First Steps

Grindelwald's Room, Nov 10th

Harry couldn't focus, not today. Peter had broken into Hogwarts and managed to make it all the way to the Gryffindor Common Room before being spotted. In fact, the only thing that stopped him from walking into the Gryffindor Common Room and killing Nathan was that he hadn't known the password, and the painting had refused him access. Peter had become enraged and violently slashed the portrait with a knife before escaping from the school.

"It will be alright, Harry," Viktor said.

Pacing the floor of Grindelwald's study, Harry wasn't convinced. "How did he get into the school? My parents told Dumbledore to ward off all the secret passageways. It just doesn't make sense."

"You said he could turn into a rat, correct?"

Harry nodded.

"Then he most likely just walked into the castle. A rat is very small and hard to notice at night."

"You're probably right, Viktor, but that doesn't make me feel better. It's not like you can ward an area against Animagi."

Trying to turn his friend's attention away from the bleak looking situation, Viktor tried to veer the subject away from Peter. "What did your brother say? Did he apologize for not taking your suggestion to learn spells over the summer?"

Harry snorted. "No. While he mentioned that he's started to learn some offensive spells, he never once said that I was right and he was being an idiot for listening to Weasley."

"At least he is learning the spells to protect himself now," Viktor pointed out. "I'm sure he'll apologize over the holiday to you."

Harry was prepared to debate that when the two boys heard a loud crash followed by the sound of Kira's laughter. The two shared a look before drawing their wands – anything that could make Kira laugh like that was likely at Calypso's expense, and they didn't want to walk into the middle of an impromptu duel.

Quickly making their way across the hall and into the library, where Kira and Calypso were trying to find their animagus form, Viktor and Harry were prepared for many things, including the two girls at each other's throats. What they weren't prepared for though was the sight of Calypso rolling face-down on the ground in agony while Kira laughed hysterically in a nearby chair.

Rushing over to Calypso, Harry racked his mind to think of what curse could cause this kind of reaction in his friend. However, it was only after Calypso rolled around and Harry got a clear look at her face that he realized what had happened.

Calypso's face was a horrid mix of human and animal features. The girl's normally pale skin had shifted several tones darker and her hair had clearly shrunk and thickened. Her nose was a disgusting shade of purple and looked to be broken in several places while her lips had practically been stretched across her face. A small trail of blood was leaking down the right side of her mouth and onto her right cheek, which was puffed out and covered in crisscrossing scars and stretchmarks, making it grotesquely disproportionate to the left

When Calypso met Harry's eyes, he was momentarily stunned to see the sheer amount of agony that shone through her bloodshot eyes. As a painful moan reverberated in the back of the girl's throat, Harry immediately began the wand movement and practically screamed out, "Homorphus!"

A jet of scarlet and blue light exploded out of Harry's wand, striking Calypso in the chest, who immediately let out another moan of pain as her features began shifting and reversing back to normal. A few seconds later, Calypso let out a soft cry.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, terrified. "Do you need to go to the hospital wing?"

Calypso quickly shook her head, slowly running her fingers over her face as if to check that it was back to normal "N-no. I think, I think I'm okay." Looking up into Harry's concerned eyes, Calypso raised her face closer to his and quietly whispered, "Thank you, Harry. Thank you."

Suddenly feeling the need to swallow, Harry felt a growing sense of anticipation as Calypso continued to slowly lean closer to him.

"You should have left her, Potter," Kira called out, causing Harry to quickly turn his head away from Calypso. "I think all that practice really paid off Rosier, your animagus form really brings out the inner you. An ugly cuntish littl–"

Before he knew what he was doing, Harry practically leapt to his feet and fired a silent flinging hex at Kira.

Unprepared for such a quick and violent reaction, especially from Harry, Kira took the spell in the chest and was forcefully thrown clear over the desk she had been working at and into a bookcase.

Before Harry could even realize what he had just done, he was thrown to the ground a few feet from Calypso, and his wand flew out of his hand. Turning around, he saw his wand sail into Viktor's outstretched hand. A rapid movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention, and Harry saw Calypso scramble forward and raise her wand. A shield charm immediately appeared protecting him just in time as a blue and yellow spell crash into it – Kira had seemingly recovered from being thrown into the wall, and, judging from the enraged look on her face, she did not appear happy.

As Calypso raised her wand to send a retaliatory spell at Kira, Viktor screamed, "ENOUGH!"

Kira and Calypso stopped moving, though their wands were now aiming directly at the other's head.

"Harry," Viktor said angrily, "come with me, we need to talk."

Glancing between the two girls who looked like they were only seconds away from unleashing hell on each other, Harry said, "Viktor I don't think that's a good ide–"

Taking several purposeful strides forward, Viktor practically pulled Harry up from the ground and said, "We are going to talk now." After a moment's hesitation, he extended his arm and offered Harry his wand back.

Noticing that Calypso was watching him very carefully out of the corner of his eye, Harry accepted his wand and his shoulders sagged. "Alright Viktor, let's go."

As Harry followed Viktor out of the room, he had to stop suddenly as Viktor turned around just short of the door. "Are you two going to be able to act civilly around each other while we are gone?"

Receiving nothing besides a blank stare from Kira and a slight scowl from Calypso, Viktor shook his head and walked out of the room, seemingly giving way to the inevitable. Harry followed him down the main hallway and back into the study. As he closed the door, Harry heard Calypso's voice shout out a particularly painful vomit inducing hex."

As soon as the door was closed, Viktor snapped. "Just what the fuck were you thinking sending that spell at Kira?"

"Did you even see what happened to Calypso!" Harry retorted. "You know how dangerous the animagus transformation can be, and Kira had no right to say that after Calyp–"

"What Kira said was no worse than what they typically say to each other." Viktor said, cutting Harry off immediately. "They would have simply screamed insults back and forth like they always do. But since you had to get involved and send my girlfriend flying into a wall, they are probably now in that room trying to kill each other!"

Viktor saw Harry drop his head somewhat. Sighing, he asked, "What the hell were you thinking Harry? For fuck's sake, I almost cursed you when I saw that spell slam into Kira. You're damn lucky I was able to send a cushioning charm at the bookshelf before she hit it."

Realizing that he could have seriously hurt Kira and that he had, inadvertently, prompted what was probably a very bad fight between Kira and Calypso, Harry felt his anger dissipate. "I'm sorry Viktor. I was just really worried about Calypso. I remembered what Professor Rosemburg said about the dangers of the animagus transformation, and I was scared that something terrible had happened. When I heard Kira taunting her, I guess I just snapped. I'm sorry."

Narrowing his eyes slightly, Viktor seemed to appraise Harry for a moment.

Not sure what his friend was thinking, Harry found himself curiously looking up at Viktor. When he met Viktor's eyes, he felt a sudden rush of anxiety and hesitancy.

"You like her, don't you?"

Shaking his head slightly, Harry tried to process both Viktor's question and the strange feelings he just experienced.

"Kira? I mean, she's, well, she's very –" Harry asked with wide eyes.

Viktor barked out a laugh. "No, Harry. Not Kira. Rosier. You like her, don't you?"

Harry felt his face heat up somewhat. He couldn't deny that he had begun thinking differently about Calypso, but the idea of a marriage contract was something he was not prepared to deal with. Still, for a moment there in the library, he thought Calypso was going to kiss him, and if he was being honest with himself, he was kind of disappointed that it didn't happen.

Seeing his friend's face redden slightly and taking his continued silence as confirmation, Viktor sighed. "It had to be her," he muttered before saying, "Harry, I understand if you have some feelings for Calypso, but you can't attack Kira just because she says something... even if what she said was callous. There have been plenty of times I've taken exception to what Calypso has said to Kira, but you don't see me throwing curses at her."

Almost reluctantly, Harry nodded his head.

"I promise I will talk to Kira, but you know that by cursing her, you've just made the situation between those two a lot worse, right?"

Realizing that Viktor was probably right, and that Kira and Calypso's animosity for each other would probably only increase after this fight, Harry said, "I'm sorry Viktor."

Viktor waved off his apology. "As long as it doesn't happen again, we're okay, but Harry," Viktor's voice dropped an octave, "if you ever curse my girlfriend again, I won't hold back and use a simple expelliarmus, understand?"

His eyes widening somewhat, Harry quickly nodded.

"Good." Viktor said softly. "You're my friend Harry, and I know Kira can be a bit much at times, but please try to –"

Hoot Hoot

Turning their heads to the only window in the bedroom, the two boys spotted a large horned owl flapping its wings outside.

"Is that for you?" Viktor asked.

"I don't know anyone with that kind of owl. Maybe it's from one of your teammates or coaches." Harry paused and smirked somewhat. "Or maybe it's another love letter from one of your fans."

Happy to move on from one of the first real arguments with his friend, Viktor playfully pushed Harry and walked over to the window, letting the bird fly into the room. Expecting it to land on his outstretched arm, Viktor was surprised when the owl ignored him and flew over to Harry.

Curious as to who was writing to him, Harry untied the small letter.

Harry,

It was smashing to hear from you. I've been meaning to write to you for some time, but I'm sure you're aware of the problems we had at Hogwarts last year, and, unfortunately, this year isn't shaping up to be much better.

I suppose I should start by saying how terribly sorry I am for not being as good a head of house to you as I should have been. I should have spotted the problems you were having adjusting at Hogwarts, and recognized your true potential when you asked me for help. Know that it is one of my deepest regrets that you felt you needed to leave Hogwarts to get the best education available to you.

With that said, I'm so very proud of what you have so far accomplished at Durmstrang. Minerva lent me her copy of Transfiguration Today, and I was amazed not only by your discovery, but also at your final projects for Charms. Enchanting is one of the most difficult aspects of charms, and for you to have succeeded at such a young age... well I'm just flabbergasted.

While I know that your mother is a charms mistress in her own right, if you ever need an extra opinion or help, I would be honored to assist you.

I wish you nothing but the best Harry.

Filius Flitwick

"Who is it from?" Viktor asked.

"My old Charms Professor at Hogwarts." Harry handed Viktor the letter to read. He had long ago told Viktor about the problems he had at Hogwarts, and there was nothing really private in the letter that required him keeping it a secret.

When he was done reading it, Viktor gave Harry back the letter. "Will you take him up on his offer?"

"Yes," Harry said immediately. "I'm going to need his help for my charms project this year. It's actually one of the reasons I wrote him in the first place."

Viktor looked surprised. "You know what you're doing already? You typically wait till after the Christmas break to decide on your final projects."

Harry smiled. "Did you ever take Astronomy, Viktor?"

"No."

"Well, back at Hogwarts it was a core subject, and practically since its inception, Ravenclaw House always had the best students in it. Our success in the class wasn't because we studied harder like everyone else believed though. The ceiling of the Ravenclaw common room was painted with stars, and they would mimic the actual position of the stars overhead that night. It was an amazing bit of charms work, and rumored to be cast by Lady Ravenclaw herself."

Viktor's eyes widened. "And you want to duplicate this?"

"No. The charms cast in the Ravenclaw common room were actually cast directly into the paint used for the ceiling, and I wouldn't even know where to begin looking into how to do that; however, there is a very similar spell that enchants the ceiling of Hogwarts' Great Hall to show what it is like outside at all times. I want to cast that spell on the ceiling of my room. If I can manage it, I could use it for both my Charms and Astronomy final projects."

"But why do you need your old professor's help for that?" Viktor asked. "Surely Kosarev could give you some advice about how to go about it."

"I'm sure he could, but unless Kosarev has been to Hogwarts, he won't understand what I'm trying to do as well as Flitwick. Besides, I'm hoping Flitwick will actually know what the spells on the ceiling of the Great Hall are. If he tells me, it will give me more time to learn how to cast them. I've never tried such an intricate charms project, and I think I'm going to need all the help I can get to make this one work."

Before Viktor could say anything about Harry's idea, there was a loud bang, and both boys quickly walked back into the main hallway. Spotting a small stream of smoke coming from underneath the library door, Harry and Viktor listened for a moment, but couldn't hear any noise coming from where Kira and Calypso had been dueling.

"Think it's over?" Harry asked.

"Yes," Viktor sighed. "Let's go get them and see if we can fix what they did to each other. If not, we'll have to take them to the healer."

Entering the library, Harry shook his head at the damage. Two of the three tables were in pieces around the room, and several bookshelves appeared to have been knocked over by a few over-zealously banished chairs. Thankfully most of the books were unharmed, although a few looked like the covers had been hit by spells.

Harry spotted Kira lying face down near the main entrance; she was bound in ropes and petrified. As he passed her, Harry noticed that the tight ropes were actually moving slightly around her wrists, ankles, and neck, causing nasty burns and welts on Kira's exposed skin. After casually casting a finite, the ropes disappeared; however, much to Harry's surprise, the body bind curse remained. He was prepared to cast an identification charm to see what spell Calypso had used to petrify Kira when Viktor came up beside him.

"I'll deal with Kira, Harry, you find Calypso."

Nodding his head in agreement, Harry began searching for Calypso. He eventually found her unconscious behind the only undamaged table in the room. After checking her over for any serious spell damage and finding none, Harry sighed in relief. Calypso had a few nasty looking cuts and bruises, but they weren't caused by any dark spell, and they were easily healed by a quick Episkey. When all that was left was to rennervate her from the stunning spell, Harry asked Viktor how Kira was doing.

"I've healed the rope burns, but Calypso was able to hit Kira with a Con Totalus, and I think it would be best if we separated them before I remove it."

Harry nodded. "They would probably get right back into it if they saw each other when they woke up."

"I'll see you at dinner then Harry," Viktor said, levitating Kira out of the room.

Once Harry was certain that Viktor and Kira were gone, he pointed his wand at Calypso and silently cast Rennervate.

Calypso's eyes snapped open, and she bolted upright. She glared angrily around the library, obviously looking for Kira. "Where is she!"

"Viktor took her to his room before removing the Con Totalus," Harry replied as he began fixing the destroyed tables and righting the fallen bookshelves. "We thought it would be best to keep the two of you away from each other for the time being."

"What did Krum say to you?" Calypso asked. "I wanted to use Legilimency on him, but I didn't want to take my eyes off Megara. He didn't hex you for putting that cunt into a wall did he?"

"No, we just talked," Harry said reassuringly. "And I realized that I probably shouldn't have cursed Kira. It, undoubtedly, only made the situation worse."

Calypso smiled slightly. "Thank you for that by the way. The look on Megara's face as she flew into the wall was priceless. I'm actually surprised that she got up as quickly as she did. That was one powerful flinging hex."

"Yeah, well, Viktor managed to cast a cushioning charm on the bookshelf before she hit it. Otherwise, well, she probably would have gotten a lot more banged up. Thank you for saving me with that shield spell by the way."

"It's no problem Harry," Calypso said, her voice unconsciously softening. "I'd never let Megara curse you, especially not after you helped me."

"About that," Harry said, meeting Calypso gaze. "What happened? Did you start to transform?"

Dropping her eyes to the ground, Calypso said, "I wasn't ready for it. I was just thinking about... well I was thinking about some things. I was also getting pissed off at Megara. She kept talking and wouldn't shut up. I don't know what happened, but one minute I was sitting down trying to transform, and the next second I felt something in my face...shift."

"Shift?"

"It was like the entire front part of my skull suddenly tried to push itself forward. I...well I wasn't exactly expecting that, and for a moment, I just wanted it to stop. I wasn't sure what was going on, and then my facial structure just went nuts. I guess Rosemburg was right about not practicing alone. Anything could have happened, and fucking Megara would have just sat there laughing as my skull caved in on me."

"I can't believe Kira didn't cast the Homorphus Charm on you," Harry said, a little anger creeping into his voice. "She had to have known what was happening, and I told her and Viktor what could happen if the charm wasn't used."

By the time he finished speaking, Harry's voice had gotten louder. Taking a second to calm himself, Harry said, "I think from now on we should only practice together. Viktor already has his form, and I'm not in the mood to help Kira."

Calypso smiled. "I think that's a great idea. Do you want to do some work now or–"

"No," Harry said, "No, I think you've gotten enough work in for both of us today. Let's just, I don't know, what do you want to do?"

Blinking, Calypso said, "Err, I don't know. Are you hungry?"

"I suppose I could go for a snack before dinner."

"A snack sounds like a good idea," Calypso agreed.

Offering her his hand, Harry helped Calypso up off the ground.

He was slightly surprised though when he tried to release her hand and she firmly held onto his. Looking questioningly at Calypso, Harry felt his throat dry up when he saw the same look she had given him earlier reappear. There was a pause when the two teens stared at each other for a moment before Calypso leaned forward and placed a very soft kiss on his lips.

Harry felt his eyes widen. His heart began thumping in his chest and every nerve in his body seemed to suddenly explode. Unsure what to do, he could only stare as Calypso pulled back, a blush spreading across her face.

Knowing that his own face was probably turning red, Harry ducked his head slightly, though he didn't try to remove his hand from Calypso's. Doing his best to call upon his Occlumency, Harry tried to relax and act normal as the two of them silently walked out of Grindelwald's room.

The walk down to the kitchens was done in silence, but Harry couldn't help but glance over at Calypso every now and then. While she too looked to be using Occlumency to keep her emotions in check, a soft smile never seemed to leave her face.