quick info. if something is written like This it means it is either: 1. a flashback 2. a dream, or 3. in the characters mind/head.if it's only in dialogue it means it's a incantation of a spell.
Chapter 7: Cheer up, it's Christmas
Kiba had been plagued by nightmares night after night for the last three days. In one of them he stood in the middle of a battle, a fought between Muggels and Wizards. In the next he was on the side of the Wizards, casting spells at the Muggels with Harry and Hermione by his side. And in the third he was with the Muggels, and Faye. A gun was in his hand and he fired aimlessly into the army of Wizards. Kiba felt the conflict that was displayed in the dreams. He was a Wizard, yes. But he was, for the longest time, a Muggel from Leverton's. But he could not pick a side, and he hoped he would never have to. He had friends on both, but he couldn't live without any of them.
However, none of those nightmares could compare to the one on Christmas morning. It wasan old man that spoke to him, but he wasn't kind like Dumbledore, no not at all. He was cruel, harsh and shouted at Kiba for no reason at all. The man was tall and bald, with a long grey beard hanging from his pointy chin. He was clothed in a long black cloak with a green locket, which hung from his neck.
"how pathetic" he hissed "you could, no SHOULD have been in Slytherin. Slytherin would have made the Wizard of you that you ought to be"
"who are you?" Kiba asked "where am i?"
"the blood that runs within you, so pure, yet so…" the man turned away "you don't deserve to be it, you don't deserve to speak the language of the snakes"
"to be what?"
"The heir has been in Slytherin, always" he turned back to Kiba and leaned forward to bring his wrinkled face to his "i can smell that Gryffindor filth on you" he stood straight once again and looked into the pitch black behind Kiba. "it turned you into something you are not"
"what am i supposed to be?" Kiba asked
"NOT THIS!" the man shouted "friendships with half-bloods and Mudbloods" he spat the last word with genuine disgust "YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED!" Kiba stepped back when the man yelled once more. "your father would've been ashamed. That you would prefer to stay with those Muggles, how could my bloodline have come to this"
"who are you?"
"i will have you!" the man said with anger "you will fulfil your purpose as the heir!"
"what if i don't want to?!" Kiba had no clue what was going on, who he was talking to, or what he was taking about. Without a word the man whipped out his wand and Kiba flew towards him. He caught the boy by the throat and held him for a few seconds before slamming him to the ground, he pointed his wand at the boy and spoke
"Expulso" Kiba's breath got stuck in his throat when he felt his entire body explode in an intense moment of pain only to realize he was sitting upright in his bed with cold sweat flowing down his face. A quick look out of the window told Kiba it was very early, but he didn't want to go back to sleep. "let this be a lesson" Kiba hard the voice echo inside his head, but how could it? It was a nightmare a dream. But it felt so real, like that man was really inside his head, trying to make him do things He didn't want to. He slid out of his bed and proceeded out of his room.
"maybe i really should have been in Slytherin" he muttered. He picked up the newspaper by the door and headed into the living room, he climbed over the back of the sofa and sat down on it and opened the newspaper. He wanted to forget about his dream, push it away, say it was a lie… but it wasn't. When Kiba was sorted he already had the feeling that something was wrong with it. It did want to put him in Slytherin at first, but what did it matter? Kiba was happy to be a Gryffindor. He looked back down at the paper, realizing he had torn a page in half. He threw the paper onto the coffee table and leaned back.
Kiba decided he'd rather wait in his room for Breakfast. He climbed back over the back of the sofa and headed up the stairs, when he turned the corner however he bumped into a boy he hadn't seen before. "sorry 'bout that" Kiba said, but the smaller boy with his silver hair didn't reply however, he just smiled and continued running down the stairs. Kiba opened the sport to his room and saw that hiss bed was occupied.
"how do you do, Wolf-boy?" the girl asked, "what's with that grim face Kiba? Come on, cheer up it's Christmas"
"Fine" Kind replied giving the girl a weak smile "but why are you here this early, Faye?"
"heard you had a bad dream" she replied
"how'd you know?"
"you know, when someone yelles at the top of their lungs it's bound to wake someone. So here i am"
"so you came to check on me?"
"you could say that, and to bring you this" she reached for something behind herself and pulled out a package "got something for me?"
"of course" Kiba retrieved a box from underneath of his bed and they exchanged their gifts.
"Merry Christmas" they said simultaneously
Kiba opened his and inside was a Watch it was a Rose Gold watch with a black leather strap and a Black Bazel insert and crystal. "holy…" Kiba quickly strapped it to his inner left wrist, so that when his palm was pointed to him he could see the time.
"your weird, wearing watched like that" Faye said with a chuckle "you like it?"
"it's amazing did Mr. Kenway let you buy this?"
"yeah, they said i talked allot about you, so they wanted me to get you something"
"how much did it cost? It must be really expensive"
"somewhere around 270 pounds?"
"and i only got you a box of weird Scottish sweets, next year we will have gifts of equal prize"
"You always have to be the best right? Jelly slugs, weirdly flavoured beans, chocolate that looks like a frog, liquorice wands. What more could i ask for?" Hermione had taught Kiba a simple spell to stop the sweets from moving, and he had made sure to use it on them.
"by the way, careful with those beans" Kiba said as she opened the pack "when they say every flavour, they mean it. And some are pretty nasty"
"i don't believe that" she said as she tossed one into her mouth
"make sure to give Mr. Kenway my thanks for the watch will you?" Kiba said, returning to admiring the watch.
"i will. Eww, this one tastes like grass" she looked at Kiba who just smirked back at her with a look that said 'told you so' they broke into laughter and then geek quiet.
"Hey, Faye. There was a let-" Kiba began, he wanted to know about the letter but he was cut off by Miss Helaway who called for Breakfast. Before Kiba could continue Faye wad on her feet and out of the room, Kiba placed the watch in its box and hid it safely underneath his bed.
"you wanted to ask her about the letter right?" Hotaru asked from her spot on top of the wardrobe, "don't worry, you'll find they right time to ask her"
Kiba nodded and then left the room. He walked down the stairs, got his food and sat down art his usual table. But it wasn't just Faye and him anymore, there sat the silver haired boy, right next to him. "oh yeah, you two haven't met" Faye said "Jacob this is Kiba, Kiba this is Jacob. He's mute, only communicates in sign language"
"oh well, nice to meet you. Merry Christmas" Kiba said, the boy smiled and nodded and returned to eating his pancakes. Christmas breakfast had always been pancakes, but now that Kiba could eat pancakes every other morning at Hogwarts they didn't seem so special anymore.
"so tell me about your school" The Girl said excitedly resting her elbow on the table and leaning her head on to her hand. "i want to know it all"
"well," Kiba began, he cleared his throat trying to think of anything he could tell her "for starters there was this sorting ceremony where we got placed into our houses"
"how many options where there"
"it wasn't really options, you were sorted by the traits you displayed"
"how'd they know that?"
"erm, we took a test. They worked out our character traits by our answers. There is Slytherin, it's trait is Ambition i think. There is Hufflepuff, very loyal and kind. Ravenvlaw, intelligent and Gryffindor, the brave"
"woah, and which one are you? I think you fit in that Raven house.. or the huffledoves"
"well they said i could fit in all off them, but eventually they decided on Gryffindor for me. It was close, they could have put me in Slytherin too"
"Kay, and what kind of things did you learn?" her head was now rested on both her hands
"well we have a gardening class, fairly standard. You know, planting seeds and such. Science, in which we mix chemicals and document the reactions. We also have physics, we talked allot about the theory of levitation" Kiba felt bad, he was half lieing but telling a varied version of the truth too and Faye clung to every word. Worst of all she believed it all. "and then all the regular topics: History, wild life studies, art, and self defence"
"self defence? Sounds normal" Faye replied with a laugh
"it's more like sports, but yeah the goal is to teach us to defend ourselves. But let me tell you, our teacher is a wuss" Kiba joined Faye in her laughter and they brought their plates to the kitchen where Lucy was washing them.
"Merry Christmas you two" she said
"Merry Christmas, Sister Crawford" they replied simultaneously
The Holidays went by faster then Kiba had liked but it was worth the time he got spend with Faye even of she had spend the day after Christmas with the Kenway's. Kiba took that time to head into a local book shop to buy a book to learn sign language, in Jacob kinda could see a opportunity for a new friend so he wanted to learn to communicate with him. And to be fair, Jacob seemed to like the older boy. However, Kiba never managed to ask Faye about the letter. Every time he tried to, someone would interrupt him a dd before he knew it he was on the train back to Hogwarts with Hermione.
"how were your holidays?" Hermione asked
"it was good, though it felt different then it used to" Kiba replied
"i know what you mean, back among Muggels" she smiled "but it must be harder for you. Not being able to tell anyone"
"it's alright, i can tell them the things that don't involve magic as for the rest i can just change the truth a bit" Kiba replied "i said potions was science, and that Charms was Physics"
"clever, you found anything about Flamel?"
"i checked all my books, i didn't have a chance to go to Diagon Alley, came up with nothing. You?"
"nothing" she replied, shaking her head. "i hope Harry and Ron found something" the two looked out of the window with hope, the hope that they weren't already to late. That Snape hadn't already stolen what ever it was, or worse had done something to Harry or Ron. "Hey Kiba, what's that?" Hermione pointed to his bag, rather to something that was protruding from a pocket on the side.
"this?" Kiba pulled out the sealed envelope and showed it to Hermione
"yeah"
"i don't know" Kiba replied as he looked down upon the name that was written on the envelope 'Kiba' it read, just his first name, in red ink.
"it was in your basket the day you came to us" Lucy said "i was told that you would go to a school called Hogwarts, and that i was to give it to you on your first Christmas when you are in said school" she handed Kiba the envelope"who gave you those instructions?" Kiba asked"i.. I'm not supposed.. i can't tell you" Lucy replied, she looked terrified when she spoke
"Kiba?" Hermione snapped her finger pulling Kiba back to reality "who send you that?"
"i don't know, it was in my basket. The day i came to Leverton's" Kiba replied "Sister Crawford was instructed to give it to me during my first Hogwarts year"
"then you should open it, there must be a good reason" Hermione said, and she was probably right but Kiba refused to open it and stuffed it back into the pocket. The envelope seemed new but old at the same time, and Kiba had a feeling that he wouldn't like what was written inside. What ever truths it held, or lies, Kiba didn't care. He never wanted to find out. Hermione couldn't hide her concern, a mysterious letter without a sender was a bad sign, even in the world of wizards but there was something else on Kiba's mind.
"say Hermione, so you know something about 'the Language of Snakes'?" he asked
"erm, yeah" she replied "one of the founders of Hogwarts, Salazar Slytherin, was, what is called a Parselmouth" Hermione looked up at the boy who continued stareing out the window "Parseltounge is the Language of the snakes"
"and a Parselmouth is someone who speaks it" Kiba finished her sentence
"I'm not sure how it works, i think it happens unconsciously" Hermione added "why?"
"no reason, i had a dream where it was mentioned"
"you don't deserve to speak the language of the snakes""shut up! How are you here?""you're a disgrace""Get out of my head!"
"- but if it was just a dream, then i wouldn't dwell on it" He heard Hermione say
"yeah, you're right" Kiba replied even though he had only heard the end of it. He was probably just imagining things, maybe because he was hungry. Not long now and he would be feasting in the great hall again. Or he would be by the warm fire in the common room with Harry and Hermione, or in his comfortable four poster getting a good night's sleep. But sleep had to wait, Harry had found a magical artefact called 'The Mirror of Erised' which showed ones deepest most desperate desire. Kiba was fascinated and couldn't stop thinking about what it might show him, but Hermione was furious. She couldn't believe Harry had not used his invisibility cloak, which he had gotten for Christmas, to get into the restricted section.
"but i did" Harry protested "and the bloody book screamed at me, i would've been caught had i not made a run for it" but Flamel and the mirror both weren't the most important thing on Harry's mind. He had a Quidditch match coming up, and Snape was refereeing. "this is… this is just… just absolute.." Harry stammered
"bullshit?" Ron said, finishing Harry's sentence
"don't swear" Hermione hissed at Ron
"Torment wound describe it better anyways" Harry said "if Snape tries to do something you'll stop him, right?" he asked, looking towards Kiba more then Ron
"what can Snape do?" Kiba asked "i mean as long as other teachers are around, and especially Dumbledore you'll be fine"
"can't you just say you're sick our something?" Ron asked ignoring Kiba's statement "you must have a reserve seeker right?" Harry shook his head in defeat
"no. Besides, if i dropped out Wood would be furious" he said, "Neville?" Neville had appeared out of no where, he hopped into the common room and shortly after fell flat on his face.
"please help, Malfoy used the Leg-Locker curse on me" The frantic boy said trying to get back onto his feet, Kiba was fastest to react and pointed his wand at Neville's knees. The tip of his wand was illuminated with a purple glow and Neville was free.
"I'm off to bed" Kiba said
"really? can't you see Harry needs our help?" Ron called after him
"Dumbledore is going to be at every match from now" Kiba called back "you'll be fine" and with those final words he disappeared at the top of the spiral staircase and entered the first years dorm.
"he's right, you know" Hermione added "Snape won't try anything when Dumbledore is around"
"see you at the game, Kiba?" Hermione asked after their charms class the next day
"yeah" he replied "wouldn't miss out Harry showing Snape what he is made of" he gently punched Harry's shoulder, but at the same time he saw something dash around the corner in front of them.
"where you going?" Ron asked
"something i gotta do, I'll be at the game later" the brown-red haired boy assured. Kiba followed to soft tapping noises, it was undoubtedly a animal.
"which way? Which way?" he heard it say repeatedly. It was a make voice, though quite high pitched. He sounds very excited, maybe it was a hyperactive Rat. But no, the creature that he saw slip around the corner was larger then a Rat and had white fur. Kiba followed the voice, and noises until it came into view. The white and brown furred creature was sniffing through the corridors, from one wall to the other.
It was undoubtedly a young Crups, a Dog with a forked tail and a sort of goatee by which their age can be identified. The hair that had grown on the creatures chin wasn't very long, which ment it must be still quite young. "are you lost?" Kiba asked. The dog whipped his head around as trotted towards the boy.
"you smell of Muggel" he barked
"i know, and i know your kind isn't very fond of Muggels" Kiba said as he squatted low. He extended his hand and let the Dog sniff it "yet you haven't answered my question"
"did you… Understand me?" the dog asked in disbelief "by my tail, you do!" Kiba shrugged his shoulders and gently patted the dogs head. "i am, infact, lost"
"are you from the Care of Magical Creatures Reservoir?" Kiba asked, the dog nodded and wagged it's forked tail happily "i can take you there, come on" Kiba rose and walked with the Dog beside him, getting the occasional weird glance from other students.
"what's your name?" The dog asked when they had finally found their way out of the castle
"Kiba, and yours?"
"I'm referred to as: Lancelot" the Crups said proudly "how come your a Gryffindor?" Kiba stopped dead in his tracks
"sorry, what did you say?" he asked
"i was just curious. You seem more like a Hufflepuff to me" Lancelot whined "i didn't mean to offend"
"don't worry, i was just thinking of something" Kiba replied as he resumed to walk "how come you know about the houses?"
"Well, i get to watch the lessons you have. And sometimes I'm the subject" Lancelot held his head high and jumped a bit "you pick up on things that way"
"i guess, but why Huffelpuff?" Kiba asked, filled with curiosity to know Lancelot's view of the houses
"well, i think a Ravenclaw would have walked past, and a Slytherin too but they might add an insult or laugh about my 'stupidity'. A Gryffindor would probably give directions, but Hufflepuff's are usually the kindest. Like you, they would offer to take me back to where i belong" he explained, meanwhile they had arrived at the entrance to the reservoir.
"i hope you find your way from here" Kiba said stopping by the gate "First years aren't allowed in"
"i will find my way from here, thank you very much" the Crups licked Kiba's hand as a sign of gratitude and proceeded through the gate "i hope to see you again, Kiba" Kiba smiled and waved as Lancelot disappeared in the thicket of the forest.
"oh man!" Kiba shouted when he took a look at his watch "I'm late for the game" without wasting another second he ran, through the vast corridors of the castle to get to the other side, to the Quidditch pitch. But the Quidditch pitch was empty, as were the stands. "I'm barely seven minutes late" Kiba murmured when he turned back to head for the common room
"Kiba!" he heard a voice call for him "Kiba you won't believe this," it was Harry, he came running from the broom shed "where are Ron and Hermione?"
"in the common room probably, i missed the game" Kiba replied
"it didn't even last five minutes, come on" Harry continued running and Kiba followed suit until they reached the fat lady and entered the common room.
"Kiba, there you are!" Ron exclaimed "you should've seen Harry go out there. He really showed it to Snape!"
"oh yeah," Hermione burst out "listen, we found Flamel" the three quickly brought Kiba up to speed, and then Harry told them what he had just heard in the forbidden forest.
"so he tried to steal the stone from Gringots, then from Hogwarts at Halloween. And now he's going to strike again?" Kiba asked
"yeah," Harry replied "but he needs something, probably a spell, from Quirrell"
"as long as that bumbling idiot keeps quiet, we have time" Hermione added
"it'll be gone tomorrow" Kiba spat, the others agreed with knowing nods.
"all we can do for now is hope. Hope that Quirrell hangs on top his ba-" Hermione punched Ron's shoulder hard to stop him from swearing.
"we have to focus on our classes to, don't forget about that" she said "we can think of ways to stop Snape in the afternoon"
