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Athenakitty, Numba1, Hrei-siesn, Jeklsmom5(),Nasser Himura, saxistwriterchick, Ash Knight, Drajjen, leggylover03 Thank you all, its such a great feeling to know you are all still reading.
Chapter 9 Fire Water
Harry had his next lesson with Dumbledore on Friday morning; they began with the Fire element. Dumbledore had Harry begin with his fiery rope spell, which Harry managed to control with only a twinge of rage. Then he moved onto a new spell, which allowed Harry to cast a wall of flame around himself, the flames were cool to Harry, but would burn anyone else who tried to cross them.
Harry wondered about Dumbledore's knowledge of Elemental Magic, he had told Harry that there wasn't much reliable information about Elemental spells, yet Dumbledore seemed to know a great deal. Harry didn't have time to ask him about it as they heard the bell ringing in the distance, signalling the end of the first period. Dumbledore told Harry to meet him by the lake on Monday morning for their lesson and sent him back to the castle. Harry rushed to Transfigurations, and fell into his chair just as McGonagall entered the classroom.
Harry transfigured a chair to walk around the room behind the Professor and stop when ever she wanted to sit down. After receiving a smile and 5 points for Gryffindor, he went down to lunch with his friends. After lunch they had a double Defence Against the Dark arts class, and were surprised when Dumbledore told them all to wait in the Entrance Hall until the Great Hall could be reorganized as a duelling arena.
The class was for all students from 3rd year up. They would be practicing their Duelling skills with Professors Romanov and Snape. Harry sighed as he heard who the second Professor would be.
"He probably wants revenge from our last duel," Harry muttered, and Ron looked at him questioningly.
But to Harry's relief Dumbledore was sitting in a chair in the corner of the room watching proceedings, and Harry felt himself relax a bit. Snape wouldn't try anything with Dumbledore watching.
Romanov called their attention and began to read from a long parchment, splitting them into groups. Harry was surprised to hear himself being called to the Red group with Daphne Greengrass, Patsy Parkinson, Tracy Davis, Dean Thomas and Neville Longbottom. He watched as Ron and Hermione went to join Blue group. Wondering what Dumbledore thought of him being put with three Slytherins, Harry glanced over and saw him nod slightly, with a look of interest on his face.
"Right basic disarming spell, split your groups into two teams and begin," Romanov told them. There was some shuffling and some chatter and then the various groups began. Harry was irritated as he stood to one side with Neville and Dean and waited for the girls to attack. Using a simple shield charm, the boys were able to repeatedly disarm the girls and keep their own wands.
"Right, mix up your teams, Patsy and Harry, swap places," Romanov told them as he passed.
Harry was beginning to get annoyed, this was pointless, and they all knew how to do this. He swapped places and the group began again. This time Harry managed to disarm all the other team before they could get their shield charms, Tracy and Daphne could only stand beside him and watch.
"Stop showing off Potter, you're supposed to work as a team," Snape told him as he walked up to their group.
"It's not my fault their too slow saying their spells," Harry replied.
Before Snape could answer, Romanov called their attention and told them to go onto simple hexes. Harry turned back to his group and waited for them to begin. Neville and Dean aimed their hexes at Tracy and Daphne, leaving Patsy to attack Harry. Harry cast a sneezing charm at her and then seeing his team mates were both hexed already; cast a blue hair charm at Neville and the dancing charm at Dean. With a signal from Romanov he released them all from their various hexes and they began again.
After five tries at this Harry was so bored he was hardly paying attention, he had countered all the hexes thrown at him, and managed to protect the two girls beside him as well. Harry couldn't help cast a look at Dumbledore, surely they should all be working on more advanced strategies than this.
Dumbledore seemed to get the message and called Romanov over, the two spoke quietly for a few moments then Romanov clapped his hands to call their attention.
"Right, now most of you seem to be doing quite well, I would like the seventh year to go to Dumbledore, the rest of you students gather round here please"
There was the sound of feet clattering, as all the students went to their new places.
Dumbledore looked around the seventh years and said, "I'm going to send you out for a few moments, so we can set up a kind of assault course. When you return, each house group will have to make their way to the centre of the room and free the person trapped there. Any questions? No, right out to the hall to wait then."
The seventh years trooped out of the room and waited. They gathered in their houses and planned their strategy.
"Harry, you are the leader," Hermione said. "What do we have to do?"
Surprised Harry said, "Well we should keep in a tight group, Neville and I go at the front, then Hermione and Lavender can watch the right wing and Seamus and Parvati can watch the left, then Ron and Dean can bring up the rear."
He looked about the group and asked, "Is that okay?"
They all nodded in agreement and took their places, ready to enter the room again. Dumbledore opened the doors and they found themselves looking at an abandoned building.
"Now each group can enter in from a separate door, the first group to find the hostage wins!" Dumbledore announced cheerfully.
The Gryffindors chose the door on the south side of the building, Harry cautiously opened the door. There a long dark corridor in front of them, with boxes and bins littering it's length. Motioning the others to follow, Harry stepped in first. When the last of the group entered through the door, it slammed and locked itself.
"Quietly now," Harry whispered, and led them forward.
They had travelled almost the length of the corridor, when a scream sounded from deep inside the building. They stopped and waited to see if it would sound again, straining Harry heard nothing else and they resumed their approach.
Suddenly there was chaos, Shouting and screaming from the group. They had walked into a spell, the same one Harry had encountered during the Tri-wizard tournament. The ground and the ceiling seemed to have changed places, and they were hanging from their feet.
"Shut up," Harry hissed, "Right it's an illusion, one the count of three, all of you take one step forward, it's easier if you close your eyes." The surprised yelling stopped and Harry counted, "one, two, three, go."
Shuffling behind him told him that they had all taken the step, and were now trying to stand on their feet again. Harry strained to hear any noise approaching, he knew they should be ready for an attack; the spell had been a distraction.
Several voices to their left cast, "Stupefy," and Harry heard at least three thumps, as some of his group hit the floor. Turning in unison, Harry and Hermione called, "Stupefy," and were rewarded by a loud crash as their attackers were stunned. Pointing to his fallen friends, Harry muttered, "Enervate." Seamus, Parvati and Dean struggled back to their feet, whispering, "Thanks," and "Sorry."
"Don't worry, but try to stay alert, if we come across any other diversions. Let's go," Harry replied.
They had reached the end of the long corridor; the door at the end opened into a small room, with three more doors, one on each wall. Harry had a sudden flash of the Ministry of Magic, a room with many doors to choose from. He also remembered that when he had finally asked out loud, the door they needed to use had opened itself. It was worth a try.
"Show us the way," Harry said.
The door on his right slowly swung opened to reveal yet another corridor. Looking at his companions, he turned and walked slowly into the corridor. They had reached about half way, when a voice spoke from in front of them, "Tarantallegra," Neville suddenly started to dance about. The entire group were searching for the owner of the voice, but there was no one there.
Harry set his protection charm and ordered the rest to do the same; Lavender was too slow and was caught by a sneezing charm. Harry searched for an aura to aim at but couldn't make one out. Releasing the others from the hexes, he whispered, "Form a circle facing out and on three, stunners. Ready? One, two, three, go."
Eight voices called, "Stupefy." A thump echoed in front of them as their invisible assailant was stunned.
"Quickly now, before they wake up," Harry said.
The group ran lightly to the door at the end of the corridor, and opening the door found themselves in a large room. Professor Romanov was tied to a chair in the centre of the room. Neville made to walk towards him.
"Wait," Harry ordered, "Reveal." A golden light shimmered around the Professor. "Dissipate," Harry whispered, and the light shimmered and died. "Okay now get him."
Neville walked cautiously up and released the Professor. Dumbledore walked into the room from another door and said, "Well done Gryffindors, you have successfully rescued your hostage."
With a wave of his wand the building shimmered and changed back to the Great Hall. The rest of the students were looking around in surprise. Harry spotted the group of Ravenclaws that had attacked them first, being revived by their house mates. Professor Snape was standing a little behind them, where the second corridor would have been. By the sour expression on his face, Harry assumed that he had been their invisible assailant.
Class was dismissed and they waited in the Entrance Hall for the Great Hall to be returned to its usual state for dinner. The rest of the students were chatting, they had enjoyed the Defence lesson, excited by their win. Harry stood a little apart from the rest, disappointed at the test. It seemed juvenile to him, after his lessons with Paddy and the others over the summer.
The doors to The Great Hall opened and they all trooped in for dinner. Trying to shake of his bad mood, Harry listened to his friends chatter, noting that the only other one who seemed less that thrilled was Neville. They ate their meal and went back to their common room.
"What's up, Harry?" Ron asked him.
Unsure of how to answer, he didn't want the others to think he was being a show off; he shrugged and muttered, "I just thought we'd be doing more complex stuff this year. Most of those spells and stuff we learned in second year."
"But at least it was interesting," Ron replied. "Maybe they'll do more advanced stuff next time."
"Well considering some of us still managed to get our asses hexed," Neville said quietly, "maybe were not all ready for more complex things."
"Come on, we won, so we couldn't have been that bad," Dean added.
Harry, Ron and Hermione automatically wandered towards their usual seats next to the fire. Harry sat staring into the flames, unaware of his two friends staring at him.
"Harry, maybe you should ask for private lessons in defence," Hermione said after a while.
"I don't think Dumbledore wants me to overdo the private lessons," Harry shrugged in reply. "I'm going to finish my homework, see you in the morning."
"Goodnight Harry."
"Don't forget quidditch practice tomorrow."
Harry retreated to his room and sat for a while staring blankly at his Transfigurations notes. Eventually he wrote a quick essay for McGonagall and flung it into his bag, ready to give to her next lesson. Finally he meditated for a while then climbed into bed.
The Gryffindor Quidditch team spent three hours practicing on Saturday morning, before Ron declared himself happy with the results and they headed back to the castle for lunch. Ron and Hermione were going for a walk in the afternoon, and Harry declined to go with them, they would spend their time arguing or kissing. Harry couldn't decide which he found more uncomfortable.
He wandered aimlessly back to the common room and spent the afternoon taking turns at playing pool, on a table that he transfigured, following Dean's specifications. All in all the game proved to be fun, and most of the Gryffindors agreed they should leave the table in one of the corners of the common room.
They went to dinner and he met up with Ron and Hermione. On Sunday morning they went to visit Hagrid. Sitting having tea in his hut, Hagrid informed him that he would be giving Harry private lessons during one of his free periods on Thursday.
"I have extra Care of Magical Creatures?" Harry asked in surprise.
"No, Dumbledore wants us to do something else," Hagrid replied mysteriously.
"What? Come on you can tell us," Ron asked.
"It's a secret," Hagrid grinned, "Harry will find out on Thursday, and no doubt tell you two after." He smiled at them and refused to say anything else on the matter.
"You know," Hermione told them on their way up to lunch, "I would worry about the kinds of things Hagrid could come up with for Harry to do."
"Don't Worry, Hagrid would never hurt Harry," Ron tried to reassure her.
"Not on purpose, no, but that's not exactly reassuring," Hermione answered darkly.
The boys laughed at her as they entered the school, she did have a point though, Harry thought.
Monday morning found Harry waiting by the lake for Dumbledore. He must be going to work on the Water Element, but surely the other students would be able to see them from here, thought Harry.
"Good morning, ready to begin?" Dumbledore greeted him.
"Yes sir, but weren't we keeping this a secret?" Harry replied.
"Ah yes," Dumbledore turned to the school and with a wave of his wand, a golden light passed over the building. "That should keep us from prying eyes."
Harry shook his head; he would never be up to Dumbledore's level, at least not for another fifty years. Not for the first time Harry wondered if the prophecy had been a mistake.
"Harry, Remus told me about the water spell you tried in the bath," Dumbledore was telling him. "I think we should perhaps start with controlling the tides. Then we will see how you get on with that one on a bigger scale."
Harry nodded and began to focus his mind, he was getting quicker at that, then he knelt before the lake and sunk his hand into the water. Breathing deeply he allowed himself to feel his arm merging with the water, then slowly he twirled his hand and the lake started to ripple. The ripple grew until large waves were lapping alone the edges.
Harry fought to control the water and then he imagined himself lifting the large body of water. Suddenly Harry felt like a bug under someone's shoe, the weight of all the water was threatening to squash him. Loosing control he felt it crash down on him, then blackness reigned.
Opening his eyes, Harry took in the blurred outline of the Hospital wing, groaning he closed his eyes.
"Well done Mr Potter, you managed to pass the whole first week without appearing in one of my beds," The voice of Madam Pomfrey sounded to his left.
Opening his eyes again, he tried to focus on her. She handed him his glasses and he put them on. On the plus side he was still wearing his robes, so that meant he had not been there very long.
"Well sit up and drink this, then you may go to your next class," Madam Pomfrey handed him a pepper-up potion, "You suffered no major injuries this time. You just had the wind knocked out of you." She was frowning at him when she added, "Why don't you try to not end up in here for at least another month."
"Yes Madam Pomfrey, thank you," Harry said meekly, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and standing up. He watched the strict Matron go back to her office, muttering to herself.
He went down to Transfigurations and found the class already in progress. "Sorry Professor," He began to say to McGonagall.
"That's alright Potter, the headmaster already informed me. Are you all right now?"
"Yes Professor," Harry replied, taking his seat. Ron leaned over to ask him what had happened.
"Well, carry on all of you, Mr Weasley, I'm sure Mr Potter will tell you during break why he was late. Concentrate on your work." McGonagall called.
They finished their lesson and Harry told Ron and Hermione that he had been knocked out during his lesson with Dumbledore, though he didn't go into detail. Dumbledore caught him on their way into lunch and asked if he was feeling alright. Harry nodded yes and Dumbledore told him they would discuss the accident in their next lesson.
Potions class was difficult and required Harry's full attention. Then in charms they were still reviewing past charms and spells. Halfway through the class he spotted a blonde girl staring at him, but she quickly looked away when she realised that she had been caught. Harry was still trying to remember her name when the lesson ended.
"Hermione who's that girl there talking to Justin?" Harry asked as they walked down the corridor.
"Megan Jones, why?" Hermione replied.
"She was watching me, and I couldn't remember her name, that's all," Harry replied.
"Maybe she fancies you," Ron supplied.
Harry blushed a bit and replied, "Nah, she was probably waiting to see if I would do anything odd."
"You are odd mate," Ron laughed and pushed his shoulder.
Harry tripped at the unexpected push, and fell over his book bag. Sprawled on the floor, he noticed several students had turned to see what the noise was; he blushed and scrambled to his feet. Megan smiled back at him then continued her conversation with Justin.
"Cheers Mate," He said sarcastically to Ron.
"Hey, I thought you were supposed to have the reflexes of a tiger by now," Ron laughed. "I can still take you."
The trio laughed at this as they made their way down to the great Hall. Harry glanced at the Hufflepuff table, before taking his seat.
That night Harry's dreams were disturbed. He revisited his dreams of Cedric's death and Cho Chan was crying, telling him it was all his fault, she turned to Megan and warned her, "Don't get involved with him. He'll only end up killing someone you love."
Harry woke up drenched in sweat, it was a long tome since his dreams had taken him down that road, he was over Cho, and never thought about her anymore. He was also not interested in Megan, he told himself, sure she was pretty, but he couldn't get involved with anyone. He had too many other things to deal with.