Chapter Three – Bloodstained Wood

The Christmas holidays were soon over and Hermione and all the other students who had gone home returned to Hogwarts. Harry immediately told her and Ron what he had found out about Nicholas Flamel, without revealing where he had got his information.

The three friends were now sure that it was the Philosopher's Stone that was kept in the castle. Now all they had to do was keep an eye out for those they thought might try to steal it, first and foremost their unloved Potions Master.

Soon after the new year began, classes resumed. And so, on a cold and dark January morning, Harry found himself in the Charms classroom, trying to make it even colder. For they were practising the Snow Charm today. So far, however, no one had managed to make snowflakes fall, although Hermione had at least made Ron sneeze earlier.

"Try again," Professor Flitwick said, standing on a pile of books. "As I said, the emphasis is on the first syllable. Ni-ves."

Harry tried again. He raised his wand, made a quick wave, and said, "Nives."

But again nothing happened. No snow appeared, not even a teeny tiny snowflake.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh. He looked around the classroom. All around him, students were twirling their wands, but no one seemed to be having any more success than he was.

His gaze fell on Daphne, sitting alone at her desk. She had clasped her hands together and closed her eyes. Well, Harry knew that she had mastered the spell, since she had used it to discover him under his Invisibility Cloak when they had met in the Restricted Section. No wonder she didn't need to practise it.

Harry hadn't spoken to her or sent her a message since their second meeting. Every night he cut his hand trying to find his inner magic, but so far without any success. He had even had to sneak into the hospital wing one night to steal a healing potion, as the one Daphne had given him was empty by now.

Just then, Daphne opened her eyes again, as if she had felt his gaze on her. Their eyes met. Daphne raised her eyebrow as if to challenge him, or so it seemed to Harry. Then she raised her wand, cleared her throat, and spoke with perfect emphasis, "Nives."

Immediately, snowflakes fell in front of her, covering the table with a finger's width of snow.

"Splendid, Miss Greengrass," said Professor Flitwick. "Ten points to Slytherin."

Now that Harry was paying more attention to Daphne, he didn't miss the scowls the other Slytherins were giving her, even though she had just won ten points for their house. Daphne seemed to take little pleasure in it either, at least there was no smile around her lips like he had seen at their meetings, nor did she acknowledge Flitwick's praise with more than a curt nod.

"Nives," Hermione's voice sounded again beside Harry, and this time his friend was successful. Snowflakes began to trickle down in front of her as well, though fewer than had been with Daphne.

"How did you do that?", Ron asked her.

"You have to imagine the cold. Almost as if you were feeling it yourself," Hermione said.

"I'm already freezing my arse off here and it still doesn't work."

"You're also not holding your wand right. Wait, I'll show you."

Harry only casually followed the conversation between his two friends. Instead he concentrated on the wand in his hand.

"Nives," he murmured again.

Even though he felt his wand getting a little colder, no snowflakes appeared. It was maddening.

Suddenly, some students to their right cheered. Harry turned his head to see Draco Malfoy triumphantly directing snowflakes with his wand. Ron cursed softly and Harry could only agree with him. Malfoy, of all people. He had never mastered a spell before him.

Harry turned away from Malfoy as his eyes fell back on Daphne. She was looking at him. She was smiling now, but it was a mocking smile, as if she were making fun of him. Harry's face hardened and Daphne turned away. She closed her eyes again and yawned slightly, as if all this was boring her to death.

Harry looked again at the wand in his hand, the device that made him so different from the people he had spent his childhood with. The wand was an expression of the freedom he had been given. But here at Hogwarts, everyone had a wand.

Next to Harry, Ron and Hermione were still arguing loudly – apparently Hermione didn't quite agree with the way Ron was implementing her suggestions. This gave Harry the perfect opportunity, because he had an idea.

What had Daphne told him? You could use life power to strengthen spells created by magic power ... Well, it was certainly worth a try.

He pointed his wand at his hand and whispered, "Diffindo Infirma."

The spell cut into his hand, causing blood to gush out. Harry winced briefly, but he was so used to the sensation by now that he barely noticed the pain after a few seconds.

He took his wand in his bleeding hand. Now he could feel both, his blood running down his skin and the wood of his wand in his hand. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate only on these two sensations.

Blood and wood.

Wood and blood.

The voices of his classmates faded around Harry, banished to a background noise, like the roar of a wind.

Harry could almost picture it. He was standing in a meadow, the air around him golden with the rays of the sun. He could feel the wind blowing around his ankles, around his arms, and through his hair. The wind blew around his whole body. He let the wind carry him, twirling him through the air like a piece of wood, just like his wand, which he could still feel faintly in his hand.

Harry forced himself to raise his hand and – filled with a sudden certainty, a glorious feeling of absolute security such as he had never felt before – he murmured, "Nives!"

Loud shouts snapped Harry out of his trance-like state. He opened his eyes and looked into Ron's mouth agape with astonishment. Thick snowflakes were falling from the ceiling all over the classroom, and the heads of his classmates were already covered in snow. Parkinson and Davis scowled at him as they brushed the snow off each other.

Hermione was the worst affected, with glistening ice crystals forming in her bushy brown hair. Her breath formed little clouds in front of her mouth as she looked at him, impressed.

"Wonderful, Mr Potter!" exclaimed Professor Flitwick enthusiastically. "Very impressive indeed. Twenty points to Gryffindor."

Ron leaned over to him. "How did you do that?"

"I have no idea," Harry said, surprised himself by the amount of magic he had unleashed.

Unleashed? Was that the right word for what he had done?

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry felt amber eyes on him. He gave the wearer of those eyes a satisfied smile, but only for a moment. Then he quickly turned his head away again before anyone else noticed.

"Really well done, Harry. Who's the overachiever now?" said Hermione, before she suddenly sneezed loudly, causing the snow to trickle off her head.

The sight was so funny that Harry and Ron couldn't help but laugh, and after a moment's hesitation, Hermione joined in.

The lesson was soon over. Harry was leaving the classroom with his friends when he was suddenly bumped from the side. The next thing he knew, Daphne was walking past him at a brisk pace, her books clutched to her chest and her face hidden behind her black hair.

Harry could feel, however, that she had slipped something into his pocket. He excused himself from his friends and entered the nearest bathroom. There he took a torn piece of parchment from his pocket. On it was written in curly girl's handwriting:

Meet me today at ten in the same place as last time.

When Harry entered the deserted classroom that evening, Daphne was already waiting for him. Harry pulled the Invisibility Cloak from his head and gave her a friendly nod.

"That was an impressive show earlier, Potter," Daphne said without further ado.

"Harry. I already told you to call me Harry."

Daphne clicked her tongue as she sat cross-legged on the floor. "Did you see any prefects on your way here?"

Harry sat down across from her. "Only two. I stayed out of their way."

"Good, then we should be undisturbed for now. If they approach, I can sense their auras."

Her words made Harry sit up and take notice. "You can sense auras?" he asked excitedly. "Can I do that too then?"

Daphne tilted her head and gave him a strange look. "Maybe. It depends on your Spirit Within and your Animagus form. And a lot of practice. Which brings me to what happened in class today. How much did you practice before you found how to connect to your inner magic?"

"Does that mean I did it? Great!"

"You didn't know?" asked Daphne, surprised.

Harry shook his head. "I tried every night but couldn't get it to work. Then I tried something else earlier."

"What did you try, Harry?"

Harry pointed his wand at his hand. "I cut myself, like I did every time before. But this time I took my wand to my injured hand afterwards. Instead of concentrating on the blood coming out of the wound, I concentrated on the feel of the wand and the blood on my hand. I ... I felt like I was a wand being carried through the air by the wind."

He looked uncertainly at Daphne. She had a pensive look on her face.

"That's a very different approach to mine," she said, "but it worked just as well, and it seems to me that your Animagus form will have something to do with air..." She looked at him intently. "I think we can continue on that basis."

Harry felt gleefully excited at her words. A grin spread across his face.

"Don't get too excited. You still have a long and rocky road ahead of you."

"I don't care," Harry said. "For the first time in my life, I have a goal to work towards."

A shadow flitted across Daphne's face at his words, but perhaps he was imagining it.

"You grew up with Muggles, didn't you?" she asked.

"How do you know?"

Daphne shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone knows that."

"Oh..."

So everyone knew everything about him again. Surely he had been the subject of countless conversations at Hogwarts. The thought darkened Harry's mind.

"And what about you?" he asked. "You come from a pureblood family, don't you?"

"That's right."

"Are they..." Harry faltered.

"Are they what?"

"Are they... like the Malfoys?" he asked, almost anxiously. He had started to like Daphne. He didn't know how he was going to deal with her if she was a pureblood supremacist.

Daphne laughed mirthlessly. It was an ugly and wry sound. "Like the Malfoys? Certainly not. My family has lost a great deal of prestige and wealth in recent decades. They even had to sell their seat in the Wizengamot."

"Wizengamot?" asked Harry, confused.

"Do you know anything at all?"

"Don't say that in such a dismissive way!"

Daphne shook her head. "Well then, I think it's time for a lesson in politics and history..."

"Too kind, Professor Daphne."

Daphne clicked her tongue before starting to speak. "Now, the Wizengamot is the highest legislative body in the British wizarding world. Sometimes it also acts as a court, for example in cases of particularly serious crimes. Since the Administrative Peace of Eighteen Hundred and Sixty-seven, a third of its members have been freely elected representatives of the people. Any British witch or wizard who has completed their OWLs at Hogwarts and is of age can vote and be elected. Another third is made up of hereditary seats, linked to the lands that Arthur Pendragon gave to the members of the Council of Wizards. And finally, the final third is made up of the top officials of the Ministry."

"And your family once held a seat?" asked Harry.

"Yes. My ancestors were close allies of Morgana le Fay, the most powerful and fearsome sorceress in history." Daphne's voice was full of admiration as she said this. Her words afterwards, however, were tinged with disgust. "But then my family lost everything. Desperate for gold, they sold their lands and their seat in the Wizengamot."

"To whom?"

"...The Malfoys."

Now, all at once, many things became clear to Harry. He was about to speak when Daphne laughed mirthlessly again.

"The wizarding world is an oligarchy, Harry. A third of the seats for the rich and old pureblood families. Another third for the top positions in the Ministry, which are also almost exclusively held by members of the rich pureblood families, who in turn promote and advance purebloods. And only the rich families have the gold to buy their way to election as representatives of the people. The power is in the hands of a few wizards, and the rest have no choice but to writhe in the dirt before them."

Daphne turned her head away. Her eyes were hidden by her silky black hair as she looked out the window. The faint light of the moon fell on her face.

"It's a rigged game. A closed system of power and greed. Not only does the Wizengamot have to agree to every new law, no, they have to give their permission every time someone wants to open a new trade or business in Britain. In this way, competition is stifled and the monopolies of the pure-blood families are secured. And when Muggle-borns try to use their connections in the Muggle world to secure their place in the sun, import bans are summarily imposed. All for the sake of maintaining their power. Many promising Muggle-borns have been driven out of the wizarding world in this way. Or witches who refused to submit to these patriarchal power structures. And all that's left is the scum..."

Daphne's voice trailed off. It was obvious that she was deep in thought.

Harry was both relieved and frightened by her words. Relieved because he was now certain that she did not share the same ideas as her fellow Slytherins, especially Malfoy and his cronies. Frightened, because the situation in the wizarding world seemed even more dramatic than he had previously thought. What would it mean for Muggle-borns like Hermione? What would it mean for him if he left Hogwarts? He would never writhe in the dirt before people like Malfoy, that much was certain!

The sudden clapping of hands snapped Harry out of his thoughts. He flinched and caught sight of Daphne, who had jumped up and was now looking down at him.

"Enough talk," she said, "It's time for something more pleasant! I want you to cut your hand again, Harry. Together, we'll try to replicate your success from earlier and strengthen your connection to your inner magic. Well, what are you waiting for? I want to see your blood!"

It was an exhausted but also contended Harry who slipped back into Gryffindor Tower a few hours later. Until well after midnight, he and Daphne had been cutting their hands, searching through pain and blood for their inner magic. He had been able to repeat his success from class, but Daphne had not been satisfied until he had been able to feel the connection with himself even without his wand. He was still a long way from being able to use that bond like Daphne could, but it felt good to have made progress.

Harry had just passed through the Fat Lady's portal when he was suddenly grabbed by arms.

He tried to scream, but someone put a hand over his mouth. He punched and kicked and tried everything to free himself from the grip of his attackers when they began to laugh.

"Harry! It's us!"

"Right, calm down before you hurt someone."

Harry recognised the voices. They were the Weasley twins. He relaxed and the next moment Fred and George ripped his Invisibility Cloak off his head. They looked at him with grins.

"Good evening, Harry," said the twin Harry thought was Fred.

"Or should we say good night? If you had come any later, it would be good morning."

"How did you know it was me?" asked Harry.

"Good question. An even better question, however, would be how you got that impressive Invisibility Cloak," said George.

"And perhaps the even more interesting question would be why is our favourite golden boy coming back from a tryst with a Slytherin?" said Fred.

Harry froze. His heart was pounding. His ears rushed. But the grin the Weasley twins gave him did not indicate that they were trying to blackmail or betray him.

"How do you know that?"

"That, my dear stray, was told us by our little friend here."

With that, Fred pulled a large, square, and very worn piece of parchment from his trouser pocket and held it out to Harry. Not a word was written on it.

"What's that?"

"This, Harry, is the fondest wish of every stray like the three of us," George said, stroking the parchment lovingly. "If it didn't already exist, it would be too good to even dream of."

Harry remained confused. "A scrap of old parchment?" he asked sceptically.

"Scrap! Scrap is what you call this divine gift. Pfff, you have no idea. Show him, Fred."

Fred pulled out his wand, lightly touched the parchment, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to no good."

And immediately the parchment began to change. Thin lines of ink spread out on it like spider webs. They converged, crossed each other, and formed shapes and marks. Then words appeared on the parchment, in large, ornate script, proclaiming:

Messrs. Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs

Purveyors of Aids to Magical Mischief-Makers are proud to present

THE MARAUDER'S MAP

It was a map that showed every detail of Hogwarts and the castle grounds, Harry realised. Even more amazing, however, were the tiny inks dots on it, each labeled with a name in minuscule writing.

Astounded, Harry leaned over the map. He saw the three dots of himself and the twins in the exact spot on the map where they actually were. A dot labelled Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore was walking up and down a round tower room. And Mrs Norris was moving quickly towards Daphne Greengrass in the dungeons, but Daphne made an abrupt U-turn and escaped the cat. Harry breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Daphne reach what must have been the Slytherin common room.

Once again Harry's world had been turned upside down from one moment to the next, and once again he was overwhelmed by the possibilities of magic. He should really know better by now.

His gaze returned to the ink dot with his name on it. Fascinated, he reached out to touch the map, but Fred snatched it away.

"Not so fast, Harry. But perhaps we'll leave you the map one day, if you prove yourself worthy of following in our footsteps."

"Prowling at night is a good start," George said. "Perhaps we'll take you with us on one of our, er, excursions. As our apprentice, so to speak." He grinned at him. "Just be careful with the little Slytherin girl, will you? We wouldn't want you changing teams now, would we? We're depending on your Snitch catching skills!"

Fred touched the map again with his wand and muttered, "Mischief managed.

The map went blank again.

The twins said something and started laughing, but Harry wasn't listening anymore. His eyes were still fixed on the now inconspicuous map.

Not so fast and becoming an apprentice, his arse. He would get the map before that.

A bold plan formed in his mind.

First thing the next morning, Harry had gone to the Owlery to send a message to Daphne – by school owl, just as they had discussed. And so he found himself looking at the Slytherin table during breakfast, but the owls had not yet arrived.

Daphne sat alone at the far end of the table, her nose buried deep in a heavy tome as she mechanically spooned her gruel into her mouth. Harry hadn't paid much attention to her before he met her, but she always sat alone, whether it was at dinner in the Great Hall, in the library, or in class.

Did she have any friends at all apart from him?

Although friends was probably a strange way to describe their relationship, because what kind of friends encouraged each other to hurt themselves? Harry's hand still tingled slightly, as if it hadn't got used to the new skin that had grown over the wound.

Still, he considered Daphne his friend. And so he was relieved that he had been able to extract a promise from the twins not to tell anyone about their acquaintance. Even if the grin they had given him this morning made him feel anything but comfortable...

"ACHOO!"

A violent sneeze snapped Harry out of his thoughts. He looked at Hermione, who had been suffering from a nasty cold since Charms class the day before. He felt a little guilty about her condition, but Ron started to laugh out loud.

"Gee, Harry. I guess your Snow Charm was more like a Snot Charm."

Hermione gave him a scowl as she snorted into a handkerchief. "It's not like it was Harry's intention. He just couldn't control his spell, which is why it came out too strong."

Harry perked up at her words. She made it sound as if yesterday had been something negative, whereas with Daphne he had gotten the feeling that she had been pleased, even impressed, by what he had done. It had certainly felt good...

"Yeah, sorry about that again," he said, giving Hermione an apologetic smile.

Then he looked up as dozens of owls suddenly flew into the hall to deliver their letters and parcels. Although none of the owls landed in front of them, one did land in front of Daphne. Harry saw her visibly surprised as she untied a letter from the leg of a brown school owl and began to read.

She jerked her head up and their eyes met, very briefly, just for a split second before anyone else noticed. Daphne tucked one of her black strands behind her ear as she returned her gaze to the book in front of her. She nodded as if in agreement with what she was reading. But her nod was all the confirmation Harry needed.

It looked as if their next meeting would be much sooner than either of them had thought.

Harry had to smile at the thought before he was jolted out of his thoughts by another violent sneeze. And Ron's upset voice afterwards.

"Ugh, Hermione! Right in my food!"

A normal life, as a small part of the big picture. Isn't that enough for you?

"No, it's not."

You want more?

"Yes."

How much more?

"Until there's nothing left."

Daphne took a deep breath before getting up from her dressing table. It had taken her by surprise when she had received Harry's message that morning, along with the more than cryptic words that they needed to meet urgently. What could he want from her?

Harry puzzled and baffled her. Not just with the immense progress he had made in such a short time – something that had taken her years of tireless secret learning and experimentation, though admittedly without a competent teacher, or any teacher at all. No, he also amazed her with his whole manner. She was not used to being so... friendly with anyone. At least not since then. And then, at their first meeting, he had even offered that they could be friends.

She had given up all hope of making a friend at Hogwarts when the Sorting Hat had put her in Slytherin, but...

Daphne shook her head. What the hell was she thinking? What was she supposed to do with a friend? Such a one would only hinder her on her way.

And yet, it had felt good to have someone to talk to...

With these confusing thoughts in her head, Daphne made her way out. Leaving her dormitory behind, she crossed the common room, past the ignorant, stupid, and utterly disgusting grimaces, and stepped out into the torch-lit dungeon.

She had to walk a good distance until she finally reached a dark corner. There she transformed into her crow form, as ever a liberating, glorious, fully perfect feeling. She felt her magic flowing through her body, felt it pulsing inside her, hot and cold and heavy and light.

At moments like this, Daphne felt that anything was possible in this world. She was free of all earthly shackles and her fate was in her hands and no one else's.

In this euphoric mood, Daphne flew through the castle and landed in the deserted classroom where Harry was waiting for her. As soon as she had returned to her human form, he revealed the reason for their meeting.

"The Weasley twins know about us through a magical map they have. We need to steal it."

Daphne looked at him in surprise.

"Huh?"

Harry went on. "The Weasley twins ambushed me on my way back yesterday. They know about us meeting. And they know it because of a magical map they showed me, where they can see everyone in the entire castle. I want us to steal that map."

For several seconds Daphne just stared at him. Harry returned her gaze. Eventually, Daphne stepped past him to sit down on one of the dust-covered desks.

"Good evening to you too, Harry."

"Didn't you hear me?" said Harry impatiently. "The –"

"I heard you very well, Harry. I agree with you. Such a powerful magical artefact belongs in hands other than those of the Weasley twins. I just wonder how they got hold of such an artefact in the first place."

Harry sat down beside her. "I wonder the same thing. They didn't tell me that, though."

"Hmm, hmmm, hmmm." Daphne rocked back and forth, her head to the floor as if she were thinking hard.

"So you're in?" asked Harry.

Daphne lifted her head and looked him straight in the face. She had a smile on her lips that gave Harry goosebumps. In a strange, pleasant way.

"Oh, I most certainly am. I suppose you have a plan already?"

Now it was Harry's turn to smile. "Oh yes, and I think you'll like it..."