Harry Potter and the Staff of Slytherin

Chapter Six – Training and Fooling Malfoy

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Disclaimer: Obviously, I don't own Harry Potter or any of the other characters in this book. If I did I would have refused to sell them to WB, who did a terrible job of that 'movie'.

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Mine's a tale that can't be told,

My freedom I hold dear;

How years ago in days of old

When magic filled the air,

T'was in the darkest depths of Mordor

I met a girl so fair,

But Gollum, and the evil one crept up

And slipped away with her.

~ Led Zeppelin – Ramble On

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"You will be punished for this, boy," Vernon muttered threateningly after Dumbledore had left.

… … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … … ... … … … … … … … … … …

And he was.

He returned to his room black and blue and painful all over.

From that day, he was forced to spend the entire day in his room.

Hedwig had been sent to the Weasleys with the note:

"Please look after Hedwig until I see you again, I'll explain when I see you."

And Sirius the Linxa had flown off, saying that he would meet him on the train to Hogwarts.

He had not left his room since. His windows had been nailed with wood, so he couldn't look out of them, and a catflap had been installed so that he could be fed twice a day.

With nothing else to do, he had read and mastered every single trick in his books except the Animagus one. He dearly regretted not buying more. He could now:

Turn invisible and reappear at will, without a cloak.

Repel Humans, muggle and wizard, so they unwillingly avoided him.

Make people forget they saw him, incase they did.

Change his appearance, even getting rid of his scar!

He could do all of these without a wand and had learned all of them from the Wandless Magical Disguises

From the Attack Against the Dark Arts book, he had learned how to do many spells, curses and hexes and also how to duel properly.

From the Elemental Magic for Beginners, he had learned how to control:

Lightning

Water

Ice

Fire

By shooting them from his fingers or from the sky.

And could generally alter the weather.

He had memorised every single Potion from the Potentest Potions book, though he could not try out any of them without ingredients or a cauldron. He had also learned all of the theory behind Potion Making, learning what effects different ingredients had in different measures, and also how different ingredients reacted together.

He had not yet started on The Animagus Training Book. He had decided to leave that until last. For one thing, he would not be able to research his destined animal unless he had books from a library. Also, it looked like it would take the longest.

He had, however, been improving his room.

He had made it much larger on the inside for a start. The room had the same area roughly as a Standard-sized Quidditch pitch and it seemed to have no roof.

Anyone else, for example, the Dursleys, would just see a bare-walled white room.

He had added training equipment, like weights and a running track, to get fit. He relied on his magic but he wanted to learn how to fight and also, being fitter would help him in duels and Quidditch.

He had charmed the ceiling as if it were the Great Hall at night and had painted the walls Red and Golden, Gryffindor colours.

He dearly regretted not being able to apparate. He could have apparated anywhere he wanted to without the Dursleys knowing. It was nice having this huge place but with only a few books and his broom to entertain him, he was quite bored.

Two days before his birthday,  he packed up everything and reduced the room to its former state. He packed all of his clothes and school belongings into the trunk and then shrank it so it could fit into his small Inventory that he had bought in Diagon Alley.

He had sent a note with Hedwig telling the Weasleys that he would make his own way to the Burrow.

Placing all of his belongings, except his Firebolt, into his Inventory, which was placed into his pocket, he magically opened the door and walked down the stairs, to the rage and shock of the Dursleys.

He then turned himself and his Firebolt invisible, kicked Uncle Vernon in the backside, and walked out of the front door.

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Harry decided to Diagon Alley before going to The Burrow.

He wanted to get some more books and didn't think he would have time when he left the Weasley's house.

He had decided to go to the Book Store in Knockturn Alley instead of the one in Diagon Alley. The reason for this was that the book that he had found in Knockturn Alley had been much more useful, longer and cheaper.

He grew his hair longer, grew a short beard and got rid of the scar. He also made himself 6 inches shorter, his eyes brown and his hair brown. He also put a repelling charm on himself with a wave of his hand and a click of his finger which would make people just generally avoid him without knowing or noticing anything strange.

He walked out of the bookstore a short while later with a collection of books on various subjects, including Healing and Apparating.

A small shop caught his eye on the corner of the street. It was dimly lit and he could see no signs except for a pitch black banner above the shop.

Curious, he made his way over.

The sign simply read 'Ancient books'.

He made his way into the empty store and saw piles of books with no order and no shelves. Also, no attendants.

"Hello?" He called in someone else's voice (a trick from Wandless Magical Disguises).

But no-one answered.

He looked around the books. They seemed to mostly be books about the Dark Arts, only how to perform them though.

One book caught his eye:

'The Unforgivables'.

It was a book about blocking the three Unforgivable curses, the Killing Curse, Cruciatus and the Imperius Curse. It had no immediate blocks but it had a lot of theory and history of the three Unforgivables. Harry thought that maybe it would help him to understand how he survived Voldemort's attack when he was a baby.

"Can I help you, young Sir?"

"I am interested in buying this book. How much is it?"

"They are all free, Sir. I am retiring and all of the books are to be given away for free. Take as many as you like."

Harry decided to take all of the books in the store. He decided that he would rather destroy all of the Dark Arts books and keep the useful ones.

Better that than the books falling into the hands of someone like Draco Malfoy.

He shrank the books and placed them into his handy Inventory, to the shock of the Bookstore Attendant, and made his way out of the shop.

The attendant smirked before apparating away to his Master to tell him the good news.

Harry also decided to take money out of his bank at Gringotts. He didn't want to visit his account during the year with Ron, as it always made him feel uncomfortable.

On his way out of the bank, he spotted Draco Malfoy sitting at the Ice Cream Parlour a short distance down the street.

He was sitting on his own, reading a book, to Harry's amazement. He had grown over the summer and had grown his hair longer over the summer. He now looked much more like his Father than he previously had

Fascinated, Harry turned himself invisible and placed a silencing charm on himself. It had rained earlier and his steps would make splashing noises, which would get Malfoy's attention.

The title of the book was 'Spying techniques.'

He wants to be a spy for Dumbledore? Harry wondered.

Harry decided that he would have a chat with Malfoy, in disguise of course. He walked into a nearby alley, made himself reappear and changed his appearance to make himself look much more foreboding and almost dangerous. He also placed a Mark on his arm which closely resembled the Dark Mark and covered it up with his sleeve.

"You're Draco Malfoy, right?" He asked in a deep gruff voice with no distinguishable accent.

"Who's asking?" Malfoy glared at the man who had interrupted his reading.

"My name doesn't matter, I'm a friend of your Father's."

"Please allow me to introduce myself," Malfoy smirked, "I am Draco Malfoy. How did you know my Father?"

Harry, in reply to this question, lifted up his sleeve to reveal the Dark Mark.

"I'll give you three guesses."

Malfoy's eyes widened in amazement, then he looked suspicious.

"If you're a Death Eater, how come I've never heard of you. Father was very important and a lot of the meetings were held in our Manor," he boasted.

"I am in disguise right now. I am a wanted man."

"How is it you are able to disguise yourself?"

"Polyjuice. I kidnapped a muggle and I have had a lot of fun torturing him since. Though it's not very fun making that damned potion every day."

"I can see you're reading a book about spying. Are you planning on spying against the Dark Lord?"

As Harry said this, he wandlessly cast a strong truth spell on Malfoy under the table.

"N-n-no," Malfoy stuttered in a very Dursley-like performance. "I plan on spying against Dumbledore. I plan to pretend to change my ways and join the Order of the Phoenix and then spy for the Dark Lord."

"Tell me about Voldemort's current plans."

"He plans a mass-breakout of Azkaban. All of the prisoners will either join him or die and the dementors are in on it, too."

"When will this happen?"

"Tomorrow, at 10:00pm."

Malfoy looked shocked at the words tumbling out of his mouth as Harry took off the Truth Charm.

Harry then shut his eyes and transformed back into his original appearance.

"POTTER!"

"Thanks for the information, Malfoy," he smirked and looked down at an astonished Malfoy sitting in rage before memory charming him and walking off.

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I apologize for the bad standard of writing in the past few chapters. Writer's block is a common excuse, I'll use that one.

Thanks to the reviewers:

David M. Potter

CoolPadfoot

Hermionegreen

ManIACjAcKaL

Trev