A Scar and a Savior
"Merry Christmas, Dugan. Let's take your presents down to the common room, and we can open them with the stuff Marcy and I got." We carried my stuff downstairs after I had pulled on a pair of robes.
"I really don't understand what the problem is with only robes here. I mean, I can wear whatever I want in the common room, but if I'm caught with a single shoelace undone in the hallways, oh no, I'm breaking ten school rules." Jack shrugged.
"That's how it's always been." I shook my head, and set my stuff down in a neat pile in a triangle with Marcy's pile and Jack's. I began opening mine while chatting idly with them about the homework, whatever gossip they hadn't already told me, and I began to catalogue all the presents. Ma had gotten me a floating model of the planets, even though I wasn't taking Astronomy; my father had gotten me a book on the History of the Ministry of Magic, at which he was an Auror; various aunts and uncles and distant cousins had sent me Sickles or Knuts with tins of candy, which I passed around to Jack and Marcy.
"Hey, Jack. I have a question." His head perked up from a box of Bertie Bot's Every Flavour Beans.
"Hmm?" I gathered my courage, and spoke.
"Why did you help me so much with my, uh, animal problem?" His face darkened, and, for a second I wondered if I had said something terribly wrong.
"Well, let's just say the last person I helped like this died because of a stupid mistake. A mistake I didn't let happen to you. That was how I was able to see the thestrals. I was making it up to their memory, if that makes any sense." I nodded, and opened my mouth to speak again when I heard a voice sounding from behind me.
"Mr. Kehoe, may we talk for a minute?" I turned, and saw Professor Dumbledore standing behind me.
"Uh, yes, Professor." He led me to a secluded corner of the room, before conjuring two chairs out of nothing. We sat, and he spoke after a moment.
"Dugan, did you have anything to do with the two very loud noises we heard yesterday, and the purple light that was spotted in the Shrieking Shack?" His eyes drilled into mine, and I shook my head.
"No, sir." He nodded, still looking at me, and spoke.
"Well. It may come as a slight surprise to you, but I have just received word from your mother to tell you that you are a Metamorphmagus." He watched my face carefully, and I made an attempt to not show anything but curiosity, and to keep my hair from turning some outrageous colour.
"A what?" He leaned back, and continued.
"A Metamorphmagus is someone who, with a little practice, can control their appearance without the use of a wand. Your mother is one, and she notified me that you were one just this morning." I let out a 'huh' and sat back as well. His next words shocked me.
"Now, may I see your wand?" I patted my pockets, and stood.
"It's in my dormitory. May I go and get it?" He nodded, and I jogged up to the room and back with my wand.
"Here." I handed it to him, and he inspected it with interest.
"Strange make. What is it?" I sat back down, and replied.
"Elder wood with Thestral tail hair." He glanced back up at me for a moment, and said,
"An unusual combination, that. Especially with the length... Do you mind if I look at the last spell performed by this wand?" I shrugged, and he withdrew his wand, a strange looking thin one with little bulbs on it.
"What kind of wand is that?" He looked at me, and smiled.
"It is an elder wood wand, like yours, yet the core is very special. No one knows what it is, for the one who made it died long ago." I frowned, and he chuckled before pointing it at my wand and muttering a spell.
"Priori Incantatem." A wisp of smoke emerged, and on it was the scene from a few minutes ago, when I had cast a basic counterspell on a ring.
"Hm. It does not seem to be you who cast the spell, but I wonder..." He waved his wand again, and a scene from earlier emerged: me casting a detection spell. He frowned, and waved his wand again. My heart leapt to my throat, but it was in vain: the spell before the fire spell, a Charm I had used to lift a book, was shown.
"So it seems you had nothing to do at all with it. Good. I hate to expel students, because it would take powerful magic to do that..." He handed my wand back to me, and I accepted it gratefully.
"To do what, sir?" He shrugged.
"I suppose it wouldn't do any harm to tell you. We found a dead thestral in the Forbidden Forest. It appeared to have been killed by powerful Dark Magic, but only a very experience wizard could have cast the spell." I frowned, feigning confusion while my heart felt like it was about to explode in my chest.
"What's a thestral?" He shook his head.
"Nothing important, my dear boy. Well, enjoy your Christmas, and I hope to see you at the Christmas dinner." He smiled at me as he stood, before turning and striding to the door.
"Merry Christmas, Professor." He turned and looked at me over his shoulder, before winking and shutting the door behind him. As he did, the chairs vanished, and I had to summon a stool quicker than I thought possible to keep from falling. I stood, sent the chair away with a flick of my wand, and strode back over to where Jack and Marcy sat.
"So?" I sighed before flopping down onto the floor.
"He almost caught me, but I think my wand is on our side. It blocked him from viewing yesterday's first vanishing spell through the Animagus spell." I patted my wand, and it emitted a warm heat while they sighed in relief.
"Good job. Now, we've got N.E.W.T.S. to prepare for, so I'm going to give you a list of required reading over the next term. I'll send you owls over the next years when I can, but other than that you're on your own." He clapped me on the shoulder, and handed me a long list of books. I scanned it before looking at him.
"Every single one of these is in the Restricted Section." He shrugged.
"I've taught you how to get in there." I nodded, resigned to my fate, and wrapped him into a hug.
"My final advice, even though I'll be able to get maybe a word in sometimes, is this: be careful who you trust. Don't tell your parents about the Animagus thing, until a year after you finish here. That's all I've got, you should be able to figure out the rest. Marcy?" She frowned, and shrugged.
"Don't kill anybody." I grinned, and hugged her as well, before gathering my presents to return to my room. I did, returning the books to the library, and breaking into the Restricted Section to collect some of the ones from the list. The other ones, I would have to steal from the Headmaster's office somehow. I vanished them, and snuck back out to my dormitory before unvanishing the books and starting on them. The first one, Dark Magic in the Twentieth Century, was a boring read, just the background of the Dark Arts and not really anything else. The second one, Dark, was much more involved. It was more of a spell book than anything else, and I tested it on some rats I had transfigured from spare cups. I drew the blinds, to shield from light escaping, and practiced. The poor rats were blinded, suffocated, skinned, and even turned inside out, before I made it to the Unforgivable Curses. The Cruciatus Curse was interesting, the Imperius Curse was downright funny, and the Killing Curse was very eery. I did it once, and dropped my wand. I stooped to pick it up, vanished the dead rats, and looked at the clock. It was time for dinner.
-
"Hullo, Dugan. Where are Jack and Marcy?" I was greeted by Professor Flitwick as I entered the Great Hall, and I responded.
"Studying for N.E.W.T.S., sir." He nodded, and walked next to me as I strode into the Hall.
"There weren't very many people staying back, so we decided to make it two tables instead of four. Your house is sitting with the Gryffindors, over there." He gestured to a table, at which sat very few people, and I nodded before walking over and sitting down. I began to nibble at a piece of lamb chop, mind preoccupied by what the Killing Curse had done to the rat, when I heard someone speaking to me.
"May I sit here?" I nodded, and set down my barely eaten lamb chop to look at the person in question. It was none other than Harry Potter, who slid into the table next to me as a red-haired kid sat across from him.
"I'm Harry Potter. You are?" he held out a hand, and I hastily wiped mine before taking his.
"Dugan Kehoe." he nodded before turning to his plate. As we ate, he spoke.
"So, Ron. D'you think we could find out who Nicholas Flamel is before Hermione gets back?" the other boy, who must have been Ron, shushed him before nodding in my direction. Harry turned to me.
"Can you keep a secret?" I nodded, knowing full well that whatever secret he had was nowhere near as bad as the one I was keeping, and he spoke.
"Okay. I won't tell you everything, but do you know of someone called Nicholas Flamel?" I nodded, having read a book on magic about him (one of Jack's 'required reading' lists), and spoke.
"He created a Philosopher's Stone. He's around six hundred years old. Why do you ask?" Harry looked at me in surprise, and said,
"We think that Snape is trying to get to something guarded by a three headed dog. We don't know what, but I think it's the Philosopher's Stone, based on what you just said." I turned to look at Professor Snape where he sat at the staff table. I turned back to them, and said,
"I can see that. Do you want my advice?" He nodded eagerly.
"Wait for whoever this Hermione is before you go looking for the Stone. And, if you want, I'd like to tag along." Harry glanced at Ron, who nodded, and said,
"Sounds good. Would you like to come to our common room, and we can talk about this more?" I nodded, finished my lamb chop, and grabbed a basket of fried chicken, piled on a few rolls, and followed them out of the Great Hall, all the while feeling someone's eyes on the back of my head. We arrived at the Gryffindor dormitory, and I had to stand a ways off, so as not to hear the password (it was one of the rules.), and entered when they called for me. The Gryffindor common room was a lot cozier than the Ravenclaw room, with less bookcases and more chairs. We seated ourselves by the fire, and I began to eat my way through the rolls and chicken. They told me what they had figured out, and I nodded along as they explained how Snape had a slight limp (which I had noticed) and how it had suspiciously shown up directly after the troll was let in to the school (which I hadn't). I was going to offer my thoughts, when someone tapped me on the shoulder.
"What're you doing here, Ravenclaw?" I turned in my seat, and saw a burly Gryffindor with curly hair glaring down at me.
"Talking to them." I indicated the two, and he chuckled before hauling me to my feet.
"We're gonna crush you in Quidditch, so I might as well crush you here." He shoved me across the room, and I barely had time to draw my wand before he bellowed out a spell.
"Stupefy!" I flicked my wand, and a Shield Charm sent the spell spinning across the room. I retaliated with a spell of my own.
"Petrificus Totalus!" He froze, arms forced to his sides, and fell facedown onto the floor. I calmly walked over to where I had sat, and picked up the basket of food before bidding the two farewell.
"Find me if you need help." They nodded, in awe of what I had done, and I exited the common room via the portrait, hurrying back to my common room. I plunked the basket down in front of Jack and Marcy, and walked to my room to get some sleep, weaving between the stacks of books until I reached my bed. I paused, struck by a sudden thought, and opened a window. I stuck my wand out of the window, and quietly said,
"Accio Books." After a moment, the remaining books on Jack's list floated through the window. I shut the window quickly, and dropped them into a pile on the floor next to my bed before falling into it, mind filled with images from the day.
~
The weeks passed uneventfully, with little to no word from Harry or his friends, and I was beginning to worry about the books Jack had told me to read, particularly one that screamed whenever I opened it. It had been quieted with a simple Silence Charm, but having to read a book while it vibrated in my hands was a strange experience. I was leaving the Great Hall after dinner, excited that we only had finals and a few weeks of term left, when I was caught by Harry and Ron, accompanied by a girl who must have been Hermione.
"We're going into the trapdoor beneath the dog to stop Snape tonight. Do you want to come with us?" I nodded, and dashed after them as they ran to the staircases. Strangely, the stairs seemed docile, and dropped us at the third floor quickly. We entered, and dashed down the corridor, ending in a locked door. As Hermione opened it, I gazed around at the hallway, having never gone in it before. The door opened, and I heard a fierce growling. I turned, and saw a massive dog with three heads. Harry stuck a wooden flute into his mouth, and began playing a simple tune. Almost immediately, the dog's heads drooped, and I gently moved the paw standing on the trapdoor with a spell. The three of us climbed in while Harry played, and he jumped down after us, shutting the trapdoor. We landed in a thick patch of vines, and the three of them began to talk while I realized our predicament.
"Watch out!" I drew my wand again, and muttered a powerful light spell.
"Lumos Maxima!" A blinding light filled the room, sending the Devil's Snare scurrying to the corners, and we clamped out and into a damp passageway. I dispersed the light, and accepted the thanks from the three as we continued. We passed through the key room simply enough, and reached a wide hallway. Between us and the door at the other end was a tall man with a hooked nose. As soon as he saw us, he drew his wand and began casting spells. I slashed my wand, and a Shield Charm burst to life between us. He stopped, and eyed us warily.
"I don't think he's able to leave the room. He certainly doesn't act like it." I nodded, and thought aloud.
"I could duel him easy enough. I just have to beat him so you guys can get past, right?" They nodded, then Harry spoke up.
"But you're going with us, right?" I frowned at the man, and spoke.
"Not with the way he duels. But, I'll make a lot of noise, so someone is going to hear it and investigate." Harry nodded, and I realised that time was of the essence, so I backed them into the hallway before casting another Shield Charm on the doorway. I faced the man, and dispelled the Shield Charm. He didn't attack straight off, but bowed, keeping his eyes on me. I copied him, and, when I had stood back up, wand at the ready, the duel began. We both cast spells quicker than words, and I was glad Jack had trained me and had made me read the books. The man shot a bolt of yellow lighting at me, which, at the wave of my wand, dissapated on the walls. I responded with a Stunning Spell, which he easily blocked, before whipping a Cruciatus Curse along the length of the hallway. I sent it spinning into the floor before laughing.
"So, that's how this duel goes?" He bared his teeth, and I forgot about the three other first years watching fearfully from the doorway as I retaliated with a slash of my wand, sending a line of white light along the corridor. He ducked under it before shouting,
"Diffindo!" Three long cuts opened up on my face, and I cursed as he shot another spell at me. I blocked it, and, with no thought, sent a wave of Fiend Fyre at him. His eyes widened, and he dashed back to the end of the corridor. I pulled the fire back at the last second, and shot a Petrifying Curse at him. He was frozen in place, and I crumpled to the floor, cuts on my face bleeding profusely. The Shield Charm vanished, and I heard three sets of feet racing towards me.
"Go! I'll get help. I'm fine. Leave me! Snape is getting closer to the Stone while you waste time. Go!" They reluctantly left me, and I raised my wand into the air, and shouted a spell for the loudest noise I could think of. It went off, and my ears felt like an elephant was trumpeting into them, with my advanced senses, and I was certain that someone, if not the entire castle, had heard that. I relaxed, trying to keep the blood from dripping out too much, and laid there for what felt like a few days, then Hermione returned, struggling with Ron, who was unconscious. I stood, blood dribbling from the cuts, and shouldered him. She was frantic, talking through tears, as she explained the situation to me.
"H-Harry went through the fire b-by hims-self and I felt so stupid, Dugan, I should have gone with him somehow, he's probably duelling Snape right now, and-"
"Miss Granger, I feel that we must get you, Dugan, and Ronald to Madam Pomfrey as soon as possible." I looked up, and to my delight, I saw Professor Dumbledore standing at the top of the passageway, wand out. He waved his wand, and we floated up, through the trapdoor, past the dog, and into the hall, where McGonagall waited. At this point, I fell to the floor, blood loss finally getting to me, and the last thing I remembered before darkness was Hermione crying.
-
I sat up in the hospital wing, bandages over half of my face, and saw that I was not alone.
"How are you feeling, Dugan?" Professor Dumbledore looked at me carefully, and I spoke.
"Better. How long was I out?" He shrugged.
"A few days. Now, is there something you wish to tell me? Anything at all?" I opened my mouth to respond no, but a thought in my head gave me pause. I had finished the books, all of them, and I was certain that Dumbledore knew it was me that had stolen them in the first place.
"Yes, sir." I went on to explain the last year, how Jack had given me some books to read, and aided me in my abilities as a Metamorphmagus and ultimately in becoming an Animagus, adding that I had attacked the thestral in self defence, not meaning to kill it. I then went on to describe the duel on the third floor, and how I had pulled back the Fiend Fyre at the last second. At the end of the story I pleaded with him not to tell my parents I was an Animagus, nor about anything I had just told him.
"Well, with the extenuating circumstances explained to me, I know now that it was not a cold blooded murder, but a brave defence of a fellow student that resulted in a thestral dying. I shall not inform your parents of this, but I will take five points from Ravenclaw, for breaking school rules by entering the out of bounds area of the school. Pray tell, what form is your Animagus?" I pulled the sheet aside, and stood towards the centre of the room. I shifted, and he smiled, blue eyes a tad watery.
"Incredible. A white dove." I shifted back, and he nodded a few times to himself, still smiling. He then withdrew my wand from his robes.
"This wand has taught you much, and I think that you'd give even me a run for my money if you so chose. Make sure that you don't." The last bit was a warning, for his gaze turned suddenly to steel, and I felt as if a sudden gust of cold air had filled the room. The moment passed, and he smiled again.
"Now, I must see to Harry. You have been discharged, as you have woken up. You may leave." I nodded, and strode to the door, exiting quickly. I found Jack, Marcy, and the five first year girls waiting anxiously, and, upon my entrance, Jack dashed across the hall and swept me into a hug.
"You bloody idiot. Why did you go down there? You could have been killed." I giggled, and said,
"I had to help. They asked, and I decided I had to. Besides, they wouldn't have stopped Snape if I hadn't." Jack frowned.
"But it wasn't Snape, it was Quirrel." My mouth dropped open, and I pulled back from the hug, hair turning light blue in confusion.
"What?" He laughed.
"Yeah, it turns out Quirrel had You-Know-Who sticking out of the back of his head the whole time. I guess that's why he wore the turban." I nodded, and I was nearly ran over by Ron and Hermione. Their voices mixed as they fired questions at me.
"Are you okay?"
"Where's Harry?"
"It was Quirrel all along, not Snape!" I nodded, and was about to speak when Harry exited, followed by Dumbledore. He nodded to me, before saying,
"You all should get to the feast. They're announcing the House Cup!" I nodded, and realised my hair was still blue. I changed it back to its regular brown, and followed the group as we hurried to the Great Hall. I separated from the Gryffindors, and sat down at Ravenclaw's table, Jack on my left and Marcy on my right. As Dumbledore spoke, I whispered to Jack.
"It turned out pretty well. He knows, and the only thing he did was take five points from Ravenclaw for going on the third floor." Jack's eyes bugged out of his head, and he held a hand to his chest.
"Whew. Oh, look! Exams are cancelled!" I joined in the cheer, and saw that, somehow, Gryffindor had won the cup, even though Slytherin was way ahead last I knew. We dug into the feast, chatting happily, and, as I tucked into dessert, I felt someone tapping my shoulder. I turned, and saw Harry and Hermione standing there. I stood, facing them, and Harry spoke.
"I just wanted-we just wanted to say thank you for what you did. You didn't have to, but you did. So, I consider you one of my good friends, and Ron wants you to send an owl to him whenever you can come stay with him." He smiled, and I returned the favour, bandages on one side of my face obscuring my eye.
"I will, trust me."
"What are you going to say to your parents?" After I had sat back down, Jack queried me, pointing at the bandages.
"I stood too close to the Womping Willow." He grinned, and I bit into a jam donut, relieved that everything had turned out okay.