Harry Potter and the Mind Mage
By James Milamber
A/N: -Greetings all, I'm James' new muse, Jonas.- Aw heck, not another one. You see what you lot are putting me through? Not enough to have one, now I have to have two! /Can't say I feel sorry for you./ You stay out of this. -If you were wondering, I'm a Paladin. The annoying one over here is a mage.- /I am NOT annoying!/ Yes you are. At least Jonas is sane. -Thank you, my friend.- Anytime.
Righto, I suppose we'd better get on with the chapter about now. -That may indeed be a good start.- Didn't I just say that? -Yes, I was agreeing with you.- (blink) Well, that's a nice change…/Hey!/
Ah, before we start, there was a little confusion about the spell Alex used to save Isabelle, so I'll post the spell description, courtesy of A Guide to Hexes, Curses and Spells: The How To, Where To, When To, and Why In Merlin's Name To, by the Lord and Lady Hex. Cheers Saerry!
Perlustro
Meaning: To Pass Through
Effect: Causes whatever it is cast upon to pass through another object or to allow something/someone to pass through an object
Side Effect/Other Possible Uses or Facts: Only allows thing cast upon to pass through something ONE TIME. Do not attempt again.
Subtype: Defensive/Random
Ergo, he made Isabelle incorporeal so the spell passed through her. Hope that clarified things.
Due to a massive case of writers block, I'm going to post a chapter I absolutely hate. Feel free to flame me about it, 'cause I can assure you I've already said the same things.
'Stop that!' James slapped Tonks' hands away as she tried to get him to drink a potion. 'I'm fine, dammit!'
'I can correct that, if you want,' Tonks said suggestively. 'Now drink the potion.'
'It was only…oh fine, give it here,' James took the potion, making some show of being disgusted, and drained it.
'Much better,' Tonks said, catching Harry's eyes and winking.
Harry had to fight down a grin. It was some hours after the battle, and they were once again in the Hospital wing. Madam Pomphrey was bustling between beds, administering care to those students injured during the fight. Everyone had been immensely relieved to find that no students had been lost, and everyone would recover – eventually.
'Anyway,' James continued what he had been saying before Tonks had interrupted with the potion, 'he was just playing with us. It's one of his little power trips, I'm afraid.'
Dumbledore nodded solemnly. He, along with the rest of the teachers, had appeared at the front gates of the castle an hour after they vanished to find the ground torn to shreds after the battle and bodies strewn everywhere. 'I too have seen these tactics. He used them frequently during the last war.'
'It was never intended to be a serious attack,' James finished, wincing slightly as the potion took effect. 'It was designed to cultivate terror, nothing more. When the real assault on Hogwarts begins, he won't hold back.'
'Still, I don't think he thought this attack would cost him one of his top Death Eaters,' Ron said in satisfaction. He had a bandage around his head, and Hermione was fussing over him incessantly.
The door opened and Ginny and Cassie entered, their faces sombre.
'We couldn't find them,' Ginny announced, seating herself on the side of Harry's bed. 'Merlin knows where they've gone.'
'I don't understand,' Cassie said in a barely audible voice. 'He's never done this before, he's never…'
Words failed her, and she looked close to tears. James climbed out of bed, almost snarling at Tonks when she tried to restrain him, crossed the room and enfolded his daughter in a hug. She broke down in his arms, sobbing into his shoulder.
Harry had never before considered just how much her twin meant to Cassie. It had hit her very hard when, not long after the battle, both he and Isabelle had vanished. Now that he thought back on it, he realised it was very rare to see one without the company of the other for more than a few minutes. He hoped for her sake that he wasn't gone long.
Alex leaned back against a tree, staring through the overhanging branches at the small patch of visible sky. Nearby Isabelle sat with her back against a different tree, hugging her knees to her chest and rocking back and forth slowly.
Try though he might, he couldn't think of a single thing to say to her. He knew what she had just gone through would have to be traumatic, but his own experiences were, in his eyes, far worse. A small, irrational part of him was angry with her for not being more sensitive to his own feelings. That small irrational part chose to ignore the fact that he had never told her, or anyone else, what had happened.
'Why did Harry leave me?' Isabelle suddenly whispered, forcing the dark thought from Alex's mind. 'He could have fought her, and then none of this would have happened.'
'The world isn't always that fair,' Alex said shortly. 'Do you really want Harry's hands stained with her blood?'
'Maybe…better him than me,' Isabelle looked up and caught Alex's eyes. The pain and horror he saw there made his blood run cold. But even so, he was objective enough to realise the truth.
'Take what you're feeling and multiply it by a hundred,' he said softly, holding her gaze. 'That's what Harry would feel if he were in your position.'
A choked sob escaped her, and she buried her face between her knees. Alex wanted to go to her, to comfort her, but somehow he couldn't force himself to do it. It was as if a wall had been erected between them, and although she sat not three feet away, she may as well have been on the far side of the moon.
'What am I supposed to do?' Isabelle asked brokenly, and in that moment Alex witnessed the last of the icy façade the ex-Slytherin had erected melt away, to be replaced by the young, unsure form of the real Isabelle Lestrange. 'How the bloody hell am I supposed to face everyone now? I killed my own mother!'
'You cope,' Alex said bluntly. 'There's nothing else you can do.'
'What the hell do you know?' Isabelle suddenly flared, raising her head and staring at Alex defiantly. 'Have you ever killed anyone?'
'I watched Death Eaters kill my mother!' Alex suddenly roared, months of pent up emotion releasing all at once. 'Do you think for a second that what you did is in any way worse than what I went through? Those bloody bastards raped and killed my mother in front of me and Cassie!' Isabelle's face registered shock as Alex's intense blue eyes bored into her own dark ones. 'Then, to top it all off, my father arrives home and massacres the lot of them! How do you think that made me feel? But you'd never think, would you? None of you would!' He spun abruptly and stalked away, slamming his fist into a tree in his path. He ignored the surge of white-hot pain that coursed up his arm, glaring at the unoffending tree as if it had been the one to commit such atrocities. In a childish but somewhat satisfying display of temper, he ripped his wand from his belt and muttered a quick spell, reducing the tree to ashes in seconds.
A light step behind him told him Isabelle had followed him. Conflicting emotions fought within him for supremacy; he was still caught up in a towering anger, the result of many months worth of suppressed emotion, but at the same time he knew he was being childish, directing his anger at one who didn't deserve it, and was currently very much in need of comforting.
With a light but firm hand on his shoulder, Isabelle turned him around to face her. Her eyes glistened with tears, but her expression was serious and determined. 'I never knew,' she said simply. Alex had only a brief second to wonder at her intentions before she reached up and kissed him very seriously.
Alex's eyes widened in shock: of all the things he had been expecting, this had not been very high on the list. He could taste the saltiness of her tears on her lips, and in that moment all his anger melted away. As the kiss deepened and Alex's arms moved almost of their own accord to wrap themselves around her slight form, his last conscious thought was not of anger, but surprise as he realised he had fallen head over heels for the ex-Slytherin without even realising it.
Harry sat propped up in bed in the Hospital wing, listening as Seamus excitedly described his part in the battle to Ron. The pair had been telling stories for some time, each trying to outdo the other. Ron had told some stories which Harry knew to be pure fabrication, and he imagined Seamus was doing more or less the same.
'…and then two Death Eaters jump up from nowhere, right? And another one's got his wand on Dean, and Neville's duelling another Death Eater, so he can't help. And so I took them both on, you should have seen it, spells flying everywhere! I got one with a Bat Bogey hex – gotta thank Ginny for teaching me that one – but the other one manages to get in close enough to knock my wand out of my hand. So I jumped him, fists flailing, and –'
'Give it a rest, you two,' Hermione said irritably, not even glancing up from her book. 'I'm trying to read, and I can't concentrate when you're making so much noise. You were both brilliant, so just accept it!'
Harry had to hide a grin behind his hand as he saw Ron's mixed expression, both pride at being called brilliant and sheepishness for being so transparent.
The ward doors banged open, and Padfoot came running through, his paws scrabbling at the flagstone floor for traction. He leapt onto Harry's bed and began licking his face enthusiastically, all the while growling warningly. Harry laughed helplessly, unable to dislodge the massive dog from atop him, while Zith hissed in irritation from his wrist as she was battered against the black canine.
Dumbledore followed more sedately, his eyes twinkling as he watched Harry and Sirius wrestling. Ginny, laughing so hard she couldn't stand up straight, tried to drag the dog off, but Harry caught her arm and pulled her atop him, causing Padfoot to yelp in surprise, then squirm around so he could attack Ginny's face. She squealed, raising her hands to protect her face.
Dumbledore sighed heavily. As much as he hated to, he had to break up the happy moment. 'Harry, I need a moment of your time.'
All movement in the room stilled; even Padfoot abandoned his assault on Ginny to stare almost accusingly at the Headmaster.
'What's happened?' Harry asked, all traces of his laughter gone from his face. His tone was serious, and his hand reflexively went for his wand.
'Nothing new,' Dumbledore winced internally; James had been right, it was much harder to tell him after the incident. Harry's piercing eyes filled with sudden suspicion, and Ginny's narrowed dangerously.
'Come,' Dumbledore motioned, and Harry climbed out of bed. Ginny discretely linked her hand with his as they followed Dumbledore, Ron and Hermione trailing. Behind them all came Padfoot, his toenails clicking sharply against the stone floor.
Dumbledore walked in silence, and Harry felt dread begin to form. It had been some time since he had seen the Headmaster so serious, and it was never a good sign. That he had said, 'Nothing new' indicated it was either a recurring problem or, more likely, that something had happened before the battle and the Order had not seen fit to inform them. Wild theories began forming in his head, until they got so ridiculous he reigned himself in. He'd just have to wait and see for himself.
Finally Dumbledore stopped in front of a tapestry depicting, oddly, an ordinary Muggle street. He reached forward and touched the second house on the left, muttering what Harry assumed was a password. A door-sized section of the wall seemed to fold inwards, and Dumbledore stepped back, motioning for Harry to enter. He glanced nervously at Ginny, who squeezed his hand reassuringly, and together they stepped through the doorway.
'YOU!'
A/N: Don't kill me! Sorry it's so short, but I have a massive case of writers block, coupled with too much stuff happening in my life at once. I'll be quicker with the next one, I swear!
Oh yeah, before I forget, I actually broke down and started a Live Journal. If the story hasn't been updated for a while and you're wondering if I'm still alive or not, check there and chances are I'll have posted more info. The address is in my Profile. If you have any ideas for the story, they're welcome too, of course.
On a lighter note, Quick Edit is driving me up the friggin' wall.
Review Responses:
Whispyraven: Thanks for the effort, it's certainly several cuts above anything I ever wrote. But I'm so far into it now I just couldn't be bothered going back to change it. Maybe I'll save it for a re-write or something.
Treck: That's just disturbing.
Riina: Just out of curiosity, have you heard the new Green Day song? You know, American Idiot? Nah, just kidding. But you Americans really need to start taking an interest in the rest of the world.
eruve tinwen: You know, if I didn't know better, I'd say you actually thought Brisbane was better than Melbourne. What a shocking thing to suggest… ;p
Saerry Snape: You might want to watch the whole sword hugging thing. Dem tings are pointy…
sunni07: Well, you're only about 100kms off (around the bay, that is – no idea what it is in a straight line), but it's still the closest yet. Wrong side of the bay, btw.
whitcodj: Yeah, I did know that. Pity they won't put it back in…
Rednal29: This is all your fault! You just had to go threaten Milamber with Dragons, didn't you? Now he's dragged another muse in to protect him. -Indeed. On Faerun I hold no small reputation as a Dragon slayer.- /Yay! I'm safe!/ -However, I never said I would use those abilities to protect you.- /Crud…/
Merusa: Hmm, being a ghost does have certain advantages, I suppose. /That's not fair!/ So you've said. Doesn't seem to make much difference, though. I can have a look at your story, but I can't promise anything. I'm flat out trying to find time to write my own stuff.
gpotter: Alex and Isabelle fan eh? Funny that…
harryptaxd204: You know, personally, I think the running was the better option here…
FREAKSHOW1: You're entitled to your opinion even if it's wrong. :p Siriusly (there's that thrice cursed joke again!), all will be revealed. Harry isn't being an a-hole deliberately.
Evansk: Just for calling me common, here's another bitch of a cliffie. Enjoy! ;p
Alice: If I started going into my real beliefs, you'd all run screaming. That's just a plot point.
