A/N: Most characters and the main plot belongs to J.K. Rowling.
The few days after the match were great for Harry. A load of people had come over to congratulate him on his catch, and others even told him that he flew really well. Some, mainly Slytherins, began to hate Harry even more. They knew that their seeker, Draco Malfoy, wouldn't be able to win against Harry, and that was before they found out that Harry would be using a much more superior broom. They had hoped that with their new brooms, they would hold an advantage over the other teams, but when they saw that Harry had the Firebolt, they knew that whenever they go against Ravenclaw, they would have to play their most violent match, if they even wanted a chance to win.
Harry, Daphne, Neville, Hermione and Tracey had spent quite a lot of time in the Room of Requirement. They had resumed their practising of the Patronus charm, which they had put aside so that they could practice more on spells which would help them in a fight, especially after the attacks started. Classes had just finished, when he heard it, the whisper.
~I smell blood... Let me rip... Let me tear... Let me kill...~
Harry froze, and became very pale, very quickly. A couple of seconds later, Neville bumped into him. "Oh, sorry Harry, I di-" He was cut off as he saw Harry's face. "Harry, what's wrong ?" He said out of concern. All of his friends also turned to look at him, and their faces were covered with a worried look.
"I just heard the voice..." Harry replied in nothing more than a whisper, but they all heard him as if he shouted it. Tracey was the first one to exit her state of shock.
"Come, quick ! We have to go see Dumbledore !" She almost shouted. This seemed to break everyone out of their state of shock, and soon, they were all heading for the Headmaster's office. They all ran as quickly as they could, any sort of fatigue was washed away by the revelation, and their adrenaline was pumping in their veins. Once they reached the gargoyle leading to Dumbledore's office, it seemed to sense their urgency, and immediately letting them pass. They climbed up as quickly as their legs would take them, and once they reached the top, they didn't even bother knocking on the door. Harry arrived first, and the door was almost thrown off its hinges from the force. What they didn't expect to walk in on, was a meeting. All the teachers present jumped to their feet, and pulled out their wands in a matter of seconds. Once they noticed who had walked in, they all lowered them.
"What is the meaning of this !?" Snape shouted, his wand still pointing at the students. He wasn't normally like this, but he had just gone through a very long meeting, and when that happens, he is easily set on edge.
"We need to talk to Professor Dumbledore, it's urgent." Harry said, trying to remain as calm as possible, he didn't want everyone present to know that he somehow had a way of knowing when the attacks happened. As soon as he said this, he noticed Dumbledore for the first time, and he had a worried look painted on his face the second that Harry's sentence made sense to him.
"Please forgive me, Professors, but I must insist that you leave immediately." He said, his voice laced with urgency, and the teachers knew that he wasn't messing about, and so they left as swiftly as humanly possible. As soon as they had closed the door, Dumbledore set up a privacy ward on his door, and Harry spoke immediately.
"There's been another attack !" Harry said, trying to keep an aspect of calmness, but failing miserably.
"When, and what did it say ?" Dumbledore asked urgently.
"Not five minutes ago, and it said : ~I smell blood... Let me rip... Let me tear... Let me kill...~" Harry said, slipping into Parseltongue without meaning to.
"What did it say in English ?" Dumbledore said. If the situation hadn't been so serious, he would have laughed at this.
"Oh, sorry, it said : I smell blood... Let me rip... Let me tear... Let me kill..." Harry replied. He looked at his friends, and they all looked at his with shock, and what appeared to be admiration. Clearly, they had never heard someone speak Parseltongue.
Dumbledore nodded, and he left his office, the students not far behind. They ran through the corridors at a surprising speed, given the headmaster's age. They had been running for a minute, but they stopped once they heard a voice they all recognized. "All students are to return to their common rooms immediately, and await your head of house." Professor McGonagall's voice sounded throughout the castle. Once her announcement, they all began running again, only this time a little faster. The group of five students didn't know whether they should go to their common rooms, or stay with the headmaster, so they continued running with him, and when he didn't say anything, they just stayed with him.
A minute or two later, they came up on the area where it had happened. "Albus, th- What are you doing here, you five ?" Professor McGonagall asked the second it clicked that they weren't actually meant to be there. What they saw shocked them. On the floor, lying down, in obvious states of shock, were Penelope Clearwater, and Percy Weasley. There was a couple of seconds of silence, but they were broken by Dumbledore's response.
"They are here with me." Dumbledore said as calmly as he could, although it wasn't achieved much, as the adrenaline of their run was beginning to leave their systems, and so they were all breathing heavily. "I thought it would be safest. One can only guess as to what your announcement was about, but I believe I already know what has happened."
Professor McGonagall seemed to agree with his logic, as she nodded once he had finished. Sometimes Harry got the impression that McGonagall was the one in charge, and not Dumbledore, with the way he always seemed to have to explain himself to her. "Anyway, there has been a double attack. Miss Abbott and Miss Bones came running towards us all when we left your office, and said that it was urgent, and seeing as you was already in an important meeting with Mr. Potter and his friends, well we thought we should handle it for now." Dumbledore nodded his head at this. "Anyway," she said, her Scottish accent clearly audible in her voice, "we have discovered a double attack. Miss-"
At that point, Professor Lockhart decided to make an appearance. After all, he wouldn't want to miss out on a story which he could possibly write about, and of course, make him the hero of it all. "Sorry, I was just finishing signing a few autographs, you know." He said, hoping to get a jealous reaction out of the teachers, only to find that they all had looks of pure loathing for the man painted on their faces. "Anyway," he continued rapidly, "what did I miss ?" He asked, trying to divert the attention.
"There has been another attack, you blithering idiot !" Flitwick said, forgetting that there were other students around. As soon as he said that, he remembered, and looked a little sheepish for it, but nobody cared for his attitude towards the man. The only reaction he got, was a smile from the five students. Lockhart decided to look for the reason why Professor Flitwick look away sheepishly, and that's when he saw him, Harry Potter.
"Ah, Harry, Harry, Harry, wonderful to see you again. Tell me, d-"
"Gilderoy !" Professor McGonagall shouted, and silence reigned for a couple of seconds, and Harry was sure that he could feel a little of her aura from where he was, and by that fact, he could tell she was pissed with the man. "There has been an attack, and yet you find nothing better to do, then trying to build up your status with Mr. Potter here. I am even more disappointed with you than before." She finished in a voice that didn't sound very disappointed, in fact, it sounded as if she had expected something similar. Lockhart had the decency to look sorry, but Harry knew he couldn't care less.
"Anyway," Professor McGonagall began once again, "we discovered Miss Clearwater and Mr Weasley after being warned. As soon as the girls had told us, we sent them straight to their common room, and then we sent everyone else to their common rooms too." She finished explaining.
"Very well." Dumbledore said gravely. "It seems the rumours are true, the Chamber of Secrets has, indeed, been opened once more." There was a gasp from some of the teachers, and a look of utter horror on Lockhart's face, which he covered up quickly, so as to keep up appearances, not that they were necessary, they all knew he was a fraud. "I recommend you all return to your rooms. In the morning, in the Great Hall, I will make an announcement about a few security rules which shall be put in place. Meanwhile, I have some unfinished business with Mr Potter and his friends. Good night to you all, and I advise caution, to all." With that, everyone left in their own directions.
The walk to the headmaster's office was made in silence. Once they entered the office, they all sat down. "Well, I do believe that whatever is petrifying the students is a snake, although I do not know what snake is capable of this." The headmaster admitted. For a second, Harry had believed that Dumbledore was sure to know the answer, and he was somewhat disappointed at this admission.
"I'll go over the library, see if I can find something." Hermione said.
Dumbledore nodded. "And I will search my private library." He said. It was followed by a couple of seconds of silence. "Very well, you may return to your common rooms." They all understood that as their dismissal, so they said their farewell to the headmaster, and left. They went their separate ways to their dormitories in the Entrance Hall
It was a couple of weeks before the Christmas holidays, and Harry couldn't wait to be back home. He wanted a sense of normality to return in his life, well, as much as it can get. Since the attack on Penelope Clearwater and Percy Weasley, everyone had been on their guard more than ever before. The Weasley's were understandably on edge, and had all decided to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, presumably to avoid a family meal, without the whole family. Harry found it understandable, but he would still have gone home, if for nothing but to support his parents had he had some. Sirius and Remus were the closest he had to parents, and he liked them very much, he just wanted his real parents back. Something that was missing from Sirius and Remus being the closest thing to his parents, was that he didn't know the motherly love most children felt. He knew that he would never feel it, well, at least never his own mother's, but he hoped, that one day, maybe Sirius and Remus could find themselves a wife each, and maybe they would treat him as a son.
Harry decided not to dwell on that, and walked down the stairs from the dormitory ready to go for his run, when he noticed a notice on the notice board. He walked up to it.
Duelling Club !
On Saturday 5th of December, anyone who wishes to be instructed in the art of Duelling, is welcome to join Professor Flitwick and Professor Snape in the Great Hall at 4 P.M. If you do come, we ask that you be on your best behaviour, and that you all follow the instructions given by the professors.
To sign up, please go up to your House Prefects, and they will regroup all of the names by the 4th of December, and give them to their Head of House.
Harry was ecstatic, his earlier feelings evaporated. He had always wanted to duel, he had learnt the basics thanks to the duelling book he had got, and also a bit over the summer, but they had mainly concentrated on the Defence tutoring then. At that moment, Hermione walked down the girl's stairs. They shared their greetings, and made their way to the Entrance Hall. There, they found Daphne and Tracey already waiting, so they said 'Hello', and began chatting. A couple of minutes later, Neville joined them, and they left for their run. They all applied a warming charm on themselves before opening the door, and once they were beyond the threshold, they applied another, because they decided that it wasn't warm enough. Of course, that was to be expected, given that they were in Scotland, and they were in December.
They had nearly finished their run, when they noticed someone moving near Hagrid's, but the person wasn't anywhere near big enough for it to be him, so they began to make their way over. The person seemed to have sensed their presence, as he turned around, and left at a sprint into the Forbidden forest. Harry and his friends had already found the person suspicious from a distance, but now they were even more suspicious, so they began running as well. None of them could see the person's face as it was still dark, so his face was hidden. The person had a good 50 meters advantage on them, so they put in all their energy left into their run.
Once they entered, they split up in two groups. Harry with Hermione, and Neville with the other two. If they found anything, they were to send up red sparks with their wands, and the others would make their way over as soon as possible. They had been running for a good ten minutes, at this point, and there was still nothing. "Harry, I, don't, think, that, they're still, here." Hermione said in between breaths. She and the other three had come a long way with their stamina, and could hold a duel for much longer.
"I know. Co-" He began saying, but was cut off when he saw red sparks in the sky. "Shit !" Harry said, before he began running in that direction. The adrenaline found a new level for both Harry and Hermione, and they were soon sprinting towards their friends' location without a problem. A good 10 minutes of full on sprinting, they began hearing spells being fired ahead of them, and when they looked properly, they could see flashes of light. They headed straight for the lights, and after a few seconds, they noticed the other 3 firing spells at what appeared to be huge spiders, so they quickly joined them, and fired spells of their own.
It was lucky that they arrived when they did, as at that moment, a huge swarm of acromantulas approached them. They all knew that Tracey was terrified of spiders, but were all happy to see that she didn't freeze up at seeing them. Many spells were fired, but even more spiders arrived. Harry noticed that his friends were already tired, so he decided that now was a very good time to use his hidden knowledge. He searched for nothing more than a minute, before he had the perfect spell in mind. He went over it once more in his mind, just to be sure that he wouldn't get it wrong.
"Everyone, get down on 3 !" They all nodded their acceptance. "One, two, three !" They all lowered themselves to the ground, except for Harry, of course, who in turn, shouted "Ignis Turbo !". A second after he shouted it, a huge tornado appeared, and it quickly caught fire out of nowhere. Harry was sweating from both the effort, and the heat with was developing from the tornado. The acromantulas were either being burned to death, or scurrying away as quickly as possible, hoping to leave the vicinity as rapidly as possible. Many of them received extensive burning, others would end up dying from them, but the group of students didn't care.
Once all the spiders had left, Harry cancelled his spell, and collapsed almost instantly. Daphne was quickly by his side, and the others weren't far behind. "What's up with him ?" Hermione asked worriedly.
"Magical exhaustion." Daphne said quickly. She had always wanted to be a healer. Her little sister, Astoria, had a blood curse, one which had been in the family for a long time, and she had always wanted to find a way to stop it from taking her sister's life. As soon as she found out about it when she was 10, which was when her parents saw fit to tell her, she had wanted to find a solution. "We need to take him to the hospital wing, and quickly !"
As soon as the words had left Daphne's mouth, the four friends were already on their way, Neville having cast a levitation charm on Harry. They quickly ran through the forest, hoping to have chosen the quickest route. The three girls had each conjured a 'lumos' each, and had formed a triangle around Neville and Harry. They didn't meet any other problems as they ran. When they did reach the exit of the castle, the noticed that they were near where they had entered, by Hagrid's hut. What surprised them, was the amount of time they had apparently been in there. When they had entered, it was still rather dark, yet now, the sun had come out. They paid it no mind, and continued running towards the castle.
When they pushed open the doors to the Entrance Hall, they found that they couldn't have arrived at a worse time. Most students were just making their way down to breakfast. So, when the doors were pushed open at quite a fast speed, they were all shocked to see that it was just a group of second year. They were shocked even more once they saw Harry's limp form floating in the middle of the group. Most of the students acted on reflex, and moved to the side, but the ignorant ones just stood there talking to each other, so they were pushed to the side by the three girls. As they reached the middle of the big group of students, they bumped into Fred and George.
"Ah, our young fr-" Fred began, but was cut off by his brother, and not to complete his sentence.
"What happened ?" George asked, quickly turning serious.
"Magical exhaustion." Hermione told him swiftly. They seemed to understand that it was urgent, because soon, all students in front of the group of second years were being pushed against the wall by spells sent by the twins.
"Follow us !" The two said at the same time. They ran in front of them, still pushing students to the side when it was needed, and they led them away from the normal way to the hospital wing. They knew that the twins knew the castle better than anyone, perhaps even better than Dumbledore, so they just went with it. The group stopped in front of a painting of a group of French people having what they call an 'apéro', and Fred pushed the bottom right corner with his foot. The painting moved to the side, and they followed it. To their surprise, the passage led to one of the portraits in front of the door to the hospital wing. The twins pushed open the doors forcefully, and quickly moved to the side, so that the group could pass.
"What is the mea-" Madam Pomfrey began to shout at the rather rude awakening, but was cut off by Daphne.
"Magical exhaustion !" She said. The students deposited Harry on one of the beds, while Madam Pomfrey quickly sprung into action.
It had been two days since their episode in the forest, yet Harry still hadn't woken up. Sirius and Remus had both been told, and had been invited into the school, as long as they didn't leave the hospital wing, which they understood given the circumstances in the school right now. There had been another attack the day after the forest incident. Colin Creevey was the victim this time. He had been found with his camera in his hands, which had been melted when he was found. Daphne and the rest of the group had been visiting Harry constantly. Madam Pomfrey didn't usually allow students to stay for so long, but she had heard from the staff, that this group of friends was particularly loyal to each other, so she let them be. Dumbledore had been by when they had visited once, and had asked details about it all, so they told him everything, from the person they saw by Hagrid's, to the acromantulas, to the fire tornado which Harry had conjured. He seemed surprised at the last revelation, although it looked like he gave it a moment's thought, and they figured that it was normal.
Sirius and Remus had offered to take Harry back to Potter Manor, but Madam Pomfrey insisted that it wouldn't be a good idea for Harry to travel, especially through magical means. They reluctantly agreed, but decided that seems they couldn't have it their way, they would spend what tile they could by Harry's side. What nobody knew, however, was that Harry was fighting demons none of them knew about, and that his life depended solely on him, and not on the resident healer.
A/N: Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it. I know some of you aren't happy with the way I write my story, or how some characters act or whatever, but I will politely remind you that I am not forcing you to read this, and that you are welcome to stop reading. I do appreciate the reviews, even the constructive ones, but when you're just going around saying that it's basically shit, that's the sort of stuff I could live without. Of course, I know that it's impossible to do anything and not get any haters, but there isn't any point in leaving a negative comment on every chapter just because the story isn't going the way you want it to. I cannot accommodate everyone's desires.
Replies:
Hermione and Tracey will be sending clues to Harry about Daphne, when they feel that he understands a minimum about his feelings, because right now, he doesn't understand them much.
Now, for someone who wrote 6 comments in a row... Yes, flying lessons in December, warming charms exist. The hotel might be a stupid idea in your eyes, but it will be able to be used for other matches, and not just for the final of the World Cup. I agree with the mistake of Harry turning Neville nude in the train wasn't the best idea, so I have changed it, same for Harry not commenting about Daphne calling Susan a bimbo, which I also agree was a mistake on my part. About making you like Daphne, I don't know what you like, and what you don't, so I can't guess on that front. Some people will like her character, some won't. Yes, injuries in Quidditch can be healed quickly, but if you see someone you care for heading for the ground at insanely high speeds, I reckon you would be worried too, no matter if it's part of the sport.
Finally, if you think that this story is stupid for Harry wanting to rekindle his relationship which he could have had with his aunt and uncle, you are welcome to leave, as I've said above.
Once again, thank you for reading.