Hiya guys!
I know it's been a while (February is here!) but I do have excuses! Excuses, excuses I hear you cry, but they are good.
Number One, I have now sorted out a regime for writing/posting. Hopefully, if I stick to it, you can look forward to a new chapter of 'PPP' every other week (every fortnight) as the weeks in between will play host to y new fic (yet to be posted) entitled 'Harry Potter and the Bracelet of Nuada'. More on that later.
Number Two, it is a new year, and with new years comes many things, including school, my parents forcing me to use my 'lovely' new Xmas presents and 'get my butt off the computer', as well as my dear brother wanting to play on his new computer games. Ah, for a computer and internet connection of my own!
Talking of internet connections, I have Number Three (by the way, if this just sounds like a list of my problems, just skip to the story, but there is some possibly useful information in here, honest!). My dad has decided to change our internet providers, meaning our connection is dodgy at best. This has sat for over a week ready to post, and will be as soon as it starts working again.
Number Four is coursework. Having just moved into fourth year at high school (yes, I am fifteen), I am suddenly inundated in masses of the stuff, and haven't yet found a way of writing it quickly and well. Thus, I spend hours of my free time typing laboriously into my computer, resisting the call of In fact, I have a piece of English for tomorrow that really needs seeing to…
Anyway, there you have it, my list of excuses. Look out for 'Bracelet' coming (hopefully) next weekend, and if you want a copy of my regime so that you can print it off, tack it to the wall and say 'yippee, it's Sunday, FireOpal will be posting' or whatever, just contact me via my profile page.
Unfortunately, I have a history of really really bad scheduling. Oh well…!
Here's Chapter 10 – drum roll please…
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Chapter 10. Training in Earnest.
Harry woke groggily, to see Ron on the armchair opposite him, and Hermione in another armchair, her nose in a book. By the amount of light outside, he deduced it must be evening, nearly dinner. Sitting up, he saw Hermione look up, and Ron look at him relieved.
"You ok, mate? You just fell straight asleep, it was creepy." Harry nodded.
"Yeah, Dumbledore said that until I've used these new powers a lot it'll be really tiring. Something about my body not used to having raw power pumped through it." He noticed Hermione had come across and her arm was around his shoulders.
"As long as you're ok. Ron was talking about waking you up for dinner, but I thought we'd wait and see if you woke up first. You looked like you needed the sleep." Harry grinned at her, she had hit the nail on the head as usual. He stood up, and noticed the staff was still lying on the floor were he'd dropped it. Hermione saw his gaze, and replied while he picked it up and shrank it back in its' bag.
'When you fell asleep, Ron went to pick up the staff to pack it away, but it threw him across the room.' Noting Harry's worried expression, she hastily added, 'Not hard, just away. He didn't even get a bruise. It just didn't seem to want him near it.'
"Come on then you two, lets go to dinner." Said Ron, appearing from behind as they stopped talking. Hermione grinned.
"Ronald Weasley, you are always thinking about that stomach of yours!"
"Yeah, and?" Ron gave them a beaming grin and threw his arms companionably around them all.
As Harry met with Dumbledore for his daily training, he was seriously considering bunking off. He still felt exhausted, and knew that if he tried too much, he could probably end up sleeping for weeks. Then, his pride intervened, and he decided just to try to go easy on it. They walked to the Room of Requirement again, but this time, the weather had changed to a dull, cloudy day. Turning to Dumbledore, he removed his staff from its' bag, holding it confidently.
"Today, Harry, we're just going to get you comfortable with your staff. I just want you to try pointing it and focusing on small areas." Harry nodded. "First, lets see how you do with fire." He waved his wand and a piece of firewood flew off of the pile and onto a spot quite close to them. Harry focused his mind easily, then, pointing the end of the staff at the firewood, sent the power down the staff and onto the wood. The top stone lit up and glowed as the wood combusted magically.
"Well done. Now, lets try something with a little more power. Try setting fire to the whole pile." Harry nodded, turning and pointing the tip of the staff at the woodpile. Focusing, he sent the power down his arm and into the staff, but this time, instead of cutting back on the amount of power he sent, he pushed heavily. Suddenly, the pile of wood burst into flames, a huge spontaneous bonfire. In fact, so much raw power had come out of Harry, that the fire seemed bigger than the woodpile, which it was. Flames were trailing across the grass, and the light and heat was magnificent. Harry rapidly put out the fire, in case it set fire to the entire room. Now he could feel the tiredness getting to him in the way his forehead was beaded with sweat and his limbs were aching for no reason at all. However, he continued, gritting his teeth.
"Good, good." Said Dumbledore after the flames had died away. "How about we now try a little water manipulation?" Harry nodded, and followed the instructions as Dumbledore called them.
"Focus, Harry. Now, direct the power to the lake, and raise it into the air." Harry did as he was told, and watched almost detachedly as the entire contents of the lake rose into the air and formed a loose sphere. Then all the sounds around him started to fade, he couldn't hold the power anymore and vaguely felt the water splash him as it fell from the sky. He dimly heard Dumbledore's worried voice, but he couldn't hear what he was saying, everything was going black and he felt himself fall to the ground, and knew nothing more.
As he opened his eyes, he felt pain: pain from the blinding light, pain from his protesting body, and pain from his forehead. He closed his heavy eyes again quickly, and winced as he heard a loud and penetrating voice talk to him.
"Harry? Are you awake?" 'Who's Harry?' he thought to himself worriedly. He couldn't remember, couldn't remember anything. 'Odd that I can remember what I can't remember' he thought to himself dazedly. Wrenching his eyes open again, a tall figure swam into view , slightly shading him from the blinding light. 'Glasses' he thought vaguely. 'I need my glasses.' His wish was granted as he felt gentle hands place them over his eyes and the world came into focus. However, it didn't help that much, he still had no idea who this person was, who he was, where he was.
"Harry, are you ok?" The person leaning over him was worried; ok that was an understatement. He had short silver-flecked brown hair and amber eyes. He felt vaguely familiar, but judging by how confused he was at the moment, he could've been imagining it. Looking around further, he saw two other people, his age. One was tall and gangly with red hair and freckles, and the other was a girl with brown hair and eyes. Somehow she was important, very important. Struggling to sort out his mess of a memory, he gave up trying to answer the questions.
"Harry, you're scaring us." 'Good, now you know how I feel, whoever you are.' Thought Harry. Then, feeling guilty, he decided to try for a safe answer.
"I feel ok, I suppose." He noticed that everyone suddenly looked a lot more relieved, but the tall man with the amber eyes still looked worried, as if he could see the reason behind the careful answer. Luckily, some sort of nurse, who kept talking about 'her patient needing rest', took the two teenagers out of the room. He was alone with the strange amber-eyed man. He desperately fought the panic that was rising in his chest. Why couldn't he remember? What was wrong with him? Who were these people? He was slightly startled when the man spoke again, sadness in his voice.
"Harry, I know something's wrong." A sudden look of pain crossed his face as he thought of a reason. "Harry, you do know who I am, don't you?" The voice alone said quite clearly that he hoped the answer would be a cheery 'yes'.
"Truthful answer: No." he said, turning away so the stranger couldn't see his tears of frustration and panic. If only there was something familiar. He curled up habitually, and didn't see the man above him nearly reel away in pain. He supposed finding out someone you knew didn't know who you were would be a bit of a nasty shock. However, even if it was selfish, he did feel he had drawn the short straw. He was the one without the memory.
"Ok," he heard the man say with a heartfelt sigh. "Your name is Harry James Potter." There was no sudden spark of recognition, no synapses firing, nothing. "You're at Hogwarts, a school for training witches and wizards. My name," here he paused, and 'Harry' felt very sympathetic. It must be hard on him. "My name is Remus Lupin, but you can call me Remus. The two people who were here a moment ago were Ronald Weasley, known as Ron, and Hermione Granger. They're your best friends." Harry still felt lost, but at least he was getting information. He uncurled slightly and turned back to 'Remus'. His face looked prematurely lined, even the flecks of silver in his hair looked at odds to his age.
"What can you remember?"
"Not a lot, I can remember magic, and spells, and something about some wizard, Voldemort, but other than that, blank." He supposed he would've found it funny some other time, if he had his memory, that this was all he could remember. Pitiful. "Erm, I hate to bring it up, but I'm pretty hungry. Can I have some food?" Remus nodded, and waved his wand. Immediately, on the bedside appeared a tray holding a bowl, a cup and a jug. The food looked pretty basic, soup of some sort, and the drink was strangely fruity, pumpkin juice he was told when he asked. He ate quietly, almost silently. As he finished, he looked around, uncertain as to what to do next. He saw Remus looking at him, and looked back into the amber eyes, willing his memory to spark into life. Nothing.
"You've finished?" Harry nodded. "Well, I could send for Ron and Hermione to walk you round the castle, see if you get your memory back." Harry nodded again, swivelling his legs over the end of the bed, and standing up stiffly. The long sleep had caused all his limbs to be stiff, but after a quick walk round the room as Remus left to find Ron and Hermione, he felt a lot better. Looking up when he saw Remus return with the two teenagers, he smiled awkwardly and said quietly.
"Hi." The two teens smiled back at him, and he realised that Remus had told him about his loss of memory when they thrust their hands at him to shake and introduced themselves.
"Ron Weasley, excellent Quidditch player and great guy." The girl punched the red head on the arm playfully and spoke next.
"No, he's not! Oh, and I'm Hermione Granger."
"Busy body, prefect and know-it-all." Ron muttered, not quite under his breath. He got punched again, but grinned at Harry.
"No I'm not! Anyway Harry, we'll give you the tour of Hogwarts, see if anything jogs your memory." Harry nodded shyly and followed Ron and Hermione out of the room into a long corridor. Walking closer to Hermione, he noticed she was crying silently, despite her confident words. Tenderly, he reached out a hand to brush away the silver tears. Hermione looked at him, and for a second Harry felt déjà vu. She must've seen the flicker of recognition in his eyes, because hers widened. Then they turned away, Harry disappointed at not being able to retain the flicker of memory.
If Ron was the only one who spoke throughout the entire tour of Hogwarts, no one mentioned it. Occasionally, as he passed particular rooms, he felt something, vague familiarity, but nothing definite. It was particularly strong in the Gryffindor common room, and Harry got a feeling he had been in here a lot. When he mentioned this to Ron and Hermione, they looked excited, and tried to jog his memory further by dragging him into a dormitory and showing him his belongings. As he sifted through his trunk, he came across a photo album. Opening it to the first page, he immediately recognised the smiling faces looking up at him.
"Mum, Dad." He touched the picture reverently, thrust suddenly into a memory. In his mind, he saw his mum, standing before Voldemort. She was pleading for his life. There was a flash of green light, and Harry's scar seared with pain, causing him to pant. Hermione immediately came behind him and calmed him down, holding him close and rubbing circles on his back. When he looked up, she knew what he had felt, as she had watched, horrified as it replayed in her mind, through the connection they shared. Tears were falling from her eyes again, but she held him fiercely, as if to protect him from all the hurt and pain.
"He killed them."
"Yes Harry." There was a pause, and Harry pulled back from Hermione's hold, continuing to flick through the album. Some of the faces seemed familiar, and some even more than others. When he came across a handsome, black haired man, he felt pain, deep sorrow, and had a quick flash of the mental image of a giant black dog. When he asked Hermione, she told him patiently that he was called Sirius Black, and was his godfather, but was now dead. The dog was his animagus form. Surprisingly, this actually made sense to Harry, who could remember a lot of magic. Then he put away the album carefully, among the clothes and school supplies.
Standing up, he followed Ron and Hermione down to lunch, and ate in silence. After lunch, an elderly man with a long white beard asked him to meet him in his office. When he showed his slightly panicked expression to his friends, they immediately accompanied him, and showed him where the old mans' office was. Apparently, as Harry learned on the journey, he was Professor Dumbledore, the headmaster of this school and a friend of Harrys'. They looked uncertain as to what else to tell him, but when Ron was going to continue, Hermione interrupted by saying the password to a large stone gargoyle, which promptly moved out of the way.
The office turned out to be an absolutely fascinating place to be in, and Harry had to exercise great curiosity not to go over and examine all the little devices and the beautiful phoenix that was perched on the desk. His attention was quickly turned to the professor when he spoke.
"I know that at the moment you will be worried about your loss of memory, Harry. Thankfully, my research has shown me that your memory will return rapidly, up to 3 days should do the trick. I'm sure Ron and Hermione here will be only too glad to help you." They nodded silently. Harry, however, spoke.
"Excuse me, sir, but why did I lose my memory?" At this, Hermione cut in politely.
"We didn't have time to explain everything to him, Professor." Harry looked at Hermione oddly, but Dumbledore nodded.
"Harry," he said, attracting the boys' attention. "You are an elemental, and you used too much of your power at once. This overwhelmed your system, which had to reboot, as it were. You were unconscious for a day or two, but this overload has meant your memory had to be put on hold. You might've already seen a flashback or two of your memories as they try to surface." Harry nodded.
"I saw the night my parents died, sir." Dumbledore nodded gravely.
"Yes, I had an idea that would be the first thing you remembered it being one of your more horrific and memorable memories. However, it is good that you've already started to regain your memory."
Harry nodded, and was nearly pulled away from the office by his eager friends. They dragged him back up to the dormitory, and grabbed something out of his trunk – what looked like an old fashioned broomstick. Ron looked grinning fit to burst as he grabbed another broomstick and they dragged him outside. When they saw his clueless expression, Ron took over mentoring and showed him how to mount it, like it was a horse. Hermione sat down at the sidelines, and pulled out a book. He could see the title, 'Hogwarts: Behind the Portraits'.
"Right, place the broom on the floor, and say 'up'."
"Up." Said Harry, feeling foolish until the broom leapt happily into his outstretched hand. He slung his leg over the broom, and, following Rons' example, kicked off hard from the ground, soaring into the air. It was perfect! He swooped through the air gracefully, happiness filling his heart like a balloon. Hearing Ron and Hermione's cheers and laughter, he sped up, occasionally diving close to the ground, then changing direction at the last minute to his friends' gasps.
They spent the rest of the afternoon flying, challenging each other, Ron and Harry trying to knock each other off of their brooms, and once, just before they left for dinner, Harry flying low and slow with a terrified but jubilant Hermione on the back, clutching him for balance.
It had been two days since then, two days since Harry had swept Hermione onto his broomstick and flown off, the irate scholar berating him feebly. And now it was late, really late. In fact, it was so late it was probably early morning, but they didn't care. Harry just sat on the sofa beside Hermione. Ron had gone to bed a long time ago. They didn't mind, Harry was still trying to return his elusive memory and Hermione was trying to help him. That had stopped a long time ago, and now they just sat in silence in the flickering darkness, Harry staring into the ebbing flames. Suddenly, he looked up. Hermione was crying silently, not stopping the tears that streamed down her face. Harry saw this, and as he reached out his hand to gently brush away the tears, he realised how beautiful she was. Edging closer, his hand lingered on her cheek. This felt right, this intimacy, this feeling. Hermione looked round at him, hiding her face as more tears dropped from her eyes. Harry leant in slowly, and captured her willing mouth with a tender kiss.
The effect was as if an explosion had gone off in Harry's mind. Memories flooded in like a wave crashing onto his blank mind. The wall created by his power overload crumbled underneath this onslaught, and he watched, helpless as they flickered across him. Without realising, he broke away from the kiss as memories pounded his brain – Hagrid, Hogwarts, Quirrel looking into the mirror, the basilisk launching in for an attack, stabbing the diary with the basilisk tooth, fighting Dementors, finding Sirius, Rons' betrayal, the Triwizard Tournament, Voldemort returning, lines cut into his hand – 'I must not tell lies', Sirius falling through the veil, jumping off of the Astronomy Tower…
Hermione gasped as Harry broke away from the kiss and fell to the floor, clutching his scar desperately, eyes screwed up in pain. She saw tears trickle from his eyes, and watched horrified as he resisted her arms when she tried to calm him down. After a few seconds that felt like hours, it was over, and Harry was leaning weakly against her, sobbing. It was terrifying, she had barely ever seen Harry cry, and the sight was heartbreaking. She held him and rocked him backwards and forwards, the only sound until dawn was his sobs turning to gasps for breath and finally, slight snores as he fell asleep. Hermione spent the whole time holding him, whispering comforting things in his ear, soothing him, until she too fell asleep.
Waking dazedly in the morning as a shaft of sunlight beamed down on her face, she saw Harry sleeping peacefully beside her. She was in pretty much the same position she had been in last night, back resting against the sofa. She stroked his hair, trying not to wake him, and failing. He blinked and lifted his head, turning his oddly aged emerald shining eyes to look into hers, and she knew he was back. Harry was back.
'Oh Harry.' She thought, stroking his cheek, which he nuzzled into, a slight smile growing on his face. Then, with surprising agility so early in the morning, he quickly hugged her.
'I remember now. Thank you Hermione. You helped me remember.' He thought back at her. Then, helping each other up, Harry gave her a roguish smile.
'Lets just check everything works, shall we?' and before she could say anything, he held out his hand palm up, and conjured a tiny, marble sized water ball, shaped it and turned it into ice. He held out his hand to Hermione, who took the tiny figurine carefully, and inspecting it, saw it was a tiny ice phoenix. She returned his smile, and, taking out her wand, pointed it at the tiny phoenix, and muttered 'vitare accumulo', and as a soft blue light shone over the figurine, it extended its' wings, flapped them experimentally, and flew around the room, soaring over the armchairs and casting its' miniature silhouette in front of the window. When it flew back to Harry and perched on his outstretched hand and yawned, settling down to sleep.
Looking up at Hermione, Harry muttered an almost silent 'finite incantatem' and the figure froze, disappearing when Harry concentrated on it.
"Do you feel ok?" asked Hermione anxiously, looking for the tell tale signs of fatigue that usually appeared soon after such a use of his abilities. Harry grinned, and looked down at himself, then back at her.
"Yep, I think I'm cured of post-power fatigue."
Hermione smiled and pulled closer to him, then they kissed, gently and lovingly.
'You know, this is much better than last time.' Joked Hermione, sending the thought to Harry.
'Well, last time I had a slight problem with my memory that found a way out. Typical, it had to be a kiss.' Thought Harry, positioning his arms around Hermione.
'Well, its' in all the muggle fairy tales. Awoken by a kiss.'
'Yes, well normally it's a damsel in distress not a bloke!' thought Harry indignantly, nibbling her lips gently. Hermione moaned softly.
'I'm not complaining, I got you back.'
They pulled away from each other, lingering with the touch. Their eyes twinkled with love and happiness, and Harry pulled Hermione to the window, where she cuddled up against his form, and they watched the sun rise.
Some time later, they heard the thumps, groans and occasional screams that signified Ron was awake. Smiling, and with a mischievous look in his emerald eyes, he threw himself down onto an armchair and held his finger to his lips. Nodding, Hermione went over and lay back on the sofa.
As they saw Rons' paisley pyjamas come round the staircase followed by the tousled red head, Hermione put her head in her hands, and Harry plastered a blank look on his face. Ron grinned as he entered the room, and it faded as he noticed their expressions.
"What's' wrong, mates?" Harry had to stop himself from bursting into laughter, it seemed like days since he had heard Ron speak, he had heard him when he was ill, but it didn't have the same meaning, all the years of friendship. Nobody moved, until Hermione spoke, after telepathic prompting from Harry.
"He's been like this all night. I don't know what's wrong, he should have his memory back by now!" Harry inwardly marvelled at Hermione's acting skills, but then she had kept her love for him secret all these years. He maintained the blank look on his face as he watched Rons' expression fall. Suddenly, Harry threw himself into his part. Screwing up his face, he clutched his scar as Hermione and Ron rushed over to him.
Even though she had 'heard' what he was going to do, she was slightly taken back when Harry suddenly grasped his scar. Keeping up the pretence, she went over to Harry and held him.
"Voldemort…got Sirius, must help Sirius. He's falling, no! Not Sirius!" he gasped out over his ill-concealed laughter. Thankfully, Ron thought it was pain, and his expression made Harry laugh harder.
"Harry, that was last year, you're here, now. Listen to me Harry!" yelled Ron. Harry made his expression change.
"Didn't put my name in the goblet, believe me Ron! I didn't do it…" Harry shrank back from Ron, and shot him daggers. Ron was as white as a sheet.
"You betrayed me. You didn't trust me. You were my best friend." He glared, whispering with an angry growl. After a few seconds, Harry couldn't contain himself anymore, and to Ron's increasingly perplexed and shocked expression, collapsed giggling. Hermione joined him, letting out her laughter happily. Harry heard her, and thought to himself how beautiful her laughter was – like music.
'I heard that!' thought Hermione, clutching her sides. Harry shot her a surprised look, slightly spoilt by the fact he was doubled over in laughter.
"Harry? You ok mate?"
"Yeah, fine Ron." Ron looked slightly relieved, but obviously still worried about his hysterical friends' sanity.
"You sure?"
"Yeah, better than in ages, slug-burper." Harry and Hermione laughed harder at this, and as a disbelieving and happy expression slid over his face.
"Harry, how do you kno-" full realisation finally dawned on Ron. "You're back!" He flung himself on Harry, knocking him backwards into the armchair. Harry had to prise Ron off of him so he could breathe.
"Yeah, I'm back." They were all grinning by now. Hermione sat down next to Harry and he pulled her close so he could answer the unasked question – how?
"It was really simple – all I had to do was kiss Hermione."
"What? That's all?" Ron looked incredulous. Harry nodded, and Ron whistled. "After all the trouble we went through, and all you had to do was kiss her!" He was smiling though, and Harry knew it wasn't meant as a cutting remark.
Realising it was nearly breakfast; they went up to quickly dress and met back in the common room. Harry had the last word before they left for the great hall.
"Don't tell them." He said, the impish glint back in his eyes. They nodded, and proceeded to behave as they had before.
On reaching the great hall, they sat down silently, and began to eat. Harry was getting slightly impatient – all the other days someone had asked if he was all right as soon as he had come in, and today he just had to hope it would be Remus. His luck held as Remus came in, looking tired as always. He sat down next to Harry, and said the question.
"Harry, how are you?" Harry made his expression not change as he replied.
"I'm fine, Moony." This blatant use of the werewolfs' nickname took a few seconds to sink in, but when it did, the reaction was explosive, to say the least. Harry watched with bated breath as Remus turned, a slow smile creeping up on him, and he jumped from his seat (making everyone stare, as it was most unlike him), and throwing his arms around Harry. In short, he acted much the same way Ron had, especially when he yelled at the top of his voice, pulling the giggling teenager to his feet and haphazardly dancing him around the room.
"You're back! You said Moony! You're back!" When he was finally released after being half-strangled, Harry could see the happiness dancing in Remus' eyes. Harry nodded, grinning as he tried to persuade him to sit back down, and tried to stop a flood of people from asking him if it was true or not.
"Yes, it is true. I remember – everything." Harry gave Remus another hug as nearly everyone else turned back to his or her meal. Harry looked up in time to see Dumbledore smiling at him benevolently, blue eyes twinkling full blast.
"Good to hear you have your memory back, Harry. If I may ask how?" Harry and Hermione both blushed, Hermione staring at her plate. Dumbledore nodded, still smiling.
"Ah, I see I have no need to ask. Funny thing, soul bonds can be very useful." He chuckled for a minute as Harry turned an even brighter red. "Oh, and onto the matter of your training."
"Sir? I think I've got over the problem of exhaustion." volunteered Harry quickly. Dumbledore looked surprised, and slightly impatiently, Harry decided to give a practical demonstration. Holding out his palm, he conjured another tiny ball of water, this time shaping it into a miniature tree, complete with leaves. He froze it and handed it to Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked genuinely surprised, taking the figurine carefully, then examining Harry for signs of fatigue. When he saw the proud young boy looked as energetic as he had the second before, he smiled approvingly.
"Your body must have adapted quickly to the amount of power running through it. However, we don't want to chance our luck. I'll meet you in the Room of Requirement at 7pm. Now, I have some important paperwork that is screaming for attention." He smiled again at Harry, and walked off, pocketing the tree within his robes.
Ron grinned at his two friends glowing red faces, and, shaking his head, turned back to his sausages. He felt a slight pang of jealousy – Harry had yet more powers, and a girlfriend, but then shook it aside. After all he'd been through; he deserved it all. Looking up with a mouthful of sausage and bacon, he quickly swallowed as he saw Harry and Hermione get ready to go.
"Guys, wait for me!" he said, nearly tripping as he stood up. Laughing, Harry and Hermione reached out for his arms so he could balance himself. They walked outside, not really sure what they were going to do for the day. The problem was slightly solved by Remus, who came to meet them, and asked Harry if he could talk to him. Harry shot his friends an apologetic look, but they shrugged it off, and walked outside.
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Review ResponsesAngryGryphon – Thanks for reviewing, and your comments, will try to do as asked! (Does everyone think I'll suddenly take a dive into grammatical error and misspelling? That my plot will fall through? Trust me, Harry has a little more adventure further ahead…)
shaz124 – Right, the staff. Now, before giving away too much of the explanations in later chapters, I think I can say a few things. One is that the staff actually has quite a lot of magical power itself from the magical components, and is focusing his energy more directly. The 'Hermione Effect' as I like to call things referring to their bond will come into play, but, as the bond is pretty new and they don't know a lot about it, it is untested. Happy for now? Don't worry, Hermione will ask a few more intelligent questions in later chapters which will lead to the trio (and you!) knowing more about the magic involved with Harrys' Elemental powers.
Harmony8390 – Thanks, updated quickly for you guys, and hopefully you won't have to wait for months for the next update (as long as my internet holds on).
Ankesh – I really like the way you've obviously thought about this before coming to me. It makes me think that my story makes people think! (Did that make sense!) The staff, in and of itself is a bit of a mystery (if any of you have read Terry Pratchett's Discworld, think the Luggage). It may end up having emotions (sort of) and characteristics later on, but mostly it is up to Harry. You are very close mentioning that using the staff tires him, it's all to do with the magic flow. And don't worry Harrys' wand fans, I cannot imagine a new school year and Harry lugging his 6 foot staff around the corridors!
wizardemon – I would be interesting to read you own Elementals' story, I liked the Latin tie-in as well. I was sitting in my Latin double, very bored, and was flipping through the dictionary to find 'funny' words, and came across quattuor, (meaning four for the less lingo-learned) and had this sudden flash of inspiration. My teacher was not impressed!
jockstrap2345 – Oh wow, I am so honoured! The best fic you've ever read? Surely you jest? I bow at your worshipping feet, and hope you haven't gone completely bonkers yet! I hope I can do as you say, and 'keep the spark', I'm really looking forward to some particular parts of this fic… rubs hands in glee
grantsbeetle – Updated mate, hope you like it!
Treck – I'm sorry you feel this way. I have read millions of really good niceSnape niceMalfoy fics with excellent plotlines and beautifully written ('A Year Like None Other' by AspenintheSunlight, 'The Great Betrayal' by Savage Damsel, and a few others of hers, fics by Mione5, and the amazing 'Jachyra' trilogy by The Velvet Ghost). You don't know what you're missing. Seeing as you feel this way, I will relent my rule concerning plotlines and tell you all that in this story, Draco Malfoy will be a good character. Any who don't like this can find another fic, as this is how I'm writing it.
After all, Snape is enough of a good-guy to play 'spy' against Voldemort, so what's to say that he doesn't have a nice side? How many people have you met that are 'pure evil' (barring maths teachers, but even then!).
However, I can sympathise with people who want the characters to remain in canon. Remember that this is fanFICTION, made up purely of ideas we have thought of. For example, I do not believe that this will be at all like HP 6 or 7, this is just a view of how it could've gone. It is purely to entertain.
Phew, 8 reviews for one chapter! I'm so happy! But please people, review, I really need your encouragement and stuff (It makes me feel great and able to write again after a hard day). And flamers, beware, you not only annoy me, but you annoy my readers, who would have to put up with a long rant about it! Please, just don't. You all know where the back button is on your browser, use it if you don't like what you see.
FireOpal.