Harry Potter and the Rising War
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Chapter 6: Home sweet home
When Harry was on the train he and Ginny went to look for a spare compartment, unfortunately they came upon Ron and Hermione whilst they were searching the train and there was no adults around to sensor any of the things that were said.
'Looking for an especially reserved compartment for heroes?' Ron asked.
'Try the woman's toilets, I think they are best suited for some one of your stature.' Hermione added whilst reading a book. Harry was seething with rage, it was blinding him so much that he didn't even see the look of horror that came upon Hermione's face after she had said it, however as quick as it was to appear, it was even quicker to disappear. Not wanting to do something he would probably regret later he allowed Ginny to pull him away, but not before Ron got another one in. 'And would you look at that, it looks like super hero Potter has finally grown to look something like man!' Harry was now boiling with rage and it was a good thing that Ginny got him into an empty compartment when she did because as soon as she closed the door Harry exploded in anger, literally. As if sensing the danger Tronza made his way into the compartment they were about to enter and settled in the luggage holder above everything out of harms way. Harry was pushed into the compartment and straight away the glass exploded and due to the magic that was being influenced by his emotions he unwittingly transformed a part of his body into the last thing he had been practicing for his animagus training, as the glass shattered he let loose a primal roar that could have scared off even the bravest of the beasts. Ginny screamed when she heard the beastly roar escape from Harry's lips which seemed enough to bring Harry back to reality. Calming himself and transforming his voice box back Harry sat down and fixed the smashed glass and then noticed a small audience had gathered around their compartment.
'What the bloody hell was that?' asked Seamus.
'Oh it was er… it was one of the twins' jokes. You know what those guys are like.' Harry said thinking quickly. Seeming happy with the answer the crowd began to disappear and Harry sighed in relief. Ginny just sat there staring at him through the whole thing. Eventually when the shock died away she managed to ask him what the noise was, and how did he manage to make it.
'Well I suppose I was so angry at them that my magic went haywire and I transformed part of my body accidentally.'
'But how, I mean that's very advanced even for a wand, you would have to be an animagus to..' she trailed off as realisation dawned on her.
'That's right, though I'm not fully trained yet.' Harry said to her.
'What animal?' she asked
'A lion, so far I can do the lower body, minus a tail, front paws and now my voice box.' Harry said
'When did you start to learn?' Ginny asked interestedly.
'Well when Dumbledore came to tell me, you know, well he also offered me the position of his apprentice and told me to research unconventional magic' Harry replied. Seeing the blank look on his face Harry began explaining to her about most of the things he had been learning and what he planed to do. It didn't take long for him to get most of the basic stuff that he had done explained. He left out the fire elemental and the extra transformations. Basically he just told her off his animagus training and the research he had been doing, as well as the spell creation.
'And that's basically it' Harry said to round up his explanation.
'I see. Well I must say that your working out seems to have paid off, you look… better' Ginny said, but then realising what she was saying she trailed off and blushed, luckily Harry was distracted, looking at the luggage compartment above them.
'Thanks' Harry replied absent mindedly as he got up from his seat and approached the section of the baggage compartment he had been looking at.
'What's wrong Harry?' She asked him, beginning to worry a little.
'Don't worry, I totally forgot about my little friend here, he's been unusually quiet' Harry said reaching up and then collecting something in his arms. Slowly and delicately he lowered his arms and Ginny gasped when she realised what it was.
'Is that a phoenix?' she gasped
'Yeah, his name is Tronza, Hagrid got him for me' Harry said as the bird jumped to his shoulder.
'Wow, he's so beautiful, look at his eyes! And his feathers' Ginny said. Understanding he was being admired they young phoenix puffed his chest out proudly and let out his beautiful phoenix song. Harry completely forgot about his anger from earlier hearing Tronza sing, he always had this effect on Harry.
'Such a relaxing and perfect song too!' Ginny added.
'Yeah and he's perfectly modest about it all!' Harry said sarcastically. The phoenix stopped singing and looked at him, then all of a sudden attacked him with a barrage of pecks on the head.
'Ouch! Okay, okay I'm sorry!' Harry said rubbing his now painful head. Ginny giggled at Harry and Tronza's antics.
'Harry, will you be okay on your own… I should probably go and find Dean' Ginny asked, biting her lip. She sounded like that was the last thing that she wanted to do.
'I'm sure I'll be able to manage without you, after all I do have my very good friend here to keep me company' Harry said as he indicated the phoenix with his head. Again he stuck out his chest proudly and trilled his approval of such a title. Ginny laughed and quickly petted Tronza before bidding them farewell.
Once they were alone Harry once again took out his laptop, but this time instead of turning it on and doing more revision and research Harry took out the book on charming muggle objects. He was still unsure if he was aloud to do it, the book he had got told him that it was illegal to modify the artefact with magic to do something more or better than what it was designed to do, however the book was over 50 years old and from Knockturn alley. Finding the marked spells Harry took his wand out and pointed it at his laptop (he had made a backup of the data on a cd before he left) and began the spells, he had practiced the wand movements occasionally and was now certain he had them right. Beginning the first spell he started waving his wand and said: Altum ab magicus, a thin blue beam of light enveloped the computer, then seemed to get absorbed, the next spell was done right after the light seemed to be absorbed, Harry chanted Adfluo abs magicus, the spell was fired off after the series of Complex wand movements and a thin fragile looking beam of red light began circling the laptop. The next spell, Haustum magicus, shot a yellow beam of light that seemed to be absorbed by the laptop on impact. Defendo magicus was a silver colour and circled the laptop with the red light. The final spell, Uti ab magicus, was fired, there was a green glow to the laptop and then all traces of the magic seemed to disappear.
'Phew, that was hard Tronza' Harry said wiping his brow clean from the sweat that had made its way to his head from the amount of concentration he had used. Tronza fluttered his wings impatiently and trilled at him.
'All right, all right, I'll check it now. But if it blows up I will blame you' Harry said, gaining a peck in the head from his phoenix. He picked the laptop up and placed it on his knees and opened it up.
'Here goes nothing!' he said as he pressed the button to make it work. He scrunched up his eyes and braced himself, but nothing seemed to happen to him so he risked glancing at the screen.
'It worked!' Harry shouted. Tronza sung a few notes to show his approval. To Harry's surprise, the magic seemed to have sped the thing up as well because in no time everything was loaded and Harry was searching through his notes. He had decided to leave the stereo system for when he got to Hogwarts so he had more room, and didn't have to get the thing out for a few seconds just to put it back again. He did however put in one of his cd's, Metallica, and turned the volume up after placing a silencing charm on his compartment.
It was lucky the song Harry had just been listening to finished when it did other wise he would never have heard Malfoy and his two goons enter his compartment. He turned the volume down a little just as the next song came on, 'one' , which was one of his favourites.
'Well look at this, Potter is all alone and lost in the world. I see Weasel and Mudblood finally came to their senses, concerning you that is, and ditched you' Malfoy sneered. His two goons laughed as if on auto pilot to do so.
'Hey Malfoy, killed anybody important lately?' Harry retorted. Malfoy narrowed his eyes at Harry but when the music from the laptop began to get heavier Malfoy noticed it.
'What's this? Lowering yourself to the muggle standards, I should expect nothing better from someone like you.' Malfoy said.
'Well I admit it isn't the latest line in muggle torture devices, but you don't see me going around and criticising you for your lack of muggle technology' Harry said back.
'You think you're so funny don't you? Well I'd like to see that humour when the dark lord gets his hands on you!' Malfoy snapped back, realising Harry was matching insult for insult and then some more.
'I don't need to be humorous around old Tom, you obviously haven't looked at his face yet while you're at your private lessons' Harry said casually, glancing back down at his laptop. Malfoy was both enraged at the insult to not just him but his master and confused on how Harry knew about his apprenticeship so he began to draw his wand and fire a curse at him when he found a wand already pointed at him.
'I see you still have something to learn from Riddle.' Harry said casually and then added in a dangerously low voice 'You have no idea what you are getting yourself into, now get out'. Not wanting to see what would happen if he stuck around Malfoy and his goons left the compartment leaving Harry feeling slightly better about the situation. He was afraid the dark lord would have put him through the same sort of transformations as he went through but it didn't appear so. The rest of the train ride went by smoothly and in no time at all the Hogwarts Express had arrived at the Hogsmeade platform. Harry was one of the last to leave the train however because he had a hard time trying to convince Tronza that he had to stay in the cage, but eventually Tronza caved when Harry promised to take him to see Fawks.
Arriving in the entrance hall Harry noticed he was getting a few more glances than normal, mostly from the females and some were even giggling too. He hoped his new look wouldn't cause him too much trouble this year, that was the last thing he needed. When the great hall doors opened Harry bid Tronza farewell and left a note attached to the cage asking the house elf to let Tronza out when he was in the dorm.
The great hall looked as extravagant as Harry remembered; from the enchanted ceiling to the floating candles Harry loved it all. Once everyone was seated, in Harry's case away from Ron and Hermione, professor McGonagall entered with the scared looking first years and the sorting hat. She placed the hat upon the empty three legged stool in front of the teachers table and the hat sang its new song and then professor McGonagall began to read the list of new students. Avery, Samuel was first to be sorted and he went into Slytherin who by the end of the sorting had 12 new students. Ravenclaw had 10, Hufflepuff had 8 and Gryffindor had 13, including Mark Evans. When Mark had sat near Harry and began chatting with him the other first years seemed in awe at the fact that he was acquainted with 'the Harry Potter'. Mark had no idea what every one was gawping at until someone told him why Harry was so famous but it didn't really seem to faze him too much which Harry was glad of. When the sorting ended Dumbledore stood to speak to the school.
'Welcome, and welcome back to you all, I will not bore you with an old mans babble until the end of the feast so Dig in!' Dumbledore said and then the food appeared on the tables. Harry had been looking forward to this all summer, sure he was fed decent sized meals at the Dursley's but nothing compared to the house-elves cooking, especially not Aunt Petunia's. Harry was asked several times during the feast why he was not sitting with Ron and Hermione and each time he would say 'We have had a difference of opinion' and pretty soon people stopped asking him seeing they wouldn't get anything else from him. That didn't mean to say they didn't leave the subject. It seemed Ron and Hermione were more than willing to talk about their 'Differ of opinions' but Harry didn't care. All too soon the food was finished and everything except the cutlery and crockery had disappeared and Dumbledore was on his feet again.
'Now that our stomachs are full and our gossip gossiped I think it is time for the announcements. Now I am sure you have all noticed the new professor at the table who will be teaching the Defence Against the Dark Arts' Harry realised he hadn't and looked to see who it was, locating the seat for the DADA teacher Harry was shocked, excited (and a little worried) to see who was sitting there. 'I would like to introduce professor Tonks' she stood up and bowed over dramatically a few times which earned a glare from Snape and seated herself again.
'Next I am sure 6th years and up have noticed the new courses that are available' there was some excited whispers running through the hall at the mention of the three new courses. Harry wondered why there were no new professors for those subjects, but waited to find out from Dumbledore. 'Silence please' Dumbledore said and immediately there was silence. Harry marvelled at the power Dumbledore had over people. 'Now as I was saying the new courses that are available this year for 6th and 7th years will be taught by Madame Pomfrey for Healing, professor Flitwick or professor Vector for Spell modification depending on who is available and Magical Duelling will be taught by Professor Snape' there was a collective groan from the Gryffindors, Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws. Snape just glared at everyone, especially Harry. 'Now now I am quite sure that professor Snape will be an excellent teacher.' There were a few 'humphs' heard through the hall but Dumbledore chose not to comment. 'The extra lessons will be taught in the evenings, please consult your time tables for your class tomorrow morning. Now onto other matters, the forbidden forest is as the name suggests, forbidden. If you enter the forest unsupervised then you are likely to not leave again with your life. Mr. Filch has asked me to remind the students that magic is not to be used in the corridors and any product of the Weasley Twins found in the possession of any student will be dealt with severely. The full list of banned items is on the caretaker's office door to be viewed by any one who wishes to consult it.' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and his beard twitched as he said about the Weasley Twins and the banned items list. 'Now onto more serious matters, we are in dark times with the return of Voldemort and I urge each and everyone of you to be on the lookout for anything out of the ordinary. We live in constant danger now so we must make sure that that danger is as low as possible. Now please everyone have a good night sleep and I shall see you all bright and early and eager to work tomorrow morning. Good night to you all.' The headmaster finished. While everyone was exiting the hall Harry approached Dumbledore at the head table.
'Hello Harry, good to see you are well' Dumbledore said
'Hello sir, thank you. I was wandering if I could have your input on a certain law?' Harry asked
'Certainly Harry what do you need to know?' Dumbledore replied jovially.
'Well I was wondering if it was still legal to charm muggle objects to work in a magical environment?' asked Harry.
'I believe it is, the ministry would never dream of outlawing it, they rely on some muggle things to function as they do' Dumbledore said. Harry relaxed visibly at Dumbledore's answer. 'Why do you ask if you don't mind me asking?' Dumbledore said with a chuckle.
'Well I got a muggle computer and stereo system over the summer and I have become attached to them. I use the computer to store my magic research and notes.' Harry said.
'That sounds very interesting. Would you mind bringing it along to our first lesson tomorrow? I would very much like to see how it works and how it helps you.' Dumbledore asked him.
'Certainly sir, I was wondering about the lessons also' Harry said uncertain if they should talk this much about them when there were still teachers at the table.
'You will receive the necessary information with your time table' Dumbledore said, and then leaned closer and whispered just loud enough for Harry to hear 'I told the staff that you would be having Occulmency lessons with me.' Harry nodded his head.
'Right well that's all I needed to know sir, thank you for your help. Good night.' Harry said.
'Good night Harry' Dumbledore replied as Harry headed out of the great hall and up to his common room. Unfortunately when he got there he realised he didn't know the password.
'Couldn't you just let me in please, you know it's me!' Harry said frustrated at the portrait of the fat lady.
'Sorry but you know I can't do a thing unless you know the password.' Was all the response he got. Luckily it wasn't long before the portrait hole was opened from the inside by Ginny.
'Oh there you are, I was just going to come and look for you' Ginny said
'I got held up talking to Dumbledore' Harry said as he climbed into the Gryffindor common room. Looking around the common room he truly felt that he was home now, there was nothing that would take away the calmness being in this room brought to him, nothing but what Ginny said to him next that is.
'I should tell you that while you were gone and at dinner Ron and Hermione were saying some pretty bad stuff about you and well… lets just say you aren't everybody's favourite person right now.'
'What have they been saying?' Harry asked dreading the answer.
'Well when they were asked why you weren't sitting with them they told everyone that they didn't want to sit with a glory seeking murderer, I think you can get the gist of the other things they have been saying.' Ginny said. The reaction from Harry wasn't at all what she was expecting but that didn't mean it wasn't equally as bad. The twinkle in his eyes seemed to disappear and his face became emotionless. This was not what Harry needed right now, he seemed to be doing so well accepting Sirius' death and moving on. 'Damn that git Ron, and Hermione. They don't even care what they're doing to Harry, he hasn't done anything to deserve this, he's innocent, vulnerable, sad and really hot… no wait, where did that come from, I don't fancy him, I cant, I'm over him!' Ginny thought to herself as a blush came to her face. Harry noticed the blush but mistook it for anger which Ginny was very thankful for.
'Thanks for the heads up Gin, I'll see you tomorrow, I got to go and unpack. Good night' Harry said to her.
'Good night Harry, and don't let them get to you.' Ginny said and smiled reassuringly at him. 'Such a cute smile, especially when she… no wait what am I thinking?!? God I must be tired or something, yeah that's it tired.' Harry thought to himself as he smiled back and headed for his dorm. When he went inside it was like the place had been frozen in time, everything had stopped and all of the occupants of the dorm were just looking at him. Deciding to not let them get to him like Ginny had said Harry just walked over to his trunk and opened it up. He pulled out his laptop and placed it on the bed and then pulled out the stereo system and also put that on the bed.
'Ha.. Harry, why do you have muggle stuff here, you do know it doesn't work right?' Neville asked him. Looking up in surprise that someone was talking to him Harry realised for the first time that Neville didn't seem to believe what Ron and Hermione had been saying. 'Why would he idiot? He was there too remember!' Harry thought to himself.
'Well the laptop is for all of the research and stuff to go on that I do, it's easier and a lot quicker than parchment and quill' Harry told him.
'What's a laptop?' Neville asked either missing the glares he was getting from the other boys or just ignoring them.
'Well its like a.. urm.. well… I tell you what I'll show you tomorrow what it is, it's easier than trying to explain.' Harry said
'Okay thanks, hey what about the other thing?' Neville asked
'This is a stereo system, it's like the WWN but it can play music from one of these' Harry said, holding up his Evanescence cd.
'Wow, that's amazing, those muggles are really clever' Neville commented.
'Sure are.' Harry replied
'So how do they work here?' Neville asked again.
'Well I found some charms that will make them work here.' Harry said.
'Aha! It's illegal to charm muggle objects and it's my duty as the son of the head of misuse of muggle artefacts department at the ministry of magic to report you' Ron said triumphantly.
'You go ahead and try but I have already consulted Dumbledore about it and he told me that it is not illegal to charm them so they work in a magical environment.' Harry replied with a satisfied smirk on his face. Ron, seeing he couldn't win went back to his unpacking mumbling something or other under his breath. Harry also returned to his unpacking and when he was finally finished he had his stereo system on his chest of drawers, laptop on his bedside table as well as the picture Remus had given him for his birthday and all his new clothes in drawers.
Once he was done Harry took his wand out of his pocket and pointed it at his stereo system and recited the same set of spells as he used last time on his laptop (with some consultancy with the book) and when he was done Harry placed a silencing charm around his bed and chest of drawers so only he could hear the music. Testing the system Harry turned it on and put in his Evanescence cd that he had showed Neville earlier and turned the volume up. A lot. Happy with the result Harry turned it back off after listening to 'Going Under' and got ready for bed. Lying in bed Harry ran through the list of things that would be happening tomorrow. His first day as a 6th year, his first private lesson with Dumbledore, his Elemental transformation and all of the sense heightening transformations. Despite his social status Harry was happy to be back at Hogwarts, happy to be back home where he belonged.
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A/N: well that's it for another chapter. Things should get more interesting now the stage has been set and Harry is back in the magical world. The next chapter will defiantly have the truth about Ron and Hermione. Thanks for all the support from everyone (athenakitty, Slimpun, PBlegacy, linky2, IODA, hermionegreen, wadeki, Nefertiri Riddle, Charlie (thanks for the awesome rating), eriktheviking, rhinemjr and Dumbledore) who has reviewed! I never expected all of the reviews but its great motivation so give your selves a good pat on the back because this story is being inspired by you all!!!
Next Chapter: Scouted and Fired!
Untill next time!
GG
