"He wants to what?!" Exclaimed Harry, gripping the letter he had in his hand.
Right now, Ron, Harry, and Hermione were occupying the last compartment in the Hogwarts express. The summer had drawn to a close and school was starting tomorrow. As the train had started to move from King's Cross, the trolley witch had knocked on their compartment and given Harry a letter.
The letter, which Harry had found out, had come from the Headmaster. He wanted Harry to come up to his study for private lessons that would help in the fight against Lord Voldemort, Harry, of course, was skeptical.
"It could serve you well." Pointed out Hermione as she read Hogwarts a History for the millionth time. She was still mad at him for what he did, but she was still willing to help him out in finding out what a vanishing cabinet was. Unfortunately, all they could find out with the limited resources from the Burrow was that they were banned after the First Wizarding War. And asking Ron's parents wasn't any more helpful, they'd ask them where they heard that from and they would tell them to not worry about it. Now they had to wait until they arrived at Hogwarts to search for it in the expansive library the school offered.
Ron nodded. "She's right, mate. Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard of our time. Learning a trick or two from him could really help."
"I'm not his dog, Ron!" Harry raised his voice, feeling annoyed. He was not Dumbledore's dog, but he did see what they meant. Learning spells from the most powerful wizard of their time could really give him a hand when it came to preparing for Voldemort. After all, it was going to take a lot more than Expelliarmus to defeat him.
Meanwhile, Harry could feel a calm but powerful anger building within him that was not his own. And it didn't take much guesswork to figure out who's it was.
'You truly want to play into the hands of Dumbledore?' Calmly asked the other Harry.
Of course not. He didn't want to play into anyone else's hands anymore. Not ever since the last time he let himself be controlled it led to the death of Sirius.
'That's right. You don't need Dumbledore in order to gain power to kill Voldemort. Voldemort didn't need Dumbledore, he acquired all of his power by himself.'
Harry paused. He didn't want to "power". He just wanted to live a normal life without any prophecies controlling him and killing people in his life. But at the same time, learning from Dumbledore could prove to be very beneficial. The man had already defeated one dark wizard and he easily beat Voldemort in a duel last year. It would help him gain an edge on Voldemort if he learned from him.
'Don't do this. Don't ignore me.' The other Harry slowly spoke.
'I'm sorry. But the last time I let anyone control me, I lost someone precious to me.' He thought as he got his quill and wrote back his response. He waited until the Trolley Witch came back around and gave it to her to send back.
As Harry settled back into his seat, he could feel a deep anger bubble even more within him.
"So, what did you say, Harry?" Asked Hermione, briefly looking up from her book.
"I accepted." He replied, looking out the window as he felt his hands clench in on themselves involuntarily.
Ron gave him a smile. "And you could teach us whatever Dumbledore teaches you. That way we can all be prepared."
Hermione nodded. "That would be a good idea. Something like Dumbledore's Army, except that it would have to be only us since no one else felt safe being in it after last year."
Harry nodded. Yeah, that made sense. After witnessing what their little group did, breaking into the Ministry, he understood why they wouldn't want to join and how there would be restrictions when it came to DADA groups in the future. But damn, it had to be said, he wasn't feeling good.
The voice had gone quiet and the anger had built steadily within him and he felt as if he could burst out at any second. He had to get out of here before he did indeed lash out at his best friends.
He got up from his seat and left the compartment, excusing himself with the fact that he had to go to the bathroom. As he made his way down the corridor and towards the bathroom, he tried to calm himself down. He listened to the roar of the train's engine, he tried to feel each step that his feet made on the rumbling carpet. It didn't work. His anger circled through his veins, clouding his judgement.
It didn't help much when he passed by Malfoy's compartment. The smug looking ferret's eyes caught his as he threw him a sneer. Tapping to his buddie's shoulders, he pointed and laughed at The Boy Who Lived, knowing not that he had only added fuel to the fire.
The temptation to draw his wand and blast the other boy out of the train was overwhelming, but he fought it down. These weren't his emotions, remember that. And it gave him some semblance of control.
Instead, it would be more beneficial to him if he were to listen in on their conversation. Malfoy was known to boast about any minor detail, give him something big and he would surely make a parade out of it. Which is exactly how Harry found himself laying down on top of the racks within the Slytherin's compartment. It wasn't comfortable, but it needed to be done. He needed to know what Malfoy was up to. He needed to know what Malfoy wanted with a Vanishing Cabinet. Hell, he needed to know what a Vanishing Cabinet was.
"What a disgusting school." Said Draco, his eyes conveying the message.
"Good thing I'm almost done here." He continued, a hint of hesitation laced in his voice.
Crab stopped chewing his candy bar and looked up. "What do you mean?" He asked, a mouth full of chocolate. Draco shot him a disgusted glare before continuing.
"I need to do something at the school. I can't tell you what, but it's important." He told them. The whole room had gone quiet except for the rumbling of the train engine and the wind that blew by the window. They all knew what he was talking about.
Daphne was the first one to speak up. "Is it for... you know... him?"
The usual smug expression that Malfoy adopted was abandoned as he nodded his head. His crew simply gave each other looks, scared of what this meant.
Harry, meanwhile, couldn't contain himself. There it was, undeniable proof that Malfoy was working for his father and the Dark Lord! Which meant... that time he kept scratching at his forearm... he must have a dark mark... he's a Death Eater!
"What about Potter?" Asked Goyle. Draco scoffed.
"What about him?" He replied.
"You have to admit, the guy has a habit of involving himself in things that the Dark Lord does." He said. Draco nodded, looked down, and then smirked.
"Not this time. Potter won't know about what I'll be doing." He said, his eyes flickering towards Harry.
Could he see him? No. He was wearing the invisibility cloak, and apart from the little mistake he made entering the compartment, he shouldn't be able to see him. But nevertheless, the thought of him being discovered still remained, and so he took his wand out, just in case.
Line Break
The train came to a stop at Hogsmeade station, the moon casting a silvery blue light over the world below. Harry had become tired, his joints stiff from remaining in the same position for several hours.
The crew in the compartment began to get their luggage, narrowly missing touching Harry and discovering him. As everyone got their luggage and exited the compartment, Draco turned to them.
"I'll wait behind a bit... need to do something," he muttered as he reached into his pocket. His eyes flickered towards Harry again.
He knew. Draco knew that he was hiding there. Unless this was a freakish coincidence and Draco was attracted to that part of the compartment, Harry wouldn't take any chances as he pointed his wand at Draco.
Slowly, the train was abandoned, leaving only Harry, under the cloak, and Draco, standing in the compartment, alone. Draco slowly took out his wand, making sure to make no sudden sudden movements and proceeded to flick it towards the window.
The coverings fell, blocking anyone on the outsides view in.
"Stupefy!" Suddenly yelled Draco, aiming at Harry.
Prepared, Harry countered. "Protego!" Blocking the spell.
"It's rude to eavesdrop, Potter." Spat Malfoy, opening the compartment door and exiting though it into the corridor as Harry jumped down from the rack above.
Harry threw his own spell against Draco, feeling the adrenaline take over him. It felt like he was back at the Battle of The Department of Mysteries. His hands were shaking with anger. Anger aimed towards his opponent.
Draco blocked the spell. "You're slimy git, Malfoy." Spoke Harry as Draco sent his own spell towards him.
"You are the Son of a Death Eater. How does that make you feel?" Said Harry as he blocked Draco's spell.
Draco snarled as he snatched a cup from one of the tables and chucked it at Harry. As it flew in midair, Draco transfigured it into black smoke, blocking Harry's view of the blonde.
"Proud." Responded Draco from the darkness.
Several red streaks of light emerged from the dark smoke, hurtling towards Harry. Throwing a shield up, Harry could only stop one or two as the third and fourth slammed into him, sending him sprawling. His left arm and his left leg, the areas where the spells landed, felt numb. He couldn't properly move them.
Knowing that if he stayed in the middle of the corridor he would get hit again, Harry opted to crawling and taking cover behind a seat. More streaks of red light flew by, slamming into cups, plates, tables, and seats.
"You're no match for what's to come." Draco said, feeling confident in his ability to defeat the Boy Who Lived.
Harry tried to control his breathing. He needed to get rid of the smoke in the air. It had begun to get into his lungs and it was getting harder to breath. But the question was how? How was he going to get rid of it? He didn't know of any spell that could get rid of smoke.
'You don't need to. We'll get the Death Eater's son to do it for us.' Spoke the other Harry calmly.
Harry gripped his wand. How?
'Remember the spell Mrs. Weasley used to dry your pants? It was a stream of air.'
Of course! It all clicked in Harry's head. Using the spell, he could push the smoke over to Draco, he would then have to get rid of it. And even if he didn't and tried to push it back to him, he would still have bought himself a few precious seconds of time that he could use to get on the offensive.
Harry peeked from the side of the seat with his wand and cast the spell. A jet of powerful hot air ejected from his wand, pushing the thick black smoke away from his area of the train carriage. Immediately, he could hear Draco begin to curse and then the black smoke disappear.
Taking the opportunity provided to him, Harry pushed himself out of his cover, aimed his wand at Draco, and quickly yelled "Expulso!" Blasting the blonde into the door that separated the train carriages. Draco moved his arms to cover his chest, which for sure had some nastily broken ribs.
Harry got up, grabbing onto the seat as support. He moved toward the blonde, wand still drawn and ready to do anything incase he decided to still fight.
"Dirty trick, Potter." Said Malfoy, grimacing in pain, pointing his own wand at Harry.
Harry snarled. "The only thing that's dirty here is you and your family, Malfoy."
Malfoy glared at him, and with a silent flash of Draco's wand, Harry found himself on the other side of the carriage. His back felt like it was set aflame with pain as he landed. How did he cast without talking?
"Like it?" Asked Draco, getting up. He winced as he felt the pain in his ribs.
"Non-verbal magic. Got a head start on it." He smiled as he stood over ten feet away from Harry.
The anger that the other Harry had felt all throughout the passage seemed to snap. The barrier had been broken, and all Harry could feel was red. He extended his wand. "Bombarda!"
The spell hit the wall behind Malfoy, exploding it and sending shards and splinters raining all across the carriage. Malfoy had dove for the seat, using it as covering. Had he caught that spell straight to any part of his body, he would surely have lost it, or at the worst, died.
The fight was getting serious. Harry was throwing more volatile spells at him. Malfoy aimed back with spells such as Confringo, blasting seats and tables apart. Eventually, his cover had been blown apart by a spell, forcing him to come out into the corridor and facing off with Harry.
Both boys were breathing heavily as they eyed one another. They didn't know how far they were going to take this. They didn't know whether they should. The line was drawn very clearly for both of them. Their roles had been chosen for them. A bad man, and the victim... but which one was which?
Malfoy's hand were shaking, the novelty of dueling with the raven haired boy had worn off a long time ago. Harry's hands were shaking for a completely different reason. He was mad, simple as that. The anger within him was almost indifferentiable. He didn't know whether it was his own or the other Harry's. All he did know was that he wasn't facing off with a snot nosed student who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. This was an enemy.
'Kill him.' Were the only words that the other Harry spoke. 'He's right here in front of you. Kill him and you save someone's life in the future.' He coaxed.
The anger had left him completely, both his and the other Harry's. The words were right there. The unforgivable was at the tip of his tongue, coaxing him into setting it free. His mouth was a prison for it, and his mind the jailor. But could he? Could he take the life of this boy that he had known since he was eleven? Did he have the right?
"You'll lose, Potter. My father's going to get free, and when he does, he'll do to your friends what Bellatrix did to your filthy Godfather!" Draco spoke, trying to seem more intimidating than he truly was.
And before Harry could do anything, he felt a wave of fear, not of his own origin enter him, and the next thing he knew he was throwing his wand arm forward and yelling. "Avada-!"
Before he was hit squarely on the back by a stunning spell. The last thing he saw was Draco's terrified expression, and then... nothing.
Another short one. It seems as if I can upload a bit more consistently when the chapters are a bit shorter. Anyway, hope you enjoy and make sure to leave a review. (They really help :) )