Chapter 5-Revelations
Harry awoke the next morning completely refreshed. He grabbed a change of clothes, and showered. When he emerged from the shower, he noticed that neither Ron nor Neville were up yet. Since they only had two beds in the room, they had decided to cycle through the beds and the floor. Neville had slept on the ground last night. Harry decided to wake Neville first, as he was sure that would be immensely easier then waking Ron.
He knelt down next to him and shook him gently. "Neville, get up," he said. Neville's eyes fluttered open.
"What time is it?" he asked.
"It's about 9:00," replied Harry. "Come on. Hurry up and get ready, I need your help to wake up Ron." So Neville got up and hurriedly got ready. When he was finished, they walked over to the side of the bed. They both took turns shaking Ron and telling him to get up, but it was to no avail.
"Hey, Neville," said Harry with a mischievous grin on his face. "I've got an idea. Follow me." Neville followed Harry to the bathroom, where they filled a glass with ice cold water. They quietly snuck back into the room. They were relieved to find Ron still asleep. Snickering softly to themselves, they crept next to the bed. Harry held up his fingers. "3…2…1…GO!" Neville splashed the cup of water right across Ron's face. His reply echoed the house.
"HARRY, NEVILLE, YOU GREAT PRATS! I'LL GET YOU FOR THAT!" And with that he chased them down the hall and into the dining room. It was just at that moment that Mrs. Weasley bustled in from the kitchen.
"What's all the commotion about?" she demanded.
"Well," started Harry, barely suppressing a grin. "We couldn't get Ron to wake up, so we splashed a glass of water into his face."
Mrs. Weasley looked over at Ron, and started to laugh. "That's quite understandable, dears," she said. "Now Ron, why don't you go upstairs and get dressed, and join us for breakfast." Ron looked quite disgruntled, but left without argument. As soon as he was out of earshot, Harry and Neville burst into laughter.
"You should have seen his face," laughed Harry through his tears. "Priceless!" Neville still hadn't regained the capacity for speech. He just rolled around on the ground in fits of hysteria. After they had both regained their composure, they sat down at the table and started on breakfast.
They were joined shortly by Ron, who was followed quickly by Hermione, Luna, and Ginny. They all chatted animatedly through breakfast, until it was time to begin training. As they had done yesterday, they began with Animagus training. They walked down to the basement, and were once again greeted by Tonks and Professor McGonagall.
"Morning, everyone!" said Tonks cheerfully. "How do you all feel?"
"Pretty good," they said.
"Wonderful, wonderful, now lets get started, shall we?" said McGonagall. "Well, you all know what to do. Harry, why don't you start us off?"
Harry nodded his agreement, and walked to the center of the group. He closed his eyes, and concentrated on turning into a drake. He imagined the wings sprouting from his back, his neck growing longer. He imagined the scaled growing over his body, the tail coming out of his lower back. Suddenly, it stopped. He looked down, and realized that he had done it. He gave his wings a feeble flap, but they didn't seem to want to move much. Then, overcome with weariness, he collapsed on the floor once again.
"Well done, Harry! Well done!" applauded Tonks. Everyone else was also cheering him. He blushed under the attention.
"Spectacular, Mr. Potter, absolutely spectacular!" said McGonagall. "You've achieved a very difficult transformation after only two tries. Wonderful!" she beamed. Harry looked around, and saw Hermione beaming at him too. He grinned sheepishly at her. He returned to his seat, and was immediately pounded on the back by both Ron and Neville.
"Great job, mate!" said Ron.
"Knew you could do it!" said Neville.
Hermione leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. "You were wonderful," she whispered in his ear. This caused him to blush even more, but he was very pleased.
It was Hermione's turn now, and she looked very anxious. Harry leaned over and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You'll do great," he whispered. She beamed at him, and looked noticeably less nervous.
She stood and walked to the center, and closed her eyes. After a moment, she started to change. Her shape hunched over, and her legs began to shorten. The only human part left on her was her face, when she collapsed from exhaustion.
"Well, done, Ms. Granger, well done," said McGonagall.
Hermione returned to her seat, as Ron stood and walked to the center. He, too, got very close, but was left with human hands, feet, and head when he collapsed. Those remaining retained more of their human form in varying degrees. Finally, it was time for lunch, and they were all exhausted.
"Come on you guys, lets go eat," said Ron. "I'm starving."
"Just wait a minute, I've gotta do something," said Harry. He turned to McGonagall. "I just wanted to say thank-you, Professor. See you at 10?" She nodded.
"You're quite welcome Harry. Now you'd better get going, I'm afraid Mr. Weasley is about to faint from hunger."
Ron blushed. "Alright, let's go get some food," said Harry. The six tramped up the stairs to the kitchen, to find another wonderful meal prepared by Mrs. Weasley. She bustled into the kitchen.
"Well, eat up you lot, you look starved!" she said cheerily. They didn't need any more prompting. The dug into their food with gusto, and didn't bother to speak for about 10 minutes. Finally, Ron spoke up.
"What was that about with McGonagall?" he asked.
"Oh, that," said Harry. "Well, I didn't get an "O" in my O.W.L. Potions. Snape won't let me in his N.E.W.T Potions without it, but I need N.E.W.T. Potions to be an Auror. So, Professor McGonagall is going to tutor me in potions so I can take the class."
Ron just sat there with his mouth hanging open. "You mean you actually WANT to take Potions again? I thought you of all people would want to get out of that class as fast as you could."
"Didn't you hear him?" asked Hermione. "He needs it to be an Auror. I think it's good that he's taking some initiative in his academics," she said proudly, giving Harry a smile.
With that, Harry pushed back from the table. He glanced at the clock, and almost fell out of his chair.
"Come on guys," he said hurriedly. "We're late for Defense training with Moody." Everyone leapt out of their seats and scrambled up the stairs into the attic. Moody, of course, was already there.
"Do you realize," he growled, "that you are 10 minutes late?"
"Yes, sir," said Harry hastily. "We were having lunch, and the time just got away from us."
"Well, Potter, as I'm assuming you're the cause of the groups lateness, you're going to have to stay after you're lesson."
"But sir…" Harry protested.
"Silence," snapped Moody. "You'll stay after lessons, and there will be no more discussion of it. Now," he said, turning towards the class, "as you all have mastered the Protego Media charm, I believe it's time to move up a step. I am now going to teach you the most powerful shield, the Protego Maximus. Now, I'd be very surprised it any of you mastered this spell today. However, for those who can, it's a very powerful tool. It will block any spell, aside from the Unforgivable Curses, and not only reflect it, but make it more powerful. The only drawback is that it draws power from you. Therefore, the more powerful the curse it is blocking, the more energy it will drain. You can also change the amount of enhancement the reflected spell receives by changing the amount of energy you put into it. That kind of control, however, takes a lot of practice. Now, split into pairs and practice it."
Harry and Hermione paired together and went into a corner. "Expeliarmus!" roared Hermione.
"Protego Maximus," cried Harry. The spell, however, didn't work. He was thrown back and disarmed.
"Potter!" roared Moody. "What on earth do you call that? You didn't slow the curse at all! That was pathetic! Try again!"
Harry was seething. Moody was making him look like an idiot. Harry looked at Hermione and nodded. "Expeliarmus!" she cried.
"Protego Maximus!" Again, the spell didn't work. If anything, it made the spell that Hermione was doing even more powerful. He flew back into the wall, and knocked some loose bricks out.
"Potter, get over here!" yelled Moody. "I don't know what you're doing, but it sure as hell isn't what you've been told to do."
Harry walked over to Moody. "You'll practice with me now," he said. By this point, Harry was almost shaking with rage. He was barely thinking coherently. All he knew was that he wanted to hurt the man in front of him. "Expeliarmus!" cried Moody.
"Protego Maximus!" countered Harry. At that point, all the rage, depression, sadness, frustration, and emotion that Harry had felt the entire summer burst out of him. Harry saw the curse bounce back towards a very surprised looking Moody, and then he blacked out.
When Harry awoke, it was too the relieved looks of Lupin, Hermione, and Dumbledore.
"What happened?" he asked.
They all look at each other, when Lupin finally spoke up. "I think you're going to have to see it for yourself." Hermione helped Harry stand, and walked him up to the attic. The sight that met his eyes was astounding. An entire wall of the attic was missing, leaving only dust and some bricks lying on the floor. Harry looked through the hole, and saw yet another hole in the side of the house next to theirs.
"I…I did this?" he stuttered.
"I'm afraid you did, Harry," said Dumbledore.
"W-wait, what about Moody?" he asked. "Oh my god, I sent him through these walls didn't I?" They all nodded. "Is he okay, where is he?"
"Mad-eye is at St. Mungo's," replied Lupin. Those words made what felt like a lead wait drop into his stomach.
"I…I need to see him," said Harry.
Dumbledore smiled at him. He picked up a brick and pointed his wand at it. "Portus" he muttered. "Here, take hold of this." They all reached out for the brick. Just before he touched it, Hermione took Harry's hand and gave it a squeeze. Then Harry felt the familiar tug behind his navel, and he was whisked away.
They arrived rather shakily in the lobby of St. Mungo's. Without bothering to ask, they swiftly followed Dumbledore up the stairs to the fourth floor, Spell Damage. They quickly found Moody's ward. Harry gasped as they walked in and found Moody. He looked terrible. He had cuts and scrapes all over him as well as bruises and undoubtedly some broken bones.
"What's wrong with him?" asked Harry. "Why hasn't he been healed yet?"
"Well," said Dumbledore, "Moody never has trusted doctors. He won't let them near him."
"I guess I'm going to have to do it then," said Harry. Everyone stared at him, but he didn't pay any attention to it. He walked over to Moody's bedside and placed his hands on his chest. He closed his eyes, and probed through Moody's body. He gasped despite himself at the damage he found. Aside from the external damage, there were several broken ribs, a broken arm and leg, and rather severe internal bleeding. Harry started with the bleeding. He channeled energy through the organs, pulling them back together and mending the tears.
Then he moved to the broken bones, and slowly mended those, channeling still more energy through them, until they were fixed. Finally, Harry healed the cuts, scrapes, and bruises. Harry opened his eyes, and saw everyone smiling at him, including Moody who he thought he heard say "Just as I suspected." And then for the second time that day, Harry promptly passed out.
When Harry awoke, it was to the same faces he had become accustomed to awaking to. Lupin, Dumbledore, and Hermione were smiling down at him, though this time with the addition of Moody.
"So where am I this time, Professor?" he asked.
"You're back at Grimmauld Place," he replied.
"Okay, Professor, what's going on with me?" he asked more sternly then he meant to.
"Well, Harry, I believe that that is going to take some explaining. Are you well enough?" Harry nodded. "Well then, let's retire to my office, shall we? A bit more private I dare say." He held out a teacup. Harry reached out and took hold of it, and felt a familiar tug behind his navel.
When he arrived rather shakily in Dumbledore's office, Harry glanced around in awe. No matter how many times Harry visited this office, it always seemed to have an aura of power about it that left him speechless. Dumbledore took a seat behind his desk. "Please sit down," he said as he conjured a very comfortable chair for Harry to sit in. Harry took a seat and looked at Dumbledore expectantly. Dumbledore took a deep breath and began.
"Okay Harry, I understand that all of this is going to be very new to you, but please wait until I am finished to ask any questions. Is that all right?" Harry nodded. "Okay then, well. As you know, there are wizards of varying powers. However, for those wizards who posses exceptional magical abilities, a series of names have been developed. They are Magi, Arch-Magi, Warlocks, and Sorcerers. Of this group, Magi are the least powerful, and Sorcerers are the most powerful."
"No one is born as any one of these things. They are, however, born with enough raw magical energy, that once controlled, will make you one of these. Therefore, very few of these kinds of wizards are ever born, and fewer still ever grow into their full magical power."
"Now I suppose I should give you some idea of what all of these are, so I'll start with Magi. Magi are fairly powerful wizards, though they are rather common. However, as I said, very few people ever reach the level of control to reach their full potential. Magi have the ability to channel their energy through any object. This means that they do not need a wand. They can channel their energy through their hands, or through a weapon. It is for this reason that many Magi become very skilled swordsmen."
"Arch-magi are very similar to Magi, only slightly more powerful. They too can channel energy through objects, but they can also impart a portion of their power to a certain object, where it will remain to be called upon by whosoever finds that artifact. For this reason, many Arch-magi become excellent craftsmen, and have also been called Enchanters."
"That brings us to Warlocks. Warlocks possess all of the traits of Arch-Magi and Magi, but again are slightly more powerful. They also possess the aptitude for a certain skill, such as Banishing. There have been three warlocks in the last couple of centuries: Grindewald, Tom Riddle, and myself. Grindewald possessed the ability of Banishing, which is the ability to destroy the magical ability of another. However, in order to do so, he had to have greater magical power than the one he was banishing. This proved to be his downfall. Tom Riddle has the ability of Possession, or the ability to literally possess the mind and body of another, but again, he had to have greater magical power then the one he was attempting to possess. He developed the Imperius Curse to give all of his followers a similar ability, but it is not the same."
"I myself posses the ability of Animation, which is the ability to bend inanimate objects to my will. You witnessed this power during my duel with Tom Riddle at the Ministry of Magic last year. I consider myself lucky, as I do not have to worry about not being powerful enough to use my ability, as I have yet to meet an inanimate object more powerful than myself."
"Now we come to Sorcerers, the most rare and powerful group of wizards. There have only been a total of five Sorcerers in history. Merlin was the first, followed by Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Sorcerers, like Warlocks, each possess certain abilities, though theirs are much more powerful than those of Warlocks. Merlin possessed the ability of Summoning, by which he could summon anything he wanted, and give it whatever powers he deemed fit. Gryffindor, due to his great bravery, loyalty, and love of others, possessed the power of Protecting. With this power, he could place unbreakable protections upon any person, place, or object. In fact, it is these protections that still guard Hogwarts to this day."
"Hufflepuff, due to her great love of others and charity to all, possessed the power of healing. It was said that her healing powers were similar to that of Unicorn blood, though without the half life. It was said that she could bring a person back who was an inch from death. Ravenclaw, ever knowledgeable, had the ability of foresight. It is akin to the ability of Seers, but it can be turned on and off. Finally, Slytherin, due to his shrewdness and sense of self-worth, had the ability of Shape-Shifting. He could change not only his appearance, but his entire body structure, and not only of himself but of anything and anyone around him."
"Excuse me professor, but what exactly does this have to do with me?" asked Harry.
Dumbledore smiled down at Harry, and with the unmistakable glint of pride in his eye, said, "Because, Harry, you are a Sorcerer."