27 A monster

'There's another one coming your way,' Ash said through their bond.

'Bloody hell. They keep on coming, huh? Should I just come back to the chamber then? I think I had enough socialising for the day.'

'Oh, but you are going to love this one,' the snake said excitedly.

'Well, don't keep me in suspense,' Harry said with mock thrilledness, having sensed Ash's sarcasm.

'Why, it's your best friend, Ron — the traitor — Weasley,' he exclaimed, making Harry groan.

He knew what 'his friend' would do upon seeing him…

'I might as well get this over with,' he decided.

'Where is he right now?' Harry asked the snake.

If he were to start mingling with the Hogwarts populace again, he'd have to deal with certain people in person sooner or later...

'He just stopped walking on the great lake's perimeter. If you go straight there, you should see him. He's also not alone,' Ash helpfully supplied.

'Seamus and Dean,' Harry deduced, getting a mental nod from his navigator.

With a plan forming in his mind, Harry made his way to the lake.

Fawkes faithfully followed him from the skies, ready to intervene if needed.

Harry walked slowly as he wasn't in a hurry and let himself get immersed in the sights in front of him.

He hadn't noticed it before the task but the constant training and stress had taken a big toll on him.

All of his needs had been made small and insignificant by the dire necessity to survive, and so Harry found himself feeling a myriad of emotions he had not felt in a long time.

'Now that living through these tasks isn't a fool's errand anymore, simply surviving doesn't feel enough,' he mused, taking a great deal of enjoyment from the breeze that caressed his face.

He let out a content sight and let his thoughts shift to his friends.

'I need to catch up with Hermione now that I can. God knows how much I must have worried her. I'll see if I can catch her outside the castle, preferably somewhere secluded. I could send Hedwig, though people would no doubt notice her presence and associate her with me.'

Despite not roaming around much, Harry had regularly made time to visit his snowy owl.

Needless to say, she wasn't too pleased when she learned that he moved to a place inaccessible to her and had made quite a fuss.

Thankfully, the recent letters he exchanged with his dogfather seemed to appease her ire.

'Speaking of Sirius, the man seems surprisingly dependable. I would have thought that Azkaban with all its dementors would have knocked a few of his screws loose in all those years, but apparently, his occlumency and his animagus form somehow managed to stave off the prison's worse effects,' Harry mused.

The man had informed him that he took residence in one of the Blacks' houses in London, specifically, the Twelve Grimmauld Place. He had also invited Harry to visit him whenever he wanted, though he emphasized that the boy should do so alone as the property's wards wouldn't allow anyone else in and would also be most unwelcome towards them.

'I wonder how is his rehabilitation going. I could go and check on him, it's not like there's anything stopping me,' he contemplated.

While his godfather may have escaped Azkaban with his mind intact, staying cooped inside a forsaken and gloomy house, as he called it, all without anyone to talk to didn't sound very healthy. Harry would know…

'We also have to deal with Dumbledore and his innocence,' he mused, stomping down the expected anger that rose within him from thinking about his esteemed headmaster.

'That can wait though,' he thought as he noticed the silhouette of a red-haired boy in his peripheral vision.

'There's Ron…'

Harry walked with a steady rhythm towards his old friend, his movements holding an unfamiliar grace that could rival the likes of Malfoys and the late Blacks.

It was one of the many things Salazar had taught him and he felt it'd be appropriate to utilise it for the occasion.

He didn't bother raising his occlumency shields as constantly depending on the mind arts wasn't the smartest thing to do.

'And I paid dearly for it with Fleur by acting like a fool,' he thought unhappily.

Sigh.

'A big fool,' Ash corrected helpfully.

Slightly shaking his head and muttering about not having any privacy, Harry focused his attention on the three boys who were sitting on the ground in front of him.

"Hello, lads. How do you do?" he asked, getting three exclamations of surprise when the boys saw who addressed them.

"Harry!" Ron shouted excitedly and got up, marching towards Harry.

"I was looking everywhere for you! Where did you disappear to? I wanted to tell you that I believe you now. I know that you didn't put your name in the goblet and I'm sorry for accusing you of such before," he revealed with a magnanimous smile, clearly expecting that Harry would accept his apology and everything would shift back to as it was before.

Alas, he was bound to be disappointed.

"Sigh. I'm sorry Ron but after the shit you pulled, I don't think we can be friends anymore. You broke my trust mate, and I doubt you can ever get it back," Harry actually answered.

He knew that he was being nice to Ron, extremely nice, by answering as he did, but he had enough of blowing up for the day.

Ron didn't share his worries…

"Huh? What are talking about mate? I said I was sorry, now hurry up and accept my apology so we can be best mates again," the redhead demanded with a confused look on his face.

Harry was about to throw him some rather unkind words, self-control be damned, but Ron wasn't finished yet.

"Enough about that though. Have you seen the French champion? You probably didn't see her in the task but she transformed into a bird! It's such a shame that she isn't human, you know? Otherwise, I'd have happily invited her to the ball with me," he said, sporting a perverted expression.

'What the fuck is wrong with him and why do these bastards keep calling Fleur a creature?' he wondered perplexed.

They had gone over Veelas with Hagrid in their last year and the man told them that despite common belief, Veelas were as much human as the rest of them.

Being a Veela wasn't a physiological trait, but a magical one.

'Just like parseltongue.'

Harry became lost in his thoughts, wondering if by that same logic, he could be considered a snake of some sort…

"What, don't you agree?" the confirmed imbecile asked him.

'Should I curse him?' he briefly contemplated, but ultimately decided against it.

Brushing his occlumency shields and taking a deep breath, Harry forcefully calmed himself down.

"Sorry, but I just remembered that I have somewhere to be… Lads," he nodded and turned to leave.

"Bloody hell. Harry!" Ron shouted at his back, not getting a reaction.

'I suppose I won't be talking to him again,' he concluded, widening the distance between himself and his old friend.

"Incanecrous!" the angry boy eventually cried, sick of Harry ignoring his pleas to stay.

Harry, thanks to his magical sense, felt the magic swirling and concentrating behind him before he heard the incantation.

By the time the spell had reached him, he easily stepped away from it.

"Are you serious, Ronald fucking Weasley?" he asked as he let his anger flow freely and eyed his aggressor.

"Even Malfoy realised that raising his wand on me after I slayed a bloody dragon, wouldn't be the smartest thing," he mentioned with a cold voice that was unfamiliar to Ron.

'I… How could I forget about that?' the redhead wondered, suddenly filled with an inexplicable fear.

A cold feeling of dread crept from somewhere and gripped him with its icy claws.

"Monster, you are a monster. You are turning dark," he muttered weakly, not meeting his friend's gaze.

His gut was telling him that were he to look at those green eyes, some terrible fate would befall him.

Thankfully, for all of the parties concerned, Harry reined his anger back in and took his leave, uncaring about the grim expressions the Gryffindors were now sporting.

'So it's either this, being accused of becoming a monster and a dark wizard, or the feeling of utter loneliness… Doesn't fate ****have something better in store for me?' he wondered sadly.

Achoo.

'I wonder who's thinking about me…?'

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