Monday, December 05, 2005
Chapter 11
Kreeping in the dark
Harry and Ron got a room to themselves; Fred and George were in the adjacent room and the girls (Lodina, Ginny and Hermione) were in another room opposite to Harry and Ron's. Harry was unpacking his stuff and making himself at home when he heard a loud thump! "Ron! Did you hear that?" Harry asked, perplexed. "Yea, I did. It's probably Fred and George. Living with them long enough, you'd get used to the racket they usually make." Ron said as a matter of fact, and continued unpacking his suitcase. Just then, Harry saw a small shadowy figure moving behind the large closet in the room. As he inched forward to the closet, Harry caught a glimpse of a house elf. The elf was carrying a medallion and kept mumbling to itself as it tried to lug the heavy medallion out of the room. The medallion looked oddly familiar. Wait. This was Harry's medallion! The seal of the Dragon's trust! Why was the elf stealing from Harry's possesions? "Stop! Give that back to me right now! It's mine!" Harry lunged forward and grabbed the elf by it's ears. "Harry! What are you doing?" Ron was shocked to see Harry tugging at the house-elf. "Not now Ron. Just help me will you? He's getting away. He has my medallion!" Harry was now battling with the house-elf with Ron by his side. "What medallion Harry? You've never told me you've got a medallion?!" Ron asked he pinned the House elf down with his elbow. "Not now Ron! I'll explain later..." Harry struggled until he finally managed to snatch the medallion out the elf's hands. At that moment, Sirius burst into the room. "What's all this commotion? I could hear you lot from a mile away! Kreacher? What are you doing up here? I thought I told you to wash the dishes! Ron get off him. It's ok. He's my house elf. Kreacher explain yourself right now!" Sirius bellowed as he stood towering over the elf.
"Kreacher's only taking back his mistress's possessions. Kreacher does not steal. That filthy mudblood in the house. Oh what would my mistress think! How she hated mudbloods. And this half-blood trying to take what is not his..." Kreacher hissed at Harry. "What possession? Harry could you let me see that medallion of yours?" Sirius beckoned to Harry as he unwillingly handed Sirius the Dragon's Seal. "B-but it's mine! The house elf is lying! It stole my medallion while I was unpacking..." Harry started off when Sirius cut him off. "Kreacher, go do the dishes NOW!" Sirius ordered the house elf out of the room. Kreacher left the room muttering softly under it's breath. "Filthy muggle-lover! Half-blood scum! Oh my mistress will not be pleased! Not at all!" the elf said as it scurried out of the room. "Don't mind him boys. Kreacher is used to taking orders from my mom. Even when she died, he still took orders from her painting in the house! Now, Harry, how did you get this medallion?" Sirius asked and Harry obliged. He began to tell Ron and Sirius of his usual trips to Agathos' den, his ability to communicate with the dragons and how he got past the Hungarian Horntail, Horas. Harry also told them about him being a Drakon and how Agathos had given him the Dragon's Seal of Trust. However, he hid his theories about Malfoy being a Drakon, thinking that they might dismiss what Harry would have to say and claim that he was overly obssessed with tracking down every of Malfoy's dodges.
"So you're telling me that Agathos passed you this medallion? And he's a Norwegian Ridgeback you say?" Sirius inquired. Harry nodded. There was a certain glimmer in Sirius' eyes, as if reality had suddenly dawned upon him and everything was finally clear. "Harry, there's something I need to tell you..." Sirius was cut off by Hermione who had heard the loud bangs and shouts from the opposite room. "What's going on then?" Hermione asked, curious to find out what the boys were up to. "Hermione, I think you better sit down too. It's time I told you three the Black Secret..." Sirius started knowing that this was going to be a Christmas full of surprises for the three of them, especially Harry.
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"What are those boys doing? I can hear them from way over here! I'm going to check what's going on!" Hermione fumed as her short nap was abruptly ended by the loud cacophony in the next room. Hermione stomped out of the room leaving Lodina and Ginny sitting on their beds. "So, aren't you gonna tell me what happened the other night at the Ball, Dina?" Ginny asked Lodina, hoping for a satisfactory answer. "Well, it's nothing really. It was the time of the month you know. I was feeling a lil' queasy that's all." Lodina lied and bit her lip while doing so. She hated lying to her best friend. But how was she supposed to tell her what happened? Besides, she was still sorting her feelings out. She couldn't tell Ginny. Not unless she was sure herself about how she felt about Draco. Everytime Lodina felt like telling Ginny what was happening, she'd bungle it all up and say something else instead. 'Not as slick as Dad afterall. I don't think I inherited of much his coolness.' Lodina thought to herself as she resumed unpacking the rest of her clothes. "Well, ok then. If you say so Dina. I'm going over to Fred and George's room for a bit. I simple HAVE to get a box of those 'extendable ears' they've got! We'd never know when those might come in handy!" Ginny winked, as she left Lodina all to herself in the room. Why was Draco affecting her so much? Just then, the image of Draco in his Armani suit appeared in her mind. He did look rather sleek in Armani and he was one of the best looking boys in Hogwarts. 'No! What am I doing? He's a Malfoy! I can't be falling for him!' Lodina desperately tried to get Draco out of her head, but it didn't work. She buried her face in her hands, and sat back up again after a while. Determined not to think of Draco throughout the Christmas holidays, Lodina stood up and headed for the door. Perhaps a nice hot bath would make her forget everything. Just then, Lodina heard a soft 'pop' sound and a shadowy figure materialised in front of her. "Who are you? Show yourself!" Lodina said, wand in hand. The shadowy figure spoke, "Now, now Lodina, is that how you usually welcome your guests? Tsk, tsk." Lodina knew that voice. The figure stepped into the light so that Lodina could get a better view of him. Standing right in front of her was Draco Malfoy...
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"I think I owe you an explanation Harry. Ron and Hermione, it's better you two know about this too, seeing that Harry will fill you in on the details later on anyway..." Sirius started. The three of them were now sitting on Harry's bed, attentively listening to Sirius as he began to unfold The Black Secret. "The Black family has always been a pure-blood family. Any 'outside marriages' to muggles would mean that, that particular member of the family would be ostracized. Back in the olden days, wizarding families and Dragons lived in harmony and there weren't many inter-marraiges between muggles and pure-bloods. The pure-bloods basically married within their own community to strengthen the pure-blood bond. Now, there was this kingdom of Drakonia and only the wizards who lived in Drakonia had the special gift of communicating to the dragons. In the early 8th century, a huge war broke out between the wizards and dragons..." Hermione cut Sirius off, "You're talking about the Great War of Slytherin aren't you?" Ron and Harry stared at Hermione in utter disbelief as they wondered what on earth she was talking about. "Yes Hermione, you're quite right. This war was started by none other than Salazaar Slytherin. Just after Slytherin left Hogwarts, he tried to persuade the dragons to do his bidding, which was to rid the world of any muggle-born wizards and to enslave the half-blood wizards. The dragons had a code about not enslaving any species and they were proud creatures to boot. They adhered to their code strongly and refused to budge. So naturally, Slytherin was outraged that the dragons refused to join him in his 'quest' and thus, waged war against them. Since then, dragons have been seriously misunderstood. Some wizards think dragons are brutal carnivores, while the minority believe otherwise. Now, of the four Hogwarts founders, only Godric and Salazaar were Drakons as they had come from a line of great wizards from Drakonia. The Black family is one of the direct descendants of Salazaar Slytherin. However, that does not mean every one in the Black family would inherit the ability to communicate with dragons. I know I haven't at least. As for you Harry, you're probably a descendant of one of the wizards from Drakonia yourself. Being a Drakon is an extraordinary gift Harry, and no, it isn't a bane." Sirius had finished his tale and left the three of them dumbfounded. "Blimey Sirius. I expected the Malfoys to be the direct descendants of Slytherin!" Ron exclaimed, still bewildered about what Sirius had just told them. "Ah, but Ron... The Malfoys ARE descendants of Salazaar Slytherin as well. You see, The Malfoys married into the Black family and that technically makes them descendants too." Sirius smirked at the three of them. If Harry wasn't shocked at what he had heard before, he was now definitely dumb-struck. There was a possibility that Malfoy could be a Drakon! 'Great... Just Great!' Harry thought. "Ron, Harry, you two might not know this but Godric and Salazaar were both very fond of dragons. Together, they bred dragons in Hogwarts as well. This was before the Great War of Slytherin of course." Sirius continued. "And why wouldn't JUST the both of us not know about this? What about Hermione?" Ron eyed Sirius. "That's because, unlike you, I have read Hogwarts: A History!" Hermione retorted. "Oh! So everyone knows we don't read Hogwarts: A History then?" Ron and Hermione started having a row with each other when Harry butted in. "Stop bickering both of you! And Sirius, what has this got to do with my medallion?" Harry asked still trying to take in what he heard that day and make sense of it all. "Oh yes. The Black family breeds Norwegian Ridgebacks just south of Romania. We own quite a large herd of them in fact. My great uncle Aragus Black was a Drakon himself. He used to be really fond of dragons, and in particular, Norwegian Ridgebacks. In fact, this medallion you're holding onto right now, looks like one of the medallions the Black family possesses. Kreacher probably thought it was the same one. Just before my great uncle Aragus died, one of the Norwegian Ridgebacks gave him the Dragon's seal of trust and that medallion has been a family heirloom ever since. Aragus was very well liked by the Norwegian Ridgeback community of dragons, as he was kind and did not ill-treat them in any way." Sirius smiled down at Harry. "You must be really lucky to have obtained that Harry. Not every Drakon receives the Dragon Seal of trust. Only one who is well-liked by the dragon community would receive such an honour." Sirius finished as he gave Harry a wink before he turned to leave the room. "I trust you lot must be hungry. I'll ask Tonks to whip up a lil' something to eat. I'll call you down when the food is ready." Sirius said as he shut the door behind him leaving three 14-yr old wizards speechless by what they had just heard...
[Tonks was grooving to Creed's Higher | 
~ high]
~Nymphadora~
~ high]