Circle's Close

Chapter Fifteen: Auror Training

***

"Wake up, Harry.”

Harry turned over in his sleep, believing the voice speaking to him was coming from his dreams. It took him a moment to realize that Hermione was actually leaning over his bed, shaking him awake. As he cracked open one eyelid, he found he was facing the window, and the curtains were drawn. The sun had not risen yet.

“I’m sleeping...” Harry murmured drowsily. He heard Hermione giggle softly, and felt her fingers brushing his hair back from his face.

“I know you are, sweetie. Don’t you remember? We start training this morning. We can’t be late,” Hermione reminded him.

Harry gave a loud groan as his dream-state floated away, and he came face-to-face with reality. Of course he hadn’t forgotten about the Auror training. In fact, he had stayed up most of the night full of anxiousness and excitement. He had finally passed out from exhaustion, and to him that felt like only an hour ago.

He turned over to face Hermione, who was still dressed in her nightdress. “I was having the most amazing dream,” he said before covering his mouth to stifle a long yawn.

“What was it about?” Hermione wondered, sitting on the edge of his bed and turning to face him.

Harry searched his mind for the details of his dream. This was the first good dream he’d had in a long time, and he didn’t want to forget it.

“You were in it,” he began. Hermione raised her brows interestedly. “And we lived in our own home.”

“We’re married?” Hermione asked, a delighted smile lighting up her face.

Harry nodded.

“And where were we living?” she wondered.

Harry shrugged at this. “I don’t know exactly. I just remember the surroundings... There weren’t a lot of buildings or anything. But there were a lot of trees and plants.”

“What were we doing in the dream?” Hermione asked.

“There was a huge party," he said, his eyes narrowing as he desperately tried grasping at the details which were quickly slipping away. "It was in our backyard. Everyone was there."

"Who's everyone?" Hermione wondered, tilting her head to the side.

"I'm not entirely sure," Harry said, looking at her sheepishly. "All the Weasleys were there, along with Sirius, Remus, and there were a lot of children I didn't recognize. Some of them were our own children," he said, nodding his head with conviction.

Hermione perked up at this. "Really, now?”

"I remember now -- why we were having the party. It was for our oldest son, Remy," Harry told her, looking into her eyes. They were wide and full of wonder. "He had just published his first novel."

"He was a writer?" Hermione exclaimed joyfully.

"A very talented one," Harry added with a smile. "And he had a twin, our daughter... Her name was Jamie."

"Twins? Oh my..." Hermione sighed. "Your dream sounds so magnificent."

"It was," Harry said, looking at her sadly. "It felt so real. You can imagine my surprise when I woke up...here."

Hermione's eyes narrowed. "And I take it 'here' isn't nearly as exciting?" she demanded, looking at him sharply.

"It's not like how it sounds, love," Harry assured her, pulling himself up into a sitting position. "It's just..."

"What?"

"In my dream... we were all so happy," Harry explained. "There was no threat of darkness, there was no danger. We could go anywhere; do anything, without fear and the constant desire to look over our shoulders all the time. We were free, Hermione. And it felt so good."

Hermione's face softened. "Do you think it could have been a prediction?" Over time Hermione had learned to take Harry’s dreams seriously, whether they were happy or ominous.

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I can only hope it was. And if not -- then I'll just have to do everything in my power to make sure it comes true."

*

"I wonder whose bright idea it was to start Auror training this early in the morning," Harry grumbled, as he and Hermione left the school grounds.

It was a very cold, early February morning, and the sun had just risen. As they chatted on the way, they could see their breath in front of them, puffing out like smoke with every exhalation. Before they had left, Hermione had charmed their winter cloaks with some sort of a Thermal Charm Harry had never heard of before. It kept the wearer warm and comfortable, from neck to toes. The face was the only part of the body the cloak couldn't cover, but there was nothing Hermione could have done about that. And Harry felt so warm (with the exception of his nose and ears), that he felt no desire or reason to complain.

"I believe it was yours, Harry," Hermione reminded him.

"And why didn't you smack me into sense?"

"Because that's not my style," answered Hermione. "And besides, I was in complete agreement with you. It's just easier this way. First -- we can leave the grounds before any students wake up, which means they won't even know we've left. We're supposed to remain discreet, remember? If we did the training after classes, then everyone would see us leave, and they'd always wonder where we're going. That's the last thing we need. Secondly -- no shops open this early in Hogsmeade, and no one is ever awake this early, so we won't have to face any inquiries as to where we're going."

"We never did before," Harry pointed out.

"That's because there were too many kids around on the Hogsmeade trips, so when we went to visit Sirius, no one ever missed us, because they never noticed we were gone. Two Hogwarts students, alone, walking to the outer-edges of Hogsmeade nearly every afternoon would look extremely suspicious." Hermione told Harry. "And besides, there's no harm in being cautious."

Harry sighed, but said nothing. Sirius had instructed the two of them to meet him at precisely 7 am, in the same caves just outside Hogsmeade, where Hermione, Ron and Harry had visited the innocent fugitive many times in their 4th and 5th years. Harry felt like he was 14 years old again, sneaking off to those same caves with Hermione to meet his godfather. The only difference was, Ron wasn't with them. And he wasn't carrying a large and heavy backpack full of food. The only thing Sirius had instructed them to bring was their wands.

They arrived in Hogsmeade, passed Dervish and Banges, and made their way to the edge of the small village, following the very familiar path which would lead them to the caves. Half an hour later, they came face to face with Sirius and --

"Remus!" both Harry and Hermione exclaimed, bright smiles lighting up their tired faces.

"Hello, you two," Remus greeted, smiling warmly.

"What's going on? Why are you here?" Harry asked suddenly, feeling very confused. As far as he knew, only Sirius would be training them.

"There's been a change of plans, Harry," Sirius said. Harry and Hermione looked at their Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, waiting for him to explain what their former Defense teacher was doing there. "As it is, my schedule is very full. I'm sure you both know exactly what that feels like. So Remus has offered his services. Most of the time, he’ll be training you. During the days when he physically can’t—i.e the full moon—I’ll be training you."

Harry raised his brows in surprise. "That's great!" he said, and Hermione nodded enthusiastically beside him. Remus had always been one of Harry's favorite teachers, and he had no doubt that he and Hermione were in good hands.

“Just out of curiosity, Remus, who’s making the Wolfsbane potion for you now?” Hermione asked. “Chances are it isn’t Snape. He doesn’t know you’re back, does he?”

“We’re keeping my presence under wraps for now,” Remus told them. “But as for your original question, I managed to come across a wizard in Hogsmeade who has been more than accommodating to make the potion for me. It’s really quite convenient, since I’m now living in Hogsmeade. I have total access to the potion maker.”

“That’s good news,” Harry said.

"Are you two warm enough? We know it's a long walk," Sirius said.

Harry snorted with disdain. "That's easy for you to say, Padfoot," he said, knowing that his Animagus form was exactly how Sirius had traveled from the school to the caves.

Sirius smirked as Hermione answered, "We're fine, Sirius. We're perfectly warm. Are you two alright? I taught myself a Charm that will help keep you warm. I know how drafty these caves can get, especially in the winter."

"The Thermal Charm. We know that one, and it's impressive that you know it too," Remus said. "Though not the least bit surprising," he added with a grin.

"Then if everyone is good to go, why don't we get started," Sirius suggested.

“What do we do?” asked Harry with interest, suddenly not feeling as tired as he did a moment ago.

“Sirius and I will demonstrate for you both first, to give you an idea of how it’s done,” Remus explained, taking on the attitude of a professor once again.

Harry felt he should tell them both that he already knew how to duel, but he decided against it. Sirius and Remus obviously wanted to do a thorough job of training.

The two older wizards put some distance between them, wands held out in front of them.

There was no preparation, no countdown, before Sirius hurled the first Curse at his opponent.

“Stupefy!”

To Harry’s surprise, instead of dodging the oncoming Curse, Remus swirled his wand in a complicated fashion, which—to Harry’s absolute disbelief—actually repelled the Curse.

“Expelliarmus!” Remus exclaimed.

Sirius stepped back slightly just as Hermione gasped with realization. Harry couldn’t understand what conclusion she had come to that he hadn’t, but he did notice Sirius raise his wand in the air and it looked as though he drew an equally complicated symbol in the air. The Disarming Spell had failed, but before Harry could put much thought into the matter, Sirius advanced on Remus.

“Petrificus Totalus!”

Remus began to walk backwards, but again—just like before, the Spell had been deflected as Remus drew another similar symbol in the air. It was then that Remus fell, tripping over a stone he hadn’t noticed in his wake.

Sirius raised his wand with finality. “Avada Kedavra!”

But Remus had vanished! He Apparated at Hermione’s side, panting slightly and testing out his ankle.

“Thanks for the warning, Sirius,” Remus said in a slight growl that was reminiscent of Sirius’ own voice when he was angry.

“Hey… It can happen just like that,” Sirius replied innocently, with the snap of his fingers. “And that—Harry and Hermione—is why you must learn how to Apparate. As there is no way to counter or block the Killing Curse.”

“What were you—How did you—“ Harry stuttered, unable to form the right words. He may have felt alert, but apparently his brain still had a lot of waking up to do.

“Why they made you Head Boy, I’ll never guess,” Sirius teased in a fatherly fashion.

“Did either of you notice what we were doing?” Remus asked, looking expectantly at Hermione.

“You were blocking the Curses with your wands,” she answered promptly.

“I noticed that,” Harry replied in his defense to Sirius’ comment. “But was it really safe for you to use the Killing Curse on Remus, Sirius?”

With a mischievous grin, Sirius aimed his wand at Remus again and called out, “Avada Kedavra!”

Remus gave a loud yelp and jumped as though he had been given a small electrical shot. Sirius, finding this highly amusing, doubled over in laughter.

“Really funny, Sirius,” Remus muttered, smiling in spite of himself as he recovered.

Sirius fiddled with his wand while talking. “These are Training wands,” he explained.

Hermione gave another noise of recognition, as though one of her more burning conclusions had just been confirmed. “I thought they looked different from your real wands!”

“Can either of you tell us how we blocked the Curses?” Remus asked them.

“You were drawing symbols in the air,” Hermione answered automatically.

“But—how?" asked Harry. "I mean—how does a symbol block a spell?”

“That’s a good question,” Remus said, “which gets an easy answer. You both should know by now that no two Curses sound alike. In which case, you must learn the sound of each spell.

“You start the counter-curse, or block, once you hear the first syllable of the Curse being hurled at you. You can block the Curse by drawing symbols in the air. Just as with the Curses, there are no two symbols alike.”

“That’s a lot of symbols!” Harry exclaimed, starting to feel like he wasn’t cut out for this at all. If this was just the beginning, he was toast.

“I know it’s overwhelming, Harry,” Sirius agreed, seeing the look on his godson’s face. “But just like with everything else, it comes with practice. If we didn’t believe you could handle this, you wouldn’t be here. Trust me on that one.”

“Don’t you remember Second year, Harry?” Hermione asked. When Harry frowned in bewilderment, she added, “In the Dueling Club. With Professor Lockhart?”

“I remember. But what does that have to do with this?” Harry asked her.

All eyes were on Hermione as she answered. “Do you not remember when Lockhart tried to do the exact same thing Sirius and Remus were doing just a moment ago?”

Harry laughed. “That git couldn’t block a spell if his life depended on it. In fact, I remember clearly that he had dropped his wand.”

“Well—yes,” Hermione agreed. “However, just before he dropped it, he did a sort of complicated wiggling with his wand. Right?”

“Yes…” Harry replied slowly.

“Anyway, it was years ago, but after that Dueling lesson, I went—“

“--To the library—“ grinned Harry.

“--To look up what Lockhart had been trying to do. And that’s when I discovered how Spells and Curses can be blocked by drawing symbols into the air,” Hermione finished.

“You are a teacher’s dream, Hermione,” Sirius said fondly.

“We have to match every spell to every symbol which would block it, right?” Hermione asked for confirmation.

“It’s as simple as that,” Remus replied, as impressed with Hermione as Sirius was. “Of course, you have to train your mind to be constantly on guard. What you saw with us wasn’t exactly real.”

“Speak for yourself,” Sirius muttered, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly. “I was dead serious. Er—no pun intended…” he added with a grin.

Remus rolled his eyes in an exasperated way, vividly reminding Harry of the way Hermione reacted towards Ron and himself. “Always the joker, Padfoot. Anyway, as I was saying. In a real life situation, it’s always a difficult job to be prepared. Sirius, over here, showed me mercy,” he reminded them, while rolling his eyes again. Sirius grinned with satisfaction. “A Death Eater, however, would sooner end his own own life before showing you mercy. Therefore, the first rule of fighting a Death Eater is not to out-fight him, but to out-think him. Are you both following me?”

Harry and Hermione nodded. While they both realized how important their training was, they deeply appreciated how relaxed Sirius made them feel throughout the rest of the morning. Over the course of an hour, Sirius and Remus introduced them to the Training wands, which Sirius had obtained from the Ministry.

“They act as real wands, only with one small difference,” Sirius told them.

“Which is?” Harry asked, as Remus handed them each a Training wand. Harry ran his forefinger along it curiously.

“On the giving end of a Curse, they act the same as a normal wand. On the receiving end, however, you merely receive a minor shock. The idea is to block the curse. If say…I tried to hit you with the Cruciatus Curse, and you tried to block it, but used the wrong counter-curse, you’d receive nothing more than a shock. However, if you blocked it properly by using the right counter-curse—“

“I’d know it,” Harry finished for him.

“Exactly,” said Sirius with a short nod.

Harry, feeling ten times more attentive than half an hour ago, was eager to try out the wands. And by the time the lesson was over, he felt confident that the Auror training would be very successful.

*

Harry looked up from his textbook as Hermione slammed her own closed, her face twisted in frustration.

“What’s wrong?” Harry asked her.

“Nothing,” Hermione muttered, sighing. “I’m just sick of studying.”

Harry raised his eyebrows disbelievingly while Ron, Leah and Ginny all looked at the Head Girl as though she had just sprouted two heads.

“Excuse me?” Ron squeaked.

Hermione grinned wryly, shrugging. “It was bound to happen, right?” she said to them.

“I’m speechless,” Ron said in a whisper, earning a reproving look from Leah.

“She’s entitled, you know!” the youngest of the five Gryffindors told him. Leah also had books spread out in front of her while she desperately worked at her Transfiguration assignment. Her O.W.L.’s were coming up, and Harry was reminded of his fifth year, and the many sleepless nights he spent trying to finish his schoolwork.

Shaking his head of the terrible memories, Harry instead chose to turn his head as he watched Hermione sink into her seat, watching the flickering flames in the fireplace as they gave the common room an eerie glow. He could tell she was exhausted. What she needed was a good night’s rest and some relaxation.

The past two weeks since their training had began were very busy, and even while they weren’t attending sessions, Sirius and Remus always made sure to hand them material to read at night whenever they had a chance. Secretly, Harry was beginning to worry about Hermione. She had become more irritable than normal lately, and he was sure it had a lot to do with her homework load, as well as everything else she had to cope with. He knew Hermione had a love for learning, and he knew she could handle almost anything. But he was positive that she was wishing she had a Time-Turner right about now. He couldn’t blame her at all.

Harry turned his attention to Ron and Leah, who sat bickering on the sofa. Ginny caught Harry’s eye and they both grinned, thinking the exact same thing: Ron strikes again.

“You can be so insensitive sometimes,” Leah breathed impatiently.

“And you can be so impatient sometimes,” was Ron’s heated reply.

“How can you expect me to be so tolerant of you all the time, when all you are is impossible?”

“She’s certainly opened up quite a bit since they got together, don’t you think?” Ginny asked Harry.

“I think they’re perfect together,” Harry said.

They spoke in hushed tones, that way Leah and Ron couldn’t hear their conversation.

“Sort of remind you of my parents, huh?” said Ginny.

“Which is why they’re perfect together,” Harry answered with a smile.

“I think it’s all so sweet,” Ginny continued quietly. “The way my brother asked Leah to be his girlfriend.”

“Ron told me—he asked her like it was a proposal, didn’t he? With a candlelit dinner and roses, and he got down on one knee…”

“Can you believe that?” Ginny said in a slightly shrill voice, full of admiration for her brother.

“I heard Leah was pretty surprised,” said Harry.

“She told me that she thought they already were boyfriend and girlfriend. Ron was horrified. He had gone through all that trouble…”

“Yeah, but now look at them,” said Harry, turning back to Ron and Leah, who were still both bickering back and forth. “Wasn’t it worth it?”

Ginny laughed just before Hermione sat up in her seat.

“Will you two stop? You’re giving me a migraine,” she moaned.

“I’m sorry, Hermione,” Leah apologized sincerely, glaring at Ron in a way that vividly reminded Harry of Mrs Weasley.

“I’m sorry, too,” Ron echoed, and Harry couldn’t help shaking his head as Leah smiled, reaching for Ron’s hand. They’re fingers linked, and they sat together in silence, while Leah flipped through her textbook with her free hand.

“Unbelievable, I know,” Ginny agreed, shaking her own head.

“Hermione?” Harry said, looking at his girlfriend.

“Yeah, Harry?”

“Maybe you should go to bed…get some sleep. You need it,” Harry told her.

Hermione’s eyes, which had been closed, opened slightly as she looked at Harry. His hand covered her own and he squeezed it gently.

“I don’t know…there’s still so much to do…”

“Hermione, you’re entitled to one nap. If I have to, I’ll enforce my Head Boy status and make you go upstairs.”

Hermione smiled gratefully at Harry. “Alright…I’m going. But make sure those two—“ and she pointed at Ron and Leah, “—don’t get out of hand.” She said the last few words with a smile and she stood up.

“That would be like trying to tame a Hungarian Horntail, Hermione!” Ginny exclaimed, as Hermione disappeared up the stairs to her room.

“Good one, Ginny,” Ron replied sarcastically, while Leah giggled.

*

“This is a first,” Ron said under his breath to Harry, as the Divination class made their way to the Greenhouses.

“This way class…to Greenhouse three. Excellent,” Professor Trelawney called to the students.

Professor Sprout was already inside, smiling jovially to the students as they entered the greenhouse.

“Thank you, Professor Sprout,” Trelawney said softly as the portly teacher made her way to the door. “And dear—do try to stay indoors.”

Professor Sprout frowned in a puzzled way at the Divination teacher. “What do you mean?” There was a distinct tone of skepticism in her voice that Harry understood all too well.

“I mustn’t say—“ Trelawney said, closing her eyes and sighing. “It is such a burden with the knowledge—“

“You can tell me, Professor, or you are more than welcome to keep the information to yourself. But I have another class to run. Good day, class.”

Professor Sprout turned on her heel and vacated the greenhouse.

“What was it, Professor?” Parvati Patil exclaimed fearfully.

Trelawney smoothed down her robes and began toying with the beads around her neck.

“She will catch a dreadful cold,” she said quietly, slowly shaking her head.

No one in the class commented. They all knew perfectly well that Sprout would catch a cold. She worked in the greenhouses all year round, and they were sitting in the middle of winter. It was perfectly natural. Even Parvati and Lavender looked remotely disappointed.

“You are all no doubt wondering why we are here today, as opposed to our more comfortable classroom in the castle,” Trelawney began. “After our study with Crystal Gazing and Smoke Divination, I would like to introduce you to another form of fortune-telling. Scrye Divination.” She allowed a moment for this to sink in while the class pondered what “scrying” was.

“It is the practice of seeing visions in the surface of any form of reflecting liquid, whether it is water, or even a tub of oil. The liquid merely reflects the vision, just as the glass of a crystal ball would.”

Harry felt butterflies of dread in his stomach. Each time Trelawney introduced a new unit to study, he always managed to have visions. Would today be the same?

“Professor Sprout has been kind enough to allow us to use her pool, here,”

Trelawney motioned with one hand to a large, round pool which sat at the far end of the greenhouse. Harry remembered from a previous year when Sprout had used the same pool to grow magical plants. It reminded him of the kid-sized pools Muggle children used in their backyards during the summer.

“So if you all would be gracious enough to gather around, there’s enough room for all of you…that’s it…”

Harry and his classmates made their way to the other end of the greenhouse. They all dropped to their knees, placing their hands on the side of the pool. Draco Malfoy had managed to squeeze his way next to Harry, as Ron took his right hand side. Every student looked at Trelawney expectantly.

“We’ve been practicing quite a bit at working our Inner eye. Focus your energy as you look into the water, and tell me if you see anything,” Trelawney instructed.

“We’ll be here forever,” Ron muttered miserably.

Harry felt his insides squirming. He could see Draco’s reflection in the water, and felt slightly better as the blond Slytherin winked encouragingly at him.

“Focus, children,” Trelawney said in her own encouraging manner. She walked around the pool, also keeping watch for any signs.

“Oh! Professor Trelawney! I think I see something!” Lavender shrieked excitedly, pointing down into the water.

Trelawney made her way to her. “What is it, dear? What did you see?” she asked.

But at this point Lavender’s face had fallen with disappointment. “Oh…never mind…it’s just a leaf…probably from Professor Sprout’s plants.”

Ron snorted, trying to hold back his laughter. Parvati glared at him from across the pool.

Harry’s knees were starting to throb. He tried to concentrate, but it was difficult being squished between two other people, while sitting in the most uncomfortable position possible.

At this point, when Harry was seriously starting to consider standing up and stretching, an eerie shadow passed over the reflected sunlight on the surface of the water. Harry jerked his head over his shoulder and squinted up into the steel-white February sky, expecting to see some large, dark creature with its wings outspread, blocking out the sun. He thought it might be one of the thestrals, which he knew lived in the Forbidden Forest. No one else in the class seemed to have noticed anything odd, but that was not surprising, as Harry was one of the few people at Hogwarts who could see the skeletal, black-winged horses that pulled the carriages which bore the students to and from Hogsmeade. Thestrals were visible only to someone who had seen Death, so it was only to be expected that Harry, alone of all the class, had seen.

But when he squinted in the direction of the pale sun, he saw that there was nothing there. The sky in every direction was as bright and featureless as an inverted pewter cauldron. Bewildered, Harry turned his attention back to the pool—and he gasped. The reflection of the sun on the water’s surface was still obscured, as if by a pair of great, black leathery wings. But—it couldn't be a reflection, for the sun shining feebly overhead was not blocked out.

But if it was not a reflection—and Harry experienced a sudden chill that was unrelated to the cold of the early winter’s morn—that could only mean…

“Black wings blocking out the sun,” Trelawney whispered over his shoulder.

Harry was pointedly avoiding looking into Professor Trelawney’s large, unblinking eyes, which he could feel boring into the back of his head like twin Incendio spells.

“My dear,” Trelawney whispered, looking at Harry in a new light. “You have the gift!”

The entire class was staring at Harry with a mixture of puzzlement and amazement.

“N-no I don’t,” Harry denied, as Ron shot him a look that told him he thought Trelawney was as batty as ever.

“You know what you saw, child. And you are aware that I have seen the same vision,” Trelawney persisted.

“I didn’t see anything.”

“The world covered in shadow,” Trelawney reminded him, and Harry felt ice slipping into his stomach. “The wings, my dear, the wings!”

“There were no wings…I was just—“

At that point the signal for the end of class rang, yet all of Harry’s classmates remained where they were, still staring at Harry.

“I have to go,” Harry said suddenly, and Ron stood up with him. He noticed Draco making his way up as well, as if to follow him. But he seemed to think better of it, as he sat back down.

“You may try to deny it, Mr Potter,” Trelawney called after him. “But the Seeing Eye knows all! And you have the gift!”

To Be Continued...