15 January 1991, Hogwarts
Cho gave him an unreadable look, "Don't you know? A branch of the Abbot family lived in Godric's hollow. David lost his parents and everything that belonged to them to that fire, the fire that you survived while being completely unharmed. Apparently, he was at his cousin's for the day, so he wasn't there. I'm not saying that it's your fault, but I guess he's still bitter about it. I know I would be too if it was me."
That night, Harry dreamed of cursed flames and screaming.
It had been two days after his duelling session, and Harry was engrossed with the sport. The demonstration of skill and precision that Professor Flitwick and Alex Smith demonstrated was breathtaking, and the Potter scion wanted to surpass them.
He had holed himself in the library as much as possible researching rules and regulations on the sport, and that was fascinating. Apparently, the spell limitations were far more complicated than he assumed. There are multiple levels of duelling circuits separated by age, and rule. There are circuits dedicated to a single magical branch but were more relaxed in the restricted spells, while there are what are essentially fight clubs where you can use any legal spell without being disqualified. Deaths were fairly common in these circuits.
Still, from the sound of it, Professor Flitwick wanted to prepare them in the standard duelling circuit, which is mainly divided by age. The 11 and under tournament was a bit of a joke, where only a handful of spells could be used. The 13 and under tournament also had a relatively restricted set of spells, but it's enough to make duels at least somewhat exciting. The 17 and under tournament also had a restriction on spells, but they can be summarized into a tome per magical field. The allowed charm spells alone were in a book that was almost as thick as all of Harry's school books put together. And that was just a list of spells with their effects, nothing more.
The adult tournament, on the other hand, was far more forgiving. Transfiguration and Charms were allowed, even unknown spells, but there was still a list of curses, jinxes, and hexes, that could be used. Apparently, Dark Magic was simply too dangerous to be used willy-nilly in a sporting tournament. Yeah, Harry could see why this decision was wise. He still didn't really understand what made dark magic, well, dark, but a common property of dark spells was how lasting their effect could be.
Harry had tried to research this topic further, alas, he was completely stumped. There were no books in the library on the matter, and the restricted section was too big for such a broad topic as Dark Magic.
The Room of Requirements was of no help at all, and Harry finally understood why he couldn't really use it to get any forbidden knowledge. Funnily enough, it was in one of the books on the castle in the forbidden section of the library.
Harry had experimented every time he visited the Room of Requirements, and for every topic, the book selection was very random. In the end, he ended up using his spell to look for any book with the words 'Room of Requirements' on it. And yeah, a wizard five hundred years back had researched the Room entirely. He renamed it the Room of Illusions, and from what he had found, it made sense. The Room could sense the thoughts of whoever wanted to enter it and use some kind of expansion enchantment to fit his desires. The rest of the room is filled with conjurations and illusions, nothing more. It wasn't some miracle room that could do everything. It couldn't even materialize the books in the 'Room of Hidden Things'.
The Room was only allowed to conjure things that can either be pictured in the user's mind, or in the public rooms in the castle. It was the same for books. Conjuring a replica of a book was similar to using a doubling charm, and most books, especially ones with delicate knowledge, were protected against such enchantments. It was why every time Harry had tried to get any book, the results will always be completely random, and it couldn't even take a single book from the restricted section, since they're especially warded. Harry will simply have to settle for sneaking in with his cloak.
Although Harry wondered where it had gotten the book on family crests. It must have been hidden either in the Room of Hidden Things or somewhere else in the castle, where the room could find.
Still, the room was very useful for practising spells anyway, so that wasn't a waste. Plus, Harry was planning on raiding the Room of Hidden Things as much as possible to find any hidden treasure inside that might help enrich his house once more.
Alas, Harry was probably going to use the room to practice his duelling. The room could theoretically conjure moving targets that could send projectiles at him. Yeah, having dummies cast actual spells was a little out there, probably impossible so projectiles will do.
Harry was so engrossed in a book about dueling tactics, that he didn't notice someone sitting next to him until they bumped into him.
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