Sword-Sister 4
Harry walked through Diagon Alley, a bag on his shoulder. He'd purchased a few books that Annwyl suggested from a small bookstore specializing in out of print books in Practik Alley; it seemed that the alley there had a lot of niche goods not available at the stores in Diagon itself. The books were on martial magic; not just duelling, but fighting with weapons in addition to a wand. Apparently, in the past, weapons like swords and daggers were used as magical focuses for combat magic. Wands were more versatile and had more finesse, though.
As he headed towards Florean Fortescue's, Harry dug through the bag, pulling out one of the books. Tucking it under his arm, he opened the door to the ice cream parlour and then stepped aside to let an approaching girl enter before him. As Harry looked at the girl, he nodded politely. Then paused, "Hi, Susan."
The red-haired girl nodded with a smile, "Hello, Harry," she said to him. "What brings you out and about?" Harry felt his nervousness spike.
"She's being nice, Harry. Relax. Just be nice back," Annwyl told him, trying to help him. "Perhaps you two can hit it off."
Barely managing to not roll his eyes at Annwyl's words, Harry answered, "I was picking up some books. A friend of mine suggested them; they have interesting spells and magical theory." As he spoke, Harry tapped the book he was carrying with one finger. "What about yourself?" He liked Susan; she was one of the few in Hufflepuff who hadn't been mean to him last year.
"I was picking up my books for this year and just exploring," Susan answered.
"What electives are you taking?" Harry asked curiously, as he entered the establishment and walked up to Fortescue. "Vanilla. And whatever Susan wants."
"Orange sherbet. And I'm taking Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Muggle Studies," Susan said with a shrug, "I honestly would prefer not to take Muggle Studies as I've heard how bad it is, but I want to work in the Ministry so it's almost required."
Harry laughed softly, "That sounds familiar; I was speaking to someone about that the other day. If you want to learn about muggles, have a muggle-born or muggle-raised classmate show you around. You'll learn a lot more. Hermione would be a good choice." He smiled, "I'd help too, of course, if you wanted. But again, Hermione would be better."
"Why would Hermione be better?" Susan asked curiously before blinking, "Wait, you're not muggle-born, so you were muggle-raised? I never knew that, though I did notice you seemed a little clueless about things."
Harry nodded, "I, ah, grew up with my aunt. My mum's sister," he explained. "I didn't know I was a wizard until I got my Hogwarts letter." After a moment, he added, "And I just think Hermione would explain things better." That and he rarely got to go out, not that he'd mention that part.
"That's incredible," Susan said, boggling slightly. "Everyone assumed you were raised by a cousin of the Potters. You didn't know anything?"
When the man behind the counter returned with their ice cream, Harry paid quickly, moving to a table. "Nope," Harry said simply, as he started to eat his ice cream.
Shaking her head slowly, Susan said with a frown, "I guess that explains why you didn't know all sorts of things. You were really confused last year, I bet."
"At first," Harry admitted. "I mean, I knew I could speak to snakes; I first spoke to one in the garden when I was a kid," he explained. "But I had no clue that magical people thought that if you can do that, you're evil." He shook his head.
"You should mention that in India and a lot of other countries, Parselmouths are revered. It's really only Britain and a few parts of Europe that hate and fear them," Annwyl suggested.
"I wish I'd known that before. I guess that explains why Parvati and Padma were always nice to me last year," Harry thought. He added to Susan, "Kind of funny when you think about it. Did you know that in India and some other countries, Parselmouths are revered?"
"Must not have been fun," Susan said, wrinkling her nose. "I kept trying to help, but no one listened." She blinked, "Really? That's interesting. I take it you did research after finding out?"
Harry shrugged noncommittally and added, "Honestly, I did a lot of thinking last year, and the hatred is annoying. It's not like Parseltongue is something you learn or cast some Dark creepy spell to gain. You're born with the talent. No one's born evil." He grinned suddenly, "It'd be like saying gingers are evil."
"Hey!" Susan gave him a mock glare, as she finished her ice cream, "Don't make me swat you." She considered, "I suppose you're right, though. It’s not like you did anything bad to become a Parselmouth, you just were one."
Finishing his own ice cream, Harry smiled, "Exactly. It's kind of why I've chosen to embrace it. I'm thinking of getting a snake for a pet, too," he said with a grin.
Susan started to giggle, "Oh, my. You do realize people will absolutely freak?"
Harry shrugged at her, "Honestly at this point, I don't care much. Friends won't care, and I'm not particularly concerned about people who want to rush to judge me. A good friend of mine told me a little while ago that the most important thing was to be true to yourself and not worry about others' opinions."
"You do listen to me!" Annwyl gasped, teasing him.
"Shush, you."
"That makes sense," Susan said with a smile. She glanced at the clock on the wall and blanched, "Oh, I need to go. My mum will be waiting for me in the Leaky Cauldron."
"All right," Harry said, as he got up and picked up both his and Susan's empty dishes. "I'll see you at school then, Susan."
"Bye!" she said, turning and heading out the door quickly.
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Harry made his way to the train and boarded it. He wandered down the hallway, looking for Ron and Hermione, then paused as he saw Padma and Parvati in a compartment with a blonde-haired girl he didn't know. After a moment, he knocked on the door, and when Parvati opened it, asked, "Mind if I join you three?"
"I don't mind," Parvati said with a smile, "Sis?"
"Come in, Harry. Do you mind, Luna?" Padma asked the other girl.
"I don't mind. Hello, Harry Potter. I've seen you around the school. Thank you for helping Ginny," the girl said.
"Thanks!" Harry said, entering the compartment. When Parvati sat opposite her sister, Harry sat down by Padma. "I'm studying the books," he told the girls. "Kya haal hai aa, Padma, Parvati?"
"Almost," Padma said with a smile, "You mispronounced 'hai' slightly, it's more like 'hay'. Good though!"
"I'll keep working on it. Pronunciation is difficult when I'm just reading." Harry glanced at the other girl, "Your name is Luna, right? Nice to meet you."
"She has beautiful hair. It reminds me of my own," said Annwyl to Harry.
"Thank you," said Luna suddenly, causing Harry to blink at her a moment. She couldn't have heard Annwyl, could she? He could feel a sense of unease from Annwyl, but she didn't speak. He glanced at Padma, "Have you been studying? I finished the first year books in Arithmancy and Ancient Runes."
"Wow," Parvati said, staring at Harry, "Who are you and what'd you do with Harry? You were never into studying before."
"After last year, I figured I had to apply myself more," Harry told Parvati. "I'm a little worried that Ron will be upset, but I need to learn."
"You're ahead of me as I was reading a book on Devanagari. Which reminds me," Padma said as she rose and started digging through her trunk on the rack, "Here we are," she said as she offered it to Harry, "It's an English primer on Devanagari runes. I have more books on the subject, but they're in Hindi, I'm afraid. But happy belated birthday, Harry."
"Oh!" Harry stared at Padma, and smiled, "You didn't have to do that, but thank you. The way you described them, this should be interesting."
Luna looked curious, leaning over, "I've heard of Devanagari runes, but they're rarely used in this part of the world."
Harry smiled at Luna, "If you like, after I finish reading it you could borrow it," he told her. Glancing at Parvati, he asked, "Looking forward to your electives?"
"Oh yes! Divination should be fun, and I'm ever so looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures, too. They mention unicorns in the book, I want to see one so badly!" Parvati bounced in her seat, causing Harry to smile slightly. "It's too bad you dropped Divination."
"I don't have the Sight," Harry said with a shrug. "From what I've read Divination does include other elements of magic, but Trelawney focuses entirely upon prophecy and foretelling. Which I can't do. I figured I could just do some reading on stuff like scrying spells and so on."
"I suppose that makes sense," Parvati said after a moment's thought. She suddenly grinned, "Padma is really happy you're taking Arithmancy and Runes."
"Hey!" Padma said, blushing slightly, "Quiet, you."
"Someone's got a cruuuush," sang Annwyl.
"Shush," Harry responded.
To the side, Luna giggled, looking at Harry, and blinked her pale grey eyes at him. After a few moments, she spoke, "I wish I could take Ancient Runes this year," she lamented. "I'll probably do some reading so I'm prepared for next year."
"If you want, you can borrow more of my books," Harry offered Luna, before pulling his trunk from his pocket. "I need a bit of room," he murmured, setting it down between the seats and touching its lock to enlarge it. He opened up the library compartment, putting the book on Devanagari away, and then closed the trunk again, tapping the lock to shrink it so he could pocket it again.
"Was that a library compartment?" asked Padma, "Those can be pricey. I'm saving up for one of those, myself."
"Yeah, I picked up a new trunk this summer," Harry told her. "It's useful. It automatically sorts the books inside by subject, too."
"I hate you," Padma joked, sighing, "I'd kill for a trunk like that. Two compartments?"
"Four, actually. Two enlarged, the library compartment, and a large closet," Harry said. "It wasn't that expensive, comparatively, but I had them put a lot of protections and spells on it, which upped the price a fair bit."
"Now I know what I want for my birthday," teased Padma.
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They spoke for some time, talking about school and the upcoming year. Harry spent a little while trying to talk in Hindi, only to have both Padma and Parvati laugh and tease him.
"You said that completely wrong," laughed Padma. "I'm not sure what you intended to say, but you told me your skin was grapes."
Harry blinked, "Oops?" He considered, "I..." About to say more, he paused as the train slowed and stopped, the lights flickering. Then going off. "What the heck?"
"I don't know. We're still an hour or so from Hogwarts, I think," Padma murmured.
Suddenly, Harry felt a creeping chill that quickly became icy. He felt dizzy and could hear a buzzing in his head.
"Harry, if the door opens, you need to do as I say." Annwyl's voice was worried. As she spoke, he felt an odd mental wrench, and the buzzing faded, and his mind started to clear. "Draw me. I'll stay as a wand for now, but I might have to change."
"What's going on?" Harry asked, doing as she requested.
"You're under mental assault. I increased my protection to keep it out. The most likely thing to cause this, especially when coupled with the physical sensations, is..." Annwyl stopped as the door slowly opened, a hideous bone-and-flesh hand visible, "Damn. Yes. Dementor. As soon as it comes in, stab it."
"Stab it?" Harry asked, surprised.
"Yes. You can't use a Patronus charm yet; it's highly complicated magic. But I can kill it," Annwyl said.
The girls in the compartment were not reacting well; Luna was almost catatonic. Harry knew if not for Annwyl, he'd be in the same boat or perhaps even worse. He'd felt ready to collapse before Annwyl started helping him. Harry stood up as the creature entered the compartment, careful to step forward as it moved towards him, blocking the girls' view with his body. He lashed out as the wand became a sword, running it through the creature's robe and into its torso.
There was an ear-splitting shriek of pain and rage, and the creature folded in upon itself, cloak falling to the ground in front of him. Even as it fell, the sword shimmered, becoming a wand, and he slipped it into his sleeve again, as Harry collapsed back onto the seat near Padma.
He felt so cold.
"Relax, Harry. It'll be okay. You need chocolate. It helps, surprisingly enough." Annwyl said worriedly. "You all do."
"Does...anyone have any chocolate?" Harry managed. "I remember hearing that it helps when you get too closet to a dementor," he muttered.
He felt a surge of pride from Annwyl at his words. She liked it when he acted intelligently.
There was movement outside and Harry struggled to stand again when he heard a voice mutter, "Dear heavens, what happened?" Then, "Is everyone all right?"
"I think so. I'm feeling kind of shaky," Padma said. "I never saw a dementor before. I don't think I want to ever again."
"Here, eat this," the man said, starting to pass out chocolate. "I'm one of your professors. Professor Lupin. What happened here?"
"We were talking," Parvati said, far quieter than her usual energetic self. "It started to get cold, and then I started remembering when my daadee died, and I felt so depressed." She shuddered. Beside her, Luna was clinging to her for dear life. "I started to feel really horrible. It opened the door and came in. Harry got up and did...something, and it screamed. It left the cloak there," she said, gesturing with one hand.
"What happened, Harry?" asked the man.
"Just about the same as Parvati, sir. I felt cold and depressed. I knew it was a dementor, and that they're dangerous. When it came in, I wanted to protect my friends." Harry shuddered. "I got up, hoping to do something and when it got close..." He shrugged, "I don't know what happened. I felt a burst of power, and it screamed and died. Do you think it was accidental magic?" He was looking down so the man couldn't see his face. He knew it'd be harder to tell he was lying that way.
He had almost gone into Slytherin, after all.
"It might have been," the man said after a moment's thought. "I've never heard of someone actually killing a dementor, though." He sighed.
Harry blinked as something the man said earlier registered. Lupin? Annwyl had mentioned him as a friend of his father's. He wanted to speak to the man but had no excuse to know who he was. "I wouldn't know, sir. I just didn't want it to hurt my friends."
The man questioned the other two girls as well and then moved on. Harry leaned back, taking a breath and after a moment, Padma grabbed his arm, "Thank you, Harry. I don't want to think of what might have happened."
"I can't take credit really," Harry told her seriously. Annwyl was the hero, not him; he didn't want to be praised for her actions. "It was an accident, not something I did, you know? You're all my friends, though, I'd do what I could."
"Well, still," Parvati added, "Thanks."
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Making his way into the great hall, Harry sat at the Gryffindor table. Parvati, who'd been walking next to him, said, "I'm going to go talk to Lavender," before making her way to her friend and speaking quietly to the other girl.
A few moments later, Harry heard, "Harry!" and then Hermione gave him a big hug, "We were worried about you, where were you on the train? We were going to go looking for you when you didn't show up, but then everything went all cold. Some people said there was a dementor there!"
"It was horrible, mate. I felt so cold. Where were you?" was Ron's response as he plopped down at the table. "I hope they finish sorting so we can have dinner."
"I was speaking to a few other people I know," he said. "I was chatting with Parvati and Padma," Harry explained. "We were discussing stuff when we met in Diagon Alley and I started learning Hindi. It's an interesting language. Really different, though. Padma gave me a book on Devanagari runes, too."
Hermione looked curious, "Runes? I thought you were taking Divination and Care?" She added, "Can I see the book?"
"I changed my mind after I read a book on wizard careers. I don't have the Sight, so the Divination class is useless to me. I hear the teacher focuses on prophecy over everything else. I'll look up various spells that are linked to divination on my own time," Harry said with a shrug. "Arithmancy and Runes are useful for a lot of things. I'm considering curse breaking, for instance. That sounds fun. Or maybe warding." He smiled, "As for her book, sure, you can read it when I'm done."
Hermione looked disappointed, while Ron looked confused, "Since when were you hanging out with Parvati and her sister?" He suddenly frowned as what Harry said registered, "You're not taking Divination anymore? We were taking that together."
"Since the summer. I spent a bit of time in Diagon Alley and I met up with Padma. She and I talked," Harry said with a shrug, "I talked with her and Parvati a few days later, too." He smiled suddenly, "Sorry Ron, but I'm kind of glad I'm not, honestly. Divination won't do anything for me so it's a waste to take the class. Not unless I suddenly start spouting prophecies or something. If I want to be a curse breaker or warder, I need those classes. Or a spell researcher, or..." He trailed off before adding, "I'm still taking Care of Magical Creatures, too?"
"I guess," Ron said, still frowning. He shrugged at him, and asked, "Seems a little hard. Divination's easier."
"Yeah, it's easier," Harry said with a sigh, "Unfortunately, I keep getting in trouble at school. Easier isn't what I need. I need to learn, you know?"
"That's very mature," Hermione said. "I'll be happy to look over your homework for you and make sure you did it right."
Harry frowned slightly. Perhaps it was his talks with Annwyl, but he couldn't help but notice Hermione's superior attitude. It wasn't as obvious as it was at the start of their first year, but it was still present. He offered Hermione a smile, "No thanks. I need to do my homework myself; it's the only way that I'll learn."
"If you're sure." Hermione sounded a little displeased, but she turned her attention to the procession of first years as they filed in. "I hope we get some good first-years this year."
"I'm sure we will," Harry said easily, watching the sorting. The names started to be called, one after the other. Harry winced slightly as a Dennis Creevey ended up in Gryffindor and he couldn't laugh at what had to be the most enthusiastic person to be sorted when an Astoria Greengrass ended up in Slytherin. She rushed towards another Slytherin - Daphne Greengrass, he idly reminded himself - and hugged her tightly, bouncing in place hyperactively.
It was only after the feast when Harry was making his way out of the Great Hall that he was stopped by McGonagall. "Mr Potter, Professor Lupin mentioned you had an altercation on the train! Are you all right?"
"Fine, ma'am," Harry told her. "I don't know exactly what happened, but he gave me chocolate and I didn't feel any worse for wear."
"You should still see Madame Pomfrey," McGonagall told him, "Just to be sure."
"All right, ma'am, I'll do that before going up to the dorms?" Harry offered.
"Do that," was her response, McGonagall adding a decisive nod.
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As Harry entered the Gryffindor common room, he found Professor McGonagall waiting for him. "Ah, Mr Potter. What did Madam Pomfrey say?"
"She said I was fine," Harry answered with a shrug. He'd told her that.
"Good," she said. "I was waiting for you. Professor Dumbledore wished to speak to you."