The Half Blood Prince Revealed
Summary :
Harry's summer before sixth year is no different from the others. Around every corner surprises, good and bad, and adventure of all kind await. And it looks like the gods have finally granted Harry a possibility for a nicer life. What will this mean for his 6th year at Hogwarts ?
General Disclaimer :
I am just playing in the sand of JKRowling's literary produced beach and am attempting to build my own sandcastle for others to enjoy.
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16 A first look at what's to come
The five students remained in an ebullient mood for the rest of the evening, aided by the twins who regaled them with stories of their early years and classes with the potions master and the many mishaps they encountered along the way. Especially their second year turned out to be filled with many potions accidents, as the classes were scheduled first thing on Monday morning and many a student hardly awake enough to keep a good eye on the ingredients and the correct procedures to use them. Hermione however had the twins in stitches when she recounted her favourite Snape moment from third year DADA classes on boggarts, when Neville's worst fear turned out to be Snape and the counter curse had him dressed in those ridiculous clothes.
Soon enough he twins started talking of other classes and teachers and recounting some of the things that had happened like the time one of their classmates from Hufflepuff had set fire to his parchments by mispronouncing a spell, and the equally disastrous results when Lee Jordan tried to extinguish that fire by spouting water from his wand, only to end up flooding the entire room and part of the hallway before the teacher could cast the counter spell.
It wasn't until Fred started telling them how they'd gotten an idea for some or other joke that out of nowhere another joke was born, only for the twins to suddenly realize that come September they wouldn't in fact be returning to Hogwarts.
Mrs Weasley arrived in the kitchen just in time to stop the mood plummeting like a ton of bricks only to send them all off to bed seeing it was gone midnight. After wishing the grown ups a pleasant night they all made their way up to their rooms.
Harry had just installed himself under his bedding when Remus poked his head round the door. Seeing the lights still on he stepped in the room and made his way to Harry's bedside. "Hey Harry," he said, "I just wanted to let you know that my friend the solicitor, Paul Watkins, is already booked up for Thursday, but can meet us any time on Wednesday. I've already told Mad-Eye and Tonks we'll be out and about then so they can discreetly plan for some extra people to be around Diagon Alley from late morning onwards. It does mean we'll need to move to Grimmauld Place tomorrow evening."
"That's OK and thanks for arranging some protection. Hopefully by going before the real school supply rush there won't be trouble this time. I'm looking forward to going back to Diagon Alley. It's been quite a while since I was allowed to go along."
"We'll arrange the rest tomorrow, Harry. Good night and sweet dreams."
"Night, Moony and you too."
After another night spent on the couch with Sirius listening to and telling Hogwarts stories, Harry woke up refreshed at his usual early hour. Since it was too early even to take his daily swim with Ginny, he made his way outside and was happy to see Joe and David arrive to do a quick tour of the garden.
"Good morning Joe, David."
"Good morning, Harry." the two chorused. "You gave us all quite a shock yesterday. That tutoring offer came as a surprise and I've never seen Elijah move so fast."
Harry was smiling. "To be honest, I'm very grateful to Mr Teague for making his decision so fast and with a positive answer to boot. I'd just seen what waiting for the OWL results did to the others and I'm sure I would have been in a similar sorry state had we had to wait for his decision for a day or two. Not to mention that from a practical point we can now go shopping for all our school supplies and I can arrange payment in person. While on that subject I wanted to talk to you today as I'll be going to the bank too and I wanted to know if 50 galleons a month would be sufficient to compensate for your work in the garden. And would you like that cash or shall I set up an automatic monthly transfer into your accounts ?"
The two men looked shocked and Harry was unsure what to think. Had he insulted them offering too little ? But Joe's comment put his mind at ease as it sounded more like they had not expected to get that much.
"Fifty galleons a month. That's 25 per person. Do you have a goose that lays golden eggs somewhere ? Anyway, we don't own a bank account so cash payments would be nice."
"Eh, Joe, I had fifty in mind per person. Consider it a payment for all the years you've done the work for free. I also have another question for the four of you. My godfather left some money to Remus but he mentioned in the will that should Remus have passed away the money would be mine and added the suggestion that I could then maybe set up a "Moony Memorial Fund" specifically to help other werewolves. I've been thinking about that and it seems to me that the potion you are using would be a better deal than the expensive Wolfsbane potion. My idea was to set up a place where the potion ingredients could be grown, the potion brewed and then provide it for free to the werewolves. It would involve hiring a few people, werewolves and maybe squibs too, to help in growing the ingredients and making the potion. But I realized that I'd need your permission to use the LeBon potion to begin with. I'm sure there's a lot more involved too, and as long as Sirius has not been cleared, it would need to be run on a small scale anyway. Would you mind thinking about this for a bit ? I'll be setting up a Sirius Black Memorial Fund anyway but I could really use your input as it's to be a bit of a surprise for Remus."
"That would be quite something Harry ! I can already let you know you have my vote but we'll talk it over and let you know in the next few days."
"That would be OK. Anyway, we're going up to London at some time late this afternoon and will be gone for a day or two, maybe three. As I said it would have to start on a small scale in any case, as I think you'd not have all the ingredients at hand in vast quantities."
"We'll have a go at looking at timing and requirements for you. When you have the opportunity to talk to us again in a few days or so we can go over plans and needs in more detail then. Let's leave it for now."
"Brilliant, thanks. I'd better get back inside now. I still have to speak to Dobby to arrange our outing of the next days. Bye for now and take care."
"See you Harry and have a good time in London."
Harry returned to the kitchen and found Dobby about to begin preparations for breakfast.
"Good morning Dobby. Do you have a moment before you begin ? There will be some changes to the routine in the next days."
"How can Dobby help Harry, sir ?"
"We are going to London tonight so we can go shopping tomorrow. We need to stay here until at least after tea when Mr Teague will send us the book list he wants us to use, but after that I'll leave it up to you where you want to serve dinner tonight. We'll stay overnight at Grimmauld Place as I will be going to visit Gringotts at seven tomorrow morning. I'd like you to join me there, Dobby, so I can introduce you. After Gringotts, if there's time, Remus and I will visit his friend Mr Watkins and after that we'll have lunch with the others at the Leaky Cauldron followed by some serious shopping. We'll all stay the night at Grimmauld Place and most likely we'll return here some time on Thursday."
"Harry Potter Sir asks Dobby to Gringotts ?"
"Why yes, Dobby. I'm going to arrange it so that both you and Remus can get into the Black vault. It will need clearing and arranging and we wouldn't be able to do it without your help, Dobby."
"Thank you Harry, sir. You is most kind to Dobby."
Just then, Ginny walked into the kitchen, ready for their morning swim and Harry soon joined her in the warm pool water. Harry had come to love these morning swims. He enjoyed the exercise before breakfast but he appreciated Ginny's presence just as much. Seeing her in her bating suit the first time had his hormones going haywire and that had not really changed much with time, after all he was a nearly sixteen year old young man and Ginny was an extremely pretty young witch. But Harry had gotten to know Ginny better and he liked her more every day. Of course, Harry knew she was seeing his Hogwarts roommate Dean and he'd never want to come between them.
The two of them had already had their swim and were nearly finished with breakfast by the time the others joined them. Mr Weasley was running a little late and very grateful for the little snacks and food packs the house elves prepared for him as it now allowed him to be on his way after just drinking a nice cup of tea. Harry reminded Mr Weasley that they would be at Grimmauld Place that evening so he wouldn't be surprised when he ended up in the Tapestry room that evening.
After breakfast Professor McGonagall excused herself to quickly make her way to the library. She would stay until after lunch and had just under four hours to emerge herself in a book she had wanted to get her hands on for the longest time.
In their Defence class with Remus he had them practice their basic shields and stunners, as well as the patronus, in view of their outing the next day. Even if it wasn't quite so difficult to produce a corporeal patronus in these happy and safe circumstances the confidence gained here might just make the difference when confronted with a real dementor.
At lunch time Dobby told Harry the elves had chosen Grimmauld Place to serve dinner so it was decided to leave for the order HQ some time between five and six o'clock, depending on when Mr Teague would provide them with their new potions class book list.
Immediately after lunch Mr Black wanted to talk to Harry, so their plan to fill out their school letters together got postponed by a few minutes.
Harry and Mr Black made it to the study where Mr Black pointed towards a very plain black leather satchel.
"I figured you would appreciate another perk about being head of the Black family. As part of my deal with Flourish & Blotts I was given a book bag. Even in my time they were quite rare and only given out to especially good and trusted customers. Since my death it's been in hands of the family house elves. The book bag looks small but would most likely be able to house the complete stock of books in the shop if you wanted to buy them. It makes shopping there very easy. All you need to do is take it round the shop, fill it with the books you want to buy and at the end, you hand the bag over to the shop clerk, he performs a charm of some sort and the cost of the books is automatically charged to your account. To put the icing on the cake, you also get a rather nice discount."
"That will come in handy tomorrow. Can anyone use it ?"
"That's the only drawback. The only ones who can use it would be the head of the family, that's you Harry, and the family house elves. You already planned to take Dobby along, didn't you ?" Seeing Harry nod Mr Black continued his explanation. "If you take Dobby along and your friends hand their books to either you or him to place them in the bag you'll have no problems. But they cannot place the books in the bags themselves. There's some kind of hex activated in that case."
"OK We'll be careful then. It'll be nice for the Weasleys not to have to worry about the cost of the books. And talking of books, I'll better go and join them to fill out our Hogwarts letter. I need Professor McGonagall's help with that to find out what book Snape will be using."
"Very well, Harry. If I don't talk to you anymore before you leave I'd like to wish you an enjoyable outing for the next days."
"Thank you, Mr Black. I think I will actually."
Harry took the book bag, quickly ran up to his bedroom to collect his OWL letter and made his way back downstairs to join the others in the kitchen. Dobby was still in there and Harry made his way over to him first.
"Dobby, can you keep this book bag safe for me until tomorrow ? We'll need it when we go to Flourish and Blott but since only the four of you and I can actually use it I figured you would be able to look after it best."
"Harry sir entrusts book bag to Dobby and the house elves ? Thank you, Harry sir, such an honour ! Winky and I will be going now. Tea today comes from Blythe and Beatrice."
"Thank you Dobby. We'll see you in a few hours."
Harry then joined the others at the table and was happy when he saw someone had at least remembered to bring quills and ink along.
"Professor McGonagall, could you please tell me what I need to do to find out about the potions books Professor Snape assigned ? I figured they could be a good extra reference to have."
"Good thinking Harry. You'll need to tick all the classes you want to take, including Potions. For each box you tick a list of books will appear on the second page of your letter. Once you've done that, I'll lock your book list page, and then clear the box for Potions."
"Thank you Professor" said Harry, quickly ticking all appropriate boxes on his letter. When arriving on the Study Groups section he checked with his head of house again.
"Professor, do we have to check the box for the DA as well ?"
"Very good, Harry. A regular student can sigh up until mid September, as notices for these groups go up on the four Common Room notice boards in the first days of classes. However, if the leader of the study group hasn't signed on, then any student who wanted to join will automatically receive a notice saying the group is cancelled."
"So would these study groups have a maximum life span of seven years ?"
"Oh no, the Chess Society and the Gobstones Club have been around since my student days. The leader can pass on leadership. This needs to be done on the last meeting of the year but can be very informal."
"Thank you for your explanation, Professor. There's still so much about Hogwarts that I don't know."
"Not to worry, Harry, even after all these years, the place can sometimes still surprise me !"
Harry was smiling as he ticked the last box. Checking his book list on the next page he was quite surprised by the length of that list.
"You have ticked all the appropriate boxes, Harry ?"
When he nodded, Professor McGonagall aimed her wand at Harry's book list and said "serratura", then pointed towards the first page and said "radura" and all the ticks Harry had placed earlier were gone. The book list was still his impressive self.
Harry thanked the professor and then proceeded to re-tick the appropriate boxes, mindful to not touch the one listed for the potions class.
They all handed her the letters so she could return to Hogwarts to start one of her duties as Deputy Headmistress, preparing and sending out the letters for the other students.
The five new sixth year students sat reading through their book list with a face clearly showing their surprise at the length of it.
"You do realise, guys and galls, that the booklist is for both your sixth and seventh year ?" said Fred.
"And you can find most of those books in the Hogwarts library anyway. Not to mention there'll be a few old course books listed as well." continued George.
Ron looked less green and managed a "That's a relief."
"Well, it's not too bad. The Black book bag will certainly help out too." said Harry.
"A book bag ? From Flourish and Blotts ? I've read about those. They are extremely rare."
"Yep, that's what Mr Black said too. Dobby will join us to the shop and you can hand all your books to either him or me, and we'll put them in the bag and when we are done, the money comes straight out of the vault. And it comes with a nice discount on all purchases."
"We can use it too, Harry ?" asked Hermione and Harry could almost see his book-loving friend go through a mental list of books she would love to purchase.
"Well, apparently no one but the family house elves and the head of the family can touch the bag, that's why you give the books to either Dobby or me, but yes, buy whatever you like in Flourish and Blotts. And that goes for you guys as well." Harry said, smiling at the Weasleys and Neville.
He returned his attention to his booklist and studied it with a little more attention.
Booklist for Harry James Potter
Charms
Course books
The complete anthology of Charms
Additional reading material
An Anthology of Eighteenth Century Charms
Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charmes
Quintessence : a quest
Defence Against the Dark Arts
Course books
Compendium of Common Curses and their counter actions
The complete magical guide to the Dark Arts and Defence against them
Additional reading material
Confronting the Faceless
Madcap Magic for Wacky Warlocks
Magick Moste Evile
Practical Defensive Magic and Its Use Against the Dark Arts
Saucy Tricks for Tricky Sorts
Self-Defensive Spellwork
The Dark Arts Outsmarted
The Darkness Within : A Guide to Self Preservation
Weird Wizarding Dilemmas and Their Solutions
Where There's a Wand, There's a Way
Herbology
Course books
Nature's Treasures : a complete guide to magical and muggle plants
Additional reading material
Potions, ingredients and tools : a complete guide
Potions
Course books
Advanced Potion-Making
Additional reading material
Asiatic Anti-Venoms
Moste Potente Potions
Potions, ingredients and tools : a complete guide
Transfiguration
Course books
Guide to Advanced Transfiguration
Additional reading material
Spotting the spelled from the real
To be or not to be ? Can you tell ?
Wizarding Society
Course books
Walking with Wizards : a complete overview of magical society
Additional reading material
Encyclopedia Magica – the complete set
Law and Order : A detailed guide to Wizarding Law
Managing your money
Preparing for Leadership
The Wonderful World of the Ministry of Magic
Ancient Runes
Course books
Ancient Runes Made Easy
Rune Dictionary
Additional reading material
Magical Hieroglyphs and Logograms
Spellman's Syllabary
Arithmancy
Course books
Numerology and Grammatica
Additional reading material
New Theory of Numerology
What's in a Number ?
Basic Healing
Course books
The Complete Magical Medical Guide
The Complete Muggle Medical Guide
Additional reading material
Magical First Aid
Muggle First Aid
Care of Magical Creatures
Course books
The Animal Kingdom : Complete and Illustrated Guide to magical and muggle animals
Additional reading material
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them
The Monster Book Of Monsters
There were a few books Harry recognised as current or old course books, and some of the books he recognised as having consulted during the TriWizard Tournament. He remembered buying one of the books as a Christmas gift for Hermione and Remus and Sirius had given him one on the list as well. He was surprised to find a book on there for Potions that he knew to be in the restricted section of the library. After all, one does not forget making polyjuice potion in a girl's bathroom during second year !
It was nearly tea time and Remus came to join them in the kitchen so the two house elves served them their tea a little earlier. Looking through Harry's booklist he remarked that it had gotten even longer than in his days.
"Remus, the twins said that this booklist is valid for two years. Can you tell us more about that ?"
"The twins are correct, Harry. During the year, there's a lot of reading to do, and the teacher will hand out lots of research-and-report homework. At the end of your sixth year, you don't have an exam as such but an evaluation to see how far you've come in your course study work. Depending on the result of the evaluation you'll be given recommendations on how to proceed for your seventh year. More books could be advised if you show potential. For you Harry I could easily envisage more detailed DADA research, and for Neville the same with Herbology. That's how the Masters in some subject are achieved. Some students get an average NEWT score and continue their study after Hogwarts, a few are brilliant enough to achieve their Mastery by the time they leave Hogwarts."
A few taps on the kitchen window brought their attention back to the here and now and they were surprised to see Mr Teague at the door.
"I'm sorry to barge in like this, Remus, students, but my friends told me you'll be going to London later this afternoon. I wanted to wish you a lovely outing and bring round my book list."
"Thank you Mr Teague, or should that be Professor from now on ?" asked Harry.
"Neither, Harry. Please just call me Elijah."
"Thank you, Elijah. Would you join us for tea ? We were just looking through our booklist for Hogwarts. Would you like to see the book choice of the Hogwarts Potions Professor. I thought to maybe purchase one copy as an additional reference book."
"Tea would be lovely, thank you. And that's good thinking Harry so yes, I'd like to see his choice."
Harry handed him the long scroll and it wasn't long before he commented Snape's choice.
"Now why would he do that ? Making his students buy a book that has errors in it ! And making them read a book that offers less information than what is mentioned in the other one. And no reference to animals at all !"
Elijah looked up as he heard suppressed laughter.
"What ?" he enquired, when he saw the others looking at him with a surprised grin.
"That's the first time we heard anyone other than students giving criticism on Snape and we were surprised, that's all." said Neville.
"Yes, well, he has an atrocious taste in books. Listen, the course book I'd like to use is the book on his additional reading list that you have to get for Herbology too. From the Charms section, the Olde and Forgotten Bewitchments and Charms has a section on Potions, the Magick Moste Evile from DADA, the Herbology Course book and the Most Potente Potions has extra details on a few potions. The Potions section of the Encyclopedia Magica is real interesting as are the Magical Healing books Harry has on his list. The teacher of Care of Magical creatures is smart to have that particular book as a course book as it also offers additional information on the use of the animal or parts of it to potions. As long as you all get the "Potions, ingredients and tools : a complete guide" book and you have at least one, maybe two sets of the others I indicated that should do you fine. And for the Encyclopedia Magica you'd best enquire when a new print will be available. If that should be within the next 12 to 18 months, I'd look for a used copy and wait with buying a set. Or you could splash out and get a self-updating version. It'll be expensive but well worth its price."
"Thanks again Elijah. It's most helpful and I'm looking forward to having Potions classes, new style."
They sat at the kitchen table talking a little longer until Elijah arranged to meet them after the weekend to discuss the practical details of the tuition and returned home.
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Author's Note :
Again thank you for reading. Would love some feedback from you though.
If you enjoyed this (and previous) chapter(s), you might be interested to know the story is a few chapters further along on my yahoo group (for link see profile page).
Have a nice weekend all. Hope you Americans enjoy SuperBowl Sunday.
kadedeetje