Dumbledore and Harry's Adventures

The Lockhart Job

Harry woke early the next morning. While he wanted to ask Albus about the whole Lockhart situation, his mind was far too focused on something he felt to be eminently more important than Lockhart (to be fair, he would be hard pressed to find something he cared about less than Lockhart). He had finally cast wandless magic. Sure, it was with his finger and he had to be touching the object and it only lasted for as long as he could exhale, but it was a start.

After a quick shower and getting dressed, Harry sat crossed leg upon his bed with his back facing toward the hall door. In front of him sat a hardcover French to English dictionary. He centered himself, placed his finger upon the book, then exhaled slowly as he lifted his finger. The book lifted easily with the movement of his finger. When he ran out of breath, the book fell with a soft thump. Harry smiled, rested for two minutes, and then repeated the process, this time ensuring that he lowered his finger back to the bed before he ran out of breath.

Inhale, exhale, raise finger, lower finger, end exhale, rest. Inhale, exhale, raise, lower, end, rest. As he repeated the exercise, he found his mind relaxing into a meditative state. As his eyes watched the book rise and fall, in his mind's eye he was in Albus's apartment above the Lord Bowl-Some-More bowling alley.

He felt a subconscious pull to walk downstairs to the bowling alley. As the alley clarified, he walked to his reserved lane, lane 12. Looking over at the ball rack, he saw a ball that was labeled Levitate. He picked it up and walked to the lane.

Rest. He readied the ball for a throw, waiting for his body to feel ready.

Inhale. He walked toward the throw line, beginning to swing his arm back.

Exhale. He let the ball fly down the lane.

Raise. The ball was nearing the halfway point.

Lower. The ball had passed the halfway point.

End. The ball knocked down the pins.

Rest. He picked up and readied the ball.

For the next two hours, he repeated the process. His steps and throws becoming smoother. He was unaware of the passage of time. He didn't notice that the ball's weight was rapidly diminishing. He didn't notice his rest periods were decreasing into near nothingness. All that existed was the process, his physical eyes taking in the books rise and fall as his mind's eye took in the ball rolling down the lane to knock down all the pins.

Rest. Inhale. Exhale. Raise. Lower. End. Rest. Inhale. Exhale. Raise.

"Harry Potter sir needs to be eating breakfast now!" shouted an excitable House Elf directly behind and inches away from Harry's ear.

Harry shouted in shock and twisted around to see Dobby's smiling face. Behind Dobby, Albus stood chuckling in the doorway.

"Come along Harry" spoke the old man. "You don't want keep Gilderoy waiting, do you?"

Harry frowned as he quickly got up to chase after the man who already began walking to the dining room.

"Albus! Albus, hold on!"

Albus, not really to Harry's surprise, continued his walk to the dining room. The man loved his dramatics, though Harry wasn't sure if Harry's annoyance was the primary driving force for the man or simply a pleasant side effect. After a month, Harry was well accustomed to his tutor's questionable sense of humor.

As they both settled down for breakfast, Harry once again spoke.

"Are we really seeing Gilderoy Lockhart today?"

"Yes."

"The same Gilderoy Lockhart who was the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor this past year?"