A/N: I know, it's short. And I know; you waited forever for it. I should stop even trying to apologize. I have some of the next few chapters outlined in my mind, but not even started yet. I'll try to get something up soon. Enjoy!

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Chapter 35

London heaved the last shovel full of dirty straw and manure into the heaping wheelbarrow. It had been a long day, helping the half giant outside with the care and upkeep of the grounds and animals, but London found himself enjoying the hard labor. While he had never mucked out stalls before, he was certainly more accustomed to this sort of labor than he was to the other alternative to fill his time – testing. On days when he wasn't working with Hagrid, the old man had insisted that he dedicate at least three hours a day to submitting to every unbearable test he could think of.

It was getting to where London would gladly embrace mucking out stalls over seeing the inside of the castle, any day.

Many of the tests were similar in style to the test he had undergone that first week. Professors told him to do something, and he did it. Or else one of the aurors would come in to fight him, and he would kick their arse. Not too difficult. It was actually kind of fun, at least when they let him go all out. They kept putting more and more restrictions on him which severely limited his fun. No knives. No dismemberment curses. No breaking bones. No punches to the face. Honestly – what was a good fight without at least one of those?

The truly repulsive part of his testing though had arrived this week, with Dumbledore's announcement that he had granted the doctor-witch permission to poke and prod at him so she could figure out why his magic was different. If London hated anything, it was doctors. He had survived the last seventeen years without ever seeing one, and he saw no reason to start doing so now, particularly when he wasn't even injured.

And so he found himself outside more often than not, attempting to escape the crazy doctor and her insane spells. Of course, if he would actually allow the spells to work as they were supposed to, she might leave him alone. He couldn't stand the idea of someone sending a spell at him that could tell his whole medical history, or could analyze his body like that. So he twisted every single spell she sent toward him to merely come back "inconclusive." And her frustration was growing more and more evident and she sought more and more obscure spells to try to use on him. He figured she would give up, sooner or later.

London pushed the pitchfork into the ground outside the barn and brushed his hands off on his dirty jeans. Leaning against the wall he drew out a cigarette, eager for his smoke break.

"London?"

London turned impassively toward the voice, unwilling to show that he was startled. No one had ever approached him before when he was working, and he had rather assumed that no one ever would. When he caught sight of Minerva making her way toward him he greeted her with a blinding smile. "Yes, Minnie?"

Minerva stepped delicately around the heaping wheelbarrow and moved in closer to London. "How are you enjoying working with Hagrid? He certainly seems to like having you around."

"'S pretty good," London said with a shrug. "Better than being in there."

Minerva smiled. She was well aware of his ongoing battle with Poppy. "I imagine it would be. Has it occurred to you that you could simply ask the woman to desist? If she knew you objected to the scans, she would stop immediately. I believe she is under the impression that Dumbledore asked your permission as well, before granting her permission to perform medical spells on you."

"Bastard," London muttered, flicking his cigarette irritably. It was just like the nosey old man to presume that he would agree to such a thing, without even speaking to him.

"You seem to be settling in better," Minerva observed, noticing how much more at ease he was out here working with Hagrid than he had been that first week or two before he ran away.

"Sev's got me a few jobs now. Its not so bad."

"And how are you liking working with Hagrid?"

"He's ok," London said. "He's easier to understand than the lot in there," he said, jerking his head toward the castle.

Minerva nodded. She could see how he would feel that way. Hagrid was nothing if he was not a straight forward, no-nonsense sort of fellow. It was only logical that London would cling to that rather than the games that were being played inside the castle. Even if he was someone who enjoyed the political machinations that ran rampant in their ministry, he still needed a break from such intrigues. "I'm sure he appreciates the help. I'm afraid he has been dreadfully overworked for too long."

London shrugged and lit a second fag off the end of his first.

Minerva pulled her cloak around her shoulders more tightly. Winter was coming quickly, and she rather wished she was inside with a nice cuppa. "I came out here to ask a favor of you."

London cocked an eyebrow at this news, uncertain what to expect. No one in the wizarding world had asked him a favor before. Apart from Hagrid, they usually just tried to tell him what to do, and expected him to do it. Not that he obeyed their 'suggestions' anyway, but it was still irritating.

"Would you sit in on my Seventh year Transfiguration classes for the next few weeks? I am giving them an introduction to wandless magic, and I believe it will be useful for them to see someone as adept at wandless magic as you are."

"I thought you lot couldn't use wandless magic?" London still couldn't get over their amazement at the simple act of changing things. To him, it was like being surprised that someone could…could breathe. It was so mundane and utterly mindless for him, he couldn't help but be shocked speechless on occasion when he saw their amazement. Sev had never betrayed much surprise at what he could do, so he had always figured that it was relatively normal. Bastard should have prepared him for this, he thought with a fond smile.

"Most of us cannot use it routinely, but I believe that all witches and wizards have the potential to use it."

"Then why don't they?"

"They don't believe that they can. My hope is that seeing you use it so effortlessly will convince them otherwise."

"Likely to work better with the ones like me than the ones like Sev. Pure wizards, I think?"

"Purebloods. And you may have something," she said, thinking it over. "The muggleborns will likely not have their convictions as deeply ingrained as those who grew up believing in such limitations."

"Do you really want everyone to be able to use it though? Talking to Sev, he nearly has me convinced that it would be a bad thing, having little kids with the ability to make things happen at a mere thought. Some pretty fucked up things could happen if they weren't careful."

"You were able to, and there were no major disasters," Minerva argued.

"Takes discipline that I doubt they have. You have to be able to separate your thoughts from your thought-actions."

"Thought-actions?" she echoed, her confusion evident.

"Yeah, you know, thoughts that you then make into fact. Like thinking "I wish it was warmer," and then…it is. You need to be able to separate that method of thinking from "I wish that guy would fuck off and die." Unless you really want him to, that is. You see the difference?"

Minerva nodded. "How would you go about teaching that?"

"Beats me. What do you usually teach during this time?"

"We spend a few days going over the history of wandless magic, and then we review some of the more well-known theories about wandless magic."

"Do they ever try it?"

"I'm sure they do in their common rooms, but not in the classroom. I never had reason to believe that any of them could ever achieve it, except in the most extraordinary of circumstances. Seeing you during these past few weeks though, has changed my mind. I now believe it is not only possible but probable that they all have the innate ability, whether they ever learn to tap into it or not. You might be more powerful than these kids, but I am convinced that the possibility exists in them as much as it did in you."

London stubbed out his cigarette on the bottom of his boot. "Say you're right. What do you want me to do in this class?"

"For now, I just want you to come and do a demonstration. Maybe sit in on the theory discussions, so you can give your own experience. I doubt any of the students will ever become anything near adept at wandless magic. Frankly, I doubt any of them will even be able to achieve a single wandless spell. But I want to give it a try, teaching them wandless magic as fact, rather than as myth."

London looked out over the lake, his eyes watching the setting sun for a few moments. It would mean entering a classroom, something that he had never thought he would do, aside from his occasional visit with Sev while he was teaching. It would mean submitting to a much more rigid schedule, at least a few days a week. It would mean being near the students on a much more regular basis…the students who, as a whole, annoyed the piss out of him. "Is Draco in your class?"

"He is."

London paused for a brief moment. Draco was kind of alright. A bit prissy, but what could you expect from someone who grew up with a silver spoon shoved up his arse? On the other hand, he was the only one of Sev's relatives that he had been introduced to. That had to count for something. "Alright."

Minerva smiled broadly at him. "The first class is tomorrow at eleven."

"In the morning?" London clarified.

Minerva started at his question, not expecting him to need clarification. "Yes, London, in the morning. The students are not allowed out of their beds after 9.30 in the evening."

"Seriously?"

Minerva could not hide her smile at his incredulity. "Seriously. We need a few hours away from the little blighters," she said with a smirk.

London walked away, muttering his thoughts on that bit of news, and leaving her alone outside the large barn.

"Have you seen London?"

The voice startled Minerva, and she jumped slightly. She turned with a smile to Severus, who she was quite certain had never even seen the barn before his young lover had come to live at Hogwarts. "I have. He just went that way," she said, pointing to the left.

"What are you doing out here?" Severus asked, unable to quell his curiosity.

"Recruiting London for my wandless magic classes."

Severus cocked an eyebrow. "He agreed to sit in on your classes?"

"And participate in discussions." Minerva could tell her friend was floored, although his face didn't reveal his shock.

"I see. Very good," he said lamely, unable to formulate his thoughts properly.

"And why have you come out to the barns? Did you miss a certain young man?"

Severus rolled his eyes. "Honestly woman, can a man not simply go for a walk unmolested?"

Minerva snickered. "I'm sure he will enjoy a break.