Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.
More Important Than Any Broomstick - Chapter 43 - Relearning
Harry felt panicked. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said again, and still nothing happened. Hermione had a look of complete terror on her face. Harry felt like Ron must have in Flitwick's class on their first Halloween at Hogwarts. "WINGARDIUM LEVIOSA!!!" The quill stayed there.
Madam Pomfrey looked very worried and was wearing an obviously fake smile. "As I said, Mr. Potter, your magic is unstable now, but should c…come back."
"May I suggest…" said Dumbledore, "…that Harry try another wand?"
"He's not going to get better results with someone else's wand than with his own," said Pomfrey indignantly. "This wand is specifically suited to Harry."
Harry gave a slight smile as he thought about what was special about his wand. "I'd like to try, Madam Pomfrey."
She sighed but then handed Harry her wand. "You shouldn't expect different results with my wand."
"Wingardium Leviosa!" he said while concentrating as hard as he could, performing the appropriate wand motion. The quill rose a few inches off the ground. Everyone was staring.
"What?" exclaimed Poppy, "Try your wand again."
After Harry tried his wand unsuccessfully, he tried everybody else's. He got some sort of result, not nearly as good as he'd hoped, from every wand but his own.
Hermione said, "But how can that be unless the wand bonded with…" and she closed her mouth to avoid telling Madam Pomfrey about the Horcrux.
"With what?"
Dumbledore decided to give her a half truth. "The phoenix feather core of Harry's wand came from the same phoenix as the one in Voldemort's wand." Pomfrey flinched at the name. Harry's jaw dropped. He didn't think anybody besides himself and Ollivander knew that. Everyone else was staring at Harry's wand. "Mr. Ollivander told me about it. You see, the Phoenix that supplied the feathers is Fawkes."
"What?" asked Harry.
"Oh yes, but then we're off topic. We're hypothesizing that the curse in Harry's scar somehow made him feel like Voldemort to the wand, and now that the curse isn't inside Harry, the wand doesn't recognize him at all."
"I…I suppose that's as good an explanation as any," said Pomfrey. "Mr. Potter, aside from your difficulty with magic, and I believe you're still having a difficulty if you can't levitate a feather one foot off the ground, even if it is with someone else's wand. You are perfectly fine so you don't have to stay in the hospital wing. I suggest you get a new wand as soon as possible and see me then. In the mean time, I'll give you medical leave from classes for a week, and hopefully by then you'll be able to keep up with your classes.
"Do not let anybody know that Harry's having difficulty with his magic," said Dumbledore emphatically to the whole group. "As you all know, he's been attacked several times this year and managed to fight off his attackers. This would be their perfect opportunity. We'll simply say that he's ill and contagious. Mr. Potter, I believe you should stay in this room. It should supply everything you need, and very few people know about it. I suggest you say you believe he's at St. Mungo's but you're not sure, if anyone asks." Dumbledore looked at Harry. "Mr. Potter, aside from our secret trip to Mr. Ollivander's, which I personally will escort you on Monday, do not leave this room."
Harry nodded his head. "Yes sir, I don't fancy being caught powerless by Snape myself. I would like my trunk brought down though." His trunk immediately appeared, loaded with all of his stuff.
Dumbledore smiled with a twinkle in his eyes. "I suggest you call one of your house elves to keep you company until you're fully recovered. One of them should be able to defend you should the need arise." He then turned to Madam Pomfrey. "Thank you very much for your services. Mr. Potter will have a new wand by Monday afternoon. You may test his magic then."
"Very well, I really should get back to my other patients."
Once she was gone, Dumbledore said, "Would you mind attempting wandless magic?"
"Sure," said Harry. Harry looked at the quill, but it didn't immediately rise. His brow furrowed in concentration and the quill finally began to rise. He closed his eyes and it shot up to the ceiling. "Doing magic…I don't know…somehow feels different." He took a deep breath. "An hour ago, I could've sent that quill up and placed it where I wanted with just a thought. Now I have to concentrate just to get it to move at all. If I concentrate too hard, it goes too far. I only wanted to levitate it two feet in the air."
Dumbledore smiled. "Well, it seems you'll have to relearn your control, but you will. I suggest you spend your week off practicing. It seems that you were unconsciously using the Horcrux to help you perform magic, and now you've got to learn how to fully use your own magical core. We'll leave right after breakfast on Monday morning. Now, to dispose of the Horcrux."
"Wait a minute, Headmaster," said Harry.
"Yes."
"Could I borrow that Horcrux for a minute?"
Dumbledore looked amused. He handed the Kleenex to Harry, who proceeded to blow his nose and spit into the tissue, expressing his feelings about his nemesis. He then placed the befouled tissue on a table that appeared. Dumbledore then pointed his wand at the Horcrux and performed a spell that made the tissue burn as faint screaming was heard. Green smoke rose up from the table that now had a burn mark on it. The table then disappeared because it was no longer required.
-
After each of them gave him words of encouragement, along with promises to visit, Harry found himself alone with a clearly shaken up Hermione. She hugged him and kissed him gently. When they separated, he noticed she'd been crying. "What's wrong?"
"I…I thought I'd turned you into a squib. I was so scared you'd hate me…"
"Hold on! First, I could never hate you. Second, you freed me from Voldemort, and I think losing my magic would be an equitable trade for that. Thirdly, I lived for eleven years not knowing I was magical, and I could do that again, especially without the Dursleys trying to ruin my life. I guess I wouldn't be able to stay here during the school year, so I hope you wouldn't forget about me…"
"I could never forget about you, Harry! How could you even think that? I love you!" To prove the sincerity of that statement, she proceeded to give him to most passionate snog of their lives thus far.
-
The next morning, Harry was in the room alone with Dobby, working on re-mastering levitation. He was getting frustrated as it would either barely move or it would move too much. The more he practiced, the more the latter would happen. Dobby was sitting quietly until Harry exclaimed in frustration, "This is impossible!"
"Dobby is begging Harry Potter sir's forgiveness, but Harry Potter is being wrong. Harry Potter is a great wizard and is doing everything he is wanting."
"But I can't control how much magic I put into the spells, Dobby! I could try to rescue someone and accidentally kill them, or else I won't use enough magic to help at all!"
"Then Harry Potter is practicing concentration. It is seeming that Harry Potter is even more powerful than before."
"No, that's not it. I used to be able to use just as much power, but I could control it. Maybe you're right about my concentration though."
Harry stopped what he was doing and went over in his mind how he'd been practicing his magic. He realized that before the Horcrux was removed, he hardly concentrated at all. It had become second nature to him. Because he started having his difficulty, he had to concentrate hard before he re-found his magical core. He then understood that he had found it, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to do anything. He decided to pretend that nothing had happened and try the spell again. He looked at the quill again, deciding to raise it six feet above the floor. It went about seven feet, but didn't hit the high ceiling. After letting it drop to the floor, he tried again, and it went about five feet.
He spent the next several hours recalibrating his magic, first with levitating, and then with other spells. The room created dueling dummies that looked like Snape, and Harry worked on blasting them. The first few times he let himself concentrate, and ended up disintegrating them. After that he worked on how powerful a blast he would shoot. He then decided to try his shield. "Dobby, can you try stunning me?"
Dobby looked horrified, "No sir! Dobby is never attacking Harry Potter sir! Even if Dobby was wanting to, house elves isn't able to attack their masters!"
"But it would only be to test my shield. For practice."
"Dobby is understanding, and Dobby is sorry, but house elves is dying if they is attacking their master! If you is wanting to punish Dobby, Dobby is ready." A mallet appeared in Dobby's hand and the elf got ready to swing it at his own head.
"I'm not gonna punish you Dobby. I just didn't know. I guess I'll need someone else. Could you pop over to Hermione and see if she can help me practice dueling. If she's too busy, ask her if she knows if anyone from our group is available."
-
Hermione was studying in the library. With her research for Harry, she'd gotten a bit behind in where she wanted her studies to be (she was now only three weeks ahead). She knew the time spent on the Horcrux was more important than homework, but now that Harry was recovering, she thought she'd try getting caught up. A small pop in front of her got her attention. She had a shield up before she even looked to see Dobby in front of her. "Dobby," she whispered, "What are you doing here? Does Harry need something?"
"Yes, Miss Grangie," he said, bowing low, "Harry Potter is wanting his Grangie so he can be practicing dueling. If his Grangie is being too busy, he is asking who might be available to be helping him."
She sighed at the disruption to her studies, but then smiled that Harry thought he was ready to start dueling again. "It's ok. I'll help him. You can tell him I'll be right there."
"Yes, Miss Grangie," Dobby said saluting just before he disappeared.
-
Fifteen minutes later, the door to the Room of Requirement opened, and Hermione walked into the room to find Harry standing nearby. He kissed her quickly. When they separated, he said, "I missed you."
She blushed slightly. "I missed you too, but I hope you didn't call me here to snog. Dobby said you wanted to duel."
"That's right. I wanted to start practicing my shield, but I don't have anyone to shoot at me. Dobby says he can't, so I needed someone." He then smiled at his girlfriend. "I'm very glad and thankful that you came."
She took a deep breath and said, "Ok. Defend yourself!"
He concentrated as he put up a shield as she blasted him with her weakest stunning spell. The shield held easily.
She smiled. "Good job. I guess I'll have to try harder." She then went through every hex she could do wandlessly, while Harry stood there (he was testing his shield, not his dodging ability). Nothing got past his shield. He was smiling as she got frustrated to the point of taking out her wand. She then went through her arsenal of powerful spells as Harry kept his concentration until finally a powerful reducto barely got through the shield and caused a red mark on his left arm. His shield was back up a moment later. Hermione put down her wand. "I don't know whether to be happy or mad. My shield can't stand up to a reducto like that! But you can't get used to it. If a reducto can get past it at all, so can the unforgivables. I think it's time to see how well you can fight back."
Soon Harry and Hermione were in an all out duel. Harry didn't seem to be shooting as rapidly as before, but his spells were powerful when they hit, which fortunately wasn't often as she was able to dodge. Harry kept his shield up, but kept dodging because he wanted to keep that ability. After about two hours they were both sweaty and exhausted. Hermione put up her hands, yelling, "Truce!"
"Sure. You realized I was about to beat you, so you needed a break. I understand."
"Then why are you panting for air?"
"Because I need a break," he answered with a smirk.
"Well," said Hermione, "I think I've seen enough to evaluate your abilities."
A chair appeared behind Harry and he sat down. "What did you think?"
The chair Harry was sitting in turned into a loveseat and Hermione sat next to him. "As we know, your shield is wonderful. We also know not to depend on it. Your reflexes are the same as they were, which is excellent. Your spells seem to be a bit more powerful than they were before, but it took you about three times as long to send them, which is why I was able to dodge most of them."
Harry frowned. "My magical core is different now. It's still hard to make my magic work. I suppose it's like learning to write with your left hand when your right is hurt. Most people can manage it, but it doesn't feel natural and requires more concentration."
She shrugged her shoulders. "The only thing you can do is practice, practice, practice."
"And that's why you stopped our duel?"
"I thought we could use a snog break, and then I honestly think you should practice hexing a target as many times in a minute as possible."
Harry smiled. "I like the idea of a snog break."
"I thought you might."
-
On Monday morning, Harry and Dumbledore stood outside the door of Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. "Here we are," said Albus cheerfully, "I believe you may be the first customer he's had where your wand rejected you after purchasing it."
When they walked into the shop, a bell rang. "Good morning, Mr. Potter, Professor Dumbledore," said the old man with wide, pale eyes.
The headmaster spoke. "Might we have a bit of privacy?"
"Certainly," said the proprietor, pointing his own wand at the door, causing it to say `closed' and charming it so no one could eavesdrop.
"Now what can I do for you?"
"It's about my wand," said Harry nervously, "It…it won't work for me anymore."
He looked shocked. "Impossible. I personally sold you the holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, that was brother to You-Know-Who's wand. It chose you. Wands don't change their minds."
Dumbledore answered. "We found that Mr. Potter's scar had a curse that connected him to Voldemort, and we recently removed it. Once that was done, he could not perform magic with his wand anymore. We believe that the wand chose Harry because of that curse."
"That's quite unusual, quite unusual. Do you still have the wand?"
"Yes," said Harry, pulling it out of his pocket.
Ollivander looked like Christmas had come early. "Yes, I see that the wand has rejected you. This has never happened before at this shop. You are indeed a tricky customer. Most curious. I guess the only choice we have is to start from scratch. You'll have to start trying wands."
Amazingly, Harry's wand was the second one Mr. Ollivander gave him to try. "Ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches. I believe this was the third wand you tried the last time you were here. It rejected you before, but now it appears to have chosen you. Curious."
"What's curious?" asked Harry timidly (something about this man made Harry nervous), "Apart from the fact that it rejected me before."
"That it is so short. It would seem that your magic needs less focus than most witch's and wizard's. You may even be able to focus enough to do some wandless magic. You-Know-Who needed an exceptionally long wand - thirteen-and-a-half inches. He, of course, took it as a compliment, and I never told him otherwise. The eleven inches of your previous wand was an average length. Your father used the same. Your mother's was slightly smaller - ten-and-a-quarter inches, but not this short."
Harry, remembering Ron showing off his new fourteen-inch willow wand with unicorn hair last year, had to stop himself from laughing, realizing that Ron did have trouble focusing on anything but chess and Quidditch. "Interesting," is what Harry decided to say.
-
Madam Pomfrey was extremely pleased with the results Harry got with his new wand, and said he was probably ready for classes now, but since the whole school knew Harry was going to be gone that week, and his magic was still a bit unstable, she allowed him to stay off the entire week. Moony, Padfoot, and Brooks had gone over their lessons with him over the weekend, so he already had their homework to do. Over the course of the week, Harry practiced using both his wand and wandless abilities. He found that the new wand was lighter and easier to conceal. He also found that his spells were much more powerful when using his new wand. His spellcasting speed increased dramatically.
Before breakfast he'd have the normal training with everybody, although they were slightly easier on him at first. By the end of the week they were just as tough on him as always. While classes were in session, he would spend one hour with his wand, one hour doing homework, one hour without the wand, and another hour on homework. He'd then eat lunch and do the same thing again.
After dinner, he'd work with Hermione. First she'd tell him what he missed in class (aside from the three he'd already gotten), and then they'd work on his magic, and then they'd snog. She mentioned that his snogging ability had even improved now that Voldemort was no longer part of him. He wasn't sure how to take that comment.
When he got back to classes, whenever someone noticed his new wand, he'd claim he broke his old one. In truth, he kept it as a souvenir. He planned on hanging it in his room, along with the two wands he'd acquired from Snape. He didn't mention to anyone about what he'd learned about wand length, but he did notice that Hermione's was about nine inches. He was afraid she'd blurt that information out and insult half the students.
It wasn't long until Harry was taken out to what used to be the Quidditch pitch along with the other champions. After he was assured by Ludo Bagman that the pitch would be back to normal after the tournament, he learned that the third task was going to be a maze.
While they were leaving, Krum said, "Harry, I vould like a vord with you."
Harry chuckled at the chowderhead, knowing that Viktor was probably going to start trouble. "Sorry, I've got to see Hermione." He smirked at Viktor's scowl. "You know, according to Mr. Ollivander the wandmaker, shorter wands are better than long ones. Do you agree?"
Krum's face turned red as he realized the hidden meaning, and Harry could swear that smoke came out of his ears. "Vhy you…ow!" said Krum. He had reached for his magic wand. As soon as he got it out, his feet were `somehow' pulled out from under him. He fell on his wand, stabbing himself in the ribs until the wand snapped (and apparently a rib or two based off of how the Bulgarian `champion' was acting).
Harry hadn't actually meant to hurt Krum, but couldn't stop himself from laughing. "You should really be more careful. I'll levitate you to the hospital wing." He then pulled out his wand and did just that before Viktor could protest, slowly floating him in the most crowded hallways going the long way as everyone watched, wondering what Harry had done to Krum.
When they got to Madam Pomfrey and she checked Viktor's injuries, she suspiciously asked Harry, "What happened?"
"We were talking and he got mad at me, so he pulled out his wand. Before he could hex me, he tripped and fell on it. After that I levitated him here."
"Vy you…OW!" Viktor shouted until his ribs hurt again.
Pomfrey looked at Krum. "Is that the truth?"
"He tripped me! I know it!"
"How?" asked Harry. "My wand was still in my pocket."
"I don't know how, but vou did it!"
"If you want, we can put our memories into a pensieve," said Harry calmly, "and then we can prove that you pointed your wand at me and then fell from your own clumsiness."
Madam Pomfrey looked at Krum again, this time angrily. "If you pulled your wand first, Harry won't be in any trouble even if you did prove he somehow tripped you. I don't know how things are at Durmstrang, but here at Hogwarts that sort of behavior is not tolerated. Anyway, I'll have to make sure your wand didn't hurt any of your organs. I'd suggest that after you're recovered, that you pay Mr. Ollivander in Diagon Alley a visit. You may go now, Mr. Potter."
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