A/N: notes on wand technique taken from an old tumblr post by user floateron, now known as star-shine.

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Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood on the front lawn of the burrow, sweating in the summer heat while Moody chatted with the adults inside. Hermione's eagerness to begin was surpassed only by Harry's, while Ron was just getting to the point where he looked fully awake.

At last, Moody made his way over to them, one lopsided step at a time.

"Alright, you've heard all the stories about me I'm sure," he said. "Most of 'em are true, though I like to spread the occasional false rumor to keep my enemies off guard. Now, Sirius has asked me to get you up to snuff on Defense, which I aim to do. You're three years behind, so we'll be moving fast."

"Two years behind, sir." Hermione said politely. "Professor Lupin did a fine job.."

"Remus is a good teacher to be sure, but he's still working from the Ministry approved curriculum, which focuses on defense against Dark creatures in the early years." Moody said. "The likelihood of you three running into a hinkypunk is slim to none. My curriculum focuses on the practical aspects of Defense."

Hermione looked a bit unsure of following a non-standard curriculum. Harry felt even more excited, and Ron looked as if he were perking up too.

"Let's begin." Moody said. The trio drew their wands.

"Too slow! Much too slow!" he barked. "We'll work on it. I want your wands out and ready before my words have had time to fade as an echo."

He demonstrated, whipping out his own wand so fast that they could barely see his arm move.

"Now, let's see where you're at." He flicked his wand and nine red spheres shot out of it and began whizzing through the air like Bludgers. When the trio looked at each other, unsure of what to do, Moody sighed.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Take them down! A Stunner'll do the trick."

The air was suddenly thick with Stunners, the red bolts providing camouflage for their targets which were the same color.

"Alright, enough. Enough!" Moody shouted, and the air cleared just as suddenly. The orbs were gone. Moody flicked his wand at a point nearby. A ghostly image of all of them appeared. Harry realized Moody had recorded the entire exercise.

"-do the trick." said the recording of Moody. All the images disappeared except for Harry and the three orbs. The recording proceeded, and the group could see Harry's attempts at hitting them without being distracted by what Ron and Hermione had been doing.

Harry realized that a significant portion of the Stunners had been his own. He hadn't even realized how fast he had been casting them. After about thirty seconds or so he had managed to hit one. He had hoped to have done better, but they had been moving quite fast and it was much different than tracking one on a broom.

He turned to see Moody pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Potter." he said, and by his tone it was obvious he did not share Harry's opinion of his performance. "That was a bloody disgrace."

"But…I hit it." said Harry.

"Grip too tight, shoulders raised, right elbow locked, left elbow against your body instead of extended out for balance where it should be. The only way you were able to hit it is by carpeting the sky with Stunners!"

Harry was tempted to repeat himself, but he stayed silent. He had been lectured enough times by professors to know that it wouldn't do any good.

Although he had hit it.

"You put down that much fire, you're liable to hit an ally or a bystander." Moody continued. "You also reduce your ally's visibility, not to mention your own."

With another flick of his wand, Harry disappeared and Hermione appeared. Hermione took her time, sizing up her shot. With a few shots she was able to pick one off.

"Textbook." Moody said. "Elbow straight, wrist bent, wand tip aligned with left sightline, left arm held loosely behind for balance. Not half bad."

"Not half bad?" Ron said. "You just said she did it perfectly."

Moody's electric blue eye turned toward Ron before he did, a scowl on his face. "I wasn't finished, Mr. Weasley. Textbook is an excellent start. But here, Miss Granger had time to line up her shot and consider it. In the heat of battle, there isn't time for that. It's alright, we'll work on honing her instincts." The artificial eye rotated toward Harry. "At least she won't have to unlearn bad technique."

Hermione nodded, but Harry could tell his friend was disappointed. He couldn't recall her ever receiving such low praise as "not half bad."

"Alright Weasley, you're up." Ron's image replaced Hermione's, and Harry was surprised to see that Ron had fired first. And second, and third, with the third one hitting its target.

"Excellent work!" said Moody. "Look at how his movement flows from his center. The way he uses his whole body. Throws out his opposite hand behind him to counterbalance movement. His spell starts mid-motion because he knows his wand will be in position in time."

Moody played Ron's movements in slow motion as he made these points. Indeed, Harry could see that Ron's lips had curled to begin forming Stupefy even though his wand was still curled toward his body.

"But…I didn't even know I was doing any of that stuff." Ron said.

"Exactly my point. So, what is the lesson here?" Moody said, vanishing the image.

The silence that met him - even from Hermione - did not deter him. He holstered his wand, keeping his right hand loose at his side but still close enough to draw it at a moment's notice.

"Well-" said Hermione, a bit confused. "You just said it - flow movement from your center, use your whole body-"

"Yes, yes, that's all well and good, but there's a deeper lesson here. Miss Granger, when was the first time you held a wand?"

"In Ollivander's, when I was a first year." she said, still unclear where Moody was going with all this.

"Potter?"

"Same."

"Weasley?'

Ron blushed. "Uh…yeah…same for me too of course."

Moody chuckled. "I'm not with the Ministry Weasley. Your secret is safe with me."

"Oh, uh, well in that case…my Mum said that when I was three, I took her wand when she wasn't looking and set fire to Dad's trousers."

"Exactly! And before that, I'd wager you carried around a stick, pretending to cast spells with it. My point is this: there is no substitute for that kind of experience. Reading something in a book or learning it in a classroom is commendable, but it is only a start."

Hermione nodded. "So Pureblood families have an advantage."

"Yes, we do. Halfbloods too, usually. Of course people like the Malfoys think that it's the literal blood that confers an advantage, but that's rubbish - it's the fact that you're exposed to other witches and wizards from the time you're born. Now that's not to say that a Muggleborn - especially one like Granger, who I'm told is top of her class - can't close the gap, but it'll take time."

The strategy for the summer was simple: away before the Dursleys were up, back after they were asleep. For the first few weeks Harry barely saw them, until one day in early July he was shocked to find Dudley out weeding the flowerbeds at six in the morning. Harry stood there staring at his cousin for a moment before Dudley looked up at him.

"What are you looking at?" his cousin said, aiming a sullen glare at Harry.

"I don't know." said Harry. "You look like my cousin Dudley, but you're doing hard work so you obviously can't be him." Harry stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Clearly Vernon and Petunia hired a gardener that looks like him."

Dudley heaved a clod of dirt in Harry's direction. Harry shook his head as it bounced off his shoulder. "What kind of a gardener throws dirt clods at people? I'll have you sacked for that."

Dudley heaved himself to his feet and tried to assume a threatening air, but the effect was lost as he was out of breath. He leaned over and put his dirty hands on his knees.

"You'd…better run." he said.

"That seems like it would be an overreaction on my part." Harry said.

"It's your fault." Dudley said. "I've got to…do all the work…that you're supposed to do."

"How terrible for you." Harry said. "Too much to bear, is it?"

"I'm gonna lose my whole bloody summer!"

"Mmm. Hard being me, is it?"

Dudley straightened up and rubbed the sweat off his brow. "Mom and Dad let you live here! You owe them!"

"For what, exactly? Locking me in a cupboard and feeding me table scraps like a dog?"

Harry found that his fists had clenched and his face was flushed beet red. He imagined himself hitting Dudley with a Stunner and blasting him back into the brick wall of Four Privet Drive.

Dudley stumbled backwards as if he had been pushed, and fell back onto the gravel surrounding some bushes.

"Wh—-what did you do?" Dudley stammered. "I—-felt something push me."

"Shut up." Harry said. "I didn't even have my wand out—-"

"Don't say that word!" Dudley hissed.

The bush behind him caught on fire. Dudley screamed.

Harry put the fire out with the garden hose, and then forced himself to turn around and walk away, leaving his cousin to his work.

He stormed into Eight Privet Drive without knocking. Sirius was not at the kitchen table as he was every morning. Harry found him in his bedroom with Madam Pomfrey sitting in a chair by the bed.

"Oh! Hello dear." she said. "I didn't realize what time it was."

"Is he ok?" Harry asked.

"Harry." Sirius' voice was muffled by the bedcovers. His voice did not have its usual lighthearted tone.

"He's having a rough time of it this morning." said Madam Pomfrey.

"But…he seemed fine yesterday."

"It's a tricky business, Dementor exposure." she said, shaking her head. "I think he needs a new project to focus on."

"But he's still got to pretend to be Felix." Harry said.

"I think that's lost its luster. Your aunt and uncle seem thoroughly fooled."

"Can't you use magic to make him feel better?"

"Doesn't work with Dementor exposure, I'm afraid."

"Well, he said Professor Lupin is going through his family's old house, looking for Dark artifacts. Maybe he could help?"

The bedcovers rustled as Sirius turned to face Harry.

"Too many bad memories in that place, I'm afraid." he said. "Madam Pomfrey doesn't think it'd be good for me, and I'm forced to agree with her."

"Well, you've got to get up and drive me over to the office so we can use the Floo." Harry said. "Aunt Petunia is always watching out the back window, if she doesn't see us go she might get suspicious."

Sirius' head emerged from the covers. He looked exhausted and haggard. But there was a gleam in his eye.

"So she's suspicious?" he said. The thought seemed to excite him.

Madam Pomfrey gave Harry a meaningful look.

"Oh, yeah." Harry said. "We could get caught any moment if we don't hurry."

Slowly, Sirius sat up in bed.

"Well, we'd better get going then." he said in a tired voice. He managed a small smile as he stood up.

When they got in the car, Sirius stared at the steering wheel for a moment, as if unsure of what it was. Then he shook his head sharply from side to side.

"What's wrong?" Harry said.

"It's these Muggle memories Mundungus got me." Sirius said. "Sometimes I get a bit confused, especially with something as complicated as driving."

"Didn't you used to have a motorcycle?"

"Well, yes, but that was partly magical, which made driving it a bit easier." Sirius paused, and a sad smile came over his face. "I wonder what happened to it when I went to Azkaban?"

"Hagrid had it, last I heard." Harry said.

Madam Pomfrey spoke up from the back seat.

"If you have the chance to find an item from your past that has positive memories associated with it, that may help with your recovery." she said.

"Well, what do you say, Harry? Up for a trip to Hogwarts?"

"Absolutely!" said Harry.

They floo'ed from Lakeside Construction to The Three Broomsticks and then walked to Hogwarts. Hagrid was outside his hut pulling weeds when they arrived.

"Sirius! Poppy!" said Hagrid, straightening up. "Good ter sees ya!" He grabbed Sirius in a bear hug as Fang trotted over, barking excitedly.

"Oof! Good to see you as well." Sirius said when Hagrid released him. "Harry tells me that you might have my motorcycle?"

Hagrid's face fell. "Oh. Errr, well…yes, I…did."

"Who has it now?"

"Ah, well, difficult ter say, really." Hagrid blushed. "Y'see…we all thought you was guilty. The night that…you got taken away…I was devastated. I came back here on the motorcycle after I used it to deliver Harry to Perfesser Dumbledore, had a bit too much to drink, and, ah…."

Hagrid trailed off, blushing.

"It's alright, Hagrid." Sirius said. "What did you do with it?"

"I, err, threw it in the lake." Hagrid said.

"Accio motorcycle!" Sirius shouted, standing at the shore of the lake. There was silence for a long time before the water began to swell, and something rose out of it. It may have been a motorcycle, though it was difficult to tell given that it was covered in seaweed. It flew through the air and landed on the ground in the midst of them.

"Scourgify." The Cleaning Charm Sirius cast caused the seaweed to vanish, revealing the motorcycle underneath. It was covered in rust, only a few scraps of rubber remained of the tires, and it had been crushed around the middle.

"Giant Squid probably got to it." Hagrid said. "I'm sorry Sirius. I should've known ye'd rather die than betray James and Lily."

"We may be able to fix it, Sirius." said Madam Pomfrey. "I know there are Squib mechanics who can work wonders."

Sirius stared at the bike and managed a small, wistful smile despite its mangled appearance. He walked over to it, his legs suddenly rubbery, and sat down on the seat. He placed both hands on the handlebars and was suddenly overcome with emotion. He bent over forward, and tears began to stream down his face.

"Ah, Harry…why don'tcha go fix us a pot of tea, eh?" Hagrid cocked his head toward his cabin. Harry sprinted off, glad to have something to do. He did not judge Sirius for his sudden display of emotion, but neither did he have any idea what to do about it.

"Believe it 'er not, I know how ya feel." Hagrid said, putting a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "I spent a short spell in Azkaban last year."

The shock of this statement was enough to momentarily disrupt Sirius' sobbing. He turned to look at Hagrid in amazement.

"You're joking." he said.

"Nah. They thought it was me that opened the Chamber of Secrets. Took me away without a trial."

Sirius continued staring, speechless. Hagrid continued.

"They put me far away from the Dementors, seein' as how they thought I wasn't much of a danger. But even still…" Hagrid shivered. "I kin only imagine how yer feelin'. When I got back and saw Fang, I cried for two hours straight."

Sirius shook his head in amazement. "I see something like this-" He pointed to the motorcycle. "-and I feel happy for a moment, just to see it. And then…it's like it was in Azkaban. Any time I had a happy thought, the Dementors snatched it from me."

Hagrid removed a hip flask from his belt and offered it to Sirius, who took the huge container in both hands and took a drink.

"Sounds 'bout right." Hagrid said. "I had a rough time when I got back, but Madam Pomfrey here got me through it." He nodded at Madam Pomfrey. "You do what she tells you, and you'll get by. And you come talk to me any time, day or night, unnerstand?"

Sirius nodded. He removed a bar of chocolate from his pocket, took a bite, and offered it to Hagrid, who waved it away with a nauseated look.

"You don't like chocolate?" Sirius said in surprise.

"Not any more." said Hagrid.

"Being able to hold a Shield Charm is critical to defending yourself." Moody said. They had spent all morning learning and practicing the charm. Now they were learning how to focus on maintaining them. The three of them were surrounded by invisible spheres of force as Moody paced back and forth.

"Most adults probably couldn't produce a decent Shield Charm if their lives depended on it. You should be able to not only produce one, but maintain it even when distracted. Now brace yourself, Weasley, I'm going to try to take your shield down.

Ron gulped and stood up straight, eyes locked with Moody.

"Stupefy." Moody stayed facing Ron but pointed his wand toward Hermione, who was behind him. Hermione jumped in surprise, her shield lowered, and the Stunner hit her in the chest. Moody had cast it with hardly any strength, so she merely stumbled back a step.

"Constant vigilance!" Moody said.

"That's not fair!" said Ron.

"Fair? Is it fair that Dark witches and wizards use Unforgivable Curses while we do not? Is it fair that they break the law while we follow it? Fair has nothing to do with it. You must constantly be on the alert for their tricks, and be willing to play your own tricks as well."

"Expelliarmus!" Harry attempted to disarm Moody, who flicked the curse away with ease.

"Well, Potter seems to have grasped the basic idea." Moody said with a fierce grin. "Your form's improving Potter, but pick a different spell next time."

"Why?" Harry said. They had quickly learned that Moody did not mind questions, and in fact seemed to enjoy them.

"A stunner will more effectively incapacitate your enemy. Also it has two fewer syllables, and is easier to say without tripping over your tongue."

"But if they don't have a wand, they're incapacitated." Ron said.

"They can still run away. Or plunge a knife into you."

"Death Eaters wouldn't use a knife. It's a Muggle weapon.

"Oh really? What do you think took my eye?" Moody pointed at his face. "In the heat of battle, people abandon their principles right quick."

There was a loud pop, and someone appeared behind Moody. Harry barely had time to register that what had happened before Moody had whirled around and had his wand trained on whoever it was.

It was Madam Bones. She had appeared with both hands raised in the air.

"It's me, Alastor." she said.

"Damn it Bones, why would you sneak up on me like that?" Moody said. "I almost blasted you!"

"Hence the raised arms." she said, lowering them. "I wouldn't have done it unless it was absolutely necessary. We have a problem. I need you to come out of retirement for a bit."

"What's the problem?"

"Barty Crouch has been murdered."