The Anger.

The Professor gave a curt nod before leaving. Harry didn't see the expression on his own face. He was livid; furious.

Quickly, he dressed and hurried out of the dorms. Wand in hand he hurried via the shortcuts he'd learned down to the Entrance Hall. As he approached, he noticed the small professor hurrying in through the doors, which closed behind him.

Harry paused for a minute or two on the bottom of the stairs, thinking about what he was going to do.

"Right," he muttered. With wand in hand he gathered magic unto himself and walked towards the double door.

He raised his wand, pointed it at the doors, and called, "Depulso!"

The double doors slammed open as Harry stormed into the room. After a couple of shrieks of surprise the room went dead silent. He didn't notice it himself, but those with a trained eye could see the magic roiling off him in waves.

Harry stormed up the aisle between the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff tables.

"Ah, Harry..." said the Headmaster, rising to his feet.

"Shut it, old man!" barked Harry, still storming forward. Harry's voice had deepened and was somewhat amplified. Magic was working with him at an instinctive level.

Dumbledore, collapsed back into his seat in shock.

When Harry came to a halt where the students gathered for the sorting he glared with hate and malevolence at Dumbledore.

"How dare you!" snarled Harry, his voice rising in anger and volume as he spoke. "How dare you make me be here for this! How dare you make me be here while the student body celebrates the brutal murder of my parents at the wand of that psychopath!"

"Oh, my..." said Professor McGonagall quietly, raising a shaking hand to her mouth, clearly just realising the implications of the moment.

"You utter bastard!" yelled Harry, his fury whipping his magic in swirls around him.

He stared at the old man and watched him wilt under his glare, before he spun about and stared across the student body.

"For the rest of you too stupid to recognise the impact of this feast upon me," he barked. "You are all in the process of eating and making merry about the murder of my parents; how my mum was slain right before my infant eyes; how a deranged psychotic killer with delusions of adequacy then turned his wand on me and tried to kill me! It is that you celebrate this night."

With a slighter softer tone he said, "I trust you'll forgive me if I don't join in on your merriment." And spun back to the head table.

Glaring back at the Headmaster, he said, "As for you, old man; I am at a complete loss how you could be so cruel, so mean-spirited, as to force an eleven year old boy to be tormented for hours like this.

"Then again; I really shouldn't be surprised, should I? After all, you dumped me into an abusive home for ten years! Tormenting me for another few hours really shouldn't surprise anyone of the depths of horror to which you're willing to sink, should it?

"You're a sick, evil and twisted individual, Albus Dumbledore!" he snarled. "And I have no intention of pandering to your unholy fetishes!"

Harry spun on his heel and stormed back out of the room. A room that, except for a few quiet sobs and the sound of quiet exclamations during his tirade, remained silent. His magic, though somewhat calmer, still swirled about him as he made his way out the doors.

As soon as he'd left the room, Daphne was out of her seat like a shot and running after him. Tears streaked down her cheeks. As soon as Daphne cleared the doors the students started quietly talking to one another. Not a few glares of hate were directed at the Headmaster as he just sat there, head bowed.

Dumbledore knew he had just been royally and very publicly spanked. He also knew any inroads he had made to have Harry trust him again had been well and truly lost. He felt he just couldn't seem to do right by the boy, of late.

Harry was able to ascend the first flight of the stairs in the Entrance Hall before he turned a corner and collapsed against a wall.

Daphne almost ran right past him, as she didn't see him at first.

His croaking cry of, "Daphne!" made her practically skid to a halt before she spun about. A quick couple of steps and she was sinking to the floor alongside him. She quickly pulled him into her embrace making sure his head was resting on her shoulder. Together, they sat there for a few moments; neither speaking. Daphne only making cooing noises of comfort and gently rocking him as Harry sat there feeling physically, emotionally and magically drained, sobbing quietly.

After a few minutes, the heat Daphne felt in Harry's skin dissipated as he calmed down.

"Sorry, Daphne," he muttered. "I lost my temper again."

"I think anyone would have lost their temper in your place, Harry," she replied. "I also didn't realise just how powerful you are, magically, until I saw you in full fury in there."

Sitting up straighter, he asked, "What do you mean?"

With a smile she said, "Your magic was coming off you in waves, Harry. It was palpable. It swirled around you like a wind. Even your eyes glowed a little."

Shocked and surprised, he asked, "That's what it looks like?"

"It was quite a feat, and not a little scary," she replied. "I think you're going to find a lot of students are going to start giving you a wide berth, again."

"Oh, great," he groaned, dropping his head to his chest. "That's just what I need."

"I happen to approve, Mister Potter," she said.

"Oh?" he asked, confused, bringing his head back up again.

Nodding, she said, "When you did that, it said to the whole student body, 'Harry Potter is not someone to mess with'. And that also means not messing with Harry Potter's friends - or his betrothed."

With a snort, he said, "Well, at least there's going to be an upside to this."

Hesitantly, she asked, "Will you teach me how to do that?"

"What; make your magic flare?" he asked. "Yes," she replied. "It makes you look mighty powerful. I'm hoping it'll do the same for me."

With a shrug he said, "I - guess. It was something I started doing while I was in hospital at the beginning of September. I started doing it because I was bored and it made me tired enough to sleep."

"Well, I think I can go without dinner if you're willing to show me," she said.

Thinking a bit, he replied, "How about we go down to the kitchens first. That way, we can beg the elves for something to eat in private, and we can see about making a start on teaching you how to flare your magic."

"An excellent plan, Mister Potter," she warmly replied.

Harry smiled and climbed to his feet. Then he offered her a hand up.

Together, they walked back downstairs and down into the first level of the dungeons on their way to the kitchens. They made sure they weren't seen by anyone in the Great Hall as they ducked around the corner in the Entrance Hall.

While sitting in the kitchen at the small bench Harry had placed the picnic basket upon a few weeks previously, they enjoyed their repast of roast beef sandwiches washed down with pumpkin juice.

Harry finished after Daphne, who had sat there patiently waiting after her single sandwich.

When he finished, he pushed his plate away, wiped his hands against each other, turned to her and asked, "Alright. Are you sure this is something you want to learn?"

With a wide smile, she replied with a few quick nods of her head and a quiet but excited, "Yes!"

He said, "Alright. I want you to drop into your first level of meditation. The start of when you go into your Occlumency."

mind

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He waited until she calmed right down with her eyes closed and he could see her whole being relax.

"When you cast with your wand, you feel your magic inside you. You then push with your magic out your wand to cast," he said. "Can you feel your magic now?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Good," he said. "Now I want you to take a long slow deep breath and feel it filling you up."

She did

"Now slowly let it back out."

She did.

"Good. That is how you draw air into your body," he explained. "Now I want you to feel with your magic, and - breathe - it in. Draw it into your body." He watched as she, at first, frowned a little, before she took a long deep breath. At the same time he could feel her magical energy also strengthen.

"Excellent!" he said. "You can do this now. You just did it. Do it again."

Again, she took a deep breath; and again her magic built up.

"You're doing really well," he said. "This time I want you to draw your magic in without also taking a deep breath."

Again, she pulled that little frowning moue expression for a few moments before Harry felt her relax. Moments later, he could easily feel the magic emanating off her very being. It was making the hairs along his arms and down his back stand on end.

"Now draw the magic into your innermost self and allow it to - spill over - Allow it to overflow you." This time Harry felt her entire being becoming flushed with magic.

"Keep that up, and open your eyes," he instructed.

Her eyes slowly opened and his met the most electrifying blue eyes he'd ever seen. As she had said his were, her eyes were practically glowing in return.

Her eyes widened, staring right back at him. She said, "Everything. All the colours are so vibrant!"

Nodding, he said, "Keep your eyes open and draw the magic in again. Let it over flow."

Harry felt her aura flare back up. The plates and cutlery they'd just been using were lightly vibrating on the surface of the table at which they sat.

"Very good," he said. "Now let it settle back down. Allow the magic to ease back out of you."

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