Power and Persecution [1] || Harry Potter x OC x Draco Malfoy

33. Summer

DISCLAIMER

I do not own Harry Potter ... but if I did Draco would've had the solid redemption arc he deserved

__________<>__________

Summer break was intended as a time to relax.

A time away from school and stress.

A time Bel Whitlock desperately needed.

Considering all of the complications she experienced over the course of her first year at Hogwarts, what she needed was a break.

However, that's not exactly what her summer turned out to be.

Bel spent four out of the seven days of the week practicing magic with Dumbledore.

Ever since the night in the dungeons last year, Bel's wand had finally appeared to start cooperating.

There were still two issues with this.

The first was that she once believed she had gained control before her wand revealed that it had instead been waiting for the right moment to try and take advantage and thus tip the balance in its favour.

The second was that it didn't totally leave her alone.

Bel still heard its voice trying to taunt at her, trying to tempt her into letting it take the wheel.

To show off just how powerful they could be together.

But Bel now had the control she had worked hard to achieve.

She was able to silence it quickly and have authority over what spells would be cast.

It was for this reason that Dumbledore had decided to take a step further into her training.

They now engaged in duels twice a week, Bel learning how to hold her own much better in comparison to the duel she had to participate in last year.

In the other two lessons of the week, Bel would pretty much be analysed by Dumbledore as she performed endless wandless magic spells.

They started to integrate the two during their duels, Bel using a combination of wandless magic and magic with her wand on her part.

On a rare occasion, it was a rather spectacular thing to witness.

Dumbledore's office was too small for such duelling, and so they had taken to finding an open space somewhere on the school grounds.

Their duels sometimes caught the attention of the professors that remained at Hogwarts over the summer, who wouldn't be able to look away as the mentor and his student battled one another.

Dumbledore appeared to love it just as much as Bel did, the two not being able to hold back smiles as they threw spells at each other.

They would get as creative as possible, always trying to throw the other off.

About 99% of the time, Dumbledore took the win. However, Bel had managed to win a few times, much to the headmaster's joy.

It became rather competitive at times, too.

Bel had now resorted to calling Dumbledore "old man" whilst he still referred to her as "little one".

Sometimes she would find herself forgetting that Albus Dumbledore was, in fact, her headmaster and not just someone who she could have fun duelling with.

And through all of her practicing, Bel was getting stronger and stronger with each spell she cast or learnt.

Such strength came in handy when she would spend time with Hagrid.