A/N : I am not J.K Rowlings so cut me some slack.
"You should have seen Harry in the Battle Magic class today, he was great. Professor Biya even praised his performance." Kane said excitedly to Sammie and Paulo. Harry and Kane had just finished their Battle Magic class and were meeting up with their friends for lunch.
"Stop exaggerating. It was nothing special." Harry said trying to downplay his performance in class. Harry had exceeded his own expectations when it came to his performance in the battle magic class.
"It's been years since I've seen such a performance from a new student, I will be keeping my eyes on you." Kane said trying to imitate Professor Biyas deep baritone voice.
"First, never try that voice again Kane. You sound like a dying whale. Kane's horrible voice aside, that's a huge complement coming from Professor Biya. He must have been really impressed with your performance." Paulo said.
"What do you mean I sound like a dying whale. I think I nailed his voice perfectly"
"Never make that voice again Kane." Sammie added as they entered the dining hall. Athena was already seated at a table waiting for them to join her. Her Elemental magic class finished early so she was able to get to the dining hall before the others and secure a table for them. She inherited her Elemental powers from her mother who was the Professor of Elemental magic at Emrys Academy.
"Why does Kane look like someone stole his toys." She asked as the group took a seat at the table.
"These lot don't appreciate my artistic talents." Kane said waving his hands in the air in dismay.
"He has been regaling us with tales of Harry's performance in their Battle Magic class." Paulo said bringing the attention back to Harry.
"It was not really impressive." Harry said
"Stop being humble Harry and let me tell the story again." Kane said as he coughed to clear his voice.
"If you try to imitate Professor Biyas voice, I am going to stab you with this fork." Sammie said as she waved a fork at Kane threateningly.
"Wow, why so violent." Kane said raising his hands in surrender.
"No one wants to hear your story again, Kane. Let it go." Paulo added.
"Fine." Kane said grumbling as he started piling his lunch unto his plate. The group of friends continued their lunch in silence. Harry noticed Athena was more quiet than usual and seemed to be in deep thought.
"How was your Elemental Magic class?" Harry asked her.
"Draining. We have been doing some intense practice on controlling Elemental powers." she replied.
"That sounds like fun. Wish I was an Elemental." Harry commented. Elemental powers are always inherited from parent to child, you are either born with it or not. It cannot be learned like other forms of magic and spells.
"You are already having enough fun in Battle Magic."
"Yes, I enjoy the Battle Magic classes a lot. Professor Biya seems to think I have a talent for it."
"That's great." Athena said. "I have been assigned an opponent for my duel." She continued after a short pause.
"Wow. Who is it?" Harry said calling the attention of the other members of the group to their conversation.
"You have been assigned an opponent? That's great" Kane said excitedly.
"Who is it?"
"When is the duel?" The other members of the group asked, talking over one another. Athena had submitted her name to the duelling rooster a week ago. The duelling rooster was managed by a committee of students led by Stuart Atwell. The committee is in charge of assigning opponents based on skill and experience of the fighters. Students can also specifically chose their own opponents.
Athena had submitted her name to the duelling rooster along with Kane a week ago. Harry had considered adding his name too but was unsure of himself and didn't want to be embarrassed in a duel. He had been spending a lot of time catching up on his studies and reading the books professor Morgan gave him and not enough time practicing to duel like the rest of his friends.
"My opponent is Karim Jamal, and it's in 2 weeks."
"I know Karim, he is in our Charms class." Sammie said.
"Yes, I know him. He is very good in charms."
"I think he has had just one duel, did any of you watch his fight?" Harry asked. Karim was also a new fighter in the duelling rooster and had just one fight under his belt.
"I watched his duel a few weeks ago, he is quite good. He is very creative with his use of charms and transfiguration, but he is not that good with curses." Kane said.
"I will need your help to train for this duel." Athena said looking at her friends. She was quite nervous about her upcoming duel. While she was believed she was good at magic having being around it and learnt it from a young age. This was the first time she would be participating in a public duel.
"Of course."
"I also need the practice. It's been a while since I actually duelled, I have been soo focused on studying." Harry said. Harry planned on taking full advantage of the duelling culture at Emrys Academy to prepare for the fight against Voldemort. The little information Harry had about the progress of the war was from his letters with Hermione, the daily prophet didn't get delivered in this part of the world.
He had already learnt a lot from observing the more experienced fighters duel in the yard, it was time for him to add his name to the rooster to test his skills against other students.
"We can start practicing this evening. We can set up our classroom to practice privately." While Emrys Academy had indoor duelling rooms for practice, they were not private and are used on a first-come first-serve basis. Athena and her friends had commandeered an empty classroom for their own personal use. She had found the abandoned classroom on a blueprint of the school and its grounds while snooping in her fathers office. What was the point of your father owning your school if you couldn't get some benefits.
"It will be nice to be able to practice privately." Athena said.
"Hi, Professor Morgan asked me to give you this note." A student said behind Harry, interrupting his conversation with his friends. Harry recognized the student as Anna Hemm, he remembered watching her intense duel with John. Harry wondered if she was perhaps part Elven, she had pointed ears and very long hair which went down to her lower back. He had not seen her since the duel since she didn't take any of his classes, she was in the more advanced classes.
"Thanks" Harry said as he took the folded note from her.
"Wow, she is very beautiful" Kane said as soon as Anna was out of earshot.
"Close your mouth Kane, you are going to catch flies."Sammie said
"What does Professor Morgan want?" Athena asked Harry as he opened the note to read it.
Harry scanned through the note quickly before folding it and putting it in his pockets. Professor Morgan had requested to see him this evening. It had been a while since she had discussed his horcrux problem with him so hopefully she had some positive news on when he could get rid of it. Harry had not discussed his horcrux problem with any of his friends, they all knew the basics of his story with Voldemort but they mostly didn't bother him for the details. This was one of the reason Harry liked it Emrys Academy, no one gawked at his scar and looked to him as a Hero to solve their problems. He was just another student at Emrys learning magic.
"She wants to see me this evening." Harry responded.
"You can still join us to set up the duelling room before you go to her office." Harry's friends didn't bother to ask him about his frequent meetings with Professor Morgan. It was not uncommon for her to request a private meeting with students who were either struggling in her class, or exceptional students who were ahead of their peers. Harry had struggled in her class initially, having never studied Rituals or Blood Magic at Hogwarts, they were forbidden in Britain. Though he was finding it much easier to keep up with the class now.
"Let's go set up the duelling room. I am excited for this." Kane said as he crammed the last of his lunch into his mouth. The rest of the group finished their lunch quickly and they all made their way to the abandoned classroom to set it up for their private duelling practices.
Knock Knock. Harry knocked on the door of Professor Morgan office. It was about 8 o'clock, and he had spent the past few hours since lunch assisting in setting up the room for duelling practice with his had created a protective dome in the center of the room, although it was a fair bit smaller than the duelling yard. They had laid every protective charm they knew of to prevent errant spells from getting outside the dome and hitting observers. It had been a very useful learning experience for Harry, he had gotten to learn and practice some protective charms and spells that will no doubt be useful in his fight against Voldemort. While their protective dome would not be able to protect against spells like the ones Voldemort and Dumbledore used in their fight at the Ministry of Magic, it was perfect for what they needed to train and practice.
"Come in, Harry" Professor Morgan said. Harry opened the door and entered into the Professors office. Professor Morgan was standing beside her desk mumuring to herself in thought.
" - - - deal with whatever complications might arise as we go on." Harry could only catch a little bit of what she was saying but it didn't sound encouraging. Harry had expected Professor Wagner to be present since he was assisting in getting rid of the horcrux
"Welcome Harry." Professor Morgan welcomed Harry with a bright smile.
"We have great news concerning the horcrux in your scar." Professor Morgan started.
"Can you remove it." Harry asked excitedly. While his scar had not bothered him since he got to Emrys, he wanted to be rid of it as soon as possible. He couldn't keep walking around with a link to Voldemort in his mind, particularly one that had cost him his godfather.
"Yes, we can remove it. I have conducted some research with Professor Wagner and also made consultations with your former headmaster and I believe we have a solution."
"Wow, that great news."
"Don't get too excited before you hear the solution. Take a seat" Professor Morgan said pointing to the seat in front of her desk. She stood by the desk with her arms folded as she waited for him to seat down.
"Okay" Harry replied as he slowly took his seat.
"Since there has never been any previous recorded case of a horcrux in a human, there is also no recorded solution to remove a horcrux from a living host without destroying it. With the help of Professor Wagner I have managed to create a modified purification ritual to purge the horcrux from your body and also keep you alive."
"That's great. What do I need for the ritual?" Harry asked.
"You don't need to worry about the materials for the ritual. The Headmaster has been very helpful in procuring the more elusive materials needed for the ritual. I will be performing the ritual myself so you have nothing to worry about." Professor Morgan said. "Now there may be some side effects from the ritual which we need to discuss before we proceed."
Harry had hoped he would be able to get rid of the horcux without any side effects but apparently Fate had other plans for him.
"Side effects like what?" He asked.
"Since this is the first time a ritual like this will be performed there are likely to be some side effects we won't know of until after the ritual. Your magic is likely to be in a bit of flux for a few weeks after the ritual, you wouldn't be able to do any intensive magic for that period. So no Battle magic practices for you for a few weeks after the ritual. But the side effect I am more concerned about is more mental and psychological." Professor Morgan said before taking a pause to observe how Harry was taking the news.
"What do you mean by psychological? Do you mean I'll still have the headaches and visions after you remove the horcrux?" Harry asked. Harry had been hoping that removing the horcrux in his head will mark the end of the uncomfortable headaches and visions that caused him to lose his godfather.
"When last did you have any headache or vision from your scar?" Professor Morgan asked curiously.
"I've not had any visions since I arrived here, although the scar has been tingling a bit in the past few days."
"Hmmm. That's interesting."
"What does it mean?"
"It could mean a variety of things or it could mean nothing. I wouldn't really bother about it since we will be removing the horcrux in a few days." Professor Morgan explained.
"In a few days?" Harry asked. Harry was excited to be rid of the horcrux, the earlier they could do the ritual the better it was for him.
"On the night of Samhain. I believe we would get the best result then."
"That's in two days." Harry had been reading a lot on ancient wizard festivals and important rites. At Hogwarts the books with information on ancient wizard festivals and rites had been removed from the library because most of them required ritual as part of the rites, rituals which were banned in Britain.
"Yes. We will meet here at 11pm, then I would prepare you for the ritual which will need to be done at the stroke of midnight." Professor Morgan said. "You should get some rest, you have a long week ahead of you." Professor Morgan said dismissing Harry.
"Thanks for everything professor." Harry said in gratitude.
"Don't thank me yet." She replied as Harry turned to leave her office.
Harry left Professor Morgan's office in a good mood, he was glad he would be getting rid of the horcrux very soon. Harry began whistling a tune softly as he walked along the deserted hallway back to his room. Suddenly his scar started tingling more than usual. He had not felt his scar tingle this badly for a very long time, not since he left Hogwarts. He began to develop a terrible headache, his head was pounding nonstop and his vision started becoming blurry. Harry stopped along the hallway and put his hands on the wall to support himself. The last time he felt pain like this from his scar was when Voldemort tried to possess him during the battle at the department of mysteries.
"Help" Harry said as he fell to his knees in pain. He held his head in his hands as the pain became more severe. Blood began to leak from the scar on his forehead as he lay down on the floor whimpering in pain.
"Help" Harry whimpered softly hoping someone would come to his rescue but it was late and the hallway was deserted. Harry gradually lost consciousness as he lay on the cold floor in the deserted hallway, he would not be found for several hours.