Chapter 17 is out! Our boys are finally back at Hogwarts!
Scala ad Caelum
Chapter 17: Different Year, Same Problems
Ronald Weasley POV
Sunday 31st August, 1992 (The Burrow) - Before dawn
The day had finally come; after a long holiday, it was time to go back to Hogwarts.
But, just as every year, there were things that wouldn't ever change. "Fred and George!" Molly shrieked. "I swear if you aren't here in the next minute, you'll be spending the whole year with me; and trust me, those are loads of hours to clean this house from bottom to top!"
"Your mother sure looks scary when she wants," Gerd whistled, from atop of the redhead's shoulder.
"Yep, thankfully for me, those scary moments are directed towards the twins most of the time," Ron whispered back. Back in his first year of school, before getting sorted, Ron would have been another one to be yelled at; but one entire year in the house of the snakes had been enough to make him wake up earlier. Merlin, now that I think about it, tomorrow I'll be waking up because of thar stupid alarm charm…, man, I really hate that shitty spell.
"Wouldn't that be such a way to waste our talents," George argued back, stepping out of the house with a big smile on his face. "I mean, how would dear Freddy and I turn into prefects if we were to be grounded for a whole year?"
"Sharp as always, Forge," Fred supported him, appearing right behind his twin brother. "We can't let good ol Percy be the last prefect of the family!"
"Oh, you just didn't do that, right?" Ron groaned, covering his ears in anticipation.
Fifteen minutes later, the whole family, except for the matriarch, was on their way to King's Cross, with Arthur driving a magically expanded car. "Dad, now that mum isn't here, why don't you take us to the station by flying this car?" Fred suggested, his ears still red after the incredible tugging Molly had given to them.
"Don't even think about it," Arthur answered, his gaze set on the road. "If a single muggle saw us, it would be the end of my career at the Ministry; and on top of that, your mother would kill me…"
They currently were at some intersection, with the car stopped because of some red light; but thanks to being on the window seat, Ron used that time to observe all the muggles around them. They sure are a curious bunch... How the hell can they live without magic? I know that Hermione and Tracey told me they were pretty clever…, but how?
Despite those questions, another thought entered his mind as soon as he caught a glimpse of some blue bird flying around the car. During the whole summer, Gerd had been pretty calm, what meant she hadn't suffered from one of her mood changing crisis; in fact, she has been very happy and lively during the whole time; except for those hours when she had to tutor Ron, but the redhead understood her; he would probably lost his temper if he had to tutor himself.
It was true that by the end of the first year, after the whole debacle with the Stone and what happened in the chambers, Ron promised to himself that he was going to ask her about what was wrong; but because of her good mood, and his fear to know some harsh truth, he had ended up putting it off. As soon as something weird happens, I'm going to question her; and this time there won't be any running from it…
For once in their lives, they managed to get to King Cross on time; just as most of the families said goodbye to their children or siblings. "Can't believe we don't have to be in a rush this year," Arthur sighed, walking through the barrier with Ginny.
"Mum sure made her best to make it possible," George groaned. "My ears are still hurting…, what a way to tug from them…"
As his father said something to Ginny, the youngest son of the family looked around, trying to recognise some familiar faces; but there was none of them. Daphne and the others must already be on the train, and knowing how Sirius is, Harry will jump on the train at the last second.
"Don't worry about little Gin, dad; we'll take care of her," Fred promised. "As long as we are there, she will be the Queen of Gryffindor."
"You better don't prank my yearmates," Ginny told him, sending the twins a dark glance.
"Don't worry about them, Ginny; they won't do a thing, right?" Arthur reassured her. "Your mum isn't here, but that doesn't mean you have a free card to do whatever you want this year, am I clear? I don't want any more letters from Professor McGonagall."
"Of course, dad!" They both answered, before hopping into the train.
"Merlin, they are gonna make me go bald in a few years," he sighed. "Now, about you, Ron; just don't get into fights with your housemates, please; especially, after what happened between me and Lucius Malfoy. And watch over your sister, please."
"You don't have to ask about it, that's a given," Ron answered.
"I don't need anyone to look after me!" Ginny complained. "I can take care of myself now that I have my wand!"
"Of course you can," Ron told her, as he grabbed her vault in one hand, and his in the other. "What are you going to do if you don't even know any spell yet? Poking their eyes with your wand? Come on, don't look at me like that, Gin, I'm just joking; let's get into the train before everyone starts to hop into it; we need to find a nice cabin for you."
Unlike the past year, there were many empty cabins; that, and the fact the corridors were transitables. "Where is Percy?" Ginny asked. "He was the first to get into the train without waiting for us."
"He must be at one of his prefect's meetings."
"And the twins? Can I go with them?"
"I wouldn't do that."
"Why?"
"Because it would be better if you could meet people of your year," Ron explained. "I was just like you the past year, but I went on my own and ended up meeting Harry Potter."
"Oh, right… yeah, that makes sense."
"That was really smooth, Ron," Gerd pointed out, gliding through the corridor just in front of them. "I can't believe the boy I met years ago is the one talking."
Why do you always sound so surprised? It is not that hard to understand; actually, Ginny and Daphne are very alike now that I think about it; they just need someone to tell them they can't do something and they'll do it just to prove them wrong; man, girls are so hard to understand… Now that they were in the Gryffindor section, Ron kept looking for Harry, but the boy wasn't anywhere.
"Ron! We are here!" The familiar voice of Hermione called him; the girl was inside a cabin, with her robes already on her. "Oh, hello, Ginny; I didn't remember this was going to be your first year."
"Hey, Hermione," Ron greeted back. "Have you seen Harry?"
"No, but it isn't strange; I can't imagine Sirius being punctual; and Neville isn't here either."
"Oh, it's true, he was grounded during almost the whole summer right?"
"Yes, I honestly can't imagine what he did to deserve it."
"Dunno."
"Hey, weren't we looking for some empty cabin for me?" Ginny piped in, tugging from the end of his sweater.
"Oh, I think we just found one," Ron told her. "Look, I need to get into the Slytherin section before the older students start to wander around; so, can you stay with her until you see some first year around, Hermione? I really need to go."
"Oh, I see; yeah, I can do that," she answered.
Ignoring the not so friendly look his sister sent him, the redhead made his way towards the Slytherin section. To be honest, he really wanted to talk with his friends once again; it had been very tough at the start, but now, after three months without them, he really missed those snakes.
Just as he imagined, they already were in a cabin; at least some of them. "Hey, it's been a while," Ron greeted them, as soon as he got inside.
Daphne and Blaise didn't even bother answering, they just nodded at him; the girl with her eyes set on a book, and the boy trying to sleep, with his head leaning on the window. "Really? After three months that's the best I can get?"
"I came back home from Italy very late yesterday," Blaise groaned. "I'm in no mood to greet anyone right now; especially, if they are loud and tall redheads."
"I'm reading," Daphne just said, as if that was the most valid reason.
"Whatever," Ron huffed, taking a seat by Blaise's side. "Where is Tracey? She's the only one who knows how to greet a friend…"
"Come on, stop crying," Daphne sighed. "She must be saying goodbye to her brother; they always take some minutes."
"How was your summer, Daphne?"
"Nothing too extraordinary. We travelled to some countries for a few weeks, but once I came back home, I realised how boring it was when comparing it to Hogwarts."
"Really? I would say doing nothing was the only thing I wanted after those weeks of exams."
"Speak for yourself; it is true those days weren't very…, friendly at all, but I've been going to classes during summers for a few years now, so having to spend so much time studying didn't bother me so much; after all, I knew that as soon as I was finished with the school year, I was going to keep having lectures."
"Damn, it doesn't matter how many times I say this, but you purebloods are barmy."
"It is called ambition, you should write that word down in your notebook."
"I know what it means; do I have to remember who finished as the fourth and fifth best student here? Sorry, but I can't really hear you from the top."
"Oh, come on, shut up, Weasley; it is only one place above mine."
"You both should really shut up," Blaise piped in. "Merlin, you are giving me a headache before the year has even started; gotta be a new record…"
Soon enough, the train started to move, and Tracey made her appearance. "Hey, hey, hey!" The brunette almost exclaimed, getting inside the cabin. "Why are you so quiet? I mean, from Blaise I was kinda expecting it; but you two should be fighting like no tomorrow after so many months without seeing each other."
"We already did," Daphne shrugged it off.
"I'm trying to sleep here, thanks," Blaise pointed out.
"It was about time for you to come, I was starting to lose my head here with these two," Ron smiled. "How was your summer?"
"Pretty normal, I guess. Spent some weeks outside England, played plenty of times with my brother, visited some relatives of mine… those kinds of things."
In the end, they took pity on Blaise and let the boy sleep; meanwhile both Ron and Tracey chatted about the holiday as Daphne read her book. When they reached the station in Hogsmeade, the whole group got out of the train and made their way towards the carriages; which were pulled from some kind of invisible force. "I forgot only the first years take the boats," Tracey pointed out, once they all were seated inside of it.
"It was incredible," Daphne smiled. "Your brother will be attending the school next year, right?"
"Yep, just like Astoria."
"This is my sister's first year," Ron told them. "I'm a bit nervous for her, but I'm sure she'll do fine."
"The one you often sent letters to?" Daphne asked.
"Don't have another one, but yeah, she is the one."
"Will we be blessed with another Weasley in Slytherin?"
"No way," the redhead snorted. "That ain't happening again; I'm the special one."
"You've come a long way, Ron," Blaise piped in, still quite sleepy. "I still remember your first days with us; hell, there were nights you cried like a baby; and now look at you, joking about it."
"I did not cry!"
"Wait, did you really cry?" The two girls asked, smirking at him.
"I didn't! Don't ever believe all the crap Blaise says about me; he is just jealous."
"Of course," Blaise snorted. "To be honest, he didn't cry that often; just the first night."
Yeah, that's what friends are for, the redhead thought, as the girls laughed at him. In no time, they were at the castle, and Ron found himself smiling; yeah, he had missed it greatly. "Well, you little snakes already know how things work!" Daniel exclaimed at them, as the boy placed himself in front of the second year's group. "I lost the raffle for the second straight year, so I have to guide you and all that crap. This is quite easy, you just have to walk into the Great Hall, and take a seat at our table; you can do it, right? Well, if you think so, let's go!"
"He has a talent to irk me as soon as I see him," Daphne muttered.
"I think he is cool," Ron said. "A bit presumptuous and cocky, but cool."
"Aha."
"Come on, you only dislike him because he told you to sod off last year."
"Ah, isn't that reason enough?"
Fortunately for him, the argument ended as soon as they stepped into the Great Hall. Yeah, I've definitely missed being here… It didn't matter this was his second opening ceremony, the place was as incredible as it was the past year. But this time, they didn't need to stand in the middle of it, waiting for McGonagall to call their name so they could get sorted; instead, they just took a seat at their table, and waited for the first year to come.
"I wonder what kind of people the newbies are going to be..." Tracey pondered.
"Pretty lame, probably," Blaise answered.
"Why do you talk as if you were sixteen or something? You were in their shoes a year ago; the older students probably think the same of you."
"Do you really have to be so blunt?"
"He isn't here," Ron muttered, out of a sudden.
"What…, do you mean?" Tracey sent him a weird look.
"Harry, he isn't at the Gryffindor table, and the first years are about to come in."
Even though his friends told him he was worrying because of nothing, the redhead didn't feel the same; especially, when knowing a house-elf had visited Harry this summer to tell him bad things were going to happen at Hogwarts. That was supposed to be a joke… but can this be related to it? I think I'm exaggerating here; he might have been late to catch the train thanks to Sirius; but I can't ignore what the elf said right now; bad things were going to happen this year… but they weren't related to Him, so it can't be that bad…
A sudden elbow on the ribs from Daphne pulled him out of his thoughts. "Drop it already," the blonde whispered to him. "It is not normal to worry so much about something as stupid as what probably happened to him; unlees you know something I don't, do you?"
"I know nothing," Ron muttered back. "It must be something stupid as you say."
"You don't meet other people's eyes when you don't tell the truth, Ronald. You've gotten way better since the start of last year, but you still have a long way to go."
"Shite, there should be nothing to worry about, okay? I'll tell you after the sorting, back in the common room."
"You better…"
The students started to walk into the Great Hall; they were just a bunch of nervous and sweating kids. "We weren't that lame last year, right?" Blaise asked, totally serious.
"We totally were, Blaise," Nott said, from his spot in the table, a few seats away from their group. "But not that much, or so I like to think."
He seems to be in a good mood today. But the conversation didn't go on, because the professor started to call for the students; there were a pair of siblings, Alaine and Hector Baldwin, who were sorted into different houses; then, a funny looking guy named Colin Creevey was the first Gryffindor of the day; and so, student after student was sorted into one of the four Houses.
"Don't you think that girl looks…, a bit weird," Tracey pointed out, looking at a blond girl.
"Oh, her name is Luna Lovegood," Ron answered, after recognising her. "She is one of the few magical children who lives around my house; and yes, she is a bit…, barmy. But, I mean, it is hard to explain… her mother died in some accident, and from what my sister told me… she was there to see it… so, yeah, her life's been a hell."
"Oh," the two girls of the group muttered, the mood completely ruined.
Finally, it was time for Ginny to get sorted; as soon as her name was called, she stepped forward with a confident stride. Ten seconds was the time the Hat needed to announce her as a new member of Gryffindor; and when the lion's table clapped, Ron also did it, trying to ignore some not very subtle looks some of the younger Slytherins were sending him. Honestly, haven't they heard her surname? Bloody hell, I can't even clap for my sister in this madhouse…
"Potter isn't at his table," the voice of Malfoy resounded. "I really hope I can say that every day; would be the best way to start the year."
Just as every time the blond talked, his two gorillas, Crabbe and Goyle, let out a loud guffaw, just as Parkinson giggled like a silly girl. "If there is one thing I haven't missed is hearing Pansy's laugh," Blaise groaned. "How can someone follow another person so blindly, especially when he probably doesn't know of your existence; or doesn't care, most likely."
"It is the way her parents educated her," Daphne explained, as she poured some food on her plate. "The Parkinsons aren't a very powerful family, but they are still part of the Sacred Twenty-Eight; that is why they need to link themselves with other Houses which are more important than them. With Nott being…, well, the way he is, the only valid candidate is Malfoy; but when we were little, she tried to befriend other heirs from foreign families, like my cousin or Alexander."
"Don't remind me of those times," Blaise complained.
"You sure have loads of stories together," Ron pointed out.
"That is how us purebloods work," Daphne answered. "We socialize with other purebloods children of our age, so we can get to know them before Hogwarts; but it is also a way for our parents to build relationships."
"Yep, but thankfully for me, those days are over," Blaise sighed. "Our group was rather awful. Malfoy was the only male whose House was powerful enough to assume the leadership of our group; and if that wasn't enough, you had to put up with Daphne and Parkinson fighting to be the female leader everyday. At least those fights were funny sometimes, but then you had people like Crabbe, Goyle or Bulstrode, who just stood there without uttering a single word of importance, just following what the others said."
"Didn't the group break apart because of some kind of fight?" The redhead asked, trying to remember some past conversation.
"Yeah, it was between some American guy and Nott," Blaise nodded, his voice much lower now. "Don't ever mention what happened to Nott, or he might snap."
"Don't worry, he's freaked me out enough times for my entire life."
"I've heard that story before, but…, why did the group break after that?" Tracey piped in. "I mean, a fight between children seems like a pretty trivial thing."
"We aren't supposed to lose control in front of others like those two did," Daphne said. "Those two did it, and because of that, some of our parents broke relationships between them, and for that, we were grounded the summer before our first year. Things were difficult, but not irreparable; until a certain not so clever redhead made an appearance, that's it."
"Me? Why was I so important?"
"Because you gave us an excuse to ally ourselves with you. You were doing very well in classes, and didn't have many objections with helping us; because of that, you gave us the perfect chance to leave our original group for good; and since my parents didn't really like the Malfoys and Notts, they didn't have many problems with my decision."
"My mother told me that as long as Daphne is in the group she had no objections," Blaise added.
"Merlin, you sound like you've lived far more years than I," Ron whistled. "The most exciting thing that happened to me was attending a Chudley Cannons game."
The feast ended after a few hours, and all the students followed the prefects towards their respective common rooms; soon enough, Ron found himself laying on his bed, the curtains already closed. "Here we are once again," he muttered to the air. "A new year is gonna start, and Harry went missing on the very first day; on top of that, Daphne wants to interrogate me because I can't lie for my bloody life; at least, I can ask her if she somehow knows something about that house-elf named Dobby."
The morning came, and even before the alarm charm could sound, the redhead was dead awake, rolling from side to side on the bed. Screw it, I don't have any classes until the middle of the morning, I'll go for a walk to see if I can relax. He put on some comfy clothes and got out of the room without making too much noise.
The fresh air of the morning hit him right in the face, and it felt nice. Walking around the castle's terrains has been one of his favourite things to do back during the past year; and one of the things he had missed the most. In no time, the boy found himself at his usual spot, near the border of the Forest, where he usually trained and practised. Well, let's warm up a bit…
The redhead just practised every spell he had 'mastered', trying to improve his accuracy and control; after half an hour, Ron found himself sweating, but not tired at all. "You couldn't sleep, right?" The familiar voice of Gerd almost made him jump. The Essentia was observing him from atop of a tree, with a warm smile on her face.
"Yep," Ron answered, "I've realised something, you know? I'm a bit tired, but even after all the work I've put in this morning, I feel like I can keep going; I feel even better than when I finished the training on the holiday."
"Of course, both your body and magical core are getting used to the work."
"If that is all I need to get better, is there any way to train my magical core?"
"Not really, it isn't as simple as that."
"Care to elaborate? For the not so clever people, you know what I mean?"
"Come on, don't start that soon," Gerd sighed. "The magical core is what makes us different from the non magical people, and it allows us to manipulate and use the energy known as magic. It allows us to use nature's magic, but it also contains our own, which is the one we often use, and the reason why we get so 'magically tired' after a training session like the ones you do. Magical core, mind, body, instinct, experience… they all go hand in hand, and to improve and develop your skills as a wizard, you need to work on everything."
"How 's so? I don't really get it."
"From what we believed in my times, the magical core of a wizard is the main source of magic, and just like every other part of a person's body, it grows up until a certain point; up to it, you could say is some kind of exponential grow, but it varies in each individual; now, just as muscles or the cognitive skills, it can develop more than that, but with a great amount of effort and time. There are wizards whose core, just thanks to their genetics or natural talents, can store more magic than others; just as others can manipulate the magic around them with ease; or just as others have a better, and natural, understanding of how to control their magic in a more efficient way."
"Back to the first point," Gerd went on. "The thing is a well trained body can put up with the efforts way better, especially when performing wandless magic, because that is when a wizard uses his own body as a conductor. A well trained mind allows the wizard to have more possibilities, granting him a better understanding of magic in general and a bigger repertory of things to do. Experience allows the wizard to use the best option for each situation, so it prevents unnecessary waste of magic; it doesn't matter if during a fight, a wizard was to be more powerful than his opponent, because if he couldn't use his magic in an efficient way, he would lose most of the times. And lastly, those persons with inborn talent for magic can usually use it to make up for the lack of the other basic things."
"Woah, you really should be our profesor of Defence," Ron whistled. "That was a bit too much, but thanks to the way you put it, even if there were things I couldn't understand, I feel like I can grasp the general idea."
"Well, you think my explanation was great? You aren't telling me anything new," Gerd proudly said.
"Sod it off," Ron sighed. "I need to take a shower before classes… Merlin, today is gonna be a loooong day…"
"How 's so?"
"Daphne wants to talk with me, and I don't even know what happened to Harry yesterday."
"Good luck, I guess."
Just like the first year, Mondays were packed as hell, but at least, they didn't have a double period of History of Magic as the first thing in the morning; in fact, the Transfiguration class had been quite nice and relaxing. Professor McGonagall had told them to turn a beetle into a button, something quite easy to get used to the subject; despite that, Ron had a bit of problems with the task, just like most of the students.
Then, right before launch came Herbology, and there, the redhead learnt that Mandrakes were a pain in the ass, for real. Professor Sprout made it look easy, but when the plants started to kick and move around, getting them into the pots turned out to be one of the hardest things the boy had ever done. "What the hell is wrong with these things?" Daphne complained, as she hammered a Mandrake into the pot, her lady manners totally gone.
"Don't move so much, bloody plant," Ron cursed, imitating her.
In the end, they all ended up with their faces dirtied, but Sprout congratulated them for the good work. "This sure was such a nice welcoming class," Blaise commented, once they all were making their way towards the Great Hall.
"I now understand why there aren't any of those devils in my manor's gardens," Daphne muttered. "I need to take a shower before launch, there is no way I'm going to the Great Hall like this."
"I'm going with you," Tracey piped in.
"Yeah, count me in; what about you, Ron?" Blaise asked.
"Go ahead, there is something I need to do," Ron told them.
The redhead had caught a glimpse of Harry at the courtyard, and even though the boy seemed to be fuming about something, Ron's questions couldn't wait any longer. "Harry!" He called. "What happened to you yesterday? I didn't see you at the sorting ceremony, and that had me worried for the entire night."
"Hello to you, too," Harry said, with a sour voice.
"Damn, what happened? Why are you so gloomy?"
"I swear Lockhart is going to make me lose my head; and if that wasn't enough, I just had the first fight of the year with Malfoy."
"Is he really still giving you trouble?"
"You bet, isn't he the same with you anymore?"
"Not really…"
"Actually, there is something I realised back during the fight between your dad and Malfoy's," Harry said, now more thoughtful than moody. "He didn't pester you like he did with me; you two just glared at each other very strongly."
"I was waiting for him to do something stupid; but now that you mention it, is true it's been long since the last time we had a real fight. I think Professor Snape gave him a very…, convincing lecture about not fighting with other students of Slytherin, and he's been scared since that."
"I see…"
"But screw Malfoy and his bloody goons; what the hell happened to you yesterday?" Ron asked.
"Oh, it was something very weird. I was going to get through the barrier when…, well, I just couldn't; yeah, I know it sounds strange, but let me finish. The thing is I lost the train, so Sirius had the great idea of getting me to the castle by broom; the worst part isn't that we were late, it was the fact Snape was the one ro receive us; and I found out, in the worst possible way, that those two hate each other, like really, really hate… So, as expected, I ended up getting some detentions."
"Bloody hell," the redhead cursed. "What a day, eh? But, why couldn't you get through the barrier? This is the first time I've ever heard about something like that…"
"I have one guess, but I'd love for it to not be true; and you know about it too…"
"The…, house-elf who visited you this summer? The one that didn't want you to attend the school?"
"Yeah, he really tried loads of things to fulfill his objective, but the last one was pretty lame, so he must be getting desperate."
"We can't really have a nice year, eh?" Ron sighed; it hasn't been one day and his mind was already about to explode with all the things that could happen this year.
"Pff, and we didn't even go to one of Lockhart's classes," Harry mumbled.
"Wanna go back to the Great Hall? At least there is nice food there."
"No way, I'm trying to avoid some Gryffindor first year; he is a good kid, but he's like my biggest fan; and he is carrying a camera around just to take pictures of me, can you believe it?"
"Mate, it sucks to be you, really…"
If there was something that hadn't changed from last year, it was how delicious the food was. The Great Hall was as packed as always, but it was way louder; after all, this was the first day of a new school year, and the students had many things to talk about; including the new profesor of Defence. "What are you expecting from his classes?" Tracey asked. "Gilderoy Lockhart, I mean; we have the last period with him today."
"I just don't want to die from boredom like last year," Blaise said. "I wonder what Quirrell is doing right now, not giving classes anymore, or so I hope…"
"Come on, that's all?" Tracey looked at him weirdly. "We are having a very famous wizard and that's all you are going to say?"
"I don't like him," Ron piped in. "He's too full of himself, and he is barmy."
"Actually, I don't know what to think either," Daphne admitted. "I read his books and thought they were fantastic; all his adventures were incredible, and I really liked them. But when I told my uncle about him being our Defence professor, he started to laugh at it; and my father couldn't stop insulting the Headmaster for a whole week after hearing who was going to be the new teacher."
"Really?" Tracey asked. "Well, I guess we'll find out about it in a few hours…"
There weren't any words in Ron's vocabulary to describe how awful Lockhart's first class had been; the man didn't seem to be right on the head, but what had happened was completely absurd, to say the least. "Yeah, this year really looks great," Blaise mutterd, practically fuming.
The class had just ended, but all the students were still pretty furious. "Honestly, what the hell was that man thinking?" Daphne almost shrieked; the Cornish Pixies had taken an especial interest in her hair, and the girl was so angered, that smoke seems to be pouring out from her head. "Did you see how fast he left the class after freeing those demons out of their jail? Argh, now I'll have to brush my hair for hours…"
"We should be thankful those creatures were rather pathetic," Ron piped in. "We could control them pretty easily, at least."
"Of course you would say that," Blaise grunted. "Mr Ronald Weasley, alias Freezing Charm over here, Knockback Jinx over there… Honestly, do you know where you can put that stupid smile of yours?"
"Damn, didn't know you could lose your temper like that," Ron smirked. It was true those little devils had annoyed the hell out of him at first, but they were so quick and irritating, that the redhead found in them the best targets possible to practise his aim; and after some minutes of failure after failure, the results had been pretty good.
It could sound pretty lame and childish, but one of the best things of training and practising magic so hard was how other people looked at you with different feelings; admiration and jealousy among them… And there wasn't anyone more used to those feelings than Ron himself; after all, he had always admired how awesome his older brothers were; just as he had always been jealous of them.
"It was pretty good," Daphne admitted. "But those creatures still toyed with you, just as they did with us."
"Eh, can't you cut me some slack? They were fast as hell! Not only that, they were so small that it was almost impossible to hit them. But, did you see how a bunch of them raised Goyle from the floor just by tugging from his underwear? Highlight of the day, I swear."
"That was a mental image I didn't need, you stupid," Daphne muttered.
"I wish I could have seen that," Tracey mumbled.
"You three can do whatever you want, but I'm off to my bedroom," Blaise told them. "See you at dinner."
"He is really pissed, eh?" Ron whistled.
"Honestly, can't say he shouldn't be," Tracey said. "And I think I'm following him; I'm not pissed at all or something like that, but that class basically was an entire hour of running for me; my body will appreciate some rest…"
"You guys sure need to work a bit on your stamina," Ron sighed, as the brunette crossed a corner. "But whatever, I'll just go for a walk until dinner is served."
"Not that fast," Daphne stopped him. "Don't we have something to talk about?"
Oh crap, after that last class I literally forgot about everything… The blonde wanted to know why he had been so nervous about Harry missing the sorting ceremony, and the redhead couldn't blame her; mainly, because if he hadn't used her to get some information about Nicolas Flamel, the girl wouldn't have had to experience all those traumatic memories from the Stone's chambers; but now it was too late to regret that, because she was already deep in this whole thing to not worry about it.
"Spill the beans," she practically ordered. "Why were you so worried yesterday? Has something happened during summer? Do I have to remind you I agreed to keep everything in silence just because it was the safest option?"
"No, you don't have to remind me of anything at all," Ron grunted back. "There is nothing bad happening, okay? This year there isn't any magical stone here or something like that. Harry just couldn't get through the barrier at King's Cross."
"Wait, is that even possible?"
"Looks like that, but we don't know the reason why it happened; well, there is a little thing, and I was hoping for you to help me…"
"You gotta be kidding me… after what happened last year? Do you really want to do the same?"
"Merlin, can you listen to me for a moment?" Ron complained. "I've already told you, this year there isn't anything wrong in the castle."
"Well, that was what you also thought about these dates last year."
"Oh…, do you really need to be right on everything? It is just a stupid question; do you happen to know a house-elf by the name of Dobby?"
"A…, house-elf?" Daphne asked, looking at him as if he had gone mad. "Why should I know a house-elf?"
"I don't know, you purebloods are the only ones who use them."
"That is not true; any family with a bit of money, let it be pure or half-blood, have one of them under their control; even some muggleborn families used them."
"So… you don't know about him, right?"
"Yeah, I don't have any idea; but why do you need to know that?"
"The thing is, an elf appeared at Harry's house this summer," Ron started to explain. "He just…, wanted to tell Harry how much he admired him because of defeating You-Know-Who and all that crap; but also, he had been stealing my letters and Hermione's during the whole summer, because he didn't want Harry to come here thanks to what happened last year with the Stone; you know, because the elf is a bit paranoid and all that; and don't ask me how the hell he knows about the Stone, but he did."
"And the elf did that without its master's permission?" Daphne asked. "Because that is something very, very rare; and it is such an important detail if you want to know a bit more about the elf; if he acted on his own, the elf must be property of a conservative lord, one who probably supported You-Know-Who in the last war; otherwise, I can assure you he wouldn't have risked his life to such an extreme."
It certainly was less than what Ron was hoping for, but it was something, at least. The redhead had obviously omitted the part when the elf told Harry about bad things happening at Hogwarts this year; what happened last time with the Stone was something Ron wouldn't allow to happen again; this time, the Headmaster and Professors would be the ones to know everything as soon as he had any information; after all, the Gryffindors now knew Snape wasn't the bad guy here, even if he still was a complete jerk to anyone outside of his own House.
"So, that is all?" The blonde raised a brow at him. "Given how worried you were yesterday, I thought things would be much worse; but if a house-elf is your only worry, then we are good."
"How can you be so sure?"
"If it was an elf who defied his master and acted on his own to protect Potter, then we could say he is friendly; besides, he clearly failed on his mission, so I don't think worrying about him is going to be useful. On the contrary, if he acted under his master's orders, and tricked Potter into thinking he was doing all those things to keep him safe, well, he also failed; but if that was the case, maybe he would need to keep an eye on some pureblood lords, because he has an enemy who is ready to use not very conventional methods to ruin his life."
"Did you really think about all those scenarios at this moment?"
"I mean, it is quite logical when you know how house-elves work," she shrugged it off.
"Logical my arse."
In the end, the conversation with Daphne turned out to be better than expected; not only that, the blonde girl had helped him a lot with her theories about the elf and the true purpose behind his actions.
First day of school was done, but things were just starting.
Levitt POV
Wednesday 3rd September, 1992 (Isle of Crete, Greece) - Early morning
It is the first job of this new operation and Jordan has to pair me with a fucking stranger, the allomancer cursed in his mind. But there he was, lost in the middle of some random forest in the famous island of Crete; accompanied by one of Isaac's Inquisitors, no less.
"I know you don't like me, but you should really try to put up an act," the female Inquisitor commented, probably, with a smirk under her dragon mask.
"I don't need to do that; I'm here to complete the mission, and that is what I'm going to do," Levitt replied. "You are the one with the information here, how do you see the situation?"
"The tomb should be somewhere in this forest; if we manage to feel something weird, that means this will be the correct destination; now, if we manage to sweep out the area without noticing any strange magical fluctuation, well, this won't be the place."
"If we need to cover a whole forest, why is it just the two of us here? Why don't bring a full squad of soldiers to be way more effective? Hell, if you don't trust us yet, you could have brought some of your men."
"We fully trust you, otherwise, you wouldn't be here," she explained. "We have the common soldiers exploring other locations; but from those we really suspect to be the ones, it will be us to explore them; just like we are doing right now."
So this is an important one, eh? I wonder from where did you get that information; quite precise if you ask me… The soldier ignored those thoughts and rolled up the sleeves of his black hoodie; in missions like this one, in which the soldier didn't know what he was going to find, he liked to dress as comfortable as possible; and that included some black, muggle joggers and a hoodie of the same colour, with the blue cape of the Wings of Liberty over it.
"What do you want to do?" The Inquisitor asked, after observing how the soldier readied himself.
"Take this," he answered, tossing some enchanted coin at her. "This forest is just too big, and I don't wanna work with you unless it turns out to be necessary; we will split up to cover more terrain, as soon as one of us finds something, we use the enchanted coin, okay? It won't only transmit the message, but it will also guide me to your location, and vice versa."
"I like that idea; let's do it your way."
The allomancer jumped down from the tree, and burning pewter, he started to run forward. He expanded his magical aura about twenty-five metres around him; that way, he would be able to feel something relatively notable without tiring himself too much; the bad part of doing that was announcing his presence to the world, but the chance of a wizard being in the forest was very remote, and even if there was someone, what was he going to do?
Levitt didn't like their new benefactors; it was just unnatural to fight alongside people whom you've been trying to kill a few months ago; and it was even worse when the partnership's objective was to find some aberration of nature like those Horcruxes were.
"Loyal soldiers follow orders", that had been the only constant in the allomancer's life for the past years, and you could count with the fingers of a hand the times he has hesitated to fulfill that premise; but these days, the Thai wizard couldn't help himself but doubting his Captain and the true reasons after his last contract.
Despite those thoughts, the soldier didn't halt his search; having expanded his aura to a medium range allowed him to feel the magic of some especial trees, like the ones the wandmakers used to create their works, or even unknown and little magical beasts; but the forest was just too large for the area he was covering, so he had no other option but keep running and running.
Until the familiar warmth of the enchanted coin alerted him, that's it; it had been a few hours since the search began, but the Inquisitor had been able to finally find something. Stopping for a moment, Levitt drank a vial with pewter solution, because even if the woman wasn't far from him, he wanted to cover the distance as quick as possible; and that was what the man did, running with an inhuman speed through the thick forest.
He found her sitting by the shore of some lake, in the middle of a large clearing. "What do you have?" Levitt asked, as soon as he arrived.
"You can feel it, don't you?" She just asked, her gaze still set on the blue sky.
"The air feels heavier here."
"So, you can't also tell what is wrong precisely, eh?"
"Whoever warded this place was no amateur," the soldier pointed out. "There is a freak of wards in my squad, and from the few notions she gave me, this place is under wards of hiding; probably, among a few more of different types."
"I hate wards," the woman sighed, getting up from the ground. "Do you have any idea of how to keep going?"
Levitt looked around, both with his eyes and magic. Much to his surprise, there weren't any magical fluctuations coming out from the lake, not even a very faint one; in fact, the only thing he could feel were some trees around the shore. The lake has to be some kind of decoy, it is too evident to hide something; but the only magic around here comes from the trees… even if the place was to be under wards of hiding I should be able to feel something…
The allomancer eyed the few special trees; four of them looked identical, but there was one of them slightly bigger than the rest. He walked towards it, and once he stood in front of it, the soldier tried to feel around, but there wasn't anything extraordinary. Come on, Levitt, think about what Ashley told you…
The elementary wards always had some kind of symphony with them; the hiding one being the faintest, and the protection one being the most notable. But… this tree should be…, louder if that was the case, unless… Levitt started to burn tin at a higher pace; he closed his eyes to not get blind, but he started to hear many things; some birds chirping from far away, the faint sound of the water moving because of the wind… and there it was, the faint sound of the hiding war. You probably thought you were a clever bastard, eh?
"This is the place," Levitt announced, his hand still touching the tree.
"How can you be so sure?" The Inquisitor asked, more curious than other things.
"Whoever warded this place knew he wasn't powerful enough, so he decided to bet everything on his wit."
"Are you really not going to elaborate? I thought men loved to brag about their skills."
It was really easy once you had the idea in your mind, but the difficult part was to reach said conclusion. If the wizard had used a ward of protection, whatever he was hiding would have been more secure; but doing that, the risk of getting caught was far greater, and the main drawback of those kind of wards were the same as his advantage; they were incredible useful to protect something, but if the invader turned out to be more powerful than the ward itself, it would mean nothing. Now, using only a ward of hiding meant there was nothing protecting the place; but, how would anyone raid a tomb if he didn't know it was right under his nose?
"So you ain't gonna say anything, eh?" The Inquisitor sighed. "You really are a boring partner… Whatever, it is under the tree, right?"
"Yes."
"Then, do me a favour and step aside."
The woman barely waited for him to move, and placed his hand on the tree. Its roots started to creak, just as the thick log shook, but there was no bigger change. "Damn, this tree sure is rooted here," she whistled. "I don't have time for this." Just after that, the whole tree was set ablaze from bottom to top, and once the roots started to get charred, it finally gave up.
With a happy sound, the Inquisitor yanked the whole plant out of the solid ground and raised it to the air, just to send it towards the lake; where the tree sank. In its place, just in front of them, there was some freefall; so deep that what lied at its end couldn't be seen even with enhanced senses. "Now I can feel the magic coming from the tomn," the woman commented. "That ward sure was good; such a luck to have you here, mercenary."
"Are we really gonna jump?" Levitt asked, practically ignoring her.
"I don't see any better option; are you scared of heights?"
"No, but I don't really like jumping down to a freefall, especially if it leads to what surely is a dangerous place."
"Don't worry, I'll go first," that being said, the Dragon-masked Inquisitor fulfilled her word and jumped down without giving it a second thought.
"Great idea, really," Levitt cursed.
The allomancer tossed a coin before following the woman; the abyss sure was deep, just as the darkness that enveloped everything, but after half a minute or so, his ears were able to catch the sound of the metal coin hitting solid ground; that was the signal he was waiting for. With a strong allomantic pulse, he pushed against the coin, in a way that his fall was stopped gradually until his feet hit the ground with a soft sound.
"Lumos," he chanted, and from the tip of his wand a ball of light was born. The Inquisitor wasn't around, but there was only one way to keep going through the gallery; and it was forward. After a minute of walking, he was able to meet her, right at the end of the gallery.
"I wasn't expecting this, to be honest," she commented.
"I've been in a similar place before, in Croatia," Levitt told her. "But that one was way bigger than this; and it also was well protected."
"Just like this one is going to be, or that is what my instinct is telling me."
"You don't need to be very sharp to know that."
"I guess so."
The witch sent a ball of light forward, just to expand it once it reached the middle of a big cavern. "I reckon whatever the protections of this place are, they shouldn't be far from here."
"They are usually placed at the bigger caverns, just like this one is," Levitt stated.
"Well, time to get our hands dirty, then. I guess you know about curses getting stronger with time, right? Because we will probably be facing some nasty stuff here."
"I don't think it will be anything which we can't take on; it could be hard, yes; but not impossible."
"I like the way you think," Dragon said, just before jumping down.
Levitt followed her once again, and the moment the both of them reached the middle of the chamber, it began. The walls suddenly brightened a little, but that was everything; no explosions or magical creatures storming into the cavern. "That was all?" Dragon asked, as if she was disappointed.
Only his enhanced senses allowed Levitt to hear something swiftly cutting the air; the man barely had time to dodge the projectile with a clean roll over; unfortunately for her, the Inquisitor wasn't so lucky, and the rock hit her right in the face, breaking her mask in many pieces.
The allomancer raised his head to look at the attackers, just to find four stone golems with humanoid form; two of them, the ones in the front, were way bigger than the other two, maybe around seven metres tall; meanwhile, the ones in the back were as tall as a normal human, but from the end of their arms there was a bit of smoke oozing; they had been the ones to shoot.
"Shit, I guess this was the curse protecting this place," Dragon grunted, as she spat a bit of blood. "You take the two on the right, and I do the same with the ones on the left."
Levitt didn't bother with an answer, and just unsheathed his sword as he sprinted towards the golems; the bigger one just stood in front of the sharpshooter, protecting him. So that is how you are gonna play, eh? As soon as the second projectile came at him, the allomancer dropped some coin on the ground to push against it; once in the air, from his wand was born a whip of light, and with a twist of his wrist, his attack on the weaker golem started; but just as he had imagined, the bigger one placed himself in the middle; now, what Levitt wasn't expecting was for the golem to grab the whip, pulling him towards the humanoid giant.
The golem raised his other fist, ready to destroy him in one punch, but Levitt just turned the incercy of the pulling into the perfect offence; with a sudden movement, the wizard twisted his body and redirected his trajectory towards the golem's head; before the giant could stop him, the goblin-steel sword was thrusted into his head, and without losing a single second, he jumped backwards as he aimed his wand at the creature. "Lux Gladii!" He chanted.
From above of his head, a dozen of light swords were formed, just to be launched at the monster with an incredible speed, piercing through his limbs and vital points with ease. The big brother is down, now is time for the other. As soon as Levitt landed on the ground, the smaller golem shot another projectile at him, but the wizard was expecting that; so he just dodged it and sprinted forward, ready to end the battle.
Despite that, he wasn't prepared for a giant fist to impact on his right side; the attack sent him flying towards the wall, but he managed to land with his feet on it. "Son of a bitch… that had to break some of my ribs," he cursed.
Much to his surprise, the bigger golem was standing once again, as if nothing had happened at all. How the fuck is that thing in once piece? My attack should have ended him… Even before he could act, the other big golem violently crashed against the one Levitt was facing. Seems like she is having as many problems as me. Not giving the creatures time to react, the Inquisitor created a giant spear of fire above them, just to thrust it downwards, impaling the both of them together.
"Yours doesn't want to die either, right?" Dragon asked him, coming to his side.
"It should be already over, but that thing got up as if nothing had happened," Levitt grunted in response. "And unless we do something about the big one, we can't end the smaller ones. I don't know if you've realised, but those sharpshooters won't shoot unless they get a clean one; if they manage to hit you with one of those projectiles…"
"Yeah, but I think I've figured out how to defeat those giants."
"Care to elaborate?"
"I've destroyed mine three times already," she started, as the two golems tried to free themselves from the spear. "But each time I thought it was over he just regenerated; it was at the last try that I realised he was absorbing the rock beneath him to heal its body; unless we manage to cut its healing, I don't think we will be able to end them. From what I've observed, you are a metal user, probably an enhancer since you took that punch very well, so I'm leaving the close combat for you."
So even in the middle of a fight she was able to observe me, and not only that, but she was the one to discover their secret; it is true I wasn't taking this fight seriously at first, but she is better than I thought. Since the Inquisitor seemed to have a plan, Levitt decided to go for it an act as the best decoy he could be; that was why he ran towards the golems, trusting for the witch to carry out her part of the plan; because even if he didn't trust her, they shared the same objective, and Inquisitors excelled at fulfilling their Master's orders.
The fist came at him, but he just dodged it with a clean roll over; the next second, he was in the air to avoid the rock projectile. The other golem saw that and tried to attack him mid air, but just when it was about to grab Levitt, the soldier created a burst of magic around him, blowing its arm out; by the next instant, it was already regenerated, of course, but that wasn't something he cared about right now, because the two sharpshooters were right in front of him, without enough energy to shoot once again.
If the two giants of stone used the chamber to heal their bodies, the two smaller ones used it to shoot those projectiles; that was why, when Levitt slashed both of their heads off, they didn't get up from the ground.
The allomancer turned around to keep on with the fight, but much to his surprise, the two golems had been pulled into the air by a dozen furious tendrils of fire. "You ain't so tough midair, eh?" The Inquisitor yelled at them. "Figured that much, you pieces of shit; and now, it is time for the final espectacle, the Fatal Fireworks!"
The woman pointed her wand at the golems, and with the other hand, she conjured a black ball of fire; one very small, but with a great amount of magic concentrated in it. After that, she just brought her hand down, to the tip of the wand. "Infernum!" She exclaimed. A Chinese dragon, made of pure, black fire, rocketed towards the giants, just to pierce through the two of them; seconds after that, the creatures exploded in an espectacle of rock and fire.
The walls of the chamber lost its light; the fight was over.
Levitt took his time to observe the Inquisitor, now that her mask had been destroyed he could see her face. She was a woman with Asian features, maybe in her late thirties, whose hair was styled in very complex and short braids; half of it was of a light-platinum, and the other half was of a raven-black. But what really stood out from her was her forehead's tattoo; the shield of the Great House of Hao; a strange symbol whose meaning was totally unknown for the soldier.
"What are you looking at?" She grunted. "Aren't you used to seeing a woman's face?"
"Couldn't care less."
"Whatever, good job back there; I didn't expect you to follow my plan without any question; as they say, you truly are the perfect soldier, eh?"
"It was the best option, so I went for it."
"Damn, how can you turn every single conversation into something boring?" Hao asked. "Well, I really don't care about it, so let's resume our mission. This place's magic has weakened significantly after defeating those golems, so that curse should have been the main defence."
Just as most of the other sites, all its galleries went downwards, but this time, the duo only needed a minute to reach the second chamber; it was little but high, and unlike the others, this one didn't have anything at all; expect from one thing.
There was a staff made of white wood at some kind of little shrine, as if the whole cavern had been built to keep it safe.
"There is a bit of magic coming from that staff," Levitt pointed out. "Did we really find the Horcrux at the first try?
The Inquisitor just walked forward to grab the staff, not uttering any words. "Time to get out of here," she said, after some seconds of eyeing the weapon.
Then, a sudden realisation came to the soldier's mind. "That ain't' an Horcrux, right?" He asked. "Your face gave you away; and that means you really know the exact item we are looking for; something you forgot to share with us, eh?"
"Don't ever forget who are the benefactors here, mercenary; know your place."
Rich people looking down on Levitt and his men was something the soldier was very used to, and to be honest, he couldn't care less about it; but this was no ordinary people, and neither was an ordinary operation. What the fuck are you playing at, Jordan? Why didn't you even tell us, your most loyal soldiers, the true conditions of the contract with these bastards? There were many questions and doubts in the allomancer's mind, but just like always, he needed to keep moving forward; it wasn't his place to question Jordan's plans.
"Come on, we need to get back to the tower," Hao told him, with the staff on her left hand.
"Good soldiers follow orders," Levitt mutered, to himself. "You and the rest swore to accompany Jordan even to hell itself if necessary, so there is no place for doubts in your mind..."
Harry Potter POV
Saturday 6th September, 1992 (Quidditch field, Hogwarts) - Early morning
Is it possible to be a half-troll? Because I'm sure Flint is, Harry thought, as he glared daggers at the whole Slytherin team. The day had certainly started in a bad way, with Wood waking him up very early just to give them a two hours talk about his new methods of training for the season; but things could always get way worse, of course.
"At least no one in the Gryffindor team had to buy their way in," Hermione stated. "Everyone here got in the team thanks to their talent and work."
"Why don't you shut up, filthy mudblood?" Draco practically spat, cruelly smirking at her.
That was the point in which everything went to hell.
Harry didn't know why, but what Malfoy had just said had to be horrible; because otherwise, Flint wouldn't have instantly jumped in front of the blonde boy to protect him from the Weasley twins. Despite that, what nobody had expected was for Neville to be the one to curse Malfoy. "Petrificus Totalus!" The boy exclaimed. The spell hit the Slytherin right in the forehead before anyone could move a finger, probably, because it had been totally unexpected.
Things didn't end there, of course.
While Malfoy's body fell to the ground, Flint was faster than anyone, and cursed Nevill without uttering a single word; after that, not even Wood tried to stop the twins, who drew their wands almost instantly. "What the fuck you lot think you are doing?" Someone shouted from behind, just before a loud explosion resounded.
Harry turned back just to find some tall guy with the prefect badge on his robes; and walking by his side was none other but Percy Weasley himself, with his full uniform and badge. "I asked you something, Marcus," the tall guy repeated. "The fuck is going on here?"
"Nothing," Flint grunted back. "We were just going to use the field to train, as our note, signed by Professor Snape himself, says; there are no problems here, Williams."
"Oh, I wouldn't say so," the prefect went on, pointing with his finger at Neville, who was being tended by Hermione and Alicia. "You just sent a stunner to that boy."
"He attacked first."
"Don't worry, I also saw that."
There was clear tension between the two Slytherin boys, and everyone was looking at the exchange with attention. "Neville, are you okay?" Percy asked, crouching down the boy's side. "Rennervate!" Percy chanted, and with a loud gasp, Neville sat up. "Hermione, help me to take him out of here; he needs to breathe in a quieter place."
Percy kept checking on Neville, but Harry was more interested in the conversation between the snakes. "This is a problem, you see, Marcus," the prefect started. "You lot keep starting fights with other Houses, and it will keep coming back at us; everyone hates us, and even if we don't care, there are younger students who don't like condescending glares. That means those little kids are more prone to start fights, and you know what is the outcome of that, right?"
"We get points taken from us," Flint answered.
"Aren't you clever?" Williams smiled, even though there was no warmth in it. "Listen, I want to fix this mess before it gets to the professors, and I think that is also of common interest here."
"There is nothing to fix here," Malfoy piped in, already back on his feet. "Longbottom cursed me! He started everything!"
"Wrong, you started it, Malfoy," the prefect stated. "You called her a mudblood, didn't you?"
"I did, do you have any problems with it?"
"Nah, not really; I am above it," the older Slytherin smirked. "Can you say the same, my lord? Didn't you get pretty riled up because of some silly words that girl said? I thought keeping the composure was something purebloods like you were taught at a very young age…"
Whatever the blond boy was going to answer would remain a mystery, because Flint softly elbowed him. "You aren't behaving like a prefect should, Williams," the gorilla told him. "Things are settled here; the boy cursed my seeker, and I cursed him. Now, we are going to train for the upcoming season, are you okay with that?"
"Certainly."
The Slytherin team made their way toward the Quidditch field, just as the Gryffindors faced the prefect. "Do you really think we are going to let things be this way, Williams?" Wood roared. "I booked the pitch for us! And not only they steal it from us, they even get away with what they've just done!"
"You booked the pitch for today's morning," the Slytherin boy agreed. "But you've had it for almost three hours. There are four teams at this School, and only one place to train. If you wanted to play so badly, you should have used your time better."
"You can't be serious!" Fred roared. "I can't care less about damn Quidditch right now! That Malfoy brat called our Hermione a mudblood! Do you think we are just going to stand aside and let them be?"
"It is just a stupid word; in fact, she didn't seem to be hurt by it; it is you the ones who are making this to seem way worse than it really is."
"Is it just a word?" Angelina repeated, totally perplexed.
"Yes, it is just some stupid word," the prefect nodded. "I'm also a mudblood, and I'm proud as hell of it; you can call me that as much as you want, and I'm gonna laugh at you every single time."
"The fact you don't care about it doesn't mean they can insult her like they please," Katie piped in. "That word is horrendous, and it can affect her in a very bad way."
"Did you see me laughing with them at any moment? If I remember correctly, I didn't have any of Malfoy's bullshit; and I certainly stopped a fight which was going to get way worse. So, instead of coming at my neck, why don't you all go to have a shower and cool off? There is no need for this to reach the Professors, and even if I hate to say it aloud, Flint was right; your side cursed them once, and theirs cursed yours once; it is a tie."
After seeing there was nothing he could do to retake the pitch, Wood stormed off the place, not uttering a single word; both Alicia and Angeline went after him, but Harry and the twins remained in the place. "Do you have any problems?" The prefect asked.
"A few of them, but I saw how you put Malfoy in his place, and even if I hate to admit it, that wasn't bad for a snake," George said. "But that doesn't mean things are going to end like this, if I were you, I'd warn a few of your housemates to be…, more careful with where they step in the future."
"That gotta be one of the most lame threats I've ever heard," Williams laughed. "I've already told you I wanted to end this for good; but let me explain to you how things work here. You start to prank us with more frequency, so my housemates become even more disgusting; that turns into more fights; so three quarters of the school will hate us even more, and thanks to that, Professor Snape will keep favouring us, but even harder now. This is a cycle we've all created. You want to pay them back? Humilliate the fuck out of them in a Quidditch game, then."
This wasn't how Harry had predicted the morning to be. To be honest, the boy was very surprised about how he had managed to keep his composure after Neville was cursed; but everything had happened so quickly, that he could do nothing but observe how everyone went at each other's throats.
Besides that, the Slytherin prefect was right on one thing; fights like this happened too often to be a good revenge; this year, Gryffindor was going to destroy the snakes in their game, and Harry was going to make that happen no matter what.
Severus Snape POV
Sunday 7th September, 1992 (Headmaster's office) - Before midnight
"Did you really have to give detention to young Harry, Severus?" Albus asked, looking at him over his old glasses.
"There has to be someone here who respects rules," Severus answered. "The boy had the guts to be late on the very first day of the year, actions like that need to be punished."
"There was a reason behind it."
"Do you really expect me to believe that crap about the barrier not opening for him? Please, he probably was late because of Black, who seems to enjoy drinking nowadays."
"Do you still despise him after all those years? The man went through hell itself, I think it would be really nice if both of you could set your rivalry apart."
"I don't despise him, I hate him," the professor stated.
"One day you'll understand those emotions bring you nothing but despair and sadness," Albus sighed.
"You didn't bring me here to talk about my feelings, old man; what do you want? Are we finally talking about important matters? Because we have plenty of them to worry about."
"There isn't anything about Tom," the Headmaster admitted. "I've visited many places, and asked many people; despite that, not a single trace."
"What about that incident in Croatia?"
"Wasn't Tom's work; that was too much of a disaster for the state he is in."
"A state which we know almost nothing about, Albus; it is the Dark Lord whom we are talking about, don't forget that."
"I know, but that isn't the main reason why I don't believe him to be after what happened in Dakovo," the Headmaster explained. "That disaster would have been the biggest mistake someone who is on the run could have commited. It is true he could have gone mad after getting defeated, but after spending a whole year planning how to get after the Stone, I wouldn't question his sanity."
"That isn't the only reason, right?"
"No it isn't. The ICW has deployed some of their agents to study the disaster, including the special agentCynthia Mahomes; tricking Cornelius and our own Ministry is one thing, but if those people were to have the single clue about me being too interested in their business…, well, that would bring us nothing but unnecessary questions."
"Talking about our Ministry; are Pettigrew's whereabouts still unknown?"
"Like the very first day. Amelia has the Aurors looking everywhere in this country, but she doesn't want to send them outside; probably because Cornelius is afraid of what other countries would do or say after it; that would be practically as good as telling them a very dangerous convict has escaped to their domains."
"All of this wouldn't be happening if that rat hadn't been able to escape under the very nose of the Ministry," Severus sneered. "Honestly, how the hell can that even happen?"
"The Auror custodying Peter was none other than Gareth Marshall; one of the best ones we have here. Whoever planned it, is a very skilled wizard, and a very intelligent person; that brings us to another topic I wanted to tell you about. There is also nothing about said accomplice, and that is what worries me the most."
"I see," Severus muttered. "From my part, I don't think any ex Death Eater even suspects about their master being alive; Lucius has spent the whole summer worrying about Arthur Weasley's new program against cursed items; Nott is focused on the World Duelling Series right now; Yaxley has some new business partners from other countries; and the rest do the same with their shit."
"That is a rather comforting thing to know," Albus told him. "Keep your eyes open, Severus; we must not let, under any circumstances, for the old subordinates to find their master."