Yeah. Sorry that this chapter took forever. I had a bit of writer's block. I thank my friend for helping me out a little bit in this chapter – Stephanie, or pplhater2493

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Chapter Seven – The Final Poem

There were many sharp gasps as the Hogwarts students stepped off the ship. The area now before them was nothing but mountains and trees; no castle in sight. But it wasn't that image that was breath taking; it was the birds taking up the scenery.

Eagle like in appearance, before them stood birds of at least ten feet in height. Their faces were pointed and angry, although it really was hard to distinct the eyes from the rest of their expressions; their entire face was black, as well as the rest of their body. Brown did appear in slits throughout their wings. The monsters were chained down from the neck, with iron chain bolted into the ground. A restless one cawed and stretched its wings with about fifteen feet in span, each. About twenty feet away from it was another one of these birds and behind each of them where about four more birds on their side.

"Eyries . . ." Hermione whispered.

"We-We're not going to get onto those things, are we?" Ron whimpered.

"Pleez vollow me." A Durmstrang student said, beckoning them to follow. Apparently, they were.

Attached to the back of these Eyries were several rows of seats. The troop had to climb up the Eyrie's wing (whom actually appeared to be quite calm and almost docile,) and they had to climb through the seats and sit (Hermione needed a little boost up.) The group of five, as well as a few others and two of the Durmstrang students got on.

"Pleez strap you eento the seat. Do not touch thee bird."

Harry looked to the side and saw a thick piece of rope tied to the edge of his seat. He crossed it over his lap and handed it to Ginny, who buckled it onto her side. For several minutes, the group sat there and watched the other students climb onto the birds. Looking over to the bird on the other side of them, Harry saw Justin Finch-Fletchley wave to them, cheerfully. Harry waved back, weakly.

Once everyone was on the birds, another, much larger Eyrie swooped down as people were 'boarding' and landed in the front and center of them all. Professors Sombra and Snape got onto the bird followed by the rest of the Durmstrang students. Professor Thwaite magnified his voice with his wand as he stood to the side of the beast.

"Een a few moments, these Eyries vill escort us to the Durmstrang castle. Pleez hold on toihtly and do not touch thee birds." With that, he quieted himself and climbed onto the bird. He noticed that this Eyrie had to be the head one – adorned it not only was a more magificant seating, but the bird even looked more broad, more grand. It began to caw loudly, looking back and forth, flapping its wings. One at a time each of the Eyries cawed back in response

In a second, they were in the air. The ride was not as rough as a hippogriff's or thresals, and yet no where near as smooth as Harry's firebolt. The birds formed a 'V' shape, and as Harry recalled from muggle school, that had something to do with aerodynamics. They lifted high above the trees and he realized that, like the Eyries, he was watching this head one. They seemed to reflect and echo its every movement.

He took his eyes away from the (beautiful) landscape to look around at his fellow passengers. Ginny had her eyes shut tightly and was whispering "I hate heights, I hate heights, I hate heights, I hate heights, I . . ."

Harry was about to say something when everyone took a sharp dip. As they drew up again, he and others gasped "Look!" Below them was the Quidditch pitch, which wasn't really that interesting, although the dome was actually enclosed with a clear glow around the top. It was probably charmed, he guessed, so they could have games in the worse snow. Then again, he couldn't really see anything in the dark.

On another swoop or so, the castle came into view. It was not as impressive as the Hogwarts' castle and looked rather dark and small. However, the architecture imbedded and pressed against the walls or on top of them was very elegant. Like the ship, there were statues and sculptures of dragons and horses, as well as birds and other large creatures.

One at a time, the Eyries began to sail down in front of the castle, again, starting with this head one. Harry grabbed the side of his seat and Ginny grabbed his other arm. His ear was beginning to pound, not only from the wind, but from her screaming. It seemed as if the Eyrie was heading straight down, going straight for the ground. It neared the earth and suddenly pulled straight up (giving Harry some fond memories,) slowing down into a run on the ground (almost like a plane,) before it stopped.

And once every bird was stopped, once everything was calmed down, did everyone become animated again. The Durmstrang students in the back were the first two take off their restraints and begin helping the Hogwarts students get off. Hermione shoved her head in between Harry and Ginny's shoulders.

"Are you two all right? Ginny, are you okay?"

"Ginny, you were a seeker. How can you be afraid of heights?" Harry asked as the redhead pulled off her rope.

"I can handle being fifty feet in the air. This. This was not fifty feet in the air." She snapped as the color was restored to her face.

"Here, Gin, have some chocolate." Hermione said, pulling out a chocolate frog from her pocket. She and Ron were the next ones to climb out, followed by Harry who helped Ginny down.

As soon as they were all off, their Eyrie disappeared. It was there and then it was not, all in one second. Harry turned and watched as each bird disappeared in the same process. The 'main' Eyrie, however, did not disappear. Professor Thwaite said something to it and moved back a few paces. The seats that had been strapped to the Eyrie's back disappeared, just as the other Eyries disappeared: In a split second. The bird began to stretch its wings and flapped them a bit, before kicking off the ground and soaring overhead of the students.

Now away from the bird's warmth, Harry was beginning to feel a little chilly. Those sweaters he bought would really come in handy, he thought. He noticed that the Durmstrang students were prepared: Hats, scarves, and gloves. They began to motion him and the others to head for the entrance of the castle.

It was nothing like Hogwarts. The only source of light was a heavy, gothic chandelier. It lit up the fair sized entrance hall, but only minimally. It was probably half the size of Hogwart's Entrance Hall, although it did have a very large, wide staircase.

"Thees ees Durmstrang. The door to your roight gives you the roight wing; weech includes thee dining hall, the Infirmary, and lib-rawr-y. The door to your leeft gives you the leeft wing, with the Lake entrance and Potions classroom. The lake entrance ees also where Care off Magical Creatures ees. All thee other classrooms have signs. Now pleez vollow me."

The second and fourth floors were nothing but classrooms. When they came back down to the third floor (students had taken them through a central staircase, which passed the third floor entirely. Apparently, the third floor had two staircases), they were shown where the dormitories and bathrooms were.

"Ooh. I hear that out tubs are huge!" Ginny squealed. And with that, Harry and Ron said goodbye to their three female friends and followed the other boys into their dormitory.

There were five doors along a long, paneled wall. The first section held years one and two (that is what they called first and second years,) the second held years three and four, and so on. The year sevens did not share with anyone but each other, and the final doorway was for the Hogwarts students.

The beds were all bunk beds and there was about twenty or so of each. Ron and Harry took one of the first ones (Harry let Ron take the top bunk,) and the beds quickly filled in. They were informed that once everyone had claimed a bed, their trunks and wardrobes would appear. With several quick 'pops,' trunks and luggage appeared on the sides of the bunkers, and dressers were randomly scattered about.

Ron seemed to have a lot of fun with being on top. He talked to people at the same level as him, and when he wished to talk to Harry, he would lean over the side of his bed and look at Harry upside down, with his hair dangling around. Harry had the terrible urge to knock him down.

That night was a bit awkward. Harry, Ron, and several others tried to stay up and talk, but some of the other Hogwarts students screamed at them to shut up and go to sleep. After awhile, the lights were forced to go out and people settled down. For awhile, Harry lay in bed and tried to sleep, but kept thinking that he had to do something. And then he remembered the roses.

When Harry was sure that everyone was asleep, he leaned over the foot of his bed and unclasped his trunk (he'd put his clothes away the next day,) and dug through a bit. Finding the roses wrapped in a cloth, with the small pile of notes on top of them, Harry pulled them all out and attempted to put each rose in order. It was impossible, although he did know the order of the notes. He took the one with the rose drawn on the other side of it and stared for a minute, then sniffed it. Nothing happened, except the humility Harry felt.

Did it matter what the order was? He began to sniff one rose at a time. It would probably make enough sense, even out of order.

Well, I spotted your name on the list; mine was already on there. I have confidence that you and I will both succeed in the new school, and I hope that some of the personalities and ways of the kids there will change some of your misguided opinions. When you meet me, I ask that you take some time to think about that situation, before you make any rash decisions.

Harry paused, and sniffed the rose again, to listen to the whisper one more time. That probably corresponded to the riddle he received before going to Durmstrang. He picked up the next one.

Harry Potter. I hope my riddles charm you, as I have been unable to do so through our previous years. This poem reflects so much of me, and not just my thoughts on you. One day you will understand what I mean when I say that I am sorry, right now. I am sorry, Harry. I'm very, very sorry. I trust that you look forward to your next riddle.

Harry read his very first riddle . . . it was quite like a poem. He took the last one:

You are wondering who I am, I am sure. We have much in common, although we do have differences. I watch you, Harry; I watch your movements and actions. You are not the swank type of person I first thought you to be. And for that error on my part, I apologize.

Well. That was the last of them. He still knew nothing about his admirer, not even the gender (although he hoped it was a girl!) Harry tucked the roses and notes back into his trunk and lied back, but felt rather restless. When would the writer present herself? Would he like her? But what if he didn't?

I should give her a chance, he decided. Whoever it was was very dedicated about this matter. But who did he know that was sorry for anything? A list of girls went through his head; none that he could even think would proclaim something like that.

"Harry . . . Harry, wake up. Wake up n-OW!" As Harry opened his eyes, all he had seen in front of him was flaming red hair. Needless to say, he was a bit shocked and sent his fists flying. Ron wailed, "What was that for?"

"For nearly straddling me and waking me up, you git. Bugger off." Harry shoved Ron away and glared as his best friend stood back with a sickening grin.

"Thwaite wants us all down at the dining hall in about ten minutes. Ya' know, some sorta speech or something," Ron said as Harry slipped on his glasses. "What are you looking at?"

"I'm looking at the new riddle. How in bloody blazes did it get here?" He questioned, pulling off the rose and note from the ceiling of the bottom bunker. He would 'listen' to the rose once Ron stopped hovering over him.

"Well, mate, what's it say?" Harry read it out loud.

Might I say that
I am amazed. Do you
Dare to play the final game?
Now is the chance that
I may be revealed
Giving you the answer you
Have been searching for.
Time will only tell.

"Um . . . yeah. Wait, there's something on the back!" Ron said, grabbing it and turning the card over.

Fourth, third, study..

"Oh, gee. That helps," Ron muttered sarcastically and let the card fall. It floated into Harry's lap with the three words facing up. Fourth, study, third. He would need Hermione's help on that. All the brain power possible. Fourth, study, third.

"C'mon, get ready. I'll show this thing to Hermione," Ron said, grabbing the card from Harry's hand once more. He grinned and scampered off, so Harry took to the rose.

Harry. I understand that my little phrase is a little odd. Simply think about the numbers and word: They sum up the location for where I wish to meet you. Please come alone, I do not wish to have any disturbances. If you have some trouble, read the last lines of the very first riddle I gave you.

Harry groaned and read over all the new material he had, including the very first riddle (he had to do a little digging through his trunk to find it,) and the last little piece:

Read into the words, before the lines,
You have now been given one of the many signs.

Nothing made sense.

"Oh, really. You would have known this if you read Victor's entire letter. On the fourth floor is one of the larger study hall rooms. People here use it as the Astronomy Tower at Hogwarts. Like the make out room. Harry, you're not rea . . ." That was what Hermione had said during breakfast. She had been willing to help him with this last riddle since it was the last. Like the first riddle, as well, he had had to read the first letter of each line to spell out M I D N I G H T.

That would explain why Harry was climbing the stairs in the middle of that night. Even though the staff was not strict on curfew, Harry felt more secure in his invisibility cloak.

He almost got lost in the dark; wandering around very carefully to be sure he didn't miss any doors. The school had been a lot bigger than he originally thought it was, with many doorways that lead to rooms that lead to other rooms. Above a particular door held a steel sign. 'Study Hall.'

Taking off his cloak and putting it into his bag, he took a breath and opened the door. Against the doorknob, Harry could tell that his palm was very sweaty.

Malfoy?

Harry stared in the open doorway. Cabinets and tables were scattered about, and it all looked lonely with only one occupant. Malfoy. Draco Malfoy. He had raised his head and smirked, daintily.

"Why, hello there."

"Malfoy, what are you doing here?" Harry snapped.

"Oh, I'm doing a lot of things, if you think about it. Sitting, breathing, staring at you, talking. And yourself?"

"Get out. I'm waiting for someone and I'd rather it be private." Harry snapped and glanced at the clock. Four minutes till midnight. What would happen when the girl got there? This was going to be very awkward.

"Oh, you'll have your privacy all you want, no need to worry." The blonde returned to his writing, two books lay open on either side of him. He also looked at the clock and closed one of the books, placing it back on the table. Harry thought he was leaving, but Malfoy merely kept writing.

"Malfoy, please. She'll be coming any minute." Draco set his quill down and looked at Harry.

"I'm not a she."