Several days later at Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the first Order meeting since the Department of Mysteries was about to begin. It was rather early in the morning and many were not fully awake, Ron, Ginny and Hermione who would normally be doing all they could to listen in on the meeting were fast asleep. Many were waiting for Albus Dumbledore, although a few were yet to arrive, Tonks was looking a tad red eyed as did Remus Lupin who appeared to look shabbier than ever. His robes slightly more worn that usual, a few minutes of quiet conversations with each other, Moody entered the house, fresh from another watch at Privet Drive. Seconds later Albus Dumbledore appeared in the middle of the room in a flash of fire, many were startled slightly and some had to rub there eyes, not yet used to the light. Without saying a word Dumbledore walked into the meeting room, hurriedly followed by everyone else.
"Before we begin this Order meeting Alastor would you like to give us an update on Harry?" asked Dumbledore curiously.
"Well as a matter of fact Albus, yes. I was going to save it till the end of the meeting but seeing as you asked... He seems to have developed a way to know where his guard is and who it is guarding him at whatever time, I don't know how he's doing it and I wish I could find out but the boy seems to know who it is, every time." said Moody.
"And how do you know he knows who his guard members are at any one time?" asked Dumbledore, intrigued to hear this.
"Well he glances at my position every time I'm there, heck last week he told me to have some "Constant Vigilance" muttered Moody, before Dumbledore could reply Hestia Jones chipped in,
"He asked me 'How was my day going Ms. Jones' the last time I was on guard" she chuckled.
"Interesting... Is there anything else to add?" Dumbledore asked Moody almost optimistically. Moody appeared to think things over before he responded.
"He's received a package or two, last one was quite bulky. I scanned it there was nothing sinister, just a few books. He's been staying up late, all night sometimes, reading books, writing things down, he hasn't been sending much owls though, Oh! He's gone on a few runs apparently, first time he did it Tonks scrambled after him thinking he was making a run for it, said she hadn't been so tired since auror training" laughed Moody, making a tired looking Tonks blush.
"I'd have like to see you catch up to him Mad-Eye, he ran for miles. Don't know where he gets his energy from." she muttered.
"Can we get on to more urgent matters Albus?" pressed Snape, a few frowns were sent in his direction but he ignored them.
"Of course my boy, of course. Any news from Voldemort?" asked Dumbledore, ignoring the variant shudders it sent through the room.
"The Dark Lord has been vacant as of late, rumours of an injury at the Ministry, Bellatrix told me you two dueled?" asked Snape, gasps throughout were emitted throughout the room. Not wanting to discuss it Dumbledore responded straight away.
"It's true, we dueled. I arrived at the entrance of the ministry, interrupting a ongoing duel with Mr Potter and Voldemort. Subdued Bellatrix and sought to force Voldemort to flee, he did eventually but not before possessing Harry. I suspect it was he that injured Tom, I didn't cast a thing that would have injured he so severely that he would still be incapacitated." replied Dumbledore, outcries of anguish across the room were being shouted as he finished, not only had Dumbledore dueled You-Know-Who but as had Harry and he had lived and then was possessed. Snape however wanted to continue his conversation.
"The Dark Lord...fought Potter? And Potter lived?" asked Snape, in disbelief. His question silenced the room, Dumbledore nodded in answer, Snape didn't give the room time to shout about it again.
"And he possessed Potter, what happened then?" asked Snape, everyone in the room fell silent for an answer.
"Tom asked me to kill them, to kill them both...but I didn't and Tom appeared near Bellatrix, panting somewhat grabbed her and glanced at both me and Harry before disapparating them both away." said Dumbledore simply. He had not told anyone in the Order what had happened until now, so everyone in the room was discussing it at length. Dumbledore however wanted to continue the meeting.
"That's enough for now. You can all discuss it later, now tomorrow is the reading of Sirius's will. If you have been invited to attend then you know what time it is scheduled, Harry's guard you are to be at Privet Drive for 12:00 sharp, Harry should be ready for your arrival. I shall meet you at the Gringotts, and shall then escort Harry back to Privet Drive." said Dumbledore sternly.
"When is he going to leave that awful Muggle house, Albus?" said Molly Weasley exasperatedly.
"After the will reading tomorrow, Harry will return to Privet Drive until the day before his birthday. I don't see a reason why he cannot enjoy his birthday with his friends." smiled Dumbledore.
"I don't think he'd want to come back here, after Sirius and everything..." said Tonks, drifting off slightly.
"I agree Ms Tonks, but where else can he be with his friends safely?" said Dumbledore rhetorically. The question hung in the air until Dumbledore continued;
"How are Ron and Ginny doing? Ms Granger arrived a week a go am I correct?" he asked politely to Mrs Weasley
"Ron seems to have had no problems following the battle at the Department of Mysteries, the brains haven't done anything other than leave some scars which should fade soon enough, Ginny's ankle was healed quickly enough and she seems to be coping well. Ginny spends her time reading through some of Ron's books probably to get a head start on next year, Ron is either sleeping, eating, doing Quidditch practices or is locked up in his room. Hermione is very frustrated because the library upstairs and she has nothing to do, Apparantly it's closed itself, do you know anything about it?" asked Molly.
"I could only guess that Sirius's death has something to do with it, he couldn't claim the Black title as a fugitive but I think the house recognised his presence and opened the library. We'll know everything for sure at the will reading. Is there anything else?" he asked to the room openly. Mr Weasley cleared his throat.
"Yes Arthur?" Dumbledore looked at him pointedly.
"Fred and George have been persisting that they should be able to join the Order now that they are of age, they keep saying that there old enough now and understand the responsibilites it takes to be an Order member and want to join immediately." said Arthur, Molly was had a tinge of red in her cheeks suggesting that she may be annoyed at what her husband had said. The entire room looked at Albus, waiting for an answer, they all knew that those two pranksters would be beneficial but many doubted their maturity. Dumbledore rested his head on the tips of his fingers, apparently thinking.
"I will have to consider this carefully Arthur." said Dumbledore.
"You can't Albus, they are much to immature and to young!" burst Molly, a few people in the room slightly nodded at this outburst. Dumbledore didn't concur with Molly instead just gave the room a warm smile and rose from his seat.
"I think that's everything, now if you'll excuse me if have to get to the Ministry. Cornelius has constantly been sending me owls ever since Voldemort's return, I fear he will do something rash... have a pleasant day everybody." Dumbledore said cheerfully, with that Fawkes flamed in and almost instantaneously flamed back out.
At Privet Drive, Harry had seen Moody leave and waited for the other guard to show up. He didn't want to spark any search parties if he were to go on his run whilst the guard were changing, whilst waiting he resisted opening a book he had been very anxious to start, instead occupying his time with remembering some of the spells he had learnt yesterday. After a good twenty minutes he heard a crack of Apparition, it was Tonks today. She had struggled to keep up the last few times, Harry remembered hearing her gasping for air as he had finished her run, and with a smile exited Privet Drive walking right up to were her usual hiding spot was.
"Try and keep up today Tonks" with a tone of mock annoyance in his voice, he gave a quick stare to a patch of shaded grass and with a chuckle, began his run.
Eight and a half miles later...
Coming to a nice and steady halt, Harry Potter wiped his brow. Wanting to prevent the sweat dripping in to his eyes and burn his eyes. A few seconds later, he heard a heavily panting Tonks half sit down and half collapse onto the front lawn, the invisibility cloak covering her. Taking a deep breath Harry bid her a good day and went into Privet Drive. The Dursleys had left yesterday, gone to see Aunt Marge who had tripped up over one of her dogs and fallen downstairs. Surprisingly they had left Harry at Privet Drive, with a note explaining where they were going, expecting the house to be the way they left it and a small list of things to do.
Entering the kitchen he poured himself a drink, sipping the contents whilst looking over at the list of things to do. The Dursley's were not due back for three days at least depending on Aunt Marge's condition, he could get through everything else on the list in a few hours so he didn't have to worry about not finishing it. Putting on some breakfast for himself he went upstairs to shower and change, he returned to the welcoming scent of bacon and bagels. Pouring himself another drink he sat down and ate, contemplating the day ahead.
Deciding to tackle the list and complete it today, he got to work and put on some of Dudley's huge clothes to work in, he really had to get some that fit. Maybe he could do that tomorrow after Sirius's will reading, he vaguely wondered when he was going to be taken from Privet Drive as he cleaned the lounge. He started doing the jobs for inside the house first and do the one outside later and made his way through them quickly, finishing an hour or so after dinner, taking care on where to walk he went upstairs and did some stomach crunches and press ups for an hour or so, collapsing onto the floor heavily. Pulling himself up he had a long overdue shower, he walked back into his room and settled down comfortably and opened a thin paperback book, An Introduction To Wandless Magic - Fenwick Barbus
Wandless Magic is a rare skill, those lucky to have an aptitude for it can perform simple spells at best. It is tiresome to the most magically powerful witch or wizard and should not be attempted by those who have either shown no promise in the field or lack the magic to do so. If you have performed wandless magic before then it is recommended that you perform the spell you first cast wandlessly, it requires no hand movements, just directions to the target. Be warned that you may fail to do so, you may never perform wandless magic again until faced in circumstances that may pressure you to do so or situations that force strong emotions upon you, the difficulty to perform the spell of course depends on the spell you are trying to cast, personally I would say try spells out of a spell book for first or second years. This book will help you through the problems that may hinder you, it is not a book that will show you how to perform wandless magic.
(Data collected from historic data of wandless magic and those witches and wizards who can perform wandless magic and wish to withhold their names from publish)
Problems Casting (3-42)
Historic Uses of Wandless Magic (43-47)
Advanced Wandless Spells Recorded Being Used (48-49)
Monitoring Wandless Magic (50)
Legendary Wandless Magician List (51)
Harry read the introduction in fascination, he had only bought his book to investigate more into the Lumos spell he had cast trying to search for his wand. Thinking about it the spell had come from his wand but he had not been holding it at the time. Skipping ahead to the Monitoring section he saw only a short paragraph,
The Ministry of Magic has stated that it is unable to monitor or detect wandless magic being performed, the resources it would to attempt to enable a device that could would be a waste because the few wandless spells cast are not dangerous or worth monitoring and as such has rendered any notion to find a way to do so pointless. Wandless Magic cannot be detected in any environment and it is reported that Priori Incantatem would not reveal the spell either.
Harry was elated at the news, he could attempt as much wandless magic as possible and the Ministry would be none the wiser. Thrusting his hand forward he concentrated, looking at his hand intently. The 'I must not tell lies' scar visible, he felt a flash of anger but ignored it and focused.
"Lumos!" he said hardly, a spark lit briefly before it left his hand, frowning he tried again producing the same results. He repeated it for an hour, results varied to the spark going brighter, and sometimes nothing appearing whatsoever. Forgetting his calmness he got frustrated at his inability.
"Dammit Lumos!" he shouted, a white beam of light shot form his hand. Temporarily shocked he waved his hand about directing the ray across his room. Feeling a bit woozy, he muttered the counter and the light left. Staring at his hand, it felt no different, it looked no different, but he still stared at his hand in wonder. He racked through his brain for another try, and with the anger gone but to intent and forcefulness still present he cast the Levitation Charm at a dusty book that Dudley had never read, it floated for a few seconds and began to drop but Harry panicking urged it to float back up, he over shot it and it slammed into the roof, shocked Harry dropped the spell and it dropped with a thud to the floor. Standing up he went to inspect the damage he may of caused but found no marks, with a sigh of relief he went back and began practicing other spells.
It was just past midnight and Harry was exhausted, he had grabbed his tattered copy of The Standard Book of Spells, Grade One. He had been exhausted for hours now but had kept going, he was barely keeping his eyes open and although he didn't realise it was breathing quickly, looking at the time he decided to call it a night and went to sleep, a dreamless sleep.
Thanks for all the reviews so far!
A thanks to fragonknight01 especially for the spelling lesson
I don't consider it a flame at all it was very welcoming.
Coming up is the will reading, should hold a few surprises...
It should be up by the end of the week,
but it could be up any time before then also...
Review please!