![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
batsutousaiTitle: Gelosaþ in Écnesse
Chapter: 4 of 18
Author: Batsutousai
Rating: Teen
Pairings: Harry/Salazar, Harry/OFC (Original Female Character)
Warnings: OCs, OoC, minor cliché-age, homophobia, racist actions and slurs (from secondary character), time travel
Summary: Caught in the backlash of Voldemort's Killing Curse, Harry is thrown through time to a world so very different from his own.
A/N: As a reminder, if a character will appear again later, their name and a short blurb about them will be at the list on the bottom. (If they're not in Slytherin, they probably won't show up again. Just FYI.)
Let It Flow
-0-0-
Salazar was a little distant for the rest of the holiday, but Harry mostly ignored him, more interested in letting Duana, Kenric, Conrad, and – sometimes – Ramona drag him outside to play in the snow. Bernia had looked about to complain the first time the children made out the front doors, but Godric called her back, pointing out, "They know to avoid the forest and the lake, and Harry managed a boggart; I doubt there's anything daring enough to leave the forest, and if there is, I trust Harry will be able to handle it, or get the others back into safety."
Harry had flushed at that praise. He wasn't completely certain that he deserved it, but he did make a point to keep an eye out for any danger. He also made certain to keep a warming charm on each of them and drag them all back inside if they got particularly wet.
It was...odd, being the responsible one for once. Harry was used to having Hermione there to keep him and Ron in line, and there'd been more than one time during their earlier romps through the castle when he'd expected to hear her yelling at him for doing something stupid. Running into the boggart had taught him plenty well that he needed to be the one to act sensibly, for once, being the most capable with magic. And if that meant grabbing a soaking wet Conrad out of a large snow drift and ordering them all inside that minute, in spite of their protests, that's what he'd do.
While the children enjoyed their playing – or their reading, for the others – Helga, Godric, and Rowena set out to collect house-elves to staff the castle. By the last day of the holiday, they had ten house-elves working to make the castle liveable. They'd managed to find a second boggart in a locked room on the third floor that the children had always passed by, and an infestation of doxies in one of the rooms in the dungeons that the children had never explored, both of which one of the adults got rid of as soon as they heard about them.
The day following the end of the holiday – January fourth, according to the Christian calendar Rowena kept in the Great Hall – the new students started arriving by portkey. The eight children that had been staying in the castle up to that point settled in near the fireplace to watch as the students arrived, were greeted by the Founders and their spouses, then were turned toward Ollivander's corner, where the wandmaker set them up with a wand, assuming they didn't already have one that worked for them.
Once the first new student had received his wand, he stood dumbly for a minute, looking around the Great Hall like he'd never seen a castle before.
"How dull," Helena muttered, turning back to her book.
"You're such a meanie, Helena," Duana said as she got to her feet. "I'm gonna invite him over, okay?"
The other children nodded, so the girl skipped over and introduced herself to the boy before dragging him over to the fireplace. "Everyone, this is Ruck!"
"Hello," Ruck whispered, uncertain.
"Helga pick you up?" Harry guessed, and the boy nodded, eyes wide. Harry smiled at him. "I'm Harry. These here are Conrad and Ramona, Helga's children." He shoved a foot against Conrad's pouf and the boy shrunk in on himself. "Oh, stop that."
Ramona let out a long-suffering sigh at her brother's shyness and smiled at the newcomer. "Hello, Ruck. Won't you join us? Tell us a bit about yourself, perhaps?" she added as Harry conjured a pouf for him.
"Oh. Uhm, sure. I...guess..." Ruck agreed, sinking into the seat.
Thus started a pattern: Whenever a new student was done with Ollivander, Duana or Kenric would jump up – racing, sometimes – and collect the person. A brief introduction would occur, Harry would guess who invited them – he was always correct, much to the growing amusement of the other children – and then conjure them a pouf after pointing them towards the children associated with that Founder.
The first – and only – time Harry stumbled a bit in the routine, was when the first Slytherin – a boy by the name of Vail Grady – joined them. He guessed the boy's Founder fine, but when he went to point him towards the children of the House, he realised he was it.
"Something wrong, Harry?" Ramona asked when Harry trailed off with a faint frown.
"Hm? Oh, no." He smiled back up at Vail and conjured a pouf in a free spot next to his own. "Sorry. I'm the only other person Salazar's invited so far."
"Master Slytherin doesn't have any family?" Vail wondered as he settled in next to Harry.
Harry shook his head. "Not that he's said. And you'd best take to referring to all of them by their first names, lest you get them confused."
"Master Slytherin has no one with which to get him confused," Vail pointed out.
Harry kicked Duana's pouf when the girl started giggling. "You will be silent, or I'll curse your hair yellow, understand?"
Duana covered her head protectively. "That's just cruel, Harry."
Harry raised an eyebrow at her. "Isn't it just?" he replied before looking back at Vail. "Call him Master Slytherin, then," he said, thinking it might be fun to see Salazar's reaction to that.
Vail blinked, uncertain, but before he could wonder about Harry's easy agreement, another new student was joining them and Harry was distracted by guessing their Founder.
When the adults announced it was lunchtime and all the new students were there, Harry counted twenty-six child heads, including himself and those who'd been in the castle up until that point. Of them, he'd discovered as they talked, only one other student – a Ravenclaw girl named Velda – was also fifteen; everyone else was fourteen or under. There were a couple nine-year-olds, other than Kenric, but that was the youngest they got. They had also, apparently, been hit with a Translator's Charm, because they could all speak and understand Englisc, though a couple of them would occasionally speak in their native language and those students unfamiliar with it would complain.
They didn't quite have House tables in the way that they would in the future, but they were still broken up by House, sitting around circular tables with the adults of their House. The Slytherin table was the smallest, with six students and Salazar. Of the other Houses, Gryffindor and Hufflepuff both had seven children, while Ravenclaw had six, but those Houses also had two adults each, and Ollivander had joined the Ravenclaw table to speak with Rowena.
"I feel a bit like I joined the most pathetic of the lot," one of the girls commented.
"Just because we're few doesn't make us less impressive than the others," Salazar replied drily. "Now, as you all know, I'm Salazar Slytherin. For your stay at Hogwarts, I will be your primary master, though you will be learning from all of us, to ensure your education is the best it can be. I don't expect you to refer to me as 'Master', but I do demand the respect of a master, as will your other teachers." He stared around the table until each student had nodded. "Good. Now, it seems you've all conversed to some extent?"
"Yes, sir," a couple of them replied.
Salazar nodded and turned to Harry on his right. "Perhaps a reminder of our names. Harry?"
Harry smiled. "I'm Harry," he offered before looking to the boy next to him.
"Morgan Muir," the boy offered in a cool voice, every inch the upper class. Harry had already made a mental note to watch him, especially when he'd sneered at one of Kenric's ungainly flops into his pouf.
"Nuala," the tiny girl next to Morgan said, sitting up straight and trying to emulate Morgan's bearing to the best of her ability.
"I'm Mavis," the girl who'd complained about the size of the House said. She held herself well, Harry thought, but her clothing had seen a few patches and she'd been kind enough to stop and help Nuala when the girl had tripped on her way to the table.
"I'm Fane," the friendly boy next to Mavis said, grinning around the table. Harry had almost thought him a Gryffindor or a Hufflepuff, when he'd first seen him, until he'd spotted the gleam in his eyes that said he was sizing everyone up.
"Vail," the first of the new Slytherins to arrive offered from Salazar's left side, which he'd taken as soon as he'd figured out where the Founder would sit. Harry pegged him as an arse-kisser and decided to avoid any arguments about who might be Salazar's favourite, just in case he was particularly good with a wand.
"Excellent." Salazar tapped the top of the table with his finger and the food finally appeared, the house-elves having been waiting for that signal. Nuala let out a startled sound, then flushed when she realised no one else had been surprised.
"You all are quite strange to hide your last names," Morgan commented.
"Some of us don't have last names," Mavis snarked.
"Oh, of course. Common-borns."
"Something wrong with being common-born?" Mavis demanded.
"I wouldn't answer that, if I were you," Harry suggested drily, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at the boy next to him. "And you might well find that most of the students here are what you call 'common-born', so that puts you, my well-bred friend, in the minority. Unless you intend to watch your back the entire time you're in Hogwarts, I'd watch your tongue."
"An excellent point," Salazar agreed, not looking up from his plate, where he was fighting with a chicken leg. Next to him, Vail was trying very hard to mirror his every movement. (Harry wondered if Salazar wasn't having trouble with his chicken just to see if Vail could keep up.)
"Does anyone know any magic, yet?" Fane asked, smiling around at them.
"I know some spells!" Vail immediately said, leaving his mirroring of Salazar to give them a list of every spell he knew. Harry didn't think it was particularly impressive, but Mavis and Nuala both seemed honestly impressed, and Fane wasted no time in asking about a couple of the spells Vail had listed.
Morgan looked like he wanted to say something rude about Vail's knowledge, but his mouth snapped shut when Harry caught his eye. The rest of lunch passed with Morgan quietly stewing while Harry watched him and occasionally made a comment about a spell the other four students were discussing. Salazar watched everything with a neutral expression, which made Vail droop every time he saw it.
Once they'd mostly finished and the other Houses were rising, Salazar said, "Let's show you where you'll be living for the next few months." He tapped the table as they rose, signalling the house-elves to vanish everything, then led the way out of the Great Hall.
Harry'd thought to walk in the lead with Salazar, but Nuala tripped again and he fell back to help her up. "Hey, you okay?" he asked as he helped her to her feet.
Nuala nodded, looking worried. "We'll get left behind!"
"I know the way," Harry promised. "We'll walk at your pace."
Nuala sighed and slowed down to a pace she was more comfortable with. Once they reached the hallways, she stepped to one side, to trail her hand along the wall.
Harry watched her for a few moments, his mind connecting the dots of how she kept tripping and the way she'd squinted once or twice when someone offered her food. "You're far-sighted, aren't you?"
Nuala's nose scrunched at the term. "I'm what?" she demanded, sounding a little insulted.
"Sorry," Harry apologised, wondering if there was an actual technical term for the impairment at this time. "You have trouble seeing things that are close to you, I mean. But you can see distant objects fine?"
Nuala's posture relaxed. "Yes."
Harry smiled. "I'm the opposite," he offered. "I can see things near to me fine, but about half an arm length away everything gets really blurry."
Nuala glanced up towards where Harry walked at her side, squinting. "It's about two arm lengths away that things start to become clear, for me, so the floor's a bit of a blur. How do you manage?"
"There's a spell that can correct your vision. Salazar cast it on me when we first met," Harry explained. "I don't know it, myself, but we can probably get him to cast it on you."
Nuala smiled, relief flashing in her eyes. "That would be wonderful." She nearly tripped on a raised portion of stone, but managed to catch herself on the wall, Harry grabbing her shoulder just in case. "Thanks. So, you've been with Slytherin long?"
"Only a couple months," Harry replied, shaking his head. "He sort of saved my life and, after finding out I had no home to return to, invited me to stay at Hogwarts."
Nuala seemed uncertain how to respond to that for a moment, then said, "I'm sorry you–"
"Old history," Harry assured her, despite the constant ache of loss he felt. But he'd got to the point, now, where he was mostly okay with how things had turned out. It was nice not having people immediately know his name, or look at him expectantly. And he was making new friends; maybe Kenric and Conrad and Duala would never be Ron and Hermione, but he'd grown to care about them the same. "Here, we need to take the stairs down. Will you be okay, or...?"
"I should be okay," Nuala replied, and she did seem to manage the stairs fine.
Salazar was waiting for them just inside the door. "I'd wondered where you two had gone to," he commented drily, and it was only because Harry was so familiar with him that he saw the flash of relief in the paler green eyes.
"You know how I like to take my time," Harry retorted. "Discovered that Nuala's a bit far-sighted, by the way."
Salazar sighed. "You'd think, after three months amongst civilised people, you'd learn to use real words..."
"Are you actually calling Godric civilised?" Harry replied, feigning shock. "This is an historic moment!"
Salazar pointed a threatening finger at Harry while Nuala stared dumbly between them. "I was referring to everyone else, you troublesome child. Now, using proper Englisc, tell me again what you discovered."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Proper Englisc," he muttered before explaining, "She's got a sight impairment; she can see things in the distance fine, but closer things are blurry. I told her you could fix it. Git."
Salazar was already leaning down to Nuala's level when Harry called him a git and he flicked his eyes up to Harry, amusement dancing in them, before returning his attention to Nuala. "This might sting a bit," he warned her as his wand slipped into his hand from his bracer.
Nuala nodded. "Okay," she whispered.
Salazar took her chin in one hand, then touched his wand to just under her left eye. "Síene bate," he murmured and Nuala flinched, blinking a few times rapidly. "Let me do the other one," Salazar ordered when she tried to move her chin out of his grip.
"Sorry," Nuala whispered, stilling.
Salazar nodded and touched his wand to just under her right eye, again murmuring "Síene bate."
As soon as Salazar released her chin, Nuala pulled back and blinked a few times rapidly. Then she stared at the Founder with a cross between disbelief and awe. "I can see your face," she told him before looking up at Harry. "I can see your face too!"
"Indeed," was Salazar's dry reply.
Harry chuckled and offered the girl a smile. "I know the feeling," he offered and she smiled back.
"Nuala," Salazar interrupted, turning and motioning towards the two hallways on the far wall. "The right side leads to the female dorms. Go pick a room."
"Okay. Thanks, Slytherin!" Nuala called before heading towards the right hallway. She neatly sidestepped a slightly raised stone and let out a laugh.
"You'll have to teach me that spell," Harry commented. "Unless you want me randomly popping up on Hogwarts' doorstep every five years or so to get it renewed."
Salazar winced and determinedly didn't look towards Harry. "Of course," he agreed. "Why don't you–"
"Salazar."
The Founder glanced towards Harry, expression smoothed over. "You should go make sure the boys haven't ruined that furniture you worked so hard on."
Harry pressed his lips together, irritated, but resigned to the older wizard's secretive nature. "Yes, fine. And stop being a git, won't you?"
"Respect, Harry," Salazar reminded him.
Harry rolled his eyes and ducked down the hall to the male dorms. He'd moved his few things into the first room on the left the day before, while Salazar had kept his things where they'd been out in the common and just created a wall around the corner. They'd ended up agreeing that the students could each have their own room, at least until it got more crowded, so Harry didn't have to worry about any roommates, just a shared wall.
The room next to Harry's remained empty, but the next one down had been taken by Vail, who blinked at him uncertainly when Harry poked his head in the door. "Yes?"
"Just checking to make sure you're moving in okay," Harry offered, leaning against the doorframe. The boy certainly seemed to be getting on well, judging by the small pile of clothing he was putting away in the armoire and the well-loved book placed carefully on one of the shelves over his desk.
"I require no assistance," Vail replied, turning back to his clothing.
Harry shrugged and moved on to the next room. Fane had grabbed that one, and he grinned up at Harry when he stopped in the doorway. "Hello. Harry, right?"
"Yes," Harry agreed, smiling back. "Salazar asked me to make sure everyone's getting on fine."
"My only problem so far has been trying to figure out how my mother packed so much stuff into this bag." He held up a bag that looked like it could hold no more than a couple books in it. There were piles of clothing and sheets on the bed, as well as all manner of writing implements on the desk.
"Some very clever magic, I should think," Harry said drily.
Fane laughed. "Yes, I suppose that rather is the obvious solution, isn't it?" He sighed and set the bag down between two piles of clothing. "Oh. I don't suppose you know anything about the second drawer down on the desk? It won't open."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that and looked towards the desk. "May I look?" he requested, not quite stupid enough to enter a Slytherin's room without permission; he'd hexed his own door as soon as he'd finished moving into his new room.
"Oh, yes. Please, come on in. There's nothing incriminating out." He chuckled and picked up some tunics to put away.
"Oh, I'm sure you've nothing incriminating," Harry replied, rolling his eyes, and Fane let out a loud laugh. Harry flashed him a grin, then knelt in front of the desk and tried the troublesome drawer. When it wouldn't budge even the slightest, Harry pulled out the drawer under it and peered at the underside, where the track he'd transfigured should have been. Instead, the drawer had been left a solid block, not even unattached from the sides. "Oh, bollocks," he muttered, flexing his hand to recall his wand and shooting a couple spells at the drawer. Once certain it worked at last, he put the drawer under it back in and stood.
"That's an interesting design," Fane said, watching with greedy eyes as Harry slipped his wand away.
Harry narrowed his eyes briefly before clearing his expression and giving him a careless shrug. "Godric gave it to me. Feel free to ask him how to make them, if you want."
"I'll do that," Fane agreed. Then he seemed to remember himself and quickly put back on his grin. "Thanks, by the way. What was wrong with it?"
"The wood didn't completely transfigure, for some reason," Harry offered, making his way to the door. "It should be fine now."
"Weird..." Fane glanced towards the desk, then shook his head. "Well, thanks again."
Harry waved over his shoulder, then wandered further down the hall, looking for Morgan. He found him three rooms down, snapping his wand around to put his things away. "You'll break something that way," Harry commented, leaning against the doorframe.
Morgan turned to the doorway with a snarl. Once he recognised Harry, his expression smoothed out, though he still didn't look pleased. "Oh. Slytherin's son."
Harry raised an eyebrow at that. "I'm no such thing."
Morgan looked him up and down, then let out a delicate snort. "Brother, then. Or cou–"
"Not remotely," Harry interrupted, secretly amused. "Salazar and I aren't related. At all," he added when Morgan looked about to argue. Though, considering the amount of time involved, Harry knew it was quite possible they were distantly related.
"You look quite similar for not being related," he commented coolly.
"Pure chance, I assure you."
"He favours you like family."
"Favours me?" Harry asked, confused. "What makes you think he–? What, at lunch? You honestly think Salazar would agree with me if he didn't agree himself?"
"I would," Morgan insisted. "Family must stick together."
"And you're a fool," Harry informed him. "How would anyone expect to become their own person if they just follow along behind others? If you do that, you'll only become a shadow, overlooked and forgotten; that seems a piss-poor way to live, if you ask me."
"So, what?" Morgan snarled, face a mask of fury. "You're saying family is nonsense? That I shouldn't stand by my father?"
"If you're looking to debate the importance of family, you've found the wrong person; I haven't any," Harry informed him coolly and Morgan deflated. He softened his tone just the slightest to say, "I'm not telling you to ignore the thoughts and opinions of those you care about, you silly boy; I'm only saying you need to learn to think for yourself. Don't take what your family members say as rote. It seems to me they've only seen one side to the world, and you're sitting right in the centre of the other half." Harry turned to leave, adding, "Curb your attitude, before someone else curbs it for you."
Harry returned to the common room, only to find it empty. Knocking on Salazar's room door got him no answer, so, frowning, Harry made for his own room, planning to work on some reading until dinner. It bothered him that Salazar was being so secretive and distant of late, but there was little he could do about it; for all that they were friendly with each other, they were hardly best friends and, tomorrow, they would officially be teacher and student. Hopefully, Salazar was only being distant to remind Harry to be more professional.
After breakfast the next morning, they all met back up in the common room, Salazar resting comfortably in a conjured chair while the rest of them sat on the floor, since there wasn't any other furniture. (Harry knew there'd been a couple of chairs out there before, but one of them had appeared in his bedroom overnight, and the other had likely vanished into Salazar's room.)
Salazar waited until they were all seated, then started speaking: "Your lessons, for now, will be held in this room; after this summer, we should have finished the classrooms, and you'll be moving around a bit. While classes are held in here, your teachers will come to you, so you can, in theory, only ever leave this room for meals in the Great Hall. But I suggest exploring the castle in your free time, so you're less likely to get lost when we return after the summer.
"Your school week will follow a five-day pattern: On the first day, I will be your teacher; we'll be studying healing magic before lunch, and working with potions after. On the second day, you'll be learning from Rowena Ravenclaw; she'll be teaching you transfiguration and conjuration in the morning, and arithmancy in the afternoons. Your third day will be with Roscoe Hufflepuff, who believes – and we all agree – that you will benefit from learning to fix objects the non-magical way; his lessons will only be in the afternoons, so you will have those mornings free. Your fourth day will be with Godric Gryffindor; he'll be covering non-magical defence in the mornings and magical defence in the afternoons. Your fifth day will be with Helga Hufflepuff, who will be teaching you various useful charms and how to take care of and handle yourself around various magical and non-magical plants. You will have two days free, then, to work on any extra-curricular work or explore the castle."
"Which of those lessons will be when?" Fane wondered. "With Madam Hufflepuff, I mean."
"She has not said." Salazar glanced around at the watching faces, then nodded. "Does everyone have some form of writing implements? Parchment and a quill and ink?"
"I don't," Mavis replied, expression closed. "I don't know how to write, either."
Morgan opened his mouth to make a comment, but Harry very purposefully stretched his leg into the younger boy's thigh and raised an eyebrow at him when Morgan turned to glare. The boy pressed his mouth into a thin line, but held his tongue.
"There's a quick way to teach you," Salazar assured Mavis. "Everyone else, collect your writing things. Harry, could you find some extra for Mavis?"
"Sure," Harry agreed as they all got to their feet. Salazar had given him a pile of parchment, a couple of extra quills, and a few bottles of ink when Harry had moved into his new room, assuring the teen that he'd need them. He had nothing against sharing them around, if others needed them; he knew what it was like to have little to your name.
One they'd returned to the common, Salazar conjured everyone small lap desks, promising that Rowena would be teaching them how to do that tomorrow. He then proceeded to conjure a chart, which he spelled onto the top sheet of everyone's parchment, and went over the various parts of the body and the many ways in which someone could be wounded.
They broke for lunch, then returned and took notes, again, while Salazar explained the art of making potions, being far more thorough than Snape had ever been, and when Harry returned to his room to put his writing things away, he felt so much more certain in his ability to make potions. 'I might even like potions, under Salazar,' Harry considered. 'How...novel.'
Transfiguration and conjuration lessons with Rowena ended up being a lot of revision for Harry, but it enabled him to help Nuala while Rowena walked Vail, Mavis, Fane, and Morgan through a couple problems they were having.
On their way up to lunch, Rowena motioned for Harry to walk with her, then commented, "You may be bored in my class, Harry."
Harry shook his head. "I've learnt some transfiguration, charms, and defensive spells in the past, from friends of my parents. I'm sure I'll learn some new things – I learned new stuff from Salazar, yesterday, in potions – and I can help the others if they're confused."
Rowena nodded. "Your assistance was appreciated. I am...not used to teaching those with little to no knowledge of a subject matter," she admitted. "Salazar suggested we find a 'middle ground' to teach them from, but it is difficult finding such when some students – such as yourself and some of our children – have had a sort of semi-formal training from masters, while others – such as Miss Nuala – weren't even aware that it was true magic they possessed until we invited them to Hogwarts."
Harry shrugged. "At least you've got one of us in each group?" he offered and Rowena's eyes smiled. "I don't know much about teaching others magic," he commented, "so I can't really say more than it's a learning experience? For the teacher and the student."
"These things always are," Rowena agreed. She stopped just inside the doors of the Great Hall and Harry stopped next to her, side-stepping one of the Gryffindors who was running to get food. "May I continue to rely on you to help your fellows if they are facing a certain problem while I attend to another?"
"Certainly," Harry agreed. "I can't help any with arithmancy, though."
Rowena's eyes smiled again. "I expect very few here have more than a passing acquaintance with the subject. Thank you, Harry."
Harry nodded and they separated to their tables. As Harry slid into his usual seat at Salazar's right, the elder commented, "She'll be trying to steal you next."
"You're ridiculous," Harry informed the man. "I'm no one's to be 'stolen', and I quite like where I am now. So stop being childish."
"You shouldn't speak to Master Slytherin that way," Vail informed Harry importantly.
Harry bit his tongue, reminding himself he'd refused to get into an argument about who was Salazar's favourite student.
Salazar raised an expectant eyebrow at Harry, and the teen raised an eyebrow back, not about to apologise for making a point. Salazar let out a snort and turned his attention back to his food, signalling that the matter was dropped. Vail didn't seemed pleased by that, but Fane helpfully distracted him by asking about something Rowena had taught them.
Harry thought he could learn to like Fane, despite the way his eyes liked to gleam with greed.
Arithmancy was, as Rowena had expected, unknown to everyone in the House, so she was able to teach them all the same. She appeared quite pleased by that and seemed to enjoy teaching them the magic of numbers far more than she'd enjoyed teaching them how to transfigure and conjure objects.
The morning of their third day of classes – Wednesday, Harry thought of it as – while they were walking back from breakfast, Nuala caught up to him and Harry slowed his pace to match hers. "Could you help me with transfiguration and conjuring?" she requested. "I feel like I'm holding everyone else up, and you seem to know a lot about it..."
"Rowena honestly doesn't seem to mind, but I can tutor you, if you'd like," Harry agreed.
Nuala smiled, relieved, and nodded. "Please. Even if she doesn't mind, I'd still like to know a bit more. Maybe it'll help a bit with my other classes?" she sighed. "Everyone else already knows some magic."
Harry shrugged. "From the sounds of things, everyone else has at least one magical parent, even if they didn't have their own wand. It's one of the dangers of collecting children from all walks of life and all ages; you're bound to get people with varying skills. We'll make do." As they slipped into the common room, he directed, "Go get your writing stuff and I'll see about conjuring a table and some chairs for us to work at."
"Okay. Thanks, Harry!" she called over her shoulder as she dashed down the female hallway.
"Ooh. Magic lessons?" Fane wondered as Harry conjured a place for them to work.
"Tutoring," Harry replied, frowning and kicking a wobbly leg of his table. It held, but he shot an extra spell at it to make sure it behaved.
"Can I join you?" Fane wondered. When Harry raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him, he commented, "Nothing wrong with a bit of extra knowledge, right?"
"Hm. I won't stop you," Harry decided before turning back to make a few chairs.
Mavis ended up joining them as well, looking a little uncertain until Harry conjured her a chair and motioned for her to sit. Once they'd all taken their seats, he started talking about basic magical theory as he remembered it, since he knew that would help Nuala the most, at the moment. He was surprised and a little pleased when he noticed Fane and Mavis taking notes as well, and Mavis even had a few questions about things, which Harry was happy to answer.
Lunch, when they got there, ended up involving a great deal of discussion about magical theory, which Vail quickly joined in on when he noticed that Salazar was watching the conversation. Morgan even joined in, for a couple minutes near the end of lunch, correcting something Mavis said with a gentler tone than Harry had expected of him.
As they all rose to follow Roscoe down to the common for their non-magical crafting lesson, Salazar touched Harry's shoulder and commented, "You're tutoring them?"
Harry grimaced. "Nuala was having trouble during Rowena's morning lesson yesterday, and I agreed to give her some pointers. Mavis and Fane ended up joining us."
"You do have the most solid magical background," Salazar replied with a shrug. "Well, I won't stop you, and if it's helping the others, I condone it wholeheartedly."
"You would," Harry replied rolling his eyes. "You teachers always like it when your students make an effort to help their peers."
"Indeed we do. Now, go learn non-magical things from Roscoe."
"Give me a hammer and some nails and I'll be fine," Harry replied before hurrying to catch up with his Housemates.
Since all but Morgan had been raised in a non-magical – at least in part – 'common' home, all of them but Morgan managed to excel in Roscoe's class. He gave most of them some tools and a couple desks to put together – "For the new classrooms," he'd explained with a grin – then sat down with Morgan to teach him how to use a hammer and nail.
"I feel quite smart, all of a sudden," Fane commented quietly to the rest of them as Morgan hammered his thumb for the third time.
"It is nice to be able to do something he can't," Mavis agreed. "He's always so condescending about it, too. 'Oh, are you having trouble with that spell? But, of course, you're common.' Ugh."
Harry snorted. "Give him a couple months before you start cursing him every time he opens his mouth, though. He might, eventually, learn to keep his high-bred opinions to himself."
"That'll be the day," Mavis muttered.
"Next," Vail said nastily, shooting a glare at Harry, "we'll find something the rest of us can do that you can't."
"Hey, that's not fair," Nuala immediately snapped. "Harry helps when we need it, and he's not mean about it like Morgan, either."
"What do you have against Harry, anyway?" Mavis wondered. "Don't think I haven't seen you glaring at him all the time."
"He's rude to Master Slytherin!"
Harry raised an eyebrow. "If you think I'm rude, you should see him and Godric together."
"Slytherin is more than capable of telling Harry off if he's honestly bothered," Fane pointed out reasonably. "And Harry's known him for a while now, right?"
"Three months," Harry agreed with a shrug.
Fane smiled at Vail. "Exactly. I bet the adults you know let you get away with loads of stuff that they'd curse another person for. Like, my uncle and I call each other rude names every time we see each other, but if anyone else tried that on him, he'd have a fit."
Vail frowned. "So, you and Master Slytherin are...related?"
"Why does everyone think Salazar and I are related?" Harry wondered.
"Because you look disturbingly similar," Roscoe replied as he came to stand over the group, leaving Morgan to fight with the hammer and nail on his own. "Bernia thinks you share that mysterious father Salazar won't talk about."
"Mer–Gods no," Harry insisted. "And if you'd met my dad, you people would stop seeing similarities between Salazar and myself. I'm practically his mirror image, other than my eyes. Which I get from my mum, thanks."
Roscoe chuckled. "As you say," he agreed and Harry huffed. "How are you lot getting on?"
"Fairly well, other than the debates of Harry's relation to Slytherin," Fane offered with a bright smile.
Roscoe chuckled again. "I see. Well, perhaps a bit less talk and a bit more hammering? The sooner we get the furniture for all the classrooms done, the sooner I can teach you things that are more fun."
The students all made sounds of agreement and returned their attention to the chairs, saving all further talk for another time.
Godric was a right bundle of energy when he and Bernia followed the Slytherins into their common after breakfast. "Right! Who has knowledge of non-magical weapons?"
Fane and Nuala both stepped forward. "My father taught me the sword," Fane offered.
"Mine taught me the bow," Nuala said.
"Excellent! Do either of you have your weapons here?"
"I have my bow," Nuala admitted.
Godric looked to Fane, who shook his head, then sighed. "Okay. You, Miss–?"
"Nuala, sir."
"Nuala, go grab your bow."
"Fane," Fane said before Godric could ask.
The Founder grinned. "Fane. Bernia here will get you set up with a sword." Fane stepped past him to where Bernia was setting out the last of a store of weapons, and Godric looked back over the other four. "Anyone with a passing familiarity with a non-magical weapon?"
"Ah, knives," Mavis offered. "No formal training or anything, but my brother learnt a bit and passed it on to me. And I'm Mavis," she added.
Godric chuckled. "Very good. Mavis, do you like working with knives? Or would you prefer something else?"
"Knives are fine," Mavis decided.
"Very good. Bernia will get you a set." He motioned her off to the side as Nuala re-entered the common with an unstrung recurve bow. "Excellent! Nuala, if you'll stay over there with Bernia and your fellows... Good." He turned back to the last three. "So, no knowledge of non-magical weapons whatsoever?"
Harry considered mentioning the time he'd wielded Godric's own sword, but he didn't really know how to explain that time without making up way more back story than he could keep up, so he just shook his head with the other two.
"Ah, more the pity. Well, you'll be learning now. Anyone have any preferences?"
"A sword," Vail insisted immediately.
Godric grinned. "A most excellent choice, young–?"
"Oh, Vail, sir."
"Vail, then. Bernia will be happy to give you a sword. And you two?" he asked as Vail hurried off.
"Morgan Muir, sir. And I should like to learn the sword, as well," Morgan decided stiffly.
"Very good." He waved Morgan past him. "Harry?"
Harry considered his options for a moment, remembering how heavy Godric's sword had been once the adrenalin had passed and trying to imagine carrying one around all the time. Finally, he shook his head. "Knives, I think," he decided, thinking it would be better to have a weapon he could conceal and carry with him easily.
Godric's smile gentled. "I'm somehow unsurprised. Come, then, let's get you a set."
"Unsurprised?" Harry wondered.
"Swords tend to attract flashy people," Godric explained. "When given a choice, those, such as yourself, who prefer the quieter approach will stick to knives. Or bows, sometimes, but that's less likely in those who use magic, since you can usually cast more magic from a distance without being discovered."
"I see," Harry replied before Godric motioned him towards Bernia.
Once all six students had weapons, Godric smiled at them and explained, "Lessons in non-magical weaponry will end up going something like the following, at least for the moment: Our first two and a half hours will be spent working with these preferred weapons. Our last hour and a half will be spent teaching you how to handle other weapons, so you will be able to pick up any weapon you come across and defend yourself, even if it's not one you prefer.
"Now, if Nuala, Mavis, and Harry would follow Bernia outside, she'll give you a crash course in distance weaponry; Mavis, Harry, I'll teach you how to handle knives in close combat later, but you'll be going with Bernia for the moment." The three students nodded their understanding, then followed Bernia out when she motioned for them to follow her. Behind them, Godric said, "All right, boys. Stand straight. Straighter than that, Morgan–"
Bernia chuckled as the closing of the door cut off further noise from their common. "What Godric forgot to mention, is that this first couple sessions will be spent teaching you the spear. They'll be joining us outside for that, since the low ceilings don't allow for much movement." She smiled at them and they all smiled back.
Outside, Bernia set Nuala up with her bow, made sure she could use it, then set her a target to shoot at. Once certain Nuala would be okay on her own for a while, Bernia came over and worked with Harry and Mavis, showing them how best to move while throwing and how to judge distance.
All told, Harry wasn't too bad with it. Years of quidditch had given him an eye for judging distance and excellent hand-eye coordination. He had some trouble remembering to keep his wrist stiff, but was otherwise fairly well off.
When Godric and the other boys joined them, they were all sweaty, and Morgan and Vail looked a bit like they regretted picking the sword, especially when they saw the relaxed stances of their Housemates.
Bernia moved out of the way, giving the floor to her husband. Godric started them off by explaining the differences between different spear lengths, as well as what to call the relatives of the spear, such as the ranseur and javelin. He then showed them the weak points of the long weapons, so they could spot right away whether or not any they found would be useful.
At last, he passed out weighted staffs that mimicked the heft of a long spear, without the danger of them cutting themselves. Using these, he taught them some basic stances and how best to attack an opponent with them.
When Salazar saw the group at lunch, he snorted and commented, "Good to know Godric will keep you fit. Although, we might have to teach you some freshening charms."
"Shut up, Salazar," Harry muttered as he settled in on the man's right.
"Remember what I said about treating your teachers with respect?" Salazar replied, eyes gleaming with amusement.
Harry raised an eyebrow. "Oh, of course. I will endeavour to be on my best behaviour around you, then let it slip to Godric any time you're being a git."
Salazar grimaced. "Hm. On second thought..."
"I knew you'd say that."
Salazar snorted, then glanced around the table. His eyes caught on the unstrung bow Nuala had on her back and he commented, "That's not one of Bernia's. Yours?"
"Oh, yes, sir," Nuala agreed, touching the top of her bow. "My mother and elder sister make them."
"Mention that to Bernia and she'll likely buy out whatever stock they have."
Nuala smiled. "Maybe I will."
After lunch, they met back up with Godric in the Slytherin common. He had five of his leather bracers with him and he passed them out, saying, "I meant to hand these out this morning, but I forgot. These will serve as a place to store your wand, one which won't chance its discovery by a non-magical. They also double as proper archery bracers, so you'll never have to worry about picking up a bow you've found and getting welts on your wrist." He smiled at Nuala, who was switching her own bracer for the new one.
He gave them a quick lesson in how to use the bracers, then had them retrieve their writing supplies to take notes while he gave them a safety lesson in using defensive magic in a mostly non-magical world and gave them a background in defensive magics.
"Most spells of the defensive – and, often, offensive – varieties have their basis in the Latin language, as the magical Romans were far more inclined towards violence than those magic-users native to the Isles," Godric explained. "That's not to say there aren't defensive and offensive spells in your native languages, they're simply less common.
"The single most important spell in any witch or wizard's arsenal is the Shield Spell, protégé. Do any of you know it?"
Harry and Morgan both raised their hands.
"Excellent! Morgan, why don't we have you perform it?"
Morgan seemed suddenly uncertain, but he still pulled out his wand and ordered, "Protego!" causing a weak magical bubble to form around him.
"The trick," Godric offered gently, "is to trust your magic to act as it should. Don't order it – magic tends to react poorly to orders – just use the words as guidance and trust your magic will know what to do. Harry?"
Harry nodded and released his wand into his hand. Plenty familiar with the spell after practising it for days on end in preparation for the Third Task, Harry had no trouble casting a solid shield.
"Excellent!" Godric called. "Perhaps a bit less force behind your jab, however. Your shield should be translucent, rather than pearly. Now, everyone up. Clear those desks to the side. We're going to try casting the spell. You don't need to be perfect, but I would like everyone to be able to manage a shield that won't break under a spell the first time before we move on."
By the end of the lesson, everyone could manage a fair attempt at a shield and they'd also all learned the stupefy spell, to use against their shields and test their strength.
Friday morning – or the day Harry personally thought of as Friday, though he was pretty sure it was actually a Saturday – Helga followed the Slytherins back down to their common for her lessons. "Go ahead and collect your writing supplies," she said as they entered the common, and everyone dispersed to do so.
Once they'd returned and had conjured lap desks, Helga explained, "Until the weather warms up a bit, I'll be teaching you charms in the morning and we'll discuss plants in the afternoon. Once it's warmer outside, we'll switch that, so we won't have to be outside in the afternoon."
"Are we going to be doing a lot of outdoors work with the plants?" Harry wondered. They didn't yet have greenhouses, he knew, though it was on the list of things to be built that summer.
"We have a small garden along the west wall," Helga replied, smiling. "It's got an overhang, so it's mostly protected from the elements and magically warmed so some plants can grow, but, in answer to your question, dear, no, we won't be outside much until things have warmed up. On some free days, we might make a school-wide excursion into the forest to look at some of the more dangerous plants, but those have to be left for when you've all a bit more background in magical plants. For now, charms!"
As with transfiguration, a lot of what Helga went over was revision for Harry. He ended up helping Nuala and Mavis with a couple things while the other boys distracted Helga with questions.
On the way to lunch, Helga thanked Harry for his help, admitting that Rowena had already mentioned that he knew some charms. "I figured you must, since you took to those kitchen charms so well," she added. "I do hope I don't get too boring, though."
"You're never boring, Helga," Harry promised, and he meant it; Helga had a certain way of speaking that kept the attention of her audience. Even though Harry had already known everything she'd taught them, he'd still had trouble not paying attention to her.
"You're an absolute dear," Helga informed him before waving him towards his table.
"Shut up," Harry ordered as he slid in next to Salazar.
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking it," Harry replied, not fooled.
The corner of Salazar's mouth turned up in a smile for a brief moment, then he turned his attention to his food, leaving his students to discuss their morning lessons.
The afternoon lessons turned out to be more revision for Harry, who was plenty familiar with taking care of a garden in all weather and had spent four years learning about magical plants. It wasn't hard to avoid letting on, however, as Helga kept things theoretical for the day.
-0-
A/N: That's probably about as much depth as I'll go into any of the lessons, I will admit, so things will start to move a bit faster after this.
~Bats ^.^x
Spells:
Síene bate -- meaning 'sight heal' in Old English.
A light spell designed to heal any impairments of the eyes. Must be re-cast every five or so years.
Who's Who:
Fane -- Brown hair, blue eyes, one year younger than Harry. Tends to appear very friendly, though he is always looking for opportunities for himself.
Morgan Muir -- Dark brown hair, grey eyes, two years younger than Harry. Tends to look down on anyone of a lesser class than himself. Family is important to him.
Vail Grady -- dark red hair, three years younger than Harry. Idolises Salazar.
Mavis -- Red hair, four years younger than Harry. From a common, though magical, family, which she's touchy about.
Nuala -- Blonde hair, grey eyes, particularly small, five years younger than Harry. Comes from a completely non-magical family, which does business in archery materials.
01 - Impossible Distance || 02 - Layers of Harmony || 03 - Breaking Inside
07 - Heart Worth Breaking || 08 - Keep It Inside || 09 - Like the Stars
10 - I'll Breathe Again || 11 - Set Fire to the Rain || 12 - Generation Built on a Lie
13 - In Defence of Our Dreams || 14 - Night Falls In || 15 - Nobody Knows Our Names
16 - I'm Not Drowning || 17 - Beating of the Storm || 18 - Let Me See Your Fire
.
