Harry Potter: Magical Memories

Which was why the caster had to non-verbalize verbal spells when dueling. It sounded easy in theory, but was intensely difficult in execution, requiring not only an incredible amount of mental discipline, but also a strong will and a lot of practice. Most adult witches and wizards couldn't cast non-verbal spells. So far, Harry only had one spell he could cast silently five out of five times, and that was after two weeks of practice.

One of the many aspects of dueling Harry was interested in eventually mastering was spell-chaining. As the name of the technique stated, it was the act of chaining a set of spells together in such a way that the caster did not have to pause in between spells each time he cast. In order to chain two spells together it required the one casting the spells to cast a spell where the last wand motion of the first spell can flow into the second without the need for a pause in between. For example, one cannot chain the Expelliamus, the Disarming Charm, and the Stupify, a Stunning Charm, together, because both spells require the caster to point their wand at their target. On the other hand, the Disarming Charm can be combined with the Diffindo, the Cutting Curse, orthe Jelly-Legs Jinx, Locomotor Wibbly, because the wand movements are not only different, but can flow into each other seamlessly. A point, and then a slash.

Harry had yet to actually practice spell-chaining because he only knew six offensive spells, but he at least knew of several ways to chain the spells together, and would begin practicing later on when he got more combative spells under his belt.

The sound of footsteps let him know that someone was coming into the common room. He flipped a page of his book as he listened to the footsteps. They were light, steady and in slightly off rhythm. Harry quickly discovered who was walking towards him.

"Good morning, Hermione," Harry greeted casually as he deliberately closed and shrunk the book before putting it away in his pocket.

The walking stopped, and Harry turned to see Hermione blinking at him.

"How did you know it was me?" she asked.

Harry smiled.

"You have a very distinctive walk."

Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.

"That doesn't tell me anything."

"Of course it does," Harry stood up and stretched his arms above his head, the fabrics of his robes bunching around his shoulders. "You just haven't realized it yet."

Hermione's lips became a thin line and her brows furrowed. No doubt she was trying to puzzle out how Harry knew it was her form her walk. He wondered how long it would take her to figure out.

A few seconds later Neville walked down the stairway.

"Morning, you two," he gave his good morning as he walked up to them.

"Morning, Neville," Hermione replied absently, still trying to figure out how Harry could tell who she was just from her footsteps. Harry chuckled.

"Hullo, Nev."

The three made their way out of the Gryffindor Common Room and began walking down the many corridors towards the Great Hall, their feet making a dull thud against the stone floor. Several portraits greeted the trio, and Harry replied galely with a wave and a good morning. Neville shook his head, amused.

"Hey, Harry," he started, "I've been wondering this for a while now, but just what do you do so early in the morning? Surely you can't be reading the whole time?"

Harry smiled. He had wondered when someone would actually asked what he did in the mornings. Honesty though, he thought Hermione would be the one to ask him.

"You're right, I don't read the whole time," the raven haired boy admitted, "In fact, most of my time in the morning is spent exercising."

Neville's look turned curious.

"Exercising?"

"Yes," Harry nodded, "ever since I was six, I've been learning martial arts from my teacher, Master Wei, and in order to learn properly I need to be in peak physical condition."

"Martial Arts?" Neville asked, blinking.

"He means hand-to-hand combat," Hermione informed Neville, speaking up for the first time since Harry's comment about recognizing her via her footsteps. "It's a form of muggle fighting using fists and feet. Many people believe it to be the first form of fighting conceived by man as it did not require a weapon to learn."

Neville looked strangely at Hermione's dissertation, but eventually shrugged and looked back at Harry.

"So you exercise because of your muggle hand-to-hand fighting?"

"Partially." Harry rubbed the left side of his neck. "But I also do it because I like to keep in shape. A healthy body is essential to a healthy life. It's also a well founded theory that people who are healthier are generally happier and more self-assured. At least, that's what I've come to believe."

There was actually an entire scientific theory that had been proposed on why healthy people who exercised and played sports were happier than others. Physical exertion released endorphins, and endorphins made people feel good, made them happy. So people who exercised and played sports on a regular basis had endorphins released more regularly and were therefore happier people. He didn't mention this, as it would likely fly over Neville's head, and he didn't want Hermione to begin discussing theory with him, interesting as that would be.

Neville was silent for a moment, his look telling Harry that the boy was pondering his words.

"Do you think..." he paused, "do you think it would be alright if I joined you while you exercise?"

"That would depend," Harry cast a glance over at Neville, "I get up awfully early. Do you think you would be willing to wake up to join me?"

"I might need some help with that," Neville admitted, blushing. Harry nodded. Neville was a heavy sleeper.

"Then so long as you are willing to put in the effort, I am willing to let you join me."

Neville smiled gratefully as they entered the Great Hall. Already a number of students were sitting down for breakfast. Harry could see Lisa, Terry, Hannah, and Susan sitting down at the Hufflepuff table already.

Another thing he noticed was that Professor Dumbledore was also sitting at the head table for breakfast. An odd thing, since Dumbledore had never been seen during breakfasts before. Dinner, yes, occasionally, but never breakfast. Harry wondered why the man was here, but figured he would learn eventually, so he put it out of his mind.

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