Harry ran as if his life depended on it. A giant hammer came too close for his comfort, but he put his palm against the hammer's surface and let his magic out in the form of the blasting spell. The hammer was blasted away. But he couldn't relax as he had to duck as a pair of bludgers tried to smash his face in. He evaded those in the nick of time, but he was immediately accosted by a stone sculpture wielding a spear.
Harry used the blasting curse to blast the stone into smithereens and banished the shower of rocks against the bludgers that came after him again. One of the bludgers veered off while the other slammed into a hastily erected shield. He reduced it to dust with a well-placed blasting curse.
Just then, he turned his body into wisps of grey smoke and allowed a giant sword to pass through his spirit form. A huge stone knight stood over him and kicked out with his leg, but Harry flew away to put some distance from the golem knight. But the giant golem was fast and chased after him with its sword raised.
Harry placed his palm against the floor and used an ice spell to turn it into ice. The giant knight slipped on the ice and fell face-first on the floor with a bang. It stabbed its sword on the floor to arrest its movement and tried to rise back to its feet.
But Harry was not having it.
He let fly a gouging curse that punched a hole cleanly through one of its knees, making it fall on its sole functioning knee. Harry ran towards the golem knight as fast as possible, and before it could swing his sword, he summoned a fire whip and had it decapitate the golem. The golem's helmed head fell on the floor with a loud crash.
With an almost dismissive wave of his hand, he shattered the remaining bludger with an exploding hex.
The rest of the golem fell on the floor with a thud, kicking up a cloud of dust, but Harry had his body covered under a shield so as not to get dirt and sand on his clothes or body.
Two more giant stone golems were present facing him in the training room. But unlike their fallen brother, these two were not knights but ninja golems.
'This room is so imaginative, or maybe I am.' Harry mused as he stood ready with his magic to face more RoR would throw at him.
The remaining stone golems started throwing daggers and shot arrows at him. Harry broke into a run while throwing blasting curses at the giant daggers and arrows that came after him. Halfway through the run, he changed into his animagus form and broke into a sprint at fearsome speed. He evaded all the arrows and daggers primarily because of his speed and the shield he could maintain, even in his lion form.
When he finally reached the remaining two golems, he jumped high in the air, transformed halfway back into his human form, and sent a wave of destructive energy at them. They were reduced to rubble by the time his feet touched the ground.
When Harry looked around, the training room of the RoR remained vacant and dead silent.
"I guess today's training is over." Harry muttered.
He kept an eye out for any movements until he changed the room into a pool and had a swim before he scooted from the seventh floor. The RoR had taken the concept of games from his mind to form a training room for his wandless magic. The first few times he attempted the room, the difficulty was less, but over time, the RoR adapted to his strength by increasing the strength of the golems and giving him a more physically taxing training set.
But Harry had to admit the RoR knew what it was doing. Ever since he started training in the RoR, as Daphne suggested, the tight leash he had over his magic had not slipped even once. It seemed more taxing his training, the less trouble his magic gave him. He was developing good instincts, making him capable of hosting a greater volume of magic without issue. Seeing everything was going so well, he was in a better spirit.
It was reflected in the next potions class with Slughorn. The potion class was a mixture of all four houses, and its strength was woefully inadequate. Most sixth-year students had chosen to drop Potions because of Snape, only to get outplayed by the arrival of Slughorn as the new Potions professor, while Snape became the DADA professor. The small number of students made it difficult to hold classes in the same pattern as other subjects. There were only four Ravenclaws, two Hufflepuffs, four Slytherins and three Gryffindors who opted for potions in the sixth year.
But some things didn't change for the potions class. It was still held in the dungeon, and most unusually, it was already filled with odd smells. Unlike Snape, Professor Slughorn set them up with individual workstations from the get-go. The first few classes from Slughorn were purely theoretical, mainly dealing with some rare potion ingredients and their effects on certain potions. There was also a small session about different styles of potion making as an introductory class last week. All of those dealt purely with theory, but today, their workstations hosted cauldrons, and the potion cabinet hosted many potion ingredients.
"It's good to see you all bright and eager for the class. Now, I assume you all have had time to read about the different ingredients and their uses I taught you in the last classes." Slughorn looked at them all with excitable, beady eyes.
"Yes, sir." The class chorused.
"Marvellous." Slughorn clapped his hands with a genial smile, "Today, we'll be conducting a wee little competition."
There were hushed whispers in the classroom upon hearing that.
"Nothing to worry about at all. It's just some fun on my part but not without its attractions." Slughorn smiled at them while rubbing his hands.
With a flourish, the potions professor fished out a small vial of golden liquid from his pocket and showed it to everyone in the class.
"This, ladies and gentlemen, is a marvellous potion called Felix Felicis. Now…" Slughorn looked eagerly at everyone in the class, "I suspect some of you might know what Felix Felicis does?"
Hermione's hand shot up with the speed of a rocket.
"Yes, Miss Granger." Slughorn was jumping from one leg to another, almost as eager as Hermione.
"It's liquid luck, sir. It makes anyone who drinks the potion lucky."
"Correct! Take ten points for Gryffindor." Slughorn declared happily.
Hermione was also similarly happy for scoring points in the Potions class. Usually, this was the class where Gryffindor lost points for simply attending the class, all thanks to Snape. But that was no longer the case with Professor Slughorn.
"Felix Felicis is a tricky potion to make and has disastrous effects if a mistake is made in its conception." said Slughorn. "However, if you manage to brew it correctly… you'll find yourself enjoying a fabulous day… at least until the effects wear off."
"Sir, if everyone can get lucky, then why don't they use it all the time?" Ernie Macmillan asked, looking at the small vial with wonder.
"Ah, because the potion in excess quantity might induce recklessness and remove all inhibitions from oneself." Slughorn said sagely, "Too much of something, even if it is the most potent medicine, can be toxic to the body. But taken sparingly, it might just serve you well."
"Have you ever taken it, sir?" Tracey asked, leaning forward in her seat with great interest.
"Yes, of course. Twice in my life…" Slughorn smiled with a faraway look, "Two perfect days of my life…"
Slughorn shook his head and looked at each of them with a grin.
"And that is what I offer as the price for a little friendly competition if you're up for it." Slughorn smiled indulgently at them, seeing the obvious excitement in everyone as clear as day.
"Very well, then." Slughorn suddenly became curt. "To win this fabulous prize, you must brew the Draught of the Living Death within the hour. The instructions are on page ten of your textbook. I do not expect a perfect brew as it is a complex potion. Therefore, the person who does best will win liquid luck. Now, you may begin!"
Everyone scrambled to set up their cauldrons and secure the ingredients. Harry, like everyone else, was adamant about winning the Felix Felicis. His advantage was that he was prepared for this competition in advance. In fact, he had come prepared for the first class itself, but Slughorn's focus on theory material had thrown him off his rocker. But now, he was vindicated for preparing in advance. At this point, he knew the ingredients by heart and quickly picked them up from the cupboard with practised ease.
Returning to his workstation at record speed, he absently used a wandless cleaning charm on the cauldron, spoons, and knives while measuring the weight of the ingredients on the scale. One by one, he started cutting down the size of the ingredients into the required weights with his silver knife. The last ingredient that required some knife action was the roots of Asphodel.
Once he had finished preparing the ingredients, he heated the cauldron and poured in a measured amount of sterile water. One by one, he started adding the ingredients to the cauldron as prescribed in the potion book he nicked from Snape. He knew he was on the right track when he added the crushed Sopophorous Bean into the potion, which turned a bright shade of lilac.
He placed a slight repulsing charm around his workstation to ensure the other potion fumes wouldn't interfere with the rest of the process. He started stirring the potion counter-clockwise but stopped on the seventh stir and added a clockwise stir.
The bright lilac potion became a shade lighter before his eyes. He repeated the stirs until his potion became as clear as rainwater. He finished the potion ten minutes before the hour was up. When finished, he immediately placed a stasis charm on the potion and secured the cauldron with a glass lid to ensure it wasn't tampered with. With his work done, he looked around and noticed everyone was busy working on their potions. Neville's potion was letting out pink fumes, while Hermione's potion let out fumes with a yellowish tint. Slughorn was passing through between the students, looking sparingly at the workstations.
"Sir, I think you knew my grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy?"
Harry eyed Draco Malfoy, who looked eagerly at Professor Slughorn. The Malfoy scion undoubtedly thought he could cosy up with Slughorn by bringing up his grandfather.
"Yes," said Slughorn, looking anywhere but at Malfoy, "I was sorry to hear he had passed away. Of course, it wasn't unexpected, dragon pox at his age…"
Harry smirked upon seeing the scowl on Malfoy's face when Slughorn moved away from Malfoy as if there was some plague nearby. If poor Draco expected any preferential treatment as he got from Snape, the poor Death Eater dog was barking up the wrong tree.
Inevitably, Slughorn came upon Harry's workstation and a look of utter joy spread across the man's face after inspecting the potion.
"Excellent! Absolutely marvellous!" Slughorn exclaimed with a joyful glint, "Good Merlin, you've inherited your mother's talent! Lily was a dab hand at Potions."
Slughorn immediately fished out the vial of Felix Felicis from his robes and presented it to Harry.
"There you go – one bottle of Felix Felicis, as promised and use it well." Slughorn patted his shoulder with a beaming smile.
Harry had the satisfaction of seeing the utterly crushed look on Draco Malfoy's face. No doubt, the newly branded slave of Voldemort thought the potion would come in handy in his mission. Unfortunately, he had no intention of making Draco Malfoy's work any easier. Besides, the mini Death Eater was on his radar, with Dobby watching his every move.
"How did you do that?" Hermione whispered, jealously looking at the vial of potion in his hand.
"You heard Professor Slughorn. I inherited the skill from my mother." Harry said smugly, making Hermione roll her eyes while muttering under her breath about getting lucky and whatnot.
*****
Harry was watching the trials for the Keeper and Beaters position from a bench in the stands. He was dressed in his quidditch robes, and his broom was nearby, but he waited for the trials to end so that they could train as a team. Just like last time, there were too many hopefuls for the positions, which kept poor Katie engaged while boring him as he had nothing to do.
At least, he had his entertainment in the form of Daphne, who reluctantly joined him on the stands after his persistent nagging.
"Anything interesting in the Prophet?" Harry asked curiously, seeing his girlfriend's unwavering focus on the paper.
"The Ministry hit-wizards attacked a pack of werewolves. They were killed, but Fenrir Greyback escaped the slaughter." said Daphne.
Harry became immediately interested. He placed his chin on her shoulder and read the news over her shoulder.
"Madam Bones is getting ruthless." Daphne commented with an approving tilt to her tone.
"Uh-huh." Harry muttered distractedly as he deduced this was the work of his grandmother's men.
The more he read the article, the more he saw the precision and brutal efficiency by which the werewolves were killed. All of them were stabbed with silver stakes that punched through their bodies. He suspected someone conjured them and banished those stakes into their bodies.
Brutal and effective. It was the signature style of mercenaries. After all, he learned a lot from them, thanks to his grandmother.
"Madam Bones is cleaning up the street of these rabbles. Soon, we might just win this war without your involvement." Daphne said casually.
"Ha! There'll be no war without my involvement, Daphs. But I'll be sure to tell Madam Bones that she has an admirer who believes in her ability to defeat Voldemort on her own." Harry teased lightly.
"I don't admire anyone." Daphne scrunched up her nose.
"Sure, you don't." Harry smirked.
"Shut up." Daphne jabbed at his ribs with her elbow.
Harry laughed at her antics and tried to tickle her, but she sat far away from his reach. At that moment, Katie called for him.
"Hey, don't forget about our date in Hogsmeade." Harry said as he mounted his broom from the stands.
"Maybe we could spend the date in Hogwarts. Hogsmeade might not be safe for you." Daphne said, frowning in concern.
"You worry too much." Harry waved dismissively. "We'll have a splendid time as usual."
With that said, he joined Katie on the pitch. To his bitter disappointment, he was called in to deal with the obnoxious dolt that was Cormac McLaggen. The guy was boasting that he'd be capable of blocking all goal hoops without moving to anyone who'd listen.
"Can you just take him away from here? I can't concentrate on the beaters' trials if he opens his mouth again." Katie whispered to him. "The idiot won't stop talking about how he'd choose the beaters, having them engage in a fight with their best to find the strongest."
"Don't worry. I'll handle him." Harry whispered back.
"Hey, Cormac. Let's have a talk." Harry approached the loudmouth seventh-year Gryffindor with attitude issues.
When it became clear McLaggen had no intention of shutting his trap and continued to interfere in the selection process, Harry used the Confundus charm to make the idiot shut up. When the tryouts for the Keeper position inevitably came, Harry made McLaggen fall unconscious by sending a psyche assault that rendered McLaggen useless on a broom. Cormac behaved like a drunkard on the broom and swayed back and forth while trying to goalkeep. Katie, Demelza and Ginny ended up taking great pleasure in humiliating the annoying prick by shooting a flood of goals while Cormac drunkenly attempted to capture the quaffle.
Ultimately, Cormac McLaggen didn't qualify, and the team felt a collective sense of relief. With McLaggen out of the position, he lifted the Confundus charm and allowed the disgruntled seventh-year to storm off from the field.
"Good, Merlin. We were saved by luck." Ginny said that once she had landed on the ground with Katie and Demelza, "If that prick had somehow qualified, he'd have annoyed us for the whole year."
"I don't know what you did, but thank you. You saved us all." Katie whispered to him once they were out of earshot.
"I'm here to help Captain. You ask, and I deliver." Harry smirked.
"Then take Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote for a spin. They are the best beaters in this lot. It won't hurt to get them some practice with you instead of sitting around and wasting time. I get the feeling that these Keeper tryouts will drag on." said Katie.
"Alright, lads. Let's fly a few rounds and practice with that bludger." Harry said to the newly made beaters and flew with them to the other side of the quidditch pitch while Katie continued with the Keeper trials.
Harry expected Ron to win the Keeper spot, but when Katie called them back, he saw a familiar auburn-haired girl standing beside Katie, Ginny, and Demelza.
"We've got our Keeper. It's…" Katie started.
"Vicky Frobisher." said Harry, frowning at the third-year girl critically, "Angelina said you didn't want to focus on Quidditch last year."
"Well, I quit the Charms Club when you started the Knights. I didn't see much point in continuing that. besides, Umbridge outlawed the Club last year, and I never attended its meetings when it was restored." Vicky said tentatively.
"Huh. Welcome to the team, Vicky." said Harry.
As Katie started laying out the training plans before their first match against Slytherin, Harry looked for Ron in the crowd of hopefuls on the pitch. He didn't find the redhead anywhere on the pitch, which made him sigh internally. Though he was not as friendly with Ron, he still considered the bloke a friend.
"He left immediately after Katie picked Vicky as the Keeper. Ron missed one while Vicky saved all penalties." Ginny explained, seeing his look.
"Oh." Harry said awkwardly.
His eyes strayed to the stands to see Daphne conversing with Hermione.
'I suppose she didn't screw up Frobisher for Ron's sake.' Harry mused.
*****
After the training session, Harry walked down the lengthy corridors of Hogwarts, escorting Daphne back to her dorm. They mostly talked about their plans for the upcoming Hogsmeade visit and what they should do for their date. He also had to endure endless complaints and some snide remarks against Hermione. Apparently, Hermione grilled Daphne about the nature of their betrothal the entire time.
Knowing Hermione's obsessive nature and higher-than-thou attitude, he suspected she had said some unsavoury things that might've insulted Daphne. Going by the frosty look on her face whenever Hermione's name came up, his suspicions were pretty much confirmed. But still, Daphne didn't elaborate on what was said between them.
"You Gryffindors have no tact, and you're highly opinionated." Daphne complained.
While Daphne was a lovely dame who didn't air out her grievances, she loved to use blanket insults. Her favourite was insulting Gryffindors as a whole.
"Hey. Don't forget I'm one of those Gryffindors." Harry reminded her.
"Hmm. You're cultured, somewhat unlike your housemates." Daphne grudgingly admitted, "But that's because of my influence. Who knows how you'd have ended up if it wasn't for me."
Harry had to suppress a smile as she snottily strutted ahead.
"Why don't you make friends with someone better? Granger has book smarts, but she is a disaster for your social life. No one likes her attitude. I don't know how you tolerate that girl." Daphne huffed.
"I get by." Harry said with a shrug.
They finally reached the entrance wall of the Slytherin dorms.
"I'll have a word with Hermione." Harry promised as he kissed Daphne's cheek.
"Please don't. I don't need anyone else to fight my battles. Besides, Granger is inconsequential." said Daphne.
She said her goodbyes and gave him a parting peck on the cheek before stepping into her dorms.
On his way back, Harry came across Professor Babbling waiting near the corridor leading to the Fat Lady's portrait.
"I was told to give you this by our mutual acquaintance." said Babbling as she pressed a piece of parchment into his hands.
Before he could ask anything, the Ancient Runes professor walked away without looking back. The parchment she gave him was written in a familiar old script. It read;
Dear grandson,
Meet me in the Chamber at 6 PM on the day of your Hogsmeade visit. Bring your betrothed along as well. It's time we have a heart-to-heart conversation and properly introduce myself to your wife-to-be.
Sincerely,
Perenelle Flamel
PS: Don't be tardy.
AN:
For artworks: https://discord.gg/Nw2JH25fJf