Hogwarts Year One

Summer (age 11) The Zoo

Harry and Hermione were glad to get home, they would have about a month before they would go back for the Wards seminar. Dan and Emma had accepted an invitation for supper, so it was just one big happy "family" that night. Most of the conversation was Harry and Hermione telling about their schooling, and their invitation to the seminar. All of the adults were impressed with both kids and what they had learned. Dan and Emma were glad Hermione was getting a regular education as well as her magical education.

After supper Harry and Hermione had to demonstrate some of their spellwork for the adults, just to show what they had learned. The highlight of the demonstrations was when Harry and Hermione showed their staff work. It was at this point that Sirius told them of Alana's suggestion for staff training. Rick said that several of the martial arts had staff work in them, except they called them a bo instead of a staff. He said he would see if he could find someone to teach them that type of martial art, along with their regular self defense classes.

Sirius went on to tell everyone about his new job as Chief Warlock and what he had already done. Remus added that both Harry and Hermione needed to keep their advanced training a secret when they went to Hogwarts. Hermione asked why not just go to Peaks. Harry told her that he wanted to go to Hogwarts like his dad had done, and Sirius and Remus told her that it was a request of Harry's parents that he attend Hogwarts.

Harry and Hermione had agreed that they would each spend time with their families for a few weeks before starting back to training with Lucy, Rick, and Remus (Sirius was busy with wizengamot business). Harry was told that he had to spend time back at #4 Privet so the wards could recharge and so as not to draw attention to him or the fact he didn't stay there much. In addition, Lucy said, Petunia had a surprise for Harry - and it wasn't a bad one either. They worked it out that Harry would sleep at #4, but would spend his days with Lucy or Remus - the best of both worlds.

Harry and Lucy went to #4 about three days later, Lucy transported them so that they arrived in the back yard unseen. When they knocked on the back door it was answered by Dudley, "Hey Dad, the freak is back again". This got him a slap to the head by Petunia, "You be nice to Harry, there is no telling what he has learned and what he might be able to do if you upset him", Petunia said then turned and smiled at Harry and Lucy and asked them to step inside.

"Harry I hope you had a good term at school and it is nice to see you again", Petunia said then leaned in and whispered "After Vernon leaves I have something to show you Harry".

Harry was surprised and Lucy just smiled. After Vernon had left for work, and Dudley had gone to find some of his friends, Petunia started asking Harry what all he had learned at school and telling him that she had been learning also, from Lucy. With that Petunia pulled a wand out of her sleeve and with exaggerated movement made one of the plates on the table float. Harry was speechless.

"Harry, while you were off at school Lucy has been working with me. I can't do much magic as I'm not very strong, despite Lucy's potions, and can only do a few things. But now I understand some of what you and Lily felt when doing magic. Like I said, I can't do much but, if you don't mind, I would like for you to teach me some simple things. Oh, Lucy that potion you me gave for Vernon worked, he didn't snore all night long.", Petunia said with a big smile.

Harry agreed to try and teach his aunt s few simple spells as long as it didn't cause a problem. But he wasn't sure what he could teach that Lucy couldn't teach better. Lucy explained that she had never learned many of the simple household spells that most witches used everyday and that she knew that they had been covered at Peaks. Harry said he could do most of them but hardly ever used a wand for them. This surprised Petunia since she had been told that only a very powerful magic user could do magic without a wand.

With Lucy watching closely; Harry showed both women a few simple charms, like how to clean dishes, fold clothes, and perform scourgify to clean things other than dishes. Harry said Hermione could probably show them more as she had spent more time on them than he had and knew the wand motions better. When Harry asked about Petunia's wand he was told that Lucy had obtained it for her. Lucy also explained that Rick had added a magic concealing ward around the house so that Petunia and Harry's magic wouldn't be detected, unless Harry really put out a lot of energy.

Lucy left Harry and Petunia talking about magic and what Harry had learned in school. Lucy's next stop was to see Hermione and to ask her if she would teach some of the household charms to Petunia and herself. Hermione was quick to agree to teaching the charms, and maybe a few pranks as well. When Emma heard what could be done with simple charms she said she wished she was a witch so she wouldn't have to do so much by hand, and then laughed about it.

It got to where Harry spent a little time each day showing his aunt simple spells and the rest working with either Lucy, Remus, Rick, or his new martial arts instructor, who was teaching how to wield a bo staff. Sirius and Rick were still looking for someone to teach Harry, and Hermione, how to utilize a magical staff correctly.

It was Dudley's birthday and as usual he had a large amount of presents waiting at the breakfast table. It was decided that Harry would accompany them as they took Dudley and one of his friends to the zoo as part of the birthday celebration, Harry wasn't enthused with the idea but all the adults were tied up that day so no lessons.

Just before they left Petunia pulled Harry to the side and asked how Harry managed to carry his wand in public. Harry explained about the holsters he had for his wands and that the keychain he had was really his staff. Petunia said she wished she could carry her wand, but it kept getting hung up in her purse, even if she couldn't do much with it. Harry knew the feeling of being without a wand and could sympathize with her.

The day started out fine as the boys walked around and looked at the animals, the first problem came at lunch. Everyone was having lunch and Vernon had bought Dudley a large sundae, which he complained about being too small, which Harry ended up with until Dudley's friend "accidentally" knocked it into Harry's lap. Harry didn't even think he just cleaned himself up quickly. Vernon saw this and started yelling at Harry, Petunia quickly placed her hand over Vernon's mouth and told him he was drawing attention to them. This caused Vernon to get quiet really fast as he hated drawing attention to himself.

After lunch they headed to the reptile exhibits; this was where the second problem occurred. Dudley and his friend were trying to get the attention of a Burmese Python and it appeared to be asleep. As the two boys walked away Harry approached the glass enclosure and could hear the snake complaining about "two legged pests". When Harry spoke to it the snake raised it's head and looked at Harry. The two had a quick pleasant conversation until it was interrupted by Dudley and friend shoving Harry out of the way to see the snake better.

The two boys were again knocking on the glass when it wasn't there any more, the boys fell into the enclosure and the snake came out. The idea of a large snake loose in the exhibit caused a little bit of panic, but the only thing the snake did was say bye to Harry and head out the door. When things had quieted down it was discovered that Dudley and friend were now behind the glass with people staring at them. Harry could hear several other snakes expressing a desire to be free also.

It took almost two hours for the zoo to remove the glass to get Dudley out, his friend had been able to crawl out the hatch on top but Dudley was too fat to fit. Vernon was livid, and Petunia was doing all she could to keep from laughing once she saw Dudley was safe. Harry just stood around and listened to the other snakes and lizards complain about not getting out. Vernon tried to cause problems but it seemed that the zoo had cameras in the building and they showed that Harry did nothing unusual, they even showed Vernon knocking on the glass in spite of a sign saying not to do so.

The trip home was quiet, except for Dudley complaining and both boys shaking due to being wet, and smelly. Once back at #4, and Dudley's friend had gone home, Vernon took a swing at Harry. That was a bad idea as Harry remembered his training and defended himself. Petunia got into the act when she told Vernon that the camera clearly showed that Harry didn't have his wand so therefore he couldn't have done any magic, as she winked at Harry. Later Petunia asked Harry if he thought she could learn to do things without her wand, he told her he wasn't sure but doubted it. The snake was never caught or found and people were nervous for a while.

When Harry told the others about the incident Sirius and Remus were ready to go "have a little talk" with Vernon. Rick told them that he had already "spoken" to Vernon "the walrus" and explained that his behavior was unacceptable, also that Vernon was now in the negative as far as the money was concerned - Vernon owed money now for the year instead of getting money. Lucy and Hermione were too busy laughing to say much.

It was soon time for the seminar on wards, in preparation for the seminar Remus had given the kids an overview of Runes as these were used frequently in wards. The seminar was only a week long so no time compression would be needed. Lucy, Harry, and Hermione arrived at Peaks on Saturday, before the seminar started on Monday, so they could seeif Alana had any suggestions as to an instructor of staff usage, she didn't.

The first day of the session was an introduction of the speakers and an overview of what warding was all about. Harry and Hermione were assigned to the introductory classes, which were being lead by Grimstead. Grimstead started off by saying that most warding wizards didn't use a staff in their work but a couple of the most famous ones had made use of staves for very advanced wards, some of which still had not been completely understood much less broken. He went on to say that the use of staves would not be covered in his classes.

The definition of wards, as far as Grimstead was concerned was that a ward was a strong set of spells set by a magical being to protect or enhance something. The more advanced wards were keyed to a "ward stone" which was a special type of stone that was only found in very few places (mostly in a select area of Africa). But this class would only cover the basic spell wards.

"One of the most common wards used isn't usually even called a ward, it is called a child protection charm. This charm is used by almost all mothers to protect a child after birth. But it is actually a ward, this ward protects the child from fire, insects, and accidents. The reason it is a ward is because it combines several effects in one spell or incantation. In addition to protecting the child it also includes a component to alert the mother if something is wrong with the child."

"In most spells you cast the spell and that is the end of it, the spell does what it was designed to do and ends. Not so with wards, with a ward the caster's power is used to initially cast the spell but then another spell or object is used to provide continuing power to the ward. This may be done with ward stones, runes, or some type of power source such as special gems. Some of the strongest wards use a combination of several power sources, the source of power for the child protection ward is the child itself. The ward draws a very small part of the magic in the child to power itself. The amount of power drawn is increased when something happens to send the alert to the mother. But the energy required is less than that used to snap your fingers. In the case of fire or an accident the power drawn is more and the child will be weak for a few minutes afterwards. In extreme circumstances the ward will draw power from the mother to empower the protection of the child. That is just a very common and simple ward, imagine what you could do if you with more powerful magic in the initial spell and intent.", Grimstead explained as an introduction.

Everyone in that class had to learn this very simple ward as a basis for moving on to more powerful wards. Hermione had no problem with this, Harry on the other hand seemed to struggle with this spell. Harry was getting frustrated when Grimstead said that if the males in the class were having problems then that was expected as the ward was centered on the female and keyed to her core and gender. Males could cast the ward but it wasn't as effective, there were also a few other simple wards that were female specific in casting but they wouldn't be going into those. The class would focus on wards that most wizards and witches could cast equally, depending on the power of the wizard or witch.

The rest of the week was spent learning more about wards and the uses of said wards. The last day of the class Grimstead had obtained a ward stone and brought it to class to show what more powerful wards entailed to be set. The set of wards he used was the common household protection wards, fire, weather, insects, and intrusion. He set the wards on a very large dollhouse to demonstrate them. Then he set the same wards but added runes to the ward stone to show the difference when combining several power sources. Harry asked where the ward got its power the first time and was told from the earth it self usually but in this case from the ward stone which would have to be recharged occasionally.

This brought up an important point, all wards had to be recharged from time to time, with the exception of those very advanced wards that drew their power from the earth's core and included many complex runes to channel that power and regulate it. "Even the wards around Peaks have to be recharged on a yearly basis, as do the common household wards", Grimstead explained. He went on to say that sometimes all it took to recharge a ward was for magical people to be around so the wards could draw power from them to recharge., the amount of power drawn was so small and so slow that it wasn't noticed or missed and sometimes it was only a specific person effected.

Harry asked if it was possible to transfer the source from one person to another? Grimstead said it was usually fairly easy to do this, but you had to know who was the original source first. In a surprised move it was announced that in order to get credit for the seminar the participants had to take a test. Grimstead set each student up with a model house and they had to set basic household wards on it. He would then test the wards set to see if they were correct.

There were only ten members of the section that Harry and Hermione were in so the testing shouldn't take long. Grimstead said he would test Harry and Hermione last as they were the youngest and would take the longest to set their wards. Grimstead had only tested three houses when Hermione said she was finished with her wards, Harry was still working on his. Grimstead said she would be tested just before Harry and to take the time to re-examine her wards.

Grimstead finally got to Hermione's house; first he sent a swarm of termites to the house, they wouldn't approach. Next he sent a weak fire spell at the house, no effect; now he sent a mini-storm, the house remained unaffected. Grimstead animated a small doll and had it try to enter the house, the doll was thrown across the room and set on fire. Grimstead looked at Hermione, then told her the intrusion ward was too strong; but she passed.

Now it was Harry's turn, he was nervous. Grimstead tested Harry's house the same way as he had Hermione's. Insects had no effect and wouldn't approach, in fact a few more fled the house from inside. Fire wouldn't touch the house, Harry smiled as Firebeard appeared and shook his head at Grimstead. The mini-storm had even less effect than on Hermione's house. When Grimstead tried to send the doll in the house allowed the entry then bound the doll and stunned it. Grimstead tried to pick the doll up and got a mild shock and chains appeared around his fingers. Hermione tried and she could pick up the doll without problems.

As soon as everyone had tried, and had chains on their fingers, Harry released the chains. It seemed that even full grown wizards couldn't remove the chains. Then Harry explained that he had thought that friends should be able to enter the house but not anyone with the intent to harm. Grimstead said he was impressed, but when he went to vanish the house like the rest it refused to leave.

Grimstead asked one of the more experienced warders from another class to try and break the wards. An hour later a very tired wizard broke the wards, but said if the person who warded the house had done that to a real house then it might take a week to break the wards as the amount of magic was extremely large in relation to the size of the house. Grimstead had to know what Harry had done but waited until after class to ask.

"Harry, once again you have impressed me with your achievements. I have to ask, how did you get the wards so strong? Have you had training in wards before and didn't tell anyone?", Grimstead asked.

"No sir, this is the first time I have even tried anything with wards. I just set the wards like you showed us in class, except I used my staff, in its shrunken state, to add to them as an experiment. While setting the wards I was thinking that my friends and family should be able to enter without getting hurt or tripping the wards. I did include the alert part of the child protection ward in the house wards so the wards told me when Hermione tried something and allowed it. I don't understand why you couldn't vanish the house or why that man had so much trouble breaking the wards", Harry replied.

"Harry, did you become frustrated while setting the wards?", Hermione asked. Harry nodded. "Professor that might explain it, when Harry really puts his all into a spell it is very hard to break. He once cast Protego and it took three adults and myself to remove it since Harry was knocked out. If Harry was frustrated then he probably put a lot of energy into the wards without knowing it", Hermione continued to explain.

Grimstead called Alana over and asked if she knew of an old house that he could experiment on and that if destroyed wouldn't cause any problems. Alana suggested they use an old abandoned military site that was used from time to time for training MBI agents. They frequently destroyed buildings while learning breeching techniques.

The four of them, plus Lucy, traveled to the site. Grimstead asked Harry if he would set the same wards on one of the buildings. The building selected was concrete instead of wood so it would be stronger structurally. It took Harry an hour to set his wards. He didn't tell them but Hermione, Lucy, and Alana were the only ones keyed into the wards besides himself; he didn't want any of them hurt by the wards.

Grimstead tried many spells to breech the wards and nothing worked. When he tried to enter he was stunned and bound with real chains. Once released Grimstead asked what about mundanes walking up to the house, since this wasn't that unusual in the states. Harry said he didn't know what would happen. Alana tried to enter, prepared for the stun and chains, but nothing happened, the same with Hermione. When Lucy tried she was bounded but not stunned. This surprised Harry as she was supposed to be keyed in.

Lucy explained that she had been thinking that she would teach Harry a lesson and enter then cause a small fire. Harry understood, it was her intent that the wards reacted to and not her presents. About that time a group of men and women appeared. Alana explained that these were a training class here to learn breeching techniques, before she went to speak with the leader. Alana explained that they were there to test some simple wards and that it might be useful if they tested the wards for her.

The leader said that it might prove interesting for his group to try and detect and break the wards set by someone besides the staff. He turned to his group and told them that the wards set were set by someone else other than staff and as a test they would try and detect then breech those wards. He called the top student forward and told him to have at it. The student had little trouble detecting the wards but said they were too strong to breech easily as far as he could tell. All of the students tried to detect the wards, to see what wards were present that is, two couldn't tell what wards were present. They could tell there were wards there just not what they were.

The instructors all tried and they said the wards were simple household protection wards and should be easily broken, Alana smiled at that comment. Each student tried to breech the house wards and failed. The instructors were surprised when they couldn't remove the bindings from their students but Harry, or Hermione, had no problems. The group tried entering as an assault group and couldn't get anywhere that way either.

Next they tried apparating inside the house, entry wasn't the problem. The problem started when they appeared, stunning and binding were the most common result. The instructors tried a portkey resulting in the same reaction from the wards. One of the students just walked inside the house and nothing happened, until he tried to stun someone. It took a few minutes for him to be revived. The lead instructor explained that it seemed that it was the intent of the person that triggered the wards protective nature.

Alana asked if it would be possible to test the wards with a mundane to see what reaction was elicited. The leader sent for one of the mundanes that worked for the department. The person had no problem entering the house and wasn't effected. Next they had the same person try again but to concentrate on doing harm to the house, he entered but was overcome by nausea and reported that there was a horrible smell inside now. Next, the instructors tried to break the wards; they succeeded after any hour, but all of them were useless for anything then. They were almost completely drained of energy and magic. After a few "pepper-up" potions the instructors wanted to know who had set the wards so they could be prepared next time.

It was only after the five of them returned to Peaks that Grimstead mentioned that he had not seen Harry use his staff to set the wards. Harry said he didn't think to use his staff that time, just his wand. Grimstead told them that if Harry ever took a real interest in warding then someone was in for a real surprise when facing those wards. Grimstead bid them farewell but suggested that Harry think about studying runes in the future if he was interested in warding.

Once the three returned to England, Lucy told everyone about what had occurred and the compliments Harry and Hermione had received. She also mentioned the complaints from the MBI instructors about the stunning and chains. When Sirius heard this he just laughed loud and long, he remembered that training and how "stuck up" the instructors had been. Harry then explained about his idea, transfer the wards at #4 to Petunia, that way the household would always be protected and the wards would stay strong even when he was away. Rick agreed and said it would really confuse Dumbledore when the wards didn't weaken.

A/N: Well, there you have the first chapter of the Hogwarts Years. I had written a final chapter for Before Hogwarts but couldn't get it to come out like I wanted so dropped it and decided to start Harry and Hermione to Hogwarts. Next chapter - Diagon Alley and the Hogwarts letters.

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