You're Being Hugged, Harry

by David Silver

10 - Plans

"This is not what the stars said before." The astrology teacher scowled at the others, her fingers steepled before her. "And their divergence is only growing with time. Fate itself is unraveling."

Dumbledore spread his hands out, palm side up. "Surely not the entire thing?"

"Not the entire thing. There is a focus." She snapped two fingers, drawing a bit of paper from among many to hover before them. "It centers on this student." She tapped at the hovering equine face of one Mister Potter. "We can start with the obvious, he carries a heavy prophetic burden already."

Snape leaned forward, weight on an elbow on the table. "From what I hear, he's been an eager student, equine or not."

Dumbledore met Aurora's serious eyes. "Not all in bad ways, I would hope?"

"How can we tell?" Her brows went up. "The changes make changes, which in turn creates further chaos. We never live in complete certainty, of course, but this is a step beyond that, my colleagues. Anything could happen, and all promises made, no matter how large or small, could be negated."

Snape turned his eyes on Dumbledore. "This experiment of--"

"--It's not an experiment," cut off the kindly magician. "It was a mercy."

"A mercy that comes with a price." The last word was emphasized with Snape's fist against the table. "Will he be ready to do what must be done? His life will be in very real danger, as will many others. Playing with that? Not a light bet to take, old friend."

Aurora turned her stern gaze on Snape. "You two know something. It's time to share. What games are you two playing at?"

"It's not a game," gently assured Dumbledore.

"Then stop treating it like one." Snape grunted with clear irritation. "The prophecies were quite clear, but you had to send him to a magical realm, denying him any Earth background. When things get tough, will he even care about what's at stake? It is of no risk to what he holds dear."

Aurora extended one finger. "He seems to already be forming bonds."

Dumbledore let out a little jovial laugh at that. "You have had little experience with that realm, I gather. Friendship is a potent force there. Mister Potter is assembling what he needs without even knowing what he is preparing for. Allies to fight for, and next to. I feel confident that when it comes time, he will rise to the challenge."

"Fools, the lot of you." Snape rose to his feet in a smooth motion. "On your heads be it." He strode from the room with firm steps that made little noise on the floor, save for the click of the door shutting behind him.

---

A dark figure rose in an equally gloomy room. The lights had been quashed, just the stars outside allowed any light at all, which wasn't much. The figure drifted closer with a malign smile and a prepared wand. Its target was at hand, a half-blood, much like he was. How they had escaped his detection for so long, a matter of fury.

But that would be soon fixed.

"Hello." A large furry figure stood up from where it had been napping on the floor. "Are--"

The unknown figure spat out vile words, "Avada Kedavra", magic surging through its wand to strike at Arnavon. Those words did not sound nice, nor did the figure seem to be brimming with good cheer. Arnavon casually declined the spell, instead letting it flow angrily across his body to gather at his hands where he could get a look at it as it jumped and sparked with the darkest of intentions. "Harry?"

His confused call and the angry magic was quite enough to stir the other two in the room. Harry and Ron sitting up with startled noises. Harry's horn began to glow, casting light over the area. He got his first look at who would be the predominant opponent in the coming years. Voldemort scowled at the interruption. "Another time," he sighed out, fading from view.

"What in blazes was that going on there?!" Ron gestured wildly at where the creepy person had been standing.

"You two alright?" Harry looked between Ron and Arnavon.

"I'm mostly alright." Arnavon stepped towards Harry, wincing as he walked. "Ow."

Harry's face became worried. "Did that thing hurt you?!"

"Yes," admitted Arnavon plainly. "I stopped his magic." He held up the still angry sorcery. "But it burns wherever it touches, and it touched me." There was an angry line across Arnavon, trailing a line from where he had been hit towards his hands. "It's not that bad, but it stings!"

Ron squinted at the held magic. "Alright, first of all, that's wild. Good thing you were here, Arnie!"

"Absolutely," gushed Harry in agreement. "But that..." He pointed a hoof at the captured magic. "That does not look like any kind of magic I'd want to be around. Why are you still holding it?"

"I thought..." He turned the magic this way and that, inspecting it from other angles. "I wasn't sure! Maybe we should show it to the teachers? They may know what it is."

Ron shrugged softly. "Maybe? Look, I'm not getting any sleep tonight, I don't think. I say we head to find help."

"Solid idea." Harry slid from his bed with a clop and brought his clothes over, floating over, then slipping onto him under his magic's guidance. "I don't feel very sleepy anymore either."

Thus it was that two students and a strangely large owl descended from their dorms. This was not allowed in the middle of the night, and a prefect was there to stop just that sort of thing. With crossed arms, he stood guard at the entrance to the dorms at large. "What are you doing here?" he called out as the group came into view. "Go on back to bed."

Harry inclined his horn, no longer glowing as that section of the dorm was lit on its own, towards Arnavon. "We were attacked, and he's holding the spell that did it."

"Right here!" excitedly gushed Arnavon, not very afraid of what could have killed him.

Arnavon thrust his hand forward at the hall monitor. "Right here."

The prefect was no master of the dark arts, but one did not have to be to see how worrying that angry ball of magic appeared to be. "Merlin's Beard! You did not say your owl could cast dark magic."

"I didn't," softly whined Arnavon.

Ron stepped forward, waving both hands negatively. "Shove off with that. He saved us from what actually cast it. He's holdin' it so we can get it looked at. Tell us where to go."

"And not our beds," added Harry to be sure.

"L-likely a case for Quirinus." The monitor tapped a foot on the floor, looking around and trying to gather his thoughts as if he'd just dropped them across the floor. "It's terribly late... But this is important--"

"--You don't say?" cut in Ron.

"--I do say, young man." The prefect started to move. "Follow me, and be careful with that!" The green and black energy of what was likely a curse, probably a very bad one, did nothing to calm the prefect. He led them into the main portion of the school, where other prefects noticed the band and began asking curiously what was going on. "Just taking them to see Professor Quirrell."

Despite his words, they attracted other curious souls, and a small mob arrived at the professor's door. "Really, I can handle it," assured the original prefect, raising a hand to knock smartly. "Sir? Terribly sorry to trouble you at this time of night."

The door swung open with barely a pause, the turbaned professor smiling at the entire crowd. "Oh, what a-an.... a... surprise." He smiled nervously, but that was not unusual for him. His eyes swept over the crowd, pausing at Arnavon. "Deary m-me..."

Ron gestured at the nasty bit of magic. "That's what we're here for."

Professor Quirrell considered it a moment. "Your owl, if I, hm, recall?"

Harry bobbed his head quickly. "Yes, sir. Arnavon is his name."

"Hi!" Arnavon waved fingers of his less occupied hand, having moved the spell entirely to his right hand.

"Arnavon, can you, um, put that... away?"

"No." Arnavon shook his head quickly. "If I swallowed it, it'd probably hurt, a lot. Maybe a lot lot. Maybe dead lot. Um, sir!" He added the last bit with a faint reddening, remembering his manners.

Professor Quirrell circled the strangely long-eared owl. "Well, it's not much safer there, no, n-no... That's no good..." He waved the prefects away. "I... have th-this under c-c-control." Soon they were gone, the door closed and the students inside. Them and their owl. "Now, hm, Arnavon, can you put that somewhere else?"

"Where?" Arnavon was prone to one word answers that night, a thing that only made him blush on realizing it. "This is making me very nervous, sir. I don't want to hold it, but I thought someone would want to look at it."

"That is a killing curse," announced the professor with all due gravity, even managing to not stutter. "No g-good can... come from that."

Arnavon hopped suddenly to the nearest window, butting it open with a headslam against it. With a pitcher's throw, he sent the angry magic out into the darkness, away from the school. He turned back to the others, nose paled and body shivering softly. "Did you say killing curse?!" he blurted, as if his reaction to be rid of it had acted faster than his thinking mind could keep up.

"Oh yes, o-oh yes yes yes..." The professor worried his fingers together. "That makes you the second..." He paused. Was Arnavon a person? "Second person to survive one."

"That doesn't make me feel good!" yelped Arnavon with obvious fright. "Why was that...whoever they were... Why did they want me dead? I just said hi!"

"B-be calm..." The professor waved downwards in an attempt to placate Arnavon, but his eyes were moving for Harry Potter. "Good... G-good thing you have my class tomorrow, hm?"

Harry and Ron shared a look, to both nod together. It was true! "Defense against dark arts," they said as one.

"E-e-exactly right." The professor nodded. "I'll be... excepting you both." He looked at Arnavon a moment longer than required. "I-is there... anything, hm, else?"

Ron threw his hands out wide. "We were just attacked in the middle of the night and you ask 'anything else'? That not 'nough for ya?"

"Gonna have to side with Ron on this." Harry took a step forward. "We were attacked by... something."

"Someone, I think." Arnavon scratched at his cheek with his hand, no longer occupied with dread magic.

"T-they're, you know, gone now. Nothing t-to worry about." He flashed a smile that did not fill them with confidence. "N-nothing to be done. Oh!" He reached into his pants and drew out a small stone. "Here." He placed it on Ron's available hand. "T-that'll protect you."

Ron closed his fingers around it. "That's more like it! This'll protect us from any crazy death spells?"

"I p-promise." Quirrell raised a hand in emphasis with the vow. "You'll be alive t-tomorrow. Lifetime guarantee!"

Harry laughed at that. "That was just awful." But perhaps well timed, some of the tension broken with the joke in poor taste. "Alright, alright... Ron, Arnie? Let's head back."

Arnavon stepped towards Harry, still up on his hinds. "I'll stay close to you, Harry."

Harry turned an ear. "Why? You were the one attacked."

"I don't think they were coming for me." Arnavon looked over his shoulder as if that dread figure could be right there, waiting for a chance to strike. "Can I sleep with you?"

"You already do," noted Harry. "We share a room. Kinda normal for owls." They left Quirrell behind, walking through the darkened, but not black, halls.

"Closer." Arnavon grabbed Harry at the shoulder. "Close as it gets."

Author's Note:

Arnavon is spooked to think his life may have been threatened with no more importance than a stray typo. At least they have a death warding talisman. Everything's alright now!

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Comments

[Booster Spice]

Voldy is definitely a lot freeer this time?

[Emtu]

gaurentee

guarantee

[David Silver]

11051950
Harry had certain protections that would have been voided in this timeline with no action from my part.

[badninja]

Well this will not be passes up the chain. I wonder how long until Tom does something with less care.

[harts fire]

so Arnavon stopped Voldemort.
a grate chapter.

[tsaukpaetra]

A small stone you say? That protects against death? Looks like someone just created a distraction to throw blame on...