Hello there amazing person!
If you've stuck with this story even though my posting time is horrible, you're an absolutely beautiful, amazing person! I'm sorry for not posting earlier, but things just got out of hand and my sister came out of the closet to our family -actually she was kind of dragged out by my mum's lesbian friends- and things have just been a little strained around here.
So remember, I've had a lot of stress on my shoulders, please be gentle with me.
As a little 'warning', this chapter isn't really . . . right, for lack of a better word. Or cohesive. I didn't read through it to check it over and I think that it's a little different from my usual writing style, but that's because my brain's turned into sludge!
Tell me what you think?
P.S., Before I forget! We did do a vote on if this should be an Mpreg or not, right? Or was that on AO3.. No clue.
Anyway, if we didn't, just comment on what you think about this story becoming an Mpreg, because I can have two different versions of this story, an Mpreg on AO3 and a . . . non-Mpreg one on here. And if you DO want an Mpreg, should he have the baby naturally -by that I mean . . where they made the baby ;)- or by a C-section, or any other option you guys want but I haven't found or thought of! Think of this like an interactive game where you get to choose scenarios, like that of Beyond Two Souls.
Anyway, happy reading! Tell me if I should change up the writing or something!
-oOoOoOoOo-
"You shall be brewing the Draught of Living Death, a potion so named for its ability to render the drinker in a deathly slumber that lasts for an indefinite amount of time," said Snape in his droning voice, tapping his wand on the large and slightly chipped blackboard behind him. The words 'Draught of Living Death' spread across the top in Snape's characteristic spider-like writing, and a list of ingredients and steps scrawled beneath it. "You must exercise extreme caution when attempting to brew such a delicate and dangerous potion and let me be clear that any foolishness will result in severe . . . repercussions that will leave permanent damage," he continued in a dark and silky voice.
Harry ignored the urge to shuffle uncomfortably in his seat and instead focused on the writing on the board, only keeping an ear out for what Snape said in case it was important. He just knew that Hermione would be inwardly berating him right now.
"You will be assessed under examination conditions, that is there is to be no; help, cheating or speaking to one another. Failure to comply with what I have set is to be rewarded with a weeks detention, beginning tonight in my office at nine O'clock. Am I understood?" Snape added, glaring down at them all with fierce black eyes.
He received mumbled agreements, Harry being the loudest as he'd almost forgotten to say anything at all. Recipe well and truly ingrained in his mind, Harry was ready to begin brewing.
Snape's upper lip curled. "If there is anything in this recipe that proves to be problematic to you or to those around you inform me immediately, and don't touch it," he said, sneering as lightly as he could while under the scrutiny of the guardian's gathered at the back of the room. Harry was only slightly relieved to have Hermione and Ron, the Weasley's and the Lupin's in the room with him, the only reason being that Snape had no way of marking him down for the stupidest of things. But that was about it.
"You may begin."
Harry stayed in his seat and waited for the other four to get their fill of the ingredients, knowing that it was quite possible to be squashed on the way there, before leaving his bench. His eyes located the necessary items stacked in the large storage cupboard on his way passed the others, they were slightly mussed up from everyone grabbing at them, but they seemed to be in good condition. Snape stared balefully at him as he passed, but he paid no heed to the dark eyes. They didn't affect him as much as they used to.
When his hands were full and positively overflowing with the ingredients, he returned to his bench, setting everything carefully side by side and in the order of use to his right. He filled his cauldron with water from a tap -not a wand, he'd realized that mistake when trying to brew his Dreamless Sleep potions and they'd turned out less than effective- and started the fire underneath it. So far so good.
"Harry, you could have saved time by using your wand to put the water in!" Whispered Hermione desperately from behind him, but Harry ignored her. She knew what Snape had said and the threat he'd issued them, so why was she trying to get him in trouble?
The only way to keep himself focused on his potion and not on his friend's backward advice was to ignore her, which was only slightly hard to do. He could feel Snape's beady black eyes watching him from where he sat at the front desk, and just knew that he'd be using this to get him in detention. It was absolute bollocks.
But at least the potion was reacting as it should and it was actually quite easy in most parts. It was almost a walk in the park compared to Remus' Wolfsbane potion. He was really quite lucky.
Unfortunately, his luck was not shared with everyone else. Theodore Knott's potion looked on the verge of exploding - his panicky hands adding in every solution in reach whenever it bubbled dangerously, and Blaise's potion was three shades off of the described color. However, it was poor Ernie that had it the worst, his potion was completely unsalvageable; it was a charred black color - way off from the color needed for this stage and gurgled thickly and sloppily in the almost melted cauldron he was using. He was nearly as bad as Neville Longbottom, though Ernie didn't make his cauldron explode thankfully.
Ernie was red in the face and sweating profusely by the time it came to cutting the Sopophorus bean, his hands shaking as he continued to attempt to cut it with his precariously wobbly knife. It was very close to cutting off one of his fingers, and Harry winced every time it shook and shuddered in his hands, slamming against the bench from the force he was exerting when the bean wiggled out from under it.
Harry had overcome that little stigma the first sign of trouble, having spied from the corner of his eye Malfoy fuming and struggling to cut his own bean when it came time to add it. Harry had crushed it before he knew what he was doing -it was an accident really, the knife turned in his hand and the side of the blade crushed it-, and he'd quickly held it over the simmering cauldron before it could bleed out all over the bench, Hermione practically hissing into his ear like a livid snake, telling him not to do it and to follow the recipe. He'd once again ignored her and continued on, allowing -who he assumed- Ron and the others to move her away and calm her down before she had a nervous breakdown.
"Time is almost up," intoned Snape suddenly, looking to be enjoying watching them fight with their ingredients – especially that darned bean. Those at the back of the room watched with caution, often forcing themselves to let go of their wands, which they'd grabbed out of fear. It was known for some to have a dangerous potion that splashes back. George and Fred had the misfortune of standing behind Ernie, and were constantly gripping their wands very tightly, so much so that their wands left imprints in their fingers.
Ernie had fumbled for every ingredient in his reach when Snape had spoken, his shaking hands tossing everything into the furiously bubbling cauldron until wafts of grey smoke rose from its burnt edges. Harry wasn't the only one to wince at the fumes, Malfoy and Blaise were closest to the ominously bubbling cauldron and had far more sensitive noses. It was most likely nothing more than sludge, and Ernie's disgusted face when he peered into the cauldron confirmed Harry's suspicion.
Harry's potion had just turned the delicate lilac color described on the board when Snape called time, and Harry set his stirring rod to the side with a satisfied smile as it turned its final clear water-like color, wisps of steam rising from the watery substance in a cacophony of fumes that smelt like rotting garbage and death to the outsider, but hard work and dedication to Harry. He only hoped that Snape wouldn't dock him points for breathing over it.
Said sneering potions master swept around the room like a bad smell, lingering around Theodore, Malfoy and Blaise for mere seconds and nodding approvingly as he chucked a crumpled up green leaf into each cauldron, and it emitted a small puff of smoke as it engulfed it, and moved on. Poor Ernie was a mess by the time Snape arrived at his desk, his face practically pouring sweat as he hurriedly gave his potion one last stir – or tried to. The rod barely moved, it was stuck in the poison green sludge bubbling sloppily in the midst of the charred cauldron. Harry winced for him.
Snape sneered at the contents of the cauldron, before turning his tunnel-like gaze on the poor boy who managed to create such a monstrosity, and glaring. "Detention for the remaining week, Mister Macmillan, beginning at nine O'clock tonight in my office, you will be sure to scrub every last cauldron in this room and in the storage until I can see my face reflected in their surfaces," he sneered. "And as for this monstrosity you presume to call a potion, not even a First year student could ruin this potion as much as you, a Sixth year student, could have. Failed."
Ernie turned a magnificent bright red, making the skin on his cheeks shine and glisten in the light overhead and he nodded furiously, accepting the detention before Snape could give out more. Snape gave a snort of derision at the poor boy before finally moving onto Harry, the normal mocking sneer turning into a disdainful scowl that was only reserved for Harry. He took in Harry's carefully blank face with narrowed eyes, before finally deigning to peer into his cauldron, where his eyes widened in surprise and then narrowed.
It was utterly silent in the classroom as Snape reached into his pocket and withdrew a large green leaf, everyone watching with bated breath as Snape actually began to test Harry fairly. The elder Malfoy's glanced inconspicuously between Harry and Draco, watching for any signs of distress from either of the two, though it didn't seem very likely, even if Draco looked quite violent. Harry seemed almost bored and expectant in Snape's answer and Draco was looking as if he was about to tackle Snape to the floor and use his fists to pound the dour man's face into the ground.
Now that Draco had acknowledged the bond, the first stages in the courtship were about to begin, regardless of if Harry knew about it or not.
Lucius inwardly sighed at that thought, resigned. Young mateships, he thought tiredly, wanting nothing more than to retire for the day and go back to sleep in his and his wife's room back at the manor, where his bed practically crooned and beckoned him. These two are going to be the deaths of us all. Poor Severus doesn't stand a chance.
Harry watched Snape's nostrils flare as the leaf dropped into the potion, and shrivelled up into a brittle burnt brown nub, coiling and dying instantly and effectively in mere seconds. Curled wisps of smoke climbed out of the cauldron and hailed Harry's success, and Harry forced himself not to smile as Snape actively clenched his jaw and glared heavily at the potion. There were too many people to get away with marking him down or failing him.
"Acceptable, however not the best," Snape said grudglingly, stepping away from the cauldron stiffly and carefully blanking his face, acutely aware of the audience they had and that they were all watching him closely. "I believe one night of detention would be prudent, as you clearly had Miss Granger aid you throughout the brewing of this potion by hissing instructions into your ear the entire lesson. Nine O'clock tonight in my office, Potter."
"I thought this lesson was to test whether we have any new allergies to ingredients?" Harry questioned, raising a fine eyebrow mockingly. He was getting better at reigning in his emotions, though for Snape he had to work doubly hard. The man always managed to get under his skin. "Or does that only apply to the vampires and not a werewolf and Valerian?"
Snape was unable to stop the sneer from forming on his sallow face. "Testing for allergies and reactions amongst creatures is one thing, Mister Potter, but to attempt a simple Sixth year potion under simple instruction and fail is yet another," he stated blandly. "To make things simple for your abnormally small mind to comprehend; cheating under the very nose of a professor under examination conditions is also not acceptable behavior. Detention tonight at nine O'clock in my office, and do not be late, Potter, we don't all wait on hand and foot for you to grace us with your presence. It would be best to keep that in mind."
-oOoOoOoOo-
"'We don't all wait on hand and foot for you to grace us with your presence, Potter'," mocked Ron angrily as he stomped up the stairs to defense. Hermione, Ernie and Harry walked just behind him, Hermione constantly rolling her eyes at his ongoing rant and Harry watching the redhead with amusement. Ernie was still sulking about what had happened in Potions and was silently nodding along, too upset and stressed to say anything. Though he was quite happy to have Harry with him in one of his detentions.
The Weasley's, Lupin's, Malfoy's, Knott's, and Zabini's followed just behind the four at a more sedate pace, talking quietly amongst each other about varying topics – though most were whispering about the previous class. While Molly was angry at Severus Snape for giving Harry a -very undeserved, in her opinion- detention, she could understand why, though she would have rathered Hermione be given one as well, as she was the one who had tried to get her seventh son to cheat right under the very large nose of the man. Tonks, Remus, Bill and George were much in the same boat.
Draco was of similar opinion -though he would have rathered Granger be given the detention and Harry be free of one- and was still seething about the unfairness of Harry's detention, a sentiment not shared by his mother and father, both of whom were currently smirking. It irked him to the point of ignoring them outright when they tried to speak to him – not that they tried very hard, they were still tender in speaking to him because of his . . . episode.
"Honestly, who the hell does he think he is to get away with talking to you like that? He should've been fired ages ago with that kind of talk – and giving you a detention for nothing! Stupid bloody git probably doesn't even know — "
"Oh calm down Ronald, I'm sure he was just surprised that Harry actually made an Outstanding grade potion," said Hermione, smiling brightly at Harry as they finally entered the hallway where their Defense classroom was located. Harry was a little wary about DADA -after their horrible history of teachers who could really blame him?-, obviously he was looking forward to what they'd be learning, but it was the who that would be teaching them that was making him nervous. Quirrel, Lockhart, Moody, Umbridge . . . yeah, this definitely wasn't looking good.
"Well done on that by the way, Harry, absolutely remarkable brewing!" She continued, breaking him out of his reverie. Her smile weakened slightly when he looked a little out of it, but she quickly reinforced it when he smiled back. "I'm sorry for getting you into trouble and for not trusting you to tell what's right from wrong - but when you added normal tap water instead of conjured water I thought you'd gone mad! It's so much more quicker and easier to just conjure water. So I have to ask, why did you use normal tap water?"
He smirked a little at that, knowing that it would have rattled her cage, but forced it into a smile when she began to look a little reproachful. "I learnt that tap water is so much more effective than conjured water when we were at Padfoot's earlier. Remember those Pain-Relieving potions I threw out ages ago?"
Hermione frowned pensively for a moment as she worked through her memory, before realization dawned on her face and she nodded. "You mean the ones you had Kreacher empty into the sink after spending nearly three whole hours brewing them? Were they brewed with conjured water?" She asked, interested enough to ignore Ron's annoyed grumbling at being ignored. She barely batted an eye when Ron slung a lanky arm over her shoulder and pulled her into him.
Harry nodded and led them to their classroom as Ron continued to mutter angrily under his breath, and leaned his back on the wall next to the door as the others made to line the walls out of habit - even the parents and adults, who hadn't been here for classes in decades. They all ignored Ernie as he continued to sulk and look at them with the intention of whinging – after Potions Hermione had shaken her head with a warning look when Harry had gone to ask Ernie if he was alright, and he'd taken the hint and backed off.
"Yeah, I didn't realize what I was doing wrong until I remembered the reason why we don't use our wands in potions; the water we make from our wands is literally made from magic, something we don't really add in potions if it doesn't need it, so it dulled the effectiveness and weakened the properties of the ingredients in the potion to the point where it made them essentially useless," he said, shrugging a shoulder.
He looked down the length of the wall to his left while Hermione mulled over his words, and spied the others talking quietly with each other. Mister and Misses Weasley were rather intense in their discussion with Bill, their expressions both grave and angry as Bill looked to be explaining something a little too serious for his liking, though he lingered on them for only a moment before looking away. It wasn't his business.
The three Malfoy's were all mixed in emotion, Lucius and Narcissa were smirking and Draco glowering, but they at least had an air of energy around and about them that the others didn't. The others were just talking, obviously bored. It was easy for the them to relax, they knew that they hadn't changed enough to effect their learning, while Harry had changed so drastically that he didn't know what could happen. Could he shoot lightning from his fingers? Could he breathe underwater? Not that he'd be trying that theory by swimming in the Black lake. Hell no, he was sure that the Mermaid's remember him from the Triwizard tournament and he was damn sure that he'd rather have a reunion with warded glass between them than nothing but the water they live in.
Hermione looked at him with astonishment when she finally came to a conclusion -despite his attention being elsewhere-, her gleaming brown eyes wide. "Is that why I'm always marked down on my potions? Because I'm using conjured water instead of tap water?" she asked, gobsmacked at the thought of that not occurring to her.
Harry pulled out of his reverie and nodded, a half-grin upturning the corners of his mouth. "I'm pretty sure the answer to that is pretty obvious Hermione. Why else do you think there were sinks in the classroom for?"
"I thought that they were there for us to wash our equipment," she admitted sheepishly, her cheeks pinking in embarrassment.
"Blimey!" Said Ron suddenly, gaping down at Hermione for one second and then turning to Harry with his own wide grin. "You know something that the most intelligent witch in Hogwarts doesn't! That's so wicked! Now I've got two people I can copy off in class!"
Harry was unable to correct him and say that he was still just as useless as before, as just then the door to the classroom suddenly slammed open.
And the bat-like figure of one Severus Snape appeared in the threshold.
Harry pushed away from the wall and stared up at the man in total shock, his jaw lost among the others on the floor. There was no freaking way that this was happening. No bloody way. The new Defense teacher was probably late, or not even coming until next week when school started.
Snape looked down his large hooked nose at the three of them and scowled, though perhaps that was because it was far brighter out in the hall than it was in the actual classroom and he was being blinded by the light. "Enter," he snapped impatiently, crossing his arms across his thin chest and stepping to the side, allowing some light from the hallway to enter the room. It didn't help the others see that well, but Harry was hardly perturbed as he could see just fine with his new eyesight. It was the very first time he could see better than his friends, but he hardly had any time to celebrate that fact, as Snape was glaring impatiently at him.
Harry entered first under the heavy gaze of Snape, and moved to one of the seats at the front of the class, pulling his long hair over his shoulder along the way so it didn't get squashed between his back and the chair, where he found that it often got caught. Hermione and Ron sat down on either side of him out of habit when they found their way, and the others sort of just piled in at the back of the room. Harry figured that that was because they didn't want to stumble like Hermione and Ron had.
Through some extremely unfortunate bad luck, Malfoy chose to sit in the seat behind him. Right fucking behind him. He could feel the heavy weight of Malfoy's steely stare on the back of his head and was extremely tempted to turn around and rip his stupid eyeballs from their sockets. But as non-violent and tempting as that idea is, he actually didn't think that that would go down too well with the others in the room. Ron excluded.
Harry closed his eyes tightly and inwardly prayed to whoever or whatever's up there, Please don't let me kill that blonde son of a bastard, please don't let me kill that blonde son of a bastard . . .
"You shall be learning the defense against Dementor's in today's lesson, open your books to page three hundred and nineteen," said Snape softly in that dark voice of his as he slammed the door closed with a flick of his wand and stormed up to the front of the classroom, his robes billowing out behind him in their familiar fashion.
He tapped his wand on the blackboard in a similar fashion to the way he did in the potions classroom, but with decidedly more energy. The familiar spiked writing returned under the eerie orange glow of the candles, though in an entirely different context that Harry didn't need to read to know all about what they were doing. On either side of him, Ron and Hermione shuddered.
"As there are still Dementor's roaming about the world in highly unsuspecting places, we must be prepared in every way if such an unlikely event that one should attack occurs. For those unaware, the Dementor is an incredibly dark and soulless creature solely feared for its ability to suck the soul from its victim, a fate too horrible for most to witness and is regarded as a death sentence for the criminals residing in Azkaban, it is known as the Dementor's Kiss," said Snape lowly, his black orbs touching upon every silent person in the room. Harry held his gaze for as long as he dared before Snape had to look away.
"Dementor's siphon all hope and happiness from its victim, often leaving them reliving their worst memories - and that does not mean an embarrassing memory, as many wizards and witches often like to think," he continued, pursing his lips disdainfully as if he thought they believed the same thing. "Many never remember their very worst memory due to the act of suppressing, and as a result of this, their bodies are forced into a state of shock that does not register their surroundings, and the Dementor is able to administer the Kiss without problem.
"As for detection, we are able to feel an oncoming Dementor by the state of our surroundings and the air itself, as a Dementor is an incredibly dark creature that radiates pure depression, sorrow and a coldness that freezes and rots anything within the immediate area. You will feel a Dementor's influence when your mind begins to fog and you loss the will to live," Snape paused to let this sink in, his demeanor patient as a few adults at the back paled and shuddered. He carried on immediately when they relaxed and tapped the board once more with his wand, the words 'Patronus Charm,' appeared under the heading, 'Dementor's' with a flourish.
"As the Dementor's feed on our happiness and hope, we shall begin with the most obvious and practical defense known amongst our kind. Can anyone tell me what the incantation for the Patronus Charm is?" Snape asked, sounding less and less like the dungeon bat and more like the professor they'd all wanted and needed for a defense teacher. Harry was actually quite impressed with how Snape was teaching, however begrudgingly.
Hermione's hand shot into the air before Snape finished the question, and he pointedly ignored her. Obviously, it was because Hermione wasn't supposed to be participating in these lessons and wasn't even supposed to be sitting with Harry. Though, perhaps he was looking for an answer that didn't resemble the one written in a textbook's.
Predictably, he looked to Harry instead, ignoring the two other raised hands that belonged to Malfoy and Blaise. "Potter, what is the incantation?" He asked, watching Harry intently.
"Expecto Patronum, sir," Harry answered promptly, hardly having to think about it. Honestly, he'd used the spell so much in his short years of being a wizard that it was practically the first thing that came to mind. Along with Expelliarmus of course.
Snape accepted the answer with a nod. "Correct, and what is necessary for a Patronus to be cast?"
Hermione's hand once again shot up into the air, and Snape once again ignored her, though it was obvious that she was trying what little patience he'd seemed to have gained while in the role of the Defense professor. She frowned angrily and held her hand just that tad bit higher, even going so far as to wiggle it.
"Hermione!" Ron whispered dubiously when no one else in the room answered, all of them obviously distracted by Hermione's persistence at answering the question. He caught her annoyed and impatient attention quickly and shook his head exasperatedly, gesturing for her to lower her hand, which she did so very, very reluctantly. That was until she noticed how silent the room was. She smiled sheepishly and relaxed in her seat.
Snape ignored their little conversation with practiced ease and stared rather heavily at Harry, obviously expecting him to answer. He seemed really intent on picking Harry's brain for all the information he could get, even though he had four other students in the room obviously willing to answer. Two more on either side of Harry, if he wanted as well. Though, what Harry didn't know was that everyone in the room was interested in what he had to say; especially Draco and the elder Malfoy's. That is why Lucius and Narcissa asked Snape to teach the Patronus Charm four weeks early, after all. They intended to get to the bottom of Harry's worsening nightmares, and especially the cause for the overly excessive amount of Dreamless Sleep potion in his room.
They would not have a son in-law that drugged himself to sleep at night because of years of pain and torture, their old Dark Lord be damned.
"A happy memory is needed, sir," Harry answered before Snape could ask again. Snape accepted the answer with yet another nod, but his mouth was set in an unimpressed grim line.
"But if a happy memory doesn't immediately spring to mind, the best memory to look for is an extremely significant one," Harry continued, thinking of his mother and the fateful night that marked him as Voldemort's equal. He could hear his mother screaming now, even without the Dementor's pressing their influence on him. He would always be able to hear her voice in the back of his mind.
"An example of that, if you please," Snape said, for once looking interested and not the least bit like he wanted to murder Harry when he spoke. Though the reason for that was quite simple; Severus had never known a Patronus to be cast from anything other than a happy memory, and he wondered just what the little Golden Boy had as his chosen memory that was more powerful than happiness.
"Voldemort murdering my parents," Harry admitted shortly after realizing that there was no other way to put it. Horrified gasps and sharp intakes of breath could be heard from the back of the room, and one even right behind him -which must have been Malfoy yawning-, but Harry paid them no mind. He stared at Snape, who stared right back, his intense black eyes tinged with horror and his face alarmingly white - the most emotion Harry had seen on his infamously blank face.
"I found that though there is no happiness in the memory, it was the first time I'd ever heard my mothers voice, and I take strength in hearing her defend me, hearing her fight back. She is my strength when I cast a Patronus."
Snape was silent for a moment, just staring at him with unnerving and annoyingly blank black eyes. It was far too quiet. Hermione and Ron didn't look at him, they kept their gaze on the floor, but Harry could feel Malfoy's eyes drilling holes into the back of his head, almost as if they were trying to dig out the secrets and memories kept in there.
Snape regained his focus and tapped the board with his wand. The words 'Expecto Patronum' appeared underneath the two headings, and he cleared his throat to gain their attention, which was easily won. "As Mister Potter has said, a significant memory is used in place of a happy one for those who cannot pick one strong enough. We will come back to this spell later on in the week, for now I wish to move on to the next defense. It isn't the most common of knowledge that one might possess, but being an Animagus comes in quite handy when avoiding a Dementor . . ."
-oOoOoOoOo-
Lunch was decidedly more solemn than breakfast had been, the atmosphere of the group positively stifling and rife with horror from the beginning of double DADA class, but of course that wasn't enough to stop a certain Ronald Weasley from gorging himself on the bangers and mash laid out in plentiful platters and serving bowls. Harry's worst memory obviously wasn't enough to put him off his food, not anymore at least.
"Honestly Ronald, do you have to eat like that all the time? Do you even chew the food you have in your mouth before swallowing?" Demanded Hermione, watching her boyfriend stuff his mouth with yet another spoonful of mashed potato. She grimaced when he smiled at her, his mouth still full of chewed up food, and Harry joined her in grimacing when he watched a piece of chewed up sausage fall onto the table.
There was another reason why he wasn't eating lunch; the sight of Ron eating was enough to put a pig off of its food.
Ron swallowed noisily and cleared his throat. "Course I do, 'Mione," he said, pausing to swallow once more as he poured himself a goblet of orange juice. "I've been hungry since breakfast, I'm hardly going to try and kill myself by choking on a piece of sausage, now am I?"
"You ate three servings at breakfast!" Hermione exclaimed, shocked. "How in the world can you possibly be hungry after all that and still eat your second serving of lunch?!"
Ron gave his -somehow flat- stomach a pat and winked at his girlfriend's adorably pink face, to which Harry was amused to see. "A high metabolism, love," he teased, before picking up his fork once again, spearing a large piece of sausage on it and scooping up a large glob of mash. Most of the potato missed its mark and fell onto the table with a dull spat and Harry's face twisted. Utterly disgusting.
Hermione rolled her eyes and set to piling up her own plate of food, scooping up a large spoonful of mash before it was inhaled by Ron's ever-moving mouth. "Just remember Ronald, a high metabolism doesn't last for long," she reminded him, grabbing a serving of peas and corn as well.
"Yeah, but neither does looks," Ron quipped, snorting a laugh to himself when she gave him a stern look.
She turned to Harry when Ron began gorging himself too much to talk, and frowned when she saw nothing on his plate. "Harry, why aren't you eating?" She asked, frowning further in concern when she noticed his slightly pained expression. "You need to eat at least something, we have Care of Magical Creatures next and -"
"What!?" Ron shrieked, spitting a mushy glob of food out of his mouth. He froze when Hermione pinned him with a dark stare. He swallowed the remains of the food in his mouth and laughed nervously. "I mean, er .. we have Care next?" He asked anxiously.
"Yes Ronald," she said stiffly, glaring at him for one more moment before turning back to Harry. "Harry, you really need to eat to get your energy levels up, there's going to be a big test, and one that you need to be very active in."
"The one Harry's going to be fighting in, right?" Ron asked shrewdly, still shocked but no longer spitting any food at them. In fact he looked a little green around the gills to Harry.
Hermione let out a sigh of irritation and closed her eyes tightly. "Yes Ronald. Harry's going to be tested on who or what his natural enemies are. The others won't of course, but that's because they're werewolves and vampires, we all know who their enemies are."
"Then why would they make Care into a test if Harry would be the only one in it?" Ron questioned slowly, confused.
Harry stared with wide eyes between the two of them, too shell shocked to do anything other than breathe, and even that was a troubling task.
Hermione huffed and knotted her arms across her filling chest, which distracted Ron, though only slightly. "Because Ronald, Harry's a Valerian – which, if you haven't noticed, is one of the most rarest of beings in the world. There are no records of a Valerian existing in over hundreds of years, and the only way of knowing what Harry's natural enemies are is to test him with the only creatures he could come across in his stay here. Meaning those in the shallow parts of the forest."
"Okay, I get it, Harry's got to fight Centaurs, giant spiders and all those other beasts that want to kill us all," Ron sighed, nodding and beginning to twirl his fork in his food. He looked up at Harry then and jerked his head at the food between them. "'Mione's right mate, you better get a start on your food, you'll be needing the energy."
Hermione sniffed primly and went back to eating her lunch, ignoring the small specks of food that went flying in her direction when Ron attacked his food with gusto.
"Bollocks," Harry muttered, stabbing a sausage.
-oOoOoOoOo-
Dumbledore was the one to lead them down the path to Hagrid's hut, every wizard and witch in the castle following just behind him, most likely as a precaution. Harry had long ago firmed himself, resigning himself to the fact that maybe his days of fighting weren't exactly over. He was surrounded by his friends and family, Mister and Misses Weasley were just behind him and the Lupin's were in front of him with Ron and Hermione on either side of him. A box of support, one could say.
The other four students were walking with their guardian's, which meant that Ernie was the one left trailing at the back of the group. The Hufflepuff had bored the tears out of McGonagall and had annoyed Snape to the point of almost snapping his neck, and only Sprout stepping in stopped anything bad from happening to her little Puff. Not that that stopped Snape from shooting the poor boy poisonous glares.
"There's nothing to be frightened of, Harry," said Arthur kindly from behind, patting his shoulder encouragingly as they treaded carefully down the brazen path. "There's nothing that can hurt you while we're here. You're perfectly safe."
Harry nodded to show that he'd listened, but he didn't do anything else - he couldn't do anything else but walk. He was a wreck, his stomach was in knots, his temples were pounding from stress headaches and his teeth were practically tearing his lips off. He was also a little pissed, but the worry overshadowed it. Though that didn't stop him from thinking about it. After all this time, they still hadn't gotten out of that stupid habit of keeping important information -that concerns him, mind you- from him. They'd spent weeks together and they hadn't mentioned a thing, not for all the time spent talking to each other!
Harry didn't know whether to scream or hit something.
"This shouldn't be too difficult, little bro," said Bill from behind his parents, grinning over the top of his mothers head. "Just remember that you've gone through much worse and you'll be absolutely fine, but if you do end up with another scar, there's plenty of spells I know that can make them look cool –-"
"William!" Molly gasped, stumbling slightly as she turned to smack her son on the arm while still walking. Arthur steadied her with a hand on her elbow. "What an awful thing to say to poor Harry! You apologize right now young man! Or so help me I will cut all of that ridiculous hair off and tear that earring out before you can count to three!"
Bill smiled dryly at his mother before grinning over at Harry again, ignoring the reprimanding glare being sent his way by his short mother. "Sorry, little bro. But seriously, remember what I said."
"'ARRY!" A loud voice boomed from down the way, distracting them all from Molly slapping her son again.
Harry looked down in the direction of Hagrid's hut and saw the man himself standing by the large vegetable patch that boasted a variety of large vegetables. He looked as hairy and dirt-streaked as ever, and was sporting an even longer and fluffier black beard than before. His kind small black eyes were wide with welcome. "'Aven't seen yeh in months! 'Ow've you been with those ruddy Muggle's of yer's? They been treatin' you right?" He asked in his rumbling voice, his mouth spread in a wide toothy grin underneath his beard.
Harry grinned up at Hagrid cheerfully, though it wasn't nearly as bright as it usually was. "I'm fine, Hagrid, a little tired and all but I couldn't be happier –"
"Blimey, Harry! Yeh've gotten taller!" Hagrid exclaimed with shock, his dark eyes seeming to finally take in the man in front of him. "And yeh've grown yeh hair too! You look great, just like yeh mother did I'd wager – yeh must've been eatin' my rock cakes that I've been sendin' yeh! Lily always did like'em, y'know, couldn't go a day without'em."
Harry smiled and let out a small laugh despite the tight feeling in his chest. "Thanks, Hagrid. Yes and thanks for them by the way, I couldn't have survived without them. Did you add something else into the recipe? I could have sworn that they tasted different this time, much more sweeter." And rockier, he mentally added.
Hagrid swelled up with pride and grinned, his cheeks beginning to pink. "I put s'more sugar in it, taste good did it? Olympe – er, that's Madam Maxime to you – said I should try addin' more sugar –-"
"While we're all fascinated by your riveting conversation, I daresay that we should be getting on with the lesson, don't you think, professor Hagrid?" Drawled Snape poisonously, back to his sneering self.
Hagrid turned a dark shade of red that looked like he'd been slapped by the Whomping Willow, and nodded vigorously. "Right yeh are, p'fessor Snape, right yeh are," he said, before calming himself down and gesturing them to the path that passed by his hut, the one they usually took that led them to the small field where they held their practical lessons. "Right this way, I've got a good lesson planned fer yeh all today."
They followed Hagrid down the path quietly, all too nervous about their surroundings and the lesson planned for them to really speak to one another. Harry kept an eye pealed for any sightings of the werewolves rumoured to be in here and was already having to stop himself from reacting to the negative atmosphere of the anxious group, so any talking with him was usually ignored or answered in a clipped and short voice. He was feeling very shaky.
"Just past 'ere!" Hagrid called from up ahead, waving a large beefy hand over his head.
Looking up ahead made Harry's half-empty stomach churn unpleasantly, but the more he focused on their surroundings made him feel unsafe and very tense, vulnerable in every sense of the word. So when the path suddenly ended, it was a very tense Harry that followed the group onto the field, eyes tracking the trees surrounding them obsessively.
"We're 'ere!" Hagrid called unnecessarily, shifting off to the side of a very large cage-like structure that would house the creatures. There was a large fence bordering the even larger square of trodden down grass that looked to be a field where horses were put to graze, but Harry could see the criss-crossing lines of magic extending from the base of the fence upward. It was very heavily warded, and was obviously there in case the creature were to escape. It didn't make Harry feel any better however.
"And where exactly is here?" Asked Ernie timidly, his wild eyes flitting from tree to tree around him as if he was expecting something bad to jump out.
"We're exactly where we want to be," said McGonagall briskly, clearly not in the mood for another of Ernie's hysterics. "I suggest not thinking about the happenings in the deeper parts of the forest, Mister Macmillan, if you cannot handle it."
Ernie nodded sheepishly and didn't say anything else, looking incapable of so much as frowning as his cheeks were a violent red color. McGonagall nodded brusquely and stepped out from the group of teachers gathered before the others, joining Dumbledore and Hagrid as they approached the thickly warded fence and spoke quietly to one another.
"As you can see, a heavily warded fence has been erected around the perimeter of the cage, don't touch it, it'll give you a nasty shock that'll send you into the Hospital Wing," she called over her shoulder, making sure to give the Weasley twins, Ron and Bill stern looks that spoke levels of mistrust and suspicion. Ron flushed and nodded meekly, even though the aged witch had already turned back around.
"What do you think that was all about, Gred?"
"I don't know Forge, but it seemed to me that she doesn't trust us," said George, mock scowling at the stern woman.
"Must've found one of our little tricks and traps, Gred," said Fred, looking at his twin with a wide devilish smile. "I bet that it was the purple hair dye in the third floor alcove."
"Nah," George waved him off instantly, but still smiled that mischievous little grin that always made Harry amused and wary in equal parts. "I reckon it was that dung bomb we left in the fifth floor corridor, she must've tripped it by accident - she has that 'I Just Got Dung Bombed' look about her."
Fred cast a searching look at their old House Mistress and cocked his head to the side. He grinned widely and nodded at his twin when he found what he was apparently looking for. "So she does!" He exclaimed with a wicked smile. "Reckon we can get away with putting more of our fantastic products in the castle? Say . . in the dungeons?"
"Do it and I'll make sure that your rooms are stacked full of assignments that you 'forgot' about before you left, and I'll make sure to mention them to professor McGonagall so you'll both have to complete them," said Hermione primly, crossing her arms over her chest. "And besides, Harry's dorm is in the dungeons and I'd hate to have to scrape you both off the walls all because you set off a dung bomb too close to his room."
Fred and George gaped at her for a moment, an all too similar situation to the time when they were trialing their new Wheezes in the Gryffindor common room and Hermione had threatened an owl to Molly Weasley. "But what if we only use them on –"
"Alright, alright! Gather round!" Hagrid called from nearby the fence, cutting Fred off mid-sentence. He looked insanely happy next to the two serious professor's, his wide grin looking a lot like a Cheshire cat's.
Harry clenched his jaw and strode past the others, ignoring the twin's mutters of unfairness and rudeness. He was too wound up and wired to talk, hardly ready for whatever was to be thrown at him. Dumbledore smiled encouragingly at him from Hagrid and McGonagall's side, looking as if he was watching a friendly game of Wizards chess instead of a massacre. McGonagall's lips were so thin Harry was afraid that they'd disappeared.
"Welcome to Care of Magical Creatures," Dumbledore said graciously, smiling beatifically at them all. Harry especially, making the young man inhale deeply to relax himself. "As I'm sure you will all have worked out, this lesson will be to discover any unknown enmities between our talented students and the creatures of the world. As this forest has a supply of common creatures you will all come across in your long lifetimes, we have decided to hold a test of sorts to conclude which will trigger defensive instincts and which will not."
Harry forced his body to remain as cool and relaxed as possible, closing his eyes for a brief moment of peace before he had to engage in a fight with whatever Hagrid and Dumbledore had drudged up from the depths of the forest.
"These wards are in place to contain any stray spells or creatures that attempt to break free, for the safety of the rest of us," Dumbledore continued. "There may be violence - not enough to damage either the creature or pupil, but enough to provoke a reaction or an instinct. Students will be called up at random for their turn, but for now, feel free to speak amongst one another."
As the final word was spoken a cloud of chatter rose among the large group, the three vampires speaking quickly with their parents with obviously strained and stressed words. Harry remained quiet and allowed the Weasley's and Tonks to reassure him with rather empty words, he couldn't help feeling as if they were only sweeping his worries under the rug and not helping him at all. Not even Molly's motherly hugs could help him, and he knew that that was a very bad sign. His stomach was turning to rot the longer he waited and was jumping nervously in his belly.
Remus had taken a stricken Ernie aside to have a few words with him before he was to go up, acting the part of a supportive professor who cared for all students and not just their favorite. Harry didn't know why Ernie was so worried, he already knew who his 'enemy' was, and the same thing went for the other three. Though that apparently didn't stop them from stressing and seeking reassurance from their parents.
Harry glared at Malfoy when he caught the blonde looking at him again and he fought hard to suppress a growl. That was the fifth time he'd caught the blonde looking at him and he was very quickly losing his patience, he was practically holding onto it by the skin of his teeth. He really didn't need anymore stress, and he could figure out very easily just why the blonde was looking at him so intensely for; to make him crack. That's always the reason with the blonde devil.
"You'll be fine mate," Ron said for the fifth, clapping him on the back with a manly thump. Harry glared heavily at Malfoy as he looked over –again– and the blonde looked away –again–. "We've gone through worse – hell, you've killed a bloody sixty foot Basilisk with a sword! What else can't you do?"
"I don't know Ron," Harry answered dryly. "But I suppose Ginny will be glad to know that we won't be using her as an incentive this time."
"I think we should be discussing defensive techniques for your test and not silly little offensive jokes," snapped Hermione, frowning deeply and angrily at them. "I don't know whether you've realized this yet Harry, but you could get seriously hurt in this and I'm hurt that you could even joke around at a time like this."
Harry smiled as much as he could and gave her arm a comforting pat. "I'll be fine, as long as I keep my wits about me and my feet on the ground I'll be alright," he said comfortingly, not really realizing that he was doing the comforting and not the one being comforted. "Besides, I have my wand with me, if a certain creature doesn't agree with me then I'll just stun it. Nothing to worry about."
"And if you can't stun it or it's invulnerable to spells?"
"Then I'll tear its head off with my teeth," Harry answered, only partly joking.
Hermione opened her mouth to berate him, but he held a hand up before she could start. "It's not like we'll be forced to fight them if we don't feel the need to Hermione, Dumbledore isn't mad enough for that to happen yet. But if it makes you feel any better, I won't fight anything unless I specifically feel the need to."
He could tell from the look on her face that she didn't feel any better, but he knew that she was well acquainted with his stubbornness and that she wasn't going to push for anything, not so soon anyway, everything was still too new and shifty, easily prodded in the wrong direction should someone say the wrong thing. He was tender, something they had never thought he would be. It was new ground for all of them.
"This is truly barbaric, I hope you all know that," she said in a tight voice, before turning and storming off to wherever. Probably to the professor's to give them all an earful of how wrong it is to peg students up against creatures. Ron gave them a pained look as he went wandering off after her, leaving Harry to be comforted by the other Weasley's. Harry didn't mind them leaving, it was better if they did, really. They were becoming quite awkward with him, unsure of what they should say or do.
"It's alright, Harry dear, she's just gone off to cool down," Molly said soothingly, scooping up all of his hair into her expert hands. She quickly spun it into a tight bun on the top of his head and charmed it so it wouldn't fall down, the spell tingling along his scalp with an almost tickling sensation. "There," she said bracingly, a strained smile on her face. "Now your beautiful hair won't be in the way for your test."
"I think he needs it down Mum," Bill said, eyeing the large bun with sharp and intelligent blue eyes.
Molly gave her eldest son a fierce look, grabbing both of Harry's shoulders in her motherly hands as if to steer him away. Harry kept his mouth shut. "Just because you like your hair long and in the way does not mean that Harry does as well! My, with all this long hair he'll be caught on absolutely everything!"
Bill rolled his bright blue eyes at his mothers theatrics, which only served to inflame her more as she was soon clutching to Harry's shoulders like they were a life line. She was incredibly worried for her seventh son, he could tell, but Bill was more worried that Molly would dislocate one of Harry's shoulders if she carried on this way. The poor boy already looked like he was biting his tongue. "I don't think Valerian's would have had long hair just because they like it that way mum, and even if they did have you ever known Harry to have properly long hair? Like, at least shoulder length?" He pressed.
Molly stared at him with frightened and worried brown eyes, looking as if she was scared out of her mind for the boy in her arms. It was obviously not about his hair, it was about her worrying for him. She was trying to keep herself busy, and arguments were one of the ways she dealt with stress. Bill smiled softly at her and moved to gently pry her hands from Harry's shoulders. "Exactly," he said softly. "So that means you should let it down. You can play with his hair later when we're back in the common room, I'm sure Harry wouldn't mind, he seems to enjoy it when you rake your fingers through his hair."
"You can't possibly know that his hair will help him," she whispered doubtfully through tight lips, her chin wobbling ominously as she was slowly taken from the boy she'd taken to calling her son. Harry shook out his shoulders to get rid of the pins and needles, but turned around to smile comfortingly at Molly.
Bill pet her shoulder with a large and slender hand, drawing her into his side for a small cuddle. "I'm sure Hermione would know, she knows absolutely everything in the Hogwarts library. I bet she even read the library index just to memorize where everything is."
"She did that in our first year," Harry said, rolling his eyes fondly at the memory. "I heard about it from a gaggle of third year Ravenclaw's as I was heading to Herbology one day, apparently she'd taken their favorite table and wouldn't leave. Ron and I laughed about it for hours."
Molly's thinned lips twitched at that, before she let out a small breathy laugh and the stress slowly drained from her body as she relaxed in Bill's arms. "I'm sure that girl knows absolutely everything in those books by now, she'll have her own library the size of the Burrow when she's older I'll bet."
"More like the Ministry," George put in humorously, shaking his head exasperatedly. "She's a walking thesaurus that just absorbs everything! I'm telling you now, she's the go-to girl for cheats come N.E.W.T time!"
"Wish we had one of them for our's George, would've been incredibly handy," Fred tutted, shaking his head in mock sadness.
"We never did ours Fred, we were smart enough to leave before the Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Test could get us," George said, sharing a very large grin with his twin.
"Don't get cheeky now boys, you're still not too old to be put over my knee," Molly warned, looking at them both with narrowed bright eyes.
"But we're your favorite sons!" Fred cried, clutching to his twin dramatically with wide brown eyes. "How could you bear to hit your two little angels!"
"The shock of it will surely kill us! Our loving and caring mother hitting her two innocent and handsome children over a something so small!" George continued, a look of exaggerated horror coming onto his face. "What is the world coming to?!"
"Oh you two, I swear," Molly muttered, shaking her head and closing her eyes as if closing them would make them disappear, or she could gain some more patience.
Fred grinned at his twin and relaxed his hold, releasing him. "It's alright mum, we know you love us and our creativity."
"We get it from you, mind," George added cheekily, moving to pull her reluctant form from Bill's arms and into the middle of himself and Fred, where they both wrapped their arms around her. "All our inventiveness and crazy thoughts had to come from someone and naturally, it had to be someone we inherited everything from. You."
"No, no," Molly denied, shaking her head frantically. "My side of the family and I are normal - completely normal! We never had so much as an ounce of craziness, we were all completely sane! You get this all from your father!"
"Oh mummy dearest, no point denying it now," Fred cooed, petting her red hair affectionately, if a bit roughly. "You birthed a Curse Breaker, a Dragonologist, two of the most handsome and creative -"
"- Not to mention charismatic, amazing and awe inspiring!" George added in, knocking his shoulder into his poor mother.
"- wizards this world has come to know as pranksters - almost as good as the Marauders in my opinion!" Fred said, patting his mother just a tad more firmly.
"You're missing three children," Molly put in dryly, a reproachful but amused look of acceptance on her face as she allowed Fred to continue his heavy petting, her head ducking on her shoulders. She really wasn't that angry about their choices in lifestyles, she was proud as punch to have them all the way they are - though she'd rather them not know that, she wanted to keep them on their toes. And if Harry wanted to settle down and become an artist instead of a war hero, that would be even better. Even though she knew that the chances of that happening were nil.
"Right, I was getting to them," Fred said blithely, unconvincingly. Molly rolled her eyes fondly. "You also birthed a lowly Prefect-turned-Head-Boy-turned-Prat-Ministry-Official, another scummy Prefect and okay-ish Quidditch Keeper and an absolutely brilliant Quidditch Chaser that will most likely become a Quidditch World Star!"
"After she finishes Hogwarts that is," George added pointedly, grinning. "There is no way she's taking another leaf out of our book and upstaging our departure."
Molly was so far gone in rolling her eyes that she ignored the jab at her Ronald's achievement of being a Prefect and the reminder of their spectacular leaving from Hogwarts. She merely wound her arms around her twin sons' waist's and squeezed them to her. She loved them all, arguments, prank wars, fights and all. She couldn't be prouder of them.
"If I could have your attention please!" Called McGonagall, who was standing just a few feet before Albus Dumbledore and the assembled teachers. Harry noted that the place where Hagrid had stood before was empty, and he felt the absurd need to shudder in fear. The half-giant was probably going to collect some last minute additions to their challenges, something no doubt deadly.
McGonagall waited for everyone to silence and look at her before she continued on in her brisk voice, her posture rigid against the gathering of relaxed teachers behind her. "The examination will begin momentarily, if the relevant students would come forth, we shall begin explaining the rules."
Harry walked forward on numb legs, his mind clouded with too many thoughts of how grizzly his death might be when he entered the pen to think properly. He was joined by the other four in walking towards the fence, Ernie almost clinging to his side like an anxious child, his arms constantly touching Harry's and Malfoy drifting closer to his other side with each passing step, his arm coming dangerously close to brushing against his.
Dumbledore wordlessly offered his back of lemon drops to all of them when they stood before the band of teachers, ignoring the annoyed scowl on McGonagall's face at the small disruption. Harry sucked on three of the five lemon drops he'd grabbed while he listened to McGonagall, the sour candy clinking noisily against his teeth. He could feel Malfoy's eyes watching him, but he didn't feel strong enough to look - he wouldn't be able to look away. This situation could turn out like the one in the bathroom, and he really, really didn't want that. He wasn't strong enough for it.
"The examination will begin in a few moments, please wait by the fence - and Macmillan, don't touch it," McGonagall stressed, almost glaring at the Hufflepuff as he stumbled away with the rest of them. Ernie tried to nod back at her, but he stumbled once again and almost face planted, Harry just catching him by the tips of his fingers. McGonagall closed her eyes and looked to be praying for patience. Sprout was grimacing rather painfully.
"What do you think we'll be facing?" Blaise asked quietly, his skin worryingly pale underneath the Italian tan.
"Obviously something utterly dangerous, otherwise it wouldn't be a challenge," Malfoy answered Blaise sardonically, a cynical smile on his handsome face.
Blaise grimaced and shook his head minutely. "Mother said that they didn't have the cage when she went through her own test, only because the beasts she battled weren't as dangerous as the ones we're facing. She said to expect something with eight legs, saying that a routine never changes at Hogwarts no matter what, whatever that means."
"We'll be facing an Acromantula," Harry stated, gaining their attention. "Hagrid has a nest of them somewhere off the main path, if we're supposed to be battling common creatures then they'll be up first."
"How do you know that there's Acromantula here?" Blaise asked warily, still a little awkward in speaking to him.
"And how do you know where they're located?" Malfoy asked suspiciously, but surprisingly not unkindly.
"In Second Year we had to go into the forest to solve what the monster in the Chamber of Secrets was," Harry explained shortly, ignoring Ernie as he shuddered and shook with fear beside him. Obviously Second Year was still badly remembered in the Hufflepuff House. "Ron and I had to tread into the forest and search for them, it was quite difficult as it was dark, but not unmanageable. We were found and taken into the nest."
"You make it sound so easy," Malfoy muttered, pursing his lips pensively. His dark gun metal grey eyes regarded him curiously, his jaw clenching actively. "Why is it that I don't believe you?"
"Why do you care?" Harry shot back.
Malfoy suddenly looked as if he'd been drugged by Amortentia, his eyes softening and his mouth turning up into a small - pleasant smile. Harry froze, feeling an all too familiar ache begin in his chest. Not now, please not now, he almost begged. If Malfoy suddenly flew at him now, he wouldn't be able to defend himself - a thing that terrified him to the core. He wouldn't be able to fight Malfoy off, he could feel his knees already weakening under the weight of Malfoy's stare.
"Harry Potter!" Dumbledore suddenly called.
Harry hurried to move towards Dumbledore, thankful for an easy getaway. But not so grateful when he realized that he would now have to face whatever is inside the fence. Dumbledore smiled encouragingly and gave his shoulder a firm pat with an old wrinkled hand. "Good luck Harry," he said genially, leading him passed the fence. "You'll be perfectly fine. Just follow your instincts and nothing will go wrong."
"Thank you sir," Harry answered quietly, forcing a bright smile onto his face as Dumbledore gave him one last encouraging smile and left, the wards shifting around his tall thin frame to accept him. The smile fell from his face when the large cage rattled, and a long, thick black leg edged slowly out of one of the square holes to pat at the ground carefully. It was an Acromantula.
Harry shifted away from the side of the cage where the spider appeared most apparent and stood silently in one of the corners with sharp watchful eyes. The spider would rely on scent to locate him, and then use its eyes to see him. It wouldn't attack until it knew what he was and what his weaknesses were. He had until then to establish a defense.
"Release me!" Cried the Acromantula desperately in its terrible voice, stamping its foot into the ground repeatedly to get help.
Harry shuddered unexpectedly at the sudden urge to help the poor creature, but he stayed put. That was, at least, until he suddenly found himself tearing the sides of the cage apart at the hinges with his hands and he was practically crooning to the spider to soothe its panic as he entered the cage. It turned to him and shot backwards into a corner, its eight large black eyes watching him closely with fear and panic, clicking its pincers rapidly in a spider way of shuddering. Harry wasn't afraid of it, nor did he want it to be afraid and least of all of him. It was incredibly odd.
Harry cooed and reached a hand towards it, palm face up to show that he wasn't about to attack. He radiated calmness, trying to soothe the spider with his aura, and waited patiently for it to calm down.
Its pincers clicked nervously and it shifted ever so slowly towards him, almost crawling but not quite. It didn't speak again, but instead raised its hairy body to accept Harry's comforting hand. Harry crooned to it and pet it softly, carefully, as if it were a child and not a man-eating spider. He was following his instincts -which had never led him astray before-, and they told him to care for it. So he was.
He was unaware of the sudden changes to his person; the slightly pointier angled cheekbones that sloped outward in an ethereal and beautiful way, the emerald green irises that expanded to color the whites of his eyes, the sudden appearance of two large translucent leathery wings that matched the color of his hair on his upper back and the ancient black markings that flowed like streaks of water down his sides and around the wing bones in his back. He noticed nothing of the drastic changes. Until a perfectly aimed Stupefy stunned the spider and it had fallen to the ground in a heap. His magnificent darkening wings spread out in a display of anger and he snarled with rage at the person who dared hurt something in his care.
But then caught the stunned expressions on his fellow friends and peers faces and stopped short.
No one spoke as Dumbledore fixed up the cage with a complex wave of his wand and secured the Acromantula inside it, and Hagrid carefully pushed the cage from the small enclosure to replace it with another with a quietly whimpering Centaur. No one spoke as Harry repeated the same tactics with the next few creatures and beasts, caring for them and soothing their fear. And no one spoke as a quietly snarling Draco Malfoy was restrained by his parents at each dangerous creature that Harry faced, and if anyone was curious, they certainly didn't voice it.
They were too entranced with Harry to say anything anyway.