Life Continues

No one mentioned the Boggart, which was more than fine with Harry. He did get some odd looks from his classmates, but found that staring back at them with his best "I will eat your heart" look caused that to stop pretty quickly. In fact, he was happy to simply forget the whole Boggart incident had even happened, and since everyone was ignoring it, it was very easy to do so.

"Runes today!" Tracey announced at breakfast.

"Yeah. Gotta admit I'm looking forward to it."

"Of course you are," Theo said, rolling his eyes. "You're taking Magical Theory also, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Harry admitted. "The first lesson is tomorrow night. Great way to head into the weekend."

"You still have classes on Friday though?" Goyle asked.

"Yes, but it's not a full day. And then we've got Quidditch practice on the weekend. Barely have any time for the library."

"Only you will complain about that."

"That's 'cause he's ambitious, Theo! Maybe not everyone is willing to just coast along!"

Harry looked at Draco, confused. Pansy didn't usually get involved when they were snarking at each other unless someone called her out or something. Draco just shrugged.

Does anyone actually understand girls?

Theo looked quite taken aback and was busy saying something about Pansy's own laziness. Harry decided to extricate himself and joined those heading to Runes.

"Good morning class! I am Professor Babbling."

They all chorused back a good morning.

"Lovely. Who can tell me what language these Runes are in?" She pointed to a series of runes on the chalkboard.

No one answered.

"Honestly, I'm not surprised. I hadn't really expected anyone to recognize a mixture of Elder Futhark and Proto-Scandinavian. This language is what we simply refer to as Ancient Runes. Who can tell me why this language specifically is used as the accepted magical Rune tongue?"

The room was absolutely silent.

"Again, I'm not surprised. The cultures that used these runes, the Scandinavians and the Germanic tribes, imbued their writings with magic. Many cultures did, but none with such an amazing level of success as these two. Therefore, a mixture of their runes has been adopted almost unilaterally by the international magical community. This is used for many official documents—treaties and the like. More importantly, it is used to cast magic. Who can give me an advantage of using runes over using more typical spells? Miss Davis?"

"It's easier to set a rune to respond to circumstances?"

"Correct. Anyone else? Potter?"

"Runes can last forever, while other enchantments fade?"

"Correct. Eventually, you will learn how to use runes in magic. For now, we will be focusing on learning the language of runes. You cannot use a single ounce of runic magic if you don't know what the runes mean. And so..."

Harry found the lesson to be exhausting. Great, but complex. It was literally learning a brand new language—a language that he would never use in conversation, with entirely different grammar rules than any he was used to. What made it more complicated was that the language they were studying was actually a mixture of two runic languages. So in essence, they had to learn both of them and then the entirely separate mixture they resulted in.

But as she said, anyone wanting to know the power of runes only had to read the old Viking epics. Or look at almost any magical object—they all used runes in their creation and function. It would just take a lot of effort until he reached the point of being able to use them that way.

Their first potions lesson was... fun.

Shrinking solutions were cool enough to make, but Snape had definitely gained new levels of hate for the Gryffindors over the summer. Watching Longbottom cry as Granger whispered instructions to him had just made Harry glad that someone else was suffering for once. After class, Draco was held back for a few minutes. When he caught up with the crowd at lunch, he leaned over and whispered to Harry:

"Snape's joining us tonight."

Harry nodded. This would definitely be interesting.

He was right. It was interesting. Much more than simply interesting, in fact.

"You are here to learn how to fight," Snape said, his silky voice softer than usual. Even with all the charms he had placed on the room, he was still careful not to be too loud. "You are not merely learning spells to add to your repertoire. The most important thing in a fight is not necessarily which spells you use. It is not even necessarily how quick you cast them. It is how quick you think."

With a sudden, fluid motion, he cast a spell at Draco. The boy didn't even have time to raise his wand, let alone block it. It collided and did nothing.

"Had that been a harmful spell, you would be hurt," Snape said. "You need to learn to react instantly. To think of an appropriate response and act on it the very second your enemy acts toward you."

Harry had been half-expecting it, but even so, Snape's spell hit him.

"In a fight against wizards of any caliber, as you are now, you would both be beaten. Badly. There is a lot of work we need to do."

"The Da—"

"Imbecile!" Snape hissed, shutting Draco up. "The only place where you will discuss such things is my office. Understand?"

"Yes. But—"

"No buts. You could use a healthy sense of paranoia."

Snape looked at them both.

"We will be focusing on improving your battle reflexes. The only real way to do this is practice."

"And Occlumency?" Harry asked.

Snape sighed. "We will be spending some time on Occlumency, at the end of our sessions. I will tell you the basics, and you will practice. Then we will move forward with it. Understood?"

"Yes, sir. And fighting Dementors?" Draco perked up at that.

"We will be spending time on that as well. But right now, that is not our focus. For now, you will be attempting to block. I will be going easy on you."

A few seconds later, a stinging hex hit Draco. Immediately afterward, one hit Harry. Neither of them had even been near getting a shield up.

"Both of you, holster your wands. On my mark, I want you to draw them and cast a shield. Ready. Set. Go!"

A few seconds later, they both had shields up.

"Not good enough. Again. Ready. Set. Go!"

By the end of the session, they each had been on the end of numerous stinging hexes.

"You will practice drawing your wands and casting shields. In a fight, every second is crucial."

They nodded, both of them sweating and rumpled.

"Now. Occlumency. For now, you will practice clearing your minds. Clear your minds of all thought, all emotions. You will do this for at least ten minutes at a time. And you will do this multiple times a day."

"When you say to clear our minds—" Harry started.

"It is a process akin to meditation. Think of nothing. Intrusive thoughts will enter. Banish them. Let your mind be empty. At first, it will take you time to manage this. Once you have trained your thoughts, then true Occlumency begins."

Sounds mystical, Harry thought, suppressing a laugh.

"You will practice before bed, and upon waking in the morning. Other than that, in your free time, you will practice. Eventually, your mind will clear the instant you desire it. After that, you may be capable of having your mind clear at all times."

Snape looked them both over.

"You will practice doing this, and you will practice drawing your wand and casting as quickly as you can. Next week I will examine your progress. Once it is satisfactory, we will move on."

"And Dementors?" Harry asked.

Snape looked through him before speaking.

"The charm to fight off Dementors is an emotion-based one. It requires you to be happy. Before next week, I want you both to think of your happiest memories. Not something that merely gave you excitement, but something that induced true joy in you."

Heading back to their dorm, Harry and Draco were almost too tired to speak. Snape had pushed them hard and given them both much to think about.

"Harry?"

"Mmm."

"Do you think—we'll be good enough?" Draco said hesitantly.

"We will," confidence filled Harry's voice. "I'm sure we will. We'll just have to work for it."

It's gonna be a hell of a busy year. Haven't even had the new History teacher yet, or Magical Theory...

Professor Chronicle was better than Binns. She wouldn't be winning teacher of the year, but at least she didn't speak in a monotone. And she involved the class, instead of droning on non-stop the entire lesson. They were learning about witch hunts, and even though she wasn't exactly exciting, she still managed to keep them all interested.

A total breath of fresh air after that stupid ghost.

And then there was Magical Theory. After only one lesson, Harry was enamored. Professor Waffling was a no-nonsense, serious witch who really knew her stuff. She was also the only teacher who didn't live at Hogwarts. She lived in Hogsmeade instead, where she studied, researched, and wrote during the day. She was also far more competent than the last teacher they had who had written the textbook.

There were only seven of them taking the class: Harry, Tracey, Granger, and four Ravenclaws.

"You probably all know there is no exam for this class, and that we only meet once a week for an hour. If you chose to join us because you thought it would be an easy class with no hard work, I must set you right immediately. Over the course of this year, you will read at least five books. After every lesson, you will be assigned homework and specific reading. If you are not willing or unable to keep to this, leave now."

When no one left, she closed the door and smiled.

"Lovely. Now, this class will mostly be for discussion. We are in pursuit of knowledge, in search of understanding, and so we pool our wisdom. Often, we can get carried away in our arguments, and so I must make this clear now: Any ad hominem attacks will result in your being asked to leave and never return. Is that clear?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Lovely. Let's begin, shall we? Who can tell me what is the difference between a wizard and a muggle?"

Granger's hand narrowly beat Boot's into the air.

"Yes, Granger."

"A wizard is capable of using magic, while a muggle is not."

"Can you tell us what magic is?"

Granger frowned for an instant.

"A type of energy?"

"Perhaps," Waffling nodded.

"Now, Miss Granger's definition left out squibs. What is a squib? You, Boot."

"A muggle whose parents are wizards?"

"Is that all?"

"Uh..."

"Another difference between wizards and muggles. You, Davis."

"Wizards live longer than muggles."

"And how long, on average, do squibs live?"

There was silence. Waffling continued.

"The life expectancy of a squib is the same as a wizard. Squibs experience magical diseases, unlike muggles. Squibs can see ghosts and Dementors. Muggle-repelling charms do not work on squibs. Tell me, can a Wizarding couple have a muggle for a child?"

No one answered.

"There has not been a single recorded case of a muggle being born to Wizarding parents. However, squibs and wizards and witches are born to muggles. Why? Potter?"

"Wizarding ancestry?"

"Some believe that, but there is not a shred of evidence to support it. Now, who can hazard a guess as to why wizards usually have Wizarding children?"

A tall Ravenclaw said, "genetics."

"Please raise your hand and wait to be called, Simpkins. Nevertheless, nice try. One problem with it—we have managed to map out the human genome, and there is no genetic difference between wizards, squibs, or muggles. Anyone else? Patil."

"Magical cores?"

"Again, nice try. However, magical cores is an outdated theory that has been disproven. Granger?"

"The soul?"

Waffling smiled.

"Five points to Gryffindor. Indeed, it is currently believed"—she stressed those words—"that the properties of the soul are responsible for one's ability, or lack thereof, to use magic. We believe the genetics of the soul to be responsible. Not to go into too much detail now, but there is a wide array of supporting evidence for this theory, more so than for any other."

She glanced at her watch before continuing.

"Now, what do you have to say about squibs? Potter."

"They have access to some magic, but not all?"

"Excellent. Five points to Slytherin. Again, evidence suggests that there exist two types of magic a person could possess: active and passive. It is the passive magic which separates one from a muggle, extends life expectancy, protects from muggle diseases while making one susceptible to magical ones, and the like. However, it is the active magic which allows one to actually use magic. For a squib, we believe, the switch in their soul for active magic is turned off, while the switch for passive is on. Simpkins?"

"Is there no way to fix this?"

She gave him a searching look.

"Perhaps. It is theoretically possible that a squib could be given active magic. Highly difficult and extremely dangerous, and as far as I know, never actually attempted, but theoretically possible. Yes, Patil?"

"Why has it never been tried?"

"Firstly, all forms of soul magic are classified as dark and banned by the Ministry. Even so, permission could be granted. However, soul magic is perhaps the most dangerous of all magic to experiment with. If things were to go wrong, it could not only leave one a muggle or a squib. It could remove one's soul, and possibly even destroy it. No one is willing to simply try and see what happens."

"Homework! By next week, I want you to have read the first five chapters of A Compendium of Magical Theories and the first three chapters of A Study of Magic. I want a ten-inch essay comparing the theories in those books, and a twelve-inch essay regarding the differences between wizards, squibs, and muggles. Additionally, I want a five-inch essay on the fundamental difference between magical and non-magical creatures."

She laughed at their expressions.

"I did tell you I was going to have you work."

Well, I was right. It's going to be one hell of a busy year. At least we've got Hogsmeade weekends to take the pressure off...