Chapter Number: 29
Chapter Name: The Plight of a winged beast
Right after dinner Hermione sat down on her favorite comfortable seat by the fire. As much as Ron wanted to join Hermione, he had eaten like a pig at dinnertime so he was feeling drowsy. After about five minutes Hermione let him off the hook and said their goodbyes. She opened up the book that she got in the library. Just as she opened the book up to read it, Harry and Alicia walk into the room.
Her experiences in Morocco had changed her personality slightly...er...no more like going from a dolphin to a shark. The adventurous and somewhat domineering Hermione that she had come to know over the summer was still very much ruling over her mind. The anger she felt towards Harry in the library, came back a hundred fold. She had to restrain herself greatly not to go up to him and beat the living daylights out of him.
She turned the book in her hands several times over as she watched the game of exploding snaps progress. Every time either Alicia or Harry burst into laughter she got more and more angry at Harry for getting more than her in Charms. When they finally finished, Hermione quickly opened the book and pretended to read it.
As Harry passed Hermione to go to the dorm room he had one glance of Hermione behind the book. His face betrayed a small grin, when he saw that Hermione was holding the book upside down. It took great restraint on Harry's part not to tell Hermione that she was reading the book upside down.
Though Harry might have had thought that his inwardly smile had not shown on his face, Hermione noticed it. Her anger tripled when she realized the reason for Harry's small grin, but she did not turn the book back to the way it was supposed to be until he left the room. It was as if she was saying to Harry that she intended to do that from the beginning. To give herself a challenge.
After a few minutes when no one was looking, Hermione turned the book the right side up and started reading. Inside the cover the first page read...
{ Tale of the Saviour }
A tale of the Harold Parker
By
Professor Dippit
&
Melina Khan
(c) Cholera & Sanoe Khan Publishers
from the people that brought you 'Menacing Menace' and 'Troubled thoughts' available at a shop near
you
She turned the page over quickly. The pages were all blank! It took a while for her to figure out the reason. Morocco is the most populated Muggleborn city in the world. So the chances of a muggle finding the book accidentally are huge. That is the reason the pages are blank. It reveals its contents when a wizard or a witch opens the book with their wand.
Hermione took out her wand and tapped the first page of the book. The writing on the page shimmered into existence. Hermione did a quick scan through the book to see if there were more pictures of the person on the front cover. There were lots of pictures in the book but only one of the person on the cover. Hermione reluctantly went back to the front of the book and started to read.
Foreword
It may seem like a fairly tale, but heroes do exist. They
exist not for glory, not for fame, but to help others. This
is book is dedicated to one person who from the beginning
believed that the war sweeping Morocco was indeed one that
had been orchestrated by it's enemies to bring it down to
its knees.
Heroes do exist. They exist in places and in people unlike
what you would expect of them to be.
I had the privilege of knowing this man. He called himself
Harold Parker. His origins unknown. His history unknown.
This book does not try to reveal information before his
appearance in Morocco, as there is no record of him anywhere.
He was a man of mystery when he left Morocco, but before that
he was a boy of curiosity and intrigue.
I was with him through his journey from the first time he
appeared in Morocco to when he left forever. This book is the
tale of what he did when he was there.
Much of the story is in anecdotal format, but there has been
no exaggeration of his abilities mentioned here. Definitely
not at the beginning nor at the end.
Signed
Professor Dippet
The author's note managed to grab all of Hermione's attention and she quickly flicked to the real start of the book.
Chapter 1 : Time of his Arrival
It was a summer morning that he arrived in Morocco. From what he tells me he was severely injured, when he arrived. He did not mention the specifics of his injuries, but from research done by my assistant revealed that he had severe lacerations to his mid section. Though there are several corroborating accounts of him appearing with injuries, they were not seen by the author (me) when we met.
This is not the only inconsistency surrounding this man. I call him a man because of his achievement, not because of his age. When he first appeared he looked no older than sixteen years of age. Even that would be grossly overestimating his age. He had no stubble, nor any body hair to speak of. This is the basis of my observation.
He was well built, as you can tell from the only picture he agreed to take before leaving. He was a 'freeman', this is a term for those belonging to neither Tozan nor their rival clan of Shoran. Freeman such as him or me were looked down upon. Without the backing of either of the clans freemen had little chance of fighting back....
The rest of the chapter was boring - even for Hermione. It went on and on about the socio-political situation in both Morocco and the rest of the world. Hermione usually was very interested in that topic, but Harry Potter had ruined her mood. Hermione got tidbits of information on Harold during the next five or six pages. Frustrated she decided to read the book when she had more time and felt more energetic. It did not take her long after that to reach her room and sleep like a log until the next day.
Harry was rather surprised to see that two people were waiting for him on the other side of the door leading into the boy's dorm room. Fred and George came over to where Harry was and both pushed him up against the wall.
"Hey!" said Harry, as he got pushed into the wall, " What's the meaning of this?" he demanded.
" You better leave our things alone, Potter." said George.
" Your things. What things?" Harry asked confused.
" We know what you're playing at before." this time it was Fred who said the more confusing thing.
" What're you talking about?... I don't. Know. What. You're. Talking. About" said Harry, careful to emphasize each word.
" You know perfectly well what we're talking about!" insisted a twin.
" If you don't stop now ..." started Fred.
"... there'll be trouble."
.. prank trouble!"
The pair then let Harry go and started to talk to each other about what kind of prank they should do on the Slytherins that night, before heading back to their own dorm room.
Harry still had no idea what just happened. After staring at the direction the twins had gone for five minutes Harry finally dismissed the conversation as a new joke the twins had come up with. It took him a while to cast the hardening Charm. Though Harry might have had become really good doing the 'Page turning Charm', he did not have nearly as much control over the charm as he would have had liked. The mattress turned very solid.
Almost rock hard to his dismay.
After reversing the original spell he tried again. This time the mattress was so soft that the top part of it collapsed on the bottom, giving it the appearance of being nothing more than a flat sheet of cloth. ' This is what happens when I try a simple charm and Hermione is upset with me about my charms mark. Women...go figure... Maybe I should tell her tomorrow... err ... maybe not.'
Even though Harry wanted to tell her at that very second, he decided that it probably made more sense to tell her when she was she was more receptive. It took Harry almost an hour before he got the wand movement and the series of taps done perfectly. By the time he was finished he was tired and exhausted. He fell to his bed and dreamed of things.
The next day Harry woke up a few minutes before six thirty, but he did not go down to the Quidditch field to do some running. After getting ready for classes in record time, he wandered the corridors of schools until he found himself in the great hall. There was no one there but one of the elves. As soon as elf saw Harry it tried to make a run for a door, in panic.
Unfortunately, for the elf, the door had other ideas and decided to move two meters to the right exactly when the elf reached the door. The elf slammed into the wall with a loud thud, another followed it when it fell to the floor.
Harry rushed to its side to see if it needed help. He kneeled down next to the elf and asked, " Are you alright?"
The elf did not answer, rather it scrambled onto its legs and hurriedly tried to get through the door again. Unfortunately the door seemed have had enjoyed the last trick it played a bit too much and did it again. There was another sickening thud when the elf hit the wall. Harry had to use a lot of self-control not to laugh at the poor elf. This time the elf did not get up from the floor. Harry went to it and helped it up.
" Don't be afraid. I won't hurt you. I'm Harry Potter. What's your name?" If Harry had thought that the elf was scared before, it was even more scared now.
" mm..m.my..y..y n..name be Shabby"
" Well Shabby... It's nice to meet you" Harry extended his hand for the elf to shake. The elf jumped a step back in horror. Harry quickly took his hand back and asked, " Do you know where Dobby is? I need to talk to him..."
" He be in the kitchen...."
" Thank you..." he said as Harry started to walk back the secret entrance to the kitchen.
Once in the kitchen, Dobby was the first person to meet him. He was wearing what probably passed as the most expensive item of clothing to the elves. It was a dirty old sweater with a million bright coloured patches on it.
" 'Arry Potter came to see me..... no?"
" Yes, Dobby. How's the new job going?... Winky back yet?"
" Fine... She's still missing. I reckon she'll be before tomorrow"
" Ok... I just need to talk to her. When she comes make sure she doesn't leave. Ok?"
" Yes...sir"
" umm... Dobby do you think I could get some food?"
" yes of course...." even before Dobby was finished three elves gathered up enough food for him and handed it on a big tray.
" Thank you very much" said Harry as he managed to somehow hold the large tray and also pat Dobby on the back.
Harry did not stay long enough to see what effect his pat on the back had on the tiny little creature. Dobby's chest swelled to twice its normal size. He started to order around the other elves like there was no tomorrow.
Harry started to eat the food as we went along the corridor. Hermione was still angry with him and Harry had a feeling that this might last a while... to avoid confrontation with her, Harry decided that he would try and stay away from her as possible. It would be difficult since she was in all his classes. Harry also did not want Ron to have to choose between him and the girl he loved.
The logic behind this was the reasoning was that he thought that, if he avoided both of them the problem might actually blow over. When he finally paid attention to his surroundings, Harry found himself in a very familiar corridor. It was the one that led right into the infirmary. From his frequent visits Harry was no stranger to this part of the castle. ' Might as well visit Neville,' thought Harry to himself.
When he visited the room, an odd sight greeted him. Neville was trying gently to get his right hand away from Pansy who was asleep sitting on a chain next to the bed, and her head against the soft mattress. No matter how many times he tried to gently pry open her hands, she did not seemed to let go. When Neville spotted Harry, he mouthed helplessly, " HELP."
Harry made his way quietly into the room and whisper into his ear some instructions. Neville smiled and pretended to go to sleep. Harry went back out into the corridor and walked normally back inside. He gently nudged the sleeping Pansy.
" Pansy..." he said softly. Pansy stirred a bit, before her eyes flew open wide with horror.
' She probably though Neville was awake,' thought Harry, as he gently nudged her again.
" It's me... Harry. Harry Potter." He whispered. She relaxed a bit, but then started to blush a lot.
" Oh... I fell asleep...." she said, quickly letting go of Neville's hand.
" That's OK. I'll stay with him a while..." he then looked at her. She was still wearing the same clothes that she was wearing the day before. He continued, " ...you probably need to do morning things anyway..."
" Yeah... thanks" she said, as she headed for the corridor.
Once there, she made a run for her common room. Harry had contemplated talking to her in the hallway, but decided that there was no need for that. Frankly he knew he should say something to her, but he did not know what or how to say it. He went over to Neville's bed and sat down on the chair.
Harry whispered, " She's gone"
Neville sat up on his bed instantly as I someone had just pinched his bottom, very hard. " Thanks... I was so scared..."
" I'll just talk with Madam Pomfrey then I'll come back, OK" said Harry as he headed for the small room about ten or twelve beds away.
It took Harry very little time to comeback. Harry grinned at him and said, " You know what Madam Pomfrey just told me?"
" What?" Neville hoped it was not the news that he was well enough to attend the next class with Hagrid.
" Don't worry... you don't have to go to classes today..." he said noticing the tremble in his voice when he had asked the question, " Pansy stayed the entire night with you"
" She did... why?" Neville was no longer concerned that Pansy actually scared him.
" Yesterday she even cried... She thought that she should have had pushed you away from the fireball" Harry did not think that Pansy would like it if Harry told him that she had a crush on him, so he used the excuse he had heard Ron use the day before.
" Class is about to start in a few minutes… I have to go. Er... do you want rest of the food on the tray" said Harry pointing at a whole lot of food. Neville eagerly nodded and started to dig into the food.
When Harry arrived at the class he was not surprised to see that no one was there yet, not even Hagrid. The only thing there was the large trolley with the cage on top of it. It still had the white cloth on it. The threatening growls and noises from the beast could still be heard. Harry was happy that Hagrid had thought of putting up signs all around the cage that the cage contained a fire-breathing beast.
Harry did not know, but there were several charms that Hermione had set-up in accordance with Hagrid's wishes to protect younger students from trying to take off the cloth. Harry sat down close to the cage and got out the Wizarding comic book that Ron had given him to read.
As minutes wore on, the screaming of the beast subsided a bit, after a while it was totally gone. When Harry first noticed it there was still ten minutes to the class. He also knew the whole class would try and stay away as long as possible after the events of the day before.
Harry was always a bit too curious for his own good, well this time it was actually a good thing that he was. He edged closer to the cage until he thought he heard soft crying. He cast the most powerful shielding charm that he could produce around himself and yanked the cover off the cage.
The beast inside snapped and growled at him. Harry did not know what made the beast not use a fireball, but he was glad it did not. Harry looked at the eyes and saw some white silvery tears flowing down. It astounded Harry by saying, " Thank you"
" You can talk?" he asked. Unknown to him, he was actually speaking in Parseltongue.
" You are the firsssst human," it said as it rubbed it's belly with it's wings.
" Why were you crying?... Do you need something? I can tell them... they'll give it to you.
" My children where going to die..." said the Veloron, as more tears escaped it's eyes, " They need light... white bad for my children..."
" I'll tell the big man. He'll make sure you get more light.... If you promise not to use the fireball anymore, I'm sure Hagrid would let you have lots of light"
" Thankssss. What is your name?" Harry did not think the creature would know the concept of names, but decided to answer the question.
" Harry Potter... Why do you ask?"
" I will name two of my offspring after you"
Harry was quite taken aback by the gesture.
" Thanks... but there really is no need. I'm happy to help"
" I'm magically bound to do so, since I am the female of the speciessss. You have saved my firstbornss. I must repay thisss debt."
" I am honoured that you choose to do so... er ... do you have a name?" asked Harry as he blushed. He had completely forgotten to ask the name of the creature when it asked his.
" My name is Scaly"
" Well Scaly... It was an honour meeting you... Have you decided on any other names?"
" No... I do them asss they are born" the creature then seemed to think for a second and say, " How do you name yours?"
" excuse me" said Harry very confused at the question.
" When a human offspring is born, how do you name them?"
" Ohh..." Harry scratched his head for information on the topic. He had absolutely no idea. After think for a while Harry reached a common sense solution to the question.
" The parents discuss the names before they are born"
" What are parents?"
" Mates" he answered back.
" I miss my mate. Do you have a mate?" Harry blushed at the question. After all he hadn't even got to the stage of dating a girl, much less think about things beyond it.
" I'm much to young for it"
" I choossssse my mate many moons ago.... Why do those humansss behind you look that way to you?"
Harry's head snapped back. He saw that the entire class was there. They all looked very terrified of what was happening in front of them. Several of them had wands pointed straight at the Veloron.
Harry's hearing came back.
He heard the anxious talks between the Gryffindor girls and the cheering of Malfoy and a select bunch of his friends. Ron was kneeling over where he had left the comic book on the morning-frosted grass. When he looked up Harry saw him give a venomous look. ' DAMN! I shouldn't have had left the comic on the grass,' thought Harry, realizing why he was giving him that glance)
Harry quickly extended his shield around the whole of the cage, before blocking Scaly with his own body. The air around Harry almost crackled like electricity from the power that started to emanate from him. It reminded Ron and Hermione the way sometimes Professor Dumbledore looked when he was angry.
Harry's voice went slightly deep, " Put the wands down". It was not a request... it was an order.
Everyone except for Malfoy put their wand down. It looked as though he was getting ready to hit Harry with a curse when Hagrid came out of his hut.
<<~~~>>
END OF CHAPTER
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