'Dark Arts Taught At Hogwarts: Students' Reactions

Written by Rita Skeeter'

Harry sighed as he took in the Daily Prophet's Headline. He supposed he should be glad that it didn't say 'Boy-Who-Lives Recommends Book on Dark Magic to Muggleborn Student' or something thereabout. Still, despite the vagueness of the headline, he had no doubt that the article had been written about his stupid comment in Charms class the day before.

He skimmed through the first two paragraphs. The first one was just Skeeter rabble rousing, and the second one contained quotes from three different students, Ron Weasley, Andrew Diggle, and Angelina Johnson, who were shocked and horrified at the idea that dark magic might be being taught at Hogwarts. Of course Harry thought he might have held their opinions in greater esteem if they hadn't all come from notoriously light and anti-traditional families.

Harry had to stifle a frustrated sigh when he began the third paragraph. It was everything that he had expected.

'There are of course some students who do not seem all concerned that dark magic is included in their curriculum. The identity of many of these students are unsurprising, after all, one would hardly expect otherwise from the children of Death Eaters, but there are a few shocking names. Perhaps the most shocking of all is Harry Potter, better known to many as 'The Boy-Who-Lived', who seems to actively support the teaching of dark magic at Hogwarts. According to Ron Weasley, one of Potter's classmates, Potter has even been known to recommend books on the Dark Arts to other students. "Potter's as dark as they get," Weasley told me. "And he doesn't even try to hide it."'

36-36-36

The following few weeks went about as well as Harry had expected that they would. While the article made no difference to his friends' perceptions of him, the most of the school regarded him with suspicion. The older students glared at him through narrowed eyes and occasionally would shove him, or try and hit him with a jinx, meanwhile many of the younger students would gasp and shiver in fear as he walked by them. It was disheartening to be regarded with so much fear and hate, though perhaps the most off-putting reaction came from the students with Death Eater connections who watched him with anticipation and excitement – as though his presumed loyalty to their side was going to win them the war.

Harry didn't know how he would have coped with it all if it hadn't been for Sirius, Remus and his friends. Sirius had even offered to sue the Daily Prophet for slander, but Harry had decided against it. After all, nothing the Daily Prophet had printed was actually untrue – even if they couldn't possibly know for sure that his magic was dark – and Harry didn't want to go on public record as having protested being called dark. He was still hoping that one day their world wouldn't view dark magic as a synonym for evil.

Still, as frustrating as the school's reaction was Harry was too busy to really let it bother him too much. When he wasn't in classes he was either practising his wandless magic and animagus forms with his friends, practising duelling with Sirius, flying with his friends, Viktor, and other Durmstrang students, or doing his homework and researching in Hoth. The only times that he had to deal with the suspicious and fearful glares was in classes and during mealtimes, but in classes he could easily focus his attention on the professor and at mealtimes Luna kept him pretty well distracted.

Still, it was a relief when things started to go back to normal three weeks after Rita's article had been published. Harry wasn't sure why things were going back to normal, but he suspected that the school had just gotten bored of hating him. Or maybe his lack of suspicious and dark behaviour had put them all at ease.

Of course, there were still a handful of people who seemed determined to believe that he was a Death Eater including Ron and Ginny Weasley, Dean Thomas, his dorm mates, and the second Beauxbatons champion – Aceline Moreau. It wouldn't have bothered Harry that much, except it made thing hard for Fred and George, and he was a little concerned that Anthony might try to be a hero and murder him in his sleep. (He'd even put a parselmagic protection spell around his bed to keep anyone who wasn't a parselmouth out).

Harry wasn't sure what was happening in the Weasley family. His only sources of information were Fred and George and they hadn't been saying much about it. Still, from what he could figure out, nothing had really changed since before Christmas. Lord Prewett and Percy were still refusing to give up the Ancient and Noble House of Prewett, Mrs. Weasley was still threatening to disown them over it, Mr. Weasley was still refusing to disown them, Charlie was still in Romania, Ron was still telling anyone who would listen that he hoped his brothers were disowned, and Fred and George were still on Lord Prewett and Percy's side – but were unwilling to join the House of Prewett in case it got them disowned. The only thing that seemed to have changed was that Ginny had apparently chosen a side, and was now agreeing with Ron on the fact that their brothers were disgracing their House and ought to be disowned – albeit a little less passionately. Harry honestly didn't see how it was going to be resolved, at least not without an awful lot of pain for most of the people involved.

36-36-36

"Here."

Harry looked up from the book he was reading and accepted the book Neville was passing to him.

"Flesh-Eating Trees of the World?" Theo asked curiously, reading the title of the book. "Is that something that we're going to be studying in Herbology?"

"Oh, right." Neville pulled out his wand and tapped it on the cover of the book to return it to normal.

"Racizidian's Treatise." Theo read the real title of the book. "What's that?"

"It's on…"

"It's about…" Harry and Neville both started, before stopping and looking at each other.

"You answer." Neville suggested. "It's your book."

Harry nodded in thanks. "It's the book on the Dark Arts that Skeeter reported that I'd recommended. Neville was interested, so I lent it to him."

"What did you think, Neville?" Draco asked with interest.

"It was…" Neville paused. "Different."

"Yes," Harry agreed. "I really struggled with it at first. It quite contradictory to what we're taught here."

"Not in all classes though." Neville argued. "I can't remember Professor Flitwick ever saying anything that contradicts it. If the last few weeks are an indication he usually just leaves out the bits of theory that would be relevant."

"Interesting." Draco commented, before turning to Harry. "Do you think he might be dark?"

"Do goblins have dark and light magic?" Harry asked.

"He's only half-goblin." Daphne pointed out. "And he uses a wand for his magic – goblins don't."

"True, though he could just be using a wand so that he fits in." Harry suggested.

Daphne looked unconvinced. "That would make it hard for his to teach though, wouldn't it? Especially when he's teaching the first years. Most of what they learn is wand movements."

"True." Harry acknowledged. "Though he does use more wandless magic than our other professors. He never uses his wand to pass things out like McGonagall does."

"So, Neville, anything else to say about the book, other than different?" Draco prompted.

"It all made sense." Neville answered, before grinning wryly. "Can you imagine my Gran's face if she heard me say that?"

Harry produced a fake shudder. "A more terrible sight I never have imagined."

"There was one part that confused me though." Neville continued.

"Oh?"

"Let's say that it's true," Neville started.

Harry winced. "How about we say that it's true to our understanding, but likely not comprehensive."

Neville rolled his eyes. "Fine, let's say that, why did dark magic become so vilified?"

"Vilified?" Theo asked incredulously. "Who even uses those kinds of words?"

"Aside from Harry?" Draco asked.

"Obviously, Harry's a Ravenclaw – they all use ridiculously old and complicated words." Theo agreed.

"You make a good point." Draco nodded seriously, though there was an amused glint in his eye. "Neville's a Gryffindor. When was the last time any of us heard one of them use a word that had more than two syllables."

"Clearly you have never been in a conversation with Hermione Granger." Neville told them. "Sometimes listening to her is a bit like listening to a spoken version of a textbook."

"That's because she just regurgitates the textbooks." Harry explained dismissively. "At least that's what she does in class. The majority of her answers are word for word from either the textbook, or the other recommended readings."

"And that, Harry, it what makes you a Ravenclaw." Theo grinned. "Not only have you read the textbook and the recommended readings, but you actually remember them enough to know when someone is reciting them."

"By that logic Granger would be a Ravenclaw too." Harry pointed out.

"Anyway," Neville said pointedly. "Back to my question."

Harry took a moment to recall the question. "Oh, right, because while not all dark wizards are evil there have been some that were and we are currently experiencing the backlash from that. Not to mention that Voldemort is definitely not helping."

"So dark wizards are more likely to be evil?" Neville asked tentatively.

"Of course not." Draco bristled. "But right now, we're the ones with motive to try and change things and while some wizards, like my Father, are content to do that legally, some wizards aren't. An evil light wizard is much less likely to try and take over Magical Britain since their side is already controlling it."

Neville seemed to consider that carefully, before nodding. "That explains the now, but if there have been evil light wizards, as well as evil dark wizards, why is the backlash only happening against dark wizards?"

"Remember how Remus has been teaching about The Ancient and Royal House of Wendex?" Harry asked. "

"Yes." Neville agreed. "He is a thousand times better than Binns."

Harry smiled proudly. "He is, isn't he? Anyway, the House of Wendex was light, though they were very careful to maintain a healthy respect and balance between light magic and dark magic. But when the Maison Ancienne et Royal Carolingienne was cursed, killing most of the House of Wendex, the curse used was dark and the wizard who used it was known to be dark. By the time anyone got around to deciding what to do about it, the rest of the House of Wendex had been assassinated and those assassins were presumed to be dark as well – though it was never proven."

"Ah, so people blamed all dark wizards?" Neville asked.

"Yes," Harry nodded. "I think Remus is going to be talking about this next month – it's in our textbook."

"And without the House of Wendex around to defend dark wizards they were all vilified." Neville concluded.

"Yes, in England and France. Then a few hundred years after that Grindelwald rose to power and he was as further proof that dark wizards were evil." Harry explained.

"And now You-Know-Who." Neville added.

"Right," Harry agreed. "So it is becoming increasingly ingrained in people's minds that dark equals evil. After all, there haven't been any light wizards who have tried to take over Britain."

"Except that Grindelwald never actually claimed to have dark magic." Draco put in.

Neville whipped his head around to face Draco. "What?"

"And if you were to ask the Durmstrang students about Grindelwald, they would likely tell you that they don't know." Harry added. "He's not a parselmouth, so the only way to tell is by considering the spells he used."

"And while some people, such as Dumbledore, claim that all his spells were dark," Draco added. "Other people claim that he used more light spells than he did dark spells."

"How is this not public knowledge?" Neville looked flabbergasted.

"Because Dumbledore has appointed himself to be the benevolent dictator of Britain." Draco sneered. "And who would dream of contradicting him?"

"There is one more piece of information though." Daphne added quietly. "Something that my grandmother told me."

"Oh?" Harry turned towards her in interest.

"Apparently, Grindelwald was related to the House of Bagshot." Daphne told them. "My grandmother is friends with his Great-Aunt, Bathilda."

"That can't be true." Theo denied. "She'd have to be older than Dumbledore."

Daphne shot him a dark look. "Are you calling me a liar, Theo? Or is it my Grandmother that you're doubting?"

Theo swallowed heavily. "Neither.

"But the House of Bagshot is notoriously light." Neville commented in disbelief. "Bathilda Bagshot is friends with my gran. She's friends with Dumbledore!"

"It doesn't necessarily mean that Grindelwald was light." Harry pointed out. "Both my parents were light and I'm dark."

"No," Daphne agreed. "But it is interesting, don't you think?"

36-36-36

"Potter!"

Harry stopped and looked around for source of the voice.

"Potter!"

Harry looked around and winced inwardly as he saw Granger striding towards him. The last time he had spoken to Granger, he'd ended up being ostracized by the school for weeks. Admittedly it hadn't actually been her fault, but Harry wasn't exactly in a hurry to repeat the experience. Besides, he didn't really like Granger. The only interaction he had ever really had with her was being on the receiving end of her glares whenever he got a higher grade than her.

"Merry meet, Granger." Harry greeted her formally as she stopped in front of him.

Granger pushed her hair out of her face and frowned at him in confusion. "What?"

"Merry meet." Harry repeated patiently.

"Oh," Granger nodded in comprehension. "That's the salutation that witches and wizards used in Magical Britain in the eighteenth century."

Harry felt bemused. "It is. It's also commonly used in modern times."

"No, it's not." Granger denied. "Now people just say hi, or hello, or good morning."

"Non-traditionalists do." Harry allowed. "But traditionalists still use the older greeting."

"Why?" Granger asked brusquely. "It's archaic. Muggles don't go around saying 'how do you do' to each other."

"What do you want, Granger?" Harry asked stiffly, glad that Draco hadn't been around to hear that. He doubted that his cousin would have taken her rudeness well.

Granger looked frustrated. "I can't find that book you recommended anywhere! I asked Madame Pince and she banned me from the library for a week. A week!"

"I'm not surprised." Harry told her sympathetically. "Racizidian's Treatise isn't exactly on the Ministry's Recommended Reading List."

Granger looked excited. "The Ministry puts out a Recommended Reading List?"

Harry frowned at her. "Not that I know of. I was…never mind. What are you hoping that I'll be able to do?"

"Lend me the book." Granger said bluntly. "I asked Neville, but he said that I needed to talk to you about it."

Harry considered it. On the bright side, this was what he'd talked to Dumbledore about at the Yule Ball – educating muggleborns on dark magic and traditionalist. Dumbledore had refused, of course, but here was a muggleborn who was interested in learning – how could Harry turn her down?

One the not-so-bright side, if Ron Weasley or Rita Skeeter (or Dumbledore for that matter) found out that he'd lent a book on dark magic to a muggleborn the consequences would not be pretty.

"Well?" Granger asked impatiently.

"You have to swear that you'll keep it safe." Harry told her. "And you can't tell anyone that you're reading it or that I lent it to you."

Granger's eyes narrowed. "It's not against the rules, is it?"

"Of course not." Harry answered, half truthfully.

"Fine." Granger nodded sharply.

"Alright, I'll bring it with me to Charms tomorrow." Harry told her.

"Fine." Granger said again, before turning and walking away.

Harry watched her go in bemusement, before making his way to Ancient Runes. That had been decidedly odd.

36-36-36

Sirius honestly couldn't think of a better year for him to be at Hogwarts. Technically he was only supposed to be interacting with the students when his duty as a Triwizard Tournament Judge called for it, but he'd be damned if he was going to give up the opportunity to look out for Harry. And it was a good thing too. Between the Triwizard Tournament, and Harry's determination to become an animagus, his godson had a lot on his plate.

Sirius hadn't really considered the ramifications of giving Harry the book on becoming an animagus, and he doubted that Remus had either. In fact, Sirius didn't think that he'd ever really understood how dangerous the animagus transformation could be. He certainly hadn't when he and James had started the process aged thirteen and, since nothing bad had happened to them, he'd never considered that it might go wrong for some people.

Well, at least, not until the first time he invited himself along to Harry's animagus practises and watched ten teenagers attempt a complex human transfiguration. Then all he could think about were the multiple different ways that Harry and his friends could seriously injure or disfigure themselves. Since then he hadn't missed a single one of their practises, though thankfully there hadn't been any major disasters that he'd needed to fix. Well, aside from the time that Blaise Zabini couldn't figure out how to get rid of his tail.

It was interesting to watch the process as an adult. Sirius didn't remember much from his and James transformation process, but then something would happen and it would remind him of a specific memory. Like the time that James couldn't figure out how to get rid of his antlers and had spent over an hour panicking over it. Or the fact that James had managed the transformation an entire month before Sirius (and six months before Peter).

Similarly, Harry, who was working towards an owl animagus form, was ahead of all his friends and almost ready for his complete transformation. He had managed to transform all four of his limbs and his torso, and was now just working on his head – the most dangerous part.

Neville wasn't far behind, though when he transformed his torso the fur was amusingly patchy. Draco, Daphne and Takashi had all just finished transforming their fourth limbs and were beginning to work on transforming their torso. While Luna, Theo, Fred and George were all working on transforming their legs. Blaise Zabini, who was going to be a dormouse animagus, was probably the furthest behind, having only managed to transform his arms, and give himself a tail and whiskers. Sirius had to work at ignoring the similarities between Blaise and Peter (both had rodent animagi, both took longer than their friends).

Sirius leaned back in the chair that the Come and Go Room had provided for him and watched as Harry's eyebrows suddenly transformed so that they were made out of feathers. It looked painful. At least his own form only had hair sticking out of his skin, the thought of having the thick shafts of feathers sticking out of his face was a little horrifying.