Harry Potter and the Staff of Slytherin
Chapter Five – Dumbledore's Visit
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Disclaimer: I don't own most of these characters, I'm just going to steal them and return them differently.
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This is the end, Beautiful friend
This is the end, My only friend, the end
It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me
The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die
This is the end
~ The Doors – The End
You know that it would
be untrue
You know that I would be a liar
If I was to say to you
Girl, we couldn't get much higher
~ The Doors – Light My Fire
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This chapter is dedicated to...PIZZA! And Jim Morrison for his Mind-Numbingly amazing lyrics like the ones above.
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"Is there a reason that you didn't open your results, Harry?"
"I didn't see the point, Professor. What my results were bear no difference on my future life."
"Why did you come to that conclusion?"
"If I survive school, which is unlikely, my results won't matter either way. Potential employers will either hire me because I am 'The-Boy-Who-Lived' or they will turn me away because I am 'The-Boy-Who-Lived.' If they even look at my OWL and NEWT results then they won't care what I got."
"Are you not interested in your results?"
"Not really. Results are for people like Hermione and Percy Weasley who just want to prove themselves and show off their results or normal people whose jobs depend on it."
Dumbledore's eyes gazed at Harry as he said this, not revealing any emotion except deep thought.
To Harry's surprise, Dumbledore did not mention the results again. The Dursleys, for some reason, invited him to dinner. Harry thought about this for a while but could not find himself on any satisfying conclusion. Nor did he want to question the Dursley's decision, he was quite happy with the arrangement, as it would ensure a longer time before Uncle Vernon punished him for 'inviting' a 'freak' to their home.
He was quite dreading the Dumbledore-Dursleys conversations, what would they talk about?
Dumbledore had, however left after the conversation and would be returning at 7:30.
Harry had spent the day reading his Magical Disguises book. He had not yet tried any of the spells, he thought it would be better if he read the book through and understood it before trying out the spells. He had noticed a small passage about Salazar Slytherin:
'The first person to start trying Wandless Magical Disguises was Hogwarts founder, and Dark Lord, Salazar Slytherin. He was also known for owning the most powerful magical tool ever in existence, the Staff of Slytherin. The whereabouts of this Staff is unknown and it is general belief that if it ever did exist, it now doesn't. Slytherin was the first to discover Wandless Invisibility and, in fact, invented the first ever Invisibility Cloak simply by charming a muggle raincoat with his Wandless Charm. Unfortunately, the charm was lost in time and only a few dozen true Invisibility cloaks remain. Nowadays they can be woven from the hair of the Demiguise, an ape-like creature with the power to become invisible but most people now use Invisibility Potions, also discovered by Salazar Slytherin but these only last a few mere hours.'
The passage then described the process of concocting an Invisibility Potion.
This interested Harry. He had one of only a few dozen remaining Invisibility Cloaks?
By the time he had finished reading the book, it was already Quarter to Seven. He decided that he would get ready for dinner and then maybe practise some of the easier Wandless Spells if he had any time.
He took out a pair of blue Levi's Jeans and a black Ben Sherman Shirt as well as Boxer shorts and socks and left them on the boiling radiator before stripping naked and getting into the shower.
Twenty minutes later, he returned to his bedroom to practise the first charm in the book.
The main subject of the book was complete Wandless Invisibility and Reappearance - that was the overall target, however there were smaller charms to get the Wizard there, such as partial Invisibility, which was apparently the first step. However, the first step was to do it with a Wand, which was not an option for Harry. He had been in trouble at the beginning of nearly every school year now, he wanted to break tradition and maybe not risk being expelled before he got there.
As he wanted to start at the beginning, he decided to wait until he got back to Hogwarts before he started with the Invisibility.
He, instead, concentrated on the Wandless Disguises section of which the introduction was:
Wandless Disguise is a lost art. Once very popular, it lost interest with the introduction of Polyjuice Potions and gained a bad reputation when used by Dark Wizards to cover their identity. As considered a Dark Art, it is frowned upon and not generally practised, though incredibly useful.
Harry read on and concentrated on making his hair grow, like the book instructed. Hair growth was the simplest of the transformations. He was supposed to shut his eyes and picture himself with longer hair, but he couldn't manage it.
He gave up after a while and, instead, picked up the Animagus book.
The book informed him that there were three basic steps to becoming an Animagus:
Finding out what animal you will become Researching the animal Becoming the animalThough there were, of course, many different steps within these instructions.
The first thing he had to do was to say the spell that showed him his future animal.
However, this, too, required a wand. And no matter how long he tried doing it Wandless, it refused to work.
A pop disturbed him from his thought and he looked up to see the wrinkled face of his Headmaster looking at him.
"What is it you are doing, Harry?"
Harry then described how he had bought the books in Diagon Alley to read during the summer, however it seemed that he was required to have a wand.
"I will do you a deal. If I place a charm on your wand and this room which would allow you to practise magic without being detected by the Ministry, will you continue running the DA in the coming year?"
Harry was, needless to say, astonished.
"Why would you do that, Professor?"
"You read the Prophesy, you need to learn as much magic as possible before you face Lord Voldemort again. Oh, and you cannot tell anyone about this, not even Ronald."
"Thankyou, Professor. Who will be the new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher this year, by the way?"
"Mundungus Fletcher will be your new Professor this year, Harry."
Harry was very pleased about this. He had met Mundungus last summer and liked him a lot. Though anyone, with the exception of possibly Snape was better than Umbridge.
They made their way downstairs and Harry heard Uncle Vernon shout:
"GET DOWN HERE NOW, BOY. YOUR OLD FREAK IS NOT HERE YET AND YOU WILL BE PUNISHED FOR INVITING HIM HERE WHEN THE OLD GIT HAS BUGGERED OFF BACK TO FAIRY LAND."
"He already is here, Uncle Vernon."
"AND WHERE IS THE DODGY OLD FOOL"
"Standing behind you, Uncle Vernon."
And indeed he was. He had apparated behind him as he was shouting at Harry.
"Hahaha, j-just a… little joke, Mr Wizardy Sir," Uncle Vernon spluttered, his face turning purple.
"Indeed, and call me Albus."
"Y-Yes, Mr Albus. May I introduce my Darling wife, Petunia."
"Ah yes, Lily told me so much about you, Mrs Dursley."
Petunia's face went red with rage and she clenched her fists.
"DON'T MENTION THAT FREAK'S NAME IN MY HOUSE, YOU CRAZY OLD LUNATIC. I NEVER WANT TO-" But she was cut off by Uncle Vernon.
"Don't agitate the man," Vernon whispered frantically, "who knows what these Freaks are capable of."
"I assure you, Mr Dursley, that I will not harm anyone in any way."
To this, Vernon mumbled something about 'Lining them all up and shooting them'.
Twenty minutes later, the four of them were all sitting 'merrily' around the table digging into the tough lamb chops and chips that Aunt Petunia had prepared.
"This is simply delightful, Mrs Dursley," lied Professor Dumbledore. The chops were touch and the chips were soggy. Even Vernon Dursley was having trouble eating it.
"Where is little Dudley this summer?"
"He is at a special camp for the highly intelligent children who are gifted," stammered Vernon, clearly lying.
"Don't lie to these people, they'll eat us or something," advised Petunia is a whisper that everybody could hear.
"As I said before, no harm will come to either of you while I stay here."
"He's…at F-Fat Camp," stammered Vernon, his face bright red. "His diet wasn't working. Now get out of our house you disgusting little man."
"As you wish, Mr Dursley. I won't trouble you or your wife any more. Thankyou for the excellent dinner, Mrs Dursley," he said before he left.
"You will be punished for this, boy," Vernon muttered threateningly after Dumbledore had left.
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A/N2: Thanks to the reviewers of chapter 4, it's helpful and appreciated:
HermioneGreen
Mr. Virail
Siri Padfoot
Moony the Squire