Chapter 4: In Our Own Homes No Less

"Again!" Moody shouted at a panting and sore Harry. Sirius had convinced Moody to help with Harry's training surprisingly easily and so for the past several weeks they had been doing just that. What Harry hadn't realised was that Moody was a sadistic bastard who wasn't above kicking someone when they were down.

Harry rose from his prone position on the floor of the Black duelling pit hidden underneath the house and wiped the blood from his upper lip. Readying his wand Harry knew he had few precious moments to plan an attack before all hell broke loose. 'Moody's attack is hard hitting and his defence is solid however he can sometimes immobilise himself when casting because of his leg. I'll need to get around him somehow and capitalise on his inability to dodge quickly, for that I have just the right thing' Harry thought with a smirk.

Lupin, who was spectating with Sirius in the makeshift stands, shouted "begin!" And Harry had to quickly duck under a red stunner and shield the follow up confringo. Harry counter attacked by sending his own confringo which Moody managed to deflect into a wall then vanished the debris. With a grim smile Moody began a chain of several low level spells designed to pin him down and entrap him, however before they could reach him Harry rolled forward under the spells, closed his eyes and thought 'Lumos Maxima!' and from the end of his wand a bright light emerged blinding all those around him. Now that Moody's eye was neutralised Harry could try one of the illusion spells he practiced. Whispering "proiectura" Harry left an image of himself in front of Moody that would pretend to be holding up a shield before rolling to the right and opening his eyes. Moody regained his senses and, startled at Harry being so close to him, sent a blasting hex that sailed right through the projection. Moody only had a moment to be shocked before he was stunned in his side by the real Harry.

Harry was panting slightly but was on the high of besting Alastor Moody in a duel finally. He heard clapping behind him and he turned to see both spectators congratulating him on his victory. He turned to Moody to revive him but as soon as he turned around, he found himself at the business end of a wand held by the very man that was meant to be stunned.

"Good job Potter, that was a ballsy play rolling under my spells and the lumos was creative. You knew of a weakness and exploited it and that's exactly the kind of thinking that separates the good from the best, well done. One more lesson though, don't assume your opponent is done unless you've checked that they're fully disarmed or dead." The grisly old man said. "I didn't know they taught illusionary magic at Hogwarts" he continued inquisitively fixing both magical and mundane eyes on him.

"They don't" Harry replied slightly defensively

Moody just hummed and walked out of the pit nodding to Sirius and Remus. Both men came down from the stands and towards Harry who sat on a bench exhausted.

"You've progressed quite well Harry, that was some ingenious thinking and good use of an illusion" said Remus sincerely. Usually, he would have more to critique however it was just a full moon and the man was likely feeling exhausted as Harry.

"Was it proiectura Harry?" Asked Sirius

Too tired from the long sparring practice to respond properly he just nodded and rested his head against the wall. Proiectura was simple enough to sustain and easy to cast quickly so Harry added it to his arsenal. In the past month and a half Harry had been acquiring knowledge on an unprecedented scale and pushing his magic to its limits. Already he was feeling stronger than he did when the dementors attacked but he always felt like he had more to draw on but couldn't quite grasp it. 'Another thing to ask Dumbledore when he decides to stop avoiding me' he thought. When Harry broached the subject with Sirius one night, Sirius was baffled by the headmaster's behaviour and could offer no insights unfortunately. Speaking of odd behaviour his friends, Ron and Hermione, were subject to quite the Howler-made-human when Harry finally stumbled upon them making out in the drawing room. Harry had been infuriated that they would keep him in the dark for weeks but were snogging each other's faces off like nothing was wrong. Then they had blamed it all on Dumbledore, no humility or responsibility from either of them. Harry was over it now, more important things to focus on than schoolyard drama.

"C'mon kiddo let's get you upstairs so you can practice your voodoo snake magic" Sirius teased, hoisting Harry's right arm over his shoulder.

"You know I could trap you in dog form and only Voldemort or I would be able to let you out, right?" Harry responded slyly.

"You're not serious are you?"

"Of course I'm not, you are"

"Harry please do not bring that back, 3 whole years of serious puns was enough to make anyone go mad" Remus said tiredly

"I feel like I'm being ganged up on. And in my own house no less" Sirius complained

"If you're permanently a dog it'll be my house, then you'll have to become an outside dog. I won't have you peeing on all my furniture" Harry said seriously

"You'll probably have to have him neutered as well, don't want any more of him running around disturbing the neighbourhood" Remus jokingly pondered

"Too right mate, it would be my duty as citizen to protect all the dogs of central London" he said before bursting out into laughter with Remus whilst Sirius pouted before joining them.

Harry parted ways with them and once he was out of earshot Sirius turned to Remus with a look of panic and spoke, "he can't really trap me as padfoot forever, can he?"

"Who knows Paddy old boy, who knows"

—

"You did what!" Voldemort screamed at Lucius who was cowering on his knees in his own home.

"My lord I thought you were dead, I was trying to make those blood traitors pay" he pleaded desperately.

"Lucius your blunders may have cost me everything, you are incapable of comprehending the true gravity of your failure. Your constant incompetence is starting to irk me"

"My lord I am still useful I swear to you, I am ensuring Fudge isn't asking the right questions and turning him against Dumbledore."

"And it is for that reason alone which you still draw breath, however that doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun" Voldemort said cruelly followed up by the soft whisper of "crucio"

Draco watched his father beg, cry and plead at the knees of the man who was meant to elevate purebloods to a golden age and couldn't help but think that it didn't make sense. 'Why was their lord and master so content to torture those who came to serve him? Was this his fate? he thought. Turning to his mother he watched her stare at Lucius unflinchingly, but Draco noticed a tear rolling down her cheek. Draco could stomach his father being pathetic but the pain in his mother's eyes uneased him.

"Get out of my sight Lucius, you're even a failure at being tortured" said the Dark Lord waving his hand in annoyance which was taken as a sign of dismissal.

Narcissus ran to her husband and attempted to help him up only to be shoved to the floor. Draco left the hall troubled and in deep thought.

—

"That damned fool" muttered the Dark Lord, gazing out of one of the tall stained-glass windows in his throne room. The Dark Lord was thinking about his immortality fail safes called horcruxes and how Lucius Malfoy had given one to a prepubescent child out of spite.

'I'm now down to 6 including my current soul piece in this body and I can't even check on the others without drawing too much attention, I can't risk them being discovered.' He thought. 'I'm being paranoid, the horcruxes are safe, I was foolish myself giving it to Lucius in the first place. There is no chance of human error anymore, Lord Voldemort will remain immortal.'