The air was cold, as the green-eyed boy made his way around the lake. As soon as the classes had ended he had decided to take a walk outside. His walk had guided him to the nearby lake, and he was now gazing at the dark waters, deep in thoughts. He watched silently as the sun slowly glided down and the sky darkened. Before the sun had completely set and he was left in the dark, Harry walked back to the castle. He was reluctant to go back to the Gryffindor common room as he still had an hour before dinner. Also, he didn't have any homework, since it was Friday and he could very well do it during the next two days. As he wandered the corridors, he started thinking about his recent change.
Ever since he had first turned into a wolf he had felt his body change. He had grown taller, not that much, but he definitely had gained a few centimetres. He was stronger as well; both physically and magically. He had noticed immediately that he had gained physical strength. He had always been rather scrawny and had never been that muscular, though Quidditch had helped a bit. Since his birthday he had been able to lift heavier things without effort and could run faster and longer even in his human body. It had taken a bit longer to notice the magical changes. Firstly, because Harry had had to wait until he was back at Hogwarts to be able to cast spells; secondly, because it was a less obvious change. He hadn't really noticed anything until they had practiced Incendio in Charms. He had been able to cast the spell before but when he had cast it to burn the feather he had been given to practice, the thing had flared into a gigantic flame that had ended up burning the whole table. After that, Harry had been a lot more careful about the amount of magic he put into his spells.
Not really knowing how he got there Harry found himself in the dungeons. He was about to go back, when he heard a whimper and other voices, sounding more than a little threatening. Harry, as a true Gryffindor, immediately went to see what was happening. Making sure he couldn't be seen, he watched as three fifth year Ravenclaws cornered a lone Slytherin first year. The smaller student was obviously terrified and couldn't help but whimper as one of the Ravenclaws, a blond boy, lifted his wand towards him.
"Stop." Harry's voice echoed through the corridors as he stepped forward.
The Ravenclaws immediately turned around to face him and raised their wands.
"What do you want Potter?" spat the blond boy who seemed to recognise him, though Harry was pretty sure he'd never seen him before.
"Well, I just wanted to share my thoughts with you. You see I think it is highly cowardly to pick on smaller than yourself." Harry replied calmly, stepping forward.
"Typical Gryffindor." snorted the blond.
Harry raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything (because he also thought so) as he finally halted a few steps away from the three Ravenclaws.
"Anyway, this doesn't concern you. It's not like you even have a reason to help a Snake." added the Ravenclaw haughtily.
"Do I need one?" asked the green-eyed boy quietly.
"What?" the blond seemed taken aback by the question.
"Do I need a reason to help someone who is in need of it?" repeated Harry, his voice just a bit louder.
The Ravenclaws started to panic as Harry started moving forward once again. The blond boy sent a stunning spell, which was quickly countered by Harry as he took his own wand in hand.
"Expelliarmus." he said pointing to one the blonde's friend.
Harry then used a Flippendo on the other Ravenclaw which sent him crashing against a nearby wall. As his friend passed out from the shock, the blond Ravenclaw sent a Stupefy towards Harry who calmly sent it back with a Protego. The remaining, wandless, Ravenclaw took his chance to flee and Harry was left with the shivering Slytherin.
"You're okay?" asked Harry trying to sound as kind as possible.
The younger boy just nodded his head. He still seemed wary as his brown eyes flicked from the passed out Ravenclaws to the Gryffindor in front of him. He seemed to calm down a little though seeing that Harry wasn't attempting to harm him. As he calmed down he regained his composure and the typical Slytherin demeanour. He raised his head pushing back his chocolate brown hair out of his face and eyed Harry haughtily.
"Why would a Lion go out of his way to help me?" he asked the older teen.
Harry smiled; the boy looked exactly like a younger version of Malfoy when he did that. Were all Slytherins like that? Probably; since nearly all of them came from rich or pureblood families.
"Like I said before, do I need a reason to help someone?" Harry replied amused.
The boy seemed to lose a bit of his haughtiness when he heard the answer.
"Well, just between you and me, I wouldn't have helped if it had been Malfoy." continued the Gryffindor with a slight grin.
The young Slytherin laughed at that remark and abandoned his airs.
"I'm Evan Thatcher. Nice to meet you Mr Potter." said the boy, now smiling broadly.
"Nice to meet you too, Evan. But I'd rather you dropped the Mr and just called me Harry."
The young boy nodded.
"Now I think I'd better accompany you back to your dorms since I'm not entirely sure these three…" he jerked his head at the Ravenclaws "…were alone."
The young Slytherin nodded once again, and placing himself next to the Gryffindor, started walking further into the dungeons. The two didn't speak much during the few minutes they took to arrive near the Slytherin common room. Once the crack in the wall signalling the entrance's location was in sight, Harry stopped.
"I think I'd better stop here." he said turning to his younger companion.
"Oh. All right then."
Evan advanced a few steps and then looked back over his shoulder at Harry.
"Er… Harry, can I talk to you again, later?" he sounded hesitant as if he expected the Gryffindor to bluntly refuse.
"You'd better. And do come tell me if you ever are in trouble of any sort." said Harry with an encouraging smile.
"O-okay, I will. And thanks. For helping me I mean." Evan flushed as he muttered his thanks and then darted towards the portrait.
The young boy didn't have time to say the password because the portrait slid open and Malfoy appeared accompanied by his two self-appointed bodyguards: Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe. Deciding he didn't need to get in a fight with Malfoy just in front of the rival house's common room, turned around and left.
The burning sky was above his head, the desert of ashes under his feet. He walked on, because there was nothing else to do. He walked and walked in this infinity of ash and flaming sky. Before he knew it was there, he found himself in front of a door. A gigantic black door, that looked like it had been made of coal, stood in the middle of the desert of ash. Rusty chains were circling it as if they were trying to stop it from opening. He never stopped walking and touched the door with his hand. It was surprisingly warm. As soon as he made contact with the hard surface, the chains broke in a loud clatter and fell to the ground. As if the ground was alive, the ashes covered the chains and soon there was no trace of them. The door creaked open and he walked on…
Harry woke up in a start. He rubbed his sweaty forehead with his pyjama's sleeve and sat up in his bed. What was this all about? These dreams didn't make any sense. Such a desolate place didn't exist and why did he keep dreaming of it? This time the dream had been slightly different though, he didn't remember ever seeing a door before…
The raven haired boy flung his legs over the side of the bed and opened the curtains. He picked up his wand and robes and went to the bathroom. Before, he wouldn't have bothered taking his wand but ever since his transformation he had learnt that he was no longer safe even around Gryffindors. Ron was especially dangerous the way Harry saw it. The red haired boy was a great friend to have but he was also tenacious enemy.
After a quick shower, Harry went down to breakfast. There weren't many Gryffindors at this time of the morning which enabled Harry to have a relatively quiet breakfast. It helped that Ron wasn't a few seats away, insulting him. The raven haired boy was halfway through breakfast when someone slumped in the seat opposite him.
"Hi, Harry."
The raven haired boy looked up and smiled at Evan. The boy was smiling as well, not as widely as he had before, of course. He was, after all, a Slytherin and had an image to keep in public. The green eyes flicked to the other two first years behind Evan. They were both Slytherins and looked torn between curiosity and unease. Harry smiled warmly at them and motioned them to seat. They obliged and sat on either side of their friend.
"Good morning, Evan." he said to the younger boy before turning towards the others. "I'm Harry Potter. I take it that you're Evan's friends."
"Yes, this is Nicolas Wright." said Evan motioning to the dark skinned boy on his left. "And this is Lisa Turner." this time he showed the small blond girl on his right.
"It's nice to meet you." said Harry with a grin.
The boy, Nicolas flashed a smile while Lisa turned a bright shade of red.
"So, I hope you haven't gotten into more trouble since yesterday." said Harry casually.
Evan shrugged.
"I didn't really have time too. That guy from Ravenclaw has been sending you nasty looks though." said the brown eyed boy.
"Which one?" asked Harry turning around to see the Ravenclaw table.
"The blond one."
The raven haired boy scanned the table and finally found the boy he had seen the day before. He caught the other boy's eye and grinned evilly. The Ravenclaw hastily turned away.
"Weakling." snorted Harry as he turned back to his Slytherin friends. "Anyway, if he ever bothers you, which I doubt he will but you never know, come to me." he told Evan regaining a serious expression. "It counts for all three of you. If anyone tries to bully you let me know." he said his gaze flicking to Lisa and Nicolas.
"Oh, we wouldn't want to bother you!" said Lisa flushing yet again.
"No problem. I need to relieve some stress anyway." said the older boy, only half-jokingly.
The three first years grinned at him. Harry noticed his dorm mates entering the Hall. He groaned, nowadays Ron only meant trouble.
"Sorry guys, but it looks like you'll have to go back to your own table." he told the first years.
The Slytherins had apparently noticed the arrival of more Gryffindors because they nodded and left without a word. Ron and the others seemed to have noticed though. Harry could see the boy's eyes narrowing as he looked at the retreating first years. The raven haired boy glared at his ex-friend threateningly, silently telling him he had better not cause trouble for the younger students. Once he was sure the other boy had gotten the message, he finished his breakfast and left the table.
He went back to the common room to grab his bag and left again towards the dungeon. He had double Potions first which wasn't exactly something that he was looking forward to. He still hated Potions and the fact that they had Potions with the Slytherins didn't help. Now, on top of having Malfoy's sneers to cope with he had to deal with a mass of hostile lions.
He was entering the classroom when he felt a burning sensation. It was mild at first and was concentrated in his stomach, but it spread and became and became stronger until the raven haired boy felt like he was in the middle of a blazing fire. It stopped as suddenly as it had started and Harry was left standing in the doorway, dazed.
"Potter, are you going to move or not?" came a drawl in his back.
He turned to face the blond Slytherins and his goons.
"Malfoy, can you not let people delight in entering their favourite classroom?" adopting the sarcasm that was usually the blonde's trademark.
"And here I thought you were moping on your breakup with Weasley!" sneered the Slytherin.
"No that would be a waste of my time." replied the Gryffindor with a snort.
While, he was having this fascinating conversation with the blond prat, the classroom had filled with students. Harry looked around and found the only free seat to be by Neville. He shrugged, well, that was probably not the worst, though he would have to watch for explosions and melting cauldrons. Neville didn't seem to register that Harry had sit on the vacant chair. He was nervously watching his book. His eyes sometimes darted towards the cauldron as if he expected it to explode any minute.
The lesson started and they set up making the draught of peace. Harry went to gather the ingredients and instructed Neville to crush the moonstones into powder while he set up the cauldron. Once the moonstones were turned into fine powder, a very relieved Neville handed it to Harry who added it into the cauldron. He watched as the Potion turned green and started stirring. The potion turned blue and Harry added more Moonstone powder. He waited until the potion turned purple before stirring again until the mixture turned pink. Harry then took the syrup of Hellebore that Neville had managed to prepare without mishap. The potion turned turquoise. They let it simmer until it turned purple. They took that time to shake the powdered porcupine quills which they then added. The potion turned red. Stir until it turns orange. Add more porcupine quills until it turns purple. Allow it to simmer…
After two intense hours of making sure Neville didn't add some unneeded ingredient and that the Potion was indeed the right colour, Harry handed Professor Snape a vial of potion of a satisfactory turquoise. Harry noticed that his vial was a bit darker than Hermione's which probably meant he had messed up somewhere. Well, at least it was turquoise and not a suspicious yellow like Crabbe's. It was with a feeling of great satisfaction that Harry left the dungeons, his mind prepared for his History of Magic class with Professor Binns; a well-earned naptime.
Harry was sitting in the Gryffindor common room. He was attempting to read Spellman's Syllabary but found the environing noise infuriating. He finally snapped the book shot and left the room, banging the door behind him. How it was possible to make that much noise when you were supposed to do your homework, Harry really couldn't imagine. He was already in a bad mood thanks to the prospect of having detention with Umbridge. He didn't need to add to it by spending time around people who were suffering from a severe lack of ability to be silent. Morons.
The raven haired boy walked out of the castle-like school. He still had about an hour before his detention and he was going to start reading that book. He had already finished Powers You Never Knew You Had and What To Do With Them Now You've Wised Up and found it quite enjoyable. He had been a bit disappointed that his particular situation wasn't described in the book, but he had been able to gain knowledge on quite a few gifts that a wizard could have such as Parseltongue, Metarmorphmagi, Animagi, and even gifts he had never heard of before such as Enchanting. Also, the author of the book obviously had a sense of humour and Harry had had a good laugh while reading the book. The raven haired boy found a spot under a tree near the lake and started his reading.
Forty minutes later, Harry got up with a sigh. He tucked his book under his arm and made his way back to his dormitory to retrieve his school bag. He then, went to Umbridge's office for his detention. He knocked and hearing the woman's voice inviting him inside he opened the door and stepped in the room. It was quite atrocious really; the walls were pink and plates adorned with moving kittens hung on it. Umbridge was sitting in her desk in pink garment and a sweet smile on her face. At that moment Harry knew: he had arrived in hell. He walked towards the small table facing the toad's desk, trying to recall when exactly he had passed away.
"I should like you to write lines for me." said Professor Umbridge as Harry sat.
Parchment had already been placed on the table. Harry grabbed his bag to take out his quill and ink.
"Oh no! You don't need to take anything out, dear! You will be using a rather special quill of mine." said Professor Umbridge in a sugary voice.
Harry dropped his bag back on the floor. The woman seemed far too pleased with herself, it was suspicious. The toad-like woman walked to her desk and carefully lifted a pitch black quill which she gave to Harry with a girlish giggle.
"Now I would like you to right: I must not tell lies." she said.
The boy lifted the quill and looked at it warily. It stunk of dark magic and pain; and even more than that, he could smell blood. He had an idea of what it did but he asked anyway.
"You didn't give me any ink, Professor." he said.
"You want need any ink, dear." said Professor Umbridge.
"How many times should I right it?" asked Harry.
"Let's say for as long as it takes for the message to sink in." she giggled once again.
Harry tentatively started to write the first words. They appeared in deep red ink which Harry knew was his own blood. Sure enough, as soon as he finished writing the first line, a painful itch attacked the back of his left hand. He showed no reaction to the pain so as to not give the woman any satisfaction, and glanced at his hand. 'I must not tell lies' was slowly forming in his flesh as he wrote the words down on the parchment. Harry gritted his teeth and carried on writing, the pain cutting in his hand at each word he wrote.
After two hours of torture, Umbridge examined his hand. The words were now clearly cut there.
"That will be all for tonight." she announced joyfully. "I will be expecting you back here tomorrow."
Ignoring the pain, Harry forced a bright smile on his lips.
"Of course, Professor. It's always a pleasure to be able to spend more time with you." he said with false sincerity.
That wiped the smile of her face and she glared at him as he left. As soon as the door closed behind him, his smile fell and he allowed the pain to show on his face. Clutching his hand he made his way back towards Gryffindor Common room. As he turned at the end of the corridor he came face to face with Snape. Harry forced his blank mask into place not wanting to show the man any weakness. The Potions Master took one look at the hand he still clutched and turned on his heels.
"Follow me Potter." he said coldly.
Harry followed the professor down to the dungeons and into Snape's office. He stood at the doorway while the older man opened a cabinet and began searching it. After a few minutes, he took out a small box and shoved it into Harry's arms.
"Murtlap essence. It should help with the pain." he said curtly. "Now leave."
Harry was happy to oblige and rushed back up to his common room. He stopped in front of the Fat Lady and applied some Murtlap essence on his hand. The greasy pomade eased the pain almost immediately. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and quickly cast a bandaging spell on his hand. He then tucked the box in his pocket and murmured Lux Aeterna to the portrait. The Fat Lady slid aside and he slipped inside.