Chapter 34: Samhain Aftermath

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I would like to thank my beta, Akisu, for his help in this chapter.

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1 November 1991, Hogwarts

Immediately, he was accosted by Blaise, Daphne, and Tracy. They immediately sat next to him. Daphne was the first to break her silence, "Are you alright, Harry?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah, why is that?"

"You're kidding right, mate?" Blaise interjected, "You sort of screamed in pain during the ritual yesterday and just passed out. What happened, Harry?"

Harry simply shrugged, "I'm not really sure. I remember the ritual, then feeling like I was burning from the inside, and finally waking up in my bed. I was sore and really didn't know what happened, so I decided to take a walk. Was the ritual supposed to be that painful?"

Blaise gave him a pondering condition, "I guess there was some stinging and itching, but I wouldn't say it felt like I was burning from the inside."

Daphne interjected, "Really? It didn't hurt at all for me. It actually felt good, a little warm even."

They all turned to Tracy who rolled her eyes, "Don't look at me, I didn't activate any crest of anything," at their apological looks she continued, "Come on, we all know that I wasn't getting a crest. My family isn't old enough to have one. I'm not disappointed and considering how painful Harry's activation was, I'm grateful that I didn't have to go through that."

"Anyone with a functioning brain wouldn't want to go through what Harry did," Blaise responded with a snort. He then turned to Harry, "Seriously, did you at least get your crest?"

The young Potter nodded, and Blaise grinned enthusiastically, "Well, go on, show us."

"I don't think that it's a good idea, Blaise. Maybe in the dormitory," Harry protested.

"Come on I'll even show you mine," his friend insisted.

Blaise then pulled up his right sleeve and Harry saw his Magical Crest. It was a lot smaller than Harry's but looked just as lifelike. Honestly, it was a work of art. I was an Eagle's head, that looked fierce and proud, with piercing eyes that seemed to look right through him. The beak was sharp and curved, with tiny ridges along the edges. The feathers were detailed and intricate, with shades of black and white that blended together perfectly. Honestly, it looked kingly.

The smug young wizard relished in their look of awe, "Yeah, I know it's cool. Mother told me that my family is as old as Rome itself and that our crest symbolizes that connection."

Daphne though didn't want to be outclassed and pulled up her own sleeve, revealing her own crest, which happened to be a flower, "I still think mine is better."

It looked beautiful, and surprisingly had faint colours unlike Harry's and Blaise's. The flower was small with white delicate petals, with a hint of green at its base. Harry didn't recognize what type of flower it was, but Daphne who was grinning smugly at them continued, "It's called a Lily of the Valley. It's a flower that can even survive in winter that symbolizes purity and luck. I sent a letter to my father about it. Apparently, every Greengrass gets a unique flower when activating them. It's part of our Druid ancestry, I think."

Ah, Druids, the original magic users in the British Isles before the Romans invaded. Their practices tended to be more in line with connecting with nature and manipulating it. Of course, they could be extremely dangerous, especially with the rumours of sacrificial rituals going around. But what made them unique was the fact that they were the only people to ever be able to channel the direct power of a ley line directly, creating massive acts of magic, and stopping most invaders. Unfortunately, the art of druidism was somewhat passive until they master the basics which took decades. Compare it to the endless Roman legions that use wands and standardized spells, they were quickly defeated.

However, even now, there were a few houses with druid ancestry, like the Greengrasses and the Longbottoms. They tended to have a green touch in Herbology, and they were celebrated by the community because they were often charged with the maintenance and sale of magical plants, especially the ones with ingredients. They had special rituals and practices that guaranteed the health of their plants and their quality when brewing potions. That, of course, made House Greengrass one of the wealthiest houses in the British Isles, and virtually untouchable. Potions were critical in a magical society. Jeopardizing their main providers of quality ingredients would either make them leave for another country or just only sell to their enemies. Yeah, politically and magically, house Greengrass wasn't that big of a deal, but it was the sleeping lion that no one had any intention of poking.

While he was lost in his own head, Harry's friends looked at him expectantly until Tracy spoke up, "Well go on, then, show us."

The young Slytherin held his head in embarrassment, "It's a bit more complicated. My crest is a bit bigger than yours. Is that normal?"

Daphne looked pensive, "I honestly don't know. I think it depends on the crest's creator. People often decide for it to be small and on their arms because it's easy to show and would provide proof of their ritual."

"Oh, for Merlin's sake," Tracy exclaimed, "fine, I'll do it myself."

Before he could react, Tracy pulled up his sleeve and saw the tattoo that seemed to go up his arm. "What is that?" Blaise asked.

Harry sighed in exasperation, "I told you I would show you in the common room. To answer your question, that's the wing of my crest. It's sort of centred on my chest not my arm like yours, and it's honestly massive."

"What is it," Daphne questioned.

"A Raven," he replied.

The rest of the day, Harry's friend pestered him about what his crests looked like. During this time, everyone was bragging about their crests. It was mostly harmless fun; it didn't really reveal anything about the magic or any family secrets. Malfoy kept bragging about the peacock on his arm, and Pansy Parkinson about the Tulip. Theodore Nott happened to have a crest that took the shape of a moon of all things, but the boy stayed quiet as he usually was, and didn't show even an ounce of enthusiasm. Surprisingly, Crabbe and Goyle ended up with one, with a Hammer and an Axe respectively, living up to their Viking ancestors. Harry, though, stayed silent, trying to understand what his crest even meant.

There was no relationship between House Potter and ravens. In fact, the Potter name started less than a thousand years ago by an eccentric potioneer that invented many pertinent potions. He was called the 'Potterer' because of the plants he had to take care of to pursue his experiments. That name was later corrupted into 'Potter' which was used by his children and all of his descendants. Their symbol was that of a Lion, which some descendant who was sorted in Gryffindor chose. After that, it became traditional for Potters to be sorted in the House of Lions, although there were a few exceptions over the centuries.

Long story short, there were no connections between Ravens and the Potter family at all. However, there was one thing. One tiny little connection, because Ravens are symbols of the dead, and there was a very old and very powerful family connected to the Potters that had a close relationship with the concept. However, the Peverell family was a can of worms that Harry really didn't want to open, so he'll leave it be until he can call himself even competent enough to handle the mystery.

As for the other students, outside of that, no one really got a crest, or at least, no one revealed that they had one. Millicent Bulstrode looked practically in tears when Parkinson insulted her lineage and blood, but thankfully Professor Sprout was able to calm the situation somewhat.

By the time they had arrived in the common room, Draco kept giving Harry smug looks, "What about you, Potter? Did you end up with a crest, or did it find you as unworthy as your blood? After all, you were screaming like a little girl last night."

Harry gave the blonde an unimpressed look, "Yes, my crest was unlocked last night."

"I think you're lying," Draco responded with a mocking tone.

"Well think away. It wouldn't be the first time that you were wrong, Draco."

The boy seemed to grit his teeth in anger, "I think that your own ancestors found you unworthy and punished you for your traitor blood. Maybe the crest even saw how much your Mudblood mother tainted your line and is writing you off as a lost cause. I wonder if it felt the same when you were screaming in pain yesterday. It certainly sounded like you were burned alive as your parents did. Tell me, did the crest want to finish the job for the sake of its line."

The entire conversation froze instantly with that statement. Harry hadn't really needed to deal with Draco for weeks, where the young boy kept his distance in fear of Harry's retaliation. But that was far more than just insulting his mother as he had previously. The idea that Harry didn't have a crest seemed to give the boy more courage. The blonde has been trying to remove Harry as a threat for the long run, for when the house politics began. He was probably doing it at his father's insistence, or maybe, he was misinterpreting what the man meant. Lucius Malfoy was a cunning man, and he wouldn't risk his son getting hurt for no reason.

Harry didn't know, nor did he care. It happened and he was going to deal with the consequences, "Draco, you have ten seconds to apologize for what you have just said and take back your words."

The blonde was then accompanied by his two bodyguards who tried to look threatening, "I don't think so."

Harry just gave him a steely look and counted inwardly until ten. After which the entire common room held its breath. By the time he finished counting, the young Potter walked forwards and projected his magic once more. He really didn't want to exert himself again, especially with his condition, but a show of power to silence Malfoy was necessary.

The three boys were trembling in fear, but he didn't care. Harry took out his wand, while the two bodyguards tried to hex him. With a twitch of his fingers, he moved the two boys' arms causing their spells to miss massively. Harry raised an eyebrow at the spells, "A balding hex and a pimple-bursting jinx. What were you hoping to achieve with that?"

Harry didn't even let them answer as he moved his wand and cast, 'Detrudo'. It was the ancestor of the repelling charm, that worked with small forces. It was in the book about telekinetic magic that he had borrowed from the library, and it was a very useful spell. It lacked the raw power of the other spell, but it could target up to five small objects at once. Harry targeted the two boys' wrists, giving them a light sprain, and making them drop their wands. He then cast, "Flipendo!" sending the two boys flying back.

Meanwhile, the young Malfoy was trembling in fear, with his wand raised. Harry again raised an eyebrow, "What were you realistically hoping to achieve, Draco? I just don't understand you, really. You have so much potential, and yet, you squander it on nonsense like this."

The boy woke up from his stupor and kept casting spells at Harry. They were barely more than pranking jinxes, and Harry instead of sending a spell back, decided to cast an illusion talking his form and going forwards while making himself invisible. Harry prepared himself for the strain that the spell usually causes him, but for some reason, it felt almost natural. The illusion was almost perfect, and the invisibility illusion felt almost real. It was a far cry from the illusion he used the previous day against the troll.

The boy kept casting spells at the illusion, who kept dodging every spell in a superhuman manner while walking forward. Harry would have never been able to do such a thing, the boy was practically shaking and fell down while he was walking back in fear.

Having enough of terrifying the boy, Harry cancelled the illusion which was looming threateningly over the downed Malfoy and simply cast a disarming charm, "Expelliarmus!" from his original position. The boy was sent back with his arm far away from him.

"I expect a written letter of apology tomorrow or I will send one to your parents," Harry spoke up before turning and leaving for his dormitory.

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I tend to upload drafts of early chapters on there to get people's opinions of them so you can read up to 20 chapters ahead as a bonus.

Thank you guys for your support in these hard times.