By the time December had rolled around, Harry had noticed a definite increase in the number of students to have discovered their element, something he later found out was Blaise's doing, as he had been offering supplementary sessions in between their weekly meetings.
Harry was working with the students who had managed to figure themselves out; the largest group being Water Elementals, with the second being the Earth and the smallest group the Fire Elementals, with Harry still being the only Air Elemental, a fact that upset him a bit, but he pressed on.
"We have been practicing for a few weeks now and some of you have made a fair amount of progress, with a smaller number being able to produce sparks and splashes and seismic activity. However, there are three among you who have made enough progress for me to begin teaching you to apply your element in combat. Fred Weasley, please walk over here and take your place on the fire symbol." After waiting for a moment for Fred to stop, Harry scanned the crowd before continuing.
"Cho Chang, you have been chosen to represent water, if you would stand on your symbol, please. Finally, we have our best new Earth Elemental: please step up, Derek Cresswell, and join the other three." Once he had three Elementals-in-training beside him, Harry moved over and stood on the air symbol.
"I had initially planned for four of you, one of each element, to stand here while I coached you, however as I am the only Air Elemental here, I shall take that role instead. First up, we will have fire versus water, with Elias standing on the side of water to help avoid any burns."
Harry and Derek left the circle, which expanded and shifted to only display the symbols of fire and water, while Fred stood opposite Cho and Elias.
Cho moved first, covering her hands in a large ball of water, which she began to shape into small whips, and sent the tendrils of water at her opponent. Before the water could connect, Fred had sent a little jet of fire at the water, turning it to steam as he spun to the side and sent an additional jet of fire over to her. Still off-balance from trying and failing to attack, Cho made use of the snow around her to bring up a wall of ice, absorbing the heat of the fire and surviving. As soon as she saw the fire vanish, Cho shattered the ice wall and flung the shards at Fred, who rolled to dodge, only to get frozen in place by the Water Elemental.
"Cho wins this first encounter, next up is Derek versus me," Harry called out, bringing an end to the first duel and replacing the combatants.
"Don't worry, Derek, I'm not going to attack you, just attack me and I shall defend myself," Harry encouraged Elias' best friend, who smiled and nodded at him.
Once the signal to begin was given, Harry immediately felt the ground beneath his feet begin to shake, the telltale sign of an Earth Elemental, and he prepared himself to avoid an attack. He watched as Derek raised his right hand, his left remaining hidden behind his back, and launched himself twenty feet into the air upon feeling the vibrations under his feet. Where he was standing a moment earlier was a hole in the ground, with the fragments of rock being sent at him in a similar way to how Cho had sent her ice spikes. Knowing that the rock would pierce any air bubble he placed around himself, which he had learned from Blaise performing the same move on him, Harry flung himself directly towards Derek to avoid the attack.
The third-year began to panic upon seeing Harry flying directly at him and so, not wanting to be hit, gave up on his attack and tried to encase himself in rocks as a makeshift armour. Unfortunately in his panic, Derek ended up pushing himself out of the circle and out of the spar. Harry landed gracefully next to the prone lad, offering him a hand up and congratulating him on his performance, before sending him back to the crowd, addressing them at large.
"You have just witnessed two completely different, and yet entirely same, fights. Who can tell me what fatal mistake was shared by both of the losing sides?" Harry asked his class, earning several hands in the air from students who wished to answer.
He chose one of the students he didn't know, a sixth-year Gryffindor, who pointed out that both Fred and Derek had tried to overwhelm their opponents, using their powers in a way that was above their level.
"Perfect answer there. If I were allowed to give house points, I'd give you five, but alas, the only one here with that power is patiently learning alongside you all." He nodded over at Professor Lupin who nodded back, awarding the points with a smile.
"With that being said, our next meeting will be our last before we return after Christmas. I expect all of you to practice and meditate to find the element that calls to you, run through your movement sequences, making sure to look within yourself during each element cycle to see if you are resonating with the wrong element. I look forward to seeing how you all do."
As per usual he waited for everyone to return to the castle before he and his friends made their way back to the castle.
/_-_^_^_-_/
"…and I expect the homework in our first lesson after we return from the Christmas break. You may all leave." Professor Gaunt ended their last Defence Against the Dark Arts lesson with a long question and answer session, allowing the students to ask about anything they were struggling with. As they all rose to leave Harry was asked to stay behind, which was a common occurrence these days.
"Yes Professor?" Harry asked once the two were alone.
"I'm going to be leaving over the Christmas break to attend to matters of the soul, you need not worry about me doing anything malicious or evil, but I know you will. Just know that while I'm not going to be doing anything, Voldemort might not have the same inclination. The last time I spoke to him he was very angry that you had escaped his shut-down of all magic within London; as I've said to you before, he and I do not share a connection in the same way that you and I did."
"Are you sure that there is no residual soul left within my scar? I really don't want Him to be able to get back inside my mind, or worse, control me. I have to know."
"Would anything I say even make a difference? You've made it very clear that you don't trust me, what's to say that I wouldn't use the opportunity to control you myself?"
"You are the Dark Lord, remember? Or at least part of him. You kidnapped me and forced me to resurrect Him, spewing some bullshit about forcing me to make a Horcrux. That sort of thing is hard to forgive!" Harry answered hotly.
"What about the maze? If it weren't for me, then you would have been stuck standing in the entrance, or worse you would have died to the first challenge," Professor Gaunt countered.
"Then there was the Wizengamot and you staring at me, or better yet, you sent me a letter asking for an alliance in an attempt to mess with my head."
"You're right, I have done a lot to make you wary of me. But I've also gone out of my way to help you succeed. I will search if you want, but you have to trust me."
"What would you have to do?"
"A simple scan of your mind, along with a scan of your soul. I hope you can see why it requires trust."
"Fine. Do it."
The two locked eyes and Professor Gaunt peered into Harry's mind for all of a second before leaving.
"Your Occlumency shields are identical to Voldemort's."
"Yeah, I know that. I've been told before," Harry answered blasé, not picking up on the older man's distress.
"Your scar contains no fragment of Voldemort, and there is no sign of a new tumour, however, your brain looks all torn apart and put back together, the neurons in some areas look completely different to your own mind, it's like a rot spreading through your brain. This is going to require a very specific and thorough set of procedures and rituals to begin reversing, as of now it has only corrupted twenty percent of your mind. I fear my discovery of it may only hasten its progress."
"I know the sort of healing ritual you're on about, it's a cleansing ritual they offer at St Mungo's."
"Not exactly, the healers there lack the necessary knowledge to actually reverse this, I can provide them with the rituals and incantations, but it would require me actively making a move against Voldemort. If I do this there can be no question from you as to my intentions."
"If you do this I will have no choice but to trust you, however, I do have one question. Is this the same as the Horcruxes that have resided within me at one point or another?" Harry asked the man, this time noticing the faint sparkle that flashed in Professor Gaunt's eyes.
"It is more a side effect, the surgery you received didn't remove the entire tumour. However, by removing the majority they removed the soul itself, yet the small remnant of His influence remained, and as your magic aided the recovery of your brain I suspect He used that chance to spread himself throughout the newly regrown area of the brain and onwards to corrupt the rest."
"I'm going to speak to my guardians and explain the situation to them. Thank you for doing this."