Uncle Mad-Eye 2
The shopping trip to Diagon was strange for Harry. Alastor insisted on buying Harry a full wardrobe: not only robes and boots but a full set of clothing including trousers, shirts, and undergarments. He even purchased Harry multiple sets of jeans and tee-shirts from a small shop in Practik Alley, a small lane off Diagon with many shops catering to muggle-borns.
When asked, Alastor simply said, "I can transfigure my clothes. You won't be able to do that for at least a year or two if not longer. It's actually fairly difficult to transfigure clothing and make it look right. We don't want you looking out of place in the muggle world. Besides, you deserve clothes of your own."
With someone encouraging him, Harry had found that he actually liked the idea of learning and studying. This resulted in him spending far more than he probably should have at Flourish and Blotts; Alastor had to shrink the bag down so it could be carried.
Hermione would be proud of me, Harry thought idly.
It was the last stop that surprised him the most, however.
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As they approached the door to Ollivander's, Harry asked Alastor, "Why are we going here? I have a wand...?"
"We're gettin' you a backup wand," Alastor responded. "You keep it hidden at the small of your back or in your other sleeve and if you're disarmed, you're not helpless. Besides, we're getting a custom wand for you. Custom wands always work just a little bit better, and that little bit can be the difference between life and death in a fight." He shrugged. "I'd replace your current wand too, but that can wait till you're older."
"Why wait?" came the question as Harry looked around.
"Wands are focuses for your magic, young man. Each bonded wand takes in a little bit of your magic to attune itself to you. That's why it's difficult to use a wand that isn't yours; you have to work through someone else's magic." Whirling, Harry saw Ollivander standing behind him. Again. How did he always do that? "Your magic will change as you grow older. It's a waste to make a crafted wand for a child. I wouldn't make you a crafted wand at all except Alastor here insisted. One is enough until you're an adult."
"He's Harry Potter," Alastor responded, making Harry wrinkle his nose. "Too many people might want to do 'im harm. Better to be prepared."
Harry chimed in with a dry, "Constant vigilance? Does this mean I might need a new wand as I grow up?"
"Exactly, lad. Exactly," Alastor said with a proud grin.
"It's possible. Most people don't change enough to require an entirely new wand. But a crafted wand is supposed to be a true match. It won't be as you grow older." Shaking his head, Ollivander continued, "Right. Follow me." He led Harry into the back of his shop. "Now, first we select your wood." He pulled a large drawer open, revealing small discs of wood. "Touch each one while grasping your magic. The wood that suits you will feel quite warm."
Harry slowly ran his finger over the woods, frowning. "This wood here is really hot. And this one here is as well," he said, pointing to a disc of white wood and a disc of dark brown wood.
"Hmm. Aspen and blackthorn. Both are quite martial woods. Aspen is more suited for a skilled wizard, while blackthorn wands are attracted to very powerful wizards. Interesting," murmured Ollivander. "Now, pick up the two discs and follow me." Turning, he opened another drawer in which a series of cured leather straps, white hairs, and feathers could be seen. "Touch the woods over the sample cores. Again, hold your magic. The core will react if it's suitable."
Slowly, Harry did as he was told. Finally, he received a match when the aspen wood touched a green-gold feather, the feather seeming to spark with flames though it wasn't consumed. The same thing happened when he touched the blackthorn wood to the feather. "This one, I guess, sir?"
"Ah, a phoenix feather. I received that feather from a particularly odd phoenix I met while visiting Egypt. Strange fellow. He seemed to enjoy watching the Gringotts curse breakers," Ollivander said as he picked up the feather. "It'll take me an hour to finish."
"Let's get some lunch," Alastor told Harry, "And then we can pick up the wand and go home. Then I'll start testing you on the things you learned this year so I know what we need to work on."
As they walked out, Harry asked, "Can you tell me about runes? I know we don't learn about them until our third year, but what you said sounded interesting..."
"Sure, lad. We can give you a head start," Alastor agreed.
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"Faster, lad," ordered Alastor as he sat on a park bench, watching Harry run around the edge of the park. It was a few days after the trip to Diagon Alley and Alastor had started trying to improve Harry's health. "You need to work on your stamina if you want to be a good duelist. A lot of wizards ignore fitness and it bites them in the arse. I won't let you go that way."
"I don't see you running," Harry panted at him, though he kept running.
When Harry came around again, Alastor grinned at him, "My leg makes running difficult. I usually swim. We'll be doing some of that too, don't worry."
"Cheater," muttered Harry. The young man kept up his pace, however. What Alastor was having him do made sense and he was determined to do well. Perhaps because for once he had someone wanting him to excel, someone acting like a parent would.
Finally finishing his laps, Harry sat down - more collapsed - onto the bench beside Alastor. "I guess I'm out of shape," he said, breath coming in sharp gasps.
"Actually, you're doing a lot better than I thought you would," Alastor admitted. "By the time we're through, you'll be in very good shape."
"I've always been good at running," Harry said after a few moments, catching his breath. "Dudley always chased me around."
Alastor made a face at that before shaking his head, "We're done here. I'm going to pop us back home, and then you can shower and we can start our lessons."
"Oh? What are we doing today?" Harry asked, perking up.
"As you were interested, I'm going to start you on ancient runes. Also, I'll be finishing up your refresher on first-year transfiguration before starting on new material," Alastor said with a shrug.
"Oh cool!" Harry said excitedly. "How far do you think I'll get before the school year?"
"Honestly?" Alastor shrugged, "I'm not sure. You seem to be trying your best and are a bright lad. With me tutoring you, we might get started on your third year in Charms, Defense, and Transfiguration. Potions will be more difficult, but we'll get as far as we can there, too. A person always learns more quickly with one on one teaching after all and I won't have you writing homework." He smirked, "But I will be testing you."
Harry chuckled, "I want you to. Like I said before, I didn't do as well as I could last year. I want to do better."
"Why didn't you?" Alastor asked, curious at the answer.
Harry considered, "A few reasons, I guess. The Dursleys didn't like it if I did better than Dudley and it became a habit. Also, I don't know, the magical world felt overwhelming and I was so busy with Quirrel that I kind of got distracted."
"Well, as I said, I want you to do well. Not just for your grades, but because you have a target on your back. I'm not going to let you get hurt, so I need you to do your best," Alastor said. Rising to his feet, he offered a hand, "Come on, let's go."
Taking Alastor's hand, Harry felt the squeezing sensation of apparition and found himself back in the bedroom. Alastor and he slipped down the ladder and Harry told him, "I'm taking a shower, I'm covered in sweat."
"Go to it, I'll get things ready," Alastor said to him as he turned to head into his bedroom to pick up a few books. "Hurry up, I want to start your lesson; it's an introduction to Younger Futhark."
"Yes sir!"
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"You want me to what?" asked Nymphadora 'Don't Call Me That!' Tonks in a deadpan tone as she stared at her new mentor across his desk.
"The best way to learn is to teach," Mad-Eye explained. "Trust me, I know. I learned more during my first few years teaching at the Auror Academy than you would believe. You have potential, lass. You can't teach at the Academy yet but you can teach. I want you to teach my ward. The lad needs it and it'll do you good."
All she could do is stare. On one hand, he said that he thought she had potential. Mad-Eye Moody thought she had potential! On the other hand... he wanted her to teach some kid. "I never knew you had a ward. Who is it?" she asked resignedly.
"I just gained guardianship of him; it's a bit complicated, you see. But it's Harry Potter," he answered. "The lad needs to learn to duel and to fight, but first he needs to increase his spell knowledge. He just finished his first year and the teacher he had for Defense was bollocks. I want to see how you do. You'll be his Defense teacher over the summer and when he attends Hogwarts in the fall. Go wild."
"You've adopted Harry Potter?" Tonks stared at Mad-Eye. "This is a test, right? To see how gullible I am or something?"
"Lass, if I were testing you, it'd be a lot more difficult than this," Mad-Eye said with amusement. "I'm serious. I want you to push him hard. Teach him as much as you can. His magic is quite strong for his age; I'd say he's as strong as some adults already. So don't hold back on that account."
Tonks considered the man's words. "So basically you want me to teach him basic Defense spells and teach him to duel?"
"To fight, lass, not just duel. And not just basic Defense spells. Everything you learned in the Auror Academy. And anything else you can teach him: I know you learned some nasty spells from your mum," Mad-Eye stated.
"Uh, sir, some of those spells are borderline. Not illegal, but pretty nasty," Tonks said uncertainly. "And he's a first-year, he won't have the theory for a lot of it."
"Good!" Mad-Eye stated. "He needs to learn that stuff. I don't want him throwing out Unforgivables of course, but stuff like the Bone-Breaker or Asphyxiation Curse?" He nodded, "Definitely." He smirked, "As for the theory, that's part of your job. Get him up to speed. Plan out a curriculum. I'll be still teaching him other things like charms, potions, and transfiguration, too."
He knew he was basically throwing her into the deep end. That was the point.
Tonks could feel the first stirring of panic, but she damped it down. "This is going to be a lot of work. And wait, teach him at Hogwarts? How will that happen, I doubt that the Board would agree to hire me, I only graduated a year ago."
"Oh, there's a rule that allows a student to hire tutors for extra subjects or for further study. Only a few people make use of it but I'm going to. Both you and I will be visiting a few times a week under that policy," Mad-Eye told her. "I'll definitely be working with him on potions. From what he's told me, Snape is a wanker. We can work out a specific schedule later."
Taking a breath, Tonks nodded, "All right, sir. I'll do it." Part of her was amused at his words; Snape was a wanker.
"Good! Come on and I'll introduce you to him. I'll need to let you through my wards anyway. You do not want to try to apparate in by yourself yet," Mad-Eye told her.
"All right," Tonks agreed.
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When the pair came down the ladder into the trunk, they found Harry sitting on the couch reading a book. "Ah, lad. Reading up on runes?" Alastor asked approvingly, recognizing the volume.
Glancing up and seeing Alastor with a strange, pink-haired girl, Harry nodded, "Yeah, that lesson you gave me on Younger Futhark was interesting. I was looking into Elder Futhark," he told him. He grinned, "I'm starting to feel like Hermione." He glanced at the pink-haired woman curiously, and introduced himself, "Hi there. I'm Harry."
"No. Really?" Tonks snarked, before grinning, "The scar gave it away. Wotcher, Harry. I'm Tonks."
"Tonks?" Harry asked.
"Just Tonks," she replied as she looked around. "Nice enough place," she told Mad-Eye.
"I thought so when I had a friend make it for me," Alastor answered. "Harry, this is Nymphadora Tonks," he said, ignoring her glare as he used that name. "I promised Amelia that I'd take a final mentee before retiring. She's it. So you'll be seeing her around a lot. Well, you will for more than one reason. She's going to be taking over your Defense lessons."
Harry looked interested, "Amelia?" he asked, glancing at Tonks curiously, "And she's going to be teaching me? Not that I mind," he assured her.
"Mad-Eye tells me that teaching you will help me learn," Tonks said with a roll of her eyes, "So I'm your new teacher."
"Amelia Bones. She's the head of the DMLE. Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Mad-Eye explained. He really needed to add more information on wizarding Britain to Harry's lessons.
"I suppose I can understand that," Harry said with a nod. He saluted Tonks, "I'll work hard, Nymphadora." Yes, he noticed her dislike for her name. Yes, he's teasing her.
Yes, he was going to suffer for his teasing.
"Ow!" Harry said, rubbing his shin and giving her a scowl. "That hurt."
"Call me Nymphadora again and you get more Stinging Hexes," Tonks said with a smirk. "You should have been able to dodge that anyway. We'll work on that."
The look Harry gave her was one part of annoyance, one part interest. She had his attention at least. "I look forward to that if only so I can send some Stinging Hexes in your direction."
"Hah!" Tonks smirked, "Good luck with landing them."
Alastor watched their interaction and nodded to himself. They'd get along fine.
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"How is the boy doing, Alastor?" asked Albus Dumbledore. They were sitting in the man's office.
"Oh, he's doing great," Alastor told him. "He's a fine lad and once I started encouragin' him to learn he took to it like a duck to water." He smiled, "He still prefers the practical over theory but I explained to him why theory is so important and he buckled down. Now that he sees why it's important, he's flying through things. I have him partway through the third year syllabus in Charms, Defense, and Transfiguration. Plus he knows some other spells that are useful. He picked up the Shield Charm and they don't learn that until their fifth year." Alastor actually sounded proud. "I plan on teaching him the more advanced versions too. Tonks had a lot of fun shattering it with Stinging Hexes until he truly learned it."
"Really? A Shield Charm already?" Dumbledore sounded surprised. "What else has he learned?"
"I started him out on Arithmancy and Ancient Runes. Also started teaching him about magical creatures. Mostly just what ones are dangerous and what their weaknesses are. Y'never know when some idiot Pureblood's pet wampus might escape. I actually saw that happen once." Alastor shuddered.
"Ancient Runes, already?" Dumbledore frowned, "You don't want to overwork him, Alastor; don't push him too hard."
"I know what I'm doing, Albus. He's actually enjoying himself. A lot of it was his idea. I told him about Runes while I was laying protections on his bedroom and he became interested. I didn't see the harm. He's even started liking the exercise, though he wanted to kill me the first few weeks." A laugh escaped Alastor's lips at the memory. "He asked me to pick up some books on Eastern runes. Kanji and the like. Apparently, he saw something in a movie; he wants to see if Eastern wizards really do things like he saw."
"Oh, now I'm curious," Albus stated. "It's nice to hear that he's enjoying his education. He's starting to sound like he's following in his mother's footsteps."
"Don't forget James. He didn't study as much as Lily but he was a genius at Transfiguration. I daresay if he'd lived he'd have challenged your skill in the subject in a few years," Alastor noted.
"True enough. Where is Harry now?" asked Albus.
"I dropped him off at the Burrow. Last I saw, he was flyin' with his friend Ron. As I said, I know what I'm doing. I give him time to himself too," Alastor stated before adding. "Not a lot, granted, but enough."
"I'm glad to hear it," Albus stated with a smile. "I look forward to seeing his upcoming marks this year."
"Which reminds me. He's not going to be attending Snape's classes. I'll be teaching him Potions myself," Alastor stated.
Albus frowned, "I was expecting that. Are you sure it's necessary?"
"He told me about his first potion lesson, Albus. The man singled him out with two questions that were more appropriate for NEWT-level students and insulted him multiple times. From what he's told me, it wasn't a singular occurrence." Alastor frowned, "To be honest, I'd suggest you look into the situation. I'll be blunt; the number of people getting NEWTs in Potions has dropped a great deal since he became Potions Professor."
Albus sighed, "I was hoping he'd change his ways. Perhaps you're right and I'm being too forgiving." He rubbed his brow, "All right. Harry will have a free period when his classmates have Potions, and you can come to give him lessons in the evening."
"Good," Alastor said. "I will also have Tonks coming in some evenings to help him learn more Defense. It'll help if his teacher ends up being incompetent."
Albus suddenly looked embarrassed, "I'm afraid that the new Defense teacher might very well be. The only one who applied was Gilderoy Lockhart and the Board of Governors has insisted that I hire him. I'm rather unsure of his actual skill."
"Lockhart. You're having Lockhart teaching Defense? Have you read that man's books?" Alastor's voice was incredulous. "It's basically a set of romance novels. All right, Tonks will handle his Defense entirely then."
Albus sighed, "I don't like the idea of him not attending two classes, Alastor. Most children who have tutors hire additional ones. Couldn't he attend the man's classes?"
"I'm loathe to have him attend useless classes," Alastor said with a frown. "But I can understand your concern. Snape is one thing; from what I hear, literally every student knows how much the man hates Harry. All right, he'll attend the man's classes. But he isn't wasting time doing homework. Tell Lockhart that, too, so he doesn't try to force the issue."
Albus nodded at his friend, "All right, I'll make sure he's aware. Now, let's schedule those lessons of yours and Nymphadora's..."