Title: A New Chance Continued
Author: pyrodaemon
Author of Original Story: Curalium Lacrimo
Pairing: Harry Potter/ Luna Lovegood
Rating: M for Future Content
Archived: fanfiction(dot)net under pyrodaemon
Beta: Blueowl and Liljean15690
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoat Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Several people wanted me to explain the class schedule so, against my better judgment, I've added that at the beginning. And before I get people telling me that the schedule is unbelievable I know that. So is Rowlings. I figure if Hermione can get a Time-Turner for class then the teachers can get them for teaching.
And I have a question, for those who leave signed reviews do you actually get the replies I make or should I not waste my time writing them?
Everyone thank Blueowl for the Professor's look outlook on things in this chapter. She thought they were needed and what she thinks I bow to.
Chapter 12
Learning Curve
After finding the trunk and looking up who Merwyn Fenlock was – he was later known as Merwyn the Malicious for making up most of the common curses and jinxes that were used by people, as the Wizarding World conveniently forgot the fact that the man created them to fight a war – Harry spent the next month learning everything he could in the books, and shoving from his mind his little breakdown after Halloween. Harry's day went a little like this: get up, do exercises, run around the lake for an hour, get showered and dressed, go to the Great Hall and eat, then to the Library for a bit of studying before going to class – his new Time-Turner came in handy a great deal for getting extra time in for studying. Breakfast started at 7:30 and lasted until 8:30 for those who didn't have a first period, lunch was from 12 to 2 and dinner was from 4:30 to 6. Curfew was at seven for the first and second years.
On Mondays he had Potions with the Hufflepuffs first thing in the morning then Transfiguration with the Gryffindors. Then lunch, after which Harry holed himself up in the Library where he stayed until dinner, he ate at 5:30. After that, he went back to the Library until seven when curfew for the first and second years started.
Tuesdays he had Herbology then Defense, both with the Hufflepuffs. Harry wouldn't mind being so close to Voldemort, after all the man was pretty helpless, if he wasn't so sensitive to the thing. He always had a Voldemort induced headache after Defense which lasted the rest of the day, he was sure it was because he was so much more sensitive to Voldemort than he had been Before. After lunch, he had Charms with the Slytherins where Harry always sat in the very back of the class and was always the first one out so he didn't chance a confrontation with Malfoy, who it was rumored was trying to talk to him but could never get near him.
Wednesday was homework sessions with Astray then Potions with the Hufflepuffs, lunch and History with the Gryffindors. Thursday was once again Charms with the Slytherins, then Herbology, lunch and Defense. Fridays started with History and Transfiguration with the Gryffindors then lunch, tutoring with Astray and dinner. After dinner was the library, curfew, and from 9:30 to 10 was Astronomy with the Slytherins.
By the time Ravenclaw Tower was rebuilt, which had to be from the ground up, so to speak, most of them had gotten used to only sharing a room with one other person and had done everything in their power – which was considerable since most of them had well-to-do parents – to keep that arrangement. After all, you could do so much more studying if you had your own space, and you were in a better mood if you weren't cramped, let's forget that the size of the dormitory rooms were about the size of a regular sized classroom. Dumbledore, with the Board's backing, had approved the change so everyone from third year and up had their own rooms, large enough for a good-sized desk, a double bed, a wardrobe and three bookcases, and first and second years only had to share a room with one person. Harry was sharing with Anthony Goldstein, who was an alright bloke, though rather surly most of the time.
The double rooms were just that. Large double rooms big enough to hold two single beds, both trunks, two wardrobes and a bookcase for each of them. No desks for the first and second years, apparently. Through the rooms were large enough to make into two separate rooms if a person knew the correct spells, which Harry did, with a small walkway leading to the door outside. Harry was quite happy having his own space and Anthony Goldstein, a quiet rather private person, was more than happy with the arrangement, even if it did result in a smaller room. Harry hadn't known Anthony that well the first time but knew the other boy had fought in the war along side the Order, which made him alright in Harry's book.
Harry stretched out on his bed and opened Merwyn's book. When the lunch bell rang, Harry sighed and closed his book, shoving it in his bag – which he always kept with him – and got up to leave the room, meeting Anthony in the small space between their rooms and the rest of the Tower. "All right, Anthony?"
Anthony nodded in reply then raise a brow, a question on his face, causing him to nod back. A full conversation is a good place to start, Harry thought, satisfied as he made his way out the door and down the stairs to the Common Room. The two of them joined the other Ravens as they made their way to the Great Hall.
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"Harry, can I have a word with you?" Hermione asked the Friday before Winter Holiday as he was packing up his things from Transfiguration.
"Go ahead," Harry said cautiously. He'd known that Hermione was still irritated that he was taking an extra class and she was still having problems navigating the ever changing hallways.
"I understand that you're taking extra classes and I'll be the first one to say that makes me jealous but...but Neville and I need help."
"Help?" Harry asked blankly. Neville, he knew, needed all the help he could get but Hermione had always seemed basically competent.
"Neville had a...problem with his magic."
"I had heard rumors." Harry glanced up at the chubby boy who was squirming nervously four steps away from Hermione. "You magic was blocked, correct?"
"Y-yes," Neville said, staring at him amazed.
"My magic had problems as well. From the Curse. It took nearly a month for it to work correctly afterwards," Harry said. Harry sighed at their questioning looks. Try to help a bloke out and they want to know everything about it. "I found out my magic was blocked during the summer and unblocked it."
"Is…is there anything I can do to make it go faster? I don't...I don't like being like this."
"You can exercise," Harry said after a moment. "The fitter your body is the better your magic. It's like those Muggle sayings they always have at school: A healthy mind is as important as a healthy body. Or whatever it is. Being overweight, underweight, sick or anything else affects your magic as much as not knowing spells."
"So...so I just start exercising and I'll be better fast?"
"Potentially," Harry said with a nod. "If you'd like to join me, I run every morning from five on. You can join me anytime you wish."
"Do you know how to fight? Muggle style I mean."
"I know enough," Harry said with a shrug.
"Fighting's dangerous!" Hermione said.
"So is going to a school where with a flick of a person's wand can get you thrown down the steps or have you beheaded."
Hermione turned green but Neville didn't twitch. "Is there anything else you need?" Harry asked, impatient to get to lunch and get on with his studying.
"Will you tutor us?" Hermione asked, causing Harry to freeze in shock.
"Excuse me?"
"It's just...well you know so much about magic and I bet you're really good at Defense and..."
"Quirrell stutters more than I do, and I can't understand him at all," Neville said. "And according to the older students, we should've been taught several spells already."
"So you want me to tutor you in Defense?"
"If you wouldn't mind," Hermione said, staring at him. "I can learn spells, but without structure I won't know if I'm learning what I should be learning, or if I'm doing it correctly."
Harry ran a hand through his hair. "Do you want this to be an every week thing or just a 'when we feel we need it'? I'm not in the habit of wasting my time and I won't do it if you're not going to take it seriously."
"We will," Neville said. "I don't want to be a loser any more. I want to be strong and make my parents proud of me."
Harry froze and gave Neville a long, measuring look. He understood that. Making his parents proud had been what drove him since he found out about them. "Very well, the only Free we have together is Wednesday morning and I'm busy then. I can give you all weekend, but my weeks are filled."
"That's fine, this weekend?"
"Right, what time? I don't have obligations except Sunday evenings so any time is good for me."
"Saturday mornings? Say from breakfast to lunch. We can learn the spell, then you can do your studying or-"
"Is it just going to be the two of you or do you want to invite your friends?" Harry broke in, causing the two of them to shift.
"Would it be alright if we invited our year mates? And maybe the Hufflepuffs?"
"I'll have to get permission from Dumbledore if we're going to invite too many people," Harry said. "I'll take care of it this afternoon."
"Thank you, Harry, you won't regret it!" Hermione said, giving him a large smile.
Harry sighed as he made his way to the Staff Room. He knew Dumbledore was always there right before lunch every day so that his professors could speak to him without making the journey to his office. He knocked on the door and blinked when he saw Flitwick. "Er...is the Headmaster in?"
"Yes. Come in, Harry."
Harry nodded and entered the room, looking for the Headmaster and was surprised when he saw most of the professors in the room. "Friday Staff Lunch." Flitwick said with a grin.
"Right, Headmaster?"
"Ah, Harry, my boy. What can I do for you today?"
"Hermione Granger and Neville Longbottom, both of Gryffindor, approached me after Transfiguration today. They asked if I would be willing to tutor them in any subject that they are having problems." Harry's disgusted glance at the Quirrell's back made it clear who he was mainly talking about. "I agreed to tutor them. Then it was stated that perhaps their Gryffindor year mates might need help as well. Then the Hufflepuff."
"No Slytherin? Or Ravenclaws?"
"I fully expect my fellow Ravenclaws to have learned their books by now and the Slytherins have tutoring in place from the older years from the minute they get sorted," Harry said, giving Snape a telling look. "The problem, as I see it, is that we don't have access to a room large enough to host all the students, and be able to practice spells."
"Ah yes, I see." Dumbledore said and thought for a moment. "You won't be excluding the Ravenclaws or the Slytherins?"
"If they're polite and wish to come they're more than welcome to. Expect Malfoy." Harry said and making a face. "I've heard rumors he wants to talk to me and if he's anything like his father I'd rather have nothing to do with him."
"You mean a Death Eater?"
"Oh no. If I didn't want to be near Death Eaters or those who associate with them I never would've come to Hogwarts." Harry said. "I meant his...unnatural interest in small boys."
Dumbledore gaped at him and Harry could hear a glass break, probably because it fell out of someone's hands. "Where...did you hear such a rumor?"
"I didn't," Harry said. "However, I saw the way the man was staring at him at the Train Station so looked up his arrest record in the Library. He was charged with three counts of rape and all three counts were of boys under the age of thirteen."
"I...see," Dumbledore said. "I'd forgotten that the Library held those records."
"Not going to make them disappear, are you Headmaster?" Harry asked, giving the man a searching glance. "I don't imagine you'd like the students looking into those."
"I don't," Dumbledore said. "But they are there for a reason. I can't imagine why you would want to look through those old records."
"To see who I need to watch out for. After all, you told Petunia that you left me in her care to protect me from my parents' enemies. It didn't take a genius to figure out that you placed me there for my safety, such as it was. It's better to know your enemies than to go into a situation blind."
"You think you have enemies?"
"I'm sure of it. If I was three steps from taking over England and some snot nosed little brat took it away from me, I'd be after his head."
"You want to rule England, then?" Dumbledore asked.
"Good god, no!" Harry said. "Do you have any idea how much paperwork that would entitle? Unless I was a Dark Lord and force someone else to take care of it," Harry said thoughtfully. "Can you be a Dark Lord without all the killing and torturing and whatnot?"
"That's generally the only way to get the title." Dumbledore said, his eyes laughing.
"Well then, I'm afraid I'll pass on the whole world domination thing. I want to pass school, get married, have enough kids to make a Quidditch team, teach them the best way to torture Hogwarts' Professor and not get caught, then maybe raise some strange animal on the side."
"That's a modest goal. Just children?"
"Is there any better goal out there than to have the love of a family? I've never seen one," Harry said with a shrug then decided to get the subject back on topic. "So is there a classroom that I can take over without bothering anyone?"
"Ah yes. My old classroom in fact. It's on the fourth floor and is rather large, seeing as we used to teach all four Houses in one class. I can have the House-elves clean it."
"Don't bother. I will. Good day, Professors. Professor Astray, I'm going to have to ask if I can cancel our lesson today."
"Of course! It's so nice to see you mingling with your peers!"
"There will be no mingling, woman!"
"Of course there will be!" Emilia said with a grin. "In order to tutor, you have to mingle!"
"I can still be aloof and keep the incompetent morons away from me!" Harry said, glaring at her. "After all, just because no one's ever proved that stupidity isn't contagious doesn't mean it's not!"
"Pfft!" Emilia said. "You're just a cold fish who can't stand to have human contact!"
"And you're a domineering, hyperactive, overemotional mess!"
They both glared at each other, ignoring the shocked looks they were getting from the other professors before Emilia cracked a grin. "Come're and give us a hug!" she said, standing up with her arms stretch out. Harry gave her his most fierce glare and then darted out of the room. The last time Emilia had tried to hug him he'd nearly been suffocated in her rather large bust.
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After Harry left the Staff Room, the other teachers just sat there, some shocked, some appalled, and some just amused at their little exchange. "Emilia, you can't treat or allow a student to treat you that way!" Minerva said, she was of the shocked and appalled group.
"Why not? We'll never be in a real student/teacher relationship."
"Because it's not proper!" Minerva's voice was just below shriek level.
"Is there a reason you allow such an informal relationship between the two of you?" Albus asked.
"Emilia, you told us you both joked around and teased each other, but that was boarding on flat out disrespect," Pomona said.
"Have you ever seen Harry having a conversation with another student? Because I haven't. He doesn't talk to anyone else, he isn't going to try out for the Quidditch team, he isn't joining any of the student clubs, and he has no friends," Emilia said, her face showing more seriousness than they'd seen from her before. "Harry's very much a loner, most likely from his abuse, despite actually being a social person, but he's shut himself off from people. It's taken me this long just to get him to open up enough that he'll tease me back. It's not healthy to be so closed up, so I allowed our relationship to develop into a more friend based one where I just happen to be a professor and teach him things."
"Has he told you anything about his abuse?" Albus asked suddenly, his eyes sharp.
"I know he lived in the cupboard under the stairs and that they kept him isolated by allowing their son to bully anyone that showed Harry any friendliness at all. It must be quite a shock to Harry to go from completely alone and ignored to so famous people follow him around in the halls."
"Oh, the little brat laps it up," Severus sneered. Emilia blinked at the man then shook her head.
"If you think he laps it up, you're seriously blind or have let your potions rot that supposed brilliant brain of yours. I don't know what you have against Potter, and frankly I don't care, but you're the one acting like a 'little brat', not him."
"How dare you speak to me that way? I am a Senior Professor and a Head of House and you have no right-"
"No you're the one that doesn't have any right!" Emilia shouted jumping to her feet. "The only reason your Head of Slytherins is because no one else is stupid enough to take the job! You let your hatred of James Potter get in the way of your teaching. You let what happened to you twenty years ago get in the way of no and treat every House but Slytherin like their something you scrapped off the bottom of your shoe! You act more like a hormonal teenager than most of the students in this school! You're a disgrace-"
"You insolent little child-"
"Emilia, Severus that is quite enough," Albus' voice wasn't raised but it had more effect than a cannon going off. Both professors fell back into their chairs and glared at each other. "Severus, Emilia is correct, you need to let go of old grudges and move on with your life. Emilia," Albus sighed. "Despite rumors to the contrary Severus is an excellent professor."
"Yeah if you can get past his absolute hatred of the students and his abrasive personality."
"That's enough. Severus if I hear you've treated Harry any different than your other students we'll speak in my office. Emilia I think you should calm down and have some tea."
Emilia took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she poured herself some tea. Severus smirked at her as he leaned back in his chair.
Stubborn, foolish man.
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Harry went down to Lunch, ate as quickly as he could, then disappeared into the Library where he went into the Hogwarts archives. Harry knew, from conversations with Hermione over the course of their Hogwarts' careers that all Professors were required to submit their end of term exams to help future students. The OWLs and NEWTs were submitted every ten years – when they drew up new tests – to give students an idea of what they needed to know on the exams. If the fifth and seventh years were half as clever as they thought they were (he was including himself in this) they would've looked over the old exams and found out what they all had in common and learned that and whatever else the teachers threw at them.
Harry accessed all the first year exams going back to Dumbledore's first year and found the common links. There were seven spells they were supposed to know by the end of the year, according to all the exams before Voldemort's curse took place: Jelly-Legs Jinx, Trip Jinx, Babbling Curse, Jelly-Fingers curse, Leg-Locker Curse, Sponge-Knees Curse, Stinging Hex. None of the curses or jinxes would hurt a person, who was prepared for them, but they could take out an unprepared wizard just as easily as some of the stronger curses. Harry hadn't known some of them so he learned them from the smallest wand movements up to where exactly the accents on the spells needed to be.
Harry wrote down what he was sure would be asked of him, copied all the notes he'd taken down with a spell that used the standardized text for books, and bound it all and made what he thought to be enough copies. He grabbed a few basic books that dealt with Defense – books past teachers had had their students use – and decided he was done. It's a good thing I'm doing this, Harry thought as he looked over the work he'd done. Thanks to Quirrell, Lockhart, and Umbridge, we barely learned anything about defending ourselves. Voldemort was more clever than he thought when he cursed the Defense position or perhaps he meant to do precisely what his curse is doing. After all, the younger generations not knowing how to defend themselves just made it easier for him to take over.
Harry shook his head and moved back into the stacks of books to choose his next one.
That night at dinner, Harry told Hermione that it was a go ahead and gave her the classroom number, 436, and then told her she could invite anyone she wanted as long as they were first years. After dinner, he nipped down to the kitchens to ask one of the House-elves if they wouldn't mind cleaning out room 436 for tomorrow morning. After assuring them he had permission and telling them what it was for, they were delighted to do as he asked and promised it would be done.
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The next morning, Harry had eaten breakfast as quickly as he could, which meant grabbing two slices of toast with strawberry jam, making it a sandwich, an apple and an orange, before moving toward classroom 436 to see what needed to be done with it.
He stepped into the room and let out a whistle. The room was large enough for a very large group of students to hang out in, and three walls were lined with all kinds of cool and interesting objects. He ignored them and looked at the books that lined the shelves. Several of them were about Defense but even more were on Charms, Transfiguration, Potions and even Astronomy. Why in the world would we have Astronomy in the middle of the... Harry had finally glanced up and looked at the ceiling, which was charmed like the Great Hall.
"Wispy." Harry called out for the House-elf he'd spoken to the night before.
"Harry Potter sir, calls?" Wispy said as she appeared in front of him.
"Yes...er what's with the ceiling?"
"Oh! Headmaster Dumbly-dore sir dones it!" Wispy said, clapping her hands. "Says that students should learn outside of nighttime yous should! Can call out stars and show whole sky!"
"Can I?" he asked, blinking. She nodded her head causing Harry to fear it would fall right off her shoulders. "Andromeda." The ceiling shimmered before changing to the Andromeda constellation.
"Harry Potter sir, can go in and out! And in and in and out and out and out." Wispy said, her voice going to a level of shriek Harry had never heard outside of a three year old on a sugar high.
Harry blinked at her before what she said settled in his mind. In and out, in and in out and out and out? What the hell? Does she mean zoom in and out? "How do I get it to do that?"
"Harry Potter sir says Zoom and in or out," Wispy said.
"Anything else I should know, Wispy?"
"Harry Potter sir needs password to get in and out!" Wispy said and snapped her fingers. "Harry Potter sir says password!"
"Er...Grim Dawn," Harry said with a shrug.
"Good good! Now only Harry Potter sir can get in! Headmaster Dumbly-dore sir says good idea!"
"Well thank you, Wispy. I really appreciate everything you – and the others – did."
"Wes being happy to, Harry Potter sir!" Wispy said with a bow before disappearing with a quiet pop.
Harry looked around and took in everything in the room. Toward the front, where the professor would usually stand, was a board where he could write things out to explain it better to his...students? Well, whatever they would be called, he had everything he needed to make sure they learned Defense. "Potter, are you there?"
Harry moved toward the door to open it. He saw all of the Gryffindor first years standing there. He blinked and stepped back to allow them to enter.
"We'll give it twenty minutes to make sure everyone who is going to has the time to show up," Harry said. "In the meantime, go ahead and talk among yourselves."
The Hufflepuffs appeared in groups of two before the time ended. Anthony Goldstein, Padma Patil, Lisa Turpin, Mandy Brockelhurst, Morag Macdougal, and Su Li, appeared just before he shut the door. "All right. So this is how it's going to be. This is a tutoring session for those of you who want to learn Defense and not that crap Quirrell is trying to pass off as Defense. If you're here for any reason other than that then you can leave now. I will not put up with you goofing off and messing up the sessions for everyone else. There will be homework that is completely optional. However, if you don't do it and fall behind because you didn't then don't come back. I won't help you if you're not willing to put in the required work. I have better things to do than waste my time. However, if you do all the homework and work during these sessions and are still behind, I will set aside extra time to help you. I'm not a very nice person, I will be the first to admit that, but I'm not a complete cad either. Any questions? Hands. I won't have chaos or unnecessary noise. Zacharia Smith."
"What makes you think you're good enough to tutor us?" he asked, eyes narrowed.
"I didn't make you come. Two people approached me and asked if I would be willing to tutor them. I said yes, they asked if they could invite others. I didn't want to do it because I have other things I'd rather be doing. However, Quirrell as a professor is rubbish. If you don't want to learn what I have to teach you, then you can leave. I certainly won't stop you. In fact, please do. It'll be less work for me."
"But what makes you think you can teach us?"
"For one, I've memorized lessons from the first three years. Have you? I also know Muggle, yes Muggle, self-defense. I'm a brown belt in karate." That wasn't a lie, really, since the first time he'd been a brown belt. He just had to get back into shape now. "I've also put a good deal of work into planning what to teach you. If you don't want to learn, that's your problem. Not mine. Next question...Padma's twin."
"What are you going to teach us?"
"Anything you want to know," Harry said with a shrug. "I can teach you dueling and combat. I can teach you the best way to throw a male who's bigger than you who gets...a little fresh. I can teach you defensive spells that'll hold off everything up to the Unforgivables, or I can teach you to become invisible so you can run away."
"Run away?" Ron Weasley laughed. "Why would you want to run away?"
"So you can defeat a full grown adult wizard with forty more years of experience than you, Weasley? If so, then you clearly don't need these sessions, you're wasting my time so I kindly ask you to leave."
"Wha-no, I can't! It's just-"
"Sometimes retreat is the better part of valor, Weasley. You have to learn to pick your battles. Next...Hannah."
"I don't ever plan to fight anyone. I'm going to be a Herbologist. But I would like to know how to defend myself. Can you teach us what to do if we find ourselves in a situation that requires us to fight?"
"I will be doing that, Hannah. What I think you really need, though, is shield spells and a way to escape. I'll be teaching you that later if you stick with the class. Now. Those of you who want to learn physical self-defense has the option of getting your arse out of bed at five-thirty every morning to run with me.
"When I get you in shape, I'll teach you different moves to fight with. It is nine right now. This session ends at noon. That means I only have three hours to teach you want needs to be done. To start with, I don't know if you all covered this in any of your other classes but you need to know this. There are three categories that spells fall into when considering – Granger, I have this all written down and will pass out notes at the end. Just listen for now."
Hermione blushed bright red before she put her quill down and turned her attention completely to Harry.
"As I was saying, there are three categories that spells fall into when considering the cause of a spell. The first and generally easiest spells to cast are the ones that always have a fixed result. What I mean by that is if you cast Lumos," Harry did so while pointing his wand at the blackboard. "You will always – no matter how much power you put behind it – end up with a beam of light three feet in diameter and 60 watts. You cannot make it smaller, larger, brighter or dimmer. It is what it is." Harry canceled the spell. "Does everyone understand that?"
Harry waited for questions but there were none and brushing his Legilimency against Neville and Wayne Hopkins, both of who were notoriously slow, found that they both understood.
"The second classification is rather tricky to tell if it is a class one or two. It produces the same results but some objects take more or less power to effect. Say for example the color changing spell." Harry took out his wand and tapped the blackboard changing the color to bright orange then he bent and tapped the floor, also changing its color to purple. "It takes more power to change the floor than it does to change the blackboard but the spell still produces the same results. Questions? Lisa."
"How do you know whether the spell falls under the first or second class?"
"You use it or look it up," Harry said. "Really, you can't tell just by its name or anything like that. Questions? Longbottom."
"So just to make sure I understand. The first class won't change no matter how much power I put into it." Harry nodded. "The second might require more or less power depending on what you're doing but the end results will always be the same… if you do it correctly, right?" Harry nodded again. "Well, alright then."
"The third classification is the hardest to control," Harry said. "It will change depending on how much power you throw in. Too little and nothing will happen, too much and you could seriously hurt yourself or someone else. For example, the common fire spell. Anyone know the incantation? Brown."
"Incendio." She said.
"Correct." Harry tapped the floor and the shield sprang up. "Watch carefully. Incendio," he said, putting just enough power behind it to light a fire in the the fireplace. "Because Incendio works off magic, it doesn't need wood. However, it will go out depending on how much power you threw into it." The fire in the grate went out. "There are also other uses for the spell." Harry said turning back toward his peers. "You can put enough power in it to burn a house down. Or a forest. Or a person," Harry said and looked at them for a moment before turning back to the shielded side of the room.
"Incendio."
He put a good deal more power behind it, causing a large fireball to appear. The two chairs against the wall where the fire hit were gone, but the chair halfway between the wall and the shield burst into fire on its own. Two more chairs, these set almost right up against the shield, shook and then were pulled into the flames.
Harry turned back toward his audience and looked at them. Everyone was pale. "As you can see, Incendio can do a great deal of harm. It will burn until the magic that created it is gone. There is no countercurse for it. You can't grab a bit of water and hope to put it out. You can't smother it. Any questions?"
"What happened there?" Lavender Brown demanded. "Why did that chair burst into fire? And those other chairs moved toward it!"
"Anyone? Granger."
"The vacuum effect, right? The chair burst into flames because the air was so hot it couldn't do anything else. And the others moved toward the flames because the flames created a vacuum effect and sucked everything into it."
"That's right. A little simplified but correct," Harry said with a nod. "When casting spells with a great deal of power behind them, you have to understand everything that comes with it. It's not just... 'wow, cool, I can create a huge fireball!' It's 'if I do create the huge fireball first, is anyone or anything going to get hurt?' Magic is a great responsibility, ladies and gentlemen. Something that a lot of people forget. As you can see by the fact that the fire is already out, I didn't put a lot of power behind the spell. All I did was make it incredibly hot and let it take care of itself."
Harry was silent for a moment to let everyone absorb what he was saying. He turned to the board and wrote on it. Jelly-Legs Jinx, Trip Jinx, Babbling Curse, Jelly-Fingers Curse, Leg-Locker Curse, Sponge-Knees Curse, Stinging Hex. "Who here has ever heard of any of these curses? Hands. Neville."
"The Stinging Hex. Most parents use it to discipline their children."
"Good. If I was capable of giving points that'd be five," Harry said with a nod. "The Stinging Hex is just that. It gives a brief sensation of pain in a localized manner. For those muggleborns or raised out there: think of when you were younger and got your hand slapped. That's what it feels like. It is of the Second Class. The more power you put into it, the more it hurts. There was one report of a mother putting so much power in it that she destroyed all the nerves in her child's arm." He ignored the gasps and continued. "Hopkins."
"Jelly-Fingers Curse," he said. "It makes you drop things."
"Yes. Of the First Class, Jelly-Fingers makes your brain think that your bones are gone which makes it so you can't hold a wand or pretty much anything else." Harry nodded. "It can, however, be fought with enough concentration and be overcome. Thomas."
"Sponge-Knees Curse," Dean said. "It makes it feel like your knees aren't there."
"Exactly," Harry said with a nod. "It's hard to do anything when you can't even crawl away because your knees don't work. As with the Jelly-Fingers Curse, it can be overcome if your will is strong enough but it is rather hard. It too is a First Class. Su."
"The Leg-Locker is a curse that freezes all the muscles in your legs so you can't move them. They become hard as stone, or so I've read."
"Very good. The Leg-Locker Curse has never been overcome. It's a First Class spell as well. It literally freezes all your muscles in whatever position they were in. You will not be able to move your legs until the counter curse is done. Weasley."
"Er...the Babbling Curse?"
"And it does what?"
"Makes you...er...babble I guess. You speak nonsense."
"Very good. This is a Third Class spell. It is very simple to do and the reason it is taught to first years is because most first years can't do more than make a person babble for a few seconds. This is also known as a Mind Effects spell, which is generally restricted material. What this means is, beside this specific curse, using them outside of Ministry control is forbidden and could earn you up to three years in Azkaban, depending on the seriousness of your crime. This spell doesn't just make you babble. If you get enough power into it, it can force it so your mind can't concentration on anything. Using this on one of your peers is a no questions asked month detention, usually with Professor Snape or Filch so I wouldn't use it unless you feel your life is in danger. Unless the person gives you permissions to do so. Granger, the next one please."
"The Trip Jinx. It's a relatively simple spell that causes a person's feet to stick to the ground for a split moment."
"Which is more than enough for them to go arse over kettle if they're moving quickly," Harry said. "It is a Third Class spell as well. The more power you put into it, the more ground it can effect. Padma."
"Jelly-Legs is a jinx, not a curse, because it just makes you lose your balance for a moment."
"Yes, and it's a First Class. Quickly, who can tell me the difference between a curse, a hex, and a jinx? Anthony?"
"A jinx is a spell that has a time limit on it. A curse has to be canceled and a hex is meant purely to cause physical pain. Though most people use all three words for any spell they feel like."
"Correct."
"But how can we defend ourselves using those?"
"Smith, you need to learn to raise your hand. For that, you get to be the first example." Harry said and smile. "Come on down."
Smith sneered at him. "My father has already taught me these spells and a shield spell."
"Congratulations. Feel free to use them," Harry said as he pulled out his wand. "Padma, would you do the honors?"
Padma stood up and stood between the two of them. "Wands at the ready." They both got into position "Three...two...one!" She jumped back and looked rapidly between the two boys, but was disappointed when Smith got off the first spell.
"Sloppy, Smith, very sloppy," Harry said as he stepped to the side. "My turn."
Harry started with the Jelly-Fingers Curse, followed up with the Leg-Locker Curse and ended with a Stinging Hex. Smith was sitting on the floor staring at him with wide eyes. "Now, as you can see, the Jelly-Fingers Curse made him drop his wand, the Leg-Locker Curse made him fall over, something that is quite common really, and the Stinging Hex well that wasn't necessary really, he just really annoys me."
"Cancel the curses, Potter!" Smith snarled. "You couldn't fight a real wizard using those spells, Potter." Smith said as he stood up.
"Smith, you can leave anytime you want. No one's forcing you to be here," Harry said. "In fact, you can leave now. I'm not here to prove myself to you. I was asked to do this by two people I respect. I do not respect you."
Smith turned bright red before storming out of the room. "Now, the reason these spells are all taught in first year is because they are easy to do and if you use them correctly they can bring down a full grown wizard. If you catch them off guard that is," Harry said.
"Padma, since you're up, would you mind giving everyone one of these?" Harry handed her the papers he'd written the notes on. "These are for your personal use. The books at the bottom are references that Defense professors in the past years have used that I found helpful. There are three copies of each book for each house. That should be enough for everyone to be able to do the reading you need. Granger, I know you and I suggest you take the books last so everyone else gets their reading done," Harry said. "Now we have an hour. If you wish to leave early, your homework will be to read the first chapter of each of the three books and to learn the Stinging Hex. Those of you that are staying, we'll practice the Stinging Hex now. Hufflepuffs down here, please. The rest of you can go to the shelves and grab the books. Each table is silenced and has a shield around it, so those of you who wish to may work on homework or you can each read aloud out of the book. It doesn't matter to me."
Harry waited until everyone was settled and the Hufflepuffs were hovering around him. "All right, the wand movements are so." A quick right slash followed by a jab. "Do you want to practice on each other?"
"No!" Hannah said.
"Don't worry, I was only joking," Harry said and moved to the front of the room and showed them the plate hanging on the wall. "This is a spell detector. It will tell you if your spell is working and give you a general feel for how much power you're putting behind it..."
Harry spent the next hour teaching everyone to cast the Stinging Hex. For those like Neville and Hopkins, who just couldn't get the spell, he offered them more help after lunch.
Harry left the room after everyone else, having cleaned up and made sure everything was in order, and found that word of his tutoring session must have spread because people were whispering about him even more than before. Damn, and they just barely got over the Halloween Incident. Harry sighed and ignored the whispers that followed him, thinking that at least the students thought he did a good job of it. I'm going to regret taking on teaching them all, I can feel it.
SsSsSsSsSsSsSsS
All of the Professors who were interested were gathered inside the Staff Room to watch Harry Potter's tutoring session through monitors Albus had put in the ceiling. After the boy ended the session, they sat around and talked about him… well, gossiped really — but they were adults and didn't do something as crass as gossip.
"There weren't any Slytherins," Pomona pointed out thoughtfully.
"No, they wouldn't have shown up," Severus shook his head. "Not in a room with Gryffindors if they didn't have to be."
"I thought it went rather swimmingly," Emilia said cheerfully.
"I agree," Albus nodded. "He was a little harsh with Mr. Smith, but I can't see Harry as being a very patient person."
"Neither can I. And Smith was asking for it," Minerva said. "Not that Harry couldn't have handled it better."
"He really went rather in depth, didn't he?" Filius' pride in Harry was clear to everyone.
"He did. He's a boon to your House, Filius," Minerva smiled at the Charms Professor.
"I didn't even know some of the stuff he talked about," Charity Burbage said.
"That's because you were in Defense after... the problems started. The category system is always explained in Defense," Albus quietly pointed out. "Things were different before the fifties."
"I've been teaching it in Charms lately, Albus. It's why we don't get to casting the actual spells until after Halloween."
"Ah yes, forgive me, Filius, in my old age I tend to forget such things," Albus said with a smile to the shorter man.
"His demonstrations were impressive," Lara Vector said smiling. "I rather liked the fire one myself."
"It was dangerous!" Minerva said.
"He tested the shield before he cast the spell. And Wispy told him that Albus did the spells. It was almost perfectly safe," Filius jumped in, as quick as always to defend his students.
Albus nodded. "I'll speak to him about such demonstrations. For now though, we need to vote on whether to allow the tutoring to continue."
"As long as someone's here to monitor the class, I say 'aye'," Minerva said.
"Same as all the other clubs. Saturday is when a lot of them go on so someone's usually here," Pomona said with a cheerful smile.
"Voting."
Only Severus voted 'nay'.
A/N: I don't usually answer reviews in the story but I feel I have to clear a few things up.
First off Harry is not skipping Defense Against the Dark Arts, he goes to every single class and he watches Q-mort like a hawk. Voldemort hasn't done anything so far other than sit there so Harry's leaving him alone, in this story the bond between himself and Quirrell becomes unstable in the third week of March (which is when, according to the HP Lexicon Hagrid gets his dragon and the whole mess with the detention happens). Several people have questioned why Harry isn't doing anything about Voldemort, my questions: why should he? He know where Voldemort is, he knows what he's doing and no one is being hurt. There is absolutely no reason Harry should do anything at this point because Voldemort is keeping low and doing nothing but building his power.
Secondly my explanation of Harry, since I keep getting Private Messages asking me. I don't make a study of people and their minds but this is what I think would happen to him. First Harry was a little boy who spent nine years in a cupboard being told that anything 'freakish' that happened around the Dursleys was his fault, I really wouldn't be surprised if they blamed 'normal' happenings on him as well. He was bullied by his cousin, his uncle and his aunt and they made it very, very clear that they didn't want him there even if they didn't physically abuse him. So he goes from one extreme, being basically ignored unless something happened, to being basically worshiped by people he never even knew existed. He just gets used to that when he and his friends lose hundred and fifty points and it all gets blamed on him. Harry goes through these periods where he's a hero or a villain then gets thrown into a war not of his making but which he's expected to fix. His friends either hide from the horrors of war in books and research (Hermione) or try to take more credit than they're due and lap up their Hero Status (Ron). So his friends abandon him and he's left to face horrors that no one should ever face. Harry becomes a recluse, he doesn't deal with any of the emotions he feels and instead throws himself into the war. I'll be going into that more and more as time goes on but just know that Harry was the Top Dog. Death Eaters were more frightened of him than they ever were of Dumbledore and for good reason.
Where I'm going with this is that Harry isn't anti-social and he doesn't actually want to be alone. He just never learned how to make friends and hasn't dealt with any of the things he did as he fought with Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
And that's when Luna comes in. -- that's not foreshadowing that's telling.
As always any questions or comments can reach me through review or PM and I'll do my best to answer.
Added: August 10, 2008