Danny sighed exhaustedly. Her first day back at school had been
tiring, frustrating, joyous, saddening, and everything in between. Some of
her fellow classmates had shunned her after learning of her short stint as
a Death Eater, others were forgiving, and still others seemed to be
indifferent of her arrival back. Fortunately her two closest friends,
although hesitant at first, had listened to reasons for joining up with
Voldemort. And though things were still uneasy between the trio they had
assured her they forgave her and told her she had done the right thing by
attempting to protect her family from Voldemort.
Then she had had to catch them up on everything else that had happened recently, including the assumed death of her father in the plane crash and Lily and James taking her in. Retelling the news of her father's death brought back a wave of grief and guilt that she had never even gotten to say her goodbyes. Between all of that, catching up with her teachers about missed bits of work, unpacking her stuff, and answering Lily's first letter (Danny suspected she must have written it the moment she returned from the train station) the day passed in whirlwind of emotions and meetings.
Now she was on her way up to Professor Dumbledore's office. He had requested to talk to her about her new powers, about learning to control them or something.
Rounding the corner, Danny passed two second-year Ravenclaw girls, both of whom immediately scrambled over to the other side of the corridor. She sighed irritably and glared at them. Both froze for a moment then broke into a run down the hallway.
"I wish I had stayed with Lily and James. At least there no one stares at me like I'm some kind of notorious mass murderer of something. Lucius Malfoy's nephew is here, for crying out loud, and they choose to be scared of me," Danny growled.
Reaching the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office she let out one last theatrical sigh before whispering the password ("Ice Mice") and stepping onto the revolving stone staircase. She knocked lightly on the door to the headmaster's office.
"Come in, Danielle!" a cheerful voice responded.
Danny timidly opened the door to find Dumbledore sitting silently at his desk, drinking a cup of tea. In front of him was a book that he closed hastily and put into his desk drawer.
"Please, take a seat," he said, gesturing to the scarlet armchair beside him. "Lemon drop?"
"Thank you," she said, taking one of the offered candies.
"Well, as you know I have called you here to discuss your apparent gift for wandless magic," he said. "This is a very special talent. The act of performing magic without a wand is a very ancient, powerful form of magic that takes much practice and concentration to perfect. It is a talent you have at birth, much like the talent of Seeing the future. While you have shown an extraordinary aptitude for this particular branch of magic, it seems as though as of now you can only do spells without a wand during periods of time when you are very emotional or are experiencing particularly strong feelings, such as anger. Myself, James, and Lily have decided that you should begin training with me immediately to get your powers under control, if that is if that's all right with you."
"That's fine with me," Danny said. "But why is it so important?"
Dumbledore paused for a second, thinking of how to phrase his answer without giving away anything about the prophecy, which they had agreed she be kept secret from Danielle, for now at least.
"As you have probably already figured out, Voldemort recruited you because of your skills in this area of magic. He wants you on his side, and we now have no doubt he will try and bring you back to him by any means possible. All the better if you are able to defend yourself in the event he should attack."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Certainly," he replied.
"How did Voldemort find out about my powers in the first place? Even I didn't realize what was going on until the other day."
"Well, my dear, I think the explanation for that is quite simple. He has several spies in the Ministry that we know of, and undoubtedly there are more. A report was made by the Ministry of the incident on your last birthday, correct?"
She nodded.
"Did you tell them it was an accident and that you were not holding a wand at the time?"
"Yes."
"Undoubtedly one of Voldemort's spies in the Misuse of Magic department heard of the incident somehow, and he may have realized what it meant. Tell me, have there been any other incidents that you can recall? Maybe something you just brushed off, something that didn't seem important at the time?"
"Well, at school a couple of times chairs have overturned around me or I've seen glasses burst, but I always assumed it was Peeves."
"More likely your magic beginning to show itself," Dumbledore mused.
"So you think Voldemort will try and kidnap me or something?" Danny asked worriedly, her mind still on the fact that the darkest wizard in the world wanted to use her as a type of human weapon.
"It is likely, but rest assured no harm can come to you while you are on the grounds of Hogwarts. You are safe here. But I think it is in your best interest to begin training now."
"Like right now?" she asked uncertainly.
"Like I always say, no time like the present," the headmaster smiled. "Now if you would, take a look at this candle."
He pointed at a candle floating near the surface of his desk. It was a plain lit candle, just the same as all the others in the office.
"You know the spell "Nox", correct?"
"You use it to cancel out "Lumos"," Danny replied.
"Yes, you do. You are going to attempt to extinguish this flame without your wand. I want you to close your eyes and visualize this candle. Clear your mind of everything else. Good. Now concentrate and when you are ready say the spell just as you would if you were using a wand."
"Nox!"
The spell had no effect on the flame, which still burned as brightly as ever.
"Well, that was a good first attempt. Practice makes perfect," he said. "Just close your eyes and try again. Remember, think of the candle. Concentrate on it. Visualize it in your mind."
"Nox!"
This time the flame flickered for a moment, but still burned on.
"Alright, it's getting late, but try just one more time. Use your emotions. Will the candle to blow out."
Danny furrowed her brow in concentration, deep in thought.
"Nox!"
This time she opened her eyes to see the flame extinguished and little wisps of smoke in the air.
"Splendid!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Wonderful! Let's say we meet here the same time tomorrow night. Go back to your dorm and get some rest."
So, tired, but happy, Danny made her way slowly back to Gryffindor Tower.
Author's Notes: Sorry if there are any typos. This was proofread, but then the computer did something funky and may have erased a couple of corrections I made to this chapter. My apologies. Please review!!!! Pretty please? You know you want to. . .
Then she had had to catch them up on everything else that had happened recently, including the assumed death of her father in the plane crash and Lily and James taking her in. Retelling the news of her father's death brought back a wave of grief and guilt that she had never even gotten to say her goodbyes. Between all of that, catching up with her teachers about missed bits of work, unpacking her stuff, and answering Lily's first letter (Danny suspected she must have written it the moment she returned from the train station) the day passed in whirlwind of emotions and meetings.
Now she was on her way up to Professor Dumbledore's office. He had requested to talk to her about her new powers, about learning to control them or something.
Rounding the corner, Danny passed two second-year Ravenclaw girls, both of whom immediately scrambled over to the other side of the corridor. She sighed irritably and glared at them. Both froze for a moment then broke into a run down the hallway.
"I wish I had stayed with Lily and James. At least there no one stares at me like I'm some kind of notorious mass murderer of something. Lucius Malfoy's nephew is here, for crying out loud, and they choose to be scared of me," Danny growled.
Reaching the stone gargoyle guarding the entrance to Dumbledore's office she let out one last theatrical sigh before whispering the password ("Ice Mice") and stepping onto the revolving stone staircase. She knocked lightly on the door to the headmaster's office.
"Come in, Danielle!" a cheerful voice responded.
Danny timidly opened the door to find Dumbledore sitting silently at his desk, drinking a cup of tea. In front of him was a book that he closed hastily and put into his desk drawer.
"Please, take a seat," he said, gesturing to the scarlet armchair beside him. "Lemon drop?"
"Thank you," she said, taking one of the offered candies.
"Well, as you know I have called you here to discuss your apparent gift for wandless magic," he said. "This is a very special talent. The act of performing magic without a wand is a very ancient, powerful form of magic that takes much practice and concentration to perfect. It is a talent you have at birth, much like the talent of Seeing the future. While you have shown an extraordinary aptitude for this particular branch of magic, it seems as though as of now you can only do spells without a wand during periods of time when you are very emotional or are experiencing particularly strong feelings, such as anger. Myself, James, and Lily have decided that you should begin training with me immediately to get your powers under control, if that is if that's all right with you."
"That's fine with me," Danny said. "But why is it so important?"
Dumbledore paused for a second, thinking of how to phrase his answer without giving away anything about the prophecy, which they had agreed she be kept secret from Danielle, for now at least.
"As you have probably already figured out, Voldemort recruited you because of your skills in this area of magic. He wants you on his side, and we now have no doubt he will try and bring you back to him by any means possible. All the better if you are able to defend yourself in the event he should attack."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Certainly," he replied.
"How did Voldemort find out about my powers in the first place? Even I didn't realize what was going on until the other day."
"Well, my dear, I think the explanation for that is quite simple. He has several spies in the Ministry that we know of, and undoubtedly there are more. A report was made by the Ministry of the incident on your last birthday, correct?"
She nodded.
"Did you tell them it was an accident and that you were not holding a wand at the time?"
"Yes."
"Undoubtedly one of Voldemort's spies in the Misuse of Magic department heard of the incident somehow, and he may have realized what it meant. Tell me, have there been any other incidents that you can recall? Maybe something you just brushed off, something that didn't seem important at the time?"
"Well, at school a couple of times chairs have overturned around me or I've seen glasses burst, but I always assumed it was Peeves."
"More likely your magic beginning to show itself," Dumbledore mused.
"So you think Voldemort will try and kidnap me or something?" Danny asked worriedly, her mind still on the fact that the darkest wizard in the world wanted to use her as a type of human weapon.
"It is likely, but rest assured no harm can come to you while you are on the grounds of Hogwarts. You are safe here. But I think it is in your best interest to begin training now."
"Like right now?" she asked uncertainly.
"Like I always say, no time like the present," the headmaster smiled. "Now if you would, take a look at this candle."
He pointed at a candle floating near the surface of his desk. It was a plain lit candle, just the same as all the others in the office.
"You know the spell "Nox", correct?"
"You use it to cancel out "Lumos"," Danny replied.
"Yes, you do. You are going to attempt to extinguish this flame without your wand. I want you to close your eyes and visualize this candle. Clear your mind of everything else. Good. Now concentrate and when you are ready say the spell just as you would if you were using a wand."
"Nox!"
The spell had no effect on the flame, which still burned as brightly as ever.
"Well, that was a good first attempt. Practice makes perfect," he said. "Just close your eyes and try again. Remember, think of the candle. Concentrate on it. Visualize it in your mind."
"Nox!"
This time the flame flickered for a moment, but still burned on.
"Alright, it's getting late, but try just one more time. Use your emotions. Will the candle to blow out."
Danny furrowed her brow in concentration, deep in thought.
"Nox!"
This time she opened her eyes to see the flame extinguished and little wisps of smoke in the air.
"Splendid!" Dumbledore exclaimed. "Wonderful! Let's say we meet here the same time tomorrow night. Go back to your dorm and get some rest."
So, tired, but happy, Danny made her way slowly back to Gryffindor Tower.
Author's Notes: Sorry if there are any typos. This was proofread, but then the computer did something funky and may have erased a couple of corrections I made to this chapter. My apologies. Please review!!!! Pretty please? You know you want to. . .