AN: Yeah, here the next two chapters. I've been working very hard to get these things out to you guys. Sorry they couldn't be out sooner. Hope you enjoy them and I'm too busy right now to write out what's happened, so just read it over from the last chapter. Talk to you guys when I get the next chapters out and don't forget to review!!!
– Chapter Sixteen –
The Rebirth of the Duelling Club
The days after the Quidditch match were nothing but a bore for Harry. Madame Pomfrey insisted on keeping him in the hospital wing for the rest of the weekend because of his concussion. He tried to tell her that he was fine, but she wouldn't hear of it.
It was such a relief to return to the hustle and bustle of the school on Monday. He had seen far too much of the Hospital wing this year already to want to go back there anytime soon.
So, it seemed, he had a pretty normal day…well as normal as things got at Hogwarts anyways. In Defence, Sirius taught them how to fight a river troll; a very big ugly pink creature that would kill anything that came near the river in which they lived. Potions class wasn't all that great, but when was it ever. Snape was piling more work on them then ever and Malfoy didn't let up on Harry, Ron and Hermione all period.
The best thing of all though, was the Duelling Club. At seven o'clock that night, the fourth and fifth years headed down to the Great Hall for the first duelling club meeting since Harry's second year.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered the Great Hall that night to see that all the tables had been pushed aside and stacked against the walls.
"I wonder what we'll be doing?" Harry asked, eyeing the mats he saw placed out all over the floor of the Great Hall.
"Who knows?" said Ron, looking a little worried.
"Oh come on you guys. Sirius won't do anything that will hurt us, so stop worrying," said Hermione.
"I'm not worried," said Harry truthfully, "I'm just wondering what we'll be doing."
After a few more minutes, Sirius called for everyone's attention. "Okay, the first thing I'd like top say is that this Duelling Club will be better then your last. Lockhart, I am sorry to say, did not have a clue what he was doing."
Most people snickered upon hearing that remark.
Sirius smiled. "Now first thing we're going to do is to try and summon your magical swords. If they are loyal to you then it should come right away. Now since I don't own my own magical sword, Professor Lupin has offered to show you how to do so," he said, gesturing towards Remus who just smiled at everyone.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all grinned at each other.
"Now," Remus began, stepping forward. "There are two ways to summon your magical sword. If you have bought your own sword, then you will have to use a different summon than if you inherited it. For those of you who have bought it, the incantation is 'Aurilurs Lucifera'.
"If you have inherited your sword, like I have, the incantation is 'Heres Luciferum'. But the incantations won't do it alone. You have to be concentrating on your sword, picturing it in your mind otherwise it won't work. Like this…Heres Luciferum," And a beautiful sword with engraved symbols in it appeared in his hands.
Everyone gasped.
"Wicked!" Ron exclaimed, his eyes lighting up.
Lupin smiled fondly. "Alright, now all of you try. Remember to use the correct incantation."
Everyone then attempted it, but none succeeded the first time.
Harry stopped for a moment, not quite sure which incantation to use. Dumbledore had given him the sword so he really hadn't inherited it but then again his Father had said that he was the last remaining heir of Gryffindor, which meant that the sword was rightfully his.
Sirius and Remus watched Harry closely. He was the only one who wasn't trying to summon his sword. He seemed to be debating something. 'Come on Harry. Just try it,' Sirius thought to himself.
Finally Harry decided. 'If I really am the heir of Gryffindor then the heir summon should work.'
He held his hands out in front of him. Unknown to him, but known to everyone else in the room, Harry had started to glow a faint gold and his eyes were now a bright green.
"Heres Luciferum,' he whispered softly and the golden glow intensified. When the glow finally died down, Godric Gryffindor's sword lay in his hands.
Harry smiled, but noticed that people were now staring at him nervously. 'Umm, that's not good,' he thought to himself.
"Harry, how-"
"Don't even ask," Harry interrupted Hermione quickly, "cause I don't know." He stared down at the sword. How had he done it?
"Come on everyone! Keep trying until you get it," Sirius said quickly gaining everyone's attention. Harry smiled at him gratefully and Sirius returned it.
Ron just stared at Harry for a moment then he looked down at Harry's sword. The thing was really quite beautiful and it looked really expensive. He wondered where Harry had got it. Then something on the blade caught his attention. It was a name. Godric Gryffindor it read.
Ron's eyes opened wide. "Dear God Harry!" he exclaimed and Harry gave him a sharp look, "How on Earth did you get Godric Gryffindor's sword?"
"What!?" Malfoy shouted, coming up towards the trio. Harry shot Ron an even darker glare and mouthed, "Thanks a lot." Ron stared down at the ground apologetically. Everyone in the Great Hall was now staring at Harry again after hearing Ron's exclamation.
Malfoy came up in front of Harry and stared down at his sword. Godric Gryffindor's name was in plain sight.
Malfoy scowled. "That can't be Godric Gryffindor's sword. It's probably a fake," he rushed forward quickly and tried to take it away from Harry, but as soon as he touched it he screamed out in pain and pulled his hands away. In the split second that Malfoy had had his hands on the sword, Harry's eyes had glowed bright green.
"I wouldn't try that again if I were you, Mr Malfoy," said Dumbledore who had just entered the Hall; "Some of the more powerful swords have spells and enchantments on them that will only allow certain people to touch them."
Malfoy scowled deeply cradling his hands.
"That should teach you not to touch things that don't belong to you, Malfoy," said Harry, his eyes cold.
Malfoy gave Harry a death glare then stocked off, not wanting to get into a fight under Dumbledore's watchful eye.
As Harry watched him go he noticed that many people were still looking at him nervously, but he did his best to ignore it.
After a few more minutes, those who hadn't been able to summon their swords had to quickly go up to their dormitories to get them. Only a handful of people had been able to summon their own sword.
After everyone had returned, Sirius called their attention again, "Now that we all have our swords, Professor Lupin and I are going to show you a few basic movements and blocks to start with. At the end of tonight's lesson, we're both going to test you all just to see how much you have picked up. Not to worry, we'll go easy and it's only to see what you have learned."
They then spent the next three hours going over movements, mostly blocks and some attacks. Harry felt strange the whole time. Each new move they learned felt like he had already known it but he had just never remembered them until now. It didn't take him long to get the motions down. They all seemed to come naturally to him.
Of course they didn't come so naturally to others. Neville kept tripping over his feet and dropping his sword. Others, like Ron, kept accidentally cutting themselves.
It was nearly ten o'clock by the time Sirius and Remus started testing everyone. Many did not far so well. They first had to fight Remus and if they beat him, then they would have to face Sirius. Of course, people underestimated Remus because he always looked so ill, but they paid dearly for that.
Remus was quite skilled with his blade and was very hard to beat, even with him going easy. So far, no one had beaten him yet and Sirius just sat off to the side, twiddling his thumbs and fooling around with his Muggle sword.
Ron came to sit by Harry and Hermione, winching in pain as he did so. Both Harry and Hermione looked at him in pity. He hadn't faired so well.
"I'd like to see you two do better," Ron said after a moment when the pitied looks had turned to ones of laughter. "He's far too good."
Harry smiled. "Did you expect anything less?"
Ron sighed. "He didn't look like he could fight that well. He looks like one good hex would finish him off."
"Well, of course he does, but that doesn't mean much in his case, now does it?" said Hermione.
"Well, I just thought that…okay maybe you're right," Ron sighed.
Harry watched as Malfoy was called forward to fight Remus. He had an awful smirk on his face and Harry knew right away that he too underestimated Remus. The smirk also told Harry that Malfoy was up to something. Whatever it was, Harry didn't have a good feeling about it.
'Watch him, Remus,' he thought.
The battle seemed to move slowly before Harry's eyes and he wasn't sure why. A block or an attack seemed to take a bit to play out but Harry knew they couldn't possibly be fighting that slowly.
Finally Harry caught something. Malfoy was reaching for his wand and Remus didn't even notice it. Malfoy could hurt him badly.
'No!' Harry shot his hand forward. "Expelliarmus!" he shouted.
Malfoy's want came flying towards him. Malfoy was distracted by it and Remus was able to disarm him.
Malfoy turned to Harry, red in the face. "What did you do that for, Potter!? You distracted me!" Malfoy sneered.
Harry stood and chucked Malfoy's wand back towards him. "You were going to use magic, Malfoy. I watched you reach for your wand."
Malfoy scowled. "I did no such thing!"
"That's enough, Mr. Malfoy," Remus stated calmly.
Malfoy gave one last scowl at Harry before picking up his sword and going back to sit with the Slytherins.
Harry sat down beside Ron and Hermione, both of which were looking at him questionably.
"What?" he asked, puzzled.
"Harry, how did you see that? They were moving too fast," said Hermione.
"I don't know," Harry answered. "I just did."
Hermione and Ron exchanged looks. It seemed to them that Harry didn't know a lot about what he was doing lately. Was he hiding it from them or did he truly not know?
"Harry?" Sirius called, gaining Harry's attention. "You're up."
Harry sighed and grabbed his sword.
"Have fun getting your butt kicked," said Ron as Harry stood.
Harry raised an eyebrow at him. "Thanks for your vote of confidence."
"Any time."
Harry shook his head and moved forward to stand in front of Remus. He felt sort of strange standing there with a sword in his hands waiting for Remus to start. It all felt…familiar somehow.
"Ready?" Remus asked.
Harry nodded. Then Remus attacked. Harry blocked it easily. As the moves came, Harry felt like Remus was moving in slow motion. Harry seemed to know exactly what he was going to do and was easily able to come up with a counter-attack.
Remus had expected this from Harry and sped up his movements, making his attacks faster and more difficult to block.
The two swords clashed and sparks flew. Harry felt like something had taken him over, something that knew exactly what to do and how to attack Remus.
Remus whipped around with his sword but again Harry blocked it. Remus was finding it harder and harder to keep up with him.
Harry watched Remus' every move. Their swords clashed once again, but Remus was a bit off balance now and Harry knew it. Taken advantage of his weakened state, Harry shoved his sword against Remus', causing Remus to drop his sword and fall over. He sat panting on the ground.
Harry stared down at him in surprise. He had won. It was then that he noticed how everyone was staring at him again. 'Oh Geez, why are they all so interested in me?' he thought glumly.
"Well done, Harry," Remus said as he got to his feet. He had been expecting Harry to beat him and would have been thoroughly surprised had he been unable too, "I think Sirius is pleased that someone final beat me. He looks a little bored, don't you think?"
Harry glanced over at Sirius only to laugh hysterically. Sirius was trying to throw his sword off of his feet and catch it. It wasn't as easy as it looked.
Remus smiled diligently at his friend. "Come on, Sirius. Your turn."
"About time," said Sirius, hoping off the table he had been sitting on in the corner and smiling at Harry as he approached.
As soon as the fight began Harry noticed that Sirius was a much better swordsman then Remus, which of course would make him much more difficult to beat. Harry just followed his instinct as the attacks came. Sirius was moving fast, Harry knew, but it still seemed to him that he was moving much slower then he should be.
Sirius whipped his sword forward forcing Harry to jump over the blade and many people around the room gasped. Harry then brought his sword forward and their swords clashed.
Sirius threw Harry's sword off and brought his sword down, but Harry dodged it. The fight seemed to stretch on forever. Students from the other years had started to come into the Great Hall to watch, as did a lot of the teachers. Both Dumbledore and Remus were watching Harry very closely as he and Sirius fought.
Finally Harry pulled a move on Sirius by locking Sirius's sword behind his own while his sword rested on the back of his neck. As soon as Sirius got his sword free, Harry brought his sword around to Sirius' neck.
"Looks to me like you're dead," said Harry, smiling triumphantly. He had been so wound up in the fight that he had forgotten other people were in the room.
"Well that's no fun," said Sirius, pouting. "I won't be able to pull anymore pranks on Snape."
Most of the students and even some of the teachers laughed at Sirius' antics while Snape, who was seated up by the teacher's table, scowled. There were students however that stayed silent and did nothing but stare Harry in complete shock. They thought what Harry had just done was impossible.
Harry noticed their stares and tried to ignore them but found that he couldn't. There were so many people staring at him now as though he was some sort of a disease that was going to come after them and try to kill them.
Sirius noticed this fairly quickly as did Remus.
"Harry, come with me for a moment. I need to talk to you about something," said Sirius, coming forward to rest his hand against Harry's shoulder as he began to lead his Godson out of the Great Hall.
Harry merely nodded and let himself be lead away out of the hall. People had begun whispering things as he passed thinking that he couldn't hear them. As their whispers grew, Harry felt as though he was being suffocated and he wasn't able to breath clearly again until he was outside of the Great Hall. He could still hear the students chatting noisily behind him from the Great Hall but he was able to block them out now. He couldn't be happier to be out of there.
"Come on, Harry," said Sirius, who had started to walk down the corridor outside the Great Hall. Harry quickly followed him but stayed silent.
Sirius watched Harry very closely as they walked. He knew all this was going to be hard on his Godson and he wished that there was something he could do about it, but there wasn't anything he could do. All that he could do to help was just be there if Harry needed him.
The trip to wherever Sirius was leading them was a very silent and uncomfortable one. Harry really didn't feel like talking and he was very conscious of Sirius' eye one him as they move through the halls. He was curious to know what Sirius wanted to do now but looking at his Godfather he realized that whatever it was, was going to have to wait until they got to wherever it was they were going.
The finally reached a portrait of what looked like a man bent over his desk, though Harry wasn't quite sure. There picture was a bit faded but what Harry could see was a big oak desk covered in many pieces of parchment, scrolls, books and quills. The man was dressed all in black and had black hair but beyond that Harry couldn't see anything else of his features.
The man in the portrait looked up at them. "Why, hello Sirius, you're here early. And who is this young man you have here with you?"
Sirius smiled. "This is my Godson."
"Oh, Harry Potter," the man said with a smile as though he knew something Harry did not. "It's nice to finally meet you." Harry just smiled at the man, not knowing what he could say.
The man then turned back to Sirius. "Password?"
"Prongs," Sirius answered and the portrait swung open. Sirius led them into a dark chamber; the only light was coming from a fireplace to their right.
Harry glanced around once they had paced the main outcropping. Right beside the fireplace to his against the right wall was a four-poster bed that looked a lot like the beds in the Gryffindor dormitory except it was much larger. The far wall in front of them had three beautiful stain-glass windows, two smaller ones on both sides and a bigger one in the middle. To the far left corner of the room was a huge desk much like the one Sirius had in the Defence classroom and beside that were a few bookcases that were overflowing with books.
As Harry turned towards the far left wall he saw a portrait that he couldn't make out very well because of the dark but he could make out four figures standing in it and to the left of that was a door which Harry guessed lead to the bathroom. In the middle of the room was a huge comfy red sofa and two match chairs, one of which Sirius was now occupying.
"Does it meet your approval?" Sirius asked.
Harry's cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. "I've never been in a teacher's chambers before."
Sirius waved him off. "Don't worry about it. Students are not allowed in the teacher's chambers, but you're my Godson so if I want to allow you in here then you can."
"Don't I feel privileged?" said Harry. He looked around the room a little more before moving over to join Sirius.
They sat in silence for a few moments until Harry broke it with the question that had been on his mind for weeks now. "Sirius," he began, "what's happening to me?"
Sirius sighed and leaned forward towards Harry, resting his elbows against his knees. "It's complicated Harry. What's happening to you is not a bad thing and there's no reason why you should be scared of it. You've just reached a point where your full magic potential is starting to show again."
Harry frowned. "Again?"
"As I said, it's complicated but I'll try to explain as much of it as I can."
They stayed silent again while Sirius gathered his thoughts.
"When you were little, Harry, we all knew that you'd been a very powerful wizard. You would do things that other wizards my age couldn't do. Lily, James, Remus and I have all seen you do very interesting things.
"If you wanted a certain toy and no one could find it, it would appear in front of you or if Lily or James dropped something and you were in the room, it would just hover above the ground."
"But how did you know it was me?" Harry asked, his mouth slightly open. He couldn't have done that, could he?
"Cause your eyes would glow bright green," Sirius answered.
Harry didn't know what to say for a moment. How could a baby do those things? It didn't make any sense to him. Was he really that powerful? Was that why Voldemort felt that he was a threat and had wanted him killed?
"What changed?" Harry asked quietly. He'd never been able to do any of this stuff before so if he had done it as a baby, why hadn't he been doing it through al these years since his parents deaths.
"Voldemort, Harry," Sirius answered solemnly. "The magical potential that you had seemed to almost disappear the night Voldemort attacked you. It wasn't just your mother that had protected you, Harry-"
"Dad did too," Harry answered quietly.
Sirius frowned. "How'd you know that?"
Harry looked up at him. "In Divinations, I saw a vision from the past. I watch Voldemort attack us and I watched him kill Dad. Voldemort said something about it," he lied. He couldn't tell Sirius that his Father had told him. He didn't think he'd ever be able to tell anyone that. He also didn't think he'd ever be able to discuss with anyone about him being the heir of Gryffindor. Not until Dumbledore or someone else told him.
Sirius nodded. "Well, yes. Both James and Lily protected you but it wasn't just them, Harry. You protected yourself as well and it drained you considerable. Not to mention that your parents were killed and magical children have a link with their parents that was severed between you and yours that night. That also contributed.
"Now Dumbledore's been keeping a watch on you ever year and he says that every year your powers grow a little stronger. Now they're approaching their peak again."
Harry's mouth opened in disbelief. "So you're telling me that it's taken my powers fourteen years to replenish themselves."
Sirius nodded. "Pretty much. Didn't you ever notice that you only started performing little bits of magic when you were four years old?"
Harry sank back into the chair. "Yeah, I noticed that."
"Well, that's why. Your powers were really drained, Harry, and you have no idea how strong they used to be."
Harry sighed deeply. His life had just complicated itself so much that he didn't know how he was ever going to deal with it. "Great," he muttered.
"Harry," said Sirius, looking down at the red carpet for a moment. "If people start to bother you, even if it's just staring, I want you to let either Remus or me know. You've got a lot of work coming up and with this whole power thingy it's only going to get worse before it gets better."
Harry simply nodded as he stared into the fire. Sirius sighed.
"You better head up to Gryffindor Tower before Ron and Hermione begin to worry. Also is you ever want to come here again you know the password. Whether you want to talk with me, or if I'm not here just to get away from the other students for a bit, the room's always open."
Harry nodded and stood, heading towards the portrait hole.
"Harry?" Sirius called and Harry turned back to face him. "Don't forget that there are people who care about you."
Harry smiled a little. "I know. Good night Sirius."
"Night, Harry," Sirius said as Harry slipped out of the portrait hole and disappeared leaving Sirius alone with his thoughts.
He stood perfectly still in a dark corner of the corridor, as invisibility cloak concealing him. He watched as the portrait to Sirius' chambers swung open and Harry stepped out. Once the portrait had shut, Harry just stood there for a moment.
The cloaked figure watched him silently, wanting nothing more then to throw the invisibility cloak off and go talk to Harry, but he couldn't do that because Dumbledore wouldn't allow him too. There was a chance Harry could see him now, but he didn't particularly care.
Harry sighed and headed off in the direction of Gryffindor Tower. The cloaked figure followed closely behind. He could feel that something wasn't right with Harry. It was sort of like what he had felt over the summer, but it wasn't nearly as bad.
'What's wrong, Harry?' he thought to himself. He knew something was horribly wrong and he wanted to find out what it was and find out soon.
Harry finally reached the portrait hole to Gryffindor Tower. The Fat Lady was currently fast asleep, but Harry made no move to wake her. Instead, he just slumped down against the wall beside her and pulled his legs up to his chest, burying his head in his arms.
The cloaked figure wasn't sure what to do. Harry was now sobbing softly into his robes. The cloaked figure knew that what Harry needed right now was some comfort, but he couldn't give that to him. He just wasn't allowed to.
The cloaked figure needed to talk to Sirius. With one last look at Harry, he turned and headed back the way he had come. The situation was much worst then they had thought. 'Vernon is so going to pay the next time I see him,' he thought.
Harry didn't deserve any of this. If it weren't for Wormtail, Harry's life wouldn't have taken this bad a turn. He wouldn't have had to live with the Dursleys and he would have been loved. His parents would have made sure of that.
The cloaked figure reached the portrait to Sirius' room and knocked softly against the portrait. After a few moments the portrait slowly opened and as it did, the cloaked figure pulled the invisibility cloak off.
Sirius peaked his head out and stared at him n surprise. "What are you doing out of Dumbledore's office? You could be seen."
"We'll deal with that if it happens," said the cloaked figure. "But right now we have bigger problems."
"And what's that?" said Sirius, starting to get slightly worried.
The cloaked figure sighed and uttered only one word before Sirius ushered him inside. "Harry."