Content Harry Potter
  • Previous
  • Next

"Harry!   Harry, wake up!" Ron called.   "Presents!"   Ron, who overslept on a regular basis, never ever slept in at Christmas.   He was always the first one up, always the one to let Harry know that he, too, had a stack of presents from his friends.

Harry sat up, rubbed his eyes, scratched at the small beard he’d grown to please Ginny, and stretched, then reached for his glasses.   At the foot of his bed was a lovely pile of presents.   Christmas in the wizarding world was so much better than Christmas with his awful aunt and uncle.   He bounced down to the foot of his bed and grabbed the first present on the pile.  "This one’s from Hagrid," he said with a grin.   He pulled off the untidy wrappings and revealed a thin book with elegant binding: "Medical and Emergency Treatments for Injuries and Illnesses of Magical Creatures."   Harry laughed.   "He’s making sure I know how to take care of myself, I expect."

"He sent me one too," Ron said as he opened his gift from Hagrid.   "D’you reckon it’s a new textbook?"

"I don’t think he’d send a textbook at Christmas," Harry said with a shrug.   "And the book we have for class covers the whole term.   I think he’s making sure we know how to look after me if I get hurt again — or should I say ‘when’ I get hurt again, since I seem to be spending an awful lot of time in hospital this year."   He sighed spectacularly, faking a faint back onto his bed.

Ron laughed at Harry’s dramatics.   "Yeah, you’re probably right," Ron agreed.   "I’ll bet he sent one to each of the girls, as well.   Oh, there are rock cakes in here too," he said with a grimace after digging further into the wrappings.

"Here too," Harry said with a smile.   Hagrid had no idea that his idea of a home made treat was completely un-chewable by normal human teeth.   He set the rock cakes aside and opened the book.   "This is a fantastic book," he said after flipping through several pages.   "Illustrated and everything.   Oh, look!" he said, turning the book so Ron could see the pages, "this shows how he bound up my wing!   That’s good to know."

Harry had a great heap of presents this year.   From Hermione, he received a warm cloak that could be magically expanded to fit someone Hagrid’s size, or shrunk to fit in a pocket. "If I can figure out how to get it out of my pocket when I’m a thestral, it will cover me!" he chuckled, "but first I have to work out where my pockets are on the thestral."   From Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, a sweater with a Gryffindor lion knitted into it, and several mince pies and sweets.   From Fred and George, trial versions of a variety of new items from their joke shop.   Harry laughed as the telescope they sent made a sound on its own like a loud raspberry and turned into a chamber pot full of fake, but very smelly, pooh.

"Eauw," Ron said.   "What is that?"

"One ub Fwed an’ Geo’ge’s new pwoducts, I t’ink," Harry replied, holding his nose.   "Id was funny when id changed, but the smell!"

Just then, two loud cracks broke the quiet of the room, and Fred and George themselves appeared, sitting on the foot of Ron’s bed.   "Sorry about that changing by itself," Fred said, indicating the chamber pot.   "You’re supposed to hold it to your eye and then it changes,"

"But sometimes it just changes on its own," George concluded, turning the chamber pot back into a telescope with a flick of his wand.   "I don’t know if that one will be a great success or not."

"It will be with some of our clientele," Fred said with a wry grin.   "Try the fish," he suggested, pointing to a rubber tuna in the box of items they’d given Harry.

"Try it. . .how?" Harry asked, looking at it dubiously.

"Give it a wave!" Fred said, his and his twin’s faces expectant.

Harry held the fish by its tail and waved it and jumped back as fireworks erupted from its mouth, sending a large Catherine Wheel and several rockets zooming around the room.   Harry’s glasses reflected the brilliant colours, which coalesced into a glittering "sign" that read "Thank You for Choosing Weasley’s Wizard Whizbangs!"

" Brilliant!" Harry said, laughing.

"These are just samples," George said modestly.

"The really big stuff is in the shop," Fred said. "You simply have to visit us so we can show you what we’ve developed."

"I can’t wait!" Harry said, grinning at the still-sparkling fireworks.   The letters had rearranged themselves into various silly profanities, ranging from "Poo" to "Uranus" and many things in between.

"All down to you, my dear man," George said with a slight bow.   "You are welcome to whatever samples your little heart desires when you come and visit!"

"Uh-oh, Mum’s coming," Fred said, and the twins Disapparated with two loud "cracks."   The fireworks still floated around the room.   Harry and Ron looked at each other in panic.   How were they going to explain this to Molly, and keep the twins out of trouble at the same time?   Fortunately, they heard her enter Ginny’s room, so they breathed a sigh of relief and went on with their present opening as the fireworks finally disappeared.

"Harry!   Thanks!   This is fantastic!" Ron said as he opened Harry’s present, the new book on Quidditch Harry had ordered in Dervish and Banges.

"That’s so new, they didn’t even have it in the shop yet," Harry said.   "I hope someone else didn’t get it for you too."

"Nah, I’ve been through almost everything now.   There’s nothing else this size or shape, so this must be the only one.   It’s brilliant!   Thanks!"    Ron reached behind him and came up with a handful of chocolate frogs, chucking some at Harry.   "These are from Hermione."

"Thanks!" Harry said, opening a frog and popping it into his mouth as he reached for another present to open.   He looked up and saw Ron had his nose buried in his new Quidditch book.  Harry smiled, glad to see his present was a success.   His next present was from Remus.   "Whoa!   Look at this!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" Ron asked, coming over to sit next to Harry on the bed.

"It’s like a Foe Glass, but small enough to keep in your pocket.   It has other powers as well.   At least, that’s what Remus’s note says.   He says he’ll tell me about it later.   Oh, look, it shows your mum is about to open our door!"   The boys laughed and Harry stowed the mirror in his pocket before Molly could ask questions about it.

"Happy Christmas, boys!   I see you’ve found your presents," Molly greeted them cheerfully, then her face fell.   "What is that awful smell?"

The boys looked guiltily at each other, trying to decide if she was smelling the fireworks or the after-effects of the fake pooh.

"Erm. . .my socks, maybe?" Harry offered.   He glanced at Ron, happy to see his friend looking relieved.   They both knew she’d never punish or yell at Harry the way she would at Ron or the twins.

Molly stood staring at Harry a moment, as if trying to decide how to react.   "Well. . .I suppose I should expect that kind of thing.   The twins were bad about washing their socks when they were at school as well.   Bring them and the rest of your laundry down later and I’ll do it for you, Harry."

"Thanks!" he said with a grin.  

"Right, then.   Breakfast will be in twelve minutes.   Get dressed!"

"OK, Mum," Ron agreed as she left the room and closed the door behind her.   He and Harry hurriedly pulled on their clothes.   "Thanks for that," he said sincerely.

"You didn’t do anything wrong, so why should you be blamed?" Harry said reasonably as he tied his shoes.   "And my socks are a bit smelly."

Ron laughed and threw a pillow at Harry.

"Hey!" Harry protested half-heartedly, then gleefully tossed the pillow back at Ron.   "We don’t have time for a pillow fight now.   Breakfast is in . . .let’s see. . .six minutes!"

"What did Ginny get you?" Ron asked.

"Dunno, haven’t found it yet."   Harry went back to his pile of presents.   "Here it is."

"It’s small," Ron commented.

"That’s OK.   Ginny’s proof that good things come in small packages," Harry said with a grin.   "Oh, she’s put a note on it that she wants to watch me open it.   I guess I’ll just take it downstairs with me."

The boys thundered down the stairs as only growing boys with oversized feet can do.   There were many calls back and forth of "Merry Christmas!"   "Happy Christmas!"   "Thanks for the presents!" "Did you like what I got you?" among the family members assembled there, which included Remus, who was staying with the Weasleys along with Harry for the holiday.

"Does your sweater fit all right, Harry dear?" Molly asked.  

"It feels fine, thanks!" Harry replied, looking down at his new sweater.

"Oh dear, you’ve grown much more in the shoulders than I allowed for," Molly fussed, running her hands over his shoulders and trying to adjust the sweater to fit over Harry’s bulging muscles.   "What in the world are you doing to get such big muscles?"

"Exercising," Harry replied off-handedly.

"I’d say so!" Molly replied, still astonished that his shoulders, chest and back muscles were so much larger than those on any of her sons.

"Harry does lots of chin-ups, too, Mum," Ron offered, trying to help.   "He thinks it helps his flying."

"Chin-ups?   What do you mean?" she asked as she set the table.

Harry gave Ron a glance.   Ron shrugged, then inclined his head slightly toward the doorway, where a sturdy beam crossed above the top of the door.   Harry nodded and moved to the doorway, grasped the beam above his head with his fingertips and did ten one-armed chin-ups rapidly and with obvious ease.

Molly clapped her hands in delight.   "Oh, Harry, dear, that’s just wonderful!   Ron, maybe you should try to do those too."

"You know I used to do them on that very door frame when I was little, Mum," Ron complained.   "I’m just not as strong as Harry.   He can do loads more than I can."

"I have more time for such things than Ron does, since he’s a Prefect," Harry said, trying to rescue Ron.   He succeeded.   Molly turned a proud eye on her youngest son.

"And how are you enjoying being a Prefect for the second year?" she asked him.

"The Prefect bathroom is still the best part of the job," Ron said enthusiastically.   "That bath is brilliant!"

"Aw, did I miss seeing Harry doing chin-ups?" Ginny said as she came downstairs.   "I heard you talking about them."

"I’ll do some more just for you, Ginny," Harry said gallantly, and proceeded to do ten more in quick succession.

"Yay!" she cheered when he was done.

"Show-off," Ron teased.

Harry sat down next to Remus.   "Thank you for the mirror, Remus," he said lightly.   "Are you hinting that I should do something about my hair?"

Remus laughed at Harry’s joke.   "As my note told you, it’s a kind of Foe Glass," he said, holding out his hand for the mirror.   "But it does a lot more than just showing enemies approaching."

"Oh good," Harry whispered with a grin.   "I was worried when it showed Mrs. Weasley outside the door!"

"Were you and Ron doing something you shouldn’t?" Remus asked with a twinkle in his eye.

"No, but the twins. . ."

"Ah, I understand.   Say no more."   Remus chuckled, and then turned back to the mirror.   "This, Harry, is a communication glass as well as a foe glass.   It shows you who’s outside the door, or who’s approaching you, yes, but you can also use it to communicate with other people who have similar glasses.   You call their names, as if you were using the Floo Network.   I have one of these glasses.   Whenever you want to talk to me, you can use the mirror."

"Sirius. . ." Harry began, then stopped to control his voice before it broke and betrayed his emotion.   "He gave me a mirror to communicate with him.   He said he and my dad used them when they were in separate detentions."

"Yes, I remember those mirrors," Remus said with a fond chuckle.   "They made good use of them, as they were in detention a lot."

"They were?"   Harry was amazed.   "Both of them?"

"I’ve told you your father had as much of a talent for breaking rules as you do.   Sirius, as you can well imagine, was even worse, and often instigated their pranks."   Remus smiled at the memory.   "This mirror has quite a few more powers than those did, but those mirrors were quite useful.   Do you still have the one he gave you?"

The boy hung his head.   "No.   I broke it.   I tried to contact him after. . .um. . ." He stopped and sighed.   "I got angry and threw it into my trunk.   It broke to pieces.   I didn’t even try to repair it since Sirius was. . . ."

"I’m sorry, Harry," Remus said, patting his godson on the knee sympathetically.   "I know it’s still painful."

"Not so much anymore, but it’s still there," Harry conceded.   He glanced up and saw Ginny hovering a few feet away, trying not to interrupt them.   He forced a smile on his face to cover the sudden Sirius-sized ache in his heart.   "Happy Christmas," he told her.

"Happy Christmas to you, too," she said, coming over and sitting next to him.   "Have you opened my present yet?"

"Your note said to wait until you were with me, so I did," he replied.  "Here it is."

"OK, then, you can open it," she said with an expectant grin.

Harry smiled at her, and then carefully took the wrappings off of the small package.   Inside the wrappings was a black leatherette case.   He opened it, and found a knife like the one Sirius had given him lying on the red silk inside the case.

"Do you like it?   It unlocks doors, like the one you broke before," Ginny said eagerly.   "I thought you might like another. . . ."   Her face fell.   The look she was seeing on Harry’s face wasn’t the happy one she’d anticipated for weeks, but a stricken one, as if he’d been kicked in the gut.

"Um. . .thank you, Ginny.   I. . .thanks," Harry said uncomfortably, his mind repeating two knives, two deaths as he stood up and left the house, going out in the snow with no cloak or jacket.

The entire family had witnessed the scene.   All of them knew what Ginny had purchased for him, and how long it had taken her to save up for it.   An uneasy and unnatural silence cloaked the Weasley family.

Remus looked around and then slapped his hands on his knees.   "Right.   I’ll just go see how he’s doing, shall I?"   As he started toward the door, he turned back and patted Ginny on the shoulder.   Tears were streaming down her face.   "He isn’t angry with you," Remus said kindly.

"No, but I hurt him terribly.   I don’t know what I was thinking," Ginny sobbed.

"You were thinking about how much he liked the one he had before, and that he might enjoy a new one," Remus reminded her.   "That’s a very kind thought.   The problem is, he and I had just mentioned Sirius, and I expect his feelings were a bit too close to the surface at that moment.   I’ll go and talk to him."   With that, he turned, grabbed his cloak and Harry’s off the hooks by the door, and went out in the snow to find his godson.

Harry was standing by the hedge at the back of the garden, his tears freezing on his cheeks.   Right on this spot, he had shown Casey how to toss gnomes over the hedge.   Just over there, he’d taken her for her first broom ride.   Back there, he’d sat beside her at the table, enjoying the wonderful picnic Molly had prepared.   Casey had given him a pocket knife for his birthday, and that gift had reminded him painfully of the one from Sirius.   Now another girlfriend had given him a pocket knife, but with magical powers like the one Sirius had given him, and that looked nearly exactly like it.   Harry felt as if he were in an endless circle of grief.   He felt a warm presence near him, a cloak thrown over his shoulders and tugged closed around him.   He looked up to see Remus’s sad eyes in front of him.

"I’m so sorry, Harry," Remus said quietly.   "Ginny didn’t mean to hurt you."

"I know.   And now I’ve hurt her, embarrassed her in front of her family. . .how can I show my face in there again?" the boy replied miserably.

"You can, and you will.   Everyone in there loves you, lad, as if you were one of them.   Don’t you understand that by now?"

Harry looked up at his godfather again, desperate for something, but he wasn’t sure what would ease his desperation.   His eyes searched Remus’s face hungrily.   "What. . .how can I. . . .   I don’t know what to do," he moaned.

"Wipe your face.   Blow your nose," Remus said practically, handing him a clean handkerchief.   "Take some deep breaths.   Think about how happy Ginny makes you.   Holidays are always hard when you’ve lost someone you care about.   You will feel better as time goes by.   You just have to deal with it day by day.   We all do.   Time will make it easier to bear."

Harry nodded, and did as he was told.   He took some shuddering breaths, then laughed shakily.   "Cold out here, isn’t it?   The air hurts my lungs."

"Yes, it’s cold out here," Remus agreed.

"Thanks for bringing out my cloak," Harry said, glancing shyly at his godfather.

"You’re welcome."   Remus opened his arms and the boy embraced him, holding on as if for dear life.   "And any time you need a hug, Harry, you just come to me.   Sometimes even we adults just need someone to hold us.   I understand this.   It was one of your mother’s greatest charms, that she was always ready with a hug for anyone who needed it.   She was such a kind woman, your mother.   You take after her tremendously."

Harry relaxed into Remus’s embrace, enjoying the feeling of his godfather’s strong hands gently rubbing his back, soothing away his misery.   "I do?"

"Yes.   I heard what you did for Pansy Parkinson.   As badly as she and the other Slytherins have always treated you, you were kind to her when she needed it.   She’ll remember that."

"It just seemed like the right thing to do," Harry said quietly.

"It was," Remus agreed.   "And when you’re ready, the right thing to do here is to give your girlfriend as nice a hug as you just gave me."

Harry straightened up and smiled at his godfather.   "That I can do," he said with a semblance of his normal cheekiness.   The two of them walked back into the house, Harry scrubbing at his face to try to remove any traces of tears.

"You look fine.   Keep doing that and you won’t have any skin left," Remus teased.

Harry grinned and lengthened his stride.   "It’s bloody cold out here!   I wonder what’s for breakfast?"

As they entered the house, the unnatural quiet hit Harry like a hammer.   His grin faded.   "I’m. . .I’m very sorry for my behaviour, everyone," he said quietly.   He walked over to Ginny and took both of her hands in his, pulling her to her feet.   He wiped the tears from her eyes with gentle fingers, his heart breaking that he’d hurt her so badly, and in front of her family.   He swallowed hard, willing himself to say exactly the right thing.   "It’s a beautiful knife and I am so glad you gave it to me.   I was looking for one myself, honestly.   Thank you."   He pulled her into a warm hug, and then kissed her, gently at first, then, forgetting her family was surrounding him, more and more deeply until they were both breathless.   When they broke the kiss and he realized he was surrounded by a happily grinning family of redheads, he blushed as red as their hair.   "Erm. . .sorry," he said to the room in general.   Then he looked at Ginny.   "I’m not apologizing for that to you, though!" he said with a crooked grin.

She laughed.   "Good!" she said with a smile, then laced her fingers in his hair and pulled him down for another kiss as her brothers cheered them on.

The moment was broken when Molly cleared her throat dramatically.   "A-hem!   Breakfast is on the table!"   The family broke into laughter as they began to move to their places around the table.

"Were you really looking for a knife like that yourself?" Ginny asked quietly as they sat at the table.

"Yeah.   Ask Ron," Harry said as he held the platter of eggs out for her to help herself first.

"He was, actually," Ron agreed as he shovelled bacon onto his plate.   "The man in the shop said he’d just sold the last one.   He doesn’t get them in often."

"The shop in Hogsmeade?" Ginny asked.

"Yeah," both boys said.

"Then it was the same knife!   The man said he rarely had them in, and I was lucky to ask for it when I did!"

Harry grinned at her and gave her a one-armed hug as he passed the platter on to Ron.   "Thank you.   I mean that."

"That’s OK.   I’m sorry my timing was bad in giving it to you," she said.

"Don’t worry about it.   Things get to me from time to time.   That’s just the way it is.   Time will make it better — Remus promised me, so it must be true," Harry said with a wink at his godfather.

"I do try to keep my promises," Remus concurred mildly.

As they were eating, Molly said, "Harry, dear, thank you so much for the beautiful mosaic!   Everyone in the family for generations has been in Gryffindor.   What a lovely thing for you to make for us!     I can’t wait to hang it on the wall."

"I’m glad you like it," he said shyly.   "You can also use it under hot saucepans on the table if you want.   It will stand up to heat quite well."

"Oh, no, it’s a work of art!" Molly insisted.   "It must be on the wall.   I’d never put a pot on it!"

Harry just grinned.   He’d gone back to eating his eggs when Arthur Weasley spoke up.

"And Harry — those ear muffs are wonderful!   What’s the little container they’re attached to?" Arthur said.

"Oh, that’s a radio and CD player," Harry answered, "and the earmuffs are actually a headset so you can listen to the radio or CD."

"What’s a CD?"

"Kind of a musical recording — and radio is like the Wizarding Wireless Network," Harry replied.

"Muggles have wireless too?" Arthur asked in amazement.   "How marvellous!   Can you show me how it works?"

"I got you a battery-operated one, so it may work here.   I knew an electric one wouldn’t work in a wizarding house," Harry said as he took the small radio in his hands.   He put the headset on, flipped a switch and turned the dial until he found a radio station.   "Here, put these on.   You turn this knob to make it louder or softer," he explained as he handed over the headset and radio.

Arthur’s face lit up with joy.   "Brilliant!   And it has a battery!   You know how I love batteries!   Thank you, Harry, thank you very much!" he said in delight.   He put the headset on and was soon tapping his fingers to the music he was hearing.

Harry laughed, happy to see his presents were a success.   "I’m glad you like it."

Ginny leaned over and whispered, "I love my necklace.   I will never, ever take it off."

Harry turned to her, his eyebrows raised, planning on teasing her a bit.   "Never?"

Her eyes danced merrily as she slowly answered, "Ne-ver.   E-ver.   Not once since you put it back on me.   It goes where I go.   I sleep in it.   I bathe in it.   I wear it all the time."   She grinned at him wickedly, seeing her words had set his mind going off in interesting directions.   She chuckled to see his ears redden as he tried to stifle his blush.

"Erm. . .well, I guess that’s good, then!" he said, trying to get some of the images she’d conjured out of his mind — but not really wanting to get those images out of his mind.   He saw the impish gleam in her eye and grinned at her.   "Well, that knife will go everywhere I go, as long as I have pockets, anyway."   He chuckled at her expression.   "I can’t exactly sleep or bathe with it, but if I don’t have pockets on me, it will still be close by.   How’s that?"

"Perfect!" she said, grinning at him.   She’d got some interesting images of him during his reply as well, and she had no intention of getting them out of her mind.

* * * * *

When the holiday was over, Harry and his friends were finishing dinner in the Great Hall after their long ride on the Hogwarts’ Express when Professor Dumbledore stopped at their table.

"Good evening, everyone!   I hope you had a wonderful holiday.   Harry, I wonder if you, Ron, Hermione and Ginny could come to my office after dinner?" the old wizard said.   He leaned closer to Harry and added, "Thank you for the wonderful socks!"   He straightened and sauntered off, humming to himself, leaving a grinning Harry behind him.

"What was that all about?" Ron asked, bewildered.

"I give him socks every Christmas," Harry replied with a smile.   "He told me once he always gets books for Christmas, but he’d love some warm, woolly socks.   So I look for warm woolly socks for him, especially with interesting patterns or spells on them.   Dobby gets the same kind of present from me, and they’re both always quite happy with them."

"No, I meant about his wanting to see us," Ron answered impatiently.

"No idea.   Haven’t a clue," Harry said with a shrug, finishing off his last bite of pudding.   "When you’ve quite finished, Ron, we can go and find out," he added, grinning as his ever-hungry friend stuffed another huge wad of apple pie into his mouth.

"Ib lmo dun," Ron mumbled through his mouthful.

"Eauw, Ron, could you please swallow first?" Ginny teased her brother.   "THEN tell us what you’re trying to say!"

Ron swallowed with all the dignity he could muster.   "I said, in plain English anyone could understand, that I was almost done."   He wiped his mouth with his napkin and shoved his bench back.   "Ready?" he asked the rest of them.

"We were ready ages ago," Ginny said with a laugh.   "Honestly, nobody eats as much as you do.   How do you stay so skinny?"

"I’m just a growing boy," Ron replied solemnly.  

"If you’re still growing, you’ll soon be as tall as Hagrid!" Ginny replied, laughing.

Ron looked wounded.   "What is this, pick on Ron day?"

"Isn’t every day pick on my brother day?" Ginny teased.   "You’re the only brother around for me to pick on, so you get all the benefit of my wit!"

"Half-wit, more like," he teased back.

"Hermione, I think we need to separate these two," Harry said with a chuckle, pulling Ginny to his other side so he walked along the corridor next to Ron.

"Ah, my plan worked!" Ginny cried with delight.

"What plan?" Harry asked, smiling down at her.

"I wanted to get a hug from you, and here you are, walking with your arm around me.   Worked like a charm!"   She giggled and snuggled up against his side.

"You could’ve just asked instead of tormenting your poor brother," Harry chided her, giving her a squeeze as he did so.

"But it’s more fun my way!" she insisted.

"If you say so," grumped Ron, but not very seriously.  

By this time, they’d reached the headmaster’s door.   "Milky Way" Harry said.

"Why’s he using a galaxy for a password?     His passwords are usually sweets," Ron asked.  

"Milky Way is a Muggle chocolate bar," Harry answered as he stepped onto the spiral staircase with Ginny.   "It’s good.   You’d like it, Ron.   Chocolate and caramel."

"Yum!" Ron replied with a grin.

Dumbledore opened his door as soon as they knocked.   "Come in, come in," he invited.   "Please sit down.   Did you enjoy your dinner?"

"Yes, Professor," they answered as they sat down.

"What’s up?" Harry asked.

"I wanted to talk to you three," he said, indicating Ron, Hermione and Ginny, "about the Adfero charm.   It’s high time you learned it.   I know Harry’s been too busy to teach you, with all the extra work he’s been doing with me."   The three nodded.   "I’d like you to take an extra class with Professor Flitwick for the next few weeks, in the evenings, to learn the charm.   It’s an important communication tool.   You might consider teaching it to the Squad Leaders in D.A. as well, so you can pass along information more quickly and quietly."

"That would be great!" Ron enthused.

"Fine, then.   I’ll let you work out your schedule with Professor Flitwick at your convenience.   He’s expecting you to talk to him about this after class tomorrow.   Since you three aren’t in the same year, you’ll need to agree on which evenings work for you before you have your Charms class tomorrow."   He turned to Ron.   "I’ve found some books on battle strategies that might be useful to you in your planning.   I think Harry was right in making you the general of Dumbledore’s Army.   Your chess skills will stand you in good stead."   He smiled as he passed a blushing Ron a stack of books.   "Some of these are histories, which I know is not your favourite subject.   Feel free to skip the chapters that aren’t related to actual battle plans.   You’ll soon sort out which chapters will be helpful to you.   If you have questions, Professor Lupin and I have been studying these same books since Harry came up with the idea of using battle strategies.   Please ask either Professor Lupin or me whatever questions occur to you.   If we don’t know the answer, we will do our best to find it." He smiled at Ron, and then turned to Harry.   "As for you. . . I know you’ve been looking through the books Mr. Dervish gave you already.   Remus and I have come up with a sort of class schedule for you, so you can work through the books in a logical and reasonable fashion, especially given all the other work you have to do for your regular classes, your Quidditch practices and D.A. meetings.   We’ll be working on those spells as intensely as you can handle.   It’s your responsibility to tell us when we’ve overloaded you.   You do need time to yourself, time to relax, time to enjoy your friends, time to eat, sleep and exercise.   You simply can’t work all the time.   So be reasonable to yourself when you decide on how much time you can devote to this study."

Harry nodded.

"All right, then.   Off you go!" Dumbledore said cheerily.   "Lemon drop before you leave, anyone?"     They smiled and accepted the offered sweets, then headed to their dormitory.


  • Previous
  • Next

Author Notes:

Many thanks to my wonderful Brit-picker, Kelpie and my beta-readers Blakevich, Starfox, Pilar and Shawn!