I do not own Harry Potter, only the OC

Hello guys Badger here. I hope everyone is doing well. If you aren't I have a cookie if you want it.

Anyway, this chapter was painful to write. Not only did I go through at least three rewrites until I knew what to include in this chapter, but my system crashed and I lost 2 thirds of what I had written and had to start again. Luckily I remembered everything I had written and after a while, was able to finish with no more problems.

I'll leave it there for now. I'll let you read on and I will see you at the end.

Chapter 8

Dumbledore sat in his office, frowning at the parchment in his hands. On the parchment was Nathaniel's performance in lessons so far. He had asked the other professors to send him daily reports on how well Nathaniel was doing, so Dumbledore could see how the boys magical power was growing, which would allow Dumbledore to know what kind of training the boy was going to need, when the time came. However, to his disappointment, if the reports in his hands were anything to go by, Nathaniel wasn't even reaching an Acceptable with his work. According to the reports, he rarely paid attention in class, his homework was mediocre and the boy struggled with preforming even the simplest spells. This wouldn't do, something needed to be done about this.

As he read through the reports, Dumbledore found and read through the reports on Harry, when he was in First Year. The difference was evidently clear. Whereas Nathaniel was failing his classes, barely reaching an Acceptable, Harry was earning Outstanding's and top marks in every one of his lessons. Dumbledore then looked through Harrys Second and Third year reports, and it was the same story there. Outstanding's and top marks. Dumbledore wondered if he made a mistake when it came to the prophecy, but he immediatley through that thought away. He couldn't have made a mistake. Nathaniel was marked by Voldemort himself. The scar was proof of that. Dumbledore was certain there was a logical reason for why Nathaniel was failing his classes.

Dumbledore was going to have a talk with McGonagall, see if they can set up some private lessons for the boy. Hopefully they will help improve Nathaniel's performance.

Elsewhere in the castle, sweat fell down Harry's brow, as he dodged spell after spell. Flitwick had noticed how Harry had improved over the last few sessions and because of this, he made his sessions harder. However, unlike previous sessions, Flitwick instructed Harry to use shielding charms, as well as dodging.

'Sometimes dodging isn't enough, sometimes you need to rely on shields to keep yourself protected' Is what Flitwick told him at the start of the session

Because of this, Harry kept a tight grip on his wand, as he dodged each spell, whilst also using a shield charm. With how fast Harry had to move, it was difficult to keep the shield up, as Flitwick spells impacted with the transparent barriers. Sometimes they ricocheted, sometimes Harry's shield immediatley shattered from the impact and he needed to quickly move out the way from another oncoming spell. Over the last few sessions, Flitwick had mixed up the spells he used. As well as Stinging Hexes, he also used Stunners, Binding Charms and Disarming Spells. He didn't use any lethal spells, as the short professor didn't want there to be any accidents.

Harry's tiredness eventually caught up with him. After dodging one of Flitwick's stunners, he was unable to put up a Shielding Charm, before his wand was ripped from his hand, from a Disarming Spell, where he was then wrapped in ropes, causing him to fall to the ground. Wincing slightly, from the pain when his head hit the ground, Harry looked up to see Flitwick standing over him, his wand pointed in between his eyes.

"I win" Flitwick said, before smiling "You did well, I must say…when we started these sessions, you could only last about 3 minutes before I was able to hit you…now you're able to last 10 minutes…I'm impressed with how quickly you've improved"

With a small wave of Flitwick's wand, the ropes disappeared from Harry's body, allowing the teen to sit up and stretch his muscles slightly, to remove any discomfort. Flitwick, meanwhile, smiled as he handed Harry his wand, which Harry took, feeling the familiar hum of magical power, he first felt when he first went to Ollivander's.

The smell of wood immediatley hit Harry's nose, as he entered the wand shop with Sirius, who gently held him by the shoulder, as he guided him through Diagon Alley. Unfortunately, Remus couldn't be with them, as he was still exhausted from the full moon that occurred two days ago. Harry looked around in awe, at the many shelves containing dozens upon dozens of boxes, which Harry assumed to contain wands. It was that moment, where an elderly man appeared, surprising Harry for a moment.

"Ah, Sirius Black" He said "11 ¾ inches, made from Ebony wood, with a Dragon Heartstring core, how can I help you today?"

"Greetings Ollivander" Sirius smiled, patting Harry's shoulder "Harry here needs his first wand for Hogwarts"

Ollivander looked at Harry, causing the young boy to step back, closer to Sirius, as he felt unnerved the look in the mans eyes, almost like the wandmaker was reading him. After a while, the man smiled.

"Ah yes, Mr Potter, I've been waiting for you to arrive in my store" He said, gesturing to a small podium "Please stand there, so I can take some measurements"

Harry felt a little uncertain, as he stood on the podium, where Ollivander proceeded to measure the length of his right arm, as well as measuring Harry's height, before disappearing to the shelves, returning moments later with boxes in his hands. Over the next several minutes, Harry tested out different wands, of different designs, lengths and materials, though none of them 'matched' according to the wandmaker. When Harry asked, Ollivander informed him 'the wand chooses the witch or wizard'. Sirius, meanwhile, decided to take a few steps back, just in case. After several more minutes, Ollivander handed Harry a wand made from some kind of dark wood.

"12 inches, made from Blackthorn wood, with a core made from the tail feather of a Thunderbird" He said "A wand, difficult to master, but best suited to a warrior, with an affinity for Transfiguration"

As soon as Harry gripped the wand, his entire body glowed, as the flames from nearby candles grew brighter, before dying down a few seconds later.

"It's a match" Ollivander said excitedly "I must say Mr Potter, that wand is a very interesting and unusual combination…I expect great things from you"

As Harry was reminiscing, he looked at the wand in his hands. The wand was one piece of dark wood, with a thick, curved handle that bent into the rest of the wand, which got thinner further down the shaft. Unlike most wands, which were often smooth and straight, Harry's wand had bumps, and ridges, almost like it had been carved by hand.

It was that moment, when Harry was brought out of his thoughts, when Flitwick waved a hand in front of his face, causing Harry to jump slightly.

"Are you okay Harry?" He asked "You seemed to be staring off into space there"

"Sorry professor, I was just thinking" Harry replied, as he stood up, slowly

"Thinking about your Order of Merlin?" Flitwick asked, a small smile on his face

Harry groaned, as he remembered the article in the Daily Prophet that published a few days ago. The article had informed that Harry is to receive the Order of Merlin at Hogwarts Castle, within a week. Ever since, it was all anyone could talk about. Everywhere Harry went, he could hear whispers from students excitedly talking about it amongst themselves. Harry thought their reactions were a bit extreme. To him, the whole thing was no big deal. Flitwick couldn't help but chuckle, at Harry's reaction.

"Speaking of which, they plan to award you before dinner, so I think we should end the session early today" He said "Next session we'll work more on some offensive spells, so you have more of a chance against your opponents…you've impressed me today Mr Potter…keep up the good work"

Harry gave Flitwick a respectful nod, as he walked out the classroom and headed towards the nearest showers. He was sweaty and dirty and, even though he could easily use a few cleaning charms on himself, Harry needed to unwind and relax and hopefully, standing under running, hot water for a few minutes would help with that.

Inside the Great Hall, Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic, stood on the podium, with several Ministry Officials standing behind him, with a cameraman ready and waiting to take pictures for the Daily Prophet. Other students sat, impatiently waiting, so they can have their dinner. Everyone waiting for the same person. Harry Potter. Dinner was just about to start, but Harry had yet to appear to be awarded his Order of Merlin. Thankfully, they didn't have to wait long, as the doors to the Great Hall soon opened, where Harry appeared, though he stopped, seeing that everyone was sat facing his direction. Seeing the Minister of Magic waiting for him at the front, made him approach.

"Harry Potter" Fudge smiled, when Harry was standing beside him, where a Ministry Official handed him a small, wooden case "On the behalf of myself and the Ministry, for your heroic deeds in rescuing the poor girl from the Mountain Troll…we would like to award you…the Order of Merlin, First Class!"

As the entire Great Hall applauded and cheered, Fudge opened the case, to reveal a medal, that glistened in the light. The medal was a silver platinum, which hung from a purple ribbon. On the medal itself, was a detailed engraving of Harry's face, which stood in front of the symbol of Merlin, with the date 29.10.1991 engraved below, signifying the date of when he was awarded. Harry gave a polite smile, as he gently took the case.

"I thank you for the award and, whilst I don't believe I deserve such an award, I accept" Harry bowed slightly

Fudge bowed in return, before he placed and arm around Harry's shoulder and the two turned to the photographer, who snapped a few pictures. Once the pictures were taken, the Great Hall applauded once more, as Harry shook hands with the Minister.

However, there was one person in the Great Hall, who wasn't clapping. Nathaniel. He scowled, glaring daggers at his older brother. To say he was unhappy would be an understatement. He was angry. Angry that his older brother was stealing the attention and fame away from him. For the past week, all he heard was people talking about Harry being awarded the Order of Merlin. Now that it's been awarded, this will be all they talk about for weeks. Nathaniel's knuckles cracked slightly, as his hands tightened into fists. His brother didn't deserve the award. If anyone deserved the award, it would be himself. He was the one who defeated Voldemort all those years ago, how come he wasn't getting an Order of Merlin?

Nathaniel was going to have to send a letter to his parents. Something needed to be done.

The next day, across the country, Narcissa Malfoy smiled, as she read the newest Daily Prophet issue. On the front page, was a large, black and white photo, of Harry standing with the Minister of Magic. The Order of Merlin was in Harrys hands, practically glistening on the page. The headline read:

HARRY POTTER: YOUNGEST WIZARD TO RECEIVE ORDER OF MERLIN!

Narcissa couldn't help but smile, as she looked at the picture of Harry who, in return, was smiling. Harry rarely smiled, as much as she would like, so it always warmed her heart when he did. Narcissa had always viewed Harry as one of her own sons, ever since they first met and Harry stayed at Malfoy Manor for the first time. It always broke her heart, when she thought about the neglect Harry went through as he grew up. Harry was a special young man and it upset her that James and Lily Potter couldn't see that.

Narcissa gently folded up the newspaper. Lucius was currently out on business, so she wanted to keep it in good condition, to show him. No doubt, he will be proud.

Narcissa wasn't the only one reading the Daily Prophet. Across the country, James and Lily Potter were reading the same article.

Lily couldn't help but look at the smile on Harry's face in the photo. She couldn't remember the last time she saw Harry smile. He would always scowl in their direction. James, meanwhile, had a sense of pride, as he read through the article. Proud that his son had saved someone's life, when he had no reason to do so.

Both Potters knew that when Harry returned home for the Christmas holidays, they were going to do whatever they could, to show how proud there are.

And that is the new chapter done. What do you think?

Besides Harry being awarded the Order of Merlin at the end, this chapter mainly acted as more setup for the Underage Duelling Championship, Harry is going to be part of. Speaking of which, I plan for there to be a time skip, either next chapter or the chapter afterwards, to the Christmas holidays, where we will see the Duelling Championship happen. Will Harry win? We'll have to see.

When it came to Harry's memory about his wand, I thought about his wand being made from Aspen wood as, according to the lore, Aspen wands are suited to those that are duellists and, seeing as I'm thinking of Harry going down the path of a duellist it made sense, but I eventually changed my mind. I don't know why, but I thought a Blackthorn wand sounded cooler. If you're wondering what his wand looks like, search up Harry Potter Snatcher Wand and you'll have a better idea.

Now, we've had a bit more of Nathaniel being a self absorbed, egotistical arsehole. I know it may seem annoying, but I do have a plan for some kind of redemption arc, but we will need to wait a while before that happens.

Anyway, I've rambled for too long now, so I'll leave it there. I hope you enjoyed and I will see you next time.

Badger out