Clay Pinions
By LocharA/N: I had two votes, both for this, so this chapter appears first.
A/N the second: I apologize, as I came across rather harsh in my last chapter. I did not mean 'review or go away', but more of a 'please review if you're taking the time to put me on an alert'. Of course, just doing that tells me you're enjoying the story, but I'd like to hear it from you as well.
Disclaimer: If I owned it, you would be buying this instead of reading it online.
Chapter 11
Walking down to Hagrid's hut after their morning classes were over, Harry and Ron talked Quidditch and Harry's new place on the team.
"You've gotta be the youngest seeker in Hogwarts' history." Ron enthusiastically said.
"Youngest in a century, according to Wood." Harry smiled.
Reaching the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they came to the small wooden hut that was Hagrid's home. Harry knocked on the stout door.
Barking and shouting were heard within, as Hagrid opened the door slightly. "Hiya Harry! Gimme just a sec." A rather large black dog's snout poked through the cracked door, and then was pulled back. "Back, Fang! Back!" could be heard coming from inside the house.
Hagrid opened the door up all the way, and waved them inside. He was holding back an enormous black boarhound, which seemed to strain at the hold Hagrid had on it.
Ron looked nervously at it. "He's safe, right?"
Hagrid laughed. "O'course Fang here's safe. E's just a big puppy." Hagrid slowly let go of the big dog, and Fang bounded over to them, sniffing at them. Ron patted him on the head nervously, and sat down in a chair, only to have Fang jump up next to him and lick his ears. Harry sat down as well, and Hagrid served them with some biscuits.
Or at least some rocks masquerading as biscuits. Ron tried to take a bite out of one, and nearly chipped a tooth. Noticing, Harry quietly put his biscuit back on the plate.
Hagrid, Harry, and Ron spent the next hour swapping stories. Harry and Ron told Hagrid about their lessons, and Hagrid would tell them stories of Harry's parents' time at school.
Harry also complained about Snape. "He has to hate me, he tormented me for the two weeks of my detention."
Hagrid shook his head. "Nah, Professor Snape just don't like about anyone. An ya really did a number on their house table, as well." But Hagrid wouldn't quite meet Harry's eyes at that comment.
Harry just shook his head and looked down. Noticing a copy of the paper on the table, he grabbed it and looked at the headline.
Break-in at Gringotts Still Under Investigation
Harry quickly looked over the article. Hey, August 1st, isn't that when I was there with Professor Maison? He looked up. "Hey Ron, isn't this the break-in you said something about on the train?"
Ron looked at the paper. "Yeah, it is. Wow, you mean they still haven't figured out who it was?"
Harry looked up at both Ron and Hagrid. "That was the day I was shopping with Professor Maison." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Weren't you at Gringotts too, Hagrid?"
Hagrid nodded slightly. "On official Hogwarts business, Harry."
Harry looked at Hagrid closely and nodded, while Ron glanced at his watch. "Blimey Harry! Weren't you supposed to meet Wood for your first training session five minutes ago?"
Harry quickly looked at his watch, cursed, and said, "Sorry Hagrid, I'll have to come back. Ron, you wanna come with me?"
Ron nodded, and both boys got up -with some difficulty on Ron's part thanks to Fang- hastily left Hagrid's hut, and ran to the Quidditch pitch.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Oliver Wood was waiting impatiently in the locker room when Ron and Harry both ran inside.
"It's about time you showed up. You're late. Don't be late for another practice session." He frowned at Ron. "What're you doing here?"
Harry spoke up. "I asked him if he wanted to come. We're going to play with my broom once practice is over."
Oliver nodded. "Alright then. But don't get in the way, you hear?" He almost glared at Ron.
Ron gulped. "I understand. Gryffindor needs the win."
Oliver smiled and walked outside. "Come on then Harry, I've got everything already set up out there."
Ron looked at Harry. "Fred and George are on the team, and told me to tell you if you get in trouble with Oliver over Quidditch, just to agree with him and say it's for the good of the team. I didn't think I'd ever need the advice though." Ron smiled.
They both walked outside, where Oliver was opening up a big trunk with the Hogwarts seal on it.
He pulled out the first ball. "Alright Harry, this is a Quaffle." Harry nodded, not mentioning that Ron had already told him most of the rules back when they had been on the train. "Chasers use this to score, and the Keeper protects the goals. If the Quaffle goes through any of the goals it's worth ten points." He pointed to the three raised goals.
He pointed to the two balls tied down that were furiously trying to break free. "Those two are the Bludgers. They go after the players, and it's up to the team Beaters to keep them away from the rest of the team and direct the Bludgers to the other team."
Harry looked at them warily. Ron had described them, but seeing them was a different matter. "Anyone ever get hurt from one of those things?"
Oliver shook his head. "Nothing that Madam Pomfrey can't fix in a jiffy. And Hogwarts has never had a death in Quidditch." Harry paled. "Never Harry. And it rarely even happens in the major leagues."
He flipped open the Hogwarts crest that was inside the trunk and pulled out a little golden ball. "And this is what you have to be concerned about. This… is the Golden Snitch." He handed it to Harry, and it opened up its wings and started lifting off. Harry quickly closed his hand around it. "That's the idea. Catch it and don't let it go. The game doesn't end until the Snitch is caught. The team that catches the Snitch gets 150 points, and usually wins."
Harry nodded.
"Alright, as we don't want to lose the Snitch, we're going to use these," he pulled out a bag of golf balls, "to practice your catching with. Come on, let's get in the air."
Harry grabbed his broom and took off. Feeling his magical core attempt to reach out again, Harry pushed it towards his broom. Again like what had happened in the flying lesson, an echo of his broom appeared outside the Void. He pulled up on the broom, and it gently rose to about thirty feet, at Oliver's level.
"Alright, I'm going to go up a little bit. You stay below me, and I'll throw them." He looked down at Ron. "Hey, make yourself useful! Count the number of balls he catches!" Ron yelled back that he would. "Now Harry, catch them before they hit the ground."
Harry nodded and quickly centered himself in the Void. "Ready then."
"We'll start easy." Oliver lobbed a ball to drop about ten feet in front of Harry.
Harry quickly pushed his broom forward and caught it before it had dropped more than a foot or two below him.
Oliver nodded, and threw another ball, this time right at Harry's broom. Harry didn't have enough time to move back, and it fell behind him. Quickly turning, Harry dove at the little golf ball, but it had hit the ground. Scowling, Harry returned to his starting spot, awaiting the next ball.
Oliver tried the same trick, but Harry just dropped a foot down and caught the ball.
They spent thirty minutes, refining Harry's sense of distance to the golf balls, before Oliver started making things really hard. "Ready?" Without waiting for Harry's nod he tossed the ball behind him, away from Harry.
Harry, with only a moment's hesitation, quickly leaned over his broom and zoomed off after the golf ball. He watched the little ball sail up, and then gravity catch it and it started down towards the ground. Growling, Harry pushed as hard as he could on the broom, angling it down to where he thought he could catch it at.
Oliver turned around to watch, and gasped. When he had thrown the ball, both he and Harry were nearly two hundred feet in the air, and now Harry was in a steep dive, his eyes locked on the golf ball.
Harry's eyes narrowed. You're not going to touch the ground, he thought. Come on broom, just a little more. He pushed the echo in his mind and it seemed he was able to gain a little more speed, but the broom started vibrating under his hands. He reached out, and managed to snag the golf ball, still twenty feet in the air, and immediately started pulling up.
Ron shouted, "Bloody Hell! No!" as Harry was barely able to pull up enough, and leveled out mere inches above the ground.
Not able to maintain his grip on the broom one handed, Harry tried to slow down his broom. Getting it to a manageable, slower speed, he rolled off the broom, allowing it to stop under its own power as there was no rider. Harry rolled another fifteen feet before being able to stop himself and stand up. He turned to look at Oliver.
Oliver was in the process of flying down to him, and Ron was running as quickly as he could towards Harry.
"Merciful Heavens Potter! Don't DO that!" Oliver shouted as soon as he landed. "It's only training, you're allowed to let them hit the ground! You could have killed yourself!"
Ron, who had finally caught up and saw that Harry as okay, laughed. "Maybe you should have said don't try to kill yourself unless it's the actual Snitch." Oliver glared at him. "Um, I'll be quiet now."
Oliver turned to Harry and grinned. "Alright, I think you're good enough to be a bloody good Seeker. I don't think even Charlie Weasley did things like that, and he could have played professional if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
Oliver collected the balls and left, leaving Ron and Harry to spend the rest of the afternoon playing on Harry's Nimbus.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
That night, before Harry fell asleep, he thought about the day. Wonder what Hagrid's official business was at Gringotts that day? Harry yawned, and then sat up. Wait a second, didn't Professor Maison say the only place safer than Gringotts is Hogwarts, depending on what you wanted to protect? And that Hermione said that stupid dog was standing on something? …No way. Harry shook his head, and went to sleep. That night, Harry dreamed that instead of the three-headed dog, it was Hagrid's dog Fang in the corridor, but it was bigger. He didn't remember it the next morning.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Between Quidditch practice three nights a week and classes slowly leaving the basics and becoming more fun as new spells were introduced, Harry was astounded to realize that he had been at Hogwarts for almost two whole months. He was also soon to be released from his punishment with Professor Maison and be allowed to start learning new things in regards to the martial arts.
And today promised to be an interesting day. Professor Flitwick had said they would start on the practical portion of the Levitation Charm today, and there was the Halloween feast to look forward to at supper that night.
Professor Flitwick had split the class up into pairs, and Harry had lucked out and not gotten Neville as his partner, who had been looking hopefully at him for pointers. Ron had not fared as well, and had ended up partnered with Hermione, who was still mad at them for the run in with the three-headed dog.
"Now remember students, swish and flick. An easy swish, with a quick flick of the wand. Same as we've been practicing."
Harry and Seamus both started swishing and flicking their wands at the feathers in front of them, with little results. Seamus tried poking the feather as he flicked his wand, but all he managed with that was catching the feather on fire.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Swish and flick. Nothing. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Swish and flick. Nothing again. Harry looked at the feather. And Professors McGonagall and Maison said no forcing it to work, to learn the spell instead of just throwing as much magic or Chi at it as I can. Sighing, he tried again. "Wingardium Leviosa!" Still nothing. He looked over at Ron. At least he wasn't the only one having trouble.
"Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa! Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron kept repeating, flapping his arms about like a chicken as he kept attempting the spell.
"Watch where you're swinging that Ron, do you want to put my eye out?" Hermione complained. "You're saying it all wrong, and not even doing the motions correctly. It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, you have to make the 'gar' nice and long."
"Alright then, if you're so clever, you do it!" Ron managed to bite out between gritted teeth.
Hermione primly nodded, rolled up her sleeves, and gently swished and flicked her wand at the feather. "Wingardium Leviosa!"
The feather came up off the desk and hovered about four feet into the air.
"Well done!" Professor Flitwick said, clapping. "Look here everyone, Miss Granger has managed it!"
Ron scowled. "Alright, if you can do it, so can I. Drop it so I can try."
Hermione smiled, and let the feather drop back onto the table.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron yelled at the feather, swishing his wand as hard as he could at it. The feather moved slightly. "Hey! I almost got it!"
Hermione shook her head. "No, I think that was the breeze coming from your wand."
Ron glared at her again, then sat back in his chair sulking and stared at the feather.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
As they were pushing their way through the crowded corridor, Ron was grumbling to Harry. "It's no wonder no one can stand the girl, she a know-it-all nightmare."
Someone pushed by them, and Harry noticed it was Hermione. Catching a glimpse of her face, Harry saw tears streaming down her cheeks.
Elbowing Ron, Harry hissed to him, "She heard you!"
Ron looked uncomfortable, but kept going. "So? She must have noticed she's doesn't have a single friend."
But Hermione wasn't in their next class, nor was she around for the rest of the day. On the way to the Halloween feast in the Great Hall, both boys heard a girl named Parvati telling her friend Lavender that Hermione had shut herself up in the bathroom all day long, and had been crying. Ron looked very uneasy at this, but moments later, walking into the Great Hall, the emotion was lost among the Halloween decorations.
Thousands of live bats fluttered around, and there were huge carved pumpkins sitting in the corners of the room and in front of the Head Table. Apparently, Professor Flitwick had charmed a few of them, as they were rolling around and trying to talk to each other.
Sitting down, Harry and Ron waited for the food to be served. It didn't take long, as like in the Start-of-Term feast, all manner of delicious food appeared. They both loaded their plates up high with food, and just as Harry was about to take a bite of corn on the cob the doors slammed open. Professor Quirrell ran up the center aisle, and then slumped against the High Table.
"Troll! Troll, in the dungeon." Quirrell moaned, and then slumped to the ground in a dead faint.
Utter pandemonium ensued, as everyone panicked and ran for the doors. Several very loud explosions and purple fireworks came from the High Table, where Dumbledore was standing. "STUDENTS!" His voice echoed around the hall. Everyone stopped and looked to him.
"Thank you. Prefects, please lead your housemates back to your common rooms. We will take care of this."
Percy seemed to be in his element, shouting out commands to all of the Gryffindors. "Gryffindor students! Follow me! Back to the common room, hurry now!"
As everyone starting head back, Harry turned to Ron. "Ron! What about Hermione! She doesn't know about the troll."
Ron looked at him. "Are you crazy? It's a troll Harry. It's a lot safer just going back to the common room."
Harry shook his head. "But it's pretty much all your fault she wasn't here. Come on!" Grabbing him, they joined the group of Hufflepuffs heading towards the other side of the castle.
Quickly ducking out of the group after they had gotten out of the Great Hall, they ran towards the girl's bathroom nearest the Charms classroom. Before they could make it there, they heard quick footsteps.
"Blast! It's probably Percy looking for us or Hermione." Ron whispered harshly.
"Quick!" Harry ducked behind a suit of armor, pulling Ron with him.
But it wasn't Percy. It was Snape, swiftly moving past them and up the stairs.
"Where's he off to? The troll's in the dungeons." Harry looked at the stairs Snape had gone up. "Hey, those are the stairs to the third corridor!"
Ron shook his head. "Worry about him later. Do you smell that?"
Harry looked at Ron, who was now holding his nose. Taking a whiff of the air, Harry nearly gagged himself. It was an odor of something rotten combined with the smell of someone who hadn't bathed in weeks, if not months. "Ugh, what is it?"
Ron pointed, and Harry turned. They could see a huge shadow being cast on the wall down the hall, and slight booming thuds could be heard. "It's the troll!"
As it walked into the intersection, it looked around. Harry and Ron froze, willing it to not see them. The ten-foot monstrosity peered down their hall, and then started walking away from them. It paused, and scratched its head.
"Maybe it'll go in there, and we can get out of here." Ron whispered as quietly as he could. Harry nodded his agreement.
The troll seemed to consider for a moment, then went into the room. Harry and Ron ran after it, slamming the door behind it and throwing the bolt. "Yes! Come on, let's get out of here!" Ron said.
"Right, come on." Harry agreed, and they both started running back down the hallway, only to be stopped by a female scream. Harry groaned. "Oh no, we didn't just lock that troll in the girl's bathroom with Hermione, did we?" He turned and ran back to the door.
"Yep, we did." Harry quickly undid the bolt and went into the restroom.
The place was almost completely torn apart. The troll was slowly moving towards Hermione, who was cowering in fear in the corner. Harry looked around, and grabbed a piece of one of the sinks and threw it at the troll. "Hey, ugly!"
Ron took up the idea as well, grabbing a metal pipe that had come loose. Throwing it at the troll, he yelled out, "Hey, Dungbomb breath!"
The troll, not feeling the things bouncing off it, nevertheless heard the voices. Turning, a stupid smile came over its face as it saw the two boys.
"Bugger." Harry muttered. "Hermione! Get out of there while we've got its attention!" But the girl was scared stiff, and didn't move. Harry looked at Ron. "I'm going to distract it. You get Hermione out of there."
Ron stared at him and began to open his mouth, but Harry shook his head. "Don't ask. Just do it." Ron hesitated for a moment, then nodded and got ready to grab Hermione.
Harry looked at the troll. "This is going to hurt one of us a hell of a lot, and quite frankly? I don't know who it's going to be. But we're using my rules." Centering himself deeply in the Void, Harry starting channeling as much Chi as he could into his body.
-
Down in the dungeons, Professor Maison winced and then looked up. "Headmaster, I don't think the troll is down here."
Dumbledore looked at him. "Oh, why is that?"
Maison rubbed his temples. "Because Harry just channeled enough Chi to about blind my senses down here, and I've told him not to do anything without me there. I think he managed to find the troll."
Cursing, the two teachers quickly started out of the dungeons, praying they would make it back in time.
-
"I was never taught how to deal with something six feet taller than I am, but I bet your knees are just as weak as a person's are." Harry said to himself and the troll. Getting into a fighting stance, Harry quickly moved at the troll.
Ron was flabbergasted. He's going to kill himself. But he stood there, waiting for his chance to grab Hermione.
Harry ran up to the troll, and quickly went around it, kicking at the back of its knee. It's leg bent slightly, and the troll roared. It spun around, swinging the giant club in its hand at Harry. Dropping to the floor to dodge, Harry was cursing to himself. "That hurt. He's built a lot tougher than even Sensei's mannequins are."
Harry was forced to do more dodging than attacking at the troll, as he jumped back so as not to be hit by the club. Moving the Chi channeled into his hands into his legs, Harry managed to double the energy he put into the next kick, which was aimed at the troll's ankle.
The troll hollered, and lifted its foot up. Harry hadn't come out of that attack unscathed either. Hobbling back, he cursed. "Stupid bloody troll! I kick it and nearly break my own foot."
He looked over to Ron, who hadn't managed to get Hermione out yet. "Hey! Wanna try something? Anything?" Harry jumped out of the way of an overhand swing of the club, rolling into a wall.
Ron looked at him, and then at the troll. "Um…"
Cursing, Harry managed to get back on his feet, dodging out of the troll's way again, but missed his footing and fell to the floor. A evil glee appeared in the troll's eyes, as the club came up for a huge overhand smash.
Ron's eyes widened as he stared. "Merlin save us!" He whispered. "Uh, umm, Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron quickly flicked his wand at the troll as its hands came back down. Empty.
The troll looked up, and frowned at the club hanging in midair. It growled at it.
Quickly tiring, Ron dropped the club, where it promptly fell on the troll's head with a crack, and knocked it out cold. It fell forward, and Harry was forced to roll to the side so he wouldn't be crushed.
"Bloody hell, remind me never to do that again." Harry panted.
"What in Merlin's name?" a voice came from the entrance to the bathroom.
All three students turned to find two of their teachers standing at the door. It had been McGonagall who had spoken.
Harry opened his mouth to speak, but then shut it at the fierce look from Professor Maison.
"Well?" McGonagall asked.
"It was all my fault, Professor. I'd read about trolls in the library and thought I knew enough to stop one. Harry and Ron tried to stop me, but I kept going. They were trying to rescue me." Hermione said.
Ron and Harry looked at her, dumbfounded. Had Hermione just lied to a teacher to protect them?
McGonagall gave a disapproving stare at Hermione. "Five points from Gryffindor then. Are you hurt?" Hermione shook her head. "Then go ahead and go up to the common room. The feast is going on there still." Hermione nodded and quickly made her way out of the room.
McGonagall turned to Harry and Ron. "And as for you two. Reckless, that's what it is, I tell you. But still, you showed quite a bit of bravery to protect your friend. Five points to Gryffindor each. For sheer dumb luck, I think. Go on, get back to the common room." She turned and left.
Professor Maison stepped back, and followed the boys out. "Mr. Potter, you will be giving me the real story, tomorrow during your lesson. Even if Professor McGonagall accepted that story, I know you had more of a hand in this than what Miss Granger said. I sensed it."
Harry nodded. "Yes Professor." Maison nodded back, and walked off back to his own office.
Ron turned to look at Harry. "Lesson? What lesson? And on a Saturday? Are you barmy, taking a class on a Saturday?"
Harry laughed. "It's a Muggle Martial Arts class. He's continuing my classes from before Hogwarts."
Once they reached the Fat Lady's portrait, they found Hermione standing outside of it, waiting for them.
"Thanks." She simply said.
Harry and Ron nodded.
She looked at Harry. "But you're going to explain exactly how you managed to hurt that troll."
Harry laughed. "You can come with me to Professor Maison's class tomorrow then, along with Ron."
Harry gave the Fat Lady the password, and all three went into the common room as friends, ready to resume their feast.
There ya go, kinda short, but it was a good ending place. Next chapter, opens his copy of SS, Quidditch! Among other things.
Oh, and don't knock me on the timing of certain events, as I like them in the order they're in. They make more sense to my addled brain. :D
Raistin the unforgiven: You mean I've actually got something right with the Chi thing? Wow, I think I've been pulling 99 of that out of my HHHH thin air. The other 1 is from random tidbits I don't know where I've picked up.
Saetan: I think you'd enjoy my side story. Depending on where I take this, it may end up being required reading. grin
All the rest of you reviewers I've already talked to, so no props for you in the story itself. :D
Thanks to Dr. Gero for beta'ing.
Also, long before this chapter was written, I had an interesting idea out for Flitwick's class. Unfortunately, my beta beat me about the head with a calendar, saying Harry couldn't be passed out the night of Halloween. Grin Oh well, I'll let you see what it was in it's original form.
"Wingardium Leviosa." Harry intoned, forcing all of his Chi through his wand at the feather. In the classroom above, Professor Maison started feeling the enormous amount of Chi in the class below him. Realizing Harry was in the Charms classroom below, he dove out of his chair as a feather flew through the stone floor and embedded itself in the ceiling above him.
Beta Note: I thought it would be interesting to note, that 'Boarhound' is actually just another name for a Great Dane. The movie version of Fang is wrongly played by a Neapolitan Mastiff.