Chapter 1:
The Room of Requirement
September 10th, 1995
2:50 p.m.
Harry smirked as he released his wand from his arm holster, it slid down his forearm and into the palm of his hand. He closed his hand around the 12 1/2'', made out of sycamore wood and powered by a dragon heart-string core - it was perfect. He was a powerful wizard, he'd known it before he even attended Hogwarts, back when he used to have his bouts of accidental magic which caused cataclysmic events were proof enough of that. However, it wasn't until after he acquired his wand from Ollivander's on that fateful August afternoon that he realised just how powerful he could be. The wand was his perfect lightning rod, channelling his magic in ways he'd never even imagined were possible.
His eyes roamed the scenario the room had created in front of him, it was the street of Privet Drive. He knew every nook, cranny, and crevice of it, the many times he had been forced to participate in Dudley's famed Harry Hunts made it impossible for him not to. He could see two of the Death Eaters in front of him, and knew that the other three must be surrounding him - one at each side, and the last one from behind.
The Room of Requirement had become one of the most useful assets inside the whole castle, the room had literally everything and anything he could ever want, all just a thought away. It had been a gift from Remus Lupin, his third year DADA professor. It took just three months before Harry pieced out that the man had lycanthropy, and Harry didn't hesitate to use that knowledge against him, not after the prejudiced way he acted with the Slytherins, and most notably with him. Remus was a poor man, his shabby clothes spoke to that, but Harry knew that the most powerful thing in the world was knowledge.
Some people would call it blackmail, personally, he saw it as survival, either way, he didn't care. He received not only the location and directions for the magical room inside Hogwarts, but also managed to force the Professor to revoke the Marauder's Map from the Weasley twins and hand it over to him. Remus had looked furious, and slightly betrayed, but in the end, he did what he was told, and Harry thanked him with a large grin.
After that, he'd been smart - he'd sent it off with David, the snowy owl he got for himself on his first trip to Diagon Alley, to his room at the Dursley's, where it stayed hidden for the rest of the term and the summer. Lupin and several other teachers had searched both him and his dormitory, but since the map was nowhere to be found, it ended up being Harry's word against Remus'. It wasn't until fourth-year, when Lupin had left, that he brought back the map to the school.
With the help of the Room of Requirement, he finally managed to start a proper training on duelling, rather than the rubbish Lockhart had promoted in his second year. Without the incompetent teacher, he'd managed to progress a lot. After almost two years of non-stop training in the subject, he was sure he could beat every seventh-year in the school at the moment. He'd also found that he loved duelling, loved the thrill and adrenaline it brought to him - it was like playing a game of life and death, and he was all in.
The room had other uses too, it served as his own personal library with every book he could picture at his disposal, as well as a place where he could practice for subjects like Potions. But most of all, it had become his home away from home, the only place where he wouldn't be bothered by irritating conversations with the other Slytherins or even worse, having to deal with The Boy Who Lived.
Suddenly, one of the Death Eaters dashed forward and attacked, while the other boosted himself into the air, easily landing on one of the roof before sending a couple of curses his way. However, Harry didn't focus on those two, they were clearly a distraction. Instead, he rolled to his side and avoided the spell that came from behind him. At a speed that would surprise even the likes of Dumbledore, he turned around and sent a barrage of four non-verbal spells at his attacker.
The first two were normal curses that were easily blocked, but after all, that was their purpose. The third one was an uncommon spell for duelling, an idea he got from one of the Weasley twins' pranks. The moment the spell was blocked, it exploded, creating extremely loud sounds and a black fog that blinded the Death Eater completely - making him the ideal target for the stunning charm that was right behind the other spell.
"Come on! I know you're dummies, but surely you can do better than that!"
A rain of spells assaulted him, forcing Harry to run across the street and take cover behind one of the fences from the neighbour's house. He steadied himself for a second before leaving his cover, aiming three blasting curses to the roof where the Death Eater had jumped on, hitting them perfectly but just as he was about to fall, the man apparated away.
"Now that's just cheating," Harry grumbled. For some reason, the dummies could apparate inside the room, but he couldn't. Granted, he still wasn't perfect with apparating, but his self-study on the subject had brought him so far, and he had only started at the end of last year. In a month, he'd be able to fully apparate… but not inside this room.
Stupid room.
Feeling a presence from behind, he turned around and cast a lasso from his wand. It hit its target just where he wanted to, tying itself around the Death Eater's left leg before Harry transfigured it to be made out of fire. He pulled at it, completely burning through the bone and essentially amputating his attacker and sending him straight to the floor. Not wanting to waste any more time with him, a couple of expulso curses got the job down, but sent fake blood flying everywhere.
The first time it had happened, Harry had freaked out. Not just because he was drenched in blood, something that wouldn't look good for when he had to leave the room, but the sheer shock traumatised him for a couple of days. Now, though? Now he knew to cast his clothes with the impervius and continue.
Two down, three to go.
One of the things he hated (and loved at the same time) was how the dummies evolved and improved with every round, and by this point, they all knew how to work as a team perfectly. Which is why when one suddenly apparated right in front of him, Harry ducked before casting an extremely powerful cutting charm, slashing at the legs of the Death Eaters as he turned his body around and hit the one who had apparated right behind him.
He could still remember how much the hit at such a close distance had felt when he fell for that attack a few days ago. Even though the room didn't allow the dummies to cast any lethal charms, they still left plenty of bruises and light cuts all over him.
The two figures dropped to the ground in pain, but one of them aimed his wand at him. Harry jumped over it before grabbing it and aiming it at the other. The blasting curse hit the fellow Death Eater right in his face, sending him tumbling backwards. He cast an expulso curse right behind his head, completely shattering it, before aiming his wand at the other and repeating the process.
Harry gasped for air, but unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to rest, as he had to jump out of the way of another series of curses aimed at him. Rolling on the ground, he managed to stand and jump, using his wand to impulse himself over the ground and over the roof of the Dursley's home.
Having the vantage point was just what Harry needed, as he spotted the final dummy right in the middle of the street - but he couldn't act on this knowledge given the fact that he had to continue avoiding the spells. Managing to block two that would've gotten him, Harry kept running before jumping towards the ground, casting a spell on the pavement that gave it the properties of a trampoline for a small window of time, which was just what he needed to bounce his way out of the spells and began falling right towards where the final Death Eater was standing.