Harry Potter and the Blind Seer of Durmstrang

Chapter 8

The next morning, the Hogwarts students were surprised to learn that Durmstrang students did not dine together in one hall like they were accustomed to at home. Instead they ate together in their common room as they had the night before; later they were summoned after breakfast to the Assembly that would begin each day. It was there that the school gathered to hear the day's announcements and to sing the school song. This was in German, and only Harry, using the little earpiece Mr. Weasley had given him, could understand it.

Durmstrang, Durmstrang!

Die Mutter an die ich mich lehne,

die mich nährt und führt.

Der Vater, wessen stolzer Sohn ich bin

und wessen Licht für alle scheint.

Durmstrang, Durmstrang!

Ich werde immer zu dir gehören,

dank dich gehe ich stolz und stark.

Der große Nordstern für mich

bist du Durmstrang!

Durmstrang! Durmstrang!

The Mother at whose knee I lean,

who nurtures and guides,

The Father whose son I'm proud to be,

whose light shines for all.

Durmstrang! Durmstrang!

True to thee I'll always be,

From thee I go in pride and tall

The great North Star

is Durmstrang fair.

To Harry, who had assumed the rugged cadence would imply words matching the dark castle and its dark reputation, felt surprise at these words. He wondered what Professor Snape thought of them, but he could not read the Professor's face as he sat grimly beside Harry on the stone bench.

Class schedules were handed out next by a diminutive witch that Harry later found out was actually a hag. Her name was Professor Morrigana and she taught knitting. Harry received the stiff schedule card into his hand, but squint as he might at it, he could not make out the letters. He wished Hermione was sitting beside him; until that moment, he hadn't realized how much he relied upon her to notice that he needed help and to read something quietly to him. He bit his lip in frustration, wondering what to do.

The other students were already getting up and moving off, and Harry began to feel a bit panicky. He had no idea where to go, and he knew he ought to ask someone to read his card, but he felt frozen onto the hard stone bench. He wished he could grab his broom out of his trunk and fly out of this dark, creepy castle and back to Hogwarts, where he knew everyone and knew where to go.

As he sat, heart pounding, he heard the last thing he expected: the tap of a long, straight cane on the stone floor.

"Potter? Harry Potter?" The voice was old and cracking, with the lilt of an Irish accent. That sound of home, along with his name, washed over Harry like the warming spray of a hot shower after a cold walk.

"I'm Harry Potter," he said, a little hesitantly.

"Harry Potter," said the old man, stopping in front of Harry and standing with his legs planted. Now that Harry knew where to look, he saw a tall, somewhat stooped, white-haired man resting folded hands on the top of a long, white cane. Harry felt a thrill of shock at the sight of it, the only one besides his own he had ever been close to. He could not make out the man's face, and he waited expectantly.