Harry enjoyed the late afternoons more. Sirius had offered to teach him to swim in the attached pool and they spent an hour in the water before eating dinner by the poolside. The evenings were spent playing cards – Sirius had taught Harry poker and promptly regretted it – or board games – Sirius insisted on being the dog in Wizard Monopoly. Sirius always told a story about Harry's babyhood or something about his Dad or his Mum.
It was simply the best summer of Harry's life.
Except for the fact that Harry couldn't do any magic or fly until they checked his magical core again but that was what they were going to do that morning.
Blackhawk greeted them warmly as Sirius and Harry were shown into a large treatment room by Jordan. Harry grinned back at the old wizard. Blackhawk had joined them for dinner a couple of times and Harry had been enthralled by his stories of healing. He was actually thinking it might be something that he would want to do in the future. Maybe. He'd kind of considered becoming a teacher when he'd thought about life after the Dursleys before he'd known about Hogwarts, but that had mainly been because they were practically the only other adults he'd seen outside of the Dursleys.
"Now, we are going to repeat the tests we did before your procedures." Blackhawk informed him briskly. He motioned to a bulls-eye target set at the end of the room. "You will cast the Stupefy spell at the target." He indicated a book on the table. "Wingardium Leviosa to levitate this book a metre above the desk. And finally, you will produce a patronus."
Harry nodded. He only had a vague recollection of the tests the first time around. He seemed to remember the target produced a number which equated to the power used. Sirius patted his arm – a silent good luck.
Harry faced the target eagerly and raised his wand. "Stupefy!"
The red light shot across the room and slammed into the target, sending it rocking back into the wall.
Harry stared at it in shock; there was a huge hole in the centre of the crumpled target. The number that appeared in the air above it was meaningless to Harry but Blackhawk was looking at it with a wide-eyed surprise that disconcerted Harry. "I'm sorry," Harry began urgently, "about the target."
Blackhawk waved his apology away. "You have done nothing wrong, Harry. Do not worry." He exchanged a look with Sirius though that clearly indicated to Harry that something was wrong.
"Try the book, Harry." Sirius encouraged.
Harry swallowed hard and faced the desk. He aimed his wand and with a swish and a flick, said the spell out loud. The book shot up into the air and Harry had a hard time yanking it back before it hit the ceiling.
"Something's wrong, isn't it?" Harry asked as Blackhawk's expression grew more concerned.
"Not so much wrong as unusual." Blackhawk assured him calmly. "Lower the book and cast your patronus, Harry."
Harry set the book down with an audible thump. He forced himself to focus so he could cast the patronus; he aimed his wand at the empty space beside him. "Expecto Patronum!"
The stag leaped out of his wand and clattered onto the tiled floor. The luminescent animal tossed its antlers and pawed the ground, leaving scuff marks behind.
Sirius approached carefully; he reached out a hand and patted the stag's nose. "Hello Prongs." He said awed. The patronus was not only corporeal, it was solid. He smoothed a hand down a flank and Harry could see the fine hair of the stag's coat brush through Sirius's fingers.
The stag blew a huffy breath through its nose. It looked to Harry for instructions.
Harry cleared his throat. "It's OK, you can go."
It transformed into a glowy mist before disappearing altogether.
"Beautiful." Blackhawk said, almost reverentially.
"Thank you." Harry said automatically. "What's wrong with me?" He asked bluntly, fear churning in his gut.
"Nothing's wrong with you, Harry." Sirius said firmly. "But your power levels are off the wall. I have never seen a solid patronus – not even from Dumbledore. That binding was obviously keeping a lot of your magic locked up. We're going to need to work on you gaining some control over it."
"I agree," said Blackhawk serenely, "your magic is stable but you are unused to having so much of it at your disposal. You will need to retrain otherwise you might have instances of quite dangerous accidental magic."
Harry's gaze went unwilling to the damaged target on the other side of the room. If that had been a person…
Sirius nudged Harry's arm. "It's going to be OK, Harry. We'll work on your magic in the evenings."
Blackhawk nodded. "As your stay here will need to be extended, if you wish I will arrange access for you to the town; you can floo there from the clinic here. We do not wish for you to get cabin fever as you recover."
"That would be appreciated." Sirius replied.
"I would also like to invite you both to my home for dinner." Blackhawk's eyes twinkled. "I also have a granddaughter and a grandson your age I can introduce to you, Harry? I thought perhaps you might like to spend time with people your own age."
Harry's mood brightened. "That would be great." He smiled sheepishly. "I kind of miss my friends."
"Of course you do." Sirius said. "Thank you, Healer Blackhawk."
Blackhawk smiled warmly. "Call me Noshi, Sirius." He motioned at them. "I will leave you for tonight and will see you both tomorrow."
Harry waited until the old wizard had departed before he slumped against the desk and sighed heavily. "I'm sorry." He gestured at his godfather. "It's my fault you're stuck here."
"Firstly, there's no need to apologize; it's not your fault someone bound your magic." Sirius replied. "And secondly, I get to spend more time with you helping you relearn magic. That's not a bad thing in my book."
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