Chapter 11
"Oh Harry, you could never do anything that I wouldn't forgive you for."
Harry stiffened at this statement. Hermione didn't know what she was saying, after all. Couldn't realize that he had sold her friend out to the evil that lurked in the shadows behind this sanctuary. Couldn't know because he couldn't bear to see the look of betrayal in her eyes.
Couldn't bear to lose her friendship.
He dragged a ragged breath into his suddenly tight chest. Then he buried his head in her frizzy brown locks, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.
Damn it! What am I supposed to do...?
"Wha-? Harry? Hermione?" A surprised voice interrupted their moment.
The two turned to see Professor Vector looking behind them in astonishment. They parted as she moved past them in a seeming daze. She lifted her hand towards the tree but was stopped by the entire thing suddenly turning an angry shade of red.
"What is this?" She turned toward her students.
Harry shoved his hands into his pockets, giving her a short shrug. Hermione gave him a quick glance before she turned to Vector again.
"I don't rightly know, Professor. I found it like this."
Vector gave Harry another sharp look, but the boy met her with stony silence.
"This... this is amazing..." Vector murmured as she turned back towards the wards. "I need to take notes. Harry- did this respond to anything you could see?"
Harry hunched over even more- his paranoia in full swing now. After all- who knew what this meant? He was pretty sure even Vector didn't know. The woman gave him an exasperated sigh.
"It will become pretty obvious if you leave and these wards go back to normal." She told him.
Damn. She was right. Harry sighed and stepped out of the wards' zone.
The white sphere broke into the individual golden disks that made it up- the tree dissolving before their eyes. When he stepped back into the zone, the blinding light and white sphere once again made their appearances.
Vector stared at them in rapturous wonder. "That's just... incredible. Beautiful! This is what arithmancy is all about- do you see?" She asked her two students.
"Oh, yes!" Hermione gasped in awe.
"Mister Potter- did it always do this when you entered?"
Harry nodded dutifully at her.
"Fascinating. And all you do is step into the wards' zone?"
Another nod.
"Amazing! This is completely unheard of! I'll need some samples of course, and a detailed drawing of these things. Bathseba is having a dickens of a time trying to figure out these symbols... I don't suppose it's something one of you have come across? Because I swear, that woman doesn't even read journals..." Vector muttered to herself.
Hermione shot Harry a disturbed look. Harry made a questioning gesture with his hand.
"Erm, Professor?"
"Oh, yes Miss Granger?" Vector said, still distracted.
"What kinds of samples will you need?"
"Oh, you know. Samples of Mister Potter's magic."
At this Harry prepared to bolt but was stopped by the very firm chest of his Head of House. The man raised an eyebrow at him and Harry prepared to be dressed down.
"Severus!" Vector cried out, before she realized that there were students in the room and she was spilling parchment and chalk all over the place. She smiled nervously and ran a hand through her short curls.
Hermione stared at that, but he just pressed himself as flat against the wall as he possibly could. There was no way this would end well.
"Miranda. Imagine meeting you here." Snape's voice was dryer than the Sahara.
"Wh- I... here? Really?" Vector looked a tad bit confused. "Wait- why are you here? I'm doing my job!"
"Indeed. I am merely here to punish two wayward students. Something unthinkable to a kind and caring educator like you, I'm certain."
"I... I hardly need to take points you... you... great bat! My pupils happen to love me."
"And the Hufflepuff girl you made cry?"
"That was different! You might be a vampire but I need my beauty sleep!"
"Then I shall have to take over your lesson plans, as you're obviously not getting enough sleep."
A piece of chalk hit Snape's nose and Vector gave a maniacal cackle. "Oh look- I just hit the biggest part of you, scrawny scarecrow that you are."
Oh Merlin. That was their sign to get the hell out of there. Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and hared out of the door just as Snape got into his own insult.
Something about the pot calling the kettle black. Though far more eloquently worded.
Hermione though, was looking almost ridiculously pleased about something. As though Snape's tongue didn't put the fear of bloody Voldemort (or Merlin, whatever works) into her. Hell, he was a Slytherin and he had a healthy fear of the man.
Still, once they were out of the danger zone he slowed enough for Hermione to catch up to him, instead of dragging her off. She linked her arm merrily with his and started telling him all about how brilliant a tactician Weasley was.
Something had to be done about that guy.
No way was he letting that cretin anywhere near her.
"You know, I'd love to see the two of you playing some chess. Wonder who'd win?"
What. The. Hell?
No. Never. He refused. That was the one whim of hers that he'd never give in to. He gave her his best death glare. She laughed.
"Do you Slytherins practice your glares in the mirror or something?"
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The darkness seemed to meld with the shadowy figure kneeling before Lord Voldemort.
"Well, my most faithful spy. Is everything going to plan?" Voldemort hissed.
"Yes my Lord. We have successfully distracted them. The true plan will unfold under their very noses and they will be none the wiser."
Voldemort laughed then, something evil and slithery. "Well done. Have you found them then?"
"I have found one, My Lord. The rest will follow quickly."
"Find them all. I will take no chances."
"Do I have your permission to use force, My Lord?"
"Of course, I do so love force. Be sure to break them- and break them properly. But do not kill them unless absolutely necessary. No one can know what we are doing."
"Yes, My Lord. Thy will shall be done."
"See to it. I will tolerate no failures."
The shadowed figure slinked backwards, all the while keeping its hood up to hide its smile.
This was going to be fun.
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It was... peaceful.
That was the first thing he noticed. The feeling of absolute peace that permeated the air. There was grass under him, long enough to hide him if he so wished. And a playful breeze mucked about all around him.
"This is a beautiful place- truly." The female voice from his dreams said.
Harry's eyes flew open even as he launched himself backwards- straight into a tree.
"Fear not, Heir of the Lotus Tree. Tonight your sleep will be peaceful. No dreams will torment you- the shadows of your past have been dealt with." The woman who spoke was beautiful.
She was obviously of some Asian race- her golden skin and almond shaped eyes attested to that. Her white hair was done up with elaborate combs and she wore a fine white kimono, with golden embroidery which made her grey eyes take on an almost golden sheen.
And when she smiled at him, it spoke of serenity and peace.
"Wha-?" He stopped. It didn't hurt to speak here, despite his voice still being gravelly.
"You cannot feel pain here, Lotus. For this is a plane of being that transcends all others- a place that very few people are chosen to have access to."
"Chosen? Plane of being? Dear Merlin, I'm going insane."
She laughed- a sweet tinkling sound. "No, you are not going insane. But you are maturing enough to be informed of your destiny. Of the fact that you are one of the chosen ones."
Shit- that sounded like something from the bad kung-fu movies he always snuck Adrienne into.
"I am Mika- one of your teachers on your journey."
"Uh, hi."
"I believe it is only good manners to introduce oneself? Even in the strange West?"
"I... I'm Harry. Why do you keep talking in my dreams? What do you mean the shadows of my past have been dealt with?" Harry asked, confusedly.
The woman hummed. "All in good time. First- we must engage in the tea ceremony."
"Why?"
"Because you have not yet settled here- see?" She said as she gestured to a patch of the sky that suddenly seemed to darken and disappear. "Some tea will calm you."
"Some answers would be a lot more likely to calm me."
The woman merely smiled serenely and proceeded to conjure a low table, two cushions and a full tea set out of thin air.
Harry gaped at her, even as the field behind her flickered and blurred. She then began some elaborate ritual, which fascinated him enough to take a seat on the cushion he was assigned.
After the ceremony was through he sipped gingerly at the tea- it was quite delicious really, it tasted like fresh green apples on a hot summers day. The woman- Mika- smiled at him over the rim of her coffee cup.
"It is a special brew, made for calming. It reads your happiest memories and makes it taste like them. Quite unique really. Much like you." She gestured toward the field they were in, and for the first time ever Harry saw that the trunk he had been up against was the same lotus bearing tree that had popped up in the warding walls.
"Wait- how do I know that the place with the strange disk is called the called warding walls?" Harry asked her.
"Some knowledge will be innately within you. Some will have to be learned."
"Okay- so teach me. What's with the bloody tree?"
She smiled at him. "The 'bloody tree', as you put it, is your sign."
"My sign?"
"Hm. Much like a family crest, although this does not pass through families. It is given to the chosen few."
"... I don't even know where to begin questioning you about that."
"Good. Forget your questions now, and listen:
Once, there was a beautiful princess named Tsuki. She was so beautiful that all the universe courted her, from the sun to the furthest stars.
The stars gave her pearls and diamonds and all things that glittered and sparkled, like her eyes.
The sun, however, gave her magic. For the Sun knew that she would use her magic for good, and that it would bring prosperity to the peoples of the earth.
The princess did indeed use her gifts wisely, and the people of the earth flourished and were happy and blessed.
Tsuki thanked the Sun immensely, and he bade her to use her magic to allow him a day with her.
The two fell instantly in love, and were married soon after, despite that they could only spend one night of each year together. They had nine healthy children- all of whom inherited their parents' gifts.
But the evil Dragon, Hyorimaru, was jealous of the princess' gift and of her love for the Sun. So it hatched an evil plan.
He gathered his armies and attacked the castle, intent upon snatching all that was lovely and good from the world.
The princess bade her servants to take each child to a safe place and hide them there. Then she turned to fight the dragon- but after a fierce battle she was felled by a greedy servant's arrow through her back.
Hyorinmaru let out a great cry of victory, even as the sun cried for his beloved wife.
The children were hunted down one by one, as Hyorinmaru and his followers sought to claim magic as their own. But the magic could not be commanded by them, for it was not given to them out of love. And so they never did gain any magic, their struggles were for nought and they ended up killing each other out of greed and petty jealousy.
But the stars saw this, and they took the princess' spirit and fashioned for it a new, shiny body, which they kept aloft in the heavens with them. So that the sun may look upon her each day, though they can never touch again.
And the stars also erected at each site that a child was killed an arch.
These arches allowed the children a place for their spirits, and their magic flowed into the earth, joining into a great net that criss-crossed the earth.
And so it was that the magic became imbued into the earth itself.
It allowed crops to be grown, and eventually imbued enough magic into people so that they became wizards, witches, shamans, sangomas...
And that is how we came to be."
"... What kind of bullshit is this, exactly?" Harry asked her, brow cocked.
She merely laughed again, and put down her cup. "This 'bullshit' is your lesson. Think on it, and return to me with your thoughts tomorrow."
And then he was dumped unceremoniously on the doorstep of consciousness. Just in time for the alarm to go off.
Harry groaned and threw his pillow at the wall. Why did this chick think that she had to be all mysterious and shit? Was it really that much to ask someone to just come out and say something?
This was going to be a long day.
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It had been a long day so far, Fleur Delacour thought as she stared into the mirror in her room on the carriage.
Being couped up with so many people... well. They had nowhere to go but the inside of this damned carriage and there were only eight of them (the winners and runners up of each of the four testing categories) and Madame Maxime on board.
They'd had a few fights.
Things had even ended in tears last night. Marie and her boyfriend Henrie had gotten into a nasty lovers' quarrel, and it had taken them hours to forgive each other. They had then celebrated getting back together with a hectic bout of making out.
On the other side of her wall.
Fleur shuddered at the thought. She knew a lot more about those two than she had ever really wanted to know now.
And now, here she was, in her silvery Beaubaxtons uniform trying to decide whether she should wear her hair up or down.
Maybe she should braid the two front pieces of her hair, and then pin it around her head? A classic style, which also solved her conundrum as it was a bit of both.
"Fleur- Madame Maxime says we will be landing in five minutes!" Marie's voice came from outside her door.
"I will be there, thank you." Fleur replied, even as she set her nimble fingers to do the braids. She was done in three minutes and headed for the general commons of the carriage where all the others were already waiting for her.
"Ah, here we all are! Get ready to disembark everyone- and remember: be on your best behaviour. You carry the people of France with you now!" Madame Maxime chided.
There was a general murmur of consensus.
The landing was a bit rougher than Fleur would have liked- she had always had motion sickness, and the lurches of the carriage landing turned her a faint shade of green. But she refused to throw up.
It was only her sheer strength of will that saved her from making that kind of entrance.
The first thing to hit her upon disembarking from that damnable carriage was the cold. It bit through the flimsy fabric of her silk uniform like the teeth of an angry hyppogrif. Next to hit was the shivers.
Ugh. She hadn't even spent five minutes here and she already hated this cold, dreary place.
She could only hope that it was warmer inside that castle. She hated the cold- her Veela blood couldn't handle cold. And when Veelas got cold they tended to get bitchy.
She had a feeling that she was going to spend this entire trip being bitchy.
There was much fuss and ado as the English headmaster greeted her headmistress. Fleur just wanted to get inside before she froze to death.
But nooooooo, they have to wait for those idiots from Durm-something or other. Damn them.
And then the glassy lake bubbles, a ship finally pops out and a bunch of boys swarm down the gang plank like insects. Once again there is pomp and circumstance as their headmaster is welcomed and then finally they can go into the castle.
Which is draughty.
And only marginally warmer than the outside.
This blows. Literally.
She shivers again and then there is a warm cloak around her shoulders. She looks at the boy who draped it around her shoulders. He merely gives her a brilliant smile and then he's gone in a whirl of black hair and green eyes- so fast that she's not sure that he's not a ghost.
That was... weird.
But unexpectedly nice.
Not nice enough to get her into a good mood but she does feel less cold and less cranky because of it. Obviously he knows something about Veelas. Maybe it won't be quite so bad.
Her optimism only lasts until the English headmaster starts his speech. It's still cold enough for her to be cranky and she's hungry and so she asks the ginger to "pass ze bouillabaisse" somewhere in the ridiculous speech.
She leaves the dining hall too quickly to be polite, but she simply cannot care in this harsh cold.
And then she's back in her room and getting into her flannel nighties and ensconcing her frozen feet into her knee high fluffy striped socks. A guilty Muggle pleasure, but one she is incredibly glad of.
She spells her bedding with the strongest heating charm she can manage and crawls under the covers where she spends the next hour shivering pathetically. She finally manages to get warm and falls into a deep slumber.
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Daphne Greengrass, meanwhile, is sitting in the general common room listening to Urquart and Vasey's latest Gryffindor taunting ditty.
Her heart isn't honestly in it, but she needs the distraction to keep her from overthinking things. Harry is- supposedly- gay. She's been begging every deity she can think of to make it not so.
She hadn't confronted him about it of course, mostly because he's been spending most of the day with a look of extremely sexy brooding on his face and lurking in the library.
She's not quite sure what that's about.
Maybe he was looking for something important. Or maybe he was dreaming about his lover.
No, scratch that. She'd seen many a lovesick look in her time and he hadn't been wearing it. Besides, who would be his lover? Draco? No. There honestly wasn't any attractive force between the two of them. Teddy perhaps? Nope. No spark there either.
Someone from another house?
It was ridiculous really, she hadn't even seen him really interact with any male except for the ones in Slytherin. And of course Longbottom and his cronies.
Oh dear Merlin.
Of course- he and Longbottom were hiding the unresolved sexual tension between them behind their brawls. This was horrible. Tragic. Longbottom would probably just use him for sex and then leave him- crushing his heart like a delicate porcelain figurine.
So deep was she in thought that the hand on her shoulder made her start in surprise. She looked up to see those wonderful green eyes looking quizzically at her.
She blushed. "Oh! Erm, hi Harry!" She says and her voice is just a bit too high and she's trying too hard to sound friendly.
He frowns at her for a moment before a look of realization crosses his face and then he's leaning into her personal space and his mouth is right next to her ear and his gravelly voice causes a puff of air to hit it and oh dear Merlin he's so close and that feels so good and...
"I'm not gay." The voice rasps.
Daphne's too busy trying not to grab him then and there to really immediately realize what the words mean.
It's only after he's backed away from her and shook his potions book with a look of amusement that the words sink in. He's not gay.
Oh.
Oh thank Merlin!
She gives him a bright smile and tries to get her body under proper control. "Oh, right. Of course not! I mean, I know you better than that! Never believed the rumours. Not even for a second. Nope. Not me."
He shakes his head and gives her a little amused chuckle.
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A/N: Thank you all so much for your reviews/favs/alerts! They make organic chemistry better- and that's saying something! (Especially since I wrote this instead of studying... Oops?)
Uhm. It has been pointed out to me that my A/Ns are getting very chatty. Sorry about that. I now have a forum where I will be putting the FAQs and so on forth. It's not really running at the moment since, apparently, I have missed out on something somewhere when it comes to actually posting in my own blooming forum... I'm getting off topic again. Sorry.
There be a poll on my page! So go vote!