Thanks to karlii, jeido95, Musical Jelmo, mrs severus snape, JWOHPfan, blue artemis and supergirl3684 for the reviews and to all of you who are sticking with me through my tedious updating schedule. I really appreciate it. Sorry if I missed anyone.
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize from Harry Potter is property of J.K. Rowling. Any other characters you don't recognize are mine, as boring and typical they may be.
Chapter 5 - Starting Training
"Name?" a lady asked at the desk.
"Harry Potter-Snape," he replied, getting annoyed. This was this third time he had gone through this in the past fifteen minutes. Any longer, and he was going to be late. She flipped through some papers.
"Ah, yes. Room 12, just beyond the offices," she said, pointing to a tight corridor behind him.
"Thank you," he said, glad to finally have gotten past all the desk people. He was lucky he remembered to come early, otherwise he would have been late. Walking fast through the corridor, which was packed with small offices on either side of it, he nearly ran into Shacklebolt as the man exited his office.
"Right on time, Potter," he said and Harry smiled. "You remembered to bring the books?"
"Yes, they're in my bag, shrunk."
"Good. I need to fetch something, go ahead and meet me in room 9."
"Nine? The desk lady told me 12 . . ."
"We'll be going there after," Shacklebolt said. "Room 9 is a locker and resting room." The auror dived back into his office and he made his way to room 9. Harry found it strange that none of the offices seemed to be numbered.
The door to room 9 was closed when he found it, but he let himself in to find a rather large room, with large, blue lockers on the left, a sitting area on the right and a door leading to somewhere at the back. No one paid him any mind when he came in, so he shut the door behind him quietly and sat down on one of the comfortable chairs in the sitting area. Well, it looked more comfortable than it actually was. Harry wondered briefly if they did that on purpose. Bored already, he examined the lockers in front of him. They looked to be about six inches taller than he was, and maybe about two and a half feet wide. Harry was thinking that the room must have been magically expanded because it didn't look like there was enough room for the 30 lockers that were there, but they did all fit.
There were four other people in the room, two talking quietly in a far corner and two others reading on their own. Harry was about to take out his books and unshrink them when his trainer came through the door, not shutting it behind him.
"Here you are, Harry," he said, throwing something at him, which he caught with ease. Looking at it, he noticed it looked like a muggle key padlock. He mentioned this.
"It is similar. The key that is with it, though, can only be used by you after the first time it is used. There are other securities put on it, as you will learn during your training." Shacklebolt walked over to the lockers and opened the first unlocked one from the left. "This is your locker," he said. "Any mail for you that has been sent to the Ministry, or information you'll need, will arrive on the top shelf, so check it every day when you arrive and when you leave, and don't store anything up there. The mail comes through the top of the locker and nothing harmful should be able to get through. There is always a possibility, though, so still be careful. Bookshelves," Shacklebold continued pointing to each section, going from top to bottom. "Most students use these three drawers to keep parchment and writing supplies. There's also a spot for hanging closed and the drawers that can be used for clothing, though they don't need to be."
Harry looked over it and began to unpack his books and set them up in the top book shelf. Even with them shrunk, they nearly took up the entire width, but the auror stopped him from moving some to the bottom shelf.
"The lockers are magically sized, so the shelves will hold a lot more books than they look they should. I also suggest you bring in a good, plain black robe. There are times you will need to dress a bit more formally. All the other clothes you will need will be provided, but you are also welcome to bring in more, similar type clothing. Most of the clothing wears a bit thin quite readily." Harry nodded, wondering why he would need more than just one set of clothes, especially if he could just wash it. "Put your stuff away, and I'll explain this room more," he continued, and Harry un-shrunk his books and put the rest of this school things away while Shacklebolt continued talking. "The other side of the room is for breaks, but you are allowed to come here when you don't need to be here for training. It is a good place to study or just read, as the classrooms are not to be used except for during class. The room in the back is a washroom. There are several rooms with showers and a place to wash clothes, if you wish to use them."
Harry finished putting the things in his locker and turned toward the door at the back of the room, then looked at his mentor.
"The books you will be using today are Basic Locking Charms, and Transfiguring Shields," Shacklebolt said while turning to look at him, and Harry grabbed those books. One of them was "You will also need parchment and a quill. Once you retrieve those, you may close your locker."
Harry grabbed his parchment notebook, ink and quill before closing his locker and locking it, putting the key, which was on a chain, around his neck. No more words passed between the two as they left the locker room and traveled a couple doors down to room 12. The door was open and they walked in to find a small classroom. Small, being compared to a medium-sized living room. There were a total of six students desks, in three rows of two, and none were spaced far enough apart to be comfortable. The corner furthest from the door was a teacher desk with a rather large parcel setting on it and in the front of the classroom was a chalk board that filled the entire wall from waist up. Harry watched as the auror walked to the desk to look at the parcel.
"Good," he heard him mutter. "They actually got it correct this time." Turning to Harry, he handed the parcel to him. "These are yours. You may put your supplies on one of the desks and then go to the locker room and change into black shorts and white shirt. Put the rest in your locker and meet me in room 14. Oh, and in case you are wondering, there is no room 13."
"No room 13?" Harry asked, wondering how superstitious wizards could actually be.
"No room 13. Oh, there's a door, but the room itself has just . . . disappeared. Some have tried to search for it, but everyone who had gone looking in the past also disappeared. Mind that you don't open that door, for any reason."
"Alright," Harry nodded, wondering how an entire room could just disappear. "What did it used to be used for?"
"We're not sure. The Department of Mysteries keeps that a secret. The room's been gone for a few hundred years, you see. Now, hurry, there are many introductions to be done today."
Harry went to the locker room and opened the parcel. Inside was a cloth bag filled with clothes and other belongings. Searching, he found the closest thing he could find to black shorts (knee length, sweat pants type shorts, but the material was something Harry wasn't familiar with) and an almost robe-like, no-sleeves white shirt. It was almost down to his knees, so it almost completely covered the shorts. With his muggle history, Harry couldn't help but think the 'outfit' slightly girlish and very strange.
Throwing the rest of the package in his locker to go through later, Harry went to the bathroom to change, then went to room 14, giving the 13th door a glance. He wasn't going to open it, but he couldn't deny that he was curious as to what was behind there. Nothingness? Blackness? Bright white?
Before entering room 14, Harry tried to think of what nothingness would look like, but he couldn't seem to wrap his mind around it.
Room 14 looked somewhat like a gym. Harry guessed it was a track around the outside of the room, but it kept changing, as if to prove that it wasn't going to be normal. In the center was a long, thin swimming pool (for laps, Harry assumed), hand weights and a bunch of open space. Shacklebolt was standing next to a table that – only when Harry didn't look at it closely – glowed a pale blue. Suddenly, the track stopped changing, becoming a simple stone running way around the perimeter of the large room. It was then that he realized a girl had been running on the track.
"Ten laps, Mr. Potter," the auror called to him, and Harry must have looked at the man as if he was mad because Shacklebolt started to explain. "Run. Ten laps. Start slow. Walk for a while if you need to between running, but only if you need to." Harry still didn't move. "Now!"
Harry stepped onto the gray stone path and a red line drew itself across it and the number 0 floated in the air on the side. Harry guessed it was to keep track of the laps. Looking at Shacklebolt, who was now talking to the girl, he sighed and started with a jog. He hadn't honestly run since – maybe – primary school. Sure he ran from Dudley and Piers and the others, but he had adrenaline to aid him then. Now, all he had was the little breakfast he had that morning and the excitement of the new surroundings. Which, at the moment, wasn't very great.
Harry guessed it took him a better part of an hour to finish those then laps, with only stops for water when it was allowed ("Only every two laps. It will give you more will to finish.") and when he finally crossed that red finish line, Harry nearly tripped over his own feet, so he stopped, trying to breathe.
"Keep walking. You need to cool down, and walking slowly is the best way to do that." Thankfully, though, the man gave him a large, wooden goblet of water which he sipped as he walked, trying not to choke in the water because he was breathing too hard. Finally, he was able to breathe gently, and Shacklebolt led him to the classroom they were previously in, only this time the girl from the track before and a bloke were in there reading, both in the front row on the outside. Harry was tempted to sit in the back row in the middle, where he'd have more space, but a look at Shacklebolt told him he was better off sitting in the middle front seat.
"Harry, this is Sam," he said, indicating the ash blonde girl, "and Peter," he said, pointing to the dark haired guy. "Peter, swim for an hour. I want as many laps as you can push."
"Yes, sir," Peter nodded and left and the auror faced Harry.
"Read the first two chapters of both books. You have an hour for that. Sam, recite the first 11 items that . . ."
Harry tried to block out the lesson Shacklebolt was giving Sam and concentrate on the books. The chapters weren't long and he finished them in about 40 minutes, leaving him to tune in and out of Sam's lesson and to skim over the chapters again. Finally, Sam was told to go room five and to solve 5 and 32.
"Tired?" Shacklebolt asked after Sam had left.
"A bit," Harry answered.
"Good," the auror said. "Although it will get easier the more you run, running will not be the most strenuous physical activity you will be doing."
Harry couldn't think of anything to say to that, so he nodded instead.
Immediately, the auror began the lesson, only writing basic points and drawing diagrams on the large board behind him. It felt strange, Harry realized, being the only student in a classroom, because it felt as if he should have been keeping eye contact with the auror, but he also had to write down as much as he could, and even writing in shorthand he didn't think he was able to write down all the information.
The hour long lesson turned into an hour long reading session (the same chapters he had already read; Shacklebolt said he had to know the information well by tomorrow because he will be tested on it the next day) and finally, he was brought back to the large 'running room', as Harry deemed it in his head. This time, though, Peter was in there running a strange obstacle course around the room, and Harry caught himself watching several times.
"We'll go through a few simple exercises, then you may go," Shacklebolt had said, but the exercises didn't seem simple to him. It took maybe 45 minutes to go through all of them briefly, and Harry wasn't sure he'd remember them all (or even most of them) the next day. Even so, when they were done, he was almost glad his first day of training was over.
In the locker room, he changed into his normal clothes before organizing his locker. There were more clothes than he thought there would be. After he finished and was about to leave, Sam walked through from the bathroom, dressed in heavy winter clothes. She gave him a smile as she passed him, but nothing was said between the two.
When he finally made it to the exit floor, Harry was ready to go home and simply sleep for awhile, but he was distracted when he saw Ryan and his daughter waiting on a bench near the entrance. The man waved him over, so Harry reluctantly – and slowly – made his way over there.
"Mr. Potter," the man greeted.
"Hello," Harry answered.
"Dad, I don't want to go with mum," Harry heard Julia whine and her father tried to hush her quickly.
"I suppose I'll get to the point," Ryan finally spoke up after Harry just stood there awkwardly for a moment. "I am supposed to be helping you with your potions, by request of the headmaster. Me and a girl name Ginny."
"Oh," Harry said trying to keep the disappointment from his voice. He thought he succeeded. Ginny was alright, even though he didn't really know how she was in potions, but he would have to set down some rules if Ryan was to be helping him.
"I really am decent with potions, you can ask Snape – Professor Snape, that is. I was near the top in his class, so that must say something. I'm better at brewing than making up new ones, though. I can never really get those to work."
"I'll get some instructions to you once I think of something, then," Harry answered. "I must go, though, I have a busy day today," Harry lied. Actually, he didn't plan on doing much of anything.
"Right, of course," Ryan answered. "We're not here for long, either. Just waiting for Julia's mother to come pick her up."
"Do I have to go?" she whined again.
"You'll be safer there," he answered.
"Good bye, then," Harry said, not wanting to stay. Ryan said goodbye as Harry was walking away. Deciding he'd check to see if Ginny – or anybody else – was at headquarters, he flooed there and almost immediately found Severus.
"Hi, Dad," he said, and his father looked up from the papers he was reading.
"I'm not here for long."
"That's alright."
"Your first day of training was today, wasn't it? How did that go?"
"Fine," Harry answered. Reading, exercising . . . nothing really exciting."
"No, I wouldn't expect it to be," Severus answered. Harry sat thinking for a few minutes while Severus continued to read.
"What do you know about Ryan?" Harry asked.
"Ryan?"
"Ryan, who's in the Order. Dumbledore made him my . . . assistant," Harry said, finding it very strange to say aloud, "but I don't know anything about him other than he has a daughter and he was brewing potions in the kitchen."
Severus sighed. "Oh, him."
"Is he horrible?" Harry asked.
"At potions? No. He's decent enough. He was a fifth year in my first year teaching. By that time, his daughter was a year old already." Harry just stared at Severus, not knowing what to say to that. He supposed he never though of someone having a kid while at Hogwarts. "I suppose if he still has the child, he's a better father than he was while in school."
"He's sending her to her mother for a bit because he doesn't think it's safe here."
"He moved out this morning, back into his own house."
"Oh, well, I suppose that makes sense, then," Harry replied, and Severus shook his head slightly.
"They put enough protection on his house, she would be a lot safer there than anywhere else, I'm sure."
"Well, why was his house attacked in the first place? He said it wasn't Voldemort."
"I can't say I know," Severus said, but the way he said it, Harry assumed his father had ideas. He knew better than to press it, though; he could tell Severus didn't like the man. Adding that to Harry's first impression of him, Harry wasn't so sure he wanted the man working with – for – him.
"Is Ginny here?" Harry asked, changing the direction of the conversation.
"Not to my knowledge. I know Ms. Granger is currently in the library." There was a small pause. "Any particular reason you are asking about Ms. Weasley? I didn't think you two were extremely close," Severus said, a look on his face Harry wasn't quite sure how to interpret, but it made him uneasy anyway.
"We're not. We've talked sometimes, but she's Ron's little sister. She has her own friends, I have mine . . . But Dumbledore made her one of my assistants, too."
"Really?" his father asked flatly. "I would not have her brewing anything experimental."
"Is she good at potions?" Severus sighed.
"Not . . . exceptional," was his father's reply and Harry nodded, not knowing exactly what to do with that information.
"So . . . what are you doing for the Headmaster?" Harry asked. "Or can't you tell me?"
Severus looked up from the papers he was going through and looked over Harry as if trying to determine what exactly he was. It made Harry uncomfortable; Severus hadn't looked over him like that since just before they started getting along and it brought back memories he really didn't want to think about at the moment.
"Things for the school," Severus said, flipping through a few more pages and pulling them from the pile and putting them aside. "In case the muggleborn laws are passed."
"Oh." Harry got the feeling that Severus was busy and unable to really talk, so although he wanted to stay and chat about something, if nothing in particular, he decided it was best if he went to find Hermione and look through more books. "I'll see you later?" he asked, and Severus nodded absently.
Upstairs, Hermione was in the library near the back, sitting on the floor with a few piles of books surrounding her.
"Hi, Hermione. Find anything yet?"
She looked up. "Oh, hi, Harry. No, not really. I think I may have found two that reference it, but they're really old books so either the spelling if different or it is something entirely different."
"Any idea what it is yet?"
"No," she sighed. "Do you know what time it is?"
"Nearly four, I think," he answered.
"I suppose I should get going." Harry gave her a strange look. "I work evenings and nights at the orphanage now. It's harder than I thought. There's so many kids!" Harry gave her a smile. "Are you here to look through the book?"
"Yeah," he said. "I thought I'd look for a few hours before going home."
"Good luck, then," Hermione replied, standing up and heading for the door.
"Bye." After she left, Harry went to the corner he had started looking through before, picked the next few books and sat down on the floor. He got a few pages into the first book when he decided going through books was definitely not something he wanted to do right then, so leaving the books where they were, Harry pulled out the paper with Remus' address on it. It wouldn't hurt to see how he's doing, Harry thought to himself.
Harry didn't want to floo there and he couldn't apparate there because he'd never been there before, so he went to the front porch and apparated a few streets from headquarters before summoning the Knight Bus. After a hazardous ride, he found himself in front of a large building where he and two other people got off at. Double checking the number, he took the stairs to the fourth floor and found the correct flat.
Harry knocked, but it was a few minutes before Remus opened the door.
"Harry," he said with surprise. "I wasn't expecting you." Harry shrugged.
"I didn't have much to do so I came to see how you were doing," he answered, entering the room and closing the door behind him. "How are you?"
"Still have this headache," Remus answered.
"You should have that checked out . . ."
"I have a day off on Thursday. If I still have the headache by then, I'll go to St. Mungos. I'd rather not see a mediwizard if I don't absolutely need to, Harry," Remus replied, sounding tired.
"Why not?"
"Werewolves aren't usually treated the best at a hospital. They're usually scared, unless they're experience enough, and the new laws aren't helping any."
"Oh," Harry replied, feeling as if he was saying that word an awful lot today.
"I was about to make dinner. Would you like to stay?"
"I'll help you," Harry said immediately. He wasn't in a mood to eat alone, tonight. In the kitchen, Remus immediately picked up a rather large muggle book, marked his place and put it aside.
"What are you reading?" Harry asked.
"Just a book from the library," he answered. "Not the most interesting, but I started it and it passes time. Are you reading anything?"
Harry shook his head. "Unless you count assigned textbook reading as reading, no. I've never really read stories. Not since Primary school."
"You should sometime," Remus said. "It's good."
Dinner was simple. Just pasta and pesto with chicken, but it was still better than what Harry would have made if he had make dinner just for himself. They talked a bit before Harry left at seven, knowing he had some studying to do that night. He was outside Remus' door when he remembered that flooing home would have been the best option, but as he knew Remus was in his bedroom getting ready for bed, he decided to take the Knight Bus home. Passing a smiling man in the hallway, Harry smiled back and made his way home.
