Chapter Fourteen
Harry walked, for a change, from his Slytherin quarters. He did not think spending the night in the dorm or anywhere near, Bellatrix was a good idea. Firstly, he had no idea how steamed Ron had gotten. Secondly, he did not want to give in to his more draconian nature and kill Bellatrix. It was almost funny that he had to sleep with the woman. Merely to do a favour for someone that he actually cared about. Though had anyone told him he would do such a thing for Draco Malfoy's mum in the past he would have laughed in their face, he had briefly gone near his house, mostly to work on the portal. He needed a laugh that morning, and he just hoped that Tracey had kept up her part.
Yes, he needed a laugh for sure. Not only had yesterday been physically and magically draining. However, with all that had happened, it had been emotionally draining as well. He now knew the power of a good laugh. He just hoped it was enough to get his mind over what he would have to do that night.
It struck him as almost amusing that he had to sleep with her of all people. Well, perhaps sleep was going too far. There was no way he would fall asleep around her. Talk about a suicidal thing to do. No, he had to shag her, possibly more than once. This is where the magic met legality. He had to consummate, and complete within her. He did not have to sire a child thank god, but sex he had to have. The more than once was if the magic did not trigger. The actual legal part would be fulfilled as soon as he reached completion. Frankly, he was a bit worried he might not be able to do that. She was without doubt attractive. But by the same token, she wasn't. As in, she looked good enough, but he knew what she was and that was somewhat of a turn off to say the least. If things did not work out first time, he would have to keep going until the magic finally triggered. Thankfully, the deadline closed that night, and even though he may have to keep going, she would be 'semi' bound to him. To get her to follow his requests, the second level had to trigger.
He had to wonder what Sirius would say to this situation. Though a snippet of a conversation came to him at that moment, he and Sirius had been having a sort of adult conversation. Adult as in content, more than the maturity, they had been talking about the opposite sex, to quote Sirius about his cousin Bellatrix.
'If she wasn't an insane bitch, or so closely related... I'd do her.'
He could damn near hear his voice as he remembered his godfather's words. He had been more enthusiastic about Cissy and Andy. Especially Andy actually, which made him wonder if there had been a bit of a 'kissing cousins' situation with Tonks's mum and Sirius.
Harry actually smiled at that thought. One had to wonder what Tonks's reaction would be to that idea.
Still, would Sirius be baying for Bellatrix's blood, or would he be egging Harry on with a 'give her one from me' type comment. Knowing his godfather as he did, he suspected the later. The man was a dog in quite a few meanings of the word. However, that conversation they had had was before Bellatrix had fired off the spell that had caused Sirius to be caught by the veil. Oddly enough, Sirius only seemed to have room for one bit of revenge in his heart. That was obviously Peter Pettigrew and it was little wonder. Therefore, there would be no reprieves for Pettigrew. He would die, and he would die screaming if Harry had a say in it.
He shook off the dark turn of his thoughts. Sometimes, just occasionally, it was difficult to stay up beat. There were a few advantages he had to remember that. Last night had been an exercise. He had hurt Voldemort, possibly putting him down for the count for a while. He had 'sort of removed' a dark mark. He had snatched a member of the family form the jaws of death... again. He had a double blowjob, or the start of one. Now THAT was something that put a smile back on his face. He really wanted to finish that sometime. Cissy and Fleur were both astoundingly sexy in their own ways. Fleur was probably the sexiest woman he had ever met thus far. He would have a hard time thinking of anyone that could beat her for sheer sultry, sexy wow factor.
If he did meet someone that could beat her, he was going to grab a hold of them with both hands. He chuckled to himself, glad there was no one around to hear him. Being in the depths of the school had a few advantages like that.
A smile now firmly planted in place he sped up. He wanted to arrive at around the same time as everyone else. Or he would be missing the fun now wouldn't he.
-oOo-
Professor Albus Dumbledore had been teaching a great many years now. More than many teachers in fact, something like 80 years of teaching to the last 30 odd being a headmaster. He had thought he had pretty much seen it all by now.
Until now,
He had met some of the very best pranksters in the 'trade'. Hell, unofficially he tended to help them. That said, there was a new prankster in the school, their scope was unique, their leanings slightly Muggle. At first, he had been sure it was Harry. He had quite the linage there after all. He did not know it, but even his grandfather had been a prankster. The Potters were quite well known for it in fact. That was not even counting the Marauders and then the Weasley twins. All of whom Harry had contact with in one way or another, but then Harry had been caught in his first prank. From all accounts, he had nothing to hide. However, this time Dumbledore was a little confused.
His outward appearance showed none of the extreme giggle fit he was on the verge of. Currently his entire school was doing a Congo line around the Great Hall. All of them shouting out the traditional... theme to go with it, dancing along, hopping at times, and laughing their heads off, whoever had set the spell had caught everyone. The Headmaster had never seen a prankster catch the entire school. Worse, some of the professors had been caught up in the line. Frankly, Dumbledore was not sure if they were actually under the same spell. The spell itself appeared to force the pranked one into the dance. The fact that nearly everyone was laughing their heads off was not part of the spell best he could tell.
His twinkling blue eyes caught Harry coming into the room. 'Interesting' Dumbledore thought to himself. Noticing that Harry acted differently, where as most students began dancing as soon as they walked in Harry did not, he paused, laughed loudly, and then inserted himself into the line. This was another difference. Normally new participants joined the end. Though the Headmaster noted he managed to insert himself between two of the more attractive girls in his year. Even if they were in Slytherin house, houses meaning nothing to a libido after all
Once between Tracey Davis and Daphne Greengrass, and still laughing fit to burst, Harry began to dance along with them. Dumbledore noted that Tracey, who was behind Harry leaned forward on tiptoe and whispered in Harry's ear.
'Fascinating' Dumbledore thought with an inner cackle. If anyone could break the house boundaries, it just had to be Harry. For one thing, Daphne Greengrass seemed to be enjoying the fact that Harry was holding her rather close. Tracey was behind and holding Harry close too.
'Bloody Brilliant' Dumbledore surmised. He should probably stop the spell. If it were anything like the last one, a simple finite would do the trick. Odd that he could not seem to find his wand. He noted that his normally stern Transfiguration professor was currently laughing so hard she was sliding under the table. Even Severus looked amused, which was another sign that something had changed with him of late. The new Arts and Crafts Professor Capelle Zabini was laughing so hard that tears were actually pouring down her sculpted cheeks. A show of emotion that was unusual to say the least. Professors Vector and Flitwick had been caught up with the spell and were bopping along as if they did not have a care in the world.
Dumbledore managed to catch Harry's eyes. Which had more life in them at that moment than Albus had ever seen. It did his old heart good to see that. In addition, the wink that Harry tossed him confirmed all the Headmaster needed to know. It was not an outright admission of guilt though. That meant that officially the Headmaster could mark this up as 'Pranking by Anonymous' in his log.
Hagrid walked in then, and looked around. His beetle black eyes twinkling before Harry passed him and grabbed the large man's hand. Pulling him into the line, so that the half giant ended up also doing a conga round the hall
Finally, it got too much for the elderly Head of school and he tipped his head back and just roared with laughter.
-oOo-
Breakfast was a much livelier affair than normal. After the impromptu dancing, everyone was feeling oddly light. There were a few notable exceptions though. Draco and his bookends seemed to forget that they were young and supposed to have fun, or Draco did and his bookends followed suit. Meaning the blond was dour and thus pretty much ignored by his peers for a change. This did not help his mood in the least
Therefore, it was an upbeat breakfast. Which given that they were essentially in wartime was a good thing; it meant they could act their age. There was much laughter and joking flowing around the hall. Even up on the staff table the jokes flowed like wine and the laughter like a fine aromatic cigar smoke.
Severus – I am Feared- Snape smiled at the beautiful woman beside him. It was not a thin smile; it was not full of malice. It was in fact a frankly charming smile. "Then she said: How did that gnome get there" he finished his little story. His beautiful counterpart laughing gaily at his words, he felt that shift again, the odd little... quiver... in his stomach. She was such an enticing woman. He had not met a woman like this since... His mind shied away from that thought, but the fact was true. Even if he could not bring him to think her name, his smile remained on his face, but his eyes changed a bit. Enough that the student of human nature artist noticed
"Is something the matter Severus?" she asked her voice like chocolate and a balm for his dark soul.
He nodded, "Just a random memory" he said.
Their eyes met for a while. Almost amber eyes, meeting almost black eyes, Capelle's lips curled into a smile. "Should I be jealous?" she asked.
Snape registered shock and then smiled widely, "No" he said simply.
"Good" she replied. Her eyes were twinkling in that typically feminine fashion.
Snape felt eyes on him and looked around the hall. Only to find Harry smirked at him. Did that young man miss nothing now! Damn him. Snapes lips quivered slightly. He was much more like his mother now. To the point that Snape actually liked the little bugger, which wasn't doing his image all that much good, Harry may look like his father, and Snape suspected he pranked as much as his father. However, the thoughts behind the pranks and the look behind his mother's eyes were those of Lily Evans. The Lily Evans that Severus Snape had fallen for all those years ago. He doubted that Harry understood just how devious his Mother had been. She should have been in Slytherin in fact. Severus had the oddest urge to stick his tongue out at the boy. Which Harry appeared to read, because the young man began to laugh.
Snape rolled his eyes and focused back on the Beautiful artist beside him. He was not sure how she had ended up sitting next to him. Nevertheless, he was glad of it. However, he suspected that The Headmaster and Harry had a lot to do with it. It was true. The stick was coming looser and looser every day. Mostly due to this beautiful professor beside him, she was already the cause of much teenage crushing. She had not even had a single class yet. Her first was due that evening. Not that he could blame them in the least.
Capelle looked to where Severus had been looking to see Harry laughing with a knowing smile on his face. She did not know her assistant that well yet. However, she knew a few things. His peers and the teachers alike respected him. He was VERY intelligent. A warrior wrapped in the shell of a lover, if she was any judge- and she was. He was also, as she had found the night before, the source of her fee. A fee that had she known what she was coming to teach, or at least who, she probably would have waived. Dean Thomas, who was sat in front of Harry and joking around with the green eyed young man, was without doubt talented, Probably the most talented artist she had seen since... well... her. She looked forward to crafting that potential into skill and seeing what he could really do. He was, by his own admission mostly a sketch artist at that point. Nevertheless, the sculpture he had began in normal clay, and the one in Gongari he had completed where amazing.
"Knut for them?" she heard. The silky tones of the Potions Professor making her smile even more. He had a wonderful voice. He certainly was not classically attractive, but that voice gave her the nice sort of shivers.
"They may not be worth it," she teased, looking into his deep and dark eyes. She could tell that he was an injured soul. It spoke to her in a way; she had always been a sucker for a bird with an injured wing.
"I strongly suspect they are," he purred at her. It was not an intentional purr she knew. However, since he was speaking softly he could not help it. Merlin she loved that voice.
A smile lit her face, "I was thinking of my assistant, and why I was brought here."
Snape cocked and eyebrow at her quizzically. "Harry? And Mr Thomas?" he asked for clarification.
She nodded. "Yes, he is... interesting isn't he."
Severus, had this been last year, would have sneered at the very thought. Nevertheless, his thoughts on Harry had changed drastically this year so far. "Indeed he is." a smile quirked his lip, "Perhaps it is my turn to be jealous?" he asked teasingly.
Capelle laughed again, "No, I just find him interesting. He is positively revered by his peers. The teachers seem to adore him. Even you, the most feared of all teachers," she said adding a smile ", seem to like him."
Snape looked a little serious for a moment, "It wasn't always that way. Before this year, Harry and I... did not get along. He has matured greatly and I will admit... so have I. We have reached an accord and in fact seem to work well together. I respect him now for who he is... Not hate him for who his father was."
Capelle nodded, "We live and learn," she said seriously.
"One hopes so," Snape said much less seriously.
-oOo-
Harry looked up and around, he was doing his first stint as Assistant professor for Professor Zabini. The class actually had a good turn out. Some real talent was rearing its head in the school. From a few quite surprising sources, Dean was a given. His entire house thought he was talented. He probably ranked the top slot for sheer raw talent. That said, there were a few people that stood out
Pansy Parkinson for one, she had a knack with charcoal. Her sketches in that format where alive, literally, since the charcoal was made with Gongari clay, burned and smoked to create what was essentially charcoal. Therefore, with the correct spell commands the picture began to animate a bit. It was true that any picture could be animated a little with magic. Using the Gongari though made it LIVE. Harry walked over to her, standing silently behind her. He was no artist himself. However, the wealth of knowledge in his head actually covered topics that had little to do with fighting. Dumbledore himself was not without some small talents in the area. He had a love of music and a knowledge that amazed Harry. The old man actually used to play about five instruments. Meaning in truth that it was likely, Harry could now with enough practice. Therefore, he was able to judge a work of art given quite a few criteria. The Headmaster had a good theoretical knowledge, which helped. Voldemort thought it frivolous and had no knowledge on the subject at all. Oddly enough, Snape was actually an art lover and critic of some surprising knowledge. On the other hand, not when you considered that his main project for the last 20 years had been Gongari clay. The stuff that the magical art world virtually revolved around, so between his 'donors' he was able to say that Pansy had talent and some potential to branch out a bit.
"Have you tried using pencil?" Harry asked. Causing the black haired Slytherin girl to jerk in surprise
Turning to him with a curious look, "Pardon" she said.
"Have you tried pencil?" he asked. Then reached around her and picked up a soft pencil. "I can teach you the spells to animate. But pencil allows a bit more definition control." he said, in a low tone. Draco had not come, thank god. However, he did not want to embarrass the girl if he could help it.
Pansy frowned slightly, "Why are you talking to me?" she asked.
Harry frowned, god the divide sucked at times. House rivalries and the alike scuppered polite conversation at times, "It's my job to" he said with a charming smile. "I can bugger off though if..."
"No, it's alright... I forgot you're the assistant," she said, blushing slightly. "I've never tried pencil." she eventually answered his original question.
Harry smiled charmingly at her, more to put her at ease than chat her up. "Give it a go, I think you have to be a little more... gentle, but I think you might like it," he said, passing the pencil to her. Like everything else in the class, it was of magical origin. He had been the one to introduce normal clay. Other than that, Capelle Zabini tended to work with magical materials and tools.
She flashed him a slight smile. So Harry backed off, he was obviously making her uncomfortable. He had no real wish to do that. Instead, he walked back to his 'nook'. Where he himself was working on something, having had only a primary school education he did not know many Muggle teachings. That said, he had quite liked woodworking, in a vice he had conjured was a just under an inch thick board of plywood. He was using magic and sand paper to smooth it down and generally keeping himself amused. It was about two feet long and about half a foot wide. He had a plan for this piece of wood that would amuse him no end if it worked.
Frankly, he needed something to keep his mind off later that night. He had this class and a DA meeting then bang, he had to go shag a murder.
No his life was not weird at all, not at all.
"Whatcha making mate?" Dean said, leaning round his canvas to speak to Harry.
Harry smirked, and then released the board from the vice. He then held it up, "What do you think I'm making?" he asked.
Dean looked at the board thoughtfully. Then his eyes brightened and he grinned, "No way." he said laughing.
"Oh yes" Harry said with a grin. "I just hope I don't end up breaking my fool neck."
"But... how here?" Dean asked.
"Well, let's just say I ain't going to be using wheels." Harry said with a big grin. He pulled out his wand, and as Dead, chuckling, went back to his latest masterpiece, Harry began casting. His wand work was pretty much flawless these days. He was using some standard spells but layering them in ways that most would not dream of doing. On the top of the board, he sent a spell that caused both ends to curl up slightly. Then another caused it to sort of bow along the length. Making it slightly concave, his face a mask of concentration he then began to layer some slight sticking charms on the 'top' side.
By this point his constant stream of magic had drawn and audience. Namely, Capelle and Dean, with a few curious looks from the other students, Harry who was concentrating did not notice. Instead, with a negligent flick of his wand sent the board turning over. Then he remained motionless for a moment. A flash of a smile came to his face. His wand went behind his ear in a way reminiscent of Luna. A notepad came out of his bag and a biro followed it. Then he put the pad down flat on his 'worktable' and began to scribble equations.
He worked for about 10 minutes solid, and then began to work on rune schema, all under the watchful eyes of Capelle. The only one that had remained watching, her face a study in fascination
Once he was happy with the runes, he reached blindly for a scraping tool. A tiny little chisel in fact, then tongue caught between his teeth he began to create the rune scheme. Another ten minutes later, he nodded to himself. Then retrieved his wand and it flowed in an attractive way as he cast solidly for another 5 minutes. A low hum filled the room by the end of his casting sequence and he let out a breath.
Dean looked at him, "That's never going to work," he said with a grin.
Harry looked at him and smirked. Then flicked his wand at the board, it dropped to the floor, landing on its bottom side, it bobbed slightly then stabilised floating about an inch and a half off of the floor.
Dean clapped his hands laughing his head off. "Fan-Bloody-Tastic mate."
"What is it?" Capelle was forced to ask. Her curiosity getting the better of her
Harry walked around his desk without answering her, and then carefully stood on the board. It sunk less than a centimetre.
"Oh yeah... if that works out mate... PLEASE make me one," Dean said laughing still.
"Yes, but what is the point?" Capelle asked.
"It's a bloody skateboard." Dean said still laughing his head of with glee. "Oh man Harry, you are something else mate."
Harry smirked, and then used a foot to 'push' himself along. The skateboard and he wobbled a bit. Nevertheless, he had an amazing sense of balance from flying and fighting. Meaning he did not' come a cropper and instead 'floated' over to the edge of the classroom.
"But..." Dean said semi seriously, "Other than crashing head first into a wall, how do you stop?"
"Same as normal" Harry said, lifting his lead leg and pushing down with the tailing leg. The board tilted upwards. "There's a sort of sticking field at the back. Bit like a stopper on a roller-skate.," he explained. With a grin
"Give me it" Dean said with a matching grin, "I'll decorate a board for you to be proud of" he promised.
Harry smiled, and then kicked up the board, handing it to the young artist. "Okay mate, do that for me... I'll start on yours"
"Woohoo" Dean said with a grin, "I love skateboarding," he said enthusiastically.
"I'm not sure that's art," Capelle said with a slight smile, "But I applaud your ingenuity"
"Thank you Professor. I've been toying with a few magical equivalents of Muggle ... urh... toys." then he laughed, "Anyway, wait till Dean decorates it. Gonna do it traditional style?" Harry asked.
"Yeah... with a magical twist I think" Dean said. He had moved over to a black 'notepad' like arrangement. Only it was the size of an A1 sheet and blank paper. Another of Harry's little innovations for the room, he sketched out a design in mere minutes. With Harry and Capelle watching him
Capelle then looked at the pencil sketch critically. "I have seen this style before... Normally on walls." she commented. "In the Muggle world only though, where did you pick up the style?"
Dean smirked, "A misspent youth Professor" he explained.
Which caused Harry to start laughing again; much to the non-Muggle born's confusion.
-oOo-
"Woohoo, coming through" Dean yelled, with Harry laughing his arse off from not far behind. It was of little doubt who had the most experience on a Skateboard to Harry. Dean was flashing along at a fair clip, sending people running off all around him. With Harry following behind smiling his head off, revelling in being young and having a new, rather fun, way of entertaining himself
Dean casually made the board change ends, with a practised movement. Harry then duplicated the move, by following what Dean did exactly. They were finished with Art Class. They were now 'heading' for the Room of requirement. Which gave them a perfect excuse to try out their as yet undecorated boards, frankly, from the curious looks and in some cases explosions of glee, he could see a serious market for these things.
He would have to contact the twins. Better yet, they needed to set up some sort of formal business arrangement and expand quite a bit. Harry had once thought he was going to drag the Wizarding world into this century kicking and screaming. Now he had many ideas on how to do that. Almost subtly in fact, using things like the twin's excellent phones, or his CD charm, or even this Skateboarding 'invention', he wasn't sure it counted as an actual invention if he had copied the original idea or not. However, with those and a few other things he had on the back burner... It was quite possible that he and the twins could revolutionise the Wizarding world without anyone really noticing.
Which made Harry all kinds of amused.
He hit the brakes, sliding round a corner just the way Dean had. Frankly, Harry was learning all sorts about 'boarding from his artistic friend. It was also fun as hell.
"Whoa" Dean's voice called out from ahead. Drawing Harry's attention, the artist reached down, and grabbed his board and jumped upwards. He kicked his legs backwards a bit, and managed to get the board on a banister. The slid all the way down the sudden staircase to the next floor.
Harry let out a whoop. Then not to be out done, he tried his best to duplicate Dean's move. Ending up bouncing down the stairs on his arse instead
Dean came to a sudden halt, face shocked. Then a big fat smile broke out on his face. Harry was lying in a heap at the bottom of the stairs laughing his arse off.
"OW" Harry laughed, "OW" he tried again, but he was giggling so much he could not get out the rest of the sentence.
"You crazy bastard" Dean said with admiration. "You don't try that first night man!"
Harry laughed, and rolled onto his back, "Ow" he commented.
-oOo-
Hermione looked at the door to the Room of Requirement in shock. Dean and Harry had just exploded into the room floating on what looked like wheel-less skateboards. She shook her head; she MUST be seeing things surely.
Harry promptly fell off his board, since he was STILL laughing hard. All around Hermione, the various members of the DA club looked at Harry as if he was mad. Frankly, Hermione was never entirely sure he was not. She walked over to him and offered him a hand up.
Harry rolled on his back and smirked at her, "Hey beautiful" he said with a wink. Then took her hand and let her help him to his feet. He rubbed his bum absently. Dean meanwhile rolled, or is that glided, over on his board. The young man was shaking his head with admiration if Hermione was any judge.
"You're insane mate" Dean commented wryly. "Normally after a spill like that, you take a break. Not get back on the board ten seconds later."
Harry shrugged, with a slight wince, "Ow" he commented, and then smiled. "I don't know the meaning of the word Quit" he commented with a fake arrogant smile, before exploding into laughter again. "Oh I love those things." he commented, kicking up his board and laying it against the wall. Then he became a little more serious. Dean followed his example and put his board beside Harrys'.
Harry looked out at the room. It was pretty full. A lot of forth years and above where there, the age range he had agreed with Professor Dumbledore would be best suited. It also kept his workload down a bit. Professor Snape swept into the room. A half smile on his face.
"Hello Harry" he said by way of greeting, "You've created a bit of a stir" he commented.
Harry flashed him a grin. "Hello Professor Snape... Did I? Imagine that." he said tongue in cheek. Then turned towards the front and got a look of concentration on his face. The room swam into focus, a new room at that. A sort of classroom arrangement with desks lined up one for each student there. Snape dodged a larger desk that appeared at the front of the class and looked slightly impressed.
"Right then" Harry called out, causing all present to look at him. He noted that Draco was there, with his usual posse. Some other Slytherin's and a scattering of people from each house, which was good, the entire Ministry crew where there. Luna at the front with a twinkle in her eye, he did love that twinkle. He also looked forward to getting to know her better. However, time had not been his friend there. "This lesson is split into two rough halves," he said. "First off though a quick demonstration. Then I'm sorry, but some studying." he said to some groaning. "I know, I know. We didn't study last year, but what I'm about to show you takes some serious knowledge of spells."
That quietened the class down a bit.
"It's very simple in theory," Harry said. "I call it Spell Chaining"
Professor Snape leaned against the desk and looked at him curiously.
"I've kind of made it up... But, it's effective." Harry said. Then with a casual wave, he conjured a basketball. "See this? This is going to be our friend," he said with a grin. "It's a Basket Ball for those of you that don't know," he said. "With one slight difference, it's got a shield charm on it. Because we don't want to go blowing it up."
He reached down and picked up the large ball, bouncing it a little. "Right, Spell Chaining demo 1-o-1" he said then dropped the ball. He stopped the bouncing with his foot. Then kicked it against the nearby wall, he angled himself so the class could see. Meaning Snape had to move a bit to see himself.
The he drew his wand and held it point up. "The theory as I said is simple. I am going to cast three spells. However, there will not be a pause between casts. Most of you can cast silently now. So that helps, but those that cannot don't worry. You just have to learn to speak fast. The words of a spell are not very important really. The movements of your wand are" Harry said. This was not something he required actually to cast a chain. However, his pupils did not have the advantages he did.
"The three spells I'm going to cast are Levitation, A Stunner, and finally a bone breaker. These are not randomly chosen. As chains go it's not a LOT of use. But... watch."
Harry's wand began to dance. The ball lifted, then was batted backwards and finally exploded at the last movement of Harry's wand. "Whoops. I need to work on that shield apparently" he said to a silent room. From first movement to last, he had moved his wand for less than 5 seconds. So he then further shocked them. "I was going slowly so you could make out the movements." he said. "The fact is, that you can cast three or more spells in less than 2 seconds." he said. Then conjured another basketball, it was put in place. Harry's wand became a blur and the ball burst again. This time they had not been able to follow the movements, and the ball had hardly managed to lift.
"Like I said, not a great chain, but it's only a demo. You have to know your spells for this, but ANYONE can do chaining. You have to pick spells that end with a movement that will be close to or exactly the same as the start movement for the next spell to be cast. That sounds hard. But the fact of the matter is that most spells use common movements. Ask Professor Flitwick if you don't believe me" Harry said with a smirk. Knowing damn well most wouldn't believe him straight away.
"The upshot is that you can cast fast. Now Chains more than... Oh I dunno 6 movements. They aren't going to be a lot of good in a battle. Because you have to duck and dive and all that, which breaks the chain, but being able to chain cast 5 spells at your enemy in a flow means that you can shatter their shield, hit them with a stunner and bind them in one flowing cast." Harry told his class.
Even Professor Snape was making a mental note of this information.
"Right, for the next ... half an hour. I need to set up something. Giving you lot a chance to learn some spells from the books that will appear shortly. Try to find spells that you can chain. Then make a note of them. We'll run through them afterwards. Don't worry about how 'useful' a chain is right now. Just get the habit of thinking of spells that can be cast in a chain... Okay? Any questions?"
There was a resounding silence at that. SO Harry waved at the desks. A pile of books appeared on each desk with quills and parchment already in place. "Have at it then" he said with a smile. He turned to Professor Snape, who was looking at him with an impressed expression. "Professor, can I get your help?"
"Of course Harry" Snape said. Then follow his assistant to the back of the room. They went through the door that had appeared there and Harry made sure to close it behind them. "That's amazing Harry" Snape said finally. "I've never thought of doing that. Not even Aurors have thought of that."
Harry shrugged, "The theory has been banging around for a while now. But no one has taken that step and started to create chains." he said self deprecatingly.
"But you did" Snape said. "That's impressive"
"Thank you." Harry said with a slight blush. In truth he would never have been able to come up with the idea if not for his 'donors' impressive memory for, and knowledge of, spells. But now he had, he intended to share. It gave those that could cast that way a singular advantage in battle situations. By teaching the forth years to do it now, well by time they left school they would be awesome.
"How many chains have you come up with so far... and how long are they?" Severus asked.
"Not that many for each 'grouping'. I tend to group in length. 3,4,5 and a couple of 6's. I have quite a few 3's. Not many 6's. Mostly 4's and 5's. Leaning to move your wand fast and still maintaining the correct movements is the hardest part really. The spell diagrams in all the books make creating chains fairly easy." Harry said. "Then you have to memorise them. It's not something you can do off the cuff really."
"No, I would image not. Is this a new idea? You didn't use it in our mock battle."
"No it's new, as in less than a couple of a days new" Harry said. "I was working on a little something I'm toying with and noticed the spells I was casting flowed from one to the other fairly well. I then tapped my ... stolen... knowledge" He grinned at that, "and started to think of why and how they did that." he shrugged, "From there it was easy"
Severus smirked. The boy had a way of creating connections that was far from easy. But it was pointless telling him that. His mother had been the same actually. "What are we setting up here?"
"Right" Harry said with a nod, "I don't actually need help with this" he said and created what looked to be a bowling alley with a lane for each person in the class. "I actually wanted to talk to you. I thought we could talk while I set up."
Snape nodded, "What can I do for you Harry?" he asked.
"Well, you aren't going to like how I start but it's easier this way." Harry said.
"Oh dear, go one." Snape said with a slight chuckle.
"I've give you odds that Volde-face has your number." Harry said bluntly. "He's made you into an unwitting Double agent in my humble opinion."
Snape blanched at that thought.
"Soon he's going to tire of that game, then he'll kill you."
Snape nodded, "If you're correct that would be my best guess too."
"Well, my suggestion is this..."
"..Stop spying?" Snape guessed.
Harry nodded.
"I would, but he can still call me too him. It wouldn't matter if I stopped, he would still kill me, probably sooner if I stop. I would be of no use to him then would I?"
"You can't ignore the call?" Harry said conjuring another basket ball. Drawing his wand he began casting on it.
Snape shook his head. "For a while yes, but after a short while the pain becomes far too intense."
"That's what I thought. Well, last night you may have noticed some... pain."
Snape guffawed, "I may have" he said dryly.
"That was me, urm... stealing a dark mark." Harry said. "It was my intention to remove it... It didn't work,. Instead I changed it, bound it to me. I'll do that for you if you want. I would imagine that out of the two of us, you would rather be ... bound to me in such a fashion. After all I doubt I'll be calling many meetings" Harry said with a smirk.
Snape nodded, "You can really do that?" he asked.
Harry nodded, "I can. Not tonight probably. It takes it out of me a bit and frankly I'm going to need everything I've got this evening." he said with a bitter smile on his face.
"Anything I can help with?" Snape asked.
Harry shook his head, "Unfortunately not Professor"
"I think, considering I'll be bound to you..." Snape smiled, "You can call me Severus" he said.
Harry smiled in return, "You'd better let the Headmaster know what we intend and I'll do it tomorrow night. Which has the nice side effect of further annoying and probably hurting snake lips." Harry said, stopping casting. Then he walked from one end of the 'bowling hall' to the other. Bouncing the ball towards the end of each alley, the ball bounced off of some unseen shielding, but duplicated at the same time. Sending the duplicate to the end of the Alley, each alley then grew a wall around it. Protecting it from the surrounding alleys, and vice versa.
He caught Severus's curious look. Harry smiled, "Testing Power Levels." he said. Indicating the nearest lane he said, "The 'marks' appear on the screen thingy. An average calculated as they go. I'll make them cast for at least half and hour. Which will have the side effect of ... well we call it endurance training in the Muggle world. I intend to do this every end of lesson. With the first half changing often to stop them getting board."
"Interesting"
"I have a couple of ideas for games too. But I need to make the equipment first. Stuff to improve reactions, spell casting speed and some just for more endurance training. Hand and eye co-ordination will be helped too. With any luck the games will be fun" Harry noted wryly. Then shrugged, "I think they will at least"
"So, shall we have a ... tickle?" Severus said with a slight smile. He had no real need to test himself against Harry, but he did want to see what Harry could do.
Harry grinned, "Yeah why not" he said with a chuckle.
They lined up in adjacent rows. "Ready?" Snape called out.
"Let's rock" Harry said.
"What do we cast?" Snape suddenly asked.
"Stunner's will do it. Just pour as much magic in as you can." Harry said, lifting his wand and taking aim. "You can call the ball forward or send it back. Depending on your best aiming distance, I Just use the arrow keys on the screen thingy."
"You'll have to come up with a better name than Screen Thingy" Snape told him and moved the ball to his best range.
Harry laughed, "Yeah, suppose I should really" he noted. "OK, rock and roll" he said and began casting.
Snape did the same.
-oOo-
"Oh, shit!"
Harry poked his head around to the next lane in row a curious expression on his face. He and the professor had been casting fairly constantly for the last twenty minutes.
Snape turned to Harry, sucking his finger holding up his wand which was smoking slightly. Which caused Harry to laugh. "Oh" he said, "Hadn't thought of that" he noted wryly.
"I would never have guessed Harry" Snape said dryly, "I take it your own wand is not... smoking?"
Harry shook his head and held up his gently glowing wand, "Not smoking no" he said ironically.
"This is a problem" Snape noted.
Harry nodded. Then looked thoughtful, before smiling
"You have Eureka face." Snape noted with some humour.
Harry chuckled, then cast a cooling charm on his wand.
Snape got the same look and did the same thing. Both wands stopped glowing fairly quickly and Snape's stopped smoking almost straight away. "Right... off we go again" Snape said and began to cast once more. Now happy that his wand was not about to explode in his face.
Harry smirked, his eyes flicking over the potions professors scoring. With an impressed nod he went back to his own lane and wiped his own scores. Then began to cast again
-oOo-
Hermione walked into the rear room, puzzled. Harry and Professor Snape weren't back yet and they had over run their time limit by about 5 minutes so far. So as next 'senior' member of the DA she had been nominated to find out what was going on. There was some worry that they had killed each other. But Hermione had noticed that Professor Snape and Harry had been getting on much better of late. Still, it was of a small concern. She slid into the room undetected and listened to the snap hiss of spells being fired off almost constantly.
She walked further into the room to see what looked a lot like a bowling alley with a long line of lanes, she noticed that the missing professor and assistant professor were sharing a lane. Firing off spells in turn, she further noticed they were actually laughing in a companionable fashion. Which was more than a little surprising.
"Nice shot, see if you can make it spin upwards." Harry said, his voice filled with humour.
"You're so bloody clever you try it" came Professor Snape's equally mirth filled tones.
A pause a spell being fired and then, "Oh you big show off" Professor Snape said dryly. Followed by Harry laughing
"Urm.." Hermione said, drawing both of their attentions, "What's going on?" she asked with a slight smile.
"The professor and I were just making up a bit of a game" Harry said. Then nodded to the bouncing ball at the end of the lane, "the idea at the moment is to make the thing dance." he said. Firing of a spell that made it bounces even higher. Then he followed up with a shot that made it bounce to the end of the lane and back up again.
"Ohh, that's got to be worth a Butter beer" Harry noted wryly.
"Pfft," Professor Snape said, then managed to make the ball spin, and shoot off down the aisle like a rocket.
"Ohh, nice one." Harry noted.
"Half and hour is up" Hermione pointed out.
"Oh!" Harry said in surprise. Hermione noted that Snape too looked a little shocked at that. "Go get them for me 'Mione" Harry said. He turned to Severus after Hermione had gone to do his bidding. "I owe you a Firewhisky that last trick blew mine out of the water."
Snape smirked and blew on the end of his wand. Making Harry laugh again.
Then the class filed into the room, standing in a clump nearby to Harry. "Right, cast a cooling charm on your wands people." Harry said. "If you can't self cast, work with a partner." he added.
The class did as they were asked. "We've found it necessary" Harry said. Walking to his aisle he zeroed his scores. Then walked back and stored the Professors. Using the professor as a baseline, he would have to get the Headmaster in for a more powerful comparison. There was little point using his own scores as a baseline, with no false modesty he knew it would be setting the bar a little high. "This is kind of a game and a little endurance training. You've cooled your wands because they will be getting hot. Even with the charms, don't touch the end." he said tossing the potions Professor a look filled with gently mocking mirth.
"Pick an aisle." Harry said, waiting for his class to do as requested. Then he magnified his voice. Since the line of lanes was quite long. "All you have to do is cast Stunner's. Put as much power as you can into each cast. You'll notice the ... monitor... in front of you. It records the power of each spell. Also it creates and average score based on each individual score and the amount of shots." he said, clarifying the point for the pure bloods who may not actually know how to find a mean value. He hoped they did, but had no idea of the schooling a Pure Blood got before school.
"When I say Go, you start. When I shout stop, you stop. It's that easy. Okay... Go"
The room filled with voices and the sound of spells being fired off. He and the Professor then walked up and down the line, correcting stances, technique and watching the scores.
-oOo-
Cissy smiled at her sister. Something drastic had happened to the so called Insane Black. A lightness in the woman's heart that was as pleasant as it was a shock. This was the Bella of old only older in age. She had that wicked sense of humour and sparkling eyes she had back in her school days tempered with a little darkness in her soul.
Either way, it was a welcome change. Something had happened when Harry had stolen the Dark Mark, according to Bella. She didn't know what exactly, and had tired unsuccessfully to explain it to her sister Cissy. It wasn't easy to explain though. Other than the over simplified 'It flushed out the darkness'. Which was accurate and at the same time, didn't give it justice.
They were sat in Bella's 'quarters' in Black Castle. In other words the sectioned off room that Harry had made the day before. They had been talking for some time. Soon after Harry had left the evening before Bella had woken up and had been in surprisingly high spirits. Cissy had then been the one to give her the news about her now ex-husband. Ex as in dead, but Bella had been almost overjoyed to realise the bastard was really gone. Cissy had then used her rudimentary knowledge of healing spells to finish the job that Harry had started, setting Bella's ribs back in place and helping her sister to tidy herself up. She had then told her the particulars of what Harry had done for her. Well, more for Cissy than Bella, but she benefited as well.
Bella had been... wary about Harry. She seemed grateful but at the same time she didn't know what to make of Harry helping her like that. It pretty much ran contrary to everything she had learnt under Voldemort's rule. A Death Eater was essentially a loner, working together only when they had to and not expecting support from anyone. Even when they were forced to work together. Which was all the better to control them with of course, making sure they didn't bunch up and create a power play that would topple Voldemort from his position as head. So she couldn't quite grasp that Harry had helped her, or why.
Cissy thought that was very, very sad really. She only hoped that her sister would learn what it was to be a real member of a 'family' once more. When Bella had been younger she and Cissy had been very tight. Even back then Andy had her own views and had been closer to Sirius than any one else. Perhaps a little closer than she should've been in point of fact. But Andy had then gone off and Married Ted Tonks, which begot Nymphadora of course. So Andy was happy with her world. Where as Cissy and Bella had not been. Talk about following the wrong path in life.
Fleur and Bella got on surprisingly well since Bella had a serious racist streak in her. Or had that been Rudolphus that had been the racist. The Marriage contract then forcing Bella to be the same. It was a terrible piece of magic, akin to slavery but wrapped up in the form of a marriage. Cissy despised the damn things, and was only happy she was lucky enough not to be caught under one. If she had of been then divorcing Lucius would never have come to pass that was for sure. By the same token she would not have been in a position to protect her sister from Harry's more draconian streak. The cold hard reptile part of Harry that would've slaughtered Bella as soon as look at her. Cissy hoped that Harry would come to see this new Bella as a separate person. Though she had doubts that he would be able to. But then hope was not the most logical thing in the world, nor were interpersonal relationships.
"You've gone thoughtful" Bella noted with a slight smile.
"Harry is due soon" Cissy said.
Bella nodded, turning thoughtful herself.
"How do you feel about this?" Cissy asked eventually.
Bella smiled thinly. "I really have only two choices at this point" Bella noted, "I can go back to what I was, assuming Harry won't kill me where I stand for saying it. Or I can do this and perhaps become what I once was. Proud."
Cissy nodded, "He's a good man" she said simply.
Bella looked at her shrewdly, "You're in love with him" she pointed out.
Cissy smiled, "He's half my age, or near enough that it doesn't matter."
"That's neither a denial, or an acceptance." Bella pointed out.
"No... I suppose it isn't" Cissy said with a half smile.
"He is... impressive now" Bella said slowly. "Handsome too. Better looking by far than his father, must be his mothers line mixing in."
"Is it always about lines?" Cissy asked.
"It's just the way I see it." Bella replied. "I've grown older with nothing but purity of lines to keep me warm at night. It's a ... shock, to find they really aren't as important as I thought. If they were then Harry would now be dead and LeStrange would still hold sway over me, wouldn't he?"
Cissy had to agree with that, "I see your point."
"In some ways, Potter is a sign of the times. The change the Wizarding world seems to need. This is the exact opposite of the change I thought it needed. That is a somewhat humbling realisation." Bella admitted a little grudgingly, "I'm not saying we're not better. Because I still think Pure Bloods have a few advantages when it comes to magic. But... our culture, our way of life. Is perhaps stagnant. It needs people like Potter I think. Which I find..."
"Amazing?"
"Disturbing" Bella corrected. "That I've lived my life in the pursuit of a single goal, a goal I now realise is wrong. That disturbs me greatly. If not for you. Because I KNOW it was you that got Potter to come for me... I would die for my previous goals and previous master. Now... Perhaps, I will live to become something else. What that is I do not yet know. Other than lonely."
Cissy looked at her sister seriously, "Lonely?" she asked.
"You think Potter will lay hand on me when this... ritual is complete? I don't think so. The contract is worded in such a way that I cannot have extra... contractual affairs. Otherwise I would've taken a lover long ago. I will most assuredly be lonely."
Cissy wrapped an arm around her sister, "Give him time. He will surprise you. He surprises me continuously."
"That definitely sounds like Love" Bella pointed out.
Cissy smiled, "He's like that. You may ... come to that realisation yourself in time."
"I hope not. As I said, he won't touch me after this night." Bella said with a sigh, "It's been so long." she added, "No one since my wedding night."
Cissy looked a little surprised at that causing Bella to laugh.
"You think LeStrange wanted anything other than a token wife and an occasional punch bag?"
Cissy growled, "I'm glad the fucker is dead"
"As am I. Which means I owe you, and Potter a debt"
"You're my sister, you owe me no debt. But..."
Bella looked at her curiously, "What?"
"Try calling him Harry." she said.
Bella stiffened and looked up, "He's here" she said. Suddenly looking scared, "Is he gentle?" she asked in a tone unheard from her in years. A scared tone.
"He's a consummate lover. Just ask Fleur." Cissy said, rubbing her sisters back, "He won't hurt you."
"You haven't..." Bella asked, trailing off her question clear.
"Not yet. But I will, soon I hope." Cissy said with a wicked grin.
"Is he... big?" Bella asked with a hint of her own humour.
"He's certainly a mouthful" Cissy commented. "Now go, prepare. I will see about relaxing him."
Bella smirked.
"Not like that." Cissy said with a laugh.
-oOo-
Harry skated into the Grand Hall, his coat tails flaring behind him with the speed of his travel. He was thinking he wouldn't be walking around so much from now on. This was almost as much fun as flying in point of fact. Dean had given him a few pointers and his natural grace helped a fair bit. In truth he had seen Skateboards around, but never been on one before earlier that day. Dudley had one once, but the young Dudley was not what one could call graceful. But Harry had been fascinated by them ever since.
He kicked back on the board, coming to a half in front of a curious Cissy. He flashed her a smile, "Hello my darling" he said.
"You seem in high spirits" she noted.
"Had a fun day" Harry commented. "Someone, can't think who, did rather a good prank this morning. Started the day the right way" he said with an impish smile. "Then later on I made this beauty. It's a hell of a lot of fun. Wanna ride?" he asked.
Cissy laughed, but shook her head, "I like my feet on the ground generally speaking. Unless they are in the air next to your neck of course." she said with a wicked smile.
Harry chuckled, his mood taking a rapid downwards shift when the looked at the door to Bellatrix's quarters.
"She's waiting for you" Cissy said, noting his mood and direction of his gaze.
Harry took a deep breath, "Any chance I skip that Black sister and go straight on to the one I want?" he asked with a half smile and a wink at her.
Cissy pouted, "No" she said simply. "But... You'll be pleased to know I'm not the jealous type and look forward to taking you up on that comment."
Harry snorted a light laugh. Then squared his shoulders. Setting his stance a little aggressively for Cissy's liking. "Harry!" she stopped him just as he was about to take a step forward. He looked at her curiously. "Be gentle with her. LeStrange was an abusive bastard."
Harry frowned, his stance relaxing. "I was set a bit aggressive wasn't I?" he asked with a self directed frown. "This is... difficult." he said.
"She may surprise you Harry. She's changed. The contract shift and what ever you did to her mark... It's changed her a bit, made her more into the way she was." Cissy told him. Then tip toed and kissed him chastely, "For me... Give her a chance."
Harry nodded, though he was thinking he had done quite a lot for Cissy of late. He couldn't refuse her though. She had wormed her way into his heart, not that he'd admit it to anyone though.
He then, in a more relaxed stance, walked into Bella's quarters.
Fleur appeared almost as soon as he had. Causing Cissy to turn to her in surprise.
"I just got away" Fleur said. "I wanted to... support 'Arry."
"He's just gone in." Cissy said.
"Then I will Support you" Fleur said and conjured two chairs for them. She held up a small button looking device. Her smile was somewhat wicked.
"What's that?" Cissy asked.
Fleur put a finger to her mouth, disillusioned the odd little thing and waved her wand where it had been. It flew over the wall and landed in the centre of the room, invisible and virtually undetectable.
Cissy looked at her curiously. Fleur smirked and flicked her wand at the wall. A wide-screen TV like monitor appeared showing the inside of the room.
"Sneaky" Cissy noted. Also noted that Harry was standing silently by the door. Bella was behind a screen out of sight.
"We will keep an eye on them non?"
"Oui, and get our jollies at the same time?"
Fleur smirked in reply and they both settled back to watch.