A/N: a bit shorter than the 3000 words I like, but there wasn't any way to combine the next chapter with this one; it would have made it a bit too long!
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You Can Do Magic…
It was all Harry could do to sit still on the bus and Underground. The total trip took about two and a half hours and by the time he was up on the street in London, he realized he was pretty hungry at this point.
He had a good hour until his first meeting, so he ducked into a coffee shop and grabbed a pastry. He looked around at the café and saw many Muggles ducking in on their way to work. People in suits and with briefcases chatting it up while they stood in line for their morning coffee.
After paying for his coffee, to a very happy and smiling young woman, he took leave and just lounged outside against the building…taking everything in. Buses, cars, people and more people, buildings…the city was so much bigger than his lazy little town. Soon, minutes even, he would be an adult and he could go anywhere and do pretty much what he wanted. This is the thought that got him through this long summer and gave him hope that he might have a happy normal future, whatever it may hold.
He finished his pastry and threw the wrapper away in a trashcan, thinking that maybe he should go ahead, find the correct telephone box and take it to the Ministry. He still needed to change into his robe and get himself ready for his licensing test.
Slowly, the now-17 year old made his way through throngs of people until he found the telephone box. Last time he was in there he was on the path to save Sirius from Voldemort…which didn't happen. Muttering what seemed like a thousand "excuse me" and "pardon me" he managed to make his way to the door and he slipped inside before someone decided to try and use it for the phone inside (even though it didn't really work for the Muggles).
Harry wiped his sweaty palms on his t-shirt and picked up the phone and dialed the magic number 6-2-4-4-2. A familiar voice surrounded him,
"Welcome to the Ministry of Magic. Please state you name and business".
"Harry Potter. Apparation License and appointment with Council of Magic Law."
"Thank you. Visitor, please take the badge and attach it to the front of your robes".
Glad to see some things stayed the same as Harry felt the familiar jarring of the booth slide down into the ground as he took his badge.
"Visitor to the Ministry, you are required to submit to a search and…."
"…present your wand for registration at the security desk…," Harry said in unison with the voice. "Yeah, yeah, I know what to do," he muttered under his breath. He felt the telephone box shudder to a stop and felt the familiar strong light hit him in his eyes.
"The Ministry of Magic wishes you a pleasant day," said the woman's voice as Harry stepped out of the box.
He was always amazed at how beautiful the Ministry building was from the polished dark wood floor to the blue, sky like ceiling with the ever changing heavenly notice board. Harry's eye caught a sign next to the fireplace on the left that looked like it could point to the loo. He really needed to go change and make use of it, so he made his way past the wizards and witches shooting out of the fireplace as they arrived for work that morning.
Ducking into the door on the other side of the arrival fireplace he quickly took care of business and stepped back out, feeling so much more at home in his robes and with his wand in his hand. He couldn't help but think of the last time he passed the huge fountain in the middle of the hall. He threw in a few sickles into the pool at the base, thinking of Neville's parents at St. Mungo's as he headed for a desk on the left, where Security was located, to have his wand identified.
Harry glanced up at the clock, precisely 10am. At least he wasn't late, like the last time he was here on "official business." As he handed his wand to the Security guard, the gentleman glanced at the scar on Harry's forehead, nodded, but said nothing and directed him to the lifts through the golden gates where he could get to the Licensing office.
Harry ducked and dodged paper airplanes containing memo's as he stood in line to get on the lift. He didn't remember there being this many flying memo's before…maybe they should investigate that email "thing" that Dudley is always playing around with.
He heard the same cool female voice announce Level Six and Harry stepped off the lift with a few other witches and wizards who did double takes when the looked at him. Many of them shook his hand, thanking him profusely and calling friends over to "see Harry Potter!" After repeatedly saying he had an appointment he couldn't miss, he managed to duck out of the main line of foot traffic and quickly found the sign he was looking for.
Following the signs, he turned left and headed down a brightly lit hall with nice, dark wood doors on either side of him. Halfway down, he found one labeled "Apparation Licensing Office". Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he grabbed the handle and pushed it open.
"Harry!"
"Neville! You're here too!" Harry gave him smile and laughed inside when he saw the look of terror on Neville's face.
"Yea. 10:10 is my time to try and do this. I think I might throw up I am so nervous."
Poor Neville's face was pale and he was visible shaking. He kept glancing at this huge clock that was charmed to keep apparating and disapparating, appearing on a different wall at a different height about every 15 seconds or so. Harry thought this was a great way to keep someone occupied; trying to guess where the clock would end up next. There was only Neville in the room, seven comfortable chairs, the clock and another door directly across from Harry.
"Do we just wait?" Harry asked, taking the chair next to Neville.
"Yea. They will call you."
"Neville, you will be fine. You learn these things so quickly."
A nod.
"Remember how fast you learned the Defense Against the Dark Arts in our fifth year? Just think good thoughts."
Another nod.
"You will be great Neville. When you get done, wait for me and let me know how you did, ok?"
A third nod and a glance at the clock that just popped over the the wall where the door to the hall was. A few more minutes and it would be Neville's turn.
"Are you in London for the day? Or going back to your grandmother's?" Harry asked him trying to get Neville to calm down bit.
"I am supposed to floo or apparate back to her house after this."
"Well, if you want, you can come to lunch with Ron, Hermione and I. We are meeting up outside the phone box at 11am or so."
Neville glanced at Harry. "Maybe, but depends on how this goes." He gave a small smile and jumped three feet out of his chair when the door opened.
"Longbottom, Neville," a portly wizard called glancing up from the parchment in his hand. He had no hair whatsoever and a bright green robe with red stripes. Harry saw Neville swallow and wished him good luck and a Happy Birthday (not too belated) as he followed the brightly attired wizard into the next room.
The next two minutes seemed to take forever as Harry concentrated on what needed to be done and steadied his breathing. Talking positively to himself and hoping Neville arrived in one piece to the next room over, he looked up when the door opened again.
"Potter, Harry," the same wizard droned on in a bored voice. Harry jumped up, grabbed his bag and followed the wizard down a short hall and into a small room.
"Umm…can you tell me how Neville Longbottom did?" he asked hopefully.
"No. Can't do that. Now, all you need to do is fill out this form," a form apparated in front of Harry on a small table. "Then we can do the test."
Harry glanced down and saw he had to fill in his name, birth date, current residence and sign his name. He accepted the quill that was held out to him and quickly filled the information in.
"All you need to do is apparate into the next room," the wizard gestured to a room that was about 20 feet away, but separated by a glass wall. "Then, you can apparate back into the hall which is on the other side of that room. You will be greeted by another licenser, then you will be officially able to apparate as you chose to do so. Any questions?"
"Ummm…no," Harry hooked his bag onto his shoulder and gripped his wand tightly.
"Go ahead, then," the wizard looked at him, his beady blue eyes resting on the scar that Harry's hair covered, almost.
Harry pictured the next room in his mind, ran through the list of charms and spells in his mind and he felt himself being thrown from one side of the room to another.
The next thing he knew, he was standing in the other room staring through the glass wall at the brightly robed wizard. He nodded his head and Harry quickly patted himself down, a broad smile showing on his face. He did it perfectly! Much easier than Potions class that is for sure. He turned to face the door to the hallway where there was another person waiting for him to make him official, and apparated with a soft pop on the other side of the door.
"Congratulations Mr. Potter. You have been added to the Official Apparating Registry. Have a nice day," another bored voice said next to him. Harry said thanks and practically ran up the hall towards the lift, wanting to yell and scream or jump! He was free to travel the planet as he chose too.
"Neville!" Harry saw the familiar face on a bench next to the lift. "How did it go?"
Neville looked up and for the first time that day smiled. "I did it Harry. Perfectly!"
Harry congratulated him, reminded him about the open invite for lunch and then excused himself to go onto his next appointment.
A new kind of nervousness filled his stomach. He wondered what the will reading would entail. Thankfully, Mr. Weasley was meeting him outside of the lift at Level 5 so he wouldn't be alone in not knowing what all of this Will reading was about. Half of him was still elated that he passed his test, while the other half contemplated what was waiting for him. He was so engrossed in his thoughts and feelings, he nearly ran into Mr. Weasley as he stepped off the lift onto Level 5.
"Harry! Good to see you son! How was your test, like I need to ask!" Mr. Weasley clapped him on the shoulder, steering him down another magnificent hallway.
"I passed. Everything in the right place and nothing missing, Mr.Weasley! And thanks for coming to the Council of Law with me."
"No problem. Molly and I didn't want you to sit through this all alone." He smiled and winked at him. For the next minute or so, as they weaved in and out of hallways (Harry felt like he was in the triwizard maze again) Mr. Weasley asked him about the underground and seemed very eager to know how coffee was made. Harry really didn't have a clue, but told him the best he could from what he saw at the coffee shop.
"Ahhh…here we are," Mr. Weasley held a huge, oak door open for Harry and he stepped inside. Harry couldn't help but gasp at the huge window that had a nice weather charm placed on it. Sun shone in through the window where a beach was being pounded by gorgeous ocean waves.
Plush, dark blue carpet came almost up to his ankles and a beautiful witch sat at a reception desk to his left. Mr. Weasley went over to talk to her while Harry looked around the room with his mouth slightly open. There were moving portraits of famous lawyers, book cases three stories high with books flying in and out of its respective slots as wizards and witches from the Council of Magic law called upon them for their business.
"We just need to wait for a few minutes and then the council will call us in," Mr. Weasley said quietly. He walked around the room with Harry, admiring the portraits and glancing at some of the books on the shelves.
General Explanation of Tax Legislation Enacted in the Magical World.
Albania: A Country Study
Genealogy of Wizards and Witches of the 14th Century
Personal Injury Law-Spells
Wizard's and Witches and the Spells Who Loved Them
A Practical Guide to the Privacy and Security of Wizard and Witch Health Data
Row after row of books with no rhyme or reason to the order. Both he and Mr. Weasley had to duck and jump aside as a book would come zooming towards it's specific slot in the bookcase.
"Mr. Potter, the Council will see you now," the witch called to him softly. Harry turned and caught her staring at him with a small smile. He gave a smile back and he swore he saw her blush, but before he could double check, Mr. Weasley ushered him into the next room.
"Welcome Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley, please have a seat," an elderly wizard, maybe as old as Dumbledore, gestured to two chairs that apparated right before their eyes. "We shall begin with the reading of Sirius Black's Will. This shouldn't take to long and feel free to stop me with any questions." He looked over his reading glasses and Harry nodded.
There were only three other people in the room, all Wizards and all dressed in similar dark brown robes and a funny looking hat that sat crookedly on the top of their heads. It resembled a Whomping Willow in Harry's mind and he put his hand to his mouth pretending to cough as to stifle a laugh he felt building up. They looked so serious, yet so silly.
"Let's begin."