One Day They'll Know Your Name

Hidden names

Authors note: CW! References to slight abuse via the Dursleys. Nothing explicitly stated, but it's obvious that's what's being referenced. It's just a quick little sentence near the end of the Charms section, so you shouldn't miss anything important if you skip after the line "'Harry!' Draco almost yelled. 'You nearly gave me a heart attack! How'd you get it so fast?'" and come back in right after the line break.

The next morning after breakfast found Harry excitedly headed toward the Ancient Runes classroom with Draco and Neville. When Les Amis had asked their parents about the electives, they discovered that all of the classes had been taken by one or another of them during their own Hogwarts years. The teenagers used this resource to its full extent, getting stories from the classes and asking about how useful it was now that they'd graduated. Aunt Cissa had been especially helpful with the questions about the Ancient Runes class and had even demonstrated some uses for the group. Harry had been fascinated and had watched intently as a Raidho rune allowed her to shrink her trunk to the size and weight of a small book. She had then asked to borrow his glasses, which Harry had recently gotten updated for the first time and pointed out a tiny Kennaz rune just on the inside of the earpieces that would ensure that as long as the glasses fit his face he would always be able to see out of them.

He pulled Draco to the front row and quickly pulled out his book. Professor Babbling arrived from her office a moment later and tapped the blackboard with her wand.

"These are the main runes that we will be using in this class," she said as the board was filled with twenty-four runes with their meanings. "This is the Elder Futhark alphabet, and it is the oldest rune magic that we know of. There are other alphabets that wixen often use, but the Elder Futhark alphabet is by far the most common. If you aren't able to channel your magic through your writing medium, this class will be mostly a language class. Runes are used to write important documents, mostly in the Ministry of Magic or for traditional family contracts. Write down everything on the board. There will be a quiz on the information next class period." Professor Babbling then proceeded to go over each rune and its meaning and phonetic sounds.

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Neville grinned at Harry's excitement as the professor dismissed them after the end of the hour. The dark haired teen was chattering excitedly at Draco about how Runes was going to be one of the most interesting classes. Neville listened with half an ear as he finished gathering his things, then walked with the other two as they started walking to their next class. Neville glanced up at Draco to see how much attention he was paying since he hadn't said a word while Harry jabbered, and almost choked at the besotted expression on the blond's face. Harry clearly hadn't noticed as he was pulling on Draco's arm with one hand and waving his other arm around excitedly to express his excitement. Neville glanced around to see the other students glancing at Harry and Draco and shaking their heads lightly with a grin or a laugh. Neville found himself agreeing with them.

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Charms class was the next day. After taking role, Professor Flitwick grinned out at the class. "Today we're going to be learning disillusionment spells! These spells are useful when you need to disappear in plain sight. I will warn you, they don't work very well in crowded areas, or places where there's nothing to blend into, like a field with no trees. These spells also don't work very well in well lit areas." He hopped down from his stack of books to stand in the middle of the room. "There is no incantation, but the wand movement is as follows." He tapped the top of his head with his wand. "Very simple, but the thoughts and emotions behind this spell are very complex. Especially at first, you must desperately need to be hidden. Once you have gotten better at this charm you will be able to do it with barely a thought. Now, you'll know it works when you feel like an egg has been cracked on your head. I will now perform the charm." Professor Flitwick tapped his head and disappeared. A moment later he appeared near the door. "Now, you try. I don't expect many of you, if any indeed, will get it today. This will be a spell we will work on slowly over the course of the year. If I catch any of you lot out after curfew using this spell I will give you the Sex Talk. With pictures. The wizarding kind. We have many examples of chlamydia."