Thank you all for your lovely reviews!
As for the Latin in the story, I'm sorry if it is not correct. I used Google Translate to come up with the spells and their spellings stated in the story.
Special thanks to:
Kira Lightwood for proofreading
Taylor Chase because your review made me squeal in unsuppressed joy
Every morning, each of the heirs was awoken by an owl who carried a new map. Every day, Dumbledore changed the entrance into the training room. Every minute, people questioned the heirs as to where they disappeared to after lunch. Every second, the heirs lied about special business for Dumbledore (and Draco even punched a few people.)
Even though the entrance to the training room changed, the actual room itself didn't. It remained its magnificent self. Hermione was always captivated about the different ways into the room because magic still stunned her with its splendor. She longed to know how Dumbledore created so many entrances to a single room. Sometimes, they fell through the ground, other times, they flew into the ceiling and, once, a powerful wind blew them through a solid wall. But, as it had the first day, the entrance only revealed itself if Hermione, Draco, Ginny, and Harry all stood together.
Today, the map showed a place Hermione had never seen before. It was higher than the astronomy tower. Hermione didn't think there was a place in Hogwarts higher than the astronomy tower, but apparently there was. After lunch, she followed the map with the other heirs. Technically, none of them had made an agreement to walk together but after two weeks, it had become a habit of sorts. Draco rarely spoke on these walks unless he was making a passing comment, insult, or giving directions. But, Hermione had to admit, he had softened a bit over the last two weeks. He had not called her a mudblood since the incident outside of Dumbledore's office.
They walked in silence until they reached the astronomy tower.
"According to the map," Ginny explained, "we have to climb up the astronomy tower and then there will be a staircase behind the bookshelf for us to go up."
And so, they proceeded up the stairs in a line since it was too narrow to walk all at once. Once they reached the top, Hermione looked around for the bookcase Ginny has mentioned.
"There it is!" Harry announced pointing to the side of the room where the sunlight did not reach.
The heirs pulled out their maps and stood together in front of the large shelf. There was a deep rumbling and the bookcase slid loudly to the left revealing a very small opening to a miniscule staircase that seemed to go on forever.
"What is this?" Draco said haughtily, "A cat couldn't fit through that door!"
Hermione glanced down at her map and noticed a few words written at the top of the page in a curling script.
Factus tenuissimum.
"Do any of you know what factus tenuissimum means?" She asked interrupting Draco's angry rant about the size of the staircase.
"It's Latin. It means become very small," Draco explained not looking at her, "Why? Is it on the map?"
"Yes," Hermione responded, "And, I think it's a spell. When we cast it, we should become small and be able to climb these stairs."
Harry looked at Hermione confidently, "Great! Let's try it! Hermione, cast it on me."
She hesitated for a moment but cast the spell anyways. At first, nothing happened but then, at a rapid pace, Harry began to shrink and shrink until his head only reached Hermione's knees.
Draco burst out laughing, "Oh god, Potter. You look like a house elf!"
Hermione glared at him, "What is wrong with house elves? They're brilliant creatures. Much more noble than any of us!"
He looked at her, surprised, that she would defend such a worthless creature.
"Well, I might as well cast the spell on you next since you find it so funny!" Then she turned to Harry, "Go on up, Harry! We'll follow you as soon as we've all shrunk."
Little Harry scampered off and Hermione shrank Draco and he took off before she could get a good look at him.
"Ginny, you're next!"
After Ginny had run up the stairs, Hermione turned her wand to herself and said, "Factus tenuissimum."
Suddenly she felt her whole body compressing. It didn't hurt but it felt…strange. When she felt certain she wasn't getting any smaller she scurried up the stairs. She ran for what felt like hours until she saw an opening.
When she climbed into the training room, she saw Ginny and Harry, still small, waiting by the door for her. Draco was pacing a few feet away.
"Where's Dumbledore?" Hermione asked, plopping down with her back against the wall.
"He wasn't here when we got here and, being this size, we didn't want to try to walk any further." Ginny answered.
Hermione nodded and studied the room around her. It was the same room but with her new size, her perspective on everything felt different.
"Dumbledore is coming!" Draco announced.
And, sure enough the old wizard, much taller than usual, came into view.
"Ah," he smiled, "My trainees. Good job casting the spell, Miss Granger. Now, facta bene magna!"
Hermione felt herself growing, and soon she was back to her usual size. Dumbledore cast the spell on Draco, Harry, and Ginny afterwards and then indicated for them to follow him.
"Today, we will be taking a trip of sorts. I think it will be good for you all to escape the confines of the castle. Think of it as a reward for all your hard work these past two weeks."
This caught Hermione's attention. For the last training sessions, they had done various trust exercises to strengthen their bonds but they had yet to practice any defensive or offensive magic. Of course, they knew general spells from defense against the dark arts class and Dumbledore's Army but, with the upcoming danger, they needed more training.
"We will be traveling by side along apparition to the location I have chosen. Yesterday marked the end of our team building exercises. While I am positive you children require much more trust work, I believe we need to begin defensive and offensive magic so you may have sufficient training for the impending danger." Dumbledore explained quickly.
"Finally! We can stop this useless and unnecessary sessions. So far this has been a waste of my time!" Draco said, his back straight and confident.
Suddenly, Dumbledore stopped walking and whirled around to face Draco, "Mr. Malfoy, I can assure you, nothing you will learn here is useless and unnecessary. When you are caught in danger and these three Gryffindors are the only ones who can help you, you best be sure you have their trust! That goes for all of you." Dumbledore's eyes were blazing. Hermione had never seen him look so serious and angry.
"If any of you find these training sessions useless, I ask you to leave right now. I am offering you all I can to prepare you. And, while I can't force you, I beg you to accept it!"
Hermione said nothing, and no one else moved to leave, not even Draco.
Wordlessly, Dumbledore reached out his arms indicating the heirs grab on. Then there was a rush of air and Hermione felt like she was being squeezed so hard through a very small space. She felt sick, side along apparition was horrid!
When they landed, her feet hit the ground hard and she took in her surroundings. They had landed in an empty field.
Draco brushed off his sleeves when he landed. He hated side along apparition. He looked up and saw Dumbledore speaking to Granger. Dumbledore. How dare that vile man humiliate him like that? There was no way in hell Draco would ever be in a situation where he required help from anyone, much less a Gryffindor. The team building exercises were wasting precious time that could be used to learn more important things, like actually being able to fight.
Draco took a minute to look closely at the faces of the people with him. He knew without a doubt if Potter was in danger, he wouldn't help. Why did Potter deserve it? Besides, he had the whole world in his palm. If Harry James Potter ever needed help, anyone would give it to him. Draco had no reason to help him.
Ginevra Weasley. Two weeks ago, Draco would have spat in her face. A blood traitor Weasley. But, after being in her presence for fourteen days, he found that she was indeed a kind person. She hardly ever spoke to him and he was fine with that but that didn't mean he wanted her dead. Maybe, just maybe, if she needed help, Draco would give it.
Finally, Draco looked to Hermione Granger. He used to hate, hate, hate Granger. She was nothing more than scum under his shoes. Filthy, worthless, and a shame. She was everything Draco stood against. But, ever since she had been fair to him in the levitation activity, he had studied her closely. In actuality, she was quite beautiful. And, of course, she was intelligent. In every activity they had done that required skill and cunning, Granger had led it. Eager and proud, she had impressed everyone. Draco would never admit it, but, if she was in danger, he would save her. That didn't mean anything, though. When you spend time with people, you grow a small, small attachment. It is inevitable and it means nothing. Nothing.
"Okay," Dumbledore began, "Today we will be learning how to make fire shields. Obviously, you know how to make shields and fire but we will be combining them today. Tomorrow, we will return here for a practice activity. The incantation for this spell is, scutum ignis. Commit it to memory."
Dumbledore took a deep breath and turned his back to them, so he was facing the tall blades of wild grass, then he cast the spell. Draco took a sharp breath, the spell was magnificent. It created a huge wall of protection, of fire.
"Now, this fire is not fatal to the caster." Dumbledore explained, plunging his hand into the fire to demonstrate, "But, it is fatal to anyone else. Thus, making it a very useful spell to know."
Draco looked to his companions and noticed Granger's face was practically turning red with anticipation.
"Mr. Malfoy, please step forward. I will ask you to cast first." Dumbledore waved his hand, and the fire went out, "This is how you remove the shield. Quite simple, in my opinion."
Draco stepped forward and said, "Scutum ignis!"
A small flamed appeared, flickered, and then went out. Behind him, he could hear Potter laughing.
"Do not be upset, Mr. Malfoy. You need more emotion. Summon the spell with all your strength and feeling."
Draco grit his teeth, of course the old man would choose a spell that required feeling. It was magic, not a love letter. Magic was cold and hard. Magic was from the brain, not from the heart. One shouldn't require any emotion to make a strong spell. But he tried again anyways, and again a small flame flickered and went out.
Dumbledore stepped forward and clasped him on the shoulder, "Don't worry, you will get it. Why don't we have Miss Granger try?"
Granger practically stumbled over herself to come forward. She cast the spell and the same thing happened. No fiery shield, just a small flickering flame.
"I-I don't understand. I put all of my thought into it! I have studied this spell before, I have perfected wand movements! I have no idea why it didn't work!" she rambled.
"Miss Granger, you are forgetting something. Magic is from the heart, not from the brain. It is warm and soft. You need to put all your feeling and energy into it, like a patronus."
Draco was furious. It was one thing for that old man to teach them ridiculous spells but it was another thing all together to lie and make up fantasies.
"Of course magic isn't from the heart!" he said angrily, "Magic is logic and thinking. It comes straight from the brain!"
Dumbledore smiled calmly, "Mr. Potter, why don't you come and try."
Potter looked nervous, "If Hermione couldn't do it, I don't—"
"Nonsense, come and try!" Dumbledore encouraged.
Potter came forward and cast the spell, immediately a wall of fire erupted from his wand and remained there, tall and strong. He looked surprised, as though he couldn't believe what he had just done.
"Well done!" the professor cheered, "See Mr. Malfoy, Miss Granger, when you put your heart into magic, the effect is much stronger than when you do not."
Hermione was in shock. It wasn't shock that Harry was able to cast the spell it was that she hadn't been able to. She knew about the fire shield charm. She had studied it closely, though she had never attempted to cast it. What was she not doing?
Hermione watched carefully as Ginny cast the spell, and a perfect fire shield came up. Draco looked as if his head was going to blow off. Hermione agreed with him, magic was logic. Emotion would cloud your senses, she always cast spells without feeling and they always came out perfectly. Except my patronus she thought bitterly. Yes, the patronus charm was the only one Hermione had ever struggled with.
Maybe Dumbledore was right. He was a genius and he did know best.
"Sir? May I try again?" Hermione asked and Dumbledore nodded enthusiastically.
"Scutum ignis!" she said, putting all of her frustration and anger into it.
A wall of fire burst from her wand, brilliant and bright. Hermione let out a relieved breath.
"Good job, Miss Granger." Dumbledore smiled at her, eyes twinkling, "We have to go back now but we will practice more tomorrow with an action activity. Please understand that there will be real dangers, if injury occurs, it's real. Mr. Malfoy, please do not fret. Maybe try asking Miss Granger how she made a comeback!"
When they landed back in the training room behind the bookcase, Draco stormed off. He had had enough of those pestering Gryffindors for one day. He knew how to cast spells and he didn't need a man who looked a breath away from death to tell him what to do. Draco had transfiguration class now but he didn't care, he stormed into the common room and went to bed. He turned to the wall and steeled himself. Then, he cast the spell over and over and over and over again.
Pansy was worried. Draco had been missing classes after lunch for two weeks now. What was going on? She was determined to find out…
Thank you for reading, this was more of a filler chapter! I kind of wanted to establish the differences between the types of people the heirs are and I was able to show it through training.
Sorry for not updating within the week like I thought I would! House of Hades by Rick Riordan and Never Fade by Alexandra Bracken came out and I had to read! I finished them both…
I expect the next chapter to be this whole obstacle course/manhunt style of training. Also, more with Pansy and stuff. Have a good day, everyone!