Summary:
The Hierophant
A man with a wooden leg, heavily scarred face, and a twisting fake eye that seems to glow a acid-green stands in front of a lector with his arms raised facing forward. In one hand he holds a wand made of Yew and the other is covered with spider webs with three handing down from his hand. Behind him stands two tall bookshelves but leaves a gap between them showing a graveyard and a burning, bubbling cauldron with the full moon hanging in the sky behind him.
Notes:
Welcome back to The Heir and The Champions! In Which, we learn some unforgivable things, meet a madman, and introduce our other Champions.
I'm happy everyone liked my Theodore, but surprised that no one commented on the fact that Astoria can see the Death Horses.
On with the show!
Harry Potter, Hogwarts.
The Triwizard Tournament. Harry already hated it, it was what The Headmaster announced at the opening feast, two other magical schools, Durmstrang and Beauxbatons, will be showing up in the latter half of October to come and compete in the tournament against Hogwarts, each school would have a champion picked from it by an impartial judge to compete for their school, eternal glory and a thousand Galleon prize to the winner of it all. Harry hated it because it meant that on the day the other schools showed up he wouldn't be able to wear his jacket for the rest of the year and it was the biggest load of bull shit he had ever heard.
Harry had written to Sirius in the first few weeks telling him how everything was going and Sirius had written back only a few days later updating Harry that his recovery was going smoothly enough that it looked like he should be getting out of St. Mungos sooner than planned, hopefully in time for the holidays so he could bring Harry to, what would be, his new home. Harry didn't know how to feel about that, to be told he was wanted, to have someone excited for him to live with them, to spend the holidays with, so he pushed it aside and decided to worry about it later after Sirius sued for custody of him, which the man swore he would be doing as soon as he stepped out of St. Mungos. But Sirius had also delivered some grim news that made Harry squirm whenever he thought of it; Dora knew.
When he, Remus, and Ted went out to get food, Dora had cornered Sirius and had asked him about a few oddities she had noticed with Harry. Harry's speed, the fact that his eyes changed colors, and slitted pupils, and his spear, Sirius had told her that Harry was more than he seemed to be. He had told her Harry was a demigod, How Sirius knew, Harry had no clue and was going to ask him in person next he saw the man. To Harry's understanding, only three people knew he was a demigod outside of the hunt, and he really didn't want that to get out just to avoid all the questions that it would bring up with its reveal, He'd leave revealing the divine world to the Wixen one in the hands of Cernunnos, thank you very much. It did answer why Dora was giving him odd looks that last day, at the very least Sirius hadn't said who his divine parent was, so it was either Sirius didn't know or he wouldn't reveal it for some reason, both work for Harry to be honest, but he would put it out of his mind for now. Sirius had asked what he thought of "Old Mad-Eye" and boy that was a hard question to answer considering how his first class went.
Defense Against the Dark Arts, under the Owlery, Hogwarts.
When the fourth-year students had arrived at the classroom the door was already open allowing them all to shuffle into the classroom in the early morning after breakfast, while some classes like Herbology or Potions divided the year into houses to teach because the teachers needed to pay attention in case of any accidents(Potions) or because of the room they taught in was just too small to house them all for a class(Herbology), but the Defense Against the Dark Arts class was big enough to teach the whole year and most of the work was wand based so it could be controlled to a point. The classroom was circular with most of the walls dominated by windows with one side have the room having a pitched and raising floor for desks, with the most dominating feature of the classroom would be the giant skeletal dragon that hung from the ceiling, the oddest thing about that was that it never seemed to stay in one spot. Sometimes it would be hanging from the ceiling like it was now, sometimes it would be posing in the opposite corner from the desk, and sometimes curled up around the desks, Harry was sure if the teachers were doing it or if it was the castle; either way, it was still neat.
The year had divided themselves by their houses, the Ravenclaws had taken the front left desks, while Gryffindor had taken the front right thanks to one particular strong-will witch, while Slytherin and Hufflepuff had taken up the seats on the back left and right respectively. As Harry, Ron, And Hermione approached the very front right row to take their normal seats, they got a few nods from their year mates that had beaten them there, Seamus Finnigan and Lavender Brown, with the rest of the Lions shuffling in behind the Trio. It was when Harry was placing down his bag, looking forward to the class that the man that Dora spoke so highly of was teaching, did he hear someone call his name which made him sigh.
"Potter!" Draco Malfoy said as he swaggered into class followed by the rest of the Slytherins, Including Theodore, Blaise, and Daphne, and some girl in a white and black checkered snow cap who quickly claimed their seats before Draco began to run his mouth, "Heard you were finally put in your place," The blonde headed Menace says with a smirk before Harry turns to look at him with a bored, passive look.
"What?" Harry asks him with a raised brow, as Ron glared at Malfoy and Hermione's eyes flicked across the room to the office on the other side before over to Theodore.
"You heard me, Potter, you're dumb, not deaf," Malfoy says with a sneer at Harry, "Heard Theodore put you in your place," Malfoy says, and no sooner did he say it Harry hears from a few rows up Theodore groan, as if he was in pain.
Harry turns and looks up the stands to the boy in question, he was sitting at the very top of the elevated desks next to Blaise, his face in his hands as Blaise looked to be holding back laughter at his friend's pain. Harry looks back at Malfoy, his face set in a smug smirk as if he had done it himself which confused Harry a bit, he turns and looks back up at Theodore.
"Is that what you said you did, Theodore?" Harry asks, sounding mildly interested as the rest of the class turns and looks at Theodore.
"By the Old Gods, No Harry," Theodore says before looking down at him with his mismatched eyes, "I had said to those who had asked that the Blood Debt between our two houses was settled," he says, sounding like he was tired of answering that question, "and that what happened was between us and wasn't anyone else's business, but it an unfortunate side effect of the nature of the Blood Debt that this happened," Theodore says leaning back and waving his hand at Malfoy in exasperation.
"Well, that's reasonable for people to think what they think happened considering what you had said about how you settled the debt," Hermione diplomatically, and Harry turns to him before nodding, He really didn't care what people thought of him or if Theodore did something so long as Theodore wasn't lying about it.
"What would you know about, Granger, this is about people who are actually worthy of their mag-" Malfoy begins to say, but Harry cuts him off fast.
"How's your dad's arm, Malfoy?" Harry asks, turning back to face Malfoy, watching as his eyes narrow at Harry in anger.
"Fine, what's it to you, Potter?" Malfoy Asks, a bit of fury creeping into his tone.
"Well, I was just wondering," Harry says, scratching his cheek absentmindedly, "I mean that arrow I put in his arm went pretty deep, not to mention that it was poisoned with Acromantula Venom, which is a necrotic neurotoxin, which is quite nasty when it hits the bloodstream," Harry shrugs, "I was wondering if he had to get it cut off," he says leaning on the desk as he feels the room stopped breathing as everyone turned to look at Malfoy and Harry.
Malfoy went pale and his face tightly controlled but Harry could see the anger building in his eyes, "I've no idea what you are talking about Potter," Malfoy says calmly, betraying the look in his eyes.
Harry shakes his head a bit, "I'm reasonably sure you do," He says, crossing his arms over his chest, "Did the Aurors show up to question him? I gave them his name, seeing that he was the only person I recognize out of the whole group of cowards," Harry says with a smirk as Malfoy's face becomes flushed with anger.
"My father isn't a coward, Potter," Malfoy says, his tone creeping with anger.
"Sure seemed like it to me when he was attacking people who couldn't fight back," Harry says looking Malfoy dead in the eye, "Actually, does that mean there's a Blood Debt between our houses?" Harry asks, tilting his head back as if to think about it before turning to look up at Theodore, "Is that how that works, Theodore?" Harry asks as Theodore puts his head back into his hands.
"Please don't drag me into this, Harry," Theodore says in an almost pleading tone.
"I'm not trying to," Harry says with a bit of mirth in his voice, he found the whole blood debt thing a bit ridiculous if he was being honest, "Just wanted to know if I have something to settle with a family of cowards," he says with a smirk.
That seemed to be the last straw for Malfoy as he pulled out his wand and tried to point it at Harry, but before he could fully extend his arm, Harry's own hand lashed out and snatched the offending object from Malfoy's hand before pulling it back and spinning the wand between his fingers and looking back at Malfoy.
"Now what?" Harry simply asks as Malfoy pales and takes a step back, "You have no wand, Now what?" He says quietly as he slowly stands up, still spinning Malfoy's wand in his hand. The whole class was frozen as the Hufflepuffs looked on with fear, the Ravenclaws start to slowly get up from their seats to get out of the line of fire, Hermione, Ron, and the rest of the Gryffindors sat very still not knowing what to do, as the other Slytherins, following the edicts of their house slowly start to draw their wands but none liking their odds. Harry takes a step forward as Malfoy back peddles, his lackeys, Crabb, and Goyle also take a step back from Harry as Pansy draws her wand with a shaking hand.
"No wand means no magic," Harry says, "No magic means you're as defenseless as that little girl those mask assholes were torturing," Harry speaks his words getting harder, with more of an edge to them as he speaks remembering what he had seen only a few weeks ago, "Does that mean I get to torture you? Is that what people with power do? Torture those who don't have it?" he asks as he walks slowly forward, gesturing to Malfoy first with his own wand, then to himself.
"Harry, stop," Hermione says, "That's enough, you've proven your point," she says, trying to get Harry to calm down to no avail.
"Answer me!" Harry snaps, making everyone jump, and the Slytherins who hand wands point them at him. The air was thick with the anticipation of the coming hunt, all Malfoy had to do was turn and run and Harry would begin his chase.
"Harry, stop! Now!" Hermione says, her voice starting to rise in panic as her own wand slips into her hand.
"Potter, listen to Granger and stop!" Theodore says as his wand is trained on Harry, but the Heir of the Hunt ignores them both for he had the scent of prey and wouldn't let it go.
"Well, Malfoy? Are you scared yet? Is it fun? Because I'm hav-" But before the boy who lived could finish what he was going to say, the door leading to the Defense teacher's office slams open, and a man shouts.
"Enough!" the grizzled voice of Alastor Moody echoes loudly through the classroom as everyone turns to face him but the boy who was stalking his prey, "Potter!" Moody roars, "Stop scaring the brat and get to ya seat! If he pisses himself you'll be the one cleaning it up!" He yells with such force Harry stops staking forward, "And give him back his bloody wand, Witch-Father knows he'll need the damn thing," the scarred man says as he turns and limps down the stairs, the students finally relax a bit as Harry backs off with a glare before he tosses the wand he was holding back to its owner before going back to his seat with Hermione pulling into it with a scolding look on her face. The blushing Malfoy rushes up the stairs with his entourage to take their seats, sending a sneer at Harry as he passes, the collective class lets out a sigh of relief as everyone retakes their seats.
The rest of the students filter into the classroom as Professor Moody limps his way over to the blackboard, as everyone takes a seat he pulls out a roll of parchment and starts on roll call, after a few minutes and finding everyone who was supposed to be there was he turns back to the blackboard and starts to write on it.
"Now, for those of you who don't know, my name is Alastor Moody, though most call me Mad-Eye," Professor Moody says as he writes out his name with his nickname in between his name, "I'll give you all a guess on why they call me that," He says with a chuckle before looking back at the class and his false eyes twist and turns in all directions as he smiles at the class, which makes him look more fearsome with his all his scars, "You can call me Professor Moody or Professor Mad-Eye, does matter to me either way, I am here as a favor to Albus to teach for a year, that's it, that's all, and then I go back into retirement, and you will do well to PUT THAT AWAY WHILE I'M TALKING MISS BROWN!" Professor Moody yells as he snaps his head around to look at Lavender who squeaks as she shoves a magazine back into her book bag she was looking at under her desk.
Professor Moody glares at her as she does, "Now, I've been over the notes of your last few Professors, your first year wasn't half bad with teaching you all the basics, but your second year was a useless shithead, though your last year teacher actually knew what he was doing," the former Auror says as he scratches his chin before picking up a piece of parchment, "You spent most of last year going over dark creatures and how to defend yourself from them, that's good, but you behind, very behind, on Curses," he says grimly. He opens up the bottom drawer of his desk and pulls out a glass terrarium with three large spiders and puts it on his desk before looking back at the class with his normal eye.
"Now, this year I will be teaching you about curses, how to identify the more popular ones, what they do, the counter curses, the common ways of how to handle them, how to cast a few of them, and CONSTANT VIGILANCE!," Professor Moody yells, making the whole class jump in their seats, to which he smirks at, "But know this, if I find a single one of you casting these spells outside of this class or at another human being, you and I are going down to the ministry for a little meeting with the Aurors, am I understood?" he says deadly serious and unblinking at the students before him, to which they nodded.
"Good," Professor Moody growls out, "Now, while most Professors would start at the bottom and work their way up, I have a bit of a different teaching method," he says as he lifts the lid on Terrarium and sets in on his desk, "The Ministry says that you're too young to learn about these curses, bullocks I say, and luckily Albus agrees with me, you need to know the worst of the worst so you're prepared for the worst," He says before turning back to the blackboard and begins to write on it, "There are three curses that the Ministry deems as unforgivable, use of any of these on another human being will get a one-way ticket to Azkaban faster than you could blink," he says as he writes UNFORGIVABLE on the blackboard with one, two and three written under it, "Who can name them?" he asks, turning back to the class.
Harry feels Hermione stiffen next to him, and for once, she doesn't raise her hand and just looks down at her notes, her hair blocking her face.
Ron, however, does raise his hand.
"You there, remind me of your name boy?" Professor Moody asks, pointing at Ron.
"Ron, sir, Ron Weasley," He says and Professor Moody nods.
"I know your father helped me out a few sticky spots in my life, he's a good man," Professor Moody says with a nod to Ron, "The curse, Mister Weasley," he asks Ron.
"Oh, um, my dad told me about it a few times," Ron admits with a shrug, "I think it's called the Imperius Curse?" he asks, sounding a bit unsure of himself.
"Hmm, your father would know about this one, given the Ministry a bit of trouble a few years back before and after the fall of the Dark Lord," Professor Moody says before reaching into the glass jar and removing one of the spiders before pointing his wand at it, "Imperio," he says before Harry leans forward to watch. The spider jumps from Professor Moody's hand and onto his desk as it begins to do cartwheels and jumping jacks, backflips, and dancing like a ballerina, it stands on its front legs and walks around on them all while the class watches on, giggling and laughing, but neither Ron, Harry, or Professor Moody seemed to find it funny.
"You like do you?" Professor Moody asks, in a cheery tone "Find it funny, huh? Well, what should I make it do next, hmm?" he asks the class as the spider crawls up a lit candle on the Professor's desk, "Should I make it burn itself to death?" he says, dropping the cheery tone of voice, "Make it throw itself down one of your throats?" he asks as the laughter comes to a stop and Ron pales at the thought, "Or perhaps I should have it crawl up to the Owlery to get eaten?" he says as the room goes dead quiet.
"During the Blood War scores of witches and wizards were made to do the bidding of the Dark Lord because of this curse, to do horrible, unspeakable things under it," Professor Moody says in a whisper, "I've seen small children kill their whole families while they slept with a hatchet, husbands and fathers rape their wives and children, and mothers {eat} their newborn babies {Alive} while under this curse," The scarred auror says as some of the class go pale or green at his words, "What this curse does is simple, it gives complete and total control over who it was casts on, so at the end of the war it was pretty hard to tell who it was casted on and who it wasn't because there is no way to tell," Professor Moody says as he puts the spider back into the jar, "The Imperius Curse is unique among the unforgivable's because it can be resisted by those who are under it, it is a battle of wills, your's versus the casters it takes real stubborn willpower and strength of character to throw off the effects of the curse, and in the coming weeks I'll be casting it on each of you to prepare you on how to resisted it," the former Auror says much to the horror of the class.
"Is that even allowed?" asks Pansy from the back row horrified, as Moody looks up at her with his real eye.
"Normally, no," he tells her, "But I've already gotten permission from both the Headmaster and the Ministry to do it, but don't worry lass, the worst you'll be doing is showing us how good your singing voice is," he says with a bit of a growl, "Now, who can tell me another Unforgivable, hmm?" he asks, only Harry and to Harry's surprise, Neville who raises a shaky hand in the air.
"Mister Potter," Professor Moody says, and Harry doesn't question how he knows who he is.
"I don't know any of the curses, sir," Harry says before putting his hand down, "I Just had a question about the Imperius Curse, I-If that's O-okay?" he asks, with a bit of a stammer, Professor Moody frowns a bit but nods, "I was w-wondering if, ah, if the Imperius Curse can control e-emotions," Harry asks, able to get it all out before looking down at his desk.
Moody looks at him for a second with narrowed eyes, "Insightful, Potter, very Insightful," He mummers, "But to answer your question, No, the Curse can't control emotions, no magic can, there are charms that can give you an approximation of emotion but in the end, it's false" he confirms for Harry, "The ones who are cursed can act in a certain way if they are being controlled to do so, but it's all an act in the end," he tells Harry and Harry grits his teeth before mumbling to himself quite enough that only Ron and Hermione hears him.
"Knew I should have killed him," Harry says as Ron looks past him with worried eyes and Hermione does the same.
"The next curse, you there, you had your hand up, name boy?" Professor Moody asks, pointing at Neville.
"Um, N-Neville, Sir, Neville Longbottom," Neville says, looking nervous as Professor Moody frowns a bit before nodding.
"I have a pretty good guess about which curse you're about to say, Mister Longbottom, but for the class, if you would," Professor Moody says, in a bit softer tone than he was using as he walks over to Neville.
"T-The Cruciatus Curse," Neville says, almost reluctantly, and Professor Moody nods grimly to him.
"Ay, that would be one of them," Professor Moody says looking down at Neville who looks away from the ex-Auror, "for the practical portion of this, if you would like Mister Longbottom, you may step outside," He says looking down to Neville, "But I think it would do you some good to see it, to get an understanding of how and why," Professor Moody says before Neville looks back up to him.
"I-I'll stay Professor," Neville says in a whisper, and Moody nods.
"Atta Boy, I trained them myself, Longbottom so trust me when I say they would be proud of you right now," Professor Moody says, patting Neville on the shoulder before limping back to his desk where he reached back into the glass jar and scooped up another spider before freezing in place and putting it on the desk, "For this, I think, we need it a bit bigger," he says before pointing and then swishing his wand over the spider and Ron pushes himself away from the desk as the spider grows to the size of a large cat, Professor Moody then points his wand at it and an ugly look comes over his face before he says "Crucio" and the class watches as the spider unfreezes and rolls on to it's back. It twitches and curls its legs inward as it jerks back and forth, Harry was sure that, if it had any way to speak, it would be screaming bloody murder right now. Harry hears gasps and whimpers coming from his classmate as he looks on with a detached, almost bored look, but inside he could feel the Hunt growling in anger and he couldn't blame it.
What was the use of this spell other than to cause pain? Needless suffering that ran counter to what the Hunt was, sure Harry enjoyed the chase, he enjoyed the fight and struggle, and he even enjoyed the kill after it all, but this? This was pain without reason, and any animal in that amount of pain should be put down to end its suffering. Harry decided right there and then, if he were to see anyone using this curse for any reason, they wouldn't make it to Azkaban; he would kill them long before that.
"Stop!" Hermione yells, causing Harry to jump, "Stop it! Can't you see it's bothering him!" she calls out, causing Professor Moody to look over to her, and then over to Neville who was pale and shaking while looking at the spider, and he soon drops the spell before levitating the spider back into the jar before turning back to the class.
"The torture curse," Professor Moody says as his eyes swept over the class, "The effect of the spell is quite obvious from the display, unfathomable and horrific pain, the spell itself attacks the nervous system telling it everything is in unending torment, five minutes of being under it causes tremors in the legs and hands that never go away," He says as he holds up a slightly shaking hand, "Ten Minutes the risk of a heart attack increases for every minute afterward, at fifteen the brain begins to shut down because it can't handle the pain, and at thirty, death," He tells the deadly quiet classroom, "I have the honor of knowing two souls that had survived an hour under the curse and didn't die, but they are no longer with us in mind anymore, better Death than what happened to them," he says in a solemn voice, "But they didn't break, they gave nothing up to the Dark Lord forces, and for that, they will never not have the respect of the Auror department, and know if I hear a single one of you bad mouth them in anyway, you will regret it for as long as I teach here," he says before turning back to the jar and pulling out the last spider making it hover in the air beside him as he limps over to where Hermione was setting.
"Your name girl?" Professor Moody asks softly to Hermione, who looks up at him with dread in her eyes.
"Granger, Sir, Hermione Granger," She whispers out as the Professor nods.
"Professor Lupin left a lot of in-depth notes about each year, he wrote that you were the smartest witch in the class, if not your age, wand work second only to one," The scarred man says to her, "Perhaps you can tell us what the last curse is, hmm?" he asks, and Hermione shakes her head with a pleading look in her eyes, "Is that a No, you don't know the curse, or No, you won't say what it is?" the Professor asks.
"Please," Hermione begs softly, "Please don't, he doesn't need to see it," she tells the Professor to Harry's confusion, Harry had never known Hermione to refuse to answer a question in class.
"But I think he does Lass," Professor Moody says before raising his wand and pointing it directly at the spider, "Avada Kedavra!" the Professor yells, and from his wand lept green light and a rushing sound filled the room. Harry hisses, his hand moving to the scar on his forehead as a twinge of white-hot pain lanced through it followed by a bone-deep indescribable hatred that had the Hunt, ever pumping in his body, fall silent for the first time Harry could recall. The spider fell to the ground, unmoving, and unmistakably dead, Hermione had gasps and closed her eyes to the death of the arachnid.
"The Killing Curse," Professor Moody says, drawing everyone's attention back to him from the spider on the floor, "The Cruciatus came from the far east, the Imperius from the Roman legions that arrived on the shores long ago, but the Killing Curse, however, this one is homegrown," he tells the class, "Created in the middle ages by a wizard who called himself the Last Son of the Morrìgna-" he starts to say before he is cut off by a student.
"The Mórrìgan, Professor," Theodore speaks up as everyone sitting turns to look at him.
"What was that, Mister…" The professor asks, trailing off to let Theodore fill in the gap.
"Nott, Theodore Nott, Sir," Theodore says, "And my apology for speaking out of turn, but that is something I dislike immensely, he declared himself the Last Son of the Mórrígan, not the Morrígna, the Morrígna are a group, not a goddess," Theodore says, looking a bit sheepish as Professor Moody stares at him for a long moment.
"A student of History are you, Mister Nott?" the Professor asks, and Theodore nods, "It shows, take five points to Slytherin for correcting a teacher on a historical fact," He says to which Theodore, looking a bit surprised, nods, "And while we're on the subject, ten points to Gryffindor for naming two out of the three curses, and another twenty for Mister Longbottom's share bravery and nerve," he says nodding at Neville, "But back on subject, The Killing Curse, swift and instantaneous death, just as advertised," He says in a soft whisper, "There is no know magical defense that can stop it, no known counter curse, you either need to get out if it's the way by which is difficult due to the speed it travels at, or impose something physical in between you and it," he says as he turns to Harry, "There is only one known survivor of this curse, and he's sitting in this very room," Professor Moody says as he looks at Harry with both eyes, and Harry could feel every single pair of eyes in the room turn to look at him as he moves his hand from his scar and look right back at the Professor.
Harry Potter, Hogwarts Lawn, 30th of October.
It had been a few weeks since the first Defense Class taught by Professor Moody and they had spent most of those weeks buried in Homework and essays, Moody, true to his word, Had cast the Imperius Curse on each of the students to test to see if they had the willpower and strength of character to break from it. Most had failed and became puppets dancing to the Professors tune, Harry saw his year mates do the most amazing feats while under the thrall of the spell, Neville had done a series of acrobatic stunts, Susan Bones had danced as a graceful ballerina, Terry Boot juggled eight books at once, and true to his word, Pansy Perkins had sung opera for the whole class.
The only two students that were able to either resist or completely throw off the curse were Harry and Hermione, Hermione wasn't able to break from it but she also wouldn't do anything commanded of her, standing still with her body locked in place. Harry, However, Harry was a different beast entirely, when Professor Moody had cast the curse on Harry, he had felt as if he fell out of his body, floating and happy as if nothing was wrong and all was good in the world, Harry heard words whisper into his mind but they couldn't even get through with their order before, as Harry felt himself cradled in ice-cold arms, the Hunt within him roared to life and chased whatever was invading his mind out, because if Harry was to do anything under anything's influenced, Harry was going to Hunt. Professor Moody learned that the hard way when he tried to force his own willpower over the divine domain and got bit by it. Professor Moody had cried out, tripping over his own fake lag as he fell backward and landed on his ass. He had touched the Hunt and so the Hunt showed him he was nothing but prey before it.
Harry looked at him as he picked himself up off the floor, sweating, his one eye open in fear as he looked at Harry, "Ay," he said looking Harry over with both eyes, "They'll have a hell of a time controlling you boy, go back to your seat," he barked at him before Harry did just that as the eyes of the class all looked at him.
About a week after that, a notice found its way onto the Common Room message board, in a week's time the other schools would finally be showing up and ALL students were to be in uniform, no exceptions(That part was underlined twice, and Harry felt attacked for it), so with great reluctance Harry had switched out his normal black leather jacket with his school robes which were stupid and he hated them before heading down to the front lawns with the rest of the school to welcome their guests.
"This is so stupid," Harry sighs out as he stands outside with the rest of Gryffindor House watching his head of house fixing messy uniforms among the lions with a flick of her wand and a stern glare to the offenders.
"You're only saying that because they made you wear a robe for once, Harry," Hermione says with an amused smirk.
"So," Harry says adjusting the stupid thing he had on, "Doesn't make it any less true," he mumbles out and Ron chuckles beside him as McGonagall finally makes it to them before speaking she flicks her wand, fixing Rons tie, and adjust Harry's robes.
"Well, Mister Potter, color me surprised," Professor McGonagall says to Harry, eyeing him up and down, "I had honestly thought I would have to strip your normal jacket off you kicking and screaming before I saw you in a proper robe," she says with a smirk that Harry doesn't return.
"I don't like robes," Harry mumbles out, looking at his feet and away from his head of house.
"Evidently, Mister Potter," She sighs out with a sad look in her eyes, "Seeing that you avoid wearing them outside of feasts, that is," McGonagall says, waiting for Harry to say something, but when he doesn't she sighs again and moves on.
They didn't have to wait too long for the first school to arrive in a giant flying carriage of all things, pulled by Abraxan Winged Horses, they were huge white and gold beasts the size of a small elephant, and while undeniably beautiful, Harry personally thought the Thestrals were cooler looking, he felt oddly happy about that thought.
After the carriage lands, the door to it opens and a boy hopes out to pull out a set of stairs that was built in, and Harry had one more person to add to the list of the tallest people he had ever seen, as a Lady towering over the students steps out first, she was wearing powder blue robes with gold lining as she walks forward with large steps crossing the distance between the carriage and The Headmaster quickly with a smile on her face.
"Dumbly-door," She says in a thick French accent, "It iz lovely to zee you again," she greets the Headmaster as she extends her hand as Dumbledore reaches out and gasps it before bringing it to his lips before looking back up to her.
"And it is an honor to host you at Hogwarts Madame Maxime," The headmaster tells her before Harry's attention drifts once more over to the students now climbing out of the carriage.
They were all dressed in powdered blue robes with gold hemming and white blouses under it all, there were twenty, maybe twenty-five in total. The one that caught Harry off guard was a small child that looked no older than eight or nine as she looks around at the castle with wide eyes, her nose up in the air. She wore the same uniform as all the other students from Beauxbatons, and with her nose still in the air, she starts walking over to the Gryffindor students, her eyes closing and taking deep breaths through her nose. Harry narrows his eyes at her as she wonders closer as the Hunt growls in the back of his mind, the little girl was scenting the air, Harry was sure of it, he'd seen plenty of his sisters do it back in the hunt, hell, he did it from time to time. But as the child begins to get closer, someone calls out for her.
"Gabrielle," a sharp, high voice calls out, "qu'est-ce que tu fais ? Ne vous demandez pas si loin du groupe," the female voice says as a taller and very pretty girl walks over to the girl, unlike the other female students she wasn't wearing a dress but tight fitting Military style clothes, shiny black shoes, a tight-fitting, and formal looking steel gray jacket with gold epaulettes buttoned up to her neck, her slacks seemed to be ironed and the same color as the jackets, on top of her head, where her golden blond hair was neatly braided and done up into a bun, sat a kepi style hat which, to Harry, looked old and out of date but she seemed to wear it with pride. Along the arms of the Jacket were silver cords twisted and presented as if they had meant something, as to what? Harry couldn't guess, but he doesn't miss how bulky the jacket seemed or the silver vambraces she had hidden under the jacket sleeves.
"Mais je sens quelque chose de bon, comme le cerf ou le lapin rôti par le père," the little girl says looking into the crowd of scarlet and gold before the older one shakes her head.
"Je ne goûte rien dans le vent, maintenant venez, nous devons nous présenter au directeur de l'école, et rappelez-vous, vous avez promis d'être sur votre meilleur comportement ici," the older one chirps off before dragging the younger one by the hand towards Madame Maxime, just before reaching her, however, a breeze blows from behind Harry who stood upwind from them. Both of the girls freeze and the older one's head snaps to the crowd and her eyes pass over the collected students, Harry sees her eyes and curses before quickly looking away because the girls eyes had changed from a soft baby blue to a Yellowish-orange with horizontal slits for pupils.
The older girl, Fleur, was called to by Madame Maxime, she quickly snaps back to focus and begins to walk up to the Headmaster and introduce herself as Harry takes a few deep breaths, The Hunt was clawing at the back of his mind, remaining him to hunt and kill the abomination that he had just seen, and with great focus, he's able to shut the tap as much as he could but he still felt the soft growl in the back of his mind as his arms twitch in pain. Luckily the students from Beauxbatons did not dally long and made their way inside with their Headmistress and Harry breathed out a sigh of relief, he was going to have to avoid that girl for as long as she was here, great, another thing to worry about.
Durmstrang came in a ship that acted like a submarine apparently, which was neat watching it bust from under the surface of the Black Lake. While Madame Maxime had brought a mixture of boys and girls, whoever was the Head of Durmstrang had brought mostly older boys on the cusp of manhood with one notable exception, the girl was made half the size of the guys surrounding her with blonde hair that came down to her chin and fanned out around her head like a halo with the tips of it dyed a light blue, she wore the same heavy cloaks and thick clothes the other Durmstrang students wore, in the same olive green with red and gold hemming. she also seemed to be chewing on bubblegum as she blew a large acid-green bubble that when it pops released a stream of black smoke shaped like a dragon.
"Igor!" Dumbledore cries out throwing his arms open before taking the man's hand and pulling him into a hug.
"Dumbledore, it is good to see you again," the tall man with the curly goatee says as he returns the hug.
"Likewise my friend, how was the trip?" the Headmaster of Hogwarts says with a smile, Harry tries to pay attention to the conversation but Ron quickly smacks his arm.
"Harry!" Ron hisses at him, "Harry, look at who's standing with the Durmstrang Headmaster," he says pointing at them.
"Who?" Harry whispers back, "The bird?" he asks, because honestly most of the Durmstrang students looked the same to him, only the girl stood out to him.
"No, she's fit, but no," Ron says before they both notice Hermione glaring a bit at them, both of them deciding to move on from that, "No, there on his other side, it's Krum!" Ron says excitedly And he was right now that Harry was looking at him, the tall broad shoulder chaser was standing next to Headmaster Igor, a deep frown set on his face dressed in Durmstrang student robes with what seemed to be a small ax head talisman hanging from his neck, Harry just shrugged, he was bored and wanted this to be over soon.
Soon, came ten minutes later when they were escorted back into the Great Hall, where the Durmstrang students, led by the girl, had sat at the Slytherin table, much to Ron's disappointment, and the Beauxbatons students sat with Ravenclaw, much to Harry's relief. Dumbledore then introduced the "impartial judge", a great big cup of fire, Harry decided while neat, it wasn't his problem as he laid his head down on the table in preparation for the oncoming headache he knew was going to show up. When the food showed up, the chatting began, and with that, the headache and Hermione rubbing his back as his head pounded too hard to eat anything.
"Excusez-moi monsieur," the clear high voice says behind Harry that made him clench down hard on the bench he was setting on, " but ah ou done with the bouillabaisse?" she asks, when Harry doesn't answer as he holds back the flood of the Hunt, he hears Ron stumble around his words before telling it was all hers. Harry feels her reach over him and the wood he was gripping cracks under the pressure of the Hunt wanting him to kill her, his eyes clenched shut trying to ignore the whispers. She stops for half a second to take a breath before Harry could practically feel her smile as something flares around her.
"Je t'ai trouvé, petit Half-Blood," She says, her voice coming out as barely a whisper, before she picks up the soup and walking away.
"Well, fuck," Harry thinks to himself.
Notes:
Chapter done!
And oh boy what a chapter, this was Really fun to write, we've almost got the board set for this game to play out, we're only missing two more pieces, but they won't be coming in until after the "Ace of Cups" chapter which should be in two more, maybe?
So, to the Rest of Hogwarts and to those outside Gryffindor, Harry is scary, really really scary. Remember in the Son of Neptune where Percy talks about him learning and mastering the "Wolf Stare", Yeah, Harry has that built-in thanks to the Hunt, it's why outside of Ron and Hermione he doesn't really have friends, most people are far too scared of him to approach him. Harry has an aura that he projects around him that basically wards off everyone but those of the Hunt, it's why Ron and Hermione get scared of him from time to time. He can't control it, it's just…there. Most adults can ignore it unless Harry is actively looking to Hunt them, even them, a decent mind mage can brush it aside. But we'll get into more of that later on with Reeta Skeeter's articles.
I have two chapter already written but completely forgotten to post it gotten do a double chapter for you guys. Maybe Tomorrow or the day after going to update again.