Disclaimer: See Part One.

Author's note: I'm very sorry about the amount of time I've been taking on my stories. My RL has been flip-flopping all over the place. It's very frustrating!

I've taken some more quotes and paraphrases, this time from all of the first four books. I'm torturing Harry again.

As always, feedback is very welcome.

A Matter of Magic, Part Four

They decided to split up, with Harry, Hermione, Ron, Molly and Arthur going to Hogwarts in order to research Shamanism, and Fred, George, Ruth, Jim and Blair staying at the Grangers' house to work on the Beastly Bonbons, which was what the twins had named their candy. Bill and Charlie volunteered to make a supply run to every herbalist they could find down Diagon Alley for more beast weed. The Doctors Granger had to go into the office.

Blair paid close attention as the boys boiled their remaining supply of the magical herb. The powder that they had used before had been like instant tea crystals. They had discussed it, and they thought that making it into a syrup would actually concentrate it much better, as well as fitting into the candy-making process more easily. He got a low-grade feeling from the leaves before they were boiled, but the moment they hit the bubbling water, that feeling intensified. It didn't cause him pain, but it was fascinating, even mesmerizing.

Two minutes later, Jim ran into the room to the sounds of the twins shouting at Blair to wake up. He was staring at the bubbling pot of herbs as if it were the most intriguing thing in the world. Remembering a similar incident during the Switchman case when he had zoned out on a boiling cook pot, Jim put his hand on his Guide's shoulder. "Blair, you can come back now. Whatever you're sensing must be pretty interesting, but I need you here with me."

Luckily, Blair hadn't zoned too deeply. He came out of it and looked up, surprised to find Jim crouched behind him. "Uh, Jim, what's going on?"

Relief that Blair was all right flooded him, causing him to crack wise about the situation. "You got a little too fascinated by the pretty bubbles."

The untrained Shaman blushed. Great! Now he had zoneouts, just like Jim. "I guess there's no chance that you won't be telling Ruth about this?" Jim just grinned evilly. "Didn't think so." He sighed, turning serious. "Well, I managed to help you to control your senses. I guess I'll just have to learn to control mine. That has to be part of the training, right?"

Jim nodded. "I would imagine."

Fred and George looked at each other and nodded. Had either man noticed it, they would have been worried, but Jim was too focused on Blair and Blair was still too weirded out to notice.

Hermione studied the book in front of her intensely. Prehistoric Magic, by Recorda Geschichte, was a very thick book, but so much of it was so very vague. There was a huge stack beside her of books that mentioned Shamanism, but finding even two that agreed on the subject would have been quite a feat. Still, there was one reference in this particular tome that intrigued her. "Harry, Ron, look at this. It says here that a new Shaman can only be trained by another Shaman, but the older one doesn't have to be from the same tribe, or even still among the living."

Harry frowned. "A ghost? Would that work?"

"Why not?" Ron shrugged. "We have a ghost for a History professor." Indeed, Professor Binns had taught at Hogwarts for over a century since his death.

She shook her head. "No, not quite. It says here that with the incident in question, the Shaman didn't feel up to the task of training his new pupil, so he called the spirit of an ancient and powerful Shaman to do so for him. He wasn't already hanging around on this side if he had to be called. Most likely, they called him back, then made him corporeal for a short time so that he could train the young one."

Harry looked up, interested. "How did they do that?"

She sighed. "I don't know. I can't find anything like that anywhere, and I've been looking for three hours. I think it's time for a break." She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms over her head, trying to work out the kinks in her back. She didn't notice when Ron's eyes tried to bug out of their sockets, but Harry did and grinned. He had speculated for over a year that those two were going to end up together, and he took this as further evidence that he was right.

The twins' concoction had to be strained, then reduced until it started to turn to sludge. Ruth decided that it was time to get Blair out of there. They had worked out that it was the herbal magic emanating from the boiling leaves that had caused him to zone, and it would only get stronger as the stuff thickened. They would then add sugar, vanilla, cinnamon and cocoa powder, cook it until it was a thick syrup, and pour it into candy moulds, which were already a part of their standard prank-making kit. The mixture would, by that point, be rendered dormant by the inactive ingredients and Blair would be able to be around it again without zoning or getting a headache, but until then, they decided that he needed to leave the house.

Ruth said, "I guess I could take you to the Oxford Library of Magic and let you get some research of your own done."

"You don't think the magic atmosphere there will be too much?"

"No. They have to be really careful there because it's actually attached to the main campus. Muggles might be unobservant sometimes, but having magic going on over their heads would cause problems."

Blair nodded. "Okay, sounds good."

Jim was appointed to keep an eye on the twins. After the pranks of last night, he'd had a long discussion with Molly, needing to know what to expect. The harried woman had given him quite an earful about her trickster sons and had warned him that they would hardly be able to resist putting practical jokes on the Muggles of the house. They had to see what they could get away with.

Once they had poured the candy into its moulds and it wasn't in danger of burning, Fred and George had nothing to do but wait. Once the cinnamon-chocolate caramels had cooled completely, they would be covered in milk chocolate or dark chocolate, but that wasn't going to happen for some time. Idle hands make for mischief, and those two needed no such excuse.

Since there were going to be so many wizards in the same house, they had called for a suspension of the magic alarm system that was in place on all student wizards homes until they reached the age of seventeen. They didn't have to worry about accidentally getting Hermione into trouble, and they didn't have to worry about causing Blair pain. They were alone in the house with a Muggle, but one who was obviously more skilled in some areas than ordinary Muggles. It was a challenge, and one they could hardly pass up.

They had a private discussion about what they should attempt. Jim heard the whole thing, of course, so he was ready when they came back down the stairs. They feinted at going into the kitchen for a bite to eat and to check on the candy, but then they turned simultaneously, drawing their wands as they turned. Before a single word of the spell could be uttered, Jim snatched the wands out of their hands. He grinned at them. "Consider this a lesson in Defence Against the Dark Arts. Never draw your weapon so close to your enemy that they can take it from you. I'll be keeping these. And don't think I won't be telling your mother about this."

The twins blanched. Fred said, "No, please!"

George joined him. "Anything but that!"

Jim pretended to consider it. "Why shouldn't I?"

Fred wheedled, "Come on, we waited 'till Blair wasn't going to get hurt."

"What were you going to do?"

George had the grace to blush as he answered. "Ah, we kind of overheard that conversation you had with him about your senses being, well, sensitive, and we were going to put an itching spell on you."

Feeling his skin twitch at the mere thought of such a thing, Jim's face hardened. "You have no idea what that would have done to me. Next time, you'd better get the whole story before you try to pull something like this. I won't tell your mother about this, but I will tell Ruth. I get the feeling she's handled much worse than you with no problems."

Fred shook his head. "No offence to Blair's girl, but no one can match our Mum on scaring the stuffing out of us."

George finished for him. "She knows how to use that rolling pin of hers for more than just dough."

Jim smirked. "And of course, you didn't deserve a bit of it did you?" They blushed. "That's what I thought. Consider your wands confiscated. And if you try one more thing on me like that, I'll still tell your mother."

"All right! We'll behave!"

"Good." Jim waited until he was in another room to start laughing, but they heard him anyway.

Blair was in a researcher's heaven the moment he walked through the spelled doors of the Oxford Library of Magic. He went to the front desk and explained the rudiments of his situation, that he was an anthropologist who was marrying a witch. None of it was a lie. He had gotten his Masters in anthro, and he was marrying a witch. He just didn't mention that they were both cops. He didn't think that it would have gone over very well.

The girl understood his curiosity and took him to the sections on ancient magic and peoples. She explained the filing system, which wasn't so dissimilar to the Muggle section of the Oxford Library that he had any trouble with it, and then left him to his research.

He found more questions than answers. He knew that Shamen were rare these days, found only in precivilized cultures or assimilated ones that weren't as assimilated as people wanted to believe, like several of the North American tribes. He also knew that wizards didn't appear in any histories before Biblical Egypt, which was the eighteenth dynasty, Ramses II. Those early wizards, however, hadn't been able to stand up against the power of a Shaman, and no one knew why. The Ramses Tablet, which was a more detailed account of the Book of Exodus from the Egyptians' point of view, said that Aaron had defeated the court magicians, but none could account for just how the plagues had occurred. No one actually credited Aaron with those things. Many speculated that there had been several other Shamen hidden among the Israelites that could have combined their power to create the plagues, but there were too many ambiguities for that story to sit well with him.

There was very little on the Shamen themselves in the books, but he did find one very interesting spell. It didn't look like it had to be done with a wand, either. It was Shamanic magic, not wizard magic, though a wizard could do it if they wanted to. It was a spell to call the dead back from the spirit plane to talk with them. It was hardly permanent, but it would hold the spirit for three days on the physical plane. He suddenly knew where to get his teacher.

Harry banged his head against the table. "We're never going to find anything!"

"We found the Living Spirit charm, didn't we?" The charm caused any spirit or ghost within thirty yards of the caster to become corporeal. Hermione slipped a folded up kerchief under Harry's forehead so he wouldn't get a bruise.

"Yeah, but what good does that do us if we can't find him a teacher in the first place?"

Ron broke in. "Hey, at least we found somethin'. This is different than all the other 'little projects' we've ever got our selves into, isn't it? None of us is in mortal danger from it."

"Maybe, but if Blair doesn't get his abilities under control, he's going to have a real problem marrying my aunt. Even if she didn't use magic around him, she'd be bringing it home with her from work. Magic tends to stick to things, which is why you can't use electrical things anywhere near Hogwarts."

Molly walked back into the library just then and approached the researching trio. "I think you three have been at this long enough for today. Come on. We'll need to hurry to catch the evening train."

Hermione checked out the books she needed, then they all left the library and the castle and headed for Hogsmede on their brooms. She continued to read on the train until she was certain she could perform the spell in her sleep. She started working the magic in her head, trying to figure out how to use it without causing a negative reaction in Blair. She decided that she needed to place the charm on an object, preferably something that would not interfere with Shamanic magic. As she continued to read, exhaustion overcame her and she fell asleep over her books.

It was dinner time before everyone had returned to the Grangers' house. Bill and Charlie had bought out every apothecary in Diagon Alley, and there were piles of the bright green leaves all over the kitchen. Blair and Hermione had taken over the library again, combining their separate research. Blair could sense a paper coming on, but he knew he would have to wait for a while before he could write it. Fred and George were just finishing off the Bonbons by drizzling melted dark chocolate over the finished caramels.

As the boys finished their work and set the candies aside to harden and cool, their mother noticed that their wand holsters, which were nestled at the small of their backs, were empty. "Fred, George, where are your wands?"

Both boys straightened like they had been kicked, their eyes widening in fear. "Ah..." The boys looked at each other and made an instant decision for self preservation. "We forgot something very important upstairs. Must go quickly!" And they were out of the room in a flash.

Molly shouted, "What did you two do!?"

Jim chuckled as the twins made their escape. "They didn't actually do anything. I was paying too close attention and they underestimated me. They were too close when they pulled their wands and I grabbed them before they could get a shot off. I believe they mentioned something about an itching spell, though." Molly looked ready to explode, but Jim just grinned. "Don't worry about it." He handed the wands over to her after pulling them out of the drawer he had stashed them in. "If they've learned a lesson about underestimating the target, then it was worth it."

Molly sighed as she accepted the wands. "I guess so. But still."

Dinner went by without any of the problems they'd had the night before. Harry seemed more animated, which pleased everyone, and the twins were behaving for once in their lives thanks to Jim sitting right across the table from them.

Once dinner was done, everyone in the house settled into the study to go over what they'd learned that day. Hermione went first. "We couldn't find all that much on Shamanism, and what we did find was very conflicting. However, there were a few reliable sources. A Shaman must be trained by another Shaman, but they don't have to be from the same tribe or even still living. There were instances when an experienced Shaman didn't feel up to the task of training a young one, so they would call up the spirits of past Shamans to do it for them. We couldn't find any way to do that. We found a charm to make any spirit within a certain area become corporeal, but nothing on actually getting them to this plane."

Blair grinned. "Perfect! I ended up going to the Oxford Library with Ruth. We found an old spell, wandless, that will last for three days. It was a common practice to speak to the Ancients for advice. Some cultures took it even further and worshiped those ancestors, like the Chinese. Anyway, the ritual calls to a certain spirit. You have to either have been introduced to them as a spirit or have known them in life, or you'd get all kinds of things coming to say 'hi,' and quite a few of them are creatures you wouldn't want to meet. But as long as you know them, you can call them specifically. That combined with your spell..."

Hermione returned his grin. "Right! You'd only have three days, but hopefully that would be enough to at least give you a background. Then you could work things out on your own. Now there's a few things we'll have to work out. The Living Spirit charm is a wizard spell. It can't be done without a wand. But I could charm an object of some kind, and then set the charm to be activated at will. That way, I could do the spell in a different place, and then..."

Harry broke in. "Hermione, we can't use our wands outside of school, remember? We're still under age. I don't plan on getting into trouble for that again! I thought for sure fudge was going to have me expelled before third year for blowing up my Aunt Marge." At Blair and Jim's looks, he clarified. "Like a balloon, not like a bomb. And it was an accident. They started insulting my parents, and I just lost it."

Fred and George started snickering. "Good job, Harry!" "Yeah, I'd love to have seen it!" Jim glared at them and they quieted down, remembering their own mess of trouble with their wands.

Ruth said, "So I'll charm the object for you." She looked up at the clock. "Well, I think it's time for bed, everyone. We can work on this more in the morning." Everyone agreed, and soon all were in their beds.

Harry lay on his bed, dreading the nightmares he knew were coming for him in the dark. Reliving Cedric's death was only part of it. Sometimes it would be straight nightmares, horrifying amalgamations of things he'd actually seen and his worst fears. Sometimes it was his mother's death, made more real by additions from his imagination. And once, since school had let out, he had once again seen what Voldemort was doing first hand through the scar the dark wizard had left him.

But finally, exhaustion overcame him, and he fell asleep.

The dream took a more formless shape than usual at first. Incidents from his entire life popped into it. The green light of Avada Kedavra...the screams of his mother...Dudley beating the crap out of him when he was five and Aunt Petunia just smiling as she watched..."and then, if you please, she went and got herself blown up and we got stuck with you!"..."but your mother needn't have died...she was trying to protect you"...a long, poisonous fang sinking deeper and deeper into his arm, then splintering as the basilisk keeled over sideways and fell, twitching, to the floor...the ice cold grip of a Dementor's gaze, and again the green light and the screams of his mother...the Goblet of Fire spitting his name out...the Triwizard cup..."Kill the spare."..."Blood of the enemy...forcibly taken...you will...resurrect your foe."...Moody, or rather, Barty Crouch...

And then the bad dream was interrupted by Harry's true nightmare, his visions.

Jim woke to the sound of someone shouting. It was Harry, and from the sounds of it, he was in the middle of a nightmare. Jim got out of bed and padded up the stairs till he reached Harry's room, then went inside, looking closely at the boy on the bed.

He frowned. The lightning-shaped scar had been explained to him, but he'd never heard any reason for it to be glowing. Something was wrong here. He crouched down beside the thrashing boy's bed and put a hand to his forehead, checking for fever.

Suddenly the world flashed around him and he was pulled into the vision that was being poured unknowingly into Harry's mind.

Voldemort sat in a large, comfortable chair, a goblet of red wine in one hand and Nagini draped and twined around the other arm, her slender, but enormous, form elevated to look her master in the eye. She hissed quietly at him. "How may I serve you tonight, Lord?"

He replied in the same language, Parceltongue. "Our dear Mr. Potter has found himself a Shaman, Nagini. This would normally be a very bad thing. Shamen are among the most powerful creatures on this planet. No one's really sure why, either. But this one, this American, has had no training! He's still malleable, if we can take him."

"How did we receive this information, Master?"

A small smile crossed the reptilian face. "The fools removed him from the Muggles' house. All the wards Dumbledore placed on him were made null and void when he was taken out of there by a government official. It didn't matter that she was not an official from our government. Once she fooled them into believing that it was an official removal, the spells lost all effect."

"So when will we kill him, Master?"

"Ah, patience, my pet. We must still be cautious. The Shaman may be untrained, but he is not without skill. He is quite intelligent, and he can do some things just from what he has gleaned from Muggle academia. He was a student of man before he joined the Muggle law enforcement in America, and he has seen trained Shamen, knows their ways. He will make an excellent addition to my army if I can take him, and then I could take Potter without any trouble. With a corrupted Shaman at my side, fully under my control, I could make the entire world mine in less than five years."

"How will you corrupt him? May I help you?"

Voldemort smiled again. "Of course, Nagini. Of course."

Both of them woke at the same moment. Jim quickly silenced any questions that Harry might have asked by placing a hand over the boy's mouth and a finger over his own lips. Harry nodded, understanding, and Jim released him, stood up and motioned for him to follow as he slipped out of the room.

As they walked down the stairs, Harry marveled at the stealth the big man displayed. Military, he thought. This was a man who'd had reason to need quiet in the past, in situations where noise could have meant death. Harry remembered that Jim had been turned into a jaguar by the spiked soup. Looking at the Muggle now, he knew why. The man was a predator in human skin.

They went to Blair and Ruth's room. Jim stopped at the door, listening to make sure they wouldn't be interrupting anything, then opening it soundlessly. He woke Blair with a hand on his mouth and an admonition to silence. Blair was instantly and fully awake. Sentinel-soft, he said, "What's wrong?"

Jim pointed back at Harry, then pointed to his ear, mouthing 'Bugged.' Then he pointed to Ruth. Blair nodded. Harry had been magically bugged, so they would need the resident Auror to stop it. Blair waved at them to leave so that he could wake Ruth up quietly.

Jim and Harry went to sit down in the living room. Very soon, Blair and Ruth came out of the bedroom. Ruth had her wand with her. It was already lit with a soft yellow glow before she exited the room. She swept the room with this light, until finally coming to Harry himself. When the light from the wand touched the scar on his forehead, an ugly green light came from it. Ruth quickly put it away, extinguishing the spell as she did. Then she stood and motioned for the two adults to follow her out of the room. Harry would have left with them, but she shook her head, telling him to remain still.

Once out of Blair's hearing range, they stopped. Blair whispered, "What happened?"

"I heard him shouting, a nightmare. I went down to get him out of it and that scar of his was glowing, very faintly. I doubt either of you would have even seen it. When I touched it, I was pulled into what Harry was seeing. There was a man talking to a snake, and either Harry can understand snakes or the snake was speaking like a human, but it was understandable. Anyway, he said, 'Our dear Mr. Potter has found himself a Shaman.' He kept on talking about the fact that Blair's untrained and that he could still be manipulated and he plans on making a grab for him. The snake asked him how he knew, and he said that when you pulled Harry out of the Dursleys' and made it look official, it broke the wards on him, so he can use whatever connection they have to listen in on him. He didn't know I was there, so I'm guessing it's audio only. And if I remember right, the only one who could be connected to him through that scar is Riddle himself."

"Voldemort. Damn! I screwed up. I should have just boosted him like the Weaslys do every year." Ruth was horrified that she'd not only put Harry in greater danger, but now Blair was in it as well.

Blair interrupted her. "Hey, it's not your fault. You did what you thought was best. Right now let's just figure out how to deal with this bug." Ruth nodded.

They went back into the living room, where Harry was waiting nervously. Jim was still feeling like the jaguar was very close to the surface, so before Ruth could do anything, he knelt down in front of Harry, speaking in a low growl. "We know you bugged Harry, Riddle. We know what you're planning. Maybe you don't know much about Muggles, or cops for that matter, so let me enlighten you. Mess with my partner, and magic or no magic, no one will ever find your body." He was looking right at Harry, and the young wizard found himself being very glad that the message wasn't actually aimed at him. This man was scary!

Ruth touched Harry's scar with her wand "Abripio speculare." The scar glowed green, then red, then flashed white for a moment before stopping all together.

The spell was painless, but Voldemort's anger was not, and the Dark wizard was furious. Harry clutched at his forehead, grinning around the pain. "Well, he didn't like that much, did he?"

Jim grimaced. "Sorry, kid."

"Don't worry about it. I just wish I could have seen his face."

Blair chuckled. "You're all right, Harry."

Ruth plopped down on the sofa. "I can't believe I miscalculated like that!"

Harry shook his head. "It's not like you were told about the wards, and I didn't know enough about them myself to tell you it was a mistake. Professor Dumbledore has a habit of hiding the things he's done for my benefit, not just from everyone else, but from me as well. I think he just doesn't want to burden me with it, never mind that I'm perfectly capable of dealing with it on my own." He sighed. "He can't see past my age. He wants me to have a normal childhood, I suppose, but I've got to convince him somehow that it's just too late for that. Voldemort is going to keep coming after me, no matter what, and I need to be prepared for that."

Jim thought about what Harry'd said. Then he thought about what he knew about the wizarding community so far. Wizards tended to ignore everything that happened in the rest of the world, and they usually dismissed a Muggle as having no chance of being a threat. Take Fred and George's tactical mistake earlier when they'd tried to hex him. They'd gotten too close and all he'd had to do was snatch their wands. That gave him an idea. "Why don't you let me teach you a few things, Harry? We're here for a couple of weeks before we have to get back to the States, so I can give you a good head start on some basic self defense, and once Blair's got this Shaman thing figured out, I'll be able to hitch a ride with her every once in a while to continue training you. I've noticed that wizards tend to dismiss the possibility of a non-magical attack. It could give you a tactical advantage if you know how to fight with your body in addition to your magic."

Ruth grinned at the both of them. "That's a great idea!"

Harry nodded as the pain subsided. "Sounds good." He sighed. "We need to send and owl to Professor Dumbledore and tell him that the wards on Privet Drive are gone. The Dursleys could be in danger now, especially since he's so angry."

Ruth shook her head. "I'll use the mirrors."

Blair said, "Okay, there isn't anything else you can do tonight, Harry. You should try and get some sleep. I know, not the easiest thing after a night like tonight, but try anyway. You're going to need to be well rested for anything Jim calls training." Then he ducked to avoid the expected smack to the back of his head.

Harry chuckled at their antics, then stood and went up the stairs to the guest room he was sleeping in.

Ruth said, "I'll call Dumbledore first thing in the morning." Then they all went back to bed. None of the four got any sleep for the rest of the night.

In the morning, directly after breakfast, Ruth called Dumbledore using the mirror in the hall and everyone else gathered in the family room to collate the previous day's research. With the two spells that had been found, they knew that it would be possible to get someone to help Blair learn. Harry had told everyone what had happened during the night with Voldemort, including Jim's threatening him. Several of the wizards in the room had gone a bit bug-eyed at that, but Jim just grinned. Harry said, "Of course, this probably means he'll push up his timetable. He's rather angry at the moment."

Blair narrowed his eyes at that statement. He put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "How bad is it?"

Harry knew that Blair referred to the pain in his scar. He narrowed his eyes. "I can handle it."

"I didn't ask if you could handle it."

Harry grimaced. "I know. It's not too bad right now, but he's really mad. It comes and goes."

"Harry, make sure you say something if it gets too bad." Harry nodded. "Okay, yesterday I found some interesting things. One of them is a Shamanistic spell that could be done by a wizard. It involves some light meditation and concentration on the person that they wish to contact. That means you have to at least have some knowledge of them and be able to picture their face and say their name. The spell will contact that person and make it possible for them to cross back over into this world for about three days. There's supposed to be a spell to allow them to be corporeal for that time, which would make the training easier, but I couldn't find it."

Hermione grinned. Perfect! "That's what we found! The spell has to be done by a wand, but I can charm an object rather than perform the spell in your presence. That way your head would be clear when you start."

Harry smiled. "That's great!"

Blair said, "What kind of object you use?"

Hermione thought about it. "Well, I could charm anything, but it really should be something that will work well with what you are doing." She looked up at him. "You've said that there's a difference in the way wand magic and Shamanic magic feel. Can you describe that feeling? Maybe that will give us an idea."

"Well for me, anyway, it's a flavor thing. The wand magic just 'tastes' earthier to me."

Harry frowned. "I can sense magic somewhat. Ghosts, potions and herbs tend to have a different feel than wand magic, and Blair feels like that to me, only about a hundred times bigger." He shook his head. "It's weird." He turned to Blair. "Have you ever touched an exposed wire? Not one that was frayed and broken, just exposed?" When Blair nodded he continued. "Wand magic is like that, where natural magic is more like static discharge."

Hermione and Blair suddenly looked at each other. They chorused, "Copper!" Blair kept going. "The conductivity would be perfect for both kinds of magic! It's perfect for carrying artificially manipulated energies, which is why it's used in electrical wiring and kettle bottoms, and it's close to the earth, as well as being readily available in nearly every part of the world. It won't interfere with the teaching because the teacher will be familiar with it." He grinned. "Not to mention the fact that every junk shop sells the stuff because it's in style right now for gardens and such."

Hermione nodded. "Just make sure that it's solid, not plated or hollow."

"Right," Harry agreed. "You wouldn't want the thing to blow up. Patina is okay, since it's natural to the metal."

Ruth looked around the circle. "Okay, then. Blair and I can go shopping today and find a piece of copper that will work for the spell. Jim and Harry can get started on that physical defense training, and there's no reason the rest of you kids can't take those lessons, as well. Since you all seem to get into trouble together, it sure couldn't hurt."

Jim suddenly heard something. Three pairs of feet on the ground outside, along with the swish of a wizard's robes trailing through the grass. Blair recognized the signs in his Sentinel and moved to stand beside him. "What is it?"

"Someone's here."

"How many?"

"Three."

Ruth trusted her fiancé and his partner. She was beside them in an instant, wand drawn, and the other wizards in the house followed suit, not knowing what was going on, but not willing to risk being caught unawares.

However, there was a polite knock at the door. Ruth moved to answer it, keeping her wand at the ready. "Who is it?"

"Albus Dumbledore, as well as some gentlemen who would like to visit with young Mr. Potter."

Still not lowering her wand, wanting to make sure before lowering her guard, Ruth opened the door wide, getting it out of the way in case she should have to use her wand.

But the precautions proved unnecessary. It was indeed Albus Dumbledore at the door, along with Remus Lupin and Sirius Black. Black ignored the wary atmosphere and went straight for Harry, who was ecstatic to see him. "Harry!"

"Sirius!"

As godfather and godson embraced fiercely, the tension in the room evaporated, and everyone put their wands away. For the moment, all was right in the world, though no one in the house was under the illusion that the peace would last.

After a few moments, however, Albus had to allow reality to break in. "I hate to mention this, but we did not come here merely for a social call." All eyes were now focused on the aging wizard. He looked grave, the accustomed twinkle gone from his eyes. "I'm afraid something terrible has happened."

Harry's eyes narrowed. "If it's about the wards on Privet Drive, we know about that."

"In a way. Harry, I'm afraid that the Dursley home has been destroyed. They never even awoke to know that something was wrong."

Cliffhanger! ^_^ Sorry this thing has taken so long to get out, but I've had a very weird life lately. Hopefully the next one won't take nearly so long.