Title: Kiss.

Author: AspergianStoryteller.

Genre: Supernatural/General.

Summary: When a dementor tried to Kiss Harry Potter, it got more than it bargained for. And Harry did not walk away unaffected. Don't own Harry Potter.

Chapter 15: To Study In The Dark.

Getting a hospital check up and dementor treatment worked up an appetite, and the two of them were looking forward to a Hogwarts lunch when they got back.

'So I reckon we're probably safe to start trying out Dark Arts after next week.'

'Sweet. Where can we practise though?' Ron swallowed his pasta.

'We could hang back during a Hogsmeade weekend and practise in the dorm,' Harry suggested.

'I don't want to miss getting out,' Ron shook his head. 'And it'll look suspicious. How about the library? We can do it real quietly. Or we could sneak into a spare classroom and take turns looking out.'

'We need to be more careful than that,' Hermione said. 'The castle wards can detect Dark magic being cast.'

'Then how come-'

'Certain areas will be free, otherwise alarms would go off in every Defence class. And swallow before talking.'

Ron swallowed, then said 'Okay then, how about the Shrieking Shack? No one goes there now and we could still spend some time in town.'

'Maybe.'

'We won't get to practise very often though.' Harry thought for a moment. 'Hermione, do you know which areas in the castle are warded?'

'I can guess some. Defence class, Moody's office- probably all the teachers' offices, maybe in the Forest... I could research ward detection spells.'

'That'd be great. We can't exactly ask around for unwarded areas to practise this stuff in. It needs to be easy to get to, private, unwarded and have enough space to practise... I wonder if the Chamber of Secrets would be alright?'

Hermione and Ron both did a spit take. Harry laughed.

'Harry!'

'The Chamber? Seriously?'

'Shh! Yeah seriously. It's not too far away, only I can get us in, it's really old and hardly anyone has been able to get in, except for Voldemort so it's likely to be unwarded and we could work on the entrance. Put some stairs in maybe.'

'Have you forgotten what happened in there? And the fact that there's a bloody huge dead snake down there?'

'I remember all that Ron but it's not as dangerous any more. I mean, it's dead. If we just avoid touching it we'll be fine. Think about it. Voldemort probably started his education in the Dark Arts down there and he got away with it. We're not him, but three heads are better than one, and we've got you Hermione.'

'Well, you do have a point Harry. We'll use the ward detection spell down there but I want to check other locations as well.'

'Fine. Ron?'

'Might as well check it out. Got to be better than the Forest?'

'Definitely. Everything in the Chamber is dead so no weird animals to look out for... Oh. Man, that really sounds cheerful.'

They shared nervous laughter.

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It took Hermione less that an hour to find "Detection Spells for Dummies and People Who Think They're Not Dummies"(it took Ron and Harry's arguing that no she was not a dummy and yes she could totally handle the other books but it would take up unnecessary time right now to make her settle) and took them several hours of reading and practising ('You two should learn this too! I'm not doing the hard work all the time!') to get down the basic detection charms.

Once satisfied they could do t right, they spit up to scope out the school for their new "classroom". Harry went straight to the Chamber.

'Scutum Admissum Detector.' A subtle check for ward detection detectors.

'Annotata Admissum Magicae.' A general check for magic surveillance.

'Scuta Nigra Deprehendere Magicae.' A check for wards to detect Dark magic.

'All clear. I thought so.' Harry had a look around the Chamber, having much more time now that there wasn't a great deadly basilisk or the memory of Voldemort after him.

Well, it was dark and gloomy. Wet. Lots of pipe entrances. And bones. This place was pretty big. Like, maybe the size of the Great Hall. Harry peered out of the source of the green lighting and a fish swam by. The few windows in here must be under the Black Lake like the Slytherin dorms were. Wouldn't be surprised if this place was connected to there... Hey, maybe it is! Maybe there's another secret passage that I can open with Parsletongue. I wonder if the main Slytherin dorm can be opened with Parsletongue? I could sneak in and prank them from the inside! Well, so long as they don't realise that. Snape would be the first I bet. When we're not practising spells we can have fun exploring. Now that the pipes only have water and stuff... in them... Okay, check them before we go in. Wait- was the basilisk slithering around the school covered in crap! How did no one smell that? It must have used cleaner pipes. Speaking of the basilisk...

Harry approached the large snakes' corpse, careful not to get too close to the blood that might be potent. Surprisingly, it didn't smell too much. Perhaps it something to do with being a magical snake? God, I killed that? How the hell did I not loose a limb or something? Well, getting bitten must count. If not for Fawkes I'd be dead. Hmm, we use snake parts in Potions sometimes, are there any that need basilisk parts? Probably not 'cause it's so rare, but maybe there's something. What would happen if I chucked a scale into Malfoy's potion before he tries to sabotage mine? Nah, that'd be a bit too dangerous. Would Snape have a heart attack if he saw me using this in class? I'll ask Hermione about this. 'I should go back now. I still need to check the Forest, though this place really is more suitable.'

Lacking a phoenix in handy to give him a lift back up to the bathroom, Harry had snuck his broomstick in under the invisibility cloak. We can worry about stairs later.

'Open.' Oh good, Myrtle's not back yet. I'll have to do something about her... Would kind of bribe would she accept? Not a kiss I hope.

XXX xxx XXX

Sneaking into the Forbidden Forest wasn't too difficult either. Making sure not to go via the way to Arragog's lair, Harry flew the trees making observations. A few bowtruckle trees there... a crow's nest... Hippogryffs in that clearing, take caution... Several thestrals... Oo! Unicorns! Centaurs, again, take caution... Pixies (shh! That was a close one!)... Fairies... Uh oh, blast-ended-skwret on the loose! A few snakes ('I smell human. Ugh.')... There were definitely some empty clearings they could could practise spells in, Harry deduced, but it wouldn't be his first choice. There were dangerous creatures living here and what if Hagrid came across them on a stroll? On the bright side, the Forest did not have Dark magic detection wards so they could practise out here if they needed to.

XXX xxx XXX

'Every room on the left corridor and the room where you fought Quirrel.' Hermione concluded her list of safe places in the empty Fourth Year Boys' Dorm.

'Right. That's a lot of places. Not sure I fancy going back to that room though,' Harry said.

'Me neither.'

'Let's pick out the worst places. That room is definitely out of the way, but bad memories. The Forest is full of dangerous animals and probably plants too.'

They eventually decided on several different places they could use, including the Chamber. Ron and Hermione said they would decide after they had had a good look around it themselves. So Harry brought them down the next day (his space out on the way back up thankfully only lasted a few seconds). After an exploration, the suggestion of prank ideas and potions research possibilities and the agreement to tidy up, it was decided that the Chamber of Secrets would be their main Dark Arts practise classroom.

XXX xxx XXX

*Quoted from the book.* English-to-Lation translation from Google. What do you think? Does anyone seem ooc so far? Ah, now while it was very tragic, JKR's death toll was admittedly realistic. I can't save everyone, but start telling me now who you most want to live and I'll see what I can do. Thanks for reading!