A/N : This is a project I am undertaking in my free time. I DO NOT own anything, every recognisable character, event, action, incantation belong to J.K. Rowling. Updates may be irregular because of school, among other things. My first language is not English, so to you expert English writers and speakers, expect some mistakes here and there. I will do my best to correct them, though. Consider this story as a test of sorts. If people appreciate it, I will write more quickly, otherwise, I will still be writing it, but at a more leisurely pace.
This story is rated M for a reason. You may be your own judge but there will be themes in the upcoming future chapters that are not suited for every audience. Consider this a warning.
Chapter 1 - A Wand
Sweat dripped down from his eyebrows. A deafening roar rang out from behind him. The soil beneath his feet cracked. Wincing from the effort, he ran, as fast as he could, from the imminent death behind him. An enormous black Horntail growled, its giant jaws opening wide, pouring out a stream of black fire. Trees were set aflame, the closest to the dragon vanished to ash immediately.
When Harry Potter had started his quest for a wand, he had not expected to be chased around by a 50 feet beast. 'Well too bad,' he thought. The best needed the best, and the most powerful wand core he could find was what brought him into his current situation.
Harry risked a peek behind him, his eyebrows raising just by a millimetre when he noticed the dragon closer. Well nobody could outrun a flying dragon. A bright orange light caught his attention and he spinned on his feet, wandlessly raising a dark purple shield just in time, stopping the flames from turning him to ash. The long bloody gash on the side of the dragon caught his eye.
His previous standoff with the dragon had him running away, but not without a parting gift. The Horntail, cocky in its victory, thought Harry already weakened enough to not represent any danger anymore. The overpowered Cutting Curse caught its flank, where the scales were the weakest, injuring the beast.
Despite its injury, the dragon still proved to be a formidable opponent. Its rage was boiling hot, blinding all rational thoughts from the beast's mind. Harry could feel the ominous feeling of the dragon's aura battling and crashing relentlessly against his Occlumency shields. The fire it spit hammered against Harry's purple shield relentlessly. The dragon pressed forward, closing the gap between the two. Harry's shield shimmered, his wandless magic nowhere near as powerful as his normal magic done with his wand.
The dragon saw its advantage and rushed forward. Under the concentrated Dragonfyre Harry's amethyst shield failed and the young wizard barely managed to spin out of the way of the flames. Unfortunately, luck ran out and the upper side of the dragon's claw caught his leg, making him fly a good 15 feet.
Harry landed harshly on his back, the wind knocked out from his lungs under the impact. Blood dripped from his leg, where a small spike from the Horntail's claw had caught him. 'We're even now, dragon,' he thought.
Stumbling to his feet, Harry saw the dragon dash forward, an amazing feat considering the size of the beast. Using his size to his advantage, Harry easily rolled out the way, the pain from his injury forgotten instantly. The dragon crashed in the hard soil of the forest behind Harry. An enraged roar resounded, making the beast's fury clear. A powerful blast of magic slammed full force onto Harry's mind, trying to force him into submitting to the fear the Horntail inspired. The dragon scrambled back up on all fours, shaking its entire body, making the huge spikes that were layered on its back grind and squeak against each other, the sound eliciting a wince from Harry.
A furious roar resounded from the dragon's open jaws. An idea formed in Harry's mind at the sight.
Dust whirled around Harry, concentrating over to his open hand. The dust slowly materialised into a long steel spear. A single well aimed shot was all it would take to put the beast down. The Horntail crawled back up, a deadly glint in its eyes. Killing this annoyance of a human being on the forefront of its mind.
The Horntail's jaw opened wide and it pushed as much power as it could into the breath of magical fire that poured out of its throat. Blazing black flames rushed towards the wizard who, at the exact same time as the dragon attacked, struck as well. A magically enhanced arm launched the steel spear straight towards the dragon's open mouth.
Right as the fire was about to make contact with Harry, he twisted on the spot, fading away from existence only to reappear a few feet away, behind a tree. The spear breezed through the fire of the dragon, its tip glowing under the heat. With a deafening roar of pain, the dragon faltered, thrashed on the soil, in pain. The conjured spear from Harry had struck true, finding its target.
Silence fell and Harry let out a breath. With a slow stroke of his hand over his leg, the wound was sealed and healed, the blood vanishing slowly from around the gash as well. Stepping out from behind the tree, Harry observed the scene before him. A long trail of blackened trees and ashes on his right marked the chase of the dragon. Before him, the enormous beast laid dead, impaled through the skull from the spear. Harry sighed. It had to be done.
Dark crimson blood leaked from the beast's wounds. Pulling out a few vials, Harry filled them up with the hot liquid. Dragon blood could always come in handy for potion brewing. The rest of the dragon could be harvested later. What Harry needed from the carcass had to be harvested quickly.
A Levitation Charm kept the jaw of the dragon wide open. The thing was big enough for Harry to fit entirely inside without problem. A small silver knife appeared in Harry's hand. Twirling the knife around, Harry stuck his upper body into the mouth of the Horntail. Bringing the knife up, he made a small incision behind the enormous tongue of the beast, directly cutting into a small sack that contained the unstable Dragonfyre.
As soon as the blade made contact with the burning liquid it melted, a small drop of burning liquid silver almost splashing Harry in the face. Harry had to act quickly. As soon as the boiling liquid got into contact with air, it would set aflame instantly, burning to extreme temperatures in a matter of milliseconds. Harry concentrated and centred his magic onto casting a small concentrated stasis charm, rendering the Dragonfyre gland inert just in time. With barely contained excitement, Harry extracted an alchemist's diamond phial, the strongest on the market, and collected the liquid. Sealing the phial hermetically, Harry smiled, satisfied, the dark red Dragonfyre combustible bubbled lazily inside the phial.
Pulling his torso out from inside the dragon's mouth, Harry waved a hand over himself, vanishing the spit and blood that coated his clothes and face. The phials of blood and Dragonfyre were safely stored inside a charmed pouch, sewed into his cloak.
Harry eyed the rest of the carcass of the dragon calculatingly. The scales he had to keep. They were amongst the strongest of materials in the entire Wizarding world, only rivalled by the basilisk's scales. Unfortunately, the only basilisk he knew of was dead and it had rotted away 2 years ago. His much younger self had only seen the quick cash that could be made from the venom of the basilisk and had discarded aside the skin.
Waving his hand over the soil of the forest, Harry conjured silver tools out of thin air and set about work. The skin of the dragon had to be manipulated very carefully and it would not do to ruin even a single part of it because he had slouched.
Two hours later, with the sun already high up in the sky, Harry set his tools down. Beside him, a small mountain of pilled scales stood. Dried blood coated his hands and tool, some of it covered parts of the carcass as well. He had enough dragon hide to make two full sets of armour and then have some left. Dragon scales were rare and much sought after on the market. He could probably muster up a deal with Gringotts to sell them, like he had done with the basilisk venom. Whilst not as expensive as the venom, the scales could probably earn him a few millions. Mustering as much power as his tired state could provide, Harry spread his arms wide before clapping his hands together, a magic pulse emanating from his joined palms. A temporary Stasis Charm settled over the dead Horntail.
Putting such a beast down may have seemed easy but it certainly wasn't. You see, dragons had a magical aura, granting them an overall greater advantage against their adversary. The aura would magically create a sense of dread, powerlessness and fear. Directed with the beast's killing intent, most who would dare to approach a dragon would be reduced to trembling messes, easy targets. And the bigger the dragon, the more powerful the aura was, which was why most dragon handlers worked in massive teams of over 15 people for a single dragon and the dragon they worked with was never more than 30 feet.
However, dragon aura had a subtle loophole embed, which allowed heavily shielded minds to completely skirt around the artificial dread, thus allowing Harry to render one of the dragon's most useful weapons completely useless. Still, dragon fire burned to extreme temperatures, completing a deadly arsenal against the unsuspecting opponent.
Four years of heavy Occlumency training had borne their fruit. Heavy shields protected every corner of Harry's mind, making his thoughts impervious to all but the few renowned Master Legilimencers around the world. Even then, they'd have to try really hard to read his mind and undergo a certain amount of sharp pain.
Twisting on his feet, Harry faded away from the forest in Hungary. Travelling by Apparition required usage of quite a big chunk of concentrated magical power, therefore limiting the distance someone could cover in a single jump. Magically speaking, the more powerful one was, the greater the distance of Apparition one could cover. Repeated Apparitions drained a wizard's magical core quite quickly and since Harry was as busy as a 16 year old wizard making a name for himself, he had to travel lots.
That was what had led him to spend enormous sums on extremely advanced books on the subject of Apparition/Disapparition. In his fourth year of studies at Hogwarts, Harry had plunged into the art of Arithmancy on a level far more advanced than what was taught in the elective class of the school.
In 6 months' work, 4 failed attempts that almost sent him to hospital, a few hundred Arithmancy calculations and 3 million Galleons gone from his vault, Harry had figured out a new magical travelling method, his very own.
Apparition worked as a conduit. The Apparating individual, with sufficient determination and magical power, willed magic to fold the world in half, dissolved it, and transported himself to the desired location. One could see it as folding a paper in half, in the exact middle point between two spots on the paper.
However, Apparition had its flaws. Magic could bend the world freely to its will in a short lapse of time. Wards however, wards strong enough, could freeze a terrain all together. Anti-Apparition wards could hold a location rigid, making it impossible for even magic to fold it. And that is the one problem Harry had successfully fixed.
Instead of manipulating the world around him, what if Harry manipulated himself? Instead of dissolving the world, what if Harry dissolved himself? In the end, the solution was quite simple. Willing magic to dissolve and reconstruct himself in the blink of an instant, Harry could just go about anywhere. And since the human body was way smaller than that of the Earth, this form of Apparition, or Dissolving, as Harry called it, required minimal power, for the same result.
And since the required power for this method of Apparition was minimal, distances were not a problem. Harry could easily reappear on the complete other side of the globe if he wanted to. The risk of dying were he not determined enough to will magic to reconstruct his body were higher, but what's life without a little risk hm?
Materialising into existence, Harry walked up the marble steps that led up into Gringotts. Nodding at the two entrance guards, he made his way inside the bank, directly heading for one of the Goblins sitting at the high desks. He wasted no time stating his business, his first visit had taught him that much.
"Potter vault, to retrieve an item, I've got my key," Harry announced.
The goblin gave him a once over and merely grunted in response, motioning him towards a door at the side of the bank.
The cart ride had been uneventful, as per usual. The goblin operating the cart took his key and unlocked the vault, number 687.
Harry stepped inside the secure chamber and quickly scanned over the space. His eyes eventually caught the bright green glint of the emerald he was looking for. It sat upon a small grey velvet cushion, covered by a dome shaped display glass.
Harry smiled. This emerald would be perfectly suited for his craft. The stone was naturally perfectly shaped and would probably not require any jeweller's cutting. Harry set about putting the emerald into a small pouch he had conjured from dust.
Nodding his thanks to the goblin that had stood guard in front of the vault, the two made their way back up to the surface and Harry vanished from the top step of the bank.
Fading into a clean kitchen, Harry took in the familiar surroundings for the God knew how many times, and each time, it had brought a smile to his face. He stood in the household of the Tonkses, the family he had run to when he was no more than a mere child.
The woman stirring a soup at the stove was who he considered his mother and she was, in all but blood. It was a single memory that Harry had held onto that had changed his life, or rather made it like the one he had craved; a story for another time however.
"Hey Andi," Harry could out a little louder than necessary. "I'm home!"
He watched as the dark haired woman gave a jump, the wooden spoon she was dipping in tomato sauce flying comically to the other side of the room. A long lash of red coated the ceiling of the kitchen, thanks to the tomato sauce.
Andromeda Tonks turned around glaring at her honorary son.
"I have told you, over and over, Harry, to stop scaring the living daylights out of me!" she yelled at him. Harry said nothing, he simply looked at her, amusement clear in his eyes. Andi glared at Harry for just a second longer and huffed before pulling him into a tight embrace.
"I take it your trip was successful?" she questioned, to which Harry nodded. "Good then, Nymphadora is going to be out of her mind with having her brother back."
Harry smiled a large smile. Nym was always his favourite, even if she was the older one, Harry was the one to keep her in check most of the time. Her bubbly personality often made her act like a teenager which, in Harry's mind, was exactly what she was.
"Now, Harry, clean up this mess would you?" Andromeda scolded him.
"You were the one that threw the spoon, Mum," Harry reminded her innocently. At Andi's stink eye though, Harry quickly waved his hand, vanishing the tomato sauce mess instantly. Andromeda huffed at the impressive display, half impressed, half proud, the corners of her lips just tugging a bit upwards.
Turning back to her soup, Andromeda let the smile that was forming on her lips blossom fully. She couldn't be happier with her life. She had a loving husband, she had a beautiful daughter that was the youngest undergoing trainee in the Auror Corps and she had an honorary son that had already altered magical principals.
Walking out of the kitchen, Harry climbed up a flight of oak stairs, only to find Nym's door shut. Snickering, he let her have her privacy and went to his room, summoning a piece of parchment and a quill to him. A note to Gringotts and he'd be richer by a few millions.
Hedwig, Harry's owl, had quickly stolen the note from Harry's hands as soon as he had signed his name and flew off. Pulling out the phial of dragon fire, Harry examined it studiously. If Harry was completely honest with himself, he'd admit that he was trembling with anticipation for tomorrow. The last two months without a wand had been horrible. They had felt like a part of him was missing. Like he had lost a part of him.
He was still able to perform extremely well with magic but still, his spells had quite the differential in terms of power. His old wand had simply stopped working altogether for some reason two months ago.
Harry swung his legs onto his bed and promptly fell asleep.
Something was poking him. Something pink. Something that took great happiness in tormenting him, judging by the not so well stifled giggles.
"Ugh, stop it Nym," Harry muttered groggily. "... Lemme sleep."
She laughed again, tickling him on his side. "C'mon little man, get up, Mum says dinner's ready." Nym almost had to jump out of Harry's way as he sat straight up in his bed, flinging the covers to the floor.
"Did you just call me little, Miss Nymphadora?"
"Uhhh, yeah?" she smiled unabashedly at him, her hair turning an even more vibrant shade of pink.
In the blink of an instant, Harry was on his feet. He wrapped his arms around Tonks' waist and he flung her over his shoulder unceremoniously. His sister gave a yelp of indignation at being manhandled the way she was. "I'll show you little, Dora. I'm almost five inches taller than you anyways," Harry added the last part with a haughty huff.
Dora smacked his shoulder lightly, as she wiggled in his grip. "Put me down you big prat!" she demanded.
"Nuh uh. I take personal offence to any slight against my height, even if the offender is my favourite big sister that is smaller than me."
Harry proceeded to ignore all her indignant protestations and simply carried her down the stairs and into the dining room.
Andromeda Tonks was quite used to the antics and playful banter between her two charges. So when Harry came into the dining room with her daughter over his shoulder, she simply shook her head in amusement.
"What's my daughter done this time Harry?" she asked.
"Said I was little, that's what, so I corrected her," he grinned.
Tonks pouted and looked on pleadingly to her mother, silently asking her to help her out. Andromeda caught her daughter's eye and sighed. "Fair enough Harry, if you would please put Nymphadora down so we can all start eating," she said.
Harry pouted but relented and put Tonks down. Tonks made her way over to her chair, pinching Harry on his cheek, and promptly sat down, just as Ted Tonks entered the front door.
"Andi I'm home!" he called from the hall.
"Dinner's already on the table darling," the woman called back to her husband.
Ted made his way into the dining room, patting his daughter's cheek and ruffling his son's hair as he went to sit.
"I take it since it's the first time we see you for a week, your mission has been successful, Harry?" Ted asked while raising an eyebrow questioningly at Harry.
Harry took his time chewing his mouthful before responding enthusiastically. "Oh yeah, the trip was great, I've got the materials to craft my wand, a set of dragon hide for armour crafting and a Horntail carcass. Oh and by the way, I've already arranged for Gringotts to transfer fifty percent of my cut from the sales to the Tonks vault."
Seeing the man wanted to argue just like he did when Harry had given him the same cut from the basilisk sale, he quickly added, "No room for arguments Dad, it's the least I can do to repay you, Andi and Dora for all you have given me."
Ted signed, knowing Harry would not budge from his position. He was simply happy he got to see the boy grow. Monetary compensation was never in the question, hell, he'd have taken the boy in even if he had had nothing. Nym turned away a bit awkwardly from the conversation. It had gone like this last time too. Harry had made enormous profits from slaying a magical beast and he had given half the money to the Tonks family. Ted would refuse and Harry would insist until Ted accepted, even reluctantly. Dora would look away, a part of her was ashamed that Harry could give out a sum she knew she wouldn't have given away. Andi would simply look at Harry proudly, money couldn't have mattered less to her. She was proud she was the one that had raised him. She was happy of the generous soul the young man had.
"If you're sure that is what you wish to do Harry," Ted replied, though a hint of unease still stained his voice.
Dinner moved onto much more jovial topics. "I'll be gone most of tomorrow to craft my wand," Harry announced. Tonks pouted, a small tinge of sadness darkening her eyes. Harry wasn't even back for a whole day and he was leaving again! Her expression didn't go unseen by Harry, though he made no comment about it.
Later that evening, Harry ran into Tonks reading a Muggle Novel in the sitting room. "Hey," Harry prompted. "You ok Nym?"
She gave a small nod, her eyes still on her book, though they were now still.
"Talk to me Dora, I know you're upset but I can't help you if you don't say anything," Harry tried to get her talking. "So tell me, what's wrong?"
She scooted herself closer to Harry, an almost vulnerable look gleaming in her eyes. "It's gonna sound childish…" she muttered.
"I still want you to tell me, if it'll help you get it off your chest," Harry encouraged her.
"Well I barely see you all year, the only time I can spend time with you is on Christmas and summer, but you've been gone for a whole month this summer!" she whispered to him. "And now that I finally get to see you, you just had to say you're leaving again tomorrow."
Others may say that it was unbefitting for people her age to act the way she currently was but nobody shared the bond she had with Harry. When you have someone that isn't your mother or father to turn to when you have problems, when you have someone that is your brother in all but blood, you naturally become closely attached to them.
Nymphadora's words made Harry feel like he was the world's most insensible individual to ever exist. "I promise I'll make it up to you, Dora," he promised. "You can come with me tomorrow, to go craft my wand."
He smiled at her eager nod. Yawning, he got up but was held back by Nym's hand tugging at his sleeve. "Will you tuck me in?" she asked in a small voice.
Harry grinned widely at her. "And you talk about being childish," he tutted at her. Nym stuck her tongue out at him but still raised her arms expectantly. Harry relented and scooped her up. He had never been able to deny anything to his sister for very long. Andi had said Dora had him wrapped around her little finger and at the time he hadn't believed her. Now, he could see clear as day that Andi's every single word was true. And he wouldn't have it any differently.
Dora was the first treasure he had found, and one of the most precious. One he had stashed in the most secure vault he could find within his heart. Ted, Andi and his magic were the other treasures he had put in the same vault.
He carried Nym all the way to her room and tucked her in under the blankets. "Goodnight, Dora," he murmured. All he got for response was a small cute snore. Chuckling quietly, Harry left Nym's room, closing the door behind him.
Two figures seemingly appeared out of thin air, in a forest in Hungary. The carcass of the dead Hungarian Horntail was nowhere to be seen though the vestiges of the fight that happened only a day ago were still present. A long trail of blackened tree trunks split the forest in two. Deep gashes scarred the soil beneath the two figures' feet.
The taller of the two figures sat on a boulder, pulling out a phial, a pouch and a block of dark coloured wood.
"You ready Nym?" Harry asked. "You're gonna have to help me out really soon."
The woman nodded, pulling out her wand. "Just tell me what you need me to do, Harry."
Harry nodded, tensing his shoulders and closing his eyes. He reached deep within himself, into his very core. He could feel it. It felt vivid, powerful, and… alive. His magic burned in an everlasting fire of power, radiating lethalness.
The block of wood placed in front of him slowly shot into the air, hovering at Harry's head level. Inside his mind, Harry began picturing. 'Length,' he mused to himself. 7 was his favourite number, but 12 also held a significant importance to him. It was Nymphadora's birthdate. His sister was born on the 12th day of the 8th month. 12,87 inches would do.
The handle needn't be fancy, nor the shaft. A wand clean of accessories would highlight deadly accurate spell work and swift victorious blows. The only notable accessory the wand would carry would be its emerald power stone. Usual wands seldom had stones embedded into them. Normally, they would only consist of wood, the core and the simplest magic channelling runes. However, those wands only contained solid cores such as heartstrings and feathers. A liquid wand core had never been seen beforehand. It was only during the whole last month that Harry had concluded a liquid core would work as a wand core.
Just like when he had altered Apparition, Harry had spent quite the sum on wand lore and wand crafting books. A few days of non-stop Arithmancy calculations were equally thrown into the mix. Now, the day had come and Harry would finally be united with a new wand.
With the block of wood slowly hovering in front of him, Harry concentrated on the shape of the wand he wished to make. The picture of the object was burned firmly into his mind. A small cracking sound reached Harry's ears and he grinned. The whole block of dark wood began cracking and popping, rifts began forming into the material. He prodded the brightness of his magic further and the rifts within the woods became larger and larger, though his closed eyes couldn't see them. Even still, he knew about his success at the current task.
Small chips of wood began falling to the ground, those small chips soon transforming into small chunks. With a final grunt of effort, the shape Harry had imagined came into life, the wood of the wand was all carved out. Harry slowly opened his eyes, examining his work.
"What do you think, Nym?" he questioned his sister.
She nodded approvingly, finding his work to be flawless. "It could do with a bit of polishing, I think, adding a bit of a shine to it, you know," she said, shrugging slightly.
Harry hummed, his thoughts matching hers quite similarly.
"Alright then, thank you Dora," he smiled at her. "Now the delicate part. You're gonna have to do quite a lot Nym," he warned.
She offered no verbal response but nodded and smiled enthusiastically at him. Harry directed his magic outwards, reaching the pouch and the phial, levitating both up. The pouch itself fell to the ground, but the gem it held within its depths stayed, hovering.
"Container rune, Nym," Harry murmured to her. She brought her wand up, slashing the air elegantly, a big rune of flames appeared mid-air. She watched Harry, her eye comically doubling in size as her brother seemingly caught the rune with his bare hand, bringing his fingers together slowly, and forcefully resizing the rune until it was not bigger than a small dot. She looked on as he brought the emerald closer to the hand 'holding' the rune. The rune glowed brighter and brighter as it approached the stone, finally embedding itself into the crown of the emerald. The flames slowly died out, leaving a small carving behind, in the form of a container rune.
"Channelling," Harry called out. Nym slashed her wand again and the process began once more.
Harry added quite a few runes to the emerald gem, a power source rune, a stability rune, a fire containment rune, an energy container rune, a redirection of energy rune. Once the final rune was carved, Harry added a single more protection rune onto the gem to prevent any sort of physical damage from harming the stone.
The final product was quite similar to how it had looked in the beginning. The small runic symbols were barely visible on the stone. They were all arranged around the crown of the emerald, encircling it.
"Protection rune," Harry demanded. The flaming red Algiz rune appeared and Harry manipulated it into the inside of the wood of the wand this time. Tonks helped him add a containment rune and a power harvesting rune inside the wood. One last rune allowed the wielder of the wand to channel their magic through the instrument, it was the customary rune added to every wand known to existence and no exception could be made.
"When I say go, Dora, cast a Transferring Charm on the Dragonfyre phial and transfer the liquid inside the wand. I'll seal the wand off with the emerald at the same time," Harry instructed. "Be cautious, I wouldn't want to bring back home a medium rare Nymphadora steak alright?"
He added the last part as a joke but he was also being dead serious. A single slip of hand from either of the two and they could both die, scorched by flames. Dora nodded, her wand brandished at the ready. Harry took a huge inspiration, letting his magic flow out, a dark purple dome shaped shield covered both him and Dora. The shield would at least prevent the flames from spreading out, if all went wrong.
Harry brought the wooden piece of the wand close in front of him. Sweat began dripping down his chin as he gave his magic one more push, preparing to contain the inferno that would be caused, should the fire containment rune prove to be insufficient.
"Let's pray this works," Harry grunted. "GO!"
The pale grey light of the Transferring Charm glowed at the tip of Tonks' wand. The thin jet of light launched itself from the wand's tip, hitting the phial. The dark crimson liquid that was bubbling inside it vanished instantly, a loud popping sound resounded through the violet shield, signalling the empty space being replaced by air.
The next thing they knew, the air around Harry and Dora got ridiculously hot. Sparks even started bouncing around them. The dragon fire that was being forced inside the tight tube of the wand's wood grew impossibly hotter to the touch, eliciting a hiss of pain from Harry. The highly volatile magic of the liquid flames was pushing hard against everything surrounding it.
Small pulses of radiating magic began emanating from the unfinished wand. Harry's eyes widened, with only the slightest tinges of fear in them. Harry was pushing as hard as he could with his arm, trying to force the emerald onto the back end of the wand. The liquid core however, was so compliant. It wanted to erupt, the few particles of air that were left inside the wand after the Transferring Charm were enough to initiate what could transform into an unstoppable inferno.
The pulses of the liquid quickened. It was only logical and Harry knew it. Doom was imminent if the gem wasn't attached in time. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Dora, still next to him, only her eyes were reflecting her powerlessness. The dragon fire grew even hotter if that was even possible, there were almost no more intervals between the pulses and the wand's length was glowing now.
Somehow, the gem was closer to the wand's end, closer than it had ever been, only three inches separated the wood from the stone. Harry was sweating profusely by now. The abnormal temperature inside the purple shield had been long forgotten.
Harry pushed his arm harder. The gap closed just a bit, only two inches separated the two objects. Harry could now even hear the pulses of the dragon fire. He pushed again, this time with whatever magic he could spare, enhancing his physical strength just the tiniest bit.
As the pulsing and glow seemed to reach their culminating point and the whole contraption seemed ready to explode, the emerald power stone finally touched the wooden shaft. The stone seemingly embedded itself into the wood, merging into a single object. Ever so slowly, the pulsing dimmed down and the glowing faded too.
Harry released a deep breath, exhausted. He dropped the dark violet shield, the smoke inside the dome cleared rapidly and the fresh air of the Hungarian forest rushed inside his lungs. Harry could hear Dora's gasped breaths next to him. Thankfully, she was safe and so was he.
Looking down, he realised his wandless Levitation Charm had failed, the now finished wand craft laying on the forest soil. The emerald attached to the end of the wand was glowing even brighter now. Harry smiled. Nym's runes had done perfectly and the power stone was now charged by the dragon fire core.
Seeing their success, all the adrenaline from the experience drained from Harry's system and he promptly fainted, completely exhausted.
She was still panting from the experience. It was simply amazing! The creation of Harry's wand, though dangerous, had still put on quite the lightshow. That magical prowess had left her dazed, and if she was completely honest with herself, agape. She was still marvelling at the incredible magical feat Harry had pulled off when a soft thudding sound echoed behind her.
Her body turned on its own accord and she could only watch as Harry lost consciousness and dropped to the ground like a limp sack of potatoes. She hurriedly made her way to his side, casting a Diagnosis Charm to check him for injuries. Thankfully, she found no everlasting physical or magical injury. Her brother was simply drained from his previous effort.
The final craft from said efforts caught her eye, the emerald now seemingly fully charged. It glowed brightly, the same shade of the Killing Curse. Dora picked the wand up and holstered it alongside hers. It would be a shame if they came all the way here, only to lose the wand.
She sat down on the grass and gently lifted Harry's head onto her lap, threading her fingers through his long messy black locks. The midday's sun was high up over their heads, though the shade of a large oak tree's branches protected them from the heat. 'I don't know how to Dissolve,' she thought to herself. 'We didn't bring any food, none of us know the country and Apparating blind is way too dangerous. Oh well…' she mentally sighed.
Dora cast a few Cushioning Charms on the ground and the boulder she was leaning against. She lifted Harry off her lap by his shoulders and rested him into a somewhat comfortable half-sitting position against the huge rock. She warded the area against animals, Muggles and any other danger that might present itself. She did a last once over of her work and, satisfied, she walked away, looking for food.
'Water would be essential,' she thought. She cast a sound amplifying charm around her, a neat little trick for eavesdropping she had picked up in the Auror Corps. Now, she could pick up the sounds coming to her way more easily and her hearing radius had increased marginally. She walked at a measured pace, careful not to make loud noises.
A branch cracked behind her and she whipped around almost instantly, her wand raised, a Stunner already on her lips, only to find her field of view empty. 'Probably just a wild animal,' she thought. She barely made it half a mile further before she was halted in her tracks by the sounds of flowing water. The sound of water was oh so alluring to her dry mouth. Compared to Harry, who had done most of the work during the wand craft, she had done only so little and she was dehydrated to a point it was almost painful. She could only imagine how much Harry would be craving water, should he be awake.
She walked the hundred or so yards between herself and the water source, almost giddily. Maybe if she was lucky, she could catch a fish or two and lunch would be served! Well lunch was a big word. One or two wild fish caught and cooked without as much seasoning other than salt couldn't really be called lunch. Oh well, the fish would have to do, for now.
The river was a big thing, wide enough for her to lie down in it and still have space for another. She transfigured two nearby pebbles into crystal jars and filled them with water. A few spells later, both jars of water were purified and filtered. Barely able to contain her thirst anymore, Dora gulped down the whole jar of water in a very unladylike fashion, with water running down her chin. Everyone could let their manners slide once in a while couldn't they?
She refilled the jar and redid the same cleansing spell work, purifying another jar of water. 'Now for the food.' She hadn't noticed any fish in the stream when she was collecting water but still, she could still hope. Maybe a Summoning Spell would work.
"Accio fish," she intoned.
Nothing happened. She would've been hard pressed to figure out an excuse to any Muggle passing by as to why she was shouting with a stick in her hand. Only her good reflexes saved her front getting knocked onto her arse by a flying salmon.
Grinning, Dora closed the lid of both water jars, grabbed the now motionless salmon by its tail and set course for camp. That is if you could call a few cushioned boulders a camp. Dora found her way back easily, her Auror training had made her sense of orientation excellent.
She found Harry still in the dreamlands of unconsciousness, in the same position she had left him in. Dora set the jars on the soil while summoning a flat rock to her. She set the fish onto the smooth greyish surface of the rock and 3 spells later, the fish's blood, guts, head and scales disappeared into nothingness.
Morally, her Mum preferred Muggle methods for cooking but she just found them to be a waste of time. Her spell work did the same job as the knives did, only way more quickly.
"Aguamenti," she muttered. A jet of water splashed onto the rock, cleaning the fish. She was about to cast a Cutting Curse to divide the fish into smaller portions when she froze. She slapped her own forehead, hard. 'Goodness gracious!' Berating herself mentally for her own stupidity, she muttered a few Cutting Curses, separating the fish into equal portions.
She had walked one and a half miles for water when she could've just cast the oh so stupid Aguamenti spell!
"A damned spell taught in third year!" she exclaimed aloud.
Transfiguring a small rock near her 'workspace' into a small mound of salt, she began seasoning the raw fish as best as she could. She had never been one for cooking, her often clumsy self had prevented her from coming even within 6 feet of the house's kitchen. She was surprised she hadn't accidentally knocked all the fish to the ground by now.
Dora muttered an 'Accio firewood', the small dry branches came up to her, stacking neatly in a perfect pile for a campfire. An Incendio later, the flames were blazing as if they'd been burning for hours. Improvising a barbecue rack with nearby branches, she set the salmon over the fire to cook.
A soft groan came from Harry, turning her attention away from the bonfire. His body stirred and his eyes opened slowly.
"We did it?" he asked her in an unsteady voice.
She nodded. Harry's eyes drifted away from her, instead observing the burning fire, the water jars, the scorched earth that resulted from their 'mission'. "You've been busy."
Tonks blushed despite herself, her little 'incident' with the water still fresh in her mind. "Yeah," she returned, her voice soft. Clearing her throat, she said a bit more firmly, "I got you some water."
Harry accepted the jar she was handing to him gratefully, his brain now conscious of how dry his throat was. Crafting that wand was a damn exhausting experience. Speaking of the wand…
"Hey Nym, did you pick the wand up?"
The young woman cast a questioning glance at him before she perked up. "Oh, right, wand… Yes I picked it up after you fainted. Here, one wand, coming right up!" Flicking her wrist expertly, she produced said wand into her hand. The emerald, if it was possible, was glowing even more brightly than before. The wand felt odd to her touch though. She felt like it was a stranger she had met somewhere before. Familiar, but at the same time unfamiliar. Shrugging, she spinned the wand around, handing it to Harry, the handle facing him.
Harry thanked her, his fingers eagerly wrapping around the wand's base. As soon as his fingers touched the wand, Harry shivered from head to toes, his eyes closed, a smile of ecstasy stretched his lips. Radiating warmth ran through his system, a blinding explosion of light came from the point of contact between his fingers and the wand. Unbeknownst to both of them, an invisible shockwave of energy was cast from the two of them. The wave of energy flowed into all directions around them at the speed of light. To the cities around the world, it felt like a very strong gust of wind had hit them, staggering all of their power sources.
Dora saw Harry's eyelids lift before his eyes locked with her own. She almost doubled over in shock. Whereas Harry's eyes were, under normal circumstances, an already disturbingly vibrant shade of green, they were now positively glowing. Dora was sure if Harry stepped into a dark room, his eyes would still clearly be visible.
She would have forgotten the cooking fish if not for Harry nudging her side, saying, "I think something is about to be burned, Tonksie."
She would've swatted him on his head for calling her Tonksie if not for the strong smell of smoke that had started coming from behind her. She hastily extinguished the flames, thankfully the fish meat wasn't burned, at least not to the point it was inedible.
They both ate hastily, cleaning up the mess they had made in the meantime. The salmon tasted horrible, even though Harry kept reassuring her that his pieces tasted absolutely fine. Soon, they were both ready to leave, all the trace of their so-called meal had disappeared.
When Harry grabbed her by her hand though, she froze. "Wait."
"Wait."
Harry was just about to Dissolve them both to Diagon Alley when Dora stopped him. "You're alright?" he asked her worriedly. He felt his heartbeat quicken when she shook her head no. Dropping her hand, he grabbed her gently by her shoulders, turning her towards him.
"What's wrong?"
"It's, I… no, I don't…" she spluttered incoherently. Harry released his hold on her shoulders, his arms dropping limply to his sides. It seemed to help though, as when he released his hold of her, Dora seemed to relax considerably, her previously bright red cheeks dimming in colour.
She took a few deep breaths before speaking again, her eyes looking everywhere but him. "Your, uh, magical… aura? I could feel it, like, very, very intensely. It made me," she flushed bright crimson at her next words. "Have, you know… reactions… down there."
Light coloration tinted Harry's cheeks too when he got the meaning of Dora's words. He focused on feeling his own magical core, trying his best to tune the 'aura' down. The magic he felt coming from inside him was vivid, so much more fluid than it was before he had touched his wand. The whole situation was quite bizarre to Harry, as nothing he had read described any secondary effects to crafting your own wand. That was something for him to explore later.
He managed to reduce the magical aura that was flowing out of him somewhat. He grabbed Dora's hand once more and with a mere thought, the two of them faded from the Hungarian forest, appearing in front of the Tonks' household.
Stepping in, Harry watched amusedly as Tonks made a beeline for the showers. He was still chuckling to himself when he noticed the smell that came from his own body. Grimacing in distaste, he wandlessly cast a few Cleaning Charms over himself. They would have to do until Dora was done with the shower.
With Andi and Ted both out working, Harry simply made some pasta and set the table for two. For a moment he considered ordering takeout but that idea was quickly scratched off. With nothing else to do while the pasta was cooking, Harry flicked his wand into his firm grip.
Immediately, the same effects from when he had first touched it happened. The radiating warmth filled him once again and his eyes quite literally lit up. This time however, he could feel the magical aura coming out of him freely. No matter how much effort he put into diminishing it, the magical field encasing his body simply would not fade. The emerald on the end of the wand also began pulsing lightly, as if it was eager to cast a spell.
Harry grinned, extremely pleased with his new wand, even though he had yet to try it out in combat. In fact, Harry hadn't used his wand to cast any spell at all for now. Holstering his wand, Harry manually drained the boiling water that was cooking the pasta and made two equal portions.
Dora came stumbling down the stairs, a towel wrapped around her head. Harry smiled fondly at her, her clumsiness never ceased to amuse him. She sat down in front of him and both began eating.
"Say Dora, would you like to duel? You know, like we used to before," Harry pleaded her.
Tonks directed a playful glare at him. Swallowing her mouthful, she huffed at him. "Yeah right, it's already humiliating enough to get my ass handed to me by a 17 years old teenager. There is no need for me to get a periodic reminder that my little brother outmatches the whole Auror Corps combined."
Harry gave her his best, most innocent eyes whilst pouting. That technique had long since stopped working but he tried nonetheless. Seeing Dora wasn't about to change her mind anytime soon, Harry made his decision. It was initially supposed to be part of Dora's upcoming birthday gift but oh well, he would simply get her something more meaningful.
"And what if I take you, Andi and Ted to the World Cup on the 18th? Would you duel with me?" Harry gave her his best charming smile, cackling on the inside, knowing Dora simply couldn't refuse anything that had to do with Quidditch. She simply loved the sport and had been playing it since Harry had known her, which was quite the way back in time.
Even if her outer demeanour hadn't changed yet, Harry could see the fissures in her composure begin to crack. The corner of her lips twitched, tugging upwards slightly. She cracked half a smile. And then she was laughing, with barely concealed happiness.
Dora almost knocked him over when she flung herself to him, tackling him in a strong embrace. "You sure know how to please your sister, Harry!" she giggled. Harry grinned at her. At 21 years old, she was still, at times, the biggest kid he had ever seen. A bright bundle of energy at times and a whirlwind of mixed up emotions at other times. Harry suspected that some of it was due to her Metamorphmagus heritage. Depending on the morph she took, some of her more primal instincts can become more prominent, therefore making her emotions run wild sometimes. She could be laughing at the dinner table one second and the next one crying because she dropped her fork.
"Alright then! Bring it on!" she intoned. They moved to the magically expanded basement of the house where a duelling platform had been set up. It originated from when Tonks had first joined the Auror Academy, almost three years ago. As they both moved onto the platform, Harry powered up the main ward stone that controlled the wards that were erected around the arena, protecting the rest of the house from stray spell fire.
"Disarming or incapacitating only. Anything else goes, don't hold back Dora."
The rules were set and Dora wasted no time in trying to get the upper hand. Bludgeoning hexes came his way, carefully aimed to predict his very next movements. Harry grinned wickedly. Some action after weeks of only using wandless magic was warmly welcomed. To the lesser wizard, Dora's bludgeoning hexes would've been the end for them. Sure, shielding could've worked but the Protego spell wasn't encased around one's body completely. Tonks wasn't one of the Senior Aurors at 21 for nothing and her spell work proved that. Two bludgeoning hexes came for his lower legs whilst one was aimed at his chest, the last of came soaring towards his face. If he shielded, protecting his vital body parts, he would be caught by the spells aimed at his legs.
Instead, Harry twisted, fading on the spot, reappearing behind Dora, who, at this point, was quite used to Harry's style and was already turning around as Harry disappeared. A Stunner and a Fire Whip came his way. Harry swatted the Stunner aside, as if it were a particularly annoying fly. The fire whip, he let it connect, wrapping around his left arm. Transfiguring his whole left arm into a metallic replica of his own arm, he tugged forcefully on the fire whip, dragging Dora forward.
The Metamorphmagus reacted quickly, cancelling the whip and rolling to her feet. Harry fired off some more dangerous spells from his arsenal he knew Dora would be able to dodge. He purposefully fired out steel arrows off target, trying to bait Dora into misstepping into his stunner. With years of duelling each other, Dora was perhaps the sole person capable of equalling Harry in skill in the arena. She couldn't match his power, and Harry knew it, but she could read him like an open book. With a knowing smirk, she kept her footing, knowing Harry's arrows would miss her.
Harry beamed despite himself. Nym had become a great sparring partner. Twirling his wand in a complicated pattern, Harry sent off a continuous stream of pink electricity towards Dora. She managed to twist away from the incoming energy beam, but Harry, predicting her movements, managed to catch her with a Freezing Charm to the legs.
Harry watched as thick blocks of ice trapped Dora's legs, making her tumble to the ground. Her arms shot forward, preventing herself from falling on her face. His lips curled into an approving smile when Dora's legs shifted, thinning before she slipped out of her ice prison, her legs morphing back to their normal state. Dora was using every advantage she could get from her Metamorphmagus heritage. Dora jumped back up to her feet, shooting two low-powered stunners at Harry as a distraction. As the stunners sailed towards him, Harry felt a small shift of the platform at his feet.
He made nothing of it for the moment, instead erecting a black shield that absorbed the two stunners. He frowned at the low power the shield received. Harry tried to move to the left, keen on finding a better angle of attack, only to find himself unmoving. Dora, behind the slow-moving low-powered stunners, had transfigured the platform at his feet into sinking sand, effectively trapping him. He couldn't Dissolve, not without a small range of movement for his feet. Harry watched as Nym pointed her wand at her legs, a small shimmer of the air was the only indication she had cast a spell. Then she leaped, almost ten feet up in the air, executing an elegant twirl over his head and landing behind him.
Harry hastily put his black shield back up, this time behind his back. He was essentially fighting blind, though his finely tuned senses picked up most of the spells Dora sent his way. Without putting his previous shield out, Harry erected another shield behind it, this one also pitch black, except it absorbed the magical energy of the spells it blocked. Dropping the first shield, he felt the multiple Stunners and Disarming hexes crashing against the second shield. Harry smirked, hearing Dora's frustrated growl behind him.
The shield protecting his back was now pulsing with overcharged power. Harry held it for just one more second, and then with a swift flick of his wand, he sent the enormous black ball of concentrated energy towards Dora at an abnormal speed. He didn't bother to aim, it was pointless.
Behind his back, the massive energy sphere grew, more and more, until it was as large as the whole duelling platform, leaving Tonks with essentially no room for retaliation. Harry flicked his wand again and the black energy ball, now a wall of energy, shifted red. Dora conjured a hasty shield, though Harry couldn't see it. The shield the Metamorph erected however, proved to no avail. The crimson wall wrapped itself over and under her Protego charm, encasing her body, stunning her.
The soft thud that echoed behind him signalled his victory. The sand keeping his feet locked in place vanished and Harry rushed over towards his sister, his wand still in hand. Gently, he lifted her up, a whispered 'Enervate' brought Dora back to consciousness. She blinked rapidly a few times before her eyes locked with Harry's smirking face.
Dora smacked his chest lightly, her face pouting, though it held absolutely no anger. "See?! I said you would win, and so you did, without even looking too," she huffed, then she immediately brightened up, an eager smile illuminating her face. "C'mon Harry, you gotta teach me that last spell, the gigantic shield thingy!"
Then, Dora levelled a mocking stink-eye at him. "You've had your dose of Dora humiliation now, mister, show me the tickets for the World Cup now," she demanded, the stink eye she was giving him instantly transforming into wide innocent eyes.
Harry chuckled, frankly amused by her antics. Waving his wand over their heads, both waited a few moments before an envelope flew into the basement, stopping precisely in front of Tonks. Dora looked at Harry questioningly, as if she was a 6 year old child asking Andi for an ice cream, with wide, happy eyes. Harry grinned, poking her side. "Go on, open it," he told Dora.
With an eager schoolgirl squeal, the twenty-one year old tore into the envelope. Dora gasped at the golden rimmed tickets that fell into her lap. They even had each one of their names on it! She hugged the golden ticket that read 'Nymphadora Tonks' protectively to her chest.
Harry was chuckling mirthfully at his sister, the glare she levelled at him spurring him on further. "You aren't going to take that ticket with you to bed, are you?" he asked, almost completely seriously.
At her deadpan look, Harry could only shake his head incredulously. He sometimes wondered why Dora hadn't delved into a Quidditch career, with her being close to obsessed with the sport. "Thank you Harry," Nym said quietly in his ear. She flung herself to him, hugging him tightly. Harry returned her hug, rubbing her back in slow circles. She disentangled herself from him, her face flush crimson. "Maybe tune down the aura, Harry, the duel's finished," she said, her voice a little bit too husky for Harry's comfort. Blushing slightly at the implications of Dora's words, Harry reigned his magic back.
He gathered the tickets back into the envelope, though Dora wouldn't let go of her own, so he only warned her to not lose it and sealed the envelope back up.
Holstering his wand, Harry noticed the glow of the emerald power stone was still as bright as ever. It still pulsed, eager to cast again. "My fourth treasure," he whispered to himself. Dora, Andi and Ted, his magic and now his wand. All four were held protectively to his heart.
"So," Ted asked Harry as the Tonks family gathered for dinner that evening. "How's the wand?"
"Amazing, simply amazing," Harry replied honestly. The wand worked wonders, even from the short time his duel with Dora had lasted, he simply knew, his wand was special. "I can show you the wand, here," he added, flicking his wrist. The thin stick with the gem mounted on the handle appeared out of thin air, directly into his grip.
Andi eyed the wand Harry passed to her attentively. "It's freezing cold to the touch," she remarked. Her hand that was touching the wood was effectively paler than her other hand.
Harry nodded thoughtfully. "Maybe it's because you aren't the wand's master? But that leaves the question as to why I don't feel frostiness when I touch your wand, huh… As a matter of fact, when I use the wand, it feels extremely warm, it's an almost burning sensation, you know?"
Seeing all three other occupants of the dining room shaking their heads in the negative, Harry sighed. He understood wand lore to a certain point, but the whole 'picking a master' thing was completely out of his grasp of understanding.
"Hey Harry, I didn't ask back in the forest because we had a uh… life or death situation to deal with, but what wood is that?" Nym asked him, pointing vaguely in the wand's direction.
"Oh that, that's…"
Harry was promptly cut off mid-sentence by Andi's sudden choke. Coughing, she asked Nym with a suspicious gaze, "And whatever do you mean by life or death situation, daughter?"
Harry flustered, looking sheepish but Nym still answered her mother's demand. "Oh yeah, you don't have to worry Mum, Harry and I had it under control, right Harry?"
She turned to him expectantly. Harry hurriedly nodded his head multiple times. Dora gave a smug smile before turning to her mother once more.
"Harry's wand core is… very… special, let's say. We simply had a difficult time trying to contain it, really."
Andi's gaze had gained an imperious look. She uttered a single word, but Harry felt compelled to obey her instantly. "Spill."
"Liquid dragon fire core," he said quietly, looking away.
Andromeda huffed. "Do you have any idea how dangerous that stuff is? You realise a single slip could've killed you both? You've grown past the age of spanking but still, that was very irresponsible of the two of you," the woman admonished.
"My rune work was more than perfect, we're both still alive." Harry heard Dora muttering under her breath.
"So, about the wand's other characteristics?" Ted spoke up, seeing his wife had finished lecturing his daughter and son.
"The wood's ebony," Harry answered. "According to my sources, it is said that ebony is suited for all manners of combat magic and Transfiguration. Those who hold wands of ebony hold dear to their beliefs and aren't swayed easily from their purpose."
He gave a shrug. The description certainly fitted him, there was no denying that. From his early training days, he had found a taste for offensive magic and Transfiguration wasn't even a question in his book. He could conjure or alter objects without even having the need for a wand. Maybe he could enter the European duelling championship, to test himself. 'Huh,' he mused. That certainly was an idea.
Remembering Ted and Dora's earlier question, he pulled himself out of his own musings. "The wand is 12,87 inches exactly, based on Dora's birthdate and a magically powerful number. The wand itself is carved out of a block of ebony wood using wandless magic."
Harry saw the interested looks coming from Andi and Ted so he continued his story. Some people found wand lore boring, as to them, wands were only a vessel and magic was something they took for granted.
"The core, as you already know, is liquid dragon fire. The unstable energy is contained inside the emerald gemstone at the wand's hilt. Both the inside of the wood and the gem are layered in protective and energy harnessing runes drawn by Dora."
Harry gave an appreciating smile to Dora, silently thanking her for her contribution to his wand.
At some point in Harry's recounting of events, Andi had passed the wand to Ted, who was examining the craft with a critical eye.
Ted gave an appreciative whistle at the end of Harry's story. "A masterpiece it is indeed. I've never seen or even heard of a gemstone mounted wand! Well that doesn't mean much because of my background but still, that's one hot piece of wandcrafting."
The man extended the wand towards Harry, who summoned it to him without even moving a muscle. That move earned him a playful glare from Dora and a muttered 'Bloody show-off'. Harry feigned being hurt, clutching at his chest dramatically.
"Maybe you should consider the European championship, son," Ted prompted, interrupting Dora and Harry in their less than adult-like bickering.
"Isn't that tournament dangerous?" Andromeda cut in before Harry could speak.
Dora however, thought differently than her mother. "I think it's a great idea, Mum. It's Harry we're talking about! Some of them duellers got heads so big it would be so funny to see Harry humble them," she giggled, obviously pleased by the image. She sighed wistfully. "Imagine that, Mum, some airhead with multiple championships to his name used to wipe the arena's floor by Harry…"
She giggled again, giving Harry a proud smile. Andi, though, still looked reluctant.
"C'mon, Mum, I'm not a little kid anymore. I can take care of myself alright. And also," Harry added, in his best imitation of Andi's pompous brother-in-law Lucius, "My skill is, if I do say so myself, nothing quite short of extraordinary."
The whole table chuckled at that, and Andromeda's reluctance was eased up quite a bit. With a final sigh, she gave her accord.
"Fine," she reluctantly agreed.
"Great!" both Tonks and Harry cheered.
"Actually," Harry quickly said, changing his mind. "This year is going to be a bit busier so maybe I'll enter the Championship next year. And then I'll be able to face just about anyone, not just the 17 and 18 year olds."
Tonks snickered mockingly at Harry. "I think you've grown your head a little bit too big, Harry."
Harry laughed, the rest of the table joined him in hilarity not a moment later.
"You do know that you can register yourself in a higher division than your age group, right Harry?" Andi reminded him.
Oh right. That was allowed. Huh. "Then maybe this August of 94 is going to be more action packed than any before! Where's the registration brochure?"
The rest of the dinner passed with the usual banter between Tonks and Harry, to the amusement of both Ted and Andromeda.
That night, when Harry got into bed, he had a small content smile tugging at his lips, the first one in over 2 months. Being back amongst his family was such a treat. Tomorrow, he would go look for something that would complete the rest of Dora's birthday gift, now that she already had the World Cup tickets.