The thing about explanations is friends don't need them and enemies don't believe them! ~ anonymus
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Harry's little scheme didn't unfold as smoothly as he had envisioned it…
Casting 'bombarda diabolica' was a stupid gamble.
He wasn't very proficient with the spell yet and he could control neither its output nor its ability to not harm the friendlies, not fully at least.
Thankfully, he managed the second part almost perfectly and no auror exploded into bloody bits; they simply got pushed back.
That's where his luck ended though…
The blast created by the dreadful spell sent multiple pieces of marble at him.
By the time Harry managed to raise a shield, his left leg was battered.
'It's a wonder it's still on me,' he thought bitterly while trying to dampen the pain as much as he could, lest he fainted.
Giving a quick glance at the shaken auror squad in front of him, he let out a groan and, without thinking much about his actions, limped into the hole that he created.
'Oh, fuck me sideways.'
The cavity went all the way down to the basement…
As Harry was free-falling, he couldn't help but notice the blue accents featured on the marble floors that were caused by the trail of his spell.
'A fearsome spell,' he recalled Salazar saying.
With a well-practised 'arresto momentum', Harry landed safely in the lowest room of the house.
That was one of the few spells that he had mastered before meeting Salazar and it was because of one stupid man.
'Fucking Lockhart.'
Despite his inner cursing, Harry wasn't idle.
When he landed, he immediately moved away so that he couldn't be attacked from above.
Following that, he conjured the thickest fog that he could manage.
He huffed tiredly but proudly as he watched it quickly make its way to the higher parts of the house.
Unlike 'Nebulus' which he cast before, this one was a parseltongue variation and insanely harder to dispel.
Harry didn't stop his hiding tactics there though!
"Adiafano," he hissed whilst twirling his wand around himself as though he was wrapping himself with a rope.
There was a dim white flash and Harry felt as if a bunch of raweggshad been cracked onto his head as the charm took its effect.
The unpleasant feeling indicated his success, he was fully invisible.
He was also tired — extremely tired.
He was trying to balance himself and lessen his head-splitting headache when Fawkes came through at last.
'What's happening, featherling? My senses keep screaming that you are in danger. Are you alright?' the concerned avian's words reverberated in Harry's mind.
Shaking his head, the boy tried to make sense of the voice he heard in his head.
Something about a phoenix and a familiar kept ringing in Harry's head but for the life of him, he couldn't make sense of it.
Eventually, his mind decided to cooperate.
'I'm alone, in my godfather's house… I'm surrounded by a bunch of veteran aurors… I barely cling to consciousness and my left leg is useless,' Harry replied slowly, keeping in mind to talk through the soul bond and not out loud.
As soon as he finished informing the phoenix of his whereabouts and his situation, he failed the game of balance he was playing so far and fell with his backside on the floor.
It would have been quite a funny sigh had the circumstances been different…
Harry didn't receive an immediate reply from his fiery companion, although he took comfort in the shrinking distance between the two of them.
While at the start he could barely feel Fawkes' presence, now it was growing stronger with each passing moment.
Suppressing the many groans that tried to get out of him with what felt like his every move, Harry stood up, his bones rattling in protest and his muscles crying in agony.
Pain was an old friend though, and Harry Potter managed to get up despite his many wounds.
Due to the summoned smoke, he couldn't see anything, not even the floor. That's why he staggered to where he remembered the corner of the room which was opposite the stairs was located at.
Step by step, Harry eventually reached his destination and slumped back on the floor.
He leaned against the cold wall of the room, breathing heavily. He knew the aurors wouldn't be held off for long, even with the dense fog and his invisibility spell.
He could only hope now.
'Everything is up to Fawkes now,' he thought.
The dark spots that filled his vision before, magnified and tried to fill it.
Harry was slipping in and out of consciousness, only managing to come back by sheer will.
There were shouts coming from everywhere and footsteps too close for comfort.
He couldn't do anything though.
After what felt like a few hours, he didn't know how much time had truly passed, the aurors managed to banish the smoke.
Harry's gaze immediately fell on a red-cladded individual who was moving his way.
'T-That's it… I'm caught. Sorry, Sirius,' the boy thought and closed his eyes. Both in defeat and exhaustion. There was only so much he could take.
After a whole minute passed without him being fired any spells or being constrained, Harry opened his eyes in confusion.
There was no one in the basement, not even the auror from before.
'What?'
Wondering what was going on, Harry turned his head, stifling a pained groan, towards his right hand to make sure he was still clutching his wand. His senses weren't the most dependable at the moment.
'Oh… That's right, I'm invisible,' the exhausted youth remembered when his eyes failed to find his hand.
Just then a fiery flash manifested in front of him and someone started shouting from upstairs, followed by others.
'You poor child… Hang on a little longer, I'll take care of everything now,' a warm voice soothed Harry.
More shouting and running.
That was the last thing Harry heard before he was enveloped in a hot, and extremely comfortable embrace.
Then, everything turned black and he welcomed the unconsciousness at last.
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Harry's last encounter with the aurors put a few things in perspective.
It showed him how different it was to fight against a human force than a magical beast. Not only that, but duelling to flee and fighting to kill couldn't be any more different.
He got humbled and shown his place.
Luckily, Harry learned his lesson without any consequences.
Sirius was relocated to a safe house by Kreacher, and being disappointed by his own performance, much like his godson, he started training with the goal of getting back in shape.
Merlin knew how deep the damage the accursed prison had caused him, ran.
Kreacher had also returned the Potters' invisibility cloak by the next day.
Needless to say, the stupid boy got scolded enough for a lifetime by his two familiars as soon as he woke up from his slumber.
Ash in particular wasn't happy about not being woken up, despite Harry's reasoning that it wouldn't have mattered and it would have only stressed the snake.
That was all in the past though.
The weekend had come and previous plans had to be considered…
That's how Harry found himself standing in front of a full-body mirror, checking himself out.
He took a deep breath and adjusted the shirt he was wearing. The weekend was meant to be relaxing, but now he wasn't sure whether he preferred to go against another battalion of aurors or meet Fleur.
He wore a simple yet comfortable white shirt and black pants, uncaring that he wouldn't be able to blend in with the weekend crowd.
He was Harry Potter, the boy who lived. There was no blending in for him anyway.
Considering the identity and beauty of his date, that wasn't a possibility anyway.
Wanting to both impress and feel comfortable in his clothes, he decided to go muggle.
The shirt, along with a few other pieces of clothing, was a new addition to his closet. He had gone to the Muggle side of London again the day before and bought himself some clothes. It was high time.
'I gotta thank Sirius for that one. Who knew that the Blacks were so wealthy,' Harry thought absentmindedly.
As soon as Sirius woke up he immediately sent Kreacher to make sure that his godson was alright.
After his fears were assuaged, meaning Harry going to the safe house in person, Sirius gave him a small black key meant for the Black heir's allowance vault.
A vault that was connected to the main family vault and was thus refilling itself when running out.
There were obviously some withdrawal restrictions on the vault; however, they were too high to even matter…
"How do I look?"Harry asked, half expecting no response and half expecting a sarcastic remark from the snake that had become such a central part of his life.
Ash, coiled up on the rug in front of the fireplace, lifted his head and flicked his tongue.
"Well, well, well. In this great snake's humble and wise opinion, your hair would make a perfect home for our new roommate,"Ash replied.
"Real funny Ash,"Harry muttered, wondering why he bothered asking for the snake's opinion in the first place.
Ash hissed in a way that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.
'Were you two talking about me?' Fawkes asked through the soul channel just as he flashed himself in, making sure to appear above Ash.
The majestic avian trilled good-naturedly as Ash flinched and hissed some pointy remarks.
'Serves you right,' Harry barbed with mock joy in the soul channel before he turned back to the mirror and straightened his collar one last time.
'In my opinion, your hair looks okay, although it could definitely use some shortening. Also, I'm sure that if my fellow avian didn't like your appearance, you wouldn't be going on a date now,' the regal bird commented from the most recent addition to the fabled chambers.
A perch.
Its base was made from the finest gold, intricately carved with flowing and organic patterns of flame. It wasn't overly tall, barely reaching a meter in height
'Thank you. I need that,' Harry replied gratefully, ceasing his attempts at taming the untamable.
He turned around again and threw a dirty glance towards the laziest and wittiest snake he had the displeasure of knowing.
Truth be told though, he hadn't talked to many snakes…
'It wasn't so hard, was it?' Harry inquired, prompting Asmodeus to shift and look him in the eye.
Serious sparkling green met with amused large yellow eyes.
"No. It was fun though,"Ash hissed joyfully.
Harry muttered something under his breath about ungrateful and immature legless creatures as he made his way to Fawkes' breathtaking perch.
'Can you give me a lift?' Harry asked the majestic phoenix who had closed his eyes sometime during the back-and-forth barbs.
'I thought that your phoenix flash was perfected,' Fawkes said as he opened his eyes and then blinked.
Harry started as their colour shifted and swirled like molten lava.
He also noted the unmistakable annoyance that shined through.
'Well-' started Harry, only to be cut short by Fawkes.
'No wells, and not buts! If you had mastered the thing as I told you to, you wouldn't have needed my aid back in London,' stated Fawkes with a stern voice, his eyes glowing with an otherworldly colour, daring the human to talk back.
Harry knew a lost cause when he saw one…
Unable to contradict the avian's words, Harry moved to the centre of Salazar's old chamber and closed his eyes, allowing himself to fall into a concentration trance and concentrate. His magical senses were greatly enhanced as he did so.
He knew that Fawkes wouldn't approve of his timing, that's why he tried roping him into taking him out.
That didn't go well though, and unless Harry wanted to appear next to Hogwarts' gate smelling like burned pork, he had to do it right, which meant slowly.
Taking a deep breath, Harry felt an intense heat running through his entire body, followed by a sense of extreme exhilaration.
He burst in a flash of flames and reappeared just outside the Hogwarts wards.
He could feel them drumming with a godly amount of magic.
Making sure that he didn't smell like some kind of cheap pork dish, Harry flicked his wand into his hand.
He cast a wordless tempus and four sliver digits manifested in the air, breaking many of the
laws of physics.
'It's twelve-thirty,' he noted.
Fleur wouldn't be there for another half hour.
'I should have cast the spell before flashing here,' the boy belatedly realised.
There was coming earlier and then there was coming way earlier…
Sigh.
Not having anything better to do and not wanting to return back the chamber, lest he wouldn't be allowed to go out again until he mastered the art of phoenix flashing, Harry turned his attention to the fallen twigs and rocks in his immediate vicinity.
Pointing his wand towards a pile of them, Harry busied himself with a transfiguration concept he was stuck with.
Vanishing, a previously O.W.L. level spell which got re-evaluated and it was decided to be put with the N.E.W.T.s.
It made the objects or mundane creatures it hit, disappear completely.
Not every seventh year managed to get the hang of it, and neither did Harry.
That's why it was considered advanced magic.
Merlin knew what it was doing with the O.W.L.s…
"Hello," a melodic voice came from behind Harry.
He was so engrossed with the spell that he didn't notice either the time passing or Fleur's presence.
He wondered absentmindedly about his failures as he turned around.
Long lustrous hair, unmatched by any mundane, a figure that put even fit women into shame and the most enticing dark blue eyes Harry had ever seen.
His throat suddenly felt extremely dry and he may have missed a breath.
"Hi," Harry said back, hoping that his voice didn't sound as high as he heard it.
He barely managed to calm down to safe levels when the French girl walked near him.
'God, she's even more gorgeous up close,' Harry's mind concluded.
"Was zat ze vanishing spell you were trying to cast?" she asked curiously.
Deciding that it wouldn't hurt to be truthful and that Fleur was probably asking out of courtesy, Harry offered a nod.
"Yes, it is. However, whenever I cast the spell on something it takes a moment to disappear instead of being instantaneous," he revealed, prompting Fleur to smile.
That smile.
Her white, shiny teeth were perfect.
"I know what's wrong. I had ze same problem myself," the French said, moving even closer to Harry.
Harry's world was filled with a scent of sweetness and warm creaminess the next time she opened her mouth.
"You are probably imagining somezing in ze lines of moving ze object to some dark and long-forgotten place, and zat is what your spell is doing. You should instead will for the item to disappear, to be dispelled, and to cease being. You should wish for everyzing zat makes it, to unmake it," Fleur finished excitedly, waving her hands as she talked and even casting the spell in the end so Harry could see it in action.
'There's no harm trying,' Harry thought and raised his wand again, his mind filled with molecules and atoms.
Pointing at a rock, the boy imagined it to ceasing being.
"Evanesco," he uttered with a steady voice, doing a zig-zag motion.
The offending piece of rock disappeared instantly, bringing a smile to both youths' faces.
"You did it!" Fleur exclaimed.
"I did it and it's thanks to you. I didn't know you were so passionate about transfiguration though," Harry added cheekily.
"Wait until you see me talking about charms," she replied with a blush and started a fast walking towards the village.
Harry laughed at the older girl's antics and followed her.
"Do you have any place you want to visit?" Harry asked Fleur throwing her an inquiring look that the French missed.
Fleur's whole attention was on the cobblestone path they were following.
"Say, iz it me or is zere somezing magical wiz ze path we are taking?" asked the blonde, showing no signs of having heard Harry's earlier question.
Harry quickened his step, moved in front of the girl, and stopped.
Fleur almost bumped into him.
"Here, let me show you," he said with an amused tone before continuing.
"Oh, the tragedy… To think that the great dragon enchantress can't figure out the magic behind a simple cobblestone trail. What would madame Maxime say if she were to see you right now?" Harry finished dramatically, placing his hands in front of his mouth, and making a horrified face.
The blond seemed to struggle between laughing out and looking annoyed.
"On a second thought, I don't need your help," the French tri-wizard champion replied with a huff.
"You won't get it then," Harry muttered and beamed as she scowled at him.
'Adorable,' he thought absentmindedly, watching as the girl in front of him tried to understand the simple magic behind the path they were taking.
Harry moved back to her side and they continued their walk.
During the whole time, Fleur didn't utter a single word, hellbent on proving Harry wrong, whilst the boy himself was pondering about his upcoming ritual.
It didn't take the two youths long to reach the magical village and thus the three broomsticks.
"I've asked you before, but you didn't pay me attention… Do you have any stores that you want to visit?" Harry asked his date yet again.
The aforementioned girl was sporting a defeated expression.
"Non. I don't know anyzing about ze village. It's up to you," she answered lightly.
"Alright then. Let's keep going and leave this pub for last," Harry decided, pointing at Madame Rosmerta's humble establishment.
Fleur could only nod, not having formed her own opinion about the topic.
"Do you need to buy anything? School supplies, toiletries, anything?" Harry asked, trying to decide where to go with the fabled process of elimination.
Only God knew how many young boys and men used it to help many indecisive girls choose what they wanted to do…
"Of course not. I 'ave bought everyzing I need before ze start of e school year. And even if I didn't, you know we can conjure things, right?" Fleur said, not particularly happy at being called irresponsible, albeit indirectly.
The youngest tri-wizard champion ignored the girl's annoyance and rolled his eyes at her antics.
"I doubt you'd want to go to Madam Puddifoot's just yet…" Harry commented off-handedly, prompting Fleur to throw him an inquiry look that went unanswered.
"What's your opinion on pranks?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Zey can be fun at times," the girl answered with a smirk, undeterred by her companion's intense gaze.
Harry positively beamed at her.
"Zonko's it is then," the son of James Potter and dogson of the dog marauder stated.
Gripped by a sudden burst of boldness, Harry reached out and gently took Fleur's hand in his own, making her follow him.
The French witch's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected gesture, but she didn't pull away.
A faint blush coloured both of their cheeks as they started their walk towards Zonko's, their fingers intertwined.
Thankfully, or not, neither saw the other's face whilst they were walking.
'She doesn't seem to mind,' Harry thought and decided that grabbing Fleur's hand was the right decision.
'Thank Morgana, he doesn't look at me,' the aforementioned girl thought, trying her best to get grab a hold of her fluttering emotions.
Making their way through bodies of students and masterfully ignoring their pointing and whispering, they reached Zonko's at last.
"Woah," Fleur exclaimed.
They stood in front of a whimsical establishment that stood out from its surrounding buildings, mostly due to its bright colours.
"Woah," the girl exclaimed again as the dazzling display of light suddenly changed colours.
The entrance door featured the shop name with bold, quirky lettering.
As one might expect, it also featured large windows that managed to display a wide variety of the magical prank items sold.
"Let's go in," Harry said, pulling the girl with him; they still held hands.
As soon as the boy opened the door and took a step in, a sharp honk sounded above his head, making him jump back.
'What's going on?' he briefly wondered and took a breath, trying to stop the adrenaline from pumping inside him.
Hearing Mr. Zonko's laugh from somewhere inside the store was all it took for Harry to calm down.
A glance above the entrance of the door revealed some kind of transformed trumpet that he missed before.
"Well, that's new," he murmured, hoping he didn't embarrass himself too much and risked a glance back.
However, instead of the lovely-looking girl he expected to see, he was met with the sight of a beautiful battle-ready woman.
The initial embarrassment quickly faded as Harry realised that something was wrong.
Fleur's stance had shifted, her body tense and alert, her wand already in hand, and she sported a haunted look in her eyes that he couldn't figure out.
"Relax," he whispered, leaning into her ear.
Finding her hand again and grasping it, Harry offered a gentle squeeze.
Slowly, he watched as recognition returned to her eyes and her posture began to relax.
"Sorry," she said with a low voice and Harry gave her a reassuring smile.
"It's alright," he said softly and pointed inside.
"Shall we?"
After getting a nod in return, Harry smiled and took a step.
He flicked his wand in his hand and pointed to the weird-looking instrument.
"Immobulus," Harry cast, watching as the blue beam made contact with the offending alarm.
With the alarm temporarily disabled, Harry and Fleur stepped into Zonko's.
Unlike Lockhart's, it did its job, and no sound was heard that time.
The shop was bustling with students, their eyes wide with wonder as they perused shelves stocked with an array of magical pranks and novelties.
Harry felt a surge of excitement, reminiscent of his first visit to the shop the year before when he didn't have permission to visit the village and had to walk around under his invisibility cloak.
He couldn't help but grin as he watched Fleur's eyes dart from one curious item to the next.
Fleur quickly forgot about the earlier incident as the two walked through the shelves filled with all kinds of magical items meant to bring mayhem.
They plotted and schemed, each coming up with a different way to utilise the insidious objects.
Harry's eyes lit up as he spotted a particular item on a nearby shelf.
He nudged Fleur, pointing towards it with a grin. "Now that looks like it could cause some real trouble," he whispered conspiratorially, his green eyes twinkling with excitement.
In the end, the two youths didn't buy much, much to their dismay.
"Do you zink we can pull ze prank off?" she asked, unsure about the scheme they chose to go forward with.
It would require a lot of planning and coordination and neither of the youths had time to spare, that being the reason they settled to a single prank.
Harry grinned mischievously at Fleur, his eyes twinkling with excitement.
"Of course we can," he assured her confidently. "We just need to time it perfectly and make sure we're not caught in the act."
As they exited the shop, Harry's mind was already racing with all the hows of the plan.
"I loved the shop," Fleur said, her eyes bright with mirth.
"Shall we go in again, 'Arry? Perhaps more carefully ze next time?" she said with mock haughtiness, getting a grunt from the boy.
"Maybe," he replied and closed the distance between them.
As they walked around the shop, Harry concluded that the older girl liked him.
He was sure about it, after all, friends didn't just hold hands and initiate physical contact…
He was less sure about what he was about to do though.
Harry took a deep breath, steeling his nerves.
With a gentle tug on Fleur's hand, he pulled her even closer, their eyes meeting.
He could feel her breath on his face.
It was sweet, intoxicating.
Time seemed to slow as their lips drew closer, the anticipation building with each passing moment.
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An annoyed hiss reverberated through the walls of the chamber of secrets.
"Damn it boy,"Ash cursed and got an excited trill in response.
The snake looked his companion up and down, deep in thought.
He was debating whether he should make a run for it, fight the proud chicken or plead for Harry's assistance.
'As if I'd fall so low…' he thought and decided to just get it over with.
Letting out a sigh, Ash used his tail to throw a small pouch towards Fawkes perch.
It didn't quite reach him and fell down, but it didn't matter.
Trillllll.
"Did you seriously bet a hundred galleons on them not kissing? Stupid lizard. It was obvious they liked each other," Fawkes mocked the serpent through their bond.
Ash coiled tighter around himself, hissing curses under his breath about "insufferable birds" and "rigged bets".
Meanwhile, Fawkes took flight and landed on the pouch.
He then proceeded to preen his feathers, looking entirely too pleased with himself and flashed away, with the pouch.
Ash glared at the spot where Fawkes had disappeared.
Next time, he vowed, he'd be more careful about making bets with that crafty phoenix. For now, though, all he could do was sulk and plot his revenge.
"Who knew the egg-making chick was so sly," Ash grumbled, his scales rustling with irritation.
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Tristan Slack,rorion and terrancesmith, thanks for the subs :]
[p=a=t=r=e=o=n=.=c=o=m/Mr_0ne] - Chapter F18 - Ritual
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