Tim sat, happily, in the Dining Hall as his Grandfather explained the situation to his friends. Tim was just as pleased and surprised as the others that Richard had obtained waivers for them for the duration of the summer, he was also looking forward to being able to practice his magic during the break, it always seemed that he spent all year learning and practicing, and then forgot it all again when he was home for the summer.

His mind was already racing over the expansive list of things he had seen his Grandfather do that he wanted to learn how to do as well. Somehow though, he had little doubt that the time he spent teaching them wouldn’t be nearly as fun or as carefree as it was in his imagination.

After a moment of contemplation, Tim shook of the fantasies and began to mentally prepare himself for the difficult work that he was sure was heading in his direction.

Richard smiled at the reaction of the children, amused by their eagerness to learn. Nodding his thanks to the McFadden boy for his statement, he continued “I was thinking to start tomorrow, give you all the day to get settled, but before I let you all run off to see the sites, I would like it if you could tell me what you all think you know. It would be helpful for me to determine a curriculum for you if I know where your strengths lie. One thing I will be working with you all on, for any break that you feel like returning here during, is Occlumency. Occlumency is a defense against mind control and reading. Obviously it is far more complicated and in depth than that, but I would think that would do for a beginners understanding.

There are several books on the topic in the Library, including multiple copies of a rudimentary beginners guide. This is, in my opinion, a mandatory skill for wizards to learn even if the Ministry in general feels it is too complex to be reliably taught to children. You will, in your life, run into many people who have the ability to direct and influence your thoughts and this skill will allow you to identify when it is happening, at the very least. It will also serve to give you a much deeper knowledge of yourself.”

He turned he focused his attention on Amber, “Let’s start with you, where do you stand with your knowledge of defensive and offensive spells? I start with you because you have spent time at a school other than Hogwarts and so your education may be different.”

“Everyone else should be thinking about this too, since I’ll be moving around the table. It seems unlikely that you will all be at the same level of your training, and as such you may be spending time with me one on one rather than in a group.” He looked back to Amber and waited for her response.

Amber wasn't sure she liked being singled out by going first.

"Well, for the most part, I seem to pick up on offensive spells more quickly than I do defensive." She shrugged. "I can easily cast a burning hex that's very similar to the Cruciatus in pain level, but leaves no marks or evidence. A couple of weeks ago, I mastered a compulsion charm, but I had a hard time with it."

Yes, for Amber, a week was a long time to work on learning one spell almost non-stop.

She cocked her head, thinking, as she rattled off a list of spells she'd learned over the past year. Most of those spells were of darker nature, hence Dark Arts and Their Defence, and dueling spells.

"In Dueling class, we worked more on physical dodging than magical, since the spells were taught in DAaTD. Besides," she shrugged, "as the professor was so fond of saying, 'Any idiot with a wand can throw up a shield, but it takes strength and stamina to dodge.' He'd apparently seen duels lost because the caster was magically tired because they'd put so much energy into shield spells and such.

"As for Occlumency, I can easily blank my mind. That's the extent of it though."

For a moment, she bit her lip, wondering if she should add any of the spells she'd learned on her own, but decided not to, and looked back at Richard. She made sure to exude a calm feeling, so as not to draw any suspicions as to how she'd spent any free time while at school. Learning how to project what feelings she wanted and keeping those she hid back was something very useful she'd made sure to learn while around Laura.

Since Josh was standing next to Amber, everyone's eyes turned to him to go next. He knew Amber had been in high gear ever since she'd transferred, but it was still a bit intimidating to hear her describe the entire extent of her coursework. Nevertheless, Josh knew it was probably better to be honest when it came to his own rather unremarkable education. No sense in getting in over his head--but at least he could do his best to make his background sound as solid as possible.

He cleared his throat. "I'm actually the opposite. I take to defensive spells more easily than defensive ones." He didn't mention the fact that he'd taken longer to learn some of his jinxes and hexes because he'd been reluctant to curse the girls in his class.

Shrugging nervously, he added, "You're probably familiar with the curriculum from our first- and second-year DADA classes." Just in case, he gave a brief overview of what he'd learned in Professor Moylan's class.

He looked at Kalmin again, hoping that the other boy hadn't had some sort of exotic magical training during his holidays. Josh would rather have not turned out to be the least experienced of all of his friends, but he figured there was nothing he could do about it now.

Kalmin did not know where to start, he was not as offensively trained as Amber and Josh always did better with defensive spells than he did. He always assumed that this was because they had grown up in magical families but he was not so sure, they could be just better than him. He was really good in potions but that would not help him in a fight, at least not with the knowledge that he knew so far. He always picked up on things really fast but, again, how would that help him in a fight. He did have some training from Arik and Ulric, but that was different from what they taught at Hogwarts. Most of the time that he was with them they were teaching him to control his emotions and thoughts and this was so he could control his new abilities. He had the books that he kept secret and well he had created a new spell but he was not sure how it worked yet since he did not cast it on a target yet.

“Well Sir, it sounds like Amber is better at Offensive spell and Josh is better at Defensive spells, so I would guess I am right in the middle. I do well in all my classes and I seem to pick up on things pretty quickly. I need not go over the classes again since I have learned the same thing as Josh. I have been training with Professor Gallows and Master Ulric, but that has mostly been to help me control my new ability to change my shape. I also seem to have a keen understanding of potions but I do not know how that would help me with a duel or fight.” Kalmin almost said more but stopped himself. The one thing that Ulric always said was let everyone underestimate you, this way it is a surprise when you kick there ass in a fight. He would keep his other tricks to himself.

“I believe that is all Sir, if I remember anything else I will be sure to bring it up then” He smiled and turned to Tim and nodded his head to indicate it was his turn. He knew that his Grandfather knew what he could do but he said he would ask everyone and Tim was a part of everyone.

Tim wasn’t at all surprised about Amber’s skills and training, similarly to how he wasn’t surprised by the fact that most, if not all of Josh’s training came from the school. After all, Josh seemed to come from a happy normal family that wouldn’t see the need for any extra training or instruction.

He was a little surprised that Kalmin had been receiving training from Professor Gallows, and someone he respected enough to call Master. Tim didn’t know a lot about Professor Gallows since he didn’t take any of his classes, but there was a certain confidence about the man. He noted a similar look of intrigue on Richard’s face.

He grinned when Kalmin pointed out that Tim was a part of everybody. “Well, I have had all the same training that you guys did through school, though Grandfather has been slowly working on Occlumency with me since I turned 11. I’ve received some additional training in charms work from Grandfather, and he’s given me a beginner’s introduction to Legilimency, though I don’t really get that part of it yet.”

Richard listened intently to the description that the children gave of their particular skills and talents, and was pleased to realize that he had been fairly close in his suspicion of what they would be able to do. He knew of Professor Gallows, and he assumed that ‘Master Ulric’ was Ulric Lie-Smith, a fairly well known archaeologist and friend of Gallows. He hadn’t known that either man would be taking an outside interest in a student at the school and he found himself wondering what it was about Kalmin that drew their interest.

To Amber, he said, “It sounds like you have a firm foundation as an above average duelist. It has been some time since I’ve had to do any real dueling, but it is something I used to be very good at back in my youth. And I’m sure that I have a significantly larger spell repertoire than you, and perhaps I can help you with that.”

To Josh, he replied, “A defensive specialist will always be in high demand in our world Mr. Davies. I was like you, I was always a natural talent at defense, and the rest came with years of ruthless tutelage and dedicated practice. I would like to work with you on warding if that is something you think you would be interested in.”

Turning to Kalmin, “Your Metamorph abilities intrigue me, I’m glad that you have already found someone to train you in them, because I will be completely unable to help you with that. I’m not nearly as bad as Timothy,” he looked over at the blushing boy, “but neither of us is particularly talented with Transfiguration and its derivatives. I can think of several things that I would like to attempt to teach you.”

He looked over at Tim again, “Obviously, you and I will continue your training as we have been for the past years.”

He refocused again and took in the group before him, “Your skills and levels of ability are at different places and heading in different directions. I would like to meet you with you all separately while you are here. Timothy, you and I will continue discussing your training at night as we have been. Kalmin, how about you and I meet two hours after breakfast?; Amber, after lunch?; And Josh, before dinner? Again, if you were prefer we can go back to you all just visiting for the summer break and you can go about and have a good time. If you decide that you still want to go through with my instruction, we will keep to the schedule I just gave, and I would remind you that the things I will be attempting to teach you are relatively beyond the level of schooling you are at right now. So, do not feel terribly distraught if you have trouble, or fail entirely. You will grow into your abilities.”

He looked at the table, and the empty plates of food, “I believe I will retire to my study today. We will begin tomorrow morning. Explore, have fun.”

With that Richard rose, nodded in recognition to the children’s decision and left the room.

Amber's cheeks tinged with pink as Richard gave his opinion of her spellwork, not that he'd seen any proof as of yet. She refused to say she'd tied for the qualifying spot for the dueling class. She wouldn't appear to brag, nor would she want to prove it. As with things she'd learned on her own, she felt it best to keep that to herself.

She nodded. "I'm sure you have a much larger arsenal and I'm eager to see what all I can learn from you in such a short time. By the end of the lessons, I'll try my hardest to give you at least a slight challenge." She knew that, given his age and skill, it would be unlikely, but if she pushed herself hard enough to try, she knew she'd do a lot better. Another thing she knew was that she would not do what she'd often done in dueling class. As such a petite girl, the professor had made sure she'd learned a few tricks to even the odds.

As he suggested having her lessons after lunch, she made a mental note to eat lightly and nodded. "That would be great timing."

It truly was the best time, as far as she was concerned. She relished the chance to laze away the mornings since she'd been so busy with school. She knew that she'd become bored by lunch though, so she'd now have something to look forward to. She was also sure she'd enjoy a chance to rest and shower after each session. All in all, she was extremely happy with her time-slot.

As she watched Richard leave, she went silent for a few minutes before asking Tim for directions to where Sandor had been taken.

She stood after receiving sich precise directions that she couldn't possibly get lost. "If y'all will excuse me, I'll go see to him now as I promised." She was sure that most people would think her insane to expect a dog to understand a promise given, but since she knew Sandor wasn't an ordinary dog, she didn't care what anyone would think.

She made her escape, glad for a chance to see how Sandor had been treated and if he was settled. As much as she wished he'd be able to talk to her, she knew that his phasing would be too risky a move to chance. Oh well, he still understood her so she could still have conversations...they were just one-sided.

~Fade Amber~

(Sorry for forgetting to do that earlier.)

Josh nodded, pleased with what Tim's grandfather had said. He'd never been singled out for any special skills or training before. He was used to hand-me-down everything (except for clothes, and even then he'd worn some of his sisters' things as a baby), and he quite liked the idea of learning a skill that not everyone possessed.

After Richard left, he'd turned to Amber, expecting to talk about what he'd said. To his surprise, she was already heading out the door.

That left Tim and Kalmin. He looked at Tim. "So, what will this 'training' be like?"

Kalmin listened to it all and was pleased with his time, he loved to get up early and was always better in the morning. He also was excited to see what he was going to get to learn. He did not define what that was so it was kind of a mystery. Kalmin did not like mysteries but what could he do about it now, he had already left.

He waited around to see what everyone else was going to be doing. He noticed Amber left right away but Tim and Josh were still around. Then Josh started talking to Tim and he figured he could learn a little more about this training.

“I agree with Josh, what will this training be like?” he looked at Tim while he waited for his answer.

Tim watched Amber leave the room after giving her directions out to the dog pen. He was fascinated that she wanted to spend time with a dog rather than with her friends, especially since he hadn’t know until the last minute that she even HAD a dog.

He watched her leave the room and then turned his attention back to Kalmin and Josh, “Well, I’m not really sure I can describe it. He’s a strict teacher, stricter than the teachers at Hogwarts. But he is understanding of the fact that we’re young but he is very impatient with people who say they want to learn and then don’t do their best to do so. Honestly, I think it’ll be fun. I don’t know what he’s planning on teaching you all, but I suspect it’ll be helpful.”