Harry Potter and the Children of Light

Chapter 5:

The Training Begins

Harry paced in front of the door to the Room of Requirement as he waited for eight o' clock to come. He suspected the training wouldn't be a walk in the park, so he tried to focus his mind on the task ahead of him. It was difficult, since he didn't know what to expect. He had no idea what his training would consist of. All he knew was that he was going to be training for twelve hours a day, every day, for most of the summer.

At five til, Cho walked up the hall, towards Harry and the Room of Requirement. Harry thought it odd that she didn't look all that concerned about the training ahead of them.

At eight o' clock sharp, Aramil appeared out of nowhere. There was no "pop" as if someone had Apparated. He was just there.

"Let's go in, after all it is eight a.m.," Aramil said to Harry and Cho. Harry nodded and followed Cho into the Room of Requirement.

The room was different from the room the D.A. had used, but that made sense, thought Harry, after all, his training would require other things. The room had nothing in its center, but outside it had many whirling silver instruments, like in Dumbledore's office. There were some books on the room's single bookshelf, but not many. The rest of the room was nondescript.

Harry concluded that the room might change from day to day, depending on their needs. Aramil got right down to business.

"Right, now, the first thing you should learn is how to do magic without a wand. Well, actually, its more like magic with your body." Aramil pondered this thought for several minutes before speaking again. "I suppose the only truly effective way for you two to be able to do magic in this fashion would be to perform a Drain." Harry heard the capitalization clearly.

"A Drain?" Cho asked. "What's that?"

"A Drain is a process during which power is transfered from a wand to a witch or wizard. It enables the wizard to cast spells without a wand, and gives them more powers than a normal wizard. Often, the some of the powers of the animal the wand's core belongs to are transferred to the wizard. For example, if a Drain is performed with a wand that has dragon heartstring, the wizard receiving the power may develop skin that lessens the effects of most unfriendly spells, or stop some completely."

Harry thought for a moment before asking what he thought was a rather obvious question.

"If a Drain has so many benefits," he asked, "why doesn't every wizard do it?"

Cho nodded her head, indicating she had thought of this too. Harry was glad he didn't have to go through the training alone. Of course, Cho couldn't replace Ron or Hermione, but she was better than no one.

"Well." Aramil's voice brought Harry back to reality. "For one thing, most wizards don't know about the Drain, and, most wizards wouldn't be able to control the power. They might open their mouths to speak, but instead, they might accidentally change whatever they were facing into...say... a frog. A wizard must be taught how to handle such powers."

Evidently, Aramil was going to teach Harry and Cho to control these powers. After all, Aramil had said a Drain was necessary for them to start training. It was several minutes before anyone spoke again. Aramil broke the silence.

"Okay, if you two wouldn't mind giving me your wands, we can go through with the Drains."

"You're going to perform the Drains?" Cho asked.

"Of course!" Aramil looked as though this was one of the more obvious things in the world. "Now, shall we begin? Cho, you are to go first."

Cho handed Aramil her wand. He took it and put its tip on Cho's forehead. After a few seconds, Cho and the wand began to pulsate with a strange light. Harry realized the pulsating was a heartbeat, Cho's heartbeat. Harry watched in amazement as the light coming from the wand slid into Cho. Then the wand shattered.

A few minutes later, Aramil had performed a Drain on Harry's wand. As the wand shattered, Harry felt the power within him. He knew that his tears would heal any wound. Suddenly, he felt very tired.

"Well, the Drains took their toll on us, it seems," Aramil began after a few minutes of silence. "Therefore, I think it would be for the best if I were to dismiss you two from further training today. See you tomorrow!" Without waiting for a reply, Aramil vanished.