CHAPTER 36 - LAS VEGAS, Part A - Sunday, August 11, 1996

The group spent the next week and a half with the Shaman and his family practicing and perfecting what they had learned from him. They were even able to get a start on apparition - seems that not everyone had the same restrictions as in Britain. It depended on your ability to concentrate and your magical prowess. If you were considered strong enough to achieve it you were allowed to learn to do it. All of the young people there were strong enough so the adults had no qualms about allowing the Shaman to teach them. At the same time they combined the elf and goblin manner of apparition into their learning. On Sunday, August 11 they used a portkey that Griphook had provided them with to the Potter property in Las Vegas, Nevada.

The portkey deposited them in a hotel lobby? When they stopped moving everyone drew their wands and surrounded the Grangers. Where were they? They were supposed to be in a Potter property, not a hotel. Then a soft pop announced the arrival of a house elf.

"Master Potter?"

"Yes, that's me." Harry answered.

"I'm sorry sir, for some reason the portkey seems to have misfired. You should have been in the private office. I'm Felix, I'm the head Potter elf here in Las Vegas. If you would follow me, I'll take you to your condo." The group had a chance to look around as they were walking through the lobby towards the back of the building. There was a reception desk and several seating areas arranged in the large room. When they arrived at the back wall, it was made totally of glass, there were two doors, one led to the swimming pool, and the other to the promenade. In the middle was a glass elevator that ran up the outside of the building. "Can anyone other than Mr. Potter see the elevator?"

"Of course, we can see it, it's right here isn't it?"

"Well, one is, but can anyone see the second elevator?" No one answered. "Okay, I didn't expect anyone to be able to see it, but just thought I would check. Mr. Potter, if you would please put your wand in this depression so that we can key everyone else in so they can see and use the elevator."

As Harry reached to put his wand in, Hermione grabbed his arm, "Harry, Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore? Is there someone from your party missing?"

"No, that is just the thing. We don't want him to be here and if I use magic he will be able to follow my signature and find us."

"Not here he won't! Magic cannot be traced here. And besides, you will not actually be using magic for this, the sensor only needs to read your magical signature to know you are authorized to allow access to others."

"Oh, okay. In that case…," Harry places his wand in the depression on the wall.

"Can you all see the two depressions now?" Nods of affirmation all around. "Good, Master Potter, if you would place your index finger in this depression, now if you would - each place your finger in that depression, the sensor will read your signature and know that you are allowed access, then you will be able to use this elevator any time. It is the only way to get to the private condo that you will be staying in during your visit here." Every one complied, and when Harry removed his wand there was a second elevator. "If you would all join me."

As the elevator started up Felix continued to explain about the facility they were in. "This is actually a condominium complex. The Potter family bought it many, many years ago. The family converted the top two floors for their private use, but decided to leave the other 5 floors as they were and use it as a magical vacation spot. There are 5 floors with 2 condos per floor. Out back as you saw there is the complex swimming pool, and the promenade. The promenade houses the workout facility, a spa, the children's play area, the games arcade, a 20 seat movie theater, and a small casino. There is also a shop that sells everything from clothing suitable to the Las Vegas weather to souvenirs. We don't offer any shows here, but can get you tickets to any show on the strip, just let me know what you would like to see." By this time they had arrived at the 7th floor. When the elevator opened they were looking at a very large room with a grand staircase in the middle, and a single table with a book on it.

"Don't worry folks, this room can be divided up to be anything you want it to, we put the walls in according to your needs at the time, with the exception of the staircase which leads to the rooms upstairs, those rooms are also set already. This room has seen many uses in the years, including weddings and family reunions. Above the bedrooms is the rooftop terrace. It has a private swimming pool and spa, cooking area, and outdoor living spaces. This book will give you a little more details about the complex. There is a menu here if you want to order room service, or eat in the restaurant, there is a list of the shows currently running on the strip, along with a list of the tourist tours. Benjamin, Franklin, Abigail, Martha," four soft pops. "These are the Potter's private elves, they actually work for the complex but while here you will be their primary responsibility. At the moment all 10 of the condos are rented, although the populous will change every few days. This time of year the condos stay pretty much booked up."

"Felix?"

"Yes sir."

"Please, just call me Remus. We are expecting a couple of friends to stop by, we don't know exactly when they will be arriving, and then later we will be having business meetings with several individuals. What is the procedure for allowing them access?"

"Well, for your friends, you just need to tell me their names which will allow them a one-time ride on the elevator and we will take care of getting them up to you and then you can allow them access to the elevator once they have arrived here in the same manner as you did on the first floor. As for the business meetings. Do you want to hold them here in your condo? Or we have an office on the first floor that you could utilize, or if you will all be attending these meeting there is a small private banquet facility near the restaurant that you could use that is currently not booked for the next several weeks so it would be at your disposal."

"Thank you Felix, that is very helpful. The friends we are expecting are Greg Maloney and Steven Grahamson. As to the other individuals for the meetings, those haven't been set up yet, but we are going to start doing that very soon. How do you handle post here? I don't suppose you still use owls?"

"Owls? Of course not. We haven't used owls for post as a general rule for almost 100 years, but as far as I know we completely quit using owls 50 to 75 years ago. No, we have a postal delivery system in place. Just take whatever post you have and give it to the person on duty in the lobby or to one of the elves here in the condo and they will get it posted for you right away. Answers will arrive in the same manner."

The group spent the rest of the day deciding on the configuration of the room and with Benjamin's and Franklin's help they got the room set up the way they wanted it. They selected their rooms on the second floor and then spent the remainder of the day relaxing at the rooftop pool. Winky and Dobby were fascinated with the pool, they had not been swimming with the group at Paradise. They were able to find swimsuits to fit them in the gift shop downstairs in the children's section. The two didn't venture out of the shallow end, but they enjoyed splashing around.

LAS VEGAS, Part B - Monday, August 12, 1996

The next morning, as he was used to being, Harry was up early. Since everyone else was still asleep he decided to take the lists they had compiled of the various subjects they were interested in and the private tutors along with the list from the letter Sirius had left him and see if he could start making heads or tails of them. He took the lists and went up to the roof top terrace. He transfigured one of the lounge chairs into a white board and began to organize the information.

He made his list of subjects and then made several columns beside the list to include texts, tutors, tutors contacted, meeting set with tutor, suggested # of sessions per week, and several blank columns, because he knew for sure Hermione would have a detail or two to add. He had been working for about an hour when Prof. McGonagall showed up. She was dressed in one of the light-weight summer dresses they had acquired in the gift shop downstairs.

"Good morning, Harry."

"Good morning Professor."

"I'm impressed. You've done a lot of work here, and it's organized and everything."

"Yeah, well, after 5 years hanging around with Hermione it seems to be easier to organize. I used to just go along doing first one thing and then the other, going whichever way the wind blew me so to speak. But now, lately, I've found…"

"I have noticed Harry. There has definitely been an improvement in the last year or so. I guess Ms. Granger really has been a positive influence on you. I am glad to see you are trying to live up to your potential instead of down to someone else's ideals. So, tell me what you have here."

"Okay, I thought that since we are planning to work from here the rest of the time we are in the United States we should have some idea of where we stand so everyone can see it. This is a list of the potential subjects we want to cover, and this is the list of potential tutors we have for each subject."

"Looks good. I see you have all the basics covered, but what about some more advanced studies?"

"Can I talk to you about that Professor? I spoke with my parents about this a while back and they agree with me, and the more I think about it the more I think I am right in my thinking, but I would like some other opinions. I don't really see that I need what you would call 'advanced' studies at the moment. I know I don't have it in me to perform an AK, so why bother to learn how to do it. I am not even sure I can do a Cruciatous or an Imperio with any effect. But those might be worth knowing, just in case. What I really feel like we all need is just learning better control and how to channel more power into the spells we know and how to use them to better advantage. We all know some rather destructive spells, even if that is not what they are meant for. The bombarda spell for instance. I also think we need to practice using transfigured things as defensive items and we need to be able to use them as we are using other hexes at the same time. I don't even know if it is possible to cast two spells at once, but we really need to try." McGonagall is about to speak, but Harry holds up his hands to stop her, "Someone told me once that as long as no one told me it couldn't be done, then I would just do it, and that seems to be the case. So if it is not possible to cast two spells at once please don't tell me, and then I will just figure out how to make my magic do it. That has always worked for me. After all, no one told me you can't summon an object from half a mile away, so I just practiced it until I could do it and then when I needed my broom against the dragon I just summoned it, no one said I couldn't, and Hermione said I could, so I did. Does that make any sense?"

"It does to me, because I have been watching you for the past five years. So I won't say you can't cast two spells at once, because I don't know, I have never tried to before, but that doesn't make it an impossibility. Of course, once you transfigure something, it doesn't necessarily disappear or change back just because you are not concentrating on it; that is something I can teach you. I think your unpredictability is going to help you out as much as your knowledge of spells. And I think you are right, I think you have the knowledge that you will need, you just need to fine tune your arsenal as it were. Accuracy, speed, and power sound like very good goals to work on. So you need to concentrate on tutors who are willing to do that for you, not ones who will insist on you learning a new group of spells. I know you said you didn't want Filius and I to leave Hogwarts. But I am wondering if there is something we could do to help you anyway. I can help you with transfiguring items into defensive weapons and Filius is very good at stringing multiple spells together. I know that's not the same as casting two spells at once, but if you get fast enough at doing it, it would sure seem like it to the opposition, and depending on the order you cast them they can be very devastating. I think that will be the secret here, to learn to cast without having to stop and think about it, it just has to become second nature to you. Kind of like I used to do whenever I saw James, Sirius, and Remus coming down the hall towards me. It was just a natural instinct to put up a shield!" For some reason Harry found this extremely funny, the thought of Professor McGonagall walking down the halls of Hogwarts with a shield up. He eventually had to jump in the pool to cool off his laughter. Which Professor McGonagall found extremely funny, since Harry was wearing his clothes and not a bathing suit at the time. Once Harry got out of the pool, "As I was saying. I think you should concentrate on learning a specific series of spells in a specific order then practice, practice, practice, until casting those particular spells in that particular order just comes naturally to you, like casting a levitation spell does now."

"I like that idea. I hadn't even thought of that. But I am sure it would be easier than trying to cast two spells at once. I know the Shaman said that now we don't need our wands since our focus is part of us, but I wonder if we could use our wands in our normally non-wands hands and then use our wand hands as well. That would be a way to cast two spells at once if we could make it work. But like you said, I think casting would have to be something we did without thinking in order for that to work too since we would have to cast with our hand and then split our concentration to cast at the same time with our wand. I guess that is something we are going to have to work on. Maybe we can sound out the tutors we have coming this week and see if any of them are familiar with the practice or have any experience with it. Otherwise, we will just have to devise the way for ourselves."

By this time the others had started to wake up and wander up to the top deck. Neville was the first to join them followed shortly by everyone else. Hermione was suitable impressed with the work Harry had put into his chart and immediately set about deciding if there was anything else they needed to add. Dobby and Winky popped in to say that breakfast was ready to be served. Harry asked them to bring it up to the deck since it was still relatively cool. Everyone enjoyed a leisurely breakfast while discussing and making suggestions for the chart Harry had started. They also made up a list of questions to ask each of the tutors. Harry and Prof. McGonagall told the group the discussion they had and Prof. McGonagall's suggestion about learning to rapidly string spells together. Prof. Flitwick thought this was an excellent idea and volunteered to help them. Dan took this time to tell them that he had indeed spoken with his logistics friend Jim and he would be glad to help them. His explanation to his friend was that his daughter and couple of her friends were working on a special project for school. He also explained that they would be traveling around for the summer, but would contact him when they returned to Britain sometime in the fall. Jim was going to put together some information that he thought would help them out and have everything ready when they returned. So far it wasn't necessary to tell him anything about magic, so, now it would just be a matter of finding a place to meet with him that was both safe for the kids and appropriate for him to be.

Their list of interested subjects had grown, but some of their goals had also already been accomplished and just required continued practice. The three weeks spent with the Shaman had been very productive for the group. Not only could they mark wandless and silent casting off their list, but also animagus training, but they had gotten a start on apparition, physical exercising and dueling. Deciding that they would stick with the charms, hexes, and spells that they already pretty much knew and not add a lot of new stuff to their repertoires eased up a lot on the schedule, but with the addition of some non-magical courses their course loads were still going to be quite full. It also cut down on the number of tutors they would need. It was decided that they would setup with tutors to begin after September 1st, that way they could concentrate on transfiguration and stringing spells together for the next three weeks while they had Professors McGonagall and Flitwick at their disposal. They had also decided that the non-magical courses could be handled by correspondence. Mr. Maloney had been very helpful in this regard also, since many of the students at SLSS were taking advantage of this method of study.

Hermione noticed that he still had the things they had learned with the Shaman on the list of subjects so she suggested that one of the extra columns, the last one actually, should be an ACCOMPLISHED column, then they would be able to see where they stood and what they still had to work on at a glance. So Harry titled the last column and then went about checking off those goals they had already accomplished.

"Are any of these things we don't need to worry about right now? I mean since we have decided to stick with what we know and just try to improve on them is there anything we can take off the list?" (1)

"Charms?"

"Elemental magic. While I am fascinated and would really like to learn something about it, at the moment I don't think it is of vital importance to us."

"What about trying to combine some of them?"

"Harry, we could easily do that. Arithmancy, runes, and warding come to mind as they all interact with one another. If you and Neville start on the basics of arithmancy and runes now then by the time we are ready for a warding tutor you should be up to speed enough to get started with the basics. And since basic warding such as anti-apparition and anti-portkey and some basic scrying charms is what we are after that should be enough." (2) Everyone agreed, so Harry altered his chart accordingly.

"While we are all together, there is another matter that we have not discussed yet, but I think needs to be addressed."

"What is that Harry."

"September 1st."

"September 1st?"

"Yes. You know Dumbledore is going to have a duck when we don't show up on the Express. I really think he doesn't believe that we will stay away. And considering the way he has reacted to our travels and exploration you know he is not going to take it well. I think we really need a plan in place to counteract him."

"I agree Harry, and I think we should get James and Lily, and Sirius involved in this conversation."

"We already are." Everyone jumped. No one had noticed that Harry's wallet frame was lying on the table beside him.

"Sorry guys, I always have them with me, especially when I am trying to puzzle something out."

"Well, the way I see it Harry the best way to handle the situation would be for you not to be in England on September 1st. Then he can sputter and complain all he wants, but as you are in a school that is registered with the ministry that is all he can do. And if you are not there he can't get close to you, so you would be safe from him."

"Thanks Prof. McGonagall. You just confirmed what I was thinking. As it happens we won't be in England on September 1st, we will be in …"

"STOP!" Everyone jumped when Prof. Sprout shouted. "Sorry, didn't mean to startle everyone. But Harry, don't tell us where you are going to be. What we don't know we won't have to lie about and can't reveal."

"That's right! We will honestly be able to say that the last place we knew you were was here. And by then you will be gone."

"Good point." The rest of the day was spent in composing letters to the various persons they were interested in contacting as tutors and reworking their schedule of training they were already involved in as they would only have the Hogwarts profressors for another three weeks. Bill Weasley was sent a letter and Griphook sent a letter to Gringotts in support of their request. They also contacted Shiko Shiroma a martial arts expert based right here in Las Vegas that Greg Maloney had suggested. That afternoon and evening they decided to explore the Las Vegas Strip a bit and maybe take in a show. Felix was able to get them tickets for Cirque du Soleil and to the Stratosphere Tower, the tallest freestanding tower in the United States.

(1) See Chapter 6 for original list of subjects.

(2) Since most of the death eaters can do them I assume they are not complicated, so I am including them as basics.