After checking on Hedwig and her eggs again the next morning, Harry went back to Longbottom Manor early this time. Amelia had agreed to teach them in the early morning and he was really curious about how her lessons would be. She seemed like she would be a good teacher.
At least she couldn't be worse that the DADA professors they had. He hoped so at least. Though she is the Head of the DMLE so that had to count for something. She problably knew a lot, fought a lot in her career.
He was also looking forward to see Susan and maybe Hannah again. He had liked Susan when teaching her in the DA and he was looking forward to get to know her a bit better and Hannah too, of course. Mostly he just hoped that Hermione would answer his letter soon. He really wanted her to come and train with them. They needed to be as ready as possible for what was to come.
It was once again Dobby who wanted to bring him to Longbottom Manor and this time he asked to stay in Longbottom Manor as long as Harry was there. Harry, of course, gave his permission and wished him luck with the wooing of House-Elf Tessy.
Though he did wonder how that would work if they actually bonded in marriage the House-Elf way. He wouldn't know how that would work. What if they had children? Which House would they go to? Would Dobby have to leave their family so he could be with Tessy? But those were thoughts for another day. Right now Dobby had only gotten a polite 'hello' from the female Elf.
Harry calmly walked to the sun room where he expected everyone to be and came into the room to see Neville, Gran, Amelia and Susan Bones drinking their morning cup of tea. Hannah Abbott wasn't there but Harry hadn't really expected her to be here anyway on the first day the Bones family were at Longbottom Manor.
He gave them a subtle scan over to see if they were truly uninjured. One never knew with the Daily Prophet. Susan had the pretty sky blue eyes typical of the Bones Family, just like her aunt, and she had a light brown-reddish hair with a slight curl to it. She was quite tall for her age with pale skin like her aunt. Just like Neville and Harry himself, she too had grown a lot this summer Harry noticed absently.
Harry went to greet them in the traditional way he had only just learned this summer and he could see how surprised she was as he bowed over her hand to air kiss it. In return, Susan curtsied to him like the Lady she was.
Harry had never greeted anyone this way before this summer but it seemed like she liked the way he greeted her now. Harry was relieved that he had gooten it right. Gran had told him this was the respectful way to greet a lady in the Wizarding World but before now he had only been able to practise on Gran. He hoped that Susan would understand that he hadn't known about it, that he hadn't been unpolite on purpose while at Hogwarts.
As Harry stood up straight again he saw Susan smiling at him with a twinkle in her eyes and he could see Gran staring at them from the corner of his eye with a thoughtful look on her face. Oh no, Gran better not start matchmaking for him. He had heard from Neville that Gran was starting asking him questions about girls he could see as a possible wife.
He liked Susan just fine but it probably wouldn't be fair to her with the way he felt about Hermione. Not that Harry thought he had much of a chance with his best friend. Still, he wouldn't want to lead a girl on. After Cho he had decided to leave romance and dating alone. It clearly wasn't for him. Perhaps he could try again when it was safe again, if ever. He only knew he wanted someone who wasn't obsessed with the Boy-Who-Lived nonsense. Someone who saw just Harry. A partner. Hermione.
Shaking his head at his thoughts Harry turned to Amelia and asked how she was doing after the attack on Bones Manor and if there have been any arrests made since then.
Amelia was clearly irritated when she answered with, "No unfortunately we were unable to arrest Greyback and the Death Eaters that attacked the Manor. We were very fortunate that we were not at home at the time of the attack. It's most likely that I would not have made it against such bad odds. Fennir Greyback has been evading my Aurors for more than a decade by now for a reason."
Amelia looked him straight in the eyes as she continued with, "Thank you, Hadrian, if not for you, Susan would have been alone in this world without any family left to support her."
Harry was once again made uncomfortable with the gratefulness others showed him and he answered her quietly, "I'm very glad that the both of you are alright but it was nothing I did. Oh and please call me Harry, the both of you. I am still not used to my actual legal name." He stated while slightly blushing. He quickly changed the subject and hoped that Amelia would do the same.
Amelia nodded, taking the hint, and asked her new students, "Very well then. Now that tea time is over shall we move to the training room? I still have some things to teach you children."
Harry, Neville and Susan quickly stood up and followed Amelia to the training room of Longbottom Manor. They were clearly very interested in what the woman could teach them. Hermione would have loved to be here, being able to ask her questions to an actual professional. Hopefully she would join them soon.
Harry wasn't really worried about the lessons. He knew he was quite good at DA already so hopefully he would still learn some helpful stuff here. But he wasn't really worried about that. Amelia Bones was a woman who looked like she could teach them a lot. Though Harry did feel slightly apprehensive when seeing the look on Madam Bones face. There was a worrying smirk there.
It was an hour later that the Lady Bones stood over the bodies of the three exausted teenagers. She was now smirking openly at them while twirling her wand casually in her hand.
"You didn't think I got where I am in the Ministry by just being the Lady of House Bones now did you?" She looked fierce when saying that and Harry got the feeling that other people often thought that she only got to her high position in the Ministry by being a pure-blooded female in the Wizarding World.
Well, that was obviously not true at all. Amelia Bones was a badass and Harry was very glad that she was willing to teach them how to survive this war. He clearly still had a lot of room to improve himself.
She then started to tell them what to improve on. Neville should work on his stamina, Susan on her spell knowledge and Harry should work on his control which was a bit spotty after he drank the blood-adoption potion.
So Neville got an physical training schedule, Susan a list of spells to practise and Harry needed to practice the spells he had learned at Hogwarts from first year and up. Just so he could get used to his new body, the new wand, his power levels and how much he needed for each spell.
Then she separated them to work on each of their weak points while she switched beween them to offer help and advice. It was nice.
Susan looked to Harry and Neville and said, "Don't you think this feels familiar? It is just like the DA only now you are the student and not the teacher, Harry."
Harry had to agree with her. Now that Susan mentioned it, Amelia's way of teaching was very similar to the way Harry himself used to teach the DA. Only Amelia was actually an experienced adult who obviously knew what she was doing. Harry himself had just winged it. She gave them great tips and helped them stand the correct way when casting a certain spell and with the right wand movements so they could cast the spells with maximum effect.
She gave them shortcuts Hogwarts never taught them and it clearly worked just as well if not better. It was a faster way of casting and Amelia told them it would help them prepare for silent casting. It would safe their lives one day.
After another hour of practising, Amelia called them together and told them they would spar in a three-way spar. They were tired but perked up a bit at this. Duelling was awesome and not something they could do often.
Even at the DA Harry had rarely let his students actually duel. It just wasn't safe since he wouldn't have known what to do if something had gone wrong. And something would have gone wrong. Teenagers often weren't exacly responsible enough to keep to the rules of the duel. Emotions could have run high or there was a grudge between people and someone would have gotten injured.
And with Umbridge in the school they couldn't afford to draw attention to themselves. But now Amelia would supervise them. It was a nice feeling that they could go all out now.
It would be Susan vs Neville vs Harry. She told them that the winner would spar against her if he or she still had the energy for it. Otherwise they would do it the next day.
The three looked at each other and got in position as Amelia counted from 3, 2, 1 and begin!
Harry ducked so he could avoid the spells the other two shot at him. They cast a few spells at each other before Harry decided to cast he spell he had wanted to try out for a while and since he was a bit offended that they would try to take him out first, this would be the perfect opportunity.
And so he cast the spell in Neville's direction with a murmured, "Ducklifors".
He had wanted to try that spell out for a while and now he finally had the opportunity to cast it on a living person and not on a dummie. Neville still owned him for laughing at him for dancing with their Gran so this was the perfect opportunity. Harry was quite good in holding a grudge against someone and this was the perfect moment for some friendly pay back.
It took only a second and then there were two teenagers, one stupified looking Lady Bones and one brown feathered duck quaking indignantly at them. Harry and Susan looked at each other and burst out in laughing. They laughed so hard they forgot they were supposed to be sparring against each other which Amelia decided would be a good teaching moment for the three teenagers.
Then there was a flash of red light and soon all three of the teenagers were petrified, well, two teenagers and one duck whom was soon turned back into the teenager he actually was.
When they woke up again they were sitting next to each other and their teacher was standing in front of them. She said, "What can you tell me about what went wrong in this spar?"
They thought about it and Harry answered, "I got distracted after I duckafied Neville and that meant you could easily stun us." Harry was a bit embarrassed that he had gotten so distracted. This wasn't for fun or for school or something but so that he could survive in this war and he should treat it that way. He needed to take this seriously.
Amelia looked approving that he could admit his mistake and said, "That is right, Harry. You can never assume that you are alone when battling an opponent. Be on your guard and you are less likely to be cursed in the back. That counts for all three of you."
Susan, Harry and Neville nodded seriously. They would be more on their guard from now on. As the fake Moody had kept saying, 'Constant Vigilance!'
Amelia continued with, "Now for what you did good, Harry, you 'ducked'," She said with an amused glance at the embarrassed boy sitting next to him, "out of the way instead of casting a shield. That is a good thing you did since it costs a lot less time and magic to duck instead of casting the spell for a shield. You also cast a unexpected spell which would be highly distracting on a battlefield. Good choice "
She continued after making sure Harry had understood her words, "As for you, Susan and Neville, good decision to work together to try and fell a stronger opponent. Unfortunaly you guys didn't count for his ducking away from both of your spells and casting one back. Learn from this spar, you guys and I hope that tomorrow you will do better." With an amused glance to Neville, "Please pardon the puns, Neville."
It was almost time for lunch by now and Amelia decided that Harry and her would spar tomorrow morning instead of now since Harry had also lessons with Augusta after lunch. They had cast a lot of magic today and it was time for a break. Amelia was used to training adults so she had to remind herself that while her new students were clearly above avarage, they were still children who didn't have the magical stanima of an adult. She would have to slowly built that up with them.
After a nice lunch it was time for his lessons with Gran. First he got quizzed by her about what she had taught him the day before in their lessons and when she was happy he remembered what he should she went on with the lesson of today.
Today it was more about the magical families themself. Gran told him about the characteristics of each family and how he could recognise a member of it. Like how the Potters always had messy dark hair, the Longbottoms hazel eyes, the Bones sky blue eyes, the Malfoys white blond hair or the Weasleys red hair.
Those specific things could only a born member of a magical family have and most of the time only the members of the Main branch would inherited that specific trait. If two Main members of two different families married there would always be a child born with the characteristics of the family he or she was Heir to.
So since Harry was decended from three families he would probalby have at least one child with green eyes, one child with Potter hair and one child with the Black silvery blue eyes. But as Harry was born as a Potter from his fathers side and a Slytherin from his mothers side and so he had the messy Potter hair and the Slytherin green eyes.
If he ever had three children. Harry knew he wanted at least two children so that they would have a sibling to play with but he was only sixteen and he hasn't even had a girlfriend yet. And there was a Dark Lord after his life. He shouldn't forget about that.
Gran also told him more about the history of the Potter and Black families. About how the Potter family started as a rich merchant family and a few important inventions made by a Potter like the most recent Sleekeazy hair potion had made the family affluent. Harry resolved to try harder with potions even if Snape was his professor.
She also told him about the Potter tendency to fall in love only once in their life and to be very careful to whom he gave his heart to. She told him how his father courted his mother after she finally allowed him to. It had taken James Potter seven long years before he got Lily Evans favor but by then it had clearly been a love match.
His father had to grow up a lot before his mother decided he was someone she wanted as a friend, and later as her partner. Harry still disliked thinking about that memory he saw in Snape's pensieve. It had been such a shock to learn his father had been a bully. But while James Potter had grown out of it, Snape seemed to like bullying his students.
No matter the reason, Harry found, bullying was wrong. It was abuse and Harry would not tolerate it anymore. From now on he would make sure Ron kept his mouth shut when he got rude. He would keep a better eye on Luna. Those wackspurts would know that their victim was not unprotected any longer. She was his friend and he would try his best to be a better friend to her.
Augusta also told him about the informal courtship between Sirius and Remus. Harry knew that Sirius and Remus had a past together but an actual courtship? They had dated? With the way Remus quickly thought the worst of Sirius from what Harry had seen from the man interacting with Sirius? Merlin, that man must have been so very different before that Halloween night.
Harry really didn't understand the wolf. Perhaps it was time to de some research on werewolves? Maybe there was something he didn't know about them that could help him explain Remus behavor. He had always been a bit distant to Harry but it had gotten worse since Sirius died. Or maybe he just hadn't noticed it?
After Harry had recovered from that bit of news Gran continued with telling him about the Black family. The Black family had always been a noble one. There was even some royal blood in the Black family from marriages with muggle royalty.
Harry was surprised to hear about Blacks marrying muggles even if it was royalty but Gran explained that it was only in the last few generations that the Blacks muggle hatred was a thing. They had always been for separation between the two worlds but it was only when Grindelwald started his campain that the hatred and cruelty for muggles started in the Black family. That the inbreeding started. Before that the Black family motto Toujours Pur meant being pure of magic and craft. Not the pure of blood that it was now.
Harry knew immediately that he would the take back the old meaning of Toujours Pur. A new generation of Blacks with a new-ish motto.
After this very informative talk, it was time for the dance lessons again. Harry was able to perform the basic steps now but he had to be able to dance the five different waltzes with Gran before the summer ended. It was difficult and strange but Harry started to enjoy himself a bit more. The lessons also showed him how bad he had been at the Yule Ball. He really should apologise to Parvati. He hadn't treated her right that evening.
Maybe Gran could advise him on a good way to apologise to his house-mate.
Harry was glad to notice that he was getting quite good with the Viennese Waltz and even Gran seemed to be enjoying herself at the end of the lesson. Harry knew that he had gotten more graceful after the blood-adoption, but he was still surprised that he was actually dancing now. The old him would never have gotten it so quickly.
After the lesson Harry went to call for Dobby so that they could go home again. It was almost dinner time again and Kreacher would be waiting for them so that they could eat dinner together.
Harry called, "Dobby!" He had to wait a little while, which was unusual but then a blushing Dobby appeared next to him.
Harry was amused at the appearance of the Elf and asked Dobby how his day went with trying to woo the pretty Elf Tessy, "Hello Dobby, how was your day?"
Dobby answered with, "Master be kind to ask after Dobby's day. Dobby has had a good day! Dobby be helping Tessy with her chores and Tessy even lets him hold her hand once! Dobby be so happy..." The House Elf looked dreamy as he trailed of.
Harry was very amused now but still had to ask Dobby to take them home because otherwise they would be late for the dinner Kreacher prepared for them. And Harry did not want an angry Kreacher coming to Longbottom Manor to scold them for being late. Kreacher might have mellowed out a bit but he was still not an Elf to anger. Angry House-Elves could get very creative.
So Dobby took his hand and they popped away to their home and to the probably cranky Elf waiting for them.