Disclaimer: Card Captor Sakura belongs to CLAMP and Kodansha. Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. This non-profit, non-copyright infringing fanfiction belongs to me under international copyright laws and taking it is plagiarism. Don’t steal and don’t sue. Thank you. *Phantomness bows*

Chapter 35 – Syaoran

Dueling against Malfoy wasn’t bad. He knew quite a lot of curses, which I memorized for future reference, but nothing made it past Shield. I finally got bored and hit him with Expelliarmus. Quick and simple.

He grinned. “You’re not bad for a Gryffindor.”
“And you’re not bad for a Slytherin.” We shook hands. Our past enmity can be put behind us…

Why on earth has Ron suddenly turned on Harry? No time to ponder, Draco whacks Ron hard and then drags him off.

Weren’t we friends? Or was I blind again… I suppose I was. Ron stinks of betrayal, just like Sakura… although hers wasn’t technically a betrayal…

Very well then… I shall wipe him from my list of friends. If he comes near me I shall be prepared to fight him.

Yes…

Harry’s still in shock, so when Lockhart asks for a volunteer, I do… and my opponent is Justin Finch-Fletchley from Hufflepuff. Our year…

Well, here goes.

“Expelliarmus!”

I dodge the beam of red light and send a curse of my own back. “Petrificus Totalus!” It hits him smack in the chest and he falls down, paralyzed.

“Good work.” Snape says. “Five points to Gryffindor.” I nearly drop my staff in surprise. Did he just…? Yes, he did. This isn’t a dream. I pocket my wand and bow as Malfoy and Harry take the stage.

“Wait!” Lockhart grins. “Let me teach you how to block unfriendly spells, Harry. It can be a lesson to all the rest of you.”

Harry looks insulted. He came across Protego the simple shield spell in his textbooks two weeks ago and practiced it a few times already. No matter what fancy thing Lockhart wants to teach, it probably won’t work.

Malfoy is listening to Professor Snape and nods.

“Ready, wands, bow, go!” Lockhart says. Idiot.

“Serpensortia!” A black snake shoots out of Malfoy’s wand. It advances on Harry, hissing… and… stops short about a foot away when Harry cries “Protego!”

“Very good.” Snape says.

“Allow me!” Lockhart suddenly yells, pointing his wand at it. The snake flies up and smacks into the ceiling, and just so happens to land on Justin, who’s still petrified… luckily, since it looks ready to bite.

Hermione screams and the snake lunges at her.

“Stop!” Harry yells, or at least that’s what I think it is, but he’s hissing now, and the snake crawls back to him before vanishing, thanks to Professor Snape.

Malfoy looks really impressed. “You’re a Parselmouth!”

Harry blushes. Oh! Maybe… “I only found out this summer.”

“That’s enough.” Snape says. “Next pair up.”

By the end of the lesson, most of the Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs are avoiding Harry – and by extension, me, like the plague.

Ron’s included though, because Harry broke his wand. They seem to think of Harry as a traitor. Poor Harry… I wonder why they’re so stupid? He was helping Justin.

Life is never fair though.

Anyways, we’re walking back to our dormitory when suddenly, Harry stops short. “Did you hear that?”

“Hear what?”

“Something talking…”

“Might be another snake. I’m sure there are lots in this castle.”

“If it keeps the rat population down…” He laughs and we walk on. Yes school has been fairly good, except for Lockhart. Snape’s nice enough, and…

Somehow, I catch him looking at Harry quite often, and they seem quite similar. Of course, since he’s Hurry’s real father that makes perfect sense… I wonder if Clow was related to the Snape line? I suppose I’ll find out…

More studying in the library then!

Ginny Weasley has been watching Harry as well too. The poor girl’s crush is quite obvious. It reminds me of myself when I pursued Sakura… but Sakura never noticed, and Harry is as oblivious as she was.

The next day, we’ve just left the library when suddenly… something cold skitters along my mind.

< What is it? >

< Danger. > Mirror says quickly.

< We’ll protect you. > Firey vows.

< It’s not here, but close… > Windy tells me. We continue walking down another corridor and then…

Clow, who did this? Justin is lying there dead on the ground! There’s no pulse, nothing! I almost panic, but then I tell Harry to get McGonagall…

She comes back with Sprout and they all gasp.

Ten minutes later, we’re up in the headmaster’s office again…

“Now Harry,” Dumbledore says with a grandfatherly smile. “What happened?”

“We were leaving the library when we ran into Justin.”

“Do you say the same thing, Mr. Li?”

“Yes sir.” I say, even though I don’t care for this twinkle-eyed man at all… I don’t trust him.

Shouldn’t he be trying to prevent the attacks inside this castle?

Instead… he hasn’t done anything of note yet. I guess that’s because nobody like Ms. Norris…

He hands us each a glass of water, and we drink them without question. I can sense something changing as it enters my system.

< Truth potion, > Libra whispers. < I’ll protect you. >

< Thank you, Libra. >

“Let’s start with you. Mr. Li. What happened?”

I answer in a robotic voice, almost detached. “We left the library. We were talking about how Ron is Hermione’s supposed boyfriend. We talked about the potions essay too. Then we came to another corridor. I tripped over something. It turned out to be Justin. I told Harry to get Professor McGonagall.”

He nods, and then turns to Harry. “And you, Mr. Potter?”

“We left the library. Ron is a git. Why is Snape being nice to me in potions this year? Yuki tripped. It was a person. Please don’t expel me!”

“That’s enough,” Dumbledore says, as the potion wears off after a few minutes. “Well, they’re both innocent.”

Sprout nods, convinced. McGonagall looks worried though. “Albus, is Justin really-?”

“I’m afraid so, Minerva. If this continues, we shall have to close Hogwarts…”

Oh no.

If Hogwarts closes, where am I going to go? I’ll figure out a way… no. There are many other magic schools around, I’m sure.

We’ll just have to find a different one. It’s not so bad…

End Chapter

Completed 4/2/05

And… I didn’t like Justin. So he got bumped off. ^^