Harry Potter and the Wars of Heaven by Princess Silverstar
Disclaimer: I own nothing of HP & SM
Chapter 8: Serious Helpers?
The Great Hall, Dinner,
"So, how are you gonna catch Pettigrew?" Harry asked anxiously Kimberly halfway thru dinner, ignoring a look from Ron.
"My brother hadn't said anything yet," Kimberly said with a shrug and then looked thoughtful, "But having Crookshanks around's not gonna help. The rat is scared of him."
"So, just how are we supposed to find him?" Harry asked frustrated.
"I have an idea," Ron scoffed, "Why don't we take that bloody cat and cut him open? We might find what was left of Scabbers in his stomach." He said causing Serenity and Hermione to gasp, Serenity in horror and Hermione in and Kimberly glared at his stupidity.
"You are such an idiot!" Hermione screeched, banging her utensils onto the table in anger, causing everyone to turn to them, shocked. They wondered what Ronald Weasley did to make Hermione Granger furious, probably something stupid.
"If your rat is so damn precious, why don't you keep it locked up in a bloody fortified cage rather than let it loose?" Hermione shrieked as her voice shook in anger, "And don't you dare to blame my Crookshanks when you can't find him!" She said angrily when Ron wanted to open his mouth to retort. Hermione stood up without another word and stormed out the Great Hall.
The students began to recover from their surprise and started in hushed whisper and the Great Hall was filled with noise again. Harry and Kimberly turned slightly away from Ron, whose face had gone slightly purple, and sighed, shaking their heads.
'That was uncalled for,' Kimberly kept the thought to herself.
"Ron, that was way over, mate," Harry said to Ron. Ron scowled and returned to his food.
Weeks had passed by and Harry was growing frustrated with their lack of progress. Christmas was hard to enjoy when Pettigrew is still in the open. He was starting to wonder if they were really serious in helping him and Sirius to clear his name. Hermione found him sitting by himself in a moody manner one afternoon during lunch time. Neville was sitting across him looking nervously at him.
Harry Potter is well known to be well mannered but people tend to be wary of him when he is in a bad mood and with good reasons too. To their knowledge, he was just a baby when he defeated Voldemort. Thus, earning him the title as the Boy who Lived. There was no news of him for ten years.
Then, when he enrolled into Hogwarts, he had faced and once again triumphed over Voldemort. They believed that he was really powerful, even when they weren't told the details. Last year, in his second year, he had faced the culprit who petrified students and still triumphed. Again, they weren't told the details. This year, right before the term starts, rumour has it that he blew up his aunt because he was pissed off. Naturally, people are careful around him in his bad mood.
"Are you okay, Harry?" Hermione asked him in concern.
"No," he said with a light sulk, "Have they found him?" he looked around before spotting Crookshanks at her heel, strutting like he owned the place. He supposed Scabber, no, Pettigrew is not around in the Great Hall if Crookshanks hadn't gone berzerk. Hermione shook her head no as she too wondered if Pettigrew was found.
"So, where do you think could he be?" Kimberly asked her brother as they sat down at the table across Harry. She was frowning slightly.
"I can't exactly check every rat hole or the sewage, can I?" Andrew answered with the same expression, "This place has way too many secret passages, and he, being one of the Marauders, and a bloody rat at that, meant he knew about everyone of them. For all we know, he could have run away without us knowing." The older blonde said and caused his sister to groan in annoyance.
"I'm already sick of this," Kimberly grumbled, "I wonder how those two did it," she sighed in frustration. It took Andrew a while to understand which two she meant. It was one of the best pair of intelligence forces she has under her disposal.
"They are trained to do that," Andrew said and then realised something. He was about to suggest it but was beaten to it by his sister who immediately rejected it.
"Don't even think about it. It's out of their job description." she said sternly.
"How is it out of their job description to sniff out a rat, and if you give the order...?" Andrew said suggestively.
"No, Sol," she hissed his other name. The one Harry and the company did not know of yet. And Harry swore her eyes had temporarily flashed white, wait, no, silver. He was positively sure they turned silver. It went as quickly as it came. But Harry being a Seeker has very keen eyes, with the glasses of course.
"You know better than to involve the others? I don't need to bring those blokes in and complicate things," she said. She stood up, looking rather annoyed with her brother, "I'm going out for some fresh air," she informed and turned to head out of the Great Hall, going towards the school yard.
Serenity came in seconds later with a puzzled expression and sat by her brother, "What did you say this time?"
"I wanted to suggest that she call in Fox and Speed to help with the rat tracking," Andrew said with a shrug.
"No wonder she is in a foul mood," Serenity said with a sigh, "I agree with her though. Bringing those two in would complicate things and you know how Fox is within a mile's radius from her." Andrew grinned knowingly.
"He's even more protective of her than you and he's not even related," Serenity said shaking her head, "Plus, I think it would be a total waste bringing them in for such trivial matter, so we'll just have to work harder. He is, after all, a rat. I'd expect he'll be hard to find." Serenity sighed. She continued sternly when Andrew pouted like a child, "It's not that I don't want Pettigrew to be found sooner but bringing necessary people to involve into this matter might damage things. You know it, Sol."
"So, how about we go and visit Hagrid after class?" Hermione asked, changing the subject, made a mental note about this Sol business.
"Yes, he must be deathly anxious now. Let's go cheer 'im up!" Serenity agreed with enthusiasm. "I'll go tell Kim,"
"Is she going to be okay?" Neville asked. He didn't know about Kimberly having any temper but it sounds like there will be hell to pay if she is pissed.
"Of course she is," Serenity answered with a smile and turned back to Harry and Hermione, "She wasn't mad at anyone. She's just frustrated. If I'm right, she's just cooling down and tries to find out where the rat is,"
"How?" Hermione asked curiously.
"We have abilities that are different from magic, abilities that mould us into our character. We're able to wield one elemental power, or to some, more than one. For example, Andrew's element is fire and is able to manipulate fire. Kim was able to conduct multiple elements. Her true element is light. Her fire is the blue flame. She can also manipulate water and wind. That means she can also communicate with these elements. She is also able to work ice and all other elements that you can think of except darkness." She said.
"She sounds really powerful," Hermione said, stunned by the things she had been told.
"But why not darkness?" Neville asked.
"Yes, Hermione, but I'm afraid the saying, 'With great power comes great responsibility' is playing slightly cruel for her," Serenity added with a shrug. "As for your question, Neville, darkness is not an element. It's the absence of Light." Just then, Kimberly came back and sat down calmly. They were looking at her questioningly, but she ignored their gaze.
"Are we going to Hagrid's?" she asked casually.
"Yes, after our classes," Serenity answered.
Kimberly nodded in acknowledgement, "And Pettigrew is certainly still around," she added. "Only I can't tell where exactly he is,"
"You spoke with the wind?" Hermione asked. Kimberly paused before nodding. "What did it say?" Hermione asked again, being curious.
"The wind like every other element always speaks with wisdom." Kimberly scrunched her nose as she recalled her conference with the wind, "They never give you a straight answer. They only said that we will naturally find him."
"How long are we supposed to wait?" Harry asked.
"I don't know," Kimberly said.
After their last class, they came to Hagrid's hut and knocked on the door. The half giant opened the door, saw them and stepped back to let them in. He served them tea and, as usual, rock cakes to which they decline politely. He still looked depressed.
Hermione cautiously asked, "How's Buckbeak's trail?"
"We are hearing the court's decision tomorrow afternoon," Hagrid said with shaky voice. "And Ron," Hagrid said a moment later, "you have to be careful in taking care of your pet," the half giant pulled out from a clay jar, a rat missing a toe.