Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.

Injury Infamy

9/4/05 – 9/11/05

Harry groggily awoke to loud hisses, annoyed whisperers, and the occasional shout of, 'Idiot, imbecile, or dimwit'. As his blurry vision swam into focus, he silently wondered if he had died and went to heaven. There was no other plausible explanation. Everything around him was way too white and spotless – it was unnerving.

"I think we're dead."

"And I think you're demented!"

"The room's too white! It's inhuman!"

"What does that have to do with us being dead, you stupid prat!"

Harry's whole body ached in protest as he gently propped himself against the hospital bed's rickety, old headboard. Looking across the room, Harry was startled to find Shan's usual calm, chocolate-brown eyes filled with worry and anxiety. Shaking himself out of his stupor, Harry slowly nodded his head to show that he was fine. Shan visibly relaxed and shot Harry a small grin.

"Do you think we're in heaven or hell?"

"Why are we even having this discussion?"

"It's too white to be hell, but too torturously clean to be heaven…"

"Shut up, imbecile! I'm getting a headache from your incessant yapping."

"You know you can't resist my charm!"

"What charm? …Unless you're referring to that purple face of yours."

"HEY! I resent that!"

Harry resisted the strong urge to slap his forehead in frustration as Aaron and Trey continued to bicker back and forth. He didn't know what had caused the initial argument, but by the darkening look on Shan's face, Harry had a pretty good guess that the dispute had started over something entirely stupid and insignificant.

"Shut up before I strangle you." Aaron venomously hissed, sending small shivers of foreboding running down Trey's spine.

"What's going on?" Harry mouthed, hoping Shan knew how to lip read.

"Don't know," Shan mouthed back with a small shrug.

Trey fidgeted nervously from the bed beside Harry's when what had started out as small dispute turned into something much more morbid and sinister. Trey suddenly found himself incapable of looking Aaron in the eyes – eyes that were filled with both rage and hatred. Looking away from Aaron's piercing glare, Trey nearly jumped out his bed when he found himself at the receiving end of Harry's scrutiny.

"What's going on?" Harry quietly inquired as he chanced a quick glance at Aaron.

"Nothing," Trey answered. "How long have you been up?" he lamely asked in an attempt to the change the subject. Harry hardened his glare and waited patiently for Trey to answer his question. "What's with the solemn looks? Who died?" Trey joked, "I mean, who died besides us?"

"For the last freaking time, we're not dead!" Aaron yelled in frustration, throwing up his hands in defeat. "Get it through your thick skull!"

"You think they have desserts here in heaven…or are we in hell?" Trey asked with a small, lopsided smile as he scratched his purple nose. Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion as Trey continued to ignore Aaron's hurtful words by rapidly changing subjects.

"You resemble a rotten, squeezed grape and you're still wondering about food?" Aaron asked exasperatedly. "What a pig!"

"The food was poisoned." Harry stated.

"Well, I know." Trey answered indifferently. "But there's no need to starve myself, right? Plus, I think purple looks good on me."

"Purple isn't on you!" Shan snorted uncharacteristically. "You are purple."

"I think we're missing the point here." Harry interrupted as he examined the room. "Where are we and what happened? The last thing I remember is you three and the Cornish Pixies and then nothing."

"Same here...but I didn't see myself." Trey piped in.

"Thanks for your oh-so-helpful input, you purple idiot!" snapped Aaron.

"Are you all right, Aaron?" Shan asked worriedly as he massaged his temple with the pads of his fingers, making him appear more like an old man rather than a 9-year-old boy. "You're acting weird. We all know Trey can be slightly insufferable at times (this was answered by an indignant cry of protest from the aforementioned redhead), but you shouldn't snap at him like this. He's our friend and we have to be patient with him – no matter how slow he might be at times."

"You make me sound like a demented kid." Trey muttered darkly.

"You are a kid." Shan sighed.

"And you're more than just demented." Aaron coldly added before tightly clamping his mouth shut. Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts, Aaron whispered apologetically. "Sorry guys, I don't know what came over me. I just…"

"Couldn't control your hostile feelings?" Fatima finished as she entered the room balancing four bowls of chicken soup on a silver platter with one hand. Passing out one bowl of soup to each of her patient, she sighed, "We expected as much."

While Fatima was making sure that everyone was comfortably propped in their beds, the rest of her companions filed into the room – some of which (namely Sheena and Lyon) with less than pleased looks.

With a wave her hand, Sheena transfigured 5 hospital beds into cozy rocking chairs and assembled them into a neat row before claiming the one in the middle. After everyone was comfortably seated, she more or less shouted, "You're all idiots!"

"What's it to you, old hag?" retorted Aaron.

"What were we supposed to do?" demanded Trey. "Maybe we should have just stood in the middle of the dining room and waved a small, neon pink flag that said, 'eat me, I taste like apple pie,' when the pixies had attack." Trey snorted, pressing his lips together to form a thin line.

"The pixies weren't even dangerous." Sheena hissed.

"How would you…" Aaron venomously began.

"You set the pixies!" Harry furiously concluded as his eyes blazed with fury. "And you poisoned the food!" he added before dumping the contents of his untouched soup to the ground. Shan followed suit by dropping the whole bowl with a resounding clatter. Aaron, by far, did the worst by chucking the bowl towards Lyon, who easily saved himself by transfiguring the bowl of steaming soup into a harmless beach ball. As for Trey, well, he just burped and dropped his empty bowl.

"Um…it was good?" Trey murmured.

Shan rolled his eyes heavenward and whispered, "With the way he eats, I'll be surprised if Trey somehow manages to survive past his 15th birthday."

"Calm yourselves." Simon interrupted, realizing that he had better explain everything before someone started shooting off curses. "We didn't mean to harm any of you. It was only a test on your survival skills – in all honesty, we had expected everyone to scream and run like headless chickens. We swear we were going to intervene after 15 minutes…we just didn't count on you four knowing how to Power Transfer – which I must say is a very dangerous technique."

At the blank and confused looks they were receiving from the children, Fatima decided she had better start from the very beginning of the story. "When we unlocked the Dining room doors, we naturally expected to see everything in utter chaos. However, what was did see was nothing like what we had expected. Seeing you four standing in the middle of the Dining Hall, fending off the pixies using the Power Transfer technique, shocked us more than you would care to imagine…"

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

Roselyn hurriedly unlocked the Dining Hall doors and burst into the room with Fatima and Simon in tow. They skidded to a quick stop and took a small step back when they sensed the dangerous amount of raw energy cackling in the air. Their eyes were immediately drawn to the four students standing stock-still in the middle of the hall.

Harry, apparently the ringleader, stood at the very front with his hands held out in front of himself. Behind him, Shan and Trey stood shoulder to shoulder. Trey had his dark purple left hand on Harry's right shoulder, and Shan had his slightly less purple right hand on Harry's left shoulder. Behind them, Aaron stood rigidly with one hand on Trey's shoulder and another on Shan's. All four students were enveloped in a dark blue glow that throbbed with both power and life.

"Goodness," Roselyn breathed, quickly catching the rest of the student's attention.

Amy and Stacy, noticing the opened doors behind Roselyn, quickly bolted out of the room and made a bee-line for their bedrooms, nearly trampling over a scowling Lyon in their excitement to escape. After muttering several obscenities under his breath and threatening to skin the two girls, Lyon quickly entered the dining room.

"What the…" Lyon growled as soon as he entered the room, but quickly stopped mid-curse when he felt a jolt of raw energy pulse through his veins. Quickly snapping himself out of his stupor, Lyon shouted, "Fools, what are you just standing there for? Get everyone else to evacuate the room before they're blown to pieces!"

Lyon watched with growing horror as the students made a mad rush for the door. He barely had time to fling himself out of the doorway before the students were storming out of the room.

"Brats!" hissed Lyon before turning his attention back to the four troublesome nuisances. Marching over to Harry, he roughly grabbed the boy's arm in an attempt to snap him out of his trance, but quickly retaliated in pain when a surge of raw power scorched the palm of his hand.

"Lyon, are you all right?" Fatima asked worriedly.

"Fine!" shouted Lyon, eyes blazing with fury. No brat was going to show him up – intentionally or not!

"Lyon, don't you dare! They don't know what they're doing! You can't kill them!" Fatima shouted in horror when the dining tables began to self-combust. "Let Roselyn and I handle this."

Not waiting long enough for a reply, Fatima quickly linked hands with Roselyn. The duo immediately fell into a light trance as they concentrated their energies into subduing the children's. The furniture in the room began to magically explode as the two opposing energies clashed. Simon quickly jumped out of the way when a wayward clash of energy decimated the exact same area he had been occupying seconds before.

"I'm getting too old for this…" Simon whispered helplessly.

"What the hell?" shouted Lyon as a loud explosion of energies sent both Fatima and Roselyn colliding into his body, knocking the breath out of his lungs. "Stupid women," Lyon groaned as Roselyn daintily lifted herself off of him.

"Better you than me." grinned Simon.

"Get off me!" Lyon hissed at Fatima. "Get off me and go check on your stupid brats!"

In a heart beat's notice, Fatima was back on her feet and kneeling beside the children, missing the annoyed look that flashed across Lyon's face. "Brats," Lyon hissed and stalked out of the dining room.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

"And that about sums up what happened when we found you four." Fatima concluded. "Now, I want you to truthfully answer me…Where did you learn how to Power Transfer?"

"I don't know." Shan answered. "Trey and I just did what Katherine instructed us to do when Harry said he needed more energy to keep up the barrier, which was our only line of defense against the invading army of pixies. Truthfully, I don't remember much of the ordeal at all. As soon as I touched Harry and concentrated on sending him my energy, I blanked out."
"Really blanked out." confirmed Trey. "I didn't even know Aaron joined us until you told us."

"I didn't want to be left out so I joined them." Aaron replied with a scowl when Simon shot him a questioning glance.

"What you did was…was…stupid!" Fatima raged. "You could have lost your life! The Power Transfer technique is only reserved for partners with compatible energies! Do you know what could have happened if we hadn't stopped you in time?"

"Can you just get on with it, old hag!" Aaron shouted. "Some of us actually have lives to live!"

Ignoring Aaron, Fatima raged on, "That transfer could have drained you of all your reserve energies, leaving you four dead…or even worse – comatose!"

"That would be the other way around." Roselyn interrupted, but immediately shrank back under Fatima's withering glare.

"What exactly is Power Transfer?" Shan tentatively interrupted before Fatima could resume her rant. "Other than the fact that it's a dangerous technique, I know close to nothing about it."

"The main point of a Power Transfer is to share energies, or tap into a power you usually wouldn't have." explained Simon, who was slightly more familiar with the technique than Fatima. "For example, Roselyn is a Protector – she wouldn't be able to heal even if her life depended on it. However, by using the Power Transfer, she can tap into Fatima's power and heal. Do you get what I'm saying?"

"Kind of…"

"When a person does a Power Transfer, they are basically sharing their powers with their partner. Understand this; you aren't giving your powers to your partners – you're merely allowing your partner to tap into your magical core and wield your magic. Now I'm getting off track, aren't I? Oh well, a little magical theory won't hurt."

"I guess…"

"However the Power Transfer is only successful if the two people performing it are compatible. Since energies are so unique, you will quickly discover that only one other person will be compatible to you. On rare occasions, there have been people who have found two people compatible to their energies…however, don't get your hopes up.

"Now what makes exchanging energy/power dangerous for incompatible people are the following: If your energies do not match, or even worse, are opposing, it will lead to death. The surge of power is so addicting that many have found themselves unable to pull back from the transfer. That's what happened to you…luckily for you four, Roselyn and Fatima were able to subdue your powers with theirs.

"However, even so, I have a distinct feeling that you four are going to feel some after affects of an incompatible transfer."

"Is that why I'm purple?" Trey immediately asked. "And are my eyes purple?"

"No and no." Roselyn answered. "The purple is from the food poisoning – it had nothing to do with the transfer. Though I must ask…just how much food did you eat? Fatima, who is the proud producer of the purple boils, should have been able to fix you with a simple antidote."

"I'm not itching or hurting anymore." Trey stated. "Just purple."

"Yes, but other people ate the food too and they're not purple anymore – you're the only one." Shan interrupted. Turning to Roselyn, he grinned, "Trey literally ate half the table, which I'm guessing is why he's still purple…he probably had a little too much food poisoning."

"Correct," Fatima agreed.

"Hope it doesn't damage his brain cells anymore than it's already damaged." snorted Aaron as he shot Trey a withering glare.

Trey frowned slightly and returned the glare with fervor.

"So," Harry interrupted, "what are the after affects?" he asked in an attempt to bring the conversation back to the main topic.

"Aaron's suffering the worst of it." whispered Roselyn. "I'm sure you've all noticed his sudden hostile attitude."

"Shut up! There's nothing wrong with me!" Aaron hissed, narrowing his eyes.

"As a warrior," Lyon sneered, speaking for the first time, "he was the most susceptible to power addictions. Warriors are defined by power and control."

"On the upside, Aaron's new attitude isn't permanent. We were able to stop you four in time to not have lasting scars."

"What about the rest of us?" Harry asked; his eyes flickering over Trey and Shan. "How is this going to affect us?"

"Nothing will happen to Trey (not counting his purple problem), who, as a Healer, is the least prone to power corruption. As for you and Shan, well, we don't know. We only hope it's nothing too bad." Simon answered.

"All right, I'm sure you've all heard enough from us old people, you three can leave." Fatima smiled, motioning to Harry, Trey, and Shan. "Aaron will have to stay until his attitude's been subdued. We don't want too many casualties so early in the month."

"I don't have a problem, bloody woman!" shouted Aaron, who seemed to be getting angrier and angrier by the moment.

"About the partners…" Harry trailed off, unsure if this was the right time to be inquisitive.

"It will be explained in detail in a few years when you are ready to have partners. But, to answer your unspoken question, yes, we should have your partner right here in this building. You'll learn in history class that Dragon Riders have always partnered with another Dragon Rider."

"Maybe one of you three might end up being my partner." Shan smiled.

"I wouldn't be surprised if two out of you four did turn out to be partners." Roselyn grinned. "Even though your raw, incompatible energies were hazardous, I did sense some unity."

"All right, that's enough." snapped Sheena. "If there isn't anything important to be discussed, everyone but Aaron is dismissed."

Before the three remaining friends could rush out of the room, Fatima spoke again, "That test today was given for a reason. It wasn't just a test of your survival skills, but also a reminder that you should always be on your guard. It's free time right now – I would spend my time in the student library (your house elves will be glad to direct you there) and try to find a poison identification spell. You never know when we'll be testing you again." she smiled with a small wink.

"Thanks," Harry answered, belying his true feelings.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

"Where are you going Snivellus?" demanded Sirius, cutting off the Potion Master's path out of Hogwarts.

"Move out of my way, Black!" Snape hissed angrily as he clutched his left forearm.

"Crawling to your Master?" Sirius sneered as he drew his wand. "You filthy scumbag, Dumbledore might believe you, but I don't. You knew what Voldemort wanted to do – after all, you are part of his 'Inner Circle' – but no, you didn't even try to help my godson! He's dead and I wouldn't be surprised if you were in on the whole scheme!"

Snape gritted his teeth in pain as he attempted to stop himself from retorting with a scathing reply. One look at his nemesis's face was enough to chuck his resolve out the window. "I wasn't the one who neglected the boy!" Snape hissed, unconsciously moving his hand protectively over his cloak pocket, where his precious vial of the Tutamen Potion was hidden.

"What do you have in that pocket?" Sirius demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"Nothing that concerns you, Black…Now move out of my way!" Snape ordered again as he tried to sidestep Sirius's blockade. He was immediately pushed back and held at wand point. Snape glowered slightly as he tightened his grip on his burning forearm. "I mean it, Black, move out of my way."

In a second's notice, Snape found himself lying defenselessly on his back, his 13 inch wand secured tightly in Sirius's left hand. He instinctively reached toward his pocket to check if his potion was still there.

"Looking for this?" Sirius asked, dangling the vial of potion in front of Snape's nose. He quickly pulled away when Snape attempted the swipe the potion out of his hands. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to confiscate this until further investigation." Sirius grinned, tossing the vial carelessly into the air.

Snape's eyes widened and he felt his heart leap to his throat in fear as the potion soared into the air and pummeled back down…into Sirius's open hand.

"Give it back." Snape growled as he lifted himself off the ground while keeping his eyes trained intently on the vial.

"Tell me what it is…or I'll crush it." Sirius threatened, tightening his grip around the fragile vial.

"It's the Tutamen Potion." Snape answered without hesitation – he doubted the brainless fool knew the meaning of the potion anyway.

"What?" demanded Sirius, eyes widening slightly.

If Snape was shocked that Sirius knew of the potion, he hid it well. "You know what I said, imbecile, now give it back to me!"

"And let you give this to your Master?" Sirius asked, lifting an eyebrow. "Hell no!" he whispered before chucking the potion down the dirt-beaten road.

Snape felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he watched his potion soar through the air… "Black, you moron!" hissed Snape, eyes blazing with open fury. "What were you thinking…or were you thinking at all?"

"I'm not going to just stand by and watch you aid my godson's murderer." Sirius replied as he poked the tip of his wand into Snape's chest. "If it wasn't because of Dumbledore, I'd be the first to kill you, Death Eater."

"That – is – enough!"

"Dumbledore…" Sirius began, but immediately clamped his mouth shut when the aged headmaster shot him a piercing look that was devoid of his usual cheeriness.

"Lower your wand, Sirius."

Sirius reluctantly did as he was bid, but not without giving Snape a sharp jab in the ribs first.

"Sir," Sirius began, "Sniv…Snape's giving Voldemort the Tutamen Potion!"

"I am well aware of that, Sirius." Dumbledore answered as he handed Snape the perfectly unharmed vial. "Severus, I believe you have a meeting to attend. Don't let us keep you any longer – you may go."

"Thank you, Headmaster." Snape murmured, carefully hiding his gratification behind a cold sneer. "You'll regret this, Black." he venomously whispered as he brushed past his nemesis.

"But Head…" Sirius protested.

"It's all for the greater good." Dumbledore cryptically replied. "I do believe Lily and James are in need of your support. I believe you should join them – they are taking Harry's death rather hard and have been neglecting Dylan."

"Of course," Sirius absentmindedly replied.

"I want you to promise me that you will tell no one of what you found out today." Dumbledore continued. "You aren't to tell anyone about the Tutamen Potion – including James, Remus, Lily, and Peter."

"I can't do that!" Sirius protested, aghast that the headmaster would even suggest such a thing. "I have to tell James! This concerns him too, you know!"

"Then I'm sorry, Sirius." Dumbledore regretfully whispered. "It's for the greater good." Before Sirius could comprehend what the headmaster was talking about, he found himself at the end of Dumbledore's wand, "Obliviate."

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

Snape held back a small shiver as he kneeled before the Dark Lord, who was seated on his throne. Snape softly wetted his lips as he waited for his Lord to acknowledge him. When Voldemort continued to remain silent, even after several minutes, Snape slowly gathered his courage and looked up…right into Voldemort's inhuman ruby-red eyes.

Snape's body tensed when Voldemort's thin lips curled upwards into a sinister, sadistic smirk. He quickly bowed his head again, touching his forehead to the ground.

"What took you so long to answer my call, Severus?" Voldemort drawled, fixing his eyes on the Potion Master's rigid body.

"It was that annoying Black, milord. He got in my way." Snape honestly replied.

"Annoying indeed." agreed Voldemort, fixing his eyes on Snape.

Snape had the distinct feeling that Voldemort wasn't referring to just Black when he said his last statement, but decided he wasn't going to push his luck by asking for an explanation. Hopefully Voldemort wouldn't be too displeased once he gave him his desired potion.

"Do you have the potion?" Voldemort asked, making Snape wonder if Voldemort could actually mind read.

"Yes…" Snape began, but was immediately interrupted by a loud crash followed by a piercing wail. "Muggles…" was the first thought that entered his mind, "…didn't Voldemort have ant sound-proof walls?"

Seconds later, a 13 foot snake slithered into the room – Snape immediately recognized the large reptile as Voldemort's faithful pet, Nagini. Snape watched interestedly as the Dark Lord and Nagini conversed in a language that consisted solely of hisses. Even though he couldn't understand a single hiss that was being said, Snape ventured a good guessed that they were probably discussing about the latest disturbance in the dungeon halls.

A particularly loud, rage-filled hiss snapped Snape out of his musings. A flicker of fear crossed his features when Voldemort ruthlessly placed his favorite pet under the Cruciatus Curse. "What possibly happened?" Snape thought to himself as he watched Nagini writhe in pain. "In all my years in his service, I have never once seen Voldemort turn his wand on her." At that moment, only two things that were keeping Snape from bolting out of the room - his pride and his knowledge that he would be killed if he so much as twitched.

"Severus," Voldemort hissed.

"Yes, Milord?" replied Snape in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Give me to the potion now."

Crawling towards Voldemort and placing a small kiss at the hem of his robes, Snape reached into his pocket and gingerly present the Dark Lord with the Tutamen Potion. "Just add three drops of your blood into the potion, Milord." Snape directed while keeping his eyes trained on the ground.

"You will be rewarded." Voldemort replied as he uncorked the potion and added three drops of his blood, which was surprisingly…not black. "However, if the potion is not to my satisfaction…you'll regret the day you crossed Lord Voldemort's path." he hissed menacingly before sweeping out the room with Nagini (who's ego seemed slightly deflated) in tow.

Snape breathed a small sigh of relief and slid to the floor when he was sure the Dark Lord was a good distance away. If things kept up like this, Snape sardonically mused; Black might just get his Christmas present early.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

The week passed quickly with different classes and loads of homework occupying the student's every waking hour. Harry found himself falling into a strict routine as the days passed. He would wake at exactly 4 in the morning, shower, dress and then head down to the Front Hall. By 4:45, everyone (mumbling and grumbling) would be outside doing warms-ups while waiting for Simon and Lyon.

Then, from 5 to 7 AM, they would end up running laps around the castle (which was in no way small) – followed by push-ups, sit-ups, and any other exercises Lyon and Simon deemed necessary. They had a free hour from 7 to 8 AM to shower (again) and rest before breakfast in the Dining Hall at 8AM. During breakfast, which usually lasted an hour, either Fatima or Roselyn would announce the day's two classes. These classes lasted three hours each from 9AM to 12PM and 2PM to 5PM. There was an hour lunch break from 1 to 2 PM.

Any time after 5PM was basically free time – a time for socializing and such, but most were too preoccupied trying to finish their copious amount of homework to bother with anything else. Curfew, strangely enough, was nonexistent. As long as they were able to get up by 5AM in the morning, no one really cared when they went to bed at night.

"What did we have next again?" Trey asked as he scraped the last particle of food off his plate.

"We just had Ancient Runes, so we should have Transfiguration next." Shan answered without looking up from his book.

"I'm surprised you can still eat this much." Harry commented as he scribbled something onto his 13 foot parchment. "You're still slightly purple and you've already forgotten the lesson of diligence and precaution."

"You wolf down the food as if you've been starved." continued Shan, flipping to the next page. "Mark my words; you'll die from food poisoning one day."

"I asked a simple question and you guys give me a lecture!" Trey cried in mock annoyance. "Honestly, you two act like my parents…if I had any…Anyway," he quickly continued, changing the subject, "has anyone heard from Aaron yet?"

"No." Shan answered, finally looking up from his book. "We aren't allowed to see him, but Master Roselyn told me he was improving. He should be released in another week or two."

"Do any of you find it awkward calling them Masters?" Trey asked absently as he helped himself to a large serving of vanilla ice cream.

"Slightly, but you get use to the title after a while." Shan answered, grabbing Trey's hand before he could shove the ice-cream down his throat.

"It doesn't really matter." Harry agreed as he waved his hand over the ice-cream. "It's just a title – like professor or teacher." Seeing the longing look Trey was shooting the dessert, Harry continued, "Shan, you can let him go, the ice-cream's safe."

"You two are paranoid!" Trey muttered as he shoveled the food down his throat.

"Better paranoid than sorry." answered Harry, rolling up his homework. "Come on; let's head to our next class. It starts in approximately 251 seconds."

"I'm not even going to ask how you calculated that." Trey muttered as he shoved some chocolate chip cookies into his pockets. At the disgusted looks he was getting, he defensively replied, "What? I might get hungry during class!"

Before the trio could stand up, a golden phoenix burst into the room, catching everyone's attention. The phoenix circled the room three times before perching itself on Harry's right shoulder.

"Is it dangerous?" Trey whispered as Harry gently took the three pendants that was clasped tightly in the phoenix's beak. In a burst of flames, the phoenix disappeared, leaving the students in both awe and fear.

"What are those?" Shan asked, eyeing the pendants with a critical eye.

Unfolding the piece of note that was attached to the pendants, Harry quickly read the contents. When a small grin broke across his face, Shan and Trey eagerly demanded that Harry spill the good news.

The Dining Hall was eerily silent as everyone waited for Harry to speak. After what seemed like an eternity (in Trey's opinion), Harry finally whispered, "We've been rewarded with free access to the Battle Gym and the Restricted Library."

"You're kidding," Shan murmured as he numbly accepted one of the pendant's from Harry.

"That's it?" Trey groaned. "Great, more work…just what I needed."

"And we have permission to access the kitchen anytime we want." Harry grinned.

"Now we're talking my language!" Trey cheered, jumping into the air with a loud whoop.

"Poor elves will be worked to death complying with Trey's every whim." Shan sighed as he clasped the pendant around his neck.

D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y. &&& D. A. R. K. &&& P. R. O. P. H. E. C. Y

TBC

Read and Review

Thanks for all the reviews! I never expected to get this many for the last chapter! Also, I'm sorry for the belated update…a lot of homework. Anyway, on the next chapter, I'm going to fast forward about two years...