A/N.-Well, hello!! Here I am, enjoying my summer break and giving you yet another chapter of my story (hope you're not getting too tired of it...) and well, seeing as I still haven't heard from my beta and it's been sometime since I updated, I just posted the non-proofread version, just so you guy can read it. As soon as I get the corrected version, I'll take this down and post the other one instead.
Disclaimer.- JKR's world is hers, just one or two things around here are of my creation.
Chapter 51.- Magic Lessons
Time went by at a steady pace, bringing the end of May rather quickly, and, judging by Harry's luck in past years, it wasn't long before disaster stroke, after all, it was almost at the end of the school year that something eventful happened: in first year he had to save the Philosopher's Stone from Quirrell. In second year he had to rescue Ginny and kill the basilisk, as well as his first horcrux. In their third year he, Ron and Hermione learned the truth about Sirius and had to save him and help him escape. Fourth year was pretty eventful in itself, but almost at the end of it he had to watch Cedric get murdered and fight a newly reborn Voldemort. In fifth year they foolishly fell in Voldemort's trap at the DoM, which ended in Sirius's death. In sixth year he went horcrux-hunting with Dumbledore, just to end up with the death of the latter.
What would it be this year? A lot had already passed now. Almost all of Voldemort's horcruxes had been destroyed already. Ginny, Pettigrew and Bellatrix had all died. Hermione, Lily and their parents had all almost died. Even now Jane and Gerard Granger were still in that coma-like, spell-induced state, and no one knew when they were waking up.
All of this, mixed up with Harry's fear for Lily being the prophesized "Benjamin" had him on edge and worried, in fact, if it weren't for the effort he was putting on the Quidditch practices for the final match vs. Slytherin, his health would've decreased dramatically, due to stress.
But that day, Quidditch wasn't enough to distract him from what was to come. In fact his mind was miles away from the next to last Quidditch practice before the big game.
"Harry" Someone called him "Harry!" No response from him "Bludger!" Someone yelled, making Harry snap out of his thoughts. He turned around to look for the supposed bludger, but there was none.
"Harry, what's bothering you mate?" Ron asked concerned, flying towards him.
"I'm fine. What makes you think otherwise?" Harry asked as if nothing was wrong.
"Perhaps it's the fact that the snitch has passed in front of you over five times now and you don't even seem to notice, or maybe it's the fact that you fly in random patterns instead of purposefully as you always do, or even perhaps…"
"ALRIGHT! I GET IT NOW!" Harry yelled in frustration "Sorry…I didn't mean to…I just…" He took a moment to pull himself together "I'm sorry mate; I'm not quite alright at the moment. Can you take over the practice for me?" He asked, while handing Ron his whistle.
"Take your time" Ron said, nodding in understanding.
Harry gave him a hint of a smile of appreciation and flew down to the ground, retired to the changing rooms to don his muggle clothing (he felt more comfortable in muggle clothing than in wizard's robes) and left for their favorite tree by the lake. When he got there he made sure no one was around before turning into an ermine and curling into a ball to be left alone with his thoughts. But as he suspected, his solitude wouldn't last too long.
He heard steps approaching and he raised his little brown head (he turned into a brown-furred ermine to blend in with his surroundings and go more unnoticed) to see who was heading his way: it was none other than Lily Rose Granger. He didn't feel like talking to anyone, including her, so he just dropped his head again, but felt her sit beside him and pull him onto her lap.
"You look cute like this Harry" The small girl said.
Harry turned his head to look at her and asked in a higher-pitched and smaller-than-usual voice "How did you know it was me?"
Lily shrugged "I just had this feeling it was you"
Harry sighed inwardly, he wasn't really eager to talk with anybody, but since he had been caught, he decided against it and snuggled against her, enjoying that calming feeling she always brought to him, even with his fear of losing her to that prophecy.
"Are you scared Harry?"
"Scared of what?" He asked, curious as of what could a six-year-old possibly ask him.
"Of the masked baddies?" Harry raised an eyebrow; he wasn't quite expecting that.
"Not that much" He lied. He wanted Lily to live with as little fear as possible until the war was over. Anyway, that was partially true, he was more afraid of Voldemort and even worse of death, but not his own. He remembered suddenly one specific time he had been in Grimmauld Place recently, just to stumble across another boggart.
--Flashback--
On a certain weekend he was homework-free and felt like being alone for a while he flooed to the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix in number 12 Grimmauld Place. He sat back on a living room couch, closing his eyes when he heard a loud noise.
He was quickly on his feet and with wand drawn. He started walking upstairs, when the noise was heard again. He guided himself to the source of the noise, which happened to be a wardrobe. This made him suspect what was inside it: a boggart.
He took a deep breath and pictured a dementor tripping in his mind, but he was in for a good shock.
He unlocked and opened the wardrobe with his wand, expecting the usual dementor to come out but oh surprise! There was no dementor; instead, a dead body dropped to the floor…
"Hermione!" Harry screamed in horror, since in front of him was the limp form of Hermione, with a wide and deep gash on her stomach that in real life would've most likely killed the twins and an expression of shock in her face, her eyes lifeless.
"Calm down you idiot, it's just a boggart" He thought, but the shock of what he was seeing didn't let him focus properly. "R-ridikkulus!" He stammered.
The body just went flying to the side, turning into another person in the process.
"Ron" Harry said now with a choked voice, as tears stung his eyes now, but he fought hard not to shed them…or it would make the boggart more powerful. But it was hard for him to control himself, since he was looking at an image of his best mate, legs and arms broken, and a hint of blood coming out of his mouth, his eyes shut in extreme pain. "Rid…" The words got caught in his throat. He closed his eyes shut and shook his head, trying unsuccessfully to rid his mind of that image. He took several deep breaths and said, with a quavering voice "Riddikulus".
But the spell wasn't powerful enough, since the boggart just flipped around and turned into yet another person. This time he was looking at a dead Remus Lupin, an expression of inhuman pain in his features, his throat destroyed, as if he had been bitten.
"Riddikulus!"
A weak spell yet again, now he was seeing a dead Luna, her neck broken.
"Riddikulus!!" Dead Neville, blood all over his shirt, his throat slit open.
"RIDDIKULUS!!" Harry yelled once more in desperation.
Drawing strength from Harry's grief, fear and pain, the boggart turned into a shape that would crumble Harry's remaining resolve. Neville's body shrunk in size, his blond hair became longer and curled, his features became more childish and girly, turning into another different person, until in front of Harry was the image of the dead body of Lily Rose Granger, with cuts all over her body, her dress completely stained in blood, a look of hopelessness, pain, fear and perhaps disappointment on her lifeless chocolate brown eyes.
"NO!!" Harry yelled from the top of his lungs, tears flowing freely now as he fell to his knees, that final image carved on his mind forever now. "Riddikulus! ...Riddikulus!! …RIDDIKULUS!!" He yelled over and over again, every time louder than the last, but Lily's body wouldn't change. Eventually his strength left him slowly; he kept repeating the incantation over and over, now his voice fading with every repetition, until he finally gave in to the fact that he wouldn't be able to destroy the boggart.
"Stupefy…Colloportus" He incanted in a barely audible whisper, locking the boggart back in the wardrobe, before blacking out, refusing to know anything else from the living world for a while.
--Flashback ends--
While lost in memories he unconsciously snuggled closer to Lily, who held him tightly, but gently, as one would a beloved pet.
"So that's why Mrs. Weasley had such a hard time getting rid of that boggart two years ago" Harry reasoned.
"Then what are you scared of the most?" Lily asked
"Me? Of losing my friends. I'm afraid of not being able to see them anymore. Of losing Hermione, Ron, Luna, Neville, Remus and you" Harry said "What are you scared of Lily?"
"Of not being able to talk again to my mommy or daddy" Lily replied quietly.
Harry understood the true meaning behind her wording. She was most afraid of losing her parents, of them dying.
"Even if that happened" Harry said "You do know you have me and Hermione don't you?"
Lily nodded "But I'm also afraid of losing any of you"
"Are you completely sure this kid's only 6 years old?" Harry asked himself, since she was too clever for her age…but then again, she was Hermione's little sister.
"Don't worry Lily, you won't. I promise you that" Harry vowed, praying he could fulfill his promise when the time came.
"Lily!" They heard Hermione calling her sister from several steps away
"Hi Minnie" Lily said, standing up carrying ermine-Harry in her arms.
"Hey Mione" Harry greeted
"So that's where you were" Hermione said, letting out a breath of relief "I've been looking for you ever since you left the pitch…what's bothering you?"
"I'll tell you later" He told her through their link and Hermione nodded in agreement.
"C'mon Lily, let's go back inside" Hermione said
Lily nodded and followed her sister to the inside of the castle. While they walked together, Harry took advantage of his mind-link with Hermione to tell her something they both considered important.
"Hermione, I think we should tell her now"
"Is her block still there?" Hermione asked referring to the block every child is born with in their magical core, which is broken the first time the child performs accidental magic.
Harry focused on seeing Lily's core, a feat slightly more complex in his current form, but nothing too difficult. "Nearly gone, I guess a small bout of accidental magic and it's completely broken…still I'm puzzled as to why it's still there, when she's performed magic twice, I think, at least of one I'm certain."
"What do you make out of that?" Hermione asked, thoughtful
"No idea" Harry replied "But I guess it's worth a shot. If she manages it her core will be unlocked completely" Harry suggested.
"I guess you're right, let's try it today" Hermione conceded, changing their path.
"Minnie, where are we going?" Lily asked, noticing the change of direction.
"To the Room of Requirement" Hermione replied, not looking at Lily's confused expression.
"The shape-changing room" Harry explained and Lily understood.
Hermione walked past the blank wall three times, and after the third one, the door appeared. She activated it and entered the newly-created room. Lily entered behind her, still carrying Harry in his arms, but as soon as the door was closed he leaped out of her arms and became human once again, looking around. The room had formed itself in a decent space, like the average classroom, but with padded walls and floor, as well as several objects scattered around.
"Not bad…this'll do" Harry said.
"What are we doing here?" Lily asked confused.
"We're here because there is something we have to teach you Lily" Hermione said.
"We're not sure if this will work right away, or if it will work at all. Perhaps we will have to wait, but we're here to see if it is necessary."
"What are you talking about?" Lily asked, still without a hint of understanding.
"You know we're at war, don't you Lily?" Harry asked, and the girl nodded "Well, I'm afraid the baddies are going to try and attack the castle…we're going to try and back them off, but we may not succeed. In any case we're sending you somewhere safe so you're not harmed"
"You're going to fight, aren't you?" Lily asked, and both teenagers nodded. "Are you going to die?" She then asked shyly.
"We hope we won't sweetie" Hermione said.
"But we won't be able to be with you and protect you all the time if something happens" Harry continued. "That's why we need to teach you to protect yourself"
"How?"
"It's called a shield charm. I didn't learn it until my fourth year, but after what's happened, I might guess that you have a natural talent for it…seeing as you've already done it once"
"But I don't know what I did" Lily said timidly.
"That's what we will try to teach you" Hermione replied. "Now…what did you do when the baddies tried to harm you?"
"I was afraid. I didn't want to get hurt, and when the baddies tried to hit me I…I just covered my face with my arms and closed my eyes" Lily replied, trying to remember the details.
"What were you thinking at the moment?"
"Many things. That I was really afraid, that I wanted someone to help me, that I didn't want to get hurt, and when they shot that red light, I just thought about not wanting the light to hit me"
"Do you trust me Lily?" Harry asked, the girl swallowed but nodded "Stupefy" He said, extending his palm. A jet of very pale red light erupted from it, heading towards Lily at a very slow pace, compared to a full-power version of the spell.
Lily let out a small scream and again turned away from the spell, shutting her eyes. The watered-down stunner crashed against an invisible barrier, bouncing back at Harry at twice its original speed and twice as bright. Harry extended his arm and his own shield absorbed the spell.
"Amazing" Harry said smiling.
"What happened?" Lily asked, turning around to face them cautiously.
"You did it again hun. You cast a shield charm and…" Harry focused again in seeing magical cores, finally seeing the one in Lily without its block, and shinier than before. "…you can finally perform magic without trouble"
Lily looked at him with a confused look, what did he mean by 'without trouble'?
"Listen Lily" Hermione began "Every magical person, like you, me or Harry, has a concentrated source of magic, called the magical core, which lets us do magic"
"Is it inside us?" Lily asked, and Hermione turned to Harry, who nodded "Where?"
"It's in your chest, in the same place as your heart" He told her. "You don't feel it, but it's there."
"When we are born, this core is blocked" Hermione continued her explanation "so we cannot do magic. This block is gone the first time a child performs what we call accidental magic, and it normally happens when a child is angry or scared. In your case you did accidental magic when the baddies tried to hurt you."
"For some reason…" Harry continued "your block wasn't gone the first time you did magic, or the second. Instead it's been fading with time, and today it was finally completely gone"
"So that's why you said 'without trouble'" Lily said in understanding.
Harry nodded. "Now you just have to learn to control it and channel it properly"
"How do I do this?" Lily asked eagerly, making Harry smile. She truly was like her sister.
"Do you see that feather?" Harry asked, pointing at a freshly conjured white feather. Lily nodded "Concentrate on it" The little girl stared fixedly at the object "Try to picture it floating in the air"
Lily obeyed, but nothing happened; the feather didn't move.
"Make it move" Harry said. "Imagine you have the feather in your hand"
Lily closed her eyes and pictured the feather in her hand. "Now, imagine you lift it with your hand" The feather didn't budge. "Move your hand. You have the feather in your hand, remember that" Unconsciously Lily's hand closed, as if gripping something. "Now raise your arm and the feather will rise with it"
Lily slowly moved her closed hand upwards and slowly the feather that was several feet from the girl started levitating. Harry and Hermione beamed at this.
"Open your eyes sweetheart" Harry commanded. Lily opened her eyes slowly and saw the feather floating in mid-air. She grinned and turned to look at the teenagers, making the feather drop again.
"Hey! What happened?" Lily asked
"You broke your concentration, but it's OK" Harry said smiling "You did levitate it, didn't you?" He ruffled Lily's hair "Now, try it again, but with your eyes opened"
Lily nodded and focused on the feather again, repeating the steps, but again the feather didn't move.
"Why doesn't it float?" Lily asked
"Because you don't believe" Harry said simply. "The last time you imagined the feather was in your hand, so you thought it easy to lift it with your hand, but now you see the feather where it is and not in your hand, and you doubt if it will float or not"
"Just believe in yourself Lily. Be certain that you can make the feather float" Hermione said in a simpler way.
Lily gave them a dubious look but focused on the feather yet again, wanting it to move. For several seconds nothing happened, but slowly the feather started moving in the ground, then floating several inches above the ground, rising more and more.
"Well done Lily!" Harry cheered, applauding her, while Hermione followed.
"I did it! I did it!" Lily shouted happily.
"Sure you did" Harry felt proud of the little girl before him.
A/N.- Well, how was it? Review and let me know :D
