Returning
Disclaimer: The usual stuff. I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall, he was confused as to what he was feeling and what he should feel. Inside him, his emotions were running around uncontrolled, he was angry, upset, pleased, anxious, determined, scared. He tried to concentrate on the book sitting on the table, but he could not focus on it. He left the book in front of him, as his head descended into his hands. He ran his hands through his hair, frustration taking over him. He could not understand anything just now.
A few hours ago he had been picked up from the Dursley household by his favourite teacher of recent years, Professor Lupin. He had arrived at Privet Drive, an old bicycle wheel used as a portkey. After some heated words with Vernon, Lupin had gathered Harry and his stuff just inside the door of the house. Then it was back to Hogwarts.
In the few hours Harry at been at Hogwarts, he had been in two meetings, one with Dumbledore, the other with Lupin. The first meeting had left him angry, very angry with the way things were decided without him. Right at the beginning of the meeting, Dumbledore had handed him his schedule for the upcoming year. Harry had looked at it and saw that it covered all his time. His life at school had almost completely been planned out for him. Dumbledore had gone on to explain all the upcoming announcements that would be given at the Sorting, then explained about his duties. Harry had sat very quiet during all of this, anger starting to rise in him. After the headmaster had finished, he had launched into a tirade against the older man. Looking back he was quite shocked at how he had spoken to arguably the most respected wizard in the world. After he had run out of steam, Dumbledore, completely unruffled by the shouting as if he had expected it, had then picked out a few things Harry said and stated some of his reasons. This had done little to abate Harry's anger but he was left subdued by the calm manner in which Dumbledore acted.
The one concession Harry had managed to get out of Dumbledore was that he was allowed to continue his physical training throughout the year. However he had known there was a catch, it turned out that Lupin had be selected to participate in a new trial program for helping werewolves and their conditions which required him to do a strict regime of exercise. As this coincided with what Harry wanted, he would be allowed to exercise and run outside but on the proviso that it was with Lupin. Harry was annoyed that he was being treated like a child, needing supervision, but pleased in a way that it was Lupin. From the schedule, he saw that he would be spending a lot of time with his parents' old friend, and this gave him the opportunity to find out more about them.
After the anger generated by the meeting with Dumbledore, his emotions took a complete turnaround after speaking to Remus Lupin. Lupin had taken him to the DADA Professors office and had shown him a door hidden at the back of it. The door led to a small room which Remus said was now his 'office', where he could work on his DADA material for first years and also his own schoolwork away from distractions. At first this statement had annoyed Harry, but Remus sat him down and gave him a talk about his parents and how they would want him to make a success out of his life, how proud they would be, how sorry they must be to not be here. The talk on the surface may have seemed a purely manipulatively ploy by the professor, but the tears that threatened to fall when he spoke of James and Lily convinced Harry that he was speaking not as a professor but more of an uncle, an uncle who actually cared about him. The talk had left him feeling upset, very upset missing his parents a lot. He was slightly scared of disappointing them, Sirius and Remus, other people did not really matter but his parents and their friends' opinions of him counted for a lot. He began to feel a little bit of pleasure at the job he had been given, although he was still angry at it been forced upon him but that could wait, he had gotten a room to basically call his own and he knew if he did well his parents would be proud of him, where ever they were. He was determined to do well this year already, but seeing the emotion in Remus as he talked of his parents reinforced this beyond any measure.
And now he was sitting in the Great Hall, he lifted his head from his hands, looking at the staff table he saw some of the staff already there, talking quietly. Professors Sprout, Vector and Lupin were having a conversation, Hagrid and Professor Flitwick were animatedly talking to each other, looking a rather strange duo. Professor Snape sat at one end, reading a book, occasionally glowering at the conversations taking place along from him. Harry returned to his book, he still felt anxious to see his friends, he wanted to know what had happened to them over summer, what they had done, how their families were coping with the return of Voldemort?
He was also slightly worried about they would react to his helping to teach the DADA course for first years. Ron could be a bit jealous, although he was a prefect and Harry was not, so he hoped that would stop him getting annoyed. Hermione may be a problem although he doubted it, but she was the obvious choice for helping to teach so she may be a bit put out that he was chosen.
Harry continued to read the book he had in front of him, the book covered basic camouflage charms. He was so engrossed in the book that when the doors to the hall banged open, he literally jumped in his seat.
Returning students began filtering into the hall, splitting up into their different houses, taking seats at the appropriate tables. Harry turned his head towards them, trying to find his friends as they entered the hall.
As the crowd of students thinned, he caught sights of two heads, one with bushy brown hair, the other with long red hair. Hermione and Ginny were making their way towards him, having spotted him as they entered the hall. Ginny gave him a small wave which he returned, but Hermione kept her head down as she walked with Ginny.
Harry watched them, seeing the changes in them since he saw them a few months ago. Both were taller, Hermione only a little bit, he guessed that she was actually the same height as him. Although he was fairly short, so they both only stood around five foot five at best, but next to her was Ginny who had shot up and stood about an inch taller than either of them. Harry was a little shocked at first, then remember that her brothers were also quite tall, 'must be the genes' he mused. Hermione had filled out, she was developing a nice set of curves, which complimented her shorter stature, while Ginny's height was emphasised by her more athletic build, no doubt from playing quidditch and growing up with six brothers. Neither girl was exceptionally pretty, but both had a certain quality that could be seen about them, or at least Harry could see it. Both however seemed quite worried, Ginny's face took a worried expression each time she glanced at Hermione, who was quite pale and looked rather downcast.
Both girls however brightened as they approached Harry, taking the seats next to him, Hermione next to him, Ginny on her other side.
"Hi, Hermione, Ginny" Harry greeted them, feeling happy to see them.
Ginny smiled at him, and Hermione replied, "Hi Harry, how was your summer? I'm sorry we didn't see you at all."
"It was bearable, how was yours? Congratulations on becoming a prefect, Hermione, although how could they not have made you a prefect?"
Hermione blushed as Ginny laughed slightly at the end of the compliment. But before, anyone could say anything else, a tall figure with red hair bustled up and forced his way in between Harry and Hermione.
"Hiya, Harry. How was the summer? So sorry you couldn't come over, but Hermione was there anyway, made me do all my homework early. Had to make up my Divination work myself, what ways did you think up to die this year? I've been made a prefect, oh, you haven't, so sorry, old chap. Surprising though isn't it, the Boy-Who-Lived not getting made prefect. Guess me and Hermione will have to watch you carefully, make sure you follow the rules and what-not." Ron launched into this little speech, as he pushed Hermione and Ginny further down the table away from Harry.
Harry was bewildered by the actions of his friend, he cringed at the use of the name "Boy-Who-Lived", could hear the smugness in his voice over the prefect issue, seeing it plain as day on his face. He looked up at his friend, Ron had grown considerably over the summer, he stood around the six foot mark, had broaden across the shoulders. He had developed a little muscle but also put on a bit of weight. Next to him Harry felt rather small.
Before Harry could answer, Ginny spoke up, "Ron, do you mind? Hermione and I were talking to Harry."
Ron dismissed her with a wave of his hand, "Harry doesn't want to listen to your inane prattling, we've got important things to discuss, like the new quidditch season."
Hermione's head went further down, Ginny looked like see could kill Ron and Harry was ready to punch him, disregarding the girls like that. Ron sat there oblivious of the reactions he was causing. Before anyone could answer though, the doors to the hall opened again to admit the new first years being led by Professor McGonagall.
--
The Sorting passed quickly and the feast began, Harry was the oldest student near to the new first years. He looked at the new students, they had gotten 12 new students this year. They all seemed so excited about being at Hogwarts, their expressions as the food had appeared in front of them brought a small smile to his face as he thought about how he must have looked his first time.
Beside him, Ron was talking loudly to anyone who would listen, mostly berating Hermione and Ginny for discussing schoolwork so soon and arguing with Seamus about the quidditch team. Harry was not sure why, but Ron seemed quite belligerent this year, he thought he would probably calm down after the novelty of being a prefect died away.
Harry was eating in silence, watching everything around him, then he noticed a small presence next to him. Most of the first years were animatedly talking to each other, gesturing to different things around the hall, pointing out the ghosts and wondering about the magic they would learn, but the person next to him was quiet, practically ignored by the rest of them.
Harry decided to talk to them, no one should have to be alone in a room full of people, he waved his hand in front of her face as she was intent on her food.
He plainly, but warmly said, "Hello"
The little girl looked up at him, he got a good look at her, she was very small, almost looked too young to be at Hogwarts. Her skin was pale, her face young and fresh, with big blue eyes looking up at him, brown hair cascaded to her shoulders.
"H-Hello" the little girl stumbled slightly in her greeting.
"First time at Hogwarts, exciting isn't it? I remember my first time here. What's your name?"
The little girl looked at him, surprised that the older boy was speaking to her, but the swarm tone in his voice encouraged her to answer, "Samantha, my name is Samantha Reilly."
"Pleased to meet you, Samantha, I'm Harry" he replied, holding his hand out.
She shook his hand, her small one being totally engulfed by his far larger hand. She smiled, "It is exciting, isn't it? The ceiling is so cool"
Harry laughed, "It is cool, I look forward to seeing it every year."
The little girl seemed far more talkative after this simple exchange and began telling Harry about herself, responding excitedly to his questions. Harry smiled as he listened to her tell him about her home in Glasgow, her parents, muggles both, who worked in schools. He found out she was an only child and loved books. He thought she was like a little Hermione, but a bit less uptight. She said that some older boys had called her names on the train. Harry asked who it was and what they had said, a bit angry that someone would ruin the trip to Hogwarts for the young girl.
She shyly pointed out Malfoy and his goons, saying that he was calling her a stupid mudblood.
Harry put his hand on her shoulder and said, very seriously, "If he keeps bothering you, or anyone else does something to you, go to one of the prefects or come and find me."
Samantha's eyes were a bit glossy as she nodded, but Harry asked her about what she wanted to learn about magic and what she thought of the school.
She launched into a series of statements, but he managed to get out of her that she was most excited about Care of Magical Creatures, she loved animals and wanted to work with them.
Harry pointed towards Hagrid and said, "See the big man up there, that's Hagrid, he teaches that class. He was the one who introduced me to the wizarding world. Don't let anyone tell you he's bad or anything, he wouldn't hurt a fly."
She looked at the big man, who saw her and Harry looking at him and waved, she waved back, a smile came across the half-giants face.
She turned back to Harry and asked, "Why would anyone say something bad about him? He looks really nice."
Harry answered, "Hagrid's half-giant, some people don't like giants and think Hagrid is bad because of it, like those boys from the train. Hagrid is my friend, and I think you'll like him too."
"I think he's nice and those boys don't know what they are talking about." She answered sounding even more like a little Hermione.
Harry asked about her wand and where she got it.
The girl seemed to bounce in her seat telling him about her trip to Ollivanders, "He seemed to remember everyone who got a wand off him, it was really weird, like he was a walking encyclopaedia. It didn't take him long to find my wand, 9 inches long made of holly with a Cusith hair core. He said it was well suited to me and would help me work with animals."
Harry watched as the smile spread across her face as she told him this, "Cusith hair, haven't seen any of those before. Although the Cusith are only found in Scotland, so maybe you being from Scotland helped."
Samantha beamed as she heard that her wand type hadn't been seen by him before, as though she thought he had seen lots of wands.
"Dumbledore is about to start his announcements now, " Harry said as he watched the headmaster rise to speak, "just remember me if you need any help or want to talk."
She nodded before turning to listen to the headmaster, Harry wondered to himself if this was what having a little sister felt like.
Harry already knew what the announcements were from early that day, so he only half-listened to Dumbledore as he told the school about the quidditch season, the new duelling club, he heard the applause as Professor Lupin was welcomed back. Dumbledore went on to detail the new restrictions and security in the school, paying special mind to Harry and the Weasley twins.
After he had finished speaking, the school was dismissed and the new prefects led the first years to the dorms. Harry heard Ron's booming voice calling the Gryffindor first years over to him and Hermione then leading them out of the Great Hall.
--
Harry was in his office, it took some getting used to that, having an office. Granted it was small, more of a large storage cupboard, but it had room for a bookshelf, desk and chair. There was still a little space where he could stretch, do some simple exercises and more importantly practise spells. The door could be locked from the inside, so he could keep Lupin out, a few silencing charms and he would never know what was going on. Harry was still angry about this turn in events, and didn't know why he was being forced to help with DADA, but he resolved at this point to make the best that he could of it. At some point in the future, he would get the whole story and make a decision about what to do then, but for now, with the new schedule they gave him, he found that he could practise in his office without fear of interruption save Lupin or possibly the headmaster. It was not a perfect solution, he would have preferred to have had his own choice in the matter about when and where to practise, but you have to deal with life as it comes, otherwise it will run you into the ground and break you up.
It all came to down to what he was prepared to put up with in order to accomplish his goals, if he had to teach, he would, and if he had to work hard he would work hard. Voldemort had been blight on his life for far too long, he killed his parents, he killed the innocent. He tortured and abused for pleasure, he degraded people for not being of what he called pureblood. He was not the only one, once Voldemort was gone, another would appear, then another, the fight would never be over, part of being 'good' was the struggle against evil. Harry had decided for himself and charged by Morrigu to stand in the road of these people, to fight until he could no longer fight, to never give up, to never go down.
He took out one of his notebooks, a book filled with some useful spells for combat. The two spells in the book he was looking at first were not offensive spells, but could be used in preparation for a barrage of offensive spells. One of the first things Harry had found out about combat was that it was not just a case of throwing out spells, of just fighting, it required planning and logic. You had to understand your own spells and knowledge before you could attempt to defeat the enemy. He had read books on duelling and combat tactics over the summer, not just magical books but muggle books as well.
He raised his wand, moving it in the pattern he had memorised, up, across, diagonal, left, down, and saying the incantation, 'caligatio'.
The room was plunged into complete darkness; the light from the small lantern was completely absorbed. Harry attempted the lumos spell; a faint light appeared before it too was swallowed by the darkness. Harry was overjoyed, the spell had worked, he raised his hand in front of his face and waved it about, he couldn't even see the movement. He waited for a few minutes to see if the spell would wear down, but five minutes later the darkness was still present, strong as it was to begin.
He raised his wand again, and uttered the counter-curse, the darkness in the room was sucked into his wand, light from the lantern filling the void it left. Harry began to see why Hermione was always on about studying and preparation, if he hadn't done all the work over summer, if he hadn't practiced the wand movements, he would never have gotten the spell right first time. He knew not to get overconfident, this spell was one of the simple ones he had looked at.
He looked at the second spell in the book, it reminded him of something he'd read about in a book about police raid tactics. The book had described how in the raid, the police had to secure each room as they proceeded, to ensure they were not attacked from behind, how they used little devices they called flash-bangs, this wasn't their official names, but it did describe what they did. The police would arm it and throw it into a room before they entered, the device would explode with a bright flash and a loud bang. This would disorientate any occupants slightly, making it easier to subdue them. The spell he was looking at was not a complete analogue to the device, but did replicate the flash part.
He raised his wand, in motions similar to the caligatio he moved it, then at the end he thrust it towards the ground and said, "sol erumpo".
The effect was instant and brief, an amazing flash of light filled the room and then disappeared. Harry who had been looking at the point where he thrust his wand, stumbled backwards, his eyes filled with light spots. He blinked trying to get his vision back, as he moved, he tripped over the chair next to his desk and tumbled to the ground.
Harry laughed, he couldn't do anything else. The sheer comedy of the situation overcame any embarrassment he should have felt caused by his clumsiness in the after-effects of the spell. He sat on the ground, waiting for the effects of the light to dissipate.
As he sat there, he fell back into his internal deliberations. He realised that the spells were simple and he had prepared but he was shocked that he could do them at all on the first attempt. He supposed that his preparations had made sure he knew what to do but then he remembered something Morrigu had said about removing the barriers in his magic, allowing him to access each centre without interference. He knew this magic was based in the mind, and now that the other centres were not interfering he was able to call upon that centre more easily. He wondered how hard it would be when he attempted to use the spells in the book Morrigu had gifted him, those spells were ancient and used all three centres of power in conjunction with one another. No one would be able to help him, the barriers were still present in them and could not be removed, he was on his own for those spells. He mused that this didn't bother him as much as it probably should have, but then he had been on his own for most of his life, so why should now be any different.
The lights in his eyes had now disappeared and he could see clearly again. He noticed that after these two spells, he felt a little drained; he put this down to the fact that although simple the effects would require a lot of energy to produce.
For the next half hour, Harry practiced these two spells, he remembered to close his eyes before finishing the flash spell, he didn't want a repeat of falling over the chair, although he did move it away from him just in case. The light from the spell was partially visible even through his eyelids. He thought that this would make a great surprise for his first opponents in the duelling club, although he wanted to wait a few weeks before facing anyone in it.
Harry looked at the small clock on his desk, Remus would be coming to take him back to Gryffindor tower in fifteen minutes. He picked up the book from Morrigu, he opened it to the first spell. He was curious as to how it would feel to use this type of magic? how would he cope with it?, would he be able to do it at all?
The book itself was unusual, it had few pages, the first few were a summary of the magic, how to focus, unleash and gather the energies. The next few were a small selection of spells, there were only basic spells there presently, the book only added new spells to itself when the owner, in this case Harry, had mastered all of the current spells. Currently there were only four spells in the book, Harry was looking at the first of them.
The book described the spell, the process of thought you had to use, the incantation did not need to be verbal, nor did it require a wand. The hard part was the focus required, you had to link your three centres together in order to accomplish anything, the focus allowed you to channel the power, the incantation was a mental one, linked to the runic focus of the spell.
Harry placed the book on his desk, he had read the spell several dozen times over the summer, but was still nervous. This magic even in its basic form was difficult. He began to form the rune in his mind, he saw the form appear, the different section light up as he drew energy from his body, mind and spirit. Each energy had a different feel to it, fighting against the others for dominance, but the caster had to balance the forces. He stood stock still for a few minutes, the concentration visible from the tense posture of his body, his eyes closed, rapidly moving around under the lids.
The rune became balanced in his mind, the energy he needed gathered, waiting to be released. In his mind he thought about the incantation, "talamh turus"
In his mind he saw the energy pulse in the rune, the rune remained but he saw the energy begin to direct downwards through him, he felt the ground begin to rise around him. He opened his eyes, looking down he saw that he had sunk to his ankles in the stone floor, he continued to sink, then he panicked. The breath he had been holding like it said in the book released, he was flung from the floor. He fell on his knees and collapsed forward, totally drained. He struggled to get his breath back.
His body ached all over, his mind felt lethargic at best, he struggled to get back to sitting. He looked at the clock, only a few minutes before Remus came in to get him from his office. He thought about the spell, wondering why he had panicked, he knew what was supposed to happen. He thought about the after-effects, he knew in time it would get easier but it was such a strain just now, the book had mentioned about the taxing effort on all aspects of the caster but this was more than he expected for one of what the book said were basic spells. He sat there thinking, recovering enough to return to the tower, for once he would be too tired to dream.
Disclaimer: The usual stuff. I don't own Harry Potter.
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall, he was confused as to what he was feeling and what he should feel. Inside him, his emotions were running around uncontrolled, he was angry, upset, pleased, anxious, determined, scared. He tried to concentrate on the book sitting on the table, but he could not focus on it. He left the book in front of him, as his head descended into his hands. He ran his hands through his hair, frustration taking over him. He could not understand anything just now.
A few hours ago he had been picked up from the Dursley household by his favourite teacher of recent years, Professor Lupin. He had arrived at Privet Drive, an old bicycle wheel used as a portkey. After some heated words with Vernon, Lupin had gathered Harry and his stuff just inside the door of the house. Then it was back to Hogwarts.
In the few hours Harry at been at Hogwarts, he had been in two meetings, one with Dumbledore, the other with Lupin. The first meeting had left him angry, very angry with the way things were decided without him. Right at the beginning of the meeting, Dumbledore had handed him his schedule for the upcoming year. Harry had looked at it and saw that it covered all his time. His life at school had almost completely been planned out for him. Dumbledore had gone on to explain all the upcoming announcements that would be given at the Sorting, then explained about his duties. Harry had sat very quiet during all of this, anger starting to rise in him. After the headmaster had finished, he had launched into a tirade against the older man. Looking back he was quite shocked at how he had spoken to arguably the most respected wizard in the world. After he had run out of steam, Dumbledore, completely unruffled by the shouting as if he had expected it, had then picked out a few things Harry said and stated some of his reasons. This had done little to abate Harry's anger but he was left subdued by the calm manner in which Dumbledore acted.
The one concession Harry had managed to get out of Dumbledore was that he was allowed to continue his physical training throughout the year. However he had known there was a catch, it turned out that Lupin had be selected to participate in a new trial program for helping werewolves and their conditions which required him to do a strict regime of exercise. As this coincided with what Harry wanted, he would be allowed to exercise and run outside but on the proviso that it was with Lupin. Harry was annoyed that he was being treated like a child, needing supervision, but pleased in a way that it was Lupin. From the schedule, he saw that he would be spending a lot of time with his parents' old friend, and this gave him the opportunity to find out more about them.
After the anger generated by the meeting with Dumbledore, his emotions took a complete turnaround after speaking to Remus Lupin. Lupin had taken him to the DADA Professors office and had shown him a door hidden at the back of it. The door led to a small room which Remus said was now his 'office', where he could work on his DADA material for first years and also his own schoolwork away from distractions. At first this statement had annoyed Harry, but Remus sat him down and gave him a talk about his parents and how they would want him to make a success out of his life, how proud they would be, how sorry they must be to not be here. The talk on the surface may have seemed a purely manipulatively ploy by the professor, but the tears that threatened to fall when he spoke of James and Lily convinced Harry that he was speaking not as a professor but more of an uncle, an uncle who actually cared about him. The talk had left him feeling upset, very upset missing his parents a lot. He was slightly scared of disappointing them, Sirius and Remus, other people did not really matter but his parents and their friends' opinions of him counted for a lot. He began to feel a little bit of pleasure at the job he had been given, although he was still angry at it been forced upon him but that could wait, he had gotten a room to basically call his own and he knew if he did well his parents would be proud of him, where ever they were. He was determined to do well this year already, but seeing the emotion in Remus as he talked of his parents reinforced this beyond any measure.
And now he was sitting in the Great Hall, he lifted his head from his hands, looking at the staff table he saw some of the staff already there, talking quietly. Professors Sprout, Vector and Lupin were having a conversation, Hagrid and Professor Flitwick were animatedly talking to each other, looking a rather strange duo. Professor Snape sat at one end, reading a book, occasionally glowering at the conversations taking place along from him. Harry returned to his book, he still felt anxious to see his friends, he wanted to know what had happened to them over summer, what they had done, how their families were coping with the return of Voldemort?
He was also slightly worried about they would react to his helping to teach the DADA course for first years. Ron could be a bit jealous, although he was a prefect and Harry was not, so he hoped that would stop him getting annoyed. Hermione may be a problem although he doubted it, but she was the obvious choice for helping to teach so she may be a bit put out that he was chosen.
Harry continued to read the book he had in front of him, the book covered basic camouflage charms. He was so engrossed in the book that when the doors to the hall banged open, he literally jumped in his seat.
Returning students began filtering into the hall, splitting up into their different houses, taking seats at the appropriate tables. Harry turned his head towards them, trying to find his friends as they entered the hall.
As the crowd of students thinned, he caught sights of two heads, one with bushy brown hair, the other with long red hair. Hermione and Ginny were making their way towards him, having spotted him as they entered the hall. Ginny gave him a small wave which he returned, but Hermione kept her head down as she walked with Ginny.
Harry watched them, seeing the changes in them since he saw them a few months ago. Both were taller, Hermione only a little bit, he guessed that she was actually the same height as him. Although he was fairly short, so they both only stood around five foot five at best, but next to her was Ginny who had shot up and stood about an inch taller than either of them. Harry was a little shocked at first, then remember that her brothers were also quite tall, 'must be the genes' he mused. Hermione had filled out, she was developing a nice set of curves, which complimented her shorter stature, while Ginny's height was emphasised by her more athletic build, no doubt from playing quidditch and growing up with six brothers. Neither girl was exceptionally pretty, but both had a certain quality that could be seen about them, or at least Harry could see it. Both however seemed quite worried, Ginny's face took a worried expression each time she glanced at Hermione, who was quite pale and looked rather downcast.
Both girls however brightened as they approached Harry, taking the seats next to him, Hermione next to him, Ginny on her other side.
"Hi, Hermione, Ginny" Harry greeted them, feeling happy to see them.
Ginny smiled at him, and Hermione replied, "Hi Harry, how was your summer? I'm sorry we didn't see you at all."
"It was bearable, how was yours? Congratulations on becoming a prefect, Hermione, although how could they not have made you a prefect?"
Hermione blushed as Ginny laughed slightly at the end of the compliment. But before, anyone could say anything else, a tall figure with red hair bustled up and forced his way in between Harry and Hermione.
"Hiya, Harry. How was the summer? So sorry you couldn't come over, but Hermione was there anyway, made me do all my homework early. Had to make up my Divination work myself, what ways did you think up to die this year? I've been made a prefect, oh, you haven't, so sorry, old chap. Surprising though isn't it, the Boy-Who-Lived not getting made prefect. Guess me and Hermione will have to watch you carefully, make sure you follow the rules and what-not." Ron launched into this little speech, as he pushed Hermione and Ginny further down the table away from Harry.
Harry was bewildered by the actions of his friend, he cringed at the use of the name "Boy-Who-Lived", could hear the smugness in his voice over the prefect issue, seeing it plain as day on his face. He looked up at his friend, Ron had grown considerably over the summer, he stood around the six foot mark, had broaden across the shoulders. He had developed a little muscle but also put on a bit of weight. Next to him Harry felt rather small.
Before Harry could answer, Ginny spoke up, "Ron, do you mind? Hermione and I were talking to Harry."
Ron dismissed her with a wave of his hand, "Harry doesn't want to listen to your inane prattling, we've got important things to discuss, like the new quidditch season."
Hermione's head went further down, Ginny looked like see could kill Ron and Harry was ready to punch him, disregarding the girls like that. Ron sat there oblivious of the reactions he was causing. Before anyone could answer though, the doors to the hall opened again to admit the new first years being led by Professor McGonagall.
--
The Sorting passed quickly and the feast began, Harry was the oldest student near to the new first years. He looked at the new students, they had gotten 12 new students this year. They all seemed so excited about being at Hogwarts, their expressions as the food had appeared in front of them brought a small smile to his face as he thought about how he must have looked his first time.
Beside him, Ron was talking loudly to anyone who would listen, mostly berating Hermione and Ginny for discussing schoolwork so soon and arguing with Seamus about the quidditch team. Harry was not sure why, but Ron seemed quite belligerent this year, he thought he would probably calm down after the novelty of being a prefect died away.
Harry was eating in silence, watching everything around him, then he noticed a small presence next to him. Most of the first years were animatedly talking to each other, gesturing to different things around the hall, pointing out the ghosts and wondering about the magic they would learn, but the person next to him was quiet, practically ignored by the rest of them.
Harry decided to talk to them, no one should have to be alone in a room full of people, he waved his hand in front of her face as she was intent on her food.
He plainly, but warmly said, "Hello"
The little girl looked up at him, he got a good look at her, she was very small, almost looked too young to be at Hogwarts. Her skin was pale, her face young and fresh, with big blue eyes looking up at him, brown hair cascaded to her shoulders.
"H-Hello" the little girl stumbled slightly in her greeting.
"First time at Hogwarts, exciting isn't it? I remember my first time here. What's your name?"
The little girl looked at him, surprised that the older boy was speaking to her, but the swarm tone in his voice encouraged her to answer, "Samantha, my name is Samantha Reilly."
"Pleased to meet you, Samantha, I'm Harry" he replied, holding his hand out.
She shook his hand, her small one being totally engulfed by his far larger hand. She smiled, "It is exciting, isn't it? The ceiling is so cool"
Harry laughed, "It is cool, I look forward to seeing it every year."
The little girl seemed far more talkative after this simple exchange and began telling Harry about herself, responding excitedly to his questions. Harry smiled as he listened to her tell him about her home in Glasgow, her parents, muggles both, who worked in schools. He found out she was an only child and loved books. He thought she was like a little Hermione, but a bit less uptight. She said that some older boys had called her names on the train. Harry asked who it was and what they had said, a bit angry that someone would ruin the trip to Hogwarts for the young girl.
She shyly pointed out Malfoy and his goons, saying that he was calling her a stupid mudblood.
Harry put his hand on her shoulder and said, very seriously, "If he keeps bothering you, or anyone else does something to you, go to one of the prefects or come and find me."
Samantha's eyes were a bit glossy as she nodded, but Harry asked her about what she wanted to learn about magic and what she thought of the school.
She launched into a series of statements, but he managed to get out of her that she was most excited about Care of Magical Creatures, she loved animals and wanted to work with them.
Harry pointed towards Hagrid and said, "See the big man up there, that's Hagrid, he teaches that class. He was the one who introduced me to the wizarding world. Don't let anyone tell you he's bad or anything, he wouldn't hurt a fly."
She looked at the big man, who saw her and Harry looking at him and waved, she waved back, a smile came across the half-giants face.
She turned back to Harry and asked, "Why would anyone say something bad about him? He looks really nice."
Harry answered, "Hagrid's half-giant, some people don't like giants and think Hagrid is bad because of it, like those boys from the train. Hagrid is my friend, and I think you'll like him too."
"I think he's nice and those boys don't know what they are talking about." She answered sounding even more like a little Hermione.
Harry asked about her wand and where she got it.
The girl seemed to bounce in her seat telling him about her trip to Ollivanders, "He seemed to remember everyone who got a wand off him, it was really weird, like he was a walking encyclopaedia. It didn't take him long to find my wand, 9 inches long made of holly with a Cusith hair core. He said it was well suited to me and would help me work with animals."
Harry watched as the smile spread across her face as she told him this, "Cusith hair, haven't seen any of those before. Although the Cusith are only found in Scotland, so maybe you being from Scotland helped."
Samantha beamed as she heard that her wand type hadn't been seen by him before, as though she thought he had seen lots of wands.
"Dumbledore is about to start his announcements now, " Harry said as he watched the headmaster rise to speak, "just remember me if you need any help or want to talk."
She nodded before turning to listen to the headmaster, Harry wondered to himself if this was what having a little sister felt like.
Harry already knew what the announcements were from early that day, so he only half-listened to Dumbledore as he told the school about the quidditch season, the new duelling club, he heard the applause as Professor Lupin was welcomed back. Dumbledore went on to detail the new restrictions and security in the school, paying special mind to Harry and the Weasley twins.
After he had finished speaking, the school was dismissed and the new prefects led the first years to the dorms. Harry heard Ron's booming voice calling the Gryffindor first years over to him and Hermione then leading them out of the Great Hall.
--
Harry was in his office, it took some getting used to that, having an office. Granted it was small, more of a large storage cupboard, but it had room for a bookshelf, desk and chair. There was still a little space where he could stretch, do some simple exercises and more importantly practise spells. The door could be locked from the inside, so he could keep Lupin out, a few silencing charms and he would never know what was going on. Harry was still angry about this turn in events, and didn't know why he was being forced to help with DADA, but he resolved at this point to make the best that he could of it. At some point in the future, he would get the whole story and make a decision about what to do then, but for now, with the new schedule they gave him, he found that he could practise in his office without fear of interruption save Lupin or possibly the headmaster. It was not a perfect solution, he would have preferred to have had his own choice in the matter about when and where to practise, but you have to deal with life as it comes, otherwise it will run you into the ground and break you up.
It all came to down to what he was prepared to put up with in order to accomplish his goals, if he had to teach, he would, and if he had to work hard he would work hard. Voldemort had been blight on his life for far too long, he killed his parents, he killed the innocent. He tortured and abused for pleasure, he degraded people for not being of what he called pureblood. He was not the only one, once Voldemort was gone, another would appear, then another, the fight would never be over, part of being 'good' was the struggle against evil. Harry had decided for himself and charged by Morrigu to stand in the road of these people, to fight until he could no longer fight, to never give up, to never go down.
He took out one of his notebooks, a book filled with some useful spells for combat. The two spells in the book he was looking at first were not offensive spells, but could be used in preparation for a barrage of offensive spells. One of the first things Harry had found out about combat was that it was not just a case of throwing out spells, of just fighting, it required planning and logic. You had to understand your own spells and knowledge before you could attempt to defeat the enemy. He had read books on duelling and combat tactics over the summer, not just magical books but muggle books as well.
He raised his wand, moving it in the pattern he had memorised, up, across, diagonal, left, down, and saying the incantation, 'caligatio'.
The room was plunged into complete darkness; the light from the small lantern was completely absorbed. Harry attempted the lumos spell; a faint light appeared before it too was swallowed by the darkness. Harry was overjoyed, the spell had worked, he raised his hand in front of his face and waved it about, he couldn't even see the movement. He waited for a few minutes to see if the spell would wear down, but five minutes later the darkness was still present, strong as it was to begin.
He raised his wand again, and uttered the counter-curse, the darkness in the room was sucked into his wand, light from the lantern filling the void it left. Harry began to see why Hermione was always on about studying and preparation, if he hadn't done all the work over summer, if he hadn't practiced the wand movements, he would never have gotten the spell right first time. He knew not to get overconfident, this spell was one of the simple ones he had looked at.
He looked at the second spell in the book, it reminded him of something he'd read about in a book about police raid tactics. The book had described how in the raid, the police had to secure each room as they proceeded, to ensure they were not attacked from behind, how they used little devices they called flash-bangs, this wasn't their official names, but it did describe what they did. The police would arm it and throw it into a room before they entered, the device would explode with a bright flash and a loud bang. This would disorientate any occupants slightly, making it easier to subdue them. The spell he was looking at was not a complete analogue to the device, but did replicate the flash part.
He raised his wand, in motions similar to the caligatio he moved it, then at the end he thrust it towards the ground and said, "sol erumpo".
The effect was instant and brief, an amazing flash of light filled the room and then disappeared. Harry who had been looking at the point where he thrust his wand, stumbled backwards, his eyes filled with light spots. He blinked trying to get his vision back, as he moved, he tripped over the chair next to his desk and tumbled to the ground.
Harry laughed, he couldn't do anything else. The sheer comedy of the situation overcame any embarrassment he should have felt caused by his clumsiness in the after-effects of the spell. He sat on the ground, waiting for the effects of the light to dissipate.
As he sat there, he fell back into his internal deliberations. He realised that the spells were simple and he had prepared but he was shocked that he could do them at all on the first attempt. He supposed that his preparations had made sure he knew what to do but then he remembered something Morrigu had said about removing the barriers in his magic, allowing him to access each centre without interference. He knew this magic was based in the mind, and now that the other centres were not interfering he was able to call upon that centre more easily. He wondered how hard it would be when he attempted to use the spells in the book Morrigu had gifted him, those spells were ancient and used all three centres of power in conjunction with one another. No one would be able to help him, the barriers were still present in them and could not be removed, he was on his own for those spells. He mused that this didn't bother him as much as it probably should have, but then he had been on his own for most of his life, so why should now be any different.
The lights in his eyes had now disappeared and he could see clearly again. He noticed that after these two spells, he felt a little drained; he put this down to the fact that although simple the effects would require a lot of energy to produce.
For the next half hour, Harry practiced these two spells, he remembered to close his eyes before finishing the flash spell, he didn't want a repeat of falling over the chair, although he did move it away from him just in case. The light from the spell was partially visible even through his eyelids. He thought that this would make a great surprise for his first opponents in the duelling club, although he wanted to wait a few weeks before facing anyone in it.
Harry looked at the small clock on his desk, Remus would be coming to take him back to Gryffindor tower in fifteen minutes. He picked up the book from Morrigu, he opened it to the first spell. He was curious as to how it would feel to use this type of magic? how would he cope with it?, would he be able to do it at all?
The book itself was unusual, it had few pages, the first few were a summary of the magic, how to focus, unleash and gather the energies. The next few were a small selection of spells, there were only basic spells there presently, the book only added new spells to itself when the owner, in this case Harry, had mastered all of the current spells. Currently there were only four spells in the book, Harry was looking at the first of them.
The book described the spell, the process of thought you had to use, the incantation did not need to be verbal, nor did it require a wand. The hard part was the focus required, you had to link your three centres together in order to accomplish anything, the focus allowed you to channel the power, the incantation was a mental one, linked to the runic focus of the spell.
Harry placed the book on his desk, he had read the spell several dozen times over the summer, but was still nervous. This magic even in its basic form was difficult. He began to form the rune in his mind, he saw the form appear, the different section light up as he drew energy from his body, mind and spirit. Each energy had a different feel to it, fighting against the others for dominance, but the caster had to balance the forces. He stood stock still for a few minutes, the concentration visible from the tense posture of his body, his eyes closed, rapidly moving around under the lids.
The rune became balanced in his mind, the energy he needed gathered, waiting to be released. In his mind he thought about the incantation, "talamh turus"
In his mind he saw the energy pulse in the rune, the rune remained but he saw the energy begin to direct downwards through him, he felt the ground begin to rise around him. He opened his eyes, looking down he saw that he had sunk to his ankles in the stone floor, he continued to sink, then he panicked. The breath he had been holding like it said in the book released, he was flung from the floor. He fell on his knees and collapsed forward, totally drained. He struggled to get his breath back.
His body ached all over, his mind felt lethargic at best, he struggled to get back to sitting. He looked at the clock, only a few minutes before Remus came in to get him from his office. He thought about the spell, wondering why he had panicked, he knew what was supposed to happen. He thought about the after-effects, he knew in time it would get easier but it was such a strain just now, the book had mentioned about the taxing effort on all aspects of the caster but this was more than he expected for one of what the book said were basic spells. He sat there thinking, recovering enough to return to the tower, for once he would be too tired to dream.
