Catalyst

Chapter 8: Primal

"Of course it was Snape! Who else could it be?" Ron exclaimed.

"Oh, come on Ron. Snape's a teacher. Dumbledore wouldn't have hired him if he was evil," Hermione said. The group was walking along the corridor, Harry still in his quidditch uniform, and attempting to get the taste of Snitch out.

"Hermione, correct. Snape not possessing motive to kill Harry. Claim illogical," Abathur stated. Personally, he thought the argument quite stupid. The logical move would have been to ignore the aggressors and prevent the attack from occurring again by other means. Or eradicate or infest everyone around to prevent any risk, but that wasn't feasible yet.

"Then what was he doing during the match? Why else would he be looking directly at Harry and muttering?" Ron continued to argue.

"Have found ter... humans do that often. Usually when defecating," Abathur said. He didn't know camouflage could be so talkative.

Harry, Ron, and Hermione stared at Abathur. Had he said something wrong? Terrans could be so unpredictable. "Abathur," Hermione said. "Sometimes I really wonder about you."

"But ignoring that, Snape has plenty of motive! He worked for You-Know-Who," Ron continued.

"Incorrect. Do not know who. Clarify," Abathur said.

"You know, Voldemort," Harry said, ignoring the others' flinches. "The Dark lord?" Abathur just stared at him blankly. Perhaps he should have investigated the psionics history more.

"How have you never heard of You-Know-Who?" Ron asked.

"Yeah, he's in all of the history books," Hermione said. "You've never read about him?"

"No. Still do not understand relevance. If Snape, servant of Voldemort," Abathur noted the flinches. "Does not give motive to kill Harry." Abathur noted the continued stares.

"Of course it does! Harry was the one who defeated You-Know-Who!" Ron practically shouted. Abathur didn't see why he was being so aggressive.

"When?" Abathur asked. Ron somehow became even redder, a difficult feat considering his hair pigmentation. Abathur was almost impressed.

"When he was a baby!" Ron was no longer employing any method to regulate his volume.

"Unlikely," Abathur stated. "Infants possess minimal brain, muscle development. Incapable of combat. Not possibility."

"Well, that's just how it happened," Hermione said. "All the books say the same thing." Harry himself was quiet throughout much of the exchange. Abathur did not say anything as the argument continued. It took some time to conclude

(Transition)

Abathur was once more wandering the corridors after hours, a task that was much easier with most of the terrans out of the castle for the winter. The biomass refinery required fairly frequent inspections, and the castle still held numerous things to discover, knowledge and essence alike. Recently Abathur had even managed to integrate a particularly interesting creature, an arthropod he had found feeding off psionic energy in an old storage room filled with cauldrons. The ability to digest other forms of energy was always in demand, and this one seemed to be quite versatile. Abathur had killed and preserved a few, for healing, breeding, and experimentation at a later time, consuming the essence of a few more for integration into his own form. It was a complex system, which would take a while, but the ability to absorb psionics, possibly even in spell form if scaled enough would be well worth it.

All in all, it was a very good day, with few surprises and much progress. Abathur was enjoying himself, playing with the new sequences. Then he heard the footsteps. Abathur quickly hid behind a corner, peeking around the edges. He did not want to be caught again, especially when there was more focus on him, simply due to the less numerous students. To his surprise, he saw nothing. If anything, that heightened his suspicions. Terran psionics were infamous for their ability to pass beyond sight. It only made them more deadly. Abathur remained still, listening for any further movement, looking for the telltale shifting of the light. Ghosts were skilled, able to sneak in and out of anywhere. So it was quite a surprise to Abathur when the cloaked terrans revealed themselves through two disembodied pairs of sneakers, walking through the open corridor.