The Last Year

Level Up

The next day went by smoothly. Harry had been assigned an obscene amount of work but had just accepted the reality of his last year. It was going to be full of studying and homework as they sprinted for the finish line.
He and Hermione had just reached the seventh floor and were walking towards the wall that had contained the entrance to the Room of Requirement. They approached the wall and Harry walked in front of it three times, repeating "We need a place to train." Each time he walked in front.
  After the third time, a door appeared, and Harry's heart soared. The Room of Requirement had been able to heal itself. They entered and found a room remarkably similar to the room they had used to train Dumbledore's Army. Only now it appeared more personalized. There was an entire corner of bookshelves, full of books on spells, techniques, and others. There was a shelf of soft pillows and several dummies.
After several minutes of exploring, Harry also found a first aid kit and a book of easy healing spells in case he got hurt.
The dummies could be activated to attack or just stand still. They could also be adjusted to be more difficult or easier. The room itself would adapt to allow for different scenarios to practice realistic battles.
Harry couldn't wrap his mind around all the stuff he now had at his disposal, and his excitement grew as he planned training exercises in his mind. Scenario after scenario ran through his head, and it wasn't until Hermione had called his name three times that he snapped out of his imagination.

"Harry!"

"Yeah, sorry."

"I was saying, I think we should start with some review, just to warm up. Do you want to use some stunners on the dummies?"

"Sure."

They spent several minutes trading positions, casting stunning spells. As time went on, they gradually increased in difficulty. Hermione grew tired and Harry wanted to test the limits of the room. She retreated to a corner while he set the dummies to their hardest difficulty setting.

Harry took up a position in the middle of the room and prepared himself. They started by coming at him once at a time, each taking a different shape, using a different spell. As he survived one round, they came at him a little bit harder the next. Harry began to sweat as the difficulty grew.

Eventually, the dummies began flying at him all at once, each changing shape as they flew, each casting a different spell. Harry was drenched in sweat, panting hard as he fought to survive the onslaught. Even though he was in more danger than he realized, he hadn't felt this alive, this good in a long time. He had managed to move a bookshelf in front of himself to help shield him.

Suddenly, he heard a sound that sent a chill down his spine. Hermione was calling his name. He had completely forgotten she was in the room. It jolted him out of the zone of concentration he was in and looked around him. As he continued to spend spell after spell, including offensive spells and defensive spells such as shield spells, the room around him had turned into a full-on warzone, filled with lighting and some sort of aura. Hermione was cowering in the corner behind two shelves and what looked like a bed she a transfigured. He stopped and sent the silent command for the dummies to stop. As he calmed, the storm raging around him began to die down, and soon the room was silent once more.

He walked over and helped her from her hiding spot. She looked at him nervously, in awe and fear at the same time.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what happened, I just got lost in it."

"It's o-okay. I've just never seen you like that before, the raw power you just showed. You've always been a powerful wizard, but this was completely different. I think we should go to McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey. I don't think it's anything bad, but we should still check it out.

They stood in the Headmistress' office as Madam Pomfrey examined Harry carefully. Professor McGonagall watched closely as she scanned him over and over, whispering to herself as she examined him. Finally, she cleared her throat.

  "As far as I can tell, there is nothing wrong with you. You could try casting a few spells under observance, but I don't know that will tell us anything either. Headmistress, anything you would like to add?"

  "I admit, I have had my suspicions about how your magic would react. As we understand what you have revealed to us in the days following Voldemort's death, there was a piece of him inside you. While I am sure that attributed to your abilities, I feel they would have hampered you more than help you. That part of Voldemort is now gone, giving you free access to all your power. On top of that, you battled and defeated an extremely powerful sorcerer, it is not uncommon for a defeated foe's power to transfer to the victor. I believe you will find that as you practice and study, you will be amazed at what you will be able to do."

Harry and Hermione left a few minutes later, their heads spinning.

"What just happened?"

"It looks like you leveled up." Hermione replied.

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Hope you enjoyed!
From now on, Friday's will be the day I post new chapters, hopefully once a week, but as we move into the school schedule that may change.
Until Next Time!
-JRich