Chapter 12
The rest of the Christmas holidays were quite uneventful, just how they should be.
Malfoy recovered sufficiently from his blasting, Harry had finally mastered the freezing skill and the Hogwart students were getting ready to go back to school.
Things were quite calm on the morning of their departure, unlike the usual hustle and bustle, the children had managed to get their belongings together the night before.
"I wonder who the foreign guests will be" Ginny mused, rubbing her stomach. After seeing the specialist she had become quite excited about having a baby and she was just starting to get a lump.
"I'll bet they're French" Ron said, eating the last of his toast and dragging his trunk to the hall where all the other trunks were waiting to be loaded into Tonks car.
"Is everyone ready?" Molly called, striding into the hall and observing everyone and their luggage.
"Ginny, put a jumper on. You'll catch a cold. Ron, I think you forgot Pig and Hermione dear; Crookshanks' biscuits are in the pantry. The rest of you in the car or we'll be late!"
The rest being Draco and Harry filed obediently out to Tonks car. After Draco had recovered, Tonks had taken them out into the snow and made them paint her car. It was now white with blue racing stripes running across the top.
The boys put their trunks in the boot and stood, warming their hands on some blue flames igniting from Tonks' wand, waited for the others.
Finally everyone was in the car, Tonks and Lupin in the front seats. As the car pulled from the kerb, the five students turned and waved to Molly out the back window until she was no longer in view.
"I think it's kicking!" Ginny said excitedly, patting her stomach.
"Ginny, the baby probably wouldn't even have legs yet. Its only five months!" Hermione said, logically. Ginny pouted.
"Here we are!" Tonks exclaimed twenty minutes later as they pulled into the Kings Cross parking lot.
The students unloaded their trunks and Lupin went to fetch some trolleys.
They went through the brick barrier two at a time.
"See you in the summer" Tonks said as she and Lupin watched the train roll away.
"Bye!" Harry called out the window before settling back in his seat beside Hermione.
"Well that was one hell of a holiday" Ron exclaimed. It was just the three of them in the carriage, just like old times.
For most of the trip they played games of exploding snap, wizards chess and pigged out of pumpkin pastries. The occasional Gryffindor dropped in to say hello and Harry soon found out that the majority of the train riders knew about Blaise's party.
The sun was just setting, Harry and Ron were finishing their fourth game of chess and Hermione was deeply indulged in a spell book, when Claire appeared for the first time.
"Hi" Harry said, exchanging a quick kiss. Hermione narrowed her eyes over the top of her book but said nothing.
"Harry, can we talk?" Claire led him out of the carriage and up to her own where there was no one about.
"I never really got to explain about that death eater thing," she said, eyes dropping to her feet.
"It's OK. Dumbledore sorted it out and now you family is under the protection agency"
"I know. But I should have told you. It wasn't right to keep it from you like that, especially while your fighting other death eaters."
Harry shrugged. "It can't be helped. So how was your holiday?" Harry noticed that she was wearing tracksuit pants and a floppy jumper. Her hair was un-brushed and she wore no makeup. She must really be cutting back on the sluttish appearance.
"Fine, a little boring. But what do you expect? I have no friends."
Harry expected her to burst into tears after this remark but she just smiled longingly.
"You'd better get back to your friends, Harry" Harry watched her for a moment then leant forward and kissed her.
It was the first time he'd kissed her in private and somehow it was much more fulfilling.
Harry caught up with Hermione and Ron in the entrance hall as everyone filed into the great hall for the welcome back feast.
Harry, seated between Claire and Ron, was just digging into his lamb chops when Dumbledore stood up to make a speech. Silence fell across the hall.
"As you know, starting this Friday and progressing for a few weeks, we will be host to a number of guests willing to learn Magic in old English style,"
"Who are they?" Dean yelled out.
"Thank you, Mr Thomas. As I was saying, Hogwarts will be host to some foreign guest. Twelve students from three different schools will be joining us on Friday. Chinese, Greek and Australian." Dumbledore paused dramatically while students whispered to their neighbours.
"Also" Dumbledore cleared his throat, "due to the recent attack of Voldemort," he stared pointedly at Harry "the Ministry has decided to enforce a self defence class for sixth year students. Starting tomorrow morning the selected students will undergo Martial arts training under the skilled eyes of four Samurai warriors.
"Seventh year students will participate in a course in Hogsmeade on Wednesdays. Now, Please let me introduce our new Samurai masters, Gobermoru, Manchiyo, Tokugawa and Yukimura"
The students clapped politely as four Japanese men entered the Hall and lined up along the stage for everyone to see. Each wore a similarly designed outfit though each was a different shade of earthy colours and each had its own unique symbol on the shoulder.
Curved blades, about twenty-four inches long, hung from each mans left hip. A shorter knife was strapped to the right. A wooden stick was strapped across their backs along with a bow and quiver full of arrows.
Each man bowed in turn and it took Harry a moment to notice their outfit colours were similar to the Hogwarts colours.
Two of the men looked like brothers, they both had dark skin and grey, pointy beards. The third man had slightly lighter skin with no beard, though his hair was still grey. The fourth looked a fair bit younger than the rest. He had the darkest skin and a little pointy beard off the end of his chin in a dark brown, almost black, colour.
Each man bowed again and left the hall.
"Grade six students will meet on the grounds for the first lesson of every day until the end of term for training. You may continue your meals now" Dumbledore sat down and the hall stayed silent for a moment while they took it all in. suddenly noise exploded through the hall as everyone began talking at once.
"Martial arts? Cool!"
"I hope we get the young one!"
"We get to miss potions!"
When the Gryffindor sixth year boys retired to bed that night they found a neatly folded white suit on the end of their beds. They were similar to the suits Karate students wore.
They boys, talking excitedly, tore off their clothes and replaced them with the suits. Each came with a red belt.
"This is going to be so mad!" Seamus muttered as each boy tried to sleep. This term was looking to be much better.
The next morning, right after breakfast, the nine Gryffindor students assembled on the school grounds with Slytherin, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw students. All students wore their new white suits; the only difference being the colour of the belts.
The Samurai warriors emerged from the forbidden forest ten minutes later and separated the students into their house groups.
The Gryffindors got the young Samurai warrior, Tokugawa, who led them to the lakes edge where teacher and students sat on their knees in the snow facing the water.
"My name is Tokugawa. Until you obtain a certain level of skill you may refer to me as Master Tokugawa, Shogun or Daimyo. You are here today, and for the rest of the school term, to learn, not only the Martial arts of fighting, but self-discipline and weapon skills.
Starting tonight at mealtime, you will begin a strict diet. No saturated fats or processed sugars. Tomorrow morning you shall rise with the sun to exercise you legs followed by half an hour of rest of your choice. You will then have a large breakfast before you undergo an hour of tough Martial arts training before proceeding to school. Understood? Good. I sense that you have sharp minds. Let us begin."
Tokugawa straightened himself and eyed each of his students with piercing blue eyes.
"The Arts of the Samurai is not only to build strength and skill but also to build the strength of the mind. An ancient power, dating back to 1603, has passed through the Samurai blood enabling them to pass it to whom they will. That is my goal for you, to give you the strength of the ancient power. If you learn the Arts correctly you will find that a wand for magic is no longer needed. Observe."
Tokugawa opened his palm and a white dove flew from it.
"Wow" Neville muttered. Nods of approval went around the small group.
Harry shared a knowing glance with Hermione.
"Please rise to your feet. We will begin with simple blocking movements. I will now, deciding by your strength, pair you with one of your kin. This person will be paired with you for the rest of the term. Learn to trust them, as they will learn to trust you. Your lives may depend on it one day."
After some careful deciding, Tokugawa paired Hermione with Claire, Lavender with Parvati, Neville with Ron, Seamus with Dean, which left Harry standing by himself.
"You shall be with me, Harry Potter" Tokugawa said, bowing. Harry bowed back nervously. Tokugawa proceeded to demonstrate, using Harry as a dummy, how to effectively block.
By the end of the lesson the students were feeling tired but quite content by their practice. Having no time to change, they put their black robes over the top of their white robes and hurried off to Charms.
"That was great!" Hermione said as she took out her books. "I would have liked to have a shower though…"
The students went through the day buzzing excitedly about their new class and by dinnertime they had completely forgotten about their diet.
"What the hell?" Ron exclaimed when he saw the state of the great hall. The long tables were still there but now, at the end of the tables, smaller tables had been place and the Samurai warriors were sitting at the end of their own house tables.
Harry and Ron took seats either side of Tokugawa and waited patiently for the rest of their class to arrive.
"Before we eat we must say grace to the god. The god is usually one's father or the great dragon. Bow your heads."
Harry, not knowing what the great dragon was, preyed for his father. When he looked up he found a little wooden bowl in front of him filled halfway up with plain white rice. Lavender and Parvati were already digging into their small meal with chopsticks.
Harry picked up his own chopsticks and attempted to raise the rice to his mouth. He managed to get one grain to his lips before trying again. It took a long time for them to eat the rice and Tokugawa wouldn't let them leave until they had finished every last bit.
At long last it was only the sixth grade students left; all the other students had retired to their common rooms.
When Ron finally finished his food, they were allowed to leave.
"What a day. This fighting stuff is harder than I thought!" Dean informed them as the five, extremely tired boys got ready for bed. Harry could hear Neville's stomach rumbling as his eyes closed and he fell into a dream where Sirius was flying his broom over London, shooting snowballs at thousands of Samurais fighting in the streets.
Suddenly his scar throbbed and an image of Ginny burst into his mind. She was clutching her stomach and screaming; "don't hurt my baby! Don't hurt my baby!" Harry laughed insanely and pointed his wand at her.
"Shut up!" a green jet of fire blinded Harry's vision and he used all his might to push it away.
Suddenly it was gone and he woke up, scar throbbing, sweating uncontrollably. Ron was turning his light on and getting out of bed.
"Ginny!" Harry yelled hoarsely. Ron froze and stared at him. His face was very pale. The other boys began to wake.
Harry jumped from his bed and ran to the Common room.
"Ginny!" He yelled up the girls' staircase. "GINNY!"
Hermione and Parvati came down moments later looking dishevelled and wrapping dressing gowns around their waists.
"Hermione, where's Ginny?"
"She should be in bed, but I'll check her dorm." Hermione hurried back upstairs only to return seconds later with a few of Ginny's friends, all of them looked terrified.
"She's not there. And she didn't come in tonight either!" Olivier said. Harry only needed to hear it once; he was out the portrait hole and running down stairs and corridors at an explosive speed. Ron wasn't far behind him and the rest of Gryffindor wasn't far beyond that.
"Vampire sucks!" the gargoyle guarding Dumbledore's office didn't budge.
"FUCKING HELL!" Harry hit the gargoyle with his fist and it shattered into tiny pieces.
The Gryffindor students froze in their tracks as Harry disappeared up the staircase.
Dumbledore met him at the door wearing purple Pyjamas.
"Harry?"
"He's got Ginny. I saw them."
"Oh" Dumbledore called Fawkes over and the pair vanished in a burst of flames.
Harry waited impatiently by Dumbledore's desk. He had a feeling that the headmaster was at the Burrow, checking out the Weasleys family clock.
Ron, Hermione and Dean fell into the room, followed by the rest of the Gryffindors.
"Harry, how-"
"I used my wand. You just didn't see it" Harry answered to Ron without missing a beat.
Dumbledore reappeared and release Fawkes' tail feathers.
The students and previous headmaster portraits waited without breathing or blinking.
"She's alive" Harry sighed with relief "but the clock says mortal peril. Voldemort is indeed holding her captive"
Dumbledore strode around to the other side of his desk.
"I'm going to have to ask all of you to leave, exept Harry of course, I need more information."
The students filed reluctantly out of the office and Dumbledore closed the door. Harry, yet again, could sense what Dumbledore was going to do so, instead of waiting for Dumbledore to use the Occlumency charm, Harry forced the dream into the old mans head with such force that Dumbledore nearly toppled over backwards. Harry lessened his strength and tried to focus.
When Dumbledore had all he needed he cut off the connection.
"It looked like they were in a spare apartment in London. I can tell by the paint on the walls. British people always seem to have the same kind of paint on their walls. And it was snowing outside the window"
Harry was impressed on how Dumbledore could pick up such fine details but that wouldn't bring Ginny back.
"Will he hurt her?" Harry asked than answered his own question. "Of course he will" he could feel an overwhelming sense of rage building in his chest.
"I really don't know Harry. I know it will be hard, but I'd like you to go back to sleep. You might pick up another hint of Voldemort's plan."
"What if we can't find her?" Harry tried to keep his voice calm but he couldn't help clenching his fists as the anger boiled over.
Dumbledore looked worn and sad. "I don't know, Harry, I don't know. There's a very slim chance that she'll survive…"
Harry turned to the door and sub-consciously vented his anger on Voldemort.
Images flashed into his mind and he was Voldemort again.
He pointed his wand at Ginny and sneered.
"Is it Potter's child?" he asked in his cruel, cold voice.
Ginny couldn't say anything; she was crying to hard.
"ANSWER ME YOU STUPID LITTLE GIRL!" Ginny still didn't say anything.
Voldemort moved over to the window and gazed into the empty street below him. A signpost at the end of the street read 'Hindsight Avenue'.
This was when Harry's anger hit him. The evil wizards knees buckled and he had to grasp the windowsill to keep himself upright.
"Potter!" he hissed and tried to close his mind to Harry. The second wave of anger hit him and he fell to the floor. Ginny tried to make a run for it but Pettigrew caught her at the door.
"My l-lord?" he stammered, holding Ginny by the elbow and moving closer. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine!" Voldemort tried to compose himself but the final wave of anger swept over him and he fell to the floor again, screaming and clutching his head.
The room faded away and Harry found himself on his knees at the door of Dumbledore's office. The old man was kneeling next to him.
"He thinks the baby is mine." Harry said in a deflated voice.
"Did you see anything else?" Dumbledore asked urgently.
"He's in a three story building on Hindsight Avenue." Harry looked up and met Dumbledore's gaze.
"I'm going to kill him. Right now." He scrambled to his feet but Dumbledore pulled him back to the floor.
"No, Harry. Not until Ginny is safe. You have to strategise."
"But-"
"Go back to bed, Harry. I'll go and find Ginny."
Harry obeyed him and went back to the Common room. He knew Dumbledore was right but that didn't take his anger away. It was his fault Ginny was there. But as long as she didn't speak, he wouldn't hurt her.
The Common room was alive with people who bombarded him the second he was in the door.
"Did you find her, Harry?"
"Is she going to be alright?"
"Where are they?"
Harry ignored them all and went straight to the boys' dorm. Neville, Ron, Seamus and Dean followed.
"He wont hurt her until she talks" Harry said, more to assure himself than anyone else.
"Talks about what?" Ron asked. He was white and shaking.
"He thinks the baby is mine. If she doesn't say anything at all he wont hurt her."
Dean sat down heavily on his bed and put his head in his hands.
"She'll be ok. She's a smart girl," Neville said. These were probably the most comforting words he had said in his entire life. Harry climbed back into bed.
"I have to sleep in case Voldemort tries something."
The other boys got into bed and the room was peaceful once again.
Surprisingly, it didn't take Harry long to fall asleep and he had a very dreamless night.
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