Stormseeker: Borrowed Destiny

I wake up on Saturday morning, and as I'm getting out of bed, the curtains around my bed attack me. "Gah!" I cry, trying to batter them off and reach for my wand. There it is -- "Finite Incantatem!" It takes a couple tries, but the curtains return to normal.

Ron and Seamus are snickering. Neville looks as though he wants to ask me if I'm alright, but one look at the others and he closes his mouth again and looks at the floor. Dean just looks a little embarrassed.

"Alright, who in the Abyss jinxed my bed curtains?" I demand.

"Wasn't me," Dean says.

"I'd've probably set them on fire if I'd tried," Neville points out.

"I wish I had," Ron says, still snickering. "That was a riot." Seamus nods in agreement.

In that case, it was probably the Weasley twins who did it. They must have snuck into our dorm in the middle of the night just for that. Damn it. Like I don't have enough problems as it is. It's high time that I did something about this. I get dressed and head down to the common room. Sure enough, Hermione is already there, doing a little reading before breakfast. I head over to her table and sit down next to her.

"Good morning, Harry," Hermione says. "Um... I'm sorry about yesterday. What Snape did to you was awful. I really should have tried harder to get his attention."

"It's not your fault, Hermione," I say. "It's Snape's fault. I'm just glad that you, of all people, haven't been making a big deal over me just because I'm Harry Potter, never mind all this nonsense lately about me being a dark wizard. Thanks for being my friend, Hermione."

Hermione blushes a bit at that. "I know that you're a good person, Harry, no matter what anyone else thinks."

"Someone jinxed my bed curtains this morning," I say, sighing. "I don't suppose you happen know any protective charms or the like that I could cast? I really hate having to worry about being safe at night in my own dorm."

"Oh, Harry," Hermione says. "Alright, after breakfast, we'll see if we can find you something that might help."

Following breakfast, the two of us reconvene in my dorm. The other boys are thankfully more interested in playing Exploding Snap in the common room at the moment, so we have the place to ourselves for now.

"I don't remember seeing any spells that might do the trick in the first or second year books," I say. "So why don't we start with third year and work our way up?"

Hermione's eyes widen as I pull books out of my bag of holding. "You bought all of the upper level books too? And where did you get a bag like that?"

"Diagon Alley, and yeah," I say, chuckling. "You're not the only one who reads ahead." I grin at her.

"Wow," Hermione says. "I knew you were good in class, but I didn't realize you'd gone this far. Most of you who were raised by wizards seem to take magic for granted and treat the classes as a chore."

"More the fools they, I say," I reply.

We skim through the books looking for a spell that might do the trick. But everything we come across either doesn't really help, or I can't manage to cast anyway. The Intruder Charm might be nice, but it's in the seventh-year book and way beyond my level.

That doesn't stop me from trying to cast it anyway. On the third attempt, I manage to miscast it really badly. There's an ear-splitting shrieking sound, and I clutch my ears reflexively. Suddenly, the sound stops, and there's blood running through my fingers. Shit, that's not good. Hermione is bleeding from the ears, her mouth making screaming movements, but I can't hear anything.

I fumble with my wand. "Fin-- Fini..., d-damn it..."

The world goes dark.

I wake up to find myself staring at the ceiling in the hospital wing. Well, it appears that I didn't die after all. That's unfortunate. Fortunately, however, I can hear again.

"Here, drink this, Mr. Potter," Madam Pomfrey says, putting a potion to my lips. I'm not about to argue at the moment, and swallow the bitter liquid.

"Madam Pomfrey. Is Hermione okay?" I ask.

"She'll be fine," Madam Pomfrey assures me. "You're both fortunate that Mr. Longbottom found you when he did."

Professor McGonagall is probably going to lecture us about this. That's the trouble with not dying. You have to endure lectures instead.

"When will we be able to leave?" I ask.

"If it were up to me, I'd keep you here for the rest of the weekend," Madam Pomfrey says. "But seeing as you're alright now, I see no reason to keep you here any longer. Run along, now. I'm sure your friends are worried about you."

Hermione is already awake as well, and heading out of the hospital wing. "Harry--" she begins.

"I'm sorry about that, Hermione," I say quietly. "That was definitely my fault, and now we're probably going to get in trouble for it."

"Don't worry about that," Hermione says. "At least we're alright. Let's get back to Gryffindor Tower."

Neville is waiting for us in the common room, looking worried. "There you are!" Neville breathes when he sees us. "You're alright!"

"We're fine now," I say. "Thanks, Neville." He comes along with us as we head back up to the dorm. "I hope you didn't get caught in that spell, too."

Neville shakes his head. "Whatever it was you were trying to cast had already canceled by the time I came in. I just saw the two of you laying on the floor, bleeding..." He looks a little pale at that. "Thankfully, Madam Pomfrey didn't even ask any questions when Dean and I brought you in."

Back in the dorm, my books are scattered about the floor right where we'd left them. I don't bother putting them away yet. I just take a seat in the middle of them and lean back against my bedpost with a sigh.

"You didn't tell Professor McGonagall?" Hermione asks.

Neville shakes his head. "It was an accident, right? It's not like you were actually doing anything wrong. At least, I don't think you were. What were you trying to do, anyway?"

"I wanted to cast an Intruder Charm on my bed," I say. "But, as you can see, it backfired."

"Oh," Neville says. "Because of the curtain incident, right? That's understandable. I wouldn't want anyone messing with my stuff or doing anything to me while I'm asleep. That's just mean."

I glance at the time. We lost a few hours in the hospital wing, and it's almost lunch now. I grab my books and stuff them back into my bag, and tuck it away. "I'm starting to think that we're not going to find a charm that'll do what I want, which I am actually capable of casting at this point."

"You know, I could talk to them," Neville says. "Try to get them to leave you alone and all..."

I shake my head. "I'd rather you not get involved, Neville. They might decide to tar you with the same brush as they have me, and I don't want to see you getting hurt because of me."

"Why don't we look some more after lunch?" Hermione suggests. "There might be something we missed. Or... or... maybe we could check out something besides the charms. Maybe there's a jinx you could put on it to discourage tampering. You did say you were better with jinxes, right?"

"That's true," I say. "I didn't think of that." I give her a reassuring smile.

After lunch, when we reconvene in the dormitory, Neville joins us this time. "Maybe there's something in the Defense books?" Neville suggests.

"Alright, let's look there, first," I say, pulling out a handful of books. I definitely did not waste the Potters' money on Gilderoy Lockhart's books.

We sift through the books, discarding anything that sounds too dangerous. The Intruder Charm didn't sound dangerous, and look what happened with that? Who knows what would happen with something that actually does sound dangerous? Eventually, while Hermione and Neville are looking through my upper grade Defense books, I pull out the one the Malfoys sent me for my birthday.

Hermione looks over at what I've got. "That one doesn't look like it's on the Hogwarts curriculum."

"It's not," I say. "I got it for my birthday."

After looking through that one, I come upon one that sounds perfect for what I have in mind. The Revulsion Curse, it's called. It won't actually hurt anyone, but if someone who doesn't know the passcode tries to get through, it will fill them with an overwhelming sense of dread until they move away.

I show it to Hermione, and she nods. "That sounds like it would do the trick."

"I'll try it out," I say, pulling out my wand and pointing it to my bed. The wand movements are a little complicated, so I'm very careful about getting them right. "Locus Timoris!" A faint dark aura surrounds the piece of furniture for a moment. "Did that work?"

"Let's find out," Hermione says, approaching the bed. She reaches out to touch it and freezes in place for a moment before backing away quickly. "It worked," she says, wide-eyed.

I give a nod. "Excellent," I say, smiling. "Thank you. I trust you two, so the password I'll use is 'Stormseeker'. You can come and wake me if there's an emergency or something."

The book notes that someone with enough willpower, or a skilled Occlumens, can simply ignore this sort of protection. But against prankster schoolboys, it should be more than sufficient. I'll probably have to recast it every night before bed, but that's alright. If it will let me sleep without fear of anything happening, it's worth it.

That evening, I've set aside some time to work on the Patronus Charm. I've already gotten my homework done, so now it's time to try to work on something much more difficult. Thinking happy thoughts.

I think of seeing Hermione again, alive and well, brightly smiling with her family as she explores Diagon Alley for the first time. (I imagine Hermione, dead in the restroom, her body broken by a troll's club.)

"Expecto Patronum!" Nothing happens.

This was always my problem before. I can't shake the negative side of things. Well, how about this one, then? I bring to mind the memory of waking up and realizing that I was back in Torn Elkandu. The thought that I would be able to start over and save everyone. The taste of pancakes.

"Expecto Patronum!" This time, light bursts from the end of my wand unsteadily. It doesn't last for long, and I doubt it would drive anything off, but it's progress at least.

"What are you doing, Harry?" Neville asks from behind me. I didn't notice him enter the dorm.

"Oh, hello, Neville," I say. "I'm practicing the Patronus Charm."

"What's that?" Neville asks. "Isn't that, like, really advanced magic or something?"

I nod. "It's really hard for me to cast, but at least it's safe. It's not something that could blow up in my face if I don't cast it right."

"What does it do?" Neville asks.

"It makes an animal of light," I say. "That can protect against certain dark creatures."

"Wow," Neville says. "So you really aren't a dark wizard in training. Not that I really thought that, but, you know how it goes..."

I chuckle softly. "I don't really care about that, Neville. I am who I am, and nothing anyone says is going to change that." I smirk faintly. "It's true that I'm better with curses, though. But I'm not going to let that stop me from learning any other sorts of magic I want to as well. I'll just have to keep at it."

"You're already way better at magic than I'll ever hope to be," Neville says a little dejectedly. "I'm almost a Squib, after all."

"You are not," I say. "You'll be as good of a wizard as you make yourself. Don't let anyone try to tell you otherwise."

"You really think so?" Neville says.

I nod. "Absolutely. I'm as good as I am because I pushed myself to be. Because I've taken a lot of risks. Because I'm stubborn and refuse to give up or back down just because something is hard."

"But... what if I don't?" Neville says. "What if I can't do it?"

"It doesn't matter," I say. "You'd still be my friend, even if you were a Squib."

"You really mean that?" Neville says, eyes widening.

"Of course," I assure him.

"Thank you..." Neville says. "The way Gran was talking about how you'd thrown in your lot with the likes of the Malfoys, I was kind of afraid you might hate me..."

I snort softly. "Neville, I don't hate Crabbe and Goyle, and you've a hundred times their worth, in my eyes. Why would I hate you?"

Neville beams at me. "That... really means a lot to me..."

I look at Neville's smiling face and wave my wand. "Expecto Patronum," I say. A few faintly glowing sparks fall from the end of the wand for a moment before vanishing. Ah, well. "I don't think I'm going to get this one tonight."

"You'll get it eventually," Neville says. "I'm sure of it."

At our next Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson, Quirrell asks me to stay after class to speak with me. I'm more than a little nervous about this. Am I in trouble? What does he intend?

"Potter," Quirrell says. "Have a seat."

I sit down. "What's this about, Professor?"

"Frankly, I think this class is wasted on you," Quirrell says. "You're so far above the rest of your class that it's sad, really."

I've obviously completely failed at holding myself back well enough. Has it been this obvious to all of the teachers? Sure, I'm only two years ahead, but I still know way more than someone in their second week of school should know.

"I say your natural talents should be cultivated," Quirrell goes on. "Perhaps set aside some time each week for private lessons. What say you, Potter?"

My heart leaps in excitement despite myself. I have to remind myself, this is a man possessed by the Dark Lord. Who knows what his agenda might be? Still, if I can learn something about magic in the process, I'd say it's worth the risk. "I would be honored, Professor," I say.

"Would you, now?" Quirrell says, raising an eyebrow at me and smirking faintly.

"Yes, sir," I say. "I'd be happy to learn anything you have to teach."

"Anything?" Quirrell repeats. "There are some curses that can be quite useful that I'm certain you would be good at, but some would deride them for being too 'dark' to be taught in school. Would you be happy to learn those, as well?"

"Of course," I say, smirking myself. "I'm not going to turn my nose up at a piece of magic just because of another's opinions of it."

"Good," Quirrell says, grinning. "I'm glad to see that you're open-minded, Potter. You could go far indeed with that sort of attitude."

"The other students might get suspicious if they knew you're teaching me private lessons, though," I say. "Perhaps it would be best to play them off as detentions instead."

Quirrell chuckles softly. "Keep a low profile and let no one know what you're truly capable of? That might be wise, yes." He glances at the clock. "Best run along now, or you'll be late for your next class. Come to my office after lunch on Sunday."

"Yes, sir," I say, and head off.

I wonder what he's playing at. Why would the Dark Lord want to give me extra lessons? Have I been assuming something incorrectly? When I think about it for a moment, the answer is obvious. You don't arm your enemies. He wants me on his side. But I know who he is, and I'm not going to fall for it. That doesn't mean I can't take whatever he has to teach me anyway, though.

The time for the first years' flying lessons arrives. I'm still not very good at flying on a broom, but at least I'm competent enough that I'm not likely to fall off and break my neck on my first attempt.

"I've never been on a broom before," Neville is saying nervously. "My Gran wouldn't let me near them."

"Relax, Neville," I say. "Just do exactly what Madam Hooch says and you'll be fine."

"But what if I fall off?" Neville says.

"I'll catch you," I say, grinning at him reassuringly.

The lesson starts. Neville still manages to fall off his broom, a little later than the last time. "Spongify!" I cast at the ground. Neville makes a soft whump as he hits the ground like a pillow. I fly down next to him. "You alright, Neville?"

"I'm fine," Neville says. "Nothing broken or anything. Thanks, Harry."

"Five points to Gryffindor for your quick thinking, Mr. Potter," Madam Hooch says. "You alright to get back in the air, Mr. Longbottom?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," Neville says.

Maybe this will help avoid any silly incidents with Draco and Neville's ball thing, whatever it was.

At dinner, however, Draco comes by the Gryffindor table, tossing about a shiny little ball. "Hey, Longbottom. Look what I've got."

"Oh, hello, Draco," I say. "Neville lost that thing? Good job on finding it. We might never have found it otherwise."

Neville looks at Draco uneasily. "My Gran gave that to me," he says.

Draco glances from Neville to me, and I give him a pointed look. "Right," he says. "I'm sure you don't really need it, though."

"Could you please give it back, anyway, Malfoy?" Neville says.

"Yeah, what are friends for?" I say. "I'm glad to have both of you as my friend."

"Yeah," Draco says. "Yeah. I just came here to return it." He tosses the glass ball back to Neville absently.

"Why don't you stay a bit and have dinner with us, Draco?" I suggest.

"No way," Ron says, butting in. "We don't need any Slytherins at our table."

"If you like them so much, why don't you go eat with them, instead?" Seamus says.

With that, Ron and Seamus yank me away from the table. "Hey, watch it!" I exclaim.

"What are you doing?" Neville says.

"We don't need any dark wizards in training at our table!" Ron says.

Percy is nearby, but he seems to be pretending not to see this. I climb to my feet and straighten my robes.

"I say you're all a bunch of fools for not wanting Harry Potter," Draco says. "But if you don't want him, we'll certainly take him."

"Hey!" Neville says. "Harry is my friend! If he's not welcome here, then I don't want to be here, either!"

"Same for me," Hermione says, standing up and getting to my side.

"Neville..." Ron says.

"I've had enough of this crap," Neville says. "You're always so mean to Harry, when he hasn't done a single thing to warrant it."

"What's going on here?" says another prefect, approaching. I don't know her name. I think she's a seventh year.

"Ron and Seamus threw Harry off the table," Hermione says.

"Neville, Hermione," I say. "Why don't we go eat dinner with Draco, and let them cool down a bit?"

Ron says, "Cool down!? You--"

"I don't care if you like Harry Potter or not, but I won't tolerate this sort of behavior in my house," the prefect says. "I'm reporting the both of you to Professor McGonagall."

"I... But... Sorry," Ron says sheepishly.

I smirk and turn to head away from the table. I don't care to deal with this at the moment. Neville, Hermione, and Draco follow along after me, and the four of us take a seat at the Slytherin table for tonight. After seeing the incident from across the Great Hall, they're fairly welcoming of me.

"What's that Mudblood doing at our table?" one older Slytherin boy asks.

"We're eating with Mudbloods now?" says another. "Really, Malfoy?"

"No," Draco says. "We're eating with Ravenclaw's secret heir. Now shut up."

As we start to eat, Hermione leans over to Draco and says quietly, "What did you call me?"

"Shh," Draco says. "Sorry if I blew your cover."

"But I'm not... at least, I don't think so... well, I suppose anything is possible..." Hermione says.

"It wouldn't be a secret if you knew about it, would it?" I say, grinning at her.

"I guess not," Hermione says, frowning a little.

"Is it just me, or is the food over here tastier than the stuff at the Gryffindor table?" I wonder.

"And we have the best desserts," Draco says.

"So, Potter," one boy asks me, I think his name is Theodore Nott. "Are you planning to become the next Dark Lord?"

"Call me Harry, please," I say. "Unless you want me to mentally associate you with strangers and people I'd rather not speak to."

"Why's that?" Blaise Zabini asks.

I shrug. "The village I grew up in was pretty small," I say. "Almost all the wizards there had the same last name anyway. So we always went by first names among ourselves."

"I see," Theodore says. "But you still didn't answer the question." He smirks at me.

"I'm not planning on taking over the world, if that's what you mean," I say. "I've got better things to do than that."

"Like what?" Blaise asks.

"Learning everything I can and attaining godlike power, for starters," I reply. "And there's a couple people that I'd like to kill, too."

"Why are you not in Slytherin?" Draco says.

"Because that's all for the sake of protecting my family and friends," I say, grabbing a drumstick and chomping on it. "So. Do you guys want to be my friends?"

"Sure," Blaise says.

"I can't believe you're still sleeping in the same room as those fools," Draco says. "Did you find that charm you were looking for?"

I shake my head. "No, couldn't find any charms that I could cast. But I put a Revulsion Curse over my bed, and that seems to have discouraged them. Thanks for that, by the way."

"You can cast a Revulsion Curse?" Crabbe says, looking a little impressed.

"Well, yeah," I say. "Worked fine on my first try."

"Merlin, Quirrell's right," Goyle says. "You really are a natural dark wizard."

Draco seems less impressed. "He's got extra practice, you know," he says. "It's not like he cast his first spells last month, anymore than I did."

"I can't believe I'm eating at the Slytherin table," Neville murmurs.

"That a problem, Longbottom?" Draco says.

"I just didn't expect you all to be so... well, normal," Neville says.

"Normality is relative," I say, chuckling. "I'd say that I'm about the furthest thing from 'normal' around here."

"I'll vouch for that," Draco says.