Lord Edric
House Elves are awesome and indeed they are the perfect cheat. No one sees them no one thinks about them but it the right hands they are the perfect spies and agents as long as you don't ask them to hurt anybody as they don't seem to be good fighters aside from Dobby.
Ethorin
I'm not sure I could do a decent prophecy maybe I could find something on the Net to help me. That or one of my reviewers will help me to write one.
douchiesnacks
True it is the quiet and reversed ones who are normal quite crazy in bed. I have more than one ex who is living proof of this.
Granger could become friends with Damien as the Golden Trio is due to have a fight. Damien got rid of Scabbers after all so the Ginger Pig could still end up blaming Granger and she could crack under the pressure. The Damien will make his move which is this chapter.
Guest
"He will enter this world from another by the power of a god. He will gather the weak and make them powerful beyond measure, loyal to him. Few will know his mind and the future of all will be decided by his chose".
I think you meant choices at the end there not chose and it should be he entered this world as he's already there. Other than that could work the bit about him deciding the future hints that he could nullify the main prophecy which would make things more
And I like the idea of Potter and Granger being friends with Damien but I see Dumbledore getting in the way and killing Ron is a bit extreme I have something else planned for the Ginger One which will be nasty.
A W.
Actually Dumbledore is manipulating people in this story he actually got succeeded in manipulating Damien its just that Damien saw right through it and went along with the Headmaster's plans for his own reasons. Mostly it was to make Dumbledore think he controls Damien at least somewhat. Of course some of it is Damien's paranoia the Headmaster isn't actually keeping that close of an eye on Damien, as he has other concerns but Damien doesn't know that the Headmaster isn't really that concerned.
Well Petunia stays inside her house so the Blood Wards might actually be effective in protecting her and Damien won't risk Tizzy for that. Dobby never actually attacked any with the intent to do harm so while its cannon that House Elves can get to Harry Potter they not be able to enter Number Four if they are going to kidnap someone. Vernon can be grabbed at work and Dudley is at school so they are more vulnerable.
Also the Blood Wards might actually be helping to keep Harry alive. He's escaped death to many times for it to be dumb luck and as long as he has his Aunt around then he has somewhere to live.
Also remember how Wizarding law works in this story. If Sirius doesn't get custody of Harry once he is cleared than Harry might end up having a guardian who is a Death Eater as his guardianship would pass to next nearest living relative. Petunia is also rather harmless by herself.
In this chapter you will see Damien start to break up the Golden Trio he just had to wait a little while to make his move. Given how stressed Granger was in her third year it was just a matter of time before she breaks down in this story and then lets her guard down. Then Damien can then start to manipulate her.
Then he starts on getting rid of Ron. Exiling him to the Discworld would be a bad idea because Ron would open a whole to the Dungeon Dimensions before the end of day one and again killing him is a little extreme. I have a plan but it will have to wait till fourth year.
I think Granger is salvageable she does learn that authority figures aren't perfect in the Order Of the Phoenix she actually comes up with the ideas of Dumbledore's Army after all.
Percy Weasley isn't going to be around much longer he starts working at Ministry in book four so he will be gone from Hogwarts soon. Plus I'm not that cruel Percy is a torment I would wish upon no one.
I think there was more but I explain what I'm doing any further than there will be no point in my writing the story. I like discussing my stories but if you want to discus to this lengths I suggest creating an account, or logging in if you have one, and then messaging me so I fully reply to your opinions and suggestions. There is a lot to keep track of in your reviews so it would just be easier that way.
The First Gothic. Book One. A Wizard In Training. Part 15.
The Library. Hogwarts School. The Wizarding World.
I was feeling rather pleased with myself these days.
I'd captured Wormtail and sent him off to Madam Bones with an anonymous note. Days later the Daily Prophet had reported that the nation wide hunt for Sirius Black was being cancelled and that Peter Pettigrew was now rotting in a cell with the Dementors.
It was all out in the open now everyone knew that Wormtail was the real traitor and that Black was innocent. So far there'd been no word on if Sirius had been made an officially free man or not but that could just be a case of Rita Skeeter having not found the story yet.
However given that Dumbledore was running the show the whole thing was most likely being handled behind the scenes. Fudge would support dealing with this issue as quietly as possible as this all could end up being a great embarrassment to the Ministry.
They had after all illegally thrown Black into prison and denied him a trial if he'd been guilty it wouldn't of really mattered but since he is now known to be innocence ,proven by the fact Wormtail is alive, the whole situation could become what I believe is called a 'media circus'.
It was actually rather a shame that there seemed to be no investigation going on as it was Barty Crouch Senior who locked Sirius Black away without a trail. If the department of law enforcement did go and investigate Crouch Senior they might find Crouch Junior hidden away in his home. If they did that then the only two Death Eaters both willing and able to help return their master to power would be dealt with.
Still I had tickets to the World Cup and if Crouch Junior was there I would deal with him. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to kill the Mort Muncher but I should at least be able to sneak up on him and stun him when he casts the charm that makes the Dark Mark appear. If Crouch Junior was sorted out then Voldemort wouldn't be returning for a while and that suited me just fine. But that would have to wait until the World Cup until then I only had to exile two thirds of the Durselys and I could relax for the rest of the year.
I was also feeling happy for another reason. Aside from that fact that my plots and schemes were going well my school life was going equally as well.
At the suggestion of Albus, I have to many middle names, Dumbledore I'd joined some of the school clubs and I was also taking part in the extracurricular classes here. Not only was I enjoying them because I was actually rather good at art and music now (which I hadn't been before I could assume that the Traveller had added these skills when improving me) but it also kept the Headmaster off my back.
Given the Headmaster's belief in the power of love it might also be a good thing that I was publicly dating. If he thought I was in love then he wouldn't think I was turning to the DARK SIDE OF MAGIC!
Well not unless that whole 'power of love' thing was something Dumbledore only pretended to believe in. If so well what the hell I was still dating a girl who had to be reminded to wear clothing when she got into bed with me.
So long as I kept looking as if I was keeping busy by attending extra classes, taking part in social events and dating then the Headmaster wouldn't suspect that I was the one behind the derailing of his plans. Or at least he would have no reason to suspect me and even if he did he had no proof. That might not stop the lemon candy lover from trying something but I had prepared for that day as best I could and I had an escape plan ready. More than one actually.
As today was a rather peaceful day so I was going to try navigating L-Space in order to reach the library at the Unseen University. This was my other planned escape route so I figured I should do a practice run to make sure it worked.
For once I was actually alone. Neville was doing something in the greenhouse and Luna was off doing something girls do with Ginny, Hannah and Susan. I had no idea what that was and I really didn't want to know truth be told. I was looking forward to having a Sunday afternoon to myself.
It was rare that I got time to myself these dats so I was going to use it wisely. I was going to head to the library at the Unseen University in order to test my L-Space escape route and to acquire another spell. Doing so should be safe now as many Wizards who attended the Unseen University had four spells or more in their minds at my level of education and I was a lot more gifted than most of them.
I was just about to make use of L-Space, which involved hopping backwards at this point, when I heard someone crying.
Focusing on the noise I discovered that it was a girl crying it wasn't very loud but I could tell that it was a girl shedding tears.
This wasn't that unusual a sound here at the school. Homesick kids often cry but it was well past Christmas now and from my experience the students were use to being away from home by this time so that couldn't be the reason why some poor girl was crying.
Feeling curious I slowly made my way through the stacks and ducked my head as a pile of books floated past.
I peered around one shelf of stargazing textbooks and saw who it was that was crying.
Hermione Granger was on the floor weeping. This wasn't the kind of crying that people did when they were in some sort of pain or in morning for someone they had lost this was the weeping of someone in despair someone who was trying to hide their crying but they just couldn't.
I'd seen this sort of things before these were tears of someone having a bad time emotional but this wasn't about expressing those emotions Granger was trying to hide her sadness but it was too overwhelming to be contained. Things had built up to this point and like the pressure of a volcano leading up to an eruption she'd blown her top and now couldn't stop. It was the kind of crying that made even people like me feel great amounts of sympathy.
She hadn't noticed me at all and I wasn't hiding any more I was trying to figure out what to do. I should comfort her it wouldn't be the first time I'd cheered up a crying woman up but I didn't really know Granger. In fact I didn't really like her as a person.
Yet another part of me was thinking that I should comfort her because she might be grateful and that could be useful if I needed a favour some time down the road. That was kind of nasty for me to think but at least it wasn't what was motivating me. So I stood there and after a long while she seemed to calm down enough to notice her surroundings so I made my presence know before she detected me.
"Granger, what's the matter?" I asked
I tried very hard to sound as if I cared. Which admittedly I did just not in the way I should have.
"Oh hi Damien" she said while trying to avoid eye contact "I didn't see you there".
I doubted she would of noticed me standing there before now even I had suddenly transformed into a one man band and started belting out a version of when the Saints come marching in.
With a wave of my wand I conjured up a handkerchief which the teen took with gratitude. I then sat down next to here and conjured up a clay cup before filling it with water. Conjuration magic was tricky stuff and none of them items I had created would last very long but it was a good branch of magic to know at times like this.
"Thank you" the third year muttered while taking the cup.
We were both totally silent for a while until Granger said something.
"That's really advanced magic. I've read about conjuration but I've not tried of the spells".
I smiled and said.
"I don't even like transfiguration its a silly subject in my mind. I mean when are we ever going to need a button but have a beetle nearby ready to replace said button. And that whole match to needle thing why on Earth would I have matches around when I create fire with a flick of my wand".
Granger was almost too shocked by my statement to argue but she found a way.
"But your really good at it" she protested "better than me!"
I snorted.
"Of course I'm good at it. I'm a Ravenclaw were all good at school work and I am a total genius"
I had no proof of that but I strongly suspected that my intelligence had increased to the point where I was in fact a real genius.
"But mostly I'm good magic because I know it works".
I got a confused look so I explained.
"Its not hard you just have to convince yourself that magic works. When you transfigure something don't worry about visualising it or the words or the wand movements those are all like training wheels on a kid's bike, sure they help you to ride the bike but you don't need them once you know how not to not fall over. Really all you need to know is that it's going to work. Have faith in yourself and in the magic".
Hopefully that made some sort of sense to her. It did to me because I'd always known the magic would work. I'd never doubted that the spells would work and I'd discovered that you didn't need the fancy words and the movements as long as you knew it would work. I think its more a matter of confidence than anything else.
Granger took out her wand and twirled it. Nothing happened but few wand spells are successful the first time you try them. Well at least for other people, for me I just had to have seen the spell in action and I knew that it would work.
On her third try Granger made the cup appear and she marvelled at the power she possessed.
"Its really easy once you know you can do it".
I nodded and said.
"Confidence is everything, well that and intent. You just have to know it will work".
Granger nodded and said.
"I can't remember the last time I just sat down and talked to someone like this".
Well having three times as much work as everyone else will do that to a person.
"I've noticed that your stressed a lot and fighting with your friends" I commented "is something the matter?".
"I..." the teen hesitated but in the end she told me about what was bothering her.
While we weren't exactly strangers it was odd for people to open up so easily to each other. I guessed that it had something to do with my power of enhanced charisma. People seemed to trust me and they opened up to me rather easily despite the fact that I wasn't really friends with them.
"I can't cope" she admitted "Its to much with the work with Ron shouting at me and Harry he has to deal with his godfather..."
She'd been about to say something I shouldn't know so I made sure that the discussion avoided that subject. It would be nice to know if Sirius was a free man or not but there was no reason for me to know nor should I care so asking about it would be a bad idea.
"I've never understood why you hang with that guy he's not very likeable"
"Who Ron?" she asked.
"Yes" I replied "I'm friends with Ginny I've seen how Ron treats her. He is not a good brother".
"Well he has issues" defended Granger "he got all these successful brothers.."
"That's no excuse for being an insensitive prick" I said interrupting "I've seen him trying to undermine you and he blames you for his pet rat vanishing. As if its your fault that a cat eats a rat that's what they do. Cats eat rats. You can't control that its what animals do".
Everyone in the school knew about the cat eating the rat the rumour mill at this school was very efficient.
"Its because of Harry" Hermione admitted "Ron is friends with Harry that's why I am friends with Ron".
"And that's lucky for Ron" I told her "if the Boy-Who-Lived hadn't been in that flying car with Ron then he would have been expelled for sure but Dumbledore wouldn't expel Harry so he couldn't expel Ron either".
Granger seemed to give my statement some thought before answering.
"I think your right" she agreed in the end "he did break loads of laws with that stupid car. Harry would have to kill someone or burn the school down to get expelled".
Actually Harry had killed his Defence Teacher in his first year. Funny how no one seems to remember that. It was a clue cut case of self defence no question about that but I found it worrying that no one seemed to remember. Did Potter himself realise that he was a killer?
"Not that he ever would, so as long as Ron sticks close to Harry he can get away with breaking the rules".
I'd never of thought that turning Hermione Granger against Ron the Pig would be this easy. I'd hardly had to say anything and she was realising that the Ginger Nut wasn't worth the oxygen he used with his breathing.
"Its always him who argues with me. He always wants to play games and avoid work and I always end up helping him. He wouldn't of even passed his exams without me. He even drags Harry down he'd do so much better if Ron wasn't around".
She started to cry again, only it was a different kind of tears this time, I put my arm around her and all the time I was thinking that this was all too easy. I wondered if it was because she was so emotional tired or if it was because of my enhance charisma. Perhaps it was both or maybe she'd just never had anyone she could say this stuff to. It didn't matter, in the end if she cut herself off from Ron the Dick it would be worth while.
But it did raise the question: would Harry chose Ron over Hermione?
Granger had to be asking herself the same question and that might explain how she ended up with her head buried into my shoulder. She was latching on to any human contact she could because she might soon lose her only friend.
"I'm done with Ron" she promised either me or herself.
It was then I remembered that I had one of those Fox Head amulets left. Actually I had a few but none of them were enchanted so I could give her one and perhaps invite her to join the Outcasts.
Granger was in many ways a good recruit for the Outcasts. She was a Muggleborn which would be a nice change from having all those Purebloods around. She was also smart and bound to be one of the Prefects in a couple of years perhaps she would even work with Neville rather than Ron. She was also a lot more likeable a person once she opened up.
On the other hand she was far to trusting of authority figures right now and she would expose the Outcasts in a heartbeat due to her faith in Dumbledore.
The trust she felt made it too dangerous to let her into the group. It wasn't her fault she just was for all her cleverness rather naïve and too trusting.
Over time perhaps I could led her away from the Dumbledore is awesome party and into the Outcast camp but that would take a while. Convincing her that Ron the Jerk wasn't her friend was easy enough but it would be no where near as easy to convince her that Dumbledore wasn't to be trusted.
I took the spare amulet from my school bag and handed to her.
"Its for good luck" I told her "or just a present really but I give them to my friends so here".
Wow smooth. James very smooth.
Hermione took the gift and then looked up at me, Before I knew what was happening she was hugging me so hard my ribcage felt like it was being crushed in a vice. Well it could be worse she could of tried to kiss me that would have been kinds of awkward but hugging was okay or at least it would be once I could breathe again.
Given how embarrassed she looked after I wondered if she thought about kissing me but that seemed doubtful I was a year younger than her and we only just started our friendship.
Plus she knew I was with Luna as did everyone did by now. It wouldn't shock me in the least if the news was in Teen Witch Weekly.
Nah more likely was a case of the poor girl simply being overwhelmed with my offer of friendship.
It didn't seem as if she'd ever been asked be someone's friend she'd just sort of fallen in to Harry's life which to be fair that was normally how it worked few people ever asked someone to be their friend such things just tended to develop.
Hermione and I talked for what seemed like hours. I spent that encouraging her to express her ideas and to think more about what she was learning. She needed to cut down on her work load rather badly so she would have to decide what she would drop.
"Muggle Studies is useless" I argued "you could teach that class".
"But it fascinating to see how Wizards view Muggles".
I doubted that the books told her how most Wizards really viewed Muggles. I'd gotten the impression that even the nicest of Wizards viewed Muggles as mostly harmless creatures who made interesting things without using magic. The darker Wizards often saw them as either threats or something barely above animals.
"But its not going to help your carer" I pointed out "well not unless you want a carer in Anthropology".
Granger gave in as I had made a good point.
I also reminded her a few times that she could live without Potter and Weasley in her life. By the end of that discussion I had her half convinced that it would be a good idea to purposely destroy the friendship between the Boy-Who-Lived and the Boy-Who-Chews-With-His-Mouth-Open.
She wasn't quite ready for something like that as it was still early days, in fact it was the first day, but she agreed not to try to moderate her opinions about Ron the Pig around Potter any more she would no longer play nice for Harry's sake.
"Its for the best" I assured the swot after some very carefully chosen words "Ron's jealously will shine through in the end and so even if Harry does chose Ron over you, in the end he will realise his mistake and he will come running back to you for help. And at that point you make him beg just a bit you have to hold off, at least until he uses the puppy dog eyes".
That got me a few laughs and we talked about Muggle stuff for a while. I had plans with Neville for Easter but he'd understand if I snuck off to visit Hermione for a few hours during that week, to do something Muggle with the girl.
All the time we talked while I slowly twisted the girls views on things there was in the back of my head a voice saying 'dance puppet dance' which was a bit worrying but I eased my concerns by reminding myself that this was for the best however that just made me feel worse as it was rather close to the whole idea of 'The Greater Good'. Maybe I really was the next Grindlewald but if I was then at least it was better than being the next Voldemort.
Or at least that was what I was going to keep telling myself. Perhaps one day I might even believe it.