The Anger .

He carried the bottle back to the desk. After conjuring two tumbler glasses on the edge of the desk he poured a healthy measure of the firewhiskey into each glass.

Still without uttering a word, he picked up one glass and placed it before the headmaster. The other he picked up for himself and moved to sit in the chair Daphne had recently vacated. He waited while sipping from the glass.

After a few more moments Dumbledore softly asked, "Did he speak the truth, Severus? Have I been lying to myself all these years?"

"That is for you to decide, Headmaster," came back the calm reply. "As I have told you in the past, the boy is an attention seeking brat!" "He most certainly is not, Severus," snarled the Headmaster. "If you saw what I saw during the trial of his aunt and uncle, last Monday, you would hang your head with shame for that remark."

"Now, what did you find out?" grumbled the old man.

"His mind is fully occluded," replied Snape. "If I attempted to break through his shields he would have instantly known of the attempt."

"I see," replied the old man. "That is troubling."

"And surprising in one so young," said Snape.

Out in the hallway leading away from the stone gargoyle, Daphne quietly asked, "Is it true, Harry? Have you gone dark?" Harry gave her hand a pat where it rested in the crook of his elbow. "No. But, it's sure going to mess with his head while he tries to think it through."

Daphne gave a small chuckle in response.

Two days later, Harry was out on the castle lawns near the dark tower with the First Year Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Madam Hooch had laid out twenty brooms side by side on the ground roughly four feet apart.

As Harry walked out onto the grass he saw that many of his fellow students had already arrived.

"Alright, you lot," called Madam Hooch. "I want you to each stand alongside a broom with the broom on your right. Move, now."

Harry stood between Justin Finch-Fletchley and Hannah with Susan on the other side of Hannah. "Place your hand out over your broom, palm down," commanded Madam Hooch. "And, with a firm and commanding tone, order, 'Up!'."

Doing as instructed, Harry held his hand out over his broom and called, "Up!"

The broom leapt up from the ground and the broom handle smacked him in his palm. The surprise of it caused him to teeter a little in place.

While Harry felt the magic of the broom thrum through his hand he looked around. He could see Justin trying to order the broom that lay twitching on the grass next to him to rise to his own hand. And he could see both Hannah and Susan had, after a couple of attempts, managed to get theirs to rise enough to be grabbed.

Harry turned to Justin and quietly said, "It knows you're afraid of it, Mister Finch-Fletchley. Relax. Let your magic flow through your hand as if you're casting a Lumos Charm. Just let it flow."

Justin gave him a grateful smile and returned his attention to his hand and broom. "Up!" he calmly commanded, and the broom leapt off the grass into his hand.

With, at first, a look of shock he turned to Harry with a wide smile.

Harry didn't know Madam Hooch was paying attention to what he'd been saying to Justin until he heard her call, "Good coaching, Mister Potter. Five points to Ravenclaw."

Turning to face back forward he smiled at Madam Hooch.

The witch took one last look around and said, "For those who have not yet mastered commanding your broom to come to your hand, you may practice it later. For now, I want you to pick it up and hold it in your right hand."

Out of twenty students, about half a dozen had to manually pick their brooms up.

"Now, I want you to straddle your broom like this," she said, demonstrating.

Once everyone had done the same she said, "Now give a gentle push off the ground and hover in place."

With a gentle nudge of his toes Harry rose into the air and hovered about five feet up. Others joined him along the line. He knew that, though doing something like just rising and hovering looked easy, it was actually quite difficult. It was far easier to keep momentum going, similar to riding a bike.

Looking to his left and down he noticed Justin would get the push off the ground right, but would immediately nose his broom forward forcing it back to the ground.

Harry dropped down and said, "Push off and hold, Mister Finch-Fletchley. Don't push down on the nose of the broom so hard, or at all until you're at height."

Justin gave him a grateful nod and, with a frown, tried again. This time he rose before he suddenly started to descend again. However, he caught the drop before he returned to the ground by pulling back up on the handle. He rose to bob in place alongside Harry.

With a grin he said, "Some brooms can be a little touchy to control. But, once you understand it's vagaries, it'll come more naturally for you.

"Now, controlling the broom is as much about steering and guiding it with your magic as with your hands and your seat. Feel the broom and guide it."

Before long Madam Hooch had them circling in ever expanding circles with weaves thrown in. They reversed course a couple of times and even performed a couple lazy figure eights. But it wasn't long before they were back on the ground.

As soon as they were dismissed, Justin man-hugged Harry. "Thank you, Harry!" he said. "I don't think I'd've been able to do that if it wasn't for you."

"I'm sure you'd have managed, Mister Finch-Fletchley," he replied. "You're far too determined not to succeed at something you want to excel in."

"Maybe," he replied. "But you did make it a lot easier for me."

As they walked back to the castle they were passed by the Gryffindors and Slytherins coming the other way. Harry gave Daphne a big smile which she returned as they passed.

Later that afternoon, the group met in the library. Looking around, Harry noticed they were three short.

"Where's Neville, Hermione and Tracey?" he asked.

As the only one of that group not missing, Daphne replied, "Neville's broom went wonky and he ended up falling off it and breaking his wrist. Straight after the lesson Tracey and Hermione went to the infirmary to check up on him. Neither have come back yet."

"If Neville did break his wrist then he's going to be in there overnight," said Susan. "Skelegrow Potion tends to be quite uncomfortable while it works and most healers prefer the patients to stay in overnight in case there's complications."

"Malfoy and Weasley managed to earn themselves detentions during the lesson," continued Daphne. "Remember that Remembrall Neville received from his grandmother at breakfast?"

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