Hey guys, it's that time of the week again. Here is chapter six for you. Just four more left after this then it's onto Volume Two. Speaking of, progress on Volume 2 is tremendous. I have been putting out a chapter a day for the last four days. I plan on finishing chapter 5 today and at least starting chapter 6, so it's coming along. A note though. With me you guys are used to chapters being about 4000 words on average. Well I shortened it for volume 2 so I feel like I don't have so much work. Volume 2 has about an average of 2500 words per chapter so far. And I've switched to third person POV for Volume 2. I think I like it better, so starting Volume 2 I will be writing in third person. Well onto the chapter.
Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts or Harry Potter. I tried to request ownership, but only got some nasty phone calls in return. I only own my OC.
Chapter 6
The team and Harry wallowed in their depression from losing the match for weeks. Slowly, things began to calm back down. People's spirits were lifted when Lupin came back to teaching once his "illness" passed. Harry had held onto the remains of his broom for the longest time. He knew it was silly, but he told us that part of him felt like he lost a best friend.
It wasn't until the end of November that Harry completely came out of his slump. Hufflepuff was soundly beaten by Ravenclaw, so the Gryffindor team was not out of the running for the cup. Harry complained to us that Wood was back on his training tirade, desperately wanting to win the cup. Harry also told us that Lupin was going to teach him how to fight of the dementors after the holidays.
There had been more heartless attacks happening lately. My guess is because the dementors are getting hungry and they are unwittingly calling more and more heartless. I was nearly caught by at least one student more than once, and it is made worse with the fact that the Weasley twins were among the few who did see me on Halloween. Couple that with the fact that Hermione was indeed scavenging through the library for any mention of the Heartless. However, just as Dumbledore predicted, she found nothing.
"There has got to be some mention somewhere!" Hermione exclaimed, frustrated, from where we were sitting in the common room. "Have you three ever heard of the Heartless before Halloween?"
"If you don't, what makes you think we would?" Ron asked as he and Harry tried to do their Divination homework.
Hermione then looks over at me; however my face is buried in my History essay, as I am pretending to not listen to her.
"Gnocx!" she yelled.
"What is it?" I calmly asked as I moved my head up to look at her.
"Do you know anything about the Heartless or not?" She huffed.
"Of course not," I stated. I then put away my essay after putting the final touches in it.
"I'll be right back," I told them as I walk up the stairs to my dormitory to put my bag away.
Classes were done for today and we were doing homework until it was time to go to the Great Hall. I put my bag in my trunk and headed back down the stairs. Before I reached the bottom I heard Ron's voice.
"You're being paranoid Hermione," he said.
"No, I'm not," she replied. "You have to admit there is something Gnocx is hiding."
"What makes you think that?" Harry asks, sounding mildly curious.
"Every time the Heartless are brought up he either changes the subject or doesn't contribute to the conversation," Hermione said.
"Maybe that is because he's tired of you bringing it up all the time," Ron reasoned.
"But it's not just that," Hermione insisted. "I have felt that there is something off about him since we've met. Don't you notice how whenever there are heartless around he is not? What about that first night we went to see Hagrid; he lied and said he went to Lupin's office, but when we heard the ruckus in the second floor, which, by the way, I will bet you a sickle was a Heartless attacking, we saw Lupin coming with the other Professors from the first floor, Not the third where his office is. Also when he came back his face was cut. And Halloween, he went to bed lying on his stomach."
"Oh, is that all?" Ron asked with a tone of sarcasm. "You're reaching."
"Actually Ron, I have noticed as well," Harry said, this conversation has been a long time coming I just hoped that it wouldn't be soon. "There are also smaller things. He never mentions his parents, he never gets letters from home, and he is incredibly distant from everyone. He talks to us, but it's almost as if it is because he is forcing himself to."
For some reason that last statement stuck a cord in me; however I quickly ignored it in favor of listening to the rest.
"So he is a bit of a weirdo, doesn't mean he's keeping things from us, we are his friends," Ron reasoned.
"That is another thing, you two trusted him almost immediately. He came out of nowhere, for all we know he could be working with Sirius Black and trying to help him kill you, Harry," Hermione pleaded.
I had to give it to the girl. She thought this through, and she makes a point. I need to reevaluate my strategy in dealing with them.
"That sounds a little far-fetched Hermione," Harry said. "Although you may be right when you say we trusted him with too much."
"Remember what I just said about the first night," Hermione said. "I think Gnocx might be the hooded man who Fred and George saw Halloween. According to Peeves and the Fat Lady, the hooded man fought the Heartless and Sirius Black. Black managed to knock him down the stairs and onto his back pretty roughly. As I said, Gnocx slept on his stomach."
"Hermione… Gnocx always sleeps that way," Harry said, "I've seen him when I go to bed after he does."
While I applaud Hermione in her deductive reasoning, the reason I slept on my back was as Harry said. Peeves was wrong, the fall didn't hurt me; just knocked the wind out of me.
"Fine," she conceded, "but how do you explain the cut on his face the first night? I doubt it was because Peeves was lucky enough to hit him with something. And if he was running his face wouldn't have been a target, his back would."
"I don't think I believe that Gnocx is the hooded guy, Hermione," Harry said. "Why would he keep it a secret?"
"I'll be honest I don't know, but let's just be careful around him," Hermione whispered as she saw me come down the rest of the stairs. We then all headed off to dinner.
The second Hogsmeade visit of the year came on the weekend before the end of term for the holidays. Harry once again became depressed when he resigned himself to the fact that he was the only third year not going. We saw Ron and Hermione off, then we headed back to Gryffindor tower, but before we could leave the entrance hall we heard a voice.
"Psst-You guys!" it said.
We turned to see Fred and George gesturing to us from a supply closet. We walked over and they pulled us in.
"What are you guys doing?" Harry exclaimed before the twins out a hand over his mouth.
"We came to give you a bit of festive cheer," Fred told us, handing Harry a piece of parchment.
"It's an early Christmas present from us to you," George said, and then he looked at me. "We thought you would enjoy the surprise, so here you are."
"Joy," I said dryly.
"What is this rubbish supposed to be?" Harry asked.
"That, Harry is the secret to our success," George said as he patted the parchment like it was his child.
"We've decided that you need it more than we do," Fred said. "Besides we have it memorized. We don't need it anymore."
"And just what am I supposed to do with a piece of parchment?" he asked them.
"A piece of..." Fred said looking scandalized. "George, explain."
"Well, Harry," George began, "when we were in our first year, young and innocent… well more innocent than we are now, we ran into trouble with Filch."
"We set off a Dungbomb in the corridor and it upset him for some reason-"
"So he hauled us off to his office and started to threaten us with the usual-"
"-detention-"
"-disembowelment-"
"Then we noticed a drawer in one of his cabinets labeled Confiscated and Highly Dangerous."
"Don't tell me," Harry said while starting to grin.
"Yep," Fred confirmed. "George started a diversion by setting off a Dungbomb; I whipped the drawer open, and grabbed this."
"What is it?" I asked, breaking my silence.
The twins had then taken out their wands, tapped the parchment, and uttered "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good." And then lines of ink began to form on the page. The lines spread and extended to cover the whole piece of parchment. Then, at the end of it, a message appeared at the top of it.
Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs
Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers
are proud to present
The Marauder's Map
I could tell that the parchment had revealed what appeared to be a map, and as Harry had inspected it I could see that it was a map of the school. I knew that the twins had had a front row seat at Harry's despair caused by not being able to go to Hogsmeade, but I was not sure why giving him this map would help him. My answer came when Fred took his finger and outlined a passage on the map; a passage that looked like it led out of the castle and right into—
"Right into Hogsmeade," Fred told him. "There are seven secret passages leading to Hogsmeade. Filch knows about four of them." He then pointed them out.
"But we're sure we're the only ones who know about these ones," George continued as he started pointing, "Don't bother with the one on the fourth floor behind the mirror; it caved in last year. We reckon that no one has ever used this one either," he said pointing at the map again. "The Whomping Willow was planted over the entrance, but this one on the third floor leads to the cellar of Honeydukes. You should take this one. It is on the third floor, through the one eyed old crone's hump." He then moved back and sighed dramatically. "Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs. We owe them so much."
"Noble men, working tirelessly to help a new generation of lawbreakers," Fred said solemnly.
"Don't forget to wipe the map when you're done-" George warned,
"- or else anyone can read it," Fred finished. "Just tap it again and say, 'Mischief managed!' And it'll go blank."
"Now then, young Harry," George said. "See you in Hogsmeade."
The twins then shoved us out of the closet and followed us. They proceeded to follow the now distant crowd outside the school. Harry was still admiring the gift he just received.
"Are you going to go?" I inquired.
"Of course I am," he gushed. "You want to come too."
"No," I replied. "I stayed because I don't have money, but don't worry, I won't rat you out. I want to go walk around the grounds. I want to see everything blanketed in snow; makes for a nice view."
"See you then," he said immediately.
I wonder if he even knew what I told him.
Harry then walked to the staircase while shoving the map in his pocket. I turned and headed outside. Truth be told, I had no interest in the views. While the map wasn't for me, it did give me an idea. Sirius Black had been getting in the castle. With the information I had just received, I could guess that he had been getting in through one of the secret passages. By process of elimination, the four known by Filch were out, as was the fourth floor passage behind the mirror; due to being blocked as a result of the cave-in. That left the Honeydukes passage and the one under the Whomping Willow. The Honeydukes entrance is unlikely the one used because he would have to sneak through Honeydukes itself. He cannot do that even if he is a dog, which leaves only the Whomping Willow passage.
The Whomping Willow would attack anything that came near it, which gave me the idea that it was planted as a security measure. I believe that the Willow was planted to either seal the entrance, or guard it from any unwanted guests. The only snag I had is that I needed to get close enough to investigate the base of the tree. If there was no way to get to the passage, my theory would go up in smoke. However, if there was one, I would have figured out the most likely way Black had gotten into the castle and, perhaps, where he had been hiding,
I had made my way out of the castle and was on my way to the lake, when, of all times, then I had been overcome with the presence of darkness manifesting back in the castle. Deciding that my theory could wait, I ran back to the castle. As soon as I crossed the threshold I was in my coat. I bounded for the stairs, and in an effort to save time, I went from the bottom to the first floor landing in a flash. I took off from there, as I had yet to pinpoint where the Heartless were. Once I reached the third floor I burst into the corridor. To my distaste, Harry was down the hall, surrounded by three Heartless that essentially looked like even more bloated versions of Malfoy's pets. Knowing that I needed to act quickly, I ran over and jumped in the air. I descended and kicked one of the Large Bodies in the back, sending it forward and into one of its buddies. As soon as I landed I ran forward and grabbed Harry as he turned to see who had kicked his attacker.
"It's you!" he exclaimed.
Wasting no time, I grabbed his arm and thrust him toward the stairs. He turned to look at me and I pointed to the stairs. Seeming to get the message, he ran for them. Much to my chagrin, he refused to completely leave and turned to watch the fight with his wand drawn.
I turned to face the third Large Body. It stared at me for a moment before it began swinging its arms, trying to bat me away. Unfortunately for it, its movements were slow, so I was easily able to back up and call my blades. I then lunged as it was recovering and moved to strike it in the stomach with an x slash; only to have my rapiers, literally, bounce off of it, I was surprised enough that I had lost my grip and the swords clattered to the floor. Before I could react further one of the ones I had knocked down had risen and hit me with its giant fist. The blow sent me careening into the wall face first. I fell down onto the floor. I felt blood starting to flow out of my nose. I lifted myself up and off the floor that now had my blood on it and threw my hand up at the approaching Heartless. I heard Harry yelling at me to get out of the way and he pointed his wand at the Heartless, however before he could say anything the Heartless was stopped by a dome I had formed around me made of hexagonal panels. The panels glowed at the impact and released a shockwave, forcing its own energy against it and sent it flying into the other two.
With all three on the floor I quickly flashed to appear in front of Harry, who gasped.
"Who are you?" he demanded, still holding his wand still up.
I had my back to hm. I held my hand to my nose and took advantage of the blood flowing.
"Put the wand away, and get going," I told him with a voice that was slightly muffled because of my nose. "You don't know any magic that could help."
Before he could answer I held out my hands and my weapons disappeared from the floor, and back into my hands.
"Who the bloody hell are you?" Harry demanded again.
I ignored him and charged forward. I reached the now recovered Heartless and dodged one that charged at me. Having learned my lesson I weaved around the juggernaut and stabbed it in the back. The creature then vanished into smoke as the others charged upon me. I jumped and back flipped over them. I dismissed one of my blades and held the newly emptied hand out to the one on the right. A familiar spell flew toward it and froze it solid. With that one out of the fight, I turned to the final one that had somehow jumped into the air and was now falling toward me as if doing a belly flop into a pool. I did not have a desire to be crushed, so I held out my sword and a small, black shockwave expanded from the white blade. As the shockwave reached the Heartless its movement stopped and it was now suspended in the air, slowly rotating and struggling fruitlessly against my spell. I switched the grip on my blade and threw it as if it were a javelin. The projectile flew up and pierced the Heartless through its tiny head. That Heartless then followed its brother and vanished leaving nothing behind but dark wisps.
With the battle essentially over, I turned to the still frozen heartless and held out both hands.
"Force!" I recited, and then a dark orb appeared and surrounded the lone Heartless.
I heard the shattering of my ice spell and could see the Heartless being crushed under the increased gravity. Seconds after the fatal spell began, it too vanished to nothing.
Battle concluded; I turned to see Harry, still at the stairs, staring at me with wide eyes. I proceeded to then walk toward him and the stairs. As I got closer he pulled out his wand and pointed it at me.
"Take off the hood," he ordered me.
I kept walking as if nothing changed. He began to get visibly frustrated.
"Take off your damn hood!" he barked again.
That time I just vanished. He jumped only to have his back meet my chest. He turned around and before he could back away I grabbed his wrist and squeezed hard enough for him to drop his wand.
"I just told you that you did not know any magic that could help me in that fight, what makes you think you can stand up to me?" I reprimanded as I let go of his wrist and stepped on his wand to make sure he knows he can't get it.
He backed away and started rubbing his wrist.
"Who are you?" he asked for the third time.
"Dumbledore asked me to help with the Heartless. That's all you need to know," I told him as I kicked his wand to him and started heading to the fourth floor.
He picked it up and started to follow me.
"What are the Heartless?' he asked.
I stopped and turned to face him.
"Heartless are dark creatures that should not exist," I explained. "You would do well to run from them should they appear. Tell that to your friend who has been wasting her time in the library. The Heartless are not known by the normal populace and for good reason. You need to go; you were there for a reason. I saw the passage."
I turned to leave but was stopped again by the question I knew was coming.
"I need to know," he began, "are you Gnocx?"
I slowly turned around and saw his expectant gaze. After a moment I turned back around and left giving nothing but a cryptic response.
"What does your heart say?"
With that said I left him standing on the stairs. I know that eventually he did go back to Hogsmeade. I made my way to the Hospital Wing where I dismissed my coat and had Madame Pomfrey fix my nose. After she finished, I cleaned my clothes with a spell and took my leave of her following a lecture from her about being careful while I was fighting.
I left the Hospital Wing and proceeded to make my way back down the stairs to continue where I had left off. Some force in the universe must have had it out for me that day because as I passed the Third floor I was halted by none other than the school's resident bat.
"Yes, Professor Snape," I answered his order to stop. He came out of the third floor where I had just fought.
"I just found blood spread across the corridor on this floor," he told me. "Would you happen to know anything about it?"
"Yes," I replied. "I just saved Harry Potter from a group of Heartless, the blood is mine. I couldn't clean it after the fight because he wouldn't leave me alone, and he would have recognized my wand. He wanted to know who I was and obviously I was able to shake him off."
"Why was Potter attacked in the first place?" he asked me with his normal sneer. "You are supposed to be keeping the Heartless out."
I just looked at him. He was trying to unnerve me, but he didn't know that I was impossible to unnerve.
"I can't stop the Heartless before they appear," I told him, "They literally show up and I can't sense them until they do. If I were you I wouldn't criticize the one person here who can sense them. I understand that you don't trust me, but Dumbledore does and you should trust him. I know that he is someone not to be trifled with."
I turned to make my way down the stairs. He swoops after me and he breaks off at the second floor, but before he left I called him.
"Professor," I called.
He turned to look at me with a curious expression.
"I have come to understand you have been seeking the Defense Against the Dark Arts post," I began, "however, if you want it, going out of your way to expose the one who has it for something he can't control is not the way to get it." With those words I turn and walk away.
"You would do well to not interfere in my affairs," he said. Then he turned and strode further away.
The conversation done, I was finally able to head outside and make it to the willow. Unfortunately I was not able to get close enough to see the base without the tree's limbs taking a swing at me. I was able to counter this by freezing the tree in time, however, due to its size, the effect wouldn't last long, so I ran up to the base and I saw, just as I had predicted, a hole in the side that led into the ground. All I could see were roots, and before I could investigate further, my spell wore off and I was almost hit while I was running away from the tree. I had established that that maybe how Black was getting in, now I just needed to know how he was getting past the tree itself. Thoughts on this flooded my mind as I headed back to the castle.
When the trio came back from Hogsmeade, they were not exactly in the best of spirits, despite it being the end of term. When Harry had come through the common room after sneaking back in through the secret passage he looked as if Voldemort himself paid him a visit. He sat in front of the fire and waited for the other two to come back. He didn't even acknowledge that I was present, which was to be expected, but it was still bothersome because something had obviously rattled him, and it wasn't the Heartless attack.
Soon the other two came back and Harry led them out of the common room to go to dinner. I set the book I had been reading from the library on the stand next to the chair I was in and made to follow. Once I reached the Great Hall, the three were already silently eating and Ron and Hermione kept giving Harry worried glances. I took my seat and nothing changed. They were silent all through dinner and then Harry left before the rest of us. Eventually we all made our way to the common room to see that Harry had gone up to his dormitory.
"What happened to him?" I asked Ron. "He seems like something really rattled him."
Ron looked at me then he and Hermione exchanged a look.
"Don't worry about it," he replied in a dismissive tone. "If he wants you to know he'll tell you."
He and Hermione then walked away and sat next to the fire.
Well that was unnecessarily hostile, I thought as I watched them whisper to each other. I looked back up the stairs and resigned myself to going to bed. I grabbed my book I left on the table and went up to my dorm. I slipped myself into the bed and pondered the Willow. For some reason my thoughts kept drifting back to the three. I suppose it was my curiosity, making me wonder what could have turned Harry into and introvert. I thought back to the conversation I heard earlier and sighed.
The separation from me had begun.
Don't worry the separation won't last. I needed for them to find out who he is, so I don't have to go through all this when I have him come back. I won't tell you when he will, but only that it will be during book 5. Thank you to the like 3 people who have favorited and the 5 who have alerted. I appreciate it. I'm thinking about doing a story with no OC's to see if people think my writing is any good. Until next time.
