The Final Lesson
by Jardyn39
Chapter 13 - Traditions
Harry was unaccountably nervous as he made his way up to Professor McGonagall's office. Indeed, he had decided he would rather not just Floo directly into her office and had instead emerged from one of the dungeon fireplaces.
Unfortunately he had misremembered the grating he wanted and ended up being harangued by Argus Filch for ten minutes before he could get away.
This would be his first lesson with Professor McGonagall. He had been rather surprised when she had asked him to attend during a school-day afternoon.
He wondered what she would choose to teach him first, but he still could hardly think of anything but Ron. He had also failed entirely to complete the latest assignment set him by Hermione. Unfortunately, she had hinted strongly that the assignment would probably be very useful during Professor McGonagall's first lesson.
The situation had been made even more strained by the discovery of some disturbing writings in Ron's bedroom. Fortunately Mr Weasley had found the Pureblood propaganda before his mother, whom they decided should be spared knowing what they contained.
He resolved to ask Professor McGonagall's opinion as soon as he could.
"Hi, Harry!"
Harry turned to see Neville hurrying to catch him up.
"Hello, Neville," said Harry smiling. "You're looking well. Congratulations on being made Prefect, by the way."
"Thanks. I think she ran out of decent candidates."
"Rubbish, Neville."
"Still, Gran was pleased, so that's one good thing."
Harry smiled and said, "I was just on my way up to Professor McGonagall's office."
"Yes, she said you were coming. I just wanted to tell you the Gryffindor password is Tradition. Stop by later, will you?"
"I many not have time, Neville," Harry said, trying not to make any commitment.
"Well, I need to be off," said Neville. "Come by later if you can. See you, Harry."
*
Harry felt a pang of emotion as he rode up the moving circular staircase that hadn't quite ended as he arrived at the door. He looked away from the Griffin door knocker and composed himself before knocking.
The door opened and Harry stepped inside.
"Good afternoon, Harry," said Professor McGonagall from her desk.
"Good afternoon, Professor."
"Neville Longbottom was looking for you earlier, by the way."
"Thank you Professor, I've just seen him."
"Good," she said putting down her quill and standing. "May I ask? Was there a particular reason why you didn't Floo here directly? You are more than welcome to pass through the castle, of course, but it might not always be the safest thing to do."
"Well, if I hadn't, I wouldn't know that you're still using the same password as the last time I came here," he said firmly. "Is that really the safest thing?"
Professor McGonagall's eyes narrowed and Harry braced himself.
"As a matter of fact, I changed it at lunchtime for your benefit, Harry."
"Oh, I see," Harry replied, feeling contrite.
"Indeed," she said, and her expression softened into a slight smile. "Still, I suppose I should be flattered that you should be so concerned. Take a seat, Harry."
Harry sat down in front of her desk.
"I understand it will be just yourself today?"
"Yes, Professor. Hermione wanted to stay with Mrs Weasley. You see she was upset again, about Ron."
"Hermione was kind enough to send me a short note earlier. I imagine you're rather concerned about young Mr Weasley."
"Yes. The trouble is, even when I finally track him down I'm not sure what I should say to him. I mean, I've no right to tell him to think or act in a particular way. This has been coming on for a while now, I think. I just didn't see it."
"That isn't so surprising," she said gently. "Your friendship would never have lasted if either of you couldn't see past the other's faults."
Harry looked at the wall directly behind her. Albus Dumbledore's portrait sat sleeping soundly.
"How is he?"
"Coming along nicely, but he tires easily. This is quite to be expected," she added quickly. "Now, tell me everything you can about Ronald Weasley."
*
Harry felt a little better after he had bid Professor McGonagall goodnight. She had listened patiently while he told her of his concerns about both Ron and Ollivander.
In some respects, Harry found it easier talking about it to her than Hermione. Professor McGonagall hadn't become upset when he touched on things that Hermione was sensitive to.
In the end, they hadn't done any actual Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Harry recognised that he had indeed learned much.
She had reminded him about the freedom of choice people have and also that sometimes people can make mistakes and find themselves in situations they find difficult to extract themselves from.
Harry was so deep in thought that he was a little surprised when the Fat Lady said, "Welcome back, Harry. Password?"
He realised he must have wandered up to the Gryffindor common room out of shear habit.
"Hi, Harry," said Neville as soon as he stepped through the portrait hole.
"Hi," Harry replied quietly, looking around at the familiar room that had hardly changed a bit. His feelings were as mixed as he thought they'd be. It felt so strange that he no longer thought of this place as home.
Where did he think of home?
He had no idea. Hogwarts was only home while Dumbledore was alive.
Neville didn't interrupt Harry's reverie but instead waited patiently for his gaze to come back to him.
"They'll be finished in the Great Hall shortly. How about we go down so you can have a bite to eat?"
"Thanks, Neville. I am a bit hungry."
"I'm sorry to drag you up here," said Neville, leading the way outside. "It's just that I forgot what day it was."
Harry snorted and asked, "What difference does the day make?"
"Well, on Tuesdays and Thursdays we meet for DA here in the common room. We don't have the Room of Requirement any more, after all."
"Oh. Today's Wednesday though."
"Yes. On Wednesday we can practice in the Great Hall after dinner."
"I'm glad you're still practising," said Harry. "Who is teaching you?"
"Well, tonight I was hoping you would, actually. Normally the senior years take turns to show small groups how to perform spells. By the way, I'm sorry my letter has been delayed."
"Letter?"
"Yes, Professor McGonagall told us to write to every absent student and tell them what has been happening and asking them to come back to school. I rather assumed that you wouldn't come back anyway, so I put you at the bottom of my list."
Harry smiled and nodded.
"So, how has it been?"
"Oh, fairly quiet. There's no Quidditch yet and we can't go into Hogsmeade at all now. There's also a curfew in the grounds and a later one inside the castle."
"Can't be much fun for you," agreed Harry.
"Oh, I'm not complaining. Actually, I've been far happier here this year than I've ever been. I think the main thing for me has been the fewer number of people here. I'm much more comfortable with the smaller numbers, even though the classes have grown much bigger."
"Bigger?"
"Oh, yes. Because of the drop in numbers, Professor McGonagall has started combining different years within the same class. That's only for some subjects, though."
They descended the last flight of steps down to the entrance lobby.
"But the best thing," continued Neville. "Well, almost the best thing, is something you'll see in a moment."
Harry frowned slightly at Neville's wide smile.
"Come and see, Harry."
Neville stepped aside and ushered Harry through the doors into the Great Hall. He fully expected everything to be exactly as he remembered it.
Two steps inside, Harry froze.
The four House tables were gone. In their place were several smaller round tables that were scattered around the hall.
"We nicked the tables from Filch's private store," explained Neville. "Ginny had the idea."
Harry looked at him blankly.
Neville smiled and guided him to a table where a small group of First Years were just finishing their dinner.
"Are we late?" asked one.
"No, there's plenty of time," answered Neville easily, pulling out a seat for Harry.
They sat and Neville pulled various steaming dishes towards Harry so he could serve himself.
"So, you no longer sit in Houses?" asked Harry as Neville poured them both a drink.
"No. It seemed so ridiculous when term started. There were hardly any of us who came back. Ginny insisted we should all eat together, irrespective of Houses."
"What, even the Slytherins?"
"I said Ginny insisted. She didn't give anyone much of a choice, actually."
Harry snorted.
"But, I'm afraid the biggest change was all my fault. Professor McGonagall asked us all for suggestions and I kind of panicked when she came to me."
"What did you suggest?"
"You won't like it, Harry."
"What won't I like? Tell me."
"Did you notice the hour glasses, in the lobby out there?"
"Not really. I mean, I realised there weren't many points. Still, if there aren't that many students and we are still early in the year."
"Harry, there are no points at all in any of the House hourglasses."
"Did you do something to loose points? Snape took points from me last year that meant we started from a negative total."
"No, Harry. There are no House points because there are no Houses."
"What?"
"No Houses," Neville repeated.
"But what about the sorting?"
"The Sorting hat didn't have any students to sort on the very first night back. More came later though. All I suggested was that being in different Houses just created enmity and division. Even the Slytherins that came back agreed."
"Wow, Neville. A thousand years of tradition, and you were the one who broke with it."
Harry was grinning as he said this.
"You sound as bad as Gran!"
"Neville, I think it's a great idea. Honestly."
"Really?"
"Yes! We all need to stand together."
"So, you won't mind if we have a few Slytherins to join in with our practice tonight?"
"You really got some Slytherins involved?"
"Yes. They're not all supporters of You-Know-Who, by any means."
*
The round tables vanished along with the dirty dishes as the last person on each table finished their meal. By the time that the very last table had gone the Great Hall was around half full with students chattering excitedly in small groups.
Finally, Professor McGonagall arrived and gave a small nod to Neville.
He gave a small groan and muttered, "Why does she always pick on me?" He then added, "Excuse me a moment, Harry."
Harry nodded and watched as Neville went up to the front, cleared his throat and said loudly, "Could I please have everyone's attention? I think we're ready to begin."
Harry was surprised to see Neville going up to address such a large gathering but absolutely amazed that everyone at the front immediately stopped talking and listened, although several people at the back still hadn't seen or heard him and continued chatting.
Neville was about to continue when there was a loud bang that got absolutely everyone's attention.
Ginny was standing just in front of Neville with her wand pointed up into the air.
"Sorry, Neville," she said with a smile. "Carry on while I have a word with a couple of people at the back, will you?"
She marched off into the crowd, her eyes fixed on a group somewhere at the back of the hall. The crowd parted and Harry smiled seeing the relieved looks on the faces of those she passed by.
Clearly, Ginny was taking her Prefect duties seriously.
"Um, thank you, Ginny," said Neville, for the first time sounding as nervous as Harry remembered him. "This evening I'm pleased to introduce a guest instructor. Most of you will remember Harry Potter and a few of us who were members of the original DA will remember what a good Defence teacher he is. Harry?"
Neville extended his arm and Harry stepped out to join him.
As Neville and the others gave him a short round of applause in welcome, Harry looked around the Hall.
He grinned seeing Hagrid give him a double thumbs up sign from the back of the Hall.
"Thanks Neville," he said as soon as the applause died down. "This evening I thought we'd begin by practising shields and disarming spells. Neville tells me that you're quite good at them, so let me see and then perhaps we can move on to something more interesting."
There was a murmur of approval from the students.
"There's plenty of space so split up into pairs."
Harry turned to Neville intending to offer to partner him but found him pairing off all the students that had wanted to partner with him.
As the students began practising, Harry walked around the Great Hall to observe their progress.
He was actually rather impressed by their level of attainment. The only erratic spell work he saw was from First Years who had problems controlling their spells. Harry split these pairs and assigned the First Years with more experienced students who could show them what to do.
After demonstrating a shield charm to a group of Third Years, Harry realised that several of the teachers who were present were practising too.
He quickly stepped in between the two whose wayward spells were causing all those around them to dive for cover.
"Hagrid!" shouted Harry, "Stop for a minute, will you?"
"Oh, hello, 'Arry. Didn't see you for a moment."
He lowered his pink umbrella.
"First of all, Professor Trelawney, please open your eyes."
Sybill Trelawney did so and lowered her shawl. Harry was rather taken aback when he realised she was actually sober.
"Professor, you need to see to defend yourself. Hold your wand like you're going to actually use it."
He gently took her wand hand and positioned her arm out in front.
"That's better," he said gently. "There's really nothing to fear. Hagrid won't hurt you, will you Hagrid?"
"O'course not!" cried Hagrid with a grin, and for the first time Professor Trelawney gave a nervous smile and seemed to relax a little.
"Let's try a shield charm together, shall we? I know you can do it. The only reason the spells keep hitting you is that the shield was pointing upwards rather than at your attacker. Hagrid, can you please try a simple Expelliarmus spell?"
With Harry's help, the spell was deflected.
"Excellent!" cried Harry. "Now, let's sort you out Hagrid."
He moved over to his tall friend and grinned. Professor Trelawney lost no time in interrupting a couple of girls nearby and say proudly, "Yes, he's an ex-pupil of mine, you know?"
"'Bout time you called by to say 'ello."
"I know, Hagrid. I'm sorry. Now, I don't know if you noticed. But you weren't actually producing a shield charm at all."
"I weren't?"
"No, Hagrid. The spells were hitting you and bouncing off."
"Oh," said Hagrid, looking a little downcast.
Harry smiled and said, "Let's go through it together."
*
A little later, Harry had been around the Hall and had spoken to every pair to comment on their efforts. Usually he found he was making some very complimentary remarks.
He saw Professor McGonagall standing at the front of the Hall with Professor Flitwick and went over to join them.
Just as he got there Hagrid's raucous laughter rang out from the back of the Hall. Flitwick dashed off to intervene.
"You've created a monster, Harry," said McGonagall with a smile.
Harry nodded. He had needed to tell Hagrid off a couple of times since showing him how to do a Stupefying Charm properly.
"Do you and Professor Flitwick teach everyone normally?" Harry asked.
"Oh, no. We only come to show our support and to make sure no-one gets hurt. I suppose we do give individual pointers sometimes, but this is a student activity after all."
Harry smiled and nodded.
"Neville seems much happier this year," observed Harry, seeing Neville laughing with a group across the other side.
"Very much so," she agreed. "Of course, he still objects to my making him address the assembled school."
"I'm amazed he did that though," said Harry turning to her.
"Well, it was easier when there was only a handful of students. It is rather mean of me to make him keep doing it."
"Why do you?"
"It started off as a sort of punishment," she replied with a smile, "although I really intended to boost his confidence a little."
"Whatever did you want to punish him for, Professor?"
"He declined to accept the position of Head Boy."
"He did?"
"Indeed. He was afraid he would have to stand up and address the school."
Harry laughed and then asked, "So who is Head Boy?"
"We don't have either a Head Boy or a Head Girl as yet."
"Harry?"
Harry turned and said, "Hi, Ginny."
"It's getting late, Harry. We'll need to finish in a few minutes. How about you give us a last demonstration?"
"Sure, Ginny. Did you have anything in mind?"
"Something new we can practise for ourselves next time."
Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"Okay, I've thought of one."
Ginny smiled and turned raising her wand. A loud bang later, everyone was watching as Harry walked to the centre and asked for a volunteer.
Neville, Luna and Ginny all stepped forward at once.
"Alright, then. I want all three of you to fire a different hex or spell directly at me at the same time. I suggest you confer and agree what each of you will do."
They came together and agreed their spells.
"Please position yourself so you have clear shot at me, but where no-one else might get hit from standing in the line of fire."
Harry turned around and Professor McGonagall moved aside as the three of them moved apart and faced towards him.
"I'll let you see the effect and then I'll show you how to do it. I'd like you to fire on three, okay?"
The others nodded and raised their wands.
"Okay," repeated Harry, raising his wand. "One. Two. Three!"
There was a flash as the three spells were cast. Neville fired a red stunner, Luna cast a Rictusempra tickling charm and Ginny fired a Relashio spell at him.
The crowd gasped as Harry appeared to vanish just before the spells hit him. He reappeared an instant later and the shockwave produced knocked his attackers off their feet.
"Hey! That's cheating!" shouted Ginny angrily as Neville pulled her to her feet again. "Disapparating shouldn't be allowed."
"Miss Weasley," interrupted Professor McGonagall, "the anti-Apparition wards have not been lifted this evening. Whatever Harry did, he didn't Disapparate."
"So, what was that?" asked Neville interestedly.
"I believe Harry used a Vanissillsus trick," piped up Professor Flitwick. Harry nodded with a smile. "I must say, it was most impressive. I haven't seen one of those cast properly for years."
"So, who wants to know how it's done?" asked Harry.
*
Harry demonstrated the steps needed to perform the Vanissillsus trick effect a couple of times but Professor McGonagall had insisted that they all go to bed before they all had a chance to try it themselves.
He had explained that it wasn't actually true Apparition, but merely an illusion that could be used to fool several inexperienced opponents sometimes. He urged caution against using it against a powerful witch or wizard because the person who cast the spell was very vulnerable at the moment they became visible again.
Smiling as everyone groaned and made vocal their complaints, Harry bid them goodnight and promised he'd be happy to return and show them more if invited.
Luna and Ginny then came straight over to him.
"How is Ronald?" asked Luna at once.
Harry hesitated before answering.
"I got a letter from Fred and George," said Ginny seriously. "They said Dad threw him out and they haven't seen him since."
Harry nodded sadly.
"We have no idea where he is, but we're afraid he's in the company of some people with dark sympathies," said Harry. "Please be very careful if he gets in touch with you."
Hagrid came up then and interrupted their conversation. Professor McGonagall ushered the girls off to bed as well.
"Tha' were great, 'Arry!"
"Thanks Hagrid. How are Grawp and Herita?"
"Grawp is doin' great, 'Arry. Herita has moved into a cave a bit further up in the mountains. It's taken 'er a while to get over the loss of her brother, but she's improving all the time."
"That's good, Hagrid."
"How about coming up to see them?" Hagrid asked hopefully.
"I'd like to, Hagrid, but it's a little late tonight. I'll come back when I can, but I really need to be away now."
*
"'Arry, are you sure about this?" asked Hagrid.
"Yes. Honestly, Hagrid, I'll be fine."
"It's no trouble to come with you?"
"Yes, it is, Hagrid. You need to be here, at the school. What if something happened while you were away with me? You'd never forgive yourself."
"True, but I still say you're bein' a bit stupid."
"Hermione would say reckless," he agreed with a grin.
"Yeah, and she'd be right!"
Harry laughed and said, "Goodnight, Hagrid. It's been great to see you again."
Hagrid swung the great iron gates closed and the chain magically wound its way through the bars to secure them shut.
Harry walked a few feet along the path towards Hogsmeade and Disapparated as soon as he was outside the influence of the wards that protected Hogwarts. Hagrid waited until Harry had safely gone before turning and making his way back up to the castle.