Heritage of the North: The Power of Ice and Betrayal

"Would anyone care to make an attempt at the Rebeamio Shield?" asked Professor Tura, the teacher who had taken up the Defense Against the Dark Arts post. Too put it simply: she was young, beautiful, and extremely friendly. Nearly every boy in the class was smitten.

Ron promptly raised his hand. Since Harry was gone, he often prided himself as the top in the Defense class. Well, in the practical section anyway. Hermione always took the lead when theory was concerned.

"Mr. Weasley, come on up." Tura said with a calculating smile. "I'll cast a simple hex at you and then you can perform the spell to defend against it."

"All right." Ron said, as he stood up and made his way to the front. He drew his wand and held it out in front as him as he turned to face Professor Tura who had done the same. "Ready when you are." he said, mustering quite a bit of confidence.

Without any advance notice, Tura drew her wand and shot a Slasher hex at Ron. With milliseconds to spare, he yelled "Rebeamiox!" The hex crashed into the shield and was rebounded toward the professor who used a simple but powerful shield to absorb it.

"Very good Mr. Weasley. Now, Mr. Longbottom. Let's see you take a try at it." Tura said with a smile.

Neville nodded and approached the front of the class as Ron returned to his seat. This time Tura had her wand already in her hand and was slower to attack Neville. When she thought his attention might have wandered, she shot of a quick Leg-Locking hex. It was 'Rebeamioxed' with ease.

"That's nothing!" Ron called out in disgust. "You deliberately went easy on him!" Over the past several weeks the Defense professor had been showing unusual favoritism toward Neville just like Snape favored Malfoy. She wasn't even a former Gryffindor. Tura had hailed from Slytherin.

Tura was grinning madly. "Did I?" she cooed.

"Yes!"

"All right then. Why don't you demonstrate a proper spell and see if his shield will hold." she said softly.

Despite Hermione's protests, Ron angrily stood up and made his way to the front of the classroom, glaring at Neville all the time. Professor Tura stepped back and took a seat behind her desk at the head of the classroom. "Mr. Weasley will be allowed to use one spell of his choosing to attempt to overcome Mr. Longbottom's shield. Nothing lethal or illegal is to be used." She then turned her head to Neville and winked at him, her gesture hidden from Ron by her long blonde hair. "Rebeamiox acceleratus." she mouthed to him.

Neville nodded confidently to acknowledge the new spell and then looked over to Ron who had decided not to waste any time. Neville held up his wand and muttered "Rebeamiox acceleratus." as Ron shouted a very powerful hex.

The hex flew across the room, propelled by Ron's smirk. However, it hit Neville's shield and rebounded much faster than it would have using the normal shield. Ron was hit by his own hex before he even knew that it had rebounded. Froth began to stream from his mouth as he hacked uncontrollably.

Professor Tura stood up and motioned for Neville to take a seat. "Thank you Mr. Longbottom." She then pulled her wand and performed the counter-curse which promptly solved Ron's most immediate problem.

"Today, our lesson was not necessarily about shield charms." she said as she gestured for Ron to resume his seat. Ron did so, shooting Neville a lethal glare. "Not only do you need to approach a fight with speed, skill, and accuracy, but you must be in the appropriate mind-set. Would anyone care to venture a guess as to what mind-set that should or should not be?"

"Obviously anger and arrogance are bad attitudes to start off a duel with." Parvati quickly said in response to the query.

Tura nodded in agreement. "Precisely. Take ten for Gryffindor. Anger and arrogance may advance someone to a certain level. Voldemort is a prime example of this. He is a very arrogant man and most everything he does is out of anger, whether it be hot or cold."

"He's invincible isn't he?" asked a fearful Hufflepuff.

There was an abrupt stillness in the room as everyone looked at each other. No one had ever come right out and said that, but it had always been a present thought. Harry Potter might have had a chance, but it seemed that he was gone.

The Professor placed her hands on the desk and leaned forward, giving the whole class an intense stare. "Make no mistake. Voldemort. Will. Fall." She then looked directly at Ron. "See to it that you don't allow your own arrogance to lead to your fall."

Silence reigned as Tura stood silent for effect. No one dared to day anything as she continued to look at them. Finally, relief came with the bell that signified the end of class. "There will be an essay on arrogance and the fall of a Dark lord of your choice due next time." Tura called out. "Longbottom, would you please remain behind for a moment?"

Neville kindly did so, telling Parvati and Lavender that he would catch them up as soon as he was finished. He then approached Tura who was sitting at her desk still. "Was there anything you needed, Professor?"

The Defense professor locked her impassive blue eyes on his own for a short time, seemingly staring deep into his soul and reading his thoughts and feelings. Finally she answered. "Call me Crystal."

"All right, Crystal." Neville said boldly. "Was there anything I could help you with?"

"Yes, there was actually." she replied in kind. "I'm aware of the existence of your little Defense group." she said, smirking at the attempt Neville made to hide his shock. "I've observed since the return of Voldemort that both the Ministry and Professor Dumbledore's little group seem to be acting inefficiently. I would like to join your group."

Neville looked at her shrewdly. Was it possible that she was acting independently? Or was this a clever trap set up by Dumbledore and the Order? After thinking quickly, Neville decided that Snape would have forewarned him. However, it wouldn't do to throw caution to the wind. "What makes you think there is such a group and what makes you think such a group would be any better than what adults could do?"

"I don't think there is such a group, Neville. I 'know.'"

"How is that?"

A faint blush tinged her cheeks. "I have certain… skills that allow me to gather intelligence quite easily. Deception and secrets rarely escape my notice."

Such skills could be useful, Neville reckoned. He still wasn't convinced however. "You didn't tell me why you thought such a group would be better than the Ministry or Dumbledore."

"I know what happened to Harry Potter." Crystal said contemptuously. "He was imprisoned and is now on the loose. For some reason, I can't help but feel that he wouldn't run away from Voldemort or all of his classmates. I suspect that he and his power is behind your Defense group."

It was a good explanation, Neville admitted to himself. There was still one matter to clear up however. "If such a group were to exist, they would only be learning Defense skills. You're a Defense teacher. What's the point of joining?"

"Do you really undervalue your talent and power that much?" Tura asked. "Even if there is nothing for me to learn, I could help teach. I can also serve as a connection to the Hogwarts staff. It can be helpful to have a friendly person of legal age."

"I'll think about it." Neville sighed. "Let me get back to you.

"All right."

"That witch!" Ron exclaimed angrily for perhaps the tenth time that night. He turned to Hermione who was eagerly writing an essay for her Arithmancy class. "Did you see how she favored Neville? He always gets the points for Gryffindor, she always takes things easy on him!"

Hermione shrugged. "What about teamwork for the House? Neville is a part of Gryffindor too, you know."

"I know!" Ron barked. "But that doesn't change the fact that she's clearly favoring him over me. I should be the best Defense Against the Dark Arts student now that Harry is off raiding Muggle towns or doing whatever an escaped convict does."

"Maybe he is better than you."

"Not you too!" Ron nearly shouted in exasperation.

"Who too?" asked Ginny as she approached Ron and Hermione. She had just returned from a quick trip to the library for some homework on Potions.

Hermione sighed. "Ron is angry because Professor Tura seems to be favoring Neville."

"That's hardly fair." frowned Ginny.

"I don't know." Hermione muttered, burying herself in her essay. Her doubts about the whole situation with Ron and the war of Voldemort were surfacing again. No matter how she looked at it, she could feel nothing but guilt. "I really don't know."

Ginny decided not to press Hermione in her uncomfortable state. Instead, she changed the subject. "Weren't you two supposed to be working to investigate the existence of this Defense group that you seem to think exists?"

"I say that we confront Neville about it right now!" Ron declared, quickly switching gears.

"Maybe we should talk to Professor Snape first." Hermione suggested. "He is supposed to be helping us with this whole investigation."

Ron snorted. "Like he really cares about this whole thing. Besides, we don't have to tell Neville that we're onto him. I can be really subtle." He stood up and walked across the Common Room to where he spotted Neville working on a Herbology project. Hermione and Ginny followed but kept their distance. They didn't want to be involved.

"Hey, Ron! How are you doing." Neville said cheerfully as he prodded a potted plant with is wand.

"Yeah, hi. How's your Defense coming along?"

Neville smiled. "I've improved a lot. Especially since Harry gave us all a boost in DA."

"Practicing much?"

"Well, for homework and stuff like that. Professor Tura does require us to make sure our spells get mastered after all." Neville replied.

Ron narrowed his eyes. He wasn't going to get out of this that easily. "You seem busy of late. Not around much now that I think about it."

"If you say so."

"Why don't you come to DA anymore?"

Neville couldn't help but get a little cheeky at this point. "Well, Harry hasn't called any meetings lately."

A growl escaped Ron's thinned lips as he looked at Neville. "Harry is gone. I'm in charge now."

"Funny," Neville said in a voice that brooked no opposition, "I don't remember voting you in."

James is a very good name, Bellatrix thought idly as she laid on her back and stared at the dark ceiling. It was quite late, but she was too excited to sleep. James Harry Potter. No. Maybe James Harold Potter. Or maybe just a plain H for the middle name that didn't represent anything.

Then again, it could always end up being a girl. They would name that one Lily of course, after his mother. The middle name could be Isabella or Belle. Bellatrix wasn't so sure about naming a child directly after herself though.

She sighed as she turned over onto her side and looked over at Harry's sleeping form. Unfortunately he had not gotten around to getting her pregnant yet, so going over names was a bit premature. "All in good time," she whispered, smiling happily.

Having nothing better to do, she rolled onto her stomach and waited to fall asleep. Three hundred and forty-seven sheep later, Bellatrix was still wide awake. She turned her head and looked at Harry again. "It's not fair!" she muttered to him. "You could sleep through an earthquake while I can't even get to sleep in the first place!"

No response. Had she expected one? Not really. Deciding that since Harry could sleep through anything, and that she wasn't going to go to sleep, Bellatrix fumbled for her wand on the bedside stand. "Lumos." She then placed the wand in a specially designed holder so that she could read without having to hold it.

A book about countering Dark spells was soon produced from a nearby bookshelf. That lasted for ten whole minutes before it was returned to its resting place. A book about pregnancy and child care was furtively brought out from under the bed.

Bellatrix propped herself up against the headboard and peacefully read until Harry suddenly let out a loud gasp and then drew his breath in sharply. She slammed the book shut and looked at him with wide eyes.

Upon discovery that he was still asleep, she let out a breath that she had not realized she was holding. She wanted to wait for a little while before shoving baby literature on him. It was true that he was quite young. He needed time to get used to the idea. If he discovered her reading it now, he would feel obligated to join her despite his discomfort. Then he would be more uncomfortable.

It was amazing that he was not totally against the idea. Any child of his would be in danger, especially if Voldemort wanted to attack him. However, she had considered this carefully before even proposing the idea to him. Dark lord's had broken themselves on the walls of Nair'icaix. Anything in the fortress would be safe.

Even if the child would not be safe, could they afford not to have a child? If anything happened to Harry, the House of Polairix would need to live on. Perhaps even if Harry did die, a son of his could have the power to take his place. This thought process did not continue on much longer because Bellatrix could not bear to dwell on the thought of her husband's potential death.

Would pregnancy impede her? Probably. At first it would only cause some general discomfort. Eventually she would have a hard time getting around. It would be worth it though. Her thoughts were pulled away when she heard Harry draw another deep breath.

Concern welled up inside her as he began to breathe deeper and more frequently. Was there something wrong? Bellatrix quickly put the book away and set to watching him sleep. After a few minutes of the hyperventilating, he began to toss and turn violently.

"Harry? Are you okay?" she said timidly. When he didn't respond she watched and then decided that waking him up was the best option, if not the easiest. Gingerly, she tried to grab him and keep him from tossing. It was to no avail. He didn't want to be touched or held down.

She let go of him and her eyes fell on her wand as an idea popped into her head. The wand was taken from the holder and used to douse Harry's face with cold water. It instantly woke him up and he groaned loudly.

"Are you okay?" Bellatrix asked.

"Just a nightmare." Harry said quietly.

From their past conversations, Bellatrix knew full well what this meant. "I suppose that Voldemort is happy. How many Muggles died?"

"None." Harry said. "He was planning something. It had to do with St. Mungos."

"That's not good. Can you remember anything else? A small detail? It could make all the difference you know." Bellatrix coached.

Harry sat silently as he raked his mind. Finally he answered, "No. I can't remember anything."

"Maybe tomorrow then." Bellatrix said without much optimism.

"Yeah." Harry said.

"Seven hundred and eighty-eight." Harry whispered. "Seven hundred and eighty-nine." He paused and looked over at Bellatrix's sleeping form. Why can't I sleep that soundly? Harry asked himself demandingly. It wasn't fair. "Seven hundred and ninety."