Chapter Six
The Fox Returns
Severus looked up as the door to his private lab was opened. At this time of the evening it could only be one person. Faykan walked through the door, beaming as he closed and locked it behind him.
"So, about this Restorative Potion…" the boy said loudly removed his wand from his sleeve and gave it a casual wave, summoning over a cauldron and table piled with ingredients. Faykan filled the cauldron with water and turned to Severus, "Firstly, a much hotter flame would purify the water better to accept the properties in the Athelas."
He raised a hand and it burst into bright orange flames. Clenching it into a fist and concentrating, Faykan's magic entered the fire, compressing and intensifying it, causing the color to change from orange to blue, and finally to dazzling white. Severus could feel the heat from across the room. Faykan lit the base of the cauldron and cast an Impervious Charm upon it, preventing the metal from melting. "Something that will help it burn hot longer is a strong wood beneath the cauldron, rowan is the best for this…" he added, pulling a full log of the dense wood from his robes and set it in the fire.
Faykan glanced once at the list Severus had created as the recipe of the potion, then spoke again, "You said you used three leaves, I'd suggest five," he added the leaves, and picked up a unicorn horn. "Instead of adding the ground horn powder, let's try stirring the potion with it, you have here seven times left and twice right, I agree with this."
Dipping the horn into the cauldron, Faykan stirred the indicated times in each direction. The potion fizzed and turned a shade of olive green. Faykan continued on like this for several minutes, making suggestions and writing the changes he made to the potion on a separate piece of parchment. Severus distinctly noted that the boy was waving his wand significantly more than needed when elaborating on stirring, and there were brief pauses where the Slytherin swore he heard the boy mumbling under his breath.
By the time he was finished, the potion was a bright sea-blue with simmering silver vapor wafting off of it. The color was more crystallized and clear that what Severus had accomplished with his recipe.
"Undol, I daresay that it this batch of potion is far better than what I came up with on the spot." Severus said. Rarely had he ever seen something worth his praise, but this was astounding. The boy had taken a potion that Severus had made in desperation, on a whim, and turned it into a masterpiece. Faykan blushed slightly at the compliment, but regained his composure swiftly.
He quickly cleared away everything, but Severus spotted as Faykan carefully removed the log from beneath the cauldron. It had been reduced to ash in short order, all except for a darkened chunk that looked identical to the little iron and bronze circles the boy now wore on his belt. "Wood from the burning…" the boy murmured.
"So," Faykan said, catching Severus as he was about to question him while they bottled the new potion and sent it up to the Hospital Wing for Madam Pomfrey. "I'd like to ask your professional opinion about something."
Severus looked at him, silently granting him permission. Faykan took a deep breath and continued, "Do you know anything about an Animagus form changing… I mean I know about Patronuses changing, but this is completely foreign to me… I was wondering if you could shed light on the subject?"
"Well," Severus replied, confused by the question, but unwilling to ignore a direct request, "the Patronus Charm is powered by the inner personality and feelings of the caster. Therefore, if the subject suffers an emotional upheaval of some sort," Severus glanced momentarily at Faykan before continuing, "Then the form of the Patronus can sometimes change to resemble to include the new feelings in the personification of the witch or wizard… The animagus change is rather similar, yet many research wizards have yet to uncover exactly what qualities determine the form for each witch or wizard who successfully completes the transformation… Might I inquire as to what your form changed into?" he added as an afterthought.
"A Kitsune," Faykan responded. Severus had heard of the magical creature from the isles of Japan.
"I see," Severus replied slowly, "well, in all honestly, I do not know. There are no recounted cases of Animagi changing their forms, mainly due to the small amount of wizards that can perform the change in the first place. And it's completely unheard of for wizards to have magical creatures as Animagi forms…" Faykan's face fell slightly, and he stared off into space for a few moments.
"It's because of what happened at the graveyard, isn't it?" Severus said softly.
"What?" Faykan said, snapping back to attention.
"Your form… it's because of your death and resurrection, the last time you cast it was long before the Third Task. Perhaps the sudden increase of power and inherent change to your magical core altered more of you than you realize…"
Faykan thought for several silent moments, and Severus almost asked about the circles, but decided to alter the subject to the boy's less secretive self-imposed task, "So, about Harry, how have you been getting on with him and the others?"
Faykan shrugged, "Well enough, but… I think Harry, and definitely Hermione are getting suspicious of me. I… I almost told Harry who I was today… but… but I couldn't do it, and then the bell rang and I ran…" the boy looked away, and Severus put a hand on his shoulder, "You'll know when the time is right to tell them. You might not need to, knowing Granger she'll figure you out before the year is through," he added with a chuckle.
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The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast. "But on the plus side, no Umbridge today" said Ron bracingly.
Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She had been up all night, kitting what looked like rough woolen clothes that she said were for the house elves of Hogwarts. This morning, she looked mildly pleased, and when Ron asked, she simply replied, "The hats have gone. It seems that the house elves do want freedom after all."
"Um, Hermione…" Will said, pulling his pipe out of mouth and blowing a small stream of smoke into the air, "technically you don't have the authority to free the house elves here, you're not their owner. That would be Professor Dumbledore…" Hermione looked vastly disappointed and upset, but Will took no notice, still talking "Besides, house elves enjoy working for wizards, why are you trying to make them miserable?"
"Did you even read the book Faykan left you in his will?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Hermione said hotly.
"And?" Ron insisted.
"And… I've never read such a biased and anti-magical creature book. It actually suggested that wizards created house elves in the first place and that they are unable to 'comprehend freedom' as they're not 'proper sentient beings…'"she snarled angrily, "Why Fay gave me that book I'll never understand…"
"You didn't chuck it out though, did you?" Harry asked tentatively.
Hermione softened at his tone, "No, of course not. But still, I never would have thought Faykan would believe that."
"From what I've heard about this Faykan, he never did anything without a purpose, so maybe you need to look for his reasoning behind giving you that book." Will suggested absently, blowing a large smoke ring from his pipe.
"Perhaps…" Hermione said, mournfully still thinking of Faykan.
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Double Charms that day was succeeded by double Transfiguration that morning. Both Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of O. .
"What you must remember," said little Professor Flitwick squeakily from the top of his stack of books, "is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid; we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"
They spent over an hour of the lesson reviewing summoning charms, which Harry performed with great ease, having mastered the spell the previous year. Professor Flitwick ended the lesson by setting them their largest amount of Charms homework they had all yet seen.
It was very similar in Transfiguration. Professor McGonagall set them to attempt the vanishing spell, which was much more of a challenge. Harry still managed it, having read up a lot of advanced transfiguration during the summer when he was cooped up at Privet Drive.
Only he, Hermione, and Will were able to successfully vanish their snails, earning Gryffindor a total of thirty points between them. Ron wasn't that far behind, however, as his snail only had a light shimmer of shell remaining after his attempts. He and everyone else were given homework to practice the spell overnight.
Lunch was a rather quiet affair, as they had only a small amount of work to think about for the moment. Harry caught Will watching him during the meal, a very odd expression on the other boy's face, something akin to a mixture of nerves and shame. Harry was just ready to yell at him to either speak or quit looking at him when the bell for the afternoon lessons rang, and they all filed out down to Care of Magical Creatures, intercepting Draco on their way.
Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with twigs. As Harry and Ron reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind them; turning, they saw Theodore Nott striding towards them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin cronies.
He had clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they gathered around the trestle table and, judging by the way they all kept looking over at Harry, he was able to guess the subject of the joke without too much difficulty.
The twigs turned out to be creatures call Bowtruckles, tree guardians that lived in wand quality tree and fed on woodlice and fairy eggs. Professor Grubbly-Plank set them all to take a Bowtruckle and make a sketch of it with labels for the lesson. Harry, Will, Draco, Ron and Hermione circled around to the back to be closest to her. Harry inquired about Hagrid, but only received the usual answer of 'Never you mind.'
Draco leaned in to whisper to them all, "I know where he is, or at least, my father does…"
"Where?" Harry asked impatiently in a low voice.
"Looking for the giants…" Draco answered, so softly that everyone had to lean in.
"But…" Hermione started, but Draco held up a hand to silence her as Nott leaned around to pick up the biggest Bowtruckle, "Maybe the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured…" he said snidely to Harry.
Will, who on the opposite side of Harry, looked around to Nott, and his grey-blue eyes flashed as they stared at each other for a few seconds. Nott swallowed loudly, and backed off without another word. "How on earth do you do that mate?" Ron asked, but Will ignored the question, instead taking their Bowtruckle and tuning it so everyone had a good angle to draw it.
The rest of the afternoon was relatively peaceful. After Care of Magical Creature, the Gryffindors went to Herbology, where Harry saw Luna Lovegood and Ernie Macmillan, both of whom stated that they believed Harry and Dumbledore about the return of Voldemort, which lifted Harry's spirits a bit more.
During dinner, Angelina set upon Harry about getting detention that Friday, which was when she had booked the Quidditch Pitch for Keeper tryouts. She practically threatened Harry to be there no matter what, and stormed away. Harry protested to Ron and Hermione that the likelihood of Umbridge letting him off was less than zero.
At five to five Harry bade the others goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, "Come in," in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around. The room was hideous, filly and girlish with lace and a wall covered in foul plates with technicolour kittens on them.
Naturally, Umbridge declined his request to attend the Keeper tryouts, saying that it would do good to help reinforce that he shouldn't tell evil, nasty, attention-seeking lies. Harry felt his anger starting to build up again, and suppressed it with difficulty. "Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr. Potter. No, not with your quill," she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. "You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are." She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point. Harry didn't like her use of the word special.
"I want you to write, 'I must not tell lies,'"she told him softly.
"How many times?" Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.
"Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in," said Umbridge sweetly. "Off you go."
She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, and then realized what was missing.
"You haven't given me any ink," he said.
"Oh, you won't need ink," said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice, which Harry also didn't like.
He found out that he was quite correct in his mistrust of her when he wrote out his first line. Releasing a gasp of pain, he saw that the words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.
Glancing at Umbridge, Harry saw that she was watching him with a sadistic grin on her face. "Yes?" she asked.
"Nothing," Harry replied curtly.
Unfortunately, he had nothing he could do about the situation, and was forced to continue writing, clenching his teeth as he felt the magic slice his hand open again and again, and then close the wound. Harry knew the evil toad was watching for signs of weakness, and his anger fueled him to not show any, even if he had to do this all night.
"Come here," she said, after what seemed like hours.
Harry stood, his hand stinging painfully. When he looked at it, he saw that the skin was raw from the constant irritation. "Hand," she said. Harry extended it, repressing a shudder as she took his hand to examine it.
"Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet," she said, smiling wickedly. "Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go."
Harry left without another word. The school seemed quite deserted as he walked back to Gryffindor Tower. As he climbed the stairs to the sixth floor, Harry heard something that sounded like paws on stone behind him. Whirling he saw nothing but shadows. He looked around, trying to see movement for several seconds, but nothing appeared. The same thing happened again when he reached the seventh floor landing.
"Who's there?" he said, as he spun around to look for the source of the noise. A black shadow was immersed in the corner behind a suit of armor. Bright eyes reflected the moonlight from the windows. At first, Harry thought it must be Mrs. Norris, but the eyes he saw were lightning-blue, not lamp-yellow.
Taking several steps back, Harry gasped when he tripped on something and fell hard to the stone floor. His right hand hit the wall and he yelped in pain. Struggling to get up, Harry saw the darker shadow move toward him. As it entered the light Harry stopped, looking in awe at the creature that had emerged.
It looked something like a large dog, but lithe and fox-like. The jet black fur was patterned with oddly familiar grey markings, and the creature had the oddest looking tail, large and fanning out. Harry realized that it wasn't one tail, but six different bushy fox tails that moved independent of each other. Half of them had a strange marking on them, like a circle that was cut into fourths by a cross.
The creature didn't stop until it was directly over Harry, watching him with those stern blue eyes that reminded Harry vividly of Faykan. Tears formed as he thought of his friend and how much he missed his best friend, his brother in all senses but blood, and to his surprise the fox creature began to weep as well, pearly white tears dripping from its eyes. It bent over his right hand, blinking several times to allow the tears to fall on the irritated skin.
Harry gasped again when the pain in his hand vanished, and looking down he saw the skin returned to normal, if not a tiny bit stiff. The large creature lay on its stomach next to Harry and watched him closely, tears still welling in its beautiful blue orbs. Harry couldn't resist, and he reached out to stoke the midnight fur on its head.
It tilted its head into his caress, mewling slightly in pleasure at his touch. Time seemed to slow as they lay there on the floor, Harry absently moving his hands over the creatures face, feeling its ears gently and smoothing out the long fur of its face. It never protested, but looked almost at peace with Harry's stroking. Then, after what felt like an eternity, the creature rose and nudged Harry to his feet, then took off in the direction of the Room of Requirement. Harry had the sudden impulse to follow, but he couldn't keep up with the creature even if he tried, so tiredly he made the rest of the way to Gryffindor Tower.
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Hermione watched Will throughout their Transfiguration class the next morning. Aside from looking slightly tired, the boy didn't seem unusual in any fashion, but Hermione was determined to figure out why Harry was edgy and nervous around him a lot. Harry hid his feelings well, but Hermione knew better. It was nearly identical to the way Faykan had acted during their third year, but being Harry it was more confusion than pining. In truth it was rather adorable, but Harry was simply having too much happening around him to be able to sort out his feeling on any one thing.
Speaking of which, Harry was having a horrid day. He had to cram doing his homework during meals, as he had said that he didn't get back from his detention till very late, and it looked like he would have the same issues until his detentions were over completely, as the new homework they were set was of the same quantity as the last.
Hermione was also interested in the creature Harry said he had seen after his detention, describing it as some sort of large, multi-tailed fox. It sounded vaguely familiar to Hermione, but she decided to research it later, when Harry was at his detention and Ron disappeared to go flying. Honestly, that boy was about a subtle as a brick, but Hermione decided to leave him be for now. It would do him good to be on the Gryffindor team if he managed it.
Will was also gone, as he spent his evenings assisting Professor Snape in the dungeons. That left Hermione alone in the common room, as she decided that one prefect should be there in the evenings to keep Fred and George in line. She was alternatively reading a book on magical creatures and doing her hefty stack of homework, while checking occasionally that the twins weren't overstepping their bounds in their joke shop work.
Since they received the green light from their mother they had become a lot more open about what they were doing, and even though Mrs. Weasley still inwardly disapproving, she even gave them some helpful suggestions from time to time. Currently they were doing trial runs on students with their snack boxes, carefully supervised they had assured Hermione, just to make certain that the sweets reacted the same to everybody who tried them.
The book propped on her lap was entitled 'Magical Creatures of the World.' She had acquired it from the Room of Requirement when she had asked to learn what animal Harry had encountered. She smiled to herself as she suddenly realized that none of them had ever gone to the school's library since Faykan showed them the room, as it provided all the books they could possibly need or want.
She found the creature rather quickly, as it was the only one that resembled Harry's description: 'The Kitsune, or Spirit Fox, are a breed of incredibly powerful magical creatures native to Japan. Living over hundreds of years and possessing great wisdom, these foxes are more notably recognized by their multiple tails, which represent the age and power of each individual. Kitsune possess many different magical abilities, including the power to shape shift, command fire and lightning, and even heal wounds. Muggles in ancient China and Japan have recounted tales of seeing these majestic creatures, as they are able to choose whom may see them, magical folk or muggle.'
It was interesting, and defiantly the creature Harry saw, but there were some discrepancies. Firstly, why would a Kitsune be so far from its homeland, as none have ever been accounted this far west of Asia? Secondly, Harry adamantly said the creature had jet black fur, but most if not all Kitsune were either white or golden. Also there were no recounted Kitsune with markings in their fur. The last two could be explained by the creature's abilities, but that still didn't explain why it was here.
Momentarily, Hermione thought it could be an Animagus, but there were problems with that as well. Firstly, Hermione had read the listing of Animagi throughout the years, and no one fitting anything near that description existed. And secondly, even if it was an unregistered witch or wizard, Animagi only turned into normal animals, not magical creatures.
Will entered minutes later, after most of the younger Gryffindors had gone to bed. "Hello Hermione, working hard I see." He said cheerfully, flipping a small disc in his hands absently as he sat across from her at the fireplace. Hermione smiled back, covertly closing the book on magical creatures and setting it aside. "
So Will, how is working with Professor Snape?" she asked casually, watching his face discreetly for any subtle changes.
"Oh, its great, he's not only teaching me advanced potions, but he's helping me with all my other classes as well, especially Defense Against the Dark Arts. He is a much better teacher then that old gargoyle Umbridge." He added icily.
Hermione couldn't help but grin in agreement. Umbridge was indeed a horrid teacher. She stopped however when she spotted the small round object in the firelight. It was stone, and looked exactly like one of the symbols that Harry had described on the Kitsune: a circle cut into quarters by a cross.
"I just wish there was a place for me to practice Defense during the day, so I can do other important things with Master Snape. I'm sure there are plenty of others who feel the same, especially the fifth and seventh years." Will was saying, but Hermione was focused on the object in his hand.
"Don't we all," Hermione responded dismissively. She wasn't about to tell anyone about the room unless Harry, Ron and Draco all agreed to. Although it would probably be a good thing to get a few trustworthy people involved with their group. Perhaps even a defense club… She'd have to convince Harry to teach it of course, and that would defiantly take some time.
She almost asked about the little sign in Will's grasp, when Harry entered the common room and Hermione glanced at the clock. It had only been about an hour into his detention. "What happened Harry, did Umbridge let you out early?" she asked.
"Yeah," Harry answered, slightly dazed, "I don't know what exactly occurred, but one minutes she was sitting at her desk with a grin on her face, the next she was gasping in pain and ordering me out of her office."
"Strange…" Hermione said, and turning to ask Will's opinion, she saw him grinning, almost vulpine-like before he masked the smile with a look of concern. Hermione narrowed her eyes. It was obvious that Will had done something to ensure that Harry wouldn't have to do his detentions, but how, and why? These were harder questions to answer.
The other boy stood and stretched, and Hermione saw that his belt was odd, with multiple little straps of leather wherein three other quartered circles rested, with room for the one the boy was holding and two more. Will turned and walked away before she got the chance to ask, and Harry took his place next to her.
"What is it?" Harry asked, looking confused.
"I'm… not sure yet," Hermione replied, looking at the Gryffindor boys' staircase and narrowing her eyes. Something fishy was going on, and she was going to find out what.
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Albus was mildly distressed to hear from Severus that Madam Umbridge was using a Blood Quill on Harry during his detentions. Unfortunately, there was very little that he could do. Dolores would simply get Cornelius to sign a degree to countermand anything that the Headmaster did in the matter of Harry Potter.
On the plus side, Harry's anger for the new Defense teacher would only distance him from the Ministry, further putting him on Albus' side, so Albus would choose to do nothing to prevent the woman's authority for now.
He turned as he heard a soft tapping on his study window, brightening as he saw one of the large German ravens that could only be bearing a letter from Lord Zemar. Albus opened the window magically and the great black bird landed with a clatter on his desk, extending the letter on its leg.
Tapping the white hand seal with his wand, Albus opened the letter and read:
'Lord Dumbledore
It has come to my attention that the Dark Lord is attempting to gather an army to himself, not only consisting of humans, but a plethora of Dark Creatures as well. It is my solemn duty to inform you that the reach of his power is even felt here, far across the channel.
Wargs, large semi-intelligent wolves, are migrating in droves to the west, crossing the flatlands near my home day and night. Armies of orcs and their kind are also on the move across the country. The wizarding communities of Germany are doing what they can to battle these creatures, but they are not proving to be a match for their onslaught. My own home, as well as the nearby communities, is safely guarded however, and I am assisting in the withdrawing of several other villages to behind its wards, but you must look to your own boarders.
I would venture my guess that his call will probably come to the werewolves and the giants, possibly even trolls and vampires, not to mention the Dementors of Azkaban. As long as your Ministry refuses to believe you; however, I do not see how you and your Order of the Phoenix can prevent him bringing these creatures into his fold.
My suggestion is to begin your own conscription, bringing the creatures of the Light to the defense of the wizarding world. Unicorns, Centaurs, Eagles, Dwarves and Men would be among my first choices. There are fewer communities of Squibs in Britain than Germany, but they would still be eager to do their part to throw off the oppression of Lord Voldemort.
There are means for them even to battle Dark Creatures. Surely you have heard of the metal Mithril. Its properties include being near impervious to physical damage, and high resistance to magic. If you were to be able to acquire the metal in large amounts, you could potentially arm many people with weapons and armor that could reflect most if not all major curses.
On a slightly less grave note, I would like to inquire about your 'secret weapon;' the boy prophesized to slay the Dark Lord: this Harry Potter. What measures have you taken to preparing the boy to face Voldemort? Has he been given advanced defensive training in both martial and magical means? Have you worked to develop his talents, such as the animagus form or wandless magic? Would he make a decent leader in his own right if you were to fall in battle?
I do not ask these questions to patronize you, Lord Dumbledore, merely to ascertain the readiness of the boy, so that I can formulate a potential time table of the length this war may take.
Yours in the Light,
Lord Zemar of Germany'
Albus sat back after reading the message. This was grave news indeed. If Voldemort was summoning to him an army of evil as far as Germany, if not farther, then the population of Britain may not have a chance to succeed against him. At the least the prophecy was safe, tucked away in the Department of Mysteries, and Voldemort was not foolish enough to take it himself, or aware yet that only he or Harry could even remove it.
It was only a matter of time though. Lord Zemar was correct. Plans must be made for the all out war to follow, and the worse possible outcomes.
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Severus watched Faykan out of the corner of his eye as they prepared ingredients for the next week's classes. They boy had been incredibly quiet, yet was smirking to himself about something.
"Mind filling in the rest of the room to the inside joke," Severus commented when Faykan had started sniggering to himself.
"Oh, I just got a small taste of vengeance against Umbridge and her Blood Quill…" Faykan said, still smirking, "Harry's outside on the pitch this evening where he belongs, and Albus got my letter today. Not to mention people in Germany are fleeing to my fortress home to escape the dark creatures flocking to Voldemort's side, and Hermione has had the random notion of forming a Defense Against the Dark Arts group to undermine Umbridge's nonsense further planted into her mind. I feel pretty good right now." He said, his smile splitting his face.
"Sounds like the only thing left you need to accomplish is revealing yourself to your friends." Severus said pointedly, earning a glare from the boy.
"I'm working on it," Faykan huffed, "how many times have you died and come back to life disguised as someone else? This thing needs to be done delicately…"
"Yes," Severus agreed, and then he added, "but when?"
"Soon,"
"How soon…"
"You're really going to do this to me…"
"If I must..."
"I hate you sometimes…"
Severus laughed. It was like old times with the boy's father. He paused, thinking of the powerful secrets that the family had been hiding all these years… it was amazing.
"I'll try again this weekend. Maybe a combination of the Room of Requirement and my Animagus form will do the trick." Faykan said, sighing in resignation.
"Or you could just pluck up that Gryffindor courage and tell them straight up…" Severus shot back, smirking himself now.
"I'm a Slytherin and you know it," Faykan blustered, "I'm only in Gryffindor because I needed to be close to Harry."
"And the reason for that was?" Severus asked, genuinely curious. Despite the closeness that he and Faykan shared over the last summer, there were still many things that Severus didn't understand. In some aspects, he agreed with Albus on this matter, that Faykan's intentions, however good and noble, were completely unknown to anyone other than himelf, and therefore he was extremely unpredictable. Severus did not; however, automatically assume that he was dangerous, as Albus had.
"I cannot say yet Sev." Faykan said softly, looking down at his work, "It would only cause you to have more questions, and it is not the time for them. Soon, I promise you. Very soon I will be able to fully answer all the riddles, all the mystery. If it was found out now, my work could be halted and disaster would follow, just trust me a little longer."
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Harry smiled and laughed along with everyone else at the small party the Gryffindors were throwing to celebrate Ron joining the Quidditch team as Keeper. Ron was beaming at all the attention, slopping butterbeer down his front in his excitement. Even Hermione seemed to be enjoying herself, although she was sitting away from the noise of the crowd and reading a book.
"Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you," called Katie Bell, "we can take off his name and put yours on instead..."
As Ron moved away, Angelina came striding up to Harry.
"Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter," she said abruptly, I regards to Harry's detentions. "It's stressful this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes." She was watching Ron over the rim of her goblet with a slight frown on her face.
"Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous," she said bluntly. "I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hoopers a real whiner, he's always moaning about something or other, and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies. She admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charms Club she'd put Charms first. Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favor and help Ron as much as you can, OK?"
He nodded, and Angelina strolled back to Alicia Spinnet. Harry turned at the portrait hole opened and Will strode in, raising his eyebrows at the noise of the party, then smiling as Fred pressed a butterbeer into his hand and explained quickly.
Will grinned at Harry when Fred left to talk with George and Lee Jordan, then went to sit across from Hermione in a squashy armchair. Glancing at Ron, Harry noted that he was still busy being fitted in the scarlet Gryffindor Quidditch robes, so he maneuvered his way to join Hermione and Will as well.
"Hello Harry," Will said cheerfully as he sat down, "great news about Ron, huh?"
"Yeah," Harry said, struggling to shake off the feelings of confusing draw that he suddenly felt when he came close to the other boy.
"Hermione was just telling me about the book she was reading, about house elves," Will went on, and Hermione started to explain everything to Harry, but he only vaguely listened to her, as his mind was definitely elsewhere. Will was watching him openly, and Harry could feel his eyes, as well as some invisible presence around him. It was hard for Harry to grasp, but it felt... something like the way being around Faykan used to feel, safe perhaps…
Thinking of Faykan still hurt, and Harry could feel a small trickle of tears running down his cheek, as well as the small bubbling of anger at his murderer.
"Harry?" Hermione said, concerned. But as he looked at her, Harry felt a searing pain across his scar, as well as a peculiar sensation in his midriff. He clapped a hand to his forehead.
"It's your scar, isn't it?" Will said, and Harry found that the boy had moved to kneel in front of him, "May I?" he asked, gesturing at his forehead. Harry wasn't sure why, but he removed his hand, allowing Will to smooth over his fringe and look at the lightning bolt shaped cut. Harry never let anyone touch his scar except Faykan, and on occasion Madam Pomfrey, but for some reason he felt safe to let Will.
Will's hands were rather cool as he ran a finger along the scar, and the tingling sensation spreading through Harry at his touch wasn't completely unpleasant either. "Didn't Dumbledore say that your scar hurting had something to do with that You-Know-Who was feeling at the time?" Hermione asked, and Harry nodded, remembering that awful night after the Third Task with Fudge and Dumbledore in the Hospital Wing.
"Perhaps you should tell him that it's hurting again, Harry?" she persisted, but in Harry's head the warning from Faykan rang again, that he should not trust Dumbledore.
"I'm not going to bother him with this, it's been hurting an and off all summer, it's not a big deal." He said dismissively. Will was still inspecting his scar, and he was so very close. The boy's magic was wafting gently into Harry's face as they breathed. It was oddly sweet, mixed with the smell of fire and something else. Harry felt himself becoming rather relaxed as he felt it.
"Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would want to be bothered by this…" Hermione continued, and it took most of Harry self control not to sneer back that it seemed all Dumbledore cared about was his scar.
"No Hermione, I'll write to Sirius instead… see what he thinks…" he said in protest.
"Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!" said Hermione, looking alarmed. "Don't you remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted any more!"
"All right, all right, I won't tell him, then!" said Harry irritably. He started when Will pulled away suddenly from him, and he saw something that made him stare. Will's eyes were completely different, the usual grey gone from them, leaving only a crystalline blueness.
Will stared back, clearly realizing that Harry could see his eyes, and moved a hand to cover them as he rose to make for the dormitories, making an excuse to Hermione. Harry then saw the glint of gold and red on the other boy's left hand, and was struck with how incredibly familiar it was.
Getting to his feet, he said to Hermione, "Uh… I'm going to go to bed… Tell Ron for me would you?" Hermione nodded, and returned to her book.
Harry tore up the stairs to the fifth year dormitory and opened the door silently, locking it behind him. Will was in the center of the room, and spun as Harry entered, a slightly frightened look on his face at the determination Harry displayed.
Harry advanced toward him, and Will stepped back, until he tripped into his four-poster and fell back onto it. He attempted to roll backward onto the other side of the bed, but Harry seized him round the waist to prevent him from escaping. Will struggled, and managed to get free and darted for the door. Harry drew his wand. He was getting answers, whether Will wanted to give them or not.
"Colloportus!" he said, sealing the door magically just as Will tugged at the handle.
"Let me out Harry," Will said, turning to face him as Harry walked around the four-poster and continued advancing on him.
Harry didn't answer, but merely pointed his wand at Will, who flinched. "Who are you?" Harry demanded. Will's eyes darted from the wand, to Harry, to the window, and finally back to Harry. Then he simply smiled, which unnerved Harry slightly. Momentarily he thought that the boy was honestly considering jumping out the widnow.
"Well, this truly isn't how I expected this to happen…" Will laughed softly, holding his hands up in a sign of surrender. "Please lower your wand Harry and I'll explain part of this very long and confusing story."
Harry pondered simply stunning him and taking his body to Professor Dumbledore or Snape, but decided to allow him one chance to explain himself, and lowered his wand.
"Thank you Harry," Will said, "Now, I will warn you in advance, that this might come as a bit of a shock… tela ista." Harry gaped as Will's body melted away, the mousy brown hair lengthening and darkening to black, while the face sharpened and grew more pronounced. Faykan's crystal blue eyes welled with tears as Harry sagged to his knees and dropped his wand with a clatter.
"It can't be…" Harry breathed, unable to believe his eyes. Faykan was dead, he had seen him die. Yet here he was, standing before him, perfectly whole and nearly a year older.
"It is Harry," Faykan said, and his voice seemed to radiate both understanding and love, piercing Harry to his very center. "I'm so sorry for deceiving you like this, but I could not allow people to know I lived until my plans were fully in motion. I admit I was starting to worry if I'd ever voluntarily reveal myself to you. I almost managed it that day before Divination, but I lost my courage at the last second."
Faykan came over to Harry, seeming to glide across the floor, and knelt to embrace him. Harry broke down into sobs, and Faykan ran soothing circles along his spine, muttering nonsense into his ear.
Finally, Harry came to himself, and asked he largest and most burning question, "How? How is it that you're alive?"
Faykan's smile faltered slightly, "I honestly do not fully know myself Harry, I remember everything up to the moment we tried to escape the graveyard, and my wand exploding," he showed Harry his left arm, and there on the skin were the scars from the wooden splinters of his old wand, forever marring the milk whiteness of the flesh. "I think I truly died then, but… something called to me, pulling me back to the earth, grounding me you might say. I remember a blast of familiar magic, and then nothing until I awoke on top of Orthanc with Severus."
"Professor Snape knows?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Fay admitted, "he has helped me these past few months in setting my secret return into place. The apprenticeship of 'Will Stanton' and smuggling me into Grimmauld Place and Hogwarts, right under Dumbledore's crooked nose I might add." Faykan said with a small laugh.
Harry grinned, then remembered the fleeting vision he had had before his hearing at Grimmauld place, "then, that thing was real, I mean that day during the summer…"
Faykan blushed slightly, "Yes, it was real… that was my first attempt to tell you who I was, and as you probably figured out it didn't go as I planned. Not to say that it wasn't impossible, but I knew it would cause you more pain. So I backed off, bided my time until we returned to..."
Harry silenced him by hugging roughly, squeezing all the breath out of his best friend.
Faykan was alive.
That was all that mattered to Harry right now.
tela ista : end spell
Potential Spoilers Ahead: you Have Been Warned!
So, Wood from the Burning is added to the circle. As I had mentioned this is only functioning for now as a side addition, and really doesn't impact the main story in any overarchingly meaningful way, yet. still they are nice details to keep an eye out for as we go along. Not much to say atm, as I'm up at a funeral and haven't the time to spend on making these notes as I normally do, so I'll leave off there for now. until next week! ~F