Harry Potter and the Azkaban Guards
Written by Tommy (me!); Beta'd by none.
Disclaimer: Characters from the Harry Potter series are the property of J.K. Rowling, and various publishers: including but not limited to Bloomsbury, Scholastic and Warner Brothers. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended by the writing of this story. It is merely written for entertainment purposes.
Summary: Following his fifth year and after being locked up at the Dursley's, Harry will now be taken away into a new family where the way of a Slytherin rules. Determination leads him to gain knowledge, seeking the power to destroy the Dark Lord for good. However, this new path will be long and hard and no year with Harry Potter seems to be without at least one great adventure… Follow him as he discovers his Slytherin side, and tries to figure out just what in the world a Dementor really is…
Chapter Four: Martial Arts, Dumbledore and "Friends"
Harry Potter was currently wondering how much power it would take to destroy the sun. The annoying light had woken him up at six o'clock, and he hadn't been able to go back to sleep afterwards. Sleepily dragging himself out of bed, he headed for the bathroom. He shivered at the thought of more shopping; yesterday's deed had totally exhausted him. Taking a quick shower and dressing, he headed for where he thought the library was. He could just as well read until breakfast, having nothing else to do.
An hour later at Hogwarts
Members of the Order of Phoenix were gathering in Dumbledore's office, having been called there for a meeting. The only one who wasn't there was Remus Lupin, the full moon being up and about. Dumbledore was currently sitting in his high seat, staring curiously at Fawkes whom was grumpily showing him his tail feathers, an obvious sign of disagreement with the old headmaster. Not having time to find out what it was about, Dumbledore turned to the noisy crowd below him. "Hem-hem". His words got the exact reaction he wanted. People where quickly turning towards him, the words reminding most of the nosy high-inquisitor frog, Umbridge.
His eyes twinkling with mirth, Dumbledore stood up. "We are now currently gathered here for another order meeting, one which we are going to use for coming up with ways to increase our favor in the coming war. I have a couple of ideas myself, but I first want to hear your ideas, - I believe everyone received my notice about that, correct?" Receiving nods from most of the crowd, he continued. "Then, let the meeting of the Order of Phoenix begin."
It was well into the meeting, and several useless ideas later that Mad-Eye Moody spoke up. "Train 'em." Most of the members were confused as to what Moody was referring to. "The kids, train 'em. They are going to be involved whether we want to or not, so why not make them ready and have them help us at the same time. Especially Potter, as he is most likely going to be the one blowing up the dark one's ass anyway. And Fudge will be more than happy to cancel the underage restrictions for magic, wanting to get into our good graces again." Most could see Snape sneering at his words, and only a look from Dumbledore prevented him speaking up. "Be that as it may Alastor, I can not throw Harry through those rings yet. I carry the belief that while Harry might benefit from the training, it will not affect the outcome of this war. The reason for this I cannot tell you, you'll just have to trust me on that, however, it'll most likely have something to do with love." This time it was Moody who was sneering. "Love my ass, Dumbledore. Voldemort is not the only evil wizard out there, and Potter has enough of them after him as it is. He would greatly benefit from some auror training."
"No, Alastor." The sharp words from Dumbledore surprised many. "We'll give the students training alright, but as I said, Harry does not need it. By giving Ron, Hermione and most of his DA friends training, we can not only be sure to keep Harry safe, we can also make sure to have Harry think he is not good enough to take on Death Eaters alone. That way, he may not run into situations like he did at the Ministry. " Dumbledore actually saw Severus Snape agree with that one, however it didn't sway Moody. "Yes old man, and when the time comes when he stands face-to-face with a Death Eater? What are you going to do? – Have him use a dog flute to get your to dogs help him? No, Dumbledore, he needs this just as much as his friends, if not more. You never know what type of situations that can come up."
"My words is final, Alastor. Deal with it. Now, on to the next matter…" Dumbledore continued…
Blaise was currently knocking on Harry's door, about to tell him that it was breakfast, seeing as it was eight o'clock. No one answered however, and when she found the room empty she hurriedly went back to the living room, hoping that Harry was already down, the house being a labyrinth for those not familiar with it. Not finding him there, she went to her father, asking him if he had seen Harry.
Entering the library, Harry was amazed at the size of it. Seeing a bunch of books laying in a pile on the closest table, he headed over. Some of them were really old, dust laying everywhere. Picking up the closest one, he looked at the title. "The Wizarding way of Tai Chi." Looking at the book beside it, named; "The Way of Aikido", he quickly realized that these books were dealing with martial arts. Interested to see what they had to say about it, he opened the book on Tai Chi and began reading, quickly getting absorbed with the material.
When Frank entered the library later, after Blaise didn't find him at his room, he was surprised to see Harry standing in the middle of the room, clearly doing some breathing exercises, while moving his hands slowly in front of his chest, as if he was about to summon a ball of energy in-between his hands. In front of him was a book, placed in a way so that Harry could read from it while standing. "Harry?" Frank's tone of voice was low, as if he was afraid to scare Harry. "Yeah?" Harry answered him back, never breaking his stance, his slow breathing clearly relaxing him. "It is time for breakfast… what are you doing anyway?"
Opening his eyes slowly, Harry could see Frank Zabini in the doorway to the library, looking curiously at him. "Tai Chi… It's really relaxing. You should try it." Slowly straightening himself up, he breathed out. Picking up the book, he showed it to Frank.
"Where did you find this?" Frank's voice was filled with wonder, obviously having never seen anything similar.
"In the pile of books over there, together with other books about martial arts. They're really interesting!" Harry replied, his eyes meeting Frank's, making Frank stop in his steps. Harry's eyes were shining with power. Not magical power like Dumbledore used to intimidate with, but a personal type of power, a type of determination, that made Frank realize that this 'Tai Chi' was something really worth learning. If he had known anything about the muggle way of martial arts, he would have realized that it was Ki/Chi, an inner type of energy. (Ki and Chi is basically the same thing, only Ki is Japanese, and Chi Chinese. Those two countries often disagree about what exactly it is used for, but that is not important in this story). Looking over at the pile Harry had pointed at, he quickly understood why he hadn't seen the books earlier.
"Those books come from a recent inheritance. Haven't had a chance to look at them yet, but they belonged to my grandfather, who lived in Japan for over 130 years. He died earlier this year, and being his closest relative, I inherited it all. He was a strange one though, and even more filled with energy than Dumbledore, your headmaster." Looking back at Harry, he continued. "We can talk about this later though, but for now breakfast is waiting. Blaise didn't find you, and was quite worried."
Nodding his head, Harry followed Frank down to breakfast, his mind calm. Harry had, even though he didn't know it, made the first steps towards becoming a Master Occlumancer.
When Harry entered the dining room together with Frank, Blaise and Louise were surprised. Walking calmly, even by normal standards, over to the table, Harry sat down. Wearing a small smile at the feeling Tai Chi had brought him, he began eating. Blaise and Louise looked over at Frank, hoping to find the answer to the change Harry had undergone. He just gave them a small smile, and mouthed later.
"Now young man, what do you plan to do today?" Louise asked Harry, hoping that Blaise wouldn't drag him out for shopping one more time. While she herself loved it, and Harry had obviously needed it, he was so exhausted last time that Louise could only take pity on him.
"Actually, I found some interesting books in your library on martial arts, and wanted to concentrate on learning that for now. I could need a partner though, and it would be nice if Blaise joined in." Blaise and Louise obviously didn't know what martial arts were. "What is that?" Blaise asked.
"Basically it's a type of muggle fighting, like hand-to-hand combat, but it's also very relaxing. Besides, one of those books spoke of using martial arts in a magical way, and I can't wait to try that one out. It's also supposed to, even though I can't confirm it, increase your concentration and make it easier to remember things, which would be useful in classes."
An hour later all four of them were in the library, where Harry was showing them the book on Tai Chi, and some of the moves he had done. While Frank and Louise only wanted to keep themselves to Tai Chi, Harry showed Blaise the book on Aikido, and another one on Ninjutsu. All of the books, including the one on Tai Chi, had wizarding pictures of each move, clearly showing step-for-step what they should do. Starting with one move from each book, they started what was to be one of the most tiring and knowledgeable holidays in both Blaise and Harry's life.
A week later, Harry was already used to the sun waking him up at six. Both he and Blaise had enjoyed the calm and quiet mornings with Tai Chi, which was visibly, at least according to Louise and Frank, increasing their concentration. They had stopped using the library for this though, and had moved on into one of the duelling rooms, where there were floor mats placed all over. After breakfast, Blaise got Harry to study his schoolbooks alongside with her, before they moved on to Aikido (where Blaise found herself kissing the ground in most of the mock-fights they had.), and then two hours later Ninjutsu. While they were both only beginners, they hoped that by the time school started they would both be advanced enough to at least be able to lay a couple of goons (they both thought of Crabbe and Goyle) on the ground. Of course, modesty aside, they both were probably at that level already. Most of their evening was spent playing games, reading or simply enjoying each others presence.
They were interrupted in their Tai Chi exercises by an owl knocking on the window, carrying a huge package. Opening the window, Blaise could see that the package belonged to Harry, and sent the owl over to him. Relieving the owl of the burden, and giving it some water, Harry sat down beside a table that was placed in the corner of the room, so as not to be in the way of anyone duelling.
Harry Potter
Not a chance in hell of me writing the address here
Constant Vigilance!
Realizing that the letter and package were from Moody, he opened the letter first.
Greetings lad!
Hopefully you'll be ready for the news I'm about to bring, seeing as they're not good. At least, they could have been better, had Dumbledore wanted them to.
To the point; those friends of yours, which include most of the gang you personally trained last year (congratulations by the way, seeing as all of them got an 'O', with the exception of Ronald Weasley with an 'E'. ), are going to get trained in duelling, charms, and DADA, among other things. According to Dumbledore, which I heavily disagree with, you have no need for these skills. These friends of yours are supposed to guard you from Death Eaters and to keep you safe beyond Hogwarts walls. When asked about you and your infamous meetings with Voldemort, Dumbledore said some rubbish about your love keeping you alive.
While I'm sure you're a lovable kid, those assholes of death eaters are not going to let you hug Voldemort to death. That's also why I write this letter; I'm not going to be able to help you personally, seeing as the old coot has assigned me to teach those brats, among other order members. Inside the package you'll find the standard auror manuals, along with a vision-potion, which as its name says, will cure your vision. The potion itself is really rare, and recently invented. That one is Nicholas Flamel's gift, a close friend of mine. You'll also find yourself two wand holsters, which should tell you what I want you to do. Every student above second year is also allowed to practice magic at home, though I wasn't supposed to tell you that.
I want you to ask Mr. Zabini about teaching you duelling, and his wife could teach you a little about healing potions, seeing as she's a Master-Doctor (They're required to at least have a low level master grade in potion). If they don't want to, show them this letter. Heck, show them this letter anyway. Now, if you don't mind, I want to ask you a favor. HOW THE HELL DO YOU GET RONALD WEASLEY TO SHUT UP! The fucking fool of a friend you have, no offence meant, is strutting around as if he owns the place, just because he is receiving some training. I think I'm going to ask those two brothers of his how to deal with him, seeing as they too looked pretty much annoyed with him. Fred and George I think was their name.
Now, when you reach school you better be ready for a change kid. I can tell you that I'll be among the security this year, and probably leading the auror training course which is going to start. That is not what I want you to be ready for though. Those friends of yours, especially Mr. Weasley, is going to want to show you up, and try to take lead. I'll be honest. I like you, and that itself is a miracle. Now, what the hell are you still reading this letter for? - Get your ass in gear and start training, so you can show those pitiful friends of yours that you're the boss. Whether you want to or not, you'll be the next 'Dumbledore', leader of the light, blablabla.
They are, if my speculations are right, also going to have Mr. Weasley and miss Granger join the OotP. You did NOT get that from me, in fact, you never even got a letter from me.
Alastor Moody
PS: Life-debt!
Blaise could do nothing but watch as the emotions played across Harry's face, sadness, anger, unfairness, surprise and lastly, determination. Showing Blaise the letter, Harry opened the package. Confirming what was inside; Harry stepped back onto the mats, going through several Tai Chi exercises, calming himself down.
How can they do that to me? And I'm disappointed in Ron. You would think that after all these years he'd learn not to act like a Malfoy. If they think that I'm going to sit around doing nothing, they got another thing coming. They'll never know what hit them when I meet them at school.
…
What did he mean with Life-debt?
At the same time, Blaise was showing the letter to her parents. Only one emotion was visible on the Zabini's faces when they were finish reading the letter, no matter how much they tried to put on a mask. Determination. They were going to show them exactly what they thought of Dumbledore and his ideas.
In the duelling room the exact same thoughts were going through the mind of our young hero.
.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.
A/N's: There! My fourth chapter is up, and ready to be read.
Thanks to all my reviewers, (too many to write here, sorry) I'll try to satisfy your need in the coming future.
Written by: Tommy A. L. aka Thanatos – God of Death.
Beta'ed by: None, current beta reader is on vacation, so please excuse my grammars.
Oh, and please review… I find that reviews tend to get the chapters out earlier… (snickering) - Next chapter Harry will get a letter from Ron and Hermione, continue his training, and also get an introduction to Occlumency. Oh, and the OWL's will be showing up.
Enjoy Life!