CHAPTER FIVE
A/N - Sorry for the delay, I've had quite a lot on my plate! Hope this one's worth the wait, keep the reviews coming…
Harry, Ron and Hermione sat up well into the early hours of the morning that night in the Gryffindor common room, discussing their newest lead. Since they were here already, it made sense to talk to this Auror, and see what he knew. Besides, Harry was privately interested in what kind of `advanced self-defense' techniques this David Adams knew. When Harry observed his fight with Macnair, he saw spells and abilities he had never heard of before. Conjuring a magical blade from a wand…where the hell did he learn that?
They were joined in the evening by the returning Gryffindors, a handful of them that had elected to take part in these classes over the summer. Aside from the sixth years, many of whom Harry was on no more than nodding terms with, the return of Neville, Dean, Seamus, Lavender and Parvati were welcome ones. The absence of Ginny Weasley was more of a relief to Harry than anything else. Ron revealed to him later on that he had spoken with his parents, and Mrs. Weasley simply would not allow Ginny out of her sight. It felt good to catch up with his friends, Harry thought, although the solemn and quite subdued tone of the night felt alien in this common room, where they had all laughed and joked for years.
Harry had trouble sleeping that night. This time, though, he wasn't plagued by nightmares. He was simply restless; he couldn't wait to get the ball rolling in the morning. As it turned out, Neville couldn't sleep either. The two of them sat up and talked for what felt like hours; over the last month, Neville had been practicing almost as rabidly as Harry had. Harry could sense a determination in Neville that he hadn't felt before; it had taken him a while to get over his confidence issues, Professor Snape's years of sniping no doubt a central cause, but Neville had just as much potential for wizardry as Harry had. He knew that for a fact; the prophecy told him so.
The sunrise in the morning came as a relief, as Harry was up, washed and dressed before anyone else. Ron slept annoyingly well and annoyingly soundly, causing Dean and Neville to throw their pillows at him upon awaking. As the five of the boys met up with the three girls, they headed down to the Great Hall in a group to catch some breakfast.
The Hall itself was largely empty; a few of the teachers were eating, others evidently already had or were going to later. Groups of maybe ten to twenty sat bunched at different sections of the other house tables; Harry noticed Luna Lovegood and Cho Chang were both present. Oh God, not Cho…Harry had sworn that he was over her, had realized that his passing fancy of her was just that; passing. But every time he saw her, he wasn't so sure. He caught Ron and Hermione looking at him across the table, to which he only raised his eyebrows as if to say `yeah, I know'.
Eating breakfast seemed to take a lot less time than usual; either Harry really didn't eat that much, or everyone else was on a diet! It seemed more likely that the other Gryffindors were eager to get on with these classes; after all, that was what they were there for. So, the group of eight set off first, heading for the old Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, as the posters had directed. Harry had noticed the group of about ten Slytherins looking particularly smug and superior, openly wondering what some wet-behind-the-ears Auror could teach them. Yeah, well you still turned up, Harry thought.
As the two groups of the morning class, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff, filed into the empty classroom, Harry noticed Professor McGonagall standing at the base of the stone staircase that led up to the teacher's office, talking with David Adams, her former student. Their conversation seemed to be pretty light-hearted, at least as much so as Professor McGonagall would allow, but there was a definite respect there, on both sides. From what Hermione had told Harry about her reading, that probably would have been unlikely three years ago.
"Good morning class," Professor McGonagall said, stepping forward to address the two groups, who immediately stopped their idle chatter and turned to face her. She continued, "We at Hogwarts, in co-operation with the Department of Aurors, are happy to run these self-defense classes for our advanced-level students over the summer. However, be under no misconception; although your clothing is casual, your behavior and effort shall not be. Is that clear?"
A few assorted murmurs and nods told her it was.
"Now then," she continued, gesturing at the Auror behind her, "Mr. Adams here is one of the Ministry's foremost experts on dueling and close-quarters defense. His work is held in high regard, and you would be very well-advised to listen to his instructions." She turned and nodded to Adams, who seemed mildly surprised at the compliments his old Head of House had just paid him.
"I shall be in my office for much of the day, if there are any problems," The professor finished, "Good luck." She exited through the side door of the classroom, leaving the twenty-five or so students with Adams at the front. An awkward silence followed, hanging in the air thickly for a few seconds. It was clear he hadn't ever taught before. Clad in a Muggle-style denim jacket, red T-shirt and black jeans over black sneakers, he definitely did not look the part.
"Alright," He started, speaking in a Londoner's accent, pacing slightly at the front of the class, "As the professor said, my name's David Adams. I've been with the Ministry for about three years, before that I was a Gryffindor here. Before I get started, does anyone have any questions?"
Harry and Ron, standing either side of Hermione, were totally unsurprised when her hand shot into the air. David nodded at her, "Yeah?"
"What is the nature of your work at the Ministry?" She asked. David caught her eyes for a couple of seconds. Harry knew that David had figured her out already; Hermione wanted to know what he was doing in Diagon Alley, two days ago.
"Well, I spend most of my time at the Ministry developing new close-quarters defense skills, but other than that I do a bit of field work," David answered, "Anyone else?"
Seamus was next, "Do you know what…Voldemort's next move is going to be?"
David's eyes briefly found Harry's for a split-second before he answered, "We've got our best people working on that, but that's about all I can tell ya. Anyone else?"
Luna's hand went up, a serene look on her face, "Is it true that Unspeakables are performing illegal experiments on Crumple-Horned Snorkacks?"
As Harry rolled his eyes, and Hermione let out a sharp breath of frustration, David's eyebrows knitted together, trying to figure her out. After a few seconds he gave up, turning to the rest of the class, "Yeah, whatever…anyway, let's get started. I'll start by showing you the Dagonet Leap; it's a useful evasive maneuver for slipping a hex or curse, or for changing your position in the middle of a duel and gaining a tactical advantage. Pair up, and we'll get started."
Both Harry and Ron turned to face Hermione in the middle, purely on instinct. Hermione, wordlessly, turned to face Harry first. Ron was taken aback for a second, as Luna came to stand right next to him, smiling sweetly as if they were still back at the wedding and she wanted to dance. Harry and Hermione exchanged raised eyebrows as David slipped off his jacket at the front, revealing a well-defined musculature beneath his T-shirt; red with white sleeves, the letters JVC across the front. Lavender and Parvati tried to hide their giggles, warranting another frustrated sigh from Hermione, as Harry could hear Seamus saying something that sounded like `he's a bloody Gooner', whatever that meant.
David withdrew his wand from his back pocket; dark brown and completely straight and smooth. With a quick, wordless wave, around fifteen tall blue crash-mats appeared next to the pairs. David nodded at them, "Those are just for safety, it took me a while to do this and land on my feet."
Without warning, he bent his knees slightly and jumped, in a flash too fast to be natural, he had leapt right up near the ceiling. He back-flipped in midair and landed on his feet, bending his knees to absorb the hard landing. As he was met by open mouths and stunned expressions, he explained, "That's what you should be able to pull off by the end of today. It's a wandless ability; the incantation is `Dagonus', and it's best to think it rather than say it aloud, or you're advertising what you're about to do to your opponent. Give it a go, concentrate on the landing, and try and aim for the mat," He said, with a slight grin at the end.
Over the course of the next hour, Harry began to appreciate just how hard being an Auror really was. Owing to his practice with wandless and wordless magic, Harry picked up the incantation part quite quickly. However, the jumping part, that was hard. The vertigo and the nausea he felt as he was almost catapulted upwards by an unknown force of energy was almost enough to make him throw up, and actually was in the case of Dean. Ron, to his credit, picked up the technique quite quickly, but did rather overdo it by slamming back-first into the ceiling. David Adams had spotted this as he fell, and held out an outstretched hand, instantly slowing Ron's fall to a slow crawl.
Just how powerful is this guy?
As much as Hermione really wanted to master this task, as she had done so many others, she found herself struggling, and often times crashed back into the soft padding of the mat. Harry's heart leapt into his throat each time, bizarrely more-so than when he watched Ron. Harry himself was starting to pick it up, jumping straight up and down quite easily and landing on his feet. He knew that mastering the flip, either forwards or backwards to change position and come down in a better position towards one's enemy, would take more practice.
The class trained for about two hours, at the end of which everyone was hot and tired, many aching all over. After some words of encouragement and a brief preview of tomorrow morning's lesson on positional awareness in dueling, the class stumbled away. Harry, Ron and Hermione, however, stayed behind.
David was mopping at his damp forehead with a towel as he noticed the trio approach him. He threw it casually over the handrail of the staircase up to what was, for the moment, his office, "Yeah?"
Harry and Ron both looked to Hermione, who narrowed her eyes slightly as she spoke, "Mr. Adams, we were just…"
"Call me David," He said, not with the air of a man trying to play down his importance in false modesty, but rather as a man who couldn't be bothered with such formality.
"…we were curious as to…"
"You wanted to know how I could anticipate Macnair's attack on Diagon Alley," David finished. Hermione paused, and nodded.
David leaned back against the railing, "I've been tracking Macnair for about two months now. I thought I lost track of him, until you three drew him out into the open at Diagon Alley. That day, I was on duty keeping an eye on you."
Harry felt the familiar surge of anger reserved for unwanted Ministry intrusion, but suppressed it, "How much do you know about Macnair's movements?"
"A fair bit, why?"
"We need to find anyone who had dealings with Regulus Black while he was alive." Harry said plainly, giving away nothing of their mission in his voice.
David's eyes flashed a hint of curiosity, "In relation with?"
Ron shrugged, "When we know, you'll know."
David played the request out in his head for a moment, before shrugging his muscular arms, "Alright, I'll look over my paperwork and check in with Kingsley at the Ministry. If I find something, I'll let you know."
Harry nodded, "Thanks."
Before he could make to leave, Ron had another question, "Where did you learn all this?"
David shrugged again, "What do you mean?"
"The Dagonet Leap, turning your wand into a magical sword, fighting off three Death Eaters just like that," Ron elaborated, "I've never heard of any of those spells." As much as Hermione thought the matter trivial in the larger scheme of things, she looked to David for an answer, as did Harry.
David hesitated, carefully wording his reply, "Until the Ministry officially approves the techniques I've learned, I can't tell you," He said, "I had to get special permission just to do these classes."
"Why are you doing these classes?" Harry asked.
David fixed him with a steady look, "Because I had a strong feeling you'd be here."
"What?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Look, I know you and the Ministry don't get on," David said calmly, "But I can guarantee you this; Voldemort doesn't know the same techniques I do, nor do his Death Eaters. I'm here, you're here, and I'd be a fool for not giving you every chance to defeat him, and you'd be one for not taking advantage."
Harry glared back at him as he spoke, and after a good few seconds, looked away, as if conceding his point. David picked his towel up from the railing, then moved over to grab his denim jacket, "Now, I've gotta get ready for this afternoon's class. I'll let you three know what I find." He slung his jacket over his broad shoulders, and walked away into the corridor.
Hermione was the first to speak, "He has a point, Harry."
"Don't start…" Harry said dismissively.
Sensing the growing atmosphere, Ron began to slowly make for the door, muttering something about being parched.
Hermione looked at him squarely, eyes narrowing testily, "Just because you don't like the idea of listening to anyone that works for the Ministry of Magic, don't tar him with the same brush! He's here to help you!"
"Yeah, he made that abundantly clear," Harry said.
"You heard what he said; he knows things Voldemort doesn't."
"He's not the only one…" Harry said before stopping himself. The power he knows not…that was the only part of the prophecy that Hermione, nor anyone else after the death of Professor Dumbledore, didn't know about. In telling Ron and Hermione the prophecy, Harry had for some reason kept that part back.
"What does that mean?" Hermione asked.
"Forget it," Harry said quickly, sure that Hermione was going to pick up on that down the line. Looking to change the subject, his tone softened, "Look, I know he's only doing what he thinks is best, but…aside from you and Ron, I just have trouble trusting people these days."
Hermione's face seemed to soften as well; she took a couple of steps closer to Harry, speaking in a quieter voice, "I know, Harry, it's okay. I think David is okay, you know. Three years ago, he was where we are now. I'm sure he remembers what that's like. Just try and cut him some slack, okay?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah, okay."
Hermione put a hand on his arm, smiling slightly. Seeing some of the old Harry in his eyes, she turned and left.
Harry ran his hand across the part of his arm where Hermione had just touched him; it was still tingling.
Weird.
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