The healer’s office was silent for a few seconds. Then Hermione jumped up and started pacing from her chair to the door and back again. She turned to Healer Brown, took a deep breath, opened her mouth, and froze.
She returned to her seat and fell back into it.
“I want to yell and scream. I want to destroy stuff. I want to rant. I can’t because I used my wand about twenty times today and loyalty to Albus Dumbledore is overwhelming me.”
Hermione huffed. “I’m still crazy.”
She stood and glared at the door. “I need a new wand. I can’t bear to be parted with my old wand.”
She walked in a circle and glared at the door again. “Why don’t I remember letting Snape and Dumbledore put those runes in my wand? I must have been obliviated. I can’t believe that Albus Dumbledore would allow that.”
Hermione looked at Healer Brown. “I need a new wand.”
Hermione walked to the door and turned. “I’m still crazy.”
She opened the door and walked out. The door closed.
Healer Brown wrote a note and sent it to George Weasley.
--ooOOoo--
George ushered Healer Brown into his office at the back of the Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes shop.
After twenty years he still used the little hole-in-the-wall office that the W.W.W. commercial powerhouse started from.
“Did you meet Hermione again?” George asked.
“Yes! She is a mess. Someone needs to take some direct action. If I am connected to it in any way, I will be struck off.” Healer Brown looked around. “Is it safe here?”
“You are only as safe as me. Humans like me will always be the weak link in any security measures you take.” George grinned.
“Hmm! Well! This is what must happen. Someone must take Mrs Hermione Weasley’s wand from her and destroy it. She will not willingly give it up. If she is to be released from the mental prison that she is in right now, she must see her wand destroyed, burned, and crushed to dust.”
George stared at the healer,” That is direct isn’t it, is there no other way?”
Healer Brown stood up to leave. “The wand is the first problem that must be dealt with. I’m not going to explain the how and the why. It will take a long, difficult campaign to persuade Mrs Weasley to give up her wand. Any such campaign will certainly fail.”
George stood and opened the door. They walked to the front door of the shop. George hummed and turned around.
“Yes, that will do nicely.”
“What will?” Healer Brown asked.
“Ask me no questions and I will tell you no lies. The answer to our little problem is somewhere in this shop. Leave it with me.” George smiled.
Healer Brown looked around at the vast, eye-watering collection of W.W.W. merchandise. “Oh, I see. Thank you, George. Goodbye.”
--ooOOoo—
He needed allies. George had a plan, but he needed someone who would not raise suspicion to put the plan into action. George and Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes had a deserved reputation when it came to innocent-looking gifts which would suddenly turn into something else; something smelly, loud, and embarrassing, often all of these.
The sort of allies he needed were the ones who would be at the Weasley family Sunday lunch at The Burrow. They had to be willing to work with him and be trustworthy. He ran through the list.
Mum and Dad would not co-operate.
Bill and Fleur would be moderately trustworthy.
Charlie would arrive on the day from Romania. There was no way to safely involve him.
Percy and Audrey would be above suspicion.
Ginny would ask what was in it for her.
George floo-called Percy at home. He got an invitation to come through.
“Hello George, it’s not often that we get a call from you. This might be the first.” Audrey was friendly and relaxed.
“Well, this isn’t exactly a social call,” George replied.
“Ah! You followed up my call about Hermione.” Percy said.
“Yes, as I indicated at the time, I have been asking for professional advice about what to do about the situation.” George smiled.
“I told the Healer about Hermione speaking to an Unspeakable. He said that he would not mention it. He said that we had to wait for Hermione to ask for help again. He told me that we all knew far too much about Hermione asking for help and emphasised that we must not give any hints that we are talking about her behind her back. It would also be the end of his career if any talk about Hermione became public. Is that clear?”
“Absolutely!” Audrey exclaimed. Percy nodded.
“Now! This is absolutely top secret. Someone, somehow, must get Hermione’s wand off her. The word is that she will not make any progress while she has it in her possession. She will not willingly give it up. Someone must get it away from her and destroy it, burn it, and grind it to dust. She should see this happen so that the connection between her and her wand can be broken.”
“That’s bad! We are all bonded to our wands. That will be so cruel to her. Is there no other way?” Audrey asked.
“Not according to the Healer. He didn’t tell me to do the job. He told me that ‘Someone’ must do it and left it at that. That is the sort of thing that people say if, later on, they want to deny that they asked me to do it.” George grinned.
“It’s just as well that I’ve got a plan.” George winked.
Percy groaned. “If you have a plan and you are telling us, that means that we are going to be your stooges, aren’t we?”
‘Now Percy! Don’t take that attitude. I’m giving you an opportunity be help our sister-in-law with a crippling problem that she can’t fix herself. The fact is that you and your wonderful partner are universally respected and trusted. No one will suspect you of being involved in an underhanded, sneaky scheme to remove a very questionable magical object from Hermione’s possession.” George had struck a pose as though he was a politician speaking to a meeting of his faithful supporters.
Percy glanced at Audrey who nodded, “Save it, George! Whatever it is, we will do it. What is it, by the way?”
“Champion! All you must do is take a harmless educational toy that I have prepared and give it to Hugo for his birthday. Hugo will have his family's birthday party at The Burrow next Sunday.” George grinned.
“You wouldn’t make something dangerous, would you? You are grinning far too much for my peace of mind.” Audrey growled.
“It is fairly safe, mostly safe, well, there might be some smoke and a burning smell when it does the job. It will not harm anyone, wait and see.”
--ooOOoo--
Potter Manor had fireplaces in every room, even the bathrooms. It was a wizard’s house. Central heating was unknown to wizard builders.
Harry built up the fire in his study fireplace. He waited while the heat coming from the fire built up.
He took his new wand and wordlessly cast Wingardium Leviosa to levitate his old wand. He floated the wand over to the fire. There was a small twinge of reluctance as he held it over the flames. He released the spell. The wand dropped onto the burning wood.
The wand and its core were quickly consumed. Harry felt a little knot unravel inside of him.
He examined his feelings.
He didn’t hate Ginny, but he certainly would not let her inside his house again.
As for Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, he wanted to go back to Hogwarts, dig up their remains and their wands from their graves, build up two huge bonfires and burn their old wands and bones to ash. He would then grind the ash to powder and let it blow away in the wind.
Then there was his wonderful second son. James could be a teasing, mischievous pain in the neck. Al was completely harmless and the most intelligent and insightful child in the household.
Al’s names, Albus and Severus, I must have been under the influence of the Loyalty enchantments. That was it. I wasn’t in my right mind.
The names had to change. He would talk to Al and then do it anyway. Al was still a child, he could not object and stop it legally. When he was seventeen, he could do what he liked and change it back if he insisted.
Albus would become Albert. He would still answer to Al. That was not so bad.
Severus, what to do?
During his summer holidays, when Harry lived at 4 Privet Drive, Uncle Vernon used to binge-watch golf on TV. Harry couldn’t avoid hearing the commentary while he was gardening outside. One of the most popular golfers at the time was Severiano Ballesteros. He was a great ambassador for all sports and a great person.
Severus could morph into Severiano, a vast improvement.
--ooOOoo—
The joint birthday celebration for Charlie and Hugo was progressing at The Burrow. Charlie always travelled from Romania for Christmas and his birthday. They gathered in the sitting room. Bill and Fleur tried to focus on Hermione and not let Molly get her alone. Molly was flitting between Ginny and Hermione, trying to get the three of them to sit together and talk about things. Hermione smiled at Molly and nodded her head, and then continued to talk to Fleur about Hugo and Rose and their progress at their schools. Molly was getting upset but was diverted from Hermione by George, Bill and Percy asking for more drinks and snacks. Finally, the time for opening presents arrived.
Charlie got his usual replenishment of clothes and protective gear which was regularly burned and scorched by his charges. Hugo opened his haul of books and clothes which were happily welcomed in his household. Hermione never had the money for new things for Rose and Hugo. The last present was from Percy and Audrey.
Percy explained what it was.
“This is an old educational toy which was popular in Germany and Poland many years ago. There is a toy wand which only works with the toy box. The wand will only work for the children that it is keyed to. There are some pre-set spells which really work but only on the box. A child who has permission to use the wand can cast Wingardium Leviosa and make the box levitate but it will not work on anything else. There are six spells that the child can learn to use in a restricted way. When Hugo goes to Hogwarts, he will be six lessons ahead of any student who doesn’t have this. The best thing about it is that he can play with the toy without being closely supervised. It is not dangerous.”
Hugo was fascinated by the box. Percy carried on explaining.
“The toy wand is in the box. To activate the toy the child must take the wand and hold it. Then a parent or guardian must touch the child and then touch this panel on the end of the box with a proper wand. The parent’s magic matches the child and the box and the toy wand and then it will work.”
Hugo was loving this. “Let’s do it now, Mum. Take out your wand.”
Hugo opened the box and took the toy wand. He grasped Hermione’s hand while she took her wand out from her robe.
She turned to Percy. “If George gave this present, I would never do this.”
“I am wounded, how can you say such a thing!” George held both his hands over where his heart should have been.
Hermione touched the panel with the tip of her wand.
In a flash, the panel transfigured into a tiny hand which grabbed the tip of the wand.
The hand whipped back into the box, taking the wand with it. The wand was ripped out of Hermione’s hand.
She screamed.
The box then sprouted two skinny legs. It jumped up and raced around the room, finding a door it raced out into the kitchen and then out of the kitchen door into the garden.
Hermione was screaming, “Catch it! Catch it! Don’t let it get away!”
Hugo was shrieking with laughter.
The running box was quick and agile. It easily avoided all attempts to catch it.
It ran out through the garden gate and raced off towards the orchard.
Then it stopped. It started smoking. Then it burst into flame. The fire was burning fiercely before any of the chasers could get near to it. The box and Hermione’s wand were quickly reduced to white-hot smoking ash. No amount of magically conjured water could put out the fire.
Hermione was sobbing. She was shattered in a way that she never showed for Ronald. The Weasleys were stunned. Hermione lay on the ground and cried.
Hugo lay beside her and put his arms around her. “Don’t cry, Mummy! We can get another one. Don’t cry!’
It was an age before Hermione could be persuaded to leave the little pile of ash and go inside.
Percy and Audrey took the coward’s way and left while the fire was still burning. George had followed at the back of the group. He was ready to jump in and stop Hermione if she tried to rescue her wand. The fire was too quick and hot. Bill and Charlie nearly carried Hermione back into the house.
George stayed outside. Eventually, Bill came out and approached George.
Bill said, “You know, there was another fire very recently. Harry put his old wand in the fireplace at the manor. It wasn’t as dramatic, but I believe it had the same effect.”
George said, “Ah!”
Bill said, “Harry is still getting treatment from the mind healers.”
George said, “That’s good.”
Bill said, “Do you know if Hermione is talking to a mind healer?”
George said, “That is something which I could neither confirm nor deny.”
Bill said, “Ah!”
Bill continued, “It is an interesting coincidence that their old Hogwarts wands met such a similar end, isn’t it?”
George said, “Yes! An interesting coincidence.”
Bill said, “Fleur and I will try to get Hermione to move in with us for the time being. We will try to keep her with us at least until she gets a new wand.”
George said, “Very good!”
Bill said, “Hermione still has some money. I believe Weasley’s Wizard Wheezes is still paying Ron’s wage into her vault.”
George said, “Yes, Harry told me to take Ron’s pay from the dividend that the business owes the Potter Company.”
Bill said, “How long has that been happening?”
George said, “Years! Ron stopped showing up at the warehouse years ago.”
Bill said, “Ah!”
Bill said, “You know that Ron and Hermione don’t own their house. It was mortgaged to Gringotts. Ron didn’t make one payment. The mortgage was sold to a finance company. Harry owns that company. Harry has been making Ron’s mortgage payments for years.”
George said, “Ah!”
Bill said, “Don’t say anything to anyone.”
George said, “Same to you!”
Angelina came out of the house and approached George. “It’s safe to go in now. She knows that it was you. You had better be well hidden when she gets her new wand.”
George said, “Right!”
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