Over the five years he had spent at Hogwarts he had grown to love the corridors, secret passageways and magical rooms that made up the school, but there was also something deeper than just the fabric of the walls which made Hogwarts the place it was. An air of magic, of mystery, lingered around it; as well as lingering in every student, professor and visitor who had passed through the broad oaken doors into the entrance hall beyond. It wouldn’t be until much later, though, that Harry appreciated this minute yet powerful quality which resided in everyone.
Quietly pulling on his robes, Harry made his way downstairs to the Great Hall for an early breakfast, only pausing briefly to say a quick hello to Nearly Headless Nick. Nick, however, barely acknowledged him as he was muttering something about the Headless Hunt while clutching a translucent letter. Sitting down at the table, Harry poured a glass of pumpkin juice and was surprised to see Hedwig soaring towards him.
“Hello, Hedwig. What do you want?” he asked unconcernedly, assuming she just wanted a bit of attention. Hedwig hooted softly and held out her leg, a Daily Prophet coiled tightly there. Slightly surprised Harry pulled it off, gave Hedwig a rasher of bacon which she carried off towards the owelry, and glanced at the front page. Within seconds, Harry’s blood ran cold.
Ministry Worker Missing “ Believed To Be the Work of You“Know-Who
It has emerged today that Adrian Walsh, senior secretary of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, has mysteriously vanished from his South London home. At present, it is unknown as to when Mr Walsh actually disappeared although any witch or wizard with information is requested to come forward…
Harry skim read the article, a bubble of fear flowing up from the bottom of his stomach. ‘Ministry worker missing…’, ‘mysteriously vanished…’, words jumped out at Harry and each time he read them it was as if someone was twisting a knife inside him. The war was starting, although not properly yet. Knowing Voldemort, it won’t be long, thought Harry, feeling sick as he pushed his uneaten breakfast away from him. But how long have we got…?
When Ron and Hermione came down to breakfast, their reactions were identical to his. Not even Ron could face eating anything and it was a bit of relief to them all when Professor McGonagall, pale faced, handed out the timetables. When she passed Harry his own timetable, her arm jerked and she looked as if she was about to hold Harry’s shoulder but decided against it. Instead, she threw a seemingly careless look in their direction which was filled with fear none the less. Distractedly, Harry glanced down at his timetable and it did little to improve his mood.
“Oh great,” groaned Harry. “Double Transfiguration, Defence Against the Dark Arts and then double Potions. Just how I wanted to start off this year,”
“Come on, Harry, it can’t be that bad,” interrupted Hermione. “At least it’s N.E.W.T classes this time so it should only be people who want to be there.”
Harry smiled humourlessly. “Hermione, the only people who want to be in Potions are the Slytherins. Not much to look forward to, is it?”
“Well mate, you did choose to take it,” injected Ron. “Come on, or we’ll be late for McGonagall.”
The trio walked away towards Transfiguration through the Entrance Hall. None of them noticed Draco Malfoy slipping out of the main doors into the wintry sunlight and the Wizarding world beyond the castle’s boundary.
“This year you will be starting your N.E.W.T courses. Each of you who have made this class will have achieved an E or above in you O.W.L exams last year so I expect very high standards from you all. During the course of this year, we will be studying human transfiguration, conjuring and vanishing of living creatures and large scale transfigurations of inanimate objects. I am well aware, however, that many of you will have forgotten almost everything from last year so we will start off today by simply doing some revision of you O.W.L work.”
Turning round, Professor McGonagall flicked her wand and words magically appeared on the board. “I will expect all of you to have transfigured your stones into birds and back again by the end of the lesson. Miss Brown, please hand the stones out, the rest of you, please start your work immediately when you receive your stone.”
Turning round, Professor McGonagall transfigured herself into her tabby cat Animagus form, leapt lightly onto her desk and sat down, staring at them all.
“Is it just me, or is McGonagall scarier as a feline than a Professor?” Ron muttered to Harry. Harry sniggered but quickly stifled it as the cat let out a hiss of anger. “It could be an idea to remember cats have better hearing than humans next time Ron,” Harry whispered back. “I don’t like the idea of losing points for Gryf-”. Harry stopped abruptly as the cat jumped of the desk at sat in front of his desk with a stern look on its face.
Highly embarrassed, Harry and Ron spent the rest of the lesson in silence.
“That was an easy lesson, wasn’t it,” commented Hermione as they left Transfiguration and headed towards Defence Against the Dark Arts.
“Easy for you, Hermione, but not for anyone else!” shot back Ron. “Exactly how many breeds of bird did you transfigure that rock into?”
“Nine,” she answered coolly. “A dunnock, a great crested grebe, a lesser spotted woodpecker, the bee hummingbird, a flamingo, a bald headed eag “”
“Whatever, we’ve got the point.”
“You did ask! I seem to remember your bird had one leg and was so heavy it couldn’t take off…”
“Chill, guys, or we’ll be late for Kingsley,” interrupted Harry.
Still bickering, they headed for the fifth floor.
Kingsley stood at the front of the class looking every inch an Auror when Harry, Ron and Hermione entered the classroom. When Kingsley called out the register, he made no signs of recognition towards any of them and launched straight into the lesson.
“Now, I’m sure you’ve had the N.E.W.T lecture so there is no point in me repeating it. I am Professor Shacklebolt and I have devoted my life to fighting the Dark Arts. Now, I am aware that all off you have been members of the defence club that was started last year; am I correct?”
Murmurs of agreement came from everyone, and it struck Harry that there wasn’t a single Slytherin present.
“Good. In that case, there is no point in starting with things like the shield charm as you all know it so I will begin with concealment of yourself. I would like you all to copy this down and then we will attempt the charm at the end.”
Waving his wand, words again appeared on the board although this time it was about concealment rather than stones and budgies.
The art of concealment is probably one of the most important skills of any Auror. The main way of doing this is to conceal all trace of you being somewhere, simply, erasing all signs of yourself. The incantation to do this; to erase all of your magical scent; is ‘Latesco’. The way to achieve this involves…
After around half an hour, everyone had finished copying and got out their wands.
“When this charm is performed correctly, there should be a slight buzzing sound coupled with a small flash of orange light. This is advanced magic so please do not be too disheartened if you cannot master the charm quickly. So then, following the wand movements I described to you, say the incantation and, if done correctly, the spell should look like this.” Raising his wand to shoulder height, he moved the tip in an ‘X’ shape and muttered “Latesco!”
Instantly, a buzzing sound came from the wand, along with a small spark of orange light. The whole class applauded and Kingsley smiled at their obvious enthusiasm. “Divide up into pairs then, all of you, and attempt the spell. Good luck and keep focused.”
Hermione tried first but all she got was a faint whistling sound and no light at all.
“You need to focus more, Miss Granger,” commented Kingsley in his deep, distinctive voice. “Focus and the spell will work.” On her second attempt, Hermione managed a small amount of red light with the whistling sound. Shrugging, Hermione stood aside and watched Ron try.
“Latesco!” shouted Ron making a large cross in the air which nearly hit Hermione in the face. Nothing happened. Slightly bemused, he turned to see Harry in stitches laughing at him. “What’s so funny?” Ron demanded.
“Sorry Ron,” Harry grinned, gaining control of himself. “It’s just that the whole point of the spell is so you can hide yourself. Who’s gonna miss you waving your arms about and shouting? Not even Crabbe and Goyle could miss that…”
“Harry has got a point there,” added Hermione. “Try again!”
After a few more attempts, Ron managed to get a small amount of sound from his wand but nothing significant. “Go on Harry, you try.”
“Latesco!” Harry muttered, making a relatively small ‘X’ with his wand. Instantly, a flash of orange came from his wand but no sound. “Latesco!” Harry said again, but there was still only light coming out of his wand. “Latesco!” This time there was no light; instead there was a relatively quiet buzzing sound. “Oh, for Merlin’s sake…”
“Bad luck there, Harry,” commented Seamus. “Still, you have done better than the rest of us.”
“Good work, Mr Potter,” noted Kingsley as he passed. “You’ll make a damn good Auror one day…” Blushing, Harry smiled at the praise.
At that moment the bell rang to signal lunch. “Before you all leave,” called Kingsley, “for your homework I would like you all to practice the Latesco charm. That is all.”
As everyone headed towards the Great Hall, Neville came running up. “Hiya Harry!” he called breathlessly. “That lesson just reminded me; are you running the DA this year?”
Pleased that Neville obviously seemed keen about the idea, Harry promised to ask Professor McGonagall that evening.
“Hi Neville,” Ron said. “I forgot to ask you earlier, how did your exams go?”
“Not so bad thanks, Ron. I even got an O!”
“Brilliant! What was that in?”
“Defence Against the Dark Arts. My Gran was really impressed, it made up for my P in Potions and my D in Divination.”
Both Ron and Harry burst out laughing but stopped seeing the embarrassed look on Neville’s face. “Sorry, we’re not laughing at you Neville,” apologised Ron. “It’s just me and Harry failed Divination as well. We both got Ds too!” Laughing again, they made their way to the Great Hall for lunch.
Harry felt a growing sense of anger and trepidation with each step he took towards the dungeons. Only Hermione came with him since both Neville and Ron had opted for Care of Magical Creatures. When Harry walked into the classroom, he was surprised to see only two Ravenclaws, one Hufflepuff and around four Slytherins. As he sat down, Snape appeared out of the shadows, as usual wearing robes of black.
“The only reason you are here is because you have all received an O in your exams last year; although for some of you that must have been more by luck than any skills you possess…”
Harry braced himself for Snape’s glare but it never came; instead it was directed at the two Ravenclaws and the terrified looking Hufflepuff.
“This year,” Snape continued, “I expect higher standards than in your previous years although showing off is not permitted in this class,” he added, shooting a glare at Hermione who recoiled slightly next to Harry. “Follow the instructions on the board to the letter. If you follow them carefully, you should have produced an invisibility potion by the end of the lesson. If, which I sincerely doubt, you are able to produce the potion, it should turn a clear purple colour with sparks on the surface. Start now.”
Harry wasn’t concentrating. Instead, he was filled with anger at Snape. Why didn’t you tell me about Sirius last year? he thought. You just could have acknowledged that you understood my message, and then Sirius would be here now…
“Blaming me, Potter?” Snape asked quietly. Harry jumped. Snape was on the other side of the room reading an essay; he wasn’t even looking at him. “If you are, I do not blame you.”
“You’re the reason he’s dead, and the reason Tonks and Moody were injured. Not to mention Ron and Hermione, and Ginny, and Lun “”
“Determined to blame yourself, aren’t you Potter. At the moment, you feel that if you blame me you can avoid blaming yourself. And, in answer to your question, I’m talking to you now using an obscure branch of Legilimency.”
Harry jumped again. Snape was still reading the essay at the front of the classroom and Harry hadn’t even asked how he was talking to him. Snape’s words had struck a little too close to the truth though, and Harry turned away from him and began on the potion.
The rest of the lesson passed in silence, except when Hermione pointed out that he’d only added one billywig sting instead of three and Snape, using Legilimency again, told him to reread line six if he didn’t want his potion to come out a congealed mess.
At the end of the lesson, Harry glanced down at his potion and was relatively surprised. Admittedly, his potion didn’t have quite as many sparks on the surface as Hermione’s but it was a clear purple colour. Harry had done his best to keep his mind blank except for the instructions to brew the potion and, with the help of Snape, he’d got a decent result. No, he corrected himself, I got a good result with the help of Hermione.
Snape, who had just been writing the homework up, turned around and Harry caught the trace of a grim smile as Snape’s black, shadowed eyes locked for a second with his own. Again, Harry turned away from the Potions master and desperately tried to ignore the fact Snape was being nice to him.
“Your potions should now be complete, so could you all put a sample into these flasks and bring them to me. Trinter, I do not want a sample of yours as it will probably shatter the glass.”
Hermione shot an amazed look at Harry. Trinter was a Slytherin and Snape was being horrible to him. “Not taken any points away though, has he?” Harry added quietly.
“Even so, it’s still an improvement. And he wasn’t horrible to you today, even though you were daydreaming at the start of the lesson. I suppose that’s only because Snape was reading that essay and didn’t notice. Mind you, he did take a long time to over it. I watched him a couple of times and his eyes weren’t moving. He did seem to be concentrating really hard though…”
Harry just grunted. Walking up to Snape’s desk, he placed his and Hermione’s samples on the table and turned round, trying to ignore Snape’s eyes on his back. A few seconds later the bell rang to signal the end of the lesson and Harry bolted from the dungeon.
“How’d it go with Snape, Harry?” Ron asked, looking up from his pork chop as Harry came to sit shakily down next to him. “Not good?”
Harry didn’t answer, he just stared blankly in front of himself and he didn’t appear to have heard what Ron had said.
“Harry?”
“Don’t worry about him Ron, he’s just suffered a massive shock,” Hermione said, walking up behind them. “He’s just gone through an entire Potions class and not lost any points or got a detention.”
Ron burst out laughing and Harry whipped round to glare at him. “Think it’s funny, do you? Since Sirius died because of m…Snape.” Harry blushed; he’d nearly said ‘me’.
“Sorry, mate,” gasped Ron instantly. “I didn’t mean it to come out like that…”
“Look, I’ve got to go and see McGonagall about the DA. See if we can reinstate it this year. I’ll see you guys later.” Standing up, Harry walked out of the hall leaving the food on his plate uneaten.
“What the bloody hell was that all about?” Ron questioned, looking at Hermione.
“Beats me,” she answered. “It’s just hard for him, you know, being back here after Sirius died. Being with Snape again…”
“Well, I just hope he snaps out of it soon,” Ron muttered, while Hermione nodded in agreement at his side.
“Professor?”
“Come in,” answered Professor McGonagall without looking up. “I’ll be with you in a second…” Harry sat down, still feeling confused and upset over Potions. “Right then, Mr Potter; what was it that you wanted with me?”
“I was wondering whether it would be ok to reinstate the DA this year. There do seem to be quite a lot of people who want it to continue but I thought I’d just check first.” Harry tailed off, looking hopefully at McGonagall.
“Certainly, I was hoping it would continue. You certainly seemed to have trained them well; every member who took the O.W.L exam last year received an ‘O’ and that certainly was not thanks to the Ministry employed teacher…” Harry grinned, partly with pride and partly with embarrassment.
Professor McGonagall looked at him strangely. “Is everything all right, Potter?”
“What? I mean yes. Yes. Everything’s fine. Sure. Umm, I’ve got to go and, umm…” Harry was babbling and he realised he was digging himself into a rather large hole very, very quickly. “…Umm, go and see…um…you know…”
“Miss Granger and Mr Weasley?” Professor McGonagall supplied gently.
“Yeah. I’ve got to finish my Charms homework. Thanks for letting me start the DA again Professor.”
Professor McGonagall watched as Harry nearly ran from her office. “No problem, Potter,” she called after him.
That’s odd, she thought, Harry didn’t even have Charms today. I should know, since I wrote the timetables…
Slightly concerned, she turned back to her marking, consciously deciding as she did so that it was not something worth mentioning to Dumbledore yet. After all, Harry would explain everything when he was ready.
A/N : Thanks to everyone has reviewed - it really does help me to keep writing!
Lol, I hope you aren't getting bored of Latin yet but if you are interested, Latesco literally means 'To hide oneself'.
Please review... you know you want to!!!