Summary: Harry Potter knew something was going to go wrong when, as a punishment, Snape made him test an uncompleted ageing potion. Something always goes wrong. And he was right. Chapter Fifteen Up... Finally!
A/N; What do you know, I actually am still here! Yes, I know, I've been really slack and I haven't updated, but there are actually many reasons coughexcusescough as to why the long period of inactivity was allowed to reign. Firstly, just after I posted the last chapter I became really, really sick and I was sick for all of August, if you can believe it, and I ended up in hospital for awhile - get this - during my HSC trial exams! How unfair is that? Anyway, then there was the holidays, which I spent studying for my HSC, then for the four weeks after that I was taking exams. Now, you're probably asking why I haven't updated between the end of the exams and now, then? Well, my muse went on an unplanned holiday to Hawaii suddenly and only returned three days ago. So hopefully my other stories should be updated soon as well! Not only that, but since being sick my sense of time had just been really wacked, I don't know why. But, anyway, this chapter is my Christmas present to my readers. Merry Christmas to everyone who is reading this and also to those who aren't!
Chapter Fifteen; Why?
The little boy with jet-black hair bounded excitedly around the dormitory, dodging his red-haired guardian. Ron made a noise of frustration as he dove for him on Seamus' bed, but only landed on the red cover as Harry bounced off it again, laughing. Though he hid it, the red-head was secretly pleased that Harry had recovered so well after his tumble down the stairs.
"Come here, you little minx," Ron growled, scrambling off the bed and chasing him.
Harry gave a squeal of laughter and dove under Ron's bed. Thinking he had him, Ron ran to the other side and looked under it, waiting for Harry to come out, only to see Harry crawl back out the way he had come.
"Oy!" he said and Harry laughed, racing for the door.
But Ron was taller, and therefore had longer legs then little Harry. In a few strides he had caught the boy and lifted him up in the air. Black yipped excitedly as he watched the proceedings from Harry's bed.
"Now, are you going to get dressed?" Ron asked.
Harry giggled and shook his head.
"Oh, is that so?" Ron said with a grin. "Well, you'll just have to go down in your pyjamas then, won't you?"
He threw Harry over his shoulder in a fireman's hold and marched out of the room, Harry laughing all the way.
Hermione looked up from her seat in the Common Room as she heard Harry's laughter coming closer, and wondered what was going on. A moment later Ron, who had a pyjama-clad Harry thrown over his shoulder, came into view, and she burst out laughing.
"He didn't want to get dressed," Ron said with a grin.
"I see," said Hermione, quirking an eyebrow slightly and smothering a smile. "Well, then we just won't be going outside today after all."
Harry's eyes lit up. He had had no idea that they were going to be going outside that day and, at those magic words, he wriggled out of Ron's arms and dashed back up the stairs in order to get dressed. Ron laughed and sat down in an armchair.
"He's getting to be a handful, isn't he?" Hermione asked, rather amused.
"Yeah, but at least it means he's happy," Ron pointed out with a grin. Slowly, though, the grin slipped off his face. "Have you spoken to Dumbledore yet?"
Last night Ron and Hermione had decided to go and talk to Dumbledore about Harry's continuing magical progress and the strange things he had done. They needed to tell him about Black, about what he had been doing in class and even about the plant in Herbology. They needed some answers and, if they couldn't get that, then they needed to know where to find those answers. Most particularly, though, they needed to know if Harry was going to replicate anything like what he had done with the salamandas.
"I went up there this morning," said Hermione. "But Professor Dumbledore wasn't able to see me… he told me we could talk tomorrow morning. I think he guessed what this was all about."
"He would have gotten reports from our teachers," Ron pointed out. "Of course he knows. The man seems to know everything!"
Slightly miffed at this lack of proper respect towards their headmaster, Hermione threw him a small glare and snapped her book closed. The glare immediately shifted to a smile, however, when Harry bounded down the stairs, fully dressed except for his shoes, for which he seemed to have developed a dislike for as they were so difficult to put on himself.
"Harry, where are your shoes?" Hermione sighed.
Slightly sheepish, Harry held them up from where he had been hiding them behind his back, obviously hoping he could stow them away somewhere before she noticed. Ron laughed and gestured him over.
"Come on, mate, let's put these on you," he said, almost ripping the lace as he forcefully loosened it.
"Give it here, Ron," Hermione snapped, loosening the lace in a much more gentle way and helping Harry, who was making faces, slip into his shoes. She deftly did two bows and let him stand. "There you are."
"Thanks, 'Mione," Harry intoned rather glumly.
"Cheer up, Harry," Hermione said. "You need shoes on to go outside."
Hearing this, his face brightened and he scrambled to his feet. Hermione laughed and took hold of his hand while Ron led the way out the portrait hole.
Neither of them noticed Harry's brilliant green eyes alight upon Ron's wand, which was sticking out of his pocket. Nor did they notice when Harry carefully pulled it out of the pocket and hid it in the inside of his jacket, casually forcing it to stick in the hem.
No one could even let it be said that Harry Potter was not resourceful.
Oblivious to the mischief their young charge was up to, Ron and Hermione chatted happily with him all the way outside, stopping only to wave or say hello to familiar faces.
It had been awhile since any of them had been outside, and Hermione was instantly glad that they had brought coats to wear. The air was chilly, bringing with it the promise of the snow that would soon arrive for the winter season. It was the sort of weather that told her Christmas would soon be here.
She smiled and she pulled her back tighter at a blast of cold. She wondered how Harry would spend this Christmas… as a four-year-old? As a sixteen-year-old? Or maybe he would be another age altogether?
Strangely, she didn't mind the fact that he mightn't be returning to his sixteen-year-old self any time soon. When he had failed to do so after he had taken the counter potion, she had felt panicked, not sure what to do.
But now… now she liked the presence of her small best friend. He was young and innocent and so utterly carefree. She hoped that the time he spent as a little boy would benefit him, perhaps have a little more of a penchant to smiling and laughing and just mucking around instead of acting as though the fate of the world rested on his shoulders.
Ron was chasing Harry around now and she started moving toward them. She wasn't stupid. In fact, she was far from it. She was well aware that there was a reason the Harry she was most familiar with was so solemn was that something had gone wrong, both before he started attending Hogwarts and during.
During Hogwarts was easy to tell; so many life-or-death situations in the place that he was supposed to feel the safest, not to mention having an all-powerful Dark Lord personally out for his blood had to have had some impact upon his psyche.
Before however… there was something there that Hermione vaguely suspected but did not want to recognise with a conscious thought. Something there that everyone had missed.
She shook her head and sat down beside the tree, the two boys flopping down beside him, both of them flushed and beaming. While the past few weeks had been hard on Harry, they had also taken their toll on both her and Ron too. She felt refreshed as she had not done for awhile.
"Have fun?" she asked mildly as Harry lay backwards on the grass and stared up at the sky.
"Yep!" Harry said. He was silent for a moment and then his brow creased slightly in thought, a very cute expression. "'Mione?"
"Yes?" asked Hermione, trying very hard not to giggle at the thoughtful look on his face.
"Why is the sky blue?" the little boy asked curiously.
"Um..." Hermione glanced at Ron who held up his hands to show that he wasn't going to help. "Because a blue sky is… um… natural."
"Oh," said Harry, as though that made perfect sense. He turned his head to Ron, who immediately adopted a panicked expression. "Won, is the sky far away?"
"Very," said Ron warily.
"So why does it look close?"
"That's… that's because our eyesight isn't strong enough to see so far away so we make the distance… smaller," said Hermione, grimacing slightly as she jumped in to save Ron, who now looked like a deer caught in head-lights.
"So, if the sky is blue, why is water blue too?" Harry demanded.
"The water is actually clear, but it reflects the colour of the sky," said Hermione. Seeing he looked a little clueless, she tried to elaborate. "It imitates the colour of the sky… like its being an echo!"
"Oh!" said Harry in dawning comprehension.
For many long minutes all was silent with Ron and Hermione sharing a look of resignation. It seemed that they were not going to bypass this particular stage. Then…
"Why is the grass green? Why can't it be blue too?"
"Why is Hagrid really tall? Why am I really small?"
Hermione was about ready to find the nearest wall and bang her head on it. An hour… he had been asking questions for an entire hour… Why is colour called colour? Why is my name Harry? Why am I a boy? Why do people walk and talk?
"Hagrid is like a giant," Ron supplied helpfully. "But he's only half a giant. And you're just a runt."
Harry frowned at him, but if the desired effect had been a pause in the question, the Ron was sorely disappointed. If anything, it seemed to make Harry more determined than ever to ask away.
"I'm small 'cause I'm only four," he decided. "But why is P'fessor Flitwick small?"
Hermione and Ron looked at each other. That was, actually, a very good question, one they had never really thought to ask before.
"We don't know," Hermione admitted.
Harry's frown deepened.
"Why is Hogwarts so big?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.
"That's the way it was built," said Ron somewhat tiredly.
"Why was it built so long ago?"
"Because… because…" Hermione sat up straight and stared at Harry. "Harry, how did you know Hogwarts is really old?"
Harry looked at Hermione, puzzled, and shrugged his shoulders. It did not matter to him how he had come by the information, nor that he did not remember who had told him, just that he knew it.
"Why?" he persisted.
"Because that's when the people who built it got an idea," said Hermione, filing the incident under her 'strange events to do with Harry' mental filing cabinet.
"Why…"
"Why do you ask so many questions?" Ron asked dryly.
"Don't ask questions!"
Harry blinked and, before their eyes, seemed to become even smaller as a wary look entered his eyes. He suddenly had the look of a caged animal who was tasting freedom and did not wish to return to captivity.
"Is it… okay?" he asked tentatively.
"It's fine, Harry," said Hermione, shooting a glare at a sheepish Ron. "You can ask all the questions you want."
She was not to know, as a relieved look spread across Harry's face, that they had just jumped a rather large milestone from his past, a milestone that would be left in the dust with all of the others. She had wondered if this time would make an impact when Harry was finally his right age; she didn't realise, however, that it was already doing so.
"So…" Harry looked a little mischievous as he slipped a hand inside his jacket, causing Hermione and Ron to go on guard. He presented a thin stick. "Why do you use this, Won?"
Ron stared at the familiar wooden stick and Hermione's mouth dropped open in shock. The red-head blinked and automatically put his hand in his pocket to check that his wand was there. It wasn't and comprehension hit.
"That's my wand!" he yelped.
Hermione couldn't help but shoot him a look of exasperation at this before turning her eyes to Harry and kneeling before him.
"Harry, that is very important to Ron," she said gently. "You need to give it back now."
Harry frowned and clutched the wand tighter.
"Why?" he asked, pouting.
"Because I need it," Ron said, trying to unclench his gritted teeth. He could put up with many things – Malfoy not included – but having his wand stolen was very near the top of the list of the things he hated.
Harry couldn't help but be very curious about the stick in his hand, and at Won's reaction to him taking it. He had seen both him and 'Mione do strange things with their sticks and he wondered why. He also wasn't sure why the red-head seemed so mad.
His lower lip trembled. He didn't want Won mad at him. Would he be happier if Harry left?
Hermione only just caught sight of the little boy's distraught look before he fled, running back to the castle. Fuming, Ron made to give chase, but Hermione caught his arm.
"I will go, you stay here and calm yourself before you talk to him," she snapped. "You know what happens when we get angry at him."
Seeing understanding dawn she rolled her eyes and ran off after Harry, wondering how she was going to convince him to give Ron his wand back.
Ahead she could see sparks flying from the wand and she winced as the sparks hit the floor and immediately turned the stones bright blue. As she hit the coloured stones she cried out as suddenly she was no longer running but sliding, as though she was on ice.
Unable to stop herself, the momentum sent her crashing into a wall and the next moment she was looking up at the roof, feeling a little dazed. Ginny Weasley's face came into view, looking concerned.
"Hermione, are you okay?" she asked.
Hermione blinked and then jumped to her feet, swaying a little at the sudden movement. When the world was no longer spinning she turned anxiously to the younger girl.
"Harry has Ron's wand and he's upset!" she said.
"Which way did he go?" Ginny asked immediately.
"Follow me," said Hermione.
The two girls ran down the corridor. It was not hard to find the route Harry had taken, because the magic he was accidentally letting loose from the wand showed signs everywhere.
There were a group of students looking rather put out as they examined each other's pink skin. Snape, to their horror, was frozen in place as though he were a statue. Colin Creevy walked past them in a daze, a large, dopey grin on his face as though he had been put under a powerful Cheering Charm. One wall was scorched and another had been decorated with splats of mud.
One thing was for certain; Filch was going to murder Harry if he ever found out the young boy had caused such mess.
Finally they came within sight of Harry running up the stairs to the fourth floor. Though fast, he was only little and their longer legs gave them an advantage.
"Harry, wait!" said Hermione.
Harry slowed and looked around, visibly relaxing when he saw it was just the two girls. He gazed up at them as they arrived at his side, huffing.
"You okay?" he asked innocently, hardly out of breath.
Ginny muttered something about little kids having too much energy, but Hermione ignored her and looked at Harry with a smile.
"Ron said he was really sorry for getting angry, Harry," she said. At least, he will. She pointed at the wand. "But he does ask that you give that back to him."
"Okay," said Harry with a sigh, leaning against the wall. "But why…?"
That was as far as he got for the next moment the wall had opened behind him and he was screaming as he shot down a steep slide within the very walls. Hermione and Ginny looked at each other and, without another thought, jumped through after him moments before it closed.
"'Mione!" Harry cried, his voice echoing in the slippery stone tunnel that steeped sharply downwards.
"Hang on, Harry!" Hermione said, sliding forward on her stomach while behind her Ginny slid on her back.
They flew around a sharp bend and Hermione caught hold of Harry's hand before he could slip away and the little boy gripped back tightly. Not wanting to lose Ginny either she reached back and grabbed Ginny's foot.
Then together they screamed as they sped through the tunnels.
The students of Hogwarts had begun filing into the Great Hall half an hour previously in order to begin lunch along with the teachers. This was where Ron found himself, full of guilt at his anger and hoping Harry wouldn't be too upset.
In the Great Hall he could see the strangest things, though, that temporarily drove his mind from such matters. There was a group of students with pink skin, some of the Gryffindors were wearing violently orange clothes, McGonagall's glasses looked more like Rita Skeeter's and Snape was hunched over his food, looking more murderous than usual.
A feeling of dread formed in the pit of his stomach. Harry had his wand… had he caused all of this to happen?
With a sigh he sat at the Gryffindor table. Hermione and Harry would end up here soon anyway, as long as Hermione could convince him not to go into hiding. For now he would just sit in the relative peace of the Great Hall.
The peace was soon disrupted, however, by the very distant sound of screaming that seemed to be coming, strangely enough, straight from the left wall. Dumbledore was looking cautiously towards it and, at his wariness, dinner stopped as they waited to see what would happen, all ready to flee if need be.
For a brief moment Ron appreciated the one trait every student had in common; nosiness. At this thought he forced his face to straighten when a grin fought to appear.
Ron had expected Harry and Hermione to turn up for dinner… but even he could never imagined them doing so in this way. As the screaming became louder a sliding door suddenly grated open in the wall and three figures – one small and two larger ones – shot out of the end and landed in a tangled heap on the floor as the wall closed behind them.
The school stared in shock as Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ginny Weasley untangled themselves and, looking distinctly ruffled, climbed to their feet.
"The strangest things always seem to happen when you're around, Harry," Hermione said with a sigh.
It was then the three looked around and realised that they were in the Great Hall. As Ginny and Hermione started to blush and Harry looked around curiously, loud whispers started up, whispers full of rumours and speculations.
The three hurried over to Ron and the two girls slunk low in their seats. Harry, however, smiled at Ron and handed the wand to him.
"Sorry, Won," he said timidly.
"It's alright, Harry, and I'm sorry too," said Ron with a relieved laugh; the last time one of them had snapped at Harry Hermione had ended up looking like medusa.
"Why do you need it?" Harry asked curiously.
"So I can do magic, of course," said Ron, clueless about the can of worms he was about to open.
There was a clatter as Harry dropped his fork onto his plate. His eyes went as round as saucers and his face drained of colour.
"M-magic?"
Coming Up; Chapter Sixteen; The Dreaded 'm' Word - The people close to Harry begin to learn that there are some wounds within Harry that run deeply, and that they must help him overcome his complete aversion to magic lest he start to lock it all away once more.
A/N; Well, people, we're nearing the end of the four-year-old stage now. I want to go through Christmas with him like this first before I try and get Snape to age him again. winks and what happens then is my secret... Anyway, I hope you like this chapter and I really am sorry for the very long delay. I hope it's worth the wait!
Thank you so much to all my reviewers! I've reached 160 reviews now and I couldn't be prouder of it! I seem some people who say they'll only update if they get so many reviews, and I think it's a good idea, but I'm just happy with what I get. So thank you to;
Freja Lercke-Falkenborg, Moonlite Knight, The Midnight Poster, PaddyWaddy, maraudersbanana, hittocerebattosai, stag-star, Heather, Shinigami Ryuuk AN'07, A, Aldavinur, suzy, HaruJam, and iluvchocs.
You're the people that keep me going and I thank you very much for that.
IMPORTANT NOTE! Does anyone have any idea why I am no longer getting emails notifying me of reviews sent to me or of stories that I am keeping an eye on that have been updated??? Fanfiction doesn't seem to be giving me emails any more, and I'm not sure why. Is it happening to anyone else? If someone can help me with this problem, could you tell me what's happening and, if you can, how to fix it, before I try and contact admin or something? Thanks!