Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Thirty Three

Zakari looked to Jean and Eve with a desperate expression as he for the life of him could not find Franklin anywhere in the castle. He had woken in the dorms and gone to breakfast, following the usual routine to find his interpreter , but Franklin was not seated at the Slytherin table in his usual spot. The boy waited patiently with Duncan by his side, tapping his fingers along trying to keep clam. However, nerves struck him as he contemplated the idea of Franklin quitting suddenly. 

The man had made no mentioning of leaving and from what Zakari had seen, he didn't seem upset either, so it didn't make sense that the man had just suddenly vanished. Looking across the way, he could see some of the Hufflepuff team and the Gryffindor team enjoying breakfast before they were called out to the pitch for the upcoming match that afternoon. But he couldn't bring himself to focus on that. He thought about attending the game to cheer Harry on, but decided against it until he found Franklin.

When Jean and Eve arrived in the Great Hall, they instantly picked up on the boy's alarmed state, wondering what was wrong. Eve, who had picked up a bit more of the sign language, quickly asked Zakari what was wrong. When the boy asked them if either one of them had seen Franklin, the two girls looked confused as his hands moved at a rapid pace. If he was going to get them to understand anything, he was going to have to calm down.

His hands shook violently and no matter what he did, he couldn't bring himself to relax enough to sign properly. In pure frustration, he just decided to write it down, but even his usually neat handwriting was terribly sloppy. Deeming Eve and Jean useless for the time being, Zakari picked himself up from the table and motioned for Duncan to follow him. He was going to search the castle again for Franklin.

Luckily for him, the dog was able to pick up on the distress feeling that Zakari was putting out and quickly placed his nose to the ground, sniffing about for the older man.  The child was moving about, following the dog when Duncan suddenly came to a halt, pinning his ears back. He didn't have to hear the dog whine to know Duncan was fearing something, the dog began to back away slowly, his little body shaking.

Zakari spun around, trying to take in all of his surroundings, but didn't see anyone or anything.

But he felt it.

The familiar vibrations that had haunted him before brought the boy right back to the wall he was standing closest to. This time he was determined not to lose track of the sensation and follow it until he had an answer. Duncan had to run to keep up with Zakari who was running himself in order to keep up. Whatever was moving was large, and he couldn't understand how he was the only one who had sensed it on numerous occasions. It became faster and faster and despite Zakari being a healthy runner, the thing was moving too fast for his own little legs to keep up.

He pushed himself as hard as he could, but much to his frustration and his disappointment, he lost it again.

Stomping his foot in frustration, Zakari let out a strange noise along with an irritated grunt that caused Duncan to move a couple steps back from him. Slouching against the wall for a moment to catch his breath, he looked down to his canine companion and smiled at him, reassuring the dog that he was fine. Duncan moved towards him slowly and gave him a calming lick on the boy's ankle, causing Zakari to giggle as it tickled.

He reached down and lifted the corgi into his arms. He hoped he could talk to one of the professors about what he was experiencing, and thought about talking to Professor Flitwick.

The Charms professor had quickly become Zakari's favorite professor as the man was kind and patient with Zakari. He was one of the few professors that took the time after class to spend more time with the child to help him further improve his magic and give him a little extra one on one attention. He figured if anyone could be understanding of whatever Zakari was experiencing it would be that man.

He hoped during his travels to the Charms classroom that he would find Franklin along the way.

He did.

But not in the way he wanted to find Franklin.

Rounding the corner near the library, Zakari was focused on Duncan, who was panting happily in the boy's face. He wasn't looking where he was stepping, which led to his downfall, literally. 

Falling to the ground, Zakari dropped Duncan as he hit the floor roughly. The dog quickly regain his foot, but began barking. However, Zakari's attention wasn't on the dog, but what he had tripped over.

A small cry of horror escaped the boy's lips as he found himself surrounded by bodies. One he recognized as Hermione Granger, and the other was Franklin. The poor child crawled over immediately over to his friend's side, going to touch Franklin.

The man's body was stiff and wouldn't budge, his facial expression showing nothing more than shock. Zakari shook his head profusely, in denial that Franklin been attacked.  Wasting no time in feeling sorry for himself or for Franklin, he jumped up and ran into the library to alert anyone of what had taken place outside.

Harry was more than confused as to why the Quidditch match had been cancelled as Professor McGonagall called upon him and Ron to follow her. A bad feeling washed over both boys as they were brought to the Hospital Wing and found that Hermione had been the victim of another attack. The school had gone nearly four months without an attack and now one of his best friends had fallen victim to it.

Luckily, Hermione had only been petrified but she hadn't been alone either.  A Ravenclaw girl had also been attacked as she was lying in another bed, and in the corner of the Hospital Wing, Harry spotted Zakari.

The boy's face was red, his eyes swollen from crying as he sat at the bedside of his interpreter who had been found at the scene as well.

Harry spent a majority of the time around Hermione with Ron, but before they left, he walked over to Zakari. The first year looked up at him, looking more than miserable in that moment.

"I'm sorry." Harry signed to him. After plenty of awkward encounters and conversations, Harry learned that phrase quite well when it came to talking to the Slytherin boy.

Zakari looked up at Harry, surprised to see him over at his side, especially with Hermione being in the same room. But he forced a small smile on his face for him. Suddenly, the thought crossed his mind as he began to piece things together. Every time there had been an attack, he had felt the sensation in the wall. 

He quickly stood up and grabbed Harry's hands before pressing them to the wall.

"Feel." He said to Harry. "Feel."

Harry looked confused, before Zakari pointed to all the petrified victims in the room then he pointed back at the wall.

'Feel."