Dance With Me Harry

DANCE WITH ME HARRY

By Aerie22

CHAPTER 13

Stonecutter

"Good afternoon, students, and welcome to your fifth year at Hogwarts," said the diminutive Professor Flitwick with a sparkle in his eye and a beatific smile on his face. "And welcome back to the wonderful study of charms. As you probably all are aware, at the end of this year, you will be taking your O.W.L. exams, and I am sure you all have been studying hard all summer to make sure you are prepared."

The class reacted with groans and chuckles, causing Flitwick to chuckle himself. Hermione gave Ron, then Harry, and self-satisfied look. "I told you that you should have spent more time revising," she whispered to the two of them.

"Well," Flitwick said with a knowing smile, "for the one or two of those among you that did not have a chance to recap during the summer, we will be spending the next two weeks reviewing what we have learned these past few years. But for this week, we will not be having regular classes. Instead of coming up here for your regular classes, I will be having you come down in small groups to a special room down in the dungeons for a very basic test. And no, Miss Granger," Flitwick said with a chuckle as Hermione already had her hand in the air, "it is not something you can study for."

Hermione turned red and gave Ron and Harry a worried look.

Flitwick looked around as several students giggled at Hermione's discomfiture. "No, There is no need to study for this. It's just a basic test of how well your powers have progressed over the past five years. You will be given a very simple spell to perform. You will be judged solely on how effective your results with the spell are."

Harry saw Hermione stare over to the Ravenclaw side and saw Padma Patil look back and shrug. He knew Hermione saw Padma as her only serious competition for top of the class in Charms and knew that the two enjoyed a friendly rivalry.

Ron leaned over to Hermione. "I heard from Fred and George that it's really simple, Hermione," he whispered with a sly grin. "It's just how well you can handle a broom. You know, how fast you can fly. How high. Can you do loops. Can you fly upside down. There's a slalom course. You know, that sort of thing. Piece of cake."

Hermione gave an audible gasp as Ron leaned back to wink at Harry behind Hermione's back. Harry nodded and leaned toward her. "Don't worry, Hermione. I'm sure you'll do great. And, after all, it only counts as half your grade in Charms for the year."

Hermione gasped even louder in a panic. Harry noticed Parvati and Lavender in the row in front of him, their shoulders heaving as they tried to stifle the laughter on overhearing the exchange.

"Miss Granger? Is everything all right?" Flitwick asked, a note of concern in his voice.

Hermione, notoriously the worst flyer in Gryffindor, looked up in a startled panic. "Ah...uh...yes, professor," she gasped. "But does this have anything to do with flying?" she blurted out.

Flitwick smiled, suddenly realizing what was going on. "No flying. Just a simple spell. I promise you, your feet will never leave the ground."

Hermione let out a huge sigh of relief and then gave furious looks at Ron and Harry.

Flitwick gave the trio a mischievous smile. "Now, if we can get back to our review. Unless, of course, Mister Potter and Mister Weasley have something more important to add..."

* * *

The Gryffindors were scheduled for their test on Wednesday afternoon. They were divided into two groups alphabetically, with Lavender, Seamus, Hermione and Neville reporting at 3:00 pm and Parvati, Harry, Dean and Ron reporting at 4:00 pm.

Ron and Harry got there early to see what they could find out from the earlier group, particularly from Hermione. However, when she strode out of the dungeon room, trailing a slightly smoky smell behind her, she simply gave the boys a self-satisfied smile and refused to give details. "We're not supposed to talk about it," she said smugly, and walked off.

Neville had just entered the room when Parvati and Dean joined Ron and Harry on the bench. The four Gryffindors looked at each other with worried expressions. "Come on, Ron. Fred and George must have told you something," Dean pleaded.

Ron shook his head with resignation. "No. They told me we would have to wrestle a troll and fight a dragon. You know, all the crap people told us before the sorting ceremony," he said with a sigh. "They wouldn't say anything even after I threatened to hex them or try some of their own pranks against them."

Parvati turned to Ron and patted him hand. "Don't worry, Ron. Whatever it is, I'm sure you'll do well," she said with a smile.

Moments later, Neville walked out if the room with a small smile on his face and Flitwick called Parvati in.

As soon as the door closed, Harry and Dean burst into laughter. Harry turned and threw his arms around Ron's neck. "Don't worry, Ron, you big hunk of a man," he said in a sing-song parody of Parvati's voice. "You'll do sooooo wonderfully well." Harry then gave Ron a noisy kiss on the top of his head.

"Gerrofff a me," Ron said, his cheeks coloring.

Dean was rocking back and forth in laughter. "Oh, Ron," he said, tears of mirth streaking down his cheeks. "She wants you sooooo bad..."

"The two of you are so full of it," he said and leaned forward thoughtfully. Harry looked over to Dean and they both burst out laughing again.

A few minutes later, the door opened and Parvati walked out and smiled at Ron as she passed. Harry gave Dean a wink as he was called into the dungeon room by Flitwick.

* * *

"Come on in, Mister Potter, and relax," Flitwick said with a smile. "And don't worry, all the trolls came down with colds, so there will be no wrestling them today," he said with a twinkle in his eye.

Harry smiled and looked around the room. It was a small room, no more than 25 feet square. There was some broken furniture in the corner, along with some trunks and old filing cabinets. On the other side of the room were some large granite blocks that looked like leftovers from when they built the castle. In the center of the room were two large granite blocks stacked one atop the other. The top one looked like it was well-pitted with small holes of various depths in it.

"Mister Potter," Flitwick said, regaining Harry's attention. "This is a very simple test to see how you are progressing in developing your magical powers. I am going to give you a very simple spell. It's a stonecutters spell--Petrus Liquefacare. All you have to do is point your wand at the granite block and cast the spell. I'll give you 30 seconds to see how deep a hole you can put in the block. That's all."

Harry looked down at Flitwick, who was smiling benignly. "Petrus Liquefacare?" Harry pronounced carefully.

"That's right. Petrus Liquefacare," Flitwick said. "Say it a couple time to get you tongue--and your mind--around it. Just concentrate on burning a hole in the rock."

"Petrus Liquefacare. Petrus Liquefacare. Petrus Liquefacare," Harry said absently, getting his mind set on the spell. He turned to Flitwick and gave a quick nod.

"All right, Mister Potter, just point your wand at a clean portion of the block. And keep it level and steady. Just concentrate on the spell," Flitwick said in a soothing voice. "Let me know when you are ready."

Harry looked closely at the block. He recalled the concentration exercises Mr. Nichol had made him try during the summer as part of his karate training. He had thought they were silly, and Peter agreed. But Harry recalled lying on his stomach in the grass and concentrating on a single clover leaf. Once his embarrassment and feeling of stupidity passed, be began to notice things he'd never seen before. The tiny veining in the leaf. How the leaf was not smooth, but furry. And the edges of the leaf was not smooth but slightly serrated.

So he looked at the block of granite more closely. He noticed it was a little lighter than that of the walls of the castle. And how the candle dancing off to the side made the little crystals embedded in the stone flicker. And how there was a very subtle veining in the stone.

Then slowly he nodded. "I'm ready."

Flitwick picked up the small hour glass. "All ready? Three...Two...One...Go."

Harry's world contracted rapidly until it consisted only of his wand and the stone. He shut his eyes. He could feel a sudden warmth in the Ojibway grass Earth Drawer around his wrist. His eyes rolled up in the back of his head. "Petrus Liquefacare," he whispered.

Suddenly, Flitwick was screaming. "Stop! Harry, stop!"

Harry's eyes jerked open. He looked around. "What's the matter, professor? Did I go over the time limit? What's wrong?"

But Flitwick's eyes were riveted on the back wall. There was a small, smoking hole about waist high in the stone wall.

Suddenly, a portion of the back wall crashed open and Professor Snape burst through a door that hadn't been there moments before.

"What the hell is going on!" he roared. "That almost killed me! And it destroyed half a days' work!"

Snape looked around in an absolute fury and spotted Harry. "Potter! I should have known it was you! I'll have you expelled for this. I'll see you in Azkaban for attempted murder!!"

Flitwick finally recovered. "Severus! Severus!!! SEVERUS!!!" he screamed. It was only then that Snape noticed Flitwick.

"Filius, what the hell is going on here? Potter almost killed me! What are you teaching your people?" Snape snarled.

"Severus," Flitwick said, calming down. "You knew it was the stonecutter test. Now I think we need to talk. If you'll excuse us for a moment, Harry."

Harry nodded blankly. He had no idea what had gone wrong. He just followed Flitwick's instructions, but must have lost his concentration and not heard Flitwick tell him to stop. He had no idea how long he had been casting the spell, but he must have been out for a long time. But that didn't make sense, he thought. Mr. Nichol taught him that, no matter how deep his concentration, always keep a part of his mind attuned to his surroundings. You never know when an attacker might be sneaking up from behind. That's the way Bruce Lee would do it, he thought.

His thoughts were interrupted at Flitwick reentered the room through the hidden door, followed by Snape and 'Mad Eye' Moody, clumping in on his wooden leg. Moody was scowling, as usual, but seemed intrigued. Snape, however, looked thoughtful, for once.

"Potter," Moody barked. "What spell did you just use?"

Harry jumped. Then looked at Moody wide-eyed, shrugging submissively. "Petrus Liquefacare, like Professor Flitwick told me to," he said quietly.

Moody clumped over to the block of granite, looking through the hole Harry made. He then looked up at Flitwick. "Fully charmed?" he asked.

Flitwick nodded.

"No fractures or fissures?" Moody asked. "No hollows or gaps?"

Flitwick shook his head.

Moody looked up at Snape. "Give it another swipe, would you?"

Snape waved his wand slowly across the top of the block, his eyes closed. Then he swept the sides and front and back. Snape opened his eyes and shrugged.

"Sorry about that, Filius. I had to be sure," Moody said, a little less gruffly. He turned to Harry. "What did you know about this test beforehand?"

Harry shrugged. "Nothing. Ron and I...that's Ron Weasley...asked Ron's brothers Fred and George about it. But they just said we would have to wrestle trolls and fight dragons...you know, the typical scare stuff," Harry said.

Moody squinted at Harry. "So you had no idea what this test was about? You haven't been practicing this spell? You had no idea?"

Harry shook his head, a surprised look on his face.

Snape turned to Flitwick. "What about the others? Anything like this?"

Flitwick shook his head. "Longbottom just hit 18 inches. A few minutes ago. Peoples from Hufflepuff hit 16-and-a-half. Granger and Malfoy hit 16 even. We haven't gotten to the Ravenclaws yet."

"Longbottom?" Snape said incredulously.

Flitwick nodded.

"And Weasley?" Snape asked, suspiciously.

"He's coming up in a few minutes," Flitwick said.

Moody moved in front of Harry. "Harry. Something may have gone wrong with your test. So we are going to try it again."

Moody turned to the other two professors. "Filius, Severus, would you be so kind to help move some of the spare blocks." They nodded and the trio began to move magically the heavy spare blocks until there were four stacks of two blocks each in a line.

Flitwick then positioned Harry so he would face the first set of blocks as before, with three more sets behind the first set.

"Okay, Mister Potter. We are going try this again. And don't worry, you did it right the first time. I just want you to do it exactly the same as the first time. And concentrate even harder, if you can," Flitwick said with a reassuring smile.

Harry nodded, still confused. He knew now that something extraordinary was happening, but he wasn't quite sure he liked it. But he gave himself an internal shrug. If they want me to cut these blocks, I'll give them what they want, he thought to himself.

"Ready, Harry?" Moody said softly.

Harry nodded.

"Ready, Mister Potter, on my count of three," said Flitwick. "Three...two...one...GO!"

Once again, Harry, closed his eyes, which rolled up in their sockets. He muttered the spell and let go.

Flitwick, Moody and Snape watched in amazement as a pencil-thin blue flame shot out of Harry's wand, cutting the dense and charmed granite like butter. Within seven seconds, a flame flared on the other side of the first block and Harry's spell slammed into the second block. In about ten seconds, it hit the third block. It was already boring into the fourth block when Flitwick yelled "TIME!"

Snape walked open-mouthed over to the fourth block with the measuring rod. "Fourteen inches and a fraction." He stood there, staring at the rod, then stooped to look through the hole in the third block. "Clear. All the way through," he said, seeing Moody's normal eye peering back through the first block.

Flitwick sat down in something of a daze. He looked up at Moody. "Alastor, you were a block breaker, weren't you?"

Moody nodded. "But only one, Filius. And only seventeen inches into the second," he said softly.

Snape came over to sit next to Flitwick. "I never even heard of anyone breaking two blocks before," he said quietly.

Moody looked across at Snape. "Just one," he said. "Orville Williamson."

The three professors nodded.

"Who's Orville Williamson?" Harry asked.

The three looked up at Harry, suddenly remembering he was still there.

"Orville Williamson was the greatest Auror who ever lived," said Moody with a gruff tone of reverence Harry had never heard before. "He went to Hogwarts in the 1870s. Was chief Auror from about 1900 through the 1930s."

"He ended the first Muggle world war," Flitwick added.

Moody nodded. "That's right. After years of campaigning during the first Muggle world war, the Ministry of Magic finally allowed him to try to intervene in Muggle activities in 1918. He used a series of charms to single-handedly turn the entire German Army as it was advancing into France, forcing the armistice ending the war and all that senseless Muggle slaughter," Moody said with a faraway look in his normal eye.

"For all the good that did," Snape muttered.

Flitwick nodded. "He was offered the job of Minister of Magic countless times, but his heart was in the Ministry of Magical Law Enforcement. And no Minister of Magic was powerful enough to interfere with him. It was the era of good feeling in the magical world, thanks largely to Orville and his ability to administer stern justice without losing his compassion and sense of decency. Probably the greatest Ravenclaw who ever lived," he said in a faraway voice.

The trio of professors sat there in silence for a long minute. Snape seemed to be the first to come out of the collective reverie. "Mister Potter. We've finally found something you can do," he said with an evil smile. "You'll make an excellent stone mason."

The three professors started chuckling. To see the nasty Snape, the irascible Moody and the gentle Flitwick sitting in a row chuckling informally made Harry want to laugh out loud.

Then Moody turned suddenly to Harry.

"Harry. Trust nobody with this," he said with a dead serious tone. "You have a gift. And I wouldn't want knowledge of this gift to get into the wrong hands. So don't say anything to anyone. Not your classmates, not your friends, not your lovers, no one. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded, confused. 'Not to Ron or Hermione? And what lovers?' he thought.

"Harry," Flitwick said mildly. "If anyone asks, just say you did well and that old Professor Flitwick was 'satisfied'...no, make that 'pleased' with your progress."

Harry nodded.

"Very well," said Flitwick. "Let me escort you out and we'll bring in the next victim. And remember. 'Mum's the word'," he said with a conspiratorial smile.

Then Moody spoke up. "Harry! I'd like to see you after our class tomorrow. I think someone with your talent could use a little additional guidance now and again."

Harry nodded with a neutral expression on his face. "Sure Professor Moody. Professor Dumbledore mentioned something about that. And thank you."

Harry wasn't sure he would enjoy being tutored by Moody, any more than he would like such attention from Snape, who was looking at Harry with an inscrutable expression on his face. Harry shivered.

Flitwick squeezed Harry's arm just before they got to the door. "Harry," he said quietly. "Alastor...Professor Moody is probably right. I wouldn't go bragging about his. I also know that everyone compares notes afterwards. So I trust you'll share what happened here with discretion," the tiny wizard said with a smile.

After Flitwick escorted Harry out and brought Dean Thomas in, Ron grabbed Harry and sat him down on the bench outside the room. "Well, how was it? You were in there for an awful long time."

Harry smiled. "Well all the trolls have colds, so I had to wrestle Snape," he said and started giggling, half in relief to be out in the corridor after what had just happened..

Ron began to look frantic. "No, really. What do we have to do? Is it painful? Is it some sort of initiation?"

Harry smiled at Ron. "No, Ron. Flitwick told us the truth. It's just a simple spell. And you have to hold the spell for 30 seconds. And no, it's not painful. All you have to do is concentrate on the spell and put as much power behind it as you can. That's all I can tell you," Harry said with a grin.

"So you did all right?" Ron asked.

"Yes, Ron. Flitwick said he was very pleased with my progress," Harry said as he got up to go to the Gryffindor tower to wash up for supper. "See you up there."

* * *

That night, Harry, Hermione and Ron were sitting together at a table in the common room, cautiously talking about the test.

"Well I for one thought it was rather stupid," Hermione said with a sniff. "There was no art to it. You just stand there holding your wand concentrating on a spell for 30 seconds."

"Ron's had lots of practice with holding his wand," said his brother Fred from behind the trio.

Ron, blushing furiously, turned, threatening to throw a school book at Fred.

"Oh, I don't think Ron ever lasted 30 seconds," said George, laughing.

"Shut up, you jerks," Ron said, his color rising.

Hermione, trying to look shocked, started giggling uncontrollably.

"You better start concentrating on lasting more than 30 seconds if you want to keep up with Parvati, Ron," Harry now added.

"Shut up, all of you!" Ron yelled.

"Parvati?" George whispered, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Harry started laughing even louder. "Sure. She came out of the test and reassured Ron that such a big strong man like him would do well on the test," Harry said. "Didn't she feel your muscles, too, Ron?"

"SHUT UP, ALL OF YOU!!!" Ron screamed, and started to stalk off to the dorms.

"Ooooo, nooooo, Ronniekins," said Fred. "Parvati wants to come out to play. And you want to be here to tell her about what a big, strong block breaker you are."

Hermione, just recovering from her giggling fit, looked a Fred. "I've heard that expression before. What's a block breaker?" she said with a curious smile.

Fred looked a George in amazement.

"You mean you...you didn't break the block?" said George. "Oh, Hermione, I'm so sorry," he said in mock sympathy.

"Yes," Fred added. "You have to be able to break the block to earn your O.W.L. in Charms."

Hermione began to look uneasy. "But what does breaking a block mean?"

George suddenly lurched forward as Katie Bell smacked him in the back of the head. "Breaking the block means your stonecutter spell went all the way through the block of granite," she explained. Then she laughed and Hermione's puzzlement. "Don't worry, Hermione. I overheard some professors talking about it last year. No one's broken the block in over 40 years, from what I heard."

Ron, who had calmed down and returned to the table, looked up at Katie with a puzzled expression. "If nobody's done it in 40 years, why did they have four sets of blocks in a row during the test?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably.

Hermione looked even more puzzled. "There was only one set of blocks when I took the test. Are you sure there were four?"

"Sure I'm sure. And they all had a hole in them. I thought for sure I'd failed because I couldn't even get half way through the first block," Ron said with a confused look.

The table was suddenly silent. Everyone turned to look at Harry, who was in the process of collecting his books and getting up.

Hermione grabbed Harry's arm, pulling him back into his seat. "Harry. You did it, didn't you," she said in a near whisper."

Harry shrugged. "I don't know what you're talking about. Professor Flitwick just said he was pleased with my progress," he said uncomfortably.

George was staring at Harry intently. "Harry...?"

"Just drop it. And don't say a word about any of this to anyone," he said menacingly. "Not a word, do you understand?" he pleaded.

"Harry...?" said Hermione.

"Please, Moody told me...."

"Moody was there? He wasn't there when I was testing," Hermione said.

"Me, either," said Ron.

The group was silent again, with Harry hanging his head miserably.

Finally, George cleared his throat. "Harry, you broke the block, didn't you."

Harry gave a weak nod.

"More than one?" Ron said.

Harry shrugged, miserably.

"You're the reason why there were four sets of blocks, aren't you," Ron said softly.

Harry nodded again, his head down.

"Did you break all four, Harry?" Ron whispered.

Harry simply held up three fingers.

"But you hit the fourth," Ron asked, now with his hand on Harry's back, rubbing gently.

Harry nodded.

"How deep?"

"Snape said fourteen inches," Harry said quietly.

"Snape was there?" Hermione asked.

Harry nodded again. "It was just Flitwick the first time, when it went through the block and the wall of the room into Snape's office. Then Flitwick got Moody."

"You drilled Snape's office?" said Fred with an awed smile. "I wish I could have seen it."

Harry looked up with a mournful smile. "Yeah, and was he pissed," he said with a quiet chuckle.

"Three blocks plus fourteen inches," Ron said, shaking his head. "All I could manage was seventeen inches," he lamented.

Harry suddenly made a strangling sound and looked furtively over at Hermione. She was turning red, knowing now she had been bested by both her best friends.

"But Harry, nobody's ever broken two blocks before," said Katie quietly.

Hermione looked up. "Now I know where I've heard that phrase before." She bent down and retrieved a thick book from her bag. It was, of course, Hogwarts: A History.

Ron groaned and rolled his eyes, as Hermione thumbed through the book. "Here it is," she read. "'Among his other youthful accomplishments, Williamson was the only double block breaker in Hogwarts' history.' I never knew what that meant. I was meaning to look it up but I never knew where to start."

"Who's Williamson?" Katie asked.

Hermione turned to look up. "He's the person credited with modernizing the Auror service into a true magic police force. Until he came along, Aurors were looked down upon as simply goons terrorizing the wizarding community on behalf of the Ministry of Magic," she said with authority. "Many consider him to he the greatest and most powerful wizard in the 20^th Century. Don't you people ever study?"

Harry took a deep breath. "Listen to me, all of you," he said, looking at each of his five companions in turn in the eye. "Moody told me not to breathe a word of this to anyone for fear that Voldemort might find out." He saw Katie and the Weasleys flinch at the use of the dark lord's name. "So please...I'm begging you...don't say anything about this to anyone."

As Harry looked at each of them again, they each nodded in turn, looking solemn.

After a few moments, George learned forward with a very serious look on his face. "Harry," he said quietly. "Do you know what this means?"

Harry slowly shook his head at George's uncharacteristic solemn look.

George sighed. "It means that next Hogsmeade weekend, you owe us three rounds of butterbeers, one round for each block broken," he said with a frown.

At that point, Katie poked him in the ribs.

George jumped up in surprise. "Hey, come on. It's a tradition."

"What do you mean, it's a tradition?" Katie said with a smirk. "Block breaking hasn't happened in 40 years. In fact, it's never happened like this."

George put his hands to his hips and put on a stern look. "Well, traditions have to start somewhere. And now is as good a time as any, especially if there's free butterbeer involved."

At that point, the everyone at table dissolved in laughter, and Harry relaxed for the first time in nearly an hour.