Harry Potter and the Guild of the Night

Katling

Story Summary:
Harry suffers a terrible injury at the Dursleys that leaves his ability to face Voldemort in doubt. But with the help of Remus Lupin and a mysterious new teacher he has a chance to become more than he was before. Features a grudgingly neutral Snape and a Ginny who knows what she wants or rather who she wants.

Chapter 04

Chapter Summary:
Harry does some thinking and some training. He has a chat with Remus and makes both of their days. There is a discussion about Occlumency and Master Nhean predicts the future. (No Divination here!)
Posted:
06/06/2004
Hits:
8,824


Chapter 4

Harry woke up the next morning and reached for the ingenious clock that Madam Pomfrey had presented to him the night before. She had come in and woken him up but he had forgotten to be irritated at that when she explained to him why. She had said that she understood his need to be as independent as possible and this clock would help. It was a fairly ordinary muggle-type clock with a button on top that, when pressed, caused the time to spoken aloud. Harry had tried a few times last night and had been amused and a little disconcerted to find that the voice sounded remarkably like Mad-Eye Moody's. He kept waiting for the clock to bark 'Constant Vigilance!' at him as well as the time.

Pressing the button this morning didn't bring him the half-expected 'Constant Vigilance!' but it did tell him that it was 6.36 am. He lay back down, knowing it was far too early for breakfast. It still felt very strange to only see black; part of him kept wondering when they were going to turn the lights back on. He was glad that he'd been unexpectedly busy yesterday as it stopped him from dwelling on his situation. There was a fairly large part of him that just wanted to curl up on the bed and cry and scream and hide from everyone and feel sorry for himself. The only things that stopped him from indulging in that kind of tantrum was the fact that no matter how badly he had it now, he was better off than Sirius and that as much fun as that tantrum would be, it really wouldn't achieve anything.

He was extremely glad that he had Remus here. He would never be able to take the place of Sirius but Harry had a sneaking suspicion that even if Sirius was still alive he would still be turning to Remus right now. There was something very calming and very steadying about being with Remus. He pushed him to do things on his own, look at how he'd got him walking around Hogwarts, but was always there when he needed him. Harry suddenly recalled that they had never spoken about what their relationship was to be now that Sirius was dead and he promised himself he would corral Remus sometime today and make it clear to him that he, Harry, very much wanted Remus around. He didn't care that Remus was a werewolf, he just cared about the fact that Remus was his last link to his parents and he didn't want to lose him.

He was also glad that the Weasleys would be coming. They were the closest thing to a real family that he had. He was glad however that they would not be coming immediately. He really, really wanted Mrs Weasley to have a chance to get over the news about his blinding a little bit. He was a little apprehensive about them coming, along with Hermione, Luna and Neville, though. He was really hoping that they wouldn't treat him any differently. Harry gave snort of sour amusement. He suspected that they would and he'd have to yell at them to get them to stop. Still he didn't think that Fred and George would treat him any differently, after all, they hadn't last year or during his second year or even during fourth year. He groaned softly. He was going to have to be extra careful around them. He vowed to take absolutely nothing from them. He'd often judged whether or not it was safe to take things from them by the expression on their faces. The blandness of the expression gave you an indication of exactly how dangerous what they were handing you was. Still, it would definitely be fun to have them here. He reminded himself to ask Professor Dumbledore at breakfast when they would be coming.

He placed his hands behind the back of his head and thought about Professor Snape. Not exactly his favourite topic but at the moment, well worth considering. Now that he had time to consider it, Snape's behaviour yesterday had been oddly not nasty. Apart from one crack about Voldemort, he had not said one nasty thing. In fact, Harry thought, he'd actually been given some praise for his efforts. Not exactly glowing praise but praise nonetheless. Which was decidedly odd. He wondered whether Snape was acting like that because he pitied him but dismissed that out of hand. Snape didn't do pity; it didn't exactly fit with the Snape profile. Remus had told him about Snape's reactions at the Dursleys when they rescued him and how when they had found him, it was Snape who had held himself together and sorted things out. Harry considered the enigma that was Professor Snape for a little while longer and finally shook his head. He didn't think he was ever going to figure out the Potions Master and frankly he didn't want to. He would settle for Snape not making nasty comments about him and his parents. He didn't expect Snape to like him and he didn't expect he would ever like Snape but if things kept going the way they were, he figured he could learn to tolerate him.

He leaned over and fumbled for the clock again. On finding it he pressed the button and learned that the time was now 7:23 am. He pushed back the blankets and sat up. He found his clothes and slowly made his way to the bathroom to shower and get dressed. Thirty minutes later he was making his way up to the Great Hall for breakfast, grinning with anticipation of the day's events.

************************

When he made his way back down to the hospital wing that evening after dinner the only thing he was looking forward to was his bed. He was utterly exhausted. First he'd had his occlumency lessons, which while they weren't physically demanding, they did require a lot of concentration and effort. He'd made some progress today though. He'd been able to find and grab Snape's mind and even to hang onto it for a short period of time. He still couldn't throw him out of his mind or stop him from getting in but Snape had seemed grumpily pleased with his progress. He'd also been the same kind of 'nice' that he'd been the previous day. Harry had not had the courage to ask him why.

His lessons with Master Nhean had been a different kettle of fish entirely. He'd found out that Master Nhean was serious about getting him fully accustomed to moving around with out sight. They had been all over the castle today, learning how to go up and down stairs, judge distances, and not lose your balance or composure when odd things happened. It hadn't been quite as difficult as he'd thought. When they'd met in the Entrance Hall this morning, Master Nhean had presented him with a kind of walking stick to use. It was made of wood and had a good weight to it and he had found that it made walking around much easier when you could use the stick to tap around in front of you for obstacles. It had taken him a couple of hours to be comfortable using it but when he was he found that he could now get around much quicker than before.

He'd also found that he could often identify where they were by the feel of the air. For example, he'd known when they headed towards the Potions dungeon because the air got much cooler and slightly dank and he could also smell the various ingredients. Equally he'd been able to tell when they were in the Northern tower because he could smell Professor Trelawney's incense in the air. When he had told Master Nhean about this, he'd been startled to learn that he was expected to be able in the future to break down exactly what he was smelling and identify all of the elements. And that he would use this ability to make potions. He'd been flabbergasted at that piece of news. He'd thought his potion-making days were over. Master Nhean had said they would work out a time with Professor Snape for all of that.

Harry wandered into the hospital wing and made his way back to his bed, lightly tapping his cane against the beds to count them. When he got to his bed he flopped down onto it, the cane still clutched in his hand.

"You look tired," Remus commented. Harry yelped and leapt into the air, the cane clattering onto the floor. When he came down he nearly fell off the bed. Remus leapt forward, trying to stem his laughter, and helped Harry to sit on the edge of the bed. Once Harry was settled, he couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. Harry sat scowling for a minute but gradually began to see the humour in the situation. Remus' laughter was so infectious that Harry couldn't remain irritated and slowly he began to laugh as well.

Remus finally got himself back under control. "I'm sorry, Harry," he said, still chuckling, "but the expression on your face was priceless. I didn't realise that you didn't know I was here." Remus hesitated. "You did say this morning at breakfast that you wanted to speak to me this evening."

Harry took a couple of deep breaths. "That's okay, Remus," he said with a grin, "I probably did look a little funny." He started patting the bed. "Uh, Remus, did you see what happened to my cane?" Remus looked around and saw the cane lying on the floor a short distance away. He picked it up and gave it to Harry.

"Thanks," Harry said in relief.

"Where did you get that?" Remus asked, temporarily distracted.

Harry beamed. "From Master Nhean," he said enthusiastically and proceeded to demonstrate to Remus how much easier it made things. "Not that Master Nhean is going to let me rely on it," Harry said wryly, "He's going to make sure I can move around confidently with it and without it."

Remus grinned even though he knew Harry couldn't see it. He knew the grin would come out in his voice. "I don't know, Harry, that sounds good to me."

Harry groaned and flopped backwards on the bed. "Yeah, it figures you'd agree with him," he moaned good-naturedly, "I'm exhausted, I'll have you know. Master Nhean had me traipsing all over the castle today."

Remus chuckled and grabbed the hand that Harry had just held up. He pulled Harry upright and sat down next to him. He was glad of the clowning around they were doing. He was a little nervous, he didn't know what Harry wanted to speak to him about but he was afraid that Harry didn't want him around. Merlin knows he didn't want to take the place of Sirius but he did want to stay with Harry. He liked the boy and wanted to help him through this.

"Remus," Harry said and then lapsed into silence. He sat thinking for a moment. "I...I'm not really sure how to put this so I'm just going to go ahead and say it and I hope you'll understand what I mean." Harry took a deep breath while Remus sat frozen, fearing the worst. "I know my parents didn't name you my godfather and I know that you don't want to take Sirius' place but I kind of really want you to be around. I mean you've been so great since I got here and I don't know if I'd have got through all of this the way I have if you hadn't been there." Harry's babbling increased in speed. "Anyway, what I'm trying to say is obviously the Dursleys aren't going to be my guardians anymore and, well, I really want you to be my guardian now. I mean I don't know whether they'll let you 'cause they're really stupid about you being a werewolf and all. I mean if I don't care so why should they. But I want you to be my real guardian no matter who they officially say is my guardian." Harry stumbled to a stop and waited.

Remus sat stunned, his eyes filling with tears. Of all the things he had expected Harry to say, this was not one of them. He swallowed and realised that Harry was waiting for a response.

"Harry," Remus said in wonder, "I...Of course!" He grinned in delight as Harry's request really sank in. "I...Harry, you don't know what this means to me. I...know you loved Sirius and I didn't want to intrude in what you two shared." He sobered a little. "I'm not sure the Ministry will let me be your official guardian but I'll speak to Dumbledore. We might be able to wangle it somehow and if we can't I'm sure that we'll be able to get someone who'll understand."

Harry sighed in relief and threw himself at Remus and hugged him tightly. Remus wrapped his arms around Harry in return. They sat like that for some minutes until finally Remus released Harry and brushed his hair back from his forehead.

"Thank you, Harry," Remus said, his voice full of a myriad of emotions that he was unable to put into words.

Harry seemed to understand. "That's okay, Remus," he said with what was perhaps the first truly genuine smile that Remus had seen on his face for a long time. "Though I think I'm the one who should be thanking you, really."

Remus laughed. "Now that we've got that settled," he said with satisfaction, "I think perhaps you ought to get some sleep. You look tired for some reason."

Harry laughed and took a friendly swipe at Remus. "I wonder why?" he said dryly. "Remus? How much longer do I have to stay here in the hospital wing? I mean, everything's pretty much healed now and, well, I hate staying here."

Remus laughed and considered Harry's question. It was true that medically there was no reason for Harry to stay here, they had continued with it simply because it seemed convenient.

"Where did you want to stay? Gryffindor tower?" Remus asked.

Harry considered this but quickly dismissed it. He didn't really want to be on his own and staying in the tower would very quickly get boring and lonely. He hesitated for a long moment before finally voicing what he really wanted. "Could....could I stay with you?" he asked a little timidly.

Remus was surprised into silence again but quickly recovered. "I...yes, certainly! Dumbledore gave Sirius and I a suite of rooms here to share when we stayed." Remus hesitated. "Would you mind staying in Sirius' room?"

Harry swallowed. "Um, yes, I suppose that'd be okay." He shook his head. Sirius was dead, nothing was going to change that. It wouldn't be wrong to stay in the room he had been given here at Hogwarts. Besides, he wanted to stay with Remus and a slowly growing part of him didn't like the idea of Remus staying in that suite all alone. "Yes, I want to stay with you," Harry said firmly.

Remus grinned as he helped Harry get changed and into bed. He leaned Harry's cane against the bedside table where he could easily reach it "Well then, I'll have a word with Albus. I'm sure he won't mind and we'll get everything sorted out."

Harry grinned and then laughed when he remembered something. "Will I be able to take my clock? It won't disturb you, will it?" he asked innocently.

Remus looked confused and Harry indicated the clock beside his bed. "It speaks the time when you press that button." Harry explained. "Why don't you try it?" he asked mischievously, wanting to see if Remus reacted the same way he did to the voice.

Remus eyed Harry with a little bit of suspicion and a growing smile. The expression on the boy's face indicated there was something else about this clock that Remus wasn't expecting. Still the joke was set up and he had no intention of disappointing Harry. He reached out and pressed the button.

"Eight fifty two," the clock said and Remus reacted with a startled oath. Harry burst out into peals of laughter which Remus quickly joined. When they settled down, Remus pushed the button again and listened to the clock speak the time.

"Merlin! Sounds just like Mad-Eye," he said with amusement.

"I know," Harry laughed. "I keep waiting for it to yell 'Constant Vigilance!' at me."

Remus laughed, well aware of Mad-Eye Moody's favourite saying. "Well, if it ever does, I think we'd better check on Moody. He might have died and decided to possess the clock," he said with a grin. "Now go on, go to sleep."

Harry rolled onto his side, still intermittently snorting with laughter and Remus rose and slowly walked out of the hospital wing, turning out the lights as he went.

*************************

Remus walked along the corridor leading to the Headmaster's office, still a little dazed from the conversation with Harry. He had truly not expected the direction the conversation had taken. He had thought that perhaps Harry would ask whether he could stay with Weasleys from now on. He ran a hand through his hair and gave a mirthless snort. Sirius had told him several times during the last year to stop being so down on himself and had even made the observation that he was worse now than when he was at school. Remus supposed that he was more negative about himself and more negative in general now but in school he had had the Marauders to cheer him up and make him believe in himself. None of the Marauders had ever worried about the fact that he was a werewolf and neither had Lily when she was finally let in on the secret in seventh year. But with James and Lily dead, Peter apparently dead for so many years and Sirius in Azkaban for the same time, Remus had found that his circle of friends really didn't extend past them. Dumbledore certainly was always a friend but in a more distant way. Remus had essentially spent 15 years alone.

Remus snorted and shook his head to clear his thoughts. He'd just had some of the best news of his life and here he was getting dreary again. He just hoped that Dumbledore would be able to come up with some way of enabling Harry to be named his ward. He knew it wasn't likely; the Ministry would be very reluctant to place the Boy-Who-Lived with a werewolf. Maybe the Weasleys would take him, Remus thought; they certainly wouldn't have any problem with me being Harry's unofficial 'official guardian'.

Remus had by this time reached the gargoyle and said, "Fizzing whizzbees." The gargoyle sprang aside and Remus dawdled up the stairs, still thinking. He knocked on the Headmaster's door and entered at Dumbledore's "Come in, Remus."

"Welcome, Remus. Do sit down," Dumbledore invited.

Remus shook himself out of his thoughts and looked around. Master Nhean was sitting on the Headmaster's left and Minerva McGonagall on his right. Severus Snape was sitting in a chair on the opposite side of Professor McGonagall with a disgruntled expression on his face. This left the final chair in the small circle for himself. He slowly lowered himself into it, accepting Minerva's offer of tea and refusing the Headmaster's of a lemon drop.

"What did Harry want? If you don't mind telling us," Dumbledore asked with interest.

Remus smiled with delight. "He wanted to know if he could stay with me here at Hogwarts," Remus said, almost in wonder then sobered and looked at the Headmaster with entreaty in his eyes. "And he also wanted to know if I could be his guardian now that the Dursleys have so spectacularly disqualified themselves." His expression darkened. "Of course, I know and Harry knows that the Ministry will never allow that but he wanted me to be his guardian no matter whom the Ministry appointed." Remus sighed and stared into his tea.

Dumbledore smiled gently. "I don't see why the Ministry would refuse you if we perhaps asked for a joint guardianship. I had planned to ask Arthur and Molly Weasley if they would be willing to act as Harry's guardians and I am sure they would not object to you also being a guardian."

Remus looked up in surprise. "But..." he started to say then trailed off, unable to marshal an argument. Dumbledore had quite taken the wind out of his sails.

The Headmaster chuckled. "The Ministry after all does not need to know the exact details of the matter. They will merely assume that Harry will live at the Burrow." Remus nodded and started to smile. "As for the matter of his living arrangements here, I had been meaning to consult with you about them. Much to my delight, you and Harry have quite taken that out of my hands. I have no objection to Harry staying with you for the rest of the summer. We shall ask him at the start of the school year if he wishes to return to Gryffindor tower."

"Now," Dumbledore said, "I wish to hear how Harry's first full day of his new regime has gone. Severus?"

Snape shifted in his seat and put his tea cup down. "As you no doubt have realised, I have had to change the manner of teaching this time," he began. "As the most common method of Legilimency requires eye contact, Potter is now immune to it, as such. I am using one of the more subtle methods of attack. He seems more capable with this form of Occlumency." A small sneer wafted across Snape's face. "He is already able to identify when a strange mind is inside his own and is able to locate and capture it for a short period of time."

"Excellent," said Dumbledore. "How long do you think it will take to teach him fully?"

Snape leaned back in his chair and considered. "If the boy continues on his current rate of progress, bearing in mind he has only had two lessons, I anticipate he will be able to fully protect his mind by the beginning of the school year." Snape hesitated. "It will be possible to teach him to insinuate the mind of others with this technique, Albus, and possibly even to turn things against the Dark Lord. Do you wish me to do this?"

The others exchanged glances. Dumbledore opened his mouth to reply but was overridden by Remus. "I think that decision should be left to Harry," he said with an apologetic glance at the Headmaster. "He's been through so much this summer that I think it should be left to him to decide. Once he is able to protect his mind, tell him about what he could do with more training. He might not want to after all. I don't think we should force him to do this." When the others started to protest, Remus held up his hand and leaned forward with an earnest expression on his face. "No, we will not force him to do anything he doesn't want to do. Did you ever consider that the reason he failed so miserably with Occlumency last year was because we forced him into it? Perhaps if we had laid the reasons for it out in front of him and let him come to the conclusion that he needed to do it on his own, it may have been more successful."

This statement silenced the others and Albus started nodding with a sad and somewhat shamed look on his face. Snape sat and considered this for a moment. "It is true that neither Potter nor I were pleased to be where we were last year," he finally conceded.

"Exactly!" Remus exclaimed. "But this time Harry asked to continue the lessons. It was his decision and now he's having some success." Remus stopped and ran his hand through his hair and he tried to find the words he wanted. "Albus, Harry and Severus still don't really like each other and it's possible they never will. There's too much history there but nobody ever said you had to like your teacher or your student. You just have to want to learn what they have to teach and they just have to be willing to teach what they know." He stopped and gave a small laugh. "After all, I didn't really like our Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. He thought that werewolves should be culled. But I still learnt everything he had to teach because it was important."

Albus nodded. "You are right, Remus," he said heavily, "and once again I am reminded of my errors with Harry. Very well, Severus, when you feel that Harry has mastered the art of protecting his mind you may offer the further teaching to him. Do not pressure him, even if he says no at first, he may return at a later point when he has had time to think about it."

Severus nodded and picked up his tea cup again. Dumbledore took a deep breath and turned to his old friend. "Now Nhean," he said with a hint of his usual joviality returning to his voice, "how did your day with Harry go?"

"As well as could be expected," he said calmly, "He seemed to cope much better once he got used to using the cane I gave him but he seemed startled every time I told him what he would be learning. I don't think he really grasps what he will be capable of in the future. I also caution all of you about getting too excited about how well he is adjusting. He will fall apart at some point, probably sooner rather than later. No doubt the first time he hits a real hurdle that he cannot overcome easily."

The others in the office stared at the diminutive Master for a long moment. "I...what do you mean?" Remus stammered.

Nhean looked at the others with mild surprise. "You were not the slightest bit suspicious about how well he is taking this?" he asked.

"I...well, Harry has faced tough times before," Remus said in confusion. "He has always had an excellent ability to cope with things."

"Yes, that has been how things have appeared," Nhean said sternly, "but that is not the reality." His face softened and he leaned forward to pat Remus' hand. "Do not fret yourself, my friend. Harry has a remarkable ability to hide what he is feeling and project a happy façade. I think this comesfrom spending ten years not being able to rely on an adult to soothe his fears or help him. He is used to being self-sufficient to a ridiculous degree and I have no doubt this has caused some of his troubles. His first reaction is not to take things to an adult but to deal with it himself because this is what he has always had to do. Hence his desire to appear able and independent now. The only reason he has been able to carry it off so far is that he is on his own turf, you might say. He knows Hogwarts extremely well and is comfortable here."

"So what exactly are you saying, Nhean?" Albus asked with concern.

Nhean eyed them all with kindness. "Did not occur to you that a young man who has recently lost his godfather should be grieving for him? He certainly was before he was blinded, so why is he not doing that now?" Nhean asked. "Why is he not angry and bitter, even sullen and sulking? These are reactions I was expecting and was prepared for. This apparent cheer is quite frankly making me nervous. He is mashing down his emotions and that is good for neither him nor any of us. They will come out, have no fear of that and I daresay it will be quite the explosion when they do."

Remus swallowed. "What do you want from me, then?" he said firmly.

Nhean smiled at Remus. "Yes, I was hoping you would volunteer. I want you to be available during the day when he is taking his lessons from me. I doubt he will break during his occlumency lessons. The control required for them is too great to allow for that and when you add the...dislike he has for Severus, well, Harry would not allow such weakness to be seen in front of him." Snape raised a sardonic eyebrow and smirked. "He will most likely fall apart while he is with me," Nhean continued calmly, ignoring Snape's reaction, "and I would like you to be there for him. Particularly after his request tonight."

Remus nodded and then hesitated. "When do you think this is likely to occur?" he asked and chewed on his lip.

Nhean raised an eyebrow. "I intend to take him outside later this week; I suspect that he will break then. So much open space will disconcert him considerably. Why?" he asked curiously.

Remus swallowed and shot a glance at the Headmaster. "I...I may be a little...indisposed later in the week," he said slowly.

Nhean looked at him in confusion for a moment and then his face cleared. "Ah, of course, the full moon rises in three days," he said in comprehension. "But I did not intend to take Harry out at night, so surely it will be fine."

"Ordinarily, yes," Remus said reluctantly for he was not at all comfortable discussing this. "However Severus has unfortunately run out of one of the ingredients for the Wolfsbane potion and has so far been unable to obtain any more. Even if he were to find some tomorrow, it would be too late. He could not brew it in time." Remus hesitated for a long, long moment. "Without the potion, the three nights of the full moon are...bad for me, as are the days between them. I only change on the night of the full moon but the night before and after are..." Remus was silent. "...are painful," he concluded quietly. "The days in between are bad as well. I...will not be of much use to you."

Remus stared unhappily into his tea cup, refusing to meet the eyes of any of the others. Nhean watched him with a great kindness in his eyes and his voice when he spoke was gentle. "Rest easy, my friend. I will not alter my plans; truly I cannot now. I should have remembered and planned ahead, I am sorry." Nhean's voice was sincere and caused Remus to look up in surprise. It was then he was caught by the kindness in the Night Master's face and he blushed. "We will make do with Albus and Minerva then until you are able," Nhean concluded.

Albus and Minerva nodded in agreement and Minerva leaned over to pat Remus' knee and smiled. Remus swallowed and nodded. "Why are you so determined for Harry to break down," he asked, partly to divert attention from himself but mostly because he was concerned.

Nhean sighed and his expression became worried. "Because Harry cannot continue on like this," he said firmly. "It is bad for him to bottle things up like that. He must deal with the death of his godfather and with what Vernon Dursley did to him. If he does not, well, he will be able to progress so far but no further. It will hold him back and hurt him."

Albus, Minerva and Severus all nodded in understanding. Being teachers and either Heads of Houses or a former Head of House in the Headmaster's case, they knew that this was truth. It was Severus, however who chose to speak up. "Master Nhean is correct," he said and Remus stared at him in surprise. The Potions Master scowled. "Think, man! Of all the Houses here at Hogwarts, my own is the most likely to contain students who choose not to express what they truly feel." An odd expression flowed across his face. "At least Potter's reaction is likely to go no further than an excessive tantrum and sulking." He stopped and looked uncharacteristically solemn. "There are far worse reactions," he said quietly.

Remus stared at him for a moment but it was soon clear that he had no intention of elaborating on his last statement. Remus thought about it and shuddered, recalling some of his own thoughts after he had found out he was a werewolf. "True," he whispered uncertainly and buried his face in his hands.

"Now, now," Nhean said in a manner so reminiscent of Dumbledore that Remus was startled into checking who had actually spoken. Both Nhean and Dumbledore chuckled at his reaction and Minerva and Remus smiled. Snape alone did not smile but a look of cynical amusement lingered in his eyes.

Dumbeldore clapped his hands, still chuckling and said, "Very well, Minerva and I shall endeavour to ensure that at least one of us is always here for the next week or two and we will hope that Remus will not be too badly afflicted." He looked around the room. "Now did anyone else have anything they wished to add?"

Minerva cleared her throat. "I have spoken to Professor Marchbanks and she has agreed to send Mr Potter's O.W.L. results to me. I should receive them in the next few days. Also," she looked significantly at Albus as she continued, "I have received owls from Molly and Arthur Weasley, Mr Ron Weasley, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley all asking about when they will be able to see Mr Potter."

"Yes, as have I," Dumbledore said with amusement. "I believe that in the light of what we have heard tonight that I shall put them off until late next week at the least. I think we will want to get Harry over this particular hurdle before they arrive."

Nhean and Remus nodded and Dumbledore looked around to see if there was anything else. When no-one else spoke up he rose from his chair. "Well then, friends, let us toddle off to our beds. I think we will need the rest."


Author notes: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed! Please keep it up!

flashgordon - Yeah, I know. Its a fun problem to try and resolve. Harry doesn't want his friends to get hurt or killed and they don't want him to get hurt or killed. You'll just have to wait and see how it goes.

atlantis and Tourmaline - Master Nhean is a trainer, not a Warrior. Only the blind can be Warriors. In chapter 2 I mention things about the trainers - they are all sighted and you will find out a bit more about trainers in subsequent chapters.

Galleonie - I hope you like this chapter and the next. This chapter that you've just read sets up Harry's fall and in the next one it happens. (And I promise I'll post the next chapter in the next day or two! Wouldn't want you to hex me!) Oh, and about the whole Ginny/Hermione/Dumbledore's Army thing - Freak! :P :) If you like I could have Ginny correct him on that misconception - forcefully!

mikerlis - Thanks for the review. There will be a little more Harry-angst in subsequent chapters but I don't particularly want to dwell on it. I want to dwell on Harry's blindness and his new education.