Disclaimer: I do not claim to own the Harry Potter stories, (although that'd be freakin' a, money IS my best friend…) but I do own my one character in this story, Aranessa Savarati… which NONE OF YOU CAN HAVE!!! bwahaha! unless you ask first, and I say yes! So, I'm not an expert writer, but I'm working on it!!! Feed back is welcome, flames invited AS LONG AS they are constructive… if you get stupid and/or rude, I will ignore you, seeing as I do not speak to either stupid people or rude ones… So, yeah… enjoy the story!!!
Chapter 4: Beginning the First Classes
Harry woke the next morning, fully rested and happy to be back at Hogwarts. He rose and showered, then put his robes on. He shook Ron awake, who was still snoring rather loudly. Then he went to the common room to wait for Ron and Hermione.
He sunk into quiet reflection, thinking of the classes he would have this year. He knew he no longer had to worry about some of his classes, because of his Fifth year O.W.L.s. History, for example, and of course Divination, both of which he failed tremendously well in the examinations. Staring at the stars at midnight every Wednesday night for Planet Studies wasn't his favorite thing to do at night either, when he could be sleeping, and fortunately he didn't have to carry on with that either. Nor did he have Hagrid's Care of Magical Creatures, but that was almost as much of relief as it was sad. That just left him with Potions, Transfiguration, Charms, and Defense classes. He hoped anyways.
Hermione and Ron walked down stairs at the same time and met Harry, climbing out of the portrait hole to go to breakfast.
"Well, I've got five classes to take so far, that I know of, and hopefully that's going to be all," Hermione stated as they sat at the table.
"Five? Humph, well, Harry and I will only have four!" Ron said happily, biting into a rather large piece of bacon.
"Well, you two don't have Arithmancy as well," Hermione stated matter-of-factly.
"Thankfully, no," Harry smiled as they heard the rustle of owls over head.
Three brown school owls landed in front of the trio and dropped off small pieces of parchment to each. Then they flew away, and the three looked at their schedules.
"Just as I thought, five classes," Hermione nodded, putting her schedule down, and picking her spoon back up to eat her cereal.
"And just as I thought, I've only got four," Ron said haughtily, putting his aside to continue eating.
But Harry continued to stare at his schedule. Finally Hermione took notice and nudged Ron, bringing his attention to Harry as well.
"What's the matter, 'arry?" he asked, with his characteristically stuffed mouth.
"I... I've got six different classes," he replied, his eyebrows arched in surprise.
"Six?" Hermione gasped. "But what six classes could you possibly have?"
"Well, the normal ones: double Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Defense classes. But now I've got these two new ones... Occlumency and extra Defense classes with Aura."
"I believe that would be Professor Savarati, Potter," he heard Professor Snape say behind him in a hiss. "Ten points from Gryffindor for insubordination..."
Of course, he knew better than to argue back. He accepted the punishment, and Snape walked away, an unpleasantly sickening smile on his face.
"Well, anyway, it's no big deal, it's only Aura to deal with. At least it's not Snape," Ron comforted Harry with a small pat on the back.
"Yeah, well, I'd better head to my first Occlumency lesson. I see it's going to be in the extra classroom on the seventh floor..." Harry sighed.
"Well, I've got double Arithmancy first, so I'll be off as well," Hermione huffed, picking up her still-light backpack, that she knew would become heavier as the day progressed.
Ron nodded and stood up.
"I'll see you both at double Charms. I don't have any class until then, so I think I'll spot a bit of rest," he yawned.
They parted at the Great Hall, Hermione heading to the left, Ron to the right, and Harry straight ahead to the stairs that lead to the old, unused classroom area.
Harry walked up the stairs, head down, skipping over the places he knew that Peeves had rigged. Finally up to the seventh floor, he veered to the left, and entered the first classroom on his right.
Aura sat behind a large oak desk, waiting for him, and leafing through an impressively large book.
"There you are," she smiled, putting the book down. She waved her hand, and the rows of desks filed neatly next to the wall.
"Let us begin, shall we?" she smiled, moving around her desk and waving her hand to push it too to the wall.
Pillows popped up behind him the size of Hagrid. He sighed relief that he wouldn't be beating himself up again on the floor like in Snape's Occlumency lessons.
"The first thing to do, is to relax your mind," Aura breathed deeply. She closed her eyes and bowed her head. Harry followed suit as best as possible, but couldn't get relaxed. He attempted to tell Aura so, but she waved her hand, as though she knew he was about to speak.
She sat on one of the large pillows, crossing her legs. She motioned for Harry to do the same, and he did.
"Okay, first thing's first," she smiled, opening her eyes. "You need to take a really deep breath for me, okay?"
"Okay," he smiled weakly. He took a nervous deep breath.
"No, no," she corrected him. "Like this."
She closed her eyes again, and drew in a deep breath between her lips.
Harry mimicked, but felt no different. He sighed, feeling at a loss of what to do. But Aura just smiled and opened and closed her eyes.
"Seems we'll do this the hard way. Now Harry, I want you to listen to every word, every word, I'm about to say, carefully."
He nodded in silence, and she continued with a strange, rhythmic poem or spell, he couldn't really tell...
"In the beginning
of old and new,
when dawn awoke
to me and you:
we lived together,
me and you.
and knew all the things
to learn and do.
There was a silence,
a kind of peace
we felt throughout
the falling eve
that told us when
the time was near
we'd learn the secrets
no one else could hear.
then it happened,
out of the blue.
we knew it was time
for me and you
I felt a presence,
and you did, too,
that told us never
to fear the truth.
And it cast
a kind of spell
One that I
now will tell:
Seek in yourself
a calm and true peace.
It will lead you
to your reprieve."
The spell/song ended, and Harry did feel a great deal more calm, though not quite clear as to why. Aura smiled, and opened her eyes.
"Have you ever heard of the "Mirror of Erised"?" she asked him.
"Yes, I've seen it myself," Harry nodded, remembering, in fondness, the vision of his parents and family smiling and waving at him.
"Then you know that it shows the viewer's one true wish. Use this knowledge to follow the spell: 'Seek in yourself a calm and true peace. It will lead you to your reprieve.' As long as you can think of the one thing that would make you happiest in all of the world, you can relax your mind," she winked at him. "Please, remember that, won't you?"
He nodded again silently, and concentrated fully on the image in the mirror...
Next thing he knew, he was more calm than he'd felt himself be in years. He was even almost ready to sleep, even though he'd been wide awake seconds ago.
"Alright, now keep calm, and stand up," Aura instructed him, standing.
He stood and faced her, his mind almost foggy he was so calm. He saw her raise her arm, in attempt to hit him with a spell, but it felt as though it just bounced off of him, out into space somewhere.
"That was great!" Aura clapped with a giggle. "Your first time, and it just ricocheted off! I'm impressed! Now, let's try that again..."
She raised her arm, but now, his mind was not as foggy. The images were beginning to fade. His senses were coming back, and he pulled out his wand at the last moment to deflect the spell she threw at him.
It hit him full-force, and knocked him onto the flat of his back, memories pulsating through his mind. Dudley hitting him, his nasty aunt yelling at him for crying about it, and being locked away in his cupboard under the stairs, all of this when he was three...
He moaned and pulled himself up, his head swimming.
Aura was looking at him, first with pity, then with determination.
"Well, that wasn't too good, but you can get much better with practice," Aura said hopefully, raising her arm. "One more go at it, and we'll take a break so you can reflect on what you should and should not do..."
A class period of Occlumency completed, he now had to look forward to another private class of Defense with her. But she was going to teach him something, she was apparently not going to teach anyone else.
"How to use magic without a wand," she said simply, pulling up a cushioned chair for herself, and one for Harry.
"But, how can you do magic without a wand?" Harry asked, puzzled that such a thing could even be possible. He sat in the fluffy chair and looked at her in wonderment.
"Easy," Aura smiled back, as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "Magic, you know, comes from inside a wizard or witch, not their wands. A wand is merely to channel the energies from within."
"So, you just use the magic without 'channeling' it through a wand?"
"Exactly," she nodded.
"Like what you did to Malfoy on the train?" Harry asked.
"Yes, but not just simple spells such as that. There are other, much more powerful spells than a simple water spell. With proper training, all spells become very powerful. Spells that could be used to fight against Voldemort."
Although Aura almost whispered the last sentence, the full impact of what she said hit Harry like a bolt of lightening.
"Of course!" he exclaimed with a smile. "Powers like that could surely defeat him. But why teach me?"
"You are Harry Potter," she said straightforwardly, as though that explained everything. But, fortunately for Harry, she continued.
"You see, the prophecy said that 'one cannot live, while the other does survive', or something to that nature. You are the one, and he's the other one, so you have to be the one to defeat him. Not me, not Dumbledore... you, Harry Potter."
"I remember," Harry said, a flick of pain in his face. "I have to kill him, or he has to kill me... so, you're teaching me this to help me fight and defeat him?"
"Exactly, so shall we begin with your first lesson? I know," she smiled, "that you can produce a full-fledged Patronus, a stag even. And you can do it extremely well. That is what we will begin with today, your stag."
"Alright, what do I do first?" Harry asked, now eager to learn all he could.
But Aura paused with a smile.
"Oh, just one more thing before we begin... I hear you lost your house ten points because of Snape, correct?"
Harry nodded, disappointed.
"Well, we shall remedy that. Twenty points to Gryffindor, for such excellent work in Occlumency on your first try today. Magnificent..." she muttered, looking at Harry, smiling brightly.
"An extra ten points, just because I can, to defy Snape. And, please, never call me Professor Savarati unless we're in a classroom of students? I feel as old and greasy as Snape when people don't call me Aura... even Aranessa is better than that..." she shook her head in plain disgust.
"Now, on with the Patronus..."
Okay, the end of Chapter 4... I know this is kind of long-but-short... I wanted to develop the plot a lil' more... and so, end result: I got less in about the whole school day than I wanted... and more about the first two classes... I'll finish up soon, I promise... bedtime yawn it's only 11:00, but when you have to get up at 6 for school, well, that puts a damper on me/sleeping time... so, g'night, y'all!!! Review, please, would ya? Oh, feel free to read my other story/stories too... I think there might be two, but only one's uploaded as of yet! Bye!