Back at Prince Manor, Harry’s new life as Severus Snape’s trainee and ward really begins. An early run leads him to the manor stables where he discovers Abraxans, Pegasi, Thestrals and a Hippogriff that Snape has quietly rescued, then breakfast turns into a growth potion that starts to undo years of malnutrition. The morning is spent brewing Hospital Wing potions side by side with Severus, but the real test comes outside when Snape forces Harry into a brutal training duel and shows him that relying on Expelliarmus will get him killed. That night, by the fire with a stack of Defense books, their lesson shifts from spell work to ethics as Severus pushes Harry to rethink “light” versus “dark” magic, why any spell can be deadly, and how even the Killing Curse can be a mercy in war. Exhausted, bruised and deeply challenged, Harry goes to bed sore but certain that this kind of hard teaching is what might actually keep him alive.
