Chương 5: I'll Make a Man Out of You! ..... "What?" [Edited]
*Oof* Was the muffled noise Harry made as he was ever so rudely woken up in the middle of a pleasant dream (a rare occurrence for him).
"Wha-who's there?" He asked as he blinked and looked around, searching for his attacker. His eyes eventually landed on a ginger blob that was sitting on his stomach; presumably after having jumped on it. Though he couldn't see too well without his glasses, he still had a pretty good idea of who it was.
"Crookshanks? What are you doing here?" He asked Hermione's scarily intelligent cat. She had told him that he could actually read; Of course, he didn't believe her - but he did think that the cat was far more intelligent than it had any business being.
'What do you think I'm doing here? I said that I'd train you so I will; now get up - We're losing daylight!' Crookshanks replied as he grabbed Harry's sleeve with his teeth and started pulling.
Not sure what else to do - and too tired to realize that he didn't take orders from a cat - Harry grabbed his glasses and groggily got up, following the feline.
'Alright, so after we finally got to the castle I spent the whole of last night exploring it. I've got a pretty good memory, and thanks to my familiar bond with Hermione I was able to use her like a compass of sorts to not get lost - so I've already got most of the castle memorized.' Crookshanks explained, though Harry just heard the cat's usual yowling, which - due to his exhausted state of mind - sounded more akin to the noise a horrifical monster would make when eating someone.
Terrified, sleepy Harry just nodded - he wasn't sure what he was nodding to - but nodded nevertheless.
'Anyway, when I was exploring the seventh floor I found the RoR. For an invisible room, it was laughably easy to find - even if I did know where to look. Turns out animals can also open the room; though its door size does shrink to accommodate for us, so I'll have to be a little specific when I ask for a training room for you.' Crookshanks continued to ramble on, not noticing that he was starting to sound more and more like a Granger.
'Oh! Now that I think about it, we can start your training now! Okay, follow me at your top speed; and do move quietly, wouldn't want you getting in trouble for being up so early now would we?' Crookshanks told Harry as soon as they exited the portrait hole.
Harry - not knowing what he was just told to do - was confused when the cat started running, but he followed anyway, picking up the pace significantly to keep up. After a few seconds he was sprinting through the halls.
"*huff**huff* Why *huff* am I *huff* following you right now?" Harry asked between breaths when they finally stopped. By now the adrenalin had fully woken him up, so he had time to think and was confused as to what exactly he was doing.
'Because I told you to. Anyway, here we are; good job climbing all those stairs at that pace, I'm impressed. Now, what to ask for?' Crookshanks brushed off his student as he started pacing back and forth in front of the wall.
"What are you-" Harry started only to stop as he jumped in surprise upon seeing a door materialize in front of him.
'Open the door please, I don't have thumbs.' Crookshanks looked expectantly at Harry.
"What, did you just want me to let you into this room? Is that why you woke me up at four in the morning and led me half-way across the castle?" Harry asked with a thick tone of annoyance.
'Just open the damn door! I only have three hours to train you before you need to be seen downstairs, and by god I am going to use it!' Was the reply he received.
"This is ridiculous." Harry deadpanned as he opened the door, blinking in surprise when he saw the dojo like room that awaited him. It had white walls similar to that of those Japanese buildings he had seen on t.v, in the middle there was a blue mat obviously meant for spars, with bookshelves lining the left side of the room, and weights and other exercise equipment lining the right. The back wall was covered in mirrors, except for a two meter long space in the middle that had weapon racks filled with bow staves, swords, and other weapons.
"Why do we even have a room like this? It doesn't line up with the design of the rest of the building at all." Harry asked nobody in particular as he walked into the room, taking it in.
The books seemed to be mostly spell books; with the occasional theory book here and there. The equipment ranged from weights of all levels, to weird looking vests, to a human sized hamster wheel, and other things that he couldn't recognize.
'So this is our new training room then? Gotta say, not bad.' Crookshanks commented as he turned and pushed the door shut - then willed it to disappear.
"Okay then Crookshanks, what is it that you wanted so bad here anyway?" Crookshanks ignored the question and went over to the bookshelf; searching for a second before jumping up and pulling down a book, then dragging it in front of the raven haired teenager.
'This is a book that contains every spell you learned in first year. For the first phase of training you will practice each of these spells over and over again until you can do it wandlessly. I'm not sure how difficult it will be, but it should get easier and easier as you master each spell.' The cat explained and sat in front of the book, looking up at the wizard expectantly.
"What?" But he got no answer as Crookshanks just continued to stare unblinkingly.
"What do you want? I already read that book and can do the spells, do you want me to show you?" Harry asked and pulled out his wand, only to get it smacked out of his hand by his new teacher.
Before he could ask the cat why he did that, Crookshanks just walked over to the mat, dragging the book and his wand with him. He then marked two lines onto the mat in the center of the room with his claw and looked back at Harry.
"Uhh?" Harry asked eloquently as he walked over, looking at the lines in confusion.
'Stand on the lines dumbass!' Crookshanks demonstrated by putting one of his front paws on one line and the tip of his tail on the other.
"Oh, you want me to stand on them. Why?" Harry asked, but just got a glare in return, prompting him to stand on the lines as he was told.
Next the cat started lowering his body over and over again, starring at Harry as if expecting him to just follow along without question. At this point Harry was starting to get a little irritated by the cats bossiness and expectation that he would just do whatever he was told. Well, Harry would tell him right now that he was no body's plaything and wasn't going to start following the orders of a cat!
The cat did look rather adorable entering and exiting a pouncing pose over and over again though.
Anyway, after following along without question and lowering his body the appropriate amount, his teacher sprinted to the back wall, jumped up to grab one of the bo staves with his mouth, and ran back while carrying it.
Placing the bow staff carefully across his legs, the cat finished by grabbing Harry's wand and jumping up on the staff - balancing precariously on the thin piece of wood that was atop the boys shaking legs.
'What your in right now is called the horse stance; we will be using this to build up your leg and back muscles while you exhausting your magic. Afterward we will do some running, some pushups, a little meditating, and finish the session off with crunches!' Crookshanks explained as he leaned over and placed the wand in the wizards hand, then looked back up at him.
"What? You want me to preform the spells while standing like this? Are you crazy? My legs are already starting to burn - and you want me to cast spells like this?" Harry asked incredulously
The cat sensei merely starred at him.
"Ugh, fine, I'll try."
Without another word, Harry started on his spell casting - exhausting himself completely within five minutes. He was even a little proud that he lasted that long. Unfortunately for him, he had four more sets of that to do before Crookshanks would let the door appear again.
-o0o-
Bitch Harry P.O.V,
Its been five days since I began my training under Crookshanks; and even though it hurts, I keep going back.
At first I wasn't sure what was going on, and after the first session I didn't want to ever go near the cat again - but when I asked him why he was doing this, he simply pointed at the scar on my neck, then stood up on his hind legs and raised his paws in front of his face in a pose similar to a boxing stance. From what I was able to gather from that, he wants me to learn to defend myself. And since I don't really have a reason to say no, I showed up the next day at the same time.
I had tried to ask Hermione if he had ever done that to her, but whenever I tried to bring anything about it up around her, Crookshanks (who was normally sitting on either her or his head) would glare at me with the strength of a thousand suns; and the next time we trained he made me read an entire book about keeping secrets properly while in that strange stance before he let me get into the normal training. Safe to say he doesn't want me telling anyone. Not sure why that is, but I guess I'll play along since it is a little embarrassing to be trained by a cat.
My friends didn't seem to notice my change in behavior, thankfully. Ron isn't the most observant person so I wasn't to worried about him, but I am a little surprised that Hermione hasn't said anything. In fact, she's been really distracted lately. I'll have to look into it.
Anyway, back to the training. At first he had me casting the same spells hundreds of times, making my magical core hurt in ways I didn't know were possible. Yesterday he made me do it without moving the wand, which required a LOT more concentration. So far we've only gone over the first year spells, but I suspect that we'll probably going through the second and third year spells after that.
During this time I have felt more exhausted then I ever have in my entire thirteen years of life - even more so than that time when I had spent four hours running from Dudley and his friends when I was seven.
And all I can do is work hard and hope to Merlin I don't die before my next Quidditch match.
-o0o-
Dark Lord Dumbles P.O.V,
The boys seems to be quite exhausted lately; so he must be practicing harder to keep up with his peers. He noticed his weakness a lot sooner then I expected; but no matter, things will continue as planned with absolutely no problems arising. After all, who would dare cause problems for the great Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore?
-o0o-
Less of a Bitch Harry P.O.V,
Its been two weeks now, and I'm starting to question my sanity. I swear that every time I leave that room my muscles are torn to shreds and my magic nonexistent, and yet I keep returning. Am I a masochist? And I swear on all that is holy I am starting to understand the cat. No joke, I know for a fact that I heard him mocking me once when I gassed out on my 68th pushup.
Other then my questionable mental state, I am starting to notice some improvements. After the sixth day of training Crookshanks had me practicing the first year spells wordlessly; and while it was extremely difficult and bore no fruit the first day, I had mastered them all by the thirteenth day. Yesterday the crazy son of a bitch tried to get me to do them wandlessly. Wandlessly! As if a third year could actually use wandless magic!
Despite that, the training really is paying off in class. All of the spells I learn in my third year classes are extremely easy in comparison, so much so that I could do them perfectly on the first try; that's even faster then Hermione! But in an effort to keep my training a secret, I have been pretending to take longer then I should. It's difficult, but I think I can manage. Besides, I don't want more attention on me.
After that I also noticed an improvement in my other studies as well. I have never been to good with theory and memorization, but after Crookshanks had me learn a technique called Occlumency as a way to help me with my meditation, my learning speed has been increasing at an astonishing speed. I wish I didn't have to keep my training a secret, because otherwise by now I'd be rivaling Hermione - and walking circles around everyone else.
As for my physical training - well, lets just say that its not going as well. My endurance is increasing - I can easily tell that - but other then that? I haven't been able to notice any growth at all in the area. Not for the lack of trying mind you! I'm not really sure why it's taking me so long to get used to an exercise, but I suspect that my malnutrition has something to do with it. Maybe I should start to eat more healthy?
-o0o-
Dark Lord Dumbles P.O.V,
It's quite surprising that the boy has managed to keep his extra practice up for this long. I had honestly expected him to give up after a week, but here he is, walking around like a corpse and groaning with every movement. What's he doing anyway? I haven't heard of any magic training that would leave someone in that state.
I would normally just read his mind to find these things out, but since everything's been going so smoothly lately, I've decided to make it a game with Severus to see who has to use Legilimancy on a student first. So I'll probably have to just follow him some time if I want to find out.
But first, I have a date with that new strip club that opened in London.
-o0o-
Chad Harry P.O.V,
After two months of hard work and dedication, I am beginning to truly see the fruits of my labor.
Sensei's training truly works wonders. I feel many times stronger than I did just two months ago, and its all thanks to Sensei's training. And my own of course, but it was mostly Sensei's.
Once my training hit the one month mark I began to do my own separate exercises outside of those three hours in the morning. At first it was simple things whenever I remembered to do it, a hover chair in class, meditating during history rather than sleeping, wearing weighted clothing that sensei had gotten from somewhere (he refused to tell me where), and other things like that. But slowly over the past month it began to get more intense.
First I tried keeping my Occlumency shields at full power 24/7, even when I'm asleep. I still haven't quite mastered that one yet but I can tell I'm close. Then I tried mental image training during all of my free time, which helped boost my mental strength, Occlumency, and fighting abilities significantly. Finally I started circulating my magic throughout my body as often as possible, a technique I learned from one of the old books in the training room that helps my muscles recover faster and lets me gain a more precise control over my body.
Because of that I was able to increase my weights by a few kilograms every three to four days. By now I'm already wearing more than 50 kilograms across my body whenever I'm awake.
My spells have also become much more powerful. I had thought that my sensei was crazy when he wanted me to learn wandless magic, but it turns out that its not actually all that difficult to learn. Of course, it took me three weeks to fully master all the first year spells wandlessly, so it wasn't a walk in the park, but nevertheless, that's a lot less time than one would expect it to take to learn one of the wizarding worlds most praised skills.
After that sensei had me practice each first year spell thousands of times a day for a ten days straight before we moved on to the second year spells. By the end of that ten days not only were the spells stronger, but they moved EXTREMELY fast and I could cast them without even thinking about it. To top it all off, each spell used a fraction of the magic that it used to to pull that off.
And as of right now, I was already almost done with mastering the second year spells wandlessly. Despite the spells being slightly more complicated, I was still able to learn them without the wand movement after only two sessions, and mastered them wordlessly after four.
Sirius Black had broken into the castle a few days ago, which prompted me to ask sensei about it; after all, he does seem to know everything that's going to happen before it happens. I suspect he has 'The sight' that my Divination teacher keeps going on about.
Sensei says that there is always more to a situation than meets the eye, but refused to tell me more. He says that while he could easily give me all the answers, I will never grow to find them myself if he does that. Sensei is so wise.
So I followed his advice and looked into it. After going through every record the public had access to - and every record the public wasn't supposed to have access to - I concluded that there was some sort of cover up going on. The evidence just didn't add up. I will look into it some more, but with what I've already got, I'm beginning to suspect that Sirius may actually be innocent; and not here at Hogwarts for me, but for revenge on the actual traitor.
About a week and half ago I had begun investigating my own life as well, and made some disturbing discoveries. From what I could gather someone has been manipulating my life for years now and I never knew! I just can't figure out who it is yet, they covered their tracks to well. I don't know who to suspect, but I do know that - while I may not be able to trust anyone else - I can trust Hermione. After all, there is no way someone that would do that could have a familiar like Sensei.
When I asked Sensei about it, Sensei talked about it as if he knew who it was, but refused to tell me. It must be because Sensei doesn't want the perpetrator to notice if I start acting differently around them, because if I do, they might very well try to either attack me or obliviate the information from my mind! Sensei's foresight is truly commendable.
Now I have a Quidditch game to attend in a few days, so Sensei offered to allow me a few days off to train on my broom, but I refused, instead opting to ask for more dodge and vision training. I also needed to learn to see small objects even in the rain somehow. I would have asked for help from Hermione for this type of thing, but with her time traveling all the time I didn't want to put another burden on her. (Crookshanks didn't tell him this, he just confirmed it after Harry figured it out on his own.)
So that's why, right now, I am in a completely dark version of our training room with which Sensei is trying to teach me to sense magic. If I can master this skill before the game it should help my chances of winning significantly. Though, I won't become arrogant. Sensei told me that he was once arrogant when he was young; and after suffering a humiliating defeat against a powerful foe, he turned over a new leaf, rejecting his right to call himself a warrior until he could prove himself worthy.
When he learned that I could understand him, the first thing he made me do was promise to learn from his mistakes, or he wouldn't continue training me. Sensei's experience truly knows no bounds.
-o0o-
Dark Lord Dumbles P.O.V,
Well that strip club was a disappointment. Why would it have so many women on the stage? I had to wait hours before they finally left and made room for the real entertainment.
What was I going to do before I left? Shit, I can't remember. Oh well, despite my great power I do still tend to forget things in my old age, no harm done. I'm sure it wasn't that important anyway.
-o0o-
'So it only takes about two months to brain wash someone then?' Crookshanks thought to himself as he watched a completely different Harry Potter standing half naked in a horse stance in the snow meditating.
Along with the significant change in demeanor, Harry's body also became much more toned over the past months, especially after he started using that magic circulation technique. He wasn't quite 'ripped' yet, but all of his muscles were clearly visible now and were much larger. He had even grown a few inches. Its really a wonder that nobody has noticed all this yet.
For the record, this wasn't intentional, at first he just wanted to teach him to be more observant and make him a little stronger, but apparently his disciple is the reincarnation of Demiurge and started coming up with a bunch of bullshit whenever Crookshanks told him to do something. For example, the cat had just told Harry that he wouldn't say who his manipulator was since that might screw canon up faster then he wanted, and the kid somehow took that as a life lesson on learning to rely on himself.
Speaking of speaking, Crookshanks was pretty confused when his disciple actually started to reply to his comments. The best theory he could come up with at the moment was that a parseltongue can actually talk to all animals, and snakes are just easier for whatever reason. He doubted that that was the case though, and decided he would look into it later.
That aside, the feline truly was proud of his student. It may have been a slow start, but he's grown so much over these past few months that the self proclaimed former warrior couldn't help but feel his pride return little by little.
Especially now, watching the kid standing shirtless in the snow at four in the morning with a look of pure determination on his face; it was enough to make an old cat cry.
Good thing he wasn't old or that would be pretty awkward.
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