The Teacher

"Expecto Patronum!" A flash of fantastic silver light burst forth from the tip of a man's wand. A magnificent white stag stood glowing in the aftermath of the bright flash, as the students blinked to adjust their eyes to the sudden change in brightness in the dimly lit room. Torches flickered innocently in their brackets on the walls lining the room, as the beast formed from the happiest memories of their professor's life stood regally in front of them.

"This, students, is a corporeal patronus. It has many practical applications, including driving away Dementors, possibly determining the form of any Animagus you may have, and acting as a secure messenger." The Professor paused for a moment, as the students quickly scribbled down the information. As the quills' scratching began to die down, he continued, "I first achieved a corporeal patronus in my third year of Hogwarts. I do not expect that any of you will have reached that point in your studies by your third year.

"I am here to teach you the intricacies of what was once called Battle Magic. In your upper years, you will be taught magic that has been used in war. However, you will not reach that class if you are found to have any ill intentions of using it.

"Be warned; I will not hesitate to bring you down, should you ever decide to use the magic I will teach you on another human being." He stopped here, and turned to survey the students. They were enraptured by his short speech, and more than a few had stopped writing all-together to listen.

"You may be wondering why I showed you a patronus, if I will be teaching you magic designed for war. Observe." Here, the man turned his back to the class and flicked his wand. At once, a solid wall made of lead materialized in front of the man's desk. At another flick of his wand, his patronus flared an angry red, brighter than anything they had ever seen, and radiating a sensation that made them clutch at their robes, drawing them tighter as many students began to gather together out of fear. Suddenly, the magical construct charged the conjured wall at a speed difficult for the students to track with their eyes, lowering its angry red horns as it hit the lead wall and burned through it.

The students watched, dumfounded, as the lead wall, several feet thick, was sliced through with minimal effort by the fearsome stag. The wall continued to melt, even after the patronus had exited the other side of the wall, and come to stand next to their professor. The lead burned until there was nothing left but a small pile of leaden ash at the foot of his desk, and his patronus stood as docile as a domesticated dog by the side of its master.

"This, students, is not something I will teach you, as it is illegal to use outside of the most extreme circumstances. That, students, was blood magic." At this, the entirety of the magically-raised students paled and moved further away from the front of the room. The muggleborns just looked confused. "As your classmates will no doubt inform you later, blood magic is a highly dangerous, highly illegal form of magic. The basis of blood magic is that the caster used his own life-blood to catalyze a reaction in the magic of a spell. As there is a sacrifice involved, the magic is naturally stronger; However, the strength of the spell is entirely dependent on the amount of sacrifice. A spell like the one I just demonstrated would kill most of you."

The students took notice of a dripping wound across their Professor's palm as he raised it above his head to show them the cost of power such as his. Before their eyes, he raised his wand and cauterized the wound without so much as a flinch. As soon as the wound closed, the blazing red corporeal patronus flared back into its original pearly-white, glowing form.

The Professor sat down in the high-backed chair behind his desk, absentmindedly vanishing the remains of the wall he had conjured.

"I am Harry Potter, and I will be your professor for the next seven years. For the first four years of your education, I will be teaching you Charms."

He then waved his wandless hand, and the door swung open.

"I will see you all at our next class."

After the students had finished filing out of the room as quickly as they possibly could, Harry called out tiredly to the empty room.

"Did you need something, Albus?"

Headmaster Albus Dumbledore shimmered into existence behind the high-backed chair Harry was sitting in.

"You know I dislike when you scare your students like that, Harry," Albus stated, his voice tired.

"They need to know what magic can do. This is the same way you taught me, if you recall," Harry said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. His lips were quirked up in a smile. "But I doubt you came here simply to hound my teaching methods, Albus."

"Astute as ever, my boy," The ancient Headmaster chuckled, conjuring himself a chair in front of the fireplace, not at all surprised when he saw that Harry had somehow beaten him there, and was sitting in the same position he had been behind his desk. "And I see that you are still employing that little trick. Its simply amazing that you figured out how to maneuver the castle's wards in such a way."

"As I remember it, it annoyed you to no end, this 'little trick' of mine."

"Old age tends to put things in perspective, in a way that nothing else does," The Headmaster said plainly, smiling down at his favourite student.

"You weren't exactly a spring chicken when you began teaching me, Albus," The man said with mirth, as he gestured for the headmaster to take his seat.

"Indeed," Albus laughed, taking his seat. There was a momentary lapse in conversation as both occupants of the room stared into the crackling fire in front of them.

"When?" Harry asked suddenly, not looking at Albus.

"I have finished teaching you, and you have taken up a post at this school, as per our agreement. It will not be long now."

"But for now, I am still bound to you as your apprentice. What is your will, master?" He did not say it snidely, the emphasis simply made it clear that he was still aware of their agreement.

"I am dying, as you well know. Very soon, I will be dead. My last wish... Nay, my last order, is that you continue to teach here, and impart your knowledge in a way that you see fit," The ancient wizard let his statement ring in the silence that followed.

"Very well, master," Harry said soberly, after a long moment of comfortable silence.

There was no answer, and neither had he expected one. For a long while, Harry did not turn to look at his mentor, simply choosing to stare into the fire as it slowly died down. As the final flames began to flicker and die, casting the room into long shadows, Harry finally looked at the only man he had ever looked up to, the greatest wizard of the modern age, and said his farewells.

Albus Percival Brian Wulfric Dumbledore had died.

And so Hadrian James Potter called for Madame Pomfrey with a patronus, and continued to sit in the silence of the dying fire, cherishing the last moments he would ever spend in the company of his mentor.


AN: FINALLY GOT AROUND TO UPDATING.

Yeah, there's a huge time-jump here. This is Harry after the apprenticeship, obviously. This story is going to jump back and forth between the apprenticeship and afterward alot, just to warn you guys. Although, so far, it seems I only have two readers. xD

PLEASE REVIEW. I cannot stress that enough. To us authors, its like crack. I want to know what you guys like, what you don't like, what you want to me to continue, etc. Its also the reason I'm not writing these chapters too long. Two reviews for a short prologue is nice, so I wrote a longer chapter (About twice as long, actually), and if reviews go up proportionally, I'll continue to write longer and longer chapters. So, PLEASE REVIEW.

My name is Brandon, by the way. And I've lost all motivation for my other story, so I don't know if I'll continue with it or not. Time will tell.