Clay Pinions By Lochar
Disclaimer: Yadda yadda yadda, don't own it, etc., etc.
Chapter 5
August 1st
He was in the tree in the backyard, pondering a simple fact. Harry was confused. The source of his confusion wasn't a new source, as his Aunt Petunia had always been a bit on both sides of everything. It was what he had been told that had him confused.
"Magic? How could it be real?" He wondered. "And it was because of magic that my parents… But Aunt Petunia said it was because they were in a war. How would a war happen and no one else notice? Could she be being mean again, and just messing with me?"
His mind just went in circles, asking the same questions. Did he want to be able to use this magic if it might put him in a war? Although, how could a war last for the past nine years that I've been living with Aunt Petunia? So caught up in his thoughts, he didn't notice Dudley walk up to the base of the tree.
"Hey Harry! What ya doing up there? Wanna spar?" Dudley shouted up at him.
"Huh?" Looking down, Harry realized what Dudley said and shrugged. "Oh, yeah. Sure." He climbed down to his cousin.
"Cool. Rules are normal, like what Sensei has us do at The Dojo, ok?"
Harry nodded, still somewhat lost in his thoughts. Both boys got into their stances.
Dudley made the first move, jumping quickly into the fight with a quick punch towards Harry's chest. Harry took a step back, and pushed his hand out of the way, pushing Dudley's arm off to the side, leaving his center open. He threw a punch at Dudley, who blocked it with his other arm, swinging it down and stopping the punch.
Dudley spun around with a roundhouse towards Harry's head, which he dodged by dropping backwards to the ground. His foot went out and tripped Dudley, who went down as well, and both boys quickly jumped back to their feet.
They smiled at each other, and Harry moved first this time. Still thinking about what his aunt had told him, he wasn't keeping good control over his energy. Dudley, sensing somewhat the power behind the attack, did the only thing he could do. Letting go of his own control, he quickly found his own energy, what Sensei Uzuki had termed as Chi.
FLASHBACK:
"Alright class, as the first step into the intermediary levels, you will be learning to harness and focus your life energies. All of you have either learned to do this by yourselves at a very rudimentary level, or you have done it subconsciously." Sensei Uzuki told the class.
"This life energy is called Chi. Used properly, it can be used defensively, offensively, and even for healing. Those of you that have used it before consciously, you may still not have found your core of energy. Everyone, please sit down on the floor, in whatever style you think will help you meditate the best.
"Now close your eyes. Imagine your fingertips, and follow the energy in them back to the center of your body. Let your mind follow the natural paths it takes, no matter how strange the paths it goes may seem. If, after ten minutes or more, you can't seem to find an end to it, try with a different part of your body. Your toes, for example. Any part of your body that you know can have a lot of power in it. Mr. Dursley, for example, might find it best to use the arm he broke, as he subconsciously used his Chi to help himself heal." Dudley reddened at this. "When you find this energy, please hold onto it, but don't do anything with it. This might take several weeks for everyone to find it. After this, we will learn to harness the energy. It will be just like a muscle. The more you use it, the more powerful it grows."
End Flashback.
Hope this works. Dudley thought, as he channeled as much of his energy into a block as he could. They had only been taught to use the energy for the past couple of weeks, and had been warned not to try to use it outside of class for now.
Had Dudley thought about it, he probably would have found it ironic that it was the opposite of how he had broken his arm.
Either way, Dudley blocked the attack, and Harry's arm was knocked completely off course. No bones were broken this time, but Harry, not realizing his Chi had started to come out, realized that Dudley did.
Frowning, he let go of his own control, and the boys started fighting in earnest.
Dudley, who had managed to start picking up the lessons involved in sensing energy faster than Harry had, took a step back when he felt Harry's energy release. He jumped back even farther when Harry threw a powerful punch right towards his stomach, which just barely missed him.
Gone were the stances, forms, and taught fighting styles from Harry's moves. He used his Chi at me first! Sensei said we shouldn't use it outside of class! His confusion over Aunt Petunia was now changed to anger at Dudley for violating what their Sensei had told them. "You broke Sensei Uzuki's rule Dudley! How could you?" Dudley by this time had backed up against the tree.
Dudley shook his head. "You did it too! You lost some of your control, and I had to break his rule to stop your attack!"
Harry shook his head. "Huh?"
A nod. "Yeah! When we were sparring, you looked like you spaced out for a moment, then I felt some of your energy in that punch I blocked. Then you went ballistic on me."
Harry sunk to the ground and sighed. "Sorry Dudley. I didn't mean to. Something your Mum told me yesterday is messing with me."
Dudley sat down in front of him and looked around. "What'd she say?"
"Something about how my parents died, and a couple of other things." He replied.
"Oh, ok. I take it you don't want to talk about it then?"
"Yeah, if that's ok with you."
Dudley nodded, and a relieved look went over Harry's face. "But we're still telling Sensei Uzuki what happened, even if we don't tell him why you lost control."
Harry sighed, but nodded. "Alright. But we're telling him you broke your control too."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
Ministry of Magic, Department of Underage Magic
Madam Hopkirk frowned at the paper that just appeared on her desk.
August 1, multiple unwanded energy bursts detected in Muggle area known as Little Whinging. Records state one magical child living in vicinity. Accidental magic by child assumed.
She turned to face her colleagues. "Anyone know who the kid in Little Whinging is? Doesn't have a name on the write up."
Everyone looked around. "Nope, but doesn't that normally mean a Muggle-born?" someone asked.
"Usually, but it has the name most of the time." She replied.
"Well, if they had been brought up in the Wizarding world, then it would have had a name." Another mentioned.
"Unless someone had changed the records." A third laughed.
Madam Hopkirk nodded, filed the paper under Underage Magic, Accidental-unwanded and promptly forgot about it.
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0
August 2nd, The Dojo
Aunt Petunia had dropped them off early, and Harry was apprehensive about explaining what happened to Sensei Uzuki.
"Guess we might as well get this over with, right?" Dudley asked. He seemed nervous as well.
"Yeah, he's going to want to know why we're here early anyways." Harry agreed.
Both boys made sure they were nowhere close to using their Chi energy, and walked into the building. They found Sensei Uzuki hanging up a punching bag.
"Sensei, can we speak to you in your office?" Harry asked.
Uzuki turned around. "Confession time, right?" He said with a smile.
Both boys gulped and nodded. "Yes."
Uzuki motioned them towards his office. "Come on then."
Harry and Dudley sat down in the chairs, while Uzuki remained standing. "Alright, what's eating you two up?"
They looked down. Harry mumbled, "We broke your rules. We accidentally used our Chi when we were sparring."
Uzuki nodded. "Alright. Did anyone get hurt?"
Dudley shook his head. "No Sensei, but almost. If I hadn't jumped back in time, Harry was going to hit me in my stomach."
A sigh. "Do you know why I put that rule in place?"
"Yes Sensei. So that we didn't hurt ourselves." Both boys said.
"Exactly. And for your knowledge, that's the first time I've had to make that rule. Normally, my students have to build up to having enough energy to actually hurt someone as much as you two could do. Dudley, you've got as much Chi as three of the students in your class. Harry, you've got probably the same amount as your whole class, minus Dudley. Without training in how to control the Chi for protection as well as attacking, you could have killed each other."
Harry and Dudley, stunned at how much Chi they apparently had, turned dead white at Uzuki's second statement.
"Exactly. Now, class is about to start so let's go out there. I'll decide your punishment and tell you after class. But I think we're going to start a new lesson today. I wasn't going to do it until next time, but I think I'll bump it up on the schedule." He motioned to them to follow.
They trailed behind Uzuki as he walked out of his office and back onto the main floor. He motioned for the class to sit down, and he sat in front of them. "Alright class, today's lesson is going to be another Chi technique. Everyone close your eyes and imagine a black nothing."
Everyone closed their eyes. Uzuki waited a few minutes, and then spoke again. "Please, everyone, keep your eyes closed. Do not open them to look around or anything." A few snickers were heard. "Alright, now imagine a flame. Just a flame. Nothing on fire, just a flame in the darkness."
After another moment, he spoke again. "Now, if you all have a good flame in your mind, I want you to take the random thoughts and emotions going around in this darkness and burn them with the flame, until there is nothing left but the flame and the empty darkness."
The older students seemed to be struggling, while the teens, Dudley, and Harry seemed able to concentrate on the flame.
"When you have nothing but the flame and the darkness, I want you to nod your head twice."
The older students were the first to nod, and then the younger ones eventually followed.
"You're probably having a hard time keeping new thoughts and emotions from going by, but that will get easier. What you want to do now, is wrap the darkness around you, but keep the flame outside of the darkness now."
All the students stilled as they attempted this. After five minutes, Uzuki spoke again. "If you've managed this part, nod." No one nodded.
"As I expected. Alright, in your mind, put out the flame and allow everything burned to come back. Then you may open your eyes, and we'll start warm ups." He stood up, and waited for the rest of the class. "Oh, and by the way. If while practicing this, you use your Chi outside of class, you will finish this training, and then you will be asked to leave The Dojo. Is that understood?"
Everyone nodded, with both Harry and Dudley nodding as fast as they could.
At the end of class, Uzuki came to Harry and Dudley again. "Would either of you like to talk and explain why you lost control?"
Harry nodded. "It was my fault Sensei. Dudley just did it to keep up with me."
Uzuki nodded. "Alright then. Dudley, you may go wait with your mother. I want to have a conversation with Harry."
They walked into Uzuki's office, and he turned to Harry. "Alright, since you admit you started it, what happened?"
Thinking for a long moment, Harry slowly replied. "Aunt Petunia told me about my parents and how they died. And she told me about a school they went to and I was signed up for as well, but it's a school where you go and live at, and I'm supposed to be going there next year. I've been thinking about that a lot, and wasn't concentrating on my sparring with Dudley."
"Ah, I see. Hold on just a moment." He walked to his office door and motioned for Dudley to come in. Dudley sat down in the extra chair and looked to Uzuki. "Alright, I know you two are expecting punishment for breaking my rule, right?" Two nods. "Alright, here it is. You two are not to spar or practice at all outside of class for the next two weeks. If you've gotten the current lesson by then, you'll be allowed to spar again. Otherwise, it will be another two weeks. And even if you manage to learn the technique the next day, it will still be two weeks."
They nodded, relieved that their punishment wasn't too horrible. "Yes Sensei. But can we practice with the flame and the darkness outside of class?" Harry asked.
"Yes you may. You'll probably have to unless you want to be attempting this for several months."
He got up and led them out, where he explained to Petunia his decision. "Ma'am, they're not to practice sparring or any of the stances and forms until I deem them ready. They're being punished." Petunia frowned, but nodded. "They'll probably be spacing out quite a bit between classes though, they are allowed to practice a meditation technique. It's to help them so they don't make the same mistakes they did before."
Petunia nodded. "Alright then. Come on you two, time to go home."
0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o
Every day for the next three weeks, if Petunia or Vernon were looking for the boys, they could be found in the backyard, eyes closed, attempting the meditation technique. Of course, Vernon had went off the handle quickly, yelling about freakish things. Petunia had managed to talk him down, but it had taken some doing.
FLASHBACK:
"DUDLEY! What in the blazes are you doing?" Vernon turned around to Harry. "Boy! Exactly what freakish thing did you introduce my son to?" Vernon's face was starting to turn a deep red. He grabbed Harry by the arms and shook him.
"Uncle Vernon, it's a technique that our Sensei said we had to learn before he'd teach us anything else!" Harry managed to get out.
"Oh no. I signed Dudley up to learn to fight, not to learn to sit around and pretend to be thinking really hard.'
Better not tell him the object is to not think of anything at all. Harry thought to himself.
Vernon stormed into the house, apparently intent on calling their Sensei. Dudley and Harry looked at each other and winced. It was not going to be a pretty argument between Uncle Vernon and their Sensei. Then they heard Aunt Petunia yelling at him.
"It's not just that Vernon. They got in trouble and this is to teach them to not do it."
"Dudders wouldn't be getting into trouble if it weren't for that boy! He broke his arm before, and he's probably the cause of it now!"
"He's got nothing to do with it, they're both in trouble!"
It got quiet after that, and both Harry and Dudley decided that they didn't need to practice today until they were told it was okay. Instead, they just climbed up into the tree and spent the afternoon talking.
That evening, Vernon came to them.
"Fine, go ahead and practice your ruddy technique. But mark my words, if anything freaky starts happening, I'm going to punish you boy. And it won't be something as silly as no practicing outside of class." He grimaced towards Harry at this.
Harry nodded, and Dudley hugged his dad.
END FLASHBACK.
Finally, three days before the four-week mark, Harry managed to do it.
"YES!" And with that, his concentration shattered, and the darkness keeping the flame from Harry disappeared from his mind. "Dang it. Lost it." He sat back down.
"Harry, why'd you have to do that? I almost had it!" Dudley yelled at him.
"Because I did have it for a moment. It's really hard to hold though." He explained.
Dudley looked at him. "Well be quiet so I can try too. I'm not going to have to spend another two weeks without being able to spar at all." With that, Dudley closed his eyes and leaned back against the tree again.
Harry laughed. "Yeah, and we both need to be able to do it for more than a second or two. Sensei would probably laugh if we considered that knowing the technique." Harry closed his eyes as well, and focused again on the flame.
Drawing his emotions out had to be the hardest part, he considered. Taking all of his excitement over being able to do it, then the let down of losing it, he fed it into the flame again. In his mind, the flame seemed to grow bigger. He kept feeding it until nothing else was in his mind but the flame and the darkness.
Carefully, he pushed the flame away and wrapped himself in the black darkness. The flame was outside again. Excitement went through him again, and cracks appeared in the wall between him and the flame. He tried to calm down, but lost it all again.
"Got it." Dudley whispered.
Harry opened his eyes and turned to Dudley. "Still got it though?"
Dudley nodded slowly. "Figured it out." He spoke slowly, obviously trying not to break his concentration. "Keep feeding the flame, even while it's outside the wall."
Harry nodded and tried. He managed to keep it up for almost a minute before the feeling of exuberance became too much and he lost it again. He opened his eyes to see Dudley watching him.
"Lost it again?" Harry nodded. "Yeah, so did I. Maybe it's enough for Sensei?"
Harry shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't want to keep losing it. He's got to know a way to hold onto it longer. We'll ask him tomorrow after class."
As always, thanks to Dr. Gero for beta.
Thanks for all the reviews people.
rankokunalpha1: Thanks, I'll try to keep it interesting.
DrakeHouse: Glad to have your review then. Hope I get another.
Tiny tiny Hermit: No, Dudley won't be going to Hogwarts. I have other plans for him. :D You're my most faithful reviewer. grin
Akusai: You'll find out how Harry's going to continue to get training.
ender2000: Vernon doesn't like Harry. Never has, probably never will. He only humors him for Dudley's sake. Petunia is a blood relation, and after seeing him good for Dudley for several years has softened her for him.