Chapter-4 To Be Stronger (Edited : 2nd July 2015)
A small beep, emitted from the watch tied around the left wrist of the Boy-Who-Lived, made him check out the time, 5:00 A.M in the morning. Harry sighed, though a satisfactory smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He had woken up at four in the morning, feeling refreshed and very well rested. He couldn't explain, how or what provoked him to jerk awake at that ungodly hour.
Knowing that going back to sleep was impossible, not with the amount of energy and restlessness that seemed to seep through him, he had changed tactics by pulling out his Charms Book from the previous night flipping over to the fourth Chapter, continuing from where he had left off.
It was now five in the morning and he had finished thoroughly reading the theory and spell work behind animation Charms. Should he try out the spells … now? He had nothing better to do, rather than read Chapter 5, but he wasn't feeling particularly bookish at the moment.
Rather than that, he could feel the magic in his body, calling him, begging him to be used. A split second later, Harry still in his nightclothes waded down to the common room. A small fire cackled merrily at the corner where the fireplace was situated, barely lighting up the entire room.
'Perfect' he though as he dropped the book on one of the nearby chairs and pulled out his wand.
Looking around, he spotted the perfect object for his experimentation, a doll or a puppy, whatever it was, bless those first years.
'Eademque Imperium' Harry barely whispered, pointing his wand at the doll.
Will a miniscule jerk it popped up straight, standing or more like hovering over the couch. Not that Harry would admit it, but he felt really unnerved, just by looking into those beady black eyes of the doll. Concentrating, he willed the doll to lift its hand, albeit did so slowly.
Smirking at his success, he concentrated on the doll to complete a 360 degree spin. It spun only 90 before falling down.
'Practice Potter, Practice' he recited in his mind. He had not one but four Chapters of spell work to complete. No worries though as he had plenty of time or at least another hour he supposed.
It was 6:30, by the time Harry finished his castings. He had mastered all the spells up until Chapter-3, however, Chapter-4 would have to wait, and seeing as his fellow housemates would be filling in into the common room any time now.
He waved his wand, making all the items he had found in the common room which he had used for his practice fly back to their original locations. Wand in one hand and the Charms book in the other he crept back up to his dorm.
'Shower first' he thought, observing the thin layer of sweat coated over his body. Practicing magic extensively for an hour cost a lot, though he couldn't help but feel slightly apprehensive of his lack of magical exhaustion. Had he tried this last year, he was sure that he would've suckled to exhaustion by now.
He knew how much magic it took to cast spells repeatedly for over an hour. Hell, he didn't ace through the maze last year for nothing. The month before the third task had been spent on rapidly increasing his spell repertoire. Befuddlement jinxes, Bludgeon hexes, Damn, he couldn't remember a time when he had worked harder.
But now, Magic came to him almost naturally, as though he had found a reserve. Or more like, he had already had a reserve and had found a way to draw from it. Even though it made him slightly wary, not knowing the source or cause of his new found increased … Power … for the lack of words, he wasn't complaining. Hell, who would? Not when it might help save your life from a madman who has been pinning after you for about fourteen years.
Maybe there was a way to increase ones magic. He should probably check with some of the books in the library to explain his situation. Maybe even consult Madam Pomfrey, who would often start fussing over him at the first opportunity. He knew he was very fond of the woman, how can he not be, with her treating him with cases against Dementors, Dragons, elves and what not.
It had been fifteen minutes since he had entered the Bathroom, and here he was drowning in the shower, having not even lifted the bar of soap on the side stand. He needed to move, he had a long day ahead.
Speaking of a long day brought forth thoughts about Chang and her gang of cronies. Seamus seemed excited about the confrontation. Hogwarts was filled with rumor mills and lies and he was no newbie to them. However the most fascinating rumors seemed to be totally enveloped around him. Though he would never acknowledge it, deep down he knew that he was a celebrity, a damn popular one at that.
Sometimes he had the feel that, had he publicly declared the return of Voldemort in front of the press or among the masses, the Ministry would've been forced to admit the truth. Well, he could still try, though a part of him felt that he should allow the idiots to rot.
'Damn, when did I start thinking like this?' he thought turning off the shower and stepping out of the bathroom, a white towel wrapped around his waist. Standing in front of the mirror he observed his thin fragile body. He wasn't scrawny enough for his ribs to be visible, but enough for them to be felt. A little bit of muscle resided in the both of his arms, just like in his legs, owing to the tedious work handed out by the Dursley's summed with his Quidditch training. He really needed to eat and stuff himself more to look like a proper, normal teenager. Thoughts aside he slipped into School robes and left his dorm, his books secured inside his backpack.
The common room was empty. Knowing that the food would be served in the Great Hall by 7:15 or 7:30 he set out for the kitchens. Hopefully Dobby would be able to put something together for him to eat.
One tickled pear later he was watching numerous elves bustling about busily preparing breakfast. They all turned towards him, looking hopefully with those big round eyes.
"Harry Potter Sir!" squeaked a voice to his left.
Smiling slightly, he turned around to see Dobby. Crouching in front of the elf so as to be at the same eye level, "Hey Dobby. How are you?"
A Wrong thing to ask an elf. Tears gathered around the elf's eyes making Harry uncomfortable. "Harry Potter is a great Wizard. Harry Potter ask Dobby how he is. Dobby is honored sir"
"Ummm …. Yes … could you get me something to eat Dobby, I am awfully hungry" he said rubbing his stomach as it rumbled a little.
The elf nodded its head with its ears flapping. A few snaps of elfish fingers later, Harry was comfortably sitting on a small round table enjoying a pleasant morning meal.
He had double potions to start the day with. He had read and memorized well but he knew that it wouldn't matter with Snape, Greasy Bat. He mentally shrugged. He knew and could brew the potion correctly. That's what mattered.
He still had a lot to overcome though. Potions was last on his list of things to conquer. He needed to learn a lot of new spells not only to face Voldemort but to even match up to his inner circle Death Eaters. His luck had saved him for four years. He couldn't and wouldn't rely on it, starting from now.
Learning new spells seemed exciting. He could not help but want more of the thrill he had experienced while casting those Animation Charms. If such simple spells could get him excited, he couldn't wait to try out more complex and powerful defensive spells. He doubted whether the Hogwarts library hosted such books on Advanced Magic, maybe in the restricted section. He doubted whether anyone without an invisibility cloak would be able to access those books.
He couldn't check it out tonight. There was nothing stopping him. A small frown marred his face. Where would he be able to practice such spells, definitely not in the common room? The shrieking Shack, maybe?
"Is Harry Potter sir not liking the food?" Dobby asked breaking Harry out of his thoughts.
"What? No Dobby, I just have a small problem, nothing much" Harry easily replied.
"Dobby help Harry Potter sir. Harry Potter set Dobby free and Dobby is much happier now" the elf replied happily.
The elf did indeed seem happy. "Ummm … there isn't much you can do to help me Dobby … but … do you happen to know a place at Hogwarts where I would be able to practice magic without being disturbed or discovered"
He expected the elf's smile to vanish, his ears to droop; he expected him to say that this was impossible, or else that he would try, but his hopes were not high. … What he had not expected was for Dobby to give a little skip, his ears waggling happily, and clap his hands together.
"Dobby knows the perfect place, sir!" he said happily. "Dobby heard tell of it from the other house-elves when he came to Hogwarts, sir. It is known by us as the Come and Go Room, sir, or else as the Room of Requirement!"
"Why?" said Harry curiously.
"Because it is a room that a person can only enter," said Dobby seriously, "when they have real need of it. Sometimes it is there, and sometimes it is not, but when it appears, it is always equipped for the seeker's needs. Dobby has used it, sir," said the elf, dropping his voice and looking guilty, "when Winky has been very drunk. He has hidden her in the Room of Requirement and he has found antidotes to butterbeer there, and a nice elf-sized bed to settle her on while she sleeps it off, sir. … And Dobby knows Mr. Filch has found extra cleaning materials there when he has run short, sir, and —"
"— and if you really needed a bathroom," said Harry, suddenly remembering something Dumbledore had said at the Yule Ball the previous Christmas, "would it fill itself with chamber pots?"
"Dobby expects so, sir," said Dobby, nodding earnestly. "It is a most amazing room, sir."
"How many people know about it?" said Harry, sitting up straighter in his chair.
"Very few, sir. Mostly people stumbles across it when they needs it, sir, but often they never finds it again, for they do not know that it is always there waiting to be called into service, sir."
"It sounds brilliant," said Harry, his heart racing. "It sounds perfect, Dobby. When can you show me where it is?"
"Anytime, Harry Potter, sir," said Dobby, looking delighted at Harry's enthusiasm. "We could go now, if you like!"
Breakfast forgotten, Harry stood up grabbing his book bag in the process, "Take me there now Dobby" he said.
Before he could comprehend the elf grabbed his hand and the two of them disappeared with a Crack, reappearing on a seventh floor corridor.
"Harry Potter sir needs to walk three times in front of the painting thinking in what he wants, sir" Dobby said happily.
He stood still for a few minutes, going over what he really wanted. He could ask for anything and magic would provide it. A large part of him was still doubtful that such a room could exist.
Closing his eyes he walked past the said painting three times, Thinking hard, 'I need a place to learn magic without being discovered'.
After the third time he stared expectantly, looking around for some gate .. or something.
He looked at Dobby, the elf seemed even more excited, as if that was possible. He pulled his eyes away from the elf, to find himself staring at a door, not the wall he was previously standing in front of.
Gaping wide, he numbly pushed past the doors and walked inside. He numbly registered the door closing behind him, his emerald eyes darting from one bookshelf to another. A central area, raised on a blue platform seemed to be surrounded by a bubble of some type. The perimeter of the entire room seemed to be filled with bookshelves containing various exotic books.
There were Tomes, Scrolls, Battered Old Books which seemed centuries old, Parchments on a nearby table full of notes and what not. The entire room seemed drenched in magic. He was sure that even Ron would find it himself the desire to learn once he entered this room.
He traced his hands along the bookshelves, his fingers gliding across, Spell Creation: The Basics, Charming the Charmed, Battle Transfiguration, The Basics of Legilimecy, An Introduction to offensive magic, etc. He looked up to see, Duelling written in big bold letters on the Bookshelf.
'So these books are exclusively for duelling' he thought, as his eyes seeking out a shelf labeled Transfiguration, Charms was on the opposite side of the room.
He grinned. Harry Potter grinned a massive grin, making the room light up even more. His mouth quirked upwards, the muscles present there trying to maintain their new position having never been used in quite a few months. Even the elf watching the fifteen year old boy, felt … happy, Happy by just seeing the depressed teen that had come to him for breakfast, grin so widely.
He would train hard. He would survive. And he would live life to the fullest. Those were the three aims that Harry Potter set for himself that morning. He grin faltered a bit as he remembered where he was and what a day he was heading into. His face became steely as iron clad determination shone through his eyes.
He would return here, at five to complete his schoolwork and practice a bit more magic. Now, he needed to endure and face the immature behavior of his schoolmates. He motioned for Dobby to take him back to the kitchens.
He finished his leftover breakfast on Dobby's conjured table, and thanked the elf profusely for both breakfast and the room, which successfully created a small puddle of water in the kitchens. Saying Goodbyes to the elves he left the kitchens.
7:00 P.M – Room of Requirement
' … since most spells, despite their wand movements are all about the witch/wizards intent. The incantations are secondary but still play a vital role in the execution and are mostly in Latin' Harry read on. He had picked up the book he had seen on spell creation as soon as he had entered the room.
It was amazing, to say the least. It gave someone like him, who had not taken Arithmancy a wide insight on the working of spell creation. He now knew that he need not necessarily know Arithmancy to create his own spell.
Anyways, he wasn't going to attempt any spell creations until he was sure he had the basics down a one hundred percent, seeing as how the smallest mistake could leave him with severe magical exhaustion or some sort of magical explosion, which were common accidents in the field of spell creation.
Unwillingly he shut the book on Spell Creation. He had planned on finishing the Charms homework as early as possible so that he could have a lot of time for his side-studying. He browsed the Charms section for the necessary book to do his homework before settling down on a comfortable couch near the side of the Transfiguration section.
Two hours later, he had finished the Charms assignment which was due in a week. He looked at his assignment, admiring his neat loopy Handwriting, a feeling of triumph filling his body. Even Hermione would not have finished the Charms work. Now he could he go back to his extra magic learning.
His stomach rumbled loudly, making him grin, a bit more at the thought of food. Packing his bag, he carefully placed his Charms work inside it, handling it with extreme care as though it would catch fire if he held it any more roughly.
The inhabitants of Hogwarts didn't see a door mysteriously appear on the seventh floor corridor, nor did they see it open and close after a few seconds. They definitely didn't see a grinning Boy-Who-Lived under his invisibility cloak.
It was fifteen minutes past nine, and Harry was sitting once more on a conjured chair with the table in front of him filled with food. He began digging in, consuming in one meal more than what he was given for a day at the Dursleys. He vaguely recalled that he ought to go to the Great Hall, for appearances. He had also had the other two meals of the day in kitchens.
He needed to appear in the Great Hall for appearances sake. People would start wondering where he kept disappearing to and it would ultimately lead to his sanctuary being discovered. He stopped mid-bite, laying down the chicken roast. He could not allow that to happen. All his plans for the future would be in ruin.
He stomach rumbled making his raise the chicken to his mouth, taking a large bite. The cooking of the House-Elves was of first-class, but it barely registered in Harry's mind. The gears in his head were already rotating in a different direction, in the direction of self-preservance.
By the end of the meal, he had come up with a plan. Every day he would wake up early and go for breakfast at seven, before heading to the Room of Requirement. This would allow the few idiots who would be there early in the morning to spot him. He would have lunch in the kitchen on all days. Dinner, three days out of seven he would eat in the Great Hall. He would reach the Great Hall early, by half past seven in the evening on all of those three days greatly reducing the time he spent in the presence of those … Undesirable people.
Swinging his bag he grabbed a muffin. Thanking Dobby once more for the meal, he made his way towards the seventh floor not bothering with the invisibility cloak having taken out the Marauders map. The corridors were pretty empty making it easy on him.
He recalled the days events of how he had dodged Cho and her gang. The first two hours had been Charms with the Puff's. It involved no small amount of glaring from his classmates. If second year had been worse, this was … pure hate. He had sat at the last bench with Hermione, making sure that no one was behind him, a necessary precaution he was going to adopt. The huge amount of Homework had already been taken care of.
Moving on to CoMC with the Slytherins had been bearable. Malfoy hadn't been able to get close, thankfully due to Hagrid's huge workload. Hermione had been his partner and surprisingly Parvati, to whom he had maintained a civil tongue, speaking only when spoken to, in monosyllabic English save for a few instances.
After lunch, two hours of Herbology had cost Gryffindor 25 points Courtesy of Professor Sprout who had shown the maturity of a nine year old. He had shown indifference to her attitude, seeing as she was pulling herself down. She had lost her dignity in behaving as she had, the sad part being that she didn't realize it herself.
He had skived off History of Magic with the Ravenclaws, seeing as how anything that Binn's taught was not going to help him against Tom. The thought about Cho and her gang had left little to be desired in attending the class. Binn's class didn't have a roll call nor did he call out on those not attending his classes. Binn's wouldn't even notice a missing student if the entire class was empty.
He had been in his Sanctuary as he liked to call it, since 3:30 in the evening. He stopped outside the entrance walking before it, thinking of a specific place. A door appeared as usual. He stepped inside with grin. A bathroom, the size of a ball room greeted him. He placed his bag on as stand along with his wand and the marauders map before undressing and jumping into a pool sized bath.
A hot bath later saw Harry practicing the various spells he had come across that day.
"Coloris mutatio" he said clearly, pointing his wand at a book became a vivid red, the exact same color he had pictured in his mind.
Concentrating for a few seconds, he again murmured "Coloris mutatio".
This time, the book was still red but the edge became black and a circular pattern of blue, green and yellow appeared in the middle of the front cover. He smirked seeing first hand, how the effectiveness of the spell varied with his imagination and clarity in picturing the result, and Flitwick said that this spell was important for the O.W.L.S.
He glanced at his watch absently. The time was half past ten. He sighed plopping down on a nearby couch. He could go on and study offensive magic, which he had been wanting for some time, or he could go and get a good night's sleep.
After a few seconds he packed his bag and walked out of the room. He had worked for two hours in the morning. Then he had attended class, before again working on his magic. It was time for some well deserved rest.
He walked straight past an unsuspecting Filch and a sleepy Professor Sinistra under his invisibility cloak before reaching the common room. Hermione seemed to be reading in a corner with a few third years tagging about. He waited for a few seconds and to his luck a seventh year couple came along, their dresses ruffled and lips swollen both looking rather red.
He unsuspectingly slipped into the common room and sure enough saw Hermione's head snap in the direction of the portrait hole. She turned away just as quick seeing it to be just another couple. He felt a little bad, but he really didn't want to explain himself to the bushy-haired girl.
He went straight to his dorm. All his dorm-mates were fast asleep. He could see Ron wearing Quidditch robes through the opening in his curtain. He went straight to his bed, depositing his book bag on the bedside table. Slipping into his some of Dudley's old clothes he practiced clearing his mind for about half an hour before going off to sleep.