"I'm going to test something else." Harry grinned as he brought the edge of the Oulm Circuit knife to his left pinky finger. He tapped the digit with the blade and instantly lost feeling in the finger. "Interesting." He grinned as he looked between his finger and the prototype.
"What did you do, Harry?" Penny questioned him and Harry turned to her with a smile.
"I believe I've just temporarily removed feeling from my left pinky." Harry informed the Prefect. He did not expect her to suddenly be at his side and looking over the digit with a critical eye.
"What do you mean 'removed feeling'?" Penny demanded as she tried to find anything wrong with the finger.
"Nothing serious, Penny, I just can't feel it right now." Harry tried to placate the older girl but she just looked at him incredulously.
"You might have just magically severed your nerves!" Penny raised her voice to express her worry for him. "This could be VERY serious! We're going to the Hospital Wing!"
"I'm sure it'll wear off in…" Harry tried to say but Penny was having none of it. She latched her hand around his left wrist and proceeded to drag him out of the hidden workshop.
"We're going and that's final!" Penny stated with finality as Harry stopped resisting and let her lead him along. He supposed it was nice knowing how much Penny cared about him. But he also didn't much care for having the school Mediwitch, Madam Pomfrey, fussing over him as she was want to do for the students. Oh well, if it helped Penny stop worrying he'd go. There wasn't much he wouldn't do for her and Tonks if it helped them out, now that he thought about it.
'It's good to have such great friends.' Harry thought to himself as he followed along with Penny. 'Though I hope she releases the death grip on my wrist soon, since I'm coming along willingly.'
She didn't.
Harry and Penny sat together in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express as it headed back towards London. Both were looking forward to seeing their families and celebrating the Holidays. Harry had brought along both of his prototypes for further testing. But at the moment he was thinking back onto his forced trip to the Hospital Wing via Penny.
-Flashback ~ Hospital Wing-
"What seems to be the problem?" Madam Pomfrey asked as Penny led Harry, by the wrist she still had a death grip on, into the Hospital Wing.
"Harry can't feel his left pinky, Madam Pomfrey." Penny told the Mediwitch. "I'm worried he might have some damage to his nerves."
"Sit down, Mr. Potter, and let me see your left hand." Pomfrey requested as Harry followed along and sat down before offering his hand. The Mediwitch ran her wand over his hand a few times and then cast a few diagnostic charms on his finger directly. "Hmm, how odd." She commented as she tapped his pinky a few times with her wand.
"What's odd?" Harry asked and the Mediwitch looked at him for a moment with questioning eyes.
"There is no Magic in your pinky right now, Mr. Potter." Pomfrey informed the two students. "It's the reason you can't feel it or move it." She tutted while she went over to her Potions Cabinet and brought back a small vial of transparent blue fluid. "Magic is a part of a Witch or Wizard, without it our bodies don't function properly. This is usually displayed in the form of Magical Exhaustion; symptoms of which are lethargy, loss of coordination, and in severe cases loss of feeling in the extremities followed by unconsciousness."
"So he gave his pinky severe Magical Exhaustion?" Penny questioned a look of confusion on her face.
"Interesting…" Harry mused as Pomfrey covered his finger in the Potion by soaking a cotton ball and then dabbing it on his pinky.
"You could have permanently injured yourself for all you knew, Harry. That's not what I would call interesting!" Penny huffed at him and Harry looked back at her with a smile.
"I disagree, though in future I'll make sure not to directly test on myself." Harry promised his friend and Penny gave him a nod of acceptance.
"Magical Exhaustion wears off over time as the Witch or Wizard rests, so this injury wouldn't have persisted." Pomfrey informed them before turning a sharp-eyed look on Harry. "Don't do this to yourself again, Mr. Potter. I don't want to see you in here from your own hardheadedness."
"Yes, Madam Pomfrey." Harry replied as he started to get feeling back in his pinky. It seemed the Potion she'd rubbed onto his finger had worked.
-End Flashback-
"Hey Penny." Harry spoke up as he formed a Lumos on the tip of his index finger.
"What's up, Harry?" Penny looked up from her book seeing the Charm on his fingertip.
"Catch." Harry grinned as he flicked his finger forward and the Lumos Charm travelled across the short space. Penny smiled as she 'caught' the spell on her own index finger. With a grin the Lumos Charm turned blue and was flicked back at him.
"Back at you, Harry." Penny grinned. Harry caught the Charm next and turned the color to green before tossing it back. The two spent the next hour playing around like this. Changing the Lumos Charm's color with each pass and eventually a second Lumos Charm was added and then a third. Near the end of their impromptu game they were juggling eight Charms between them, all different colors. Needless to say, this was a rather fun trip for the two of them.
-Platform Nine and Three Quarters-
Harry and Penny were just exiting the Hogwarts Express when they, and everyone else on the platform, noticed one person that stood out quite a lot.
"Harry! Harry! Over here! Welcome back!" Sirius' yelled from the platform. Harry face-palmed at what his Godfather was doing and wearing.
"Well…someone is feeling the spirit of the season." Penny giggled as Harry rolled his eyes, though a small smile was on his face.
Harry...
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