CHAPTER EIGHT : ERISED
The following few days, anyone was talking about Voldemort's last attack. Everyone feared that he will do it again, and the classes were cancelled.
Four days passed after the attack. Everything was back to normal; the walls were repaired and the students were less frightened. The hospital wing was empty again.
Their first class in many days was defense against the dark arts. Professor Figg was teaching them about the advanced, impossible spells.
"You have the right to know what Voldemort is up to, and the spells he uses are the strongest ever seen. No wizard can do them in present, except for him. There are not many information about those... powers. We know that the spells need a very strong magic inside a person, and a very good memory because the incantations are very long, and different. They are not the type our usual spells are; ours is more of a Latin language... The others are really difficult to remember, and they are in a language some know as 'Zenor'."
"The first spell", she continued, "in the book 'Ancient Magic Effects' is Avada Kedavra. But the Avada Kedavra, as you know, is made by many wizards in our time."
She started explaining some other spells, exactly what she read in the book. Harry did not find out many things from this lesson, he already had knowledge of these things.
After the class, Mrs. Figg called Harry to her desk for a private speaking.
"Harry," she said, "I have to tell you something."
"What?" he asked.
"You know that Dumbledore recommended you to stay at the Dursleys in the summer?" Harry thought about that, and he remembered it. Harry remembered how Ron told him that Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore talked about that. "Well, you were safer there. I lived two streets from there, and if something happened, I had to come to help you."
Harry knew that, he realized it when she came to Hogwarts.
"And Dumbledore said I was not enough for a help, and he told me to be... your secret keeper."
Harry was very surprised to hear that. He did not know that, and it was not a normal thing.
"But - But why didn't anyone tell me before?" asked Harry.
"Well, no one should find out about that, and it was the safest thing to keep it secret. But... There happened a very strange thing..." she waited for a few seconds, "Voldemort managed someway to... break it, and he took you exactly from the house on Privet Drive."
"There is a spell to reveal those secrets? Maybe he used a Veritaserum on someone -"
"No, he didn't. Only I, Albus, Minerva and Flitwick knew about that. And we would know if someone used a potion on us. And there is NO spell to stop the Fidelius Charm, and that confuses anyone... Voldemort found another way of breaking the charm..."
With that, Harry left the classroom. He, Ron and Hermione were talking about the spells Figg told them, and suddenly they were stopped by a very loud sound, and Harry immediately saw what caused it.
A huge portal was standing in the middle of the hall. The students were all frightened. Ron and Hermione stood frozen at a big distance form the portal. Harry closed to it, and remembered Dumbledore's words. He had to enter the portal this time.
The big portal had a strange color. It was a combination between blue and green; it was some kind of cyan. The middle was like always white.
Harry felt a vibration in the air. The portal was very strong, and emitted light and sound all over the place. The sound in the hall became almost deafening.
When Harry was at a small distance to the portal, the sound was gone. The light was stopping, and suddenly it started changing size. It became very small, like a ping-pong ball and then it grew bigger, now taking a human shape.
It materialized, and in front of Harry stood a boy not much older than him, three or four years. He was tall and had a small grin on his face. He had two yellow eyes, a bright yellow, color which Harry had never seen at a person.
Some Hogwarts students stood at the same place and some continued their ways to the next lessons.
"Go", said Harry to Ron and Hermione. They obeyed unquestioningly. Some other students left.
The strange man spoke only after the hall was empty, except for himself and Harry. He had a cold voice - it was the same as the voice that could be heard from the portals.
"Harry Potter, we meet at last", he said. "I am the one who spoke to you through the portals, quite a good method of talking. Now, I am strong again, and it was possible to come to you, in your aid, in my aid." Harry did not know what to say. He waited to hear what the yellow-eyed man had to say. "I think both of us need a lot of help... And only together we can defeat Lord Voldemort."
"W-Who... are you?" Harry managed to say.
"I am Paul Erised."
Harry stood there with no words to say. He knew the Mirror of Erised, which showed a person's most desperate desire. And this - was Erised? He was the creator of the mirror?
"Erised is not the name I should have had. My name should have been Lamn. My grandfather's grandfather created a strange mirror that I have never seen - only heard of it - and I heard it is currently here, at Hogwarts. He who created it found a good name to the mirror, and people started calling him after the mirror's name. It was used as a family name, and everyone - including me - is called Erised."
"I have seen the mirror - I know it."
"Really? Does it do any good thing?"
"No, not exactly. But I know what it does."
"What it does - I know that myself... The name Erised says it." Harry did not know how could "Erised" say anything. "The name Erised, read from the ending, means desire. And I've heard from my father exactly how it works - mind him, I did not understand well. Now, I am not here to talk about that stupid mirror! We have to talk about much more important things, like the power Voldemort had stolen. I know that he stole some power from you... and from myself. He wanted to find some wizards who had an unusual magic. Like us."
"Me? What magic do I have?" asked Harry.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you didn't know - I mean I did not tell you what I am." Harry was now confused. He was a wizard, what else could he be? A strong wizard capable of doing really advanced, impossible spells. "I am not a wizard, not at all, and that makes you better than me. But you have powers that you have no idea of. We, both of us, have a special magic inside us. We, both of us, are magi."
"Magi? What are those?" Harry thought of it as a bad joke Dumbledore played on him.
"Yes, we are magi, and I can demonstrate. You see, I have no wand." He indeed had his hand empty. "And I cast spells without it, but it is not a magic wizards have. It is a totally different magic type." He pointed his hand to a pillar that sustained the ceiling, and a small white spike erupted from his hand. It moved very fast to the column, and at the impact, the column was broken and it fell. The ceiling did not look as if it wanted to stay there. Then, Erised did some movements with both hands, and a new-made column sustained the ceiling. "As you saw, we magi do not need a wand, and we do not need to say any stupid words to make them. Oh what a stupidity I said - You are a mage like me. But there is one difference between us."
"What is that?"
"I am just a mage - you are a wizard, too. And that is the greatest combination. One who is mage and wizard at a time is called a mago-wizard."
"What about magi? I know nothing about them!"
"We magi are considered by wizards as they are considered by muggles."
"What do you mean?"
"Muggles think there are no wizards. Wizards think there are no magi. We are trying hard to keep ourselves secret. And mago-wizards always existed, but they were hidden. The mago-wizards have new spells - combinations between the two magic types. They are cast always with a wand, and they have incantations. Long incantations, those complex spells are the only spells that use very long incantations. Most of the wizards think they disappeared with the strong magic. They are wrong. The spells can now be created as much as before. Only a mago-wizard can do them, and now we are keeping it secret."
Harry had now lots of questions to ask, and he didn't know what to say first. First, he wanted to know more about magi, and their magic. Then, he had to ask how it was possible that he was a mago-wizard. Then, about Voldemort...
"And Voldemort... He is a mago-wizard?" asked Harry.
"No, not at all. He used some of the spells, but it was not his power. He used our magic to do them. I still have no idea how he got our powers. But... I wonder if he knew that we were magi, or it was just that he somehow found out the very strong magic in us; every mage emits a kind of radiation - very low radiations that cannot be felt by anyone - except if he uses a spell. So, he found out we are strong, and he made a connection between himself and us. Then he may have tried those spells which were impossible, even if he thought any wizard with a better power could do them, he still did it, without knowing what type of magic he did."
"Tell me more about magi powers..."
"We magi use a different magic compared to wizards. We use mostly elemental magic, and wizards rarely use them, and with weak effects. I know you wizards are able to create an ice ball - but it is nothing compared to what a mage can do... and both of them are nothing compared to what a mago-wizard can do... The combined spells are simply... elemental things done the wizard way, with a wand and incantation. They are magi spells done in a wizard way. There are no wizard spells done the mage way."
"And is it easy to do... your magic?"
"Easy and hard. It is like with the wizard spells - some easy, some difficult."
"And - I am really a mage? I mean, how can I be..."
"Simply, I will demonstrate it. Put your wand down... Now, I will teach you a simple spell. The fire bolt is the simplest spell that can be done by a mage." Harry's mind flew back to his Firebolt broomstick. "Look at me."
Erised pointed his hand to a wall, and a fire bolt shot out of it. "The tricky part is to concentrate... hard! on the spell you want to use. Just think... at a fire ball, and point your hand in a direction you want it to move, then think... that you want to sue it. It is not as hard. Try it!"
Harry tried it. He imagined a firebolt flying towards the opposite wall, he pointed his hand to it, and said in his mind "I want to create a fire bolt!" It had no effect.
"I didn't expect you to do it at the first time... It is quite complicated, you know, you have to get used to the way you must concentrate. And... The most usual problem... what to think in mind? Just... you do not even have to think about it, imagining it and concentrating is enough. Just... do not lose your confidence. Try again."
Harry tried it again, but with no effect. He tried again, and a small fire was created at his hand. But it disappeared right away.
"Excellent! Just try it again... imagine it moving in the room, and you will do it!"
Erised was right. Harry thought what he had to, concentrated a bit, and a fire ball shot out of his hand. But it was bigger than Erised's, and faster. It hit the wall and done a small hole in it.
Erised looked impressed of Harry's power. "You did - a stronger fire bolt than I ever created! The effects of wizard magic can be seen now..."
Harry was now very happy of finding that he was not just a normal wizard. But, still, he was confused about it.
"Where is the headmaster?" asked Erised. "I heard Dumbledore is headmaster here, is it true?" Harry nodded. "Then it will be much easier for me. He knows that magi exist. That's all he knows, he does not know what their magic is, and he has no idea about mago-wizards, who are only seventeen in all the world, including you."
Harry lead him to Dumbledore's office, said the password, the gargoyle moved, and they entered the office. Dumbledore was staying on his chair; Fawkes was at the back of him, on the window edge.
"Harry!" said Dumbledore. "And... Who are you?"
"I am Erised. Paul Erised."
Dumbledore stood up. "Erised! A mage!"
"Yes, indeed." They started talking about the magi powers, and Harry. Dumbledore was more surprised with every word. And less scared. His fears passed away with that news.
"If you - really are a... mago-wizard, then Voldemort will have no chances at all! But... how can he use magi powers if he is not one? It simply can't be simply stealing... There is no spell capable of doing something like that..."
"No, he did not steal powers with a spell. It was something... more complex, or who knows, maybe something easier and simpler. We will never find out - unless he will tell us our secrets... And he is not so stupid to do it..."
"Right, of course. Now... How will Harry learn that magic? He should learn that before thinking he is able to defeat Voldemort! Listen, both of you. Never tell anyone about this! Or, Harry... Do you trust Ron and Hermione so much that you will tell them? If you are sure they will not tell it to anyone - not even their family or other friends! - You may tell them all of this..."
"Now, headmaster", said Erised, "I think I should go to my house. Harry! If you will ever need me, just... try this simple spell! It is called the Forward Talking spell. You will be able to talk to me even if I will be on the other side of the planet."
Erised taught Harry the spell, which was very easy, and then, said:
"Now, Harry. I will think about methods to teach you mage magic. I will call you with the Forward Talking spell after I will decide. Now, good bye."
"See you!" said Harry.
"Good bye", said Dumbledore.
Erised disappeared exactly as Voldemort, using the yellow sphere spell.
Neither Harry nor Dumbledore said anything. They were thinking about the new things they discovered... Harry knew it was not a joke, as he did it himself. It was as true as possible.
"Now, I think you know what to do... try to act normally, and tell only Ron and Hermione this. No one should find about that, except the teachers, Sirius, Lupin, Fletcher and Thunder. Now, Harry... The lunch is going to start!"
They said goodbye and Harry left for the Great Hall. There Ron and Hermione asked him what happened. He said he would tell them later, and in a place where no one could hear them. They were anxious to hear it.
After lunch, they had History of Magic. Harry and Ron wanted to skip it because they could speak in private but Hermione did not agree. At last, after a long, boring class, the three of them went to an empty classroom.
Harry started explaining everything. He started with Erised, he told them how he found out he was a mago-wizard, he told them what a mage's powers were, he told them, and showed it, about the fire bolt, then about what Dumbledore said.
Hermione seemed to react as Dumbledore. Her worries were lessened. Ron looked very surprised. Hermione gave her opinion.
"Well, it seems we are now the ones who have a better chance of victory. Voldemort won't be able to kill you now! And -"
She was stopped by a loud crash on the ceiling. It was Peeves, who crashed a cauldron.
"Students broke something! Students broke something!" he started to say.
Harry had an idea. He used his mage powers and cast a fire bolt on Peeves. He was hit by the spell, even that he was a ghost.
"Students attack ghosts!" he said before retreating.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were in danger. Filch was approaching their position. Harry tried to find a place to run into. And he hid himself, and called Hermione and Ron, too, under the desk.
The door swung open.
"We will find them, my sweet, we will find them", Filch said. He was talking to Mrs. Norris, his cat.
Mrs. Norris smelled them. She came in front of the desk, and meowed at them.
"Here?" asked Filch. "Where?"
Mrs. Norris meowed again, and she looked at the desk.
"You!" said Filch after seeing them. "Now someone wants a punishment! Come to my office!"
They had to do as he asked. They had no choice. He lead them to his office - Harry was there only once before, in his second year. "Sit!"
"So...", he said taking a small piece of parchment. "Name... Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley... Crime... found in a classroom after breaking... a cauldron!"
"I did not break anything!" said Harry.
"Of course you did... I heard it myself!"
"It was Peeves -"
"Anyone blames Peeves for anything now! That is the usual defense! Everyone says that! Date... five November 1995"(Author's notes: I hope I am right with the date...)
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting and waiting for Filch to complete. Harry thought of speaking to Erised with the spell... He had just to think, nothing to say. And, he used it.
"Erised! Tell me a way to set a wood on fire!" he thought.
"It's not that easy, Harry. You need a firewall, or a summon fire. They are almost the same, but the second is recommended. It is just better, and it avoids hitting anything else except your target."
He explained the spell in Harry's mind. And then he tried to do it. The door was looking as before; nothing changed. Harry tried again. But he missed the target... Instead of burning the door, he burned a chair near it.
"What? How..." Filch asked. "You! Magic is not allowed here... I will get you out of Hogwarts faster than you can say "Out!""
Harry did it wrong. And, he had an idea to deffend himself.
"I didn't do anything - do you see any wands? or did we say anything? No..."
Filch was looking quite confused. "I saw it, boy, I saw the effect... No matter how you did it, I saw it. And do not think you will escape so easy!"
"Obliviate!" Harry heard. Hermione just shot a memory charm to Filch.
"Now, because you have finished your punishments, go!" he said.
The three exited the office.
"Brilliant!" said Ron.
"Excellent idea!" said Harry.
"You know, on muggles and squibs the memory charms work very easy. And I didn't need too much magic... He knew that we had a detention in his office, and that we just finished it."
They went to the gryffindor tower. The students were again crowded near Fred and George. They tested some of their new inventions. The first thing Harry saw was a singing bean. Whoever ate it started singing automatically, without stopping.
The next day they had Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was waiting for them with a feather in a cage.
"Hagrid," said Ron, "Why to take care of a feather?"
"Ron, you have no idea what this feather is able to do. Does anyone have an opinion? What do you think this is?"
Hermione raised her hand, as usual.
"Yes?" asked Hagrid.
"This is a feather from the wings of a Pegasus!" she said.
"It's fifty percent true", said Hagrid. "This is not a feather, even if it looks like one. This is a shapeshifter, it is a lauron. Laurons are animals that change shapes however they want. I do not know why this changed to a feather, but I am sure it will change in about five minutes."
Hermione looked very angry with herself. She did not like being wrong.
He took it from the cage, and looked at it. It changed its shape immediately. It grew bigger and bigger, and it took shape of a fully-grown black dragon. It was a Norwegian ridgeback, the same type Hagrid had in Harry's first year.
This one started shooting fire at Harry. He stopped it with a quick water charm. The dragon shot again, but this was a lot longer. The jet of fire could not be extinguished easy.
Harry tried to dodge it, and jumped on his left. The fire hit the grass, and it turned to ash.
The other students ran away. Harry was the attacked one - but why? The dragon could target anyone, and it targeted Harry.
The dragon flew a little and then landed near Harry. It breathed very hot. Harry could feel it. Hagrid stepped back again, and he entered his hut. Hermione and Ron stopped at a long distance, and they started shooting different spells at the dragon.
It resisted every spell cast by them, and turned again to Harry. It breathed a little fire over Harry, and his cloak started burning. His scar hurt, too.
Hermione shot a rain spell - a very weak and small one, and the fire was extinguished. But Harry was hurt, the fire touched him.
The scar hurt again, and it was much stronger. Then the dragon went white, and started changing size and shape. The scar hurt so strong that Harry closed his eyes. He could not move at all. His scar was hurting and a small part of his skin was black from the burns.
Harry could not feel anything. He went completely deaf. He could not see anything.
After that, he was unconscious.
The following few days, anyone was talking about Voldemort's last attack. Everyone feared that he will do it again, and the classes were cancelled.
Four days passed after the attack. Everything was back to normal; the walls were repaired and the students were less frightened. The hospital wing was empty again.
Their first class in many days was defense against the dark arts. Professor Figg was teaching them about the advanced, impossible spells.
"You have the right to know what Voldemort is up to, and the spells he uses are the strongest ever seen. No wizard can do them in present, except for him. There are not many information about those... powers. We know that the spells need a very strong magic inside a person, and a very good memory because the incantations are very long, and different. They are not the type our usual spells are; ours is more of a Latin language... The others are really difficult to remember, and they are in a language some know as 'Zenor'."
"The first spell", she continued, "in the book 'Ancient Magic Effects' is Avada Kedavra. But the Avada Kedavra, as you know, is made by many wizards in our time."
She started explaining some other spells, exactly what she read in the book. Harry did not find out many things from this lesson, he already had knowledge of these things.
After the class, Mrs. Figg called Harry to her desk for a private speaking.
"Harry," she said, "I have to tell you something."
"What?" he asked.
"You know that Dumbledore recommended you to stay at the Dursleys in the summer?" Harry thought about that, and he remembered it. Harry remembered how Ron told him that Mrs. Weasley and Dumbledore talked about that. "Well, you were safer there. I lived two streets from there, and if something happened, I had to come to help you."
Harry knew that, he realized it when she came to Hogwarts.
"And Dumbledore said I was not enough for a help, and he told me to be... your secret keeper."
Harry was very surprised to hear that. He did not know that, and it was not a normal thing.
"But - But why didn't anyone tell me before?" asked Harry.
"Well, no one should find out about that, and it was the safest thing to keep it secret. But... There happened a very strange thing..." she waited for a few seconds, "Voldemort managed someway to... break it, and he took you exactly from the house on Privet Drive."
"There is a spell to reveal those secrets? Maybe he used a Veritaserum on someone -"
"No, he didn't. Only I, Albus, Minerva and Flitwick knew about that. And we would know if someone used a potion on us. And there is NO spell to stop the Fidelius Charm, and that confuses anyone... Voldemort found another way of breaking the charm..."
With that, Harry left the classroom. He, Ron and Hermione were talking about the spells Figg told them, and suddenly they were stopped by a very loud sound, and Harry immediately saw what caused it.
A huge portal was standing in the middle of the hall. The students were all frightened. Ron and Hermione stood frozen at a big distance form the portal. Harry closed to it, and remembered Dumbledore's words. He had to enter the portal this time.
The big portal had a strange color. It was a combination between blue and green; it was some kind of cyan. The middle was like always white.
Harry felt a vibration in the air. The portal was very strong, and emitted light and sound all over the place. The sound in the hall became almost deafening.
When Harry was at a small distance to the portal, the sound was gone. The light was stopping, and suddenly it started changing size. It became very small, like a ping-pong ball and then it grew bigger, now taking a human shape.
It materialized, and in front of Harry stood a boy not much older than him, three or four years. He was tall and had a small grin on his face. He had two yellow eyes, a bright yellow, color which Harry had never seen at a person.
Some Hogwarts students stood at the same place and some continued their ways to the next lessons.
"Go", said Harry to Ron and Hermione. They obeyed unquestioningly. Some other students left.
The strange man spoke only after the hall was empty, except for himself and Harry. He had a cold voice - it was the same as the voice that could be heard from the portals.
"Harry Potter, we meet at last", he said. "I am the one who spoke to you through the portals, quite a good method of talking. Now, I am strong again, and it was possible to come to you, in your aid, in my aid." Harry did not know what to say. He waited to hear what the yellow-eyed man had to say. "I think both of us need a lot of help... And only together we can defeat Lord Voldemort."
"W-Who... are you?" Harry managed to say.
"I am Paul Erised."
Harry stood there with no words to say. He knew the Mirror of Erised, which showed a person's most desperate desire. And this - was Erised? He was the creator of the mirror?
"Erised is not the name I should have had. My name should have been Lamn. My grandfather's grandfather created a strange mirror that I have never seen - only heard of it - and I heard it is currently here, at Hogwarts. He who created it found a good name to the mirror, and people started calling him after the mirror's name. It was used as a family name, and everyone - including me - is called Erised."
"I have seen the mirror - I know it."
"Really? Does it do any good thing?"
"No, not exactly. But I know what it does."
"What it does - I know that myself... The name Erised says it." Harry did not know how could "Erised" say anything. "The name Erised, read from the ending, means desire. And I've heard from my father exactly how it works - mind him, I did not understand well. Now, I am not here to talk about that stupid mirror! We have to talk about much more important things, like the power Voldemort had stolen. I know that he stole some power from you... and from myself. He wanted to find some wizards who had an unusual magic. Like us."
"Me? What magic do I have?" asked Harry.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot that you didn't know - I mean I did not tell you what I am." Harry was now confused. He was a wizard, what else could he be? A strong wizard capable of doing really advanced, impossible spells. "I am not a wizard, not at all, and that makes you better than me. But you have powers that you have no idea of. We, both of us, have a special magic inside us. We, both of us, are magi."
"Magi? What are those?" Harry thought of it as a bad joke Dumbledore played on him.
"Yes, we are magi, and I can demonstrate. You see, I have no wand." He indeed had his hand empty. "And I cast spells without it, but it is not a magic wizards have. It is a totally different magic type." He pointed his hand to a pillar that sustained the ceiling, and a small white spike erupted from his hand. It moved very fast to the column, and at the impact, the column was broken and it fell. The ceiling did not look as if it wanted to stay there. Then, Erised did some movements with both hands, and a new-made column sustained the ceiling. "As you saw, we magi do not need a wand, and we do not need to say any stupid words to make them. Oh what a stupidity I said - You are a mage like me. But there is one difference between us."
"What is that?"
"I am just a mage - you are a wizard, too. And that is the greatest combination. One who is mage and wizard at a time is called a mago-wizard."
"What about magi? I know nothing about them!"
"We magi are considered by wizards as they are considered by muggles."
"What do you mean?"
"Muggles think there are no wizards. Wizards think there are no magi. We are trying hard to keep ourselves secret. And mago-wizards always existed, but they were hidden. The mago-wizards have new spells - combinations between the two magic types. They are cast always with a wand, and they have incantations. Long incantations, those complex spells are the only spells that use very long incantations. Most of the wizards think they disappeared with the strong magic. They are wrong. The spells can now be created as much as before. Only a mago-wizard can do them, and now we are keeping it secret."
Harry had now lots of questions to ask, and he didn't know what to say first. First, he wanted to know more about magi, and their magic. Then, he had to ask how it was possible that he was a mago-wizard. Then, about Voldemort...
"And Voldemort... He is a mago-wizard?" asked Harry.
"No, not at all. He used some of the spells, but it was not his power. He used our magic to do them. I still have no idea how he got our powers. But... I wonder if he knew that we were magi, or it was just that he somehow found out the very strong magic in us; every mage emits a kind of radiation - very low radiations that cannot be felt by anyone - except if he uses a spell. So, he found out we are strong, and he made a connection between himself and us. Then he may have tried those spells which were impossible, even if he thought any wizard with a better power could do them, he still did it, without knowing what type of magic he did."
"Tell me more about magi powers..."
"We magi use a different magic compared to wizards. We use mostly elemental magic, and wizards rarely use them, and with weak effects. I know you wizards are able to create an ice ball - but it is nothing compared to what a mage can do... and both of them are nothing compared to what a mago-wizard can do... The combined spells are simply... elemental things done the wizard way, with a wand and incantation. They are magi spells done in a wizard way. There are no wizard spells done the mage way."
"And is it easy to do... your magic?"
"Easy and hard. It is like with the wizard spells - some easy, some difficult."
"And - I am really a mage? I mean, how can I be..."
"Simply, I will demonstrate it. Put your wand down... Now, I will teach you a simple spell. The fire bolt is the simplest spell that can be done by a mage." Harry's mind flew back to his Firebolt broomstick. "Look at me."
Erised pointed his hand to a wall, and a fire bolt shot out of it. "The tricky part is to concentrate... hard! on the spell you want to use. Just think... at a fire ball, and point your hand in a direction you want it to move, then think... that you want to sue it. It is not as hard. Try it!"
Harry tried it. He imagined a firebolt flying towards the opposite wall, he pointed his hand to it, and said in his mind "I want to create a fire bolt!" It had no effect.
"I didn't expect you to do it at the first time... It is quite complicated, you know, you have to get used to the way you must concentrate. And... The most usual problem... what to think in mind? Just... you do not even have to think about it, imagining it and concentrating is enough. Just... do not lose your confidence. Try again."
Harry tried it again, but with no effect. He tried again, and a small fire was created at his hand. But it disappeared right away.
"Excellent! Just try it again... imagine it moving in the room, and you will do it!"
Erised was right. Harry thought what he had to, concentrated a bit, and a fire ball shot out of his hand. But it was bigger than Erised's, and faster. It hit the wall and done a small hole in it.
Erised looked impressed of Harry's power. "You did - a stronger fire bolt than I ever created! The effects of wizard magic can be seen now..."
Harry was now very happy of finding that he was not just a normal wizard. But, still, he was confused about it.
"Where is the headmaster?" asked Erised. "I heard Dumbledore is headmaster here, is it true?" Harry nodded. "Then it will be much easier for me. He knows that magi exist. That's all he knows, he does not know what their magic is, and he has no idea about mago-wizards, who are only seventeen in all the world, including you."
Harry lead him to Dumbledore's office, said the password, the gargoyle moved, and they entered the office. Dumbledore was staying on his chair; Fawkes was at the back of him, on the window edge.
"Harry!" said Dumbledore. "And... Who are you?"
"I am Erised. Paul Erised."
Dumbledore stood up. "Erised! A mage!"
"Yes, indeed." They started talking about the magi powers, and Harry. Dumbledore was more surprised with every word. And less scared. His fears passed away with that news.
"If you - really are a... mago-wizard, then Voldemort will have no chances at all! But... how can he use magi powers if he is not one? It simply can't be simply stealing... There is no spell capable of doing something like that..."
"No, he did not steal powers with a spell. It was something... more complex, or who knows, maybe something easier and simpler. We will never find out - unless he will tell us our secrets... And he is not so stupid to do it..."
"Right, of course. Now... How will Harry learn that magic? He should learn that before thinking he is able to defeat Voldemort! Listen, both of you. Never tell anyone about this! Or, Harry... Do you trust Ron and Hermione so much that you will tell them? If you are sure they will not tell it to anyone - not even their family or other friends! - You may tell them all of this..."
"Now, headmaster", said Erised, "I think I should go to my house. Harry! If you will ever need me, just... try this simple spell! It is called the Forward Talking spell. You will be able to talk to me even if I will be on the other side of the planet."
Erised taught Harry the spell, which was very easy, and then, said:
"Now, Harry. I will think about methods to teach you mage magic. I will call you with the Forward Talking spell after I will decide. Now, good bye."
"See you!" said Harry.
"Good bye", said Dumbledore.
Erised disappeared exactly as Voldemort, using the yellow sphere spell.
Neither Harry nor Dumbledore said anything. They were thinking about the new things they discovered... Harry knew it was not a joke, as he did it himself. It was as true as possible.
"Now, I think you know what to do... try to act normally, and tell only Ron and Hermione this. No one should find about that, except the teachers, Sirius, Lupin, Fletcher and Thunder. Now, Harry... The lunch is going to start!"
They said goodbye and Harry left for the Great Hall. There Ron and Hermione asked him what happened. He said he would tell them later, and in a place where no one could hear them. They were anxious to hear it.
After lunch, they had History of Magic. Harry and Ron wanted to skip it because they could speak in private but Hermione did not agree. At last, after a long, boring class, the three of them went to an empty classroom.
Harry started explaining everything. He started with Erised, he told them how he found out he was a mago-wizard, he told them what a mage's powers were, he told them, and showed it, about the fire bolt, then about what Dumbledore said.
Hermione seemed to react as Dumbledore. Her worries were lessened. Ron looked very surprised. Hermione gave her opinion.
"Well, it seems we are now the ones who have a better chance of victory. Voldemort won't be able to kill you now! And -"
She was stopped by a loud crash on the ceiling. It was Peeves, who crashed a cauldron.
"Students broke something! Students broke something!" he started to say.
Harry had an idea. He used his mage powers and cast a fire bolt on Peeves. He was hit by the spell, even that he was a ghost.
"Students attack ghosts!" he said before retreating.
Harry, Ron and Hermione were in danger. Filch was approaching their position. Harry tried to find a place to run into. And he hid himself, and called Hermione and Ron, too, under the desk.
The door swung open.
"We will find them, my sweet, we will find them", Filch said. He was talking to Mrs. Norris, his cat.
Mrs. Norris smelled them. She came in front of the desk, and meowed at them.
"Here?" asked Filch. "Where?"
Mrs. Norris meowed again, and she looked at the desk.
"You!" said Filch after seeing them. "Now someone wants a punishment! Come to my office!"
They had to do as he asked. They had no choice. He lead them to his office - Harry was there only once before, in his second year. "Sit!"
"So...", he said taking a small piece of parchment. "Name... Harry Potter, Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley... Crime... found in a classroom after breaking... a cauldron!"
"I did not break anything!" said Harry.
"Of course you did... I heard it myself!"
"It was Peeves -"
"Anyone blames Peeves for anything now! That is the usual defense! Everyone says that! Date... five November 1995"(Author's notes: I hope I am right with the date...)
Harry, Ron and Hermione were sitting and waiting for Filch to complete. Harry thought of speaking to Erised with the spell... He had just to think, nothing to say. And, he used it.
"Erised! Tell me a way to set a wood on fire!" he thought.
"It's not that easy, Harry. You need a firewall, or a summon fire. They are almost the same, but the second is recommended. It is just better, and it avoids hitting anything else except your target."
He explained the spell in Harry's mind. And then he tried to do it. The door was looking as before; nothing changed. Harry tried again. But he missed the target... Instead of burning the door, he burned a chair near it.
"What? How..." Filch asked. "You! Magic is not allowed here... I will get you out of Hogwarts faster than you can say "Out!""
Harry did it wrong. And, he had an idea to deffend himself.
"I didn't do anything - do you see any wands? or did we say anything? No..."
Filch was looking quite confused. "I saw it, boy, I saw the effect... No matter how you did it, I saw it. And do not think you will escape so easy!"
"Obliviate!" Harry heard. Hermione just shot a memory charm to Filch.
"Now, because you have finished your punishments, go!" he said.
The three exited the office.
"Brilliant!" said Ron.
"Excellent idea!" said Harry.
"You know, on muggles and squibs the memory charms work very easy. And I didn't need too much magic... He knew that we had a detention in his office, and that we just finished it."
They went to the gryffindor tower. The students were again crowded near Fred and George. They tested some of their new inventions. The first thing Harry saw was a singing bean. Whoever ate it started singing automatically, without stopping.
The next day they had Care of Magical Creatures. Hagrid was waiting for them with a feather in a cage.
"Hagrid," said Ron, "Why to take care of a feather?"
"Ron, you have no idea what this feather is able to do. Does anyone have an opinion? What do you think this is?"
Hermione raised her hand, as usual.
"Yes?" asked Hagrid.
"This is a feather from the wings of a Pegasus!" she said.
"It's fifty percent true", said Hagrid. "This is not a feather, even if it looks like one. This is a shapeshifter, it is a lauron. Laurons are animals that change shapes however they want. I do not know why this changed to a feather, but I am sure it will change in about five minutes."
Hermione looked very angry with herself. She did not like being wrong.
He took it from the cage, and looked at it. It changed its shape immediately. It grew bigger and bigger, and it took shape of a fully-grown black dragon. It was a Norwegian ridgeback, the same type Hagrid had in Harry's first year.
This one started shooting fire at Harry. He stopped it with a quick water charm. The dragon shot again, but this was a lot longer. The jet of fire could not be extinguished easy.
Harry tried to dodge it, and jumped on his left. The fire hit the grass, and it turned to ash.
The other students ran away. Harry was the attacked one - but why? The dragon could target anyone, and it targeted Harry.
The dragon flew a little and then landed near Harry. It breathed very hot. Harry could feel it. Hagrid stepped back again, and he entered his hut. Hermione and Ron stopped at a long distance, and they started shooting different spells at the dragon.
It resisted every spell cast by them, and turned again to Harry. It breathed a little fire over Harry, and his cloak started burning. His scar hurt, too.
Hermione shot a rain spell - a very weak and small one, and the fire was extinguished. But Harry was hurt, the fire touched him.
The scar hurt again, and it was much stronger. Then the dragon went white, and started changing size and shape. The scar hurt so strong that Harry closed his eyes. He could not move at all. His scar was hurting and a small part of his skin was black from the burns.
Harry could not feel anything. He went completely deaf. He could not see anything.
After that, he was unconscious.