Quick note, some of you have been sending me messages ordering me around, telling me how to write my own story. One of you, even gave me a completely false analysis of my own characters, stating that I'm writing them all wrong because he doesn't like the way they're interacting with each other. I have repeatedly stated that Harry is always attempting to reconcile his loving, caring nature with his cold, impulsive yet paradoxically logical, internet-savvy, modern age personality that he's taken up.
So I'll spell it out for you. My story. My rules. My humor. My plot line. Don't agree with it? Don't let the figurative door hit you on the way out.
To those who've reviewed my story in a manner befitting of a respected user of this website, thank you for your helpful gesture. I've been taking many of your suggestions under advisement (such as shortening the attack names, incorporating a snake to the story, etc.)
xp3r1a: liking your story so far. It's got that original feel to it, plus the writing is very good.
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter.
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Lightning Dragon's Roar
A Harry Potter Fanfiction
By Zero Rewind
© 2014
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"Why do you refuse to gain power? the power of our father Sparda?"
"Father...?" Laughter. "I don't have a father. I just don't like you, that's all."
Chapter 17: Amusingly Disturbing Revelations
"Pay attention, Harry!" Laughter.
SMACK! Pain erupted from my right shoulder and the side of my head.
"Shit!" I shouted out, nursing my shoulder as I dodged pellets of stone, courtesy of an amused Neville Longbottom. It was Saturday morning, and I'd pretty much hoodwinked Neville into training with me in the Room of Requirement. After he'd gotten his wand a few days before, his skill in all subjects greatly increased, much to the delight of the Professors, who had secretly believed the round faced boy would never amount to much.
The look on Professor McGonagall's face when he got a Transfiguration spell on the first try? She looked a mix of delighted, and sad. Sad about the four previous years wasted, due to his own grandmother's stubborn idiocy, I figured.
Back to the matter at hand. I rolled my shoulder around, in an attempt to alleviate the pain. It worked slightly, as some relief flooded my system before I had to dodge further stone pellets from Neville, who continued his onslaught without fanfare or cutting words.
I pushed my body and magical power to its limits, twisting, turning, ducking, jumping, bending in ways that made my muscles ache in great pain. I still got hit a lot. I might have gained great speed, strength, and reflexes— side effects from channeling my lightning— but I lacked something infinitely more important.
Coordination.
What does that mean, though? To explain it in more simple terms; suppose someone sent a flurry of projectiles my way, but I managed to notice a small, safe area which I could maneuver into so that I can avoid being torn to shreds. In my mind, I've already pictured the exact movements I needed to make to ensure my survival.
I also knew I had the strength and speed to get it done.
Herein lied the problem; just how much strength did I need to apply, exactly? Could I get the angle, and speed of the jump just right, so it could deposit me in the safe zone at the correct time? Could I bend myself in a way that would fit my body into the relatively small gap?
The quick answer to this was a resounding "no".
In that hypothetical situation I've just conjured up, many things could go wrong. I could apply too much strength and overshoot my mark. Or, the exact opposite could happen with not enough strength. My angle could be off, and the trajectory would lead me near the safe zone; but "near the safe zone" still wasn't in the safe zone. It's also possible that, with the right speed, timing, and angle, I would reach the safe zone; but since I couldn't bend my body properly (close in on myself or something), I'd find myself short of an arm or a leg. Easy pickings.
It was blatantly obvious to me. Dumbledore would always catch me a lot during our mock duels. The bludgers of the obstacle course in the Room of Requirement did the same.
The only reason that idiot Zacharias didn't get me once was because he was so slow and predictable. It was like watching things approaching you in slow motion; it was so laughably easy to sidestep the boy's spell chains. Sure, at the end he began using more destructive curses, but they were so badly aimed that there was no effort made in dodging them. The foolish boy ended up tiring himself out, making it easy for me to disarm him with a simple Expelliarmus.
Zacharias would have learned his lesson if he wasn't so busy seething in anger at the humiliation he'd suffered at my hands. I found that I couldn't care less about reconciling with the boy. Why should I? I wasn't his mother, nor was I going to hold his hand through the sessions our little study group had. It was bad enough that I even had to do this in the first place! Couldn't they read books and practice spells on their own? Why did I have to be the one to supervise them?
Because you simply are better equipped to teach them. My own voice drawled coldly, echoing loudly in my head.
Not good enough to dodge Neville's onslaught, though!
Speaking of...
I ducked, and rolled to the side, avoiding Neville's latest salvo of ground bullets. He smirked triumphantly.
My eyes widened as I felt the ground below me rumble. I jumped with no hesitation, instants before pillars of rock jutted out of the floor, hitting nothing but air. I found purchase on the pillars, using them as a foothold. I held up a hand in the universal form of surrender.
"I think that's enough for now." I said with ragged breaths, looking to Neville. The boy in question nodded in agreement, and with a flick of his hand, the pillars I stood upon slowly receded to the ground, bringing me down with them.
"Your attacks." I breathed out, wiping sweat off the back of my neck as I walked laps around the training area to work off the pain and muscle cramps. "Are pretty impressive, Neville."
"They're all right."
"All right?" I repeated incredulously. "They were perfectly aimed and incredibly well timed. And I mean incredibly well timed. Without my lightning, I doubt that I could've lasted as long as I did."
"Heh, I guess you're right." The boy's round face broke into a smile.
At least he sort of acknowledges it. I'll take what I can get, after all.
Neville was really something else, though. Every single move he made was well thought out, and he could accurately predict my movements.
"How do you do that, anyway?" I asked out loud.
"Do what, Harry?" Here he looked confused.
"I know you can tell where I am." I said, remembering his explanation of his powers. "But you seemed to be able to predict my every move."
"I wouldn't say every move." Neville seemed a little amused. "Take a look around you, though. What do you see?"
I looked around, there was nothing in the room.
"Nothing." I answered.
"Er—" He fumbled a bit. "I mean, what's the room made of?"
"Stone." I answered easily.
"Right." Neville said. "I know I told you can sense others as long as they were standing on earth or stone or anything in between. Even applies to wood, come to think about it." He mused to himself, before shaking his head. "Anyway, what I didn't tell you is that I've had a lot of practice with it."
"I... see." I didn't really understand. Neville sighed, realizing he wasn't getting through to me.
"Think of it like in Quidditch." Neville supplied helpfully. "Ron can predict plenty of plays, maneuvers, and all sorts of moves that Quidditch players can make; that's because he knows the subject inside and out. He's seen them make the plays, perform feints, and the like. He's figured it out so much that it's easy for him to spot the weaknesses in the attacks and defense."
I nodded, knowing that much.
"Now," Neville continued. "Apply that to me. I've had these powers since I was a small boy. At first, I could only figure out where people were standing. Then, as I got better, I could figure out their movements through the feedback I got from the Earth. I got so good at it, that I could figure out what exactly they were doing."
Neville turned away from me. "I can show you. Pretend like you're about to attack me."
"Sure." I took a step forward and drew my arm back.
"Your right arm is cocked back, your left foot's forward. You're about to take another step forward." His words froze me in my tracks.
"Hot damn." Was all I said.
Neville's shoulders went up and down as he chuckled in mirth.
"Does that make sense?" He said as he turned back my way.
"Yeah. I think I understand. That's pretty unfair." I groused good-naturedly.
"So says the guy who can heighten his reaction speeds so much, it seems as if time itself slowed down." Neville retorted.
We shared a laugh, before starting to pack up.
§Are you done beating the crap out of each other?§ Balthazar's sibilant voice came from a hole in the wall that the Room had provided— for the snake's safety, if you were wondering. Couldn't have it die on me.
The black viper slithered out of the hole and onto me, choosing to wrap around my waist and rest its head on my left shoulder.
§Yes.§ I hissed back simply, following Neville out of the Room. We tiredly walked down the many staircases, on our way to the Great Hall for some well deserved breakfast. The students gave me a wide berth, quite intimidated by Balthazar's presence. They'll get used to it eventually. Neville was smirking at me.
§These humans are very strange§ The black viper hissed out, as amused as Neville probably was.
§Agreed. They're a bunch of pussies.§ I hissed right back, causing a few of them to gasp in fright, proving my point.
§Even that redheaded girl last night.§ Balthazar mused. I flinched in remembrance. §And I'd thought she was spirited, too.§
§Yeah... Let's not get into that.§ I said with a little discomfort, and some anger.
§What do you mean?§ The snake said in confusion.
§What do I mean?§ I repeated incredulously, my hisses growing sharp. §You stuck your tail up her—§
§How was I supposed to know she wouldn't like it?§ Balthazar said indignantly.
§Who in their right mind would?§ I shot back. §And didn't I tell you to stand watch outside of the broom cupboard?§
§And I was.§ Balthazar said triumphantly. §I also slid my tail inside her, too. I can multitask, you know.§
I face palmed. §Why did you think that was a good idea the first place?§
§My old handler had a very interesting wife, you see?§ I didn't like where this was going. §You wouldn't believe how far my tail could go into her—§
§No. Stop.§ I felt the bile rising up my throat, and swallowed it down harshly. §Just... No. Never speak of that, ever. Ever.§
§But—§
§Never!§
§...You're no fun.§
You know what the worst part was? If Balthazar hadn't interrupted, I could've probably gotten Ginny to do anything for me. It didn't take us five minutes, and we were already deep into second base. I'd almost had her shirt off, when Balthazar had tried his little stunt with his tail. Ginny pretty much stiffened up, looked at the tail, looked at me, and got out of the broom cupboard, running faster than I'd ever seen her run.
Figures that my snake— not that snake— was more perverted than I was. I'd seen many disturbing things while searching for good porn. Just how was pissing on someone considered erotic? Or using clips on their nipples? Or bestiality?
Come to think of it, if Remus married a regular human, was that bestiality? What about Fleur? Or Hagrid?
How was Hagrid even conceived, for that matter? Female Giants had really big genitalia, did they not? Did Hagrid's dad have to bodily enter her before— I hurriedly shook off these distracting and disturbing thoughts.
I sighed, realizing I was partly to blame for the mishap.
§Look. I think I might need to set some rules just so that we won't have these misunderstandings.§ I hissed out.
§That sounds reasonable.§ Balthazar agreed.
§All right.§ I began. §Right now, I can pretty much give you the basics, and we can figure out the rest as we go along.§
§First rule: don't attack anyone unprovoked. If you're attacked, run away. If you can't run away, only then can you fight back.§ I held up a finger. Balthazar nodded.
§Second rule: don't stick your tail in any person's various holes. It's wrong.§ I hissed with a hint of exasperation.
§But—§
§No buts. This is non-negotiable. You have to apologize to Ginny, too.§
§Aw.§ Balthazar's head went down.
§If you really want to have that much fun, I can get you a female buddy later on.§ I threw in. My pet viper perked up at that.
I went over the small list I'd made up on the spot: they were basic ideas, like "don't eat someone else's food", "go to the bathroom when you want to piss", etc.
That kind of thing. I knew Balthazar was probably smart enough to do most of that, but the implied slight on his capabilities of acting in a civilized manner would encourage him to try and impress me. At least, I hoped he would.
To his credit, Balthazar was cowed instead of furious. He hissed out an apology, with his head down. I petted his head and told him to cheer up, because we were about to have breakfast. When I passed through the door leading to the Great Hall, and the smell of delicious food reached us, the black viper jerked its head up, excited at the prospect of a meal.
Neville and I immediately headed to the Gryffindor table, ignoring the startled looks coming my way.
The Boy-Who-Lived being friendly with a snake? He must be turning dark for sure. I wryly thought to myself.
I caught Ginny's wide eyes, and approached her.
"Hey." I greeted.
"H-Hi, Harry." She eyed Balthazar in weary suspicion. It was an acceptable gesture, considering he tried to spear her poop hole with his tail the night before.
"I think Balthazar has something to say to you." I said simply, turning my head to the aforementioned snake.
§I'm sorry.§ Balthazar said quickly.
I nudged him to go further. He complied.
§I didn't know that it was wrong. My handler made me do it all the time with his wife.§ The snake explained morosely. Ginny grimaced at the information, but gave the snake a nod in understanding. He just didn't know better, after all.
"Anyway, I've gone over some basic rules so he knows how to behave; he shouldn't be causing any more uh... Incidents." I said.
Ginny blushed in embarrassment. And was that a little regret? Did... Did she like it?
Nope. Nope. Nopenopenopenopenope.
"Anyway, that's that. I'm going to eat now, okay? See you. Have a nice day." I said quickly, and headed to an empty seat next to Neville, causing the people around me to shift nervously in the presence of the snake. The students from the other tables were also glancing at me and whispering to each other in interest.
I hazarded a glance towards the Head table. I got a few curious, if concerned stares from most of the teachers. Umbridge gave me a particularly queer look that sent shudders through my system. Dumbledore merely gave me the barest of glances, before going back to his breakfast, not really deeming it a major event.
Which it wasn't. That was probably the way to go, eh? Just act like it's a normal thing, and people will get used to it. It's like those people that would raise wild animals and let them run free in their home. Or that guy that let so many snakes bite into him that he was more or less immune to most poisons.
I held up a sausage for Balthazar, who gobbled half of it up, with surprising speed. I, as well as people in my immediate vicinity, watched in fascination as the viper gulped down the meat with ease.
§Good stuff.§ The snake said, going quiet to digest its food in peace afterwards.
After that little display, I began eating in earnest, and the students in the Great Hall seemed to go back to their morning routine, forgetting about me entirely— for the moment, anyway. I helped myself to some eggs, and a few sausages for myself. The training with Neville made me work up quite the appetite, to be honest. I ate at a fast pace, not really savoring the taste of the food.
"Can I join you, Potter?" I heard a familiar voice say. I stopped chewing for a while, and turned to see Daphne behind me. She was wearing some jeans, and a plain black shirt.
"Sure." I smiled at the pretty Slytherin. "Always room for you, here. Tracey joining you?"
"Oh, no." Daphne smiled back, pointing in the direction of the Slytherin table. I followed it with my eyes, and promptly did a double take. Ronald Weasley sat with Tracey Davis on the Slytherin table, exchanging conversation. Ron actually looked pretty happy to be around the auburn haired girl, and she seemed to be reciprocating the feeling.
"Woah." I breathed. Ron and a Slytherin?
"I know." Daphne sat down, eying Balthazar with a little curiosity. When it looked like he wasn't going to move anytime soon, she looked back at me.
"Did he—"
"Yes."
"Are they—"
"Not quite there, I think." Daphne answered knowingly, looking amused. "I'm surprised you hadn't noticed."
A feeling of overwhelming guilt clawed at my conscience. I should've talked to Ron and Hermione more. I've been choosing to train instead of spending time with either him or Hermione. I rationalized it as a need to get stronger so I could live through a fight against Voldemort. However, I'd also been using it as an excuse to get out of doing things with others.
"I've been—"
"Busy, I know." Daphne looked a little miffed at that. "That's what everyone's been telling me. It's been hell to try and reach you."
"You wanted to reach me?" I repeatedly dumbly, feeling flattered.
"Well, yes." She admitted with a frown. "I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to Hogsmeade today, but like I said: it was hell reaching you."
"I'm sorry." I apologized honestly, feeling pretty miserable for blowing everyone off. "Do you still want to go?" I asked hopefully.
She tried to look irritated, but the quirk in her lip told another story altogether.
"Yes." She huffed, and grabbed a nearby banana, peeling it. She began to eat, and immediately broke eye contact with me, blushing as she did so.
Cute. Wonder what she was thinking of, eh? I gave her a saucy wink, before going back to my own food.
The rest of the mealtime was spent in a comfortable silence. Neville bid me a quick goodbye, wanting to check out his plants in one of the Greenhouses. Apparently Sprout had given him his own working space.
"So, what have you been up to?" Daphne said as I watched Neville leave the Great Hall. I turned to see her face, alight with interest.
"Mostly training." I said, and winced when I tried to stretch.
"Are you all right?" She asked, noticing the reaction.
"Yeah, I'm just bruised up a bit." I said lightly, trying to get her mind off of it. "Training's not all about spell casting, after all."
I brought up my hand to rub the back of my head, but cringed as it roughly passed over the bruise on the side.
"Okay." I breathed out. "Maybe bruised up a lot. That one hurt."
"That's it." Daphne got up, grabbed me by the hand, and bodily dragged me out of the Great Hall. I glanced at the Head Table, seeing Dumbledore giving me a look that said 'whipped'.
Asshole!
At first, I didn't know where she was taking me, but then I recognized the familiar path leading up to Madam Pomfrey's Hospital Wing. Great. Dealing with Poppy was going to be a nightmare.
"She's not in today." She said, having accurately guessed my thoughts.
"Oh." I said, confused.
"Then who's going to... Oh. Right!" I finally understood. Daphne was something of an assistant here, from what I can remember her telling me.
We entered the Hospital Wing. The familiar surroundings were comforting and familiar to me— however disturbing the thought is.
Something's definitely wrong when you begin to view the hospital wing as a familiar place. My sarcastic thoughts snapped at me.
"You take your normal bed, while I get some bruise removal paste for you." Daphne instructed in a no-nonsense voice, before she disappeared for a bit.
I complied wordlessly, part of me getting irrationally excited as I gently unwound the sleeping Balthazar, who curled up on the hospital bed. Daphne the nurse. My personal nurse. My face split into a grin for a split second, before switching to an impassive expression. It was a futile gesture of course, since my muscles were now tense, and my eyes kept excitedly searching for the girl in question.
Daphne came back with a medium sized jar filled with thick, yellow paste.
I watched her approach me with a careful eye, not sure what to expect.
"This." She gestured at the jar with her free hand. "Is a paste that removes bruising. I made it myself. You just dab a little of it on, and the bruises should fade within half an hour."
"That's actually pretty damn impressive." I voiced out. "No disgusting potions or anything."
"Yes, well..." She blushed prettily. "I figured you wouldn't appreciate any more potions from this place."
"You'd be right." I confirmed with a smile.
"Anyway," She smiled back. "Take off your shirt."
"What?" I asked, wondering if she was teasing me or being serious.
"Your shirt. Take it off." Daphne repeated.
"Why?" I asked hesitantly, not sure where she was going with this.
"So I can apply the paste, Potter." She looked a little exasperated.
"Oh. Oh." I said, feeling a little stupid. I flushed with embarrassment. So much for that fantasy.
"What did you think I was going to do?" She asked with a smirk.
"Maybe you— uh, that is to say— there's no good answer to this, is there?"
"Not really." Daphne confirmed, still smirking at me. "Now take it off." She ordered again.
I followed her orders, feeling even more excited than I was before. She gave my body an appreciative stare, which did very little to sate my desire. If anything, it increased it. Her expression turned into that of concern as she spotted several large bruises on my chest and shoulder.
"What have you been doing to yourself?" Daphne breathed out, lightly touching the bruises. I winced and recoiled from her touch.
"Training." I answered simply.
"You're hurting yourself in the name of training?" She said incredulously.
"I'm not exactly hurting myself on purpose, you know. I'm working on my dodging skills. As you can tell, they need a lot of work." I explained patiently, with a wry smile.
"Why would—" Daphne stopped for a moment. "I saw you avoid Smith's attack with ease. Why would you need to continue?"
Ah, so that's why she was wondering why I was still training my reflexes.
"It's an understandable point, I suppose." I acknowledged her concerns. "But, you have to keep it in mind that Zacharias Smith is a fool who thinks he knows magic. All of his spells had terrible aim. It was child's play to dodge his attacks."
"So, why, then?" Daphne began to rub the paste on my shoulder, immediately soothing the stinging pain into a very dull throb.
"It's simple." I smiled at the beautiful woman. "I will be fighting full fledged Death Eaters, as well as Voldemort—" no winces this time, surprisingly "—himself. Perhaps simultaneously. You know that obstacle course in the Room of Requirement?"
"Oh, that thing." Daphne looked a little intimidated at the idea of that obstacle course. "We've all been wondering if you were going to throw us in there for fun."
"Oh, hell no." I denied vehemently, wincing as Daphne put a little pressure on my chest. All the talking made this feel less awkward. "That part is volunteer only. That's if you want to get to the next level. I've been running it myself a lot. That's how I've been getting bruised up. Bludgers make for good projectiles, since they keep coming back for more." Not to mention the training I did with Neville today. I wasn't going to tell anyone about that, because it was Neville's secret, not mine.
"Discipline through pain, then?" Daphne guessed.
"Pretty much." I confirmed.
"Hold still." She began to smear some paste at the side of my head. I wanted to cringe at the painful contact, but crushed that urge down. Daphne's scrumptious lips were right in front of my eyes.
"I suppose it's as good a method as any to learn..." I watched her lips move tantalizingly as she spoke.
"You got that right..." I said absentmindedly while my head flooded with relief, the pounding headache greatly fading.
As she was about to pull away, I raised my face, and pushed my lips against hers. She was startled for a moment, before relaxing into it. I pulled her closer to me, deepening the kiss, and rubbing her back soothingly as she wrapped her arms around my neck. We stayed that way for a few more seconds, before having to pull away for some air.
"I—" She backed off and looked away for a moment.
"Let's not go to Hogsmeade." She said, and I felt devastated at the sudden rejection.
I put my head down.
"Let's just snog all day, instead."
False alarm! She wasn't rejecting me!
Okay, maybe this time I could make Sirius proud? I glowered at the sleeping Balthazar, as if daring him to ruin this moment.
The black viper slept on, completely unaware of the world around it.
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Well, I'm sleepy. Think you can guess where the quote right before the chapter title is from?