Mark of Ancients

Chapter 2: FIERY FINISH

    There was another competition Harry was flustered over. This one he wanted to take part in. Professor Dumbledore and Professor Snape, the Potions master, had started a dueling tournament. It was really a worldwide thing. Anyone in their fifth, sixth or seventh year was allowed to compete. Lucky for Harry, he was in his fifth. He didn't think much about his classes. The Great Duel, as everyone started to call it, was on everyone's mind. Classes and homework were a mere afterthought. After all schools had declared winners, the select few who wished to continue would compete worldwide. All games were single elimination, if you lost once, you were out.

    Any spell anyone could use was viable. Professor Snape had brewed a temporary immortality potion, the only wizard on the planet who dared to. Three hundred years ago someone tried it and it resulted in the immediate death of a rat he tried it on. Snape tried it on a rat, then asked Harry to try to kill it. Harry succeeded with the forbidden Avada Kedavra curse and Snape was rather unhappy. The next day Snape called him again. This time Harry used a summon meteor spell he had been working on. The rat's body repelled the three foot long meteor as if it were a bouncing ball. Dumbledore had devised a health system whereby upon taking a spell, one of two large hourglasses filled with sand, one for each player, would lose sand according to how damaging the spell would be if it were to have actually hurt the person.

    The local tournament would then spawn into an international tournament to be held at Hogwarts. The top competitor, next to Harry, was one Thantanos Brev. No one seemed to know who he was, but everyone seemed to know he was very good. Some rumors were starting that Brev would be the one to face Harry in the last duel... and win. Malfoy was the culprit, as expected, and the rumors were thus squashed because Dumbledore had asked for talk of the international part to cease until it began.

    The first day of the tournament rolled around one lazy Friday afternoon. The entire tournament was to be very short. Only eight people had signed up. Ron swore it was because they didn't want to have to face any magic from Harry, word got out about him killing Snape's supposedly immortal rat. Snape insisted the potion could not rebound the death curse and gave Harry quite a yelling the last day of signups.

    "I asked you to try and kill it, Potter, not to succeed," he said angrily.

    "You asked me to kill it and I did! You should have told me if you didn't want me to use certain spells!" Harry pleaded.

    "Now, thanks to you, we only have eight people. Other schools have upwards of thirty."

    The duels were to take place in the Great Hall. Dumbledore had conjured a foot tall platform about twenty square feet. The first two combatants were to be Harry and Draco Malfoy, someone Harry hoped to get rid of as quickly as possible. One night before, Dumbledore had given the rules out. Standard stuff, everyone thought. Harry found himself fast asleep during the explanation.

    "Our first two contestants are," said Dumbledore, "Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy!"

    The two of them stepped to opposite ends of the platform and readied their wands. Each participant had been told they could wear whatever they wanted to a match. Harry had been sporting a cloak he covered in fake troll blood. Last year he had exploded a troll with an overpowered Avada Kedavra curse and it was Hermione's idea to look threatening. He wore black pants and a dark blue sweater. Harry had also covered his hat in fake troll blood. It was rather revolting to look at but Professor Dumbledore liked the idea. Malfoy wore nothing but standard school robes. Nobody was surprised... Malfoy was never very creative.

    "All right you two," said Snape. "Fight clean and don't explode Malfoy. Malfoy, fight dirty and explode Potter." Malfoy's mouth and eyes turned into slits and glory. Harry smirked and glittered his skin.

    "Harry," called Dumbledore. "No mark for the inter-school tournament, please."

    Malfoy snickered. Harry grumpily stopped it. He had attempted several more powerful spells in prior days without the mark and the only one he could do was summon a small dragon made of ice no bigger than one foot. It was no good for anything other than crashing into walls and shattering, making Mr. Filch, the caretaker, run over to it and see the ice vanish before his eyes. One time Mr. Filch heard something shatter and didn't come thinking it was just Harry again. Turned out Peeves had dropped a trophy. Harry tried to get Ron and Hermione to summon the dragon but their wands only gave off small puffs of snow.

    "In your corners, wands at the ready... go!"

    Malfoy snickered and would be doing so the entire time but the win didn't take long. They circled each other not letting their eyes off the other. Malfoy made the first move but wasn't quick enough.

    "Expelliarmus!" cried Harry. Malfoy's wand careened into the crowd. "Draconus iciclia!" The familiar ice dragon flew from Harry's wand and shot towards Malfoy. It breathed a freezing barrage of ice at him and exploded in his face making the hour glass lose all of the sand at once. Harry smirked as Malfoy fell backwards.

    "Potter wins," growled Snape. Malfoy picked up his wand and muttered something nobody could hear. Harry's skin glowed white without his permission. Whatever spell Malfoy had tried, it bounced and Malfoy was belching slugs. Everyone except people in Slytherin laughed.

    "Let's go, Harry," said Hermione.

    "Yeah, let that dumb git have his turn with slugs." Ron had broken his wand before even getting to school in their second year. He tried to use the belching slug curse on Malfoy but his wand backfired. As fate would have it, the same thing finally happened to Malfoy.

    Nobody really paid attention in class lately. Everyone's mind was on the next duel between Hermione and Seamus Finnigan. Seamus was famous for blowing things up. In his first year he managed to explode a feather. He also exploded a cup he was trying to turn into rum. The duel was to take place the following Monday. Finally classes ended, dinner had finished and the duel was to start.

    "This evening will be Hermione Granger and Seamus Finnigan!"

    "Try not to blow anything up, Seamus! Better watch it, Hermione!" someone called from the crowd. Harry recognized the voice as Malfoy. Harry walked over to him.

    "Too bad you didn't last more than ten seconds, Malfoy," said Harry. Malfoy's eyes went so thin Harry was sure he couldn't see out of them. "I would have had fun with you!"

    "Let's see how well you do in the worldwide duels, Potter." Their conversation was interrupted by Professor Minerva McGonagall, headmistress at Hogwarts.

    "What is this, boys? Please, go back to your seats." Harry hid a wide grin from McGonagall to Malfoy. He was feeling more angst than usual towards Malfoy but it was all in good fun. Competition brought the worst out in all the Houses.

    The duel had already started. Hermione's hat was in smoke and Seamus was dancing. This was going to be a long match. After fifteen minutes, Seamus managed to explode a few chairs, the rest of Hermione's hat was destroyed and Seamus' hourglass had lost most of it's sand. Hermione's was down half way.

    "Expelliarmus!" both of them cried. Both their wands shot upwards and hit the other one on the head. Hermione reached outwards to her wand and muttered something. Seamus fell to the ground and the last of his hourglass was depleted.

    "Miss Granger wins!"

    Over the next week, a Gryffindor fifth year faced a Gryffindor seventh year, and Slytherin seventh year versus a Hufflepuff sixth year. Slytherin was none to happy about the outcome of their duel. The match lasted almost an hour and it took a stroke of luck of a near-miss fireball to win. The Slytherin seventh year managed to win but only had a single grain of sand left. None of the Ravenclaws bothered to sign up. They all seemed to think the Gryffindor morale was boosted too high thanks to "that slimy Potter." Hermione was due to face the Slytherin seventh year.

    She was immediately without her wand. She ducked and rolled and grabbed the seventh year's wand right from his hand. "Patrificus Totalus!" screeched Hermione. The seventh year fell flat on his back. It wasn't a strong body bind, the seventh year tried to break himself free as his hourglass slowly drained. He finally did.

    "Accio!" he cried out and his wand flew back from Hermione's hand to his. He muttered something under his breath and a snake shot out of his wand. Professor Dumbledore couldn't believe his eyes. Hermione was stunned. The snake tied up her feet and she fell flat on her back. She saw her wand just on the far edge of the platform. "Accio!"

    She had her wand back. "Fernunculus!" The snake was covered in boils and faded away. She barked it again at the Slytherin seventh year and his hourglass lost half it's sand.

    "Patrificius Totalus!" he shouted. Hermione was in a full body bind but this was very strong. Her hourglass quickly emptied and the match was over.

    "Slytherin wins," said a teary-eyed Snape. "Better luck next time, Granger," he said quietly and nastily to her.

    "Cheer up Hermione, everyone knows he's going to try that on Harry and he's going to be very embarrassed," said Ron.

    "Let's just hope he's that dumb," Harry replied. He grinned and turned to the seventh year, standing right behind him.

    "You're next, Potter." Harry kept grinning. "You damn Parselmouth." Harry's grin turned into a face of vengeance.

    "Try that on me, I dare you. I'll make you eat your stupid snake or better yet make it eat you."

    Harry dreamed that night of totally crushing the seventh year. He would have to wait until he beat the Gryffindor fifth year. The following Tuesday they were dueling. Wednesday, if Harry won, he would be facing the Slytherin seventh year and then it was onto the international duels.

    "Potter versus Agus!" Harry finally got a good look at Agus. He was very tall and very well built. He gripped his wand like it was his life. Harry immediately tried to disarm him.

    "Expelliarmus!" But Agus flew upwards, wand in hand. "Determined, eh?"

    "Very," he said with a big smirk. He tried his turn at disarming Harry and succeeded. Harry's wand flew out the doors of the Great Hall. "Better get that thing out of my way."

    "Keep it." Harry pointed a finger at him. "I got some new things up my sleeve."

    Agus looked at him, obviously confused. Harry couldn't help it, he rolled up his sleeves and his skin glowed white for a fraction of a second. After it stopped, he cried out, "Infernus grandis inflamora!" eyes closed, hands clasped. The ground beneath them rumbled. A wind blew only on Harry and whipped his hair in every direction at high speeds. He heard Agus trip on something. The air turned hot and red hot flames seethed out from Harry's hands. A loud, deep, fire sound followed as if someone was operating a flame thrower. Everyone's head switched between looking at Agus and his hourglass. In a split second, flames engulfed Agus and his hourglass dropped from full to nothing instantly.

    When it lifted, Agus was still standing but visibly shaken.

    The heat and wind disappeared as suddenly as it appeared. Harry opened his eyes and smiled brightly at Agus who was standing frozen in shock, a look of horror on his face. Dumbledore walked up on the stands and over to Harry with a grave look on his face. The smirk on Harry faded away and he dropped his hands.

    "I said no mark, Harry."

    "I - I didn't."

    "I saw it. Very quick, but I saw it. If you can do the inferno again your win will stand, otherwise you will have to be disqualified." The entire room heard Dumbledore speaking.

    Harry didn't know if he could get it out. Snape brought over a chair for Harry to fry.

    Harry clasped his hands again. "Infernus grandis inflamora!" Everyone's eyes were on him, watching intently. Nothing. Harry stood there with his hands still closed. "Infernus grandis inflamora!" He stamped his feet and muttered "Come on you stupid spell, work," so no one could hear. "INFERNUS GRANDIS INFLAMORA!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. People covered their ears but his hands gave off no more than a puff of red smoke.

    He stood there for about a minute saying the words to himself, "Infernus inflamora... in - fer - nus - grand - is - in - fla - mor - a..."

    "Just as I expected, Potter. Come with me," Snape said walking over to him and grabbed his shoulder.

    "No. I can do it." He wrenched himself from Snape's grasp and his fingers gave off red puffs of smoke.

    "Fine. But this is your last try. You shouldn't be expected to attempt a spell of that stature without the help of your mark." Dumbledore's eyes gave Harry no remorse.

    Harry closed his eyes again muttering "work, work, work you stupid spell, come out," under his breath, eyes closed. Snape examined Harry top to bottom to make sure the mark wasn't active. In a deep slow voice he said out loud once again, "Infernus grandis inflamora." The air became extraordinarily hot and Harry heard the chair crack. He opened his eyes as flames shot out of the ground and from his hands engulfing the chair. The familiar flame sound pierced the air. The flames lifted and the chair was no more than a pile of saw dust.

    "You did it!" cried Hermione.

    "He also broiled the chair," Malfoy said aloud in amazement. Harry walked over to the ashes and a grin cross his faced that looked too big for him.

    "The flames reach temperatures well over enough to quite easily incinerate anything," whispered Dumbledore in his ear.

    Harry picked up the dust in his hand. It was night and Harry was tired but restless. After Dumbledore walked out he blew the ashes onto Malfoy's hair and ran before Malfoy knew who it was. He followed Ron and Hermione back to the common room avoiding Agus. Agus, however, wasn't to be avoided. Harry took a seat by the fire talking to Ron. Agus was sneaking behind him and sat next to him.

    "Good duel, Harry," Agus said nervously.

    "Yeah, good... duel."

    "So, umm... how'd you do it?"

    "Do what?"

    "Inferno." His face looked full of curiosity. "Dumbledore's the only one here that can cast it."

    "I don't know." He looked up at Agus. "I tried it a few times with the mark on broken Quaffles. It worked right away, obviously. Didn't think I could do it without the mark."

    "Yeah. Well. Better get some sleep. Falder put up quite a fight against Hermione." Harry smiled.

    "I have something better for him."

    "Oh?" Harry made his skin glow and conjured a small meteor, no bigger than a few inches and held it in his hand. "Wow."

    Harry grinned his huge grin again looking almost psychotic with cheer. "Needs to be outside, though. The real spell summons a meteor or comet, a real one, and it comes crashing down at the target. Nearly sent one right onto the castle but last minute I was able to make it change direction and go back up." He sighed. "Not sure I can do it without the mark though. I'll try. One time I tried it and a bird came swooping down." Ron laughed because he was there. The bird crashed into the ground in a flurry of feathers and dirt. The bird wasn't hurt, Snape had given it the immortality potion earlier suspecting Harry's spell might not work.

    "Good night," Argus called to Harry as he got up and walked to his bedroom. Neville Longbottom eyed Harry as he walked over to his bed. He was a pure blood, both his parents were wizards, but he was almost as squib, a wizard with next to no ability in magic.

    "What, Neville? Want me to burn your chair too?" Neville let out a strange sound and threw his covers over his head. Harry sighed as he put his glasses down and fell to sleep.

    Tuesday arrived. Harry was woken up by the rustling and bustling of Ron. The two of them were late for double Potions with Slytherin. If it was anything Harry hated, it was Snape.

    "COME ON HARRY WE'RE ALREADY LATE! NO TIME FOR BREAKFAST AND APPARATE US DOWN THERE!" screamed Ron. Harry was immediately awake at the sound of "Snape," "class," and "late." Snapped his fingers once and was dressed, snapped his fingers again and the two of them were sitting in their seats near which a startled Snape peered an eye at them. The two of them never got such a yelling. It was like Snape had sent them a Howler (a letter where the person who sent it's voice was amplified a hundred times normal) and they were getting the full blast.

    "AND TO INTERRUPT A LESSON BY APPARATING! ONE - HUNDRED - POINTS - POTTER!" Naturally, this was unfair. They were only ten minutes late. Malfoy casually walked in over twenty minutes and Snape took only ten points from Slytherin. The only reason he did even that was because the Gryffindors could go to Professor McGonagall. This, however, drew the line for Harry.

    He pulled out his wand, pointed it at Snape and his skin glowed a blinding white. "Petrificus Totalus," he said lazily.

    Snape fell backwards unable to do anything but move his eyes at Harry, who found his way to the entrance and stormed out. Harry flung the door open so hard it slammed against the hinges and closed so fast he barely had enough time to walk out of it.

    "Ugh! Harry!" screeched Hermione. The Slytherins stood over Snape. The Gryffindors watched Harry as he left the room. It wasn't until he came back thirty minutes later with McGonagall at his side when he removed the curse and Snape stood up. Harry left the classroom as McGonagall ushered the rest of the students out of class. He later found out the result of the huge yelling competition between McGonagall and Snape was that Gryffindor only had five points taken and Slytherin had fifty taken. Harry would never look Snape in the eye again. Snape had seemed to act slightly more humane around him for the rest of the day. Agus suggested it was fear, some Slytherins suggested it was because he was plotting how to get Harry expelled.

    Harry didn't talk to anyone the rest of the day. When his professors called on him to answer questions, he merely pointed at Hermione's raised hand. Malfoy had taken a chance at annoying Harry but the end result was Malfoy running off to the hospital wing belching slugs on the way. The slugs were bigger than usual and word had got around it lasted quite a long time. One time he exchanged slugs for small snakes with the words, "Malfoy stinks," across their skin. Harry never stopped getting a kick out of this.

    Dinner arrived. Harry's spirits were lifting slightly and he started to talk again.

    "Wonder what Snape and McGonagall were yelling over," giggled Ron. Harry saw Professor McGonagall sneak up behind Ron and Hermione. "Bet she gave him more slugs and another full body bind." Harry smiled at McGonagall.

    "Maybe someone needs to just talk to him. Everyone needs a hug, you know," smirked Harry.

    "Snape really needs to calm himself down. He's going to bust a vessel," added Hermione.

    "On the contrary, Miss Granger and Mr. Weasley," she barked. Ron and Hermione turned around to look up at her eyes, or slits for that matter. "Dumbledore and I decided that Snape would never be getting the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts permanently unless he treats all students equally." Snape has been teaching both Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts this term. She gave Harry a stern eye. "Naturally he wasn't too happy but I'm sure in time he'll see things my way." She glanced at Hermione and Ron, then stepped away. She said something to Snape and he walked over to them.

    "Good luck today, Potter."

    "Excuse me?" said Harry, very puzzled.

    "You heard me. I said 'good luck.' I can't be mean and misunderstanding all the time now... can I?" Harry didn't know what to say, so he didn't say anything. "McGonagall, bless her soul, forced me to speak with Dumbledore. We came to a wrenching agreement where I have to take as many points from Slytherin as I do from Gryffindor. Unfortunately it would appear he has put a far-hearing charm on my room which I cannot remove." Snape whipped his cloak around himself, did an about face and walked away disgruntled.

    "That man has issues," said Ron quietly. Hermione and Harry nodded. The three of them finished up their dinner eagerly waiting for the final inter-school duel to take place. It couldn't come soon enough. Harry had plenty tension to relieve.

    Dumbledore rose and spoke. "Tonight is the final inter-school duel. All other schools have started their tournaments earlier than us so they will be ready after tonight as well. The worldwide duels will start Friday afternoon. Hogwarts will be the host and I expect all of you to be on your best behavior. There will be a total of sixteen contestants. To shorten the time, there will be up to three duels in one day. We hope these will be much quicker as the contestants are much more skilled.

    "As for tonight, tonight's duel as you all know by now is Harry Potter and Irenicus Falder!" The room exploded in applause. "Please stand by the walls while I bring out the platform." As soon as everyone was away from the tables, they disappeared and the large platform appeared in the middle of the Great Hall. Harry and Irenicus got on it and went to opposite corners. McGonagall was taking place of Snape tonight in being the referee and Harry couldn't be more relieved. He was dressed in his fake blood cloak and hat again with the same black pants and dark blue sweater. Irenicus wore deep velvet robes torn at the hems on purpose. His pants were a red so deep it looked almost black. He sported a black shirt with a deep green picture of the Slytherin logo on it. Both of them were looking to kill.

    McGonagall stood in the center between them. "Fight fair, fight clean." She stepped off the platform and to the side. "Duel!" Falder wasted no time. He conjured the snake again and Harry conjured a small meteor on his hand. Harry grinned.

    "Come after me," Harry said to the snake, "and I'll make sure you have a Boa Constrictor eating you tomorrow morning." The crowd gasped. Not everyone knew Harry was a Parselmouth, especially the first, second and third years. The snake quickly obeyed. It had slithered half way to Harry before he finished speaking to it, but it darted around and went towards Falder. Harry chucked the meteor toward him and it landed just short of his foot. It exploded causing the snake to disappear and all but a pinch of sand in Falder's hourglass to disappear.

    Falder grinned at Harry. His skin started to sparkle a chaulky gray and then glowed white. Harry, startled, immediately made his skin glow white. His grin grew psychotic and his eyes were wide open. He also had to wonder, how did Falder have the mark? Well, he couldn't possibly be the only one in the world with it... could he? Something didn't seem right about this but why should he worry himself over it.

    Dumbledore broke them apart. "No mark! Both of you!" It was too late, Falder started to chant with his eyes closed and the last words Harry heard were "Avada Kedavra."

    Harry ducked as a red light smashed into the door causing it to disintegrate. But the death curse gives off a green light? Harry's skin glowed so white, so blinding that no one could look in his direction. Harry closed his eyes as Falder closed his again. Both of them were chanting. The last word from Falder finished again - "Avada Kedavra," Harry heard as he finished his but not even Harry understood the words that escaped him.

    Falder's spell faltered and the room grew dark. A very dark, blue hazy sphere emanated from Harry and grew larger with each passing moment. A gust of wind blew only on Harry and it looked like he was standing in the middle of a hurricane. Inside it was a sparse collection of floating white blobs that glowed just like the mark. A deep buzzing that rumbled the very floor filled the room, growing louder and louder. His hair blew in every direction and his cloak whipped around as if it were a rabid snake. All too familiar chaotic voices filled the air. The floor became hot and it burned even through shoes.

    The haze reached the walls and the noise turned into a high pitched shriek. It cut off just before it would shatter glass, causing everyone to cover their ears with their hands, and Falder was thrown hard against the wall behind him. The haze suddenly became white for a fraction of a second and quickly faded away. Falder's hourglass expanded and exploded, sending fragments of glass in all directions. People ducked and scattered to avoid them. The voices stopped, the wind died down and Harry stood there, eyes open, looking back at the eyes looking at him. The room was in chaos with people bleeding and tiny fragments of glass all over. Falder's skin stopped glowing and wasn't sparkling. In fact, he didn't seem to be breathing, either.

    The look of shock on Ron and Hermione's face began to set in. Harry had done something he clearly shouldn't have. Dumbledore could barely stay on his feet as he rushed over to Harry. Harry didn't understand why his feet were still standing. It felt like they were going to give at any moment. Maybe it was the fear that locked them in place or it was the fact that if he moved, he might faint. He stood perfectly still, hands clasped together as Dumbledore walked up to him.

    "I - I don't know," said Harry through heavy breaths. Dumbledore took a quick glance at Falder who now appeared to be breathing again.

    "You - must - never... use that spell again. Without proper control it's capable of killing anyone who stands inside the blue haze, including the caster. Somehow, miraculously you concentrated it on one target and his mark prevented it from taking him." Harry never heard such a nervous tone in Dumbledore's words and his knees finally gave way. He fell on them and sat back on his heels looking over at Falder. Everyone in the room was scrambling for the door.

    "Is he going to be okay?"

    "Yes."

    Harry didn't hear any more words from anyone as Dumbledore's mouth continued to move. The thought of killing everyone in the room including himself gripped his attention tighter than anyone else could. After a few more moments of heavy panting, he Apparated himself directly onto his bed. He went to sleep in a few minutes; his heavy breathing made him tired.

    Harry woke up the next morning with a much different attitude. He tried to forget last night and it seemed to be working well. He sat up on his bed and saw Hermione and Ron getting ready for breakfast.

    "Hey, Ron. Hey, Hermione," he said trying to sound cheerful.

    "Hello, Potter," they both said back.

    "Oh are you not still on about last --"

    "Harry you could've killed all of us," interrupted Hermione. "How can you sound so happy after that?"

    "But you're all still breathing, aren't you? Even Falder is!"

    "Maybe you didn't notice but Dumbledore was very upset with you after you Disapparated and was quite disappointed," said a very upset Hermione. She gave Harry eagle eyes, not unlike the eyes he received from McGonagall and Snape in the past. It was one thing to let Snape down, but letting Dumbledore down, you might as well also give up your last lease on life. "He wants to speak with you after breakfast before our first class."

    Would he be expelled? He had done stuff, serious stuff, before but never anything as dangerous as nearly killing a room full of people. Yes, he concluded very quickly, he would be expelled.

    "I'll get packing," he said gloomily.

    Ron nodded.

    None of them knew for sure what Dumbledore wanted but it was sure to be nothing good. He had thought he was going to be expelled before. Three years ago Ron and him flew a car and hit a poor tree that happened to hit back. They were also seen by Muggles which caused a frantic rush to hide the situation from the non-wizard world. The both of them were very surprised to see the look on McGonagall's face when they asked if they should pack their bags.

    "Think there's a chance I won't be expelled?" Harry asked in a soft voice. Ron and Hermione shook their heads.

    A great weight of depression gripped Harry like never before. Back to the Dursley's for the rest of the his life. He would have to tell Sirius what happened and he would most likely never be on proper terms with Ron or Hermione again. Harry pulled out all of his clothes from the drawers and stuffed them in his trunk. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione very quickly. Ron sat, not looking back but it was clear Hermione's eyes were getting watery. He continued to empty drawers and shelves and stuff all his belongings back into his trunk. He turned over to Hedwig who had been sitting quiet in her cage.

    "It's been nice, Hedwig, but I don't think the Dursleys will let me keep you if I don't need you for school."

    He opened the cage and Hedwig perched herself on his left shoulder right up against his neck. Harry would miss that. Hedwig herself was better than any gift he's ever gotten from his aunt or uncle. She stretched out her right wing, put her head under her left and nibbled Harry affectionately.

    "Ron." Ron didn't look up, he was too busy stuffing his head in a book he obviously wasn't reading.

    "Ron," Harry called again, this time poking his back.

    "Accio," Harry said, pointing at his faithful Firebolt broomstick.

    He lightly hit Ron over the head with it and said, "I won't be needing this anymore... you have it." He dropped the broom in front of Ron but Ron just brushed it onto the floor. "Don't make it harder than it already is Ron," he said half shouting angrily. "You know what I have to go home to." His voice began shuddering. "You two have your parents. I have two people that keep hoping I get killed." Harry slammed the top of his trunk closed. Ron and Hermione didn't speak but Hermione started to cry. "See you from the front cover of the Daily Prophet after -- VOLDEMORT -- finally wins." Hermione sat up and tried to chase after him but he already left. Breakfast had not yet started. Harry hoped he could run up to Dumbledore's office to speak to him before he had to face the rest of the students.

    After a few dreadful minutes of walking, he stood in front of Dumbledore's office. The door stone gargoyle guarding the entrance was open and walked up the stairs and he stepped in the office. Dumbledore looked like he expected to see Harry before breakfast.

    "Sit down, Harry," said Dumbledore in a somber tone.

    "I'm expelled, right?" Harry said back in the same flat tone.

    "I'd like a few words with you before I decide on that. You must realize the seriousness of your actions last night. The attitudes of Hermione and Ron do not even begin to reflect the attitudes of some of the other students. Some of them asked me why I hadn't gone right up to your room and expelled you right then and there." Harry tried to speak but his lips would not move.

    "We've done all we can to try to protect you. We most likely would have expelled any other student if they were the one who had put Professor Snape in a body bind, or had inflated their aunt or cast a several thousand year old spell everyone hoped would be forgotten. I cannot begin to think what possessed you to cast that spell. McGonagall and I as well as the Ministry of Magic have twisted, bent and created new rules. We still don't know what about you put Lord Voldemort out of the light for so many years. Drawing attention to yourself and causing unneeded commotion doesn't help us. We don't want to lose you until we --" 'Don't want to lose me until?' he thought to himself.

    "So that's what it is. I'm just a study you people need to figure out first before you can get rid of me." Harry couldn't explain why those words escaped him before he could push them down.

    "Harry, please understand. You're being protected from Voldemort and we do everything we can." This didn't sound like Dumbledore. The right words were usually the only words that came from him. It seemed he didn't know what to say. "Many times people in the Ministry of Magic had suggested we give up saying you'd rather be on your own, responsible for your own actions. I was the one who reminded them what you had to go home to. But rules can only be broken so many times before they can no longer be repaired." He could not believe what he was hearing. "I spoke with some people last night after the incident. Several members of the Ministry were very alarmed --"

    "No, don't tell me anymore. I'm expelled and I'm leaving. Don't ask me back if someone changes their mind."

    Harry was infuriated at the prospect of being expelled and at having to live with the Dursleys for the rest of his life. He half wished Voldemort would just kill him now. Sirius didn't matter anymore and the look on Dudley's face when he would continually taunt Harry haunted him.

    "Take my wand, take my robes, take my books, my owl and my stupid broomstick. Good-bye."

    Dumbledore's mouth opened again but Harry had Apparated back to his bed. He took nothing with him except the old pajamas from Dudley he wore and Hedwig was left in the office.

    There was a knock on the door. Uncle Vernon opened it.