Harry Potter and the Mind Mage

By James Milamber

A/N: Sorry about the delay – my muses have been on holiday again, it seems. Still, I have the next chapter already written, and as soon as I get it back from CQ I'll post it too, should only be a day or two. Once again, a million thanks to CQ for her brilliant job as Beta. Now, on with the chapter!

It was seven very exhausted Gryffindors that stumbled down to breakfast on Saturday morning. The week of training had been intense, although, in Harry's opinion, well worth it.

James and Tonks had run them through many different exercises and tests, trying to find each student's strength. Hermione, for example, had begun to master 'Phasing', or the ability to instantaneously move oneself a few feet in any direction, obviously quite useful in a duel and more than making up for her lack of agility. Ron had spent most of the time practicing the different forms of raw magic that James had demonstrated, and could now duplicate the wall-running feat with relative ease – although he also had the sense to jump off the wall at the appropriate time.

Isabelle had shown an aptitude for personal Transfiguration, possibly because of her Animagi abilities, and had worked closely with Tonks to develop these skills. It was rather unnerving to see the ex-Slytherin turn her entire forearm into a razor-sharp scythe-like blade and back again, seemingly at will.

Rather surprisingly, neither Alex nor Cassie had shown any specific aptitudes, although this didn't seem to overly bother them.

'Hey, we're just multi-talented,' Alex had quipped after one of their lessons, earning him a scowl from a tired and rather irritable Ron.

Harry was beginning to learn some control over his Familiar, although his attention still tended to wander at a critical moment – and the results, while usually humorous, were also unpredictable. The Basilisk seemed to genuinely want to help, although it's definition of 'help' and Harry's own seemed to be world apart. At least Ginny no longer seemed to be affected by everything he did, as she had previously.

Finally, Ginny had proven to be reasonably talented at Glamoury, a form of illusionary magic that involved tampering with the perceptions of others.

'It's not technically legal for anyone to use it who doesn't have a license from the Ministry,' Tonks had explained in a rather pained voice.

'I hardly think it matters at this point, Nymph,' James pointed out.

'Well…no, I suppose not,' Tonks had sighed. 'Just please don't use it unless you absolutely have to!'

And so Saturday was on them before they even realised. Harry truly felt sorry for the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw Quidditch teams – the second game of the year was to be held today, only two days before the start of the tournament. There were several people on each team entered, so the game was rather poor timing for them.

Ron watched disinterestedly as the two teams left the Hall. 'I wish them the best of luck,' he said with a yawn, 'but I'm going back to bed.'

Harry blinked. This was the first time in his Hogwarts career than Ron had willingly missed a game of Quidditch. He was usually one of the first ones at the pitch, no matter the teams playing.

'Yeah, sounds like a plan,' Alex rubbed his eyes. 'Bloody hell, I never want to see that classroom again!'

'Well, look at it this way,' Hermione said, her lowered voice barely carrying under the noise in the Hall. 'Do you want to beat Malfoy or not?'

''Course I do,' Alex scowled across the Hall to where the blonde Slytherin sat between Crabbe and Goyle. 'I'm gonna smash his bloody face in, and I'm going to enjoy myself immensely.'

'Hear hear, mate,' Ron yawned again.

'I think you need more sleep, Ron,' Cassie noted cheekily.

'Gee, you think?' Ron shot back. 'How very observant of you.'

'Now, now, children, keep it civil,' Isabelle smirked at them.

'I'll keep you civil,' Ron said sourly.

'Ron, that doesn't even make sense!' Hermione said in exasperation. 'Come on, you're going back to bed.' And with that she stood, grabbed his arm, and dragged him out of the hall.

'Hermione's gone all gung-ho all of a sudden,' Cassie noted. 'I wonder why?'

'Gung-ho?' Ginny asked in confusion.

'Muggle thing,' Alex told her. 'Never mind.'

Harry had to agree – it was rather peculiar behaviour for Hermione, and he had no clue what could be causing it. He supposed it was probably just Ron, yet again – which meant he had little to no business butting in. Surely Hermione would tell me if anything major was happening?

But even so, there was the small niggling doubt that refused to go away.

'Mister Potter,' Professor McGonagall approached the Gryffindor table that night at dinner. 'Professor Dumbledore would like to see you all in his office tonight.'

'Thanks, Professor,' Harry replied politely. McGonagall nodded swiftly, then turned and made her way back up towards the Head table.

'Order?' Isabelle asked under her breath.

'Probably,' Harry agreed. 'He did say that McGonagall would tell us when there was one on.'

As soon as they had finished eating, the seven made their way up to Dumbledore's office. Harry opened the gargoyle that blocked the entrance, and the revolving staircase deposited them in front of the imposing door.

'Enter,' the Headmaster's voice came from within, and Harry pushed the door open.

'So nice of you to finally join us,' Snape said bitingly as they filed into the room. Aside for the Potions Master and Dumbledore, the room also contained Professor McGonagall, Lupin, Mad-Eye Moody, Emmeline Vance, and –

'Ronald and Ginevra Weasley!'

'Aw heck,' Ron groaned as Mrs Weasley bustled forwards, an angry expression on her face.

'What in Merlin's name do the two of you think you're doing, signing up for the Order without asking me first?'

'Hi Mum,' Ginny said brightly, ignoring the outburst.

'Don't you "hi Mum" me, young lady,' Mrs Weasley said in a dangerous tone. 'You are both in a lot of trouble!'

'Molly, please, we have been through this already,' Dumbledore said, his beard twitching as he fought not to smile.

'Don't you start again, Headmaster,' Mrs Weasley turned to glare at him. 'I'm still not happy with you, either.'

'Mum, please,' Ron started. 'We –'

'I don't care!' Mrs Weasley near screeched. 'You deliberately went against your parents wishes!'

'Molly!' Mad-Eye thundered, and the room instantly stilled. 'Another time, please,' he said gruffly.

'Thankyou, Alastor,' Dumbledore murmured as Mrs Weasley glared at him, but re-took her seat. 'Now, we have several important points to cover tonight, so I'd suggest we get on with it. Severus, are you any closer to synthesising that potion?'

'Unfortunately not, Headmaster,' Snape stood and glanced around the room almost disdainfully. 'I am still having some difficulty getting the mix right, so as to make it not too strong but not too weak. I would estimate another few weeks ought to be enough.'

'Excellent,' Dumbledore nodded approvingly. 'Remus, the housing situation?'

'We've got another few places warded and ready to go,' Remus replied as Snape sat again. 'We'll have another two ready within a week, which should get the number of people at Headquarters manageable again.'

Dumbledore nodded again. 'Sooner than I had expected, well done. Emmeline, the Dursley's?'

At the sound of his relative's name, Harry's ear's pricked up. He had not been back to see them since Dumbledore had revealed they were at the castle – he had seen no particular need.

'The wards are almost ready,' the stately old witch replied. 'I would give a few more days for them to strengthen, and it should be possible for the Muggles to return to their home.'

'Excellent work,' Dumbledore smiled. 'I, for one, will be glad to have them out of Hogwarts.'

'Professor?' All eyes turned at Ginny as she stood. 'Does that mean Harry will have to go back to them this summer?'

Dumbledore nodded reluctantly, and Harry's heart sank. 'I am afraid so, Miss Weasley. It is still the safest place for him to be, the events of the summer passed not withstanding. We have strengthened the wards on the house, and we will be doubling the number of guards. It will be perfectly safe.'

'That's what you said last time,' Ron muttered. Fortunately his mother didn't hear him.

'Professor?' Isabelle half raised her hand. 'What am I going to do for the summer holidays? My mother…well, you all know about her, and my Aunt was killed during the last Death Eater attack on London.'

'Why on earth didn't you tell me?' Alex demanded.

'It wasn't important,' she shrugged.

'I do not know, Miss Lestrange,' Dumbledore said, his voice troubled. 'Perhaps you can stay at Headquarters. We shall see as the date comes nearer what options present themselves.'

'Why can't I stay at Headquarters too?' Harry demanded.

'Don't be so thick, Potter,' Snape sneered.

'Severus,' Dumbledore said warningly.

'Sorry, Headmaster,' Snape said, sounding anything but.

Dumbledore removed his half-moon glasses and rubbed at his eyes tiredly. 'Harry, you know that while Headquarters is relatively safe, it still does not have any of your blood relatives living there, and therefore is not as secure as your Aunt and Uncle's house.'

'What, like it was so secure before?' Harry said bitterly. Ginny squeezed his hand reassuringly.

Dumbledore sighed heavily, replacing his glasses on his crooked nose. The Order members present were watching him carefully, waiting to see how he reacted. 'We shall see as the date grows closer, Harry.' None in the room missed the Headmaster using Harry's first name, and they both received several curious stares.

'Now,' Dumbledore straightened in his chair, and fixed his piercing gaze on the seven students in the room. 'I have reason to believe that you have all been taking some…extracurricular training this past week?'

Harry and Hermione exchanged a glance, wondering what to tell the Headmaster. Isabelle solved their problem by simply saying, 'Yes sir, we have.'

'I see,' Dumbledore's eyes twinkled as they turned to Tonks, who had removed her Invisibility cloak and was now squirming uncomfortably. 'Nymphadora, would you care to comment?'

Tonks sighed, settling heavily into one of the comfortable seats that lined the office. 'James,' she said shortly.

'Headmaster, I really must protest his presence in this school,' Emmeline Vance interjected. 'He is reckless, unreliable, and we still have no solid confirmation of his loyalty. How do we know he is not working for Voldemort on the side, as he was last time?'

'A fair question,' Dumbledore granted. 'Very well, I will tell you why I have such confidence in James' current loyalty.' Out of the corner of his eye. Harry noticed both Alex and Cassie's expression's tighten, although where Cassie merely looked sad, Alex looked about ready to start smashing things – or people. 'Early this year, or possibly at the very end of last year, Death Eaters approached James with a proposition – that he should join them or suffer the consequences. James being James, he ignored them – and the result was that his wife was brutally raped and murdered in from of his children's very eyes.'

A shocked gasp ran through the room – Emmeline looked about ready to be sick, and Moody had a very ugly expression on his face. Cassie's eyes filled with tears, and her twin leaned over to wrap a comforting arm about her shoulders, his face still filled with a towering, albeit tightly controlled, rage.

'He is not so much with us as against the Dark Lord,' Dumbledore said gently. 'He will do everything within his considerable power to see that he falls.'

'I…' Emmeline faltered, her usual composure temporarily deserting her. 'I am sorry, Headmaster. I never knew.'

'What I have told you does not go beyond this room,' Dumbledore said, looking around the room warningly.

'Of course it doesn't, nothing ever does,' Moody said in a disgusted tone. 'I wonder if Milton needs any help when he goes after that son of a bitch.'

'Regardless,' Dumbledore said with a faint smile, 'there is still the issue of him training students without my permission.'

'What, you're going to complain about him teaching us to defend ourselves?' Harry demanded, tired of all the convoluted talk.

'Of course not,' Dumbledore said mildly. 'I just wish he'd come to me first, is all. I'm sure I could have made a few suggestions that would have benefited you all.'

Harry stared at the Headmaster, not quite sure what to say.

'Now,' he addressed the students, 'you all have a rather full week ahead of you, so I'd suggest you all get as much rest as possible.'

'Potter, a word,' Moody said gruffly as they stood and made to file out of Dumbledore's office.

'What?' Harry asked shortly as Ginny, the last in line, slipped out the door.

'Not here,' Moody muttered, then turned to look at the Headmaster. 'If that's all, Albus?'

'By all means,' Dumbledore gave them leave, and Harry rather warily followed the grizzled Auror from the room.

'You shouldn't be so hard on Dumbledore,' Moody said suddenly as they reached the bottom of the winding staircase and started down the corridor. Harry's eyes widened momentarily in shock, but quickly narrowed again.

'Why shouldn't I?' Harry shot back. He knew it was probably not a good idea to speak like that to Mad-Eye Moody, but he was beyond caring. Not like he can do anything to you anyway, otherwise they'll never get rid of Voldemort, said a snide little voice in his head.

'Because, Potter, he's the only one who actually knows what you're going through,' Moody growled, his magical eye spinning every-which-way as it looked for anyone who might be eavesdropping.

'Yeah, right, how could he?' Harry muttered darkly.

'Because he's been through all this before, you arrogant little twit,' Moody ground out. 'Or have you forgotten what happened between him and Grindelwald?'

'What's that got to…' A memory dawned on Harry suddenly, of reading the back of a Chocolate Frog card on the Hogwarts Express way back in first year. 'Dumbledore defeated him,' he said slowly.

'Yes he bloody well did,' Moody confirmed. 'So if you think you're the only one who's ever had to go through this, think again. But don't take my word for it, ask James. After all, he was there.'

Moody turned and stumped back towards the entrance to the Headmaster's office. 'You might want to think about that,' he called back over his shoulder before he vanished up the stairs, leaving Harry to make his way back to Gryffindor tower alone, his mind whirling with questions.

A/N: Next Chapter: the Tournament begins! Who's looking forward to seeing Malfoy get flattened?

POLL: Who gets to flatten Malfoy? The one with the most votes gets the prize…

A. Harry

B. Ron

C. Alex

D. Isabelle

You have about two weeks to get your votes in. I'm so looking forward to writing this scene…

Review Responses:

mosleyn001: You gave me a great idea with your last comment…cheers!

gpotter: Nope, never got the PoA DVD…I can't stand the movies, myself. The casting is great, but…they changed too much. Maybe I'm just being picky, but I feel like hitting things every time I see a stuff up…and they made Lupin look like a complete tosser! Grr!

Phoenix-Of-Hogwarts: Oh boy…I feel this needs some explanation. I'd like to state from the outset I have nothing against Americans – in fact, I have quite a few American friends. My problem is with the overwhelming arrogance the American nation displays in its dealings with foreign nations, as well as the 'there's no problem that can't be fixed with liberal application of bullets and/or bombs' philosophy the American government has displayed since the end of the Second World War. As an Australian, I take pride in my nation, and the amount of Americans that talk down to me simply because I'm not American…well, it tends to piss me off fairly effectively. I'm sorry if it offends you, but I think Americans as a group are generally unaware of exactly how low their international standing is – the 'great' American nation has become a bit of a joke in the last few decades. But like I said, my problem is with the American government – not Americans themselves.

Comet Moon: That was more wishful thinking than anything else.

MrsSakuraPotter: Erm…thanks, I think…

DragonSoul: Indeed it is, my friend, although over here it was published as a trilogy (Magician, Silverthorn and A Darkness at Sethanon). Probably my second favourite fantasy series, after Eddings – but who the heck is Piers Anthony? The series was written by Raymond Fiest…

Merusa: (blinks) Was that…comment aimed at me? And if so, what'd I do? Nothing wrong with being jealous of a character in a fic…but would you REALLY want to trade places?

Dree: It's all CQ's fault…

the-moonlight-path: I know what you mean, but it's deliberate – there is method in the madness, my friend. Trust me.

Elmire: You'd think so…the problem is, my muses don't seem to know how to take 'no' for an answer. Don't worry, I'm used to long, rambly reviews – I give enough of them myself, so keep them coming. :)

jwhit-moony: If you even think about it, I swear I won't update for a month…and I'm sure I can persuade CQ to join me…

Lord Sauron the Deciever: So you beat us…once. Did you see the game we played against Pakistan? Absolutely FLOGGED the poor bastards…pity Lehmann was out for 5, though…

MsMissProngs: Natha lorulm luth gumash luth izil mzilt lorulm izil natha lorulm luth gumash luth ka natha lorulm luth gumash luth lorulm. ;p