The alarm clock rang at seven and Harry shot out of his sleep and off the couch so fast that Hermione was confused by the sudden movement. She looked up and saw Harry holding the clock, he set it down and smiled at her. He walked over and kissed her.
"Hi." He said with an embarrassed smile.
"Hi." She said with a confident grin as she sat up and let the blanket fall. She saw his eyes go wide and that made her laugh.
"See something you like Harry?" She asked stretching and pulling her hair back.
"I see something I love. Someone." He amended.
"Good answer." She said pulling him down on top of her to kiss him.
"Mia, I have to go before your dad gets up." Harry said.
"Why?" She asked kissing his jaw.
"Because it would be dumb to make it to America only to get killed by your dad." He said kissing her one last time before standing up and collecting his shirt, vest, and gun rig.
"I'm sure dad wouldn't mind." Hermione said.
"And I'm sure I'd rather not find out the hard way. Now, I need a shower, and breakfast so I can take my potions. You need to get up too. We got a long day ahead of us." Harry said.
"Fine. But you're acting like a chicken for no reason." She said walking into her bedroom.
Harry walked out of her room and down the hall to his own. He saw Hedwig sleeping in his bed. Well at least someone got to sleep in a comfortable bed last night. His neck was killing him. He took a long hot shower and sat under the spray long enough to work some of the stiffness out of his neck. When he got out he saw he really needed to shave. He had four days of stubble on his face. He started to reach for his wand and remembered he didn't have one. Now he was in a real quandary. He had only ever used the grooming charm to shave. He looked in the wash bag Dora put together for him and saw a disposable razor and a can of gel foam.
"Gryffindors charge ahead. How hard can it be?" Harry muttered looking at the razor.
A minute later Harry rushed out of his room in his white bathrobe holding his bleeding neck as blood ran down his arm. He almost ran head long into Dan who was walking out of his room.
"Hey kid, where's the fire?" Dan asked.
"I need a band-aid. I cut myself trying to shave." Harry said and Dan saw the hastily washed off shaving cream and blood dripping down his neck.
"Right. I can help. Come on." Dan said dragging Harry back through their suite of rooms and into the bathroom.
"Wash your face off and let's see what we're looking at." Dan said digging out his shaving kit.
"I put the gel on and I just touched the razor to my neck and the blood just started pouring out." Harry said washing off the blood to expose the half inch long cut on his neck.
"Oh son, you got yourself a good bleeder. This is going to sound strange but. Swipe your finger on this antiperspirant and smear it on the cut." Dan said rolling out his speed stick. Harry followed his instructions and in seconds the cut stopped bleeding.
"Give it a few more seconds. The aluminum in the antiperspirant restricts the capillaries and speeds up clothing. In a minute you can wash it off and it should be fine. It happens sometime when you first open a new razor." Dan said.
"I wouldn't know. I use my wand, there's a spell that cut hair but not skin. But I don't have a wand so I tried the razor." Harry said.
"I see. Here, let me teach you then." Dan said pulling out a can of cream and a razor.
"Thanks, I have no idea what I'm doing." Harry said lathering up his face.
"First off all those cheap single blade razors suck. This has five blades. Also, you don't have to press hard. The blades are sharp and they do all the work. Now I like to shave down. Like this." Dan sad tilting Harry's head to the side and showing him.
"I see I was pressing way too hard." Harry said.
"Everyone presses too hard or too soft the first few times they shave. And that spell you use made your face very soft. I'd suggest you use a razor for a while to toughen up your face a bit. That way if you're ever in a pinch and you have to shave with a cheap razor you won't bleed to death." Dan said laughing.
"How do I do my neck?" Harry asked.
"I go up, but my skin is like shoe leather. Just keep going down. You know your hair grows in pretty good, you could grow a good beard in a few weeks." Dan said keeping a close eye on the boy as he finished up the last swipe of his neck.
"I was thinking about growing a beard but it was against the Hogwarts charter." Harry said.
"Well that's not an issue anymore. Wash your face. Then slap on some of this. It's going to burn but that means it's working." Dan said pouring some Old Spice on his hands.
"Fuck me. This bites." Harry said waving at his face.
"It's sealing all the small micro cuts on your face. We'll stop off in a drug store and get you a good razor and some after shave, after all I'm sure my daughter is not going to want to kiss you smelling like her dad." Dan said.
"You're right, I should wash my face." Harry said laughing. Then he got serious. "Thanks for taking the time to teach me how to shave. I've never had…" Harry started to say and Dan cut him off.
"Look kid, Dora told us a bit about the abuse you put up with growing up. She came to talk to us last night after you talked to her about trying to give us the master suite in your own house so I know some of the story. If you want to talk about it, or if you want to know something like shaving or the like. Just ask. You're a good kid Harry. Better then you should be with the way you were raised. You don't have to keep thanking me. And you don't have to sneak around in your own house. You're too noble to push things too far too fast, and my daughter is too smart to get knocked up. I don't care what you do behind closed doors." Dan said laughing at Harry's shocked face.
"How did…" Harry asked.
"I saw you trying to sneak down the hall earlier. I was just getting up and wanted a bottle of water. I saw you doing the walk of shame." Dan said with a chuckle.
"Right. We both had our pants on." Harry said.
"I figured as much. I'm happy you're with my daughter Harry. I'd much rather have you as a son in law then some punk kid that's going to break my baby's heart. You're a good man and I know you'll take care of my daughter. You're the type of man that would kill for his family. I should know, I'm the same way. Now go get dressed so we can get some food in our bellies. We got a full day ahead of us." Dan said leading them out of their room.
"I love Hermione, but I'm glad you and Emma are a part of the package deal." Harry said before jogging back to his room. Dan smiled at the boy's retreating form as he headed to the kitchen.
Harry got dressed for the day in jeans and a blue button up shirt over his dragon hide vest. It was the last outfit he had in the duffel bag. He was glad they were getting wands today so he could clean his clothes. He pulled on his gun rig and walked into the kitchen. He found everyone sitting at the big island in the kitchen. They each had a plate full of breakfast in front of them and they all smiled at him when he walked in. even Hedwig was sitting next to the counter with a big bowl full of grilled fish.
"Good morning. How does the room service work?" Harry asked.
"You order off the menu by selecting the items you want with the pen in the holder and setting the menu on the silver holder next to the silver tray and the food appears a minute later." Dora said.
"Cool." Harry said grabbing the menu and looking it over. He selected bacon, eggs, and hash browns, toast and coffee with a lot of cream and sugar. He set the menu on the holder and it flashed. A few seconds later things started showing up on the big serving tray. A minute later and his breakfast was ready. He took a seat next to Dan and started eating.
"Dora, did you call your mum and tell her about my scar?" Harry asked.
"Yeah. I called her about a half hour ago. She said that lines up with what's going on back there. The dark lord's been quiet for the last three days. His death eaters have stopped raiding houses." Dora said between bites of waffle.
"That's good news." Harry said.
"Yes it is. More good news, the Old man is totally panicking. They finally figured out you were missing yesterday night at about two in the morning when Moody finally took a shift as guard. They spent most of the night checking everyplace you would go and when that turned up nothing they started checking with your friends. I give it a day or two before they send someone to Paris to check up on Hermione. At that point they will run into our cover story that you guys ran off to Germany. With any luck they'll take the bait and spend the next two months searching the German countryside before they figure out it's a wild goose chase. On a brighter note mum talked to Neville and Augusta Longbottom, Susan and Amelia Bones, and Luna and Odd Lovegood. Luna and her dad are preparing to mothball their house and offices. They plan to move here in a week with mum. Neville and Susan are going to work on Augusta and Amelia and try to get them to leave. Mum has a list of the other members of your study group from last year and she's going to start contacting them in the next few days." Dora said.
"That's great. Hopefully both sides get so wrapped up in their infighting they give everyone a chance to get out." Harry said.
"Yeah. We need to talk to Abby and have the goblins set up a flight for them. Mums going to put them all on a train to Paris, and I will get them on the plane to New York. I'll head out to Paris a few hours early to make sure they're not being followed." Dora said.
"I hope they all agree to leave. Tell Andy to push as hard as she can. If Neville's folks are a sticking point I'm sure we can get a few healers from here to go over there and secure a transfer for them. Money's no object. I'll throw however much cash we have to throw at this. Are we going to have enough room here for everyone if they all decide to come? Should we see if we can get a few more apartments in the building?" Harry asked.
"I think we'll be good for now. Worst case scenario we can turn a few of the sitting rooms in the bedroom suites into bedrooms. We'll just turn a few of the couches into a few beds. And besides, staying here might be temporary for them. They have money of their own and for the most part they can make it on their own with a little help from us. Amelia is fully capable of getting a job here and picking up where she left off. She's the only honest department head in a corrupt ministry. She's also the top cop in a dark country, and to top it all off she knows how to run a department on a shoestring budget. Odd can print is paper here, I'm sure people want to read about random creatures. The Longbottom fortune is just slightly smaller than your own." Dora said.
"Good point. But maybe we should think about finding these folks something to do in case they come over here and can't find something to do. You have to remember what the American mages think of our home land. They might not respect the fact that we have our OWLs. Technically, we're adults in the UK. But here we have a few years before our majority. Now I'm not worried about finding employment. But some of the people we bring over are not as well off as this first batch. We should pool a list of our skills and see what we can do. I'm sure with a small investment we can make a business that fits all of our skill sets." Harry said.
"All of our skill sets? Our, as in us too?" Hermione asked.
"Sure, I have a feeling I'll get bored if I don't find something to do. We also have to start training. We need to double down on the combat tactics. I want us to be ready when they come looking for us. The old man is not going to leave me or you alone, and if Tom kills the old man and wins his little war then he's going to come after me. I'd like to be ready for that. In the meantime, we need wands, clothes, I'd like to look at my cars and get the camaro out of the study, I'd also like to get the glamour off this watch, and I'd like to get a set of golf clubs so we can play. You have your clubs Dan or are we getting two sets." Harry asked.
"I left everything in a storage unit back home." Dan said.
"Then we need two sets of clubs and everything else we need." Harry said.
"Sounds good to me. We can start on the roof so you can practice your short game. Then we can find a driving range and work on your long game." Dan said.
"Sounds like a plan. We've got some time before Abby gets here, you want to go down to the garage and check out the cars?" Harry asked.
"You know I do." Dan said with a grin. The two men got on the elevator and took it to the lobby where they saw a tired looking Mike standing by the front door.
"Hey Mike, I'm shocked to see you. I thought you were the late shift guy?" Harry asked.
"I am, but I'm also head doorman, and Steve, the morning shift guy threw out his back real bad yesterday moving a couch. He went to see a healer but even with magic he's going to be out today. That means I take his shift. It's why they pay me the big bucks and I get the bigger apartment. Was there something I could help you with Mr. Steel?" Mike asked.
Yeah Mike, my holdings report said I have four cars parked in the garage. How do I get to the garage?" Harry asked.
"Just hit basement 2. Your cars are parked on the bottom floor. The keys are in them. I had our head garage guy Walter look them over. They seem to be in good working order. So Walter gave them a good washing. Real nice rides if a do say so myself Sir." Mike said.
"Thanks Mike." Harry said as they got back on the elevator. "Nice guy." Harry said as the brass doors closed and the old dark wood elevator took them to B2.
When they got off the elevator they found themselves in a big well light underground garage. Following the signs for the apartment numbers they found a corner in the back marked Penthouse. They saw the two cars they brought with them. Sitting next to them were three classic sports cars and a fourth car still under a cover. An old man in a work shirt and black slacks was wiping an old red convertible Ferrari with a soft rag. When he looked up at them approaching the car Harry got a Doc Brown vibe from the man. Odd but smart. He had long white gray hair and twinkling blue eyes.
"Can I help you?" He asked with a friendly smile as they walked up.
"Hi, Harry Steel. I moved into the family penthouse." Harry said not taking his eyes off the cars now that he was close enough to really see the lines.
"Walter Brown. Nice to meet you. Steel you say? Are you sure? You look like a Potter. I should know, I've been working here since the new garage opened." The old man said looking at Harry intently.
"Really? Then you knew the Potters?" Harry asked.
"Charles Potter hired me back in 1950 when he added the garage. I was ten, and they hired me to wash the cars." The old man said with a smile.
"Look Walter, can you keep a secret? I am a Potter. Harry Potter, Charles was my grandfather." Harry said smiling.
"I Knew It! I could always spot a Potter!" Walter said excitedly.
"You a wizard?" Harry asked.
"Squib. It's good to have a Potter in the building again. It's been so long." Walter said looking close to tears.
"Did you know my grandfather well?" Harry asked trying to change the subject.
"I sure did. He hired me in the summer of 1950. My father was head mechanic and we lived in an apartment on the first floor like the rest of the staff. My dad took care of the cars, and I kept them looking good. Over the years I learned everything from my dad and and Charles and I was bumped up to mechanic too. Charles was always down here or up in the apartment wrenching on his cars. At one point he had twenty cars down here. That was back in the 60's when there were a dozen Potters living in the building. Charles used to spend a good portion of the year here working on cars and spending time with his kids, but over the years his kids died and he took them up to the apartment and put them away. I think he had a hard time looking at them. Bad memories. When I heard about your grand parents murders it tore me up. They were good people your grandparents. Your father was a bit on the spoiled side but he was still a good kid." Walter said and Harry felt that awkward feeling whenever people talked about his parents deaths. He never knew what to say. What was he supposed to say?
"Well there's a Potter living here again and as you can see we're starting to add to the collection. Now what do we have here? We know next to nothing about cars." Dan said waving at the cars to take the attention off Harry
"Well this red one here is a 1967 Ferrari 275 GTB4 N.A.R.T. Spider. It's one of only ten built." Walter said opening the door for Harry.
"It looks beautiful Walter." Harry said finding keys in the ignition. He turned the key and the sweet sounding engine turned over and fired right up. "Wow." Harry said as he revved the engine a few times before cutting it off. "How much is this car worth Walter? I have some places to go today and I might take it." Harry asked getting out of the little convertible.
"Well this car has almost no miles and it's in perfect condition. I'd say it's worth about 20 million dollars." Walter said and smiled when Harry and Dan looked shocked.
"I am definitely not taking that out any time soon. In fact I might put it in the vault. My god." Harry said walking over to a small white convertible. "What about this one?" Harry asked.
"That's your grandmother's favorite car. It's a 1955 BMW 507 Roadster. It's a sweet little ride. Very fast and nimble. You're grandmother was just as big of a speed freak as your grandfather. I'm sure there are still some unpaid speeding tickets in the glove box." Walter said letting Harry get in.
"I think I like this one better than the last one. It reminds me of my of your Aston Dan. How much is it worth?" Harry asked.
"About a million and a half dollars." Walter said laughing.
"Right." Harry said getting out nice and slow, and closing the door softly. "What about this one? Is it worth the price of a big house?" Harry asked looking at the third sports car.
"No, it's worth more than that. It's a 1954 Mercedes 300SL roadster. You're looking at a car that's worth twice, maybe three times, as much as the BMW." Walter said laughing.
"What about the car under the cover?" Dan asked laughing along with Walter at the fact that Harry had cars worth too much to drive. It was like being adrift in the ocean, water everywhere but none to drink.
"This is a 1970 Ferrari 365 Daytona convertible, in piano black with tan leather interior and top, also called the Sonny Crockett special." Walter said pulling the cover off the car.
"Holy siht it's the car from Miami Vice." Dan said feeling light headed.
"What's Miami Vice?" Harry asked causing Dan to look at him like he was crazy.
"Son, Miami Vice is the greatest tv show ever made! I can't believe you've never heard of it. But you know what? We are going to fix that. I'm sure we can get the DVDs from Amazon. Then you and me are going to sit in your big ass movie theater and watch all five seasons." Dan said looking close to tears as he sat behind the wheel of his dream car.
"Sounds fun. How much is this car worth?" Harry asked.
"A screen accurate Miami Vice Daytona? About a million dollars." Walter said laughing.
"Well shit, is there anything in this garage that I own that I can drive out of here without having a heart attack the first time someone looks at it wrong?" Harry asked.
"Well, James's car is parked over there." Walter said pointing behind him.
"James?" Harry asked with a lump in his throat.
"He would come here in the summer with his parents. They even gave him his own apartment on the ninth floor for the summer so he and his friends could have some freedom. We used to have a VW bug down here as well as a Vincent black shadow. His friends parked in this section." Walter said walking them over to a car under a cover.
"That would be Moony and Padfoot." Harry said.
"A bunch of hooligans coming and going all hours of the night speeding in the garage. But they were good kids. I didn't get a chance to clean this one yet but I did it last year so it should be fine to drive. All the cars are charmed to keep for a long time. It's why those four look like they do. Your grandfather was a real gear head. He made a whole bunch of spells and enchantments to keep his cars working no matter what. His log books are in the workshop upstairs." Walter said pulling the cover off a more modern black convertible Ferrari.
"What is it?" Harry asked softly as he fell in love with the shape and stance of the nimble looking sport scar. The car was so black and shiny it looked wet. It sat low on black five point rims and tires so wide it looked like the fenders were rolled out to fit better. The car had a tan leather interior and a black convertible top. The car was sexy.
"This is a 1995 Ferrari f355 spider. This was your dad's first and only car. He bought it in 97 when he was 17. He bought it used and spent every minute that he wasn't driving it fixing it. He bought a smashed Ferrari 355 challenge race car and swapped over the powertrain, suspension, exhaust, brakes, and tires. Then he spent weeks enchanting it to be lighter, stiffer, and stronger. You could run this car into a brick wall and hurt the wall. This was James's baby before he had you." Walter said opening the driver's side door for him.
Harry slipped in behind the wheel and sank into the soft leather bucket seats. He took a deep breath and smelled leather and armor all. He wrapped his left hand around the leather wrapped steering wheel and put his right hand on the stainless steel shift knob. Dan slipped into the passenger seat and they shared a grin. Dan nodded to the key in the igniting and Harry turned it. The car cranked over twice before the V8 fired up and roared to life in an angry scream.
Harry put on his seat belt and Dan followed his lead. Harry slipped the car into first gear and slowly idled out of the spot and up the ramp. At the top of the ramp the door opened and Harry slipped out into the sunlight. He checked to make sure he had some clear space before he punched it and was thrown back into his seat as the V8 barked and screamed propelling them to 50 mph and the top of the rev limit of first gear so fast that it scared and excited Harry. He backed off and cruised to a stop at the corner light and when the light changed he punched it, this time he shifted into second and made it up to 65 mph before he had to slow down for traffic.
"Dan, I think I'm in love with my dad's ex-girlfriend." Harry said with a smirk.
"I think I am too. The power of this car is crazy. I wonder how light it is. It feels like it weighs nothing. And the power. I bet this car would leave my little Aston in the dust." Dan said.
"I know it would, I've driven both. Which is something you have to do. You have to feel how smooth and fast the power hit you." Harry said pulling over and getting out. They switched seats and Dan blasted out of the parking spot so fast he scared himself too.
"My God!" Dad said taking a right at the corner and keeping his foot down. He wasn't going fast but the car cornered so flat it tossed them both around in their seats.
"I know right?" Harry said laughing.
"Harry, I'll trade you for my Aston." Dan said with a knowing smile.
"Can't do it Dan. Not for all the gold in the world." Harry said grinning from ear to ear.
"I don't blame you. It's a sweet ride. I wonder if we can lighten my car and make it feel like this." Dan said pulling around to the side of the building and the big steel door opened letting them back into the garage.
"That being said I'll let you drive any car I own just like you let me drive your Aston. I've driven your car more then you have. Today you should take the Daytona." Harry said as they coasted back to the bottom of the garage.
"Thank's son, but I think I'll go with Dora so we don't have to take three cars. Maybe later though. I've always wanted to drive that car. We have to watch the show." Dan said as he pulled the car into it's spot and they both got out.
"So I take it you'll be daily driving the 355?" Walter asked with a knowing grin.
"Yes. There is also a black Camaro convertible upstairs in the apartment. That will be a second car for when we need more than two seats. There is also a vault full of cars I have no idea what any of them are. Plus the dark gray Boss 429 Mustang sitting half built in the study. Would you be willing to help us fix it and put it back together?" Harry asked.
"I'd love to, Charles would have me up to the apartment all the time to help him wrench on cars. We'd have beers and talk about girls and cars. I have so many stories I can tell you about Charles. I'd be happy to come up and talk as we wrenched on cars." Walter said.
"I'd like that very much Walter. We're going to be busy for the next few days but we should schedule something for the weekend." Harry said holding out his hand.
"Sounds good to me. I can also help you inventory the cars in the vault. I've probably wrenched on most of them over the years." Walter said.
"Great. Come on Dan let's head back up before the girls figure out we've been missing too long." Harry said leading Dad to the elevators.
Dan saw the buzz in the younger man. It was like he found a new level or something. There a was confidence to his posture, and an air of magic that pulsed around the boy. This was not the same boy he helped shave just an hour and a half ago. This was a young man that knew something. Dan smirked, and patted the young man on the back as the doors opened in front of the penthouse. They walked in and saw Abby standing in the formal sitting room, as the women of the house gathered their bags and things. She smiled when she saw him and handed him the backpack back.
"I have your cash. The goblins had to scramble to gather that much currency." Abby said.
"I hope I didn't put them out. I just knew I couldn't spend old bills like that." Harry said looking in the bag and seeing the stacks of new hundred dollar bills. He opened the bag further to show Dan who looked shocked.
"Is that bag full?" Dan asked stunned.
"It is, this was my granddads ready funds. I'll be back in a minute." Harry said jogging to his room.
He dumped some of the stacks out of the bag on his bed and grabbed the empty metal briefcase. He put a million dollars in the case and put the rest back in the bag. He dumped the bag in the safe and grabbed five packs of 500 Euro notes and tossed them in the case. Lastly he stuffed his small bag of a thousand galleons in the case and closed it. He fed the case into his messenger bag and slung it over his shoulders. When he got to the sitting room he found the rest of the group waiting for him.
"Sorry, I had to grab some of the cash and put the rest away." Harry said waving them out the front door. He closed and locked it behind him and they headed down to the garage.
"Back so soon?" Walter asked.
"We're headed out for the day. Who's riding with me?" Harry asked dropping into his new car.
"I am. The rest of the adults can take Dora's car." Hermione said slipping in next to him.
"Sounds good to me. Everyone in." Dora called out. They piled into her car and she led Harry out of the garage with Abby telling her where to go.
"This is a nice car Harry." She said loving the feel of acceleration every time he hit the gas.
"It was my dad's car." Harry went on to tell her what Walter told him about the cars, his grandfather and father, and their love of cars.
"So we found your new daily driver?" Hermione asked.
"I think so. I mean, it's totally impractical, it has no room for anything, it barely fits two people, and it gets worse gas mileage than your dad's car. But, I'm in love?" Harry said with a shrug and a smile.
"Well I love it too. Can I drive next or is it a monogamous relationship you two are having?" She asked laughing at how taken he was with the car.
"No, you can drive her. I want you to. I've already let your dad drive her a bit." Harry said as Abby waved for them to pull over in front of a small jewelry store. When they walked up to the door Harry got a good look at the name.
"Wandsmith's Jewelers? A bit on the nose don't you think?" Harry asked as they walked in.
"Actually very few people know we sell wands." The little old Hasidic Jewish man behind the counter said with a wise old smile.
"It's good to see you David, it's been months. My grandfather said that you and Nancy should come over for dinner." Abby said stepping up to the counter and hugging the old man.
"I will tell Nancy and I will call Geno. But first I think we have people that need wands. Abby can you please flip the sign and lock the door, everyone else follow me into the workshop." David said coming around the glass cases full of jewelry and leading them through a back door and into another store all together. This store reminded him of Ollivanders. There were wand boxes on shelves that went back into the darkness of the store. He went behind the counter and got out a tape measure, a flight of glowing bottles on a well used wood tray, and a gold rod.
"First of all, is anyone getting a wand for the first time?" David asked looking at the group.
"My mother is. We tested her and she scored a 75 on the mage scale but she never got her letter." Hermione said.
"You are from Britain?" He asked with a sad smile.
"Yes. Do they not give out letters to anyone under a certain level?" Hermione asked.
"Yes and no. They do not give out letters to first generation mages unless they make the power threshold of 100. How ever if you are pureblood?" David said with a shrug and a disgusted wave of his hand.
"Those bastards!" Hermione said looking furious.
"I like this one. Very fiery. We will handle your mother's fitting last. It will take the longest." David said with his wise grandfatherly smile.
David reminding Harry of Master Yoda. He was a wizened old man with years of wisdom seeping out of every pore but there was a mischievous humor about him. Harry didn't know if the old man was going to explain the hidden meaning of magic or tell a fart joke. This was the facade dumbledore tried to project. But were the headmaster came off as crazy and foolish David Wandsmith was a man that knew what he was doing.
"Now who is getting fit for a second wand?" He asked and three hands shot up.
"Very good. How long was your first wand fitting dear? And how many wands did you go through before you found your match?" David asked Hermione.
"About 15 minutes and it took something like 10 wands." Hermione said.
"Very good, and you young lady?" He asked Dora.
"Um, I think it took about 20 minutes and about 15 wands." Dora said.
"Good, and you young man?" He asked Harry.
"Over an hour, and I lost track of the amount of wands I waved before I matched my wand." Harry said.
"Ah, good you will go first. Stand still with your arms out at your sides." David said tapping the tape measure with his well used, beat up, light wood wand. The tape measure shot around his body for a few seconds before it stopped and dropped to the counter top. David wrote something on a notepad.
"Now if you will take this rod in your wand hand and give it a swish and flick?" David asked handing the gold rod to Harry who in turn swished and flicked sending black and gold sparks out the front of the rod. David took the rod back and studied it for a few seconds before writing something down on the notepad.
"And finally will you hover your hand over these glass bottles one at a time for a few seconds." David said pushing the wood tray with eight glass bottles forwards. Harry passed his hand over the bottles and they all light up causing David to hum and nod.
"What's that mean?" Harry asked.
"Tell me, have you recently had a block on your core removed?" David asked.
"I don't think so. I did have a curse lifted from my soul." Harry amended.
"Ah, do you know your mage scale number?" David asked.
"195, or it was when we got tested in first year." Harry said.
"Well I need to test you again. Do you mind?" David asked.
"No, go right ahead." Harry said standing still as David cast the spell at him. The number 305 floated above Harry's head. Hermione and Dora both gasped and Dan and Emma looked confused.
"What's my number? Did I go up?" Harry asked.
"You are a 305 now. That is in the arch mage level. You will not be able to use a wood wand. You are going to need a gold wand. Have you tried casting wandless?" David asked.
"No." Harry said, then he shrugged and held out his right hand he looked at it for a few seconds and a ball of light faded into place above his hand. "Hah, would you look at that. It took a lot of effort though. Can I still get a wand?" Harry asked.
"Yes. I will have to make it, it will take me a day or so, you will have to come back for it. What was your last wand?" David asked.
"My last wand was an 11 inch holly and phoenix tail feather." Harry said.
"Well when I've gotten the rest of them sorted out me and you will need to have a small talk and I'm going to ask you for some blood. Now, you're next. Let's keep this going. Stand up nice and straight with you hands at your sides." David said.
"Wait! I'm a metamorph. Do I need to change back into my real form?" Dora asked.
"Yes. The match wouldn't be right if you don't change back." David said shaking his head with a smile.
Dora sighed, closed her eyes, and they watched as her body shifted. She got shorter by a few inches, her shoulders got broader, her chest and hip got lagers. So much so that her jeans, shirt, and bra looked painfully tight. Her hair turned cold black and her eyes shifted from blue to violet bordering on red. Her nose got longer and her face got more angular. She looked vaguely familiar to Harry.
"I hate this face." She muttered bitterly in a voice that was higher and colder. It was that voice that triggered Harry's memory. She looked like her aunt Bellatrix. Harry hugged her hard.
"You might look like her but you are ten times the witch she is. No matter what you look like you will always be my big sister." Harry said soft enough so that only she could hear him. When he pulled back from her she had tears in her eyes.
"Thanks Harry. Okay, I'm ready." Dora said. It took a few minutes to run through the three step process. Only one of the bottles glowed for her.
"Tell me what your last wand was." David asked.
"11.5 inches, ebony, and dragon heartstring. Really stiff, good for transfiguration." She said.
"Well, the good news is you have not changed much from your last wand fitting. You are still suited to Ebony and dragon heartstring. But I got a length of 12 inches. We will try wands made from ebony and heartstring in the 11.5 to 12 inch range and see if we can find you a match." David sad waving his wand and ten wand boxes floated over and landed on the counter.
"Let's begin with a 12 inch." David said with a smile.
It took only three wands to find a match. 11.75 inches, ebony, and the heart string from a Mexican orange dragon. It had the potential for dark magic but would work good for combat spells. Dora shifted back to the tall thin blond form she had adopted since they left the island and sighed.
"That will be $1,200." David said.
"I'll be taking care of the cost for everyone. Keep a running total." Harry said pulling the briefcase out of his bag and setting it on the counter.
"Very good. Now it's your turn." David said and Hermione stood tall and put out her arms without being told. Two bottles light up for her.
"What was your last wand?" David asked.
"10.75 inches, vine wood, and dragon heartstring. Stiff handle but flexible shaft. Good for charms and transfiguration." Hermione said.
"You have also not changed much from your last fitting. Vine wood still suits you, but we have two choices for a cores. Dragon heartstring and thunderbird tail feather. 10.75 inches is a good length for you. We will test 10.75 inch vine wood wands with both cores." David said and ten boxes came floating out of the stacks to the counter. It took six wands to find a match.
"10.75 inches, vine wood, and thunderbird tailfeather. Very powerful combination. That will be $1,400. Now, onto our first timer. You know the drill. Arms out." David said and Emma followed through the process.
"You are suited to walnut, vine wood, and black walnut. You also match with Dragon heartstring and phoenix tailfeather. Length will be on the shorter side 9 to 10 inches. This is going to take a while. But don't lose heart. We have 37 wands to look at." David said waving his wand and the boxes came flying in. It took 22 wands to find a match. By the time she got a reaction Emma's arm was tired from all the waving around.
"Very good match. 9.5 inches, Black Walnut, and a phoenix tailfeather. It's a powerful wand but it will be hard for you to master spells at first. But as you gain control of your magic you will be a powerhouse. That combination of wood and core would never match a weak mage no matter what your number is. Your number has more to do with stamina then power. You will be able to cast upper level spells, but not all day. The wand costs $1,800 by the way." David said grinning at Emma's excitement.
"And with that wand we have a subtotal of $4,400." David said and Harry opened his case shocking his family. Harry pulled a stack of hundreds off the top and counted out 44 bills and handed them over to David.
"Here you go. I would also like four wand holsters and cleaning kits." Harry pointing to the kits and the holsters on the shelf behind the counter and setting another two hundred dollar bills on the counter.
"Here you go, now we need to draw some blood and find your core so I can start making your wand." David said putting the three empty wand boxes into a shopping bag along with the cleaning kit. He handed them the wand holders and Dora showed Emma how to attach it to her forearm. When she slid her wand into the holder it vanished from sight.
In the end it took another hour for Harry to find his cores, plural, he needed three, a dragon heart string from a Mexican Orange, a Basilisk heart string, and a phoenix tail feather. All three would do into a hollowed out gold wand shaft and suspended in his blood. He also needed focusing gems in the form of six one carat round cut emeralds inlaid in the handle do to his power levels. All together it was going to cost $15,000 in raw magical ingredients. on top of that it was going to cost $1,500 worth of gold and because of the power of the cores and how hard it was to craft the cost of labor was going to be high and take one to two days. Harry put a down payment of $10,000, and they headed out for their next appointment. Which was located in Midtown.
They pulled up to Macy's and the Valet took their two cars. They were met by a team of personal shoppers and lead into the big department store. They were lead to two separate private fitting rooms, one for the men and one for the women. They were placed in chairs and handed drinks, Mimosas for the women and cappuccinos for the men. What followed was a whirlwind of clothes, shoes, fragrances, and makeup. Every few minutes personal shoppers would walk into the room with arm loads of things.
They all tried on dozens of articles of clothes and shoes. As they found things they liked the items were taken out of the room and boxed up, the boxes were shrank down to the size of matchboxes, and stacked in a single gift box. The items they didn't like were hung on a clothes rack and when the rack was full it was wheeled out of the room and a new empty rack was brought in. It took just under two hours for the men and more than three hours for the women.
For his part, Harry stuck with things he liked from the stuff Dora bought him for the trip. Jeans, button up shirts, track suits, athletic t-shirts, on Dan's insistence he got a few pairs of loose breathable slacks and golf shirts. He got everything a few sizes bigger than what he needed because he hoped he would grow into them in the next week. He was going to pick out a few more modern suits and fancy clothes but Abby waved him off. She had a tailor for that. The same with shoes aside from trainers. So they stuck with casual clothes.
Still in the end they had most of a full wardrobe. Harry paid a staggering amount of money for his and Dan's purchases and they headed to the sporting goods section while the girls finished their shopping. By the time the girls were ready to go Dan and Harry had two new golf bags filled with more than what they needed to play. They also bought a gym mats, weight bench, weights, dumbbells and kettlebells.
They collected the girls and headed off to lunch at a nice Italian place Abby took them to in Little Italy. They were all riding the high that comes with shopping and lunch was a good chance to bask in the afterglow of spending large sums of money. After lunch they split up with the Harry and Dan heading to a Taylor Abby gave them the address to in Little Italy, and the girls headed to a salon. By the time Harry pulled into a parking spot across the street from the little shop they saw Abby walk out of a door in the side of the building. She beat them to the shop by just a matter of seconds.
"You made good time. I was just giving Dora directions to the salon. You made it ten blocks in like three minutes." Abby said.
"I love my car." Harry said.
"I see that." Abby said laughing as she lead the guys into the small dimly light shop. Walking into the shop was like taking a step through a portal into the gas lap era which made Harry smile.
The shop was dark and very manly with it's dark green wallpaper and dark wood floors and display cases. Almost everything in the shop was made of dark wood and dark green leather. The few things that were metal in the shop were made of shiny brass, and even though it was midday outside it was bar room dark with most of the light coming from the bright display cases. There were just a few racks of suits on one side of the small shop and shirts and ties in the light cases on the other side.
Sitting behind the counter was a short older gentleman reading the newspaper in a very nice three piece gray suit that looked both old and very classy. The man had jet black hair except for the sides of his head which were bright white, and it was slicked back. He looked like an old Gangster from an old 20's gangster movie. Abby walked up to the counter and smiled a huge smile. When the old man looked up his face split into a wide smile to match. "Little Bambina!" He said practically leaping over the counter to hug her.
"Granddad." She said smiling like a little girl.
Stepping up to the two of them Harry stuck out his hand for a confident handshake. "Harry Steel and this is Dan Granger, You have a great shop here. Very warm and manly. I love the feel of it. It reminds me of my apartment." Harry said letting Dan shake the man's hand.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Steel, Mr. Granger. I'm Geno Rossetti. It's nice to meet you. Abby doesn't bring just anyone to see me. So that means she likes you. What can I get for you. Abigail said you both needed a few suits, shirts, slacks and the like." The old man said leading Harry and Dan through a big wood door at the back of the shop and into a huge room sectioned off into two sections.
The first section was a big dressing room with chairs and a work table with cloth cuttings and big spindles of thread. It was what you expected to be in the back of a tailor's shop. The other section however, was a huge warehouse that looked like it went back a few hundred feet with racks of suits and shirt and who knows what on the left side and shelves full of bolts of cloth on the right.
"Wow." Dan said and Harry laughed.
"Magic, it never gets old." Harry said.
"Yes I'm quite proud of my shop." Geno said making Harry and Dan take off their shoes and stand on a pair of step stools.
"Well I have a closet full of suits from my grandfather. They all look nice and l'd like to wear them but they are a bit old and outdated. I know next to nothing about fashion but I can tell they are an older cut and style. The pants have pleats and they look baggy. What I want is about a half dozen nice modern suits and some comfortable slacks and shirts I can mix and match to some of my grandfather's jackets and vests." Harry said.
"And I need some suits, shirts, slacks, and ties." Dan said.
"I can work with that information. Now if you will just stand still this will take just a minute." He said pulling out an old well worn wand and waved it at a measuring tape which came to life and shot around their bodies making quick measurements. While the tape measure worked Geno pulled a rolling a rack over with different suits.
"Man does this feel weird." Dan said as the tape wrapped around his neck to get his collar size.
"You get used to it." Harry said.
Geno waved at the tape and it landed on his worktable. He took down the measurements and needed. He waved at the rack of suits and half of them vanished only to be replaced with different suits. He looked at the rack and pulled a dark blue three piece suit of the rack and handed it to Harry. He then grabbed a similar suite in a slate gray and handed it to Dan.
"What is this material? It's really nice." Harry asked all but petting the suit.
"Three strand high twist wool, it's soft and breathable, and it resists wrinkles. It's not too hot out yet but soon it's going to get hot and this suit wears well with or without the vest. High twist wool can be worn year round and it travels well. Not that it matters, those suits are charmed to not wrinkle, resist water and stains, keep you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Put them on and we'll see where we are. What do you do both do for work?" Geno asked handing Harry and Dan soft cotton white shirt button up shirts.
"Nothing right now. We just got here to the U.S. and we don't have anything lined up yet." Harry said as they stripped to their boxers and pulled on the suits.
"I'm a dental surgeon, but like Harry said we are taking time to relax. We need clothes to go to dinner, go to the theater, attend gatherings and the like." Dan said.
"Yes those fits good, we just need to make a few adjustments." Geno said waving his wand. The pants legs shortened and the jacket pulled in tighter under their arms.
"Yes this looks good." Geno said holding up a blue tie in one hand and a dark gray tie in the other.
"This feels very nice. Do you have anything on the casual side? A few pairs of comfortable slacks in this material? Also, I'm taking potions to correct a growth issue, I plan on being way bigger than I am now. Can I come back for alterations?" Harry asked.
"No need, every suit I sell is cut ten inches bigger in the shoulders, six inches longer in the legs, and six inches wider in the pants. The spells I just cast activate the self tailoring enchantments. In essence the suit will grow with you every time you put it on. I think we will stick to the high twist wool for you both. It sits well on both of your frames and it's easy to wear." Geno said.
"I agree, I've never looked this good. We'll take six suits, some slacks, shirts and anything else you think we might need." Harry said looking in the three sided mirror.
Geno nodded he waved his wand and the rack that was full of suits and shirts was now full of slacks and casual button up shirts in classic colors. "I will pull a few and box them up for you. Do you have a color preference?" Geno asked.
"I'm partial to dark blues and black. But I'll wear anything that won't make me stand out like a sore thumb." Harry said.
"I like gray tones and blues." Dan said loving the fit of his new suit. He never had a suit fit this well.
"Good to know. I'll start a rack for both of you. On that wall is different styles of shoes, try them on to find the ones you like. Then take off the suits and I will box them up for you then we will pick a few more colors and try them." Geno said waving Harry and Dan away as he thumbed through the rack muttering to himself.
Dan walked over to the wall of shoes and found a pair of black leather oxfords he like. He saw Harry grab a pair of the same shoes if dark brown. Dan looked for his size and didn't see sizes, he just saw boxes with copies of the same shoes. Harry sat at the bench and pulled on his pair of brown shoes and walked around with a big smile.
"Harry, how do I find my size?" Dan asked.
"You don't, one size fits all. It's magic Dan. Pull the shoe on and it will form to your foot. Man are these nice shoes. We're going to need a few pairs of these. Geno has a good cobbler. Not even magical shoes fit this well and feel this good." Harry said grabbing a few more boxes of shoes off the shelf and setting them on the bench. Dan pulled on his shoes and felt funny as the shoe formed to his foot, but when he stood up and walked around he was in heaven.
"Oh man these feel good." Dan said.
"Welcome to the magical world of magic. He does golf spikes, and tennis shoes to. Look at these black leather converse." Harry said.
"Harry these shoes are so comfortable that my leg doesn't hurt so much when I step down." Dan said.
"We really need to get you to a healer to fix that leg." Harry said putting a few more boxes on the bench.
An hour later and Harry and Dan walked out of Geno's shop with two shopping bag full of shrunken suit bags and boxes. Abby handed them a card with the address for an electronic's store that catered to mages before she popped away. Harry and Dan took a drive up town to the shop and after a half hour they were loading another shopping bag into the very small trunk in Harry's Ferrari. This bag was full of shrunken boxes with ten 72" big screen 3D TVs, a dozen blu ray players, an Xbox ONE, a Playstation 4, and a professional quality movie projector for the movie room. They also each had a shrunken box in their messenger bags full of Blu rays, DVDs, and games. By the time the boys met up with the girls at the salon Harry's case was significantly lighter than it was when he first left the house.
They got back to the apartment just before five. By the time they put away all their purchases it was time to sit down to dinner. After that Dan and Harry spent time going from room to room setting up the new TVs and Blu ray players with Dora's help Harry would hold the bracket up, Dan made sure it was level, and Dora stuck it to the wall with a spell. When all the brackets were stuck to the wall Harry and Dan went around and bolted them in place. Then they hung up the TVs and wired them up before dragging the old tube TVs out into the hall so Dora could shrink them and take them to the trash area off the kitchen where the service elevator was.
While the guys were doing that, Hermione was teaching her mum how to cast first year spells in the library. She spent a half hour working on wand movements and the theory of pushing your magic to power a spell. Then she broke out a first year textbook she found in the library and had her mom work on the lumos spell. It took a few dozen tries to get it to work but once she got it the tip of her wand glowed bright enough to hurt their eyes. What David Wandsmith said was true. It would take her mum a few tries to get her magic to work with the wand but once she got it her wand would add power to the spell. By the time the boys were done setting up all the TVs Emma could make light, float a feather, and make a small ball of fire. Hermione was very impressed by her mum. But Emma practically glowed with excitement. She could cast magic. It was at this point that she knew she could never go back to fixing teeth. She would spend the rest of her life mastering magic in all it's forms.
"You are progressing very fast Mum. At this rate in a few months you'll be up to my level. Now how do you feel?" Hermione asked casting the power level spell on her mum. It read 64. She did the math in her head. Her mum burned through about ten units of power to cast about 30 low level spells. Not bad at all.
"I feel great! I could go for another two hours. What's the next spell?" Emma asked.
"We're not going to learn any other spells tonight. What we're going to learn next is sustained casting. Holding a spell for a long time. I want to see what the drain on your core looks like under heavy use and it's also important to know how to hold a spell. It should become second nature to you after a few days. For now I want you to hold this pencil in the air for as long as you can. I'm going to time you with my watch. We'll try for a minute. Then we'll push for more time and weight. This is going to be the last thing you do every night. The point of this exercise is two fold. One, is to build up your concentration and stamina, and two, we're going to try to drain you so that you rebound with more power then you had today. This works for kids, I don't know if it works the same for adults." Hermione said.
"So if I do this every night I can have more magic? Can your father do this and get magic?" Emma asked.
"No, Mum. Unfortunately, dad will always be a squib. He's a high squib in the upper forties, but he can never make the jump to casting spell. The threshold for casting may be fifty but to really connect with a wand and cast spells he would need to be a mid sixty. The good news is Dad is going to live a good long time. Even if he picks up most of the bad habits he's talking about. The fact that he's fit, and has access to a healer means he'll live to 110 easy, you will outlive him by about ten years give or take." Hermione said.
"Really? That old?" Emma asked.
"Easy Mum, there are potions that you can take to extend that number, like vitamins, and healing tonics, but most healthy squibs live as long as low level mages. The average life expectancy for a low level mage is about 110-120. Mid range mages live to about 130-140. High level mages where I am can probably make it to 150 before I'm too old to do much beside sit on a porch somewhere." Hermione said.
"What about Harry? The wand maker said he's an Arch Mage." Emma asked.
"Yeah, low level mages are 50-100 power units. Mid range 101-150. High range is 151-225. I'm a 195 on a good day. Our friend Neville is a powerhouse at 220 but he has control issues. Harry used to be a 205 with full access to his potential. He could cast for days the highest level battle magic and push power into all of his spells. Harry is truly amazing to watch. But now with his connection to the dark lord severed he's on the arch mage level. Anything over 225. The fact that he's a 305 is crazy. Merlin was in the upper three hundreds. Arch mages can live almost forever. Their magic keeps building and rebuilding their bodies. Harry's going to look 25 until he's 40 and 35 until he 60. That's probably where he'll stop aging for a hundred or so years. It's hard to tell really how long he could live. Arch mages tend to die with their mates or children. Their magic gets unstable with age and they can just up and die when they feel like it. Harry's a blood line relative to Godric Gryffindor who died of a broken heart when his wife died." Hermione said.
"That's so romantic." Emma said.
"It is. Arch mages are well documented. I've read a few accounts of arch mages. Their stories make for good reading. They all tend to do great things. Good or bad." Hermione said.
"So Harry will live as long as you?" Emma asked.
"No, I'll make him look after our kids. Potters, Gryffindor's, Myrddin, they all died off fighting evil. Stupid heroes the lot of them. I'm going to make sure he makes it to a ripe old age and fills the world with Potters and Steels. Then I'm going to make him promise to look after them. He's noble, he'll do it." Hermione said blushing. Her mother hugged her.
"I think it's cute you're planning that far into the future dear." Emma said with a smile.
"I've been planning this far into the future since I met that boy." Hermione said.
"Dan and I approve wholeheartedly in your choice of life partner." Emma said.
"Good, now, let's get back to work. Lift the pencil on my say." Hermione said holding up her watch.
When they were done installing the last TV in Harry's room they set up the weight bench in the corner of the garage in the study. When they were done with that they grabbed a drink and a Cuban cigar from the other side of the study and looked at all the guns in cases.
"Harry this collection is amazing." Dan said looking at the racks of custom built hunting rifles and shotguns.
But Harry was busy looking at the small display cases in the room. Each one was dedicated to a war and in it were the guns, and things carried by the Potters that fought in them. They also had a brass plaque with the names, births and deaths of every Potter that fought and died in the war. By his count there were ten cases going back to the Seven Years War, in which 45 potters fought and died all around the world. To the American Revolution which claimed the lives of 40 Potters fighting on both sides of the war. The Napoleonic wars. The War of 1812. The American Civil war. The Spanish American war. World War I. World War II. The Korean War. The last case was from the Vietnam War.
Harry was struck by something he knew but didn't understand. The Potters had always been wealthy Mages, but when the time came to fight the good fight they put down their lives of leisure and took up arms alongside their Muggle brothers. They fought, and they died the muggle way. Every case got progressively smaller then the last one. Each case listed less Potter's fighting and dying in the wars, not because they stopped answering the call, but because there were less of them to answer the call when the time came. The last case had five names. The last Potter to die in the Vietnam war was Harold William Potter. Born 7/3/1955 KIA 7/24/1974.
Harold Potter was his Namesake, his dad's older brother, who was the last Potter to die in a muggle war. But he was not the last Potter to die in a war. Harold James Potter was the last Potter to die in a war. The second war against The Dark Lord Voldemort. And with his death the Name Potter died with it. Harry knew that he would add another case to the room.
This case would have all the names of the Potters that died in the first war with Voldemort. He would put his old wand in the case and with it he would display his shame in ending his family line. At least these Potters got to die on a battlefield with honor. Harry Potter died with the swish of a quill and the help of two healers. He knew deep down that he was being crazy. He knew this sudden guilt was all in his head. But he still felt it in his heart. He was so quick to throw away his name, cast it off like his old ragged clothes. Now he felt sick. He was glad he was not a Potter any more. Potter's died on their feet. He didn't notice Dan standing with him until the older man put his arm around him.
"What's the matter son?" Dan asked.
"Potters die on their feet. I kill Harry Potter with paperwork." Harry said in a voice thick with emotion.
"Yes. But you did it to help end a war. A war you were the only one fighting until a month ago when you lead a group of school children into combat and you all lived to tell the tale. Son, I look around this room and I see shrines to men that died fighting in wars. But you're barely a man and you have years of fighting a war under your belt. And you did not Kill off Harry Potter. You filled out some paperwork to get out of an illegal marriage. Harry Potter is not dead. He's standing right here. You're not done being Harry Potter until you close the book on this war back home. My daughter told us that at some point you're going to go back to the UK and fight this war to the last man. Is that true?" Dan asked.
"Yes. She knows me too well. A big part of me wants to say Fuck Um. It's their mess they can clean it up. But I know in the end I'll go back. Even if it's just to finish off the old man or Tom." Harry said.
"Well, there you go! You're out. You're free and clear. There is no need to volunteer to go across the pond and fight a war. But you're going to anyways. And do you know why?" Dan asked.
"Because I'm a fool." Harry said with a sad grin.
"That's right, you're a god damned noble fool just like the rest of these men. Because even though your driver's license says Steel, you're still a fucking Potter. And from what I can see from this room. Fighting in wars you didn't have to fight is a Potter family tradition. I can tell you this much, you're not going back alone, and you're not going back unprepared. Now stop your moping. Me and you are going to head down the hall to the shooting range. We're going to practice your shooting. Because bullets kill wizard just as well as they kill normal people. If they didn't then there would be more Potters alive today." Dan said leading the younger man out of the room and down the hall to the shooting range.
"Thanks Dan. I needed to hear that." Harry said.
"It's like I said before, you're too damn noble for your own good. Now you have two 150 round mags for your sidearm. This crate has 9mm ammo in it. I want you to come in here every night and put a full 150 down range. We'll start with you just standing there shooting for now but soon we're going to have you shoot on the move. I have a whole bunch of shooting drills I can run you through and once you have pistol down we're going to move on to the MP5. By the time you decide you have to go back you'll be the most deadly wizard who ever lived. We'll also start conditioning your body as well. You're skinny and wiry. You should be able to run twenty miles with a full pack without dying. Tomorrow morning me and you are going to start the morning off with a good run and a weight training session. Then we'll play 18 holes of mini golf, and swim laps in the pool." Dan said.
"Whatever it takes. Harry Potter is a casualty of the war, but Harry Steel is going to have a long life. Whatever it take to make it out the other side I want to do it. When the rest of the group gets here I want them to do it too. They are all noble fools like me. I'm not leading school children into battle again." Harry said.
"You got a deal. In fact I'll join you." Dan said.
"Good, we could use a man to help get us in shape." Harry said.
That was not what Dan meant, but he figured why confuse the boy. At that moment Dan made a decision. He was going to let his daughter fix his leg, and he was going to get back into shape. And he was going to fight a war. He just hoped they had time to train. He would have to keep Harry distracted long enough to get them all ready. With the body armor, guns, and training he was sure it would be easy to handle a wizard war. He wondered if he could get in touch with his old friends from back in the service. The retired and injured ones. How much would it take to hire a few of them? Most of them would do it for free if magic could heal their old war wounds. He'd have to talk to his daughter about that.