A big thank you to Lupanari for looking over and editing this chapter!
Woot! Here's your fix with chapter six! Alright so not much happened in last chapter but there was a lot of foreshadowing! Anyway I've not much to say here so here the chapter!
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Link walked into his temporary room with a huge sigh. He had just returned from his shopping trip with Hagrid. All in all it was a rather unusual experience. Finding the correct books was simple enough and getting the robes was more awkward than anything. He didn't like that the robes had to be black though, he much preferred his forest green tunic, but was told it was mandatory he wore them.
The woman who was there had magic tape measures that floated around him taking his dimensions, which Link had to admit was interesting. When he was asked to take off his floppy green hat however, both the woman's and Hagrid's expression changed. It was only when Hagrid inquired about his ears that Link noticed that every single person he had encountered thus far had short rounded ears. It had also occurred to him that his hat hiding his ears from view was probably a good thing. Hagrid also agreed that it would be best to keep his hat on at all times during his classes.
Link gave a quick 'I was born with them' and put his hat back on, making sure in the mirror his ears were hidden. Hagrid just nodded as his mood seemed to change to sympathetic understanding. Thinking back on it now, Link figured there must have been a misunderstanding somewhere with the short conversation they had.
The wands were another story all together. Almost every one he tried ended in an explosion or sparks flying that caught something on fire. There was also one that froze the water that was in a flower vase. Even though Link was sure he'd destroy the owner's store before he could find a suitable wand, the man was persistent and eventually found a wand that, when flicked, didn't end badly. Eleven inch oak with faerie dust and gryphon feather in the core; when Link tried that one gold sparks shot out and floated down to the floor harmlessly.
He felt kind of odd swishing a small stick for attack or defense, but was told he would he would understand soon enough. Looking the small piece of wood over, he admittedly felt safer holding a deku stick than the wand. As he pulled out his belongings from his pouch, he smirked as he remembered Hagrid's bewildered look as he explained the enchanted pouch.
When he stuck his books in the pouch Hagrid took immediate interest in it. Once Link explained how it worked, the tall man wanted to go get one of his own. The pouch held all his things small or large but the weight of the pouch never changed. Everything he owned and took with him was kept in the pouch. If he wanted the item back out later all he had to do was stick his hand in the opening, concentrate on it and it will jump into his hand. This made it very easy to switch from one weapon to another in the heat of battle, though he didn't tell Hagrid that.
Once all his supplies were unpacked, and he had stored his sword and shield safely in his pouch, he made sure his hat was covering his ears before he locked the door to his room and left for Hagrid's hut. He wanted to get in some riding on Epona, the poor horse needed to stretch it's legs, and Link was craving the rush that flying across at top speed on an open landscape gave.
As he crossed the open field to Hagrid's hut, Link could have sworn his feet barely touched the ground. When he reached the hut, Link whistled causing the horse to neigh and trot over. He patted the animals nose before mounting up to start his ride. Link could sense the horse's excitement as he eased her into a gallop.
The breeze whistled by him as he picked up speed brushing past the unsuspecting students he encountered. A few of them screamed as they ran out of his way while others did a 'deer in the headlights' routine, which was only comical in Link's eyes.
He rode around the castle a few times taking up a good two hours, before he returned back to Hagrid's hut. Stretching his arms as he jumped off the chestnut horse he led it back into the small barn and filled the trough with water. Once he had finished tending to the Epona, Link headed to the hut. Link enjoyed the tall man's company and he wanted to see some of the animals he talked about. When Link had asked about them Hagrid was all to eager to show them off.
"Hello?" Link called as he opened the large door and entered the hut. He could hear movement as he walked in but had to wait a moment for his eyes to adjust before he could see who was in there with him.
When his eyes did adjust he was able to make out three other people in the room. "Back so soon Link?" Hagrid teased causing Link to grin.
"So that's his name?" the girl asked turning to face the green clad teen.
Link bowed dipping his head slightly in response. "Yes, my name is Link," he said nodding to each of the unknown people in turn, before looking to them expectantly. They quickly got the hint and introduced themselves.
"Oh! My name is Hermione" the girl said coping the slight bowing motion awkwardly
"I'm Ron," the redheaded teen said a small smirk creeping on his face.
"Harry..." the dark hared teen said simply.
"Pleasure," Link said nodding once more committing the names to memory.
"So are you a new teacher?" Hermione asked.
"Please tell me your taking over DADA," Ron said hopefully.
Link shook his head. "I'm going to be a student," he said smiling
"Going to?" the girl asked, raising a brow.
"Yes, I'm an...." Link trailed off unsure of what term Dumbledore had given him.
"Exchange student." Hagrid said noticing Links confusion.
"Yes, that," Link laughed rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Oh, so then where are you from?" Harry asked genuinely interested.
That caught Link off guard. He couldn't exactly tell the truth, but any lie he made up would probably be easy to spot since he still didn't know much on the geography of this 'new world'. He opted out for being as vague as possible. "Um.. Somewhere not near here..." he said.
Harry raised a brow at his answer. 'He's hiding something,' he thought but didn't do any further inquires.
"So are you all coming to see the Thestrals then?" Hagrid asked excitedly. To this the trio shook their heads.
"It's getting late, we should be returning to our dorm..." Hermione said as she saw Hagrid's face fall slightly.
"Ah well you'll be learning about them soon enough," the tall bearded man replied.
"Bye," Harry said with a small wave suddenly eager to get out of the door.
"See ya," Ron said with a wave sending one last look to Link as he left with his friends.
Once the three friends were out of ear shot from the two in the hut, Harry spoke. "I think that Link was hiding something," he said quietly.
"With an answer like that it's pretty obvious," Hermione said thinking back to when Link was asked where he was from.
"Maybe he's acting as a spy for You-Know-Who?" Ron asked now somewhat nervous. "We should keep clear of him then..."
"Doubtful," Harry said
"I still can't get over that get-up he wears! Any man who wears tights shouldn't be trusted...." Ron replied.
"Well, Hagrid said he owned that horse so maybe they're for riding?" Hermione said, trying to stop Ron from making fun of the new student. "Though I do wonder where he comes from myself..."
"Well maybe he'll be in our year. If we have classes together we could ask him more then," Harry said. "He couldn't have been that much older then us...."
"And if he's sorted into Gryffindor that would make it even easier," Ron said sarcastically, still wary of the green clad man.
"We'll have to wait and see." Hermione said with a sigh. She hated not knowing things, especially things that she had no way of eventually figuring out, and there were no clues as of yet to point her in the right direction.
"Wow..." that was the only word Link could manage to get out as he looked at the strange winged horses. They oddly reminded him of Ganon's horse.... minus the wings. 'If I rode one of those things at top speed I'd really fly across the landscape...' he thought.
"Aren't they beautiful?" Hagrid asked as they watched the strange creatures. One of which seemed to be watching Link with equal interest.
"They're... interesting," Link said unable to break his eyes away from the horse like creatures. They were about 200 meters away from the forbidden forest watching the small herd of winged boney horses, and Link was once again feeling drawn to the mysterious woods. In the midst of his bewilderment of the creatures he made up his mind to return and explore the forest tomorrow.
Link watched as one of the Thestrals came closer to him stopping only a few feet away from him, scuffing it's front hoof in the dirt like a Cuccoo looking for worms. It flapped its wings a few times before trotting off to rejoin the herd. "People can only see the Thestrals if they've witnessed a death," Hagrid said somberly turning to face Link.
Link figured what Hagrid was implying and thought back through his life's travels. He'd seen many a death, most of witch were monsters that died by his own hand. He'd seen the Great Deku tree wither and die before his eyes despite his best efforts to save him. He'd seen the people of Kakariko village cut down by the creature that had escaped from the well, he'd seen them bleed and burn while he tried to defend Sheik from the creature as it turned on him.
The memory of Kakariko was probably the one that haunted him the most. The innocent people's faces twisted in anguish and pain ran shivers up his spine. He was brought back to the present by Hagrid resting a large hand on his shoulder. "S'all right," he said, "you don't have to tell me, I can see it was painful."
"A village was attacked... There were many people who were killed that day..." Link said taking in a shuddering breath trying to remove the dreadful images from his mind. "I tried to help best I could but I couldn't see... I couldn't do anything..." Link said sighing.
That night Link slept easily, somewhat excited of what he might find in the forbidden woods. He was also happy about slipping into a dreamless sleep.
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Well there you have it! Hope you all enjoyed it! Lots of foreshadowing in this chapter too :P anyway please R&R and no that's not rest and relaxation... Please read and review! Tell me your thoughts!