A Clash of Shadows and Light
Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin had returned to the school for breakfast. The two professors seemed to have accomplished whatever had them leave the school the previous evening. They did not seem like they were going to address the reason they left as halfway through the meal, Dumbledore called for an elf to clear his place and left through the back of the room. In the end, an explanation was not needed as it came with the morning paper.
Before even reading the headline, Harry saw the main photo which featured Auror Remington Argent with his arms reattached and waving toward the cameraman.
Auror on the Mend
Counter-curse from Hogwarts DADA professor
Shortly after the distribution of the special evening edition last night, a large ball of fire appeared in the lobby of Saint Mungos. From the burning flames stepped Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, hero of the Grindelwald War, Supreme Mugwump of the ICW, Chief of the Wizengamot, and Headmaster of Hogwarts - School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Perched on his shoulder was his familiar and method of transportation, the Phoenix - Fawkes. Also accompanying him was a man unknown to us at the time. He was later found to be Remus Lupin, a returned expat of Britain and now Defense Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.
When they asked to visit Remington Argent in the spell damage ward, it was assumed that they were there to heal the injured auror. Upon arrival at the ward, the headmaster sat back and let his companion take the lead.
Remus John Lupin left Britain shortly after the last war. He fought on the side of the light and suffered greatly, the scars of which can be seen on his face and in his eyes. As a child was close friends with James Potter, Peter Pettigrew, and Sirius Black. Our society was lessened by the loss of the first two heroes from the betrayal of the third. Following his departure from this island, he joined a commune of druids in Southern France who own an award-winning vineyard known in both the magical and muggle worlds.
Lupin was led through an examination of the severed limbs by the healers, running his own diagnostic spells and even tickling the feet of the severed legs and observing the Auror's annoyed laughter, still feeling the action on his sensitive nerves.
It took Mister Lupin nearly an hour per limb, but the limbs were slowly reattached. The heroic auror had told us that there was no pain when they were cut off, but there was certainly a great deal when they were being put back on. The professor couldn't explain why but the ward's healers said it had to do with removing whatever dark magic was allowing the severed parts to still communicate with the host brain and magically fusing them back together.
Just before the last leg was started, a puddle of murky black magic appeared on the floor. Wands were drawn, but Dumbledore held up a hand to stop spells from being fired. A large clawed hand came from inside the darkness and then another as a large dark face with silver teeth emerged from the floor. When it was fully out of the hole, the creature shrank to reveal a man that had been concealed inside its body - Lord Arcturus Black.
The phoenix, Fawkes, gave an angry screech. The creature, now small enough to be sitting on Lord Black's shoulder, gave the bird a two-finger (out of three and a thumb) salute. Professor Lupin broke the silence by identifying the creature as a darkling. The Lord Black then informed the group that he had arrived to treat the auror's condition.
Upon further discussion, Lord Black revealed that the spell was from his family library and not one invented by Sirius Black as was originally thought. When Lord Black questioned Lupin on his knowledge of the spell, the Hogwarts professor revealed that the escaped murderer had used it once on him when they were teenagers and he had to devise the counter curse on his own while his limbs were separated from his body but still responsive to his own thoughts.
Lord Black volunteered to reattach the remaining leg. Before he did so, he whispered into the auror's ear, with the young man looking more and more terrified by the second. When he stepped back, Lord Black picked up the remaining leg and fixed it back on in less than ten seconds. There was a great deal of screaming from the young auror as this took place.
Remington Argent, a recipient of the Golden Wand, was back standing a moment later, thanking Professor Lupin and Lord Black, though keeping his distance from the latter. Lord Black gave a soft headbutt to the dark creature on his shoulder and the creature grew and wrapped around him like a cloak before they sank into a black puddle on the floor. Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Lupin followed suit, vanishing from the room in a ball of phoenix fire.
Harry and his yearmates approached DADA that day with a bit of nervous energy. They all had shared the newspaper earlier and read the article more than once. Now they were going to class with a teacher who wasn't only the man they knew him to be but also an old friend of the escaped mass murderer, Sirius Black, who now had another two bodies attributed to his name. Of course, Harry and Lyra already knew his past but didn't let on to the others that they did.
A couple of students tried out the various sensory enchantments tied to the red stones on the pedestals outside the classroom, though most of them avoided them like a plague. When they entered the room, Professor Lupin was at his desk with the caretaker for the Scamander common room, Astray, eating cheese and crackers. When the horned creature saw the students, he slipped behind his chair and vanished. Those who had seen the creature and didn't know what it was very nervously took their seats around the room while the others filed in normally.
The professor eyed many of the second-year class still clutching newspapers, and let out a long sigh, "I'm guessing a lot of you have questions, who has the biggest one?"
Shirley Baker was called on and asked, "You knew Sirius Black?"
Their teacher nodded sadly, "He was one of my roommates in Gryffindor and a good friend. At least I thought he was up until the end. Next question?"
"How did you make the counter curse to a Black Family spell?" Flora Carrow asked.
"With great difficulty," he replied. "I will be teaching my NEWT students how to do such things in the spring. You are all far too young to learn such advanced magic."
Elisa Sweetleaf asked, "What's that creature that was with Lord Black? You called it a darkling."
"Evil little creatures. They can travel through shadows and feed on the flesh of magical beings. You can find them naturally in deep caverns where they can move freely in the darkness as if it were water. They do not bond naturally with wizards and I have no idea how Lord Black became associated with one or managed to control it."
A few more students badgered him about counter curses and Black before Colin asked something Harry had been dreading.
"Professor, sir? They said you also were friends with James Potter, that's Harry's father, right?"
Lupin refused to make eye contact with Harry and just nodded his head. After a moment, he raised it, "Enough questions. Seems like today might be a good day to teach the Cheering Charm."
They went through the introduction to the spell which explained it as the transfer of positive feelings from one wizard to another. This was why one person couldn't cast it on themselves to feel better when they were depressed. It could magnify your own happiness, but it wouldn't do much to help anyone with long-term sadness. The spell itself was used for giving others a temporary boost, or as an area enchantment in places like spas and amusement parks.
When Lupin demonstrated the spell, it created a large yellow cone of light which elicited smiles and bits of laughter in any students he shined it on. He then demonstrated advanced versions if the spell that he turned into a glowing rope coming from his wand that could wrap around and pull objects, covered the entire room in sparkling golden light, and tossed around a ball that he had enchanted earlier that had the same cheering effect when held.
"The big limitation of the spell is that you can't cast it when you don't have happiness to share," he explained. "However, even when you are sad or feeling down, it is possible to dig out a happy memory to use to cast the spell rather than use your current mood."
Harry looked around the room. He could see other students trying to remember happy thoughts they could use for the spell. Delving into his own thoughts, he was assaulted by the bad memories he had accumulated in his life. Though he eventually got to the ones of his sister, family, and friends.
The incantation for the spell was Gaudium and the wand movement was a simple thrust toward your target. However, they were instructed to start the movement with the base of their wand over their hearts and not to begin the thrust until they had the right memory or mood to cast the spell. When the professor gave the instruction to everyone to cast the spell, the room was filled with bursts of yellow light and showers of gold sparkles.
Harry approached the spell-casting with caution. Starting with just the memory of soaking in the hot springs with the other Hidden, he pulled his wand close to his heart to cast the spell. For a moment, he felt something deep inside him connect to his wand, so he thrust it forward and incanted, "Gaudium!"
A near-solid beam of yellow light shot out of his wand and brightened the wall behind where Lupin was sitting. While many of the other second-year students had also made a beam of light, theirs were all transparent to some degree. Harry's could barely be seen through at all and nearly half the students stopped to look.
Harry released the spell. Despite Lupin saying that he couldn't cast the spell on himself, just bringing that happy memory to the surface seemed to empower him with a positive mood. Using that as a base, he dug through his memories again and latched onto when he would playfight with the Lampong. When he placed his wand to his heart, he waited to feel the memory lock in place before saying the incantation again and thrusting forward, "Gaudium!"
He had the same result again with the nearly solid beam. This time, he decided to experiment a bit and focused on widening the effect. Slowly, the cone widened and widened as he thought about sharing his positive feelings with everyone around until the entire room was bathed in yellow light. Everyone had stopped casting at this point and just stared in awe at Harry's cheering charm.
When it stopped, Lupin gave him a round of applause, which many students added to.
"Fifteen points to Scamander," he told Harry. "Would you mind sharing what you did for such a powerful spell?"
Harry nodded, "I waited. I focused on the memory I wanted to share until I felt it connect, and then I cast the spell. Then on the second time, I thought about sharing the feeling with everyone and it widened the spell."
Lupin nodded, "Another ten points for good instruction. Everyone, try to do as Mister Potter said. Wait until you feel the spell is ready before you cast it."
There was silence across the room as students prepared their spells. After ten seconds, one student called out the incantation. That set off many others, most of whom weren't ready, and their spells fizzled. Eventually, the room was bathed in yellow and gold sparkles and everyone was feeling warm and happy. It was almost depressing when the light faded and the spells stopped.
"Homework!" Lupin called out and the light faded even more in response to such a dreadful word. "Keep practicing the spell whenever you can. The feeling you get when a memory or mood connects to your spell is what you need to learn to have it happen quickly. Also, start thinking of funny memories. You'll eventually need one of those memories to face your first boggart."
That last statement pulled everyone back into the reality of why they were learning these spells. Eventually, they would need to stand face to face with the trauma-inducing fear monsters locked in their professor's trunk. Though he was preparing them. They were learning to interact with non-corporeal creatures and how spells to target them worked, how to deal with sudden assaults on their senses and emotions, and spells that are fueled by emotion. Harry connected all their experiences in the class so far and saw how they would be leading to their encounter with the boggart. He would definitely be asking Luna Lovegood to join him and Lyra with their boggart encounters, she seemed to have her own special magic that gave her some kind of resistance to mind magics and a unique view of the world. She could see through the trap with the golem, didn't seem to be bothered by the fear tunnel that Lupin set up in the hallway, and thinking back, she had gotten through the tasks of the enchanted rocks quicker than every other student.
When the class wound down, Lupin dismissed them, but Harry decided to stay. He caught Lyra's eyes as she headed out and gave a nod to the professor before sitting back down to wait for everyone else to leave. It was about time for him to have a talk with the old friend of his father's particularly because everyone now knew about that connection with his father and the professor. At least one person was going to ask him about it. When the room was cleared, Harry spotted a sparkle from his invisible sister who had stayed back as well to listen in and no doubt try to protect him.
Lupin looked up from his papers to see Harry sitting there and sighed. With a swish of his wand, a second chair was conjured next to his desk and a whisper to the air had a house-elf pop into the room and deliver tea and biscuits. He seemed resigned to be having this conversation, like he knew it was coming. Harry approached the desk and sat down.
"So, what do you want to know?" he asked with a sad grin and a twirl of his wand.
"I saw you in a photo album, it seemed like all the pictures I got had Black torn out completely. I know you all grew up together, I just don't know how it all fell apart."
Lupin ducked his head and nodded, "I could blame Black, but I blame myself just as much. See, it was the four of us, me, James, Peter, and Sirius. We always knew we had a spy in the war but we all thought it was the wrong person. Eventually, everyone thought it was me."
"Why you?" Harry asked, confused.
"People I know…" he started. "They joined up with Voldemort. That made others suspect me. Not James, Peter, and Sirius though; Peter even laughed at what he said was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, thinking I was a spy. Though the other people on our side, I could see the suspicion in their eyes. So I accepted an assignment that took me out of the country. I was gone and didn't see what was happening when everything began to fall apart. If I had been able to believe in myself the same way that the three of them seemed to feel, I might have been able to help James or stop Sirius."
"And then?" Harry prompted.
"I asked to see you once," he looked Harry in the eyes. "I knew I wouldn't be able to have regular visits, but I was told you were in protective custody and couldn't be reached at all."
"By Dumbledore?" Harry asked. At seeing the acknowledgment, Harry growled, "That wasn't his choice to make."
Harry's magic flared in response to his anger. Lupin perked up with interest at Harry's action.
"Do you know what you're doing? Lupin asked.
Harry looked back at him, calmed down his magic, and then actively drew out the memories connected to his feelings of anger, hate, and revenge. As he focused this mix of magic on Lupin, Harry froze. More magic washed back over him and Lupin stared at him with a smirk, eyes locked with this man, he felt like he was being stared down by a Sigbin, as if Lupin could lash out and attack at any moment. There was another push of the predatory magic as Harry backed off his chair and shivered as he fell to the floor. Immediately the power stopped and Lupin reached down and hoisted Harry back up to his chair, pushing a chocolate-dipped biscuit to him and pouring more tea.
"It's rare for someone your age to know how to do that," Lupin smiled. "Though it doesn't really bother anyone who is strong enough. Also, please tell Miss Black not to attack me or I will need to take care of her."
Harry looked up to see a sparkle of Lyra's form rushing the professor who had just revealed her sneaking. "Lyra, stop!" he yelled.
She skidded to a halt and turned visible a few steps in front of the professor. In her hands were a wand and a knife. Lupin looked very surprised at seeing her with a knife.
"I assume you're being trained properly?" he asked. "You can't carry a weapon without otherwise at Hogwarts."
She nodded but didn't break eye contact with the teacher as she sheathed her knife. Lupin conjured another chair and an elf popped in to bring another tea cup.
Lupin studied the girl in front of him for another moment before saying, "I hope you know that your family contains some very bad people."
"Harry is my family. Uncle Arcturus and Brandt are good people too," she replied back with a monotone.
"I don't know the family Steward, but Arcturus Black is a dark wizard. His power comes from places that should be forbidden. I lied in class, I do know how he has tamed a darkling. He has likely had it since it was born and trained it by feeding it living magical creatures. Whatever ends up being the first thing a darkling feeds on as infants becomes their primary source of food their entire lives. Most become cannibals, though the power that it displayed in St. Mungos makes me believe that he is more likely feeding other wizards to it. Ask him if you don't believe me."
"I will," Harry spoke up. "Just because someone is dark, doesn't mean they are evil. Every magical creature needs to eat, as long as they aren't mistreated or running wild, I don't see a problem."
Lupin stared at the boy with confusion, like he just turned the page of a novel and was plunged into a new mystery. He took a deep sigh and poured another cup for himself, mixing in a bit of sugar. He never took his eyes off the children the entire time, even as he took a sip from the cup.
Lyra ended up breaking the silence, "So you work with druids? We met one last year, Glen Albanwr. He helped us with a project."
"You met the head of the druidic council for the British Isles and he helped you with a project?" Lupin asked in disbelief.
"He performed a growth blessing on our common room to grow the trees. We did another for more protection and strength, he wanted to make sure it would work properly," Lyra explained.
Lupin asked many more questions about the structure of the blessing, but was most confused when he asked, "How often do you reinforce the blessing?" and Harry replied that they didn't.
"Only the most powerful blessings don't need reinforcement," he told them. "At the vineyard where I work, we perform a ritual once a month that keeps the grapes growing and the protections strong. If we miss a single month, entire crops will die and the protections will fail by the time a new moon comes."
"Do vineyards get attacked often?" Lyra asked quizzically. Harry nodded along with her question.
"It's less about the vineyard and more about the people," Lupin told them. "We act as both a sanctuary for some and a prison for others. Some of our order can come and go freely and others may not. Many of us have enemies that would seek to harm us, though we have all sworn to avoid violence when possible, though nothing binding."
Harry didn't respond as pressing for details didn't seem wise. He was being very open with them and he didn't want to stress it. Moreover, all roads to his childhood isolation seemed to lead back to Dumbledore. He would need to find a way to confront the headmaster soon and find out the reason for his placement and treatment by the Dursleys.
Lupin took advantage of the silence to ask, "I have a few questions for you, Harry. The first of which is: How in Merlin's name are you friends with Severus Snape?" Before he could answer, the professor followed up with, "I'm sure you have some reason and it's a good one, but it is the strangest thing for me to see. Your father hated Snape. Much like what I hear about you and Draco Malfoy. It boggles my mind that he wouldn't hold a grudge against James and pass it on to you just out of spite. I've heard horror stories from older students about his teaching methods, but you seem to think he's amazing."
"He is a good teacher," Lyra interjected. "We explained it to Tonks, Severus just likes to look scary. He doesn't actually do anything mean to those who don't deserve it."
"Tonks?" Lupin raised an eyebrow before his eyes widened, "The pig princess?" He started laughing before he explained, "Andy's daughter? Her mother used to dress her up in fancy gowns when she was a little kid. She never liked them so she would change her face into a pig to protest." He looked sad at the memory and added, "Andy used to invite all of us to dinner when she thought that Sirius wasn't like the rest of his family."
"Arcturus wants him alive for some reason," Harry said and took a sip of his tea. "I want him to answer for his crimes and know why he betrayed my parents."
"We are on the same page about that," Lupin snarled. "If I find him first, you're ok with him being a bit roughed up?"
Harry shared a look with Lyra to confirm she was ok before nodding solemnly to Lupin.
After breakfast on Sunday, Harry and Lyra were greeted at their common room by a large contingent of wizards, led by Arcturus Black. Accompanying him was Augustus Stevens wearing a slightly less flamboyant outfit than he usually did, Amicus Slant - the solicitor for House Black carrying his scythe-like cane, and two men wearing robes with plated dragonscale on their torsos and carrying a long chest between the two of them with three locks on the front. Whispers stood with them, holding Silvy as if they were part of the group, mimicking the stance of attention from the men in armor. Arcturus beckoned them towards the courtyard.
"We will be taking you to your weapon training today. I have something to discuss with each of you along the way."
As they started walking, Whispers abandoned the resolute pose he had been in before and loped alongside Lyra with Silvy slinking beside him.
"I guess this concerns Whispers too," Arturus started. "Nestor's government is asking for more demiguise hair to maintain the protections on the island." Lyra was about to start protesting but was stopped with a glare. "One of the reasons that I want to bring in Sirius alive is he may have a key piece to a family secret that would allow us to establish our own protection that would be far superior to theirs."
Harry nodded along. He was starting to feel a bit annoyed with himself at having created the situation where Sirius Black was on the loose, but the need to capture him again just became greater.
"Lyra, the druidic council has reached out to me to ask if you might want to teach them the blessing you devised for your home and common room. They have all the details but wish to have you demonstrate it as well. You can ask any price, but I would suggest that they tutor you in ritual construction as your fee."
"We did that together," Lyra objected, pointing to Harry.
"You did most of it," he countered.
"I guess it sounds alright?" Lyra said hesitantly.
Amicus Slant pulled a scroll from his robes, "When you decide, simply sign this and send it by owl." Turning to Harry, he pulled out another scroll, "We have a contract for you, Mr. Potter, for the hair growth potion you devised. The first order is for five hundred doses, and you will need to find a secure brewing location. If you need help finding one, ask. However, Lord Black would like for you to make the first attempts on your own."
Harry nodded, he had a project room, but Slant had emphasized that it needed to be secure, so it should also be somewhere others don't know about. He had all the records of secret rooms from the Explorer's Club, the Weasley Twins might also be able to help, or as a last resort, he could ask Severus. He took the contract to read later and continued to walk.
The weather had been gloomy of late, though there was a large change in how the world looked as they exited the gates of Hogwarts into Hogsmeade. The green coloring of the Scottish Highlands was fading and even the buildings looked muted in their presence. The others noticed it and Harry's glances at the surrounding area.
"It is the dementor," Stevens told the children. "It doesn't just drain magic and happiness, it also slowly takes away things that might bring joy. The colors of nature, and the feelings of warmth from homes. The people who live here will all leave soon if Sirius isn't caught."
When they arrived at the building for their training, Dartian He was already inside, accompanied by another armored guard. The two were drinking tea though the guard was doing so with his wand in one hand and his eyes were locked on Ransom on the other side of the training area. Lyra's teacher was pacing back and forth, agitated by something.
"You're late," he said grumpily.
Arcturus simply ignored him and gestured to the two guards carrying the chest to set it down in the middle of the room.
Looking at Dartian, he asked, "You speak Tagalog?"
"Good enough… I mean no. The spell Mister Brandt performed took it away temporarily."
"That's just for speaking. You'll still be able to understand it," Arcturus informed him.
He snapped his fingers and one of the locks on the chest clicked. The two guards opened the chest and dragged out a large glass coffin containing a swirling green mass. Slowly, the contents changed until they formed the shape of the ghost that had been captured from the sunken boat of the poachers.
Even for a ghost, he did not look well. Part of his face did not reform completely and stayed misty. The same could be said for his fingers, one thigh, and the opposite foot. There was also a large hole that had no mist inside it where his heart would be. He gave a fearful look toward Arcturus before spying the children and turned angry. Dartian had turned white with fear as he had no idea what it was he was looking at.
Arcturus looked around the room and finally just said in a commanding tone, "Whispers, come out!"
The demiguise appeared nearby to Harry and moved cautiously toward Arcturus. Dartian looked even more confused along with his fear at the new arrival.
"Master He, this creature is a demiguise. Similar to a primate but much smarter. This one can also turn invisible and predict the immediate future. The man in the case is a ghost of a wizard who was trying to kill and take the eyes, skin, and fur of such creatures. Associates of the children killed him. I have acquired the speech and understanding of Tagalog from another, but I wish to know if there is anything he says that requires a different translation."
Dartian's eyes shifted between the demiguise who was now playing with a silver kitten and the ghost in a glass coffin. He nodded slowly.
Arcturus spoke to the ghost in a demanding way, another language slipping from his lips with no trace of an accent of any kind, "Sabihin muli sa amin kung para saan ka nagtatrabaho!"
The ghost looked like he was about to speak but paused. Arcturus drew his wand and hit the coffin with a bolt of purple electricity. The ghost inside screamed, causing everyone to flinch or cover their ears.
When Arturus release the spell the ghost screamed angrily back at him, "Ako ay gumagawa para sa isa na dapat katakutan, sila ay babagsak sa iyo tulad ng isang walang humpay na kadiliman at ikaw ay hihingi ng awa bago ka nila pakainin sa takot!"
Dartian stared in shock as Arcturus explained, "He's told me many things, but this he has told me repeatedly. From what I understand, he works for someone he fears and he will try to kill me and feed me to something. Of course, as a ghost, he can't do anything and will soon be exorcized.
Dartian took a moment to gather himself before replying, "Not someone he fears, 'the one to be feared.' I don't even know what he could be talking about with that. He also referenced a group of 'The one to be feared.' As far as a creature, it's some kind of ultimate evil, though the legends I know are filled with evil creatures so I have no idea what he would feed you to."
Arcturus casually threw another small bolt of purple magic at the coffin, eliciting a scream from the ghost within before saying, "He sometimes refers to the creature as 'she.' Does that help?" The ghost screamed more in his language but neither Arcturus nor Dartian bothered to translate.
"Not really. I know folktales and legends. Maybe if I could capture ghosts and learn languages overnight, I could give you more information."
Arcturus shrugged. He nodded to his guards and then the men put the coffin back into the chest. The ghost started screaming again until the lid closed and silenced the noise. Arcturus snapped his fingers twice, causing the first lock to snap shut and the second to open. This time, he walked over himself and opened it up. From inside, he pulled out a large spear that had a completely impractical tip that looked like multiple forks of lightning. He handed it to one guard and then took out a set of daggers with thick curved blades.
"I need Pik'kal to copy these and the magic as best he can," Arturus ordered Ransom.
The man sneered at the mention of Pik'kal, "Why do you need him?"
Arcturus looked annoyed and turned to Dartian, "Do you know anyone who might forge copies of these weapons?"
Before he could reply, Ransom jumped in, "Keep the muggle away from more of our magic. I will have Pickle do it." He turned toward the back of the house and yelled, "Pickle! You've got work!"
An angry yell came back, "It's Pik'kal you lazy ass! My tools are ready, I heard Black talking."
"Who is back there?" Dartian asked curiously.
"No one you need to worry about," Ransom snapped back fiercely. "Go near my quarters and I will gut you. I might just do it anyway if you keep bothering me."
Dartian took a step back and shrugged, "I have no need to fight with you."
Ransom looked a bit disappointed, as did Lyra, who asked, "If they aren't going to fight, can Harry and I have a duel?"
Ransom lit up with a sinister smile, "With blades? Yes, my student against yours," he told Dartian.
Arcturus looked to Harry, "This is something you want?" Getting a nod, "Fine, though I need to bring something before you do. Spend the next few hours training and I will be back." He turned to his guards. "You two, do any preparations you need to."
Arcturus then let out a deep growl and a pool of darkness appeared below him, which he fell into like without a sound. The darkness then disappeared like water down a drain. Again, only Dartian seemed shocked at the display of magic. Though he seemed to be adjusting more quickly.
Dartian pulled Harry over to the corner and spoke to him seriously, "Why do you want to fight your sister? Are you having a sibling quarrel or something?" Seeing Harry's eyes as being a bit evasive, he added, "I need you to be honest with me."
Harry looked toward Slant, Stevens, and the two guards then reached into his shirt and pulled out the orange-colored owl feather he kept on a necklace. Concentrating for a moment, it let out a glow and bubble of silence around them.
"For privacy," he told his teacher, "no one else can hear now. Someone told my sister's fortune, her future." Seeing his automatic disbelief, "It can be done, but it's often very vague. They told her someone would one day spill a lot of blood over her. I would certainly kill to protect her. She doesn't want me to fly off and do it for something small and I told her she should stop me if she can. So I want her to be strong enough to do so if possible. Plus it might be fun."
Dartian took a long look into Harry's eyes, "You've killed before. No one your age should have had to kill."
"I've done what I had to," Harry responded resolutely. "I would do it again and I will probably have to, Lyra as well. Though we won't be fighting animals and unexpecting adults. The next time we are in such a life-or-death fight it will be against adult wizards or worse. My sister and I aren't learning to fight for fun, it is for survival."
The two held eye contact for a long time, then Dartian smiled, "I'm going to change how I train you then. We will need to have our lessons somewhere else, preferably outside. However, now we need to quickly adapt to fighting your sister. You are ok with fighting her seriously?"
"She would lose respect for me if I didn't," Harry replied.
Their attention was drawn to her and Ransom on the far side of the room as she had taken her staff from her pouch. The sign in fang on the top erupted with a large plume of black smoke which created a wall down the middle of the room, shrouding them from observation.
"I'm never going to get used to stuff like that," Dartian sighed. "So I need you to learn quickly to fight against someone who uses close combat. Can we get some knives for me to use somewhere?"
Harry reached into his pouch up to his elbow and retried his training knives from the previous year, handing them over to his teacher who had just shaken off his shock from the bottomless pouch.
He took them, saying, "You need to learn how to retreat. Anyone who is not using a spear will try to close the distance between you and them as fast as possible, so you need to learn how to run away."
"But keeping my eyes on them?" Harry asked, then followed up with, "It's like fighting snakes, you can never take your eyes off them and stay out of their striking range."
"That's exactly it," Dartian chuckled. "However, you also need to worry about a person's second blade, their feet, elbows, and if they are going to throw a blade." The man gripped the daggers in his hands, using different grips than what Ransom had shown them previously. "I'm going to come for you. Keep moving backward the entire time, but if you think you see an opening, take it. Keep your speartip up, protect your face and neck. Ready?"
Harry nodded, and his teacher rushed forward. Immediately his spear was batted to the side and the other blade was on his cheek.
"You weren't ready. Let me know when you are again."
This time, Harry didn't nod, he just started back peddling. He managed to deflect several attacks before he tripped and had a blade over his heart.
"Again," Dartian commanded as he got back to his feet.
For the next two hours, Harry was relentlessly pursued as he ran, jumped, and skipped backward. His teacher effortlessly dodged the thrusts from his spear, occasionally only missing by inches. He did act a little surprised when the first one would have pierced his chest had he not moved, but then just simply started moving faster. When Harry snapped back his spear and the shaft hit his teacher in the side, Dartian finally called for a break. Harry collapsed in exhaustion while the older man simply sat down with his legs crossed and started breathing deeply to steady himself.
"With any luck, your sister will be more tired than you," Dartian chuckled.
Harry groaned. He had nearly forgotten that he would need to fight Lyra. Though with the way that Ransom had been training her before, she might just be more tired than him. Harry snacked on some of his remaining flobberworm jerky and Stevens brought him water to drink and then walked through the wall of shadows to deliver a drink to Lyra as well. A minute later, came out laughing slightly and gave a look of pity toward Harry as he returned to where Amicus Slant and the two guards had been sitting with Whispers and Silvy. Harry shared an uncomfortable look with his instructor.
When Harry had fully caught his breath, a large dark hole appeared on the floor and an enormous claw came out, pulling the darkling out of its hole. Dartian was about to start panicking again but seemed to gather himself from the lack of surprise from the people around him. When the fearsome creature fully emerged and then shrank itself to reveal Arcturus, he fully relaxed.
Arcturus was now carrying a small wooden box with a handle. After Stevens whispered a bit to the man, he set the box on the table and opened it to reveal the tops of four potions - two red, two blue. He took one of each color and walked to Harry.
Harry was staring at the darkling perched on Arcturus's shoulder. It looked like a small black monkey now with clawed fingers and toes. Its eyes were just sunken dark spaces with nothing in them, he imagined it could still somehow see. It also had large teeth that were the same dark gray as its claws and protruded slightly from its mouth.
He asked, "Why are you just now using that to travel?"
Arcturus pointed to the black cracks running down his face under his eye. The marks related somehow to the magic he had performed to cheat death the previous year.
"A side effect I didn't foresee. I can no longer apparate and need to rely on other methods of travel."
Remembering what Lupin had told him, he asked, "Professor Lupin told us that he doesn't know how you tamed it but thinks you are feeding it people."
Arcturus looked impressed, "Your professor knows quite a bit. Yes, I have been feeding it bits of wizards. Lucius's arm made quite a snack for it, and the one in the case is just a replica."
If he was feeding bits of his enemies to this creature, particularly Lyra's father, Harry had no complaints.
"As for taming it," Arcturus continued, "you can tell your professor that if you get them young enough, it makes it a lot easier to get any creature to do what you want." He grinned as he scratched the creature under its chin. "Though I need to warn you not to use the light of the Lampong near it. I don't think it will die, but it may experience something close to drowning."
Harry nodded and inclined his head towards the potions with a question in his eyes.
Arcturus held the red one up, "Just a pepper-up so you'll give us a good fight." He then held up the blue bottle, "This is what took me so long, I needed to brew this one for both of you. Drink it," he ordered.
Harry looked a bit hesitant but knew that he probably wouldn't be poisoned. He had snuck three bezoars from detention and put them in his pouch just in case. He sniffed the liquid after uncorking it to find that it reminded him of a nice leather jacket. Taking a deep breath, he drank it down.
Luckily it has the taste of a fizzy soda so it went down quickly. His body tensed for a moment before he felt his skin hardening. Looking at the back of his hand, it began to get darker and when he touched it, it felt thick and tougher. He flexed his fingers and feet and found he could still move the same, but his sense of touch was a bit distorted.
As he turned his hand over to examine his palm, Arcturus grabbed Harry by the wrist and before he could react, Arcturus stabbed his wand into Harry's palm. Harry screamed just for a moment but mostly out of shock as the pain was muted the same as his sense of touch was different. Also what grabbed his attention was the bright blue blood that came from the cut in his hand. Dartian had his hand on his spear and was halfway into pointing it toward Arcturus when he realized that something was amiss.
Arcturus told Harry, "Secret recipe, doesn't do anything against someone intent on stabbing you through and nothing against magic, but good for training when you want to cut. The potion thickens your skin and fills it with a fluid that allows it to repair itself. However, the blue fluid escapes momentarily when cut. So when you are sparring, it allows you to see where cuts happen. It lasts only twenty minutes, so we need to start soon."
With that, he summoned the other two bottles from the box and went to Lyra's side of the room. However, when he began to pass through the black shadows that Lyra had made, the darkling jumped from Arcturus's shoulder and with could only described as maniacal laughter began to play in the vertical darkness like the surface of a swimming pool. After spending a moment watching the creature, he let it have fun, shrugged, and continued on his way.
"I know he said it was a secret," Dartian began, "but it would be amazing to help you learn if you could make whatever this is." He began to examine Harry's arm and face with the dark, thickened skin.
A moment later, Ransom came through the shadow wall, and said, "We need rules. I say first blood wins."
"Going for the quick kill?" Dartian replied. "It won't be that easy. Hit to a mortal wound area or four hits to the torso. The potion you gave them won't actually let them get hurt, right?" he asked Arcturus and got a nod back.
"Anything else?" Ransom snarled back.
Dartian glanced at Harry, and Arcturus came through the smoke to add, "No hits to the eyes, ears, mouth, groin, armpits, or backs of the knees."
"Yeah…" Dartian said with a mild shock, "None of that." Then after a moment, "Also the areas between the fingers and toes?"
"That's easy enough to repair, but the same line of thought," Arcturus nodded to the muggle trying his best to follow along. He started to walk out of the training area, motioning for Dartian and Ransom to join him, then adding, "No wands or staves."
Arcturus whistled to the darkling, still in the wall of swirling dark magic. It gave an unhappy noise before vanishing and reappearing in a puff of smoke on Arcturus's shoulder. Stevens had a glass orb in his hand that he was filling with a white light. When it was shining brightly, a swish of his wand sent it flying out over the arena. When it hit the wall of smoke, it vanished, the other sources of light in the room went out, and left Lyra standing on the other side ready to do battle. She certainly looked the part too.
While Harry was still in his school robes, Lyra was in pants and a leather vest. At her waist were two daggers in sheathes, ready to be drawn, though there were also two more on her thighs, and four smaller knives in a bandolier across her chest. She smiled like a little devil.
Harry stared at her for a moment before Dartian yelled, "She's going to be throwing them, Harry!"
Harry took an involuntary step backward. He wasn't ready for that.
That was all the time he had as Ransom yelled, "Go!"
Lyra took three running strides toward him before pulling one of the larger knives from the sheath on her thigh and pitching it straight toward her brother. Luckily for Harry, he did have his spear pointed forward to protect his face and was able to barely parry the metal projectile as it claimed a few of the hairs next to his ears before thudding into the far wall behind them.
That moment galvanized him and he made a thrust toward the tiny girl in front of him before leaping backward to avoid her getting too close. She tried getting inside his radius, slapping away at his attacks with her knives and dodging the ones she couldn't. Harry kept his stance solid with his back foot ready for a lunge and his front foot ready to retreat at a moment's notice.
Finally, Lyra jumped backward herself and threw one of the large knives she was holding, aiming for Harry's foot. His momentary glance down at his feet had him miss her pull two of the small blades from the bandolier in her chest and throw them toward his torso. The first hit the shaft of his spear, next to his hands, while the second cut straight through his robes and across his upper arm, rewarding her with a splash of blue as it cut through the thick skin from the potion. Harry ignored the sound of coins being exchanged from the spectators and pressed forward.
With only one blade in her hand, Lyra was at a disadvantage as Harry pressed forward. Every time she reached to draw another, he made a thrust to that side of her body, forcing her to dodge. He was eventually successful with a hit to the side of her abdomen and a bit of blue spilling out onto her clothes. She retreated back and they both took a quick breather.
"How hard do you want to do this?" Lyra asked quickly.
"You know why we are doing this," Harry replied. "Do it."
The black earring on Lyra's ear started to leak darkness and her form began to blur. Harry pushed off his front foot and started to move backward even before she began her next charge. Instead of watching her body, Harry watched the sand on the floor to see where she was moving. He kept his distance between himself and the blurry darkness that contained his sister, making thrusts into the general area where she was as he continued backing away from where she was advancing.
He wasn't able to see the flying knife until it was out of her hand and it stuck into his shoulder, just above his heart. Not being able to move as well with a partial impalement, Harry transferred his spear into his right arm and swung it in a wide arc that Dartian hadn't taught him, using the extra seconds to pull the small blade out and stick it in his belt. A bit of red blood came with it, as it had punctured the layer of thick skin provided by the potion.
She was down to one throwing knife and two larger ones she was using for close attacks. He was pretty sure she wouldn't be throwing those. He needed to even the playing field, so he took the second he had made for himself and turned invisible. She could still see him, but just slightly better than he could with her blurred form from The Giver's black hair that she had learned to use for concealment.
The fight began again. Both of them still moved just as quickly, but their attacks were slower as they couldn't make definitive strikes on a target that might not be where they thought it was. There were several more hits to their arms and legs before Lyra switched tactics again and turned invisible as well but stopped the darkness blur.
Harry was entirely on defense now as he could barely see where she was through the invisibility. After another half a minute, he had gotten two more hits to his chest and barely avoided a killing blow to his neck. After several quick backsteps, he pulled out the small throwing knife he had stashed in his belt and threw it at the glass orb of light Stevens had put up to illuminate the room.
Harry has no training in throwing knives and it showed. The knife did not fly cleanly and wobbled constantly as it flew. He did aim well though and the side of the handle smashed the glass, shattering it and dispersing the light contained within. In seconds, the room was completely dark.
Harry smiled. This was his element.
One might think that since Lyra manipulated shadows and he the light, that he would be better suited for daytime and her for the night. However, Lyra needed light for shadows to exist and Harry's magic was most powerful when it was surrounded by darkness. Now, just like when he wandered the island at night or the permitted forest with no moon, he could see everything.
As he heard Dartian say something about the lack of light, he charged Lyra, getting a hit immediately before she backed off. He managed to get another with the flat side of the spear before she lit up the room, igniting her hair with fire. Blurring her form or turning invisible wouldn't work for her at all now.
Both of them returned to the fight with vigor, but Harry had an advantage now that he pressed. After exchanging attacks for a minute, he landed one on her wrist causing her to drop one of her blades. She tried jumping backward and pulling a knife to throw from the bandolier, but before she could throw it, her back hit the wall and the tip of Harry's spear touched her neck, causing a tiny prick of blue to leak out.
"Stop!" Stevens called out.
Harry turned visible, pulled back, and dropped his spear as the adults came forward. Lyra sheathed her larger blade and dropped the throwing knife so she could touch the small cut on her neck, but it had already healed under the leathery skin.
"Good fight," Arcturus praised them. "Very, very, very good fight."
Dartian was stuttering "Wh…how… invis?... Fire?..."
"More magic," Slant told him. "Though I wasn't aware of all of what they could do."
"That was intense!" Lyra exclaimed as she went to give Harry a hug. He winced in pain at the hug.
One of the guards approached, holding a crimson wand, "Hold still, Mister Potter. The one throwing knives penetrated the thick skin from the potion."
Harry looked uneasy, "That's not the wand you were holding earlier."
He looked a bit surprised and kneeled down next to the two children pulling out a roll of leather covered with soft fur. Opening it, revealed eight other wands of different sizes, shapes, and colors. He pulled one more from his wrist holster and laid it and the crimson wand in the roll to show all ten.
He pointed to the one that had been in the holster, "This is my wand, it has been with me for twenty years, ever since I left school. It is crafted with my blood and is suited for fighting. I'm sure you've heard someone say that some wands are better for specific magic, right?"
Harry nodded, "But I thought that just made some magic easier. It's the wizard that makes the spells powerful, right?"
"Of course," he replied. "But it's not about being more powerful, some magic is easier with different wands. Some of the most well known are dragon-core wands will perform transfiguration more easily, unicorn wands are better for charms and enchantments, and firebird wands excel at combat." He motioned to the wands in his roll, "Each of these does something more easily for me other than combat. It is very hard to find wands that align to your own magic, luckily I come across many wizards that no longer need a wand."
"Because they're dead?" Lyra asked the obvious.
He looked a bit surprised at the blunt statement, then smiled, "Or missing limbs, or in prison." He held up the crimson wand, "This one was made with the eyestalk of a chupacabra and has the wood of an almácigo tree. It is good for healing. May I?"
Harry relaxed and let the man begin to heal him. As he relaxed, he looked to Lyra, and said, "You're really fast. You learned how to throw knives that easily?"
"I wasn't that fast," she replied as she played with a little of the blue blood that had come from her neck earlier, rubbing it between her index finger and thumb.
"No, you weren't." Ransom interrupted angrily. "I was expecting a win with that trick I taught you. And neither of you were as fast as you think you were."
"She had less than two hours of instruction," Dartian replied to counter him. "You can't expect her to successfully master a craft in that time. However, he is right that you were both much slower than you think you were."
Ransom looked annoyed, and sniped back, "It was more than enough to beat some muggle and his student. The two of you might have thought you were fast, but you were fast for children. Other children might also think you were fast, but anyone with a little more training would see that your movements were as immature as you are."
Harry still sitting on the ground as his wound was being healed and Lyra to the side looked back and forth between their arguing teachers. Arcturus simply smiled without moving his head as the events unfolded in front of him and his entourage.
"I disagree," Dartian replied with a calm tone. "They would have been thought to be fast by any observer who doesn't have their killer instinct. There was barely a shred of evidence that they didn't want to seriously hurt the other. In any other fight, you would see hesitation on the faces and movements of the fighters, especially between two with such a personal connection. Spectators would miss that they weren't just children and see their movements as true fighters."
The instructor paused for a moment as he watched Ransom's face turn angry at being countered again, then the tension loosened as he agreed with the statement, then tightened again as he realized he just agreed with a muggle.
"However, you did train Harry longer than I did," Dartian added, "Maybe his victory can be attributed to you."
Ransom looked furious as he couldn't reject that statement, and looked around for another outlet for his anger, looking down to Lyra.
"You will train harder," he told her fiercely, then looked over to Whispers and stared silently. Turning back to Lyra, he said with a smile, "Fight with the demiguise, that is what you will do to train. You don't have to worry about hurting your pet who can see the future. If you do manage to harm him, you'll be able to say you were faster than time."
Lyra looked annoyed at him for how he spoke about Whispers but then brightened at the suggestion.
She called out to the lounging Hidden who was petting his cat, "Whispers! We're going to fight!"
Whispers perked up and Silvy jumped away as the silvery monkey bounded over to her, "Fiiite?" he growled.
Lyra raised her hands to his shoulders like she wanted to have a dominance contest with him, but then took them down and pulled out her knives. He looked confused and his eyes lit up with blue magic. After a moment, Lyra lunged toward her little brother who cleanly ducked under the blades. As he looked back up at her, she waved the knives around more and then ran after him, as he predicted her movements and kept her moving for nearly two minutes before she collapsed on the ground.
Dartian looked like he was about to say something, but Ransomm said quickly, "Mine, my lesson, teach your student with something else."
"Whatever, I'm getting tired of this, Come on Harry," Dartian proceeded to walk away to the far side of the room.
Harry caught up, and asked, "I don't like him. He is always angry, but he did teach us well last year. He had Lyra stab him when we first met to prove she could."
Dartian looked a bit shocked at the statement, "Did he make you do anything?" Harry shook his head. "He is frustrating, but even being calm under pressure takes practice. Never take an action that can't be undone unless you have to. However, I don't think I can teach near him for as long as I have trained my patience. I will ask your sponsor," he gestured to Arcturus, "to find us another place to train, though I would prefer it to be outdoors."