Note: Please look to prologue for disclaimer and additional notes about the story.

A Dance With Fate

Canopus Carina

Chapter 10 of 20

'Rejoice those of patience' it said 'one of such determination wins life's long battles with ample time to spare'. But he couldn't agree much with the beginning page of Hufflepuff's journal. Hermione was forced to write out each page as there was no spell to rearrange the code even if they knew how to break it. They combed through every page as soon as she finished writing the last letter, looking for any secret key they were to follow. It was one big puzzle within a puzzle, one that would have been nice to have during their peace and not when time was against them. The translation was slow and tedious, one wrong move caused the entire page to be wrong and having to start again. And all the while, the laughing clock ticked away precious seconds, reminding them of their peril.

Once this was all over, he would have to destroy that clock, very slowly.

Monday: 3 October 1977

Harry had disappeared soon after his outburst with Amos Diggory while his students were in shock. Many still couldn't believe that little Harry was even able to raise his voice, as he seemed to have the patience of a saint.

But what Remus was more interested in what Harry had actually said. As Amos had, Remus was touched by the speech as he knew the war was going to hit them rather quickly. When the students started walking back to their dorms, Remus had a strong desire to go see Harry and tell him that he wanted to learn. Sirius said it was his 'teacher's pet' syndrome that made him want to appeal to all teachers. He could tell that Sirius didn't get the message Harry was trying to convey. He quickly grabbed the Marauder's Map, James' invisibility cloak, and each Marauder before heading down a few flight of stairs to get to Harry's office.

But they weren't the only ones that wanted to talk to Harry. Just as they turned the corner, they heard the headmaster knock on the wooden door. They were able to hide quickly as they had already been under the invisibility cloak, but as the headmaster was rumored to see through such things, they hid behind suits of armor just in case.

"I hear you had an altercation earlier today during your lesson. Care to explain it to me?" He said as Harry opened the door. Even though they didn't see the headmaster's face, Remus could tell that his eyes were sparkling. His voice was almost ringing with amusement.

Harry moved to the side to allow the headmaster through. But something flickered in his eyes and he kept still like that. As he walked back in his office, he left the door open. At first Remus thought he didn't trust the headmaster for some reason and felt and open door would save him. But then it hit him: Harry was inviting them inside.

"When I taught my club back home, I had never had someone infuriate me like he did. Maybe because I was respected back home? Or maybe because the threat of battle was always on us? Something we could see everyday? Whatever reason, I just couldn't take someone setting themselves up for failure."

"It is something hard to endure isn't it? Lemon drop?" Remus had just finished dragging the Marauders into Harry's office when the headmaster offered the muggle candy. Even when he was younger, raised as a muggle, he hadn't cared for the sour treat. "It is quite stuffy in here. I take it that is why you left the door open?" For just a minute, Remus thought the headmaster's eyes had flickered to their hiding place. But as the headmaster turned his attention back fully on Harry, he ten started to believe he imagined it.

"Maybe this is a bad idea," Harry said softly, holding his head in his hands. "They are still too young to fully grasp what really happens during war. Maybe when they go off to Auror training, they will be matured enough for the war."

"But how different would their curriculum be there as opposed to your own training?" Professor Dumbledore injected. "You were actually more of a child when you had to face those moments of war."

Harry looked up to give a mild glare. "I never was a child."

"Then it is impossible to say who is too young or too old to fight. Many people ask me why I do not simply retire, I have fought the darkness once and have seen a century of life. But I continue here because I believe it to be right. I am still needed here. And you, my boy, would be considered too young to see the horrors you faced by many people standards. Yet you endure and awake to see another day as sane as any of us."

"Saner than you, headmaster."

"Ah, I am sure you are correct on that one." The headmaster let out a light chuckle that seemed to fill Remus with joy. He had never heard of anyone actually calling the old man insane, as Harry had clearly indicated, though almost everyone had questioned it at one point. Remus had actually wondered how the headmaster would react to it. But in all his days of pondering, he had never thought that he would laugh as opposed to denial or anger. "I have a question: Is there no one who is learning as you wanted?"

Harry was slow to answer, considering his words carefully as he stared at his tables with the books and papers. "There are some, but I think they would have learned it anyways. The Ravenclaws have always been mature about such things, but they would be able to learn about the creatures I bring and the spells I teach in a book if they needed to."

"But it is not the same of actually doing, now is it?"

"Of course not." Harry agreed. He took a deep sigh before continuing again. "I truly think I got the point across to Diggory today. You could almost see the understanding in his eyes when I had my… altercation. Some of those who have already lost family members to the war are listening to me just fine, too. But then again, they already had the motivation to learn everything. My instruction doesn't really help those who already want to do it, I'm trying to light the fire under a bunch of kids who want nothing more than to play games."

The headmaster nodded at length and moved slightly to get better situated in his small chair. A look crossed his face that made Remus actually realize how old the man was even though he still seemed to have a lot of spunk in him. He had seen so much, and was only trying to help them. "Then fuel needs to be added to the fire lest they fall to the fate of death."

"I have an idea, but I have to get your permission," Harry said, looking as if he just came up with the idea. He stood up quickly and started flipping through a rather large book. By the time the headmaster asked what the idea was Harry had found what he was looking for and placed the book in his hands so the headmaster could see. "We'll need to go into to the forest though. I will find a way of going around your rules if you say no, but I think that this will get some sense into some of them. I'm hoping it will be enough. If not, I think I'm just going to stop teaching these lessons. I have enough that I have to worry about, and if it's not being helpful in anyway, then it is wasting the time I could be using for more productive things."

"I understand. And I believe it is time for me to take my leave for you to do your tasks. You have permission for the forest next week and I do believe your students will take your lessons to heart. However, if you do not see it as so, I will not expect you to continue."

Once the headmaster was gone, he expected Harry to tell them that they could come out of their hiding place. Remus waited almost too patiently for Harry to just turn his head and somehow see them. But it never came. Instead the young instructor went to the tables with the many notes and books on it. He seemed to be looking for something, but the information eluded his grasp.

After five minutes of waiting, they nonverbally decided it would be best not to reveal their position. By admitting they were eavesdropping, Harry could get offended and decide to avoid them. Or even stop teaching the lessons as it seemed the young instructor was already having doubts about continuing. Either reaction was something they did not want so they softly padded out of the office.

The Marauders walked back to the Gryffindor common room going over what they had just heard in their mind. They had decided to stay in the common room instead of going up to their dorm room. The energy that they would be using could be used better for understanding what the headmaster and Harry's conversation. But even as they pondered the conversation there for thirty minutes, Remus couldn't fully understand all that the two instructors had said. Were the lessons going to end? And what had Harry taught at his own school when he would have still been a student? What could Harry be wanting to do next week that would need them in the Forbidden Forest?

The next day, Remus got a hold of the Marauder's Map before could use it to find Snape in preparation of a prank. He searched the surface closely, but there was no Harry Potter anywhere on it. Sometime during the night he had left the castle.

Remus only hoped the other boy would come back to continue teaching. He was learning. He was understanding.

And after the other Marauders had overheard the headmaster's and Harry's conversation, he was willing to be they were understanding and learning too.

End of Chapter 10 – 1,545 of words

Posted: 11 June 2007

Please review. I really need it this week. It's finals week!