Warnings: some violence and description of injuries/blood

Chapter 5 - Professor Jara Fortin

That night, Harry did not sleep well. He dreamed of the graveyard and the Department of Mysteries and of the veil. He woke with a start, dripping in cold sweat. He reached up with a shaking hand to wipe his face. His t-shirt clung to his body uncomfortably and he shivered under his covers. Rolling over, Harry knew there was no hope of getting back to sleep no matter what time it was. He reached out and grabbed his glasses and wand off of the bedside table before dragging himself out of bed and stumbling into the bathroom.

Looking into the mirror, Harry was slightly startled by just how pale his face was and the haunted look in his eyes. Splashing some cold water on his face, he tried to bring some life back into it. He cast a quick tempus and sighed- it was just a little past 3am. Not wanting to risk waking his dormmates by turning on the shower, Harry stripped his t-shirt off and opted to rinse off with a washcloth at the sink. Since he slept in his only non-uniform long sleeve shirt and it was now crusty with drying sweat, Harry did his best to wash it out with some warm water, spelling it dry before putting it back on.

Feeling marginally more human, he slipped back into the dormitory and grabbed his bookbag before heading down to the common room as quietly as possible. Since he was up, he figured that he might as well be productive. With still slightly shaky hands and bleary eyes, he pulled out his Herbology textbook and a stack of parchment and quill and set to work on his Pritcher's Porritch essay for Professor Kerner. Since his brain was little more than half awake, it took him several hours to reach the required two feet of length and it was nearly 6am by the time he set his quill down, satisfied with his work. Seeing that it was nearly late enough to go down for breakfast, he headed back up to his dorm to get properly dressed.

Of course, everyone was still asleep when snuck back in, grabbed his uniform, and headed to the shower. Glad to finally be properly clean, Harry walked back to tuck his sleep clothes into his trunk and was startled by a sleepy voice, "Harry? 'S that you?" came the hoarse whisper.

He looked around carefully and saw that Remus was sitting up in bed, looking around confusedly. "Yeah Remus. Sorry if I woke you. I was trying to be quiet," he whispered back.

"'S not a 'roblem. Jus' not use to anyone bein' up 'fore me." Remus yawned and stretched. "Never seen this lot up before 7 without significant external motivation," he said with a wry smile. He looked over at Harry. "You're already dressed? What time is it?" he asked, sounding a little confused.

"Uh, yeah. I just… woke up a little early and figured I might as well get ready. No need to cause a rush in the bathroom," he shrugged. "And I think it's about 6:30." Grabbing his Defense textbook, Harry settled himself back down on his bed. Since he had to wait for everyone else to get up and ready, he might as well get a head start on some more of his reading.

Remus pulled himself out of bed and stumbled into the bathroom still half asleep. Over the course of the next hour, Harry watched from his perch as the rest of the boys awoke and readied themselves in various states of consciousness. They seemed to have forgotten about him as he sat quietly in his bed by the door. They were all messing about, calling each other by their nicknames. James couldn't find one of his shoes and Sirius thought it was hilarious, seeing him crawling around all over the floor in search. James snapped at him to "Quit laughing and put that nose of yours to some good use," which prompted a retort about how "with feet as smelly as yours, you don't need a hound to smell his shoes." Peter, who had in fact found the shoe a couple of minutes before and rehidden it behind Remus's bookshelf, was just about cackling at the two. When Remus went to pack up his bag and found the shoe- it was the icing on the cake. He turned around with the offending object pinched between two fingers and flung it at James with a horrified look on his face. "How the bloody hell did you manage to lose that over here?! You know the rules about feet on my desk!" It was all quite an amusing scene.

It was at just five til 8 when everyone managed to be fully clothed and ready to head down for the day. They all grabbed their bags and headed out the door, leaving Harry behind, still sitting on his bed. And Harry thought it was hilarious. It was like he got to watch his own personal morning sitcom. He wondered how long it would take them to realize that they forgot him. Would they make it all the way to the Great Hall? Would they even notice if he didn't show up? Just as he was pondering this, he heard thundering footsteps climbing the stairs and a second later four slightly panicked looking boys tumbled back through the door.

"Harry?!" Remus called.

"Yeah?" Harry responded from his bed. Four heads whipped around to look at him and he burst out laughing. "Remembered me, did you?"

"How long have you been up here?" asked Remus.

"All morning. I talked to you when you first woke up. I've just been sitting here reading since," Harry said mildly. "And enjoying the show," he added with a grin.

They all blinked at him and then each broke out in a matching smile.

"Damn, you're quiet Bambi! We all just thought you had gone down to the common room again, but when we got down there and couldn't find you we thought we'd lost you!" Sirius lamented.

"Technically, you did lose me. You just happened to lose me right under your own nose," he laughed. "So, breakfast?" he asked as he scooted off his bed, shoving his book into his bag.

They had double Charms first thing that morning. He was surprised that they also shared this class with the Ravenclaws, so the class was mostly the same people as Herbology. Peter was not taking Charms but the rest of the 6th year Gryffindor girls were. He didn't know the Ravenclaws well enough to be able to tell who was new to this class or missing from Herbology, but this class seemed slightly bigger, so he would believe that there were new faces in both houses.

Professor Flitwick was just as bubbly in class as he was when Harry had met him in the hospital wing. He stood atop a precarious looking stack of books at the front of the classroom and called for everyone's attention. "Good morning class! Welcome to our second lesson of the year! And welcome Mr. Doe to your first. I must warn you Ms. Evans that this young man just might give you a run for your money for top marks this year." Both Harry and Lily flushed at this. "Now, with the review out of the way, we will be jumping right in today with Protean charms! We will be exploring Protean charms in-depth for the first half of this term as they are a complex bit of magic and are highly customizable. We will be learning how they work and as a final project you will each be coming up with a new and unique use for a variation of the charm." He beamed out at them. "We will be starting simple today, so that you may understand the basics of the charm. In essence, a Protean charm makes something change form. For example, one of the spells often used to magically write on chalkboards is a variation of a Protean charm where the change occurring is that of the letters on the board. See?" And he waved his wand so that his lecture notes changed to say 'Aren't Protean charms nifty?' and then changed it back again. "Today, in pairs, you will be practicing a base-version of this spell on some writing on a bit of parchment. Your aim is to change the writing to say something else. While these spells are often done non-verbally as the variants do not have proper incantations, as you are learning for this base-version you can use the incantation 'proteus scribo' while focusing on the change you want to occur. If you can successfully change the writing, try to do the spell non-verbally." He hopped down from his stack of books and sent pieces of parchment flying around the room so that everyone could get to work.

Harry ended up working with Remus. He was pretty sure the other boy still felt bad about forgetting him that morning, but he did not want his guilt. Harry took his quill and wrote 'I bet you can't change this' and then drew a face with its tongue sticking out and pushed the parchment towards Remus. Glancing at it, Remus laughed, scribbled something on his parchment and then shoved it at Harry. His read 'Do not demand what you cannot do' and it also had a rude face drawn next to the words. With the challenge set, both boys set out to prove the other wrong. The classroom was filled with the muttering of spells and the rustling of paper as they took turns attempting the charm with varying levels of success. At first nothing happened. Then Remus was able to make his words blurry. At one attempt, Harry accidentally vanished his sentence altogether and he had to ask Remus to rewrite it.

Eventually, about halfway through the class, Harry was able to accomplish the feat and changed his to read 'Do or do not, there is no try' Remus looked at him impressed, but then confused when he read the new sentence. "Why'd you change it to that?" He asked quietly. Harry could have smacked himself for referencing a movie that probably hadn't even come out yet. Way to not blow your cover, Doe. "Erh, it's probably a muggle thing?" he said, sounding very unsure of himself. Well, at least that plays into the amnesia character, he thought. Remus did not look very convinced, but he let it drop.

By the end of the lesson, Harry was one of the few people who was able to cast the spell non-verbally along with Lily and a girl in Ravenclaw. They each earned 10 house points from a delighted Flitwick. Remus, along with most of the class, had at least managed the spell with the incantation. Their homework was simply to practice the non-verbal spell and to start thinking of creative applications for a protean charm.

As they headed to the Great Hall, Lily was already speculating about her project.

"It is literally weeks away, Lils, how can you already be going on about it?" asked Milli.

"Well, excuse me for being excited. God forbid anyone actually be interested in their schoolwork." She rolled her eyes. "Harry, you'll back me up on this right? That charm is actually very interesting and has real-life practical applications beyond school." She turned to him expectantly.

Harry froze at being put on the spot. It was not that he disagreed, but he had not expected to be pulled into their conversation. He finally found his tongue, "Umm, no. I mean, yeah! It's a super interesting charm and with the versatility, you could do a thousand different things with it."

"Thank you," she said, stepping away from her friends and coming to walk beside Harry. "Some people wouldn't know a practically applicable spell if it bit them in the arse." She flicked her long hair dramatically over her shoulder at this.

Picking up his stride to match Lily's indignant pace, Harry said, "I think that's why I've always liked charms so much. With a little creative thinking, you can accomplish a lot with them."

"It took six long years but finally- someone understands! It's not just tap dancing teacups! Harry, I hope your smarts are contagious because there just might be hope for the 6th year yet." She proclaimed for the group to hear.

Up ahead, Sirius could be heard muttering, "Oh great, another Charms fanatic."

Harry and Lily continued to discuss charms all throughout lunch, much to everyone else's annoyance. But Harry couldn't care less. Rarely did he get to have such a fun discussion. Ron would just gag at the idea of class work being 'fun and useful' and Hermione, while passionate about charms and their practicality, was more of the rant and lecture type rather than a conversationalist. With Lily, there was enthusiasm and an easy give and take that he was just not accustomed to but which he eagerly embraced.

A little ways down the table, the rest of the 6th years sat, eyeing the pair lost in their own little world.

"I honestly didn't know the kid was capable of stringing so many words together. He hasn't said more than two sentences back to back since he'd shown up until now," Sirius said with slight amazement in his voice as he watched the two chatter back and forth.

"Yeah. But it's kind of nice to see. Even if he is joining Evans' whole 'Charms is life' crusade," James said.

"I'm just not so sure we should leave those two alone together at any point. They may just plan world domination if left to their own devices for too long," Gretta said, sliding down the bench a little to join the conversation.

"This is the way the world ends, not with a bang but a charm," James shivered.

Gretta snorted, "Yeah, something like that."

Sometime during lunch Peter had joined the group and now, with the entirety of Gryffindor's 6th year assembled, they headed off towards their final lesson of the day- Defense Against the Dark Arts.

Harry noted with slight apprehension that they seemed to share this class with the Slytherins. The Gryffindor group had arrived a little early, so they were already in their seats as the Slytherins began arriving. As they entered, the Gryffindors watched with keen eyes. With a start, Harry recognized a young Severus Snape as he slinked into the room. He was tall and thin, with the same sallow skin and large, hooked nose that seemed to protrude even farther from his wraith-like body. His greasy hair was long- much longer than the professor Harry knew wore it- and it hung like blackout curtains around his gaunt face. It struck Harry that the teen before him did not look like the Death Eater he was soon to be, nor the glowering professor he would one day become. He looked like the victim of some untold tragedy. The image of what Harry had seen reflected back at him in the mirror earlier that morning flashed, unbidden, across his mind.

Dragging his eyes away from Snape, Harry surveyed the rest of the Slytherins. There were nine of them in all- five boys and four girls. Next to Snape strode a tall boy with a haughty, pinched face and next to him was a boy with broad shoulders and dark cruel eyes glinting under thick, bushy brows . Behind them was a girl who seemed to command attention with her very presence. Her deep auburn hair cascaded in waves over her robes making them look even blacker than the rest. With her were two other girls who seemed quite dull in comparison- one with a bowl of dark curls around her head and the other with light, wispy, feathered hair. The last to enter the room were two boys and another girl. Harry almost laughed as the lead boy in the group looked shockingly like a young John Travolta. He had a thick face, dimpled chin, and piercing blue eyes surrounded by ample amounts of dark, black hair. With him was a nondescript looking boy, slightly smaller than the rest, who Harry recognized from his Care of Magical Creatures class, and a slightly rotund girl with long, straight black hair. They all took seats as far away from the Gryffindors as possible.

As they sat there, all sizing each other up, many eyes fell on Harry. He received a couple of sneers and saw the pinched-faced boy lean over and say something to the commanding girl that made her laugh all while not taking his eyes off of Harry. Knowing hiding was not an option, Harry sat there stoically and did his best to ignore them. After all, stares and whispers and jokes at his expense were nothing new. And he knew that getting a rise out of him or making him uncomfortable would only delight them, so he sat there with his back straight, listening to the Gryffindors chattering around him, waiting for class to start.

Luckily, he did not have to wait long. Soon enough, a small, older witch emerged from what Harry assumed to be the door to her office in the back corner of the classroom. Her hair was lost somewhere between dark brown and gray and thinning and her face carried many lines that seemed ready to both accentuate and hide her expression. She strode in and over to the desk at the front of the room with a confidence that read of life experience and utter competency.

"Good afternoon class," she greeted with a hint of a Spanish accent. "As most of you know, I am Professor Fortin. Last class, during our overview of the term, we discussed how this class will not only be focused primarily on the practical application of defense, but also on dueling specifically. As I mentioned, we will have at least one class a month that is dedicated entirely to dueling. I will not be telling you when these classes will be as in the real world a witch or wizard is rarely given advance notice for a duel. Today will be one of those days." She spoke briskly, but not sternly, as if inviting you to not listen at your own risk.

"As this is our first dueling day, I arranged for a demonstration. Our own Professor Flitwick was a dueling champion before he became a Charms Master and he has kindly agreed to assist us today." At these words, the tiny professor emerged from the back office as well and joined Professor Fortin up front. She gave him a nod of greeting. "In this class, we will be learning and practicing both formal and informal dueling. Can you tell me the difference, Mr. Doe?"

Harry was rather caught off guard to have been called out. Most of the teachers had been kindly ignoring him as he settled in during his first lessons. He cleared his throat slightly and sat up a little straighter, "Oh, um, yes, professor. In formal dueling there are rules, specific procedures to be followed, and even sometimes judges if it is for a competition rather than a personal matter. In informal dueling, you are just trying to survive."

"Well put. Though, I would add that in informal dueling you must consider your adversary's aim as well, which is often something more sinister than their own survival. Three points to Gryffindor." She turned around and vanished her desk and the chalkboards behind it. "Please put your bags against the far wall. You will find that we will be standing for most of this class and you will only need your wand." As the students rose and shuffled items around, the professor vanished all of the student desks as well. A bright red line appeared to cut the classroom in half and another made itself into a large, long rectangle in the center of the far half of the room. "The rectangle represents a standard dueling platform. During a formal duel, if you step out of bounds, you will automatically forfeit. During an informal duel, you will have free range of this half of the room. The middle line will serve as a boundary and a shield for the rest of the class. But let this be your first lesson- shield charms are not impenetrable. Many spells can slip through them and the longer they are in place and the more that they deflect, the weaker they become. Just because you are on the 'viewing' side of the line does not mean that you are safe. This is another reason I do not want you all watching from your desks- it is much harder to dodge an errant spell when seated and trapped behind one."

Harry's respect was growing by the second as he listened to the professor speak. Fortin seemed to not only know what she was talking about, but was giving practical warnings and advice that you could actually use if attacked outside of a classroom setting. She's instilling her own, subtler version of 'constant vigilance', he smirked to himself.

"Professor Flitwick and I will demonstrate one formal and one informal duel and I encourage you to note the differences. We will set a 5 minute time limit for all duels today so that everyone will have a chance to go." She conjured a large digital clock that reminded Harry of the basketball scoreboard in his primary school's gym and affixed it to the wall behind where her desk used to be. "I warn you not to look at the clock while dueling though. Even a split second distraction can be the difference between victory and defeat." She gave them a calculating look. "Seeing as we are in a classroom setting, there will, of course, be limits. You are not to use any spell you do not know the result of or any curse that you do not know the countercurse to. Absolutely nothing illegal. You will not aim to do any major bodily harm. All duels will have the same goal of immoblizing or incapacitating your opponent for 15 seconds to claim victory. Am I clearly understood?"

There was a smattering of head nods and "Yes, professors," from around the room.

"Very good. We will begin with a formal duel, if you will join me Professor," she bowed her head slightly towards Flitwick and they both made their way over to stand within the large rectangle facing one another. Professor Fortin flicked her wand and the clock lit up with a large "5:00" glowing in red. The two met in the center of the platform and shook hands, then turned and walked to opposite ends of the dueling arena. Facing each other once again, they bowed to one another and took up a ready stance, raising their wands.

A buzzer sounded and the timer began counting down. Neither hesitated and before the sound had even finished ringing there were already spells flying. Clearly, this was not a demonstration of any specific spells or tactics, but rather a showing of what it looks like when real wizards duel. Flitwick cast almost exclusively non-verbally, his wand a blur with colorful jets shooting out in an almost constant stream. Fortin was holding her own, though from a more defensive position. Harry could see the faint flicker of layered shield charms around her as she determined what needed to be dodged vs. could be absorbed by the shields. The spells that she did manage to fire off towards her opponent were fast and precise. With such a small target, though, one had to be. Flitwick was using his size to his advantage, ducking low and making himself even smaller and remaining in almost constant motion to avoid being hit. Sensing the futility of her position, Professor Fortin began to advance on Flitwick. She knew that Flitwick's casting speed would overtake her defenses eventually and preferred a calculated risk for victory over a slow and painful defeat. When she reached the midpoint of the arena, Fortin suddenly released all of her shields, pushing them forward like a physical wall towards Flitwick and dropped to the ground, rolling slightly to one side. Flitwick, not expecting such a move, had to stop everything he was doing to cancel out the rapidly approaching barriers. While he was distracted, Fortin sent a series of stunners at him. Somehow, he managed to dodge them all and sent one last jet of purple light at Professor Fortin and everything went still. Many of the students were confused. Some were holding their breath. Harry noticed that a 15 second countdown had begun below the running clock. He had petrified her. From where he was standing, Harry could see that Professor Fortin's eyes were still open and her face was still set in a determined expression, but she remained unmoving in her hunkered down position on the floor. As the buzzer sounded once again at the end of the 15 seconds, Professor Flitwick released Fortin and she gracefully got to her feet with a smile.

"Good show Professor! You almost had me there!" Congratulated Professor Flitwick.

"Indeed Professor, but there is a reason you were a champion," she conceded. Turning to address the class, she continued, "Now, we will move on to the informal duel. For these, the timer will begin once someone has made the first move which may be done at any point once I have indicated that the arena is set. All of the classroom rules will still be in play and you may not cross the midline barrier, but beyond that there are no other limits."

The two professores moved back into the middle of the dueling area and Fortin flicked her wand to reset the timer above. "The arena is set," she said in a clear voice and they both raised their wands. Unlike in the previous duel, neither made a move right away. Instead, they seemed to be feeling one another out. Then Fortin suddenly started running and throwing hexes at the smaller professor who was forced into a defensive position. From behind his shield, Flitwick threw a spell that hit the ground in front of Fortin and seemed to melt it into a tar-like substance that clung to her feet. Weighed down with trying to free herself, Fortin hastily threw up a shield as she severed the laces on her boots so that she could pull her feet free. Unfortunately, while she was distracted, Flitwick had conjured a handful of what looked like small metal jacks and threw them under Fortin just as she stepped onto the solid floor. As her foot met one of the spikes, she instinctively went to collapse and roll away, but she fell right into the path of Flitwick's levitation charm. He floated her up while she was attempting to get her bearings and then, so fast that if you blinked you would have missed it, he dropped her, hit her with a stunner, and then caught her again to gently levitate her to the ground.

Again, the 15 second countdown began and when the buzzer went off, Flitwick revived professor Fortin. She rose with a thoughtful look on her face, "That was a very interesting tactic, Professor."

"Why, thank you! When agility is not your strong suit, speed and creative thinking become your allies," Flitwick said with an eyebrow waggle.

"Now class, what differences did you notice between the formal and informal duels? Ms. Rosamund?" She looked expectantly at the Slytherin girl with dark, curly hair.

"You utilized the space a lot more, professor," she responded curtly.

"Correct. The environment is a key element to consider when engaging in an informal duel. The charm Professor Flitwick used on the floor, for instance, would not have worked on a normal dueling platform," she pointed out. "Another difference, Mr. Pettigrew?"

"Um, you ran professor. I mean- you used a completely different tactical approach," He blushed slightly at the unintended insult.

"There is no shame in running- I want you all to know that." She gave the class a stern look. "But you are correct as well about my tactics. Knowing my opponent was quick with his wand and less so on his feet, I looked for a way to take advantage of that. The lack of rigid boundaries allowed me to, as Ms. Rosamund pointed out, utilize the space. You may also have noted that neither of us went on the offensive immediately- this is another tactical difference. Taking the time to study your opponent and being able to read their body language and anticipate their moves is crucial." She moved back towards the middle of the room. "I hope that this demonstration has also shown you that in an informal duel, the only limits are those you put on yourself. Those limits may be of knowledge, creativity, or morality, but they are ones only you can impose on yourself." She took a moment to look every student in the eye to ensure her message had sunk in. "Now, everyone will have a go at informal dueling. We will be drawing names for matchups and there will be no complaints. I will remind you one last time that all classroom rules stand."

She summoned a hat from the far corner of the room, reached her hand in, and pulled out two slips of paper. "Ewan Duff and Mildred Hawthorne," she read out.

The small Slytherin boy came forward and headed over to the dueling arena and Gretta whispered, "Good luck Milli- you've got this!" as Mildred did the same. It was rather obvious that neither of the two were experienced duelers as they stood across from one another. They raised their wands in anticipation of the professor giving the go ahead to start, but neither took a very stable stance.

"The arena is set," Fortin's voice cut through the tension. Ewan made the first move, sending a stunner at his opponent, but Milli managed to erect her shield just in time. She returned in kind and he dodged. The slow duel continued on like that, as if they were having a conversation instead of a fight, until one of Ewan's spells hit its mark and Milli crumpled to the floor. After 15 seconds, the buzzer sounded and the professor revived her. Milli flushed with embarrassment as she headed back to stand with the other Gryffindors and Ewan looked much too smug for having given such a lackluster performance in Harry's opinion.

Summoning the hat once again, the professor read off two more names, "Remus Lupin and James Potter."

Their duel was at least a little faster paced, each boy managing to fire off a couple spell combinations instead of just trading one for one like the previous pair. James got the upper hand with a tripping jinx followed up by a stunner. Both boys were smiling when they returned to the group.

"Severus Snape and Phoebe Neith."

Snape and the intimidating girl with auburn hair stode to the center of the far side of the room. She smirked at him as she raised her wand and Snape's eyes gleamed. Harry had a feeling they were about to witness a whole new level of dueling than what the first two sets gave.

"The arena is set!"

It was impossible to say which of them actually fired off the first curse, but the air was suddenly thick with streams of light. They weren't quite using the space like the professors did, but the speed and agility they showed was approaching a similar level. The rapid spellfire and careful dodges so as to not lose their balance and momentum was something well trained. It was a good thing these two were up against each other or else they would already be scraping their opponent off of the floor if it had been someone from one of the earlier duels. After almost four minutes- a new record by far- the girl leaned a little too far to avoid a blasting curse and could not right herself in time to dodge an incarcerous quickly followed by a disarming spell. She wriggled in her ropes for 15 seconds and then the buzzer rang out. Snape flicked his wand to banish the ropes and the smallest of satisfied smirks was the only indication that he had triumphed as he returned to stand with the Slytherins. Phoebe's eyes blazed with fury as she stormed back over to the group.

Gretta dueled the blond girl from Slytherin- Katherine Hagit. Their battle was more on par with James and Remus'. At one point, as they were trading curses, their spells crashed into each other in midair causing them to ricochet off one another. Harry did not recognize the spell that the Slytherin had used. Unfortunately, it seemed to be of the variety that shield charms did not block, so it passed right through the barrier in the middle of the room and shot towards the group of watching Gryffindors. Without thinking, Harry tackled the person next to him just as the light was about to hit them. He whipped his head around to make sure no one else had been in the line of fire. Satisfied that no one had been hit, he looked down to see that it had been Lily who he had tackled.

"Erh, sorry about that. Didn't want you to get hit- I wasn't sure what that curse was," he bit his lip and he helped her back to her feet, making sure he hadn't accidentally hurt her. She, and the rest of the Gryffindors, were just staring at him. The buzzer sounded and they all jumped, focus drawn back to the dueling area. Gretta was sitting on the ground where she had just been revived. Distracted by the errant curse heading towards her friends, Katherine had taken her down easily.

"Everyone okay over there?" Professor Fortin called.

"Are you okay?" Harry asked, slightly concerned when Lily had not answered.

"I'm fine," she said quietly. "We're fine," she said louder, so that the professor could hear. "Thank you," she said softly again, just so Harry could hear.

"Don't mention it. I'm glad you're okay," he brushed it off.

Fortin addressed the whole class again, "Remember what I said before. You do not need to be the target to get hit. Both spellfire and people are unpredictable and you must be ready for anything- especially the unexpected. Good reflexes, Mr. Doe. The rest of you might do well to pay a little more attention to your surroundings."

Lily was then called to duel Sirius, which resulted in by far the most chaotic duel they had seen that day. Sirius used mostly prank spells- things that were relatively harmless and easily countered, but extremely annoying- like a twitchy-ears hex or a jelly-legs jinx. Lily for her part was using a variety of creative charms to confuse and distract him. She conjured birds that took some of the spellfire for her and flew around Sirius' head so he couldn't see, threw red sparks just to frighten him, and changed the color of his hair just to piss him off. The coup d'etat came when Lily used a lumos maxima to momentarily blind Sirius followed by an aguamenti, dousing him in water, and then a freezing charm so he ended up encased in ice and unable to move. After the buzzer rang, she thawed him out. Sirius stumbled back shivering and looking a little miffed. Lily was beaming.

"Joshua Avery and Harry Doe."

Harry gave a small start upon hearing that name and turned to look at the boy who had stepped forward. It was the tall boy with the pinched face who had entered with Snape. Looking a little closer, Harry quickly recognized the thin-lipped snear and angry eyes of the boy that would grow into the spineless Death Eater who groveled at his master's feet. He had been in the graveyard. And at the Ministry. He had seen this man tortured by Voldemort in his dreams. Harry shivered at the dark path awaiting the young man in front of him. He took a deep breath, reminding himself that this Avery was just a kid- the man who had chased him through the Ministry was decades older and more experienced and he had survived that encounter- right? Don't think about Sirius, he chastised himself. This is a classroom exercise and he is just a kid.

Slowly, Harry made his way to the dueling area where the young Avery was waiting. The look in his eye was frighteningly reminiscent of Bellatrix Lestrange- an edge of madness and ready for blood. Harry gulped and decided then and there to end this duel as quickly as he could. No use tempting fate with a burgeoning violent madman. They both took up a dueling stance, wands raised.

"The arena is set."

Avery attacked instantly and was not holding back. Viscous jets were sent rapid fire towards Harry. Harry, for his part, decided to employ one of his favorite, tried and true battle strategies- don't die. He bobbed and weaved and ducked and rolled out of the way of the onslaught being thrown at him, not wasting any time with spells. He knew they had a very low likelihood of finding their mark with how much he was moving and did not want to waste the time, energy, and focus it would take to counter. He ducked under what he recognized as a Bone-Breaking curse and spared half a thought for Avery's interesting definition of spells that would not 'aim to do any major bodily harm'.

Eventually, Harry saw his opening as Avery took the slightest pause to take a breath for another incantation. He shouted a quick, "Expelliarmus!" and pivoted around to snatch the other boy's wand as it flew through the air. Breathing hard, Harry doubled over, hands on his knees. He stood like that for a few seconds, trying to get his breath back, when suddenly a fist connected with the side of his face. Caught completely off guard, Harry tumbled to the floor and his glasses went flying. Turning his head, he saw the dark figure he assumed to be Avery descending upon him. The figure grabbed his wrists, pinning Harry to the ground and made a grab for the wands he was holding. Knowing he was physically outmatched by the boy nearly twice his size, Harry cocked his wrist at an awkward angle and fired off two vicious Stinging hexes- one from each wand in his hand. Both hit their target, sending the larger boy reeling back and Harry followed up with a double Leg-Locker curse and Stunning spell, just for good measure. He saw the form slump in front of him, but he did not relax like before. He was not going to make the same mistake twice. Harry remained where he was on the ground with both wands trailed on Avery until the buzzer went off confirming the end of the duel.

The barrier must have been lowered because a bunch of blurry people rushed towards him. Harry scrambled back as the crowd pushed in- his body was still in fight or flight mode and not being able to see who was getting in space made flight seem like a very good option.

"Merlin, Harry, are you okay?!" The voice came from one of the blobs closest to him.

"Sirius?" He asked tentatively, squinting hard at the figure.

Sounding a little worried now, "Did he hit you that hard?"

Feeling the adrenaline rush fade slightly and now reassured that these were friendly blobs, Harry let out a little laugh and shook his head. "No, Sirius, he didn't. I'm fine. He just knocked off my glasses and I really am quite blind without them," Harry reassured. "Accio glasses." His glasses zoomed into his outstretched hand and he put them on, bringing the world back into focus.

There was a crowd of very concerned looking Gryffindors gathered around him. Sirius was crouched in front of Harry and just behind him stood the girls. Around the outer edge of their clump, James, Remus, and Peter were facing away from Harry, standing guard, presumably, against Avery and the Slytherins. It was a little heartwarming to see them all so concerned and protective. He stood up, "Really, guys, I'm fine." He knew there was already a bruise forming on the side of his face and he could taste blood in his mouth, but, all things considered, Harry counted this as a win.

Professor Fortin had revived Avery and he was glaring over at Harry with fury in his eyes.

"His wand, Mr. Doe," she put out a hand and Harry quickly deposited the extra wand in it which she returned to the seething Slytherin. "Mr. Doe has learned an important lesson- disarmed does not mean not dangerous. If you recall, my instructions were that you must immobilize or incapacitate your opponent to claim victory. Mr. Doe disarmed him, but failed to follow through with this final step leaving Mr. Avery the opportunity to continue the attack. Do not count out your enemy too soon," she said with a look at Harry, "and do not underestimate him," she added with a look at Avery.

With everyone a little more calm, they all shuffled back to the viewing side of the line and waited for the next duel to be called. Harry noticed that the rest of the Gryffindors put themselves between him and the Slytherins and he had the sneaking suspicion that it was a very intentional move on their part.

Of the three remaining duels, the most notable was between Melanie Pura and Egon Mulciber. Harry now recognized Avery's friend from the Department of Mysteries as well. Those cruel eyes had made appearances in many of his nightmares. Mulciber attacked with the same brutality as Avery and made mincemeat of his opponent within the first thirty seconds of their duel. Peter was rather evenly matched with Kennieth Knotting, though Haleigh was quickly taken down by her Slytherin adversary, Reina Rosamund.

After the last duel concluded, Professor Fortin removed the dueling boundaries and re-conjured the furniture in the room. She leaned back against her desk as the students all took their seats for the last few minutes of class. "You all did well today. For a first attempt at informal dueling, it was not a bad showing and now we have a baseline to build off of. For homework, I want at least two feet examining the various strategies you and your classmate's used during the duels today and their potential benefits, drawbacks, and use cases. I daresay we saw a wide range of tactics employed, so you should have plenty to work off of. I will see you all Friday- class dismissed." She watched as they rose and began to head towards their bags at the back of the room. As Harry made to leave, he heard her call out, "And Mr. Doe, please do see Madam Pomphrey before dinner. We don't want it to look as though you've been brawling in the corridors." She flashed him a slightly cheeky smile.

Harry ducked his head and hurried out of the classroom and to catch up with the others. Luckily, they were waiting for him just outside of the door.

"That was bloody brilliant Harry. Though, you scared the shite out of me." Sirius had an almost manic grin on his face.

"Umm, sorry?" He tried.

"Sorry?! Most people who go head to head with Avery do not walk away in one piece, let alone win! Twice! That was just…" he shook his head, "Bloody brilliant."

"The way you moved… And you took him down so fast! How did you do that?" Gretta breathed.

"I don't like being attacked," Harry said bluntly.

"And not to mention how you saved me from that curse!" Lily put in. "Thank you, again."

Harry rubbed the back of his neck self consciously. "I was getting out of the way as much as pushing you. Really, it was not a big deal."

"I just can't believe the professor let Avery attack you like that," James said with a frown.

Harry sighed, "Technically, he didn't break any rules by punching me. And she was right, I should have immobilized him." Harry shrugged, looking away from the group, embarrassed. "Umm, guys, where are we going?" This was definitely not the way back to Gryffindor tower.

"The hospital wing," Sirius said, rolling his eyes like Harry was an idiot. Harry stopped walking and opened his mouth to protest, but Sirius cut him off- "You do realize that you're still bleeding, right?"

Harry brought a hand up to his face and sure enough, it came away bloody. "Huh. I guess I am."

Many of the faces grew slightly concerned at his response as they renewed their effort to corral him towards the hospital wing. When they finally arrived, Madam Pomfrey looked quite taken aback to see the entire Gryffindor 6th year in her ward.

"My word, what happened?" She asked, anxiously raking her eyes over the large group.

"Not to worry Madam Pomfrey, it is only Harry here that needs your services," James said, dragging Harry to the front of the group.

Her eyes softened immediately. "Oh, Harry. What happened?" she asked as she led him over to a nearby bed.

"It was just a dueling accident in Defense class ma'am. Really, I'm fine," Harry looked down as he spoke.

Sirius snorted. "Accident? That tosser punched you in the face."

Pomfrey shot him a reproachful look for his language, but otherwise let the comment slide. She cast a quick diagnostic spell on his face and concluded that it was just a nasty bruise and a split lip. She healed the lip first before handing Harry a rag to wipe off the blood that had dripped and smeared on his face and neck. Harry was quite surprised how red the rag was when he handed it back. Looking down, he noticed that it had even stained his shirt. When Pomfrey returned with the bruise balm for his face, Harry quietly asked her, "Umm, Madam Pomfrey? Would you maybe be able to show me a spell to get the bloodstain out? I really don't have that many shirts…"

She looked at him a little sadly as she finished up applying the balm and said, "Of course, dear." She told him the incantation and showed him the wand movement and allowed him to have a go at spell. It looked as though the blood reverse soaked up and then the shirt appeared good as new.

"Thank you ma'am!" Harry beamed at her, hopping off the bed. He did not wait for a formal dismissal by the matron before hurrying back over to the crowd of waiting Gryffindors.

Madam Pomfrey just sighed, knowing it was not worth the fight. But she could not help calling after him, "Thank me by staying out of my care for more than two days, young man!"

There was still some time before dinner, so once they reached the common room, the 6th years all split up to study and work on homework. The boys all decided to go ahead and work on the Herbology essay that was due on Friday. As they tromped up to their dormitory to gather their books and supplies, Harry admitted that he had actually already finished his essay.

"When?" asked Peter. They had literally been together the entire time since it had been assigned- save for Charms class, but it seemed an unlikely time for him to have done an essay.

"Uh, I was up a little early this morning, so I did it then," he admitted.

"Blimey- I woke up just after 6 and you were already reading another book. How early did you get up mate?" Remus looked dumbfounded.

Harry dodged the question, "Just a bit before then. I was actually hoping to have a bit of a lie down before dinner if that's okay?" Now that he was thinking about it, he was kind of exhausted- between the dueling and the being awake since 3am, he felt a little justified though.

"Sure thing. We'll just go work in the common room or the library. We'll come and get you before dinner." Sirius said and they all shuffled out of the room.

Harry laid back in his bed, letting out a big breath, and closed his eyes. He took off his glasses and rubbed at his face. The left side was still slightly tender from where Avery had punched him and the bruise balm was still working its magic. Man- it had been a long day and it wasn't even over. A nap honestly sounded like a great idea, but as Harry lay there his brain would just not shut off. It replayed all of the duels from class and dragged up his memories from the Department of Mysteries. To distract himself, he refocused on this morning's Charms class and the fun conversation he'd had with Lily. Wow, could she talk about charms. Though, I guess I did hold my own pretty well in that conversation, so who am I to judge? Plus, Protean charms are really interesting. What Hermione had done with it last year was just the tip of the iceberg- one of probably infinite possible applications. Like the spell we worked on today- changing writing! You could probably change a drawing or something too. He imagined walking through the Louvre and changing all of the priceless pieces of art- giving the Mona Lisa a pig snout and ears. It could probably be adapted to work on something 3D as well, like a sculpture. I wonder if you could animate with it? Like the old fashioned muggle way- like a flipbook- with a series of pictures that when strung together appear to move. An interesting thought, though, in the magical world something so complicated was really not necessary when animation spells probably already exist. I mean, look at the portraits and pictures. The Marauder's Map. They all moved on their own and were even on some level sentient. Harry had always wondered what the magic was behind all of that. How did the map know where everyone was? Maybe he would get close enough with his dormmates that he could ask them someday… WAIT- THE MAP!

Harry sat bolt upright in bed and scrambled for his glasses. Oh Merlin, he thought, if they look at the map and see Harry Potter I am going to find myself in a very sticky situation. Crying amnesia will likely only get you so far when you are bunking with a supposed relative of yours… He really needed to find the map. Casting a quick tempus he saw that dinner was in just half an hour and that meant that the others could return at any minute. Throwing caution to the wind, Harry waved his wand, "Accio Marauder's Map," and thanked his years of seeker training that he caught sight almost instantly of the folded piece of parchment zooming out of Sirius' trunk. At least he knew where to try and put it back.

"I solemnly swear that I am up to no good," he muttered and the map bled into life. He found his own dot very quickly and cursed that it did indeed read 'Harry Potter'. Now what? He thought. Hiding the map would only work for so long before they got suspicious and he had a different problem on his hands… Maybe he could conceal his name? But that would also look rather suspicious… Then he literally smacked himself in the forehead. Duh! Use the freakin' Protean charm! And with a little wave of his wand the writing changed to read 'Harry Doe'.

With a satisfied smile he whispered, "Mischief managed," and folded back up the map. He rushed over to Sirius' trunk and flung it open. Luckily for him, it was an absolute mess inside. There was no order and all of the items had been tossed in carelessly. Sighing in relief, Harry dug his way to the bottom and hid the map under an old book about Quidditch, praying Sirius would not find anything suspicious the next time he went to look for it. He rustled the rest of the stuff to cover up his digging, closed the lid and flung himself back in his bed breathing hard.

As he fought to get his breathing under control and relax, another thought stuck him- what if the charm wears off? They had not discussed in class how long it lasted and very little magic was permanent. Most charms needed to be renewed on some sort of recurring basis in order to continue serving their purpose. Grabbing a sheet of parchment and quill from his desk, he scribbled out 'John Doe' along the bottom edge and used the charm to change it to read 'Harry Doe'. There. He would just need to check on the parchment every morning to make sure the charm was still holding. And there was nothing too suspicious about having his own name on a piece of parchment on his desk. Harry breathed another sigh of relief, quite pleased with his plan.

Then the door banged open, causing Harry to jump about a foot in the air, and the rest of the dorm's occupants walked in.

"Jeez Sirius!' Hissed Peter. "Harry could be sleeping and you come in like a herd of hippogriffs."

Sirius looked a little contrite. "That's okay. I'm not actually asleep," Harry mollified.

They looked around at him, perched over his desk. "What were you doing?" Remus asked.

"Oh, I was just practicing the Protean charm," he said honestly.

James looked aghast- "He really is as bad as Evans. Merlin help us all."

A/N: Fun fact- I actually had written the entire Charms lesson before I had solved the problem with the Marauder's Map because apparently I am a genius who solves my own problems without conscious thought :)