Chp 11

26th October 1994

Harry was sure that Phoenix deserved a better owner, no matter how much it buzzed to reassure him the opposite. The immense guilt that drowned him was unbearable.

The (probably) priceless artefact in his possession, and the reason he was still alive, had been drenched by pumpkin juice. As if it couldn't get bad enough, some of the soup had found its way into the little engravings as well.

Harry had casted a Cleaning Charm on the bangle and was promptly reminded him of Phoenix's special properties when the light produced by the charm fizzled away on contact.

Harry swore under his breath. He had to clean it the old-fashioned way: a cloth and some elbow grease. Harry excused himself from the hall and returned to his dorm. He knew that if he had started cleaning it in front of his friends, Hermione would have offered to use a charm on it and he did not want to explain to her why the stain refused to leave the bangle.

Harry didn't know why, but a part if him instinctively avoided talking about Phoenix or Sally with his friends. It was a gut feeling that was a part of him, unexplained and unusual as it was, but he trusted it. He'd tell them when the time was right.

Thus, he was now sitting on his bed with a transfigured cloth in hand and a small cup of water beside him.

Nodding his head to an invisible beat, he ran his thumb over the bangle appreciating the clean surface. The metal gleamed at him, calling him, and he couldn't resist it anymore. He tapped it thrice and the familiar sword appeared.

The boy swung it around to regain the almost addictive rush of adrenaline that came every time. The sounds it made while slicing through the air were simply pleasing to the ear.

Getting carried away, Harry reminisced the encounter in the forest. He flushed as he recalled the way the he had swung the sword, hasty and unpolished. He had practically been hacking mindlessly at his attacker.

Harry exhaled while imagining the old woman's form, it was smooth and even had a touch of elegance to it. Trying to replicate the movements of the old woman, he concentrated and moved accordingly.

Looking at himself in the mirror, he lunged forward and sliced an imaginary enemy. His reflection gazed back at him, sword moving gracefully.

Satisfied, Harry continued with his one man sword dance. In his head, he was facing a legion of monsters. Some he had seen in Hermione's books, and some he had seen from television and Dudley's board games.

He only snapped out of his daze when Phoenix collided with the bedpost. The force of the sword hitting the wood jolting him awake.

Harry saw the large gash on the wood, and full-out panicked. The bed was old and was probably older than him. Sweet Merlin, had he damaged something that was probably older than him?

He could hear Hermione telling him off as he hid the mark with an inconspicuous piece of cloth. He definitely needed a place to train without the risk of damaging anything culturally significant, Harry thought once he had covered up the mark.

Thus, the boy set about looking for a proper place during his free period. He searched almost the Hogwarts grounds, from the dusty upper floors to the dark musty dungeons. All of which were unavailable, there were either groups of students who were doing who-knows-what there, or couples snogging in what they thought would be a private area.

Harry had already walked in on three couples before he decided to swear off the dungeons altogether. His stomach grumbled as he let out a sigh, he should have finished his soup before leaving the Hall. Harry headed for the kitchens to see if he could manage to get a snack.

Harry soon found himself at the Hall again, but this time, it was deserted. It seemed the students had already finished their meals and headed back to their dorms. Harry wandered through the halls, eyes peeled for any sign of a house elf. He sat there, waiting and waiting.

Soon enough, a tiny being popped into existence.

"Get back here! You is bad for the students!"

The elf shouted as it tried to catch the rat scuttling away from it. In all honesty, it just seemed to make the rat run faster. Harry let out a low chuckle as he sidestepped into the path of the creature. Caught off guard, the rat squeaked as it slowed down to turn away. The drop in speed was enough for the little elf to grab it.

The elf looked up at Harry with a grateful smile before shifting into a look of surprise, "Ah! You is Master Harry Potter! I is hearing a lot about you from Dobby! What can I do for you?" The elf's eyes sparkled with admiration.

Harry gave a sheepish smile but continued with his snack request anyway.

"We still has some bread in the kitchens. Is that okay?"

Harry nodded.

"Ok! Follow me!" The elf led the way to a little room with a painting and a table with a little fruit bowl of top. It hopped onto stool under the table and used its long fingers to give the pear a light scratch. The dark wall started glowing until it melted into a doorway. The smell of food instantly invaded his nostrils, Harry was amazed by the sight of numerous house elves running all over the kitchens.

Once they caught sight of the two of them, they were obviously excited. The elves inched towards the pair and Harry gulped. Before he could try to hide behind the elf he had helped out for help form the horde of other elves, he realised that the tiny elf had disappeared.

Harry was subjected to a swarm of questions form the curious elves, he struggled to answer all of them as he was pushed onto a chair for their "interrogation".

All of a sudden, the elf popped back in with a tray of bread and a small bowl of soup. He pushed his way through the crowd and managed to make them form a little circle around Harry, giving the Boy-Who-Lived some space.

Harry took the tray from him with thanks. He dipped the bread in the soup and continued finishing his dinner. The elves seemed quite pleased by the satisfied expression he had as he wolfed down the food.

Savouring the soup at the moment, Harry hardly noticed an elf wearing a potato sack giggling Phoenix a curious poke. The bangle buzzed which gave Harry a small shock, causing him to nearly dropped his bowl. The elf looked absolutely horrified, her lips were shaking as her large eyes started tearing up. Harry immediately reassured her that she hadn't committed a grave sin.

"I is sorry, Master Harry! Winky is being a bad elf!"

"No no no, everything's fine. You didn't do anything wrong, Winky. I just got a little surprised, that's all." He flashed her his most soothing smile. He managed to coax the elf into forgiving herself but she popped away in shame, refusing to reappear. Harry bit his lip, unsure of what to do.

"Will some of you keep an eye on her, make sure she isn't hurting herself?" The elves nodded and some even went away immediately to monitor her. The more curious and braver elves stayed behind. Their eyes drawn to Phoenix resting on his hand.

The more mature-looking elves were staring at him with indescribable eyes, while the younger elves looked extremely interested. After about a minute of awkward silence and staring contests, one of the older elves stepped forward.

"What is on Master Harry's wrist? We is wanting to know. That bracelet is being very special."

Harry reflexively pulled Phoenix close to his chest, the elves flinched, some wore anxious and fearful expressions. Harry slowly got off the stool, kneeling down to their height. The tension in the room could potentially kill a man.

Harry lowered his hand, allowing them to get a good look of Phoenix in all her glory. A gasp left a multitude of their mouths. The older ones were looking at him in a whole new light. They fell to a respectful kneel.

Stunned was an understatement to what Harry was feeling. He frantically urged them to get up, unsure of what else to do. The elves were slightly annoyed but after seeing the cluelessness on his face, they started whispering amongst themselves. The elves then turned back to him.

"Master Harry is not knowing of his heritage?"

"What do you mean? My parents were Lily and James Potter."

They blinked, "Master Harry is being not just a wizard. Master Harry is being very special. Master Harry is having Noble blood."

He raised an eyebrow, seeking an explanation. They simply stared back at him, as if hat was another for him to figure out what was exactly going on.

Thoroughly confused, Harry handed his food tray to the elves with slight hesitation. He'd definitely have to go to the library soon to research whatever they had just said.

The moment he let go, it popped away into a distant sink somewhere. The boy then felt a tug on his pants leg. He looked down to see a few younger elves gazing up at him eagerly, eyes switching between both him and Phoenix.

Reading their minds, he tapped Phoenix thrice, exposing its true form. Their excitement melded away into amazement and wonder. They huddled around the sword, examining every single inch of it.

Currently feeling a form of second-hand pride, Harry suddenly recalled the reason he was here to begin with. He still had to find a good place to practise with Phoenix, and to his sudden realisation:the House Elves probably knew every single room in Hogwarts. Who better to ask?

Harry cleared his throat, they quickly turned back to him.

"Sorry, but I'd just like to ask if there's a place in Hogwarts where I could train with Phoenix undisturbed?"

Almost instantly, the elves launched into suggestions. Harry rejected most of them for they involved a plethora of disillusionment charms, theft from the teachers and destruction of school property. Harry considered going back to his own search until he heard a good one.

"What about the Come and Go Room?"

"Yes! The Come and Go Room is being very good. Private and quiet too."

They were all in total agreement and Harry found himself intrigued.

"What's the 'Come and Go Room'? Where can I find it?"

The elf that had suggested it first continued," The Come and Go Room is a very good place, but it is only appearing when someone is needing it the most. It is being on the seventh floor, the entrance is opposite the tapestry there. Master Harry needs to walk past it three times thinking about what Master Harry is needing, and the door will open."

Harry nodded, processing the information. Once he could recite the instructions to himself, he beamed as he decided to head back to the dorms. Before he left through the doorway, the elf shouted a warning to him.

"Oh! Master Harry is needing to be very specific about what you is looking for, or the room will decide by itself from your words. I has gotten lost there before."

Harry stored that knowledge in his head. He waved to the elves as he left, "Thank you, all of you!"

As he left however, an absurd number of questions raced through his mind. What had they even been talking about? Noble blood? He was a half blood, yes, that was for sure.

But what in the name of Merlin could they have meant by that? He was pretty sure that his parents were James and Lily Potter, but they had seemed to believe there was more.

All of a sudden, Griphook's words resounded in his head.

"We don't get much of your kind around here, if you fancy a continued existence, don't talk about it. That magic of yours hides scent, but in the Wizarding World, the greatest threats aren't monsters. Wizards can be far, far more vicious than you think."

Harry furrowed his brows, this prompted more investigation. The library wasn't his area of expertise but he would go there if he needed to.

One thing was clear, however, he could not afford to tell anyone.

After the sound of his footsteps trailed off though, the elves had their own discussion.

"Master Harry is not being safe. The Mist is being weaker now, we is not knowing what the wizards will do if they is knowing about Master Harry. We is needing to protect Master Harry."

They all nodded in agreement, determination evident in their eyes.

27th October 1994

The next day, Harry followed the elf's instructions and climbed up to the seventh floor after classes. He paced before the wall opposite the tapestry of… someone trying to teach trolls how to dance?

Ah, there it was. Harry shivered as the trolls in the tapestry glared at him.

Harry turned back to the task at hand and stared at the wall in front of him. According to the elf, this was the place. Bracing himself, Harry breathed in and started to pace.

Recalling the little elf's advice, if he wasn't specific enough he'd come to regret it deeply.

What did he need? He needed a place to practice using Phoenix, he had a gut feeling he would need to use it more in the future and he was determined to become as proficient as possible. The bangle turned warm on his wrist, as if agreeing with him.

Harry opened his eyes in trepidation. He hoped that he wouldn't be immediately greeted with a dark cold stone wall instead of a door.

He wasn't disappointed. The wall had vanished and a door stood in its place. He pushed the door open warily, a breath stuck in his throat.

Harry had left the study group Hermione had organised for them early. They had given him weird looks but assumed he had something else going on, deciding not to push him for answers.

Taking slow but light steps into the room, Harry marveled at the interior. It wasn't a structure unknown to him, he had seen the architecture before in one of the history textbooks Dudley had never bothered to read. He had seen it on the postcards Aunt Petunia collected.

It was an amphitheatre, Harry recognized. He had taken an interest upon seeing it in Dudley's books and had devoured the knowledge completely. They were used for plays and whatnot, but the Roman kind, they were places of battle and blood.

Perfect, Harry thought as soft sunlight shone down on him from an unknown source.

In contrast to the cold, medieval stone he was so used to walking on, the floor of the room felt more comfortable. It was tightly packed dirt -or was it sand- that gave a crisp sound along with the tiny dust cloud that formed with every step he took.

Harry looked around and was pleasantly surprised. He had expected something more like the Gryffindor Common Room, but he found the pale colored limestone steps surrounding him more welcoming, they resembled staircases that ascended higher and out his field of vision.

One would have expected that the sheer size and emptiness of the room would make one feel lonely and isolated, but Harry felt at peace, like he was meant to be here.

He stood on the round circle of dirt enclosed by the steps, countless shelves of weaponry encircled him. In the center of it all stood straw dummies that looked ready to take a beating.

Harry unleashed Phoenix, both he and the sword eager to unleash themselves on their newly-found victims.

The next hour flew by just like that, Harry and Phoenix falling into a routine. The sword seemed to hold many more secrets than he had thought. Every time he swung, the sword would either give him a hum of approval or a sting of displeasure.

It polished his movements slowly but steadily. Not a very efficient procedure, but Phoenix treated him with more patience than any of his professors.

By the time Harry had the mind to cast a Tempus again, he was flying out the doors of the Come and Go Room and dashing towards the Great Hall. Oh Merlin he was going to be late for dinner.

The boy slid into his seat at the Gryffindor table. It seemed he was earlier than his friends. He spotted them running in as well from one of the doors, it was clear he wasn't the only one to have ost track of time. Harry chuckled while greeting his friends.

They settled in as well and tucked in to the piping hot dinner in front of them.

Halfway through dinner though, their conversation was interrupted when Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat. The Hall immediately softened to a hush.

"Thank you students. As I mentioned before at the start of the school term, Hogwarts has had the privilege this year to be the host of the esteemed Tri-Wizard Tournament."

He waited as the older students chattered with excitement. Motioning for silence, he continued, "Yes, yes, I know all of you are excited. I am pleased to inform you that the students of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons will be arriving two days from now, on the 29th of October."

This set the students off into loud murmurs of excitement. Everyone was excited to meet the students from distant lands. With that, Professor Dumbledore sat down and allowed the students to continue with dinner.

Harry felt uneasy, even as he sat amongst the eager chatter of his friends. He could feel something coming, something that didn't bode well. Apparently, however, this uneasiness did not show on his face as Ron pulled him in for his input.

"Are you thinking of participating, Harry? Imagine what you could do with one thousand galleons!" The redhead had a dreamy look on his face.

Harry laughed nervously, "I don't think so Ron, according to Hermione, this tournament was banned for a while because students kept...dying."

Hermione nodded in approval, "Thank you Harry! Finally, someone who's sensible enough. The death rate of previous tournaments was absurdly high, due to the difficulty of the tasks. Which is why I don't want to be seeing any of you out there participating!" She levelled the group with a warning glare.

Neville seconded her opinion while Dean and Seamus sulked and pouted with Ron. This lasted approximately 5 minutes before they realised that the Viktor Krum was in Durmstrang and probably coming to Hogwarts in two days.

Although the conversation changed to something more light-hearted, Harry still couldn't get rid of the knot in his stomach. He trusted his gut, and it was telling him to be careful. Harry had the underlying feeling that he couldn't do this alone. Just then, Sirius' face appeared in his mind.

Your godfather will always be there for you. His reassuring smile that accompanied those words calmed Harry down significantly.

Perhaps he would tell Sirius about this. He'd know what to do.

Dinner was over soon enough, the students filed out of the Hall and went back to the dorms.

Harry lied on his bed with a parchment and quill in hand. Ron curiously went up to him while the others were occupied with the 3-page essay Snape had assigned.

"What're you doing there Harry?"

The black-haired boy looked up, "I was gonna write something to Sirius, figured he'd want to know about what's been going on."

"Hmm, well you do that then. Are you going to start on the Potions homework though? It's due in two days. And on the off chance that you have, can I copy off you? I won't get a high grade, but I'll take what I can get." He remarked with a cheeky grin on his face.

"Sod off, Ron!" Harry laughed as he chucked a pillow at him. The redhead went to finish his essay, deciding to copy off Neville instead. Harry went back to his letter.

Dear Snuffles,

How's it going? Things are going to get hectic here at Hogwarts. Students from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons are going to be coming for the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I'm looking forward to meeting new people, but I feel something is going to go wrong. After what happened at the Stadium, I think I can defend myself pretty well though. But my gut is telling me that there are bigger things that are going to happen, and not good ones.

I'm not sure what to do, but I really needed to tell you. I don't think you had the Tournament back in your day, but I needed to tell someone. My friends are all looking forward to it, even Hermione. Shocking, right?

I'd love to talk with you more, but Hedwig is off carrying letters to another person. I think you'd like that though, your Animagus form has always been terrified of her for some reason.

Write back soon, Snuffles!

Your favourite godson,

Harry

Satisfied, Harry headed to the Owlery and had a school owl send it off for him. The dark brown bird flew off at top speed after Harry bribed it with two mice.

At the thought of owls, Harry winced. Hedwig was flying to America frequently nowadays, she was very disgruntled about it too. Harry had replaced his entire stash of owl treats and snacks with those of a premium grade just to appease her.

Despite the grumpy owl though, Harry was happy to have gained Sally as a friend.

Over the course of September, they had exchanged letters frequently. Harry learned more and more about Sally while gaining someone he could talk to. They bonded over their interest in cooking, and Harry found that she had the best advice, be it a few cooking tips or effective personal advice.

Harry walked back to the dorms as he recalled all his knowledge of Sally. She was a dedicated mother who had been working hard to raise Perseus, who she called Percy, for he always made a face, even with his underdeveloped facial muscles, when he was called by his full name.

His father had tragically been lost at sea. Harry was glad that Percy had a loving mother to raise him, he would not have had to suffer through a childhood like his.

Speaking of which, Sally had inquired deeply into his childhood. After finding out that he was an orphan, she had comforted him. She didn't have that pitiful tone in her letters, nor did she offer useless reassurances. She seemed to really understand him, and it was from there that he found out she had lost her parents when she was a child too.

She added many anecdotes from her daily life into her letters, and Harry enjoyed each one. Who knew working a supermarket job was filled with so much fun?

Harry felt bad about having to lie to Sally, but the Statue of Secrecy existed after all. He had vetted every single magical aspect of it and changed his life story into something that vaguely resembled his life at Hogwarts.

As far as Sally knew, t he was a student of a boarding school in Scotland, in the football club and had a Chemistry professor that absolutely hated him.

Overall, Harry really enjoyed their correspondence, it was a refreshing break from the tiring school year and Quidditch practises.

He waited in anticipation for Hedwig's return with a new letter in her beak. It would have a blue ribbon tied around it, for Sally had decided to go with that instead of the wax seals he had on all of his own.

Hiya everyone! Yeah..so im really sorry that i haven't been updating in a while. I had to take some time to decide where i wanted to go with this story as i didn't wanna leave all of u with an incomplete one. I cant promise that I'll be updating sooner as i have tests coming up.

But hopefully, this chapter was enjoyable to read. Honestly, writing Harry and Sally's dynamic my absolute favourite. But I'm not sure if Sally should be a mother figure to Harry, or just a really close Friend. And cause i havent figued out the poll function, could you guys either PM or review to help me with this? Thanks!

Now, there's going to be somewhat of a slow discovery for Harry that he's a demigod. He's suspicious that he's not a normal wizard halfblood as the magical creatures are all giving him some serious foreshadowing. I really hope that all the foreshadowing doesn't become annoying as that's my biggest fear with this. It makes sense but is kind of draggy.

Oh, and if you havent noticed, i sorta.. gave up on chapter titles as not everyone is blessed with amazing summary skills.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter:D !

As always, do leave a review and constructive criticism is always welcome.