Training and Confrontations

DrT

Story Summary:
A sprawling tale set in many places and dimensions, as Harry finds himself, finds his abilities grow, and trains for that final confrontation with Voldemort. A H/L/Hr tale, with N/G, R/T, and a paternal Ron.

Chapter 14

Chapter Summary:
A sprawling tale set in many places and dimensions, as Harry finds himself, finds his abilities grow, and trains for that final confrontation with Voldemort. A H/L/Hr tale, with N/G, Remus/T, and a paternal Ron. Part II continues on a different world.
Posted:
01/04/2005
Hits:
5,719
Author's Note:
Dean learns about his heritage; the Dumbledores have a problem of Harry's fixed.



Chapter XIV

"What happened?"

"You fainted, Mum," Dean said.

Mrs. Thomas was laying on the large sofa. She looked over at saw the large man sitting on the matching chair. "I'm sorry. You looked like Raphael."

"You mean your first husband; Dean's father?"

She nodded.

"What was Raphael's last name?"

"His full name was James Raphael Bond, but he didn't go by James because of those silly books and movies." She paused and then added, "But you probably have no idea what I'm talking about."

"Actually, I do. My older brother loved Muggle spy movies." He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Well, this just got more complicated."

"What did?"

"Right. First, let me tell you why I came here. Has your son told you anything about what has happened in the magical world these last two years?"

"Nothing special, but I want to know why you look so much like my first husband."

"My older brother's name was Raphael James Shacklebolt. Like myself, he was an auror, one of the enforcement officers in the magical world. In 1976, the wizarding world was in the middle of a war. My brother became a liaison officer with the Muggle police and MI units. I take it you're Tilly?"

"That was his nickname for me," Mrs. Thomas agreed.

"He would never tell anyone your name, or where you lived," Shacklebolt said. "I think he told you he was an MI investigator, working on Irish terrorism."

Mrs. Thomas nodded her head.

"I don't understand," Dean said. "I thought my father was killed in an IRA bombing."

"That's what I was told," Mrs. Thomas said.

"Raphael was killed in a Death Eater attack, in June, 1981. He had told us to leave word with his MI contacts, and they got in touch with your mother."

Dean snorted.

"What is it, dear?"

"I never really minded being Muggle-born," Dean said. "Compared with growing up black, it's not even half as bad. Still, it's odd to change from Muggle-born to half-blood." He grinned. "To the people that care about such things, I'm just a little behind Harry, and equal to old Voldie himself."

"What do you mean?" Shacklebolt asked, now as confused as Dean's mother was.

"Well, Harry's still considered a half-blood, even though his mother was a Muggle-born witch. Harry told us that Voldemort had a Pure-Blood mother and a Muggle father."

Shacklebolt was shocked. "Are you sure?"

Dean shrugged. "Harry ought to know, and I know he told the Headmaster. Ginny and Hermione backed him up. Beyond that. . . ." He shrugged again.

Shacklebolt told himself he would have to speak to Dumbledore. "We'll have to come back to this. Dean is known as a Muggle-born student, and a good friend of Harry Potter. Some nasty people, who dislike Muggles and their magical children, are after Harry. So, Dean, tell me what you know, then I'll make some suggestions as to what you and your family might like to do, just to be on the safe side."



May 15, Day 15

Hermione Granger sat on a padded bench in her bedroom in her light nightgown, brushing her hair. The previous two weeks had been very odd.

While she thought of herself as capable, even after all her adventures Hermione still had not thought of herself as a warrior. After the last two weeks of training, she was beginning to understand that she was going to be a warrior no matter her philosophies or preferences.

By the standards of this world, she was currently nothing exceptional in the dueling and combat department. She was, however, above average, as were Neville and Luna. Ron was nearly exceptional in dueling, although at best average in combat, while Ginny was exceptional in both. Harry was clearly exceptional in dueling, and at times actually scary when it came to combat.

After the first day, Ron had taken to apparation much like Harry had to flying, with Luna and Ginny only slightly behind him. It had taken Hermione, Neville, and Harry a bit longer to catch on, but they finally had.

Most odd, of course, were Hermione's relationships with Harry and Luna. In front of the others, she and Harry maintained a slightly less platonic version of their usual close friendship (Harry had always been fairly unphysical before this summer, but now often kissed Luna in public, and hugged or held hands with both Luna and Hermione).

Even odder, she spent every night with both Harry and Luna. This was actually very non-sexual, even if Luna was always nude, and by now so were she and Harry. Hermione now knew that Harry and Luna were becoming very sexually active, but she had never witnessed any of this, or had been offered or asked for inclusion, although there was a great deal of non-sexual touching, massaging, and kissing. Her exact feelings for Luna and Harry, the nature of her relationship them or their feelings for her, were a complete mystery to her, and she suspected with them as well.

She decided she just did not care. She was as happy as she could be, considering what had happened those few days before they had left. She was loved and cared for, stroked and massaged, hugged and kissed. It was enough for now.

As she came out of her room, she paused and looked into the alien sky. While this was a more magical world than her own, and one with its own powerful traditions, it was not one she could really approve of. She was rather glad that, after that first feast, she had had only a few of the native wizards and witches to interact with, just the Dumbledores and the Sibyl. The others were keeping to themselves.

Hermione then saw Rora slipping nude into Ron's room. The serving girl only had one nightgown, and that was too heavy for the warm late spring evenings. Ron had told the maid that if they got along well, he would try and get her pregnant before he left, and she had gone along with it. Ron had had to swallow his pride and would use Harry's money, should he succeed.

Harry had of course understood.

Hermione was not sure of her exact feelings about this arrangement, either, other than she did not like it. Still, she accepted that it was not really her concern to regulate Ron's life as he conformed to some local customs she did not approve of.

It did of course mean that, as far as she was concerned, there was absolutely no chance of her and Ron ever having a meaningful relationship beyond their friendship, but she did not care about that any more either.

She tried to the door to Luna's room and found it unlocked. As usual, Harry was brushing Luna's hair. Hermione smiled, shut the door, and went to join them.



May 16, Day 16

The next morning, after breakfast, Astor sent the runners off to clean up and had all of them dress in what passed for slightly up-scale casual wear for the magical upper class.

It was already warm, and would be approaching hot by the late afternoon. Tonks and the girls therefore wore belted, shaped, brightly colored cotton dresses that came to just below their knees. Remus and the boys were dressed in matching shirts and what could best be described as kilts.

Astor was joined by his wife, Alicia. "Today, we're going to apparate over to Ruchak," he said. "Dora and Alicia will go first, Remus and I will go last. Take your time and concentrate on the coordinates we taught you. Follow our lead, and there should be no trouble. If there is, you can always apparate back here. Are we all ready? Right. Let's go."



Hermione opened her eyes and took three steps out of the way, as she had been taught. It should be impossible to apparate on top of (or mixed in with) another person, but it was always best to practice safety.

Ruchak was a nice-sized town of about 3,600 people, most of them non-magical, and a few dozen goblins who ran the bank and some other services. The main apparation point was the inner, open square of the town market. The area was marked off by marble columns. Outside the columns, vendors set up stalls every morning, weather permitting. From the market, there was a river immediately to the east, and streets radiated outward in the other directions.

"Where would you like to go after a visit to the bank?" Astor asked.

"To a bookstore," Hermione said before anyone else could speak up.

"Oh," Remus said, embarrassed, "we never told you, did we? We can understand, and read, the primary language here while we're here, but we'd have to learn as a foreign language when we get home."

Seeing the disappointed look on her face, Astor told Hermione, "Don't worry. We have a very substantial library. You can read through any of them. Anything you copy by hand, or any notes you take, will be in your language when you return."

"Are we limited to one wand here?" Harry asked.

"I had wondered about that," Alicia said. "You're only allowed to own one wand at a time in your land?"

"Those under seventeen are limited to one wand, and anyone else has to apply for a special permit," Remus said.

Harry looked as disappointed as Hermione had a few minutes before.

"Broom shop?" Ron asked.

"Remember, yours are many times better," Astor admitted.

Remus cleared his throat. "As I said, we are limited to one wand. The law is very specific."

"Ah," Astor said. "I believe I understand. Come along. The magical shops are this way."

"I don't understand," Neville said, before Harry, Ron, or Ginny could.

"Wands are not the only objects used to focus magic," Luna said. "They are supposed to work best for the types of magic we usually do, though."

"What else can be used?" Ginny asked.

"Generally, any combination of a wood and part of a magical animal could be used," Hermione answered.

"Some jewels may also be used as an additional focus," Luna went on, "but not as a substitute for the wood or animal part." She frowned. "I seem to remember reading that antler and ivory were sometimes used instead of wood or even the core."

"It's hard to believe that would work," Hermione said, before adding, "but I suppose they could be used."

"I never heard of using antler or ivory, either, but we can ask. Making a basic wand is easy, by the way. Before we leave, I'll teach you the combining spells," Remus said. "There is almost never a reason not to have at least a rudimentary wand, unless you're someplace where you can't find some sort of stick."

"What about the magical animal?" Ron asked.

"That's even easier than the stick," Tonks said. The teens looked puzzled.

"Think about it," Remus said with a smile.

"I don't get it, either," Alicia admitted.

"I get it!" Luna said.

"What?" Hermione asked. Luna reached over and wrapped a bushy lock around one of her fingers.

"Oh, of course," Hermione said, shaking her head.

"What?" Ron asked.

"We're magical animals," Harry answered. "We can use some of our own hair."

"Exactly," Remus said. "It makes for a pretty weak wand, but the combining spell creates the wand, and you don't need a wand to do it. Even the weakest wand made this way can cast light and start a fire. Not good in a combat situation, of course, but if you're ever stranded some place without a wand and can't apparate for some reason, it can help you survive."

Harry looked puzzled, but then remembered that most people could not do much wandless magic.

Astor led them into the wand shop.

A middle-aged, thick-set wizard came out to greet them. "Good morning, Astor, Alicia. These are your guests?"

"Yes, these are Harold, Ronald, Neville, Luna, Hermione, and Ginevra, and their tutors, Remus and Dora. This is Mikos."

"And did you play out your little scenario?"

Astor shrugged. "It almost certainly wasn't necessary, but we did."

"What scenario?" Harry asked.

"We, well mostly my lord and Albus, wanted you to visit here but not to be known as having arranged the visit," Astor said. "The visit is supposed to be less likely to be reported back to your home, although I think it is a far-fetched scenario.

"Why?" Harry asked simply but forcefully.

"You have one very obvious weakness when it comes to combat, Harold," Astor said simply.

"And that is?"

"Those things," Mikos said, pointing on Harry's glasses. "It is one thing to need them for reading, especially when a person is over a hundred. It is another to need them to fight. Even though I understand your vision is not horrible, your effectiveness would be off should they be lost or damaged in a combat situation."

Harry's eyes narrowed in displeasure. Hermione spoke up before Harry (or anyone else) could. "And what can you do about it? I've never even seen a reference to anything that did more than a temporary fix, and those all end up making the eyes weaker in the long run."

"Well. . . ."

"The wand core treatment!" Luna said.

"The what?" Harry, Hermione, Ginny, and Neville asked. Ron knew better than to get into this.

"Use of the same wand core, magically joined with the eyes, is supposed to cure visual problems."

"Luna, if that were true, why isn't it well-known?" Hermione asked.

"It has to be from the same source, not just the same type," Luna said, and then frowned. "I'm sure there were other things as well."

"There are other conditions, but essentially Luna is correct," Mikos said. "First, most magical cores won't work, only healing ones. Unicorn horn, which is not a very good wand core, as opposed to the hair, and phoenix feather are the two most common. Second, it has to be matched with your regular wand core, one that you have used for at least four years. Phoenix feather is not a common wand-core match, at least here, and few phoenixes live with wizards in any world. It is rare to know exactly which phoenix any feather came from. Third, the treatment does not use the tail feather, which are the easiest feathers to gather, but the first down of a reborn chick. If any of those conditions are not met, the treatment can cause blindness. Finally, you must continue to use a wand made with that same phoenix's feather for thirty days. If it is broken and cannot be replaced in a day or less, then the treatment must be reversed and can never be retried."

"So you see, the treatment is real, but can rarely be used," Remus said.

"Shelka!" Mikos called out, and soon a younger woman came to the front of the shop. "Please see to Astor and his guests." He turned to Astor. "You have the down?"

Astor pointed to Remus, who handed over a vial with the reddish down in it. "You will all please stay here and look around. Harold, if you desire this treatment, come along."

Harry frowned mightily, but followed.



The group looked at the more unusual focus devices. "Too bad Moody didn't come," Ron said, as they looked at a collection of canes some fifteen minutes after Harry had left.

"I'm not certain," Tonks said, "but I wouldn't be surprised if some of his canes aren't similar to these, at least these two with the wands in the detachable handles."

"I suppose those wouldn't make the legal list back home, would they?" Luna asked. "Daddy would like this one."

"Like a wand, these are best matched to the wizard," Shelka pointed out.

"Pooh."

Before they could move over to look at hair-slides and similar devices, the shop was filled with phoenix song.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Hermione wondered. No one had an answer.

The phoenix song continued for over five minutes. A few minutes later, Mikos came into the main showroom, shaking his head in wonderment. "The phoenix whose feathers we were using, his name is Fawkes?"

"Yes, it is," Remus agreed.

"He showed up, sang through the delicate parts of the procedure, dropped a healing tear on each of Harold's eyes, and disappeared. I have never heard of such a thing."

"You should never underestimate the power of love," Luna said simply. "How long until Harold joins us?"

"About an hour. His eyes need to rest. He is napping at the moment."

"I see." Luna walked over to the tray of hair slides. "My wand is mistletoe and unicorn tail hair. Are any of these likely to work for me?"

While the group gathered around Luna and Shelka, Mikos picked up one of the canes and went into the workshop area.



By the time Harry came down to the main showroom seventy-five minutes later, the girls had each picked out a hair decoration which included a small wand core that responded to them, and the entire group had had their wands examined and tested.

The change in Harry's appearance was somewhat startling. None, except for Luna to some degree, were used to seeing Harry both wide awake and without his glasses. Before, attention was drawn first to the amazingly messy hair or, if it was showing, the scar. Now what drew everyone's attention were Harry's eyes.

"I never noticed how large your eyes were before," Hermione admitted.

"I never realized that they were that beautiful," Ginny gasped. Both she and Harry flushed.

"I hadn't either," Tonks admitted.

A smiling Mikos put a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Here, try this." He handed Harry the pewter-handled cane.

Harry took it frowned. "What do I do with it?"

Mikos showed him how to draw the wand-insert. "Your friend Fawkes left a tail feather. I added it to the cane. Give us some light."

"Lumnos," Harry whispered. The show room lit up. Harry and the others smiled.

"Lord Dumbledore will be able to give you some pointers in using the cane was a weapon." He put out his hand. "It was a pleasure serving you."

"Thank you for everything."



Outside the shop, Ron asked, "So does the world look any different?"

"Why would it?" Hermione asked.

"Actually, things look a lot sharper now," Harry said. "I needed to get new glasses, and Mikos said my eyes would be far above average now."

"Can't wait to see you chasing down a Snitch, then," Ron said cheerfully. They had done very little flying, Ron, Ginny, and Harry's only real complaint of their stay so far.

"Sorry, we don't play full Quidditch," Astor said. "Our version doesn't use this Snitch. We usually play until twenty goals are scored. We can come see some of the games. Nothing is very organized, but there are pick-up games all July and August."

"Too bad we can't have our own. . . ." Ron looked at Harry.

"We couldn't use our brooms, Ron," Harry pointed out. "It wouldn't be fair."

"I suppose not. . . ."

"Ron, I hate to rain on your parade. . . ." Hermione started.

"No, Ron's right." Harry turned to Neville. "I bet you and I would make a decent pair of beaters."

"Harry, I wasn't very good. . . ." Neville started.

"Right," Ginny said. "Past tense. Your flying has really improved."

"Well, I could try," Neville allowed.

"I could try playing chaser," Luna said, a bit doubtfully.

"Great!" Ron said. He turned to Hermione.

"No," she said flatly.

"But. . . ."

"No."

Ron pouted.

"Can I play?" Tonks asked.

Ron smiled. "Cool."




Author notes: According to Rowling's website, Dean's real father was an auror who never told his wife about the magical world, and was killed. Dean's mother later married a Muggle named Thomas who presumably adopted Dean.

RE: Hermione's self introductions in Chapter 11 (as under the protection of House Potter and advisor to Harry). Those intros would be how the group would be announced to anyone inquiring of the Dumbledores who these people are. As a Muggle-born, Hermione does not have a House of her own, and the Lovegoods are not known in that area. In the somewhat sexist world she is on, Hermione could therefore be seen as fair game (Ginny has her brother, and Luna announced her attachment to Harry). Being under Harry?s protection make Hermione less prone to unwanted attention. She called herself an advisor to give herself more equal standing with Harry, not just a girl under his protection.

Why the unnecessarily rococo plot to get Harry to the wand maker? Well, it was Albus' idea. . . .

Between stories, chapters, prologues, and epilogues, this is number 250 across the 4 Houses (193 Schnoogle 28 each DA and AT, 1 Riddikulus). Thank you for reading!