Monday, July 30th, 1990

Harry was looking forward to his second core maturation that evening. He had stayed with Draco the night before his birthday, both of them wanting to know what would happen, and Draco not wanting to be alone. They wound up making a small party of it, the two of them talking and playing with Tansy and Dobby coming with tea and snacks since the boys decided to stay up to midnight, not wanting to miss a second of whatever was going to happen.

Narcissa had told them hers had been a bit of discomfort and a wave of accidental magic, but nothing too exciting. Severus said he had been in the muggle world for his and unfortunately, due to his father's treatment, had been blacked out from injury and so he couldn't tell them anything about it. The boys knew how his father treated him, and nodded mournfully. Lucius had said his was rather painful as his core received quite a boost, and his wave of magic had set the forest near the manor on fire. His parents had not been pleased.

All three adults had made their way to Draco's room around 11:30, wanting to check on them, and if they were still awake, they would stay with them during Draco's transition. As such the family was together at midnight when power started spilling out of the small boy lying on the bed, twitching lightly, and moaning a bit as it coursed through him. The power built and built until it seemed it might press them all into the ground when it found an outlet in the form of lighting all the candles and stoking all the fires in the manor. Lucius was pleased to feel the growth of his son's power, and laughed a bit that his magic reacted in a similar manner to Lucius's, though it was certainly less destructive. Draco's pulse of magic kept everything lit through the wee hours of the morning, only sputtering out sometime around dawn. Lucius was wondering if this manifestation would result in a gift for Fire Magic for Draco. He had not received the gift, but rather the Dark Magic affinity for all the elemental magics. Most spells involving the elements were easier for him, but he thought perhaps Draco might get the gift in fire. Once Draco had woken, later in the day, they realized his aura sight, which had originally manifested when he was seven at that horrid dinner party with the Dursleys, had grown in power and accuracy and was now even stronger than his father's.

Therefore, 11:30 on July 30th again saw the three adults headed to the children, but this time they made their way to Harry's room. Harry was already laying on the bed, though not asleep. He had told Draco he could feel a strange pressure inside him and was worried about what might happen. He hoped being in bed with his blanket and his plush stag, grim, and wolf would help keep him calm while he waited. Draco, being concerned, was seated next to him on the bed, grasping his hand, and running his other hand through Harry's hair.

Lucius had Draco move about five minutes before midnight. He took his son's place stating that he was an alpha, and Harry's magic would hurt him less than any of the others if something were to happen. Harry was groaning already, and his eyes were beginning to glow faintly. At midnight everything seemed to stop for a split second before rushing back in with a vengeance. Harry screamed as power ripped through him. His eyes glowed an unholy Avada Kedavra green, and all the lights in the house went out. Bone chilling cold crept through them, and Harry began thrashing on the bed. Lucius grabbed his legs and called Severus to hold his arms. While they watched Harry's features began shifting and his hair was changing color. The pressure of his magic was growing, far more than Draco's had, and didn't appear to be finding an outlet. Just when they were all beginning to have trouble sucking air into their lungs from the pressure of Harry's growing magic, the force broke, and everything in the manor began levitating. House elves, people, bric-a-brac, books, furniture, everything. It was a shocking display of raw power. Narcissa had seen children in St. Mungos on their second maturation do smaller versions of this, but it was usually limited to the room, and didn't typically include life forms. Severus and Lucius had never seen anything of this magnitude, nor heard any stories of anything similar. Harry's power was immense.

When the levitation started Draco had swum through the air, snatching Harry's plushies on his way. He didn't have to grab the blanket because Harry had never let go of it, even in his near-convulsions earlier. He maneuvered himself over to Harry, who had finally stopped moving since he had blacked out when the power had snapped. Lucius and Severus were swimming over to Narcissa, who was trying to assist the house elves in returning things to their proper places, but nothing was working.

"I suppose we'll just have to wait until it wears off, unless we have a way to tell if there are any rooms unaffected?" Lucius mused.

Tink popped in and held a very brief whispered conversation with Tansy and Dobby who were floating in a corner.

"Mistress Cissa, everything bes floating. Everything overs the whole house, Mistress," Tink warbled to Narcissa.

Harry's opinions on house elf treatment had been taken to heart at the Malfoy and Prince households, and their elves were better for it. They were much more inclined to take the initiative to start tasks, bring information, or do other small things without direct orders to help the family.

"Thank you, Tink," Narcissa responded, holstering her wand, giving up on getting anything back on the floor right now. "Your timing, as always, is impeccable. Do not punish yourselves for the likely mess which will result when this wears off. It is Harry's second core maturation, so we're unsure how long the levitation will last. Do your best at your tasks, and we'll find snack foods and individually packaged drinks if we are hungry or thirsty in the meantime."

"Yes, Mistress," Tink said, popping out.

"Well, you heard her," Narcissa spoke to the room at large, "It's affecting the whole house, so there's nothing to be done."

"Why don't we head to the playroom?" Lucius indicated the door. "I put cushioning charms on nearly everything, and there's plenty of blankets and pillows. As we don't know when this will end, I'd rather be in a room that won't do damage to me when it does."

"Agreed," Narcissa and Severus said.

Draco grabbed Harry's plushies once more, but even out cold, his grip on his blanket never slacked. Narcissa Accio-ed Draco to her, and floated back a few feet when he got to her, unable to brace against anything to stop his or her momentum. Severus Accio-ed Harry while Lucius swam for the playroom door. Once he was inside, he Accio-ed each child and pushed them towards what had been the cozy corner. Blankets and pillows were floating all over that area. Severus and Narcissa swam into the room, selected blankets and pillows, and… laid down in the air? They all grabbed hands like otters so no one would float off, and resolved to get whatever sleep they could while in this strange situation.

Tuesday, July 31, 1990

"Ow," Harry said when he woke around lunchtime. His voice woke the others, who had slept surprising well given they were all still levitating.

Harry looked around, adorably confused by his location and the fact that everything was floating .

"Your second core maturation was certainly memorably, dear," Narcissa started as they all stretched and bobbed in mid-air. "I am nearly afraid to see the final one," she said with an uncharacteristic giggle.

Severus cast a tempus, "It's nearing 12:30 now. More than twelve hours have passed since his second maturation and the magic is still levitating everything," he said with an expression of wonder he would deny to his dying day.

"Let's see how far this extends," Lucius decided. "Coby," he called his house elf.

"Coby is here, Master Lucius," the elf squeaked.

"Could you please take us to the silver sunroom?" Lucius asked the small elf.

Coby snapped his fingers and Tink, Dobby, Tansy, and Amaranth popped into the room. "Master Lucius wishes family to be in Silver Sunroom," Coby instructed.

Each elf nodded and popped to their assigned human. Another pop and the whole family was in the Silver Sunroom, where the boys had waited for their presentation at the Coming Out Party. They were all still floating.

"Alright," Lucius spoke again, "Let's try the gazebo in the Rose Garden.

Coby was the first to pop off to follow his master's instruction.

Pop! Still floating.

"The stables?" suggested Narcissa.

This time Tink led the group.

Pop! Still floating. Only now they were eye to eye with very confused levitating pegasi and abraxans, who whickered in greeting when they saw their humans, but continued to look confused as they remained airborne, though not under their own power as would usually occur.

"The potions garden," Severus instructed the elf which took care of him at Malfoy Manor, Amaranth.

Pop! Still floating.

"LOOK!" Draco shouted before anyone could suggest another location, even further from the manor. "We're still floating, but that snake by the tree isn't. And the birds in the tree are flying and landing like normal."

"So they are," Lucius agreed. "Weakening with distance from the original source?" he continued thinking out loud.

"Interesting that it isn't a fixed amount stopping at a specific place or radius," Severus commented.

"Indeed." Lucius muttered absently.

"The brook in the forest grove, you know the one, Tansy," Draco interrupted their thoughts.

Pop! Draco arrived. Pop! Everyone else did.

Still floating.

"I think we're a bit lower this time," Draco commented. "I was nearly as high as Father's head when we were laying down in the manor. Now, I'm only about 20 cm off the ground."

"Oh good, we're close then," Narcissa said with a small sigh.

"My spot, please Dobby," Harry said quietly.

Pops.

…

Not floating. Standing on a small hill, overlooking a beautiful meadow filled with all sorts of flowers. A few trees were scattered around, and they had landed in the shade of a small clump of them.

"This is lovely, Harry," Narcissa said smiling. "Why did you not tell of this place before?"

"Draco and I come here sometimes to think. I asked Dobby for a place to think one afternoon, and we stayed until the sun set and it was so pretty we just kept coming back. Not often, of course, but it's sort of… our spot," Harry finished.

"We won't take it from you," Severus said, clasping a hand on Harry's shoulder.

"I think we should have breakfast here," Lucius commented.

"Oh, can we?" Draco pleaded a bit.

"Of course," Narcissa agreed. "Tink, Tansy, Dobby, please see about food for us, nothing too difficult, we are eating outside after all," she instructed with a smile. "Coby, Amaranth, please fetch us some blankets to sit on, and perhaps Harry's and my latest projects?" She glanced at him for confirmation.

"Yes please, my box is next to my bed," Harry said. "Well...it should be in my room at least," he finished deprecatingly, remembering how everything had been floating.

A few minutes later saw them seated on blankets under the shade of the trees, looking out over the meadow. Narcissa and Harry were working on their needlepoint projects while Lucius and Draco discussed a few minor things with the business. Severus had wandered away to see if he could locate any potions ingredients in this new-found trove, and the elves who brought their blankets had popped away to assist the others with the food.

Half an hour later saw all five elves popping back up with baskets full of pastries, croissants, bottles of juice, thin slices of ham, and cheese. They all sat for their meal, and the elves wandered into the meadow looking for cooking ingredients or other edible plants.

They spent over an hour in the lovely spot before packing up their impromptu picnic and requesting the elves take them back to the house. They were immediately floating again, much to the group's amusement and Harry's mortification.

"I'm so sorry!" He started stammering apologies. "I didn't mean to!"

"Harry, it is nothing to apologize for," Severus stopped the babbled flow of words. "It will wear off eventually, and it is merely proof of how strong your magic really is."

"Harry nodded, accepting it.

They all floated back into the playroom with books, projects and the like. About an hour later they all started slowly sinking. They felt a small surge of magic and when everything hit the floor it was smooth and gentle, and everything was back in it's usual place.

"Wow…" Narcissa breathed.

"I've never felt a second pulse like that before," Severus said.

"Almost like his magic didn't want to hurt anything or cause any more work," Lucius added.

"Well, at least we can walk again. As nice as it was floating, it's good to be able to get somewhere without swimming… or popping," Harry said with a laugh. "And, now I can get everything ready for the Lammas ritual tomorrow!"

"Yes, you will lead tomorrow," Lucius started. Draco had led the Litha ritual on the summer solstice in June, as it was customary for a child to lead the first ritual after their tenth birthday. Harry had been excited to find out they would allow him to lead the ritual after his tenth birthday as well.

"But until then," Lucius continued, "there is one wizarding tradition that we have not yet followed for your tenth birthday."

Harry looked around confused at all the others who had smiles on their faces.

"As you know, we turned over ownership of Tansy to Draco on his tenth birthday. We give a house elf to a child on their tenth birthday because their magic is strong enough after the second maturation to provide enough magic to support the house elf bond without draining the child's magic entirely. Therefore, you have been granted ownership of the elf who has been taking care of you since you joined us. Dobby will be your house elf from now on and will be bound to your orders before anyone else's. We can of course still give orders as we are functioning as your guardians, so rules will still be enforced, and any orders we give for your safety or personal well-being will be followed. We will be going to Gringotts on Thursday for both Draco's and your first inheritance tests, and both of you will be performing the House Elf Bonding ritual while we are there," Lucius finished and then sighed. "Normally, you would have received an animal who would become your familiar as well, but since we didn't have you for your seventh birthday, we were unable to get you one. Only an animal gifted for the first core maturation can become a familiar, after that time has passed, the wixen must select their own animal or animals to become familiars as their magic is too strong and must form the beginning stage of the familiar bond with the animal itself. I am sorry you won't be able to do your first familiar ritual with Draco."

"Oh, it's ok. I'm sure I'll get a familiar eventually," Harry said with a small smile. "Thank you for everything. You've all be so kind to me, taking me in, and getting me everything I need. I couldn't have picked a better family for myself if I had tried," Harry finished, rushing to all three adults for hugs.

Wednesday, August 1, 1990 (Lammas)

Harry was pleased to be leading the first harvest ritual of the year, a time for giving thanks, protecting the harvest, and rejecting fears. He had made white robes for all the participants which he had embroidered gold sheaves of wheat tied with purple ribbon to symbolize the grain harvest around the foot. He had instructed the Malfoys and Severus to come wearing plain white garments, and was hopeful they would appreciate his work on their ritual robes. He had also convinced the elves to let him into the kitchen to bake the bread for the ritual himself, as well as mix the protective oil he wished to use.

Now he was in the ritual room, making his final preparations. He prepared two rowan sticks and a red thread for each of them, placing them by each of the cardinal points on the circle for easy access. He would stand in the center of the circle and had four candles (orange, yellow, gold, and purple) at the cardinal points on a floating gold platter next to where he would stand. The platter held his loaf of bread, a gold bowl filled with rowan for the ritual fire, and the small bottle of protective oil. On the floor he had a rowan broom. He had cleansed the room by burning sage and it was nearly time.

At sunset he stood by the door to the ritual room, with each of the robes and his bottle of protective oil.

As each person entered he handed them their ritual robe. Once they had it on, he dropped 3 drops of protection oil on their heads and repeated a blessing. Lucius entered first and was sent to the east point. "Hail and welcome. Hyssop, Lavender, Mugwort, Patchouli, Protect my guardian, so mote it be."

Draco was next and went South. "Hail and welcome. Hyssop, Lavender, Mugwort, Patchouli, Protect my brother, so mote it be."

Narcissa came after and "Hail and welcome. Hyssop, Lavender, Mugwort, Patchouli, Protect my heart-mother, so mote it be." She went to the West point, a tear in her eye, after bestowing her heart son with a hug.

Severus came last and laid a comforting hand on Harry's shoulder. "Hail and welcome. Hyssop, Lavender, Mugwort, Patchouli, Protect my heart-father, so mote it be." Severus jerked in surprise, but patted Harry's shoulder and strode confidently to the North point.

Harry stepped lightly into the center of their circle saying, "Tonight we celebrate Lammas, the first harvest of the year. We celebrate the reaping of bounties from seeds sown throughout the year – both those seeds sown out in the fields, and the seeds we sow in our own lives. We call upon the Spirits of the North, of the Earth from which the plants that feed us grow.

Severus responded, "Hail and welcome!"

Harry continued, "We call upon the Spirits of the East, of the Air and the Wind that dances across the fields."

Lucius answered, "Hail and welcome!"

Harry turned to Draco, "We call upon the Spirits of the South, of the Fire and the Sun that gives the plants life."

And Draco replied, "Hail and welcome!"

He choked a bit when he saw the tear in Narcissa's eye as he spoke to the west, "We call upon the Spirits of the West, of the Water and Rain that nourishes the plants."

Her reply was a bit watery, "Hail and welcome!"

Draco had included Harry in his Litha ritual, and so Harry had also offered to have Draco help with his. They had been practicing for weeks for this next part, and couldn't wait to see their parents' response to what they were about to do.

Harry spoke clearly, "I call upon fire to light this candle of orange. Burn into us energy, vitality, and determination." Draco snapped his fingers and candle flame lit, a small spark jumping to the bowl of rowan twigs in the center of the platter. All three adults had shocked looks on their faces. The boys barely suppressed their crows of happiness over managing such a thing.

Draco spoke next, "I call upon fire to light this candle of yellow. Burn into us Loyalty, hope, and happiness." Here Harry snapped his fingers, and the candle wick in front of him burst into flame, again a small spark jumping to the bowl.

They spoke the final two together, asking for fire to burn into them Wealth, abundance for the gold candle, and Wealth and ambition for the purple. They joined their hands while snapping with the other to set the candles aflame. This time two sparks jumped and the ritual fire of rowan was lit.

The adults were floored by the display of controlled wandless magic from both boys, not to mention the paired casting. They couldn't believe the power of their young sons.

Harry pulled their attention back, lifting his loaf of bread and offering a small blessing, "May your harvest be bountiful and sustain you through the cold winter months ahead. May the love of friends, family, and Mother Magic warm you always." He broke the loaf into five pieces, offering one to each of them. Each took a small bite and threw the rest into the fire, saying, "I make this sacrifice to protect my home and family."

Once the fire stopped jumping from the addition of the bread, Harry lifted the two twigs of rowan and the red thread next to him, indicating for all the others to do the same. He crossed the twigs and tied them together with the thread.

"I make this sacrifice to protect my home and family. I reject the fears that plague me, and cast them into the fire. Red thread and rowan wood, evil goes out, and in comes good." He tossed the cross into the fire which jumped and incinerated the cross instantly. He motioned to Severus to do the same, so each participant made their cross and sacrificed it to the ritual fire.

He picked up the broom and stepped out of the circle, sweeping around the group three times as he said, "By one, two, three, and four, sweep Lammas gifts to our door. Abundance and protection, be constant friends, and stay by our hearth till winter ends." He stepped back into the center of the circle and spoke, "Mother Magic, Spirits of the Grain, of the Harvest, and of Nature, thank you for your blessings upon this circle. Stay if you will, go if you must. Hail and Farewell!"

All of them responded, "Hail and Farewell!"

He dismissed Narcissa first, "Spirits of the West, of Water. Thank you for your blessings upon this circle. Stay if you will, go if you must. Hail and Farewell!"

"Hail and Farewell!" she responded, taking a step back off the cardinal point and out of the full circle. The purple candle winked out, and a flicker of the ritual fire died.

Harry turned to Draco, "Spirits of the South, of Fire. Thank you for your blessings upon this circle. Stay if you will, go if you must. Hail and Farewell!"

"Hail and Farewell!" Draco stepped back as the gold candle flickered and died as did a tendril of the flame

He moved to Lucius next. "Spirits of the East, of Air. Thank you for your blessings upon this circle. Stay if you will, go if you must. Hail and Farewell!"

"Hail and Farewell!" Lucius pulled out of the ring and the orange candle and a piece of the ritual fire were extinguished.

And ended with Severus. "Spirits of the North, of Earth. Thank you for your blessings upon this circle. Stay if you will, go if you must. Hail and Farewell!"

"Hail and Farewell!" Severus backed away, the yellow candle died, and the ritual flame went out.

They all spoke together, "Hail and Farewell."

A pulse of magic was released when the flames were doused, and all the participants sighed with the flow of magic through them. The ritual was complete.