The Opposite

Chapter 4: Training Day

Harry looked around the new room he was standing in. It was virtually empty. Looking around, they saw the four adults appear moments later. The two men and Fionnula left. Aislin looked towards them and smiled. She was definitely the friendliest.

"Welcome, students. As you've already been informed, you are here to learn to become Magi. I am Aislin and you can call me that. I am a Magas and a damn good one if I do say so myself. I am a Soliopath like Mr. Potter and Miss Assante. Catriona informed me. I specialize in Soliopathy and the use of medical charms. Fionnula specializes in telepathy and Muggle weaponry. Sloan specializes in magical weaponry and various defensive techniques. Drake is excellent at combat the old-fashioned way. Now, there is food in the kitchen. After you eat, you may do as you please. Make sure you get some sleep. You have a VERY long day ahead of you." And with that, Aislin was gone.

Ron immediately began walking towards the kitchen. The other three boys followed. Hermione sighed.

"Leave it to the boys to go for the food first. I want to explore first. Who's with me?" Hermione asked. The rest of the girls nodded and were off. They were apparently in a large castle somewhere in the countryside. The castle looked very old and smelled that way also.

"I don't know about you all, but this place gives me the creeps," Neve said. Ginny nodded in agreement.

"It is so depressing. There is almost no color except gray," Aurora said.

**********

In the kitchen, the guys were eating ferociously fast. No words were passed between them. Then Ron sat back.

"So, Malfoy. I see you fancy Aurora. I honestly don't know what she sees in a prick like you," Ron said, eating a dinner roll. Harry and Neville looked at Draco, waiting to see his reaction.

"It's no different from what Granger apparently sees in you," he said slyly. Harry and Neville turned their heads to Ron, who looked dumbfounded.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, come off it! It's so bloody obvious, Weasley. You and Granger practically melt into each other when you're not rowing," Draco said. Harry straightened up in his chair.

"It's really not that hard to notice, Ron. I mean, she calls you Ronnie and you call her Mione. You two slip up every time. Just tell me one thing," Harry said, biting into a chicken leg. Ron looked at him.

"What?"

"What took you so damn long?" Harry asked. Neville laughed and Draco smirked. Ron threw a dinner roll at Harry as the girls walked in. They then were hushed. The girls exchanged weird glances as they grabbed plates and sat down next to the boys.

"Malfoy, pass me the damn gravy," Ron said, obviously a bit steamed. Ginny sighed as she sat down next to Harry.

"By all means, don't stop being civil to each other just because we walked in," Ginny said.

"Piss off, Ginevra," Ron said snidely. Ginny scoffed.

"Same to you, Ronald," Ginny said. Harry looked at Ginny.

"Ginevra? Your real name is Ginevra?" he asked, looking shocked.

"Ginevra Weasley. You mean to tell me you thought my real name was Ginny?" Ginny asked Harry. Harry blushed a little.

"To tell you the truth...yeah, I kinda did," he said. Ginny and Ron laughed.

"How thick could you get?"

***********

The next morning, Harry jumped awake as someone very large opened their door. He turned over and noticed that it was still dark outside.

"Get up," the figure simply said. Harry sat up and looked over at the chair across from his bed. A black outfit sat there with a belt and heavy looking boots. He sighed and got dressed.

Downstairs, eight very hacked off and tired looking teenagers stood. The girls wore red and the guys wore black. The four Magi stood there, looking as if this was a sane hour to be awake at.

"Good morning, my little rays of sunshine!" Aislin said loudly and giddily. The eight of them all glared at her.

"What's so good about it? What time is it anyway?" Neve asked. Fionnula glared at her. She could already tell she was going to hate this child.

"It's just past four in the morning. I believe Aislin informed you that this was going to be a very long day. You have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Maybe tonight you'll realize the importance of sleep," Fionnula said. She sounded just like her sister. Neve made a face at the woman. You could practically see the lightning crackling between the two.

"Why are we up so bloody early?" Draco asked.

"Training begins today. Also, we have a couple of minor things to take care of." Up until now, Aislin and Drake had been hiding their hands behind their backs. They pulled them out, revealing scissors and razors. The girls all looked mortified, especially Ginny, who grabbed her long, pretty braid.

"Hair can be a major problem when in battle. Guys are going for the American Marine look while girls are getting it cut to the nape of their necks. Don't look so horrified, Ginny. It's hair. It'll grow back, I promise," Drake said. After the murderous glares of two very pissed off redheads, everyone was left rubbing their heads in disgust.

"Harry and Aurora, follow me," Aislin said. She led them into a very large room that was completely empty. She turned to face the two. "For three hours everyday, you two belong to me. Meaning, your arse is mine." She waved her hands and the door closed behind the two. Harry and Aurora jumped at the sound, looked at each other, then looked back at Aislin. "I will not lie to you. I'm not that much older than you, but I was exceptionally good at magic, and I finished years before I was supposed to. I'm one of the few Soliopaths on Britain, and there aren't many. What I'm going to teach you is how to throw shields, curses, hexes, and charms without using your wand. First, I want Harry to throw a curse at me," Aislin said. Harry looked down at his wand, then back up at Aislin.

"Are you sure?" he asked. Aislin nodded. "Stupefy!" he yelled. The jet of light flew towards Aislin, who just stood there. She put up her hand and the spell hit a wall similar to Aurora's. She lowered her hands and smiled.

"Pretty soon, you'll be able to do that."

**********

Meanwhile, Ron, Draco, and Neville were doing push-ups. Drake clapped his hands and the boys stood. Ron glared at Draco.

"You just had to shoot that fat arse mouth of yours off, didn't you, Malfoy?" he groaned. Malfoy shot him a dirty look.

"Sod off, Weasley."

"Well, I'm here to teach you combat the old-fashioned way," Drake said.

"What's that?" Neville asked. Drake smiled wryly.

"I'm glad you asked. SLOAN!" he yelled. The taller man came running.

"What is it?" he asked. He'd barely got the words out before Drake slugged him in the jaw. Sloan stumbled backwards, then looked over at Drake, who was smiling smugly. "You bloody fuck! That shit hurt!" he yelled before stomped off.

"That is the old-fashioned way. I'm sure you get the gist of it. To me, there's nothing I'd like to do more to a Death Eater than knock him out with my bare hands," Drake said. Ron smiled. He was going to like Drake.

**********

Hermione, Ginny, and Neve watched as Fionnula pulled a black metal object out of her holster on her leg.

"Who can tell me what this is?" she asked.

"It's a gun," Hermione said.

"Correct. A gun does what the Avada Kedavra curse does, only it's a lot more painful and messier. They propel tiny bullets through the air at a high speed. This doesn't necessarily kill you, but it can maim you. Not a fun way to die. Ladies, grab two holsters and put them on each of your legs. I am now going to teach you how to shoot." Fionnula took out her wand and transfigured five rocks into dummies. "First you aim. Make sure you keep both eyes open. You will see twice as good. Then you squeeze the trigger and..." A gunshot was heard around the castle. Even Harry and Aurora heard it and jumped.

"What was that?" she asked.

"It sounded like a gunshot," Harry said. Aurora looked at him with a confused expression on her face.

"You'll eventually get to that, you two. The first thing I'm going to teach you is how to summon things. Watch." Aislin turned towards a table that was behind him. Harry didn't remember seeing the table there before, but dismissed it. There were three goblets on the table. Aislin held her hand out, and one of the goblets went flying towards her. She grabbed hold of it.

"And how do you expect us to do that?" Aurora asked. Aislin smiled.

"First, you must think that you want the goblet. Basically, will it to come to you. In your mind, think of the Summoning Charm. Say it in your mind," Aislin said. Harry held his hand out. The goblet in front of him merely shook, but did not come. Aurora tried hers, and it did pretty much the same thing, only it fell over.

**********

After about fifty attempts within the three hours, Harry got agitated and forcefully held his hand out.

'Accio goblet,' he sort of yelled with his mind. The goblet went flying towards him at amazing speed and hit him square in the face. Aislin and Aurora looked at him, stunned. Then they both smiled as Harry rubbed the knot forming on his head. Aislin clasped her hands together.

"Good job, Harry. Now all you have to do is work on making it come directly towards you. Aurora, try one more time, then you may go. I'm sure breakfast is ready now," she said. Aurora nodded and looked at her goblet. She held her hand out and the goblet shook, then flew towards her. She caught it and looked at Harry. Harry sneered back at her.

"I did it!" she exclaimed. Aislin nodded.

"Go on, you two. After breakfast, you will regret having eaten, but you also need your strength to continue on with the day," Aislin said. Harry and Aurora ran out of the room.

**********

In the kitchen, Harry saw that Ron and Draco both had black eyes. He looked at Neville, whose lip was a little swollen. Then he glanced at Hermione who just shook her head.

"What happened to you all?" Harry asked. Draco grumbled a colorful phrase and Aurora hit him. He winced a little, and then glared daggers at her. Aurora smiled and Draco's face softened. Yes, he was whipped and everyone could see it.

"That Drake fellow is the hand-to-hand combat trainer. So, well, Malfoy and I got a little carried away. Drake said that he'll get Aislin to heal us," Ron said reluctantly.

"It's hard to tell who won that fight," Neve said, biting into an apple. Neville smirked at her. He'd been the subject of a stray fist from trying to pry Ron off of Draco, but wasn't going to say that. Instead, he just looked at Draco with a devilish look on his face. Draco glared at him in turn. That was when Sloan entered the room. He looked at the eight kids.

"Breakfast is over. Let's go," he said. The teenagers stood abruptly and followed him outside to a large field. He turned towards them as they looked around. The sky was just becoming lighter and Harry could tell that they were definitely out in the middle of nowhere. "The Magi are basically a tactical unit of wizards and witches. It means we use crafty and subtle ways at achieving the goal. As one of the Magi, you will need both of these. Your job is not to be seen, but to blend in. That's what makes us different from the Aurors. Plus, we tend to be slightly more powerful," Sloan said. He conjured up a type of ball launcher. "Now, my philosophy is this: If you can dodge a ball, you can dodge a curse. So, Draco, if you would be so kind as to run out in the field, I will launch these balls at you and you try to dodge them." Draco obeyed without a word and turned to face Sloan. As soon as he turned, he was hit with a ball.

"Is there a little something you forgot to mention? Hmmm?" Draco said, rubbing his arm. Sloan slapped his forehead and let out a light chuckle.

"As a matter-of-fact, Draco, there is. These balls will be projected at a fairly high speed, as curses don't tend to move slowly. I figure if I set it higher, you have enough time to dodge and throw your own curse. Let's try this again." He shot another ball at Draco, who was a little slow in reacting. The ball whizzed by his head and he felt the wind of it. "Better, Draco, but you need to be quicker in order to retaliate faster. You may come back. Hermione, step up."

Harry sighed. This was definitely going to be a long day.