Harry Potter and the Shard of Magic.
By Wihstrum
Chapter four: A New Start for Everyone
As always, the first day of school would involve rushing and running around, complete chaos everywhere. Well it wouldn't be a normal start of the school year if the Weasley's weren't running behind on schedule. Harry merely had to toss in a few items such as toothbrush and some book he'd borrowed from Moony, while Ron still had to pack everything… typical Ron.
Hermione shooed him around, scowled and fussed about him nagging at him with 'I told you so's' and 'won't you ever learn's'. Ron was nearly reaching his ultimate point of frustration when Ginny lured Hermione away, claiming that she desperately needed help with something.
Alex was fidgeting nervously around, shifting on her chair and always running back up her room to check whether she'd packed everything.
Remus surely had been acting odd the last few days Harry found; he kept casting numerous knowing glances in their direction before smiling off into blank space.
When everything was finally packed, they were running late and all scrambled to get to the train in time. Escorted by Moody and Kingsley and Tonks were Harry and Alex, taking a muggle taxi, while Hermione, Ginny and Ron got to Kings Cross station using the underground, accompanied by Mrs. Weasely, Remus and Bill.
At The Hogwarts Express.
He cursed silently under his breath and tried to remind himself why he was so glad that he had been allowed to Hogwarts in the first place. The trunk was damn heavy and he couldn't focus his Sight. Everything was a haze of colors and other unidentifiable things, so he just had to guess wherever he was going. He had to find a compartment and a place to dump his stuff. He traced the wall on his left with his hand and tried to drag his trunk behind him with his other. He knew that it was because of his anxiousness that his vision had gotten shaken up with the weird colory-thing, but didn't like to admit to himself that he was, in fact, petrified about going to Hogwarts and away from all that was familiar to him.
He brushed some long, strands of stray hair out of his face with his left hand and when he wanted to lean against the smooth surface of the wall again, he found it gone and abruptly tumbled through the opening in the wall.
Finbar groaned on a heavy sigh, this was just getting better and better. "Looks like I found a compartment…" he mumbled to himself.
Sitting up straight, he searched the floor with his hands, trying to find a bench or a wall, heck, anything that could give him further insight about his position. He didn't want to move too far away from his trunk, because he was afraid he wouldn't be able to find it again if he did. Nothing. Where the hell was he? Can't wait for the grass to grow… Here goes nothing, literally.
He stood up, brushed his robes, rather out of habit since he couldn't see anything anyway, took a confident stride forward…
And crashed right into the doorframe.
"Bloody fucking Merlin!" he yelled clutching his forehead where a spectacular bump started to grow. He cursed and damned and insulted all the bloody gods and divinities he could remember, but was also very relieved that he was the only person on this damned train.
"Are you okay?" he heard a friendly voice asking him.
Finbar desperately wanted go drown himself in the toilet and felt his face burning. Don't I just have all the luck?
He rubbed his forehead furiously, trying to hide his blush. "Yeah… I'm alright."
"Nasty bump you got there, here take my hand…"
Oh-o… Finbar mastered all his willpower to see the stranger's hand, but in his frustration he failed miserably, only causing to disturb his Sight even more. He grabbed in the air, and of course missed to catch the hand. He grumbled and scrambled to his feet.
"It's alright… I'm just completely making a fool out of myself…" he grinned sheepishly and hoped it was in the direction of the other. He could hear and sense -he'd always been able to- that it was a young man and very friendly one at that.
"Hey Harry, wait up…"
Finbar grew considerably anxious and just prayed to regain control over his Sight. The second voice was that of a young woman, also a friendly presence… somehow a little bossy.
"Oh, a new student? Nice to meet you, I'm Hermione. A prefect."
She mentioned that last fact with blossoming proud and he could hear her pronounce 'prefect' with a capital 'P'. He smiled unconsciously.
He dragged his fingers through his hair in a nervous gesture, "I'm Finbar. And yes, I'm new here. A transfer."
"Must be pretty nervous then?" Harry replied on that, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"A little…" Finbar slapped himself mentally as he heard his voice wavering and felt his cheeks starting to burn, adding only to the already so embarrassing situation.
A warm hand touched his arm, and Finbar felt a surge of emotions that wasn't his creeping up his skin and clouding his senses, but it felt alright somehow, comforting.
"Why don't you sit with us? But the compartment will be crowded; we've got quite a gang with us…"
Oh Merlin… more people. Okay breath in… they won't eat you. Right, it will be more likely you eating themFinbar shuddered and swallowed convulsively at that, trying to push that thought as far away as possibleHe mumbled his gratitude under his breath, and tracked after the sound of their footsteps, palm pressed against the wall.
Harry gave Ron a sharp nudge in the ribs as the redhead burst out in snickers when Finbar bumped into the wall, right next to the door of the compartment. With a hiss, their new companion excused himself once again and entered wearily the compartment they'd occupied.
Well, his behavior certainly was odd. Especially seeing as he was now trying to push his trunk into the wall instead of under the bench. With a shake of his head, Harry crouched down next to him.
"Finbar… that's a wall." Harry said softly, biting back a smile.
"Oh." Finbar turned to look at him, brown shimmering "Right."
Harry leaned in a little closer, "That wall's not going to budge, even if you keep trying all year long."
The young man let out a nervous chuckle, and let Harry help him to get his trunk safely onto the luggage carrier. Meanwhile Harry took the opportunity to study him more carefully. He seemed a little older, but was about his height and shared the same thick, unruly mop of ebony black hair, although his was much longer, reaching just past his shoulders. He had a goatee, and a handsome face with pronounced cheekbones and a straight nose. His chest was broad and muscular, but not bulky. But most remarkable were his eyes; the were a very, very pale blue, yet clear with an ever-present knowing twinkle and all the same they were deep pools of mystery and emotion.
Finbar gave him an appreciating nod and rose himself. Without much further consideration, he turned and bumped head-on into a very startled Alex, knocking her backwards. Lucky for her, Ginny was right behind her and managed to catch her before she could hit the ground.
"Can't you see where you're going?" Ginny said; tone revealing a hint of irritation.
Finbar drew in an audible gasp, rather aggravated by the whole mess he'd worked himself into. "Nope… I can't." he was a little pleased at their change of attitude. From amused to shock in 0.8 seconds. Not bad.
"Y-you're blind?" it was the same girl who snapped him of. He flinched slightly at her boldness.
"No, I'm not…it's just that I have this weird colory-thing as a 'second' manner of visualizing things." He sighed and carefully sat down next to the wall, shielding one side from his chaotic rampage. "When I'm nervous, like right now, my normal Sight and the color-Sight get messed up… I can't focus and therefore trash the place without meaning to." He blurted out, feeling distinctly uncomfortable "I'm sorry; I hope I didn't hurt you?" He asked, directing himself to the person who he'd knocked over.
The soft cushion of the bench sagged when someone sat down besides him. "That's quite alright."
And suddenly the world came back into focus and he had to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight streaming through the window. He hadn't seen that clear in a long time. With a jerk, he turned to look at this person who seemed to have such an effect on his Sight. It was a young woman. And she was simply beautiful; not like the 'perfect' women you saw on the cover of Vogue, but he couldn't remember when he'd ever seen such raw beauty. Her skin was tanned, she had small little freckles over her nose and cheeks and her hair. It was stark-white; as were her eyelashes and eyebrows. She had unearthly blazing green eyes, which were actually rather intimidating. She was a good head shorter than him, lithe and yet athletic.
"I can see you." was the first thing that rolled of his lips.
White eyebrows shot up, "I know." Came the flat response, yet not without a small smile around her lips.
A blush flushed his cheeks, as he realized how dumb that must have sounded. He shrugged it of, and instead shifted his gaze around the compartment, very curious to really see -rather than feel- his 'saviors'.
Directly opposite was a skinny young man, with windblown raven-black hair and a pair of eyes that could match the girl next to him, even through they didn't really seemed to 'shine'. He was positively sure that he could read in the dark if the girl next to him opened her eyes. He was wearing round spectacles and his cheeks were rather hollow. A tiny lightning-blot shaped scar peeked from under his dark bangs, above his right eye. If he weren't so thin, girls –and boys- would probably throw themselves at his feet. Even though he was looking at him through the real vision, he could easily sense the distinct raw power that surrounded him. It was not menacing, but pure, drawing people to him like moths to a flame.
"You're Harry Potter…" he stated, a little awed. There hadn't been any history book or Dark Magic book that did not mention this young man at his old school.
The latter brushed his fringe over his scar trying, effectively hiding it, "Yeah… I guess I am." He mumbled with a weak smile.
As the boy-who-lived didn't really seem to appreciate to be gaped upon, Finbar directed his interest to the remaining of the company.
Next to Harry was a tall, young man with fiery red hair and little freckles spread over his nose and cheeks. His voice was pleasantly baritone when he introduced himself as Ron Weasley and Finbar sensed his devotion and loyalty.
Seated next to him was a young woman and he could recognize by 'feeling' that it was her who'd introduced her earlier as Hermione. Her fairy-like face was framed by a waterfall of brown, bushy hair, settling of her big chestnut-brown eyes. She couldn't help but straighten her prefect's badge as he saw him looking at her.
Finally, seated at the other side of the white-haired girl, was a younger and feminine version of Ron. Her hair was as vivid a red as his, worn as a long mane and her eyes were bright chocolate brown. She radiated determination and a strong ability to care for others.
He cracked a sheepish smile when she caught him looking at her.
"Sorry for barking at you earlier." She apologized, blushing slightly.
He reassured her: "That's okay; I must have made a fool out of myself." and gave her a wink to emphasize the point.
"By the way…" He looked at the girl sitting next to him, "You seem to have an effect on my sight." He let his eyes wander around the small space again, relishing the ability to really see. "I can see you now."
Harry raised an eyebrow at this. "Well Alex seems to be special in many ways; things tend to spontaneously explode whenever she enters the room." He shot a cheeky grin at her.
"Oh sod off Potter!" she spat icily, pinning him under a heated glare.
The Gryffindor couldn't help but think There it is again! As a distinct feeling of recognition screamed out in obviousness, but Harry still couldn't find the matching link.
But then the glare vanished and was replaced by a warm grin, not able to pretend she really was angry at him.
Ron and Hermione left them soon after, attending their prefect duties, but promised to join them again as soon as possible and Harry found himself staring melancholy out of the window. It seemed only like yesterday that Padfoot had run along with the train, wagging his tail.
Catching up on Harry's train of though Ginny reached out and touched his hand, "Feel like taking a walk?"
The Gryffindor desperately wanted to accept her offer, but found himself hesitating, not really sure about Alex or Finbar. The white-head gave him an appraising look, before smiling at him "Go on, I won't bite him." she said with a smirk as she glanced over at Finbar.
He pouted his lips and made up his mind, "Thanks Alex. We'll be back soon."
Receiving a wink from Finbar, which he returned with a smile, he followed out after Ginny. The youngest Weasley put a comforting hand on his arm, and Harry grinned weakly back at her, a little embarrassed about moping so openly. They passed several compartments, until they found the rest of Harry's roommates huddled together and obviously having a great time.
"Hi guys!" Harry greeted as he leaned into the compartment.
He received a warm reply and an invitation to sit with them. He tugged a seemingly annoyed Ginny after him, and he gave her a questioning glance. She wrinkled her nose and gave a barely visible nod in Dean's direction, and catching the frigid look on his dorm-mate's face, he understood that it was over between the two of them.
"So, uh, how were your O.W.L.'s?" Harry asked, wanting to save Ginny and Dean the uncomfortable confrontation.
Neville nearly jumped at that "Quite alright! I passed potions with an 'A' for my theory and 'E' for my practical! I can't believe it! I might be able to be an Auror after all!" he gushed, cheeks tinged pink.
"What 'bout you Harry?" Seamus asked, biting the head of his chocolate frog.
"Well, I've got eleven OWLs." He answered with feigned casualness.
Seamus gaped at him blankly, nearly choking on his frog, "Eleven?"
They lapsed into a pleasant conversation, chatting amiably, even though Dean and Ginny didn't acknowledge each other's presence, which made Harry slightly uncomfortable as they both were his friends. Several members of the DA poked their heads in, asking whether the classes would continue, and each time Harry had to deny them the answer.
As Ginny and Harry took the trip back to their compartment, she looked up at him and asked, "Are you going to continue DA? I know a lot of us are looking forward to it."
Harry bit his lower lip and frowned, "I forgot all about them. As a matter a fact, I don't even know what going to happen to my Quidditch-ban nor my Occlumency lesson. I've only seen Dumbledore twice this vacation and both times I hadn't had the time to ask him."
Ginny patted his arm and gave him and assuring smile, "Don't worry. It'll be alright."
He just nodded, slid the door open and found that both his prefect friends had returned. Hermione had her nose buried in a large dusty tome, which didn't surprise Harry one bit, and Ron seemed to have challenged Finbar to a game of Wizard chess. The dark youth was on the way to a spectacular defeat, and was frowning incredulous at Ron's moves. Alex had dozed off, and was sleeping silently.
"So," Ron looked from over the board at a completely frustrated Finbar, "From which school did you transfer?" The question was partially muffled by a Cauldron Cake.
Finbar was still eyeing the board, watching how Ron sent his queen to Finbar's fearful shrieking tower. With a shake of his head he leaned back and answered, "I'm from Durmstrang."
A pregnant pause hung in between them as the train rumbled through a wide open field. Finbar glanced nervously around with a distinct feeling he'd said something wrong.
The ever-so-collected Hermione shot them an ire look, before asking him politely: "Really now? Why did you transfer?"
Briefly, an unreadable expression appeared in his eyes, seemingly rather unsettled, but he quickly collected himself and answered, "I had some personal problems there, which wouldn't allow me to attend there any more." He muttered vaguely and became suddenly very interested in how graciously his knight was being chased of the board.
Hermione tilted her head, studying from under her brown eyelashes. Carefully he met her gaze, and she nodded at him with a small smile, understanding it was none of their business.
The weather remained variable throughout their journey north and the companions spend their time chatting and games of wizards chess. When the subject about Viktor Krum and whether Finbar knew him was being discussed, Ron grumpily dragged Harry along to the bathroom. On their way back, the lights in the train flicked on as darkness settled over the land. As they slowly made their way back through the wobbling train, Harry recognized the straggly, waist-length blond hair of Luna Lovegood who was about to enter a compartment.
"Hello," Luna greeted them serenely.
Harry found himself strangely glad to see her again, "Hey Luna, how was the expedition to Sweden?"
Her pale blue eyes were fixed on his face, before she smiled and answered, "It was wonderful! Observing Crumple-Horned Snorkacks must have been one of the most exciting things ever."
Ron smiled tentatively and shot Harry a sideways glance.
"Well, that's –eh- good." Harry replied, returning Ron's glance with a lopsided grin. "So –uh- what did it look like?"
Luna began a complete description about the appearance of the creature and Harry lost track somewhere near 'pink bunny slippers', so he just nodded and made impressed noises once in a while. After that he and Ron scurried back to their compartment, and all the while Ron kept murmuring 'Mental, that one' with a fond smile on his face.
Back in their compartment, some raindrops splattered against the window, but no real rain came through and occasionally some weak sunlight shone, before once again being screened by menacing dark clouds.
Wrapping his arms securely around Hedwig's cage, Harry followed the milling students after Ginny who was having rather a hard time restraining a protesting Croockshanks. Ron and Hermione had slipped into their duty to supervise and had parted with them a moment ago. Somewhere behind them was Alex holding hands with Finbar, effectively preventing him from running into random people, walls or other objects. The latter though was blushing graciously, which Alex was completely oblivious to; as she was too busy studying her surroundings and all the unfamiliar sounds and scents.
"First years over here!"
Harry's heart sped up at that, seeing as last year there had been no Hagrid, and it still gave him this really warm feeling of nostalgia. He raised his hand over the crowd to wave at the half-giant, which he got returned. His eyes glinting like black beetles, crinkled in a smile and he mouthed a 'talk to you later'. Harry nodded, and once again followed Ginny's lead.
Trusting Alex to haul him through this very confusion obstacle of clashing emotions and blinding colors, Finbar held onto the cage that held Ron's owl, Pig; currently twittering excitedly and nibbling amiably on Finbar's hand. Even though his own psychological state currently was a pandemonium; hosting feelings that weren't his, Finbar let his head fall back and took in a deep satisfied breath. The woodland dominating the area filled the air with a distinct fragrance of pine and moss and he gratefully inhaled it. It reminded him so much of home and the endless forests stretching over the softly sloping country as far as the eye could see. It reminded him roasting apples above a campfire with his dad and younger brother. It reminded him of his mother, scolding him for staying out in the rain. It reminded him of waking up; looking through his window and watching the unicorns graze in the fields, mist giving the impression as if they were walking on clouds.
The moment of serenity was disrupted as Alex's grasp on his hand tightened, cracking his fingers. They had approached the carriages, and accompanied by Alex's turbulent exhilaration came the unmistakable pulsating presence of something magical. He was absolutely sure it was in front of the carriages, he could already feel the delicate web of raw magic. But he saw nothing.
Taking the risk, feeling safe in Alex's care, he took down his mental barriers so he would see what they were facing. His world blended into a lake of rippling colors and veils of hues, tied together with emotions, feelings and the simple magic that was the world. Adjusting to the feeling of being swallowed by the intensity of it all, he tried to discern presence from human. Focusing his attention back to the carriages, he saw the silver outlines of a horse or something similar through the rest of the ethereal planes of light.
All of a sudden a part of his Sight was bombarded by a strong surge of raw, pure magic. It was Harry, enclosed by an aura of white light, a slightly darker streak around his head and heart which he recognized as sorrow. He was standing next to him, eyes transfixed on whatever it was in front of the carriage. Craning his neck closer, Finbar whispered, "What is it?"
He received a wave of dismay; Harry seemed to be rather unsettled by his question. He could tell that the Gryffindor was studying him intently, "Can you –see- them?"
Shaking his head pensively he corrected, "I'm seeing through my second Sight, so I can only pick up its 'light' let us just say. In the real sight, I can see nothing, but I do feel it."
Alex picked that moment to carefully let go of his hand, approaching whatever it was she saw. The world was once again a clouded mess, even if he did picked the normal manner of visualizing things again.
Hesitantly, she touched the neck of majestic dragon-like horse. It stared back at her through big, deep, soulless eyes, before nudging her with its nose, "They're beautiful." She breathed and trailed her fingers over the dragon-like skin.
Harry was rooted to the spot next to Finbar, who was staring to feel nauseous due to the boy-who-lived's radiating concern and inner turmoil. "Thestrals," Harry crooked, "She can see them."
Finbar's brow furrowed as he tried to place that piece of puzzle in a slot. As he remembered, his eyes flew wide, and he couldn't suppress a gasp. Harry had probably heard him, "She witnessed someone die." He confirmed his thoughts.
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This chapter had been beta-ed by the Wonderful and Almighty Keiko-keket! All Hail!
Please REVIIIIIEEEW!