Chapter 4

The next morning Harry woke to the smell of pancakes, eggs, bacon, and toast. He sat up, put on his glasses and found his plate of food and a cup of orange juice sitting on his bedside table. After breakfast Bellatrix entered the room. Upon seeing her, another headache struck Harry full force. The room around him disappeared and was quickly replaced with a large, dark room. A swirling veil stood in the center of the room and the only face Harry could see clearly was Bellatrix's.

-flash- Bella shouted a curse that was blocked by a man –flash- he shot a return curse that missed-flash- Bellatrix cried out the killing curse and the man fell into the veil-flash- Harry fought her in the Ministry lobby. –flash-

Harry jerked his head up as the memories stopped coming. He looked at Bellatrix curiously.

"I fought you." Harry said. "Two years ago at the Ministry." He breathed.

Bellatrix froze at her spot by the door. Voldemort had warned her to cover any memories that should come back to Harry. She nodded sadly.

"You're right. We did fight. Dumbledore put you under the imperious curse and forced you to fight against me." She lied smoothly.

Harry's eyes went wide.

"Who's Dumbledore?" he asked.

"An evil man who's always spreading lies about our Lord. He tries to get the wizarding world to think that we are evil. More then once he's tried to kill you but you manage to get away."

"How?"

Bellatrix inwardly cringed. Voldemort had given her specific orders to make Harry believe that he was very powerful with the idea that he might be able to tap into more inner magic that Dumbledore had managed to close off.
"You've got a lot of power, Harry. During training today you'll see just how much."

"But I'm only eleven. How much power could I have?" Harry asked sadly.

"You're seventeen. Yesterday was your birthday." Bellatrix reminded him. Harry grasped his head as the memory of him jumping up and down in his room and wielding his wand around entered his brain. He looked up at her with wide eyes.

"Wow." He breathed.

Bellatrix nodded and gestured for Harry to follow her. Harry obeyed and the witch led him to a huge empty room. One wall had a large glass wall from behind which Voldemort could watch his Death Eaters practice. He wasn't there now but Bellatrix informed her student that later that day the Dark Lord would come to check what kind of progress Harry was making.

"I don't think I can do this." Harry said looking down at his wand.

"Crucio." Bellatrix only held the curse long enough for Harry to feel the pain shot through his body.

He gasped and looked at her in disbelief.

"From this moment on you will not show weakness." She said.

"But…" Harry began.

"Crucio."

Again the curse wasn't held long enough for Harry to collapse from pain but it was enough to catch his attention.

"No back talking. You will do what I say when I say it, no questions asked." Bellatrix said.

"Okay." Harry answered.

"Crucio. You will always refer to your superiors in respectful tones and address them as sir or ma'am. Am I clear?"

"Yes."

"Crucio."

"AHH, yes ma'am."

Harry cringed when Bellatrix raised her wand again. He was completely thrown by her sudden attitude change.

"Alright lesson one. Defense…" Bellatrix said.

The next few hours were a blur of pain and small victories for Harry. Anytime he made a mistake Bella would curse him until he got it right. He quickly learned a long list of defensive spells as well as a few offensive ones.

Now Harry stood with his hands on his knees, breathing heavily. Sweat coated his face as well as a few scratches and a bruise or two. He looked up at Bellatrix with tired eyes.

"Can we take a break?" he asked breathlessly.

"Crucio."

In his exhausted state Harry wasn't able to remain standing even through the quick curse.

"What did I tell you about weakness?" Bellatrix snapped.

"Weakness is death." Harry recited.

The witch nodded.

"Exactly, now stand up, let's do it again."

Harry groaned but quickly stopped when Bellatrix raised her wand.

"What did I tell you about listening to me?"

"Do without question." Harry said quickly.

He straightened up and readied himself.

"Ready." Bellatrix said. Harry nodded and focused. "Duel!"

"Stupefy!" Bellatrix cried.

"Protego." Harry blocked the spell.

"Impedimenta."

"Protego."

"Expelliarmus."

"Protego."

Bellatrix aimed her wand towards the ceiling.

"Reducto!" The rock ceiling above Harry began to crumble instantly.

"Protego Maxima!"

A large force field surrounded the teen, protecting him from the falling debris.

"Expelliarmus!" Harry cried without waiting for the dust to settle. Caught off guard Bella wasn't able to throw up a shield and felt her wand get ripped out of her hand. The dust settled and Harry smiled triumphantly.

"Wipe that smirk off your face and give me back my wand." Bellatrix snapped. Harry obeyed and sat down on one of the larger pieces of rock that had fallen.

"What a rush!" he said excitedly.

"Don't get too excited. That was just a practice run. The real thing is a lot more intense." Bellatrix explained, conjuring up two glasses of water. Harry took his and emptied it greedily.

"What's next?" he asked.

Bellatrix looked at him curiously.

"I thought you wanted a break."

"Well I just had one. Come on I want to learn more, please!" Harry begged.

"We've covered the easy stuff. If we continue right now it'll be tough." Bellatrix said.

Harry shrugged it off.

"I can take it."

Bellatrix looked at him with a raised eyebrow but finished her own glass of water and tossed it over her shoulder. The glass cup shattered against the concrete floor.

"If you're sure, Potter." She said.

The pair stood and Bellatrix began to explain the finer points of the Dark Arts. Voldemort watched from the observation room. Snape stood beside him. The potions master had been warned to avoid Harry in case it stirred up any memories that they wouldn't be able to cover with a simple lie.

"Forgive me my Lord but I'm afraid I still don't understand why you do not simply kill him."

"Are you questioning my decisions, Severus?" Voldemort asked.

"Of course not my Lord I was simply…"

"You will do well to keep your opinions to yourself or face the consequences of your insolence." Voldemort hissed. Snape bowed.

"Yes my Lord. I apologize."

The pair watched in silence as Harry fell repeatedly under the curses Bellatrix kept casting on him. The witch cast the counter curse and explained the proper defensive way once more.

"Bellatrix certainly seems to be enjoying this tutoring lesson far more than the others." Snape pointed out.

Voldemort nodded.

"Most of the other Death Eater children are fools. Harry is a far better student."

Snape kept his scoff to himself. He'd taught the boy for the last several years and nothing in that time has proven Harry a good student.

Harry's brow was furrowed in concentration as he waited for his teacher to shoot the next curse. This time he flicked his wrist perfectly and sent the curse flying back at Bellatrix who sent up a shield which absorbed the curse smoothly. She nodded once and Harry beamed and punched the air excitedly. He was then brought to his knees by a torture curse.

"Have pride only in what you've done for our Lord not in personal victory." Bellatrix reminded him.

Harry nodded as he painfully pushed himself into a standing position.

"That is enough training for the day Potter. "

She left the room and Harry fell back against a large chuck of fallen ceiling. He groaned from his aching muscles and the cuts littering his skin. From the observation room Snape nodded.

"He may be arrogant but I must admit he is learning quickly for having no memory of any of his primary studies." He admitted.

A disgusted expression crossed his features as he realized he'd just complimented the Gryffindor.

Voldemort nodded.

"But there is more power in him somewhere. I want to find it." He said.

Snape raised an eyebrow.

"Why would you want Potter to be more powerful? He is already rather difficult to…." Snape began but Voldemort cut him off sharply.

"Potter is no longer my worry, Severus. I have decided to make him more powerful and once he is strong enough I will steal his magic for my own!"

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