Chronicles of Camelot

Only Human

Hermione could only watch with shock and a sense of equal determination as Harry pulled the power of his storm into himself, his silver eye now seemingly on permanent shine as a bolt of white lightning crossed the silver-coloured appendage, the storm's power echoing all around Hogwarts.

'Ladies and gentlemen,' Hermione thought, striding across the room and holding Harry in her arms, if only to calm him down, 'Welcome to the eye of the Hurricane.'

Chapter 16: Only Human

After the attack on the Fat Lady, though Harry, the Order, Neville and Tonks knew the truth, the dual-Founder's heir instructed them to leave things as they were for now. If he revealed what he knew too soon, then Dumbledore would be on his case and Harry would never be able to put his plan into action; when Tonks asked him if there was anything that she could do to help, Harry gave her an appreciative nod before he told her to make sure her boss, his Vassal, cleared her Christmas schedule and that she would meet Harry on Christmas Eve at the house.

That just left one question in Harry's mind: how was he supposed to get a hold of Pettigrew now that the Tower was being watched by a rather idiotic portrait named Sir Cadogan? The inhabitant of the portrait had about as many brains as Weasley had balls and he wouldn't hesitate to spill the beans on Harry being there, which would give Dumbledore a reason to keep Harry there.

Not that the old man didn't try: when Harry met with Professor McGonagall before the end of November, telling her that he was going home for Christmas, Harry found out that the Headmaster had requested him to stay for safety reasons concerning the recent attack. Harry sunk that idea like the Titanic, his authority as Holy Knight coming in very handy as he explained – seemingly for the 1000th time – that he was going back to Mr and Mrs Granger, his legal guardians; that he was being protected by an Auror and the Order and that he would have his weapon at his side…as always.

Once again, Dumbledore was defeated and Harry was looking forwards to a Christmas away from Hogwarts, his seemingly hurricane-preceding attitude vanishing with each day…at least until the last week of term.

Returning from one of his usual meetings with Hagrid concerning his familiar, Harry walked towards Godric's Wing when a cold feeling passed through his body, the whole school seemingly sharing that feeling as an icy front blew through the corridors, startling even Severus Snape who was working on some private work.

Turning on his heel, Harry made his way down to Gryffindor Tower, his face set in a stern expression as he hissed, "Listen you useless portrait, open this entrance now!"

"Ah," Sir Cadogan laughed, "A challenge: very well fiend: I accept!"

Harry sighed, before he drew Excalibur from its sheath, his eyes both flashing with raw magic as he hissed, "You challenge me? You must have a death wish; now open this entrance before I make you experience what the Fat Lady went through."

The entrance opened and Harry walked in, his eyes scanning the Common Room, his presence startling the few Gryffindors nearby as he asked, "Is anything amiss here?"

"No Harry," answered Lavender Brown, "Oh, but Hermione did come in earlier; then she got a letter."

"A letter?" asked Harry, "From whom?"

"Well…you," Lavender answered, "Didn't you ask her to meet you in the place where you first became friends for a private discussion…"

She didn't get a chance to finish; Harry had turned on his heel and raced down the stairs, moving towards the girls bathroom where he had first made friends with his brown-haired betrothed, Excalibur's blade suddenly glowing as it sensed magic at work here.