“Harry! Harry, are you alright?” Hermione said when Harry emerged from the classroom alongside Professor Lupin.
“I’m fine, Hermione,” Harry replied, brushing off some of the ashes from his robes, “I forgot it was a boggart and cast a real spell at it instead. My mistake.”
“I don’t blame you, mate. That thing was bloody terrifying!” Ron said, “The way its mouth opened like that and swallowed those orbs with our faces on them…”
He shivered and looked back at Harry, “No wonder you were afraid of that thing. I nearly cursed it too!”
“Yes,” Harry said softly, “It… it was terrifying. But I’m in trouble now. Professor Lupin was about to take me into the headmistress for casting that spell.”
Harry turned to Lupin who had been watching and listening in from the side.
“Ah, quite right Harry. We’ll be off now,” the man said.
Harry started walking away and Lupin followed behind him in apparent confusion.
“Bye, guys,” Harry said as he left, eyes lingering on Hermione who was frowning at him. Ron and Neville looked much less suspicious at his sudden departure.
— — —
“...I found that spell in a very old book I skimmed through at Diagon Alley,” Harry said to the Headmistress, “The book specifically said it wasn’t dark magic. According to the author it is only dark magic when you infuse your emotions into a spell. Apparently it was wrong.”
“It is dark magic, Mr. Potter,” McGonagall said, “I will let it slide this time because of your ignorance, but be very careful what kind of spells you learn in the future. By that author's definition no spell is dark since any curse can be cast without emotional infusion even if they are extremely weak without doing so.”
McGonagall glanced briefly at Lupin before looking back to Harry, “And what was the creature that the boggart transformed into?” she asked with a piercing look, “I have never heard of a creature matching that description in all of my years.”
Harry cleared his throat, “Well, ah, it is the one that let me escape the Dursleys over the summer. The one that broke open the stairs above me for me to crawl out of before it left to fight my captors.”
McGonagall instantly sat back and let out a long breath, “Ah, I see,” she said before turning to Lupin, “Have you ever observed such a creature before, Professor Lupin? Any theories on its origin? The descriptions of the creature were rather scrambled from what the ministry told me.”
Lupin shook his head, “A few ideas. Its grayish skin and lack of anything except skin and a slit for a mouth on its head make it most similar to Dementors in appearance. But its teeth were sharp indicating that unlike the dementors' more spiritual attack it is likely geared towards physical consumption of meat as well. The three orbs with young Harry’s friends' faces on them…”
Lupin glanced at Harry and he glanced away. McGonagall was staring at Harry intently as Lupin spoke rather than the man himself.
“...They may be a representation of their souls-” Lupin continued, “-meaning the creature would be a…”
“...a Soul eater,” McGonagall finished heavily.
“Mr. Potter, how were you aware that the creature could consume souls?” She asked him piercingly, “The boggart can only use information about their fear that you are aware of.”
“I… Well…” Harry floundered, “I don’t know!” he eventually said as he bought time to think of a lie, “Well actually… the dementors on the train… I looked them up afterward, and I heard that they consume souls. I thought they looked similar so maybe I just assumed that thing could as well?” he finished slightly uncertainly.
“Hmph,” McGonagall said, “No need to be so nervous Mr. Potter. There’s a reason why we allowed professor Lupin to show students the boggart. Many underestimate them and end up with a horrible experience that lasts however long until someone else finds and rescues them or they finally fight back. Despite the spell you used, there is no shame in panicking and forgetting for a moment that it was only a boggart. You will receive at least three days' detention where you will help Professor Lupin clean up his classroom. You will stay longer if it is not in perfect shape after three days. Understood?”
“Yes, Headmistress,” Harry replied.
Harry turned to leave, “Harry,” McGonagall said from behind stopping him, a note of tension in her voice.
Harry looked at her. “I’m sorry for the actions of Albus,” she said, “I… I truly didn’t know about any of it. I was horrified when I learned everything you had gone through. I just trusted him for all these years and…”
She took a deep breath,
“I’m sorry I didn’t investigate, Harry. I should have done something.”
“It is fine, Headmistress,” Harry replied relaxing as they tread on more familiar ground, “I’m much happier now that I’m living with Alice and Frank. Dumbledore is in prison where he won’t be able to do anything else. I’m glad you weren’t in on anything, I liked you as a teacher. The new one isn’t nearly as good and everyone keeps complaining about how much better you were.”
“Ah,” McGonagall replied while looking a little pleased, “I’m glad the students appreciated me. Truth be told, I enjoy teaching much more than this political job. But I can do much more good now as Headmistress than when I was a teacher. I’m glad Alice and Frank are doing well. They still won’t talk to me…”
She shook her head, “But that is my problem not yours. Just know that I am not Albus. If there are any issues then you report them to your new head of house or me and I’ll do my best to help you. I would rather you report and have it be nothing than allow the rampant bullying continue in this school…”
“Thank you, Headmistress,” Harry said.
“Very well, you are dismissed,” McGonagall said.
— — —
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“...So then I had detention after my classes and helped the professor clean up the classroom,” Harry finished as Salazar’s painting nodded along.
“Your lie was decent, but you should have thought of it on the way over to the office rather than on the spot,” Salazar said, “It was a rather obvious question to ask of you. You are lucky you got off with merely a warning. These modern wizards and witches are all rather stuffy about their dark magic. Back in my day one wasn’t a proper wizard if at least half of their spells weren't dark. Even Godric Gryffindor used them sometimes even if he used them less than most of those he fought.”
“Why did I feel so strange after casting the spell?” Harry asked, “It is not like me to be so emotional or bloodthirsty. But then it just cut off after a few seconds.”
“Oh, you very much did cast true dark magic,” Salazar said, “If one is unskilled then infusing your emotions into a spell creates feedback amplifying the emotion being infused a short while after you cast. It is one of the largest reasons why these modern wizards hate it so much. Dark magic is very dangerous for your mental health when you are first starting out as a beginner. But once you pass the bottleneck it is not exactly pleasant to use, but it is nothing close to as overwhelming as you experienced recently. Imagine how intense the emotion would be for most people if you of all people was so affected.”
“But how do I fix it?” Harry asked, “I just used the spell instinctively to attack the boggart. What if I make a mistake like that again?”
“There’s only one thing for it,” Salazar said, clapping his hands with a wide smile.
“Practice!” he declared proudly, “I will personally tutor you in the dark spells here in the training chamber of the sanctum. No heir of mine will deprive themselves of an entire branch of magic because of this modern hogwash and superstition.”
Harry’s eyes widened slightly, “Really?” he said, “You will teach me personally?”
“Yes, of course,” Salazar said, “It’s a shame what modern wizards consider the peak of dark magic. But I do want one thing in return…”
“What’s that?” Harry asked, instantly becoming a little wary.
Seeing Harry fingering his wand, Salazar held up his hand, “Nothing much, don’t worry,” He said, “Just come into the ritual room and perform your transformation a few times before each session. I’d like to study it and see what I can learn.”
Harry let go of his wand, “That’s all?”
“Yes, no more than an inconvenience for you,” Salazar assured Harry.
“Okay,” Harry said, “Thank you for helping me.”
“Don’t thank me yet, boy,” Salazar said, “Let's go to the training room and I’ll begin your instruction. You know the way.”
Salazar stood and walked to the side of his painting and disappeared. Harry did know the way and after walking a few minutes through the library walked through the door to the training room. There were a few heavily metallic enchanted dummies that Harry had been using as targets for his spells. The magic of the room helped clean things up after Harry was done and could slightly change if Harry asked Salazar for a modification. Salazar had managed to add a long hallway on the side filled with moving targets for Harry’s spell practice and to improve his aim.
Harry saw Salazar waiting in his painting.
“Alright, Heir,” Salazar said as Harry positioned himself in front of the dummy, “Cast that spell from before. But be your usual calm self while you cast. Don’t let the slightest bit of emotion sway you.”
Harry focused and did feel something as the memories of the boggart rushed back to him, but managed to suppress it. “Incendio Diabolica,” he said calmly and dark red flames emerged from his wand and struck the dummy. They washed over it for a second before quickly petering out and barely scorching the dummy.
“Good! Your natural state is helping you with that step. I didn’t think it would be hard for you,” Salazar said, “Now, the hard part. Bring back the feeling you had when you saw the Boggart consuming your friends. Let it flow through you, build your anger. Release it through the spell for two seconds, then when I call for it, stop casting immediately. Do you understand? It is very important to build your discipline and not allow yourself to be carried away in the moment. Otherwise your magic may become used to causing feedback in the body after infusion. This can lead to instability and make you easier to anger after casting a spell.”
“I understand,” Harry said, raising his wand. He thought back to that moment where the boggart dropped Hermione’s soul into its jaws. With his memory every little detail was caught in perfect detail. Harry started breathing a little heavier and his heart rate increased.
“Begin!” Salazar called.
“Incendio Diabolica!” Harry shouted and pitch black flames shot out of his wand and washed over the dummy. It roared and burned until the whole construct was bathed in it.
“...Harry… Harry,” Salazar called faintly over the roar of the flames
Harry cut off the flames as he realized he had been casting for too long. He took a shaky breath and calmed himself as the black flames continued flickering over the dummy. Salazar made a gesture and the Dummy flashed and suddenly was good as new with all of Harry’s flames snuffed in an instant. Harry took a deep breath and then let it out slowly.
“Loss of control,” Salazar said clinically, “That source of anger was too strong. It overwhelmed your reason during the feedback period. Let's start again from the bottom. Pick something that made you angry, but less than that. Perhaps an annoyance or something minor. Enough for infusion but not enough to overwhelm you.”
Harry thought about it for a minute before he remembered being told that Dumbledore would be keeping him at the castle for the winter holidays. He had felt a flicker of anger back then as well.
“I’m ready,” Harry said.
“Very well,” Salazar said, “Just remember to cut off your spell the instant I say so. Focus your mind. Ready, set… begin.”
Harry remembered his anger and brought it to the front of his mind. Something in his chest tightened, but his breathing and heartbeat didn’t change this time.
“Incendio Diabolica!” Harry called and black flames with a reddish center launched from his wand and washed over the dummy. Harry kept up the streams of flame and maintained his anger, but was careful to listen to Salazar’s voice.
“Stop!” Salazar called and Harry hesitated slightly before stopping casting and taking another deep breath to calm himself.
“Better,” Salazar said, “But I saw your hesitation to stop. You must master yourself and stop yourself the instant you wish to end the spell. You must make a decision on your course of action, then execute and follow through. That is your introduction to true Dark magic, that will be all you will do today.”
Harry looked at Salazar and blinked, “That’s it?” He said, “I only cast three spells.”
“Indeed, and already you seem more emotional than normal,” Salazar said, “Untalented wizards and sometimes even talented ones fail because they move too quickly with dark magic, thinking it is a source of easy power. It is not and in fact is one of the more difficult fields to truly master. The second part that most wizards miss in learning this magic is the ability to calm yourself in an instant if you need to. Even the most powerful barrage of spells is useless if you are a fool lost in a rage while doing so. Well, it may work on these modern dullards, but back in my day you would be punished severely for making such mistakes in battles with your peers.”
“Weren’t you one of the most powerful wizards at the time?” Harry asked, “Isn’t that unfair to the rest of the wizarding population?”
“Hmph! And you want to be normal, do you?” Salazar said, “What a waste. Besides, if you were ever truly threatened by someone’s raw power you could transform and handle them easily while they are surprised. You should be preparing to fight the smart ones anyway, with your talent you will end up fighting them eventually whether you like it or not. If for the prestige if nothing else.”
“I’m not sure things work the same as they did a thousand years ago,” Harry said but Salazar just waved his hand as if to brush away the comment.
“Regardless,” Salazar said, “Practice the spell with no infusion at all if you wish. Practice calming yourself in an instant whenever you become angered in your normal life. If you ever are again given your demeanor. But that is all for the true dark magic for today, do not practice it without me monitoring you or you may undo all the work we will do and let your magic get into bad habits that are far more difficult to break once you establish them.”
Harry considered that for a moment before nodding. “Okay, Salazar. Thank you for the lesson even if it was very short.”
“Bah!” Salazar said, smiling as if he was amused as he spoke, “Youngsters don’t even appreciate the teachings of a master anymore!”