Disclaimer: Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and her various corporate partners. Keldorn Firecam is owned by BioWare, Atari, or whoever it is that owns the rights to Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn these days, although I have taken several liberties with his character. I own nothing, and I am making no profit by my little ventures into the shadowy realms of fanfiction. I do so purely for enjoyment. I would, however, like to thank JKR for allowing us all to play in her sandbox.
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Harry Potter and the Knight of the Radiant Heart
VIII
The first two weeks of August continued in much the same vein as July. Harry spent his mornings with Keldorn working on his sword and shield skills. After about eight weeks of work on his technique, Harry was finally allowed the chance to test himself against the knight himself in a few bouts, but that was only if Harry was able to satisfy his teacher during the initial rounds of footwork, baldework and parries that occupied at least the first hour of practice each morning. Keldorn was obviously going easy on Harry, but even with that advantage, Harry found it downright impossible to land a touch on his opponent.
"Do not fret, young Harry," the old knight would say, "I have been a swordsman for decades and you are just beginning. If you were able to challenge me it would not speak so much of your skill but my incompetence. You are doing well."
Still, it would have been nice to be able to spar with someone that was closer to his own skill level. Hermione was adamantly against joining the sword training, although she did often come to watch. She would faithfully cheer for Harry, but often broke into laughter when he was disarmed or thoroughly trounced. Truth be told, Harry was glad that Hermione refused to take part in the sword training; he didn't want to spar with her. Something about the thought of squaring off against Hermione with a weapon in his hand made Harry very uncomfortable, almost ill.
After spending so much time on martial arts training, Harry did notice a decline in his anger. While he had greatly improved after Hermione's first appearance of the summer and their subsequent discussion, Harry still found himself getting angry at times. But the constant exertion as well as the mental and physical discipline required in learning to handle a sword seemed to be keeping Harry's anger in check.
Hermione spent most of her mornings reading outside where she could keep an eye on Harry and Keldorn. Harry wasn't sure why she preferred to be outside with him instead of in her usual domain of the library, but a part of him knew it had something to do with the way he had avoided her at the end of the previous school year. Hermione wasn't going to let him out of her sight much more than she absolutely had to.
Hermione finished the Codex Luminis after a little more than a week of reading and had moved on to other topics. She was currently doing reading for a combined transfiguration and enchantment project that Hermione had discussed with Professor McGonagall and was well over Harry's head. Harry had borrowed the Codex out of curiosity after Hermione finished with it, but he had yet to make it past the first chapter.
The two Gryffindors spent most of their afternoons together, occupied in some leisurely activity or another. Harry was secretly impressed with Hermione's willingness to put her books down and simply spend time with him.
One such afternoon found them down by the lake lying on the soft, green grass near the water. Harry had a small pile of pebbles next to him and he would occasionally pick one up and toss it into the lake, creating a soft plop that broke the silence.
"I wonder if Ron is going to get together with Lavender this year." Hermione suddenly said out of nowhere.
"Where did that come from?" Harry asked in response. It wasn't like Hermione to begin conversations about the teenage romances that pervaded Hogwarts other than to complain about having to break up randy couples during her prefect rounds.
"Oh, Lavender and Parvati were talking about him a lot toward the end of the year. You can't be roommates with those two without overhearing their conversations about boys more often than you'd like. Apparently Lavender is quite interested in our red-haired friend."
"Oh."
"They were always trying to devise strategies for getting Ron to notice her and ask her out."
"Like what?" asked Harry.
"Oh just simple things really; spend more time around him, show an interest in the things he's interested in, and be supportive of him. You know, subtlety let him know that she's interested in him in that way."
"Good luck with that."
"Why do you say that? You don't think Ron would like her?" responded Hermione.
"No, that's not it."
"Then why don't you think it would work?"
"Well, Ron's not really all that observant, is he? I don't think he would notice the subtle approach. Most blokes probably wouldn't for that matter."
Hermione looked away from Harry at that point and grumbled something under her breath.
"What was that?" asked Harry.
"Nothing."
"Well anyways, I think that if Lavender really wants to get Ron's attention, she should just ask him out. Or maybe snog him in the middle of the common room."
"Harry!"
"What? It's true! No bloke in his right mind would turn down a nice snog."
"No girl in her right mind would want to do something like that. It would make her look desperate. Girls want the guy to make the first move."
"Well that's hardly fair."
"Life isn't fair, Harry, but that's the way it is. If a guy fancies a girl, he's supposed to make the first move and ask her out on a date."
"What's got you so interested in Ron's love life all of a sudden anyways? Do you fancy him?"
"No way! Could you even remotely see that working out? Ron's a good friend, but I wouldn't want to spend every other minute arguing with my boyfriend."
"Well, why're you so worried about it then?"
Hermione let out a long sigh.
"Never mind," she said, letting the topic drop. The two lapsed into silence once again.
Some time later, Hermione suddenly sat up, pointed to the sky and exclaimed, "Harry, look! There's two owls heading our way."
"So?" questioned the young wizard.
"So, it could be our O.W.L. results! They're supposed to be coming in sometime soon! What if it's them?" Hermione asked, working herself into a near panic.
"Well, I suppose we'll take a look at them then," responded Harry.
The owls were indeed heading for Harry and Hermione and as they landed they extended an official-looking envelope to each of the teenagers.
Harry quickly untied his envelope from the bird's foot while Hermione approached hers with something bordering on reverence. Harry was about to rip his open to see his scores when he noticed that Hermione was simply staring down at her envelope with her hands slightly shaking.
"Hermione?" he asked, slightly concerned.
"Oh, Harry! What if I've failed them all?!"
"Umm, I really doubt that you failed all your O.W.L.s, Hermione."
"I just can't look," said the witch as she thrust her results into Harry's chest. "You open it for me and tell me if I failed everything."
With a roll of his eyes, Harry put his own results aside and tore open Hermione's. Harry's eyes widened as he looked over her results.
"That's not good…" Harry said quietly.
"What?! What's not good?!" Hermione shrieked, now in a full-blown panic as she ripped her results out of Harry's hand so that she could see them for herself.
"Oh you only got ten O.W.L.s," Harry said laughing, "nine O's and one E. The look on your face…"
"Harry Potter! You are a huge prat!" said Hermione before punching him in the shoulder. When this failed to make the wizard stop laughing, she hit him three times more.
"Ow! Okay, okay, I'm sorry!"
"You better be… making me think I failed out of school. You shouldn't tease me like that. Well, go on then, open yours up, let's see what you've got."
Harry ripped open his envelope and pulled out the results.
Astronomy: A
Care of Magical Creatures: E
Charms: E
Defense Against the Dark Arts: O
Divination: P
Herbology: E
History of Magic: D
Potions: E
Transfiguration: E
Harry then handed his scores over the his best friend as he knew that she would be almost as curious about his scores as she was about her own.
"Oh, well done Harry!" Hermione said as she leaned over to give him a hug. "Seven O.W.L.s is a really good showing.
"Not as good as ten," Harry shot back, making the young witch blush.
Hermione then leapt to her feet and started pulling Harry up by his left arm.
"Come on, Harry! Let's go read up on the N.E.W.T. courses that we'll be able to take," she said as she dragged him toward the castle. "The library has lots of information that will help us get a head start!"
Harry didn't argue, but simply smiled as he allowed himself to be dragged off to the library.
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A few days later, Professor McGonagall handed an envelope to each of her two resident Gryffindors during lunch. It was only the three of them at the meal that day, as Keldorn had said he had things to attend to that afternoon. Dumbledore and Hagrid were also missing.
"Here you are, Miss Granger and Mr. Potter, your Hogwarts letters and booklists for the next term. And Mr. Potter, I would like to be the first to offer my congratulations."
Harry was a bit puzzled by his Head of House's statement as she added no further clarification, so he opened up his letter to see what she was talking about.
"I've been named Gryffindor Quidditch Captain," Harry stated in disbelief to the table at large as he gazed at the silver badge that fell out of his envelope.
"Oh well done, Harry!" Hermione exclaimed as she leaned over to give him a hug. "I knew you'd get it. And you'll be able to use the prefect's bathroom now too!"
"Just remember, you two," said McGonagall from across the table, "I don't want to see any inappropriate behavior while you're staying alone in Gryffindor Tower. If I do, I can easily find another Quidditch Captain."
The two teenagers quickly separated and both turned red. Though Hermione couldn't help but send a few glances in Harry's direction in spite of once again being embarrassed by the Deputy Headmistress.
Harry cleared his throat and looked over his booklist.
"Well, at least I won't need to buy Advanced Potion-Making by Libatius Borage," said Harry in an attempt to move the conversation on to a different topic.
"Why ever not, Mr. Potter? You can't be thinking of dropping Potions if you still want to become an Auror," said McGonagall.
"Well, I thought you needed an O in your Potions O.W.L. to get into Snape's N.E.W.T. class," replied Harry.
"True," responded the Deputy Headmistress, "but Professor Snape will not be teaching Potions this year." This pronouncement caught both Harry and Hermione by surprise. "The Headmaster has granted him his wish to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts. Your Exceeds Expectations will therefore be sufficient for you to continue your potions classes."
"You've got to be kidding me!" groaned Harry. "Please tell me you're taking the mickey, Professor."
"I'm afraid not; Professor Snape will be teaching DADA while Horace Slughorn will be returning to the staff to teach Potions once again."
"Great, just great," muttered Harry.
"Don't worry, Harry," said Hermione as she gave Harry a comforting pat on the shoulder, "I'm sure it will be fine."
"In any event," McGonagall carried on, "you two need to give some thought to which N.E.W.T. courses you would like to take this year. We can get your courses scheduled now instead of on the first day of term if you'd like since you're already here. I suppose we'll also have to arrange for you to visit to Diagon Ally."
After a few moments of silence, Hermione suddenly grabbed Harry's arm as her eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Harry, look!" said exclaimed while waving her letter about, "the school is offering an optional riding elective this year." She then turned her attention to the Deputy Headmistress, "Please tell me it's a horse riding course."
"Among other things, but yes horse riding will be included," responded McGonagall.
"Why is Hogwarts offering a horse riding course all of a sudden?" Harry questioned.
"The Headmaster decided to add the elective in order to offer Sir Firecam a place on the faculty. He is supposed to be a very proficient rider, among his many other talents, or so I am told."
Harry might have been seeing things, but he was certain that he caught the hint of a smile form on McGonagall's lips as she spoke of the old knight.
"Oh Harry, please say you'll take riding with me!" Hermione pleaded as she once again latched onto Harry's arm.
Harry looked at his best friend in surprise.
"I didn't know you liked horseback riding so much."
"Well, I don't really know if do, like it that is. But I always wanted to learn how to ride as a little girl, but my parents never let me. Please say you'll take it with me."
Harry found his current situation to be a bit odd. Hermione had never pleaded with him to take a course with her before. But here she was, looking at him with puppy dog eyes and pouting lips.
I wonder why she didn't do this back in third year to try and get me to take a real elective Like Ancient Runes instead of Divination, Harry thought to himself. She does look kind of cute like that…
Harry then remembered the fun he had riding Buckbeak and the thestrals, which, along with the look Hermione was giving him, made his decision easy.
"Alright, I'll take riding with you."
This statement earned him another hug.
The rest of the meal was spent deciding what other courses the two students would take. McGonagall said she would duly record their selections for them and that they would be excused from the course selection meetings on the first day of term.
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A few days later found Harry and Hermione in Diagon Alley. They were being escorted by Tonks, Hagrid and, to Harry's surprise, Keldorn. They traveled by floo from the Headmaster's office to the Leaky Cauldron. Harry was a bit dismayed to see how empty the tavern was and once outside, how deserted Diagon Ally itself seemed. It appeared that the Ministry's public acknowledgement of the return of Voldemort had a lot of people too scared to go out in public.
Several of the shops were closed and boarded up, including Fortescue's Ice-cream Parlor and Ollivander's wand shop. Harry questioned Tonks about the closed stores.
"Why are so many places boarded up?"
"People are scared, Harry. After Fortescue and old Ollivander went missing, a lot of the shop owners decided staying open wasn't worth the risk with the Death Eaters around and all. But don't worry, there's still plenty to do here in old Diagon Alley."
Tonks' bright and cheerful words were somewhat belied by the way she kept herself on constant alert, always glancing about for any sort of trouble. Keldorn also seemed to be on constant lookout, although his demeanor was much subtler than the young Auror's.
The small group managed to get to Gringotts and then make most of their purchases without any incidents. The heavy sense of disquiet that pervaded the ally made none of them wish to remain any longer than necessary. Hermione was even convinced to leave Flourish & Blotts after only moderate prodding. Everyone was agreed, however, that they needed to pay a visit to the newly opened Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.
"Harry!" shouted Fred as they entered the bright and colorful store. "Georgie look! The great Harry Potter has deemed to visit our humble store!"
George made his way through the crowded store to greet the newcomers.
"Well now, Fred, if it isn't our favorite investor."
"Not to mention our only investor."
"Be that as it may, he's still our favorite."
"Right as rain that is."
"We'll have to set him and his lovely lady up with some samples then, won't we?"
Hermione colored a bit while Harry interrupted the twins before they could really get going.
"This place is great. And there's so many people here; the rest of the ally is basically deserted," he said.
"Well, people need a good laugh when things are getting tough, as my mum always said," answered George.
"Mum never said that," replied his twin.
"Never you mind what she didn't say, just focus on what she might have said."
"She might have said a lot of things, especially that time she caught you and Angelina in dad's shed."
"Oi! You keep quiet about that! You'll be giving poor, innocent Hermione and Harry-kins ideas you will."
"I'm sure they've had 'ideas' aplenty already, what with them being all alone together in Gryffindor Tower this summer."
"Well," interrupted Hermione with a rather loud voice, her face bright red, "I think we'll just have a look around then. It's good to see you, Fred, George." With that, the embarrassed witch scampered off to look through the store.
"Bit touchy, that one," said Fred.
"Well anyways, have a look around, Harry," said George. "Help yourself to whatever you please; your money's no good here. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't be in business."
The group separated to peruse the store. Harry thought that the Decoy Detonators might come in handy and was highly amused by the signs advertising "U-No-Poo." He came across Tonks laughing hysterically near the fake wands as someone vainly attempted to fight off one of the prank wands as it tried to beat them about the head. He even noticed Keldorn laughing as he tried on one of the Headless Hats and looked at himself in the mirror. Harry also spied Hermione chewing her lip as she looked at a display of love potions before she shook her head, turned and walked away.
In the end, Harry tried to pay for a few Decoy Detonators, but true to their word, the twins wouldn't accept his money. Instead they loaded Harry and Hermione's arms with an assortment of different items and pushed them out the door before they could object.
"Goodbye you two," said Fred.
"Don't do anything we wouldn't do," added George.
"Which admittedly isn't much."
"Especially if Alicia Spinnet is making eyes at you."
"Oi! Quiet you!"
Tonks helpfully shrunk down the assorted wheezes so that Harry and Hermione could add them to their other purchases in their pockets. The group then began walking back toward the Leaky Cauldron.
The ally was still quite deserted as they walked down the cobblestone street. Keldorn was eyeing a group of rough looking wizards when he suddenly drew his sword. Harry looked to see that the five black-robed wizards reacted by drawing their wands and pointing them at him and his friends.
"To arms!" Keldorn shouted as their attackers began to send bright bursts of spellfire their way. Harry watched as shining plate armor somehow unfolded from within the few pieces that the old knight always wore around his collar and shoulders, and within a moment covered the knight in gleaming metal plates. His mirrored shield appeared on his left arm as he ran toward their attackers.
"You two!" Tonks yelled as she drew her wand and set up a shield, "get over by that building and get down! Find some cover if you can!"
Harry and Hermione drew their wands and moved to do as the Auror ordered them. Hagrid meanwhile was swinging his fists at one of the dark wizards as various spells bounced off of his thick, half-giant skin.
Suddenly the ground burst with a deafening blast as a deadly green curse impacted in front of Harry and Hermione, showering them with shattered bits of rock and tossing them backwards.
"Hermione!" Harry shouted frantically as he looked over to her. His attention was diverted, however, when he noticed the two wizards that had likely cast the spell were headed his way. Anger began to course through him as he pointed his wand at the one on the left.
"Stupefy!" he shouted, sending a red bolt of magic at his attackers.
The wizard in question dodged out of the way and returned fire.
Harry cast a hurried Shield Charm and looked back to Hermione. Thankfully she was moving and soon crouched next to Harry.
"Keep your shield up, Harry, I'll throw some hexes and then we'll make a break for the building."
Harry simply nodded.
"Stupefy! Confringo! Tarantallegra!" Hermione cried as she rose to her feet. The two wizards were able to dodge her first two spells, but one of them was caught by the third and began dancing uncontrollably. Harry and Hermione used the opportunity to sprint to the side of one of the buildings and duck around the corner for cover.
Once there, they looked back to the ally and prepared to cast again. However, their two assailants had apparently thought better of pursuing the teenagers and had instead turned their attention to the other members of the group.
Harry saw that Tonks was frantically trying to duel three wizards at once while Hagrid was lying on the ground, bound from the knees to the waist in thick, heavy chains. One wizard cast a dark purple spell at Keldorn who simply blocked it with his shield; the spell bounced off of the mirrored surface and returned to strike the caster in the face, who then dropped his wand and went down to the ground, howling and writhing in pain. Keldorn then gestured toward Hagrid with his sword, and with a flash of white light, the chains binding the half giant shattered.
"I'm going to help Tonks, stay here," Harry said before stepping out into the street. He was quickly yanked back around the corner by Hermione.
"Tonks told us to stay here!" shouted the young witch.
"She needs help! I'm not going to hide while she's fighting three of them by herself!"
"Then I'm coming too!"
"No!" vehemently screamed Harry, "it's too dangerous!"
"I can take care of myself!" replied the now indignant witch.
"There's no time for this!" cried Harry in anger and frustration. He quickly pointed his wand at Hermione's legs and shouted, "Incarcerous!" A thin rope wrapped around Hermione's lower legs from her ankles to her knees. The unexpected spell made her lose her balance and tumble to the ground.
"Harry!" she screamed in anger, but the wizard made use of her incapacitation to leave her behind and sprint out into the battle, shooting off spells as he ran.
One of the wizards that had been fighting Tonks was now lying motionlessly on the ground, but Tonks was clutching a bloody right shoulder with her off hand and seemed to be faltering under the assault of her two remaining opponents. Keldorn had managed to close the distance with the other wizard that was still standing, and Harry saw the knight's sword, now shining brilliantly with golden light, slash through the man's midsection before he dropped to the ground in a heap.
Harry stopped running and took more careful aim at one of the two wizards that were still standing.
"Stupefy!" he shouted. His target was aware enough to erect a shield that blocked his spell, but this pulled his attention away from Tonks. Hagrid and Keldorn began running toward the two wizards that now suddenly found themselves outnumbered and on the defensive.
The attackers seemed to realize that they were going to lose, and with a quick nod to each other, reached into their robes and then disappeared.
Tonks, her left hand still holding her bloody shoulder, quickly sent Stunners into each of the three downed wizards before binding them with magical ropes.
All in all, the skirmish probably took less than two minutes.
Keldorn sheathed his sword and approached Tonks while Harry as well as Hagrid also made their way over.
"Where is Hermione?" the knight in shining armor quickly asked.
"She's fine. I left her behind that corner," replied Harry as he gestured blindly behind himself.
Keldorn looked at Tonks' bleeding shoulder and then asked, "Is anyone else injured?"
"No," Harry replied as Hagrid simply shook his head.
Nodding, the old knight then laid his hands on Tonks' head and closed his eyes. After a moment Tonks stiffened and gasped. Keldorn moved away, and Tonks inspected her shoulder to see that the bleeding had stopped and the wound was closed, not even leaving a scar.
"How'd you do that?" asked the surprised Auror.
Harry, however, missed the reply because he felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see who was behind him only to be painfully punched in the face. Harry dropped, sprawled out on the ground, clutching at his throbbing left eye. He looked up to see Hermione with fists clenched and angry tears in her eyes. Her entire body was shaking with rage.
"Harry Potter!" she screamed down at him. "You are an utter ass!" She then turned on her heel and stormed away.
Keldorn, Tonks and Hagrid stood there stunned, eyes moving between the wizard lying on the ground with the clear beginnings of a swollen and bruised eye, and the retreating back of the irate witch that put him there.
"Bloody hell, Harry!" exclaimed Tonks, "What'd you do to Hermione?"
Harry didn't reply. Instead, he simply sat on the ground and watched Hermione stalk away from him. As he began to hear the tell-tale popping sounds of Aurors apparating to the scene of the disturbance, Harry found himself dreading his eventual return to Gryffindor Tower.
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AN: Hopefully that spices things up a bit.
What did you think of the battle? How about Harry's actions? Does it seem like something he would do?
Thanks to everyone who has commented so far, you're all wonderful and beautiful people.
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Thanks for reading!