The Ruins of House Potter
Chapter 10 – Family
By Jamnaz79
Beta: BJH
Notice: I do not own Harry Potter. I do not claim to own it or wish to make any money off of it. I am merely using the characters to write some hopefully enjoyable stories. All rights belong to the sacred lady, may she grace us with future stories someday.
The raven haired boy motioned for the others to depart. When they did and the door closed he turned back towards the Professor of Defense against the Dark Arts. The Lady Cassiopeia Black, he had been told of the Black family from Remus. They were a dark family, a dangerous family. They were the family from where the betrayer of his parents was born. He was on edge being alone before this woman. Slowly he stepped forward his wand in his hand as he glanced up towards her.
The witch raised an eyebrow at the boy. She could see the tenseness in his shoulders and face. Her light grey eyes took the rigid sides of the boy and his knuckles turning white where he gripped his wand. The boy looked like he was heading into a fight. So she decided to give the boy one. She raised her wand at young Harry and calling out, "expelliarmus."
~~~ ROHP ~~~
She watched as the boy dove to the side barely being missed by the spell she had launched at him. His reaction was curious; as he fell his left hand disappeared into his right sleeve. It was not the flick of a wand being pulled from a sleeve, as most wizards would do but instead a blade that looked to made of cold steel. A sideways jab towards her saw the knife leaving the boy's hand and spinning end over end towards her heart. While it only took a brief second to misdirect the blade she couldn't help but be impressed with the instincts of the boy. More importantly she saw a bit of what her dead sister would have done in his actions. Dorea was always the rebel of her family and had a fascination with knives; a fascination that she passed down to one of her nieces named Bellatrix, and apparently now her grandson had the same interest.
"That is quite enough Harry. You have passed my little test." Her tone was softer than when she had spoken to the class.
"Test?" The voice of the boy rose and crackled in the young teen as he answered her statement. The look he gave her along with the rising eyebrows, showed he wasn't happy at her choice of a test.
"Yes, a test. I needed to see how you would react." She motioned with her left hand and the desks that had shifted out of the way from the small confrontation shifted back into the classroom formation. She patted onto the desk in front of her before she spoke sternly again, "Come sit here and we shall talk Nephew."
"Nephew?" Harry seemed to be stuck with one word answers at the moment as he again was tossed out of his thoughts with surprise. He slowly walked forward to sit down on the edge of the desk across from the stern, beautiful witch.
"I am the sister of Dorea Potter nee' Black. You are my great nephew Harry and one of the last males with Black blood in them found in the wizarding world today sadly. It is one of the reasons I have taken this position, a chance to meet and get to know you before…" Whatever the woman was about to say was stopped as she turned and walked away from him. She stepped around the desk and slowly pulled out a small box. The box was the sized to that of a common for jewelry box. She carefully placed it down on her desk right before the boy, "This is for you. It belonged to your grandmothers."
Harry had a dozen questions going through his head but the box was a quick distraction from them He slowly reached to pick up the box. His fingertips brushed over the smooth surface of the velvet covering it. His touch flipped the box open to show a silver necklace. The middle of the necklace was a pendant affixed with a pair of half-moons on the outside facing outwards and a circle between them with a pentagram in the middle of the circle. The young man turned his surprised emerald gaze from the necklace to the face of his Great Aunt.
"It is the symbol of the Goddess Nyx, the lady of the Night. According to the lore of our family she is the goddess that first blessed the Black family with the gift of magic. This necklace is blessed to pull the magic from your surroundings and use that to assist in magically healing any injuries. It will not stop mortal wounds but it should help to keep you safe. It is an heirloom of the Black family dating back a thousand years." Cassiopeia paused as she looked the boy up and down. She could see his eyes shimmering as he gazed upon the gift. A slight smile curled over the edges of the lips of the stern woman she studied him. There was about him a look of interest, of sheer joy, of capturing a piece of perhaps who he was. The boy was a mystery, a talented mystery but a mystery none the less. It was that look that sealed her decision as she slowly sank down into her chair and decided to interrupt his thoughts, "If you accept that necklace it comes with a price."
"It is beautiful Professor. My grandmother must have been an amazing woman. May I ask what the price is?" Harry gently asked as he closed the lid and placed the box down, deciding not to touch the necklace until he knew the cost associated with it.
"She was as stubborn as a mule, as beautiful as a sunset over the ocean, and fiercer then a nundu when in a rage. Dorea was… She was someone that would do what she felt best even if it went against everything others might believe. In the end, she would prove herself to be correct most of the time. I will tell you the story of how she met your grandfather someday." The woman shook off the memories of her past and smiled for a brief moment. Then that light and laughter disappeared from her face as she looked back up to meet the eyes of Harry sternly. Her pale greys seemed to look into the depths of the soul of the boy causing a shiver to run up his spine.
"My price for that gift is that you spend this year working as my apprentice in magic. Your free time shall be my time. You shall live, eat, breath studying and learning magical culture, politics, religion, theory and rituals from me. Normally I would make this offer after Hogwarts but circumstances beyond my control mean that I must make the offer now."
Harry stared at the woman stunned at the request. He had read about tutorships for mastery training in a subject, and he had heard about apprenticeships but he had not heard of anything of this nature happening at Hogwarts. It definitely had not happened to a first year student! Sure he considered himself smart and he had spent years already learning where most kids his age seemed to just joke and play but this was different. He swallowed back his thoughts and asked his first question, "I am only a first year, what could I hope to accomplish so young?"
"Hogwarts used to begin at eleven till shortly after the turn of the century Harry. Then it was considered proper to acquire your wand at eleven and start to apprentice or join the school for a pureblood. We wait till thirteen now since we've found that puberty is the onset of the first magical growth of your core. Arithmantic calculations and studies have found that the optimal time to begin training with magic and the needed maturity for a young man or woman would be thirteen. My point is that you could have been studying magic for two years already. So my answer to your question is not that you are so young, it is that you are already behind."
The pale grey eyes stayed latched onto the face of the young man as she watched him carefully to make certain he followed he r explanation. Her left hand tapped the nails of her middle three fingers onto the oak desktop. The pause was brief as she wet her lips before continuing, "The key here, nephew, is that I have knowledge that I wish to share with you. While it will not by itself make you a tremendously powerful wizard like Albus Dumbledore, I believe you have enough talent that it will help you to make something special of yourself someday. The question that remains is: do you have the will and dedication to accept my offer?"
The emerald eyes of the boy latched onto the pale grey of the woman as a smile slipped over his lips. He gently reached down and picked up the box holding his grandmother's necklace. His fingertips were nimble as they opened up the box and pulled it out sliding it around his neck to latch behind. Immediately the young man could feel a cool touch of magic from the necklace brushing against him, blowing gentle magic from the surroundings into his body, "I accept your proposal Aunt Cassiopeia. I would be honored to become your pupil."
"Thank you Harry. You shall start after the first week finishes. Come see me on Saturday so we can being your lessons and be prepared for anything. Now run along to your potions class." The elder witch watched the boy smile then pick up his tings and run off. Her eyes trailed after the boy maintaining a firm grip onto the desk until the moment that the door closed. Only then did a wracking cough take hold of her. Her right hand pulled open the drawer of the desk and pulled out a handkerchief that had numerous blotches of crimson. She quickly raised it up to her lips as her body shuddered from coughs that attacked her slender form for the next ten minutes. Despite the pain a small smile lingered on the lips of Cassiopeia.
~~~ RoHP ~~
One month into the semester all of the professors were assembled around the staff chamber. This was used for staff meetings; it consisted of a large oval table with a number of pictures of old professors on the wall. It was located just down from the Headmaster's chambers right next to his Gargoyle guardian. The room was currently filled awaiting for the illustrious Headmaster to enter and take his throne-like seat.
The door creaked open and in walked the Headmaster, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the most powerful wizard in Europe, defeater of Grindelwald, Lord of the Light, and many numerous titles. His crimson and yellow polka-dot robes seemed to shimmer as the dots moved around in a hypnotic pattern as he moved. He walked over with a warm grandfatherly smile for his staff before sitting down "I am sorry to be late, there were some matters to attend to with the Board. I hope each of you are doing well so far for the first month of the school year."
After a nod from each of his faculty, the ancient man smiled warmly, "Perhaps we should start off with the Heads of Houses telling a bit about their new students and how they are adjusting. I hope there is not too much homesickness from the young tikes. Severus, how about you start us off."
The hooked nose man turned his hard gaze down the table before looking up at the Headmaster. The greasy haired man gave a slight sneer at the subject matter but contained himself with a droll response, "The first years have not come to me with any notice of homesickness Headmaster."
"That is good to hear, are there any interesting students of particular note so far?" Albus questioned calmly.
"There are a few that seem to excel in my subject and will be worthy to watch for future comment, but, they need to be watched to see if they can rise above the normal standards." The Head of Slytherin House answered rather neutrally.
Albus simply nodded his head then turned his gaze towards Minerva, "Any young lions have some difficulties?"
"A few, Ms. Spinnet and Mr. Jordan of note had difficulties. But, it was nothing that wasn't able to be handled. The other young students have helped, it seems, to cheer them up. They are a lively bunch this year." The elderly stern with responded with a rare smile.
"I hear they are indeed a lively group. I saw that the younger Weasleys have both gotten into a bit of trouble already?" Albus questioned with a chuckle.
"Nothing too serious, I am sure they will get it out of their system in time." Minerva answered right back.
"Those two are nothing but trouble, they have already been responsible for multiple problems." Severus added into the conversation.
"They have only been found guilty once Severus. We must not decide they are at fault if there is no proof of the matter." Albus calmly chastised his potions Professor.
"As dangerous as Potter…" The words mumbled from the lips of the Head of Slytherin House but he quickly fell silent as he almost felt the gaze of a certain dark haired witch towards toward him like a bolt of lightning.
"I did not quite hear that, Professor Snape. Do have some issue with young Harry?" The question, instead of coming from the pale grey eyed Black witch came from the Head of Hufflepuff House.
"He has already received two detentions for his behavior in my class Pomona. Potter is a troublemaker just like those red haired monsters will be. Mark my words." Severus sneered the words Potter and monster, drawing the ire of a pair of women at the table now.
Cassiopeia's quiet voice spoke up from her position as the Defense professor, "It is my understanding that Mr. Potter has received those two detentions from you, young Severus, for rather strange reasons. The first was due to him being late to class from my own and you burned the note I provided him?"
The grimace of the potions professor spoke louder than the words that he did not utter. Professor Black continued though before the man could gather a defense, "The second detention was for his potion melting his cauldron. This happened due to something placed into it by one of the Weasley twins."
The Headmaster leaned forward with a frown as he turned his twinkling gaze onto the Lady Black, "Do you have any proof of that incident Professor?"
"Why I do indeed have proof, Headmaster." The Defense against the Dark Arts teacher reached into a black dragonhide purse and pulled out two vials containing memories. She placed them down onto the table before her with a sickly sweet smile, "Mr. Potter was concerned regarding the behavior exhibited against him and brought it to my attention. I already gave him points to make up for those lost due to his wise thinking of not taking personal revenge and instead seeking out a member of the staff. I do hope these will clear up any possible concerns on his behavior?"
A slight look of concern crossed the chubby sweet face of Pomona Sprout perhaps for the fact that one of her puffs decided to go to another beside herself for support. But that look quickly turned to anger as her eyes narrowed looking towards the rapidly paling potions professor. She started to rise from her chair, even though she wasn't a tall woman, and a very robust one, she seemed for a moment to tower over the table, "Professor Snape, if I find out you have been purposely abusing your power over any of my Badgers, you will regret it."
Just like that the woman seemed to calm back down with a patently sweet smile on her face, the rage she seemed to show moments before gone for a polite friendly professionalism. She spoke gently again, "I hope we have an understanding, dear."
"I am sure we all understand that concern, Pomona. I am sure we all know that Mr. Potter has an unusual situation and will be handled just like any other students. I remind each of you that the boy is not at fault for the sins and choices of his parents. " His twinkling eyes swept down the table before lingering on Severus Snape, "He is not James Potter nor Lily Potter. He is his own young man. If we treat him poorly he may choose to follow their path and that would be a shame to see."
"He may not be James Potter but he is his reincarnation on a broom Albus!" Madam Hooch spoke up with a bright smile.
"Is he that good Rolanda?" Pomona asked quickly with a bright smile showing up. She missed the look of distaste that flashed over the faces of Snape and McGonagall.
"He could start on any team right now if we removed the rule against first years having brooms. The boy is a natural and born to ride a broom. If he works at it he could become part of the national team someday I am sure of it." The Head of the Quidditch league and teacher of the brooms offered up with a warm smile. The woman seemed to care little about the normal day to day activities of the school. She was only there part time after all, her other time was spent working as a coach on the Harpies, a professional quidditch team she once played on herself.
"Headmaster I would like to petition to have the boy able to join my Badgers, we have need of a good chaser." The Head of Hufflepuff quickly requested to the Headmaster.
The long white locks of hair on the Headmasters head slowly shook back and forth as he frowned, "I am sorry Pomona. As much as I would love to see your Hufflepuffs excel in the quidditch league this year I cannot in good conscience bend the rules. It would appear as if Mr. Potter would be getting special favors. We wouldn't want something like that."
Unseen from the others was the breath that left the lungs of Cassiopeia, which she had been holding at the idea of her nephew joining quidditch. It was not that she didn't want the boy become popular and the sport would help keep him in good shape and be an all-around good thing. But, she only had so much time, and it would be a waste of his potential to lose that time. She had barely been able to scratch the surface of so many different subjects with the boy. She knew in her heart this year was all about starting him on the correct path, leaving him a trail of breadcrumbs. Still, it was a trail she wanted to provide as much guidance on as possible before…
"Professor Black, how are the students doing in your Defense class?" Albus turned the attention of everyone onto the elderly witch.
Cassiopeia provided a thin, polite smile for the other teachers before answering the Headmaster. "Indeed, things have been proceeding very well. Many of the students are behind what I had expected for Defense against the Dark Arts from Hogwarts but I must believe that is due to the changes year to year of education in the field."
"I am sure with your help they will catch up." Albus provided a sparkling smile for Lady Black before he turned his gaze towards the others. "Are there any particular first years that are showing special skills?"
"Ms. Zabani seems to be very skilled at Herbology. It is not surprising considering her family has traditionally be an interesting group in exporting to Britain; "Professor Sprout spoke up in answer to the question.
"The before mentioned Mr. Potter is showing amazing skills at Charms. Mr. Diggory from the Puffs also seems very skilled;" Flitwick offered into the conversation.
"Mr. Diggory also seems an exceptional student in transfiguration." Minerva added to the conversation.
The gathered professors turned their gaze towards Severus Snape who had a frown on his lips. The words seemed to come from his lips with disdain, "They are not all dunderheads this year."
Professor Babbling spoke up while rolling her eyes at the contempt in the voice of the Head of the Slytherin House, "Mr. Potter seems almost too capable for my fourth year runes class. He seems to have inherited Lily's ability with runes. It is truly remarkable, I expect him to leave Hogwarts with a Mastery in the subject if this keeps up, perhaps even before his seventh year."
A flash of surprise came over the face of Albus Dumbledore before he quickly hid it. He offered a smile all around to his remarkable staff then slowly stood up, "It seems to be good news so far. Hopefully it will be a nice quiet year. Let us head to dinner."
Author Note: It has been a while since posting a chapter for this story. I had this chapter mostly written up but unable to finish it. Let me know your thoughts. A special thanks to BJH for taking the time to rip apart my horrible grammar and make this chapter presentable. Please let me know your thought on the story. A chapter of His Own Man will be up next week.