Beast of Burden

AN:

Oni: *shrinks away from angry mob* Uuuuuh...

Eridan: This has been sittin dormant for almost twwo years. Wwhat do you expect?

Oni: I'm sorry! College, procrastination and other fanfics have taken up my time!

Eridan: *sigh* Better late than nevver, I guess...

Oni: That's the spirit!

Eridan: Oni does not owwn Harry Potter or Homestuck. This idea, howwevver, is hers.

Oni: Aaaaaaand ONWARDS!

It took them so long to find McGonagall's classroom that, early as they had left Divination, they were only just in time. Eridan chose a seat right at the back of the room, feeling as though he were sitting in a very bright spotlight. The rest of the class kept shooting furtive glances at him, as though he were about to drop dead at any moment. Absentmindedly he wondered what they would think of had they known that he had already suffered a gruesome death.

While the other students were still frightened from their class, Eridan listened in rapt attention to Professor McGonagall's lecture on animagi. To better explain to the class how it was done, she transformed herself in front of their eyes into a tabby cat with spectacle markings around her eyes. Eridan raised his eyebrows at this. The ability to turn into another animal at will was a rather useful ability to have. Thinking along those lines, since Eridan wasn't a human in his past life, could he perchance find a way to turn back into his troll form at will?

This was a cause for some serious research.

Professor McGonagall turned back into herself with a faint pop, and stared around at them all.

"Really, what has got into you all today? Not that it matters, but that's the first time my transformation's not gotten applause from a class."

Everybody's heads turned toward Eridan again, who internally rolled his eyes, but nobody spoke. Then Hermione raised her hand.

"Please, Professor, we've just had our first Divination class, and we were reading the tea leaves, and-"

"Ah, of course," said Professor McGonagall, suddenly frowning, "There is no need to say any more, Miss Granger. Tell me, which of you will be dying this year?"

So predictions of death were normal in that woman's class? Well in hindsight, Eridan mused, death was rather simple to predict. Everyone eventually dies. Everyone stared at her silently.

"Me," Eridan answered finally in a bored tone.

"I see," muttered Professor McGonagall, fixing him with her beady eyes, "Then you should know, Potter, that Sybill Trelawney has predicted the death of one student a year since she arrived at this school. None of them has died yet. Seeing death omens is her favorite way of greeting a new class. If it were not for the fact that I never speak ill of my colleagues —" Professor McGonagall broke off, and they saw that her nostrils had gone white.

She went on, more calmly, "Divination is one of the most imprecise branches of magic. I shall not conceal from you that I have very little patience with it. True Seers are very rare, and Professor Trelawney…"

She stopped again, and then said, in a very matter-of-fact tone, "You look in excellent health to me, Potter, so you will excuse me if I don't let you off homework today. I assure you that if you die, you need not hand it in."

Hermione laughed and Eridan snorted. Not everyone was convinced, however. Ron still looked worried, and Lavender whispered more to herself than anyone else a 'But what about Neville's cup?'

When the Transfiguration class had finished, they joined the crowd thundering toward the Great Hall for lunch.

"Ron, cheer up," sighed Hermione, pushing a dish of stew toward him, "You heard what Professor McGonagall said."

Ron spooned stew onto his plate and picked up his fork but didn't start.

"Harry," he mumbled, in a low, serious voice, "You haven't seen a great black dog anywhere, have you?"

"I havve, actually." Eridan answered, confused, "The night I escaped from the Dursleys, there wwas a large black dog standin in my path. Rather friendly beast, if not a bit too thin."

Ron let his fork fall with a clatter.

"Probably a stray," commented Hermione calmly.

Ron looked at Hermione as though she had gone mad.

"Hermione, if Harry's seen a Grim, that's… that's bad," he whispered, "My… my uncle Bilius saw one and… and he died twenty-four hours later!"

It had been quite a while since he had seen that dog, and Eridan highly doubted he would be dying anytime soon.

"Coincidence," replied Hermione airily, pouring herself some pumpkin juice.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" shouted Ron, starting to get angry, "Grims scare the living daylights out of most wizards!"

"There you are, then," said Hermione in a superior tone, "They see the Grim and die of fright. The Grim's not an omen, it's the cause of death! And Harry's still with us because he's not stupid enough to see one and think, right, well, I'd better kick the bucket then!"

At the mention of buckets, Eridan spat out his goblet of pumpkin juice. Because of this violent reaction, both Ron (whose face was starting to turn a bright red) and Hermione (who had looked as if she were about to leave) stopped immediately in their tracks to stare at him.

"See?" Ron whispered, frightened, "he's dying already!"

"B…bucket…" Eridan sputtered suddenly, to the confusion of everyone around him.

The problem wasn't the fact that Hermione had even said the word 'buckets' (okay, it was still part of the problem), it was that even now he was still affected by troll vocabulary. Humans wouldn't understand why he… oh dear… He stared at their confused and alarmed faces.

He had to make an exit, and fast.

"Er, Harry? What's going…?"

"I need…I need to go…" Eridan muttered out, still coughing from the pumpkin juice he had accidentally inhaled, and nodded at Hermione, "I'll…I'll see you in Arithmancy…"

With that, the ex-troll jumped straight over the Gryffindor table and absconded from the Great Hall with agility that none of the students had ever seen him have before, leaving them to simply stare at the space he once occupied in shock. Eridan ran into an empty classroom and hung the Time Turner's chain around his neck. He flicked the small hourglass four times and watched in fascination as the dust particles in the room floated upwards as time itself rewinded to a set point. After the dust started to fall in the proper direction once more, Eridan took out his Invisibility Cloak and wrapped it around himself.

What was wrong with him? He tried to act like Harry, he tried not to let his troll nature shine through. This was his second chance, and he had friends who legitimately seemed to worry and care for him no matter how many mistakes he made. If they ever found out how…murderous and nasty he could be they'll leave him for sure, just like Karkat and Feferi did. Why go back to being a person everyone seemed to loathe with their very being? Not even the incidents in the previous two years of Hogwarts compared to the disgust in his ex-friends eyes during that dratted game.

Like the silent hunter he used to be, Eridan stalked down the halls, navigating his way to the Arithmancy classroom. The walls were covered in number circles of varying complexity, some similar to the designs he had seen in LOWAA. He shoved his cloak back in his pocket, and scoured the back cupboard for an extra textbook (since it was a last minute change, he would just have to order one later). Luckily he managed to find a decent copy, and sat down behind one of the tables, sighing heavily. After a few minutes other students had begun trickling in, including a rather excited Hermione. Judging by her lighthearted canter into the classroom, Eridan surmised that she had taken this class before using the Time Turner to get to Divination.

"Morning, Harry!" she happily greeted, seating herself next to him before taking out her own books.

"Mornin, Hermione." he greeted back, internally sighing in relief that he wouldn't have to explain his sudden departure from the Great Hall if she hadn't witnessed it yet.

That bought him enough time to think of a decent excuse when he met them for Care of Magical Creatures later. Hopefully he also managed to find a way to quell his accent before it started to worry people. That or he could say that it was some sort of temporary brain damage due to Dementors. The question, again, was if he should choose to use his troll history or if he should continue with the way he had been for the past thirteen years. Or perhaps he should take a Gryffindor stance and just power through as best he could.

He decided he liked that.

Eridan was brought out of his musings by the entrance of the Arithmancy teacher, Professor Septima Vector. She wore a dark crimson robe and witch's hat, and had straight long dark brown hair. Perhaps it was simply his sentimentality, but Eridan couldn't brush off the similarities he saw between his Professor and Megido. He shook his head to clear away those thoughts. It was best to focus on the lesson starting in front of him first, and he felt the old troll side of him grin widely as he surveyed the curriculum that was being outlined by Professor Vector at the front. It was going to be rather difficult and complicated, but Eridan knew he could do it. He was a book nerd, after all. Complex calculations and ridiculous explanations were part of the reason Vriska hated him so much when they FLARPed.

The time spent in Arithmancy seemed to pass much more quickly than it did in Divination, which conveyed the level of interest he had in this class compared to that one. After the lesson had finished, Hermione had bade him goodbye and told him that she would see him in Divination shortly. Seeing as that meant his past self was still walking from Divination to Transfiguration, Eridan decided to make decent use of his time.

Which was why he was standing in front of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. He heaved a sigh. Well, he did promise to get some extra reading done, and now seemed like an excellent time to do so. With that he cautiously entered the bathroom, creeping past where Myrtle was wailing in the far right stall. His eyes fell to where the serpent was engraved on the side of the entrance, absentmindedly wondering why Slytherin would ever put the entrance to his Chamber in a girl's lavatory.

A hiss in parseltongue granted him entrance once more, and Eridan steeled himself for the rigorous cleaning that he was about to do, and leapt into the pipeline. The slide down was about as much fun as the first time, except for the part where the end was covered in tiny animal bones. Eridan grumbled slightly as he brushed off his clothes of the bones, taking in the state of where he hoped to make his sanctuary. Surveying the damage done to it during the incident last year, and the giant rotting corpse of the Basilisk, Eridan concluded that he wasn't going to get any reading done in here for a while. Even so, he rolled up his sleeves, and brandished his wand.

Time to get to work.

His wrist ached, and his arms a little weak, but he was happy with the progress he ha made with the cleanup of the Chamber. He managed to clear up the entrance a little bit, and had resorted to using Ahab's Crosshairs to blast away most of the fallen rock and debris. It had felt good to use his rifle again, even if it was for something mundane.

He even managed to get some more reading done, which was difficult once he got to his Care of Magical Creatures textbook. Eridan only remembered after he procured the bound biting book of its beastial nature, but refused to give into such a small nuisance. Amporas were nothing but stubborn, and he finally managed to find the key in calming it down. He had stroked its spine in an effort to calm it down the same way he would Seahorsedad all those sweeps ago, and lo and behold, the book gave a shudder before dropping limp. A feeling of victory bubbled inside him, and he had managed to get through a fifth of the book before he had realized it was time for his next lesson.

This was his mood when he headed to the forest. It was rather nice to get out of the stifling castle for a change, Eridan decided, as the rain from the previous day had already let up. The sky was a clear, pale gray, and the grass was springy and damp underfoot as they set off for their first ever Care of Magical Creatures class.

Surprisingly, neither Ron nor Hermione questioned him on his absconding during lunchtime. Instead, they seemed to be pointedly ignoring each other, telling Eridan that they had some sort of fight after he left. They walked in silence as they went down the sloping lawns to Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. Not that he wasn't worried about them, but Eridan thought the silence was rather nice, if not for the palpable tension between his friends.

It was only when he spotted three all too familiar backs ahead of them that he realized they were going to be having these lessons with the Slytherins. Malfoy was talking animatedly to Crabbe and Goyle, who were chortling. Eridan was quite sure he knew what they were talking about, and rolled his eyes. Wasn't there anything else for these people to talk about? Hopefully the lesson will take up most of their attention.

Hagrid was waiting for his class at the door of his hut. He stood in his moleskin overcoat, with Fang the boarhound at his heels, looking impatient to start. The nervousness was clear in the chemicals his bod let out, though Eridan could sense excitement as well.

"C'mon, now, get a move on!" he called as the class approached, "Got a real treat for yeh today! Great lesson comin' up! Everyone here? Right, follow me!"

They were led to the edge of the forest, a little ways inside. A paddock was open to them, though Eridan didn't see any beasts inside. He wondered if they were invisible, or if they were simply too far off at the moment for them to see.

"Everyone gather 'round the fence here!" he called. "That's it... make sure yeh can see... now, firs' thing yeh'll want ter do is open yer books-" Hagrid began, before he was interrupted by Malfoy.

"How?" he drawled.

"Eh?" Hagrid asked.

"How do we open our books?" Malfoy repeated.

He took out his copy of The Monster Book of Monsters, which he had bound shut with a length of rope. Other people took theirs out too. Some had belted their book shut, and others had crammed them inside tight bags or clamped them together with binder clips. Eridan, however, procured his now-docile textbook smugly. Hagrid seemed to noticed this, thankfully, and beamed.

"Ah! Looks like 'arry's got it!" he said happily, and the class all looked to Eridan incredulously.

"It's an animal book, you're supposed to pet it." Eridan deadpanned, flopping the book in Malfoy's face.

To further his point, he dragged his finger down Neville's copy, which immediately fell limp in the boy's hands. Neville whispered his thanks to Eridan, of which the troll wizard nodded to. He smirked smugly at Malfoy, but the Slytherin boy was not done yet.

"Oh, tremendously funny!" Malfoy sneered, "Really witty, giving us books that try and rip our hands off!"

"Well, Malfoy, at least you know how well you're going to do in this class." Eridan sneered back, "If you can't handle the book, what are you going to do up against an actual magical creature?"

The Gryffindors began to guffaw as they all stroked the spines of the books, the Slytherin silently doing the same. Malfoy's face was as red as Vantas when he realized Pyrope had drawn in the discs of his Rom Coms. Hagrid, on the other hand, beamed brightly, and gave the Gryffindor House ten points for 'smart thinking'. He then went to go collect the creatures that they would be learning about for the day, walking further into the paddock.

"Merlin, this place is going to the dogs!" exclaimed Malfoy loudly, trying to gain back some ground, "That oaf teaching classes, my father'll have a fit when I tell him!"

"Shut up, Malfoy!" Ron growled out, before something in the distance caught the entire class' attention.

"Oooooooh!" squealed Lavender Brown, pointing toward the opposite side of the paddock.

Trotting toward them were a dozen of the most bizarre creatures Eridan had ever seen. They had the bodies, hind legs, and tails of hoofbeats, but the front legs, wings, and heads of what seemed to be giant cawbeasts, with cruel, steel-colored beaks and large, brilliantly, orange eyes. The talons on their front legs were half a foot long and deadly looking. Each of the beasts had a thick leather collar around its neck, which was attached to a long chain, and the ends of all of these were held in the vast hands of Hagrid, who came jogging into the paddock behind the creatures.

Eridan marveled at the sight. These were strong, powerful creatures that were probably incredibly dangerous. This was exactly why he wanted to take this class. To have even one of these beasts under his control would increase his chances of winning future battles. He may not have the ability to control animals like Nitram, but Eridan was good at finding and luring dangerous Lusii to their deaths.

"Gee up, there!" Hagrid roared, shaking the chains and urging the creatures toward the fence where the class stood.

The beasts were even more massive up close, and everyone drew back slightly as Hagrid reached them and tethered the creatures to the fence.

"Hippogriffs!" Hagrid exclaimed happily, waving a hand at the beasts, "Beau'iful, aren' they?"

And indeed they were. Proud and noble looking creatures they were, with gleaming coats changing smoothly from feather to fur, each of them a different color. Eridan could spot stormy gray, bronze, pinkish roan, gleaming chestnut, and inky black. Each were staring at the apples that Hagrid had in his hands. Of course, they were part hoovebeast and cawbeast, they would be omnivores. He wondered absentmindedly if these creatures were the fate of the dead polecat that Hagrid was carrying early that morning.

"So," said Hagrid, rubbing his hands together and beaming around, "if yeh wan' ter come a bit nearer…"

Eridan, showing his Gryffindor side completely today, stepped forward eagerly to get a better look at these incredible beasts. Ron and Hermione followed him cautiously while the rest of the class stayed back, too afraid to move closer.

"Now, firs' thing yeh gotta know abou' hippogriffs is, they're proud," explained Hagrid, "Easily offended, hippogriffs are. Don't never insult one, 'cause it might be the last thing yeh do."

This only made Eridan lean forward more. Proud and dangerous, just like him. Perhaps one of these hippogriffs could even work as a temporary Lusus. Even though Hedwig tried her best all these years to do so, Eridan can't exactly ride his owl into battle. His ears, however, picked up hushed whispering from behind him, curtesy of Malfoy and company. He would have to pay attention to them too, the last thing he wanted was for this lesson to be ruined by idiots who held a grudge.

"Yeh always wait fer the hippogriff ter make the firs' move," Hagrid continued, his smile getting more prominent on his face,"It's polite, see? Yeh walk toward him, and yeh bow, an' yeh wait. If he bows back, yeh're allowed ter touch him. If he doesn' bow, then get away from him sharpish, 'cause those talons hurt. Right… who wants ter go first?"

Eridan immediately raised his hand, eyes transfixed on the hippogriffs, while most of the class backed farther away in answer. He could see why, they were very intimidating beasts, but it would be cowardly and weak to not want to face such powerful creatures. There was an intake of breath from behind him.

"Oooh, no, Harry, remember your tea leaves!" both Lavender and Parvati whispered.

Ignoring the sounds of worrying behind him, Eridan skillfully jumped the rather low fence of the paddock, eliciting sounds of shock from his classmates. Really, the fence wasn't that high. The hippogriffs probably could easily cross it with a single flap of their wings.

"Good man, Harry!" roared Hagrid in approval, "Right then! Let's see how yeh get on with Buckbeak."

Buckbeak turned out to be the hippogriff with stormy grey coat. It reminded him much of the shade of troll hide. Hagrid untied Buckbeak's chains and pulled it away from the other ones, towards Eridan, before slipping off the leather collar around its neck. The class on the other side of the paddock seemed to be holding its breath, Malfoy's eyes narrowing maliciously.

"Easy now, Harry," said Hagrid quietly, "Yeh've got eye contact, now try not ter blink... Hippogriffs don' trust yeh if yeh blink too much..."

Eridan fought down the instinct to blast the beast like he would hunting Lusii, approaching the creature called 'Buckbeak' with the confidence of one who has laughed in the face of death on a weekly basis. Buckbeak, from what he could tell by the expression on its birdlike face, was not only proud, but vain. The way the creature would preen its feathers whilst ignoring the frightened children that Eridan was sure it knew were standing just a few feet away was almost breathtaking.

Unblinkingly he stared down the beast, green eyes unafraid and curious. A single orange eye regarded him with tempered ferocity, which piqued his interest even more. These creatures had so much personality, no wonder Nitram loved them.

"Tha's it," said Hagrid from somewhere behind him, "Tha's it, Harry... now, bow."

Harry's penchant for listening to Hagrid's every word somehow overcame Eridan's own indignation and pride. As he bowed to the creature, he forced himself not to think about what had just internally transpired, deciding to ponder on it once he wasn't in front of seemingly imminent danger. When he straightened back up once more, he saw that the hippogriff had not moved.

He heard Hagrid's say something from behind him, but he paid the man no heed. Determined green eyes glittered as he dared the hippogriff attack him after he showed the beast the respect it was due. In reply, Buckbeak instead bent down his taloned foreleg, an unmistakable bow to the boy who was once a prince. A smile spread across his features.

"Well done, Harry!" shouted Hagrid, ecstatic. "Right! Yeh can touch him! Pat his beak, go on!"

Pale fingers felt the curved beak in front of him, patting the beast down in a manner similar to how he would treat Seahorsedad. Old habits kicked in as he began to groom his fingers through feathers like he used to with filamented fins. Buckbeak closed his eyes, enjoyed the preening from obviously practiced hands. Forehead touched the top of the beak like an old friend, memories of pale white scales and flapping fins flitting within.

Applause broke out from the students behind him, though he was quite sure Malfoy and his bodyguards were distinctly disappointed in the fact that he wasn't torn to shreds yet. A booming voice quieted them down and broke Eridan out of his reverie.

"Righ' then, Harry," said Hagrid happily, "I reckon he might' let yeh ride him! Yeh climb up there, jus' behind the wing joint, an' mind yeh don' pull any of his feathers out, he won' like that..."

Just like he used to with his Lusus, he leapt onto Buckbeak's back in one swift motion, situating himself on the beast's back as the hippogriff began to stand up. Before Hagrid could even tap the hindquarters of the beast, Eridan had already dug his heels into Buckbeak's sides, urging him into flight. Long wings unfurled on either side, and in a single large wingbeat the two of them were airborne.

The familiar rush of air took Eridan back to magenta skies and flashes of pure white beams, back to a time that he was at least tolerated by friends and before that accursed game. Buckbeak's flight was clunkier than his Lusus but wasn't any less exhilarating as he twisted and turned in the air, remembering the joy of riding a living creature as opposed to a silent broom. It was a kind of bonding one had, the rider and their beast, the troll and their Lusus. He couldn't help but let out a whoop of joy, the flight of Buckbeak so nostalgic, yet so very new. Fingers ran through the feathers on the hippogriff's neck as legs held the body in place on the flying beast, which seemed to make Buckbeak very happy.

Eridan looked down below the hippogriff, expertly driving the beast above the lake and around the tops of the forest. He wove through the trees at a speed that his Lusus could never achieve, in ways that a floating seahorse could not even try to match. Needless to say, his affinity for beasts wasn't quite on par with Nitram, but Buckbeak's seemed to be responding to him very well.

The sound of gasps and cheering could be heard from down below, as his classmates watched as he urged the hippogriff to finally land. Hooves and talons collided with the grass and dirt, and Eridan expertly dismounted Buckbeak as he used to Seahorsedad, petting the beast's feathers and beak one last time before he heard Hagrid's booming voice once more.

"Good work, Harry!" came the groundskeeper's voice above the noises of the rest of the class, "Okay, who else wants to go?"

It seemed that his mastery of the hippogriff gave everyone else the courage to approach the rest of the flock. Hagrid untied the hippogriffs one by one, and soon people were bowing nervously all around the paddock. Eridan helped Neville to muster up enough nerve to make the pinkish roan beast bow, before his ears picked up the mumbling and chuckles coming from where Malfoy and his twin idiots were. They had taken over Buckbeak, who was regarding the boys in slight curiosity. Eridan did not like the haughty looks they were giving the hippogriff, and wondered if the Slytherin boy's plan was as stupid as he was thinking at the current moment. Buckbeak seemed to sense the dislike coming from the ex-troll as Eridan shook his head from behind Malfoy, and refused to bow.

Malfoy was, understandably, irate with this, backing away and glaring at the defiant hippogriff. Eridan slowly prowled closer, knowing Malfoy's penchant to insult those he didn't like might put him in danger of inciting Buckbeak's wrath. As much as it would be funny to watch the blond human be torn to shreds, his own human side of Harry held Hagrid in a high regard.

"This class is a right sham!" Malfoy drawled out with a smirk, "These beasts obviously can't tell the difference between decent wizards and… unsavory ones." at this, he sneered in Ron and Hermione's direction, who were patting the neck of a chestnut hippogriff, "Can't even bow to your betters, can you, you big ugly brute?"

Buckbeak reared back almost immediately, but Eridan had expected such a reaction and so was in front of the hippogriff, shushing the beast down and patting his beak. Gasps and quite a few screams elicited from behind him, but he paid them no heed as he shushed Buckbeak into submission once more. Once the hippogriff had backed away, he turned around to see the horrified looks of his peers.

It was only when Hagrid rushed forward and picked him up did he realize that he was bleeding from a large gash on his arm. In his haste to spare Malfoy from an injury that would have surely cost Hagrid his newfound job, Eridan had forgotten the very fragile and fleshy nature of Harry Potter's body. The pain that coursed from his arm was nothing compared to some nearly fatal wounds that he had sustained during Sgrub or even FLARP, which was probably why he barely noticed it. The Harry part of Eridan also ignored the pain in favor of helping Hagrid.

"I'm fine, Hagrid. You don't havve to wworry about me." Eridan told the giant man, inwardly cursing how his accent made it sound like he was stuttering, "I can get to the Hospital Wwing on my owwn, you havve a case to teach."

Malfoy had a constipated look on his face as he stared up at his 'savior', with the rest of the class at a loss for words as Eridan wrenched himself from Hagrid's grip and waved his injured arm at them to show that he was fine. Hagrid looked both relieved and dubious, his beady eyes staring down at the ex-troll in worry.

"If yeh'r sure…" he began with no little amount of trepidation, only for Eridan to quickly placate him.

"It's not as bad as it looks, and besides, it wwas just an accident." he said, forcing a smile to his face.

The giant of a man looked immediately relieved, buying his act in a way that the rest of the class didn't seem to. In truth, the students were probably too spooked by the attack to try with the hippogriffs again. Hagrid managed to heard them all back inside the paddock, the children looking nervously at the hippogriffs as if they were to rampage in any second. Neville, who was looking a little green around the gills (ha, fish puns. It's been a while) was selected to escort Eridan to the hospital wing. The two of them walked to the castle in silence, listening as Hagrid gave an impromptu speech on the importance of respecting the beasts.

With the immediate danger to Hagrid's job gone, the oppressive feeling of Harry's protective nature faded back into the recesses of his mind. Eridan resolved to take a closer look at what was really happening between the clashing personalities of Eridan Ampora and Harry Potter later. For now, he needed to get to Madame Pomfrey.

AN:

Oni: That's all for now, folks!

Eridan: Don't forget to Followw, Favv, and Revvieww.

Oni: And I'll see you next time (whenever that may be), my pretties!