A/N: Sorry about these long notes, but hey. I'm very proud of my squeaker.
Inspiration from a Christmas party. *grins maliciously* I'm sorry if I
didn't make it clear earlier, but I guess some things get lost in the
transition between my mind and my keyboard. Good news to all you Harry/Eva
shippers: she loves him. Deeply. In that way, i.e. romantically. She told
Ginny that she loves him like a sister and a friend, but she was partially
lying. Girls, you know what I'm talking about. You like a guy, but he can't
find out, so you kid around with him and act like his friend while hiding
your true feelings as not to drive him away. Better friendship than
nothing. But she wants more. Much more.
Bad news: He doesn't know, and he cannot love her. Harry will remain a
bachelor, as Fate has determined that romantic love is a weakness that he
can't afford. So sorry for all you who love the romance bit. I don't like
it. Besides, I write unrequited love and pining so much better (not from
personal experience *rolls eyes*).
This chapter is courtesy of my sprained ankle, which has kept me confined to my desk much more as it is very painful to get around. If you want the full story, my friend clifjumpr13 has written a nice poem about it, since the idiot wanted to make fun of me. Check it out at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1173504. He's also doing a Death Eater's journal.
If you want to be notified by email when I update, leave it in your review or email me at lpsychosunshine@netscape.net. In the meantime, check out my other stuff, including a brand new poem and short fic.
Thanks to Betsy of the trees for the use of a new and very funny word. I would explain the story behind it, but you really had to be there. And more thanks to clifjumpr13 for helpful research into Herbology when I got stuck.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. HP and Co. belong to JKR, who has finally announced the release date of The Order of the Phoenix on June 21st 2003, thus rendering this fic obsolete. (But I don't care, as she is a much better author than I am. I've already preordered the book!! *shakes her head as she realizes how utterly pathetic she really is*) Hey, be glad I'm not JKR, or else you'd have to wait much longer than a month for this chapter to come out. The rest is the product of my twisted imagination, and can't be used without my permission. So back off, you wretched blood-sucking lawyers with your infernal lawsuits!
Chapter 20
Ron laughed so hard he snorted scrambled eggs onto the Arithmancy text Hermione was trying to read across from him. Normally she would have snapped at him for ruining part of her precious book, but she was too busy stifling giggles unsuccessfully. Harry sat back with a grin and enjoyed watching them in hysterics. He had just finished telling them about the previous night's activities, skipping certain details about his and Snape's improved relationship of course, but emphasizing the flaming hair. Between that, the litter box and Sirius' squeak toy mishap; it had been quite a . . . interesting night.
The redhead managed to control himself enough after a few minutes to apologize to Hermione for messing up her book. While they were otherwise preoccupied with their little kissy-face make-up routine, Harry glanced up at the High Table. All the professors were there, including Snape who appeared to be his usual self this morning, dark scowl and all, ignoring the chatter of the other professors especially Lupin, who seemed to be regaling McGonagall with a particularly fascinating story. Harry smirked at the Potions Master and tilted his head questioningly. Snape simply arched an aristocratic eyebrow and fractionally shook his head. No other surprises this morning.
Soon enough the new schedules were passed out, and Ron took one look at his and groaned. "Oh great. Potions first thing in the morning with the Slytherins. And Divination right after that. I swear, I think someone's out to make our lives as miserable as possible." Harry, puzzled, checked his schedule again then glanced over Ron's shoulder at his aforementioned schedule. "Um, Ron, you might want to check your days again. This morning we have Herbology and Transfiguration. Potions isn't until tomorrow." Ron glanced over at him for a moment, then scrutinized his parchment again, his ears turning red. "Oops. Um, yeah," he cleared his throat as Hermione tried not to giggle at his mistake.
Ron led the way to the greenhouses, Hermione and Harry trailing behind and smirking a bit. He leaned over to his bushy haired friend and whispered, "Well, now I know what to get him for Christmas. A calendar." She elbowed him playfully and whispered back, "As long as it's not Playwizard or something like that. I'd hate to have to kill you both." As Harry gaped at her, she grinned innocently and sped up a few steps to walk beside Ron, interdigitating their hands.
Harry blinked few times and slowly grinned as he shook his head. Nice to know his friends could still surprise him. They got to Greenhouse six in plenty of time, so they chatted quietly while pulling on their stained overcoats and stuffing dragonhide gloves in their pockets. Soon enough Professor Sprout called the class to order, and the trio joined the assembled Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs around the center table.
"Good morning class. This year we'll begin by studying the rhys plant. Can anybody tell me about them?" Not surprisingly, Hermione has her hand up almost before the question was asked, followed by Neville. Professor Sprout seemed pleased and pointed at Neville. "The rhys plant is native to a small Unplottable Malaysian island, the only place it will grow. It is tended by a group of faeries known as the Plant Rhys Dwfen, who are fiercely protective of their groves. It is difficult to harvest as you must first be granted permission by the faeries, which is only granted if they like you. Unauthorized harvesting has never been successfully done, as the perpetrators disappear, presumably at the faeries' hands. Once harvested and prepared, the plant has the ability to make the user invisible."
"Very good Mr. Longbottom. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, we have a small sampling of the rhys plant here, both harvested and a few immature plants. We are going to try to keep them alive, as it has never successfully grown outside faerie protection. As for the harvested plant, as Neville said it must be prepared specially in order to demonstrate its invisibility properties. However, that preparation is a secret that the faeries entrust to only a precious few. As it is, it is also useful in enhancing invisibility potions and concealing spells."
Sprout picked up a small pouch filled with a gooey paste. "We are lucky enough to procure some prepared rhys, so I am able to give you a demonstration. Do I have any volunteers? Ms. Abbot, if you will?" The blond Hufflepuff made her way a bit nervously to the front. "Hold out your hand dear." The Herbology professor used a small wooden spoon to smear some of the paste on Hannah's right hand, where it glistened for a moment before disappearing, taking the hand with it. Steadily the rest of Hannah's arm vanished, then her whole body. The last thing to go was her feet.
The class murmured in approval, and there was a nervous giggle from the empty air beside the professor. "Very good dear. Now take this cloth and wipe off the paste." A small rag floated in the air for a moment, darting back and forth in a rubbing motion. Thirty seconds later Hannah has reappeared whole and wide-eyed. "Five points of Hufflepuff. You may go back to your place."
She glanced over at the rest of the appreciative class who were now paying strict attention. "You'll form groups of six and devise a plan to keep your plant alive, as well create a schedule for your group to check and track the progress or lack thereof every day. Full marks to each group whose plant is alive and moderately healthy at the end of three weeks. Now choose your groups and come to me for your plants."
There was a general confusion as people milled about, and Harry, Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Hannah Abbot and Ernie MacMillian in a group. Neville brought over the delicate looking plant with shimmering silver- green leaves. They all looked at it for a moment, then looked at each other. "Well," Ron said with a little grin, "What do we do now?" He glanced significantly over at Hermione, who seemed about to start one of her classic lectures, but then snapped her mouth shut and glared back at him, daring him to say anything.
Hannah broke the tension. "Well, it's obviously a magical plant and therefore regular compost and such probably won't work. What do you think the faeries use?" Neville examined the fragile seedling with a critical eye. "I know that the Malaysian island this grows on is volcanic in nature, so the soil would have a particular mix that England does not naturally have. I'll see if Professor Sprout has compost with high potash content."
Harry ran a light finger over one of the leaves, which seemed to glow and shiver slightly at the attention. "I suspect that mooncalf dung might be helpful to add, due to its nature. And this plant seems like it needs contact." He stroked the plant again, and it glowed brighter and shivered again, the leaves making a faint chiming sound. "When we check on it, make sure to give it personal attention."
Ron stared incredulously at him, then shrugged and copied Harry's actions. The plant trembled harder and leaned towards him a bit, almost like a kitten leaning into a comforting caress. His eyebrows nearly merged with his hairline, and he commented, "Hey, it likes me!"
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Herbology passed fairly quickly, with each of them scheduled to come in at least once a week to monitor their project. The trio washed up and headed back to the castle, laughing and joking on their way to Transfiguration. Hermione was regaling them with a story from when she went to Muggle school in her youth, and Ron was delighted to hear that she had not been the goody two shoes all the time. They sat together at the front of the room as usual and Hermione was forced to discontinue her story as the bell rang and Professor McGonagall appeared.
"This is your sixth year here at Hogwarts, and while you may not have any major exams this year, your NEWTS are only a year away. I do not expect you to become lax in your studies." Hermione looked mildly insulted that someone would suggest that she would fail to study hard. "Therefore, I am assigning all of you a long-term project to work on, due by the last day before the Christmas holidays. Do not slack off and leave it all for the last minute, as this will be much harder than the projects you have done before."
The stern professor glared around the room, lingering especially on the boys of the group. "Form groups of three people each and brainstorm a topic for your project. Clear your topic with me, and I will give you a list of expectations you must fulfill for full credit." She waved her hand for them to get started, and the quiet was immediately transformed into a flurry of movement and talking.
The trio naturally stuck together and were quickly throwing out possibilities. Whenever Ron or Harry presented an idea, Hermione would immediately start rambling on every single facet of the project and the potential for it. ". . . and with multi-species cross-Transfiguration there's the potential of accidentally getting stuck partway and creating a new species, which could get you into trouble with the Department of . . . umphf!!" Her babbling was cut off suddenly as Ron's hand clamped over her mouth, and he grinned a bit even as she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Hermione, I love you, but you talk too much. Eeewww!" He whipped his hand away and wiped it on his robes. "What did you do that for?"
"Serves you right," she retorted with a self-satisfied smirk, and Harry looked away to hide his grin at their antics. "Why don't we do something on human-animal-object transfiguration? You know, the process, the dangers, the potential for dueling, the possibilities of long-term maintenance. We could use Wormtail as an example."
Ron's eyes lit up. "And maybe we could determine what part of him was the squeaker that Sirius swallowed! Hope it hurts him," he added with malicious relish, still a bit peeved at the fact that the traitor had once been his pet. Hermione was also excited about it. "That has tons of possibilities. It hasn't been done often, so we get to study the theoretical and experimental aspects. And for the squeaker, we could determine whether or not disassemblement affects the entity."
Ron wrinkled his nose, then grinned. "So basically, how many times can we split the rubber git before he croaks? Wicked!" Hermione glanced over at Harry. "Do you think he'll get the squeaker back?" Harry chuckled darkly. "Not for a couple more days, and then I don't think he'll want it back, no matter what part it was." Ron made a face and joined in his friend's laughter, which only increased at the look on Hermione's face as she realized the implications of that.
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McGonagall approved their project with a twinkle in her eyes, and they proceeded to the Great Hall for lunch, where they met up with Ginny. Harry stirred his soup a bit as he commented, "So, you guys ready for your evaluations tonight?" Ginny dropped her spoon and Ron paled a bit. Hermione groaned, "Oh no, I forgot all about that! How could that have happened?! I wrote it down and everything!"
Harry tried to soothe the panicking teens. "Don't worry, you'll all do fine. You didn't spend two weeks with the slave driver from hell for nothing. Besides, right now we need to concentrate. Defense Against the Dark Arts is next." "Not for me," Ginny moaned pathetically. "I've got Potions with the Slytherins next." Ron patted her on the back sympathetically. "Good luck with that. And if that slimy git gets unbearable, just imagine him with his greasy hair on fire." She giggled as she gathered up her books and stuffed them in her bag. "I'll remember that."
The trio followed her out and waved as she headed down to the dungeons while they joined their class in DADA, barely managing to grab seats at the front. Remus emerged from his office, looking tired and worn as usual, but with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes that made him look like a teenage Marauder again. "Good afternoon all. Today, instead of me just talking at you, we have a guest professor here who is going to help out with the lesson."
The office door banged open, and Sirius Black stood there grinning before joining Remus at the front of the class, accompanied by gasps and murmurs. Despite the fact that his name had been cleared 9 months ago, fourteen years of disinformation caused people to be wary of him still. Harry simply grinned back at his godfather and gave him a small salute.
"I see my reputation precedes me yet again. Don't worry, I haven't killed anyone who hasn't deserved it, and I'm not crazy. Or at least, the voices in my head tell me I'm not." There were a few snickers in response to his innocent expression, and then Remus clapped his hands to get their attention, back into professor mode. "Alright. As sixth years, you must know how to defend yourselves, especially with the war as it is. Therefore you must know what you need to defend yourselves against. Today we are going to cover . . . demons."
There was a general gasp of surprise as the choice of curriculum. "As some of you know, Voldemort," he was interrupted by shudders and murmurs of alarm at the name, and both Marauders frowned. Sirius scolded, "Cut that out. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself, which doesn't help you. Fear is power, and it can paralyze you in a critical moment. Saying his name give you power over him." Remus smiled at the little tirade and continued, "Voldemort has learned how to summon the ancient demon armies, and over this last summer has unleashed them on the world."
He swirled his wand and an image of a demon materialized in front of him, amid shouted exclamations of disgust and alarm. He arched an eyebrow. "I take it few of you have seen one of these before." He turned back to the image. "This is a typical specimen. Note the muscles in the arms and legs. They are incredibly strong and supernaturally fast, nearly inexhaustible with awesome stamina, and unbelievably vicious with an insatiable blood thirst. They are immune to all spells a normal wizard can do, and are physically tough enough to withstand a lot of brute force. They are fairly intelligent, but as far as anyone has determined, that only covers what orders their master gives them to complete an objective. In other words, the ultimate loyal shock troops."
Dean raised his hand. "Can they do magic?" Remus hesitated as he thought, then answered, "We're not entirely sure. The ability to block magic is magical in and of itself, but there is no evidence that they are capable of active magic, such that we know. They prefer to kill by hand and force, which leads some to believe that they cannot do higher magic." He paced around the image as it snarled and brandished a clawed fist. "Mr. Black and I have both run across these creatures in the last few months. They are nothing to be trifled with." He flicked his eyes towards Harry. "I believe you have also encountered them before, Mr. Potter?" The teen shrugged casually. "Once or twice." "Would you like to add anything?"
Harry got up out of his seat and approached the image, studying it critically. "Well, we know that they can do one type of magic. They are able to transport themselves anywhere, even through anti-Apparation wards. From what I've seen, they like to attack en masse with at least a dozen. In a crowd they split up so each can do the most damage, but against a single opponent they resort to swarm techniques meant to overwhelm and slaughter. There are actually two different kinds or species."
He traced a finger over the claws. "See these? They're poisoned with a paralytic which literally freezes every muscle in the body, including the heart. The victim dies of a heart attack, if the blood loss doesn't get him first. The claws are distinctive of the warrior species, which is by far the most prevalent and dangerous. The other is the messenger class which act as a go-between for the ranks and the master. They are dangerous in their own way, but not physically violent. They also create the weapons.
"In general, they do have a few weaknesses. They can't swim; their armored hide is so heavy they sink and drown, although with their greater lung capacity it takes a while. For some reason they are fairly flammable, more so than humans or Snape's hair, which I find rather ironic." There were a few chuckles at that statement. "Like you said earlier, they are immune to magic, but they cannot cast spells of their own. And they are useless for most sneak attacks, as it is impossible to keep them quiet. They like to growl and snarl and whatnot, so you usually hear them before you see them. And they smell terrible, so don't get too close if you don't want to pass out from the stench." Harry glanced up at his professor and godfather. "Anything else?"
Remus shook his head and addressed the rest of the class. "I hope you were taking notes. Most of this cannot be found in books, as very few people have survived a close encounter with a demon, let alone be able to study one and their capabilities." Harry sat back down as his classmates scrambled to get out their quills and parchment. Hermione leaned over to him and whispered urgently, "Harry, exactly how close have you gotten to these . . . things?" The disgust and open concern was obvious in her voice.
He murmured back, "Far closer than anyone else, and too close for my comfort." He saw the horrified look on her face. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle." Their conversation was interrupted as Remus spoke again. "The simplest way, yet by no means easy, to kill these things is by hand to hand combat, preferable with swords. Sirius?"
The ex-convict unsheathed a sword that had been lying on the desk in its scabbard. "This particular one had been enchanted to increase steel strength and sharpness as well as improving the balance and weight. Artificing, or enchanting objects to enhance their natural capabilities, is fairly difficult. You won't learn that until next year in Charms." Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry, "Which means Hermione can do it right now." He earned himself an elbow in the ribs.
Sirius continued his lecture. "Now, some might consider this a bit archaic and useless. But in actuality if a wizard finds himself deprived of his wand or otherwise unable to do magic, the sword is the best third line of defense." He arched an eyebrow. "Who can tell me the first two?" About half the class raised their hands, and Seamus answered, "Your brain and your wand. First do whatever possible to avoid a conflict, but if that fails, use your wand to end it quickly." Remus nodded. "Very good Mr. Finnegan. I'll be sure to let Professor Figg that some do indeed pay attention in her class. Five points. If in a fight you are reduced to using a conventional weapon, you have already lost part of the battle, yet it is still possible to win the war."
He turned to Sirius. "Would you care to give us a demonstration on the proper sword techniques?" Sirius nodded with the Marauder twinkle in his blue eyes. "Sure. But I think it might be more beneficial and instructive to give them a demonstration of dueling instead of simple sword tricks. Harry, you know how to wield a sword. Care to help me out here?" His godson blinked. "Why not you and Professor Lupin?"
Sirius smirked. "He's not as good as you are, and I need competition. Plus someone's got to clean up after us." Harry sighed as he pushed himself away from the table again and walked up to join his godfather. "Fine. But remember, you asked for it." The other students stood along the walls as Remus cleared away the desks with a flick of his wand.
Harry unsheathed his own sword from his back and enlarged it to full size. Sirius blinked. "Do you carry that thing everywhere?" The teen War Mage shrugged carelessly. "Pretty much. On Remus' signal." They faced each other with swords in hand, eyes never breaking contact. Remus stood off to the side, evaluated them both, and said "Go."
The swords clashed together not even a second later, and soon a full- fledged battle was being waged. Sirius was in excellent shape with sharp reflexes and experience with years of fighting the Dark Arts. He had learned to duel with all sorts of blades as a child, and continued improving his skills up until the day he was arrested. But Harry - with battle-hardened muscles, training, razor-sharp reflexes, youth, and nearly superhuman speed - was more than a match for him. As this was a demonstration, however, he held back and allowed Sirius to dictate the speed and ferocity, matching him stroke for stroke.
After a couple minutes of straight dueling, Harry idly wondered if Sirius was adaptable, and if he had learned the art of two blades. He ducked a sweeping blow, spun and kicked out to land a booted foot on Sirius' breastbone, just hard enough to wind him a bit. He staggered back a few paces with surprise on his face, but then his eyes narrowed as he rejoined the duel, a punch of his own accompanying a parry.
Harry snapped his head to the side just in time and heard the fist whistle by his ear, then hooked a foot behind his godfather's knee and shoved him hard. Sirius fell back, but caught himself on his hands and turned it into a roll to land on his feet again. They eyed each other for a moment, then the teen War Mage smirked as he pulled out one of his boot knives, the unpoisoned one, and held it in a backwards grip, blade back against his forearm.
Sirius' eyes widened briefly, then so did his smirk as he too pulled out a boot knife of his own. Harry asked, "So you carry that thing everywhere?" "Pretty much," Sirius retorted with good humor as he attacked, driving Harry back towards the wall. The students there scattered to the sides as they watched wide eyed, many cheering or placing bets as to whom would be the winner. The odds seemed to favor Harry, but only slightly. The ones not busy counting out sickles were mesmerized by the intricate dance between the four blades, the complicated footwork to maximize balance and reach, the determined expressions on the duelists' faces.
Harry dropped to sweep his leg through Sirius' ankles, but he jumped over it and slashed downward with his sword. The teen rolled out of the way and parried with his dagger, then used the flat of this sword to smack his godfather on his rump. The Animagus yelped, and Harry used the distraction to flip back to his feet. The duel continued, with both combatants showing off their considerable competency with the blades. Neither had managed to draw blood, but were sporting a couple of bruises apiece. Sirius feinted with his dagger, and as Harry moved to block it slipped in his sword and attempted to disarm him. Harry caught the move and parried it with his knife, then locked his blades around the sword and wrenched sideways.
The sword was torn from Sirius' grasp to go skittering across the floor, so he slashed a quick attack with his dagger to give himself room and dove for the abandoned blade. Harry had other ideas, and managed to drop his own sword and latch onto the Animagus' ankle, preventing him from reaching his goal. Then he trapped the hand still gripping the dagger in an iron hold and pressed his own knife lightly to Sirius' throat. "Do you yield?" he asked softly.
Sirius muttered, "Yes. Now let me up you great prat." Harry chuckled as he got up and offered his hand to hoist the older man to his feet. "You're good, very good in fact." They both were startled by the sudden applause, and Seamus and Ron even whistled and cheered wildly while accepting money from some of the others. Harry reddened slightly, but Sirius grinned widely and ever the showman took a deep sweeping bow.
Remus laughed a bit as he approached them. "A little unorthodox, but good tactics and improvisation. Homework," he raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "two feet on the history of demon involvement in wizard wars, the various ways used to defeat them, and your interpretation of the most successful one. Due next week." The bell rang, and everyone scrambled for their bags, chatting excitedly about the class.
Sirius caught Harry's arm as he walked towards the door. "I need to speak with you tonight, privately. Dumbledore wants us to go on a brief mission. After the Dueling Club?" Harry nodded and gave Sirius a brief hug, then joined his friends as they headed for History of Magic. Binns was dull as usual, plowing through his notes on 14th century vampire councils with all the enthusiasm of a flogged butterfly.
In contrast to the rest of the class, Ron and Hermione were quite entertained as they scribbled on the parchments in front of them. Harry craned his neck to see what was going on, and grinned to see that they were using the IM parchments to flirt back and forth. He glanced up to see Ron's ears turn bright red as he gaped down at the message, and Hermione had stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle giggles. Harry decided that he really did not want to know.
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After their last class, the trio had time to stow their bags and relax in the Common Room before heading down to dinner, where they met up with Ginny again. Harry spent most of his time encouraging the others to eat, but they were too nervous about the upcoming evaluations to stomach much. Ron was even worse than Harry before a Quidditch match, and stared down at his fork spearing a glob of mashed potatoes without eating a single bite. Finally he gave up and ate his own dinner, the casually offered to go over any shaky part of their training again. It was like setting off a Dungbomb.
Hermione immediately started asking him about the theory of Elemental magic, while Ron wanted to know more about the dueling tactics he had used earlier, and Ginny inquired about the more powerful eavesdropping and cloaking spells and how to combine them. Harry barely managed to keep ahead of their barrage of questions and led them down to one of Gryffindor's secret rooms he had found. This one was a training room, and a perfect place to do a little revision until it was time for the Dueling Club.
Soon Ron was concentrating on his sword movements, going over the steps slowly, then speeding up as he got the hang of them. Ginny was in the corner under an invisibility charm, trying to sneak up on Harry and Hermione on the other side of the room, while using an eavesdropping spell to try and pick up on their conversation through the Silencing Charm Harry had placed. He was demonstrating the various Elements and their powers to Hermione, and explaining how one had to modify one's individual power to channel the Element, as well as how his staff worked in that regard.
By the time they reported at the Dueling Club an hour and a half later, all were considerable calmer and more focused. Professor Figg started by dividing them into two groups, years three and four in one and five through seven in another. She told the Head Boy and Girl to begin teaching the younger students the Shielding spell while she taught the older ones some advanced curses and hexes. Harry was only half listening, slightly bored as he began fiddling with one of his knives in the wrist sheath. He pulled it out and flipped it from hand to hand out of sheer boredom, unnoticed at the back of the gathered students.
A wicked idea flashed through his mind suddenly, and he allowed himself a smirk as he glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention to him. With the ease borne of experience, he conjured his clone and simultaneously went invisible, then casually slunk over to the side door behind the platform where the professor's table normally sat. He cast one look back at the doppelganger taking his place behind Ron at the rear of the crowd, then slipped through the door and jogged down the hall heading for the nearest window.
He opened it and clambered out onto the narrow ledge, dropped the invisibility spell, transformed into a monkey and began climbing the outer wall. These old stone walls had lots of grips and handholds courtesy of the cracks in between the rocks. Grinning to himself, he reached the top of the ramparts and scampered along, curling his long tail behind him. He supposed he could have Apparated, but where's the challenge in that?
Soon he swung into the Gryffindor Common Room, which was thankfully deserted. Silently Harry snuck up the staircase into his dormitory where he returned to his human shape and began rifling through his trunk. H dug out a couple of stowed items to shove in his pockets, then went out to the landing overlooking the Common Room to cast a little spell over the portrait hole. Smiling, he went back to the window and jumped out, reveling in the sensation of freefall before transforming again, this time into a phoenix, beating his powerful wings to create a downdraft and rose up again into the night air. He swooped around the castle a couple times, then sailed in through an open window and headed for the dungeons.
Sneaking into the Slytherin Common Room was a joke, as it turned out that the entrance had a back door setting, if you will, meaning that any Parselmouth could get in. Definitely Salazar Slytherin's work and a prime example of how much he did not trust his colleagues. Harry found this out when he transformed into a snake in order to unobtrusively investigate the entrance and was hissing thoughtfully to himself. The wall ground open, and a very surprised Harry slithered in. He wondered if Dumbledore or Snape knew about this one. It slid shut again just as a second year entered the Common Room from the dormitories and flung himself on a leather chair, staring into the fire.
Harry considered his options, then quietly turned back into his human self and cast an invisibility spell over himself yet again. Treading quietly, he began setting his traps, keeping an eye on the Slytherin, who seemed wholly preoccupied with watching the dancing flames. He was soon finished and mentally noted to thank Fred and George the next time he saw them.
Now the only problem was getting back out, as the Slytherin would undoubtedly notice if the secret doorway opened for no reason. Taking inspiration from one of the few Muggle films he had seen courtesy of Dudley, Harry used a bit of wandless magic to knock over a book on the other side of the room, spilling an inkwell all over the carpet. The second year jumped at the noise, then paled when he saw the mess and hurried over to pick it up.
Unnoticed by the frantic boy who was mopping at the mess but just making the stain bigger, Harry slipped out the door and back into the dungeons, heaving a sigh of relief once he was safe. On to parts three and four. With the help of the Marauder's Map he quickly located the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Common Room, and briefly wondered how in the world his father had managed to find them in the first place. Maybe it was Pettigrew in his rat form. Or maybe Sirius was really the ladies' man he made himself out to be in his youth. He grinned at the thought and sent him a mental thank you.
The tricky part was getting in; he did not know the passwords obviously, and the entrances were locked tight. But whenever a door closes, a window of opportunity opens. He managed to fit through an open window in his raven form into the Ravenclaw one, after waiting for some first years to drag a stack of books back to their rooms. The spells were set quickly and efficiently, and he flew out before the students came back.
Hufflepuff was a bit tougher without convenient windows to fly into, as the place was built almost like a badger's den deep inside the stone walls. Harry lucked out after lurking around the entrance for twenty minutes, when a second year came along and entered, unwittingly carrying along Harry the flea on the back of his robes. He chose a quiet place in the corner to work. The spells took a bit longer than necessary, as this Common Room was much more high traffic than the others, and several times a student unwittingly tripped a spell in progress and he had to start all over.
When he finally escaped by hitchhiking on another student, he calculated that the Dueling Club should be about done and he had to run before Sirius approached his clone. It would ruin the surprise. The phoenix was a good form, as it was swift and had the ability to turn invisible, so soon Harry the phoenix was sweeping into the Great Hall again, only to nearly fall out the air in shock.
His clone had not been idle while he was away.
This chapter is courtesy of my sprained ankle, which has kept me confined to my desk much more as it is very painful to get around. If you want the full story, my friend clifjumpr13 has written a nice poem about it, since the idiot wanted to make fun of me. Check it out at http://www.fanfiction.net/read.php?storyid=1173504. He's also doing a Death Eater's journal.
If you want to be notified by email when I update, leave it in your review or email me at lpsychosunshine@netscape.net. In the meantime, check out my other stuff, including a brand new poem and short fic.
Thanks to Betsy of the trees for the use of a new and very funny word. I would explain the story behind it, but you really had to be there. And more thanks to clifjumpr13 for helpful research into Herbology when I got stuck.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize. HP and Co. belong to JKR, who has finally announced the release date of The Order of the Phoenix on June 21st 2003, thus rendering this fic obsolete. (But I don't care, as she is a much better author than I am. I've already preordered the book!! *shakes her head as she realizes how utterly pathetic she really is*) Hey, be glad I'm not JKR, or else you'd have to wait much longer than a month for this chapter to come out. The rest is the product of my twisted imagination, and can't be used without my permission. So back off, you wretched blood-sucking lawyers with your infernal lawsuits!
Chapter 20
Ron laughed so hard he snorted scrambled eggs onto the Arithmancy text Hermione was trying to read across from him. Normally she would have snapped at him for ruining part of her precious book, but she was too busy stifling giggles unsuccessfully. Harry sat back with a grin and enjoyed watching them in hysterics. He had just finished telling them about the previous night's activities, skipping certain details about his and Snape's improved relationship of course, but emphasizing the flaming hair. Between that, the litter box and Sirius' squeak toy mishap; it had been quite a . . . interesting night.
The redhead managed to control himself enough after a few minutes to apologize to Hermione for messing up her book. While they were otherwise preoccupied with their little kissy-face make-up routine, Harry glanced up at the High Table. All the professors were there, including Snape who appeared to be his usual self this morning, dark scowl and all, ignoring the chatter of the other professors especially Lupin, who seemed to be regaling McGonagall with a particularly fascinating story. Harry smirked at the Potions Master and tilted his head questioningly. Snape simply arched an aristocratic eyebrow and fractionally shook his head. No other surprises this morning.
Soon enough the new schedules were passed out, and Ron took one look at his and groaned. "Oh great. Potions first thing in the morning with the Slytherins. And Divination right after that. I swear, I think someone's out to make our lives as miserable as possible." Harry, puzzled, checked his schedule again then glanced over Ron's shoulder at his aforementioned schedule. "Um, Ron, you might want to check your days again. This morning we have Herbology and Transfiguration. Potions isn't until tomorrow." Ron glanced over at him for a moment, then scrutinized his parchment again, his ears turning red. "Oops. Um, yeah," he cleared his throat as Hermione tried not to giggle at his mistake.
Ron led the way to the greenhouses, Hermione and Harry trailing behind and smirking a bit. He leaned over to his bushy haired friend and whispered, "Well, now I know what to get him for Christmas. A calendar." She elbowed him playfully and whispered back, "As long as it's not Playwizard or something like that. I'd hate to have to kill you both." As Harry gaped at her, she grinned innocently and sped up a few steps to walk beside Ron, interdigitating their hands.
Harry blinked few times and slowly grinned as he shook his head. Nice to know his friends could still surprise him. They got to Greenhouse six in plenty of time, so they chatted quietly while pulling on their stained overcoats and stuffing dragonhide gloves in their pockets. Soon enough Professor Sprout called the class to order, and the trio joined the assembled Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs around the center table.
"Good morning class. This year we'll begin by studying the rhys plant. Can anybody tell me about them?" Not surprisingly, Hermione has her hand up almost before the question was asked, followed by Neville. Professor Sprout seemed pleased and pointed at Neville. "The rhys plant is native to a small Unplottable Malaysian island, the only place it will grow. It is tended by a group of faeries known as the Plant Rhys Dwfen, who are fiercely protective of their groves. It is difficult to harvest as you must first be granted permission by the faeries, which is only granted if they like you. Unauthorized harvesting has never been successfully done, as the perpetrators disappear, presumably at the faeries' hands. Once harvested and prepared, the plant has the ability to make the user invisible."
"Very good Mr. Longbottom. Five points to Gryffindor. Now, we have a small sampling of the rhys plant here, both harvested and a few immature plants. We are going to try to keep them alive, as it has never successfully grown outside faerie protection. As for the harvested plant, as Neville said it must be prepared specially in order to demonstrate its invisibility properties. However, that preparation is a secret that the faeries entrust to only a precious few. As it is, it is also useful in enhancing invisibility potions and concealing spells."
Sprout picked up a small pouch filled with a gooey paste. "We are lucky enough to procure some prepared rhys, so I am able to give you a demonstration. Do I have any volunteers? Ms. Abbot, if you will?" The blond Hufflepuff made her way a bit nervously to the front. "Hold out your hand dear." The Herbology professor used a small wooden spoon to smear some of the paste on Hannah's right hand, where it glistened for a moment before disappearing, taking the hand with it. Steadily the rest of Hannah's arm vanished, then her whole body. The last thing to go was her feet.
The class murmured in approval, and there was a nervous giggle from the empty air beside the professor. "Very good dear. Now take this cloth and wipe off the paste." A small rag floated in the air for a moment, darting back and forth in a rubbing motion. Thirty seconds later Hannah has reappeared whole and wide-eyed. "Five points of Hufflepuff. You may go back to your place."
She glanced over at the rest of the appreciative class who were now paying strict attention. "You'll form groups of six and devise a plan to keep your plant alive, as well create a schedule for your group to check and track the progress or lack thereof every day. Full marks to each group whose plant is alive and moderately healthy at the end of three weeks. Now choose your groups and come to me for your plants."
There was a general confusion as people milled about, and Harry, Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Hannah Abbot and Ernie MacMillian in a group. Neville brought over the delicate looking plant with shimmering silver- green leaves. They all looked at it for a moment, then looked at each other. "Well," Ron said with a little grin, "What do we do now?" He glanced significantly over at Hermione, who seemed about to start one of her classic lectures, but then snapped her mouth shut and glared back at him, daring him to say anything.
Hannah broke the tension. "Well, it's obviously a magical plant and therefore regular compost and such probably won't work. What do you think the faeries use?" Neville examined the fragile seedling with a critical eye. "I know that the Malaysian island this grows on is volcanic in nature, so the soil would have a particular mix that England does not naturally have. I'll see if Professor Sprout has compost with high potash content."
Harry ran a light finger over one of the leaves, which seemed to glow and shiver slightly at the attention. "I suspect that mooncalf dung might be helpful to add, due to its nature. And this plant seems like it needs contact." He stroked the plant again, and it glowed brighter and shivered again, the leaves making a faint chiming sound. "When we check on it, make sure to give it personal attention."
Ron stared incredulously at him, then shrugged and copied Harry's actions. The plant trembled harder and leaned towards him a bit, almost like a kitten leaning into a comforting caress. His eyebrows nearly merged with his hairline, and he commented, "Hey, it likes me!"
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Herbology passed fairly quickly, with each of them scheduled to come in at least once a week to monitor their project. The trio washed up and headed back to the castle, laughing and joking on their way to Transfiguration. Hermione was regaling them with a story from when she went to Muggle school in her youth, and Ron was delighted to hear that she had not been the goody two shoes all the time. They sat together at the front of the room as usual and Hermione was forced to discontinue her story as the bell rang and Professor McGonagall appeared.
"This is your sixth year here at Hogwarts, and while you may not have any major exams this year, your NEWTS are only a year away. I do not expect you to become lax in your studies." Hermione looked mildly insulted that someone would suggest that she would fail to study hard. "Therefore, I am assigning all of you a long-term project to work on, due by the last day before the Christmas holidays. Do not slack off and leave it all for the last minute, as this will be much harder than the projects you have done before."
The stern professor glared around the room, lingering especially on the boys of the group. "Form groups of three people each and brainstorm a topic for your project. Clear your topic with me, and I will give you a list of expectations you must fulfill for full credit." She waved her hand for them to get started, and the quiet was immediately transformed into a flurry of movement and talking.
The trio naturally stuck together and were quickly throwing out possibilities. Whenever Ron or Harry presented an idea, Hermione would immediately start rambling on every single facet of the project and the potential for it. ". . . and with multi-species cross-Transfiguration there's the potential of accidentally getting stuck partway and creating a new species, which could get you into trouble with the Department of . . . umphf!!" Her babbling was cut off suddenly as Ron's hand clamped over her mouth, and he grinned a bit even as she narrowed her eyes dangerously. "Hermione, I love you, but you talk too much. Eeewww!" He whipped his hand away and wiped it on his robes. "What did you do that for?"
"Serves you right," she retorted with a self-satisfied smirk, and Harry looked away to hide his grin at their antics. "Why don't we do something on human-animal-object transfiguration? You know, the process, the dangers, the potential for dueling, the possibilities of long-term maintenance. We could use Wormtail as an example."
Ron's eyes lit up. "And maybe we could determine what part of him was the squeaker that Sirius swallowed! Hope it hurts him," he added with malicious relish, still a bit peeved at the fact that the traitor had once been his pet. Hermione was also excited about it. "That has tons of possibilities. It hasn't been done often, so we get to study the theoretical and experimental aspects. And for the squeaker, we could determine whether or not disassemblement affects the entity."
Ron wrinkled his nose, then grinned. "So basically, how many times can we split the rubber git before he croaks? Wicked!" Hermione glanced over at Harry. "Do you think he'll get the squeaker back?" Harry chuckled darkly. "Not for a couple more days, and then I don't think he'll want it back, no matter what part it was." Ron made a face and joined in his friend's laughter, which only increased at the look on Hermione's face as she realized the implications of that.
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McGonagall approved their project with a twinkle in her eyes, and they proceeded to the Great Hall for lunch, where they met up with Ginny. Harry stirred his soup a bit as he commented, "So, you guys ready for your evaluations tonight?" Ginny dropped her spoon and Ron paled a bit. Hermione groaned, "Oh no, I forgot all about that! How could that have happened?! I wrote it down and everything!"
Harry tried to soothe the panicking teens. "Don't worry, you'll all do fine. You didn't spend two weeks with the slave driver from hell for nothing. Besides, right now we need to concentrate. Defense Against the Dark Arts is next." "Not for me," Ginny moaned pathetically. "I've got Potions with the Slytherins next." Ron patted her on the back sympathetically. "Good luck with that. And if that slimy git gets unbearable, just imagine him with his greasy hair on fire." She giggled as she gathered up her books and stuffed them in her bag. "I'll remember that."
The trio followed her out and waved as she headed down to the dungeons while they joined their class in DADA, barely managing to grab seats at the front. Remus emerged from his office, looking tired and worn as usual, but with a mischievous sparkle in his eyes that made him look like a teenage Marauder again. "Good afternoon all. Today, instead of me just talking at you, we have a guest professor here who is going to help out with the lesson."
The office door banged open, and Sirius Black stood there grinning before joining Remus at the front of the class, accompanied by gasps and murmurs. Despite the fact that his name had been cleared 9 months ago, fourteen years of disinformation caused people to be wary of him still. Harry simply grinned back at his godfather and gave him a small salute.
"I see my reputation precedes me yet again. Don't worry, I haven't killed anyone who hasn't deserved it, and I'm not crazy. Or at least, the voices in my head tell me I'm not." There were a few snickers in response to his innocent expression, and then Remus clapped his hands to get their attention, back into professor mode. "Alright. As sixth years, you must know how to defend yourselves, especially with the war as it is. Therefore you must know what you need to defend yourselves against. Today we are going to cover . . . demons."
There was a general gasp of surprise as the choice of curriculum. "As some of you know, Voldemort," he was interrupted by shudders and murmurs of alarm at the name, and both Marauders frowned. Sirius scolded, "Cut that out. Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself, which doesn't help you. Fear is power, and it can paralyze you in a critical moment. Saying his name give you power over him." Remus smiled at the little tirade and continued, "Voldemort has learned how to summon the ancient demon armies, and over this last summer has unleashed them on the world."
He swirled his wand and an image of a demon materialized in front of him, amid shouted exclamations of disgust and alarm. He arched an eyebrow. "I take it few of you have seen one of these before." He turned back to the image. "This is a typical specimen. Note the muscles in the arms and legs. They are incredibly strong and supernaturally fast, nearly inexhaustible with awesome stamina, and unbelievably vicious with an insatiable blood thirst. They are immune to all spells a normal wizard can do, and are physically tough enough to withstand a lot of brute force. They are fairly intelligent, but as far as anyone has determined, that only covers what orders their master gives them to complete an objective. In other words, the ultimate loyal shock troops."
Dean raised his hand. "Can they do magic?" Remus hesitated as he thought, then answered, "We're not entirely sure. The ability to block magic is magical in and of itself, but there is no evidence that they are capable of active magic, such that we know. They prefer to kill by hand and force, which leads some to believe that they cannot do higher magic." He paced around the image as it snarled and brandished a clawed fist. "Mr. Black and I have both run across these creatures in the last few months. They are nothing to be trifled with." He flicked his eyes towards Harry. "I believe you have also encountered them before, Mr. Potter?" The teen shrugged casually. "Once or twice." "Would you like to add anything?"
Harry got up out of his seat and approached the image, studying it critically. "Well, we know that they can do one type of magic. They are able to transport themselves anywhere, even through anti-Apparation wards. From what I've seen, they like to attack en masse with at least a dozen. In a crowd they split up so each can do the most damage, but against a single opponent they resort to swarm techniques meant to overwhelm and slaughter. There are actually two different kinds or species."
He traced a finger over the claws. "See these? They're poisoned with a paralytic which literally freezes every muscle in the body, including the heart. The victim dies of a heart attack, if the blood loss doesn't get him first. The claws are distinctive of the warrior species, which is by far the most prevalent and dangerous. The other is the messenger class which act as a go-between for the ranks and the master. They are dangerous in their own way, but not physically violent. They also create the weapons.
"In general, they do have a few weaknesses. They can't swim; their armored hide is so heavy they sink and drown, although with their greater lung capacity it takes a while. For some reason they are fairly flammable, more so than humans or Snape's hair, which I find rather ironic." There were a few chuckles at that statement. "Like you said earlier, they are immune to magic, but they cannot cast spells of their own. And they are useless for most sneak attacks, as it is impossible to keep them quiet. They like to growl and snarl and whatnot, so you usually hear them before you see them. And they smell terrible, so don't get too close if you don't want to pass out from the stench." Harry glanced up at his professor and godfather. "Anything else?"
Remus shook his head and addressed the rest of the class. "I hope you were taking notes. Most of this cannot be found in books, as very few people have survived a close encounter with a demon, let alone be able to study one and their capabilities." Harry sat back down as his classmates scrambled to get out their quills and parchment. Hermione leaned over to him and whispered urgently, "Harry, exactly how close have you gotten to these . . . things?" The disgust and open concern was obvious in her voice.
He murmured back, "Far closer than anyone else, and too close for my comfort." He saw the horrified look on her face. "Don't worry. It's nothing I can't handle." Their conversation was interrupted as Remus spoke again. "The simplest way, yet by no means easy, to kill these things is by hand to hand combat, preferable with swords. Sirius?"
The ex-convict unsheathed a sword that had been lying on the desk in its scabbard. "This particular one had been enchanted to increase steel strength and sharpness as well as improving the balance and weight. Artificing, or enchanting objects to enhance their natural capabilities, is fairly difficult. You won't learn that until next year in Charms." Ron leaned over and whispered to Harry, "Which means Hermione can do it right now." He earned himself an elbow in the ribs.
Sirius continued his lecture. "Now, some might consider this a bit archaic and useless. But in actuality if a wizard finds himself deprived of his wand or otherwise unable to do magic, the sword is the best third line of defense." He arched an eyebrow. "Who can tell me the first two?" About half the class raised their hands, and Seamus answered, "Your brain and your wand. First do whatever possible to avoid a conflict, but if that fails, use your wand to end it quickly." Remus nodded. "Very good Mr. Finnegan. I'll be sure to let Professor Figg that some do indeed pay attention in her class. Five points. If in a fight you are reduced to using a conventional weapon, you have already lost part of the battle, yet it is still possible to win the war."
He turned to Sirius. "Would you care to give us a demonstration on the proper sword techniques?" Sirius nodded with the Marauder twinkle in his blue eyes. "Sure. But I think it might be more beneficial and instructive to give them a demonstration of dueling instead of simple sword tricks. Harry, you know how to wield a sword. Care to help me out here?" His godson blinked. "Why not you and Professor Lupin?"
Sirius smirked. "He's not as good as you are, and I need competition. Plus someone's got to clean up after us." Harry sighed as he pushed himself away from the table again and walked up to join his godfather. "Fine. But remember, you asked for it." The other students stood along the walls as Remus cleared away the desks with a flick of his wand.
Harry unsheathed his own sword from his back and enlarged it to full size. Sirius blinked. "Do you carry that thing everywhere?" The teen War Mage shrugged carelessly. "Pretty much. On Remus' signal." They faced each other with swords in hand, eyes never breaking contact. Remus stood off to the side, evaluated them both, and said "Go."
The swords clashed together not even a second later, and soon a full- fledged battle was being waged. Sirius was in excellent shape with sharp reflexes and experience with years of fighting the Dark Arts. He had learned to duel with all sorts of blades as a child, and continued improving his skills up until the day he was arrested. But Harry - with battle-hardened muscles, training, razor-sharp reflexes, youth, and nearly superhuman speed - was more than a match for him. As this was a demonstration, however, he held back and allowed Sirius to dictate the speed and ferocity, matching him stroke for stroke.
After a couple minutes of straight dueling, Harry idly wondered if Sirius was adaptable, and if he had learned the art of two blades. He ducked a sweeping blow, spun and kicked out to land a booted foot on Sirius' breastbone, just hard enough to wind him a bit. He staggered back a few paces with surprise on his face, but then his eyes narrowed as he rejoined the duel, a punch of his own accompanying a parry.
Harry snapped his head to the side just in time and heard the fist whistle by his ear, then hooked a foot behind his godfather's knee and shoved him hard. Sirius fell back, but caught himself on his hands and turned it into a roll to land on his feet again. They eyed each other for a moment, then the teen War Mage smirked as he pulled out one of his boot knives, the unpoisoned one, and held it in a backwards grip, blade back against his forearm.
Sirius' eyes widened briefly, then so did his smirk as he too pulled out a boot knife of his own. Harry asked, "So you carry that thing everywhere?" "Pretty much," Sirius retorted with good humor as he attacked, driving Harry back towards the wall. The students there scattered to the sides as they watched wide eyed, many cheering or placing bets as to whom would be the winner. The odds seemed to favor Harry, but only slightly. The ones not busy counting out sickles were mesmerized by the intricate dance between the four blades, the complicated footwork to maximize balance and reach, the determined expressions on the duelists' faces.
Harry dropped to sweep his leg through Sirius' ankles, but he jumped over it and slashed downward with his sword. The teen rolled out of the way and parried with his dagger, then used the flat of this sword to smack his godfather on his rump. The Animagus yelped, and Harry used the distraction to flip back to his feet. The duel continued, with both combatants showing off their considerable competency with the blades. Neither had managed to draw blood, but were sporting a couple of bruises apiece. Sirius feinted with his dagger, and as Harry moved to block it slipped in his sword and attempted to disarm him. Harry caught the move and parried it with his knife, then locked his blades around the sword and wrenched sideways.
The sword was torn from Sirius' grasp to go skittering across the floor, so he slashed a quick attack with his dagger to give himself room and dove for the abandoned blade. Harry had other ideas, and managed to drop his own sword and latch onto the Animagus' ankle, preventing him from reaching his goal. Then he trapped the hand still gripping the dagger in an iron hold and pressed his own knife lightly to Sirius' throat. "Do you yield?" he asked softly.
Sirius muttered, "Yes. Now let me up you great prat." Harry chuckled as he got up and offered his hand to hoist the older man to his feet. "You're good, very good in fact." They both were startled by the sudden applause, and Seamus and Ron even whistled and cheered wildly while accepting money from some of the others. Harry reddened slightly, but Sirius grinned widely and ever the showman took a deep sweeping bow.
Remus laughed a bit as he approached them. "A little unorthodox, but good tactics and improvisation. Homework," he raised his voice so everyone could hear him, "two feet on the history of demon involvement in wizard wars, the various ways used to defeat them, and your interpretation of the most successful one. Due next week." The bell rang, and everyone scrambled for their bags, chatting excitedly about the class.
Sirius caught Harry's arm as he walked towards the door. "I need to speak with you tonight, privately. Dumbledore wants us to go on a brief mission. After the Dueling Club?" Harry nodded and gave Sirius a brief hug, then joined his friends as they headed for History of Magic. Binns was dull as usual, plowing through his notes on 14th century vampire councils with all the enthusiasm of a flogged butterfly.
In contrast to the rest of the class, Ron and Hermione were quite entertained as they scribbled on the parchments in front of them. Harry craned his neck to see what was going on, and grinned to see that they were using the IM parchments to flirt back and forth. He glanced up to see Ron's ears turn bright red as he gaped down at the message, and Hermione had stuffed her fist in her mouth to stifle giggles. Harry decided that he really did not want to know.
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After their last class, the trio had time to stow their bags and relax in the Common Room before heading down to dinner, where they met up with Ginny again. Harry spent most of his time encouraging the others to eat, but they were too nervous about the upcoming evaluations to stomach much. Ron was even worse than Harry before a Quidditch match, and stared down at his fork spearing a glob of mashed potatoes without eating a single bite. Finally he gave up and ate his own dinner, the casually offered to go over any shaky part of their training again. It was like setting off a Dungbomb.
Hermione immediately started asking him about the theory of Elemental magic, while Ron wanted to know more about the dueling tactics he had used earlier, and Ginny inquired about the more powerful eavesdropping and cloaking spells and how to combine them. Harry barely managed to keep ahead of their barrage of questions and led them down to one of Gryffindor's secret rooms he had found. This one was a training room, and a perfect place to do a little revision until it was time for the Dueling Club.
Soon Ron was concentrating on his sword movements, going over the steps slowly, then speeding up as he got the hang of them. Ginny was in the corner under an invisibility charm, trying to sneak up on Harry and Hermione on the other side of the room, while using an eavesdropping spell to try and pick up on their conversation through the Silencing Charm Harry had placed. He was demonstrating the various Elements and their powers to Hermione, and explaining how one had to modify one's individual power to channel the Element, as well as how his staff worked in that regard.
By the time they reported at the Dueling Club an hour and a half later, all were considerable calmer and more focused. Professor Figg started by dividing them into two groups, years three and four in one and five through seven in another. She told the Head Boy and Girl to begin teaching the younger students the Shielding spell while she taught the older ones some advanced curses and hexes. Harry was only half listening, slightly bored as he began fiddling with one of his knives in the wrist sheath. He pulled it out and flipped it from hand to hand out of sheer boredom, unnoticed at the back of the gathered students.
A wicked idea flashed through his mind suddenly, and he allowed himself a smirk as he glanced around to make sure nobody was paying attention to him. With the ease borne of experience, he conjured his clone and simultaneously went invisible, then casually slunk over to the side door behind the platform where the professor's table normally sat. He cast one look back at the doppelganger taking his place behind Ron at the rear of the crowd, then slipped through the door and jogged down the hall heading for the nearest window.
He opened it and clambered out onto the narrow ledge, dropped the invisibility spell, transformed into a monkey and began climbing the outer wall. These old stone walls had lots of grips and handholds courtesy of the cracks in between the rocks. Grinning to himself, he reached the top of the ramparts and scampered along, curling his long tail behind him. He supposed he could have Apparated, but where's the challenge in that?
Soon he swung into the Gryffindor Common Room, which was thankfully deserted. Silently Harry snuck up the staircase into his dormitory where he returned to his human shape and began rifling through his trunk. H dug out a couple of stowed items to shove in his pockets, then went out to the landing overlooking the Common Room to cast a little spell over the portrait hole. Smiling, he went back to the window and jumped out, reveling in the sensation of freefall before transforming again, this time into a phoenix, beating his powerful wings to create a downdraft and rose up again into the night air. He swooped around the castle a couple times, then sailed in through an open window and headed for the dungeons.
Sneaking into the Slytherin Common Room was a joke, as it turned out that the entrance had a back door setting, if you will, meaning that any Parselmouth could get in. Definitely Salazar Slytherin's work and a prime example of how much he did not trust his colleagues. Harry found this out when he transformed into a snake in order to unobtrusively investigate the entrance and was hissing thoughtfully to himself. The wall ground open, and a very surprised Harry slithered in. He wondered if Dumbledore or Snape knew about this one. It slid shut again just as a second year entered the Common Room from the dormitories and flung himself on a leather chair, staring into the fire.
Harry considered his options, then quietly turned back into his human self and cast an invisibility spell over himself yet again. Treading quietly, he began setting his traps, keeping an eye on the Slytherin, who seemed wholly preoccupied with watching the dancing flames. He was soon finished and mentally noted to thank Fred and George the next time he saw them.
Now the only problem was getting back out, as the Slytherin would undoubtedly notice if the secret doorway opened for no reason. Taking inspiration from one of the few Muggle films he had seen courtesy of Dudley, Harry used a bit of wandless magic to knock over a book on the other side of the room, spilling an inkwell all over the carpet. The second year jumped at the noise, then paled when he saw the mess and hurried over to pick it up.
Unnoticed by the frantic boy who was mopping at the mess but just making the stain bigger, Harry slipped out the door and back into the dungeons, heaving a sigh of relief once he was safe. On to parts three and four. With the help of the Marauder's Map he quickly located the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Common Room, and briefly wondered how in the world his father had managed to find them in the first place. Maybe it was Pettigrew in his rat form. Or maybe Sirius was really the ladies' man he made himself out to be in his youth. He grinned at the thought and sent him a mental thank you.
The tricky part was getting in; he did not know the passwords obviously, and the entrances were locked tight. But whenever a door closes, a window of opportunity opens. He managed to fit through an open window in his raven form into the Ravenclaw one, after waiting for some first years to drag a stack of books back to their rooms. The spells were set quickly and efficiently, and he flew out before the students came back.
Hufflepuff was a bit tougher without convenient windows to fly into, as the place was built almost like a badger's den deep inside the stone walls. Harry lucked out after lurking around the entrance for twenty minutes, when a second year came along and entered, unwittingly carrying along Harry the flea on the back of his robes. He chose a quiet place in the corner to work. The spells took a bit longer than necessary, as this Common Room was much more high traffic than the others, and several times a student unwittingly tripped a spell in progress and he had to start all over.
When he finally escaped by hitchhiking on another student, he calculated that the Dueling Club should be about done and he had to run before Sirius approached his clone. It would ruin the surprise. The phoenix was a good form, as it was swift and had the ability to turn invisible, so soon Harry the phoenix was sweeping into the Great Hall again, only to nearly fall out the air in shock.
His clone had not been idle while he was away.