Harry Potter and the Dragon Storm

Episode XV

Misadventures

Hermione Granger, a bushy haired girl and the red haired Ronald Weasley had just arrived at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She knows that Harry isn't going to be coming to Hogwarts this year. Neither is Ginny, because both of them had been outlawed from Briton by Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge, who was now hated by most of the British Wizarding world. He had changed so many laws in the past few weeks that non-mage born sorcerers have barely any rights left. And all of those that are non-magic born that worked for the ministry had either left their jobs or have been fired.

In addition, the Daily Prophet says, (which Hermione only gets to see what new ridiculous laws have been made; just encase she may needed to change schools like Harry and Ginny have.) That most of the 'Half-bloods' that also worked for the ministry had resigned their posts in protest, leaving the Ministry of Magic working with only about one quarter of the staff it used to have, and Hermione's been thinking a lot about that. They entered the great hall, which was just as chaotic as ever and sat down at the Gryffindor table.

Ron sighed.

"I'm starving. I hope the sorting's over quick," he said hopefully.

"You're always starving Ronald," Hermione snapped impatiently.

"How long are you going to keep calling me that?" Ron asked the bushy haired girl who glared at him.

"Until you apologize to Harry and Ginny," she all but snarled at him.

"What's the matter, scar head ran off with a whore that's not you, 'Mud-blood'!" came a droning sneer from behind them. Hermione just took a deep breath and turned round with Ron to see the bleach blonde scrawny Draco Malfoy with his two cronies the size of baby giants or small trolls, and just as stupid, Crabbe and Goyel who were flexing there muscles, trying and failing to intimidate her.

Over the years, Malfoy's insults have just gotten rather tedious and rather annoying.

"Why don't you just fuck off you Purist piece of filth?" she snapped and she noticed Ron looked just as shocked as Malfoy did. "Or maybe scum 'Pure-bloods' like yourselves; like being ferrite's!" She withdrew her wand and pointed it at Malfoy.

"What seems to be the problem here?" came the drawl of Professor Snape in his black Robes and long greasy black hair.

"Nothing Professor. I'm just about to teach a 'Pure-blood' a lesson in manners!" When she said the word 'Pure-blood' she spat it out with such hate that even Snape seemed to worry about his own safety.

"Twenty points from Gryffindor I think Miss. Granger, for your anti social behaviour," Snape hissed after he recovered himself.

"You're a bastard Snape. You can't take points from me, without taking them from the 'Pure-blood'," Hermione screamed at him. The whole of the great hall went quiet with shock and awe.

Snape looked ready to explode as he whispered in his most deadly voice. "A months detention should solve that bitter tongue problem; of yours Granger."

"Whatever! You can piss off, because I won't show up!" Hermione said raising her wand to Snape. "I'm sick and tired of you and your, bias, favouritism of the no good for nothing Slytherin's - or should I say baby Death Eaters!" Then she grabbed Ron by the arm and dragged him out of the hall with her, leaving Snape staring after her like a fish out of water.

0oo00oo0

Harry Potter was sitting next to Ginny on the train with Tessa the other side of him, and Francesca (Frankie) opposite and Matt and Sam either side of her in their compartment. Harry was hardly able to wait to get to Salem school. He didn't think that there would be a train, like there is to get to Hogwarts, but he always enjoyed the journey on the Hogwarts Express, so he thought that he would defiantly enjoy this ride too. He liked the trains colour better as well. It is better than the Hogwarts Express, midnight blue.

Tessa was very nervous sitting next to Harry; and he thought it was very funny when Ginny talked to her that the girl went bright red and stuttered incoherently. Harry was barely able to keep from laughing

'Maybe she has a liking for red heads?' Harry thought to himself with a cheeky smile no one seemed to notice.

"So what's the deal with that pug?" Harry asked as the train started moving. "Is she the schools asshole or something?" They all laughed even to Harry delight so did Tessa.

"Yeah she is," agreed Frankie laughingly. "It's a shame that on your first day you had to meet her. She's horrid."

"Reminds me of my own schools asshole," he commented laughing with Ginny. "But the prick gets away with everything because of our jerk Potion Teacher. Well what do the teachers do about the bitch?" Harry asked them frowning curiously.

"Not a lot they can do when her fathers got as much pull at the Ministry as hers dose," Frankie sighed in annoyance before continuing. "There's only one teacher at the school who isn't afraid of her or her father, and that's Professor Morgan."

"Harry's not afraid of her either," Tessa piped in shyly. Harry smirked impishly at her, which made her cheeks tinge slightly.

However, when Ginny spoke she turned a very dark shade of scarlet. "Tess is right. And I'm not bothered either. No one pushes me around."

Suddenly the door to the compartment slid open interrupting their conversation, and in came a young woman. She has violent purple hair and a very cute face. She stepped into the compartment towards Harry with a very pleased smile on her face as she stood in front of him.

"Wotcher 'Arry, I'm To -" The train suddenly rocketed forwards increasing its speed by at least ten maybe more and the young woman fell on Harry with a scream of surprise. The train suddenly lurched upwards. The young woman was practically on top of Harry, Ginny and Tessa as the train was nearly vertical shooting forwards. Frankie, Matt and Sam seemed unfazed by there sudden angle and didn't even fall from there seats. Though they were laughing at them.

Harry looked towards the window and saw that they were quite high now. The woman in his lap just looked at him in a very strange way before sighing her relief.

But maybe she sighed too soon as the train lunged forwards and started falling face first from the sky. The young woman was about to fall face first into the now scared three in front of them, so Harry as quick as he could in the confused drop reached out and grabbed her to stop her falling. One of his hands grabbed her in a place he shouldn't have; a very soft place around her chest. He went brick red with embarrassment and almost let go, but manages to just bare his embarrassment not wanting to be the reason she got hurt, and though he wouldn't admit it he rather liked where his hand is.

Then the train came out of its short free fall levelling out and snaking forwards through the sky. Harry could feel the now black haired woman sigh a breath of relief. It was then he remembering where his hand is. He let go quickly, as she looked at him with embarrassed glazed eyes. Her cheeks went blood red and her hair changed to match, though the edges of her hair was pink, almost white all the way around. Harry could feel his face burning red as she carefully climbed of him and sat opposite; between Frankie and Matt just staring at Harry with burning red cheeks.

"Well… well that was… err… embarrassing," the young woman said sheepishly. "I'm not getting up again until this ruddy train lands." Harry and the woman burst out laughing, trying to shake their encounter off. Nobody else seemed to know why they were both laughing.

'Luckily,' Harry thought. 'That would be even more embarrassing.'

They soon stopped laughing and the woman finally spoke again. "Let's try this again shall we. I'm Tonks. That prick Fudge sent me to give you this letter," she said pulling out a letter from her pocket. She suddenly looked very nervous about handing it over to him.

00oo00oo00

Nanoha was bored. She has been flying her little cloud for ages now, and was zooming along a coastal line wondering whether there's anything she could do to alleviate her boredom. It's a nice bright morning, and nothing to do. It had seemed like it might be fun travelling to find her Mistress. However, the only fun she's had was when she got to beat up those meanies yesterday, and stop them from their attempted bear-napping.

She yawned widely before she and her little cloud stopped suddenly, and she blinked several times in surprise. Up ahead of her were several small metal flying thingies. Well, they weren't overly small. They looked big enough for at least two people to sit inside.

She frowned as she watched them. They have some kind of spinning things on top, and are making a lot of noise. Nanoha wondered how they fly. She of course knows her little cloud is magic, which is how she gets around. But those things must be made by the not-magical-people. They baffle her mind.

She watched for a few more minutes in interest. They seemed to be searching for something, or maybe someone. However, as she watched, her attention was not fully on her current location. Therefore, she hadn't noticed the sound of an engine getting closer to her until it was too late.

Nanoha turned her head just in time to briefly see one of those flying thingies. It had a large glass front and she could clearly make out two western men inside. Neither of them saw her as they were both looking at some kind of hand-held metal thingy with a screen.

She gulped as the thing hit her with a thump, knocking her off her cloud, and sending her soaring towards the sandy beach below. She only had a short time to cry out in shock before she hit the sand with a loud thud, spraying the grains in all directions.

00oo00oo00

"Hey, did you hear something?" asked the passenger of the helicopter to the pilot as he looked around through the windows. But all he could see was a strange little blue cloud they are passing, but shrugged that off as unimportant.

The pilot looked at him in thought before shaking his head. "It was probably nothing. Just a bit of turbulence," he replied knowingly.

His passenger shrugged. "Whatever. Anyway, look," he said gesturing back towards the round metal device in his hands. It has a grid-like pattern on it with a little fuzzy yellow dot blipping. "The relic has to be around here somewhere."

The pilot nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but the radars are very unreliable. You would think with all of their tech, and magic they could make one that can pinpoint the exact location from anywhere in the world."

"Yeah, stupid bloody thing only has a range of several miles, and we still can't find it," he agreed shaking the thing as if that would make it work better. "I wonder what relic it is we're looking for anyway. For all we know this thing could be leading to something else."

And with those last few words both men glared angrily at the device and the passenger in a moment of inspiration opened his door and lobbed it out. "Good riddance to bad rubbish I say," the pilot muttered darkly as they continued their search without the device slowing them down.

00oo00oo00

Nanoha groaned as she pulled her self up out of the small hole she made when she fell rubbing her saw head and glaring up at the flying thingy angrily. "Jerks. Watch where you're flying!" she shouted her outrage shaking her fist in their direction, not that they could hear her.

However, just as she was about to call forth her little blue cloud so she could chase the meanies down and give them a piece of her mind about flying thingies and not looking where you're going something hard bopped her on the head.

"Ouch!" she moaned rubbing her head some more she looked down and clenched her fists in anger. It was that little metal thingy those men in the flying thingy had. "What horrible jerks!" she growled out as she bent down and picked it up. "Not only knocking innocent girls off of their clouds but then they throw garbage at them!"

She was about to throw the thing towards them and hope she can reach them from this distance when the thing in her hand caught her attention when it bleeped. Curiosity winning over her anger she lay her attention on it. She turned it over and frowned as the screen is cracked. Her hands glowed blue for a second, and she watched as the crack healed up right away. She grinned with pride as the screen flickered fuzzy for a few moments before clearing as good as new.

On the screen she could clearly make out a fuzzy yellow dot certainly marking the location of something. But she was unsure of where, as the thing is clearly still broken. Therefore, she did what anyone would do if they wanted it to work right. She gave it a severe shaking for a few moments before looking back at it, a huge grin suddenly splitting her face.

The fuzzy yellow dot cleared up until it is just a regular blinking dot. She cheered in joy as an evil smirk lined her lips. "I bet those jerks are looking for what ever is at the little yellow blink. I think I'll have to get it first." She giggled evilly. "That will teach those jerks!"

Therefore, she started walking further from the ocean while keeping her eyes on the thingy. It took her all of ten minutes to come to some cliffs and find a small entrance into some caves. She smiled as she raised her right hand palm up and a small globe of light burst forth in her palm. She let go and it floated up hovering above her right shoulder before clambering into the entrance.

The dark within was illuminated instantly, and she looked around. It was cold and wet and had three tunnels leading off in different directions. In addition she can feel some strong protections and wards. She's certain that they would make non-magical-people turn around and go home, probably before they even entered the cave.

However, she looked at her thingy… hmm. Well she thought she'd give it a name. "Hmm… I know. I'll call you Rei-chan," she told Rei-chan happily. "Don't worry Rei-chan; I'll paint you a different colour when I get the chance."

She looked at Rei-chan's screen and saw she has to take the left tunnel, so that's what she did. She walked through the dank tunnel for roughly half an hour before it opened to a small chamber covered in mist. She screamed in shock as she took a cautious step forward and gravity seemed to have changed directions.

She was also now looking up at the open blue sky. It took her a few moments to realise that she wasn't actually falling. Her scream died on her lips as she frowned in thought. She felt too scared of falling to even take a step forward. Then it hit her. This must be an illusion. Yes, that must be it. So if she does take a step, it should break.

Taking a few deep calming breaths she took one step forward and the world instantly righten it self making her feel dizzy. She almost fell to the floor as the mist faded away and the cave ceiling returned. Shaking off her dizziness she smiled at her brilliance before checking Rei-chan and continuing on her path through another tunnel, one of five she noted, amused. Without Rei-chan she would definitely get lost down here.

Nanoha couldn't be sure how long she walked down this tunnel as it seemed to go on forever. Up, down, left, right, back tracking, up and over walls, up ledges, and down drops. And every so often the floor kept crumbling under her weight leading into what might as well be bottomless pits, as she could never see the bottom after she has jumped clear and looked down at what might have been her fate. And once she almost fell into a huge pit of spikes.

"Whatever's down here, somebody is seriously trying to keep it down here!" she muttered to her self as she finally came to another chamber. She looked in with a frown as this one seemed to be the last and has no sign of any traps.

The other side of the chamber she saw a large, weird looking pedestal. It looked like a huge bone claw. It looked really creepy, and has an ominous white glow. On top was what looked like a cawed gold glove, too large in size for her she sighed disappointedly. But she might as well take it, if for nothing more than to keep it away from the jerks.

However, as soon as she stepped into the chamber she froze as she felt an odd tingle run down her spine making her shiver for a moment. She gulped as she spun around to see the exit had disappeared. She internally groaned. She knew it was too good to be true. There's always one last sneaky trap added right at the end.

"Congratulations!"

She span around fast, startled. There standing next to the pedestal stood an old man wearing some regal looking silk clothes in greens and blues. He has a weathered look in his dark eyes, but kindness too. She was wondering why the last trap would be an old man. Is the last test to suffer listening to him reminiscing about the 'good old days' just like the village elders like to do.

"W-who are you?" she asked. "What are you doing here?"

He smiled. "I am but a guide young one," he answered, confusing her. "I just have one question for you if I may?"

"Uh… okay, what is it?" she asked confusedly. She hopes it isn't too hard. She's never done well at tests.

"What would you do with the Griffin Claw if you had it?" he asked with an intrigued expression.

Nanoha frowned in confusion before looking at the claw. "Oh… I get it. It's what that thing is called. Hmm… well I don't really know. I just came to get it, so those rude jerks outside can't get it."

"I see," he replied in amusement. "But now it's in your grasp what will you do with it?" he asked again even more curious than before.

Nanoha once again frowned in thought. "Um… I don't know. What does it do?" she asked the old man interestedly.

He let out a chuckle before replying. "It holds great powers," he answered cryptically. "Even I have not discovered them all. What would you do if you had great powers?" he asked once more. The girl is interesting he realised.

"Hmm… well, I don't know," she answered first before a light went on in her eyes. She shone with great determination as she finally answered his question. "I would use it to help my Mistress save the world of course."

"I see," he answered proudly. "Then it is yours," he said gesturing towards the pedestal. "All you have is but to take it. Your trial has ended. But be warned. If your goals are deemed not worthy. The pedestal will destroy you."

Nanoha took a deep and shaky breath before her determination shone brighter than before. To her, saving the world and protecting her Mistress is very worthy. So she grinned in triumph, as if she has already claimed her prize and strode towards it.

The old man watched her with sorrowful eyes, not that she noticed. He felt bad for the girl, as her mission is fraught with many dangers. But she'll also make many new friends along the way, and have plenty of fun. It has already been over one thousand years since he was young and foolish, on the very same mission. To save the world is easier said than done. By the end of it this poor girl will have lost her innocents and naivety. How he wishes he could fight in her stead. But he is only a shadow of the man who died centuries ago. So he has to leave it up to children. Just as he was a child when he began this very same mission with the Mistress all those years ago. The peace he fought for, just a fleeting memory.

He watched as the girl reached out and took hold of the claw. It flashed gold once and was on her hand, shrunk down to fit her as he knew it would. She examined it in awe for a moment before looking back at him, a huge grin splitting her face.

"So what does it do?" she asked eagerly.

He chuckled sadly before shaking his head as his body began to fade away. "That is for you to discover child. Nothing worth while in this world is easy. You shall discover its secrets, just as I did one thousand years ago. Fight for our goddess proudly, and all shall be well my child."

Nanoha watched in shock as the man slowly faded away, a few stray tears leaking from her eyes as she realised he has been gone for a thousand years, only leaving a small impression on the world.

However, she had little time to morn him as the cave around her started to darken suddenly and her little orb of light snuffed out of existence. The next second she found her self blinking away the bright light of the sun. She was back outside. She spun around to look at the entrance but it was gone. She frowned as she looked at her claw before a small smile tugged at her lips.

"I'll make you proud, old man!" she declared clenching her clawed hand in triumph, and wiping away tears on the sleeve of her other hand.

"I know you shall!" a soft voice drifted across the winds startling her. "Beware the Storm is nearing…"

"I will," she whispered back, but could already feel his presence has finally left forever. She took a deep breath as she turned from the cave back to the beach. "NIMBUS!" she screamed to the sky.

A huge grin split her face as she watched her little blue cloud zoom down out of the sky, coming to a halt next to her. "Hi Nimbus. Wow, did I ever have a weird adventure or what. With all of that I don't think I'll be bored for awhile."

She giggled as she hopped on top of her cloud, sitting cross legged and zoomed off into the sky. She glared towards the other end of the beach at all of the metal flying thingies before looking down at Rei-chan still clutched in her left hand, a smirk crossed her face as she pressed a button. It zoomed out.

A toothy grin encroached her face as she continued zooming out until she found another bleep that isn't her. Laughing evilly at her cool new toy she sped off at top speeds over the ocean. Those meanies will regret knocking her off her cloud and then throwing stuff at her. She'll get all of the little yellow dots, and then those guys will be sorry.

00oo00oo00

Lieutenant Black was sitting in the passenger side of a helicopter trying to find the relic with his piece of junk radar, a frown marring his features as he watched the little yellow dot suddenly streak way across the screen and disappear.

Groaning in annoyance he tried pressing buttons, but no matter what he did the dot would not reappear. "Lieutenant!" an urgent voice came over the radio. So he picked it up.

"Don't tell me," he answered the man. "The relics mark is no longer on your radar?" he asked in annoyance, loosing his cool.

"Y-yes sir," the man replied. "It appears to have happened to them all. What do we do?"

"Just continue searching. It has to be around here somewhere. These things are useless anyway."

He threw down the radio in anger, and glared out to sea. But all he saw were sea birds of varying types. How could all of the radars have broken at the same time? What if somebody else had found it and apparated out of range. Damn, the General isn't going to be pleased when he finds out.