Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Warnings: Violence , and Mature Themes.
Chapter 8
Perenelle smiled at Harry's acceptance, she was truly looking forward to training with him.
"And what about you Hermione?" Perenelle asked.
"I go where Harry goes." She stated plainly.
Perenelle nodded. She took out a ring from her cloak and held it in her hands. Harry looked horrified.
"Um . . .Professor, what is that?" Harry asked with a wary glance at the ring in Perenelle's palm.
"This is a Portkey Harry, I believe that you have travelled by this method before." Perenelle said.
"No! . . .I mean yes, I have travelled by it before, but I absolutely hated it!" Harry said, his head swinging from side to side wildly.
Perenelle was amused at Harry's antics, but was inwardly frowning. She would need to teach him to adapt to whatever situation he was in, and she couldn't have him whining about the little things. But she also realized that he was a 13 almost 14 year old boy. It would definitely be a challenge for her.
"Would you like to Apparate instead?" she asked.
"What's Apparate?" Harry asked curiously. She noticed that Hermione's eyes had lit up with recognition, and she grew excited at the prospect.
"It would be easier for you to experience it." She said, and held out her hand to him. "Grab on tightly Harry, and whatever you do, don't let go."
Harry grabbed her hand tightly, and looked at her expectantly.
"Albus, If you would please escort Hermione." She said.
Harry felt a slight tug on his arm, and he felt as if he was being forced through a particularly narrow tube, and before he could start feeling squeamish, the sensation stopped and he was standing on unsteady feet in the same circular room that Perenelle's office was in.
He shook his head, trying to clear it of the lingering feeling of compression. While it was much better than a Portkey, it was decidedly uncomfortable.
There was a soft pop behind him, and Dumbledore and Hermione appeared behind them. He saw Hermione shaking her head as well. Dumbledore left shortly thereafter, and Harry patted his robes, making sure that Sirius's letter was still safe in his pocket.
Perenelle then began to tell them about the room, apparently the six doors each led to a separate area, one was her office, and there was a target range, a Duelling room, an Equipment room, a Runic Ritual room, and a Library.
"Before I show you the workings of each room, I need to add you to the wards, please follow me." Perenelle walked forward and the door directly in front of her opened to her office. She then proceeded to tap her wand against the back wall of her office, and much like the entrance to Diagon Alley, a stone archway was formed.
Hermione looked around fascinated by the room. The whole room was practically covered in Runes. Even though she had studied Runes for a year, she couldn't decipher the meaning behind the Rune Array. At the centre of the room was a white marble slab, on which rested a floating cube, red in colour, which was littered in Runes as well.
"Professor?" Hermione asked.
"Yes Hermione. . . ?"
"What is this room?" Hermione asked looking curiously at the cube.
"This room is the Ward Room, and the cube you see there is a Ward Stone. The wards protecting this floor are tied to this room." Perenelle said walking up to the stone and motioned Harry to step up on the slab. She handed him a short knife, engraved with gemstones, and said, "Harry make a short cut on your palm, and then place your hand on this cube, after that channel some of your magic into the stone, it should be similar to a feeling with a wand, go on."
Harry carefully took the knife and glancing at Hermione, made a cut and quickly placed his hands on the stone, ignoring the stinging feeling the best he could. He channelled his magic, and was mesmerised by the feeling of his magic finally having an outlet. He kept this up for a few seconds before the stone pulsed with a faint red light.
"Well done Harry. Hermione, if you would do the same thing." Perenelle said as she tapped his palm with her wand and healed the cut he had made. Hermione did the same and again the stone flashed.
"Now you have the same Ward clearance as me and Albus, there are many benefits that I will tell you later in the summer." Perenelle said.
They walked back into the circular room, and the door to the office closed with a snap.
"This room is generally known as the Entrance Chamber. The six rooms each shuffle themselves, the way to recognize each room it to just think about which room you want to enter, and the corresponding Door will open. Try thinking about the Library." Perenelle finished with an encouraging nod towards Harry.
Harry just thought 'Library' and the door that they had just walked out of, opened.
The Library was a big square room, with three bookshelves, extending from the floor to the ceiling. There were comfortable looking couches, and some tables and chairs. The room was lit by Lamps with blue flames and had some table lamps on the tables. The ceiling was somehow charmed to show the outside atmosphere, similar to the Great Hall at Hogwarts. Harry could honestly see himself spending time over here, reading. Hermione would probably set up her camp and start living here.
"Professor? Why do the bookshelves look like they contained more books than what is present now?" Hermione asked.
Harry had noticed this as well, but thought that these were all the books that were present.
"I have taken some of the more difficult books that you would be unable to understand before prior knowledge of the subject. I will be re-stocking the library, as I see fit. Come on, we will be returning here after you finish looking at the other rooms." Perenelle said.
Standing in the Entrance Chamber again, Hermione was asked to pick the next room. She thought of a room for a second, and a door to the right of them opened up.
Perenelle led them into the room, and smiled. "This room is the Target Range. You will be spending most of your time in this room; it is primarily used to practice Curses, Jinxes and Hexes. You can also practice your Shield charms, I'll demonstrate for you."
There were a total of seven lanes, and at the far end of each lane, approximately 50 meters from the start of each lane was a single humanoid shape with a wand like stick held aloft in his hand. There was screen-like contraption above each lane. Perenelle took out her wand, and before Harry could catch it happening, a curse had struck the dummy. Numbers flashed on the screen.
'89/93/::'
"As you can see, there are three numbers on the screen. The first number, gives you an idea of the power that you put behind the spell. The second was the accuracy of the spell, it calculates the chance that your curse will hit your opponent in a real duel, where both Duellists are moving. The third number, which isn't displayed, will tell you the time between each subsequent spell hit, calculated on the basis of the previous hit.
"Professor . . . how do we measure the power of a spell? Aren't some curses inherently more powerful?" Harry asked.
Perenelle cast an appraising look at Harry, and he smiled sheepishly. "That is a good question Harry, the answer lies in the fact that the Dummy has been programmed with a score of different spells, it breaks it down to simple numbers and measures the power according to it."
"So it is measured on a scale of 1 to 100?" Hermione asked.
"It is true for the Accuracy meter, but, the power meter has no upper limit." Perenelle replied.
"What is the highest that you have seen it go?" Harry asked in morbid curiosity. He saw a pained look flash across Perenelle's face, and hastily added. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean . . ."
"That's quite alright Harry, the highest that I have seen it go was 156, it was Professor Dumbledore who managed it. Although, there was another person that came close to trumping his record. I'm sure you will find out about that later." Perenelle smiled at Harry.
"Moving on." Perenelle tapped her wand on the side of the lane, and the Dummy was brought forward. She motioned for them to come closer, and they saw that there were different buttons, and a multitude of different curses, that was available once the flap to the Dummy's chest was opened.
"You can tap your wand to the side of your lane to bring the Dummy forward, and you can use these buttons to select the range of spells that the dummy can fire at you, the power behind each spell, and the time difference between each subsequent spell. You tap your wand on this particular spot on the Dummy, and it goes back to its position. Tap your wand against the side of the lane to make the Dummy start throwing spells."
"Professor, how can the Dummy cast magic?" Hermione asked.
"The Dummy is much like a wand Hermione; it is a conduct to magic." Perenelle turned the Dummy around and showed them a circular hole behind the Dummy. "This hole is filled up with a conductor of Magic that is tied towards the end of the lane, beyond that, there is a Magical Reservoir, that stores part of the Magic Energy that is cast on the Dummy and when we desire to practice our Shields, it sends out controlled amounts of the Spells that we have chosen to practice against."
Both the teens were listening to Perenelle's explanation with rapt attention, and Perenelle was enjoying herself immensely. They were honestly reluctant o leave the room when Perenelle told them to move to the next room. Harry was thinking about possibly asking the Goblins to construct a similar room at Potter Manor.
"Your turn, Harry. Choose a room."
Harry thought about the Duelling Room. And again, a door opened, this time directly behind them. They walked into a huge room, this was also square in its basic shape, but the ceiling extended at least 50 meters upwards. The walls seemed to shimmer, and Harry spied 4 Ward Stones at each corner of the room and assumed that there were similar stones placed at the four corners of the ceiling as well. The room seemed to be empty, but as they walked on the floor, Harry noticed that it had a springy feel to it.
"This room, the Duelling Room is used for mock Duels between members. As you might have noticed, the walls have been warded to absorb stray spells and transfers it directly into the same room that has the Magical Energy stored in it. It will be here that you will be taught to Duel against an opponent, when not participating in an Official Wizarding Duel." Perenelle explained.
"There's not much to explain in this room, you will know of its special characteristics when you begin training." Saying that, Perenelle led them towards the Entrance Chamber again. she informed them that he Equipment room was empty at the moment, but they would be using it soon enough.
"The last room, is the Runic Ritual room, I doubt that you would be using this room anytime soon, maybe just before you leave for Hogwarts." Perenelle said.
The Ritual room was much like the Ward Room, runes covered the whole room and in the exact centre of the room was a Runic Array inscribed inside a circle. The room was bathed in the light from the torches and the Runes carved were glowing eerily. The after smell of dried blood lingering in the air didn't go unnoticed by either of the two teens.
They gulped audibly. It suddenly struck them that it was not all fun and games, in their excitement they had apparently forgotten the reason that Harry was accepting the Apprenticeship. Needless to say, this was a wakeup call that they weren't going to forget for a long time to come. Harry was again reminded of his stupid decision of opting for Divination and a free period instead of taking Hermione's advice and taking Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as his electives. He shifted on his feet nervously, and Perenelle noticed this.
"Is something the matter Harry?" Perenelle asked sternly. She suspected that he was squirming due to the foreboding atmosphere of the Ritual Room, and she couldn't have that. His next statement caught her off-guard.
"I . . . um . . . haven't studied Runes at all. I took Divination as my elective." Harry said shamefully, his head lowered.
"That will actually help you Harry. I am well aware of your academic choices; Albus has informed me of everything that there is to know about you. I will help you with Runes, and you can register yourself for an external exam at the Ministry. You will be able to join Hermione in her Runes class next year. The same can be done for Arithmancy as well." Perenelle said mildly.
"That's fantastic Harry! I could help you with anything that you might have problems with." Hermione said with a brilliant smile on her face.
The three of them then went to the Library, and Perenelle walked to a bookcase and took out a book. Muttering silently, she waved her wand over the book once and the book was duplicated. She handed the book to both of them, and glancing down at the book, Harry saw the title.
Mastering Your Mind by Ryos Grimhill
"That book is the best book there is on the Mind Arts. I would recommend that you spend at least 3 hours every day to perform the exercises detailed in the book. I will be checking you progress weekly." Perenelle said sternly.
The two teens nodded, and Hermione immediately sat down and began reading her book.
Harry bit his lip nervously and approached Perenelle.
"Professor?"
"Yes, Harry?" Perenelle asked turning towards him.
"How much do you know about Sirius Black?" Harry asked with a serious expression on his face.
Perenelle appeared surprised by the abrupt question, but answered nevertheless.
"I know that he is innocent Harry, but I can't do anything about it until we get a grasp of some undeniable evidence." Perenelle said soothingly, as if trying to calm a coming storm. She watched as Harry sighed in relief, and her curiosity grew as she saw him dig into his pocket and fish out a letter.
Harry mutely handed her the letter, and motioned for her to open and read it. Harry waited until she had finished reading, and asked her a question.
"Could you take me to Gringotts, I don't think I can handle this on my own." Harry said. Although he appeared to be nervous, his tone was firm.
"I can't see why not. Your godfather seems to have been planning for your safety for a long time, although I might have to change my plans for the summer, I think that it would be for the best. Have you told him about your Vampirism?" Perenelle asked gently.
Harry shook his head negatively.
"Do you think I should?" Harry asked.
"I am here to guide you Harry, but I won't be making every small decision for you. You will lead your life as you see fit, I'm just going to make sure that you won't be harmed and to pass on my knowledge. I will care for you Harry but I definitely won't coddle you, far from it in fact." Perenelle said.
Harry digested this new information for a second."Thank you Professor, I think I now understand what having a mentor will be like." Harry said shortly.
"Glad I cleared that up. So when would you like to go to Gringotts?" Perenelle asked.
A/N:- Sorry for cutting it short, but the next chapter will have Gringotts, Harry's new wand, and the Granger's reaction. Review Peolple!