Harry Potter and the Eagle's Flight
By Cuthbert the Pure
A/N: Not much to say, but I've really enjoyed writing this story. Please review.
Disclaimer: Once upon a time, I owned Mr. Harry Potter and everything else in this story, but JK killed me and stole it, so it's all hers. I bow before her awesome greatness.
Chapter Four: The Teacher and the Owl
Harry woke the next morning to a feeling of great happiness. He was finally home…for a whole year before he had to go back to the Dursley's. The thoughts of Ginny weren't gone, but he desperately pushed them into the back of his mind, hoping that he could concentrate on his classes. So, after jumping out of bed and pulling on some clothes, he hurried down into the common room to find Ron. He was standing over by the notice board.
"Anything worth noticing?" Harry asked him as he headed over.
"Well, apparition lessons start in two days, but nothing else, mate." Ron replied. Harry nodded, and Ron continued,
"You should put up a notice about Quidditch tryouts, I'm dying to know when I'm gonna make a fool of myself." Harry frowned,
"You're already on the team, mate. Everyone who was on the team last year is back on if they want to be. And besides, you're too good to let go if you screw up at tryouts." Ron's ears turned slightly red, but he was saved the trouble of answering when Katie Bell strolled up to them.
"Did I just hear you
say that I'm still on the team, Harry?" Harry nodded with a
smile.
"Good, but Angelina just told me that she's taking
herself off it to concentrate on her schoolwork. She takes NEWTs at
the end of the year, you know. And besides," Katie lowered her
voice to a whisper, "I think she's been really upset about Fred
not being here anymore. Quidditch would only upset her." Harry
was furious about the news of his best Chaser resigning, but he
managed to nod knowingly. He had known that Angelina had always had
a soft spot for Fred, and he could understand how she felt.
"So, when are you gonna put the notice up anyway?" Katie asked.
"I have to talk to Professor McGonagall to book a time on the pitch, but I'll put it up tomorrow after she tells me when we can hold them," Harry replied. Katie nodded and headed out of the portrait hole down to breakfast. Harry and Ron glanced at each other before heading out after her. They reached the Great Hall to find Hermione already behind a large stack of books, chewing furiously on a piece of toast, while flipping through a book entitled Becoming an Animagus: The Do's and Do not's. Ron stared,
"Hermione, Professor Lupin said to try and keep it a secret about what we're doing." Hermione just waved a hand impatiently,
"Everyone knows I take books out of the library for background reading. This one was in the restricted section. I had to get a note from Professor McGonagall to get it." Ron frowned,
"McGonagall actually signed the note after you told her which book you wanted?" Hermione sighed,
"Of course she did. All the teacher know about what we're doing, Ron." Ron oh'd in a defeated sort of tone and sat down, pulling the large bowl of porridge towards him and ladling some into his own bowl. Harry had only managed to sit down when Professor McGonagall handed him his course schedule. He scanned it quickly. He was only taking four classes; Defense against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, and Potions. He had two classes a day, but each class lasted almost two hours. His first class was Charms, followed by Defense Against the Dark Arts. Ron's was the same. Hermione was taking three classes a day, though, and she told them,
"You're only taking four classes this year? Oh, I see," she murmured, looking at Ron's schedule, "you have the last period off all year. Well, come on, let's go or we'll be late for Charms." Ron stuffed the last bit of porridge in his mouth and, mimicking Harry, grabbed his backpack and caught up with Hermione, who was already halfway across the Great Hall. Ron engaged in an argument with Hermione about being too early for classes, but Harry wasn't listening. His thoughts were back on Ginny. Hermione must have noticed that his mind wasn't on schoolwork, because when they were sitting down in the Charms room, she nudged him hard in the ribs to bring him back to reality. Professor Flitwick was talking,
"Welcome to my NEWT class, students. This year you will be learning about advanced Charm work and…" Harry looked around the classroom and noticed that most of the students who were in his Charm class last year had passed their OWL. He even saw Neville sitting in the back. A few Ravenclaw students had also joined them.
"…we will be learning about Shrinking Charms. They are the opposite of the Engorgement Charm, which we learning last year, but they are much harder to perform. So, if you will take out your copy of NEWT Standard Charms, we can begin learning the wand movement for the Shrinking Charm." The next half hour of the class was devoted the learning the wand movement to Shrink an object. It was a sharp jab. When Professor Flitwick had corrected Neville's jabbing movement for the tenth time, he spoke again,
"Now, if you'll take a look at the object in front of you…" Harry had a stuffed bear with rather large, round eyes. "…you'll notice that it isn't very big. Eventually, we'll be shrinking much larger objects and even animals, but I thought I would start you off small. Right, the incantation for Shrinking is Mimico. Make sure to pronounce right. So, off you go." The rest of the class was spent with many failed attempts at shrinking the objects in front of them. Harry was pleased to notice that by the end of the class, he had managed to make those big, round eyes into tiny, black beads. The rest if his bear was the same size. Only Hermione and two other Ravenclaw students had managed to make miniature models of their objects. The entire class was told to practice the charm.
From Charms, they headed to Defense Against the Dark Arts, which was always the most highly anticipated class of the year, as every year they had a new teacher. Professor Hunting turned out to be rather interesting.
"Please sit down quietly, and put your books and wands away for now." She said as they entered the classroom and sat down. "Right, you are all here because you have acquired an Exceeds Expectations OWL for Defense Against the Dark Arts. This year, you will be learning how to cast and deflect some of the most dangerous curses known to wizard kind. The book you have purchased will not teach you much this year. However, the first hour of this class you will be reading it to learn to correct ways to cast and deflect the Blinding Curse. This curse will temporarily blind your adversary giving you a chance to either run away or cast another curse of your choice." A smile broke across her face as she spoke. Harry looked around the room again and saw that the entire D.A. had managed at least an E in their OWL, as they sat a various tables around the room. They were pulling their books from their packs, and so Harry followed suit. The most interesting part of the first hour was as Ron was practicing the wand movement, and managed to blind Ernie Macmillan without saying a word. Ernie yelled that he couldn't see. Professor Hunting made herself heard over his yells,
"Mr. Macmillan, calm down. Mr. Weasley has just accidentally performed the blinding curse on you. Congratulations, Mr. Weasley, you have just performed a silent curse. I personally do not approve the use of silent curses in this classroom. Can I ask, Mr. Weasley, were you pointing your wand at Mr. Macmillan when you were practicing the movement?"
"No, Professor. I was pointing it at the floor." Ron replied quietly.
"Exactly," Hunting spoke, "as you can see, the silent curse isn't at all accurate. You could have easily blinded myself or Miss Bell, who sits behind you." The class murmured quietly for a moment or two, until everyone managed to look back into their books. The best part of the class was the second hour, when they split up into pairs and practiced the curse. Yells of Siglio filled the classroom. They were followed by yells as a few people where blinded successfully. Harry had paired up with Ron, and Ron had actually managed to blind Harry slightly. His vision was almost gone, but he could still see blurred shapes moving around through his eyes. After a few minutes, his sight had returned and he performed the curse upon Ron. After ten minutes of practicing, Professor Hunting stopped them and said,
"Excellent, you're all making very good progress. Now, if you'll all attempt to deflect the curse back at your partner. If performed correctly, the shield charm will deflect the curse back at your adversary, effectively blinding them. Go." So, they all tried to defend themselves against the curse. This proved a lot harder than the curse itself. Because the Blinding Curse was so powerful, a much stronger Protego was needed to defend the curse. At the end of the class, Professor Hunting spoke above the noise of them leaving the classroom,
"You will all be tested on the correct ways to cast and protect against the Blinding Curse next class. Practice if you think…" Her voice faded away as Harry exited the classroom with Ron and Hermione.
"Well, that was a pretty good day, wasn't it?" Harry nodded, but Hermione replied in a huff,
"Speak for yourself. I still have Ancient Runes to go, and that is a very hard subject." Ron grinned and said,
"Come on, lunch first Hermione." At lunch, Owls arrived. Harry got a letter from Hagrid.
Harry,
Come on down after lunch. I know you don't have any more classes today. Bring Ron and Hermione as well. We can have a cup o' tea and talk about your first day.
Hagrid
"Oh, tell him I had another class, will you Harry?" Hermione pleaded after she had read the note. Harry told her he would, and so after finishing his pudding and bidding Hermione good luck with Ancient Runes in the Entrance Hall, Ron and Harry headed across the grounds to Hagrid's hut.
"There ya are. I was thinkin' you mighta gone an' forgot about me. Not taking my classes an' all…" Harry had suspected this was coming so he tried to interrupt, but saw Hagrid was smiling.
"S'alright 'Arry. I know you lot wanna become Aurors an' all. Don't worry 'bout it." They spent the next hour and a half telling Hagrid how their day had been. Ron was in the middle of telling him how he had successfully performed the Blinding Curse on Harry his first try when Hagrid looked out the window and gasped.
"Oh, I almo' forgot. My firs' class is startin'. You two had better go. Come down and visit me sometime, yea?" They told him they would and then exited the cabin, looked across the first students to endure Hagrid's creatures this year. Harry noticed Ginny walking with a group of fifth years across the grass towards him. His heart jumped into his throat when she smiled and waved at him and Ron. He waved back awkwardly. He then felt Ron's eyes on him, so he composed himself and headed back up towards the castle. He heard Hagrid saying loudly,
"I've got something really excitin' for you lot today…" Ron and Harry laughed.
Back in the common room, they practiced Shrinking Charms until Hermione came back from Ancient Runes. They decided they would rather practice when she wasn't there to breath down their necks as they got it wrong. Instead, they had a few rough games of wizard chess which took up most of the afternoon. They headed down for dinner as Hermione and Ron started to have another argument. Harry had learned to ignore them, but he couldn't help notice that Professor Hunting was missing from the staff table as they entered the Great Hall. Shaking it from his head, he sat down and loaded his plate with smoked salmon. His three immense losses to Ron had made him rather hungry. Katie came and sat next to him a minute later and they engaged in a conversation about Quidditch tryouts. Harry then remembered that he had forgotten to ask Professor McGonagall about a tryout time. He told himself he would ask her after dinner. Just as Katie told him that Seamus Finnigan was showing excellent promise as a beater, Harry noticed an Owl had swooped into the Great Hall. Everything had suddenly gone quiet, as a lone owl usually meant a Howler. This envelope wasn't scarlet, but just a regular off white color. It winged it's way towards the Hufflepuff table and dropped it's charge in front of third year girl Harry had never met. The Owl then swooped out of the hall, leaving the Hufflepuff girl very confused. She opened the envelope slowly, and read the letter as everyone in the hall watched quietly. As the girl read the letter, Harry noticed her eyes fill with tears. Then, as she finished, she burst out sobbing and ran from the hall, the letter still clutched in her hand. Her two friends rushed out after her. Harry wondered silently what that letter had said, but then remembered something Dumbledore had said at the Welcoming Feast. 'Many of your fellow students will suffer losses, as some already have,' was what he had said. Harry turned and looked at him to see that Dumbledore's eyes were shining slightly with something that wasn't candlelight.
After the owl had arrived, the Great Hall had remained very quiet, with only murmurs punctuating the still air. Then, Harry saw Professor McGonagall stand and begin to leave.
"See you in the common room." He said to Ron and Hermione and then stood, hurrying out of the hall and after Professor McGonagall. He caught her on the first stair up to the second floor.
"Professor! Professor, wait!" He shouted after her. She turned and, seeing Harry, gave a rare smile,
"Mr. Potter? I don't believe you have my class until tomorrow, what could you possibly want to speak with me about?" Harry replied quickly,
"When is the next available date I can book the Quidditch field for tryouts?" McGonagall smiled,
"I was wondering when you would ask me that, Mr. Potter. I believe that the eleventh of this month is free. That should give you time to train your new players before the first game. And don't worry about your lesson at noon. Professor Lupin has told me it will only take an hour or two." Harry nodded, bid goodnight to McGonagall and then headed back upstairs to the common room. He immediately saw Ron working on Blinding Curses in the corner of a room with Hermione. Ron was currently rubbing his eyes furiously, while Hermione was talking to him. Harry grinned and grabbed some parchment from a first year working on Transfiguration homework and wrote in block letters on it.
QUIDDITCH TRYOUTS WILL BE HELD ON SEPTEMBER 11TH. ANY GRYFFINDOR WANTING A PLACE ON THE TEAM WILL BE EXPECTED TO BE ON THE FIELD AT 3 PM SHARP. AVAILABLE SPOTS ARE:
2 CHASERS
2 BEATERS
Harry looked it over once and then pinned it up on the notice board. Grinning happily, he joined Ron and Hermione over in the corner. Ron was gradually regaining his sight, and he managed to squint at the notice board,
"The eleventh, mate? That's the day of our lesson, we'll never make it to the field on time…" Hermione was the one that answered him.
"Don't be ridiculous, Ron. I highly doubt that we'll spend three hours practicing." Ron nodded and stood up. He said to Hermione,
"Alright, this time let me cast it on you…I need practice as well, ya know?" Hermione nodded and when Ron cast the curse, Hermione was instantly blinded. Ron grinned at Harry. He sidled over to his favorite seat by the fire, to find someone already sitting in it. It was Ginny.
"Oh, hi Harry. Not working on Blinding Curses with Ron and Hermione?" Harry shook his head and took the seat next to Ginny. He looked at the parchment under her quill.
"Potions, Ginny?" She nodded, he continued, "I have that tomorrow. I can't believe I made it to his NEWT class. How is he this year?" Ginny smiled slowly,
"Like an overgrown bat."
"So the usual then?" They both laughed. Harry spent the rest of the evening pointing out mistakes to Ginny in her paper and insulting Snape as much as he could. He found it extremely easy to talk to Ginny. Admittedly, it was harder when she was laughing, smiling, running her hands through her hair, or blushing at something Harry had said. At eleven o'clock, Ginny went to bed, but Harry lingered by the dying embers of the fire. His mind was mostly filled with thoughts of Ginny, but he also thought of the owl at dinnertime. He wondered vaguely what he would do if Ron or Ginny received one of those owls. At midnight, he went to bed.
A/N: Chapter four is finished. I have to admit that the entirety of this chapter was not all my idea. The part of the lone owl delivering the letter was actually part of the fic Alone by NotYourAverageSchoolgirl. Very angsty story…find it and read it. Must go tho…cya soon!
MISC STUFF: Thanks to Bloodless Ace and V.CAndrewsClone for reviewing and giving me confidence.