Welcome back to another chapter of "Bad Moon Rising" in which we see some tension between student and teacher followed by the return of everyone's favorite groundskeeper!
Chapter edited by Politically Problematic Prose Pundit
I can not begin to express how excited I am about the next chapter y'all.
On with the show!
Harry Potter, Quidditch Pitch, 3rd of November.
Harry Potter wouldn't say he's the biggest Quidditch fan. Yeah, he had a few teams he liked, and Ron had gotten him a few jerseys over the years, but when it came down to it, he thought the game was a nonsensical mess with the rules half-thought out. He was just happy that his role on the team was fairly simple; catch the snitch or die trying. What Harry truly loved about the game was the fact he got to fly while playing it; that weightless freedom and roar of the wind in his ears as he darted around the pitch faster than he could ever move on his own two feet.
It drowned out everything, the roar of the crowd, the comments from Lee Jordan, the rumble of thunder, the burning anger right beneath his skin, and the best part? He got to hunt. It was always exhilarating flying after the snitch to catch it, the dips, the dives, the spins, and near misses. It never failed to get his heart pumping as he flew at breakneck speed to catch the damn thing with an insane smile on his face as the cold winter winds bit into his cheeks.
It also helped that Draco had upped his game since the last time they had flown against each other. He was relying more on his hard-earned and honed skills on a broom instead of cheating. Harry did not doubt that they were two twin blurs of red and green chasing after the glint of gold in the cold overcast sky. They were neck and neck as they chased the snitch with Draco scowling and Harry grinning, but unfortunately for Draco, Gryffindor had never lost a match when Harry was flying for them.
So both seekers fall on the snitch and into a dive, arms outstretched and battling each other to gain just a few more precious inches to snatch the snitch. They dive down toward the cold, wet, and muddy earth trying to knock each other's hand out of the way; but compared to a normal mortal, Harry is still stronger. Harry knocks Draco's hand out of the way at the last moment before the blond boy fears slamming against the earth and pulls up from his dive. Harry however drives his Firebolt forward, "Faster! Faster!" he thinks to himself as he grips the handle of his broom.
Inches from the ground he pulls up before twisting through the air fast enough to throw himself from the broom. He crashes against the ground, softened from the storm the night before, rolling and skidding across the muddy earth before coming to a stop while sliding on his knees and holding up his right hand with a cry of victory. His roar was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd above him as Lee yelled in excitement.
"Potter has the snitch! Potter has the snitch! Gryffindor wins three hundred to one hundred and eighty!" Lee's voice booms around the stadium as the rest of the Gryffindor team lands nearby before charging Harry and dogpiling on him with laughs and cheers. As Harry is helped to his feet after the rest of the team has climbed off him by the twins, he sees the rest of his friends run across the field. Ginny ran towards them whooping and laughing, Hermione right behind her with a huge grin on her face, followed, surprisingly, by Luna who had somehow made a large lion head out of paper mache, and finally, Delphini, meandering toward him at a slow pace with a smirk on her face.
With the crowds gathering and Harry hearing the words "party in the common room" he was more than ready to leave the field with the thoughts of actually joining the celebrations this time when the rest of the Slytherin team landed. They looked tired and defeated as the captain of the team began to push his way toward Angelina. Jacob Urquhart was a large boy with a beater build and broad shoulders, he stopped in front of Angelina and thrust out his hand. Angelina takes it and shakes it with a bit of a wince before the two captains share a smile and a nod before both turn to their respective teams and with a shout to hit the showers.
As Harry turns to go grab his broom, he's surprised to see it flying at him. Moving quickly he snatches it out of the air before turning to the one responsible for throwing it, "Oi! Watch it! This was a gift!" Harry snaps with a fresh wave of anger rolling through him.
Harry had no idea what was going on with him. For the last few days, he had woken up in a bad mood and his temper shorter than normal. He had snapped at everyone at least once or twice for something small and stupid he normally wouldn't have cared for. It had gotten better over the last few days but hadn't disappeared completely and now Draco Malfoy was testing it.
"Hope you enjoy the victory, Potter, you won't get another one," Draco snaps at Harry as his face twists into an ugly scowl as he storms up to Harry.
"Doubt that Draco," Harry says, his lips peeling back in anger. "I've handed you your ass more times than I care to count, on and off the pitch. Why don't you just give up and let someone with actual skill fly for once instead of relying on daddy's money," Harry says as he meets Draco to look him in the eye. He was being mean, Harry knew that. Draco was a skilled flier and it showed in every game they had against one another. But Harry couldn't help it with the raw anger boiling just under his skin he jumped at the outlet for it.
"Harry, stop! He's not worth it," Hermione says as Harry feels her grab his arm to pull him back from the ferret.
"Oi, mate, she's right," Ron says after her and grabs his shoulder to drag him back. By now both of the Quidditch teams had encircled the two teens with both the captains yelling for them to break it up as Harry could see Crabbe and Goyle flank him in the crowd. It was then that Delphini began to push her way through the crowd, yelling at Draco as she did.
"Well, go on, Potter, listen to the blood traitor and your pet Mudblood, because they'll get theirs when the dark-" Draco says but is quickly cut off. As Draco spoke, Harry felt his temper finally snap and all he saw was red before punching Draco in the nose. As Draco stumbles back clutching his nose, Harry swings again, catching him in the chin. Draco begins to fall like a puppet with his strings cut, but Harry in his rage isn't done with him and grabs the front of his Quidditch robes and punches him again. And again. And again.
"Harry! Stop!" Both Hermione and Delphini scream as Harry takes Draco to the ground and keeps hitting him.
Crabbe and Goyle charge out of the crowd in an attempt to stop Harry but Fred and George slam into both of them. Fred takes Crabbe to the muddy ground with a tackle and Goyle takes a punch from George. Ron and Angelina try to pull Harry off Draco before he struggles in their grasp and manages to throw both of them off as he continues beating Draco. Blood was leaking from Draco's face as abrasions formed with every hit and bones broke under every blow. Harry was done with Draco mouthing off, he was done with his bullying, and he was going to beat the little weasel to death to finally shut him the fuck up.
All Harry saw was red as he punched Draco again and again and again.
He was vaguely aware of people yelling at him and telling him to stop but he wasn't going to this time, until someone stopped him. A hand wraps around his wrists as he draws it back for another blow, stopping his arm in an iron-like grip, and Harry turns to yell at the person who stopped him to let go. His emerald eyes meet the blood-red ones of his teacher, and Harry had never seen her look angrier.
Scáthach reaches out with her free hand and grabs Harry by the scruff of his neck before throwing him off Draco and a good twenty feet away from the downed boy. "Enough!" Scáthach yells, freezing everyone in place before turning to look back at Harry on the ground with rage in her eyes.
"I have never In all my years seen such buffoonery! Fighting like Muggles on the pitch!" McGonagall yells, making herself known as Scáthach descends on Harry like a shadow. "A week of detention for all three of you!" She says as Fred and George are pulled off of Crabbe and Goyle as Snape quickly makes his way over to the unconscious Draco waving his wand to ascertain the damage.
Scáthach hauls Harry to his feet by the front of his Quidditch robes. "And we can add fifty points from Gryffindor for each of you," Scáthach says in a vice crisp with anger as Harry tries to struggle out of her grasp only to be hauled back. "You are coming with me, now," she tells him as McGonagall begins to clear the field and Snape quickly levitates Draco's body to drag him off to the hospital wing. Scáthach, never letting go of Harry, drags him into the tunnels under the Quidditch stands before slamming him into the wall.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Scáthach snaps at Harry, hauling him up to stand on his tiptoes as she looms over him.
Harry, still angry and feeling nothing but his Uncle's hand wrapped around his collar once more snaps at Scáthach. "He fucking deserved it, he called Hermione-" he begins to say before Scáthach slams him into the wall once more to cut him off.
"I do not care what Mister Malfoy said! I care about what you just did! You could have killed him, or do you not understand that?" Scáthach snaps at him with a glare. "I do not care if he called Hermione every foul word he knew, it is the fact that you reacted to it! This is the reason I cut you off from the Hunt, this right here. You could have killed the boy," she tells him but Harry doesn't listen as he finally breaks out of her grasp.
"Good, the little fucker deserves it! Just like his dumb fucking Death Eater father!" Harry yells in her face before Scáthach shoves him back against the wall.
"So a grown man should strike a toddler with all his strength for mouthing off?" Scáthach asks as she looks at Harry with her brow furrowed in anger.
"What? No," Harry says confused at the change of subject.
"Because that is what I just saw!" Scáthach snaps at Harry whose face twists in confusion, "Malfoy could have called Hermione every foul name he knew, and never would I accept you doing what you just did. He is repeating what he has heard and been told for years by his parents but his hands are clean of any blood and the only crime he has committed is ignorance," Scáthach says, a breath away from yelling at Harry as she lets him go.
Scáthach lets out an angry sigh before looking away from Harry. "Children should never be blamed for the crimes of their parents, no matter what those crimes are. They can be taught, and their ignorance cured if taught the right lessons. One that doesn't involve beating them half to death at the first slight when breaking a bad habit," she says in a softer tone before looking back at Harry who is still glaring at the ground.
"Look at me, Greaca," Scáthach says as Harry continues stubbornly glare at the ground between his feet. "I said look at me," she demands before Harry finally looks up and into her eyes filled with disappointment.
"If you would have just hit him once, we would not be having this conversation. But no, you gave into your rage and took it out on him," Scáthach says with a shake of her head and a sigh. "Even Séntante with all his idiocy didn't hit the mortals and magicals that attended my school with his full power and pulled his punches against them. He only truly fought the other demigods of the boy troops," she tells Harry while making her best impression of McGonagall by thinning her lips.
"I didn't hit him that many times," Harry says quietly, trying to defend himself.
"How many times did you hit him, Greaca?" Scáthach asks with a raised brow as she still looks at him with anger flashing in her eyes. Harry opens his mouth to answer but he can't, he had lost count after the fifth blow? He thinks. Everything else was consumed by a red haze and hatred so Harry closed his mouth. "You hit Mister Malfoy sixteen times with all your strength in less than a minute," she tells Harry as Harry blinks in confusion.
"You can not even begin to understand how lucky you are, Greaca. Most of Cernunnos' children never made it to my school because they were driven mad by the very domain you have such a deep connection to," Scáthach tells him in a solemn voice as her eyes turn just a bit softer. "And those who did would lose themselves to the Hunt in just a few years, and either I or my-my daughter would have to put them down," she says, her voice choking a bit when she spoke of her child. Harry's eyes widened a bit as Scáthach spoke of a child. Scáthach never spoke of any family beyond her mother and the Fomorian that was her father, and Harry had never asked. He had assumed that if she did have any demigod children they would have been at her school when the Romans sacked it and had died.
"Why didn't you just cut them off from the Hunt like you did me?" Harry asks, it comes out harsher than he meant for it to sound. So when Scáthach turns back to him with a glare, Harry flinches.
"I can't do that with everyone, Greaca," Scáthach answers him with a harsh glare. "As I've said you are lucky that you're-" She says before stopping herself and snapping her mouth shut.
Harry looks at her before narrowing his eyes at her. "Lucky that I'm what?" Harry asks as Scáthach's face goes flat and tightly controlled but she doesn't say a word. "Lucky that I'm what?" Harry asks once more.
"You're digressing from the point, Greaca," Scáthach says with a blank face as her hands clenched behind her back. "It is only because of the great discipline that your mother's hunters have that they can hold back the Hunt, something you are lacking," she says with a sharp tone causing Harry's glare to return.
"It's not like I'm going to hunt someone!" Harry snaps at Scáthach angrily, but all she does is raise her hand and point toward the pitch.
"You almost beat Mister Malfoy to death in your anger, Greaca," Scáthach says flatly as she glares right back at Harry. "I know the Hunt feeds off of dark emotions to get a foothold in your mind to drive you forward in its endless need to be fed. So do not stand there and tell me if you had it you would not have killed the boy," she says with a tone as hard as steel causing Harry to look away.
"That's what I thought," Scáthach drops her hand before huffing. "I won't be surprised if Severus goes right to the headmaster and lambasts you over this and demands you to be removed from the school because, as he rightfully assumes, you are a danger to the other students," Scáthach says as she turns and looks in the direction of her castle with a slight glare on her face before letting out an angry sigh.
"Wouldn't be the first time, the bullying cunt," Harry mumbles under his breath and crosses his arms like an angry child.
"No, it wouldn't," Scáthach informs him as she turns back to glare at Harry. "And your actions here today are only proof of what he has been telling Albus for the last year," she says, causing Harry to flinch slightly.
"Then why don't you go talk to him about how he treats me and everyone else who isn't in Slytherin like trash?" Harry tells Scáthach with a glare.
"Oh, I've had a very long conversation with Severus on what I do and what I don't find acceptable in a teacher at my school, Greaca, but this isn't about Severus," Scáthach tells him in a sharp tone of voice. "This is about you," but before Harry could defend himself anymore Scáthach let out a sigh of relief. "Mister Malfoy will live. He has a fractured skull, but thankfully it is something that Poppy can easily fix," Scáthach tells Harry with a look of disappointment in her eyes.
"Greaca, you must understand that this is not something I will allow you to get away with. You are faster than them, stronger than them, and the domains above know you are far more savage than them," Scáthach says, her voice reflecting the disappointment in her eyes. "You will take the repercussions for your actions with grace, do you understand me?" she asks him and Harry flinches at the words.
"Yes, teacher," Harry says dejectedly, once again looking at the ground.
"Good," Scáthach says, her voice firm and hard as steel. "Now get out of my sight, I need to go make sure you're not expelled over this," she says in a scathing, angry tone that makes Harry sigh before walking away.
Harry makes his way to the locker rooms as the rest of the team is leaving, passing him with worried looks that Harry ignores as he strips out of his Quidditch gear before taking a shower to get all the grime and mud off of himself. The thing that makes him pause for a moment is the blood on his hand.
There was a lot of Draco's blood not just on his hand but also a bit on his face and Quidditch's uniform. Harry ran his hand under the shower and watched as the blood ran off his hand to show an unmarred and unmarked hand. Harry frowned before he stepped under the tap.
By the time he's dry and redressed, Pansy Parkinson and Anthony Goldstein are standing outside of the Gryffindor locker room to escort him to McGonagall's office with Pansy glaring at him the whole way. When they had reached the office it was only McGonagall and Snape inside, both with angry scowls on their faces.
"You won't be getting away with this time, Potter," Snape tells him with a glare as Harry takes a seat with a slump.
Harry wouldn't return to the Gryffindor common room until two hours later, more angry than he had been when he had walked up from the pitch. McGonagall had put him on probation for the next four months. This meant he could no longer play on the Quidditch team, fly his broom, or go to Hogsmeade, and if he caused any more trouble he would be expelled.
"Playing on the Quidditch team, flying your broom, and going to Hogsmeade is a privilege, Mister Potter, not a right," McGonagall had told him with heat in her voice and her face turning red. Harry had explained why he hit Malfoy in the first place and Malfoy was deducted points for using a slur. But Harry couldn't say why he just kept hitting him and hitting him and hitting him. It was only after Snape had left that McGonagall offered him something she thought he needed.
A grief counselor.
Harry declined it in the end. He didn't need one, he was fine.
The weekend had come and gone rather quickly for Harry with him breaking the news to Angelina first. His Captain was less than happy with him about what had happened but at the very least they had Ginny who could take over his position until the last game of the season. Delphini had forgiven him quickly with the words "Draco has the amazing ability to fit his entire foot into his mouth when he opens it, don't worry about it, Pot-head," before offering to sneak off for a long snog with her shirt off.
Now, how could Harry refuse that?
"I could teach you some Occlumency," Delphini offered with a tilt of her head while straddling his lap, button-up undone, on Friday. "I'm not all that good with it, mind you, but it will help with the anger," she had said, her voice echoing with something like experience with her anger. Harry agreed to at least give it a try. Though Harry's bad mood had all but disappeared by then thanks to the return of Hagrid on Saturday morning.
After returning from that he and Delphini were cornered by Hermione and Ron asking where they had been. They had made some excuses but Harry was sure that Hermione knew by the way she looked at both of them with narrowed eyes. Before Hermione and Ron told Harry that they were heading down to Hagrid's for tea and wanted to know if he was coming with them. Harry agreed quickly before splitting off with Delphini with plans to meet up with her later on in the week before going with them to Hagrid's. When the trio finally made it to the small hut on the edge of the forbidden forest, they were surprised to find they weren't the only ones visiting Hagrid.
Scáthach had beaten them there and was deep into a discussion about Hagrid hiding something in the forest. As the Trio approaches the door to the Hut they hear Scáthach's voice, crisp and sharp, as if she was upset by something. "...comes near the castle or the students I will have to step in, Rubeus. I do not take threats to either lightly no matter what they may be," she told the Groundskeeper before he answered back.
"And I swear Professor Árd-Greimne, he's harmless. He's deep in the forest far away from the students, the castle, and the trails. I-I couldn't just leave him there," Hagrid defends something with desperation in his voice as the Trio pauses outside the door.
Scáthach sighed, "I will see to this myself, Rubeus. But know I am not heartless. If he is truly harmless then he may stay until you find him another home," she told him with a soft voice that the trio barely heard her speak. It was then that Scáthach made her excuses and left the small hut, walking right by Harry as she made her way back to the castle, never turning to look at Harry as she passed him. Scáthach was still angry with him for what had happened at the pitch, even going so far as to cancel training sessions for the next two weeks.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione caught up with Hagrid as he sat back with a dragon steak over his eye as they filled him in about Umbridge and the Ministry's actions over the past few months. Hermione had offered to look over Hagrid's lesson plans for the next few weeks to make sure everything was in order. For as much as Hagrid loved creatures and knew about them, he wasn't all that good at planning for classes.
So the weekend flew by with Harry scrubbing cauldrons and buffing trophies at night while sneaking off with Delphini during the day. Harry was pretty sure what they were doing was going to come out one way or another but in Delphini's own words, "Might as well have fun while it lasted," and before Harry knew it; Monday had come with one of the more interesting Care of Magical Creatures classes to date.
Hogwarts Grounds, November 6th.
Hermione, Ron, and Harry made their way to Care with the same lazy pace they always did. Hagrid wouldn't start the class until everyone was there and never deducted points from anyone for being a tad late. When they had finally made it to just outside of Hagrid's hut to see the small gathering of students taking the class all three of them noticed that the Slytherins gave the Gryffindors a wide berth as the door to the hut opened.
Hagrid steps out and onto the front lawns of the school with a jolly smile and missing the black eye that was there not two days ago with a scarf of dead ferrets hanging from his neck. "Good afternoon everyone! Glad to be seeing you all again," Hagrid says with cheer in his voice as he steps in front of the small gathering of students.
The rest of the students, minus some of the Slytherins, all welcome the jolly half-giant back as he smiles at them all. "Yes, yes, glad to be back here at Hogwarts, thank ya all. Now, from what Professor Grubbly-Plank had told me, ya all have revised Kneazle, Fairy, Puffskein, and the Flubberworm, as well as going over Knarl's, Crup's, and Unicorns," Hagrid says and watches as most of the class nods as he smiles. "With that, we'll be going over a new creature today, get ya things and follow me," Hagrid says as he turns and begins to lead the class into the semi-forbidden forest.
Hagrid leads the class along the new paths for the next five minutes as he lets the class talk amongst themselves. The jolly giant seemed to be enjoying himself back in the familiar forest that had long become his home from what Harry could see. Before long he stops the class on the trails before turning back to them, "Everyone here? No one wandered off, did they?" he asks, looking around and counting heads before nodding. "Alright then, now listen up, ya lot. Before entering the clearing you've got to know a few things, first!" Hagrid says, holding up one finger on his massive hand. "What's in the clearing is in no way dangerous to ya if ya respect them as the wild creatures they are. They are very gentle by nature so long as no one goes smacking their backsides or trying to hurt them," he warns the class before giving Malfoy a very pointed look.
"Second off, their appearances may be a bit frightenin' to some of ya, but so long as ya keep my first warning in mind they're harmless, now come on ya lot," Hagrid says with a grin before turning around and walking into a small clearing off to his left before the class follows behind him.
In the glade that Hagrid led them in was a small paddock of flat stones and a newly made gate of stained wood and iron fitting that was firmly shut and locked. Hagrid waves his arm toward the paddock with a booming "Ta-da!" that had most people in the class confused because there was nothing in the paddock.
But Harry had a small smile on his face as Hermione was leaning over to whisper to him, "thought you may enjoy this lesson."
For in the paddock were four large Thestrals.
It was Lavender Brown who raised her hand to ask the question that was on most of the student's minds. "Ah, Professor?" she says as Hagrid turns to with something like amusement in his eyes. "Wh-what are we supposed to be seeing?" she asks before one of the Ravenclaws coughs out something rude that almost got the boy smacked by Harry.
Hagrid's eyes coast over the gathered students picking out the few who were looking in the paddock, not with confusion but with trepidation and in one case, joy. "Neville!" Hagrid calls out, causing the boy to jump a bit. "Why don't you go ahead and tell the class what ya're seeing here, hmm?" he asks.
"W-well, it-it looks l-like a horse with b-bat wings but their, um, their d-dead?" Neville says, sounding a bit put off as he looks into the paddock and most of the class looks at him in confusion.
"Ay, that's a way to describe them, but as for what they are, they're Thestrals!" Hagrid says with a big smile before taking one of the dead ferrets off his neck and tossing it into the paddock. Harry snorts out a laugh as most of the students let out a gasp, including Ron and Hermione, as one of the Thestrals jumps on its hind legs snatching the dead animal out of the air, and eats it in three quick crunches. "Now, does anyone know the Revelio charm variant that reveals invisible things?" Hagrid asks as he turns to the class that is looking on with a bit of awe and watches as Hermione, Terry Boot, and Pansy Parkinson raise their hands before asking them to step forward and cast the spell over the paddock.
As they do, the gold dust-like particles from the spell fall on the Thestrals, revealing their emaciated winged forms. Harry hears a gasp of shock roll through the crowd of students. He rolls his eyes a bit as a few of his classmates step back from the paddock. Hagrid applauds the spellwork before awarding points to three houses. "Now as ya lot can now see, the Thestrals have a few oddities about them. The major one is that they're invisible to the naked eye of most folks. But by show of hands, who could actually see them before any spell was cast?" he asks, looking around as Harry, Neville, and two other students raise their hands.
"The reason so few of you can see them is a bit simple, only those who have seen the death of another human being can see them," Hagrid says as a few of the students look uncomfortable with the comment, some giving a sideways look to Harry. "Wizards and witches much smarter than I have been tryin' to figure out why for much longer than Hogwarts has been standing and have come up with nothin'. So, how 'bout we find out a few things they have figured out, everyone take out ya books and turn to page one ninety-three," he tells the class and watches them do just that.
"The first thing ya will notice is that the Thestrals are both classified as a quadruple X class creature and are an at risk species," Hagrid informs the class before tossing another ferret to the horses. "So the first thing you've got to know about them is the only reason that they are a high-rated creature is because of how hard they are to hide from muggles. If anyone wants to keep them they have to show mastery of the chameleon charm to keep 'em hidden from muggles by applying it every day or so. But other than that they're as gentle as a Puffskein," Hagrid says with a smile before Harry raises his hand.
"Yes, Harry, ya got a question?" Hagrid asks while pointing at Harry.
"Ah, two actually, my first one is why are they at risk?" Harry asks before putting his hand down.
"Well, that's because, like Chimeras and Dragons, they are purely magical creatures," Hagrid informs him before looking back over the class. "Thestrals were once hunted for resources, their hides can be made into invisibility cloaks, their blood can be used to create powerful poisons, their tail hairs used in wands, there are some other things you can do with the rest of them, and if you believe the stories, their saliva can heal wounds of a lucky few. They officially came under the Protected Magical Animal Act of the ICW sometime in the eighteenth century, the exact date should be in yer books. But at their peak, you had huge herds of the buggers runnin' around in Iraq and Iberia before they were hunted near extinction, and a small one of three hundred here in England," Hagrid says with a wistful sigh before turning back to Harry. "What was your second question?" he asks as Harry smiles.
"Can I pet them?" Harry asks.
Hagrid lets out a booming laugh before waving him forward. Harry quickly puts down his book bag before moving to the front of the paddock and quickly hopping the fence. As soon as he does, all four of the Thestrals turn to look at Harry before they let out a whinny and walk up to him. Harry smiles as he starts to pet the nearest one down the neck as it tromps its feet with approval.
"Professor?" Pansy says with a small scowl on her face as she says the word as Hagrid turns to her with a nod of his head. "I was wondering, how can you tell if one is male and female, there's nothing in the book about that," She asks as other students murmur with the same question.
"Well, a bit simple, that is, Miss Parkinson, they don't have a sex," Hagrid tells her, much to the girl's confusion.
"Then how do they make babies?" Pansy says, making a face as if she didn't believe it and was quite upset about it.
"They don't," Hagrid says with a shrug and a bit of a chuckle as he sees the faces of his class. "As I said, smarter wizards and witches than me and you from all over the world have tried to figure that out and every single one has failed," Hagrid says before reaching into one of his many pockets and pulling out a stiff bristle brush and tossing it to Harry. He turns back to the class with a smile. "Thestrals, as far as we know, can't make any more of their kind. They also live for a long time because as far as I know, the herd here at Hogwarts was a part of the original three hundred that was found a bit over six hundred years ago on the islands," Hagrid informed the surprised students as Harry only half listened while he brushed the Thestral.
The rest of the class passed by as Hagrid showed and taught the class how to take care of the Thestrals, such as brushing them, checking their wings for any tears or holes, and shaving down their hooves. What they ate was dead meat as they were scavengers and the most important thing: Never house Thestrals near Unicorns. When asked why, the answer surprised Harry; they fought to the death. It's the only time that Unicorns and Thestrals are considered dangerous because when two herds are by each other they will try and wipe out the other for some reason. The Thestrals at the school had to be kept in a secluded Glade that was warded on the other side of the black lake away from the Forbidden Forest or else the two equine species would try and wipe each other out.
Harry had spent the rest of the class trying to convince Lavender Brown that Thestrals were better than Unicorns, but by the look on her face, she wasn't buying it.
Harry Potter, November 7th, 8 PM Defense Tower.
Harry wasn't trying to eavesdrop on any conversation when he was heading toward the owlery to send a letter off to Sirius explaining what had happened between him and Malfoy earlier in the week and why he wouldn't be able to see him the next Hogsmeade weekend. Harry knew Sirius was going to be upset, but he wasn't sure what about. Harry bet that not getting to see him next Hogsmeade weekend was going to happen, but people were weird about almost killing other people at times.
But as Harry was walking past the door to the Defensive arts classroom and toward the staircase that led up to the Owlery he heard his name said.
"...Harry's blood, why else would I come here?" the familiar voice of The Morrígan says, stopping Harry in his tracks.
"To make a nuisance of yourself, as you always do," Scáthach says right back in a flat tone but Harry could hear the underlying anger in her voice. Harry hears The Morrígan scoff before Scáthach speaks again. "But it matters not why you came here, you're leaving, now," she says, letting her anger crawl into her voice before Harry walks a little closer to the door to hear better.
"Not until I have what I came here for, Witch-Queen," The Morrígan says right back to Scáthach. "I need his blood, just a few drops so I can release the last two," She says calmly as Harry hears someone on the other side of the door take a few steps as if they began to pace.
"Then it's a shame that you used the last of his blood you conned out of him so wastefully a few weeks ago," Scáthach tells The Morrígan, her voice as cold as ice. Harry blinks in confusion, how did the Morrígan con him? He owed her after the trial, right?
The Morrígan angrily scoffs. "Scáthach you don't get it. You can't see it like I can. The board is changing and we need to be prepared. I need the blood to free Nua-" The Morrígan says in a calm and polite tone, but Scáthach snaps at her.
"And I told you no!" Scáthach says with almost a growl in her voice. "I do not want you in my castle, I do not want you by my students, and I sure as hell want you nowhere near the Greaca," Scáthach snaps at the Morrígan and Harry could feel the castle shake with its queen's anger.
The Morrígan is quiet for a long moment before she begins to do something Harry wasn't expecting; she starts to laugh. It was a horrifying and chilling sound that ran up and down Harry's spine freezing his heart in terror. It was the laugh of someone in on one of the darkest jokes they have ever heard and were waiting for someone to figure it out. "You still can't call him by his name, can you?" The Morrígan asks, sounding darkly amused by something.
"How many times have you said his actual name?" The Morrígan asks with the sound of footsteps echoing in the room. "Two, maybe three times?" she asks.
"Silence," Scáthach's voice comes out as a whisper, raw and angry.
"Are you afraid of how it will sound coming from you? Will it sound right? Or will you choke on it?" The Morrígan says, her voice crawling with entertainment. "After all you go through such pains to avoid saying the boy's name, always Greaca, and never Harry," her voice comes out like a soft melody, light with amusement. "Tell me, are you afraid to look him in the eyes too?" she asks.
"I said silence," Scáthach says in a much harder voice.
"Afraid of what you'll see, like something in a dream?" The Morrígan asks, her voice climbing higher with glee as she stops close to the door.
"I said Shut! Up!" Scáthach says, her voice raising in anger.
"Afraid of who you'll see looking back?" The Morrígan taunts and it is the last straw for the Witch-Queen as Harry hears the rage-filled scream of his teacher shake the defense tower right before the wall beside the door explodes outwards, knocking Harry to the ground. As Harry looks up all he can hear is the light laughter of The Morrígan who stands in the newly formed hole in the wall. Harry looks to the other side of the corridor and sees his teacher's Gae Bolg sticking out of the opposite wall. Just beyond The Morrígan, Harry could see Scáthach leaning forward in the middle of the room, her eyes ablaze with rage and power as her normal calm demeanor was gone as she glared at the Morrígan. It was then that The Morrígan turned to look at Harry.
"Oh, dear!" She says in mock surprise as she lifts her hand to her lips in a coy move. "My Harry, whatever are you doing here?" she asks, causing Scáthach's head to snap to Harry with a look of horror and shock. "My, how long have you been out there, boyo? But of course, you know all this, don't you?" The Morrígan asks before gasping in a fake way as she turns to look back at Scáthach, still frozen in shock and then back to Harry. "Don't tell me Scáthach hasn't told you yet?" she asks with a sinister smile. "Just imagine, with her straining to keep me contained in this little room she forgot to check where the student she most loathed to let me see was. My, who could ever foresee that happening?" she says in a mocking and playful tone to Scáthach.
Scáthach's focus snaps back to The Morrígan who turns to Harry with a cruel smile. The Witch-Queen quickly conjures a replica of her divine weapon as the Morrígan speaks one last damning time, "Has she told you, Harry? How the two of you-" she says before Scáthach charges her, aiming to drive her spear through The Morrígan's head to shut her up. But as the tip of the spear touches the queen of the Celtic gods, she vanishes into darkness before reappearing behind Harry as he picks himself off of the ground and uses him as a shield before she leans in and whispers into his ear.
"-share a bond deeper than blood?" The Morrígan whispers but it feels like it echoes like a blasting curse down the stone corridors of the school just before the Morrígan vanishes once more with a malicious giggle.
Leaving student and teacher standing together in the corridors; one in shock and the other in anguish.
Chapter done.
Surprise bitches! A few days earlier and I still plan on releasing the following chapter this week!
In this chapter, we see that Harry's anger issues don't just stem from the hunt but from himself. However, the Hunt doesn't help the issue. Poor Draco popped off at the mouth and got treated like a demigod's punching bag.
I'm sure a lot of you are going to argue about why Harry got in trouble, and to that I say:
Do the crime, do the time.
Draco can say whatever he wants and not get in trouble as long as a teacher doesn't hear him, but Harry punches Draco so hard and so many times he breaks his skull. Yeah, Harry is lucky he wasn't expelled for that type of assault.
Did Draco deserve it? Absolutely.
Why Scáthach got pissed should be self-evident.
Then we got Thestral lore, and boy, do I like my spooky horses. The funny thing is that they were supposed to be native to one more place but my editor talked me out of it and gave me a few better ideas once I sat down and thought about it. But I do hope you guys pick up the breadcrumbs I left for you all to find.
Finally, FINALLY! We are getting to the connection between Scáthach and Harry! Which should be coming out this week! And of course, it was The Morrígan who spilled the beans, who didn't see that coming.
So, finally bets?
I want to hear your theories in the comments!
Kingsaxcul, Out!