Unofficial Portkey Archive

Harry Potter and the Triptych

By Vickles

Disclaimer: JKR rocks, HBP sucks, and I therefore claim no ownership. This is just my plot.

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Chapter 9: Training and Tragedies

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"Right now?" Ron replied uncertainly.

Tonks was positively beaming now. "Sure, come on. Where should we work?"

Harry and Ron shrugged, so Hermione answered, "I know that Dobby's cleaned out the attic. It's the full length of the entire house."

Harry nodded, "That should be plenty of room. What are we doing?"

Tonks bit her lip as they ascended the stairs. "Well, Minerva told me that I would be your practical instructor, being an Auror and all. After hearing about the Triptych, though, I think that I may be able to help you with control of your powers, so I will experiment with that today. Being a Metamorphmagus, I have experience with this type of thing. I think I may be able to help Ron and Hermione especially, though I can certainly still help you, Harry." She opened the door and sighed at the sight of one last small set of steps, "My this house has a lot of stairs, doesn't it?"

They entered the room and Tonks conjured some wooden chairs. Staring at the place happily, Tonks looked excited to be able to teach them. She motioned for Hermione and Ron to cross to the other side of the room, and pulled Harry to her side, whispering a plan in his ear. Harry listened intently, not sure what to make of it.

"Now," Tonks began, speaking to all three of them now, "You've all noticed some changes in your powers, yes?" They nodded. "But you haven't obtained any control whatsoever thus far?" They nodded again. "Okay then! Let's see what you've got!"

She promptly picked up one of the chairs and thrust it at Hermione, who froze. Harry watched as if in slow motion. If Ron failed to do anything, he was to wait until the last possible moment and then freeze the chair. Just when he lifted his wand, however, a force sent the chair away, back at Tonks, who caught it with a smile and set it back down.

"Bloody hell!" Ron exclaimed, "What just happened?"

Tonks waved them over and spoke when both arrived, "What do you think just happened, Ron?"

Ron shuddered a bit, "I don't know exactly. You threw the chair at Hermione and suddenly I was scared, as if I could feel her fear. I didn't know what to do, I just felt that the chair needed to go away, and it was like it listened to me." Ron's eyes opened wider as he spoke, as if shocked at his own power, which he probably was, Harry thought to himself.

Tonks grinned like a mad woman and hopped a bit, "That's exactly what I hoped would happen!"

Ron shook his head, sighing and running his fingers through his hair, "Bloody hell."

Hermione frowned, "That was very risky of you, Tonks."

"Nah," Tonks waved away her worry, "You'd have gotten a bump on your head at the worst, and we learn how to fix those in basic training. Besides, I told Harry to freeze the chair if Ron didn't do anything."

"Oh," Hermione smiled gratefully at Harry, "Okay, then."

Tonks turned to Ron, "Now what we want to do is harness that power you have and control it. I am not going to worry about it now because you are new with all of this, but I want you to start thinking about it. We will work on it the next time I am here. Now you," she turned to Hermione, "Why didn't you do anything?"

Hermione thought a moment, biting her lip, "I don't know exactly. I just…I could not think in time."

"Exactly," Tonks nodded in response, "Unfortunately, Death Eaters won't give you time either. Because Ron's powers are rooted in emotion, that makes it a lot easier for him to act on instinct, though a lot harder to control. Your powers are almost the opposite, really, in the way that they work. If I am right, you will soon find that many aspects of your powers are easy to control, but only with a lot of concentration, which you will not have during a battle. You're going to have to learn to harness your powers like a sixth sense." She faced Ron and Harry, "All of you will. Follow me over here, Hermione."

She led Hermione over a few feet to the chairs. "Levitate this chair," she commanded. Hermione began to squint her eyes and Tonks shook her head, smiling, "No, the way you know how."

Hermione nodded, blushing slightly and pulling out her wand. "Wingardium Leviosa." The chair lifted gracefully off the ground before resting back down with Hermione's wand.

"Good," Tonks continued, "Now do it without speaking the incantation." Hermione did as Tonks told her, with slightly more effort. Then Tonks instructed her to do the same things without a wand.

Hermione concentrated for nearly a minute before the chair began to wiggle just barely. Tonks placed a hand on her shoulder and had her stop. "It's okay. I hardly expected you to get it on your first try."

She turned to Harry, "So you've been getting Superman strength, right?" Harry nodded, wondering how she possibly knew about Superman, then remembered that her father's a Muggleborn. Tonks smiled, "Well, I hate to break it to you, Potter, but you're no stronger than you were a few days ago. I think that your body is automatically casting a charm to lighten heavy things when you struggle or put extra force behind your hands when you want them to, is all. Unfortunately for you, your power is the most imbalanced and toughest to control. The nature of your powers makes you more accident-prone, but you've been that your whole life so I expect that you're use to it by now." She laughed as Harry rolled his eyes, then returned to a serious tone, "You have to control your movements very carefully whenever you're outside a neutral emotion or blank thought process, because it won't take much to trigger the littlest things."

Harry nodded, wondering what he would get to try, and stepped forward. Tonks bit her lip in thought, "To be honest I'm not really sure what to do with you, yet. I could get you to do make all kinds of hand gestures until the goblins come home, but it will not really accomplish anything. Give me some time to think about it, okay?"

Harry nodded, "So what are we going to do now?"

Tonks shrugged, "McGonagall didn't really tell us what to plan, so I don't have anything in particular prepared. How about we pair up and duel some. Ron and Hermione, you two pair up." She grinned challengingly at Harry, "And you, Potter, can duel with me. Minerva said you want to be an Auror, so let's see what you've got."

They all began dueling, but after some time Ron and Hermione stopped and simply watched Tonks and Harry. Harry wanted to believe that he was putting up a good fight, but that did not stop Tonks from beating him every time. He marveled at her never-ending source of energy, probably something she gained during training and in the field. Despite the sweat that glistened on her skin, she was always able to jump up and dish out more. Finally, Tonks sent Harry's wand into Hermione's hand and dropped her own to the floor. "Okay, we're done! I am getting tired. Harry, you do put up quite a fight for someone who has not even finished schooling."

Harry smiled and shook her extended hand, "Thanks."

Descending the stairs, Dobby brought them all glasses of ice water, receiving much gratitude in response. He followed them quietly; a little too quietly, and Harry noticed. "What is it, Dobby?" he asked, stopping.

Dobby hesitated, "Miss Granger has a visitor downstairs."

Hermione shared a look with Harry before the two of them sprinted down the stairs, Ron and Tonks close behind. Harry panicked. Had something happened to her parents? He knew that Hermione must have been thinking the very same thing. When they saw Ginny standing on the landing, all four of them sighed with relief.

That is, until Ginny launched herself at Hermione, pushing her up against the wall and glaring at her fiercely, almost hissing as she spoke, "How could you?"

Harry was not sure if he or Ron got there first, but it took no longer than a second to remove Ginny from Hermione. Honestly, Harry thought to himself, hadn't Hermione had enough? What was Ginny doing, attacking her like that?

Ron held Ginny back as Harry checked to make sure Hermione was okay. Tonks stood off to the side, quietly observing the scene unfolding.

Ginny watched as Hermione reassured Harry that she was okay. "I can't believe you, Hermione. And just look at you two! It makes me sick."

The trio shared a confused look as Ron spoke, "What makes you sick?"

Ginny rolled her eyes, "Don't play innocent with me! I read the article!"

"What art…oh…" Harry smiled as he remembered the laughter that they had shared over the previous day's Daily Prophet.

Ginny gasped, "So it is true?"

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Is that why you are so angry? Over an article in the Daily Prophet?" The look on Ginny's face was answer enough. Hermione scoffed, "Honestly! Does your mother believe it as well?" Ginny nodded dumbly, clearly unsure of where this was going.

Hermione looked at Harry and rolled her eyes, then turned to Ron, continuing as she stood next to Harry, "Ron, what do you see?" she asked, motioning to herself and Harry.

Ron shrugged, "I see you and Harry."

Hermione nodded, "Exactly. Looking at us, does the thought enter your mind that we are involved romantically?"

Ron shook his head, "No. You two are just friends." Harry did not know why, but his words felt harsh as they reach Harry's ears.

Hermione turned to Tonks, who they had ignored up until that moment, "How about you Tonks? Do you think that we are involved romantically?"

Tonks grinned devilishly and raised an eyebrow, asking, "Are you saying that Harry is not The Boy with a Bed Mate?"

Harry doubled over in a fit of laughter at this, tears of happiness leaking from his eyes. Ron was laughing as well and Tonks continued to smile innocently. Hermione stood and tapped her foot, and Harry felt a bit guilty for not taking things more seriously. He looked at Tonks in shock, still laughing, `The Boy with a Bed Mate?!'"

Tonks took a bow to a nonexistent audience, "Thank you. Thank you. I made it up myself. The shirts will be on sale in retail stores soon. There will also be companion pieces such as `The Girl with a Boy Toy' on sale as well."

Hermione tried to remain upset, but could not stop herself from laughing a little. "Honestly. Does everyone we know believe that stupid article?"

Tonks shrugged, "Well Remus and I did. I mean, you know, especially after…" Harry sent her a warning glance and Tonks switched her words without missing a beat, "After you two being friends so long.

Harry inwardly let out a sigh of relief. He did not need Ron, Ginny, or even Hermione knowing about how Tonks and Remus had `caught' them in his bed together. A few moments later Ginny left, very disgruntled with what must have been an unexpected outcome. Remus showed up and together they ate a rather late lunch or early dinner, featuring some more of Tonks' titles for Harry. Soon Remus and Tonks went back to their flat and Hermione went upstairs to go take a shower.

Ron sat in his seat quietly, and Harry waited patiently for him to say what he was thinking. Finally, Ron took a deep breath spoke, "So, do you think you could tell me about what happened last night with the shattered vase?"

Harry pushed back the surge of anger and shame that ran through him as he recalled the event. Ron did deserve to know, he reminded himself, and briefly went over the events. "I don't know what it was," Harry said as he finished, "but something inside of me snapped as soon as she brought up Snape. She had a good point, too. Why, in my dream, did I want to hurt Malfoy so badly? I mean, in the dream, he killed everyone, but even that does not make sense. I was there that night on the tower; I saw it in his eyes. Draco Malfoy may be a general arse for all eternity, but he is not a murderer."

Ron nodded, shrugging a little, "I think I have an idea."

"What?" Harry asked, anxious for some insight.

"Well, now remember, I am no Hermione so I could be totally off, but I think that a part of you would rather that Malfoy killed Dumbledore than Snape."

Harry let out a hallow laugh, "Oh yeah, that must be it."

Ron held up a hand, "Hear me out. I mean if, you think about it, the idea makes sense. You have pretty much hated Malfoy since the day you met him, so for him to kill someone you care about would be easy to accept. However, Snape, now he is different. You have always hated him, but only because he has this thing against you. And, you know, Dumbledore did not hate Snape; Dumbledore trusted him. You trusted Dumbledore. Therefore, at least in some way, you trusted Snape. It's never easy to accept it when someone you trust betrays you."

"Wow." Harry gave Ron an odd look, lifting an eyebrow, "When did you start become all analytical and smart?"

Ron shrugged and smiled. "Hermione must be finally rubbing off on me. Next thing you know I will actually want to do work and research. Won't she be pleased?" he said sarcastically.

Just then Hermione walked in, already dressed I her pajamas and bathrobe, her hair wrapped in a towel, "What will I be pleased about?"

"You are rubbing off on Ron," Harry answered as she sat next to him.

Hermione smiled despite herself, "Good."

They sat quietly, munching on some fruit on the table. "Fancy some Exploding Snap?" Ron asked.

Hermione shook her head, grinning, "I think it's time to teach you some Muggle games."

It turns out that Ron was just as good at Muggle games as he was at Wizarding games. Hermione went and got her own deck of cards, and Ron proceeded to beat them at every game she came up with. Over time, Hermione's grin grew to a scowl, and after awhile Harry stopped convincing himself that it was beginner's luck, considering he was new to many of the games as well.

Ron, possibly feeling their annoyance with him, left to go to bed, yawning exaggeratedly. Hermione stood and turned to Harry, smiling a little and holding out her hand, "Want to go read some?"

Harry nodded. Together they walked up the stairs to his room, each enjoying the blissful moments of peace that had been rare on this day. Hermione sat on her side of the bed and pulled out her book, reading as Harry got read for bed. The time went by quickly, and soon Harry finished his book that he'd been reading. He closed it with a sigh.

"What?" Hermione asked, marking her book and closing it as well.

"I don't understand the point. After everything that happens, he dies."

Hermione set her book on the table and turned to him, "But that is the point."

Harry tilted his head, "What is?"

"It's a tragedy, Harry. In tragedies, the hero always has a fatal flaw that leads to his destruction. Okonkwo's flaw, like many heroes, is his pride, as well as his fear of becoming like his father."

Harry made a face, "But he was so… mean. Shouldn't the reader feel sorry for Okonkwo?"

"You didn't?" Hermione asked, a bit shocked.

Harry shrugged and shook his head, "Why should I? He did not care about anyone. He pushed all of the good out of himself."

"That's not true," Hermione said, taking the book from his hands and flipping through the pages. She founding her spot and showed him various passages, "See here? He is worried about Ezinma. And before that, he was worried about her mother. He has several children and three wives, but those two hold a special place in his heart."

"He never shows it though," Harry mumbled, trying to prove his point.

Hermione nodded, putting the book on top of hers. "Exactly. Okonkwo's so worried about becoming like his father or being seen as weak that he refuses to show his care and compassion. In the end he dies with shame just like his father did," she said sadly.

"So…" Harry tried to understand her point, "Are you saying that if he had let himself care for people he might have lived?"

Hermione nodded, "I think if he had let himself be open to love he could have been truly great. That is the tragedy, though. One flaw stopped that from ever happening."

They sat in silence for a moment. Hermione turned and gave Harry a kiss on the cheek, just as she always did. "Good night, Harry." She climbed out of the bed and left the room.

Harry turned out the lights and pulled up the covers. As the clock ticked on, however, Harry stopped thinking about Okonkwo and his problems, for a lack of sleep was plaguing him night after night.

Now that was a tragedy.

"Get up!" Harry sat up instantly and a voice rang through his bedroom. Grabbing his glasses, he stared around wildly, his head throbbing, and finally rested his eyes on Mad-eye Moody.

"Well?" Moody asked, "What are you doing? Why are you sitting in bed? I could have cursed you to the underworld and back by now! Grab your wand! Vigilance!" Harry took a moment and tried to process was Mad-eye was saying, and then got out of bed, standing, still rather confused about what was going on. He heard a snicker from the corner and turned to see Ron and Hermione smiling at him, Hermione three shades of red and hiding her behind Ron's back.

Ron stopped his chuckled for a moment nod to Harry and say, "You might want to get dressed mate," before laughing again.

Harry looked down to see that he was only wearing his boxers, since he had taken off all other clothes during the night as the temperature in his room increased. Harry sighed, his head still throbbing from the rude awakening, "Bloody hell." Hermione snorted and Ron had to hold her up so she would not collapse in her fit of laughter. "Oh, shut up, you two."

Ron whispered something in Hermione's ear and she laughed even harder. At this point Harry was greatly annoyed with the pair of them, and, feeling the need to make fun of Ron in return and give Hermione another reason to laugh, smiled evilly at Ron. "Fine then," he said, "See how you like this, then." He motioned with his hand to Ron and suddenly Ron was clad in nothing but a pair of bright orange briefs, adorning the Chudley Cannons logo.

Hermione, who had been holding onto Ron up until that point, shrieked and let go, running towards Harry and then stopping between them, realizing her predicament. She closed her eyes, and turned towards Harry, "Harry Potter if you so much as think about doing that to me I'm going to…"

"Potter!" The three of them turned to Moody, who was looking at Harry, his magical eye whizzing between the three of them rapidly and his normal one trained on Harry.

Harry quit smiling. "Yes?"

"What did you just do to Weasley?"

"I…uh…" Harry was not sure how to respond but Hermione gasped and stared at Harry with her eyes wide open, his lack of proper attire long forgotten. "What?" he asked her.

Hermione took a gulp of nothing before speaking, "Harry, your wand is over there." She pointed to the bedside table and continued, "And you didn't say an incantation. How did you remove Ron's clothes?"

Ron and Harry caught on and gasped in unison as Moody spoke again, "How long have you been doing things like this, Potter?"

Harry shrugged, "This is the first time I've done something like this. I've done other things before, when I was angry. Like, just before third year I blew up my aunt."

"Do you think you could put my clothes back on?" Ron asked. "It's a bit drafty in here."

He teetered uncomfortable on his feet and Hermione placed her face in her hands, shaking her head back and forth and muttering something about `too much information' and `no firewhisky in the world strong enough.' Harry smiled, feeling a bit sorry for her. Not thinking about it, he waved his hand and he and Ron were both properly clad once again.

Hermione looked up, back to her ready-to-learn self. "How did you do that?"

Harry stuttered, "I…I just sort of… you know… wanted to do it… and… um… so I did?"

Hermione grabbed his hand and began pulling him behind her. "Come on!" She called to the other two. "We're going to the attic to check this out."

They spent the next forty-five minutes trying to get Harry to do something like that again, but it was no use. Eventually they gave up temporarily, and Mad-Eye moved on to Hermione.

"So you had a burst of Legilimency?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "And you," he turned to Ron, "have been having empathic powers of sorts?" Ron nodded. "Well then," Moody went on, "let's see what we can do. Potter, go sit down and work on keeping your mind as blank as possible. Weasley, come here."

Harry did as he was told, moving to the corner and sitting on the floor, attempting to tune everything else out. It was proving to be difficult, however, so he chose to pay attention to only one thing. Allowing the sounds of the other voices to fade away, Harry watched as a drop of water slid down the wall, slowly and almost painfully. Sometimes it nearly stopped, but then it would resume its coarse, allowing gravity to do its job.

"Stop! No! It hurts! I can't…no, please, no stop!" Harry turned and saw that Hermione was sitting and sobbing. Across from her, Ron was sitting idly, clearly oblivious to her state. Harry watched as Hermione continued to sob until he could finally take it no more. A low growl emitted itself from deep inside him as Harry launched himself across the room, knocking Ron off his chair and shaking him out of his trance.

Ron looked up at Harry, confused, "Did I do it?"

Harry sighed and stood, going over to Hermione, who was now sitting on the floor with her head resting on her knees as she hugged herself. Harry sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap, gently patting her on the back. He looked up at Ron and Mad-Eye for an explanation, not bothering to hide the anger, "What the hell were you doing to her?"

Mad-eye rolled his normal eye, "Training, Potter. I was trying to get Weasley to achieve an emotional link with Miss Granger. Granted, it didn't go quite as I expected…"

"You th-think?" Hermione asked, hiccupping slightly, looking up from where her head rested on Harry's shoulder.

Ron crouched down and rested a hand on her shoulder, "I'm sorry, Hermione. I didn't mean to. It was an accident, a mistake."

Hermione frowned and narrowed her eyes. "I seem to be on the wrong end of a lot of mistakes and accidents lately," her voice betrayed the first tone of resentment that she had dared let pass as she sniffled lightly.

Harry sat in thought, pondering Hermione's words, as Mad-Eye informed them that their two hours were up (how had that happened, Harry wondered) and he was going to head on his way. The three sat in silence, just sat they had before, only Ron was sitting instead of crouching. After a long time Harry pulled back slightly and Hermione turned to meet his gaze as he spoke, "Are you sure that you still want to do this?"

"Training?" Hermione asked confused. "Definitely. How can we expect to be any kind of match for Voldemort if we don't…"

"No," Harry interrupted her, "I mean do you still want to do this. Stay here."

Hermione frowned, "Harry I am not leaving, if that is what you are asking. Do you think I would leave just because of something like this?"

Harry shrugged, letting go of his hold on her though she continued to sit on his lap. He spoke sternly, "It's going to keep getting more dangerous."

"It's always going to keep getting more dangerous. That's why we have to help you defeat Voldemort," Hermione said, Ron nodding in agreement.

"I can't promise you that accidents like today and that morning won't keep happening," Harry added.

"That is good of you to admit. I can't promise that they won't upset me either, no matter whose fault it is," Hermione countered.

Harry raised an eyebrow, "You could die."

Hermione sighed, "Tell me, Harry, do you actually care about my opinion or are you trying to get rid of me?"

Harry stared at her in open-mouthed shock. Not only because of her straight-forwardness, but also because of that he was not sure of the answer. "I… I want you to stay," he began uncertainly, "But I don't want you to get hurt." He looked down and watched as his fingers traced along the floor.

Hermione lifted his chin up, smiling sadly and speaking softly, "You may not get it both ways, Harry."

Harry nodded. Ron shrugged his shoulders and smiled a little, relieving some tension, "So, naturally, we make the decision for you. And that means we're not going anywhere."

"Exactly," Hermione added.

"Yeah," Harry replied. Thank Merlin for that.

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A/N: Thanks to LadyStarlight, as always.

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