A/N: I am very sorry it has taken this long to get this chapter up, I never meant it to be this long a wait but things just happen that change well-meant plans. And a bad case of writer's block doesn't help either. It's been close to a month since I added anything new to my story and that kept this chapter from being edited at all. I guess that after two and a half years writing this story it was bound to happen. But I'm going on vacations next week, and I had hoped to have this ready for you this weekend so you'll have something to read over the holidays. Thank you all for waiting so patiently. Let's continue with the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing, nothing! Except maybe for a few secondary characters and a few of the places Harry goes to (like the Potter houses, with the obvious exception of the cottage at Godric's Hollow) everything else belongs to the exceptional JK Rowling. Whom, will finish HP and the HB Prince soon! : )
Chapter 13 Defense Training
By the next morning, Harry had decided to tell Neville that he would help him train. He might not be able to show him everything there was to know, but he could teach him the little he did know.
The only thing to do now was to find a room where they could practice. He wasn't sure if they should use the Room of Requirement, as many people now knew of its existence. Neville had made it clear he wanted the lessons to be secret. Harry hadn't even told Ron or Hermione about it, and he wasn't sure he ever would. Not unless Neville allowed him to.
The others were already up. He could hear Ron and Dean laughing by the bathroom door waiting for Neville to finish up. Seamus was sitting on his bed getting his papers ready to turn in that morning.
Everything seemed normal. He had no strange dreams during the night and the day seemed clear and sunny outside.
"Will you lot hurry up, breakfast will be done before you are ready." Called Seamus as Neville stepped out of the bathroom.
Harry scrambled slowly from his bed as he heard Seamus complain about the time the others were taking to finish their morning ablutions.
By the time Harry stepped out of the bathroom, only Ron and Neville remained in the room waiting for him.
"I'll meet you in the common room, Ron." Said Harry as he noticed Neville glancing at Ron nervously and throwing beseeching glances at Harry.
"Why?" Asked Ron with surprise, they usually went down together to meet Hermione every morning.
"I just need to get something, you better go down before Hermione decides to come up and look for us." Said Harry walking purposely to his trunk.
"All right." Said Ron and Harry waited until his footsteps had walked away from the dormitory.
Neville turned to looked at him uncertainly, Harry could plainly see that Neville was nervously waiting to see what he had decided on regards to his request.
"Er…Harry?" He asked tentatively. "Did you – "
"I did." Interrupted Harry taking pity on his friend. "I'll help you, Neville."
Neville broke into a large smile.
"But don't get your hopes up." Warned Harry. "There's only so much I can help you with, you'll have to do some training on your own or ask Professor Lupin to help you with more advanced defense."
"Oh, we'll do famously." Exclaimed Neville. "Thank you, Harry. I do want to be better at Defense."
"Never mind, Neville." Said Harry quickly. He never felt comfortable when others tried to praise him. "We'll have to look for a room to practice."
"Why not the Room of Requirement?" Asked Neville.
"Too many people know of it. Somebody could stumble into our training, unless you want others to find out." Harry said.
"No…no, I don't want others to know I'm training." Said Neville. "What room will we use then?"
"I don't know yet. I'll have a look around. I'll let you know when I find something." Said Harry.
"Okay. Thanks Harry." Said Neville and quickly made his way out of the dormitory.
Harry remained looking after him for a few seconds before leaving at a much slower pace.
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Harry went through every class with his mind on the training sessions he agreed to give Neville distracting him from time to time. He didn't know where they could train without anybody finding them out. An empty classroom was too risky, even though he knew most teachers wouldn't mind if they knew. The Room of Requirement was too well known and anybody would find it if they wanted to use it.
He could ask Dobby if he knew of a private room, he supposed, just like he did with the Room of Requirement. It was Dobby, after all, who had told him of the room. The house-elves would know every room in the castle and probably went to places that the human inhabitants of the castle had never been to.
In fact, he probably didn't need to go looking for Dobby, he could ask Lotty. Lotty had lived in the castle when both his grandfather and father had been attending Hogwarts, just as Minnie had done. Lotty would know some of the secrets Hogwarts hid.
Harry decided to ask Lotty that same night. Every night, Lotty waited for Harry as he made sure that his master had clean clothing for the next morning. It would be the perfect time to ask. He'll do it before the others retired for the night.
Having decided on what to do, Harry was able to concentrate more on his lessons. Thankfully, he did not have Potions scheduled for that day and History of Magic was boring enough that nobody noticed he had other things in his mind.
Lunch time came and went and the afternoon classes kept them busy enough until dinner time.
"We haven't seen much of Hagrid lately." Said Hermione as they sat along the Gryffindor Table that evening.
"He's been busy with his brother." Said Ron with a grimace.
"Grawp can keep anybody busy." Harry laughed.
Hermione shook her head. Since that night on June, Harry, Ron and Hermione had kept away from the forest. They didn't want to come face to face with a giant, even if he was Hagrid's brother.
"I just hope he doesn't bring him to class one of these days." Said Ron, who was the only one who hadn't met Grawp yet.
"Let us hope so. The augurey are interesting." Said Hermione, taking out her notes for the day and propping them up in front of her.
"Interesting? All they do is brood in their nests and eat, and then they cry when it's going to rain. Not too interesting in my opinion." Said Ron. "We fed them, we watched them build their nest, and we watch them brood. What else is there to do with them?"
"Hagrid will have something in mind for later." Harry said.
"He always has something in mind for later." Exclaimed Ron. "That's what I'm worried about."
Harry smiled. He knew Ron was not too eager to find out what would come next in Hagrid's curriculum, Hermione wasn't too eager either, and Harry understood their reasoning. Hagrid's lessons could be dangerous if he was allowed to use the beasts he liked. Lately, they had worked only in the Augurey's, but as Ron had said, there was only so much they could do with them.
The sky was dark and the stars were beginning to shine through the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. Harry noticed that many were almost done with their meal and at the staff table the teachers seemed eager to leave the Hall to do whatever they did during the evenings.
It wasn't long until students started to leave the Hall for their respective common rooms.
"There's charms to work on and a Transfiguration paper to finish." Hermione was saying as she, Ron and Harry walked down the silent corridors toward the Gryffindor Tower. "Potions is completed, and I have to begin my research for Ancient Runes."
Ron groaned. "I hate Mondays. We usually get too much schoolwork on Mondays."
"The same goes for Fridays." Said Harry.
"Will you two stop complaining? Halloween is two weeks away, which means we have about eight weeks of study time before half year exams." Hermione said.
"Don't remind me, the way we're going, we'll be having nervous breakdowns by the time we're reviewing for those exams." Said Ron.
"The fifth and seventh years have the worst of it." Said Harry. "They have O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s to prepare for."
"You heard McGonagall, our exams will be based on the N.E.W.T. level tests we'll be taking next year." Hermione reminded them. "That means that whatever grade we receive on these tests will give us an idea of what we'd get if were taking the N.E.W.T.s now."
"Hermione, it's expected that we won't do as well as the seventh years." Said Harry. "We don't know enough to do so."
"Oh, Harry, they'll test us only on the things we are supposed to know. But the test will be similar to how we'll be testing next year." Hermione said.
"Well, it doesn't do to get all worried about it." Said Ron. "We still have time until test time is near."
"But that's what I've been saying, Ron." Exclaimed Hermione. "Testing time is around the corner and we must start preparing for it."
"Hermione, let's just get to Halloween without worrying about tests." Pleaded Ron. "I want to be able to think of other things instead of tests at the moment."
They had arrived to the common room, queuing behind a group of third years that had opened the portrait before them.
The common room was still virtually empty. Many had remained behind in the Great Hall chatting with friends in other houses before returning to their respective common rooms. Hermione walked promptly to an empty table in a corner and started to pull out her books and parchment.
Ron sighed with resignation and followed her.
"I got to get a few things from my trunk." Said Harry and went up the stairs toward the dormitories.
As expected, he found Lotty pressing his robes and shirts and setting them on the chair by the bed ready for him to don in morning.
"Hello, Lotty." Said Harry cheerfully.
"Master Harry." Said Lotty looking at Harry with surprise.
"Lotty, I wanted to ask you something." Said Harry in a hurry.
Lotty took his attention from his duties and looked at Harry with an eagerness that Harry found somewhat unsettling and was sure the elf would do anything in his power to make him happy.
"Yes, Master Harry, Sir?" The elf asked reminding Harry of Dobby.
"Er…well…do you…do you know of a room in the castle that others don't know about?" Harry asked quickly.
The elf looked thoughtful and Harry was afraid that it would tell him that it didn't know about any secret room, besides the Room of Requirement.
"I already know about the Room of Requirement." Added Harry as the elf continued to think.
"Dobby told Lotty, Sir." The elf answered.
"Oh, well…do you know of any other room?" Harry asked again.
"Lotty heard of a room, Master Harry, Sir." The elf squeaked solemnly. "But Lotty does not know where it is, Master Harry, Sir."
"Oh. Who told you about it?" Asked Harry, maybe the other elves knew and he could ask Dobby to find out.
"Master Aliaster did, Master Harry." The elf said. "Master Aliaster found it when he came to Hogwarts, Master Harry, and told Lotty all about it."
"Master Aliaster?" Asked Harry.
"Master James' father, Master Harry." The elf replied.
"My grandfather?" Asked Harry in surprised. He did remember being told that his grandfather's name was Aliaster, but it had escaped his memory until now.
The elf nodded vehemently.
"What did he say about this room?" Asked Harry curiously.
"Master Aliaster said that he had gotten lost, Master Harry." The elf explained. "And he comes to a painting. But it's not really a painting, Master Harry, Master Aliaster said it was a wall just pretending to be a painting. But when Master Aliaster touched the painting, Master Harry, the painting disappeared and a door was there."
Harry was listening intently. He knew there were mysteries in Hogwarts that not everybody knew about. Even Dumbledore didn't know everything about the castle. But this door sounded too good a mystery to let it pass.
"Master Alaister didn't go inside." The elf continued. "A teacher found him and led Master Alaister back to the Great Hall, Master Harry."
"Where was this wall, Lotty?" Asked Harry.
"In the South Tower, Master Harry. In the uppermost floor of the South Tower." The elf said.
Harry smiled.
"Thank you Lotty." Said Harry and getting a couple of textbooks from his trunk exited the room thinking about the painting that wasn't a painting, but a wall pretending to be a painting.
Harry couldn't go looking for the wall that evening. It was too late to do so and he didn't want to take Ron and Hermione with him. They would only ask why he was looking for this mystery wall and he couldn't really tell them about it, not if he wanted to keep Neville's lessons a secret. But there was still time, he thought as he prepared for bed that night, there was still time to go looking for it.
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Harry didn't get any free time to go out looking into the South Tower. With school work, Quidditch Practice and D.A. meetings, Harry didn't get a chance to look for the South Tower until the end of the week.
Neville hadn't said anything, but Harry knew Neville was eager to commence his training as soon as possible.
As Hermione and others had predicted, the news of the attack on Azkaban and the escape of Malfoy and the Lestranges couldn't be kept in secret for long. Two days after Fred and George had sent the news to Ron, the Daily Prophet published it in large print in the first page.
As expected, there was a loud public outcry when it was found out that the Ministry had tried to keep it quiet. Now, not only did the Ministry had to deal with the Azkaban escapees but with a public that was losing confidence in its government.
Harry tried not to think about the situation, but deep inside, he knew that Voldemort was delighted by the turn of events. This would be a perfect time to crush the Ministry and take over the Magical World. But Harry also knew that the only reason Voldemort had not tried to take over the Ministry was because Dumbledore and the Order would do everything in their power to keep him from victory and if he appeared publicly, the Order would get more powerful and their ranks would grow. Only fear and disbelief kept people from openly believing that Voldemort was back. As long as they didn't see him, they could still believe that the Ministry and Dumbledore were wrong and Voldemort hadn't returned.
Harry knew that sooner of later they would see the truth, but for the moment things could stay as they were until it was time for a final face-off.
But he didn't want to think about that, for now, all he wanted to think about was finding that door his grandfather had once found.
Friday had finally arrived, and, as always, students were eager to leave behind thoughts of school work and textbooks and thought only of having fun and resting for the next two days.
Ron and Hermione had a prefect meeting after dinner. Harry thought it would be the perfect time to go exploring.
Making sure that nobody noticed, especially Ron and Hermione, he stuffed his invisibility cloak and the Marauder's Map into his pocket. Fortunately, the school robes Mrs. Nichols had bought for him were voluminous enough to hide the bulge.
He ate dinner, slower than he usually did, and waited after Ron and Hermione had to leave for their meeting before leaving his seat.
He walked calmly out the Great Hall, trying not to look around or make any motions that would call the attention of anybody, especially a teacher. He didn't need a teacher following him to see what he was up to. And if there was a teacher who would do that, it was Snape. He would only be too happy to catch Harry sneaking around to give him detention, no to mention taking points off Gryffindor.
Harry walked past other students as they all walked around the corridors trying to make their way to their common rooms. Harry tried to keep out of sight of any Gryffindors, as they would only be too happy to keep him company on their way to the Gryffindor Tower. He was able to sneak into a small corridor off the main one and quickly slipped the invisibility cloak over him. He next tried the Marauder's Map. He wasn't sure how to get to the South Tower from his present position and wanted to check if there were any shortcuts that would keep him out of sight from others.
There was a shortcut, and conveniently enough, the entrance to the corridor was at the end of the one he was hiding in.
Harry followed the length of the corridor, at the very end, he found a narrow door, but it didn't have a knob.
Harry stood looking at it, how was he supposed to open it.
He looked down at the Map, and a dot labeled HARRY POTTER appeared next to the door. The little dot walked into the door without stopping.
Harry looked up to the door once more. And without second thoughts walked straight into it. He felt the same sensation he felt as he crossed the barrier for Platform 9 ¾ . Once he was on the other side of the door, he looked back. Well, he thought, if they can do it for the platform, they can do it for the school.
With a smile, he continued down the darkened corridor.
Harry pulled out his wand and after a muttered "Lumos" he continued on his way, checking the map periodically to make sure he was following the correct path. Several times he had to stop and look at the map as several other corridors crisscrossed with his current track. Some of the corridors weren't on the map and he could only imagine that his father and friends had not found any use for any of them, or they would've made sure to put them in the map.
He followed the corridor straight toward the South Tower, nobody crossed his path and nobody seemed to be on the South Tower at the moment.
After walking along the darkened path for half an hour, Harry found himself crossing a narrow entryway into a large corridor. He had arrived at the South Tower. Now, he only had to make his way up to the uppermost floor.
He found the staircases easy enough, but unlike most in the castle they seemed to remain stationary.
Harry climbed up to the last level, out of breath and with a stitch at his side, he leaned against the wall to catch his breath.
He pulled out the Map once more and made a final check of the floor. Nobody was around, and he could freely look around until he found the wall Lotty had told him about.
He kept the cloak over him, as he glimpsed some paintings along the walls, and he knew that Dumbledore had asked the paintings around the castle to keep an eye for anything out of the ordinary.
Well, he thought, my coming here is out of the ordinary.
He didn't know exactly where to start looking. Lotty had not known the exact location of the mystery wall, and his grandfather was not there to tell him anything about it, even though, according to Lotty, his grandfather hadn't been able to find his way back to the mysterious wall after that one time.
Harry walked back and forth along the corridor. For minutes, he stood in front of paintings, hoping each time that it was the one that he was looking for. But so far, he hadn't been able to find it.
Finally, he had reached a small corner of the corridor. A large painting adorned one of the walls.
It was a beautiful painting. The colors mixed and brightened showing an island surrounded by dark waters of a sweeping ocean.
Harry was transfixed by the painting. The water was moving and the waves crashed around the white shores of the island, but there was no person depicted in the picture. He couldn't see anybody moving around in the colored grass. Hypnotized, he reached out to the painting. Seconds later he found himself facing a door.
It seemed, that he had found the door he had come looking for.
He grasped the knob and twisted gently, testing to see if was locked. It wasn't and it easily gave way to his gentle push. But what he found inside, was not what he had expected.
"Hello, Harry." A voiced said as he opened the door.
Harry found himself in a sitting room, very similar to the one in Gryffindor Manor. There were French windows at the far wall, facing the school grounds. The curtains were pushed aside and the rising moon was shining brightly through the glass.
In front of the window was a day bed, piled high with small pillows. Across from the door was a fireplace, the flames dancing merrily in the crate, and just beside the fireplace was a large chair with a tea table beside it.
In the chair was Brenna, who didn't seem too surprised to find Harry at her door.
"I'm…I'm s-sorry." Harry stuttered. "I didn't know anybody was in here." Harry was surprised to see her in this room, according to the map, nobody had been present in the South Tower, so how was it that she was here?
"Would you like some tea?" Asked Brenna pleasantly. It was until then that Harry noticed the tea tray on the table beside her with a little plate of biscuits.
Before Harry could say anything, she pointed to the tray, a cup and saucer instantly appeared and the teapot rose into the air and poured tea into the newly appeared cup.
"Take a seat." She said and pointed to the cleared space near the tea table. A chair seemed to spring up from the floor.
Harry walked into the room and sat on the chair.
Brenna passed the cup to Harry.
"Thank you." He said, and shook his head when she offered the plate with biscuits.
"Uncle Albus did warn me that if there was anybody who would find my living quarters, it was most likely to be you." She said before sipping her tea silently.
Harry didn't reply. He didn't know what to say.
Brenna looked at him closely.
Harry started to feel uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze.
"You'll find an empty room at the other end of the corridor." She said. "It will serve your purpose."
"How…How did you know I was looking for an empty room?" Harry asked surprised. He had the feeling, that like Dumbledore, she was skilled at both Leglimency and Occlumency.
"Why else would you be here?" She replied.
Harry shrugged but opted not to say anything.
Brenna smiled and turned to the tea tray, and Harry saw the tea pot rise once more on the air and pour some tea into her cup.
"How do you do that?" He asked suddenly.
Brenna looked at him questioningly.
"Wandless magic, I mean." Harry urged.
Brenna shrugged unconcernedly as she sipped some of her tea.
"I've been trained in the art since I was a child." She finally replied.
"Is it very hard to learn?" Harry asked. She was not the only he had seen perform wandless magic before, but he had thought that only those with great talent and power were able to do so. And now, here before him was a young woman, who was likely close to his own age, and she could perform a sort of magic he had thought was acquired with age and wisdom.
"It depends." She said. "Most Hogwarts students learn the basics during their sixth and seventh year. They learn to move things, apparition, of course, and maybe some transfiguration. But not all can become masters in the art unless you've been trained to do so from childhood."
"And that's rare?" Harry asked intrigued by the thought of performing magic from childhood.
"Very." Said Brenna. "The only one I know, other than my people of course, that has made some study in the art, is Uncle Albus, but as he studied it after leaving Hogwarts, he can not really be thought of as a master in the art. But he's fairly good."
"You mean the people where you live only use wandless magic?" Asked Harry. He had heard her say something of it before, and he had asked Hermione about it, but they all ended up talking about legends and he couldn't remember what they were about.
"It has been the custom for centuries." Brenna responded. "We do not usually leave our land, and we keep ourselves out of sight of Muggles and Wizards alike. We like to keep things simple and we do not respond well to change." She said with a little smile. "Our ancestors can be traced back to the first group of wizards and witches in the world. During their time, there were no wands to be used. They learned to use and control the magical core in their bodies and taught it to their children when they were old enough. But those that leave home tend to forget what they've learned from their parents and find themselves having to use items to conduct their magic. That's how wands were first created."
"One of my friends once said that before wands wizards used all sorts of things to conduct their magic, swords, staffs, jewelry. That it wasn't until the first conference of International colonies met that it was decided that wands would be used as the appropriate conductor of magic." Harry said thinking about something Hermione had once said.
"That's true. And since then wizards have forgotten that magic lives within their bodies and that with proper training, wands are not necessary." Brenna said.
"Can you teach me?" Harry found himself saying. Later he wouldn't understand what drove him to ask the question, but at the moment, he felt the great need to learn.
Brenna was looking at him, as if measuring him to see if he was capable of learning. She must have found something in him because she nodded.
"I will." She said. "But I must warn you, it can be rather difficult and needs lots of concentration and meditation to become skilled in the art. You might not be able to see any process until some time has passed."
"I've found that learning to do proper magic takes time." Replied Harry.
Brenna smiled and nodded. "So it does." She said quietly.
"When should we begin?" Asked Harry.
"Next weekend." Said Brenna. "You'll need time to arrange your schedule. The training can be rather draining, you'll find that you'll want to rest after and I don't want to take time from your studying."
Harry nodded. He was also thinking about the Quidditch training and the D.A. meetings, not to mention the private lessons he had agreed to give Neville. His schedule seemed to be filling by the minute, suddenly, he'll find himself with no time to do his schoolwork and he knew that Hermione would not stand for it, and his secret training would not be secret for long.
"You won't say anything about it, will you?" He asked Brenna.
"If that's what you wish." She answered.
"Thank you." Harry replied. "I got to go."
"Good night." Brenna said. "Go to the other end of the corridor, you'll find a door by the end wall. You can use that room for your training with your friend, and we can use it for your own."
Harry nodded. He had seen the door when he was looking over on that side, but as he was looking for a painting that turned into a door, he had not paid it too much attention.
With a sudden thought he turned to look at her once more as he had just reached the door. "Maybe you'll teach me a little Occlumency as well." He said.
Brenna laughed. "You do need a little bit of practice."
"I know." Harry smiled bitterly.
"We'll see what can be done." She said.
"Thanks." And with a small wave he opened the door and left.
Harry arrived at the Gryffindor Tower before Ron and Hermione were back, which made it easy for him to slip into his bed without anybody noticing that he had been gone for a while. Seamus, Dean and Neville were snoring softly as he climbed into bed.
He pulled the curtains around his bed and with a sigh lay on his bed. Minutes later he heard Ron entering the room. He glimpsed a corner of the curtain lift and saw his friend's shadowed face look for him in the darkness.
"Harry?" Ron asked.
"Hmmm?" Grunted Harry.
"Sorry mate, just checking if you were sleep." Ron replied as he let the curtain fall into place.
"Well, don't be a git and let me sleep." Said Harry and snuggled into his mattress.
"I said I was sorry." Ron said before the room fell silent once more.
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It was during breakfast the next morning that Harry told Neville he had found a place for them to train.
"It's in the South Tower." Harry was whispering. "There's a door against the wall facing a painting of the castle. It looks like nobody has used it for some time, so we can use it without anybody interrupting." He said even though he couldn't be sure of that fact as he didn't have time the previous night to check on the room to see if it worked for their purpose.
"When can we start?" Asked Neville.
"Whenever you want." Shrugged Harry.
"Tonight. The sooner we start the better." Said Neville.
"All right. After dinner. We have D.A. meeting in the afternoon after Quidditch practice." Harry said thoughtfully. "We can't stay for too long. Or people will notice."
"All right." Replied Neville.
"An hour or so will be enough, I think." Harry continued.
"More than enough." Said Neville.
Harry nodded and turned back to his food.
"What was that all about?" Asked Ron, who was sitting on his other side.
"Hmmm?" Harry turned to look at his friend.
"The whispering, you and Neville." Said Ron.
"Oh, he was just asking about the article in the Prophet." Harry said turning back to his food quickly.
"What a mess." Sighed Ron.
"Well, the Ministry should've expected it. There are many people who are vocally disappointed in the way the Ministry is doing things." Hermione said, overhearing her two friends sitting across from her.
"Yes, but to camp around the shore closest to Azkaban?" Ron exclaimed. "What do they think they can do? All they're doing is calling the attention of the Muggles."
"And let's face it, Hermione." Added Harry. "Wizards are not the most conspicuous sort of people."
Hermione had to concede that fact.
The Daily Prophet had reported that morning that a large group of wizards had camped along the shore closest to Azkaban prison. Their tents and obvious performance of magic were calling attention of the nearby Muggle community, and during the previous night, the camp had been visited by a police patrol. Needless to say, the Ministry had to intervene and the newly created Muggle Relations Department was placed in charge of the situation.
"I bet dad will have to work overtime because of this." Ron grumbled.
"You're forgetting one thing, Ron." Said Hermione. "You're dad is the Head of the Department, he'll just send others to take care of it."
"You're forgetting we're talking about my dad." Replied Ron. "He won't just send people over, he'll go with them himself."
Harry had to agree with Ron, he couldn't imagine Mr. Weasley to be the sort of man who would send others to do the job for him, even if he could.
"But even if he does go with the team trying to make things right, he'll not have to do everything on his own, he'll have others to help." Hermione replied.
"I suppose. If nothing else, mum will make him go home early." Ron smiled.
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That Saturday was a busy day for Harry.
He spent the morning in the common room with Ron and Hermione working in their school work. After a light luncheon, Harry, Ron and Ginny made their trek to the Quidditch Pitch with the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch Team for practice. They spent half an hour working in their individual moves and conditioning exercises before playing a mock game that lasted close to an hour.
After the Quidditch training, Harry and the others hurried to their dormitories to clean up before meeting once more in the Room of Requirement with the rest of the D.A. for practice. This session was led by Professors Lupin and Holmes as they were practicing some of the new defense charms they had learned in their Defense Against the Dark Arts classes. The Blasting Curse was a problem for the younger students but Harry and Hermione were the first to get it right and were praised for it by the professors. From the Blasting Curse they moved to the Confundus Charm, and from there they moved to practice binding spells they had learned on their previous training.
After the D.A. meeting, the students met once more in the Great Hall for dinner, where Harry ate another light meal as he had a training session to go through with Neville. The only thing in his mind was trying to find a way to escape Ron and Hermione's eagle eyes and go on his way to the hidden room in the South Tower.
However, he didn't need have to go through with his own plan as a third year Gryffindor got into an altercation with some older Slytherins just as Harry, Ron and Hermione were leaving the Great Hall. As the prefects on hand, Ron and Hermione hurried to deal with the problem. Harry took advantage of the distraction to hurry toward the South Tower. He knew it wouldn't take too long to part the combatants but they would have to issue punishments and fill forms after that, he just hoped it would take them half an hour to finish with their duties before they went looking for him. He had to make sure that the next training meetings would have to take place when Ron and Hermione where on Prefect Meetings, he didn't think he could come up with different excuses to be away from his friends.
He made his way to the door Brenna had told him about. He grasped the knob and turned, but it was locked. Harry withdrew his hand in consternation. He was about to grasp his wand, which he kept in his backpocket, when an envelope appeared tied around the knob.
Harry took the envelope gingerly and opened it. Inside was a small note and a bronze key.
"I thought you may have need of this." It said.
Harry took the key and tried it on the door. He heard the lock give and the door opened silently at his gentle push.
The room was completely empty. It was a circular room, as large as the Gryffindor Common Room, with no windows around the wall, only a large fireplace across from the door. The floor was carpeted and dusty, and small torches were lighted around the room.
Harry spent the next minutes cleaning the room of dust and the few cobwebs he found. The fireplace had been quickly cleaned and a warm fire lighted in the grate.
He was trying to figure out how to conjure furnishings for the room when Neville opened the door.
"This place is perfect." Said Neville as he closed the door behind him.
"Yeah. It does need a little work for it to be perfect for our needs. I don't fancy dust flying around as we work." Harry said as he looked around the room.
"We have time to fix it." Said Neville. "Maybe we could ask the house-elves?"
"I'll ask Lotty. He won't say anything if I tell him not to. The castle elves are most likely to tell Dumbledore or the teachers if they asked." Harry said.
"You think so?" Asked Neville with some surprise.
"They belong to the castle, don't they? They think of the Headmaster as their master and the staff are like family, so it's only logical to think that they wouldn't be too eager to keep things from Dumbledore and the others." Harry said with a shrug.
"And Lotty won't tell?" Neville seemed unsure.
"Lotty is my elf." Said Harry. "He won't tell if I tell him not to. Not even to Dumbledore."
Neville nodded feeling relief.
"Well, let's get started, we don't want to take too long in here, we're bound to be missed by someone." Said Harry.
Neville nodded and walked to the center of the room, where Harry was waiting.
"Where do you want to start?" Harry asked.
"I…er…I wondered if we could practice dueling." Said Neville with some hesitation. The D.A. members had noticed that Harry never took part of the dueling practices whenever they tried it in their meetings, but they all thought that Professor Lupin was sure of his prowess to keep him from taking part.
Harry shrugged unconcernedly. "If you want." He said pulling out his wand.
The two boys took their stance and bowed.
------------------------
Harry was happy to note that Ron and Hermione hadn't noticed that he had been gone when he returned to the common room later that evening.
Neville had left first, while Harry tried to clean some of the spots they had scorched while they were dueling. Harry thought that Neville was doing well. The D.A. meetings had done wonders for his self-esteem and defense tactics. In good time, Harry thought, Neville would be able to do much more than help in a battle with Death Eaters. Not that any of them wanted to repeat the experience any time soon.
Fifteen minutes after Neville's departure, Harry eased out of the room and locked it behind him. He pocketed the key in his robes and quickly made his way back to the Gryffindor Tower.
Ron and Hermione were out of the common room when he arrived. He hurried to the dormitory and washed up quickly. When Ron and Hermione returned to the Tower, they found Harry sitting in one of the tables working on his Potions paper.
"I never thought that it would take so long to deal with a couple of students." Said Ron sitting in one of the chairs around the table.
"I thought you'd be here sooner." Said Harry without looking up. Ron might not notice anything, but Hermione was another thing, if he lied, Hermione would know.
"We had to take the students to the infirmary and then McGonagall came in and wanted to know what had happened, by the time we were done, Snape had arrived." Said Ron.
"And of course, we had to repeat the story all over again." Hermione said.
"Are they all right? The students, I mean." Said Harry.
"Yes. Madam Pomfrey fixed them up in a minute." Hermione replied. "What have you been doing?"
"Just starting on my Potion paper." Harry replied.
"We should too." Hermione said.
"I'm too tired to start on my paper." Exclaimed Ron.
"You're always too tired to start on your papers." Hermione replied.
Harry smiled but noticed that Ron had begun to take out parchment and quills from his bookbag without further discussion.
A/N: There you go, I know it's not as long as some of my previous chapters, but hopefully, this vacation and the holidays will help my brain to come up with more story. Thank you all for reviewing, and I want to welcome all the new readers who have recently discovered this story. I'm glad you're all enjoying it. I wish you all happy holidays and a Happy New Year, and I hope you'll see me back soon.