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Professor McGonagall outlined what happened at dinner with short, crisp sentences. She ended with, "And while Mr. Potter's summoning of Professor Dumbledore's wand will no doubt earn him immense popularity with the school's pranksters, it is a serious offense! Especially since he refuses to return it!"
Harry glared and opened his mouth – probably to shout.
"Harry?" Mrs. Malfoy asked, her tones politely enquiring and not pleading or officious like Hermione's used to be or careful and cool like Ron's were. Most importantly, she seemed to be starting with the belief that Harry was right and Dumbledore was inherently wrong. It was calming in a way that Harry had never experienced before. He was still boiling with anger and resentment but it was… easier to control. "We would very much like to hear your side of events."
Well… No point in mentioning how he ended up with the Elder Wand to begin with, was there? Better save that for… later. Much later. Like after he had already killed Voldemort.
"The wand started singing to me as soon as I walked into the room. Dumbledore had to hold onto it all throughout dinner. When he was showing off by conducting the school song for the Weasley twins, it got free. Then it came to me like my phoenix wand did. Erm… The banners and the sparkles were a spur of the moment thing."
"The wand chose you?" Lucius asked delicately.
Harry nodded.
"You didn't Summon it?" Narcissa asked.
Harry shook his head.
"This is ridiculous!" Professor McGonagall exclaimed. "One wizard's wand simply does not leave him for another wizard! The wand chooses the wizard and that's the end of that!"
"This isn't the wand that chose Dumbledore" Harry protested. "He took it off of someone else. He can't even hear it sing."
"Wands don't sing, Mr. Potter" Professor Sprout interjected for the first time.
"Mine do." Harry narrowed his eyes at her. "They both do. If either of them broke, I'd feel it."
Both of his wands hummed their agreement at the back of his mind.
Lucius Malfoy sighed, as if much put upon and bored.
"Why don't we put the wand on a flat surface" Professor Flitwick suggested. "If it flies to one wizard over the other that is the wizard that the wand has chosen. Courts resolve disputes over wand ownership that way every day."
"There's no need for that" Dumbledore said as he popped a lemon drop into his mouth. "As we are all aware, I have owned that particular wand for years. Harry, give me the wand and all of this foolishness will be forgotten."
Harry slanted a look at Professor Flitwick. "Is the desk okay?"
The professor eyed the space critically. "It will be if you and Professor Dumbledore stand on either end of the room."
Harry nodded. He moved to gently place the wand on Dumbledore's desk then edged backwards until his back bumped against the left wall of the office. He was standing next to Professor Snape.
Dumbledore stood where he was.
"You're cheating! Professor Flitwick said that we have to stand back at either wall."
"I have had quite enough of this nonsense" Dumbledore said. There was a strange glint in his eyes and a steely tone in his voice. "I will no longer indulge you Mr. Potter."
Dumbledore held out his hand for the wand.
It stayed on the desk.
Dumbledore wiggled his fingers at the wand. The Elder Wand grudgingly rolled toward the edge of the desk nearest to Dumbledore.
Outraged, Harry thrust his hand out for the wand. "I'm still your wizard!"
The Elder Wand vibrated for a moment then shot off the desk. It literally flew toward Harry. A moment later it slapped itself into Harry's outstretched hand. This time it emitted a happy little rain of green and red sparkles. In his mind, the wand's song soared triumphantly. It wanted Harry and Harry wanted it. Harry was its wizard and it was Harry's wand. There was a sense of satisfaction from the wand as if it already planned to live happily ever after with Harry and the phoenix wand. Harry laughed.
A wizard who would die when he chose to and a wand that sooner or later always murdered its unwanted owners.
Harry grinned goofily down at the wand in his hand. "We match."
The Elder Wand trilled its agreement at the back of his mind before it resumed its duet with Harry's original phoenix wand.
"Regardless of whom the wand originally belonged to" Lucius Malfoy drawled. "It seems to have decided that it wishes to belong to Mr. Potter. I believe the current price for a wand at Ollivander's is seven galleons."
"I have that" Harry said cheerfully. He dug through his pockets for his coin bag. With studied distraction, honed during years of pretending to study with Hermione while actually daydreaming, Harry dumped Snape's wand, two chocolate frogs, a cauldron cake wrapper, and half a packet of Bertie Bott's Every Flavored Beans into the professor's hands before he found his coin bag. Snape sneered but shoved his wand and all of Harry's pocket debris into his own pocket. For his own part, Harry cheerfully counted out seven golden Galleons then placed them on the Headmaster's desk.
"I believe that accounts for all of this evening's business" Lucius interrupted smoothly. "Come Harry, allow us to walk you to Gryffindor Tower while your professors debrief."
Harry nodded. Wands in his pocket, he left the room with Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy.
"Thank you for coming" he said on the revolving stairway. "Dumbledore probably would have stolen my wand and swept everything under the rug if you hadn't."
"Respectable witnesses are sometimes the best weapons against powerful opponents" Narcissa gently agreed.
"Thank you anyway. You didn't have to come." As soon as they were free of the stone gargoyle and a decent distance down the corridor, Harry turned on the Malfoys. "Did Draco really call you?"
Mrs. Malfoy smiled. "Of course he did, dear."
"And you just dropped everything and came to help me?"
"I put my glass of single malt on a side table before we left" Mr. Malfoy said sardonically.
"Why would you do that?" Harry asked, genuinely bewildered.
"Because we're family" Narcissa said.
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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)
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