§ 'Parseltongue!' §
"Spells."
Chapter Fifteen!
Once Luna and Hermione left the area, Harry walked slowly back into the classroom, preparing himself for what he was about to do. Pointing his wand at McQuillen, he said, "McQuillen, I told you to leave Luna alone, what bit of 'leave alone' didn't you understand?" With a scowl on his face, his voice rising, "Are you just that stupid? Did you think I wouldn't do anything if you touched her?" Pausing for breath and calming himself visibly he continued, "You really should have listened to me, but you didn't, you crossed me and unfortunately for you, I'm going have to set an example; first impressions are everything, after all; I've gotta send a proper message to the rest of you sheep…"
"Just so you know: what I did to your two friends is nothing compared to what I'm going to do to you." Harry said darkly before pushing his foot between McQuillen's legs and then grinding his foot into the boy's balls, feeling them pop beneath his shoe.
"Ahh!" McQuillen squealed in pain, "You'll regret even thinking about hurting me and my friends, you damn Half-Blood. One day when you least expect it, I'll show you what a Pureblood like me can - Nahgh!"
Harry stomped his foot into McQuillen's stomach, stopping his rant before calmly walking round him and standing on his left hand, which was clenched into a fist, consequently breaking his fingers. "Please, McQuillen, you and the rest of the damn Purebloods are nothing but trash. Apart for a handful you're all so damned weak. You allow Dumbledore and Voldemort to lead you around by the nose. To me you're nothing but sheep who believe anything that screams in your ear loud enough, be it by the papers, Dumbledore, Voldemort or the Ministry of Magic. Sometimes, I swear I truly believe that you should all be killed," Harry shook his head, "But I'm getting off topic; I warned you not to go near Luna, but you still touched her, so now you're going to have to fall down some stairs."
"Accio McQuillen's wand,"Harry said, catching it, "We wouldn't want this being traced back to me now, would we?" Pointing the stolen wand at McQuillen's and castingSilencio. "Well that seems to work well enough…" He muttered before pointing the wand at the downed boy's left wrist, Harry took aim and charged his magic up, before saying, "Ossa Frangere." A bolt of magic that was somehow both sickly and white at the same time leapt from the wand and soaked into McQuillen's wrist.
His wrist instantly started warping, the bones inside shattering like glass. McQuillen screamed, his mouth wide, face red with bulging veins, but nary a sound escaped. Harry waited for a few seconds before he slid his foot up the arm from where he was still pressing his foot down onto the boy's recently broken digits and started grinding the lump of flesh that was once a wrist into the stone floor; the bones' sharp and jagged fragments doing more damage to the precision muscles and ligaments than most spells could.
Harry lazily pointed the wand at McQuillen's other hand, only to have the older boy curl his arm inward and shield his remaining hand. Harry laughed, "Oh, that's precious; you're only delaying the inevitable, making it worse even. After all, this is the arm that struck my Luna, wasn't it? It deserves special treatment." To prove his point he cast another Bone Shattering curse and watched McQuillen's right humorous turn into what, to the untrained eye, looked like rubber; like Harry's forearm during his second year. The difference being that Harry's arm hadn't been filled with razor sharp bone fragments.
The arm flopped back to the ground, the muscle not able to hold it clenched to his chest anymore. Two more spells eliminated the two bones in McQuillen's forearm and another overpowered spell turned his hand into an oddly shaped lump.
He didn't stop there though, "AccioMcQuillen's right hand." He said. The hand shot upward towards McQuillen's wand, the rubbery flesh stretching far more than it was safely able to. Using both hands Harry twisted his wand, as if he was unscrewing a bottle cap. McQuillen's arm followed the wand's movements, the summoning charm still active, twisting it around in a circle, a corkscrew shape being formed by the limp flesh, the bones grinding together, shredding the muscle within all the while.
Before Harry released the summoning spell he jerked his wand higher, causing the arm to develop several dozen small gashes where the skin was stretched too far and tore from the strain. The arm fell limp onto the ground as Harry released it. There was very little blood seeping from the wounds, despite the no doubt massive amount of internal bleeding both limbs must have been experiencing.
Harry took a few steps back and watched the boy writhe in pain. He waited almost a full minute for the squirming to stop before he stepped forward quickly and delivered the finishing blow; a punt straight to McQuillen's crotch.
The Ravenclaw instantly curled into a ball, or rather, tried to. He only succeeded in curling his knees to his chest due to his arms' lack of mobility before he vomited all over himself.
Harry was hit by the first and only spike of worry as McQuillen then went still. Thankfully, a quick check revealed he was only unconscious. "Enervate." Harry cast down at the boy. McQuillen jerked, clearly conscious, but his eyes remained firmly clenched shut. Seeing as he needed to boy coherent enough to listen, Harry cast another charm. "Carentia Sensu."
It was a numbing charm that had fallen out of use because it numbed everything; happiness, anger, sadness and all the other emotions along with body's movement to a degree. It also only lasted five minutes, no matter how much power you put into casting it. It served Harry's purpose, though, and McQuillen opened his eyes, staring up at Harry blankly.
"Those stairs are pretty dangerous, McQuillen." Harry said conversely, pleasantly even. "Madame Pomfrey gets students all the time in her wing that fall down the stairs by accident and break bones. You and your friends shouldn't have been roughhousing so close to the edge of the stairway." Since the numbing spell was in effect The Ravenclaw's eyes were blank, not showing any recognition at Harry's words. So just in case, he spoke plainly. "When Madame Pomfrey asks how you and your friends got these injuries that's exactly what you're going to tell her. We were stupid, and we fell down the stairs. Won't you?" He stressed the last two words.
McQuillen nodded slowly. If the numbing charm wasn't active Harry was sure his neck would have snapped at the speed he would have been nodding. "Good boy, if it gets out I'm the one who did this either nobody will believe you; I'm the 'Gryffindor Golden Boy' after all, or they will believe you, in which case I'll inform them why I did this and so both of us will get in trouble. And when the dust settles; I'll come back, and this time I won't stop at your arms. I wonder what kind of damage a few shattered ribs would do to your organs? I'm sure it wouldn't be pleasant, that's for sure. And that goes double for if you ever even look at my Luna again. I'll break out the real torture curses and start thinking outside the box. This was kiddie stuff compared to what I'll put you through before allowing you to die. It'll make you wish it was the Dark Lord punishing you, at least he'll torture you for a short while and kill you. Me? Well, Ihappen to like taking my time. Why don't you pass that bit of knowledge around to the others who might try to hurt Luna or anyone one else close to me, Ravenclaw boy." Kneeing down next to McQuillen he replaced his wand in a robe pocket, before casual standing and grinding his foot into it, hearing the wand snap."Well, I guess it wasn't just you that was damaged falling down the stairs." He chuckled before pulling out his own wand and enervating the other two boys. Turning to address them he said, "If you two don't want to end up like him I'd make sure you get him to Madame Pomfrey, after all he was the most seriously hurt when you all fell down the stairs, wasn't he?" Seeing them nod he turned and walked out of the room, repairing the door behind him, leaving it ajar and hurried off, heading towards the Chamber. On the way down Harry wondered about his lack of reaction to torturing his first human being. He fully expecting to be throwing up, feelings of guilt and disgust making themselves known; but he wasn't. All he could feel was satisfaction that the whelp that thought to touch what he claimed as his was put in his place. He would have to think on this later, or not, as the lack of reaction made things much easier, but for now he had an appointment with the three girls who were most important to him to attend.
o0OoO0o
As Harry was dealing with McQuillen, Luna was leading Hermione to the second floor to where the Chamber of Secrets was located, both thinking about what happened. Luna was feeling a strange sense of elation. She finally realized that her Master really did care for her and would do whatever it took to protect her, even if it meant dropping whatever he was doing, rushing to her aid, even if it meant he would get into trouble. She was having feelings that she thought were happiness, from what she could barely remember from her life before her mother died. She knew that after today, she would NEVER doubt her Master ever again, as she knew he would always be there for her even if he might sometimes be late. So at the very least she could be his most loyal servant, doing whatever it took to make him happy, ensuring no one would dare hurt him even if she had to kill those she cared about to guarantee it happened. She would be his will, his resolve, doing whatever she could, even things that he wasn't willing to do himself at the moment.
Hermione, on the other hand, was a different story. Her mind was yet again conflicted, her Kneazle side was happy at the way Harry acted, so dominating, so in charge, it had reminded her Kneazle side why it had submitted so eagerly to him. He had defended someone he considered as his and he was making sure that the person who tried to take what was his wouldn't do it again; sending a message to others not to do the same. Hermione's human side, however, was shocked by what Harry did, and felt like she should tell someone. But she could understand why he did it, the boy was going to force himself onto Luna, and nothing gave him the right to do that to her. But when she heard Luna call Harry Master, she couldn't help but feel jealous of her, she knew it was wrong and her Kneazle side wasn't helping with its own feelings for Harry. She felt that she should be the one to call Harry Master, and wondered why Luna called Harry Master; why he allowed it as well. She couldn't help but be jealous, she thought of herself calling Harry Master and thinking of all the things he could do in that situation, it turned her on badly and she needed some release.
Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Luna say, "So when are you going to tell M- I mean Harry?" Hermione caught Luna's slip but stopped herself from commenting as she looked around; she realized that Luna must have censored herself because other students were nearby.
"What are you talking about, Luna?" Hermione asked.
"I think you know what I mean, Hermione," Luna persisted, then looked round to make sure no one could hear what she said next, "When are you going to tell him that you're now a Cat-girl? And that you now belong to him after he marked you as his after mating you."
"What do you mean, Luna?"Hermione asked nervously, stunned by the blonde's knowledge of something that nobody should have known. She didn't know how Luna could have found out she was a Cat-girl or about the mark. Worriedly she was also shocked at how serious Luna was acting. From the little she knew of her this kind of behaviour was very unlike her. Trying not to sound worried and frightened she replied, "As you can see I'm fully human, no cat parts on me. I have no idea what do you mean by marked and mating, you make me sound like I'm some sort of animal."
Luna wasn't deterred. "Well that's because you are now part animal. As for not being a Cat-girl, please don't lie to me. I've known that you've been one since the start of your third year." Seeing that Hermione was going to deny it again she kept talking. "Listen Hermione, I'm about to tell you something that I haven't told Harry yet, but I'm going to soon. I just need some time, so I would like it if you could keep what I'm about to say between the two of us for now." Waiting for a tentative nod from Hermione she continued, "I'm not a normal witch like you and the most of the others, you see, ever since I was nine and an accident that killed my mother and almost killed me I've been able to see magic in most forms. It took me some time but I was able to tell the difference in the magic I saw. One of the things this new skill allows me to do is to see things that a normal witch or wizard can't see. Now I know some the creatures I talk about you think I make up - and yes, I can see the looks you give me when you don't think I'm looking - half of them are in fact real." She saw Hermione about to say something, probably something along the lines of them not being in a book or something, so she said, "Hermione, you need to understand that not everything about magic is in books, why can't you accept that I can see animals that you don't? After all, I'm sure there are no magical books on Cat-girls. Does that mean you don't exist?"
Hermione was at first irritated at the way Luna was talked to her, as if she was some kind of fool, but she eventually conceded the point that she was right, there was no way everything was written in books. Her problem was that up until a few years ago, books DID hold all the answers, but after spending time with Harry, she had come to realize that it wasn't true. Still, her long time dependence on them had left marks, and at times she still thought they did, it was an old habit to break. Her thoughts were interrupted as she heard Luna say, "Anyway, one of the things I can see that normal people can't see are creatures, one of these creatures is what I call Nargles, seeing that they look a lot like the Nargles my father writes about. These 'Nargles' talk to me, not much like humans do although they can if they need to, but more often than not they just implant images in my head. Because of these 'Nargles,' I know that you're now part Kneazle now. Not an Animagus, but a true part animal with the magical ability to transform between your three forms; your true form of a cat-girl, your human form and your Kneazle form. So I ask again, when are you going to tell Harry that you're a Cat-girl?"
Hermione wasn't sure what to say, she knew that she couldn't deny it, seeing that Luna knew too much, but it was something she had tried to keep hidden for so long that it was hard to admit at the drop of a hat. After a few minutes of thinking, Hermione decided to tell the truth, "I want to tell him, but I'm not sure if I could. I… I don't know if he'll like the way I am now." She admitted hesitantly.
Luna smiled, easing Hermione's worries. "I can tell you now that he'll like you no matter what you look like, Hermione. Although I have a feeling this isn't the main reason why you haven't said anything. You're conflicted; your human and Kneazle sides are at war, your human side wants nothing more than to be a normal and independent. Your Kneazle side however wants nothing more but to submit to Harry as its Alpha, to do whatever Harry tells you to do and so your human side is fighting it. Hermione, with your human and Kneazle sides at war, you'll never find true happiness, as you'll never be yourself, you need to find a middle ground before it tears you apart."
"And how I meant to do that!?" Hermione snapped, not liking the idea of someone telling her what to do… not unless it was Harry.
"By becoming one with your human and Kneazle sides, by becoming a true Cat-girl that you already are." Luna answered simply, not reacting to Hermione snapping at her. "Unless you do, Hermione, you'll always be deeply conflicted, and it will only get worse. It won't help seeing that as you get older, the closer the two will get together. You'll always be at war with yourself and unless you become one with yourself, this inner war will keep eating away at you, and when it does, I can't even say what will happen. You could go crazy, or somehow get yourself killed." Luna suddenly turned serious, "I should warn you, Hermione, I'll do anything to keep Harry safe, and if it means that I have to kill you because of this or any other reasons, I'll do so. I'll leave Harry in the company of Medusa, and take care of you before going back to Harry as if nothing happened. I don't want to, as you make him happy, and that's what I want, but to keep him happy and safe, I'll do whatever it takes to do so, even if it hurts him for a short time."
Hermione was honestly terrified of the blond in front of her at that moment, Luna spoke about killing her as it was nothing, as if it was an everyday sort of thing. As she thought about it, the way Luna was acting now, she could see why people could call her Loony. But even if she was a bit loony, she could understand where Luna was coming from, somewhat, even if she didn't like some of it. "I understand." Hermione said quietly. "Will you… help me?" She asked hesitantly. Luna was right, she needed to sort herself out, not only for Harry, but for her own good as well.
Luna smiled, "I'll do what I can, but this is something only you can do, alone. You'll need to find your centre and bring your halves together. I can't say it'll be easy, seeing that you have fought so long to stay human, but you don't have to fear what will happen, you will always be Hermione Granger, and nothing can change that. Harry will always be there for you, so will I and I have a feeling that when you meet Medusa she'll be there for you as well." Luna said, hugging the older girl, Hermione slowly wrapped her arms around the smaller girl after a few seconds. They stayed like that for almost a minute as Hermione thought about Luna's words; Luna was right, she had fought so long to stay human, to become something else would be hard. But she knew that whatever happened, she would have Harry, Luna, even if she was strange at times, and Medusa, whoever she was, at her side.
Her thoughts were interrupted as Luna pulled back from the hug, and grabbed her hand and lead her inside a nearby door, which Hermione realized lead to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom - luckily Myrtle wasn't in the bathroom at the time. "Luna? Why are we in M -" Hermione began, but then stopped when she remembered Harry telling her about Moaning Myrtle's bathroom, and that's when it hit her, "Chamber? We're going down to the Chamber of Secrets, aren't we?"
"Yes we are, Hermione." Luna confirmed. She paused to think for a second, should she tell the elder girl about her Master before he arrived? She knew Hermione should know what to suspect, so after some more thought Luna made her decision, "Listen, Hermione, you should be warned the Harry you knew no longer exists, you could say he died during the summer holiday, or maybe you could say the true Harry awakened, I'm not sure myself, but either way he's changed. You only saw parts of the new him over the last few days, him defending me like he did, taking his classes seriously, and generally putting more effort into everything instead of drifting from place to place, things like that."
Hermione's eyes widened as Luna's words sunk in and some of the pieces of the puzzle she'd been figuring out of the Harry from the first three years of school began fitting together finally and forming a clear picture in her mind, "The true Harry awakening makes sense; there have been a few times where Harry seemed to become a different person when somebody was in trouble, or when he was put into a life-or-death situation. I…" Hermione hesitated, "I think that's the Harry I fell in love with. The confidence he seemed to naturally exude during these times was very attractive, even before I started thinking about sex and relationships. He would know exactly what to do, and when he didn't he would take suggestions easily and modify them to work best if needed, no arguing at all. I liked that version of him, and it was why I was so frustrated when he would crawl back into his shell afterwards, so to speak." She admitted.
Luna nodded, a sly grin making its way to her lips. "I don't think you have to worry about him reverting; he has no reason to after everything he's done in the short time he's been here." She sent Hermione a knowing look, and then as if she remembered something, she said, "I should warn you now, Hermione, you, me and Medusa won't be the only ones he'll have sex with. The Nargles told me that he'll have other pets like me and Medusa who he'll use as he likes. Then he'll have Mates like you, who he'll come to for comfort, and I should tell you that you won't be the Female Alpha of the group, that will be someone else. Then he'll have friends with benefits; which may or may not become Mates like you. He's also guaranteed to have one night stands because of what he is and what he can change into."
The bushy-haired girl was puzzled for a second before she remembered waking up with an incredibly pleasant soreness between her legs and blushed; she knew why the last two types of girls Luna mentioned would happen. "Maybe him becoming an Animagus helped his confidence? I know he has several forms, all of them are very powerful predatory creatures. I know my form has caused some problems, but it really made me come out of my shell in some regards. They could have helped do the same to him." Hermione said, changing the subject.
Before Luna could reply Harry entered the room. "How did you know about that?" He demanded, having heard her last comment from behind the door. He didn't notice, but he was radiating an aura of power that made Luna's eyes glaze over and Hermione's knees weaken. "Only three people know I'm an Animagus, Patrick, Medusa and Luna, and I know none of them would have told anyone. So how do you know I'm an Animagus and I have more than one form?"
Hermione, taken aback by his sudden entrance, tone, and the aura around him, almost submitted to him, barely able to keep herself from doing so she managed to reply quietly, trying to stall for time, so she could sort her thoughts out, "Hi Harry, how is Sirius by the way, nice idea about changing his -"
"Sirius is fine, Hermione," Harry said, cutting her off, then forcefully he went on to say, "Now tell me, how did you know that I'm an Animagus and I have more than one form?"
Seeing that she wasn't going to get off, she said with a whisper, "Can we talk about this somewhere private? What I need to say, I don't want people overhearing."
"Fine, but you better tell me what is going on, Hermione," Harry warned her, he didn't like the idea of someone able to find his secrets out so easily, and wanted to know how Hermione found out so he could stop it from it happening again. So, walking towards the wall leading to the entrance of the Chamber, he said in Parseltongue § 'Open!' § and then waved Luna and Hermione in, who following quickly behind them.
TO BE CONTINUED!
Authors Note: Here is another repost, I hope new and old readers will review and let me know what you think and any ideas you might have. As I suspect the old readers might have some thought as to what they would like to see to happen.
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