Chapter One – Welcome to the Morning

"Talking"

'Thinking'

AN/ I am having a few problems with formatting, so if something looks weird I will try and fix it. If you have any suggestions please feel free to leave them in your review.

Disclaimer: I own no part of the Harry Potter Universe, I just live in it.

He didn't think he could take it any longer. The looks, the sneers, the sappy smiles of his fellow students as they tried to convey their various and sun dried feelings to him, each convinced of their own importance. Sometimes, all Harry wanted to do was scream. Well that and maybe break a few … things.

He shook himself out of his silent reverie, and blinked owlishly. His best friend, Ron Weasley was obviously trying to tell him something.

'Merlin, his hair is red. And look at all those stupid zits!' Harry thought distractedly.

"Harry, I know your tired and all but you need to see this!" Ron whispered conspiratorially.

Blinking Harry stood up and sheepishly walked over to his friend.

"What is it?" he asked.

Ron led him over to the corner where Hermione was sitting.

Checking to see that no one was watching, Hermione smiled and picked up a jar that she had set next to herself.

"Harry" she said excitedly, "Look!"

Inside was a beetle, with markings that looked like horn-rimmed spectacles around its eyes. Confused Harry turned to look at his friend once more.

She continued "Its her, this is how she's been finding things out this year, how she found out about Hagrid, how she found out about everything!"

"Its who Hermione?" Harry asked?

"Rita Skeeter" she said exasperatedly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "She's unregistered, which means that if she ever tries to right anything nasty without our permission, we can tell the ministry. She'll be arrested!"

A grin stretched across Harry's face as he looked between his two friends. Here at least was one problem that he would not have to deal with anymore.

Placing the jar down again, Hermione's face shifted, taking on a more serious tone.

"Have you finished packing yet Harry? Merlin knows that Ron hasn't."

Ron scowled at her, as Harry said, somewhat petulantly "No, I haven't. Dumbledore wants to talk to me about something, so I won't get to go home on the train."

His friends frowned and glanced at each other, before shrugging and returning to their tasks. After all, if the most powerful wizard in the world wanted to talk to someone, who were they to argue?

"What do you think he wants to talk to you about, mate?" Ron asked.

"I don't know, it probably has something to do with Voldemort." Harry replied.

Seeing that his friends were otherwise engaged, Harry turned and left the common room.

As he strolled down the halls of his beloved school, Harry could not help but reflect on the past year. It had certainly been a rough one. Between his friends fighting, a ball, being a school champion and the resurrection of a Dark Lord thought dead for 14 years, this year had been a harder then anything he had ever done before. He had fought a bloody Dragon for Merlin sake! He had seen a friend die not one week ago, and now he had a mysterious meeting with the greatest wizard alive.

He stopped and sat on a window ledge. Dumbledore, Harry was awed and afraid of him quite frankly. Dumbledore knew everything, magic, gossip, secretes, and your very thoughts. He was powerful, more so then Harry could ever dream of being. When Dumbledore had fought with Barty Crouch, Harry had felt the wind itself stir. He was sure that Dumbledore could defeat every student in Hogwarts without even breaking a sweat.

To Harry though, his fear, his respect, were part of something greater; they were part of his unshakable faith in the man. Harry saw that, despite the rumblings of the Slytherins and the preening of Fudge, Dumbledore was a great man. Dumbledore was great not because of his power, though that helped, but because of his goodness. The jollity of the Headmaster, lemon drops and socks, were the evidence of his love for life. As far as he knew, Dumbledore hated no one, and loved many.

Harry smiled as he looked out across the grounds, his eyes reaching the hovels of Hogsmeade and the depths of the forbidden forest. 'Not this' he thought. 'Voldemort will never touch this. Even if the he burns the whole world to ash, this memory cannot be touched.'

Harry stood, and though he himself did not notice it he was changed then. He was at peace. Most of all, he was ready to meet the world head on, secure in himself and of his place.

Harry began to walk through the castle. As he steeped into the entrance hall he looked about the colossal room. It was filled with a bustle of movement and activity. Colors swirled about him as friends ran about, and a steady procession walked toward the carriages and home. His smile faltered, Hogwarts was his true home and he wished more then anything to stay here.

Harry shook himself as he watched Malfoy shove a first year Hufflepuff into the wall. The ponce and his armada of goons swept out the castle doors as the first tears began to leak of the eyes of the small girl. Harry strode to her and knelt by her side.

"Are you hurt?" He asked kindly.

"No" she said "It's just, why does he have to be so mean?"

"Don't worry about Malfoy, he's nothing but a jerk. Are you sure your okay…"

"Laura, Laura Madly. I think so. I was just so excited about showing Mom and Daddy all the magic I learned. They've never seen real magic before." She whispered conspiratorially.

Harry laughed, until he heard her cry in anguish.

"Oh no, my ornament! Professor McGonagall said it was really good, and Professor Filtwick put a cheering charm on it. Now it's broken and I can't give it to Mom."

Harry glanced down at the tiny angel. With a face of alabaster and a robe of golden yellow, it was a truly amazing work of transfiguration for any first year. He picked up the wings and glanced at the sad little girl, the present that she had made for her parents was destroyed. His heart broke as he saw a little tear peak its way out of her eye and fall mournfully down her face.

Making up his mind, Harry brandished his wand and tapped the broken figure.

"Esse" he whispered.

Slowly the Mind Thought spell worked its magic. Pure white wings, tips dipped in gold grew out of the angels back, replicating the picture that he held in his mind. Laura's tears stopped as she gazed in wonder at the angel returning in glory before her. As it finished, Harry replaced the cheering charm, and handed it back to Laura.

Opening his fist, he saw the broken wings. Looking at Laura he smiled again and tapped each of them with his wand. They knitted themselves together as he imagined a white gold circlet with a rose medallion. Into it he wove a strength spell and a notifying charm. The necklace would warn him when the wearer was in trouble.

Looking up he slipped the necklace over Laura's head before looking her in the eyes.

"We can handle Malfoy, can't we Laura?"

She giggled and nodded before running off to join her friends in their march to the train. As she walked away he heard brief glimpses of their conversation.

"Git… present for Mom… Harry Potter…"

He smiled and shook his head before leaving the great hall. As he wandered the halls he noticed he was nearing the hospital wing. Harry stopped and glanced around. It was a tad to quite for his taste. All of a sudden he heard a quite "thump", and a soft mutter.

Harry dove to his left and drew his wand in one fluid motion, as the scarlet light of the stunning spell rippled past him. He turned and looked down the hall, searching for his attacker. He could see nothing.

Then about halfway up the hall the air bent and another light exploded toward him. Harry shouted "PROTEGO!" as a blue shield coalesced in front of him, before it was struck by the force of the powerful disarming charm.

Rolling to his right Harry slashed his wand and shot to quick disarmers in return. They raced away from him before impacting the wall of the hallway and disappeared, adding twin scorch marks to the décor of the silent corridor.

Narrowing his eyes, Harry scanned the hall for movement. Seeing none, Harry pointed his wand at the ceiling and screamed "REDUCTO!" With the sound of a thunderclap the roof exploded, showering the hall with dust and debris. Seeing a silhouette covered in dust, Harry grinned triumphantly and cried "Stuptefy!"

A blood red streak rippled toward the figure who twisted out of the way. Harry was getting frustrated with his opponent; he could not seem to lay a finger on him. He was getting a distinct impression that the other wizard was playing with him. His suspicion was confirmed as the air suddenly rippled, a purple curse roaring toward him. He leaped out of the way only to be confronted with another disarming charm. A hastily erected shield charm, shattered under the force of the spell, but it at least managed to deflect the curse over his head.

Another curse and three fire balls leapt away from the invisible man, as Harry was forced to absorb the curse and extinguish his singed robes. His left arm hanging useless and cold at his side, and his breath labored, Harry was beginning to panic. He tried to hit his silent assailant with a stunning spell but it was easily batted away.

The figure grinned and a column of red hot flames shot straight toward him, ducking Harry twirled his wand and two yellow beams, banishing curses, attacked the mysterious figure. The man gestured and a bronze shield appeared to absorb the curses. He twirled and fired a spear of silver light that rapidly closed the distance between the two combatants. Harry dived to the side again stabbed his wand at the invisible man, shouting "Impedimenta!"

Sidestepping the figure stopped and then grunting released a huge bolt of red that could only be the stunning spell. As the colossal bolt closed the distance, time seemed to slow and Harry's eyes widened. He knew if that behemoth hit him he would be out for a moth. Thinking quickly, Harry summoned a stone from the debris of the ceiling, before banishing it at the incoming bolt. The resulting explosion shook the corridor, and jagged fragments of the rock imbedded themselves in the walls and floor. Harry grimaced as a one fragment hit him in the cheek, leaving a red streak that began to bleed.

"Who are You?" Harry yelled, ripping of a cutting curse.

The figure responded with a stinging hex and a banishing charm.

"What did I ever do to you?" Harry replied as he shielded himself from the first and dodged the second.

A pair of ugly black curses, a color that seemed to slip away from your eyes, was Harry's only clue that the man had heard him.

Thinking quickly, Harry began to cast blasting curses as fast as he could, hitting the walls, the floor, and even attempting to hit his tormentor. The curses detonated, filling the hall with dust and rocks.

This seemed to shake the figure; he deflected the curses that came his way before drawing four symbols in the air. Each was the same, a spiral with a line above it. Belatedly, Harry saw that they were runes of protection, he had seen them in Hermione's ancient runes book. The man banished one each to the walls, ceiling, and floor. They attached themselves and the each surface began to glow a pulsing blue. Harry doubted he could both overpower them and defeat the figure.

The figure reached out its arms and grasped the air clawing at it and seeming to pull from it swirling tendrils of light. Harry gulped; he was facing someone who could wield raw magic. 'Definitely not a student then' he thought. The man coiled them in his left hand before releasing them at Harry in a vortex of power.

Harry leaped out of the way, feeling the rippling energy. It somehow felt like bronze, if bronze could have a feel. It had been there before, a kind of scent that accompanied the man's curses, a background noise that accentuated the sleepy feel of a stunning spell, or the scent of a fireball.

Harry stumbled before diving to his left again, out of the way of a speeding orange bolt. He had felt a magical signature! He concentrated on the feel of the other man's magic and used it to doge the next few spells. He knew what the spells were going to go!

The other man seemed to smirk at this and before Harry could blink had began to throw more and more powerful curses. Harry hardly had time to throw more then a Jelly-legs jinx or two as he was buried under and avalanche of curses.

Harry had barley escaped a series of five stunning spells, when he realized that he would never escape from the defensive if the duel kept on like this. Plus he was rapidly tiring. His footwork was becoming sloppy, and the last three spells he had tried to shield had smashed through his defenses like they were made of paper. The pain in his left arm was growing and he was not sure how much longer he was capable of dueling.

He shot a light beam spell to confuse the invisible man. He then closed his eyes and searched for his magical signature. He plowed through his memories, through his sensations, through the noise and scent of ambient magic before he reached his core. Gripping with his hands like he had seen the stranger do, he grabbed as much as possible. His eyes snapped open, and he spotted the shape that he had been dueling with.

If Harry James Potter could have seen himself at that moment, he would have seen the swirl of dust around his legs, a stiff breeze that had sprang into existence when he had summoned his power. He would have seen green eyes flashing with what looked lightning, eyes that would brook no defeat. He would have felt the shudder of the wards that the strange man had summoned. Most of all he would feel the distorting heat spiraling off of his hands.

With a grunt, The Boy-Who-Lived pushed his magic at the strange man. It formed a cascading wave, a cacophony of colors fighting and intermingling, crushing the debris in the corridor into dust, scorching the walls and humming with power. It roared down the corridor with all the subtly of the end of the world, with all the kindness of a haymaker, and all the weakness of a locomotive. It formed a pressure wave that swept everything in the hall with it, bearing down on the strange man.

The other man exploded in to action. Summoning a protection rune in front of him, and hurling a barrier into the path of the destructive onslaught, he steadied himself before conjuring a shining golden dome. It glittered with energy before it was struck by the force of the onrushing wave.

Harry blinked as a loud cracking sound filled the hall. Dust filled his eyes as he tried to see his adversary. He was utterly drained, his power exhausted.

There, a good twenty feet further down the hall, a man stood. Harry could see him now, his spell having stripped the invisibility from his attacker. Harry stumbled in shock at who he saw.

It was Alastor Moody.

"Professor! I'm so, so sorry" Harry cried " I didn't know it was you, I mean you were…".

He was interrupted by the red light of a stunning spell, and fell to the floor unconscious.

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Harry woke with a splutter. Looking around he saw the ruins of the hallway dust and rock strewn in –

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!"

Harry spun around and saw the grizzled Auror he had just dueled. He was sitting on a brown chair he had obviously recently conjured. His magical eye surveyed the entire area, constantly spinning to cover the entire area. He was missing chunks of flesh and was dressed in a pair of battered red robes. They looked like they had seen nearly as many duels as he had.

"You're good boy, I'll give you that" the battered wizard said, "But you're stupid. You should have dispelled my invisibility right away. You should have used reflecting shields, and transfiguration. The destruction was a nice touch, but your spells were weak. You can't predict where your opponent is moving, and you seem incapable of using more then one spell at a time. You would be dead, boy, long before you could pull a stupid trick like releasing your magic. You know nothing and you're gonna' get us all killed unless you learn."

Harry dropped his head, ashamed at his poor performance. He had not even managed to lay a finger on the old Auror, even though he nearly drained himself of magic and had been pummeled in return. It was a miracle he had lasted as long as he did.

"Passable, boy, passable…" the old man muttered.

"I'm so sorry Professor, I will try –"

"I'm not your Professor, Potter, and I never was. I have not taught you a single thing in your entire life." Moody exclaimed agitatedly.

Mad-eye paused, as if deep in thought, before he asked Harry a question.

"I guess I could show you a few things though, are you willing boy?"

Harry could not contain his excitement at the prospect of being taught, one on one, by one of the greatest Aurors ever. He nodded his acceptance and began to follow Professor Moody.

"You've got a few hours, I reckon, before your meeting with Dumbledore, Potter?" the professor asked?

Harry nodded and wondered what the old Auror knew about his meeting. Was he in trouble? Harry didn't think so. He certainly could not think of anything that was bad enough for the Headmaster to want to meet with him.

Harry shook himself from his reverie as the professor cast some sort of spell on the wall, revealing a passageway into the old part of the school. He followed through dusty corridors choked with spider webs, and cavernous classrooms filled with darkness.

They stopped when they entered a great room, half the size of the great hall. It was filled with five of what looked like the platforms from the second year dueling club. It was dim, and the vaulted windows covered with dirt and grime, leaked little light into the massive chamber.

Moody flicked his wand and over a hundred torches on the walls burst into flame. With a few more slashes, one of the dueling platforms was clean and ready to be used.

Moody strode onto it before turning and conjuring two chairs. He sat in one and gestured for Harry to sit in the other. Once Harry was seated, Moody began.

"Why do you duel Potter?"

Harry paused, and then said "I don't know. When people are trying to hurt others I guess."

"So you duel people, to protect other people then ?"

Harry shrugged, "Yeah I think so."

"What do you duel with boy?"

"Magic?" Harry asked.

"So if some death eater scum sticks you with a sword, or shoots you in your pretty face, you still win because he was not using magic?"

"No, I guess I can use whatever."

"Whatever what, Potter? Be precise for Merlin's sake."

"Whatever it takes sir."

"Whatever it takes for what?"

The question hung in the air for an awkward moment, the silence of the room smiting both teacher and student.

"Whatever it takes to win."

"Good. Good!" Moody exclaimed. "You can be taught yet, my boy. Yes you can yet be taught."

Rubbing his hands excitedly, he launched another probe.

"What are the limits on your magic boy?"

"Well, you no one can bring back the dead, and most people can't conjure very complicated things. Yeah, and if people use too much magic they get tired and can't do more for a while."

"Are those limitations on magic Potter, or of the people using the magic?"

"They're limits of the people sir, I don't know what magic itself is unable to do."

"Very good Potter, there are no limits on magic itself, only limits on what you can do with it. And those are limits that you can break."

Moody gestured for Harry to stand and vanished the chairs that they had been sitting on. He threw Harry's wand back to him and smiled a grim smile, he was going to enjoy this.

"I could show you how to move past your own limits Potter, or you could show yourself." And with that, Alastor Moody's wand buckled as three powerful curses raced toward the Boy-Who-Lived.

Harry's only thought as he spun into action was 'Oh Shit.'

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It was approaching dinner time as Harry was woken for the last time. He blinked as he remembered his marathon training session with the retired Auror. It had been over six hours and countless duels since they had talked of the limits of magic. He had learned a few spells, a reflecting shield, a piercing curse and a fire swath beam, but had still been beaten soundly in every duel. The closest he had come was singeing Moody's robes once. His reward for such a feat was a particularly painful knockout.

He had learned a ton though. After every duel Moody always showed him what he did wrong. He learned how to use less energy when dodging and he learned how to gage the energy he put into his shield. He had not tried to wield his raw magic again but he could not wait for the chance to practice. Best of all he learned how to pour energy into a spell. He could not control whether his blasting curse would only crack a stone wall, or obliterate ten feet of granite.

Whatever else he was, he was utterly drained. He could hardly stand and had aches and cuts all over his body. With a groan, Harry remembered his meeting with Dumbledore, he had no idea how he was going to stay awake for that.

"Ow!" He cried. Moody must have hit him with a stinging hex while he was on the ground. "What the bloody hell was that for?"

"For you to get your damm arse of the ground. I have homework for you."

"Homework?" Harry asked disbelievingly. "It's summer, and anyway you said you weren't coming back next year."

"You'll do it all the same, if you know what's good for you boy. It's for your own good."

"Fine," Harry pouted "what do you want me to do?"

"For starters you need to be in better shape. You magical ability is directly tied to your physical capability. Secondly, you need to practice charging your spells, it will build your control and enable you to do so better and with less effort in the future. Finally, practice stringing like I showed you. Is that clear kid?"

Nodding, Harry remembered when Mad-eye had shown him stringing. It was basically casting two, or more, spells at once. Ideally both would be silent and neither would require the standard wand movement. Until Harry achieved that, he was practicing simul-casting a curse and the impediment jinx. Powerful wizards like Dumbledore could cast a banishing charm, a disarming charm, a stunning spell, and a binding jinx on multiple targets with one wand movement.

Harry was startled out of his reverie by the voice of Professor Dumbledore.

"If you are finished with him now Alastor, I due believe that Mr. Potter and I have a meeting."

Grunting Moody nodded his head and gestured for Harry to follow Dumbledore.

"Come along Harry, I have already had dinner sent up to my office. You must be famished by the use of raw magic."

Flabbergast, Harry responded "How much did you see Professor?"

Turning his head to Harry, the supreme Mugawump of the Wizamagot blue eyes twinkled joyously.

"I do believe young Miss Madly's mother will be pleased with her gift."

Harry stopped shocked, Dumbledore had seen everything?

Noticing that he was falling behind, Harry ran to catch up with the Headmaster. His feet quickly carrying him toward the meeting that would change his life.

AN/ Thanks for reading. I wanted this chapter to go all the way through the meeting, but felt it would work better this way. Please leave a review, all comments are welcome. I would particularly like help with characterization, so if one of the characters seems weird to you please let me know.