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Author: Hank Story: Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor Rating: Teens Setting: AU Status: WIP Reviews: 13 Words: 126,113
A/N: Once again, I would like to thank my intrepid betas, Dale, Nancy, and Promethean Alchemist for all their hard work. For those of you coming across this work for the first time, although it is categorized as A/U, Sword of Gryffindor’s placement in the canon is post-OotP. The reason for the A/U designation is a slight difference in the interpretation of the canon that its author is partial to. That said I hope everyone enjoys the latest installment.
Harry stiffened as he heard the door to the upper-level potions classroom slam shut. Since Ron had decided not to become an Auror, only he and Hermione represented Gryffindor in the small class. Upper level Potions was a restricted elective available only to those students who had achieved a mark of Outstanding on their O.W.L.s. As a result there were far fewer students taking the class. Classes, which would have been separate, were merged into one class consisting of members of all four houses. At least this way, they weren’t trapped with only Slytherins, thought Harry as he looked at Draco Malfoy, who was seated a few desks ahead of him, sans Crabbe and Goyle. He appeared to be partnered with Pansy Parkinson now. There were quite a few Ravenclaws and a handful of Hufflepuffs among their numbers in the tiny class. He felt the air rustle as Snape rushed past, his cloak billowing behind him. He winced as Snape slammed a set of heavy tomes onto his desk. Snape turned around and scowled, seeming to take peculiar pleasure in directing the scowl at Harry. “Mr. Potter,” he began angrily, “do you have any idea why you of all people, someone who scored merely Acceptable on the O.W.L.s, has been allowed to take my upper level potions class?” “Erm, no, professor,” he replied, beginning to get seriously nervous. “It seems your Head of House has seen fit to personally threaten me and threaten to flunk every last member of Slytherin House taking Transfiguration,” thundered Snape, glaring even more darkly at Harry. Harry suppressed a grin, fearful about what Snape would do to him if he laughed in his face. “Do you think that’s fair, Mr. Potter?” thundered Snape again. “No, professor,” replied Harry. “How would you feel if I were to flunk you in order to get Draco into one of Professor McGonagall’s upper-level classes?” “You already have flunked me, sir,” replied Harry, forcing himself back into the angry, frustrated mold he had been in last year. “Detention, Potter, tonight!” thundered Snape. He eyed Harry malevolently. “There had better be no further insubordination, or you’ll be in detention every night until Christmas,” he threatened, and then turned back to write the day’s assignment on the board. Draco’s smirk caught Harry’s eye for an instant, but Hermione’s voice quickly distracted him. “How can he do that?” huffed Hermione in a loud whisper. “Because he’s a stupid, slimy git,” answered Harry quietly, amazed that Snape could act so well. “Did you have any comments to share with the class, Miss Granger?” demanded Snape as he turned his glare in her direction. Just as Hermione began to retort, she felt Harry’s elbow jabbing her in the side. She looked over at him and saw him shaking his head. She looked back to Snape coldly. “No, professor,” she answered. “Good,” replied Snape viciously, as if desiring an argument from her. Snape turned his gaze away from Hermione to glare at the class as a whole. “For our first potion of the term, we will be making the Polyjuice Potion. This is an extremely advanced potion. The requirements for its creation are exacting and must be followed to the letter, otherwise the results could prove disastrous. In order to determine how carefully you have followed the instructions, each one of you will test your own potion. Your grade will be based on the outcome. Who here can tell me what the Polyjuice Potion is used for?” Snape’s gaze roamed over an entire class worth of raised hands until it fell on Harry, who had not bothered to raise his hand. “Mr. Potter, are you going to continue in your normal state of abject cluelessness or are you for once going to put forth the slightest amount of effort in one of my classes?” sneered Snape as he noticed Harry’s hand was the only one not raised. “Tell me, for what purpose do we brew the Polyjuice Potion?” he demanded. “Ahem,” muttered Harry as he quickly cleared his throat. “Polyjuice Potion allows the user to alter their physical appearance and take on the form of another person,” he stated quickly. “Its effects generally last for one hour and by the way, it doesn’t change your voice to match that of the person whom you choose to impersonate.” Harry somehow managed to keep a poker face as he watched Snape turn pale. An instant later, he saw an angry glint in Snape’s eyes and wondered if he had put two and two together and determined that he, Ron, and Hermione had been the ones to steal the ingredients from his office a few years ago. “And I’m sure Miss Granger could list the ingredients for me if I asked her to,” he snarled sarcastically. Snape snapped his gaze away from Harry and looked upon the rest of the class. “We are going to begin work on our potions this week. Polyjuice Potion requires several weeks to brew. Over the course of those several weeks, you will be adding ingredients from time to time and maintaining proper conditions for the potion. Due to these requirements, this classroom will remain locked at all times. Anyone found in the classroom without my express permission will be expelled from the class. There will be no exceptions,” he added, scowling and glaring in Harry’s and Hermione’s general direction. “This potion will be marked on a pass/fail basis and will count as fifty percent of your mark for the term,” continued Snape. “The final test of your potion will be whether or not it will turn you into your work partner. During the time when we are not working on the Polyjuice Potion, we will be working on other advanced, although not quite so time intensive, potions. These potions will account for the balance of your mark.” After Snape finished outlining his expectations for the rest of the year, he began once again lecturing on the Polyjuice Potion. He began with an overview of its use in the impersonation of Alastor Moody two years ago. “While some of you might be familiar with the use of Polyjuice Potion in the impersonation of Alastor Moody, what you might not know about that particular instance is that the use of Polyjuice Potion is what got Bartimius Crouch, Jr. out of Azkaban Prison in the first place. It seems that his dying mother convinced his father to allow her to take his place. Using his position and influence in the Ministry of Magic, Bartimius Crouch, Sr. arranged for a personal visit for himself and his wife. It was during that visit that Bartimius Crouch, Jr. and his mother switched places using the Polyjuice Potion and he was smuggled out of Azkaban under the very noses of the Dementors.” “From there, he overcame the Imperius Curse his father placed upon him to restrain him, escaped his confinement to his house, and rejoined the Dark Lord. From the Dark Lord, he received his assignment to replace Moody, once again relying on the Polyjuice Potion to accomplish a seamless impersonation, this time over a much longer period. From the vantage point of serving as a Hogwarts teacher, he was able to work undetected in his mission to ensure Harry Potter was delivered in time to take part in the Dark Lord’s resurrection,” finished Snape with apparent relish, staring at Harry as he did. Harry glared back, not appreciating the look Snape gave him as he mentioned Voldemort’s resurrection. Before he could say anything, Snape removed his stare and began addressing the class as a whole once again, giving a thorough overview of what could go wrong with Polyjuice Potion preparation and how to avoid it. He warned the class that should any hair from another source, or any animal hair be added in, there could be lasting complications. “There was a suspected incident of a bad batch of Polyjuice Potion a few years ago,” said Snape. “Madame Pomfrey never would release the name of the student who had attempted such a foolish endeavor, although she did note that the student in question spent several weeks in the infirmary recovering.” Snape glared for a moment at Hermione and then turned his attention to the board, where with a quick flick of his wand, the instructions along with a list of ingredients appeared. Seeing that everything was posted, Snape turned his sneer back to the class. “Well, what are you waiting for?” he demanded. “Get started.” The class immediately jumped up as a whole and headed for the ingredients storeroom. “Harry, be sure to pay careful attention to the preparation,” said Hermione as they headed back to their workstations. Harry nodded, remembering with some trepidation what had happened to Hermione. He began preparing his ingredients quickly and carefully. Noticing that Snape was lurking nearby, he began to empty his mind, allowing it to be filled with apathy as he had during the summer. He worked quickly and quietly, paying heed to Hermione’s frequent admonitions and ignoring Snape as his presence loomed seemingly greater and greater. Harry wondered for a moment if his somewhat successful attempt at ignoring the Potions Master was causing Snape to loom ever nearer in an attempt to unnerve him, but he quickly dismissed it from his mind, the apathy removing any need to concern himself with it. Before too long, Potions was over, not quickly enough as far as Harry was concerned, but quickly nevertheless, and Harry found himself and Hermione both slamming their books onto the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall in disgust. “Snape is such a bloody bastard,” huffed Hermione. Harry snickered as he saw the shocked look on Ron’s face, which left as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind an amused grin in its wake. “Hermione, mind your tongue. You’re a bloody Prefect for Merlin’s sake,” said Ron, baiting her. Hermione snarled at Ron. “Can you believe that Snape gave Harry detention not even ten minutes into the class and he even answered the question correctly for once!” “Hey,” muttered Harry in quiet protest. “I’ve answered correctly before.” “Bloody hell,” said Ron. “There goes Quidditch practice.” “Not necessarily,” replied Harry thoughtfully. “Why don’t you take the lead, Ron?” “Erm,” muttered Ron nervously. “I’m not the world’s greatest Quidditch player,” replied Ron nervously. “Bollocks,” retorted Harry, “You’re a fine Keeper and you’ve got a good head for strategy. You just need more practice and this is how you’re gong to get it.” Ron grinned. “All right?” demanded Harry. “All right,” replied Ron, grinning sheepishly. Harry found himself quickly distracted as Ginny arrived and sat down for lunch. A plate materialized before her instantly and it amazed him to see how quickly she filled it with food. Harry cleared his throat nervously. “Erm, Ginny,” he said. “Yes,” replied Ginny brightly. “Snape’s given me detention for tonight. I’m afraid we won’t be able to do Seeker practice tonight. Sorry about that,” said Harry, not bothering to hide his disappointment. “So what happened?” asked Ginny. “Snape was being a complete git,” said Hermione, breaking into Harry’s and Ginny’s conversation. “Harry even answered Snape’s question correctly for once,” she added, still fuming. “Hey,” replied Harry once again. “I’ve answered correctly in Potions before.” “No, I think this is the first time, mate,” added Ron with a smile. Harry punched Ron half-heartedly and began smiling as he heard Ginny giggling. “I give up,” he muttered. “That’s a shame – I was really looking forward to Seeker practice tonight,” said Ginny, the disappointment obvious in her features. Harry started as the butterflies took flight in his stomach again. “Yeah, so was I,” he added quickly, watching Ginny for her reaction. He thought he detected a slight smile just before she turned her attention back to her food. “Anyway,” added Harry, “we’ll try again tomorrow.” ***** Transfiguration and Herbology passed rapidly, not that Harry was paying much attention anyway; he was too distracted by the prospect of his ‘detention’ with Snape. Nothing new was discussed in either class and Harry was disappointed to learn that they would have to wait until their seventh year to learn anything about animagus transformations. He groaned as he remembered the book Professor Lupin had sent him and wished he had bothered to unwrap and read it over the long summer, rather than toss it into the corner of his bedroom and ignore it. Harry made a mental note to look at the book as soon as he got the chance. Before Harry knew it, dinner was over and he was once again standing in front of Snape’s office listening to the Potions master berate one of the Slytherin first years. “Come in, Potter,” spat Snape, somehow managing to squeeze the words in edgewise as he continued to verbally abuse the hapless student who had committed some offense worthy of cleaning cauldrons, scrubbing the Potions classroom floor, and disemboweling horned toads. Harry wondered if the poor kid would ever get any sleep this night. As Harry observed him, he reminded him vaguely of Neville during his first year. At that moment, Harry realized that he had not prepared himself mentally for tonight’s Occlumency practice. Remembering that his apathy had provided a means of purging his mind of emotion, Harry allowed himself to become angry again, remembering everything that had happened over the course of the summer. He found that Snape’s tirade assisted him, reminding him much of his uncle’s rants and his distaste for them. Then the apathy washed over him, as once again he decided that if he didn’t care anymore, they couldn’t hurt him. All of the things that had cheered him up since his return to Hogwarts slowly drifted out of his mind, as if washed away by a retreating tide leaving nothing but an emotionless front fueled by anger. “Come with me, Potter,” snapped Snape as he sped out of his office, his cape billowing behind him. Harry followed Snape into one of the nearby dungeons. Snape stopped as he reached the middle of the room. He quickly magicked the door shut and cast locking and silencing charms over it. “Ready, Potter?” demanded Snape. Harry nodded and Snape proceeded to cast the Legilimens spell once again. He felt Snape’s presence quickly and proceeded to throw him out of his mind immediately. “Hmm,” muttered Snape as he stared at Harry, once again making Harry feel as if he was one of the specimens in the jars lining Snape’s office. “Not bad, Potter. You’ve improved considerably, however, I would like to warn you about the dangers of using apathy as a means of emptying your mind of emotion.” Harry started. “Yes, Potter, I can tell which methods you choose to use against me. Not only is the use of apathy dangerous in and of itself, it is fueled by anger, an emotion. It can be effective in some instances, such as against a less-skilled Occlumens, but as it’s based on an emotion, it is a volatile protection. Also, should the Dark Lord be able to get into your mind, the apathy will prevent you from coming up with a ‘happy thought’ with which to throw him out. Remember, I told you the mind needs to be drained of emotion in order to protect it; completely drained — and that includes the anger that you are using to fuel your apathy.” “Yes, professor,” replied Harry sullenly. “And one more thing – apathy will not work when used in conjunction with the Legilimens spell. It will be a dead giveaway if you go poking around in the Dark Lord’s head utilizing apathy as the means to clear your mind of all emotion, and seeing that I intend to teach you Legilimency, I expect you to follow my instructions!” “Yes, professor.” “Now concentrate,” commanded Snape. Harry tried draining him mind of as much emotion as he could without resorting to anger-fueled apathy. As he began sensing his mind clearing, he felt Snape strike. In an instant, Harry was thrown back mentally to the summer prior to his first year at Hogwarts. He remembered going to the zoo with Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley. He vividly remembered being shoved out of the way by Dudley and the window disappearing in front of his fat cousin which caused him to pitch forward, landing face first into the Burmese Python exhibit. Then Harry remembered his conversation with the python and felt Snape’s presence lose some of its power. At that instant, Harry seized the initiative and threw Snape out of his mind. The strength of the spell Harry used threw Snape onto the floor. As Harry’s mind cleared, he noticed Snape eyeing him carefully, as if sizing him up. He almost thought he detected a hint of amusement on the Potions Master’s face. “Not bad, Potter,” said Snape. Harry wondered what he was referring to, whether it was Harry forcing him out of his mind, or the incident where Harry performed wandless magic on Dudley. “You must continue to work at draining your mind of all emotion. This is imperative, since we will begin work on Legilimency at the next lesson. Do you understand?” “Yes, professor,” replied Harry. “Now, let’s try that again.” ***** Try as she might, and Ron’s kisses were definitely helping, Hermione couldn’t get it out of her head that she needed to pass Harry’s comments about the prophecy along to Dumbledore. They had stopped after dinner to steal some privacy in a seldom-used corridor. As much as she was enjoying the pleasure of Ron’s company, the nagging voice of her conscience would not allow her any peace. It distracted her, even as she felt herself being pulled deeper into Ron’s embrace. After a few dreamy moments of snogging, Ron and Hermione finally paused and they cuddled one another tightly. “Erm, Ron, don’t you have someplace you need to be?” asked Hermione, finally giving in to the nagging voice inside her head. “No,” replied Ron as he drew her close again and began kissing her. He stopped mid-kiss, his face turning a particularly deep shade of red. “Bloody hell, I forgot I’ve got Quidditch practice tonight and I’m in charge. Harry’s going to kill me.” Hermione laughed at him, relieved both at being able to ditch him so easily and also comforted that he preferred her kisses to Quidditch practice. She kissed him quickly and released him. “Better go,” she said. “Yeah,” he replied absentmindedly as he kissed Hermione once more, this time on the forehead. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. “Get going, Ron,” she said gently, hoping she wasn’t being too obvious. “Bye, Hermione.” Hermione smiled affectionately as she watched Ron race down the corridor. After he turned the a corner and disappeared from sight, she rose from the old, stone bench they had been seated on and began making her way to Professor Dumbledore’s office, humming merrily as she strolled down the halls, daydreaming about kissing Ron. As she reached the stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance, she sighed and cleared the thoughts of Ron out of her mind as she remembered what she was there to do. “Blueberry scones,” she said and the gargoyle moved out of her way revealing the staircase to the Headmaster’s office. She stepped onto the moving staircase and rode it up to the entrance. She knocked on the door apprehensively. She knew Harry wouldn’t like what she was about to do, but then again, it was for his own good. That thought strengthened her resolve. “Come in.” Hermione opened the door and strode into the office, stopping as she reached Professor Dumbledore’s desk. “Miss Granger,” he said cheerfully, “what brings you to see me tonight? Are you looking to perhaps re-establish the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare?” he asked with a twinkle in his eye. “No, Headmaster,” replied Hermione. “It’s about Harry.” Professor Dumbledore’s face took on a look of concern and his demeanor became much more serious at Hermione’s words. “Professor Trelawney prophesied again.” “And who heard her?” asked Dumbledore. “Only Harry,” replied Hermione. “Hmm,” muttered Dumbledore pensively. “Do you know what she said?” “Yes, sir, Harry told us,” replied Hermione. “I asked him to go and see you, but he didn’t want to. He said he would tell you about it if it becomes important.” Dumbledore sighed. Things with Harry weren’t going at all the way he had planned. “Can you give me Harry’s description of the prophecy?” asked Dumbledore. “Yes, sir,” replied Hermione. “Harry said she started off by saying that the One with the power to defeat Voldemort, the Heir of Slytherin and the Heir of Gryffindor, was rising. The path before him forks and he stays on the path that he has followed. She said the power of Gryffindor checks the power of Slytherin, and warned him not to give into hatred, but to draw strength from the one who loves him the most.” Dumbledore’s face became an impassive, unreadable mask as he contemplated the words Hermione had spoken. “Sir, what does it mean?” asked Hermione after a few moments of tense silence. Hermione’s words seemed to pull the headmaster out of his reverie. He cleared his throat softly as he composed his thoughts. “I’d rather not hazard a guess until I’ve had a chance to speak with Harry,” replied Dumbledore. “Should I tell him to come and see you?” asked Hermione. “No, thank you,” replied Dumbledore. “That won’t be necessary. I think it would be best if I ask him myself. Is there anything else you wanted to talk to me about?” “No, sir – just Harry.” “Thank you for bringing this to my attention, Miss Granger,” said Dumbledore. “You’re welcome, professor,” replied Hermione as she gathered her books from the floor and got up to go. “Good night, Hermione.” “Good night, Professor Dumbledore.” Dumbledore sighed as he watched Hermione leave his office. Things weren’t going at all the way he had planned. In his estimation, now was not the time for Harry to make any decisions regarding his destiny. Dumbledore shook his head as he remembered the loss of Sirius and the miserable summer Harry had once again been forced to endure. Now was definitely not the time. The prophecy should have given him encouragement, but not being one who believed in such magic wholeheartedly, it brought him no comfort. ***** With a wave of his wand, Snape lifted the Silencing Spell and unlocked the dungeon door. Harry left rapidly, relieved to be out of Snape’s presence and back in the relative warmth of the lower dungeons. He was frustrated with the Occlumency lesson and with himself. The apathy he had initially used to block Snape had worked far better than following Snape’s direction to allow his mind to drain of all emotion. Although he had improved at Occlumency without the use of apathy, he was still nowhere near as competent as he needed to be, especially considering he was going to have to face Voldemort sooner or later. As he thought on it, he was getting the feeling that he might have some sort of mental block in place which was preventing him from being as effective as he could be. He sighed heavily and hurried along, anxious to get back to the comfort of the Gryffindor common room. As he made his way through the castle, Harry noticed that there seemed to be far fewer students about than there would have been in years past. When he realized this, he felt the burden of being the One descend upon him. The war and the killing “Quidditch Pitch,” he said on approaching the portrait of the fat lady. The fat lady smiled and let him in. Harry made a beeline for an empty chair by the fire. He relaxed as he sank into the squishy old chair and felt the warmth of the fire. A book came down in front of the person across from him. He grinned as he saw Ginny’s face peek out from behind the book. “So how was Quidditch practice?” asked Harry. “I swear, Ron’s almost as bad as you are,” replied Ginny with a twinkle in her eye. She was rewarded for her cheek with Harry’s laughter. “He had us practicing all these new moves he wants to try out. Of course, he banished Kirke and Sloper to the opposite end of the field after they nearly took out Katie within the first five minutes of practice.” Ginny chuckled as she remembered this. “He had them practice batting the Bludger back and forth again. The rest of us flew our arses off for about two hours. Truthfully, it was a good practice and he does have some good ideas to use against the other houses. All in all, he did rather well. And how did your detention with Snape go, or should I ask?” “Miserable,” replied Harry, remembering the disaster the Occlumency training had proven once again to be. He was about to rant, but then remembered his promise to Snape not to tell anyone. Rather than lie, he told Ginny, “And don’t ask.” Ginny giggled softly at him. “That will teach you for answering correctly!” Harry laughed at Ginny’s comment, remembering Hermione’s complaint at lunch. “Detention if I do and detention if I don’t,” he muttered while shaking his head. “So, what are you up to?” asked Harry, wondering what Ginny was studying. He had tried to read the spine of her book, but it was too worn with age to still be legible. “Studying for Transfiguration,” answered Ginny, pulling a face. “I wish we could do something interesting, like learn how to become an animagus,” said Ginny. “I’m tired of studying how to turn teacups into rats.” “Professor Lupin gave me a book on how to become an animagus. Maybe we could look at it together?” suggested Harry. Ginny’s eyes lit up. “He did? I thought those were controlled.” “They are?” “Yes, the Ministry strictly regulates who can and can’t possess information on animagi. It’s sort of like their control over who can and can’t possess a time turner.” “Remember, he is a Marauder,” replied Harry. “He’s got a duty to corrupt a new generation.” Ginny snickered. “I would love to look at it,” she replied, genuinely interested. “Harry, if you could be anything, what would you be?” “A phoenix,” replied Harry without thinking twice about it. “If I were a phoenix, I could fly away from all this mess,” he said, and for some reason he felt himself thinking ‘and take you with me’ as he looked into Ginny’s eyes. “So, what would you be?” asked Harry. “A tiger,” replied Ginny after a bit of thought. Harry started. “A tiger?” “Yeah,” said Ginny, the twinkle back in her eyes again. “That way I could finally get my brothers to leave me alone!” Harry laughed. “Yeah, that’s probably what it would take.” Ginny laughed brightly. As Harry listened, he felt himself becoming warm inside and wondered about the little redhead sitting across from him.
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