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Balance Factor Chapter 16
Year Three
Prophecy
A/N: Chibi y Hina, to answer your question, it is based on the manga portion of MF.
We will get to see all of the kings at one point or another in the series. And no, not at the very, very end. I wouldn't do that to you guys! But it'll take a while for them to meet.
Read and Review, as always!
"You have to think of a very happy memory," Lupin said. "It's harder with a dementor around, so we should practice while we can. The incantation is Expecto Patronum."
"What will the patronus look like?" Harry asked. Lupin smiled.
"Each one is unique to the one to conjures it," he answered. "Patronus' can change shape too, like people change."
Harry nodded in understanding, raising his wand. Lupin watched as Harry closed his eyes.
A happy memory. He did have plenty of those as Kazuki. Harry searched his mind for the happiest memory he could remember.
"Father? Ryuuko-sama?"
Kazuki peeked into the library. Ryuuko looked up and smiled, beckoning him closer. Kazuki ran towards him, but stopped when he saw that Shirogane was asleep, sprawled on the couch, his head in Ryuuko's lap.
"…-Sama is not needed," Ryuuko said gently, placing his hand on Kazuki's hair. "You are my Child. Calling me Ryuuko or Father is just fine."
"Okay, Father," Kazuki said. Ryuuko smiled and pat the empty space next to himself. Kazuki sat down and leaned his head against his Father's strong, warm chest. Ryuuko's arm slid around him, bringing him closer. Kazuki basked in the affection, smiling as he pet Shirogane's hair. Shirogane shifted, but didn't wake.
They stayed there for the rest of the night.
Harry raised his wand. "Expecto Patronum."
There was a definite thread of silver erupting from the tip of Harry's wand. It floated around the room, but didn't form anything in particular. Harry frowned.
Lupin smiled, seemingly pleased at the result. "Very good, Harry. Your memory needs to be stronger than that, it seems. But that is a very good start."
Harry spent all of the next four weeks, working to master the Patronus charm. Once, in frustration, he poured the Light in his Factor into the spell. Something large and silver erupted from his wand and evaporated before he could adjust his eyes to the light. Lupin had been staggered.
After regaining himself, Harry apologized and tried again. He wracked his brain for a happy memory.
Shirogane dodged the blow from the spear in Kazuki's hand. Kazuki parried a blow from Shirogane's katana and then blocked a kick from the older man. He was knocked back by the force.
"Good," Shirogane seemed satisfied, nodding. "You're doing better. Do you want to take a break?"
Kazuki looked a little proud, smiling at his Father. It was rare to receive praise from Shirogane, so Kazuki would treasure every word. A little bit of blood was dripping out of his mouth, evidence of their earlier skirmish. Kazuki barely noticed it though, as the internal wound had closed.
There was a soft clapping behind Shirogane. Shirogane turned to see Ryuuko standing at the entrance of the room.
"You were watching, Ryuuko?" Shirogane asked, raising an eyebrow. Ryuuko smiled, walking over to Kazuki.
"Of course. Both of you were wonderful," Ryuuko said, raising a hand and using his sleeve to wipe off the trail of blood. Kazuki gave a small start when he saw that his blood had stained Ryuuko's white sleeve. "Good work in keeping up with Shirogane, Kazuki."
Kazuki gave a bright smile.
"Expecto Patronum!"
A large silver unicorn leaped out of Harry's wand, cantering around the classroom twice, throwing back his head, snorting. Harry opened his eyes, surprise showing through. After failing so many times, he was a little baffled as to why he had succeeded this time.
"Well done!" Lupin looked proud, smiling. "A unicorn, hm?"
Harry reached for the creature. The unicorn tipped its head and then vanished into silvery vapor when Harry's hand made contact with its face.
"…Thank you," Harry said to the vanishing creature. He turned to Lupin, looking exhausted. "Thanks for your time, Professor." He smiled tiredly, collapsing in a seat and yawning.
He had some idea why his Patronus was a unicorn. A unicorn is both unearthly white and pure, graceful and quick. If the blood of a unicorn is drunk, the drinker would be cursed. It brings both peace and curses.
He wondered if it would still be a unicorn if he shifted to his rei or shin form.
-0-
"AAAAARGH!"
Harry jerked out of his meditation, his eyes wide. It was early in the morning according to the light streaming through the curtains. Harry had been meditating through most of the night, his concentration broken quite roughly when Ron screamed. He jumped off his bed, throwing the curtain aside.
Ron was sitting up in bed, looking absolutely horrified. Harry raised an eyebrow at him and Ron stuttered out, "Sirius Black… Here…"
Harry gave a small start. "What?"
"Slashed the curtains… woke me up…"
"Are you sure you weren't dreaming, Ron?" Dean Tomas asked. Ron looked at him.
"What's going on?" Percy asked. Harry sighed.
"Sirius Black woke up Ron by slashing the curtains," Harry said. Percy stared.
"Are you sure it wasn't a dream, Ron?" Percy asked his brother.
"What's all this fuss?" McGonagall walked up the steps to the boys dorms.
"Ron's had a bad dream, Professor…" Percy started, but Ron gave a small distressed cry.
"IT WASN'T A DREAM!" Ron screamed. "PROFESSOR, I WOKE UP AND SIRIUS BLACK WAS STANDING OVER ME WITH A KNIFE!"
The dorm went very quiet. McGonagall stared.
"Surely… you cannot be serious… He would have needed to get the password," McGonagall said slowly. Ron looked indignant.
"ASK HIM!" Ron said, pointing down the stairs, in the direction of the portrait. "ASK HIM IF HE SAW!"
McGonagall walked down the steps again. Harry could barely hear out the words. "Sir Cadogan, did you just let a man enter Gryffindor tower?"
"Certainly, good lady!"
There was a silence. McGonagall's shaky voice spoke.
"You… you did? But… The password…!"
"He had them!" Sir Cadogan said cheerfully, "Had the whole week's, mi'lady. Read them off a little piece of paper."
McGonagall entered Gryffindor tower. Her face was very white and she looked physically ill. Harry decided that it would be a good time to tune her out. Twice now, Black had successfully gone up to the tower. Once when most of the students were gone and once standing over Ron.
He was pretty sure Black wasn't color blind. But then, why attack Ron?
Unless his target wasn't Harry, but Ron.
The thought crossed his mind just as soon as Ron prodded him. Harry opened his eyes and looked at Ron, slightly confused. What did Black know about Ron that would make him want to attack him? What would Black obtain by killing Ron?
"Ron, what did you do to offend Black?" Harry asked suddenly. Ron looked bewildered.
-0-
It took a while for Ron to convince Harry that he had done absolutely nothing to offend Black. Draco had a similar trend of thought, but Ron was rather insistent.
Harry had asked Hermione about it as well. It took all of three hours for them to sort out the Firebolt issue and Harry quickly forgave the girl for telling McGonagall. Hermione seemed concerned about the almost attack, but, like Ron, didn't think that Black had been aiming for the red head. Instead, she thought Black's target had been Harry.
"But it's a little hard to mistake Ron's red hair for my own. Plus, I wasn't sleeping at the time," Harry said, thoughtful. "Black's not color blind, is he? Can wizards be colorblind?"
Hermione paused. "Well… I don't know. I'm sure there is a potion to fix it though. You said you got one for your eyesight, right?" She paused at Harry's nod. "Then there must be a potion for colorblindness. By the way, I've been preparing for Buckbeak's appeal. I know you're busy, but can you tell Draco to meet me in the library? Draco's been helping me with it."
Harry looked surprised and nodded. She smiled, looking satisfied. "Do you think Ron will get over the whole Crookshanks killing Scabbers soon?" Harry asked, looking at Hermione, "it's just a rat. Plus, Scabbers has always seemed a bit off to me. Like Gin. I thought they were magical of some sort. Explains how long they've lived."
"I don't know…" Hermione said, looking down. Apparently, she still felt bad about it. "I… know it's partially my fault… but it's not like I wanted Crookshanks to eat Scabbers. It's what cats do."
"Is that supposed to be an excuse, Hermione?" Harry asked. "It doesn't change the fact that Scabbers is eaten, does it?"
Hermione hung her head. Harry placed a hand on her shoulder.
"I'm sorry. That was a bit cruel," he said gently. "But you should apologize to Ron. He's the one really suffering through the loss of a pet, isn't he?"
Hermione looked up at him, nodding slowly. Harry dropped his hand, his eyes warm.
-0-
"Harry! What is that?"
Harry turned to Professor Lupin, the map in his left hand and his wand in the other. He was just about to check the map for any signs of Sirius Black when Lupin called him.
"Old parchment," Harry supplied, not really wanting to tell the professor what the map was for. He had not activated it yet so he wasn't too worried about Lupin. Lupin stopped in front of Harry and sighed.
"Harry, do you mind if I take this map?"
Harry blinked, a little surprised that Lupin knew it was a map. To anyone else's eyes, it would appear a piece of parchment. He pondered the question and then spoke.
"Only if you tell me what you're going to use it for," he said calmly. He held the map to his side.
"Tracking Black," Lupin said. Harry considered this and then handed it over.
"I would like it back at the end of the year though. It is a very nice map," he said. "I'll leave Black's movements to you then, Professor."
Harry spent most of May avoiding Oliver Wood. Ron had made up with Hermione as Hermione had spoken to him after informing them that the committee had decided to execute Buckbeak.
Oliver had taken to hunting Harry down about the upcoming match, reminding him that he could only catch the snitch when they were fifty points up. In annoyance, Harry had isolated himself in the library, as Madam Pince had taken to chasing him out when she saw him for being too loud. Truthfully, he didn't even want to play Quidditch and Oliver's reminders were just further fuel to his disinterest for the cup.
Despite it all, Harry caught the snitch during the match when they were sixty points up. He had frowned at the dirty tactics the Slytherins used during the match and didn't pull out his wand, though he wanted to.
Oliver was ecstatic, but the news of the date of Buckbeak's appeal dampened Harry's mood. He wanted to be there, but he knew he had to study for the upcoming finals.
-0-
Divination was a bore, but also the last exam Harry had to take. He was instructed to look into a crystal ball and describe what he saw.
"I see…" Harry paused and wracked his brain for something convincing. The thought of Buckbeak's execution slipped into his mind and, before he could process it, he spoke. "A hippogriff."
"Indeed…!" Trelawney said, leaning over the table. "My boy, you might be witnessing the troubles of poor Hagrid. Look closer. Does the hippogriff appear to have its head?"
"Yes," Harry said, frowning. What exactly possessed him to take this class again?
"Are you quite sure, dear? Are you sure you see its head? You don't see… perhaps, a shadow of an axe? Or a shadow of a man standing behind?"
"No," Harry said, reminding himself that this would be over soon. The smell of the room was making him nauseous.
"No blood? No weeping Hagrid?"
"No," Harry repeated. "It looks fine. It's… flying away."
Trelawney sighed. "Well, I'm sure you did your best. A little disappointing, but I'm sure you did your best."
Harry picked up his bag and headed towards the door. His mind was occupied by the thought of how to calm Hagrid when Trelawney spoke.
"IT WILL HAPPEN TONIGHT!"
Harry whipped around, staring at her. "Sorry?"
But Trelawney didn't reply. She simply grunted and continued.
"THE DARK LORD LIES ALONE AND FRIENDLESS, ABANDONED BY HIS FOLLOWERS. HIS SERVANT HAS BEEN CHAINED THESE TWELVE YEARS. TONIGHT BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT WILL BREAK FREE AND SET OUT TO REJOIN HIS MASTER. THE DARK LORD WILL RISE AGAIN WITH HIS SERVANT'S AID, GREATER AND MORE TERRIBLE THAN HE WAS. TONIGHT… BEFORE MIDNIGHT… THE SERVANT… WILL SET OUT… TO REJOIN… HIS MASTER…"
Harry watched as Trelawney snapped out of it. He raised an eyebrow at her as she tried to explain away her zone out but Harry wasn't convinced.
"You just said… the Dark Lord will rise again. That his servant will return to him tonight." Harry spoke, but was unsure if Trelawney even knew what she had said during that daze. "Do you even remember what you said?"
"The Dark Lord?! He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named?! My dear boy, I wouldn't predict something as farfetched as that. Rise again, indeed," Trelawney scoffed. Harry frowned.
"Sorry then. Maybe I dozed out too," Harry said, leaving before Trelawney could question him. He thought about her words and wondered if she had been referring to Black or someone else.
Hermione approached him after the exam, wordlessly handing him a letter. Harry didn't even have to read it to know that Buckbeak's execution was going to take place as planned.
That evening, Harry pulled out his invisibility cloak, looking at Ron and Hermione. Draco had agreed to be there via mirror, as the cloak couldn't cover all of them. The three of them headed down to the grounds to visit Hagrid, covered entirely by the cloak and being very careful not to trip over each other. Harry knocked on the door, careful to stay hidden by the cloak until they were inside Hagrid's cabin.
"You shouldn't have come," Hagrid said, his tears still visible on his cheeks. Harry placed a comforting hand on Hagrid's arm, worried about him.
"We had to… We didn't want you to suffer alone…" Harry said.
"Malfoy here too?" Hagrid asked, looking around, making sure he didn't miss anyone.
"He couldn't come personally," Harry said. "So he's here via our two-way mirror." Harry pulled out the mirror.
"Sorry about this, Hagrid," Draco said, looking sympathetic. Hagrid shook his head.
"You're a good kid, Malfoy. I wasn't… wasn't strong enough…" Hagrid said. "Tea?" He held up the teapot and looked at the three. Hermione nodded, rushing forward to help, picking up the milk jar. Then she screamed.
"Ron! Ron! I don't believe it! It's Scabbers!" Hermione said, looking in the jar. Harry frowned, a little unsure.
"What?" Ron asked, turning to look at Hermione. Hermione walked over to the table and turned the jar upside down. The skinny, patchy rat fell out with a squeak and scuttered across the table. Ron ran forward to grab it.
"Scabbers! Scabbers! Relax," he said. Harry looked out the window.
"They're coming," He said offhandedly. Hagrid froze and hurriedly opened the back door to let them out. Harry threw the cloak over them as Hagrid went to calm Buckbeak, who was sitting in the pumpkin patch.
"Go on," Hagrid said, waving the three out. "Hurry! Don't watch!"
Harry looked back at Hagrid, then the majestic creature before shaking his head. It wasn't fair, but he knew he didn't have any say in it. He pushed Ron and Hermione with him, slipping behind a tree nearby to listen.
Not too long later, there was a loud swing of an axe and then Hermione froze.
"How… could they? How could they?!" she whispered furiously. Harry shook his head.
"Let's go back before we get caught. I don't fancy getting caught by something in the woods—RON!" Harry looked at the red head who had thrown off the cloak.
"Scabbers squirmed out of my hands!" he called back. He caught up with the rat and grabbed it, freezing as he saw Crookshanks and Gin. "What…?!"
Gin leapt at Ron, dragging him into the roots of the Whomping Willow. Ron struggled hard, but was dragged inside, a loud snap cutting through the air. Ron screamed. Crookshanks slithered under the branches of the willow and pressed the knot, letting Harry and Hermione in. Harry threw off the cloak and ran after his friend, concerned. Hermione followed quickly, ducking under tree branches.
"Potter, if you die, can I have your broom?" Draco's voice cut through the air of the tunnel. Harry snorted, tucking the mirror under his shirt.
"Sure," he said mildly. Draco grinned. Harry paused and looked at the mirror.
"I'll let you know what happens after," he promised quickly before depositing the mirror into his extendable sack. He ignored Draco's cries of protest and pulled the sack closed.
Emerging from the tunnel was a little difficult. Harry followed the trail of newly cleared dust, up the stairs and looked around. It looked like a hurricane had swept through the house.
"Harry, I think we're in the Shrieking Shack," Hermione said. Harry frowned and sighed, opening a door.
Ron was laying on the floor, moaning. When he saw them, he panicked a little. "Harry! Don't! It's a trap!"
Harry raised an eyebrow at him and then tilted his head a little. Ron elaborated.
"He's an animagus! Gin!" Ron said. There was a snap as the door shut behind them and Harry turned. Hermione inhaled sharply.
Standing right in front of them was Sirius Black.