The Mathias Prophecy Book II By Esined 1 Table of Contents The Mathias Prophecy Book II .................................................................................................. 1 WINTER BLUES................................................................................................................... 3 Here We Go Again............................................................................................................... 23 Happy Christmas.................................................................................................................. 37 A Day of Surprises ............................................................................................................... 54 Auld Lang Syne.................................................................................................................... 71 Friends Enemies and Allies.................................................................................................. 87 Quidditch Time! ................................................................................................................. 101 Betrayal .............................................................................................................................. 116 Recovery............................................................................................................................. 133 Exams and Farewells.......................................................................................................... 150 2 WINTER BLUES As Harry headed towards her last class before the Christmas recess, she was frustrated and upset. It had been over six weeks since peter Pettigrew had been apprehended and questioned. Ron had done an excellent job portraying her father's ghost, and Pettigrew had crumbled in terror, succumbing to his guilty conscience over betraying her parents, and helping Voldemort to send her back in time to the night of their death. Remus Lupin had fully recovered from his silver poisoning and Harry had regained her magic, her friends becoming more aware of her increased abilities. Ron took her powers in stride, coming from a pure blood wizarding family he was used to seeing wizards and witches of varying degrees of power. Hermione, on the other hand, was amazed that Harry was becoming so adept at skills she was only beginning to understand. Harry also suspected Hermione might be a little jealous, since Harry was finding that many of her abilities were so natural that it took very little effort to accomplish them. Professors Lupin, Snape, and Dumbledore were very pleased with her progress with her advanced tutoring sessions. She was doing well with Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Lupin and Snape had secured permission from Dumbledore for her to read some of the restricted books in both the library and their private collections. She found them interesting, and often frightening. It made her more aware than ever of how difficult it was going to be to try to defeat Lord Voldemort. Professor McGonagall was filling in for Sirius with transfiguration until his return, and now had Harry able to turn large pieces of furniture into animals such as horses, cattle, and camels. she had also been continuing to try and transform in secret, and suspected that soon she would be able to get the spells right, and become an animagus. She had a feeling that the hawk she had been trying to become was actually some other type of large bird, and decided on her next trial to try to assume the shape of the suspected bird. She was also getting along much better with Professor Snape. She found that underneath that sour demeanor there was a nice person, albeit reserved. She was still working on getting the Wolfbane potion mixed correctly, and after the recess, he was finally going to let her start to mix some of the ingredients with his supervision. Hurrying through the corridor, she raced towards the dungeon, for her regular potions class, and knew Snape would not be pleased that she was late. She had been with Professor Lupin, who had been trying to placate her, since she had heard no news about when Sirius would be finally exonerated, and able to return to Hogwarts. All he would tell her was to be patient a little longer, but her patience was worn out. She had done everything they had asked of her, but they would not answer any of her questions, and her adolescent temper was now on a short fuse. As she turned the corner towards the dungeon, she saw Snape, just entering the classroom ahead of her, and swore under her breath. She knew she would end up on the detention table and he would make the rest of her day utterly miserable. It would take every ounce of determination she had to remain civil and not loose her temper with him. He might be a fairly decent human being when they worked one on one, but he could still be a tyrant in class. "Potter, you're late," he scowled as she entered the dungeon, "take the front desk, and consider yourself on classroom detention." 3 "Yes, Professor Snape," she bit her lip in annoyance, to keep from snapping at him. "Mr. Weasley, perhaps you could tell us the ingredients used for the potion to cure poison ivy?" "Uh... moss, aloe plant, alcohol, and uh..." "Miss Potter, perhaps you would like to help Mr. Weasley? It's apparent that he did not do his assignment." "Toadstool roots boiled down to paste with white oleander," Harry responded almost immediately, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. "Mr. Weasley, why don't you join Miss Potter at the front work table? It seems the Gryffindor students have their minds on the holiday rather than potions." As Ron moved to sit beside Harry, Malfoy snickered from the back of the room, whispering loud enough for Harry and Ron to overhear. "Maybe Weasley and Potter should just think about how to butter up Professor Snape with Christmas presents, but then again, Weasley is too poor to get him anything, and Potter already spends a good deal of time with him alone. I'm sure she knows what he likes." Harry waited to see if Professor Snape would respond, knowing he had also overheard the snide and rude innuendo. When he didn't look up from his desk, she sat back and stopped working. It was one thing to be on detention, but Snape should not allow Malfoy to make such a remark. Snape was the head of Slytherin house, to which Malfoy belonged, and everybody knew he favored them, but Malfoy's conduct was unacceptable. The last time Malfoy had made an off color remark, they had all started fighting in the hallway, and everybody was given some form of detention. "Miss Potter, you are not cutting up your plants," Professor Snape finally remarked without looking up. Harry knew he had some form of telepathic ability, so she was not surprised that he knew what she was doing. "No, and I won't until Mr. Malfoy apologizes to both myself and Ron," she replied keeping her voice calm, "you may not find his remark offensive, but I do." "What remark would that be, Miss Potter?" 'The one we both know he made, Professor, and if you are not going to do anything about it, then maybe I will." "Are you threatening another student, Miss Potter?" Snape asked, finally looking up, his dark eyes glaring icily. "I don't threaten, Professor, I take action," Harry countered. 4 "Harry, don't do anything stupid," Hermione whispered from behind her, "Snape's in a bad enough mood already." "Miss Granger, do you have something to say to the class? If not, please refrain from talking or you will find yourself with your friends at the detention table," Snape told her, without taking his eyes from Harry, "go back to work, Miss Potter." "No, not until Malfoy apologizes." "Miss Potter," Snape got up slowly, his eyes never wavering from her face, "I told you to continue your work, unless you would prefer to go to the Headmaster?" "As a matter of fact, I'm sure professor Dumbledore would like to know all about this little incident," Harry answered softly, her temper ready to explode. "Harry, don't!" Ron hissed. "It's not worth it. Malfoy is just a jealous jerk. Let it go," he said taking her arm, trying to keep her anger in check. "I'm sorry, Ron, but I will not sit here and listen to Draco insult my friends or my reputation, not to mention Professor Snape's credibility. If you and the Professor choose to turn the other cheek, that's your business, but I am not going to do so." "And what are you going to do about it, Potter? Go crying to the Headmaster?" Draco taunted her brazenly. "Mr. Malfoy, that will be quite enough," Snape reprimanded. He was aware of how powerful Harry was becoming, and her adolescent temper did not mix well with that kind of magical ability. "No, Draco, I'm going to go see Professor Dumbledore for whatever detention he sees fit to give me for doing this," Harry drew her wand, pointing it at Draco, "poison ivy poison oak, poison sumac with one stroke." A bright blue stream of light hit Malfoy in the stomach before he could duck, and almost immediately, he started breaking out with the poisonous rashes all over his body. "Don't ever insult me or any of my friends or instructors again, Draco, or the next time you will find yourself in a worse situation," Harry told him as she gathered up her books and supplies. "Oh, and by the way, Happy Christmas. Professor, I'll be in the Headmaster's office, whenever you care to join me," she called over her shoulder, flouncing out of the classroom before Snape exploded in a furious tirade. Harry went directly to the Headmaster's Office. She knew he would be angry with her, but she needed him to understand how she felt. She missed Sirius and couldn't understand why it was taking so long for him to be cleared of her parent's murder. Pettigrew had confessed and was being held in custody. She knew there were other people involved, people in high government positions, but she didn't care. She wanted some stability in her life. It was Christmas, and she should be happy, but she wasn't. She had no real family, her aunt and uncle didn't like her and merely tolerated her because they had no choice. She couldn't ever remember even getting Christmas presents that weren't used clothes or broken toys left over from her cousin, Dudley, when she got presents at all.