Harry wanted so much to be normal. But such a thing wasimpossible, he knew it. He was pretty sure he was the exact opposite.
He had a sudden urge to hide, and a gust of wind tickledalong his spine. The Invisibility Cloak wrapped itself around his shoulders,shielding him from the other's view. He didn't think too hard about how it hadgotten from its spot in his trunk and gave it a rub between his fingers inthanks. It sent him a rush of fondness. Well, at least his Cloak didn't thinkhurting innocent people was that bad.
Harry let the darkness furrow from his soul and greatshadows rose around him.
Returning to the ritual, comforted that he was workingsemi-privately, he slashed his wand at each of the three victims, tearing intotheir souls with a Killing Curse. He reveled in their deaths, feeling theirlife force snuff out as he took them. The wonderful, powerful feeling ofnecromancy swirled around in his veins and he raised his wand to complete theritual.
...
Alabasandria's resolve around Umbridge lasted about aweek. Apparently she hadn't gotten a perfect score during her previousinspection, so she was kindly receiving another, and this time they were onlybeing blessed with Umbridge's presence.
"Today we will be working on one of the strongesthealing potions there is - The Elixir of Love. It's not one that can be foundin an apothecary, nor would they use it in St. Mungos. Does anyone know why?No? C'mon, it's in the name - that's because it requires love, " she saidin a grimace. "It functions only when consumed by someone whom the crafterloves. Invented by a mother back in 1437, when her child was dying of disease.She threw together a potion with what she had in her garden and prayed over thecauldron that her child would be healed. And that worked." She rolled hereyes. "So after you're done with the salamander teeth and the sparrowfeathers, you'll stir counter-clockwise at exactly 120 stirs-per-minute whilethinking about someone you love. If you've succeeded, the potion will turnwhite. None of yours will turn white today, which is fine. This is more of alesson in control."
The children got started, dicing up their ingredients andprepping their stations. The potion required a clear and focused mind, whichthe children were struggling with as all of them were giggling and embarrassedthinking about who they loved. As she helped the two idiots in Slytherin whomshe was seriously debating murdering for their stupidity, she overheard awhispered conversation.
"Oi! Weasley, who are you going to think about?Who's caught the eye of the weasel?"
"Can it, Malfoy! What about you, Crabbe andGoyle?" Ron made an obnoxious kissing noise.
"Hey!" She snapped and they both turned to her,embarrassed at being caught. "Shut up." Louder she said. "Itdoes not have to be about romantic love, you can think about your families oryour pets or whomever. There's no need to work yourselves into a tizzy. Calmdown."
"That will make it even more difficult for you,won't it then, Potter? Can't think about your mummy or daddy." Malfoysnickered. Despite his low tone, everyone heard him and the whole class turnedto witness the drama.
"Are you trying to bully me for being an orphan?Again?" Harry asked in a monotone voice. Malfoy only ever had the onejoke, and he said it at least once a week. It was more annoying than offensive,but it did not remove the sudden urge to feed the boy his teeth. Malfoy was allbark and no bite, and Harry knew all it would take was one tiny, little curseto shut him up. He shuddered at the thought. In joy, that is, not horror. Itwas such a shame they were in a classroom full of witnesses. Although a part ofHarry did not care, it would be very funny to see everyone's horrified faces ashe separated Malfoy's teeth from his face. He would scream a lot. Would hisscreaming be different with the loss of teeth? Is that how speaking worked?Perhaps he ought to ask Hermione about that. About the speech part, not thepart where he kept wandering into daydreams about torturing children. He didn'tthink Hermione would like that.
There he was being weird and violent again, he groaned.It was a bit unnerving, but probably not a big deal. Malfoy was annoying afterall, and would totally deserve a slow and painful death.
Malfoy, who was still whispering rude things, wasinterrupted again by Alabasandria's unhappy shout.
"Boy, I do believe you are looking at Harry's mumright now. And if you don't shut up and get back to work, you will become anorphan and everyone here will make fun of you and we'll see how you likeit."
Malfoy's face went pale and he ducked his head to avoidher gaze. "Sorry ma'am."
"For the record," Harry said very loudly, hisdark thoughts instantly disappearing at the sight of Malfoy near tears. "Iwill be thinking about you, mama. You're the best." There was a chorus ofsnickering.
"Back to work!" She ordered.
She saw Umbridge scribble onto her clipboard but ignoredit as she noticed Longbottom, who was stirring his cauldron way too fast.
"Slow down, it won't be able to absorb the emotionlike that," she cautioned him. She pried the boy's iron grip off of hisladle. "What's wrong?" The boy was clearly high-strung, hunched overhis cauldron and stirring like his life depended on it.
"S-sorry, professor. I just really want this towork," he whispered.
"You need to thread the line between strong emotionand control over your brewing. This is a very difficult potion, kid. I don'texpect anyone will master it until their sixth year at the earliest."
The boy nodded and wiped some stray tears that hadgathered in his eyes.
"What's wrong?" she repeated, a tinge ofdispleasure came through her tone and made the shy boy flinch.
"Sorry - it's just. Well… did you see the news aboutBellatrix Lestrange? She - my parents - I - I thought hearing about it wouldhelp, but it didn't." Words gushed from his mouth, words that had beenbottled up until he opened the floodgates. "I just keep thinking about howthey don't understand that she's dead, and - and -"
She patted the crying boy on his head and turned off hisfire before he lost another cauldron.
"That sounds like shit. You have my sympathies. Ihave no idea if this potion would help them, but it would likely bring someimprovement. Again, this is a very advanced potion. We'll be brewing thisseveral times a year until you graduate or you get it right. But you aren't abad potioneer when you're able to concentrate and not overthink shit, yeah?You, most of all, need to learn some control. But I think once you do…"
He looked more determined than sad, which was a win forher. "This isn't something you can force, kid. It just takes practice. Soback at it, okay? From the top." Longbottom gave her a soft smile, andjust as she was congratulating herself, there was commotion from the other sideof the classroom.
Ron and Malfoy were on the floor wrestling.
"What the hell are you two doing?" She snapped.Before she could raise her wand to separate them, Umbridge decided to step into help.
" Hem-hem, gentlemen, do keep in mind that as HighInquisitor I can assign detentions. Fighting is strictly prohibited and yourshirts are untucked."
"I can discipline my own class, thanks,"Alabasandria complained as, of course, the two did not stop at her words. Witha snap, she levitated them both - and then separated them as Ron went foranother punch even while he was upside down and floating.
"Can you?" Umbridge giggled. "Because Ithink you'll find that it certainly doesn't seem so."
"Excuse me?" The class was perfectlywell-behaved and silent, the lot of them watching the showdown with batedbreath.
"Well, you've got one boy in tears and didn't noticethese two fighting like ruffians."
"Oh, I apologize deeply, Madame Umbridge. Let me goget the eyes I usually keep in the back of my head."
....
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