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It was a few days later when an incident presented itself, for Hermoine to start up the discussion about Harry's magical core. It started after the whole lot of them had planned a big study session, courtesy of Hermoine of course. It had been pouring rain all day of yesterday and the weather forecast said it wasn't clearing up anytime soon- it was a typical English summer storm, still humid but pouring rain and packing thunderstorms. None of them had much to do inside the house, Harry's physical activities were also limited as the grounds were way too slippery outside. So, Hermoine had suggested for them to start revising all of their work from the past few years at Hogwarts. They were sat around the kitchen table, books and notes scattered everywhere. They were all quizzing each other on certain topics, whilst reading through their notes and double checking facts with their study books. It had started out fine, just after breakfast they had claimed the kitchen table… but around noon Harry's head started to throb. As per usual, Ron and Hermoine had started bickering- Ron claiming about being bored and hungry and Hermoine claiming how important their revising work was for their NEWT year. How Ronald wasn't prepared for NEWTS. Despite Hermoine's generous breaks in the heavy schedule, it was in fact an Hermoine Granger schedule. Usually even too much for Hermoine herself to keep to. So Harry's body, with its inability to sit still for long periods of times- multiplied by four ever since his injury – and his inability to focus on one thing for longer than 30 minutes, did not appreciate the grueling schedule. It was around four o'clock that everything went to shite. In summary, Hermoine and Ron were once again bickering across the table, George and Arthur were playing a loud game of wizards chess in the nearby living room, Molly had entered the kitchen and was splashing and pottering around, cooking and cleaning as she went… and all of it was just too much for Harry's aching brain to handle. It was Ginny who noticed at first that something was wrong with Harry, she'd been quizzing him quietly on Magical History when she no longer got an answer from him. She looked up from her notes, guessing that he was thinking about his answer, when she saw him with a pained expression on his face and eyes closed, breathing a bit laboured as he seemed to be fighting something. She quickly put down her notes and was just inches away from touching Harry when she felt his magic buzz statically around him. At the same time, Hermoine suddenly noticed that the papers and books on the table were starting to hover just slightly above the surface and immediately turned towards Harry. Just when she wanted to comment, the front door opened and in came Fleur, carrying a crying Victoire. "Bonjour! What are we eati-." She started to ask, but immediately noticed the levitating items around the room, but that everyone's attention was on Harry.

"-Arry?" She asked almost knowingly. Baby Victoire then made a noise and immediately the tense muscles in Harry's shoulders disappeared and everything dropped back down- he blinked towards Victoire as she was making little grabby hands towards Harry. He simply moved his hand towards hers and she grabbed his finger with all of her hand. "Hello little one." Harry said, his little nickname for Victoire making Fleur smile immediately.

"Harry, are you ok?" Ginny asked, unsure of what had just happened or if Harry even knew what he'd done.

Harry shook his head in a negative, "I think I should go lie down, I have a headache." He stated as he stood up he simply waved his hand in a seemingly nonchalant manner and everything that he'd been working on stacked itself neatly into a pile, like a massive wordless and wandless packing spell. "Wake me up when supper's ready, yeah?" he asked Ginny as he kissed her shortly, he turned towards Victoire and Fleur a bit sadly. "I'm sorry if I scared you." He stated ashamed, before limping towards his bedroom upstairs.

After Dinner, Harry was feeling much better and Hermoine could no longer stop herself from asking. "Harry, what happened this afternoon was not normal. We need to talk about this." She stated.

"I know, Hermoine." Harry replied, "I'm not stupid."

Hermoine shook her head, "I never said you were. But we need to figure out what's going on with your magic, even if you don't want to."

Harry shared a look with Ginny, when Ginny nodded Harry turned towards Hermoine, "I've been keeping track of everything, Hermoine. I know what's going on just fine."

"Really? Well, what is it?" Hermoine asked perplexed.

"My magic is a bit more powerful now." Harry stated carefully, making Ginny snort. At her snort, Harry rolled his eyes and continued, "Ok, more than a bit."

"He's being modest, like always. We are your friends, your family Harry- you don't have to hide from us." Ginny told him sternly.

Harry took a deep breath before he turned towards Hermoine, "I can do wordless magic."

Hermoine nodded, "I've seen you do that before Harry, many times."

"I can do it wandless too." He added quickly.

Hermoine's mouth dropped open for a second, glancing at Ron next to her who was just watching this conversation unfold. "Which magic can you do wandless?" she asked.

"Accio, Lumos…" Ron suddenly stated out of nowhere. Surprised Harry, Ginny and Hermoine turned towards him. "You've been doing that since fourth year." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Almost every basic spell I've learned." Harry quickly added.

"Harry, that's amazing." Hermoine replied perplexed.

Harry shrugged, "I haven't really tried too much, since I've only been cleared just a few days… but we- me and Ginny- have noticed that I can learn new spells really fast, like really fast- even faster than before. The day Victoire was born, I send a patronus message towards Bill wordlessly and without a wand."

"You've always been good at a patronus, it no wonder you'd be able to master that to perfection. You should try more elaborate spells to see where your current limit lies." Hermoine stated simply, she wasn't about to make a big deal out of this however everyone in the room knew that this news was huge and I do mean humungous. Harry's power had already been great, what if the reduced magic from the horcrux- the magic that had been fighting the horcrux- was so overtrained that it was now overpowered? With how he could apparate and perform wandless magic, Harry was possible evenly matched with Dumbledore.

"We'll try some tomorrow." Harry replied.

And tomorrow it was, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermoine were outside when the rain was only drizzling. They were standing on the open field in front of the burrow, where they had lots of room and little to damage.

Hermoine had decided for herself to duel Harry, they were standing a couple of feet apart and were just about to start when Ginny intervened; "Be mindful of his leg." She stated towards Hermoine, just in case. Harry smiled at his girlfriend, before she waved her wand towards the grass behind Harry and applied a cushioning charm just in case he fell.

"Whenever you are ready." Harry said towards Hermoine, who nodded and raised her wand.

"Stupefy." She called out but the curse was easily blocked by Harry. Hermoine tried again, this time wordless to try and take Harry by surprise, but again it was easily blocked. "Hmmphf." She hummed, how could they really test this?

"How about I cast something?" Harry asked. Hermoine looked at him a bit spooked, "What if you overpower it?" She asked a bit concerned.

Harry chuckled, "I didn't mean a defensive spell, just something else to check the theory."

"What do you have in mind?" Hermoine asked curious, but Harry didn't reply and simply waved his hand a bit and suddenly an immense fog rolled in.

"Harry?" Ginny's voice called out, just a tad bit worried. Harry apparated all of them into the house, without even touching them.

"Did you just…" Hermoine stared at Harry in shock, who simply shrugged- whilst Ron stared outside- the fog was really dense, like a white blanket covering the burrow. "I wonder how far it goes?" he asked out loud.

They got their answer later that night on the little muggle telly that Arthur had gotten last Christmas. The BBC news and weather forecast lady said, "… even our local weatherman can't explain the odd weather outside, can you Sam?" – "That's right Jane, as of this morning a heavy dense fog has covered over half of UK… it's quite unnatural how quickly it settled, I've never seen quite anything like it…"

Ron, Hermoine and Ginny turned towards Harry in awe, "Mate, you covered up almost all of Britain with that Nebulus spell."

"and you did that wandless too. Imagine what it could've been like with a wand." Hermoine continued.

Harry looked sheepishly at them, "I guess I need to work on my spell power a bit."

And that's what they, well Harry did, in the last couple of weeks before school started. With help from Hermoine, Ginny and Ron- Harry was able to successfully limit most common spells used, but it was no longer an issue where Harry wouldn't dare to use his magic.

The days flew by and before they knew it, it was time to head to King's Cross station. The whole journey there happened without a hiccup. Everyone said goodbye to those not going to Hogwarts and the four teens made their way onto the Hogwarts Express. Harry was happy to be allowed to do magic now, seeing as he was 17. He otherwise would not have managed his trunk onboard the train, he'd placed a little lightening charm on it, pulling it along with his left arm as he held Ermyr's empty cage in the other. Ermyr himself was sitting on Harry's right shoulder, a spot where you would often find him. He'd grown a little bit in the time that Harry had had him, but he was still a small owl. When they all deposited their trunks and changed into their school robes, they tracked their way towards the farthest compartment, which was usually theirs. As expected it was still empty, they'd arrived a bit earlier than usual to try and avoid the masses. They settled in for the long ride, Hermoine and Ron on one side both seated next to each other holding hands, whilst Ginny had settled against the window and Harry on the other side of the bench, elevating his leg on top of Ginny's lap.

"Sorry." Harry said as he settled his braced leg on top of Ginny.

"Harry, we've been over this. It's fine, I don't mind at all." Ginny said as she squeezed his ankle lovingly. She knew that even though Harry could practically sit normally know with his approved range of motion, to sit for a long period of time still took a lot of effort for Harry and his leg would start to hurt after a little while. So for the long train ride to school he'd been told by Ally that he should elevate it.

"I know." Harry replied, "I'd rather sit the other way around, but I don't think my legs will fit." He chuckled diffusing the upcoming tension. Ginny chuckled, just then Luna stopped at their compartment.

"Hello everyone!" she said happily, her spirit still the same even after what she'd been through.

"Hello Luna! How are you?" Harry asked politely.

"I'm very well, thank you and you? That's a beautiful owl you've got there, who's is it?" Luna asked curious.

"I'm ok and he's mine." Harry replied he stared at Ermyr who was now in his cage at the front of the luggage rack.

"Colourful. I've never seen anything like it." Luna replied as she stared in wonder at Ermyr. Suddenly Neville popped up beside her, also looking better than ever before.

"Neville! You look good! How have you been?" Ginny asked as soon as she noticed her friend.

"Oh, fine. Absolutely fine, me and my nan had a wonderful summer. How are all of you?" Neville asked.

"We are good, thank you Neville." Ginny replied kindly.

"May we join you here? The train is packed with students, I don't think I've ever seen this many of them before. Or I just can't remember it being so full, seeing how empty it was last year." Neville replied.

"Of course, join us." Harry replied as he started to sit up but was immediately stopped by Ginny.

"You stay!" Ginny said sternly towards Harry, shaking her head at him. "You guys don't mind having to sit next to Ron and Hermoine do you? Harry needs to keep his leg elevated."

"Course not. What happened Harry?" Neville asked as he settled down in the corner with Luna between him and Hermoine, luckily Luna was a tiny thing and they easily fitted on the three seater bench.

"I uhh- I'm still recuperating from a knee injury. I took some damage in the war." Harry replied simply, not in the mood to go into all the details but also glad to have told his friends.

"I didn't know that." Luna replied, "It wasn't in the newspapers."

"Thank merlin for that. We've managed to maintain a low profile so far during the summer, I'm hoping to keep it that way. It's not a secret, but I don't really need everyone to know the full details." Harry answered.

Neville nodded, "Don't worry Harry, we won't tell. You alright though?" he asked out of concern.

"As good as, it's just going to take a while. They couldn't immediately heal it at Mungo's." Harry replied.

"Well, if there's anything I can do to help. Let me know." Neville replied, always the helpful one.

"Thanks Neville." Harry replied as he relaxed back into the couch.

The rest of the train ride went by reasonably smoothly. When the train started to ride, several students popped by their compartment. At first it wasn't a big deal, just a couple of old friends and classmates… but then word got out that Harry Potter was on the train and first and second years tried to stop by. Ginny noticed that it made Harry quite uncomfortable and tense, which wasn't how they wanted to start their last year at Hogwarts… so with a quick wordless conversation with Hermoine, Hermoine waved her wand and cast a couple of warding spells, including a muffliato, to keep the rest of their train ride uninterrupted.

When they finally arrived at Hogsmeade they waited for most of the train to empty before starting to exit. Harry sat up a bit straighter and moved his leg of off Ginny's lap. He winced when he noticed that even though he'd kept his leg elevated, the long ride had stiffened the limb considerably. He sat up and slowly bend and straightened it, the leg brace creaking alongside it, before giving the knee a message to try to release the tension.

"What's that sound?" Luna asked curious as she watched Harry move slowly.

Harry looked up at her, a flush of embarrassment tinting his cheeks. At home with the Weasley's he'd forgotten that his right leg now made noise due to the brace it was strapped into. The Weasley's had simply ignored it from the get-go, so Harry was a bit embarrassed now that he was reminded of it. "Uh…" Harry started, not really knowing if he wanted everyone to know that he needed a walking aid but also realizing that he wouldn't be able to hide it forever. He could see his friends watching him, waiting for him to decide what to tell. "My leg is strapped into a brace, which is a muggle walking aid, that helps to stabilize my leg and help me walk." He decided to just throw out there. "It makes little sounds every now and then, I don't really hear it anymore."

"Ah, I thought it was something else." Luna replied vaguely, like always, before grabbing Neville's hand and walking outside.

"You alright, Harry?" Ron asked when Neville and Luna had left and was watching Harry massage his knee.

Harry nodded, "I could use a hand up."

Ron quickly offered his hand and pulled Harry up, waiting a few moments for him to find his balance before clapping him on the shoulder and grabbing everyone's luggage off the racks. He and Hermoine walked outside their compartment and glanced back at Harry and Ginny as they followed, Harry was limping slowly and by the looks of it quite painfully.

"You guys go ahead and safe us a seat on the carriage. We'll be right there." Ginny replied as she walked behind Harry.

Hermoine nodded and walked ahead with Ron.

"Sorry for going so slow, my leg isn't really working at the moment." Harry muttered softly as he limped.

"Take your time, luv." Ginny replied understandingly. She knew how frustrated Harry was when this happened. On a normal day, or the normal days they were used to back at the Burrow. Harry rarely had issues with his leg, but today had already been such a shift of pace- the hurrying to get to the station on time, the 8 hour train ride; where Harry normally would've been doing his physical therapy and moving about to stop his leg from stiffening up. So when Harry's leg buckled it wasn´t totally unexpected, but he nearly fell down if it wasn't for Ginny's quick quidditch reflexes. Ginny gave her boyfriend a couple of minutes to compose himself before asking, "You ok?"

Harry nodded, "Yeah, it's really not happy with me right now." He replied as he steadied himself to continue to exit the train, they were nearly there.

"Do you need a pain potion?" Ginny asked, hating to have to ask it.

"No, I'll be fine. I just need to get moving, it'll make me too sleepy." Harry replied as they finally exited the train and moved towards the carriage where they saw Hermoine and Ron waiting for them.

Ginny finally moved next to Harry and swung her left arm around his middle to support him a bit, "At least let me help a bit then, just for now, no one else is here." She said when Harry looked at her startled. Harry nodded and they continued their slow trek towards the carriage. They dropped their luggage on the pile that would be magically transported towards the castle, before getting into the carriage where Harry quickly and without comment accepted Ron's hand once more to help him up- seeing as his leg couldn't bend that much yet.

They made it to the castle with no hiccups, the descend of the carriage was just as graceful as the ascend had been which made Harry a bit grumpy. Luckily they weren't too far behind the other students, seeing as most of them were in wonder of the creatures that were pulling the carriages now. The thestrals were probably visible to more than half of the student body now- seeing as the war and its victims were burned into many of the students memories.

Upon entering the castle it was immediately obvious that the castle had been remodelled, at least from the inside, after the battle. The great hall was also larger than before, which it needed to be seeing as there we also a lot more students at Hogwarts. The four teens took their usual spot in the middle of the Gryffindor tables, Harry sitting down first so that he could swing his leg across the bench before Ginny sat down next to him. Hermoine and Ron sat down opposite him, wary of Harry's outstretched leg that was between theirs so that no one could accidently bump into it. The firsties where sorted, Gryffindor gaining a total of 19 new students, there were a total of 56 new students which according to the sorting hat hadn't been seen since 1795. There were 18 new Hufflepuffs, 14 new Ravenclaws and 5 new Slytherins. Harry found it very odd, yet comforting to listen to McGonagall as she gave the welcoming speech as Headmistress of Hogwarts. At first it was the usual informative talk, mostly for the firsties about the rules and point system. She then briefly mentioned the war and the wise lessons learned from it- which she also expected from her students now.

"… as you all probably already know. Hogwarts has never had more students than it does this day, as we have a double 7th year this year. The school counsel and I have decided to create an 8th year for those who were unable to finish their education during the war, we've added an 8th year wing for these students for each house. I must remind each and every one of you, that these students are here for their education just like you. I don't want to see or hear about anybody that bothers these students, they've had enough of a bad year and Hogwarts is here as a safe haven and a place for them to pick up their lives again. Treat them as you would want to be treated." McGonagall said without naming the obvious elephant in the room, which Harry was very grateful for.

"And last I would like to introduce you to the new Defence against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Weasley." McGonagall sat as she motioned with her hands towards the edge of the table, where for some reason, Harry hadn't noticed before, sat Charlie Weasley. He stood up with his charming grin and waved simply towards the students.

Ron stared in shock at his older brother. "Did you know?" Harry asked curiously. Ron shook his head in the negative. After they ate, which was divine as always, the students each moved towards their respective houses. Fortunately McGonagall's words had helped, of course there were a couple of stares in Harry's direction- and not just at Harry's but at Ron, Hermoine, Ginny too. Even Seamus, Neville, Luna and others were starred at, all being famous for their actions during the war. When they entered the Gryffindor portrait they were met by McGonagall and Charlie.

"Everybody quiet please." McGonagall said and everyone did so.

"Thank you. I have a last announcement to make, as all of you know I've been Gryffindor's head of house for over 20 years and I am not giving that up. However as Headmistress I also have many other duties and I want each and every one of you to have a teacher to go to when needed. Therefor I have appointed Professor Weasley as my assistant Head of House this year. All of you can go to your rooms except the 8th years, I'd like to speak with you for a moment and show you your new rooms." McGonagall said as Head boy and girl referred all the younger students to their dorms, Ginny glanced at Harry not ready yet to separate from him. McGonagall and Charlie both saw the hesitation. "Ms. Weasley you are allowed to stay." McGonagall said as she stared at how she and Harry were wrapped up in each other. Normally she frowned upon such public display of affection, however Minerva had a soft spot for these students all the 8th years really and she couldn't for the life of her give them more grief than was necessary.

"First of all, I really would like to commend you for being here. I know that it's not the easiest thing to do after all that we've been through. That's why I wanted you all to be as comfortable as possible and not awkwardly matched with the current 7th years. You can find your dorms at the first level of the Gryffindor tower. Tomorrow myself and Professor Weasley will meet each and every one of you individually to go over your schedule. Now, get some rest and I'll see you all tomorrow." McGonagall said before turning to leave the common room, before she did she turned back around towards Ginny and said, "Oh and Ms. Weasley, the counsel and I have decided that you and several other 7th years are rooming with the 8th years due to your involvement during the war. I suspect you'll feel much more at home there." She said almost motheringly before exiting the room. Ginny smiled and turned towards her friends, very happy that she wasn't going to be separated from them. She then turned towards her brother, nee professor as he was about to leave.

"Charlie!" Ginny called after her brother.

"That's professor Weasley for you, sis." Charlie replied with a chuckle.

"Why didn't you tell us, mate?" Ron asked curiously.

Charlie shrugged, "I didn't know until the day before yesterday, McGonagall was still awaiting approval from the counsel."

"Congrats, Professor Weasley." Harry said with a smug smile.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter." Charlie replied with an accepting nod. "I will leave you be now…" he said before turning towards his brother and sister. "Just so you know, the 8th year dorms aren't warded like all the others." He said with a wink and then left the common room.

Ginny and Ron shared a smile before turning towards the new dorms. When they entered they were astonished by what they saw. Not only did they have separate dorms from the 7th years, but they had another smaller common room, similar to the Gryffindor common room in style just smaller.

"Well this is nice." Seamus said as he was turning in circles taking in the whole room, which everyone agreed with in various replies.

"We'll I'm going to bed, I'm knackered." Hermoine stated as she turned briefly towards Ron and pecked him on the cheek, receiving a couple of teasing but also fun catcalls.

"About time Weasley!" Dean replied with a chuckle as he and Seamus moved towards the dorms as well. Ginny turned towards Harry, "Sleep well, luv." She kissed him softly as well, before walking after Hermoine. Ron and Harry moved towards their dorms as well, which Harry was very happy about had no stairs towards them. Like always the other boys had left two beds beside each other open for them. Harry saw Ermyr in his cage and immediately opened it and set him free, Ermyr was not a fan of the birdcage. Harry quickly let Ermyr peck him softly on his fingers, which reminded him of how Hedwig used to greet him. "I'll show you the owlery tomorrow, yeah?" he said softly as he watched Ermyr watching him, the owl softly hooted in understanding before moving towards a perch that Harry had bought for him and settling down with his head underneath his wing, making Harry chuckle softly. He then proceeded to open his trunk for his pyjama's, too tired to really think- he started to undress. The top part of his school uniform was quickly replaced by a soft grey tee, he then removed his shoes and pants when he heard Neville ask, "Blimey, Harry. I didn't realize it was that bad." Neville said softly, however loud enough for everybody to tune into the conversation.

"Bloody hell, Harry! What happened there?" Dean asked shocked as he took in the weird contraption on Harry's right leg, but also the scarring that went from below his knee all the way up towards his thigh, disappearing beneath his boxers.

Harry flustered from head to torso as he quickly tried to shimmy into his PJ bottoms. "I have a knee injury that's still healing." He commented quietly, hoping for not too many questions.

"When did you—did it happen during the war?" Seamus asked curiously, he and everybody of course knew that most of them had received some form of injury during the battle, however he hadn't really stopped to think about Harry, their saviour, how he'd been doing. He'd been presumed dead for a part of the battle. As if Harry could read his mind he answered, "It happened throughout the year really, I honestly couldn't tell you exactly when. It's a combination of injuries, it's going to take a while for it to heal." He replied as he got into bed.

"And you have to wear that, all day?" Neville said as he motioned towards his own leg to indicate the brace.

"Unfortunately yes, it helps to stabilize my leg and help me walk. I can take it off, but I'm not really allowed too." Harry replied with a shrug as he laid back down in his bed and removed his glasses.

"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to be nosy." Dean said softly.

"It's alright, mate. I'm just knackered." Harry replied, which was the truth.

"Good night then." Dean said and he received good night wishes in all forms from the boys as they all went to sleep.

Thanks for reading!