A Crash Course on the Dark Arts

by Icarus

It was a busy time at Hogwarts castle. The corridors were filled with whispers and traded spells. Tables and chairs leapt across the room, hurled by those students who were preparing to take their N.E.W.T.'s in addition to their end of year exams. The library buzzed with energy and nervousness (and an unusual amount of noise, greatly annoying the regulars) as even the worst students hit the books.

"If people would just study all year, it wouldn't be so bad!" complained Hermione, glaring at two Second Years whose study had dissolved into a game of racing paper horses.

Several Third Years gathered to watch, grateful for the distraction. Halfway through the next race however, their 'horses' suddenly burst into flames and vanished into handfuls of sparks. Students turned to find Madam Pince, a grim look in her eyes that could probably burn most things. Meekly they returned to their books.

"Thank goodness," breathed Hermione.

"Sh!" hushed Ron. He was in a panic over the upcoming Potions test. "I have to pass this year, or it's summer school for me. With Snape!"

Hermione gave Ron her best 'I told you so' look, but graciously didn't comment.

Professor Snape was in an unusually foul mood though no one but Harry knew why. He had promised them all a Potions test that no one would pass. And he meant it. In addition, he had assigned a cruel twenty-two inch essay - due the day of the exams - and homework for every day in between. Harry didn't study too hard for Potions. He had the vague thought that if he had to go to summer school, then perhaps he'd have a chance to talk to Severus.

Leaving Ron sweating over his Potions text, Hermione slipped between the shelves of books in the back of the library. Her fingers ran along the worn polished wood with the comfortable ease born from much practice. Hermione was really in her element in a library, and this one she knew like the back of her hand. Currently she was working on an extra credit project for Professor McGonagall she called "very interesting," to the disgust of both Harry and Ron. Harry looked up from his Charms text and quickly seized his opportunity.

"Hermione…" Harry motioned her over to the window out of earshot of everyone, "I need your help - with some research. I realize it's the middle of exams…"

"You're the one that needs to study," Hermione looked interested. "You haven't done a thing. And don't you think I haven't noticed."

"It's important." Harry said. "But there's a lot I can't explain - " He looked left, then right. No one was about. He took a deep breath.

" - I need to know how to remove Voldemort's Dark Mark."

"What?!"

"Just… trust me."

"Harry, that's Dark Magic! Everything to do with that would be in the Restricted section, just for starters- "

Harry held up a piece of parchment and tapped it with his wand, muttering the proper Spell. It revealed the glittering Pass to the Restricted section, signed in gold ink by Professor Dumbledore himself. "I have permission."

"How - how did you get a pass to the Restricted section?"

In a low voice, Harry quickly explained about his classes in the Dark Arts. Hermione's eyes grew wide.

Harry was puzzled. "Ron never told you?"

"No, of course not."

"Ron told you all about my sex life, but not this?" Harry was a little annoyed.

"Well, if Professor Dumbledore said to keep it a secret, he'd respect that you know. Ron does have his priorities," said Hermione. Harry threw up his hands.

"So, about the Dark Mark… is it some kind of an assignment?" she asked.

"Well… yes. In a way," Harry said. "That's… getting into the part I can't explain."

Hermione thought for a moment before she agreed, "All right. I'll help."

Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He had been right. He thought her curiosity might leap at a chance to learn something so unusual, so out of reach. And hoped it would overwhelm any objections she might have held over his secrecy. Ron would have been more suspicious. But the moment Harry had shown her that Pass, with the all-important 'Teacher's Seal of Approval,' Hermione's suspicions were quelled.

"But I'll need to know everything," she added.

"I can't tell you everything!" Harry was momentarily worried she might back out. His plan didn't stand a chance without her.

"About the class," Hermione rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I know nothing about the Dark Arts. I can't go in blind! I have to know what I'm looking for."

"Oh."

They waited until the dinner hour, when most of the students left, leaving a chaos of unshelved books behind them. Harry explained to Ron they had some extra studying to do, but he waved them away irritably, his nose still buried in Potions. He didn't seem to be getting along very quickly through that book, Harry noticed.

Looking about, Harry handed Madam Pince his Pass. It suddenly occurred to him that she may not let Hermione in with on his Pass. But he hadn't considered Hermione popularity with the library staff. Madam Pince nodded and let them both through, giving Hermione the first smile Harry had ever seen on the Librarian's face. He thought it was really best that she didn't smile too often. She had truly frightful teeth.

They filtered to the back of the Restricted section, where the really dangerous books were kept. They stood in front of a dusty section of shelves. Books with broken bindings and knife cuts, peculiar colored stains and hideous emblems on their spines lined these shelves. A last glimmer of light peeped through an upper window. A few cobwebs fluttered in a draft. It felt suddenly very quiet in the library.

"So. Tell me everything you know," Hermione asked in a hushed voice, sitting down on a bench and suddenly businesslike. Harry pulled up a step ladder and folded his hands.

"Uh… let's see… the Dark Arts are really dangerous…" Harry said, not sure where to begin.

"Categories, Harry, categories. Organize your thoughts. I need a lot of information very fast. I mean, you've been studying this all year, and I have to catch up."

Harry was chagrined. "I'm really not very good at the Dark Arts."

"You probably know more than you think."

Harry ran his hands across a line of books which were now familiar to him… down the familiar worn, leather bound spines, thinking back to his first classes with Severus. They seemed like an eon ago, as so much had changed. Who knew life could get this complicated?

"Well. The Dark Arts is a completely different theory of magic. Professor Snape says regular magic is reversible - "

"Snape's your teacher?" Hermione's head snapped up.

"Yes. He compares regular magic to trimming a bonsai," Harry continued. "Training things in a certain direction without really harming them. He says that's why regular magic is easily reversible. By comparison anyway. Dark magic is more like cutting something down to make something else. It directly effects the fabric of whatever it is and warps it."

"That's impossible," Hermione interrupted.

"No - it's just dangerous. And destructive too if you ask me," Harry said. "Otherwise Dark Magic is pretty much the same. Dark Magic has every classification of Spell we know. Except Herbology. They ignore that, except for what's in Potions."

"Oh, that's rather foolish. Herbology is fundamental," Hermione mused.

"Severus' grandfather thought so, too. He did a lot of work in Herbology and the Dark Arts."

"His grandfather?" Hermione probed. She knew Snape's first name was Severus of

course, but she'd never heard anyone but another teacher use it. She filed Harry's use of the name in the back of her mind and continued to pay close attention to what Harry was saying.

"Yeah - most of what I was learning came from him."

"Was his grandfather Eckard Aurelius Snape?"

"I don't know. Maybe," Harry shrugged. "I don't remember if he ever told me."

"Well. Eckard Snape a very famous Dark Wizard from the 1930's and 40's. He was supposed to have been brilliant and completely crazy and in league with Voldemort from the very first. Though they didn't have much proof. They say he attacked an Auror and was killed before they could bring him to justice."

"How do you know all that?" Harry blinked.

"It's in the History of Magic, the unabridged version. He has almost a chapter to himself. Harry, how do you manage to learn anything without ever cracking a book?"

Harry shrugged. "I read the assignments. But they cover most things in class."

"You could be such a good student if you would just apply yourself," Hermione shook her head. How many times had Severus said that to Harry? But it was the rest of life Harry was having trouble with, not school.

"Well, Severus says his grandfather wasn't involved with Voldemort at all. And he would know. Told me his grandfather didn't think much of Voldemort - called him a 'sloppy amateur'."

"That sounds like a Snape all right."

"Yeah," Harry said wistfully. He'd welcome even Severus' sarcasm if he would only talk.

Hermione said thoughtfully. "I always supposed Dark Magic to be - well, destroying things. Hurting people."

"It is." Harry was brought back to the task at hand. He explained. "That's mostly what it's used for. Since it's against the law, expensive and dangerous, even Dark Wizards mostly use regular Magic for little normal things. Even though most Spells have a Dark version. So Dark Magic is mostly used now for attack. In fact, it is broken down into defense and attack. You wanted categories? There's Attack on Persons, Attack on Possessions, Attack on Property, Attack on Associates - relatives and friends."

Hermione shuddered and Harry nodded.

"Yeah. Tell me about it. This stuff's given me nightmares for months! Just hearing about it is enough to give you the creeps, but doing it? And the ingredients - blood of this, blood of that… It's horrible stuff.

"Well, the attacks are each broken down into direct, fired objects, fields and traps, dangerous items, and something else… umm… oh yeah - a general category - 'turning,' like turning things against their nature. Can't remember what it's called. The Imperious Curse falls into that."

Hermione nodded once and began scanning the books. "It's probably under that. Or under property. We'll start there anyway."

Dust filled the air and Harry coughed as Hermione selected and then stacked books in Harry's arms up to his chin. He dumped them on a dark mahogany table, and they began reading. Hermione scanned books efficiently. She set them aside at an impressive rate, reviewing and discarding a book in the time it took Harry to read a Table of Contents. The piles between them grew until Harry could only hear Hermione turning pages beyond a mountain of voluminous texts. Every now and then Hermione would interrupt Harry, and they would stagger back with yet another pile.

Harry was beginning to think it would have been easier to just systematically take down every book on the shelves. Hermione had to have looked at most of them by now. It was four o'clock in the morning when Hermione finally said:

"Well, this is it."

Harry shook himself, realizing he had been dozing. He peeked over the pile hopefully.

"I've narrowed it down to these fourteen books."

Harry groaned and put his head in his hands, pillowing his head on the enormous stack.

"That was fast work," said Hermione with innocent and somewhat mind-boggling cheer. "This is everything on the Dark Mark. Their bibliographies all reference each other."

They spent another hour putting the other books back, and put a 'Hold' on those fourteen on Madam Pince's desk. Hermione assured Harry it would be okay to leave them there.

"Madam Pince does this for me all the time. We can start again tomorrow."

Wonderful. Just how Harry wanted to spent his Saturday.

Hermione was positively beaming.

"See you at ten o'clock. That should be plenty of sleep."

Ten o'clock came far too soon. Harry skipped his shower and staggered into the library - only to find Hermione already there, reading.

"I couldn't sleep. I thought I saw something last night and it kept bothering me."

Harry yawned. Even being here at ten o'clock gave them only four hours.

"How many hours did you sleep?" he asked.

"Oh, I dunno, one or two. I can make up for it later - look at this Harry." She dragged over a book almost too big for her to lift. "I find all sorts of things on the Dark Mark. They've tried to remove it before of course…'

"Yes?" Harry was suddenly considerably more awake.

"Well I've got bad news and bad news."

"Okay, give me the bad news first," Harry said.

"First: it cannot be removed. Or rather, it can be, but only by Voldemort," she said.

"And you have more good news I suppose."

"I did find this," Hermione pulled out a much smaller book that fell open to page that was stained with brown marks. They looked like blood. "But I'm afraid it's worse."

Harry scanned the Spell. Yes, based on this Spell, those stains most likely were blood.

Hermione looked up at Harry. "I can't do it. But you or Ron could. It can only be done by a pure blood wizard."

"Could that just be propaganda? I've never really believed that 'pure blood' nonsense. If you can do magic, you can do magic," Harry asked.

"No, I think it matters. For this spell at least." Hermione dragged the really big text over to Harry, and flipped through a few pages until she found her place. "Look at this - see? They're certain Voldemort used the Dark Mark because it doesn't require a pure blood wizard to do, like this Spell. His father was a Muggle, remember?"

"But, Harry. Do you really want to do this?"

Harry scanned through the Spell once more.

"No. I don't. I really was expecting something different. Dangerous, sure. But nothing like this. Are - are there any other options?"

Hermione winced. "I've been pretty thorough…"

That settled it. Hermione's idea of thorough surpassed even Filch's most sadistic dreams. Harry picked up the book and set it on his book bag. Over in the front portion of the library, Harry spied students starting to filter into the Library for weekend cramming for the tests.

"This is for Professor Snape, isn't it?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I told you: I can't tell you that," Harry looked over the rim of his glasses, hoping Hermione wouldn't pry now.

"I don't like it at all, Harry. That Spell… it's awfully vague," Hermione had a worried frown.

"Well, Severus always says Dark Magic is as much Art as it is Science."

Finis. Next: 'Pure Blood.'