A Necessary Revelation

Living Room, Godric's Hollow, July 13 th

After nearly three weeks, Harry had decided to give up. There was no reason, other than sheer greed, that Harry could think of for Quirrell to attempt to steal the Philosopher's stone. Harry could even understand why Quirrell would succumb to the temptation. The thought of eternal life and all the money you could ever desire was incredibly desirable, even to an eleven year old. No, if Quirrell was just going to steal the Philosopher's Stone, Harry could, and would, have understood. But Harry would never understand why Quirrell would want to kill Nathan. The only possible conclusion Harry had drawn is that Quirrell had been surprised by Nathan, and had assumed it was a professor who was about to catch him. Why else would he send a dark curse at his brother when a memory charm would work just as well to cover his escape.

Harry would always appreciate all that his former professor had done for him, but he would never be able to forgive the man for trying to kill his brother. Since it was now near impossible for Harry to think about Quirrell without at least a dozen conflicting emotions, he did the only thing he could; he vowed not to think about the man. As far as Harry was concerned, nothing important happened during his first term at Hogwarts. His education had begun at Durmstrang, Hogwarts was irrelevant.

Just as Harry thought of Durmstrang, a magnificent great horned owl landed outside Harry's window, displaying a letter with the Durmstrang crest. Harry quickly opened his window, and the owl fluttered inside. Once the letter was removed, the owl turned and flew back outside.

Harry hesitated before taking a deep breath and opening the letter.

Dear Mr. Potter,

Congratulations, your academic scores for your first year have been judged, and you will be allowed to continue your education at the Durmstrang Institute of Magic.

Please note that classes begin on the 26 th of August. This letter will function as a Portkey to take you to Durmstrang; however, it will only be active between the 20 th to the 25 th of August. Should these dates prove problematic for you, please contact us no later than the 31 st of July. The activation word is 'Minsk.'

Sincerely,

Demetri Überzeug

Assistant to the Highmaster

Harry quickly flipped to the next page of the letter and glanced at his scores. With a whoop of excitement, Harry raced out of his room and went downstairs. Spotting his mother reading a potions magazine on the couch, Harry excitedly said, "Mum, my grades from Durmstrang arrived!"

Lily looked up and put her magazine to the side. "Oh, good. Let me see how you did Harry."

Harry immediately handed over his scorecard.

Charms: M

Dark Arts: J

Herbology J

History of Magic: J

Potions: J

Spell Creation: J

Transfiguration: J

Mr. Potter, you have passed all of your classes, and you have been cleared to take Fourth Year Charms and Transfiguration, Third Year Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, and Potions, and Second Year Spell Creation.

"Harry, why does this say you're going to be going into your third year Dark Arts class?" Lily asked cautiously.

"Oh, um, well, that's because I am," Harry admitted. "I tested out of second year Dark Arts."

Lily looked at her son, concern evident in her eyes. "I think you need to get your father, Harry. He's outside playing Quidditch with Nathan and your uncle Sirius."

"Mum, it's not that big of a deal, really," Harry said, trying to placate his mother.

"Harry, go get your father. We need to discuss this," Lily said seriously.

With a sigh, Harry left the living room, and went outside where three small Quidditch hoops were in place. He saw his uncle Sirius playing keeper as his father and Nathan took shots on him with the Quaffle.

"Dad, Mum sent me out here to get you!" Harry called out to his father, who quickly flew down and dismounted his broomstick.

"Did she say what it was about?" asked James.

"Yes," Harry said uncomfortably.

James grinned slightly. "Well, are you going to tell me before we go inside?"

"It's about my grades from Durmstrang," Harry said, trying to be as vague as possible. It had taken a while for Harry to convince Nathan that Ron had exaggerated the threat he made in the Great Hall, and Harry really didn't need Nathan overhearing that he was actually jumping a year in the Dark Arts.

Entering the house, Harry led his father into the living room where his mother was waiting.

"What's this about, Lily?" James asked curiously. "Harry said it had something to do with his grades?"

"Read that," Lily said, handing him Harry's scorecard.

James scanned the document quickly and smiled. "Congratulations, Harry, this is a tremendous scorecard. First in your class in third year Charms!"

"James, it's not Harry's scores I'm concerned about. Read what classes he is eligible to take next year." Lily said, pointing at the bottom of the page.

Doing as his wife instructed, James made it to the second line before he asked, "Third year Dark Arts? Why aren't you going to be in your second year?"

"I tested out of it," Harry answered.

James looked initially perplexed at the idea of his son wanting to jump a year in the Dark Arts before a dark and slightly nervous look crossed his face. He turned to look at Lily, who nodded her head slightly, showing that she feared the same thing as her husband.

When Lily and James were first told that Harry was receiving personal, private, tutoring from the man possibly possessed by Lord Voldemort, they had promptly panicked. It had taken a series of powerful calming charms from Dumbledore to get the two concerned parents to calm down, and, fortunately, between Dumbledore, Lily, and James, they were able to discern that Quirrell had not cast any lasting or passive magic on Harry. Still, Harry showing a sudden interest in dark magic was something that set off alarm bells for both Lily and James. Regardless of Dumbledore's assurances that Harry had not shown any signs of mental manipulation by Voldemort or Quirrell, the thought of the dark lord implanting a subtle command into their son with mind magic terrified them.

Hesitantly, James turned to his son and asked, "Harry, be honest, why did you want to skip a year in the dark arts?"

"How would you feel if some random first year suddenly showed up halfway through the year and became one of the best students in third year Charms and Transfiguration?" Harry asked.

"I'd probably be a little jealous," James said slowly. "Are you saying that some of the older kids didn't treat you well?"

"A few cornered me after a Transfiguration class once," Harry admitted, "but Viktor showed up and they left me alone."

"What do you mean they cornered you?" Lily demanded, suddenly nervous for her son's safety at Durmstrang.

Shuffling uncomfortably Harry said, "They were upset that Professor Rosemburg seemed to favor me. If Viktor hadn't shown up when he did, they probably would have cursed me."

James scowled. "Why didn't you mention this before?"

"What would you and Mum have done if I told you, Dad? You barely let me go to Durmstrang at all. If I had written a few weeks into the school year that some older students were threatening me, you would have put me back into Hogwarts," Harry argued.

"Harry, we want to know what is happening to you. You could have been seriously hurt. Did these boys threaten you again?" Lily asked fearfully.

"Who threatened you?" Nathan asked as he and Sirius entered the living room looking concerned.

"Just some older students at Durmstrang," Harry said hesitantly.

"What! Why?" Nathan asked immediately.

"They didn't think that a first year should make a bunch of second and third years look bad in class," Harry said honestly.

"So they cursed you!" Sirius said angrily. "I hope you got them back."

"They didn't curse me. My friend showed up and stopped them before they could," Harry explained. "Still, I knew that I got lucky and that Viktor wouldn't always be around to help me. If the older kids in the class really wanted to curse me, they would have eventually been able to."

"So that's why you started learning more curses? To defend yourself?" James asked, not liking what his son had been forced to do.

Harry nodded. "Calypso asked me to help her test out of second year Charms and Transfiguration, and I asked her to help me skip second year Dark Arts. I didn't want to get cornered by a bunch of older students and not be able to defend myself."

"So...you must have learned a lot of dark spells to skip an entire year," Nathan said hesitantly.

"Merlin! Durmstrang isn't nearly as bad as everyone says it is," Harry ranted. "My first year Dark Arts class was very similar to Hogwarts, except that some students were chosen to duel at the end of every class. It's not like the professors are trying to turn us all into a bunch of miniature Death Eaters or future Dark Lords."

"Harry, typically reputations as well established as Durmstrang's have a legitimate reason behind it," Lily pointed out. "Your first few years might not include a lot about the Dark Arts, but what about as you advance? The class is called the Dark Arts, Harry, not Defense Against the Dark Arts. Even you must admit that eventually they will likely start teaching you some questionable magic. Your father and I abhor the Dark Arts, and I don't like the thought of you pushing yourself towards learning them."

"So, I should just let myself get cursed?" Harry asked sarcastically.

"Harry, don't put words in my mouth," Lily said sternly. "You could have simply read ahead and learned some spells to defend yourself. You didn't have to test out of your second year class."

"But that wouldn't help me," Harry argued.

"Why not?" asked Sirius.

"I needed to let the older kids know that I'm not someone they can just push around or contemplate cursing on a whim," Harry said stubbornly.

Lily looked skeptical. "Harry, I don't think a fifth year is going to care all that much about whether you're in your second or third year class. They would still know far more magic than you."

"Well, you're right, Mum," Harry admitted, "but the only older kids I needed to worry about are the second, third, and fourth years. There were a few fifth years who didn't like me, but most of the fifth, sixth, and seventh year students don't even bother to notice the younger students. Calypso says they are typically too busy working on long-term projects or concerned about other older students to be bothered with a first, second, or third year. So you see, skipping a year in the Dark Arts, actually helps me send a message to the second, third, and fourth years that I'm not someone that they should mess with."

"Harry, are you saying you skipped a year just to intimidate the other students at Durmstrang?" James asked disapprovingly.

"Well, as soon as they heard what I was planning on doing, I wasn't bothered again." Harry said, defending his actions.

"Did you really feel that was necessary, Harry?" Lily asked. "Were you that concerned about the kids in your class trying to hurt you?"

Harry knew that he had to give a good response, but it wasn't like he could say, 'Oh yeah, Mum, Dad did I forget to mention the day I spent in the hospital wing recovering from a Bone Breaking curse?' Instead he said, "I wasn't that worried about them, but it was still something I thought about, and I didn't want to worry at all about the older kids cursing me. I just wanted to have fun with my friends and learn magic, Mum."

"Well, I think you did the right thing," Sirius said.

"What?" James and Lily asked in surprise.

"Oh come on, James. Imagine you are Harry, and you're in a class filled with a bunch of jealous berks who are envious of your talent. If Harry had just learned spells to defend himself on his own, they would have tried to curse him again, and Harry would have taken them off-guard with some advanced spells. That would have just made them madder, and the next time they attacked him, they would have been ready. By making it known that he was skipping a year in the Dark Arts, Harry made sure everyone knew that attacking him would be a risk. So instead of all the older kids being surprised and mad that they were beaten by a first year, Harry made them all wary to attack him in the first place. When you think about it, Harry did what was necessary to avoid a fight," Sirius explained.

James and Lily looked at each other, both their faces showing genuine surprise. "Sirius, that was insightful… are you feeling alright?" James teased.

"I suppose when you put it that way, Sirius, it is hard to argue," Lily admitted. "I just don't like to see you moving too far ahead in the Dark Arts, Harry."

"I understand. I'm not going to try to move ahead in that class anymore," Harry said honestly.

Lily and James shared a look with one another before nodding their heads in acceptance, both desperately hoping their son was being honest with them.