Thanks to everyone for reading along with me. This is a long chapter, I hope you bear with me. A lot of answers to many questions you might have are in this chapter. Also, there are some clues for the next story, which as I have said before will be the end of the series. Next Fridays is chapter 6, "Unloved And Unwanted"




Miss Evi3e <3: Hey Eviee, thanks. Harry is back from his quest of 4 years. He has been looking back on the day before, and the day he left. He actually had his doubts that he would be excepted back, but he did have hope because of Ron and Hermione's reaction to what Ginny confessed to them. I'm sorry for the confusion in the way I'm writing this ff. This is the last chapter of Harry reflecting on the past.
Thanks for reading and commenting Eviee.

OtterySt.Catchpole: Hey ~Otty, thanks for dropping in. I do hope the heat starts becoming bearable over there. It has been excessivly hot here also, but at least we've finally gotten some good and benificial rain. Maybe you should wear an ice pack on top of your head to keep that wonderful brain from frying. ^ That's my favorite quote from Pooh. It says it all.
Thanks for sharing that information, I love them both! Great work, and you colored them very well too!

Thanks ~Otty, I hope you do get some time to read. This story was thought up, because of your request. I wanted to do a story about the wand, and your request for Zombies made for a good story so I put the two together and came up with this short story. (shorter than the first one anyway)


ashfig: Hey Ashley, thank you so much! You're very sweet to say things like that. And yes, the story will prodress forward. Starting in the next chapter, the other characters will be included. Thanks for commenting Ashley. I love reading the comments from my readers.

Harita: Hey Harita, thank you! I think it's great that you, Lari, and Ava all three comment on this part. I wrote that to give the idea that Harry might be giddy with excessive doubt and confusion about his self. He does seem to be a little reckless doesn't he, and going to extreme's to get answers he hasn't been able to find yet.
Thanks Harita.

Obi-Wan K'Lari: Hey Lari, thanks so much for reading and commenting. It does mean a lot to me. Thanks Lari. I don't think there will be a lot more on that theme, just a tad bit now and then, but far and few between. I'm going to copy what I just told Harita; Is your SLEUTH hat on? What do you think; Will Harry find the answers he's looking for when he finds the Zombies?
Thanks for reading and commenting Lari.


crookshanks_kitty: Hey Ava, thanks for your thoughtful comment. I appreciate the time and thought you put into your comments. Thank you Ava, I do try to do everything I can to make my story completely understandable. If ever there is doubt or you don't ubderstand, please PM me, and I'll be more than happy to answer you. I made a big deal about Beau, because I used him in the next story to open up a plot. So, he was actually the foundation for a story arc. Yes, you are correct, and the explanation is even more in debt in this chapter you will be reading. OK Ava, I understand what you're saying, but I don't think he ever accepted for himself that he had love. I think he believed he had love out of faith in Dumbledore, because Dumbledore told him he had love. He grew up at the Dursleys for all those years without any love whatsoever. Then suddenly he moves into a different part of his life he didn't know existed. He received love from his new friends and the Weasley family, but never knew it was love. He was never told he was loved. That's why it hit him so hard when Molly said he was as much her son. He was confused yet he liked it. He was exposed to love everyday and he liked what he felt. But, he didn't know it was love. Love to him was material things. Like when Dudley received large amounts of gifts always, or when Uncle Vernon was going to get a promotion, and the things they would be able to have if it came through. When he went to Hogwarts and met the Weasleys, he never experienced any of that again, although he felt Ron craved these things. It's like, and this is going to be extremely simple yet the meaning is the same. Say you lived, as long as you can remember until you was 11 years old, not knowing what ice-cream was. Then you moved to a place where you had ice-cream every evening after the main meal. You wasn't told what it was, it was just assumed you knew. All you know is that it's wonderful, and you look forward to having it everyday. Then they tell you to go to the Dairy Queen for some ice-cream. You're reluctant to go, because you want a bowl of what you have every evening. They say to you that you have had ice-cream every evening since you got there. So, on faith that they are telling you this as a truth, you go in search of a dairy Queen, to get some ice-cream, believing you will know it when you taste it. This is the same as Harry and love. This is how he is able to compare himself and Voldemort. They were both without love. Harry compares himself to Voldemort quite a bit throughout the JK's story from beginning to end. He knew of their similarities, and was afraid much of the time that he would become him. And the reason he was able to go into the Forrest was his instinct to believe Dumbledore of this love he had. He acted on faith, and ended up killing Voldemort thinking he would be full of this love, but, he wasn't, he was empty feeling. So in his confusion he figured he needed to confront his worst fears, and when he overcame this, which was the Inferie, he figured that maybe Zombies would be worse, so he went in search of these hoping that he would feel different. He would have a place for love and compassion. He was a confused young man who couldn't see what everybody else knew, that he was very compassionate, and had loads of love. He went out to find out how to get it and experience it. It would only be then that he felt he would be able to justify marrying Ginny.
WEW! I guess I got somewhat long winded there. Sorry. It's just important that you understand Harry's reasoning and motivation, even though we know them to be unfounded. If he only knew what we know.
Thanks for reading and commenting. I love your comments and I promise I won't go off on a rant from now on.




Chapter 5

The Explanation

Harry checked his surroundings and looked at the house. Lights were on and now and then, he could see figures walk past the windows. He heard Hermione laugh uncontrollably and begging Ron to stop. Harry grinned at the picture in his mind of Ron tickling her, and wondered if they were married by now. His mind went back to the memory he had been reflecting on.

“Why are you leaving? I would have thought you and the Weasley child would get married and have a house full of…”

Harry was getting three canvases set up on easels he conjured out of air. Ignoring Snape, he started speaking.

“I don’t mean to belittle myself, or make it look like I’m full of myself,” at this his eyes flicked over at Snape. “But ever since the end of the war when I stood right here and repaired my wand with the Elder Wand, I have been able to do near impossible works of magic. If you two would be very still, I am going to have my wand paint your portraits. Professor, I’ll start with Snape, Professor Snape,” he corrected himself as the portrait was about to speak, “and while I paint him, you can explain how I am able to do all this magic suddenly.”

Harry held his wand loosely in his hand and it started applying paint on the canvas.

“Go ahead Sir. I’ll give you a place to start if you like. After the war was over, I came up here and put my broken wand on the desk. I told you that I had asked Hermione to fix it, and although she didn’t think it could be, she attempted anyway for my sake. Just as she thought, it snapped the first time I tried to use it. After that, I asked Ollivander if my wand could be fixed. He said he didn’t think that a wand broken as severely as mine has ever been successfully repaired. When I captured Draco’s wand, it felt like most other wands I’ve held, other than my own. It was neither comfortable nor uncomfortable to me, but worked just fine as if it was mine. Then when I captured The Elder Wand from Tom Riddle that night, it felt like coming home after being away for so long or something. I felt a surge go through me just like when I purchased my wand from Ollivander. I didn’t think much about it at the time, but I have been since then. When I repaired my wand with The Elder Wand, you were smiling. When I said I didn’t want to keep The Elder Wand, you were still smiling. I want to know what you know.”

Dumbledore smiled and his eyes twinkled. “I think you know the answer already son. However, I will fancy you with an explanation just to make sure. As you have already said before when we met in the other realm, I had intended for Professor Snape to win my wand. It was the plan. I imbued my powers and knowledge into the wand to give him certain advantages against Voldemort in the unfortunate event that…” his eyebrows furrowed slightly, and Harry nodded his head.

“In case I failed completely. If I didn’t kill Voldemort.”

“Yes, just in case. The mistake I made in this plan was not informing Severus what I did. So many things could have gone terribly bad if Voldemort had not died. I did not expect in my wildest dreams that Voldemort would end up with my wand. The good thing is you ended up with it. The moment you caught it, its allegiance went to you because you had won over Draco‘s wand, and along with that was my allegiance. Then when you touched your wand with my wand and repaired it, it transferred all its magical powers to yours. I wonder if you might know why it did that.” Dumbledore enjoyed the pleasure he had in making Harry figure these things out on his own.

Harry considered the question for a moment. “Ollivander says the wand is an extension of the user. It knew that I didn’t want the power. My plan was to let the power die with you. So for self preservation, it transferred to my wand.”

Dumbledore’s eyes shone with pride. That is exactly right. The wand you buried with me is now just a plain wand. Your wand is now the Elder Wand, plus everything I put in it, and of course everything that you made it; an extension of yourself.”

Harry looked at Dumbledore incredulously. “I have your powers and knowledge?”

“You do. It will come to you over a small period of time. You cannot just start spouting off the things I know. However, once you learn something, you will retain that knowledge and ability. In addition, you can use magic without the wand. You have already shown you can do this by making these easels appear out of thin air, and you used the wand to place them. The magic of a wand is channeling your thoughts and emotions to become a tool of direction and precision. The magic in you is being able to use your power. You will learn that when you use your energy, like when you set the lake on fire, it can kill you if you are careless and ask too much of it. You are very lucky that the lake wasn’t very deep or you would have used your energy even down to what it takes to blink an eye. Also, remember that the wand is an extension of you. It knew you didn’t want to set the lake on fire, but specifically that you wanted to burn every Inferi in the lake, so that’s what it did. I can give you another example right now.” He looked at the canvas and seen the portrait was almost done. “Any moment your arm is going to become so heavy feeling that you won’t be able to hold it up any more. You have been becoming more tired and have been very anxious for the portrait to be done.”

Just as he finished and smiled at the boy, Harry’s arm dropped to his side. Then, he backed into a chair behind him and sat into it heavily.

“But, I mean, it sounds like you’re saying it has a mind and can think.”

“It might sound that way, but what I said is that the wand is a tool of direction and precision. It is an extension of you, your mind. When it directs the magic with precision, it is using your mind to know what to do with the energy it is going to use in the form of magic. The wand is a living thing in as much that the neurons and fibers of what it was made from sends and receives messages from the users brain to it’s own power. As with all living things, it strives to keep living. That is why it transferred it’s powers to your wand without you even knowing it.”

“Also realize that when you are taught magic, you utter words and spells. This is because to many people they never have a bond with it. Once a wand feels attached to its owner, and confident in him or her, it understands the mind without the use of words or chants.”

“When your mother, Bless her, knew she was about to die, she enchanted you with a charm to protect you and then she dropped her wand in your crib beside you, with the hope that you would take the wand and protect yourself with it. And you did. Not with magic words but you pointed the wand at Voldemort and said, “Bad man go!” The wand was yours the moment it left your mothers hand, because she surrendered it to you. It obeyed your command and sent a rebound curse at Voldemort, thus making the bad man go, only by apparent death. And that‘s all that needs to be said about all that jazz, as kids have a fondness of saying these days.”

Now, I assume you will be doing my portrait next. Before you start, you should eat one of those wonderful Honeydukes Chocolate bars that Minerva has on her desk. Moreover, let that be a lesson. Every good wizard worth a grain of salt should always have a supply of chocolate in any form at his disposal. Lucky for you Remus knew this and had some on him that third year when you met the Dementors on the Hogwarts Express.”

He did remember feeling better quickly after eating some when the Dementor came on the train in his third year. Harry took some chocolate and ate it. Then he painted Dumbledore’s portrait and ate more chocolate.

“Why does it make me so tired to just paint a picture?” Harry asked.

“Because you aren’t just making a likeness, you are empowering the canvas with the very essence of us. The magical properties that make us talk to you from the dead.”

“Oh, well this one will be really exhausting then.” Harry directed his wand to the third canvas. He didn’t talk any while he concentrated with his eyes closed, and eventually a beautiful picture of Fawkes was painted on the canvas from Harry‘s memory. Once again, he fell heavily almost fainting into the chair. He was hoping for something and now was the time to test his theory.

“Well, at least it’s a nice picture for you to have, if you haven‘t killed yourself painting it. Just like always; you didn‘t listen to what you were just taught.” Snape said with the evil sneer Harry was accustomed to seeing on his face.

“Be quiet Poppa.” Harry said weakly. Then before Snape could recover his composure, Harry spoke to the painting. “Can you hear me Fawkes? Can you come to me?”

Dumbledore looked at Harry and then at the picture in total surprise. Just a few seconds later, Fawkes flew into the open window and alighted right there in the office on his perch that Minerva kept for sentimental reasons.

“Lo Fawkes” Harry was only just able to speak. “Would you please sing for me the song that lifts me up and strengthens me?”

Fawkes lifted his head proudly and emitted the most beautiful sound Harry had ever heard.

“Thank you Fawkes. You saved my life again,” he stated with much emotion and gratitude. He got up and added a perch to Dumbledore’s portrait. Immediately the picture of Fawkes went from his canvas to Dumbledore’s.

“Fawkes, my old friend! So good to see you.” he said while stroking his pet. “Thank you Harry. I have missed him for too long.”

“I’m happy to do it Sir, but I wanted to see if I could do it, because I think I’ll need him on my quest we’re going on.”

“Ah! Now we get to the real reason behind your arrogant …” However, Snape was not able to finish his snide remark. Harry had had enough.

“Look! I get it ok? I’m not as stupid or dense as you always accuse me of being. You hate me! You loath every cell in my body, and can’t stand for me to be alive. You’ve hated me since I was born. The very first time we made eye contact, I could feel your rage against me. I didn’t understand why. All those years I wondered why. Then I watched the memory you gave me. I found out you loved my mom, and you loved her ever since you first met when you were children. You never had another love the rest of your life. And the reason you hate me is that I was born James Potter’s son, and not yours. So! Let me tell you something. We; Professor Dumbledore, you, Fawkes, and myself, are going on a quest, and I don’t know where we’re going, or how long we’ll be gone. However, this I do know. Sometime between this minute and when we get home ‘POPPA’ ... YOU WILL LEARN TO LOVE ME, AND ... LOVE ME LIKE A SON! In addition, if you belittle me, curse me, or even just call me names, so help me, I will alter your portrait. Maybe put a smile on that face, give you a Mohawk, it could be anything. Do not assume this an idol threat. I’ll be too busy learning about these new powers and trying to survive to threaten you. You call me on this and it’ll just happen. Consider yourself forewarned.”

Harry turned from the portraits and rubbed his face with both hands, as if he could wipe away the agony he felt.

“I think,” he said softly turning again to look at both portraits, “that if both of you had talked to me, trusted me a bit more … I understand, Professor, that you had your reasons. Still, I think you were wrong on them.” He turned his eyes to Snape, and shook his head. “You didn’t have any justifiable reason to hate me. You treated me rotten and you have never given me a chance. I didn’t have anything to do with being born. I didn’t have anything to do with how my dad treated you. I was embarrassed and ashamed for what he did to you. Dad was a mean bully to you, for which much of, you brought on yourself. Still it was uncalled for, and totally out of line. You were an evil git to him, but that’s unimportant now. You were right, he was a bully, and he did strut about. He did grow up though, and he was a good and wonderful man. I loved him, though I didn’t know him. And you had no right trying to make me feel,” he checked up on himself shaking his head. “The point is, you’ll have to apologize to me for all the wrong you have done me. And I apologize right now, for all the mean things I thought and said of you. But, I mostly want to apologize for calling you a coward that night you killed Professor Dumbledore.”

He looked expectant at Snape, and then said, “Well, sometime you’ll have to get it done with. I’ll wait until you’re ready to man up and do the right thing. Now, I need to get supplies for the quest. Tell me everything I need to sit the sixth and seventh year-end exams. I want to be able to pass my last year of school. Kingsley has given me a list of books and things I‘ll need to start Aurors training.”

Harry pulled out his Moke skinned pouch Hagrid gave him and said, “I’ll be shrinking everything and putting it all in this. The first part of the quest I’ll be on my own and you’ll be in storage,” he tapped the bag, “and I’ll be collecting my thoughts to make sure I can live on my own, off of the land. When I’m confident I can, then I’ll get you both out daily and we’ll start my schooling while we’re traveling. Think of yourselves as a comfort of home for me, as I‘m sure I will be lonely.”

He went to a world globe on a small table near the desk and spun it. He rested his wand on it the same way he found the book he borrowed and the globe stopped so the wand was resting on an area in the Australian Outback. “This is where our journey begins.”

Harry gathered his things he needed and left the office. He was walking down the corridor to find Professor McGonagall to tell her he was done in the office and say good-bye, when from his knees down became drenched in fowl water. He looked up to see Filch with a bucket and mop. He threw the disgusting water on him purposefully it seemed to Harry. Without stopping, Harry quickly got his wand and caused the water to go back to Filch, soaking his legs too. Then he caused the water to go back into the bucket. After the water was off the floor, he dried the walkway so people wouldn’t slip and get hurt from Filch’s rudeness to Harry. “Watch what you’re doing there Filch!” he said a little hot under the collar.

“I was watching,” he said with a stupid evil looking grin on his face. I told you I would get even with you for reading my letter. You have no idea.” He walked away with his mop and bucket snickering like he really ruined Harry’s day.

“Evil git.” Harry remarked frowning as he watched Filch saunter away. Harry dried his feet and legs of his jeans and went home.

“It’s odd,” he thought, “that I never forgot the stench of that foul water.