The Golden Boy

44

Harry's POV
Blaise came yelling in the room at 17:18. He was excited. Anyone with eyes could see. Confused, I asked him what he was talking about.
"Snape didn't tell you?" He asked, appalled. "The teachers are slowly merging our schedules. One class at a time.It's gonna take forever but it'll  be worth it though." 
"You're joking." I asked. Eyes wide with hope. He shook his head.
"Nope. Snape stopped me on my way up here and told me. One of the first classes is Magical theory."
"When?"
"Thursdays. 12:55 till 13:40." I got up from sitting and started to jump on the bed. Blaise chuckled but soon joined me. We started hootin and hollering as loud as we could. Until our throats hurt. This was good news. Really good. And sure it would take a while but that's fine.
"What in the name of Hades are you doing?!" The door burst open to reveal an almost red faced Severus Snape.
"Sorry Professor." We stopped jumping and quickly sat down. The cover was a mess and the sheets were coming off the edges. We would have to fix it later. Professor Snape pinched the bridge of his nose in annoyance.
"Explain to me why you're yelling to the heavens. If it's a good reason I won't curse you." I pressed my lips into a thin line and looked at Blaise. Surely he could get us out of this. Blaise rolled his eyes at me.
"I was just telling Harry the good news."
"Not good enough." He pulled out his wand and shot a hex at us. It was simple stinging hex but it still hurt.
"Aww come on Professor. That was a good excuse." Snape shook his head and left but not without telling us to be quiet.
"Harry, did you speak to Rin?" Blaise asked when we were fixing the sheets.
"I did." Our eyes met then. "It went better than I thought. I was hoping silently that he wouldn't put me on fire."
"I'd say that's a win."
"I kind of feel bad though." He dropped the bed. "Why? What do you have to feel bad about? Give us a good reason and we won't hex you."
"I- I'm not sure. I just feel bad. Maybe because I just declined a friendship in probably the rudest way ever."
"Whatever you said couldn't have been as bad as what we've said to you."
"That's true." Blaise smiled fondly at me.
"Seriously though Harry, you shouldn't be feeling bad. You didn't do anything wrong. And just for my own curiosity, what did you say?"
"I said that it was too late to apologize and that he only apologized because his guilt was eating him."
"Oh so just the facts. What did he say?"
"He tried to deny it. And I was like "I don't want to hear it. Pack your stuff and go."
"As you should. I'm so proud of you." I laughed a little at that. He reminded me of what a mother would look like praising her child.
"Would you have said the same?" I asked seriously. A thoughtful expression crossed his face.
"Yes and no. While I would have said the same, we would have been way more flashy."
I rolled my eyes. "Blaise, you've got that glint in your eye. Calm down." He smirked my way.
"What glint?"
I shook my head at him and shooed him away. "If you're not going to help me fix my sheet, move."
"I feel like-"
"Nothing was real until I met you. I feel like we connect and I really get you." I sang dramatically. Blaise shot me an annoyed look.
"Not what I was gonna say. As I was saying, I feel like I never see you go to Astronomy. Do you even have it this year?"
"Mhm. I do. You just sleep like the dead so you never hear me. I actually have it tonight. Or would it be tomorrow at 00:10 to 00:55."
"Oh. Well you'll have to tell me how it was when you get back later."
"If that's what you'd like. Sure. But do you actually want to be woken out of your peaceful sleep to hear about class?" That same thoughtful expression passed his face.
"Yes." I rolled my eyes. Sure. And when I do wake him up, it won't be pleasant. It could go two ways. One being I get cursed, two being I get slapped and cursed out.
"That's not until much later. What should we do till then?"
"I need to catch up on History of Magic. I've been putting it off for a while now."
"Work. Great. I was hoping you didn't pick that."
"Boy please. I know you have mountains of Transfiguration work you need to do. Don't play me."
"But Blaissssse, you can't blame me. That class is hard."
"You're also failing." He sighed. "If you need help, just ask us. We'd be happy to help."
"How do you help someone do transfiguration?"
Rolling his eyes he answered. "The same way you teach them. But simplified. Teachers often complicate the smallest of things. Students usually don't. They break it down and simplify it in a way teachers would never do. I also feel like they do this just to make their job feel more meaningful and prolong school hours."
" Wise words as always Blaise. Then I guess studying it is. We'll start with your History of Magic. "
"Then we need to go to the Library." I nodded. We went to grab what we needed before heading out.
-----------------------------
"What books are we looking for?"
"Books on.... Witch Hunts." I nod.
"I wonder if they were as bad as the muggle world made them seem. They were already brutal in the stories I heard. Now that I know it's real. It was probably worse than anything I could imagine."
"Mhm. It wasn't actually. It was quite anticlimactic."
"How so?" We sat down as he began flipping through pages in a book.
"Well in here it says that the Flame-Freezing Charm was used that way nobody would burn. Or at the very least die."
"Makes sense." He hummed in response.
"Look at this!" I looked over his shoulder. "Witches and wizards wouldn't even get hurt when using the charm. Not a scratch or burn."
"You missed a part Blaise. They would pretend to shriek with pain while enjoying a gentle, tickling sensation. And look down there. Wendelin the Weird enjoyed it so much she was "burnt"at the stake forty-seven times in various disguises."
"Was she mad?"
"Probably." I shrugged.
"There isn't much here about witch hunts."
"Because they were pointless Harry. The muggles never succeeded. The only thing they did was murder a few of their own. But hey, what's new?"
"You said that like there wasn't a wizard war?"
He rolled his eyes. "To be fair HE mostly killed muggles. I might be off a few numbers but I'm sure the losses we suffered during that time weren't past thirty."
"Either way it's sad."
"Yes. Quite."
"I wonder what could drive a person to be so cruel."
"Life. But that doesn't make it okay to ruin it for others."
"True. And if he wanted to preserve the wizarding world he went about it the wrong way."
"Also true my dear Harry. I think I have all the information I need. We should head back."
"You should write a little here just to make sure you wont need to take it with you. I noticed we were down in reading material. I'm going to look for something for us."
"I'm sure they have something that suits our interests. Maybe something that speaks of the darker side of humans." I nod and walk away.
------------
"Harry, are you done yet?" I jumped a little in surprise.
"Mhm. Almost. I just don't know which book to get."I say and show him what I had found. It was between The Resurrectionist: The Lost Work of Dr. Spencer Black and The Book of Shadows.
"What's the Resurrectionist about?"
"It's a biography of Dr. Spencer Black, from a childhood spent exhuming corpses through his medical training, his travels with carnivals, and the mysterious disappearance at the end of his life." 
"That's it?"
"Well there's another half of it that goes on about beasts—dragons, centaurs, Pegasus, Cerberus—all rendered in meticulously detailed anatomical illustrations. You need only look at these images to realize they are the work of a madman."
"You make a good case. What about the other?"
"This one. Well that's just it, I'm not sure. I think it might be a dark spell book. But not of the wizarding world. A muggle might have written this thinking it was actually magic. Either way it seemed interesting enough."
"Why not get both? Like you said, we are low on reading material." I hummed.
"Alright. And did you get far in your assignment?"
He smiled. "I finished it." That's good. I told him as we checked out the books. As we left we heard Madam Pince mumble something about Muggles and ignorance.
"Should we start them tonight?"
"Nah, that's dumb. We go through books like knives to butter. We should finish ALL the work we have first."
"In the beginning it was you who wanted to read all the time. Not me. I wonder when it changed."
"When you started reading good books because of me."
"I can see your ego expanding Blaise. Watch it. It might explode." His smile fell into a pout.
"But for real, it's better to do all the work now so we can relax later without any worries."
"I know. I just don't want to. Everything is so.. So"
"Complicated." I nod. "I get it. And that's what we're here for. To help you. You could ask us anything and we'd do our very best to help you no matter what."
"Thank you. I know it must be tiring having to hear all this from me."
"Not really. I get it. Truly we do. But I think we'll be used to it next year. You came into this not knowing anything. I'm sure anyone can understand why you're having a hard time."
"Maybe."
"I'll help you with Transfiguration until it's time for Astronomy. The goal is to at least transfigure three items before then!" Blaise grabbed my hand and started running back down to the dungeons. "Onward!" He yelled. Much to the displeasure of the paintings surrounding us. I laughed all the way.
----------
"We didn't realize you were struggling this much. Why didn't you tell us?" We sat on my bed with numerous items spread about. All of them were long overdue to be done. I shrug.
"No matter. With our help you'll be better than Granger."
"I have no doubts Blaise. You're the best person I know."
"High praise. And high hopes."
"Now tell me your simplified ways."
"First things first relax. You're way too stiff. Put your wand down and breathe. In through your nose hold for 10 seconds then out." I did as he directed. I even closed my eyes. I felt a distinct change in my body.
"Good. Now picture the two items in front of you in opposite positions." He paused to give me time to think. "Now pick back up your wand and perform the spell." Doing as told I picked up the wand and flicked my wrist.
"What's up with that form?"
"What do you-"
"Your wand hand. You look so uncomfortable."
"This is how Hagrid and McGonagall told me to hold it."
"And you listened?" Good point. They clearly weren't the best people to listen to.
"You should put your wand in the best grip that you can do yourself. The way you're holding it is setting yourself up for failure. It could also be the cause of you not being able to perform some spells wrong. Try a new grip."
So we sat for another 10 minutes trying form after form. It reminded me of how Ollivander was when I went to pick my wand. I hope I never have to deal with that man again. He was cryptic and weird.
I stopped when I tried the same style Blaise used. A relaxed grip that looked flimsy but was really strong. I think I know why Blaise held it like that now. It felt good. Almost like it wasn't even there.
"Now try the spell again." I swished my wand numerous times. I repeated the incantation until the words sounded like gibberish. I was so sure I could do it.
"Harry."
"Yes?"
"Just because you're having trouble doesn't mean you won't get it. Give it time. Getting frustrated and upset won't help you. It'll just make you more anxious."
"Maybe I should just snap my wand. That'll surely clear all this up."
"Let's not do that. That's jumping to conclusions for no reason. Calm down and breathe." I took a few deep breaths like the ones before. Only this time it didn't work.
"You should believe in yourself more.  Anyone can see that you aren't that confident with yourself."
"I believe in myself. Sometimes."
"I'ma keep it real with you and tell you what my mother always told me. "You won't get anywhere half-assing shit"."
"What does that mean?"
"It means half-heartedly doing something won't get you any good results if any."
"Why didn't you just say that?"
He shrugged. "It sounded better."
"So basically I have to believe in myself and in the fact that magic is real?"
"Wait, you still don't believe in magic?"
"I-it's not like that. I just still have a hard time believing- okay maybe you're right."
"We know. With that being said, what could fully make you believe in magic?"
What could make me believe in magic? I mean I fly on a broom like a wizard. Paintings talk and photos move. I've met and seen goblins. A person can spell a pig's tail onto somebody's backside. A tree can actually move and feel things. There's mermaids in the Black Lake. And a wizard killed my family with a dark curse.
"Harry?"
"Mhm."
"Look." My gaze wandered around the room. Surrounding us were all the things I'd seen since coming to Hogwarts. The Hogwarts house animals and tiny versions of the people I'd met. "We'd say you believe in magic now." Maybe. Yeah I'd think so too.
Neither of us said anything as I lifted my wand again. I took a deep breath and tried the spell again. I pictured the two items slowly switching places.
"I should be a teacher." I opened my eyes then. In front of me I saw the items switched.
"I did it. I really did it."
"You did. But that was just a warm up. Do it again. And again until you stop hesitating." An hour went by quicker than either of us could see.
"Blaise, I think I got it. Can I stop now?" I sighed.
"Yeah. Are you ready to transfigure a match to a needle?"
"Not at all. But I know I can do it."
"Okay. For this you need to know that you are altering the shape and molecules of the item into the one you need. It can also help if you image it in place of the item you're transfiguring." I nod.
-------------
I stood up and stretched. Sitting for so long had my body feeling numb. Sitting for two hours failing again and again.
"Well you did it."
I turn and glare at the dark skinned male. "Yeah I did. But it took two hours! Two hours Blaise!" He looked at me with those sad purple eyes. But this time they looked sad for me.
"Harry-"
"No. Blaise it took me hours just to transfigure one item. Others had finished it in at least 20 minutes. You did it in 10! And it's been days since then." I threw the needle at the wall in pique.
"We can see that you're upset."
"Oh really. Is it that obvious?"
"We know you're upset so we'll let that slide. But you need to calm down. Circumventing won't help you. And you won't get anywhere if you keep comparing yourself to others. Especially when said others don't even look at us. We're in this together."
His purple eyes shone so bright in the dim lighting. I was completely enthralled by them. I couldn't look away. I took a deep breath to calm down. I relaxed my shoulders and just breathed.
That's when I felt arms around me holding me up. My legs had gave way. Glad he caught me. Staring into his amethyst orbs I felt myself drift.
"You still have a time before Astronomy. Sleep. We'll wake you later." He laid me down on the bed before grabbing a book and sitting beside me.
"Read to me?" I asked.
He smiled. "Of course."
------------
Blaise's POV (blaze narration will be in bold and italics)
I sighed and closed the book. Setting it down beside me. Harry had finally dozed off.
That was more intense than it should have been.
"Too true Blaze. Too true. I feel for him though."
Pardon?
"I feel bad? For him."
Oh! You're empathizing with him.
I got up from the bed and walked over to my own. "We had been at it for so long I can understand why he feels the way he does. But it's like we said comparing oneself to others is a bad thing to do. I also think this would be normal for him."
What do you mean?
"I mean, he grew up in the muggle world. No one told him anything about the wizarding world until a few months ago. We grew up in the environment. People prepared us for this. He had no one."
And he's been through so much at that. With almost no one to help him. It's like we've come full circle. I'd say it can only go up from here but I'd be lying.
"What do you mean?"
I mean, we still don't know what's going to happen to Weasley and his friends. I swear if they don't get expelled or at the very least suspended I will hurt them.
"Harry did say we would take matters into our own hands. I hope he's still up for it because it looks like that's the direction it's headed."
Let's go talk with Snape. He definitely knows what's going on.
"What about-"
He's gonna be out for a good hour or two. Come on dude. Taking control of my legs Blaze headed for the door and went straight down the stairs. It's a little late but not past curfew so we won't get into any trouble.
Where should we check first? His rooms maybe? He took off in the direction of his rooms. Which was located down the hall from the Slytherin dorms and common room. Getting tired of being literally dragged around I relinquished control over to my hyperactive "personality". I don't think he even realised I had given it to him.
"So he wasn't in his room. Maybe his office." I watched as he changed direction. I sat down in one of the chairs and shook my head. Blaze really hadn't noticed that he had control. I know we look weird. Our legs were moving but everything else was still. No head, arm or torso movement. Just legs.
"Professor?" He pushed open the door. Fearless as always. "Professor Snape, are you here?
At what point did you-"
Took you a while to notice.
"Did you want to switch back? We can if you want to."
No. I'm good. Besides I bet you get tired being in this everyday.
"I do"
"Mr. Zabini? What are you doing here?" Our attention was turned to the stoic man dressed in monochrome.
"We needed to talk to you." He raised his eyebrow, as if to ask 'about what'.
"Am I right in assuming you are Blaze?"
"Yes. Blaise's here too of course."
He nodded. "What is it that you needed to talk about?"
Taking a deep breath I began my rant. "Well you see, we were just thinking about Harry. You know, like really thinking about the last few weeks and it all came crumbling down into place. And it ended with a thought about those Gryffindors that had the audacity to hurt him. We still don't know if they're getting punished. We don't even know if they were punished and you Professors just didn't tell us. So tell us if they got in trouble or we'll take it into our own hands."
At some point we had started pacing. I had to stop. Otherwise my anxiety would continue to rise. I turned to look our Head of House in the eyes. In his onyx eyes I saw sadness, or maybe regret. I'm not sure. It could have been disappointment. He sighed heavily.
"They are not-" Seeing our bubbling vexation he put  his hand up in a way to stall us. "Before you blow up. Know that we tried. Dumbledore delivered a breathless and effortless spiel."
"Even though we had enough reasons and evidence to kick them out of the school for life!"
"McGonagall, Flich, Hooch, and Vector. They all agreed with Dumbledore. All for different reasons. Myself and Pomona couldn't bear to listen to all of it. We left the meeting early."
He moved to sit down behind his desk. Gesturing for us to sit in the seat in front of him. We sat down and looked him right in the eye.
"All I know is, if we go and beat the dog shit out of those kids, just like they did Harry. We bet not have any repercussions." This isn't his fault Blaze.
"I know! I'm just so upset. How could they- I should just- Dumbledore should just- I'll hurt those kids so bad- if only I could k-." Blaze. Breathe. The fire is getting out of control.
"I understand that you're upset."
"Do you?" We turned our anger onto the teacher. It was accident.
"I do. I truly didn't want this to happen." This time I sighed heavily. I know he didn't. I'm just so very angry. At the teachers, myself, and those idiot Gryffindors. I looked to my side. I felt something on my shoulder. Just for a fraction of a second I saw Blaise standing there with his hand on my shoulder. A frown pulled at his lips.  I quickly looked at the room inside. He was seated in the chair across from mine. Did he see it too?
"Blaze?"
"Mhm." I turned back to look at the man.
"I'm sure if they were to come up injured it wouldn't be a surprise. They do like to ride on brooms." He gave us a knowing smirk. It spoke volumes. Knowing that, I'll have to plan this out perfectly. I need to make sure that bones are broken. Blood is gushing. They can not by any means get away with merely a few bruises.
"I've got some things to plan. It was nice talking with you Professor Snape." I gave back control to Blaise. Like I said things to plan.
"How long will your planning take, Blaze?"
A while. I'll be deep within the mindscape. You can reach out to me if you need to.  But I don't recommend it.
"Okay. Will a week be enough?"
Should be. I'll see you in a week.
"Blaze is gone?"
I shook my head. "No. Well kind of. He's gone deeper into the mindscape to plan. I think he went deeper to get away from all the noise."
"I heard what Blaze thought of all this. What about you?"
"I can't wait to hear what Blaze has in store for them. But I feel even worse than before for Harry. Though I feel he'll be happy to hear about us getting revenge. Still, he'll be upset. We're still upset." I took a moment to breathe then.
"The - what was it - three or four students aren't getting anything dealt to them. I'll be surprised if he doesn't blow up like Blaze." Professor Snape looked at me with a thoughtful expression.
"You three are quite the combination. Be careful."
I nod. "Thank you for having us. But I think it's time we leave."
"Of course. If you need anything else, don't hesitate to talk to me or Pomona. Do tell Harry the same thing." I nodded again before leaving his office. I opened my mouth to speak before closing it. Blaze was "gone". If I were to talk to him he wouldn't answer. He wouldn't even hear me.
It's so quiet now. I never realised how much I had gotten used to Blaze. I wonder how I was getting on without him. A week. A week he'll be gone. I'm not sure I can go that long without him. But it's not like he's really gone. He's still here. Though he said I shouldn't talk to him if it's not important. And even then he said I shouldn't. I wonder why.
I walked around a bit before heading back toward my room.  It's been about an hour and thirty. Harry was no doubt awake by now. If he wasn't awake now he would be soon.
"Where did you go?" I flinched the tiniest bit at the sudden question.
"Went to see Snape."
"Oh? How did that go?" Probably shouldn't tell him yet. He'll be much more upset than any of us.
"I'll tell you all about it later. Now definitely isn't the time."
"By the look on your face, it wasn't a good meeting. On a scale of one to ten how bad was it?"
"7." His nose scrunched up in disdain. "It wasn't what you're thinking. It was more of the news he had to share. But like I said, later."
"Why not now?" He moved to stand in front of me. Looking directly in my eyes. Really wishing Blaze were here. Harry might be shorter than me but he still managed to intimidate me. "Was it about the Gryffindors?"
"We should wait to talk about it."
"Why? What's so important about later?"
I sighed. "It's more than just that." Harry backed off then. Walking back to his bed and sitting down.
"When is later, Blaise?"
"After we eat dinner."
"Then let's go. I wanna know sooner than later." All I could do was nod and follow the smaller male out the door. I could tell he was sad with one glance. My head hung low the entire time. I hate that I can't help remedy this situation. But Blaze can. He will. Blaze isn't just sitting by idly.
Walking into the great hall we saw a few Professors were still at the head table. We were gonna sit at the hufflepuff table but the glares were far too strong. Backing away we sat at the Slytherin table. Majority of the Slytherin house had loosened up. We were still shunned though.
"Besides the obvious, what else did you talk about with Snape?"
"Nothing much. Just a simple check in to see how we're doing. Oh! He said that if you need to talk to him about anything you can. And that we should be careful." He stopped chewing his food and caught my gaze.
"Be careful? Of what? Why?"
"More on that later. That was actually the best part of our conversation. You want to know more? Eat more." He pursed his lips and piled more food onto his plate. I did the same. 
"Blaise?"
"Yes Harry."
"Do you know what that is?" I looked up to see what he was pointing to. It was a plate full of Canelé.
"It's a small French pastry flavored with rum and vanilla with a soft and tender custard center and a dark, thick caramelized crust. You should try it. It's one of my favorite sweets."
Harry hummed and went to pick up a piece. "Isn't rum a liquor? Should a school be serving this to children?"
I laughed a little at that. "It's such a small amount that it's allowed. Of course some can add more when making it themselves."
"Very rich in flavor. I can see why it's your favorite."
"Pick something for me to try?" He nodded. He scanned the long table for desserts. I watched his eyes. How some of them lit up with interest and sometimes looked bored at his options.
"This one."
"Do you know what it is?" Harry had chosen something that was golden brown and twisted like a pretzel but much more thick. He shook his head.
"It looks good though."
"That would be Koeksister. Afrikaner confectionery made of fried dough infused in syrup or honey." We turned to look at Professor Dumbledore.
"Hello Professor." We said in unison.
"Yes, hello boys. How are you both doing?"
"Fine." We spoke together again.
"That's good." He turned to look at Harry. " Harry, I was wanting to talk to you. If you are finished eating we can head to my office."
"Sorry Professor but we were going to study. Can't be failing classes now."I quickly took Harry's hand and led us out the great hall. Leaving behind no doubt surprised Dumbledore.
"Room of requirements?"
"Sounds like a good idea." Dumbledore would no doubt come looking for us in the dorms.
We all but jogged to the seventh floor corridor. Harry and I started to slow down when we were closer. We didn't want to seem suspicious. Stopping in front of the painting of Barnabas the Barmy to teach trolls ballet we waited for the last few stragglers to walk away. I was looking out to make sure no one else came by while Harry was opening the door. When I heard the signal I walked into the room behind him.
The room was split in two. One half being Harry's room in the Hufflepuff basement the other being my room.
"Interesting design."
He shrugged. "I've been missing my bedroom there."
"Harry, I-"
"I know. As much as I miss it, I also don't want to go back. Besides that." He walked over to his side of the room. "We should probably start talking about the obvious elephant in the room."
I sat on my bed and faced him. "Yes of course. I guess I'll start at the beginning." And so I told him all about Blaze's conversation with Snape. Leaving out the part that it wasn't actually me. Occasionally I stopped to study his reaction. Or answer any questions he might have. Each time I was met with a steel expression.
When I came to the end Harry still hadn't said or done anything.
"Harry? You can rant now. I won't interrupt." I said cautiously. He nodded and took a deep breath.