Content Harry Potter
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"Yes," Dumbledore replied later that day, "The Refiner’s Fire makes the wizard grow — if he survives at all.   When I had it, I was fifty years old and I grew three inches taller!"   He chuckled.   "I hadn’t outgrown my robes in many years!   I heard Merlin grew four inches taller."

"Harry’s got both of you beaten — he’s grown over six inches!   He’s got Ron beaten, too," Fred said with satisfaction, looking at the marks on the doorjamb they’d made when Harry was up.   "Ron’s six foot two, Harry’s six foot three!   Who would’ve thought that little squirt would be taller than Ron?" he finished with a good-natured laugh.

Harry smiled.   "I never would have believed it.   Ron may still grow some more, so I may not win this particular race, but that’s okay," he said fairly.   "I guess I’ll have to have Seeker tryouts."

Ron was dumbfounded.   "Why?   You’re the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever had!"

"I’m too big now," Harry said reasonably.  "Seekers are usually small and light."

"But look at you!   Malfoy will freak out!   You could outreach him when you were smaller than him — no way he’ll ever outreach you now!"   Ron chortled with glee.

"You can worry about that when you get back to Hogwarts," Dumbledore said, his eyes twinkling.   "In the meantime, Harry has some homework to do."

"I did all my homework for the holidays," Harry protested.

"You have some extra homework to do, remember?   It’s time I started training you," Dumbledore reminded him.

"Oh.   OK."   He straightened up in his bed.   "What do you want me to do?"

"First, I want you to eat all this chocolate," Dumbledore instructed, handing Harry a huge hunk of Honeyduke’s Best.   "You need to build up your strength, and this work would be tiring to someone who was healthy.   Getting some chocolate inside you to start with is a good idea."   With a look, Dumbledore asked the others to leave the room.   Soon he and Harry were alone.

Harry set to work on the chocolate, glad that wizard medicines weren’t always nasty potions.

"While you’re eating, Harry, I will explain some things.   First, the wandless magic.   You have shown a talent for wandless magic since you were a young child.   The accidental magic you did when you were growing up was much more complex than that of most other wizard children.   Levitating yourself up onto the school roof, for instance — a very interesting use of a Levitation Charm, which you did not know how to do at the time."

"It takes me quite a time to learn charms in class.   Why is that, if I was able to do it naturally?" Harry asked between bites of chocolate.

"Because you did them instinctively before, and in class, you think of the process step-by-step, rather than the end result you’re after.   The step-by-step thinking is useful in learning a skill you don’t know, but it slows down learning how to refine something you can already do."

"I guess that makes sense," Harry pondered.

"Another skill you’ve shown since early childhood is Metamorphing.   Your ability to change the length of your hair at will is a sign of possible Metamorph skills.   We can work on these skills and see if you’re truly a Metamorphmagus after you become proficient at wandless magic.   The newest aspect of your wizard abilities is the massive increase of your magical strength as a result of The Refiner’s Fire.   Your spells will be much more powerful than you expect them to be for quite a while.   I will alert your teachers of this potential problem so you will not be trying new spells on fellow students and possibly hurt one of them."

"How will I learn my spells then?"

"By trying them on the teachers.   Once forewarned, they will be able to block any excess energy in your spells.   I’ll work with Ron and Hermione as well, so you can practice with them once you’ve learned the new spells."

Harry nodded his understanding.

"Now, to begin with, I’d like you to work on controlling your power.   That’s more important at the moment than wandless magic, I think you’ll agree?"

"Yes, Professor."

"Right, then.   I’d like you to levitate this feather, Harry.   A simple Wingardium Leviosa will do."

Harry sighed.   Back to first year charms, he thought morosely.   "Wingardium Leviosa" he said with the "swish and flick" wand movement required.   The feather shot up to the ceiling, where its quill penetrated nearly all the way through the plaster, only the least bit of the fluffy tip showing.   His eyes were huge.   "Whoa!"

"You see why we’re starting with simple spells?" the professor said, his eyes twinkling.

Harry nodded, dumbstruck.

"All right.  Let’s try it again," Dumbledore said, producing another feather.

Harry hesitated.   "Professor," he began, "how do I reduce the force of the spell?"

"Excellent question.  Think about it a moment.   How do you think you would do that?"

"I was hoping you’d tell me," he chuckled.   Dumbledore looked at him patiently.   He wasn’t going to make this easy.   "Right.   Um. . .make the wand movement smaller?"

"That might work.   Try it and see."

Harry did the spell again, with minimal wand movement, and the feather zoomed up toward the ceiling again. This time he was able to stop it before it pierced the plaster.   It floated gently down again, landing on his bed near his feet.   He reached for it and looked at it, puzzled.

"How did you stop it, Harry?"

"I don’t know."

"Think about it.   What did you do?"

"Erm. . .I said the incantation, did the swish and flick much smaller, then, um. . .lifted the wand before it hit the ceiling?   I mean, I pointed it away from the feather."

"That’s right.   But you removed the wand from the spell completely, so the feather fell.   This time, try holding back the magic within you.   Feel for the control you need.   It’s inside you.   You can control that power the same way you control your Firebolt, as easily as thought.   But it takes practice.   That’s what we’re doing here."

"So I need to feel like I’m holding the magic back while I’m doing the spells?"

"Until you learn to control the power you have now, yes."

"OK.   Let’s go again," Harry said, a determined look on his face.   He slowed his breathing, thinking Hold back, hold back, then lifted his wand and whispered, "Wingardium Leviosa" and barely moved his wand.   The feather moved upward rapidly, then slowed, then moved wherever Harry pointed his wand.

"That’s it!   Well done, Harry!" Dumbledore encouraged him.

"I think I understand," the boy replied, then "Whoops!" as his concentration faltered and the feather hit the wall with a thud.   He laughed.   "I didn’t know feathers could make noise like that."

"It hit with quite a bit of force," Dumbledore said with a smile.   "That’s why it was so loud.   Try it again."

Harry did the spell again, but this time his feather exploded in flames.   "Whoa!   How did I do that?"

"What were you thinking of?"

"I don’t know.   I thought I was concentrating."

"Focus, Harry, focus."

Dumbledore gave Harry a new feather, and Harry tried again.   This time the feather did exactly what he wanted it to.

"Now you have a feeling for what you need to do.   Give it a try without the wand."

Harry was excited to be having a wandless lesson so soon.   "What do I have to do differently?"

"Concentration is the most important thing."   Dumbledore sat back and crossed his arms, smiling expectantly.   "Go ahead."

Harry grinned and cracked his knuckles, then shook out his hands.   "OK!"   He looked at the feather, concentrating on what he wanted it to do.   He murmured "Wingardium Leviosa" as he held his hand out to the feather.   In jerky, uncoordinated movements, the feather lifted, then fell back to the bed, then lifted again, suddenly zooming off to one side and fluttering to the floor.   "WOW!   Did you see that?"

The headmaster was laughing.   "That’s a very good start.   I want you to practice this in every variation you can think of.   Use your whole hand at first, then try getting down to one finger barely moving.   When you can do this charm with minimal hand movement, we’ll move on to another."   He patted Harry on the knee as he rose to leave.   "Don’t tire yourself out too much, Harry.   The most important thing right now is for you to get better."

"Yes, Professor."

As he left the room, Dumbledore turned back and said, "And Harry — feel free to try any other first year charms and spells you can think of, but only on inanimate objects, and only when there’s an adult in the room, or when you’re alone.   It’s not safe for your friends to be with you right now — they don’t know how to block your power.   I’ll teach Ron, Hermione and Ginny how to be safe near you while you’re practicing here."

"Thanks, Professor," Harry said with a grin.   He set back to work on his feather, which exploded in flames.   His shoulders sagged in disappointment.

"Not to worry," Dumbledore said with a chuckle, and conjured an entire bag of feathers next to the bed so the boy could practice as long as he felt up to it.   Harry grinned, pulled out a feather and set to work again.

* * * * *

August was drawing to a close.   In a few days, the students would be boarding the Hogwarts Express for another year in school.   Harry had learned to control his power for first to fourth year charms fairly well.   He was also regaining his strength rapidly, eating well and starting to exercise again.   His face had lost some of its gaunt look, so he no longer saw himself as a forty-year-old when he looked in the mirror.

"Professor Dumbledore says I’ve finally got it!" Ron exulted as he bounded into the kitchen, where Harry was just sitting down to lunch with the rest of the Weasleys and Remus.   "Now I can be your partner in class, Harry."

Harry grinned.   "That’s great!   I really didn’t want to be paired with teachers all the time."

"You can partner with me, too, Harry," Hermione offered.   "It was amazing how hard it was to do that particular blocking charm, but I’m ready for you now."

"Thanks.   Now as long as the teachers cooperate, we’ll be fine," Harry said with relief.

"What do you mean, as long as the teachers cooperate?" Mrs. Weasley asked.   She’d come out of the hospital just after Harry’s recovery and was happily taking over household duties again.

"Snape," Harry began, then corrected himself at a look from Remus, "Professor Snape likes to pair me up with Malfoy or Neville just to . . . well, I honestly can’t say why he does it.   I’d probably have to use language that’s not appropriate for mixed company," he finished with a wry grin.

Just then, Snape swept into the kitchen.   Ron, Hermione and Ginny all stifled laughter as Harry turned beet red.

"Apparently," Snape sneered in his most snide fashion, "I missed the joke."

"Not a problem," Harry said, "it was pretty lame anyway."   He trod on Ron’s toe just as Ron was about to explode in laughter.

"Sit down, Severus," Molly invited.   "Would you like some lunch?"

"No, thank you, Molly," Snape replied, giving Ron a look of extreme distaste as the boy crammed a huge bite of stew into his mouth.   "I came to bring a warning for Potter, here."

Harry sat up straight, staring unblinkingly at Snape.   "What?"

"Lord Voldemort has a plan to attack you at Hogwarts from within."   Snape said this as unconcernedly as if he were reading a grocery list.

Harry gulped.   "You mean he has Death Eaters at Hogwarts again?"

"I don’t know," Snape drawled.

Harry was bewildered.   What kind of warning was this?   "If you don’t know, then how am I supposed to protect myself?"

"I.   Don’t.   Know."   Snape drew out every word as if each one was a delicious taste in his mouth.   "I am not privy to that information.   What I do know is that there is a plot to kill you inside the school.   He has come up with a way to get someone inside to kill you.   That’s all I know."

"Is there a new teacher this year?" Hermione asked.

"No.   Lupin is returning as Defence teacher.   The rest of the staff remains the same."

"Remus!" Ron shouted with joy.   "You’ll be our teacher again?   That’s brilliant!"   Hermione and Ginny shared in the celebration, then noticed Harry didn’t look at all surprised.

"You knew and didn’t tell us?" Hermione asked him.

"I thought it was Remus’s news to share," Harry said with a shrug and a grin.   "Fantastic, isn’t it?"

Remus smiled, ducking his head in embarrassment at the excitement this announcement was causing.   "I’m looking forward to it.   And Albus thought it important for me to be there for Harry, in particular.   He has so much to work on this year, Albus thought it would be easier for if I were one of the people teaching him, since we worked well together before."   He gave his godson a fond look.   "And it will give us more time together, which will please me more than I can say."

Harry looked at Remus as if he and Remus were the only ones in the room.   "I just realized - we can have a family Christmas," he said in amazement.   "Wow."

"Yes, that will be wonderful!"

"Oh, isn’t this sweet," Snape said with a nauseated look on his face.   "If you’re quite finished, Potter. . ."

His comment wiped the smile from Harry’s face.   "What?"

"The threat is unknown, but it’s there and very serious.   We are at war now, and Lord Voldemort’s primary concern is you.   You are the initial target of this war.   When you’re removed from the picture, he will broaden his attack, although he is allowing the Death Eaters to terrorize people here and there just as a warm-up, you might say.   But you, Potter, are in mortal danger, much more so than ever before.   You will need to be careful who you associate with.   Stick with known friends.   Go only to well-known places.   Don’t go anywhere alone.   We’re all doing our best to protect you.   Please don’t make all our efforts be in vain."   With that, he swept out of the room and returned to Hogwarts.

A deafening silence reigned in the kitchen for many long moments after Snape’s departure.   Harry sat wide-eyed, looking shell-shocked, glancing around at his friends, all of whom were staring back at him, aghast.   Harry knew Voldemort was after him.   He knew war was starting.   But to have the threat come inside Hogwarts, to have it aimed so personally at him. . . .   He swallowed back the bile that was threatening to rise in his throat, then took a deep calming breath.   The quiet sound of him blowing it out broke the tension in the room.

"Well, THAT was fun," Fred commented dryly.   He and George had dropped in for their mum’s cooking.   "Hey, Harry, you haven’t been to our joke shop yet.   We’re open in Diagon Alley, and are looking for a place in Hogsmeade."

"Business is good, then?" Harry said, grinning shakily at the twins.   They were always good for a diversion from the darker things in his life.

"Business is great!   We’ve had to hire people to help make the stuff.   We’re sticking with research and development.   Lee Jordan is helping with marketing.   Angelina is running the office for us."

"That’s wonderful.   I’d love to see your shop."

"We’ll probably have our Hogsmeade location up and running by the first Hogsmeade weekend.   We’ll invite you lot to our grand opening!" George said.

"Great!" Harry agreed.

"Harry, perhaps you should stay in the castle.   You heard Severus’s warning," Molly said, her face creased in worry.

"He said the danger was IN the castle!   Hogsmeade should be fine!" Ron protested.  

"That’s right," Harry agreed.   "I may be safer anywhere but the castle this year."   He’d intended his comment to be a light one, but the truth of it hit home.   The castle had always been the safest place in the world for Harry, but now he wasn’t even safe there.   His shoulders drooped.

"No worries, Harry.   We’ll take care of you!" Ron said stoutly, clapping his friend on the shoulders hard enough to make Harry wince.   "Oops, sorry, mate.   I forgot you’re still a little fragile."

"I’M NOT FRAGILE!" Harry growled.   "I’m so tired of hearing that I’m delicate, I’m fragile.   I’ve been sick.   I’m better!   I’m not well, but I’M NOT FRAGILE!"

Ron backed off, his hands held up in surrender.   "OK, OK, I didn’t mean anything by it."

Harry’s anger left him as quickly as it had appeared.   "Sorry, Ron.   I know you didn’t mean it.   I’m just sick and tired of being sick and tired and THREATENED all the time!"   He grumbled to himself for a while, then took a deep breath and blew it out, realizing the entire group was unnaturally silent.   "What?"

"Harry," Hermione began timidly, "you’re going to have to control your temper better than that."

"I’m sorry, I just. . .what?   What happened?" he said, realizing everyone was staring at him with big, scared eyes.

"Um. . .look at the door over there," Hermione said hesitantly, pointing to the wooden cupboard directly across from Harry’s seat.   "That crack appeared when you yelled."

Harry was dumbfounded.   "It did?"

"It’s probably lucky you didn’t aim your anger directly at anyone, Harry," Remus said quietly.

"I wasn’t THAT angry," Harry said nervously.   He got up and walked to the cupboard and opened the door, which fell apart in his hand.   The dishes, glasses and bowls inside the cupboard were shattered.   "Damn.   More crockery to replace."

"Those can be fixed, dear.   Don’t worry about it," Molly said kindly.

"This is my house, isn’t it?   Sirius left it to me?   I remember being told that earlier this summer — I think.   A lot of my memories of this summer are hazy, though.   Am I right or not?"

"Yes, Harry, this is your house.   You are Sirius’s sole heir.   He made you his heir when James and Lily named him as your godfather," Remus told him.

"Then at least I’m not destroying somebody else’s stuff," Harry said with a brief, sad grin, trying to be funny and not succeeding very well.   "OK, I’m going to my room.   Apparently I don’t have this control thing mastered as well as I thought I did."   He sighed and trudged out of the kitchen, his shoulders drooping.

Ron looked at Hermione and said, "We need to work harder on those blocking spells — I wasn’t ready for that at all!"

"Me either," she said glumly, then turned to Ginny.   "What about you?   Did you anticipate what he did at all?"

"I felt something building up, but I didn’t realize what it was.   It sort of felt like the way the atmosphere feels before a big storm, didn’t it?"

"Yeah, sort of," Ron agreed.  

Hermione shook her head.   "This is going to be harder than we thought."

Fred looked at George.   "Did you feel the wave of power that came off him?   Imagine if we could harness that!"

"Boys!" Molly chided her twins.   "Harry has enough problems.   Don’t even think about bothering him until he has his life back in order and his powers under good control."

"OK, Mum," they agreed far too readily.   "We wouldn’t want him blowing up the shop anyway."   They glanced at each other, sharing the same thought.   We’ve got to get Harry to work with us — what cool things we could make with that kind of power!

* * * * *

Dumbledore sat with Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny in the kitchen.   "I need to talk with all of you," he began gravely.

"Yes?" Hermione replied.

"You three," he said, indicating Ron, Hermione and Ginny, "will be bearing a very important burden at Hogwarts this year, as we’ve discussed before.   You will be Harry’s first line of defence against whatever the threat is at Hogwarts.   You will be his partners in class when you’re learning new spells.   You will have to help him when his temper flares up.   You’ve seen a small sample of what can happen when he gets even a little bit angry.   There will be far more demands on his temper at Hogwarts than there are here.   Please do your best to stay with him in the corridors, Great Hall, classrooms or common room.   I’d rather he not be alone where someone can provoke him, at least not until he has his power completely under control."   He turned to Harry.   "You get on well with all your dorm mates, don’t you, Harry?"

"Yes," Harry answered.   He looked rather glum.   He was upset that his friends were being required to baby-sit him.

"Then you should be fine in your room.   And Ron and Ginny, you will be on the Quidditch field with Harry, so you’re his protectors there."

Ron spoke up.   "Ginny will be there too?"

"Of course," Harry replied, surprised at Ron’s reaction.

"But she played Seeker.   You’re Seeker, Harry, and you’re back on the team," Ron insisted.

"That’s right," Ginny agreed.   "I’d love to be on the team, but Seeker is your position, Harry."

Harry shook his head.  "I’ll be on the team, but I can play Chaser or Beater.   I’ve seen you fly, Ginny.   You’d be a great Seeker or Chaser, whichever you like.   We’ll be having tryouts for Seeker as well as Beaters and Chasers."

Ron spoke up.   "Harry, we’ve already discussed this.   You’re the best Seeker ever!"

"There may be someone who’s better than me.   We have to find out," Harry said reasonably.

Ron grumbled, but Ginny was glowing.   Harry wants me on the team!

Dumbledore spoke again.   "Harry, you bear the greatest burden of all.   You absolutely must control your temper.   You must not reveal that you can do wandless magic.   You must not reveal the extent of your power.   You must appear to be a normal wizard in every way.   I know this will be extremely difficult for you, but you have to do your very best.   Do you understand?"

"Yes, Professor," Harry said, his face stoic.   He didn’t know how he could control his temper better than he already did, but he knew he had to manage it somehow.

"I know Mr. Malfoy is a trigger for you.   Do whatever you can to avoid him.   I have spoken specifically with all the teachers to ensure the two of you are kept apart as much as possible.   They do understand the risks involved, but it’s up to you, Harry, to keep your temper."

"I understand."

"Now, to details.  If anything, and I mean anything, odd happens, if one of you feels yourself or Harry is in danger of some kind, you are to get in touch with me, Professor Lupin, Professor McGonagall or Professor Snape as quickly as possible.   We will do whatever we can to ensure the safety of all concerned.   Harry, if you feel endangered in any way, go to the office of whichever of us is closest, or to your dorm, and stay there.   Send me an Adfero — no wait, we haven’t worked on those.   Don’t send any Adfero messages until we have perfected them again.   If you sent one without good control, you could kill the recipient.   Do you understand?"

"Yes," Harry replied, his eyes wide with shock.   It had never occurred to him that the communication spell could be lethal.   "No Adferos."

"Right then.   I think you will all enjoy the coming year.   We have some interesting things planned for you, and, as sixth year students — well, except for you, Miss Weasley — you don’t have those pesky O.W.L. or N.E.W.T. exams to worry about.   Please, all of you, feel free to come to me if you have questions, concerns or just need a lemon drop."   He smiled genially all around, then said, "I’m off to prepare for your arrival.   Safe journey!"

* * * * *

"Ginny?" Harry called from his room as he saw her pass by.

"Yes?"

"I thought you’d want to be here for this," he said with a shy smile.

"What?"   She entered the room and saw that he was in the midst of packing.

"It’s time to get rid of the beard," he said with a lopsided grin.

Ginny’s heart turned over.   He thought enough of her to share this with her — or was it just that he knew she liked his beard and was humouring her?   Whatever it was, she was glad he’d called out to her.   "I hate to see it go.   It looks fantastic on you." She hesitated, blushing furiously.   "Not that you don’t look great without the beard, I didn’t mean to imply that!   But. . ."

"I understand what you mean," he replied with a smile.   "I’m sort of glad you asked me to keep it — and told me how to trim it, so I wouldn’t wind up looking like Hagrid."

Ginny laughed.   It was so good to hear Harry making jokes again.   Rare though they still were, he was feeling much better and being funny more often than he had in ages.   "I’m glad you didn’t mind keeping it," she said, smiling up at him shyly.   "Are you going to shave?"

"No, I’ll just do it the old-fashioned way," he teased.

"Metamorphing is the old-fashioned way?" she laughed.

"Well, I’ve been able to do it longer than I’ve been any good at shaving — and this way, I don’t have to worry about cutting myself."   He gave her a cheeky grin and then stood in front of the mirror looking thoughtful for a few moments.   Suddenly, the beard started to disappear, then was simply gone, leaving him with smooth cheeks again.  

"Wow, nobody would ever know you shaved," Ginny said, studying his face in amazement.

"Oh, I’m too old for that.   Hang on," he said, looking thoughtful again.   "Is this better?"   His cheeks now had a serious five-o’clock shadow.

"No, too dark.   It looks as if you need to shave.   Makes you look like a Greek, all that black hair and black beard stubble," Ginny teased.   "Except for the green eyes, of course."

"Hmm.   Hang on."   A few moments later, his face looked like any other boy’s who had started shaving recently.  

"That’s it!   Well done!"

Harry gave her a deep bow and a cheeky grin.   "Thank you, thank you.   Please order tickets in advance for our next performance."

Ginny laughed.   "You’re silly."

"One of my better qualities, I imagine," he replied with a chuckle.

"Will it be hard to keep it like this, or will you have to take time to work out when it’s ‘just right’ every day?"

"Once I know how I want it, it’s easy to maintain," Harry replied.   "I don’t think about my hair at all, except sometimes if I want it a bit longer or shorter, that’s all."

"Cool," she replied.   "Thanks awfully, Harry, for showing me how you do that.   And it was nice to say goodbye to your beard."

"It’s not goodbye forever.   I can grow it out again when I want to — maybe over Christmas."

"You could let it get long and curly and we can spray it white so you can play Father Christmas!" Ginny teased.

"So now my beard is your toy?" he said, amused at Ginny’s unusual audacity when it came to his beard.

"Maybe," she said, blushing.   "I’d better go and pack."

"Me too.  See you later."


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Author Notes:

Many thanks to my brilliant Brit-picker, Kelpie, and to my beta-readers Blakevich, Starfox and Pilar!