Here's the newest chapter for the "Harry Potter: the Serpent Lord", enjoy!
* Review response:
Naginator, vampirewithwolfeyes, ElementalMaster16, Zarosian Chaos, CaliDreamin, fragglemaster, Fred the Man, obsessivegirl73, cyber viper42, JPElles, xyzman, OverPowered, thank you for your reviews, folks!
The Swordslinger, I'll come up with Harry's payback once I get to where Skeeter makes a personal appearance.
Penny is wise, nope, he'll live. For now.
Impstar, he will use it successfully (target petrified) at least once.
RE5 forever, not sure. Likely around 70. Really depends on my inspiration, but the current school year will be stretched up to the chapter 50 at least.
Alexajke, скорее сказывается то, что я пишу по главе в неделю - на самом деле не так уж просто, поскольку быстро вдохновение выдыхается... или будет лучше если я будут обновлять раз в месяц 12000-ыми главами? 3000 еженедельно, по-моему, все же, лучше.
The Sinful, indeed, what the hell was I thinking when I typed that? Should have been "spawn" instead of "spouse". Thanks for noticing. | Fixed this error.
InTheYearOfTheCat, really? I might have to start a poll on this, once the current one is finished.
Awsomeness7, I did say that she was napping when Peter said the old password. She wasn't fully awake during that incident, and, like we all know, when you're scared, you see things not like they really are.
And thanks for 400 000 hits, everyone!
* Poll: A new poll is published in my profile. The question of the day is "Should Sirius Black live?" with the following options: yes - I don't care - no. Do vote please.
* Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" and its characters in any shape or form.
"human speech"
"wraith speech"
'human thoughts'
"powered speech / true prophecies by the seer"
"spells / parseltongue"
This chapter is not beta-read yet.
chapter 45: Restored bonds
Much like professor Sprout has predicted, Gryffindors didn't take it very well, when the next morning it was announced that Ron will moved to some private room for the additional protection. To many it felt like the headmaster valued the new 'chosen one' more than the entire house, but there was nothing they could do here, so, grudgingly, they accepted Dumbledore's decision...
Of course, the news about the youngest Weasley being moved to a private room didn't stay confined to Gryffindor common room, and by the end of breakfast next day entire school knew about this. Ravenclaws, like always, didn't care much about such un-academic matters, but still quite a few of them agreed that this was not a good thing for the headmaster to do... Unlike them, Hufflepuffs in their entirety thought that Dumbledore shouldn't have had singled Ron out so much (or at all), and, had their head of the house not intervened, they might have done something more than being just a mass of discontent students...
House Slytherin, a bit like their blue and bronze 'brothers' and 'sisters', was split into two. Though, there, one half just didn't care, content with the knowledge that these events would reflect badly on their house, while the other went ahead and started taunting everyone who wore Gryffindor colors about them being headmaster's dolls and scapegoats to be disposed as the great Dumbledore saw fit... These proclamations became reason for more than one fight among students, which resulted in the house Gryffindor losing more than several house points as, for some reason, professor Snape always was the first one to arrive to where the fights were.
Surely enough, Peter Pettigrew, who was hiding somewhere in the castle in his animagus form didn't miss these news about Dumbledore's decision either. And he was quite happy with the fact that he wasn't recognized, and Sirius Black was blamed for the attack on the Fat Lady instead. This meant that the Hogwarts security will be tightened even further, and the chances of Black actually getting in successfully were even lower than they already were.
And since Sirius, likely, was the only person within a hundred or so miles, who wouldn't be fooled by Peter's rat form, the rat animagus felt a little bit safer. Actually, with how the things were turning out, he might be able to remain at Hogwarts for some more time, spying on Dumbledore for his master... He could always off the 'chosen ones' – both of them – later, if needed.
Still, in order to be in the best position to get information about the Hogwarts headmaster and his red-haired protege, he needed to return back to his 'owner'... Oh well, he'll just have to wait for another couple of days so that no one will question his sudden reappearance, before having Ronald find him somewhere. Yeah, that should work well enough, Peter decided. Now then, he was hungry, so the rat animagus headed towards the Hogwarts kitchens to steal some food for himself...
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It was the end of the second week of December and the Defense Studies group was holding they last meeting this semester, and today they were listening to Nott, who was giving a small lecture about the ways to defend oneself from weaker (and, thus, more common) curses. And while pretty much everyone present was listening intently to Theodore, some had more than his lecture on their mind...
Draconica was that person. And a certain green-eyed wizard seating across the table from her was what occupied significant part of her mind at the moment. The blond witch decided that enough time has passes for her to try to reestablish her relationship with him and at the moment she was rather discretely measuring his reaction to get getting close to him: under the table she had their legs touch a in a way that without any questions was intentional. And since he didn't back away from her, Draconica happily thought that the young Potter was now over his bout of rather childish hate towards her. Of course, she would not ask for another 'session' with him right away, especially not after what their last one caused, but the blonde still hoped to get that close to him once again, so that some time in the future she'll have a chance for another 'night'. She wouldn't mind that, not at all...
Harry, of course, was quite aware of her 'testing grounds', but he let her do that as, really, he was no longer angry with her – well, he shouldn't have been in the first place, as it was all his own decision that brought that fallout upon him, but like all teenagers, sometimes he did behave in illogical ways...
When Theodore finally finished his – actually quite lengthy, thanks to some additions from Tracey, Daphne and Susan – lecture, it was already close to six in the evening, and so the members of DS began leaving the library, where the group's meeting was, to get ready for the dinner and the Astronomy lesson that would follow it.
Harry, like often, stayed behind, but today some extra reading wasn't in his plans. And, not surprisingly for him, Draconica didn't leave either... Eventually, it was only two of them left in this corner of the library, meaning that they had some level of privacy for the time being.
"Harry, you are not angry with me anymore?" The blond witch asked as she stood up from her chair and walked up to where he was sitting. Turning around to face her, the green-eyed wizard just sighed in response, not really sure what he should tell her... It turned out he didn't need to say anything: 'Nica got her answer without him saying a word. "Thank you." She said quietly, placing her hand on his shoulder. For the next couple of seconds she just stood like this and then she walked away without another word.
"I'm not sure I will ever understand girls..." The young Potter said to himself as he shook his head. Sighing, he picked his stuff up and too left the library, heading back to the Gryffindor common room.
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The rest of the semester flew by more or less without any major incidents as everyone was busy with the exams. And like everyone else, Harry had to study for those, even if not as much as anyone else, thanks to all those memories he had assimilated from the horcrux that once resided in his head. Still, as he was not as busy preparing for the exams, he noticed more things that happened around him. And so he did notice that after their little 'chat' in the library after that DS meeting, Draconica was once again getting closer to him.
Sure, it wasn't like she was inviting him to have some 'fun' or anything like that, but she neither was keeping her distance from him as much as she used to... Actually, it felt almost like she was indecisive about making one more metaphorical step towards him, the step that would put their relationship into the state it was just before that 'night' had happened. And, remembering what had happened because of that, he could understand why. But since it was actually her decision, he did nothing to either encourage or discourage her from making that step...
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Deciding not to stay at Hogwarts for the Christmas this year, Harry found himself riding the Hogwarts express during the winter months for the first time. And he had to admit that the scenery behind the windows was so much more majestic, when everything was covered with snow, while still more was falling from the sky... Of course, the experience could have been even better, had the train not being stopped to be searched by the aurors who were hunting Sirius Black down. At least, this time no one let the dementors aboard, which the young Potter was very thankful for.
The rest of the train ride was uneventful, and several hours Harry stepped out of the Hogwarts express onto the platform 9¾. And from there the green-eyed wizard, having decided that he should be close to the civilization for the next several days, apparated to his penthouse at Queenstown Road...
It was a bit dusty and there really was no food stocked there, but these little problems were nothing that Harry couldn't resolve himself, so some wandwork and a single trip to the nearest muggle supermarket later the young Potter had the penthouse ready for him to spend the Christmas holidays there. Of course, the place still needed to be decorated and everything, but that could wait till tomorrow, he decided, before having a quick dinner and calling it a day.
The next morning, like always, Harry woke up pretty early, but his morning post was already waiting for him. Today, along with his usual copy of the 'Daily Prophet', he got a letter from Violet, which he decided to read first.
According to the letter, madam Bones couldn't find any trial record for Sirius Black either. Actually, there was nothing in the Ministry records that said that the man had ever had a trial or even was charged with the crime he had supposedly committed. It looked like he had been sent straight to Azkaban against all DMLE regulations and standard procedures. And this was very strange – it was almost like someone wanted to keep Sirius Black silent about something...
So, Violet wrote, madam Bones had issued new order to the aurors, which said that they should apprehend Black and deliver him to the Ministry holding cells for a questioning, instead of giving him a dementor's kiss on spot.
While Harry was a bit angry with the Ministry for such a blatant ignoring of law truism in the past, he was now also content with the thought that he will now eventually get the answer to the question of why Sirius Black had betrayed his parents to Voldemort...
Since there wasn't anything else of any significant importance written in the letter, the young Potter switched his attention to his copy of the 'Daily Prophet'. Unfortunately, the newspaper was as crappy as always, and the information about the changes in the 'Black hunt' was all put into a small article somewhere near the last page. And even then, it was singing praises to the Ministry more than talking about why Sirius Black no longer had kill-on-sight order.
Done with his morning post, Harry quickly ate his breakfast, before heading to Diagon alley and the Gringotts bank: he planned to do some Christmas shopping today (at very least he needed to get some decorations for the penthouse), and he needed money for this.
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Christmas this year was rather quiet for the young lord Potter. Mostly because he now was celebrating on his own, and not with all those people who decided to remain at Hogwarts... This, though, absolutely didn't mean that he didn't get many gifts. If anything, there were more than ever, as all of his friends – the vixens included – had sent him at least something.
It was also fun to go out and spend some time in an anonymous mass of people in London, who participated in the mass promenades, even if the greatest one were yesterday. So, all in all, Harry really did have a very fun Christmas this year. But it didn't mean that he was forgetting about the other things he needed to do.
So, once the Boxing day passed, the green-eyed wizard could be found either surrounded by the tomes and scrolls in the study of his penthouse, or in the public libraries. What he was looking for was anything that could help him deal with Voldemort, when the dark tosser finally decided to get himself a new body – and since Harry was unable to come up with a better idea than seal him away, he was looking for the ways to permanently contain soul somewhere. Of course, since this would be labeled as one of the most dark magics, he wouldn't find any ready-to-use recipes, but any references to how he could do what he needed still would be very helpful... That is if he finds any, as at the moment his luck seemed to have taken a vacation somewhere on the other end of the world.
Eventually, after about a week of fruitless searches, the young Potter decided that some greater force was preventing him from finding anything in an attempt to tell him that the holidays were to relax and live outside academics a bit. So, he decided to follow this 'advise' and abandoned his searches for now in favor of having some fun...
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Since Harry was returning to Hogwarts a couple of days too early, there was no Hogwarts express for him, but it wasn't a problem for the young wizard as he just apparated to the Hogsmeade village. Of course, this meant that he had been very thoroughly checked by the auror patrol there – after all, it was not normal for the third-year Hogwarts students to know how to apparate... But as he wasn't Sirius Black in disguise, he was let go, after his identity was confirmed and his licenses for the magical methods of transportation were checked.
As it turned out, Harry wasn't the first one to return from the vacation: a good deal of his housemates, everyone from the quidditch team in particular, was already there. So, as soon as dropped this things at the dormitories, Oliver Wood, being his usual self, announced that tomorrow they will be having a training session.
Like the young Potter could have guessed, Oliver would never go easy on his team. The training began right after the breakfast and just as the cold late-December sun began rising above the horizon. Of course, when the time for lunch came, the training session ended, but it almost looked like Wood wanted to tell everyone to return to the pitch after they had eaten their meal, but decided to have pity for them at the last moment...
Since the weather was really chilly that day, everyone wanted to get back to the warm castle as fast as they could, so the Weasley twins and even the Gryffindor quidditch team captain himself had quickly changed into their casual clothes and left the lockers, leaving Harry, who was immersed in his thoughts too deeply to be as prompt as them, behind... Which turned out to be a good thing as it had saved the young Potter from the rounds of teasing he would have been undoubtedly put through otherwise:
Just as he was getting dressed after the showers, Harry heard someone enter the locker room, but thinking that it was one of his male teammates who had forgotten something there, he didn't pay in much mind. Right until he felt a pair of arms wrap loosely around his neck, while a couple of nice breasts was pressed into his back. And thanks to the time he had spent around the owner of this pair, he instantly knew, who decided to pay him a visit.
"Katie?" He asked, wanting to know why she was there. The said witch just lowered her head onto his left shoulder and for the next several seconds she was silent.
"Harry, I... C-Can you forgive me?" She finally said, surprising him a lot as he had a hard time thinking of any reason for this. Actually, he couldn't think of anything...
"Why?" He asked.
"Harry, I did a lot of thinking these holidays, and... Yes, you've betrayed me and hurt me a lot back then, but... I did hurt you just as much if not more..." The vixen replied, after a short pause. "At very least I should have protected you from Angi and 'Cia and not let them hurt you as much as they did... And I shouldn't have been so spiteful with you afterwards for so long..." Another pause, during which the brown-haired witch had pressed herself into him some more. "To be honest..." She continued in a voice that gave Harry a feeling that she was about to start shedding some tears. "To be honest, I knew for the longest time that you will end up with her. Yet I wanted to be with you as well... I got what I wanted, but with how good it had been, I've forgotten that... that I..." This was where Katie broke, and knowing that he needed to comfort her, the young Potter turned around and wrapped his own hands around the girl, absentmindedly noticing that she wasn't wearing any shirt at the moment...
"Sh... It's alright, Katie." He whispered soothingly, while pulling the vixen closer. "It's alright, I forgive you." The girl looked up at him, her eyes glistening with tears.
"T-Thank you." She whispered back, before snuggling back into his chest... For a couple of minutes the two teens sat in silence. Once Katie had somewhat calmed down, she detached herself from him a bit and looked into his eyes again. "Harry... Can we..." She fell silent there, apparently, unsure how to express what he wanted to say. He let her collect her thoughts, though. "Can we once again be friends like we used to be?" The brown-haired witch finally said, and the young Potter just nodded in agreement as he saw nothing wrong with this... "Thank you, Harry." Katie said happily, as she extracted herself from his arms. "Now, let's go have lunch." She added with giggles, before disappearing towards girls' locker room.
That's all, folks!
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