Chapter 100: Closer Ties

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

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3 December 1992, Hogwarts

It has been a few days since he went on that trip to the forbidden forest with Luna, and well, it started becoming a regular thing. Harry didn't know how to explain it, but there was just this connection between him and Fluffy, and it was oddly relaxing just laying around with the beast's presence. His unusual nature was already an interesting thing, but Luna was surprisingly very knowledgeable about the subject. Of course, it took a little while for her to freak out before she actually started explaining it. Apparently, the existence of Phantasmal Beasts was a thing of legend. According to her, it was on par with the Crumpled Horned Snorkack, in terms of discoveries.

Since proper research on magical beasts is something of a recent thing, numerous rare and elusive creatures were not really properly researched. Apparently, according to a few ancient texts, a few magical creatures just are fundamentally different. They are more than beings of flesh and blood and are creatures of magic and energy.

Legends say that before Atlantis was sunk, in the age before man, the rumoured age of Gods, magical creatures as large as cities roamed the world. They were unbeatable beings of pure energy and magic. And sometimes they were even worshipped as gods. In many ways, that was precisely what they were. They were beings of incredible power and lifespans that could get up to thousands of years.

When they mysteriously disappeared, wizards and witches started to emulate these creatures and experimented by using Alchemy to create beasts to serve them. They were not nearly as intelligent or as powerful as the divine beasts, and they were creatures of flesh and blood and thus could be easily harmed or killed. Modern Dragons couldn't compare to Luna's tales of elder dragons, who were symbols of power personified more than anything.

However, these magical creatures could sometimes ascend when they become beings of legends. They are then called Phantasmal creatures. It could happen to a particular creature or an entire species, or maybe even a part of a species. According to the young Ravenclaw, things like Pegasi, Nemean Lions, or Hydras were rumoured to be Phantasmal creatures. However, as none of these creatures allowed wizards and witches to run experiments on them, and they are powerful enough to go through entire teams of war mages, it's hard to confirm such theories.

Funnily enough, the entire thing started interesting Magizoologist when they started to study unicorns and found that they were fundamentally different from any other magical creatures. They couldn't do much without risking getting cursed, and a unicorn never dies of natural causes, at least as far as they could tell. It was theorized that they were beings of partial energy, however, all the researchers could do was study their behaviour and make theories since for some reason the creatures were simply immune to magic.

Research on Cerberus was never properly conducted as well. They were too rare for large scale studies and their magical negation properties were far more powerful than unicorns. Luna, probably using her clairvoyance, was able to divine the true nature of Fluffy and was stupefied by it. When Harry suggested that unicorns could also be Phantasmal creatures, the young Ravenclaw started organizing a search for them, but they couldn't find any for her to observe anymore. It was slightly unnerving to be completely honest.

Still, every couple of days, he and Luna would go to their clearing, pet the Thestrals, and play with Fluffy slightly. The three-headed dog was very obedient to Harry for some reason, and he couldn't deny that his crest thrummed slightly at the beast's presence. Although, when they took Hedwig with them, the snowy owl kept glaring at the overly friendly hound. She was probably jealous, so Harry made sure to give her extra bacon and spend more time. It seemed to work since she was a lot calmer later.

Anyway, other than accidentally confirming one of the most researched topics in Magizoology, Harry spent his time just hanging out with his friends, although, it was mostly with Daphne, who had asked him to teach her how to duel out of nowhere. They spent hours every day together, just the two of them, duelling slightly. And Harry had to admit that the blonde was very talented in the field and had a vicious side to her that he didn't see often.

Which brings him to their current situation. They were in an empty large classroom, sparring. Harry ducked to dodge a cutting hex and shielded against the punching hex that followed. He smiled slightly as the girl huffed in exasperation as her tutor easily countered her spell chain.

She then sent a new spell, her hand glowing slightly where her family crest resided, "Ligamen Plantae!"

Giant roots appeared from the ground and tried to bind Harry. However, the Potter scion simply waved his wand and yelled back, "Impedimenta! Radix Evanescet!"

The first spell simply slowed down the roots massively, and the second one vanished them into ash. It was a modified vanishing charm that Harry made on the spot that only vanished plants in a wide area. It was faster than doing it individually but far more energy consuming. Honestly, it wasn't exactly fair, since Harry was, for lack of a better term, a savant when it came to magic. He could easily modify spells on the fly and technically this wouldn't be authorized. Well, it would be if it was done silently as official duels normally are since it was technically a vanishing charm and not an entirely new spell altogether. Alas, the Greengrass scion had used one of her family spells, which was definitely illegal.

Well, the spell wasn't exactly one cast using the crest. She was going to fully unlock it on her birthday, which was in a few months, but her father had given her a list of spells to warm it up, in a way. They weren't powerful, and Daphne did need to learn how to cast them, but she was naturally gifted when it came to using them.

Still, obscure spells rarely surprised Harry altogether. To his Arcane Hearing, spells were painfully obvious. While enchantments and wards felt more like songs in the background, spells felt more like bullets filled to the brim with magic and intent. The purpose of a spell was usually clear a fraction of a second after it was fired, as such, Harry was able to easily figure out the goal of Daphne's spell.

The Potter scion grinned, "You're doing very well, Daphne. It's a big improvement in such a small amount of time but remember to not use any family spells since it's illegal in tournaments and you would be disqualified."

Instead of answering back, she snarled at him, "Flipendo! Expelliarmus! Glacius!"

Harry simply waved his arm, "Don't let your emotions cloud your judgement and definitely don't let your enemy lead your actions. Protego! Incendio!"

The shield deflected the Flipendo spell towards the disarming charm, and the fire making charm countered the Glacius spell, turning it into a battle of wills. The freezing charm and fire making charm are complete opposites. They weren't really elemental spells since they were just spells that caused an object to burn or freeze. They did not manipulate an element in a way. And since these spells are arithmetically opposite, it is possible to turn it into a battle of wills of sorts.

Of course, Harry could easily win such a context with Daphne, but what he didn't need to. Daphne's own disarming charm went back at her and sent her wand flying back.

Harry grinned once more, "And be mindful of your surroundings, especially the spells that you cast."

The blonde grumbled, "I still didn't land a hit on you…"

"Daph, landing a hit in a duel means that you've won the exchange unless it's mitigated somehow. And not to sound arrogant, but I'm a little better than the average second year when it comes to magic. Believe me, you're far ahead of the curve."

The Greengrass scion didn't seem to believe him and so, he continued, "Look, your progress is phenomenal and even Professor Flitwick thinks so. You know how hard he is when it comes to duelling. You just need to learn a style that suits you and after a bit of practice, you'll be golden."

"A style?" the blonde asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Oh, right. We haven't really covered this yet since we're still doing the basics with Flitwick," Harry answered, "it's more like a way you play, the tactics that you employ. Certain duelers prefer to stick to small and quick spells instead of large ones. Others deploy modified shields and use them as attacking spells which can defend at once. Some favour changing their surroundings using transfiguration, and some just rely on conjuration. And even then, how you use this kind of magic can affect your style massively. What I mean by that is that whether you like to rely on counterattacks or be aggressive with your magic. You could even just dodge quickly and wait until your opponents get tired, although I wouldn't really recommend this fighting method. It's all up to you."

"And what style are you using," Daphne asked.

"Well, I rely mostly on counterattacks, like the one I used on you. My shield charms repelled a spell towards another, and I used a battle of wills to lock you into place so that you get hit with your own disarming charm. But if I had to suggest a style for you, it would be one involving your speed. Your casting is very quick, and your spell chains are very impressive."

The girl blushed and mumbled, "Thank you."

On their way back to their common room, Harry spoke up, "Now, I have to ask. Why do you always resort to your family spells whenever you're emotional?"

The girl fidgeted slightly, "I just panic and it's always there in the back of my mind. Ever since I learnt them, I haven't really needed to think about using them. It's very hard to explain. I just cast them by instinct, like I was holding up my arm and protecting my face. My father was very strict with me in the Summer and decided to teach me a few basics, and they just feel natural, I guess. I know it's unusual since we usually have to wait until we're thirteen, but apparently, it's a tradition to master a handful of spells before we have access to the full thing in our next maturity. I don't think the other crests work like that since Mum looked confused as well when Dad took me on a training trip. I guess I'll see when Astoria unlocks my mother's crest. But anyway, there's this whole pressure on me to master these spells so I try to use them as much as possible."

While this was interesting, it wasn't any of Harry's business. Family crests were family matters, after all. Even telling him this much about it was a sign of trust on the part of Daphne. Luna was right, in a way, that he was slowly drifting away from his friends during the whole search for the diary. When he slowed down and made some time for them, he remembered how much he missed just spending time with them. They were now closer than ever, even if he was far closer to Daphne than to Blaise and Tracy.

Anyway, the Potter scion walked his friends to the entrance of the girl's dormitory and prepared to go shower. He was planning on finishing his anti-basilisk glare goggles soon since he made a lot of progress in the last few weeks.

Oddly enough, he was held up by Crabbe and Goyle of all people. It was disconcerting to see them away from Malfoy, and even then, behind them was Millicent Bulstrode. The girl was normally very uncomfortable around the two boys since they were very prone to violence. That wariness wasn't there before.

She quickly blurted out to him, "Harry, I wanted to ask you a few questions."

Huh, she called him Harry. It was common courtesy to call people by their family names. Sure, sometimes Harry ignored it, but Millicent always followed the unspoken rules of Slytherin. Her posture was also wrong, she was nervous but did not have the inherent pride a scion of an old family had.

Crabbe and Goyle were also too different. Other than their posture, they looked inquisitive, and well, they never really looked like it. They were easily distracted, easy to anger, and prone to violence, but the truth was that they were slow. Yet, there was a spark of intelligence that he had never seen before in their eyes.

The conclusion was simple, these weren't his housemates. These were impostors. The question remaining is how he should handle it. This could go wrong very quickly.

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If you want to support me check out my patréon at https://www.patréon.com/athassprkr

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.