Chapter 10: Weather
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"It's not a cult - it's a collective." - The tag-line of the Karma Army
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Stunned, Harry discovered, was not the same as being asleep. He was aware of the passing of time, he could think, but he couldn't feel anything, see, hear, or move. Unfortunately for him, he had never thought to look up any Techno-Magic spells to wake yourself up if you happened to be Stunned by an insane Illusionist.
'This is great,' Harry thought. 'I'm going to die, they'll only find my body when they do another search for the daemon - that's if it doesn't eat my remains - I'll never get to explain to Ron or Hermione why I kept disappearing, Levina will never know what happened to me, the Dark will never be defeated, Ajax will die the moment I do - hang on... Ajax?' As he thought of his Familiar, a spark of hope sprang up in him, as he remembered reading the book that Ginny had given him for his birthday - Familiars could be possessed by their creators.
Because part of his soul resided in Ajax, he could switch into his Familiar's body at will - not only would it mean an escape from the body that was tied up here, which meant he could alert people to the daemon, but it also meant that because only part of his soul would remain in his body after he possessed Ajax, even if Leone killed him before he could get a warning out, then it would surely not generate enough power for her to be able to reanimate her sister, and start her little murder spree on the others.
He did as 'Familiar Animals, Familiar Spirits' chapter four had said, and focused entirely on finding a mental 'string' between himself and Ajax, which joined the two pieces of the soul, and when he did so, began to follow it.
---
Physical distance, Harry also discovered, was no matter. In what seemed like mere seconds, he found himself perching on top of one of the knobs on the top of his own four-poster bed in the boy's dormitory.
He gave himself a moment to acclimate himself to this strange new body, before spreading his wings and twisting his head jerkily to look around the room. Dean was finishing some homework on his bed, but the others must have been down in the Common Room, Harry decided. Unfortunately, the door was closed, and it was doubtful that a magpie would be able to get it open.
Flapping his wings a couple of times, Harry reminded himself of how he'd seen Hedwig, Ajax, and even Buckbeak fly, and leaped off the bed, catching himself before he hit the ground, and flapping madly to gain elevation, tilting his wings so that he soared out of the window.
How could he have thought this would be hard? This was easy, wonderful, natural; it came to him as though he had been doing it all his life, as though he'd been catching the Snitch with a pair of wings rather than a broom.
Sweeping down to one of the open windows that led into a corridor, Harry began to make plans. Firstly, he had to get the Aurors to follow him. That would be pretty damn hard, as they'd think he was just some pretty white bird. Wishing he'd brought Ron and Hermione, so they could explain that this was Harry's Familiar and might be able to lead them to him, Harry glided along the corridor. Well, perhaps he could go to - Dumbledore? Of course, Dumbledore would be more likely than most to notice something suspicious about the bird.
His sharp eyes ever-watching, Harry beat his wings a few more times to gain momentum, and hurtled back outside, through another of the windows lining the hall. He began to go higher, to make it into Dumbledore's office, but the exceptional hearing of his new form caught the headmaster's voice lower.
Pinpointing the location of the source as the entrance hall, Harry shot down and tucking in his wings and shutting his eyes, dived through one of the stained glass windows, thanking God that the glass was enchanted to not cut if broken. Although it didn't hurt him, this made quite an entrance, because it wasn't every day that a brilliant-white bird smashed through a Multi-coloured window into a crowded hall for no apparent reason.
Or at least, the Aurors didn't seem to think so, because they shot several Stunning spells his way.
Harry's new bout of good luck held out - his small form, made smaller by him tucking in his wings, meant that most of the spells missed, and the ones that wouldn't have, he easily dodged. Most of the Aurors stopped firing when they saw it was just a bird that had broken in, and not a psychotic daemon, but a couple continued shooting out curses as though they were afraid that the bird was actually a daemon in a bizarre disguise.
Ignoring them, and weaving around to dodge their spells, Harry was only too thankful when Dumbledore ordered them to stop. "Remember the importance of the Magpie," Dumbledore said cryptically, which the Unspeakables and Heads of Houses understood, though the Aurors and other teachers didn't have a clue what he was talking about, and several obviously thought he was going a bit insane.
Harry fluttered down to land on the banister of the stairs, heart beating wildly. "How is that a magpie?" one of the Aurors pointed out disbelievingly. "It's entirely white - and a bit of silver."
"The shape, size and tail give it away, even if it's the wrong colour," Dumbledore answered, watching Harry. "I don't know why it's strangely coloured, but I'm sure there's some reason for it to be here."
Harry bobbed his head in an unmistakable nod, and cawed in as urgent a way as he could, before flapping his wings as if to take flight. "I think it wants us to follow it," observed Professor McGonagall.
Snape snorted. "Probably a trap."
Dumbledore, however, took charge. "Will the teachers continue guarding the school, and look after the students. Professors McGonagall, Snape and Figg, will you and the Ministry workers please remain." Harry watched as the teachers left, but far too slowly for his liking. He was going to be sacrificed in less than an hour, and he didn't even know where in the Forest his body was being kept!
When the others had left, Dumbledore peered closely at the Familiar, and Harry took flight and landed again on the floor in front of the door. "Do you want us to follow?" the headmaster asked, and if a bird could roll its eyes, Harry would have. Honestly! Lassie never had this much trouble.
As Harry bobbed his head again, most of the assembled broke out into smiles of relief, and the Auror closest to the door opened it so he could fly out. Spreading his wings, Harry soared into the air again, skimming low across the ground at first, and then gaining height. He flew quite slowly so that the others could follow, outside the castle and towards Hagrid's hut. 'After all,' Harry decided, 'maybe I can retrace where Leone took me from there.'
He sped up as he flew, the urgency of the situation hitting him harder than the others; after all, they weren't the ones who were going to be killed. Well, not yet, anyway.
As he reached just outside Hagrid's hut, he flew past without stopping. Feeling the tug of something he followed it, and as he got closer, he realised that he was following the link between his soul. He was more dependant on the human side than the human side on the Familiar, which meant Ajax's body, he could sense when he was getting closer or further from his own body.
Putting on an extra burst of speed, and feeling his muscles beginning to tire, Harry raced forward, adjusting his angle every now and then to follow the link. If his time-keeping was right, it was about twenty minutes since Leone said the spell would take thirty minutes to complete - there was now about ten minutes left, and Harry still didn't know how long it was going to take to reach her.
The link was growing more powerful now, though, as he gained speed and nearness, and just as Harry felt his wings starting to fail, his morale soared and gave him an extra burst of energy, as in front of him, he could see the clearing. Between the trees, he could just spot the rock that he was tied to, and standing before it were Leone and the daemon - and Leone was walking towards his soulless body with the ceremonial dagger.
Using this last reserve of power, Harry gave a shrill scream that he would have thought impossible for birds to make, and as Leone snapped her around to look, burst into her field of vision and brought his talons up to attack her eyes, beating his wings in her face. Leone screamed in shock rather than pain, dropping the weapon as she was startled, and reaching down again to grab it. Behind him, Harry vaguely heard the Ministry workers and teachers arriving, along with gasps of surprise and horror at the daemon.
The daemon!
As he remembered, Harry fled upwards, just in time to miss the claws that lunged for his fragile neck. He felt the air as the daemon flashed under him though, and made it higher and forwards to one of the branches of a tree on the edge of the clearing, where he clung on and tried to rest as he watched the fight below.
The absence of a Myrrh Cage to trap the daemon meant that the Unspeakables and Aurors were having to fight it to the death; thankfully, Embeller's wand was specially equipped to be fighting daemons, and though some of his spells were weakened, they weren't being repelled. Few of the others' spells were getting through, though.
The book lay discarded on the ground, where Leone had left it after finishing her chants, before she took the knife. As Snape cut Harry's human body's bonds and attempted an Enervate spell, Harry got a flash of inspiration.
Snagging hold of the soul link, Harry flung himself as fast as possible back into his own body, snapping his eyes open. "Potter, ten points fro-" Snape began, but Harry was up and running, leaving the Potions professor kneeling in confusion on the grass.
Falling to grab the book, Harry desperately flicked through the pages. This had to be the same book that Leone had learned how to Summon daemons from; this must be where she had learned Forbidden magic. Finally finding the page with daemon Summoning on, Harry scanned through. 'To finde how to banish thy creature back beyonde thee veil of life, see thee spelle of Cantworth, on thee next page.' it read, and Harry turned the page and began to read. It was all perfect; the book was 'Black Magic for Illusionists', which was what Harry was; and here it was, the spell that instead of trapping or killing the daemon would return it to - Hell? The Underworld? Who knew.
This spell had been translated into English as well as the rest of the book. Harry held the volume upright and began to chant, "By Azazel and Gabriel, by Loki and Michael -"
Unheeded, the fight went on behind Harry, as one Auror suddenly found their throat slashed open, and dropped to the floor, his mouth open in a surprised exclamation.
" - to send this unholy creature elsewhere, to eliminate it's evil presence -"
The daemon's one thought was to protect its Summoner, that she might provide more prey for it, more plans rather than to just run and hunt, and it turned to knock aside another Auror that held the now-Stunned Leone, grabbing her and turning to flee, almost at full-speed into the trees -
" - in the names of Naoze and Aisiivou, you are banished." There was no dramatic light, no sudden rumbling of the earth - one second the daemon was a second from leaving the clearing, and the next it stumbled, shook, and gave a yelp that was cut off when it blinked out of existence.
Harry, suddenly feeling a lot older than he was, staggered to pull himself to his feet, the adrenaline rush wearing off and reality sinking back in as he surveyed that two Aurors were dead, all who had been fighting the daemon were wounded, and - wait... "Where's Leone?" Harry asked in panic, but Dumbledore nodded reassuringly, and mended some of Figg's cuts with a flick of his wand.
"The daemon was carrying her when it disappeared; she went along with it. May I ask what that spell was?"
Harry gulped and put the book down. "It's the book Leone used to Summon the daemon - she was the one who stole the Myrrh Cage, and Summoned the Volucris out of it." He noticed a few aghast expressions at this. "She wanted to get revenge for her sister. I think she'd gone a bit mad," he admitted, feeling a bit guilty for saying so.
Not caring who saw him use wandless magic - he was the Boy-Who-Lived, dammit, he was a mystery enough already, Harry set the book alight. Unfortunately, it didn't catch fire very well; the banishment must have taken more out of him than he's thought, because one corner gave a splutter before becoming a bit singed.
McGonagall approached, and accepted the book from him, looking at the banishment before frowning. "Which spell did you use?"
"The spell of Cantworth," Harry replied wearily, just wanting some sleep.
McGonagall tapped the page. "No - the words are wrong. Cantworth, it says here, is the spell of banishment to 'beyond the veil'. You mentioned Azazel in your words - that's the spell underneath, the spell of Gaernick - banishment to another place." She looked up at Harry. "You cast the wrong spell. It's still out there, somewhere," she said grimly. "You only transported it somewhere else."
This was almost too much for Harry. His eyes widened, and his heart started racing again. "Where to?"
"It says a random place," McGonagall said bleakly, scanning the spell. "It looks like we won't find out where, until we manage to find them. God knows what they're going to do."
Here, Bludgeon broke in. "We'll send out an alert to watch out for either of them," she said, as the rest of the Aurors used Mobilicorpus on the dead. "As soon as anyone in any country spots them, we'll be told. We'll release Leone's picture into the Muggle news as well, so there's a good chance we'll find her."
As the teachers and Aurors began to talk 'business'; what to do with Natasha's corpse, explaining Harry's disappearance, and what to tell the students about Leone, Harry blanked them out. There was a attempted murderer and a daemon running loose somewhere in the world, and he doubted Leone would just give up and disappear. They'd be back as soon as Leone had made another plan - he knew that much. The question was when, not if, and without Figg's Myrrh Cage, there was little chance of defeating the daemon.
Realising McGonagall had set the spellbook down by the stone, Harry reached out for it again, and taking a deep breath, Harry screwed his eyes up and with the help of the Familiar's focusing abilities, managed to cast a final Techno-Magic spell to destroy the book, before he finally slipped back to the floor, unconscious.
---
The use of his entire store of magic put its toll on Harry; when he awoke in the Hospital Wing with his bedside table filled with a pile of sweets and chocolates, get-well cards and flowers, he was quick to notice that the calendar on the wall read Monday the eighth of October. He had been unconscious for almost the entire Thursday, and all the way to Monday afternoon - five days.
Pulling himself into a sitting position and wincing at his back, sore from being lain on for the past five days, Harry jumped at the sound of the door being opened. It was Dumbledore, the familiar twinkle back in his eyes and dressed in garish yellow robes.
"Quite astounding, Harry." the headmaster mused humorously. "Usually you save the day during the last term of the school year, but it appears you've broken the tradition."
Harry couldn't resist a small smile at that. "Professor - what did you tell the others? Has Leone been seen yet?"
The headmaster swept the hem of his robes up and sat down at the foot of Harry's bed. "I'm afraid that neither Leone, nor her daemon, have been caught yet, though Leone was sighted in Germany several days ago.
"The students have been informed that Leone was a Death Eater, and was attempting to kidnap you to take you to Voldemort; based on that evidence, the Minister has been 'forced' to admit Voldemort's return - a perfect opportunity for him, for which we'd like to thank you. However, I'm afraid that much of the story is missing, and I hope you could fill some blanks in for us, if possible."
Harry nodded, hoping he wouldn't have to tell him about Levina. "Which parts of the story?"
"Firstly," Dumbledore said, as Harry lowered himself slightly, "what Leone was doing with her sister's body; why she Summoned the daemon; why she kidnapped you; and also, what the bird was that led us to you."
"Right," exclaimed Harry, thankful that he had avoided the question of 'how did she kidnap you'. "She had that book of Forbidden magic - the one that I destroyed - and it had a spell to raise the dead; like an Animancers' power, she said. She was going to use it to bring her sister back, but she needed a sacrifice..."
The explanation took little time, and Dumbledore listened with only a hint of surprise as Harry explained how he found a Familiar creation spell in Knockturn Alley, how he created a Familiar and then possessed it - and how Leone had tricked him into thinking she was being controlled.
"Professor, what about my wand?" Harry asked suddenly, fearful of the answer.
Here, Dumbledore looked apologetic. "I'm afraid the wood was broken beyond repair - but the feather was still in one piece. Mr Ollivander is making a new wand with it, and it should be ready within the week. Ah, and talking of the week," he smiled, "you'll have to meet the new Divination teacher; Professor Carnaena."
Harry felt a flash of recognition - he knew that name from somewhere, he was sure of it - but he quickly shrugged it off. "When will I be able to go back to lessons?" he finally decided upon asking, and Dumbledore seemed amused at his choice of question.
"Wednesday seems the likely date," he answered. "Madam Pomfrey was quite insistent that she keep you for at least a day after you awake, and your wand-wood will have to be replaced - it should be returned to you, as I said, sometime this week, though I'm not sure when."
Harry nodded and relaxed, thankful that the good side balanced out the negative of Leone and the daemon's escape - his wand would be good as new, Ajax was fine, he would survive, a new Divination teacher - well, he wasn't sure whether that was good or bad, but he might as well look forward to it - and of course, he'd stopped the murders - for now, at least.
---
It was another hour before Ron and Hermione were finally allowed in to see Harry. As soon as he sat up to greet them, Hermione flung her arms around his neck and attempted to suffocate him (well, that was what it felt like, anyway) and Ron winced before attempting to drag her away.
"You all right, mate?" he asked sympathetically, and Harry grinned.
"A bash on the head from being hit with a cooking pot, but otherwise not a scratch," Harry explained. "Mainly just exhaustion, but Madam Pomfrey wants me to stay the rest of the day, and tomorrow." He pulled a face to show exactly what he thought of her fussing.
"Right... Harry, we've - well, we've got something to tell you." Ron stumbled, looking uncomfortable, his ears beginning to glow red. Hermione fidgeted and suddenly found the floor very interesting. "Last Saturday," Ron began, before finally biting the bullet. "We followed you to that training room, and used some spells to listen in."
Harry sat stock still, his face suddenly turned as white as an Opaleye's scales. "Really?" he choked out.
Hermione nodded almost invisibly, before bursting out, "We didn't want to, but you weren't going to tell us anything, and we had to. If you got hurt, or if you were under a spell or something, then you would have needed our help." She quickly added, "We're meant to be your friends, and you didn't tell us a thing."
Now it was Harry's turn to be uncomfortable. "Sorry," he muttered, knowing it wasn't enough.
For Hermione and Ron however, it was; they could see he meant it. "Do you really think we haven't been through enough together to think you're not sorry?" Ron snorted. "As if!"
"Except," added Hermione immediately, "that you've still got a lot of explaining to do. Firstly, how did that room appear?" To this Harry, knowing he couldn't keep the Room a secret any longer, admitted what he knew of it.
"We just wanted a room to train in," he mused, "Neither of us specified anything about no-one else being able to find us when we were inside, otherwise you wouldn't have been able to find it."
From that, the questions led on to who the woman was - at this, Harry told them her name and that she was training him, but apologised for not being allowed to say more; moving on they asked about what Techno-Magic was (Harry could remember only mentioning that the once, and confessed that he couldn't answer this either, or it would have serious repercussions), and at the question about why she had mentioned Atlantis, Harry wove a tale of her collecting items from lost civilisations, and her coming across a collection of the rods.
After those, Harry explained about how his tutor could sense when Forbidden magic had been cast, and how she knew that Leone had summoned the daemon - though he informed them that this was because she was a Death Eater, sticking to Dumbledore's story and wishing he didn't have to - and how she had eventually tricked him into thinking she was being controlled (by Imperius), and captured him to sacrifice.
"I couldn't have done it without Ajax," Harry finished, grinning, once he had completed the story of his possession of the Familiar. "But what happened while I was up here?"
Now it was his friends' turn to illustrate the last few days; Dumbledore and the others had returned to the school, reputedly with bodies, as those watching from windows said; some hours later, the students were allowed out of their dormitories and into the Great Hall, where it was announced that thanks to Harry Potter, the daemon had been taken care of, ('You got an award for Special Services to the school,' Ron said glumly. 'That's another one to polish when I get detention again.') and that Leone had summoned it. The Aurors and Unspeakables had performed a quick sweep of the Forest, finding nothing, and - strangely enough - not only had Fudge admitted that Voldemort was back, now that it was 'proven' that Leone had been a 'Death Eater', but the Daily Prophet was singing Harry's praises as the hero who saved the school. "They're a bit late," Hermione grumbled, but still looked pleased.
Just as they were getting started on reading who the cards were from, and Ron was ripping the packet from the third packet of Every Flavour Beans they were sharing, Madam Pomfrey returned, insisting that visiting times were over, and they would have to leave. The pair were shoved from the room as Ron managed to yell that Harry had won fifty points for Gryffindor, before the door slammed behind them.
---
On Wednesday, Harry received his wand. Though it contained the same core as before, the wood had been replaced with snowflower wood, a magical tree that was often mistaken for willows, and was now twelve inches in length instead of eleven. "It had to be a new one, so it would work. A second-hand one would never be as good as your old one," Ollivander explained as Harry gave it an experimental wave, and accidentally broke the flower vase.
Snowflower wood was a pale white colour, slick and smooth with no knots in it. Harry found it quite attractive, especially the slightly rounded point it came to as it got longer and narrowed, unlike his old holly one, which stayed the same thickness the entire way. It was light and strong, but flexible - excellent for conjuring, wards and shields.
Wednesday was also the day that Harry returned to his classes, and he was glad to note that only two people that he passed in the corridors still gave him funny looks, the rest treating him like a returning champion - although that might have been because Gryffindor were now bumped up to second place behind Ravenclaw in the House Cup, thanks to the fifty points he had been awarded.
After lunch, the trio seated themselves in the library to lament over the (almost exactly) fifty days until the holidays, when they would be heading off to watch the Annual Swedish Broom Race.
"I owled Victor about it, and since he's competing, we can stay with his family instead of having to get our own accommodation!" Hermione babbled excitedly, to which Ron turned sullen and muttered 'How nice for us'.
"Oh," Hermione remembered suddenly, "Hagrid wrote to us while you were unconscious; I don't think he's very up-to-date with the news, because he didn't seem to know you were hurt, but there's a date set for the wedding - December sixth. So that's during the holidays, two days before we go out to Sweden."
Harry promptly felt more cheerful. He'd never been to any wedding, let alone a Wizarding one, and he had a feeling it would be a little different than most Muggle ones.
Of course, Hagrid was still away on his 'secret business' (which Harry was quite certain was talking to the Giants), which meant that the Gryffindors were now learning about Fwoopers, a subject that quickly became tedious without Hagrid's enthusiasm and interesting facts to sustain it.
Even the meeting with Levina that night - longer than usual, since he had not only training, but also his story of the meeting with Leone to go through - was less fun than it could have been, and though Harry had what he would have though was enough excitement to last for several years, he found himself wishing for something to happen.
Strangely enough, it did - there was something interesting the next day, but the really shocking thing was to come on Friday, and it made Harry feel a lot, lot worse.
---
The next day after lunch was a single lesson of Divination before Potions. This, though the others had already met the new teacher on Monday, was the first time that Harry would meet her. "How is she?" he asked Hermione anxiously before she went to Arithmancy, and Ron to History.
"A bit no-nonsense, which is good," said Hermione, thinking. "I don't think she's a Seer herself, but she knows about proper visions, and how to See things and everything - don't give me that look Harry, just because Trelawney was a fraud doesn't mean I've gone off believing the entire subject."
Harry shrugged, pulling his bag up from where it was slipping off hid shoulder. "If you say so," he conceded, before the bell rang and there was a rush to the next lesson.
The stairs opened the same way they always had, though this time no cloud of incense smog drifted down. Amazed that Hermione might actually be right about the having a good teacher, Harry sped up the steps before the rest of the class, and stopped in amazement as he saw the teacher.
Professor Carnaena looked at Harry disapprovingly. "When you want to close your mouth Potter, take a seat," she said, finishing marking someone's work.
Harry snapped his jaw back up and slunk over to his table, as the rest of the class came in, stopping their chatter as soon as they saw the teacher's annoyed look. 'It's one thing to have her teaching me at night,' Harry groaned in his head, 'but does Levina really have to set me Divination homework as well?'
Harry had to admit though, that Levina - or Professor Carnaena - was a good teacher. She started off with the theory of prophecies, moving onto examples of a few of the more famous ones, and then finishing the lesson up by setting homework, which was to write an essay on some of the famous eighteenth century Seers' prophecies.
Swearing to get a reason for her becoming a teacher when he next saw her, Harry moved on to Potions, which was almost unbearable. Snape was obviously still angry Harry's sudden jumping back to life and rushing past him without a word of thanks, which he proved by taking twenty points from him, even though his potion was perfect.
---
After lessons had ended, the trio settled down in the library to do their homework, Harry and Ron scouring the books for information; Ron for his History, and Harry for Divination.
Eventually, Hermione could take no more of their moaning, and snapped out the titles of some useful books. Thanking her, the pair found a few volumes on their respective subjects, and started reading.
While Ron painstakingly copied out several paragraphs about Grindelwald, Harry found that quite frankly, all these Seers' prophecies were basically the same - vague, unclear, and with several possible meanings. Turning to the index of 'The Inner Eye's Words', he closed his eyes and stuck his finger on a random name (Elspeth Glades) and began to research her. Hermione, looking over at his work, became interested.
"There's a book all about her and her prophecies." she said informatively. "It's over in the corner, written by Cursickle Dudgit." Wondering once again about Hermione's amazing ability to remember half the entire library, Harry quickly found it. It was unimaginatively titled 'Elspeth Glades', and was divided into two parts.
The first comprised her life, and the second, much larger section contained all her prophecies, as well as notes on those that had already come to pass. By the looks of how many there were, she had been an excellent Seer.
Knowing he wouldn't be able to get through the entire book that day, Harry had it stamped out by Madam Pince - but as he turned to go back to the others, there was someone standing in his way. As Harry saw who it was, his heart leaped up into his throat, and his mouth instantly dried out. Eloquently, he said; "Er - uh - hi - eh - Cho."
It was hardly the best conversation starter, but the sixth year Ravenclaw didn't seem to notice his growing red flush, or his stuttering. "Hi, Harry," she said, sounding shy and endearing. Over at the table, Ron thought 'Yuk' and Hermione managed to stifle a 'Good grief' as they pretended not to watch.
When Harry realised there had been a silence for nearly a quarter of a minute, he rushed to break it. "So, what are you doing here?" he asked quickly, not stopping to think what a ridiculous question that was.
Cho obviously didn't think so, though. "Actually, I came here to find you. Dean said you might be in here."
"Ah, yes... Dean." Harry laughed nervously. "Right, yeah. I know him. And... I'm here. Like he said. Dean." (Hermione gave up all pretence of not watching, and started to bash her head against the table in despair at this example of Harry's talent and proficiency in dealing with girls.)
"Well, the thing is that I really wanted to find you so that I could ask you..." the girl trailed off in a way that if deliberate, would have been extremely bad acting.
"Um... yeah?" Harry prompted brilliantly.
"Well," she repeated. "There's the Halloween Party, and the Holiday Ball coming up, and I was wondering if I could go with you." Cho asked slowly, while Ron pretended to be sick.
Harry, sure that his face must now look like some kind of panicked, overgrown tomato, felt his heart beat madly. "Yeah, that would be great, okay," he babbled mindlessly, "I'd love to. If you want to - you know, if you haven't changed your mind -" ('Which is looking all the more likely by the second,' Hermione sighed to Ron) " - then I'd really like that."
Cho looked delighted. "Thanks, Harry!" she said, before giving him a dazzling smile and leaving.
Harry drifted back over to the table, still unsure what had happened to him, and Ron shook his head in disgust. "Bloody Hell, mate. One of the best-looking girls in the school just asked you out, and you looked as if you were having a heart attack."
Harry glared at him. "I wasn't that red." he challenged, slumping down, annoyed. He cheered up as soon as he realised that his crush had asked him out, though, which only took a couple of seconds.
Hermione, however, didn't seem as impressed. "Hm," she said doubtfully. "The question is, why did she ask Harry out? I mean, she shows no sign of wanting to date Harry, then suddenly the Minister announces that Harry isn't a lying nutcase, and everyone knows that he was involved with defeating a daemon, and she's all over him."
Ron snorted. "What, you think she's a Death Eater or something?"
"Of course not!" Hermione snapped angrily. "I just think she wants to be known as the girlfriend of the Boy-Who-Lived! I don't believe she cares about Harry at all."
"Hello, I'm right here, you know?" Harry said as he waved a hand in the air. "Still in the room while you insult my new girlfriend."
"Well, you haven't been on a date yet," Ron said reasonably. "But Hermione might have a point. I mean," he said, turning back to her, "you're usually right, so maybe we should just consider that Cho's after Harry -"
"Will you please stop talking about as though I'm not here? And anyway, have you thought that maybe she just likes me?"
"Well, she never asked you out before," Hermione mused. "I'm not saying that you've got no good points apart from the 'Saviour of the Wizarding World' thing - we know enough about you to know that... and it's possible she fancies you now that you've got rid of your glasses, and your hair's calmed down a bit..." she drifted off.
"And her boyfriend's dead, so now she's single," Ron muttered, and Harry pretended not to hear him.
"Let's just move on," Harry said abruptly, signalling the end of the topic, and the three continued their work.
---
Friday was a lot better than the day before, excluding when Cho had asked Harry out, which still gave him a rush of elation. Transfiguration continued the theories of the Animagus transformation, and several ways that it could be achieved. After the lesson had finished, the professor gave a piece of enticing news to the class.
"Due to the Ministry finally admitting He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's return, the Ministry are planning to reinstate the allowances from the years when he was first attempting to rise to power." she announced, and the Wizarding-borns (who obviously knew what this meant much more than Harry) started whispering excitedly amongst themselves. McGonagall rapped her desk sharply, silencing them.
"For those who don't know, several laws were relaxed in the years when You-Know-Who first came. Several age limits were lowered, Auror training was shortened in order that more Aurors could be sent out faster, and so on." She paused for a moment, before continuing. "We have had a list of the new laws coming into effect this morning - these changes will be implemented by late this month, due to their emergency nature.
"Hogwarts has decided to restore several of the old classes, to help with your defence skills; and of course, it will passing OWLs and NEWTS much easier. Lists of the changed laws and new classes will be handed round at lunch today; you can sign up for all or none of them, but I strongly suggest joining at least two. That is all."
With that, she swept up the folder and left the students, most likely heading for the staff-room.
For the rest of the break-time before History of Magic, Harry had planned to complete his Divination. Instead, he found himself eagerly discussing the latest news with Ron and Hermione, up in the Common Room.
"When the classes were around, last time," Ron told Harry hungrily, "they had about three new classes - There was a Basic Auror Training one for the seventh years, so people who'd done that could skip some of the book-learning of the Aurors - you know, if they joined, then they'd practically go straight on to practical fighting and stuff. The second was Apparition lessons - usually it's only legal at seventeen, but they brought it down to sixteen."
"I'm sure I read something about a test to get into the new classes," Hermione worried, and Ron's face fell a little. "Yeah, there is that," he admitted. "For the Apparition class, you only had to fill out a form, and then if you completed the course, you'd get your license. But with the Auror one, you had to submit an application and do an exam - you know, to see if you're smart enough, willing to stick at it, that sort of thing."
"Well, there's really no point in us getting excited about it anyway," Harry pointed out as he remembered what Ron said about the classes. "They were for sixth and seventh years, not fifth years. We couldn't join any."
Hermione looked triumphant. "Maybe then, but this is now. You-Know-Who's more powerful, so we need to be better prepared. Why would she have told us about the new classes if some weren't going to be available to us?"
"Are you going to take any?" Ron asked, but Harry shrugged.
"I won't make up my mind before I see the list," he replied. "I don't want to get worked up over joining something, then find out it's been cancelled, or it's only for the seventh years."
---
At lunch, though, the list was passed around the third years and upwards, causing much excitement from them (and a lot of whines from the second years and below). Harry scanned his list, thrilled to see that they had obviously decided to bring in a lot more classes this time around.
Non-Compulsory Classes, the stiff parchment read in bold, black ink.
Amulet Making - taught by Prof. Carnaena: 3rd years and above only. Monday, 5-6pm. This will cover how to make protective and offensive amulets with herbs, engravings, runes, and so on. When completed, applicants can pass an exam to gain an E-Level in Amulet Making, Grade 3.
Animagus Lessons - taught by Prof. McGonagall: 5th years and above only. Tuesday, 5-6pm. This will teach the ability to transform into an animal and back at will (note that it is only possible to change into one animal, not multiple). When completed, all successful applicants must obtain an Animagus License from the Ministry.
Apparition Lessons - taught by Prof. Flitwick: 6th years and above only. Wednesday, 5-6pm. Teaches the ability to transport oneself from one place to another instantaneously. When completed, all successful applicants must obtain an Apparition License from the Ministry.
Magical Healing - taught by Madam Pomfrey and Healer Moran: 4th years and above only. Thursday, 5-6pm. Covers Magical and Muggle first aid, as well as basic biology, and recognising symptoms of common illnesses. Provides the basis for Magical Healing E-Levels, though more studying is needed to gain a grade.
Basic Auror Training - taught by Captains O'Keifer and Marcella: 5th years and above only. Friday, 5-7pm. Teaches basic defence, Auror methods and tactics, what to do in emergency situations, and also some basic tests such as mental and magical aptitude. Will require application and approval from Captain O'Keifer.
Spell Creation - taught by Prof. McGonagall: 4th years and above only. Saturday, 5-6pm. Covers spell creation theory and creation of basic spells. When completed, applicants can pass an exam to gain an E-Level in Spell Creation, Grade 3.
Ward Creation - taught by Prof. Carnaena: 5th years and above only. Sunday, 5-6pm. This teaches the construction of basic wards, shields and defensive magic. When completed, applicants can pass an exam to gain an E-Level in Protective Magic, Grades 2 or 3.
Please write your selection, name, year and house on the form below, and return to your head of house.
Harry filled out his personal details, before deciding which subjects he would choose. Unsure of what to pick, he turned to his friends. "What do you think you're going to do?"
Hermione tapped her spare quill against the parchment thoughtfully. "Well, I don't believe in all that herb rubbish, so I'm not doing Amulets... I'm definitely doing Animagus... we're not allowed to try Apparition until sixth year - and I'm not fond of the idea of Magical Healing or Auror Training. I don't want to be an Auror or a Healer, so I won't bother with them, anyway."
"But won't it be a 'valuable learning experience'?" mimicked Ron in a high-pitched voice, and yelped as she trod on his foot. "Thanks, 'Mione." he muttered, before reading his own list. "I think I'm going to try the Animagus class, Ward Creation and Auror training. I probably won't get into Auror training, but it's worth a try. You?"
Harry frowned. "I don't know. I mean, if I'm going to have to face Voldemort and all, I want to be prepared. The Animagus one is a definite, but I think I want to do the Amulet Making as well. I mean, if it is just a load of rubbish, I can drop out." 'But since Levina's teaching it, it's unlikely she's waste her time with something that doesn't work,' he thought, but knew better than to say it aloud. "Basic Auror Training - I might as well send in an Application, see if I can get into it; the Wards Creation sound pretty useful, and the Spell making looks interesting."
Ron looked at him mournfully. "It's too late to save you. You've turned into Hermione." He was rewarded with another stamp on the foot, so he shut up quickly.
Trying not to laugh, Harry scribbled down 'Amulet Making, Animagus, Basic Auror Training, Spell Creation, Ward Creation' on his form, signed and folded it, and passed it down the table to where the finished lot of forms were being collected. "By the way; what's an E-Level?"
Hermione answered this for him. "They're Extra-Levels; like OWLs or NEWTs, except you don't have to do them at a set age - you can do them before, during or after school, or not at all. Instead of a normal grade, you either pass or fail. Once you've completed the lower stage - grade 3 - you can decided whether you want to go up to grade 2, and you continue up to grade nought, which is when you become a Master in your subject."
Harry's curiosity was piqued. "Where do you do them?"
"Well, you can write to the Ministry, or you wait until Careers day, which is when all the different employers all come to talk about different jobs. There'll be some higher-education people there, so you could speak to them, or just go down the job agency," Ron explained. "Mostly, you just do OWLs and NEWTs - you only do E-Levels if you want to go into a really professional job, like Healing, teaching, or becoming an Auror - but they look really impressive on your CV because they're so hard to get."
"They take about a year to complete each grade," Hermione added. "So most people just get up to grade 2 and leave it at that. I think Snape's a Potions Master, and the rest of the teachers are at least grade 2 in their own subjects, and grade 2 in Teaching."
"Dad had to get a grade 3 in Public Services - he used to be in Magical Law Enforcement." Ron smirked. "So far, we've managed to keep him from starting any E-Levels in Muggle Studies, but it's been hard work."
Harry imagined Ron being awarded an E-Level grade 0 in 'Keeping Dads Away From Education' and couldn't help but snigger. "So you could do it at any age?" he repeated, mulling over whether he might try one after Hogwarts. After all, it wasn't as though he'd need a job straight away, with the amount of money he had.
Ron nodded. "Yeah. I think there was some real genius about twenty years ago - IQ of over three-hundred, photographic memory, front-page news - got his OWLs while he was practically in nappies and all; he did a couple of E-Levels, and he didn't have any trouble applying for them, even though he was only nine when he wrote in."
"I'll have to see what ones they have," Harry decided, before they grabbed their bags from under the table and left for the next lessons; Herbology for Ron, and Magical Languages for Harry and Hermione.
---
It was after lessons had ended, however, that the real shock of the day came after the trio made their way back to Gryffindor Tower, and Harry returned to the dormitory to Chat with Rhiannon and Sleepless. When first Sleepless, then Rhiannon had to leave, Harry turned to his homework to keep him occupied.
As he read through his book about Elspeth Glades, the Seer from several centuries ago, he read one prophecy in particular that stood out. As soon as Harry saw it, he knew that this was the one that Levina had told him about - the one mentioning the Eclipse of Remembrance.
When the mouth of darkness conquers the Sun
And eliminates the light;
The emerald-eyed Phoenix is the one
Who must then take flight.
With the memory of his ancestors
Contained proudly within his heart,
He must seek out one of his greatest enemies,
The Snake that tears the realm apart.
A brutal battle there shall be,
Friends shall perish, new ones gained;
And whichever army wins,
The world shall never be the same.
On the longest day's night
When patience wears thin,
The armies are ready,
And the fight shall begin -
The Magpie signals the end of the peace,
The Phoenix himself spreads wings
And afterwards the dead shall slumber,
Having fought for the child of ancient kings.
The Eclipse of Remembrance
Has now come and been;
Whether dead or alive the Phoenix is,
The pride of the lost king and queen.
Grabbing a quill and parchment, Harry copied down every word. Obviously the Resistance weren't as good as keeping the cat in the bag as they thought, if this rather obvious prophecy slipped through their net. On the other hand, they already had their prophecy - why would they expect another one to appear?
This, however, wasn't the shock. This was simply the reason that Harry drifted over to the window to mull over what he'd just read, and saw a whopping great dragon fly past the school, before it circled around and headed straight for Gryffindor tower, it's reflective scales catching the Sun, and midnight eyes fixed on the window Harry was at with a malicious, piercing stare. Harry though, was more concerned about the rather large teeth.
"Bugger," he said. "Why does this sort of stuff always happen to me?"
"How should I know?" Ajax croaked lazily.