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Ch17: OUT OF THE EGG
It took about two hours before the egg made progress. The clock ticked steadily towards five PM and the sun was beginning to get low in the sky; casting long shadows in the Gryffindor common room and the two teenagers in it.
Harry and Hermione watched in fascination as the small, golden egg started to break, struggling to get the pieces off. Harry helped it carefully, taking off one tiny piece after the other.
Soon, there was a hole big enough for what was on the inside to come out. Hermione took Harry's hand and held it gently and shivered a little when she saw a tiny, delicate snake take its head out of the egg. The snake had the same colors as the egg, but it also had some black paintings on it's back. It was beautiful, Harry realized when the snake got out, looking around carefully with big, black eyes.
The snake seemed to consider its surroundings, as though looking for something. Suddenly, its eyes caught Harry's and Harry was filled with the strangest feeling. He felt as though the snake looked into his very soul.
Hermione whimpered softly like she was in pain and hid her face behind Harry's shoulder.
Harry, however, could not take his look away from the snake's and it did not seem as though the snake was planning to look away either.
Harry wondered briefly if he should try to speak Parseltongue, but his voice seemed to be abnormally dry and his tongue would not form the words he wanted.
The snake hissed and took out its own tongue; smelling him, and Harry suddenly felt a strong urge to do the same, but that would not help him the slightest. It was hard to resist though.
He shook his head, finally able to break the contact.
"Do you not like me?" The snake hissed, sounding strangely hurt and Harry felt himself being pulled towards its soothing voice.
"Yes," he mumbled back in Parseltongue, feeling drowsy. He almost did not notice Hermione when she rested one hand at his chin and kissed his neck, but when he did he nearly jumped out off his seat. Hermione fell on top of him.
"Hermione?" he asked, confused. He could not help but smile at her when she opened her eyes and muttered a soft "oh!" She tried to get off him, but he would not let go of her that fast and kissed her forehead instead. She smiled back.
In the mean time the snake was curling up his leg, but Harry did not notice until its tiny body settled down between. Hermione tensed slightly; not sure if she could trust the snake.
"I am Akin. And you are my Guardian," the small snake stated. Somehow he didn't need to know what sex the snake was, he just knew it was a male.
"Harry?" said Hermione uncertainly.
"What?" asked Harry, feeling dazed.
"The clock... dinner's over, we gotta hurry..."
"Hurry where?"
"The lesson remember! With Professor McClaggan! Oh, what he must say if we're late..."
"Oh," said Harry and got to his feet.
"Take me with you," the snake said and stretched its small body towards Harry. Harry reached Akin his arm.
"Come on," said Hermione, pulling the sleeve of his sweater and then the three of them went to McClaggan's classroom in a hurry.
-
-
Every year the DADA teacher decorated their room differently. However, what struck Harry as odd when he full of anticipation stepped into McClaggan's private study was that the room was not personal at all. It looked as he was leaving any minute or had just arrived without having the time to unpack.
There were no pictures on the walls. The shelves were completely empty except for a couple of books in one of the ends. The desk contained a suitcase, an inkbottle and a quill. Nothing else. This was so shocking for Harry that he barely noticed that McClaggan had appeared beside him.
Harry's eyes flickered towards the suitcase and a jolt of recognition shot through his body so hard that he gasped and his knees got shaky.
The suitcase had seven locks, like the one the fake Moody had back in his fourth year.
It was a `Sorcerer's Trunk.'
"Sir?" asked Harry and turned towards the Professor. Akin, who had curled himself around Harry's wrist, hissed softly.
"What is it, Mr. Potter?" asked McClaggan.
"That - that's a sorcerer's trunk!"
"Quite right."
"But-!"
"But what Potter? Get a grip," said McClaggan, annoyed. Hermione had half risen from her seat in the back of the room, but remained where she was.
Harry shut his mouth. Just because Barty Crouch Junior had been a bad guy did not mean that McClaggan was evil as well, even though they had the same trunks. Yet, it left Harry with an uncomfortable feeling.
Just then there was a knock on the door.
"Yes?" asked McClaggan impatiently and the door opened. Dumbledore and Remus stepped in. Harry gaped.
"Remus?"
"Hello Harry," said Lupin warmly and gave Harry a soft pat on the shoulder. "Good to see you."
"Good to see you too, but what are you doing here?" asked Harry, perplexed.
"We're going to help you in your training today," said Lupin and Dumbledore's eyes twinkled merrily.
"Oh," said Harry.
"Lets get started then, shall we?" said McClaggan and all of them went to the DADA classroom. "What can the boy do?"
Dumbledore flicked his wand and the desks and the chairs moved out of the way.
Harry wished he could do that...
For the next ten minutes Dumbledore - with a few comments from Harry - told them how far Harry had progressed under his tutoring that summer as well as his previous years at school.
"Excellent, excellent..." murmured McClaggan to himself from time to time, but Harry didn't think anyone was supposed to hear him.
"...there is no doubt that Harry is very powerful," finished Dumbledore with pride. Harry felt his face go warm; it was a great compliment from a wizard like that.
"And he produced a corporeal Patronus in his third year!" Lupin shot in.
McClaggan said nothing to that, but there was something in his eyes that Harry could not figure out. Was it surprise? Was he pleased? Angry?
"You wanted to learn the Tracking charm next, am I correct?" asked McClaggan, raising an eyebrow. Harry nodded. Akin, still around Harry's wrist, shifted a bit.
"Alright, then..."
-
-
Two hours later, Harry had mastered the Tracking charm and had also learned a new spell. The second one was a `Message spell,' that made it possible for him to send thoughts to anyone that was less than half a kilometer away. It reminded Harry slightly of how Dumbledore had used his Pensive; he had to point his wand at his head and think a thought, and when done correctly a silvery thread would attach to the tip of the wand.
Then, Harry would have to say `Pensamiento Para' - and the person's full name to make `the thread' go to the correct person. On the way the thread would part: the longer distance - the more the thread would drift apart until it became a cloud so thin that the slightest breath of wind could wisp it away.
However, the spell was not that hard to do as long as he could collect his thoughts. The only problem Harry could see so far was that it demanded a lot of energy if he wanted the spell to go over a long distance.
"So," said Lupin lowly so the girl who were watching from the corner could not hear, and brushed a fringe away from his eyes. "Have you figured out a gift for Hermione yet?"
Harry sighed. September had passed fast and now there were only a little over a week until her birthday and Harry had still not found a present for her. And with the beautiful watch she had given him and the fact that they were together now (together!) he felt that he should give her something special. Dear Merlin!
"No, I haven't," Harry finally answered, but then he suddenly remembered something. "Did you get my owl?"
Lupin smiled. "Yes, I did and I have a suggestion."
Harry felt a rush of anxiousness through his veins. "What?"
"The gift Sirius gave you, remember?"
"What? Hermione doesn't like motorcycles!"
"You have the bike?" asked Lupin, suddenly looking at Harry with a very interested impression.
"Yes?"
"Have you used it?"
Harry nodded. "That's how I arrived at Grimmauld Place... it's really cool." Harry looked over at Dumbledore. "You didn't tell him?"
The old wizard shook his head. "I am afraid not. That was your secret to tell."
Harry had an impression that the secret about the Motorcycle was not the only secret Dumbledore was talking about.
"Don't worry," said Lupin kindly, studying Harry's face closely, "I don't mind. I just wanted to know if you enjoyed it, that's all. Your father did, certainly."
"He did?" asked Harry, only mildly interested. "What about my mum?"
Lupin scratched the back of his head. "Well... she wasn't quite that fond of it. She thought it was a stupid kind of show-off, and too dangerous besides."
Harry snorted.
"Anyway-" continued Lupin quietly, sensing Harry's change of mood, "we've gone a little off topic. About that gift... I meant the mirror Sirius gave you during the Christmas Holidays. You still have that one right?"
Harry bowed his head in shame; it felt as though he had betrayed Sirius and his respect for him when he broke that mirror. Why couldn't he get over it?
"It broke," whispered Harry, just loud enough for them to hear. Dumbledore and McClaggan pretended not to listen, however, and Hermione had left.
"Oh," said Lupin, looking thoughtful for a moment. "I guess that can be fixed. But Harry..."
Harry looked up, meeting his eyes. "Yes?"
"Did it broke before... or after... you know..."
"After," said Harry, confused.
"Did you see... yourself?" asked Lupin, his voice just as low as Harry's had been, only with a tiny tingle of hope.
"Yes... yes I did. I tried to call him but it didn't work."
Lupin's slightly hopeful expression disappeared and he looked sad again. "That only proves it, I guess," he said huskily and sat down on the floor. Harry sat down with him.
"How come? It didn't work..."
"Yes it did," said Lupin with a sigh. "The mirror, you see Harry, is charmed to show the view of where the other mirror is, allowing the two owners to see each other. However, when one or both of the owners die, the charm is broken."
"Oh," Harry said, almost dizzy. What else could he say? Darn it?
So there really was no hope to see Sirius then... they did not need a body to know that he had died.
Some minutes passed in silence, both of them deep in thoughts.
Harry tried very hard not to think about Sirius. Instead he tried to think of the mirror and if he should give it to Hermione or not. It would be a perfect gift, really... but was he ready for it? Could he pass on Sirius' mirror to anyone else without regretting it?
"If anyone deserves it, she does. She loves you," said Akin, reading his thoughts.
"What?" asked Harry, startled, but since he had been thinking of Hermione he had not spoken in Parseltongue.
Lupin looked up. "Sorry, did you say anything?"
"No, no, it was nothing," said Harry and got up. Dumbledore and McClaggan finished talking - as if on cue - and went over to him.
"I think this is enough for today," said Dumbledore, but Harry saw that McClaggan did not think much of that idea. Harry suddenly wondered - with a weird kind of excitement - how the lesson would have been if McClaggan had controlled everything from the start. Would Dumbledore and Remus be there next time?
"I just want to try it one more time," said Harry, and he could've sworn he saw McClaggan smile slightly.
Closing his eyes, Harry tried to focus his thoughts. Picturing himself and Hermione in the Room of Requirement, kissing like they had done the other night, he held the wand tip firmly to his head before taking it away again. He glanced at the silvery thread only for a moment, before he said "Pensamiento Para Hermione Jane Granger!"
His thought was gone with the blink of an eye.
"Very good Harry," said Lupin with a grin. "Do we want to know what the thought was?"
Harry blushed and had to bit the insides of his cheeks to not grin like an idiot. "I don't think so!"
Dumbledore chuckled. McClaggan, on the other hand, merely rolled his eyes, huffing: "Teenagers!"
-
-
"HARRY!" said a very agitated Hermione, and rushed over to where Harry was when he entered to common room. "Did you just use the Message spell? Oh, can you teach me how to do it? Can you? Can you teach me now? No wait-!" Hermione interrupted herself, "teach us it in the DA! That way we can communicate without the coins..." Hermione paused, realizing that she had been babbling, then grinned. Before Harry had the time to realize that she was up to something she leapt into his arms and hugged him hard. "And by the way," she whispered softly into his ear, "I like your thought..."
Harry's heart leapt at her obvious flirting and when he looked into her eyes he saw that they were sparkling brightly with pride. If someone had told him, just then, that she had stolen all the stars in the sky he probably would have believed them.
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