Chronicles of Camelot

Defense, dragons and dead men

Even as Harry watched the lesson continue, occasionally being called up for examples and being asked about the tasks at hand, at one point, he caught sight of Ginny looking in his direction, a warm smile crossing her face as she mouthed a simple statement in Harry's direction:

"I like her."

'I know she does,' Harry thought with a chuckle, 'I can't wait to see what surprises turn up in my own Illusionism lessons.'

Chapter 30: Defence, Dragons and Dead Men

After the surprises of their first Illusionism lessons, Harry and the others began to take a deeper respect for the art in itself: unlike Professor Flitwick, who seemed to have the students trying – and in most cases, failing – to cross over into the Void, Lily had them all meditating on the white mists of the Void, conjured by the combined powers of those who had managed it, namely Neville, Harry, Hermione and, of course, Professor Potter herself.

For their first lesson, Lily had asked her fourth-year class to work on summoning an apparition from within the mists, but not before she told Harry that he had to do it without the aid of Excalibur; still, he managed it, but it left him pretty weakened as well as wondering what other surprises could be waiting for the year ahead.

He got his answer Thursday morning before their first Defence lesson with Sirius…

HPHG

Waking in the familiar arms of his betrothed, Harry felt like he was about to have the best day ever: Sirius in the morning, followed by a free period in which he and Hermione had planned some training down in the Chamber and then, under the warm September sun, they would have Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon. Dressing in his Hogwarts robes, Harry slid Excalibur under his belt, styled his hair just how he liked it and, turning to a small nest next to his bed, reached out with his hand and tickled at Iris' chin, the little dragon chirping contentedly as she looked up at him.

'Good morning my little one,' Harry sent to her, keeping his warm touch under her chin as he watched Iris adjust herself so that she could enjoy the touch of her human.

'Good morning to you too my Harry,' Iris replied, now purring as she moved her head down Harry's hand, before she began to crawl up his arm, 'Are you expecting trouble this morning?'

'As long as Dumbledore is still headmaster,' Harry reasoned, 'I'll always be expecting trouble, but now I need to know the limits of my enemies and, for that, I need my secret weapon.'

'I will always be by your side my little king,' Iris hissed soothingly, settling herself around Harry's arm as she puffed at the skin on his hand, 'But you have many other weapons at your disposal: why do you call me the secret?'

With a sly smile, Harry ran a delicate finger over the small spikes on Iris' head, his eyes reflecting in hers as he told her, 'Because I felt your power last night: I know what's happened.'

Settling down under his wrist, Harry turned to the bed and, bending down, was about to give his betrothed a special good-morning kiss when a loud pounding on their door had Hermione sitting bolt upright…smacking Harry in the teeth with her head!

"Ow!" Harry groaned, massaging his jaw where his Queen had hit him, "Hermione; mental note: don't hover over her when she's sleeping."

"I'm sorry Harry," Hermione sang, her delicate fingers now massaging the spot on his jaw as she then asked, "Who is it?"

"I don't know," Harry replied, looking to the door as he asked, "What's wrong?"

"Lord Potter," the sharp, well-cut tone of Dante McShane had Harry standing upright, Hermione moving to get dressed as the two heard him. "Captain McDale wishes you both to be escorted all over today: both I and Felicia have volunteered with Tyler and Elora watching your friends: the Captain will keep watch over Lady Evans."