Time for Me

Chapter 4: Classes and Learning, Though Not at the Same Time

The next few weeks were stressful for Aries, but mostly in the normal school way. He was still having vast amounts of trouble in Ancient Runes, and Arithmancy wasn't much better. Charles took Arithmancy, though, and had condescended to tutor Aries when the other boy asked. Professor Vector - now fresh out of uni - had offered her assistance as well, but the sidelong, measuring glances she shot at him freaked him out quite thoroughly enough to reject. Professors McGonagall and Flitwik didn't seem to have changed in the slightest, which was comforting, and he was doing quite well in their classes. However, last period on Fridays were a problem.

The defense professor hated him.

Aries had been up most of the night before the first defense class because of bad dreams - not Voldemort induced, thankfully, but horrific nightmares nonetheless - and had already had to endure a mind numbing charms lesson. After the prerequisite NEWT scare speech, Flitwik had introduced the topic - Apparition Theory.

Despite the fact that almost all 7^th years had their license, Apparition had only recently been added to the NEWT curriculum and so was considered material for that year. Aries, beyond having studied it during his 6^th year, had found the subject fascinating and wrote his term thesis on instantaneous magical transportation, specifically the seven types of portkey, floo, apparition and disapparition. He forced himself to pay attention anyway, if only to earn a few points for correct answers.

Q: "What is unique about Apparition that differs from other instantaneous forms of transportation, like the portkey?"

A: "Unlike Extra-Dimensional Time/Space accessed during Portkey and, to a lesser extent, floo travel, apparition creates a temporary tunnel in Real-Space combining it with a spell allowing the witch or wizard to pass through the intermediary matter."

Twenty points to Gryffindor, in the bag.

Q: "What are the pros and cons of this form of travel?"

A: "Because it lacks the transition time through EDTS, apparition is truly instantaneous, both to the witch or wizard apparating and to any observers. However, the complex nature of the passage through matter allows for dangers such as splinching and misdirection."

Another twenty points, and a few impressed and/or jealous looks from the Ravenclaws.

As it was only the introduction to theory class, Professor Flitwik didn't introduce a single fact that Aries didn't already know, and actually taught a few incorrect theories that had yet to be disproved. He had to bite his lip to keep from correcting him and was entirely exhausted by the time defense rolled around. As a consequence, as soon as Professor Perkins started with, "As you know, this is your NEWT year, so we will be working harder this year then ever before," Aries put his forehead on his palm, his elbow on the desk, and fell asleep.

About half an hour later, he was snapped awake by a sharp rap on the back of his head. He looked up to see Perkins holding his wand in a white-knuckle grip and glaring.

"Since this class seems to bore you so much, Mr. Hesuchazo, perhaps you would like to demonstrate a proper barrier ward, hmm?" the professor suggested, looking as if he would gladly test the ward with an unforgivable or two.

"If you insist, professor," Aries said, sounding wary. And for good reason, the last time he had done a barrier ward he had ended up the only thing left standing in a twenty-foot radius. Remus had called that 'good enough to be going on with' and moved on. "Should I Specify it?"

"Just Solid for now, thank you," Perkins sneered. He obviously doubted Aries even knew how to specify a ward.

The sleepy brunette nodded and walked to the front of the class, deciding as he went that he would try to visualize the wand as a spigot, letting only a thin amount of his magic out. He started the spell in front of him, like he'd been taught, and extended it in a sphere until he was firmly encased in a magical bubble. This globe had a radius of three feet, but kept inching outward. In order to stop it, Aries tied the magic of his ward to that of the castle's stone floor and cut it off, leaving himself in a 7-foot diameter safety-zone. Any with proper magic sense could tell it was there, of course, but most 7^th years hadn't developed that yet, and might never do so, and the ward-threads that made up the bubble were invisible to the naked eye.

"Mr. Hesuchazo has already demonstrated improper technique," Perkins drawled from in front of his desk. "In forming a ward around one's person, it is always best to start from the top, so that your magic may flow downward."

Oh yeah. Aries had forgotten that, in the 70's, wizards were still under the assumption that magic was affected by gravity.

"Now, the only way to properly test a barrier ward is to attempt to destroy it, so you may all take turns throwing these cushions at your fellow-student. Do try not to harm him."

Aries sighed as the decorative pillows started flying, an alarming number directed at his head. This was getting dull, and he was annoyed at Professor Perkins, so he sat himself cross-legged on the floor, propped his head on his arm again, and went back to sleep.

Perkins' eyes bulged as he watched the display. How dare a child act with such impertinence toward a professor! He motioned for the students - now mostly just the Marauders - to cease their target-practice and sent a mild shock spell at the sleeping student. It stopped a good two feet away and fizzled into nothing. For the next half-hour, the class was entertained by the sight of their enraged professor sending progressively more dangerous hexes at the bubble.

The student inside was already awake. At the first disturbance of spell-on-spell, Aries' magic had wobbled, reaching to him again as if for reassurance. He had tied the ward-threads back to his person to keep track of the attack, but maintained the illusion of sleep until Perkins seemed on the verge of using illegal hexes. He mimed stretching from a nap and cut the magic off altogether just as a mild pain spell was sent flying. Because he had started the ward in front of him, however, that spot was the last to unravel; Aries was already stepping off the dais when the orange-purple jinx sparked against the last vestiges of the barrier.

"Hesuchazo!" Perkins barked as the bell signaled class' end. "Ten points from Gryffindor and detention with Filch all next week for falling asleep in class!"

"Yes Professor Perkins," Aries said, stifling a yawn as he left the room.

He had to wonder if this would make it the seventh year in a row where the defense professor attempted to kill, maim, or otherwise harm him in some way, shape or form. The Moony thing only counted for consistency's sake.

In any case, after five weeks and five classes, Professor Perkins hadn't gotten any more amiable. Though Aries was no longer falling asleep in class, he was often called to the front to demonstrate the effect of some curse or other. While he allowed himself to be used as an example, Aries never left the hex on for more than a couple of seconds, as he knew almost all counter-curses wandless and speechless - thus defeating the professor's attempt at a longer demonstration by cursing him mute first.

All in all, it made him want to start up the DA again, just so he could learn something new in practice. He was duly shocked, therefore, when Charles suggested that very same thing.

"Start up a defense club?" Aries gawked when the subject came up.

"Not a club," Charles sighed, sounding very put-upon, "just private study. You, me...Sev, if he's agreeable. Just so we can actually learn new stuff."

Aries shrugged, finishing the last sentence of his transfiguration essay. It was almost verbatim to one he had written during second term of sixth year.

"Oh come on, you know you want to," Charles continued, sounding like a ten year old. "We can even use the same room you used before, if you like it so much."

With a sigh, Aries dried the ink on his parchment and rolled it up, then looked through his fringe at Charles, who was doing a passable imitation of a puppy.

"All right, I'll do it," he consented with a laugh. "And I'll ask Sev along, too. How about we meet on the seventh floor corridor Saturday after lunch?"

Charles stared at him like he'd grown another head that was reciting obscure French poetry.

"What?" he asked finally, when the staring became too much.

Charles blinked before answering. "Quidditch tryouts for Gryffindor are Saturday," he said softly. "I just...assumed you would be going out for seeker or something."

"Oh," Aries replied dumbly. He hadn't really taken Quidditch into consideration, since Dumbledore had never gotten his lifetime ban removed; Harry wouldn't have had time with it along with all his training anyway. But here, Aries didn't have to train, and there was no ban. There were, in fact, no reasons for him not to try out, or even to go pro with it. He sat his chin on one hand to think, not noticing as Charles silently got up and left.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Charles sighed as he walked up to the dormitory. He had only meant to ask for some help with private study, not break Aries' brain. But from the way the other boy had been frowning at the tabletop, it would be a little while before he got another answer. So he got out the library book on advanced hexes - one he was not strictly supposed to have, but it wasn't like he was doing anything wrong, like using the hexes - and lay down on his bed to wait.

As interesting as the book was, Charles couldn't help but get bored and lose interest after an hour. It was a Hogsmead weekend, but he and Aries had stayed behind, so they were practically alone in the castle, except for the first and second years, who didn't really count. Charles got up and went to the window, deciding to marvel at the view again. Living down in the dungeons for six years, he hadn't really gotten a chance to view the whole grounds from anywhere but the Quidditch pitch and the Astronomy tower, but the view from Gryffindor was spectacular, looking over the forest and probably the stillest part of the lake.

Everything was different in Gryffindor, really. The view, the decorations - the red and gold were surprisingly muted, giving a feeling of warmth rather than the overwhelming loudness he had assumed - even the people. Especially the people. When you walked into Gryffindor with a frown, people noticed and asked what was wrong, and when you smiled, they smiled back, and when you wanted to just forget about the world and play exploding snap like a first year, there was always someone there to play against. Of course, it wasn't all good. When a Gryffindor was taunted, they immediately got up in arms and looked down on anyone who wasn't. And, as evidenced by the Marauders, when someone in Gryffindor didn't go along with the majority, they were ostracized rather than either taught better or learned from. No wonder Gryffindor and Slytherin didn't get along, they were practically opposites.

Which, yet again, brought him to Aries. How on Earth was it that one person could seem the quintessential Gryffindor, yet, inside, have cunning and strategy worthy of any Slytherin? And, though he hated to admit it, Aries was just as adaptable and resourceful as he, Charles, was. Just look at how quickly they had both gained the exact status they wanted. Charles had immediately befriended his new dorm mates, knowing he would need contacts if he was going to live a good life here. Aries had immediately used the prejudices of those he knew to get them to leave him alone.

But at the same time, when a young Avery ruined Aries' potion by throwing in a single extra kelpie scale, Aries had exploded right with his cauldron and hexed the boy, practically swelling with righteous fury - something only really found in Gryffindors (Hufflepuffs were righteous, and Slytherins and Ravenclaws could do fury, but not both at once). He had gotten a detention for it, while Avery got off without even a lecture, and while it could be that Professor Velveson thought the tentacle hex - which Aries had later revealed to be a combination Furunculous and jelly-legs - was punishment enough, anyone could see she didn't like Aries. Charles thought it was hilarious that, while making friends with his first hateful potions professor, the boy wonder had somehow managed to get his second to hate him as well.

He shook his head, laughing silently. That sort of luck was typical Potter, and even in a different time and under a different name, he couldn't escape it.

A hand fell on his shoulder, making Charles jump; he turned around to see Aries watching him, amused. The look quickly merged into a sad, regretful smile.

"I won't be going out for Quidditch," he said simply, "the date and time stand, okay?"

Charles nodded and watched, curious, as Aries walked back out.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Saturday found Charles standing anxiously in the darkened seventh floor corridor with a glaring Severus Snape. Aries was nowhere in sight. The silence was stifling. He shifted his weight discreetly from one foot to the other.

He opened his mouth to speak, but the motion caught Snape's eye and the brooding teen glared at him, daring him to say anything so that he could shoot him down and show him just how foolish he was. Funny; Charles hadn't thought Snape would have learned to do that until he started teaching. He closed his mouth and looked away, barely preventing an eye roll that surely would have proved disastrous.

Finally, the sound of running footsteps heralded Aries' arrival. The brunette stopped short, just at the edge of the shadows where Charles and Severus were waiting, and glanced between them. To the bemusement of both, he poked the air in front of him, then drew a small knife out of his sleeve and made a couple of short slicing motions. Small, round, brownish things fell into Aries' waiting hands and he held one out to each of his companions, who stared at the things in bewilderment.

"Congratulations," Aries said with an amused sneer. "Here are your souvenirs from the time you made the tension actually thick enough to cut with a knife."

Severus held his up to the light and examined it, then, without any warning, threw it at Aries, hitting him on the face. Charles followed suit and they all laughed, making the 'tension' slices dissolve into nothing.

"That's better. Now, lets get started."

He paced three times in front of the wall and a door appeared, which led them into a vast, arena-like room. One third was lined with books and had a mat on the floor, one third was full of weigh sets and weapons, and in the center was a dueling arena. The ceiling looked to be about thirty feet above.

"I never knew Hogwarts had a room like this," Severus commented, eyeing the room appreciatively then raising a suspicious look at Aries, who shrugged.

"My dad told me about a Room of Requirement where you pace by the wall three times and concentrate on what you need, and Hogwarts will supply," he lied smoothly. "I got one of the house elves to show me where it is."

Severus nodded thoughtfully, finding the explanation acceptable. Charles wondered how often Aries had to lie to cover things up around his friend.

"First things first," said Aries, shooting a locking charm at the door, "do either of you have any objection to studying spells that aren't...strictly legal?"

Charles shook his head, already knowing where the other youth was going with this, but Severus shrugged ambiguously, a shrewd look on his face. Aries smirked at the Slytherin, taking the shrug to mean 'I have no objection unless you mean to get me into trouble for it'.

"All right, in that case I propose we start out with the Minimus Animagi spell; Charles has already expressed an interest in it. Have you ever heard of it, Sev?"

He shook his head, and Aries quickly explained, then transformed as an example. Charles realized that Aries hadn't been lying when he'd said he was a small black cat. He was probably two thirds the size of a normal cat, and no more than half the size of that orange beast Granger carried around. There was a small mark above his right eyebrow that looked like it could be a lighting shaped scar, but the fur around it covered it fairly well. Aries-the-cat paraded in front of them, head and tail held arrogantly high. With just a bit of a running start, he leapt lightly up to Charles' shoulder, then jumped across a good eight feet to land on Sev's. With a triumphant meow, he dove to the floor and changed back to his human self.

"So you see, the Minimus transformation is just as real and stable as the Primus, it's just a smaller animal that you choose. What do you say, you want to learn it?"

Severus nodded firmly, eyes wide and eager, and Aries led them to the library section where he pulled out two copies of Little and Loving it by Mimi Plush, the only book solely on the Minimus Animagi spell, that just happened to be on the first shelf.

"I think I love this room," Charles muttered as he accepted his copy and sat in one of the chintz armchairs that also just happened to be there, though he was sure they hadn't been before.

Charles and Severus spent the entire afternoon reading, barely looking up from the interesting book (Mimi Plush was surprisingly clever with a wicked sense of humor that belied her flowery name) even when they heard loud crashing or curses from the exercise part of the room, where Aries seemed to be doing his best to make himself horribly sore in the morning.

After getting the others set up with the books, he had immediately gravitated to the weight sets. After some stretches, he started at the bench and, setting himself up with 60 kilos - the amount he had been able to lift when he had last tried - found that several weeks without lifting had weakened him so that he couldn't even complete a 10-set of presses before he had to use magic to get the weighted bar off his chest (the curses). From there he had moved to the dumbbells - 15-kilos for each hand - and managed two 10-sets before his hands wouldn't clench and the metal weights fell to the floor (the crashing). Finally, he did laps around the room until the clock on the wall told them it was time for dinner.

Charles and Sev stretched and put the books back. Aries collapsed, gasping and covered in sweat. Sev walked over to his fallen friend and looked him over.

"Aries," he said scornfully, "you smell. You should take a bath before dinner."

Aries nodded from his place on the floor. "What's...the password...again?" he gasped out, chest heaving from his exertions.

"Heffalump," Sev told him. Charles assumed it was the password to the prefect's bathroom, as Sev was a prefect, and he was proven correct when the Slytherin continued. "We just shouldn't let the Hufflepuffs have a turn naming it, it always ends up like this."

Aries and Charles both laughed and Aries picked himself up off the floor, retrieving his robe and cloak from the hooks on the wall. He'd taken them off to start exercising, leaving him in a white muggle tee and pants.

"Aren't you going to put some real clothes on?" Charles asked as Aries made as if to walk out the door like that.

"I'm just going down two floors," Aries said, still panting slightly. "And I'm boiling hot as is, I'd boil alive inside a robe. You guys go on to dinner without me, I should be down soon enough."

The others nodded and walked off, leaving Aries free to take a shortcut through the portrait of Barnabus the Barmy, right across from the Room of Requirement, that led to the shadow behind the statue of Boris the Bewildered, next to the Prefect's Bathroom.

As he had done earlier, he locked the door so no one - like James or Remus or (heaven forbid!) Lily - would come in and catch him. He dropped his robe and cloak on a marble bench that sat off to the side, piled high with towels, and added his other close as well. He filled the tub with ice-blue water that he knew to be cool and full of mild muscle relaxants, as well as leaving one smelling faintly of vanilla.

He thought he heard a giggle as he lowered himself in, closing his eyes at the relaxing chill.

"Myrtle if you so much as glance at me before I'm done and clothed again I will tell Peeves all about your little peep shows," he threatened lazily. The giggle turned into a gasp and then there was blessed silence. He grinned as he let himself float, full of peace, mischief, and - a new one - hope.

Harry had figured out how he could have a chance at defeating Voldemort.

He'd better get used to these soaks.