Harry Potter 1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any way shape or form.  
  
Authors note: This is my first attempt at a fic for Harry Potter and would appreciate any pointers anyone may have for improving it or possibly working with me on it as I admit I am not as familiar with the Harry Potter world as most of the writers here appear to be. Also note that the language is U.K English, not U.S English before anyone picks me up on that.  
  
Beginning Summer  
  
Summer in England, the weather was terrible, rain pounded the window to his small room, downstairs noises were deafening as his overweight cousin and uncle shouted at the English football team as they played their latest international match, the noises were getting louder the worse England did. But with all the noise, all the distraction, Harry managed to force himself to concentrate on his work.  
  
Only three weeks had passed since the end of term at this point, but Harry had not wasted them, his dreams about the Third Task had mixed with dreams of his parents, the chamber of secrets and all his other adventures. The resultant nightmares had forced him to confront his fears, the dreams still plagued him, but they drove him on, no longer would he be weak, no longer would others control what was happening to him.  
  
Looking at the small table covered in books, notes and ink, Harry thought about how little help he had been given in training to face Voldemort, "Dumbledore seems to think I can just be a normal student and still come out okay, after the third task, how can he think that, it was luck I managed to get away, just like luck has carried me ever year since I went to Hogwarts, but has he given me extra training, no, has he taken me away from this stupid muggle family, no, hell the only member of Hogwarts staff who ever helped me worth a damn in the last few years was Professor Lupin, and he got forced out cause he was a werewolf"  
  
Harry broke from his thoughts to look at the work on his desk, piled carefully in one corner was all his homework for the summer, already completed, strangely the Dursleys had allowed him to keep his school stuff in his room this year, so he was able to work. His new resolve to take control of his own life had driven him to not only finish the standard work, but to extend it, each essay had at least an extra roll of parchment, in most cases several extra rolls. He had found out about the library in Diagon Alley, and while he could not visit it himself, they had allowed him to borrow books via owl, similarly Flourish and Botts had allowed him to buy books in a similar manner.   
  
"I'm turning into Hermione here", Harry thought, a wry smile forming on his face as he thought his best friend, unconsciously touching the spot where she has kissed him.  
  
The books he had borrowed from the Diagon Alley library were in one pile on the floor next to him, his books from Flourish and Botts were in another and in a third pile was a set of muggle books. The books all had one thing in common, they all contained information to help him fight Voldemort. He reasoned, if the school isn't going to help me, then I'll do it myself.  
  
The books included "World War II: An Allied Victory", "The Rise and Fall of Grindewald", "Ancient Legends", "Fitness: A Guide to Simple Workouts", "Defensive Spells: Countering any Offense", "Curses: The Basis of a Good Defense", this was but a small sample of his books, many were also books that would be restricted in Hogwarts, books on Animagi, Aurors and Hit Wizard tactics and spells. Harry was not reading these exhaustively, there were too many books and not enough time, especially as his fifth textbooks had been sent to him by Dumbledore for the next year, he wasn't allowed to leave Privet Drive this summer, and would be taken to Hogwarts via a portkey, when he had heard this, he had a panic attack, memories of the cup surfacing uncontrollably.   
  
Instead of merely glancing at or browsing the books, Harry was in the process of taking all the relevant information he needed out of the books and writing it into one of several large notebooks he had acquired. Each of the notebooks had a different topic, clearly labeled on the front, these included, "Healing", "Attack Spells", "Tactics and History", "Defensive Spells", "Combat Transfiguration" and "Misc. Magic". Each notebook was a summary of the information he read, each useful spell copied into the relevant book, its incantation, its wand movements, its effects and limitations. He had gone through all of his textbooks from his first four years and found very little useful in a real fight, but now he had a whole new set of books and was rapidly filling his notebooks.  
  
He was under no illusions, much of this would not be relevant to his school studies, his knowledge in potions was becoming limited to healing and combat potions, his charms and transfiguration abilities were also becoming more focused on combat, being unable to practice was a limit of his progress but he knew how to pronounce the incantations and make the wand movements, once at Hogwarts he would be able to practice for real.  
  
The only other new thing he had taken to doing was a new routine to get fit, his Quidditch was not getting him fit enough for his liking, he had no expectations of being a star athlete or becoming really muscular, he just wanted to get a good level of stamina and agility for when duelling. Mostly his routine involved circuit training and running, occasionally borrowing the light weights kit, the Dursleys had bought for Dudley.  
  
One thing he never noticed was a raven on a tree outside his window, the raven had been there for four days now, since the last time he had been to the muggle library, it just sat there and watched him, as if waiting for something.  
  
He sighed, he thoughts turning back to the books in front of him, as he picked up a book on "Celtic History: Wars and Warriors of the Isles", a smaller book fell out, its was bound in black leather, emblazoned on the cover was a Trinity knot and a raven. He set his history book aside, drawn to this smaller book, it was very thin, only a dozen pages at most, he opened the cover and was actually surprised to see English written in it. For some reason he read it out loud,   
  
"Over his head is shrieking  
  
A lean hag, quickly hopping  
  
Over the points of the weapons and shields;  
  
She is the grey-haired Morrigu."  
  
As he finished reading, the raven outside let out a mighty cry and flew at the window, startled by the noise, Harry turned to see the raven go through the window and he screamed as the raven entered his chest.  
  
End of Prologue 


	2. The Meeting

Meeting with Morrigu  
  
Harry appeared in a hallway, it reminded him of the hallways of Hogwarts slightly, but instead of suits of armour or portraits, animal heads and skins with runes on them adorned the walls. He looked around, a window was not far from him, he moved to it and looked outside. He gasped, outside was the rest of a huge castle, even more grand than Hogwarts, in the grounds he could see men and women, they were all busy, some were moving food and animals, others were working away in smithy workshops, a group of children were being lead to the gates by a pair of young women. In a further away section, he saw a group of them sparring with each other, both with and without weapons. Then it struck him, he couldn't feel his glasses, yet he could see fine, he reached up to touch his face. He saw his hand, and screamed.  
  
His hand was translucent, through his hand he could see the outside world, yet also see his hand. He looked down at the rest of him, it was in the same state. Harry's mind was reeling, what had happened, was he dead?  
  
His thoughts were interrupted by a booming male voice, "taibhs, lean" it commanded. Or at least Harry though it was a command as he turned to face the voice. Before him was a large, muscular man, he looked up at the man, thankful at that moment that his body wasn't real. The man was well over six feet tall, broad shouldered wearing a leather tunic and a tartan (composed of red and black) kilt. Strapped to his back was a large axe and to his side a foot long dagger. His hair was dark brown and shoulder length, his face weathered and beaten with a scar across his left cheek under his brown eyes. Harry felt very small and intimidated looking at the man.  
  
"Taibhs, lean" the man repeated, this time louder and with more force. Harry just looked at him confused.  
  
Realisation dawned in his eyes. "She said this might happen" the man spoke slowly in heavily accented English, "Taibhs, follow". With that the man began walking down the hallway to a large set of double doors. The man stopped at the doors, he raised his fist and pounded three times on the wooden door. Then he waited.  
  
Harry was about to ask what was going on, when a female voice echoed through the door, the voice while faint, resonated with power and authority, "Let him in, freiceadan"  
  
The man opened the doors and motioned Harry to enter. Harry complied and as soon as he had passed through the doors, the man closed them with a bang. The room was lit by a dozen flame torches, its ceiling seemed to be both high and low at the same time, the floor and walls were made of stone, the floor covered in an simple brown carpet. The walls were bare save the torches. At the other end of the room, a large chair sat, the chair was made of ebony, ornate carvings of ravens formed the back and arm rests. Beside the chair, lay two spears, their metal tips gleaming in the torch light. Upon the chair sat a woman, she appear to be tall, had pale skin, long dark hair drawn from her face, her face was neither ugly nor beautiful, her eyes lit with knowledge and fire. Her clothes were black, fading into her chair, a short sword clipped to her belt slipped out through the arm of the chair.  
  
"Harry, son of Lily, son of James, I welcome you to the hall of Morrigu, in the castle Mor in the realm of the Gods." her voice washed over him, his blood calling out to it for more.  
  
"Who.. who are you?" Harry stuttered out.  
  
"I am the Morrigu, war goddess of the ancient Celts, goddess of magic, war and death. It has been a long time since a wizard has called out to me, usually it is warriors and witches who call me although none have done so in recent history."  
  
"What do you mean called out to you? How did I get here? Am I dead?" Harry fired questions at her, while his mind kept yelling at him not to insult the woman claiming to be a goddess.  
  
"You called to my herald, through the book and your blood. You have seen what has happened in your life and you are choosing to make a stand, you want to defend your friends, your world from the darkness of Voldemort. The warrior in you is emerging, you understand that fighting is done only when needed, only to defend against those who would slay you and your kin. I was amused to find you were a wizard, usually it is male muggle, as you call them, warriors or female witches who have called to me in the past, but I see into your heart, I have seen your life, what you have seen I have now seen. Your fire has brought you to me, my herald opened the doorway for you."  
  
"Your herald? What was your herald, I guess the book is the little book that came from the library book, but what was the herald?" Harry stood perplexed by the goddess.  
  
"The raven which flew into you was my herald, my eyes and ears in your realm, since our kind was cast out long ago. And to answer your other question, you are not dead, but your body could not make the journey to this realm, so only your spirit has been summoned."  
  
"I'm not dead, but why am I here? How can you help me? Why were you cast out? What is your kind?" Every answer he received gave rise to yet more questions.  
  
"My kind is my secret, but we are the gods and goddesses of your world's history, we were cast out by mortals who deemed our worth too little, they banded together to bar us from your realm. It didn't quite succeed as they wished but it did enough that we ourselves can never return to your realm, we are limited to actions such as this to guide your race to its adulthood, though it is far, far from reaching it. Do you understand?"  
  
Harry nodded, although his mind was filled with more and more questions, but he held his tongue.  
  
"You are here because you want to be able to defend your world, I know of the impending war and the ones that will follow. I do not wish this Voldemort to gain so much power that he could breach into our realm, him nor any others can be allowed to enter our realm, such powers could threaten my own, possibly defeat them. I am now taking steps to ensure the safety of our realm."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"That will be answered in time" she replied, reminding him a bit of Dumbledore, "As to how I can help you. I can help you become a better wizard, a better warrior, although not overnight and almost all of the work will fall to you, I can only open the door, you must use it."  
  
"How can you help me become a better wizard?"  
  
"Mortals know only the basics of magic, they can direct it and use it but few understand the true nature of magic, how a person uses it, why they are better at some magic than other, why some are powerful and others are weak, do you know of what I speak, young Harry?" Morrigu asked, her voice soothing yet challenging.  
  
Harry looked at her, confusion was evident in his expression, "What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean, do you understand where the power for your magic comes from?"  
  
"I though it came from within us, from some sort of well of power we each have"  
  
"That is true, to an extent, but that is not the whole story, magic does not have one source in a person, its has three, do you know what they are?"  
  
"Eh, no"  
  
"I thought as much, people in your realm have no respect for the old teachings and ways.."  
  
"What teachings? What ways?" Harry interrupted.  
  
"Silence child, do not interrupt the Morrigu!" the goddess roared, scolding the spectral child, "I will explain as and when I see fit"  
  
Harry shrunk away from the irate, armed goddess, "spectral or not, she can probably still hurt me or worse" he thought to himself.  
  
The goddess calmed down, but fire remained in her eyes, her voice eerily taking on a tone similar to Professor McGonagall, "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, magic has three sources, the body, the mind and the soul. Each source is powerful in its own right, but combined they are a truly awesome power. You humans and your magic mainly only use the power of the mind to accomplish magic, that is why you need a wand to direct your power almost all of the time, although you also tap into your body magic when you undergo an Animagi transformation as you call it, where your body changes to that of the animal which best represents you. Humans seem to have an inbuilt block which prevents them from totally accessing their whole magical being except in times of great emotion, what you term accidental magic I believe. Some small cracks can be made in the block so that in some cases people can become telepathic or can become animagi, even your muggles can access some of this magic although it is rare, generally manifesting itself as telepathy or deja vu. Wizards in your realm seem to have cracked the barrier to the mind but were unable to go much further."  
  
"So you are saying that wizards and witches could be more powerful than they are just now but cannot access that power"  
  
"Yes, young Harry, you are beginning to understand I think, your magic is as I said, based around the mind, that is why your friend Hermione and Dumbledore seems so natural at it, they have very organised and logical minds. You may be thinking that you are not as strong because you seem to have more problems, sometimes even more than your friend Ron, but this is not the case, you are powerful, the power in your mind is quite exceptional but your life and the incident near the beginning of your life has affected you somewhat. The blocks in you are cracked beyond repair, they are collapsing and your three centres are leaking into one another, this is affecting your abilities because the barriers are still there and interfere with the natural magic processes you should have."  
  
"So why am I able to do spells like the Patronus?"  
  
"You can do that because you drove yourself to do it, you wanted it badly, you managed to get around the interference on your power to use it for that spell."  
  
"How can I sort this or be able to do magic properly?"  
  
"You cannot sort this yourself, nor can any in your realm."  
  
"Then what can I do? Should I give up magic, will it be dangerous to continue if I can't perform the spells correctly?" Worry and fear were causing his voice to rise in pitch.  
  
"Calm down, boy, I never said you had to stop, you are jumping to conclusions. There is an option available to you, but there is a price."  
  
"What, what price, what option?" questions flew out of his mouth before he could think.  
  
"The option is that you become my avatar, my champion if you will in the war, I will remove the blocks completely from you, allowing you to access all of your considerable powers, allowing you to learn the magic used by the ancient races."  
  
"What is the price?" his eyes betrayed both hope and fear.  
  
"The price is that you become bound to me, the Morrigu. I feel your warrior blood call out to me, just as it called you to this place. You will revel in the battle when it comes, you will do all you can to win, you will dedicate your life to my service, defending and fighting in battles against the darkness, against those who would corrupt nature's balance. You will become the warrior bound as many have before you, a lifetime of service defending the world which you hold dear, Voldemort is but one tyrant, there are many more waiting to take his place."  
  
"And if I refuse, if I wish to continue as I have done?"  
  
"Therein lies the rub, you can't refuse, you brought yourself to me, from that point on you were always mine, I will have you bound by force or willingly, but do not make it hard on yourself, accept this gift from the Morrigu."  
  
Emotions played upon his face, thoughts running through his head, a lifetime of being a target, then he realised that even without this binding, he would have been a target for his life anyway, even after Voldemort was defeated, he was a symbol to the wizarding world, with this binding he would be able to defend his friends, his world to the best of his abilities. His blood cried out to accept it willingly, his mind in turmoil, was this as it appeared, he tried to reason it out but it always came back to the one conclusion, he had to accept, he was being given the chance to defend his friends.  
  
"Morrigu, I accept this gift you grant me, and offer my life to your service on Earth" the words poured out his mouth, he wondered where he had brought them forth from as he bent on one knee before his goddess.  
  
"Harry, son of Lily, son of James, I accept your pledge and grant you my gift." As she said this, she took her sword and raised it high above her head. In one quick motion she brought it down upon the head of Harry. Harry watched as the blade neared him, a scream issued forth from his mouth, then the blade hit and there was nothing but a flash of light, then darkness.  
  
As Harry returns to his body, pain shoots through his chest, his heart and lungs feel as though they are expanding outwards beyond his body, a scream attempts to escape him, but is muffled as a screech rings through the air. The raven shoots out of his chest, heading out the window, leaving as suddenly as it had arrived. Slowly the pain in his chest began to recede, his breathing became less ragged. He pulled himself up from the ground where he had fallen, sweat adorned his brow, his skin pale and sickly looking. He almost got himself under control, when a new wave of pain washed over him, the pain was centred on the outside of his shoulders, making its way partway down his arms, his mouth opened, a cry issued forth as the pain increased again. His upper arms and shoulders felt like they were on fire, his vision became blurry, he collapsed to the floor, unconscious. The boy lay there unaware of the world, unaware that the raven had returned to the window. As it looked in, it saw the sleeves of the shirt the boy wore crumble away in ashes leaving his shoulders and arms bare. Upon the pale flesh, his left shoulder and upper arm was adorned with a black trinity knot, its right counterpart adorned with a black raven in flight. Clutched in his right hand, was the book that started it all, its title now emblazoned under the symbols, "The Morrigu: Queen of the Ancient Magic". The raven nodded, as if satisfied with its work, then took off, never to be seen again.  
  
(A/N: Thank you to those that review the first part. In answer to why it is AU, this won't be finished before OotP and I can pretty certain that what happens here won't occur in the books.) 


	3. Fragments

Fragments of A Summer  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own the film from which the quotes come from, or the present. In addition to earlier disclaimers.  
  
--  
  
Two hundred yards, two hundred and he was free, his vision narrowed. Everything was focused on that point in the distance. He could feel his legs screaming at him to stop but he couldn't. He had to keep going.  
  
One hundred yards, almost free. His chest ached, his heart pounded away threatening to explode in his chest. His head moved from side to side, his arms moved liked they were made of lead. He pushed on, he had to make it that last little bit, to reach the escape.  
  
Fifty yards, only fifty more yards. The pain in his legs had been spreading, his chest felt like an elephant was crushing it, across his shoulders was on fire, his arms barely able to move, but he still drove on, he would not stop, he couldn't stop, not till he reached that nearing escape.  
  
A noise startled him, he began to panic, only another twenty yards. He had to make it, he couldn't admit defeat, he wouldn't admit defeat. The pain in his body spread like wildfire, his vision so narrowed he could barely see the point ahead of him. Only ten yards to go, the noise became more rapid. He gave one last burst of energy, five yards, two yards, free. As he passed the point, he slapped at his right wrist. A final beep was heard.   
  
He collapsed at the side of the path, his breath coming in short, rapid bursts. His body felt like it had been dragged over hot coals, his limbs felt like lead but he lifted his arm, he looked at the watch on his wrist. It read "11:58". He yelled in joy, the silence around him shattered by it.   
  
He turned to his left, a small wall there, a queasy feeling in his stomach. Instinctively, he pulled himself to the wall his head over it, as he vomited. He vomited, he brought up what little food and liquid he had in his stomach, the acids burned at his throat, sweat plastered to his skin, his body wracked in pain from the heaving. But it was worth it, it was worth it. For the first time this summer, since he started his fitness training, he had broken the twelve minute barrier for two miles. He clung to the wall as he felt the joy of his accomplishment mix with the pain and exhaustion of his body.  
  
--  
  
"You find out life's this games of inches"  
  
"Because we know when add up all those inches, that's gonna make the fucking difference between winning and losing! Between living and dying!"  
  
These two phrases stuck in Harry's mind, it struck him how true they were, they hadn't come from any great philosopher, he had overheard them from one of the many films Dudley watched with the volume too loud. He mused on the simple logic of them, they were right, an inch here, an inch there can make all the difference. If Wormtail had been an inch off with his aim, then maybe Cedric would have lived, if Voldemort had been an inch further away, maybe his father would have been able to avoid death. Ifs, everything was coming down to ifs, Harry decided then and there, they would be no more ifs, Voldemort had used up his inches. Harry would fight him, he would crawl those inches if necessary, broken and beaten, only to make that difference between winning and losing, living and dying, and he knew that the only way he would win is if he was the one living. He chose to live and not die, to fight and not lie down.  
  
He knew now that he couldn't do it alone, try as he may, as much as he thought it was his fault, he would not be able to fight everything alone. He tried to deny this, but if anything, his thinking and preparations, his experiences this summer had shown him, history had shown him, one person, man, woman or animal could only do so much. Dumbledore admitted this, he was the one to defeat Grindewald himself, but he had help to fight the followers of the tyrant, Hitler was not brought down by one man, it took an alliance of almost every major power in the world to defeat his war machine. But Harry would be the frontline, others would fight beside him, but he decided that he would lead the charge. Maybe not today, or tomorrow, but Voldemort would know that his end would come at the hands of Harry Potter.  
  
All he had to do was to claw those inches in, move those inches forward and never look back, never give up. This war would be fought, no one could deny this anymore, try as they may, but Voldemort was back.   
  
Everything came down to the inches.  
  
Another quote from the film came to mind, a knowing smile came to his face, his eyes twinkling a little, as he thought of it,  
  
"We're in hell right now gentlemen. Believe me. And we can stay here, get the shit kicked out of us, or we can fight our way back into the light. We can climb outta hell....one inch at a time."  
  
--  
  
He watched it, watched it as it mocked him. It just sat there, looking back at him, as if it knew all his secrets. Mocking his ignorance. Damn her, she knew what this thing would do to me. Why couldn't she have sent me a book like she did before, or a quill or something that won't drive me mad?  
  
It sat there, unmoving, unaffected by the mad glare he gave it. It had its own section on the floor, away from his work and books. It been there since his birthday over a week ago. His other presents had been the regular stuff, sweets, books including a book of defensive measures from Remus Lupin. The book wasn't one he had read before and had some good spells and ideas in it that he could use.   
  
Hermione however had decided to do something a little different with her present, it now sat there laughing at him. It annoyed him no end, he was going to have fun coming up with something for her, revenge would be sweet. It would be something that would make her want to bash her head off of her books, much like her gift made him want to scream in frustration.  
  
He was determined not to let it beat him, he wouldn't lose to this abomination. This was how he should defeat Voldemort, he should send him this, Voldemort would go mad and kill himself. He laughed quietly at the thought of the thing in front of him driving Voldemort up the wall. He laughed at the idea of the "Dark Lord" shouting at it, and it just sitting there in its knowing way laughing at him.  
  
Unfortunately however, the one it was driving mad was him, sitting there. He felt like throwing it out the window then he thought how disappointed Hermione would be at that, and decided against it, but it was so tempting as it sat there.  
  
Slowly he picked up yet another wooden piece in his latest attempt to finish the "Thirteenth Labour of Hercules", a mental puzzle consisting of 36 identical pieces to make up a shape, Hermione's idea of an interesting birthday present. He was determined he would finish this eventually.  
  
--  
  
One thing Harry realised over the summer was that Divination was not a useful tool, it was unreliable at best, open to misinterpretation and deeply flawed in operation. He began to see why Hermione had dropped the course in favour of another subject. Harry began thinking about this, could he drop it? He didn't want to listen to the old bat harp on about his impending doom, he wanted to do something useful instead. Arithmancy from what he had seen wasn't for him, but what else was there?  
  
In reading the book he had been clutching after "visiting" Morrigu, he discovered his answer. The book was fascinating, it described how the ancient magic used the different sources of magic in a person together in order to accomplish it effect. One aspect of it was that the powers need to be harmonised, it describes many ways of doing this, but the one, which stood out to Harry, was the idea of forming an image of a rune in his head. The rune would allow him to harmonise his centres and focus his abilities on the spell at hand. The book described how different spells and effects required different runes, such as an earth-based rune for spells involving the element of the earth. The idea was fascinating, the book describes the effects of this magic, what spells could be done. It was far more taxing that "normal" magic and took longer to learn but he couldn't wait to be back at Hogwarts to try it out.  
  
The class he wanted to change to was Ancient Runes, this would give him access to knowledge about what runes mean what, what context they were for. The different runes could then be used to harmonise his centres for his new magic.  
  
After several letters, sometimes harsh letters to Professors McGonagall and Dumbledore, he was eventually allowed to join the Ancient Runes class but would have to catch up in his own time. This suited Harry and incorporated this work into his current plans, he added a new notebook to his collection specifically for his runic studies.  
  
--  
  
Summer was soon over and Harry would be returning to Hogwarts the next day. He returned with a new sense of purpose, a determination and will to improve, learn and live. Only time would tell if it would be enough to overcome Voldemort. At the back of his mind however he was constantly reminded of his pledge to Morrigu, Voldemort was but one player, others would follow and Harry would have to face them until he died.  
  
Authors Notes:  
  
Nabiki - I have never seen Braveheart so I didn't get my idea from there, most of it comes from an interest in mythology in general, celtic in particular. As to your questions about ron and draco, well I'm not going to comment.  
  
I would like to thank my friend Ben, a creative arts guy who still has his feet on the ground, for helping me by editing my work. 


	4. Meetings

Meetings  
  
Discussion at the staff table was rife with rumours about the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher. No one knew who the teacher was, if they were male or female, where they were trained, they only knew that Dumbledore trusted them and had known them most of their life. Snape sat at one end of the table, he was silently fuming at being passed over yet again for the position, he coveted that position, yet Dumbledore was determined to keep him as Potions Master. He did enjoy his work, he was one of the best in Europe, even the world, but he wanted badly to teach DADA.  
  
Professors Flitwick, Sprout and McGonagall were pensive, out of the last four teachers in the position only one had proved to be a success, only leaving due to an unfortunate incident. McGonagall was worried, each year the teacher seemed to have it in for the Gryffindor students, especially Harry Potter and she certainly did not approve last year of the teacher casting Imperious curses on her students or any student in the school. Although she was proud that the only one to throw it off was one of her students.  
  
The doors to the Great Hall sounded out as they opened to reveal Professor Dumbledore, his eyes twinkling through his glasses as he walked to the staff table. A smaller person followed behind him, their person covered in a dark gray cloak, obscuring any identifying features including their face. It was hard to tell anything about them.  
  
"Good Evening, my friends." Dumbledore spoke as if nothing were out of the ordinary, "Its been a pleasant day hasn't it?"  
  
McGonagall thought to herself, "He is enjoying this, he knows we all want to know who the new teacher is. He's dragging this out acting as if its just another day"  
  
Dumbledore managed to fill a few more minutes with idle chitchat, infuriating the staff to the point where Professor Snape broke, "Would you just introduce the new teacher, please?"  
  
After the outburst, he looked a little sheepish at having spoken like that, but Dumbledore quickly drew the attention away from him, "I believe it is time to introduce my companion here, our new DADA teacher, Remus Lupin"  
  
As he said this, the man removed his hood, revealing a head of graying hair and the features of Remus Lupin who looked a great deal better than the last time anyone saw him. He wasn't as pale but was rather thin. He nodded his greetings to the assembled professors.   
  
Snape was fuming, "The werewolf, you brought the werewolf back into the school to teach again?"  
  
Dumbledore rounded on him, "Do not question my judgment, Professor, Remus Lupin is the best candidate for the job period, and no one will drive him out this year. Yes he is a werewolf, but he takes the wolfsbane potion and isolates himself from the population at his transformation. The incident will not occur again."  
  
Snape looked furious but accepted the headmasters decision. McGonagall looked a bit shocked, but rose and offered her hand to her former pupil, "Welcome back, Remus, it is good to see you again"  
  
Gratefully, Remus shook her hand, thanking her for her welcome. This broke the tension in the room, with the other professors save Snape offering their welcomes, luck and congratulations to him.  
  
Dumbledore looked on in satisfaction as a old friend was welcomed back into the fold.  
  
--  
  
The day of the meeting to decide the new prefects from the incoming fifth year had arrived, each house had to select two new prefects. This was a formal meeting conducted in a traditional manner, each house could state their choices for prefect and the professors could object and respond but eventually it came down to the headmaster's decision. Dumbledore was not looking forward to what he had to do in this meeting.  
  
After only minor comments from Snape about the incompetence of Hufflepuffs and arrogance of Ravenclaws, the prefects of the two houses were approved. Unfortunately, that was the only easy part of the meeting, for then on, each prefect became a fight, for the houses of Gryffindor and Slytherin it came as no surprise that McGonagall and Snape were on opposite sides of the arguments, and frequently it appear Snape was on his own, in fact all the time. Snape forced through his first prefect, but when it came to his second prefect, the arguments became more heated.  
  
"The second prefect from House Slytherin shall be Draco Malfoy" Snape spoke in a tone that suggested no one could argue with this statement.  
  
The stern and often impassive face of McGonagall took on a look of disgust at this statement, "I object to the appointment of Draco Malfoy"  
  
"What are the reasons for your objections, Professor?" Dumbledore asked in a formal tone, knowing that these last few prefects were going to be the cause of headaches for many of them.  
  
"Mr. Malfoy has repeated shown he has little respect for any students other than his own close circle, he attitude is condescending at best. His attitudes to those not of 'pureblood' are downright abrasive and many of his comments are abusive and hurtful. Not mention the dubious character of the boys father and his associates. And his constant baiting of Mr. Potter, Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley." the professor had obviously expected this to come up, her tone dripped with sarcasm at the mention of pureblood, her voice going quite sinister at the mention of the boys father.  
  
Around the table, looks of concentration and deliberation covered the faces of the professors, they all knew of Draco's tendencies and attitudes but he had been careful not to flagrantly display them in front of the staff, but they still knew what went on.  
  
"That does not change the fact that Malfoy is a leader in the house Slytherin, he is looked to for leadership not only from his own year and below but from the higher years. His attitudes towards muggleborns may not be to your liking, Professor, but he does raise interesting points and if those muggleborns are not thick-skinned enough to withstand some harmless ribbing from a fellow student, then maybe they should run home to their parents and hide. Malfoy has above average grades in many subjects and his potions marks are frequently among the highest in the year, he has the ability to make quick judgments and can control other students. His father should not become a factor in this decision and as to his 'baiting' of the Gryffindors, well to a large extent they bring it on themselves, Potter and his little fan club. I submit that he is a valid candidate for prefect." Snape response was typical Slytherin pureblood arrogance, anger could be seen in McGonagall and Lupin's eyes.   
  
"Professor Snape, I should think you should not encourage your house's current attitudes towards those not of pureblood as you call it, as a Professor you should encourage tolerance" McGonagall was fighting not to explode in rage as she spoke.  
  
"I am here to teach potions, Professor, not to educate on the right and wrong of society."  
  
"You are here to teach them how they should fit into society and help to improve it as well as potions."  
  
Seeing that a huge argument was in the brewing, Dumbledore decided to end it now, "Draco Malfoy will be made a prefect, his grades are acceptable and he is a leader in his house. However, Professor Snape, I will ask you to speak to young Malfoy about his less than desirable attitudes and behaviours, if he does not improve I will revoke his status."  
  
Snape looked pleased at more or less getting his way with his own prefects, a sneer was sent to the head of Gryffindor, who merely looked back at him as if he were a bug waiting to be crushed under her boot heel.  
  
"Moving on to the Gryffindor prefects" Dumbledore was anxious to get this meeting over with before certain individuals began to loose their admirable restraint.  
  
Professor McGonagall cleared her throat and in a clear voice stated that her choice for her first prefect was Hermione Granger. This elicited no shocks in the room, Ms. Granger's academic talents were known as was her adherence to the rules. She was for most of the faculty a dream student, that posed no problems. However one faculty member was not happy with this.  
  
"I object to the appointment of Ms. Granger" the tone of voice unmistakable condescending and mocking of the idea of Granger being a prefect.  
  
Dumbledore appeared amused by this objection, "What are the reasons for your objection, Professor Snape?"  
  
Everyone at the table fixed their eyes on Snape, curious as to why he objected. If this scrutiny bothered Snape it did not show, he appeared as he always did, unflappable.  
  
"Ms. Granger is a good student, however she is a muggleborn and does not know all of the intricacies of wizarding society. This is unacceptable in a prefect, all of the other prefects understand how society works. I draw you attention to the S.P.E.W campaign she has organised for house-elfs, this goes against the way in which our society works, it maybe how her muggle society works, but not here. Also she has an unhealthy association with the Potter boy and his sidekick. I believe making her a prefect would undoubtedly allow them undue influence over other students through her." He spoke, he voice dripping with contempt, spitting out the words muggle and Potter like they burned him to say.  
  
"Professor Snape, I find your reasons totally unacceptable, your attitudes are showing through, no wonder Malfoy has cultivated such an opinion of muggleborns after hearing you, also her campaign for the house-elfs shows determination and self-motivation, both important qualities in a prefect. Her grades are the best in her year and her association with Mr. Potter should not be taken into account, much like you said for Mr. Malfoy and his father." McGonagall looked at him, pride showing at her use of his own argument against him.  
  
Before Snape could even open his mouth to respond, Dumbledore said, "Ms. Granger will be made a prefect. Her service to the school and the ideals of a fair society are qualities which should be encouraged and rewarded." The tone in his voice showed no further discussion would take place on the subject.  
  
Looking pleased at getting her way with her first prefect, McGonagall in the same tone of voice as the first stated that Harry Potter was her choice for her second prefect. This drew some gasps of surprise from the assembled professors, only Lupin, McGonagall and Dumbledore looked unphased. Snape looked ready to explode. Harry was a good student, not in the same class as Ms. Granger, although to be fair he didn't work anywhere near as hard and for the amount of work he was able to do with everything that had happened to him over the last few years, his marks were quite remarkable. He was also liked by most professors, but had a slight tendency to break the rules and do things that while right were inconvenient and troublesome for others.  
  
"I object" Snape voiced rung out, not bothering with formality, he practically shouted his objections.  
  
Dumbledore looked at him, he let nothing slip, he expected Snape to object, if fact, he had counted on it, "What are your objections, Professor?"  
  
A sneer appeared on his face, looking as if it were his face's natural position, "Mr. Potter is a disruptive influence in the school as has been proven by his record. He frequently flaunts school rules, he is constantly receiving detentions and sneaking around the school. He has even less regard for the workings of our society than Ms. Granger does. He thinks because he is famous he can get away with things and things will be handed to him. Even in his first year, the rules of the school were bent to allow him to play quidditch for the Gryffindor team. And these are only the start of the objections, I could go on for hours with more but these are the main points."  
  
"I would hardly class Mr. Potter as a disruptive influence, yes he has broken school rules, but a lot of the time with good reason. Also if you are referring to the times in second and fourth year about disruption, I think that you should realise that the other students ostracized him, not the other way around. Yes he doesn't know about our society, but would you if you didn't know about our world till you were eleven." McGonagall was livid, the outrageous slander of not one, but now two of her students.  
  
For the first time, Lupin spoke, his voice quiet, but strong, "Harry does not flaunt his fame, in fact he hates it, he once told me this and has spoken to his friends of it often. He hates that everyone seems to know him and wants to know him. He just wants to be normal. And as for quidditch, you know yourself Snape that if he had been in your house, you would have bent the rules for him as well."  
  
"Be that as it may, Professor Lupin", the term choked him as he said it, "Potter is still an unacceptable candidate for a prefect, it doesn't matter how he is disruptive, the fact remains he is, and I also do not believe that he can continue to keep up with his work with prefect duties, not that he really can just now anyway."  
  
Lupin and McGonagall were outraged, both appeared ready to respond, when Dumbledore spoke, "I do not think that slandering Mr. Potter's ability to work will help here, Professor Snape, I would have every confidence that Harry would be able to continue his studies as he does now."  
  
Professors McGonagall and Lupin looked pleased, Snape looked dejected, or as dejected as his face would go.  
  
"However, I do not think that Mr. Potter should be made a prefect at this time. I would like to hear your alternate suggestions for the second Gryffindor prefect, Professor McGonagall, and there will be no objections to this one, this subject will be closed." Dumbledore said this like it was nothing, like he was just stating it was a nice day outside.  
  
McGonagall and Lupin slumped visibly in their seats, never had they thought that Dumbledore would side with Snape against Harry, Snape on the other hand looked like he could fly, he had won, not only that but Dumbledore had sided against his favourite staff and student.  
  
"In that case, I suggest Ronald Weasley as prefect, in lieu of Mr. Potter." McGonagall's voice was monotone, she was not happy with this turn in events.  
  
"Mr. Weasley shall be appointed as Gryffindor's second prefect." Dumbledore stated with finality, and the meeting broke up.  
  
--  
  
Dumbledore called Professors Lupin, Flitwick and Snape to his office for a meeting, the three of them had met outside the gargoyle leading to his office. None of them were sure as to what it was that involved the three of them. The expressions on their faces were impassive, each man attempting to work out what the headmaster had called them for.  
  
The door to his office swung open as they reached it, "Come in, gentlemen."  
  
The three men entered the office, the office never seemed to detract from the idea that Dumbledore was a bit mad, everyone acknowledged he was powerful, brilliant, but at the same time, a lot of people believed him to be a wee bit off his rocker. However no one doubted his abilities or his loyalty. He motioned to them to take a seat, that damned twinkling in his eye that people commented on. It infuriated people, he always seemed to know that little bit more, that little secret was always up his sleeve. There were times people just wanted to poke his eyes out just to get away from that twinkling.  
  
"I'm sure you are wondering why I have called you here tonight" he said, in a somewhat serious tone.  
  
Flitwick and Lupin could not hold themselves from giving a small laugh, he sounded just like the detectives in the muggle television shows and books, Snape merely snorted. Dumbledore smiled, realising his unintentional joke, but glad it broke the tension in the room a little.  
  
"I wish to discuss the idea of setting up a new dueling club within the school, and would like your opinions and suggestions."  
  
Flitwick looked immensely pleased, as a former dueling champion he had many suggestions and ideas. Lupin looked pensive, dueling was serious business, and it wasn't something everyone could do safely. Snape merely sat there, memories played in his head of the disastrous club that had been setup a few years back with that idiot Lockhart.  
  
Snape was the first to break the silence, "Who would run this venture? Need I remind you of that idiot Lockhart?"  
  
"No, you do not need to remind me, I may be old but I still have a fairly good grasp on things." As he spoke, Snape had the grace to look a bit ashamed at the insinuation the headmaster was getting forgetful, "I have thought on this matter and in these current times, it is important the students learn to defend themselves, and I have also decided that the three of you each have the experience and knowledge to co-operate and run this club successfully."  
  
At this statement, all three professors sat up a little bit straighter, a little bit prouder. It was one thing to work in Hogwarts under Dumbledore, but to receive praise like that from the man himself was special.  
  
"I think the club should only be only be open to fourth years and above, and also the students split according to their abilities. The students will not learn from being constantly being defeated by vastly superior opponents, nor will their opponents, if a person faces someone slightly better than them they can improve and this allows them to build proper confidence and not get demoralised." Flitwick spoke, his voice going higher and quicker as he was getting more and more excited.  
  
Lupin spoke next, " A tournament would also be a good idea, sometime towards the end of each term and also teaching them how to duel in teams would be a great advantage to any fight against the dark forces."  
  
"As much as I hate to admit it, I agree with Lupin about the teams, You-know-who and his followers are not known for teamwork. If the students learn to co-operate and watch each others backs then their chances of survival will increase if they ever have to face an enemy. I would also recommend that the club meets twice during the week and also once for a longer period at the weekend." Snape joined the discussion.  
  
"I can see you all have your ideas and suggestions, I will leave the organisation up to yourselves and if you need anything just come and speak to me." Dumbledore interrupted them.   
  
With that statement, the three professors rose, bid their goodbye to the headmaster and left. Dumbledore listened to their animated conversation until they were out of earshot, pondering the likelihood of three such different characters managing to get along so well. The times ahead called for them to draw together, hopefully this was the start.  
  
--  
  
Dumbledore had called another staff meeting, not an unusual occurrence during the holidays, a lot of decisions had to be made and planning done, but this meeting was to do with Harry and Voldemort. The subject was touchy, no one really wanted to discuss it but they had to. Remus entered the office of the headmaster last and took his seat. Around the round in various chairs and perches he saw most of the staff of the school. Professor McGonagall sat in her chair, very prim and proper, looking towards the headmaster waiting for him to start. Professors Flitwick, Sprout and a couple of other professors sat nearer the back of the room. Professor Snape leaned against a wall, his dark cloak billowed around him, looking disdainfully at the assembled crowd. Dumbledore sat behind his desk, a smile on his face, looking to the world as though he didn't have any worries or cares. Remus knew it was an act, one he himself used quite often.  
  
"Good morning, everyone. I trust you all slept well" Dumbledore greeted them.  
  
Murmurs of agreement and greeting came forth from the group.  
  
"I think you all know what you are here to discuss, the rising of Voldemort and young Harry." Dumbledore's voice was unusually grave, the twinkling in his eye gone. "You all understand that after the third task, Voldemort was resurrected, using Harry's blood among other things. He has been quietly marshalling his forces, small strikes to get supplies, nothing overt or daring. Most of the knowledge I have has come from a reliable source."  
  
Remus glanced at Snape, he knew the source was Snape, but few of the other professors did.  
  
"One thing that is a constant in Voldemort's plans is that he needs to eliminate Harry, he also needs to eliminate the school, but his first priority is to kill Harry. Harry has defeated him, escaped him and thwarted him at almost every turn. He fears what Harry could do if he was ever trained to be a full wizard and I fully expect attempts on Harry and Hogwarts to come this year and subsequently until he succeeds or is defeated."  
  
To say the professors were shocked would be lying, they expected this but even so, having it spelled out in plain clear terms was unnerving. The professors shifted in their seats, Snape drew himself up a bit more, his eyes darting around the room, watching the reactions, he was somewhat pleased that no one was panicking.  
  
"I expect that even here at Hogwarts, Harry will come under attack and for that reason we must keep a close eye on him, closer than we normally would. This is one of the reasons I did not allow Harry to be made a prefect."  
  
Lupin interrupted him here, "You didn't allow Harry to become a prefect because of an attack that may or may not come. Harry knows his parents were prefects, although he never admitted to wanting to be a prefect, any orphan aspires to following in their parents footsteps. It draws them nearer to them, as if he were making them proud. To deny him the chance because of something he cannot control is blatantly unfair, especially when he was a first choice for prefect." He paused unsure of how his outburst would be received.  
  
He looked around, some of the faces were shocked at his outburst, mainly Flitwick and Sprout, others showed understanding McGonagall and strangely Snape. Dumbledore sat there impassive just looking at him. Remus started to attempt to apologise from his interruption, but Dumbledore stopped him.  
  
"There is no need to apologise, Remus, I understand what you are saying and am ashamed to admit I did not think of it quite in those terms. I forget the bond between an orphan and his parents memory, although I still stand by my decision not to make him a prefect. There were other reasons, but I prefer not to divulge them at present. What we need to decide is how to keep him safe. We need to keep an eye on him. A prefect has too much freedom and their duties require them to go around the castle by themselves often, this was too much risk and makes him too easy a target. Any suggestions or comments?"  
  
"Are you allowing him to stay on the quidditch team?" Remus asked this tentatively.  
  
"I have not decided this yet, I wanted to wait for input on the matter"  
  
"I don't think you should remove him from the team. Not just for his sake, but for his houses morale. Although mainly for his sake, flying allows him to be free and happy, away from the worries of Voldemort. We can't take that away from him and few people would match him on a broom so he could escape and practices for all teams could be supervised, masking our watching of him." Remus answered, trying to stress the importance of allowing him to continue. McGonagall and Sprout appeared to agree with him, most of the other professors remained neutral.  
  
Dumbledore nodded to him, agreeing, "It will make the practices safer for everyone if they are watched by staff."  
  
"We could have an auror who is an inconspicuous animagus follow him." McGonagall suggested.  
  
Dumbledore shook his head, "Too easy to loose, too hard to find someone totally trustworthy."  
  
"We could tie him to a chair a sit him in an office with a teacher when he is not supposed to be anywhere" Snape sarcastically through out his suggestion.  
  
The assembled faculty turned and glowered at him. He sneered back.  
  
"I do not think we need to be quite that extreme Severus, although it would eliminate any chances of him running off."  
  
The group chuckled at the headmaster's comment, although the tone of the meeting remained grim.  
  
"I think you misunderstand me when I say watch him. I have setup new wards on the house towers so that only staff and members of the house can enter, these will also bar animagi not authorised to be there. After he is in the tower, I am confident he is safe, as he will be when he is in groups and classes. My worries stem from the times where the students are free to do what they want, Harry has a tendency, more than most to roam around the castle, frequently to Hogsmeade although he doesn't realise that I know this. What we need is a method to keep him occupied."  
  
"Well I do know that his quidditch team is talking about having practices in the evenings right after the meal, so there will be three nights a week where for a couple of hours he is occupied. And also for a morning at the weekends" McGonagall said.  
  
"There is the dueling club, which will be meeting three times a week for the two hours before curfew and for three hours on a Saturday evening." Snape interjected.  
  
"Valid points, it is good that much of this surveillance will be masked due to his proximity to other students, however there is still a large amount of time he is alone and I do not consider Ms. Granger and Mr. Weasley adequate protection, capable though they maybe."  
  
For several more minutes, ideas were discussed, discarded then discussed and discarded again.  
  
Finally Lupin said, "Why not have him assist with teaching a class?"  
  
The group turned to the quiet werewolf, they looked at him like he was mad. Then that damned twinkling in Dumbledore's eyes started.  
  
"Please continue, Remus"  
  
"What I mean is, we could get him to become a teaching assistant like they have in muggle universities, they help teach the classes, mark class work and tests, organise lessons. Its like a junior teacher. We know that marking takes a long time, so we could fill up time by having him mark work for the classes he helps in and he could also help with planning those lessons. We can easily get this to take up as much time as we need but at the same time make it useful work not just for him, but for the us as well."  
  
"I think you have a suggestion for who you would like him to work with, don't you Remus?" Dumbledore asked, slightly stressing the name.  
  
"I do. I would suggest that Harry works with me. No offence to the rest of you, but he will trust me more, I knew his parents and have worked with him before teaching him the Patronus. Also he has a flair for DADA, he can do that work and has more practical experience in it that any other student in the school. I would suggest that we let him help teach the first year students, the work is straightforward and has scope for expansion without getting too advanced. This would mean he helps teach six classes a week, with marking an preparation for those classes."  
  
Dumbledore could be seen nodding, he seemed to approve of this idea, but wasn't ready to commit quite yet. He looked to the other professors for their opinions.  
  
"I would be worried about his workload, if he does this, when will he do his work outside of class? I do not wish to see him suffer while we try to protect him" McGonagall asked.  
  
"I can encourage Harry to do his work while in my office, the quiet and isolated environment may even help him to concentrate on his studies rather than get distracted. I will have a talk with him, drop a few careful hints and pointers as to what his parents would want him to do. I remember my days trying to work in the common room, it wasn't always easy and it can't be easy to Harry who isn't natural studious and just wants to fit in." Remus answered McGonagall.  
  
"This is favouritism, pure and simple. Why should Potter be given special perks? A maniac may be after him, but why should we have him teach a class? How will this look to other students? They will think we favour Potter above them. And they would probably be right to think it. It looks like a reward for him." Snape said quickly.  
  
Dumbledore answered this, "I don't recall Remus mentioning any perks in there, I heard him describe a lot of work and time but few perks. He didn't mention giving house points for doing this, or receiving any special recognition. Also Mr. Potter would not be able to award or remove points from a house and would not have the privileges that a prefect does. As to why it would be a good idea for him to assist in teaching, well first off you are always concerned about his so-called fame, have you considered that by constant exposure to him, the new intake will not hold him in the famous regard but merely as a fellow student and sometimes teacher. Surely you can see the benefits there. They will think we favour him to begin with, but do you think after seeing the work he has to put in with little reward, will they think that? I doubt it very much, and Remus is right, he does have a flair for the subject and he does have more experience than any other student in fighting the darkness. Few adults can conjure a Patronus, yet he is a child and can do it. That speaks to his competence. Also he will be required to do a lot of preparation ahead of these classes, including a lot of bookwork, which is not his strong point as I'm sure you know."  
  
Snape looked less put out by the idea now, almost pleased that it would so much work and no reward. Also to reduce the students starry-eyed view of him when they arrive would be of even greater benefit. He still thought it smacked a bit of favouritism, but the workload would force Potter to work hard and earn respect, like everyone else. He nodded his reluctant agreement to the suggestion, making mental note to encourage his first years to write as much as possible for their DADA work, just to make it that bit harder. The other professors nodded their assent as well, not quite understanding the little glint in Snape's eyes, unsure as to what he was thinking.  
  
Then Remus realised something, "What if Harry does not want to do this when we ask him? Should we have an alternate idea?"  
  
Dumbledore looked at him, a strange look on his face, "Harry will be assisting you with the first year course, have no doubts about it."  
  
"How can you be so sure?"  
  
"Because if he tries to refuse or does a poor job, I will remove him from his quidditch team and completely ground him. He will be put to work under Madame Pince in the library from then on." Dumbledore's voice was totally devoid of emotions, his eyes had no twinkling.  
  
The professors looked at him, realising the seriousness and determination to keep Harry safe, but at the same time wondering about how this course of events would affect him. 


	5. Returning

Returning  
  
Disclaimer: The usual stuff. I don't own Harry Potter.  
  
A/N: Thank you to everyone who has reviewed.  
  
Harry was sitting in the Great Hall, he was confused as to what he was feeling and what he should feel. Inside him, his emotions were running around uncontrolled, he was angry, upset, pleased, anxious, determined, scared. He tried to concentrate on the book sitting on the table, but he could not focus on it. He left the book in front of him, as his head descended into his hands. He ran his hands through his hair, frustration taking over him. He could not understand anything just now.  
  
A few hours ago he had been picked up from the Dursley household by his favourite teacher of recent years, Professor Lupin. He had arrived at Privet Drive, an old bicycle wheel used as a portkey. After some heated words with Vernon, Lupin had gathered Harry and his stuff just inside the door of the house. Then it was back to Hogwarts.   
  
In the few hours Harry at been at Hogwarts, he had been in two meetings, one with Dumbledore, the other with Lupin. The first meeting had left him angry, very angry with the way things were decided without him. Right at the beginning of the meeting, Dumbledore had handed him his schedule for the upcoming year. Harry had looked at it and saw that it covered all his time. His life at school had almost completely been planned out for him. Dumbledore had gone on to explain all the upcoming announcements that would be given at the Sorting, then explained about his duties. Harry had sat very quiet during all of this, anger starting to rise in him. After the headmaster had finished, he had launched into a tirade against the older man. Looking back he was quite shocked at how he had spoken to arguably the most respected wizard in the world. After he had run out of steam, Dumbledore, completely unruffled by the shouting as if he had expected it, had then picked out a few things Harry said and stated some of his reasons. This had done little to abate Harry's anger but he was left subdued by the calm manner in which Dumbledore acted.  
  
The one concession Harry had managed to get out of Dumbledore was that he was allowed to continue his physical training throughout the year. However he had known there was a catch, it turned out that Lupin had be selected to participate in a new trial program for helping werewolves and their conditions which required him to do a strict regime of exercise. As this coincided with what Harry wanted, he would be allowed to exercise and run outside but on the proviso that it was with Lupin. Harry was annoyed that he was being treated like a child, needing supervision, but pleased in a way that it was Lupin. From the schedule, he saw that he would be spending a lot of time with his parents' old friend, and this gave him the opportunity to find out more about them.  
  
After the anger generated by the meeting with Dumbledore, his emotions took a complete turnaround after speaking to Remus Lupin. Lupin had taken him to the DADA Professors office and had shown him a door hidden at the back of it. The door led to a small room which Remus said was now his 'office', where he could work on his DADA material for first years and also his own schoolwork away from distractions. At first this statement had annoyed Harry, but Remus sat him down and gave him a talk about his parents and how they would want him to make a success out of his life, how proud they would be, how sorry they must be to not be here. The talk on the surface may have seemed a purely manipulatively ploy by the professor, but the tears that threatened to fall when he spoke of James and Lily convinced Harry that he was speaking not as a professor but more of an uncle, an uncle who actually cared about him. The talk had left him feeling upset, very upset missing his parents a lot. He was slightly scared of disappointing them, Sirius and Remus, other people did not really matter but his parents and their friends' opinions of him counted for a lot. He began to feel a little bit of pleasure at the job he had been given, although he was still angry at it been forced upon him but that could wait, he had gotten a room to basically call his own and he knew if he did well his parents would be proud of him, where ever they were. He was determined to do well this year already, but seeing the emotion in Remus as he talked of his parents reinforced this beyond any measure.  
  
And now he was sitting in the Great Hall, he lifted his head from his hands, looking at the staff table he saw some of the staff already there, talking quietly. Professors Sprout, Vector and Lupin were having a conversation, Hagrid and Professor Flitwick were animatedly talking to each other, looking a rather strange duo. Professor Snape sat at one end, reading a book, occasionally glowering at the conversations taking place along from him. Harry returned to his book, he still felt anxious to see his friends, he wanted to know what had happened to them over summer, what they had done, how their families were coping with the return of Voldemort?  
  
He was also slightly worried about they would react to his helping to teach the DADA course for first years. Ron could be a bit jealous, although he was a prefect and Harry was not, so he hoped that would stop him getting annoyed. Hermione may be a problem although he doubted it, but she was the obvious choice for helping to teach so she may be a bit put out that he was chosen.  
  
Harry continued to read the book he had in front of him, the book covered basic camouflage charms. He was so engrossed in the book that when the doors to the hall banged open, he literally jumped in his seat.  
  
Returning students began filtering into the hall, splitting up into their different houses, taking seats at the appropriate tables. Harry turned his head towards them, trying to find his friends as they entered the hall.  
  
As the crowd of students thinned, he caught sights of two heads, one with bushy brown hair, the other with long red hair. Hermione and Ginny were making their way towards him, having spotted him as they entered the hall. Ginny gave him a small wave which he returned, but Hermione kept her head down as she walked with Ginny.  
  
Harry watched them, seeing the changes in them since he saw them a few months ago. Both were taller, Hermione only a little bit, he guessed that she was actually the same height as him. Although he was fairly short, so they both only stood around five foot five at best, but next to her was Ginny who had shot up and stood about an inch taller than either of them. Harry was a little shocked at first, then remember that her brothers were also quite tall, 'must be the genes' he mused. Hermione had filled out, she was developing a nice set of curves, which complimented her shorter stature, while Ginny's height was emphasised by her more athletic build, no doubt from playing quidditch and growing up with six brothers. Neither girl was exceptionally pretty, but both had a certain quality that could be seen about them, or at least Harry could see it. Both however seemed quite worried, Ginny's face took a worried expression each time she glanced at Hermione, who was quite pale and looked rather downcast.  
  
Both girls however brightened as they approached Harry, taking the seats next to him, Hermione next to him, Ginny on her other side.  
  
"Hi, Hermione, Ginny" Harry greeted them, feeling happy to see them.  
  
Ginny smiled at him, and Hermione replied, "Hi Harry, how was your summer? I'm sorry we didn't see you at all."  
  
"It was bearable, how was yours? Congratulations on becoming a prefect, Hermione, although how could they not have made you a prefect?"  
  
Hermione blushed as Ginny laughed slightly at the end of the compliment. But before, anyone could say anything else, a tall figure with red hair bustled up and forced his way in between Harry and Hermione.  
  
"Hiya, Harry. How was the summer? So sorry you couldn't come over, but Hermione was there anyway, made me do all my homework early. Had to make up my Divination work myself, what ways did you think up to die this year? I've been made a prefect, oh, you haven't, so sorry, old chap. Surprising though isn't it, the Boy-Who-Lived not getting made prefect. Guess me and Hermione will have to watch you carefully, make sure you follow the rules and what-not." Ron launched into this little speech, as he pushed Hermione and Ginny further down the table away from Harry.  
  
Harry was bewildered by the actions of his friend, he cringed at the use of the name "Boy-Who-Lived", could hear the smugness in his voice over the prefect issue, seeing it plain as day on his face. He looked up at his friend, Ron had grown considerably over the summer, he stood around the six foot mark, had broaden across the shoulders. He had developed a little muscle but also put on a bit of weight. Next to him Harry felt rather small.  
  
Before Harry could answer, Ginny spoke up, "Ron, do you mind? Hermione and I were talking to Harry."  
  
Ron dismissed her with a wave of his hand, "Harry doesn't want to listen to your inane prattling, we've got important things to discuss, like the new quidditch season."  
  
Hermione's head went further down, Ginny looked like see could kill Ron and Harry was ready to punch him, disregarding the girls like that. Ron sat there oblivious of the reactions he was causing. Before anyone could answer though, the doors to the hall opened again to admit the new first years being led by Professor McGonagall.  
  
--  
  
The Sorting passed quickly and the feast began, Harry was the oldest student near to the new first years. He looked at the new students, they had gotten 12 new students this year. They all seemed so excited about being at Hogwarts, their expressions as the food had appeared in front of them brought a small smile to his face as he thought about how he must have looked his first time.  
  
Beside him, Ron was talking loudly to anyone who would listen, mostly berating Hermione and Ginny for discussing schoolwork so soon and arguing with Seamus about the quidditch team. Harry was not sure why, but Ron seemed quite belligerent this year, he thought he would probably calm down after the novelty of being a prefect died away.   
  
Harry was eating in silence, watching everything around him, then he noticed a small presence next to him. Most of the first years were animatedly talking to each other, gesturing to different things around the hall, pointing out the ghosts and wondering about the magic they would learn, but the person next to him was quiet, practically ignored by the rest of them.  
  
Harry decided to talk to them, no one should have to be alone in a room full of people, he waved his hand in front of her face as she was intent on her food.  
  
He plainly, but warmly said, "Hello"  
  
The little girl looked up at him, he got a good look at her, she was very small, almost looked too young to be at Hogwarts. Her skin was pale, her face young and fresh, with big blue eyes looking up at him, brown hair cascaded to her shoulders.  
  
"H-Hello" the little girl stumbled slightly in her greeting.  
  
"First time at Hogwarts, exciting isn't it? I remember my first time here. What's your name?"  
  
The little girl looked at him, surprised that the older boy was speaking to her, but the swarm tone in his voice encouraged her to answer, "Samantha, my name is Samantha Reilly."  
  
"Pleased to meet you, Samantha, I'm Harry" he replied, holding his hand out.  
  
She shook his hand, her small one being totally engulfed by his far larger hand. She smiled, "It is exciting, isn't it? The ceiling is so cool"  
  
Harry laughed, "It is cool, I look forward to seeing it every year."  
  
The little girl seemed far more talkative after this simple exchange and began telling Harry about herself, responding excitedly to his questions. Harry smiled as he listened to her tell him about her home in Glasgow, her parents, muggles both, who worked in schools. He found out she was an only child and loved books. He thought she was like a little Hermione, but a bit less uptight. She said that some older boys had called her names on the train. Harry asked who it was and what they had said, a bit angry that someone would ruin the trip to Hogwarts for the young girl.  
  
She shyly pointed out Malfoy and his goons, saying that he was calling her a stupid mudblood.  
  
Harry put his hand on her shoulder and said, very seriously, "If he keeps bothering you, or anyone else does something to you, go to one of the prefects or come and find me."  
  
Samantha's eyes were a bit glossy as she nodded, but Harry asked her about what she wanted to learn about magic and what she thought of the school.  
  
She launched into a series of statements, but he managed to get out of her that she was most excited about Care of Magical Creatures, she loved animals and wanted to work with them.  
  
Harry pointed towards Hagrid and said, "See the big man up there, that's Hagrid, he teaches that class. He was the one who introduced me to the wizarding world. Don't let anyone tell you he's bad or anything, he wouldn't hurt a fly."  
  
She looked at the big man, who saw her and Harry looking at him and waved, she waved back, a smile came across the half-giants face.  
  
She turned back to Harry and asked, "Why would anyone say something bad about him? He looks really nice."  
  
Harry answered, "Hagrid's half-giant, some people don't like giants and think Hagrid is bad because of it, like those boys from the train. Hagrid is my friend, and I think you'll like him too."  
  
"I think he's nice and those boys don't know what they are talking about." She answered sounding even more like a little Hermione.  
  
Harry asked about her wand and where she got it.  
  
The girl seemed to bounce in her seat telling him about her trip to Ollivanders, "He seemed to remember everyone who got a wand off him, it was really weird, like he was a walking encyclopaedia. It didn't take him long to find my wand, 9 inches long made of holly with a Cusith hair core. He said it was well suited to me and would help me work with animals."  
  
Harry watched as the smile spread across her face as she told him this, "Cusith hair, haven't seen any of those before. Although the Cusith are only found in Scotland, so maybe you being from Scotland helped."  
  
Samantha beamed as she heard that her wand type hadn't been seen by him before, as though she thought he had seen lots of wands.  
  
"Dumbledore is about to start his announcements now, " Harry said as he watched the headmaster rise to speak, "just remember me if you need any help or want to talk."  
  
She nodded before turning to listen to the headmaster, Harry wondered to himself if this was what having a little sister felt like.  
  
Harry already knew what the announcements were from early that day, so he only half-listened to Dumbledore as he told the school about the quidditch season, the new duelling club, he heard the applause as Professor Lupin was welcomed back. Dumbledore went on to detail the new restrictions and security in the school, paying special mind to Harry and the Weasley twins.  
  
After he had finished speaking, the school was dismissed and the new prefects led the first years to the dorms. Harry heard Ron's booming voice calling the Gryffindor first years over to him and Hermione then leading them out of the Great Hall.  
  
--  
  
Harry was in his office, it took some getting used to that, having an office. Granted it was small, more of a large storage cupboard, but it had room for a bookshelf, desk and chair. There was still a little space where he could stretch, do some simple exercises and more importantly practise spells. The door could be locked from the inside, so he could keep Lupin out, a few silencing charms and he would never know what was going on. Harry was still angry about this turn in events, and didn't know why he was being forced to help with DADA, but he resolved at this point to make the best that he could of it. At some point in the future, he would get the whole story and make a decision about what to do then, but for now, with the new schedule they gave him, he found that he could practise in his office without fear of interruption save Lupin or possibly the headmaster. It was not a perfect solution, he would have preferred to have had his own choice in the matter about when and where to practise, but you have to deal with life as it comes, otherwise it will run you into the ground and break you up.  
  
It all came to down to what he was prepared to put up with in order to accomplish his goals, if he had to teach, he would, and if he had to work hard he would work hard. Voldemort had been blight on his life for far too long, he killed his parents, he killed the innocent. He tortured and abused for pleasure, he degraded people for not being of what he called pureblood. He was not the only one, once Voldemort was gone, another would appear, then another, the fight would never be over, part of being 'good' was the struggle against evil. Harry had decided for himself and charged by Morrigu to stand in the road of these people, to fight until he could no longer fight, to never give up, to never go down.  
  
He took out one of his notebooks, a book filled with some useful spells for combat. The two spells in the book he was looking at first were not offensive spells, but could be used in preparation for a barrage of offensive spells. One of the first things Harry had found out about combat was that it was not just a case of throwing out spells, of just fighting, it required planning and logic. You had to understand your own spells and knowledge before you could attempt to defeat the enemy. He had read books on duelling and combat tactics over the summer, not just magical books but muggle books as well.  
  
He raised his wand, moving it in the pattern he had memorised, up, across, diagonal, left, down, and saying the incantation, 'caligatio'.  
  
The room was plunged into complete darkness; the light from the small lantern was completely absorbed. Harry attempted the lumos spell; a faint light appeared before it too was swallowed by the darkness. Harry was overjoyed, the spell had worked, he raised his hand in front of his face and waved it about, he couldn't even see the movement. He waited for a few minutes to see if the spell would wear down, but five minutes later the darkness was still present, strong as it was to begin.  
  
He raised his wand again, and uttered the counter-curse, the darkness in the room was sucked into his wand, light from the lantern filling the void it left. Harry began to see why Hermione was always on about studying and preparation, if he hadn't done all the work over summer, if he hadn't practiced the wand movements, he would never have gotten the spell right first time. He knew not to get overconfident, this spell was one of the simple ones he had looked at.  
  
He looked at the second spell in the book, it reminded him of something he'd read about in a book about police raid tactics. The book had described how in the raid, the police had to secure each room as they proceeded, to ensure they were not attacked from behind, how they used little devices they called flash-bangs, this wasn't their official names, but it did describe what they did. The police would arm it and throw it into a room before they entered, the device would explode with a bright flash and a loud bang. This would disorientate any occupants slightly, making it easier to subdue them. The spell he was looking at was not a complete analogue to the device, but did replicate the flash part.  
  
He raised his wand, in motions similar to the caligatio he moved it, then at the end he thrust it towards the ground and said, "sol erumpo".  
  
The effect was instant and brief, an amazing flash of light filled the room and then disappeared. Harry who had been looking at the point where he thrust his wand, stumbled backwards, his eyes filled with light spots. He blinked trying to get his vision back, as he moved, he tripped over the chair next to his desk and tumbled to the ground.  
  
Harry laughed, he couldn't do anything else. The sheer comedy of the situation overcame any embarrassment he should have felt caused by his clumsiness in the after-effects of the spell. He sat on the ground, waiting for the effects of the light to dissipate.  
  
As he sat there, he fell back into his internal deliberations. He realised that the spells were simple and he had prepared but he was shocked that he could do them at all on the first attempt. He supposed that his preparations had made sure he knew what to do but then he remembered something Morrigu had said about removing the barriers in his magic, allowing him to access each centre without interference. He knew this magic was based in the mind, and now that the other centres were not interfering he was able to call upon that centre more easily. He wondered how hard it would be when he attempted to use the spells in the book Morrigu had gifted him, those spells were ancient and used all three centres of power in conjunction with one another. No one would be able to help him, the barriers were still present in them and could not be removed, he was on his own for those spells. He mused that this didn't bother him as much as it probably should have, but then he had been on his own for most of his life, so why should now be any different.  
  
The lights in his eyes had now disappeared and he could see clearly again. He noticed that after these two spells, he felt a little drained; he put this down to the fact that although simple the effects would require a lot of energy to produce.  
  
For the next half hour, Harry practiced these two spells, he remembered to close his eyes before finishing the flash spell, he didn't want a repeat of falling over the chair, although he did move it away from him just in case. The light from the spell was partially visible even through his eyelids. He thought that this would make a great surprise for his first opponents in the duelling club, although he wanted to wait a few weeks before facing anyone in it.  
  
Harry looked at the small clock on his desk, Remus would be coming to take him back to Gryffindor tower in fifteen minutes. He picked up the book from Morrigu, he opened it to the first spell. He was curious as to how it would feel to use this type of magic? how would he cope with it?, would he be able to do it at all?  
  
The book itself was unusual, it had few pages, the first few were a summary of the magic, how to focus, unleash and gather the energies. The next few were a small selection of spells, there were only basic spells there presently, the book only added new spells to itself when the owner, in this case Harry, had mastered all of the current spells. Currently there were only four spells in the book, Harry was looking at the first of them.  
  
The book described the spell, the process of thought you had to use, the incantation did not need to be verbal, nor did it require a wand. The hard part was the focus required, you had to link your three centres together in order to accomplish anything, the focus allowed you to channel the power, the incantation was a mental one, linked to the runic focus of the spell.  
  
Harry placed the book on his desk, he had read the spell several dozen times over the summer, but was still nervous. This magic even in its basic form was difficult. He began to form the rune in his mind, he saw the form appear, the different section light up as he drew energy from his body, mind and spirit. Each energy had a different feel to it, fighting against the others for dominance, but the caster had to balance the forces. He stood stock still for a few minutes, the concentration visible from the tense posture of his body, his eyes closed, rapidly moving around under the lids.  
  
The rune became balanced in his mind, the energy he needed gathered, waiting to be released. In his mind he thought about the incantation, "talamh turus"  
  
In his mind he saw the energy pulse in the rune, the rune remained but he saw the energy begin to direct downwards through him, he felt the ground begin to rise around him. He opened his eyes, looking down he saw that he had sunk to his ankles in the stone floor, he continued to sink, then he panicked. The breath he had been holding like it said in the book released, he was flung from the floor. He fell on his knees and collapsed forward, totally drained. He struggled to get his breath back.  
  
His body ached all over, his mind felt lethargic at best, he struggled to get back to sitting. He looked at the clock, only a few minutes before Remus came in to get him from his office. He thought about the spell, wondering why he had panicked, he knew what was supposed to happen. He thought about the after-effects, he knew in time it would get easier but it was such a strain just now, the book had mentioned about the taxing effort on all aspects of the caster but this was more than he expected for one of what the book said were basic spells. He sat there thinking, recovering enough to return to the tower, for once he would be too tired to dream. 


	6. Tired

Tired  
  
"ONE"  
  
What had he been thinking?  
  
"TWO"  
  
Three weeks of hell.  
  
"THREE"  
  
He just had to say yes, didn't he?  
  
"FOUR"  
  
Anything to help in his fight, anything.  
  
"FIVE"  
  
His back felt like hell.  
  
"SIX"  
  
The ground underneath gave nothing to him, it was grim and unyielding.  
  
"SEVEN"  
  
Kind of like the voice, it too was grim and unyielding.  
  
"EIGHT"  
  
He had to make it through this last set.  
  
"NINE"  
  
Was this worth it? It had to be, he refused to believe this was fates joke on him.  
  
"TEN"  
  
At last, it was finished.  
  
"Well done, Harry, we'll just have a short jog to cool down and then you can go get ready for breakfast." Lupin said as they started to jog around the lake.  
  
"Slave driver" Harry muttered under his breath.  
  
"What was that, Harry?" Lupin asked in a completely innocent voice.  
  
Harry just shook his head and moved ahead of the werewolf, focusing just on breathing, putting one foot in front of the other. He knew damn well that Lupin had heard what he said, he knew he would pay for it in the next session.  
  
He thought back to their first training session three weeks ago, he had just intended to continue with physical conditioning, running, stretching and some light weights. Lupin had suggested that he learn some self-defence, Harry had thought this a bit strange, Lupin didn't really look like someone who could fight someone physically but as with many things, the surface is deceptive.  
  
Lupin during the time between his parents death and now had actually travelled at points, he had studied various fighting techniques in different places. He suggested to Harry that he could learn how to defend himself if his wand was taken away. The way he had put it had made sense to Harry, and the possibility of Voldemort being defeated by muggle means appealed to Harry's sense of irony.  
  
Harry accepted and was eager to learn, now three weeks later, three weeks of absolute hell six mornings a week, he still wanted to learn but the reality of the training had dispelled the novelty of the training. Lupin wasn't teaching him any specific fighting technique, he was teaching him how to fight and survive.  
  
At the first training session, Lupin said, "Fighting is about surviving, it doesn't matter how you fight, it matters that you survive. If you have to use what you consider a dirty tactic to win, then use it. Anyone you are fighting is out to hurt you or kill you, you have to stop them. If you are in a bar and get into a fight, don't try anything fancy, pick up the nearest chair and smash them over the head, then get the hell out of there. The only winner in a fight is the one that can walk away at the end."  
  
Harry thought that Lupin was being a bit melodramatic but after three weeks of hard drilling, three weeks of getting knocked on his ass, he realised that Lupin was right. Voldemort wasn't going to fight as fair as Lupin did, nor would any Death Eater.   
  
The training was split into two sections, the first was fitness and conditioning. Lupin said that if you can't last then you've lost. Three mornings a week consisted of running, stretching, circuit and weight training. Harry was making progress in his fitness, he had cut four seconds off his best mile time since he set it three weeks before returning to school. He could last longer running, he no longer felt as sore the next day. He could lift more than he used to, in general his fitness and strength were increasing quite well.  
  
The other part of the training was the actual fight training that took the other three mornings. Mostly in the three weeks, they had covered how to fall. Harry had been taught how to roll out of a fall, how to minimise the damage caused by hitting the ground, how to have minimum exposure to follow up hits. He was trained outside on the ground, Lupin said there was no point in training on mats when in the real world you could fighting on any surface. This proved an incentive, the first three days of this training had been incredibly painful when Harry didn't do something right. Now he tried as hard as possible to get things first time, he still got numerous bruises and cuts but they were manageable, spurring him on in his training. It would be painful in a fight but exposure to now would give him some preparation.  
  
Lupin had drilled into him that physical fighting was different from duelling, you couldn't just dodge a person like a curse. The person could adapt as you move unlike the curse, you constantly had to be aware, constantly had to watch the other person. Part of the training was having Lupin attack Harry and Harry had to dodge each hit, if he was hit then he had to get back up to block the next or be hit on the ground. It was brutal at times but it bloody well made him learn.  
  
In the last week, Lupin had begun drills on punching, how to hold your hand so it didn't get hurt, how to stand, how to put energy behind the punch. Harry always thought punching would be simple but now he realised that the way most people punched was bad technique and could hurt the puncher as much as the target.  
  
As much as it was sore, as much as getting up earlier than everyone else was annoying, he was immensely grateful to Lupin for the training and help he was giving to Harry.  
  
They finally reached the castle doors and made their way to the Gryffindor tower where they bid goodbye to each other.  
  
--  
  
On September 24th, the Daily Prophet carried a shocking story, the wizarding community in Britain was thrown in turmoil as one of its most noted law enforcers was found dead in their home.  
  
From the Daily Prophet, September 24th Morning Edition.  
  
Death of Deputy Director of Magical Law Enforcement  
  
The shocking discovery of the corpses of Deputy Director of Magical Law Enforcement, Misha Langford and her family at their home last night has led to serious questions being asked about the security and safety of citizens of the British wizarding community.  
  
Mrs Langford, her husband and their two children were found dead at 6:30pm last night as a courier attempted to drop some important documents off at the Deputy Director's home. Currently the courier is unavailable for comment and is undergoing treatment for shock after discovering the family.  
  
Mrs Langford was a decorated Auror, most active during the period of You-Know-Who, where she fought Death Eaters with zeal and determination found in few people. After the downfall of the Dark Lord, she moved to the training facilities for the Aurors to improve and redesign the training regime. After six years, she was promoted into the post of Assistant Chief of London Aurors. Her no-nonsense professional attitude had won her many supporters among her peers, who supported her promotion through the ranks to the post of Deputy Director. It was highly suspected that the current Director would be retiring after fifteen years service in the post in two years time and that Mrs Langford would be taking over. Now this plan has been left in ruins, and a great loss to the Auror service.  
  
A press conference describing the deaths of the family was held late last night. The department has no solid leads on which to act, there is no evidence linking the murders to any known group or individuals.  
  
The Auror, Nigel Taylor, gave a brief overview of the condition of the corpses, describing horrific acts perpetrated upon them. A brief description is provided on page 2, please note that young children and sensitive people should avoid this description.  
  
Taylor then went on to describe that the murders were a mix of muggle and magical methods, meaning that there were most likely a number of attackers who possibly had muggles or muggle-raised persons among them.  
  
The Aurors would appreciate any information or witnesses to the crime and a reward for useful information has been made available not only from the Law Enforcement Corps but the Ministry itself.  
  
Minister Fudge has commented that this is a dark day for the wizarding community and that every effort would be made to find the perpetrators.  
  
Reporter L. Orwen  
  
Page 2:  
  
Mutilation of Decorated Auror and Family  
  
The shocking deaths of the Deputy Director and her family were compounded by the method of death. It is known by all that the Killing Curse is the most serious of Unforgivables but that curse seems tame in comparison to the method of death used in this case.  
  
The Deputy's children, Liana 6 and Michael 4, were found hanging in the kitchen. Both causes of death were from a broken neck. We can only thank Merlin these innocent children did not suffer more.  
  
The Deputy Director was found in the main living room, tied spread-eagle on the floor. She had been cut from groin to sternum, with a muggle scalpel, and her internal organs removed. No sign of these organs was found. The killing appears to have had a ritualistic motive, according to the experts from the Auror division. The most horrifying aspect of the crime was that Mrs Langford was forced to remain conscious as long as possible during the extraction through means of a Consciousness potion, the remains of which were found near the body. We can only imagine what the pain was like, the brave woman had screamed so much that her vocal cords had burst.  
  
The criminals not content with mutilating the woman forced her husband to watch from above, the late Mr Langford was found nailed hands and feet to the ceiling above his wife. Mr Langford had died from blood loss from deep cuts on all four limbs and his main torso. Experts believe he died shortly after Mrs Langford. The man was forced to watch, unable to look away or shut his eyes, as butchers eviscerated his wife; his eyes had been physically stitched open, his head held in place.  
  
The Auror division believes that the killings were part of a ritual, the removal of the organs lends credence to the theory. However, they are unable to further their theories at this point due to lack of information.   
  
We would ask anyone who was in the neighbourhood of the Deputy's home to come forward and describe anything that may have happened that night.  
  
Reporter J. Jamieson  
  
--  
  
For the last few weeks Harry had been helping Professor Lupin teach the first year DADA course, the work while basic for Harry had given him an insight into the effort the teachers had to make when working with the students. Harry's duties, up till now, mostly involved helping with the practical work, marking homework and giving individual help to the students.  
  
This was changing; today Harry was leading the lesson. Lupin had decided it was time for Harry to deal with a topic by himself, Lupin would still be in the room but Harry was in charge. Harry felt nervous, this was different to anything he'd done before, teaching was so new to him. He didn't know if he was doing it right or not, he hoped Lupin would step in if he was doing something wrong, he hoped the kids wouldn't think him stupid or boring. He kept running through everything that could happen in his head. He rose from his chair, took a deep breath and calmed himself before the students entered.   
  
Harry stood at the front of the class as the first year Gryffindor and Slytherin students entered and took their seats. No one ever dawdled into this class, not even the Slytherins dared to be late, nor would they want to. The DADA lessons were fast becoming the favourite ones of the first year students. Lupin and Harry made a good team teaching the students, Lupin had a vast array of knowledge and experience, Harry had his own experience but was easy to relate to for the students because of his young age. They had few behaviour problems, no one wanted to piss off a werewolf or the Boy-Who-Lived.  
  
Harry took the register for the class but no one was missing. He saw his young friend Samantha sitting in the front row, her parchment and quill at the ready like usual. She wasn't the best student ever but she tried and got good marks for her efforts. She often came with Professor Lupin and himself to visit Hagrid when they had time, she loved the animals that Hagrid had and was the best student in his Care of Magical Creatures class.  
  
On the board, Harry had written two phrases, 'Pureblood' and 'Muggle-born', he asked the class what the difference between them was. The predominate answer was that a pureblood had magical parentage while a muggle-born was from a non-magical family.  
  
"That's is correct, but are there any other differences?" Harry continued.  
  
The class looked at him confused, then a Slytherin said a lot of the older students in his house considered purebloods better than anything else and that they were a superior breed of wizard, or to quote one of the older students, "The only type of wizard that should be allowed."  
  
"Does anyone in here believe that is the case?" Harry asked.  
  
The whole class shook their heads.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
The answers were slow in coming but eventually Harry managed to get out of them that they didn't see what was different between the two groups, neither one was more powerful or smarter magically speaking.   
  
"That's right, there is no real difference between the two groups, there is only one group, and that is the group of magical people we call wizards and witches. Some people would have you believe that purity of the blood is a measure of worthiness as a wizard. That is bull, its rubbish and anyone who tells you that is an idiot. I know for some of you, that the older students or even your families may tell you that but I am telling you now that it is wrong. Professor Dumbledore doesn't think that, he believes everyone is equal, Professor McGonagall doesn't believe it, Professor Lupin doesn't believe it. Only narrow minded individuals believe it."  
  
"We see in the muggle world how discrimination like this can grow out of control, who knows anything about what was called World War II?"  
  
Most of the students, muggle-born or not had heard of this war, it had been to big to be ignored and had infringed upon wizard society as well as muggle.  
  
"Hitler was a person with a delusion vision that one group of people were superior to another, he feared certain groups of individuals. He hunted them down, put them in camps and killed them. He degraded them, he stole from them yet people still supported him. Fear of others is an easy thing for a person like Hitler to play on, he used the fear of others to get power for himself. He was wrong, millions of people died in the war, not just from fighting but more due to the atrocities committed by Hitler and his regime. Can anyone tell me what this has to do with the Dark Arts?"  
  
The students looked a bit confused at this but Lupin sat at the back of the room watching his student draw the younger ones into what they had to know.  
  
"Can anyone tell me who wanted to purge the wizarding world of those not of pureblood?"  
  
"You-Know-Who" came the answer.  
  
Harry feigned ignorance, "I'm sorry, who?"  
  
"He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named" came a second answer.  
  
Again, Harry put on ignorance, "I'm not sure who you mean?"  
  
"Voldemort" came a quiet voice.  
  
"That's right, Voldemort." Harry said in a loud voice.  
  
He looked at the room as everyone flinched at the name, these students weren't even born the first time he was around and they still feared him.  
  
"Voldemort is our version of Hitler, he wants to get rid of those not of pureblood. As you may or may not know, Voldemort has returned to the world. I am not going to go into how," Harry paused, a brief flashback played in his head, "but you do have to know about him."  
  
"Voldemort is a ruthless killer, he will maim, torture and kill for anything, even if it is just for his pleasure. He kills those he calls 'mudblood' or 'half-breed' because they are not of pureblood as he calls it. We teach this course, Defence against the Dark Arts so you have some basic defence skills against the darkness in wizarding society, but I will say this, if you ever think Voldemort is around, do not try to face him. He is one of the most evil and powerful beings ever, you should not try to face him, leave fighting him to those who are trained to fight him, only ever face him if you cannot get away from him. You are all flinching when I say his name, you have to learn to stop that. Hitler was just as evil but you don't flinch now when his name is spoken, Voldemort is powerful and evil, you should be scared of him. He wouldn't think twice about killing you, but do not be afraid to speak his name, he is not going to appear and strike you dead. By not speaking his name you give him power over you. Now I would like each person in the class to say his name."  
  
Harry made each student speak his name, some of them stumbled over it repeatedly but eventually he managed to get them all to say his name.  
  
"Now that you have all said his name here, I don't want to hear about you calling him You-know-who again, his name is Voldemort and call him such or his other name is Tom Marvelo Riddle. You can call him either of these but never fear saying his name."  
  
"Now, can anyone tell me why Voldemort's quest to rid the wizarding world of non-purebloods is ironic from his point of view?"  
  
Few people knew this fact in this time about Voldemort and Harry was not expecting an answer, he was not surprised when the class remained silent.  
  
"Voldemort hates those not of pureblood, yet he himself is not a pureblood"  
  
The students looked slightly shocked at this, no one had ever told them this although few people ever discussed Voldemort openly and especially did not talk of him like Harry and Dumbledore did.  
  
"Voldemort was born to a witch and a muggle father. He grew up hating muggles and this eventually warped him into what he is today. Voldemort had managed to play the purebloods fear of change to their position in society due to the increasing numbers of mixed and muggle-born wizards perfectly to recruit a following of people which are called Death-Eaters."  
  
"Next time we will discuss the Death-Eaters and how they try to cause fear, but that is all for this class. You can leave and remember his name is Voldemort."  
  
The class flinched slightly as they rose from their seats and exited the room. After the last one left, Harry collapsed in his chair, exhausted from the effort.  
  
--  
  
Duelling  
  
Four weeks after the beginning of term, the duelling club was holding open duels for the fifth years, here anyone could challenge anyone to a duel. Every fifth year had turned up to watch this event, hoping it would prove exciting, they were not going to be disappointed.  
  
Most of the duels were fairly similar although some of the duels between Ravenclaw students proved highly informative as to use of esoteric curses. During the duels, Harry had been watching the combatants, making an internal commentary on each one in case he had to face one of them. Ron and Hermione were sitting next to him, having an argument about the validity of different curse usage in duels. Harry tuned out the argument, it was a fairly standard one that they had been having since the first meeting of the duelling club.  
  
Next up, Draco and a Hufflepuff student who had accidentally bumped into him today. The Hufflepuff was a muggle-born and Draco had taken severe offence to the accident. The student had tried to refuse the duel, but Snape had forced him to accept. Harry felt sorry for the boy, Draco knew what he was doing, the boy was not a fighter; he was quiet and worked hard, probably end up a nurse or working with animals for what he had heard about him.  
  
As the two stepping up and took stance, the differences in demeanour were obvious, Draco stood tall and proud, his eyes almost slits in his face with a vicious grin completing the image. Whereas the Hufflepuff was shaking, you could see his wand move erratically, sweat forming on his brow, his eyes wide with fear. Harry understood why the boy was like this; Draco had gained a reputation in the club as nearly unbeatable, only one person had beaten him. Only Hermione had managed one victory over Draco, but had been beaten every other time out by him. Draco was downright vicious in a duel, although he had studiously avoided Harry, while Harry observed him closely. Draco was good, fast and strong but not as good as everyone believed, Draco played the psychology game like an expert and this was why he won.  
  
Snape started the duel, Draco just stood stock-still glaring at his opponent who was hastily constructing a shielding charm around himself. Draco stalked around the arena, his eyes never leaving the boy, his breathing even and regular. Classic Draco duelling technique, throw off the opponent before casting a spell. Draco waved his wand as if to cast a hex, the boy cringed, then Draco merely said, "Lumos" and the end of his wand lit up. Relief was evident on his opponents face while Draco merely maintained his grin. The boy attempted the disarming spell, but Draco merely sidestepped it. The boy tried again, and again, and again. Each time Draco stepped to the side, leaving it till the last possible second, the boy tried other hexes and curses but Draco kept avoiding them. All the time, his gaze never wandered, his expression never changed. Then it happened, the boy tried one more curse, as Draco sidestepped, he moved forward his wand arcing down, yelling a curse. Blue light sped towards the Hufflepuff, who was trying to reinforce his shield. The light struck the shield which flared violently then collapsed, fear and worry were visible in the boy's posture. Just as the shield collapsed, Draco released yet another spell causing the boy to loose the power of his voice. The boy tried to cast a spell to remove it but it didn't work. He tried to move away from Draco but couldn't as Draco locked him into a full body bind. The boy fell to the floor, his wand rolled to Draco's feet. Draco bent, picked up the wand and said, "I win"  
  
Draco threw the wand to Professor Flitwick and walked off to his seat, while Professor Lupin assisted the boy to his seat, releasing him from the curses.  
  
Harry watched the duel, it was a classic Draco manoeuvre, but it wasn't impressive. Draco rarely choose opponents against which he would have to work, he only ever had to work against Ron and Hermione who were both competent duellers and two of Draco's favourite targets.  
  
  
  
As Harry was musing over the duel, he didn't realise the next duel had been announced. He sat amused as Ron and Hermione stood up and took opposing places in the arena. This wasn't the first time the two had duelled; in fact they duelled a lot. Harry wondered how their relationship had survived so long, they were always fighting but lately the fights were more one-sided, it seemed Ron was always criticising Hermione. Ginny had told him that in the beginning it was similar to what their fights were before, but about two weeks before coming back to school the fights had begun to turn a little nastier. This was beginning to take its toll since being back at school, Hermione seemed distracted a lot, always seemed pale and downcast. Harry tried to talk to her but Ron always interrupted and took over conversations or claimed they had prefect work to do. Also Harry's schedule meant he had little time to go look for her so many things prevented him from getting to the bottom of what was wrong with her but he would get there.  
  
He watched the two of them, one small brown haired woman against a large, heavy redheaded man, a wealth of knowledge against a tactician's mind. The dichotomy in their approaches was interesting to examine, Hermione knew by far more spells, hexes and curses whereas Ron used relatively few but was far better at the tactical side. So far Ron was one up in their rivalry at the duelling club. Harry watched, making more notes in his head about his friends as they managed to duel each other to a standstill. Both had managed to stun the other at the same time, Harry watched as the Professors revived the two. They shook hands and returned to their seats, the air between them just a little bit cool.  
  
That was the last scheduled duel, but before everyone could leave Professor Snape spoke out, "The next duel will be Harry Potter against.."  
  
The room filled with gasps and questions, Harry had never taken part in a duel in the club, he practiced behind a privacy spell and no one knew what he was capable of.  
  
"About time Potter had to do something" Draco shouted out.  
  
Harry tried to protest but Snape waved him silent, "Harry Potter will duel against Ron Weasley"  
  
Ron interrupted to protest but Snape again waved him silent, "I know you have just duelled, but let me finish what I am saying. Harry Potter will duel against Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger."  
  
Astonishment silenced the room, not only was it Harry's first duel in the club, it was a two on one duel against two of the best in the year. Snape looked at Harry, he had a disgustingly smug expression on his face as he sneered at him, motioning him to the arena. Lupin and Flitwick looked shocked but were unable to protest the decision without undermining Snape's authority.  
  
Hermione and Ron looked at each other, conflict evident, but moved to the arena after a few hurried whispers, one of which Harry heard, "we'll make it quick on him since it's his first time". Ron said this, Harry was angry, 'Ron thinks it was going to be easy did he, we'll see about that.'   
  
As the three friends took their places, the students hurried back to their seats, eager to see what the Boy-Who-Lived would do in this situation.  
  
Hermione had a worried expression as she took her place, a sad look in her eyes as she turned towards Harry. Ron had taken his place with confidence, his eyes looking straight at Harry, as if he knew he would be the one to defeat Harry.  
  
Harry to his part, stood there, almost like Malfoy had but Harry was less proud looking, less aloof. He looked almost tired of it, his eyes looked first to Hermione, he nodded his understanding to her, she didn't want this, neither did he. When he looked at Ron, he saw the other boy's expression and wondering what had changed his relationship with Ron. They weren't as close any more, Ron always seemed to flaunt his prefect status, always took over conversations.  
  
Harry was shaken out of his thoughts as Snape told them to begin.  
  
The world to Harry began to get smaller, only the arena existed, only him and his two opponents. They bowed to one another and took their beginning stance. Harry began a strong shielding charm, he raised it just in time to absorb a curse from Ron. He looked to the opposing duo, Ron was slightly behind Hermione casting curses, while Hermione was crouched in front creating shielding over the two of them.  
  
Harry noticed this, it made his job easier, as yet another curse flew into his shield. The shield held strong as Harry began to concentrate on the next part of his plan, he had only practiced this a few times, he was attempting to generate two spells at once, one through his wand, the other through a focus rune in his mind. The difficult part was keeping the focus of the two spells separate and not allowing them to collapse into each other.  
  
Hermione had completed her shielding and joined Ron in throwing curses at Harry, the shield in front of him began to flare more and more, the shield was strong but it could not hold up to the combined efforts of the two for long. Harry's eyes were focused on the ground behind Ron, he paid little attention to the two combatants flinging curses at him.  
  
Then he began, weaving his wand in front of him, the pattern engrained in his memory from four weeks of practice, as he reached the climax of the spell, he uttered the phrase, 'caligatio'.  
  
As before when he cast the spell, the room fell into complete darkness, he could hear at the edge of his consciousness, Ron and Hermione attempting to dispel his charm or to generate light. They failed each time. As they were doing this, Harry returned to his second spell, the focus in his mind complete, he concentrated on releasing the energy, feeling it flow through him guided by his mind, 'talamh turus'.  
  
He felt himself, sink into the ground, his thoughts placid as he moved forward. After thirty seconds or so, he began to rise out of the ground into the darkness above, turning towards the sounds of Ron and Hermione casting charms to rid themselves of the dark as he did so. He began to weave another pattern, he knew he had to finish this quickly, the spells had drained him of a lot of energy, even with his training and practice over the last month, the spells still exhausted him. He pointed to the voices as the pattern neared completion; 'sol erumpo' was spoken. Harry had remembered to cover his eyes as a bright flare of light destroyed the darkness.  
  
As the light faded, he opened his eyes, inside he was jumping for joy as he saw his plan was working. Ron and Hermione were now only a few feet in front of him, their unshielded backs to him. He could see them rubbing at their eyes, wands in front of them as they tried to regain their vision. He quietly cast a full-body bind on Ron, he body going rigid as it fell to the ground, Harry stepped forward, bending down to take his wand, Ron's eyes were wide as he felt Harry remove his wand and as he said, "You were going to take it easy on me, were you?"  
  
Harry straightened as he heard Hermione cast a charm to clear her eyes, he was only a few yards away from her, he shifted his wand into a tight grasp, hidden from her with only Ron's wand visible to her.  
  
She turned to face him, wand raised, she looked at his and cast the disarming spell. Harry was expecting this, he fell backwards, just before the energy hit him. He flung Ron's wand towards her waiting hand as he used his training to flip back to his feet. He watched as Hermione caught the wand in her open hand, then the puzzled look on her face as she realised that it wasn't Harry's wand. She looked back at Harry, now standing in front of her, wand pointing at her chest. He said quietly, "I'm sorry", then cast a stunner at her. The world fell into darkness for her.  
  
The room was filled with silence as Harry picked up both wands and handed them to a furious Professor Snape then walked out of the room. Professors Lupin and Flitwick were shocked, as were the students. No one thought Harry would beat both of them, no one but Harry.  
  
-- 


	7. Observations

Observations  
  
Disclaimer: As usual, characters and imagery from the Harry Potter series are not owned by this writer.  
  
  
  
The room was dark, the only remit from the gloom was a flickering candle on the large desk, it's feeble light allowed an observer to see a leather chair at the desk. In the chair sat a robed covered figure, only the red eyes of the face could be made out under the hood. Voldemort was writing something on a piece of parchment at the desk while listening to a man standing behind his chair. The man's face was covered in the traditional mask of a Death Eater, his robes completely black.  
  
".. and the Ministry has no idea who has assassinated the Deputy Director or killed her family. They have ruled out any involvement from our forces, they still do not believe you have returned. I also regret to inform you that we have been unable to track who has committed this act either." The Death Eaters voice identified the man as Lucius Malfoy.  
  
"So this upstart group thinks it can challenge the Ministry, what do you think I should do, Lucius? Should I make an example out of them? They use muggle methods as well as wizarding, they taint our world and they think that this act and the ones that the ministry covered up are the way to gain power?" Voldemort's voice was a quiet hiss in the room but Malfoy heard every word as if it were shouted.  
  
"My Lord, I think that you should do what you think is best, you are the most powerful wizard in the world and they should fear you and bow down to you. However, letting this group continue may play into your hands. They have created unrest in the Ministry and are most likely going to continue to do so, there is no link to you so the Ministry will not be ready for you when the time comes. This group will fall to you just like the Ministry will, letting them fight amongst themselves merely ensures your victory." Malfoy answered, keeping a reverent tone to his voice.  
  
"You have made a good point, Lucius, if this group keeps the Ministry off-balance we shall be able to prepare more easily than ever. I think I like this idea, we could defeat the Ministry ourselves but why not let someone else do the work. Our eventual victory will come no matter who is in power. You must ensure that the Ministry does not hear a word of our dealings. Also, ensure that that old fool Dumbledore and his followers are also involved in this, he is a fool but he is powerful enough to slow us down a bit, let him deal with this other group while I prepare my forces."  
  
"As you wish, My Lord"  
  
Voldemort rose from his chair, and pointed his wand to a map above the desk tapping lightly on a location a few miles from Durham, the map shifted focus to that point, enlarging it so that it could be seen clearly.  
  
"I will summon my Death Eaters to this point, go and bring my newest followers here so that I can welcome them into the ranks of Voldemort." Voldemort ordered.  
  
Malfoy bowed to his master, as he did so he said, "Yes, my Lord, I shall go now."  
  
As he rose to leave, Voldemort called his name, as he turned the Dark Lord pointed his wand and said, "Crucio"  
  
Malfoy fell to the floor, reeling in agony.  
  
Harry shot bolt upright in bed, his scar throbbing painfully, his breathing ragged and sweat pouring from his body soaking his light clothing. As he cleared his eyes the fuzzy image of the fifth year dorm came into view, it had been another dream. He moved quickly to write down what he had seen before it left his mind, as he did so, he heard a voice, a voice he had heard before, the voice of Morrigu saying, "You must learn to see past the illusion".  
  
--  
  
Harry was not having a good week after the duel, not a good week at all. He was constantly tired now from training, although he had begun to adapt to it, the tiredness had just crept up on him with everything he was doing. His training in the mornings, Quidditch several times a week, the duelling clubs, classes, teaching and his personal magic practices were beginning to come down on him hard, he seemed to have little if any time to relax.   
  
Not only was his life becoming harder, but the situation in the rest of the wizarding world was becoming more grim after the new England Quidditch seeker was found dead in his home. The seeker, Michael Smith had been found by his coach, nailed to the floor with his eyes frozen but his blood boiled. The scene had been described as particularly gruesome and many people have suggested that the same people were responsible for the deputy director and her families' deaths a short time ago. Investigators had released to the public descriptions of the death and had said to many reporters that the perpetrators of the crime were particularly cruel and vicious as Smith had been conscious up until he died; a potion similar to the one found at the director's home had been present. Harry was worried about these deaths, even more so as Voldemort seemed to know little about them and it was distracting the Ministry from investigating the return of Voldemort. From what his dream had showed him, Voldemort was content to sit back and build his forces until he was ready before showing himself, which would leave the Ministry unprepared.  
  
As if his workload and the happenings in the world were not enough, Ron was pissed off at him, maybe more than pissed off more like completely furious at him. Things just kept on coming which drove Ron further away from him.  
  
Ron had been exceptionally proud when he made prefect, Harry had been happy for him but his behaviour since getting his badge had started to remind Harry a little of Percy although not quite as concerned with rules but more with image. He always made sure people heard him when he was talking about prefect business, when he caught Harry coming in from the DADA offices a few minutes after curfew. When Hermione or one of the older prefects caught him, they quietly spoke to him about it but when it was Ron who caught him, everyone knew.   
  
It wasn't just the prefect stuff; Ron was constantly interrupting conversations Harry was having with Hermione and Ginny, attempting to take over them. This infuriated Harry and he could see it was pissing off Ginny big time while Hermione seemed almost depressed at it. Harry hoped everything was okay with her, she seemed a lot quieter this year and slightly less sure of herself.  
  
After the duel where Harry had beaten Hermione and Ron, Ron had been annoyed. Ron couldn't accept that Harry had beaten both of them at his first official duel this year, Harry knew Ron was quite good, he generally won more than he lost and the only people he lost in any great amount to were Hermione and Draco. He could understand that Ron might be a bit annoyed but Ron kept going on about it, he had overheard a conversation between Ron and Dean in the dorms the other night where Ron had said that Harry must have cheated, thankfully Dean managed to dissuade him from this pointing out that Harry wouldn't cheat and also that Harry didn't want to duel in the first place. It placated Ron slightly but he was still cold to Harry.  
  
If he had remained like this, Harry would probably been able to handle it but unfortunately it didn't remain like this, it got worse after the Quidditch team tryouts for the keeper position. Ron had thought that he would be the best choice and had turned up just a little overconfident.  
  
Ron had been a good keeper, not brilliant but certainly capable but he was not the best at the tryout. Harry thought that if it had been anyone else that beat him, Ron would not have been so angry afterwards but he wasn't sure. The new keeper for the team turned out to be Ginny, she had surprised everyone but the twins when she announced she was going to tryout, and when she was tested she was found to be the best. She wasn't perfect but she could read fakes better than any of the other candidates and held her nerve well. The twins were ecstatic when she made it and Harry had congratulated her as well, happy that one of his friends had managed to make the team and would be there when the other five left the following year. Ron didn't take it well at all, he was angry at the twins, Harry and Ginny, he claimed they were jealous of him and was spouting nonsense at them. Hermione had tried to calm him down but this action just got her included in the rant because she had congratulated Ginny. Eventually Hermione managed to get him to leave with her, but Harry felt bad for her, he could see tears forming in her eyes at Ron's words, similarly in Ginny's eyes. Harry and the twins were angry with him, he should have been happy for his sister but he couldn't see past himself.  
  
Unfortunately it didn't stop there, when the team had elected its new captain Alicia Spinnet, they also announced that Ginny would be trained as next years captain. They decided to do this so that she would be prepared and because Harry had said she would do a far better job than him and would also have the time to do it. He also stated that she grew up with Quidditch and he didn't, so she would have far more knowledge about the game to use in planning for games. When Ron heard this, he stormed out of the common room, dragging Hermione with him.  
  
Ron still hadn't calmed down and Harry wasn't sure what was going to happen with him but it hurt him to see how Ron treated his brothers, his sister and Hermione. Harry was used to being outcast but to see someone do it to their own family hurt Harry, Harry would have given anything to have a family like the Weasleys but Ron was damaging what he had.  
  
Only two bright spots were alleviating the gloom settling over Harry, the first was his new found friendship with Ginny. Up until this year, she had barely been able to talk to him but this year she had become more vibrant and outgoing towards him. She frequently visited him in his office, where they worked on their assignments or talked about Quidditch or other things they liked. After only knowing her vaguely as a girl who blushed every time she was near him or as Ron's little sister, this change was more than welcome especially since he couldn't talk to Hermione as much anymore.   
  
The other bright spot in his life just now was helping the first year Gryffindors, the first years didn't seem to hold him in awe as the Boy-Who-Lived, they seemed happy to accept him as Harry. Samantha was the most frequent visitor he had along with Ginny and she brought along some of the other first years as well. They would come to him with problems with their work and he would help them in the DADA classroom, he knew he wasn't the best for doing this, Hermione would have been far more appropriate but Ron seemed to have scared all of the first years into staying away. He found he actually enjoyed his time helping them, he gave him some much needed contact with groups of people and he knew that if they were with him, then Malfoy and his Slytherin followers wouldn't be hassling them. Ginny also came along when the first years visited and they asked her for help as well, she was slightly better in Harry in some areas and vice versa, neither were the best in the school but they managed to help the first years with all their problems.  
  
Harry worried about what was going to happen, he worried about Hermione, he wanted to be able to talk to her again without Ron butting in or dragging her off, he understood they were dating but that didn't make her his appendage or property. He was glad that he could talk to Ginny, Remus and Hagrid. He had his first years to look after and he was happy to do this, they had a joy for life that was slightly infectious, especially Samantha who was becoming more and more like a little sister to him. He just hoped that he would be able to protect them all, he knew that he had to stop Voldemort and anyone else from harming them. He had to stop him and wouldn't stop until he did.  
  
--  
  
Harry was flying, he could feel the air rushing past his head but something was different, his vision was incredibly sharp and his movements were more fluid than ever before. He heard a sound to his left, he moved his head to look and saw a black raven flying next to him keeping an easy pace with him. He was confused, a Firebolt could outpace almost any bird, certainly a raven but this one was there beside him, he looked down to check his broom.  
  
He looked down and panicked, there was no broom. How was he flying with out a broom? He looked down again, then to the sides and realised that he was a bird, more precisely a raven like the one next to him, which now looked like it was attempting to laugh at him. It wasn't succeeding very well, ravens are not know for their jovial qualities, but this raven had something else about it. He was trying to figure out what was different about the raven, it looked like any other raven, flew just as well but something seemed just a little unusual about the bird.  
  
The other raven made a motion that indicated it wanted him to follow it as it changed direction, heading closer to the ground. Harry followed, observing the ground below, there was a river, sunlight shining off the surface, cutting through a forest. The trees were tall and widely spaced, a car could easily fit through the gaps in the forest, the floor of the forest was covered in small plants, dead branches and had animals running away from the direction in which he was heading.  
  
The other raven made a noise, trying to tell him to keep up, or at least that's what Harry thought it was trying to tell him. He began to hear new noises, clanging sounds and shouting from up ahead, the river had a slight colour change to it. He realised what the sounds were, what the colour was, he prayed he was wrong but it didn't seem likely. The other raven forged its way ahead, every so often looking back to make sure he was still there.  
  
He was approaching the edge of the forest; he could see a wooden bridge over the river ahead. On the bridge, around the edges of the river and at points in the river, he could see a horde of people fighting. The raven flew to a branch on the nearest tree and settled itself, watching the fighting below. Harry flew to join it, as he settled he looked at the people fighting.  
  
He didn't recognise their clothing, it looked like the clothes out of history books in the library, most people wore brown clothing with the occasional bit of colour. A lot of them also had leather padding and patches on their clothes in specific places, he realised they were covering vital organs and joints. Only a few however wore leather or metal helmets, most of they going without, their hair flying about them as they clashed.  
  
He watched in morbid curiosity as a tall woman with a short sword carved up a huge man that was attacking her, she stabbed into the mans stomach, his eyes bulged in their sockets, his hands trying to hold the sword in place as the woman drove it upwards. As the sword approached his chest, the mans fight began to leave him, his eyes growing duller, his hands slipping from the sword as blood began to seep from his mouth. The woman pulled the sword back and slashed across the man's throat, the body fell to the ground, the blood soaking into the earth staining it. The woman turned to face another attacker as he approached but the attacker fell to the ground as a man crushed his skull with a large club. The club had come down directly on his skull cracking it like an egg, the man's mouth had started to open but as the impact came he had bitten off his own tongue. The man saluted the woman with his club and in response she raised her sword before they both turned to face new enemies.  
  
Scenes like this were playing out all over the bridge and banks of the river, the clash of weapons and the cracking of bones could be heard over the screams of the injured and the war cries of the victorious. The fighting wasn't fancy, it wasn't like anything you would see in a play or a movie, it was pure violence, gruesome and brutal. Harry watched as person after person fell to the ground, the blood staining the ground, the weapons and the attackers. The warriors all had rage in their eyes, he could feel the intensity coming off them, for them it was about survival, about being the only ones left standing, there was no second place and there was no retreat in this fight.  
  
The raven next to him was silent as it watched him, seeing the comprehension dawn in him. The boy was learning that the life of a warrior, the defender of others was not to be romanticised, it was a brutal path, it had few rewards for the one on it and peril at every turn but the raven could see in this boy, who had called unknowingly to the Morrigu, that he could follow the path, he would not fall from it like so many others. Some believe that destinies are prewritten, that everyone has a destiny to fulfil, but true destinies are made only by those willingly to make the hard choices, and this boy had made his choice, not a choice by others for him like many other things in his life but a choice for himself, to live doing what he thought best.  
  
The raven let out a cry one last time, Harry turned towards it as the scene faded. Just before he woke up, he could have sworn he saw Morrigu sitting beside him with a wry smile on her lips as she waved him back to the land of waking.  
  
--  
  
Harry and Remus stood at the front of the DADA classroom, they were waiting for their class to enter. They looked out at the empty classroom, Harry asked, "Do you think they'll be confused when they come in and see all the desks and chairs piled up in one corner?"  
  
Remus chuckled, "Probably, but then they'll think who their teachers are and wonder what type of trick we are about to play on them."  
  
As he said this, the first year Gryffindors and Slytherins entered the room, young Samantha slightly ahead of the rest, eager to get to her second favourite class, Care of Magical Creatures was by far her favourite. The class entered the room and then almost as one stopped and looked round. They then turned to look at the two teachers, who were attempting to look completely innocent as if everything was normal.  
  
"Right, everyone come in, put you bags against the far wall, you'll only need your wands for this class." Remus said to the class.  
  
The class hurried to put their bags down and after a couple of minutes the class had assembled in front of the teachers.  
  
"You are probably wondered why the desks are all piled up and the room is cleared?" Remus continued.  
  
The class merely nodded, looking confused at the happenings.  
  
"Today we are going to start something a little different, you are the first class we are going to try it with, and if it works we will probably do this once every six lessons or so. To see if it works we need everyone to work really hard and carefully today."  
  
Harry took over at this point, "As you will no doubt know already, the older years have a duelling club run by Professors Lupin, Flitwick and Snape, the younger years aren't allowed to have one because you aren't experienced enough yet and are a little too young as well. Well we have decided to try and let you prepare for the duelling clubs so that you have a little bit of an idea for when you get older."  
  
One young girl raised her hand and in a very shaky voice asked, "Are you and Professor Lupin going to curse us?"  
  
Harry looked at her, "No, Professor Lupin and I are not going to hurt any of you, what we are going to do is let you start practicing how to dodge things, you are going to dodge objects that aren't as fast as curses but will get you prepared for the motions you will need."  
  
"First we need to know how many of you can properly perform the Wingardium Levosia charm?" Remus asked.  
  
The whole class raised their hands.  
  
"Excellent that is part of what you need to know for today's exercise. Harry and I will demonstrate what you will be doing today, so if you could all take a few steps back."  
  
Harry and Remus took positions, facing each other about fifteen feet apart at the front of the room. Remus reached into his pocket and took out a small purple ball, he tapped it once with his wand. The ball lit up and became a light purple colour, it sat on the floor in front of Remus as if waiting for something.  
  
"This ball is a contraption that Harry and I had designed for you, its called a Stinger. If it hits you, it will send a little shock into you letting you know you've been hit. The object of today is to make sure that your opponent doesn't strike you with the Stinger. To make the ball fly at your opponent, we want you to direct it and make if fly with the levitation charm."  
  
Harry stood waiting, Remus quickly said the charm and the ball floated at a reasonably fast speed towards Harry. He easily saw it coming, his seeker abilities coming to the fore as he shifted to the left of the ball letting it fall by him until Remus let it fall to the ground. Harry then responded, the ball flew at Remus, who ducked it and stood back up but Harry was waiting on this and drew the ball back and tapped him on the shoulder with it. Remus jumped as the ball shocked him. The class laughed as Remus glowered at Harry.  
  
"Okay, that's the basics of what you are to do, although you aren't allowed to keep a hold on the ball once you've missed like Harry did, you don't get a chance to redirect your curses in a real duel and you don't here. Once you've got a good practice in with just one of you sending the ball at the other, we'll move on to using a ball each so that you have to cast the charm and dodge at the same time. Does everyone understand?"  
  
A boy in the class raised his hand and asked, "Does the sting from the ball hurt?"  
  
Harry shook his head, "No, its just a little shock, like static just enough to let you know its there. We aren't going to hurt you in this class, dark wizards may do that and in later years you will be shown how to defend yourself against most of those curses but for now your best defence is not to be there when the curse arrives."  
  
The class visibly relaxed at this, even brighten at the practical exercise they were about to begin. Everyone was split into pairs, all save Samantha who was left on her own, due to the odd number of people in the class. Each pair was given a Stinger between them. Remus then started putting the pairs in spaces over the class and using small ward stones erected some simple barriers between each of the pair just in case an accident were to happen. While Remus was doing this Samantha was looking worried at the front of the room, standing by herself, she had no one to work with and appeared slightly upset at this.  
  
Harry went up to her and said, "Samantha, as there isn't anyone available to work with you, you will have the severe misfortune of with me today."   
  
Samantha looked up at him and smiled, "Really?"  
  
He nodded as he summoned a Stinger to him and moved to his spot opposite Samantha. He raised the ball and directed it with his wand, the ball flew towards the young girl. She tried to move out of the road but was a fraction of a second too late and it clipped her shoulder, she let out a little squeal of surprise.  
  
"Don't worry about it, just remember to watch the ball, not me or my wand, just the ball" Harry said encouragingly as he saw what she did wrong.  
  
Samantha had a look of concentration on her face as she fired the ball back at Harry, who ducked out of the way, the ball just missing the tips of his hair as it went past.  
  
"I'll get you before the class finishes." Samantha said, her voice totally serious. Harry had to give a little grin at the girl's determination.  
  
The other pairs were getting on fine but the aiming of the balls was hard for the young students at this stage and no one was ready to try two balls in a pair. Just before the end of the class, Samantha was about to fire the ball at Harry when Remus said something to him. Harry turned away just as Samantha let the ball go at him. It struck him on the back of the knee and his leg jerked making him stumble. Remus laughed at him, "Well done, Samantha"  
  
Samantha however looked mortified, as she attempted to apologise for hitting him as he turned away.  
  
"Its okay, Samantha" Harry said trying to soothe the girl's feelings, "I turned away when I should have been concentrating, you did what you were supposed to and no one is going to say you did anything wrong."  
  
She looked up at him, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, I'm sure. And you did say you were going to get me, didn't you?"  
  
The young girl giggled as she nodded.  
  
"Well you got me, and I deserved it. Professor Lupin is just jealous because you managed it and he can't." Harry said with humour dancing in his eyes.  
  
Remus at this point dismissed the class for the day and watched them as they left the room, as she left Samantha waved to the two teachers.  
  
Once she had gone, Harry said, "That was a kind thing you did there, you made it so I wouldn't look obvious when she got in her hit."  
  
"I did that, I'm sure I don't know what you are talking about." Remus replied, pure innocence on his face like butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.  
  
--  
  
Hermione entered the common room, she had just returned from an Arithmancy class, which had overrun as the professor wanted to finish off the section they had been working on. It had been a fascinating class and the last one of the day for Hermione, she was now looking for any of her friends in the common room. Harry wouldn't be there, he would be in the office of the DADA teachers, probably marking the first years' work, Hermione envied him, she would have loved to help teach a class but she was a prefect and her duties took up a good proportion of her time. Ron wasn't there, who knew where Ron went sometimes but today she was glad, they were fighting a lot, seemingly increasing in ferocity every time they fought and the toll it was taking on her was becoming more than what she could handle.  
  
As she looked round, she spotted Ginny sitting at a table off in a corner reading a book. She made her way over to the girl and sat on the opposite side of the table.  
  
"Hello, Hermione" the redhead looked up as Hermione took a seat.  
  
"Hi, Ginny, what are you reading?"  
  
"The History of Goblin Rebellions for a paper Binns wants next week."  
  
"It's a fascinating subject, the Goblin Rebellions were one of the main times the stability of wizarding society has been threatened by something other than dark wizards, they control a lot of the financial power in the world and are good at hiding things away." Hermione said after hearing what Ginny was reading.  
  
Ginny looked bored, "Its not really that interesting, I much prefer Charms or Transfiguration to History but this work needs to get done."  
  
"Its important to learn about mistakes made in the past to ensure we don't repeat them in the future, although people tend to continue making mistakes along the way"  
  
"I suppose" Ginny mumbled, not looking convinced.  
  
"Ginny, I haven't been able to talk to Harry much lately, you know he always at the DADA rooms and he doesn't get back here till just before the curfew when I've got to go on prefect patrol, I only really see him in classes and sometimes at lunch, do you know if he's okay?" Hermione asked, a tinge of worry evident in both her voice and her face.  
  
"I'm not sure what you mean, I've gone and spoken to Harry in his office, we sometimes help the first years in the classroom next door. You do know you are allowed to go and speak to him, don't you?" Ginny replied.  
  
"I.., I just didn't want to disturb his work" Hermione said, she hadn't known that she could go see him but then Ron had been taking up all her time and interrupting any of the few conversations she had had with Harry, "Its just he looks tired, he always looks like he wants to go and sleep for days on end, do you if he's having nightmares or other troubles?"  
  
"He has nightmares every so often, bad ones, but I don't think that why he's so tired just now, I think it's the getting up early everyday that's getting to him but he says he's starting to adapt and it isn't as hard any more." Ginny answered.  
  
"Getting up early? Why is he getting up early everyday? I know he isn't always at breakfast but I didn't know he was always getting up early, he must be gone before I get up." Hermione looked confused, a strange expression to see on the smart girl's face.  
  
"I found out by accident, I got up early about two weeks ago to do some work I had to finish for that day and ran into him as he was leaving the tower. He said he was in a hurry and would speak to me later. I went to see him later in his office and asked him. He told me he has been doing physical and muggle fighting training with Professor Lupin in the mornings. He wants to be ready to fight and knows he needs to be fit and have a great deal of stamina to face the Death Eaters and Voldemort. I've seen him working with Lupin a few times out the window, from what I've seen of the fighting, I 'm surprised he isn't in the hospital wing everyday but he is getting better." The younger girl explained to Hermione, a slight tinge of pride in her that Harry has chosen her to confide in rather than anyone else.  
  
"Harry has been training since the start of term and didn't tell us?"  
  
"He hasn't really had the chance to tell you, you haven't seen much of each other and with all the problems he is having with Ron, do you blame him? He doesn't really want to tell Ron with the way he is acting and he's trying to protect you from ending up in the middle by not telling you, he wants to make sure that he doesn't affect your relationship." Ginny answered her, attempting to convey that Harry was trying to make sure that Hermione was not going to end up in the middle of the feud between himself and Ron.  
  
"It wouldn't put me in the middle, I care about Harry too. He shouldn't have to hide things from me just because my boyfriend can't take loosing to him. I think I'll go and see him in his office at times just to make sure he knows he can talk to me and I won't say anything to Ron. I do have another question though, do you know if Harry has any tattoos?" Hermione said, a bit of anger at the start with the way Harry was trying to protect her from, to her mind, a non-existent situation.  
  
Ginny looked confused, "I don't think so, why do you ask?"  
  
"The other night as I was leaving to go on patrol Harry rushed into the tower, he wasn't wearing his robes and had a short sleeved shirt on. As he went by, the sleeve moved up slightly and I could have sworn I saw part of a tattoo or something. The colour was black and stood out from his skin quite a bit, I'm sure I wasn't imagining it." Hermione explained.  
  
"He hasn't said anything to me about having a tattoo, but then again he doesn't tell me everything. Maybe you should ask him or I could ask him next time I see him."  
  
"Its okay, it probably doesn't matter, I was just curious. If he has one and wants to tell us, he will, until then just keep quiet about it." Hermione said, her tone not matching the words she spoke.  
  
She bid goodbye to Ginny and made her way upstairs to her dorm. Ginny watched her go upstairs thinking that Hermione probably wouldn't let it rest until she found out whether or not she had seen something. Ginny thought to herself that she would find out as well, just to make sure nothing was wrong.  
  
--  
  
A/N: Thanks to my friend Ben for reading this to help me. Also thank you to those who have reviewed my story. 


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