7. New spells.
The weekend passed quickly and the next week started off on a good note. Harry really did enjoy the various new lessons, more so even than the previous years, as History of Magic was actually interesting now, and of course Potions was much better too. But Tuesday's Charms class beat them all when Professor Flitwick announced they would go to Hogsmeade to start Apparating. Their Care of Magical Creatures class was cancelled so they'd have the entire afternoon.
Professor Flitwick took them to the Three Broomsticks, which was almost empty at this time of the day. Madam Rosmerta had been expecting them, and gave them a welcome nod.
"Now you may think you know the place," Professor Flitwick told them. "But the better you know the place, the easier it will be to Apparate."
Harry listened intently, although the small Charms professor had already covered this in class last week. Unless you were really experienced, you had to know either the place you were going to, or the place you were coming from, in every detail. The easiest was if you knew both. And of course it was harder when the distance was longer. Well, that wouldn't be a problem yet, for they would only try to Apparate across the room.
Madam Rosmerta gracefully allowed them to crawl all over the room, to poke around in and around the tables and the bar, to check out all the chairs and to study the scratches and stains on the tables. After an hour, Harry felt he knew the place like his own dorm room, or better –he'd never paid this close attention to the minute cracks in the furniture or the stains on the floor.
Finally, Professor Flitwick called them together. "The spell used it 'Apparacio'. It doesn't have to be said aloud, but we will when we are practicing," he recapped. "You hold your wand and you think of where you want to be, then you say the spell. It seems exceedingly simple, but it is much harder than it sounds. First picture yourself where you are, look at yourself and your surroundings, be absolutely aware of yourself at that place. Then, think of yourself standing at the other side of the room, concentrate on being there as you say the spell. It is important you have a very clear picture of yourself in the new location, at least at first."
At this, Professor Flitwick looked at Harry and his friends. Yes, the Animagus exercises would help!
"Miss Granger, if you would go first?" their Professor requested.
Hermione nodded, looking slightly nervous but also eager.
Harry gave her an encouraging nod as she looked intensely at the opposite side of the room, then closed her eyes and frowned. It seemed to Harry she took a long time but it couldn't have been more than moments before she spoke.
"Apparacio!"
An odd double pop sounded, as Hermione Disapparated from where she was standing and instantly Apparated on the other end of the room. Harry held his breath as he watched her looking a little dazed. Then, to his relief, she smiled broadly.
"I did it, it worked!"
"Very good," Professor Flitwick congratulated her. "No dizziness?"
"No –well, just for a second but it's already gone," she replied.
"Excellent! Who wants to go next?"
Harry hesitated. He was nervous, but he also wanted to try it out. When no one beat him to it, he raised his hand. "I'll try."
Professor Flitwick nodded, obviously pleased.
Harry took another look around, taking in exactly where he was, standing next to the table with 'I lov' carved into it –likely Madam Rosmerta had caught the culprit before he or she finished the entire word, or the subject of his or her infatuation. The chair in front of him had a slight wobble, and the tiles underneath his feet were slightly uneven. Then he pictured himself on the opposite side of the room, next to the bar. He could almost see the stained surface with rings overlapping rings, despite the beer mats stacked next to the dog-eared menu. Concentrating hard, he held his wand and when he was absolutely sure of where he wanted to be he spoke. "Apparacio."
He didn't hear the pop now that he was the one Apparating, but from one moment to the next he was looking at his friends from the other side of the room. It was a little disorienting, and he reached out for a barstool to steady himself, but the moment of vertigo passed almost immediately. Blinking, he let go of the barstool and walked back to his friends.
"I did it," he grinned, relief, pride and excitement rushing through him.
Professor Flitwick smiled happily as he congratulated him.
Ron was next. It seemed to Harry he took a lot longer, and for a moment Harry was afraid his friend wouldn't be successful at his first try, but then he, too, Apparated to the other end of the room with the double pop.
The others took even longer, and Lavender and Dean did not dare to try the spell on their first attempt. Professor Flitwick talked them through some of the same things they'd done in the 'Study Group', and by the end of the afternoon everyone but Neville had managed to Apparate across the room.
Neville hadn't waited for Professor Flitwick to tell him he couldn't attempt to Apparate –he had decided at the very first lesson that he preferred to stick to Floo powder and other forms of transport.
Harry felt bad for him, and a little worried as well. At any other time, not being able to Apparate would only be an inconvenience, but now Voldemort had returned it could be very dangerous. And Neville wasn't good on a broomstick either. If Neville were ever chased by Death Eaters, Harry was afraid his chances wouldn't be good at all. But he couldn't let Neville's problems spoil his mood, not this afternoon. Elated, they walked back to Hogwarts in time for dinner.
Thursday was Hermione's birthday. Harry and Ron had been waiting in the common room and jumped her as she came down the stairs.
"Happy birthday, Hermione," Harry said as he gave her a hug.
"Happy birthday, 'mione," Ron wished her, too. Harry noticed his friend turned almost as red as his hair as he hugged her. Then they gave her her presents.
Ron had gotten her a book about Transfiguring animals, and Harry gave her an American Eagle feather quill. Eagle feathers were rare, but not quite as rare as the Muggles believed. The eagles, many of them used by the wizards and witches among the American Indian population as owls were in Europe, made sure they dropped most of their feathers where wizards would find them rather than Muggles. Still, it had been the only one they'd had at the stationary store a few weeks ago, and Harry was glad he'd spotted it.
Hermione thanked them both for their gifts and they went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. There, she received owls with cards from her parents, her aunt, her older nephew and her grandparents. She read them all to Harry and Ron, and they were almost late for their History of Magic class.
They had a great time, but still something was bothering Harry. It wasn't until their second class of the day, Divination, when he had time to think, that he realised he was jealous of her family. They might be Muggles, but they'd all written to her. He had none. He didn't like being jealous, she'd never rubbed it in and if her family hadn't been all Muggle she'd certainly have invited him over during summer. Ron certainly did, and his family had always been really nice to him. No, he didn't like his feelings of envy, and now that he was aware of them he tried to push them away. He was happy to find that at lunch time he could honestly enjoy listening to Hermione as she told them about her favorite nephew.
Friday they had Care of Magical Creatures after their Transfiguration class, to make up for the missed lesson on Tuesday. Hagrid had placed some Bowtruckles in a number of trees near the edge of the Forbidden Forest, which –strangely enough, knowing Hagrid's usual choice of creatures- weren't too dangerous. They had fun distracting the creatures so they could take some wood off the trees, using the most outrageous spells they could think of.
That evening they went to the Study Group again. Harry hadn't had much time to practice his Animagus exercises, what with their regular homework, the ongoing Parselmouth project, and of course Quidditch practice. They were working hard to give Ron as much practice with the team as possible, the first game against Ravenclaw was on October 5th, which was only two weeks away.
He needn't have worried. Professor McGonagall only addressed them briefly, asking if there were any problems and repeating her offer to help when necessary. After that, Professor Snape took over.
Professor McGonagall looked especially displeased as she looked at the Potions Professor, but Harry caught Professor Snape scowling for a moment as well, before his face changed to an expressionless calm.
Putting a box on the table which contained a number of spiders, Professor Snape started. "Today we start on the Killing Curse. I do not have to tell you you will not practice this outside this room, even on spiders or mice. The Aurors," he sneered as he spoke, "would care little for your reasons. Even cast on an animal the spell will land you in Azkaban."
Several of the students shuddered, and Taniya from Hufflepuff raised her hand. "What if anyone finds out we practice here?"
Professor Snape didn't even blink. "Here the only ones risking Azkaban are we, as your Professors. You as students are not responsible for the lessons taught."
Harry felt a shiver go through him. How could Professor Snape be so calm about Azkaban? Or any of the other Professors, for that matter. Professor McGonagall looked grim, but no one looked seriously worried.
"Now that that's out of the way, let's not waste any more time," Professor Snape continued as he took one of the spiders out of the box. It didn't run off, likely drugged with a spell or potion. "You hold your wand loosely in your hand, make sure you do not tense up. Concentrate as you point at your victim and speak clearly. Avada Kedavra."
A small beam of green light shot out from his wand and the spider dropped dead.
"To prevent accidents, you will all practice facing the outer wall. Never practice on a spider, mice or anything when anyone is standing behind it," Professor Snape instructed. "Come get your spider and get started."
It could hardly be called a mad rush to the desk –everyone was clearly reluctant. Harry didn't like the Killing Curse either, but he'd known since last spring that he would almost certainly face Voldemort again, and he'd better know what to do when it came to that. If Professor Snape and the others could be so calm about teaching it, then he could be calm about learning. He stepped forward and picked out a spider. Of course, Ron and Hermione followed suit, and behind them the other students.
They put a desk against the back wall, then put their spiders down. The spiders, all sluggish, crawled slowly over the table top.
Hermione was the first to try the spell. She looked confident as she copied Professor Snape's example exactly.
"Avada Kedavra."
The flash of green light was substantially smaller than Professor Snape's had been, but large enough to kill the spider.
To Harry's surprise, Ron wasn't far behind. His spider dropped dead at his first try, too. Harry threw him a questioning glance and Ron shrugged. Of course, his friend had never been fond of spiders, and after their second year he liked them even less. Intent was always important in doing any spell.
Harry still stared at his spider. He couldn't say he really liked spiders, but he didn't usually go out of his way to kill any, either. If he couldn't kill a spider, how could he kill a human being if it came to that?
"When there really is no other way, you will," Professor Dumbledore said behind him. Harry started, could the Headmaster really read minds? No, he had spoken aloud without realising it. He recalled his earlier thoughts. It was better to be prepared than to be killed.
"Avada Kedavra."
His spider dropped dead.
With more or less hesitation, the others in their group also cast the spell. Not everyone managed to kill their spider on their first try, but Harry had little time to look as Professor Snape came over and handed him a mouse to try next.
The mouse was a little harder, but they all got it on their first try as well, even Ron, who didn't hate mice like he hated spiders.
"I just imagine it's a rat," he explained grimly.
The lesson ended and Harry left with his friends. Once again Crookshanks was roaming the hall and meowed as they left the classroom.
Following the cat, Crookshanks led them to the Slytherin dorms.
"Draco again, I bet," Ron said.
"It could be almost any Slytherin, I'm sure many of them would like to know what we are doing. But probably Draco," Harry agreed.
The cat still meowed, but none of them understood what he was trying to say, and they couldn't go into the Slytherin common room. Hermione had borrowed several books on cat behaviour from the library, but she hadn't found anything useful so far.