Dumbledore leaned closer, elbows on his knees and his face was all seriousness. "Harry also had to force disconnected, directionless ambient magic to fix his body as he grew."
The Delacour family's eyes snapped back and forth from Harry and Dumbledore because not one of them could see what Albus's point was...
Dumbledore gestured to a flare of magic that he created in the air for just an instant. "The magic that I just released would still have been usable to me because it was still a part of me. Any magic that Harry's core managed to force outside of the barrier would've lost any connection it had to him whatsoever. It would at that point have become free floating, ambient, directionless magic."
"Well then why is Harry alive and sitting in front of me?" Adrien was extremely confused now and he wasn't worried about how indelicate what he'd just asked was at all.
Dumbledore gestured for patience with outstretched arms. "Harry as a toddler was without a doubt a very unhealthy, very unhappy, very... uncomfortable child. He was experiencing loss of motor function, dizziness and wracking pain in his body, as his bones, tissues and vital organs, very slowly fell apart... Truly, the list of aches and pains Harry would've been experiencing are nearly endless and would only have been getting worse over time.
As we now know Harry's core was thrusting his magic out into the world around him by that point, but Harry wouldn't have consciously known about that now would he? All toddler Harry would've known was that he was hurting all over, all the time, and he needed it to stop... In his desperation and fear, toddler Harry started wandlessly controlling his disconnected magic to repair and renew every aspect of his body, both essential and mundane.
Wandless magic is a feat of amazing skill that very, very few wizards can accomplish with even extremely simple spells... but to accomplish silent, wandless magic of that caliber, while utilizing magic that isn't even connected to your magical core anymore is... Well, it's the reason why I was able to use the word "miracle" to describe Harry, while under a magically binding oath..."
Dumbledore paused for a moment so that the Delacours could take a few breaths and close their mouths again... "We've discerned... that toddler Harry repeated this extreme feat of wandless magic over and over again, until at some point, he began doing it subconsciously. We've also concluded that Harry became so good at using this disconnected magic, he lived his life relatively normally until just three weeks ago, and was none the wiser. Of course, Harry's body has always been on the smaller side, and until now he's never had much physical strength to speak of."
"He's also lived his life completely isolated magically from the world around him. While that may seem like no big deal at first, trust me when I say it's a wonder that he's even sane right now. Harry would've felt like he was all alone in the entire world, because his core, part of his soul, was isolated to that extreme. I admit I should've seen the signs that something was wrong in the shyness and isolation of such an extraordinarily kind boy."
Ugh... Too much... Harry officially couldn't look at anyone anymore. At this point, he was focusing his entire attention on keeping his emotions under control and free of embarrassment. Dumbles you're laying it all on a little thick aren't you? Harry shelved his mutinous thoughts as he continued to follow along with the story.
Dumbledore dramatically shook off his self-recrimination as he addressed the Delacours again. "Anyway... I'm moving on to the present now... Three weeks ago, Harry was forced by circumstance to cast an extremely strong Patronus Charm to repel over a hundred Dementors, in order to save himself, his best friend and a distant relative of his. Up until that moment, Harry was a completely average student receiving completely mediocre levels of success in all of his classes. While that isn't a remarkable resume for a normal boy, keeping in mind the fact that every spell Harry's ever cast has been a product of wandless magic, it's…"
Dumbledore was lost in thought for several moments before he abruptly shook his head and returned to the here and now. "Anyways... For the most part, Harry's been regarded by the student body at Hogwarts as being an unrivaled seeker in Quidditch and a mysteriously isolated character with many rumors of great deeds following him around. Unbeknownst to the student body most of those rumors are actually based on the truth. Harry has, in fact, saved the entire school from at least two separate incidents of extreme danger. Gods... Harry saved the school twice while suffering under the handicaps that I just described to you all..."
Dumbledore looked like he was only now figuring that idea out and he was completely stunned as a result. He finally returned from his own shock again and addressed the people staring at him. "Oh! I'm sorry, sorry... it's all just too remarkable to even contemplate now that I'm really thinking about it. The things Harry accomplished while..."
Very suddenly, Dumbledore smiled at Harry and patted him on the shoulder. "Well done my boy!" Dumbledore returned his focus back on the Delacours and continued his story. "In repelling the amassed Dementors, Harry was forced to engage in a battle of wills between the barrier containing his magic and his core. I've personally witnessed a Pensieve memory of the event in question and let me assure you that it was some of the most deadly magical pyrotechnics I've ever witnessed in all of my years. If Harry had failed to shatter the bindings on his core like he did he'd have died instantly. I'm a hundred percent certain of it."
Harry wasn't exactly surprised by the news but Dumbledore had kept that little factoid from him until right that second and it was very... distressing. Harry ended up looking at the ceiling to control his emotions, because the Delacours were staring at him like he was a zoo animal again.
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