Harry was shepherded toward Ron's room by Ron and the twins to unpack. He kept looking all over the place and finding new things to see in every direction. Harry was sure his stay at the Burrow would be eventful, especially with the twins about.
"My Harry you've grown so tall!" One twin, George maybe, commented with a smirk.
"And so heavy!" said Fred, who carried Harry's trunk.
"Don't blame me if your stubby arms can't lift a thing." Harry back talked from in front of them. They all laughed and Ron opened an orange door on his right.
Ron's room blinded Harry with orange walls and posters of an orange colored Quidditch team, the Chudley Cannons. Then he tripped over one of the many piles of clothes littering the floor.
"Damn Ron your room's a death trap!" Harry exclaimed as he picked himself back up. He went to sit on the second bed that seemed to be there for him (it had green blankets instead of orange) and faced his friends. The bed was very soft and seemed to mold into Harry.
"This house is better than my relatives in pretty much every way!" Harry said honestly. The twins grinned and Ron blushed.
"Don't get too comfortable, an extra Harry is an extra hand around the house for the chores Mum has for us." The way George said that made Harry realize that he was even deeper into the bed than before.
"Yeah no lying about around here." Fred followed up with a laugh as Harry sunk even more into the bed.
"Just let that... sink in for a bit." The twin started laughing as Harry was completely submerged into the bed and Ron started pulling on his leg to get him out.
"You two gits! Help me out of here!" Harry yelled from inside the bed. And then with a pull he was free and glaring the still laughing twins.
"What the hell was that?!" Ron started in on them.
"Sinking Seats!" Fred said grandly, holding a clear unassuming mat he grabbed from under Harry.
"Made them ourselves! It's a simple mat we charmed to sink into any surface!" George informed them with a flourish. Harry's glare slowly became a rueful grin.
"Well it worked on me. Brilliant guys." They were still laughing when their mum came to the door. Molly Weasley had a motherly face with an easy smile, frazzled bright red hair and a plump figure in a floral patterned sundress and apron. Her warm brown eyes found Harry and smiled.
"Oh Harry it's so nice to see you! Come here sweetheart! You've grown so tall and handsome!" She said while rushing in and pulling Harry into her large bosom as Ron and the twins sniggered behind him. When it became apparent Harry couldn't breathe she released him and looked at him fondly. "My, you must have sprouted up 5 inches since I saw you at Kings Cross last year. Those muggles feeding you well?" Molly asked and Harry nodded demurely. More like he fed himself well with their food. "Good. Well dinner will be along shortly so you can help Ron with degnoming the garden since he wasn't quite finished when he stopped." Molly's voice got sharper as she finished with a pointed look at Ron who looked embarrassed.
"Yes ma'am, sounds fun." Harry replied politely and Molly cupped his cheek with a smile and exited the room.
"No time like the bloody present I guess." Ron muttered and started to leave the room and Harry started to follow before Ron looked back at the twins fiercely. "Get out of my room! Don't touch anything!" he ordered and they laughed as they left. George ruffled Ron's hair and looked at Harry.
"Don't worry Ronny, we got a new target!" he said and Harry scowled.
"To hell you do" Harry denied but George just grinned and left.
After they degnomed the garden, which was a bit too fun to be a chore to Harry, everyone was soon situated around the large table in the dining room for dinner. That was where Harry saw two new people he hadn't seen before talking to Arthur and Percy. Two young men with the freckles and red hair that marked them as Weasleys, but that ended most of the similarities. One man was taller than the other by at least a head. He also had long hair pulled into a ponytail and an earring in the shape of a fang in one ear. His face was clean shaven. His blue eyes were piercing and intelligent, and he wore an expensive looking light blue V-neck shirt. The other young man was stockier than the first and his hair was cut quite short, his eyes were warm and dark brown. He had a rugged five-o-clock shadow and wore a sleeveless black shirt that showed a shiny burn on one of his tanned and rather large arms. They both turned to look at Harry as he entered.
"You two have to be Bill and Charlie!" Harry said with a bit of wonder. Every time Ron brought one of them up it was to tell of their accomplishments. It made to seem like a couple of heroes. Bill chuckled lightly while Charlie made a thunderous bark of laughter and stood over the table to shake Harry's hand roughly.
"Yeah that's us!" He affirmed with a booming voice and a jolly laugh. "Charlie, nice to meet you Harry!" Charlie's manner instantly reminded Harry of Hagrid and he felt a surge of comradery overwhelm him.
"Good to finally meet one of Ron and the twins' favorite subjects from their letters." Bill said as he shook Harrys hand and peered at him as if seeing new pieces to a puzzle. He was smiling and Harry smiled too, but their smiles and handshake felt to Harry inexplicably of two rivals about to face off.
"We're going to be here for a few more days as a lucky coincidence had both our vacations happen at the same time. I heard a few things about you last year and I'd like some elaboration." Bill said smoothly.
"Yeah, like that dirty great dragon hatchling my team got from y'all!" Charlie boomed, making everyone react differently all at once. The twins and Bill roared with laughter, Arthur looked surprised, Molly looked scandalized, Percy looked disapproving and little Ginny was gazing at Harry in amazement. Ron looked pleased and a little guilty.
"It was Hagrid's dragon for one," Harry tried to explain as Charlie guffawed loudly. Molly had to calm everyone down with sparks out of her wand to make them sit for dinner. Harry loaded his plate with delicious looking smothered chicken drumsticks, mash potatoes, corn on the cob and a few rolls. As he started to tuck in he realized everyone was staring at him while they ate. Except Ron who only had eyes for his corn and the butter dish.
"Okay I'll tell it then." he said and Ron gave him a grateful nod as his mouth was full. "Ron, Hermione and I went to visit Hagrid at his hut one day," Charlie is already grinning, knowing all about Hagrid's love for wild magical creatures. "And inside it's a furnace, I mean its roasting in there and I see a huge black egg sitting in a cauldron over a merry fire. By this point I know what it is and Ron does too because he goes 'blimey Hagrid how'd you get on' a those?'" Harry said in his most country bumpkin impression as everyone laughed. Harry caught Ron's eye and winked, making his best friend smile sheepishly.
"So Hagrid tells us it's a dragon egg he won from some bloke at the Hogs Head. And Hermione says "but Hagrid, you live in a wooden house!'" Harry imitated Hermione's prim way of talk, causing more laughs. "A few days later we get a note that just says 'it's hatching' and we head back over. So we watch this big egg hatch and wasn't that a sight Ron?" Harry nodded to Ron who quickly agreed.
"We rarely see them hatch on the reserve. Mother dragons get too protective." Charlie added with a shake of his head.
"So anyway, out comes the dragon which immediately starts making trouble for us and Hagrid. Between burning Hagrid's beard, biting Ron's hand and almost setting Hagrid's hut on fire it's no wonder Ron suggested you so quickly Charlie."
"Where are the teachers in all this?" Arthur asked with a hint of disapproval. Harry shrugged.
"We didn't want Hagrid to get in trouble, and since he's an authority on magical creatures we didn't think about getting anyone else at the time."
"Yeah Hagrid really knows his stuff when it comes to magical creatures." Charlie said. The subject changed soon enough and Harry was able to enjoy his meal and bask in the familial atmosphere he missed out on as a child.
The Dursleys weren't abusive, but they didn't treat Harry like he was family. He was more of an unwelcome guest. Dudley made fun of him and took his things sometimes, but he also stuck up for Harry when anyone other than him tried to bully Harry. Uncle Vernon was always going on about Harry 'earning his keep' which meant doing most of the house chores, but other than that treated Harry with indifference and sometimes anger if magic was involved. Only Aunt Petunia was different. She put up a good front around her husband but was a right pushover when he wasn't around. She would let Harry sleep in most days, take over certain chores and even make him a big lunch sometimes if Dudley was away. There were even times during the summer Harry would find his aunt in his room stroking Hedwig's feathers and humming contently. She wouldn't dote on him like she did Dudley, but Harry suspected she might feel guilty about her sisters fate and that influenced her treatment of her nephew. However, Harry didn't have anything in common with his relatives and never knew what to say around them. That and magic being something he loved and they hated, there wasn't going to be any closeness between them in the future.
With the Weasleys, Harry felt like a favorite cousin or long lost brother. Everyone wanted to talk to him, hear a story or share their own, joke around or give him advice. Everyone stayed up late that night just talking. Charlie was telling Ron about the new dragons they imported and reassured him Norbert was being taken care of. Arthur and Molly were laughing at Fred and George who were making jokes and doing impressions of Hogwarts professors. Bill was telling stories of his curse breaking adventures to Ginny while Harry and Percy just sat and soaked it all in, sometimes commenting on something or laughing at the twins. Harry realized when Percy wasn't in 'prefect mode' he was pretty relaxed and very insightful. It was almost like being near Hermione only without her constant need to read and study. Harry never felt so connected to a family before and relished the moment until Ginny fell asleep and knocked over the side table candle, causing Molly to tell everyone to go to bed.
When Harry woke up the next morning the first thought on his mind was flying. His broom, a top of the line racing model Nimbus 2000 sat tantalizingly against the wall. It was surreal for Harry looking at all the professional Quidditch players holding Cleansweep 7s in the posters lining Ron's walls and having an even more superior broom than theirs in his possession.
Harry got dressed in a clean white t-shirt, grey sweat pants and his recently bought trainers. He shook Ron to wake him and when his friend's blue eyes blearily searched for what woke him Harry held out his Nimbus. Ron got up quickly and joined Harry in the yard with one of his family's old Comet model brooms. He also had a quaffle in his hand that he tossed to Harry.
"Try to score on me" Ron challenged before flying up to the middle of two stripped trees that had only one branch each that entwined together making the trees look like a giant H coming out of the ground. There was another goal post on the other side of the large field. Harry realized they had to be transfigured to look like that.
"Get ready to lose Weasley!" Harry taunted and flew up into the air like a bullet. He made a few loops around the yard before flying straight toward Ron. Harry threw the quaffle at an unprotected corner of the makeshift goal but Ron appeared and blocked it quicker than Harry thought possible. Harry raced after the quaffle, caught it and flew up higher. The boy with the Nimbus made an arc in the air, turned and shot back toward the goal. Ron looked determined to stop him, but Harry had a new maneuver in mind. He flew at the goal, threw the quaffle out in front of him and then flipped so that the tail end of the broom connected with the ball and blasted it into the goal right past Ron's fingers. Harry came out of the flip with his right hand gripping the broom shaft tightly as the rest of his body tried to float away. He managed to get back onto the broom and looked to see Ron shaking his head ruefully.
"That move is banned at Hogwarts mate! I don't know how you did it without falling off your broom!" he shouted after he retrieved the quaffle. Harry shrugged.
"It seemed like a no brainer to me." Harry replied. "Honestly I thought I made it up just now."
"Yeah because trying that move means you have no brains! You must have an iron grip on your broom to not fly off. No wonder you're a Seeker!" they both laughed then looked to see Fred and George flying toward them on their Cleansweep model brooms.
"Fancy a game?" they chorused. Ron and Harry agreed, grinning.
"Oh and Harry," Ron continued. "No one makes new moves in Quidditch anymore! It's all been done!"
"We'll see about that!" Harry replied and flew up higher. Harry and Ron were on one team and the twins on the other. Harry had the quaffle and must get past the twins to score. There was no Keeper. Harry turned around and shot toward the goal, avoiding George who tried to side swipe him, and then narrowly dodging an ugly red Bludger. He sped forward and lanced the Quaffle into the goal before starting in on Fred.
"Bloody hell Fred, Bludgers!?" Harry shouted. Fred grinned and smacked the Bludger with his broom toward Ron who barely dodged.
"It's not Quidditch without them Harry!" Fred replied, laughing.
They continued the game with Harry and Ron in the lead. Harry saw that the rest of the Weasleys were watching from below. Bill and Charlie had brooms in their hands and were soon in the air.
"How about we make this a real game?" Charlie said on his Cleansweep 5, holding a golden Snitch. Harry shouted in delight. He was having fun as Chaser but he was born to be a Seeker.
"Brilliant! Charlie and I will be Seeker of course, Ron and George can be Keepers. Bill and Fred are Chasers. Cool?" Harry declared and everyone moved to their positions. Charlie let go of the Snitch, causing it to instantly disappear. Harry and Charlie flew around the field searching as the Weasley boys played below. Harry's sharp eyes caught sight of a gold flash to his left and turned to see Charlie already flying in that direction. His Nimbus 2000 was pushed to its limits as Harry pursued his opponent. Charlie really knew how to fly. Even with a better broom Harry was outmaneuvered at every turn. Harry sped up to the side of Charlie as the Snitch zoomed ahead. Just as he stretched his arm out in an attempt to catch the elusive ball, he looked to see Charlie standing on his broom with perfect balance. In detached wonder Harry watched as the burly man leaned forward and caught the Snitch with only one foot still on his Cleansweep. The redheaded Seeker then did a peculiar move with his feet that Harry almost didn't catch, and his broom became parallel with the ground in the opposite direction. Charlie then sat back down on it, holding the ball in his grip and grinning at Harry. It was the most amazing thing Harry had ever seen someone do on a broom and he didn't mind at all that he had just lost.
When everyone was back on the ground they crowded around Charlie, shouting and laughing, even Harry. Ron was astounded that he was finally able to see Charlie do his most famous Seeker move and Harry was demanding he teach him. Bill was laughing while Fred and George made noise just to be loud.
"What was that? How do you do it?" Harry asked forcefully. It was Ron that answered.
"That was the maneuver that had scouts from Puddlemere United and the England National team watching Charlie's games all through his seventh year. It's called the Weasley Whiplash and it was absolutely brilliant!"
"Can I learn it Charlie?" Harry asked the older man. "I want to have an advantage against the Slytherins this time, since they won the Cup last year."
"Ha! Yeah, I had to do it to ya Harry. When you're a Seeker there is no giving it less than your all. When I was on the team it was Ravenclaw that was best, after Gryffindor of course!" Charlie laughed loudly and clapped Harry on the back, causing him to stumble. "Yeah let's get back up there and I'll show you how it's done. You can be my apprentice Hahaha!"
For the next hour Charlie was showing Harry how to do the Weasley Whiplash and for the rest of the day Harry was in the air perfecting it, coming down only for meals. It was two training filled days later that Harry felt he had a handle on the maneuver and felt comfortable trying it in a school game.
It was a wonderful feeling for Harry to learn something new, especially when it came to flying. The only thing that came close was learning new magic and Harry was eager to begin his wandless magic training soon. He approached Bill to see if the long haired curse breaker knew anything about the skill. Bill listened quietly to Harry's request and then glanced through Silverstein's book before answering with a small smirk.
"This is a pretty ambitious goal Harry. What makes you think I knew any wandless magic?" Bill asked while his shrewd eyes pierced Harry's own.
"I saw you flick your wrist and put away the Quidditch balls into the closet while I was in the air with Charlie. You didn't use your wand." Harry replied and Bill gave him an appraising look.
"Sharp eyes you have. Too sharp to need glasses anyway. Very well, yes I do know wandless magic and though it isn't as reliable as my wand it has gotten be out of trouble more than once." He bent his fingers on his right hand one by one and a blue flame was suddenly in his palm. Harry could feel intense heat from the flame even though it was only as small as a marble. Bill closed his fist and the flame was gone
"That. That's exactly what I want to learn!" Harry declared and Bill chuckled.
"Get Ron over here. He's going to learn this too." Harry found Ron playing against Ginny at Wizards Chess. He was winning judging by Ginny's increasingly annoyed facial expressions.
"Hey Ron, Bill wants to see you. He's going to teach us wandless magic!" Harry said excitedly causing Ron and Ginny to forget the game entirely and rush into the living room where Bill sat reading Harry's book The Hand of Gods.
"Oh you too Ginny? Of course you'd want to learn it as well. Perfect! Okay first you all need to put your wand hand out in front of you." Bill instructed before Ginny raised her hand. Bill grinned amused, and nodded to her.
"I don't have a wand yet Billy, which ones my wand hand?" She asked.
"Your writing-hand Gin. Now with your hands out think of the sentence and this sentence only 'Light is in my hand.' Think hard on it and no, it's not the same as lumos. That is a spell and needs a wand. You all must remember wandless magic also called Hand or Body magic does not use spells okay? Repeat this: Wandless magic does not use spells." Bill ordered.
Harry, Ron and Ginny chorused: "Wandless magic does not use spells."
"Good. Now think of that sentence from before. It is called a mantra and its one part of how wandless magic works. Remember it? Light is in my hand. Light is in my hand. You got it? Don't get mad if you take a while. It's just like doing magic for the first time so it's going to be kinda hard. If you must, you can say the words out loud."
Harry closed his eyes and with his right hand outstretched he focused his thoughts on the sentence mantra. He heard Ron muttering the sentence under his breath and didn't have to look to see Ginny scrunching her face up in concentration. Harry didn't know how long he stood there until he opened his eyes to a bright light on his palm like Bill's flame from earlier. He looked over and saw both Ron and Ginny had lights in their hands like him, only slightly dimmer and flickering.
"Wow! All of you got it at the same time! This is going to be easier than I thought." Bill congratulated before looking through the book again. Harry stood there grinning at Ron and Ginny for a moment as Bill flipped through pages and then abruptly closed the book.
"Okay the thing about wandless magic is that you're using your whole body as a conduit instead of a wand." Bill then looked at Ginny. "Gin are you sure you want to do this before you get a wand? Learning magic for the first time without one will make it harder to learn spells." Ginny looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Will I still be able to do all the spells I learn at Hogwarts?" She asked. Bill nodded quickly.
"Of course you will. I'm just saying it will be harder since you might want to just do it instead of learning a spell. Spells teach your magic to form along with your wand movements. Wandless magic teaches your magic to form with your body with an exact movement created by you."
"Then yeah, I want to learn it now." Ginny said, determined.
"You might get impatient with your wand and spells in general if you do."
"I said I want to learn Billy!" Ginny cried and Bill put his hands up in surrender.
"Okay just making sure. I know you two want to learn it." He said with a glance toward Harry and Ron who nodded emphatically.
"Perfection. So the key to wandless magic is tuning a body movement to what you want to happen. This is the main reason most wizards choose a wand and be done with it since the movements you tune to certain things have to be done every time or it won't work. So if you wiggle your hips to make something float, you gotta do it every time." Ginny giggled and Harry grinned at the mental image.
"So obviously the best thing to do is to use quick easy movements to do magic fast. Another thing you need to know is what to think when you want magic to happen. Just now you tuned your magic to know that when you want light you think the sentence 'light is in my hand' along with stretching your hand out. You have to think of things happening in the present tense." Bill paused at their confused looks. "Light is in my hand is a sentence in the present tense. Light was in my hand would be past tense and Light will be in my hand is future tense. See the difference?" The three students nodded. "Perfect. Now for something different." Bill took out his wand and with a swish three red blocks appeared in front of them. "You're going to make these float and this time I'm not going to give you the sentence. Remember that how you move is a part of the magic, not just what you say. If you don't like the movement or the sentence mantra it's very difficult to make changes. Okay go."
Harry was suddenly uncertain on how he was going to do it. He was essentially creating a spell for himself at this moment. Making objects float was one of the first spells he learned last year in charms. The words Wingardium Leviosa might not work in this case. It had to be present tense. Maybe 'This object is floating'? Or is 'The block floats' better?
Harry stuck his hand in the air, making Bill laugh.
"You don't have to raise your hands guys. What is it Harry?"
"Does the mantra have to be specific to the thing we want to float?" Harry asked and Ron nodded like the same thing was on his mind. Bill smiled apparently pleased at the question.
"Not really Harry. Hand magic is more intuitive and personalized than spells which means your magic interprets your intent how you want it to at that moment. Including the object in the mantra means its specific to that object. You would have to make another mantra for each object you float which is tedious." Bill explained and Harry nodded to let him know he understood. Harry thought that over again.
So the best thing to have as the mantra is something general like 'This object is floating'. But object is not a natural word, thing might be better. Okay, 'This thing is floating' will be the mantra so now for the movement. Hands only, Harry didn't want to look like an idiot doing a dance for such simple magic. How about right hand raising up slowly. Okay got it. Harry stared at the red block determinedly and raised his right hand.
This thing is floating.
This thing is floating.
This thing is floating!
The block shook and then slowly lifted into the air before falling back down. Harry thought his face would split in two from how much he was smiling. Bill nodded appreciatively.
"Harry got it first guys." Ron looked over quickly and then back to his block. Ginny didn't budge. After a moment Ron's block rose into the air followed by Ginny's.
"Awesome! You all got it! What was your mantras?" Bill said.
"This thing is floating." Harry answered.
"That is floating." said Ron.
"The block floats." said Ginny. Bill nodded, thoughtful.
"Why were you specific to the block Ginny?" he asked and Ginny shrugged.
"I didn't think I was ready to make my true floating spell yet." she answered. Bill nodded in understanding.
"Makes sense but at some point you're going to need one so remember that when you practice. Okay guys I'll say one more thing and then leave you to it. Hand magic can be difficult or easy depending on how you look at it. A stubborn man will learn it faster than a worrywart and I say that because the easiest part of Hand magic is the first time you do it. After that you have to remember how you did it and do it the same way every time. That makes the first time very important but worrying about mantras and movements doesn't help. Just keep it simple. I encourage you to write down your mantras and movements. Practice all the time but don't forget your wand. Spells are quick, easy to remember and right at your wand tip. Body magic is just that: your body doing magic. There is no swish and flick unless that's your movement. Understand what I'm saying?"
"Yeah" they all said together.
"Okay cool. You are all now wandless magic users. Congratulations! Now get away from me." Bill said and they all scrambled away laughing.
On the last night Bill and Charlie were at the Burrow Mrs. Weasley made a huge dinner and everyone seemed to be filled with a festive cheer. Fred and George were trying extra hard to catch someone with a prank and managed to turn Ron's hands into hooks after he accidentally ate one of their Pirate Pasties. Harry was determined to check all his food for pranks after having a laugh at Ron's expense. Bill and Charlie were good sports, playing games with everyone and laughing at everything.
The only catch of the night was when Ginny turned too quickly while holding a plate of treats and bumped into her mother causing her plate to fly into the air. Without thinking she thrust out her hand and cried "Oh no!" and the plate stopped in midair complete with treats resting on top. Mrs. Weasley was furious at first thinking she took someone's wand, but when she saw that Ginny didn't have a wand her fury turned into delight. Ginny waved her hand and the plate floated slowly into her hands.
"Ginny! You can do wandless magic!" Mrs. Weasley exclaimed. Everyone in the room was looking at them now. Ginny's face went pink and she looked at the floor, though Harry could see a small smile on her face.
"I taught her mum." Bill said from the living room armchair. Fred and George immediately protested. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were momentarily speechless. Percy looked disapproving but said nothing.
"Why only her?"
"We want to learn it too!"
Bill lifted a hand to stop their shouting. "You guys are too old to learn it. Ginny, Ron and Harry aren't so I taught them." he explained with a careless shrug.
"You taught Harry and Ron too? But they already go to Hogwarts, how are they not too old also?" George demanded angrily.
"Why didn't you tell us you were teaching them magic Bill?" Mrs. Weasley asked with deadly calm. Harry looked over at Ron who was looking guilty on Bill's behalf. Bill on the other hand was completely relaxed.
"It wasn't anything formal mum. Harry came to me with a book on wandless magic and wanted to learn it before it was too late. This may be the only time in their lives they would be able to learn wandless magic mum. Are you going to stop them?" Bill asked with a practiced ease. It seemed he had these kind of discussions with Mrs. Weasley before and knew how to word things just right. Mrs. Weasleys shoulders slumped and Bill didn't dare smirk even though he wanted to badly. Mr. Weasley was shaking his head and covering his mouth to hide a smile. Charlie had a big grin on his face, having seen these kind of talks before knew how rare his mother would relent on anything.
"Oh of course I wouldn't have stopped them Billy, I just want to know what's going on in the house when there's magic involved. Ginny isn't even a first year yet!" Molly said and Bill sighed, got up and gave his mother a hug.
"I'm sorry mum. They just looked so eager and I didn't know where you were at the time. I only taught them to float stuff anyway." he said into her frazzled hair.
"Oh it's okay Billy. No harm done." And with that everyone continued with the night. Fred and George insisted on Harry and Ron showing them what they learned and they were happy to oblige. Soon there were cups and candles floating all over the living room until Mrs. Weasley put a stop to it. Harry was having a blast being able to do magic anytime he wanted and without a wand.
Later into the night Harry was floating a cup back and forth with Ron. Ginny and Bill went to sleep already when Percy walked up to them.
"Harry can I talk to you?" he asked and Ron scowled.
"You already are." he groused and Percy glared at him.
"What's up Percy?" Harry asked and Percy sat next to them.
"I don't think you should do wandless magic at Hogwarts." he said and Ron stood up.
"Of course we are! That's the best place to learn it! What the hell Percy!" he shouted and Mrs. Weasley scolded him from across the room.
"Language Ron!"
"Sorry mum." Ron apologized weakly but still scowled at Percy.
"What I mean is don't do it around your peers." Percy continued. "Think about it. You do magic without a wand around them and soon they'll all be coming to you trying to learn it. It's not the kind of attention you want. Especially you Harry." Harry looked thoughtful at that. He already got a lot of attention being the Boy-Who-Lived, did he want more because he knew advanced magic?
"We know how to say no to stuff like that Percy!" Ron argued. "Besides, that's kind of the point of learning it. To do it all the time." Harry was quiet through the exchange but now he knew where he stood.
"Percy, I learned wandless magic because I don't want to be caught off guard without my wand, not to show off. Don't worry, we aren't going to suddenly be like the twins and cause trouble."
"Oi!" George objected from across the room, but he was smiling. Percy still didn't look convinced.
"Wandless magic can be dangerous. I don't want it going to your heads." he persisted.
"Bill said the same thing Percy. We'll be careful wont we Ron?" Harry gave Ron a pointed look and his friend.
"Yeah Percy it's not like you're saying anything new. Now leave us alone. Please!" Ron added when Percy didn't move immediately.
"Whatever Ron, just tell Ginny to be careful. Never mind I will."
Percy walked away and soon everyone went to bed. When Harry woke up Bill and Charlie were already gone. Then he remembered today was the day they went to Diagon Alley for their school supplies and all thought of Ron's brothers left his mind and in their place was anticipation to see the beloved magical shopping center once more.