I own nothing, J K Rowling IS Harry Potter. All my 'ideas' are basically ripped from stuff I enjoy; Harry Potter (duh!), Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars, Star Trek, Dragonball, The Matrix, The Lion King, 24, and anything else that even remotely looks far too creative for me to just make up! Don't say I didn't warn you alright!

In no way was my last chapter a dig from a disgruntled Aussie about the fact that England beat us in the Rugby World Cup final last year (heck, I got over that after our League team clean swept the Ashes a month later!). I know some of you won't believe me and that's fine, but I was just trying to create a decent scenario for why Scouts would want to turn up for Hogwarts Quidditch matches.

Oh, and cheers to Keronshara again for telling me about Lethifolds for chapter 13!

Chapter 18 – Caught Not Unawares

Harry's classes were going nicely. He hadn't been having any trouble so far, Defence was still his favourite. Trent had taught them more about the Patronus charm, before getting into how the more dangerous dark creatures like Vampires, Lethifolds and Banshees, which Dean and Seamus both were enjoying. Trent had told them that next week they would be practising the Unforgivables.

Potions was also going well. After successfully brewing Veritaserum, Snape had them move onto the Polyjuice Potion. Hermione and Harry both managed to keep straight faces, despite giving each other small smiles when Snape was describing the potion. Harry was actually starting to enjoy Potions, despite Snape. In fact, Snape had been acting somewhat more normal since all the classes were represented. He wasn't giving or taking ridiculous amounts of points anymore, and Harry had to admit, that Snape wasn't a bad teacher when he wanted to be.

Tranfiguration was probably the most interesting subject. McGonagall had started the year teaching them more about Animagi. Since then, she'd been taking the subject one step further and getting involved in more complex human transfiguration. She'd covered changing inanimate objects into small animals, much like Cedric had done in the first task of the triwizard tournament. She was now teaching them about people who can change their appearance, or Metamorphmagi like Tonks.

Duelling and Charms had been entertaining as well. Mainly due to the fact that Ron was in both classes. Ron had taken great pleasure in what Harry had done to Malfoy in their first duelling class. Every time Malfoy started to bad mouth him or Harry, Ron quickly reminded Malfoy about it. Trent and Remus had taught them several useful techniques, including a neat jumping charm (wingardium boundiosa) which made the person jump a clear five feet in the air before coming down.

Charms had included lessons in the Fidelius charm, which Harry had found greatly interesting. He knew that this was the charm that his parents had used, with Peter being their secret keeper, and was keen to learn as much about it as possible. In fact, Harry had given the best essay on that topic, when you take out Hermione's. And even then, she'd only just got a better grade. Professor Flitwick was currently teaching them Memory charms, much to Ron's displeasure.

"I just don't see the point in teaching us something that makes you forget!"

"Remember Ron, that's what Lockhart was going to do on us in the Chamber in second year."

"True, but then the git ended up blasting himself with it anyway."

"Just drop it, Ron. Professor Flitwick is teaching us how to do them, and that's final" Hermione snapped.

Ron continued to argue with her as they made their way to the Hall for breakfast. Harry was thinking about what Neville had said about their time at Hogwarts flying past. In fact, the current year was going fast enough.

Harry's first Quidditch game as captain had been a wonderful moment. He'd beaten Cho to the snitch easily and Gryffindor had comfortably won. Thinking about Cho, Harry was a little bit surprised that she didn't stir up the same emotions in him she did before. 'I guess that means I'm over her' Harry thought.

Harry had almost missed the snitch as he'd been flying so quickly, but he'd managed to execute an incredible flip manoeuvre. He was about to overshoot it when he flipped himself over and grabbed the tiny golden ball upside down. Everyone had slapped him on his back after that, saying it was the best snitch capture they'd seen in a Quidditch game for quite a while.

Ron brought him out of his thoughts when he started talking about the Quidditch game.

"I still say that was the best snitch grab I've ever seen Harry. That was wicked! And the best part was that there were two scouts in the crowd. You sure got them to notice you, that's for sure!"

"Well, I was lucky I didn't fall off."

"Bollocks, Harry. You're a natural at flying. You could probably go Pro if you decided not to be an Auror."

"Well you guys all played fantastically as well. I'm really pleased how Katie, Ginny and Rick are coming along working as a unit. Jack and Andrew have gotten loads better as well. While you…well, you made some amazing saves, so don't give me all the credit!"

Ron grinned "yeah I know. But you have to admit your part was really cool!"

Harry returned the smile "I'm not denying it, trust me!"

The morning rush of owls heralded the day's news and Hermione grabbed her copy of the Daily Prophet after paying the owl.

Her eyes glanced the front page before she let out a moan, "I don't believe it. He did it again!"

"Who and what, Hermione?"

"Here, take a look."

She thrust the paper at Harry who took it and read the front page.

AZKABAN BREAKOUT – DEATH EATERS RELEASED

By Rita Skeeter:

In a daring nighttime robbery, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named broke several of his followers out of the Azkaban prison. In an act similar to what happened last year, where the blame was unfairly laid at Sirius Black's feet, the defences were breached, and the guards overpowered.

The names of those escaped included Lucius Malfoy. Who, despite giving generously to charity, was unveiled earlier this year to be a Death Eater.

Full story can be seen on pages 4 and 5.

"Told you it'd happen today, didn't I!"

Harry saw the paleness of Ron's face which clearly sent the message that he had been joking. Harry glanced over towards the Slytherin table and saw the smug look on Malfoy's face, Hermione followed his gaze.

"Oh, he's going to be horrible now. Just ignore him, not all the Slytherin's are bad."

"No I know. Blaise looks thunderstruck. So do a few of the younger students actually."

Harry then spotted Remus coming over to him, "hi Professor. What brings you here, apart from the news?"

Remus smiled grimly before leaning in to prevent unwanted ears picking anything up.

"So you've read it then. We're lucky some people went to the guards' aid. It might have been a complete disaster. Anyway, would you be able to stop by Trent's office after dinner, he needs to discuss something with you."

Harry looked a little apprehensive, and Remus saw this.

"Don't worry. It's nothing bad. It's actually something we'll think you'll enjoy."

Remus smiled then made his way out of the Hall.

"Hello Harry. Right on time I see" Trent said once Harry had settled himself into one of Trent's chairs.

"First off, I must apologise. Our last chat didn't end all that well. I hope you were able to understand my point of view about not teaching you anything more about sensing auras."

Harry nodded, and Trent looked a little relieved. Then he smiled "that's good. Tell me. What do you do in the mornings before breakfast?"

"Er, not much, unless I schedule Quidditch practice. Why?"

"I was wondering if you'd like to improve your skills. Now that Voldemort has broken into Azkaban, again, it's only a matter of time before he strikes. I'm willing to give you some extra training. Just don't tell anyone about it alright. I've spoken with Albus, and he agrees with me on this."

"All right, but what kind of training do you mean?"

Trent's eyes twinkled, and Harry inwardly groaned. He remembered Trent doing that every time they were about to start something difficult in the Spirit Room.

"I don't want to spoil the surprise, Harry. Trust me, you'll like this. Meet me outside the Room of Requirement tomorrow morning at six o'clock. Enjoy dinner tonight."

"What? You're not coming?"

"No Harry. In case you haven't noticed, I have some of your papers to grade."

Trent pointed to the stack of parchment piled on his desk.

"And I'll tell you this. You are extraordinarily gifted when it comes to Defence Against the Dark Arts, but people probably tell you that anyway. Six o'clock, Harry. Don't be late."

Harry nodded and left Trent's office. He made his way to the Great Hall for dinner, where Ron and Hermione asked what Trent wanted. Harry told them they'd just talked about the whole Death Eater escape, and that it was nothing too drastic.

Harry made his way to the entrance of the Room of Requirement and found Trent waiting for him. He asked Harry how it worked, and he told Trent that you have to walk past the entrance three times thinking about what you need. Trent did this, and a door appeared. They walked inside and Harry was stunned.

He saw an empty road, in the shape of an oval. He briefly wondered if Trent wanted him to start jogging around it before Trent faced him.

"Right, Harry, Remus made me promise to do this. It's about getting you prepared, that's all."

"Prepared for what?" Harry asked somewhat warily.

Trent grinned, and took something out of his pocket.

"A model car? What's that got to do with anything?"

Trent shook his head and replied, "you're sixteen Harry. It's time for you to learn how to drive. I know you're a wizard, but it's still quite useful to know."

Harry looked a bit dubious and said "but…that's just a model, isn't it?"

"Ah no, let me show you."

With that, Trent placed the model on the ground and enlarged it. Once it had reached full size, Harry just stared in admiration, his Uncle's car was nothing compared to this. This car was silver in colour, was about four feet in height, and had only two doors. The car's body was shaped so it would cut through the air with a minimum of fuss, and everything about it just exuded beauty and class.

"Wha…what in Merlin's name is that?" Harry said wide eyed.

Trent beamed, "that, Harry, is my pride and joy. My adopted father was into muggle car racing. He loved it, and it rubbed off on me. I first saw this car in a magazine when I came back to England in 1993. I knew I had to have one, so I went about finding a dealer. You should've seen his face when I told him I'd buy it before he'd finished explaining every minute detail about it!"

Harry was only partly listening "ok, but what is it? I've never seen anything like it."

"It's a Jaguar XJ220. It's one of the most expensive cars muggle money can buy."

"Why are you showing me this?"

"I've already told you! You're sixteen, high time to start learning to drive if I'm not mistaken."

Harry was stunned. "You…you're letting me drive this? It's yours!"

Trent laughed, "yes obviously it's mine. I'm glad you've established that. Nothing will go wrong. I've charmed all the parts so they won't malfunction. The only thing you've got to worry about is changing gears."

"I've seen my Uncle drive before…"

"But you haven't driven before. Trust me, it's much harder than it looks. Here, get in and I'll show you."

Harry got in the car and was even more impressed. The interior was fantastic, soft plush material covered the seats. The dashboard blew his mind. It had dials and buttons everywhere. Trent must have seen Harry's face because he explained,

"When Jaguar made this…magnificent vehicle, they weren't restricted by anything. Basically, they were given free roam on the car, money was no object. But we're not here to see you drool over my car, we're here to teach you to drive. Right, how much do you know about cars? You heard of a thing called a gearbox before?"

Harry nodded "yeah, it's that stick thing in the middle."

"That stick thing is called the gear stick, Harry. See the pattern on the top of the knob? That lets you know which gear the car's in. It's out of gear at present, so start her up."

Harry turned the key, and the engine roared into life.

"Oh. I've just come over all funny! I'll never get tired of that. Ok, now put your left foot on the pedal closest to it."

Harry did as Trent said, then Trent asked him to select first gear. But not to take his foot off the pedal, which Trent said was the clutch. Harry eased the gear stick into the '1' position, and Trent told him to take off the handbrake which he did. The big car very slowly started to roll forward. Harry was then told to gently squeeze his right foot on the pedal on the right, the throttle Trent called it.

"I thought it's an accelerator?"

"This is effectively a racing car, Harry. Call it a throttle. I'll show you why a bit later on" Trent grinned.

Harry did what Trent told him and eased his left foot off the clutch while squeezing the throttle. He felt the car move before it died.

Trent beamed. "Try again, this time give it a bit more throttle."

After another three attempts, Harry had managed to not stall the vehicle. He was driving. And Harry was enjoying himself. It felt a little like flying, except he had to concentrate on when to change gears. He also wasn't going at anything like the speed he could on his Firebolt. They came to a halt after a couple of laps of the oval track and swapped sides.

"Now, let me show you how a Pro does this!"

Trent smirked as he casually flicked the car into first, then peeled away in a blaze of smoke and tyre squeal. Harry was pressed back into his seat as the Jaguar hurtled forwards, Trent grinning stupidly all the time. Harry realised why Trent said that the pedal should be called a throttle. The speed Trent was going at, it was suffocating until Harry got used to it.

Harry almost screamed as Trent came up to the corner and hadn't started to brake yet. No sooner had he thought this, his body was thrown forwards as Trent slammed on the brakes. He steered left, then Harry felt the back end of the car sliding. Trent countered this by turning the wheel to the right, and held the slide for a while before snaking the car back into line. Trent did this repeatedly and Harry felt that even if he wasn't sitting beside him, Trent would be driving like this anyway.

After a little while, they got out of the car. Trent shrunk it, but was still beaming.

"I love that thing. I tell you if I could, I'd marry it. It's just such a blast to drive. It's been ages since I've had the opportunity to take it for a spin. How about some more lessons over Christmas?"

Harry nodded before saying "I think I know why you like to stay on the ground so much. I've never been so terrified and exhilarated at the same time, it's like flying!"

Trent laughed before they both approached the door. Harry stopped and turned to Trent.

"This isn't all you wanted to teach me, is it?"

Trent smiled and said "well no, it's not. Over Christmas, I'd like you to come with me again to the Spirit Room. I'll teach you about the house elves Apparition technique, and also some Dark Arts."

"But I thought you said you'd be teaching us Dark Arts in class."

"I am, but only really basic things. Remember the talk we had at the start of term?"

Harry nodded. He remembered how disappointed Trent had been with him after Harry had battered Malfoy in Duelling class.

"Good. Then you'll remember me saying that even Light wizards delve into the Dark Arts. I think to defeat both me and Voldemort, you'll need to do this. I'll find some books for you if you like. But this goes no further than this room, Harry. No one must find out, especially Draco and his…acquaintances."

Harry nodded and the two of them walked out of the room and made their way to the Hall for breakfast. As they were walking, Harry thought more about the breakouts from Azkaban. He decided to pay Peter another visit, and this time Harry wanted some answers.