The Dark Heir
Chapter 5
Charms Class
The class listened into the half goblin/wizard's lecture, which was about the Levitation charm that they were performing today in class; Nathan was not paying attention to the lesson, as he thought about his progress in the Room of Requirement. It had been 7 weeks since he started going to the Room to master spells. By now, Nathan was pretty sure he had mastered all the first year spells as he could cast them fairly close to full power without using the incantation and without a wand, and he had been practicing with the 2nd and 3rd year spells for the last three weeks, as well as a number of lower level combat spells. He could theoretically use all the spells in Voldemorts arsenal, but he didn't want to risk over-taxing his magical core and control trying to use an advanced spell like Fiendfyre yet, so he stuck to the 1st-7th year spells and lower level curses and combat ones. He had also been doing his workouts everyday for equally as long. This body of his did not the superhuman benefit of chakra, so he couldn't outperform Olympic athletes at his age like he could in the old days, but he was doing ½ a mile run everyday, 3 sets of 15 pushups, situps, and squats each. Not to mention 5 chin-ups and 5 pullups. He could do this by using his magic energy to flood his body and speed up the rate his body heals by about 3 times. He had started to lose most of his baby fat he still had and put on some muscles. When he got to the age of 13 or 14, he was gonna be ripped, if not look like a mini Arnold Schwarzenegger.
"One of the wizard's most rudimentary skills is levitation,or the ability to make objects fly-"Flitwick the charms professor stated.
"Uh, do you all have your feathers?" he asked, most of the class raise their hands to show their feathers.
"Good, now uh, don't forget the nice wrist movement we've been practicing, hmm? The swish and flick. Everyone" he said, the students repeated after him, 'Swish and flick'.
"Good, and enunciate, Wingardium Leviosa. Off you go then" he motioned for them to start.
"Wingardium Leviosa-" the students chanted as they tried the charm though after a few tries, nobody had gotten it. Nathan was not really trying either.
"Wingardrium Leviosar-"Ron said as he attempted the charm. When nothing happened, he wacked the feather a few times with his wand.
Hermione sees the red heads dilemma and stopped him from doing anything else. "Stop, stop, stop, you're going to hurt yourself doing that or break your wand. Besides you're saying it wrong. Its Leviosa, not Leviosar" she explained. Ron got annoyed at her pointing out his flaws.
"You do it then, if you're so clever. Go on" he says in huff. A weeks ago, Hermione might have done that. Nathan had noticed her behavior and how she tried to help everybody with their stuff. She'd be a great tutor or teacher when the time came, but she had a way of coming off as a know-it-all. Nathan kinda took his best friend to the side, and helped her kinda see this, and they came up with some words, tones, and behaviors she could use when helping people, so that way, she could still help her classmates when they needed it, and she wouldn't come off as a know-it-all.
"Let's do this instead. I'll help you work through the spell and then we will do it together." Hermione offered, and Ron, after pondering for a moment, accepted. "Right then, lets start with the pronunciation. Repeat after me. Wingardium Leviosa. Now, you give it a try."
"Wingardrium Leviosar", Ron said, but Hermione heard the mispronunciation and corrected him.
"There is no second r in the first part. It goes like this Win-gar-di-um. Try it like that." Hermione offers and Ron after a few fumbles, gets it right. "Now for the last part of the incantation. Le-vi-o-sa. There's no r in it, and you want the 'o' and 'sa' to be nice and long." Ron practices a little more and gets it, before Hermione has him say the whole incantation and get it's right.
"Let's get the wand movement down." Hermione says and Ron gets it down on his second try. "Now. Let's do it together. Ready?" Hermione asks and Ron nods.
Hermione straightens up and swishes her wand with Ron doing the same. "Wingardium Leviosa," they say together, both of their feather's began to levitating high into the air.
"Oh, well done! See here, everyone! Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley have done it! Oh, splendid! 10 points to Gryffindor!" Flitwick stated happily.
*BOOM!*
Everyone turns to see Seamus with his face and robes covered in soot, his hair shot back, and his feather burnt to a crisp.
"I think I'm going to need another feather over here, professor" Seamus said as he coughed out smoke.
"Ah screw it." Nathan said as he hopped onto the top of the desk having already taken off his cloak and sat cross-legged on the desk, eyes closed.
"Mr. Potter?" Professor Flitwick asked in confusion.
"Wingdardium Leviosa." Nathan said as he cast the Levitation charm on himself. Requiring both immense concentration and large magical reserves that he had, Nathan was able to lift himself off of the desk by about 5 feet. He held himself suspended in the air for nearly 10 minutes before he felt his control slipping and he lowered himself slowly back to the desk.
"Oh, that was splendid, Mr. Potter! 10 more points to Gryffindor for such marvelous skill!" Flitwick stated happily, causing Malfoy to glare at Nathan.
After Class
Nathan, Hermione, Neville, Ron and Seamus are found walking through the courtyard with other students filling the area.
All of a sudden they heard Malfoy's voice behind them. "It's Leviosa, not Leviosar. Honestly she's a nightmare not to mention a mudblood, no wonder she hasn't got no friends." As Malfoy said this, Hermione heard it loud and clear. Which had been the ponce's intention. This was still a sore spot for Hermione, even though she had Nathan and was kinda becoming friendlier with the girls in her dorm, causing her to sniffle and stomp off.
"Serves that Mudblood right." Malfoy said as his goons agreed with him before Nathan set his stuff down and turned sharply, punching him in the face, knocking him to the ground.
"HOW DARE YOU!? SHE'S MY CLOSEST FRIEND AND SHE DOESN'T NEED TO HEAR THAT! ESPECIALLY NOT FROM YOU!" Nathan shouted at the downed blonde ponce. Crabbe and Goyle put their stuff down and went for their wands, but Nathan cast a wordless Petrificus Totalus, freezing both of them in place. Nathan was pissed because his closest friend, Hermione, had always been made fun off in other schools for being so smart. He was pissed because it was not Hermione's fault she was smart. Malfoy was just jealous that Hermione was just smarter than him and he was gonna make them pay!
"Since nothing more than crap comes out of your filthy mouth, why don't we make it more official!? EAT SLUGS!" Nathan shouted as he blasted all three of them with a green light, while undoing the paralysis on Crabbe and Goyle. They all got knocked to the ground and their skin started to pale, before all three of the them puked up a slug, causing the other students nearby to wretch in disgust, and step back.
Malfoy was about to puke up another one when Nathan leaned down and clasped his hand over Malfoy's mouth, and preventing him from hacking it up. When hit with this curse, the body would constantly expel slug's from the stomach for at least several hours. With how much Nathan overloaded the spell, they'd probably be puking up slugs for a few days. Clasping one's hand over the mouth of someone hit by this curse was dangerous, because people hit with the curse didn't stop producing slugs to hack up until it was over. Stopping them from hacking up the slugs would cause the slugs to get caught in their throats and they could actually die.
"Next time you try this, I'll do worse. Enjoy the next few days in the infirmary!" Nathan said as he stood up and grabbed his stuff, the rest of the students giving him a wide berth.
Outside Girls Bathroom
"Come on, Hermione, you know Malfoy is a jerk. Nothing he says means anything." Nathan pleaded for his friend to come out.
"Why should I… I'm just a know-it-all," she said between sobs.
"That's not true Hermione, you know it's not" He replied. Nathan listened to the girl as she continued weeping, "Mione, don't you remember what you said to me in Potion's class a few months ago? You're my best friend… if they don't want to be friends with you, then they're missing out."
He heard Hermione's sobs get quieter. "Nathan… can I...just be alone for a while?" she asked.
Nathan sighed. "Take all the time you need" he said as he walked away.
Later
After Classes
Nathan sighed as he walked up to his Head of House's office door. He had lost 40 points for Gryffindor with his attack on Malfoy and his goons, but for him, it was worth it to make those assholes suffer. He planned to get the points back of course, over the next few weeks. He knocked quietly, and at her acknowledgement, he opened the door and stepped inside her office. The stern woman looked in surprise at the young Gryffindor. As it was only two months into the year, she didn't expect to have First Years seeking her out. "What can I help you with, Mr. Potter?" she asked.
"I wanted to make sure that you were aware that I am not planning to attend the Feast tonight," the boy replied with a solemn expression to his Head of House.
Minerva McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the twelve-year old student. "Are you unwell, Mr. Potter? The Feast is mandatory for all students otherwise," she began.
"I am as well as can be expected considering what day it is, Professor. However, with all due respect, an exception should be expected for me on this particular occasion," the boy returned. He paused, thinking to himself, "Please realize why this is so important to me. Please don't tell me that everyone has forgotten what happened to me and my family on this day."
The stern woman was surprised and somewhat annoyed that the young boy thought that concessions would be made for him. "Mr. Potter!" she growled, "You are not so special that exceptions should be-" It was then that Mcgonagall stopped herself when she remembered that Nathan was not any ordinary student. After all, most students didn't have their entire family murdered by a madman and then survive it.
"This is about your family, isn't it," Mcgonagall said. Like everyone else, she celebrated the vanquishing of the Dark Lord that all Hallow's Eve. It never occurred to her how it must appear to James' and Lily's last surviving son that they were celebrating his families deaths.
"I want to spend the evening mourning for them," Nathan continued, as if she had never argued with him. "I would be grateful if you would ensure the other students and faculty don't disturb me."
The Transfiguration instructor gently said, "You are excused from the feast this evening, Mr. Potter. I will make sure the prefects know not to disturb your…privacy."
"Thank you, Professor," the boy responded. He inclined his head in either thanks or goodbye, she wasn't sure. He slipped out of the door and quickly disappeared down the hallway, while McGonagall wondered how she could make up her insensitivity to the young boy who only wanted to honor his fallen family on this anniversary and if everyone had forgotten the sacrifices that allowed them to have this celebration in the first place.
Great Hall – 8:15 PM
Nathan had been in the halls for the last few hours, just doing as he told Mcgongall, silently mourning his families death. He noted the time and figured he would turn in, but not before making sure Hermione was okay. The young man walked through the dark corridors of Hogwarts, the stormy weather outside wasn't helping his mood much. Nathan stopped walking when he heard a giant stomp. He hid and peaked through a doorway as he saw a large and hideous adult mountain troll walk into a room with its club being dragged along the floor.
'It's going into the girl's bathroom,' Nathan noted, wondering how the fucking hell a troll got in here when wards were supposed to keep those things out. Then it dawned on him, somebody let it in. 'Hermione's in danger!'
Girl's Bathroom
Hermione walks out of a stall wiping her eyes as she washes her hands, and stops when she hears a grunting noise. She turns slowly to see a troll standing there; she gasps in fear and backs up into a stall. The troll raised its club and smashes through most of the stalls, missing Hermione because she ducked.
"Someone Help!" she cries, as Nathan rushed into the bathroom. The troll smashes through the remaining stalls.
"Hey, freak!" Nathan shouts as he throws a piece of wood at the troll's head, getting it's attention.
Hermione then rushes out of the broken stall she was in and moved under a sink. The troll sees her and raises it's club to smash them.
"Hermione!" Nathan calls out as he brings out his wand. "Immobulus!" said Nathan as he temporarily froze the troll still.
"Incendio!" he shouts out as he shooting a small fireball at the beast's face, breaking the Freezing Charm he had put on him. The beast holds its hands to its face as the small fireball makes contact with it, grunting in pain from the burns as it moved away from the sinks. Hermione runs out and into Nathan's arms.
"Come on! We need to go!" Nathan yells as they rush out of the bathroom, the troll breaking through the wall and with a roar, chases after the two wizards with its club hoisted high in the air.
"It's catching up!" Hermione shouted as she ran faster. They were faster but the beast had a much longer stride than they did.
'Damn it! I was trying to avoid using one of my curses, but I need to take this thing out!' Nathan yelled mentally as he aimed for the beasts face.
"Ignis!" Nathan called out, using a dark curse he had created from Voldemorts knowledge that he could use with his small body. The curse hit the troll and ignited it's whole body in dark flames, causing the troll to scream in pain, dropping it's club in the process.
"Glacius." Nathan said as he pointed at the floor, freezing about 50 feet out from where he and Hermione where in a thick sheet of ice. The burning troll's leg were stomping down all over the place and when one leg hit the thick sheet of ice, it slipped, causing the large troll to fall forward onto it's face, the burning mass sliding towards Nathan and Hermione.
Nathan pulled his wand arm back for a moment, over charging a spell to finish the troll off, before thrusting it forward, shouting, "Diffindo!" The Severing Charm, over-powered as it was, spilt the sliding troll completely in half, bifurcating it, causing the two halves to slid to either side of the two.
The two exchange looks as they look at the two halves. "Is it dead?" Hermione asked, having never really seen anything die like that before.
"Well, I split it in half, so I would say, it's dead." Nathan said as he puts away his wand and wrapped Hermione in a hug, which she returned. "When I saw the troll, I was so scared that I wasn't gonna make it in time."
"I'm sorry I made you worry," Hermione sniffled into his shoulder as she hugged him, safe in the knowledge that she did have one person besides her parents that truly cared about her.
They heard footsteps coming closer. They turned to see McGonagall, Dumbledore, Sprout, Flitwick, Snape, and Quirrell and everyone but Dumbledore gasped at the sight.
"Oh! Oh my goodness! E-explain yourselves, the both of you!" McGonagall demanded.
Nathan pulled away from Hermione and looked like he was about to say something when Hermione stepped in. "It's my fault, Professor McGonagall" Hermione stepped in and was about to continue but Nathan stopped her.
"No Hermione, don't cover for Malfoy. He doesn't deserve it." Nathan said as he gave her a look before he told what really happened. "Earlier today, Malfoy used some racist slurs toward Hermione that upset her and she wasn't in class for the rest of the day. After I disciplined Malfoy and his goons, I went to check on her to make sure she was okay, but she wanted to be alone for a while so I let her."
"I was going to tuck in early after I was done mourning for my family, but I went back to check up on her a little bit ago when I saw the troll. I rushed into the bathroom and saw it had smashed up the stalls and Hermione was seconds away from being smashed by it's club, so I hit it with a Freezing Charm and then blasted it's face with a Fire-Making Spell before we ran for it. We weren't going to outrun it thanks to it's long strides, so I hit it with a stronger fire spell, before freezing the floor so it would trip on itself, and then I killed it with a Severing charm."
Snape seemed to scoff at the idea. "Just like a Potter to make up such grand stories.". Nathan noticed a large gash of Snape's leg. The professor notices Nathan's glance and covers it up while glaring at the boy.
"Diffindo!" Nathan said as he hit one half of the corpse, splitting it in half again, surprising the teachers and Dumbledore looked at Nathan with interest.
"What I want to know is how an adult Mountain Troll got in. The wards are supposed to keep such things out." Nathan said, plowing right along, like he hadn't just performed an advanced use of the spell.
"Perhaps the wards have been… w-w-w-weakened, heh" Quirrell offered. Dumbledore looked at him and Quirell looked away, playing up his meekness to avoid Dumbledore looking into his mind.
"Yes, perhaps they have been." Dumbledore said with a hand stroking his beard. "Inform the students that tommorow's classes are canceled in light of this breach in our security. I will give the wards a temporary fix tonight so we can rest easy. In the morning, Professor's Flitwick, McGonagall, Sprout, and myself will fix any weakspots and strengthen them in the morning to prevent any more incidents like this again." Dumbledore didn't include Snape because somebody needed to watch Quirell and Quirell couldn't be trusted not to weaken the wards further.
"As for you, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, looking at Nathan with some interest. Nathan could have sworn behind that classic twinkle of his, he saw his left eye change color to brown for a moment, but perhaps it was just a trick his eyes were playing on him. "30 Points to Gryffindor for risking your life to protect a fellow student, and another 40 points, for elminating a threat to lives of the students."
Dumbledore waves his hand and the flames on the corpse are put out. "Also, any revenue that can still be extracted from the Mountain Trolls corpse will be split among yourself and Miss Granger. Now off to bed with you two."
The two young students walked back to their common room while the professors went about their tasks, and Quirell snuck off so Voldemort could torture him in private, since Voldemort was certain Dumbledore was on to him.
Gryffindor Common House
The two of them entered the dorm.
"You're going to be okay Hermione?" Nathan asked with concern.
"I'll be alright," she reassured him.
"You've had a rough day. I think its best you get some rest. Good-night Hermione," he said as the brunette hugged him again.
"Thanks… for coming for me" she whispered.
Nathan slowly rubbed her back, "Anytime… that's what friends are for," he smiled.
Hermione smiled and nodded, she walked over to the girl's dorm giving one last glance before entering.
Nathan sighed happily and walked downstairs to his dorm, likely to be interrogated by Ron and Neville on where he had been, while absent-mindedly wondering if something was wrong with Dumbledore's eye.
Chapter end
Merry Christmas to all! I am very sorry I didn't post this sooner, but I lost the original incarnation of this chapter when I lost all of my files a year ago and never got around to remkaing it til now. Anyway, I am working on the next chapter of this and my Game of Thrones Stories. Have a happy New Year!
Anyway, Ron wasn't there because he would have been at the feast and was only there to help save Hermione because Harry dragged him along initially.