Clay Pinions

By Lochar

Disclaimer: Do you want to pay 8.99 or more for this story? I thought not. So I don't own Harry Potter, and you don't have to pay to read this. Except maybe with reviews.

A/N: Thank you ff. net for blowing away all my hit stats with your recent hiccup. As such, it now looks like I've been reviewed more times than people have actually hit the story. ;) So, let's help me get my hit stats back up, k?

Chapter 18

Harry warily eyed the creature that was sitting on the hut's large table, attempting to devour the finger of the gamekeeper. "Hagrid? What in the world is that?"

The little creature turned at Harry's voice. Suddenly, the oppressive feeling that permeated the area stopped and pushed directly against his Chi, seemed to focus solely on him. Instead of being just a push at his entire well of Chi, now it seemed to be a focused point trying to drill past the solid Chi barrier protecting the well inside his Void.

Harry's eyes snapped shut as he stumbled away from the table and fell back into a chair. The creature's eyes followed Harry's form. Peering into the Void, he saw a strange bluish energy trying it's best to lance through his Chi barrier. Each hit seemed to chip away a small amount of the barrier surrounding his actual Chi. Each time a part of the barrier broke, it seemed to be absorbed into the energy. Frowning, Harry made the barrier as hard as he possibly could and the energy spike stopped breaking the barrier, but continued ramming against it.

Harry opened his eyes to find Hagrid staring at him. "What's the matter Harry?"

"What IS that thing, Hagrid? It's trying to… do something to my Chi." Harry shook his head to try and clear it.

Hagrid looked at the little creature on his table. "Meh Pogrebin? Couldn't be Harry. They aren't able to do anything ta people till they're over a year old. E's just a cute little thing right now; aren't ya boy?" Hagrid's huge hand dwarfed the little Pogrebin as he petted it. Hagrid lifted his hand and Harry saw the creature was now trying to chew through Hagrid's palm.

Once Harry was directly in sight of the creature again, the sharp lancing action took up a renewed pounding on his Chi. Alright, let's see how whatever it is likes me fighting back. Harry channeled a small portion of his Chi behind the barrier, hardening it into a tough block. When the energy again lanced against his barrier, Harry quickly opened it and pushed the block through as quickly as he could, right back at the lance.

The two competing energies met, and the blue lance lost. The little terror on Hagrid's table screeched when its attacking energy was literally blunted, and the lance quickly withdrew. Harry looked between it and Hagrid. "It attacked, I attacked it back Hagrid."

Hagrid nodded thoughtfully. "Mehbe it's a prodigy. Learns quickly."

Harry shrugged. "Whatever. It's dangerous Hagrid. It's hurt some of the students." He glanced down at his watch. "And I've got three minutes before Hermione goes after a Professor and drags them here to find out about this guy. Do you think you can keep him from draining and hurting the other students?"

"I can try Harry. I think there's a few books about containin' these guys in the library. Didn't think I'd need 'em though, not yet. The guy down at the pub I won 'im off of said he was still months away from being able to do anything. Guess that was why he was so glad to be rid of it."

"Alright Hagrid, I'm gonna go stop Hermione from getting a Professor. Have fun with him." Harry looked at the Pogrebin on the table and channeled his Chi through his hand, hardening it. "And if you try it on anyone again, I'll be back. You don't need to mess with anyone." The creature was staring at Harry's hand, seemingly absorbed in watching it. Must be able to sense my Chi there. Harry let the Chi in his hand return to him and then grinned at Hagrid. "Later."

"Have fun Harry!" Hagrid gave Harry a quick wave before turning back to his pet.

Getting outside, Harry found Hermione standing impatiently by the still sleeping Ron. "About time." She huffed, and then gestured at her watch. "You had one minute left."

"I take it you're feeling better?" Harry asked, and Hermione nodded. "So once it focused on me, it quit messing with everyone else. Good." Harry stooped down and shook Ron. "Get up Ron, time to go."

"'It'? What is 'it', Harry?" Hermione looked perplexed.

Shaking Ron again, but not getting a response, Harry answered back. "Hagrid said that it was called a Pogrebin. It was trying to attack my Chi." Harry looked down at Ron, and laughed softly. "C'mon, Ron. Wake up!" Still getting no response, Harry turned to Hermione with a question on his face.

"What are you going to do to him, Harry?" Hermione's voice was tinged with both a slight bit of curiosity and censure.

Harry grinned. "Wake him up the hard way. Wanna help?" Hermione shook her head, and Harry shrugged. "Fine by me then." He pulled out his wand and pointed it at Ron. Channeling his magic through his wand, Harry gave a quiet "Aqueious." and water gushed out of his wand, hitting Ron straight in the face.

Ron sat up in a flash, spitting and sputtering water. "What in the bloody hell was that for, Harry!"

"Because you wouldn't wake up. Hermione saw it. I tried shaking you first, but you were sleeping even harder than you normally do in the mornings." He grinned as Hermione nodded. "See?"

"Yeah, yeah. I was having a good dream too. Had to ruin it, didn't you?" Ron grumbled. He stood up anyways. "And now I'm soaking wet. What am I supposed to do now?"

Hermione sighed, exasperated. "Are you, or are you not a wizard Ron?" She muttered a charm, and pointed her wand towards Ron. Instantly, his clothes were dry.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Getting ahead of us again Hermione? I don't think Ron or I know that one."

Ron slung an arm around Hermione's shoulder. "She'll teach it to us though, right Hermione? Merlin knows you and your notes have kept us in front of the rest of Transfiguration at least." Hermione blushed at the praise. "You doing it to Charms too? Ya know Harry, we should have realized she'd be ahead of Flitwick as well."

Hermione swatted Ron's arm off her shoulder. "You should be able to do them too Ron. Our magical cores are a lot stronger because we've been working ahead of Professor McGonagall's classes." She looked at Harry. "We still need to look up the Pogrebin Hagrid has though. You said it was the cause of everyone's going slightly out of it?"

Harry nodded. "Yeah, I think so. At least, once I got into Hagrid's and the thing saw me, the push against my Chi was stronger and you said it quit affecting you."

"Come on then, let's go to the library and figure out what it's doing." Hermione quickly strode off, leaving Ron and Harry behind.

Ron looked over to Harry. "You do realize, that we're probably going to be stuck in the library for a week, just like the last time we got her looking something up don't you?"

Harry winced.

"Right. Come on. You got her started, I'm not going to be the only one to suffer." Ron started towards the castle as well, with Harry following behind, shaking his head.

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By the time Harry and Ron had meandered into the library, Hermione had already pulled a fairly thick book from one of the shelves. She brought it over to the table where she'd already had several books laid out.

"It's an older copy of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but it should talk about Hagrid's pet Pogrebin." She explained. She opened it up and flipped through several chapters before stopping and reading out from one page.

"Pogrebin

XXX

A creature native to Russia, it is small enough to be confused with a rock when it is still. Pogrebins will follow their chosen victims around, infusing them with a sense of hopelessness and depression. Once their victim has collapsed from these feelings, the Pogrebin will then attempt to eat them. These creatures are classed as Minor Dark Creatures because of their flesh eating and mental attacks. For more information, see Dark Creatures: Fact and Fiction."

"It's not that bad of a creature, but how did it affect everyone outside of Hagrid's hut if it couldn't follow them around?" Hermione looked questioningly at Harry.

"I don't know, but it seemed to need to be able to see me to do anything directly to me. And I think it gives people those feelings by draining their Chi." At the looks from Hermione and Ron, he shrugged. "Hey, everyone has a little bit of Chi. It's your life force."

"Was it affecting Hagrid too, Harry?" Ron sounded a little worried, but Harry shook his head. "Why wouldn't it take his Chi then?"

"I don't know. Hagrid's a really big guy… maybe he's got a lot of untapped Chi, and his pet couldn't take it fast enough to make a difference to him?" Harry shook his head. "Doesn't matter anyways. It's his pet, and as long as it doesn't hurt anyone else, we don't really have to worry about it."

Ron nodded. "So, we just keep away from it then?"

"That'd be the best thing to do Ron." Hermione said, looking up from her book. "If you're not near it, it can't hurt you."

Ron quickly stood up, closing several of the unused books in front of them. "Alright, I'm putting these up and then getting out of here. Harry, you coming with me?"

"Sure, why not." He looked to Hermione. "I guess you're staying in here?" She nodded. "Figures. Have fun."

Harry and Ron quickly shelved the books and left, leaving Hermione behind, whom was already pulling new books down.

As they walked out, Ron looked back at Hermione and laughed quietly. "Nutters, I tell you, Harry. Nutters. Her fun is reading books. What makes that fun?"

Harry looked back at Hermione as well and shrugged. "It's her fun, Ron. I like to fly and that's fun to me. Maybe we'll try to pull her into something else. But right now, isn't it your turn to be beaten up?"

Ron laughed. "Yeah, yeah. Come on then. Maybe Professor Maison will be there and can at least give me a few tips on how to stay on my feet longer."

"One word, Ron." Harry stopped and grinned. Ron stopped as well and turned to face him. "Jump. I don't know how many times I kicked your feet out. If you'd jump over the kicks, you might last more than ten seconds."

Ron winced at Harry's comment, then grinned ruefully. "Yeah, yeah. You're probably right. I don't like bouncing around as much as you do when you're sparring against Professor Maison."

Harry started walking again, heading towards the Muggle Studies classroom while talking to Ron. "My style is more… movement, but against someone like my cousin, I wouldn't have to move as much. Professor Maison forces me to move a heck of a lot more because I have to dodge so many of his attacks. Kinda like when you have to dodge me."

"Oh, ok. I still don't like all that blasted bouncing though." Ron grinned his response back at Harry.

When they reached the Muggle Studies classroom, the boys found that Professor Maison had changed the classroom again. The practice mats were laid out, but he had left his desk unchanged. Maison was sitting at it, going over some papers.

He looked up and nodded at them. "Hey you two. I'm finishing up some projects, so don't mind me. Go ahead."

Both boys nodded, and got started. They went through their warm-ups, then Harry started working Ron through a form.

About thirty minutes in, Maison closed his folder and stood up. He watched as Ron tried to move through the form Harry was currently showing him.

Harry stopped and turned around. "Hmm? Professor Maison?" Maison had closed his eyes and Harry felt his Chi jump for a moment.

"Carry on Harry, I'm just watching."

"Yes sir." Harry turned back around and continued trying to work Ron through the Tai Chi form.

After a few more minutes, Ron stopped and shook his head. "How in the bloody world do you manage to get this right Harry? I feel like I'm trying to move three different ways at once!"

Harry laughed. "I've been doing it for so long that it's easy for me. I don't even have to think about it now, I just do the moves."

"Part of the reason you do so well Harry, is because you are using your Chi as well, to help guide yourself." Maison interrupted. "Mr. Weasley here doesn't have access to his own Chi, so he must drill it into himself, manually. Of course, that doesn't mean you couldn't do the moves as well without your Chi, but it is a moot point in your case."

"Man, that's no fair at all. Harry gets an easier way to learn all those moves, and it's going to take me forever!" Ron shook his head and kicked at the ground, obviously miffed.

Maison just chuckled. "Ah, but there is a tradeoff. The moves that come easier for him are just the standard moves. Since he does use his Chi, he has to learn moves where he has to purposely use his Chi in them. And those he learns at the same speed that you are learning the basics."

"Well, at least you're not getting off completely easy, Harry." Ron punched Harry in the shoulder. "But Professor Maison, I'd really like to be able to use Chi. Could you explain to me again exactly why I can't learn to use Chi unless I practice for a whole bunch of years?"

Maison nodded, and then thought for a moment before answering. "The body has energy flows, of which your Chi and your magic flow through. Magic though, is a pervasive energy. It will saturate these flows and restrict the flow of your Chi if it has not already been established. That is why it would take a witch or wizard many years to be able to use their Chi, as it has to make its way through the magic saturated energy flows. In Harry's case, his Chi established its place in his energy flows but allowed other energy to flow as well, so when he started using magic more it could not completely restrict him to magic." Maison smiled at Ron sadly. "In your case and in mine, the Chi pretty much has to fight for its place in the energy flows, and you will only have a small amount accessible at first. In another thirty years, I may have as much ability as Harry does now, but by then, he'll be even farther ahead of me."

"Thirty years? So it'd take me forever to get anywhere near what Harry has just right now?"

"Don't judge yourself just on your friend. Both Mr. Potter and his cousin have a very large amount of Chi, especially for being so young. I had thought it might be because he had trained before gaining access to his magic, but his cousin isn't magical or even a Squib."

Harry spoke up at this point. "Squib?"

"A person born into a magical family, but has no magic themselves. They also very rarely show up in Muggle families with Muggle-born witches or wizards, instead of the child being born magical." Maison explained.

"So you don't know why I have this much Chi then, Professor?" Harry asked.

"Unfortunately, I don't. Maybe your Sensei could figure it out, if he were allowed to know about magic." Maison shook his head. "Unfortunately, it is against the Statute of Secrecy to tell him about magic." Maison looked at the two of them. "It matters not now anyways. Back to practicing, the both of you. Harry, I will work with you here in a little while as well."

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It was later that evening when Ron and Harry met up again with Hermione. She looked happy to see them.

"Hey, while you two were gone, I went ahead and looked up Hagrid's pet in that other book. You know, Dark Creatures: Fact and Fiction?" Hermione seemed about ready to start bouncing with whatever she had learned.

Ron groaned. "Did you stay in the library all day Hermione?" She sent him a curious look and nodded. "We have got to get you a different hobby. Something actually fun."

She scowled at him. "Excuse me? I think researching and investigating things are fun. Why would I want to do something else?" She took a step closer to Ron and took a deep breath, about to start in on him.

Harry pushed between them before she could get started. "I hate to interrupt you two, well, not really, but still." Hermione stepped back again. "Ron, she can do what she wants. She thinks it's fun, we'll just have to find something else she considers fun as well."

Hermione nodded primly, and Harry continued. "Hermione, we don't really consider it fun, so don't get mad at us when we say it isn't, alright?" Ron grinned at her as Hermione nodded again, albeit more slowly. "Anyways. What'd you find in that book then?"

"Oh! I found out a whole bunch of things about Pogrebins. It said they're not just native to Russia, but they've been found as far south as central China. Hagrid probably needs to read it as well, since it had feeding habits and such for them. Under fiction it was really interesting though. It said there are stories of Muggles keeping them for pets thousands of years ago in China and they didn't hurt anyone at all. They were feed regular meat and never made anyone feel depressed or anything. The people supposedly keeping them were monks and Samurai."

"Ok, and what does that have to do with anything, Hermione?" Ron asked. Harry nodded his head, also wondering.

"Well, I'm not sure about Samurai, but the monks in China knew all sorts of martial arts and things. Do you think it might not be fiction, but true because they could were able to use Chi and do something like what you said you did to it?"

Harry thought for a moment, remembering his encounter with Hagrid's little pet. "Maybe. I did hit whatever was trying to attack my Chi, and then it left everyone alone. Maybe I did it already?"

"Could be. Then Hagrid wouldn't have to worry about it hurting anyone else, and he won't get in trouble." Ron looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hermione, would it still be a Dark Creature if it couldn't do all that stuff?"

"I don't know, Ron. I don't know what actually makes it a Dark Creature." Hermione shrugged, but then her eyes lit up. "I can look it up though."

Ron groaned. "Great, now it's my fault she's going to bury herself back in the library again."

Harry laughed.

Many apologies about how long it took to get this chapter out. I'm blaming it all on the fact that my beta lost his internet connection for a couple of weeks. It wasn't because of a massive case of writer's block. No, I swear, really. Besides, this damned thing doesn't read right to me as well, but it's the best I can get out. Next chapter should hopefully be quicker. (And a bit longer)

As always, read and review.