In Every Darkness
Chapter Nineteen: Potions Tuition
27.7.1996 (Night)
Harry was lying on his back, staring at the ceiling, breathing deeply and easily. Tatsu had just left after a rather intense training session. Today they'd tried something new. Harry had attempted to fight Tatsu.
He was still aching all over from the various bruises that Tatsu had inflicted whenever Harry forgot a particular guarding movement, or the way to fall without hurting himself badly.
Now he was trying to decide if he wanted to finish the Two Towers or sleep … In the end desire to know what happened next in the Lord of Rings won out of need to rest, and he picked up the book to read until he fell asleep.
In the morning he was woken by an insistent tapping on his window. For a moment he thought it was Hedwig, until he realised that it was the morning of the twenty-eight.
He leapt out of bed, thankful that he was still wearing the clothes from the day before (taking them off had become too much of a bother).
He threw open the window and Michael McGonagall soared through it on his broom. "Hi Harry, not too early was it?" Michael asked, sounding a little concerned.
"No, no, it's fine," Harry assured him. "I was just dozing," he added, lying to make the man feel a little better. Michael nodded, cheering up immediately.
"Well, since Potions isn't actually working magic, I can show the practical stuff, which is where you seem to have had a problem in the past," Michael started, reaching into his pocket to remove a shrunken cauldron.
"Where do you think that you're up to in Potions? You have to answer truthfully or we'll never get anywhere," he added, taking out all manner of ingredients and conjuring a table to place them on.
"I really don't know," Harry said, sighing. "I don't know where I'm supposed to be, I only know that the OWLs seemed almost impossible."
Michael laughed. "If you thought they were impossible, you sure did a good job," he remarked. "Of course, your theory mark had a lot to do with the grade you got. Ok, we'll have a look at the more advanced third year Potions – you should be able to do most of them, and if not, I'll be able to see where the problem is."
"Ok," Harry agreed easily. He and Sirius were probably around that point in their 'dream lessons'.
"Right, we'll start with the most basic of the Truth Tell potions, and try a healing potion that should be strong enough to heal bruises or small cuts," Michael decided. "Look at the book, get the ingredients, and I'll watch to see what you do wrong."
Harry began, feeling more confident than he ever had in Snape's classes. His lessons with Sirius had helped a lot, of that he was sure.
An hour later he'd finished both Potions, apparently to perfection. Michael smiled. "Ok, you've got third year down, I think. Let's try some of the more advanced for fourth year!"
As Harry worked on his new assignment, he thought that Snape, Sirius and Michael all had very different teaching styles.
With Snape, there was only disgust – he rarely gave complements, and if he did, he usually turned them into insults, he acted as if everyone was letting him, personally, down by being unable to perform a set task and was incredibly unforgiving.
Sirius treated the whole thing as a big joke. He stole some of Harry's ingredients and wouldn't give them back until Harry told him exactly what he'd taken, right down to the amount. He dropped odd ingredients into whatever potion Harry was trying to make, and then made his godson try to remedy the effect by adding something else – before the cauldron exploded in their faces.
Michael was something of a combination of the two. He was helpful, but tried to make Harry do everything he could. He pointed out any mistake that Harry made, so that the boy would be able to see what he was doing wrong.
Harry knew that he didn't like Snape's way of teaching, but between Michael and Sirius, he felt that by the time he got back to Hogwarts, he'd be able to do most of what Snape would give them.
As he finished one of the fourth year potions, Michael nodded his approval then looked at the time. "Well, I have to run now, but I'll come back in a few days. Since your year at Hogwarts was quite disrupted last year, I doubt that you managed to learn all that much. How's the thirtieth?"
"That's the day before my birthday, and I'm going to visit my friends. Would the third of August work for you?" Harry countered after a moments thought.
"Yeah, sure! If nothing comes up, I'll see you on the third of August!" Michael nodded to Harry, re-shrunk all of the things he'd brought with him, cast an invisibility charm on himself, mounted his broom and was gone.
Harry did a quick spell to get rid of the gases that had accumulated around his room, just as Hedwig flew in through the window, alighting on her perch.
He'd received a letter from the Order of the Phoenix last time Fawkes had come – three days ago now, telling him what was happening with Harry getting to Grimmauld Place.
On the morning of his birthday whoever was 'on duty' outside his house would have a broom, they and Harry would fly to Grimmauld Place, arriving in the early morning, in time for morning tea.
He would have the twenty-ninth and the thirtieth to himself, to back and do whatever else he needed to.
Harry didn't really have that much to do, he would help Tatsu in the morning, train a little in the afternoon, come home, pack and be ready to leave in the morning.
Fawkes would not be coming today, since Harry would be coming to Grimmauld Place soon enough anyway. He had yet to tell the Dursley's, but they'd be happy enough to get rid of him anyway.
Harry had decided that he would only stay in Grimmauld Place over night, because he was progressing well with Tatsu and didn't want to give up the instruction – he would have to go to Hogwarts soon enough anyway, and wouldn't be able to learn anything new until he returned. He wasn't sure if he would come back for Christmas, and now didn't know if he wanted to stay at Hogwarts or return … Things certainly had changed this summer.
When Harry joined Tatsu for their morning jog, he was lost in thoughts of his birthday – he hadn't seen his friends for some time now. What would it be like to talk to them again?
"Snap out of it kid. Your birthday will come soon enough, and there is no use wondering what will happen until it does," Tatsu told him kindly.
Harry sighed and nodded. Today was the last day that he would be helping with Tatsu's moving in. They'd finished almost everything that there was to do now.
It would be odd, not helping Tatsu in the morning, but the other man had said that they would now be able to train for longer periods. Harry wasn't sure if this was good or bad.
By eleven o'clock, they were finished. "Well," Tatsu remarked, surveying the house with a slight smile. "We made it! It was much easier having someone around to help. Thanks kid."
"You're welcome Tatsu," Harry replied, smiling also.
"Well, we may as well get started with your training. You've been progressing well, so how about we start with a little spar?"
Harry winced. "Ok," he said, getting ready for pain. He was gradually learning to hold his own with the few moves that he'd learned, but Tatsu always managed to thrash him in the end.
'I guess he never completely gave up being a Malfo,y' Harry thought, but without bitterness. It was something of a joke between him and Tatsu, the difference between the other man and his 'real' family.
Harry did a quick set of limbering up movements as he fell into his Centre. Finding this place had become second nature to him now, and he no longer had to concentrate to do so.
It was like his mind shield, which was fairly strong now, even when Harry didn't concentrate on it, which Harry knew was nothing but a good thing.
The pair of them moved to the centre of the dining room on light feet. Harry had taken to trying to be as quiet as possible, and one of his and Tatsu's favourite games was to see how close they could get to each other without the other person noticing.
They stood oposite each other and bowed, Japanese style, before Tatsu moved. Harry jumped gracefully backwards as Tatsu's foot tried to sweep him from his feet.
Landing lightly, he spun around with a punch to where Tatsu's abdomen should have been – but the other had already moved, circling around behind Harry.
Harry turned, ducking to avoid a punch to his head, kicking out from his squatted possition. Tatsu tangled Harry's leg in his own, trying to make the boy lose his balance.
Harry swiftly snapped his leg backwards, rising as he avoided another sweeping kick.
It continued like this for some time. For a while, Harry held his own, but, as always, Tatsu won out in the end, because for one thing, he knew more than Harry did, and for another, he'd been practicing for a long time and didn't tire as fast as Harry.
Harry lay in the centre of the floor, panting heavily as Tatsu circled him on cat-quiet feet, laughing at Harry, not even winded.
Harry mock glared at his tutor. "What are you laughing at?" he asked jokingly.
Tatsu didn't answer – he never did.
"I wont teach you anything new today," Tatsu decided after a moment. "But tomorrow I'll give you some new strikes to practice while you're away with your friends."
"Right Tatsu. I'll see you tomorrow morning!" Harry peeled himself off the floor and headed for the door. He was already getting his breath back, he noted happily. He was recovering faster and faster from his bouts with Tatsu now.
He headed back to Number Four to do some more practise with spells. He was now getting very confident with everything that they'd learned up until fifth year, and felt that he might actually be ready to face his new year at school without feeling that he was behind just about everyone.
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That's it for this chapter folks! Next chapter we fast forward a little bit! See you then!
~WolfMoon~