Full Schedule

3rd of September, 1997.

The first day of classes had been intense with Ancient Runes and Charms for Harry. Neville had spent most of the morning in the greenhouses. He was going to spend as much time as he could there.

The second day Harry only had one official class, Care of Magical Creatures. That morning he and Hermione started looking into how to order their self-study for history. The year before it had gone well. They had taken an official ministry test for pre-N.E. and had all done quite well, but there were some parts they had missed out on so they were hoping to learn more about those things this year.

"I'll be away this afternoon," Harry told Hermione. "I have some things I need to do."

"Nothing dangerous I hope," Hermione said. She knew that he would tell her if he could, but she also knew that he was still hiding something. This time however she wasn't pushing. He had gotten close to Moody and she had no idea what that man might drag Harry into.

"Not as far as I know," Harry said. "But you might as well mark it in the calendar as… a half moon or something like that."

Hermione nodded as she filled her schedule in. Harry would be busy most of Wednesday afternoon. "Should I add the regular Gringotts on Saturday?" she asked.

"Go ahead and do that," Harry said. "I should be able to keep to schedule. I took myself off rotation at the hospital, but Healer Brand can still call me in if she feels the need to."

Hermione nodded as she added a few symbols so she would remember, but no one else would understand. "Quidditch practice?" she asked.

"Thursday evening and Sunday morning," Harry said. "I'll have to work in some more but those will be more flowing to match everyone's schedules."

Hermione sighed as she marked it in. "Well, at least it looks like we can get quite a lot done," she said. "I'll keep working on scheduling while you head out to Hagrid."

"Please leave Sunday evenings out of your planning so we have a bit of time off. You can put in something from lunch to maybe four or so, but leave the rest. We need to rest too," Harry said. "I'll see you at lunch." He headed outside and met up with Ron and the others. "Heard from Kato that Bill and Charlie are down in a cave with a rare type of dragon," he said.

Ron nodded. "Yeah, they wrote to me about it. They seem pretty cool," he said.

"Maybe I could convince Kato to come by and show some. He is trying to get permission to keep them in a Sanctuary at Ennerdale," Harry said.

"At least we know Hagrid would love that," Ron said. "I guess it could be a neat lesson. It wouldn't impact what we need to learn really since these dragons have been thought to be extinct so they won't be part of any test."

Harry nodded.

"Are the two of you talking about dragons?" Ernie asked. "An uncle of mine came into a fight with one some time ago. Dangerous creatures those. How has your summer been?"

Harry smiled. "It's been good," he said. "Spent a lot of time with my guideson."

Ron nodded. "Yeah, I've kind of been looking into what I have to do to get into the Auror program. I started exercising some. Physically fit is kind of important when you have to chase bad people."

"I can see that," Ernie said. "Seems you're doing alright. Myself, I have been travelling a lot. My father was travelling for work. Mother and I went with him and saw the sights. It has been a lot of fun. You see…"

"Hrmm," Hagrid cleared his throat as he approached. "Well, we have another good year coming up," he said. "Today we're going over some of the creatures you will be studying this year. Then we'll go into the forest and take a second check on the thestrals."

Harry walked up closer to Hagrid as he brought out a notepad. Hagrid was doing better. He had gotten a standardised curriculum for each year that he was at least loosely following.

Halfway through the lesson which was mostly theoretical that day thankfully, Umbridge showed up. Harry quickly made sure that Hagrid was unaware of her presence since knowing him, he would get nervous if he knew he was being evaluated. Thankfully, she only took notes and didn't say anything directly to Hagrid. On their way back to school, however, she seemed to move between the students asking questions though she never reached Harry as he moved too quickly for her to catch up. He hoped Hagrid would do alright.

After quickly eating some lunch Harry headed outside. He slipped out of the wards and apparated away. At home, he changed out of his Hogwarts robes and into more battle-friendly clothes in a mostly muggle style. He threw on a cloak and then he apparated again.

Raiden Moody walked through the Ministry in long quick strides. He took the elevator to the Auror Department. Dora was hanging by a desk when he entered the department. She smiled at him. "Heya," she said.

"Wotcher," Raiden responded mimicking her most common form of greeting.

Dora laughed and smiled. "It is good to see you again," she said. "Madam Bones wanted me to show you to the new room. Everyone should be there." She fell in line with him and they headed down the hall to a rather big room. Fifteen men and women were standing in there. Luke was among them as well as a few other newer Aurors that Raiden recognised. The door closed behind him and he walked through the room. He shook his robes off and threw them into a corner. "My name is Raiden Moody," he said loudly. "Yeah, that Moody. Alastor Moody is my Uncle." He drew his wand. "I'm here to train you above the rest. I'm here to train you so that you can protect yourselves and others from threats not so easily detected."

"Think that You-Know-Who is back?" someone asked.

Raiden shrugged. "Doesn't matter," he said. "We know that Death Eaters escaped Azkaban. We will round them up. It might take time, but we will get these guys. If there is some crazy Dark Lord out there then we will take them down. If there isn't then at least we're ready." Some of you have seen me fight. Some of you wonder why this little squirt is the one leading this assignment." He paused. "Let me show you," he said. "Take me down." He moved a bit further back. "In three, two, one!"

Dora was the first to cast a spell.

Raiden danced around her casting while also throwing up some shields every once in a while. He started smirking as more people joined Dora. As most people had joined in he started casting back.

Amelia was standing against the back wall watching her Aurors. It was quite amusing to see them all be taken down by a single man. Of course, Raiden's style was unique and his movement was unpredictable. She hoped he could teach the gathered Aurors something.

"And that," Raiden said, "is why I lead this assignment. Fifteen of you couldn't take little old me down. Now I'm going to need you to swallow your pride and learn what I'm about to teach you."

Luke nodded as he walked forward. "I have seen Raiden fight before," he said. "It stands to reason that we're all good at what we do, but he is right. He can still teach us a lot about combat."

Raiden nodded. "Now one thing I noticed was that you didn't work together," he said. "So we're going to start there. Team work. You could have easily taken me down if you had worked together. That isn't really what this is about though. Instead, I'm going to put you through a number of exercises that will train your combat abilities and physical prowess. We will be using the faux village for this. I will train a few of you each time. Amelia and Rufus have split you up into groups. Some of you have worked with me that way before. This will be a bit different, but you'll recognise a lot from your previous training as well." He looked around the room. "Hopefully all of you will learn something from this," he said.

Amelia nodded slowly. She walked forward so she was standing next to Raiden. "We need to be able to face whatever the future brings. You are still Aurors and still work your normal jobs except for the days when you train with Raiden."

"Can we talk about this stuff?" one of the Aurors asked.

Amelia and Raiden looked at each other for a moment and came to a silent agreement. "You can speak about what we do. This is not a secret. It is just a look at how we can improve," she said.

"Our hopes are that I can teach you so you can go on and develop those skills and become even better yourself. After this we hope that you can teach the next generation of Aurors the things you learn here," Raiden said. "You already have a great base to work from. I know that wasn't easy. I'm not an Auror. I will admit that, but I do mercenary work in a lot of different places. I'll force you to use all the skills you already have while also honing some new ones."

"You start next week," Amelia said. "A schedule will be posted here for you. Until then." She dismissed them and looked over at Raiden. "You are hiding how much that took out of you," she said calmly.

Raiden smiled at her. "Of course I am," he said. "They don't need to know how hard that was. They're pretty darn good. The next three weeks will show me where I can improve on their skills. I already know that Dora is a klutz and I'm wondering if I can't help her with that or at least get her to work with it."

Amelia nodded as she considered the strengths and weaknesses of the Aurors they had enlisted. Most of them were fairly young. They were some of the last they had enlisted something that had become harder since then for some reason. She wasn't quite sure why and maybe she needed to look into it. She sighed deeply. Tomorrow. She would look into it tomorrow. She needed to go home and get some sleep.

5th of September, 1997.

Tanya bounced around as she and Harry headed back up to the castle. She had strangely enough missed the runs she did with Harry while she had been home. It had been kind of boring at home that year though her time with Natalie was fun. She was glad to be back at Hogwarts. It was her fourth year and she knew it was going to be a good one. It was a little sad that it was Harry's last year though. She would miss him.

They sat down by the Gryffindor table to eat breakfast. "Are we looking for new players this year?" she asked. "Ginny's last year in next year and Chace's too right?"

"We will," Harry said. "I'm putting those posters up this weekend. Third year and lower so they get to play."

"Talking Quidditch Cap?" Kyle asked as he sat down next to Tanya.

"Yeah, I'm going to set up some times for recruitment. We need a new chaser and a keeper. Third year or lower so they get to play a few years. You will be running this since they will play under you not me. I'm just going to be there for support."

Kyle nodded. "Sounds good," he said. "You think Peaks and Coote will be alright this year. It is their OWL year after all."

"I'll look into it and make sure they don't overwork themselves. The biggest problem with OWLs is the stress and that can be managed," Harry said. "I'll give them some pointers."

"Have you had Madam Umbridge in any of your classes yet?" Kyle asked. "She really irritated Professor McGonagall yesterday."

"You'd think she would remember that angering McGonagall is a really bad idea," Harry said. "She went to Hogwarts too after all."

Tanya shook her head. "I don't like her," she said. "She is mean."

Harry sighed. "Don't get yourself in trouble," he said. Try to stay under her radar, please. I'll see if cousin Kato can figure out who she is and why she is here. We'll deal with her if we have to."

"If you say so Cap," Kyle said. "She is nasty though."

"The prefects will handle things," Harry said. He was not going to let their students get hurt by this woman. So far he hadn't heard about her doing anything else than terrorizing teachers. He knew their professors well enough to know that they could take care of themselves.

Friday was a rough day filled with classes. Both McGonagall and Flitwick ran them through the ringer before lunch. They had received so much homework already. Harry was glad he was ahead and had done most of the work for Ancient Runes and Herbology already. At least he had a lot of time on Thursdays to work on things.

After lunch, they were heading to Defence against the Dark Arts. It would be interesting to see how Severus handled the class. The classroom itself was darker. The walls had several large pictures depicting humans under different spells. Some were quite gruesome like the Cruciatus Curse others seemed rather serene like the one depicting the Imperious Curse until the woman in the picture killed herself with a dull knife. With Rhavaniel fresh in Harry's mind he noted how she would have enjoyed the pictures. It was right up her alley. He sat down next to Ron in an attempt to make sure he didn't blow up at Severus for some reason, though Ron's temper seemed to have calmed some over the summer.

"I have not asked you to take out your books," Severus said almost no louder than a whisper, but everyone could hear him crystal clear. He walked across the classroom up to the desk and turned around to face them. "I wish to speak to you and I want your full attention." He looked out over the class.

Harry had chills going up his spine. He had missed Severus' charisma. The man really knew how to captivate a room. The flow of his voice and the control he had was amazing. He had used a similar cadence himself at times.

"You have had five different teachers in this subject, not including me. Twice you have had Mister Lupin and to be frank he must have been the most organised out of all of them. At least he made sure I know where your strengths and weaknesses are. Despite the mess of teachers you have had, here you are… somehow. Now the question is can you make it through this year?" Severus said. He started walking around the room slowly as he continued. "The Dark Arts are many, varied, ever-changing and eternal. Fighting them is like fighting a many-headed monster, which, each time a neck is severed, sprouts a head even fiercer and cleverer than the one before it. You are fighting that which is unfixed, mutating, and indestructible."

"Like a hydra made entirely out of magic. To simplify it," Harry said softly.

To most people's surprise, Severus only gave a quick nod in Harry's direction before he continued. "Your defence must therefore be as flexible and inventive as the Arts you seek to undo." He motioned. "These pictures give a fair representation of what happens to those who suffer for instance the Dementor's Kiss or provoke the aggression of an inferius." He walked back to the head of the room. "Throughout this year I will test you on your knowledge and make sure that you stand ready. If you are not willing to work hard you might as well leave now…" He fell silent for a moment, but no one moved from their seat. He had their full attention.

"Potter you enter a dark room you do not know, what do you do?" Severus asked sharply.

"Use a detection spell there are several that could be used but one for living beings and one for undead would be preferred. Some creatures react poorly to light so it could be dangerous to cast a light-giving spell though that isn't a bad idea either," Harry answered.

"Your detection spells come back positive. Your light fills the room and you can see bodies moving."

Harry smiled. "Either I step out of the room and I ward it to the teeth, or I set the room ablaze. Fire works really well on undead," he said.

Severus nodded slowly. "If you ward the room what else would you do?" he asked.

"It depends entirely on other circumstances. Am I there with others? Why am I there? Where is this place?" Harry asked. "If I can I would get help from someone more inclined as to be able to take care of the inferi."

"But you think you could do it yourself?" Severus asked hauntingly.

Harry met his eyes and projected several images of him actually burning inferi to Severus. He didn't want to say that out loud for obvious reasons. Thankfully, Severus dropped the question seemingly uninterested in his answer at this point.

The lesson continued until the bell rang and they headed out of the classroom. Neville, Harry and strangely enough Ron settled down right after class to start with the copious amount of homework that Snape had given them. Ron was unusually focused on the work. It made Harry think that he had finally realised that he needed to make sure to get good grades in the five subjects he had chosen to pursue.

On their way down to the Great Hall a young Gryffindor came walking up to them and handed Harry a scroll. "For you," he said before heading off again.

Harry opened the scroll and read through it. It would seem like Dumbledore finally wanted to meet. He wondered what he wanted though. He had basically promised Moody that he would train Harry. Harry somehow doubted that was going to happen though.

6th of September, 1997.

Harry was up early and showed Golrii around the grounds while teaching him about some of the creatures that lived in the forest. After breakfast, they dug into their homework and got it out of the way. While Harry headed out midday to fix up some vaults, that evening he headed through the halls and up to the Headmaster's office. "Butterfingers," he told the gryphon guarding the stairs. He headed up and pulled on the knocker.

"Come in," Dumbledore said.

Harry stepped into the office and walked up to the desk before sitting down. "Hello Fawkes," he said. "Doing okay?"

The phoenix squawked and flapped his wings contently before tilting his head and looking not at Harry but at his collar where Golrii had stuck his head out. Harry reached out and lifted Golrii down so he could grow in size on his lap.

Dumbledore's eyes widened momentarily as the dragon appeared in Harry's lap. Though he seemed to recall Minerva speaking about young Potter, and was it Malfoy having permission to carry these dragons with them? Golrii flew up on Dumbledore's desk so he was right next to Fawkes. "Yol viing, fire wing," he said.

"This is Fawkes," Harry said.

"You can speak to the dragon, my boy?" Albus asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Cousin Kato has been teaching me," Harry said. "He and his sister can do it."

"Does he also teach Mr Malfoy?" Albus asked curiously.

"Draco is Kato's apprentice. I think Lord Malfoy asked for that to keep Draco away from Voldemort," Harry said with a shrug. "That is just my theory from what I have heard though."

Dumbledore nodded slowly then he took a deep breath. "However that is not why we are here today. I must ask you if you have had any nightmares or strange dreams lately?" he said.

Harry shook his head. He remembered the dreams before his fourth year only vaguely, but he assumed that was the kind of dream that Dumbledore was referring to. "I haven't had any for years," he said truthfully. "Not since fourth year, I think."

Dumbledore nodded slowly. "Well, that is good," he said. "You see when I saw the scar on your forehead sixteen years ago, I guessed it might be the sign of a connection between you and Voldemort."

Dumbledore had talked about a connection between Harry and Voldemort before. It was a long time ago though. There had been one of course, but that had been removed back in Skyrim. Harry did wonder what Dumbledore might want to reveal about it though. "You have mentioned this before," he said.

"Yes, I have. It is important to start with your scar. For it became apparent, shortly after you rejoined the magical world, that I was correct. Your scar was going you warnings when Voldemort was close by or when he felt strong emotions."

"But no longer."

"I believe that he has somehow learnt of this connection and is guarding against it," Albus said. "That said I have asked Severus to teach you Occlumency, the art of guarding your mind, since Voldemort could just as well take those protections down. You'll be meeting him tomorrow evening for the first lesson."

"I see," Harry said. He considered telling Dumbledore that Moody had already taught him, but he figured they could do that if things didn't work out with Severus. He was really glad that he had told Hermione to keep Sunday evenings free. His schedule was filling up and he was wondering just how he was going to make it.

"Now, back in your first year you asked me why Voldemort tried to kill you as a baby," Dumbledore said calmly. "I chose not to tell you then because I felt like you were too young. The next year after you had once again faced Voldemort and killed the basilisk I could have told you, but I still felt like you were too young. I know now that maybe it would have been better to tell you especially since you were already asking that question at eleven years of age. You have been doing well and having fun. I haven't had the heart to tell you. I should have and you can lay the blame on a doddering old fool who just hoped you would live happy despite the mistakes he had made."

Harry nodded slowly. "I see, sir," he said neutrally.

"I will answer that question now," Dumbledore said. "Voldemort tried to kill you because of a prophecy made shortly before your birth. He knew that the prophecy had been made, though he did not know its full contents. He set out to kill you when you were a baby, believing he was fulfilling the terms of the prophecy. He discovered, to his cost, that he was mistaken when the curse intended to kill you backfired. A copy of this prophecy resides in the Department of Mysteries in the Ministry. We are keeping our eyes on that as best as we can though there is the slight chance that he has already seen it."

Harry nodded slowly as he stared out the window. "But you and I are here. Professor Trelawney once told you a real prophesy, didn't she? You hinted at as much when I told you about the prophecy she made in my third year was the second one she had made. Did she tell you the prophecy that led to my parents' deaths?" he asked.

"She did," Dumbledore said. "On a cold, wet night over eighteen years ago, in a room above the bar at the Hog's Head Inn. I had gone there to see an applicant for the post of Divination teacher, though it was against my inclination to allow the subject of Divination to continue at all." He had risen from his chair and walked over to a cabinet standing by the wall near Fawkes. "The applicant, however, was the great-great-granddaughter of a very famous, very gifted Seer and I thought it common courtesy to meet her. I was disappointed. It seemed to me that she had no trance of the gift herself. I told her, courteously I hope, that she would not be suitable for the post. I turned to leave," he said as he brought out a silver bowl and placed it down on the desk.

The bowl was filled with a strange liquid that Harry knew Rhavaniel would have loved to examine.

Dumbledore placed the tip of his wand against his temple and drew out a strain of silvery threads. He dropped the threads into the bowl and they swirled around. He tapped the bowl with his wand and a silver figure rose out of the liquid. Harry could tell that it was Trelawney based on her state of dress. She spoke in a hoarse voice. "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies… and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not… and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives…" She sank back into the liquid.

Harry was sitting with his chin leaning on his hands. He wasn't quite sure what to think. He had been born at the end of the seventh month if you used the Gregorian calendar. That wasn't the only calendar though. He was marked certainly. Voldemort probably couldn't be killed by anyone for real until all of his soul anchors were dealt with, and Dumbledore certainly still believed that he had a piece of the soul in his head. "It could have been Neville," he pointed out to mark that he had been listening.

"It could have," Dumbledore agreed. "I believe that he picked you because of your similar heritage."

"Or because my parents worried him more or maybe he had plans to go after Neville too, he just didn't get the chance," Harry said.

"Many different theories could be possible," Dumbledore said.

"So now I have to kill him because he will not stop chasing me," Harry said. "Though he seems less interested these days."

"That could be a sign that he has not yet heard the prophecy in its entirety. He might allow for a brief moment of peace now before he gets started. For now, only a small number of people stand ready to defend us should he attack, but we shall do our best," Dumbledore said. "Which leads us to the true point of this meeting. I wish to offer you private lessons. Starting from the next time we meet. I hope that you can fit me into a busy NEWT schedule."

Harry nodded slowly. "I should be able to, sir," he said.

"Then you agree to take these, for a lack of a better word, lessons," Dumbledore said.

"I agree," Harry said. He wasn't sure Dumbledore could tell him anything he didn't already know, but it would be foolish to not see what Dumbledore would be willing to share with him. He bid Dumbledore goodnight and headed out to do his rounds.

7th of September, 1997.

Harry shook the water out of his hair. He had forced his friends to join him for a swim in the lake. It was still rather warm and he had wanted to do something else. Now he had to get back to the castle to meet up with Severus. Tardiness certainly wouldn't be appreciated. He knew they wouldn't be doing occlumency, but Severus knew a lot and this gave Harry a way to look at his Dark Mark without anyone noticing. He knocked on Snape's door the minute he was supposed to be there.

The door opened and Harry entered. "Good evening, Professor," he said. He dried his hair and walked forward to seat himself in one of the comfortable armchairs. This room looked much like it always had. Some of the jars had new things in them, but apart from that, it looked the same.

"The Headmaster is convinced you will be teaching me mind arts," Harry said. "Both you and I know how unnecessary that is. So… now I'm wondering what you had in mind for these lessons."

Severus was looking through a book. He had been doing so since Harry walked through the door. He didn't answer right away and Harry gave him his time. "How much do you know about the Dark Arts?" he asked as he finally looked up.

"Only what I have been taught," Harry said. "Meaning more than what is normal for someone my assumed age, but I haven't dug deeper. Moody taught me a great deal, but he did it from the other side of the fence. To me, it seems like many of the things I have come to learn myself would be classed as dark simply because of what could be done with it. Dark seems to be more about the intent than the actual magic cast. The Dark Lord once told me there is no dark or light only power and those too weak to seek it and to some extent, I agree with him. Though I also believe that if you have the power to help others you should do so not just use it for your own means."

Severus wasn't quite sure how to respond. He knew Harry was older than his peers and certainly more urbane than most adults in the magical world, but he was still quite young to be so mature. He closed the book and put it back on a shelf. "I mostly agree with your assessment," he said while walking over to the desk and sitting down. "Many say that the Dark Arts are addictive and primarily evil. There are those that claim the Dark Arts will corrupt your soul. Neither of these statements are necessarily true. Certain aspects may be addictive, but simply casting a spell considered to be dark is not going to make you want to use more Dark magic. The corruption of the soul may happen with certain spells, but mostly I doubt the validity of such claims."

"If causing harm to others will corrupt then I am already past redemption," Harry said. "Though having a dragon soul might change things I guess. Still, it seems almost silly. The intent might be corrupt, but if that is the case I think it is the other way around."

Severus nodded. "The witch or wizard corrupts the magic, not the other way around," he said. He was maybe more surprised than he should be that Harry so quickly came to the same conclusion he had come to many years ago. "As such learning what is considered Dark Magic isn't necessarily a bad thing. Therefore I will be teaching you, if nothing else so you will know what is being cast at you and how you can counter it."

Harry nodded slowly. "I see," he said. He was far from adverse to knowing more. As a matter of fact, Severus was right. If he understood the spells cast at him it would be easier for him to know how to deal with the situation.

"That will have to wait until next time, however," Severus said. He opened one of the drawers on his desk and pulled out a book. "I assume you can keep this from prying eyes," he said as he handed it to Harry.

The cover was simple black leather with silver lettering saying, A Guide in the Dark by Barnabas Deverill.

"I can make sure no one gets their hands on this," Harry said. "I will see you tomorrow, sir. Have a good evening."

Severus gave Harry a curt nod. He was strangely satisfied with the conversation he had partaken in. Who could have guessed that James Potter's son would be so easy to talk to? Lily had disliked his theories on Dark magic. She hadn't understood, yet her son understood perfectly. He stood up and headed into his private quarters. He grabbed a bottle and a glass. Harry James Kato Potter Peverell. The boy had accumulated a rather long and involved name. Master of Magic. Dragon Prince of Skyrim.

Severus shook his head and chuckled to himself. "Would you be scared of your own son, James?" he asked the ether.