Idiosyncrasy |Harry Potter

Chapter Thirty Eight

Being stuck with Ron was slightly challenging to Zakari, but it was terribly annoying for both boys to be stuck with Lockhart. Ron had it the worst in the situation, as he could actually hear what Lockhart was saying, but even quiet little Zakari was about to lose his temper as the professor continuously pulled at the boy's robes trying to get his attention when he didn't respond to a question. The clearing of the tunnel wasn't the easiest task as Zakari offered Ron to use his wand to help move the rocks, but his wand was proving to be temperamental when it came to be handled by the red head. It either refused to work or did the complete opposite of what Ron asked it to do.

Rather putting up a fight with it, Ron just decided to use his hands, while Zakari did the same. However, his job was much easier than Ron's as the rocks moved away from his hands, creating a parted path for the boy as he worked. 

"This is just brilliant..." Ron muttered to himself. "Harry can charm snakes and this one can charm rocks! But what do I get out of this- get off of me!" He yanked on his robes pulling away from Lockhart.

Zakari was thankful for the lack of noise as he worked, it gave him all the concentration he needed to focus on his hands. For once, he seemed to be in control of his magic. He just hoped it would last long enough until he was able to retrieve Duncan...and Harry and Ginny.

Harry wasn't sure about the interaction he had with Duncan, ever so often a noise would spook the dog, causing Duncan to brush into Harry's legs almost tripping the boy on several occasions. He was beginning to wonder if that was why Zakari carried him so much. It lessened the chances of tripping and almost snapping his neck. But Harry couldn't deny that he was thankful to have the corgi's company as they traveled through the tunnel.

The two came to a halt when they came to face a wall with snakes on it. Duncan shivered and took several steps back while Harry proceeded to talk to it using Parseltongue. Duncan thought humans were strange enough before entering the chamber, but he was about to learn they were so much more complicated. After Harry spoke to the wall, the Chamber revealed itself as it opened allowing the boy to enter, Duncan snapped his jaw down on the boy's robes, sensing danger ahead. But Harry was much stronger, dragging the little dog behind him. 

Upon entering it was clear to see a body lying in the middle of the way, motionless. Duncan recognized the girl as he had past her many times in the corridors and she shared a couple of classes with Zakari. 

Harry dropped his wand in a slight panic, running over to the girl's side, hoping to help her. Duncan turned his head, going to retrieve Harry's wand to bring it over to the boy, but let out a startled yelp as a hand reached down and picked it up. It was another boy that Duncan didn't recognize and the vibes he was giving off were not inviting to say the least.

With his ears pinned back and letting out a pitiful whimper, Duncan scampered off to where Harry was with the girl. He nudged the boy, just in time for Harry to catch sight of the approaching stranger.

Crawling under the girl's robes, the corgi remained hidden as Harry foolishly tried to approach the other boy without his own wand in hand. 

Duncan had done his best to save him, but it looked like Zakari was going to have to find a new friend. Hopefully, one that wasn't completely dense. 

Zakari let out a shrill, but happy sound as he finally made some breakthrough to the other side. It wasn't much, but it was something. The fact that he had made so much progress using only magic filled him with joy, but as much as he wanted to celebrate, he knew it wasn't the time for it. He still needed to get to Duncan and since he couldn't see the dog through the small hole, he only assumed that he had ventured off with Harry somewhere.

He let out a tired sigh, all the non-verbal and wandless magic was quite exhausting on the young boy. As much as he wanted to continue, he knew he needed to take a break or he was just going to end up knocking himself out. He glanced over in Ron's direction and felt pretty good, knowing he had made a bit more progress than the Gryffindor boy. But he leaned over and tapped his shoulder, bringing Ron to focus his attention on him.

He pointed to the hole he had made trying to get Ron to realize that if they just worked together on the same part, they would be sooner quicker.

However, before he could motion anything else, he felt Lockhart's hand grabbing one of his curls.

Ron turned to the man after witnessing the look of horror wash over Zakari's face.

"His hair is so soft!" Lockhart said. "And look, it bounces! Boing!"

"HELP!" Ron shouted up the tunnel. "For the love of Merlin...."

Zakari smacked Lockhart's hand away and gave him a stern glare, one he had learned from his mother when he was much younger. It seemed to ward off the man somewhat, allowing him to return back to his work.

He motioned Ron over again so they could finally create the path to get to Harry, Duncan, and Ginny.

Ron suddenly grabbed a rock before Zakari could signal him to stop, only to witness all the rocks fall further, covering up all of Zakari's progress in a matter of seconds.

"Oops."