Title: Searching for Disaster
Author: Shadow Rebirth
Rating: T/PG-13
Warnings: coarse language, adult themes, spoilers
Chapter WC: 1,002
Story WC: 35,636
First Written: March 3, 2009
Last Edited: June 10, 2009
Posted: June 10, 2009
Summary: Owls, cauldrons, and pointed hats? Harry Potter was not amused. And he still wasn't entirely sure that his human trafficking theory had been wrong. Warning! Features a very cynical Harry. AU, no pairings.
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Searching for Disaster
Chapter 10
The Return of the Schizo
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Chaos. It was absolute chaos.
Harry reveled in it.
"...Don't you think you should stop them now, Harry?" Zacharias asked. Though the boy would never admit it, he was just as amused as Harry was.
"I could," Harry agreed, "But why help people when you can stare at them?"
Zacharias rolled his eyes, but did nothing to stop his own laughter. The currently white haired boy leaned back against the nearest wall and joined Harry in watching the students of Hufflepuff house running around like headless chickens, screaming about Voldemort's return. There were even a few young girls sobbing in a corner. Harry briefly wondered if there was something wrong with him because he didn't feel even the slightest bit of pity, but swiftly dismissed the thought.
After all, it was their fault for not taking the time to logically consider the situation.
"Really," Harry muttered to himself with a snort. "Like I would actually keep Voldemort in my room. ...Though, that actually could be quite amusing. I could hang a cage from the ceiling and pelt him with Cheetos whenever I'm bored."
While Zacharias turned to stare at him like he was insane, Harry's eyes abruptly locked onto the fireplace mantelpiece on the other side of the room. He smirked widely and then strode over to it, ignoring the chaos around him.
"Voldemort!" he said brightly. Everyone around him froze. "There you are!"
Harry lifted the jarvey from where it'd been sitting on the mantelpiece. It struggled briefly before leaping on his shoulder and getting comfortable there.
"No kidding, you motherfucking shit for brains—"
Harry blinked in surprise. "Eh? What happened to the silencing charm?"
"All charms wear off after a while, remember Harry?" Zacharias answered. The young wizard unconsciously rubbed his hand while eyeing the jarvey on Harry's should as though it was going to attack him any second—which it probably would.
"Ah, of course. That must be how Voldemort got out; he just asked someone to open the door."
"Wait, hold on," a nearby Prefect said. She looked as though she was torn between disbelief and rage. "That's the Voldemort you were talking about?"
Harry blinked innocently and shot her a faux confused look. "Well of course. What else could I have been talking about?"
And then he walked back toward his dorm room without a second glance, leaving a room full of shell-shocked Hufflepuffs to gape after him.
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"Have you heard?! Have you heard?!" Zacharias yelled as he came flying into the room, white hair flying every which way. He skidded to a stop in front of Harry, thrusting a newspaper into his face. "Narcissa Malfoy is getting divorced from Lucius Malfoy now that he's in jail!"
Harry glanced up lazily, one eyebrow cocked in question. "Yes, Zach," he said with a bored tone, "I've already heard about it." From Richard, his journalist contact, as a matter of fact.
Zacharias' face fell and he pouted, obliviously disappointed. "You always know everything," he whined. "Why can't I surprise you with something, just this once?"
The dark haired wizard returned to his homework. "Maybe one day," he answered distractedly.
"Come...come to me...Let me rip you...Let me tear you...Let me kill you..."
Harry froze. Slowly he looked up from his book to stare at Zacharias, attempting to ignore the white hot flash of betrayal that pierced his chest. "...What the hell did I do to you?" he demanded.
The other boy gave him a wide-eyed look. "Huh?"
"....soo hungry...for so long..."
Zacharias' mouth wasn't moving.
"Huh." Harry's gaze flickered around, noticing that there was no one else in the library. "Hey, Zach, do you know if Hogwarts has any books on schizophrenia?"
"...Er, probably. Why?"
"No reason."
"...Right 'cause, you know, that's not random at all," Zacharias said sarcastically. "Anyway, I've got to get going because I have Potions next." The boy suddenly halted, mid-turn, and stared at Harry thoughtfully. "You know...I have to admit that I'm surprised that you're agreeing to take private lessons with Professor Snape. It just doesn't seem like you to cave in like that."
Harry shot him a surprisingly dark grin. "Who me? Caving in to Snape? I have no idea what you're talking about," he all but purred.
Zacharias' eyes narrowed. "What are you planning, Harry?" he asked suspiciously.
The Boy-Who-Lived released a small chuckle as his grin widened even further. "Nothing. Nothing at all."
With a snort, Zacharias finally turned away. "Yeah, we all believe that bullshit," he commented. He waved lazily over his shoulder then and ambled out of the library, leaving a cackling Harry in his wake.
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It was mocking him.
He knew it was. It was just sitting there, oh-so innocently. Silently mocking him.
"Are the Wrackspurts bothering you again?"
Harry started violently, jerking up from his chair. He tore his gaze from the book in front of him—no matter what he did it wouldn't move; he just couldn't get that damn banishing charm to work!—to stare at the small girl who had silently approached him. She had hair so pale it was bordering on white and was decked out in an odd assortment of clothing and jewelry, unlike anything he'd ever seen before.
Fortunately—for Harry—nothing managed to silence him for long. In just a few short seconds he regained his composure.
"Oh yes, obviously it's the Wrackspurts," he replied sarcastically. Not that he had any idea what a Wrackspurt actually was.
The girl, however, only nodded serenely, completely unconcerned with his attitude. Her strange silver eyes had a distant look in them, as though she was looking through Harry instead of at him.
"Of course," she said softly, but entirely seriously. "They can be a nuisance sometimes, but they're entirely harmless. They seem to like you in particular though."
Harry found himself staring blankly at the girl. She was without a doubt the strangest person he'd ever met—and considering that they were in the Wizarding World, that was really saying something.
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A/N: ...Yeah...It's been what, almost eight months? (winces) Er, sorry about that. The delay was a combination of business, my other stories, and a case of writer's block—mainly because of Luna.
This actually isn't the complete chapter 10, but I want to post what I have so far to show that this story isn't dead. None of my stories are unless I specifically say so. Once I finish writing this chapter I'll delete this and repost the completed one, so that those on the alert list will know of the updated version.
Anyway, ages ago, after the posting of chapter 9, a lot of people expressed their surprise over how easily Harry gave into those lessons with Snape. All I can say is, really? Knowing this story, do you really think that Harry would give up that easily?
And finally, for those of you who don't know, I now have website up for info on all of my stories (and it also archives the stories themselves). If you'd like to take a look, here's the link: shadowrebirth(DOT)webs(DOT)com
Thanks for all of your reviews!
--S.R.