Disclaimer: Harry Potter and other such wonderful things are the property of J. K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and several other lucky people, all of whom, I am not. Therefore, I lay my grubby little paws only on the Staff Draconis, the Bremus, Marten Diggory, Archie Murmoose (he'll be important later, I promise), Marcus Sideson, Ryan Argano, and of course, his beloved Loranciados. Feel free to use any of them, just note me at some point as the original creator.
Author Note: I'm back! And boy o boy does it feel good. Fortunately for all of you, you don't have to deal with my manic depressive ramblings this chapter. Now, to all of my readers who left when I went on that rather lengthy, er, lets call it a hiatus, I only beg that you will return because I really think this story is worth it.
10. The Loranciados
History of Magic passed in a haze. After that, there was half an hour until lunch which most of the Gryffindor fifth years spent hanging around in the hall way swapping more tales of their summer vacations.
Lunch passed quickly and uneventfully and then finally, after another half hour break, Harry, Ron and Hermione trooped up to the Defense Against Dark Arts classroom. The majority of the house was all ready there and seated. Ryan Argano sat on the front of his desk with a role sheet in hand.
Harry and company quietly took their seats as the rest of the stragglers filed in. Ryan looked up and once more Harry was amazed at how a smile transformed his face. He gave the class a weary little grin and began to call role. Harry took the time he waited for his name to inspect Ryan.
He was not dressed in the formal robes he had worn the night before, instead he was back in his faded jeans and homespun shirt. A thick raw hide belt encircled his waist and sure enough, both heavy pistols rode in their holsters, big as life and glinting lazily in the sun light.
Professor Argano finished role and surveyed the class again. "I am told," He began, "That you have all ready learned about Dark creatures, spells, hexes, curses, counter curses, and the like. This year, I will be instructing you on Magical weapons, both in their use, and in defense against them."
The classes attention came to rest heavily at the guns at his hips. His grin widened a bit. "I see you considering my own weapons, therefor, we will begin the year with a lesson on these. If you'll all follow me." He stood abruptly and swept out the door.
The class rose murmuring a bit in confusion and followed him. He led them out to the grounds to the shore of the lake closest to the Dark Forest. A pair of white stone plinths had been set about a hundred feet from where he stopped them.
With a flourish, he whipped one of the guns from his waist and held it above his head. He spun it downward on his index finger and held it in front of him, stock first. "This is an enchanted pistol. This particular piece is called a Loranciado. He pulled out the chamber so that the whole class could see the huge gem that had been set inside. It was intricately cut and shimmered with millions of secret facets. "This gun will take no conventional bullet, it will never need to be reloaded, and it fires a blast of pure magic that can kill or destroy almost anything it touches."
He snapped the pistol shut and tossed it to Ron. Ron nearly caught it, fumbled in his surprise, and dropped it to the wet lawn, which was still soaked and muddy from the night before. Ron swooped down to retrieve the heavy pistol and wiped it off a bit before holding it away from himself with fingers as far away from the trigger as he could get them.
Professor Argano laughed, "It's all right. Weasley is it?" Ron nodded dumbly, "Well then Mr. Weasley, I'd like you to give it a try."
Ron gulped, "I've never used a gun before, and, are you allowed to give us these?"
Ryan laughed yet again, "Later in the year, I won't let any of you near them, but for now I'm using you in a demonstration." He pointed to the plinth closer to the lake. "Go ahead, take a shot."
Ron gulped again, squared his shoulders and his feet, grasped the heavy pistol in both hands and sighted down the shore. He cocked the hammer back and did his best not to shake from nerves. Then he pulled the trigger.
A bolt of blue sparks leapt from the gun and slammed into the plinth with a fizzling bang. A bit of white stone cracked and landed on the muddy ground with a soft squelch.
Ron looked at the gun a bit confused, he had seen one of these things throw a man twenty feet, dead and burning, through the air. Ryan smiled, "Very good Mr. Weasley, much better than I expected from one so inexperienced. You might just be a natural at this." Ron beamed, not used to being called a natural at anything.
He opened his mouth to ask a question, but just as he was about to, Professor Argano's expression changed. It was fast as a bullet, from smiling pride to dead concentration in a quicksilver flash. He whipped around, dropping to his knee in the process. At some point in the maneuver he had pulled the second Loranciado and sighted it down at the second plinth.
As soon as his knee hit the ground, the gun let loose with a world-shattering roar. A bolt of electric blue energy blinked from gun to target. The plinth exploded. It was engulfed in a billowing cloud of smoked and flame, little pieces of white rock rained down here and there, some to land steaming in the lake.
The class stood stunned and he whirled around to take the other gun from Ron in a flash and repeat the feat on the first plinth which also exploded with a mighty bang. By the time the class was coming back to its senses, he had both guns holstered and was standing with arms crossed. As the smoke cleared behind him to reveal to small shattered bases of rock he asked them, "Any idea what just happened here?"
Stunned silence.
"I guessed not. Well then, let me explain. The enchantment on these guns is such that they are only as powerful as the will and concentration of the person firing them. This is true with nearly all enchanted weapons. Weapons magic is like flying, potions, or Divination. Some are better than others. Some witches and wizards are simply born with a talent to handle weapons like these. Just as others are born with the reflexes to be seeker, the precision to be a potions master, or a strong enough inner eye to make true predictions. Bearing this in mind, just as all witches and wizards can perform the disciplines I have mentioned above, no matter what their natural proficiency may be, anyone can use enchanted weapons."
Dean Thomas raised his hand. "Uh Professor?"
"Yes Mr. Thomas?"
"Two questions, when will we ever get to use these things?" He grinned a bit, "And where can I get a pair?" The class laughed and his grin widened.
Professor Argano's expression became a touch more serious once more. "In answer to your first question, this is Defense Against the Dark Arts class. You will learn to use these weapons against the Dark Arts. Should any of you choose to become Auror's you will have a much better time of it if you have an understanding of these weapons. All magical weapons are rare, and most are extremely strong, such things can be great aids in the battle against the Darkness." His expression sobered yet more and Dean Thomas's grin faltered a touch.
"As to your second question, I doubt you will ever be able to obtain such a thing as a Loranciado. These guns were custom made more than three hundred years ago in Spain. The gunsmith was possibly one of the greatest ever, and never since have I seen the like of these."
Harry raised his hand, "How did you get them?"
Professor Argano's expression twisted into a mask of pain. His eyes lost focus and he whispered, "I paid my priceā¦"
Then he shook his head and glared shakily at the class for a moment before standing up straight again. "Ancient History," He snapped, "Back to the class, all of you." Then he began back to the castle at a swift walk, his long strides leaving the rest of the class struggling to keep up.
Ron speared Harry with a questioning glance as they jogged back towards the castle. "What the hell was that about?"
Harry shook his head, "How should I know?"
Hermione dropped back a few paces so that they were walking together. "What do you think Harry?"
Harry shrugged, "No idea. But the last nice Auror we met who also happened to be crazy also turned out to be Voldemort's greatest supporter. Go figure." He turned to Ron, "Hey Ron, why does everyone act like he's so famous? I'd never heard of him before that day back in Diagon Alley."
"Well, famous probably isn't the right word. Infamous probably fits a lot better. Back during Voldemort's rise, Argano was a new comer in the Ministry. No doubt he was good though, even Moody admitted that. But he followed a code that differed a bit from what the ministry appreciated its Auror's doing. He tortured Death Eaters for information, tried to destroy them cell by cell. They say he once nearly got a shot at You-Know-Who himself, but no one's sure if that's true or not."
Hermione shrugged, "So what happened?"
"He made a lot of people in the ministry very nervous. there were a lot of rumors of him using demons and such as informants, not to mention he had brought in several high power Death Eaters as nothing more than smoking corpses. People we really needed information from. So when You-Know-Who fell, the Ministry banished him and forbid him to ever return."
Hermione furrowed her brow, "So what's he doing back now, and working for Fudge especially?"
Harry slowed down as they approached the doors to the school. "I'm guessing Dumbledore's got something to do with it. The only appointment that Fudge seems happy with this year is Malfoy's dad. He seems to downright hate Sideson."
Hermione nodded as they entered into the torch lit entrance hall, "I guess that's why he waited so long to introduce him."
Harry stopped. Ron and Hermione both turned and looked at him oddly. "What's the matter Harry? We've got to keep up with the class."
Harry began walking again and spoke in low tones. "When Sideson called me up earlier he said we could trust Argano, but that we shouldn't get too close. He said something about too many skeletons in his closet."
Ron shrugged, "Well by the looks of it, those skeletons have something to do with those guns."
* * *
Whatever the case may have been, none of them had much time to contemplate the mystery of Professor Argano's past in the next few days. Most of the teachers were being merciless with their beginning of the year assignments and the three of them soon found themselves buried under a steadily mounting pile of home-work. Still, it was a fairly uneventful week right up until two o'clock Friday afternoon.
Harry sighed as he regarded his schedule at lunch. "Well, I suppose we all knew it was coming."
Ron nodded grimly, "Double Potions with Slytherin. Poor Neville."
Hermione extracted herself from the weighty Arithmancy book she was reading and favored the two of them with a distasteful look. "Ugh, I don't even want to think about how smug Malfoy's going to look."
"Which one?" Ron retorted glumly.
Hermione was about to reply when Harry cut her off with a sharp shake of his head. "Speak of the devil," he muttered.
Ron wheeled around and sure enough, Malfoy was striding towards them looking very smug indeed. "Afternoon Potter, lovely day isn't it?"
Ron bristled, "Shove off Malfoy."
Malfoy shot him a look of pure venom. "Weasley."
Ron met his gaze levelly, "Ferret."
Malfoy's pale skin tinged a bit red at this and he snapped out, "Don't speak to your betters in such a fashion pauper."
"I'll keep that in mind if I see any of my betters Malfoy."
Draco's fists clenched tightly at this and Harry spotted a very expensive looking watch on his left wrist, where the mark would be showing. Hoping to avoid a direct confrontation in the middle of the crowded Great Hall he cut in coolly. "Nice watch Malfoy." Draco's expression twisted suspiciously and he pulled at the sleeve of his robe to hide his wrist. Harry smiled and continued, "Now it wouldn't be very smart to start any trouble now would it? Not with your father on the staff. Now how would that look? Sideson might have to reconsider the appointment."
"You and I both know it's coming Potter. You can't ignore it any more."
"Run along little Ferret."
For a split second, Harry thought Malfoy was going to take a swing at him. But after a moment of trembling in rage, he simply whirled around and stalked back to the Slytherin table.
Hermione sighed, "Well now we know Potions is going to be bad."
Ron shrugged, "Oh well, always good to be sure."
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Author Note: Please review! I'm rather disinclined to post the next chapter if I don't get some reviews for the one currently posted. Oh well. I hope you enjoyed.
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