Aevumiter

32: Gaunt

Harry felt much better after he'd showered. Remus was waiting by the front door, and offered his arm to Harry. Harry hollered out a bye before they disapparated.

Remus took a moment to look around, before finding the right direction. "This way." He said. "So, while we walk, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Harry asked.

"Have you been using your wand lately?" Remus asked. "I just saw you using it at the ministry, and it seemed... Odd."

"Oh." Harry said. "I've been faking it. I'm just holding it, not using it."

"Really?" Remus asked, intrigued. 

"Yeah." Harry pulled his wand from his pocket, and cast lumos. It appeared completely normal, until Harry took the wand from his hand, and the small orb of light stayed in place several inches from his hand. "Like that."

"That is clever." Remus said. "How have you been adjusting to the new magic, otherwise?"

Harry sighed. "It's very weird, being able to see magic. Seeing it just existing, lingering in the air. It almost gets overwhelming in class sometimes, because there just gets to be so much. It's hard to see anything but the magic. And I can feel it too, often."

Remus nodded. "New senses are often very confusing. Anyway, what are we looking for in Little Hangleton?"

"The Gaunt shack." Harry said. 

"Gaunt?"

"Descendants of the Peverells." Harry said. 

"The Peverells?" Remus asked. "What are you expecting to find here?"

"A cursed ring." Harry said. "I don't want you touching it, by the way."

"Well, if you say it's cursed I'm not going to go sticking it on my finger. But why can you touch it?" Remus asked.

Harry sighed. "The curse... It messes with your mind. I erm. Have some experience fighting that influence."

Remus looked like he was trying to figure out how to protest in some way that made sense.

"It's okay, though." Harry said. "We'll destroy it before it can become too much of a problem."

Remus hummed thoughtfully.

"Do you mind if I take a quick scout ahead?" Harry asked.

"What do you mean?" Remus frowned.

"A bit of a bird's eye view?" Harry said.

"Oh." Remus smiled. "Go ahead. I'll just be walking."

"I'll just be a minute." Harry said, and shot into the air. He felt the wind through his feathers, and saw the world below. Remus was watching him with a soft expression.

It felt wonderful to be back in the air. Harry loved the freedom. How it made all the problems fade away when he just looked ahead at the horizon.

Harry scanned the area for signs of the shack. Eventually he spotted a sign that gave him a good inclination to the location of the shack. He went back to Remus, his landing awkward. He had shifted back to his form just a bit too early, resulting in him dropping from a foot higher than he intended too.

Remus' arms shot out and helped prevent Harry from tumbling over. Harry grumbled.

"Troubles?" Remus asked with a bit of a smile.

"I'm used to being taller." Harry said. "That was supposed to work out fine."

"Things don't always work out how they're supposed to." Remus said. "Did you see it?"