Chapter 6 – Visiting Christopher
Sunday arrived and Harry and Ginny were studying in their common area when Albus Dumbledore entered their rooms.
"Good morning Harry, Ginny." he said smiling and twinkling brightly as if they were all about to set off on some grand adventure.
"Morning Professor." Harry and Ginny greeted their guest.
"Please we're leaving the school behind for the day, call me Albus."
"Umm, okay I'll try Prof… I mean Albus." Harry said shyly.
Albus chuckled at Harry's first attempt. He always found it humorous how his past students had such a hard time using his first name. "If you are both ready I will prepare a portkey to take us to Christopher's home."
Harry gave a quick look to Ginny and receiving her nod of approval picked up a piece of parchment and wrote down the phrase for the Fidilius charm on his ring. Ginny added the phrase for her ring to the paper after Harry handed it to her.
"Read this sir." Ginny said as she gave the professor the piece of parchment.
Albus laughed to himself as she called him sir before reading the paper with a curious expression on his face. When he finished he looked up to find Harry and Ginny holding up their right hands the rings they were wearing now clearly visible.
"Most impressive." he said beaming proudly at his students.
"Christopher said you would be interested in these, its how we've been getting around. He said they were called the Rings of Eris." Ginny said.
The look of shock and awe on the old mans face was something they would not soon forget. They only wished they had thought to have a camera ready when they showed him.
"Most remarkable." Albus said as he examined the rings. "Wherever did you come across these?"
"They were in a case of portkeys in my family vault." Harry said.
Albus frame sagged at the thought of the Potter Family vault which he had kept secret from Harry far longer than he should have. He felt horrible as all the times he failed Harry came rushing back from the depths of his memory.
Harry noticed Albus mood shift abruptly at the mention of his family vault. "Don't worry about it Prof… Albus. I've forgiven you, if it's all the same I'd just a soon leave it in the past." Harry said with a smile.
"Thank you Harry."
"Anyway," Harry said changing the subject, "if you would think of our destination and poke this rune with your wand we can use these instead of a portkey. I think you'll like the ride much better."
Albus grinned with excitement and followed Harry's instructions. When they were all touching the ring Harry tapped it three times and they disappeared.
Christopher was driving his wife nuts. She couldn't believe after all these years that having a few visitors would make him this nervous. It reminded her so much of the way he used to be when they were first married.
"Now, you remember you need to call me Christopher today right dear?" he asked ringing his hands.
"Of course my love." Christopher's wife replied in exasperation though internally she was laughing at his antics.
"And you remember your name for today right?"
"Of course dear I'll be going by the name of Ginny today." she replied smoothly. The response she received was a glare from her nervous husband.
"I'm sorry dear I meant Hermione." She giggled as he huffed and crossed his arms still glaring at her.
"I mean Minerva. No? How about Poppy? Molly?"
"Ha. Ha." Christopher replied slowly, clearly not amused for once.
"I'm sorry 'Christopher'" she said enunciating the name he was using. "I'll be Caitlyn today. I just don't see why you're getting so worked up over this visit. You've known Albus forever and see the children almost every day."
Before Christopher could respond his house elf Teppy appeared. "Master your guests have arrived."
Caitlyn shook her head at the expression of glee on her husbands face. "Thank you Teppy." she said as Christopher seemed incapable of responding. "Honey, would you like to take the stairs down or the floo?"
After receiving another glare for the floo comment Caitlyn accepted her husbands hand and was led downstairs to greet their guests.
Harry and Ginny arrived with Albus to find themselves in a large though not overly so living room. Combinations of bookshelves tables and pictures lined the walls and the room was filled with throw rugs and mismatched furniture, surprisingly all of the items worked well together to create an extremely homey and comfortable area.
They were looking around the room at the many items it contained when Christopher arrived practically dragging an old woman behind him.
"Hello." he greeted his guests. "I'm glad you could make it."
Caitlyn released her husbands hand and stepped forward. "I apologize for my husbands manners he's been driving me crazy since Thursday night when he invited you. I'm Caitlyn by the way, or at least I'm told that's who I am today." she finished with a grin.
Harry and Ginny laughed as Caitlyn received a glare from her husband and responded by sticking her tongue out at him.
Albus excused himself heading to the back porch where they were going to have lunch while Harry and Ginny were given tour of the house by Christopher and Caitlyn.
The house was large but not huge by any standards. On the main floor there was the living room where they arrived, a large library, a private study, dining room, kitchen and a game room. The second floor contained five bedrooms. Though they did not go there Harry and Ginny were also told the basement contained a large potions lab and a warded room for practicing and experimenting with magic.
After the tour the small group met Albus on the back porch where Teppy was setting up a large meal for them. The food was wonderful as was the conversation and all too soon the table was cleared and Caitlyn excused herself.
"Why don't we wander down to the old Quidditch pitch and see if we can't teach you two to use your staffs properly?" Christopher said smiling as always.
The teens nodded excitedly looking forward to finally being able to try out their new staffs.
"You have your own Quidditch pitch?" Harry asked as they walked across the field behind Christopher's home.
Christopher chuckled. "Yes, I was a bit of an enthusiast when I was younger." He gestured around in all directions as he continued. "Our house isn't very large because we simply didn't need or want anything more but we do own all the land you see around you. It gives me lots of space for my toys."
"It's beautiful here." Ginny said as she looked around at the fields of wild grasses and flowers, the woods, lakes and streams.
As the group rounded a hill the Quidditch pitch came into view.
Harry stuttered in surprise. "That's… I mean it's…"
Christopher and Albus chuckled at Harry's response to the pitch. "Yes, I modeled it after the pitch at Hogwarts. It's an exact replica down to the last detail."
Harry and Ginny looked around in awe as they entered the stadium. Christopher was right it was exactly the same right down to the house banners that adorned the towers. When they finally finished taking in the pitch Harry and Ginny returned their attention to Christopher and Albus who were now holding their staffs. Drawing their wands they thought about their staffs and with a quick flick were holding them.
"Albus, if you would." said Christopher.
With a nod Albus raised his staff and two large boulders appeared twenty meters away.
"Now, I would like you each to cast a Reductor curse on your boulder."
Harry and Ginny nodded and holding their staffs with the focus stone leaning forward slightly as they had seen Albus hold his when he conjured the boulders cast their spells. "Reducto!" they yelled.
A massive beam of light left each of their staffs causing an ear splitting explosion as it impacted the rocks. When the dust cleared there was nothing left of the boulders.
Christopher and Albus were laughing heartily at the looks of astonishment on their student's faces.
"Excellent." Christopher said when he finally got his laugher under control. "Don't worry we both did the same thing when we first used ours."
Albus conjured two more boulders while Christopher continued to lecture their students.
"I want you to cast the same spell, this time don't yell the spell and try to keep as much of your emotion as possible in check."
With another nod Harry and Ginny cast the spell again. The beams of light weren't nearly as large this time and while the boulders were reduced to a pile of small rocks there was still something left behind this time. For the next hour they continued to cast various spells with their staffs occasionally using their wands for comparison and to ensure they could cast properly with either focus.
"Absolutely wonderful." Albus said. "You've both managed to pick this up much quicker than I was able too."
Harry and Ginny had looks of astonishment on their faces at his comment.
"Now Albus," Christopher said treating his friend like a small child much to the amusement of Harry and Ginny, "you did just fine when you were learning." Christopher turned to the teens. "Most of Albus problem was in learning to suppress the amount of power he has."
"Ahh my friend power isn't everything as you've proved to me so many times over the years." Albus said.
Christopher grinned and winked to Harry and Ginny. "Are you up for a friendly duel Albus?"
Albus grinned widely his eyes in full twinkle. "I would love too, our usual rules and bet?"
"Agreed." Christopher replied shaking Albus hand.
"What rules and bet?" Harry asked.
"Wands only, anything goes except for the unforgivables, first to disarm and stun their opponent wins. As for the bet, well you'll just have to wait and see."
Harry and Ginny nodded and went to sit on a bench by the stands where they found Caitlyn sitting.
"Hello Harry. Hello Ginny. I thought you two might be thirsty after your workout and brought you both butter beers." she said handing them each an ice cold bottle. She then stood and changed her wand to a staff casting a shimmering blue shield in front of them before sitting back down.
"Just in case." she said. "Those two have to be the oldest children I have ever met."
Harry and Ginny laughed at the delightful old woman as they turned their attention to the duel that was about to start.
Christopher and Albus stood facing each other ten meters apart. Both men wore huge smiles on their faces as they bowed to each other never breaking eye contact. As soon as they straightened up from their bows the duel began.
Amazing was the only word Harry could come up with to describe what he was seeing. He had witnessed Dumbledore duel Voldemort in the Ministry of Magic but it had been nothing compared to this.
Albus opened with a blasting hex which was deflected into the stands blowing a large hole through the wooden structure. Before Christopher could send a spell back a wall of water hit him head on.
With a wave of his wand Christopher apperated behind Albus and threw a large ball of blue flame at him just as the water froze solid.
Albus shot into the air before the flame hit landing on an invisible perch five meters up. The ball of fire continued on slamming into the wall of ice.
Stunners rained down on Christopher from Albus only to be deflected by a purple shield. Christopher retaliated by summoning a small tornado which forced Albus from his perch before he could dispel it.
Pressing his advantage Christopher conjured a dozen stone animals and animated them all with instructions to subdue his opponent. As he finished animating the last one the ground erupted around him sending him flying.
Albus blasted several of the stone creatures attacking him before apperating away and conjuring a small army of his own to defend him from Christopher's creations. As he scanned the area looking for his foe large vines erupted from the ground binding him in place. With a flick of his wand his entire figure erupted in flame eliminating the threat.
Christopher landed hard but recovered quickly to see Albus countering his creatures and quickly sent a vine charm to bind him in place. He knew it wouldn't hold him but all he wanted was a distraction. While Albus was occupied he applied several charms to various places around the stadium.
As the flames around Albus disappeared he found a dozen Christopher's situated around the pitch. Apperating away he reappeared in the visitors stands, realizing this had been a mistake when the entire stadium turned upside down and began spinning.
As soon as Albus appeared in the stands Christopher apperated behind him and sent several strong stunning spells at him to break down his shields before he could recover from the disorientation he knew Albus was experiencing. Just as his shields failed Albus disappeared having worked through Christopher's charm.
Albus appeared back on the Quidditch pitch by the goal posts on one end. Christopher appeared mid field a second later and began walking toward him with a grin on his face.
Harry and Ginny were in awe of what they were witnessing. The duel went on and on with neither appearing to have much of an advantage over the other. Incredibly advanced magic's were being cast with careless ease and countered just as easily. The fight ranged all over the pitch and into the stands large sections of the ground and structures being left in ruins as the pair battled on. As they continued to watch Dumbledore appear at the end of the pitch with Christopher appearing in the middle. Christopher began walking towards Dumbledore and Harry and Ginny witnessed something they never thought they would see, Albus Dumbledore loosing a duel.
As Albus appeared at the end of the pitch he felt a tingle of magic in the area around him. Casting a quick series of spells he knew he was in trouble. He was attached to the ground by a permanent sticking charm. Looking up he saw Christopher half way across the pitch walking leisurely towards him and knew there was more to his predicament than just the sticking charm. He quickly cast a shield charm but it was too late the goal posts had come alive the hoops changing into large hands which snared him quickly.
Albus smiled at his opponent as Christopher dispelled his shield and stunned him. After removing his wand he released the pass worded sticking charm and enervated Albus.
Harry and Ginny were in shock as the pair approached grinning and laughing as they relived various parts of their duel.
"Boys." Caitlyn muttered causing Harry and Ginny to snicker. "Here," she then said passing Ginny a camera, "your going to want this in a minute."
Ginny looked at the mischief in Caitlyn's eyes curiously looking forward to what ever was about to happen.
Albus stopped laughing as he noticed Ginny holding the camera. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't take any more pictures of the payment fifty two years ago after the newspaper got hold of one."
"Ahh yes, we did. However our agreement was limited to you, me and Caitlyn. It said nothing about other parties." Christopher said grinning wickedly.
"I suppose you have me there." Albus grunted as he thought back to their agreement. Turning to Ginny he added, "I'll give you a hundred galleons to not take a picture of me."
Ginny giggled. "Sorry, I have a feeling I'd rather have the picture."
Sighing in resignation Albus sent one last glare at Christopher before stepping back to fulfill the requirements of the bet.
Harry, Ginny, Christopher and Caitlyn were laughing hysterically with tears rolling down their cheeks and their sides aching from laughing so hard as Ginny took pictures of the most powerful wizard of the age paying his debt.
"I'm a little teapot, short and stout." sang Albus, "Here is my handle, here is my spout. When I get all steamed up then I shout. Tip me over and pour me out."
As he sang the children's song he danced along making a handle with his left arm and a spout with his right which was holding his wand. As he tipped over to pour on queue with the song his wand let out a spray of tea causing the four witnesses to fall on the ground in laughter.
As the group regained control of themselves they found Albus standing in front of them smiling happily. "I do hope you will have the decency to keep those pictures between us." he said.
Ginny smiled back at him. "I was thinking the twins could make a fortune with these." she said generating another round of laughter and a groan from the Headmaster.
"Just kidding, of course I'll keep these between us." she added when she stopped laughing much to Albus relief.
Caitlyn smiled at Ginny and held out her hand. "If you would like I can develop those for you. I can even get the sound to work."
Giggling at the thought Ginny handed her the camera.
"Well as much fun as that was we actually showed you that to teach you both a bit about magic." Christopher said.
"If you'll excuse me I'll leave you all to it." Caitlyn said as she left the group.
After kissing his wife on the cheek Christopher turned back to Harry and Ginny. "How powerful do the two of you think you are?" he asked.
"About average I guess." Ginny answered.
"Just above average I think." Harry said remembering learning the Patronus charm in his third year.
"Now, don't be modest. Is that really what you believe?"
Christopher received nods in answer from both Harry and Ginny. "I would guess you're both wrong. In fact I would say you both rate well above average. What say we find out who's right?"
Leading the pair onto the pitch they found Albus setting up a large target with a box next to it that looked very similar to the scoring box at a quidditch match.
"We'll be using our wands for this. Ginny I would like you to cast a stunning spell at the target. Put as much power into the spell as you can."
"Stupefy!" she yelled pushing everything she had into the spell. As the light impacted the target a bell rang out and a number appeared on the scoring box.
"168, excellent Ginny. Now Harry your turn." Christopher said.
Harry cast the spell and the number 254 appeared on the box.
"Very good Harry now you would probably like to know what the numbers mean." Christopher said receiving nods from Harry and Ginny. "These numbers are the standard used for rating a wizard or witches power. To give you an idea of where you rank the average fully grown wizard or witch rates 100."
Harry and Ginny's eyes went wide at the statement.
Christopher and Albus smiled at the looks on their faces. "Yes, as I've long suspected," said Albus, "you are both quite powerful."
"Albus, why don't you go next?"
Dumbledore stepped forward and cast his stunner. Harry and Ginny were only moderately surprised when the number read 704.
"Wow." Harry said.
Christopher smiled at Harry's exclamation. "Given what you now know of each of your power levels and the duel you just witnessed, what would you expect my level to be?" Christopher asked.
"Well, I guess somewhere around 700." Harry said with Ginny nodding in agreement.
Christopher smiled mischievously as he stepped forward. "Let's find out shall we?"
"Stupefy!" he yelled. His spell shot forward impacting the target and the counter changed shocking Harry and Ginny once again as it ranked his power at 332.
"That can't be right." Ginny said.
"I assure you it is." Christopher replied. "You see these numbers are made up from two different aspects of your magic. One is the amount of raw power you hold, the second is your ability to recharge that power as you use it. The most important thing to remember when using magic in a duel is to not use it faster than you can replenish it. There's much more to dueling than throwing your power around. Albus does have an advantage magically but as long as you don't exhaust your magic supply that advantage is kept to a minimum."
Albus jumped into the conversation. "I have more raw magic available than Christopher has and standing side by side I can cast more powerful spells. However our magic recharges at about the same rate therefore in a situation such as the duel you just witnessed we become more or less equals. I have an advantage if the duel is kept short, but over time that advantage goes away."
"I guess that makes sense." Harry said. He shook his head as he though of his own numbers. "I still can't believe I have that much power. I don't feel like I do."
Christopher chuckled. "You don't feel it because it's grown slowly as you've been learning and exercising your magic. In fact, it will continue to grow for quite awhile as you continue to mature. There's no way to really guess how powerful you'll be when you're magic is fully matured, there's no set age or anything it's different for everyone."
Harry and Ginny nodded slowly taking in everything they had heard.
"How do staffs figure in to all of this?" Ginny finally asked.
"Staff's are sort of an exception as they draw ambient power in from the surrounding area to magnify your spells. Since the power isn't all coming from you, you can cast more spells longer without tiring assuming you don't over power everything. To show you what I mean, why don't you cast your stunner at the target again using your staff and be sure to put all your magic into it rather than controlling it like we taught you earlier."
Christopher and Albus shared a knowing smirk as Christopher asked Ginny to cast at the target with her staff.
Stepping forward Ginny thought of her staff and flicked her wand. Now holding her staff she took a deep breath and pushed everything she had into her spell. "Stupefy!" she yelled.
The spell left a large burn mark in the center of the target and the scoring box stayed at zero.
"What happened?" Ginny asked.
"Well, you broke it. The scoring only goes up to one thousand." Christopher said with a proud look on his face.
Ginny looked appalled at what she'd done. "I'm so sorry." she said worriedly.
Christopher just laughed. "Don't worry about it. I knew what was going to happen when I told you to cast with your staff."
Deciding that was enough learning for the day Christopher and Albus used their staffs to repair and clean up the stadium. They were just finishing up when a beautiful blue and white phoenix landed on Christopher's shoulder.
"Hello Icess, How are you girl?" Christopher said stroking the large bird's plumage. "Harry, Ginny I'd like you to meet my familiar, Icess."
The phoenix flew to Harry's shoulder and sang softly as he petted her before moving on to Ginny.
"Icess would like to know if you two would like to go flying." Christopher relayed.
"Yes!" Harry and Ginny immediately replied. Flying was one of the things they both loved most in the world and it seemed like forever since they had been able to go.
Holding up his hand Christopher summoned two brooms from a broom shed that sat behind the stadium. As he handed them to Harry and Ginny they gasped at the sight of the model names, FireBolt II.
"I have a FireBolt but I've never heard of a FireBolt II." Harry said in awe of the broom.
Harry's reaction made the ever present smile on Christopher's face even larger than normal. "Well that's because they haven't been released yet. I mentioned I was a bit of an enthusiast. One of the things I own is the company that produces those so I'm able to get hold of prerelease equipment. That model will be released on a limited basis in another six months or so."
"Amazing." said Harry as he gazed at the broom.
"It's beautiful." Ginny added in awe.
"Enjoy them. Icess loves to play follow the leader and seeker."
"She plays seeker?" Harry asked a little shocked.
"Yes, but don't worry she won't cheat. Just tell her if you want to play and she'll go get a snitch. She also won't fly faster than the brooms will go and check both your ability's restricting her own to somewhere in between to keep it fair."
"Cool!" Ginny said as she continued to stroke the birds beautiful feathers.
"Have fun. Just fly the brooms up to the house when you're done." Christopher said and with a wave he and Albus left the teens to play with Icess.
As they lifted off Harry and Ginny felt the excitement of flying again flow through them. Harry noticed the FireBolt II handled very similarly to his FireBolt though he could feel the extra acceleration and speed. It was amazing.
They flew around the pitch at break neck speeds chasing each other around the towers and hoops with Icess flying with them the whole time her song filled with joy and excitement at the game.
After awhile Harry called the phoenix to him. Icess joined him as he continued to fly around the pitch riding along side effortlessly.
"Hey girl, do you want to play seeker?" he asked.
Icess seemed to get very excited as she put on a burst of speed and flew off to the shed returning seconds later with a snitch held in her talons. She stopped and hovered in the air above the center of the pitch and called Harry and Ginny over with a burst of song.
As Harry and Ginny hovered in front of the large bird they felt themselves being examined by her powerful gaze. She stared at each of them in turn analyzing and examining and they knew she was determining their abilities as Christopher had said she would. After a minute she let out a long trill and released the snitch she was holding which promptly disappeared. The three continued to hover for a minute longer before Icess let out another trill and the three sped of in search of the small gold ball.
They all began flying patterns above the stadium keeping an eye out for the elusive ball as well as the other two seekers. Harry flew around the towers between the goal posts and across the field loving the feeling of the hunt he had missed so much. He was crossing the pitch a second time when he saw Icess suddenly swerve and dive in front of him.
He immediately dove in the direction she had taken leaning forward on his broom. He slowly caught up with her only to have her dart back up into the sky. Pulling back hard his toes scraped the ground as he barely avoided crashing.
Returning to his previous height he was miffed to find Icess laughing at him along with Ginny.
"Damn pigeon." Harry muttered thought it only made the pair laugh harder. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for the Wronski feint let alone from a bird.
Acting distracted Harry shot off leaning forward hard on his broom pushing it's acceleration to its limits but stopping a little below its top speed. He began to weave slightly as if chasing the snitch when he felt Icess and Ginny behind him. Swerving hard to the left and pulling up he just missed one of the observation towers. Ginny was far enough behind that she didn't have any trouble avoiding the collision but Icess wasn't quite as lucky. Though she didn't hit the wooden side of the stands she did get caught up in the Slytherin house banner as she tried to swerve off at the last minute.
Now it was Harry's turn to laugh at the indignant screeches of the now slightly ruffled Icess.
Harry, Ginny and Icess played for over an hour before finally returning to their host who they found on the back porch of his home with his wife and Albus.
"Have fun?" Christopher asked the windswept pair as they landed on the patio with Icess close behind.
"That was brilliant!" Harry exclaimed with a large grin fixed firmly in place.
"Icess, you're looking a bit ruffled." Christopher teased. He stared at the bird for several seconds before bursting into laughter much to the dismay of Icess who let out a trill and flew to Caitlyn's shoulder.
"That's incredible Harry. In all the years I've played seeker with her I've never been able to get her to fall for a feint." he said as he continued to chuckle. "I think you might have bruised her ego."
More squawking was heard from the phoenix at his comment.
"I'm sorry girl." Harry said. "But you started it."
Icess let out a trill that sounded almost like a sigh before flying over to Harry's shoulder and nuzzling up to his head.
They all ate dinner on the patio sharing light conversation and tales of Harry and Ginny's games with Icess. All too soon it was time to return to the school.
"Thank you for coming today it was wonderful having you here." Caitlyn said giving each of her guests a hug.
"Thanks for having us. I had a great time." Harry replied with a grin.
"Yes, you have a lovely home, it's very beautiful here." Ginny added.
"Thank you, your welcome here any time." the old lady said stepping back to Christopher's side.
"Don't forget your brooms." Christopher said.
"What?" Harry said his eyes filled with wonder.
"Your brooms, those are for you to keep. As my wife so eloquently pointed out the other day I'm getting a bit old for Quidditch. I believe her exact words were 'Your old bones will turn to dust if you try to fly one of those you old fart.'."
The group shared a laugh at Christopher's imitation of his wife's voice which had earned him a smack on the shoulder.
"Besides," Christopher added, "I think Icess is happy to have a worthy opponent to play against. I don't think I ever really gave her much of a challenge even if she did dumb herself down a bit to play with me."
After thanking the old couple for the brooms and sharing another round of good byes Harry and Ginny used their rings to return to Hogwarts taking the Headmaster with them.
Christopher wrapped his arm around his wife as they walked out into the garden. Taking a seat on a small bench they sat quietly watching the sun set.
"What do you think honey?" Christopher finally asked.
"I think their exactly what we've been looking for." she replied with a small smile playing on her lips.
"I think so to. Shall I start the preparations?"
"Yes." she said smiling up at her husband. "I think it's time."
Holding each other tightly they returned their gaze to the horizon to finish watching the beautiful sunset.
