Harry Potter and all characters, etc. belong to J.K. Rowling, not me.

Harry's New Boggart – Chapter 9

Preparing for Battle

Later that night, Harry and Hermione flooed into the Burrow with their luggage, to be greeted affectionately by Ginny and Ron, respectively. Before their hugs turned into full-blown snogs, they heard Mrs. Weasley clear her throat.

"Hello, dears! I hope your business at Hogwarts is settled."

"Er, yes it is," replied Harry, exchanging a glance with Hermione. "But tomorrow I would like to visit my house for a while with Ron, Hermione, and Ginny."

"Your house?" asked Mrs. Weasley.

"You know, the house Sirius left me that I so kindly allow the Order of the Phoenix to use as headquarters."

"Oh," responded Mrs. Weasley, looking a bit confused. "I almost forgot about that house. Where is it located again?"

Hermione chuckled a bit. "Ms. McGonagall said something about having put it back under the Fidelius Charm with a new secret-keeper. She told us its location, but we can't tell you. She did give us a sheet of paper with the address on it so we could show you all, but it's in our luggage."

Harry played along, "Er, yeah. We'll go upstairs and unpack, and then we'll show you the note."

"Well, I think that can wait until after dinner," said Mrs. Weasley, "Just bring your luggage to your rooms."

As Harry and Hermione got halfway up the stairs, Ginny elbowed Ron. "Ouch," he exclaimed, "What was that for?"

"For being such a git that you let your girlfriend carry her own bag up the stairs while you were just standing around watching."

"Hermione can handle it," yelled Ron indignantly.

Ginny sighed, "I should have known better than to expect you to be a gentleman."

In the meantime, Harry and Hermione had just put their luggage in the appropriate rooms and were on the way back. Harry whispered, "That was quick thinking about that note. I thought she was gonna find out I'm secret-keeper."

"You should write a note just after dinner and show it to all the Weasleys. Then claim McGonagall instructed you to destroy the note."

They did just that, and early the next morning the quartet of teenagers found themselves flooing into Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

"Okay, we're here," announced Ron, yawning. "Why is it that you wanted us to come here this early?"

"For a few reasons. One of which is that we all need to train magically and physically," explained Hermione.

"Harry," countered Ginny, "We can't use magic. I know your birthday's soon, but mine won't be for a year."

"We just found out that underage magic isn't detected in this house," replied Harry, trying to hide the fact that Hermione always knew it. "You shouldn't use magic outside the house unless you have to defend yourself, but I want us to practice here so that you're ready to do just that."

"Okay," agreed Ron.

"Why isn't underage magic detected here?" asked Ginny suspiciously.

Hermione went a bit pink. "Er, because of the Fidelius Charm."

"I thought you'd read all about that years ago," asked Ginny.

Hermione went a bit pinker, "Er, yeah..."

"Then how come you didn't tell us before?" asked Ron, looking upset. "Especially when we were cleaning..."

"Because there wasn't a real need..." yelled Hermione.

Harry, seeing that a fight was about to break out, announced, "Now for the other reason we wanted you here." He pointed his wand toward the stairs and said, "Accio firebolts." Both Ron and Ginny's jaws dropped as four firebolts flew toward Harry.

"We decided that since it's a definite possibility that we may end up fleeing for our lives on a broomstick, we should all have the fastest there is."

Ginny's arms went straight around Harry's neck and she kissed him deeply, murmuring "Thank you," when they'd separate for air.

"Wait just a minute," argued Ron. "We can't accept this! Our brooms are good enough! I know they're not fancy like your expensive firebolt, but they get the job done! We've both done well with our own and don't need..."

"This is not about Quidditch, Ronald, or your pride!" yelled Hermione indignantly. "This is about your life! If we're going to face Voldemort knows what, we want to be able to escape as quickly as possible! Voldemort and his followers know how to set up wards we can't apparate through! Do you want Harry to die because he had to wait for your cleansweep to catch up to his firebolt?"

"Well, no, but..." replied Ron while Ginny stifled a laugh at the way Hermione could calm her brother down.

"Do you want to be a liability to our mission simply because you refused to accept proper equipment?"

"No, Mione, but..."

"No buts, Ronald! Now, we'll also have to practice riding them. Well, everyone but Harry," insisted Hermione. "This is the one thing I'll need more practice with than anyone else."

"First, however, I'd like to start with some physical exercise," suggested Harry.

Hermione transfigured all their clothes to appropriate exercise outfits, and they began a workout that Hermione had improvised the day before. After an excruciating hour that consisted of running up and down the stairs, doing push-ups, sit-ups, and several other forms of torture, the group was exhausted, panting, and drenched with sweat.

"I'll bet no Death Eater ever got this much exercise in their whole life," commented Ron.

"Exactly," agreed Hermione, "This will give us the advantage. Now it's time for spellwork."

First, Hermione reviewed what the trio had practiced before Bill's wedding, mainly for Ginny's benefit, although more practice never hurt anybody. After an hour of review, they started practicing dueling, pairing off Ron against Harry and Hermione against Ginny. Hermione figured that the guys would've held back if they were dueling the girls.

On the ground floor, Hermione was winning against Ginny, effectively blocking every curse she sent until the redhead used her famous bat-bogey hex on the brunette, which somehow got through her shield and grossed her out enough to get her to drop her guard, allowing Ginny to hit her with a stupefy hex.

At the same time on the upper levels, Ron and Harry were still in a stalemate, each escaping the other's hexes. They were hiding in different rooms having a regular battle, when Harry noticed Ron's wand stick outside one of the doors and got inspiration. He whispered, "Accio, Ron's wand," and the wand slipped out of Ron's hand and floated toward Harry.

Ron panicked and exclaimed, "What the?" while sticking his head out only to be stupefied by his grinning opponent.

After both Harry and Ginny had revived their victims, the quartet discussed the duels, specifically how they had been won. Hermione admitted, "What lost me the duel was when Ginny's hex got through my shield. I think I was counting too much on my shield instead of dodging physically. The Death Eaters use a lot of spells that go through Protego shields, so we all need to make sure we move out of the way while putting up the shields at the same time, just in case we don't move fast enough. What happened to you, Ron?"

"Well," answered a slightly miffed Ron, "I stuck my wand outside a doorway, and Harry summoned it right out of my hand." Ginny laughed until her brother glared at her. "Then, I guess I panicked because I stuck my head out of the doorway looking for my wand. The next thing I knew, Harry was reviving me."

"Well," commented Hermione thoughtfully, "That gives us a few things to think about. The first is obviously not to panic. Hopefully these practice sessions will help us all with that. The next thing is what to do if we lose our wand. The best thing would be if we could learn some useful wandless magic."

"That's impossible!" argued Ron.

"No, it's not, Ron," declared Ginny. "As little kids, all of us accidentally did some wandless magic."

"Exactly," agreed Hermione. "From what I've read, it's very rare to master magic without a wand to help focus it, but not impossible. I was hoping Harry could help us with that."

"Me?" asked Harry, looking as though he'd been Confunded, "Why me?"

"Because," answered Hermione, looking like she was explaining that two plus two equals four to college graduates, "you have the most experience with it. What you did to your Aunt Marge a few years ago, although illegal, was actually an impressive bit of wandless magic. I was hoping we could figure out exactly how you did it, and try to duplicate it."

Harry shrugged his shoulders. "I'll try, but honestly I don't know how I did it. I was mad and wanted her to go away."

"So, like all accidental magic I've heard of, it takes a strong emotional commitment – either fear, or, as in your case, anger."

"How does that help us?" asked Ron.

"I think that what happens is that those emotions focus us, and if we can learn that focus, we'll be able to do wandless magic. I'll try and find a book on ways to concentrate better. In the meantime, I think it wouldn't hurt if each of us took a few minutes to try concentrating on a simple spell without a wand. If I'm correct, Harry, you weren't thinking of magic words, just results. Am I right?" Harry nodded. "When you practice, don't think of specific spells, just what you want to happen. Wait here." She then got up and went to the kitchen to retrieve four spoons. She set them on the floor, one near each of them. "I'd like each of us to put down our wands and concentrate on making the spoons float."

"You mean Wingardium Leviosa?" asked Ginny.

"Yes, but don't concentrate on those words, just on the spoon floating. Try to make yourself angry with the spoon if it's not doing what you want it to."

After about two minutes, Harry's spoon slowly started to move upward. Harry smiled and turned toward the others for a second to tell them, and his spoon fell, so he glared at the spoon, and it began to float again almost instantaneously. Shortly after that, Hermione's spoon began to slowly rise, followed by Ginny's. Ron's spoon was starting to turn around after another minute, but he yelled in frustration, "This is impossible! I don't know how you're doing it, but I can't!" He then got up and started storming up the stairs.

Hermione followed, "You're just not concentrating enough! Most students at Hogwarts couldn't even turn the spoon without a wand! You've only been trying it for ten minutes!"

"But you three could do it!" he argued indignantly.

"We already knew Harry could do it, and I think you'd agree that I've always been a very focused person," she explained calmly.

"Yeah, I suppose," agreed Ron. "But what about Ginny? She's a year younger than me and she did it!"

"I think I can probably explain that, Ron," said Ginny. "After my, my experience with Tom, I found that if I didn't focus on whatever I was doing, I'd start thinking about the chamber and cry. I had to learn how to focus on what I was doing, and I never stopped. I'm sure you noticed that my grades improved."

"We all sort of figured that your grades were lower your first year because you were going through, y'know, everything, and then when it was over, you recovered, and well, so did your grades."

"Oh, yes," replied Ginny sarcastically, "the Weasley plan for recovery from possession. Take the girl on a vacation to Egypt and never talk about the problem. That'll solve everything!"

"Anyway," said Hermione, hastily changing the subject, "Now it's time to practice something I'm not good at, flying."

They had just picked up their firebolts and were about to apparate onto the roof (Harry taking Ginny side-along) where Hermione assured them that no one would see them for thirty feet above the house. Suddenly the fireplace burned green and Mrs. Weasley came walking out. She looked at them and smiled. "There you are. I was just going to tell you it's lunchtime and...What are those? Where did you get those firebolts?"

While both Ginny and Ron's ears went pink, Harry spoke up, "Mrs. Weasley, I..."

"Don't tell me you bought them all? You're going to have to take them back! Ron and Ginny have perfectly good brooms to play Quidditch on and I will not have you wasting your money on that! Hermione, I'm surprised at you, letting him squander his gold like that. Ron, Ginny, how could you accept something that expensive..."

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry interrupted her for the first time in his life. "They didn't want to accept them at first, but this isn't about Quidditch! This is about the fact that being close to me puts them in danger. They could literally end up trying to escape Death Eaters on a broomstick, and if that happens, I want them to be on the fastest broomstick there is! It could literally mean the difference between life and death, and I am not going to let your pride cause their deaths!"

Mrs. Weasley looked shocked that he stood up to her, but was listening to what he said. She sat down as he explained about the danger associated with him. "I, I wish that weren't true, Harry. I guess as someone who lives in a house with special protection, I can't deny the danger."

"We didn't tell you because we didn't want to alarm you, Mrs. Weasley, but Harry and I picked them up yesterday. We didn't tell Ron and Ginny until we got here today. We were just going to practice riding them above the roof so that we'd know what we were doing if danger came, especially me. I'm not all that good at flying. If you don't mind, I think it really would be easier to practice at the Burrow, now that you know about the brooms." Mrs. Weasley nodded sadly.

"We're also exercising and learning how to defend ourselves in case of an attack," added Ginny with her most angelic face, taking advantage of her mother's mood. "That's why we came here."

"But you and Harry are both underage," said Mrs. Weasley.

"Underage magic can't be detected in a house under the Fidelius Charm, so we've been practicing here," explained Hermione. "Knowing how to defend ourselves could literally save our lives."

"So, what you're trying to say is that you want to come here every morning like you did today," Mrs. Weasley asked. She took a deep breath. "I certainly can't stop Harry from going to his own house, and I can't stop Hermione from coming here. As much as I hate to admit it, you kids do end up in danger a lot, so being as prepared as possible is probably a good idea. I suppose it's all right for you to practice here. Just don't tell anyone else about it. As far as the three new brooms go, you can bring them to the Burrow now to practice, but don't let anyone else know you've got them. Ron, Ginny, you are not to use them to play Quidditch with." Ron scowled. "Don't you give me that face young man! You may be seventeen but I'm still your mother."

"Mrs. Weasley," said Hermione, "I've just gotten an idea. Why don't we just disguise the brooms to look like a different kind? We could make Ron and Ginny's look like the brooms they've got, and I can make mine look like a Nimbus 2000."

"Well," agreed Mrs. Weasley, "I suppose so. It would surprise a Death Eater to see a cleansweep move as fast as a firebolt. Just don't improve so much in Quidditch that your brothers start to suspect your brooms aren't what they appear to be."

After Hermione performed the charms on the appearance of the brooms, they went to the Burrow. After lunch, Ginny and Ron hid their old brooms, and then the four of them went out to the quidditch pitch and mounted their brooms. Obviously, Harry was the best flier. Ron, who had previously ridden Harry's firebolt, didn't have much trouble learning to control his, and neither did Ginny. Hermione, however, was six feet above the ground rocking back and forth on her broom. Her hands were gripping tightly to the handle, and she appeared very scared.

"Hermione," asked Harry as he flew near her, "what's wrong? I know it's a bit different, but you have ridden brooms before."

"It's," she replied, slightly stuttering, "very sensitive. If I move in the slightest, it moves w-with me."

"Of course," agreed Harry, "That's the best thing about them. Firebolts almost seem like they're controlled by your thoughts. They respond to the smallest movement. Lean forward just a bit."

After about an hour of patient coaching from Harry, Ron, and Ginny, Hermione seemed to finally be at ease on the firebolt, so they could practice flying defensively, which means to avoid getting hit by spells. It can also include firing a few spells yourself. Since only Ron and Hermione were of age, they were the ones firing spells from behind the others. Harry and Ginny did very well, probably due to their positions on the quidditch team that require them to always avoid bludgers. This gave Harry the idea of having himself and Ginny hit bludgers at the other couple so that they'd have something to avoid. Ron did okay, although his position made him more used to catching the quaffle than avoiding a bludger. Hermione, however, didn't do so well, and got knocked off her broom more than once. Fortunately, Harry had insisted on playing only a few feet in the air because he was afraid of that happening.

As the week passed, they all got a bit better at everything they were practicing. At the end of the duels, the losers always explained how they'd lost so that everyone could learn from the mistakes. Ron managed to float a spoon and Hermione avoided being hit by a bludger on the third day of training.

On the eighth day of training, when they finished practicing wandless magic (this time summoning their wands from across the room) Hermione announced, "I believe I've worked out the location of the first place from Riddle's past we're going to investigate for another Horcrux. If nobody has any objections, I think we should leave tomorrow after our practice. We'll tell Mrs. Weasley that we're going shopping."

Chapter end