Harry Potter and the Wyvern's Crown

Chapter 14: Unforgivable

'So...a Lion...' Raven was sitting in the windowsill of the boys' dorm. Technically, she wasn't supposed to be there, but then again, there was no true enforcement of the rules. Particularly when the Head Boy and Girl were known to bend the rules for themselves.

Harry nodded, sitting at his desk, but ignoring the work sitting before him. 'That's what the mirror said. And the first class is next week.'

Raven smiled to herself, looking out at the clouded sky. With a sigh, she began to hum, not honestly paying attention to Harry. He turned back to his work for a moment or two when he heard her murmur something quietly. 'And what would I see?'

Harry's quill scratched out another line of his charms essay before he responded, 'You would see yourself as a crow, of course.'

'Would I? And nothing else?' Her voice almost dreamy, her eyes locked on the stormy sky outside.

'Well, I saw my father...and...and well, other people as well...' It dawned on him that he was lying to her full faced now.

Something about his tone tipped her off. 'You saw something more, then.'

Harry looked up, flipping his quill over his fingers. 'I saw...one of the boys from my dreams.'

'The Gryffindor, no doubt.' She was smiling, her gothic features seeming odd for the first time with that expression. Since the holidays, they had not confirmed a relationship, nor had they admitted to anything being between them. And Harry could feel that an odd weight had fallen on the fair Raven's head. Her face was even paler than usual, though bright of eye, and sharp of smile, was more often in a look of such tragedy, and she ruined the moods of those around her.

Everyone but Harry of course. He lived with the same sufferings, and would not be pulled down by her sadness any further. Her presence almost relieved him now. She also had a smile she reserved just for him. But the essay had to be written, so he turned back, his hand carving out the next line about his experience with wandless magic. He also spoke aloud, 'In my own studies, I have found that wandless magic, though a challenge, and somewhat unpredictable, has seemed for me as easy as most wand magic, once I had the hang of it...'

Raven hummed from her corner, 'I wrote that report over the hols.' Her golden eye was pleased. 'Bad boy, saving it until now.'

'Yes, I can imagine what yours was like.' Harry looked up at her. ''And though I studied wandless magic at SCI from the age of 11, I found your basic-level lessons...''

Raven laughed, for what seemed like the first time in a fortnight, 'This was the first time I'd ever done true wandless magic, you know.'

'Oh and that thing with Lupin was...?'

'What thing?'

'You threw a lightening bolt with your hands, as I recall...' Harry drawled as he wrote his next line Certain spells came with ease, particularly, if I'd done them as a child, such as engorgio, levi and accio spells...

'That,' She said it as though she hadn't even thought of it, 'I threw my wand down.'

As she stopped there, as though it were a commonplace thing, Harry glanced up briefly before he finished his thought, 'Most wizards wouldn't do that.'

'Oh. Right. Of course. I used a tenneti spell. It makes the wand behave as though it were still in my hands, allowing me to keep from losing 'touch' with it.'

'Oh,' Harry said, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world.

Raven half-rose to the bait, 'C'mon, Harry. You can't expect to understand the level of training I've received unless you wanted to train that high yourself!'

Harry grinned impishly and didn't look at her, finishing the paragraph. Counting his lines, he noted that he had enough to merely conclude. He did so, while Raven remained silent, watching the formless grey sky.

As he wrote the last words, she spoke again, half to herself. 'The crows have left.'

Harry blew at his ink softly, before hmming questioningly, 'Have they?'

Raven turned her eyes, 'It's too cold for the murder to simply hang around for my sake.'

He almost questioned what she meant, when it dawned on him that she had lost her big granddaddy crow. Her choice of the word murder would be disturbing to most, but Harry was well aware she used the more formal term when she spoke about the flock that had followed her for the fall. 'Perhaps you could buy a pet during our Hogsmeade trip next week.'

'I've considered it.'

* * *

As it turned out, the first Animagus class was scheduled for the morning of the trip. It was a fine Saturday morning, and Harry was thrilled and nervous, his hair being more troublesome than usual. He shook his head finally, tearing out of Gryffindor tower with only minutes to spare. Pleased and out of breath, he saw that he was not the only one who was late as others pushed in with him. He took his accustomed seat, as it was being held in McGonagall's classroom. Seamus was to his left, Hermione, behind and to the right. He suddenly realized that he missed Ron most dearly. This would be the first time they would be separated because of something simply scholastic. Marks aside, Harry felt quite guilty for being permitted to do something that his best friend, a pure-blood wizard of a good witching family, was not. As numbed as he was about this, he didn't notice the familiar face sitting at the front of the classroom until Seamus gave him an elbow.

'What´s she doin' here? She say anything to you?'

Harry saw Raven, but didn't understand the problem. Then, with a certain confusion he realized that she shouldn't be there, 'I don't really know, to be honest. Perhaps she wants to teach animagus magic when she's older.'

Before things got too disorganized, after all, it was a Hogsmeade day and most people in the class wanted to partake in their vacation, McGonagall stood and cleared her throat loudly. 'I see we've nearly assembled...'

The door opened at her words, and Draco and a Slytherin girl ventured in. Her eyes were as hard as his, and he led her to a pair of empty seats near the back.

Harry met Raven's eyes, seeing her look of bitterness turn to that of weary disgust. She grinned slightly at him while the professor singled out Malfoy, 'It's nice you decided to join us this morning, Draco. But as Miss Marshall isn't on my list, she may leave.'

'Certainly its not a problem if we wish to *drop* this course, is it?'

McGonagall's eyes narrowed dangerously, 'It is. You will be here for some time. Miss Marshall?'

The Slytherin girl gave him a peck on the cheek and gave Raven a sharp look, who merely smiled in response as she left. Harry winked encouragingly at Raven. She grinned more fully back at him.

McGonagall continued, 'As I was saying, I'm glad you've all made it here. And yes, though some of you will be dropping this course, all of you will be here for the full two hours because it is required that you have a certain spell placed on each of you before you leave. This will be imperative for you to have, because, as you will learn, it will be the one defence you will have against getting trapped in your animal form. You also may have noticed, I have an assistant here with me today,' Everyone heard the snort of indignation from the back row. 'Most of you will recall from the Quidditch game (I'm certain you were in attendance, everyone does go to them, after all) she is a crow animagus, and has accepted my invitation to help me with the teaching of this class. Raven?'

Raven looked up, an impish smile on her face as she met Harry's eyes again. He knew he was grinning like an idiot as well.

'For those of you who still wish to leave...' This was directed at Malfoy's corner, where several Slytherins were talking quietly to each other. 'She has a tale that I want you all to hear. It will help you understand the gravity of your situation as untrained Animagi.'

Raven then stood, and taking a controlling breath, addressed the class, 'Everyone here, before they ever got to Hogwarts, used wild magic at one time or another. I did as well. Unfortunately, it happened when I was climbing a tree at around the age of 6. My father wasn't tending me, and I climbed too high. The branch I was on broke.' She paused and licked her lips, 'When I fell, much like when I fell off my broom during our last Quidditch game, I turned into a crow. However,' she sighed, as though she were slightly nervous about what she was going to admit, 'I was unable to change back. My father, who had been living as a Muggle, had to catch a very frightened and very confused crow fledgling. Then he had to take me to a wizarding hospital for them to perform the spells that would change me back. It took several weeks. Now, while I stand before you, you figure they did a good job, but I'm telling you, right now, that my hair used to be brown. My eyes were blue. My face used to be full of colour, I had freckles. Ever since my first transformation, I have trapped with black hair, pale skin, and yellow eyes. I have had some spell therapy since, but nothing has worked to change my appearance back to what it was. Because my father was worried that the same thing would happen to me again, I was put into early animagus training.

'Trust me when I tell you this. You want to be sure that you can get out of your animal form. You want to look the same as you used to when you do. I've gotten used to the way I look, but I remember looking in a mirror for the first time after they managed to change me back. That's a shock none of you ever want to have,' She looked up at McGonagall, who nodded. Raven then sat back down in her seat.

Harry was numbed at the story. He'd always figured that Raven, much like Raphael of his dreams, had raven-feathered hair simply because of a family trait. But to hear that she had once looked as plain as any girl at Hogwarts stunned him. He wondered what the 'normal' Raven would have looked like, her brown hair pleated in the simple fashion it was now, with blue eyes and freckles on her cheeks. Would so many boys have relentlessly pursued her? Would Draco have even looked her way? And worst of all, would Harry have even cared for her at all? He mused for a moment, when he realized that he had not been simply attracted to her beauty, but rather, to her knowing glances, sharp wit, and heartless repartee. Her so-called beauty was like a china skin that seemed to cover something truly wonderful. Draco had never seen that in her. He only wanted to possess the girl outside, simply because everyone else did.

Harry looked up, and a sudden bubble of appreciation/desire popped open inside of his heart. He barely felt his blush. Raven was so perfect. If only he were the crow animagus, rather than Malfoy. He wondered what it would be like to fly with her, side by side, in the cool night sky. Silent feathers cutting the dark wind, light falling on her wings as she flew before him. To land in a tree, change back, to take her in the darkness, make her his own. Lost in musings more delightful than life itself, he didn't notice that McGonagall had addressed him.

'Potter...it is rather important that you actually pay attention to ME at this point.'

Harry looked up as the class tittered. 'Sorry, professor.'

The rest of the class was spent with one lengthy spell, enabling the caster the ability to turn back, or to be 'cued' to turn back. With a bow of the head (which was McGonagall's cue) or a covering of the head with wings (Raven's) they both could be shown this action would remind them to change back. Harry picked a head bow as well, with his hands over each other. This cue was only part of the step. McGonagall had to cast what she referred to as a catalyst spell, giving each wizard in the room anywhere from five to ten times their original magic strength to be sure that this spell was complete. Then she split the sections, winged creatures with Raven and four (or more) legged beings with herself. Then each person was led through the spell, using different words and phrases and actions to enable different fail safes, all so that they could return to their human forms, as is, after they became an animal. Harry was by himself, though he noted that the two cats were paired together. Hermione was embarrassed about her own spell, though the text was vague (and her actual English mention of the animal was under her breath) so no one could have honestly figured out what her animal was. But even as she was finishing, there was a sudden and stiff silence from the other side of the room.

Then Raven repeated herself softly, 'Malfoy, your word for the spell is corvalus.'

'I don't want to.' His voice was dark, his eyes narrow.

'You have to.'

Malfoy's eye twitched. 'I have no desire to be...an Animagus. I don't think I should have to say anything.'

Then it dawned on Harry what he meant. Harry's word was leous, but at one point he had to say the word lion. If Malfoy spoke aloud what he was to become, he would have to admit that he and Raven still had a connection. And his immaturity was causing everyone to lose focus. Through the glassy texture of the air, caused by the catalyst spell, Harry felt a quiet rage build in him. He stood.

Raven was a patient teacher yet. 'You have to. Or we're going to be here all day.'

Sensing the dissension around him Malfoy's temper broke. 'Who would WANT to be a filthy bird anyway?'

Raven, who had to have been made aware that Malfoy was a potential crow (after all, she would have said the spell with the same word) flushed. It was plain that she would rather have done anything then teach Malfoy a spell that would enable him to mock her. Harry's resolve cracked. Without his wanting to, the air lit around him. He had forgotten the spell in the air. With this much magic, he didn't even need to touch his wand to cause damage. Malfoy's head reared, distorted by the air and the light, his cold eyes bit at Harry.

He spoke softly, 'What do you want, you disgusting son of a mudblood?'

Harry grit his teeth. Light flashed across the room. Malfoy dodged the bolt of red-hot air. Then, mirroring Harry's look of death, blue light ripped open the air as Malfoy pushed on his own magic. Harry cast again, holding his hands out, light smashing the air in a thunderclap. The students were running now. Malfoy had the same idea and light and thunder roared around them both. Leaning against each other, the air burning, both angered beyond restraint, in a frenzy of hate, they shouted foul curses at one another, only wishing the other would fall, only wanting to prove himself master. The finally, one of them realized what this extra power could enable. And before Harry realized what was happening, a voice shouted as though in his mind,

'Avada Kedavra!'

Harry saw it in slow motion.

Malfoy as he struck his hand forward, his eyes widening as he saw what he had just done.

The bolt of brightly colored air heading for his chest.

Harry's jaw dropped.

There was a smash of light and sound that blew his mind.

He felt as though he were falling, and then he realized, quite suddenly, that he might never see the light of day again.