Ch 8: The Lessons Begin
When Harry began screaming again that night, Hermione was the first one to arrive. She found Ron by his side, shaking his shoulder, trying to wake him up. "Let him sleep," she hissed as she shouldered him aside to put another damp cloth on his forehead and began smoothing his hair. When Molly arrived, she shooed away the other adults who were coming to check on Harry saying, "It's alright. He just needs the cloth to cool his fever. It helped earlier, it will probably do the same tonight." She watched as Hermione continued to comfort Harry, and looked on as Harry quickly relaxed and fell easily into a deep sleep. Ron watched curiously for a moment and then headed back to his bed. When she returned to check on the teens later, Harry and Ron were both sound asleep, as was Hermione in a chair. Gently waking her up, she led Hermione back to her room.
In the morning, everyone awoke refreshed, though Hermione was slightly tired. Harry didn't remember having any nightmares and nobody reminded him that he had. After a filling breakfast, the teens headed to the study. Hermione gave the twins a list of books and supplies and they left. Harry and Hermione began reading through some of the books they had picked out last night and Ron went to offer his mom some help.
When Dumbledore arrived at ten, Hermione went back to her room for a nap while Harry began his first lesson. Dumbledore proceeded in much the same manner as Snape had, but offered much more explanation and advice before beginning. Harry found it much easier to concentrate than he ever had with Snape. Dumbledore, too, seemed pleased with Harry's efforts. After they had practiced Occlumency for an hour, Dumbledore described several exercises he wanted Harry to practice for focusing the mind and improving his concentration.
"These exercises will help refine your ability to focus and concentrate. The biggest difference between magic with a wand and magic without a wand is the level of mental discipline and focus required. The wand is a tremendous aid to the wizard or witch in focusing the power of the magic into the spell desired. But without a wand, your mind alone must focus, shape, and above all, control the magical power you summon for your spell. Do these exercises as often as possible, they will help in a variety of ways," counseled Dumbledore at the end of the session.
"How else will they help?" asked Harry.
"Well, for one, they will help you with all of the extra reading and studying you will be doing. Later on I will teach you some techniques to help you read faster and remember more clearly what you have read, but focus on these exercises for now. Also, as you improve at these exercises, you will probably notice an increase in the power of the spells you will cast with a wand, so be careful."
"What? Why?"
"As your ability to focus and concentrate improves, it is only natural that your strength in casting spells with a wand will improve as well."
"Wow. Great! I hadn't thought of that."
"Well keep it in mind and use it for motivation if you need. But remember to always be careful when you cast spells, especially during the coming school year. Before you return to classes, I will show you how to control the amount of energy you put into a spell so that nobody gets hurt accidentally or becomes aware of any increase in your magical power."
"You mean I might accidentally hurt someone with one of my spells if I study this extra stuff?" asked Harry worriedly.
"Not at first. It is far too soon to tell how much you will benefit from these exercises. We will have to wait and see. But we will be careful Harry. Do not worry," comforted Dumbledore before he turned to leave. "Professor McGonagall will be here tomorrow and then I will be back the day after at the same time. Practice the exercises as often as you can Harry." Dumbledore then left.
After lunch, Harry had a couple of hours to practice what Dumbledore had taught him before he began his DADA lessons with Lupin and Moody. In the basement, they cleared out a large room that they could use to practice dueling and practice various spells and counter-curses. On the first day, they did mostly review work, but before finishing they assigned Harry a chapter to cover for the next day.
Harry and the others quickly fell into a fairly regular routine. Harry would wake up Ron an hour before breakfast and they would go outside to get a little exercise and fly on their brooms for a bit. Breakfast was followed by reading in the study, until either Dumbledore or McGonagall arrived for Harry's morning lesson. Lunch was followed with more study time. Harry split his time doing his homework from his summer classes and practicing the exercises Dumbledore had given him. At four, he would have DADA lessons with Lupin, Moody, or Tonks. Dinner followed, and then more study time until bedtime. While Harry was in classes, Hermione, with Ron's help, was studying the spells and preparing the potions they would need for the Animagus transformations.
Of course, the nightmares continued every night, but they seemed to be decreasing in severity. Hermione kept a ready supply of damp cloths in her room since she was always the first one to respond to Harry's screams. After a few days, the only ones who continued to get up were Hermione and Molly. Hermione took care of Harry and Molly made sure that Hermione didn't wear herself out.
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