A/N:

Chapter 2 is here. Came quite rapidly after chapter 1, because there weren't many changes to edit.

Everything from the HP universe belongs to the amazing JKR.

Chapter 2: Agapanthuses and Apparition

By the time Harry returned downstairs with his hastily packed trunk, the shouting had ceased. Dumbledore was nowhere to be seen, but the Dursleys were waiting in the door to the sitting room, Dudley guzzling a tall glass of water. Shooting a questioning glance towards them, he received a curt "Outside." from Vernon.

"Goodbye then." He muttered, getting another grunt from his uncle and a nod from his Aunt, who glanced at his trunk suspiciously.

"Bye." Harry's neck cricked as he turned back to look at his cousin when he actually got a reply from Dudley, who then looked away quickly. It was only one word, but surprising nevertheless. Dudley gave an awkward shrug, then busied himself finishing off his water. Wheeling his heavy trunk out the front door, Harry stepped out into the warm July night. Dumbledore was standing on the perfectly trimmed lawn, examining the blue and white flowers in Petunia's flowerbed. Harry found himself wondering whether Petunia had begun caring for the garden beds herself after he had left for Hogwarts.

"Did you know Harry, that whilst you were tending these flowerbeds as a child, you imbued them with magic? Underaged, and accidental, but still magic." Harry froze at the headmaster's question, as Dumbledore poked one of the flowers with his wand, and it gave a faint glow.

"I- uh what?"

"Hm. I thought not. I asked Petunia about the agapanthuses and she informed me that they remain in perfect condition all year. Not only that, but they also remain in perfect condition, even in the middle of winter. I found the fact curious, so I enquired about any care they had received." Dumbledore glanced solemnly at Harry through his glasses, then lowered his gaze. "I am sorry that your Aunt and Uncle never did treat you as their own child, the way I had intended." Harry shrugged awkwardly. What are you supposed to say to that?

"It's okay. I turned out alright I guess?" Dumbledore gave a small smile and chuckled quietly.

"That you did Harry, that you did indeed." He seemed to shake himself, before gesturing again at the flowers. "After the first time the flowers displayed their unusual properties, your uncle attempted to remove them from the garden, but they apparently reappeared overnight. He desisted his attempts after that. As far as I can tell, this garden seems to have been enchanted with something resembling an odd combination between the Herbivicus charm and what seems to be one of Hufflepuff's food preservation charms. Quite impressive." Dumbledore looked away from the flowers once again to peer at him through his glasses. "I'm surprised they never mentioned that to you."

"No, they never told me. Probably hated having anything magical around the house. But how did I do it? I haven't touched that garden since before I knew I was a wizard."

"Were you ever frustrated by the fact you had to care for the garden Harry?" That's an understatement, Harry thought dryly. He still could easily recall the afternoon he planted the flowers, with Aunt Petunia standing over him, ordering him around as he dug in the dirt with a small trowel. He nodded in response to Dumbledore's question.

"If I were to guess, and my guesses are usually quite accurate if I might say so myself, then I would say that as a child, frustrated by his duty to tend to the flowers, you unintentionally tapped into and performed wandless magic. Magic is inherently tied to our emotions and desires, you see."

"Wandless magic? But isn't that really advanced? McGonagall said that barely anyone can do it."

"Professor McGonagall." Dumbledore corrected gently, "But you are correct. Generally, wandless magic is regarded as one of the pinnacles of magical mastery, far beyond non-verbal casting."

"Non-verbal casting?"

"Casting without speaking the incantation. I'm sure you can recall many examples of this. As I was saying, wandless magic is quite a feat, however accidental magic that children often perform is also a form of wandless casting. The key difference is all in the intent. It's phenomenal really. Children often have the most powerful desires of any, albeit usually for more childish things." Straightening, Dumbledore looked down at his pocket watch, before stepping away from the garden.

"Now, unfortunately we need to take our leave, or we shall be late. I will continue explaining along the way. " With that abrupt end to the discussion, Dumbledore strode back to the pavement and smiled at him. "You should wave to your relatives Harry. They seem quite intent on seeing us off." Harry turned to see the Dursleys with their faces almost pressed to the sitting room window. As soon as they realised they had been seen, Petunia quickly yanked the curtain across, hiding them from sight.

Suppressing a chuckle, he moved over to Dumbledore, who glanced at his trunk. "I'll send your trunk ahead to the Burrow, but I will request that you keep your school bag on you, with your invisibility cloak inside."

"Already have it sir" Harry held up the mentioned items. He'd taken to carrying his school bag with him most of the time, stocked with some snacks, a few healing potions from Diagon Alley mail order, his cloak, and of course his wand. It's not exactly paranoia, he reassured himself, it's just being prepared for anything. Oh shit, I'm starting to sound like Moody.

"Alastor would approve." the older wizard's eyes twinkled as he spoke, echoing Harry's thoughts. He tapped the trunk with his ornate wand, and it instantly vanished with a quiet pop. "Keep your wand at the ready too."

"Won't I get in trouble again if I use magic outside Hogwarts though?" Harry asked, drawing his wand from his bag. The curtain at the window shifted as Petunia peered out with a furtive glance, scowling at their continued presence.

"Last year, the ministry was quite, ah, biased in their persecution of you. Given the dark times we find ourselves in, the Improper Use of Magic Office are much more inclined to review events correctly before pressing charges. In any case, if we are attacked, I give you my permission to use magic to defend yourself. Purely defensive magic only however unless I instruct you otherwise. In any case, I don't think you are in any danger of being attacked tonight."

"Why not?"

"You are with me" Dumbledore said simply. It wasn't said with arrogance or pride, but rather with a quiet confidence. The headmaster examined him then, apparently satisfied that Harry's concerns were addressed, continued. "In fact, we are going to address the problem of the Trace right now. You obviously don't have your apparition license yet, so we will have to side-along apparate." He held out his good arm. "If you will hold on tightly to my arm please, we shall be off."

Harry reached out and grasped Dumbledore's forearm, then his vision suddenly twisted and all he could feel was pressure. Pressure from every side, crushing in on him. It felt like he was being forced through a very tight rubber tube. He was vaguely aware of a pop, then he found himself standing again, in a completely different location to Number 4, Privet Drive. His upright position lasted just long enough for him to recognise the polished floors of the Ministry for Magic atrium, before the dizziness caused him to topple sideways, saved only by Dumbledore quickly reaching out and grabbing his arm. What the bloody hell was that? Fighting off the wave of nausea, he blinked several times before focusing on the headmaster.

"Was that apparition?" Dumbledore looked rather amused at his disorientation.

"Indeed, my boy, you just successfully side-along apparated. Quite well in fact. Most people vomit on their first time."

"I can see why." Harry groaned, shaking his head. He tried to take a step forward, but staggered. Dumbledore chuckled.

"Trust me, I too did not enjoy my first few apparitions, but as your body becomes used to the sensation the side effects gradually decrease until all you feel is a mild tingle."

"I think I prefer flying. Why are we here? And in the middle of the night?"

"We are seeing an old friend about your magic. I'll explain when we get there, lest we be overheard. For now, let us continue our previous conversation about your Aunt Petunia's agapanthuses. Where were we again?" He strode off down the hall, and Harry followed, rather confused by the sudden shifts in the elderly wizard's conversation, but Dumbledore's reasoning did make sense. All around them, the walls were still marred with scars from the previous battle, and Harry's heart clenched again as he thought of Sirius. Trying to distract himself, he replied to the headmaster.

"You were telling me about wandless magic, and something to do with intent."

"Ah yes. As I was saying, the difference between accidental wandless magic, and magic such as that I might perform is the type intent behind it. For example, when you accidentally charmed the garden, you had an intent along the lines of 'not needing to care for the garden again' and your magic achieved that goal. Unfocused desires of children often lead to accidental magic, which is why it commonly manifests when the child is elated and joyful, or conversely angry or afraid." Harry nodded as they moved through the Ministry. Most of what Dumbledore was saying sounded familiar.

"Like what happened with Aunt Marge before my third year?" He asked, remembering the incident.

"Exactly, although you were older than the age that most outbursts of accidental magic tend to occur. Now, back to the agapanthuses, as Mr. Dursley was able to tear out the plants, it was not infallible, despite the fact the plants regrew. This was because of the lack of directed intent. If I had instead charmed the garden using actual spells with specific functions, then I would have first cast the Herbivicius charm, with the intent to ensure the plants grew well. Then a variation of the permanent sticking charm for living entities, with the intent to stop the plants from being removed. Finally, I would have cast a statis charm, rather than a food preservation charm with the intent to preserve the plants. Is everything clear so far?"

They took a sharp right turn, then entered one of the magical elevators. Seeing Harry nod to confirm he was following the conversation, Dumbledore continued his explanation as he pressed the button for level 2. "Now, as you can see there are differences between the two scenarios. Magic guided purely by intent, without the framework of incantations or wand movement can achieve things beyond the caster's knowledge, but often returns an imperfect result. On the other hand, using existing spells allows you to refine the results to great effect, however, this method is limited by what spells you know. When you introduce casting the spells wandlessly, it then also becomes highly dependent on the strength of the intent." Harry noted the enthusiasm in the headmaster's voice.

"So then it's like the unforgivable curses? How the curses won't work unless you really mean them? Barty Crouch Jr mentioned that no one in my 4th year class would have been able to give him more than a nosebleed." Dumbledore turned and carefully examined him as the doors of the elevator opened, and they stepped out once more.

"Indeed, as I'm also sure you discovered in your duel against Bellatrix Lestrange. I can understand why you cast that curse Harry, but I would ask that you re-examine at your motivations now." He flicked his wand, causing the lamps in the darkened corridor to ignite. Another left turn, passing a brass sign.

Department of Magical Law Enforcement

Improper Use of Magic Office

"Now, we're almost there. I am sorry for my lack of explanation regarding our activities tonight, however the less people are aware of what is about to happen, the better, hence my diversion away from your question in the atrium. What we are about to do may give you a slight edge if you are attacked by death eaters as a trump card. For this reason, I ask you to choose carefully with whom you share the story of these events with." They arrived a seemingly deserted office, made up of several desks. Dumbledore led him to a wooden door on the side of the room and knocked on it.

"Sure but what are we doi-"

"Mr. Potter!" The door flew open, and Harry found himself face to face with a man who strongly resembled a lion. Shaking the proffered hand, Harry took in the wild tawny brown hair streaked with grey, and striking golden brown eyes, and with a start realised that the man in front of him was in fact Rufus Scrimgeour, the new Minister for Magic. He stood next to a woman, and behind him were six aurors, including Kingsley, who showed no indication that they had met before. "Pleased to meet you. I am Rufus Scrimgeour, and I'm glad you could make it tonight. This is Mafalda Hopkirk." He waved his hand at the shorter woman next to him, with greying hair in an elegant bun. She also extended her hand but seemed slightly nervous. The reason soon became clear.

"Hello Mr. Potter. We've corresponded previously. I am deeply sorry for the troubles my office caused you with the Dementor case. Dolores was head of the department prior to her position as Fudge's Undersecretary and she put quite a lot of pressure on us to push the case, despite the fact the muggle witness was already aware of magic, and I didn't think that it would ever go that far, but she practically forced me to send that letter and-"

"Mrs Hopkirk," Dumbledore interrupted her rambling monologue quietly, "It is quite alright. Harry doesn't blame you for the trial, do you Harry?"

"Seriously, it's fine. I don't blame you at all. It was all Umbridge, she even confessed." He said quickly, catching on to what the headmaster was doing. Scrimgeour just watched the conversation silently, with a hint of amusement

"Oh thank you. I was so worried you'd be upset." She continued to offer her thanks until Scrimgeour coughed pointedly. That woman really can talk. Reminds me of Hermione when she gets on a roll.

"Right. Everyone in and sit down. Let's get this done as quickly as possible" Scrimgeour began, then waited until the four of them were seated at the table in the centre of the room. The aurors filed out of the room, but appeared to remain standing outside the door. "Dumbledore, did it all work?" the Minister for Magic asked eagerly.

"Yes. We confirmed not an hour ago that Harry is indeed the First Heir to the Black family."

"Excellent. Mafalda, please record that. Now, Mr. Potter. Harry, the reason that you are here tonight is because Dumbledore and I have discussed the current situation, and we have agreed that for your safety, we will be removing the Trace from you."

"That thing that tells you if I use magic outside of school? Really?"

"Indeed. As much as I hate to acknowledge it, the Ministry is not secure. Amelia Bones is an example. She was living in a Ministry safe house. No one outside of the higher levels of seniority should have known her location. The Trace is therefore a liability and dangerous to you. "

"So you're saying you have a leak? And Voldemort-" Here, everyone but Dumbledore flinched, "-could use the Trace to track me down? Because it would trigger anytime anyone uses magic near me. That's what happened with Dobby in my second year."

"Dobby?"

"He's a house elf. Used a hover charm at my home. I got the blame." Scrimgeour raised an eyebrow at that information.

"Ah. Unfortunately, yes. That's exactly the problem. Usually the department distinguishes by checking whether an adult witch or wizard is present at the time, in which case we assume the magic was performed by them."

"Wait, so I could use magic in Diagon Alley, and no one would have any problem at all with that?" Harry could see some rather serious flaws with the system.

"The Ministry likes to believe that parents will take responsibility and teach their children that they should not use magic outside of school," answered Dumbledore dryly, "obviously what happens behind closed doors remains unknown."

"But that's a load of-"

"Harry. Please remember where we are." The headmaster admonished. Hopkirk gave an unladylike snort, before taking part in the conversation for the first time.

"Mr. Potter is right. The laws are very outdated and obviously favour children of magical families. They're able to use and practice magic away from Hogwarts with no consequences, whereas Muggleborn children are prevented doing the same. We've been trying to even the playing field for years, but certain members of the Wizengamot manage to block us every time. Although," she added, looking at Harry, "given that many of those members are now in Azkaban, we may have more luck."

"Indeed" remarked Dumbledore, "But for now those laws work in our favour. As heir to a Most Noble and Ancient family, you have certain, ah... privileges, shall we say."

"Privileges?"

"I shall explain them to you later, however, there is one particular law that we will be exploiting today. Did you know Harry, that during the 18th century, assassination attempts on heirs of the old families were so common that the Wizengamot passed a law that allowed the removal of the Trace from underage heirs?"

"And you now fall into that category." Scrimgeour finished. "It also works in our favour because it won't appear in the records either. It hasn't been invoked for several decades either, so we're hoping it'll be a surprise." Still trying to process the information, Harry looked at the Minister of Magic.

"How do you remove the trace?" Hopkirk drew her wand.

"Normally it will automatically break when you reach your majority, but in your case, someone with the correct authority can remove it easily, like this." She touched his left hand, which was resting on the table, with her wand. As she moved her wand away, a faint golden chain about half a metre long, fashioned from streams of light, seemed to be drawn from him by the magic, and with a flourish of her wand, it vanished. "Done." She said simply.

Harry didn't feel any different, until suddenly he felt a rush of warmth the same as when he'd first been chosen by his wand. But instead of only his hand and arm, the distinctive feeling rushed through his entire body, growing stronger and stronger until it felt like a storm was raging inside in every single part of his body. A wind whipped up around him, sending papers flying around the room, and the furniture began to shake. The aurors stationed outside poured into the room, wands at the ready. Dumbledore and Scrimgeour were both standing now, also with their wands drawn, and Hopkirk had retreated behind the line of aurors. Harry gasped as the pressure grew to breaking point, both exhilarating and almost painful. Then as suddenly as it had appeared, the sensation was gone. He fell back into his chair, sweating and slightly shaky.

"Well," began Scrimgeour cautiously, "That was unexpected." Harry noticed the man hadn't lowered his wand, although he waved the aurors outside again. Dumbledore examined him carefully as they took their seats again.

"How do you feel Harry? What happened just then?"

"I don't know Professor. It felt like when I first connected to my wand, but it was everywhere, and way more intense and... whoah." He breathed. The feeling had been invigorating, like the rush from diving for the snitch on his firebolt. The headmaster sat back, steepling his fingers. Hopkirk frowned.

"It sounds like a surge of repressed magic. But at Harry's age, his body should have matured past that" the witch commented, confusion evident.

"Or someone suppressed his magic" Scrimgeour muttered, causing all occupants of the room to look at him.

"Suppressed my magic? Who would have done that? Voldemort?" The two Ministry officials flinched, before Dumbledore spoke.

"Actually Harry, I believe that the most likely suspect is yourself."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I am well aware of your relatives' aversion to magic. Remember our discussion about intent? I think that as a child you wanted to avoid magic to prevent confrontations, but at the same time, part of you yearned for the existence of something more. Does this sound correct?"

Harry thought back to the hours he had spent locked in the cupboard under the stairs, and the anger of the Dursleys whenever he'd caused a "freakish" incident. But then he also remembered his dreams of flying motorbikes, and desperately wishing that someone would come and take him away from there. Those flying motorbikes weren't too far off. I wonder what happened to it. He nodded to Dumbledore.

"I thought so. I think that you once again used accidental magic, but as you had two conflicting intents, the results were quite unpredicted. It would seem that the repressed magic has finally found a way free."

"Why would it break free now?" asked Scrimgeour.

"Oh, I can answer that." Hopkirk spoke up. "The unfettering charm I used is probably the reason. It must have released Mr. Potter's sealed magic too."

"What does this all mean though?" Harry was starting to get frustrated. "Is it bad that my magic was sealed away?"

"Quite the opposite in fact," Dumbledore said with a smile. "I would suspect that for the next few weeks at least, your ability to cast magic will be a little temperamental as your body tries to adjust to the changes. After that however, I believe you'll see an increase in the potency of your magic. It will not suddenly become easier to cast difficult spells, as that relies on skill, not power. But in terms of raw strength, I would guess that you just received quite a boost. For example, if you would cast the wand-lighting charm? We can also check the trace has been removed."

"Ok." Harry pulled his wand from his bag and moved his wand in a loop motion. "Lumos!" The typical glow appeared at the tip of his wand then, to his surprise, it faded to the intensity of a candle, before suddenly flashing as bright as a camera, before flickering a few times. "Uh. Nox. Nox. NOX!" The light vanished as he said the counter-charm for the third time. Still blinking his eyes after the flash, he turned to Dumbledore. "That was what you call temperamental? I can barely control the spell."

"It's not as bad as you think." Scrimgeour cut in, "A few years ago, I was hit by a nasty magic binding curse during an auror raid. Couldn't even cast a wand-lighting charm at all. It took the healers at St. Mungo's several weeks to work out a counter-curse. By the time they had lifted it, my control over the limited magic I had available to me was good enough that I could engage in friendly duels with other aurors, but my stunners hit like a stinging jinx. After they lifted the binding curse, I had to once again learn to control my magic." He turned his bright brown eyes to Harry. "All it takes is continual practice to regain control."

"I couldn't have said it better myself." Dumbledore said happily.

Harry was still reeling from the revelations that even though now he could legally perform magic whenever he wanted, he couldn't reliably use magic. "I would suggest starting with less dangerous spells though. You don't want to accidentally hurt someone with an overpowered spell whilst you are still adjusting."

"But what if Voldemort attacks the Burrow? I won't be able to protect myself" Or anyone else for that matter, he added in his head. The prophecy means that everyone around me is in danger. Maybe I should just stay at the Dursleys' after all. Although they'd be even worse off.

His worry continued to grow until Dumbledore spoke.

"I have personally placed the protective enchantments around the Burrow myself. Even if Death Eaters do manage to penetrate them, it will alert myself, the Ministry and the Weasleys. Arthur and I have also created several emergency portkeys. Trust me, you and the Weasleys are safe" Dumbledore finished soothingly before the elderly wizard stood. "It would seem that our business here tonight is done. It is indeed quite late, and Harry and I have another visit to make before we can retire for the night." Scrimgeour seemed uneasy,

"Alright Dumbledore, but make sure the boy is well protected until he gets back to Hogwarts. He's literally a sitting flobberworm. It was good to meet you Harry." the minister added a farewell to the unreassuringly direct statement, almost as an afterthought.

"Do not worry about it. Harry will be safe. We've already seen that the Ministry safehouses are not secure. Now are you ready to go Harry?" He nodded in response to the headmaster's question, before turning to Hopkirk.

"Thanks for removing the trace. I'd say see you soon, but I guess that's something I should try to avoid, right?" The witch flashed him a smile.

"Goodbye Mr. Potter, and you're free to visit anytime." Dumbledore led the way out of the office, past the auror guard. As they left the department, he briefly saw Rufus turn to one of the aurors.

"Gawain, do you still have that bottle of Ogden's Old Firewhisky?"

That's all for this time, and the first time I've split one of the chapters.

Thanks for reading, and if you have time, please leave your thoughts!