Ashes Unveiled
"I've learned that no matter how much I care, some people are just idiots. I've learned…that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change. I've learned that no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt you every once in a while…"
–Unknown
Chapter Five-Padfoot and Weasley
The pair stared at the other, heedless of the curses being flung in every which way from the other students.
Apparently, the hostility between Gryffindors and Durmstrang did not get better from days ago. Therefore, both parties were using the class as an excuse to hex the other.
Sirius' uncertain and guilty blue eyes stared at his godson's own cold emerald orbs.
"Professor Black," stated the Durmstrang Champion emotionlessly with a hint of steel in his voice.
The Hogwarts Defense teacher cringed visibly at the formality of the boy who he considered to be his son.
"Harry," he began, "I was wondering if I could have a word?"
Harry stiffened but knew that he couldn't loose his temper in the Great Hall with hundreds of students in it. He couldn't shame Durmstrang after all. Durmstrang's reputation was basically the same as Slytherin house. They wore a mask to show to the prejudiced world. After all, not everyone was as open and free in using the Dark Arts as they were.
Before the left the school, everyone had been warned to keep up the masks when they were at Hogwarts. Unless they, or their school, were insulted, the students were instructed to treat everyone with a polite indifference when around the public.
Therefore, it was with small amount of self disdain when Harry spoke his next words.
"Perhaps in private later Professor?" he said, using more than a subtle amount of hinting that he would not like to talk about the subject until a later time.
Sirius' face fell slightly before nodding and walking away, leaving Harry with the bushy haired Gryffindor.
Staring at the wooden door of the Defense against the Dark Arts classroom, Harry stood outside of the room preparing to knock.
He had arranged with Sirius to meet him in his classroom after dinner was over. The combined Defense class was a terrible mess. Multiple duels were held around the room from Durmstrang and Hogwarts to the extent that multiple parties needed to go see the Hogwarts nurse, Madame Pomfrey.
The offending students were assigned detentions but Harry knew that it wouldn't help improve their behaviors. After all, Gryffindor was known for holding grudges and Durmstrang wasn't that much better at it either.
Taking a deep breath, Harry raised his hand and knocked on the door.
"Enter," said the muffled voice from inside the room.
The raven haired boy turned the handle of the door and walked inside, closing said door after he was in the room.
The classroom was familiar. After all, he's been in the same office for four years. Each year it was decorated differently. In Quirrel's year, it was filled with garlic and such while Lockhart had multiple portraits of himself on every inch of the wall. Professor Lupin had books on dark creatures while the fake Moody had Auror devices ranging from foe glasses to the seven compartment trunk containing the real Moody.
Now, however, the room had shelves of books on Defense and Dueling along with the occasional dark creature books. On the wall directly in front of the desk was a portrait of a stag, werewolf, dog, and a scurrying rat.
Harry's heart panged slightly at the sight of the symbol of the Marauders. After all, Sirius was the last remaining link between Harry and his parent, despite what he did to Harry.
Turning to face the desk where the older man sat behind, Harry took the seat opposite from his ex-godfather. As Harry sat down stiffly, his companion conjured a teapot with two porcelain teacups and poured out the drink shakily in silence.
A moment of quietness overtook the room as neither knew what to say to the other. The seconds dragged on in awkward silence until Sirius broke it.
"Harry," he started and paused as if rethinking what he was about to say.
"Professor Black," said the teen emotionlessly.
"Harry, we're so sorry for what we did to you," he cried, "please can't you forgive us for our mistake?" he said pleadingly. Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes as he stared into the emerald eyes so similar to one of his dead friends.
Harry's eyes flashed dangerously while looking at the ragged looking man before him. Evidently, the animungus had not been getting enough sleep after Harry's proven innocence, and it might have been before that too.
"Tell me Sirius," said Harry as he spat out the name, "how did you respond to Remus when he kept insisting that I was innocent? Did you call him a traitor for believing that I would go to the Dark Side?" he asked as Sirius flinched outwardly as Harry hit the mark.
"Oh how the mighty have fallen, right Sirius?" said the teen coldly.
Sirius looked up with from when he had bowed his head in shame before to connect tearing eyes with his godson.
"That's true," whispered the man, "I kept insisting that you had left the Light. I guess with Peter's act of defection opened my eyes that anyone can betray you. He was our friend for seven long years and yet he left his friends to rot. Remus kept persisting that you were innocent despite the Veritaserum. I countered that you were guilty because you had a trial when I did not when he kept comparing me to you."
Sirius took a shaking breath before continuing with his explanation.
"You were a topic we never touched upon as we both had our strong beliefs. We were never that close again…all the way until his death," finished the desolate man so quietly Harry had to strain to hear his words.
The tears had long ago broken free and started pooling in rivulets down the Defense professor's cheeks and dripping onto the edge of the table.
For a moment, Harry's heart went out to the man who he had come to love as a father. The man who had lost all that was precious to him––his best friends––and all that was left was a person who he turned his back on.
But then Harry remembered all the torture that he had gone through in Azkaban. Over and over again the memories of his friends and godfather leaving him played in his head due to the Dementors' effect. He could still remember the two years of hearing and seeing that scene everyday in addition to the green light while hearing his parents' last words.
It was that thought more than anything that caused Harry to be emotionless in his godfather's distress and guilt.
A moment of silence lapsed between the two as Sirius struggled to regain his composure, however small it was.
Finally the animungus Defense Against the Dark Arts professor asked the question that had been eating away at him ever since Harry had his name pulled out of the Goblet of Water.
"Why?"
Harry's eyes turned to look at him in a slightly confused expression. His usually stolid face only allowed that through in a quiet question of what Sirius meant.
"From what I remembered of you, you were never the type for glory. So why would you return to the place that holds the hardest memories for you and enter in a competition that you had never liked years ago?" asked Sirius.
A flash of understanding showed in the raven haired teen's eyes before disappearing.
"There are many reasons," he started while staring straight ahead, as if he was looking past Sirius, "I never wanted the fame but certain events caused me to return. To be clear, I did not come back to make up with you or my ex-friends," finished Harry as his sharp eyes snapped at Sirius, capturing the older man in its piercing emerald gaze.
Sirius broke the eye contact and looked away.
Another lapse in silence occurred once more before Sirius said shakily after drawing a deep breath, "I suppose that asking for forgiveness is too much?" he said sorrowfully. His voice broke halfway through the sentence and even if Harry could not see his face as it was lowered, he was sure there were tears there.
"Forgiveness is not given, but earned," he stated quietly before getting up to leave.
The door clicked quietly with a small resounding thud in the stone room which caused the dam of tears to fall as soon as the door was in place.
The next week and a half passed without many problems. The fights between the Durmstrang students and the Gryffindors had stayed the same. As it was the higher years that were involved in the violence, they knew a variety of healing spells so going to Madam Promfrey was not necessary.
The next major even happened right after breakfast was served on a Sunday. As there were no classes, student were given free time to do whatever they should please. Most started on their ways to their common rooms to finish the homework many had put off until the last minute.
The main hallway used to take students to the dungeons was crowded due to the combined Slytherins and Durmstrang guests.
Harry decided to take a different route to get to the dungeons.
He had discovered it in his fourth year from the midnight excursion just before the second task to the prefects' bathroom that a hidden tunnel was right behind the raven statue on the way to the Gryffindor common room.
It was random luck really that he stumbled on it––literally. After the fake Moody pulled his foot out of the trick staircase, Harry limped slightly to his dorms and stumbled while catching himself on the beak of the stone bird.
Like the gargoyle guarding Headmaster Dumbledore's office, the bird leapt out of the way to reveal a hidden tunnel. After five minutes of examining the passageway, he saw that it led directly to the dungeons, a couple of statues down from the Slytherin entrance.
Not even the Marauders were aware of the secret tunnel.
Tugging Derek's sleeve, Harry made a subtle hint with a nudge of his head to move in the direction of the secret passage instead of waiting in the traffic of humans shoving one another to get to their rooms.
The pair slipped off and made for the statue about four hallways away.
Along the way there, they heard the very distinct voice of Ronald Weasley.
"…is evil!" Ron exclaimed to his companion, a silent Hermione Granger. "I mean he must have some dark power to defeat You-Know-Who! And now he's in the darkest school ever!"
Rage coursed through Harry's body at Ron's accusations of him turning evil. There was no mistaking who the red-head was talking about. As far as he knew, he was the only one who had defeated a "You-Know-Who" and transferred to Durmstrang.
Harry made himself known to the two Hogwarts students walking in the hallway.
"Are you sure about that Weasley?" he asked coldly.
Both froze and turned around to look into the furious flashing eyes of their ex-friend. While the three ex-acquaintances stared at the other group in varying types of emotions ranging from anger to guilt, Derek exploded in anger on his friend's behalf.
"HOW DARE YOU! YOU GOODY-GOODY WANNABEE GRYFFINDORS HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY THAT ABOUT HARRY! HE HAS A BETTER HEART THAN BOTH OF YOU! AT LEAST HE WOULDN'T ABANDON HIS FRIENDS TO AZKABAN!" roared the Durmstrang boy.
In his tirade, several Gryffindors walking by to go to their common room stopped and gaped at the four with slack jaws. Not a sound could be heard in the hallway for seconds except for the harsh breathing on Derek's part to calm down.
Finally Ron snapped back at the pair.
"How can I! What else can you say about attending a school that openly teaches the Dark Arts! And it's known that having a hard past is the number one recipe for a new Dark Lord, and he's just that! Harry's got both the Dursleys and Voldemort so chances are that he'll turn out to be just like You-Know-Who!"
By the end of his speech, Ron's face was a vivid Weasley red and he was huffing from anger at being snapped at. The audience wasn't helping any by just blocking the hallways and gawking at the fight sure to make its way to the rumor mill by the next hour.
By this, Harry saw that Hermione looked torn. She obviously believed that Harry wasn't turning "Dark"…well at least not yet anyways. However, she didn't want to say anything to her boyfriend. It seemed that the two had officially started dating while Harry was incarcerated. Her face clearly showed her mixed feelings on the matter.
Before Derek could launch himself at the red haired boy, Harry forcibly grabbed his brown-haired companion's forearm to prevent another fight.
Harry silenced Derek with a look before turning cold eyes towards Ron.
"If you truly believe that I'm turning 'Dark' then you are sadly mistaken Weasley. I always took you for jealous and now I guess the same matter has happened again. I've not forgotten the first task in the other tournament Weasley. And it's just sad that you can't even say a dead man's name but resort to the 'You-Know-Who' and 'He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named' crap. Furthermore, I would perfectly expect you to be closed minded about the Dark Arts. Did it not occur to your thick head that the reason I went to a Dark Arts teaching school is that through my connection with Voldemort, I've gained extensive knowledge of the Dark Arts and would need to know how to control them!" he finished frigidly.
Though his years at Durmstrang, not to mention Azkaban, had taught him to keep his emotions in check, Harry was very close to loosing his cool. How dare he accuse him of turning evil! It was that kind of prejudice that brought forth the start of Dark Lords like Voldemort. They were formed not just from bad pasts, but from separation and hatred and prejudice.
Before anything could be said, a clear voice could be heard through the halls.
"What's going on here?" asked Headmaster Platov as he strode in their direction.
The students parted to allow him to get through the semi-crowded hallways. As usual, the Headmaster of Durmstrang looked very intimidating as he walked towards you, even if he was unarmed and alone.
Platov was headed towards the dungeons during the traffic jam in the hallways and could very distinctly hear Derek's yelling and made for this direction
Derek looked at his friend and saw that Harry was not going to be forthcoming with the information so Derek explained to his Headmaster about the events that transpired.
Just as the teenager reached the part about Ron's discriminations against Durmstrang, the red head interrupted.
"Well it's true! All dark wizards either come from Slytherin or Durmstrang! I mean, who would teach their kids the Dark Arts!" he exclaimed loudly, not at all abashed that he was speaking to one of the most powerful men alive, both magically and politically.
Harry was startled to see that this new personality of the rash Gryffindor had changed since his incarceration. The old Ron was still brash and arrogant to a point, but he never rebuked or shouted a professor or Headmaster. It seemed that with his time away, it only allowed Ron's large ego to grow even bigger.
"Oh really Weasley?" sneered Harry before Headmaster Platov had a chance to react to Ron's accusations. That was something he had picked up at his time in Durmstrang. Unsurprisingly, Durmstrang was very similar to Slytherin, and Harry found himself smirking, sneering, and giving sarcastic and cold comments more often than before.
The red haired teen turned to face Harry with undisguised hatred.
"I suppose rats like Pettigrew and your 'dear older brother' was in Slytherin or Durmstrang like your accusations?" Harry mocked.
Ron turned into the infamous Weasley red. After the war, it was a well known fact that Percy Weasley had left to go to Voldemort's side. Harry didn't find it surprising. After all, he was perfectly close to the Minister and could influence the ignorant Fudge to make bad decisions. The only thing Harry was surprised at was the fact that Percy hadn't been sorted into Slytherin. His ambition was great for him to thirst after power enough to join the Death Eaters.
Normally, Harry would have smirked at the way Ron's hair clashed terribly with his now bright red face. However, now Harry was too angry at the slight against both his school and Harry himself.
"Tha-that's different!" spluttered Ron.
Harry took a step forward towards Ron until the raven haired Champion was just slightly in front of his Headmaster.
"Now see here, Weasley!" he spat, "Headmaster Platov was and is better than you will ever be! At least he will listen to both sides of the story before accusing others and condemning them! That's more than I can say about you, your girlfriend, and your precious Headmaster."
The cold way that Harry said that seemed worst than if he was raving and ranting against them, which scared Ron slightly as he had no idea about the change Harry had gone through in his years in Azkaban. Furthermore, Ron was shocked at the venomous way Harry defended Platov. Harry only rarely defended anyone that fiercely who wasn't his friend, so it seemed that Harry held Platov in very high esteem. The only other person that Ron could remember Harry defending like that was Dumbledore, and he was no longer on the very short list.
Harry was so angry that his arms were shaking slightly at his side. Turning abruptly, he swept off in the direction of the main way towards the dungeons, secret path forgotten. After a minute's glare, Derek followed his friend.
The Head of Durmstrang glanced at the two Gryffindors and before leaving, shot them a broad poisonous smirk that no one in the crowd could see bar the two he directed it at.
Headmaster Platov swept away with robes billowing in a manner very similar to the Potions Master, leaving two very surprised teenagers in behind.
The days following "the incident" past too quickly in Harry's opinion. It seemed that news had moved about the Hogwarts rumor mill rather fast. By breakfast, stories had ranged from Harry cursing his ex-friends with an Unforgivable while others say that Platov had the Boy-Who-Lived under the Imperius Curse and was controlling his every action.
Harry rolled his eyes when his friends told him what they had heard and he shook his head at the astonishing fact that upper year students believed the biggest lies he had ever heard. It never seemed to shock him at the stupidity that the showed.
Maybe Snape was right, he thought, if that's what we were like, then I don't blame him for calling us dunderheads. Harry shook his head in amusement. It's a cold day in hell when I finally start believing what that git told me.
Still, that didn't stop his wandering mind as Harry laid on the ground near the lake. It was before breakfast and the brilliant sun was rising, casing a beautiful look throughout the land.
Harry's eyes closed slightly before they fluttered open again. He looked over at the cabin where Hagrid had lived before the war. He felt sad, missing the bigger half giant. Hagrid was another one who believed in Harry's innocence but he died a week later in a Death Eater attack while trying to persuade the giants to side with the Light.
Closing his eyes again, he barely registered that in two days, the first task would take place. Despite the important information, Harry couldn't bring himself to care too much. He knew that three years ago, he was terrified of the approaching days, but that was when he knew about the dragons. Come to think of it, he had not the clue on what the task was about.
No doubt Madam Maxime had already told Belle if she knew and Harry knew that if Draco figured it out, his Slytherin side wouldn't have told anyone. No matter, thought Harry, I'll win…I'll bring the glory back to Durmstrang…just like I brought it back to Hogwarts…
Sighing, the boy got off the ground and after hitting the grass off his robes, took off towards the Great Hall.
A/N–Hello! It's me…I'm back, and no I did not die or get thrown off the face of the Earth…I know it's been a while, but schools been hectic. I'm STILL getting used to my classes and the extra hours of homework and studying…Honors classes suck like that…arghs… updates will take a while until I fall into the routine of school…don't worry, despite my last chapter being somewhat of a threat to stop this story I won't…so no worries.
After all, I'm shooting for about 20 chapters on his story :D…
Much thanks to my ever faithful reviewers who stuck by me and keep persisting for an update! This chapter was purely for you! Thanks: yournombrehere, twohp, Weirkat, Ginny Hater, Annon, Lilith Kayden, Laura, as, DivineDarkness, Quilian, Quilian, jka1, Anaelisa, Honor-Harrington1982, goofball44306, Laume, hey, gatermage, Harry Draco Malfoy, Doxkid, scardi, gatermage, gatermage, red rose of love, Angelic Heart of Darkness, LadyMegsie, Yana5, wwwendy, atlantis-rob, atlantis-rob, Laura, athenakitty for the awesome encouragement!
Disclaimer–JKR is the proud owner of the world of Harry Potter…I, sadly, am not.