I do not own the wonderful worlds that are Harry Potter and Charmed
I do not own the wonderful worlds that are Harry Potter and Charmed.
Chapter 27
Fires, Floating, and Summoning Charms
Last Time…
"That sounds like a good idea, so I will see you lot at lunch and don't you dare think of going to the 'Room' without me" Ginny said just before she headed off to Transfiguration.
"Wouldn't dream of it Gin" Harry called after her.
Smiling the trio headed towards the Dungeons for their first ever Potions lesson with out Severus Snape.
Hogwarts,
September 2nd.
She had everything planned for future lessons but the one she had yet to plan for, was the first one and it was now down to the wire. Sighing, she set down her quill and put her hand into her robes and pulled out a pocket watch. At seeing the time she stood up and began to head back to her office. Before opening her office door, she pulled out her wand and with a 'flick' the classroom doors opened creaking eerily in the silence.
She had just closed the door to her office when she heard the sounds of students making their way into the room. It was as she was listening to them that she was reminded of her own school days. That's when the idea hit her, and she now knew what potion she was going to have her students concoct. She was brought out of her musings by a bell in the distance letting her know that it was time to start the lesson. Just as she was about to grad a-hold of the handle another idea hit her, and so she once again pulled out her wand and tapped her hair and her robes. Sighing once more she gave the handle a turn and stepped out into the room to begin her first class as Potions Master of Hogwarts.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione arrived at the potions classroom to find the doors open. Seeing that there were already students inside they too walked into the room. As they took there seats in the middle of the room Harry said "Well, this is new" as he looked around.
The look of the classroom had indeed changed. It was no longer cold but warm, though a cool breeze seemed to make itself known at random intervals. There was more color on the wall which that alone made it less dank and dreary and almost like a normal classroom.
It was not long before that last few stragglers walked in and found a seat, and as soon as they sat down the doors slammed shut with a resounding 'BOOM'. The class jumped not expecting the doors to do that. Usually Snape would 'glide' in and tell them to get started but as this was a new Professor they did not know what to expect.
The room was silent except for the sound of a door creaking open. A shaft of light permeated the darkened dungeon, drawing all eyes to its source. What they saw astounded them. There, under the arc of the door, stood a witch of medium height. Her robes were moving in such a way, it looked as though a gentle breeze was flowing around her. But what had caused the students to look at her in such a way was her hair it was dancing all around her head like flames from a fireplace. Later if asked, students would swear that they saw a few sparks fly from her hair.
Smiling she began her trek to the front of the room. When she got there she was met with every eye on her and decided that it would be best to put an end to the theatrics, otherwise they would get nothing done. So with a wave of her wand she canceled the enchantments so that the students could really look at her.
She had elegant facial features, and her cheek bones stood out but not overly, so she had an aristocratic face but did not look unfriendly. In fact it was the exact opposite she seemed to have this friendly air about her. She had long flowing blonde hair with red highlights that fell around her shoulders and stopped just at the small of her back. Harry also noted that this year had to be one for Professors with unique eyes, because hers were a sparkling purple that seemed to just go through you. Her robes were also something that had caught his attention. They were a dark blue with silver stars that seemed twinkle in the dim light of the potions classroom.
Knowing that she had wasted enough time she decided to start with a simple "Good morning class".
"Good morning Professor" came the resounding reply.
"My name is Professor Tabitha Sparks and I will be your new Potions instructor" She paused a moment to 'take in' the students around her.
"Before we get started today I wanted to tell you all just a few things. First; I will not tolerate any misbehaving in this classroom. Second; you will not bring your petty house rivalries through my door. You are sixth year students and are expected to set an example. And last but not least I will not hesitate to take house points from any of you. I do not care who you are or who you are related to, if you disrupt my teaching you and your house will suffer.
As she finished, she did not miss the look the past between the Harry, Ron, and Hermione. Turning her gaze back to the entire class she asked "Now, do you have any questions?" seeing a hand go up she nodded to the person and said "Yes, Miss…"
"Granger, Hermione Granger; I was just curious as to why there are so few of us in the class?" Hermione asked putting her hand down.
"My predecessor only allowed those with a score of 'O' into this class, and upon seeing the roster I went straight to the Headmaster and he allowed me to lower it to an 'EE'. But even lowering it did not help, and so you lot are it." Professor Sparks answered.
Nodding in understanding Hermione sat back, quill at the ready to take notes. Seeing no other hand raised Professor Sparks continued.
"Today we will be brewing a potion of my own creation. It is called 'Piece of Mind'. She paused and looked at the students, most of whom looked intrigued especially Hermione; who was busy looking at the Professor with wide eyes and writing everything down. "I achieved the title of Potions Master or rather Mistress with this one".
"And while I would normally explain to you what this potion does today I will not, because I want to see if you can figure it out while you are brewing it. The instructions are on the board." And with a flick of her wand the instructions started to appear as if an invisible hand had started to write. "Although, I will tell you that the first person to tell me what the effects of this potion are will earn their house 200 points"
At the mention of house points there was flurry of movement, each reading the board and copying down the ingredients and brewing instructions. The only person not moving at all was one Harry Potter, who was just sitting there looking at the board lost in thought.
"Harry" Hermione said as she gave him nudge, bringing him out of his thoughts.
"What?" Harry asked turning his attention to her.
"Staring at the board will not start your potion, get a move on" She replied.
"I know what the potion does" Harry stated in a whisper.
"What, you haven't even started the potion, much less heard of it. How could you possibly know?" Hermione asked loudly just as Harry raised a hand.
"Yes, Mr.…"
"Potter, ma'am I know what the potion does" he said.
"Mr. Potter, I must admit that I am of the same mind as your friend Miss. Granger. You have yet to start your potion and you expect me to believe that you know what it does" Professor Sparks stated.
"Well ma'am, it is quite simple really. The Pomegranate, is used to strengthen the mind, and the Ginger gives a sharpness to the potion; more of a kick if you will, while the Peppermint is used to give it a pleasant flavor and finally the Jobberknoll is used in most wit sharpening potions to help you recall things easier. This ingredient coupled with the Pomegranate is what makes the potion work." Harry stated matter of factly.
Professor Sparks had a calculating look upon her face as she looked at The-Boy-Who-Lived. After a moment of silence she began to walk towards Harry and when she arrived in front of him she said "Mr. Potter, while you have demonstrated your knowledge of how the ingredients work together, you have yet to tell me what the potion actually does".
"Well it is called 'Piece of Mind', and so what it does is brings up a forgotten memory from the deepest part of your mind; a memory that you were to young or traumatized to remember." As he finished Harry smiled and looked around found the entire class staring at him, cauldrons forgotten. Hermione, Harry saw, was looking at him with wide eyes in complete shock.
"Hermione, why is everyone looking at me? Do I have something on my face?" Harry asked with a smile forming on his face as he fiend ignorance.
This comment spurned the Potions Mistress into action who said "Everyone, get back to your potions, and Mr. Potter, please kindly stay after class" and she turned on her heel and went back to her desk. Just as she was about to sit down she looked out at the class and said "Oh and Mr. Potter".
Yes ma'am?" Harry asked
"Take 300 points for Gryffindor" Professor Sparks said. She then sat down and began to go through some of the papers that littered her desk Harry smiled and nodded and began to work on the task for the day.
An hour and a half later the class could be found bottling their concoctions and then leaving them on the Professors desk. Harry, having finished the potion he too left it on her desk and went back to clean his workspace. He had just put away the last of his things when the clock tower chimed, signaling the end of the period.
"We'll meet you in Transfiguration Harry" Hermione said as she walked to the door, pulling a reluctant Ron behind her.
"Yea, see ya mate" Ron yelled back.
Nodding to his friends he slung his bag over his shoulder and strolled up to the desk. "Mr. Potter, I asked you to stay after so that so that we could talk in private, about how you knew what the potion did with out even having started it." She asked looking at Harry curiously.
"Well, I looked over the ingredients and just knew" Harry said with a shrug.
"But how did you know just by looking at the board?" She pushed.
"Well to be honest, this past summer I decided to go through all of my books, and really, I focused mainly on Potions so that come sixth year I would be able to shove it in Professor Snapes' face when I turned in perfect essays and flawless potions" Harry said with a shrug.
"Surely you did not learn all about potions and its different ingredients by yourself" the Professor stated questioningly.
"Uh…no" Harry said flatly.
"Well at any rate, very well done today, and as an added bonus" She paused and reached into one of the desk drawers and pulled out a potion vial and continued "I am going to give you enough of the potion to put you to sleep and let you re-live a memory".
"Thank you ma'am, though I don't remember there being any ingredients with sleeping properties in the one we brewed today" Harry stated.
"Well, you would be correct yet again. Like I said before I created the potion and therefore know how to alter it accordingly. The one you and your classmates brewed today was an altered version of it which will only let you remember it. With this one it puts you into a sleep, and lets you view it as though you were inside a pensive" The Professor explained.
"Wow, thank you, but I was also wondering if I could as k you a question" Harry paused and at seeing her nod he continued. "Why did you award me an extra hundred points? Not that I am complaining".
The Professor smiled and said "Well, you correctly identified what the potion did and what was in it without even batting an eye, which, if you ask me is quite a feat".
"I guess, anyway thank you again Professor, but I really think that I need to head off to my next class" Harry said as he looked at his watch.
"Yes, of course, but take this just in case Professor McGonagall gives you any problems" Professor Sparks said as she handed Harry a note.
Smiling, Harry reached out and took the note and said "See you later Professor" and ran out of the Potions classroom. Harry made it to Transfiguration and walked through the doors just as the bell in the distance chimed. Not wanting to get on his Head of House's bad side on the first day, he walked up to the front of the room and handed her the note.
"Thank you Mr. Potter, now if you could please take your seat" Professor McGonagall said motioning for him to sit.
After sitting down he whispered 'Later' to Ron, and Hermione who were looking at him expectantly. Nodding in understanding they all turned their attention to the aged Transfiguration teacher, who had decided to spend the next two hours lecturing them about the art of wordless spell casting, and next years NEWTS. Something Hermione was immensely glad about. After the class was over Harry leaned over to Hermione, with a smile on his face asked.
"Hermione, are you planning on publishing that book?"
"What are you talking about Harry?" Hermione asked in reply.
"I think what Harry means Mione, is that you took so many notes on wordless casting, he just assumed that you were planning on publishing them" Ron said without missing a beat.
"Well, if I did, I happen to know for a fact that you two would not read it. Because one, you like to leave everything to the last minute, and two, you both are not able to decipher the language of 'Granger'". Hermione said with a smile/smirk.
"To right you are" both Harry, and Ron exclaimed at the same time. They were halfway to the Great Hall when the Gryffindor Trio could not hold it anymore and they burst into gales of laughter.
It was joking like this only a tight knit group who; had battled a troll, beaten a giant chess set, discovered a secret chamber, freed an 'innocent' escaped convict, battled creatures of the deep, and single handedly made sure a Dark Lord did not get his hands on a certain prophecy could make.
When they arrived into the Great Hall they found Ginny already eating her lunch. The trio sat down and promptly began to load food onto their plates, though Hermione barley put anything on hers and Harry, he had a good idea as to why she eating so little.
"Hermione, we will not be going to the 'room' until I am done eating and I plan on taking my time, so please eat more than one bite" Harry said.
Giving a sigh she loaded just a little bit more and began to eat. "So what do you think of the new Potions professor?" she asked attempting to break the silence that had settled.
"Well, she's no Snape that's for sure, and believe me that is a good thing" Ron paused a moment and then said "She is also easy on the eyes".
"That aside" Harry started "She definitely knows her stuff, and that potion she had us brew…I am looking forward to seeing what else she has for us"
"Why did she have you stay after?" Hermione asked looking to Harry for an answer.
"She asked me again how I knew what the potion did, and she gave me this" Harry replied pulling out the potion vial.
"Is that the potion we did today?" Ron asked.
"Yea it is, but, it's different..." But Harry was cut off by Hermione who asked "How?"
"Well as I was about to say, it's going to put me to sleep, so I can view it as though I'm watching a memory in a pensive" Harry explained.
"Nice, do you have enough for me to have some mate?" Ron asked.
"No, she only gave me enough for one person, sorry Ron" Harry replied.
"When are you going to take the potion?" Hermione asked.
"I'm not sure, but I do know that I want to do it on my own…not that I won't tell you guys, there's just no telling what the memory could be" Harry replied looking at his friends.
"Harry, don't feel like you need to defend your reasons to us, we understand" Hermione said with smile, while Ron nodded his head.
"Anyway how about we start a new subject?" Harry asked with a smile.
"Like what?" Ginny asked curiously.
"Well, what about the one where I start off by saying I'm done with my lunch" Harry said standing up.
"But you just started eating" Hermione exclaimed as she followed Harry in standing up.
"Well, to be fair I wasn't that hungry" Harry said with a smile.
"Lets go then, I really want to see some of what you can do" Ron said earning him three stares. "What?" he questioned as he stood up.
"Ron, you never like to miss a meal much less stop eating after you have started in on one" Ginny said with a smirk as she too stood.
"Yea, well, I can have my days can't I?" Ron asked looking hurt.
"Yes you can, but I for one don't want to hear you groaning later about how you did not get enough to eat" Hermione said.
"Nah, if I get hungry, I'll go to the kitchens and get something" He said with a smile.
"Right, just make sure you leave enough food for dinner" Harry said leading the way out of the Great Hall.
"Don't you mean, leave room for dinner?" Ron asked looking confused.
"No, I said it how I meant it. You could liberate the kitchen of all of its food and still be hungry". Harry joked.
"Ha ha, anyway, what are you going to show us?" Ron asked.
"You'll just have to wait like everyone else" Harry said with a smile. But the truth was that he really had no idea of what he was going to show them. There was so much he could do, and he had a hard time choosing something's that would not get many questions asked, and could be explained away by the magic taught at Hogwarts. And before he knew it they had arrived at the tapestry of Barnabus the Barmy and Hermione was already pacing in front of the wall and not a moment later a door materialized where the blank slab had just been.
She turned the handle and opened the door and the four of them made their way into the room to find it equipped with four squishy armchairs all sitting around a coffee table one across from the other. They each took a seat and Ron, Hermione, and Ginny all turned their attention to Harry waiting for him to start. Not knowing where start, Harry closed his eyes for a second and took a breath then said.
"Ok, I told you that while I was with my Guardians…" but he was cut off by Hermione who said "Who's, names you still have not told us".
"Listen, if you want to see this then you need to be quiet and I will tell you who my Guardians are when I feel like it" Harry snapped and after taking a calming breath he looked at Hermione and said "Look, I'm sorry but you asked to see this and I really could do with not having any questions right now".
"I'm sorry, please continue" Hermione said apologetically.
"Ok, so the first thing I am going to show you I learned to do about a week and a half into my training. I was able to do it after I learned to clear my mind and started to meditate" Raising his hand palm up he snapped his fingers and there, sitting in his hand was a ball of fire. Harry's three friends sat there with widened eyes. Harry smiled and promptly shut his hands causing the fire to go out.
"Harry" Hermione gasped "You're an Elemental, you can create fire"
"Hardly, the last time there was an Elemental was when Hogwarts was founded, and that was Godric Gryffindor. That was merely a wandless/ wordless conjuration of the fire spell you used to set fire to Snape in first year" Harry said matter of factly.
"But how did you get it to stay in your hand if you can't control it?" Ginny asked.
"Well, another thing I learned is something I can't really show you, but suffice it to say I also learned the art of spell combination, something you all saw on the train when I did the secrecy spell on you. But I digress; I merged the fire spell with a localizing spell. For example if I were to cast the localizing charm and then cast the fire spell then the fire would not be able to leave the area it is confined to" Harry answered looking at the group.
"That is really advanced magic, wordless and not to mention wandless spell casting. How did you learn how to do that?" Hermione asked in awe.
"Well, like I said I had to learn how to clear my mind and I had to be really good about organizing my thoughts, but anyway, I just figured that since magic is just apart of me I should be able to cast it without a wand. And casting it wordlessly is not that big a deal once you learn how to really do it. But it was the wandless part that gave me the trouble; the wand movement part. But instead of looking like a fool waving my arm about, I decided to make my own wand movement; hence the 'snap' of my fingers. After all, spell casting is all about the intent on which you cast the spell, you just think about what you want to happen and cast. It really cuts down on the wand waving" Harry sat back as he finished explaining. He really had not planned on explaining it all out like that, but once he got started he had to finish or else he knew that Hermione would pester him for more info.
"Ok, so what are you going to do next?" Ron asked eagerly. He had really liked the first thing Harry had shown and wanted to see some more of the stuff that Harry could do.
Harry thought for a moment as to what he should do next and then it hit him like a ton of bricks. "For this next one the rooms ceiling needs to be taller" and as if on cue the ceiling started to rise up, making the room have a vaulted ceiling of ten feet. Standing up Harry smiled and pulled out his wand and tapped himself, and what happened next caused Hermione and Ginny to gasp. For Harry had started to float higher and higher with his arms stretched out, as though this was helping him do so.
"Harry come back down here" Ginny exclaimed.
Harry, on his decent had an idea of what to do next and that would have to be it because he really could not show them anything else without telling them how he learned how to do everything he could. And so as soon as his feet touched the ground he lifted his hand, palm up and gestured to Ron as though he was asking for his best mate to come over to where he was. However that was not the case because in the next moment Ron's wand could be seen flying into Harry's outstretched hand. Smiling at his friends, who all had looks of 'Holy Crap' written all over their face. Grasping the wand firmly in his hand he handed it back to Ron, who took it with trepidation.
"What was that mate?" Ron asked.
"That was a wandless/ wordless summoning charm Ron" Harry answered with a smile.
"And what about the floating thing you did Harry?" Ginny asked.
"Well, that was me just silently casting the Wingardium Leviosa charm" Harry replied with a smile.
"I thought that you could not cast that on a person" Hermione stated as though she had pulled that phrase out of a book.
"You normally can't, unless you have control over the spell. Because it really only makes you feather-light, but I can control it" Harry finished matter of factly.
"But anyway, as much fun as this has been, it is almost time for Herbology, and we are quite a ways from the greenhouses" Harry said standing up and making his way to the door. But before he opened the door he looked to the three of them he asked "I don't have to remind you about the secrecy spell that I put on you do I?"
When he was met with three nods he opened the door and they all headed out. Leaving Ginny in the Charms corridor, as she had the diminutive Professor Flitwick; Harry, Ron, and Hermione however made their way out to Greenhouse number five for their third lesson dealing with an overexcited Professor Sprout and her numerous plants.
The Gryffindor trio's day went by rather quickly. After Herbology they had Care of Magical Creatures; in which they had to correctly identify all of the creatures they had seen to date. After having Hagrids class they left for the Great Hall. Dinner that night for the trio and Ginny was an uneventful affair; that was until Draco Malfoy started to walk over to their table. The funny thing was that he never made it over to them due to someone having tied Draco's shoelaces together. Though, no one was sure how they had managed that as no one had been walking by him at the time or had their wand out. But Hogwarts was a castle where magic was taught and its inhabitants knew that here, anything can happen.
And so that night after settling down after a long first day Harry got out his communication book and wrote to his mom, letting her know how the first day went and that he was alive…and above all else, was safe. As soon as he had penned the short note to her, he changed into his night clothes and closed the hangings around his bed and went to sleep; dreaming about flying around the school with out the aid of a broom.
A/N: Well here it is, the longest chapter to date, coming to a total of 4,633 words. I hope you all enjoyed it. There is a lot of stuff in here and writing this chapter has given me some more stuff to work with. I want to thank all of you who have reviewed so far. This chapter is dedicated to all of you who have been sending me reviews. You do not know how much it means to me.
Anyway, as always please leave yoru thoughts on this chapter. So in other words...please REVIEW.
Thanks again.
Mudbloodpotter05.