Harry Potter and the Alucinor Dicio

Chapter 19 - Rumbles, Waves and Friends with Fangs

The next day, Harry and Hermione were sitting together in Potions class, listening as Snape was assigning an extra credit report. Harry groaned inwardly, as he knew there was no way Hermione would turn down extra credit, and she would invariably rope him into being her partner. Sure enough, no sooner had Snape turned to put their latest potion on the board, Hermione turned to him excitedly.

“ Harry this is great, we were planning on making our own supply of the Strengthening Potion anyway, now we can do it for our report!” Hermione whispered excitedly. Harry refrained from pointing out that as Snape gave him the book, and was helping to train him, it was probably exactly why he brought the extra credit report up.

“ Yeah, that'll be perfect Mione, no sneaking potion ingredients. Although I don't think we would have had to anyway.” Harry commented as he stirred the potion in their cauldron 32 times precisely. Harry found he was much more able to concentrate in Potions since Rowen and Snape had forgiven one another. Probably because he's getting some. Ewww. “ At any rate, I wouldn't exactly turn down extra marks, I , unlike you, could use them.”

“ Great, I'll speak to Professor Snape after class, hopefully we'll be able to get our materials before this weekend.” Hermione bounced up and down as she spoke, so eager was she to start. Harry shook his head, of course I get the girl who's excited to do schoolwork. Harry thought this to himself, but he knew he wouldn't change her for the world. His Hermione was perfect just the way she was. As the bell rang signaling the end of class, Harry gathered up their books, as Hermione spoke to Snape at the front of the class.

Harry handed Hermione her bag, as they walked out the door together, heading for Charms. “ He said you could get the ingredients this evening if you'd like. At Rowen's.” she added unnecessarily. Harry had only visited Rowen once or twice since October and found her alone. Every other time Snape was there with her. Harry was happy for her. He and Hermione walked into Charms, sitting at the table Ron had reserved for them. Ron was yawning exaggeratedly, as he loved the fact that he slept in while Harry and Hermione attended Potions. Hermione just rolled her eyes at him.

Hermione discussed their impending training this weekend, as it was the new year now, and they expected Rowe to announce any day that Harry would finally be putting his powers to use. Harry felt almost relieved that the time was finally upon him to actually do something, instead of just preparing. Hermione on the other hand , would be perfectly content if they could just train forever. Harry didn't blame her for worrying, he didn't know how she handled it. He'd be mental if it was her fate to kill or be killed.

Harry's thoughts wandered, as Flitwick was only revisiting what they had learned in first term, he allowed Hermione's voice to wash over him as she spoke. Harry often worried about the battle and what it could mean for his friends if the worse happened and he were to fail. He tried to think positively for Hermione's sake, but every so often he would have horrible thoughts of what they would do if he were to die. Harry only knew that he had to do his absolute best for both of his friends. In this Harry was comforted by the thought that they at least had each other. Harry was jerked out of his morose thoughts by the bell again signaling the classes end. Harry hardly remembered any of it.

Harry and Hermione were sitting in the common room later, when Hermione mentioned going to see Rowen for the ingredients. Harry laughed at her eagerness, and asked if she would like to came along. Hermione shot out of her chair, and they walked down towards the entrance hall, holding hands. Once past the goblin statue, they strode up to Rowen's portrait, knocking on the frame. The painting swung open revealing a smiling Rowen.

“ Ah Harry! Here for your eye of newt and toe of frog? “ she teased while ushering them inside. Snape sat by the fire, looking archly at her. “ Sorry, Severus, I'm sure that there are very few frog's toes involved!” she laughed at him. He just sniffed and looked away, although Harry thought he saw a crack of a smile.

Rowen made them sit, and set about getting tea ready, before joining them around the fire. “ Harry, how was the end of your holidays? Albus told me you'd gone to see Minerva. She's doing so much better now!” Rowen's face lit up with a smile.

“ They were.. good. Very relaxing. I even read some of that book you gave me. I practiced the binding charm, Ron didn't like that so much.” Harry chuckled as he spoke, as beside him, Hermione snorted behind her hand.

“ That's great Harry, I'm glad you got the chance to relax. Now.. it will be time to make an attempt.” Harry swallowed visibly as she spoke. “ Albus feels it's best if he were present, so we'll be doing it Saturday. On Wednesday we'll meet in the clearing as usual, but we'll be in the Room of Requierment on Saturday.” Harry nodded to show he understood. Rowen looked at his pale face, before taking one of his hands in hers.

“ Harry, there is nothing wrong with being afraid. We will not allow anything to happen to you, even should you be detected, your are only a thought away from being back here.” Rowen stated this softly. Harry looked up, feeling Snape's eyes on him. Harry understood, in a moment of clarity, that this is how it must have felt to go back there and pretend, praying not to get caught. He felt Hermione grip his other hand almost painfully.

“ Yeah. I'm sure I'll be okay. Gryffindor courage, right? We have a lot of homework to do tonight, and I know Hermione is eager to start that potion.” Snape rose at Harry's words, walking over to a cabinet along the wall, that had not been there last time Harry visited. When he turned, he had a satchel full of ingredients. He handed them to Hermione, who practically snatched them from him in her eagerness.

Harry glanced at the cabinet and looked at Rowen, who blushed, nodding in his direction. Harry grinned to himself, and allowed his girlfriend to drag him from the room, while hollering a short goodbye over her shoulder. Harry looked down at Hermione as they walked. She had her head practically stuck in the bag.

“ Oh Harry! He's given us the powdered dragon claw, and the Unicorn hair, and the baboon's blood. I think we have the rest in our potion ingredients kits. He's given us way more than necessary though!” Harry chuckled at her.

“ Well, he knows we're going to be making more than is necessary for just a school project now doesn't he?” Hermione nodded thoughtfully at that, finally pulling her head out of the bag.

“ Well, yes, although we are going to do a single batch before brewing up the extra. I want to make sure it comes out perfectly, I have no desire to poison you, you know!” Hermione turned to him as she spoke.

“ Well I am awfully glad you don't, as it would be so easy for you to do! Good thing I trust you.” Harry's eyes twinkled in a familiar manner as he spoke. “ What I can't believe is that they are living together now! I didn't think teachers were allowed to do that.”

“ Well there's nothing specifically written against it per say, it's just an unwritten guideline, really... Wait! What did you say? How do you know?” Hermione asked.

“ Did you not see his private potion stores cabinet in her room? Last time we saw that it was in Snape's office! Plus Rowen sort of confirmed it for me. I'll try to speak with her alone at Wednesday's training.. Oh no! I forgot to tell her about Lupin helping out! Do we have Defense Against the Dark Arts before Wednesday?” Hermione shook her head, they had class on Thursday. Harry sighed. “ maybe it's better if they just deal with it anyway.” Hermione shot him a doubtful glance, but remained silent as they walked towards their dorms.

On Wednesday, Harry, Hermione and Ron were approaching the clearing when they could hear raised voices. One was Rowen's and the other... was Lupin's. Harry mentally kicked himself for not warning Rowen about Lupin's presence.

“ Oh would the two of you just stop! Rowen, clearly, Harry wanted Remus here, so he'll be here. As for you, Harry has been training with her very well up until this point, and you needn't try to undermine her. You both have things to teach Harry. So just , shut up, smile and do it!” Snape's voice carried towards them. Ron laughed. Harry and Hermione looked at him strangely.

“ Sorry, but, well he sounds a bit like you did last year Harry!” Harry winced, remember how awful he had been to his friends last year. Hermione and Ron laughed as they entered the clearing, only to see Snape standing in the middle of Lupin and Rowen wearing an exasperated expression. Both of them were studiously ignoring the other.

“ Harry! How are you? Ready to start? Did Hermione finish the potion, because Severus brought some if you need it.” Rowen started speaking as soon as she laid eyes on Harry. Harry held up his flask, indicating that it was filled with the clear red potion.

“ I took some before we came down, actually” he grinned sheepishly. Rowen just laughed.

“ Alright. Well Harry, we're going to do the other two elements tonight, then if we have time Lupin will be going over an alternative to the killing curse with you. Apparently it's something the Order has worked on! So wasting no time then! “ As she spoke, Snape was leading Ron, Hermione and Lupin behind the shield he had erected. Rowen watched for a brief moment before turning.

“ Rowen.. I'm really sorry I didn't warn you about asking Lupin to help. I just forgot, and I feel awful..” Harry lowered his voice so that it would not carry.

“ It's alright, Harry. It's your party, and you can invite half the school if you want. Although that would defeat the purpose of the whole secrecy thing we've got going on here.” Rowen lowered her voice along with him, before beginning to speak normally again. “ Okay, so which one first? Water or Earth?”

“ Earth , I think, for now.” Harry stated.

“ Great, saving the swim for last. Excellent. Okay Harry, Earth can be controlled in many ways. It is most effective in battle when used to create fissures in the ground, to swallow the enemy, or another effective one is the shock wave. The fissure thing can be a problem, because if one of us falls in..” she made a slicing motion across her throat. “ The shock wave, however can be modified, so that only the enemy feels it. So here's what we do, picture the ground rising and falling, out from you, like wter rippling in a lake when you throw a stone. Next picture your allies clearly in your head, and see them standing still throughout the wave. Got it in there?” Harry nodded hesitantly, hoping he wouldn't hurt anyone. “ Okay, incantation is ; Compos Humus! Alright?”

Harry stood in the clearing picturing it in his head, over and over again. Once he had it fixed, he widened his stance, Raising both hands and shouted “ Compos Humus!” the ground rose at his feet as if in a wave, it spread out from his starting point, rolling past Rowen, who just seemed to rise and fall with it, and continued on, out past the group at the edge of the clearing. It's odd, like you were watching water, but consciously knew that it was the earth moving like this, not water.

“ Excellent Harry! Really well done. Ugh, damn thing made me a bit seasick I think!” Rowen smiled at Harry while holding her stomach. She finally took some deep breaths and stood. “ That was really good Harry. Now this is a good stall tactic for battle, but it wouldn't really kill anyone, just knock em down. We'll practice the fissures next week okay? I want to move on to water so that Lupin can have a chance to do his stuff with you. So, ugh, water. Um, let's see you can make it rain, obviously, or have a flood happen out of a stream. Water is a bit weird that way, it's more difficult to conjure than fire, it's easiest if you have a source to work from. Which is why I picked a clearing with a stream! Oh! We could do a small tsunami, that would be good.” She stopped speaking momentarily to cast the Impervious charm on herself.

“ So I won't get wet, you know! Alright, so you know the drill, picture what you want it to do. The incantation for water is unsurprisingly Compos Aqua. So go ahead!” Rowen stepped slightly back.

Harry turned towards the stream, and closed his eyes, picturing the water swelling over the bank. He visualized it rising up in a wall, and crashing to earth all at once, sweeping the ground along with it. He raised his wand and spoke. “ Compos Aqua!” The water reacted just the way Harry had imagined, rising high in the air and crashing down over them, sweeping across the clearing in a torrent of water. When Harry lowered his wand he heard coughing behind him. He turned to see a very wet, angry Rowen. She was soaked.

“ That's your idea of a small wave?! Gah, Harry! It's the impervious charm, not the air freaking tight charm!” Harry heard the others approaching and what suspiciously sounded like laughter coming from Snape and Lupin. Harry smiled at her.

“ I'm sorry, I didn't think it would get that big!” Harry was casting a drying charm over her as he spoke, which worked, but failed to remove any of the dirt. Harry tried very hard to contain the laughter. He just manged to keep it in, but Snape and Lupin were both laughing out loud. She glared at them, which had no apparent effect, and soon Ron, Hermione and Harry joined in. Rowen glared, and then huffed, and finally started to laugh herself.

“ Don't do it again! I swear next time, I'm staying behind the damn shield!” Rowen mock glared at him. Then she did something shocking, and turned to Lupin. “ Remus did you need any help with your lesson?” Lupin looked shocked for a moment, before responding.

“Actually, yes.. It would be helpful to have live targets to practice on, and as you are quite the best hunter among us, I wondered if you could round some up?” As Lupin spoke, Rowen was casting Scourgify on herself to get rid of most of the mess. She nodded in Lupin's direction and then.. she seemed to change. Her eyes, usually a steely gray, turned into a molten silver, they grew an almost feral look in them. When she smiled, Harry could see that her incisor teeth had grown longer and sharper. Harry knew that Rowen was a vampire, but it had never been something he had thought about until now. She looked.. terrifying, and beautiful all at once. Harry heard Ron whimper slightly behind him. They all watched as Rowen started running towards the forest at a speed that couldn't be called human.

When she had disappeared, Snape cleared his throat. “ Um, she doesn't always remember how different she looks when she does that.” he smiled his tight small smile. “ Are you all, okay?” Harry, Ron and Hermione just continued to stare at the tree line. It was Lupin who broke the silence surprisingly.

“ Well, she is what she is. None of us would hold it against her.” he simply stated. Harry turned now to stare at Lupin in shock. Lupin just smiled. “ While I doubt we will ever be really good friends Harry, I have decided to try my best to get along.” Harry grinned at this, happy that they would at least make an effort.

“ Alright Harry, I guess we'll go over the curse until Rowen returns with some animals. The order, well, Dumbledore really has been developing it as an alternative to Avada Kedavra. It is still a killing curse, but this cause the life to be forced out of the subject. Life only, the soul remains intact. So not nearly as much strength of feeling is required to cast it.” As Lupin spoke all three of them were listening intently, as was Snape.

“ The incantation is Adduco Letum which roughly broken down means to bring death. I don't want you to practice until Rowen gets here with the animals.” Hermione looked slightly ill at the thought of killing small animals, which only grew when they looked up to see Rowen striding into the clearing levitating a bunch of rabbits behind her.

“ I figured you'd like to start with something small? I forgot to ask.” Lupin nodded, saying that they were excellent.

“ Now normally I would cast a freezing charm to allow you time to aim, but it hardly seems fair, and it won't happen in a real situation. You need to learn to fire at a moving target. We will however set up a containment field around a small area, as I don't want them to escape. Harry, you try first.” Harry stepped up, feeling slightly sick to be taking the small frightened animals life for no reason. He shook these thoughts off, knowing he had to be cruel to win. It wasn't a sacrifice of the animal, it was a necessary task to prepare. He doubted Voldemort had felt a twinge of anything on any of the occasions he had attempted to kill Harry. He raised his wand, looking for a clear target.

“ Adduco Letum!” a jet of blue light fired from the tip of Harry's wand, and hit a rabbit, arresting it in midair, and causing it to drop to the ground, lifeless. Harry heard Hermione's gasp behind him. Lupin looked on for a moment before commenting.

“ You have a very good eye, to be able to hit a moving target that small Harry. It was an excellent shot.” Harry was grateful that Lupin complimented his aim, rather than his kill. Harry looked up at Lupin clearly.

“ I don't want Hermione or Ron to learn this spell. There's no need for them to, they don't have to kill anyone.” Lupin nodded thoughtfully, looking at the other two. Hermione, for once in her life, looked like she would rather do anything than learn, and Ron just stared, slightly dazed.

“ I agree, Harry. It is very difficult to take a life, and one shouldn't be exposed to it unless necessary.” Rowen stated softly from behind him. Harry threw her a grateful glance.

After that Hermione and Ron just watched with a mixture of fascination and disgust as Harry successfully picked off the remaining rabbits, one by one. Harry shut off any emotion he felt, just firing blankly, his face an impassive wall.

And if, that night in his dreams, Harry was haunted by the arrested look of terror in the animals eyes, or the look of slight revulsion on his friends faces, he certainly wouldn't admit it to anyone.

A/N: So I've been loving all my reviews! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.... and C'mon, review! You know you wanna! Just type a little message, and press my button...lol! Easy!