A/N: Hello HP fans! I am soo sorry that this took illegally long time for me to post. Don't have any other excuse than school work and other stuff irl. But well, now here it is so no need to kill me, right?
I felt like I was writing longer chapters now, but I still had the same amount of words in the chapters so I had to check what that could be and then I realized... I am writing shorter ANs! So now you get more story and less "bla bla bla" from me! :D
Aside from that, I haven't gotten any more votes for the poll lately so I will close it. The winner was by far "make this into a series" so from now on, this story will be turned into a "book project", where one story covers one year, similar to the canon books. "Harry Potter: Hidden Prodigy" will be the first book in the series, thus the counterpart of "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". The serie will be called "Harry Potter: The Hidden Series", thus all the books will have the word "Hidden" in them.
I hope people will still like this story, even though it will only last for this year! :D As you may or may not understand, I will do some changes to the story in order for it to better fit this format. The storyline will be the same, I just want to change cover pic and some stuff like that. Don't worry, it will still be the same story.
Now, I have given this chapter's "bla bla bla" and it is time to give you what you really came here for: the chapter! (duh)
Disclaimer: J.K Rowling owns Harry Potter and all characters and stuff that originates from those books. I only own the story plot.
Chapter Eleven: From Quidditch to Christmas
Dear Ginny!
I'm so sorry it has taken me a while to answer. There have been so much going on here at Hogwarts these last few days that I haven't gotten around to it. However, I hope this extremely extra long letter will make up for it!
First, I can offer my apologies. I should have warned you that the description said that Kurt tended to steal from the cookie jar in the shop, as well as chew on the customers shoelaces. So well, you can stop looking for both of those...
On the other hand, I'm happy that your mother allowed you to keep him. I admit I was a little worried that she wouldn't, after what you told me about your family and their views on charity. I hope none of you took it as an insult.
When it comes to magic, I still have trouble when performing any of the lower level spells or charms, though I am starting to get the hang of how to channel my power through the wand, rather than release it in a violent stream or try to force it to flow through it. There is actually a pretty scary story behind that too. On Halloween, someone let a mountain troll into the castle. When I was on my way to the dorm, I ran into the damn thing. After it chased me for a while, I couldn't run anymore, so I turned and used the only curse I can without fail: the Gripping Curse. Uncle Sev had been teaching it to me to try let me get a feel for how to use my wand. However I couldn't quite control it and ended up killing the troll...
Speaking of which, I don't think you got anything to worry about when it comes to having the same problem as me. My problem is that I am not accustomed to using a wand and because I am used to performing magic without it, I use too much power and can't quite focus it. You on the other hand, am already acustomed to using a wand, which was evident by your use of the Bat-Bogey hex on the twins during summer so you won't have the same problem. That might also be why you have trouble getting more power into your underage magic, because you are acustomed to using a wand, you have trouble pulling out more magic than what is nescesary for using a wand. I believe that is why so few can do wandless magic, because they are used to using a wand and can't pull out the higher power requirements.
Anyway, right after the troll incident, I had my first quidditch match...
...
Harry felt his heart beat hard in his chest as he waited to be released onto the pitch along with the rest of the Gryffindor quidditch team. He fingered the handle of his new Nimbus 2000, a gift from his Uncle Sev and the best broom in the entire world. It had come by owl this morning, shortly after he and Uncle Sev had their little talk about yesterday's happenings. So now he had the best broom, was praised as a quidditch prodigy and had beaten a troll. And yet, he still felt nervous. He shifted uncomfortably in his place, which did not go unnoticed by the team's captain, Oliver Wood.
"Scared Harry?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"A little." Harry breathed out, not trusting his voice to stay steady enough for a longer answer.
Wood studied him for a moment, taking in his facial expression and the way he was holding himself.
"Don't worry. I was the same before my first game." he said, trying to sound reassuring.
Harry turned to look at Wood, to find the older boy looking down at him. Something about the way he was smiling told Harry that there was something he wasn't saying...
"What happened?" he asked.
Wood seemed to ponder how to answer, not sure if he ought to tell Harry the truth. Behind him, the Weasley twins were snickering, knowing full well what had happened in Wood's first ever quidditch game at the school.
"Eh... I don't really remember. I took a bludger to the head about 3 minutes into the game, and awoke in the Hospital Wing about a week later." Wood said at last.
Yeah... reassuring it was... Thinking about how much it must have hurt to take a bludger to the head, Harry felt his insides cringe. He had been in contact with bludgers during practice, but then they had been charmed to only hit with about 40% of their normal force. And he had thought that had hurt.
"Brilliant!" he got out before the gate finally opened to let the players onto the pitch. It was time for the first game of the season: Gryffindor against their arch rivals, Slytherin!
The cheers from the stands were deafening and Harry was almost tempted to put his hands over his ears to try and tune it out. If anything, his insides made a jump of nervosity at the sight of the packed stands. How was he supposed to focus on catching the snitch with the entire school following his every move?
Taking a deep breath, Harry followed his team out to the center of the field, where the Slytherin team was already waiting for them, along with Madam Hooch, who was going to act as referee. When they came to a stop opposite to their Slytherin counterparts, Madam Hooch told the teams that she wanted to see a just and fair game, from all of them. Harry thought it looked like she was looking pointedly at the Slytherin captain Marcus Flint when she said it, but he might have imagined it.
When Hooch put her whistle to her lips, Harry mounted his broom with his heart beating heavily in his ears and when when the whistle sounded, he was one of the first to take off. Having the best broom on both teams, Harry was quickly above all of the others.
"And the players takes to the air and the quaffle is taken by Angelina Johnsson of Gryffindor!" Harry heard the twins friend Lee Jordan shout from his place in the commentator's booth.
Tuning out all sound he could, Harry began searching for the snitch. He noticed that the Slytherin seeker, Higgs, was following him closely, obviously not wanting to be too far behind if Harry should find the snitch. Wood had told Harry that Higgs was still riding a Cleansweep 4, far inferior to anything from the Nimbus series from the last 5 years. If Harry found the snitch first, then Higgs would need to be able to come after him quickly before he could pick up speed.
Harry began to circle the pitch, in the hopes of finding the snitch, Higgs tight on his heels. After 20 minutes, Gryffindor were leading with 90 - 40. Harry was just making a turn to start off towards the other side of the pitch when he spotted the snitch. It was hovering below the Slytherins' middle hoop. Without wasting any time, he shot off towards it at full speed. Higgs, who hadn't spotted the snitch yet, shot after Harry blindly.
"And I think Potter has spotted the snitch!" Jordan shouted excitedly.
Harry felt his adrenaline rush through him as he raced towards the snitch, leaving Higgs far behind with his broom's superios speed and acceleration ability. A roar of excitement rose from the entire stadium as Harry shot through the sky like a lightning bolt but when he was half way, something happened. Without warning, his broom came to a stop and he was only a handgrab away from being thrown off from the sudden stop. The crowd stopped roaring, wondering what Harry was doing, but when the broom began tossing and rolling in all directions to try and throw him off, a roar of anger rose from the Gryffindor side of the field. Harry grabbed on for dear life and thought his heart would jump out of his chest when the broom made a particularly hasty turn and he fell off. The only thing that was now keeping him from falling was his right hand that was still holding onto the broom.
"Whoever of you slimy Slytherins who is hexing Potter's broom; I demand you stop it this instant!" a furious Lee Jordan shouted in his magical microphone. Professor McGonagall didn't even reprimand him for being biased, as she too had a hard time to stay unbiased in this. Though she would never admit it, she too had a hard time believing anyone but a Slytherin would sink so low as to curse a Hogwarts student's broom to try and throw him off during a game. The fact that Harry had been on his way to catch the snitch when his broom was cursed, against Slytherin of all teams, didn't serve to lessen the likelihood of it being the work of a Slytherin or Slytherin supporter.
In the air, the Gryffindor beaters, Fred and George Weasley had decided to take revenge on the Slytherin team by taking one of the bludgers and sending it between them, hitting any Slytherin that came in their way, while Katie Bell had flown over to hover beneath Harry to be able to catch him, should he fall off. The Slytherins of course didn't care that Harry's broom was being cursed and used the distraction from the game to score three goals while the Gryffindors were occupied. Wood was screaming furiously at the Slytherins for their bad sportsmanship, but captain Marcus Flint just sneered back at him and sent the quaffle through the left hoop to score a fourth goal, making the result 90 - 80.
In the middle of all this, Harry was desperately clinging to his broom that was still trying to throw him off. He had managed to grab the handle with both hands, but was having a hard time to keep his grip firm as his hands was starting to get sweaty and slippery. If this kept up, he wouldn't last much longer.
In the stands, Ron, Hermione and Neville were frequently taking turns with Hagrid's binoculars to search for whoever was jinxing Harry's broom. Ron was searching the Slytherin stands, but none appeared to be doing anything other than either cheer for their quidditch team or laugh at Harry. Hermione was meanwhile looking at the staff stands suspiciously as she had caught sight of something. Professor Quirell was staring at Harry while mumbling something that none of the other teachers seemed to pick up on.
"Ron, give me the binoculars!" she whispered in a hurry and without waiting for an answer, snatched the item in question from the red haired boy.
"Hey! I was just about to..."
"Shush!"
Once she had gotten ahold of the binoculars, Hermione put them to her eyes and focused in on the teacher's stands. Two people were looking at Harry intently, while whispering something to no one in particular: Professor Snape and Professor Quirell. But out of those two, only Quirell would make sense, no matter how little sense that did. Quirell might be a nervous wreck, but Professor Snape loved Harry. The conversation they had in the common room yesterday replayed in her mind and after hearing that, she couldn't imagine Snape ever doing something to hurt Harry.
Giving Ron back the binoculars, Hermione told them she had to do something and ran off. Had she just waited a few more seconds, she would have seen that it would not have been nescesary as just 3 seconds after she disappeared out of sight, Harry's grip on his broom slipped and he fell.
"Harry!" Katie gave off a worried shout as she managed to grab his hand as he fell by her. Lowering her broom down in a hasty but short dive, she managed to throw him onto her broom in front of her.
"Thanks!" Harry gasped, still a little upbeat fromt the fall.
Katie immediately took off towards the Gryffindor hoops.
"Wood! Call a time out! Someone is trying to bloody kill Harry!" Katie shouted at their captain.
The Gryffindor captain was just about to call out to Madam Hooch when out of nowhere, a bludger came at him at full speed, knocking him off his broom. Wood fell to the ground, somehow managing to land softly on the ground. Katie paled as she realized that according to the rule book, only a captain can call for a time out. By putting Wood out of play, the Slytherins made sure they couldn't call the game to a stop to sort out the whole Harry's-broom-goes-crazy-thing.
"Katie! Take me down to Wood!" Harry shouted suddenly.
While Katie landed on the ground beside the captain, Hermione had made it to the teacher's stand. Without making a sound, she sneaked up underneath and pulled out her wand.
"Incendio!" she whispered as she pointed her wand on the purple cloth that hung down from Quirell's turban. Her job done, she quickly made her way back towards the Gryffindor stands.
Down on the pitch, Katie had just let Harry off a few feet away from Wood. The boy took off towards his captain in a hurry.
"Harry! What are you trying to do?" Katie shouted after him.
Instead of answering, Harry grabbed Woods Cleansweep 5 that was lying beside the unconcious Gryffindor captain. Mounting the broom in an instant and scanning the air for any sign of Higgs, he spotted the Slytherin seeker just going into a steep dive and, to his horror, he caught a flash of something golden just a few feet in front of the Slytherin's broom. Grabbing the handle firmer, Harry set off towards the point where the snitch most likely would pull out of its dive. Behind him, Katie gave him an impressed look for his creativity.
Harry felt the air rush against his face as he shot towards the snitch, just above the ground. He saw how Higgs pulled out of his dive when he got too close to the ground and for a moment, the snitch slowed down, obviously believing it had shaken its pursuer off. That was all Harry needed. In a matter of seconds, he had closed the distance between himself and the snitch and before the little golden ball could pick up speed again, he closed his fingers around it. Pulling up towards the stands, he raised his hand in the air, showing off his catch with a bright smile on his face and a warm feeling of pride rising in his chest, along with the cheers from the crowd...
...
...so despite the set backs, we managed to win the game 240-110. Wood wasn't as bad off as we thought he would be, as he woke up just a few hours later. He still complains about a terrible headache, but at least he wasn't out for an entire week this time. We still don't know why Professor Quirell tried to curse my broom, but from now on, we will keep an eye on him. He claimed that he didn't do anything and as Hermione was the only one to actually see him do it, they decided to confiscate my broom to try it for any sign of outside interference. I have been riding one of he Cleansweeps from the school's broom shed ever since.
The day after the match, me, Ron, Hermione and Neville went down to Hagrid's for a cup of tea...
...
"Nonsense! Why would Professor Quirell try to hex Harry's broom?"
Harry sighed as Hermione went on to explain their theory for the 3rd time to Hagrid. When they had arrived at the big man's house, Harry had introduced his friends and Hagrid had invited them for a cup of tea in his hut. Neville had seemed kind of nervous in the beginning but had opened up as soon as he realized that Hagrid wouldn't try to eat him. As soon as everyone had gotten comfortable, Hermione had began explaining what she had seen during the match to Hagrid, which had been met with instant denial from Hagrid's part.
"Tha poor lad can barely put two words together without stuttering! Why in tha world woul' he wanna hex Harry's broom?"
"Well, he would have more reason than Snape. They were the only two people who were not breaking eye contact with Harry on his broom and that is the sole requirement to hex an object like that. I have read all about it!" Hermione tried to argue.
In his own mind, he didn't care why Quirell had tried to get him thrown off. He was more concerned that no one had done anything about it, except Hermione and obviously Uncle Sev. He knew full well that according to the rules, interference in a quidditch match from outside parties would result in the match being declared a draw and then terminated immediately, but shouldn't someone hexing his broomstick have counted as interference in the first place?
"Well, I dunno 'bout that, but Professor Quirell is an 'ogwarts teacher! He's here to protect the students, not try n' kill em!"
Harry tuned out their little discussion as he thought back to the incident at the quidditch pitch. If Katie hadn't caught him, he would have surely been in the Hospital wing still. Whoever had been hexing his broom had wanted him to get seriously hurt, possibly even hoping for his death. He hadn't been able to see who it could have been, but if Hermione was right and Severus and Quirell were the only candidates, he had to admit that Quirell was undoubtely the one. Severus had had the chance to kill him for several years, so if he had wanted to kill Harry, then Harry wouldn't have made it to the age of 5.
But why would Quirell want to kill Harry? He hadn't done anything to upset the Professor, if giving correct answers in DADA classes didn't count as offending. There had to be an alternative motive here. Perhaps he wanted Harry out of the way for a less personal reason, and more practical? Seeing as killing or hurting Harry in himself wouldn't serve a purpose like that, then what would? Perhaps he wanted to draw attention away from something else? Since Harry was the Boy Who Lived, a serious injury on his part would undoubtly draw a lot of attention, especially at the field where it happened, which in turn would mean that attention at the moment would be drawn away from the castle. Now what in the castle would one need to draw attention away from? Something that a lot of people looked at? Or something that could easily draw someone's attention?
"The dog!" Harry exclaimed as an image of the night when he and his friends had found the large three-headed dog flashed before his eyes. Severus had known that someone was there that time and if that was true, then he would surely have out some kind of warning to go off when someone entered the corridor. But if Severus was occupied with worrying about something else, then he might not noticed the warning go off. Or rather, if he was worried about someone else, someone who stood him close... Someone like Harry.
Hearing Harry's exclamation, all four sets of eyes in the room turned to look at him, confused. Apparently, they hadn't been talking about dogs when he had exclaimed it.
"What?!" Ron and Neville both managed to get out.
Harry looked up at Hagrid hesistantly for a second, before he came to the conclusion that as Hogwart's Keykeeper, Hagrid probably already knew about the dog so it couldn't hurt to bring it up.
"I think Quirell tried to get Severus attention away from the castle by hurting me. He wanted Sev to focus on me while he attempted to get past the giant three-headed dog on the third floor. Severus has an alarming system of some sort that warns him whenever someone enters the door but if he would be preoccupied with worrying about me, chances are that he wouldn't notice it going off!"
For a moment, all four of the room's other occupants stared at Harry with varying degrees of shock and surprise evident on their faces. Hermione was the one who recovered first, but she kept quiet, no doubt calculating the possibilities that Harry's theory was correct. After a few more awkward seconds, Hagrid broke the silence.
"Who told ya 'bout Fluffy?" he asked, almost sounding like he accused them of rule breaking. Or well, he probably was in a way, seeing as the third floor corridor where "Fluffy" resided was forbidden for all students to enter.
"That thing has a name?" Neville seemed to have forgotten his nervosity around Hagrid after being reminded that there was something that both looked more vicious and was more vicious than the large man sitting in front of him.
Hagrid looked offended that he had even asked. As if it was common sense one would name a giant three-headed dog something like Fluffy.
"Well, o'course he does. He's mine after all. Dumbledore borrowed him from me in order to protect..." Realizing what he was about to say, Hagrid cut himself off hastily.
"Yes?" Harry pushed, feeling excitement brew within him. Hagrid knew what was hidden underneath the trapdoor!
"I shouldn't have told ya that! What that dog is guarding is none of ya' business! That is something that only touches Professor Dumbledore and Mr Nicholas Flamel!"
Harry narrowed his eyes. That name... he had heard it somewhere before. If memory served him right, then Nicholas Flamel was a famous alchemist and a close friend of Dumbledore's. Severus had mentioned him once when he was visiting Dumbledore in the castle over the summer when Harry was 8. What was it he had said? Flamel was world famous for something specific, but what was it? It had been something that made him unique, something that made him stand out among even alchemists...
"Nicholas Flamel? Like in the famous alchemist?"
Hagrid looked a bit taken aback that Harry knew who Nicholas Flamel was. A look of fear shot across his face and he paled behind his black beard, causing a stark contrast between black and white. If the situation had been another, Harry would probably thought it looked funny.
To his right, both Ron and Neville also looked surprised that Harry knew who Hagrid had mentioned, but Hermione looked like something had dawned upon her. Her face was still a mask, hiding the gears that no doubt sped up inside her head after hearing Hagrid slip and tell them the name of who was involved in all of this.
"I shouldn't have tol ya that!" Hagrid exclaimed and began fiddling with his pocket watch. "Blimey is that the time?! I think you four better get back to tha castle!"
Leaving no room for objection, Harry sighed and went along with Hagrid's poorly made up excuse. He rose from his seat and a second later, Ron and Neville followed suit, still looking confused at the conversation. Hermione looked like she wanted to argue and stay to try and pry more info out of Hagrid but after Harry gave her a sharp look, she rose relucantly and followed her friends out of the hut. Harry heard Hagrid keep muttering "I shouldn't have said that... Shouldn't have said that..." to himself as he and his friends left and Hagrid closed the door. As soon as they were out of earshot from the hut, Hermione turned on Harry with an annoyed look on her face.
"Why did you let him shoo us away like that Harry? We could have gotten more information out of him if we just pushed to stay!" she growled. For once, Ron seemed to agree with the bushy haired witch. While he hadn't understood what was being said completely, he had understood what had been going on and he too wondered why Harry had been so quick to give in when Hagrid tried to get them off his feet.
"Yes that may be, but at what price? If we tried to push him for more information, he might have gotten too uncomfortable and nervous and went straight to Dumbledore, telling him what we knew. While I wouldn't mind Uncle Al knowing what we know, I would prefer not to make an enemy out of Hagrid for information we could most likely get through other means." Harry tried to explain his actions.
"What do you mean "get through other means"? Hermione demanded, still a little angry, but she appeared to see the reasoning behind Harry's actions as well.
Harry looked around as they got closer to the castle, to make sure no one overheard them. When he didn't see anyone, he leaned forward to whisper to his friends just to be on the safe side.
"The way the conversation was going, all we would have gotten out of Hagrid was who Nicholas Flamel is and we could probably get that from books in the library without arousing any suspicion. I know Uncle Sev told me about Flamel once, so I know he is an alchemist and that he have done something special in that area, which means we know what to look for. That will make it easy as we have already pinpointed what kind of info we are seeking."
...
... so we have been spending some time in the library lately, but have yet to find anything of importance. Over the ages there have been many great alchemists and a lot of those have accomplished some amazing feats. To pinpoint a single one and his feats among them is a lot harder than I first thought it would be. But I remain confident that we will find him soon.
However, I don't spend even half as much time in the library as the others, seeing that I got quidditch practice and private lessons with Uncle Sev to attend as well. He kept his promise and have been showing me different spells and charms than the Gripping Curse. Those lessons are the ones I look forward to the most!
Now, I hope you are having a good time at home! Good luck with your training! And give Kurt and your parents my best!
Your friend,
Harry
-:-:-:-
"Herbivicus!"
Focusing all his magical power through his wand, Harry's brows furrowed in concetration as he saw the green stream of light connect with the flower that was standing on the floor. He grit his teeth together as he tried to control the amount of energy streaming through his wand as he watched the little budd open up and reveal a large red flower. He could feel the magic flow down his arm and through the wand into the flower, it was almost as if they were connected. It was almost as if he could feel the flower breathe when it had opened up enoug. Then, he tried to break the contact, putting a stop to the flow.
The flower remained open, but as soon as the contact was broken, Harry felt exhaution overtake him and began to feel dizzy. Seeing that his young protege was about to fall, Severus was quickly behind him with a chair that Harry fell back into. He studied Harry while he was taking a few deep breaths. The boy had come a long way since the began these lessons. He had started off with a stronger charm yet again, the Disarming charm to be more precise as it could stand a high amount of magical energy, yet not become overloaded or cause worse damage than sending the victim flying a few feet. After that, he had moved on to the Knockback jinx, trying to get Harry to send an object flying a more precise distance. He had drawn a circle on the floor where Harry was supposed to send the object, so he would have to focus on not sending it too far. This had greatly increased his way of handling magic, though it still took a lot out of him to do so at a lower level. They were currently working on the Plant-Growing charm. It required a lot more control than the two other they had been working on, as to not cause the plant to explode.
This was actually the first time Harry had managed to control the growth of the plant perfectly. Other times, he had either cast the spell with too much power, causing it to grow out of control rapidly or not been able to break off the charm when the time was right.
"You're getting better. I think soon you will be able to at least try to cast the levitation charm again."
Harry looked back up at his mentor with a tired look on his face.
"Is this supposed to be this exhausting?" he asked with a voice silently told Severus he was just about ready to collapse.
"No it isn't. But then again, an 11-year old is not supposed to be able to cast this charm at all." Severus answered with a smile.
Harry just sighed and leaned back in the chair. A few minutes of a break. At least he deserved that much. Severus watched as Harry drifted off to sleep. They had been at it a little longer than usual tonight, because Harry had insisted he was too close to getting it to give up now. Severus hadn't complained, he had time to spare. And Harry really was getting better. At the beginning, he hadn't been able to cast any spell without causing it to either disfunction or blow up whatever it hit. He hadn't even been able to make out what spell had been used, because they all just exploded when making contact with whatever it was cast on. Seeing that this training was paying off, Severus held hopes that by christmas break, Harry would be able to cast spells and charms more his age and catch up on the practical part of his classes where he had gotten behind.
"Well, better get him back to the tower somehow." Severus said to himself as he walked over to Harry and scoped him up. He had gotten heavy over the years. He kind of still expected to just feel the small soft baby he had held protectively from the Dursleys that day when he and Dumbledore had visited to make sure Harry was well cared for. But Harry wasn't a baby anymore. He might not be an adult, but he had grown up, far beyond his own years. Harry could see things that others his age couldn't, he could see the core of a problem, even when it was hidden. If Severus himself had had that ability when he was younger, then the world would look completely different. If he had just seen what was driving Lily away from him, then perhaps he could have prevented this from happening. But then, if he had then perhaps Harry wouldn't exist here today? Perhaps he would be holding his own son, not a surrogate son he had recieved from Lily and James dying? Perhaps Lily and James wouldn't even have ended up together?
He shook his head. It wouldn't do to dwell on that. Lily wouldn't have wanted him to. He shouldn't feel bad about how things had turned out, but he knew that a small part of him would always ache at the thought that Lily had chosen James Potter, his bully, over him. But it wouldn't do to get lost in the past and not see to the future. He couldn't change the past but do everything to make for a better future. For Harry, for himself and for all future generations.
-:-:-:-
Having finally gotten at least decently adept at surpressing his powers enough to perform some more basic spells, Harry spent all his free time working on the spells he had missed in both tranfiguration and charms. He still had trouble with the levitation charm in particular, but Severus said that was probably because he still focused his magic as if he wanted to levitate it wandlessly while he was using his wand.
He had however been succesful in transfiguration class and had as good as caught up with the rest of his class. The charms were a little trickier because they usually were more fragile than transfiguration, due to it needing a bit more... precise distribution of magical energy.
November flew by and before they knew it, snow was falling outside the castle walls. From the start of December, the entire student body found themselves in a christmas mood and some (the Weasley twins) found themselves in a mischievous mood. Said people had taken to hexing snowballs to fly around the grounds and attack unsuspecting students. Harry had found himself on the recieving end of that joke more than once.
Aside from his work in school, with quidditch and his private lessons, Harry always took the time to polish his wand with a handkerchief every evening before he went to bed. Thinking over what Olivander had said, he had decided that if the wand was somehow living, then it deserved some extra attention. Ron kept on repeating that he was mental, but Harry found that polishing his wand gave him a strange feeling of accomplishment. After all the work they put into learning magic and Harry's constant overload of the wand, Harry felt he should try and be gentle to his wand, no matter how strange it sounded.
He had read up a little on wands and their workings in order to better understand why his magic got overloaded and he found that the more he read about them, the more fascinated he became. There was so little known about wands, yet they were a constant occurance and key piece in a wizard's or witch's life. Once he was done with reading about the way magic was channelled through the wand, his original interest, he found that he kept reading the book he had gotten from the library. Apparently, there were a lot more cores for a wand than what Olivander had told him about. The wand maker had said he used Unicorn hair, Dragon Heartstring and Phoenix feathers, but aside from those three, there were a lot more one could use. For example, some other makers were known to make use of hair from a Veela, a magical female creature that reminded Harry of the sirens from ancient Greek mythology he had read about in primary school. A few amateur makers often used kneazle whiskers, though it was known that those were less powerful than other cores.
Harry had decided to read up more about magical creatures, since it appeared almost any creature with magical properties could be used to produce a wand core. So far, he had gained quite a good knowledge about magical creatures for his age, which Hagrid kept reminding him about whenever he went down to his hut to ask a question about a creature. The large man seemed delighted that Harry had such an interest in magical creatures and even more delighted that Harry would turn to him for guidance in the matter.
The sunday before the second week of december, Harry was sitting in the common room reading a chapter about a man who had created a wand by using a feather from a Hippogriff. The writer strongly recommended against it because the wand had ended up unable to focus its power through the tip and tended to send the spells in all directions, rather than in a focused stream of light from the tip.
He had just turned a page when Hermione sat down beside him. Ron and Neville were playing a game of wizarding chess, having gotten tired from spending 2 hours in the library searching for Flamel. Hermione had a nervous look on her face as she looked at Harry, as if he was about to get angry with her for whatever she was about to say.
"Harry? Can I talk to you?" she asked and swallowed. Yup, she was definetely nervous.
"Sure, what's up?" Harry said as he put a marker in his book and closed it to give Hermione his full attention.
The brown haired girl shifted uneasily in her seat as Harry looked at her with curious eyes.
"Well, I know I promised to stay here and help you in your search for Nicholas Flamel over christmas, but I just got this letter from my parents, saying they want me to come with them on a skiing trip over christmas break..." Hermione left that statement hanging in the air, knowing Harry would understand what she was trying to say.
Harry couldn't help but smile. Hermione had changed since they had that conversation by the tree when they tried to pick out Ginny's pet. She was much more eager to spend time with other people and had dropped most of her shyness around Harry, Ron and Neville. She wasn't as forward and talkactive when Harry was hanging out with Cedric or any of his Hufflepuff friends, but she wouldn't run and hide either. That she was worried what Harry and the others would think of her going home over break proved, at least in Harry's mind, that she regarded them as true friends.
"You have nothing to worry about. Neville isn't staying either. To be honest, I think Ron, me and the other Weasleys will be the only ones to stay in Gryffindor so you're not going to be the only one going home." Harry said with a smile to tell her that he was not angry that she wanted to spend time with her family.
Hermione let out the breath she had been holding and gave him a thankful smile.
"Thanks Harry. I'll bring some books from the library so I can keep looking for Flamel an hour before bed each day." she offered as a compromiss.
Chuckling at Hermione's sense of duty towards their group, Harry just nodded and opened his book again. Hermione followed his example and opened a book of her own. For a while, the two friends just sat there reading their respective books. After a little while, Neville gave up trying to beat Ron at wizarding chess and joined the two in their little corner. Harry relayed Hermione's plans for christmas to the others and Hermione felt relieved that Ron hadn't snapped at her for going home. He said that he himself probably would want to go home if his parents weren't going to Romania.
"It would be awesome to see the dragons Charlie is working with! I am almost jealous of Ginny for getting to go." Ron said, making sure to get the others to understand that he wasn't jealous of his little sister, just almost.
"I bet Ginny will write a long letter about it. I can tell you what you missed." Harry grinned at Ron's shocked and betrayed expression.
"Harry!" he exclaimed. "You're supposed to be on my side!"
Harry laughed at his friend, who was glaring at him as if Harry had just taken the last Chocolate frog from right in front of his eyes.
"Who ever said I was not on your side?" he said innocently.
Hermione rolled her eyes at their antics, muttering something that sounded like "boys". The talk from there shifted from christmas plans to what homework they still had to do (which certainly did nothing to increase Ron's mood). As usual, Harry and Hermione were done with most of theirs, while Ron and Neville still had some more stuff to do. Agreeing that both of them were not needed to help their friends, Harry went to go meet with Snape while Hermione stayed and helped the other two with homework.
-:-:-:-
When christmas morning finally arrived, Harry was awoken by Ron tossing a pillow at him. Groaning from being awoken, Harry just rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, ignoring Ron's laughs.
"Wake up sleepy head! You got presents to open!"
"I'll open 'em later..." Harry mumbled as he pulled his pillow over his head.
Even though he hadn't opened his eyes and had put a pillow over his face, Harry would bet his wand that Ron was grinning at him.
"Alright, I'll just tell Ginny you don't want her present then."
Suddenly, Harry was wide awake and threw the pillow half way across the room. Ron chuckled and went back to opening his presents. Harry shook his head to wake up completely and noticed a pile of wrapped up presents at the foot of his bed, Those had definetely not been there when he had went to sleep! His earlier sleepyness gone, Harry crawled over to the foot of the bed and grabbed the box that was lying on top. He found his chest constrict with happiness when he saw all the presents. He had of course gotten one each christmas, from Uncle Sev and the occasional present from Aunt Petunia when she found something cheap that he might like, but that felt ridiculus to this pile.
Reading the sign on the one in his hand, Harry saw that it was from Ron. He looked over to his friend, who smiled at him and nodded, encouraging him to open his gift. Harry grinned and gave him an appreciative smile before unwrapping the paper. Inside was an extra large package of Chocolate frogs.
"Thanks Ron!" he said, grinning at his friend. Somehow he had guessed that Ron would give him something like that, given his kind of... strained budget. Therefore, he had decided to give Ron something along the same lines and judging by the chocolate stains around his mouth, Ron had already opened that present.
"Thank you too Harry. Imagine my surprise when I open your gift and find the same thing you gave me!"
Harry grinned.
"I guess great minds think alike." he said, causing Ron to laugh.
Harry went on to open his presents one by one. Hermione had gotten him a book on wand making, obviously having noticed Harry's interest in the matter, and Neville had gotten him a wand polishing kit, with a note that it was a good habit to have. Hagrid had given him a home-carved flute. After having taken the obvious choice, Harry was surprised to find there were still a few to go. Of course there were a present from Ginny, but he saved that one for last. Aside from his best friend, Ginny's and Ron's mother, Molly, had sent him a home knitted jumper, which were Gryffindor red in color with a motive of a Golden Snitch on the front, no doubt Ginny had told her mother that Harry had become the Gryffindor seeker.
After Mrs Weasley's present, Harry found the usual gift from Uncle Sev, which contained a book on some higher level spells, 100 Useful spells and how to perform them. Harry smiled as he figured Sev thought he could learn these, touched by the potion professor's faith in his abilities. He was surprised to find a small box from Susan Bones, containing a large Hippogriff quill. Feeling slightly guilty for not getting her anything, Harry turned the quill over in his hand. It was beautiful. The next gift was from another he hadn't thought of giving anything. Susan's best friend, Hannah Abbott had given him a very elegant ink-bottle, made out of a carved horn of some kind. Once more Harry felt guilty for not getting her anything.
On the bottom of the pile, Harry found a silvery package of some kind. Frowning, he lifted it onto the bed and opened it. It contained a cloak of some kind. The fabric felt smooth as silken and light as air.
"What's this?" he said out aloud as he swung it over his shoulders.
As he did, Ron's eyes widened as he stared at Harry. For a moment, Harry wondered what he could have done to make Ron stare like that at him, but then he looked down on his own body and found... nothing.
"My body's gone!" he cried in shock.
"That's no normal cloak! That's an invisibility cloak!" Ron exclaimed, going as far as to put down the pack of chocolate frogs he was holding.
Harry went over to the mirror to look at himself. Well, he could only see his head but that soon disappeared as well when Ron came over and pulled the hood over it. It felt weird to look in a mirror to find himself and not see anything. He felt like a vampire... or well, the kind of vampires usually featured in one of Dudley's cartoons. But who would send him an invisibility cloak?
Curious to see if he could find out who sent it, he went back to the bed and pulled back the hood. Ron followed him when he saw where his friend had gone and picked up a note.
"Here, look what it says: Your father left it in my possession before he died. It is time it is returned to its rightful owner."
Harry frowned.
"No telling where it came from?"
Shrugging, Ron gave Harry the note. Harry looked over the note with a raised eyebrow. Sure enough, it didn't say where it came from. However, there was another clue to where it could have come from. That handwriting... Harry was sure he had seen it before. But where?
"I recognise the handwriting but I can't remember where I have seen it before."
Looking at his bed, Harry noticed he still had one present left: Ginny's gift! Suddenly, where the invisibility cloak came from seemed unimportant to him as he just tossed the cloak onto the bed and hurried to sit down and pick up the gift from his best friend. Staring at it for a moment, he was overcome with worry. Would Ginny like the present he had bought for her and sent to her parents to take to Romania? What if she didn't? He knew he would like whatever Ginny had gotten him, simply because it came from her. But would Ginny feel the same way? What if she thought it was too much?
"Hey! Are you gonna open that or not?" Ron asked, curious to see what his sister had gotten his best friend.
Shaking himself out of his worries, Harry looked down on the package and began to slowly open it. Underneath the layer of paper was a small box. The surface of the box didn't give any hint as to what was inside. Slowly, he removed the top of the little white box to reveal a photo frame. Harry reached inside and took out the frame to look at. It appeared to have been carved by Ginny herself. It didn't have any advanced carvings, but the frame was covered in some kind of green glitter, except the lower part where the words: Best Friends Forever were carved and burnt into the frame. The frame itself held a picture of a small, red girl with a childish face covered in freckles smiling at him from in front of a weird-looking building while she was hugging a small black kitten in her arms. Both the girl and the kitten was smiling at him and the kitten waved its paw through the frame. Harry felt his heart burst with luck as he looked at Ginny and Kurt smiling at him. Ginny looked so happy in the pitcure.
"It seems Ginny have been spending a lot of time in the shed." Ron said, sounding unimpressed.
Harry, who picked up on Ron's irony, just shook his head. Sure, it wasn't an expensive gift, like he had bought her, but this was just what he had wanted. Ginny had carved this frame, she had taken the time to go out into that shed of theirs and work for who knows how long just so she could give something to Harry. It didn't matter that it wasn't as elegant as it might have been if Ginny had asked any of her parents to make it for her, it didn't matter that parts of the frame were uneven or that it was covered in glitter. Just the fact that Ginny had spent her own time making this for him made it invaluable in Harry's eyes.
-:-:-:-
While Harry was opening his presents at Hogwarts, another child were looking down at the present she had recieved from her best friend in shock. Ginny had arrived in Romania with her family late the night before by portkey. Charlie had met them at the portkey point and taken them to a hotel in a nearby town. Because he lived in a small hut at the dragon reservation and often was awoken by the roars of the dragons or called in if one of them went out of control, they had decided it was better for his family to stay at a muggle hotel. Molly had so far been forced to hold back her husband from running off to check something out 8 times, and 3 of those he had been asleep and sleepwalking. How he had been sleepwalking and tried to check out the air conditioning system with closed eyes was still a mystery.
As soon as the clock had turned 08.00 in the morning, Ginny had been on her feet and rushed over to the pile of presents lying in a corner of their hotel room. Of course, her mother had insisted that they eat breakfast before they opened their presents and reluctantly, Ginny had went along with it. However, they had barely made it back to the room before Ginny had darted back to the corner and tore open her first present. She had quickly picked out Harry's present and put it aside, wanting to save it for last. Charlie had joined them halfway through their openings and given Ginny his own present: a necklace that was decorated with a single tooth from a dragon, a German Flaretooth to be exact. Their mother had reprimanded her son for giving Ginny "such an inapproriate gift", but Ginny liked it and immediately put it on with a sheepish grin on her face.
Now, Ginny had finally come down to her last present and her entire family, well the one present at the time at least, had been curious to see what she would get from her new best friend. Inside the Gryffindor-colored package had been a small box, which Ginny had eagerly opened and turned upside down to get out whatever was inside. But what had fallen out had caused the entire room to gasp.
"Is... is that...?" her mother whispered as she looked down on the object her daughter was holding.
In Ginny's hand rested a small golden locket, which was hanging from a chain made of the same material. Judging by the weight of the object, it was not a fake either. Ginny's eyes widened as she looked at the locket. The first thought that ran through her head was how much this must have cost. What was Harry thinking, giving her something like this? This was pure gold for Merlin's sake! It was probably worth more than all her other belongings put together!
"G-Ginny? Can I see that for a moment?" her mother whispered as she held out her hand.
Ginny was too shocked to object against it and simply handed the locket to her mother. The older woman took the golden chain with shaking hands and held it up against the light. Seeing the look in her eyes, Arthur went over and put his hands on her shoulders.
"This is pure..." Molly Weasley whispered as she stared at the gift her daughter had recieved.
"Molly." Arthur said with a soft voice.
Slowly, Molly looked up at her husband.
"How can we...?" her voice was helpless. She didn't want to accept such an expensive gift but at the same time, she had come to learn that Harry was not trying to buy her daughter. The two of them had been corresponding the entire school year and Hedwig spent as much time at the Burrow as she spent at Hogwarts.
"Remember what we talked about Molly." was all Arthur said as he looked down his wife.
Taking a deep breath, Molly held out the locket in her hand. Ginny, who had been watching the interaction between her parents silently, reached out and grabbed the locket and looked down on it. Charlie had so far stayed quiet but as his mother gave Ginny back an object that in his time in the family would have made her go through the roof, he raised an eyebrow.
"Am I missing something?" he asked.
His mother didn't seem to be in a good state to give the answer, so instead it was his father that answered.
"That gift was from Ginny's best friend, Harry. Ginny and Molly had a little row when Harry gave Ginny that little guy." he said this as he pointed at Kurt, who was sleeping in his basket in another corner of the room. "But since then Molly have gotten to understand that Harry have a lot of money and that he wants to spend them on Ginny because of their friendship. I guess her recieving something so... eh, expensive though might have gotten her to have a little relapse."
Charlie frowned. He hadn't been told that Ginny had a new best friend. Well, he hadn't been told she had a best friend at all. He looked down at his sister who was still holding the locket in her hand, staring at it, as if she didn't dare open it.
"Who is this Harry? I mean, what's his last name? I've never heard of the lad, but perhaps I went to school with one of his relatives?" Charlie wanted to know.
For some reason, both his parents shared an uncertain look, as if they weren't sure if they should be the ones to reveal that to him. After a moment, it was surprisingly his mother who spoke up:
"I don't think you went to school with one of his relatives. Harry is the last descendant of a very old and powerful wizarding line."
This just caused Charlie's frown to deepen. Why was his mother avoiding a straight answer? It certainly wasn't like her to beat around the bush, she usually went straight to the point. He had just opened his mouth to try and push for an answer when Ginny suddenly spoke up.
"Potter. His name is Harry Potter."
As she said it, Charlie felt like his world had fallen around him. He couldn't have heard that right. Or could he? No, there was just no way! It was ridiculus!
"Wha... What are you saying? That Ginny's new best friend is Harry Potter?! The Harry Potter?!" Charlie almost shouted, remembering clearly when he had first heard about the fall of the Dark Lord and the child who was responsible. In one night, one night, Harry Potter had gone from a normal baby boy to the world's most famous wizard. And then, he had disappeared. Today, some people doubted that Harry Potter had ever existed. While Charlie wasn't one of them, how could he believe that his own little sister had become friends with a legend?
"It is true. I have met him and Severus Snape confirmed his identity. Apparently, Harry have been growing up with his muggle relatives from his mother's family. He came back to the wizarding world shortly before his first year at Hogwarts and we ran into him in Diagon Alley while he and Severus were buying his school stuff." Arthur explained to his son.
Charlie looked down at Ginny, who had woken up her kitten, whom speaking of which Charlie had been unaware of that she owned until his family had appeared in Romania, and was currently showing the little cat creature the locket. Kurt was sniffing the locket carefully, trying to decided if it was dangerous. His dad had just told him that Ginny had been given Kurt by Harry... well that explains how such an expensive animal came into the possession of his little sister.
"I also met Harry, at Platform 9 3/4 before he and Ron went off to Hogwarts. He and Ginny really are best friends." his mother added.
While Charlie tried to come to terms with the fact that Ginny had become best friends with the most famous young wizard in modern times, the girl in question was currently taking the locket back to Kurt to open it. She felt her heart beat fast as she thought of what might be inside. Her mother had said that people usually kept a photo of someone precious to them in lockets in order to always have a piece of them nearby.
Biting her lip in anticipation, Ginny pressed the little button to open the locket and was rewarded by something that meant more to her than the locket itself. Inside was a picture of a young raven haired boy with emerald green eyes, dressed in scarlet red quidditch robes and holding onto a Golden Snitch in his right hand with a gleeful smile on his face. As Ginny looked down on the picture, the picture-Harry waved at her and pointed excitedly at the snitch in his hand. Ginny felt her lips drawn out into a smile. He couldn't have picked any better picture! This had to be from his first quidditch match! He had told her in a letter all the details of how the match had went and how it had felt to catch the Golden Snitch, but she had felt a little sad that she hadn't been able to see it. Now she could!
"Hey Charlie! Look!" she squeled as she jumped to her feet and ran over to her older brother.
The young man looked down at her with a curious look, still a little confused but interested as to what she wanted to show him.
"This is Harry! This is from his first quidditch match!" she cried happily, thrusting the locket in his face.
Chuckling a little at his sister's enthusiasm, Charlie grabbed her arm and steadied it so that he could look at the picture. The boy in the picture looked very young, no doubt around the same age as Ginny and Ron. Just as Charlie looked at him, Harry waved at him, which caused his hair to move enough to show a scar, shaped like a lightning bolt. Charlie had to peer with his eyes to see it clearly, but sure enough, it was definetely the same scar that was shown on the baby that the story book pictured. It really was Harry Potter!
"Wait, Harry plays quidditch? I thought he was in the same year as Ron?" Charlie felt like he must have missed something again. First years were never allowed to play on the first teams!
"He is. Harry got handpicked by Professor McGonagall after she had seen him do his first ever flying lesson. Ron says he is the youngest quidditch player in the last century and possibly one of the world's greatest seeker prodigies right now. The twins tones that down a little, but they are very keen to make sure that Harry is better than you, Charlie." Ginny said with a grin.
Charlie felt like someone had slapped him in the face. The grin he had on his face while he was watching his eventual successor to the position of Gryffindor seeker turned into a scowl, which triggered a giggle from Ginny, who reclaimed the locket and hung it around her neck with a content look. For several moments, Charlie just sat there staring into thin air. Then he turned to his parents.
"Mum? Is Harry coming to the Burrow over summer?" he asked with a neutral voice.
His father gave him a knowing smile, obviously amused by his son's reaction to the news Ginny had given him.
"We plan to try and get him to come over a little. Why?" his mother said with a confused look on her face, as clueless when it came to quidditch as ever. Ginny's giggles were joined by the snickering of her little part-kneazle Kurt as the two followed Charlie's reaction with happy amusement.
"Well, I hope it won't be too much trouble if I come visit a little during that period? I think I got a score to settle with Harry." he growled.
His mother seemed surprised at his request. Ginny couldn't hold in her laughter and at least she burst into a fit of laughter. Kurt the kneazle mirrored her actions and rolled over at his back while giving off laughing noises.
"Of course there is no trouble, but why are you suddenly so eager to come home?" her mother asked with a suspicious look.
"Oh, nothing." Charlie said as he turned to scowl at his sister, who was still trying to stiffle her giggles at his reaction. The girl in question just grinned at him.
Christmas for the Weasleys continued in the same manner, with Charlie getting to know more about to what extent his sister knew Harry Potter. Ginny was completely shining with happiness as Charlie showed them around the reservation and her eyes sparkled with excitement at getting to see real dragons. And just as Harry had expected, at the end of the day, Ginny sat down by the table to write him a long letter about all that she had gotten to see.
A/N: Phew! There we go! I hope the beginning was understandable. I think it was pretty well written, but if you think otherwise then don't be shy to tell me so! I kind of got off track a little somewhere around the middle of the chapter so if that particular part holds a little lower standard, then I'm sorry.
Now, I have gotten a review who told me that my English wasn't british enough... Well, that may be because I'm not british but anyhow, if there is any british dude out there who would like to help me get my english "britishtized", then please PM me.
Aside from that, I am looking for someone who would be willing to re-read all chapters up until now and write down all grammar and spelling errors I've made so I got a list of what I have to fix when I finally get my christmas break. If you are interested to help me with this, then please tell me so in a review or PM.
Now, I want to thank everyone who reviewed the last chapter. I've got 2 reviews I feel that I've got to answer here so people who are bothered by the same things can be put at ease:
Vukk: Yes, Harry still haven't gotten that same shoe back from when he threw it in the Trophy room during their escape from Filch. Rest assured though, the poor shoe is not forgotten.
Sisno2200: It's not really that he feels sorry for the troll, it is more the experience and realization that he killed another living being. Less violent people, like Harry, tend to have a hard time killing other living beings, even if it is just an animal. A troll might not be something to feel sorry for, but the way Harry did it, crushing its skulle and forcefully breaking the bones in its arms and upper body, would in my mind probably be pretty traumatizing for an 11-year old boy. He was became mentally unstable by the conflicting emotions that his first kill stirred in him and his mind shut down automatically to protect him from the experience. Its like, some people can't remember a specific experience they got because of the trauma their mind went through at the time was too great for it to handle, so it kind of seals away the memory.
And here we have it! Sorry I don't answer any more reviews in the AN but those who don't recieve and answer here recieve it through PM instead. Now thanks to all who read this! And I am already working with Chapter 12, though I still have a lot of school work to do so it might take some time. But until then, take care!