Harry Potter And So It Begins

The next morning they began their training. Raven had set up a military obstacle course for them to run through to build up their speed, strength and endurance. "For the next couple of weeks you will run this course until you can clear it under a minute. We will break for lunch then continue till dusk," he told them. Angela, Ron, Ginny and Hermione groaned while Harry, Susan and Neville just nodded. By the end of the month ALL of them were able to complete the course in 45 seconds consistently for an hour before showing signs of fatigue.

Also, during that month Harry and Susan could be found spending the time between training sessions and dinner talking. While at times it could be painful remembering the ones they lost, they both found it helped them to talk to someone who was going through the same things they were. In addition, they found that it helped them to focus on their training, reminding themselves that they were continuing the fight their families had started.

On the weekends the teens spent most of their time at the Quidditch Pit. Ron, Harry, and Ginny along with Susan and Angel, who were trying out for their teams this year, spent every free moment playing against the illusionary opponents Raven created for them. Neville and Hermione watched them practice and cheered for their friends. Occasionally Fred, George, Billy, Raven and Charlie would join them.

The next month they moved on to more combat oriented training. Although Mrs. Weasley disapproved of their being taught to fight, she had to admit that Raven knew what he was doing. During their first few sessions Raven converted the obstacle course into an urban combat training area. He and Charlie would then pose as Death Eaters and 'hunt' the teens through the designated combat zones. Mrs. Weasley watched as Charlie and Raven 'hunted' the teens and had to stop herself several times from interfering. She knew the purpose of the course was to teach them to hide and evade and she knew that Charlie and Raven would never actually hit any of the teens. Still it was hard to watch and by the end of the first week she stopped observing their sessions.

The next week Raven decided it was time to teach them wandless magic. "But isn't that advanced magic?" Neville asked. He was more then a little uncertain if he was ready for this. Raven smiled at the young man who was becoming more like his father everyday. "It's only considered advanced because most wizards are either too lazy or too set in their ways to learn it," he answered simply. "Wandless magic," he continued, "is perhaps the purest and most basic form of magic."

"The reason it isn't normally taught is because the Wizarding world has become so much about structure and control that it has forgotten how to tap into its true magic. All accidental magic is wandless and happens either when we are really scared or really angry. Wands and spells are merely tools used to focus the magic within. But if you open your mind and let go of the restraints that have been drilled into your mind, you can learn. All you have to do is 'feel' the magic within you and 'will' it to do what you want."

They began by trying the levitation spell since Raven said it was best to start with the basics. "Focus on making the rocks float," he instructed pointing to the rocks on the ground. "Speak if it helps, but mostly just feel the magic flow through you and lift the rock." Raven watched as they all tried and failed. He knew it wasn't going to be easy since they had five years of Hogwarts teaching working against them. Every bit of magic they had learned focused around wand work and pronunciation. His heart went out to poor Neville, who looked absolutely devastated by his lack of progress. "It's okay Neville," Raven consoled him. "I knew this wasn't going to be easy."

"Then why teach us?" Neville asked dejectedly.

"Cause I believe in all of you," Raven answered honestly. "I've watched how far you've all come and seen how hard you've worked to get here." He placed a reassuring hand on Neville's shoulder as he looked him in the eyes. "You are so much like Frank and Alice. I know you can do this." He smiled.

"My Grams says I need to be more like my Da," Neville says looking away.

"Your Grams has her head up her arse," Raven replied causing Neville to glare at him in rage. He spoke quickly as the teen pulled away. "She misses your Da so much that she's made him into this perfect hero that he never was. Frank was a good man, never forget that, but he was only human. He had the same gentle strength about him that you do and the same natural sense of right and wrong. That's why he became an Auror."

Neville smiled at Raven's words. He had been told so many time how great his father was but never had he been told that the was a lot like his father. He was now even more determined to try harder to become as strong as he could.

As they tried again, Raven began to encourage and instruct them. "Allow the magic to flow through you. Feel it grow inside of you and reach out with it. Don't fight it, let it come to you. It's already a part of you, you just need to direct it."

By the end of the day they had all managed to levitate and summon their rocks to their hands. As they went back to the cottage they were very happy with themselves. Harry and Susan were in his room talking like always and were discussing Raven again. "He reminds me a lot of Professor McGonagall," Harry told her. "He's a bit hard on us at times but it's only because he cares."

"I know," Susan agreed. "He's tough when he has to be but kind and caring the rest of the time. kind of like you," she giggled.

"Like me?" Harry asked confused.

Susan smiled warmly. "Yes, like you. In DA last year you drilled it into us how important it was to remain focused and how different it would be when we used our skills for real. But you were so nice and patient when instructing. It was actually kind of cute."

Harry blushed at her comment before ducking the pillow she threw at him. It was a type of signal they had developed. Whenever the discussions began to get too serious one of them would throw a pillow at the other. This of course led to a pillow fight and laughter. They both enjoyed their time together and found it easier to tell each other things they could never confide to even their best friends.