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Chapter 1015: The Scar
Chapter 1015: The Scar
Harry bolted upright, his hand flying to his forehead where his scar throbbed painfully. His face wore an expression of fatigue and disorientation from the nightmare that had plagued him once more.
Once again, he had dreamed of that long, dimly lit corridor.
This nightmare had been recurring ever since the summer break. Each time, it was the same corridor, and on occasions when the dream extended further, he would see a locked door at the end of it.
These damn dreams disturbed him, and while Harry didn't know what they meant, he knew that repeatedly having the same dream couldn't be a good sign.
He was certain that dreaming it once or twice could be a coincidence, but the frequency of these dreams made it impossible for them to be mere happenstance.
He had mentioned this to Sirius during the holidays, and upon returning to school, he had also consulted Albert about it.
Albert had told him that the dream might be related to Voldemort's power growing stronger again. He had offered four suggestions: to always stay calm, to find someone to learn Occlumency from, to take a Dreamless Sleep Potion before bed, and to seek Dumbledore's help if needed.
Harry felt that Albert might have guessed something, but he hadn't said anything definitive, only providing these suggestions.
Harry had sought Sirius' help through the two-way mirror, but Sirius was often busy, so Harry mostly confided in his best friends.
Ron always looked worried but didn't know what to do, while Hermione suggested that Harry seek help from Professor Dumbledore. However, Harry hadn't seen the professor lately and couldn't even get into his office.
As a result, most of the time, Harry could only take a small dose of tranquilizers to control his emotions and try to keep himself from being affected by them, which was the only thing he could do for now.
The throbbing pain from his lightning-bolt scar prompted Harry to get out of bed. He reached under his pillow and pulled out a small bottle, from which he poured a few pain-relieving pills.
This bottle had been given to him by Sirius after he had told him about his nightmares. It helped ease the pain from the scar, and he suspected it was another one of Anderson's creations.
Harry poured himself a glass of water and took a big gulp to soothe his dry throat. As he prepared to return to rest, he noticed that Seamus was staring at him.
Harry paid no mind to his gaze and lay back down.
Ever since the unpleasantness on the first night of term, Harry hadn't bothered much with him.
He was just a self-deluded fool, and Harry couldn't help someone who refused to face reality.
After taking the medication, the throbbing pain from his forehead scar subsided significantly, and Harry closed his eyes, feeling drowsy. He intended to take a quick nap, as he planned to go to Hogsmeade Village later, so sleeping in a bit wouldn't hurt.
Harry woke up later than usual and still felt tired as he headed downstairs for breakfast. He ate slowly, mechanically pushing food into his mouth while casually chatting with Ron, who was flipping through the newspaper beside him. It was then that Hermione brought them some good news.
Fred and George had found a suitably secluded place to use as a D.A. room.
This was undoubtedly cause for celebration, as Harry had previously doubted they would ever find such a place.
The D.A. activities had not yet started, and it seemed they would be ending soon.
As they made their way through Filch's inspections and toward Hogsmeade, Harry asked, "Have you been to the room Fred and George mentioned?"
"No, Fred and George told me to finalize the gathering time first, and then they'll tell me the specific location," Hermione said in a lowered voice. "I suspect it's their secret base."
"Those two have quite a few secrets," Ron mumbled.
"I think they've been influenced by Albert," Harry said, scratching his head as he tried to recall a phrase but couldn't quite remember. So, he changed the subject and said, "But his 'Self-Defense Guide' is really good. It's just that some parts are incomprehensible without instruction, like the section on spellcasting techniques, Hermione. Can you make sense of it?"
"What techniques?" Ron asked, confused.
"The ones that teach you how to duel," Hermione explained. "I think the book is quite advanced. There are a lot of things we haven't learned yet, and Albert seems to advocate for nonverbal spellcasting in combat, but I don't think many people in the school are good at it."
"What are you two talking about?" Ron was lost, as he hadn't read the 'Self-Defense Guide.' "The 'Self-Defense Guide' also teaches dueling," Harry explained to Ron. "Most of the time, though, it suggests not confronting dark wizards head-on."
"But it does provide a lot of examples," Hermione continued. "Like what to do if you encounter several malicious wizards in a forest, or how to protect yourself from werewolves, giants, Dementors, or even a werewolf in its human form."
"Sounds practical," Ron said, finding it intriguing. He decided to ask Hermione to borrow the book after Harry was done reading it.
"In a forest, you can use spells like 'Sandstorm' to create distractions and take advantage of the enemy's obscured vision to escape using the Disillusionment Charm or the Disguise Charm. You can also cast spells on plants to make them attack your enemies, but I think that would require a high level of proficiency in Transfiguration spells," Hermione said, feeling that if the 'Self-Defense Guide' were used as the foundation for the Dark Magic Defense class, only a handful of students would barely scrape a pass by the time they graduated.
It was no wonder that Hogwarts' Dark Magic Defense education was so lackluster.
"I think that if you thoroughly studied everything in the 'Self-Defense Guide,' you'd probably be at the level of an apprentice Auror," Harry said, although he didn't know exactly what the standards for apprentice Aurors were. However, he had heard from Sirius that the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic were generally mediocre. While they might be skilled in certain areas, most of their abilities were not very useful in practice, and they were rather inept at capturing dark wizards.
On this matter, Sirius had more authority to speak than anyone else.
Soon after his escape from Azkaban, he had made fools of those Aurors.
While others walked their dogs, his dog walked him.
"I bet old Toadface would go crazy if he saw the contents of the 'Self-Defense Guide,'" Hermione said with a hint of schadenfreude, knowing that Albert and the others had basically made a mockery of Snape.
Who had borrowed the 'Self-Defense Guide'? Well, it had made the rounds.
"It's a shame we don't have a competent Dark Magic Defense professor to teach us this useful knowledge," Hermione lamented, feeling disappointed that Albert couldn't be their teacher.
Unlike Hermione's musings, Harry, upon finishing the 'Self-Defense Guide,' merely felt that it was incredible that he had managed to survive against Voldemort. Suddenly, he understood why Albert often said he was a lucky person.
(End of Chapter)
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