Chapter Twenty-Four

Harry stood outside with Ron, Neville, and Sally. It was late September, almost October, and he could already feel it getting colder. He would need to figure something out soon, otherwise he would be training in the snow.

For the moment, though, he was glad to be outside, and was even considering skipping breakfast, anything to avoid the looks he getting from the rest of the school after they learned about the trial.

Ron trailed behind Harry, doing his best to keep up, but it was a losing battle. Harry had already lapped him once, and would probably do it a second time before they finished their morning run.

The others had already quit, too tired to keep going, but he would not give up. If Harry could run five laps around the lake, then so would he.

What Fred and George told him had been an eye opener. He had never seen the twins like that before. He couldn't help but think about what Andre and his friends would do when he turned them down.

He knew he had to be ready. He needed to train the way Harry did. If it came down to it, he would need to defend himself.

After another twenty minutes, Ron dropped to his knees, finally completing his fifth and final lap of the lake. He was covered in sweat, and breathing hard, but he did it.

"Great job, Ron," Harry complimented as he helped his friend to his feet. "Don't stay down too long. Walk around a bit until you catch your breath. You don't want to get a cramp."

Ron looked over at Neville and Sally. They were in much the same state he was, despite only running around the lake twice. "I know it's tough now, but it'll get easier," he said to them between breaths.

Neville could only nod from his spot on the ground as he considered again, if this was all worth it, but just like every other time, he came to the same conclusion. He didn't wand to be weak anymore. He didn't want to be laughed at, and this was what he needed to do to change things.

Sally was thinking along similar lines to Neville. This was probably the hardest thing she had ever done, but she knew she couldn't give up either. She owed it to the other kids that didn't get this chance, the ones she would teach during the summer.

She watched from the sidelines, a little envious as Harry went through the rest of his exercises. He barely even looked winded compared to the rest of them.

She looked at Ron. He was doing his best to keep up with Harry, that much was clear, but his face was flushed as he struggled to get through each exercise.

Ron's dedication impressed her. It was no wonder he climbed the student ranking as quickly as he did.

After they finished their cool down stretches, Harry called an end to their exercises, and they all returned to the castle to get changed before breakfast.

After getting cleaned up, Ron made his way down to the common room. Hermione was already there, reading a book.

"Hey Hermione, do you have a few minutes? I want to talk to you about something," Ron asked, standing in front of her.

"Sure," Hermione replied, closing her book. "I was actually waiting to talk to you, too."

"Ok," Ron agreed. "Why don't we do it in the hallway?"

"Good idea," Hermione agreed, following him out.

When the portrait door closed, Hermione checked the hallway to make sure no one could hear them. "You weren't at the last meeting," she pointed out.

"I know," Ron nodded, "I'm leaving the group, and I think you should, too."

"You believe Potter," Hermione stated.

"Look, I know you and Harry don't exactly get along, but he's a good bloke," Ron continued. "He hasn't lied to me or anyone else before, so why would he start now?"

"Isn't it obvious, Ron? He wants to hold on to his top spot in the ranking," Hermione said adamantly. "He knows that it's only a matter of time before the rest of us catch up to him, especially with the study group helping us."

"That's just it, Hermione. I don't think Harry even cares about the rankings," Ron replied, wondering if it was better to just tell her what Fred and George told him.

"Of course he cares," Hermione scoffed. "You heard what Percy said. Placing well on the rankings is really important. How is he supposed to get a good job without it? He can't coast on Merlin's vault forever."

"Hermione… don't you find it strange? All this secrecy? How they told us exactly what we wanted to hear when they recruited us?"

"Ron," Hermione sighed. "You're doing really well. I see how hard you're trying. Don't throw it all away. Stay with the group. They can help you."

"I trust Harry," Ron shook his head. "And for the record, I've improved because Harry helped me, not the group."

"Then I guess there isn't anything else to say about it," Hermione replied. "I'll let Andre know that you're leaving."

"Hermione… I know it's important to you to be the top student, but don't let it blind you to what's happening."

"I'm not going to change my mind, Ron," Hermione said with a lot more confidence than she felt. "This is too important for my future."

"Ok," Ron replied, annoyed with himself for not being able to convince her. "Just promise me, be careful, especially around Andre."

Hermione didn't say anything as she walked away. She didn't want to admit it, but she was having doubts. Could Ron and Potter be right? Was the study group manipulating her? The study group was helping her get better, weren't they?

Harry walking into the Great Hall, sitting down beside Ron with some trepidation. The owls had already dropped off the Prophet, and he could see the professors and students alike had their noses buried in the paper.

Ron wordlessly handed him the newspaper, letting him read the article for himself.

Harry skimmed through the paper. His father had won the trial. He wasn't going to Azkaban or paying a large fine.

The court of public opinion would be another matter entirely. Even with the Prophet clearing favouring his father, they still couldn't fully explain away what he'd done.

As he read further, his jaw dropped. He wasn't expecting that. They ejected his father from the Wizengamot, and they wanted him to take his place when he reached his magical maturity.

His father made it abundantly clear to him he would not follow with tradition, and the title of Lord Potter, along with all the associated hereditary positions, would go to Glory. This decision by the Wizengamot threw all of that into question.

Harry looked up from the paper to see most of the students and professors were now looking at him, as if they expected him to have something to say about it.

The problem was, he didn't even know what to think about it. He gathered up his things and made his way to the door, deciding to go to defense class early.

"Mr. Potter, wait one moment," Professor McGonagall said, catching up to him. "I wanted to inform you that you will have your meeting with the Headmaster tonight, before dinner."

Harry sighed, realizing his day was going from bad to worse. "Actually Professor, I would prefer not to see the Headmaster right now. I think some of the other students will find it more useful than me."

"The meeting is mandatory for all first year students," McGonagall replied, a little annoyed that he would dismiss the Headmaster like that. "The password is ice mice."

"Alright, I'll be there," Harry nodded, resigning himself to it. The meeting was school related, so Ted wouldn't easily be able to intervene.

He walked past his head of house, making his way to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.

When he walked into the classroom, Professor Green was already there, preparing for class.

"Hello Mr. Potter, you're a bit early," she said, looking down at her watch.

Harry sat down in his chair, nodding. "I finished my breakfast early."

"I see," Olivia replied. "Would this have anything to do with today's Prophet?" she asked.

"So you read the article as well?" Harry surmised.

"Yes, I can't imagine this is easy for you, how often you or your family end up in the Prophet." Olivia replied. "Is it something you want to talk about?"

Harry thought about what to say. He liked Professor Green. She was always fair, not just with him, but all the other students as well. He found with the heads of house in particular they were a little biased to their own houses.

"I don't really get along with my father," Harry replied. "When I found out about the trial… I thought the Wizengamont would do more."

"You don't think what happened is a fair punishment?" Olivia asked.

"No," Harry shook his head. "I think the Minister presented enough evidence for them to at least look more into what happened. It feels like they were more interested in sweeping things under the rug than doing the right thing."

"Well, I don't think you're alone in that assessment," Olivia acknowledged. "But losing his seat on the Wizengamot was big. It isn't something that's ever happened before in our history."

"The Minister told me what happened, not just with what happened to his wife, but also what my father did to interfere in the election," Harry replied. "It doesn't feel right, that he could just walk away from it."

"No, it doesn't," Olivia agreed, "but I think there's something else bothering you, not just the trial."

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'll be honest with you. I've heard the rumors, and the way you talk about your family in the press," Olivia replied. "You're very careful with your words."

Harry looked up at Professor Green sharply, wondering how much she had worked out of his home life.

"I haven't told anyone, if that's what you're concerned about," Olivia replied. "But I think your home life was worse than you let on, and this trial wasn't only about justice for minister Fudge, but for you as well."

Harry's jaw clenched. The less time he spent thinking about his family, the better, as far as he was concerned. "Thank you for your concern, Professor, but I'm fine."

"I understand, Mr. Potter," Olivia said empathetically. "But if you would like to talk about it, my door is always open."

Before Harry had a chance to reply, the other students walked into the classroom.

"Alright class, settle down," Oliva said to the students. "We're going to work on casting the Disarming Charm, so I expect all of you to pay attention…"

Harry and Ron made their way back to the common room at the end of class. They were both thinking the same thing. They couldn't leave things the way they were with Andre and his friends. They needed to find out what was really going on.

"Fred, George, we need to talk to you," Harry said as he walked up to the twins, keeping his voice low, just in case Hermione could hear them from the dorm rooms.

"Oi, we're busy," George replied, gesturing to Angelina and Alicia.

"Yeah, we'll talk later," Fred added.

"George, it's important," Ron said.

Fred let out a sigh, getting an idea of what this was about. "Alright, alright. Let's go," he said, walking out of the common room.

George, Harry, and Ron followed him to an unused classroom.

"Ok, what do you want to know?" George asked after he checked for listening charms.

"I talked to Hermione. She's sticking with Andre and his group," Ron replied. "I think we need to tell her what happened after they asked you to join."

"Absolutely not," Fred and George said at the same time.

"Especially after what happened last time," Fred added.

"Ron, I don't know if that's a good idea," Harry agreed.

"What? Why?" Ron asked in confusion. They had been on the same page about it yesterday.

"… I talked to Andre yesterday," Harry revealed. "I told him I didn't want to be part of his group anymore."

"What happened?" George asked.

"He tried to convince me. He said they were going to do something, and they've been preparing for hundreds of years. The way he talked, he sounded like a zealot. I don't know if it's real, but he definitely believes it," Harry continued.

"When I said no the second time, he cast a memory charm on me."

"What?" Fred asked in alarm. "How do you remember what happened?"

"I learned about occlumency this summer. It was just enough to block out the memory spell," Harry replied, with the story he and Merlin had prepared earlier.

"What's that?" Ron asked, confused.

"It's a way to organize your mind and protect it against mental attacks," George explained. "Most purebloods learn it after they graduate."

"What happened after that?" Fred asked.

"I pretended the spell worked and left," Harry explained.

"Ok, good," Fred said, relieved. "He doesn't think you know anything. He should leave you alone then."

"It's not that simple." Harry shook his head. "I thought he was going to kill me, and he let slip that I'm more useful to him alive than dead. He's planning something, and I think it's going to be bad. We need to find out what's going on."

"Why don't we go to the Headmaster with it?" Ron asked. "He fought loads of dark wizards before. He'll know what to do."

"We don't know who's involved," Harry replied. "They've been preparing for this for hundreds of years. For all we know, he could be in on it with them."

"That's a good point," George conceded. "When he was in Hogwarts, they definitely would have tried to recruit him at the very least."

"So, what do you think we should do?" Fred asked.

"We need to find out what's really going on, or at the least enough so that Hermione and Draco believe us," Harry explained.

"Yeah, but how?" Fred asked. "They're a pretty secretive bunch. They're not just going to talk about it in the open."

"We need to watch them," Harry explained. "They meet regularly in the library, but they must also meet somewhere else. We need to find out where that is."

Fred and George shared a look. "I think we can help with that," Fred said as he pulled out a blank piece of parchment and tapped it with his wand. "I solemnly swear that I'm up to no good."

Ron and Harry looked down at the parchment in surprise as letters appeared on the once blank parchment.

Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs are proud to present the Marauder's Map.

"That's everyone in Hogwarts, where they are, what they're doing, every second of every day," George explained.

"Where did you get this?" Ron asked in surprise.

"We nicked it from Filch during our first year," George explained. "It took us ages to figure out how it worked, too."

"Who are they, these Marauders?" Harry asked.

"Don't know," Fred and George replied. "Probably students before us."

"We'll keep an eye on them," Fred promised.

"Ok," Harry agreed. "We'll figure out what they're up to, and if it's as bad as I think it is, we can bring it to the Minister."

"Alright," Fred nodded. "We all need to agree on this. This is just to find out what they're up to. We're not going to fight them."

Harry and Ron nodded in agreement.

"I have to go," Harry said as he looked down at his watch. "I have my meeting with the Headmaster soon."

Harry walked out of the classroom and made his way to the Headmaster's office, passing by the same hallways he had used to escape the first time.

He knew this 'meeting' had nothing to do with seeing how he was settling into Hogwarts. He could only hope that Ted's letter had done the job.

He stood facing the stone gargoyle that had chased him through the hallways and said the password, "ice mice."

When the gargoyle moved out of the way, he took a deep breath and walked up the winding staircase.

"Hello my boy," Albus smiled up from his desk. "Please have a seat," he said, gesturing to the chair in front of him.

"Remember, no eye contact," Merlin warned.

Harry moved forward, sitting down in the same chair he found himself in the first time he was in the headmaster's office.

"Thank you for coming," Dumbledore started. "How are you settling in at Hogwarts?"

"Fine," Harry replied, keeping his eyes averted.

"I would say it is considerably better than fine," Albus smiled. "You're the top student for your year. Very impressive."

"Why am I here Professor?" Harry asked, cutting to the chase.

Albus sighed, looking down at his desk for a moment and tapping into his grandfatherly persona. "This is difficult for me to say, Harry, but I fear I have made a grave mistake, or, to be more accurate, a series of them."

"I taught your mother and father when they were students here," Albus explained. "And as you well know, I have been working with your sister to craft her public image for quite some time now."

"Neither one of your parents said very much about you, and what they did say… Well, it was not very flattering. At the time, I had no reason to distrust them, so I took what they said at face value. That was not fair to you, and for that, I humbly apologize," he said, doing his best to look contrite.

Harry looked at Dumbledore distrustfully. "I was told this meeting would be about school. That hasn't been the case so far."

"You're quite right," Albus replied. "I wanted to apologize to you, and this seemed to be the only way to do so. You are well within your rights to contact your solicitor and take whatever actions you deem appropriate."

Harry kept his face impassive, but he clearly understood what Dumbledore was hinting at. He had something on him, but he would not allow himself to be pushed around by it.

"You sent someone to kidnap me," Harry said, going on the offensive.

"Yes," Albus admitted. "I must take responsibility for that as well. That was not my intention, but I can see now how Alistar could have misunderstood me."

"He fought on the front lines of the war, and I sometimes forget that he hasn't truly left the battlefield behind," Albus replied, anticipating this from Harry. "My first letter didn't seem to reach you, so I sent Alistar. He was only supposed to make sure you received my message. I have already spoken with him at length about that."

"He's very good, certainly much more cautious than before," Merlin pointed out. "Ask him about giving Glory the credit for the Vault."

"You also talked to me about Glory. You wanted me to give her the credit for solving Merlin's Cypher," Harry pointed out.

"Yes, I did," Albus replied. "I was led to believe that Glory had a larger part to play in solving the cypher than she did."

"She didn't play any part in solving it," Harry retorted.

"Yes, in retrospect, that is obvious," Albus agreed. "I suppose it was simply a matter of wanting to believe in something so much that I ignored everything to the contrary."

"I have made mistakes, and I am sorry for that. All I ask for is the chance to make things right between us," Albus finished.

Harry stared at the man that had tried to erase his memories just a few weeks ago, now apologizing to him. He didn't believe it for a moment. The only things Dumbledore was sorry about were letting him escape, and not use the memory charm on him.

"I don't trust you," Harry finally said. "If we have another meeting, regardless of what you say beforehand, my solicitor will also be here," he said as he stood up to leave.

"Wait, before you leave, there's something else that came to my attention," Albus said. "It's about Tom and the Leaky Cauldron."

Harry stopped, looking back at Dumbledore suspiciously. "What do you know about that?"

"I know Tom is having trouble making his rent payments," Albus informed him. "And from what I've heard, you are trying to buy the property."

"What of it?" Harry asked.

"British Wizarding society is a very small community," Albus explained. "Anything that happens in Diagon Alley gets a lot of attention, and your solicitor did little to hide his intentions. A more subtle approach will yield better results."

"As an olive branch, I'm willing to use my contacts to see if we can get this resolved so that Tom can remain in Diagon Alley," Albus offered.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have complete faith in Tom's abilities," Harry said as he left.

Albus smiled inwardly as he watched the boy leave. The seed was now planted, and with a little more pressure, he could drive a wedge between them.

After he was sure Harry was gone, Albus threw a pinch of floo powder into the fireplace, calling the offices of Eliphas Dodge.

"Hello old friend," Albus smiled.

"Albus," Eliphas greeted. "How are you?"

"Very well," Albus replied. "I wanted to thank you again for your assistance with the trial. You performed admirably."

"What's a favor between friends?" Eliphas asked, brushing off the compliment.

"Don't sell yourself short," Albus denied. "With a client like Lord Potter, it was no simple task defending him."

"Well, that's true," Eliphas admitted. "After his conduct at the end of the trial, I told him to find alternate representation if he finds himself in trouble again."

"Understandable," Albus nodded. "Hopefully, he won't cause us any more problems in the future."

Harry stood inside the stone room of his mind with Merlin. "It's only a matter of time before Andre figures out his memory spell didn't work. What do you think my chances are against him?"

"Not good," Merlin admitted. "He has the advantage of age and experience over you, and that's doesn't take into account the rest of his group."

"Then we have to step up my training," Harry decided.

"Yes," Merlin agreed. "You've made some improvement to your speed and endurance. I had hoped we would have more time to hone those skills first, but we will need to start your instruction on the deep magics sooner than I intended."

"You mentioned that before when you helped Ben," Harry remembered. "What are the deep magics?"

"These are the magics that were used long ago, before wizard kind learned to create enchantments and focuses. They are both powerful and dangerous, and not to be taken lightly," Merlin warned.

"As a magical being, you naturally produce magic, then you focus it and expel it through a specific point on your body. The most prominent one is in the palm of your wand hand, but not the only one. You have these points all over your body."

"So I can cast spells from any part of my body?" Harry asked.

"With training, yes," Merlin continued. "But it is far more than that, because those points can not only expel magic from your body, but also draw in the magic from outside. You can use it to amplify the power of your spells many times over."

"Why doesn't everyone know about this?" Harry asked.

"It's a double-edged sword," Merlin explained. "If you're not prepared or skilled enough, the results are dangerous, if not deadly."

"Your body can only contain so much magic. If you draw in too much, not only will it be extremely painful, but damaging to your body. The same thing will occur if you expel the magic too quickly. It could burn out your magical pathways, and re-constructing them will be difficult."

"Ok," Harry nodded, accepting the risk. "How do we start?"

"The first thing you need to do is identify these points on your body," Merlin explained.

"How many are there?" Harry asked.

"Hundreds," Merlin replied.

"Oh," Harry replied, realizing the enormity of the task in front of him.

"We'll start with your wand hand," Merlin continued. "Without drawing you wand, expel a small amount of magic from your hand."

Harry nodded, looking down at his hand, thinking about what it felt like when he cast a spell, then concentrated on pushing his magic out.

"There, do you feel it?" Merlin asked.

Harry nodded. He could feel the magic he was expelling from the palm of his hand.

"Good," Merlin replied. "There will be more points on your hand. Try to find them."

Harry concentrated again, picking up another point on his palm, and pushed his magic out from there, but noticed it was more difficult than the first one.

"Good, you picked on that," Merlin said. "You don't normally use that point, so it's underdeveloped. With more practice, it will strengthen that pathway, and become easier."

Harry nodded, finding another point and repeating the process.

"You will learn something called hardening," Merlin explained. "Rather than let your magic float away, you will encase your fist with it. With enough training, you could punch through solid rock with it."

"And if I can do it with my whole body, it will be like a suit of armor," Harry realized.

"More than that," Merlin replied. "It will be constructed out of your magic, so it won't have any weight, and it can protect you from certain spells. The more points you expel the magic from, the more magic you use, and the stronger it becomes."

"How do I do it?" Harry asked, having reached ten points in his wand hand.

"It's all based on your intent," Merlin explained. "Concentrate. Feel the magic bind it to your skin."

Harry nodded, following Merlin's instructions. He felt his magic slowly spread across his hands like a second skin.

"Good," Merlin said. "Not too much, or you'll exhaust your magic. It will take time and practice to get this right."

"You said before we can draw in magic from around us. Can I do that to strengthen the spell even more?" Harry asked.

"You could one day," Merlin agreed. "But that is a long way off. You'll need to learn how to walk before you can run."

"How strong is it now?" Harry asked as he thickened the layer of magic covering his hand.

"About the equivalent of a few sheets of parchment," Merlin replied. "But it seems you've worked out the next step on your own. The more densely you can pack the magic together, the stronger it becomes."

"While you practice, I'll show you more of what I learned in my life."