Growing up too fast

Harry was very excited when he arrived at Mrs. Figg's house the next morning, anxious to return to Department of Mysteries and begin his training.

"Come in Harry," he heard through the door. "You'll need to go by yourself today. I have some work to do. They're expecting you at 9:00am."

Harry tossed the floo powder into the fire and said, "Department of Mysteries Ministry of Magic". Then he heard "Identification please:" "Harry Potter". The fire responded instantly with "Granted" and the familiar feeling of traveling by floo powder came over him.

The next moment he was standing in Department of Mysteries with Fletch right in front of him. "Good morning Harry. Are you ready to get started?"

"Yes sir, I'm ready"

Harry spent the first couple hours with Rose mainly talking about shield and blocking charms. Going over which type of shield would work best for various curses. Harry tried to write this down but Rose wouldn't let him. "You need to just know these Harry. It can't be like studying a lesson. You just need to know." This really sounded like something for Hermione, not him.

Next came the thing Harry was dreading the most, Larry and the Cruciatus curse. This was an extremely painful curse that he wasn't looking forward to feeling again.

"Well Harry, this isn't going to be pleasant but if you can work this out it should be a significant blow to any Death Eater who tries to attack you. Now, from the little bit we know about throwing this curse off, it is different than the Imperio curse. Throwing that one is like a battle of wills. It seems that throwing the Cruciatus curse is more like wanting to get revenge. Instead of fighting the pain, concentrate on what you would like to do to the person performing the curse. It seems the angrier you can make yourself the more of the pain you convert into emotion. When we get to the point of me performing the curse, you will need to picture me as the person or thing you hate the most. The more hate you can generate for me at that point should directly reduce the amount of pain you feel. There have only been a couple people who could do this even slightly, but their accounts point to our conclusions. Try to think of something that makes you the most angry now Harry."

Harry thought of the way Snape treated him which does get him angry but that didn't seem enough. What about when Voldemort placed the curse on him. No, he was more scared than angry. He had been very angry at himself for running away from Voldemort and leaving him able to further hurt his friends. He would just focus on how mad he got thinking about giving up his chance to get Voldemort just so he could run away.

"Ok, I've got something now," Harry said tentatively.

"Well here we go then. There's not any way for me to control the amount of pain you will feel, it's just on and off. This isn't likely to feel as bad as when You-Know-Who performed it but it won't feel good. Remember try to focus on the emotion, not the pain. The madder you get the more control you have over the pain. We think." Larry added reminding Harry that this was kind of experimental.

Harry really wasn't looking forward to this. The Cruciatus curse had been the most pain he had ever felt. "I'm ready," Harry said weakly.

Larry raised his wand and said, 'Crucio'. There it was again, like knives being drawn across every spot on his body. Harry nearly collapsed even before he could think about being mad. 'You ran away boy' said a voice that strangely sounded like Uncle Vernon. 'You let him get away'. Harry could feel his blood begin to boil, even through the pain. How could he have let that happen? The pain still seemed bad now but he didn't feel like he would collapse. He wanted Voldemort in front of him right now. This time he wouldn't let the monster get away again.

Suddenly the pain stopped and Larry just stared for a moment. "Harry how did you stay standing through that? What was it like?"

Harry was still breathing hard but what he felt was still mad, he had forgotten about the pain. After a couple minutes he tried to describe to Larry what had happened. Larry was busy taking notes and asking questions about how long it took before he felt any difference. The questions were about how much the pain was reduced and how angry did he really get.

Harry described what he thought about to get angry to Larry and expected him to say things like everyone else. "It's not your fault Harry" or "You can't blame yourself Harry." But to Harry's surprise, Larry just said, "I may not agree with what makes you angry but if that is what you need to do to overcome this curse, it's worth hanging onto those thoughts." Larry paused and then asked, "Do you think there is anything else that could get you even angrier?"

Trying to think back to the first times he did some wandless magic and what had made him so mad those times. Then a thought came to him. Malfoy. Draco's comments on the train from Hogwarts. "Mudbloods and Muggles will be first... well second Diggory was first." That's it! Just thinking about that got his blood boiling more than the other thoughts. Thinking about Draco's comments about Voldemort coming back had to be what got him the angriest.

"I think there is something else Larry. Do you think we could try again?" Harry asked excitedly hoping to make some progress.

"We normally do that only once per day but it's really up to you."

"Yes, I'm sure. Let's do it again." Harry was mad already and was ready to begin.

Larry raised his wand again and said, 'Crucio'.

The pain started again, hot pokers being placed all over his body. 'You're next mudblood'. It was almost like Harry could hear Draco's voice. 'Diggory was first' 'You chose the wrong side Potter'. Harry now was standing straight up and felt nearly no pain at all. He was staring at Larry's eyes, which started to remind him more and more of Draco's. Slowly, Harry started to draw his wand. All he wanted to do was blast Draco to pieces. Then it was over. The anger washed away when the curse stopped.

"Amazing Harry, just Amazing. That thought seemed to be enough. You looked like you were going to kill me. If I hadn't stopped the curse I bet you would have blasted me. This is great. It means our theory was correct all along. It just needs as much anger as there is pain." Larry seemed very excited.

Harry thought back to how he felt. He was convinced it was Draco in front of him and had been ready to use any curse on him. This wasn't a good feeling at all. "I didn't like feeling that way at all. I could have really hurt you." Harry said with fear in his voice.

"Well Harry, that's the point. If someone is really using that curse on you they probably intend to kill you soon afterwards. This is an unforgivable curse so even if they weren't going to kill you they could still go to Azkaban for using it. You can't worry about what you will do to them. You need to think about what happens if you don't try to throw it. They will probably kill you and any of your friends. This isn't a nice curse and nice people aren't going to be using it."

Larry was right, Harry thought. If Voldemort was using this curse on him again, he intended to kill him next. This was just playing around to Voldemort.

Larry put his hand on Harry's shoulder and said, "Come on, that's enough here for today. Once we're sure you can throw this, I've got a surprise for you. One that I'm sure no one applying this curse would expect."

Next came the dueling lessons with Fletch. Larry hadn't mentioned anything about what had happened to Fletch and just dropped Harry off and left.

"Ok Harry. Dueling. I understand you've done some simple dueling in school. We'll we won't be doing any jelly-legs or tickling curses here, I can assure you of that. We will start by just hexing and cursing each other. We will each have a protection charm around us so the spells will do only ¼ their normal damage. This will get you used to recognizing spells and also experiencing what they do to your opponent. Do not dodge or block any spell. After I hit you with a spell and you recover, I want you to perform the same spell on me. I want to make sure you are doing the spells correctly. We will gradually decrease the protection charm around you so that you will need to successfully block or dodge spells as well as respond."

They each took their spots. Fletch started with 'Puncio'. Harry felt like he had been punched in the stomach and the wind knocked out of him. He didn't want to feel that one if this was only ¼ normal. Straightening back up, Harry faced Fletch pointed his wand and said 'Puncio'. Fletch doubled over but recovered much quicker than Harry had.

They send various spells at each other for the next two hours. Harry had never heard of these spells before and each one was painful.

"That was pretty good Harry. Not quite like school is it? If you have to duel with a Death Eater, they are going to try and hurt you, not tickle you to death. This is the kind of training Aurors go through." Fletch noticed Harry holding his side in pain, but also noticed the look of determination on his face. "I told you we wouldn't treat you like a kid and I'm proud of the way you've handled yourself today. Do you want to continue training tomorrow?"

"Of course I do! Experiencing these things makes me realize how lucky I've really been each time I've been attacked. There is so much I need to learn before anything else happens."

"Good, I was hoping that's what you would say. Same time tomorrow then?"

"You bet. I'll see you tomorrow, thanks."

Mrs. Figg was waiting when he got back with a worried look on her face. "How did it go Harry?"

"I think it went fine. There is so much I need to learn though."

"Good. We'll let's get right to our training. Let's go out to the yard. You can put your wand away, you won't be needing it."

"Ok, now I'm going to send various objects at you from many angles. Some objects will be heavy and some will be light. What I want is for you to stop all the objects and not break any of the household items. I don't want any glass broken. However if you break any of the heavy or non household items, that is fine. Ready... Go."

Harry hadn't been ready he was still considering what had to be done. The next thing he knew a bucket was flying toward him. He stopped it and it dropped to the ground. Next came a pillow.. Stopped. Rock. Stopped. Then came a dish. He stopped it and sent it over to the bench gently. He had started feeling good about himself and then he noticed Mrs. Figg smile slyly. Now at least two things were coming at once. This was going ok until a mixture of things that needed to be stopped and things that needed to be placed on the bench came at the same time. More times than not he broke the things that weren't supposed to be broke and even once he put a stone on the bench and broke everything that had been there before.

"Well Harry, what do you think went wrong?" Mrs. Figg asked sounding stern.

"You sent more at me than I could handle, that's what went wrong!" Harry said sounding annoyed.

"Now really," she said not agreeing with his answer. "When you're playing Quidditch there are what 6 players on the other team, 5 other players on your team, a couple bludgers the quaffle and the snitch, correct? From what I've heard you seem to have no trouble keeping track of all of them. You rarely get hit by a bludger and haven't missed a snitch yet as long as you stay on your broom. Do you know what I think went wrong?" she looked at him for a second and then continued. "When you play Quidditch, there are many things going on but you don't think about them. You just do what feels natural. You were thinking too much in our little test here Harry. The next time we try this just do what comes naturally. Picture the household items as a snitch and treat them gently. Everything else is just a bludger."

Harry was pretty depressed about his performance with Mrs. Figg. The rest of the day had gone well and the part he thought would be the easiest turned out to be his worst performance.

"Did you think today was productive Harry?" Mrs. Figg asked.

"Well until this last lesson I thought it had gone well. I studied blocking and shield charms but we didn't do much actual blocking. The Cruciatus curse work was painful but very productive. Fletch and I spent two hours cursing each other, which taught me quite a few new spells and was also painful. But it was one of the most fun days I've had in a long time."

"I'm glad you enjoyed it. Don't feel too bad about our training, it was quite difficult actually. I have confidence you can do it, you just shouldn't think about it so much. Just do what comes naturally. Same time tomorrow then."

"Bye Mrs. Figg. See you tomorrow." Harry was in quite a good mood while walking home. These people are really nice and it's great being around wizards all day.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon have just been ignoring him since they thought he hated doing the work at Mrs. Figg's. This is turning out to be a great summer.

Ron's owl Pig was flapping around his room when he returned. After getting the letter off, Pig seemed to wait around for a response. This was unusual for Ron; he normally didn't expect an immediate response.

Harry

Dad & Percy said they saw you at the Ministry of Magic today. They said you were with Mr. Fletcher who is an Unspeakable. What were you doing there? Is everything ok? You're not in trouble are you?

Percy said he asked his new boss Mr. Boskins about it but couldn't find out anything.

Does it have anything to do with You-Know-Who?

I told Pig to wait for a response, I hope you don't mind.

Ron

Ron was his best friend and Harry felt guilty about not telling him something yesterday after his first trip to the Ministry. He didn't want to keep anything from Ron but also didn't want Ron saying anything to Percy.

Ron

I meant to write you last night and tell you about seeing them. I really can't say much using owl post about being there. You know Mr. Fletcher's department is pretty secretive and I'm worried Percy may mention things to his boss that could cause Mr. Fletcher to be unhappy with me.

I can say that I'm not in trouble and it doesn't have anything directly to do with Voldemort.

Can you tell Percy that I got the tour since someone in the department wanted to congratulate me on the Triwizard Tournament?

It's ok if we tell your dad that I am helping out with some projects and that Mr. Fletcher is sure your dad would personally approve of what we're doing.

Maybe I can say more when I come to visit later in the summer.

Harry

He quickly gave the letter to Pig who took off out the window. Just as Pig was flying out of sight another owl flew in. He hoped it was from Sirius but turned out it was from Hermione whose owl waited for a response as well.

Harry

I heard you were at the Ministry of Magic the other day. Has something bad happened? You didn't do anything to get in trouble did you? You did check with Professor Dumbledore about this didn't you?

Harry laughed; his friends had so much faith in him. But, he had blown up Aunt Marge two years ago so he probably deserved it.

I know you can handle yourself and you don't want anyone worrying about you but this is very unusual don't you think.

I've asked the owl to wait for a response; I won't sleep well until I hear from you.

Love Hermione

He couldn't get mad at her for being like this. They have had many adventures during their four years of school and things are rarely normal around them. He just wished that he could be completely honest with her. She would think the training was a good idea but probably be worried that it was too dangerous.

Hermione

Nothing bad has happened and I haven't done anything yet this summer to get into trouble. You sure don't have much faith in me do you? Just kidding.

I don't know if Professor Dumbledore knows about the trip or not. He seems to know almost everything so it wouldn't surprise me if he did know, but I haven't told him. I'm going to be fifteen soon and with everything that has happened lately I just want to start doing more things on my own and being responsible for myself more.

I can't really tell you much right now about what I'm doing. That department I visited is very secretive. I hope you can understand this (remember the time-turner).

I've asked Ron to tell Percy that I was there on a special tour. I also asked Ron to tell his dad that I'm helping with a project that Mr. Weasley would approve of if he could. Please don't talk about this to anyone other than Ron. I'll be going to the Ministry daily for a few weeks. Maybe I can say more when I see you later.

Don't worry.

Harry

This owl was much more professional than Pig, it stood perfectly still while Harry tied the letter and then stretched its wings and flew away quietly. Harry wished that Ron and Hermione could join him for the training so he would have someone to talk to about it. He also wished there was someone here who could throw things at him so he could practice stopping and placing items. Dudley wouldn't mind throwing things but would freak out as soon as the items started flying around the room on their own.

Harry was feeling guilty about not telling Ginny anything. He wanted her to start being more a part of their group so he should write to her more. Pulling out another parchment and quill he wrote:

Ginny

You probably heard by now that I was at the Ministry of Magic the other day. Nothing is wrong and I haven't gotten into any trouble (which seems to be what everyone's first thought is).

I'm going to be spending some time there the next few weeks. Please don't say anything about this. Percy thinks I was there on a tour and I'd like to keep it that way. I'll tell you more in person when I get there later in the summer.

If anything was wrong I would tell you, I really would.

Don't worry

Harry

He tied this one to Hedwig and asked her to deliver it to Ginny. He knew that he should make more of an effort to include her. She was quite a good witch for her age and Harry knew it bothered her when she was treated like a child. Just like it bothered him when he was.

The next week went by pretty quick. The lessons with Rose had moved into practical applications. She would send various curses at him and he had to choose whether to block them or use a shield charm. This was going pretty well he had only made the wrong choice a couple times. Each of these wrong choices had him lying on the floor in pain but he wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

Larry was very please with how quickly Harry could throw off the Cruciatus curse. Larry started using a protection charm before saying the curse just in case Harry lashed out at him. Next week they were going to start learning the surprise that Larry had mentioned.

Dueling with Fletch was going well also. The protection charm on him was only reducing each spell by ¼ now and even on the rare occasion when Harry made a mistake and got hit he was able to control the effects and keep dueling. Fletch still had a protection charm reducing Harry's spells by ½.

Mrs. Figg was able to send up to ten things towards Harry at the same time and he could handle each item correctly. Harry felt like he learned as much since this summer started than he had in a whole year of school. This was the first time he was actually wishing summer could last longer, that is until he walked in the Dursley's and Uncle Vernon started yelling about those darn owls.

Harry had gotten a response from Sirius while he was out.

Harry

Remus and I are both fine. There hasn't been any news so we've been at Remus' house mostly.

Why are you really asking about wandless magic Harry? What has been happening? I would like to talk to you in person about this. I may have some information for you.

You met the real Mrs. Figg did you? She had a reputation as a tough teacher and then she was one of the most feared Aurors there was. You know she's Mad-Eye Moody's sister? Listen to what she says Harry, she is very talented and you couldn't do much better than learning from her.

We're going to try and be near Hogsmeade once school starts so I hope to see you then.

Love

S.B.

Well, that was better than he expected. He didn't freak out about the wandless magic. I wonder what kind of information he has for me.

Fletch was waiting for Harry when he arrived for this weeks training. "Morning Harry. Are you ready to get a little more advanced training?"

More advanced Harry thought? He left sore and bruised every day. "I guess so. So what we've been doing isn't advanced?" he asked worried about what was coming next.

"Well yes and no. Except for what you and Larry have been doing it is basic Auror training. So for normal wizards it is advanced but for Aurors it is just basic training. What we'd like to start on now is some advanced dueling and Larry is going to work on that surprise he mentioned. This will be much harder and if you want to take a break that will be ok with me. You will now spend the first two hours with Larry and then the remaining time will be with Rose, Bill and I."

"Bill? I didn't think he wanted to help me. He didn't seem to like me much."

"It's not that he didn't like you Harry. His specialties are the Imperius curse and dealing with dark creatures like dementors. It didn't make him happy with someone your age came in and did as well as he could. He is a bit headstrong and it bothered him a little. Imagine some new first year student at Hogwarts coming in and being a better seeker than you."

"So why is he coming back now?" Harry asked.

"To be honest Harry, he wants to show that you still have weaknesses. We will be doing advanced dueling and he wants to help beat you. But, even if you lose the dueling matches I'm sure you will learn quite a bit going through this. Don't feel too bad if you don't win any matches during these sessions. It may not be fun but it should help you a lot."

Great Harry thought. Bill's coming back just to show me up. I knew this was going to good. "Ok, I guess I'm ready. Thanks for telling me the truth."

"I said I would treat you like an adult Harry and I meant it. You'll get the good and the bad. All right then, let's get you to Larry," Fletch paused. "Oh yes, I talked to Arthur Weasley and gave him a bit more information. He has some concerns but realizes it is probably in your best interest to do this. And he understands about our concerns with Percy."

They walked to an area that Harry had never seen before. It seemed further away from the other offices. Larry was waiting in a large room with many stone partitions.

"Ok Harry we're going to try something that only one other person has performed at all. I can't say who of course. It won't mean anything bad if you can't make this work, it is just something new we've been working on. Most people can't throw off the Cruciatus curse at all and the ones who can even a little don't recover quickly enough to have a good response prepared. So even though that curse doesn't break them a Death Eater would just follow up with something else while they are disoriented."

Harry realized that if Voldemort hadn't been just toying with him when he did the Cruciatus curse that's probably what would have happened. He would have just used the killing curse right after it.

"The spell you're going to learn is 'Totilla Desissa'. If it works correctly, you will take some of the magic that is causing your pain and transfer it into an offensive response. The problem is that if you are totally blocking the pain by focusing on being angry there is nothing left to transfer. See the problem. To make this spell work you have to let some of the pain through. The more you let through the more powerful this spell becomes. If you let too much pain through you could pass out or become too weak to concentrate on the offensive spell. There is not much margin for error with this one. Try focusing on that stone wall and saying the spell."

Harry really tried to concentrate on the wall and said, 'Totilla Desissa'. There was a small puff from the end of his wand but nothing else happened. "Sorry, maybe I wasn't focusing enough."

"No, no Harry, that's actually a good thing. The spell doesn't have anything behind it at this point so I didn't expect even that much. This means that you understand the spell and can direct it correctly. Ok, I'm going to go over here with a protection charm and what I want you to do is block all of the pain. Once you know you can control the pain, try not to be so angry and when you feel the pain come back direct the spell at that wall. Ready?"

Harry had been very happy when he could regularly throw the pain from this spell. Having to experience it again wasn't going to be fun. "Ok, I'm ready."

'Crucio' Harry heard and felt the surge of pain. Quickly he was able to throw it but could feel the rage in him. He thought about needing to calm down, to not be so angry and very quickly the pain was quite intense. He buckled to his knees and Larry stopped the curse.

"Are you alright Harry?"

"Yes, sorry it just all came back at once. I don't know what I did wrong. I just tried to calm down and not be so angry but it went too far."

"Ok, try this. Instead of trying to calm down, try controlling the anger. You can stay as angry as you want but convince yourself you have control the anger. Convince yourself that no matter how angry you get you can direct it and you won't lose control. In theory this should allow you to keep an anger level up but not as high. I'm just guessing here though, this is all new. Want to try again?"

"Yes, I want to get this right." He stood up and waited for the pain.

'Crucio' and it hit him. Then he heard 'Diggory was first', 'Mudbloods will be second' and by focusing on the anger the pain stopped. He tried to tell himself, 'I have control here, I won't act until I want'. The pain came back but wasn't quite as bad. It was still one of the worst things he had ever felt but he could keep control of his mind. Pointing his wand at the wall he yelled, 'Totilla Desissa'. His wand erupted in a white flash with what sounded like a small explosion. Suddenly he felt the pain stop and noticed the wall had been reduced to rubble."

Larry came running over "Amazing, simply Amazing. We were right all along, this can be done. How did it feel Harry, what was it like?"

Harry thought that Larry seemed more like a kid than he did at this point. Harry had always assumed this training was only for his benefit. It made him happy to know that Larry was getting useful information from it as well. "It was weird. The pain was still quite bad as soon as it came back but I could still think. My arm felt like I was throwing a punch and then there was the explosion."

"Very good. Can you try again Harry? Can you see if you can let through less pain and control the power of the spell?"

Letting through less pain sounded like a good idea and he really wanted to make Larry happy. "Sure, we can go again."

They ended up trying about five more times. Harry hadn't been able to reduce the power much. He couldn't seem to let in much less pain. Larry was still happy with the information and Harry's progress though. They were going to work on making it more powerful in the coming days, which meant more pain.

Larry took him to the other are where Fletch, Rose and Bill were waiting. Larry said to Fletch, "We got some useful information today," then turned and left.

"Ok Harry here's how we're going to work today. Practical dueling lessons. You have a good fundamental set of spells you know. You've been practicing shields and blocking. You should have good reflexes from Quidditch so we're going to jump right in. You are going to duel Bill first. The protection charm will only stop mortal damage and the only spell that is off limits is the killing curse. We have a medical wing right down the hall so you're in no grave danger. You have to think of Bill as a Death Eater. He's done this before so I can assure you he will be trying to win. Rose and I will be making notes and offering suggestions only after the match. You will win or lose without any help from us. Is this ok?"

"Real dueling without protection charms against someone who really doesn't like me. What have I gotten myself into?" Harry thought. "Everyone would be disappointed in me if I just left now. I really don't have any choice." Quickly, Harry spoke, "Yes, it's ok."

"Ok, then we will enlarge the room and add some items to make it seem like a room in a castle. Everything is available to be used."

Harry looked around. It seemed just like a smaller version of the Great Hall at Hogwarts.

"Ready...GO!" yelled Fletch.

Harry braced for the worst but Bill didn't attack immediately. He kept staring at Harry but was moving around. Ah, he's getting comfortable with the surroundings Harry realized. Suddenly Harry had an idea. Bill had just move in front of a chair. Harry used the movement spell and sent the chair crashing into Bill's back, catching him off guard. Harry felt somewhat pleased and quickly realized that was the wrong thing to feel. He wasn't ready for Bill's response. He was hit in the stomach by a spell and it mad him double over.

For the next twenty minutes, they hit each other, blocked, and dodged spells all around the room. Most of the furniture was in pieces now and Harry was very sore. During one of Bill's dodges he tripped. Harry quickly caused a beam from the ceiling to come down. Bill sent a spell at it that caused the beam to shatter but it wasn't enough because a large chunk of wood hit him in the head and knocked him out. Harry had won but couldn't believe this department actually made people do this for training. A nurse came in and tended to Harry's cuts and scrapes. Bill was taken down the hall for more care.

"Pretty good Harry," Fletch said. "I think you could have ended it sooner by being a little more aggressive".

Rose added, "Use magic for blocking more Harry. You seem to want to dodge as your first thought."

"I'll try to remember, thanks." This was very different than school he thought. People would be saying how wonderful he did at school. Here they just critique your performance and you're expected to do better next time.

"Ok, now you will duel both Rose and myself at the same time Harry."

"Two at once? How will I have a chance?" Harry said not trying to hide his worry.

"Well, do you think the Death Eaters will care if they have you outnumbered?" Fletch quickly responded.

Rose spoke up, "Just do what you feel is the right thing to do. Once you act, go on to the next thing. Don't watch your spells all the way to the target. Cast the spell and move on to the next threat."

Harry only lasted about five minutes before they disarmed him. This didn't make him feel happy at all.

"Don't worry Harry. I told you that you might not win any matches. Do you want to go again?"

"Yes, I need to be able to handle this."

Both Rose and Fletch gave him some suggestions about what they thought he did wrong and other things to try. They dueled this way about 10 more times before ending for the day. Harry had managed to win 3 and each time he lost he was able to last a little longer.

They kept on this routine for the next week and a half. Harry had been able to win almost all of the time while facing Fletch and Rose and always beat Bill by himself. When all three of them came at the same time he won most the time. They thought this was very good but Harry wasn't happy about losing even once. While Fletch was walking Harry out he said, "I hear you are going to the Weasley's next week and since Mrs. Figg has some other training for you tomorrow, Friday will be you last day here. I think you've come a very long way in a short time Harry. You need to have confidence in yourself and trust your instincts more."

"Thanks for all your help Fletch. I can't believe we've done so much in just a few weeks. I wish we learned as much at school in this amount of time. It's been great spending time around other witches and wizards and I am really looking forward to getting out of school so I can spend all of my time around them."

"Do you have any plans on a career after school then?" Fletch asked.

"Well, if this Voldemort thing gets settled I'd like to try and play professional Quidditch. That would be a dream. I don't know what will happen if Voldemort is still around though."

"If Quidditch doesn't work out for you, how about coming back and working for us? I'm sure we could get you into our department. Unless of course you want to move up the political chain," Fletch grinned as he said this last part.

"You think I could really make it into the Unspeakables?" Harry questioned, "That would be excellent. A close second to Quidditch even."

"I'm sure you'd fit in here. Well what do you say for a final test on Friday then? How about you against various obstacles? Some dueling, maybe a dementor. Do you think you'll be up for it?"

"I'll try my best, that's for sure. I've lost more the past few weeks than all my time at school, so what's one more time?" Harry said excitedly, "See you Friday than." Harry went back to Mrs. Figg's house. She was waiting in the living room for him.

"Mrs. Figg, why can't I go to the Ministry tomorrow?" he asked sounding disappointed.

"There is one last thing I was hoping to expose you to Harry. It will probably take most of the day and I want you to be fresh when we start. Oh yes, I've spoken to Petunia and told her I would take you to London with me on Friday and that your friends were picking you up there. However, you will be going home from the Ministry with Arthur. You'll need to bring your things over here Friday morning when you come."

"Good, the sooner I get out of the Dursley's the better. Do we have anything to work on today?"

"No, I've got some things to take care of. Why don't you just run on home? Let's start at 11:00 tomorrow"

"Ok, see you tomorrow".

As soon as he walked into the kitchen at the Dursley's, Uncle Vernon bellowed, "What are you doing home so early? You didn't do anything to cause her to kick you out did you?"

"No Uncle Vernon, she had things to do and asked me to leave," said Harry trying to watch his tone of voice.

"You're to go into London with her on Friday and help out with anything she needs before those people come to meet you. Do you hear me? Tell her she can just drop you off and leave so that she won't have to meet them when the come to collect you," Vernon yelled.

"Yes Uncle Vernon, I'll make sure she doesn't see them."

"And you'll be staying at that school during the holidays, you know that."

"Yes Uncle Vernon." Of course I would be staying. I never want to come back to this house.

Harry didn't do much of anything the rest of that night. He just lay in bed and thought about all the things that he'd been able to do so far this summer. Being around witches and wizards all day is great. If Sirius hadn't been framed, that's how I would have grown up. It all comes back to Voldemort and the Death Eaters.