After the Dawn: The Philosopher's Stone
Chapter Sixteen: "I Don't Give Up"
The train pulled up at Hogwarts long after dark had fallen, and way after Harry and Blaise had finished what remained of the holiday homework.
"So why are you coming back early?" Harry had asked his new friend.
"My mum and dad are going to America – they are the heads of their company and have some business there. We wanted to be together for Christmas, but I can't go on the trip with them," Blaise had replied. "What about you?"
"I wanted to spend some time with my friends, but I wanted to see my family too," Harry had replied. "So I went home for Christmas and decided to come back to school for the rest of the holidays."
"I, um, couldn't help but notice that your canine companion, Ardeo is no longer with you," Blaise had asked.
"Yeah, he's back with the family. He came with me so that there would be something familiar there for me, a friend I'd known my whole life. But now I have friends at Hogwarts, and I have settled in. I no longer need Ardeo's company."
"I see," Blaise had replied, and the conversation had continued on to other subjects.
"The others are going over there," Blaise remarked to Harry, pointing at the older students, none of whom spared a glance for the first years they'd spent a train ride with.
"I see them," Harry agreed. "I guess that we may as well follow them, huh?"
"Guess so," Blaise agreed, and the two of them made their way after the older students, until they found themselves facing carriages. Harry stopped short with a faint gasp, staring at the creatures that were harnessed to the carriages.
"What's wrong?" Blaise asked in concern.
Harry didn't answer, staring at the vaguely horse-shaped creatures. They were skeletons, with sleek black fur growing straight off the bones …
"Nemo?"
Harry shook himself, "It's nothing," he said quickly, gazing for a moment longer at the creatures, before pulling himself into one of the carriages, and helping Blaise in after him.
"You sure? You looked like you'd seen a ghost."
"I've been seeing plenty of them for the last few months," Harry pointed out, "Up at the castle, remember?"
"Oops," Blaise muttered, "But really Nemo, I'm serious – if there's something wrong, I'm happy to listen."
"No, it's all good," Harry assured her.
Blaise nodded, and the two of them settled into a comfortable silence. It was nice to be with a friend who he had decided to make for himself, rather than one who had decided that they wanted to be friends with him.
But his thoughts kept wandering back to the creature attached to the carriage, which was, even as he sat, pulling them closer to Hogwarts. His mind wandered over various books that he had read, and then he remembered where he had seen a reference to it before.
The creatures must be Thestrals, he decided. This breed of winged horses were considered unlucky, as only those who had seen death could see them. They must draw the carriages up to the castle, he hadn't seen them before because he hadn't used the carriages before – he had heard the first years went across the lake anyway …
Harry had read a few separate accounts, as once, many years before, he had been fascinated with them, and almost wanted to see one – he knew better now.
One account, the one which he was more inclined to believe, said that the Thestrals were anything but unlucky, and merely had a bad reputation.
The creatures were extremely intelligent, and powerful. They needed little encouragement once they understood what was necessary, and seemed able to accomplish most tasks given to them with ease.
Of course, that account had been written by one who loved Thestrals, and had seen them since his parents had died when he was three. Harry knew that not everything could be counted as factual, and wondered if one day he himself would write some such thing.
"There's Hogwarts," Blaise murmured.
Harry looked out the carriage window and smiled slightly. Hogwarts rose, majestic on the hillside, lights glittering in most of the windows. It was beautiful. He was so glad that he could be a part of it all.
"It's the most beautiful place I've ever seen, or been inside," Blaise murmured, not realising that she was echoing Harry's thoughts. Harry wondered if all who saw Hogwarts had this feeling.
"Nemo!" Neville was waiting impatiently on the steps for him to arrive, and jumped to the carriage doors the moment he saw that Harry was inside.
"Hi Nev," Harry said, scrambling down the steps, then stopping to courteously help Blaise down as well.
"Who's she?" Neville asked.
"Blaise Zabini," Harry replied calmly. "She's in our year, Slytherin. She's really nice though."
Neville nodded uncertainly. He'd seen the way that most Gryffindors and Slytherins behaved with one another, and had been on the bad end of the stick where that was concerned on more than one occasion, and therefore he wasn't sure what to make of this.
"We met on the train," Harry added, as Blaise headed down into her common room. "She doesn't seem to be like other Slytherins – certainly not like Malfoy and his crew."
"Oh. Is she going to be hanging out with us?" Neville asked, a little nervously.
"Only if you and Hermione are comfortable with her being around," Harry replied, "Otherwise her and I will just hang out together at other times."
"OK. I think I'd like to get to know her a bit better before I decide either way," Neville said thoughtfully.
"Probably a good idea," Harry agreed, somehow glad that Neville wasn't just doing what Harry told him to – that wasn't what friends did.
He wondered what Hermione would do when she found out that he had befriended a Slytherin. Her reaction would probably be similar to Neville's. Harry hoped that she would come to accept Blaise in time also, because he had quickly realised that he liked the young Slytherin girl.
"Did you find out anything about Flammel?" Neville asked, helping Harry haul his trunk toward to the Gryffindor common room.
"Sort of," Harry replied. "I asked mum, and she said to look in the alchemy section of the library, but she didn't say anything more than that."
"Oh. Shall we go and look tonight then?" Neville asked.
"Why don't we wait for Hermione? She'd probably be able to give us a bit of a hand with searching out the book anyway," Harry suggested. "Mum said not to look in the extremely recent books."
"So your mum knows what we are looking for?" Neville asked, "Why couldn't she just tell us?"
"Because that's not what mum does," Harry sighed. "She's a big fan of letting me do things on my own, and only ever gives me hints to find what I'm looking for."
"Oh," Neville replied. "How was your trip home, by the way?"
"It was good," Harry replied. "Nice to see the family again, but it was hard to leave Ardeo behind this time. I've gotten used to him being around me all the time, I keep looking around to try and figure out where he's gone, since he isn't beside me any more."
"Well, it's not that long until the next holidays," Neville pointed out, no doubt trying to cheer Harry up.
"I guess," Harry agreed, "But still …"
"I don't really miss my family," Neville said, "They're all disappointed in me."
"Why?" Harry demanded.
"I guess they think that I'm a poor substitute for my father."
"He's at St. Mungo's with your mother, isn't he?" Harry asked.
"Yeah – how did you know?"
"My parents knew yours a little," Harry replied. "They told me what happened – I'm sorry about that."
"It's not like you can do anything about it, is it?" Neville asked. "For years they thought that I was a squib or something. My great uncle tried everything to get me to use magic. He pushed off Black Pool Pier once … I nearly drowned."
"Well, you got somewhere didn't you?" Harry pointed out. "I've heard that sometimes magic abilities are gained with age. Maybe you get more powerful as you get older."
"I doubt it," Neville said gloomily.
"Cheer up – I'm sure that with a bit of training you'll be more than a substitute for your father," Harry said. "You'll make your family proud of you."
"I don't think I can," Neville stated sadly, "You've seen how I go in classes!"
"I can help you," Harry said reasonably, "And I'm sure Hermione will too! We'll get your marks up easily enough I'm sure!"
Neville shook his head. "I appreciate the offer Nemo, really I do, but you don't have to offer me help to try and make me feel better. I'll never be a great wizard, I just have to accept that."
"You do not. Once Hermione gets back from holidays we'll work on getting you to understand the things that you really don't get, I'm sure it won't take long," Harry was firm. "I'm not going to give up on you Neville. You can be great, you just need a little push in the right direction first."
"You mean it? Really?" Neville was starting to believe what Harry was saying. Starting to think that maybe he would be able to get better at magic.
"I don't give up on anyone Neville, not once I've decided they're worth the effort – and you are."
"Thank you!" Neville said. He'd never seen Nemo fail, so he would put his faith in the other boy without regrets.
"Thank me when I'm done with you," Harry replied. "Not everything has to wait until Hermione gets back."
The pair of them walked into the Gryffindor common room. The Weasley twins were over in a corner, and Ron Weasley, Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were over in another. Ron and Dean were playing chess.
"Let's go up to the dormitory," Harry suggested, and, with a little bit of help from Neville, dragged his trunk up, and lay it at the base of his bed.
"OK, I'll need Hermione here to help me with magical things … but would you like to learn how to fight?" Harry asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I'm a black belt, forst dan in Tae-Kwon-Do," Harry replied, "I'm sure that I can teach you something. I'm not supposed to, not until I reach black belt anyway, but no matter, I'm sure I can teach you a bit."
"You mean, get fit? Be able to fight back when Malfoy turns up?" Neville asked.
"Yup, that's what I mean alright," Harry replied.
Neville's face, moments ago delighted, suddenly drooped. "I don't think I'd be able to do it very well," he said.
"Nonsense. Anyone can learn to do things well if they apply themselves," Harry said. "You'll be able to learn the basics from me, but I'd advise getting a proper teacher when you go back home, because I'm probably not the best that there is."
"Well, I'll try," Neville said doubtfully.
"That's all I'm asking you to do," Harry said. "Take off your shoes and socks," he added, "This stuff is easier if you have bare feet."
"OK," Neville quickly did as Harry suggested, and Harry did the same.
"Right, we'll start off with some stretches, because you need to be limber if you hope to get anywhere," Harry decided, and showed Neville some of the easier warm up stretches, which he made the other boy practice mercilessly until he had them right.
"Ow," Neville said, when Harry finally nodded his approval for the last stretch. "That hurt!"
"Good!" Harry said cheerfully, "It was supposed to – that way you know that you're doing the stretch right."
"Do we have to do any more?" Neville asked wearily.
Harry smiled slightly, "Not tonight, but we're going for a run in the morning," he replied.
"A run? Where?"
"Outside," Harry replied.
"Are you crazy? It's freezing out there! Snowing," Neville said.
"We'll be warm enough if we keep moving," Harry replied wickedly.
"Fine, we'll go running in the morning," Neville gave up, knowing that he'd end up doing what Harry wanted him to anyway. He wanted to learn how to fight, and he wasn't going to do anything to make Harry stop wanting to teach him.
"That's the spirit!" Harry grinned. "I'd advise that you do those stretches once more before you go to bed, otherwise you'll be really stiff come morning."
Neville nodded and headed downstairs to the warmth of the common room.
Harry smiled slightly and dug out quill and parchment to write a quick note to Sirius, saying that he had arrived at Hogwarts, and that he had sort of made friends with Blaise Zabini on the train back to Hogwarts, and intended to spend more time with her to see if she was as nice as she had appeared to be.
He also added in a sort of after note that he had started teaching Neville how to fight properly, and his intentions for tutoring Neville in classes to get him on par with the rest of the year.
He figured that Sirius would approve, since the man had nothing but praise for Neville's parents, and had often wondered why Neville wasn't as powerful as they had been.
Once that was done, Harry headed down to the Owlery, and noticed that Neville was sitting away from everyone else in the common room, not sure how to fit in with anyone other than Harry and Hermione.
"I'll be back soon, just have a letter to send home," Harry told Neville, who nodded.
"I'll see you then," he replied.
Harry walked down into the darkened castle. It was after dinner already, so there wasn't really anyone around. He hoped that he didn't bump into Filch, since the man didn't seem to like Harry all that much.
"A bit late to be roaming the halls isn't it, Mr. Protectium?" a soothing, male voice asked.
Harry jumped around to face Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. "Headmaster!" he said in surprise. "I'm just taking a letter to the Owlery to send home," he added, waving the parchment absently.
"I'm sure you wont mind if I accompany you, Mr. Protectium?"
"Of course not – it's your school," Harry pointed out. He didn't mind the company of the aging professor. He knew that Sirius fairly well worshipped the headmaster most of the time, but his godfather could also see Dumbledore's faults.
"Ah, but it is your time, and space," Dumbledore replied. "You have been progressing well, I hear."
"I like to think so, Sir," Harry replied.
"I also notice that you've made some new friends – always a good thing to do, as good friends are not always easy to find."
Harry glanced up at the man for a moment. "I guess you're right. I've been alone for awhile; it was a bit of a shock, going from not wanting friends to having two."
"Still, I assume it was a fairly welcome shock?"
"Yes, I guess it was," Harry agreed.
"How was your Christmas?"
"Oh, it was alright," Harry replied. "Good to see my family again, if only for a little while."
"Family are quite important, aren't they. I really should try to find out where my brother is … I haven't heard from him in nearly ten years now," Dumbledore remarked.
"Don't you and your brother get on?" Harry asked.
"Oh, we get on just fine … but Aberforth does have a habit of disappearing for a decade or so every now and then," Dumbledore replied.
Sirius had told Harry that Aberforth Dumbledore was even odder than his brother, though many of the wizarding world would doubt that this was possible.
They reached the Owlery. "Well Nemo, it's been a pleasure to speak with you, I hope we'll do so again soon," Dumbledore said, then turned and walked off in the direction of his office without a glance back at his student.
Harry wondered if perhaps Dumbledore might have guessed who he was, but he shook his head slightly. No, no one could have guessed yet, could they?
Then there was the comforting thought, Dumbledore would come to Harry and test out his suspicions before he went to anyone else. Hopefully this would take some time. Harry didn't doubt that Dumbledore would guess who he was sooner or later, but he was hoping that it would be later.
With a slight shake of his head, to try and dislodge the worries that suddenly plagued him, Harry gave his note to his owl and headed back to the tower, this time managing to avoid meeting up with anyone.
I know that Blaise is now officially a guy, but I like him/her as a girl, so she is in this fic.
Well, that's that for this chapter. The next one will show the Mirror of Erised, I'm hoping (this one was supposed to, but I got distracted). I was hoping for another two reviews before I updated, to take this story up to one thousand reviews, but I guess that will have to happen this time round.
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