Harry Potter and the Siren's Song

Moody gave Harry a thorough once over as he circled him, his wooden leg pounding against the floor. Without asking, he reached for Harry's arm and yanked up his sleeve, studying the long scar there. Looking from the scar to Harry's face, he seemed to make some sort of decision. "You can't blame yourself, Potter. People have suspected for years that Voldemort would find a way to come back - a power hungry bastard like him doesn't just shuffle off that easily. And as for Diggory, you did as much for him and his family as anyone could have hoped. Brave thing, bringing back his body, meeting with his parents. Most people couldn't have dealt with half of what you have, let alone have the courage to want to face Voldemort again."

"My friends keep telling me I haven't dealt with it." Harry said before he could stop himself.

"Just because you haven't handled things as they would have doesn't mean you haven't dealt with them. And I daresay this is something you can't come to terms with in a matter of weeks. Guilt's a funny thing, Potter…it can come back to haunt you when you least expect it. Not that anyone thinks you should feel guilty - but you have to convince yourself of that fact." He released Harry's arm. "Right. Now, I understand that last year you learned things in order to survive the Tournament - things far beyond most seventh-years' abilities. That tells me you've got plenty of brains to go along with that courage. We'll be testing them both soon enough. Come along - we need to get started on this. You'll need to meet Professor Velange. She'll be working with you on understanding what the Dark Arts are and how to recognize those that get involved in them. Velange will help you learn to recognize the signs of a potential Dark wizard; could be a time that you get to help one that's not in too deep chose another way."

"What happened to Bin - I mean Professor Binns?" Harry asked, as they headed up the stairs towards the fifth floor.

"Nothing - he's still teaching History of Magic to the younger students. Fourth years and up will be taught by Professor Velange. Dumbledore thought with one thing and another, a change of curriculum was necessary. And I think you've had enough of goblin rebellions, don't you?" Harry grinned - Moody seemed very well informed about the daily business that took place at Hogwarts. "Velange is going to teach what Dumbledore calls Current Events - feels everyone above fourth year needs to know exactly whom and what they're fighting. I happen to agree with him - more then one of them is going to be pressured to join the Death Eaters, and it's a sight easier for them to choose the right path when they know exactly what they're getting into." Moody was leading him in the direction of the library, Harry realized. When they reached the ornately carved wooden doors, Moody held open one for Harry. "After you," he said, with a smile.

Harry was still trying to separate the Moody he had known last year and this Moody (they were so similar in many ways - Crouch had really imitated Moody to perfection) in his mind. So preoccupied was he that at first he didn't see the red-haired woman in rust colored robes talking to Madam Pince, the librarian. She turned and smiled at them both.

"Professor Velange, Harry Potter." Moody said by way of introduction.

Professor Velange came as something of a surprise to Harry. She seemed young, certainly younger then any of their other teachers. Her eyes, however, looked as old as Binns' - tired and somehow sad. In retrospect, Harry suspected Velange to be around the same age as Remus Lupin. Perhaps she too had known his parents? He opened his mouth to ask, but then decided that was a bit rude as they'd just met. Instead he shook her hand.

"A pleasure, Harry." Her voice made him feel as though he had just finished a bottle of butterbeer in a single gulp. It was husky and warm, and as it resonated throughout the room he couldn't help but think of how her voice would make for an excellent change of pace from Binns' dry wheezy rasp. "I believe Professor Moody will be working with you this morning. I will meet you back here after lunch. My classroom is currently in the midst of its summer cleaning and I don't wish to disturb the elves by causing a distraction with our presence." Harry bit back his grin as he envisioned the elves simultaneously cleaning and offering eclairs. "Madam Pince was kind enough to allow us to use of one of the study rooms in the restricted section."

Harry had never been allowed in the restricted section for long enough to see the study rooms - he'd heard about them though. They were soundproofed, although each had an alarm to summon Madam Pince in the event that a student found themselves in trouble with one of the many dangerous books housed in the restricted section. He'd also heard about more then one student receiving detention for getting caught in a study room without permission. The Astronomy Tower and the restricted study rooms were both very popular with couples at Hogwarts due to the privacy they allowed.

"Nice meeting you," Harry said, as Moody headed out the door again and he followed him.

Moody led him down to his office, and Harry looked around curiously. Yes, the Dark detectors were still there. He recognized the Sneakoscope, the Secrecy Sensor and the Foe-Glass. There were, however, a number of new devices that he didn't recognize.

"What's that?" Harry asked curiously, pointing to what looked like a barometer.

"Darkness Diviner - monitors the amount of Dark magic in the air. All spells leave a magical signature, you know, and the Diviner monitors the different types. It lights up when too many Dark spells are in use at any one given time. It's good for about a fifty mile radius, so we can keep an eye out for unusually high Death Eater activity in Hogsmeade." Moody indicated for Harry to sit down in the chair across from his desk as he sat himself down, and poured a glass of pumpkin juice.

"Juice, Harry?" Harry nodded, still looking around. "Dumbledore's told you that I'll be teaching you both the Dark Arts and how to defend yourself against them. I know he's told you that the Ministry of Magic strictly controls the teaching of the Dark Arts. I'm going to elaborate on that a bit, Harry, so bear with me." He poured Harry some juice, then continued.

"Years ago, all the wizard schools taught the Dark Arts…Muggle persecution was running high, and a wizard needed every tool he could get his hands on if he was to defend himself. Besides, what better way to make sure people understood just how serious getting involved with dark magic was then to let them deal with the side affects? Dumbledore brought that to a halt when he took over - flat out refused to teach it at Hogwarts. Beauxbatons and a lot of other schools followed suit. Not Durmstrang, though. Parents sent letters to their Ministry by the pound - felt that their students still needed it."

"So Karkaroff being there had nothing to do with it?" Harry asked.

"Not a bit. Keep in mind where Durmstrang is, Harry - they get students from villages that are quite isolated. Old suspicions die hard in that part of the world. No doubt their Ministry agreed with the parents - didn't want to risk losing students when Muggles went on a rampage." Moody's face became hard. "Nothing is ever black and white, Harry - you need to remember that. If a wizard uses a dark spell to protect himself from being killed, is it really dark magic? And wizards are still being met with suspicion all over the world; read any of the Muggle papers on a given day and you'll see what I mean."

"Now, I know that last year you learned about the Unforgivables. We'll be studying those in a bit more depth, as well as how to fight them. Last year you learned how to fight the Imperius. This year you'll learn how to fight off the Cruciatus as well. Dumbledore told me you've quite a powerful Patronus under your belt- excellent, as we'll be using that on more then just dementors. First off, though, I want to test you and see how much you remember from last year. We'll start with Hexes."

An hour later, Harry hobbled into the Great Hall, Moody walking behind him. He had forgotten a great deal, it seemed, on the deflection of hexes and curses. His Shield Charm had lasted only a few seconds, before Moody shattered it. He had better luck with the Imperius, managing to throw it off in a matter of seconds. Moody had been pleased.

"A Shield Charm's not powerful enough to block more then kiddy curses, Potter - jelly-legs jinx and the like. Starting tomorrow, we'll work on the Impenetrable spell - teach you how to use that wand for self-defense."

"This feels more like dueling then learning." Harry said slowly. He was still trying to get the feeling back in both his legs after he'd only partially blocked a Petrificus Totalus spell, and found that his right leg was unable to bend for a while.

"Half of studying the Dark arts lies in practical lessons, Potter. I don't really care if you can tell me what the definition of a curse is, or the theory behind it - I want you to stop the damned thing. Plenty of time for a recitation of its merits afterwards." Moody grunted. He headed for a seat next to Dumbledore, while Harry sat down, wincing, next to Professor Flitwick.

"You must have done well, Harry - half of us expected you to end your first lesson with a visit to Madam Pomfrey." Professor Flitwick smiled. "You might want to take advantage of using the prefects bath tonight - help those sore muscles. The password is 'pine fresh'."

"I'll do that." Harry returned the smile, somewhat feebly, as he started in on his sausage and potatoes. He didn't speak much for the rest of the meal, mostly just listened to the teachers talk. They had an unusually large class of first years this year.

"Sixty two! Imagine it - three sets of twins!" Professor Sprout said, shaking her head.

"Well, it is the Weasley twins last year - we'll need a replacement set of troublemakers," said Professor Sinistra reasonably.

"I think we're seeing the first real class of baby-boomers this year," chuckled Professor Vector.

"Baby boomers?" Harry asked. "I thought that was a Muggle term, for the population surge after the war."

"And so it is here as well, Potter. After You-know-Who's fall, the Ministry started reporting a sharp increase in the number of births in our community. Students graduating from Hogwarts and starting families of their own no longer had to worry about their children's safety. Aurors were no longer being pushed to the limits, had time to focus on their own lives. Jonas Ackerley, Dennis Madley, Cathleen O'Toole - all Aurors who retired and decided spend time with the families. Cathleen went on to have 6 children, bless her." Professor Sprout said fondly. "I was stunned she stopped running around long enough to get pre-have a family." Sprout went somewhat red, realizing what she'd almost said.

"That's partly why Fudge is so desperate to keep You-Know-Who's reincarnation a secret," Flitwick piped up. "Doesn't want to throw parents into a panic. Our numbers are just now starting to resume the levels that they were at before You-Know-Who's rise to power. We need those families to ensure that our way of life survives, Harry. Especially when we have no way of knowing how many more promising students like Cedric we may lose." Realizing who he'd just said this to, Flitwick had the grace to look abashed.

Harry looked down at his plate. He didn't want to think about Cedric today. He had enough to focus on. He picked at his food for a while, then excused himself and headed to the library.

Professor Velange was waiting for him. Madam Pince gave him a sharp look as they passed her, as though waiting for Harry to start opening every restricted book in the library just to see what would happen. Velange held open the door to the study room, and Harry stepped inside.

The walls of the room were painted a brilliant white, and there were candles burning in carved sconces on opposite sides of the door. A symbol he didn't recognize was carved into the large wooden table, and another was painted onto the ceiling. The room smelled of lavender, not overpowering but definitely present. The floor, he saw, was painted midnight black.

Velange was closely watching his reaction. "A Cabbalistic room. Cabbals hold that black and white are the colors of knowledge; black represents understanding because it absorbs all light - white represents the quintessence of Divine Light."

Harry didn't answer. No doubt Hermione would have followed that unusual statement without a problem, but Velange might just as well have been speaking in Greek. He merely nodded, and studied the candles that floating in midair, casting their shadows against the wall. Approximately half were black, the other half white.

Velange smiled. "The room has to be set up so as to protect those within, Harry. Those books are restricted for a very good reason - and allowing students to open them without taking every precaution would be foolish." She sat down, and indicated he should do the same.

"Tell me, Harry - who do you know that practices the Dark Arts?"

"Voldemort." Harry answered without hesitation. "The Death Eaters."

"Any one else?" she asked.

"Um…" he thought a while. Every name that came to mind was either already a Death Eater, or a student. "None that I can name, Professor." He was half-tempted to say "all the Slytherins" but had a feeling she wouldn't appreciate his attempt at humor.

Her smile widened. "How about yourself?"