The sorcerer's apprentice

When Harry woke up the next morning, he first thought his night had been a dream. A very weird one though. But when he saw his Invisibility Cloak on top of his clothes in his trunk and noticed the strange smell on his pants, he realised he hadn't dreamed at all. He indeed had a chat during the night with none other than Salazar Slytherin. Well… at least the memory of the famous wizard, but still. While he was grabbing a new pair of pants, he remembered the offer. He had no idea what to make of it and he decided to push it away from his mind.

During breakfast they discovered that Umbridge had been appointed High Inquisitor of Hogwarts. She had now the right to inspect teachers. Her power was growing. Harry felt the scar on his hand itch him again, but he wasn't the angriest about this news. Hermione was outraged.

They were still digesting this information when Snape gave them back their essay from last week, graded according to the rating scale of the O.W.L.s.

'I expect to see a great deal of more effort for this week's essay on the various varieties of venom antidotes, or I shall have to start handing out detentions to those dunces who get a "D".'

Harry felt his cheeks burn and knew this snide remark had been specially designed for him. If Snape had the slightest idea of what he had done last night, Harry was sure his tone would have been very different. Speaking of which, what was he supposed to do tonight?

He barely heard his friends talking about the grade system and only the arrival of Umbridge in his Divination class pulled him out of his thoughts. Her horrible smile on, she proceeded to bully the professor Trelawney. Harry shared a look with Ron. They both didn't take Trelawney seriously, but their shared hate for Umbridge was stronger. And to be honest, nobody deserved to be treated the way she had treated Trelawney. She had undermined the Divination teacher in front of the whole class. Umbridge wasn't here to truly inspect teachers. She was here to remind them who was the one in charge at Hogwarts and make sure they understood it wasn't Dumbledore. This was just a power play. And Harry was feeling so powerless against this injustice. Hogwarts was home, and Umbridge was on her way to destroy everything that has given Harry a purpose to live and survive.

When he arrived in his DADA class, this feeling of injustice increased when she took five points from Gryffindor because a student had the audacity of discussing the lesson during her class… And this student was none other that Hermione Granger. This was too much for Harry.

'And why are you taking those points away?' Asked Harry angrily above the outbreak of muttering at the teacher decision.

'For disrupting my class with pointless interruptions!' Said Professor Umbridge smoothly. She then proceeded to explain how hard she was trying to teach them Ministry approved methods that none of her predecessors had respected but Professor Quirell. Speaking of Quirell…

When Harry got out of Umbridge's office later in the evening, holding his bleeding hand, he knew he shouldn't have mentioned that Lord Voldemort had been sticking out of the back of Quirell's head. He was on his way to Gryffindor's tower, trying to conceal his hand. Luckily for him it was late, and the corridors were desert. He stopped near a window and took a deep breath, assessing the situation.

He would learn nothing this year to help him defend himself should he ever face Lord Voldemort again. He was considered as a liar by the Wizarding World, and the only adult believing him, Albus Dumbledore, had decided to ignore him completely. Harry didn't know why and to be honest it hurt to think about it. He needed help. He needed support and he needed guidance. And no one was here to give him what he needed.

Actually… there was someone. But come on! He couldn't trust that man! He couldn't trust the ancestor of the very Dark Lord who was trying to kill him! Could he?

Was there anyone else?

Suddently Harry felt very vulnerable. He was just a lonely boy trying to conceal his wounds in a dark corridor. He felt like a prey hiding in the shadow waiting to gain some composure back to not appear as one in front of his friends. Because he didn't want their pity. He was tired of being the little orphan left to the goodwill of adults who didn't consider him mature enough to explain what was happening.

He opened his bag and after carefully looking around, he took his Invisibility Cloak out and wrapped himself in it. He headed toward the girl's lavatory on the second floor, and after making sure no one could witness him, he opened the Chamber for the second time.

Salazar watched the young man cross the path between the row of statues with a smile of satisfaction. He had never doubted because he knew how desperate Harry was. He might have been concealed in the Chamber, but it was his castle, and he had many ways to know what was happening at Hogwarts.

'Good evening, Mr Potter,' he said peacefully. 'I see that you made a choice.'

Harry stood in front of the old man and nodded. The old man smiled.

'Then we shall proceed,' smiled Salazar. 'Wands away,' he instructed with a mischievous smile. 'Tell me, what do you know about wandless magic?'

Harry took some time to think before answering. He had discovered magic quite late, but this didn't mean he never experienced it before. He just didn't know what he was doing. But he had noticed that he was able to perform magic… minor magic under the influence of emotion. Strong emotions. Also, the outcome was often rather chaotic.

'I learned in Charms Theory that magic is part of this World and is as natural as… oxygen, we could say.' Started Harry trying to remember his lessons. 'Wands are a way to canalize it to refine the desired effect. But I know some wizards and witches can use their magic without the need of one.'

'You answer is good however very theorical,' replied Salazar. 'Did you ever perform wandless nonverbal magic?'

'When I was young, I would often use it to protect myself against my cousin,' answered Harry. 'He … huh that's not important. Let's say he wasn't the friendliest. I didn't know about the Wizarding World then and I didn't know what I was doing. During my childhood I was convinced of being a freak and I remember feeling often afraid or angry. During those times strange things would happen around me. I knew I made those things happen, but I didn't know how, and I had close to no control on them.'

Salazar was listening very carefully. He found it very interesting that Harry had almost the same childhood as his Heir. A "Freak"? Those Muggles were so typical… Anyway.

'You say you didn't know how,' said Salazar. 'But do you remember what you were thinking about during those times?'

'It depends.' Harry tried to focus. 'If I was scared, I would often teleport…'

'Apparate,' corrected Salazar.

'Huh ok. I would often Apparate at random places. When I was angry my bullies would often stumble on invisible obstacles. It could be more elaborate though. Once I got my cousin locked behind a glass at the zoo.'

'The zoo?' Asked the older wizard.

Harry proceeded to explain what a zoo was and what happened that day. He had been able to talk with the snake. Then his cousin had projected him to the ground, and he remembered how angry and outraged he had felt. To his opinion Dudley was the animal and he is the one who should have been locked behind the glass.

Salazar raised his finger, a twinkle in his eyes.

'That is precisely where I wanted you to get at!'

'Do you mean that it wasn't an accident what happened that day?' Asked Harry.

'An accident?' Scoffed Slytherin. 'This was no accident. This was a crafted and perfectly executed plan.' Salazar stared at the boy and continued. 'You said that the wands were a way to help us channel magic and that is true. Did you know that in the early ages they didn't exist? Wizards and witches had to rely on their affinity with magic to interact with their environment. Wands helped us yield potent and effective magic which allowed us to grow in the shadow, invisible to non-magical people. But I am afraid that this made us forget the gift we were born with.' He paused to let the boy absorb what he had just said. 'We elaborated spells, enchantment and jinxes to ease our way with magic but in time you will find that they are in fact limitations to the powers with can truly unleash.'

Salazar's eyes were sparkling, and an intense aura was building around him as he was speaking. Harry thought that if all his teacher were like him, listening in class wouldn't be the usual boredom.

'For anyone able to visualize precisely what they want to achieve, the wand becomes trivial.'

'So, we just have to picture what we want to do and… that's it?' Asked Harry surprised by the simplicity of the task. He was almost disappointed.

'That's it,' smiled Salazar cunningly. 'Don't you fool yourself though. Visualizing the impact you want on your surrounding might sound easy. But I can assure you otherwise.' He considered the young boy a few seconds. 'Let's see what you can make of those explanations.'