A/N: I reuploaded chapter 3 to fix the OWL scores, cause the first time it was messed up.

Chapter 3

" . . . still don't know how he did it, Albus. Two men with guns, no wand, and he still managed to save her."

"It would appear that the powers of the prophecy are finally starting appear."

"But we don't even know what those powers are. Nothing quite like this has ever happened before, has it?"

"To my knowledge, this would be the first recorded occurrence of wandless magic on this grand a scale."

"Hang on, I think he's coming around."

Harry's vision was slowly coming into focus as he opened his eyes. As the swirl of color turned itself into an image that began to make sense two familiar faces looked down on him.

Harry allowed himself a moment to be slightly surprised as Albus Dumbledore and Remus Lupin stood above him surveying him with worry clear in their expressions. Harry noticed that he was on a bed in a rather familiar looking room, before realizing that he was at 12 Grimmauld Place once again. Immediately a fresh wave of sorrow and guilt washed over him as he remembered why the owner of the house did not also look down on him now.

"How are you feeling, Harry?" Remus asked.

Harry began to speak but found his throat to be completely parched. Dumbledore handed him a glass of water, which he sat up and sipped on before speaking again. "Well I've certainly felt better."

Dumbledore now gazed on him with his piercing blue eyes and asked, "What do you remember Harry?"

Harry met his gaze and replied, "Everything."

"Do you know how it is then that you managed to take on two men armed with muggle firearms?"

Harry paused for a moment before replying, "They made me angry, sir."

Lupin and Dumbledore exchanged looks before Lupin asked, "How did you perform all that magic without your wand?"

Again Harry paused and thought about what had really happened. He didn't know what he was doing at the time, it was just like instinct. "I really don't know, but when they moved to attack me, I just knew what I had to do. I can't describe it, except that it was like instinct."

Remus didn't know what to say but Dumbledore looked away in thought. "Interesting," he muttered to himself, "most peculiar".

Harry now tried to sit up further because he really hated being in bed like this but almost as soon as he moved pain exploded from his left chest causing Harry to gasp.

Dumbledore was snapped out of his reverie by Harry's gasp of pain and now looked every bit as old as he truly was. "It is such a pity that we wizards do not give muggles the credit they deserve. Most wizards have no idea the true violence behind a gun, they just see it as the muggle killing curse. The injury you sustained was quite significant. The bullet, I believe it's called, passed straight through your chest, puncturing your left lung and shattering a rib. The good news is that Madam Pomfrey was able to treat you not long after you had been shot, the bad news is that you still had lost quite a bit of blood, and even medi-witches as accomplished as Poppy are unable to completely heal a wound of that magnitude."

Harry's thoughts drifted back to that morning. The rage he had felt, making those petty thugs pay for what they were about to do to . . . "Cho!" Harry rasped, "What happened to Cho? Where is she? Why was she there? Is she alright?"

"Calm yourself Harry. Miss Chang is quite well, and thanks to you, I might add. She was the one who contacted us after you had saved her. She seemed most upset at your condition and so to calm her down I have decided to let her stay here for as long as she desires."

"She's here? Cho is here?" Harry felt his pulse quicken at the thought of the beautiful Ravenclaw no more than a few steps away.

"Yes, Harry, Miss Chang is here and has been in a right state worrying about you. I'm sure she will be most pleased to know that you have finally awoken."

"Finally? Professor, how long was I out?" Harry asked a feeling of anxiety building inside of him. The two men looking down on him exchanged glances and neither said a word. "How long?" Harry repeated.

"Harry," Remus began, "you have to understand that when you were brought here you were really messed up. Aside from the obvious injuries Madam Pomfrey informed us that you were physically and magically exhausted. The magic exhaustion we can understand from what you did. But the physical exhaustion confused us. She told us that you were malnourished and extremely sleep deprived. The bags under your eyes were terrible, Harry." Here Remus paused as though unsure how to proceed, "I was hoping you might be able to tell us why you haven't moved in four days."

Harry's mind went completely blank at that last statement, "Four days?"

"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore said, "and for a while there in the beginning we were not sure if you were going to make it. I daresay that almost anyone else in that situation would have died."

Harry's throat became completely dry again and he tried to ask for a glass of water but nothing came out. "Pardon?" Remus said. Harry tried to speak again but still nothing would come out. Harry actually frustrated and looked at the glass of water sitting on the table just out of his reach. Extending his arm toward the water he just willed the water to come to his hand. He didn't really know why he did that something inside him just said to that if he wanted the water. And to everyone's amazement in that room, the water flew from it's resting spot right into Harry's outstretched hand.

Ignoring the looks on his Professors' faces he drank all the water in the cup savoring the cool water on his parched throat. "Harry," Dumbledore said, "how exactly did you just do that?"

Taking a breath before talking Harry said, "I really don't know. I just wanted the water, and then I just willed it to be in my hand. I didn't know why, but I just knew that it would work. Like instinct."

"Like when the muggles attacked you?" Dumbledore prompted.

"Yeah," Harry replied. "It's weird, I mean I can almost feel the magic, the power just . . ." Harry paused here searching for the right words. "It felt like it just surged right through my arms and out of my hands. But it doesn't feel wrong. It just feels so natural. I can't explain it."

"This is most interesting," Dumbledore mused.

"Do you know what this is, Albus?" Remus asked the aged Headmaster.

"I believe this is the beginning of the manifestation of Harry's powers as prophesized. It would seem to me that Harry is taking magic usage to the next level." At the completely blank looks on both their faces, Albus continued, "What I mean by that is a wizard like you and I, Remus, wield magic through a wand to do what we desire. Magic is channeled through the wand and controlled by the incantations. On some occasions we use magic without wands and incantations because of a strong emotional stimulus."

"Accidental magic," Remus supplied.

"Exactly. It would appear that Harry here has somehow gained the ability to consciously use magic without a wand or incantation. He uses the magic as you would use a hand or a leg. That is why he was able to fling the muggles about as he did, because there exists no spell to accomplish that, it was merely Harry wielding magic like you would a quill."

Harry and Remus were speechless. Harry could tell that Remus did not doubt the words of the Headmaster, but was merely having trouble comprehending the true meaning behind them. Harry was speechless because he did doubt Dumbledore. How could Harry, someone who constantly had trouble with his charms and transfiguration, be able to use magic with such control.

Before Harry could even begin to protest with the Headmaster, Harry found himself wondering if Dumbledore could read minds as he pulled a letter from his robes and handed is it to Harry. "Your O.W.L. results, Mr. Potter. You would have received them last week but you were indisposed."

Harry took his letter and opened the envelope. Pulling out a piece of parchment bearing the official seal of the Ministry of Magic, Harry read his results,

Dear Mr. Harry Potter,

Below are the Results of the Ordinary Wizarding Level Examinations you took at the end of last year. The scoring is as follows: 'O' for Outstanding, 'E' for Exceeds Expectations, 'A' for Acceptable, 'P' for Poor, and 'T' for Terrible. Only scores of 'A' and above are considered passing. Based on these scores and the career path you desired at the end of last year, classes and booklists will be mailed out to you at a later date.

Transfigutation
Theory: E
Practical: E

Charms
Theory: E
Practical: E

Defense Against The Dark Arts
Theory: O
Practical: O

Potions
Theory: A
Practical: P

Herbology
Theory: E
Practical: A

Divination
Theory: P
Practical: P

History of Magic
Theory: P
Practical: -

Astronomy
Theory: -
Practical: P

Care of Magical Creatures
Theory: E
Practical: E

If you desire to contest your grades or alter you career decision, please send an owl to Hogwarts School of Withcraft and Wizardry.

Sincerely,

Madam Marchbanks,

Department of Magical Education

Harry could scarcely believe his eyes. Unless there was a mistake somewhere he had just earned eleven O.W.L.'s ELEVEN! The only thing was that Harry had not received the required outstanding for Potions. Well there goes being an auror, thought Harry. But for some reason it didn't bug him too much. The way Shacklebolt and Tonks acted made it seem less like the cool job that Harry thought it would be. Not to mention that Harry wanted as little to do with the ministry as possible these days. But Harry decided not to dwell on future occupations for too long.

I have other things to do first. Who knows if I'll even be alive for any of this to matter? This stray thought hit Harry very hard and soon he was feeling the depression from the loss of Sirius return in full force.

Seeing Harry's rapid change in mood Dumbledore spoke up, "Harry, I know that Sirius would have been proud of you. So would your parents. These grades along with everything else you did last year, especially your little . . . erm, army. I have decided to give you something that you proved last year I should have given you."

And to Harry's amazement, the headmaster pulled out a shiny badge emblazoned with a 'P' in it's center. "If an student has ever demonstrated the leadership a prefect must have, it is certainly you, Mr. Potter. And before you even start worrying, both Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger will be resuming their prefect duties this year as well."

Harry was rendered almost completely speechless not only because he was so shocked that he actually had been chosen to be a prefect, but because he was also worried that Ron would have to give up his position as Prefect.

"Well, Harry I think you're quite exhausted so I'll let you get some rest," and with that Dumbledore and Remus made to leave, but Harry piped up for one last question.

"Professor, there's one more thing, I don't understand."

"What is that, Harry?"

"You said I was magically exhausted, how then was I able to just do magic."

"Well, Harry, it's a bit difficult to explain, but quite simply, there are two forms of magic. The first form is the internal magic that every wizard has within himself. It is this magic that we channel through a wand, focus with incantations, and use to cast spells. The spells casted then affect the natural magic of the world around us. An example would be a wizard casting a levitation charm, the cause of the spell is the wizard's internal magic, but the magic we see, the levitation, is natural magic.

"When a wizard attempts to control more natural magic with more powerful spells it takes a greater toll on the wizards internal magic. If one persists in too much spell casting he will find himself exhausted of internal magic. That is how we found you.

"Internal magic replenishes itself in two ways, the first is that natural magic is slowly absorbed into the body and converted to internal magic by the pre-existing internal magic. The second way is when magic is produced by the body itself as a result of digesting food and bodily processes and so on. The thing is, is that when a wizard completely drains himself as you did there is no way for him to recharge himself without aid. A small bit of natural magic must be introduced to the body, usually by way of a simple energy potion to start the process. Otherwise it could take months for a wizard to regain their powers."

"Wow, so if someone had enough control over natural magic, they could do absolutely anything," Harry said understanding.

"Yes but all wizards have their limits, the best simply use their internal magic with finesse and precision to maximize their control over natural magic. Alas, such discipline is rare to find these days, however. Too many simple spells for mundane tasks. Ah well, is that all Harry?"

"Yes, but I just want you to know something as well," Harry said.

"What's that?"

"I'm still upset with you for not telling me about the prophecy, and I'm not one bit sorry about your office. But I think, if we can continue to be honest and open to each other as we were just now, I might actually be able to trust you again."

Dumbledore paused for a moment before saying, "I would like that very much, Harry."

And with that Remus and Dumbledore left Harry in his room. Harry had not been feeling all that tired but almost as soon as they left he felt his eyelids droop and was asleep in five minutes.