A/N: JKR owns all of these characters, I own the plot only.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews so far. I wasn't going to write today but
after reading the reviews I decided to at least do some
Chapter 9 Clearly Concentration
When Dumbledore let Harry into his office on Sunday morning Harry was grateful to find Sirius in there as well.
"Hello Harry" they each said and Harry nodded in return while walking over to Sirius.
"Harry, your godfather and I have been talking this morning. He's offered to help you with your animagus training."
Harry's face broke into the widest possible grin when Sirius added, "That is, if you want me to."
"Of course I want you to. How long can you stay? Where will you stay? Can I tell Ron and Hermione? Will you be okay here? Can we go to Hogsmeade together?"
Sirius' and Dumbledore's chuckling was the only thing that cut Harry off.
Dumbledore was still smiling when he spoke. "Harry, I'm afraid we'll never complete your training in time if you keep exploding into a mass of questions every time we tell you something."
Harry nodded as Dumbledore continued.
"With Sirius staying around a bit you'll be able to tell Ron and Hermione that you're spending time with him when you have your two extra weekly sessions here. Now Sirius and I have a meeting to go to now. I need you to stay here and start studying this."
With those words Dumbledore handed Harry a tome the size of an oxford's dictionary.
Harry started flipping through the pages.
"Now Harry, it wouldn't do you any good to skip ahead and read anything towards the end before you've learned the rest of it. It won't make any sense unless you learn it from the beginning so don't read ahead."
"Ok" was all he said but of course being a healthy fifteen year old boy, he now wanted to read ahead more than ever.
Breaking into his thoughts of what could be at the end of the book Dumbledore added, "we'll be back in a couple of hours to test your mastery of the first step."
Step? Harry wondered to himself. However after the last bit of laughter at his expense, Harry had decided not to ask any more questions for awhile.
When the two adult wizards left the room Harry found himself looking around the office to see if there was anything new. Although he noticed a few interesting things, he only remembered too well about the Pensieve and what happened last time he looked around the headmaster's office. He was determined not to do that again. Besides, they said they were going to test him when they got back, yep, it was definitely time to get down to business.
He turned the book over in his hands so that he could read the title.
"Becoming and Animagus - The 12 Step Program."
Well at least he knew what they had meant by his studying the first step. He opened the book and began reading. After just a couple of minutes he realized that he had no idea what he had been reading. His mind couldn't stop wandering to what was at the end of the book that Dumbledore had cautioned him against.
Deciding that he'd never get any work done if he didn't find out what was at the end of the book, he flipped to the last few chapters. The pages were blank. If he was being honest from himself, he'd have to admit that it was probably for the best and at least now he could study in earnest.
Opening the book to chapter one, he began reading. There were only a couple of pages dedicated to an introduction of the subject matter. Basically, it was just a few pages worth of examples where transformations had gone terribly wrong and warned that only the most dedicated should try this.
Harry only had to think about it for a second. Dumbledore and Sirius wouldn't put him in danger. Besides if his dad was one he would be too. And, he just realized, since both his parents had to be members than that must mean his mom was one too. Yes, this was definitely something he wanted to do.
Reading on he found out that the first step was being able to clear your mind even in the worst of circumstances. The first 75 pages were different techniques on how to do that. That seemed easy enough.
He decided to shut his eyes and give it a try. Four or five seconds into the experiment he heard Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, flap his wings. When Harry opened his eyes the phoenix shook its head at him?
Figuring that to be a one-time coincidence Harry closed his eyes ready to try it again. This time he heard something coming right at him and opened his eyes in time to duck as the Phoenix passed overhead. Again when the phoenix landed, it shook its head at him.
Harry finally got the idea. Fawkes was trying to help him practice.
"Are you. are you trying to help me study this?" he asked not feeling at all silly for asking a question of a phoenix. He smiled when the phoenix nodded its head.
Harry continued doing drills with Fawkes until his two mentors returned. They were looking grim. Harry was about to ask who they met with when he remembered his resolve to lay off the questions for awhile. So he only nodded when Sirius asked him if he was ready to begin.
"Alright then, go ahead and clear your mind." Harry thought he had mastered ignoring his environment when all of a sudden he smelled the most foul smell he could ever remember smelling. He opened his eyes.
"AAARRRGGGHHHHH!"
When he opened his eyes, he saw his godfather's face 1 inch from his own eating something.
"Sirius, what is that?" Harry felt this was a justified question.
"An onion, pepper, garlic and anchovy sandwich of course."
Harry, now feeling slightly ill, was sorry he asked.
Dumbledore and Sirius put him through these paces for another couple of hours. Although he did extremely well with the medium and lighter tests he couldn't block out the banshee wail, the wall of flames that surrounded him, the clicking of a giant spider or any time Sirius got near him with that sandwich.
After a quick lunch, they put him through more paces until Dumbledore finally decided that it was enough for the day and Harry had his other homework to do.
After Harry left to go back to his common room, Sirius turned to Dumbledore.
"Do you think he'll learn it in time?"
"He has to my young friend. You know as well as I do that at the end of this year, he's going to be called upon to save the Order."
A/N - Please R/R - let's hear what you think and we'll see if it changes anything.
Chapter 9 Clearly Concentration
When Dumbledore let Harry into his office on Sunday morning Harry was grateful to find Sirius in there as well.
"Hello Harry" they each said and Harry nodded in return while walking over to Sirius.
"Harry, your godfather and I have been talking this morning. He's offered to help you with your animagus training."
Harry's face broke into the widest possible grin when Sirius added, "That is, if you want me to."
"Of course I want you to. How long can you stay? Where will you stay? Can I tell Ron and Hermione? Will you be okay here? Can we go to Hogsmeade together?"
Sirius' and Dumbledore's chuckling was the only thing that cut Harry off.
Dumbledore was still smiling when he spoke. "Harry, I'm afraid we'll never complete your training in time if you keep exploding into a mass of questions every time we tell you something."
Harry nodded as Dumbledore continued.
"With Sirius staying around a bit you'll be able to tell Ron and Hermione that you're spending time with him when you have your two extra weekly sessions here. Now Sirius and I have a meeting to go to now. I need you to stay here and start studying this."
With those words Dumbledore handed Harry a tome the size of an oxford's dictionary.
Harry started flipping through the pages.
"Now Harry, it wouldn't do you any good to skip ahead and read anything towards the end before you've learned the rest of it. It won't make any sense unless you learn it from the beginning so don't read ahead."
"Ok" was all he said but of course being a healthy fifteen year old boy, he now wanted to read ahead more than ever.
Breaking into his thoughts of what could be at the end of the book Dumbledore added, "we'll be back in a couple of hours to test your mastery of the first step."
Step? Harry wondered to himself. However after the last bit of laughter at his expense, Harry had decided not to ask any more questions for awhile.
When the two adult wizards left the room Harry found himself looking around the office to see if there was anything new. Although he noticed a few interesting things, he only remembered too well about the Pensieve and what happened last time he looked around the headmaster's office. He was determined not to do that again. Besides, they said they were going to test him when they got back, yep, it was definitely time to get down to business.
He turned the book over in his hands so that he could read the title.
"Becoming and Animagus - The 12 Step Program."
Well at least he knew what they had meant by his studying the first step. He opened the book and began reading. After just a couple of minutes he realized that he had no idea what he had been reading. His mind couldn't stop wandering to what was at the end of the book that Dumbledore had cautioned him against.
Deciding that he'd never get any work done if he didn't find out what was at the end of the book, he flipped to the last few chapters. The pages were blank. If he was being honest from himself, he'd have to admit that it was probably for the best and at least now he could study in earnest.
Opening the book to chapter one, he began reading. There were only a couple of pages dedicated to an introduction of the subject matter. Basically, it was just a few pages worth of examples where transformations had gone terribly wrong and warned that only the most dedicated should try this.
Harry only had to think about it for a second. Dumbledore and Sirius wouldn't put him in danger. Besides if his dad was one he would be too. And, he just realized, since both his parents had to be members than that must mean his mom was one too. Yes, this was definitely something he wanted to do.
Reading on he found out that the first step was being able to clear your mind even in the worst of circumstances. The first 75 pages were different techniques on how to do that. That seemed easy enough.
He decided to shut his eyes and give it a try. Four or five seconds into the experiment he heard Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix, flap his wings. When Harry opened his eyes the phoenix shook its head at him?
Figuring that to be a one-time coincidence Harry closed his eyes ready to try it again. This time he heard something coming right at him and opened his eyes in time to duck as the Phoenix passed overhead. Again when the phoenix landed, it shook its head at him.
Harry finally got the idea. Fawkes was trying to help him practice.
"Are you. are you trying to help me study this?" he asked not feeling at all silly for asking a question of a phoenix. He smiled when the phoenix nodded its head.
Harry continued doing drills with Fawkes until his two mentors returned. They were looking grim. Harry was about to ask who they met with when he remembered his resolve to lay off the questions for awhile. So he only nodded when Sirius asked him if he was ready to begin.
"Alright then, go ahead and clear your mind." Harry thought he had mastered ignoring his environment when all of a sudden he smelled the most foul smell he could ever remember smelling. He opened his eyes.
"AAARRRGGGHHHHH!"
When he opened his eyes, he saw his godfather's face 1 inch from his own eating something.
"Sirius, what is that?" Harry felt this was a justified question.
"An onion, pepper, garlic and anchovy sandwich of course."
Harry, now feeling slightly ill, was sorry he asked.
Dumbledore and Sirius put him through these paces for another couple of hours. Although he did extremely well with the medium and lighter tests he couldn't block out the banshee wail, the wall of flames that surrounded him, the clicking of a giant spider or any time Sirius got near him with that sandwich.
After a quick lunch, they put him through more paces until Dumbledore finally decided that it was enough for the day and Harry had his other homework to do.
After Harry left to go back to his common room, Sirius turned to Dumbledore.
"Do you think he'll learn it in time?"
"He has to my young friend. You know as well as I do that at the end of this year, he's going to be called upon to save the Order."
A/N - Please R/R - let's hear what you think and we'll see if it changes anything.