Fire and Smoke

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"Are you ready for your big game Harry?" Liam asked while taking a bite out of his breakfast muffin

Harry's first quidditch match was drawing near and with it came the opportunity for Liam to have free reign of the castle. Or in this particular case, it was more correct to say the castle grounds.

"I don't know. What if am no good at it, Liam? everyone thinks I am so good at it and that's why they picked me for the team, I just hope I don't end up making a fool of myself"

"I am sure you will catch the snitch in no time"

Ron said adding to the expectation which drove Harry to exhale while putting his face in his hands

"Whenever I am trying something that seems hard for the first time Harry, I like to think to myself what is the worst that could happen, It gives me comfort knowing the stakes aren't that high. Right now worst case is you guys losing and while that may be a bummer it won't be the end of the world harry, and you are not alone out there you know, you have a team that shares the wins and loses with you and you can always make it up in the later matches"

Liam said trying to give Harry some advice but it only made Harry think about losing even more and that was before Ron chimed in with a nice little addition

"That's not the worst that can happen I heard if a bludger hits you in the head in just the right way you can forget your whole life "

Harry looked up at Ron horrified while Liam kicked Ron in the leg while saying

"I am sure that is just a rumor Harry and Madam Pomfrey can take care of most injuries in a day anyway, so don't hold back out there ok"

Liam then gave Ron a look trying to signal him to shut up. But apparently, Ron didn't quite get the meaning as he looked puzzled and said to Liam

"What are you looking at me like that for?"

Liam sighed and said changing the subject

"It's nothing Ronald. Oh did I tell you I decided what my prank for Malfoy is"

"Really what are you going to do? "

Ron said excitedly and Harry even looked at Liam with interest

"No way I am telling you beforehand. That would ruin the surprise but I might be generous enough to supply you with a hint"

Liam said with a smile

"Oh come on mate why do you have to be mysterious just tell us now"

Liam ignored Ron while saying

"The hint is that you should be always be paying attention in professor Snape's class"

"Are you going to do it in potions ?? If you get caught Snape is going to take away so many house points"

"Then I just have to not get caught, plus wouldn't you like to see Slytherin losing points for a change"

"HAH, you're delusional mate he is more likely to start spouting poetry than take points away from Slytherin"

"Poetry you say, that actually gives me another idea, anyhow I'll see you guys later, good luck Harry"

Liam made his way to the room of requirement and spent a couple of hours preparing before going to find Hermione in the library. After exchanging pleasantries and studying for a bit Liam said

"I need to ask for a favor"

"What favor" Hermione said looking up from her book.

"I have something I need to do this afternoon so I can't come to the game"

"What thing? And you still haven't said what favor you are asking for"

"I don't want to say what I am going to do, that's the favor actually that you don't ask why I didn't go or tell somebody where I was"

"That's not fair you can't just ask for a favor and the favor is you don't tell me whatever it is you don't want to tell me, and I am not going to lie for you when you doing god knows what"

"Take it easy ok I didn't say you have to lie, if someone asks you where I was you just need to say I don't know which is true, as for the favor you are free to refuse it if you want "

Hermione looked at Liam in suspicion

"So if I refuse and ask you what you are doing you will tell me?"

"No"

"Then why are you even telling me this right now you are so frustrating"

"I am entitled to my own secrets Hermione as to why I told you its because I take my word very seriously and I promised that I wouldn't lie to you, if I told you nothing and on the day of the game I was nowhere to be found and the forest was... and something happened, you would know I had something to do with it and ask me about it, so then if I lie I would lose your trust or if I refuse to tell you, you would think I am trying to avoid something"

"So you are just trying to skip the issue altogether by telling me nothing how does that make sense? And what about the forest"

"Look Hermione I don't want to go in circles I am just doing what I think is right, I didn't want to make you feel like I was hiding something from you, but I guess that is pointless since I am hiding something from everyone and you are a part of that group. I will tell you that nobody is going to be hurt and that I am doing what I am doing for the greater good aside from that I can't tell anymore"

"Fine be like that then" Hermione said as she got collecting her books and notes, she spared him one last glance and then started walking away

"hay can I ask for another favor"

Hermione turned around barely able to keep her anger in check anymore

"What?"

"Can you promise me that you will go to the game ?"

"What you scared I am going to follow you around again, no thanks I don't want trolls to eat me, I was going to go anyways to support Harry, you know our friend, what are you going to tell him when he asks what you thought of the match"

"That he did great catching that snitch, and that I didn't have a doubt in my mind"

Hermione stood there eyeing him for a couple of seconds and then she turned around and walked away

'Crap, should I have just told her, but then she will ask why I am doing it and I can't answer that, not without sounding insane or delusional, not yet anyway. No, I did what I could and now it's her choice '

Liam spent some time in the courtyard until he noticed the students getting quite scarce, he waited 10 more minutes and by then he was alone with almost everyone going to the game.

He walked on the path heading the field and once he exited the castle and made sure no one was around and then he took a left turn and carried on to the forbidden forest.

He stopped once he reached the tree line and there he found himself standing in front of the forest there were trees and shrubs and shadows and some unidentified noises coming from the wildlife within every now and then. It seemed to him like an ordinary forest, it didn't seem to contain anything vile enough to be labeled the forbidden forest.

But he wasn't an expert on the subject, his experience with forests only extended to the one time in his past life when they went on one of their rare vacations, they went camping for two weeks, And now thinking back on it, He wondered why would his mother which was for all counts a workhorse, take her two boys which were 6 and 4 at this point and into the wilderness and stop working for two weeks, that added with the fact that they went home to a smaller and more importantly different apartment made him reach the conclusion that they were homeless and that his mother was in the middle of figuring something out and that the whole camping thing was cover to keep them from noticing.

He cursed at his stupidity of not figuring it out sooner and looking at the trees in front of him he felt that he was back there somehow and that right around this tree Harry was hiding to try and scare him, and their mother was making some smores by the campfire right around that tree, he wondered if the reason why they basically ate nothing but smores breakfast, lunch and dinner was their mother indulging them as he thought or that she didn't have anything else to feed them.

He shook his head trying to focus on the task at hand and he wondered if the forest was somehow messing with his head. He didn't remember anything about that in the canon but he was sure it was called the Forbidden Forest for a reason

'It's properly called that to scare the kids into not going there on their own and having preventable accidents happen, but surely they know that telling kids something was forbidden was only going to drive them more towards it '

Liam opened his bag taking out the fire protection potion that he had prepared earlier in the day via the room of requirements, he had tested its effects a week before to make sure it was effective enough.

Because he wanted to carry on his plan in the latter half of the match so as not to affect it in any way he waited five more minutes then he started drinking the foul-smelling yet strangely sweet-tasting liquid and he felt this warmth inside him that quickly turned into coolness, Liam exhaled and saw a cloud of condensation come out of his mouth and he nodded his head in satisfaction and then he took in a breath, took his wand out and put on a large winter hat that covered most of his face and walked into the forest.

He marched along the tree line further away from the castle and after a couple of minutes he turned his back to the forest entrance, pointed his wand down, and cast his modified Flagrate spell as he ran into the forest

The trees brushed past him as he kept running while the flame was catching the dry flora of the forest and spreading slowly but surely, the birds fluttered into the air weary about the sudden disruption to their usually song-filled life.

Liam stopped after a minute and picked up a stone and pointed his wand at it and cast the Sonorus charm while hitting it against another stone producing a very loud crashing sound, He was trying to give a warning to all the wildlife to move away and then he repeated the same pattern of running and burning and then stopping for a bit and making a loud sound, the fire spread behind him in the shape of the first half of a very large upside-down U letter and by the time he had reached the middle of his path he heard a loud shuffling sound to his left and from the parting trees immerged a large centaur with a brown mane and brown hair and he was knocking an arrow into his bow while shouting angrily at Liam.

Liam was quick to throw out an Arresto Momentum in front of him and when the arrow stopped in midair that landed at his feet he throw up another one and then turned around and started running in the direction of Hogwarts, still sticking to his path and burning the woods along his way, he was zigzagging and weaving between trees to try and avoid any arrows sent his way, while trying to cover the way behind him in flames to close off the road to his pursuer.

after what felt like hours of running Liam finally cleared the trees and was back to the tree line, he slumped exhaustingly at one of the trees keep his eye on the forest to see if the centaur followed him through the flames somehow, after catching his breath for a moment he quickly made his way to the castle making sure before leaving every cover that his way was clear all the way, he had to do all he could to make sure he was not associated with this event.

After all, he was now directly getting in the way of the dark lord Voldemort

"Good luck finding those unicorns you bald bastard they should be halfway across Scotland now "