von Linda Black
Et voilà, here you are. I'm sorry, this took a bit longer than I expected it to, but this chapter is much longer than the other ones, I hope you'll enjoy it! I am deviating (abweichen, I have no clue, what it means, that's what LEO told me) a bit from the other books but I still hope you like it. Don't forget your Kommi!
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A few days after this conversation Harry and his friends were just playing cards in the kitchen when Lupin, Moody and Mr. Weasley entered. They were looking very serious but Hermione was the only one who realized it, Ron was taken up with looking angrily at Harry because he had won once again. “You’re cheating, man!”
“No, I’m not”
“Of course you are, you cockroach!”
”Why should I? I don’t need to cheat to win you!”
“Chrm chrm”, Hermione sounded just like their ex-professor Umbridge and that made them jump. Hermione nodded towards the three adults.
“Oh, sorry, professor… I mean…” Harry stammered. Lupin grinned amused to Mr. Weasley but Moody didn’t look happy at all.
“Potter, I’ve got news for you”, he announced. “You are going to leave this house.
Harry gaped. Had he misunderstood his past professor of defence against the dark arts? What had he done wrong? Lupin saw the startled look on his face and smiled at Harry, trying to cheer him up.
“It’s all right, Harry”, he said. “Mad-Eye wanted to say that your training is over and that you can leave soon to search for the horcruxes.” Now, that sounded better to Harry.
“But – please, professor – are you sure he is ready?” Hermione asked. “I mean… there is surely still a lot to learn, isn’t it?”
“I dare say, Hermione, that this is none of your business”, Mr. Weasley answered. “Harry has spent a lot of time on training and is ready now. There is no reason to wait any longer.” That was true. Harry had spent most of his time here in Grimnauld place with training. He had duelled himself so many times with members of the Order that he couldn’t count it any more. In the evenings, he had read books about defence charms and had also trained them with Ron and Hermione. His body ached regularly but he knew this was worth it.
Mr. Weasley carried on. “I understand you two still want to go with him?” He looked at Ron and Hermione. They both nodded. Harry opened his mouth to say something but Mr. Weasley interrupted. “Fine. Harry, Hermione, have you ever been horseback-riding?” What the hell did that mean? Harry had, of course, never ridden, not with the Dursleys. He had once been near a horse when Dudley wanted to start riding but when the horse had bitten him into his fat belly, he had lost his interest. But Hermione’s eyes started to sparkle. “Oh, yes!” she answered. I’ve once been horseback-riding when I was in France! It was great!”
“Good”, Lupin announced. “You are going to go on horseback”
“Why?” Harry asked, but Lupin ignored him. He continued: “The horses are waiting for you outside, come and see them.
Harry was puzzled. Why the hell should they go by horse? It would be much easier to just fly with a broom! But well, if King Moody wanted them to break all their bones…
But when they were outside, Harry was struck by a sudden feeling he had never felt before. It was like a mixture of pride, respect and… love. He was looking at the most beautiful horse he had ever seen. It was a white mare. She looked at him curiously as if she wanted to say: “Hey, what are you?” Without realizing what he was doing, he walked over to her and patted her neck. She seemed to like that because she rubbed her head on his shoulder.
“Well, I guess, Harry has found his horse”, Harry heard Lupin say. He came over and said: “This is lady here is called Lady, the one over there who Ronald is cuddling with is called Cassie. Hermione had already led her horse over; she seemed delighted of the idea. “He’s so sweet!” she announced. How’s he called?” “He’s called Stubbles”, Lupin explained. “Oooh, what a nice name, that fits to him!” Harry looked around once again. There was Hermione’s horse, a brown gelding called Stubbles; Ron’s had a fox-like colour and was called Cassie and his own beautiful Lady. Just then, he realized something. He looked at Lupin and blushed a little. “I don’t know how to ride”, he finally repeated, very embarrassed. Now it would be his fault if the whole excursion would fail. But Lupin smiled. “No problem”, he said. “Your grandparents also used to have horses and your father was a very good rider. That’s where his Quidditch-talent came from, he had an excellent balance. I’d bet you’ve got his talent. Just try!” In that second, Moody came over from the little house nearby, holding up three saddles with his wand. Lupin quickly picked one of them out of the air which was a good idea because a second later, the saddle might have crashed with the nervous Lady. Lupin put the saddle on and tightened the surcingle carefully. Then he put on the bridle and finally gestured to Harry to mount the horse. Harry was a bit nervous but still he put his foot into the stirrup and suddenly, without realizing how he had done it, he sat in the saddle. He looked at his friends. Hermione sat perfectly straight on Stubbles’ back but Ron was still wobbling around. Lupin instructed them, to ride around a bit and get used to the feeling.
One hour later, they were finally allowed to get off their horses. Ron jumped down and immediately fell backwards onto his bottom, where Cassie delightedly started licking his face. Hermione meanwhile jumped elegantly off Stubbles back. Harry tried to show the same elegance but failed. He could feel every muscle. He would never have thought that riding was so exhausting. Inside the house, they had lunch, which wasn’t too easy because sitting was not very comfortable after this torture.
After the meal, Lupin leaned back and looked at Harry. “Actually, we should train your riding a bit more but we haven’t got the time for it. What we are going to do is slightly illegal but it has to be done.” With the word illegal, Ron had sat up straight, looking curiously at Lupin while Hermione didn’t look too happy. Lupin continued: “We are going to give you a potion that trains your muscles you use for riding and gives you a bit of a feeling for horse. We can’t make perfect riders out of you with a potion but if we don’t do something, you won’t be leaving for ages. So, please drink this.” He held up a bottle that contained a greenish liquid. He gave it to Harry. Harry took a deep breath and took a sip. It didn’t taste as bad as he had expected, it was sweet but at the same time, it tasted like leather… He passed it on to Ron who immediately took a big mouthful of the green fluid, wiped his mouth and passed the bottle on to Hermione. She looked at the bottle for a very long time with the same look she had always given Professor Umbridge. She looked at Lupin again, he nodded and finally, she took a sip. She put the bottle down again immediately and looked ashamed.
“Fine”, Lupin said. “Now then, maybe we should tell you, where to go and search…” That sounded like a good idea, non of the three had even thought about that. “Do you know, where the Horcruxes are hidden?” Harry asked hopefully. “No”, Lupin answered. “But we found a letter from Regulus, Sirius’ brother, which he sent to him just before he died, that might be a big help.
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Yes, it's finished ;) I hope I can carry on soon and that you liked the chapter. Once again, I am delighted about every new Kommi!
Love you, Linda Black
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