Clay Pinions

By Lochar

A/N: I got about 6k words into Nine Months, then my inspiration died. So, I'm writing more of this, and I'll write on that when inspiration dies on this one.

Disclaimer: Do I have to actually say it? lawyers nod Alright, alright. Harry Potter, his friends, JK's storyline, and whatnot don't belong to me. Xenogears doesn't belong to me. It belongs to those nice people over at Square-Enix.

Chapter 12

Harry woke up early the next morning, and was quickly out of bed. Looking over at Ron, he laughed slightly. Ron was hanging half out of his bed, and seemed to be using his footboard as a pillow.

Harry poked him. "Ron, if you want to come to my lesson, you have to wake up now." Ron groaned, and just curled up into a ball.

An evil grin crossed Harry's face and he quietly said, "Ron, the Chudley Cannons just won a Quidditch match."

Ron jumped. "Cool! Who were they playing?" He then looked around. "No fair Harry-" His yawn interrupted him. "I'm still tired. Why in the world did you want to get up this early in the day for?" He stretched.

"Well, you wanted to go to my lesson and it's in thirty minutes; so I figured you'd need at least that much time to wake up." Harry opened his trunk at the foot of his bed, pulling out his training clothes. "So did you want to come or not?"

"Alright, alright. I wanna come. You, just, YAWN, couldn't do it at a different time?" Ron complained, as he slowly put his robes on.

"It's Professor Maison's choice on time." Harry pulled on his clothes. "Come on, I told Hermione last night, so she's probably going to be waiting for us here soon."

Harry walked out of the dorm room and downstairs, Ron yawning and stumbling behind him. Once they got downstairs, they did find Hermione sitting in one of the chairs, but she was asleep.

Shaking her shoulder, Harry grinned. "Hermione, you asleep too?"

Hermione blinked her eyes open and yawned while saying, "Some people prefer to sleep at six in the morning on the weekends Harry."

"Then sleep. I'm not forcing you to come."

"But I want to know how you hurt that troll. You shouldn't have been able to hurt it. I even remember Ron throwing things at it and it didn't hurt it!"

"You'll get the answer from Professor Maison then. Come on, I don't want to be late. I'm supposed to be getting off of punishment with him pretty soon. Maybe even today."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The three quickly reached the Muggle Studies classroom. Instead of student desks and a teacher's desk, the whole room had been cleared and mats had been laid out. Professor Maison was already there, going through a form to warm up.

"Good morning Professor." Harry said. "Is it alright if Ron and Hermione watch?"

Maison turned to him. "I don't mind." He looked at Ron and Hermione. "Will you two keep quiet?"

They both nodded, but Hermione had to ask a question first. "How was Harry able to hurt that Troll last night? They are supposed to be too tough to actually be able to be harm without magic."

Maison looked at Harry. "I was right then, there was more to the story than any of you told your Head of House?" They all nodded.

Maison thought for a moment, then answered. "Miss Granger, what Harry was using last night was called, Chi. It is a term for your body's life energy. It can be used for various things, including the ability to enhance yourself, as well as self-healing."

Hermione looked thoughtful, as Ron spoke up. "Umm, could I learn some of this, Professor? It sounds like lots of fun."

Maison turned to him and gave him a slightly sad look. "It is more hard work than fun, but unfortunately, once a wizard gets their wand, it seems to seal their ability to learn to use their Chi effectively. It took me almost fifteen years to be able to use what little Chi I am able to. Harry started several years before he was introduced to the Wizarding World, so his Chi was already active and wasn't sealed when he got his wand." He sent Harry a look at this, as if to say, Don't tell them about using your Chi in your wand. "Do either of you really want to spend ten or fifteen years working to access your Chi, with only very small rewards at the end?"

Ron shook his head, along with Hermione. "I didn't think so. But you may stay, so do please be quiet." Turning to Harry who had been warming up during Maison's explanation, he kept going. "Alright, Mr. Potter." Harry stopped his warm up and turned. "I think you've went long enough without learning anything new, so today we'll start a new lesson." Harry's eyes brightened. "Of course, this will be an extremely difficult lesson. Since you fought that Troll last night, I figured I might as well teach you how to actually hurt something like that next time."

Harry nodded. "What do you want me to do Professor?"

"I'm going to teach you a little bit about hitting with your Chi, from a punch or kick." Maison got into a stance. "Follow me, if you would." Harry copied the stance, waiting for Maison to continue. "When you were fighting, what parts of the Troll's body did you go for?"

"I went for the back of its knees first, and then I tried to take out its ankle. It really stung when I hit the ankle."

"So you went for mainly kicks?" Maison asked, and received a nod in response. "Alright then. When you channel your Chi, and you throw a kick, the Chi increases the strength of the kick, right?" Harry nodded. "What you need to learn to be able to do is to push some of that Chi out at the moment of the hit, at your target." Harry felt Maison channel a little bit of Chi into his foot as he executed a front kick. He could even sense a little bit of it leave him at the peak of the kick. "If you do that, you can cause a bit more damage, at the cost of weakening your next attack unless you channel even more Chi. It's a fine balance between attack and defense."

Harry nodded. "Why is this hard then?"

"Because your Chi isn't infinite. Against an opponent that also uses it to block, it can be a wasted effort, and then you have lost the Chi you used. And you know that it takes time and rest to regain the lost energy. And learning to push the Chi at the right time against an opponent, or even at the right moment in your strike. Push too early or too late, and the attack goes unused and wasted." Maison got ready to start a form. "Follow my lead, and when I push my Chi, you push it at the same time."

As Maison began, Harry followed his moves closely. It was a familiar form, one of the first Tai Chi forms that Harry had learned. Channeling his Chi into his extremities, Harry was ready. The first few moves were normal, but all of a sudden, a roundhouse seemed to leave a trail of Chi in the air to Harry's senses. Following suit, Harry pushed his Chi as he went through the roundhouse, only to lose his balance and fall down as he lost concentration on the kick while attempting to use his Chi.

Maison stopped. "I pretty much expected that. Do you know why you fell?"

"I tried to copy how you were leaving your Chi in the air, but when I pushed at my Chi, I lost my footing."

"You must be able to channel your Chi out of your body and into the attacks. You cannot lose your concentration either." Maison replied.

Harry grimaced. "Yeah, but I tried to split my concentration between the two. It didn't work."

"Try again then. I'll watch and try to point you in the right direction." Maison backed up. Not to mention I can't keep showing you the same move over and over again. I don't have the reserves you have Harry.

Starting the form again, Harry made it to the roundhouse with no effort. Concentrating harder on the kick this time, he couldn't get his Chi to push out beyond the strike of his foot. Stopping the form, he got back into the ready position. "I'm going to get this." Again trying, he let himself flow through the moves, just quickly moving through them on autopilot. Getting to the roundhouse, he started pushing his Chi, and almost had it when he foot was caught.

Glancing up, he was surprised to see Maison holding his ankle. "You cannot give up all your concentration on the move either. Otherwise, what good is it to be able to channel your Chi into an attack if it is so easily stopped?"

He growled. "Then what am I supposed to do?" Maison smiled. "Keep practicing. You'll pick it up."

Harry spent the next thirty minutes going through various levels of splitting his concentration between kicking and pushing his Chi. But unfortunately, he also spent most of that thirty minutes somehow tripping himself and ending on the floor.

Ron laughed, and Harry turned to him. "Funny, is it?"

He got a nod in return. "Kinda mate. You keep tripping yourself up. You were a heck of a lot better last night."

"I wasn't trying to do something new last night either." Harry turned back to trying the kick again.

Ron opened his mouth to speak again, but Maison cut him off. "Mr. Weasley, you did promise to be quiet. If you do not have something helpful to say, either be quiet or leave. Breakfast will be served in about fifteen minutes anyways."

Ron smiled at that. "I think I'll go get some food. I can come back, right?" Maison nodded. "Alright then, I'll be back after breakfast. You coming Hermione?" He asked her.

Hermione shook her head. "This is interesting to watch, even if I won't ever be able to do it."

Ron shrugged. "Alright, your choice." He left, leaving Hermione as the only watcher.

Maison turned to Harry, as he again tried and failed to push his Chi into the attack. "Mr. Potter, are you still trying to split your concentration between the two?" Harry nodded. "Since it doesn't seem to be working for you, maybe you should quit trying to split it then?"

"What do you mean Professor?"

"That is my way of doing it, but for you it may be easier to use another method." Maison explained. "Could you not extend your move to include the Chi?"

Harry thought about it. "Kinda like how Sensei made us relearn each move, but channeling our Chi while doing the moves?" Maison nodded. "Could you do the kick again then, one more time? I wanna watch real close on how you do it."

Maison complied, and Harry watched closely as to how it had been done. Nodding to himself, Harry got into a ready position. Moving through the form, Harry again tried the roundhouse. As his foot swept through the air, he pushed at the Chi already there. Completing the kick, he turned and looked to Professor Maison.

"Not bad. You have the idea down now, but you still didn't push enough Chi into the kick to have made a significant difference from what you have already been doing. We'll have to work on it some more."

And with Hermione quietly watching and Ron eventually wandering back it, Harry and Professor Maison worked through the morning, attempting to have him learn this lesson. By eleven, Harry was tired, hungry, and thoroughly aggravated with the whole thing.

"Why can't I get this right?" Harry asked aloud, throwing another roundhouse kick into the air. To Maison's eyes, Harry's Chi still barely left the kick.

Maison sighed. "Mr. Potter, I'd have expected you to at least have the basics down. Most of the students I've ever worked with have the problem of pushing almost all of their energy out, and they need to learn to control how much they push. You on the other hand, barely push anything out. Any ideas why?"

Harry turned to him and shrugged. "I don't know Professor."

"We'll have to take this up again next then. I've got other things I need to do today, and I believe that Gryffindor has a Quidditch practice today, do they not?" Maison looked to Harry.

"Yeah, we do. It's in a couple of hours. Alright then." Harry moved to leave, and then stopped. "Am I allowed to practice this without having you around to watch Professor?"

"Go ahead, but do be careful. If you manage to do the attack correctly, please do not do it anymore though. I would like to make sure you have it completely correct before you get into any bad habits with it."

Harry nodded, and the three left.

"I'm going to go get some lunch mate, I'm starving!" Ron told Harry. Hermione nodded as well. "I didn't get breakfast, so I'm going to go eat as well."

"Okay, I'll be down in a bit too, I just want to go take another shower."

The trio split up, Ron and Hermione going to the Great Hall for lunch, with Harry going up to the dorms.

After showering, Harry quickly joined his friends for lunch. Grabbing a plate of food, he looked to them. They seemed to be arguing. "What's up?"

Ron turned to him. "I'm trying to explain to her exactly why Quidditch is so great. She's not believing a single word of it."

"What's so great about it? It's dangerous, silly, and takes away from academic study time." Hermione glared back at Ron.

Harry sighed. "Hermione. I am on the Quidditch team, and I don't think it's silly. And no one here gets hurt so badly that Madam Pomfrey can't heal them quickly."

"It still takes away from your time to study. Grades are more important than a silly game."

Ron turned slightly red. "It's not a silly game, and we don't have to study every minute of the day!"

They walked outside, still arguing over the game. Harry followed, adding an occasional comment defending Ron.

Once there were outside, they all sat around a tree, talking. The argument had finally stopped, but most likely only to be picked up later.

"Oh Harry Potter!"

"The Great Boy-"

"Who-Lived!"

Ron groaned, noticing his twin brothers sitting up in the tree. "Great, you two." He looked at Harry. "Don't take anything they offer you, and don't touch anything after they have." Harry looked puzzled. "They play pranks on everyone."

Harry grinned. "Ah." He looked up into the tree at them. "And are you plotting against us?"

The twins grinned back. "Oh no, why ever would we do that?" One said. Harry thought it might be Fred. "At least not right now, since you know we're here." The other said.

"Hey, you weren't supposed to tell them that." Fred hit his brother upside the head.

"Oops, sorry. Um, forget we said that, would you?" George asked.

"'We'! You're the one who said it, brother mine!"

"Don't we always do things as a pair though?"

"Not when you're going around warning people! Jeez!"

"I'm sorry. Will you ever forgive me, my brother?"

The twins hugged, and were pretended to sob hysterically. "Of course I will!"

They broke up quickly, and Fred looked towards the school. "Uh oh, grease alert. We have an incoming greasy git." He looked down to the trio. "One of you please throw me a pebble? And don't say anything to him about us." Harry quickly found a small rock and threw it up to them.

Snape was stalking towards them, limping slightly. "What are you three doing out here? First years are not allowed to be so far outside the school. Three points from Gryffindor a piece." The pebble flew behind Snape, who was still glaring at them. He turned and walked away, leaving them still sitting there.

"Those two are right, 'greasy git' indeed. Takes points, and then doesn't make us move? That's not a rule, he was just looking for an excuse to…" Ron stopped speaking, as a huge gust of wind had come up from the ground, causing Snape's robes to billow out, and up. All three laughed, but Harry's eyes widened at the sight of bloody bandages completely covering one of his legs. Snape pushed down his robes, and turned towards them.

"Five more points!" He glared, and then walked off limping again. "Bloody brats, don't follow the rules." He audibly muttered. As he walked off he stumbled a little, and Snape cast his eyes to the sky. "And that bloody dog. Too many damned heads!" He stopped short, then turned to the three, frowning. He seemed to be looking for a reaction from them, but all three were still snickering because of his robes. "Two more points for disrespecting for a Professor." He said louder so they could hear.

Harry got quiet. "Yes Instructor Snape." Snape glared at them one last time, then went back into the castle, robes flowing behind him.

The twins dropped down out of the tree. "Thanks Harry, Ronnikens. Always a pleasure to mess with the git. Ancient Runes actually comes in handy." He looked at Harry. "Although, why'd you agree with him?"

"Yeah, but you didn't lose the points, we did." Ron grumbled. Hermione nodded her agreement, but both were ignored.

"It's something my Sensei from back home told me. Before I knew all the teachers here were called Professor, I asked him why Professor Maison wanted to be called Professor. He told me that a Professor actually teaches and tries to help you, and if I called him an Instructor, I would be saying that all he could do was give me instructions and no extra help. It would be like trying to learn from a book." Harry explained.

Ron and the twins laughed while Hermione glared at him. "That's no way to talk about a Professor."

Harry looked at her. "He hasn't taught us anything yet. He puts instructions on the board, and then glares at us for the rest of the class-time."

The twins grinned. "Alright, you three have fun, we're going to cause some havoc inside." They walked back into the castle, laughing.

Harry laughed at them, then turned to Hermione and Ron, his face serious. "Did you guys see his leg? And hear what he said about a dog?" Harry asked. "Could it have been that dog in the third floor corridor? And it bit him?"

Ron agreed. "Yeah! But what was he trying to get at that's in there? What's that dog guarding?"

"He is a Professor you two. Professor Snape would never do something like that. Whatever that dog is guarding, Professor Snape wouldn't be trying to steal it." Hermione lectured the two of them.

"But he was complaining about a dog with a bunch of heads! It's not like there's more than one of those around here, is there?" Ron asked.

"Ron, he wouldn't."

Harry tuned the two of them out, as he considered both the practice that afternoon, and their first Quidditch match the next week.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

The day of Harry's first Quidditch match dawned bright and clear, with a crisp cold feeling to the air.

At breakfast, Harry looked out over the food and felt his stomach lurch. "You know, I don't think I'm all that hungry."

Ron put down his fork. "Are you crazy? You're not hungry? Harry, mate, if you don't eat, you'll end up sick out there."

Hermione nodded. "Eat a little something. You might faint while you're up there if you don't."

Nodding, Harry sat down. Grabbing some toast, he nibbled on it. It tasted like cardboard to him. Ron pushed a plate of eggs at him. "C'mon, eat." Harry sighed and took a bite of the eggs. They weren't much better either. Managing to get another couple bites down, he stood up. "I'm not going to be able to eat anymore. I might throw up now if I do."

Ron and Hermione nodded. "We'll be in the stands, cheering you on." Ron said. Hermione nodded her agreement. "Even if I do think it's a waste of time, at least you'll be having a good time." She told him.

Harry grinned weakly. "Alright, I'll see you guys out there." He left the Great Hall, headed out the main doors, over the grounds, and into the Gryffindor changing rooms.

-

Once he had changed into the Gryffindor uniform, Oliver gathered them together. "Alright men-"

"And women." One of the female chasers added.

"And women," Oliver nodded at her. "This is it."

"The big one-" One of the twins said.

"The one we've all been waiting for." The other said, then leaned over to Harry. "We were on the team last year. We've got Oliver's speech memorized." He stage whispered to Harry.

Oliver gave them the evil eye, but laughed. "Alright then, get out there and win." He looked at Harry. "Oh, and Potter?" Harry looked at him. "Get the Snitch. No matter what." Harry grinned and nodded.

They all flew out of the changing room to the voice of Lee Jordan, a friend of the twins, who was doing the announcements.

"Here they come, the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Lead by their captain and Keeper, Wood! The Weasley twins playing Beaters -or Bludgers, depending on what mood they're in-"

"Mr. Jordan!" came Professor McGonagall's voice magically augmented as well.

"Alright, alright. Following are the three Chasers, the ladies Bell, Johnson, and Spinnet. All great looking ladies, ready and raring to go."

Harry was the last to come out, and when he did, Lee seemed to have already made up his mind about what he was going to say. "And Gryffindor Seeker, first year Harry Potter! Youngest Seeker in a century!

"And for the Slytherins, they are lead by Flint, followed by Pucey and the rest of Flint's cronies with Higgs playing as Seeker."

"Mr. Jordan, kindly keep your opinions to yourself." McGonagall warned him.

"Yes Professor." Lee didn't sound all that apologetic though.

Madam Hooch was at the center of the field, where the two Captains were hovering on their brooms. "Now, I want a good, clean," she seemed to stress the word while staring at Flint, "game. Players, to your positions." Oliver flew back to the goal posts, while Flint stayed close by with the other Chasers, waiting for the Quaffle to be released.

Madam Hooch tossed the Quaffle up into the air, and the Chasers on both sides raced to it.

Lee started commenting. "And Slytherin gets the Quaffle. Pass to Flint, who drives straight towards the Gryffindor goals. Passes back to Montague, who passes again to Flint, but no! Katie Bell intercepts and dazzles the Slytherins with her flying, leaving them behind.

"She passes back to Angelina Johnson, probably the best looking girl out there, good Chaser too."

"Mr. Jordan! Keep your mind on the game." McGonagall's voice said in a huff.

"Right Professor. Johnson passes to Alicia Spinnet, first time on the field not as a reserve player. Spinnet shoots, she scores! 10-0 Gryffindor."

Lee kept talking, but Harry tuned him out, looking for the Snitch. Concentrating, Harry floated a little higher into the air, to get a better view of the field. He saw Ron and Hermione, sitting in the stands waving to him. Somehow, they had managed to either find or make a huge sign that read, "Go Potter!" Smiling and waving quickly, Harry turned his attention back to the field.

Just in time, as a Bludger came flying up at him, and he barely managed to dodged. One of the twins, it looked to be Fred, flew up and knocked the Bludger back at one of the Slytherin Chasers. "You ok Harry? Don't space out on us, that's the easy way to end the match. For a Slytherin win."

Harry nodded. "I'm fine." Fred nodded and flew back down, seemingly throwing himself at a Bludger.

Looking around again, Harry made sure he kept an eye out for the Bludgers. This is driving me nuts. One tiny little ball out there, and this is a huge field! Slowly starting to circle the field, he paused. Wait a second, was that… It was! Diving, Harry flew after the little golden ball, with the Slytherin Seeker Higgs right behind him.

Come on broom. Moving as quickly as he could on the Nimbus, Harry zeroed in on the Snitch. The first hint of something wrong was when Flint slammed into him, throwing him widely off-course and spinning out of control.

Parts of the Gryffindor crowd gasped and Hermione and Ron both stared. Dean Thomas, who was sitting next to them was screaming, "Foul, foul! Kick the guy out of the game ref!" Ron looked at him. "What do you mean?" Dean looked at him. "You commit an obvious foul, and you're kicked out of the game, right?" Ron shook his head in the negative.

"They really oughta, he coulda been hurt!" A loud voice said from behind them.

They all jumped and turned. "Hagrid! Glad you could make it!" Ron said. He scooted over, leaving enough room between him and Dean for Hagrid to sit down.

"Harry's managed to get himself sorted out." Hermione said, as they turned back to the game.

"And in an obvious attempt to keep Gryffindor from winning, Chaser Flint nearly knocks Potter out of the air." Lee was saying.

"Mr. Jordan…" McGonagall's voice carried a hint of warning.

"Okay… Chaser Flint blindsides Potter in a malicious attempt at putting out the Gryffindor Seeker." Lee tried again.

"MR. JORDAN." There was no hint this time; McGonagall's voice was hard.

"Alright, alright! In a single move, Flint manages to keep Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter from getting the snitch in a move that was not quite legal. Better?" Lee asked.

"Somewhat." Came McGonagall's sighed voice.

Madam Hooch had given Gryffindor a free shot at the Slytherin goals, which was easily made, but in the ruckus, the Snitch had managed to disappear again.

Groaning, Harry flew up high to look for the Snitch again. After a few minutes, his broom starting moving on its own. What in the world? Harry grabbed on tighter to the broom, and envisioned the Void again. The echo of the broom he was riding again seemed to be slightly connected to his magic, but there were also two other strands attacking the echo as well. What in bloody blue blazes? The two other connections broke the tentative connection he had with the broom, and it started bucking even more wildly.

In the stands, Ron was shielding his eyes staring at Harry. "Hey, what's up with Harry?" Grabbing the binoculars from Hermione, he took a look up at him. "Bloody hell. His broom is going crazy! Was it Flint's hit that's causing it?"

Hagrid looked up. "That's jus' not possible. No student should be able ta do anythin' to that broom. It'd take powerful Dark Magic to do somethin' to a Nimbus."

Hermione grabbed the binoculars back, but instead of looking at Harry, started scanning the crowds.

Up in the air, Harry had given up trying to regain physical control of his broom, and was now just attempting to keep a hold of the broom as he worked in the Void. Grabbing his magic, he channeled it at the echo of the broom. He forced it to reconnect to the broom, and the broom slowed down slightly.

"Look there!" Hermione said, handing the binoculars over to Ron. "Professor Snape! He's jinxing Harry's broom."

Ron looked closely at Snape. Indeed, Snape was speaking quickly under his breath. As Ron watched, Snape seemed to double the speed at which he was mumbling. "Bloody hell. He's trying to kill him!"

Hagrid shook his head. "No Professor would do sumthin' like that to a student."

"Either way, we've got to stop him." Hermione said. She quickly stood up. She and Ron made their way over to the teacher's box.

Damn it, I don't have the magic to channel at the broom to stop whatever this is completely. I'm going to get into SOO much trouble with Professor Maison. Dropping his magic, Harry reached into his Void. Channeling his Chi as fast as he could into the echo, he slowly overwhelmed the two connections interfering with his broom.

As Hermione came up under the teacher's box, she heard Snape growl and start whispering even faster. Looking up, she noticed Harry's broom was slowly coming under control. "Huh? What in the world?" Shaking her head, she looked at Snape. "Doesn't matter." Creating a bluebell flame, she touched it to Snape's robes. It took him a moment to notice, but once he did, he stopped mumbling and started cursing and flailing about, knocking into just about everyone in the teacher's box.

The extra connections into his broom disappeared, but Harry couldn't react fast enough. Still channeling his Chi into the broom, there was no more resistance to him. His Chi filled the broom, and like with his original wand before, Harry felt something inside the broom twist. Fortunately, the broom was built sturdier than a wand and didn't destroy itself. Unfortunately, the overload of Chi managed to disable the magic in the broom, including the flight charms.

Harry started plummeting towards the ground, his voice echoing throughout the stadium. "SON OF AAAA…"

Hitting the ground after the forty-foot fall, Harry managed to roll with the fall and come up standing. Feeling something moving underneath the Quidditch robes, Harry pulled the Snitch out from inside of them. Holding it up, he waved it to the crowd, before falling over.

Ladies and Gentleman, thank you, and have a good night. This chapter is officially done. Read and review!

Evil Manic: There is no way Harry's getting Xenogears. Even I'm not that crazy. How would you hide a mech. Even the wizards would wonder what it was. And god save us all if Arthur Weasley got a hold of it. grin

Bob the Almighty: I'm trying to move a bit away from canon, but the first year is going to be somewhat the same. I'll keep it in mind though. I'm trying to work some differences into it.

Thanks to all the other reviewers as well! You guys make my day!

As always, props to Dr. Gero for beta'ing this for me.