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Author: Shamrock Holmes Story: Harry Potter and the Torch of Caelum Rating: Teens Setting: Pre-HBP Status: Completed Reviews: 3 Words: 59,803
The sun was just rising as Harry began to wake. He groaned, sitting up in his chair, and feeling rather stiff from sleeping the night through in a hard, wooden chair. Then he got up and leaned over Jamie to check she was okay, she was still sleeping, so he kissed her on the forehead and tucked her covers in more firmly. "I'll be back soon." Walking quickly but stealthily, he reached Gryffindor Tower without encountering Filch or any of the teachers. When he got to his room, he grabbed a fresh set of robes from his trunk and headed for the boys' bathroom. Because it was still empty, he decided to practise for a while. He stripped down to his trousers and T-shirt and spent half an hour doing stretches and then switched to practicing his punches, kicks and blocks for a while. By then he'd worked up a good sweat, so he undressed completely and stepped into one of the showers. Ten minutes later — now fully dressed in clean robes and with his wand strapped back into its usual place on his right wrist — he arrived in the Gryffindor common room. As it was now nearly seven o'clock, there were a few people about: Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Neville and Katie were sitting in chairs near the fire waiting for him, and Civis was perched on the window sill nearest the boy's staircase so he could keep an eye on the entire room without being noticed. Harry sank down into one of the sofas between Ginny and Katie. Ginny was the first to speak. "How's Jamie, Harry? We would have come up, but Hermione didn't think Madam Pomfrey would let us in." Harry sighed, "She'll be fine. Apart from her broken arm, she's only got cuts and bruises. Madame Pomfrey said last night she'd be fine to come to classes this morning. I'm going up to the Infirmary now to get her." "That's great news, Harry," Ginny told him, the other four nodded in agreement. "Do we know who did it?" asked Neville "Oh, we know alright," said Harry darkly. "But, as usual, we can't prove it." "Malfoy?" "Yep," Harry admitted. "With help from Crabbe, Goyle and Nott. But unless Lieutenant Griswald turns up something, we've no evidence." he turned to Katie. "Do you know if he did?" "No luck, apparently." "Typical." Harry started to get up, then paused. "Katie, you probably know McGonagall has reinstated me and made me team captain?" The older girl nodded. "I'm going to be pretty busy over the next couple of days, Professor Dumbledore said I could sniff around a bit, and there are a couple of other things that I need to attend to as well my classes… so could we meet at the DADA classroom at seven on Friday night? We need to discuss the team. All of you should come, I'd like to show you something too, Hermione. Tell Kirke and Sloper if you see them." "Will do, Harry." Katie confirmed. "It's a date." "Figuratively speaking." Harry told her, glancing at Ginny when he said this. "Agreed." Harry opened the Fat Lady's portrait and stepped out, Civis transformed into his crow form and followed, flying through the portrait hole just as it was about to close. ---- Twenty minutes later, Harry and Jamie joined the others in the Great Hall for breakfast. Harry seated Jamie beside Neville, then slipped in between her and Ginny. Civis hopped off Harry's shoulder and perched on a bracket on the wall behind him. "How are you, Jamie?" Hermione asked her, as she began to eat a bowl of porridge. "I'm fine, Hermione," Jamie assured her. "That Bone-Setting Potion is disgusting though." "Skele-Gro's worse," Harry told her. "I find that hard to believe." "Take my word for it." "Oh, I will." Ten minutes later, Professor McGonagall moved down the table handing out timetables. When Ron saw his own timetable, he grinned. "Not bad, Defence Against the Dark Arts this morning, and Care of Magical Creatures this afternoon. What about you guys? Nev?" "Same as you, Ron." Neville replied, then he noticed that Harry and Hermione were not as pleased as they were. "What's up?" "We've got Potions first thing," Harry explained. "Snape, on the first day back. What did I do to deserve that?" "You've got me, Harry." Ginny told him. "Mine's not too bad, Herbology and History of Magic this morning, then Muggle Studies this afternoon. What about you, Jamie?" "Transfiguration, Charms, and History of Magic." Jamie told her. "What's the other note about, Harry?" she asked, noticing Harry folding up a second piece of parchment. "Just DA stuff," Harry told her. "Do you want me to show you where the Transfiguration classroom is? I've had enough breakfast." "If you've got enough time?" Harry nodded. "There's a useful passage from the first floor to near the Potions Dungeon." Harry told her. "Besides, the class doesn't start for another forty minutes." "Let's go then." "Gin, have a good morning. I'll see you at lunch?" Ginny nodded. "Ron, Nev, I'll see you in DADA, Hermione, I'll catch up with you as soon as I can." "Don't be late, Harry," Hermione admonished him. "I don't want to brave Snape on my own." "I'll be on time 'Mione, don't worry." Harry told her. "Let's go Civis." The crow squawked indignantly, but left his perch and lighted on Harry's shoulder nonetheless. It took only fifteen minutes to deliver Jamie to the Transfiguration classroom on the first floor. After nodding a greeting to Mark — the only other student he recognised — and telling both of them the best way to get to the Charms classroom, Harry headed for the secret passage behind a tapestry depicting the alchemist Weygand the Wise. When he came out of the other end of the passage, he could see Hermione waiting at the entrance to the Potions dungeon about ten feet away. She hadn't seen him though, she was busy talking to two Slytherins who had also arrived early. After a moment's thought, Harry identified the black boy as Romulus Moon and the red-haired girl as Blaise Zabini. Harry didn't particularly dislike either of them; they were two of the less opinionated members of Slytherin House and among the handful who had not joined Umbridge's Inquisitorial Squad the year before. He crept up behind Hermione and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Hi, Hermione." Hermione jumped and spun around. "Harry! You startled me!" Moon chuckled to himself and Zabini tried her best to hide a smile. Harry smiled down at his friend. "Sorry Hermione I couldn't resist, I guess the twins've rubbed off on me. Forgive me?" "Of course, Harry." "What were you talking about?" Harry asked. "Granger was just telling us about some of the potions we might be doing this term. The Morphemic Potion sounds interesting." "What's that one?" Harry asked. "It's similar to the Polyjuice Potion. Except it only last five minutes instead of an hour." "What's the use of that?" Harry asked, perplexed. "Five minutes won't you give enough time to do anything." "What do you know about the Polyjuice Potion, Potter?" asked Zabini, suspiciously. "I know what it does, how it's made." Harry told her. "I know of four people who've used it. Three successfully." he added, grinning slyly at Hermione, who glared back. They continued chatting for a few minutes until the rest of the class turned up: Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigan were the only other Gryffindors in the class, and were followed by Draco Malfoy, Theodore Nott, Pansy Parkinson and Tracey Davis of Slytherin. Professor Snape arrived a few minutes later and immediately opened the door. "Get in, get in," he told them impatiently. Harry and Hermione hurried inside and took the worktable that had been Harry and Ron's usual place for the last five years. Dean and Seamus took the one beside them, while Zabini and Moon opted for the one just in front. "Welcome to Advanced Potions. In this class you will be learning some of the most advanced and complex magic there is to be learned here at Hogwarts. Some of you… are here because you demonstrated the talent required during last year's exams…" He looked at Malfoy, who grinned smugly. "While others… are here because certain members of the faculty felt the need to intercede on their behalf." He glared at Harry, giving him the special glare he still seemed to reserve for Harry and Professor Lupin. "Nevertheless, you are all here, to my dismay," he said glaring at Harry once more. "However, I am glad that we are to be spared any further mishaps from the cauldron of Mr Longbottom. The examiners clearly had enough intelligence to mark him as the fool he is." Reluctantly, despite the insult to his friend, Harry found himself in agreement with the greasy-haired professor. Potions, would be much easier and safer without Neville there. Glancing at his fellow Gryffindors, he could tell they were thinking along the same lines. "The first potion we will be making is called the Anpyrous Ointment. Can anyone tell me what it is used for?" Hermione raised her hand immediately, followed eventually, by Malfoy and Zabini. "Mr Potter," Snape looked down his long nose at Harry. ""Would you care to enlighten us?" Malfoy grinned, he could tell that Harry won't like to, as he couldn't remember what it was used for. "I'm waiting, Mr Potter." Harry, after a moment's thought, remembered the potion from his summer reading. "It's used to protect the skin from burns, Professor." "Ahhh. So you actually studied during the summer after all, Potter. I am surprised." Snape said, with a sneer. Malfoy's grin became even wider. "The ingredients are on the board. Get going, you have one hour." Thanks to an occasional whispered suggestion from Hermione, Harry managed to complete the potion well within the time limit. Snape frowned at the sample Harry gave him, but reluctantly gave him full marks. ---- When they arrived at the DADA classroom, Harry cast a complex unlocking charm on the door and opened it. "Let's go in." "Harry, should we really...?" Hermione asked. "Don't worry, it's okay. I'll explain when the others get here." Hermione nodded and followed Harry inside, taking a seat at the table closest to the front. Harry perched on the teacher's desk and waited. Dean and Seamus caught up with them a minute or two later, both seemed rather surprised to see Harry sitting on the teacher's desk but said nothing. Within five minutes, the other students began to trickle in, Harry was not surprised to see that though both Gryffindors and Ravenclaws were present, no-one that hadn't been in the DA the year before had made it into the class. He waited until everyone was seated. Ron sat down beside Hermione, and Neville sat down on his other side, leaving Harry's usual seat empty. "Hello, everyone. Welcome to Advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts." Several people there were surprised when Harry spoke and looked up sharply. "Unfortunately, Professor Ambrose has some urgent business to attend to, so she cannot take this class today. Professor McGonagall has asked me to fill in." "I think we all know why," said Neville. Several people, Ron included, chuckled at this. Harry smiled and continued speaking. "Now, as I'm not sure exactly what we're supposed to be covering this year, I thought we'd just do a little bit of practice with our Shield Charms. Okay?" Everyone seemed to be in agreement on this, so they rapidly paired off. Of the Gryffindors, Ron and Hermione paired up, as did Dean and Seamus and Lavender and Parvati, leaving Neville on his own as before. Looking around the Ravenclaws, Harry saw that they had all paired up too. "Okay Nev, looks like you're working with me." Neville nodded, looking a little nervous. "Why don't you take the offensive? I want to practice my draw." Neville pulled out his wand and nodded. Harry tensed his arm. "Rictusempra!" Harry's wand flicked into his hand and he yelled, "Protego!" He was a hair too slow though, and the Tickling Charm shattered the partially formed Shield, and knocked him backwards. Harry retained enough presence of mind to twist around so he could break his fall with his arms. Civis squawked a loud, harsh note and the charm dissolved. "Good job, Neville. You got me." "Sorry about that, Harry," Neville said. "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," Harry assured him. "I just need to react a little faster." They tried another two passes. On the third go, Harry managed to get up his Shield fast enough to block Neville's Scintilla Spell. Then Harry suggested they take a break, while he went round to see how the others were doing. Neville nodded and moved to watch Hermione and Ron, who were currently raining Stunners and Reductor Curses at each other's Shields. Scanning the other clusters of students, Harry immediately spotted a problem and went over to where Lavender and the Patil twins were crouched over Anthony Goldstein. From the looks of things his Shield hadn't been strong enough to stop a Furnunculus Curse as his face was covered in boils. After checking with Civis, Harry identified the correct counter-charm and performed it. "I think you need to work on strengthening your Shield, Anthony." The Ravenclaw prefect nodded and glared at Padma. "She caught me unawares." "Will the Death Eaters warn you before they try and curse you?" Harry asked patiently. "No, I suppose not," admitted Goldstein. "Exactly," Harry confirmed. He turned to the others. "Keep it up. Nice work with those Death Eaters over the summer by the way, Parvati. They might think twice about a return visit." "I hope so," Parvati told him, and her twin seconded the statement. "And so you should." Harry told them grimly. Harry continued the lesson for another half an hour, and then dismissed the class. Ron, Hermione and Neville hurried to Harry's side. "What's up, Harry?" asked Ron. "Where's Professor Ambrose?" "She's taking a look at that compartment on the train in case the Inquisitors missed anything. She should be finished by now." Harry told him. "Let's get some lunch. I want to see how Jamie's doing." "I'm sure she's fine," Hermione told him. "Don't worry." Five minutes later, the four sixth years joined Ginny, Jamie and Mark at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall. "How were your first lessons, Jamie?" "Transfiguration and Charms were fine, History of Magic was boring though." "It always is," Harry assured her. "And with Binns teaching, it always will be." ---- When Jamie and Mark joined Harry and the older Gryffindors at the house table in the Great Hall a few days later, their faces showed a mixture of amusement and annoyance. "We had our first Potions class today." Jamie told them, once they'd sat down. Harry looked up from his lunch. "How was it?" "It was as bad as you said it would be." Mark told him. "Did he ask the questions?" Harry asked casually. Jamie grinned. "He did. And he took five points from Gryffindor for me getting them right." Harry laughed. "You can't win with him. I've been trying for five years." "What questions?" Hermione asked. "The one's he asked me in our first class," Harry told her. "I told Jamie the answers in case he asked her." "He did," said Jamie, with a grin. "That's not funny, Harry!" Hermione snapped. "I don't like Snape either, but he is one of the school professors and should be treated with respect." Harry said nothing, but glanced to his right at Ginny, to see if she thought the joke was funny. She did. A/N: I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed so far, it's nice to hear what you think about my story. Just in case anyone was wondering the Scintilla Spell that Neville used against Harry is the popular ‘Relashio' spell, I just gave it a name. Not sure when Chapter 10 will be up, but hopefully by the end of the week. As always reviews are welcome and if you have anything posted I'll try and return the favour.
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