Arcane Academy

Chapter 14

Harry was ambushed on his way to the kitchen the next morning by the mischievous twins. They grinned impishly as they dragged him back to their room, locking and warding the door behind them. Forcing Harry to sit on the edge of the bed, they pulled an envelope out of the desk drawer and brandished it in front of the brunet triumphantly.

"What is that?" asked Harry warily.

"This, dearest Harry, is why Hermione was so mad at us,” said Fred smugly.

Harry warily took the envelope and opened it, spilling the contents into his palm. They were photos, and the images on the photos made him blush fiercely. “How the hell did you get these?”

George held his hands up and looked at Harry innocently. “It was purely by accident.”

“Yeah, we were planning to take some pictures of the tombs,” said George.

“But we just couldn’t resist taking these when we walked in on her the other day,” finished Fred.

“She was just so cute, dancing around the room like that,” said George.

The photos were of Hermione wearing nothing but a pair of skimpy panties. Harry was mortified for his friend. He’d want to kill the twins too if they had pictures of him practically nude. “I can’t believe you did this.” He looked up at the twins with an evil smirk. “I do hope you plan to give these to her because you can’t run forever, and the longer she has to chase you, the worse she’ll hurt you in the end.”

The twins paled at that statement. They hadn’t even thought about that, but Harry was absolutely right. Hermione didn’t forgive easily, and she never forgot. If they continued to withhold these photos from her, she was going to torture them far more effectively than Voldemort ever could.

Fred snatched the photos out of Harry’s hands and shoved them back in the envelope. “You’re absolute right, dear brother.”

“We’ll just return these to her now,” said George. And with that, they hurried out of the room in search of the vengeful brunet.

Harry grinned and sauntered casually toward the kitchen. They really should have known better in the first place. Hermione had a wicked temper when riled, and she knew more hexes and spells than they ever thought of learning.

When he walked into the kitchen, Harry stopped short when he saw a strange blonde woman sitting next to Tristan. However, he immediately knew who she was when she glanced toward him because she had the exact same eyes Tristan did. He was startled, though, when she squealed girlishly and jumped to her feet, rushing toward him and pulling him into her arms.

"Oh, aren't you just the cutest thing," she cooed cheerfully. "And what beautiful green eyes you have."

"Aunt Marissa, leave Harry alone," sighed Tristan.

Marissa just grinned at her nephew and refused to relinquish her grip on Harry. “No, I want to spend some time with him now.” She pulled Harry to the table and pushed him down into the seat beside Tristan, taking the seat on his other side. “It’s very nice to finally meet you.”

"You, too. I'm glad he still has someone in the family that isn't afraid to show they love him," said Harry sweetly.

"He told you?" asked Marissa in shock.

Harry scowled. "Yes, he did, and if I ever meet his parents, they'll be lucky if I don't kick their arses for the way they've treated Tristan. It wasn't his fault Callandra died. If they want to blame someone, they need to blame Apollo for seducing the poor girl."

Marissa smiled softly and ruffled Harry's hair. "If you do meet them, don't resist the urge. I love my family, but they need their arses kicked." She suddenly turned to Harry and looked at him expectantly. “So tell me about yourself, Harry.”

“Well, my full name is Harry James Potter, and I am sixteen years old. I started Arcane Academy this year after gaining my Kitiara inheritance, and Tristan is my roommate,” said Harry easily.

“Harry Potter?” asked Marissa thoughtfully. She glanced up at Harry’s forehead and gasped in surprise. “You’re the boy who defeated that insipid dark lord as an infant?”

“Actually, it was my mum’s sacrifice that defeated him. I just managed to survive the ordeal,” said Harry bluntly. “However, according to a stupid prophecy, I am the only one who can kill the bastard.”

“What a heavy burden to place on a child,” said Marissa sadly.

“At least, he’s actually getting the proper training to deal with the bastard now,” said Tristan snidely. “His previous Headmaster certainly wasn’t making an effort to do so. Judging by the way he forced Harry into an abusive home, he’d probably hand him over to the dark lord before helping him.”

“A-Abusive home?” asked Marissa in a horrified whisper.

“It’s not important,” said Harry softly. “Remus saved me from all that, and I never have to go back. Besides, if it hadn’t happened, I might never have ended up at Arcane Academy, and I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.”

Marissa smiled sweetly at Harry. “You’re a wise young man. Tristan’s lucky to have found you.”

“I think it goes both ways,” said Harry fondly.

Marissa grinned happily at his response and gave Tristan a thumbs up. Tristan groaned softly at his aunt’s antics and proceeded to ignore her for the rest of the meal. His aunt could be so embarrassing at times.

Harry frowned thoughtfully as he stared at the numerous empty chairs around the table. In fact, the only ones present were Octavius, Zenith, Tristan, Marissa, Mrs. Weasley, and him. “Where is everyone this morning?”

“Charlie and the twins went to the bazaar to look around, and Ron and Hermione should be in the library. Arthur had to leave because of an emergency at work, and Ginny is sleeping. The poor dear was exhausted after her healing,” said Mrs. Weasley.

“So Ginny’s okay now?” asked Harry hopefully.

“Yes, I managed to remove the tainted magic, so she should be just fine,” said Marissa softly.

“Thank goodness,” whispered Harry.

Marissa smiled and got to her feet. “Well, it was wonderful to meet all of you, but I really must be going now. Tristan, I want to hear from you at least once a week from now on. And, Harry, you’re welcome to call any time, as well.”

As Marissa walked out of the kitchen, Harry looked at Tristan and said, “I like her.”

“Well, now that the meet and greet is over, Zenith and I have something we want to show you, Harry,” said Octavius.

“Oh? What is it?” asked Harry curiously.

“We’ll show you outside,” said Zenith.

The four of them went outside and into a large open area behind the cottage. Zenith pulled something out of his pocket and looped it loosely around his neck. At the confused look on Harry's face, Zenith just grinned and gestured for the brunet to back up a few feet. Once Harry was safely out of the way, the Dracken slowly began to morph into his dragon form, and as he did, it quickly became apparent that the thing around his neck was similar to a horse's bridle.

Harry could only stare in awe at Zenith's dragon form. The dragon was a solid, shimmering black with silver scales running down the length of his belly and lining the huge wings. He was smaller than the dragons Harry had seen at the Tri-Wizard Tournament, but he was still huge standing among the rest of them.

The dragon suddenly knelt down in front of Harry and nudged his chest affectionately, almost purring when the brunet stroked his scales gently. Then he turned his head sharply, sending the reins of the bridle flying toward Harry with the motion.

Harry hesitantly grabbed the reigns and gingerly climbed onto Zenith's back. He settled against the base of the dragon's neck, tucking his feet beneath the wing joints, and wrapped the reins firmly around his hands. Once he was settled, he lightly tapped the reins against Zenith's neck, and the dragon immediately leapt into the air.

As they soared across the skies, everything but the rush of air around him became a distant memory. Merlin, he had missed this feeling. He'd never felt as free as he did when he was flying.

Zenith suddenly began to dive toward the ground, and Harry was shocked when the dragon shot three small fireballs toward the ground in rapid succession instead of the normal stream of fire most dragons created. Even more impressive was the fact that the fireballs were so hot, the sand began to melt, creating molten patterns across the ground. Harry just knew that once the sand cooled off, glass would replace the molten liquid of the patterns.

Zenith pulled out of his dive a mere fifteen feet from the gound and flew back to where they'd started. He landed gracefully and knelt down for Harry to get off before transforming back into his original form. He grinned at the equal parts excited and disappointed look on Harry's face. Obviously, the brunet had enjoyed the flight just as much as he had.

"Did you enjoy the flight, Harry?" he asked teasingly.

"It was amazing," said Harry eagerly. "You definitely let me have to do that again sometime."

“If you think that was amazing, you should watch this,” said Octavius confidently. Shadows immediately began to rise from the ground to surround the demon, covering his body from head to toe. A moment later, a shadowy paw stepped from the mass of shadows followed by the shadowy figure of a large wolf. The wolf raised his head and howled before shrinking into the form of a raven. The raven cawed and took flight, soaring high before heading toward the ground in a sharp dive. A few feet from the ground, the raven burst into shadows, and Octavius stepped from them.

“Amazing,” breathed Harry in utter awe. He’d never seen anything like it. It was absolutely fascinating to watch.

Octavius smirked smugly at the awe on Harry’s face before turning toward the last member of their group. “What about you, Tristan? Do you have anything to show us?”

Tristan frowned slightly. Unlike the other three, he couldn’t transform into any type of animal. His powers were strictly elemental, and even those were limited. Unlike Harry, who could control all of the elements easily, he only excelled in ice and lightning manipulations. An idea suddenly occurred to him.

Tristan raised his hands and gathered lightning into each palm. Moving each hand slowly and rhythmically, he slowly forced the lightning into the form of a crackling, yellow bird. He tossed the bird into the air and watched it fly across the sand, sending little bolts of lightning down into the sand with every flap of its wings. Tristan then formed a small rabbit out of ice and set it down on the ground. The rabbit immediately hopped away, leaving little icy footprints in his wake.

“Wicked! I want to learn how to do that,” said Harry eagerly, watching both animals with childish delight.

“I can teach you,” said Tristan softly. “Concentrate on the element you want and focus it into your hands.”

Harry raised his hands the way Tristan had done early and decided to try fire first since that element came to him the most easily. He took a deep breath and formed a small fireball between his hands, waiting for Tristan's next instructions..

“Good. Now just remember that fire is extremely malleable and envision what you want to create,” said Tristan encouragingly.

Harry nodded and closed his eyes, a picture of Fawkes forming in his mind. Instinctively, his hands began to move, gently coaxing the flames into the form he wanted. In a matter of minutes, a fiery phoenix replaced the fireball. It wasn't perfect by any means, but it was still recognisable.

“That’s perfect, Harry,” said Tristan, staring at the burning phoenix in shock.

Harry started in surprise and opened his eyes, looking at the phoenix in his hands in awe. He’d done it. Like Tristan had done with the lightning bird, Harry raised his hands up, pushing the phoenix into the air. He watched in delight as the phoenix flew gracefully across the sky for several minutes before the flames began to sputter and die.

Thrilled with his success, Harry began to gather ice in his hands, the image of an arctic fox in his head. However, when he tried to shape the ice, it merely shattered in his hands. Taking a calming breath, he tried again, but the ice refused to take shape, shattering into pieces once more. With a growl of frustration, he tried over and over again only to get the same results each time.

Tristan finally grabbed Harry’s hands to stop the brunet from trying again. “That’s enough, Harry. You did well to create the phoenix on your first try. Don’t push yourself so hard over this.”

“Why can’t I do it?” asked Harry in frustration.

“Ice is more rigid than fire for one. Plus, you seem to have a greater affinity with fire than ice at the moment,” said Tristan. “Besides, creating these creatures from the elements takes fine control over that element, and you don’t have that over ice yet. You’ve only been using elemental magic for a few months.”

Harry sighed and nodded. Tristan was right. He’d learned a lot over the last four months, but he still had a long way to go. All he could do now was practice with the elements until he had the control necessary to bend and shape them to his will. As it was now, the elements responded more to his emotions than his will. Besides, he’d learned the Patronus charm at the age of thirteen, so he could damn well learn to better control his elemental power at sixteen. It was just a matter of determination, and he had that in spades.

'Well, may as well work with what I have at the moment,' thought Harry silently, forming another fireball in his hands. This time, he made a twin-tailed cat that he'd seen in a book about Japanese magical creatures, concentrating on getting the details perfect. Once formed, the cat immediately jumped out of his hands and stalked haughtily away from them, head and tails held high. The cat stopped a few feet away and curled up comfortably, purring softly. Harry blinked in surprise at the cat's actions and turned to Tristan for answers.

"Don't look at me," said Tristan. "I've never seen an elemental animal act like that before. That cat almost seems alive."

As soon as Tristan said that, the cat's head lifted, and it glared at the faerie, baring its teeth in a snarl. Harry quickly walked over to the cat and leaned down to pet the growling feline, the flames of its body caressing his skin almost lovingly. "Just ignore him, kitty. He's just jealous that his creations weren't this intelligent."

The cat immediately quit growling and nuzzled against Harry's hand eagerly, purring loudly. However, a moment later, the cat caught sight of a lizard scurrying across the sand and immediately gave chase. Harry winced and covered his nose as the cat pounced on the poor lizard, burning the small reptile to a crisp, before the flames making up its body flickered and died, leaving nothing but a small pile of ashes beside the burnt carcass.

"Well, that was unexpected," said Octavius. "It was a Kamikaze Cat."

XxX

Charlie and the twins were on their way back to the cottage when they saw a large figure flying in the distance. Fred gasped in surprise and asked, "Is that a dragon?"

Charlie pulled out the pair of omnioculars he kept on him at all times and peered at the figure. He was almost green with envy when he saw the figure atop the dragon. As much as he worked with dragons, he'd never actually gotten to ride one, and Merlin did he want to. "It's Harry and Zenith."

"Blimey! Our youngest brother riding a dragon!" said George excitedly.

"Of course, if anyone could do it, it would be our Harry," added Fred.

"I wonder if Zenith will let anyone else ride him," said George thoughtfully.

Fred snickered at the comment. "I think Harry would murder you if you tried."

George burst into laughter and nodded. "You're probably right, Fred." He then smirked at his brother. "It doesn't hurt to ask, though. Let's go."

The twins broke out into a run, reaching the area where Harry was just in time to see a cat made of flames jump on an unsuspecting lizard before burning into ashes. "What the hell was that?" asked Fred in shock.

"Kamikaze Cat," said Octavius promptly.

"Wicked!" said the twins excitedly.

"Just imagine what kind of damage you do to those pesky Death Eaters with those things," said George excitedly.

"I don't even know how I did it," Harry protested.

"We'll figure something out," said Fred easily. He suddenly turned toward Zenith and grinned widely. "Now when do we get a ride, dragon-boy?"

"Never," said Zenith calmly. "Only Harry is allowed to ride me in any way."

Harry blushed fiercely at that comment and tried to calm his suddenly racing heart. "Z-Zenith!"

Zenith just flashed him a sexy grin and draped his arm over Harry's shoulder, pulling him close.

Charlie suddenly ran up to them, panting and out of breath. Fred and George immediately ran to their older brother, pouting piteously. "Charlie, Zenith's so mean. He won't let anyone but Harry ride him."

Charlie sighed in disappointment. He'd really been hoping he could ride a dragon at least once in his lifetime. His nose suddenly twitched as the smell of burnt flesh blew past him. "What is that smell?"

Everyone pointed to the lizard carcass. Fred grinned and said, "You should have seen it, Charlie. Harry somehow created a cat made out of flames, and it pounced on the lizard, burning it to a crisp, before the flames died out."

"Can I see?" asked Charlie curiously.

"I don't even know how I did it the first time around," sighed Harry. "Except maybe..." His voice trailed off as he remembered trying to capture every nuance of the cat in perfect detail. When he'd created the phoenix, he'd just concentrated on the basic shape of the bird. Taking a deep breath, Harry formed another fireball between his hands. This time, he concentrated on creating a small dragon, using Zenith's dragon form as his guide. When he was done, a small replica of dragon-Zenith sat in his palms.

Zenith blinked in surprise at the tiny dragon before a wide smile crossed his face. "It's a fiery, tiny version of me. You even got the exact shape of my wings right."

Harry sniffed haughtily. "Of course, Zenith. I see your wings every day." The dragon suddenly mewled softly, nudging Harry's palm affectionately. Harry smiled fondly and rubbed the dragon's head.

"Doesn't that burn?" asked Charlie curiously.

"No, I called these flames forth so they only answer to me," said Harry reasonably. He then raised his hands in the air and said, “Fly now, little one.”

The dragon leapt from Harry’s hands and flew through the air, roaring softly in jubilation. Now they just needed something for the dragon to attack. Since there were no more lizards nearby, Harry took of his left sock and transfigured into a small sheep. He nudged the sheep, causing it to bleat in protest, and the dragon immediately attacked. Two fireballs shot toward the sheep, engulfing it into flames. However, that very action was the end of the fire dragon because the fireballs pulled the flames away from his body, making him burn out quickly. The sheep, of course, reverted back to the sock as it burst into flame, its ashes scattering in the breeze.

“That was totally wicked!” Fred exclaimed in amazement.

“I wonder how many of those you could make at once,” said Charlie thoughtfully.

“You could take out the entire Death Eater army with these bad babies if you wanted, Harry,” said George.

Harry just looked down at the ground. He didn’t know if he wanted to use his magic like that. Yes, the Death Eaters needed to be stopped, but could he really kill someone with his power? Harry honestly didn’t think he could do it. Perhaps, though, if he could learn to control the ice and earth elements better, he could use them to trap and capture the Death Eaters instead of killing them. The only problem with that, though, was that there was always a counter to each element, and it was even more difficult to trap a wizard because they could always apparate out of said cage.

Harry sighed softly. Maybe elemental magic was the wrong way to go. Rune Magic and Blood Magic would probably be more effective because he could manipulate them in his favour, but that would require luring Voldemort and his army to the place the runes were carved. Of course, warding could also be useful. He’d learned to cast dozens of different wards in the last four months, but there were still thousands of wards he had yet to learn. He wondered if he could find or create a ward that would neutralise the magic of anyone wearing a Dark Mark. If he could do that, the only one he’d really need to worry about would be Voldemort himself.

“Harry, you still have plenty of time to come up with a way to defeat your dark wizard,” said Zenith softly. “And you know that we’ll help in any way we can, so don’t worry so much about it right now.”

Tristan scowled at the three Weasley’s for putting Harry in that state. “Besides, Christmas is only a few days away. You should be happily guessing what we got you for Christmas instead of worrying about that loser wizard.”

“You’ll never guess what I got you, though,” said Octavius smugly.

Harry’s ears perked up at the challenge. “Is it useful or fun?”

“Not telling,” said Octavius with a playful smirk.

“Come on, Octavius. Give me a hint, at least,” said Harry, looking up at the shadow demon with wide green eyes.

Octavius quickly turned his back on Harry to keep from giving in to the adorable kit. “Nope. You have to figure it out on your own.”

Harry pouted slightly before turning to give Tristan his wide-eyed look. “What did you get me, Tristan?”

Tristan froze briefly at the intensity of the stare and quickly closed his eyes. “That’s cheating, Harry. You have to guess.”

Harry looked at Zenith only to burst out laughing. The poor Dracken had taken the easy way out and had transformed into his dragon form. “Fine, you win. I won’t pester you about my gifts. Now change back so we can go back to the house for lunch. I’m starving.”

Zenith immediately transformed back and draped his arm around the brunet’s shoulders. “Then let’s go eat.”

The three Weasley’s watched the four head back to the cottage in silence. A moment later, though, Fred snickered softly. “Our Harry has those three wrapped around his little finger.”

George laughed, too. “I know. Did you see how they reacted to that look Harry gave them. Hell, Zenith even turned into a dragon to keep from caving into that look.”

“I want to ride a dragon, too,” Charlie suddenly wailed. It was so unfair. He’d worked with dragons all of his adult life, and he’d never gotten to ride a single dragon while Harry, who’d shown almost no interest in dragons, had his very own personal dragon to ride.

Fred and George looked at Charlie for a long moment before bursting into laughter. “You and your dragon obsession, Charlie. Maybe we can convince Zenith to introduce you to another Dracken or something one of these days.”

“You think so?” asked Charlie hopefully.

The twins just shrugged. “We’ll ask him after lunch.”