Dorea woke up at half past nine the next morning, having had a long night once again reading her uncle Regulus's letter that she had forced off Kreacher. She kept it hidden away in her bedside cabinet drawer, for safekeeping. She was unsure if she should show it to her dad - she'd heard him coldly talk about him a few times that summer, and she wouldn't know how he'd react to the letter, for there was a chance he'd accuse it of being forged.
What if it is? She thought. After all, she'd never even met her father's younger brother - and she'd only discovered what he bloody looked like at the start of July. She had found nothing else in Grimmauld Place with his handwriting, so there was no way she could prove it actually was his letter. He'd also been a Death Eater - was he really deserving of her sympathy? Even if he had been forced to join, he still took part in their sick cruelty. Oh, how conflicted he must have been though… He probably had no choice.
Not quite knowing how to feel about Regulus Black, she got out of bed and got dressed. Walking what felt like a mile to the kitchen, she saw Amelia and Harry at the table. Their house elves, Ditsy and Dippey, instantly whipped up a toasted bagel for her. As they ate, they conversed. "Where's Sirius?" Dorea asked them.
"He went for a walk around the front garden about two minutes ago, he didn't say why." Amelia replied.
Her dad did come back in, and hung his coat up on the hook behind the kitchen door. He said hello to her with a warm smile, and then got himself a glass of water. "What's on the agenda today?" He asked.
"I'm going to do some Ancient Runes study, and then maybe go to the duelling rooms." Harry said.
"I've got to finish that damned Transfiguration essay," Amelia said, not sounding very excited.
Dorea had a think - she hadn't really planned what she was going to do. "Might spend the morning picking out a few books from the library to read, do a bit of studying, and then brew. Maybe in the evening I'll go to the duelling room."
Sirius told them that Professor Dumbledore was coming around, but he was quite weird about it - he said it was only for a private meeting between them both, and that neither of them were allowed in on the meeting.
"What if it's about our club?" Harry said as they walked up the staircase together, back to their prospective rooms. "What if Dumbledore rejected its planning?"
"Oh, surely not," Amelia sighed, "McGonagall said it would be approved."
"Yeah, but he's been really cold towards me." Harry said.
"Hey, what if it's news regarding the Order?" Dorea voiced her thought, "Maybe it's news about Hagrid, who I've never seen turn up for the meetings once."
"Oh gosh, what if he's been hurt?" Amelia gasped.
"Who could possibly want to hurt Hagrid?" Harry answered, but still looked nervous.
"Well, he wouldn't be able to defend himself magically, since he was expelled," Dorea considered, "and I'm not sure if he'd be able to do wandless magic…"
It seemed neither of them wanted to think about the prospect of an injured Hagrid further, as they moved on. "I've already completed four chapters of the Ancient Runes Intro book, by the way!" Harry sounded pleased, "It's coming to me much more than Arithmancy is. I wouldn't complain if I only managed to pass Runes - we still do O.W.L's in sixth year, don't we?"
"Yeah, and N.E.W.T's in seventh." Amelia replied.
"Do you think there's books on Potions theory in the library?" Dorea asked as her and Amelia stepped on the level their rooms were on, whilst Harry was going upstairs.
He turned to her, "Oh yeah, surely, that room has everything in it."
They went their separate ways then. Harry continued up to his room, whilst Dorea left Amelia at her bedroom door before venturing halfway down the corridor in order to get to her own. Once she sat down at her study desk, she pulled out her Transfiguration essay. She added one last paragraph to it and a conclusion before sighing with relief that it was done. She would show Amelia her one later, in case she was still stuck on it by then.
She started the Charms essay, though it was only meant to be both sides of a parchment talking about the Severing Charm, which was actually quite easy to write about since it had more negative effects and uses than positive uses, so she finished that within forty minutes or so. Deciding to take a break, that was when she went upstairs to the library, to find out more about the theory side of Potions.
Amelia, having finally battled through the Transfiguration essay, found herself officially done with holiday homework, for she'd already finished the Charm's one at Grimmauld Place. She sighed with relief, and felt a weight off her shoulders as she filed them away in her bag. She'd check hers against Dorea's and Harry's, but the consensus would definitely be that they were all fine.
Thinking about Transfiguration… She realised that she rather lacked in the theory side of things, and that her execution of the spells could be better. She thought the same regarding Charms, too. This calls for a library trip, she thought.
She didn't find her brother in there, assuming he was still revising. She must've spent ten minutes in the curriculum section, but she at last found what looked to be Intro books. I wonder if they're the same ones Harry's using? She would enquire later. She picked up the ones for Charms and Transfiguration before heading back downstairs.
She was utterly gobsmacked when she read the Transfiguration one - for Hogwarts were supposedly meant to issue these types of books to muggleborns or children new to the magical world when they were 11, so they knew just what magic and the magical world entailed. Why weren't me and Harry ever given these books?! She thought, a bit cross - for these books would have been a great help to them. It would have helped make their spells and transfiguration theory understanding a bit better. Though she tended to get E's in Transfiguration and Charms tests, the theory bits of both subjects puzzled her slightly.
By eleven, she felt like an expert in both subjects. She finally understood how it was mostly little mistakes that prevented perfect executions of transfiguring and casting. Even how you stood affected it.
After letting Hedwig out for some fresh air, she found herself staring at her bedroom wall, with nothing to do. It was a decent day outside - though there were clouds in the distance. She decided that she would go out and have a fly around, and possibly just set a Snitch loose and try to find it. She had no clue how far the wards and enchantments extended to, though… Oh well, I'll just have to be careful. With that, Amelia even threw on her Gryffindor quidditch jumper, so it felt like she was back at school.
She lugged the quidditch equipment box out of the shed and set the golden snitch free. Giving it a few minutes head start, she then grabbed her Firebolt (which had been propped up against the shed), mounted it, and kicked off from the ground.
Starting her hunt for the snitch, she did a few laps around the house. It looked even bloody bigger on the outside, especially from forty feet in the air. She sailed along the perimeter of the front garden, considerably lower to the ground. It felt amazing to be back out.
She came to an abrupt halt, when she saw a flicker of gold hanging in the air up the other end of the front garden. Amelia instantly took off towards it, gradually accelerating. However, the blasted thing took off again, this time towards the back garden. She continued the pursuit.
Amelia circled the three keeper's hoops on the right hand side and then continued the hunt.
After another minute or two of pursuing, Amelia finally caught the snitch whilst performing a dive.
When she touched down to the ground, she heard a clapping sound come from behind her. She turned, and saw Sirius. He came jogging over. "That was quite a performance! I could barely keep up - you are so fast on a broom."
She shrugged it off with a wry smile. "Speed is my forte,"
"Your dad was the same," Sirius commented, "He was definitely the fastest player on the Gryffindor team. Blink and you'd miss him."
Amelia noticed he still sounded a little forlorn talking about his best pal. She felt her heart warm at how she related to her father, a man she hardly knew. They wandered back inside, for the clouds above were now getting closer, and looked an angrier shade of grey.
Once inside, Amelia spoke to her godfather again. "Sirius, see this evening, can we all try out the duelling rooms?"
He nodded. "Yeah, that would be good. That way, you can get an idea of where you, your brother and Dorea are at in terms of defence. We could even do a mock duel?"
"With those dummies?" She asked.
"Well, yeah initially, but I was thinking more of you three duelling me, individually." He replied.
She hadn't thought of it like that. "Weren't you an Auror?"
"Yes, I was. I won't go too crazy, don't worry." He grinned.
"Also," she paused, "can you test me on Transfiguration and Charms?"
Her godfather looked a bit confused. "Okay, but I thought you were pretty good at them?"
"Well, at the practical stuff yeah, but I've finally read up on the theory on both the subjects - turns out, the tiniest mistakes can hold you back from executing spells perfectly. I never quite understood the theory side of things until now."
"I would gladly test you, Amelia," he said, "When would you like to do it?"
"Now?" She suggested, wanting to get it out the way.
They went to the living room. Sirius found a number of items in one of the drawers and placed them on the coffee table. Amelia got her wand out.
"Okay, take your time, Amelia. Turn this matchstick into a needle." He ordered.
She cleared her mind, and recalled both the wand movement, incantation, and stance. She was surprised, for she got the desired result the first time.
"Very good, now switch it back." Sirius said.
She uttered a simple "Reparifarge", and the needle was turned back into a matchstick. She let out a small whoop in delight. Sirius smiled warmly. "Now turn this button into a beetle." He tasked her.
Normally, it would be the other way around - turning a beetle into a button, but she assumed she was to go about it in the same way. She was right, as she flicked her wand and muttered the incantation,and now a black beetle was now occupying the place where the button had previously sat.
For the next half hour, Sirius kept firing Transfiguration instructions at her, from first year stuff through to fourth year. After that came the Charms stuff. It was far easier and quicker - they got through all the content within twenty minutes, and Amelia felt like a master at both the subjects. If she didn't get them completely right on the first try, she would always get them on the second attempt.
"Honestly, Amelia, you didn't even need to be tested. You smashed it." Sirius complimented.
"But I did! I was lacking in the theory understanding so badly, and I needed to get my stance and wand movements up to scratch." She insisted.
"Even if you hadn't got the theory part, you still would have been fine with the practical stuff." Sirius stood up. "What's on the agenda now?"
She had a think. "Suppose if I'm going to duel you tonight, I'll need to revise a strategy." She answered back, grinning wryly.
Sirius barked laughter. "You can try, kiddo, but you won't win."
"We'll see about that," she bantered, going upstairs.
Fifteen minutes after dinner, Harry had just finished washing up when Sirius came back into the kitchen. "I think we could all use the duelling room tonight,"
That caught Harry's attention. "Oh, really? I've been dying to use it, and it'll be a good break from the revision."
"How's the studying coming on, - is Arithmancy sticking yet?" Sirius asked.
"A little bit. Ancient Runes is coming on leaps and bounds every day. I think Arithmancy is going to take the most work, though." He answered, honestly.
"Keep at it though, Harry, I know that it'll take time, but it will come eventually. Let's hope it's before the tests." Sirius encouraged him. He nodded sincerely, making a mental note to stick at it more.
All four of the residents of Black Manor walked to the top floor, where the duelling rooms were located. When they entered, Sirius pulled the dummies towards them. "You can either practise on these ones first, or we can just get straight into duelling." Sirius told them. Harry was perfectly comfortable to just get straight into the duel.
"Dad, can I go first?" Dorea stepped forward.
"Sure, my girl." Sirius walked about twenty paces before turning back round. "Okay, so feel free to throw virtually anything at me - I can take it. No Unforgivables or lethal spells, though. We'll stop duelling if either of us get hit." He instructed. Dorea nodded, and readied herself. Harry was looking forward to watching this, and Amelia looked intrigued too.
It was silent for a few moments, before Dorea went in first. "Flipendo!"
Her spell went soaring forward towards Sirius, who blocked it when it was mere inches from his face. Sirius went on the offensive, and fired a Full Body-Bind Curse at his daughter, not with vicious intent. Dorea sidestepped it at the last moment, and it instead hit off the wall. She retaliated with a Disarming Charm. She had almost won the duel then, but Sirius cast a Protego at the last moment.
Sirius had managed to win, but he threw in a sneaky tactic - he sent out two Relashio's, instead of one, and Dorea only managed to dodge the first one, as the second one was sent out immediately after the first.
"That was fun!" Dorea commented after she got her wand back.
"You were very good," Sirius offered her some feedback, "I know I won a bit unfairly, as you weren't expecting two spells to be sent out at once, but it's something to keep in mind. Send out two spells at the same time if your life is in danger and you need to Apparate away quickly, for example, so that it stalls your opponent." He sounded very much like a teacher.
"I'll go next," Amelia offered. Harry nodded.
Everyone was quite surprised at how relentless Amelia was in her mock duel with Sirius. She was very alert and ready to dodge anything, and very quick at casting as well. She had sent out two Disarming spells, however Sirius blocked them both with a grin. His sister looked like she was running out of ideas, as Sirius was just dodging and blocking everything. However, she managed to conjure up two small pebbles. Harry wondered where on earth this was going, but was very impressed when she managed to enlarge them to small rocks and hurled them with a Banishing charm in Sirius's direction. As he was busy avoiding them, she sent out an Expelliarmus, and the duel was won when Sirius's wand went flying through the air and into her free hand, whilst he was still ducking the rocks and off-guard.
"Wow," Sirius let out a whistle. "Where on earth did you learn how to do that?" He sounded amazed.
"The thought just impulsively came to me - I had thought of the Tongue-Tying Curse, but you would surely block it. So I conjured up some rocks instead," Amelia looked pleased with herself as she gave their godfather his wand back. "I hope the rocks didn't actually hit you, though."
"They didn't," Sirius let out a breath. "You're very good, 'melia, your parents were relentless duellers too."
She had smiled at that as she walked back over to Harry and Dorea. Dorea was immediately praising her. Harry managed to say a quick "Well done," before Sirius ushered him forwards.
He hadn't really thought of a game plan, come to think of it. He'd been watching and taking mental notes of Dorea and Amelia's duels, but yet he had no clue how he was going to differentiate his duel from theirs. He wanted to do something unexpected, that would hopefully distract Sirius and help him win. Even though he knew Sirius was just going easy on them, as he was a qualified Auror and far more experienced than they were, Harry wanted to prove himself. I want to lead a Defence club, after all, he thought, I'd look like an idiot if I didn't know how to handle myself in a duel.
He took up a ready stance, and assumed he was to send out the first spell. Harry sent out a Disarming spell, which Sirius promptly blocked, and retaliated with a tripping jinx. Harry dodged it by side-stepping, and threw back two Full Body-Bind curses. Sirius threw up a protective shield, and Harry had to dodge his own spells as they rebounded off the invisible shield and came flying back at him. He sent out an Immobulus Charm, which almost did the trick, but Sirius missed it by centimetres.
After five minutes, Harry was getting quite frantic. Sirius was blocking and dodging everything that he sent out, and he still had no clue what his element of surprise was going to be. At last, something came to him - he would send out not one, not two, but three Knockback Jinx's, and see if Sirius could hold off all three of them. "Flipendo!" he called out, and to throw Sirius off guard, quietly muttered the other two Flipendo incantations, so that his godfather would think he only sent out one.
But Sirius was far too clever. He threw up yet another protective shield - which meant that all three of the spells were now coming back at Harry at an alarming speed. He didn't even have time to move before he was thrown back several feet and onto the ground. It felt like he'd been yanked back by a rope.
He didn't even feel that sore, yet Sirius came jogging over. "Oh my gosh, are you alright, Harry?" His godfather asked frantically.
"I'm fine," Harry declared, and took Sirius's hand and pulled himself up. "I should have reacted quicker."
Sirius cast an Enervate just to be sure, but no bones had been broken. Harry thought he might have a few bruises tomorrow, but he could probably brew a Bruisewort Balm - a potion which he had seen in one of the potions books, yet it wasn't part of Hogwarts curriculum. Plus, he had made Wiggenweld Potion for himself, so he was fairly stocked up on that in case he felt any side effects.
"I think we'll end it on that note," Sirius said, his voice slightly echoing. "I'm really impressed with how you three duel - you would never think that you were behind in Defence."
"Can we do this again another day?" Dorea asked, as all four of them walked towards the door.
"Yes, we can practise all sorts of mock duels every few days or so, in the evening. Maybe we could even have a mock battle?" Sirius agreed and suggested.
"A battle?" Harry pondered.
"Yeah, like two against two, and it can play out like a mock ambush. When the Weasley's come to visit, we could even include them." Sirius explained.
"That would be wicked!" Amelia agreed. Harry was also intrigued to see how Ron, Ginny, Fred and George could handle themselves in a duel, so he couldn't wait to find out.
Sirius said that he was going to be in the living room for a while, as Dumbledore had given him some "paperwork" to complete, but weirdly he didn't elaborate on what kind of paperwork. He wouldn't even tell them, which was weird. Harry assumed it was more Order business.
He decided to carry on with Arithmancy for a while in his room, and maybe if there was time, brew a Bruisewort Balm so that he had ample supply. However, it was quarter past nine before he realised he'd been revising for almost two hours. The general rule in Black Manor was that lights out would always be at ten o'clock. But he did want to brew…
He grabbed the book and flicked it open to the bookmarked page of the Bruise Balm. Its total brewing time was only half an hour, but it needed twenty-five minutes to cool before it could be bottled. I'll have to ask Sirius.
He knocked on the living room door twice, to alert Sirius he was there, before slowly entering. Sirius was frantically trying to collect the papers on the coffee table and hide their contents from Harry. "You don't have to do that, I wasn't looking." Harry insisted - what was written on those papers weren't any of his business. He had learned not to snoop from his years at the Dursleys.
"Sorry, they're highly confidential." Sirius said, however Harry suspected they weren't - not totally, anyway. "What's up?"
"I want to brew a Bruisewort Balm, in case some bruises appear tomorrow from our duel, but it takes a while to brew and cool and it's light's out at ten.." He explained, however he sounded a bit meek. "So I was wondering if I'd be allowed to stay up until half ten, at the latest-"
"-Harry, of course you can." Sirius looked like he was trying to hold back laughter. Then he did laugh, "You sound like you're trying to get off a detention or something - you can stay up a bit later, as I know you're doing something productive. So long as you're done by eleven at the very latest, I really do not mind."
Harry nodded, before edging out the room. "Just give me a shout if you need any help!" Sirius called out. He replied with a simple "okay" before he made his way to the Potions Lab, as he called it.
He browsed the Apothecary with his textbook in hand and a bowl to carry the ingredients in. As per his new routine for Potions, he prepared the ingredients accordingly before he even lit his cauldron, so that it was all ready to go. He took his time, as he didn't want to rush it, and besides, he had Sirius's permission to stay up anyway. This potion, though it was described as easy enough for a second year student to complete, took quite a lot of precision and accuracy. If he was in Snape's class right now brewing it, he would probably have made a few mistakes already. But he brushed that from his mind - Severus Snape was not here to growl at him, and Malfoy wasn't either.
He felt relieved when the potion turned blue - exactly as it was described to look at the end. He sighed in relief, and took it off the heat immediately so it could cool down quicker. He set a timer for twenty-five minutes as he cleaned up.
He was finished cleaning up within five minutes, so got a few bottles and vials ready and labeled. He had made quite a big batch, so he laid out five of each ready to be filled. He spent the rest of the cooling period thinking about his subjects for fifth year. He wondered who Dumbledore had found to take up the position of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher for this year - as he had to do every year. Harry hoped he found a competent one, but he knew Defence teachers didn't have the greatest track record at being good (barring Remus, who was the best they'd had so far). So long as they're not a Death Eater psychopath, I'll be alright with it.
He wished that Dumbledore would also find a good History of Magic teacher, for Cuthbert Binns excelled more at putting students to sleep than teaching them. Harry actually quite liked History of Magic - he had an interest in Muggle history too, so History was a good subject, he just wished the class wasn't so boring and sleep-inducing. Binns kept his back to the class the entire time, and didn't really engage or ask questions, so everyone treated it as a class where they could catch up on sleep, especially if it was the first period and they hadn't got a great sleep the night before.
He was brought out of his thoughts when the timer sounded that twenty-five minutes was up. He quickly turned the beeping sound off, and got a ladle ready. Harry even felt himself yawn - it had been a tiring but interesting day.
Harry had managed to find a bag in one of the cupboards in the room that was a potions caddy bag, so he claimed it for himself and carefully placed his supply of Bruise Balm's into one section of the bag, their labels facing the front. He was glad he found it - for he didn't fancy his chances walking back up to his room with ten bottles and vials of potions balancing precariously in his arms. He would use it to store all the potions he brewed in so he could access them more efficiently. He felt organised.
He walked back up to his room with the caddy bag and carefully set it down on top of the trunk at the end of his bed. Readying himself for bed, he discovered in the mirror that a bruise was formed on his left elbow - it must've been when he made contact with the floor when he was thrown back. He reckoned it would only need a vial, rather than a bottle, so took one out and prepared to pour it onto the affected area. He watched with amazement in the mirror, as the bruise disappeared the second the potion came into contact with it. Harry wiped off any residue and got into bed, feeling very accomplished.
Dorea, though she was meant to be in bed (as it was almost eleven), found herself still awake and writing - not doing homework, nor revision, but writing a letter to Fred, her boyfriend.
She had no clue how she was going to give it to him - would Hedwig be able to fly outwith the wards and enchantments perimeters? She didn't want to risk it, or potentially hurt the owl. There was the Floo… But what if one of the adults caught her and wondered what she was doing? She got a bit frustrated.
Even though the Weasley's would come over to Black Manor for a visit at some point, that could be anytime from this week to the end of August. She needed to communicate with Fred, else the distance might not work out for them.
The only light in the room was her wand - as she cast Lumos Maxima in order to write the letter in bed. However, when she heard footsteps somewhere out in the corridor, she hurried to quietly darken the room. She even pretended to be asleep in case it was her dad making sure their lights were out and that they were asleep. She waited until the footsteps could no longer be heard before lighting her wand again.
Her letter to Fred Weasley was quite brief, but it summarised everything they'd been getting up to so far. She told him about the house, its contents, and what she'd learned in the short space of time. She even wrote about Harry taking up Ancient Runes and Arithmancy, and how hard he was studying in order to take them for fifth year. She could picture Fred guffawing in disbelief when he read that part, which made her smile.
She finished her short but sweet letter with a statement that she loved him, and she couldn't wait to see him again. She did truly miss him, and although she wasn't completely sure if it was love yet, she would love to find out. None of the adults knew about their relationship, and they intended on keeping it that way. It would be a disaster if Sirius found out about them, for he was very protective of Dorea.
Once the letter was done, she capped her inkwell and waited for the ink to dry before hiding it away in her bedside cabinet drawer. She would confer with both Harry and Amelia tomorrow, to find out the safest way of sending the letter to Grimmauld Place.
Dorea fell asleep that night, feeling accomplished from the events of today, and wondered what tomorrow would bring.