Harry Potter and the Order Of the Phoenix [56]
“No Neville, of course not. That curse is illegal to use on humans, and I don’t feel like spending the rest of my life in Azkaban.” Neville looked slightly relieved, though his face was still white. “Anyway, I want you all to come up and get a PainBall. It will give you a little stinging shock that you will eventually learn to not feel. Come on, come up!” The class started to come up slowly, and reached into the a box that contained the PainBalls.
Harry was the first in line, and looked in the box. It was filled with about twenty small transparent spheres. Each sphere had a dark cloud in the center that was constantly growing and shrinking. Harry bravely put his hand in, and gripped one of the balls. The second he touched it, he felt as though he was stung by a bee in his hand. He quickly receded his hand from the box, wobbling it vigorously, trying to shake the pain off.
“Ow!” was all that Harry could say. Mrs. Figg glared at him.
“Harry! If you could endure the Cruciatus Curse, how come you think this small little PainBall is so bad?”
“Well, it’s just that… I guess I didn’t think that-”
“Exactly!” said Mrs. Figg. “You didn’t think! I will teach you all how to think, how to control your mind, and shut off pain! Harry, this time, when you reach in, and grasp a PainBall, try to concentrate on something else besides the pain.” Harry nodded, somewhat understanding. He reached in again, and just when his hand was about to grasp the ball, he thought of his Quidditch victory against Hufflepuff. How happy everyone was, how happy he was. Then he thought of his date with Cho, and the complete bliss that flowed through his body the entire time he was there. Harry smiled…
“Harry! You did it, excellent job!” said Mrs. Figg. Harry suddenly came out of his catatonic phase, and looked at his hand. He was holding the PainBall, and he didn’t even feel it. However, just as he thought that he was feeling nothing, a sudden stinging pain was sent through his arm.
“Arg!” yelled Harry as he dropped the ball, and rubbed his arm.
“Very good Harry, very good for your first time. I will soon teach you how to transform those happy thoughts into a pain shield that will slow all around and through you. You will be able to stop any and all pain, even when realizing you are being hurt…. Now, I want the rest of you coming up and trying to do like Harry.”
The rest of the class came up to the box, and took a PainBall. Some of them dropped it immediately, like Harry did at first. Ron and Hermione, however, held theirs for a while. Harry wondered what happy memories they were focusing on.
When class ended, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were able to prevent pain for little less than a minute, and the rest of the class could prevent from dropping the ball for a few seconds. The bell rang, and their school day was over. Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s learning, however, was only just beginning. After doing their homework in the Gryffindor common room, and just playing around for a few hours, they all walked down to Professor McGonagall’s office, ready for their first Animagus lesson.
As they walked in, they saw Professor McGonagall. They also saw something, or rather someone, that they did not expect to see there. Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s jaws dropped all the way to the floor.
It was Draco Malfoy.
“Hello Potter. So, what kind of animal are you going to be, a bunny? A piglet?” He smiled at all three of them as they walked in, and stood next to Professor McGonagall who appeared to be busy at the moment. Harry took this opportunity to interrogate Malfoy.
“What are you doing here!?” whispered Harry, venomously. Malfoy curled a smile.
“Well, I asked McGonagall what you were doing, staying after class. She said nothing, but then I snuck a peek at her schedule, and saw here write: ‘Animagus Lessons: Potter, Weasley, Granger.’ So, I asked her what those were about, and asked if I could take the class as well. She looked