Heart of Fire, Soul of Ice

Heart of Fire, Soul of Ice.

Chapter One: A New Year.

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I looked out the window, at the drops of rain pouring down the glass. In their fear for my life, the Ministry of Magic had arranged for me to be transported back to Hogwarts for my fifth year separately from the other students. While this might very well be safer, it was also extremely lonely. I wondered what Ron and Hermione were doing right now. Probably talking together on the Hogwarts Express, and Hermione was probably lecturing Ron about doing to little homework during the summer.

I gritted my teeth and absently ran my fingers down Hedwig’s back. She hooted fondly and bristled her feathers. The trip had been incredibly boring. The man who drove the flying carriage I was sitting in, an Auror, I was willing to bet, hadn’t said a word to me since I got in, and although Hedwig tried to cheer me up, she was an owl, and as such, not very easy to hold a conversation with. Oh, she is a great listener, but I wanted someone who could talk back to me. Selfish, perhaps, but it was human need.

I closed my eyes and thought about how wonderful it would be to get back to Hogwarts. The castle had become more than a school to me, it had become my home. I longed to get back there every summer, back to the familiar corridors and towers. I even missed Professor Snape, and that’s saying something. I had missed everything about Hogwarts the entire summer, and I was delighted to go back. I only wished that I could have gone back together with Hermione and Ron.

However, I could see what the Ministry was worried about. Voldemort had attacked several places and probably killed quite a few. Not that anyone had told me, I only knew because my scar had hurt terribly all summer. So, yes, I understood the situation just fine. I had to admit that I was slightly worried myself, but more about my schoolmates than about myself. Several of my fellow students were muggleborn, and as such, they were potential targets of Voldemort and his Death Eaters.

I opened my eyes again and looked out the window, and was relieved to see that we were approaching Hogwarts and were descending rapidly. I wondered briefly if I should warn the driver about the Whomping Willow, but I guessed an Auror could deal with a tree, even one as mean as that one. I could see the Hogwarts Express coming to a stop below us, but the steam obscured too much of my view, so I couldn’t see any of my friends. With a bit difficulty, I changed into my robes and got ready to leave the carriage. I was anxious to see my friends again.

As soon as I got out of the carriage, pulling my trunk and Hedwig’s cage with me, Hermione and Ron came running up to me. “Harry!” Ron called, grinning. Hermione was smiling, too. “How has your summer been?” Ron asked, “Mom has been so worried about you!” We joined the other students, still talking; not paying any attention to the house elves that came and took my luggage away.

* * *

The Great Hall was as it always was first day back, filled with the voices of the students. I noticed several of the first years staring at me, which wasn’t really an unusual thing, but it was faintly irritating. I turned to watch the Teacher’s Table, and saw Hagrid waving at me. I smiled fondly and waved back. The rest of the teachers were talking together, except Snape, of course, who was glaring dourly at all the students.

One of the teachers was a tall redhead I’d never seen before, and I guessed he had to be the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher. I wondered how long this one would last. He was seated next to Dumbledore, to his left, and was talking to the Headmaster. I looked away, and ended up looking over at the Slytherin table, meeting Malfoy’s eyes. He didn’t smirk at me, like I expected from him, but instead looked almost sad. I wondered what was wrong with him for a brief second, and then realized what I was doing. Worrying about Malfoy. I needed to get my head checked.

As we left the Great Hall, on our ways to the Gryffindor tower, Ron nudged my arm. ”Harry,” he whispered, “did you see that new teacher?” I nodded, wondering what he was so worked up about. “ Did you see his right eye?” he asked. “No,” I said, shaking my head, “He was talking to Dumbledore when I looked at him. Why?” “He had this big scar sealing it shut. It looked really creepy.” Hermione, who had overheard us, sighed. “Honestly, Ron,” she said, rolling her eyes, “he’s probably just been in an accident. A scar isn’t necessarily a sign that he’s creepy.” Ron blushed slightly, something he often did when Hermione pointed out a fault in his logic. “I just found it creepy, ok? Besides, his other eye was purple! Who has purple eyes in reality?” he asked. “He’s a wizard, Ron. He probably changed it with magic. It’s an easy spell,” Hermione said. Ron opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but shut it again. I continued towards the tower.

That night, I slept better than I had done all summer. I felt safe, beyond the mighty walls of Hogwarts. I had been having nightmares about Voldemort and Cedric’s death all summer, but that night, I slept peacefully, and if I dreamed, I can’t remember anything of it.

* * *

Our first class the next day was double Potions, and we quickly learned that last years events and the summer vacation had done nothing to mellow Snape, as he showed us how to make a potion to make us temporarily able to see in the dark. Neville, of course, botched his potion badly, and got both a reprimand and the loss of five points from Snape. I couldn’t help but notice the lack of a smirk on Malfoy’s face.

The next class was hardly better, we had Divination, and Professor Trelawny predicted my death yet again. It was becoming quite a bore. However, the class after that was something I was looking forwards to. It would be our first Defense Against Dark Arts class with the new teacher. Even if Ron might have exaggerated last night, the conversation had made me curious. After Trelawny had finished warning Lavender about tall, dark men, we were allowed to leave.

The door to the classroom was open, but the teacher hadn’t arrived yet. We settled down on our places and waited. We didn’t have to wait long. The new teacher came striding into the classroom, a slender witch in a scarlet robe on his heels. He dropped the large book he was holding on to his desk and let his eye glide over the class.

I could easily see why Ron had found him creepy. His right eye was sealed shut by three parallel scars, and the other eye was a very cold purple. When he looked away to open the book he’d brought, I let go of a breath I hadn’t been aware of holding. Several others in the class did the same.

The man looked up again. “I am Professor Pyre, and I am here to teach you how to defend yourselves against anything anyone throws at you,” he said. “I will not tolerate troublemakers in my class, so don’t even try!” He pointed at the witch who had followed him, and was now sitting on a chair in the corner. “That is Mikael, my assistant. He is here to help out if needed, so don’t bother him.” From the sounds of it, I wasn’t the only who was shocked to discover that the pretty creature was a man. Seamus chose that moment to raise his hand.

“Yes, Mr. Finnigan?” the professor said, leaning on the desk. Seamus grinned. “Are you sure your assistant is a boy? Because he looks like a girl to me!” he said, a teasing tone in his voice. Mikael giggled slightly, but stopped when Pyre turned and glared at him. “Yes, Mr. Finnigan, I’m quite sure. Although it’s subject to change, like with all of his kind.” Seamus smiled, and I had to admire his bravery, even if it was stupid. I would never ask someone something like that.

The professor straightened up, and his eye met mine. I felt like I had been frozen in place by a freezing charm, only it felt like it was on the inside of my skin. There were depths in that gaze that I knew I would never understand, even if I lived to be as old as Dumbledore. This man had seen things I could not imagine. I felt like I had been sitting there, our gaze locked, forever, but when Pyre looked away, I realized that it couldn’t have been more than a minute or so. Ron leaned over to me and asked if I was all right, and in a lower voice, if my scar had hurt. I was about to answer when the professor spoke again.

“I have looked over what you have learned earlier, and while I think most of it has been a waste of time, I have decided to teach this class much like Professor Lupin did, to prepare you for any creature you might have to face. However, don’t expect creatures as harmless as Grindylowes in my class. I expect you to be able to deal with far worse creatures than that.” Not surprisingly, Hermione’s hand was in the air at once. “What kinds of creatures will you bring?” she asked. Professor Pyre smiled, and I shivered, as did most of the class. “I will not tell you. If I did, you would go running to the library at once, would you not, Miss Granger? And that would give you an advantage. I want all my students to be at as equal level as possible,” he said, making it obvious that that was all that would be said about that subject.

“I want you all to open your books at page seven. We are going to cover both ‘beasts’ and ‘beings’ in this class, as well as those who are neither. Today, we will work with Darklings,” he said, flipping the book to the correct page. I had never heard about Darklings before, and by the looks of it, neither had the rest of the class. Except Hermione, of course. The professor let his gaze sweep over the class again. “Miss Granger, can you tell the rest of the class what a Darkling is?”

Hermione nodded eagerly and started speaking. “A Darkling is a small demon which live in warm places and love to play tricks on humans. They are often mistaken for imps or pixies. They are said to live for several centuries, but they are not immortal like the major demons are.” She said all that very fast, without stopping to breathe, and I noticed Ron smiling fondly. Hermione never changes, I guess.

“Very good, Miss Granger. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, I have two Darklings in here, but they are hiding. Darklings, unlike most demons, aren’t evil, just chaotic. They are not as ugly as many demons tend to be, probably because they were created by Succubi and Incubi as pets,” Professor Pyre said, and pulled a large gemstone out of a pocket in his robe. He held it up for the class to see. The stone was large, yellowish brown, and gleamed with inner power. I was fascinated. I had never seen anything like that before.

“This is a topaz,” the professor explained. “It is a common enough gemstone. However, this one has been used to store magical energy, a trick I will teach you later. Darklings feed of this energy.” He sat the gem down on the table and at once, two brightly colored blurs came speeding from their hiding places, a red one from the rafters of the room, and a purple from Mikael’s hair. Pyre grabbed the red one out of the air as it flew past him, and turned to the class. “I’d like for you to come closer, so you can see properly.”

We all approached the desk, eager to see these creatures closer. I had to nudge Ron to make him move a little, because he was standing in front of me, and I couldn’t see. When Ron obliged, I found myself staring at a small creature, humanoid in shape, dangling by its wings form the professor’s hand. It was a beautiful creature, with long, bright red hair and eyes, and very pale skin. It had a tail swishing madly behind it, and its wings weren’t unlike a dragon’s. It was also rather ticked off, at least judging by the expression on its face. “This, class, is a Darkling. They are very fast, so most humans never see them, but if you know how, they can be domesticated. They are quite intelligent, but they don’t think the way humans do. This particular one is a young male, as is the other one.”

The purple one was sitting on the topaz, dangling its legs, and it was laughing, presumably of the other one. I bent down, so I could have a closer look, but the Darkling rose into the air at once, and promptly stole my glasses. “Hey!” I yelled. “Give them back!” I knew of several spells that could have stopped the creature, but I couldn’t aim without my glasses. I was aware of a red blur, much larger than a Darkling, moving towards me, and suddenly, I could see again. Mikael had caught the purple Darkling and held it in his grip, ignoring the struggling creature.

“They are quite the tricksters, these two,” he explained, and handed the creature over to Professor Pyre, who glared angrily at it. The Darkling squeaked and hid in Mikael’s hair again. Pyre sighed, and let go of the red one, which hovered in the air for a while, before following the other into Mikael’s hair. “These two are twins, and they both function as familiars for Mikael. Darklings are very suited as familiars. Can anyone tell me what a familiar is?” he asked. Again, Hermione’s hand rose. “Yes, Miss Granger?” Hermione smiled.

“A familiar is a creature who is bonded to a magic-user with a powerful spell. The bond gives the witch or wizard some of the abilities of the creature, while the creature gets an extended lifespan.” Pyre nodded. “Yes, that’s right. Another five points to Gryffindor.” He closed the book and gave it to Mikael, who seemed to find it far heavier than the Professor did, and pocketed the gemstone again. “I want you to write three pages about what normal animals best suited for the familiar spell, and how they could assist you against the Dark Arts.”

I left the class with a sneaking feeling that there was something very strange with Professor Pyre. He seemed all right, and he was competent enough, but there was something odd about him, and not just the scar. It was something in the way he acted that made me wonder. I was so absorbed in my own thoughts that I didn’t notice where I was going until I walked through Nearly Headless Nick, and the feeling of walking through an icy shower woke me from my dreaming. I apologized and ran off to lunch. I needed to talk to my friends.

- TBC