As the month turned to July Sirius decided that the children had had enough of a break to get started on training. The Weasleys had won the ministry lottery and only had a month of training before they would be heading to Egypt so Sirius wanted to waste no more time.
Sirius, Mr Weasley and Mrs Weasley had a massive blow out when Sirius went to collect the Weasley children. She had been fine with the idea of her eldest sons preparing for the war but she drew the line with Ginny and Ron, if she had it her way Fred and George would not be attending.
After a long fight between the three adults Molly relented but it was clear she felt hurt by being ganged up on and her opinion rejected.
The argument now passed Ginny, Ron, Fred and George were brought to the castle for training. Bill and Charlie after hearing that their sister would be getting training felt comfortable returning to work, would not be helping with the training at this point but had been asked to be kept in the loop.
Upon arriving at the outer gate of the castle, so the weasleys could be added to the guest list within the wards, it was clear that Ron and to a lesser extent the other weasleys were struggling to comprehend the wealth before them.
After a quick lesson on manipulating wards Rose added the entire Weasley and Greengrass family to the wards. This would allow them to floo into the castle.
Upon entering the castle the teens had only exploring on the mind. Sirius found it impossible to get them ready for training, gave up and let them explore for the morning. Ron was a little put out when he heard that Hermione was on holiday and wouldn't be attending training at the same time as him.
Upon seeing a full size quidditch pitch on the grounds Ron was giddy and tried to get the other teens to play but they had refused since it was near lunch time.
After lunch Sirius brought the children into a large room on the second floor. On the back wall by the window stood four cauldrons, the left and right side walls were lined with ingredients, some particularly rare ones that the elves had continued to grow on the castle grounds.
Unlike the Hogwarts potions classroom this one was not damp or cold. It felt welcoming. Ron, who had not realised the extra training would include potions, seemed quite disappointed. Daphne, who had an interest in potions, was already looking at the ingredients.
Fred and George too were excited at the ingredients they could see on the wall. Sirius being the marauder that he saw them looking.
"These ingredients are not to be taken from the castle. If you agree to this you can use the space to make your pranks as long as I or my wife are here to supervise.
As if summoned Marlene entered the room and unlocked some cabinets by the door leading into the room.
"In here you will find knives, pestle and mortars and any other utensils you will need for our class. One thing I will be going over is the importance of keeping your equipment clean. Not just at the end of the lesson but during lessons too."
"I would like to get an idea of how you brew so today we will be making a simple cure for boils."
With this Marlene conjured a blackboard and started writing the method and ingredients on the board.
"This is the standard way of brewing this cure, we will use this recipe today. Please brew in pairs so we don't need more cauldrons."
Rose gave Capella a little kiss on the cheek before pairing up with Daphne. Due to the odd number of students Capella, Astoria and Ginny decided to work in a group. Unlike Snape who just leered at people while they worked Marlene made her way through the groups correcting cutting methods or reminding them to stir correctly.
Once the brewing was done Marlene inspected the potions. Daphne and Rose's potion was perfect, surprisingly so was Fred and Georges. With Ginny, Capella and Astoria working together their potion was done first but not quite perfect. Marlene had told them they probably didn't count their stirring correctly.
Harry and Ron's potion had turned out well but only really because of Harry's effort. Ron, who didn't really want to learn, had been only half-heartedly helping. Marlene who could see this clearly made a note to speak to him alone later.
Sirius, eager to show what he could do, brought the students back down stairs into a duelling room.
"Your DaDa lessons have been shockingly abysmal. Neither teacher did the lessons well enough to equip you for even basic spells so we are going to do all the practical work from the first two years before moving onto advanced stuff."
"We can't do magic outside of school." Ginny said, confused.
"Ah yes well that is true. Do you know how the ministry traces underage magic?"
Not one of the students seemed able to answer the question and so Sirius smiled at the students.
"All wands made are imbued with the detection spell. Once the wand chooses its owner the spell detects the age of the owner, it ends itself upon the owner reaching majority. If I were to buy a new wand the spell would instantly break."
The group of children seemed to be intrigued even Ron seemed to be listening intently.
"The ministry on very rare occasions has granted underage students the ability to use magic outside of school, so they needed a spell to temporarily stop the trace. Why temporarily you ask well if they chose to revoke the decision about being able to do underage magic they would be able to re apply the trace. Thanks to connections in the ministry we know the spell to temporarily remove the trace. We will remove it to practise and re apply it afterward."
The Weasley twins seemed a little upset knowing that the trace would be re applied but excited at the idea of casting magic.
"Fred and George. You would get nothing from learning these spells and will be doing some harder ones with my wife in room 2."
Marlene smiled and took the two older students into another room. Leaving Sirius with the younger students. After removing their traces he instructed Astoria to cast a spell. After she cast a simple levitation charm she waited for an owl to arrive. After five minutes it was clear nothing was happening.
"Now it may seem simple and not entirely helpful in a fight, being able to produce sparks is handy for sending your position or warnings. Today we will be talking about how to make the spell brighter or fire further."
Sirius told the students before demonstrating the differences in the spell.
"The intensity of the sparks and therefore the distance the sparks will travel is dependent on the level of intent you put into the spell, visualising how you want the spell to look is key here. To make it dimmer or brighter you would change the level of power you put in. let us see if you can make the changes yourself before I offer help."
Harry, who had the most control over his power, managed to produce quite bright sparks that also went far. Rose's spells went far but were not the brightest. Capella fell somewhere between the two having reasonable power and intent.
Sirius was quite pleased with the results, even Astoria managing the spell. From there Sirius went through the entire first year spells before letting them take a break. He was happy to see that they were all capable of the spells provided and was eager to make sure they understood second year too.
The second year curriculum was a little tougher for the students to get perfect. A few of these spells were offensive and Sirius wanted to make sure the students respected the spells before letting them duel and try them out properly.
The day had been very enjoyable for the students and despite Sirius' nature to prank and break rules he proved to be an excellent teacher. The students were very excited to start some actual duels the next day.
The next morning when the teens arrived they went through charms and transfiguration in the morning. While not practical the focus was understanding how it could be used in a fight,
They were even treated to a demonstration.
It was clear Marlene and Sirius were more than competent fighters; they were conjuring rocks and debris to simulate a battle ground and using them to actively fight each other. When Marlene transformed into an owl to dodge a large rock Sirius had sent, most of the group let out cries of surprise and shock.
The fight was ended when Sirius transfigured the platform that Marlene was standing on into wet cement, before Marlene could get out of the wet cement Sirius cast a heating charm making the cement dry. Marlene now focused on getting free didn't see the great big dog jump on her wand arm disarming her.
When Sirius freed his wife they both fell to the ground tired and needing a moment to recuperate. The students gathered clapped and cheered, the fight had been very entertaining.
"One thing that we want to encourage during these lessons is creative thinking. Sometimes other branches of magic will help more than your dark arts." Sirius told them after they had calmed down and Marlene was freed.
After lunch the children were given the chance to practise and show off what they knew. To start, Sirius put Harry against Rose. The fight was very evenly matched, with Harry and Rose both managing to duck or move out of the way of the other's attack. The problem was neither had particularly great stamina.
The fight ended when Rose fired off a ground freezing spell that they had not yet learnt and so Harry was unsure how to counter the attack.
"Where did you learn that?" Harry asked once he got to his feet, trying to hide his disappointment from his loss.
"Uncle King taught me the theory of it, though it was my first time trying it." She replied happily but feeling tired from the exercise.
"You both did really well but it is clear that neither of you would last much longer. As you saw today fighting is harder to do when you've expended all your energy dodging. We will be working on your stamina in the future but for now the next pair."
The next fight saw Capella loose to Daphne. And after that Ginny, to Astoria. Fred and George somehow immobilised each other at the same time, Sirius wondered if they had done it on purpose.
Ron, after Harry had recovered, lost to Harry. With the fights over Sirius and Marlene discussed the fights in length giving each person individual advice they thought would be helpful.
Since they still had a little time Sirius decided to show the children another form of fighting that could give them the edge.
Unlocking a lock on the wall Sirius slid back a panel of the wall revealing spears, swords and long daggers. Sirius took a long one handed sword and testing it, walked onto the duelling platform. Seeing her husband wanted another fight Marlene took one short sword and one long dagger. After taking a moment to equip a holster and put the dagger into it Marlene stepped up to the platform.
The fight that followed was fast and it was clear both knew how to use the weapons they had chosen. The fight seemed to be far too evenly matched with neither Sirius or Marlene making any headway. It was a shock to the spectators when Marlene pulled out her wand and ran it down the length of her blade. It was unclear just what she had done until Sirius tried to block Marlene's sword. When he went to block, Marlene's sword phased through Sirius's and hit him in the arm.
"I see you learned some secrets while I was away." Sirius told his wife looking shocked as he put his sword away.
"I had to find something to do with my husband away." Marlene replied happily, smirking slightly.
"You're going to need to teach me that one love."
Marlene didn't reply and addressed the students.
"While I will be the first to say swordplay is not really used in combat anymore, it has great health benefits. Increased stamina, increased strength, it also helps reaction timing."
"This is an area we will not force you to take up but we recommend it. There are some dark wizards that in close combat will draw a weapon instead of a wand. You would be surprised at how many death eaters cannot fight once their wand has been taken."
As Sirius said this he was re locking the panel on the wall. Looking at his watch he addressed his class.
"I would like you all to wear clothes suitable for exercise tomorrow as we will be starting stamina training. Now go have some fun before you have to go home"
Not needing to be told twice the students and Sirius took to the sky, finally letting Ron onto the pitch. Daphne, who was not a great flyer, ended up as a keeper for one team. Ginny, Sirius, Fred and Astoria joined Ron. Rose, Capella, George and Harry joining Daphne.
Ginny and Sirius, it turned out, were really good at chasing. Ron, despite his love of the game, was a mediocre keeper. Daphne, despite how hard she was trying, was not brilliant at keeping. Capella and Rose were excellent chasers and worked really well together, It was that teamwork that had helped keep the scores even. Astoria despite being small and a great flyer was no match for Harry who caught the snitch.
Fred and George had spent most of the game trying to hit each other with bludgers instead of the other players but they had fun anyway.
For the rest of the month the children worked hard to follow Sirius and Marlene's instructions. Since everyone knew professor Snape's biases and poor teaching they did a lot of the potions work from years one to four. By the end of the first month even Ron was enjoying the lessons and was disappointed he would be leaving for their family holiday.
With the Weasleys leaving for Egypt and Hermione still on her holiday's Sirius had decided that they too should enjoy their holiday a little too. He had bought tickets to some quidditch matches. He wanted Harry to find out which team he wanted to support and how better than to see the teams in action.
The first game would be the Holyhead Harpies vs the cannons and Rose really wished that she could have brought Ginny to this game knowing she would love to see the Harpies kill the cannons.
For the next two weeks the Back & Potter families went to many of the games that happened in that time span. Harry, after hearing his dad had been a Puddlemere United fan, and nearly went to join their team after school, became interested in them as a team.
On the 11th August Rose and Capella had spent the morning baking a cake and wrapping presents for Ginny. On top of the wand holster the girls had gotten Ginny an owl that would be delivering the cake and holster for them. After a little push from Rose Harry had bought Ginny a present too, a ticket to see a holyhead game just before school was to start again.
That Friday Hermione came to stay at the castle since it would be the best way for her to train, getting here would be difficult since her family was not connected to the floo. Hermione was extremely interested in the castle, wanting to know everything about it and how the Potter family had come to have it in their possession.
The tour of the castle took a very long time. Once Hermione had found the Library she did not want to leave she was already looking for books on Ancient Runes. Rose and Capella who had been enjoying giving the tour with Harry left at this point not wanting to spend all day in the library.
When Harry and Hermioione arrived in the greenhouse, where Rose and Capella were currently working on plants, Hermione was once again shocked by the vastness of what she was seeing. The potter property currently had 5 Greenhouses all maintained by the elfs. One was used to cultivate fruits and one veg. Two held common Potions ingredients and one rarer ones.
Right now they were in one of the common ingredients greenhouses where they were discussing the effectiveness of Daisy Roots in a shrinking solution. Hermione who was trying to befriend the two girls offered her input as a way of introduction.
A raised eye from Capella made Rose engage Hermione. This turned out to be a good idea as she inadvertently helped them understand how to make the solution last longer. With this the two girls left again leaving Harry and Hermione once more.
"Do they like me or not?" Hermione asked, seeing them leave again.
"Capella barely knows you so I am sure she is fine. Rose will come round. She just doesn't like that you let Ron sway your opinion on her."
Harry responded, trying to answer as tactfully as possible.
"I think you have a bit in common with her but it will take time to fix that friendship."
Hermione seemed a little sad with this news but understood what had been said and tried to continue enjoying her tour of the castle.
Inside the Potions room of the Castle Sirius was watching Capella and Rose brew a shrinking solution, seemingly wrong. Curious he did not question it but had his wand ready incase it went wrong.
"If you want to be friends with Hermione you need to forget what happened and give her another chance." Capella was telling Rose as they worked.
"I tried a few times to engage her but she kept letting Ron influence her. What does that say about her?"
Capella nodded her head understanding what it was Rose was saying. While they had a moment Capella pulled Rose to her.
"Look, there is no Ron here. Now is a perfect time to show her how good of a friend you can be right?"
Rose gave Capella a peck on the cheek and went back to the potion.
"Okay i will try but she only gets one more chance."
With the changes that the pair had made to the potion it was hard to tell when exactly it was done so they kept having to test it at different times making notes on the effectiveness. Sirius was watching impressed as the girls seemed to be working well. When they were happy with the potion he was surprised to see that they did not start bottling it right away.
"Daddy can you please take the trace of our wands just while we're in here with you?" Capella asked, intriguing her father.
After removing the trace Rose and Capella opened a book beside them the two started casting spells on the potion. At first nothing seemed to be happening and Sirius was wondering if they would manage what they were trying.
After multiple attempts Rose had some of the liquid trapped and formed into a capsule, It looked like muggle medicine. After a few times getting it right Rose told Capella how to get it right. Soon the potion was gone and in its place was around fifteen of these capsules.
"Now we research the second part and see if these hold." The two placed the capsules into the cauldron and left them there.
"If they break the liquid should be safe in the cauldron" Rose replied smiling and the pair took off to the library, after having the trace reapplied.
The fact that neither girl had told him why they were doing this made Sirius incredibly curious; he could smell a prank in the making and was excited to see what happened.
With not much time left until the children needed to head to Hogwarts Sirius and Marlene were rushing to make sure Hermione was able to do the spell the others had already caught up on. Hermione was a great intellect and understood the theory well but when it came to magic that was used to fight she lacked power and conviction.
Marlene was quick to see that Hermione was not the type to want to hurt others and this was why she was struggling with this. To try and help Marlene spent quite a bit more time with Hermione talking to her about the correct uses of offensive magic. With so little time it was hard to tell if what Marlene had said sunk in but she had listened and that was enough.
The last two weeks that Hermioine was at the castle Rose made an effort to include herself, and often in doing so Capella too, in the activities that Hermione was doing often with Harry.
In order to try and bond with Hermione, Rose tried to teach the other girl to fly. It was an important skill to have even if you are not going to use it for sport. Rose wanted Hermione to have a way out if she needed one. It was a long hard process and Hermione's fear took some time to overcome but by the end of the break Hermione was flying at a beginner's level.