The Road Not Taken | Harry Potter

Chapter 11 | His Darkness

Marcus never complained to any of the teachers. He never showed any sign of being affected. But Harry saw it. The jumpiness, the clenched hands. The Sweat.

The hierarchy of the school was shifting, slowly but surely.

"You know, Blaise could never compare to you," Amare shook him out of his thoughts. She finally looked at him, awaiting his next move. Harry knew the Slytherin boy couldn't- at least not if you compared them with an unbiased eye.

"He could be the worst wizard in the world," he slowly said," it doesn't matter. What matters is how you see him." And with that he turned his gaze from the beautiful flowers and began walking towards the castle.

***

Gryffindor lost the match, to the surprise of no one. Neville sat heavily at the table during dinner, disappointment clear on his face. Harry spotted Ron and Seamus in a heated debate about whether the Slytherins cheated or not. As if two first years would ever catch any of the Quidditch players without getting hexed to the infirmary first.

"Don't worry, I'm sure next year will be better..." he tried comforting his friend. Neville played with the potatoes on his plate sadly.

"And where were you exactly?" Hermione sat opposite him, putting down a large book on the table with a loud thud.

"Studying with Amare," he casually said. He knew someone was bound to notice their absence. Hermione smiled happily at him and told Neville to stop playing with his food.

The year approaching to an end didn't only mean warm weather. The teachers took Hermione's stance on the homework matter and piled so much on them, the students hardly had any free time left. Most preferred to stay the Easter Holidays at the castle in order to prepare for the exams and not trail behind.

Neville and Hermione were, more often than not, huddled together in a cozy corner of the common room, reciting different spells and historical events. Even Amare decided to help Neville with his potion's work, writing careful notes about each ingredient.

Harry, not unlike the rest of his peers, studied carefully and deliberately- just not the school material. Bill Weasley started sending him book recommendations on basic Runes and the most useful ones he should know. Apparently Runes were symbols representing various sound values, belonging to a runic alphabet. The Runes themselves could be used both as an alphabet or as stand-in for whole words. In order for the Runes to be activated and work as enchantments, blood had to be used- making it illegal now days. Bill worked with ancient Runes, meaning all were activated and very dangerous.

Of course Harry didn't care much for what was legal and what wasn't- he only cared about the end result. The only problem he quickly encountered was that he simply couldn't activate any of the Runes he drew. The beautiful artistry of writing them and putting together words came almost naturally, but then, as he made a small cut on his hand and let the blood hit the Rune, he found himself too exhausted physically to complete the activation.

The fact hadn't surprised him greatly- annoyed would be a more accurate term. He never had any proper meals when he had been a child, and even after living with Amare the last couple of years the notion of having large meals was still foreign to him. He was all skin and bones.

So, to his dismay, he pulled himself together and packed his plates to the full, even going as far as to eat snacks throughout the day.

Amare saw all that as positive changes to his lifestyle and smiled happily each time she saw him at the Great Hall. She really was glowing lately, surrounded by peers her age, living a much more humble lifestyle far away from the pressure of perfection presented by her status. Once they really got to talking, Amare and Hermione found themselves becoming fast friends. Harry wasn't surprised- he knew the two bookworms would one days bond over their shared love for knowledge. He could see them exchanging notes, discuss their favorite muggle movies and even sitting by the lake together.