Disclaimer: Not mine!
A/N: I'd just like to take the time to say "Thank You" to all of my reviewers. You guys point out mistakes and ask questions that keep my story from going flat.
Vincent - "If you ask questions you will get answers. They may not be in the authors note but in the story itself."
Phoenix - "This story is primarily a romance but it will have a few elements of the Harry Potter series in it as well. The Dark Lord, plots to kill Harry, etcetera, etcetera."
Vincent - "The last few chapters have mostly just been informational carriers. The author had to get the info to you in a way that still progresses the story."
Kev - "And I will now answer the questions that some of you have asked."
Neville – Yes there will be more "Lunch Specials". Both of them will start finding the stupidest reasons to have lunch together.
Athenegoddess – Think about it. He doesn't want to believe it because he is afraid that something bad is going to come of it.
Zesuit – This story has to span one year at Hogwarts and I'm really not keen on doing a 50 – 60 chapter fic to show everything that happens. I show the important events in great detail. If you want to know about Harry's day to day life, read another fic. Even J.K. Rowling doesn'tshow you when Ron picks his nose or every time Harry wakes up late. It would just make the story tedious and boring. Its great that you are asking questions, just think before you ask them.
HarryPotterFan17 – Thanks for the compliments. I just got a job actually. I'm working in the mail room of the local paper office. I only applied to six places but I know someone who works there. His name carries a little weight and it is a nice place to work as long as you don't mind standing for a few hours at a time.
Chapter Eight: Tango for Two
Harry looked around. Something strange was going on. The blackness was oppressive and the silence weighed down heavily on his nerves. He couldn't see more than three feet in any direction. He wished that it wasn't so quiet. The darkness grew heavier by the second. He tried to think about where he had been and what he had been doing but he just couldn't concentrate.
Quite suddenly he heard a footstep echo in the distance. Another soon followed, sharp and clear, cutting through the eerie silence. Then came another, and another. It was continuous. Harry couldn't decide which was worse, the silence or the slow echoing footsteps. The sound kept getting louder and louder. Whoever it was got closer and closer. He called out asking who it was only to find that he could not speak. He began to panic.
Harry ran in a random direction hoping to get away from the maddening sound. He ran as hard and fast as he could but the only sound was the footsteps that kept getting steadily closer and louder. Realizing it was futile he stopped. He covered his ears with his hands but the echoing footsteps doubled in volume. Sweat dripped down his face, his breath short from having run so far. The blackness seemed to constrict about him as if to keep him from breathing. Suddenly the footsteps stopped.
A pale and pallid figure stepped from the darkness into Harry's line of vision. Chalk white skin a sharp contrast to the black robes he was wearing. Completely hairless and with slits for a nose he was distinctly serpentine. In his long thin fingers the man held a long thin wand. Two blood red eyes glowed with malice in the dark. Voldemort raised his arm. He grinned wickedly. His lips moved. The hand swooped downward. He laughed as green light engulfed its victim.
Harry screamed.
It felt as though someone was strangling him. He couldn't breath. Something heavy was sitting on his chest. Harry trashed violently trying to throw whatever it was off of him. He found that the more he thrashed the harder it became to move and the less breath he could take in. A sudden cold hit him and he felt wet. His mind was befuddled with sleep and he became even more confused. He continued to thrash. He heard a girl shouting and then he couldn't move. He was breathing very shallowly by then. He began to hyperventilate.
Harry felt something hit his left cheek. Pain was growing in his face but he was calming down. His blurry vision came into as much focus as they could without his glasses. He saw several people standing over him in the Sunday morning sun. He felt someone place his glasses over his face. Everything came into immediate focus. He saw all of his dorm mates standing around his bed. Professors McGonagall, Dumbldeore – and surprisingly – Flitwick were all there. Ron was at the forefront of the students. With him were Hermione, Ginny, and Neville.
His breathing had become stable but he was still very confused. Harry still couldn't move and he was soaking wet. Suddenly he heard a voice. It was oddly comforting and quite feminine. He saw people being pushed aside as someone battled their way to the front of the crowd. "Is he okay?" the voice called. "He's not hurt is he?"
Professor McGonagall turned and glared, "How did you get in here?"
Professor Flitwick was surprised to say the least, "How did one of my Ravenclaw's get into the Gryffindor dorm?"
Professor Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling outrageously, "So good of you to join us Ms. Chang."
Chang? Harry thought. Cho Chang burst through the front ranks of Gryffindor students clad in a very flattering nightshirt and a pair of pajama pants. "Is Harry okay?" Most of the Gryffindor's were staring in shock now.
"Let's un-petrify him and get him cleaned up before we ask any questions. Everyone out," Professor Dumbledore ordered. "Ms. Chang," he said, "Please get dressed and follow Fillius to my office. Ron, Hermione, Ginny," he turned to face them, "Please do the same and follow Minerva and join us." After everyone went about their business Dumbldore turned to Harry and whispered "Finite Incantatum."
Harry, now fully awake yet still completely confused, untangled himself from his sheets and sat up. "Harry," Professor Dumbledore spoke to him, "Please get a shower and dress. Then I ask that you accompany me to my office so that we can sort this out." Harry nodded and proceeded to the bathrooms. Once done he dressed in a casual pair of pants and a plain t-shirt and followed the headmaster to his office.
Inside they found The heads of Gryffindor and Ravenclaw houses accompanied by Ron, Ginny, Hermione, and Cho. Dumbledore sat down behind his desk and motioned for everyone to sit in the chairs that appeared for them. "Alright Harry let's start with you," he said, "Please tell us what made you so frantic."
"I was having a dream sir," he began, "It was totally black. I couldn't see more than three feet in any direction." Harry proceeded to explain his dream down to the very smallest of details. When he finished Dumbledore seemed grave, yet the outrageous sparkle still lingered in his eyes.
"I believe Harry," the headmaster said slowly, "That since you have become more advanced in your occlumency it has been very hard for Voldemort to infiltrate your mind and get information. This, I think, has been an attempt at weakening your mental shields. When I arrived at your dormitory I felt many spells being used to confound, confuse, and even terrify you. However, your friends were able to wake you up as soon as Ms. Chang started shouting about your wellbeing." Cho blushed at the recognition she was receiving. "Now let us here what Ron and the others have to say. Let us start with Ron himself."
"Well sir," Ron began, "I had been having a game of chess with Hermione in the common room, as Harry was still asleep, when we heard him scream. We ran up the stairs to find him thrashing about and getting all tangled in his covers. At firs I tried siting on him to keep him from moving but he only struggled harder."
Hermione stepped in here. "I tried to wake him by shooting water at him in hopes that the cold would shock him out of sleep but he just kept thrashing. I then got the idea of putting him in the body bind. It stopped him from choking on his sheets but he started hyperventilating."
Ginny interrupted her then, "So I slapped him and he started calming down." The headmaster nodded and motioned for Professor McGonagall to share her story.
"I had been passing the common room on my way to breakfast while talking to Professor Flitwick," said professor nodded, "and Violet complained that someone was making an awful racket. I stepped inside the common room and found a crowd of students in front of the stairs to the boys dormitory. Professor Flitwick and I sent one of the students to get you and made our way up to the scene." Fillius Flitwick nodded the affirmative once more.
"Now Ms. Chang," everyone turned in her direction, "May I ask how you came to be in the Gryffindor boys dormitory in only your pajamas?"
"I..." she hesitated for a few moments as if deciding whether to tell them something or not. It seemed that she decided she would for she spoke the next moment. "I felt something strange, like something was wrong. Something was pulling me towards Harry. I can't explain it really," indeed she seemed to be having a hard time describing the feeling she had had, "I couldn't think about anything other than 'Harry's in danger'." She took a few breaths and continued. "I ran as fast as I could and I found the portrait hole open and rushed in. And well.... you know the rest."
"Indeed," Dumbledore replied.
Rai Warren waited on the quidditch pitch around noon. He could see Harry leaving the castle and smiled as he strode across the grounds for their first Arms lesson. Rai noticed that he had followed his instructions and worn a plain shirt and sweatpants. On the ground off to one side was a rolled up blanket and a large blue and green trunk. He stood waiting with the patience instilled in a retired royal bodyguard. Harry reached the pitch and walked into the middle where Rai was waiting. "Good afternoon Master Potter. Are you ready to begin your training?"
"As ready as I'll ever be Rai." The elven professor retrieved the blanket wrapped bundle and unrolled it in front of them. He sat down on one side and Harry on the other. It turned out that the blanket was really a carrying cloth for a large amount of weapons.
"The first thing we will be studying is the types of weapons and their uses." He began selecting several of the weapons from the mat. "I have assembled some of the muggle weapons from this world on the map and there is a more extensive elven collection in the trunk over there," he pointed to the oddly large trunk. "There are three main types of weapons. Piercing, slashing, and bludgeoning. We will not be working with bludgeoning weapons at all. We will be mostly working with swords, knives, spears, and bows."
He held up a rather large sword its blade was long and narrow with two edges. It gleamed silver in the light. The hilt was nothing special, it was steel and very plain. "This is called a bastard sword. You must hold it with both hands in combat as it is very heavy and quite long. Just so you know this is my favored weapon. I will be using this the most when we duel."
"Duel!?" Harry was taken aback. He hadn't said anything about dueling.
"Relax Harry," Rai said calmly, "We will only used blunted weapons when we spar. I have no reason to want to hurt you." Harry sighed and breathed out the breath he had been holding. A total of four out of five of his previous D.A.D.A teachers had wanted him dead. Rai picked up another sword. "This is a longsword." It was shorter than the bastard sword and quite a bit wider. "If you are strong enough you can use this with one hand. Most people use two hands when handling one." He then proceeded to show Harry a short sword, several types of daggers, a few fighting knives, and then moved on to the trunk.
Inside the trunk there were several types of spears, oddly shaped swords, a few bows, and enough arrows to supply an army. He then got into their uses in battle. It turned out that each type of sword from the bastard sword to the rapier had to be handled differently. Almost all of the spears had the same technique with a little variance. Rai gave several demonstrations and then the session was over.
"We will meet at noon on Saturdays and Sundays if possible and you will join me at six in the morning for meditation and at seven in the afternoon for practice every day. We will work on controlling your emotions and keeping your focus as well as building your skill with the weapons. Once you are at least proficent with each type of weapon we will work on your specialty."
"Specialty?" Harry asked as Rai cleaned up his things.
"You will find as we go along that you will do better with some weapons than with others. Whereas I do extremely well with swords, I hate working with daggers and knives. My sister could slice bread at one hundred paces with a bow, but couldn't swing a spear without breaking her arm. I have an uncle who can kill a raging wild boar with one slice of his dirk, but couldn't tell you which side of a arrow you put on the bowstring. I think I even know a man who studied ax combat with some dwarves."
"Wicked. I wonder what weapon I will favor," Harry wondered out loud.
"So do I Master Potter, so do I"