Harry Potter And The Lord Of Darkness

Arth was eating quietly at the Ravenclaw table one morning when he was approached by two Gryffindors. More specifically, Ron and Harry.

"Congratulations on becoming the Gryffindor Seeker Harry."

"Thanks, so you've heard? We were supposed to keep it a secret, I guess everyone knows by now."

Arth shook his head. "Not everyone, I just overheard Ron talk about it. No one in Ravenclaw knows yet, and I could say the same for the Slytherins."

Ron let out a snort. "Stupid stinking Slytherins. I can't wait to see the look on Malfoy's face when he sees Harry play during the game."

Arth placed down his fork, "So, did you need me for anything?"

Harry nodded, "Actually, we were wondering if you could help us with our potions homework, both Ron and I are hopeless at the subject-"

The owls interrupted Harry as they flooded into the Great Hall as usual. Everyone's attention was soon fixated by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls.

The owls soared down and dropped the package right in front of Harry and Arth, knocking his plate to the floor. They had

hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Arth raised an eyebrow. "This looks like a broom."

Harry opened the letter before giving it to Ron.

"It's not just any broom. It's a Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron m.o.a.ned enviously. "I've never even touched one. Harry, we need to try it out!"

Arth waved them away. "You should put it in your room for now, we are about to start classes."

"Fair point, let's go Harry!"

Harry waved at Arth before leaving the Great Hall with Ron. "See you later Arthur, and think about the potions thing."

Arth gave them a smile.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of pumpkin wafting through the corridors.

Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom.

Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan. Ron with Hermione Granger. And Arth with Daphne.

Malfoy seemed to be annoyed by this as he sent glares towards Arth and Daphne all class.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too- never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

Arth watched as Daphne attempted to make the feather float.

"Wingardium Leviosa. How are you today Arth?"

"I'm pretty good, how about you?"

"Wingardium Leviosa. I'm okay, Malfoy has stopped pestering me about staying away from non Slytherins, but it seems like it'll start again. The other Slytherin girls are nice to me. Although they do tease me at times."

"Interesting."

"How is Corvus?"

"He is doing fine," Arth said, taking Corvus down from his hair. Corvus happily hopped along around the table until he saw the feather on the table. Corvus let out a shocked peep and hopped away from the feather in terror.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" Ron shouted to the right of them, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Arth heard Hermione snap. "It's Wing-gar-dium Levi-o-sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Her feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Daphne let out a pout before tugging at Arth's robes. "Arth, teach me how to do this, I can't lose to a muggleborn."

When class had finished, Daphne said goodbye to Arth and rejoined the Slytherins while Arth got surrounded by the Gryffindors once more.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," Ron complained to them as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione.Arth saw that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you," said Harry.

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"To be honest, she was trying to help you," said Arth with a shrug.

Ron become more disturbed.

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, they overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone.

When they entered the Great Hall, a thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Arth stared at his plate with a frown before letting out a sigh. He picked up his plate full of food and got up.

"Where are you going?" asked Ron his face filled with pumpkin pie.

"I'm just going to eat up at my room," replied Arth coolly.

"Kay, have fun."

Arth made his way down to the girl's bathroom. When he arrived at the door, Arth gave it a couple knocks before sitting down with his back against the wall.

"Hermione? Are you in there? My name is Arth and I brought you some food, you must be starving."

The door slowly opened and Hermione came out. Her face was streaked in tears and her eyes were red and puffy.

Arth raised an eyebrow. "This might be a stupid question but are you ok?"

Hermione gave Arth a look before heading back into the bathroom. "Go away. You were probably making fun of me with Ron."

Arth shrugged. "Perhaps, but does that matter at the moment? I'm pretty sure you are hungry. Have a bit of the baked potatoes, they are surprisingly good."

Hermione opened the bathroom door and peeked her head out. "What is that?"

"I think these are the turkey legs. As you can see, they are a bit bigger than normal chicken legs."

"Are they good?"

"Dunno, never tried one," Arth said, somewhat curious of the taste. "How about this, I take a leg, you take the other. We each eat one leg and see if we like it or not."

Hermione hesitated before letting out a giggle. "You are surprisingly kind aren't you Arth?"

"Perhaps."

"I always thought of you as quiet and introverted but it seems that you can be nice and friendly as well."

Hermione grabbed a leg and sat down next to him as Arth did the same before the both of them took a big bite.

Arth gave a start, ". . . . Wow, this is. . . . Better than I expected."

"It is pretty good."

"It's better than my mom's dishes. And that is saying something."

"Ooh, your mom must be a really good cook then."

"She is the best one I've met so far- do you smell that?" Asked Arth, a frown immediately appearing on his face.

Hermione gave a sniff and also frowned. A pungent odor started to invade their noses, causing them to lose their appetite.