Chapter 2 – A Birthday… Surprise?
Soon came the fateful day. Harry Potter was lying in his bed awake – refusing to go to sleep. It was his birthday today and he wanted to see what would happen to him when it turned midnight. He was too excited to go to sleep – so he just stayed up and did his homework.
Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the clock struck 12.
Nothing.
He waited another 5 minutes.
Still nothing.
He waited another hour. Yet, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to happen. He didn't understand what was wrong. Dumbledore had said that something momentous would happen this day – but there was no trace of any pain in the scar, no flashes, no fireworks, -- there was nothing. He sat up for a while pondering on this. What was I expecting to happen? Dumbledore's probably wrong. Ah, what's the use anyway? I will find out tomorrow about what was supposed to have happened anyway – no use panicking. Might as well get some sleep. And so, finally, he gave up his resolve and fell into a deep slumber.
He was dreaming now. He was standing in the middle of a circle of stones surrounded by sprawling meadows. It took him a while to grasp his surroundings but he finally realized that the place was Stonehenge. But there was something different about the place. He could actually smell the freshness in the air and feel the wind to his face. This was unlike any other dream he had had before.
And then saw in the middle of the rocks, which were now emanating an eerie green light, was Albus Dumbledore.
"Professor…, what am I doing at Stonehenge in the middle of the night? What are you doing here? How did I get here?" asked Harry baffled at the turn of events.
"Ah Harry, I brought you here. I find this a very useful tool in talking to someone for a long period of time." Dumbledore asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"This is the Circle of Merlin, Harry. Whenever a True Wizard is born he is brought here and initiated. You would have been brought here when you were born but your mother cast a powerful spell on you to make sure that you weren't given your abilities until you were sixteen. Before you get very angry with me, know that I did not hide this from you on purpose, Harry. I was not allowed to tell you about this since I had taken a wizard's oath not to tell my "apprentice" until the right time. As you know, wizard's oaths are not to be taken lightly. Now, I am sure you have a lot of questions. I will answer all your questions now."
Dumbledore said that in a completely cool tone as if it was nothing but old news. He conjured a couple of chairs and gestured for Harry to sit down.
Harry plopped down on the comfortable armchair in a daze. He seemed momentarily stunned by this whole barrage of information. He took a moment and gathered his thoughts.
"Professor, what… err… who… is a True Wizard?" Harry inquired, still not sure whether or not to believe this dream.
"To answer that, I need you to answer this. Do you know how a wizard controls magic?"
Dumbledore asked with a knowing smile on his face.
"Err... well… I am not sure. I guess with a wand. I saw spells and stuff happens depending upon the words of the spells," answered Harry a bit tentatively.
"EXACTLY! So, essentially there are two key elements to magic, as we know it – incantations and the use of a wand, right? Well, where do you think the magic comes from – your wand – the magic words?" Dumbledore asked again with that ever-persistent twinkle in his eyes.
"Um... no I don't think it comes from a wand or words, because then even a muggle could do magic with the right words and a wand. It has to be inside you. Maybe blood?" Harry replied, still unsure about where this was leading.
"Your reasoning powers are excellent, Harry. You are right on two things – magic does not come from a wand nor does it come from words. And, indeed, it is in your very blood. Why then do we need a wand or silly little incantations? It is for focus, Harry. If you didn't know what Wingardium Leviosa did, then you would not be able to do it at all. You could repeat the words forever and still have no effect on any object if you didn't know what it did. However, after you know what it does, you actually make yourself believe that because of that word you are able to levitate the object – which is not the case at all. The only reason you were able to levitate the object is because you actually focussed your power and tried to actually levitate it. However, the words are a useful way of learning magic."
He paused for a moment and continued.
"You see, your mind attributes the incantations to the effect and thus, by doing so, it effectively gives the words the power to do magic. Which is why just saying the words is not enough – if you said Wingardium Leviosa pointing at an object and were actually thinking about say… food. Then, the object would levitate but only for a moment. It will levitate because your subconscious has associated those two words with levitation – however, it will need you to focus your power to an extent to actually make it levitate perfectly."
"Do you understand what I am saying Harry" Dumbledore queried, he saw Harry with a somewhat dazed look on his eyes.
Harry got out from his stupor and nodded. " I think so. Essentially, you are saying that the words don't mean anything and that the only reason they are magical is because your mind makes them magical to an extent. Right?"
"Yes, I couldn't have said it better. Most advanced wizards can do soundless magic since the process basically entails grasping the concept of magic. I believe Miss Granger will find the aforementioned theory to be very interesting."
Dumbledore added with a smirk.
"On the other hand, a wand is a completely different concept altogether. Wands actually help focus the magic inside you because of its magical core. However, a wizard with exceptional magical strength can do wandless magic with enough training. These wizards are extremely rare and extremely powerful; in fact, Merlin prophesised that there would be seven such True Wizards, as he called them, after him who would have such exceptional power. Up until now, we have had the four founders, me, Voldemort, and now finally you."
Harry's expression changed quickly from confusion to awe to bitter resignation.
"Oh great! I have this power but Voldemort has it too. How am I to defeat him if he can do the same things I can!"
"Oh no Harry! All the people I have mentioned do indeed have exceptional power – but they are by no means equal. I believe you will easily be the most powerful of them all, Harry," Dumbledore said with his twinkle at full power.
"What! Why! How do you know! I mean I can't be that powerful," Harry blurted, shaking his head in disbelief thinking his mentor had finally eaten one too many lemon drops.
"Well, you see, Voldemort draws magical power from his death eaters through the Dark Mark. Oh no, it is not simply a fancy tattoo. It actually allows Riddle to draw magical power from his death eaters – this makes him more powerful than a normal True Wizard. Now, as the prophecy says, he marked you "as his equal" when you were but a baby and Voldemort was at the height of his power. Right now, Voldemort is significantly weaker than he was sixteen years ago. This is not only owing to his rebirth and the reduced number of death eaters, but also because your own increase in magical strength at Hogwarts. This is why YOU are Voldemort's number one priority; he does not wish for you to get much more stronger. But what he doesn't know is that you are, as of this moment, much more powerful than the Dark Lord in terms of sheer magical power, " Dumbledore stated calmly.
"WHAT!" Harry plopped down on the ground burying his face in his hands.
"Great one more thing that I am special about. I mean why can't I ever be normal like everyone else," he yelled out in frustration.
"It is your destiny, Harry. Would you rather let Voldemort win and deny the wizarding world its only hope?"
"No, " Harry answered irritably "I am not trying to shirk away responsibility. But just because I am forced into a "hero" situation doesn't mean I have to be happy about it"
"No you don't. In fact, I completely empathise with you. I myself had a similar prophecy when I was facing Grindelwald."
Dumbledore's tone hardened.
"It stated that I had to lose the one person I loved before I could defeat him"
He sighed and looked away.
"I tried everything in my power to protect her. But, in the end, I lost her anyway…"
Harry's anger waned away as he saw the look of utter grief on the old professor's face. He silently vowed to himself that he would try everything in his power to make sure that no one he loved was hurt.
Dumbledore shook himself from his stupor and checked his timepiece.
"Enough about that, now, we don't have that much time left before you wake up. Your practical training will now begin. I will train you from now on everyday until you learn to handle yourself. You will accompany me everywhere. I will take you on any missions for the Order, the only promise I ask of you is not to fight Voldemort yet. No matter what happens, you cannot face Voldemort. He has a much greater knowledge base and you are not ready to face him yet."
He stood up and his chair disappeared.
"I expect the training to take the entire school year. You should be ready by the next summer to hold your own and defeat Voldemort. However, to actually destroy him is another task altogether. You will do well to take Ms. Granger's help on that aspect. I think I have said all I needed to say. We have to part now. You have already stayed here for too long and you will find that everyone is worried about you. I will meet you in a couple of days. Oh, and I hope you will keep this information secret."
"I am not going to hide anything from Ron and Hermione. I already paid last year for that mistake" Harry said defiantly, recalling last year's events.
" All right, you can tell Mr. Weasley and Ms. Granger, but apart from them NO ONE should know of this training. I cannot stress this enough since Voldemort will speed up his plans if he finds out about this. We will meet again in a couple of days. Until then, knock knock Harry."