Chapter 4

As he was whisked away Harry was reminded of why he hated using the floo as he was catapulted out and skidded across the floor. What he didn't expect to happen was that the fireplace cracked. He got up and dusted himself off. He looked at the fireplace and winced. He then turned to the smirking receptionist behind the desk and smiling said "I hate the floo, I really, really do. Sorry about the fireplace."

The receptionist said smiling "yeah it looks like you are severely allergic to floo travel. Don't worry about the damages; we'll be able to fix it in no time."

Harry looked at her and replied "Floo allergy? First time I've ever heard of it. Anyway I need to have a checkup and all vaccinations taken care of please."

The woman smiled and said "yeah, looks like you are allergic to floo travel. A pretty bad case too. Anyway I'll get a doctor to see you shortly. Your name please?"

Internally wincing at the expected reaction he replied "Harry Potter."

The receptionist gasped softly and her eyes flicked upward to where his scar was. She slightly flustered said "please take a seat until I call for you."

Harry turned and sat down on one of the chairs and sighed. He sat there for about ten minutes until he was called by the receptionist. He got up and walked over to the desk and waited. The receptionist said "go through that door to your right please. The doctor will show you to the examination room."

"Thank you." He then walked through the door and saw a graying haired witch that looked about 35 and followed her till they reached a door that she opened and waved him inside. Harry went in and sat down on the edge of one of the beds. He looked at the witch and waited for her to begin.

"Hello my name is Healer Marci Brisbank. Are you a first time patient here?"

"I believe so ma'am. My name is Harry Potter and this is the first time I remember being here. My parents may have taken me here before, but I don't recall."

Marci nodded and replied "no your parents never brought you here. So I will be conducting a thorough examination. Now for first time patients I need to get some things said. First all information you tell me falls under Healer Patient confidentiality so anything you tell me will not be repeated outside of this room. Any information that is written down will be sealed and cannot be accessed without your express permission. Second is that I expect you to follow up on any instruction I give you, because if you don't I can't be held responsible for the consequences and it may necessitate a return trip. Is this understood?"

Harry nodded and replied "perfectly. One question though. I will be going to Hogwarts soon. What happens if the Healer there wants to access the information?"

"If you don't give her permission then she can't. She will however be informed of any potion regiment that you are taking if so ordered."

Harry nodded and said "thank you."

"Now I am going to run a diagnostic charm on you." She took out her wand and waved it around for about ten minutes. She then put it away and turned to the parchment that had written down her findings. She read the parchment and said "well let's see here. I am going to read off the parchment and you tell me when it happened if you can, alright?" Seeing Harry nod she continued on with "broken right arm improperly set."

"Five years old by my cousin. Had to set it myself."

"Multiple lacerations on your back."

"Fifth through tenth birthday presents from my Uncle."

"Hairline fracture of your skull."

"Punishment for burning the bacon at four years old."

"Severe malnutrition."

"Eating table scraps for all of my life."

"Lingering traces of bindings and various connections recently severed."

"Had that done before I came here by a Gringott's curse-breaker." Harry then went on and described the various things that had been taken off of him.

Marci finished scanning the list and shook her head at the list of abuse and torture this young man in front of her had gone through and wondered how in the name of Merlin the savior of the wizarding world had been put in such a home. She shook her head and said "I believe that concludes my list Mr. Potter. What I will be prescribing is a mixture of three potions that you will need to take once a day as soon as you awake. The regimen will last around a month. These potions will be a general nutrition potion to counteract the malnutrition, a derivative of the skelegrow potion to get your bones to thicken up and a muscle enhancer that will allow you to put on weight and muscle that you should have. I am afraid that I can't do anything about your eyesight though. If you want that fixed I suggest you see an eye specialist I know of in Ravenna Alley."

"Ravenna Alley ma'am? Where is that?"

"It's a side street off of Diagon Alley. Anyway I want you to come back here the 29^th for a follow on check up. At that time I will know if it is necessary for you to continue the potions, or if it would be possible to either eliminate or modify them."

Harry nodded and said "is there anything else?"

Marci nodded and said "I will also be prescribing a salve that I want you to put on your entire body. Let it sit for about ten minutes then wash it off. Do this every day for two weeks once a day. This should take care of all of your scars. In addition to that I will be giving you all the inoculations that you should have had. This will cover things from dragon pox to measles." Marci paused for a few seconds then continued on with "you will need to exercise more than you would normally while you are taking the potion regimen. This would consist of jogging for about thirty minutes, doing pushups as well as sit-up's every day. I hope that you continue these exercises when you are no longer taking the potions as they will allow you to become stronger than most wizards, except the few that play professionally." While she had been speaking she had written something down on a piece of parchment and folded it up and sent it zooming away. She then got up and walked to the door while saying "I will be giving you a vial for the potions and a jar for the salve that will refill everyday at around 4a.m." She then walked out of the room.

Harry sat down and thought about the conversation he had just had and wondered if there was any sort of map or listing of businesses in Diagon Alley as well as the other Alley's. Deciding to ask at Flourish and Bott's he waited about six minutes until the door opened once more admitting Marci. She handed an empty flask to him and said "now remember you are to take this first thing in the morning, alright?" When she saw his nod she then handed over a jar over and said "remember you need to cover your entire body with the salve in here and leave it on for ten minutes before taking a shower. I suggest you do so before you go to bed as this will allow your body to heal over all of your scars." She then handed over a potion filled vial and said "Now this is your inoculation. Drink it right now please."

Harry complied and drank it right down, then handed the vial back to Marci.

She said "good. Now that you have all of what you will need I want you to follow all of my instructions, alright?"

Harry nodded and said "will do."

"Good. You will need to pay at the front counter before you leave. Good day."

"To you as well ma'am." Harry then made his way back to the front counter and paid the bill which came to 4 galleons and 5 sickles. Once he had paid he asked her "you mentioned something earlier about my having an allergy to floo travel ma'am. Could you please tell me what you meant by that?"

"Sure. Floo travel allergy is a reference to a witch or wizard being unable to use the floo network. This usually comes about when the person's magic is too strong. There are some techniques that you may be able to learn that will eventually allow you to use it, but from what I've heard it takes a lot of practice. Since you are allergic to floo travel you can go to the Ministry of Magic and get a hardship apparition license. Once you get that you won't have to use the floo ever again."

Harry nodded and said "that sounds useful ma'am. One question though?" Seeing her gesture to go on he asked "how do I learn to apparate when I am still underage?"

"No problem there. Just go to the licensing bureau and tell them you are allergic to floo travel. They will be able to set up lessons for you. They will also be able to provide you with a portkey to and from there office. That way if the lessons take longer than your first day you will be able to leave and come back without having to floo."

"That sounds perfect ma'am. Which destination do I need to use to get there?"

"Ministry of Magic. Once you arrive just tell the guard where you are going and he'll be able to direct you from there."

"Thank You ma'am. Good day." Harry then walked back to the now repaired floo and taking a pinch of floo powder said "ministry of magic." He catapulted out of the floo which also sharply cracked at his arrival. Getting up he noticed several witches and wizards peering at him in surprise at his arrival. He sheepishly waved and turned to the guard.

The guard said with laughter in his tone "nice arrival sonny. I'm guessing you're here for an apparition license due to floo allergy?" At his nod the guard continued "well then just go to the lift over there and get off on the sixth floor. There will be a sign there that will tell you where to go from there. Now I need you to check in your wand please."

Harry put his wand on the tray and watched as it glowed with a white light for a few seconds until it faded. He looked at the guard who gestured for him to take it. He did so and went into the lift the guard had indicated. Once in he pushed the button for the sixth floor and watched as people and various flying papers came on and off various floors until finally the light dinged for the sixth floor. Harry along with a small swarm of flying papers exited the lift. Harry followed the directions posted to the wall in front of him to the apparition office and went inside. He walked up to the man behind the counter and said "I am here to get an apparition license due to floo allergy."

The man looked him over and asked "are you sure you have a floo allergy?"

"Yes, I am."

"Very well follow me." The man got up and walked into a nearby room that had two fireplace's on the opposite sides of the room facing each other. He said while gesturing to the floo connection "we test to see if you have a floo allergy here. Take a pinch of floo powder and say test floo. It will transport you from that floo to that one."

Harry complied and said "test floo." When he was catapulted out of the opposite one he was accompanied by the now standard crack of the fireplace splitting. Getting up he brushed himself off and looked at the man with one eyebrow lifted in a silent question.

The man looked at the floo he just came out of and waved his wand repairing it. He turned to Harry and said "well you certainly have a severe floo allergy. Now have you been taught how to apparate?"

'No sir I haven't."

"Good, I hate to teach people who feel that they already know how to apparate. Follow me and I'll sign you up for apparition class. I don't know how long it will take you to learn, but it usually takes about six days, each day consisting of three hours work." He walked back into the front office and pulled out some forms. "Now I have to fill out this paperwork with your information. Name?"

"Harry Potter."

With an eyebrow raised he said "right then. Ummm age?"

"11."

"Guardian?"

"Emancipated."

"School you will be attending?"

"Hogwarts."

"Current residence?"

"Umm could you leave that blank for right now? I have yet to claim my ancestral property."

"I actually need a location Mr. Potter. Where are you planning on staying tonight?"

"I currently have a room rented at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Very well, I'll have the portkey set up to take you from the Leaky Cauldron and here. Your class will start as soon as we're done here. For tomorrow and Friday it'll run between 1100-1400 ok?"

"Got it. Anything else?"

"Yeah the fee for the lessons no matter how long it takes and the fee for an apparition license runs to 15 galleons."

"Here you go" Harry said as he handed over the money.

The man took the money and said "oh by the way my name is Wilkie Twycross." Wilkie then took the money and said "follow me." He then led the way to a large room about 50' long and 35' across. There were two hoops laid out on the floor, one on each end of the longest side. He said "now the basics to apparition are what I call the three D's. Destination, Determination and Deliberation. First you must fix your destination in your mind. Then you must fill yourself with determination to go there. Finally you must deliberately move there. Now don't be discouraged if you don't make any progress at first as this is a tricky bit of magic. To start with move to the middle of that ring and stand in it."

Harry complied and stood in the ring.

"Good. Now focus on the ring in front of you. Nod when you have the destination in mind firmly fixed in your mind." Wilkie looked at the absolute concentration on the boys face and wondered if this boy could actually live up to all of the hype. He saw the boy nod and said "now fill yourself with determination that you will move there, while at the same time keeping the destination firmly in focus. Nod when you have done so." Wilkie saw the boy get an expression of absolute will on his face and saw him nod. "Good now deliberately will yourself there." Wilkie watched in absolute shock as with an earsplitting crack the boy apparated to the other circle. He looked in the circle that he left and saw nothing, so he hadn't splinched himself at least. He looked over at Harry and asked "how do you feel?"

Harry had just apparated and was slightly astonished at the feat he had just done. He felt his body and nothing seemed to be hurting so he said "just fine Mr. Twycross. Why do you ask?"

"Well one of the dangers of doing apparition while either learning or under stress unless you are well practiced is that you could splinch yourself."

"What does that word mean, splinch?"

"A splinch is when you leave a part of your body behind like a leg or an eyebrow or something like that. If you do happen to splinch yourself the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad will have to reattach the missing body part. Now don't worry about permanently losing a body part as unless something happens to that piece. They can reattach it quickly and efficiently." Wilkie paused for a few seconds then asked "have you ever apparated or been side-along apparated before?"

"Well I have done this once before when I was six and was being chased by some bullies. I apparated to the top of a nearby building. Got in trouble because I couldn't explain how I got up there."

"Apparating as a part of accidental magic? Astounding. Well then do you have any more questions?"

"No not really. What now?"

"Now I want you to apparate back into the hoop you just left. Then apparate back and forth ten times. Each time should be just a little easier. When you are able to apparate back and forth ten times in a row successfully we will move on to the next step."

Harry nodded and reached for the feeling he had felt right before his last success and successfully apparated. He mentally frowned at the huge noise he was making and turned to Wilkie and asked "is it possible to reduce the noise?"

Wilkie nodded his head and said "yes there is. But before we get to that I need you to apparate back and forth ten times in a row without splinching, alright?"

Harry nodded and did just that. As he went along he noticed that he could call up the feeling almost at will and started on his own to do it rather faster. He finished the last three apparitions in almost a blur. He then turned to Wilkie and said "what now?"

Wilkie was mulling over the apparently effortless ease Harry apparated as he had just apparated twenty times and he wasn't even sweating! Merlin this kid has power. He snapped out of his thoughts as he saw Harry was almost barely appearing before apparating again. He looked with deeply concealed awe and answered Harry. "Now that you have the basic down I want you to change the direction you are facing when you finish apparating."

The lesson continued on for about an hour as Harry learned to appear any direction he wanted; eventually they moved on to apparating from a sitting position and finished with landing in a sitting position. Wilkie then moved them to another room where he taught Harry to apparate to coordinates, apparating to a location on a map, even apparating to a location that he had never been to before.

They finished back in the room they had just left and Wilkie turned to Harry and said "now we need to test your apparition limits. I want you to apparate to Paris, France. The distance is about 213 miles as the crow flies alright?"

Harry nodded and thought of the coordinates and appeared in Paris. He could tell he was there as he saw the Eifel Tower in the distance. He nodded and apparated back He looked at Wilkie and said "no problem."

Wilkie nodded and said "now I want you to apparate to Berlin, Germany. The distance is about 578 miles alright?"

Harry once more apparated and looked around and saw the wall. He nodded and apparated back. He looked at Wilkie and said "what next?"

"Nothing, you passed with flying colors. Now you asked earlier about the noise, right?" Seeing Harry nod he continued on "now the noise you make is congruent with how at ease you have in apparating. The only way to get your body and magic used to apparating is to use it. Continue apparating about ten to twenty minutes a day and within a week your noise will be drastically reduced." He paused for a few seconds then said "now some other things that I need to tell you. One is that your license is only authorized for your personal use. So no side-along apparitions for your friends alright? Next is you need to keep your use of apparition secret from the sight of muggles; so no apparating without being invisible first or having a notice-me-not charm in place. Now it may have come to your attention that you are able to apparate to places that you have never been to before like your apparitions to Paris and Berlin. When you apparate to a place like that you automatically appeared in the local apparition point that those countries have set up. When you apparate like that your magic automatically selects a place where you can appear without any obstructions. However if you were to apparate to the top of a flagpole or something of that nature your determination will automatically override the safety limitation inherent in magic." Wilkie thought for a few seconds then asked "anything else?"

Harry shook his head and shaking the hand of Wilkie he said "no there isn't. Thank you for your help today sir."

"It has been my pleasure, and I must say that you have grasped apparating faster than almost anyone I know of. Best of luck to you lad."

Harry nodded and made his way down to the lobby and apparated to the Leaky Cauldron and made his way to Madam Malkin's. He entered the store and asked Mrs. Malkin "do you have any muggle clothes in this store madam?"

"Yes we do. I'll send Robin to help you out alright?"

She then called a young looking witch over. Harry looked her over and saw that she appeared to be in her mid twenties and had bright blond hair and aquamarine eyes. She chirpily said "so you need some clothes hunh? Follow me please." She turned and led the way to an elevator and took them up a floor. She stepped out and waved for Harry to look around.

Harry looked around and saw that there were racks and racks of muggle clothes. He looked around and then turned his gaze back to Robin and told her "I need three sweatpants, four t-shirts, five pairs of jeans, ten pairs of white socks, ten briefs, five pairs of running shorts and a pair of sneakers."

Robin nodded and asked "what type of colors do you want?"

"I would prefer black, if you don't have the items in black then in natural subdued colors."

"Alright, hold on a second while I measure you." Robin then had a tape measure fly all around him and then headed out into the racks and came back with all of the clothes he had requested. She laid them down on a nearby counter and said "unfortunately we don't carry sneakers here. I can direct you to a nearby shop to pick up some dragonhide shoes though."