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Harry Potter and the Ritual of Love's Memory | ||||||
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Category: Post-HBP Characters:All Genres: Action/Adventure, General, Romance Warnings: Death, Mild Language, Mild Sexual Situations, Violence Rating: PG-13 Reviews: 259 Summary: After the horcrux hunt implodes leaving most of those Harry loves dead, he starts a new life with a few fellow survivors far away from wizarding Britain. But the discovery of an ancient ritual that promises to send a single memory back in time sparks hope that maybe things can change. Dark ending to DH followed by a tweaked retelling of GoF through DH. Harry/Ginny. Friday updates. Original Timeline Voldemort's Victory - Chapter 1-5 (Feel free to skip if you don't like major character deaths) Tenochtitlán - Chapter 6-9 New Timeline Harry's 4th Year - Chapter 10-28 Harry's 5th Year - Chapter 29-68 Harry's 6th Year - Chapter 69-Current Hitcount: Story Total: 169422; Chapter Total: 1364 Awards: View Trophy Room |
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"Did you lot have fun in the gauntlets?" called out Ron over the murmuring of the students gathered near the entrance of the Defense Chamber. The crowd gave an excited cheer, although Harry noticed that several who were still in line for Madam Pomfrey to heal their various scrapes, bruises, and other minor injuries responded with slightly less enthusiasm. "If you aren't happy with your results and think you can do better, Professor Flitwick agreed to set these up again in December," added Ron. "You'll have a chance to improve throughout the term and give a better showing before the holiday break. From what we saw today, some of you might even be ready to take down the advanced course by the end of the term!" "We'll be holding monthly Defense Club meetings for any interested fourth through seventh years, with a monthly break out session for each individual year," continued Hermione. "Cho and Ron are with seventh years, the four of us are heading up sixth, Harry and Ginny will handle the fifth years again, leaving Blaise and I with the fourth years." Two or three giggly students from that year let out an excited "Whoo!" at Blaise's mention, which didn't surprise Harry. The Slytherin was popular and had quite a few other students interested in his affections. Blaise merely smirked and gave a shrug, glancing at Hermione and rolling his eyes. She didn't appear to be as amused by their outburst, but smiled back at her partner, nonetheless. "This term, we won't be focused on dueling as exclusively," said Harry, trying to raise his voice over the smattering of quiet laughter. "You've probably heard about some of the attacks that have been happening, and we've been working to make sure the club prepares all of us for what we may face out there. We'll keep up our patronus practice, but there's more than dementors to consider. For instance, next month we're focusing on how to combat inferi." There was no longer any hint of the giggly chatter from before, with several students murmuring nervously at Harry's words. "The point isn't to scare you," added Ginny. "We just want to make sure that if you get into a dangerous situation, everyone here is ready and able to defend themselves and others." "Be on the lookout for a notice about when your year's breakout meeting will happen," concluded Cho. "And be sure to tell your friends about what we're doing! We want anyone who's interested to feel welcome here, so feel free to invite people you know. Was there anything else?" Cho looked to Hermione, who glanced at her notes before shaking her head. The Head Girl thanked everyone for attending and sent them on their way, creating a swath of students excitedly chatting with each other as they made their way back to the long staircase leading from the chamber to the student lounge. Harry and the other leaders hung back, talking with various stragglers and trying to encourage the students still receiving care from Madam Pomfrey. It took Harry a few minutes to extricate himself from Colin Creevey's energetic retelling of a nearly-successful attempt at the fifth year gauntlet, but eventually managed to talk to a few of the youngest group. Demelza was the strongest of the year by a good bit, which made sense to Harry after watching her keep up with the year above her during the previous two terms. Other than her, a Hufflepuff named Owen Ndimande stood out among the fourth years. He was shorter than almost all the other students, but had a tenacity that Harry liked. He made a mental note to suggest that Hermione and Blaise keep an eye on him for the future. Ginny slid alongside Harry, quietly drawing his attention to something happening across the chamber. Ron and Padma were doing their best to coax a small contingent of fifth years toward the exit, just as they'd planned with Parvati beforehand. Ron didn't look especially adept at playing his part coolly, but the two of them eventually succeeded in drawing the other students away from Padma's sister, who was oblivious to all else while deep in conversation with Luna. Parvati had begun slowly coming out to those closest to her the previous term, but had become much more comfortable with everything over the summer and during the first month of the new school year. Ron learned from Padma that her twin was building her way toward asking Luna to join her on the first trip to Hogsmeade, which is how he and his girlfriend found themselves roped into helping give Parvati an unencumbered opportunity to make it happen. A hand squeeze resembling a death grip from Ginny threatened to dislodge Harry's fingers as they tried not to stare in anticipation. When Parvati reached out to lay her hand on Luna's arm, Ginny began smacking Harry in excitement. He couldn't hear what they were talking about, even in the echoey chamber, but he thought things seemed to be going well. That was confirmed a few moments later, when Luna planted a quick kiss on her cheek and then slipped a hand into Parvati's. The two began to make their way toward the exit, but Luna's eyes sought out Ginny as they were leaving. She waved, smiling brightly toward Ginny and Harry. They waved back and gave her an enthusiastic thumbs-up. The new couple fell into step with Padma and Ron as they all headed back toward the exit. As soon as they'd made it out of the chamber, Ginny let out a high-pitched squeal of joy that Harry thought could have been weaponized as a sonic attack. "Omigosh, I'm actually sweating!" she exclaimed, paying no mind to Harry's wince as he rubbed his ear or the several other students looking at her askance. "I think I was more nervous watching them than I was waiting for you to ask me out!" "Parvati didn't wait around as long as me, that's for sure," remarked Harry with a smile. "Thank goodness! I don't think I could have handled watching someone else go through all that." She turned to peer at Harry, scrunching up her face in concentration before breaking back into a wide smile. "Not that I'd change anything about it for us, though. If you hadn't waited around so long, there'd be less teasable fodder for me!" Harry's laughter mingled with Ginny's as they headed toward the stairs. Despite the fears and frustrations of an escalating war, he couldn't help feeling his spirits buoyed by the happiness of his friends. ~RLM~ Early in their third year, Hermione divulged to Ron and Harry that she categorized every one of their professors according to her own specialized (albeit subjective) criteria. Harry suspected this was in part due to her frustration at being so wrong about Lockhart, but it was probably also in response to overloading herself with every possible elective. Across the top of a parchment, she drew a line between the words "Clueless" and "Brilliant," while a different line went from top to bottom between "Strict" and "Lax." The three of them had done a fair bit of debating where various professors deserved to be placed over the years, joined in recent years by Ginny or occasionally Neville. In the previous few terms, Harry had finally stopped arguing against Hermione placing Snape so close to the Brilliant side, though none of their group considered allowing him to draw even with Professor McGonagall. All agreed that Professors Flitwick and Sprout were far more lax than the other Heads of House. With such frequent turnover for Defense Against the Dark Arts, the friends now shared a tradition of trying to place their new professor on the graph early in the term and revisiting their prognostication near the end of the school year. Looking back, they'd agreed that both Quirrell and Lockhart were far below average on competence and neither had been particularly strict. Lupin wasn't quite as lax as his two predecessors, but stood out as one of the most knowledgeable professors for defense. Crouch-as-Moody presented them with categorization challenges, until Ron suggested basing it off what they knew of the real Moody from Advanced Defense, which meant high competency and strictness. Umbridge's abysmal knowledge of the subject and maniacal adherence to the most inane rules imaginable led to her not even earning a place on the page. The four sixth years and Ginny had argued at lunch about where Professor Flamel deserved to land on the parchment during lunch, which sprang to Harry's mind after he, Ron, and Dean all lost ten points apiece for laughing when Seamus' attempt at a nonverbal enlarging spell caused a small explosion that singed the boy's eyebrows. He knew that losing points in defense wasn't too big of a deal, since Professor Flamel always offered a chance to earn half of the points back by correcting whatever infraction had been committed. Still, it irked Harry that he was called out much more often in defense than in his other classes. Despite being much higher on the strictness scale than Harry would have liked, he had to admit that Professor Flamel was probably the most knowledgeable defense professor they'd ever had. Her lessons covered valuable information and she taught the material well, demonstrating all the magic they were expected to learn and explaining the steps needed to successfully cast the spells. He focused on a black mark from the small explosion on Seamus' desk, twisted his wand, and concentrated on the way his body felt while using a scourgify charm. An almost-imperceptible surge of energy caused his armhair to stand up on end as his silent spell erased the residue left in front of Seamus. "Well done, Mr. Potter. That's five points back to you, as well. See to it that you each refrain from making light of others' attempts to learn or incidents that could result in injury." Harry joined Ron and Dean in sheepishly agreeing to be more respectful of others before Professor Flamel began to wrap up their class. "I am pleased with the swift progress you have made with casting simple spells nonverbally. There are typically two main learning curves with nonverbal spells: the first is the initial transition from casting out loud to casting nonverbally, which you have successfully begun to overcome. The second is far steeper and will likely require the remainder of this term and part of the next. "When working with more powerful and complex spells, the natural tendency is to use one's voice as a crutch. By increasing the volume of one's incantation, many of the subtleties of spellcasting can be overcome via brute force." She frowned slightly while peering out at her students before nodding to herself, as if deciding what to do. "Perhaps an example would be helpful. The headmaster has assured me that many of my NEWT-level students are capable of producing a corporeal patronus. Please raise a hand if you can cast the patronus charm and would be willing to help with a demonstration." Pride swelled in Harry's chest when every single student raised a hand, even if Neville did so rather timidly and Hannah looked like she might pass out if the professor actually called on her. Professor Flamel allowed herself to smile as she surveyed her class. "An excellent showing… Let's have Mr. MacMillan up here as an example. You are left-handed, correct? Then stand facing this way so that your peers can watch your wand movements more carefully. You may cast when ready." The Hufflepuff faced the side of the classroom and readied himself, with Harry watching him like a hawk. Ernie wasn't the best at casting a patronus, but he'd gotten the spell down pretty well during the second half of the previous term. With Professor Flamel's insinuation that yelling could be used to paper over small mistakes in casting form, Harry thought there was a chance to notice if Ernie's form was off. The pressure of casting an advanced, complicated spell was enough for Ernie to forget that the professor had just been warning about the potential pitfalls of relying on yelling out the incantation, and his "Expecto Patronum!" was loud enough to frighten two pixies that had made their home somewhere in the hidden spaces in the ceiling of the classroom. His ferret patronus burst from his wand and sauntered about the room, which always gave Harry a fond memory of fake Moody transfiguring Draco back in fourth year. "Thank you, Mr. MacMillan. You may be seated and take five points for Hufflepuff for your demonstration. Who can help explain what he did well or what could have been improved?" Susan's hand darted into the air a split second before Hermione's. Blaise and Harry were less intent on being the first volunteer while raising their hands. "Miss Bones?" "Ernie did well with his wand movements. They aren't too complicated, but getting them right really helps generate enough power to make the charm corporeal." "Well stated, that's three more points to Hufflepuff. Miss Granger?" "It sounded like he emphasized the first syllables slightly more than necessary. I think I remember Professor Flitwick suggesting extra inflection on the second syllables, not the first." "Astute observation. Whether aloud or nonverbal, the stress is meant to be on the second part of each word. Take three points for Gryffindor. Mr. Zabini?" "His stance was off. Your feet are supposed to be shoulder-width apart, at least if you're not casting while moving." "Well noticed. Given the opportunity to set your body before casting, spacing your feet can help provide a more solid base from which to draw power. This can still be accomplished even if one is not standing." With a flick of her wand, the professor shifted her legs upon the lower part of her wheelchair. "Though body positioning is less crucial when it comes to much of my spellcasting, it is still helpful to know how best to cast in case of great need. Three points for Slytherin. Mr. Potter?" Harry drew a quick breath and tried to remember how Ernie had looked while casting. The other three students had taken the most glaring things Harry had noticed, so he racked his brain for smaller things to note. "I thought that he might have bent his wand arm a bit, but it's best to keep your elbow locked until your patronus is fully formed. It also looked like Ernie was leaning back some. It might just be me, but I've found I get more power behind the charm if I'm leaning forward." "Excellent observations. Keeping your arm straight during casting improves power and accuracy, and leads to the patronus coalescing into its corporeal form more quickly. As for whether leaning affects one's power, that is certainly the case with some spells. "Many more offensively-based spells are best cast while leaning forward slightly, while more defensively-oriented work better when remaining straight up. For instance, a good stunning spell is improved by leaning forward, while shield spells prefer the caster to be standing or sitting up straight. The patronus may technically be categorized as a defensive spell, but I think it reasonable to say its means of defense presents in a more attacking manner. As such, a forward lean could easily coincide with better results. Take five points to Gryffindor for the insight, Mr. Potter." Even though he had technically only just made up for the points he'd lost earlier, Harry felt rather accomplished to know that his answer had been so helpful. He resolved to test out whether leaning really did help him with some of his spellcasting at a later date, but focused on Professor Flamel as she wheeled to where Ernie had stood. "I do not wish to undercut the achievement that Mr. MacMillan produced. As you are most likely aware, many fully qualified adult wizards cannot form a corporeal patronus. We note the minor flaws he displayed not to denigrate his ability, but to remind us that we all fall into bad habits when casting. Though these habits may not prevent the casting of spells, they can severely limit the power we can channel into them. For example…" With form that Harry thought could have been used to write a book on the patronus charm, Professor Flamel moved her wand and steadied her body, keeping her elbow unbent and leaning forward slightly. Without saying a word, she cast the spell. A nearly-blinding flash of silvery light burst from her wand. It formed into a charging elephant almost as soon as it exited her wand, glowing brightly and standing significantly taller than his stag or any of the creatures he'd seen in Defense Club. The light forming it looked solid enough to touch, and Harry wondered for a moment whether it could be ridden. More than a few students gasped at the sight of her patronus, and Harry heard Seamus let loose a reverent swear. A flick of Professor Flamel's wrist dismissed the charm, leaving her students either staring blankly at where the elephant had stood or awestruck at their professor. "With hard work and concentration, I believe that each of you can overcome some of the unhelpful casting habits you have mistakenly picked up. By doing so, you will be capable of strengthening your spellwork and better defending yourselves and others. Your homework is to find a partner who can help you diagnose what you can do to improve your patronus casting. I want at least twelve inches on what you need to do better." She glanced at the clock before smiling at the class. "The bell should be ringing in less than a minute, so you may leave once you've found someone to help with your patronus. Have a pleasant evening." As Harry expected, Ron and Padma paired up immediately. It wasn't as if Harry minded, but he was becoming accustomed to only snagging Ron as a partner in classes they didn't share with Padma. His best mate gave him an apologetic shrug when they caught eyes, but Harry waved him off with an eyeroll. When he turned to suggest to Hermione that they work on the project together, Harry found that Blaise had already beaten him to it. Likewise, Neville and Hannah had decided to forge ahead together, possibly out of a desire not to end up working with someone much more adept at casting the spell. Harry found that Parvati and Lavender were working together while Seamus and Dean had paired up, as always. He scanned the room to see who was available before a soft voice to his right broke his concentration. "I suppose that leaves the two of us," noted Daphne with a twinge of frustration, her eyes meeting his. "Am I right to guess you won't want to get started until after the quidditch match?" She wasn't wrong. Harry and the Gryffindor team had been preparing for their match against Slytherin frantically, as Katie tried to get her new players adjusted to the schemes. Most of his evenings for the rest of the week involved quidditch practice, except for one evening scheduled to meet with Professor Nicolas Flamel about his rogue memory. "Yeah, if we could wait until Sunday to work on it, that'd probably be better," admitted Harry. "But once the match is behind me, I should have some more free time to focus on this. If I remember from last term, your patronus is a fox, right?" Daphne smiled slyly. "Not a bad memory, Harry! Think you can manage a study session after breakfast, or will you be too busy sleeping off your victory celebration from the night before?" "There's no way I'm counting my chickens before they hatch," replied Harry, some of Wood's superstition creeping into the back of his mind. "But I should be good to go for Sunday morning, whether I've been up at a Gryffindor party or wallowing in misery." Daphne looked at him as if he were trying to convince her that Hagrid was average in height. "Even Slytherins like me who don't care about quidditch at all know that our team hasn't yet got the best of you. It used to infuriate Draco more than just about anything else. If they finally get a win over you after Draco quit the team, he might actually cry." "Wait, Malfoy's not playing seeker?" asked Harry. Not that he was very good, but Draco had been on the team since their second year and had invested a lot of time (and his father's gold) into the Slytherin squad. "Yeah, he made a big deal of having 'more important things to do' when he officially dropped his spot on the team." Harry left the defense classroom with his head flooded with a myriad of unlikely answers to the new question burrowing its way into his mind: what was Draco Malfoy doing? |
| Reviews 259 |
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