Chapter 3 - The Training Begins

"Now this spell is one of the basics. It's for levitation, the incantation is 'wingardium leviosa'. The wand movement is swish and flick then say the incantation clearly. Let me demonstrate it with a wand." Harry carefully levitated one of the chairs to another part of the kitchen while his aunt watched like an eager freshman at Hogwarts.

"I'm not quite sure how to do it without a wand yet since I have no control yet over wandless magic. All those spells I did before were just done accidentally. I have no idea yet how to do them but at least learning the spells will be good for starters." He smiled feeling like the session is just another meeting with the other members of Dumbledore's Army or DA, the club they formed last year in defiance of the useless Defense Against the Darts lessons that Umbridge had subjected them to.

Aunt Petunia nodded enthusiastically while taking down notes. She plans to review and memorize them later. Then she looked at his nephew as if trying to recall something.

"Now here are other useful spells that we learned in school. "Accio" to summon things, "Rictusempra" to tickle someone, "Expelliarmus" to disarm your opponent, "Tarantallegra" to ---" He was cut suddenly by sudden gasp from his aunt.

"Harry! I think I have just remembered something. Can you recall all those that you have done wandless magic? What were the conditions then?" She asked curiously.

"Umm....well, as far as I can remember, I usually do that when I am extremely agitated or very scared. Any extreme emotion actually. Why do you ask?"

Aunt Petunia looked nervous again as she tries to find something in her pockets. Harry observed his aunt carefully and the letter that she received a while ago crossed his mind again.

"Does this have anything to do with the letter I asked you about?" He was really tired of this secrecy thing but he knew he must be patient. Recklessness just caused him a lot of trouble before.

"The note was from Dumbledore." She answered carefully while handing him the parchment. Harry hastened to read the short message-"IT IS TIME..."

"What does this mean?"

"It means that since it is your 16th birthday today, I must now tell you some things that we concealed from you. You need to know in order to prepare for the war properly. Much as I hate to admit it, you have to know the truth. I owe you so much for treating you like dirt, you don't deserve it, and for saving my son's life last summer." She stood up and paced the room trying to organize her thoughts.

"It also means that things are going bad because Dumbledore or any other adult wizard is not present for this. It is up to me now to help you discover some of your hidden potentials." She suddenly stopped and looked at him in the eye. "I need to help you develop wandless magic because any unarmed wizard is very vulnerable for attacks. Do you understand? It will be terribly difficult because I can only help you but I cannot show you."

Harry saw tears flowing through her cheeks but he was too shock from numb to say or do anything... Things were that bad? What did she mean? Mind games was one thing but leading a very dangerous life without knowing what was going on was making his emotions reach its limit. Suddenly, the rage bottled inside him pushed towards the surface.

"Harry! HARRY!" His aunt shouted at him nervously as the cups on the table exploded with a loud bang and almost everything were moving as if a tremendous earthquake is causing it. Plates flew everywhere and the wind was so intense that it became very hard for Petunia to go near his nephew who looks as if he was in a trance. His whole body was emitting a golden glow that was very similar to what happened last summer when Vernon pressured him into answering his questions.

"WHAT IN RUDDY HELL IS GOING ON HERE?" Vernon hollered as he stepped into the living room and froze in his tracks as he noticed his nephew radiating all the enerqy that is wreaking havoc into the whole house.

"STOP THIS NONSENSE NOW, BOY! OR YOU WILL BE IN SERIOUS TROUBLE! GO TO YOUR ROOM! NOW!" He ventured and pretended to watch TV while stealing nervous glances at his nephew.

As quickly as it had come, Harry found his wits again and managed to put a stop to it. He grimaced as he surveyed the surroundings and found his aunt staring at him with an unfathomable expression. Ignoring his uncle's presence, he immediately repaired the damaged he had done and apparated to his room where he found Hedwig waiting for him. He desperately searched for any sign of anything that he might have brought but there was none.

Hedwig nipped his palm apologetically as if terribly ashamed for not being able to bring him anything. Harry slumped to his bed in shock. It was his 16th birthday today and not a single soul cared enough to send him a single bloody note! Hell, even a simple 'Hi' will do just so he'd know they are still alive! 'WHAT'S HAPPENING!!!' his mind screamed in agony.

Throwing all caution to the wind, he rapidly got up and packed all his belongings. He had to know what's going on outside. How could they expect him to fight back if he was blind to the current situation! God! Better die outside fighting evil than die here of anxiety. Just as he was getting ready to leave, the door swiftly flung open with his Aunt Petunia blocking his path.

"I can apparate you know." He dismissed her attempt to stop him but his aunt grabbed him hastily and whispered furiously at him.

"Don't you leave now! We still need to finish the lessons. You know that you need to prepare and without the others, you have no choice but to listen to me for now. You have the power but you cannot control it yet. Don't you see? The amazing display of magic downstairs was great...but....that.....is......not.......enough! Tomorrow, after your uncle goes to work, we will resume. It is imperative that we do this before you do anything else. Understand?"

Harry nodded weakly. "Of course, you're right."

"YOU WILL HAVE NO FOOD TONIGHT, BOY! DON"T SHOW YOUR UGLY FACE IN THE LIVING ROOM AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR?" His aunt suddenly shouted at the top of her lungs while smiling at him knowingly. Harry smiled at her too realizing that it was just for his uncle's benefit.

"That's good, Petunia. That scum should be really taught a lesson. You know we should not have taken that low-life here. He's causing too much trouble. What's for dinner? And where's Dudley?" Harry heard his uncle say to his aunt before he closed the door. He did not hear the reply but he doesn't care.

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The next day's lesson went quite smoothly. After what happened what happened the previous day, Petunia was able to explain about wandless magic better.

"As you probably have noticed, you are able to access your powers only when you are experiencing extreme emotions like anger and desperation. So, this is very similar to the 'patronus charm' you used to repel the dementors. Try to think of some event, thing or person that can heighten your emotions. You must focus on the positive feelings though, leave the negative ones to the evil wizards. Your magic will be stronger that way."

The lessons went on without Vernon and Dudley finding out. By the end of the week, Harry had almost gotten the hang of wandless magic and Petunia has memorized the necessary incantations and wand movements although she cannot apply them yet. Even their relationship had gotten better. Harry could now call her 'Aunt' without feeling rebellious.

The nightmares had miraculously stopped although Harry was not sure if that was due to his increasing competence in Occlumency or he was just too exhausted to have time for nightmares. Even the pain had stopped. He was not sure if this was a good sign but at least now he felt relieved that he would not collapse in pain when he faced Voldemort again. That always put him at a disadvantage whenever they meet.

Unfortunately, he had no way of knowing now if he was near or not. For all he knew, he could just be sitting outside waiting for his prey. But he quickly brushed away that thought. Voldemort was stupid.... but not that stupid. He was a conniving, souless, evil reincarnate who's main objective in life was to kill some boy who hadn't even graduated yet. How pathetic!

But there was no denying the fact that he was becoming more worried as the day passed by. No one, not even Luna, was writing to him anymore.