Disclaimer; The usual disclaimer still applies.
Harry walked into the room Professor McGonagall had agreed to let Harry use for his lessons and found it packed.
"Wow, I was really only expecting some first years to show up, but welcome everyone. I hope the older students will put up with me if we talk about things you already know. I hope you younger students will listen and ask me questions if I say something you don't understand. Also, there are two words I will throw you out of my lessons for saying so listen close. I do not ever want to hear anyone of any age say "That's Impossible!" If you do, you're out and I won't teach you. I want to teach people who want to learn and if you can't leave your preconceptions at the door we can't learn anything. When someone says something is impossible it makes others decide not to try."
"Can someone here tell me what Magic is? After all we are at this school to learn about it, let's hear someone tell me what it is."
He heard answers of varying complexity from around the room, but none of the first years spoke up.
"Those are some nice answers, but I want to hear something from the younger students. You, Mr. Jefferies, what is magic?"
"Umm, the ability to make things happen?"
"That's actually the closest answer I've heard to what I want to tell you. Magic is the ability to bend of break reality at will. A lot of people will tell you that there are rules and laws of magic. I don't know if there are or not, so let's explore that tonight. First though, Professor McGonagall it is wonderful to see you here. Tell me, if the past six years have taught you anything about me, what would it be?"
"You have an interesting knack for breaking rules." She said with a smile.
"That's about right, so I will apologize now for raising a whole new generation of rule breakers. Someone give me a rule of magic and we will see if we can discover if it is a rule or something people are afraid of knowing."
"You can't make gold," Hannah Abbot supplied.
"Really Hannah, in your first year you should have known better. After all, proof that you were wrong resided in this very school. What is the philosopher's stone then? Is Nicholas Flamel a myth? Gold can be created by magic. The philosopher's stone is the only way KNOWN to create it however. If it can be done once, it can be done again and I encourage everyone to try."
"You need a wand to do magic!" A first year thought he had him now.
"No, a wand makes it easier to control. Everyone performs accidental magic at some point. That magic is done without a wand so why can't other magic be done without one? We teach you to use a wand so that you can learn faster, not because you need it. Would you like a demonstration?" He pulled one of the death eater wands from the air in front of him and brought it down over his knee with a crack. Everyone in the room gasped. He then levitated the pieces and left them hanging in mid air.
"Let's hear another one."
"Magic can't make you immortal," a fifth year suggested.
"I would remind you of the Philosopher's Stone again, but that just ensures you will not die of old age. Ah, I know. Allow me to demonstrate some of the oldest magic in existence that I know isn't taught here."
Harry began moving his hands in the air in an intricate pattern he saw on a television program about new rave clubs. He added a bit of witch fire for effect and spoke absolute gibberish in a solemn tone. He finished his mock spell with a bright flash.
"A man over fifty thousand years old taught me the principles behind that bit of magic. His sons are just this side of two thousand and still going strong. No one in this room can kill me, but I will let you try if you want." He called in his silver knife and held it hilt first over his heart. "Would anyone like to try? I promise I won't get angry."
There was silence and no one moved to accept his offer for a few moments.
"Ok, fair enough. But you aren't allowed to say it is impossible now because you were not ready to test it." He waved his hands in the air and added another flash. "Who wants to be immortal anyway, its more trouble than it is worth. Let's hear another rule. Hermione, what does it say on page 187 of that book I've apparently never read?"
"You can't apperate in Hogwarts."
"You can't because you believe you can't. I am willing to test it for myself." He grabbed the wind and appeared in the Headmaster's office, grabbed the sorting hat and appeared back in the classroom. "What does it appear I just did? Most of magic is centered around belief. If there is nothing else I can teach any of you at all learn this. You can do anything you believe you can do. It becomes easier if others believe in you as well. When many witches or wizards believe in the same thing together it is easier to do. Four people believed they could build a world class school of magic, and over the years thousands of witches and wizards have also believed it. This reinforced system of belief is what makes Hogwarts the best in the world. Next."
"No wizard can fly on their own power," A sixth year Hufflepuff spoke up.
"I don't have room to test that in here, but tomorrow at noon I will jump off the astronomy tower without a broom. Either I believe I can fly, or your comment has crushed my spirit and I want to kill myself. Show up in the courtyard tomorrow to find out which. Again, you can do anything you believe. Witches and Wizards believe they can't fly, so they don't. I believe I can, so I am going to test it and hope I figure it out before I hit the ground. The trick to flying is to throw yourself at the ground and miss."
"Now that we got that out of our systems, let's start at the very beginning. Magic needs three things to work; will, intent, and inborn ability. You must choose to cast the spell, know what you want it to do, and have enough power to make it work. Everything else is just there to make it easier. When I levitated that broken wand, did I have another in my hand? Did I speak the words of the levitation charm all first years learn? No, I merely decided to do it, thought about how I wanted it done, and let the magic flow where it needed to be. This takes more power and skill than the levitation charm, but it still works. Mostly it worked because I believed it would. To demonstrate this, I want to teach you all a new spell. Would everyone third year and under come to the left side of the room and the rest to the right?"
He waited while they did so. "Now, the spell I am going to teach you will be very useful when you graduate, it is a variation of the silencing charm you learn in first year. The incantation is innocuous enough to use around muggles and the average witch or wizard should have more than enough power to cast it without a wand. The wand or hand movement is a simple circle around whatever you want to silence, followed by a slashing motion through the circle. Now listen carefully to the incantation." He pulled his own wand and did the motions pointing at the older students adding a nonverbal Silencio. "Ix-nay on the Upid-stay!"
Some of the older students tried to protest that it wasn't a real spell, but the silencing charm wasn't letting them.
"This spell cannot be undone using a simple Finite, the counter is an upward slash and the incantation 'Go on you jabber-monkeys,' again so it can be used wandlessly around muggles. Team up now and practice this spell. Remember to believe."
It was a few minutes before any of them accomplished it. A first year Hufflepuff succeeded in silencing his Ravenclaw partner who hadn't believed.
"Look everybody, Evan Matthews did it. Come on everyone I know you can do this." It was as if the floodgates had opened. After seeing one of their own accomplish this strange new spell, others believed and magically could. "Alright, now that some of you seem to have it, everyone practice the counter charm."
Anne Bishop was the first to free her teammate, and again, others could after seeing it done.
"Great job everyone! Bishop, Matthews, come up front with me. That was some fine spell work. You two did something I don't think any first year ever has. Do you want to know why the other students are so upset right now?" He countered the silencing charm.
Hermione was the most vocal, even after having seen them do it. "That wasn't a real spell and you know it!"
"It seems you are wrong. Professor McGonagall, how many points should we award these two for the creation of two new spells in record time? That's what you two did by the way, I made all that up. You two created the spells and made them work. Once the others saw you do it, you inspired belief and confidence. Does fifty points to Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sounds appropriate?"
"Indeed, and twenty five points to Gryffindor for helping them along the way." Professor McGonagall looked smug. Hermione looked put out.
"Arithmancy and the study of runes can teach you all easier ways to do what we just did. They will show you what words and wand movements work best for certain types of spells. But if you have enough will, intent, and power you can do anything. Matthews, you were successful because you were the first person to correctly manipulate your intent. You knew that you wanted your spell to make the other person unable to speak, to be effective immediately, and you also thought of how you were going to counter it. Holding all these details in your mind focused your magical ability and forced it to do what you wanted. Sixth years will be studying non verbal spells this year, remember this lesson. Focus your intent and let the magic flow. The vocal words help your mind remember exactly what the magic is supposed to do and what it isn't."
"I will now open myself up for questions, in case you want to discuss what we covered."
One of the older Ravenclaw students raised his hand, "You said you knew people over a thousand years old who taught you that immortality spell? I thought Nicholas Flamel was the oldest man alive and he is only 689."
"First of all, I was not immortal. What I did was technically Voodoo. It is called cooperative or sympathetic magic. I impressed you with some words and a light show then told you that you could not kill me. Because you believed you couldn't you decided not to even if you might have before. Sympathetic magic is very powerful, as I said it made Hogwarts what it is today. Yes, I learned from men several thousand years old, no you probably will never meet them."
"Who were they?"
"I will not answer that question here for several reasons. It would cause problems for myself and others at this castle if I did. The name of the man who taught me the principles of sympathetic magic had reached the level of myth here, and I really don't want to see his name in the Prophet."
"How do you walk on water? And how did you teach Lucy over there?" a Gryffindor asked.
"I didn't teach Lucy, we learned from the same person. The first step is to forget everything you know about magic."
"Done." A first year quipped.
"I focus on the feeling of walking across a solid floor, and let magic flow into my feet and walk on that magic. I can also lay on a couch that isn't there, or sit on a stool. I just focus on the feeling and let the magic flow. I could try to teach you, but I suspect that if I did better than the answer I just gave your professors would go insane within the week. It has a lot more uses than just walking on water."
"How did you become invisible in Professor Moody's class with us?" Cara Gregors asked.
"Who said I was? I was in potions at the time, you can ask Professor Slughorn."
"We saw you! And how did you become a white tiger?"
"You think you saw me. And I have never been a white tiger. If I were an animagus I would probably be something that can fly and looks cool, like an owl."
"Ok, how did you turn invisible in OUR DADA class?" Ron quipped.
"I am sorry, I won't teach that skill to anyone until after they graduate. It would be a bad example for the Head Boy to help students avoid teachers and roam the school after hours. Nor will I teach people to see through invisibility cloaks like Professor Moody and I can. When you graduate Ron, I will be happy to teach you but not until then. In the mean time my invisibility cloak is right where it always was, next to my sneak-o-scope, and you know the combination to my trunk."
"Mr. Potter!"
"Professor McGonagall, what did I tell you last week about my possessions that could be dangerous? It's still true, just because he knows where it is doesn't mean he can get to it." McGonagall grumbled a bit, but relented.
"Wait a minute, I thought you snapped your wand!" A third year had obviously been paying more attention than some of the others.
"Gracious no! Why would I do a thing like that? I snapped A wand. I would never snap MY wand. But it did prove a point. Lucy, I don't care how much you need to make a point, don't you dare snap the wand I made for you. Find another one and snap that." Lucy nodded her head.
"You made her wand?" someone shouted at the same time Professor McGonagall asked "Who's wand did you snap?" in a very disapproving tone.
"Yes, I made hers. It was her birthday present. No, I won't make one for any of you. She's my sister and is therefore special. Professor McGonagall that is one of the questions you don't want me to answer. If you decide you need an answer, don't ask me in a room full of people. By all appearances, it is an oak wand, eleven inches, with a dragon heartstring core. I never did like heart string wands, always seemed cruel to the dragons."
"What did you make hers out of?" the same voice asked.
"Pickle berry wood for her sweet and saucy personality, with three cores. A hair from a female unicorn, a male centaur, and her mother. All three hairs were given just for her to use, which makes it better for her."
"Why would a centaur give a hair for a human's wand?" Firenze had been walking past the door when he heard that, and didn't look happy.
"Because he was a close friend of her mother and had known her since she was born. Prince Sceron was most generous." Harry replied after slipping into his translation spell. The class was impressed to hear him speak Centaur, it was supposed to be a secret language.
"You have many secrets. I had wondered why mars vanished from the skies only to reappear brighter than before."
"Mars will burn bright for some time, then fade away." Harry was beginning to understand the centaurs. They always spoke of Mars, God of War, when he was around. They could see what was coming.
Firenze nodded and walked away from the door.
"What was that about?" A voice quavered from the back.
"We just shared observations about the stars and their movements. They put a great deal of emphasis on watching the heavens and I told him something I had observed."
"Thank you for agreeing to answer my questions in private Harry."
"Ah, finally I am no longer Mr. Potter!"
"I could change my mind."
"I'll be good Headmistress."
"Very well, would you tell me now that we are alone who taught you that was so old?"
"I will, but I would ask that you not jump to conclusions. I was taught by Saetan the High Lord of Hell and his two sons Daemon Sadi and Lucivar Yaslana. Despite their names and titles, they are not evil men. They have had to fight a few wars over the millennia and have gained an undeserved reputation. They fight as firmly on the side of good as I do or Dumbledore did. The name of Saetan is mythic here, but he only kills those who truly deserve it and Hell is not such a bad place."
"How can you say that Hell is not so bad?"
"Well, I grew up on Privet drive with the Dursleys, and I have visited Hell. Given the choice where I would rather spend the rest of my existence, I would rather go to Hell. I've been there, you haven't."
"If you say so Harry, I agree it would be best if the other students didn't find that out. Why did you say it would cause problems with other students too?"
"Because Daemon Sadi is Lucy's father, which means Saetan is her grandfather. If I were ostracized for having known them, she would try to defend us. If any harm were to come to her while she were here, Hogwarts would be nothing but a smoking pile of rubble before dawn the next day."
"Lucy's family, your family is…"
"Saetan Daemon SaDiablo, all three names have become almost synonymous with evil and fear. As I said, her grandfather is not an evil man, he is a good man but he loves his granddaughter and will not allow her to be hurt without making an example. When your very name is that well known, making examples out of people takes on a whole new meaning. They won't get upset at the school if there is just a bully or something, but to decry the family name and torment her as evil would bring down worse than Voldemort ever could. If there's a bully, they will just come after me."
"Why would they come after you?"
"I am her bodyguard here, it is my job to make sure her family never has to show up. I am one of three by the way and no I won't reveal the other two except to say they are not Ron, Hermione, or any of the D.A."
"I won't reveal her secret. So, who's wand did you snap?"
"Honestly, I don't know who's that was."
"Where did you get it?"
"It was on the ground next to a death eater who was dying a slow painful death."
"You were right. There are some questions I don't want you to answer. Thank you, by the way for not telling them how you do your little invisibility trick. I never thought about the possibility that you would be asked to teach that. I noticed you also didn't tell anyone how you carry your luggage?"
"I thought about it, but then I considered its potential for abuse and decided that wasn't something the Head Boy should teach the masses. Can you imagine the trouble if everyone had a completely private and secure vault at their finger tips? For instance, if the child of a Death Eater were heard making threats, right now we can search her belongings for dangerous objects or dark magic. If I taught them to do what I do, we would have no way to know who had what. The potential for theft and abuse is too great for me to teach the average student, especially when we are at war and I don't know the allegiance of all the students. The same arguments can be made against teaching the messaging techniques I use."
"That is a remarkably mature decision."
"I may teach a few people, but only those I know I can trust. I will endeavor to teach you if you wish, it would be useful in your animagus for to be able to carry things or speak with others, but it would be too useful to a spy."
"Thank you for being forthright with me. Now that I am learning how to ask you questions I am feeling slightly more sane."