Chapter 6: Recovery Sucks!
The next two days sped past in much the same way. Harry would sleep until long into the day, when he got woken up by Dumbledore. They would then spend half an hour talking while Winky or Dobby made some lunch for them, and they would enjoy it mostly in comfortable silence. They would then work hard in Harry's mind until Harry literally dosed of. Dumbledore had still not let Harry get out of bed, but had performed the spell that removed the strain on Harry's stomach and bladder. The one time Harry had woken during the night he had figured that it would be nice to actually go to the toilet, and so he had gingerly swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He made a grimace of pain but he stayed silent. Unfortunately this didn't seem to fool his faithful two friends. The second he had both legs over the side of the bed, he felt himself lifted up and pressed back in the bed.
"Master Harry need's his rest! It's is dangerous for him to get out of bed! Master Professor Dumbledore says so to Master Harry. Winky heard yes she did. Now Master Harry go back to sleep." While she spoke, Winky appeared from a dark corner of his room and soon she was standing in Harry's bed and glaring down at him while shooting daggers with her eyes.
Harry found that he was very reluctant to contradict the small creature towering above him. He didn't have any doubt that she was furious with him for trying to get out of bed.
"I'm sorry Winky." He tried to look at his feet, but that really didn't change that much as he was now just looking at Winky's stomach. "I will go back to sleep now. It's just so frustrating to not be able to get out of bed, you know?"
Winky's face fell and changed into one of compassion. "Winky think she know. Winky can se that master Harry is very bored. But Master Harry must stay in bed so he can get well fast. When Master Harry gets well there is …. " Winky abruptly ran to the corner of the bed and started banging her head on the pole and muttered to herself. "Winky must not tell secrets, Winky must not tell secrets!"
"You stop this instant Winky! STOP!" Harry roared over the top of his lungs and soon he was panting heavily as pain once again took residence in his body. This resulted in Winky jumping from the bed in fear and backing up against the wall with a horror-struck look on her face. When Harry had finally calmed enough for him to breath normally, he spoke again.
"Winky, please get over here. I won't hurt you, you know I won't. I'm not mad at you. I just don't want you to punish yourself." Winky slowly got over to the bed and sat on the edge where she to her surprise got engulfed in a soft hug. Harry just held her like that for a little bit, while his head was working furiously. "Can you tell me who it is you are keeping a secret for Winky? Is it Professor Dumbledore? If it is, then don't worry about it. I'm sure he will tell me when he finds that the time is right. But you MUST NOT punish yourself. Remember that is part of our deal. You will only ever punish yourself if I specifically tell you to, is that clear? I want you to promise me!"
Winky just threw herself around Harry's neck and sobbed heart wrenchingly into his shoulder. "Master…. Harry… is…. far… too… gooood …. to … Winky. "
It took Harry a good fifteen minutes to calm Winky down, but when he finally succeeded, and had promised her he wouldn't try to get out of bed, he had NO trouble falling asleep again. If he knew what tomorrow would bring he wouldn't have fallen asleep so easily.
Next morning he awoke earlier than normal. His internal clock read somewhere between 8 and 9am. When he had rubbed his eyes, he fumbled around for his glasses, and to his great surprise he found someone handing him them. As the world sprang into clear view as he put his glasses on he looked up into the smiling face of Remus Lupin.
"Good morning Harry. I'm sorry if I woke you. But perhaps it's for the best. You have a couple of jobs to do today you see. Dumbledore wanted to be here to do them with you, but unfortunately he had a meeting with Fudge that he could not get out of. He told me to reassure you he would rather be here with you. He might drop in later though."
"Good morning Professor…. Ups… Sorry…… Remus. What kind of jobs?" Harry's curiosity was kind of peeked now.
"Well first of all; how are you feeling today Harry? Do any of your muscles hurt? Your legs? Or lungs and heart? I would like you to try and sit up on your own and tell me how you feel please."
Harry shot Remus a puzzled look, but did as he was told and sat up straight. To his delight (and surprise) he didn't feel any pain at all. "I feel fine thank you. No pain at all. Well I'm kind of hungry. Do I have time to get some food before I do whatever it is you want me to do?"
"That's good then. Why don't I just go and get you some food, and then you can just relax for a bit and make sure you are properly awake. I'll be right back."
"Thanks Remus. Be sure to make some for yourself if you want to. And ask Dobby or Winky if you need help with anything."
Harry ate his breakfast faster than a starved wolf, he was so anxious to get started. He hated just lying in bed all day, and he was growing tired of fooling around inside his own head. However he soon regretted having practically swallowed his food, as Remus merely laughed at him and ate at a more decent pace. Finally Harry couldn't hold his tongue any more, and blurted out. "Oh will you get finished soon Moony. I know you are just stalling to tease me! What are we doing today? Magic? Do I get to train? PLEASE!"
Remus almost fell of his chair he roared so much with laughter. When he had calmed down a bit he managed to explain to Harry that today was the day he was getting out of bed for the first time, and that although they were going to the training hall, it was only to walk around for a bit, not for doing magic. They still weren't certain when he would be allowed to start that part of his training yet.
Harry almost jumped. He had thought that he would be allowed to practise some weak magic before he was let out of bed. He definitely loved the prospect of being able to go to the bathroom. "YES! Get out of my way Remus! I'm going to use the toilet!" Without further ado Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and jumped to his feet. Well that was what was supposed to happen in Harry's mind at least. In reality his knees buckled under the sudden strain, and Remus only just caught him before he hit the floor.
Remus chuckled a bit while he helped Harry back to his feet. "I think it might be wise if you take it slow for a bit Harry. What do you say I walk you to the bathroom, and if that happens without too much difficulty, I might even let you take a shower on your own. Believe me I would rather have it if I don't have to bath you." He chuckled again, and laughed merrily when he saw Harry's face rapidly changing to resemble Weasley hair. Harry was just too stunned to speak, and instead just nodded and took the first step of the day gingerly.
However Remus' laugh soon disappeared from his face when he had to catch Harry 6 times during the first small 10 steps. Harry protested furiously when Remus insisted on following Harry into the bathroom, but Harry gave in when Remus offered to go get Winky, Ms. Weasley or Madam Pomfrey instead. Apparently Harry didn't like that idea, because he immediately hit Remus on the shoulder. This surprised Remus a great deal, but he was able to put a steadying hand on his shoulder before he lost his balance. When Harry had finished his business with Remus waiting patiently outside the door, he stripped down and headed for the shower grabbing everything in his way for support. When the bath hangings were firmly closed around him, Harry very reluctantly called Remus back in. They had made the deal, that if Harry wanted to take a shower, Remus wanted to be present with his wand ready in case Harry slipped.
Within half an hour Remus was sitting in the middle of the training hall in a soft leather chair mounted on a spinning plate, and Harry was gingerly walking around the edges of the hall. At first he repeatedly needed to sit down, and every time he stopped, Remus conjured a hard wooden chair for him to sit on. When Remus had done this the first time, Harry had protested that he wanted a soft chair too, however he dropped that when Remus had to stand up and come over to help him get out of the soft chair he had conjured instead.
When noon rolled up Harry was sweating like he had just played 4 hours of excruciating Quidditch, but his entire body was feeling a lot better, and he could walk around without problems. Remus sent him off to take a shower on his own, and while he was in there Remus made lunch for both of them with a bit of help from Winky.
Soon Harry was finding himself sitting in his best chair with his stomach full, and strict orders from Remus to relax, preferably sleep, for half an hour. He didn't feel any strong urge to argue. Soon he was snoring mildly. He didn't even notice when the fire that softly crackled in the fireplace turned green, and a tall stately man with long white hair and beard, dressed in midnight blue robes stepped from it, glanced at him with a fond smile on his face, and silently stepped over to the couch and sat down beside Remus. Soon the two men were whispering along in awed tones. Neither of them could believe how fast Harry was recovering but they agreed to not let him know that he was doing any better than they expected. They then discussed the plan for the rest of the day, and agreed that they better both stay. Their combined persuasion skills would be greatly needed.
Harry yawned. "Good day ´Professor. Did everything go well at the ministry? If you don't mind me asking?"
"Good day to you too. And yes everything went as planned, though I must admit that Cornelius was rather reluctant." Dumbledore chuckled a bit before he continued. "It was really rather amusing, but that is not relevant. Remus tells me that your walking exercises are progressing nicely. Perhaps you would like to give at another go?"
Harry smiled at his Headmaster, got up from his chair, and practically skipped into the great training hall. Within the next to hours he was lightly jogging around the edges even though both Remus and Dumbledore were very concerned. They didn't say anything, but a muggle could have sensed the anxiety pouring of them in waves. When Harry picked up the pace to a slow run, it was the final straw for both men, and they shot out of the chairs at the same time.
"I think it might be time for us to move along Harry. I believe Remus has already informed you that there is more than one thing we have to do today." Dumbledore looked at Harry over the top of his half moon spectacles, and Harry thought he saw wonder in the old man's eyes, but quickly cast the thought aside as he got curious about the second task of the day. He sincerely hoped that it would be as enjoyable as being able to get out of bed and start moving his body. Maybe they were going to practise some magic. He could do with casting a few curses to vent the last bit of frustration, that he hadn't gotten out trough his exercise. "If you say so Professor. And yes Remus did tell me that there was something else that I have to do today, but he didn't explain what. Are we going to practise a few spells? I could do with hexing a few things…" To demonstrate what he meant sent a weak stunner in the general direction of the two men, with a flick of his arm, and a twist of his finger.
The effect was not nearly what he had hoped for. Split seconds later Remus was having him by the shoulders and practically screaming from the top of his longs just how irresponsible he though Harry was. Dumbledore didn't seem any more impressed with his display than Remus, and when Remus was done shouting he looked very sternly at Harry, and just said with a slight shake of his head. "I understand that you are frustrated with not being able to train Harry, but you must not do magic as of yet. Perhaps you can start out in the small in a week's time, but not until then. To tell you the truth, it's quite extraordinary how much energy you have had today, and how well all of your body reacts. I have a suspicion that you might have done a bit of healing on yourself Harry, and that have probably slowed the progress of replenishing your magic a great deal. So for now, you are to do absolutely NO magic at all, until I personally say so. Do you understand me?"
"Yes Sir. I'm sorry Sir." Harry stared at his shoes.
"I understand Harry. Why don't you go ahead and take a shower, and then Remus and I will prepare our next job. I think you might need a bit of help with that. Off you go."
Harry quickly left the room with his head hung low and headed for the shower. He used a great deal more time than necessary in the hope that he could wash away some of his guilt, and in the hope that Remus and Dumbledore might not be as mad at him when he was done.
When Harry re-entered his living room, he found Dumbledore and Remus sitting on the couch talking pleasantly about something school related, Harry didn't quite catch it before they broke it of and offered him a seat opposite them in a soft armchair. He noticed that the dining table was nearly covered in fresh roles of parchment, several new quills and an assortment of inks in different colours.
As he sat down he put on a tentative smile and asked. "I hope I'm not doing lines?" Dumbledore quickly swallowed a chuckle and Remus disguised his laugh rather poorly as a cough.
"In fact that is exactly what you are doing Harry, only it is not meant as a punishment. But we will get to that in a bit. Before we get to the fun part, I'm afraid we have some rather serious business to discuss. I think it is time that you tell Remus everything about your plans. I daresay you are going to need someone to talk to, and even though I've come to enjoy our talks, I am not always available. What do you say Harry? It is your choice after all."
Soon Harry had told Remus everything about his plans for the year, and Remus sat back in his chair in silence for a long time clearly deep in thought.
"I understand your motives Harry, but I must say that I fear that it may not be good for you to separate yourself from your friends. I won't intervene though. You are almost a grown man now and a decision like this you must make on your own. I will promise you that I'll help you all I can if you choose go through with it though." Remus looked thoughtful for a second "But how are you going to make it work. There will be loads of difficulties, won't there?"
Dumbledore cut in before Harry could answer. "I agree with Remus, Harry – there will be a lot of problems. First of all you would need to be sorted for the students to believe a story about you being an exchange student. And since you of course couldn't be in Gryffindor, the Sorting Hat would most likely put you in Slytherin, and we can't risk that. In fact you probably couldn't be in any house at all, since you can't keep your disguise up while you sleep. And for an exchange student to have his own room, just wouldn't do, I hope you can see this?"
Harry's face fell, but he nodded. He did understand, he just hadn't thought that far. "So the plan is off." It was not a question, more like stating a fact.
"Seen from a certain point of view, it would certainly look that way." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled furiously before he continued, and Harry had the distinct feeling that he was in for a nasty surprise. "However Harry I think I've found a solution to our problems."
Harry jumped in when Dumbledore made a slight pause to ready himself for the explanation he was about to give. "Problems Sir? Our problems? Not my problem? I don't understand…."
"I was just coming to that Harry – I trust you remember your … hmmm… DADA professor from last year?" Harry gave an amused nod. He wasn't sure he had ever heard professor Dumbledore be so clearly sarcastic before. Dumbledore continued. "I though so. As it is, Miss Umbridge unfortunately won't be able to join us at Hogwarts this year, and I find myself in a predicament – There isn't any applicant's for the job as DADA professor you see."
Harry's expression was baffled. He actually looked like he had just seen Professor Snape dancing very closely with Professor Trelawny, kissing very passionately. Which would have baffled him quite a lot. "I see professor. I just don't understand…?"
"Well as I was pondering what to do when I came up with the perfect solution. I have a great favour to ask of you Harry." Suddenly Dumbledore's eyes weren't twinkling anymore, but shone with concern and his entire face was entirely serious. Harry had a feeling that there was something in his headmaster's eyes that he quite couldn't put his finger on. Was it… Pride?... That didn't seem to make much sense. Harry's train of thoughts were shattered as Dumbledore's next word swept trough all the chambers in his brain and went straight to his heart.
"I need you to study harder than you have ever done before Harry, and I need you to do it in less than a month. I need you to specifically learn two year's worth of DADA before the start of term. I believe you can do this Harry – with a lot of help of course. Next I need you to take your DADA exam on the 31st of August. And finally, but certainly not least I would very much appreciate it if you would accept the position as Hogwarts newest DADA professor."
Remus let out a gasp at Dumbledore's last words, but otherwise kept his tongue and just turned to stare at Harry with pride and horror in his eyes.
Harry decided that now would be a really good time to pass out, but somehow his body wouldn't let him, and he just sat there with his mouth wide open and his eyes locked at a place far beyond any wall in the room. The tidal wave of thoughts that were passing trough him were more than he could handle, and suddenly, he closed his eyes, swept his legs up under him, and tried to calm himself. This proved to be quite impossible. Still he needed to sort all his thoughts out, and the only thing he could think of was to utilise the technique Dumbledore had thought him, what seemed like just moments ago. Suddenly he felt kind of a soft knock on the door to his mind, and an image of Dumbledore's face appeared before his closed eyes. Harry was grateful that his Professor understood that he needed help, and gladly welcomed him in. Seconds later there was a second knock, and Remus was there too giving his full support. Trough the combined effort of both his professor a soft calm soon spread to every dark corner of his mind, and Harry was suddenly able to sort trough his thoughts. When he had spent 15 minutes sorting trough it all, with the calming presence of Dumbledore and Remus always there, he gently prodded them to leave his mind, and soon the three of them were sitting back in the living room.
"I see now. Thank you so much for your support, both of you. I really needed help making sense of all this. I can understand that this will solve a great deal of our problems, but won't it also create some new ones. I would still need to go to other classes. Would the Ministry let a student teach?"
"Under normal circumstances, no they would most definitely not. This was one of the reasons I visited Minister Fudge today Harry. Your cover story when you go back to Hogwarts will be that you were home schooled, particularly so in the Dark Arts. Cornelius was rather reluctant at first, but when I remembered him of all the mistakes he made last year, he suddenly seemed a lot more open to ideas. He did insist though that you take the standard DADA NEWT before you start teaching. Oh and he also demanded that you aced it. Of course Cornelius haven't got a clue that it's you I want teaching, and we will keep it that way. For all this to be feasible you would of course need to be able to practise with your wand from today on. That was the other thing I spoke to Fudge about today. He has agreed that after the fiasco of last year, it would be wise to give you permission to perform magic outside of school. Thus the Restriction for underage magic has been lowered to 16, in regards to you. The only question remaining is whether you would do me the honour of becoming part of my staff at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Dumbledore's voice at his last sentence had become very formal, and if Harry had ever had any doubts whether it was all a joke, was washed away by the headmaster's voice.
Harry took a deep breath and steadied him self for what he was about to do. "It would be MY honour Sir. Although I dare say I'm going to need a lot of help getting ready for the exam. And won't it present a problem that I can't train yet? I must be in a terrible rush. And I also need to learn the transfiguration spell. Will I even be able to sleep?" Harry sighed as he realised exactly how much work was ahead of him.
"Splendid Harry! All the practical issues we will discuss later. For now we have some much more pleasant things to do. Do you know what day it is today Harry?"
Harry looked baffled for a while – why the sudden change of subject? And Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling with a very Fred and George'ish look to them. "I'm not sure Sir? Tuesday?"
"That's right Harry, it is Tuesday, but what date?" Both Dumbledore and Remus were wearing looks of pure delight on their faces.
Realisation suddenly dumped a bucket of cold water Harry's head, and his face fell. "Well that's another birthday I won't have any fond memories of."
Immediately Remus and Dumbledore's faces grew sombre. It was Remus who first regained his ability to speak. "I'm sorry Harry I…."
Harry cut him off before he could finish the sentence. "Don't worry about it. I never had what other people would call a nice birthday before, so actually it might have been better than usual, because I didn't notice that I lacked a proper birthday party. I wouldn't have wanted one anyway. It would have kind of undermined all my other efforts."
"I see Harry. However as a testament to how remarkable a young man you have grown up to be, you still have a small mountain of presents to go trough. And before you start on the whole you want to send them back – NO! These people have sent you gifts because they care about you, and I want you to read ALL letters that might be attached to the presents. This is where the doing lines comes into place."
"I get it Professor. If all goes well, these people won't see me, for quite some time. I'm writing thank you letters, aren't I?
"That was indeed the plan Harry. But why don't you push that a bit back in your mind for the moment. For now – presents!"
Remus smiled warmly at Harry, and as though they had rehearsed it all, Dumbledore immediately flicked his wand in the direction of the corner with the ladder that led out of the trunk. Harry turned around and saw the familiar sight of the dark wooden ladder, only to a split second later loose sight of it, as a jumbled mess of colour appeared stacked high in the corner, completely hiding the exit from view. Gifts of all sizes, shapes and colour all with different wrappings, and practically all with a letter attached. Harry's heart skipped a beat and he sat frozen in his seat, just looking at the mountain of presents before him. When he finally spoke, it was barely in a whisper. "….But I don't even know that many people."
"Well they know you, or know of you Harry. Apparently a lot of people thought that you could use a proper birthday, following all the business with the ministry and all. I do believe that even Minister Fudge has sent you a letter."
There had been lots and lots of presents, and therefore lots and lots of letters to write. The letters to Ron and Hermione had been the most difficult to write, and together they had taken almost an hour to get done. He had been very week in regards to what he felt, he had instead tried to explain to them that it was for the best if they didn't write to him, and that he really appreciated their presents. Hermione had (of course) sent him a book. It looked very interesting and Harry couldn't help but think of his dad, Sirius and Remus whenever he looked at it. He couldn't wait to get started. Ron had sent him a new broom polishing set, and a bag of chocolate frogs. From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley Harry had gotten a knitted purple jumper and a muggle electrical toothbrush. The twins had sent him a big bag of tricks from their new joke store, Weasley Wizarding Wheezes, and a note saying that Dumbledore had wiped something from their memory, but that they couldn't remember what it was, but they felt it was important. Harry had had a weak idea, what that might be about, so he just held up the note for Remus and Dumbledore to see. Dumbledore looked worried for a second and then his face returned to its normal mask. "Nobody besides, you, I and Remus know about your trunk, and therefore this apartment anymore. All the others agreed to have the memory of it wiped, for the sake of your security. When Moody, Tonks and Kingsley are coming to train with you, I'll send them directly into the training hall by portkey, and I would like it if you were already in there when they arrive. There is no reason to fuel their curiosity, you see." As he thought about it now, Harry had no problem understanding that it was for the best, but he still thought of it as just another secret that he had to keep.
There were lots of other presents. Of course there was the entire trunk/apartment from the order, which was by far the coolest present Harry had ever gotten. All his friends in the DA had pooled together and had bought him a very cool and expensive looking cloak that was made of a heavy fabric lined with soft deep purple silk. That however was not the most remarkable thing about the cloak. On the outside of the cloak were fastened thousands of black scales, which shimmered with an eerie purple glow that matched that of the silky lining. Harry remembered how he had been sitting with a large gift on his lap, wrapped in bright paper that alternated between being gold and silver. It had a magnificent deep blue bow, and Harry had picked it out as one of the first, but hadn't dared opening it until the very end. That's how beautiful it was. When he finally slowly undid the bow, and ripped of the paper he found a beautiful oak box inside, with his name engraved in the lid. When he tentatively opened the lid he was amazed that the cloak inside was even more beautiful than the gift had been when it was wrapped. As he pulled out the cloak Remus who had been leaning forward to see what was in the beautiful gift, let out a gasp and even Dumbledore looked a bit surprised. "Do you mind if I ask you who sent you that Harry?" Dumbledore's voice had suddenly become very serious. Harry who apparently was the only one who didn't know what it was that was so special with this cloak inspected it closely before answering. "Its from the DA sir. It's beautiful. And incredibly light. It must be charmed with some kind of weight lightening charm. But what's with the scales? They look kind of familiar, but I can't quite place them?" It was only the first five words that Harry spoke directly to Dumbledore, the rest kind of faded in volume until he was almost whispering. He fingered every inch of the cloak, and examined it closely, completely transfixed by it, his face showing the same kind of glee, it had shown when he had first seen his family in the Mirror of Erised. He didn't even notice that Dumbledore had started speaking again, not until Remus suddenly cut Dumbledore of and asked: "Is that really one, Albus? They are supposed to be incredibly rare!"
Suddenly Harry was very curious as to what his two closest adult friends could tell him about this new gift. "I'm sorry Sir, did you say something?"
"Yes Harry, indeed I did. And although I can understand that you are fascinated by it, I must insist that you let me use a few minutes to examine it. Actually Remus should probably help too, if he will?"
"Of course Albus, but you surely don't think that….?"
"No, I don't Remus. But a gift as extraordinary as this… Well as Alastor would say: CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"
Harry cut in he didn't understand what it was that was so special about his new cloak that the headmaster would want to examine it personally. "Excuse me Sir. If you think it's for the best that you take a closer look at it, I guess I'll trust you, but you won't damage it, will you?"
Dumbledore chuckled a bit although his face was still serious. "No I won't damage it Harry, unless it is cursed with some extremely dark magic" As Harry's face instantly fell, he quickly added – "But I don't believe that is likely at all. If you'll just hand me it, then Remus and I will give it a look over, and we'll be back in less than 10 minutes."
Harry reluctantly handed over the cloak to Remus and Dumbledore, and the two men left hurriedly trough the fireplace. Harry wasn't surprised that they went to Hogwarts and not headquarters. After all, they were supposed to be the only ones knowing about Harry's new hideout. While they were gone, Harry went over some of the other presents he had gotten. There were bags more or less stuffed from lots of people from school and even some from people Harry didn't know. Tonks had sent Harry a book on Human transfiguration, with a note attached that said:
"Happy Birthday Harry!
I remembered how you asked me whether you could learn to be a metamorphagus, and I figured that even if you can't; then you might have more reason to be able to change your appearance than most others. Do enjoy the book, lots of the spells in it are really fun! I would ask you to be careful, but then again if I did that, I wouldn't be me, would I? Once again, Happy Birthday!
Love,
Tonks"
Harry could clearly imagine Tonks' laughing face, as she watched Harry change his nose to resemble that of a pig snout, and next to resemble that of a Snape snout.
Kingsley had sent Harry a wrist holder for his wand that would enable him to draw his wand in one fluid motion, and keep it concealed in the arms of his robe when he needed to. It was made of soft and flexible leather, and Harry had put it on immediately, and after a bit of fumbling he was now wearing a concealed weapon. He could remember hearing someone saying something like that in a muggle criminal movie, and he laughed out at the thought of how fitting the Dursley's would find it if Harry was arrested with a concealed weapon.
"May I ask what you find so amusing Harry?" Dumbledore asked from behind Harry's back his eyes twinkling merrily.
"You may, Professor. As long as you don't expect me to answer. I'm afraid you wouldn't find it as amusing as I do Sir."
Dumbledore shot Harry a curious glance, but nodded and said "Very well. You are entitled to have your secrets Harry. Remus and I have checked the cloak with the help of a few other professors, and we have not been able to detect any tampering with it, although I must say some of the others were rather curious about where we got our hands on such a rare cloak. But enough about that. Why don't you try it on Harry, then we can demonstrate what's so special about it. That is if you haven't figured it out on your own yet?" Dumbledore's smile was now threatening to break into a full laugh, but he held it in. Instead he nodded towards Remus who stepped forward and put the cloak around Harry's shoulders. Dumbledore conjured a full-size mirror in front of Harry, who eagerly studied himself in it. That was until he saw Dumbledore and Remus's reflections lightning fast draw their wands, and heard them both shout stupefy with all their might, and two red beams of light sped toward Harry's back.
Harry was so surprised by the actions of the two persons he trusted most besides Ron and Hermione that he simply froze to the spot, and just watched in slow motion as the two red beams proceeded towards his back. For some reason Remus and Dumbledore was both casting some strong shield charms. Harry couldn't figure out why they would do that… Certainly they didn't think that he would have time to fight back? But if wasn't really Dumbledore and Remus, but Deatheaters using polyjuice, he would have to fight back. If it was a fight they wanted, a fight they would get! Harry felt a surge of hatred towards all that was evil and wanted to hurt anything else course trough his entire body and he knew that he would never go down willingly. Harry wasn't sure how to do it, let alone if he was able to but he immediately tried to conjure a shield up without his wand. He instantaneously realised that it was too late. The shield did come up, and it seemed immensely powerful - it shimmered with a strong golden glow that was so bright that the deatheater posing as Remus fell to the floor and cried out in pain as he clasped his hands over his eyes. The deatheater posing as Dumbledore clasped a hand before his eyes, while he at the same time stumbled a step backwards.
The only problem was that he hadn't been fast enough, the two red beams of magic was inside the shield he had made. Harry tried diving out of the way, but the same moment he went to leap to his right, the two curses hit him hard, square between the shoulder blades. As Harry already had set his muscles in motion, they continued the jump, and added with the power of the two curses it sent him flying head first into the wall. The last thing Harry remembered thinking before he succumbed to the pain was … "Why didn't the stunners work?"
Harry lay crumbled on the floor in a heap of legs and arms pointing in angles they weren't supposed to, and with a small but steady stream of blood pouring from a deep cut just above his right eye. Further back in the room, two figures could vaguely be seen trying to fight down the shield that somehow still separated them from getting to Harry. They were almost immediately joined by two more figures, also trying to get trough the shield which stretched trough the entire room like a wall. At first the 4 figures had tried getting the shield down with various shield disbanding charms, but soon they reverted to raw violence as nothing seemed to affect it.
They didn't get the shield down before one of them had left, and brought back a fifth person, and then it still took the combined effort of all of them. As soon as the shield fell all but one of them jumped forward, trying to get to Harry first. The last person who had arrived hurried to the fireplace, and immediately vanished, only to reappear with a sixth person in tow seconds later.
Harry slowly drifted into consciousness. He had a calm and secure feeling in his entire body, but something in his mind told him that this wasn't how he was supposed to feel. He kept his eyes closed while he pondered what could be wrong about feeling safe and secure. He thought that he was actually feeling very good and he simply couldn't figure out what it was that kept nagging at his mind. That was until realisation jumped at him from a dark corner of his mind. His eyes immediately sprang open and took in his surroundings. He was lying in his own bed, back in his pyjamas and besides his bed Dumbledore was standing holding out a wand. Harry was just about to try a bit of wandless magic again, when he realised that Dumbledore wasn't pointing the wand at him, and that it was actually Harry's own wand Dumbledore was holding out laid flat in his palm. The headmaster had a very sombre expression on his face, and they weren't alone in the room either. Behind Dumbledore stood 5 very worried looking people; Remus, Dobby and Winky stood directly behind Dumbledore all with worried and frightful expressions on their faces. Behind them stood Bill Weasley and Madam Pomfrey; Bill was deep in thought and hadn't noticed that Harry was awake and although he didn't appear as worried as the others, his face definitely expressed care. Madam Pomfrey looked just like she always did whenever Harry was around. Her face wore a bit of a frown and her eyes clearly showed that she didn't approve of having to perpetually patch up Harry. Harry was inclined to agree with her.
No one spoke even though they had by now all realised that Harry was awake, they merely watched Harry as he took in his surroundings and put everything together in his mind. They all jumped as Harry's arm shot out of nowhere grabbed his wand and pointed it straight and Dumbledore's face. The only one whose face didn't look at all different from usual – was Dumbledore. He merely smiled sadly at Harry and said "May I please sit down and explain Harry?"
Harry was certain that there was definitely something out of place with this whole deal, and the fact that Dobby and Winky was both there did calm him a bit. He was intent on not showing it though, and he simply said "Please" with a hint of false politeness in his voice. Dumbledore was about to draw his wand to conjure up a chair but the slight trembling this resulted in is Harry's wand made him freeze. Without thinking Harry used his free hand to wandlessly conjure a plain wooden chair next to Dumbledore.
The collective gasp that the four humans in the room let out at the unimpressed ease Harry displayed in conjuring a chair without a wand startled Harry a great deal and he only JUST averted his hand before the nasty slicing hex his ragged nerves and lightning sharp reflexes had produced cut the head of the man standing nervously by his bed. Harry let out a sigh and motioned for the man by his side to sit down. "You better not make any sudden movements or sound any of you. As you can see my nerves are a bit strained at the moment."
Dumbledore proceeded to explain that he and Remus had thought it would be a fun way to demonstrate what exactly his new cloak could do, if they shot two stunners at Harry so he could see that the curses would just deflect off of the dragon scales the cloak was covered with. He proceeded to tell that Dobby and Winky had appeared the second he had jumped and hit the wall. When they found that they couldn't get the wall shield Harry had conjured down, they had send Dobby to get Bill as they figured he was the only one that might be able to get the shield down.
At this point Harry could tell Dumbledore just longed to ask what kind of shield that was and how Harry had produced it, but he only stopped for a micro second before he continued to explain that they had finally gotten it down using their combined strength and mostly brute force. At this time Dobby had made his second trip to go and get Madam Pomfrey.
There was a short break where no one said a word, before Dumbledore finally sighed and said "I'm truly sorry Harry. I should have expected the effect this little prank may have on you, but I'm afraid it's becoming a habit for me to make mistakes when it comes to you. I just hope you someday will be able to forgive an old mans foolishness.
Harry wanted to believe that this was indeed his headmaster, his friend but he had to be sure. There was way too much on stake to take any chances. He was the only one that would be able to defeat Voldemort and that must always be his first priority. "How do I know this is not all just a trick? A way to make me let my guard down? Convince me that you are who you say you are. Prove it!"
Dumbledore seemed to have expected this as he tentatively leaned forward very slowly and whispered something in Harry's ear.
The affect was evident immediately. Harry visibly paled for a few seconds until his face grew determined and he resolutely lowered his wand and sent everyone a weak smile. "I'm very sorry about all this. I guess I need to relax a bit more." He gave a small laugh and soon they were all laughing merrily; they all found that it was the best way to deal with a sad situation that all in all was a bit ridiculous.
When they had all finished laughing Bill cleared his throat and was clearly about to ask how Harry had produced the shield, but Dumbledore held up his hand to silence him. "I would like to know just as all of you do. But IF Harry can explain how he did this, I'm afraid neither of you are going to hear about it just now. In fact you need to forget all about it. With your…" Dumbledore made a barely noticeable pause before he continued "permission… I will remove the memory of this entire incident from your minds, and then I'll send you by portkey to Headquarters. This is of course a security measure to protect both you and Harry." Dumbledore stood as both Bill and madam Pomfrey nodded their consent and advanced on them with his wand drawn. He first looked bill deep in the eyes and mumbled a spell under his breath, and then he repeated the procedure on Hogwarts' own nurse. When he was done both of them had dazed looks on their faces and he quickly transformed a quill into a portkey and showed it into their hands. As soon as Dumbledore let go of the quill Bill and Madam Pomfrey were whisked away to the headquarters of The Order of The Phoenix.
Dumbledore turned to Remus and nodded at him then he turned to Dobby and Winky. Thanks for you assistance, you were a great help. I would like it if you would leave us now, I think the three of us need a little talk, and I'm sure you both have duties to attend to. Dobby and Winky looked at each other then turned their tennis ball eyes towards Harry.
"I'll be fine friends. I'll call for one of you if I need anything at all." Harry smiled as Dobby and Winky turned around and left the room trough the door, Dobby clearly mumbling something that sounded a lot like "….calling Dobby his friend…. Greatest wizard ever… Very proud…" followed by a loud sob.
Dumbledore who still had his wand in hand transfigured the plain wooden chair Harry had conjured into a big squashy purple armchair with a flick of his wand, sat down and proceeded to conjure a pink but otherwise identical armchair next to his own.
Remus thanked Dumbledore and sat down and let out a small sigh of delight as he sunk three inches into the chair. "You gave us quite a scare there Harry." Remus smiled wearily at Harry and was about to continue when Harry cut him of.
"Yeah. I guess I did. But you can't really blame me. It was after all you guys who decided to give me a scare in the first place. And before you ask, I don't know how I made that shield. I just thought that I needed a shield and that I needed it bad. The rest merely happened." He turned his head towards Dumbledore who was sitting with his fingers stabled together his jaw resting on the top and continued "You are welcome to take a look trough my memories and see if you can find anything Sir, In fact I think we should make it a priority to find out how to make a shield like that. It could be very helpful in the battle against Tom."
"I believe you Harry, I don't think you consciously know how to make a shield like that and I also agree that it would be a great asset against Tom. However I fear that this is something we will have to research later. For now we have some more pressing concerns." Dumbledore fell silent although it was evident to both Remus and Harry that he wasn't finished talking, and so both of them just watched their mentor and friend gather his thoughts. After a few minutes of just staring into nothingness Dumbledore suddenly snapped back to reality and spoke again. "The most important thing we need to focus on right now is getting your training up to NEWT level. When we called madam Pomfrey here I was ready to drop the whole thing as I was sure she was going to tell me that you had depleted all you magical resources once again. What is extraordinary is that this is not the case. In fact she informs me that you now have an abundance of magic present in your system, way more than should be even possible for a boy your age." Dumbledore's voice trailed of once again and Remus and Harry looked at each other with bewilderment written all over their faces. It was Remus who first found his voice.
"How is that possible Albus? I mean that was one of the most, if not the most impressive bit of magic I have ever seen, and now you are telling us that Harry is fine? That he actually has a surplus on his magical reserves? How can that be?
Harry nodded his assent – That was exactly the same questions that were battling each other for the front row seat in his mind.
"I'm afraid I can't answer those questions, I would indeed like those questions answered as well myself. However that's another thing we will have to research later. Are you aware that something else, hmmm how to put it, extraordinary, happened today Harry?"
By now Harry looked like one giant question mark, and judging by his face one would be tempted to conclude that he would go to sleep in a position exactly like one. "Extraordinary, Sir? Besides the whole shield business and the fact that my magic has somehow suddenly returned? No I don't believe I noticed anything else of that magnitude."
"At exactly the same time as you conjured your shield Harry, there was a scream form out in the house. It appears that all the plants inside your aunt and uncles house are dead, and even some of the plants outside the house seem drained of all their energy."
The entire next day Harry spend in his bed, because even though madam Pomfrey had declared his magical supplies abundant, she had also decreed at least one days supervised bed rest, on the grounds of a possible concussion. Harry had tried getting out of bed in the morning, but his faithful house elves were all too efficient at their job. They had put some kind of magic around his bed, so he could move around on it freely, but he couldn't get of it. Harry figured it could be everything from a modified gender line to a modified age line. While he was at first irritated by this, he soon realised that this was a perfect opportunity for him to read in his special book. He called Dobby and asked him to retrieve the book for him and soon he was sitting with the dusty old tome in his lab, probed up against a crumbled blanket and his pillows.
Harry realised that it had been a LONG time since he had gotten any training done, but he hoped that his mentor would forgive him when he found out about his recent achievements.
He gently ran his hand over the old cover, grabbed the corner and slowly opened the book to the first page. He had figured that he would be facing some kind of rant, but instead only one line was printed on the top of the page.
Are you alright?
Harry a bit baffled by this, managed to sound get out that he was fine, but it was evident in his voice that he was surprised.
Are you sure? And why would you be surprised? Didn't you think I would be worried about you? Didn't think I was capable of it maybe?
If there had ever been a doubt in Harry's mind that his book had its own personality it was certainly gone now. There was no mistaking that the book was offended.
Harry started a sentence but all that came out was complete gibberish, and he would swear he heard a faint laughter in his mind. "I'm really sorry, but to tell you the truth I had not thought that much about who or what you are. I underestimated you I guess. I'm sorry." Harry meant what he said, but the feeling in his stomach told him it was rather odd to feel sorry for offending a book, but then again he couldn't think of anything ordinary in his life.
Apology accepted.
Now tell me Harry, are you really alright? Or better yet let me have a look inside your mind and then you won't have to explain what has kept you from your training. How does that sound to you?
"Can you do that? Are you a legilimes?"
Now don't you be stupid with me boy.
How do you think I can alter the text in the book after what you want to know?
To answer your question, no it's not strictly legelimensy, although it works in a similar way. The small part like knowing a question before you ask it is easy. But reading your mind is another thing altogether. I can't do that if you won't allow me to. And to answer your next question yes I knew you would ask that, but I find it immensely boring to be the only one talking. So what will it be?
Harry thought about this for a moment. He knew from experience that he didn't like people poking around in his head, but on the other hand he didn't feel like recollecting everything that had happened since he had lastly talked to his book. As soon as he thought that he realised just how stupid that sounded, but then again what could you expect? He was a wizard after all. "Yes, you can do it. I don't feel like telling you everything on my own. I guess you will get a better understanding of what happened this way too."
A soft golden glow emitted from the centre of the book and hit Harry's forehead just a few centimetres right of his scar. Harry didn't feel the pain and sense of something unwelcome entering his mind that, he usually had when Snape performed legilimensy on him. Instead it felt more like someone gently turning the pages of a book, although it was in a very calming way. It only lasted for 10 seconds, then the beam faded into nothing and words started appearing on the page.
"………… I would say I'm sorry but I know that you don't care about that sort of thing, and it is obvious that you are fine now. No concussion by the way. No instead I'll say well done! Very well done indeed. Levitating yourself like that… And creating that shield. Hell I would have been more than impressed that you managed to fire of a stunner. I understand that you are a bit puzzled by this whole levitating yourself thing, and obviously the shield too. I can't say that I'm not as baffled as you are, but for now I think we better get a bit of training done. I understand you wont have much spare time during the next couple of weeks. I wish you good luck with that, before I forget it. Now to your practise…"
Harry spent the rest of the day recapping what they had already been trough and after that they worked on summoning and banishing charms. They were only disturbed once when Harry tried summoning a book with one hand and a bottle of ink with the other. The crash was rather loud and the mess was unbelievable. This of course made Dobby and Winky appear in the room instantly only to get them completely covered in black/blueish ink. They both scowled badly at Harry and without a word cleaned up the room and disappeared again. Harry had the distinct feeling the he was definitely not in his house elf's good graces at the moment. When he thought about it he wished he had a picture of it. He was willing to bet any amount that George and Fred would love to create a prank that simulated that. By the end of the day Harry had no trouble summoning two objects at a time, His banishing the items still needed a bit of fine tuning as they had a tendency to go a bit further than he intended, but the book emphasised that this was a good thing, as most people found it difficult to make their items reach their destinations at all. Harry just needed to realise that he was more skilled at this than he himself believed. When he finally closed the book and wanted to clean himself up a bit before he went to sleep he had to scream a bit before Dobby and Winky would let him leave his bed for the bathroom, and then they still escorted him on both his sides and waited just outside the door.
Harry slept soundly that night.