Chapter 8: Music
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"...Your father's death has made me extraordinarily hungry..." - Out of Season (excellent book! - A/N)
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Harry forced himself to remain calm as the last bubble of hope that he had, popped like the sound an Apparition. The creature tearing towards him and like, and unlike, the pictures Figg had shown the class. Yes, it had the short, almost elfin ears. Yes, it had the black, scaly skin. Yes, it had the wicked, curved , grey claws, and the bird-like eyes, and the yellowed teeth like fangs. But how could the artist have captured its movement? Sharp, jagged, swift pulls of the hind leg to lunge forwards, as though trying to run faster than it could. And to draw its viciousness - the crazed, savage look that lingered about its face, that was all too evident in the twist of the ram-horns either side of the head, that showed in the taut clenching of the brutal, strong yet narrow hands? Impossible.
As it neared enough for Harry to see the detail on its wings, flesh stretched tight between the segments of bone, it stopped - just two-hundred feet away - and crouched a little, as if preparing to pounce. Raising its head slightly, the daemon sniffed the air delicately, like a cat. Harry forced himself not to shake, and the Unicorns behind him snorted nervously, understanding that this deadly predator was going to kill every single one of them.
The daemon, meanwhile, carefully watched this new factor. The scent, very faint against the overpowering smell of Unicorn, told it that this new creature was a human, like the one it had killed a while ago; young; male; alone; and physically weak. Perfect prey, but daemons weren't known for their rashness.
The daemon's memories told it that humans were an intelligent species, which meant that one wouldn't deliberately trap itself with a predator. Either there were more nearby, and this was a trap, or this bipedal creature had other means of protecting itself, for which it wouldn't need physical prowess.
Using its developed senses to shut out the smell of Unicorns, water and grass, the daemon started looking for details in the human's scent for signs of a weapon.
Harry stood confused, as the creature just waited, apparently unhostile. What was it doing? Shouldn't it have attacked by now? Harry could have sworn the daemon sensed his thoughts, because the next second, it stopped scenting the air, lowered its head and looked straight at Harry.
'Crap,' he just had time to think, before the suddenly screaming beast flared its wings wide open, and raced towards him, still howling as it sped over the Unicorn-churned ground. Harry stood frozen, unable to move as this monster, straight out of a nightmare, hurtled towards him, allowing him to see closer and closer its gaping maw, the silvery Unicorn blood staining its otherwise yellow canines, and specks of silver blood coating its grey claws.
Finally snapping back to reality, Harry screamed out of the Techno-Magic spells, "Senta turru!"
Shards of jagged ice pelted from thin air, seeking to impale the daemon with deadly accuracy and force. Reaching it, they ripped through the beast's flesh and organs with ease, where they shattered, unable to melt, leaving sharp splinters in its stomach. The daemon gave a strangled scream, before collapsing, dead.
Or rather, that was how it should have been. Instead, the moment each shard touched the scales, the ice shattered and fell to the ground uselessly, unable to penetrate the armour.
As the blood-crazed beast was now less than a hundred feet away and closing, Harry's feet seemed to be stuck to the earth, unable to flee or even dodge. The daemon hissed in triumph at a successful hunt and brought its human-like arms forwards, to slice Harry's neck open. The boy gave a yell as he let off another spell, this time one that should have bound it up in ropes made of pure magic, but it bounced pointlessly off, just as the ice had.
Then, out of no-where, a roar came; unlike the scream of the daemon, this was deep, loud, rumbling and guttural, and above all, angry. Even the daemon seemed to stumble in shock as it spied something behind Harry, and with an even more heavy heart and sinking feeling of dread, Harry turned his head, not wishing to show his defenceless back to the predator, and went brilliantly white.
There, swooping down across the lake, was a dragon.
Wondering whether this was some kind of a bizarre dream, Harry almost forgot about the animal behind him. Even the Unicorns seemed to stare - there were only two types of dragon found in Britain, and huge, white ones with scales like mirrors were definitely not one of the species!
The dragon, obsidian eyes narrowed, was heading directly for him, and briefly Harry wondered whether it was more painful to be eaten by a dragon or a daemon. He didn't realise however, that the daemon he was thinking of was ten feet away, and in mid-pounce.
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McGonagall stopped in amazement and incredulity as the most unbelievable sight unfolded before her eyes. By the lake was a herd of Unicorn, easily recognisable. There was a boy there, as well - she assumed that was Harry, though it was hard to tell from so great a distance - and someone else, running towards him.
But Harry wasn't watching the approaching figure, because over the lake, there was a dragon.
"Oh my," the Transfiguration professor whispered and promptly fainted.
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The lithe dragon wrenched its powerful jaws apart revealing gleaming white fangs, and a serpentine forked tongue. Inhaling, its chest swelled out, before it pushed out a streaming torrent of scarlet fire directly at Harry and the daemon. Harry flung himself to the side, just as the daemon finished its leap right where Harry had been standing, the flames just missing them. Nearly toppling over, the daemon swiftly righted itself, and Harry realised he had dropped his wand - though it was no major worry, as Techno-Magic didn't need a wand.
The daemon swung around to attack its prey again, but before it could release another of its piercing screams, another tunnel of flame burst around it, not missing its target this time. The beast wailed in pain, before bursting out of the fire that covered and burned its thick skin.
However, not even a dragons' fire could penetrate the daemon's hide, for apart from where the already black scales had been scorched, and in one place cracked, there was no bleeding, and the creature was not even blinded. Already it seemed to have got over the pain, but it didn't seem to want to risk another attack like this, and with only a backward glance, the creature picked itself up and ran back to the Forest, knowing that if this human had put itself in harm's way once, it would do it again - and next time there wouldn't be a giant flying creature to protect it.
Harry picked himself up as he saw the daemon turn tail, and guessed it had gone to finish off the Unicorn it had already killed, back in the Forest. Seeing his wand, he grabbed it and held it up to the dragon, pointing it over the herd of Unicorn that were now scattering at the sight of this even larger predator, fleeing for their home now that they had caught their breath and drank from the lake.
There was no chance that he could defeat a dragon - how many Wizards had it taken to stun the Horntail? - but it was reassuring to Harry to hold the familiar weight of his wand. His upper chest was still burning around a focused point, and Harry realised in the back of his mind that it was the necklace Hermione had bought him.
Ignoring that for now, Harry quickly stepped back as the dragon - relatively small, so it must have been a young male; females were bigger than males, Harry remembered - settled on the ground nearby, a small rumbling announcing its landing. "Oh, Hell." Harry muttered, wondering why he hadn't ran along with the Unicorns, but it was too late. He'd had a lucky escape with the daemon - and now he knew why Levina was being so hard with the training - but unless the Aurors were pop out of the lake, there was no chance of him getting out of this.
Harry needn't have worried, however, for as the dragon fixed its ebony eyes on Harry, it seemed to nod its head at him, and wait. Harry swallowed, trembling. Where were the teachers? The Aurors? Heck, even Voldemort would be a welcome distraction! Well, maybe not, but still...
Wishing he was one of the Dragon-Discussers that the Techno-Magic entry on Y'Laagrondd had mentioned, and that he could speak Dractois, Harry nodded back, still shaking. Initiating bowing had worked with Buckbeak - why shouldn't replying to a nod work with dragons? Realising he was thinking gibberish in his panic, Harry focused on the problem at hand - i.e., a whopping great dragon.
The dragon, however, didn't seem to think it was nonsense. If anything, it seemed grateful that Harry had replied, for it raised the corners of its mouth in an unmistakable, if unsettling, smile, and pushed itself down like a spring before bounding up, forcing its wings to flap with so much power that Harry was nearly knocked off his feet by the wind. Shaking himself as some of the lakes water was blown into his eyes, Harry could only gape as his unexpected, rather unusual saviour left him standing alone, and with a story that no-one would believe.
"Potter - do you have something you want to tell me?" Levina asked from behind him.
Well... maybe one person would.
---
"Are you sure you don't know what it was?" the Auror repeated suspiciously, for the fourth time already.
"I don't have a clue," Harry repeated, also for the fourth time. "It looked like an Antipodean Opaleye, but it's eyes were wrong. It just flew off - I don't know why."
The professors could force no explanation out of him as he lay in the hospital wing, and Harry was thankful that McGonagall had fainted before she could see the dragon land. All they knew was that a creature - those of the Resistance were quietly informed that it had been a daemon - had been hunting the Unicorn, and Harry had been too slow to escape, and was forced to run behind the herd, where he was easy prey. The dragon had appeared, scaring the creature off, and then promptly left.
Understandably, the Aurors and non-Resistance members were not entirely satisfied with this vague and almost unbelievable tale.
Of course, Harry could barely believe it himself. He was sure Levina - who had seen him safely back to the school in case the daemon returned - knew something about the dragon, but as the Aurors and disguised Unspeakables had began (far too late) to race from the school to his aid, she had been forced to turn invisible and leave, otherwise the mystery of the unknown woman would have been added to the strange story.
When the Aurors had finally finished questioning him, Harry was left alone. Swearing to himself that he'd talk with Leone the next day and demand her to re-trap the daemon or face the consequences, Harry slipped out of bed and redressed into his robes, throwing the shapeless Hospital Wing gown onto the bed.
He hadn't been hurt, he wasn't ill, so there was no way Madam Pomfrey was going to get him to stay in bed. While she bustled about in the walk-in cupboard where she kept the medicines, Harry sneaked almost silently past her and out the door, practically on tip-toe.
The second he'd eased the door closed behind him, Harry headed to the nearest window facing the Forest and looked out. Aurors and Unspeakables were strengthening the wards closest to the Forest - although, since the previous wards should have kept the daemon off school grounds, Harry felt it was highly doubtful these would work - and were apparently going to be calling in reinforcement Unspeakables to organise a party of daemon-hunters.
Professor Figg would be going with them, as she was an Unspeakable, though it was under the pretence of her being experienced in fighting daemons, as the other students were not meant to know.
Feeling a surge of anger in him, Harry glared at the expanse of trees. He felt so - useless. Yes, that was the word, useless. Because that's what he was, wasn't he? He hadn't even hurt the daemon, and now he was meant to just wait in the hospital wing while the nice adults took care of the big, bad monster that wanted to eat Grandma.
Scowling, Harry fingered his wand. Everything he'd tried had just bounced off it - the ice spell, the restraining spell, and they were some of his strongest. And dammit, Levina had point blank refused to tell him what the dragon was! He knew that she knew - and she knew that he knew she knew - and he knew she knew that he knew that she knew - ad infinitum - where the dragon came from and what it was, and if she wasn't going to tell him –
Now frowning, the boy made his way downstairs, ignoring a fourth year Ravenclaw who stared at him as he went past, reminding him exactly what people thought of him. Strange, weird, the Boy-Who-Lived, freaky, possibly insane, might be lying about Voldemort - the list went on.
As he reached the entrance hall, Harry quickly ducked out of sight behind a suit of armour. The Aurors were coming in, boasting about how much power they'd put into the wards. Harry nearly snorted in disgust, but held it in before he gave his position away. He'd be surprised if those wards held up against the daemon for a day.
The eight or so Aurors passed by without even noticing him ('Shows how well they're being trained,' Harry thought) and as soon as they were out of sight, Harry slipped outside into the cold, dark grounds. It was bitter, chilly; wishing he could have gone to the dormitory to fetch his Winter cloak, Harry rubbed his hands together and watched the Forest, wondering if - or rather, when - the daemon would re-emerge.
There was a flicker of movement between the trees.
Heart stopping, Harry froze. Keeping as still as he could, he focused on the area where it had appeared, and saw it again almost immediately, hidden in the shadows from the trees. It stumbled slightly into a patch of sunlight, and Harry saw it was some kind of bright colour, like a yellow-orange. He recognised it instantly, from last years Care of Magical Creatures lesson; a Unicorn foal, golden until it grew older.
His breath returning to normal speed, Harry looked around to check that no-one was looking out of the lit windows, and darted towards the foal, wondering why it wasn't with the herd.
Keeping to patches of darkness, and making sure not to step in the light given from the windows of Hogwarts, Harry made it near the edge of the wards in just less than ten minutes. Here, he stopped. The Unicorn foal was hidden in deep shadow, barely visible except when it moved. Going any further would mean leaving the - small - safety that the protection of Hogwarts offered him, but curiosity won over. After all, it would only take a minute.
Harry knew that only a virgin girl could approach a Unicorn, but foals were generally more trusting. Holding his hands palm out to the golden creature to show he meant no harm, Harry slowly approached it.
He came within twenty feet of it, and it startled slightly, rustling the leaves around it as it watched him with doleful, barely visible, black eyes. Harry paused before continuing, even slower now.
"Hello, there." he said softly, trying not to startle it further. If it didn't think he was trying to sneak up on it, it wouldn't think he was a predator, and was more likely to stay. "Where's your mother, then?" he said comfortingly, though he didn't expect the Unicorn to understand what he was asking.
On some primitive level however, it did. This soothing person walking harmlessly towards it calmed it a little, and it linked this calm with the same peace it felt when it was with its mother. Raising itself a little, the leggy foal took a few cautious steps out of the gloom and towards Harry, ears pricked and ready to turn and run if this boy showed any signs that he wanted to hurt it.
Now that it was stepping closer to the moonlight - for it was now ten PM, and a nearly full moon was hanging overhead - Harry could see the detail on it, and knew why it wasn't with its mother.
Its golden coat was slightly rumpled, its body trembling slightly. It had several deep scratches along its flank, with some white blood seeping out, mostly dried. The same fluid, except silvery, was splattered over its right hand side and underbelly. The white blood was obviously its own, only changing to silver when it reached adulthood. The silver blood however, could only belong to an adult Unicorn - and since its mother wasn't with it, Harry could guess which Unicorn's blood it was, and which Unicorn the daemon had been feasting on before it came for the rest.
A mixture of compassion and pity for this young thing, not even a year old, welled up in Harry. It had obviously only worked out that its mother wouldn't be getting up again, and had followed the now old scent of Unicorn to outside the Forest, where they had been chased - but now it was loathe to go beyond the trees, where there was a wide expanse of open grass that it was unused to.
Harry wondered what he was to do with it, now that it was stumbling closer to Harry, apparently looking for help. He could hardly walk away and leave the thing, not with a clear conscience - it would be easy pickings for the daemon or any Acromantulas, or anything else that was lurking in the Forest. On the other hand, he could hardly slip a rope around its neck, lead it to school and say to Dumbledore 'I found it; can I keep it?'.
Cursing the fact that he had enough troubles to deal with anyway, Harry found himself reaching out and petting the foal on its head. 'Oh, brilliant. Just get attached to it, why don't I?' he thought annoyed, pondering whether Unicorns were like rabbits, it that if a human scent were on it, the mother wouldn't want it anymore.
Deciding he wouldn't think about that just in case the answer was yes, Harry turned his thoughts as to what he meant to do with this helpless animal, with its moist, gazing eyes. Even better, now it was licking his damn hand! Perfect, that would make it all the harder to get rid of the blasted thing.
Fortunately, Harry didn't have to think for too long, because Levina's voice came from behind him, demanding to know exactly why he was standing in the freezing cold Forest at night-time without proper clothing, and petting a Unicorn - and by the way, wasn't he going to miss Astronomy?
A warming spell later (Harry made a note to learn it; it certainly would be useful), Harry and Levina finally came to an agreement over the Unicorn. At first, Levina had demanded that Harry send a few sparks out of his wand to get it to run further into the Forest, where they wouldn't have to worry about it again.
Five minutes later, Harry had talked her down to a point where she accepted that it would be better to keep it alive for now, and use it as bait for the daemon - something that Harry didn't want either. Another five minutes passed, as well as a few threats from Harry that he would be deliberately bad at training, and that he would fail the battle at the Eclipse, and make sure to get himself killed as quickly as possible, and finally Levina conceded defeat.
She would look after the half-orphaned animal until they could find its herd; 'After all,' Harry pointed out, 'If the Unspeakable team that are going in tomorrow don't kill it, then we'll have to go in eventually and either kill or capture it - and whilst we're in there, we can simply release it'.
This was not to say that Levina was only too happy to take it in; she pointed out that she would be far too busy to give it twenty-four hour attention, and Unicorn-care was one of the may things that wasn't programmed into her memory banks; but Harry knew that the Unicorn would at least be fed and healthy, and was relieved.
The Unicorn, however, was not so pleased to go. It was another ten minutes before it reluctantly left Harry and the outskirts of the Forest to go with Levina, who vanished with - to Harry, at least - an astounding display, where a purple glow surrounded her, before she flickered and disappeared, taking the foal with her.
Suddenly, Harry remembered that he hadn't found out where she would be taking the Unicorn, and felt like a right prat.
---
It was only at ten-thirty PM that Harry dragged himself back indoors, finally realising how tired he was. Sadly, he wasn't about to get any more rest.
"Where HAVE you been!" McGonagall bellowed when she caught him trying to sneak upstairs to the dormitory. "You were missing from your bed, with not so much as a by-your-leave! We half thought you'd been kidnapped by Death Eaters or the like! But no, more than likely you were off doing something stupid like fighting Basilisks or sneaking off into the Forest!"
She only had to take one look at the suddenly guilty expression on Harry's face to know she was right.
"Well," she snorted, crossing her arms, and Harry briefly considered running back outside and throwing himself to the daemon, who would surely show more mercy than the Head of House. "Well, you certainly don't have a healthy respect for your safety, Mr Potter. Perhaps fifty points from Gryffindor and a weeks worth of detentions will put some into you."
Harry opened his mouth to protest, but shut it quickly, remembering the last time he had tried, and ended up with more points taken. Nodding glumly, Harry let himself into Gryffindor Tower and crept into the dormitory and bed, where he sank into a deep sleep, not even waking to go to Astronomy.
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The next day was Saturday, and Harry only found himself waking at almost midday, and still feeling tired. Groaning, he dragged himself upright, remembering that Gryffindor were now in last place for the House Cup. 'Still,' he thought, feeling a little better, 'it's not as though we only have a while to go. We're only in the first term, after all.' Even so, Harry knew they would have to work hard to concentrate - they were now seriously lagging behind, with the Slytherins ahead by more than fifty points, and Ravenclaw in the lead with eighty more.
Sighing, Harry got out of bed and pulled on some robes and watch, but left the necklace beside his bed. He was sure he had felt it burning him yesterday - firstly when the daemon was about to attack, and even stronger when the dragon appeared. Harry frowned, and fingered the wings lightly. Was it just a coincidence that a figurine of a dragon goddess started burning, and moments later a dragon appeared?
Possibly - but it was doubtful.
Now scowling, the boy wondered whether Levina knew about his necklace, and there was even more that she wasn't revealing, or if she was completely ignorant of it. Somehow, he found the latter hard to believe. Deciding to think about that later, and just be normal for now, he put it back on his cabinet, and went to satisfy his growling stomach down at lunch - he didn't feel quite up to facing Dobby in the kitchens right now.
At the lunch table, Harry managed to get in almost completely unnoticed. Apart from a few whispers that broke out when he entered - it was just as Dumbledore had said in his first year; 'what went on ... was completely secret, so naturally, everybody knows' - he was otherwise unbothered. He distinctly heard the words "Unicorns' 'attacked' and 'dragon', though, and with a heavy heart he knew he would be questioned by Ron and Hermione.
To his pleasant surprise - and suspicion - his friends didn't immediately question him. Hermione clucked over him in a way reminiscent of Madam Pomfrey, making sure that he wasn't hurt, and had enough to eat. Ron chattered away about this and that, elegantly avoiding the subject, and at this Harry's suspicions were proved. After all, if Ron and Hermione were now the subject of wild rumours which said they'd faced down a Unicorn-hunting trespasser and a dragon, and got away unscathed, Harry was quite sure he would be demanding to know whether it was true, or whether the Daily Prophet had been spinning stories.
This, however, was unnerving. Either they hadn't noticed that he had spent some of the night in the Hospital Wing, and they hadn't heard any of the rumours, which was quite impossible (not least because Fred and George would have at least told Ron), or - and Harry was one hundred percent certain it was this reason - they were plotting.
He didn't know what, but they were definitely up to something, and he was beginning to get worried.
---
Harry was, however, more worried as he was hiding under his Invisibility Cloak and making his way to the Room of Requirement. The hairs on the back of his neck were prickling, as though he were being watched, and though he couldn't hear anything, he was all too aware of the dangers of the daemon.
He made it safely to the Room without incident though, and got through as safely as the previous time, to find Levina waiting for him. "Sword fighting again?" Harry asked as he slipped his Cloak off, folded it and put it down.
Levina grinned. "What else?" she asked, holding out his own longsword in one hand, and holding the dragon head on top of her own broadsword with her other hand. Harry's eyes caught on the dragons pearl eyes, and knew for certain that Levina knew more about the dragon than she was letting on. But, as he also knew that he wouldn't get any information out of her until she wanted to tell him, he accepted the proffered sword.
"We're going to have to get you some proper fighting clothes to wear for training," the woman said conversationally, as she unsheathed her violet sword. Harry looked at it, slightly worried. It contained a fatal poison, after all. "Are you going to be using it unsheathed?" he queried, trying to sound flippant, as though he didn't care.
Levina looked down at it in surprise, and then laughed. "Good thing you reminded me, before I accidentally cut you," she said, sounding amused. "I almost forgot - most times I fight, it's because I want to take the opponent down. Sorry about that, it completely slipped my mind."
"That's okay," Harry replied cheerfully, though he felt even more worried. He quickly shook it off though - it was an accident, a moment of forgetfulness, nothing more. After all, if she wanted to kill him, why bother making it appear like an accident to him? She could easily slit his throat right now, and no-one would be any the wiser. No, it was just that she was used to fighting in proper duels instead of training a teenager - that was all.
Holding his sword in a defensive position, Harry did as his latest tutor had taught him, and kept his eyes on Levina's wrists, her arm, and her feet, as well as looking for any weak areas all at once, ready to move as soon as she did, whether to attack or defend, depending on what she did. When it appeared she would do nothing but stand there, Harry knew she wanted him to start, and took the initiative, throwing a feint and then a hard blow to her side.
The fight, Harry was proud to say, lasted exactly eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds before he was beaten. Although he knew Levina was going easy on him, and if she had used magic he would have been thrashed within seconds thanks to her superior spell knowledge, he was glad to know that his handiwork with Gryffindor's sword wasn't all due to any magical power within it. Harry managed to land several good blows on Levina; one to her side, which sliced a thin red line across her - although he was so surprised that androids could bleed (or that this one could, at least) that he paused for too long and was beaten back before he could strike again.
He also managed to make her stumble for a few seconds, which if he had been better, he could have taken advantage of, and twice he struck her on the shoulder of her sword arm, though they were relatively weak blows.
As Harry caught his breath (one of the good things about not being truly alive, Levina pointed out, was that you never ran out of breath), his fighting tutor turned to the cabinet she had first taken her sword from, and now took something else from the bottom of it. It appeared to be a box, the same tacky plastic-white that so many old computers were made of back in the days when Pac-Man was the greatest thing since flares and hippies.
Its top was transparent, like a diskette box, and through it could be seen mainly black-filled tubes, about ten or so. As Levina brought it over to him, she flipped the top open, and showed it to Harry. "These are Inforods," she explained, pulling one of the rods out of its slot to show him. "Each one contains a different book; the title and author are engraved onto the side on each. To see what's inside -"
"You break it?" said Harry helpfully.
"You do not break it, on any circumstances!" gasped Levina, sounding horrified. "Do you know how long it takes to make these?"
Harry shook his head, and Levina paused. "Well - about twenty minutes, but that's not the point. The point is that these are extremely fragile - and they don't react well to spells, so don't try putting Unbreakable charms on them or anything. Now, you read them by holding each end and saying the title and author, and then the rod will automatically start putting the contents of the book - words, images and so on - into your brain. It won't be done instantly, but it goes at just over a hundred pages every second, and it's easier to remember than reading as well. I want you to go through all of these - they'll help your training a lot."
"Brilliant!" Harry breathed, taking one of the rods and holding it up. "Why don't we use these instead of having to read the textbooks? Hey, are these real sapphires?"
"Yes, they're real sapphires, so don't leave them where they'll get stolen - and don't remove them either, I don't like thieves. I suppose the reason they don't use these anymore is that the technology was lost, just like a lot of stuff was when Atlantis sank. This isn't any glass, or even crystal," Levina said, tapping the side of the one she was holding. "I'm not entirely sure what it is, but though I know it was common enough a few thousand years ago, it may not be around any longer - some type of crushed coral I believe, though I may be wrong."
"I'll take care of them," Harry promised. "I'm not sure how I'm going to fit them under the Cloak, though."
Levina shrugged. "You don't need to take them all now; just take the one tonight and finish that tomorrow, and then take another next time you come. Here," she said, selecting one of the rods and passing it to Harry. "Read 'Basic Swordfighting' first. Chal d'Sparrn - that's the author - was one of the finest at it; champion for twelve years running, beginning from when he was twenty-four up to his retirement."
Harry frowned, though he took the rod. "Retirement from sword-fighting? At just thirty-six?"
"He'd progressed as far as he could go, and he wanted to go out as a winner, rather than a loser," she explained. "So many other people had taken it up, and every year it was getting a little harder to win, as people got better, developed new moves - still, he was one of the best. Legendary, even; little children used to play at being him." she grinned. "Still, once I've trained you up, I'm sure everywhere you turn, there'll be kids trying to get their parents to be a sword so they can be like you - unless you've been killed by a daemon or the Dark, first." she corrected herself.
"Thanks for the confidence boost," Harry said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as Levina put the other rods back in their case, and set the box back in the cabinet. "When am I going to get started on the staff and the body?"
"Once you've progressed enough in the sword, and once you're fit enough," Levina retorted. "Right now, you don't look as though you could pinch the wings off a fly, let alone punch me down. Give it a few weeks yet."
"Hm," Harry sounded, not even sure what he really meant himself, as he studied 'Basic Swordfighting'. "You said it crams a hundred pages into a second - how long is this book?"
Levina stopped to think. "About two-thousand pages long."
Harry's mouth fell open, and his eyes went wide. This only served to make Levina smirk. "Now you see why books weren't very popular with most of the middle classes - imagine trying to take that out of the library. Besides, you needn't worry; most of the space is taken up by images of various moves. Page one-thousand, four-hundred and eight shows that slash I showed you, so you might want to look at that part very closely; I noticed you were holding the sword incorrectly at that point."
Giving Levina the dreaded Look Of Annoyance, Harry set the rod on top of his Cloak. "Okay, then. By the way - can you give me any tips about fighting Volucris daemons? I mean, my spells just bounced off it when I tried to stop it." As he said this, Levina looked thoughtful.
"It must be a particularly strong daemon - and well fed by now, since its obviously been hunting in the Forest. You've still got a block on your power - yes," she said as Harry made to interrupt, "I can feel the use of Techno-Magic around you, though it may be weak; you've taken down some power blocks quite recently. However, there's still two more layers of blocks; it looks like the Resistance really didn't want the Dark to find out your power. I can remove those blocks - though as the layers get deeper, it takes more power, so give me some time to get a focus and some ingredients - and that should make it more likely you'll be able to hurt the daemon.
"However, don't think it's going to be an easy battle after that; you'll still need me, and you were lucky to not get hurt last time. I can promise you, next time you go off and do a stupid thing like that, running off to face a daemon without backup, you're going to get killed. And even if you're well prepared, I'm with you, Ajax is increasing your powers, and all your blocks are gone, we'd still be in for a fight, and you'd still be seriously injured, if not killed; so don't think it's all going to be fun and games after I remove them for you."
"I never said I thought it would be!" Harry replied hotly, insulted by this lack of faith in him. "And believe me, I've learned my lesson - I'm not going to face down that daemon on my own again. By the way," he asked, changing the subject as he remembered; "how's the Unicorn?"
Levina snorted. "Settling in fine. It's in Thetford Forest at the moment; I've stuck up Muggle-repelling wards, and alarm spells, so don't worry about it getting hurt. It was running about between some barrier spells I'd put up, when I left, and it's far more trouble than it's worth. Now, there's a quarter of an hour until ten o'clock, but you might as well go early tonight, so you can read that book in the morning."
Harry was only too glad to oblige, and flung his Invisibility Cloak over him, grabbing the rod, saying goodnight, and whisking himself away and out of the door that led to the Gryffindor dormitory.
Everyone was asleep, Dean snoring and the others silent, so Harry quietly got changed and slipped into bed unnoticed, not even pausing to stroke Ajax, who was perched with his head tucked under a wing, goodnight.
---
On Sunday, Hermione and Ron still didn't mention the dragon or daemon. It was if it had never happened, and Harry was growing more suspicious and nervous by the moment. Were they trying to agitate him until the story burst out of him without even being asked? It was certainly what it felt like; they could hardly have not noticed the strange and either awe-struck or frightened looks that people were giving him - or the fact that it was mentioned in the Daily Prophet. Spitting out his pancake, Harry grabbed the recently delivered paper and scanned the front page.
Dragon Attacks Hogwarts School!
Late last night, under the glow of an almost full moon, a new Beast was seen on the grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although the few reports vary, many agree the suddenly appearing dragon who rose out of the forest nearby was none other than an Antipodean Opaleye, identified by its brilliant white scales.
Not only did this dragon chase over a hundred Unicorns and Centaurs out of the aptly named 'Forbidden Forest', it must be noted that it had apparently acquired a taste for Human flesh, as it viciously attacked Harry Potter, badly wounding him. Although Mr Potter was unavailable for comment, confined to the Hospital Wing of Hogwarts (though rumours persist he may have to be moved to St. Mungoes, as he is afflicted by severe burns and blood loss), two students and an Auror also saw the spectacle.
"It was so terrible," Miss Parkinson, an attractive fifth year recalls, with a hint of fear at the memory. "I was just looking out of the window when a huge, roaring creature just came up from the Forest and breathed out a row of fire, directly at Pott- I mean, Harry. We're all so devastated at this terrifying attack on one our closest friends. Some of us are quite against the idea of leaving the castle now - who knows what else is living out there?"
Who knows, indeed? Rumours abound that a daemon is living in the Forest after the tragic yet brutal demise of one of the professors earlier this year, and the question remains - how long has the daemon, or even the dragon, been living unchecked in the Forest? Basil Browning, a Captain in the Aurors, is in charge of a group that will be searching the Forest today, seeking to trap or kill the daemon. With the knowledge of this dragon - and who knows whether its mate and young reside in the Forest as well? - several experts have also bee called in on short notice, to subdue the Opaleye for release into one of the protected dragon reserves.
The squad will now consist of twelve Aurors, three Unspeakables, one of the Hogwarts professors (who has experience in daemonic traps), Embeller Adoric (the famous professional daemon hunter, who will be supplying the Myrrh Cage that will be used to trap the daemon) and four dragon experts from Scandinavia and Romania.
This reporter is standing by for more information, and the results of the expedition - the first full-scale search into the Forest in one-hundred and seven years, the location of which is reputedly populated by Acromantulas, Boggarts and Forest Trolls - will be made known by tomorrow morning. Until then, we can only wait.
By Corrie Spondant
Harry managed to beat down the swearword that threatened to escape past his lips, and glanced around the Hall. Thankfully, most people didn't seem to believe the first lot of lies - the Quidditch team, Harry was sure, would have made it quite clear that is was only Unicorns, and no Centaurs were in sight - and if Pansy Parkinson was attractive, and his good friend (it was also particularly interesting how the reporter skipped over the fact she was a Slytherin; 'Bet that wouldn't go down too well with the masses,' though Harry grimly), well, then pigs would fly.
And certainly, it was obvious to anyone in the school that Harry was not going to be going to St Mungoes because of blood loss anytime soon - or at least, he didn't hope so.
But the next lies - that it had been the dragon that had chased the herd, that it had come out from the Forest instead of from over the lake, and the truth that it was a daemon that had killed Trelawney, before escaping into the Forest, would be much easier to believe. The problem was that this Embeller Adoric would be hoping to trap the daemon in a Myrrh Cage; and Levina had said that after being trapped in one Cage, if a daemon was released it could only be trapped again in the same Cage. This meant that their only option would be to fight it - and if the daemon picked them off one by one, they would all be in big trouble.
The only sure way to make sure they were safe would be to find Figg's Myrrh Cage, and that - with no help, as Levina was God knows where, and he had no clues to go on - would be impossible. Even if he could get hold of it, they would still have to create the pentagram, weaken it and trap it, which would take more than just a song and dance. Of course, even worse, there was the point that they obviously didn't know a daemon could only be re-trapped in the same Cage it had been in the first place; otherwise they'd have gone out prepared to kill it, not bothering to supply a Cage. Harry frowned down at the paper, wondering whether he could help them somehow.
Wait! There was one lead he had to go on, one clue to follow. Harry's eyes flicked to Leone Nikastal, who was sipping some Pumpkin Juice, unaware of his watching gaze. Throwing the newspaper down, Harry abandoned his breakfast and rose, ignoring Ron and Hermione's looks of surprise, his face set and stony.
Marching down the table to where the Bulgarian was sitting, Harry tapped Leone on the shoulder, resisting the urge to punch her in the face. Surprised, Leone turned around, and Harry saw the similarities between her and her twin. Although she had brown hair instead of black, showing that they weren't identical twins, her eyes were the same icy-blue, her face the same shape and same ghostly white, her hair the same style (if a little shorter than Natasha) - and even her cheekbones were the same height.
"I want to talk to you. Alone." Harry said sharply, and Leone and the pair sitting next to her (Darren Hughes and April Clothier) flinched and looked astonished at the cold fury in his voice.
The Bulgarian looked puzzled and confused, and shrugged to show that she didn't mind, before rising and following him outside the Hall, into the Transfiguration classroom, where Harry shut the door behind them and muttered a Techno-Magic silencing ward, so that anything or anyone outside the room wouldn't hear what went on inside. He made sure to hold his wand as he said it, to make it look as though he had used it; the last thing he needed on top of all this was for a daemon-Summoner to find out about Techno-Magic.
Turning to his adversary, who was waiting and sitting on one of the desks, legs swinging slightly, Harry looked positively murderous. "Where is it?" he barked out, holding his wand by his side, but not putting it away.
Leone's eyes narrowed in bewilderment. "I beg your pardon?"
"The Myrrh Cage that you stole. Where is it?"
Now she looked surprised. "Myrrh Cage?" she asked, in broken English. "I know Professor Figg have one, and I read that Embeller Adoric have one, but I don't own one - my family have no daemon hunters in it-"
"No, because the Myrrh Cage isn't yours," Harry snapped, before repeating, "You stole it. You stole it from Professor Trelawney and Summoned the daemon, and told it to kill her. It nearly killed me, it nearly killed Draco Malfoy, it's bloodthirsty and brutal and vicious and it needs to be returned to its Cage, now. So I'm asking you again - where. Is. The. Cage?" Leone looked sickened, shocked and disbelieving, all in one.
"You think I steal Myrrh Cage?" she breathed, then turned angry as this sank in. "How dare you! Because my sister is murdered, you think I - I go insane, or something, and call up daemon? Why'd I do that? What reason? I didn't even know Myrrh Cage was stolen, never mind daemon being called. I thought newspaper was lying about daemon, and I have nothing to do with teacher's death!" She paused to take a breath and calm down a little. "I don't have Myrrh Cage." she announced. "Stolen or passed down, or given as gift, I don't have one, and I never tell anything to kill anyone. That the way it is, whether you believe or not."
As she spoke, the seed of doubt that had already existed in Harry grew and grew into a great oak, and now Harry realised with horror that Leone had done nothing - she had neither stolen the Cage, nor raised the daemon, nor sent it to attack anyone - not only had he accused an innocent girl, one already stricken by her sister's murder, but more importantly, and with more long-lasting effects: Levina had lied.
But why? Harry's mind raced to find the answer. Because she was the one who called the daemon! No, otherwise, why would she have saved him and Malfoy? Perhaps - maybe - Harry frowned. There was no other explanation, and that one couldn't be - so why would Levina lie?
First things first, he decided. Apologising to Leone, he removed the silencing ward and let her leave. The question now remained - who had really Summoned the daemon, if not Leone or Levina? An obvious choice would be Professor Figg - what better way to gain power but not suspicion, than to let someone else borrow the Cage and steal it from them, eliminating themselves from the suspects? But if that were so, than why would she help Harry?
It could be one of the other Bulgarians; after all, they came from Durmstrang, a school of Dark magic - but what reason would they have? Could one of them be servants of the Dark? On the other hand, there was as much chance of that as one of the Hogwarts students working for the Dark, so he shouldn't restrict that idea to the Bulgarians. It was doubtful that a Death Eater had released it - the chances of killing one of their own children would be too great. It was a real conundrum, and one he was unlikely to find the answer to anytime soon.