Harry Potter and the Drake Alchemist: Chapter One
By: Star Dragonmaiden
Disclaimer: See Prologue
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Henry Arlan sat in a train compartment, staring blankly into a book without really seeing it.
'What have I gotten myself into…? I'll never be able to do this…I should have refused,' Henry shook his head, some of his long, blue hair falling into his eyes, 'No…I shouldn't think like that…Master Flamel taught me everything he knew…and he can't teach the subject now…that makes me the next logical choice…' He looked out the window with a soft sigh, idly fingering one of the silver charms hanging from the end of his scarf.
'At least Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall are still there…I wonder if Professor Slughorn is still there…?' Henry furrowed his brows slightly, 'Did he retire…?'
"Excuse us?" Henry Arlan jerked out of his musing and looked toward the compartment door, his chest tightening painfully. A girl with curly hair stared back at him anxiously. He took a deep breath and smiled uncertainly, although the girl couldn't see it beyond his scarf. If he was going to teach, he was going to have to get used to being around humans again.
"Y…Yes, how can I help you lass?" The girl pushed the door open the rest of the way, revealing two boys standing behind her. Henry swallowed nervously, the tight feeling returning. He had hoped to ease back into human contact. One child would have been easy, but three?
"Would…ah…would you mind terribly if we joined you? All the other compartments were full." She sounded about as nervous as he felt. His appearance probably unnerved her. He knew him teaching was a bad idea. He bit his lower lip and shook his head slowly.
"Ah…no, not at all… please… come in…"
--
Harry was becoming very frustrated. So far, every compartment had been occupied.
"Harry, Ron and I need to go back to the first car for prefect duties. Let's just share with someone." Ron peered through a window of a nearby compartment.
"Hey, there's only one bloke in here. He sure is strange looking, though." Hermione gasped, scandalized.
"Ron!" He looked over his shoulder at her.
"Come on, Hermione, he's got BLUE hair! See for yourself." Ron stepped aside as Hermione peered through the window and Harry looked over her shoulder. The man's hair certainly WAS blue, going pass his shoulders, and his skin was white. Not pale, but pure white. He was dressed in a tan sweater, blue slacks, tan gloves, and a grey scarf with several silver charms dangling from the ends. He was staring into an open booking his hand and didn't appear to have noticed them.
"…Alright, first, Tonks' hair is stranger than his and second, it's not polite to call people strange," Hermione huffed, "Well, let's ask if he'd mind some company." She started sliding the door and stopped with a shudder, the door sliding closed again. The man's gaze had moved to the window in this time.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Hermione hugged her shoulders, still shivering.
"I…I'm not sure…I just felt this…chill…when I opened the door…My heart started racing and…now I can't stop trembling…" Ron looked nervously between the shaking Hermione, Harry, and the oblivious man in the compartment. Harry looked through the window, concerned. Just who was this man?
"…Well, we're almost to the last car, so…we'll just have to share with this man." Ron looked at her, shocked.
"But…Hermione, there's got to be another…" Hermione shook her head firmly.
"No Ron. We don't have time. Come on." She slid the door open and shivered again.
"Excuse us?" The man jerked and turned toward her. For a moment, Harry was almost certain he saw a glint of unease in the man's green eyes, but it was gone just as quickly. He closed the book he had been reading and set it on his lap before tilting his head slightly at Hermione and speaking hesitantly.
"Y…Yes, how can I help you lass?" The man's voice was soft, with an Irish hint to it. Hermione seemed to pull her courage together and slid the door open completely. Harry could feel the atmosphere become tenser as the man stared at him and Ron, nervousness flashing through his eyes. Harry took a sharp breath as sudden fear gripped his heart. He hadn't felt a fear like this since the Dementors…
"Would…ah…would you mind terribly if we joined you? All the other compartments were full." Hermione's voice trembled slightly as she spoke. The man blinked and shook his head slowly.
"Ah…no, not at all… please… come in…" He didn't sound very thrilled with the idea, but he was probably too polite to say 'no'. Hermione walked in slowly with a soft 'thank you' and levitated her luggage into the overhead rack. Harry and Ron followed after, and within minutes, Harry was seated across from the man, and Ron and Hermione were excusing themselves to perform Prefect duties. The man nodded a good-bye and appeared to return to his book. Harry looked out the window with a sigh, wondering when his friends would be back. Being alone with this man really made him nervous. He just couldn't push this strange fear away. He glanced out the corner of his eye to see the man look back down at his book. He rolled his eyes inwardly.
'Perfect…I know what's coming next. "You look familiar. Are you James and Lily's boy? You're the Boy-Who-Lived! How can you say that You-Know-Who is back? That's a horrible joke!"' Harry thought, a little annoyed, 'Being famous was all well and good, but since the Ministry decided to brand me as a lair and attention seeker, it's nothing but a hassle.'Harry glanced toward the man again; catching him staring this time.
--
"Thank you…" Henry nodded politely as the girl and her two friends shuffled in and levitated their luggage into the overhead racks. Then, the girl and one of the boys, a red head, left the compartment to attend to Prefect duties. Henry nodded good-bye with an unseen awkward smile.
'Some things never change. I remember Remus when he was a Prefect…' He opened his book and glanced over the top of it at the boy sitting across from him…and froze. That boy…the dark, unkempt hair…the facial structure…it was all the same. He looked away as the boy turned toward him. If he didn't know better, he would have thought that he was James Potter. Henry peeked over the top of his book again.
'Impossible…James is about the same age as me…and his eyes weren't green…urk!' Henry realized with a jolt that the boy was looking straight at him and seemed rather annoyed. His book dropped with a thud as he fell over himself to explain.
"Err…I'm s-sorry! I…I know it's not polite! To stare, I mean! Ah…" He hesitated when he notice the boy giving him an odd look. Henry coughed awkwardly as he leaned over and scooped his book off the floor.
"Sorry…you just…reminded me…of someone I knew…a long time ago…" He blinked when the boy rolled his eyes.
--
"Sorry…you just…reminded me…of someone I knew…a long time ago…" Harry sighed, rolling his eyes.
'I knew it!' He noticed the strange man giving him a curious look.
"Let me guess. I remind you of James Potter, right?" The man's green eyes (were his pupils slitted?!) widened slightly in…amazement? Shock?
"Ah…y-yes, you do…but…how did you know…?" Harry shrugged. Might as well get it over with…
"I get told that a lot. I'm James Potter's son, Harry Potter." Thud! The man had dropped his book again.
"J-james'…SON?! Goodness…I HAVE been out of the proverbial loop…I knew James and Lily had gotten married, but…I didn't know they…" The man trailed off, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Harry stared at him. He didn't know?
'I thought EVERYONE knew…' The man seemed to snap out of his thought and focused on Harry. He couldn't tell what the man was thinking due to the scarf covering the lower half of his face, but he could see the hesitation (and warmth?) very clearly in his eyes. Why was the man dressed that way, anyhow? The weather was still fairly warm…
"I'm sorry…" (Why was he apologizing?) "It's…very nice to meet you…Harry…" He hesitated for a few seconds before continuing, "Tell me…how are they? James and Lily, I mean…?" Harry frowned at him. Was this man serious?
"…You don't know?" The man blinked, tilting his head curiously.
"Kn-know what…? Did…did something happen…?" Judging by the worried tone in the man's voice, he really DIDN'T know. This was very strange.
"I'm not sure how you could NOT know this…but…they're dead…"
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"I'm not sure you could NOT know this…but…they're dead…" Henry felt as if his stomach had dropped out. Dead? When? Why? HOW? He bowed his head sullenly. Some friend HE was…
"…How?" Henry flinched, "Ah…s-sorry…I…it was rude of me…" Harry shook his head.
"No, it's okay…they died when I was a baby, so…" Henry's head shot up at this. Learning that two of his friends had died was painful enough. Learning that they had been dead for almost fifteen YEARS was even worse. Henry leaned his head against the window, sighing sadly.
"I'm sorry…I truly am a horrible person…" Harry blinked at that statement.
"What do you mean?" Henry stared out the window at the tree line rushing along side them.
"We…James, Lily and I…we were friends…when we were students at Hogwarts…" Harry seemed to get a little excited.
"Really? What was Dad like? I've only ever heard about his Quidditch days and his adult life." Henry chuckled softly. He was quickly growing comfortable with Harry's presence; far quicker than he thought he would. 'It could be the fact than he's James' boy…'
"Ah…the stories I could tell…hmm…let me think for a moment…"
--
"Ah…the stories I could tell…hmm…let me think for a moment…" Harry leaned in, listening eagerly. The feeling of fear that had been slowly crushing in on him was still present, but it had faded to a strong anxiety. The fact that the man had been friends with his parents probably had something to do with it. Regardless, it was much easier to push it aside. The man nodded slightly to himself and looked at him, his eyes shining with a sort of cautious amusement
"…How much do you know about them? Your father's Quidditch days, I mean? Any specific games?" Harry shook his head.
"No. I only know that Dad was Gryffindor's best Seeker at the time." The man nodded.
"Yes…James was a grand Seeker…How about I…" The door slid open at the moment and Hermione poked her head inside.
"We're back…" She pushed the door open completely and stepped inside, Ron following behind her. The persistent fear had increased significantly, but was no where near the level it had been at. They glanced nervously at the older man before sitting down next to Harry. A tense silence enveloped the small compartment. Hermione fidgeted slightly and pulled a small book out of her pocket, tapping it with her wand to enlarge it. Harry looked at the title.
"Techniques and Theories of Transmutation." Ron slapped the palm of his hand to his face with a groan.
"You spent the summer reading your textbooks again, didn't you?" Hermione huffed in annoyance.
"And what is wrong with that? For your information, Ron, I'd like to come into the new Alchemy and Transmutation class prepared. I'm sure the professor would appreciate that." Ron rolled his eyes.
"Right, but aren't we already taking a class like that?" Hermione gave him a flat look.
"That's TransFIGURation, Ron. They're two different things."
"How? You're just turning one thing into something else." A soft, hesitant voice spoke up, stopping Hermione from responding.
"A-actually…the young lass is right…"
--
"We're back…" Henry looked toward the door as the girl and boy from earlier slipped inside, glancing at him before sitting down with Harry. All three seemed very ill-at-ease. He sighed softly. How could the Headmaster expect him to be a good teacher if the students found him intimidating? He thought briefly about continuing his conversation with Harry, but upon seeing him as nervous as his friends, dismissed it as a lost cause. He leaned over to pick up his book, pausing when Harry spoke.
"Techniques and Theories of Transmutation." Henry smiled weakly. So, one of these children was to be his student. He certainly wasn't making a very good first impression. He straightened as the red-haired boy slapped his palm to his face with a groan.
"You spent the summer reading your textbooks again, didn't you?" The girl gave him a very annoyed look.
"And what is wrong with that? For your information, Ron, I'd like to come into the new Transmutation class prepared. I'm sure the professor would appreciate that." Henry had to smile genuinely at that. Yes, he DID appreciate that. It showed that she was taking his class seriously. The boy, 'Ron,' rolled his eyes at her.
"Right, but aren't we already taking a class like that?" The girl glared at the boy.
"That's TransFIGURation, Ron. They're two different things." Henry nodded slightly, more to himself than anyone. They were completely different.
"How? You're just turning one thing into something else." Henry started talking before his brain could him against it.
"A-actually…the young lass is right…" He pressed on, the children's stares all but unnoticed, "Transfiguration has you…changing an object into something else…say, a rat into a teacup. It's completely magic-oriented…TransMUTation, however, involves magic and science. You…you can change the chemical composition of an object. You can iron as brittle as mica…or as strong as diamond. You can also change its shape, but only with the material provided. It's an equation. Your output has to be of equal mass and materials to what you started with. You can't change its size. There isn't enough mass. That's the law of…Equivalent…Exchange…" He trailed off awkwardly. The children seemed transfixed. He coughed. He hadn't intended to ramble like that, but alchemy was his passion.
"Err…I-I'm sorry…I didn't…mean to…" The girl recovered first, shaking her head quickly.
"No…no! That's explanation was far more simple than the one in the book!" Henry looked at the book in her hands.
"Ah, yes…I…I never DID like that book…it makes the process sound more complicated than it really is…but it's the only text readily available to students…" He noticed the girl was watching him with increasing larger eyes, "Umm…is…is something wrong, lass?"
"Sir…are you…? I mean…you seem to know so much…so…" Henry blinked, looking thoughtful. His eyes widened slightly when he finally realized what she was trying to ask and pushed some of his blue hair away from his face in embarrassment.
"Ah…I'm sorry…I forgot to introduce myself…I'm Henry Arlan…I suppose you would actually call me 'Professor' Arlan…I'm the new Transmutation professor for Hogwarts…"
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I hope the point of view changes aren't too distracting. I'm trying to show the thoughts and feelings from both sides and I'm not sure if I got it…How was the Golden Trio? In character? Is Henry fitting well? Is his constant apologizing annoying? If so, good; it's supposed to be. Henry feels he has to apologize for everything. It leads to a…confrontation, later. ;D
