Dysfunctional

12 - The Summoning Lesson

Friday, July 5

"First thing's first. By now, you must already know the basic counter-curses, hexes and jinxes if your little club was any good. At least, I think it was," said Sirius, standing relaxed in the backyard under the cool morning sun.

"Hey!" exclaimed Harry, annoyed

Sirius looked smug. "Right, right. This is the Chosen-One we're talking about."

Harry scowled. Sirius took an inordinate amount of pleasure mocking that appalling appellation that the Prophet had come up with over the days. Even Harry had come to see the lighter side of things by the end of the week, but somehow the prospect of duelling lessons had sobered him with the gravity of his situation.

"You're not helping my nerves," said Harry sullenly.

"Blimey, relax! Here's something to lighten you up." And with a wave of his wand, Harry was reduced to laughter as he fell to the ground, invisible fingers tickling him. "Oi- stop... can't breathe!"

It stopped as suddenly as it came, but the lingering grin on his face didn't vanish. Sirius smirked.

"Now that we're warmed up, let's begin. The first thing you need to know Harry is your Summoning Charm. Not just any-..."

Sirius was cut short as Harry said 'Accio!' and his wand zoomed out of his hand.

Harry caught it out of reflex and grinned. Sirius huffed a laugh, "God! You're more impatient than I am. And that's saying something."

Sirius stretched out his wand-arm as if asking Harry to return his wand to him when unexpectedly, Sirius' wand zoomed straight back to his hand.

Harry gasped in surprise. "How did you do that?"

"If you would listen, you would know," said Sirius, looking smug. "As I was saying, you need to know your Summoning charm. And not just any summoning charm, Harry. You need to be able to summon wandlessly. This is very handy, because your wand is everything in a duel. But disarming an opponent is very simple as you well know. If you find yourself disarmed by an opponent, you need to get your wand to your hand pronto and wandless summoning is your only aid here.

Now wandless magic is a bit tricky, Harry. I personally haven't seen many do it, aside from Dumbledore and Voldemort when we fought him in the last war. It requires primarily, force of will. You need to will the wand to get to your hand. It will take some time to get the hang of it, but when you do, it just gets easier."

Harry's face had fallen. "But I haven't got will power. I can barely transfig..."

Sirius talked over him in a firm tone. "Harry, if there's anyone I know who's got will power in spades, it's you! It wasn't just an accident you could push that golden bead of light back at Voldemort or throw off his Imperius, you know."

Harry realized Sirius was referring to the graveyard at the end of the Third Task. When his and Voldemort's wand had connected by a golden thread, Harry had willed it to push it back at Voldemort. If he could do it then, he can do it now.

With a faint smile at Sirius' praise, Harry nodded, visibly steeling himself. "What do I do?"

"Real simple, actually. You raise your wand-arm, thinking of the object you want to summon and incant 'Accio!'"