Chapter 30: Magical Combat

Blackmoor, Essex, England

October 4, 1986

Leonis stepped through the floo to the receiving hall of Blackmoor Hall, the largest of the Black family estates in England. Blackmoor was where the family at large held bonding celebrations such as Weddings and Ardenvraar pledges. Now, Blackmoor Hall was being used as the place where Leonis and his cousins would learn the art of fighting.

The goal, as Leonis understood it, was that they would be taught how to fight as Wizarding Warriors of old. In the last few hundred years Wizarding Duels had become popular, and the martial arts of old had diminished in popularity among the Great Houses. Yet Voldemort's Death Eaters had proven that there was a need for Wizards and Witches to have better training than just the old rules of Dueling.

'I doubt that Bellatrix held to the rules of a duel when she was out torturing Muggleborn Witches and Wizards,' Leonis thought as he walked calmly from the receiving parlor and into the foyer. He turned left, his eyes barely taking in the extravagance around him of black marble floors inlaid with gold and walls of golden cream wallpaper.

"Ah, Leonis, there you are dear boy," the voice made Leonis freeze and he turned his head to the right toward the sound of the voice.

"Greetings, Great-Great Grandfather," Leonis said politely to the portrait of Sirius Orion Black II. Sirius was the previous Lord Black before Arcturus and was the man's father. Sirius had the classic good looks of the Black family with silky looking black hair. He had calculated grey eyes and Leonis was quite impressed that the artist whom had painted the portrait had created such an authentic likeness.

"You may call me Grandfather Sirius if you prefer," Sirius said with an elegant wave of his hand from within the dark walnut frame of his painting.

"Of course, Sir, thank you," Leonis said politely and smiled at the painted man. "Did you need my attention for something sir?"

"Oh no, nothing in particular. A few of your cousins have already arrived. Narcissa's boy is here with his two comrades and Callidora's little treasure is here as well."

Leonis nodded his head and then asked, "Has Ernie arrived yet?"

"No," was the reply he received.

Leonis nodded and then bid Sirius a swift farewell. 'Ernie, Harry, and Dudley are all that is left to arrive then,' he thought as he continued on until he found himself inside of the ballroom. The floor was made up of gleaming golden wood that was polished to a fine shine. He almost regretted that they were going to create more work for the House Elves by dirtying up the floors, but the ballroom was the best room for them to use for the combat lesson. It was the largest room in the house, giving each of the boys plenty of space to maneuver.

"Ah, another pupil," a masculine voice said pleasantly, bringing Leonis's attention to the tall man that stood to the left side of the room. The man had dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a strong muscled build. He looked every inch the accomplished warrior from storybooks. He had a handsome face but it was marred by a scar running across his right cheek and by a smaller scar that bisected his left eyebrow.

"Yes Sir," Leonis said as he approached the man. He offered him a small bow to show respect for his position. This man, Adhemar Rosai, was a Sword Master and he had been contracted by the Black's, Malfoy's, Macmillan's, and Longbottom's to take on Leonis, his brother, and cousins as Apprentices. He would be their Master until they had learned all he had to teach them.

"And which one are you, little one?" the man's accent was thick and it was hard for Leonis to place him. He thought that the man might be Hungarian or perhaps Romanian.

"I am Leonis Black, Master Rosai," Leonis answered respectfully. Cassiopeia had warned him that he must be respectful to the Sword Master. Cousin Narcissa had told him that a little humility might likewise be wise. He had chosen to forgo speaking his title, Heir Black, because of this.

Rosai smiled at him. "Ah, another Heir," he said. "Your cousin Draco is an Heir as is Blaise and of course Neville and Theodore are Lords."

Leonis nodded. "Yes," he laughed. "You are surrounded by nobles, but a man of your reputation and stature can easily handle that."

Rosai raised an eyebrow at that. "Oh?"

He nodded. "We are your Apprentices until you deem us worthy or too dismal to ever become a master of these arts. We are now just pupils, just your Apprentices."

The older man chuckled then. "Then here is your first lesson little one," he said while looking at Leonis but really, he was speaking to all of them. "My Apprentices are not "just" anything. They are special, a cut above the rest and they shall be Masters."

"Yes Sir!" Leonis said and he was echoed by Neville, Draco, Theodore, and Blaise.

"Good. Now, go over with your brethren until the others arrive," Rosai ordered and Leonis found himself obeying.

"He's something, isn't he?" Blaise asked quietly. "I heard that he is a true master of combat."

"I would hope so. Otherwise our family will be wasting their money," Theo responded.

Leonis smiled. "He's the real deal, Lords Black and Malfoy made sure to research thoroughly."

"I'm nervous," Neville admitted. "I'm not sure I can do any of this."

Leonis felt immediately protective of Neville. He had felt protective of his cousin ever since they first met after Neville began to live with Callidora. "I'm sure you are just being too hard on yourself, Nev."

"Of course, you are," Draco said then. He looked Neville in the eye and smiled at him. "None of us have done this before Neville. We are all on the same ground here. You can do this. You'll just take it a step at a time, alright?"

Neville stared wide eyed at Draco for a moment before smiling shyly. "I… yeah, yeah I can do that. Just a step at a time."

"You'll be fine," Theodore promised Neville with a slight smirk. "And even if you get it wrong a few times, it's not like you'll be alone. All of us are bound to make plenty of mistakes before we get this right. I'm sure Blaise will make a fool of himself."

Blaise shot Theodore a mock glare. "Are you sure you're not talking about yourself?" he asked of Theo in a voice that practically dripped poison.

Narcissa would be proud if she could hear him, Leonis reflected when a new voice joined in. "He's definitely talking about himself." Leonis smiled as he heard the voice and turned toward their newest arrival. Dark blond hair that was a mess of curls, blue eyes, and the dear face of his sibling met his eyes. It had been weeks since he had seen his half-brother. Malcolm Macmillan had accepted a contract to restore and renovate a Palatial Mansion in the Caribbean and he had taken his wife and son with him while he worked on the bulk of the project. Due to this Leonis had not seen his sibling in six weeks. It was the longest he had gone without seeing his little brother since the boy was born. He greeted Ernie with a hug, holding him tighter than usual due to their time apart.

"Hey big-brother," Ernie said with a laugh. His skin was a little tan from his time away but Leonis could not discern any signs of harm done to the boy. "I missed you too. I wish you could have come with us. I wish dad had asked to bring you."

Leonis shook his head in the negative. "Lord Black would have just said no. I am sure your dad knew that."

"Probably," he said. "I did buy you guys a few presents while I was gadding about with Mum. I left them back at Tyrcrave since today is supposed to be about class."

"It's no big deal. They are safe at Tyrcrave and you'll get them to us later," Draco said to Ernie. "It's good to have you back. Leo was a bit impossible without you."

Leonis glared at Draco but didn't argue the point. He had grown aggravating while he had missed his brother. Dudley and Harry traipsed in a moment later and were greeted by Master Rosai. Soon enough the two boys joined them.

"Sorry we were running close to the mark," Dudley said. "Mum didn't really want to let us go. She was scared of us learning combat, afraid that we'd be given live blades to hurt ourselves with."

Harry chuckled. "Uncle Marius had a time reasoning with her." Petunia was normally rather reasonable, but when she chose not to be the woman was infuriatingly stubborn. It was often a source of amusement for Harry.

Leonis was happy that Harry found it amusing. He wondered if perhaps Marius also found it amusing? His thoughts were happily drawn away from such thoughts by Master Rosai beginning the class.

"As you know, I am Master Adhemar Rosai. You will call me Master Rosai or Sir. There is no need to call me Master, as I know is the custom in Britain amongst Masters and Apprentices," he began. "You are to learn the art of combat from me because your families fear for you and want you to be able to defend yourselves and each other. They also know that each of you is the future of your house and they want you to have all the preparation that you can for that day. As my apprentices, I wish to one day see you become Masters that I can be proud to say I guided."

"When I am done with you, each of you will know how to fight with the whole of your body," he continued. "The basics of any system of fighting are rooted in the way you hold your body, a good sense of timing, and an understanding of distance. Carriage is of paramount importance and so it shall be this that we shall work on until I feel satisfied with each of you."

With that he placed the boys in a long line across the ballroom floor giving them plenty of room to move without striking the other. Leonis stood between Draco and Harry and listened as attentively as the other boys as Master Rosai stood before them and began to explain that a good stance is key in combat since being knocked off of ones' feet can limit what they do in combat.

They spent some time in a stance where one foot was forward with their toes pointed out toward their invisible opponent, while the other foot was held back with the foot forming a forty-five-degree angle. Their backs and necks had to be held straight and the body held upright yet relaxed. It was, Leonis thought, not terribly different from lessons on etiquette and how a young gentleman is to carry himself. Head up, shoulders back, yet relaxed and not stiff. Mobile. Fluid. Their weight was to rest on the balls of their feet, with the knees supple.

Neville and Blaise kept messing up their footwork with the back foot. Neville was nearly perfect but kept forgetting to keep his back foot at the forty-five-degree angle that Master Rosai asked for. Blaise kept forgetting to put his back foot into the angle and his back foot was trying to mirror the point of his front foot.

"Changing from a forward weight to a backward weight stance can be of tactical benefit," Master Rosai explained to them. "If your opponent attacks you, you may be able to slip just out of range of his attack by shifting your weight backward, which moves your hips and upper body out of the way of his strike."

"This is a basic stance, you will learn more as time goes on," Master Rosai assured them and he nodded approval to Neville and then to Blaise for finally having their stances correct without his pausing to fix them. "Now that I feel you have finally gotten this stance down, we shall begin to move. You will now learn a Passing Step. Does anyone know why it is called this?"

Draco raised his hand to answer and Master Rosai called upon him. "It's called a Passing Step because one of the feet will pass the foot."

"Very good Draco," Master Rosai praised. "I want each of you, one at a time starting with Dudley at the end there to step forward bringing your back leg forward past your right leg," he said and then demonstrated. "Just like that."

Leonis watched from his position beside Harry as Dudley accomplished the movement. "Very good and now Harry," Rosai called out.

Harry too accomplished the move flawlessly and then it was his turn. Once his name was called Leo performed the move equally flawless and received his moment of praise from Master Rosai. Leonis watched as Draco, then Theo, Ernie, Neville, and finally Blaise accomplished the move.

Master Rosai seemed very pleased with them. "Very good. Now you will go back," he ordered them and demonstrated once more. "Starting with you Blaise."

Once again each of the children managed to perform the move flawlessly. "Good," Their master praised them. "Now we are going to attempt what is known as a Sloping Pass. Does anyone know why we call it this?"

This time there were no volunteers to answer him. Leonis wished that he had been able to read up on combat arts before he had come to class. Perhaps if he asked Master Rosai would recommend books for them to read?

"It is called a Sloping Pass because the trailing foot not only passes the forward foot, but it moves out to the side as well," Master Rosai told them. "This allows you to step around your opponent to the side changing the combat. When you use the Sloping Pass you will find yourself in a mirror of the stance you started in, you will have the same spacing and angle of the feet but a different foot shall be leading. Now this might be harder for some of you the first few times. We shall attempt this as many times as we must until you have it."

"Now, you start Dudley," Master Rosai ordered and Dudley made the attempt. He failed at the first try and Master Rosai was gentle but firm in his correction. Dudley managed it with the second try and then it was Harry's turn.

Harry too had a slight bit of trouble because he did not quite mirror the form correctly. Just a slight adjustment of his back foot fixed his error.

Leonis performed the move correctly, having learned from the mistakes of Dudley and Harry before him.

Draco, Theo, and Ernie accomplished it correctly but Neville and Blaise had slight trouble with their footwork. The group continued to work on the second stance for the remainder of class. There was some laughter when each of them messed up a time or two, but toward the end of the class it seemed that each of them had gone at least five times in a row getting the movement correct.

"Very good. I am proud of your diligence this first class," Master Rosai told them. "It is truly gratifying to teach young men who truly wish to learn and better themselves. Now since you will be dismissed to return home in a few minutes, do you have any questions for me?"

Leonis raised his hand at the same time that Harry, Draco, and Ernie did. He watched Master Rosai debate who to call upon before picking him. "Sir, I was wondering if there were any books on combat that you would recommend us to read. Perhaps some with the terms and definitions?"

"I was going to ask the same thing," Draco admitted.

Harry laughed. "I was as well."

"There are many combat guides out there, though I would not recommend researching all of them," Master Rosai said. "I think that you will find Dragomir Vilochek's Guide to Magical Combat to be best. It does not attempt to glorify combat and is an easy to read and understand guide."

"Thank you, Sir," Leonis said.

"Any other questions?" Rosai asked of them.

Ernie raised his hand once more and was called upon. "Sir, do you wish for us to practice these movements on our own at home until the next lesson?"

"That would be wise, yes," Rosai said. "Diligence with these movements will set the foundation for what will come later, making those more complicated movements feel more natural. If that is all, then I bid you good day, you are all dismissed."

Dudley whooped in happiness as he dragged Harry off toward the floo. "That was awesome," he babbled as each of the boys followed after them.

"It was," Harry agreed.

Leonis chuckled as Draco came up beside him. "I think that I am going to enjoy this very much," he admitted. "It will get more intricate as we go."

Draco nodded. "Eventually we'll be using wands as well as magical weapons," he admitted. "Father told me. Though I doubt we'll be allowed magical weapons for a long time."

"Probably for the best," Blaise said ruefully. "I don't want to run the risk of harming one of you."

"Me neither," Neville said in a shaky voice. The thought of hurting his cousins was repulsive to him. Blaise put an arm around his shoulder and gave him a squeeze in comfort.

"It won't come to that Neville," Theodore promised him. "Master Rosai seems competent. We just need to trust him to teach us how to defend ourselves right."

"I trust him," Neville said. "I just don't want to hurt any of you."

Draco smirked. "In that case I will try to remember not to insight you to wrath," his smirk turned into a genuine smile. "I do think that your wrath would be terrible in all honesty."

"He's not teasing," Harry said when Neville made a face that suggested he felt Draco was teasing him. "You are so nice and mild mannered, which is great, but it must mean that on the opposite side of things that when you actually do get angry that it will be explosive."

Neville thought about that and blushed. "I blew up just recently. Grandma Callie asked me if I would be willing to see Grandmother Augusta. I didn't mean to but just the thought of seeing her made me so angry, I lost control. All the windows shattered, the crystal chandelier was ruined and the plates," he paused then his breath hitching slightly. "The plates had been a hand-picked gift from Grandpa Harfang to Grandma Callie and I broke them."

"But a reparo spell mended everything, didn't it?" asked Leonis.

Neville nodded his head. "Yes, and Grandma Callie told me it was alright and reassured me that I don't have control over my magic yet, but I still feel bad about it."

Blaise nodded. "I did that at the Manor. I lost control and destroyed a few of Narcissa's things. She was able to repair them but I still feel guilty. She's been so good to me and how did I repay her? I lost control of myself and…"

"Stop right there Blaise!" Draco said sternly. "As you said, you lost control. Also she was able to fix it. Our magic is growing stronger inside of us every day. It is not your fault. Mother was proud that you were that strong and everything was easily mended. No harm was done to anyone and she was more worried about you than about her things."

Theodore nodded in agreement. "She loves you very much."

Blaise looked away, his eyes glassy. It was a few moments before he could speak again. "The point is, I understand how you are feeling there Nev."

Neville smiled at Blaise. "Then we can forgive ourselves. My Gran did and your God-mother did."

Blaise nodded but Leonis thought that Blaise might continue to blame himself for some time to come. He knew that Blaise felt insecure due to his lack of contact with his mother. Narcissa was a far better mother to him than Claire was. Narcissa loved the boy and raised him with all the love that she gave to Draco and Theo, but Claire's abandonment so soon after the death of his father had left scars on Blaise's psyche. If he concentrated, Leonis could practically see the scars, envision the fault lines in the boys' emotions.

He watched as the other boys took their leave. Harry and Dudley returned to Longview Manor. Neville returned home to Gracewood Manor. Ernie hugged him farewell before returning to Tyrcrave Manor. Draco, Theo, and Blaise returned to Malfoy Manor. Once the other boys had departed, Leonis glanced around the receiving hall and sighed before he took up his bit of floo powder and then cast it in the flames calling out, "Ivy Hall."


As always I want to thank each and every one of you for taking the time to read this story and extra special thanks to those who choose to give me a review. I really do appreciate it. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

A few reviewers have made comments about how the children seem advanced for their age. I think that they would be. I know that when I used to talk with my grandparents about their childhoods and compared it with my own I was able to recognize that they had been far more advanced as a child of seven then I had been as a child of ten. The times have changed how we treat children and this makes a difference. Remember that most of these children are being raised in the Magical World where the standards are different than in the Muggle World. As for Hermione, well she was always rather exceptionally bright.

And if no one wants to buy any of that, then please take into account that I am not six years-of-age (current age of most of the children) so I am probably not going to be able to write this from a six year old's point of view.

Next Chapter we shall see Severus Snape taking on a few young Apprentices.