Chapter 9

Wednesday morning before leaving for Grimmauld Place, Minerva was reading the Daily Prophet and an article caught her eye.

Slain Aurors' Families are Given a Hand

(London – Rita Skeeter)

Gringotts spokesgoblin Ragnot announced today that the families of the twelve slain Aurors and Hit Wizards each received a donation of 20,000 Galleons. Ragnot said that the funds came from the Sirius Black Foundation War Relief Fund. Fund Administrator Griphook said that the families of the Aurors and Hit Wizards had suffered enough loss in their fight against Voldemort without suffering financial loss too. This reporter applauds the benefactor behind these remarkable donations.

She never had felt so proud of one of her students before. 'Two hundred and forty thousand points to Gryffindor, Mr. Potter.' She showed the article to Flitwick, who was equally amazed at his generosity.

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Amelia knocked on Harry's door at 8:00 AM. Dobby opened the door. Harry had ordered several sets of outfits for Dobby and Winky. Dobby was wearing a miniature tuxedo. Ginny thought he looked adorable in his outfit, and Winky obviously thought so too. The Grangers and the teenagers were at the table having another wonderful breakfast. Winky had made waffles with fruit toppings, bacon, coffee and various fresh squeezed fruit juices. Harry went out to the car park and greeted Susan. He told her that the home had been warded with the Fidelius charm to keep it hidden and showed her the slip of paper to read. They walked in together with Harry carrying her trunk. Winky put down two more place settings and invited the Bones to join them. Harry introduced Susan to the Grangers, Dobby and Winky. She was slightly taller than either Ginny or Hermione, and not as thin. Her light brown hair was medium length nearly to her shoulders, and she had interesting hazel eyes. Harry did not know her well, other than from the ill-fated D.A. group of last winter. He knew her to be a very kind and soft-spoken young woman. He also knew her to be very good with spell work and herbology.

After breakfast Harry showed Susan to her room, and Amelia departed a few minutes later. Ginny showed Susan around the home while Harry spent a few minutes with Winky asking her to get a few more things for the house. A few minutes later, Professor McGonagall came in. After making the introductions, McGonagall and the four teens went up to the third floor room.

She conjured a table and five chairs for them to sit at. "Mr. Potter, how many times have you seen the killing curse performed?

Harry thought for a minute. He'd seen it twice as a baby, and once in class with the fake Moody. Pettigrew had cast it killing Cedric in front of his eyes. He'd dodged it about eight times in the graveyard at Little Hangleton, and about four times in the lobby of the Ministry of Magic. "Sixteen times, Professor."

Minerva thought that she was going to be ill on the spot. She'd had no idea that Harry had witnessed it so many times. For nearly a minute she said nothing with her eyes closed, instead comprehending what horrors he must have been subjected to. She promised herself that she would never scold him again for anything. 'Gryffindors charge ahead'

"Miss Bones, is there a block to the killing curse?

Susan thought about the question for a moment. Her parents had been murdered, probably by the killing curse. "None that I know of Professor."

Hoping that he would give the answer that she was looking for, Minerva asked, "Harry how many of the fifteen times resulted in a death?

Ginny was tempted to go over and hug Harry, but held back. He answered, "Three times, Professor."

Minerva was relieved. "Harry, could you tell us about some of the other times please?

"Mostly they were curses that Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy, or Bellatrix had fired at me. Sometimes I ducked, other times I'd hid behind something solid." He did not mention the time that he had been hit with the curse.

Minerva gave Harry as kind a look as he had ever seen from her. "We are all very glad that you did. What did you duck behind?

Cemetery headstones or the marble statues at the ministry.

Precisely. Very few people know, but a solid rock such as limestone or marble will successfully block a killing curse. And what is marble? Miss Granger?"

"A metamorphic rock of made of calcium carbonate. Marble forms from recrystalized limestone." The other teens didn't know if they should be amazed or amused.

"Very good Hermione. The point is that transfiguration can easily be used as a defensive technique against the so-called unblockable curses. I am certain that Professor Dumbledore will teach you some new defensive block spells, and attacks, but you can always use what you know.

She demonstrated changing pebbles into rocks large enough to hide behind, changing sand into limestone and other simple techniques that could be used to block curses. For practice she conjured two baskets of tennis balls and paired them off.

Harry started off with Susan. She defended first while he tossed tennis balls at her. Each time she created some sort of solid object. Hermione was quicker at it than anyone of them, but no one was surprised. Transfiguration was one of her best subjects. The practical on-the-fly application of what had always been an exercise in precision was an interesting challenge for her.

After the lesson, she gave them each a book to read on apparation. She asked that they finish the book that evening.

She stayed for lunch. The subject of the money given to the slain Aurors never came up. It was not Harry's nature to brag about anything. She had so much respect for him. After lunch, Dumbledore came for the afternoon lesson, and McGonagall left. Each of the teenagers thanked her for helping them.

Dumbledore demonstrated several techniques for strengthening the power of a spell that was cast. After he was demonstrating and it came time for the teens to practice, he paired them off. Harry worked with Ginny. After a few minutes, it was obvious to Harry that they collectively needed practice on aiming as much or more than strengthening a spell.

Dumbledore looked at Harry to see if he had assessed the situation. Harry saw Dumbledore glance at Susan and Hermione. Harry nodded in understanding. Dumbledore called them all together, thanked them for their work and asked that they wear comfortable clothing for the next day session. He told Harry that they would begin their Occlumency lessons in a day or two, then left for the day.

After dinner Lupin came over and helped Harry. He conjured four sets of targets about the size of archery targets, and made thirty sets of dense cardboard targets with bull's-eyes that would mark where the sparks had hit. Harry explained that he wanted to give everyone some practice at accuracy. After Lupin left, Harry set up the targets. The girls came in the room and they practiced for an hour. It was obvious that they needed a lot more practice in that area.

After practice, they went to the entertainment room. Susan had brought a DVD for them to watch. They watched Caddy Shack, and found it to be very funny. Hermione and Susan looked longingly as Ginny sat next to Harry during the movie flipping pieces of popcorn at each other.

After the movie, the girls went off to discuss girl things. Harry went to the library where he noticed the portrait of Phineas. Harry thought that he would ask if the old professor had any ideas regarding Voldemort.

"Professor Nigellus, can we talk for a while?"

"Certainly Mr. Potter. How can I help you?"

"Professor, did you ever have to kill a person?"

"No. Mr. Potter. I'm glad that I never had to face that task. Is such a task in front of you?"

"Yes. I'm just not sure…"

"Are you asking about technique, or ethics?"

"Both really, but can we talk about ethics first, and technique on another evening?"

"Certainly." He proceeded to describe the wizarding law of his day on the subject, and the justifications or situations that would warrant such an action. Harry listened carefully as Nigellus described the dark wizards of his day and the efforts that had been made to capture them. In the end it typically came down to ending their reigns of terror by ending their lives. There had been no trials, and the victors were never questioned or asked to justify their actions.

It was late when Harry went up to his room. Going to the sofa as usual Harry was delighted when he found a little paper heart on the sofa.

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On Thursday Minerva took the four students out to the garage. "You have each read the book that I gave you on the theory of apparation. It is the physical projection of a witch or wizard from one specific location to another specific location. It is the most common type of the wandless magics in that no wand is used to perform the magic. What we are going to try today is the mental projection of ourselves being in a slightly different space than the one that we currently occupy. Susan, if you would please picture yourself standing in the other side of the car park." For several minutes, nothing happened. Hermione tried next. After ten minutes, there was a loud POP, and Hermione was on the other side of the car park! She was exhausted, but quite proud of herself. Ginny tried next. She focused with all of her might, picturing herself standing on the other side. Nothing happened. She tried again. After ten minutes a warm feeling came across her face. POP. She was standing on the other side. Harry went over to Susan. He whispered something in her ear. She giggled for a moment then concentrated. Susan focused on picturing herself standing in the spot twenty feet ahead of her. POP. She was exhausted but had done it. The three teens went over to congratulate her. After a minute, they stepped back to give Harry room. He pictured the spot that he had in mind. Nothing happened. Remembering reading the instructions of focusing on visioning yourself already there, not getting there, Harry tried again. A few seconds later, a warm feeling flushed his face. Pop. Harry was standing twenty feet in front of where he had been standing!

McGonagall was quite surprised. Harry reappeared with the sound that most experienced wizards made, not the crash and bang that most students made. More surprising, Harry didn't look the least bit tired. She asked him if he would project himself back to his starting point. With a tiny pop, Harry reappeared a few seconds later. Apparation was something that came very easy to him. Again, he didn't look like he had expended any effort whatever. Minerva asked Harry if he knew of the alleyway behind the Pizza Hut three streets away. Harry nodded. Minerva asked Harry to meet her there in a minute. She disappeared. The other women watched him carefully. One moment he was standing there, and the next he was gone. "Over here, Mr. Potter." Minerva was on the other side of the alleyway and down a bit. "Excellent results, Mr. Potter. Are you ready to go back?"

Harry nodded, and a moment later, he was standing right next to Hermione. She looked a bit put out. "Harry, I don't get it, we were all exhausted from this, and you projected yourself from place to place like it's nothing. I didn't even hear you come back. How did you do that?"

Susan smiled, "Be the ball Harry." She winked at him.

Harry grinned back. "It's one of the very few things that just comes naturally to me. I can't explain it."

Minerva came back a few minutes later holding two hot pizza boxes and a box of breadsticks. "I thought you would enjoy these for lunch. We will stop here for the day. I will see you all tomorrow. Enjoy your day." That said, she vanished and they went in to enjoy their lunch.

After lunch they went upstairs. Seeing as their instructor wasn't there yet, Harry suggested that they continue with the exercise from the other day, of dodging the red sparks. He found the three pairs of goggles that they had and transfigured a plastic pop bottle into a fourth pair. He paired Hermione and Susan off. Hermione was able to hit Susan about a third of the time. Harry watched his friend very closely as she cast the sparks. Harry suggested that she hold her arm higher and to focus her eye a bit more on the front of the wand to achieve a straighter aim. He spoke to her in a very soft voice pointing out that she was consistently aiming to the left of her target. He asked her to try again with Susan. Hermione went from hitting a third of the time to only missing a third of the time.

They switched off. Like Hermione, Susan had poor aim, but was a bit quicker in firing. Hermione was able to dodge most of her shots. Harry went over to Susan, and softly pointed out that she also should hold her wand higher and her arm straighter, so her sightline to the target was straighter. The second time, she was hitting Hermione nearly half of the time.

The instructor still had not arrived, so Ginny tried hitting Harry. Ginny's aim was true, but Harry proved to be a very elusive target. While Ginny came close to hitting Harry most of the time, she never made contact. Harry noticed that he could anticipate when Ginny was going to cast the red sparks. Ginny had a tendency to look at the place where she was going to cast, thus providing a "tell" that Harry could pick up.

As they took a break to have a butterbeer, Dumbledore appeared. He had been sitting invisible in the armchair in the corner. "Very good, all of you. Everyone made improvement this afternoon. Miss Weasley what did you learn or observe?"

"I saw that being accurate is at least as important as being quick."

"Good. Miss Granger?"

"I learned that balance is important. Every time that I slipped, I got hit."

"Good. Miss Bones?"

"I realized that Harry is an excellent teacher."

Dumbledore smiled at her. "He does seem to have a knack for getting people to improve their skills. Mr. Potter?"

"I learned to watch your opponent's eyes to see if they would give away their intent."

"Excellent. I will borrow Mr. Potter for the rest of the lesson. I would like you to practice one sparker on two targets. Each shooter is to be given twenty-five tries. I have a prize for the sparker who gets the most hits. After you have each had a try, and have showered, please meet in the library."

They walked down to the library and sat down. Dumbledore wanted to begin the Occlumency lessons. He asked Harry what he knew about the subject.

"Honestly Professor, not a thing. Snape's entire dialogue on the subject consisted of the phrase "clear your mind." I need to know how to recognize an attack, how to stop one, and most importantly how to prevent one. If I can get that far, perhaps I can learn how to turn the tables on him."

Dumbledore recognized that Harry's voice carried little emotion. Harry was not exaggerating or carrying a grudge against their dead colleague, rather simply reporting a fact. He decided to start at the place that Severus had obviously neglected to begin at – the beginning. "Harry, please consider this textbook on golf. The book is divided up into chapters. The chapters are organized logically. Each one is made up of pages, paragraphs, sentences, words and letters. I recall mentioning a phrase with you at the end of your first year regarding a well-organized mind. Consider please that you may have had in excess of a hundred thousand discrete thoughts today. Some involved tying your shoes, eating breakfast, noticing what Miss Granger or Miss Weasley were wearing, what was on the pizza that you were eating, and so on. Of that large number, how many would be worth shielding against an intrusion from Tom?"

"Not many sir," said Harry, slightly embarrassed that Dumbledore had noticed him staring at the witches.

"Precisely. Thus the act of clearing your mind is something like filing your important thoughts away into a filing cabinet at the end of the day. That way, if an invasion takes place until you have had the opportunity to realize that your attacker is probing your mind, they will run into thoughts of beige leotards and pepperoni slices, or even something as mundane as the Chudley Cannons losing again." Dumbledore pulled an old manuscript out of his pocket and resized it for Harry. If you have the opportunity this evening, please look at this. It may give you some ideas regarding methods of organizing your mind.

Dumbledore changed subjects on Harry. "You did very well today Harry. Minerva mentioned your success with apparation. With your permission, I would like to have Auror Tonks come and visit you tomorrow while the other three continue working on the basics of apparation. I have arranged for you to take your license exam tomorrow morning and continue working on appearance changes. Is that acceptable?"

Harry nodded.

"Your schedule is your own Harry. Please do not share any more regarding your extra lessons than you need to. The others should be here any minute. Perhaps Dobby or Winky could arrange…" POP. Winky had a tray of tea, coffee, cocoa, soda, and Butterbeer. Just then Ginny, Susan, and Hermione came in. Each was wearing jeans and a skinny top.

Dumbledore smiled at the women. "Miss Bones, I have a book that I would like you to read this evening." He handed her a book on Occlumency. "Miss Weasley, you and I need to visit with your parents for a bit this evening to get their permission for you to continue taking advanced lessons and to get a permit signed. Mr. Potter and Miss Granger need to have a conversation as they are having dinner this evening at the Pizza Hut. Please be back by ten. The lessons tomorrow will be on mental defenses."

Harry and Hermione walked out the back door and walked the three streets to the Pizza Hut. They ordered and sat in the back corner booth. Hermione put a silencing charm around the booth after they had received their dinner. He told Hermione the contents of the prophecy, and related how angry he had felt that Dumbledore had hidden it from him over the years. He told her how Sirius had pleaded with Dumbledore just weeks before his death, arguing that the danger of him not knowing exceeded the risk of Voldemort finding out. He talked about his anger that Umbridge, Wormtail and another Death Eater were behind the death of his cousin, aunt and uncle.

As Hermione asked him about the vision that he had had that evening with Umbridge, an idea had come to her. It seemed that Voldemort always had the Death Eaters work with someone that they knew. Who did Umbridge know?

Harry thought about her question for a while and answered, "Fudge and Malfoy."

"Right. Fudge was still Minister at the time, so it would be easy enough to find out where he was that day, which leaves Malfoy."

Harry nodded. "Hermione, I don't think I ever told you this before. The Dursleys treated me horribly for my entire life. They usually kept me locked up in a cupboard under the stairs until I was eleven. My uncle threatened to beat me a hundred times over the years, and my aunt never did anything about it. Most of the time my cousin was horrible to me, using me as his personal punching bag, but they didn't deserve to get blown up. Pettigrew has helped take away my entire family. Over what? A prophecy that a lunatic made."

Harry spoke with resolve. "Hermione, I am going to hunt Umbridge and Malfoy down this summer. I'm not asking you to help me; I just want you to understand why I'm doing what I am doing. They've taken away all of my family and I won't allow them to get away with it. They killed some good people, and tried to kill people that I love. I won't let them try again.

Hermione was silent for a minute thinking about what Harry had said. To kill or be killed. Dumbledore had known about it for years. No wonder Harry left school looking like he'd aged ten years in an evening. Revenge was not a word that Harry had used, but it certainly was the unstated message. Harry had always been there for her, always. Had he just implied that he loved her? He had saved her life several times now. She felt like she owed him this. Satisfied with herself, she asked, "Harry, how can I help you? I will do anything that I can."

Harry said, "We need to really train up so that we can subdue a Death Eater, defend ourselves properly and get them back to the holding cells at the Ministry. When they took Pettigrew away, they used an anti-apparation manacle of some sort. Maybe Tonks would get us a pair that we could use. Maybe we could get some dragon hide vests."

Hermione had another subject on her mind, and couldn't shake it. Gryffindors charge ahead, she thought. "Harry, are you dating Ginny?"

Harry was a bit evasive in his answer. "Aside from shopping at Harrods and going to Gringotts, this is the only time that I've been out of the house." Hermione deserved an answer, but Harry wasn't sure what the question really was. "Hermione, what are you really asking?"

"Have you two…?"

"No. Nothing like that. We've snuggled on the sofa a few times in front of the fireplace. That's about it." Harry was confused. He'd always liked Hermione, and instinctively thought of her as his best friend, much more so than Ron. She had always been there for him and always believed him. Always. Yet he definitely felt different about Ginny. She was so warm and soft and, well different.

Gryffindors charge ahead. "Harry, could we ever be more than friends?"

Hermione deserved an answer, but Harry really didn't have one. The last thing in the world that he wanted was to lose her friendship. "Ever is a long time Hermione. A lot can happen. You're my very best friend. I…, Let's table this conversation for right now. We need to head back." Harry paid the check and they walked back to the brownstone. He didn't notice the tears in his best friend's eyes.

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While Harry and Hermione were having pizza, Dumbledore and Ginny were being treated to one of Molly' delicious dinners. Molly accepted Dumbledore's offer to allow Ginny to take additional lessons over the holiday without any reservation whatever. Dumbledore said that Harry had supplied everything that she would need, and that she had gotten books for all of her classes.

Molly asked him if anything new had been found regarding the deaths of the Dursleys. Dumbledore mentioned that Bones was tracking down several leads, and hoped to have news in the next few weeks.

When Ginny got back to her room, she found two little paper hearts on her pillow.

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The next morning, Hermione found her Mum in the entertainment room and asked if they could go walk to the store together for a moment. Remus went with them, staying a respectful distance behind, since they obviously wanted to talk about something.

Hermione asked her Mother a question that Emma never expected to hear from her daughter. "How do you catch a guy Mum?"

Stalling for a moment to collect her thoughts Emma said, "I assume that you're talking about Harry?"

Hermione nodded.

"Dear, you've been friends with him a long time. Do you think he is interested in having a girlfriend? He seems to have quite a number of balls in the air right now as it is."

Hermione knew that her Mum had gotten to the crux of the matter. "I don't know. I'm almost positive that Ginny likes him, and I think Auror Tonks likes him and I think Susan Bones likes him. Mum, he's famous, brave, cute, rich, very talented, and I want him so much. I just want Harry. I don't care about those other things."

"You may not dear, but they all go together. Also as a point of fact, he seems to be something of a lightning rod for bad things happening. I'm not saying that he causes them, but until the other Death Eaters get captured or go away, I don't see a lot of peace in his life. Are you prepared to deal with that risk?"

"Mum I think that is the reason that Ginny and I were invited to train with him this summer, so we can better protect ourselves. To better answer your question, yes I would like to be a major part in his life, and I am prepared to accept the risks that go with it. The wizarding world has a custom known as a life debt. I know that I owe him my life, but I want to give him my heart."

Emma turned and waved Remus over. She asked him about the life debt custom. He explained that the holder of a life debt was entitled to ask any one thing of the debtor, who needed to do it, sight unseen, no questions asked. If the witch or wizard refused, the only honorable alternatives were suicide or banishment from the wizarding world.

Emma was concerned at the implications of such a custom. Remus replied, "Dr. Granger, I think that it is fair to say that Harry Potter is not going around with the intent of collecting life debts with young women. It is absolutely inconceivable to me that he would take advantage of your daughter. Please do not give it another thought."

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