Sorry for the delay, I kept forgetting to publish this ^-^
After the holiday, things went back to normal. Umbridge was still a terrible teacher, throwing her weight around the school.
"So when is the next DA meeting?" a few people asked him quietly in the hall.
"I'll let you guys know soon. I can't do it tonight, I've got – er – Remedial Potions…"
"Remedial Potions?" Zacharias Smith snickered. "Good Lord, you must be terrible." He laughed with his friends and walked off.
"Shall I jinx him for you Harry? I can still get him from here." Ron said as he pointed his wand at Smith's retreating back.
"No, we don't need any more trouble. Besides, that's what I'm telling everyone. No point in fighting back."
"Hi, Harry," a voice said from behind him. He turned around to see Cho standing there.
"Oh," Harry said as his stomach leapt uncomfortably. "Hi."
"We'll just be in the library, Harry," Hermione said firmly, and she seized Ron above the elbow and dragged him off toward the marble staircase.
"Had a good Christmas?" Cho asked.
"Yeah, not bad," Harry shrugged.
"Mine was pretty quiet," Cho said. For some reason, she was looking rather embarrassed. "Erm . . . there's another Hogsmeade trip next month, did you see the notice?"
"What? Oh yeah, it's on Valentine's Day. Well, I suppose you want to —?"
"Only if you do," she said eagerly.
Harry stared. He knew what he wanted to say, but for some reason, his mouth wasn't' working. "I — er —"
"Oh, it's okay if you don't," she said, looking mortified. "Don't worry. I-I'll see you around." She walked away.
Harry stood staring after her, his mind screaming for his mouth to move.
"Cho! Hey — CHO!" He ran after her, catching her halfway up the marble staircase. "Er — d'you want to come into Hogsmeade with me on Valentine's Day?"
"Oooh, yes!" she said, blushing crimson and beaming at him.
"Right…well…that's settled then," said Harry, and feeling that the day was not going to be a complete loss after all, he headed off to the library to pick up Ron and Hermione before their afternoon lessons, feeling lighter than he had in a while.
/
The first day of classes went smoothly until they came to Charms. Apparently it was Professor Flitwick's turn to have Umbridge sit in on his class and unfortunately, it was Harry's class she was overseeing.
"Hem, hem"
Harry looked over his shoulder to see Umbridge staring down at him, her signature smile tight on her face.
"Can I help you Professor?" Harry asked as politely as he could.
"Your textbook, Mr. Potter, it's quite…eye-catching." She replied.
Harry looked down at his bright green textbook. It caught everyone's eye the first few weeks of class, but since then, everyone seemed to forget about it. He didn't bother changing it back, his brother did it, and his Papa took pride in whatever magic Eric performed.
"My little brother did it." Harry said.
Umbridge cocked her head, "I was under the impression you were an only child. Your parents have passed, after all."
Harry, Hermione, and Ron scowled at her. "Yes they are, thank you for reminding me. I am adopted however. The child is theirs. You remember my father don't you? You met him at my trial before school started."
"Ah yes" Umbridge's smile tightened. "The one who changed the statue in the Ministry."
Harry saw a few heads turn at that. He could hear a few whispers, probably talking about the statue which still hadn't been returned to normal.
"So your brother is a wizard?" Umbridge asked.
"No" Harry replied.
Umbridge frowned, "You said he changed your textbook. I would assume he did it with magic."
"He did, but that doesn't make him a wizard."
"And what, pray tell, would that make him?"
"He's a sorcerer. There's a difference." Harry replied.
Before Umbridge could ask any more questions, Flitwick entered and started class.
Once class was over, Harry made sure to avoid Umbridge and hurry out of the room. He didn't want her to learn anything more about his family. She didn't deserve to know.
/
That night was his Occlumency lesson and Harry was nervous. He hasn't mastered meditating, his mind refuses to clear for some reason. Knowing Snape, he wouldn't show any mercy.
He walked into the same room he was taken to before the break. Snape was waiting for him, standing in front of a chair.
"I hope you have been practicing Potter" Snape sneered.
Harry nodded hesitantly.
Snape raised a brow. "The Headmaster has asked me to teach you Occlumency. I can only hope that you prove more adept at in than Potions."
Harry bristled at that.
"Stand up and take your wand out Potter" Snape instructed.
Harry quickly got his wand out, not sure what he was supposed to do with it. "Uh Sn – Professor, what am –"
"Legilimens!"
Harry's eyes closed as pain shot through his head. The office swam in front of his eyes and vanished, image after image was racing through his mind like a flickering film so vivid it blinded him to his surroundings: his time with the Dursleys…Aunt Marge's dog chasing him everywhere…the Mirror of Erised…Ron playing chess…Hermione, lying motionless in the hospital wing…getting adopted by his dad…meeting his family…Eric's first attempts at walking…Cho Chang, drawing nearer under the mistletoe…
"No" a voice hissed in Harry's head, as the memory of Cho drew nearer, "you're not watching that, you're not watching it, it's private"
He felt a sharp pain in his knee. Snape's office had come back into view and he realized that he had fallen to the floor. He looked up at Snape, who had lowered his wand and was rubbing his wrist. There was an angry welt there, like a scorch mark.
"Did you mean to produce a Stinging Hex?" Snape asked coolly.
"No" Harry replied bitterly, getting up from the floor.
"I thought not," said Snape contemptuously. "You let me get in too far. You lost control."
"Did you see everything I saw?" Harry asked, unsure whether he wanted to hear the answer.
"Flashes of it," said Snape, his lip curling. "To whom did the dog belong?"
"My Aunt Marge," Harry muttered.
"Well, for a first attempt it wasn't as poor as it could have been." Snape said. "However, you wasted energy shouting a spell when you should have blocked me with your brain. There should be no need for your wand."
Harry rolled his eyes, "Of course, sir, whatever was I thinking?"
"You obviously weren't" Snape replied.
Snape continued his onslaught while Harry didn't make any progress. He tried emptying his mind like Snape and his Papa told him to, but his anger at Snape wouldn't go away. By the end of the lesson, Harry walked away fuming and with a headache.
"How did it go?" Hermione asked as soon as he entered the common room.
"Brilliant" Harry said sarcastically. "He never stopped attacking me so I wasn't able to counter. He is the worst teacher imaginable."
"You just have to practice" Hermione assured. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually."
"I don't have eventually Hermione. Professor Dumbledore believes that Voldemort will discover the connection between us and use it against me."
"Do you believe that?" Ron asked.
"I don't know what to believe. I haven't exactly talked to the Headmaster in a while."
"He does seem to avoid talking to you directly." Ron said.
Harry huffed, "I'm going to bed"
/
Harry knew he needed to do another DA session, he just couldn't come up with a new topic.
"Why not teach something out of the box?" Remus suggested. Harry had called him in the hopes the ex-professor would have some ideas.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked.
"Perhaps some basic hand to hand combat. You are being trained by Natasha and Clint no? Nothing too advanced, many of your peers will not be needing it unless they become aurors. It might still be a good to have."
Harry thought about it, "I'll ask Natasha if she's not busy. It might be interesting."
"Let me know how it goes." Remus said.
"Thanks Remus"
/
A week later, the DA walked into the Room of Requirement to two strangers standing behind Harry.
"Harry? Who are they?" Cho asked.
"These are friends of mine. I thought I would give you all a bit of a challenge." Harry said. "It's all well and good if you can defend with your wand, but what about when you get disarmed. What will you do?"
"Not get disarmed" Zacharius said smugly.
"There will always be someone better than you. You may have a record of never getting disarmed in a duel but what happens when someone surprises you? You won't always have your wand."
"What's your point?" Dean asked.
"The two people behind me are trained martial artists – Harry thought it best not to mention the fact that they were also trained assassins – and they have agreed to teach you all basic hand to hand combat."
"Like Muggles?" A pureblood asked, slight disgust laced their voice.
"Why?" A Hufflepuff asked. "What use would it do if our opponent is coming at us with spells?"
"They won't always. When the fake professor Moody took me to his office after the Triwizard Tournament, he attacked me. Not with his wand, but with his hands. I was able to overpower him using the techniques I learned from Natasha and Clint." He gestured to the two spies behind him.
"You expect us to learn some muggle fighting to duel? It's all punching isn't it? Anyone can punch." Zacharius said.
Natasha raised an elegant brow and slowly approached the Hufflepuff. "Care to try? Since you're so proficient already." She said sweetly.
Zacharius smirked. The trio and the Weasleys, who knew her skills, backed away quickly.
The boy realed his arm back and aimed a punch to Natasha's face. The assassin quickly caught his hand and easily flipped him onto his back, barely even moving.
"There is more to fighting than punching, and you even got the punching part wrong." Natasha said, looking down at him emotionlessly.
Zacharius got up quickly and scowled at her before going back to his friends.
"Are there any other objections?" Harry asked. When no one spoke he divided the group into pairs. They spent the rest of the session learning a few defense moves; Harry, Natasha, and Clint moved about the room correcting stances occasionally and giving feedback. Overall, Harry thought it went pretty well.
When the session was over, Harry thanked the two spies and promised they would be called for another session soon.
"That was brilliant Harry" Ron said.
"Thanks, it was Remus' idea actually."
"It was good to learn more about muggle things. To bridge the gap between the two worlds. It feels nice as someone who comes from the muggle world, something familiar, you know?"
"Yeah, it makes sense. And it shows wizards that muggles aren't just some strange entities." Harry nodded.
"We will have to do that again. Maybe next month or something." Hermione said.
Hope you enjoyed it!