Chapter 11: Adventures In Magic

Harry was aware of the people talking around him, but what was happening in his head was much more interesting. In a situation that was eerily familiar, a part of his mind became home to a second (or third) presence. It spoke quietly to him, guiding his mind through the placement of new knowledge that was even now flowing into him. Images from ages past, places he hadn't been, and overriding everything, a happiness that he couldn't recognize. It went beyond anything he had ever experienced, but shadowing it was sadness, and a sense of loss. Faces untold and unnamed blinked through his memories, and deep voices spoke softly of situations and circumstances. He absorbed it all, deftly placing each item into a space as instructed by his new companion.

He was uncertain as to the exact time that had passed, but he eventually opened his eyes. Putting his glasses on his face, he felt a small tingle at the back of his mind, and a frown formed on his face. Information trickled into his consciousness, and the frown deepened. All over the school, people were locked out of their dorms and rooms. Students repeated the passwords, but the guardian portraits refused to respond. Even the Headmaster could no longer access his office, as he and Professor McGonagall stood outside of the gargoyle trying various spells. He wondered at this new development, and the answer rose in his mind, causing him to groan.

By connecting himself to the castle magically, he had announced himself as its master, basically usurping the power of the Headmaster. The current passwords had been deactivated, awaiting the approval of the new Lord. There was only one place he could fix this, though it would mean sharing his new status. Quickly checking for his wand, which was secure in its holster on his arm, he raced out of the infirmary, amazed at the amount of energy he felt. He ran the entire way to the Headmaster's office, with barely a pant to show my exertion. The two adults standing there were a little surprised, to say the least, but they were about to get another shock.

"I'm afraid that this is my fault, and if you'll give me some room, I'll put things right." The transfiguration professor looked as if she wanted to protest, but Albus gently shooed her to the side. Placing his hands on either side of the gargoyle, he spoke the words now burned into his memory. "Override authorization Alpha Phoenix 03, Harry Potter. Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, control restoration, confirmed." He felt the magic of the wards slid back into place, but they lacked the last bit to reestablish themselves totally. Turning to the Headmaster, he nodded his head. "Put you hand on the statue and say your name. That should reset everything." The now smiling wizard came forward and placed his hand on the worn surface of his guardian.

"Albus Dumbledore." There was a small surge of energy, followed by the statue moving out of the way to reveal the staircase. Diving into the new part of his mind, Harry was glad to see that the other guardians were responding as well. His body followed the two adults without hesitation while his mind skipped around the school, making sure that everything was as it should be. He was brought back to his physical location by the stilling of murmuring voices. He found himself in the Headmaster's office, and all of the portraits were staring at him. Most, like Armando Dippet, were looking at him with something akin to awe. Phineas Nigellus, however, seemed to be sulking. Harry bowed to them all, and sat in the chair closest the perch of Fawkes. The phoenix, who was in his baby form after his latest burning day, trilled. Harry reached up and took him from the ashes, putting him in his lap. Before he had a chance to speak, there was a laugh from one of the corners.

"I see your line still has all its priorities in order, lad. Minerva is standing there, near ready to strangle you for information, and the first thing you do is comfort the phoenix."

"Well, Arness, the magical shifts that happened today were quite upsetting for him, as he is particularly vulnerable right now." Harry's indignant response was met by more laughter, and he turned his attention back to the small bird in his hand.

"I'm sorry for his attitude, sir and madam. He has yet to introduce himself, am I correct?" They nodded, and the young Headmaster's picture moved to a portrait in the center, pulling himself tall. "I have the honor of presenting Harry James Potter, Chosen of Fate, Lord of Gryffindor."

Harry sat in the chair, answering all of the questions they asked him, mostly about the events of the previous night. When he finally looked at the clock, it was going on 8:30 in the morning. He sighed, which brought an end to the talking.

"Looks like I've missed breakfast. Not that I wanted to go to the Great Hall, but I'm rather starved." Dumbledore opened his mouth, no doubt to offer some solution, when a crack filled the air.

"Harry Potter needs to eat." Floating in the air behind a stack of knitted caps was a tray piled high with food. The Headmaster raised an eyebrow, curious as to what had persuaded the elf to join them, but remained silent. Meanwhile, Harry grabbed the tray and started stuffing his face with wild abandon.

"Thanks Dobby, you're a life saver." The excitable servant bounced with joy and left, obviously proud of his work. Harry made impressive time through the mass amounts of food, so that by 8:50, he had finished the entire tray. Sitting back, he patted his stomach, and addressed McGonagall.

"Well, Professor, I think you should get going. I believe you have class in a few minutes, and I wouldn't want your timely reputation to be tarnished." He ended the sentence with an infectious grin so strong that the stern teachers mouth twitched before she could control herself. "The Headmaster and I have something to discuss." He looked with some surprise at his young charge, as this was the first he had heard of such a matter. What he saw lifted his spirits to a degree he hadn't felt in months. There was a fire in his face that he recognized as part determination, part passion, and part sheer anticipation. He shooed Minerva off to her class and took his seat, preparing for the news.

"Well, Harry, I think I'm ready. Let us begin."

"Good. I'm going to need your full cooperation for this, and if we do it in the right way, not only will we be able to educate the students in basics, we'll also fool our opponents into thinking that's all we know." Taken aback by the commanding and calculating tone that he spoke with, the aged wizard gave his student a penetrating look. There was glint in Harry's eyes that spoke of long planning, and a certain gleeful light came to his face when he spoke of fooling his enemies. "I'm going to reactivate Dumbledore's Army today." Well, though he had been somewhat expecting it, the plain announcement still was somewhat startling. "This way, I can train a core group of talented students in advanced defensive and offensive magic, and not many people will know. Then, those students can pass on the more basic of the skills to the student body at large, and hopefully convince the other side that everyone's that limited. As a bonus, Voldemort's too arrogant to believe that Disarming and Shield charms are much of a threat to him, so the teaching position shouldn't draw too much danger. Of course," he shrugged, "that leaves more resources for their attempts to kill me, but I'm okay with that."

"Well, Harry, I think we can work that out, especially if you choose the one to lead the group."

"Exactly. Now, we need to head out. I still have things to do, and I need to get started while the day is young. Besides, I still have to be in Transfiguration at 1." Harry stood decisively and lead Dumbledore out of his office, not mentioning where they were going, just walking at a calm pace. They reached the portrait of Barnabas the Barmy, and the Headmaster watched confused as Harry paced in front of it, muttering to himself slightly.

When the door appeared, he was slightly startled, but not nearly as much as when it was opened. Dark detectors of all types hung on the walls, and bookshelves took up much of the available space A fireplace burned merrily on one side of the room, and over it hung a coat of arms that looked slightly familiar. He tried to remember, but it sat just out of reach in his mind. He was getting old, he knew, but it was depressing to realize it so powerfully. His thoughtful sighing was interrupted by Harry.

"I need you to hold him while I work, because there's going to be some major shifts, and he might panic." Baby Fawkes was placed in his hand, and Dumbledore started, not having realized that the phoenix had been brought along. He gently cupped the creature in his hands, taking a few steps back as he felt the power start to build in the room. Harry was doing something very large here, and he wanted to make sure nothing untoward happened. He drew his wand, and prepared to cast the Grounding Spell, should Harry lose control. It would feel very unpleasant, but that was much better than burn-out. "Security Protocol activate."

The light in the room seemed to shiver, and the Headmaster gently stroked the now nervously chirping phoenix in his hand. As the shimmering vanished, he looked back towards his student, and drew a breath in surprise. The hospital pajama's had vanished, to be replaced by a midnight black dress robe with patterns in gold and red. Sword and Phoenix crossed over a swirling flame rested on his back, and another pattern rested over his heart, although it was hard to see.

"Initiate all security measures, non-combative category. Alpha Phoenix 03 keeper designation, Albus Dumbledore Headmaster fallback designation." A golden swirl of lights descended on Harry, circling him for a second before sinking into his skin. So intrigued was Albus that he almost failed to notice the silver lights that followed the same procedure with him. The firelight seemed to dim as Harry stood still, his mouth slowly moving in what appeared to be a very precise conversation, although Albus heard nothing. Finally, sound was returned. "Unlimited duration of measures approved. End Security Protocol modification." As the light returned to normal and Harry turned to face the others, Albus finally saw the crest on his chest. It was identical to the one that hung over the fireplace, and he finally remembered what it was.

Only the crest of the Gryffindor family held a Lion and a Phoenix embracing a sword between them. And the fact that Harry had it on his chest could mean only one thing. He was the Head of the family. The robe slowly faded from sight, returning the pajama's.

"Well, that's taken care of, so all that's left is the activation." He patted his clothes, and then thumped his head when he realized what he was dressed in. "Of course I don't have it with me. I need my books, some clothes, and my master coin, please." With a thump, a bag of books landed at his feet, and his pajamas were replaced with the school uniform. Oddly enough, Albus noted, the room did not provide his shoes. He paid attention most keenly when Harry pulled a Galleon from his pocket. Waving a hand over it, he studied the numerals at the edge with some satisfaction. "There, we'll be meeting here tonight at around eight." He made to leave and Albus noticed with some surprise that the clock on the wall read eleven thirty. It was time for Harry to head down to lunch, but he had yet to warn him!

"My boy, wait!" When he had his attention, he tried to convey the difficulties he would be facing. "Due to your recent...situation, I'm afraid your magic may be the slightest bit out of control. I would recommend not casting any spells, but that wouldn't go over very well with the Professors. The best I can do is suggest using an anchor of some sort." He was surprised when Harry gave him a winning smile.

"It's already taken care of. Why do you think I'm not wearing shoes?" Albus mouth dropped open as his student slipped out of the door on his way to the Great Hall. It had never occurred to him that the castle itself could be used as an anchor.

Meanwhile, Harry tried his best to keep from running to lunch, as he was filled with so much energy that it was making his hand itch for a wand. The tables of the Great hall were filled with students chatting about their morning lessons, so he was able to slip into a seat beside Hermione without drawing too much attention from those besides the Gryffindors and select students from two of the other houses. Whenever he caught their eye he gave a small nod, which was immediately meet with excited whispering as DA members conferred amongst themselves. He noted with another pang that Ron had chosen to sit with some fifth years, and shook his head. He didn't know what to do about it, but he knew something had to be done. Even now he could feel a strange lightness, something that worried him to no end.

"Harry, what happened this morning? When I went to check on you..." Hermione sounded concerned, but Harry did his best to silence her.

"This is neither the time or place to talk about it. We'll discuss it later." He gave her a small smile and loaded his plate with food, as his activities had left him incredibly hungry. As he ate, the castle slowly filtered information into his mind, helping him keep track of the time, the status of the wards, even the best routes to his next destination. It seemed like no time had passed before Hermione was telling him it was time for Transfiguration. He once more resisted his hopped up urge to bolt past everyone and walked at a sedate pace to the classroom. Once he had a seat, he planted his feet firmly and drew his wand. He was concerned for a moment as the magic surged, but smiled with relief when he felt the excess slip into the floor. He turned his attention to Professor McGonagall, who had started the lesson.

"Today we will be focusing on partial transfiguration." Hermione's hand was up in the air immediately.

"Professor, isn't partial transfiguration the result of a miscast spell?"

"Indeed, Ms. Granger, that is usually the case, but it can also be used as a task that will increase the concentration of the caster. It takes great focus to only use part of an object in the spell, as the incantation remains the same. For example: Floris!" The hand sized rock on her desk changed into a flower, but only the top half. The bottom remained the same, giving the impression of a flower in a pot. "As you can see, only my intent made the spell react any differently. Now, I want you to concentrate, and then attempt the spell." Harry watched for a second as Hermione bit her lip, than gave the proscribed movements.

"Floris!" To her dismay, the entire stone turned into a beautiful rose. "Drat!" He chuckled at her exclamation.

"I figured as much, Hermione. You're not used to doing anything halfway, so something like this is bound to gave you some trouble." He took careful aim at his stone, making sure his feet were in solid contact. "Flo­-" When he felt the chair he was sitting in lean back and his feet become airborne, he tried his best to stop the casting, but the force of the magic was too much for him, and it went out the only way it could- his wand. "-ris." He wanted to shut his eyes, but knew that the strong surge that had come from him was nothing but bad news, so he had better fix whatever it was.

It was worse than he thought. Flowers grew from every stone surface available, including the floor, ceiling, and walls. The students struggled to free themselves from the vines that crept up their legs, while hanging plants blocked the windows, casting the room into darkness. He struggled to put his feet back onto the floor, but it wasn't happening. All he felt was the plants writhing around. Panic started to settle in when he realized it. If he couldn't channel the excess power away, who knew what would happen when he cast Finate.

"Hermione, I need your help." She was slightly occupied by the lily tickling her side, but she turned to him anyway. "I'm having some control issues, as you can obviously see." She rolled her eyes as she smacked a vine that was creeping it's way into her shirt. It retreated immediately. "I need something to channel the extra power so I don't accidentally shut off Hogwarts or something." She shivered at the idea of cutting off one of the wards that protected the school.

"And you want me to ground you." He smiled at her quick thinking and held out his left hand.

"Yeah, just grab my hand and hold on. There shouldn't be anything more than a tingle, but be careful casting spells for a little bit afterwards, okay?" She grabbed his hand and he concentrated on ending only the effects of his spell.

"Finate Incantatem." He forced the magic down as much as he could, but he could still tell a lot was escaping his grasp. Luckily it filtered through his hand to Hermione, who tightened her grip. He watched as the plants slowly turned back into stones, trying not to let the magic effect anything else. At the end he had managed to control it, but he was pretty exhausted. He asked to be excused and Professor McGonagall let him leave. Hermione watched him go, worried about the slump in his shoulders and Ron watched him trying to ignore the twinge of guilt he felt.