Chapter V: A New Wand and Pureblood Customs

Early on the next morning Harry left the Sheraton and took a taxi to Daphne's store. For a change the weather was quite acceptable and even a small glimpse of the sun showed up on the sky. The young man took that as a good sign and entered the shop in good hope. He hoped that this small step for him would turn out as a huge step towards his personal goal – independence from his past. His whole life had been about defeating Tom Riddle and his collection of wands was one of the last links left and he wanted to sever them. Sure, there were some other things he possibly could never get rid of, but with the stone lost in the forest and the Elder Wand rendered useless, things would be much easier.

He had no idea what to expect from this day so he was eager to know what Daphne had prepared. But when he looked around the shop he didn't see her. He took out his old and battered watch he once got from the Weasleys and noticed that he was nearly half an hour too early. Deciding that he would have to wait one way or another he took place in the same chair as yesterday. His eyes wandered around the shop and like yesterday his view was captured by the collection of small drawers on the wall. He decided to take a closer look and stood up to inspect them. They were made from wood and had neatly written signs in a female handwriting. The whole wall looked a little bit like Snape's old cabinet for potion ingredients and even the contents weren't that much different. He found thyme, mandrake, devil's root, foxglove, bat wings and at least dozens of other typical ingredients for potions. But there were also things you probably wouldn't find in Snape's collection like different dragon skins, gems and pearls, at least two dozen different kinds of blood and some things Harry hadn't even heard of. Harry was curious what some of these things could be and tried to open a drawer labelled with 'tellurium'.

His hands had barely touched the drawer when he felt totally stunned and unable to move. He knew that an spell had been released and that it obviously had been some kind of petrifying hex like the Petrificus Totalus spell Hermione had used against Neville in their first year at Hogwarts. His stiff body followed the law of gravity and he fell backwards onto the wooden floor. Surprisingly he wasn't hurt like he had thought and while he watched the ceiling he concluded that Daphne must have placed cushioning charms on her floor.

In the small flat above her shop Daphne was rudely disturbed when one of her wards triggered. Even worse, it was the anti-thieving ward she had placed over the drawers that contained her tools and ingredients for wand making. After opening the shop she had returned to her flat for light breakfast knowing that at this early hour nobody would come except for maybe Potter if he was too early. "Morgana", she thought, "what kind of moron tries to steal at such an ungodly hour?" Luckily she was already dressed, so she drew her wand and apparated to her working rooms which where located at the back of her shop. Assuming the worst she stormed into her shop ready to fire a couple of stunners at the intruder, just in case the ward's own defence mechanism had failed. But what she saw wasn't some kind of evil thief but a certain black haired boy lying flat on his back like a lady-beetle.

Normally she would have laughed, but it was still early and if she wasn't one thing it was a morning person. In fact, she didn't have breakfast, she didn't have coffee and she didn't had time to apply some make-up. That were three good reasons to be annoyed. Grudgingly she approached her drawers, pointed her wand at Harry and spoke Revertate, a stronger version of the Finite Incantatem spell.

"Get on your feet Potter", she said without trying to keep the anger out of her voice. "What the hell were you thinking? Did you really believe that I would leave some of my most expensive possessions unguarded?"

Harry felt his body once again reacting to his commands and got up. "I'm sorry Daphne, I was only curious..."

"And curiosity killed the cat! What would you have done if I had stronger wards? Maybe some of these really dangerous ones purebloods usually use to protect their property? Morgana, really – by now you should know to never touch something you have no idea of!"

"Okay, okay, I got it. But it was boring just sitting here when you weren't in the shop! So what? It's perfectly normal to get curios, you know?"

"Potter, are you daft or are you daft? You should have called me!"

"Just in case you haven't noticed, Greengrass", he emphasized her last name, "you weren't here! Who leaves his shop open, but isn't there for his customers?" The last part was practically yelled, because he was getting angry. He was being chastised for something perfectly normal and he didn't like it at all.

"And of course you've never heard of calling-points, have you Potter? Or is it beneath you to touch your wand to my counter?", Daphne yelled back.

Harry just stood there and gaped at her with wide eyes. Somewhat calmer he said: "I've never heard of something like that and as far as I can see you have no sign here to point out that there actually is something like a, what did you call it? A calling point?"

Daphne ignored Harry's last sentence and walked over to her counter with the old cash register. She stuck the tip of her wand onto the counter's wood and instantly a small ringing sound filled the room.

"And of course, after ten years in the wizarding world you have never heard of it, right?", she spat out sarcastically with a hint of clear disdain in her voice.

"Don't get all high and mighty on me, Greengrass", he countered. "No, I've never heard of it and this is the first time that I see something like this. Sorry, I'm not an pureblood arse that knows all typical wizarding customs by heart."

Daphne looked at him and she saw that he was honest with her. Nobody (except for Draco Malfoy perhaps) was capable of lying with such an sincere look on his face. In fact, his face showed a little bit of embarrassment hidden under his anger. Was it really possible that the boy-who-lived had no idea of the most simple traditions and customs in the wizarding world? She had heard rumours about Harry Potter, but of course she wouldn't believe all this gossip about how hard the upbringing of the wizarding world's champion had been. Of course Dumbledore had ensured that he knew everything he needed to know, right?

"So, you want to tell me", she began in a much more civilized tone, "that you really had no idea about his? Please, be honest with me. You know, I'm fairly certain that you have already bought a lot of things in the wizarding world, at least some simple things like a wand at Ollivander, clothes in Diagon Alley, food at Brickenstones, books at Flourish and Blotts, potion ingredients or owl treats in Knockturn Alley, correct?"

"Sorry, but – no", was his answer. "I've bought my first wand at Ollivander, yes. But he was already in his shop so no need to call him. The same goes for Madame Malkins. I have no idea what Brickenstones is and my books were bought by Molly Weasley. Same goes for my potion ingredients and my owl treats except for a few instances were I bought them personally in Diagon Alley. Truth is, I never bought anything in Knockturn Alley before, because the Weasleys and even Hagrid warned me to go there. In the States I mostly used muggle stores for shopping, so in a nutshell – no, I've never used a calling point before."

Daphne was surprised. This was definitely not what she had expected. At least a modicum of the most casual wizarding customs was what she had expected, but now she doubted his knowledge about the magical community. Had all his life really been about the Dark Lord? Was he, for lack of a better term, a muggle with magical abilities? No, that would have been too far fetched. She knew from her time in Slytherin that Harry had spent a great deal of time together with the Weasleys, so some basic understanding of daily life should be there. It was impossible that they had kept their children at home the whole time, wasn't it?

She looked at Harry who still had that sincere look on his face. Grudgingly Daphne decided to let the topic go for the moment. He was still a customer and although she had known him for years, he was a dark horse in so many aspects that she didn't trust her judgement at the moment.

"Okay Harry, shall we say that I had a bad morning and overreacted and that you weren't careful enough and we both take some of the blame?"

It was an olive branch and Harry knew it. She offered him the chance to start the morning from scratch and if he was honest with himself he knew that it was mostly his own mistake. It took him mere seconds to decide that it was the better option to dismiss the whole trouble and continue like he had planned.

"You are right, of course", he started, "I shouldn't have touched your drawers, a simple question would have satisfied my curiosity. So, what had you planned for today?"

"First things first Harry, let me get my working clothes and give me some minutes to complete my morning toilet and then we can talk about what is going to happen today. In fact, we have a lot of talking to do, so you better prepare for a long session. I suppose we will work for at least a couple of hours before we can start with the first real step. Sit down, relax and if you are a good boy I'll bring you some tea. How does that sound?"

"Sounds good to me, can I help you with anything in the meantime?"

"Not really, just sit down, I won't need too long, promised." She turned and headed for the door to her working room, when he called her again. With a sheepish voice he asked: "Do you think we could have some coffee instead of tea?"

Her giggling was all the answer he got before she left the room. He wondered whether he had said something stupid before he looked at the comfortable chair and decided that probably the best course of action would be to do as she had said and so he sat down.

Meanwhile Daphne was back in her small two-room flat and finished what she had started over half an hour ago. She switched her casual morning clothes for some wide flowing robes of pure cotton and put on a pair of her more comfortable shoes. Afterwards she braided her long hair and attached it with some needles to her head. Daphne only used a very light make-up and opted for only a single drop of orchid essence instead of her usual perfume. Today would be a very difficult day if she had to take a guess. Her customer was no one else but Harry Potter and although she had only been average in divination it was fairly easy to predict that his needs wouldn't be easy to satisfy. She had already gotten a good lead on what he wanted and if the Elder Wand was involved, things were never easy. Combine the fact that she dealt with Harry Potter and the Elder Wand things could quickly turn out very ugly. While she watched herself in the mirror her thoughts were far away. She loved her talent for crafting special wands, that was undoubted. But was she really willing to involve herself in such a difficult project? Her life-time strategy had been to avoid trouble at all costs and now she was throwing herself into a project that dealt with one of the most mightiest magical artefacts known to mankind. She was unsure. There was still time to reject Harry as a customer, but something deep in her unconsciousness forced her to take the job. That, and of course the fact that she still owed the goblins more than fifty-thousand galleons she had taken as a credit for the shop. Most people assumed that old family lines like the Greengrasses were rich as hell, but the war had taken it's toll from most darker families who aligned themselves with Voldemort. Not only had her father spent a good portion of the family fortune for the Dark Lord, but the ministry had taken most of the leftover liquid cash as reparations. That way, her parents who both bore the dark mark, had stayed out of Azkaban. And what good had it done? Her mother and her father were both dead, the last remnants of a former fortune burnt with Greengrass Manor. All she had left was her shop, enough money to pay half a year of St. Mungos for her sister, some meagre galleons for herself from her last job and of course the deed for the land in Wales were the manor had been located. Sure, there were still some pieces of jewellery left, mostly things that had been salvaged from the remnants of her former home, but she doubted that they would make much money if she had to sell them. And of course, selling the Greengrass family rings was out of question. All in all, there wasn't much choice. She had only four and a half years left to repay the goblins or the land in Wales would be gone as would most of her other possessions.

She flicked her wand and in a matter of minutes she had brewed some coffee. Daphne took out her special tableware, two teacups with the family crest and an ancient teapot and filled them with the fresh coffee. It had cost her quite an effort to use these precious pieces for something so muggle like coffee, but it wasn't the first time either. On a more rational level she knew that she would have to adapt to the now different circumstances, but a small part of her still resisted and wanted to stay the ever-spoilt little girl that she had been all her life. She knew that it would have been easy to enter into a lucrative marriage contract with one of the richer families, but her freedom was the one thing she wasn't going to sacrifice. Daphne had seen enough pureblood women who had been forced into arranged marriages and none of them were happy. In fact, everyone knew this little detail, it was probably the worst hidden secret of the whole wizarding world. Women were still only goods that men could trade at will to gain more power, political influence or simply more money.

Daphne looked at the old picture framed at the wall. Her father, that old asshole, sat on a chair in the center, surrounded by "his" woman. Her mother, Cecilia Greengrass, was standing behind him and to each side was one of his daughters flanking him. A small tear escaped her when she touched her mother's picture and for the hundredth time she silently swore to never succumb to a man. Never would she be subdued or forced into something that wasn't of her own free will and she had the means to achieve it. One of the last presents her mother had given her was a small necklace made of black onyx that she always wore. To the untrained eye it was nothing but a fancy piece of jewellery but those who were trained in the Dark Arts would resemble it for what it was – a Perfugator. These little artefacts were classified as type Z items, in other words highly forbidden, but she doubted that anyone except for the oldest purebloods could identify it. They contained a simple and clever charm that in itself was nothing extraordinary. They combined an emergency portkey (in her case to Kopenhagen, Denmark) with untrackable charms, anti-pursuit hexes and an aura-destroying curse. What made them so forbidden was the fact that the creator had to sacrifice some blood and a good portion of his life-time, usually one or two whole years. As a result, Perfugators were the ultimate means of escaping, they not only brought you away in an instant, they also made it impossible to be followed or tracked down by magical means. As a drawback the escaping person wouldn't be able to do magic for some hours. But that was a small price to pay, should the need ever arise. Daphne collected her things and thought that hopefully she never would have to use her Perfugator. She apparated back to her working room and prepared for a long day with Harry.

Harry heard the small sound apparating usually does and seconds later Daphne entered the room carefully holding a tablet with a teapot and two cups. He idly wondered whether she had respected his wish for coffee, but quickly dismissed it as not really important. After all, he was back in England and the magical community still insisted in tea, although lots of muggles preferred the hot black coffee in the morning. He took a closer look at Daphne and he really liked what he saw. Gone were the extravagant woman from yesterday, today she wore much more casual clothes. He fought a small internal dispute with himself trying to decide which version he liked better and came to the decision that the fancy Daphne was more his style. This version before him looked so fragile and vulnerable that he had to suppress the instinct to take her into his arms to spend some comfort. Saving that little diamond of information for later, his good manners took over and he raised to take the tablet from her.

Daphne was surprised that Potter would try to help her when in fact he was the customer who should be served. She politely declined his offer and instead served him his coffee before she poured herself a cup.

For a short time both enjoyed the hot liquid without talking before Daphne broke the silence.

"So Harry, I think it is high time we talk business if that's okay for you", she opened the talk. "If I remember correctly from our talk yesterday you want me to make a wand for you that combines some really difficult abilities. Your prime goal is that the Elder Wand will never switch his allegiance, so that his extraordinary powers will be gone if you die. Second, your new custom wand shall serve you better than your holly and phoenix feather wand does. Is that basically correct?"

Harry looked at the table for some seconds, deep in thought. Yes, that was what he had told Daphne, but was it really what he wanted? Sure, getting rid of the Elder Wand would be an enormous alleviation, but it also meant that he would loose the support of one of the strongest artefacts at his disposal should the need ever arise again. He had thought about this the whole last evening and a small part of him wanted to hold onto the legendary wand, but another part, probably the greater one, wanted to get rid of the Deathly Hallows and that meant that the deathstick would have to go. He was still a little bit unsure, but in the end his wish for an future independent from the past took over.

"Yes, basically", he answered. "Although I must admit that loosing the allegiance of the Elder Wand won't be as easy as I think. I always think about the future and what might happen. Do you understand what I mean? If I'm lucky I will never need it again, but what if anything goes wrong? Then I would be without my strongest weapon?"

Daphne looked hard at Harry. She knew by heart that no Slytherin would ever have thought about giving up a wand so powerful and she was surprised that Harry even considered it. Surely, he was Gryffindor and that meant that she couldn't apply the rules for members of her own house. But deep in her heart she was convinced that there was more to the story, a part no one had ever heard of. It was nothing more than a small thought based on Harry's behaviour, but nevertheless she knew by instinct that this what not the whole truth.

"Harry, May I ask you a personal question?"

"Sure. Asking is one thing, whether I give an answer is something totally different", he answered.

"What do you want for the future Harry? How shall your life be? And don't tell me what you think it will be like. Keep out all realism and tell me your dream Harry, please. Look here – if you are not willing to let go of the Elder Wand, it won't work. So please tell, what do you dream of?"

When Harry had decided to get himself a custom wand, he never thought that the process would need so much personal informations, but he suspected that Daphne knew what she was doing and answered honestly. "I want love in my life, Daphne. The love I rarely had. And I want a family, if possible a great family. But more than anything, I want peace in my life. Just give me a nice wife, some children, a small cottage and a nice job and I will be happy. But if we talk about realistic..."

He was stopped by Daphne who had raised her hand signalling him to stop. "I know very well what you mean. Don't forget that I'm also part of the war generation and in a nutshell my dream is the same. But more important if that is what you dream of, you have a good chance to get rid of the Elder Wand. You see – the wish for a future without the need of such an powerful item is the greatest benefactor you have. Only those who feel like you have a chance of letting go of the past, which in your case means letting go of the Elder Wand."

"You really think so?", he asked coyly.

"Indeed, I do. Only those who look for a future don't have to linger in the past. And only those who are willing to look forward instead of backwards are able to forget and that is the most important detail now."

She took a moment to sip from her coffee and to collect her thoughts. She had a fairly good idea how to deal with Harry's problems, but it would be complicated nevertheless. And explaining it to him would even be more complicated.

"Okay, I will try to tell you what I think, but you should know that most of it is purely experimental, because nobody has ever dealt with such a problem before. Let's start with the easy part. Your own wand that you bought at Ollivander's and Draco's old wand that switched his allegiance to you are not much of an problem. I intend to open them, collect the phoenix feather and the unicorn hair and use them as part of your wands core. The process is of course time-consuming and really difficult, but not really dangerous. I have the hope that both cores will react positively with your new wand. That eliminates the problem that someone beats you in a duel where you use one of these two wands and in the consequence the Elder Wand will switch to someone else. Do you understand this so far?"

"Of course. In a nutshell, you are going to recycle my old wands. I understand the principle, yes. You see it's like the empty bottle you put in a special bin so that they can be refilled at the factory."

Daphne looked at him cluelessly. Bottles? Bins? Back to the factory? What the bloody hell was he talking about?

"Are you sure you understand me Harry? Because I have no idea what you have been talking about in your last comment, I'm sorry."

Harry chuckled. Leave it to a pureblood to have no idea about trash recycling. "Not so important Daphne, it's a muggle thing", he answered with a twinkle in his eyes.

"If you say so, okay. Now onto our bigger problem, the Elder Wand. The procedure I suggested for your other two wands won't work with this powerful wand. First of all, although I have a very, very strong natural talent for wand-making, I don't feel competent enough to open it. Furthermore, most artefacts as old and powerful as the Elder Wand have some kind of own consciousness. I'm pretty sure that it would actively resist to an opening procedure. So, basically that won't work. My second best guess would be to actively switch his allegiance to someone else, probably a dying wizard that only has some days left to live. But before you say anything, I already ruled this option out. I wouldn't trust anybody enough to carry out such a task and your control over the whole situation would be gone. That only leaves one option and it is really, really, complicated. We need to sever your connection with the Elder Wand. Sounds simple, but is fairly hard to do."

"You want to disrupt my connection to the Elder Wand? Is that possible?", Harry interrupted.

"Maybe not as you think Harry. Stick with me a little bit more and I'm going to explain to you what I think. First let me explain what happens when a wand switches his allegiance. In fact, most wizards and witches think that it is the wand who makes the decision to belong to a new owner. That is mostly myth, built on what Ollivander always says. You remember his words of wisdom when he told us that the wand chooses the wizard?"

"Sure, who doesn't", replied Harry. "It is probably his trademark sentence and I heard it more often than most other wizards."

"True. But in fact that is a whole load of nonsense. Wands are nothing more than tools, some are better suited for specific wizards, some are worse. There is usually nothing like a consciousness in a wand. It is merely a combination of matching materials that suit a wizard to channel magic. In ancient times magical folk didn't use wands at all, they relied on their wandless ability. But my point is, that the user of a wand knows or thinks to know that his wand has switched allegiance. It's kind of psychological and it happens in our unconsciousness. You have been beaten so you think that your wand now belongs to someone else. And by thinking that you reject to use this wand anymore. Same goes for the winner of a duel. You win a duel and think that your enemies wand has been conquered and is now forced to work for you."

"But what about Voldemort?", Harry once again interrupted. "I beat him because his wand wouldn't work for him, so I was able to overpower him. Do you want to tell me, that there is a completely different reason? Sorry, but I can't believe this. I would never have been able to beat him in a regular duel and I know that it was the Elder Wand that decided this duel."

"And that is exactly the problem, the Elder Wand is not like most other wands. It has a history, a long and bloody history. And during the course of time it somehow seems to have developed what most other wands don't have – a consciousness. But that doesn't change the main fact – what we call 'allegiance' is merely a psychological construct in the users subconsciousness. And that is something that can be influenced even if it is really hard to do so. If we would be talking about an ordinary wand, I would suggest legilimency combined with a strong memory charm, but as we deal with the Elder Wand we need to be more subtle here. The solution is really simple if you know what to look for. You will need to go on a dream voyage to rid yourself of the Elder Wand."

"A dream voyage? Forgive me, but I have never heard of such a thing."

"In a nutshell, it means that you do advanced meditations and look into your inner self. It's a special magical technique that is mostly used on people that suffer under an post traumatic syndrome. During your dream voyage you have the option to influence your subconsciousness and to alter, change or delete passages from your life. For example, rape victims are often given the chance to erase all knowledge about the event during a dream voyage as a last resort. Look, memory charms are all nice and neat but they never influence your subconsciousness. So for something deeper you need a dream voyage."

"Daphne? May I ask where you know all these things from? I mean you sound as if you knew exactly every step, every detail about everything that it scares me a little bit. Don't be offended, but where the hell did you learn all that?"

"Good question Harry, really good. In fact, I expected it earlier. In fact, it's a combination of a pureblood upbringing, knowledge from ancient tomes only available to special circles and my inherent abilities as a wand maker. Add some educated guesses and a good portion of experience and you know why I can do what I can."

He smiled. "Of course." She really seemed to know what she was doing although he still doubted that the whole process would be as easy as she suggested. But what other choices did he have? Sure, he could still continue to live with the status quo, but that wasn't a solution either. He had been to American wand-makers, but their knowledge was even more limited than that of Ollivander. No, if he really wanted to get rid of the remnants of his past, he needed someone who was more adept in wand-lore than the average crafter and his choices were limited. His main problem with the whole situation was that Daphne had been in Slytherin and he had always doubted them. But on a somewhat more rational level he knew that this was only a stupid prejudice. Not all Slytherins were evil bastards, although he was sure that Ron would have told him otherwise. Was it really a good idea to trust the Greengrass girl with such an important task? But something told him that she was good at her job and that was by far no small feat. She only had a little bit more than a year of practical experience, but still had crafted a wand for McGonagall who wasn't your average witch but a transfigurations mistress. So, if his former head of house trusted her enough, he should do the same. But nevertheless, she was a bloody Slytherin.

"So, let's assume you are right, how do we continue from here?"

Daphne looked at him and knew partly what he had thought. It was brilliantly clear to her that he doubted her abilities, but could she blame him? There were so many things to consider if you were Harry bloody Potter, that it was no wonder that this guy really had issues with people who told him that something was straight and easy.

"Well Harry, first of all, I need to take another PEC test, you know the procedure, then..."

"What please?", he interrupted her. "What is a PEC test?"

"Potter, please. You have taken an PEC test already three times in your life, you should know by now what it is and how it works, so what we do is..."

This time it was Harry who raised his hand and signalled her to stop. "No, sorry. I have no bloody idea about this test as I have never had one before. So what are you talking about?"

"You have never taken a PEC? Do you want to kid me Potter? It's routinely done when a wizard or witch is born, when he or she attends Hogwarts for the first time and lastly when he reaches his magical adulthood at the age of seventeen."

"No idea, really not. It may be possible that my parents took me for this test when I was born, but for obvious reasons I never had the chance to ask them. And no, I didn't take this bloody test when I came to Hogwarts, and once again no, nobody performed this test when I celebrated my seventeenth birthday."

Daphne looked at Harry in shock. Was he speaking the truth? That was absolutely unbelievable! The saviour of the wizarding world had never taken an PEC before! Absolutely every magical kid in Great Britain took these tests to determine where their natural abilities were and how they had progressed during the last years. She decided that there was more to this story, but for her purpose that didn't matter at all. But she needed these results and so she had to explain to him what they were about.

"Look Potter, I have no idea why you never took your PEC, but that is a question only you can answer. I don't care really much", she said with her full 'ice-queen' voice. "Do you want me to explain what it is or do you simply want to perform it?

Harry was a little bit annoyed. How dare she talked to him like that? Was it his fault that nobody in the bloody wizarding world ever explained something to him? No, it surely wasn't.

"Tell me about it", he answered short handed.

Daphne decided that it was his money that he spent on her time and if he wanted to an explanation, he would get one. After all, he paid the bill.

"Okay, the PEC test is, as I said before, performed three times during a wizards life routinely and on special occasions. The 'P' stands for power, the 'E' for endurance and the 'C' for control. The PEC's general measurement is a scale from zero to seven, where zero means absolutely no ability and seven means an ability that is unmatched. Sevens are really rare and only happen once or twice during a century, so don't hope for a result like this. When a witch or a wizard is born, he usually has a power level of one, an endurance level of one and an control level of zero. That is reflected by doing accidental magic which shows that the magical being has no control over his inherent magic. These number usually grow until the eleventh birthday so that your average wizard enters Hogwarts with an power level of two, an endurance level of one and an control level of still zero. Now, a little bit more explanation for the different skills. Power is something you already have, it cannot be trained, it cannot be inbred like many purebloods think and it develops to a certain maximum that is usually reached by the age of seventeen, give or take one or two years. You cannot train power although some of the really dark rituals are capable of enhancing your power. But that is a topic for another time, believe me – you wouldn't want to participate in such a ritual. Endurance is in many regards likewise, as it also cannot be trained and is an somewhat inherent ability. Physical fitness and strength can help your endurance, if only slightly. You normally reach your maximum level of endurance during your twenties and from then on it slowly, but steadily declines. It is linked with age. Control is the last important parameter as it determines in how far you are able to control your magic. In contrast to power and endurance, it solely is based on training and discipline. Control also determines in how far you are able to do wandless magic. As it comes mostly from experience and training it slowly increases with age. So, an average wizard is usually born with a PEC rating of 1-1-0, enters a magical school with a rating of 2-1-0, comes of age with 3-3-3 and usually ends up dying at an age of 100 with an PEC rating of 3-1-4. Any questions so far?"

"Sounds pretty straightforward", he answered. "Are there any wizards this century that had sevens in one or more abilities?"

"Not that I know of", came her instant reply. "Dumbledore is known for his control level of six and many suppose that the Dark Lord had a power level of seven. But even sixes are an remarkable feat that most wizards and witches can only dream of. Even a five in one of the three aspects makes you extraordinary. Fours are highly unusual in power and endurance, but somewhat common in control with very old wizards. Your average wizard usually has a total rating around nine, with 3-3-3 being the most common."

"Sounds interesting, how do you perform the test?"

Daphne smiled at him. "Quite easy Harry. I have the PEC testing equipment here in my shop, it consists of a special pair of gauntlets, an amulet and headband. All you have to do is wear these items and I will start the measurement process. Do you want to do it now?"

"Sure, does it take long to perform the test?"

"Not really. Usually only two to three minutes. Wait a minute, I'm going to collect the items from my working room."

With that, she stood up and left for her working room where she took all necessary items from a shelf. Additionally, she picked up a pepper up potion and a mild calming draught before she went back into her shop's main room.

When she entered through the door and Harry saw her, his eyes became wide. The gauntlet she had brought was deep purple with neon-green spots, the amulet was a bright yellow and the headband looked like a multicoloured rainbow. He spent some seconds thinking how he would look like wearing this items and began to laugh.

Daphne saw his reactions and knew by heart what he thought. It was probably the same thing she had thought when her father took her for her own PEC test when she had become an adult. These things were simply embarrassing and everybody knew it.

"Yes, yes", she said, "I know theses thing look like carnival items or something the Weasleys would sell in their shop, but there is no way to change them." She put on a smile and deposited the gauntlet, the amulet and the headband on the table.

Harry was still laughing, but managed to choke some words: "These will really look great to my suit..."

And indeed, Daphne was sure that nothing else in the world would have looked more out of place on his suit than the PEC testing equipment. He had opted for something very conservative and was wearing a dark grey suit with white stripes, a royal blue shirt and a grey tie. Indeed, he looked really handsome but nevertheless it would be fun seeing him wear the curious equipment.

"Okay Harry, shall we start?"

"No time like the present", he grinned.

"Great, now wear the gauntlet on your wand-hand please."

He did as she had told him and instantly felt a strange buzzing along his arm. He asked Daphne about it, but she ensured him that this was perfectly normal. When she ordered him to take his wand into the gauntlet he did so and once again the buzzing increased.

"Now Harry, it is imperative that you don't move. In fact, don't do anything until I say so and presume that everything is normal until I say otherwise, okay?"

"Will it hurt?" He asked the question faster than he could think and instantly was sorry. Once again his vulnerable side had shown and that was something he didn't like at all.

"No, it won't hurt you Harry. Only hold still."

The young witch pressed her own wand against the gauntlet and it began to glow while the buzzing sound increased. Harry felt something strange inside him as if the gauntlet was channelling his magic. At first, it was only a curious feeling, then it became stronger and annoying and at last he wasn't able to feel his arm at all. It wasn't painful, but really distressing. Then it all stopped as fast as it had begun. The gauntlet fell from his hand onto the floor, but still the glow was there.

"Very fine, Harry", said Daphne and picked the gauntlet up. She held it under his nose and pointed her finger to the gems attached. "See these emeralds Harry?"

"Sure", he replied. "Although I have no idea why some of them seem to glow and the others look normal." He looked up to Daphne and saw that she wanted to reply, but he stopped her when he raised his hand. "I think I get it. Seven emeralds. Seven points for power on the PEC scale. Does that mean that the four glowing emeralds represent my power level?"

She grinned. "It's always a fifty-fifty chance Harry and in this case you lost your bet. Your power level is measured by the not-glowing emeralds and that means that you have indeed a level of three."

Harry was more than satisfied. He had expected to show a power level of five or more, marking him once again as someone extraordinary, but he was average. And being average was great in his books. Nothing to stand out, nothing that differentiated him from other witches or wizards. In fact, it was the best possible outcome he could imagine.

Daphne collected the gauntlet and put it back onto the table. "Do you want to drink something before we continue or do you feel fit enough for the next test?"

He opted for a short sip of coffee before he looked at her. "Will the amulet too do something strange like the gauntlet?"

"Yes. In fact, the endurance test is somewhat painful. It tests your ability to hold onto your magic and in how far you are able to tolerate magical pain and exhaustion. I'm sorry Harry, really. If I could, I would take away the pain, but there is no alternative available."

Harry looked into her eyes and he saw the pain there. He knew for certain that she didn't wish to harm him, but that there was no way for her to ease the pain that would come along with this special part of the PEC testing. He was somewhat thankful that she showed so much compassion and that she didn't pity him. Did she care for him? Or was this some act she always played when she performed the test for a customer? Probably the later, he decided. Why would someone like Daphne care for him, for plain old Harry? He decided to put these thoughts away for another time as he was only stalling the inevitable.

"Give me the amulet", he said firmly. And without a word she leaned forward and put it around his neck. He felt her closing the clasp and at the same time he caught himself glancing at Daphne's wide open cleavage. Her working robes were wide and he had a good look at her tiny, lacy white bra. He could even see that her nipples were of dark brown colour that stood in stark contrast to her alabaster skin. Instantly something inside him reacted and it took every ounce of willpower not to blush or even worse, get an instant erection.

Daphne of course was well aware of the situation. In fact, she hadn't planned this, but knew that he could take a look at her the moment she bent forward. But what do you do in such a compromising situation? Simply, she acted as if she hadn't noticed and continued her work. "Worst case?", she thought. "He saw my tits. But that shouldn't be his first time seeing naked parts of a female. And if we both continue acting as if nothing had happened nobody will speak a word about it. Best case? He closed his eyes the moment he saw my wide fluttering robes. Oh hell, forget it Daphne – he's a man, of course he took a peek!"

But both young people kept acting as if nothing had happened even if they knew better. Daphne returned to a normal standing position and asked him if he was ready.

"Of course I am. Start the measuring", was his short answer because he didn't trust himself enough at the moment for a longer or more elaborate statement. And that was what she did.

At the first moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then he felt as if he was pressed and someone would throw him through a very compressed tube. The feeling continued and even worse, it felt as if someone would put very heavy bricks onto his head. His occlumency shields barely held, but he knew that if the feeling would further increase, his shields wouldn't hold. And of course the feeling got worse, it even began to become a little bit painful. His hands felt as if they were on fire as did his feet. All air seemed to be pressed out of his lungs, his stomach was compressed to a tiny little ball and he felt the strong urge to puke.

Daphne watched him and she disliked what she saw. Exactly as on the gauntlet, the amulet had seven small gems, rubies in this case and they were blinking like mad. To be more exactly, three of the rubies had stopped glowing practically the moment she had started the process. The fourth went out seconds later and now only the numbers five, six and seven were glowing. She knew from books that an endurance level of four meant the ability to suffer extreme pain, but from what she saw she somehow doubted that level four was the final result. And she was right. Just the moment she thought that, the fifth ruby stopped emanating a glow and only the last two were active. "Wow", she thought, thinking of the pain he probably just endured. Measuring the endurance was always a difficult process because the equipment looked how long someone could hold his magic. So the amulet forced Harry's magic forward while putting more and more pressure on him. And "pressure" was the synonym for pain if it came to levels beyond three.

Meanwhile Harry used every ounce of willpower to resist the pain that forced it's way through his body. He was definitely not going to surrender to some kind of shiny amulet when he had endured the pain of Voldemorts Cruciatus curse and worse. He was not going to surrender to some kind of evil artefact when he could hold his magic long enough to banish dozens of dementors. And he was surely not surrendering to this bloody PEC test when he had suffered more than anyone he knew. His whole life had been a fight, maybe except for the last three years in America and this was only another battle that he would win. In the meantime the pain had become nearly unbearable and now matched the Dark Lord's personal Cruciatus curse. He felt a strange memory of a certain graveyard coming forward, but nevertheless fought against. He tried to suppress the memory, but his occlumency was not much help as his shields had already been battered and destroyed. The pain seemed endless. Tears flowed freely. Memory after memory came into his mind and he didn't like what he saw. Dementors. The basilisk. The Dursleys. Voldemort. The Hungarian horntail. Remus dead. Sirius gone. Voldemort again.

If someone had told Daphne what would happen on this morning she would have declared him being crazy or insane. And she would have avoided the PEC testing for Harry, no matter what. For more than two minutes the light in the sixth ruby had been flickering and she had no idea what he had to endure. His lips were pressed together and she knew that he was avoiding the inevitable cry. His fingernails were pressed into his hands and although they were neatly cut some blood was visible on his palms. His whole body was emanating magic and her shop was bathed into a golden light. He seemed to be sweating magic, but she was sure that the end was near. No matter how high Harry's endurance level was, nobody could or should suffer for so long. And she was right.

When the sixth ruby stopped glowing it came what had to come. Harry screamed. It was not only a scream, but the primal sound of someone relieving all his pain. It was unreal and so loud that Daphne had to hold her ears closed. Even worse, the young man in front of her began to whimper and his tears flowed freely. Then it was all over in a jiffy. One last scream from Harry made her nearly deaf, but it also marked the end of his pain. The amulet glowed one last time and all rubies fell off instantly. Harry Potter had achieved an endurance level of seven, something totally unheard of.

He had his hands attached to his eyes and cried like a newborn child. Daphne never had a customer before that had to endure so long under the pain of the amulet and normally she would have simply waited for him to calm down, but somehow she knew that this wasn't good enough in this special situation. Reluctantly she took Harry into her arms and pressed him against her chest. The very same chest he had taken a look at some minutes earlier. She held him like a mother and rocked him for some minutes until she noticed that he had stopped crying. But he was still shaking and so she decided not to let go. They sat there for minutes until Harry managed to calm himself enough to free himself from Daphnes embrace. He reached into his pockets and drew a package of hankies. With some difficulties he managed to take one out and wipe his face clean of the tears. Then he did the same for the blood on his hands, all the time thinking how good it had felt to be embraced by Daphne. Using this positive emotion he closed his eyes again and re-erected his mental shields. Once that was done he looked up to Daphne.

"Thanks Daphne, for holding me. I would never have expected that this part of the test would be so painful. It was horrible, I have to admit. Worse than everything I ever experienced. Care to tell me what the result is?"

Daphne looked into his once again sparkling green orbs and hesitated. "Harry", she began, "let me tell you first that I had no idea how painful this test would be for you and let me say that I'm really sorry for submitting you to this kind of torture." She turned around and faced the table where the potions were standing. She took the calming draught and gave it to him. "Drink this first, then I'll give you the pepper-up potion and once you've finished both we can talk about your result, okay?"

"Fine with me", he answered silently already expecting a test result that was far from the norm. He took the first potion and downed it instantly before finishing the second one with exactly the same speed. "Thanks heaven", he thought when both potions worked as they were supposed to be and he felt much better.

"Everything okay, Harry?", Daphne adressed him.

"Yes. So tell me – how embarrassing is the test result?"

"It is extraordinary, not embarrassing. You achieved a seven. Full marks, Harry. Very impressive, if you ask me."

"A seven?", he asked with his eyes wide open expressing disbelieve. "A bloody seven?"

"Yes Harry. A bloody seven. You just achieved a score totally unheard of." Seeing his look of disgust, she hurried to placate him. She placed the palms of her hands on his thighs and looked directly into his eyes. "Harry, you are extraordinary, there is nothing wrong with this. And if it eases you, I'll never speak with anybody about your result. Would that be okay for you?"

"That would indeed be fine, Daphne. Once again – thanks a lot."

"No problem, mister super-endurance", she smiled. "In fact I had already suspected that your endurance level would be very high according to the things you have done in your life and the things you had to endure. I hope that I may point out that I admire you for such a talent."

"Oh yeah – being able to tolerate lots of pain is surely something one can admire", he answered with an sarcastic voice.

"See it from the other side Harry. The endurance test is primarily not about pain. That is only part of the test. It's about magical stamina and the ability to let magic flow. I heard the rumours in our third year that you held a patronus charm long enough to drive dozens of dementors away, but I always thought that this was purely exaggeration. Now I know that it wasn't. And wouldn't you agree with me that driving lots of these evil creatures away is a good thing?"

"Well, if you see it like this, you're right of course. Okay, my magical stamina is great, so what is the last part of the test?"

Daphne gladly changed the topic away from his super-endurance onto the next test on her agenda. She freed him from the medallion and put it away together with the discarded rubies. Then, reaching towards the table, she took the headband she had brought earlier.

"This test is quite easy Harry. This small little tool will measure your control level. It is totally pain-free and the only thing you will experience is a little bit of legilimency from the headband. Nothing to worry about, really."

"If you say so", he smiled. "At least I don't have to cry again. "Hey, you know that the ladies don't like crying men, so with your knowledge you could easily spoil my future love life", he grinned.

The answer was definitely not what he had anticipated. "In this case you're wrong Harry. But don't worry, most males are. Crying men only show that they are capable of showing emotions, that they are able to have an outlet for their pains. These men are exactly what lots of women are looking for. Me included." Now it was Daphne who had a twinkle in her eyes that would have made Dumbledore jealous.

"Are you serious?", he asked her in a non-nonsense tone.

"Yes, totally. Take that as a bonus-tip that won't be included in your invoice", she sarcastically said. "Now onto the last part of the PEC."

She put the tiara like headband onto Harrys head and without further addo she put the tip of her wand to it. This time things were over in a matter of seconds. Harry felt as if some invisible fingers were rifling through his mind. It was nothing like the legilimency Snape had done to him during their fifth year, on the contrary. It felt as if these invisible fingers were tickling his brain and he couldn't suppress giggling. Pictures were brought forward of his first lessons in magic during his Hogwarts years, of him learning from books he had received from Remus during his third year, from him trying out new spells during their camping tour through England and from him learning new magic during his three years at Stanford.

It was a matter of half a minute before three gemstones dropped to the floor and the experience stopped. Harry looked towards the discarded gems and sighed.

"At least two out of three are average. Not bad, if you ask me", he adressed Daphne.

Smiling and inwardly cringing she collected the headband and thought about this strange guy in front of her. He really appreciated being average! Each and every single Slytherin would have given one or two limbs to score a PEC rating as high as Harry had! But probably things were really different if you were Harry Potter and people always expected the unexpected from you. What had her mother, being a Ravenclaw herself, always said? "Never judge people before you know them." This had been a wise piece of advise and she remembered herself that the man before her was probably the prototype of someone who couldn't be judged by outer appearances and hearsay.

Unceremoniously Daphne put the gauntlet, the medallion and the headband back onto the table and sat down on her previously discarded chair. She viewed her counterpart on the other side of the table and decided to wait a little bit until she would let her final bomb for the day explode.

"Now Harry, with your PEC ratings fixed I can determine the process for the next days. For today", she cast a fast Tempus spell, "we are done. But I will see you tomorrow morning sharp at nine o'clock. Listen carefully to me now. It is absolutely imperative that you don't do any magic beginning this evening until you are at my shop tomorrow morning. Is that clear?"

"Ohm, sure Daphne. But why?"

"Because I have a good suspicion in which direction some of the materials for your wand core are going. And if I'm right – what usually is the case – I need your magic at top level, clear and untainted by any use of spells. If you are a animagus you won't use the ability in the same time frame. Just in case you are a practising occlumens or legilimens – don't use either abilities. If you possess any wandless abilities, once again – don't use them. Don't take any potions, don't use the floo network, don't apparate. In short – avoid anything that has to do with magic. And just to be sure don't drink anything that has magical components like gilly water or firefish tears. Understood?"

"What are you? My doctor?", he smiled at her.

"Something like that. Believe me, it is important to let your body build up it's own magic. And as far as I remember you were raised by muggles, so it shouldn't be too hard to rely on non-magical means for some hours."

"Okay, so I will see you tomorrow morning at nine o'clock sharp, right?"

She smiled evilly, every inch of her being a nasty Slytherin. "No Potter, you will see me this evening. You will organize a car and then you will pick me up here at my shop at half past nine. Then you will invite me into a high class restaurant of your choice where you will treat me with the utmost respect a pureblood lady deserves. Then, you will invite me to a luxurious, hellish expensive five-course menu and during our dinner you'll entertain me with your best manners."

Harry was speechless. There were a thousands things running through his mind, but that she would FORCE him to invite her to dinner was the one thing that he would have never dreamt of. Well, not that he was antipathetic to the idea, but he wondered why now, all of a sudden, she came up with such a curious idea. He did the only reasonable thing and asked her directly. The answer he received was nothing he had expected.

"Simple, Potter. It's either that or I'll hex your balls with the most mean curse from the dark arts if you ever take a peep at my boobs again."

a/n: Thanks for all the reviews! Jiw123: these are exactly the things I can only guess about. I was tempted to use the Times but opted against it as it looked to stereotype. Thanks for the information :) Dinomus: Good questions, but I would offer too much information if I would give answers right now. So I apologize and refer to future chapters. Next chapter will take a while now as I won't have time during the next days to write. For all football fans: Two days until Manchester United vs Schalke 04. Let's hope for a more enthralling game than the last ;)