In Every Darkness
Chapter Eighteen: The Training Begins
22.7.1996(Night)
Harry limped back to the Dursley's as darkness fell – his exhausted mind could not make the journey to the Centre now that he had been shaken out of it.
He did not stop downstairs to get food – he would have been too exhausted to eat anything anyway.
He stagged up the stairs and collapsed on his bed, not even able to be bothered to remove his glasses, let alone clothes. The moment his body hit the bed, he was asleep.
He was standing in the Department of Mysteries. Immediately he could sense that this was a nightmare … He could see Sirius there, but knew that it wasn't 'real' Sirius.
It must, Harry decided, be something he'd picked up from numerous experiences with his godfather in dreams. Though he couldn't pinpoint 'normal' in the dream itself, he could tell when it was gone.
Not even really understanding what he was doing, Harry sent out a loud mental 'yell' of Sirius! into the dream world.
A moment later there was a slight feeling of disturbance as the Department of Mysteries Nightmare disappeared and became Grimmauld Place.
"That was some yell kid," Sirius said by way of greeting, pretending to rub an ear as if it had hurt.
Harry laughed. "Sorry, but I didn't want to go through you blaming me for killing you and Cedric, and for bringing Voldemort back to life and things like that," he replied.
"Understandable," Sirius remarked, grinning slightly.
Harry focused his thoughts for a moment, and suddenly they were standing in one of the Hogwarts dungeons. Not the one that Snape normally used, Harry wasn't ready for that.
"Why are we here?" Sirius asked, blinking.
Harry laughed. "You said that you'd help me with Potions next time you met up with me … Actually, I've got something to tell about that," he told his godfather.
He relayed the mornings events.
"Michael McGonagall? I knew him … Sort of. He was in first year when your father and I were in seventh, I think. That was just after McGonagall became Transfiguration teacher," Sirius mused. "I'm surprised that he decided to help you though. He'd lose his job if anyone ever found out about this."
Harry winced slightly. "Then I'd best make sure that I tell as few people as possible. Actually, I don't think I'll tell anyone else. If only you know about it, you aren't going to go telling people," he decided.
"That sounds good. Michael would hardly do anything himself – he's the one taking risks anyway," Sirius agreed. "And now we have to get you up to scratch on 'outstanding' Potions performances."
As they began to work – Harry was having some problem with first year Potions, or at least some of them – they talked a little of this and that.
"How's things with Tatsu?" Sirius asked suddenly.
Harry groaned. "I have now become quite certain that he is some sort of demon incarnate," he remarked.
"That's my friend you're talking about," Sirius warned jokingly. "But what's he done to make you think that?"
*Flashback*
Safe in his centre, Harry watched warily as Tatsu circled him. He had been instructed to stand still, facing one direction. Tatsu was pacing around him.
Harry listened intently to Tatsu's foot-steps. They were light, but he could hear them none-the-less. Suddenly there was a slight change in the step.
Harry allowed his body to sway slightly to one side as Tatsu's fist flashed past him. He knew that slight change perfectly, from the amount of times Dudley had hit him.
Tatsu returned to stand in front of Harry. "Well done," he offered. "Now, for the moment I wont concentrate on that type of attack – that sort of thing will come later. We'll start off with some limbering up exercises, and I might teach you some of the basic punches," he said. "You will practice these here, in your Centre, and at home, just normally."
Tatsu had worked Harry to the bounds of physical endurance over the next few hours. Though Harry was fit, from playing Quidditch, the jogging he'd been doing over the summer and from his attempts to keep out of the reaches of Dudley's gang, Tatsu had managed to make everything that Harry had been through before seem pale in comparison.
*End Flashback*
As Harry told this to Sirius, his godfather periodically laughed and winced in sympathy.
"Well," he said, as Harry finished his tale, "you seem to be up to scratch with Potions up till Third Year. You actually have quite some talent in the subject. I'll assume it's Snivellus's teaching methods that gave you trouble before."
"Thanks for the help Sirius. I'll talk to you soon," Harry said, allowing himself to be pulled into the waking world again. He had Defence practice to attend to.
It was near to one in the morning when Harry awoke, and he was, again, completely rested. Hedwig was settled on her perch, eating a dead mouse.
"Hedwig, I'm going to be using spells again," he warned her. "You might want to go outside for a while."
Hedwig gave a few quiet hoots, before jumping into the air and soaring from the open window.
Harry swiftly performed the charms on his room that would make sure that no one could interrupt him, or see what he was doing. Taking his wand out, he started with Defence. As far as he was concerned, this was the most important of all the subjects at Hogwarts.
Slowly he made his way through his ever growing collection of curses, hexes and jinxes, his work on aim was good now, and he had decided to concentrate once more on learning and performing the spells.
Once he'd exhausted his collection, he moved on to Charms and Transfiguration spells.
As dawn tinged the sky, Harry removed the wards and settled on theory, since this was just as important as practical work when it came to exams.
He and Tatsu would not be working with Tatsu's moving in today, since they'd done so much yesterday. Tatsu would be coming to Harry's room later on to do something of a work out with him then.
Until then, it seemed he would have to study.
Two hours later, Harry, deeply embedded in reading The Two Towers – he'd given up on studying – waved his wand to conjure a small breakfast.
Just as he began to eat, he heard the faintest wisps of music. Fawkes was coming. He put the book down and ate faster, wanting to see what his friends had to say.
Finally, in a burst of flame, Fawkes arrived. He flew over to where Harry was lying on his bed, and offered the boy the letter he carried.
Hey Harry,
This is from Ron and Hermione, since we repeat each others news anyway. We've really been missing you, but Dumbledore says that you are coming here for your birthday, and that's only a week away! It'll be so good to see you!
Dumbledore's still saying that we can't trust much to a letter, which is getting really annoying, but oh well. I'm sure Dumbledore knows what he's talking about.
It's getting kind of boring over here at the moment. Fred and George and pretty much living in their shop at the moment, Percy is still being prat and so no one here is talking to him.
Remus has been looking happier lately, but that might be because the full moon is past now.
How are you going? Ginny said that she mentioned Snuffles to you … We didn't know what your reaction would be, that's why we didn't. We really don't want you to be angry at us Harry. You're our friend, and we need you.
Well, hopefully we'll hear from you soon, we'll still write whenever we get the chance, but that's only twice before we meet up. Oh well. It was great to hear from you last time.
We'll tell you our OWL results when you get here, we've heard most of yours – congrats on the Potions mark … Hope it didn't sign your death warrant though.
See you soon!
Ron & Hermione.
Harry smiled slightly, it was good to hear from his friends. This was the only letter that Fawkes had brought this time. Dumbledore seemed to have decided that Harry didn't need to hear from him this time.
Harry got up and looked for a pen or quill to write back with, and, eventually finding one, settled down to think of what he should write in reply.
Eventually, he had a letter that he was fairly pleased with. He didn't have all that much to say that he could trust to a letter. Anyway, he wanted to keep Sirius as much to himself as possible at the moment, and Tatsu didn't like being talked about.
Just as Fawkes disappeared with the letter, Harry heard a tap on the window and hurried over to open it and allow Tatsu into the room.
"Hello Harry," he greeted, smiling brightly. "Ready for some more training?"
Harry groaned, but nodded anyway.
"That's the way!" Tatsu told him, grinning wickedly. "Now, meditation!"
Harry sighed and settled down, finding his centre with only a few moments concentration.
"Good, now let's get started!" He looked incredibly mischievous, and Harry knew that he was in for a long day.
He started with many exercises to make sure that he could move all of his muscles properly, had Harry thought to look at the clock, he would have noticed almost three hours ticking away.
Finally, Tatsu decided that Harry was limber enough. "Now for some real fun!" Harry looked at his teacher oddly. "I'm going to teach you some basic punches," Tatsu explained.
A slight smile played around Harry's lips – this was what he'd wanted to learn!
Tatsu demonstrated, showing different ways of punching to create maximum power, the different strikes to use for different effects. He made Harry repeat them on a straw mat that he'd brought with him, over and over again.
Harry was beginning to get very bored with hitting straw mats by the time Tatsu said that he could stop. Even in the Centre, he was feeling it.
"Now, Harry, you just have to practice that for about an hour each day. Tomorrow we'll just work on the house," Tatsu informed him.
Harry sighed and nodded his head, and his mind freed itself from the centre. "And remember, don't go the centre without me here to watch you," Tatsu gave a final warning before heading to the window. "I'll see you in the morning."
***
There we go – Harry's started martial arts training! Sorry for the mistake last chapter – I was nearly at 400, not 300 … It was just after four in the morning, so I hope you'll forgive the mistake.
~WolfMoon~