A Darker Form of Magic, book one: Dark Affinity

Chapter Eight

Harry reported to the Hogwarts library right after breakfast and was met with a particularly stern looking witch waiting for him in the hall.

"You will reshoot the sections that I tell you to and will not go anywhere near the Restricted Section, or speak unless I speak to you first," Madam Pince said, her voice grating on Harry's ears like nails on a chalkboard. "Is that clear?" Harry nodded firmly to the question, all too used to nonverbal communication. The witch almost seemed to smile at the sight as something dark twisted in the boy's stomach at the familiarity of it all. "Alright then."

Harry followed the witch into the school library and almost gasped at the sight.

There were shelves upon shelves of books that stood so tall that ladders had to be installed to reach anything above half way. All of the books were hardback and bound in leather like old tomes from stories. There were already some other students gathered in the library despite the early time, nose deep in books with more in a great pile beside each of them. Harry wasn't surprised to find that most of them were either Ravenclaws, NEWTs students, or - more worryingly so - both .

Madam Pince led Harry over to three tall stacks of books , easily doable, if not closing in on triple the boy's weight. Harry had to crane his neck back just to see the top of each stack.

"You'll resheleve one of these stacks each day," the librarian quietly explained before drawing her wand and flicking it at the stack nearest to the pair. The books immediately took on a silvery hue to them and glided gently to a table in about twelve or so more manageable piles. "Once you finish your stack for the day you're free to go." And with that, the witch walked over to her desk and sat quietly with her own book though Harry could still feel her eyes on him.

Looking down at the piles, Harry found that the books were actually already arranged by section for him, all Harry had to do was find the books' places on the shelves.

Harry saw no point in wasting more of his day and grabbed the pile closest to him, Advanced Charms, and got to work. A part of Harry thought that he shouldn't have been surprised with the way that his limbs seemed too heavy for his body now that he was away from the other Slytherins and the common room, but it was still a good hour or so before he'd made much of a dent in the stack. He let himself get lost in the action of searching titles and names to distract him from it all well enough. He'd been sick plenty of times in his childhood before and still expected to work, so it really wasn't all that bad.

"Harry," a short voice called from behind the boy, making him twist and almost drop the books in his hand.

The boy spun and raised the book in his hand like a blade on instinct, pointing it at the throat of the girl now in front of him. Hermione squealed and raised her hands by her head, a slight look of fear entering the Ravenclaw girl's eyes.

"Sorry," the boy said sheepishly, lowering his hand slowly so that the other could see his every movement. Hermione did the same though Harry could see the distance that she had created.

"It's fine," Hermione said softly, but they both knew that it wasn't, not to her. A heavy silence stretched between the pair for a long moment, something that Harry didn't like hearing, but had no experience in fixing. He couldn't just curse and the pair laugh it off like he and Jude might. "I heard that you got into a fight," the Ravenclaw said at last, eyeing the deepening bruises on Harry's face with no amount of subtlety.

Harry only shrugged. "Not as intriguing as the Ravenclaws reading half off the books in the library before the end of the second week of school."

Hermione smiled, but Harry could tell that it was a little more forced than it should be. "Thank you," the witch said softly, almost as if lying. Maybe she was. "I heard that my name was tossed around in there."