Harry Potter and the Curse of V'Ardian

Chapter 10

Of Discussions and Daydreams

Standard Disclaimers Apply

oOoOo

Harry yawned and briefly waved his wand over his face, now in the habit of automatically placing glamour charms on himself upon waking. It was a moment before he realised that it was the weekend, and that he could have slept longer. With a silent sigh, he heaved himself out of bed to see his six dorm mates still sleeping.

In the days since the attack on Hogsmeade the teachers, specifically those who were members of the Order, had been in a hectic and anxious state. Harry pulled his robes over his head and walked to the window, surprised to see that the sun had barely risen. He could dimly see Hagrid's empty hut at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

Dumbledore was rarely seen at meals anymore and Harry wondered just how sick the headmaster really was. He ached to know what was going on, but nobody would tell him anything. They refused to let him join the Order, but he had more right than anyone to be a member. He left the dorm and headed down the stairs and out of the portrait hole, walking quickly and silently. The halls were still empty; people wouldn't be up for another few hours yet.

His footsteps took him to the Owlery, where he summoned Hedwig from her perch. He drew a letter from his robes and attached it to her leg and she flew off with a friendly nip. Glancing around and drawing a second, smaller letter from his pocket he summoned an anonymous-looking school owl. He attached the letter with a piece of string, whispering to the owl.

"Return to sender," he whispered, hoping the owl would understand. Luckily, it seemed the owl did, as it hooted and shot off into the air in a whirl of loose feathers. The letter had been a reply to the ones he had been receiving. He had finally decided to do something about them, having received another after the attack on Hogsmeade.

His reply had been a simple invitation for more correspondence, as he refused to give his name or meet with whoever was sending the letters. As he left the Owlery he thought about the odd behaviour of Tonks over the last few weeks. She was looking almost as ill as he felt, and they rarely talked as they once had.

Harry took his time walking from the Owlery. Over the last few weeks his late-night and early-morning wanderings had become more and more frequent- he hardly ever slept for more than a few hours at a time anymore. He didn't feel the need to. The corridors were always silent at this hour, so it was a surprise when Harry heard a sudden scuffle and found himself pinned against the wall, the scowling and scarred face of Draco Malfoy obscuring his vision.

Harry hadn't spoken to Malfoy since the incident on the train, though he had known a confrontation was inevitable.

"What did you do to me, Potter?" he hissed, a look of hate contorting his features.

Harry roughly shoved him back and straightened his robes. He glared at Malfoy, taking in the sight of the scar up close for the first time. It stood out slightly from the rest of his skin, shiny and red against his pale skin.

Harry felt a strange sense of triumph at what he had done and sneered at Malfoy.

"Nothing more than you deserved, Malfoy. You have to learn that you can't go around hurting my friends."

Malfoy launched himself at Harry, grabbing the hem of his robes and forcing him back against the stone wall. A pointy stone jabbed Harry in the back.

"Take it off me!" Malfoy ordered, almost pleadingly.

"I don't know how," said Harry, glaring down at Malfoy.

"I want it off, Potter! I want to know what you did to me. Do you know that not even Dumbledore could get it off?"

"Dumbledore tried?" Harry asked, confused. Dumbledore hadn't said a word to him about it.

"Of course he did! They didn't even take me to St Mungo's. When I woke up I was in some dilapidated room with a portrait that screamed incessantly outside my door."

Harry felt himself getting angry. They had no right to let a Malfoy into Grimmauld Place, into Sirius' house without his permission. Why would they take a Death Eater to the head quarters of the Order of the Phoenix?

"Why didn't they take you to St Mungo's?" Harry asked.

"Why do you think, Potter? Do you know what this is on my face? It's a curse scar. What do you think they'd say if they found out it was Harry Potter who put it there?"

"Well then I suppose it's lucky for you that I put that scar there in the first place, isn't it?"

"What are you talking about, Potter?"

"I saw that curse that you threw at Hermione. That was a Dark curse. You're lucky that you have something to bargain with to stay out of Azkaban."

Malfoy paled but laughed in Harry's face.

"You're pathetic, Potter. Do you really think I would go to Azkaban?" he asked softly.

"Your father did," Harry replied shortly.

Malfoy's face hardened and he shoved Harry harder. But Harry was angry. With almost unnatural strength he shoved Malfoy away from him so that he fell, sprawling backwards on the floor. His breath was knocked out of him and he lay there winded for a moment as Harry drew out his wand and pointed it at him.

"Look, Malfoy, I really don't have time for you. I don't know how I put that scar there and I don't know how to get rid of it. If anything it might teach you some modesty. Now unless you came to talk to me fro another reason, I suggest you leave."

Malfoy sneered and pulled himself into a more dignified position.

"I want to make a deal with you," he said, somewhat mulishly.

Harry laughed in his face.

"I don't make deals with Death Eaters, Malfoy." he sneered.

Malfoy paled but went on determinedly.

"I'm not a Death Eater," he said.

Harry raised an eyebrow in disbelief and before Malfoy could object or move away, Harry had gripped his wrist tightly and ripped back his sleeve.

"You know you really should be more careful," said Harry, throwing the marked arm away from him in disgust.

Malfoy sneered and yanked his sleeve down, a faint blush spreading across his cheeks.

"You don't know what you're dealing with, Potter," he muttered.

"Right, that's what you said to Borgin, isn't it?"

Malfoy looked up in surprise.

"How do you know about that?" he asked.

"What were you doing in Borgin and Burkes?" Harry asked. "What do you need fixed?"

"You followed me, didn't you, Potter? Of course, my father told me he saw you there, with Katherine. How dare you follow me!"

So Malfoy was in Diagon Alley that day, Harry thought with a sense of relief.

Malfoy and Harry stood glaring at each other, neither wanting to give in to the other.

"What is this deal?" Harry asked, guardedly.

Malfoy seemed to consider him for a moment.

"Well, the way I see it, Potter, I have things that I can give you, and you have things you can give me. I propose a pact, between the two of us."

"And what will this pact involve?" Harry asked cautiously. As much as he disliked Malfoy, the concept of a pact with someone so close to Voldemort was intriguing.

"Simple. I'll give you information and when the war is over you tell everyone I wasn't working for Voldemort."

Harry snorted in disbelief. The opportunity of information was extremely tempting, however.

"It isn't that easy, Malfoy."

"Why not?"

"Well, simply because I don't trust you and you've given me no evidence that I could ever trust you."

"Then I'll give you proof," said Malfoy abruptly.

"When?"

"You'll see," said Malfoy. With those words, he turned, seemingly satisfied and began walking off.

Harry yelled after him.

"I'll think about it."

oOoOo

Harry sat at the back of their history of Magic classroom. Until now, the lessons hadn't been to revealing about Harry's life. They had talked about previous Dark Lords and their slayers in brief, and the generic history of the Dark Arts. Today's lesson however, marked a change in the status of Harry's privacy. He tiredly adjusted his glasses, which he wore only for the purpose of dissuading extra attention and stared gloomily up at Professor Binns as he began his monotonous monologue.

One day, thought Harry, he would be rid of this excuse for a life and be able to live freely and without attention, but until he killed Voldemort, that life was nonexistent. A daydream. Harry yawned and stared stubbornly down at his desk as Professor Binns began talking about his parents.

"Harry Potter was born on the 31st of July, to Lily and James Potter, who played a vital role in the first rising of He-Who-Must-not-Be-Named. Both," and here a picture appeared on the board next to Professor Binn's head, depicting a happily smiling couple on their wedding day, "were members of a secret organisation fighting against the Dark Lord and in their time they defied him three times. Their lives ended however, when they were betrayed by James Potter's best friend, Sirius Black, who was their secret keeper at the time."

Harry felt his eyes become blurry with tears at the same time as he swelled with indignant anger. Could they not get their facts right? Out of the corner of his eye he could see Ron and Hermione looking at him nervously, thought Hermione was intermittently scribbling notes.

"Harry Potter is thought to have survived the killing curse because of the charms placed on him by his mother, and the love she felt for him."

But lately, Harry was having trouble believe that that was true. Countless other mothers would have done exactly the same thing for their children and it seemed unlikely to Harry that the only thing protecting him were a few charms.

Harry knitted his brows together and kept his gaze glued stubbornly to the desk as the class heard the details of his parent's deaths. At some point during the lesson, Harry wasn't quite sure when, he got up and walked out. There was no point listening; he knew it all already.

At dinner that night, Harry got even worse news. Professor McGonagall delivered it to them, as Dumbledore was again mysteriously away. Due to the concerns over the safety of Hogwarts, the parents of the sixth year students had been invited to the castle for a four-day stay, to happen during the first game of the Quidditch season.

"Great," muttered Harry.

"You don't think the Dursleys will come, do you, Harry?" whispered Hermione.

Harry glowered darkly at the table.

"I hope not," he spat vehemently, causing Hermione to recoil slightly.

"You know it's not us who are trying to hurt you, Harry, so we'd like it if you didn't treat us like we were."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his ruffled hair.

"I'm sorry, guys. I'm just not feeling well," he said.

"We noticed," said Hermione lightly, reaching for a treacle tart. "You barely eat anymore and Ron says that you're up at all hours, walking about the castle."

Harry shrugged.

"Yeah, well, that's old news, isn't it?"

Hermione shot a glance at Ron.

"You know, Harry, Sirius wouldn't want-"

"This isn't about Sirius!" said Harry angrily, standing up and startling the occupants of several nearby seats.

"Harry, sit down," pleaded Hermione, tears glistening in her eyes.

"No, I don't think I will, thanks," said Harry, swinging his legs over the bench. "I'll see you at the DA meeting tonight."

Striding off, Harry fought to keep his mind on what he would be teaching the DA members at the first meeting of the year. He vaguely wondered how many people there would be, but doubted there would be many more than last year.

But he was wrong.

Twenty minutes after Harry had finished setting up the Room of Requirement, the old DA members started arriving, Ron and Hermione at the front. However, the long line didn't stop there. Peeking timidly into the room, students of all houses and ages began filing in and gathering in front of Harry. He watched worriedly as the room slowly began to fill, but Hermione and Ron seemed more optimistic.

"This is excellent, Harry!" enthused Hermione, beaming around in delight.

"Yeah, mate. Looks like you're pretty popular this year. But- ew- look, there's Slytherins here."

Hermione shot Ron a filthy look.

"Oh, Ron, do grow up. Don't you understand? This is the perfect opportunity to promote inter-house unity!"

"But Slytherins! In the DA!"

"No, I think Hermione's right," said Harry quietly, causing Ron to halt his tirade. "We need as many people as we can."

After a minute or so the amount of people entering the room began to dwindle, and Harry spoke up.

"Okay, I want any old DA members over this side of the room, and any new members over here."

Harry waited as the students excitedly went to their positions, more than half of them new members. He turned to Ron and Hermione.

"You two go over to the old DA members. Practice Patronuses and shield charms until I come back, okay?"

"Okay, Harry," said Hermione breathlessly, and grabbing Ron by the hand, dashed off. Harry smiled and turned back to the new students.

However, they seemed more interested in the displays put on by the old members and Harry silently wished that they couldn't see them. Of course, the room provided, as a few of the new members looked away with disgruntled sighs, and Harry looked over his shoulder to see a curtain hanging from the ceiling.

"You'll learn to do that soon enough," Harry promised," but first I need to give these to you." He began handing out the fake galleons. "These are fake, so there's no point trying to steal them. They have a Protean charm on them that will change the serial number on the side. This will tell you the time and date of the next meeting."

Harry was pleased to see Katherine there and wondered if it was she who had convinced some of the Slytherins to come. He flashed her a quick smile before speaking up.

"Allright, I need everyone to split up into groups- from first year to seventh year."

There was a scramble to do so and Harry felt pleased that they were all listening to him.

"Okay, first things first. Disarming. I know this might be old for some of you and if it is, help the ones who don't know how to do it. The charm is expelliarmus," and he demonstrated the wand movement, sending a second-year's wand flying.

"All right, pair up and we'll practice this before moving on to shielding."

As soon as everyone was started, Harry began walking through the pairs, helping where necessary. Most seemed determined to succeed and few of the Slytherins made rude comments as he passed. Suddenly, as he passed a student, Harry felt a twinge in his scar. He turned back to the student, an ominous feeling coming over him. It was one of the students from a foreign school and Harry was sure he hadn't met him before. But there was something about him. He felt familiar. He was a sixth year, judging from the group he was in and seemed to have caught on pretty quickly. Harry observed him and his partner for a few moments before moving on.

He passed Katherine and stopped to talk to her.

"I didn't think you'd be here," he said.

"Why not?" she asked, as blunt as ever. Harry grinned slightly, but not out of amusement.

"Slytherins don't like me," he said simply.

"I do," she said simply.

Harry nodded at her wand.

"You've got it, but the more power you put behind it, the more effective it will be. If you cast a week spell the most that might happen is that the person might fumble with their wand. It's harder to concentrate in a proper duel, so you should always make your spells as powerful as possible."

Harry continued around the class. When it seemed everyone had gotten it, he called a stop and gave them their next instructions.

"This next spell is much harder, but no less important," said Harry. "It generates a shield that deflects most common curses. It will not block bigger, more dangerous curses, however. The strength of your shield depends on the amount of power you put into it, and the length of time it holds depends on your ability to reinforce it and the types of spells that are getting thrown at it. You can also join with someone, which makes the shield twice as strong. The incantation is protego. Begin."

Harry looked at his watch and saw that their time was almost half up, and decided to go and check on the other group.

He walked up behind Ron and Hermione, who were also practicing, and spoke to them.

"Can you guys go and watch over the other group for a few minutes? I've got some new stuff for these guys."

Hermione gave a nod, though she looked slightly put out.

"Don't worry, Hermione. I'll show you two later," Harry grinned.

Hermione brightened and she and Ron disappeared behind the curtain.

"Okay," Harry bellowed, over the laughter of the students. "Everyone come closer."

It seemed that everyone could now produce a Patronus, though some were still slightly shaky and flickered if they lost concentration.

"I want you all to practice your Patronus in your spare time, but for now I have some new stuff for you."

A few cheers came from the group and Harry smiled.

"You might have heard about Inferi," he said.

"The walking dead," whispered Parvati.

"Yes," said Harry. "Voldemort used them in the last war and he may well use them again. The charm to destroy them is simple and the more powerful lit is the more you can destroy at once. The incantation is exnecro. Everyone stand in a line for this one, please."

Fifteen minutes later, Harry watched, pleased, as every student could successfully complete the charm, and he called them to a halt.

"This next charm is a shielding charm, though of a different type. You should know that Voldemort is a Parselmouth, therefore he has the ability to use spells in this tongue. You however, will not be able to understand these spell, nor defend against them. An ordinary shield charm will not stop them and there is only one shield that will. It is called the Illangguo shield, and the incantation is the same as its name. This shield requires utmost concentration and is very difficult. As I am the only one here capable of speaking Parseltongue, you will all duel against me, one at a time, and attempt the shield."

Some of the students looked slightly unnerved at this, though a few shuffled forward somewhat.

"How about we practice the incantation and wand movement first?" he said, and a few people sighed with relief. They spent ten minutes, with no visible signs of success, before Harry decided they needed to do a practical.

"Okay, everyone in a line, please," he ordered, and Dean hesitantly found himself first. Harry grinned maliciously.

"Dean, you look scared," he taunted. Dean laughed.

"No way, mate. Bring it on!"

Harry raised his wand. The students flinched when he uttered the words of the spell, his voice coming out as a threatening hiss. Dean yelled the words of the spell, a determined expression on his face, but a second later he collapsed to the ground, unconscious. Harry levitated him out of the way and beckoned the next person forward.

"Dean wiggled his wand. You need to keep it pointing straight," he said. The line quickly dwindled and the pile of unconscious students grew larger with nobody having any success against the charm. As the last person fell to the ground, Harry revived them and they set about waking the rest of the students.

"We'll practice this each meeting until you get it," Harry said, "but until next week I just want you to practice the Inferi charm and work on improving your Patronus and shields."

Harry dismissed the old DA members and returned to check on the new members. To his delight, many of them were successfully shielding their opponent's attacks, and he called them to a stop.

"I want you all to practice what you've learnt today for the next lesson so we can move on to the Patronus charm, which is used for repelling Dementors. I've decided to have an extra meeting each week to catch you up so we can all work as one group, so meet here at the same time on Wednesday."

Harry stayed behind with Ron and Hermione to clean up the room and catch them up on what they had missed.

"Hey, guys, do either of you know the name of that new guy in Slytherin?" Harry asked.

"Which one?" asked Ron.

"The one who was here tonight n the new group, with the black hair."

"His name's Caydon Augustus," replied Hermione. "He's in our DADA and Potions class."

"Why, Harry? Have you met him before?"

"I don't think so," replied Harry, frowning. "He just feels familiar."

"Feels familiar?" asked Hermione, raising an eyebrow.

Harry shrugged.

"I don't know how to explain it. It feels like I've met him before, but I know I haven't."

When Harry went to bed that night his thoughts were full of Dumbledore, Sirius, his parents and Caydon Augustus. When he finally fell asleep he tossed and turned, dreaming of a green-eyed girl he had never seen before but felt he should recognise. He awoke hours later, scar prickling and determined to see Dumbledore.

oOoOo

A/N: hope you enjoyed it! Please review! More to come soon!

Chapter 11: Of Fools and Fickle Fate