Harry Potter and the Druid Pathway
Author's Note: Just to let you know, these updates are only so frequent because of the spare time Easter holidays have given me, though I will try to update at least once a week. Let me know what you think in a review. Enjoy.
Chapter Three: Birthday Compensation
Nearly three weeks had passed since the memorial service and once again, Harry could be found in his bedroom, sitting cross-legged upon his bed. Noticeable changes had manifested within the teen. His hair was now longer, if only slightly, though it hung about his face in an awkward fashion. His eyes seemed brighter and shimmered in the light like water. His body was pale but he had grown a little more.
Other changes in Harry were also apparent, magically. His aura, invisible to most, was fuller, thicker and more palpable. This was evident in his presence as his aura was rather large and would convey his power to those around him (which was growing everyday from his daily 'listening') and at moments of sufficient emotion, would convey his mood.
Within his mind, Harry had constructed near half of his inner wall and had also discovered a useful way to mask his walls, thoughts and memories. Although Voldemort had been quiet since the incident at the DOM, he made himself known during sleep after a hard day of mental exercise. Harry, although progressing rapidly at occlumency, was no match for a master occlumens like the Dark Lord. Voldemort had appeared to him in the form of a shadowy sceptre and had tried to rape his mind and Harry had known that his inner wall would not halt his efforts at its state of non-completion.
In vain, Harry used all of his mental willpower to resist the Dark Lord and for a while, he succeeded, before Voldemort's power and experience overrode Harry's defences. As the Dark Lord gained entry into the waters of Harry's mind (he had gained purchase through the link in the scar, from 'outside' his mental boundaries), Harry seemed to break a barrier of his mental strength and found within him the reserves to raise a 'fog' from his mind-water which encompassed Voldemort. The Dark Lord, lost within the fog, could not find his inner wall at all and Harry was able to push Voldemort from his mind in a last effort.
Although his mind-fog was successful, he would not rely upon Voldemort to let it prevent him from gaining access to Harry's mind another time. Since that night, nearly a week ago, Harry had felt nothing of Voldemort's presence in his mind. However, the positive in the situation was that Harry's capacity of strength in the mind arts seemed to have increased drastically as his 'bricks' were now even stronger when made and seemed to fuse with the existing wall, leaving no construction lines.
Another experience which proved Harry's development in the mind arts was a confrontation with his Aunt in the kitchen when he had gone to make a sandwich. She had mentioned something about his mother possessing the same disrespect, when he turned on her. She was caught like a deer in the headlights when she caught Harry's eyes as she was locked within their liquid pools of power. Unable to look away and Harry not having sufficient mental control in legilimency, Harry entered her mind and experienced how it was to be the one inflicting the mental intrusion.
What he saw in no way made him sympathetic towards his Aunt as feelings of jealousy and hatred assaulted him in relation to his mother. With a great effort that nearly drained him into unconsciousness, Harry withdrew from her mind and quickly ran to his room; Petunia avoided him from then on and headaches plagued her for the next few days. Dumbledore's book had warned him of eventual chance-legilimency if the counter mind art was not learnt. He knew from his reading however that it would be a while before such chance-legilimency would grant him purchase to the mind of a magical being and so he resolved to steer clear of muggles until opportunity provided him the prospect of gaining some texts on the counter art.
Today however, was Harry's birthday and through owl post Remus had arranged for the two to spend some 'quality time' together by going to the promised Quidditch match that had been advertised that day a month ago in the Alley. This was going to be Harry's first UK league match in attendance and he was rather excited, especially since two reputable teams were playing: the Falmouth Falcons vs. the Kenmare Kestrels.
(Cut)
The atmosphere in the stadium was electric. Remus and Harry were seated in the 'neutral' area, partly because Harry was new to league games and had previously relied on Ron for opinion and secondly because overenthusiastic fans had been known to provoke magical incidents. The stadium was situated, under anti-muggle and numerous concealing charms, somewhere in Manchester and was the home ground of the Falmouth Falcons. It was a rough oval shape and seated 10,000 spectators. The crowd was a mass of dark-grey and white (Falcon colours) and the much lesser cluster of emerald green (Kestrel colours). Harry couldn't help but look around in wonderment and awe and he had to admit that, even in the company of Remus (who inspired some bitterness), he was enjoying the experience so far.
The game was soon underway as the teams walked out onto the pitch to many mixed reactions, though the Falcons had the steady support of home fans. The Falcons came out in order of seeker/captain, chasers, keeper and then beaters (Keefe, Gervais, Saunders, Eden, McCabe, Lloyd and Smith). The Kestrels walked out in the same order as the Falcons as is standard in league games though the first chaser was captain (Campbell, Glover, Forest, Tucker, Lawrence, Haney and Carr).
The two captains, Keefe and Glover, stepped out from their teams to shake hands in the centre-pitch; resolution and determination etched on both faces. The teams rose into the air and although both were professional and worth their salt, Harry could immediately tell that the Falcons held a more relaxed and air-worthy broom-style than the Kestrels. The referee, a small balding man in his late 40s blew his whistle and threw the quaffle into play and in a split second the game had begun.
Harry was in awe, he had never seen a game like this since the time of the World Cup. The two teams played exceptionally well, but it was a heated game. The chasers bore the brunt of the battle as the Kestrel's plays contended with the Falcon's raw persistence and brutal play. The snitch was elusive and the seekers were drifting high up in the air; so far no false sightings had been made.
The Falcon beaters were relentless and were in control of one of the bludgers at all times whilst the Kestrel beaters struggled to protect their chasers and seeker. The keepers were hard pressed to defend their hoops though the Kestrel keeper was amazing, making saves that put any Hogwarts school-team keeper to shame. It was during this match that the Falcon's playing style and passion for the sport inspired the teen and Harry was converted into a Falcon's fan.
Watching the match, Harry could see that His team were starting to lose advantage as the Kestrel keeper was halting all their advances and the Falcon chasers were making too many fouls (a very gory game) which were in turn giving away penalties. The score was 160-80 in favour of the Kestrels when the snitch was spotted. The two seekers who were circling the pitch high up suddenly darted towards the ground at frightening speeds at slightly diagonal angles and Harry was captivated to see his position played in such a way. Keefe and Campbell were now hurtling toward the ground and the snitch could be just about made out a few feet from the ground.
Keefe dropped his distance back whilst still retaining speed. Slipping into Campbell's draft, Keefe leeched some of Campbell's speed before using the added speed to help him steer his broom up so as to curve towards the awaiting snitch. All of this happened within the course of maybe three seconds, at which in the end of, Campbell began to pull up. However, Campbell was too late and shot headfirst into the ground with a sickening thud. Keefe managed to capture the snitch by corkscrewing his broom at the last moment which added with his momentum, sent him flying upward again, with the snitch in-hand, to safety.
Harry stood up and cheered like mad along with many of the other supporters and watched on as his team flew victory laps around the stadium. Meanwhile, paramedics were quick on the scene to treat Campbell who managed a sporting wave after five minutes treatment to show he was alright. Harry knew enough of the league system to know that this sent the Falcons ahead a spot on the league table (they were, after that match, placed in about 5th – Harry's not just being a sheep).
Leaving the stadium with Remus, Harry bought himself a Falcons scarf and poster for over his bed at Hogwarts. That match had definitely inspired him to practise hard at Quidditch, especially after nearly a year of being banned and he had no doubts that his ban would be lifted after Umbridge's departure.
During the ride home on the Knight Bus, Remus once again tried to talk with Harry since Harry was in such a good mood after the spectacular match.
"Listen Harry, the Order, your friends and I want to ask you to come back to Grimmauld Place for the remainder of the summer. So, how about it?" he asked cheerfully, though Harry wasn't smiling anymore.
"No, I don't want to go there. I never want to go there ever again! Sirius hated it and I hate it! I much prefer Privet Drive thank you."
"Harry, at least think about…" but he was cut off by an angry Harry.
"No, my mind's made up and I am not going back there." He finished resolutely.
Silence descended upon the two for a while until Remus spoke up again.
"So, your hairs getting long eh, you thinking about getting it cut? I'm sure Molly would have a go at it if you like?"
"I like it like this," he replied curtly.
"You look more like your dad when its short you know," he stated matter-of-factly, without really thinking.
"I am not my father!" he breathed. As his anger escaped him, a glass jar holding some suspicious green liquid belonging to an old lady a few rows away, exploded violently. Remus was shocked, as it was highly unusual for someone Harry's age to have their emotions still react so powerfully with their magic because teens generally gain natural control by roughly fifteen.
(Cut)
Despite their recent tense relationship, before parting, Remus gave Harry a crudely wrapped present and wished him a happy birthday before disapparating. Harry, sighing wearily, trudged up to his room to be greeted by an assortment of parcels on his bed.
Walking over to his bed, Harry seated himself before opening the first parcel (all having small notes attached). The first present he opened was Remus' that had been given only five minutes ago. Inside was a rather large tome entitled: Animal Within which detailed the animagus transformation and other related magical exercises. The next present was from Professor McGonagall and was a book listing many careers within the magical world and contained information on each one. Hagrid gave him a book on rare and dangerous magical creatures which had a few bookmarks in that he vowed to look at later. Dumbledore sent him a present though Harry saw it as more of another half-hearted apology rather than an actual gift; the book on duelling given to him however was of good quality and was amazingly detailed and communicative. He was surprised to find presents from both Ron and Hermione (chocolate frogs and Weasley jumper and then a book on apparating "to prepare for coming of age" respectively). When all those gifts had been opened, still one remained and he didn't recognise the loopy, slightly messy handwriting of its sender. Upon opening it, Harry found a wand holster (to be strapped to forearm) that had a wrist-flick release system and which was protected against disarming charms whilst the wand is in the holster. Reading the attached note he found:
Mr. Potter,
Congratulations on reaching the ago of sixteen. I hope you can find use of this and I look forward to our next meeting,
O. Ollivander
Harry's mind was already abuzz with ideas of how to use his birthday gifts. He decided that since he had free reign to practise magic over the summer, he would start on the apparating book as soon as. He also admitted that looking through the duelling and animagi books would be a good idea as he had already decided to review his previous year's magical books in preparation for NEWT classes (it gave him something to do over the impending month). Harry also admitted to himself that flicking through the careers book McGonagall gave him would not be a bad idea either.
His mind made up, Harry decided to once again resume constructing his mind walls and so sank restfully into his meditative state.
Author's Note: Don't forget to drop a review, after all, how can I improve upon my writing and ideas if I don't get some feedback? Thanks to those who reviewed too, it is very much appreciated!
