Author's Note: Thanks to all you reviewers out there and thanks to Charmaine as well for betaing this! Enjoy! I'm off to prepare the next chapter!
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
GRYFFINDOR AND SLYTHERIN
Knowing Ron's strong support toward what Harry had to do precisely to complete the prophecy gave Harry an extra incentive for his training. When classes were back in session the following term, Harry decided he needed to step up his progress in his meetings not only with Moody and Lupin, but with Dumbledore as well. He needed to completely master Occlumency to keep Voldemort out of his mind, but he also needed to figure out how to control his abilities with wandless magic.
Therefore, when Harry went back to Dumbledore for training, he gave it his best effort yet. Dumbledore was very pleased.
"Excellent, Harry, well done!" Dumbledore said when Harry was able to cast a perfect Disarming Charm on him. "I must say, whatever dwells within today is doing you a great service."
"What d'you mean?" Harry asked.
"I have been studying you during our lessons," Dumbledore said. "You perform wandless magic best when you are either not knowing that you're doing it or when you feel particularly strong, usually positive emotions. May I ask what you're feeling now?"
"Determined," Harry replied. "Determined to master this."
"Good. Excellent. I'm glad you feel that way. Our work here is very important."
"I know. That's why I'm trying so hard," Harry said.
"You are a remarkable young man, Harry. You know what lies ahead, but you don't fear it. I am very proud of what you have accomplished already."
"Thank you, sir."
Dumbledore sat down, motioning for Harry to do the same. "So, how are your friends?"
"Sir?"
"Ron and Ginny. How are they doing?"
"Okay, sir, I guess. Ginny's been rather quiet while Ron seems to be coping," Harry told him, sitting down. "It pains me that they've had two deaths in their family in the span of six months. They don't deserve that. Nobody does."
"I agree. Molly must be terribly frantic now that Fred and George want to join the Order. I have considered not letting them," Dumbledore said.
"They'd be good for the Order, though," Harry said.
"Oh, don't I know it. They're clever young men and their inventions are ingenious in their own little ways. Still, to put the Weasley family at greater risk…"
Harry frowned. He didn't want the Weasleys to put themselves at risk anymore, but he also understood that they were in the middle of a war. "It's their choice," he said quietly. "They alone should be allowed to make it."
"You think so?" Dumbledore said.
"It's their lives," Harry said flatly. "Who are we to say that they shouldn't fight in the war. The more people that do, the more likely the chance that Voldemort will fail."
There was a twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes as he nodded. "Precisely. Unfortunately, casualties are a part of war, even multiple casualties in the same family. While I completely understand Molly's fears, I cannot simply say no to Messrs. Weasley. After all, they're the type who would become vigilantes."
"Mrs. Weasley definitely wouldn't want that," Harry said.
"No, quite not," Dumbledore agreed.
"I think you should grant them membership," Harry said.
"I am still deliberating. They are rather young," Dumbledore said.
"They've been out of Hogwarts for a full year now. Weren't my parents, Sirius, and Professor Lupin that young when they joined before?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore frowned slightly. "Younger, actually. The whole lot of them were eighteen when they joined. I believe Fred and George are currently nineteen and will be twenty this April."
"So what's the difference, then, Professor?" Harry asked.
"The Order is a lot bigger this time and has been around for years. Last time, when your parents joined, it was just starting. I've had years to recruit older witches and wizards. You are right, however, there really is no difference," Dumbledore said. "I thank you, Harry. You have helped me clear up some of my arguments about not letting Fred and George join."
Harry stared at Dumbledore for a moment. "How old d'you have to be to join the Order, anyway?"
"I prefer older individuals who fully understand the risks of going to war," Dumbledore said.
"I see. Er-were we going to continue, sir?" he asked.
"No, I think this is a good place to end tonight's session. I will see you next week, Harry."
"Yes, sir. Good night," Harry said and got up, thinking hard. From the sound of it, Dumbledore was hesitant to let younger wizards into the Order. He probably had himself a little rule: No wizards under twenty allowed. As Harry trudged up the stairs to Gryffindor Tower, he couldn't help but think that having an age restriction was slightly unfair.
*****
Classes were harder than ever now that N.E.W.T.s were only six months away. Snape's poisons and antidotes were getting more and more complicated. McGonagall was layering on the homework about transfiguring humans into animals, something that reminded Harry of the time that the fake Moody turned Malfoy into a ferret.
Charms was becoming extremely difficult as well. Flitwick was having them learn how to perform multiple charms at once.
"It's more about learning how to continue a charm after administering another one," Flitwick said in his squeaky voice. "It's about concentration." He took out his wand and, with the all-to-familiar swish and flick movement that Harry had seen since he was a first year, he levitated Terry Boot's book. With another flick of his wand, it started to spin. With yet another flick of his wand, Justin Finch-Fletchley's book from across the room levitated and spun at the same time. "See?" He lowered the spinning books back to their desks. "Now, you try. Pick any two charms and see what you can do."
They got to work. Ron set his book on fire while also trying to send a jet of water at it. The second charm failed and his book became a fireball. Hermione quickly put it out and repaired it.
"Aw, you couldn't let it burn a bit longer?" Ron said.
Harry, meanwhile, was trying to Summon one object and Banish another at the same time. He succeeded in Summoning Hermione's book, but failed to send his over to her.
"Accio book," she said, causing her book to fly back to her outstretched hands. "Let's try this again, shall we?"
Harry tried again, but got the same result. "You try," he said.
She nodded and closed her eyes. Then, with a swift flick of her wand, the books traded places, soaring past each other and landing neatly on the opposite desk. Opening her eyes, she grinned.
"I hate it when she does that," Ron muttered.
Defense Against the Dark Arts was where Harry had the upper hand. They were still learning about vampires, but as he had experience dealing with vampires, he felt extremely confident about their next lesson, which was on warding them off.
"Wands out, books away," Lupin said when he entered the classroom, although he needn't had told them that-everyone already had their wands out in anticipation of the class. Curiously, he was hearing a hooded cloak instead of his usual shabby robes. "I told you that we're going to practice warding off vampires today, which is exactly what we're going to do-"
"Do you have a real vampire for us to practice on?" Pansy Parkinson asked.
"No. You're going to practice on-ah-me," he said.
"You?" Pansy said. "Oh, then shouldn't we use silver instead of garlic?" Several of the Slytherins laughed.
Lupin, meanwhile, had gone quite pale. "No, Miss Parkinson. I'd rather you use your imagination today and pretend that I'm a vampire. I even brought in a little visual aid to help." He turned his back to the class and pulled up the hood of his cloak over his head. The class leaned forward in interest. They couldn't tell what else he was doing, but it took him several moments to do whatever it was. When he finally did turn around, some gasped while others laughed.
Lupin had put in a set of fake vampire teeth that usually accompanied Muggle Halloween costumes. He also changed his eye color to a goldenrod. The affect was somewhat alarming, yet also somewhat comical in Harry's opinion. Lupin gave a small smile and spat out the teeth so that he could address his class.
"Not perfect, I know, but it should help," he said. "Now, after I'm done explaining, I'm going to send all of you outside. You'll enter the classroom alone and I, the-er-hungry vampire, will come out and attack you. You must conjure up something with your wand to ward me off. All of us know what wards a vampire off, right?" When the class nodded, he continued, "Take this seriously because a real vampire attack is and knowing this might just save your life. Now that I've said that, off you go. Form a line outside. Give me about a minute and then the first person can enter, okay?"
"What a weirdo," Theodore Nott said when all of them exited the classroom and began to line up. "Don't you think so, Malfoy?"
Most of them turned toward Malfoy, who stood at the back of the line wearing a bored look. He shrugged and said in a drab tone, "A werewolf pretending to be a vampire. Ironic." Crabbe and Goyle guffawed stupidly.
Susan Bones was at the front of the line. "Do you think I can go in?" she asked, looking rather nervous.
"Go on, Susan. I'm sure Professor Lupin's ready," said Hannah Abbott.
"Yeah, go on in before you chicken out," Pansy Parkinson said.
"Leave her alone," Harry said loudly from his place in the middle of line. Susan was a member of the D.A., so he felt a need to stick up for her. "Go ahead."
Susan took a deep breath and walked resolutely back into the classroom. She walked out five minutes later looking pale but very relieved. This same trend continued down the line until it was finally Harry's turn after Padma Patil came out. Determined, he walked directly into the classroom without a word to either Ron or Hermione behind him and closed the door.
It was pitch black inside the classroom. Harry quickly got out his wand and muttered, "Lumos." He held his wand high like a torch, looking around. There was no sign of Lupin. He began to scan the room slowly, his senses on high alert.
He thought he heard a rustling sound somewhere behind him. Immediately, he whispered, "Nox," and slipped between two desks. He backtracked in the next row and then hunkered down. He held out his hand and, nearly inaudibly, said, "Allium Sativum." From his wand popped out a clove of garlic. He repeated the spell thrice more before he was satisfied.
It was then that his eyes were finally adjusted to see a lurking figure in the classroom, looking around toward the front of the classroom. Concentrating hard, he levitated the garlic cloves and then jumped up, at the same time lighting his wand and shooting the garlic across the room at the figure. He saw the figure dive underneath a desk for cover as the garlic started to bounce on top of it. Slowly, with his lit wand, Harry walked over to the desk and found the hooded Lupin, grinning.
"Boo," Lupin said.
"Boo yourself," Harry said, holding out a hand and helping Lupin up. The garlic finally stopped bouncing on top of the desk.
"That was a lot of nifty spellwork you did there," Lupin said. "I'll have to mention it to Professor Flitwick the next time I see him."
Harry felt himself go red. "Thanks." He looked around. "So-er-was this all?"
"Yes, that's all," Lupin said. "I didn't think you'd have much trouble doing this. Everyone's done a good job thus far. I think what really scared them was when I told them I was counting this as a test."
"Oh."
"You get full marks. You also get extra credit for not being afraid of the dark and also one-upping me. Even in this ridiculous outfit I've managed to scare most of your classmates," Lupin said with a laugh.
"I think that's because you snuck up on them, sir," Harry said, grinning.
"Not you though. You used your ears."
"Well, I did clean them out this morning, sir," Harry said, causing Lupin to laugh again.
"Okay, Harry, you can go. Just turn off the light before you do," he said.
"Yes, sir. Happy spooking," Harry said, leaving Lupin behind and flicking his wand, causing the light at the tip to go out.
*****
The new term also meant the return of Quidditch practice. Harry had his team out Friday evening to see what the winter had done to their performance and was pleasantly surprised to see that it hadn't done a thing-they were still in the top notch shape they were in when they played Slytherin.
"Excellent job today," he told them in the locker room afterward. "If we keep this up, Hufflepuff should be shaking in their trainers."
After scheduling another practice for the following Tuesday, Harry let them go and began to walk back up toward the castle with Ron.
"Good practice," Ron commented. "Of course, there's always room for improvement-"
"They exceeded my expectations," Harry said. "And sure, everyone could get better. We're amateurs, after all."
"Some of us could become professionals, though," Ron said. "If I got an offer to play on a professional Quidditch team, I'd do it."
"And if you don't?"
"Well, I was hoping to get a summer job at Fred and George's shop and then maybe try to get into the Department of Magical Games and Sports. That ought to be fun," Ron said.
"Are you looking to be the next Ludo Bagman?" Harry asked.
Ron gave him a disgusted look. "No way! That blithering idiot? Besides, he was a nightmare as the Head of that department. How long did it take him to start searching for what's-her-name?"
"Bertha Jorkins."
"Yeah, her. Then look at his gambling problem. No, that man is definitely not a role model for me," Ron said.
They were entering the castle and headed to the Great Hall for dinner. Hermione was already there, a large textbook propped open against her glass of pumpkin juice. She glanced up at them as they sat down. "Good practice?" she asked.
"Very. What're you reading?" Harry asked.
"My Arithmancy homework," she replied. "Professor Vector wants us to read eighty pages by the next class."
"Ouch. Harsh," Ron said, pulling a plate of kippers toward him.
"Oh, it's not that bad," Hermione said. "I've got one-hundred and thirty pages to read in Ancient Runes."
"I'm so happy I'm not you," Ron said.
Harry chuckled. "Remind him that he's got a Charms essay to do," he said.
"Thanks, Harry. Just what I wanted to be reminded of," Ron said. "At least I don't have Potions."
"Yes, well, now I know how to poison a person over twelve different ways," Harry said. "The only problem is I'm never sure which antidote to use."
"Nice. Let's poison Malfoy," Ron said.
"Ron!" Hermione scolded.
"With a non-lethal poison," Ron amended. "Let's make him hiccup or something for the rest of his life."
"You should know how to make a Hiccupping Solution," Hermione said.
"You act like I remember half of the stuff that we did in Potions," Ron said.
She gave an exasperated sigh and went back to her reading, occasionally forking a piece of her dinner.
"How about a game of Exploding Snap when we get back to the common room?" Ron suggested.
"I can't. I have-er-lessons with Dumbledore this evening," Harry said.
"Oh yeah, that's right. He lays those lessons on thick, doesn't he? Every Tuesday and every other Friday. That's rough, mate," Ron said.
"Dumbledore just wants to make sure that Harry is a master at Occlumency," Hermione said.
"That's pretty much it," Harry said.
"The better Harry gets at it, the less of a chance Voldemort has of hurting him," Hermione said.
"Yeah, but he also has less of a chance of being able to warn the Ministry of when Voldemort's about to attack," Ron said.
Hearing Ron say Voldemort's name was very odd to Harry. He was used to his friend shuddering or cringing whenever the Dark Lord's name was mentioned. It always gave Harry a small jolt of surprise whenever Ron said it, but it also filled Harry with pride that Ron had finally overcome his fear of the name. Unfortunately, it had taken quite a catalyst for him to do so.
"Unfortunately, some sacrifices have to be made to keep Harry-the only person who can beat Voldemort-safe," Hermione said. "I don't like these unforeseen horrific attacks any more than you do, Ron, but we have to face facts. What Harry can do, what he can see, is dangerous. Look at what Voldemort did to him just for seeing something that Voldemort wanted to keep very secret."
"Basically we're talking about a Catch Twenty-Two," Harry said, finishing off his pumpkin juice and checking his watch. "I'd better get going. I don't want to be late."
He left them at the Gryffindor table and headed up to the fourth floor where Lupin told him that night's training session would take place. He was looking forward to getting back into it. Last time they trained, Moody said he'd teach him how defend himself against someone using a weapon.
He was early, which he knew he would be. He waited around for fifteen minutes when Moody and Lupin walked into the classroom. Moody was carrying a large, heavy-looking bag. Lupin gave him a small smile and settled in the corner of the room. Harry waited, expectantly.
"Lupin told me how easily you 'warded' him off in your Defense Against the Dark Arts class," Moody said gruffly. "Very good."
"Thanks," Harry said.
"But you were prepared for attack then. It's a little different when you aren't."
"I know. It's a lot different," Harry said. "Although Professor Lupin tried to sneak up on me."
"I scared the wits out of Vincent Crabbe when I did that," Lupin said with a rueful smile.
"Why doesn't it surprise me that a Death Eater's boy is a pansy?" Moody said, setting his bag down and opening it. "They all are. Terrified into the service of You-Know-Who and continuously terrified that he'll kill them.
"Center of the room, Potter. We've got work to do," he finished, taking a long staff from his bag.
Harry walked into the center of the room. "Will I need my wand?"
"Only if you think you do," Moody said, rotating the staff.
Harry, taking that as a yes, took out his wand and prepared himself. When it came to Moody, he knew to expect anything and everything.
"Most wizards don't use weapons unless they're wandless," Moody told him, still rotating the staff. "Then again, some bewitch knives and stuff to follow after a person and try to hack them to pieces." He gave a harsh laugh. "I had to take down someone like that once. He wasn't right in the head.
"To be a good Auror, though, you've got to know how to defend yourself against these types. More importantly," he said, suddenly swinging the staff so violently at Harry. It collided directly with his wand and sent it clattering away from him. "More importantly, you have to learn how to do it without a wand. You won't always be able to use that, Potter. Things happen."
Harry glared at Moody furiously. If he hadn't wanted him to use a wand, why didn't he say so when he asked? He could have broken it, after all! Then again, Harry mused, Moody was probably trying to show off.
So they began. Moody kept swinging the staff, trying to hit Harry around the head, or give him a nasty blow to the ribs. Harry dodged and weaved underneath and around the staff, jumping over it twice when Moody tried to knock his legs out from under him.
Moody tried an axe-like blow to the head next, leading Harry to reach up and catch the staff. They struggled with it for several minutes, knocking desks around as each of them tried to seize control. Finally, Moody shoved him back with such force that it knocked Harry straight into a wall and caused him to let go. Moody swung the staff around and, taking it in both of his hands, pressed it up against Harry's throat.
"See, Potter? See how easy it can be? That's why you've got to learn how to defend yourself."
Harry tried to speak but all he made was a gurgling sound in his throat. Moody released him and he collapsed to the floor, panting.
"Merlin, Moody, how hard were you pressing that thing to him?" Lupin asked, stepping away from his corner and examining Harry.
"Hard enough for him to get the idea of how bad it can be," Moody said. "Don't coddle the boy, Lupin. This is what he's here to learn."
Lupin stepped away and slowly, Harry regained his footing. With a steadying breath, he said, "Let's try that again."
A smile came over Moody's features. "That's what I like about you, Potter. You're willing to keep going until you've got it."
With that, he struck, aiming toward Harry's legs. Harry, however, was ready and jumped over the staff before ducking as Moody swung it back around to hit his head. He dodged another blow and narrowly missed having his right thigh receive a sharp smack. Then Harry grabbed the nearest object he could find-an eraser-and threw it as hard as he could. Moody swatted it away and laughed.
"Good, Potter, good! Use your surroundings!"
Harry dodged another blow and managed to lift up a chair. He used it to block a few of Moody's blows, but ended up dropping it because it was starting to get too heavy for him.
"Keep it up, Potter! Use your brain!" Moody said, trying to hit him behind the knees, but Harry jerked out of the way at the last second.
They kept going for another fifteen minutes until Moody tried to slam Harry in his left side, but Harry caught the staff and turned, using the momentum to force the staff out of Moody's hands. Harry continued the spin until he was facing Moody again, only now he had the staff in his hands, stopping it an inch away from Moody's throat.
Moody gave him a toothy grin. "Well done, Potter. I'm impressed."
Harry was panting again. "Thank you."
Moody gave him a crude look now. "Have you been doing your runs, Potter?"
"Yes."
"Then it's time to add push-ups and sit-ups to your daily routine. Fifty each, along with your morning jog," Moody said.
"Fifty!" Harry cried.
"Fifty," Moody repeated. "That'll be all, Potter."
Lupin stepped forward. "You did a great job today. Your dad would have been amazed by how well you did today."
"Thanks," Harry said. "See you in class, Professor."
Harry left the classroom, pleased with his performance. If Moody was impressed, he would probably have him do something harder during the next training session, which Harry considered to be a very good thing. The harder the task assigned to him, the more he would be prepared for.
He pulled back a tapestry and headed up the staircase behind it, only to stop once he reached the other tapestry concealing it on the fifth floor. He could hear Peeves cackling merrily as he passed by, followed up by voices that sounded like they were less than ten feet away.
"I guess I should thank you for that," said a voice that Harry recognized. It was Ginny.
"Don't mention it," came the drawling voice of Draco Malfoy. "Seriously. Don't."
"Fine. I know you have your reputation to uphold. What were you up here for anyway?" Ginny asked.
"The prefects' bathroom, if you have to know," Malfoy replied. "The bath is the size of a pool. I'm surprised your brother never told you. I'm surprised he doesn't boast about being a prefect very often at all."
"I'm happy I'm not a prefect," Ginny said. "He's got no reason to boast to me."
"What? You don't want the power?" he asked.
"No. I don't need it. I'm happy the way I am," she said.
"I see." There was a long pause in which neither of them spoke until Malfoy finally said, "I read about your father in the paper."
There was another, much shorter, pause. "Did you?"
"Yes. I-er-I am…sorry for you," he said with what sounded like great difficulty.
"Are you really?" Ginny asked. "I'm surprised you aren't terribly happy about it, considering you and your father hate my family. Just because my father loved Muggles didn't mean he was any less of a wizard."
"I have no great love for your family, that's for sure," Malfoy snapped, "but I do know what it's like to lose a parent, if you remember. I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy."
"And here I thought you would," Ginny said darkly.
"Don't act like you know me, Weasley," Malfoy said. "You don't know anything about me!"
"I know that for the past six years you've been a royal prick to my brother and friends. You've done a lot of awful things in your life, Draco, and you're not even out of Hogwarts," Ginny said.
Harry could tell that he had opened his mouth for a rebuttal, but instead said, "I know I have. I took great joy in the suffering of others."
There was a long pause. "And now?" Ginny finally said.
"And now I'm the one who's suffering. It all comes full circle, you see? I tried to ruin the lives of others only to have mine ruined in return, to have what's most precious to me taken away. At least you have a family that loves you, no matter how many members you lose," Malfoy said. "I don't have that anymore."
"Doesn't your father love you?" Ginny asked.
Malfoy gave a harsh, cruel laugh. "Love me? He only wants to exploit me and make me a servant of the Dark Lord. The only thing my father loves is power. That's all he wants in life."
"I thought you wanted the same thing, Draco," Ginny said.
"I did, once. Now…now…I don't even know why I'm talking to you about this, Weasley," Malfoy murmured.
"Have you talked to anyone else about it?" she asked.
"How could I? Most of my friends' families are in league with the Dark Lord. If I voice any dissenting thought, it'll get back to my father so quickly that he'll bring me before the Dark Lord for execution. I can't trust them."
"You'll have to find somebody to trust eventually," Ginny said. "You can't keep living like this, bottling everything up. It's not healthy."
"You don't understand, Ginny. Even if I swore Crabbe and Goyle, or somebody else, to secrecy, it wouldn't be any good. The Dark Lord can read minds. He knows everything."
"He doesn't know everything. No one could," Ginny said. "You're being paranoid."
"Yeah, well, being paranoid is what's keeping me safe. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to get back to my common room. You should as well," he said.
"Good-bye, Draco, and good luck," Ginny said.
Harry shook his head as he listened to both sets of footfalls die away. That was the second encounter he had overheard between the two of them. How many more had there been? More importantly, why were they happening? Why were Ginny and Malfoy being so civil to each other? In Harry's mind, it just didn't make sense. What was going on between the two of them?