Bound by Soul

Return to Flamel

Theo was excited the entire ride back to Hogwarts. He'd asked his father, making sure he would be none the wiser, and had managed to find Flamel in one of the books in their library. At least he now understood why they had been unable to find him in the Hogwarts library.

He was so excited to tell Harry and Hermione, that he tracked Hemione down as soon as they were on the Hogsmeade platform, practically bouncing in excitement.

"I found him! Let's find Harry!"

Hermione was understandably confused, but followed him anyway. Of course, Theo had no idea where Harry was, and after dragging Hermione around the castle to the library, an out of the way corner the three of them liked to sit in when the library was crowded, the kitchens, and even made her wait outside of the common room while he check to see if Harry was there, Hermione put her foot down, and told him she wanted to grab a book out of her trunk, and he followed her to the seventh floor. They stopped in front of a portrait of a fat woman, in a very pink dress, who looked them over, exasperated.

"Another one? Is there a point to me asking for the password? Why don't I just let anyone in? Clearly it makes no difference anymore!"

Then, to their surprise, the Fat Lady swung forword before they could say anything.

As soon as she did, it was like a wall of sound burst out of the entrance behind her. They shared a look, before stepping through the entrance.

The inside, Theo was unsurprised to note, was decked out in reds and golds. The walls, drapes, chairs, even the carpets. Most of the students were all gathered around a pair of armchairs by the fire, cheering and chanting, Theo was pretty sure sickles changed hands. And at the center of the chaos, was Harry, facing off against a fifth year over a stack of thick sticks, precariously balanced in a tower. As they watched, dumbfounded, Harry carefully pushed one of the sticks out of the tower, making the whole thing wobble unsteadily, before he managed to gently place it on the top.

As soon as the trembling structure stilled, the crowd erupted into cheers, everyone loudly exclaiming, but they quieted when the tower started to shake from the tremors. 

A tense hush fell across the crowd, as the fifth year carefully, slowly, started to push one of the sticks near the bottom. And there was the boy's mistake. The stick had barely made it halfway out from under the stack, when the whole tower collapsed in on itself, spilling across the table, making half the watching crowd cheer wildly, while the other half groaned good naturedly. Knuts and sickles, and even a couple galleons, passed around a few of the upper years.

"And he remains undefeated!" One of the Weasley twins -Theo didn't know which- called out from where he stood next to the table. With a flick of his wand the sticks reconstructed themselves into a short, sturdy tower, ready for the next game.

The other twin clapped Harry on the back, and, to Theo's astonishment, Harry grinned at him, before offering his hand to the fifth year he'd just beat at whatever game they were playing.

"Better luck next time, Gregson!"

Gregson returned Harry's grin, taking his hand with a firm shake.

"You won't win next weekend, Potter. One of us will catch you up."

Theo was somehow even more surprised when Harry's grin turned cheeky, and he replied,

"You lions are too heavyhanded to ever beat me!"

Theo had never seen Harry so laid back, and carefree, and Theo had to wonder if the Sorting Hat hadn't made a mistake, putting Harry in the house of snakes.