Harry Potter and My New Attempt For a Fifth Year Book

Chapter 2 - The start of the training

Harry heard his alarm clock and then opened his eyes, and looking at the display of the clock he saw that it was five in the morning. He tried to remember why he had set the clock to this ungodly hour and then remembered that he was starting his training today.

He got up from his bed and started to take off his pyjamas and put on something that he could use to do exercises. He picked his better shorts and his smaller T-shirt, put them on and then exited the Dursleys house.

The view of Privet Drive at this hour of the morning was wonderful. Almost no one was in the streets, the sun rising to start the day, a few of Arabella's cats wandering around like they were searching for something strange. The gardens looked beautiful. Then Harry saw the reason why he was awake at this hour. There, in front of Arabella's house, was Padfoot.

He ran the short distance and arrived there in a few instants. When he arrived there Padfoot had already vanished and in his place was Sirius Black. He smiled to his godson and then started to talk.

"Harry, first you will start running, but you can't just run without warming up before or you will have a lot of cramps this afternoon and tomorrow, so first you will do a few exercises to warm up your muscles. Just follow my routine." Then Sirius started to do a few exercises and Harry mimicked him.

Five minutes after, Sirius stopped, waited to Harry stop also, and become Padfoot. He gave a small nod towards the street and a short bark. Harry thought that he had to follow Padfoot and so he did. Padfoot was running at a great speed and Harry was trailing a little behind. Once in a while Padfoot stopped and waited to Harry to catch up and then resumed the running. After half an hour Padfoot stopped and started to return. Harry followed him and when they were back in front of Arabella's house she was waiting them at the door.

Padfoot followed her inside and a few moments later Harry also entered the house. He closed the door and heard some noises coming from the kitchen. He went to kitchen and what he saw was extremely embarrassing. Sirius was kissing Arabella with passion, his hands were starting to go up her skirt and she was starting to take off the bottoms of his robes. Harry, desperate to see nothing more, used the only way that he knew.

"Ahem! Ahem! What we will have for breakfast?" asked Harry, pretending that he hadn't seen anything. Arabella and Sirius went red and stopped what they were doing. A few minutes passed and Arabella started to give Harry and Sirius a huge breakfast. There was bacon, sausages, and several kinds of bread, cheese, ham, eggs and omelettes. They ate in silence and they ate a lot. Harry couldn't even remember the last time that he felt that hungry. Well, he thought, maybe this run was a good idea after all.

After breakfast, Sirius led Harry to a room that he never seen before, and Sirius explained that this room was added to the house so it could be used for practice. Once Harry got inside what he saw make his jaw fall drop. The room was bigger than the house. There were several apparatus to do exercises, a small pool to swim in, and an arena where he would practice his fighting skills.

Sirius explained to Harry how to use all the apparatus and what muscles would be used at those exercises. Then he taught Harry a series of exercises that he should do every day in case he couldn't be there to help. He also explained that all this was charmed so no harm could happen in this room. Harry then started to do the drill that Sirius had showed him while Sirius was watching. After another hour, when he had finished, Sirius explained that he probably was in a good shape because of Quidditch and the Tri-wizard Tournament.

Harry was resting and drinking some potion that Sirius had given him, while something crossed his mind.

"Sirius, creating this room just for me wasn't too much bother?" asked Harry, truly concerned, thinking that his fame had given him something this expensive.

"No. This room it isn't just for you. After the holidays are over this room will be enlarged and taken to Hogwarts so any student interested can use it. Brilliant isn't it?" asked Sirius, grinning like a madman.

"But as far as I know wizards don't like to do this kind of activity," said Harry.

"Well, the Quidditch maniacs like you, and a few smart or crazy students might want to use it. And there is, of course, the fact that all the people, like you, who are training to get into the Order, will have to do this kind of training. We are just giving you a head start," said Sirius, and this time he was very serious.

"Ok, I feel a little better knowing this. So what does this potion do?" asked Harry, eyeing the potion with curiosity.

"Oh, this potion is just a tonic so you can recover the energy that you used in exercises. Now it is time to you swim, Harry," said Sirius, throwing Harry at the pool.

Harry noted that he wasn't drowning, so he calmed himself and started to swim very clumsily. Sirius was laughing hard for a few minutes than he started to teach Harry how to swim properly. After Harry had done a few laps of the pool, Sirius showed Harry other kinds of swimming, saying that this other kind would help to develop his body and other muscles, like the shoulders. Harry did as Sirius told him, them Sirius taught him how to swim on his back and under water. Another hour had passed and Sirius said that it was time to practice self-defence.

Sirius performed a drying charm on Harry's clothes and then showed Harry the charm that would activate the doll for practice his fighting skills. Harry started to practice.

Harry was at to the doll's hands when he saw the punch coming, so he quickly dodged it and was preparing to throw a punch at the doll when his leg was taken from under him by a kick that he didn't see coming. The doll give another kick, this time aiming for Harry's head that was much lower then it should be. Harry, so he wouldn't get hit very hard, put his arm in the way to block the kick. It hurt like hell. Harry forgot that it was just training and jumped at the doll.

The doll was taken by surprise at first, but then reacted by putting her foot on Harry's torso, using his impulse to throw him to the other side of the arena. Only his reflexes and his skills at falling from years playing Quidditch prevented him falling badly. He quickly got up and charged at the doll. The doll got ready and when he got in range it punched Harry quickly on the stomach before he could react. But Harry had survived more things that most people even four times his age had experienced, so he took the hit but didn't feel too much, and reacted by hitting the doll hard on the head.

Harry was very angry and started to emanate the energy of his power. Sirius could feel the power emanating from his godson and was afraid. How could someone so young have this amount of power?

Harry them hit the doll in the stomach with his knee and the back of the doll's neck with his elbow. The doll stumbled. Harry raised his hand pointing to the doll's back and the red beam of energy came from his hand, hitting the doll with full strength and throwing it to the other side of the room. The doll hit the wall and then fell into the pool. Harry lowered his hand and gave a sigh.

"Harry, you have amazing instincts! I could feel a few of the blows that you gave to the doll. But you still have a few things that you need to improve. First, you can't look at the opponent's fist - you have to look into his eyes. His eyes always indicate where the next blow will be, or you must use a little telepathy to discover his next moves. Secondly, you don't have to dodge all the blows. You have to block a few, even if it hurts a little, or you can use its strength to throw the opponent away. You can even let the weak one's hit you," said Sirius, giving Harry a few tips to improve his skills.

Sirius summoned the doll back and reset it so Harry could resume the training. His reflexes were amazing but he still had the instinct of avoiding all the blows, so he lost some excellent opportunities for counter attack. He was getting better but after he was hit a few times he would lose control and use his power. The last time, he just exploded the doll's head.

"Well, Harry, now it is time for you to start your Animagus training. First I will teach you the potion that you have to make. It isn't simple but I believe that you can do it," said Sirius, looking at his godson with pride in his voice and his eyes.

"Hum. I'm not very good at potions," said Harry, very afraid that he was going to disappoint Sirius.

"You really believe what Snape says about your skills, Harry?" asked Sirius, laughing very hard. Harry realised that Sirius was right after all. Snape really hated Harry so why would he praise Harry even if his work were perfect?

"I should've known that he would do something like that. I'm way to daft," said Harry, looking defeated.

"Well, you are a bit, just like everyone else...you don't need to throw me to the other side of the room: I like where I'm!" said Sirius jokingly, but when he saw Harry had started to emanate power, he apologised quickly.

"Hum. A marauder a coward? I'm starting to be disappointed with them," said Harry while maintaining his aura. "New trick. Isn't it cool?"

"You've learned to emanate the aura already. It took your father months to do that trick," said Sirius, amazed with Harry's speed of learning. "Well, here is the recipe of the potion and we have the ingredients here. I will help you with the first doses but you will have to learn how to do it soon because I'll not be able to come here for a while," said Sirius. His voice was full of concern and regret that he couldn't spend more time with the two most important persons in his life.

"Don't worry with me. After all I did help 'Mione to do a Poly-juice Potion in our second year," said Harry, trying to comfort his godfather.

"You don't cease to amaze, me do you Harry?" asked, Sirius half-joking. He gave Harry a last hug. "Well, since you don't need me, I will resume my other mission. If you need anything, just call Arabella or use your phone to get in touch with me. Good luck. And I will see you sooner then you think." At this moment Sirius vanished with a pop.

Harry went to the kitchen and asked Arabella where he could prepare the potion and where the ingredients were. Arabella pointed where Harry was looking, and showed him where he should set up the cauldron. One hour later Harry had finished the first dose of the potion so he went to drink it. Arabella gave a nod that said that he should go on, and then he swallowed it. Instantly he fell to the floor. He heard a loud roar in his head followed by an ear-piercing shriek and the whistling of the wind as if he was flying at great speed.

When he awoke, Arabella was looking at him like nothing.

"Why did I pass out? Does this mean the potion didn't work? Do you know what happened? How much time I was unconscious for?" Harry asked very quickly.

"You fell unconscious because the potion worked. You were getting to know your inner beast. When the potion works and nothing happens it means that you can't be an Animagus. But Harry, you can! You were out for five minutes. Now you have to keep drinking this potion until you see your Animagus form. After that happens you will bound with the creature. Then you will practice the rituals for a week and finally you will practice the speed of your transformation," said Arabella, in a lecturing tone that reminded Harry of Hermione.

"Now we will have lunch. After that we will practice your telepathy and your wandless magic. Then I will teach you two new potions that will be very useful to you this year."

After a delicious lunch, Harry and Arabella started to play chess but they were concentrating so hard on trying to read the other minds and to stop the other from seeing through their mind shields that they forgot about the game. When they got thirsty or hungry, and just to try to distract Arabella, Harry just used his wandless magic to summon something or to banish it. After three hours of intense mental fighting both of them gave up and decided that this time there was a tie. However, they would resume the practice the following day.

After this practice Arabella taught Harry how to make to very useful potions. The first was the tonic that he was drinking that morning. Harry made ten doses of this potion and gave one to Arabella while he was drinking the other so they could recover the energy used at the telepathy practice.

The second potion made Harry very happy. It was a potion to make your sleep restful and was capable of stopping most nightmares - only very powerful curses could break this protection. This potion also doubled the effect of the time that you actually slept so he would only need four hours of sleep a night to be very well rested. This would be very useful for studying for the O.W.Ls. and to have more energy in everyday life.

The last thing that she taught Harry on the first day of training was a charm so he could do magic and not get caught. He asked if he could teach his friends this charm and Arabella said that there wasn't any problem with that. Harry became very happy because now he was going to really do magic to scare the Dursleys out of their wits.

When he was ready to leave, Arabella said that he had received some mail. He waited, thinking that she was going to give him a letter of one from his friends, but she thrust three letters, a quill and one backpack at him. He asked what was that and she answered saying that he received one letter from the Ministry of Magic (no Harry, dear, don't worry - they didn't catch you doing magic - it is about another thing), and the other two were from his friends. He asked about the backpack and the pen and she said that it was the first part of his presents.

The backpack had a charm so it could carry over 300 Kg but it would feel like was carrying just one. Another charm meant that he would be the only person able to take something out of it and could pick exactly what he wanted. It didn't matter if the thing that he wanted was at the bottom of the backpack: it just appeared in the top when he wanted it.

The quill was a quick notes quill. All the had to do was suck it like he did with a sugarquill and the pen would answer a letter, or do homework with Harry's style and knowledge so he could do two assignments at the same time, or answer the fan mail that was inside his backpack. When Arabella said that Harry looked inside of the backpack and saw that it was full of fan mail. Harry realised that this really would be a good use of the quick notes quill.

Harry arrived at his uncle's house carrying his backpack. He hoped that he could pass unnoticed by his 'family' or they would want to know where he had got the backpack.

Harry easily avoided the squeaky steps that would make a noise and got to his room without further problems. He entered his room and cast the charm to do magic undetected. Then he cast a silencing charm within the room and a locking charm on the door so his relatives didn't notice that he was writing and they couldn't enter.

Harry first reached for his friends' letters. He opened the first and recognised Ron's handwriting on the spot.

Harry

Hi mate! You won't believe what I'm going to tell you. My father got a promotion at the Ministry! He took old Crouch's job! I didn't believe that they didn't tell us sooner. He received the promotion two days after the third task so he's had at least two weeks to tell us. But he didn't bother to send one owl to tell us! But now he is receiving better pay so my brothers and I won't have to buy anything from second hand.

This is not all. The twins got a huge investment for the Weasley Wizard Wheezes. They say that their partner demanded a quarter of the profit of the WWW would go to the Weasley family for two reasons. Firstly, the Burrow was used as laboratory to develop new Wheezes and factory to produce the Wheezes that they already knew would work. Second, the Weasley clan provided the meals and the home of 2/3 of the WWW members.

Percy was very upset that he didn't get the promotion that he wanted but my father used his connections and put Percy at his old position at the Ministry. Bill is coming back to England - it seems that he got a promotion or that they need him back in England for some reason at Gringotts. Charlie is also back as he is on holiday now and he did get a new job but it isn't telling us what it is. Do you think that he will start to play Quidditch professionally?

Well, that is everything that's been happening around here. We haven't had any news about YKW. And you mate. How are those muggles treating you? If they mistreat you in any way just send us an owl and you will have five red headed wizards to avenge you and two more to the rescue!

And Harry, before I finished this letter, I have to ask something. Do you know when Hermione is going to Bulgaria to visit her Vicky? If you know something, please tell me. You have to help me stop her from going there, as it is too big a risk. I know that her Vicky is a nice (here Harry could see that something other thing was written and erased several times) guy but this don't matter. Now YKW is around, it is too dangerous for a muggle-born to be travelling.

Ron.

Harry had to try hard to not laugh at his friends letter. Ron had fallen hard for their best friend, Hermione, but he was too dense to realise it. The twins were very clever. Harry would love to help the Weasley family with money but they would never accept it so Harry became their partner and in return only asked to the twins buy some nice robes for Ron. In this way they could help the whole Weasley family. Harry was going to write to them to make sure that they knew that he liked this plan of theirs.

Harry also was very happy that Mr. Weasley had got a promotion. Harry couldn't think of one person that deserved a higher position more than Mr. Weasley did. Harry couldn't stop thinking that the Weasleys were finally receiving what they deserved.

After a few moments of thinking, Harry opened the other letter believing that it was from Hermione. But he was mistaken and soon realised this because he didn't recognise the handwriting. So he scanned the bottom of the letter and saw that this letter as from Ginny Weasley, Ron younger sister, who Harry saved the life of in the Chamber of Secrets. When Harry was remembering this two thoughts came into his mind: he remembered that Professor Dumbledore had said when one wizard saved other wizard's life a bond is formed between them. So did that meant that there was a bond between Harry and Ginny? What kind of bond would that be, Harry thought.

Secondly, what was to be done to the Chamber of Secrets considering that only Harry could open it? Harry thought that he could do a few modifications and use it as his hiding place. He could use Dobby's help to reconstruct the Chamber as some sort of laboratory and private bedroom. Then he would have a peaceful place to hide or to do forbidden things at Hogwarts.

Harry stopped thinking and started to read the letter.

Dear Harry,

I know that you never gave too much attention to me at Hogwarts and I know that this is probably my fault because I always stutter, stumble or run away when we are in the same room. But this doesn't make things easier for me. I know that you like Cho but I want to tell you that I love you.

I know what you are thinking right now, that I'm too young to be in love. Well I'm quick at everything really; did you know that I was the only Weasley that was born premature? I'm only 8 months and 12 days younger than Ron is.

It's time that I should stop babbling. Harry, I love you, and I can understand if you don't want anything to do with me. But I had to say it. Harry, even if you do want something with me, I won't rush into anything. You don't have to feel any obligation because I've already told you how I feel about you. If you want to be with me I will wait until you are ready to tell me that you love me, but you don't have to tell me at all if you never get to feel for me this way.

With love, Virginia Weasley.

So Ginny loved him. Harry was stunned. He started to think about Ginny and remembered every time that he saw her and when she had talked with him. There wasn't much to remember but he could recall them all as very personal moments for him. He remembered that she wished him good luck when he crossed the barrier platform 9 ¾. The way she had rushed out of the kitchen when she realised that he was there and several other moments like these. They brought a smile to his face.

Then he remembered that he liked Cho. How could he think of liking another girl? It felt like he was cheating Cho. Then he tried to remember Cho to see how he felt about her, but all that he could see was Cedric rescuing her from the merfolk, Cedric being killed by Voldemort, and then Cho crying at the last banquet of the year. That was when he realised he didn't liked Cho anymore. He liked Ginny. When did this happen he couldn't figure out, but he could write a letter to her.

But before he started to write a letter to Ginny he remembered about the fan mail. He just got all of the letters out of the backpak and used the Quick Notes Quill like Arabella had said for him to do it. He watched how the quill worked for a while, and then got back to writing a letter to Ginny.

Dear Ginny

This is hard and I don't know how to say it. Please don't stop reading this letter now or you will regret that. Firstly I will say that I don't like Cho any more. With the whole thing that happened with Cedric there is no way that Cho and I could become a happy couple.

Secondly, I don't think that you are too young to be in love. There is no such a thing as being too young to love. After all, you've love your parents from the moment you are born (of course that they can change that with their actions).

Well, now it is my time to stop babbling. Yes Ginny, I agree with you. If I said that I loved you in this letter or in a few weeks it wouldn't be sincere. But I do care about you. I do like you. And I would love to get to know you and I don't mean as a Friend.

What I'm trying to say is that I want you to be my girlfriend. Would you like to be my girlfriend? Just answer me and soon we will talk face to face.

Yours, Harry.

After finishing this letter he performed the drying charm on the ink and started to write a letter to his best friend.

Ron

Hey mate! Great news about your father promotion! He deserved it. It's cool that you all will get new stuff. It's also awesome that you have all your five brothers and your sister back home. Do you think that Charlie would help me to practice Quidditch? Well about the muggles - you don't have to worry because I discovered something new.

Do you remember about that crazy lady that took care of me when Dursleys went out? Well, she is a witch. And not any witch. She is my godmother. She is here to keep an eye on me in case any Death Eater breaks the wards that Dumbledore has put around Privet Drive.

And there is more. She is teaching me a few tricks of Divination. Not that bullshit that Trelawney teaches. She's taught me how to make people hear my thoughts and how I can read other peoples' thoughts. If you want I could teach you once that I'm at the Burrow or at Hogwarts. She is also helping me with my homework, but she is just like Hermione so she is driving me crazy! Ah, and here is a charm that she taught me so I could do magic outside Hogwarts without being caught. Please teach this charm to Ginny as well. If you don't you will regret the day you were born.

I'm also doing physical exercises to improve my speed and strength. I even have this doll to practice fighting. I'm not very good at it but with a month to practice I think I will become much better.

I haven't written to Hermione yet but I will write to her as soon as I finished this letter.

Harry.

After a little rest Harry started to write the letter to Hermione.

Dear Hermione,

Hi! How are the things with you? Here, everything is very good. Do you remember about that crazy lady that I told that took care of me when the Dursleys went out? Well she is a witch and my godmother.

She is helping me with my homework and teaching some useful Divination skills. If she were our teacher of Divination you would have killed yourself for dropping the class. I've learned how to read other people minds, how to stop people trying to read mine and how to send some of my thoughts to other people. She also taught me a charm that I've sent to Ron, Ginny and to you. This charm allows you to do magic unnoticed by the Ministry or anyone trying to see if you are casting a spell.

Did you hear about Mr. Weasley promotion? He totally deserved it. Now, finally, Ron will be a little less grumpy about money.

Write to me soon.

Harry.

Harry attached the letters to Hedwig, Pig, and Errol so they could deliver the letters for Hermione, Ron and Ginny. A thought crossed Harry's mind - he would study Ginny and discover what kind of pet she liked and then give it to her as a present.

Harry was ready to drink the potion and fall sleep when he remember about the Ministry owl. He picked the letter, opened it, and start to read.

Dear Mr. Potter

With this letter we inform you that you should come to the Ministry Offices this Saturday because we are to do the official ceremony for the redistribution of the Crouch family's spoils. Considering that you were the biggest part responsible by the fall of this clan, you will receive the bigger part of their goods. More will be explained at the ceremony. We look forward to your attendance.

Mr. Peassegod, Head of the Law Enforcement Department.

Harry didn't want to think about that so he decided to drink the potion and ask questions to Arabella in the morning. He drank the potion and lay down peacefully on his bed. His sleep was blessed with good dreams about his friends and their families.

Next Chapter: Spoils