The next morning at breakfast they had a strange visitor. Mr. Ollivander the wand maker was there with a satchel. After breakfast was eaten he started fitting those without wands. Albus had made the arrangements with Ollivander ahead of time. They would work like Harry's wand, Ollivander wouldn't turn in the purchase until their eleventh birthday in exchange for a slightly higher price.
First in the group was Percy. It took only a few minutes to find his match. After Percy was Fred then George, Ron and Neville, each only took about ten minutes to locate their match. Finally it was Ginny's turn. She went through the measuring that he did for each of the boys and then was handed a wand. When she swished it all the candles in the Great Hall went out.
Almost an hour later she had tried almost every wand that Ollivander had brought, he said, "This is the last one, if this doesn't fit I'll have to make her a special wand. Unfortunately those are very expensive."
The wand still didn't fit so Ollivander packed up, but then he started measuring again, he took four times the normal measurements. The rest of the Weasleys just watched in awe.
"I'm going to have to find you a Phoenix feather." He sighed, "It's the only thing that will stand up to the amount of magic you have. Anything else will be destroyed after a year or so. I think I have enough wood on hand so I only need to search for a feather."
Ginny was upset that she wasn't getting a wand and they didn't know how long it would take. Harry walked over to her and hugged her.
"Mr. Ollivander, if I can get you a feather how long would it take for you to make the wand?" Harry asked.
"If I had a feather I could get her wand within twenty four hours." Ollivander said.
"Please wait here." Harry then ran out of the room, changed into his own Phoenix and flashed to Fawkes.
"Hello Fawkes," Harry trilled.
"Hello Flash are you wanting a feather for Ginny?" Fawkes asked.
"That would be nice." Harry said, "Of course if you don't want to we can try to find another."
"No that won't be necessary." Fawkes said, "Too bad an animagus feather wouldn't work or you could just give her one of yours. Change back and I'll flash you to the Great Hall."
Harry changed back to his human form and Fawkes touched him and they showed up in the Great Hall. Fawkes then flew to Ginny's shoulder and reached around and plucked a feather. He passed it to the girl and then flashed away.
Several days later Ron collapsed on the ground next to Harry, "How are you able to do all this, it's crazy?"
"You get used to it." Harry said, "I've built it up over years."
"We ran farther today than we did yesterday." Neville had collapsed next to Ron, We're getting better all the time."
Fred and George reached them and said, "What we want to know…"
"Is how you did…"
"That dodging stuff?"
"Practice." Harry said, "We started with dodge ball."
"What's dodge ball?" Bill asked.
"It's a muggle game." Harry said, "One person throws a ball at you and you try to dodge it."
"I thought all you did was train." Percy said.
"They made training a game so it would seem less like training." Ginny said, "They always ran though."
"Why aren't you tired Ginny?" Charlie asked.
"You know how I run everywhere." Ginny replied, "I don't do it to get there fast but as training."
The group worked and played hard together. They organized training into games, but it was still intense. The time was passing quickly. Harry woke up one morning to a surprise eighth birthday party. It was a bitter sweet day for him because he realized the stay was half over. Later that day Harry wanted to play tag with all the others, but unknown to the others he changed the rules. It had become impossible to touch anyone during the game unless it was contained into a small area. He volunteered to be 'It' first and waited for people to scatter then he pulled his wand then made and threw a ball with a sticking spell at Sirius.
It hit the target and Harry yelled, "Sirius is it."
Everyone froze for a minute until Sirius pulled it off and threw it at someone else. He missed and tried to summon the ball.
"That won't work." Harry laughed, "You have to go pick it up."
"No fair." Sirius said, "I didn't know the new rules to the game."
"When you duel an opponent you don't always know their rules either." Harry replied.
"What do you mean Harry?" Ron asked.
"You never know who is imperiused." Harry said, "You need to be able to change tactics quickly and adapt to a game with new unknown rules."
Several people were shocked by Harry's statement and Sirius was able to tag Bill before everyone moved again. When the game ended Albus approached Harry.
"Well done today. What made you change up?"
"If we keep playing by our rules when someone changes the game we'll be out quickly." Harry replied, "But if we can adapt and still stay in our moral footing we can win."
"Hence our practice this summer and your life up to this point." Albus nodded in agreement.
"Are there any classes to add or changes we can make to the coursework without letting Death Eater kids know?" Harry asked.
"I don't know Harry." Albus said, "I don't think teachers can pick and choose who we want to teach what to. It could chase someone to the dark because they think we don't want them."
Harry thought for a moment then grinned, "You're right, this is something the students need to handle."
With that said Harry ran off to talk to Bill and Charlie. Every day that summer was some form of training. In the evenings Harry would do his more extensive training. This included wandless magic and animagus training. By the end of the summer Harry had over one hundred animals and could change the appearance of any animal except his Phoenix.
The others had improved themselves physically as well and mentally. The adults had better control and remembered more spells. Bill and Charlie were ahead on their studies for the year. With the end of August came the unwanted farewells. It was small consolation that they would see each other in a few months for Christmas.
Ron leaned to Harry and whispered, "Why do they do that?"
"What crying and hugging?" Harry asked.
"Yes, our mothers always cry when we get together and then they cry when we leave." Ron said, "I don't get it."
Sirius leaned down between the two boys, "Ahh, the mysteries of women. They have boggled the minds of men for centuries. They cry when they're happy, they cry when they're sad. They think everything can be cured with a kiss or food."
"Or Chocolate." Remus said, "What are you attempting to do here Sirius, you can't be trying to explain women."
"No, of course not." Sirius said, "I'm explaining that they can't be explained."
"Oh well carry on then; you're definitely on the right track." Remus snickered.
"Women are just more emotional than men." Harry shook his head at the two of them, "Most men can't understand because they are trying to use logic to explain emotion. That cannot be done." Ron looked at Harry in confusion, so Harry explained, "Why do you like Christmas?"
"Because we get presents." Ron said like that explained everything.
"Why do you like Christmas?" Harry asked Ginny this time.
"Because I get to see people that I haven't seen for a while." Ginny said, "I get presents that tell me people love me and I get to give presents to people I love."
"Men have a logic; they want presents." Harry said, "Women have emotions, they want to give and receive love. Sirius when you understand this and come to grips with it you will be ready to find someone."
Remus was rolling on the floor laughing while Sirius was still looking confused. With that the Potter group left for home, though to some it was feeling less like home all the time.