Title: Harry Potter and the Staff of Merlin
Author: Legolas-gurl88
Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling, not me!
A/N: Sorry for the lengthy update!
Story time!
29. Wand-less Ways
Harry and Cho returned with McGonagall to Hogwarts by Ministry Car provided by Tibulus Terricott. Ron and Hermione greeted Harry at the entrance, eager to hear all about Frost's trial. Once Harry said good-bye to Cho, who walked the path to the Ravenclaw Common Room, he and his friends walked to the Gryffindor Common Room. The whole way, Harry told them everything that had happened.
As he replayed the memories, vivid pictures showed up in his mind. He remembered how Judge Terricott had sentenced Frost to life in Azkaban; the cheers of several of the Wizengamot members. The chill that the Dementors left behind was still in the pit of Harry's stomach, but what chilled him even more was the sound of Frost's voice as she was dragged away to Azkaban. You're all going to die! Every last one of you!
Harry shivered.
The next morning was a Thursday. During breakfast, Hedwig arrived at the table with two things tied to her leg. One was a letter and the other was that day's newspaper. Harry silently rejoiced as he read the headline.
"PHILBERTA BRADWER FROST, IMPRISONED FOR LIFE."
Harry then turned to the letter and opened it. A short note was inside.
Harry,
Congratulations for your work at Philberta's trial. I know how difficult is for you to relive certain memories, so I am very proud. I trust you read the article. They mention you in it, obviously, and say "Young Harry Potter, previously known as a nutcase, speaks out about the terrors that happened on February 14th."
I have assigned a new teacher to take Philberta's place. You will still teach the Sixth Years, starting tomorrow as she will arrive some time tonight.
Sincerely,
Albus Dumbledore
"I wonder who he's got this time." said Harry, handing the letter to Hermione as Ron read over her shoulder. He watched as Ron's eyes laughed at the quote from the newspaper.
"Maybe it's a vampire, like Dean said in third year." said Ron.
"Oh, don't be stupid, Ron, why would Dumbledore hire a vampire?" scoffed Hermione.
"Well, so far, he's hired three loons, one was full of himself, one had a magical eye and one had Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head. Another was a werewolf, one was an ugly old bat and one just murdered twenty-three people. I don't think anything's stopping him to get the weirdest people to work that post. Besides you, Harry." said Ron quickly as Harry snorted slightly.
"So, are you nervous about the Quidditch game this Saturday?" asked Hermione.
"Except for the fact that our Beaters can't hit anything that's not two inches away from their face, I think we have a fair chance." said Ron, eating a piece of bacon, but nothing more.
The next morning, Harry and Ron awoke at almost the same time and got dressed. They met Hermione in the Common Room and the three of them walked down to the Great Hall. There were more conversations than usual, and people's heads were bent towards each other, talking in low voices. Several times, some students glanced up at the Head Table where Dumbledore sat. When the table came into view to Harry, Ron and Hermione, they looked up.
A new lady, probably the new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher was sitting on Dumbledore's left hand side, talking to him in a low voice, just as the students were doing.
The moment Harry saw her, he knew why she brought on great amounts of conversation to the students who sat in front of her. She was a big woman, very round and wore purple robes, making her look like a giant grape. She had only a few less chins than Dudley had and her hair was placed to one slant above her head, and it was suddenly obvious that she wore a mousy brown wig that was extremely curly. She had a sour face and looked as if she would fall asleep at any time.
"Talk about sour grapes." whispered Ron and Hermione gave him a scathing look and pushed him along to the Gryffindor tables where they could talk a bit more.
"I wonder what her name is." said Harry as he sat down on the bench.
Almost as if answering his question, Dumbledore stood up and McGonagall grabbed her goblet and clanged her spoon to it to obtain order in the room.
"Students," said Dumbledore, raising his hands, "I would like to introduce you to your New Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Wilma Hicks!"
There was a scattered applause as Professor Hicks waved halfheartedly at no one in particular. Several of the Slytherins snorted in laughter that was not heard by anyone except the Gryffindors, who glared at them.
"Harry, Ron, Quidditch is tomorrow, so I would suggest actually eating something today." said Hermione, spooning porridge into Ron's dish for him as he gawked at Professor Hicks. "Ron!"
"What?" said Ron, barely noticing anything.
"Oh what's the use?" said Hermione, throwing Ron's spoon into his dish, spraying him with his own breakfast. Harry, who had spooned porridge into his own bowl, barely got his filled spoon to his mouth before he heard someone call his name. He turned to see McGonagall standing before him, her hands on her hips. Behind her, Harry could see that Wilma Hicks had gone as well.
"What now?" he said.
"Dumbledore wants you to meet Wilma Hicks now, since you two are colleagues and will be working together."
"Now?"
"Did I stammer, Potter? Of course, now." said McGonagall, her glasses flashing in the torchlight surrounding them in the room. Sighing, Harry dropped his spoon into his dish and stood up, grabbing his bag.
"See you later," he said to Ron and Hermione before following McGonagall out of the Great Hall and into the corridor leading to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.
Once they reached the door to Harry's classroom, McGonagall stopped and turned to Harry, her hand on the doorknob.
"Potter," she said, "I know you've been having a hard time, and it is probably not easy going through two other colleagues this year, so try to make Wilma feel at home here. For your safety, we've thoroughly checked her background. Both her parents were Muggles, and she attended a wizarding school in Ireland. Her left arm is Dark Mark free and she has been working as a committee member for the defense of the Fwooper bird for eight years now, so she is very friendly. But I must press upon you again, make her feel welcome. You may go in now."
With that, she turned to doorknob, opening the door. Harry walked inside and McGonagall closed the door behind him. It was not hard to find where Professor Hicks had chosen a seating place, for her purple robes made her stand out extremely well. She was sitting at the desk that she and him would share, her large hands folded and resting in front of her.
"Good morning," she said politely, but Harry could tell she was extremely shy because her voice shook slightly.
"Good morning," Harry responded, walking in and taking a seat at one of the student's desks, right across from where Professor Hicks sat.
"Erm-- how do you do?"
"I'm alright," said Harry. There was an awkward silence in which both Harry and Hicks stared at each other. Suddenly, Harry's stomach growled.
"Are-- are you hungry?" Hicks asked, pulling out her long wand preparedly.
"A bit." answered Harry. Hicks nodded, then pointed her wand at the surface of her desk. A plate full of pancakes appeared, stacked high, syrup and butter accompanying them on the side. Two plates and two sets of forks and knives appeared. Harry stood up and took his plate, stacking three pancakes on top and pouring syrup over all of them. He grabbed a fork and knife and returned to his desk while Hicks prepared her own breakfast.
"Thanks." said Harry shortly.
"So-- you're the sixth year Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher?"
"Yes." said Harry, taking a bite of his first pancake.
"It's nice to meet you." said Hicks. She paused and cleared her throat, her wig sliding slightly off the top of her head. She grabbed it and pulled it strait before continuing. "I'm sorry for coming off so shy, dear." she said. "I'm normally really talkative, but I'm a little nervous. This is my first day, you see. I'm sure you could relate?"
"Yeah, I was really nervous on my first day."
"It must have been harder for you; you're teaching your classmates."
"I got used to it."
"Of course," said Hicks, taking a whole pancake and cramming it into her mouth. "I'm not much of a talker. Except when it comes to Fwooper birds. They're interesting, aren't they?"
"Er… what's a Fwooper bird?" Harry asked. The light that began to shine on Hick's face extinguished at these words.
"A Fwooper bird is what gives us nice quills, pretty eggs!" she said happily. "I don't know anyone who doesn't know about Fwooper birds!"
"I suppose you do now," said Harry, taking another bite of his breakfast.
"Well, they're not very common anymore. They've been outlawed because their songs drive people to insanity!"
"I can't imagine why they're outlawed, then," said Harry, but Hicks didn't catch the sarcasm in his voice.
"Neither can I! Honestly, if people who purchased them were only smart enough to perform the monthly routine of the Silencing Charm, there would be less of a problem. I'm glad we see eye-to-eye, young man."
"Right," said Harry.
Saturday approached with sun in the May weather and Harry awoke with nervousness planted in his stomach as if he had been born with it. The Quidditch game was in a few hours, the one that would decide the Cup.
The few hours passed like a ghost through a wall and soon, Harry found himself in the locker rooms with hardly any recollection of where the time had gone, and what he had done. He pulled his robes on, grabbed his broomstick and in no time, was walking onto the field.
Hermione, sitting in the stands, watched as Harry and Ron emerged from the dressing rooms and walked to the middle of the field, amidst the cries of fellow Gryffindors. Ron was beaming from ear to ear and Harry looked pale and disconnected from what was going on around him. She clapped for them and shouted their names. Behind Harry and Ron trudged Dennis Creevy, Ginny and Mark. Still to come were the Beaters, Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper who looked even more confused than Crabbe and Goyle who exited the dressing rooms from the other side of the playing field.
Madam Hooch shouted among the crowd, her voice magnified so everyone could hear.
"Captains, shake hands!" she said. Ron and Roger Davies stepped forward and grasped each other's hands. Behind Roger, Hermione could see Cho wave to Harry, who grinned back.
"Mount your brooms!"
The whistle blew and fifteen brooms rose into the air. Instantly, Ron and Roger headed for the Quidditch hoops, Harry and Cho flew up to a high distance, both searching for the Snitch and Mark made a fantastic move by zooming in and grabbing the Quaffle, throwing it to Ginny, who kicked it strait into the left hoop of the Ravenclaw team.
"TEN POINTS TO GRYFFINDOR!" newly-hired Colin Creevy shouted into the magical megaphone, bouncing excitedly on his chair. "GO DENNIS!" he shouted and the megaphone whistled. The crowd clapped their hands to their ears and some shouted angrily. Nonetheless, Dennis gave a wave to his brother and shouted with his high-pitched voice, "Hi, Colin!"
Turning away from the game, Hermione reached for her bag and pulled out the Druid coin and her Druid to English Translation Book for the Confused Wizard, opened it and began to take notes. Since the book was translating Druid words to English, instead of the other way around, it had taken her a while to get very far.
As far as she could tell, it was a sort of poem. The words 'Eim', 'frawln', and 'Tel' were in it every line. She had memorized every word of the poem, that way, she could read through the words and write down the ones that were familiar. 'Eim' meant 'I', 'frawln' meant 'showed', and 'Tel' meant 'he'. 'I showed him my' and 'He showed me his' began every line of the poem for a while. She also noticed the word 'Excalibur' which was slightly odd to her. Was it possible this coin belonged to King Arthur or someone from that era? Looking at her notes, she looked at the first ten lines of the poem.
I showed him my trust,
He showed me his knowledge
I showed him my trickery
He showed me his fears
I showed him my treachery
He showed me his foolishness
I showed him the way
He showed me his past
I showed him Excalibur
He showed me his future…
Hermione sighed. There were still thirty-eight lines to translate before the poem was finished.
"RAVENCLAW SCORES! Ten-ten tied! GO GRYFFINDOR!"
Ignoring this, Hermione continued to flick through the pages to look for the words.
Eim frawln to gwitrah czechle…
'I showed him the…' Hermione flipped through the pages, and found the word.
"Boy," she whispered under her breath. "I showed him the boy. He showed me his…" she went through some more pages. After several minutes, she found the word, "Courage." The next two lines were almost the same, "I showed him my love/ he showed me his love…"
"Is that the Snitch?" the voice of Colin rang out and several voices and Hermione snapped her head up from her work. She could see Harry and Cho racing up several hundred feet. Everyone was pointing.
"Go Harry!" Hermione shouted, standing up, her notes and book forgotten as they fell to the ground. "Go Harry!"
Cho and Harry were neck and neck, flying closer to the golden glint of the Snitch way up high. Both reached the exact same spot at the exact same time and as they flew off, the Snitch disappeared. Several murmurs sounded below them.
"Where's the Snitch?"
"Who won?"
"Is it gone? Did it fly away?"
"Who's got it?" Colin shouted. Both Harry and Cho flew to the ground and were bombarded with questions from the stands. Hermione waited, bated breath. The stands became silent. The game had completely stopped and Dennis, holding the Quaffle, forgot the game and stared at the two Seekers. Grinning, Harry held up his arm. Clutched in his hand was the Golden Snitch.
The stands burst into screams and applause.
The rest of the day, celebration could be found in the Gryffindor Common Room. Harry couldn't help but smile, even if he had the prospect of having to go to Occlumency Lessons later that evening. Hermione fought her way to her friends, sitting by the lit fireplace.
"You two were wonderful, you really were!" she squeaked. The game had been played and over in less than fifteen minutes.
"Thanks, Hermione," said Harry. The best memory he had from the short game was after he had been hugged by each member of his team, Cho found him and congratulated him by planting a wet kiss on his face. 'Good game, Harry,' she said, and Harry had been immensely pleased that, for once, she was not crying.
Soon, it was time for Harry to leave the party and go to his Occlumency lesson. Reluctantly, he grabbed up his wand and left, leaving the food and celebration sadly.
"Good evening, Potter," said Snape as Harry walked into his office, wand equipped. He was sitting at his desk, looking at Harry with distaste. "Come in quickly, I would like a word with you before we start."
Walking further into the room, Harry moved quickly and sat in the chair before Snape's desk as to not get on the Potion Master's bad side sooner than he would want. As Harry sat, Snape stood up and walked around his desk. It didn't take long for Harry to realize that his teacher was limping.
"What--" he began to ask, but Snape cut him off as he leaned onto his desk.
"A memory given to me by what happened on February 14th, Potter." he said. "This merely happened when a piece of beam from the ceiling impaled my leg as the ceiling fell. Of course, it would have been a lot worse if you hadn't jumped on me to prevent Philberta from performing her curse on me. For that, I thank you."
Harry was speechless. He sat, gripping the arms of his chair and gawking at his least-favorite teacher. Never had he expected getting a thank you from Snape… not even a smile or nod, and here he was, thanking him.
"Y-you're welcome," he stuttered. Snape stood up straight and looked down his bulbous nose at Harry.
"Do not expect things to change from now on, Potter. I cannot deny that you may have saved my life, but I have said my thank-you. I still dislike you very much, as you may have put it in your arrogant head."
"You're not my favorite person either, Professor," said Harry, shock wearing off now that Snape was again treating him the same as he usually did. Snape nodded without answering and took his wand out from his robes.
"Let's being, then and be done with lessons."
Harry stood up and put his wand in his robe pocket subconsciously. They both moved to the center of the office where everything was cleared away.
"On the count of three, then," said Snape, raising his wand and pointing it at Harry, who quickly gathered his wits. "One… two… three… Legilimens!"
Harry's mind instantly went blank and he saw pictures flash before his eyes of his old memories. The Dementor burst into the Defense Against the Dark Arts room… Frost was being led out of the courtroom… he was three and Dudley pulled his ear, he was eight and was running from Dudley and his gang…
"Get… out…" Harry moaned and fell to his knees in the effort to repel Snape's spell. Finally, he felt it lift. Panting, he looked up at Snape.
"That was very good, Potter." he said as though he hated to admit it. "It took a while, but you eventually were able to rid yourself of my spell. Let's try again. Get up."
Harry stood up and closed his eyes as he felt blood rush to his face again.
"On the count of three. One… two… three-- Legilimens!"
The second time that night, Harry saw flashes of his old memories fly by. He was serving his detention with Umbridge, the quill cutting into his hand as he wrote I must not tell lies over and over again… Mrs. Figg was running to him with her tartan shoes and bag of cat food… his father was coming out of Voldemort's wand…
There was a yell and Harry felt the spell be release him. Falling to his knees, he took deep, labored breaths. Looking up, he saw Snape rubbing his wrist where an irritated swelling was.
"The Stinging Hex again, Potter. I thought I told you last year not to lose control."
"This isn't as… easy as you make it out… to be." Harry panted angrily, standing up and leaning over, taking deep breaths as his hands rested on his knees.
"However you rid yourself from the spell, it works. But tell me, Potter. How did you do it?"
"Do what? Say the spell?"
"No." said Snape, staring at Harry's hand. Harry looked down at his right hand as well. For a moment, he didn't know what was the problem-- he'd sent spells Snape's way before. But he realized what Snape was so amazed about. His hand was resting at his side, but his wand was still sitting in his pocket where he'd put it before they started the lesson.
Lifting his hand, amazed, Harry stared at it. He could hardly believe it-- he'd done magic without even touching his wand!
L-
A small, itsy-bitsy cliffie for yeh. If you totally disagree with what just happened, I would like to point out (so this gets off my record before it can even get on) that Harry has done magic once before without the use of his wand in the original Harry Potter books. In the chapter 'Dudley Demented' in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' when Dudley punches Harry's wand out of his hand in the dark, he's looking for it and says 'Lumos'. Then, it lights up a few inches away from his right hand. I thought I'd continue on this exciting tale of Harry's powers growing stronger.
I am SO sorry for how long this chapter has taken for me to get up! Since… April… 23rd. Wow! That's longer than I thought initially! I've been really busy with school coming to a close (Just one more week for me and I'll have all the time in the world to write (with the exception of work and driver's ed. Plus a planned trip with me and my family)! I'm really excited, but kinda getting a little nervous. I want to post the last chapter before J.K.'s next book comes out. That way, you're not getting confused with what's going on (or me, for that matter!) And since that's only, like, a month and a half away and me with at least… ten more chapters to go, I'm worried I won't make that deadline. So every day, I'll be on my computer for at least an hour, writing to get this done. Thanks for keeping up with my random posting schedule!
Also, I've got a good friend, Mistopurr. For you LOTR fans (Lord of the Rings), she writes some REALLY good Legolas angsty stories (non slash). I have followed her faithfully for a whole year, now and I hope others will soon as well. Check out her story 'Fallen Angels' as well, if you do check it out. It's really good!
As well, for LOTR fans, I posted a one-shot story (non slash) called 'Haer en Hith' about Legolas and Gimli. Legolas is being called to the Sea. Enjoy if you check it out, and don't forget to drop a review on your way out!
Review time! (Before I do this, I've heard tale of a new rule on that we aren't allowed to post reviews anymore. While I've seen review still being posted on other stories of people, I'm kinda worried. If you know where this new 'rule' might be found, so I can see for myself, please let me know. Thanks!)
Anonymousangel6694- Thanks a bunch! I love reviewers like you, who make me want to write more. Thank you SO much for telling me of plagiarism attempts. I don't want any 'family issues' to pop up for you and your cousin, so it would be great if you could give me her penname, story title and chapter where the plagiarism can be found, that's all I'll need. I really appreciate your help with keeping an eye out and get back to me as soon as you can! Again, thank you!
Harry rukes- I'm sorry it took me a while to post. Hope you enjoyed the chappie!
821- I hope you enjoyed!
WeasleyPeppers- I LOVE your penname! Lol! Thanks for helping me with info. I've been a bit confused, because I've also heard J.K. say Harry's dad was a Seeker. Again, thanks!
Kiara32- cries with happiness whilst blushing Aw, you really think that? Thanks!
Bahzad- Sorry it took so long to update. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Trojan Horse- Have you figured it out? I dunno… sings annoyingly You'll just have to see! ;)
Jeanne2- Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying my story thus far!
Silenttiger43- Aw, thanks! I'm glad you liked that chapter, 'cause it was fun to write!
Wytil- Sorry, I'm not telling any secrets! You'll just have to wait and see! Thanks for the review.
Starsmiles- I like Umbridge's character as well. And Cho's. I don't understand why people hate them so much, they're SO much fun to write! I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!
The evil witch queen- I didn't forget your review! YAY us! I love your story. Have you posted since I last reviewed? Let me know when you do post! Thanks!
FrodoBeutlin- Thanks!
Rory- Sorry about that. I tend to forget that J.K.'s widdle characters are growing up! wipes tear from eye. Lol.
Trinityelf- I don't have much to say, 'cause I saw you yesterday! Sadness for Trin! I'm sorry!
Ophidia-black- Hello! EVIL chair! Lol! Yay for strangeness! I think we should start a 'strangeness' club! Lol!
EbonyFirePhoenix- Sorry for the expectancy. I tried to make it more confusing, but it didn't work out the way I wanted it. Sadness!
Gogglehead Lover- Same with me. Evil Frost! I love her character, though!
Joyce- I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I very much hope you enjoyed this one!
HandsOff- Yay! I love that… 'story stalker'. Sorry for the lengthy update!
SiriusLeeBlack09- Lol! I love listening to thoughts of my reviewers!
Lilly tiger- Thanks for the review!
Mistopurr- Yo, Misto! I hope you like my little thing that sent people your way! I hope it works out. Anything for my number one friend from England (even if you're my only one. Lol!)
JeanieBeanie33- Yes, evil Malfoy! I'm pretty sure Frost would have been insane even if she'd gotten off. Lol!
Mei1105- I hope your exam went alright! I'm glad you really like my story! It makes me really proud!
Magicgirl45852- Yes! It was from 'The Lost Years of Merlin!' Have you read those? I love them! They're so good!
Padfoot's Godchild- Thanks! Poor Harry with his being treated badly. I should hope I'm planning on dealing with them! Don't worry. Their fates shall be settled.
Thank for all the reviews, guys!
May broomsticks be in your dreams!
Legolas-gurl88
Next Chapter: Harry tries more magic without his wand. Should be interesting. And Voldemort and Wormtail finally have the information they need to retrieve the ultimate weapon. Ooh! Dun, dun, dunnnnn!