Harry Potter and the Last Stand
A fic by Fawkes the Scarlet Phoenix
Chapter 3: A new kind of Magic, Wedding Bells, Ginny's Birthday, and Farewells
"Durmstrang? Why on earth would Voldemort want to attack a school?" Harry asked.
"Partly because Kakaroff betrayed him, I'm sure. It also serves its purpose as another terror attack. To let people know he is coming, and they would be unwise to stand in his way," Mrs. Weasley explained.
"Molly, you and I need to go to Headquarters. We need to figure out a plan," Mr. Weasley said tiredly.
"You kids behave; we will be back shortly. Bill and Charlie are still here; they will watch you," Mrs. Weasley said.
"Mum, if Bill and Charlie are here, can we go to Diagon Alley? Bill can stay here to watch the house while Charlie takes us to get wedding presents," Ginny said.
Mrs. Weasley hesitated, "Only if Charlie goes with you."
"Okay, thanks, Mum!"
With a pop, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley disapparated to Headquarters, the four companions traipsed up the stairs looking for Charlie.
"Charlie!" Ginny called.
"Yes? What do you want?" he asked, poking his head out of the doorway.
"Can you take us to Diagon Alley? We need to buy wedding presents for Bill and Fleur," Ginny explained in a low voice.
"Alright, but we aren't going to floo. I hate that stuff; everyone can apparate now, right?"
"Yes," they chimed in unison.
They left the Burrow and began walking towards the village. When they were a good half mile away, they stopped.
"Ready?" Charlie asked. He turned on the spot and vanished.
Harry pictured The Leaky Cauldron very clearly in his mind. He spun, got the breath squeezed out of him, and appeared in The Leaky Cauldron.
They headed out into the courtyard and Hermione tapped the corresponding bricks to get them into Diagon Alley.
First they headed to Gringott's. As they arrived at Harry's vault, he quickly stuffed handfuls of Galleons in. He inherited quite a bit from Sirius. He then walked back to stuff in more Galleons when Ron whispered in his ear, "I forgot! Ginny's birthday is in a week! We need to get her presents."
As they walked down the cobbled street, they passed Quality Quidditch Supplies. Harry immediately saw the perfect gift.
The Accelerator
From the makers of The Firebolt
Especially designed for Chasers
Price: 482 Galleons
Harry walked up to Hermione, "Do you think you can distract Ginny while I go get her birthday present?" Hermione nodded silently.
"Hey, Ginny, do you want to go to the twin's shop? They probably have something useful for our adventure."
"Sure, why not."
Charlie, Ron, and Harry walked into the shop. Harry immediately walked up to the cashier. "Hi, I would like to get The Accelerator," he said.
Charlie and Ron looked at him like he was crazy. "Harry! You can't buy a 482 Galleon broom for my sister!" Ron exclaimed. Charlie agreed with him.
"Maybe not, but I can get a 482 Galleon broom for my girlfriend!" Harry retorted.
The shopkeeper handed the broom to Harry. "Er…Is there anyway I can get this broom custom engraved?" Harry asked.
"Certainly, good sir! It will cost an extra18 Galleons."
"That's quite alright, just charge it on the Potter account."
"Now what would you like it to say?" the shopkeeper asked.
"A simple 'Ginny Weasley' will do fine." Harry said.
"Would you like it wrapped and shrunk?"
"Yes, please!"
Two minutes later, Harry walked out of Quality Quidditch Supplies, with a minute broom shaped package, wrapped in snitch wrapping paper. Harry carefully tucked it in his pocket as the girls approached.
They bought some Ice Cream from Sherbert's, as Florean Fortescue was no longer around. It was confirmed that both Olivander and Florean were dead; they died refusing to serve Voldemort.
As they looked around for Bill and Fleur's wedding present, Hermione asked, "So, what did you get for Ginny?"
"A new broom, The Accelerator," Harry said.
"Wow, you like her a lot, don't you?" she asked.
"Buying her expensive things and spending loads of money on her shouldn't show someone that you like them. It's the thought and the fact that they will use it a lot that counts. And, yes, I love her very much.
"So, did you find anything useful for our journey at Fred and George's place?" Ron asked, walking up.
"Yes! They know where we are going and all that, so they gave us a huge discount on an industrial size box of Peruvian Darkness Powder!" Ginny explained, joining them. She pulled a small box out of her pocket, set it on the table, pointed her wand at it, and said, "Finite Incantatem!"
The package grew to the size of Ginny's head as she reached down and opened it. Inside, there were twenty small bags of black powder.
"They figured it would be useful if we ever had to escape from Death Eaters or trolls," Hermione explained.
"Did you find a good wedding gift for Bill and Fleur?" Harry asked.
"Yes! We found the perfect gifts!" Charlie said, coming to join them.
He held out a large ornate picture frame and a big clock, the same kind of clock that Mrs. Weasley had.
"It even comes with extra hands, for when they have kids!" Hermione explained.
"Alright you lot, let's go," Charlie said.
Up in Ron's room, Ron was reading the latest edition of 'Marvin the Mad Muggle,' Harry and Ginny were talking in low voices with their heads together, and Hermione was reading a book.
Hermione closed the book roughly, causing it to make a loud thump. Everybody looked up, and satisfied that she had everybody's attention, she stood up.
"I've been thinking," she started, "That we should learn how to do wandless magic."
"What?" Ron asked, blankly.
"Magic without a wand, it will be harder but really useful in duels. You see, wizards don't need wands to do magic. They were designed as focal points, they amplified and made it easier to do magic. You can do it without wands, but it will be much harder. Every wizard has a limited amount of magical energy, it will grow as the wizard grows and becomes more powerful. When you do a spell, it uses a certain amount that automatically replenishes over a short time. Doing wandless magic will tax more of that strength until we have mastered it," Hermione explained.
"You want to practice this?" Ginny asked, "I don't know even know how to do nonverbal magic yet."
"Harry can help you with that, and I'll help Ron, as he has yet to master it too," she said, smirking.
"Right, when you do nonverbal magic, you have to concentrate really, really hard. You still have to do the correct wand movement. For example, if you did 'wingardium leviosa,' you would still have to swish and flick." Harry explained, making the pillow they were practicing on float, without saying a word. "You try."
"Okay," Ginny said, looking determined. She swished and flicked at the pillow. It twitched, but nothing happened. Ginny looked crestfallen.
"It's okay, I am sure Professor Flitwick would be a much better teacher than me," Harry said.
"No, Harry, you are the best teacher ever," Ginny said, leaning up to kiss him.
Hermione cleared her throat, "We are supposed to be practicing magic, not snogging."
"Right," Harry said, blushing.
After a couple hours, both Ron and Ginny were able to do nonverbal magic easily.
"Right," said Hermione, "Now let's try wandless magic. The principle is the same, except you don't have to move your hand. Let's try it verbally first."
They all stood in front of a pillow. Harry raised his hand feeling slightly foolish. "Wingardium Leviosa!" he said. To his very great surprise, both he and Ginny were able to make the pillow levitate off the ground for a few seconds. It didn't last long, though. They almost immediately became tired.
"Wow," Hermione exclaimed, "That was really good! Wait a few seconds and try again, you need to build up some more stamina so you can do it longer."
Once again, it only took a couple of hours for the foursome to do something with effect. Harry and Ginny were able to hold their pillow up for thirty seconds now, while Ron and Hermione were not far behind.
"Wow, that was a great start!" Hermione exclaimed.
"How come Harry and Ginny are so good at it, though?" Ron asked.
"I suspect it has something to do with your link," Hermione explained.
"DINNER!" Mrs. Weasley called up the stairs.
The remaining days until Bill and Fleur's wedding passed quickly. The foursome continued to practice wandless magic and was now quite good at it.
Too quickly, it seemed, they were sitting in a stuffy church listening to a man drone on about the couple. Harry sat and looked at the altar, picturing he and Ginny up there some day. Ginny nudged him, I know what you are thinking, I see it too.
After the wedding, they gave Bill and Fleur the gifts.
"This thing has extra hands, huh? This isn't like a subtle hint to get busy now, is it?" Bill asked, looking at the clock.
Both Fleur and Mrs. Weasley slapped him upside his head.
About a week before Ginny's birthday, she began trying to pry out what Harry got her. He was forced to employ Occlumency on her. Eventually she gave up.
The night before the party, Harry, Ron, and Hermione compared gifts. Ron had gotten her a pair of Quidditch gloves as her old ones were wearing out. Hermione bought her a book on Quidditch Maneuvers and Fouls.
An hour later, or what it seemed like to Harry, he was sitting across from Ginny with everybody else, watching her open presents.
As she got to Harry's, she looked up and smiled at him. She unwrapped a very new and very expensive broom.
"Oh, Harry! I love it, thank you so much," she said, getting up to hug him.
Part one of a two-part present, he said.
She arched an eyebrow, but said nothing more. After the rest of the presents, Mr. and Mrs. Weasley handed the four of them wristwatches. Harry looked down at them and noticed that it was exactly like the one in the kitchen, except that it only had the pictures of Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny.
"For your journey," Mrs. Weasley said, eyes brimming with tears.
"Thank you, Mrs. Weasley," Harry said.
"When do you lot plan on leaving?" Fred asked.
"Next week, I think," Harry said.
Later that night, Harry and Ginny sat by the lake enjoying a quiet moment.
You said there was a second part to my gift? Ginny asked.
Oh yeah, here you go, Harry said, leaning in to kiss her.
She embraced him and they kissed for a long time.
Indeed, next week seemed to come way to soon for Harry. The night before their departure, he was looking at a full color photograph of Godric's Hollow, so he could visualize where he needed to be when he apparated. He passed the photograph around until they all memorized it.
Harry awoke Ron, Hermione, and Ginny very early in the morning. They all stumbled downstairs, still half asleep.
"Eat up; you will need your energy," Mrs. Weasley said, piling on the eggs and bacon.
They ate in silence and went back upstairs to get ready for their journey. They packed the Peruvian Darkness Powder in a backpack along with Harry's invisibility cloak and a book on wandless magic. Ron gawked at her like she was crazy, until Hermione tapped the backpack, and it became light as a feather. Harry shouldered it and walked out the door.
To his surprise the entire Weasley family and Hermione's parents stood outside waiting for them. It was an emotional goodbye. It wasn't until Hermione's parents handed her a pack of toothbrushes and toothpaste did they remember to pack the toiletries.
After twenty minutes of last minute packing, they were ready.
"You be careful, all of you," Mrs. Weasley said, "Listen to Harry; if he tells you to run or something like that, listen to him."
Mrs. Weasley hugged all of them, sobbing. Hugs were given and tears were shed.
They walked down the path toward the town. Harry took one last look at the Burrow and the family he had come to know and love.
Ginny held his hand, "Godric's Hollow?"
"Godric's Hollow," Harry said.
They separated, pictured the village, spun, and they were gone with a small pop.
A/N Thank you for reading this story…I hope you come back for more. I hope you continue to read my story. Please review…It really does make me want to write more.
Happy Reading!
--Fawkes the Scarlet Phoenix
