And here's the fifty first chapter of "A Year Too Soon"! Enjoy!
* Review Response:
Clavyus, Urgazhi, griffin blackwood, mwinter1, stevem1, BMS, DarkRavie, TheGreatBubbaJ, Erinnyes01, Blue Luver5000, Uday Sra, Tertius711, Ep, majere4, Guest, Yaw6113, miltonmarilia, John Ciaccio, thank you for your reviews, folks!
NazgulBelserion, I wouldn't go as far as to call this Harry weak. Aside from not knowing the Patronus Charm, he is probably stronger - or, at least, better trained - than his canon self, actually. He just hasn't had a chance to show it as most of his fights were against powerful, well-trained and experienced adults. And his win against Draco is hardly an achievement to prove that is actually good with his wand.
nkh1, that won't be a problem for a while as Professor Flitwick has other things he wants to teach, as this chapter will show.
Tsukikageshi, or it was just not mentioned explicitly...
Luiz4200, I don't have a definitive answer for the first question. Maybe? As for the second one, well, the guards would've likely just cursed him for daring to say such an 'obvious, dirty lie'.
magitech, well, as you said, no one uses things like that. So he was teaching Harry to avoid spells he knows people actually use. I might bring the Magics you've suggested up when they are discussing counter-attacks at some point in the future.
decoy73, I dunno about 'emboldening' part as Draco has failed to turn the House again Harry and then lost a fight against Harry himself quite badly. More likely, he will want revenge for humiliation he has suffered because of that. Either way, he might try to pull off something, like you're suggesting, soon enough.
* AN: This chapter has not been beta-read.
Disclaimer: I DO NOT own "Harry Potter" franchise. No profit is being made. Same goes for any books, video games, anime or manga I may or may not use for ideas.
"speaking"
"parseltongue"
'thinking'
written text
spells
A Year Too Soon
Chapter LI: The Death of the Dark Lord
Flora and Hestia weren't exactly happy with him when Harry confessed to initially arranging for some Magical combat lessons with Professor Flitwick without including them, but since he has realized his 'mistake' and already fixed it by getting the Charms Master to agree to teach them as well, they just couldn't stay angry at him for too long. So, the next Wednesday the three of them went to the DADA classroom after dinner together.
"Good evening, Mr. Potter, Misses Carrow." Professor Flitwick, who was already there, greeted them as he placed some enchantments onto three old and dusty training dummies that now occupied an arena-like empty space in front of the chalkboard.
"Good evening, Professor." The Slytherin trio greeted him back.
"Today we're going to talk about the spells, and which should be used in a Magical fight." The man said as he finally returned his wand to its holster. After a brief pause, he continued with a question: "What spell do you think has claimed the most lives during the war against the Dark Lord Grindelwald?"
"The Killing Curse?" Flora tried to guess.
"While that is indeed a fearsome Curse and one that has killed all but a single wizard it has been used against, it actually sees little use on the battlefield." Professor Flitwick replied. "Care to guess why, Ms. Carrow?" Flora furrowed her brows as she tried to come up with an answer. After a few long seconds she gave up and shook her head, prompting the Charms Master to continue: "The incantation for the Killing Curse is long and quite distinct. And, to my best knowledge, not a single wizard or witch alive in the entire world can cast it silently. If someone tries to use it, you will know it and you will have a chance to do something about it. It can be dodged and you can summon something into its path to take a hit for you or - if you're really good - you can try to interrupt your opponent before they finish casting the curse."
"I see…" Flora said. There was a rather long silence before Hestia spoke up:
"I've read about something called Battle Magic in my great great Grandfather's journals. He speaks of spells that can bring a large house down in a single hit." She said. "Perhaps it is one of those, Professor?"
"Not a bad guess, but no." The Charms Professor said. "The spells that fall under the category of Battle Magic are certainly very destructive, but they all have really long incantations and, like the Killing Curse, can't be cast silently. Most often, using Battle Magic is a team effort with one wizard actually casting the spell while the rest protect him and make sure he is not interrupted." He explained. "Any other guesses?" There were none. "It's the Cutting Curse with a simple Piercing Curse not far behind in the number of lives it has claimed."
"Is that because those can be cast quickly and silently?" Harry supposed.
"True." The Charms Master said. "Being able to cast spells quickly and without giving away their nature to your opponent can be very important in a fight. It makes them so much harder to avoid and counter. Plus, beyond a certain point, raw power behind a spell becomes rather less meaningful than the speed with which a spell can be cast. This is one of the reasons why you rarely see big, flashy spells used in professional dueling."
"What about Transfiguration?" The Potter scion asked then. "Is it no good in a fight?"
"It certainly can be used to shape the battlefield to your advantage or to attack your opponent in an unexpected way, but it requires a great deal of skill to use Transfiguration effectively in a heated fight. I'd advise against using anything more complicated than simple Conjuration spells like Water-Making or a Bird-Conjuring Charms if you're fighting for your life." Professor Flitwick explained.
"I see…" Harry said.
"Now then." The man continued. "Today I would like you three to start learning non-verbal spellcasting. It is a very useful skill that is normally taught in DADA during the sixth year. Can you tell me why being able to cast your spells silently is very useful in combat?"
"It makes it impossible for our opponent to know what spell we're about to cast." Flora said.
"Indeed." Professor Flitwick said with a nod. After a moment he added: "Although someone with a very sharp eye and an encyclopedic knowledge of spells might be able to guess what you're going to cast by your wand movements, doing that can be extremely difficult even outside of a fight."
"If you're in a cover or otherwise hiding, casting silently won't alert your opponent to your position. At least until they see the spell itself." Harry added.
"Also true." The Charms Master agreed. "Anything else?" The three teens tried pretty hard to think something up but they weren't having much success, so after a minute he gave them an answer: "Saying an incantation in your mind takes less time than saying it out aloud. Non-verbal casting lets you cast spells faster."
"Oh." Was all that the Slytherin trio managed to 'say' in response to that. Meanwhile, Professor Flitwick continued:
"As I've said earlier, today you will start learning non-verbal spellcasting. It's not an easy skill to master so don't feel discouraged if you make little progress tonight." Here he made a brief pause before giving the teens the instructions: "Now, I want you to pick a spell that you know well and use often. Such familiarity should make non-verbal casting a bit easier. If you need a target for your spells, please use one of the training dummies over here. Once you've learned to cast your chosen spell non-verbally, we will start working on silent casting of spells that you can use in a Magical fight."
Stepping in front of the leftmost training dummy, Harry tried to think of a Charm, Hex, Jinx or Curse that he was most familiar with and used most often. And failed to come up with anything better than the simple Wand-Lighting Charm, Lumos. Well, that should be alright too since Professor Flitwick said that they could use any spell they wanted…
His first attempt to cast the Charm silently ended up in a complete failure: despite doing everything but the incantation as textbook-perfectly as he could, he failed to produce even the tiniest flicker of light. The many attempts that followed yielded no better result.
Glancing to the side, he saw that his girlfriends weren't having any better luck with non-verbal casting than he did and their attempts to cast whatever spells they've chosen silently were likewise a failure. With a small sigh, the green-eyed teen went back to trying to light the tip of his wand without saying the incantation out loud.
Professor Flitwick was keeping an eye on their progress - or lack thereof - and was cheering them up as well as offering an advice here and there:
"Even more so than Transfiguration, non-verbal spellcasting requires a clear image of what you want to do and a strong focus on achieving the desired result. You must will Magic to make things happen." He instructed. "And don't worry if you can't pick up silent casting tonight. This is an advanced skill that demands a lot of effort and discipline to master."
Harry, Flora and Hestia however were determined to succeed and so they kept trying again and again. The string of constant failures they were experiencing was certainly quite frustrating, but the Slytherin trio wasn't about to give up.
And then, just as the lesson was about to end, the young Potter finally had his first success with silent spellcasting. Having taken the Charms Master's advice to heart, he kept focusing on the desired result and eventually got the tip of his wand to light up a little bit. This light was much dimmer than what he usually got with the Lumos spell, but it still felt like a tremendous achievement to him.
"Nicely done, Mr. Potter!" Professor Flitwick said excitedly as he walked up to the green-eyed teen. Flora and Hestia stopped their own attempts at non-verbal spellcasting and were now watching their boyfriend intently. "Do you think you can manage to do it again?" He asked then.
"I'll try." Harry said while nodding unsurely. He then extinguished the light with a quick Nox before trying to replicate his earlier success. Only he couldn't get the Wand-Lighting Charm to work this time.
"Don't worry, Mr. Potter. You've already managed arguably the hardest part and cast a spell non-verbally for the first time." The Charms Master said soothingly. "Keep practicing and you will be able to get the hang of it soon."
"I-If you think so, Professor…" Harry breathed out.
"Of course, of course." The man said. Then, after a brief pause, he spoke again: "Now then, I believe we should call it a day here. It's getting quite late and I'm sure you all are quite tired." And indeed they were. Trying to cast spells again and again while constantly focusing on what they wanted to achieve was rather tiring. "I'd like you to keep practicing this in your free time." Professor Flitwick continued: "I'm sure it won't be that long before you become proficient in non-verbal spellcasting."
"Yes, Sir." The Slytherin trio replied. And with that the lesson was over.
~/ *** \~
A large group of over a dozen wizards and witches and just as many goblins stood in front of #12 Grimmauld Place, hidden from Muggles' sight by a set of powerful wards erected around the house earlier this week.
"Are you sure it is there?" Madam Bones asked as she eyed the ancestral home of the Black family. In response, Dumbledore pulled the horcrux-detecting wardstone from the pocket of his magenta robes and pushed some of his Magic into it. Immediately, the stone started buzzing, indicating that the foul artifact was somewhere close by.
"It is." The old warlock said finally as he returned the stone back to his pocket. Next to him, Croaker let a smile creep onto his face - not that anyone could see it under the identity-concealing enchantments on the Unspeakables' cloak he was wearing. He had a good reason to be smiling though: they were now this close to collecting the Dark Lord's final horcrux. And once it was dealt with, Voldemort will be no more.
It took him and Albus nearly six weeks to finally track the horcrux down to this location after they learned that someone took it from its original place in that sea-side cave. And then Amelia needed another two weeks to get them an official permission from the Ministry for Magic to break into the Black family's house in order to retrieve it. And speaking of Amelia...
"You heard the man." The Director of the DMLE called. "The object is here. Bring the wards down!"
"Yes, Ma'am!" The assembled Curse-Breakers chorused back before getting to work.
But the wards surrounding the Black family's ancestral house were old, complex and very powerful. And beyond even that, they likely were rife with traps and one wrong move could very well result in a Cursed fire burning the house down in an attempt to deny them access to the Black family's treasures.
It took them well over an hour of hard work, but eventually the Curse-Breakers were able to bring the wards down safely. And as the wards collapsed, the people outside got to see a rather spectacular show of Magic with layers of protective spells becoming visible one by one before shattering like glass and disappearing completely as motes of barely-visible bluish-white lights.
A few seconds after the last of the wards was broken, the door leading into the house opened sharply - or, rather, it was nearly blown off its hinges - and an angry house elf, as ancient as the Black family itself, appeared on the doorstep.
"Bad wizards and foul beasts not be entering Noble Mistress's house, Kreacher not be letting them." The elf declared with a display of great determination to protect his family's home with every bit of Magic he possessed.
And while every wizard or witch present could just stun him, doing that felt like a wrong thing to do.
"Kreacher, was it?" Dumbledore spoke up, deciding to try negotiating with the house elf. "We all came here to take away and destroy one very dangerous artifact, one that doesn't actually belong to the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black." That certainly got Kreacher's attention. And while he continued blocking the doorway, he no longer looked like he was moments away from attacking. Taking that as a good sign, the old warlock continued: "We're looking for a large, golden locket with a serpentine 'S' in green gemstone inlay on the front. Have you seen it somewhere in the house?" The very expression on the elf's face made it clear to everyone that he knew what locket Albus was talking about.
"You be talking about Master Regulus's locket." The house elf said. "Young Master made Kreacher promise he destroys it. But Kreacher couldn't. He is a bad elf that can't do as his Master orders. Nothing Kreacher did could damage it. Can you, good wizards, do what Kreacher couldn't?"
"We know about the Dark Magics dwelling within the locket, and we know how to destroy them." Dumbledore reassured the distraught house elf while making a mental note that Regulus Black had indeed turned on the Dark Lord and tried to destroy one of his horcruxes. "Can you please bring it to us?"
"The good wizard must swear he destroys the locket first." Kreacher said doggedly. "Then Kreacher gives the locket." With a small, barely-audible sigh the Hogwarts' Headmaster drew his wand.
"I, Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, swear to destroy the Dark Magics that exist within the Slytherin's Locket as soon as it is possible. So mote it be." While that wasn't a true oath as he didn't put his Magic into the words, the elf seemed to be satisfied with it. With a nod, he disappeared into the house, closing the door shut after himself. After a couple of minutes, Kreacher returned, carrying a heavy golden locket that was surrounded by a nearly-visible aura of evil. Discreetly, Dumbledore cast a detection spell and it confirmed that the locket indeed was a horcrux.
"Here is the locket, good wizard." Kreacher said as he handed the cursed artifact over. "You must go destroy it now."
"Of course." The old warlock said with a nod as he placed the object into a silken bag. Then he reached into a pocket of his robes and pulled the fake locket he and Croaker had found in the cave. "And here is the locket young Regulus left in the cave to fool the Dark Lord. I'm sure he would like you to have it." After hesitating for a few moments, the house elf accepted this gift.
"Good wizard is being so kind to old Kreacher." He said before disappearing inside the house once again.
"Well… That went better than expected." Madam Bones said after a rather long period of silence that followed Kreacher's departure.
"Are your men ready to perform the horcrux-removal ritual today, Master Steelhorn?" Dumbledore asked the goblin Master Curse-Breaker, who was easily identifiable by an ornately-decorated dragonhide armor with Gringotts' crest he was wearing.
"They are ready to conduct the ritual as soon as we return to Gringotts." Steelhorn replied.
"Then let's not waste our time." The old warlock said with a nod before disappearing with a crack. Croaker followed the suit a moment later, though his apparation was unusually and unnervingly silent. Steelhorn then nodded to his men and the goblins began portkeying away to the bank. Soon, only Amelia and the Ministry people were left standing in the street.
"Alright." The Director of the DMLE began. "Let's wrap it all up here. Make sure that all of the runic arrays left by the Curse-Breakers are erased and that the house remains unseen to the Muggles, as it has always been." She commanded.
"Yes, Ma'am!" Her men chorused in response - without too much enthusiasm - before getting to work.
Steelhorn wasn't lying when he claimed that the horcrux-removal ritual could be performed as soon as they arrived at Gringotts. Indeed, his Curse-Breakers began the ritual not ten minutes after he and Dumbledore walked through the bank's front doors.
And by the end of the hour, the foul Magics of the horcrux were transferred into an ordinary rat and then destroyed with a ritual dagger that was infused with a basilisk's venom. The priceless locket that once belonged to Lord Salazar Slytherin was now cleansed from the taint of the Dark Magic and Steelhorn found himself wishing for Gringotts to be able to lay a claim on it. Alas, it wasn't Goblin-made and without any Slytherins or Gaunts alive, it now belonged to Hogwarts.
According to Dumbledore, this was supposed to be the last of the Dark Lord's horcruxes. Hopefully, he was right and that man - no, that monster - would never threaten Magical Britain again.
~/ *** \~
Tom Marvolo Riddle, better known by his chosen name of Lord Voldemort, was resting and building up his strength somewhere in Southern England when he was hit with a sudden feeling of things going terribly wrong. Then, a moment later he felt his connection to a rather-large snake he was currently possessing start weakening rapidly before it was cut off completely.
And there was only one reason why this could be happening: his precious horcruxes were gone. All of them. Alas, by the time he realized it, it was already too late for him to do anything as his mutilated, wraith-like spirit was already claimed by Death.
And no matter how much he screamed, no matter how much he cursed those who dared to take his eternal life away from him, Death wasn't letting him back to Earth. Instead, he was unceremoniously shoved into the Afterlife Express and sent straight to the fiery pits of Hell.
~/ *** \~
The Noble and Most Ancient House of Crouch was an old wizarding family - one of the oldest on the isles, in fact - and as such they have accumulated a great deal of Magical knowledge over the centuries. But while they were rather proficient in the Dark Arts, at least in the recent generations, their private library contained only a handful of tomes and scrolls on the subject.
Junior actually suspected that it might actually be so because his father hid or destroyed those books when he started rising through the ranks in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.
Whether that was true or not, he was having a hard time finding anything that would let him bring his Master back to his glory in the Crouch library. And Pettigrew was of no help there. The rat might not be completely useless but since he wasn't a member of the family, he couldn't even touch many of the Darker books without getting cursed.
Anyway, while Barty Crouch Jr. wasn't having much luck with his search thus far, he did find a few leads. And the most promising was a mention of a sacrificial ritual that, supposedly, could bring dead back to life that he saw in one the more ancient tomes. There, of course, was no description of the ritual in that book. Not even a name for it. Still, it was a proof that he was on the right track.
Soon, his determination and faith in the Dark Lord will be properly rewards and his Master will rise once again, greater and more magnificent than ever before, the true and rightful ruler of the Magical world. One that was completely free of disgusting Muggle filth and blood-traitors who sided with them.
That's all, folks!
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