Deck of 53

Chapter II: It's Time to Get Serious

Harry landed in a heap on the floor after the crazy portkey ride he had just been through. He dropped the card and groaned. Did all magical forms of travel have to have such bad landings or was it just him. They should teach it as a class, he determined. The 'How to Not Fall On Your Ass After Magical Travel' class would have at least one student if he ever heard of it.

"I can see I'm going to have to teach you how to not fall on your ass after portkeying and probably floo as well. Here I was hoping I'd be able to skip those particular lessons." a voice full of mirth sounded from right behind him. That was the only warning Harry received before he was hauled to his feet rather forcefully. "I can't have one of my soldiers embarassing himself when going off to battle."

Harry snorted and glared at the smiling form of his new mentor. "I'm sorry to be such an embarassment. If somebody would teach me some less bumpy method of travel, maybe I wouldn't wind up on the ground upon arrival."

"All in good time, Harry. We have a few things to cover before I teach you how to Apparate."

"Your going to teach me how to Apparate?"

"Ofcourse! It is the easiest way to travel. However," he said noticing the look of excitement on Harry's face, "that will be one of the last things I teach you. We have more important things to worry about right now than a few bruises on your posterior." He motioned for Harry to follow him and set off at a brisk pace down a corridor.

Harry almost had to jog to keep up with the older, taller man's strides. "What are we going to do now?" he asked.

"Do you remember those tracking charms on your wand I told you about ten minutes ago?" Joker asked. Not pausing for an answer, he continued, "Well you can't do much magic training if you can't do magic. Makes a crazy sort of sense, doesn't it?"

Harry had a feeling that that question was meant to be rhetorical, so he didn't answer. Instead he asked another question. "How are we going to remove them?"

"Don't worry about the process. I'll teach you how to remove tracking charms at a later date. You just sit there and watch a master work." They rounded a corner and moved towards the only door in this hall. Joker casually waved his hand and the door opened causing Harry to gape like a fish out of water.

"You opened the door without a wand!" he exclaimed as they entered a small study. The walls were a powder blue while the floors were hardwood. It had a large desk with papers scattered about. Two floor to ceiling bookshelves which were packed with books and scrolls dominated the far wall. Worktables with cauldrons were pressed against the opposite wall. The wall behind the desk had a large window which was open letting a slight breeze in.

"Can't get much past you, Sherlock." He held up a hand to stop the following questions. "We don't have time for me to teach you that. It took me three years to get up to the level of skill I'm at, and I have too much to do and far more important things to teach you than wandless magic. If you want to learn you can teach yourself. For now, let's get those tracking charms off your wand." With that concluding statement, he moved behind his desk and held his hand and politely asked for Harry's wand.

Harry reached into his pocket and handed it over. He stood opposite Joker and watched the man get to work.

"Pay close attention, my young protégé." Joker said, brandishing his wand with a fluorish. "If you ever find yourself hard up for cash, you could always get a few galleons taking these charms off of an underage wizard or witch's wand." He held his wand over Harry's and started flicking his wand around and occasionally muttering something under his breath. Three seconds later and a pale yellow color sprung forth from the wood. "Look at that Harry. As soon as that is gone, you'll be free to perform magic whenever you want." With that, he drew a circle in the air with his wand and then jabbed it at Harry's wand. With a sound like glass shattering, the pale aura that Harry's wand was emitting disappeared.

"Is that it?" Harry asked, peering curiously at his wand.

"No. I just felt like giving you a light show." Joker replied, sarcasm dripping off every word. "Go on. Pick it up and give it a try."

Harry cautiously picked the wand up and examined it. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary. He looked at Joker for any hint of deceit, but only got a smirk for his efforts. It didn't reassure him in the least, but he figured that Joker had no interest in getting him thrown in jail. So with a swish and a flick and a wispered wingardium leviosa, he levitated one of the books that was lying on the desk.

They waited for a few moments. Then they waited for a couple more minutes. Finally when it appeared that there was not going to be a ministry owl coming anytime soon, Harry grinned and cancelled the charm causing the book to fall to the desk with a thud.

"Careful! Some of these books were written before Dumbledore cut his first tooth." Joker admonished, but didn't sound all that concerned. He waved his hand, and the book jumped up and stacked itself on one of the shelves. "Please sit down." he said while conjuring a straight back wooden chair on the other side of his desk.

Harry sat down and felt that he should ask the most prudent question on his mind, "What are we going to do?"

Joker leaned back in his comfy armchair on his side of the desk. "We are going to do exactly what I said we were going to do. I'm going to train you how to fight. In return, you are going to help me raise an army and, when the time comes, help me kill Riddle."

"Why did you pick me to do this?" Harry asked. It didn't make sense to him. He was just a student, barely out of his fourth year.

"Hmm. The answer to that question is both simple and complicated." Joker answered, frowning in concentration. "I guess the only way to explain this is to just say it. I know what you've done since reentering the wizarding world. I know all about your little adventures with your little friends. Believe me. I did my homework before approaching you. That is why I also know how little formal training you've had. I have to say, Lady Luck must love you, but with just a small amount of training, you could be quite the warrior.

"There is another reason." he said. He looked to be struggling to find the right words to explain. "The only word I can think of is fear. Before you were born, Tom feared one thing: death. Now, he still fears death, but he also fears you. Because when you didn't die of that killing curse, you did something he's been trying to do for forty years. You cheated death, and he doesn't understand why. He fears you because he doesn't understand why you are alive. Then you add that to the fact that you faced him three times since then and have come away alive. At the moment, Dumbledore is the only one able to boast that fact."

"But all those times I almost died, or almost got somebody else killed. I did get somebody else killed." Harry trailed off, thinking of Cedric.

"Cedric Diggory's death was a tragic thing that you had no part in. You and he were taken by suprise and that cost him his life. He was a talented young man and if you and he had kept your barings and had the frame of mind to defend yourselves, you both would have came out alive. The lesson you should take from that is too always remain on your guard. Don't blame yourself for his death. Blame Pettigrew. If I recall hearing you correctly, he was the one who fired the shot." Joker said.

"You were at Hogwarts when I told everybody what happened?" Harry asked, trying to remember seeing him, but couldn't.

"I was."

"I don't remember you being there."

"You had just experienced a traumatic event. It's not suprising that you don't recall me. It's not important. The important thing is that you go to bed and get ready for tomorrow." He picked up a coffee cup from his desk.

Harry stared fascinated as it morfed in his hands into a small golden ball with wings. He made a pledge to himself that he was going to learn wandless magic as soon as he could. He followed the golden snitch with his eyes as it flew up out of Joker's hand and hovered there.

"Follow this little guy. He'll take you to the kitchens where you can fix yourself something to eat. I have plenty of food so don't worry about that. After that he'll show you where the washrooms are, and then he'll bring you to the room you will be staying in. Get some sleep kid. You're going to need it. For tomorrow," he smirked devilishly as he said, "we get serious."

*** *** ***

"That's not good enough!" Joker yelled as he pelted Harry with minor curses and jinxes. "You have to be faster than this. Death Eaters won't be hitting you with stinging hexes and coughing jinxes."

It had been a week since Harry had arrived and every day had been the same. He'd be woken up at an ungodly hour and be run ragged until late at night. He was currently doing dodging excercizes and failing to dodge some of them. To his credit, he had been going at it for an hour, and he was doing loads better than the first time he tried. He had been hit by every single one of his mentor's spells then. Now he managed to dodge over seventy percent of them.

"I can't start teaching you how to duel until you are in the physical condition that allows me to do so!" Joker hollered. He kept slinging hexes for a few more minutes and then stopped, calling an end to the excercize. "You're getting better kid, but not good enough. Go get cleaned up and meet me in my study." With that, he turned on his heel and walked out of the room they had been training in.

Harry beathed a deep sigh of relief as he made his way to the shower. The hardest part of his day was over. The rest of the day was a walk in the park compared to his mornings. That was when all his physical conditioning was done. The rest of his day was devoted to magical pursuits.

After a quick shower, he made his way to the room he was brought to upon his initial arrival. He stepped in to find Joker reading a letter. Apparently the letter said something that pleased the older man if the big grin on his face was anything to go by. After noticing Harry's arrival, he burned the letter with a touch and gestured for him to sit down.

Seeing as there was no chair there, Harry was forced to conjure one. Joker had made it very clear after that first day that if he wanted to sit down then he was going to have to provide the seating. He swished his wand with a muttered incantatation and a comfortable arm chair appeared.

"How have your studies been going?" Joker asked with a benign smile.

Harry contemplated his answer carefully before answering. "They've been going okay. I've hit a couple of snags in some of it."

"Oh really? In what have you been having trouble? I don't remember assigning you anything too difficult." Joker said, resting his chin in his hands.

"No, its got nothing to do with any of your assignments. They have all been pretty straight forward and fairly easy to learn. It's in my side project that I've been having trouble." Harry said, rubbing the back of his neck in a sheepish manner.

Joker raised an eyebrow and a the corners of his lips rose into a smile. "Indeed?" he asked intrigued. "Do tell about this side project. Maybe I can shed some light on it for you."

Harry sighed. "I know you said you had better things to teach me, but I've been having some trouble learning wandless magic." He looked at his mentor cautiously, wondering how he was going to react to this news. Whatever he was expecting it wasn't a smirk and a light hearted chuckle from the man.

When he calmed, Joker looked Harry straight in the eye with a bemused smile and said, "I was wondering when you would tell me you were having difficulties."

"You knew I was practicing wandless magic?" Harry asked inceduously.

"Ofcourse I knew. I knew before you even left my office that first time that you would try your hardest to learn the obscure branch of magic." Joker explained. "As I said before, I will not teach you wandless magic. However I am planning on teaching you something that will help you, not only in wandless magic, but everything else as well.

"Tell me, Harry. Do you know how spells work?" Seeing Harry shake his head, he continued. "There are two things that are imperative to casting a spell. One is intent; what you want the spell to do. The second, contrary to popular belief, is the flow of your magic. Most think it is raw magical power, but it is not. What makes wandless magic so difficult is that you have to be able to feel your magic in order to manipulate it in the right way. Your wand usually manipulates the flow for you in the form of wand movements, so you don't have to be able to feel the way your magic is moving.

"If you saw these wand movements," he grabbed his wand and made a simple swish and a flick, "what spell would you say I cast?

"The levitation spell." Harry answered, wondering where this was going.

"Exactly. And everybody else would think the same thing. However, if you can feel and manipulate your magic, you wouldn't need the movement." To prove his point, he pointed his wand at a pen laying on his desk and, without any movement or incantation, lifted the pen into the air. After cancelling the spell causing the pen to clatter back to the desk, he continued. "Do you see how that particular skill would be useful in a duel?"

"Your opponent wouldn't be able to tell what spells you were throwing at him?" It came out as more of a question than a statement.

Joker frowned. "Harry." he said sternly. "I asked you a question. Atleast give yourself the honor of sounding like you know what you're talking about. It is unbecoming to be so unsure of yourself. Now try again. Do you see how that particular skill would be useful?"

Harry straightened up in his seat. "Your opponent wouldn't be able to tell what spell you are using." It was still a little meek, but it didn't sound like a question anymore.

Joker brightened and smiled. "You'll find that the more sure of yourself you are, the more people will respect you. And respect is possibly more powerful than any spell in existence." He waved his wand in a nonchalant way and a tea set appeared in front of him. "Are you beginning to understand?"

Harry shook his head. "Not really. It seems so very complicated. You keep saying that I need to be able to feel my magic, but how do I do that?"

Joker waved his hand, and the tea set he conjured earlier set to pooring both of them a cup. "I hope you like ginseng tea. It is my favorite." he said and sipped from his cup. "As for your question, you must have a completely calm mind. You've been practicing your occlumency which will help." He smirked as he saw Harry drain his cup of tea. "The fact that I slipped a drug that forces your magic closer to the surface into your tea should also help."

Harry suddenly turned pale in the face and started coughing. "You drugged me?!" he asked increduously.

Joker's eyes took on an amused twinkle, and he let out a chuckle. "Don't worry. I only used a small amount. It won't harm you, but you might have a little trouble going to sleep tonight. A small side effect I'm afraid." He flinched as a string of profanities left Harry's mouth. He frowned. "Honestly Harry, I don't see the reason you're getting worked up over this. I hope I didn't overstep my boundaries?"

"No." Harry said quickly. "Although I would have appreciated a little forewarning beforehand, I'm not mad over it. The thing is that that could've easily been a poison that was slipped into my drink, and I wouldn't have been any wiser. I guess I'm just a little disappointed in myself."

Joker raised an eyebrow at the youth. "Alastor Moody would be proud. Somebody is finally taking his motto of 'Constant Vigilance' seriously."

Harry blanched unconsciously as he thought about the grizzly retired auror. The man was just plain creepy. However, Harry couldn't deny the man's expertise at his job. His face was enough of a resume to attest to that.

"If you're really worried about this, you could always take to carrying around a flask, or conjuring everything you drink out of." Joker said, putting down his cup. "I'll admit, it is a little excessive, but you need a healthy bit of paranoia to survive being on a dark lord's hit list. In any case, you don't have to worry about me poisoning you, and nobody else is capable of getting here. So you're safe."

Harry nodded as he considered becoming more like Mad-Eye. The image of him with all those scars, the peg-leg, and the crazy eye that could see through anything made him shudder. He sincerely hoped that he would get out of this war better than the ex-auror had faired up to date.

"Anywho. Let's get back on topic, shall we?" Joker continued. He paused long enough to vanish the tea set. "When you're doing your occlumency excercizes later tonight, once you have reached your calm state of mind, concentrate on feeling your magic. Every cell in your body has magic in it, but there are three 'cores' of magic within you. Many think that there are only one, but that is wrong. The largest of these cores is located in the stomach, the place where most of your energy comes from. However, most people never access this well of power in its entirety. Only the most powerful of wizards have ever been able to even find it, much less use it."

"Have you been able to use it?" Harry interrupted.

Joker smiled wistfully and replied, "Once before."

"How did it feel?"

"Intoxicating." he said with a look of euphoria at the memory on his face. He sighed and averted his eyes to his desk. "Harry, that kind of power is very addictive and very dangerous. My body was only able to handle it for five minutes. After that I was put up in the hospital for two weeks. But during that five minutes," he turned to Harry, and Harry let out a gasp at the hunger he saw in those clear blue eyes, "I was invincible. I was a god among men. I must insist, Harry, that if you are ever able to access this power, proceed with caution. People like Lord Voldemort are born out of such power."

Harry gulped and nodded. He had never seen his mentor so... uncomposed. It was almost scary how he was acting.

Joker sighed and rubbed his face. "We'll continue this lesson after lunch. Meet back here in thirty minutes." He started straightening up his desk in clear dismissal.

Without a word, Harry stood and took his leave.

*** *** ***

Harry walked back into the room twenty-nine minutes and fifty seconds later. Joker looked a lot calmer since he had left. Harry walked over and sat in his chair.

"The second core is located in your heart and lungs." he said, picking up exactly where he left off. "This is the core that everybody draws the majority of their magic from. It is also why you can perform magic easier if you are in better shape. The more cardio training you do, the more magic you'll have. This is the one you want to find tonight.

"The third and smallest core is located in the brain. When you are ready to build your occlumency sheilds, you will pull the power from this core." he concluded. "Any questions?"

Harry frowned in thought. There was one question, but he didn't know how it was going to be received. "Has there been anyone that used all three cores at one time?"

Joker's eyes hardened, and his body went rigid. "There is no one alive that could survive even two of the cores being used in conjunction. I doubt Merlin himself could accomplish it." he said, coldly. His eyes softened and he slumped down in his chair. "Sorry, Harry." He brought his hands to the bridge of his nose and started massaging. "That will be all for today. I want you to go to bed early tonight. You're going to need the extra time to find your Primary Core. I'll leave you to your studies until tomorrow."

Harry stood up and made to leave. At the door, he stopped and turned. "Is it as bad as you say? The first core I mean?"

If Harry hadn't been looking directly at him, he would've missed the brief flicker of hunger in the older man's eyes. A bitter smile flickered into being on his face as he answered. "I hope you never find out."

Harry nodded and left without another word. Before today, Harry had never seen anything other than perfection from his teacher. It was like he wasn't human like the rest of mankind. Today had broken that image. His teacher was just as human as he himself was. He was a man with very real flaws, but he didn't let them control him. And it only made him respect the man, who had swiftly garnered a spot right next to Albus Dumbledore in raw power and wisdom, more.

T.B.C.

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