THE EDUCATION OF HARRY POTTER
Fire.
Harry was surrounded by flames. The black night sky was tinged with scarlet and
grey as thick smoke billowed up from burning buildings. He was standing in the
middle of a street, flanked by smoldering heaps of wreckage. People were
scrambling in every direction, terrified. Everywhere Harry looked, he saw
carnage.
While he was standing in the midst of the chaos something strange occurred to
Harry. He couldn't hear the cries of the fleeing citizens, nor could he hear
the crackling sound of fire feasting upon wood. The only sound in his was ears
was one man's insane laughter.
Harry tried to find the source of the sound. He navigated through the burning
streets, avoiding debris and frantic people. The sound was closer now. Harry
ran faster, drawn by the sinister cackling. Finally he turned a corner and
stopped in his tracks when he saw the familiar figure of a man hooded in black,
his face twisted into an evil sneer. Harry knew that flat face, those
snake-like eyes...
Voldemort.
"Harry! Wake up!"
Ron was firmly shaking Harry into consciousness. Harry wondered if Ron was
getting tired of waking him from his nightmares.
"What was it this time?" Ron asked, concerned that some new emergency had come
up.
"I...don't know." Harry groggily responded. "It didn't look like anything
that's happening now. I think it was just something that he wanted to do, maybe
something he's planning."
Ron looked even more alarmed at this news. "Lovely. I can't wait to see what he
has in store for us. You should go see Dumbledore about this."
Harry didn't really want to face Dumbledore with this news, but he knew Ron was
right. They quickly got dressed and hurried to Dumbledore's office. It was just
after dawn and the hallways were nearly empty. When they arrived at the statue
that led to the headmaster's office, Harry used the new password that
Dumbledore had sent him during the summer for occasions such as this.
"Snakes in the grass."
The moving staircase appeared and Harry and Ron quickly scrambled up it. The
two young men found a very alert looking Dumbledore sitting at his desk, as if
he had been waiting for them.
"You two are up earlier than usual." he said with a slight note of amusement in
his voice.
"I had another vision." Harry quickly told him. "I think Voldemort is planning
something."
Dumbledore motioned for Harry and Ron to sit down as Harry recounted his fiery
vision. When the tale was finished, the headmaster sat quietly for a moment as
he analyzed the new information.
"It would seem," Dumbledore finally said "that Voldemort is ready to resume his
activities. I believe that, he wants us to know what he is planning.
Voldemort is no fool, and now that he is aware of the mental link that you two
share I am sure he has been carefully guarding his thoughts. He must have sent
this vision to you purposely."
"Why would he want to tip us off?" Harry asked, confused.
"He is not giving us a warning, Harry. He is giving us a challenge. He
is daring us to stop him. I suppose that he needs to regain some sense of
superiority over us after his recent failures."
"Arrogant prat." Ron spat.
"Yes Mr.Weasley, he always has been."
"So what do we do now?" Harry asked.
"I will share this information with the Order." the ancient wizard replied. "We
will have the Aurors analyze the clues and keep a watchful eye out. That is all
that we can do for the moment."
"What do you mean?" Harry nearly yelled. "Voldemort is planning to attack
innocent people! We can't just knowingly wait for him to do it."
"We do not know where, or when, Voldemort is planning to attack." Dumbledore
replied calmly. "We could posts agents around the country, but that would
stretch our already sparse forces even thinner."
Harry knew he was right. He knew there was nothing else they could do, but that
knowledge didn't make him feel any better. He would not let Voldemort
kill anyone else. It was time to take things into his own hands.
"I want Legilimency lessons." Harry said as looked straight into Dumbledore's
eyes.
Dumbledore raised a bushy eyebrow and looked at Harry as though he had suddenly
sprouted an extra arm.
"I'm obviously not good at Occlumency," Harry continued "but maybe I can do
better as a Legilimens. Maybe I can get into Voldemort's head."
Ron was staring at Harry with his mouth open, but he didn't say anything.
"Harry," Dumbledore said quietly. "Voldemort is a very strong wizard, and you
are still not old enough to..."
"I'm the same age that Tom Riddle was when he opened the Chamber of Secrets,"
Harry interrupted "and he managed to fool quite a few elder wizards."
Dumbledore lowered his eyebrow. "His facade did not fool all of us, Harry."
"Exactly." Harry replied. "You were able to see what he was up to, which makes
me think that a strong enough Legilimens should be able to break his guard.
Normally no one would even get the chance to try to read him, but I have the
advantage of our mental link. Besides," Harry continued, still staring into
those aged eyes. "Voldemort gave me some of his powers when he gave me the
scar. If I can speak Parselmouth, maybe I have a knack for Legilimency too."
There was absolute silence in Dumbledore's office. Although Harry never took
his eyes from Dumbledore's, he guessed that all the former headmasters were
listening intently from their photos on the wall.
"Very well then, Harry." Dumbledore said, breaking the long pause. "I will
arrange it. Now, you two should head to breakfast. You have a long day of
classes ahead of you."
After returning to the dormitory for their school supplies, Harry and Ron headed down to the Great Hall for breakfast. They were halfway there when Ron spoke up.
"Harry --"
"Not now Ron, please." Harry said as he gave Ron an apologetic look. "Let's get through classes first."
Harry and Ron soon arrived at the Great Hall. They took seats next to Hermione who was reading through the latest copy of the Daily Prophet.
"Where have you two been?" she asked.
"Tell you later." Harry quickly replied. "What's in the news?"
"Have a look for yourself." Hermione said as she handed him the newspaper.
Harry saw that a very interesting article was on the front page.
Ministry Raids Knockturn Alley as Suspicions Around Fudge Continue
Officials from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement
raided Knockturn Alley yesterday. This raid is the latest in a
string of investigations designed to find and prosecute
supporters of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. "We have repeatedly
foiled the activities of Death Eaters throughout the summer.
We are very confident that He-Who-must-Not-Be-Named will soon
be captured." said an official statement from Minister
of Magic Cornelius Fudge.
The public, however, is skeptical and most citizens still
fear for their lives. "They say they have the situation under
control, but they haven't arrested anyone in weeks. We still
don't even know what the Dark Lord is after." said Gladys Kitcher,
a witch from London that is forming an Anti-Fudge protest group.
Public scrutiny of the current leadership in the Ministry of
Magic has steadily increased since the return of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named
was officially confirmed, nearly an entire year after evidence of the fact
initially surfaced. The Daily Prophet has recently uncovered records of
several large "donations" to Ministry departments from Lucius Malfoy,
a known Death Eater that is currently in Azkeban prison. Malfoy was
one of Fudge's greatest supporters.
Can we really trust Cornelius Fudge?
That will be the primary question on the minds of voters during
the January elections. Fudge's seven year term will be up and he is
clearly seeking re-election. Several other Ministry officials have
announced their candidacy, but public favor seems to be with Albus
Dumbledore although he continues to decline the nomination.
"Hey Harry."
Harry had just finished reading the article when he heard the familiar voice behind him. He turned around and saw that it was Neville. Harry noticed that he didn't seem as nervous as usual and his face wasn't as round as Harry remembered.
"I uh...just wanted to thank you for the DA lessons. I never would have gotten that Defense of the Dark Arts OWL without you."
"Er...no problem Neville." Harry replied. "I should be thanking you though. You really helped us in the Department of Mysteries."
"Thanks, Harry." Neville beamed.
After breakfast they headed out to Hagrid's hut for their first class of the day. A good number of students had scored well on the Care of Magical Creatures OWL and there was already a crowd of students there. Harry was pleased to note that Draco Malfoy was not among them.
"Well it's good ter see yeh all here." Hagrid said when everyone had gathered around him. "It really means a lot ter me. Ahem, anyways...I've decided to start out with somethin' a little smaller this year."
There were several wooden pens set up just outside Hagrid's hut. In the pens were small dog-like creatures. Harry thought they resembled Jack-Russell terriers, except these animals had forked tails.
"Oh Hagrid, they're so cute!" Parvati had grabbed one of the dogs in a loving hug. "What are they?"
"Crups." Hagrid replied gruffly to the class. "Don' let their looks fool yeh. A crup can be a bloody difficult creature to take care of. They'll eat almos' anythin'. Leave home without feeding 'em and you'll come back and find 'alf yer furniture gone! And never, ever ever...let 'em get anywheres near a Muggle. They get violent around non-magic folk, vicious even. If yer a wizard though yeh can't ask for a more loyal pet. You 'ave to make sure you take care of 'em though. If you don't...well, I'll show yeh. Come 'ere."
The class followed Hagrid to a pen that was far removed from the rest of the crups. In this pen was a ravenous crup. The small creature was chewing on the large wooden planks the pen was built out of. The students watched in amazement as the crup devoured a four foot long plank and began to make short work of the rest.
"Some fellers at the Ministry just brought this one ter me. He used ter be owned by a mean old dark wizard, treated him like dirt he did. Poor thin' got fed up one day and took off his leg. Just goes to show yeh, Parvati. Just 'cuz somethin's soft and cuddly that don't mean it can't be dangerous."
"Well, everyone pair up and grab a crup." Hagrid said as he grabbed the poor crup in one of his massive hands.
Harry and Ron spent the rest of the class time playing with a crup and feeding it. Hagrid also showed them a few techniques for training them to fetch lost magical items. When the chance came up, Harry asked Hagrid about the thestral's behaviour last night.
"Righ', Dumbledore told me about that. No worries Harry, yer safe. Still though, there's not much out there that can put a fright into thestrals. There's only a few predators that are brave enough to hunt them, certain breeds of magical leopards and snakes. Mos' of those aren't native to these parts though. Besides, Dumbledore's put enough protection spells up to keep any dark creature from even getting in ter the area. I'd guess that some parasite like a chizpurfle bit the poor thestral or somethin'"
When the class was over Ron, Hermione and Harry said goodbye to Hagrid as they headed off to their Defense of the Dark Arts class.
"Hagrid's gotten much better at teaching." Hermione said as they re-entered the castle. "That was a very good lesson. A little odd, but good."
"Yeah." Ron agreed. "Now I know what to get Crookshanks for Christmas."
Hermione didn't seem to be amused.
On the way to their next class Harry received several more thanks from DA members. Cho had even taken a moment to express her appreciation. Harry was glad she didn't linger around for too long.
Harry gave a bit of a start as he entered the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Professor Grok was sitting casually on his desk. His short legs hung freely over it. He greeted each student with a wide smile that might have been pleasant had it not been for the small pointy teeth that it revealed. Whatever conversations that were going on ceased as soon as people entered the room to face the goblin. Everyone took their seats in absolute silence. In front of each seat was a small box.
"Good afternoon, young ones. As you know, I am Professor Grok. I will be teaching you various techniques for defending yourselves against dark magic. The skills we will be practicing are very dangerous. I ask that you treat this course with the utmost respect and caution."
"We will begin with some simple curse-breaking. I have put a very simple stinking curse on the boxes in front of you. Your task for today is to open the box without triggering the curse."
Harry looked at the wooden box on the table in front of him. On it was inscribed a small passage:
The contents of this box are mine
So whomever may read this sign
It's best for you to stop and think
Lest you be cursed with horrid stink
"Most protection curses involve a written passage of some sort." the goblin continued. "The written word can serve as an excellent container for magical energies"
Harry recalled the words inscribed on the entrance to Gringotts. He figured that goblins must enjoy using ominous poetry in their curses.
"The first step is detecting the curse. Goblins have a natural affinity for this, but most humans need the assistance of some wand-waving. The Egyptians had a rather simple spell for this purpose. The incantation is Maat Re. You will need to move your wand in a small circular motion. Now, everyone give it a try."
The class followed the instructions and soon all the small boxes were glowing red.
"Yes, very good. Notice the very light shade of red the box is emitting. The stronger the curse is, the darker the light will be. Now that we are able to see that there is a curse on the object in question, we can dispell the curse. Placing a curse of this type involves some complicated magic, but the key to any protection curse is the strength of the caster's desire to protect the object. In order to break the curse you need to draw out the energies placed into it. I did not put much energy into creating this small curse so breaking it should not require much effort. However, very strong curses like those placed on Gringotts are nearly impossible to break."
"The incantation we shall use for breaking the curse is Ka Sekhem. Once again, a circular wand motion is required. Be aware that if any aggressive or greedy thoughts enter your mind during the process, you will fail. Failure in curse-breaking usually leads to very unpleasant results."
Harry concentrated on the small container in front of him. He cleared his mind and moved his wand in a slow, tight circle.
"Ka Sekhem"
Harry was a little surprised when the box opened with a click, revealing a single sickle inside.
"Alright!" Ron shouted triumphantly as he successfully found the sickle in his own box.
Some of the other students were having problems with the task though. When Terry Boot saw that there was money inside the boxes, he let his thoughts wander and he was suddenly surrounded by a yellow cloud of dust. The sour look on his face indicated that the dust stank, but the cloud stayed close to him and no one else seemed to be able to smell it.
Once everyone had either succeeded or failed in opening the boxes Professor Grok spoke again. "Now that you have some working knowledge of the process, please open your textbooks and spend the remainder of the class time reading chapter two."
"Uhm...Professor Grok?" a slim Slytherin boy had raised his hand. He also had a stink cloud around him.
"Yesssss?" Professor Grok replied with a wicked grin.
"Could you...possibly remove the curses now?"
"Noooo." the goblin replied slowly. "When you fail to defend against dark magic, there are consequences. It is best that you learn this lesson the hard way. I will remove the curses when the class is over."
Professor Grok kept his word and he did indeed remove the curses at the end of the class, although Harry wasn't quite sure how he did it. As the students were leaving the clever goblin called out to them.
"Be sure to read the next chapter this evening. Tomorrow's lesson will be much more challenging."
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