A/N: This will be my 5th posting in this story, and so far people have liked it. I am grateful to all my reviewers, and a couple of elements of my story need clarification. First, thank you to:
Jess
Fantasyismylife
Slate_one
Universalstar87(Thanks for teling me about the unsigned review thing. I didn't even notice.)
Psalatino(Special thanks to you. You're the first one to put me on a favorites list)
Potter-Man
Brion(No, Flame and Blade are not from the future.)
Morgana(It wouldn't be any fun if I just told you who they were.)
Star Mage(Special thanks to you, as my very first reviewer.)
Lucius Malfoy was in Azkaban awaiting trial. He was broken out in transit between Azkaban and the Ministry. (Probably an inside job. Use your imaginations.)
I have no talent at writing romance. The summer saw Harry and Hermione get together, and also Ron and Lavender. Whatever story works for you, use it. Harry is a prefect, not Ron this year. Ron stepped down because he hated the job. He also wanted to spend time with Lavender.
Alrighty, that's all settled. Now, on to the story!
I revised Chapter 01: Discovering the Dragons, Because it was confusing.
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Chapter 04: Classes and Confusion
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The first day of school turned out to be one of the most interesting days of the year for Harry. He had chosen his N.E.W.T. classes with being an Auror in mind, but it seemed the teaching bug had bitten Harry. His experience teaching the D.A. had shown him how rewarding it was to have students learning from you. His new dream was to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts once he finished school.
The first day was certain to be a good one, Harry found out at breakfast. He had advanced DADA in the morning, and advanced Transfiguration in the afternoon. (A/N: Block Scheduling for advanced classes means longer classes, more details.) He was really looking forward to DADA, but a little apprehensive about the new teacher. Professor Kilroy had never been an auror, and had no experience fighting dark arts. She was a professor of magical theory. Needless to say, Harry was interested to find out what she was going to be teaching them.
The students from Gryffindor and the other houses met outside the room, and trooped in as a unit. (A/N: All advanced classes have all 4 houses in them.) Professor Kilroy was sitting at her desk, watching them all arrive. Once everyone was seated, she stood up and walked to the frontof her desk, and spoke to her class.
"Good morning class, I am Professor Kilroy. This class is called Defense Against the Dark Arts, but what are dark arts exactly?" She said, taking her students by surprise. "Anyone?"
Draco Malfoy raised his hand, and Professor Kilroy pointed to him. "Any magic that is specifically designed to cause pain or death." He stated, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Professor Kilroy looked at him and smiled.
"That answer, Mr. Malfoy, is good, even though it is completely wrong." The smug look fell right off Malfoy's face as the teacher spoke those words. " I did not ask about dark magic, I asked about dark arts. Anyone else?" Harry raised his hand, as did Hermione. Professor Kilroy smiled again, and pointed to Harry. "Yes, Mr. Potter?"
"Professor, I would define dark arts as a way of thinking. Any type of spell, potion, or talent and technique, used with intent to harm another creature." Professor Kilroy looked at him for a moment.
"Could you please elaborate on that Mr. Potter? I like your answer, but I fear you may have lost most of the class." She said, looking at the confused faces of many of the students.
"Certainly Professor. Everyone knows what the unforgiveable curses are, and that is unquestionably dark magic. This morning's paper had the Auror's report on the death of John Avery. The magic used on him was not dark." Harry said, making the class stare. "The aurors found traces of a severing charm, and an engorgement charm. That's fourth and fifth year charms, taught at this very school. The magic itself was not dark, but the way it was used would be defined as dark arts."
"Very good Mr. Potter. Ten points to Gryffindor." Professor Kilroy said, smiling at the class once again. "That is why I am teaching you this year. It is important to understand that the dark arts are not just limited to specific things found in the restricted section. It's not only about what magic is used, but also how the magic is used. The best way to understand that, is to understand how the magic works."
All in all, it was one of the most informative classes Harry had ever taken. Advanced Transfiguration was no different. They went through a lot of theory, and reviewed the harder concepts of the previous year. All in all, it was a very satisfying day.
That evening, during dinner, Professor Dumbledore asked Harry and Hermione to come to his office as soon as he had finished eating. Harry and Hermione shared a suspiciously anxious look, and then finished eating. After they were done, they made their way to the Headmaster's office. They didn't know what to expect, but it was confusing that when they stepped into the office, they found Remus Lupin sitting in a chair by the wall. The Headmaster was sitting behind his desk, and he beckoned them to sit.
"Good evening Harry, Ms. Granger." Said Dumbledore, his eyes showing that this would be a serious conversation. "Harry, I need to know where you were this summer. When your owl was not seen by Mrs. Figg for 3 days, we sent a few Aurors to your house. You were not there. Where were you?"
"Hiding." Answered Harry, meeting the Headmaster's penetrating look with one of his own. "Hiding as a result of a huge mistake made in ensuring my safety at Privet Drive."
"Mistake? What mistake is that, Harry? The blood protection your Aunt gives you reinforces the wards there, making it nearly impossible to overcome them. There is nowhere safer for you." Dumbledore said, clearly confused.
Harry sighed. He really had not wanted to talk about this yet. "Unfortunately, your wards do not know the difference between my blood, and 'Blood of the enemy, forcibly taken.' Tom Riddle could walk right through them, into my house, up the stairs, and kill me." Dumbledore's eyes widened with shock, and Harry could hear Lupin's strangled gasp of disbelief. "All without setting off the wards. One week before my birthday, He did just that. I got a quick lesson in advanced apparition. I wound up at Hermione's house, just as they were leaving for vacation. They allowed me to go with them."
Dumbldore still looked a bit shell-shocked. "Still, why didn't you tell us where you were, or what had happened? We were very worried about you, Harry."
"I couldn't take the risk, Professor. You have spies among the Death Eaters, but only the Order knew where I lived during the summer, and what sort of protections were set up. How did Voldemort get that information? I realized that Voldemort had a spy among the Order as well. " Harry said, his voice calm. Clearly he was not defending his position, but explaining it. "I didn't know who to trust with the information on my whereabouts, so I didn't tell anyone."
"I understand your position, Harry, but why didn't you send a letter to me directly? I would have sent people to –" Dumbledore started, but was interrupted by Harry.
"Exactly, Professor. You would have sent people to guard me, showing the spy my location, or maybe even putting them in a position to kill either Hermione or myself. I was not willing to take that risk." Harry said, his tone firm.
"I understand, Harry. I am glad you are safe." The headmaster said, conceding that Harry was right. " Now, I have two more things to discuss with you. The first concerns you as well, Miss Granger. As I understand it, last year, the two of you started a Defense Against the Dark Arts Club." The Two teens nodded. "I would like you to continue this group, but open it up to all student interested."
Harry spoke up. "I'm afraid I can't do that, professor. The D.A. is not a club; it's a study group. I'm teaching them practical defense. I can't deal with too many students at once. If someone is interested, they will need to speak to a current group member. If that group member feels that the person is trustworthy enough to join, they will bring it up at the next meeting. Hermione and I are the only ones who can bring members in as we please."
"I understand that, Harry, but think about expanding it. I think the whole school could benefit from your experience." Dumbledore said.
"I'm sure they would, sir." Said Harry. "And after I graduate, they will, if you need a DADA teacher." Dumbledore's eyes started to twinkle again at this statement, and Hermione smiled broadly.
"Very well. On to the last piece of business for tonight. Remus tells me that you, Harry, have an enchanted map of this school in your possession." Harry's face paled, and he glared at Remus, who looked apologetic. "I would like to borrow it from you for the year, Harry."
"May I ask why, sir?" Harry said, his voice shaking.
"Well Harry, in an Order meeting last night, we had a strange visitor, calling himself Flame. He advised us to pull our spies out of Voldemort's ranks. This leaves us with a security risk." Dumbledore said. "Without their information, we have no way of knowing when our grounds are infiltrated by Death Eaters. With the map, we'll be able to keep watch over the grounds and halls."
"That's a good reason professor." Harry said, forcing a smile. "Of course you may borrow my map."
"Thank you Harry. Could you go get it now please?" Dumbledore said, relieved. For a moment, he was certain that Harry was going to refuse. If he had, Dumbledore's hands would have been tied. Having an enchanted map was not against any school rules, so he would not be able to confiscate it. He was very glad that Harry would lend it to him willingly.
"Sure, professor." Harry said, and the two teens left the office. Once they were safely off the revolving staircase, Harry swore.
"What's wrong Harry?" Hermione asked. Harry glanced around, his eyes looking at several portraits. When the portraits noticed he was looking at hem, they quickly made themselves look busy.
"I'll tell you when we get back to my room." Harry said. The rest of the trip was made in silence.
**
Back in Harry's room, there were no portraits to overhear. Harry found the map and activated it. The spidery line extended across the page, and Harry set the map on his desk. "What do you see that's wrong with this picture?" He said, glaring at the map.
Hermione looked at the map for a moment, then gasped. "We're not on it!" She yelled, her eyes wide with astonishment. "How is that possible?"
"It's what we are, Hermione. Shadow Masters instinctively mask their magical signatures. The map, which reads our signatures, has no idea who we are. It can't show what it can't see. Understand? This makes things difficult, because professor Dumbledore will, without a doubt, use the map to keep track of us as well. If he doesn't see us on the map, he'll get suspicious, and research WHY he can't see us. That, Hermione, is research I don't want him to do. Any ideas?" Harry said quickly, almost panicking.
"Let me think for a moment, Harry." Hermione said, placing a hand on his shoulder. The couple sat for a moment, deep in thought. Hermione picked up the map, and looked at it. "Harry, remember how we learned last year in charms about the duplicatus charm?"
"Yeah, I remember. The duplicatus charm creates the illusion of…another magical presence! Hermione you are a genius!" Harry said, elated. His smile quickly faded, however. "Hermione, that spell requires a lot of energy and focus to cast. How do we keep it up all the time? We'd be exhausted after a couple of minutes."
"Not really. Remember DADA today, Professor Kilroy showed us those crystals with spells stored in them? Well, we can store our duplicatus charms in the crystal pendents we bought in Austria." Hermione said. "We can wear the crystals, and then we show up on the map."
"And on mission nights, we can take them off, and disappear. No one will suspect, because to the map, it will look like we're in bed." Harry said, now very relieved. One more problem solved. The two Shadow masters quickly cast their spells on the crystals, and their dots appeared on the map once again. Before taking the map back, Hermione brought up the subject of Theodore Nott Sr.
"How do we want to do it?" She said, her eyes glinting with the beginnings of death lust. "Bloody and violent, or swift and silent?"
"I think we're going to make a bigger statement with him. I want snake face to understand that we can hit him anywhere, plus I want the Order and the Ministry to know that we can kill in broad daylight, in the middle of a crowded street, and nobody will be able to stop us." Harry said, his eyes flickering with malice, as if they were on fire. "I think that we'll introduce Nightmare a little early. This job sounds perfect for him."
"Oooh, I can't wait to see what you have in store. Nightmare and Dreem are my favorite 2 personas. Can we plan after you take the map to Dumbledore?" Hermione said with a somewhat feral smile.
"Sure." Harry said, with an equally feral smile. He then walked out of the door, and towards the Headmaster's Office.
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A/N: Whoo! That chapter took forever! Try as I might, I just was not happy with the dialogue. Before you ask, Harry's summer encounter with Voldemort will be told by him in a later chapter. Congrats to all you reviewers who thought Flame and Blade were H/Hr! A fairly complete description of Shadow Masters will be in the next chapter, and no they are not invincible. Well, drop me a review, and tell me what you think.