Chapter Nine: A Fluffy Situation


Title: Harry Potter and the Spirit Riders

Chapter: 9

Author: Hikari no Vikki

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy

Parings: Sorry, only frivolous friendships for now.

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or Zelda. Really. I don't.

Description: Crossover with Legend of Zelda. The Phantom Hourglass has been handed down since its beginning, until finally it makes its way into the hands of a boy named Gabriel. He fights alongside Harry Potter, and soon discovers a darkness that has been waiting to exact a deadly revenge.

Author's Notes:

I was just thinking, if I do any more HP after this, it won't be for a while. I have my LoZ fics that I've been anxiously wanting to write… pfft. But, these are just musings. It would be great, too if you could, you know, drop a hint that you like this or something? I have a lot of people who put me on their story watch or author update lists, but they never review. A good author needs his/her feedback. It's crucial, you know. So, yeah. Reviews would REALLY be appreciated.


Soon, November chills were upon Hogwarts Castle. Harry was walking beside Gabriel after their classes had finished, brooding over the fact that Snape had taken his copy of Quidditch Through the Ages for no reason. (1)

"I want to go ask him and get it back, like Ron said, but… I dunno. I'm just too afraid. What is it the American students call it? Right… chicken." Gabriel stopped him and shook his head, sighing. "Harry, if you were chicken, trust me, there's no way you would have gone and stood up Malfoy that day he stole Neville's Rememberall, or gone with Ron to that – (Admittedly stupid, he thought) – bogus Midnight Duel, or even when we fought the troll! Really, you're not chicken. A little timid, but you've got heart for stronger stuff. After all, don't you have a Quidditch match tomorrow?" He smiled brightly, chuckling. Harry blinked.

"Oh, right…" he had read enough of the book before Snape had taken it up to know about the dangers of Quidditch (that, and Fred and George had a habit of teasing him that players disappeared more often during their first games) and so he was not, shall we say, extremely excited about playing, however much he liked the sensation of flying.

Gabriel just laughed. "If it bothers you that much, I'll go and get it for you." Harry nodded fervently. "Would you?" Again, Gabriel laughed, and Harry turned away to scowl, though also to hide his flushed cheeks.

Gabriel spotted a flash of blond hair leaning against the wall and stopped in mid-laugh. He scrambled for a way to get rid of Harry so that he could talk. "Say, Harry… why don't you go find Ron and Hermione? Let them know I might be a little late to dinner?" Harry nodded, assuming it would be because he was going to go get the book. And so he scampered off.

Gabriel waited until Harry was out of sight before he wandered over to the archway, he leaned up against it, not far off from the blonde.

Eyes covered in shadow, he asked him, "Is there something you wanted to say to me, Malfoy?" The boy was silent, but he shifted his posture from leaning against the wall to standing. "Please, call me Draco, if you like." Gabriel looked up. "Any particular reason for the change of heart?" Draco's eyes narrowed slightly. "I've been thinking about what you've said. I'm not your friend, but I'm not your enemy, either." Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

"Oh? And does this apply to the others?" Draco's eyes narrowed some more, almost to a level Gabriel would consider dangerous. "Don't count on that. I said I'm not your enemy. Doesn't mean I'll extend that favor to them." Gabriel sighed. "Suit yourself. But one day you may feel differently."

So he walked off, once again leaving a bewildered Draco Malfoy in his wake.

He navigated the halls, headed straight for the dungeons when he just happened to pass the staffroom and he caught a snitch of sound as he did so. He swerved back around, peeking through the slit in the door, surprised to see Filch bandaging the aforementioned Potions professor's leg, which was bleeding at various rates along what looked to be a rather large bite.

He frowned, remembering Halloween night when he'd seen Professor Snape limping off towards the dungeons after the business with the troll had settled down. But it should have at least scabbed over by now… he paused, collecting himself, remembering what he wished to ask the Professor.

So Gabriel raised his hand stiffly, and knocked. Through the slit, Filch visibly flinched, and asked the Professor to wait a moment and he went to answer the door.

"Why, I oughta… mmph." Filch's normal scowl deepened as he glared down at the boy. "What do you want?" Gabriel, unperturbed by his usual show of intimidation, answered politely with, "A friend of mine had his book taken up by the Professor Snape, and I wanted to know if I could have it back?" Filch blinked, stunned his scare tactics hadn't worked on Gabriel. He looked back, but gasped a little and moved away as a book came sailing through the air and into Gabriel's outstretched hand.

He turned away, giving the ruse that he hadn't seen any of Professor Snape's leg. "Thank you, Professor."

The door was shut lightly again and he could hear Professor Snape muttering, "That boy… what a typical Gryffindor. He'll do anything for Potter." Gabriel chuckled, but knew he had to tell the others what he'd seen. He scrambled quickly towards the common room, and found them sitting together in front of the fire.

"What's the rush, mate?" Ron asked as he ran in. Gabriel plopped down next to Harry, handing him his book. "Here," he said, breathless, "I got it back for you." It was his Quidditch Through the Ages book that Snape had taken up. "Wow! You got it back? How?" Gabriel shrugged. "I just asked for it. Though if I'm not mistaken, he did say something along the lines of, 'what a typical Gryffindor' as I left…"

They all laughed at it, save for Gabriel himself. Hermione noticed first, straightening herself in her chair and attempting to smooth over her bushel-like hair. "Is something wrong, Gabriel?"

Gabriel frowned, and told him (carefully, mind you) what he had seen.

"So that means…" Harry frowned; starting to summarize his words, but was quickly interrupted by Ron. "He was the one who tried to get past that three-headed dog the night of Halloween! I mean, we all saw him headed that way, didn't we?" Aria scolded him quietly for interrupting as Gabriel shook his head.

"Not necessarily. As we were leaving the bathroom that night, I caught the strangest of vibes coming off Professor Quirrell. None of you may have seen it, but he scrambled off in that direction first – long before Snape did. Perhaps 'poor, stuttering Professor Quirrell' isn't all he seems to be. But then again, that's just me." He paused, thinking a moment. "Though Snape does seem the more likely suspect…"

No one spoke after that. After all, Gabriel did have a point.

.oOo.

The next day, however, no one spoke of bites on legs, three-headed dogs, or late night wanderings. Today was all about the very first Quidditch match of the season between Gryffindor and Slytherin.

Gabriel was flipping through a book he'd asked his mother to send him written by a muggle author by the name of Tolkien. It was quite absorbing, but today to butterflies in his stomach kept his mind off his reading and fixed his gaze on a pale, motionless Harry who was currently sitting across from his, picking at his eggs and toast.

"You should really eat something Harry," he muttered slyly in between bites of his own breakfast of bacon, hash browns, and pancakes. Harry frowned. "But, I can't… I'm too…" "Scared?" Harry almost began to nod, but paused remembering Gabriel's words from the other day.

"Just don't think about it," he kept on, rather smoothly, "once you get on that broom, let what's going to happen, happen. 'Kay?" Harry blinked, thought about it for a moment, then nodded, smiling a little. "Sure. I'll try that." Gabriel smiled brightly. "There you go! Trust me, it's not like you're performing a solo or anything for a recital. If you're going to be nervous, do it then. But a Quidditch match? Naw. It's not even worth it." Harry tilted his head.

"Hey, how would you know all this?" he asked, half sarcastically, half genuinely curious. Gabriel shrugged. "My father. He was on the Slytherin team when he went here." Harry gaped at him. "Your father was a Slytherin?" Gabriel chuckled, gnawing on a shred of bacon fat. "Yeah. Just because you go into Hogwarts as a Slytherin doesn't mean you turn out all bad."

Harry scoffed lightly, surprised at this new piece of information. "Well, I guess you're right. Your dad seems like a pretty cool guy, you know, for the few times I've met him that is." Gabriel nodded firmly, then flashed another smile. "Well, I wish you luck today!" Harry smiled back.

"Sure, thanks."

.oOo.

Gabriel glanced up at the field from his book. The butterflies in his stomach were still there, but this time they didn't feel excited at all. Not sick either, just… nervous. Like a warning to watch out. He vowed not to get too caught up in the game so he could keep a tab on Professors Snape and Quirrell.

"Hey," Hermione whispered, nudging him in his side gently, "do you want my binoculars? Hagrid's going to let me borrow his." Gabriel glanced down at her pair. He decided to take them, thinking they'd be good for keeping an eye on the professors. "Sure," he said, grinning brightly. Somehow, he felt the need to keep his feelings to himself…

Then the doors opened. Curious, just like everyone else, he rose and leaned over the railing, grinning like an idiot. Both teams walked forward towards the centre where Madame Hooch was standing and he could tell that as they gathered around her that she was explaining the rules to the teams.

The captains shook hands, and then they mounted their brooms.

At this point in time, Jordan finally turned on her mike and Madame Hooch's whistle boomed loud and clear across the stadium. He smiled, but soon the excitement died away and Gabriel retreated back to his book, occasionally glancing up at Harry as he glided over the stadium, and Professors Snape and Quirrell just in case.

It was awhile before anyone scored (Gryffindor for the win!) but Gryffindor took the first points.

There was a moment where a bludger looked to be after Harry (how that made his heart thud inside! Perhaps Harry should be more careful?) but he dove down towards one of the Weasley twins and they batted the blasted thing towards one of the Slytherin players. Gabriel couldn't keep the grin off his face at that one.

Just when all seemed well enough, however, "…and speeds toward the – wait a moment – was that the Snitch?"

Gabriel's head snapped as a murmur spread through the crowd. "The Snitch!" Ron crowed quietly, "Really? I hope it is!" He crumpled in his seat, muttering something about how he still had homework he had to finish. Gabriel shook his head, then looked back up, eyes glued on Harry. He watched as Harry's head whipped left and right, then he gasped a little as he actually spotted it.

Unfortunately, so had the Slytherin seeker, Terence Higgs.

They rushed forward, neck and neck together, Harry very dangerously close to the Snitch. On a Nimbus 2000 he was definitely the current favorite and more likely of the two to win, but…

WHAM!

Gabriel snarled, caught up in the rage and disgust of the other Gryffindors as Marcus Flint purposefully blocked Harry from his path, sending Harry's broom way off course and leaving him hanging on for dear life.

Several of the Gryffindors chanted, "Foul! Foul!" over and over, hoping Madame Hooch would call a penalty. Dean Thomas, a fellow Gryffindor, was furiously calling out, "Red Card! Call it off, ref!" Gabriel raised an eyebrow. "Dean…" he said gently, "this is Quidditch, not soccer." Dean stopped, face frozen for a moment in a dumbfounded 'oh' look, then he frowned again, continuing, "She should still call it."

"Right!" Aria, who sat a few seats down on Hagrid's left, agreed, most likely seriously contemplating using every swear word she knew. He hoped that if she did, none of them were in English.

Gabriel glanced up at Harry, who was attempting to remount.

Lee Jordan argued with Professor McGonagall over Gabriel's thoughts as he watched Harry struggle. Apparently he was having a little difficulty, but it did seem like too much trouble. Still, the butterflies had turned into a full-blown gut clenching and he knew that something was seriously wrong. Right as Jordan began to resume normal commentary, he scanned the teachers' box with his binoculars, and nearly dropped them when he saw BOTH Quirrell and Snape uttering curses. But… which was which?

He wished desperately he could tell in some way, which was uttering the true curse, and… what?

Harry, finally managing the get back on, found himself hanging once more by one hand – two, no; one – or doing barrel rolls as it tried to shake him off. What was…? He snarled. It was Quirrell! It had to be! He was practically sweating so many bad vibes it was suffocating! How could anyone not notice?

Then the thought occurred to him the Snape might be uttering the counter-curse to try and stop Quirrell.

"I knew it." Hermione muttered. Gabriel looked over, slightly on edge and desperately trying to keep his usual cool. "What?" She frowned. "Snape – look." Instead, Ron grabbed the binoculars and saw Snape uttering something under his breath.

"He's doing something – jinxing the broom." She chattered worriedly.

Gabriel shook his head, handing her back the binoculars. "Look again. Quirrell's doing it too. And check out the expressions on their faces. Isn't Quirrell's perhaps a slight more malevolent?" Hermione set the binoculars down. "Maybe… yesterday… maybe you were right. But – what do we do about it?" Gabriel grinned. "Leave it to me." He closed his book properly and left Hermione's binoculars on his seat.

Then he scrambled for the teachers' box as fast as his legs would carry him. He'd had to guess which staircase led to which tier, but it wasn't incredibly difficult, since he could somehow sense which one Quirrell was on. He found the tip of his robe sticking out from the gap in between the seats, and he pulled out his wand, hoping a good distraction would do the trick.

"Incendio." He whispered, his wand shooting out a bit of yellow-white flames that caught the fabric of his robe. There was a yelp, and a bit of clamoring up above, and he nodded fiercely, hoping that helped.

He came back out onto his own tier just in time to see Harry flip back onto his own broom at last, zooming off towards the snitch. He sighed contentedly as he sat down next to Hermione.

"Keep an eye on Quirrell for me, would you? In case he tries anything again?"

She nodded, but it turned out that they didn't half to. Harry was currently swan-diving towards the ground (which he eventually came in contact with once he was a good, safe distance to drop from his broom) and on all fours afterwards, looking a good deal like he was going to toss his breakfast.

But, this wasn't the case, for when he finally spat out what was causing the trouble, it so happened to be the Snitch in all its golden glory. They had won!

They were walking across the grounds later with Hagrid, and while Harry, Ron, and Hermione chattered conspiratorially, Gabriel trailed behind them, lost in thought. "You're thinking about something, aren't you?" Aria asked, gently tapping on his shoulder. He nodded. "It's about Quirrell. I just don't understand why Quirrell would try something like that… he's a teacher, he wouldn't kill a student, would he?"

"Would he what?" Hagrid asked. Gabriel jumped. He paused, not sure if he wanted to answer, but Ron beat him to it.

"Quirrell, would he kill a student? That's what Gabe wanted to ask. Right?" Gabriel held up his hands. "No, I–" Hagrid huffed. "Rubbish. Professor Quirrell is a teacher! He wouldn't kill a student! Besides, the man's rather meek… don't think he could even swat a fly if he tried."

Everyone glanced around, wondering what to reply to that with. Harry decided upon the truth.

"Well, we saw Snape running after him towards the third floor corridor, where that three-headed dog is. We think it bit Snape as he was trying to stop Quirrell from taking whatever it's guarding." Hagrid stopped and then turned to them. "How do you know about Fluffy?"

Hermione half gasped. "That thing has a name?"

"Well yeah," Hagrid said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "bought him off a chap I met in a pub last las' year – I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the–"

"What?" Harry pressed, eager for more.

"Stop that now. It's a secret!" "But, Quirrell–" Ron tried to insist. "Rubbish," Hagrid snapped, cutting him off, "He's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothing of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" Gabriel asked quietly. Hagrid turned to him. "Why Gabriel, you of all people… I thought your mother taught you better." Gabriel frowned. "I know what I saw. Both Snape and Quirrell were throwing jinxes, and only one of them was throwing a counter-curse. Despite what I feel for Snape, I pretty sure he wasn't jinxing the broom." He stopped, and then looked off into the middle distance, glancing up at the sky.

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong," Hagrid muttered gruffly, folding his arms. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Quirrell wouldn't kill a student. Now, listen to me, all of yeh – yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin'. That's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicholas Flamel!"

"Ah!" Harry cried out, "so there's someone called Nicholas Flamel is there?"

Gabriel chuckled to himself as Hagrid walked off, muttering, "I shouldn't have said that… I should not have said that…" but knew, deep down, that this was just the beginning of something much bigger than all of them.


(1) In the book, after they save Hermione from the troll, she shows them this cool little fire trick that Snape spots, but instead takes Harry's book away when he asks what they were doing (because, according to him, library books shouldn't be taken out of the library. Hmm. And I thought you could... oh well.)

Now again, reviews would really, REALLY be nice. Just a little hint there. :)