Hi.
Sorry about the wait. I have no excuse, BUT IM TRING TO MAKE SOMETHING FOR THAT. I rewrite the first chapter of this fic and i already have the beggining of my other stories' chapter plus the beggining if this one's next chapter, so don't worry, you'll et at least 2 chapter before the end of the holdiday.
Other that that, the little break that i took completly changed how this event was going to happened, and i found it better that way.
Hope you enjoy, c u at the end.
As panic began to spread among the crowd, Harry glared at the man that fainted, hoping that maybe he would catch fire like that.
"Silence !" said a voice above every noise in the hall ?
Harry turned to Dumbledore to see him take his wand away from his throat, and looking over the now silent hall. Eyes sharp and hard.
'Sonorus spell,' provided Pevrel as he manifested next to him ,' it enhance the power of your voice.
Harry nodded absently as he listened to what the headmaster was saying, which made him curse. He faintly noted that the students next to him all turned to him at his curse before searching for the ghost teacher at the head table.
Said ghost crossed his gaze while shaking his head slowly. This time Harry stopped himself from cursing and walked back to his table to follow the prefect.
'You do know that your room is in the Dungeon right ?' said Pevrel as the passed the hall doors.
Harry stopped cold as he took the information. No way that he was going to get himself face to face with a troll so soon in his training. Later. Next year maybe. He turned away from his housemates to go back to the hall. A hand stopped him.
"Where're you going ,Harry ?" asked Dawn with a raised eyebrow.
He looked at her and the rest of his house that stopped when the girl talked. He stayed that way for a moment, hoping that at least some of them realised that the headmaster just send them to fight a troll. Maybe even Dumbledore didn't realise it.
"Are you all fucking serious ?" countered Harry.
They looked at each other before a seventh year walked to him and took him by his collar .
"Watch you mo-" "Our Dorm is in the dungeon," deadpanned Harry.
Once again nobody moved for a few second as they also realised the situation. The seventh year dropped him with wide eyes.
"Merlin's beard … your right !" exclaimed said Slytherin before glaring at Harry.
As they began to question themselves to what they were going to do , or why nobody actually seemed to realise that they were in danger, Harry took out his map and whispered the formula.
Behind him, Pevrel was looking at the assembled students with a pout.
'I would actualy have liked to see you all fight a troll,' admitted the ghost ,' all your classes are beginning to bore me.'
Harry 'hmm'ed him an answer as he looked at the teacher footstep running back and forth In the dungeon. He actually wondered himself if they were playing tag or fighting a troll. Their movement seemed so erantic …
It seemed that Quirell and Snape where not with them. He kind of admitted himself that Quirell couldn't fight a cat, but Snape was strange. He was apparently a pretty good fighter, from what he learned. Flitwick and him, the charm teacher, had a certain reputation in the duelling world.
As he began to search for them on the map, all the while absently listening to both his housemates and Pevrel , a suden movement caught his eyes. Two names where running in the corridor of the castles. The first one he know, as she was the girl who beat him at basically every subject, but the other one …
He widened his eyes.
'- and blood ! So much of it, it's kind of what you expect when you cut someone in hal-' "What did you about spells that were useful against troll, again ?" cut Harry.
Pevrell stopped and looked at the map .Blues balls began to appear where his eyes should be.
Line Break
Hermione was running in the corridors of the castle as fast as her eleven-year body could take her. Her legs were beginning to burn and her vision was blurry with tear that had yet to dry.
She wanted to stop, but a burst of wind from behind here took away this idea.
A quick glance confirmed that, yes, the troll was still behind her, and the sudden burst was caused by the swing that he took with the piece of tree he used as a mace. Her breathing was becoming more than heavy and she tried to open the next door that she saw without success.
The troll took back his footing after his strike and began to run again, forcing Hermione to run once again. She didn't know how all this happened. She hide herself in the toilet to cry after hearing what the Weasley boy said, hoping deep down that he would come and apologize, without success.
She was beginning to get herself together and she opened the door of the toilet, when a wood club smashed the floor in front of her. She had somehow managed to pass between its legs, and it began to chase her.
Was it really the only thing she deserved ? A troll ? Deep down her, she began to think so, and she began to slow down. Just as she was about to trip , she felt a hand grab her waist and her feet left the floor.
"That little-" said a voice above her, after another burst of wind brushed her.
She looked up to see a boy she never saw before, he appeared way older than her, so a seven year probably. She barely managed to spot green on the robe of her saviour before she heard another voice, more muffled this time.
"Turn right ! Right !" screamed a distorted voice, like it came from a phone.
She felt herself move around as the boy holding her followed the indication, and saw the staircase at the end of the hallway. She felt a faint smile appear on her lips, just before the stair began to move away.
"Nel !" said the boy holding her.
"I saw," answered the other voice, " no choice ! Jump !"
Hermione had just the time to understand what was just said, before the boy jumped from the now empty staircase. She felt this strange sensation of lightness before she screamed, covering the two cry from another floor.
"Wingardium Leviosa ! " screamed two voice just after they jumped.
Hermione felt herself stop in mid air, as both her and her saviour where standing mid air in the very middle of the grand staircase, their life held by a spell that wasn't supposed to be used on humans.
"Don't move too much," said the boy holding her ," it's hard enough for them just to maintain us like that"
She looked in the same direction of the boy to see two other students with wand pointed at them, seeming focused on what they were doing.
A inhuman growl made her remember that a troll was behind them. She turned her head to see the beast rushing in their direction, slowing only when it realised that there wasn't any floor left in front of it.
It walked to the edge of the floor, eyes on Hermione and her saviour and growled at them.
"Now," said the boy.
Just as the beast raised its club, another series of scream were heard behind it.
"Depulso !"
Now, usually, a banishing charm used on a troll, whose hide was resistant to most magic, would be useless. But, usually, its not thirty spells or so that are launched at the same time.
The troll was propelled 4 meter away, directly into the empty staircase with a loud noise . Hermione saw its back eyes burning with fury one last time before it disappeared under her.
The loud crashing was the only indication that he reached to bottom.
She tried to look at it, but felt herself and the boy holding her moving . It appear that the person holding the spells were moving them from the pit under them.
Relief washed over her as the boy holding her touched the floor, before he gently sat her on the floor .
"You're okay ?" he asked her slowly.
She nodded her head. Dozen of other students rushed from the hallway in their direction, wand at ready, as ten other ran down the stairs. One of them crashed into her saviour, kissing him square on the lips.
"Thanks Morgana, you're okay," said the apparent girlfriend of the boy.
The boy embraced her, with a laugh.
"Nobody run faster than me," he said, " and certainly not a beast like that"
Other people gathered around the two, slapping the boy on the shoulder, smiling. It was at this time, now that everything was okay, that adrenaline left her body, that she saw the green crest on their robe.
She gasped, bringing the attention on her. They looked at each other before one of the Slytherin walked to her.
"What's your name?" asked the boy as he crouched in front of her.
"… Hermione… Hermione Granger .." she said softly, with wides eyes.
One of the Slytherin barked a laugh.
"Seriously ? We did that for a muggleborn ?" asked a voice .
A loud slapping was heard, with a quick 'sorry Eva'.
Another girl came from the group , sitting in front of her.
"Don't mind them, they just want to appear more scary than they are," began the girl ,"I'm Evangeline Dowen, a sixth year prefect,"
Hermione nodded softly, but lowered her gaze.
"How did you get yourself in this situation, Hermione ?" asked the girl softly.
Hermione raised her head a little, before she shook her head, Making Evangeline 'Eva' sigh. She gently shoved the other boy away from them before taking one of Hermione hand. The other one gently brushing her cheeks.
"Where these tear from fear," began the girl ," or were they here before ?"
Hermione flinched and tried to take away her hand away from the girl. Eva squeezed gently Hermione's hand, enough to continue holding it, but not to much to hurt her.
"Sometimes, word can hurt more than a spell could," said the girl gently ,"but you mustn't let them scar you heart, not when its still so soft"
Hermione looked into the girl's eyes, and saw a certain familiarity. The girl smiled at her and she cracked. She launched herself into the girl arm, crying all she got.
The other looked at them silently, another slapping resonated, with another 'I said I'm sorry !'
It took two other minutes or so for the teacher to arrive and ask them what happened. By then, Hermione and Eva where up on their feet, holding each other hand.
McGonagall rushed to Hermione when she saw her, mortified.
"What happened here ?" asked Dumbledore.
The students looked at each other, before a boy , who Hermione recognised as the one who was holding her, took a step forward.
"Yes, Lorian ?" asked the headmaster.
"We were on our way to the dormitories, professor, when one of us remarked that it was in the dungeon, where the troll was supposed to be," began the boy, " so we decided to wait for you back in the great hall ."
Dumbledore looked at him, allowing him to proceed.
"But … then, we heard a scream, and next thing we know, Granger was running in our direction with a troll behind her." continued the now named Lorian .
At that one point, Lorian took a quick glance in Snape direction, making him raise an eyebrow.
"We had to elaborate a plan on the run," said Lorian," so we decided to bait him to fall in the stairs."
Dumbledore eyes twinkled.
"But the stair got away ?" conclude the old wizard.
Lorian laughed a little.
"But the stair got away"
Dumbledore looked at Lorian straight in the eyes for a second more, before looking at the other teacher.
"I guess it need some reward then," concluded the headmaster," 30 points to Slytherin for defeating a troll, and good thinking in a critical situation"
All the Slytherin smiled, or smirked for some of them, at this. Then, Dumbledore turned to first year Gryffindor, who's McGonagall was talking with.
"What I'm more surprised with is … why was Miss Granger … not with her housemates ?" asked the old wizard.
Hermione flinched away from his gaze, only looking at Eva when she squeezed her hand. Just as she was going to talk to the headmaster, a running noise with a heavy breathing took their attention. They looked at the staircase, as an out of breath Harry appeared at the end of it. He seemed to be arguing about something with someone, only, he was alone. He didn't look at any of them, and only stopped when he reached the top of the stair.
"Its… All good … Troll's dead … so its-" Harry stopped when he saw the teacher looking at him.
He took some times to gather his breath before standing tall, with what looked the closest to a smile on his face.
"Sorry about that," said the boy-who-lived as he stopped a little to breath, " But we had to be sure about his state"
Line break
Harry was walking down the stairs after hearing the plans that one's Slytherin , Nelson Caleb, explained to his house. He then pretexted to wait at the bottom to see if the Troll died. In reality, Pevrel forced him to wait for the troll, rapport to his training.
'If we can't send a ghost to the afterlife tonight, we shall do something else, something more interesting.' Said the close-to-be-ghost.
As Harry neared the last stair, he heard a scream above. As he looked up, he saw the one that was designed as the fastest of them, Lorian Glass, and Granger floating in the air. He saw the troll appear at the end of the hallway, club raised.
"Will it work ?" asked Harry nervously.
Just then, a cry of ' Depulso' was heard, and the troll was propelled in the air, and felt down before him. He reached the ground with a loud 'crunck' and made the stone tremble a little.
'See, it worked' said Pevrell as he floated next to the troll.
Harry followed the necromancer soon after, slowly taking step toward the immobile beast. Aware that it could kill him if it woke up. As he finally stood next to the troll, he looked at Pevrell.
"Is it dead ?" asked Harry to his teacher.
'Hmm, hard to say if I can't interact with it…,' began the dead wizard ' do you see a white fume coming out of his body ?'
Harry looked over the troll body, before finally seeing a white translucent fume coming out of his chest. It leaked out of his body slowly , before dissipating in the air .
Harry nodded his head.
'Fantastic, let's start the Harvest part of the necromancer training,' said the mist happily.
Harry looked at him strangely at the term 'harvest'.
'First, put your hand in the direction of the mist,' Harry did so ,' Then, gather energy like I taught you.'
Harry closed his eyes and began to concentrate. He willed the energy to gather in his hand, and pulled. When he opened his eyes, he did not saw the white sand like fabric, like he was used to, he instead saw the fume slowly moving in his hand's direction, gathering in his palm in a small ball.
'Nice, very nice,' commented Pevrell, ' now, put it to your chest.'
Harry slowly brought his hand close to his chest, with quite a bit of apprehension. He did not really like the idea of bringing a dead troll soul close to his body. But he did anyway. The white fume slowly converged around his chest, before slowly being absorbed in it. Immediately, Harry felt like he become lighter, as if all the fatigue was gone from him.
'Congratulation, Harry,' said Pevrell, 'You just Harvested your first soul.'
Harry nodded, passing his hand where the fume just disappeared. He barely saw two blues balls appear in Pevrell head before an impossible pain shook his entire body.
'Now come the fun part' said Pevrell with laughing.
Line break
Harry tired his best to look normal as they, the Slytherin house, walked back to their dormitories. After his arrival, the professor choose to sent them to their room while they went to examine the dead troll. All the professor but Snape and McGonagall went to see the Gryfindor house's head accompanied Granger to the nurse, while the Slytherin one followed his house to their dorm.
For Harry, the hidden part of the harvesting, that Pevrell choose to keep for himself, because apparently it was something akin to a tradition, did quite a mess of his body.
His right arm didn't want to move anymore and he was limping because the muscle of his feet were contracted and didn't want to relax. Let's not forget about his heart, who went to almost coming out of his chest from almost making him pass out from not pumping enough blood.
Nonetheless, Harry was still a elven year old boy, and all the training in the world coulden't make him hide his pain from someone who had at least some experience in reading people. Which mean almost the entire Slytherin house.
'Hm, maybe, just maybe we shouldn't have begun with a troll,' said Pevrell as he floated above Harry.
"You're the troll" mumbled Harry as he greeted his teeth.
"What ?" asked Dawn from next to him.
Harry tried to smile and shook his head at the girl. The blonde Slytherin looked at him strangely before turning her head.
'Yes , yes, I must say that I didn't take in count the fact that the troll core was so different from a wizard's one' , admitted the ghost ,' and maybe necromancer usually harvest their first soul only when their core is mature enough'.
Harry snorted, making him wince at the same time, bringing the attention of his house to him. He saw some look of concern, but simply choose to make it look like he didn't notice.
After Snape pronounced the password to let everyone enter, he stopped Harry, who was last, with his hand.
"A moment, if you would, Potter " said the man slowly.
Harry saw Dawn and Nott look at him a last time before entering the common room. Snape took back his hand as the door closed in front of them. The necromancer in training gazed at his master, before turning to look at Snape.
"What can I do for you, professor ?" asked Harry with a smile, a forced one.
Snape looked at him up and down, stopping on his left legs and his right arm, before focusing on his eyes. Then, without saying anything, he pushed him with his hand.
Harry, with the pain that was creeping in his body, simply felt felt down with a wince.
"You would do well to inform someone when you get hurt, Potter," began the potion teacher, "acting tough won't get you anywhere in this house"
Harry glared at the man as he sensed blood crawling on his arm. He got up using the wall as a support, bowed to him and turned away, on his way to the infirmary. He heard the door open close behind him, but didn't look back.
Line Break
As Harry was quite slow, or choose to walk slowly, at least, to lessen the pain, he decided to talk with Pevrell about the 'harvest'.
"What does it do, exactly ?" asked the boy as he limped his way up the stairs.
'Well, without going into details,' began the mist as it materialised next to him ,' the white fume that you saw was the remnants of the troll's soul after it left to the afterlife. Like ash after a flame if you want'.
Harry nodded pensively.
'To continue in that metaphor, necromancers are those that can call back this flame from its ashes, with a different fire. A cold one.' Explained the dead wizard.
Harry climbed the last step before stopping for a bit, thinking of the possibilities.
"That mean that I could technically bring back the troll to life?" asked the boy as he began to walk again.
From next to him, he saw Peverell shake his … mist.
'No, even if you wanted to he would never come back to 'life',' said Pevrell with making the gesture, 'what I made you do is different. You see, when a soul leave for the Grand voyage, it left everything that won't be useful to him. For magical creatures and wizard, it also means their magical core.'
Harry began to slow down again as he saw the nurse door at the end of the hallway.
"You made me absorb it ?" deduced Harry.
'Exactly !' said Pevrell happily, ' When absorbing this thing, one can try to mend the broken magical core to his own, amplifying his magical power '
Harry widened his eyes, that seemed to good to be true.
'Of course, there are some … drawback,' said Pevrell slowly ' One cannot expect to gain power so easily, but you shouldn't concern d about it for now. Let me handle the trouble for the moment.'
Harry nodded, and passed the door to the infirmary, pretexting having fallen down the stair when he tried to escape the troll.
Line break
Harry awoke next morning on a strange bed. He looked around before remembering that he slept in the infirmary because the nurse, miss Pomfrey, actually forced him to stay here so that she could keep an eye on him.
It seemed that she didn't actually bought his story about falling down the stair, but she didn't comment on it. He wasn't the only one trying idiotic thing with magic apparently.
A familiar voice made him turn his eyes. It was one of the upper year Slytherin, Eva Dowen, if he remembered correctly, a sixth year prefect. She was whispering to someone in the bed next to his', behind the curtain.
'She Is talking with miss Granger,' said Pevrell as he traversed said curtain,' about being a muggleborn.'
Harry raised an eyebrow, Dowen always, gave him the impression to be a pure blood. Or he didn't actually expect muggleborn to be so respected in the Slytherin house. Proof that he still had a long way to go till he could read someone as well as his master.
He shook his head at Pevrell, asking him to stop peeping in private conversation, making the old wizard pass completely trough the curtain. Pomfrey too, this moment to come back from wherever she was and saw him awake.
"Ha, you're awake Potter ! I trust that everything is back to normal ?"
Harry blinked twice before realising that all pain had left his body. He raised his right arm, wincing a little at the end, and wiggled his feet without problems.
Pomfrey came next to him and took his arm with a frown, making it move a little.
"It will calm down In a little while," said the nurse with a sight, " In the meantime, try not to ' fall down the stairs', mister Potter ."
Harry smiled sheepishly at the knowing look that she had before coming out of the bed. As he was putting back his socks and footwear, he heard the curtain behind him open.
Out come out Eva, who was smiling at one first year Hermione Granger. His housemate looked at him with a raised eyebrow, before walking out of the infirmary.
Hmm, his upper housemates didn't seem to believe in him. He would need to change that at some point. Expect he couldn't exactly stand in the common room and say 'hey, I'm in reality a Necromancer in training, studying here to find a clue about my master's death and trying to destroy the school in the meantime.'
Harry frowned. Yes, he wasn't going to do that.
"Harry Potter, right ?" said a small voice behind him.
Immediately, Harry went into his ' interact with other people just after thinking about something stupid' mode, and turned to Granger with a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Miss Granger " he asked back, presenting his hand.
She looked at it for a moment before shaking it with her own. Then they went silent. He didn't actually had anything to say to that girl, he it seemed that she wanted to say something but couldn't.
He finished tying his lace and got up, turning to the girl.
"well, I will be on my way now," said Harry awkwardly, "see you in class then, miss granger."
He walked to the door and started to made his way to the great hall. As he left the infirmary he heard some running noise behind him, but he ignored it. As he continued to walk, he continued to hear noise behind him.
'It seem Miss Granger is following you, boy' said his teacher while appearing above him.
Of course she was, they were going to the same direction, what was strange was that she choose to leave at the exact same moment at him. As he began to thought of a reason for it, he heard the person stop behind him.
"Harry ?" asked the girl .
Harry turned around to face the girl with a smile and a raised eyebrow.
"Yes Miss Granger ?" asked the necromancer in training.
She pointed the hallway that he just passed.
"The great hall's that way, isn't it ?" asked the girl once again.
"…"
"…"
Pevrell exploded in laughter.
Harry felt his face burn furiously and he turned his head away, crossing his arm.
"Could it be that …" wondered the girl aloud.
Harry walked to while blushing and put his hand on her mouth. He tried to glare at her, but apparently his blush kind of made it useless.
"Don't … finish that sentence," said Harry weakly.
Hermione couldn't take it anymore, and she laughed. Making Harry even more embarrassed that he was. When she finished laughing, Hermione smiled at him.
"I'm sorry, I just thought that you were one of these spoiled brat that the other Gryffindor told us about," said the girl as he hand him her hand. "Let's start again, I'm Hermione Granger, first year Gryffindor."
Harry looked at her hand, sighing, he passed his hand in his hair before letting his façade fall. He took the offered hand in his own.
"Harry Potter , first year Slytherin"
She smiled at him.
Line break
They entered the great hall at the same time, bringing some eyes on them. Harry ignored them entirely and walked to his table, sitting down next to Dawn, who was looking at him strangely.
As he served himself some food, he saw Granger approach her table slowly, and the people sitting at her said table sending strange glance at her.
"Where were you ?" asked a female voice.
Harry brought his attention back to his table to see that it was Greengrass that asked him. Now that he thought of it, Greengrass also seemed like a pureblood brat to him when they first meet, but now she was protecting Davis, one of the other half-bloods. He really needed to stop judging people by their cover.
"I was in the infirmary, I felt down the stair yesterday," said Harry with the lies that he used yesterday.
"That why you were limping yesterday ?" aske one Zabini Blaise.
Harry nodded. He was right, everyone in the house saw trough his act. That or Zabini was really good at reading people. He looked at the rest of the first year to see recognition on most of their face.
Ha actually took this time to see the seating arrangement that were made.
Greegrass and Davis sat next to each other, with Zabini and Parkinson on the other side. Next to them was Bullstrode and Crabe, with Goyle and Nott in front of them. Dawn sat next to Nott and he was next to Dawn. It seemed that while everyone was friendly with each other, groups were made inside of the year.
"Excuse me ?" asked a voice .
They all turned to see Granger looking at them with apprehension.
As Dawn put her familiar smirk and was about to said something, Harry hit her with his knee under the table.
"Yes, Granger ?" asked the boy with a smile.
Granger looked at the rest of the table, spotting some upper year looking at year strangely, before crossing gaze with one Eva Dowen. She looked back to the first year.
"Can I sit here ?" she asked weakly.
'She don't lack courage,' Said Pevrell from next to him,' She is a Gryffindor trough and trough, we have to gibe her that.'
Harry nodded, looking at the Gryffindor table, where he saw people glaring, before looking at his housemates. They were looking at him and Dawn, but mainly at Dawn. He also looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
She glared at him, and at Hermione, before sighing.
"Won't you get in trouble with that, Granger ?'" asked the girl.
"I won't, its actually said that people can sit wherever they want during the feast. Apart for the beginning feast, the ending one, and special events." Answered Granger without missing a beat.
When they all looked at her, she blushed.
"That's what said in the rule, anyway," said the girl while bowing her head.
Harry turned to Dawn with a raised eyebrow, as did the rest of his year mate, making the girl blush.
"Whatever," said the blonde with taking some more food.
Hermione sat next to Bulstrode, in front of Harry, with some reserve as the big girl smiled at her.
Well, it seemed that everything was going smoothly for the moment. And it's was better like that, thought Harry.
There we are.
To be truthfull, i was planing to kill hermione at the begginig, and making her stay as a ghost.
But then i saw all the movies another times and i couldn't bring me to kill her. SO SHE LIVES.
Next we'll have Christmas and 3rd floor, but i'm going to update my other story just before. Don't worry i already have something like one page and half od it, and lots of idea, so it shoud be quick.
As i said, expect at least another chapter of this fic before the end of the holdiday.
Thank you for reading, sorry for any fault that i made, i hope that i'm imporving since the first chapter.
Happy feast !