Chapter Three: A Long Path to Follow
***Zeno***
The next morning, Zeno found himself enclosed by a sea of students the moment he stepped foot into the Great Hall. "What's your name?"
"-you're so cool!"
"I wish I could have seen-"
"Sit with us!"
"What House are you in?" The questions were tossed at him one after another giving him no room to answer. Eventually, the students began shoving each other in a fight for space but before a brawl was able to break out, Zeno managed to gain their attention with a juggling act using four apples from the nearest table. They clapped and cheered as the yellow-haired boy bowed, his perfect performance finished.
"Wow! That was amazing!" One of the Gryffindors called out. "You were really good! How long have you been doing that for?" The Gryffindor gave an annoyed glance behind him, when young boy clutching a camera with an expression of admiration on his face; began taking photos over his shoulder.
"Oh, Zeno has been juggling for a long time," he replied, smiling warmly. No one noticed the reminiscent look that was present on his face when he had answered, the reason being was due to their surprise at the unexpected use of third-person. The students shared looks, unsure of how to respond.
"Your name is Zeno?" One of the 7th Years asked cautiously.
"Yes, that is Zeno's name!" was his enthusiastic answer. Whispering ensued from those watching the unfolding scene. "What lesson do you have next? Zeno will join you! Zeno will join you!"
"Er…uh…eheh…" The 7th Year student stammered as he awkwardly backed away, along with several other people.
"He could come with us," an airy voice announced, they all turned to face the Ravenclaw who spoke.
Zeno followed the strange girl to what would be his second class at Hogwarts, Divination with the 5th Year Ravenclaws and Gryffindors. The moment he had climbed through the circular trapdoor at the top of the ladder, Zeno's nose was assaulted with the heavy scent of a sickly sort of perfume. In the dim room around him were at least twenty circular tables crammed between chintz armchairs and pouffes. A fire crackling under a crowded mantelpiece heated the room to an almost unbearable temperature that made him want to toss his orange overcoat aside and wish he had worn thinner robes. "Let's sit here, shall we?" a dreamy voice drifted into Zeno's ears from where the Ravenclaw was standing beside one of the round tables next to a ginger-haired girl.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Ginny Weasley and this is Luna Lovegood. You must be Zeno, right?" Introduced the Gryffindor. Zeno sank into one of the cushy armchairs with them, smiling bright enough to light up the whole room, and listened to Professor Trelawney explain with a mystical voice how to tell fortunes by crystal-gazing. By the end of her instructions, each table went to get themselves a crystal ball. "We did this in our third year, didn't see anything back then so why would we see anything now?" Ginny said, finishing off with a sigh as she slumped down in her seat with their crystal ball. All three of them gazed deeply into swirling fog-filled spheres.
"Oh, I see something. Look," Luna airily commented.
"I don't see any-wait…I see it too!" Ginny exclaimed.
"Where? Where? Zeno doesn't see anything," he asked while examining every inch of the crystalline surface.
"I think it's your future, Zeno…" Ginny trailed off as she watched the blurry image become clear and defined. "Hey, it is Zeno…and he's travelling along some kind of path…"
"I see it too…" Luna confirmed, they lapsed into silence as they continued to observe Zeno's future. "He isn't stopping anywhere…"
"Probably means he doesn't have a destination or something like that. So to sum it up, Zeno, you're going to keep moving forward in life, nothing is going to hold you back and you'll carry on without any known destination. Sounds like a peaceful future, doesn't it? No predictions of dying suddenly like what Professor Trelawney often sees…" Ginny informed before diving into a conversation with Luna about the crazy predictions their Professor had come up with over the past few years. Zeno vaguely registered "The Grim" being mentioned as he thought about what had just been revealed.
A never-ending path that Zeno walks on with no destination in sight. A long endless meandering road that he wanders aimlessly along.
It didn't symbolise a short happy life, with no problems holding him down like what Ginny and Luna have seemingly concluded, as Zeno knew what it all truly symbolised: An immortal life, endless travelling with no place to rest or settle down.
After Divination class had ended, Zeno and his new friends left the North Tower to head off for some lunch. It wasn't until the trio had passed by several unused classrooms when Zeno sensed that something was amiss. His question was answered when a hair-raising scream cut through the peaceful chatter. Now on high alert, Zeno searched frantically for the source of the sound and was able to pinpoint its location: A dust-coated Ex-Charms classroom two doors ahead on their right-hand side.
Rushing through the doorway, Zeno, Ginny and Luna were shocked to find an enormous spider looming over its prey: a couple who must have been using the empty room for their make-out session. They watched as the couple cowered before the sight of the spider's oversized fangs, dripping with venom as it reared back to prepare to strike. Before Ginny or Luna could seize him, Zeno sprinted towards the terrified couple, skidding to a halt between the creature and its prey. There Zeno stood his ground, arms out either side to shield the helpless students from harm with his own body.
The spider lunged forward as Ginny and Luna screamed in horror.
***Golden Trio-Some time before the incident-***
During History of Magic, instead of paying attention to Professor Binns' wheezy voice drone on about Giant Wars, Harry and Ron decided to use their time to discuss how they were going to find out if Zeno is a Death Eater or not. They spent the entire lesson discussing possible ways while Hermione diligently took notes from Binns' boring lecture. Then the bell chimed, waking the dozing students in time for lunch, Harry and Ron filled in Hermione on what they had come up with on the way to the Great Hall. However, the Golden Trio didn't get a single bite of food because the moment they had gotten to the bottom of the moving staircase, a frantic student yelled out for everyone to hear: "An Acromantula is attacking someone in the Ex-Charms classroom!" Making Harry and Hermione rush to the scene while dragging Ron who was freaking out about the giant spider as well as how he would not want to see one ever again.
It was there in the doorway, the three of them came to a stop beside Ginny and Luna before peering inside to see what all the commotion was about. The very person they were talking about was bravely standing in a defensive position between a couple and the infamous Acromantula. Ron whimpered as memories of his second year at Hogwarts resurfaced.
"Zeno! No!" Ginny and Luna screamed from beside them as the spider launched itself towards the yellow-haired boy, fangs bared. Hermione, Ginny, Luna and several other students in the crowd that had gathered all squeezed their eyes shut, unable to watch.
The shout of pain that they had all expected never came.
For those who didn't look away had watched the giant spider morph into a variety of forms before settling on a new one that left Zeno staring with wide disbelieving eyes. "It's a Boggart!" Someone from Harry's year who he can't remember the name of, pointed out.
They all turned their attention back to see what Zeno's Boggart had taken the form of and saw a strange flashy group of people smiling happily at the yellow-haired boy. Hermione, Harry and Ron all shared a look, all thinking the same thing. It wasn't scary at all! The crowd watched as tears began to trail down Zeno's face as he collapsed into the arms of two of the people, a red-haired girl and a feminine-like pretty boy. "M-m-miss…K-kid…" He managed to choke out as he hugged the pair, clutching their clothing. Next, a masked man with a sword on his back and a small squirrel on his shoulder joined in, wrapping his arms around the three of them. "Blue…Dragon…Ao…"
Zeno looked up with tear-filled eyes as his blurry vision focused on the white-haired, green-haired and dark-haired men who watched him with fond smiles, and addressed them: "White Drag…Dragon…Gre…Green Dragon…M-mister…I…"
The audience held their breath in anticipation.
"I m-missed you all so much!" Zeno cried. He clutched them in his arms and buried his tear-stained face in their embrace. The other three men who were just standing and observing the scene, approached Zeno and placed their hands on his shoulder to comfort him.
"Zeno…" The girl spoke gently, her voice causing Zeno to lift his head to look up. Harry, Hermione, Ron and everyone else watching were horrified to see the girl start aging rapidly. Her beautiful crimson hair turned silver as her skin folded into wrinkles. The other people the Boggart had transformed into followed suit and began to briskly grow older at an exaggerated unnatural speed. They didn't stop aging once they had reached the appearance of extremely old elderly people, for their bodies began to decompose, revealing a group of skeletons dressed in rags that barely resembled the clothes they had saw on the more lively bodies. Zeno's wide eyes were fixed on the bones he was embracing, the Boggart was cruel enough to give him enough time to see the skeletons of each and every one of them, including the squirrel, before the bones disintegrated into a pile of dust.
He lifted his head to the ceiling, a river of tears flowing down his face: "Yona! Hak! Yoon! Kija! Shin-ah! Jae-ha! Ao! DON'T LEAVE ME AGAIN!" Wailed Zeno. His cry resounded through the crowd's hearts, engulfing them in waves of Zeno's immense grief and sorrow.
Although Zeno's Boggart, at first, didn't look frightening, if asked they would all agree that Zeno's fear is just as worthy of the title as any other.
The problem of the Boggart was resolved when Professor McGonagall arrived on scene and removed the creature with a flick of her wand, causing the dust to soar into an empty draw from whence it possibly came.
How could Zeno be a Death Eater after showing such a display? Harry didn't know what to think anymore. Yet his mind still scraped up one plausible conclusion: What if it was set up to trick them all?
Or maybe it was true?
Author's Note:
Thanks you for everything! I hope you all enjoyed Chapter Three!
Who expected that to be in the classroom? Did I manage to surprise anyone? Poor Zeno, though….
~PurpleFlyingBird
