Lord Harry Potter

Harry cast Sunfire against the transfigured target. The room flashed hot. He cast Fulmenifer against the charring remains. He extinguished it all with a Water Globe then used three Diviso spells to chop it all finely. Then he vanished the lot.

He missed his phoenix feather and holly wand. But his new wand of mahogany and unicorn hair felt comfortable now. If he could say he was comfortable here at Hogwarts at all.

It had been much easier being at home in one tent or another. He hadn't realized how stressed he became being watched by so many people. They made note of the color of his famous finger. Wasn't that grand? He'd lost his famous scar, but now he had a famous finger to make up for it...

Okay, he was in a snit. He was in a rage. People... People could be so stupid, so thoughtless. Harry didn't even know what details set him off this time... He just had to get away. Burning and zapping things helped.

He transfigured another target and went again. He was tempted to add faces, but didn't. The list of people was simply too long.

Harry smiled at that.

He had developed a good public smile when walking around. It was hard to be so guarded for so long, but he had to. He had taken Madam Warbeck's words to heart. He might not want to sing to people, but they were fans of a sort. He had to be polite when he was out there...

"I say, Harry, why are you burning wood in Hogwarts?" a figure asked while floating through the wall.

Merlin... It was Dumbledore the Pale Fool.

Harry thought to cast a Fulmenifer at Dumbledore's ghost, but the dotty old apparition would probably like it, become another addict. Harry the Ghostly Drug Dealer.

"Now, I suppose you've heard about the Tournament and are preparing."

"Tournament?"

"Oh... Well, far be it from me to ruin a surprise," the ghost said.

Why not? It ruined everything else.

"It'll be for the older children. I started the negotiations, very preliminary, a few years back. I've no doubt things are continuing along nicely... So you won't need to show off your fire spell. You really should train that out of doors, you know, Harry..."

Sometimes Advisor Dumbledore appeared. Other times Mysterious Dumbledore. Today was Chatty Dumbledore, the worst kind of Dumbledore there was because it rattled between advice and mystery and anything else that popped into its mind.

Harry vanished what he had been working on. He packed up and headed for the door.

"I say, Harry, you should have Madam Pomfrey look at your finger. It doesn't look so good."

Harry didn't look. He knew. He could feel it.

"Have you been dabbling in Dark magic, my boy? You see what it does to you? First your finger, then perhaps your mind. This is not a road you wish to travel, I tell you..."

That was it. Harry needed to finish up his Rune project. He needed to keep these ghosts away. He might have to be pleasant in public, but he was going to restrict his efforts to only the living.

Harry stormed out of the room and that damned ghost followed after for two floors. It managed three more insulting comments. Only after Harry lost the ghost did he double back for Gryffindor Tower.

The usual gang was trying to work on homework. It was fairly loud in there. Why didn't they go to the library... They always went after Harry came back. Neville, Hermione, and Ron were always here waiting for Harry to get back.

That really was nice of them. And Harry had been slow to realize. They must know what he was doing. Not the details, but that he needed time to himself.

"Hey everyone," Harry said. "Charms essay?"

"Done," Ron said.

Hermione looked skeptical at that.

"Harry, you're working on your spells, aren't you?" Neville asked. Neville continued to firm up his backbone this year.

"Yeah, why?"

"I'm really fighting to learn these new spells..."

Harry had noticed. Whatever had changed inside Neville's mind hadn't changed his handling of magic.

"Fighting, like as in pushing too much..."

"Well, I hate to cast spells in here. Maybe we could go out on the grounds?"

Or up to the fifth floor...

There it was. The temporary solution to Harry's ghost problem since Dumbledore was wary of other people.

Harry did trust these guys and a few more. He should have showed everyone his training rooms before.

"Can you keep a secret?" Harry asked.

"I would like to," Hermione said. She was always listening and watching. She had never quite invited herself along when Harry was in a training mood, but perhaps she had changed her mind.

Neville and Ron nodded.

"I found an empty couple of rooms a while back." Two years back, he didn't say. "I work on spells there. Stone walls, it's pretty safe."

"Could I? I mean, would you let me...," Neville asked.

"Sure."

"And me?" Hermione asked rather than demanded.

"Of course." Harry looked at his other friend. "Ron, you in?"

"Nah. Thanks for asking, though."

Harry knew he should tell Ron about his theory of magic, that Ron would be far happier at the Burrow. More active, less...listless. Hogwarts really was harming him, Harry thought.

But how to tell Ron?

Neville might know something of it. His magic was content with his plants. Then, Hermione had found something to quiet her drives, the lecture series she kept going from high point to high point... Okay, Sir Nicholas had been a bit of a bore, but no one was really surprised. Ghosts teaching history must be a bad idea, regardless of which ghost it was.

And Harry felt better, too. His spell work usually centered him. So what did that mean? Should he be a duelist or something? Harry had no idea, just that he was calmer after he worked his spells...

"Okay, tomorrow after Charms. I have a little ritual I use to keep from being followed..."

"I noticed," Hermione said.

.....

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