Design for Life

Chapter 8 - The Only One I Know

Harry and Wizard stood nervously in Dumbledore's office. The elderly headmaster was writing intently on a piece of parchment and hadn't seemed to notice that they were there at all.

Harry coughed slightly.

Dumbledore did not look up, but said "Yes, Mr Potter, I am aware of your presence and I will be with you shortly. Unfortunately my duties as headmaster of this school do not cease when a pupil transfigures a dragon in a classroom."

Several minutes later, Dumbledore finally looked up at them.

"Well, well, I understand you gave Professor McGonagall a bit of a shock back there... Why don't you explain it to me?"

Harry pointed at Wizard, who was trying to look innocent and staring at the ceiling. "He transfigured a Flobberworm into a Dragon Professor, he was trying to prove that he could and..." Harry tailed off.

"Ah, I see..." Dumbledore turned his gaze to Wizard. "It appears then that you are a much more powerful... Ahem... Wizard than we suspected. I presume you can remember much about Harry's schooling here, enough to take a full part in lessons?"

Wizard dropped his gaze back to the headmaster.

"I just knew what to say... to change it. I could feel something inside me, and I just knew how."

Dumbledore nodded. "Well then, we'll have to see about getting you a wand then, won't we?"

~*~

Wizard was back in Diagon Alley. He and Dumbledore had travelled back there using Floo powder two days after the dragon incident to get some school supplies for him. Those two days had passed largely without incident, as Wizard had been politely requested not to try anymore magic without a wand of his own and he has complied, now he was at Hogwarts, the last thing he wanted was to be expelled. They had gone to Flourish and Blotts to pick up some books for him, and back to the robe shop to get some new clothes. They had bought Potions ingredients and parchment and a whole stack of quills, even a new trunk to pack it all in. Each time Dumbledore charged it to a Hogwarts account, which Dumbledore had explained was for pupils who were eligible to come to Hogwarts but couldn't raise enough money to buy all the equipment. Wizard felt slightly dubious about accepting charity, but decided that it was about time that someone spent some money on him.

He could hardly wait to get back to school so he could really start learning magic instead of just remembering Harry's lessons. The classes he had been to so far had been interesting, to say the least. For most of them he had sat at the back of the class with Harry, Ron and Hermione just watching and paying attention, testing himself on how much he remembered. He had discovered that his memory was patchy in some places, some people that Harry had obviously known for years went unrecognised by him and while some spells came naturally and easily to mind, others seemed to be completely new. Wizard wondered if there was a common theme behind what he could or couldn't remember. He had seen his first Quidditch practice as the yellow clad figures of the Hufflepuff team swooped and looped across the strange pitch and he realised he understood the game without any help from Harry. He was looking forward to the match that was to be held during the last week of term.

Hogwarts was undergoing a transformation as Christmas drew nearer; the largest man he had ever seen bought trees into the great hall. Harry told him his name was Hagrid and that he had been the person who had first told him that he was a Wizard, but Hagrid was one of the people that Wizard had none of Harry's memories of. Tiny lights were flying through the corridors and the teachers seemed to be lightening up with the holiday spirit. The small witch had been wearing a jolly Father Christmas hat during Friday's Herbology lesson and even Professor Trelawney had draped tinsel across the dresser in her classroom, telling her class that she had been told to do so by the fates. The only teacher who hadn't seemed to be getting any jollier was Snape.

Snape had glared at Wizard the first time he had gone to the Potions dungeon. Harry had told him that Snape thought that one Harry in his class was bad enough, so two of them were bound to annoy him even more. Wizard had been nervous before the lesson but soon found himself enjoying himself. He had always liked Chemistry at school, and here, without anyone spilling his ingredients on purpose or throwing stuff at him, it was surprising good fun.

For the first time in his life he had friends, a comfy bed in the Gryffindor tower and no-one trying to kill him, but there still seemed to be something missing.

~*~

"Ah... Here we are... Olivander's"

The elderly headmaster pushed open the door to the musty dark shop and ushered Wizard inside.

Another old man was standing behind the counter, peering at him from over the top of small, half moon glasses.

"And what do we have here, Professor?"

"A very special case, Olivander... Very special."

"So I see..." Olivander shrugged as if this was something that happened every day. He picked up the tape measure. "Right handed, I presume..." he asked Wizard.

"Yeah."

Olivander's tape measure began measuring him and Olivander began searching through the stacks of boxes that lined the walls of his shop.

"Right then..." he said after a while, pulling a black case down from a shelf. "Let's start with the obvious then, shall we?"

He opened the box and handed Wizard a wand. "Holly and Phoenix feather... Eleven inches. Give it a wave."

Wizard grasped the wand, instinctively knowing that it was wrong, and waved it. Nothing happened.

"Humm..." said Olivander taking it away from him and scratching his chin. "Interesting..."

They tried several more wands; none of them seemed to work.

"Pine and Unicorn Hair? Try it... No? Well then try this."

Wizard picked up the new wand and knew that it was the one. Sparks streamed out of it as he waved it.

"Ah! Lovely. Looks like we found the one. Ebony and Dragon Heartstring. Nine inches... That'll be seven Galleons please."

"Charge it to the Hogwarts account please."

"Of course Professor."

"I hope you can keep this to yourself..."

"Naturally, Professor."

~*~

The fields flashed past, as Sirius lay curled up in the back of the truck. He would have to get out soon, the truck had begun to head in the wrong direction, but at least he was several miles closer to Hogwarts. To be truthful he didn't really know where he was. His plan was simple. Head north, navigating by the stars, until he found something he recognised or could safely get an owl to Dumbledore.

The truck slowed at some traffic lights and Sirius jumped out, slinking into the bushes at the side of the road. Ahead of him he could see a small clump of trees, and since it was getting late he set off towards them to find somewhere to sleep.

~*~

Ron was shouting as the Quaffle was passed expertly between the three Ravenclaw chasers. They were getting closer and closer to the goal now and Harry could see Melisande swooping backwards and forwards trying to judge the best position to be in.

He looked over at Wizard who seemed to be concentrating hard on the game. He had assured Harry that he could remember all about Quidditch but Harry knew that it had to be a strange feeling. The feeling that some part of you, somewhere, had been playing and watching this game for six years and yet he'd never seen it before.

One of the Ravenclaw seekers made a feint to the left, but Melisande wasn't fooled and darted to the right just as the second chaser threw the Quaffle towards the hoop. She caught it easily and did a small loop-the-loop in celebration. Harry smiled. Ron had been right, she was a good keeper, and almost as good as Oliver Wood had been.

Ron was now jumping up and down with excitement.

The voice of Ernie McMillan, who was commentating on the game, boomed out across the stadium.

"And Hufflepuff still lead 40 points to 20, after that skilful save by Besom."

The game was hard fought and had been going on for almost half an hour. Harry couldn't remember the last time a Quidditch match had been this closely fought. Neither team was making much headway; Hufflepuff seemed to only have the edge because of several brilliant saves by their keeper.

Looking at Wizard again, he saw his eyes darting about as if looking for something. The Snitch! Harry realised that he must be looking for the Snitch. Of course...

Harry turned back to the pitch, his seeker's instincts taking over as he scanned the field for the small golden ball. Suddenly he saw the Ravenclaw seeker darting downwards from their position high up to the left of him. The Hufflepuff seeker was following him and Harry followed their line of sight to see the Snitch hovering a few feet from the ground by the base of the Ravenclaw goalpost.

He heard Ernie saying "And it looks as though the seekers have caught sight of the Snitch, and it's a race now between Terry Boot of Ravenclaw and Sarina Willis of Hufflepuff..."

The Snitch suddenly darted off to the right, but the seekers had it in their sights now and followed, putting on speed all the time. Above them the battle for the Quaffle continued and Bludgers were raining down, each team trying to knock the other's seeker off course. Both Terry and Sarina were neck and neck and getting closer all the time, they cast each other nervous glances, trying to estimate the other's position while trying not to loose the Snitch. Harry couldn't see properly but he got the feeling that Terry was only slightly ahead. He was stretching forward on his broom now; reaching for the golden ball that was only feet away. Suddenly a Bludger flew out of nowhere and bounced hard on the ground in front of him causing Terry to swerve drastically. Sarina sped forward now, taking the lead as Terry recovered but he was too slow. The yellow robed figure of the Hufflepuff 5th year rolled gracefully off her broom holding the struggling Snitch in her hand.

A massive yell rose from the Hufflepuffs in the crowd along with enthusiastic members of other houses who were quick to work out the new match statistics. The Hufflepuff win had driven Slytherin down the score table which was good news for the other three houses, even the defeated Ravenclaw.

Harry heard Ron shout something about going to 'congratulate' Melisande and the other members of the team and watched him slip through the crowd towards the Hufflepuff changing room. He turned to Wizard.

"Well? What did you think?"

"Very well played... Although Venables and Temple could have been a bit more forceful with the Bludgers and oh god I know what I'm talking about..."

"There, there..." said Harry kindly. "Try to ignore it... You're right though... They certainly lacked something."

Wizard looked up at him. "You would have thought I'd have got used to it by now, wouldn't you?"

"Not really, I'm having trouble trying to remember what happened to which one of us. I can only imagine what it would be like if I was in your school remembering your life."

"Trust me, you wouldn't be there for long..." he said bitterly.

Wizard and Harry stood up and began walking back to school discussing the tactics both teams had used, when three shadows fell across them.

"Oh looky here..." said a familiar voice. "The Potter twins."

Harry sighed. "Go away, Malfoy."

"Ooooh... was that a threat? Are you going to set your stunt double on me?"

"Hey!" broke in Wizard.

"It speaks!"

Crabbe and Goyle grunted in amusement.

"Well, aren't you going to introduce us?"

Harry's eyes narrowed in annoyance. "Fine... Wizard, this is Draco Malfoy, the biggest jerk this side of Durmstrang, Malfoy, and this is Wizard. Happy now?"

"No. No I'm not. What's the matter with you, Potter? Ego so big you need two of you to cope with the demand? Where did you dig him up from anyway?"

"He didn't dig me up anywhere... although I'd be interested in who turned over the rock you crawled out from under..." Wizard took a step forward menacingly.

Draco just stared at him. "Well, it looks like at least one of you had a spine, Potter. Well done." And with that Draco, Crabbe and Goyle turned on their heels and left them.

~*~

"That was impressive..."

"What?"

"You, standing up to Malfoy like that."

"Hah, that's nothing."

"I thought you didn't fight?"

"This is different. The kid's just a bully. He wouldn't actually do anything. Not physically anyway. You have to learn when to stand up and when to back down."

"Humm... Maybe."

"Really. It'll save your life someday... Well it saved mine, so I suppose technically it already has."

~*~

The last day of term was hectic. For the first time since he had started Hogwarts Harry was going somewhere else for Christmas. The Weasleys had also invited Wizard after Ron had told them what had happened, and both of them were excited. All the Weasley children were going to the Burrow along with Charlie's wife and Fred and George's girlfriends Katie and Angelina. Hermione was going too and much to Ron's delight Melisande had taken Ginny up on her offer. The Burrow would be packed.

The Hogwarts express was packed with excited children and all those who had been invited to the party were crammed into one compartment playing exploding snap and singing Wizard Christmas carols very loudly and off-key. Wizard, Hermione and Harry tried to teach everyone some Muggle carols that they remembered but they eventually degenerated into fits of giggles as Ron and Ginny deliberately sung the wrong words.

They emerged onto platform 9 3/4 singing their new version of 'A Partridge in a Pear Tree' which had turned into 'A Snowball from a Spare Ski' and found Mr Weasley waiting for them with a newly charmed car, which didn't fly but was roomy enough to seat all of them and their luggage comfortably. Arthur looked surprised at meeting Wizard but he shook his hand warmly.

"Well, well, I was wondering if our Ron had gone mad when he told us about you..." he said smiling, "but you're very welcome... Any friend of Harry's and all that!"

The Burrow appeared as the car rounded the corner; it looked warm and homely as the windows were lit up by magical light against the darkening sky. Harry nudged Wizard. "We're here!" he whispered.

Harry remembered his first glimpse of the Burrow back in the first summer of Hogwarts. Then it had been the most wonderful house he had ever seen, and from the look on his face Wizard thought so too.

"Wow..."

"Yeah, I know..."

Molly Weasley was standing at the door, and her reaction to seeing Wizard was similar to her husband's.

"Oh... Goodness me... You must be Wizard then," she said after welcoming Harry and Hermione with huge hugs. "Well, come inside, I've made something to eat and I daresay you'd all like a glass of mulled wine to warm up.

Most of the Weasley clan was already seated round the table. Percy was working until Christmas Eve and Charlie still hadn't got back from Hungary but Fred, George and Bill welcomed their youngest brother and sister along with their guests. Everyone managed to squeeze round the table and began to tuck into a wonderful meal. Fred and George told everyone how the joke shop business was going, and Bill chatted to Wizard about his pierced nose.

"I've always wanted to get mine done..." he said sadly, "But Mum went mental about this," gesturing to his ear with the dragon's tooth dangling from the lobe "So I think she'd probably disown me if I did..."

After everyone had eaten all they could manage they all wandered up to their beds. The Weasleys had conjured several camp beds to sleep all their guests and Wizard, Harry and Ron headed up to Ron's new room, which had been Charlie's before he moved out for good. The room had been redecorated in bright orange and Harry recognised the smiling faces of the Chudley Cannon's Quidditch team smiling and waving from the posters that adorned the walls.

They changed into their pyjamas and fell into bed, Ron and Harry fell asleep almost at once, leaving Wizard lying awake in the darkened room thinking to himself...