone who's dead now." Quatre looked straight ahead as he rubbed his hair dry.
"Where they important to you?" Seto asked, noting the dull blue streak in his visible eye.
"Hai. She was like a mother to me." Quatre said slowly and flatly. "She was killed in front of me. The spell, cast, disembowed her and snapped her neck. Though she died peaceful, I never saw or found her killer."
Seto's mask nearly fell apart. To see someone you love die like that, how could Quatre still been going strong?
"I've been remembering her, not just how she died." Quatre said. "But those are the only things I remember."
Quatre draped the towel around his shoulder and grabbed the staff. Seto followed as Quatre walked the walkway toward the Great Hall.
Yugi and Harry wandered back to the Gryffindor, both lost in their thoughts. They could barely hear what the two said to each other but what they hear suggested someone was dead.
Both now felt a bit bad for avoiding Quatre Snape, someone who was no doubt heading to Slytherin. Harry and Yugi had agreed on this earlier. Yugi was now sure of it, concerning the fact Seto had so quickly back down. Harry had said the Snapes he ever heard of went to Slytherin. Also with all that power supposedly at his disposal, he could easily dominate any house.
Before entering the Gryffindor, they shared one more look. This one was full of worry for the future.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Next on Leaving Illusion Behind:
Chapter Seven: The Sorting
