A/N: Please, please, please review, any criticisms are welcome.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. All of the Harry Potter characters and anything that you recognise from the books belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 2: Back to work
Harry awoke early the next morning, dressed quickly and hurried down to breakfast. He couldn't wait for the arrival of Ron and Hermione later that day. He was pleased that Dumbledore had let him come back to school instead of Grimmauld Place; he knew there were too many old memories there. Sometime he would have to face them, but not just yet.
He sat at the staff table again, this time next to professor McGonagall, and just as he poured some milk on his cornflakes he wasn't surprised to see several owls homing in on him. He recognised some of them as some of his regular fans – he knew he shouldn't have let anything slip in diagon alley about his taste in girls as he had been plagued with mail ever since and it wasn't the kind of mail he would want to open sitting next to his head of house. One owl, however, was different; it was a large brown tawny owl and as Harry reached out for the letter, he saw that it had an official looking seal on it. Taking a closer look, he saw it read "National Board of Examinations" around a hat and a wand in the centre. With a sudden dread in the pit of his stomach, Harry realised that his exam results must be here at last. What a time to choose indeed. Harry debated with himself: Professor McGonagall probably already knew his results he reasoned, or at least she would find out soon enough, but all the same, if they were really bad, he wouldn't want her to see his reaction.
He suddenly became aware of how sweaty his hands were. To think he had been thinking about this moment all holidays, and the increased suspense after the mix up with his results hadn't helped. Having received an apology for this along with Hermione's owl asking him how he did and just mentioning that she happened to receive O's in every subject and a special commendation, Harry wasn't feeling particularly confident.
Eventually, Harry decided to open it as discreetly as he could, while professor McGonagall and the other teachers were talking amongst themselves. Fingers shaking slightly, he unfolded the letter. It read:
Dear Mr Potter,
Many apologies for the slight delay in your results. You obtained the following grades:
Astronomy A
Charms O
Defence Against the Dark Arts O*
Divination P
Care of Magical Creatures O
Herbology O
History of Magic A
Potions O
Transfiguration EE
*We are also pleased to inform you that you received a special commendation in Defence against the Dark Arts
Yours sincerely,
Madame Marchbanks Head of the National Board of Examinations
Harry stared at the results again. Wow, he thought to himself, I actually passed potions. I got an O!!!!!! And transfiguration EE – I can still try to be an auror! Harry sat, amazed. Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts:
"What's that Potter? Got your OWL results have you?" asked professor McGonagall
"Err, Yeah" Harry replied, still staring at the parchment.
"Well done," she said, glancing over his shoulder, "I see you got an Outstanding in potions, excellent, Potter, and an Exceeds Expectations in transfiguration. I will need you to come and see me later to tell me which subjects you will be taking for NEWT. Then I will be able to give you your book list for this year. Professor Dumbledore has agreed for you to go to Diagon Alley with Weasley and Granger tomorrow."
"Yes, well done Potter" said professor Flitwick.
"Thanks professor" Harry replied. Beaming, he continued to munch his cornflakes, choosing to open the rest of his mail a bit later, when he couldn't be given an infinite number of detentions. When the other teachers had turned away, professor McGonagall turned to him and said quietly
"I might mention to you that the members of the DA gained particularly good grades in Defence Against the Dark Arts." Harry looked at her, and he was sure he saw a small smile playing at her lips.
*********************
Back up in the common room, Harry was just glancing over one of his letters, when he suddenly caught sight of his watch. 9.57! He was due in Dumbledore's office in three minutes! He chucked his things together, reasoning that it was safe to leave them out as there was no one in Gryffindor house in school except him. He hurried down several flights of stairs and along numerous corridors until he found himself out side the statue of the gryphon outside the headmaster's study. He wracked his brains for the password, panting "toffee... toffee apple... no... toffee melon!"
The statue sprang to life and Harry climbed the stairs, realising he had a stitch. Still gasping for breath, he knocked on the door and heard the headmaster's voice saying "come in".
Harry felt slightly apprehensive as he opened the large wooden door. Professor Dumbledore was his usual self, sitting at his desk with his various silver instruments strewn out in front of him. One of them, a particularly complicated-looking one, was letting out large puffs of steam.
"Ah, Hello Harry" said the headmaster, vanishing the instruments with a flick of his wand. "Today we will be looking at a few of the more complex defensive spells that you and may not know or have been able to teach your defence group. We may also look at some occlumency. This lesson will last one and a half hours and then you are free to do as you please... I believe Mr Weasley and Miss Granger will be arriving later."
Harry felt so full of questions; he didn't know where to begin. "So, will Ron and Hermione be having lessons too?"
"Well, I think they will be receiving them with Professor McGonagall. I gather that you received your OWL results today. Well done. Now, we must begin. The first spell we will be using is the disabling spell, which will disable your opponents for a few minutes, depending on the power behind it. Many wizards underestimate it, but it can be a very useful little spell you know. The incantation for this spell is Debilito. Now you try."
"Debilito!" Harry said, not quite sure if he was actually meant to be aiming his spell at the old wizard. As a result, Dumbledore froze for about 2 seconds and then returned to normal.
"Good try Harry, but try to mean it this time." With a shudder, Harry remembered what Belatrix Lestrange had said in the summer about using the unforgivable curses: you've got to mean it Potter. Righteous anger won't hurt me for very long. Anger coursed through Harry's body at the thought of her. "Harry?" came Professor Dumbledore's voice.
"Yes professor, I'm sorry, you just reminded me of something." Gathering his thought again, he prepared to try the spell again.
"It is ok Harry, Sirius was a good man and we all miss him. His memory isn't just going to go away, but we have to learn to live with it. We can't blame ourselves. Now go ahead, try it again."
"Debilito!" Harry shouted, and he was pleased to see Dumbledore freeze, smiling.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the plot. All of the Harry Potter characters and anything that you recognise from the books belongs to JK Rowling.
Chapter 2: Back to work
Harry awoke early the next morning, dressed quickly and hurried down to breakfast. He couldn't wait for the arrival of Ron and Hermione later that day. He was pleased that Dumbledore had let him come back to school instead of Grimmauld Place; he knew there were too many old memories there. Sometime he would have to face them, but not just yet.
He sat at the staff table again, this time next to professor McGonagall, and just as he poured some milk on his cornflakes he wasn't surprised to see several owls homing in on him. He recognised some of them as some of his regular fans – he knew he shouldn't have let anything slip in diagon alley about his taste in girls as he had been plagued with mail ever since and it wasn't the kind of mail he would want to open sitting next to his head of house. One owl, however, was different; it was a large brown tawny owl and as Harry reached out for the letter, he saw that it had an official looking seal on it. Taking a closer look, he saw it read "National Board of Examinations" around a hat and a wand in the centre. With a sudden dread in the pit of his stomach, Harry realised that his exam results must be here at last. What a time to choose indeed. Harry debated with himself: Professor McGonagall probably already knew his results he reasoned, or at least she would find out soon enough, but all the same, if they were really bad, he wouldn't want her to see his reaction.
He suddenly became aware of how sweaty his hands were. To think he had been thinking about this moment all holidays, and the increased suspense after the mix up with his results hadn't helped. Having received an apology for this along with Hermione's owl asking him how he did and just mentioning that she happened to receive O's in every subject and a special commendation, Harry wasn't feeling particularly confident.
Eventually, Harry decided to open it as discreetly as he could, while professor McGonagall and the other teachers were talking amongst themselves. Fingers shaking slightly, he unfolded the letter. It read:
Dear Mr Potter,
Many apologies for the slight delay in your results. You obtained the following grades:
Astronomy A
Charms O
Defence Against the Dark Arts O*
Divination P
Care of Magical Creatures O
Herbology O
History of Magic A
Potions O
Transfiguration EE
*We are also pleased to inform you that you received a special commendation in Defence against the Dark Arts
Yours sincerely,
Madame Marchbanks Head of the National Board of Examinations
Harry stared at the results again. Wow, he thought to himself, I actually passed potions. I got an O!!!!!! And transfiguration EE – I can still try to be an auror! Harry sat, amazed. Just then, a voice interrupted his thoughts:
"What's that Potter? Got your OWL results have you?" asked professor McGonagall
"Err, Yeah" Harry replied, still staring at the parchment.
"Well done," she said, glancing over his shoulder, "I see you got an Outstanding in potions, excellent, Potter, and an Exceeds Expectations in transfiguration. I will need you to come and see me later to tell me which subjects you will be taking for NEWT. Then I will be able to give you your book list for this year. Professor Dumbledore has agreed for you to go to Diagon Alley with Weasley and Granger tomorrow."
"Yes, well done Potter" said professor Flitwick.
"Thanks professor" Harry replied. Beaming, he continued to munch his cornflakes, choosing to open the rest of his mail a bit later, when he couldn't be given an infinite number of detentions. When the other teachers had turned away, professor McGonagall turned to him and said quietly
"I might mention to you that the members of the DA gained particularly good grades in Defence Against the Dark Arts." Harry looked at her, and he was sure he saw a small smile playing at her lips.
*********************
Back up in the common room, Harry was just glancing over one of his letters, when he suddenly caught sight of his watch. 9.57! He was due in Dumbledore's office in three minutes! He chucked his things together, reasoning that it was safe to leave them out as there was no one in Gryffindor house in school except him. He hurried down several flights of stairs and along numerous corridors until he found himself out side the statue of the gryphon outside the headmaster's study. He wracked his brains for the password, panting "toffee... toffee apple... no... toffee melon!"
The statue sprang to life and Harry climbed the stairs, realising he had a stitch. Still gasping for breath, he knocked on the door and heard the headmaster's voice saying "come in".
Harry felt slightly apprehensive as he opened the large wooden door. Professor Dumbledore was his usual self, sitting at his desk with his various silver instruments strewn out in front of him. One of them, a particularly complicated-looking one, was letting out large puffs of steam.
"Ah, Hello Harry" said the headmaster, vanishing the instruments with a flick of his wand. "Today we will be looking at a few of the more complex defensive spells that you and may not know or have been able to teach your defence group. We may also look at some occlumency. This lesson will last one and a half hours and then you are free to do as you please... I believe Mr Weasley and Miss Granger will be arriving later."
Harry felt so full of questions; he didn't know where to begin. "So, will Ron and Hermione be having lessons too?"
"Well, I think they will be receiving them with Professor McGonagall. I gather that you received your OWL results today. Well done. Now, we must begin. The first spell we will be using is the disabling spell, which will disable your opponents for a few minutes, depending on the power behind it. Many wizards underestimate it, but it can be a very useful little spell you know. The incantation for this spell is Debilito. Now you try."
"Debilito!" Harry said, not quite sure if he was actually meant to be aiming his spell at the old wizard. As a result, Dumbledore froze for about 2 seconds and then returned to normal.
"Good try Harry, but try to mean it this time." With a shudder, Harry remembered what Belatrix Lestrange had said in the summer about using the unforgivable curses: you've got to mean it Potter. Righteous anger won't hurt me for very long. Anger coursed through Harry's body at the thought of her. "Harry?" came Professor Dumbledore's voice.
"Yes professor, I'm sorry, you just reminded me of something." Gathering his thought again, he prepared to try the spell again.
"It is ok Harry, Sirius was a good man and we all miss him. His memory isn't just going to go away, but we have to learn to live with it. We can't blame ourselves. Now go ahead, try it again."
"Debilito!" Harry shouted, and he was pleased to see Dumbledore freeze, smiling.
