There is a disclaimer on all previous chapters and I do not recommend you reading this or any subsequent chapters before the earlier ones. There are many concepts, traditions, spells, characters and more within that are my own, however and while I cannot compel other writers to credit me in their own works, I would really appreciate it.

It's been a very long time since I updated and for those of you who have been waiting, I apologise.

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Chapter 34: Darker Defence Against the Dark Arts.

There were bubbles in the air and the silky fur of a giant cat under his hands. He was laughing harder than he could ever remember doing and his voice was high and jolly. The bubbles were full of shimmering light like floating crystal and the man wearing glasses was twirling a wand in his fingers.

He was so happy he wondered how he could exist, so full of warmth and joy and innocence that he had no idea how the world could ever be any other way. A woman with shining dark red hair walked into the room and handed the man a cup of juice with a sippy spout and two large handles which Harry reached out for with pudgy, tiny hands.

This is where it all ended, and everything else began. A part of him, the cold part said. The words intruded on his pleasure like a splash of cold water on a hot summer's day.

Then it all changed. The bubbles vanished and the man was on his feet, his face terrified.

'He's coming James, he's here!' the woman screamed as she picked Harry up under the arms.

'Run Lilly, run!' James said, turning his hands in unusual patterns – making magic without a wand. Silver mist coalesced around his body with a shape growing over his chest. 'Take Harry and run!' He said more, but the words were lost in a roar of exploding wood and stone as the front of the house was torn apart.

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Harry woke up a fraction of a second before his forehead connected with the hardwood planks of the dormitory floor. His cry of pain stirred even Ron from sleep as he rolled over and understood he'd become twisted in the sheets and rolled out of bed. He knew he'd had a dream, but it was becoming hazy and all he could remember was soft, furry warmth and bubbles. His scar itched and prickled fiercely.

Dean was there by his side as he sat up, coiled in his sheets. "You alright, Harry?"

Harry nodded, rubbing at his scar. "I think so. Bad dreams."

Dean stood and took Harry's hand, pulling him to his feet. "You have a lot of bad dreams, don't you?"

"I guess, I usually don't remember them, though."

"I never remember my dreams. Okay if I go back to bed?"

Harry smiled, "Yeah, 'course."

The commotion hadn't woken Ron who was snoring lightly. Seamus was still in his bed and flashed Harry a quick thumbs-up before lying back down. Harry reorganised his bed clothes, but found he was too awake to rest. The dream, already fading from his mind had left him buzzing with energy. Moving to the shuttered window, he pulled open the heavy curtains, seeing the sky brightening in the east. It was the middle of February and winter was finally letting go of the school and its grounds. Kingsley Shacklebolt, had taken over teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts since the start of term had it had firmly become Harry's favourite class.

Deciding against trying to get back to sleep, he took his toiletry bag and The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection and went to the bathrooms.

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After spending twenty minutes in a bath, Harry brushed his teeth.

He paused as the door opened, allowing some of the steam out and two house elves walked in, their neat tabards pressed and tidy. One carried a tall stack of fresh towels and the other a large basket of rags and cloths.

'Good morning.' Harry said, startling the two elves.

'Good morning, sir.' The one with the basket said, bowing deeply. 'We are here, Trinji and I to clean your bathroom.'

Harry smiled. 'Don't let me stop you.'

'Thank you, sir.' Came the muffled voice of Trinji from behind the pile of towels.

Harry watched the elves in the mirror as he finished brushing his teeth. They moved quickly, the one with the basket sweeping every surface with the rags, leaving them gleaming. There was no sign of any cleaning products. There were a couple of other students in the bathrooms, both NEWT students and they were

Tying a fresh towel around his waist, Harry put his toiletries back in his bag and opened the bathroom door, shivering as cool air hit his skin.

'Thanks very much.' He said to the house elves, who turned and bowed to him, not saying a word.

When dry and dressed, he said a proper good morning to Dean who was sat up in bed reading a football magazine, then went down stairs.

'What're you up to today, Harry?' Dean asked, looking up from his magazine.

Harry shrugged, putting his book and bag away. 'I don't know. I can't wait to see who we have for Dark Arts later.'

'I know what you mean, I was afraid they'd stop us doing it since, you know…'

Ron snorted in his sleep and turned over but didn't wake up.

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Defence Against the Dark Arts didn't disappoint. When the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins had taken their seats, the door to the teacher's office opened and the big wizard with the hoop earing stepped in. He had abandoned his trousers and jacket in favour of heavy robes of rich purple that complemented his deep brown skin and shining scalp.

'I hope you all finished reading chapter fourteen of the set textbook.' Shacklebolt said, eyes roving over the silent class.

Many heads nodded.

'Good, because we're moving onto another topic that should have been started in the first term.' He said, emphasising his displeasure with the weakness of Quirrel's instruction. 'Deflection. I understand that you've all got to grips with the basic levitation charm, wingardium leviosa, thanks to professor Flitwick?'

More heads nodded.

'Before we learn to deflect, let's get an idea of the limitations of what a levitation spell could do, from a defensive perspective. What is the heaviest object any of you have lifted using that charm?'

Several hands shot up into the air, Hermione's high enough that it looked painful.

Shacklebolt pointed to Draco Malfoy whose hand was not raised. 'Mr Malfoy?'

The pale boy sat straight in his seat and wrinkled his nose in thought. 'I levitated a large book back onto a shelf in the library.'

Shacklebolt nodded appreciatively. 'A good application. Did it work?'

Draco nodded.

'And how heavy was the book?'

Draco shrugged. 'I'm not sure, heavy enough that Goyle needed to use both hands to carry it for me.'

Goyle, on Draco's right hand nodded.

'Very good. Can anyone beat "a heavy book"?'

Most of the hands dropped. One of the few remaining up belonged to Neville Longbottom.

'Mr Longbottom?'

'I levitated one of the big plant pots for Professor Sprout while she was moving Greenhouse 1 around last week.'

Shaklebolt raised an eyebrow. 'One of the big ones: about yay-high, made of copper?' he indicated his own waist as a rough height.

Neville nodded.

'Was it full or empty?'

Neville shrank slightly in his chair, looking nervous. 'About half-full, sir.'

'Well, Mr Longbottom, that is impressive.' The big wizard said. 'Can anyone beat that?'

All hands dropped and Neville flushed red with embarrassment, but sat up straighter in his chair.

No hands remained up.

'Right. So, as your skills and power grow, you will be able to exercise greater control and move heavier objects.' Shacklebolt said, drawing his wand. 'For example, wingardium leviosa'.

He moved his wand in the swish and flick motion they'd all learned and gestured at a large carved stone gryphon that sat in the far corner of the room. At more than ten feet tall and five wide, it was the largest object in the room, but it rose off the floor a few centimetres and rotated in a slow circle forward, upside down and back to how it started before settling back on the ground.

The class muttered appreciatively as Shacklebolt stowed his wand back in his robes. He took a deep breath and cuffed at a bead of sweat that had appeared on his huge, shining head.

'That statue is granite and weighs almost seven hundred kilograms. It's about the limit of what I can move with any kind of fine control. Over time, you will learn how the levitation charm is just the beginning of learning to move things without touching them and develop it. That knowledge is the cornerstone of many powers and abilities used in all kinds of defensive magic.'

He paused, allowing scratching quills to make notes.

'This ability to move objects: big things slowly, small things fast, naturally leads us to… what?'

The room was silent for a few seconds. Harry thought about what he'd heard and a memory of being very small and feeling a wooden building block smash into his head, thrown by Dudley flashed across his mind.

He raised his hand.

'Yes, Mr Potter?'

'It could be used as a weapon.'

Both of the big wizard's eyebrows rose and he smiled. 'Very good. Could you explain?'

Harry nodded.

'Then stand up, tell the class.'

He stood, nervously putting his hands in his pockets then pulling them out again. 'Well if we can move things how we want, we can basically… throw them at people, as hard as we want to.'

Shacklebolt nodded and Harry sat, thinking about the implications of what he had said.

'The ability of early awakened people to levitate things - or use telekinesis as some call it – is what we believe led muggles to create the bow and arrow; the most important technological development in all human history. More on that in History of Magic classes, I imagine. It allows people to move things, at speed at a distance. For example, if someone wanted to hurt another person, they could lift an object, something sharp or somehow dangerous and move it as fast as they could toward some soft, vulnerable part of their target.

The room was silent.

'Over time, this can be truly deadly: people can turn coins into bullets and cars into battering rams with enough practice and power. Now, please bear in mind, this kind of thing takes years of practice, and the ministry has a zero-tolerance approach to handling people that turn magic into a weapon.

'This might all sound quite dangerous and scary, but it's rarely used, because it's actually quite easy to protect yourself from. That's what I'm going to teach you today.'

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