Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter - JKR does.
Chapter 28: Phoenix Guardant
28 Feb (early morning)
Harry and Hermione were exhausted. A long day including a fight with Death Eaters and the destruction of all the horcruxes they had so far gathered had drained them both. Sleep was almost unavoidable, but both wanted to see Ron.
Earlier, after the destruction of the horcrux attached to the Slytherin ring, the Headmaster has spent long minutes casting increasingly complex spells on the ring. Ultimately, he'd finally appeared satisfied.
"Harry," Dumbledore started hesitatingly, "I want you to keep this with you. From now on, I'll recommend you keep this and your father's cloak on your person at all times. It will become clearer why I ask this of you at a later time. I have examined it in every way I know how and it appears the soul fragment has been removed and destroyed. If you wear it, I will cast a strong notice-me-not charm on it so it is not apparent to others."
Harry nodded, slipping the crude gold ring on his finger. Dumbledore used his unique wand to carefully hide the ring.
"Despite everything else that happened today," Dumbledore began, "what you accomplished here was truly remarkable. I had almost no hope that we would come this far without much more loss. Now, you are both very tired. I understand if you have to check on Ronald before you go to bed. I will have Fawkes take us all there. I also want to check on Madame Pomfrey's progress."
With a flash, they were all there. The couple crept closer to Ron's bed. Luna, Ginny, Neville, and the twins sat beside it. Luna was holding Ron's right hand, stroking it even though he was under sleeping potions. Poppy Pomfrey stood, speaking to an older wizard in healer's robes. They both looked up as the group approached.
"Ah, Headmaster Dumbledore!" the healer said, "I am William Averoes, chief of regenerative medicine at St Mungos. I am familiar with your work on the uses of dragon blood and interested in the healing properties of phoenix tears. I have wanted to meet you for some time."
"Pleased, Healer Averoes." Dumbledore said gravely, "I will leave myself at your disposal at some time in the future, but for now I must inquire: how is Mr. Weasley?"
"A difficult question." Averoes said, "He is fine. Madame Pomfrey has stabilized him completely. He has no more chance of dying from this wound than you or I do. However, I know that's not what you're truly asking. The real question regarding the boy is whether we can regenerate his arm and I am afraid the answer to that question is no."
Hermione gasped, Ginny started sobbing, and Luna just looked on silently, her eyes even wider than usual.
"We have amazing ability to repair wounds with magic." The healer continued, "Had he merely mangled it, I would be able to heal it. If the bone was damaged beyond fixing, we could disappear it and regrow. However, there must be a scaffold of some type. With the entire limb gone, there is nothing for the new bone to follow. Nervous tissue in particular is difficult to regrow and without bone and muscle for it to follow, it is impossible. Without viable nerves, any limb we attempted to create would be damaged to uselessness within days by an active young man and would be completely insensate during that time. I am afraid the task is impossible with our current knowledge."
"You mentioned you were interested in phoenix tears." Hermione asked, "I know it is unusual to have them available, but we do. Is there any chance that would help?"
Averoes nodded, "You are already gaining a reputation in the Wizarding world, Miss Granger and this question shows clearly why. Phoenix tears are one of the most powerful magical healing substances known. The phoenix itself is symbolic of regeneration. However, the research done in this area, which your Headmaster already knows since it was performed when Auror Moody lost his leg and happened to have a friend, your very own Professor Dumbledore who had access to a phoenix… well, they were unable to heal his injury. The tears will heal the open wound immediately and then the growth stops. There must be a framework for the regrowth to follow or it just closes the wound."
"Are you sure?" Hermione asked, her voice trembling.
"My dear, I'm so sorry." Averoes answered gently, "I am sure. I will continue to research and consult a few other sources I haven't looked at recently, but all the information I have tells me this is not possible. Mr. Weasley will be best served by being woken and started with rehabilitation to help him learn to use a prosthetic, like Auror Moody's leg."
"We'll wake him in the morning." Poppy said, "I'll contact his parents so they can be here for him. Now, the rest of you must go to bed. I know how much you care for him, but you can come back in the morning. There's no use in watching him sleep."
Harry took another look at Ron and grasped his friend's right shoulder. He squeezed Ron's shoulder while giving Luna a one-armed hug with his other arm. He patted Ginny's back as he walked by. Hermione knelt and gave Ron's unconscious body a hug, before joining Harry.
"All right, there Fred? George?" Harry asked as the twins joined them in preparing to walk back to the Gryffindor tower.
"We're ok, Harry." George said.
"Just sad." Fred continued, "For all the grief we've given Ron through the years, we would have never wished this kind of injury on him. Of all of us, it'll hit him hardest."
"He'll do better than you think." Luna said as she walked up, "He's braver than anyone realizes."
"We know, Luna." Hermione said, "I remember first year when he realized he had to sacrifice himself for us to win the chess game. He was brave then. He and Harry have kept me terrified ever since then."
Ginny didn't say anything, sniffling and leaning heavily on Neville. The solemn group trudged back to Gryffindor tower.
28 Feb
The same group all woke early and returned to the infirmary wing. They found Arthur and Molly Weasley already by Ron's bedside. Harry could barely look at them, he felt so guilty. He gathered his Gryffindor courage and walked up to them.
"I'm so sorry." Harry said, his voice breaking slightly, "I didn't mean for this to happen to Ron."
Molly swept Harry into an uncomfortably tight hug, but his relief that she wasn't mad was so overwhelming that he welcomed it, even though he worried about not being able to breathe.
"It wasn't your fault, Harry." She said, "We talked to Bill and he told us most of what happened. You two should have never been on a mission for the order, but I blame Dumbledore for that and not you."
"As you should." Albus said, walking up, "Arthur, Molly, I too must give my deepest apologies for what happened to Ronald. I assure you that his presence was essential to what we were doing. I would not have risked his safety for anything other than the greatest import."
Molly shook her head, clearly still disagreeing, but Dumbledore's reputation was such that she wouldn't express her disagreement. She grabbed Ginny and held her daughter tightly, then released her and grabbed Luna.
"Meep!" Luna said, surprised, but then clearly relaxed in Molly's grasp.
"Oh, you poor dear." Molly said, rocking the petite blond girl, "You must be beside yourself. Ron will be ok. The Weasley men are strong."
Luna gave a small smile, "I know. That's what I told the others."
"You've figured it out early then." Molly nodded, "Good. Now why don't we wake my son?"
The large group gathered around Ron's bed. Poppy took a vial of a bright orange potion, so orange that Harry momentarily thought she picked the color to go along with Ron's Chudley Cannon's obsession, and unstoppered it.
"I have already determined that his other injuries are healed. All of my diagnostic spells tell me Mr. Weasley will be fine. He needs a chance to talk to his family and friends, but I warn you, if he becomes tired or you agitate him, I will have to evict the lot of you!" Madame Pomfrey glared around at the hospital wing, looking very intimidating. Satisfied she'd impressed her seriousness on them, she carefully tipped a couple of drops into Ron's mouth. Ron started moving almost immediately and his eyes soon snapped open.
"Wha…where am I?" he said surprised, looking around, "We were in the house and now…?"
"Mr. Weasley, please do not say more about where we were." Dumbledore said, "We must keep certain things secret, even now. We have returned to Hogwarts. You were injured and it is the next day."
"Ron, my poor son! How do you feel?" Molly asked.
"A bit sore, mum." Ron said, "Otherwise ok. Hey, Harry, Hermione, you made it. Good!"
"We made it." Harry said, "We had to flee right after you were hurt, but none of the rest of us got hurt badly."
"Badly?" Ron asked quietly, "Professor Dumbledore said the next day. You've been hurt so bad before you've been asleep for days. I'm ok, aren't I?"
There was silence as nobody wanted to say anything. Molly Weasley burst into tears. Arthur moved behind his wife and stroked her back. He seemed to gather himself, deciding how to explain what he had to tell his youngest son. To everyone's surprise, though, it was Luna who spoke up first.
"You're ok, Ronald." Luna said determinedly, "You're not in any danger, but your left arm was hurt badly. You've lost most of it and the doctors say they can't regrow it."
She knelt down next to him. He used his right arm to brush the blonde hair away from her face, taking comfort in the act. Ron was silent for a few minutes.
"Well, at least it wasn't my wand arm." He said, managing a clearly forced grin, "I'd hate to have to learn to use a wand left handed."
"That's the spirit, Ron." Fred said.
"Don't let it get you down." George continued, "We'll all be around to give you a hand."
Molly looked like she was going to beat George, but Ron chuckled and so she held her tongue.
"We did what we'd gone to do?" Ron asked, looking carefully at Harry and Hermione.
"We did, Ron." Harry said, "We wouldn't have made it without you."
"Well, that's something, then." Ron said, "Where's breakfast? I'm starved."
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
They ate breakfast by Ron's bedside. Dumbledore commanded some of the Hogwarts' house elves to bring them breakfast and they quickly had trays full of more food than even the Weasleys could eat. After breakfast, Poppy chased everyone away, but Luna refused to go. Seeing how much she helped Ron's spirits, Madame Pomfrey allowed her to stay.
Before he left, Harry leaned down next to his best mate, "We destroyed all of them we had. He's only got two left."
Ron nodded, a serious look on his face, "I'll be ok, mate. I always wanted to do something heroic. Losing my arm fighting Voldemort fits the bill, eh?"
Harry nodded, speechless at how brave Ron was being, then left at a dirty look from Pomfrey.
"Ok, Mr. Weasley." Poppy said, "You're going to come to hate me, but I'm going to teach you how to do things for yourself. First things, first, get out of bed. Then I'll have you dress yourself."
Ron started to get out of bed like he had a million times before, but tumbled back into the pillow when he instinctively tried to put weight on his left arm and found no support.
"Bloody hell!" Ron cursed.
"Language, Mr. Weasley!" Poppy snapped, "You're going to have setbacks and surprises. Let me make it clear right now that you're not going to be allowed to turn into a sailor. Now try again!"
Poppy Pomfrey was like a demented drill sergeant. Ron pushed himself all morning and only Luna's presence kept him from breaking down into tears. When he would feel himself get close, he'd look at her. She returned his looks with no discomfort, no pity. Ron would have seen either immediately. Luna didn't help, knowing that right now he had to learn to do as much as he could on his own. Later, when he had to do these things for real, then she could help sometimes, but for now he had to see what he could and couldn't do.
"How am I ever going to make it?" he lamented later, as he tried to eat lunch. Only Luna was there, Madame Pomfrey having left them alone and forbidden the others from coming back.
"I can't even feed myself." Ron said roughly, "I wanted to be an auror or maybe Keeper for the Cannons. Now I'm going to be lucky if I can dress myself, feed myself… Merlin help me when I need to wipe my own arse!"
"Ronald." Luna said, "I will not let you start to feel sorry for yourself. You've still got your wand arm. After lunch, I'll do some reading about household charms. Maybe you can do some of this with spells. I'll get Hermione to help me."
Ron nodded, grateful. "I'm going to take a nap. I'm worn out."
Luna smiled at him, tucking the blanket around his chin and kissing him. "You do that, Ronald. Get some rest and I'll see you before dinner."
Luna walked to Pomfrey's office. "Ronald is sleeping. I'm going to go see what I can find about household charms. There may be some spells that can help him do a few things he's having trouble with."
Poppy nodded, "You did well with him this morning, dear. Keep it up. I know it's difficult, but you can't do it all for him."
Luna smiled, "He wouldn't let me if I tried, but it would make him mad to see I didn't think he could do it. I'll be back."
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
While Ron was trying to relearn how to function with one arm, Harry pulled Hermione into the Room of Requirement.
"I can't do this." He said, pacing back in forth in their version of the Gryffindor common room, one of the regular configurations they'd grown accustomed to requesting, "Ron was finally growing up and he swore an oath to me as his liege…stupid archaic wizarding traditions…and I got him injured. He's crippled now because of me! What kind of leader am I?"
"You weren't the leader on this trip, Harry." Hermione said gently, "You have to admit Dumbledore assumed that role. If not Dumbledore, Sirius or Remus would be considered the leader. Even Bill, as curse-breaker, was senior to you."
"Ok, you're right, but was Ron there for them or for me?" Harry asked guiltily, "Bill was there for Dumbledore, but I think I could argue that everyone else that was there was there because of me. Particularly Ron…that fealty oath was two sided and Ron kept his half of the bargain. I didn't protect him."
"You couldn't protect him, Harry." Hermione insisted, "You did your best and we did get him out of there alive when it could have gone the other way."
"Well, I owe him. Now that the healers have decided there's no way to heal his arm, is there anything we can do?" Harry asked.
"You don't ask for much, do you Harry?" Hermione teased, "The most qualified healers Saint Mungos can send and you think I can do better?"
"You're not the smartest witch of your age for nothing, Hermione!" Harry said, "I'm not putting it all on you. I have some vague ideas myself. You already brought up phoenix tears and Averoes said it wasn't possible, but has anyone ever had access to two phoenices? Maybe even four if we could transform and cry healing tears. My other thought is a silver arm like the hand Voldemort made for Wormtail."
"While we could try to come up with something around phoenix tears, I think it would have to be a potion. Snape is truly one of the best potion masters, so I wouldn't rule out that he could come up with something nobody has done before given the resources you mentioned, but it wouldn't be soon." Hermione mused, "However, the silver hand thing really has some promise. Maybe we should talk to Dumbledore? He would be the most likely to know whether it's possible."
"Ok!" Harry said enthusiastically, "Let's go now; I really want to get this figured out. If we don't fix Ron before Monday, everyone will know and I think that's going to be one of the hardest parts for him to deal with. Well, I think going through the rest of his life with only one arm is the hardest part, but everyone knowing will seem like the end of the world for Ron…"
"Let's go." Hermione said.
The two rushed to the Headmaster's office and let themselves in, asking the Gargoyle to alert the Headmaster they were coming.
When they arrived at the top of the stairs, the door opened automatically for them. Dumbledore was sitting at his desk, his head cradled in his hands. He looked even older than usual, clearly affected by Ron's injury.
"Professor Dumbledore, I had an idea!" Harry said as soon as he came through the door.
"What kind of idea, my boy?" Dumbledore asked quietly.
"An idea to help Ron." Harry said, "You remember we told you about the confrontation in the graveyard? After Wormtail performed the ritual, Voldemort replaced his hand with a magical silver hand. Can we use that spell to replace Ron's arm?"
Dumbledore shook his head even before Harry finished.
"Harry, I am sorry, but that spell is ancient magic. It is very obscure and only a few extremely learned wizards will have even heard of it. Of course, I am one of them, so ignorance is not the problem." Dumbledore said, "The problem is that the spell has very specific requirements. It was developed in a different era. The loss of limbs was more common when magical swords were in more widespread use and in the Goblin rebellions. The spell was developed to let sorcerer-kings replace the limbs of their trusted soldiers. It's only usable by liege lords on their liegemen and only on wounds incurred during their service to their lords. It is forever tied to this allegiance, attacking the liegeman if he ever betrays his lord. Because Wormtail was formally sworn to Voldemort, carried his Dark Mark, and the hand was clearly lost in service to Voldemort, only then was the spell even possible."
Dumbledore was surprised when Harry's enthusiasm didn't completely deflate.
"Well, Ron is my liegeman." Harry said.
"Not in a symbolic way, Harry, in a very literal oath-sworn way." Dumbledore gently corrected.
"That's what I mean, Professor!" Harry continued, "We had a falling out over the summer when we were training. You remember Ron left with you? Well, when he came back, we talked and he chose to swear an oath of fealty to me in the old Pureblood tradition. It was as formal as they get! As far as whether he lost the hand in my service…Hermione and I were talking. Clearly Bill was there because you asked him to be, but I'd bet Sirius, Remus, and Ron were there because I was there. I don't know, it may be a subtle point and maybe the spell won't see it that way, but I'd like to hope that it will."
Dumbledore nodded, seeming more animated, like a weight as lifting off his shoulders.
"Any chance is better than none, my boy." Dumbledore said, "While I am familiar with the existence of the spell, I have never studied it in-depth. Perhaps we can look through our library resources and piece it together."
"What if you and I look at my memory of Voldemort casting it in the cemetery?" Harry asked, "The spell was silent. I don't know whether you can apply auramancy to a memory, but maybe we could figure out what he did. Meanwhile, Hermione could get started on the library research. Maybe together we can recreate the spell."
Dumbledore nodded. "That's not a bad idea. Timmy!" One of Hogwarts' House Elves popped into existence, bowed to Dumbledore, and awaited his task. "Timmy, please assist Miss Granger. Any book she needs from the library including the restricted section or from my personal library, please bring it to her. She can read them here. She is not to remove any of the restricted books or my personal books from my office. Is that clear, Miss Granger?"
"Of course, Headmaster." Hermione said, almost salivating over this unprecedented access to these academic resources.
Dumbledore summoned his pensieve. He pulled out two labeled vials from an intricately carved wooden tower made specifically to hold hundreds of these vials.
"I have saved any memories of Tom Riddle and his later incarnation of Lord Voldemort." Dumbledore said, "Both of your memories of his return are not the least of my collection."
Harry entered the memory with Albus, who'd set it immediately before that specific spell. They watched it over and over, examining the wand movements in detail. Hermione's memory was particularly sharp at recalling detail of spellcasting and very useful for that reason. They found that you could use limited auramancy in a memory as a skilled auramancer, as both youths were becoming at the time of the confrontation, acquired some hints of magic even when they were not specifically using the skill. Given how completely focused both were in the life-and-death situation, they had picked up details that were surprising when seen later. That same five minute period of both of their memories, ten minutes cumulative, were reviewed over and over. Several hours must have passed before they pulled themselves out of the pensieve.
Hermione was working feverishly, sheets of parchment with notes occupying the only space on Dumbledore's desk that wasn't occupied by books. Her bushy hair was coming out of a hastily tied back tail.
"I think I've found it." Hermione said, "It's the Manu Fides spell, popular in the 1200s and eventually vanishing with the advent of muggle gunpowder and Wizards moving away from swords."
"Ah, yes." Dumbledore said, "That goes along with what I remember. Have you found the incantation?"
"That is the incantation." Hermione said, "It's a quite simple spell, really. The incantation is very brief, the wand movement is not particularly complicated, however the requirements are very strict and it takes a very powerful wizard to use it."
Dumbledore summoned Timmy to bring them lunch. They spent the time studying the written descriptions of the spell, which were limited. It would have been almost impossible to piece together had they not already known the spell existed. However, having seen it used and having the entire resources of the Hogwarts library with two of the best academic researchers alive in Albus and Hermione allowed them to achieve something few would have been able to - they recreated the spell from myth and legend to reality.
That afternoon, Dumbledore tutored Harry on the wand movement and they practiced without the incantation or intent until he could perform it flawlessly.
"Do you think it will work, Professor?" Harry asked nervously, "I want to do anything I can for Ron, but if I bring this up and it doesn't work that's almost crueler than if we didn't try at all."
"I doubt Mr. Weasley would say the same thing." The Headmaster said with his most grandfatherly look, "We will be sure to let him know that this is undocumented territory and none of us know if it will work, but it is a promising line of inquiry. It surely will not hurt to try and if it helps, it will make a big difference in his life."
Harry nodded, almost unable to speak with the complex mixture of feelings: hopefulness tempered by fear of failure. He was becoming a leader, but he hadn't previously had to bear the weight of responsibility it entailed. Ron's injury during the chess match, Hermione's petrification, those had both occurred before he'd really been in charge and he'd felt terrible but he hadn't felt the burden that he felt now.
"Should we go and talk to him?" Harry asked.
"More than that," Dumbledore answered, his eyes twinkling, "I think we should go heal him."
The three of them walked purposefully to the infirmary. They ran into Luna, coming from the library with her schoolbag.
"Coming to visit Ronald?" Luna asked, looking at them carefully, "You've solved the problem, haven't you?"
Harry swallowed, unable to respond, wishing to say he had, but unsure if their plan would work.
"There are no guarantees, Miss Lovegood." Dumbledore said, "However, we have a promising line of inquiry. Please let me explain it to Mr. Weasley before you say anything."
Together the four of them walked into the infirmary. Dumbledore split off and discussed their plan with Poppy while the three friends found Ron sitting up in bed.
Ron broke into a smile on seeing his friends walking towards him.
"Harry! Hermione!" he greeted, "I hoped you'd be able to come visit with me. Luna was working with me all morning and I was knackered. I'll probably do a bit more soon, but I'm glad to see you."
"It's good to see you, too, Ron." Hermione said, "I'm sorry you were hurt."
Ron shrugged, trying to be strong, "I knew it was possible. My mum's brothers died fighting Voldemort. At least I'm still alive. I'll be doing almost everything I could before with a little practice."
Harry fought not to say anything, knowing Dumbledore would say it better. Luckily, the headmaster walked up at that moment.
"Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore began in his grandfatherly tone, as Madame Pomfrey stood at his side, "your friends have not rested and they have come up with an idea. I must tell you it is only an idea and we are unsure whether it will be successful, but I think it worth investigation. Did Mr. Potter tell you about his experience in the graveyard?"
Ron nodded, his eyes wide.
"During that confrontation, Peter Pettigrew cut off his own hand as part of the ritual to return Lord Voldemort to a body. Voldemort replaced it with a magical silver hand. It functions as well as or better than the original. There is a possibility Mr. Potter could cast the same spell for you. Before I say more, I have to ask, are you interested?"
"What kind of bloody question is that?!" Ron asked, "I can learn to use a hook or I can get a silver arm that works better than the real thing… count me in!"
"There are some very important requirements for this spell to work." Dumbledore continued, "It depends on things that have already happened. If they're not met, the spell will fail. As these are preconditions, they cannot be changed now. First, the spell may only be cast by a Wizard on another who has sworn an oath of loyalty to him. Mr. Potter tells me you have done so?"
"Yeah," Ron said with a hint of embarrassment, "it was how I got around my jealousy. I feel like it's made a real difference."
"I wondered what had changed in you." Dumbledore said, "Whether it was because of the oath or because your willingness to swear such an oath was a sign of your maturation, I won't speculate, but it may become very significant now. The second requirement is that you have to have lost the limb in service to Harry. He says he feels like you did. His feeling about it may be enough to influence the magic, but I have to ask, who do you feel like you were there for?"
Ron thought about that for a moment.
"I was there for Harry." Ron said, "This fight has always been about Harry. It's part of why I used to be so jealous, but there's no real doubt of it."
Dumbledore nodded. "With that said, I think this spell has a very real chance of success. Now all that is left is to try it."
With a wave of Dumbledore's wand, the other beds scooted away. Fawkes flamed into the room simultaneously with Hedwig, both feeling their presence was needed.
"I think if you'll take positions around an imaginary circle…" Dumbledore began.
Luna shook her head, her eyes taking on a determination rarely seen in the expression of the dreamy eyed girl.
"Of course, you can remain there, Miss Lovegood."
Hermione assumed a point on the circle as close to Harry as she dared. Madame Pomfrey stood at Ron's feet, offset to the side to form a symmetry with Hermione and so she could see her patient. Professor Dumbledore stood at his head, completing a triangle with the two witches. Harry, Ron, and Luna were on the inside. Luna pulled Ron's hospital gown off his shoulders, leaving him bare-chested. The wound near his right shoulder was red and angry, but much further healed than it ever would have been without magic.
The two phoenices started crooning. Their magic filled the air, seeming to increase not only the emotion, but the magical power available. The air felt electric, filled with life and power. Real potential for something amazing happening seemed almost tangible.
Harry immersed himself deep within, focusing as tightly as he ever did during a duel. Powerful ritual casting was more Hermione's skill than his, but his best mate's need called for Harry's best effort. He'd always come through when a friend needed him and now that it was Ron, he wasn't going to fail. Harry's power started to crackle around him. The windows all flung themselves open and a cold early springtime wind poured into the room.
"Manu Fides!" Harry called in a loud voice, his tone deep, resonant. He moved his holly wand through the fairly simple movements of the spell confidently, crisply, his endless repetitions during his training over the last year giving him a precision he'd lacked before.
The green light of Harry's magic, heavily laced through with glowing gold sparks, formed an outline of an arm, identical but the mirror image to Ron's right arm. Almost as soon as it formed, the framework of magic began to fill with a silvery liquid, as if mercury poured in out of nowhere. The green and gold was reflected in the shining silver, disappearing as the metal seemed to harden. First, the upper arm formed, biceps and triceps hardening. The wound was hidden as the arm seemed to anchor itself in Ron's living flesh. Elbow formed next, and then the forearm began to take shape. The complicated muscles of the forearm appeared, narrowing into the wrist, then widening out again. Before it was even fully formed, the hand was flexing, muscles in the forearm pulling the fingers into a fist and then extending them out again, mirroring the movements of the dominant right side. As soon as the mercurial flow reached the fingertips, the green and gold glow disappeared and the arm seemed solid. Bright, shining, reflecting the entire room in the curved surface, but otherwise completely normal, appearing the exact same as the other side except coated in a silver film.
"Whoa." Ron said, continuing to test it by flexing and extending. He turned his hand over so he could look at the back, and then again to look at his palm, "It feels completely normal!"
He reached out to the metal tubular framework of the head of the bed to stand and his grip crushed the tube.
"Ah, sorry about that." Ron said shocked, "I suppose I'd better be careful!"
They all laughed.
"Perhaps we'll still have some physical therapy to complete after all." Madame Pomfrey said with a rare smile.
Luna grabbed Ron and kissed him, jumping up and down excitedly, then grabbed Harry and kissed him, too. Harry turned red, while Ron barked, "Hey now, none of that!" but clearly wasn't really upset, grinning at his best friend.
"Harry, I don't know what to say…" Ron said, his voice cracking with emotion foreign to the teenaged boy, "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Harry said, smiling so big he felt like his face would crack, "You wouldn't believe how guilty I felt when you got hurt."
They all took turns congratulating Ron on his good fortune and Harry on the successfully cast spell.
"How do you feel, my boy?" Dumbledore asked, looking carefully at Harry.
"Great, Professor!" Harry said, still smiling widely.
"Good job." Dumbledore said, smiling, his own low mood now lifted higher than usual for the good natured Headmaster, "I have some good news to pass along to the Burrow. If you'll excuse me."
Ron continued to move his new arm through a range of motions. A thought seemed to cross his mind and a grin spread across his face.
"Hey, Harry," Ron said, "the silver's not bad, but I don't suppose they come in orange, eh?"
Harry chuckled at Ron's lame joke.
"I assume Madame Pomfrey is going to want to examine you." Harry said, smirking and happy it wasn't him this time, "Maybe if she releases you, we could meet in the usual place? I'll gather up the twins, Ginny, Neville and we can celebrate a bit?"
"That sounds great, mate!" Ron said, looking at the Hogwarts nurse, "Um, I mean if that's ok?"
Poppy Pomfrey attempted to scowl, but even she couldn't look unhappy at this turnaround from tragedy.
"If you cooperate with my exam, I think we can discharge you, Mr. Weasley. Harry Potter may be my most frequent patient, but the Weasleys as a family have surpassed even him. I don't want to keep you any longer than necessary."
Harry and Hermione walked quickly to the Gryffindor common room. They could apparate or have Hedwig take them, but they were trying to hide their abilities and advantages as much as possible so they could surprise Voldemort and his Death Eaters. Using them indiscriminately would not help that goal. Once in the common room, they quickly spotted Neville and Ginny together.
"Ginny!" Hermione squealed, running towards her friend. Ginny looked up surprised. Hermione squealing was so rare as to be shocking. "We found a solution!"
Hermione quickly cast a silent muffliato and told Ginny the good news. Meanwhile, Harry had the Marauder's map out and was locating the twins using some of the new features he'd discovered. He spotted them in their dorm room, so he hurried up the stairs and found them.
"Fred, George, good news!" he said excitedly, "Hermione and Dumbledore found an answer to Ron's injury. We were able to create a new arm for him."
"A new arm?" George said.
"Good one, Harry!" Fred laughed, hitting him on the back.
"It would take you and Hermione to come up with something St Mungos hadn't heard of!" George said.
The twins did a little jig and Harry had to laugh.
"We're going to the Room of Requirement to have a little celebration. I'm sure Ron's going to be exhausted, so we're keeping it low key, but this is too great not to…" Harry said.
"Right, Harry, we agree." Fred said.
"We can bring some food and drinks." George offered.
"Wait, has anyone told mum?" Fred asked.
"Yes, Dumbledore's informing your parents now." Harry said, "Hermione told Ginny in the common room a minute ago. She'll be there."
The twins nodded and hurried off to the kitchen. Harry didn't have the heart to tell them Dobby or Winky could get them all the food they needed in seconds.
Harry wrote a quick note to Dumbledore to tell him where they were, so if the Weasleys came via floo, he could bring them to the Room of Requirement, too. He sent it with Hedwig.
"Hey, girl, you can stay and talk to Fawkes if you want. Come back to me when you're done, ok?"
Pretty soon Harry, Hermione, Ginny, Neville, and the twins were in the Room of Requirement, which had assumed the shape of the Gryffindor common room complete with decorations. A table groaning with food sat off to the side, along with buckets of ice filled with bottles of Butterbeer and pitchers of pumpkin juice.
Ron and Luna came through the doors and everyone cheered. Ron held Luna's hand in his right and held up his silver arm in the universal sign of victory. The cheering only grew louder and Ron basked in his friends' and family's happiness for him.
Harry had been thinking. Ron's injury really hammered home to him the seriousness of their efforts. He remembered how mad he'd been when Dumbledore had kept him in the dark, but he'd been doing the same thing to his friends, despite the fact that they'd been helping him. All the training at Black Isle had to be worth something. He let everyone celebrate for a while, but eventually he raised his hand. Everyone looked to him expectantly, silence quickly falling.
"You all know Ron was injured. I want to tell you a little bit about how." Harry started, "There are a lot of secrets involved, though, so before we start, I want to be sure you can all keep these secrets, even if others try to take them. I'm going to ask you one at a time to come over here with Hermione and me. We're going to do a quick occlumency check to be sure your shields are strong enough."
Harry was a bit worried about the twins. They hadn't been to Black Isle, so hadn't had the chance to learn the basics with the rest. He and Hermione performed a legilimency probe on all their friends after telling them what it involved and gaining their permission. They were clear that their probe probably wasn't strong enough to really simulate a full out attack by Voldemort, but a joint attack would probably be enough to test their ability to resist anything short of that.
They were pleased when all their friends passed, even the twins.
"How did you two learn occlumency?" Harry asked.
"Well, we had learned about its existence pretty early on." George said.
"But finding out how to do it is bloody impossible." Fred continued.
"So we made do by avoiding eye contact with Snape or Dumbledore, since we suspected they sometimes use legilimency and we didn't want our secrets out." George said.
"When Ginny came back from Black Isle, we heard her pushing Ron to practice one night." Fred said.
"We begged her to teach us. She agreed and we learned everything we could. We've worked really hard at it, since it seems like an essential skill for our line of work." George said.
"Keeps our secrets from the teachers and protect our business secrets from competitors." Fred finished.
"So we did ok?" George asked.
"You both did really well." Hermione said, "You're ready to keep a secret from anyone we know. Voldemort might be able to break your shields. We just don't know what he's capable of."
Harry stood, gesturing his friends to sit.
"So you all know I don't think I'm anything special." Harry started, "I never understood why anyone else seemed to. The thing with Voldemort happened when I was still in nappies. Hardly something you can brag about! Then I came here. Hermione's always been a better student. Ron's better at chess. I'm pretty good at Quidditch and Defense, although if you ask Umbridge, she'd disagree with that last."
There was laughter there.
"You mean Umbitch?" one of the twins shouted.
"She wouldn't know Defense from a Doily!" the other laughed.
"Right, well, Dumbledore finally told me one reason Voldemort thought I was worth his obsession. You've all heard whispers about this prophecy the Order of the Phoenix is guarding in the Department of Mysteries?"
There were assorted head nods, although Neville seemed a little less sure than the others.
"Dumbledore told me what it says. He heard it from Trelawney, who initially made it."
Harry went on to tell them the Prophecy. There was total silence.
"There were two babies that fit," Harry continued, "Me and Neville. Nev, I'm sorry, but that's probably why your parents were attacked. It could have been either of us. I think if it could have been either of us then, there's probably not much difference between us now. So Nev, I think you're over it at this point, but if you ever think of yourself as a near squib again, remember you were prophesized to be one of two that could defeat the Dark Lord. I may have been marked more obviously…" he said pointing at his scar, "but Riddle was an orphan and he pretty much made both of us the same."
Neville nodded his head, face taking on a steely determination that was becoming more and more one of his trademark looks.
"Riddle protected himself from death with dark objects called horcruxes. This is the most important secret we have. If he learned we even knew about them, let alone how far we've come in destroying them he could do two things. One, he could protect the single one we haven't had a chance to destroy. With it intact, he's invulnerable. Two, he could become desperate. A desperate Voldemort might try even harder to kill me, the ones I love, or even just random victims. We don't want that."
Harry continued, "He had seven: Hufflepuff's Cup, Slytherin's Locket, Ravenclaw's Diadem, Tom Riddle's Diary…" Ginny squeaked at that and Harry nodded to her, acknowledging the horror of what she'd been through. "Yes, Ginny, you were possessed by a fragment of his soul. If you had been weaker, if he'd been able to gain control before Hermione figured out what was happening and I got down there, then he would have come back two years earlier. Your resistance was one of the unknown battles of the war."
"Gaunt's Ring is the final one we've destroyed. There are two remaining. We believe one is Nagini, his snake. If he knew we knew that, he would protect her so well we might never be able to kill her. If you see her, kill her on sight. The last is as great a secret as the existence of the horcruxes at all, because it's me. I have a fragment of Tom Riddle's fractured soul in my scar. We're trying to research how to destroy it, but we're not sure we can do it without killing me. If that's the only way, I don't mind dying to kill him, but now, with the bond, it would kill Hermione too and I won't do that unless there's no other choice. I believe she'll find a way to remove it without needing to go there."
There was utter silence at the magnitude of revelations.
"Why did I tell you now?" Harry continued, asking the obvious question, "Ron lost his arm on the expedition that recovered the Ring. His heroism directly contributed to the eventual destruction of Voldemort. I thought you should all know that. We've destroyed all but the final two and we're working to destroy those. That's also worth celebrating. You're my friends, you'll be by me throughout, and I wanted you to know."
The party had taken on a more serious tone, but Harry's words soaked in and they realized there was even more reason to celebrate. The opposition to Voldemort was making progress and he wasn't as invulnerable as he liked to project. There was talk among the group as they absorbed the information, but they had returned to celebration by the time Arthur, Molly, and Bill Weasley arrived. Ron was asleep before the party ended and his friends helped return him to the Gryffindor dorm.
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
29 Feb
Sunday was a day of recovery. Ron had a lie in, even missing breakfast, a first for him. Harry and Hermione also slept late and then spent the afternoon working with their animagus transformation, at which they were becoming better, and trying to perform phoenix apparition, in which they made little progress.
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
1 March
Harry went through classes, realizing with a pang that DADA had been his favorite class before, but now he dreaded it. Professor Umbridge still hadn't returned to open hostilities with him, but she took out her hatred on his written work in her class. At this rate, he wouldn't qualify for NEWT level DADA, ending his dreams of becoming an auror. He knew from Hermione's occasional huff and the feel of rage through her bond that she wasn't doing much better, although how anyone could grade her poorly was a mystery. Harry was her regular editor and only his extreme interest and hard work in the subject gave him the background to follow her work, as it was more advanced than the textbook, often integrating multiple NEWT level references and synthesizing new information rather than just regurgitating the text as most of their classmates struggled to do. Umbridge's hostility was unjustified and he was getting damn sick of it!
Professor Dumbledore again used his special class time to provide additional dueling opportunities, meeting Harry in the regular room. Hermione was with Professor McGonagall, working on her own projects.
"I have been thinking about what we need to work on." Filius said at first, "We have mostly been doing static duels, but one of your talents is your speed and mobility. You have even managed to bypass anti-apparition wards, making the chances of your mobility being reduced that much less."
"Given your new animagus form, you may even be able to learn phoenix apparition as another way to circumvent anti-apparition wards." Headmaster Dumbledore continued, "I will task you with learning to do so on your own, but would suggest you start with learning to do it while transformed first, when it may well be more natural, then trying while in your native form. The animagi I know say that is how they learned to use their animal abilities while in human form, learning them first in animal form and only later learning to use them in human form."
"I have charmed the room to create a spot of white on a dark floor." Flitwick said, "Your job is to move to the spot. Continue to do so as long as you can. Begin when you're ready."
Harry did, apparating around the room, striving to land exactly on the spot. He initially was able to keep it up for close to five minutes and almost 70 jumps before having to stop, sweating and nauseated.
"Good!" Filius said, "Catch your breath and let the nausea settle. Then we'll go again. This time I'm going to try to hex you. You must dodge or shield while hopping to your next target."
Harry went again, successfully dodging and blocking everything Filius sent at him. He was tired, so only managed four minutes, but he was getting faster, so he still managed close to 70 hops in that time.
"Good job, my boy!" Dumbledore said when he was done, "Now to make it more interesting, I am going to add another dimension to the problem."
The Headmaster, the greatest current master of transfiguration in the world, quickly changed the room. Now small balconies dotted the walls at random heights. Some were mere feet off the ground while others were only a man's height from the high ceiling. The white dots now appeared to be glowing balls, visible even from a lower level.
"Go!" Flitwick called, surprising Harry. He shot a stunning spell an instant after his call, which missed Harry, flashing through the space he'd been a moment before. Harry jumped through the room, popping from glowing dot to glowing dot.
Harry managed to get back to five minutes and close to 100 jumps before having to sink to the ground exhausted.
"Very well done." Flitwick said, "I'm going to allow you a longer break this time. Have a drink. There's chilled pumpkin juice in the pitcher there. Next, I want you to send an attack back at me. Stunning spells or stinging hexes are acceptable. At each stop, you are not allowed to apparate until you've thrown one of those hexes at me."
Harry had a drink, mopped his brow, and then continued with the increasingly difficult exercises. Between Flitwick and Dumbledore, they sent innumerable spells at him, giving him ample practice in dodging and shielding. He made uncountable apparitions. By the end of the session, he felt a constant mild nausea and he felt like his head was spinning.
"That sensation should go away by tomorrow." Flitwick said knowingly, "We will see you tomorrow afternoon, Mr. Potter."
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
2 March
Charms and transfiguration were the opposite of DADA. Harry found himself enjoying the experience of being teacher's pet, although if he'd assumed Hermione's former place, she'd departed it for an even more exalted one, having become more of a colleague to the professors than a mere student. She still focused intently on their lessons, but when the practical portion arrived, she quickly demonstrated her mastery of the spell in question, often discretely showing the professor she could perform it silently or even wandlessly as well. Then she would help her classmates or discuss advanced theory with the professor, depending on how much her peers seemed to need help. Her advanced theory questions often had to do with her work with McGonagall or were obscure points she thought might come up on OWL exams, although both Flitwick and McGonagall had assured her that these issues were well beyond OWL and sometimes past NEWT level.
Tuesday evening was Harry's normal day to work with Filius. He walked to the dueling room with Hermione, wondering what was planned.
"Welcome back, Mr. Potter." Professor Flitwick said, "Miss Granger, welcome. I'd like to continue your work from yesterday, Mr. Potter. You two could both practice taking turns apparating while the other covers. Albus and I will both send hexes your way. Follow the glowing balls. Do you understand? Ok, begin."
Hermione started at the same level Harry had ended yesterday. One of the biggest advantages to their bond was the ability to 'share' knowledge and skills. They spent an hour practicing mobility, bouncing around the room as fast as possible while defending by dodging, blocking, and counter-cursing. The two worked together like two halves of a single whole, which was essentially what they were. Their coordination was perfect, since they communicated at the speed of thought. They worked to near-exhaustion in 10-15 minute blocks, both of them soaked in sweat, before taking a break and then beginning again.
"Take a longer break." Flitwick said, "Then you will duel the Headmaster again."
Harry struggled to catch his breath, tired from the drills they'd done for the past hour and intimidated at what was coming. Albus Dumbledore was a legend to every Wizard, but for Harry he was more than that. An amateur could appreciate an athlete, but only a true athlete could really appreciate the nuances of a peak competitor. Harry had become one of the most talented young duelists in the Wizarding world and while his teachers had allowed him no idea of exactly where he ranked, he knew how much he'd progressed relative to where he'd been. While he didn't know that he'd reached a peak that only a select few, born with unmatched talent and then trained exhaustively by the best in the field would ever reach, he did know he'd gained a much greater understanding of the differences between other opponents. He knew that Dumbledore was incomparable. Even Mad-Eye, Filius, or Alex didn't compare and they were the best he'd seen before.
Dumbledore simply appeared in his position. He wore dove grey dueling robes, his long white beard was gathered by a golden ring, his flowing white hair was pulled back into a tail, and his eyes rather than sparkling were so focused it seemed he might have a basilisk type gaze. Harry felt himself becoming weak with nervousness, but he pushed that part of himself down and let the Machine take over, because the Machine felt nothing but drive to win. His emotions weren't gone, but they were pushed down inside, where he could contemplate the stupidity of dueling the wizard who'd defeated Grindelwald without it getting in the way.
Harry had no idea what he looked like when he dueled, but Albus watched him with a studied eye. He could see the boy becoming nervous and tried to project an even greater sense of presence, trying to win the fight before it began. It seemed to work as the boy's leg was twitching and sweat was beading on his forehead. Suddenly, though, it was like a different person was standing there. Harry's eyes stopped darting around nervously. They still were obviously taking everything in, bouncing systematically from Albus' center of mass to wand hand, from center of mass to feet, looking at everything and taking everything in. Harry seemed to sink down, his knees bending and thigh muscles holding him in the perfect position to spring forward or shuffle back. His face went flat and unreadable. Albus would never tell him, but he had some of the look of Snape, that same look of an emotionless killer. When Harry looked like that, Albus knew there was no point in trying a legilimens attack, his mind was too sheltered for that.
They both saluted and waited for the signal. Flitwick conjured a light silk scarf that drifted down on the vagaries of the air currents in the room. Both duelists stood, poised, waiting for it to hit the ground, one of the traditional signals for a duel to begin.
"Boom!" their first curses met in the middle of the room and exploded, shockwave pressing against the chest like a hand, "Boom, boom boom!"
The force of the powerful curses meeting was unreal, like the shockwave Hermione imagined if Gryffindor tower were to fall over. She felt the powerful wards on the room shudder as they absorbed ridiculous forces.
Albus squinted, trying to see through the ripples in the air, the ripples in reality, as his spells met Harry's launched at precisely the same instant. He turned instinctively; throwing up a powerful protective shield just in time to block several of Harry's signature combination spells. The piercing curse had been honed to perfection, incredible forces concentrated into a theoretical minimum area, essentially a geometric point. This struck Albus' shield, trying to create an opening for a tightly compressed blasting curse riding the first spell's coattails. Harry had apparated silently while Albus couldn't see him and if the Headmaster didn't have a century of combat awareness, he would have surprised him. If he hadn't had the unique wand, even his shield wouldn't have blocked those deadly spells.
Dumbledore flicked his hand, causing Harry to fly backwards, propelled by a powerful banishing charm. A flick of the Elder Wand and a spray of stunning spells followed, ready to hit Harry at his weakest, as he bounced off the stone wall.
Harry never hit the stone wall, disappearing in mid-air and reappearing on a ledge silently. It took precise control to apparate while moving, because the kinetic energy of movement had to be perfectly cancelled or Harry would have flown off the ledge if the kinetic energy remained or burst into flames if the energy was converted to heat. The conversion was instinctive, as was the spray of spellfire launched before he disappeared again. Harry appeared on another ledge, launched a handful of SPEARs and disapparated only to appear on another ledge. It was almost as if he'd chained the offensive spells with apparition.
Dumbledore saw almost twenty offensive spells coming from every direction and he knew even a shield cast by the Elder Wand wouldn't absorb all of them. He disapparated an instant before they landed, which was an instant before the shield fell with a crash. Albus had to smile. Harry was coming along. The Headmaster actually felt threatened.
Dumbledore threw two quick spells. The first was silent and subtle. To mask it, the second was anything but subtle, a flame whip, slashing out in a circle, hoping to catch Harry no matter wherever he apparated to.
Harry popped into existence over one of the ledges, sending a chain of curses at Dumbledore where he'd appeared after he'd had to flee. He'd had to flee! The emotional side deep within the bottomless well of occlumency rejoiced that he'd actually made the Headmaster run from his attack. The Machine coldly remained focused on the fight. Luckily, since instead of landing on the ledge, he fell through it. Dumbledore had transfigured the ledges to have no floor. Harry had still gotten his attack off, but was now falling.
Dumbledore shielded against the curses coming at him and his shield held against five, although he sensed that was about all it could absorb. He flicked the flame whip at Harry, but it was difficult to hit the still somewhat smaller than average boy while he was in free-fall. He expected Harry to apparate away from the fall, as he'd proven quite talented at instinctively zeroing kinetic energy and apparating during significant movement, something many wizards couldn't do.
Harry quickly realized what Dumbledore would expect and decided to try something instead. He cast an overpowered banishing charm on the floor right before he hit. Even Harry Potter couldn't hope to move a castle and so the spell rebounded at Harry, launching all fifty-something kilos of boy-who-lived. He rode the wave of force bouncing off the floor into a parabolic arc across the room, flying without a broom.
Dumbledore was momentarily taken aback. He wasn't sure if the boy's curse had gone tragically wrong or if this was some insane tactic, but Harry came flying across the room as if launched from a cannon. Albus quickly decided it was purposeful when he saw curses spitting out of the boy's wand throughout the entire parabola. He barely had time to overcome his shock and disapparate before the floor under where he'd been was chewed into gravel.
Appearing on a ledge across the room, Albus transfigured the wall where Harry would hit into Devil's Snare.
Harry combined a powerful fire spell with another overpowered banishing charm and rocketed off in a new direction, seemingly spit out of a blossoming fireball that consumed the Devil's Snare.
Nobody had ever taken mobility to this extreme, Dumbledore thought numbly, while deciding how to stop the boy.
He quickly cast a bubble around himself and transfigured all the air in the room to water. Harry's flight hit a snag as he suddenly plunged into water without warning. He didn't even have time to take a full breath of air and drowning was suddenly a very real possibility. Harry wasn't sure whether you could apparate out of water, but you certainly could portkey out of it, as he'd learned for the second task of the tournament. He didn't want to try too many things, so he apparated to the only spot of air in the entire room, right next to Dumbledore.
Soaking wet and breathless, Harry was uncertain what to do. He'd done much better this duel, but only because he was constantly moving and clearly the Headmaster had more tricks up his sleeve. Harry had no idea how to beat the older, more knowledgeable, more powerful wizard. However, as he'd learned before the first task and proven today, it always paid to play to your strengths, or at least your opponent's weaknesses. He was a fifteen year-old boy fighting a centenarian.
He grabbed Dumbledore's wand and did a leg sweep that Ashdown had taught him on Black Isle. The emotional part was screaming 'No!', there was no way kicking the Headmaster in the leg was right. However, the Machine didn't care. He'd take the only advantage he had and wouldn't shed a tear.
Dumbledore went down hard despite a less than perfect leg sweep. He grunted as he hit the paving stones of the floor.
"Stupefy!" Harry shouted, sending a red beam at the Headmaster before his limbs had even settled from the hard tumble he'd taken.
Harry was panting, on his back on the floor next to the stunned Dumbledore, both in a bubble of air within a roomful of water. Surreal didn't even begin to describe it. He wasn't sure he could transfigure that much water back into air, so he decided to try a finite first. Luckily, it worked. Harry rolled to his feet and backed away from the Headmaster, unsure what Professor Flitwick would do.
"Harry!" Hermione shouted, "You won!"
Harry shook his head, "I cheated. I was barely surviving and I kicked an old man in the leg because I didn't know what else to do. Not really a big mark in the win column as far as I'm concerned."
"If you have to kick Voldemort in the leg, you do it!" Hermione said, both hands on her hips, "What would Moody say? There is no cheating in a fight!"
"Yeah, maybe." Harry said guiltily, "I just feel like crap having kicked Professor Dumbledore. Professor Flitwick, is he ok?"
"He'll be fine." Flitwick said reassuringly, "Dueling wards are made to attenuate physical attacks, too. He'll have a bruise or two, but he'll be fine. He would have told you not to hold back."
The part goblin innervated the Headmaster of Hogwarts. Dumbledore groaned before sitting up.
"Well, that was creative." He managed to say, "I think you managed to create several new techniques during that fight. Now, where's my wand?"
"I've got it, sir." Harry said, holding it out.
"You've got my wand?" Dumbledore said, stunned.
"I grabbed it when I ended up next to you." Harry explained, wondering why Dumbledore seemed so surprised, "I thought it would give me a spot of breathing room." He chuckled, suddenly thinking about how he'd been in the only bubble of air in the entire room, "A spot of breathing room, ha, I wish I'd said that on purpose."
Dumbledore just sat on the floor, silent.
"Albus, are you all right?" Flitwick asked, concerned, "Do I need to get Poppy?"
"No, I will be fine." Dumbledore said, "I was just surprised. Some of my plans may be moving up, based on Harry's performance."
"Here, Professor." Harry said, again trying to hold Dumbledore's wand out to him.
"No, hold on to that." Dumbledore said, his eyes starting to gleam, "It's a bit of tradition with that wand. Someone I learned a lot from passed it to me when I beat him in a duel and now I pass it to you. I have another wand I will use."
H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr H/Hr
A/N: Something strange happened with my chapter statistics. Last time I got on a roll and posted 2 chapters at once. I don't know if readers didn't notice or didn't like the first one, but Chapter 26 had maybe a third as many hits as Chapter 27. If you didn't read both chapters, please do. It will make more sense that way!
Another mistake with dating. The last section in the last chapter said 26 Feb. It should have said 27 Feb.
Another mistake, realized I was misspelling Pomfrey as Pomphrey. Oops.
I was surprised to realize 1996, the Spring of Order of the Phoenix, was a leap year, thus featured 29 days in February.
The passing of the Elder Wand was part of Dumbledore's plan from the start. I had originally planned it for a little later in the school year, but that duel took on a life of its own and Harry took it away from him before I had a chance to intervene. Albus is taking a bit of a risk, weakening himself in order to build up Harry. Every time a master passes off the baton to his student, there's a risk. Is he doing it too soon? Maybe, but if you believe the prophecy that Harry's the one to defeat Voldemort, you want to give him all the advantages possible and the Elder Wand is definitely an advantage!