Three Spells

Draco quickly found out, why his father put resistance to grandfather's complaints. The next day after arriving to France, he was woken up at an ungodly hour of 5 a.m. by an excited Abraxas Malfoy. After rushing his breakfast, Draco was promptly ushered into the training field, which stood in a secluded spot behind the house.

The field was divided into two parts. One part had various training equipments scattered around, half of which Draco couldn't even begin to imagine the uses of. They looked different from muggle equipment as they were enchanted with magic to be heavier, work in certain ways or at certain speeds.

The other part of the field was just an open area with dummies standing in a neat line at the back of it. The dummies were of different colors and sizes and all of them were carved with various runes and inscriptions. Some dummies were even smaller than Draco, while others stood at the height of 3 meters. Similarly, they were holding different weapons in their hands - there were bows, swords and daggers; some dummies held wands, while others had both - a weapon and a wand.

Draco was led to the second part of the field and stopped in the middle of a clear area.

"First, we will start by determining your magical core's power and limitations. Have you ever cast a wandless spell before?" asked Abraxas when he turned to face Draco.

"I did manage the 'Lumos' spell on my seventh birthday. However, it completely drained me at the time," replied the boy, feeling embarrassed. 'Lumos' was one of the easiest spells in the book.

Abraxas nodded thoughtfully, seemingly satisfied. He then continued with questions, "Do you know which three spells are usually thought to children your age to perform wandlessly?"

Draco shook his head mutely. He only had theoretical classes and had never been taught to actually use magic. His lessons usually centered around the topics of what magic was and how it could be used. How could he know spells?

"Alright, lets start with theory. As you should already know from your classes, spells require more magical power and get harder to cast when they get more general. The more specific the spell is, the easier it is to cast. For example, 'Accio', which summons any object you specify, is a very general spell which can be used to summon anything, with the only restriction being weight and distance (which require more power the heavier or further the object is). On the other hand, if you cast a simple human-targeted heart-stopping curse, it requires only a little power as it is targeted specifically at human's organ, which can be found in a specific part of their chest. If the target in question is not human, such as goblin or some animal, or if the target's heart is 'displaced' and cannot be found at its specific place (which sometimes happens due to rituals, being born that way or other circumstances), then the curse simply won't work."

"Yes, I do know the theory - specifically designed spells are easier to cast and require less magical power. Though they are harder to create," said Draco a bit impatiently.

"So what would you do if you lost your wand or opponent got hold of it?" asked Abraxas, shifting straight to the main topic.

Draco didn't have an answer to that question. Indeed, what would he do? Run? Or admit defeat? He could only stay silent and wait for his grandfather to continue.

"Most purebloods try to teach their children, when they reach seven, three easy spells which could save their lives. Can you guess what they are?"

Draco thought carefully. "Well, since you mentioned losing the wand, I suppose it should be a spell to get back the wand specifically, somehow," he said.

"Yes. As 'Accio' is too general, it can be hard to perform, especially wandlessly. It can also be dangerous, for if the item is too far away, the wizard or witch using this spell could drain their core's magic too quickly, sometimes even without realizing it," Abraxas explained patiently. "So the first spell which is thought to use wandlessly is usually the Disarming charm 'Expelliarmus'. This spell targets your opponents hands specifically and can only work within a short distance. Because the disarmed wizard's wand is usually held in their opponent's hands, it is extremely useful and can save you in a lot of instances. Can you think of any other spells?"

"I think that the 'Lumos' spell is also quite useful," Draco said after a moment of silence. Abraxas nodded with satisfaction.

"Yes, this spell is actually very underestimated. If you take the Arithmancy class, I am sure you will be given the task of analyzing it and you will find, that to create it, around thirty magical equations were required to be combined. They specify the color of the light, the maximum size of the light, that it has to appear at the wand's point if it is used with wand and if it is done wandlessly - it has to appear at the palm of the hand, that it has to have the form of an orb, that it doesn't have to give off any warmth or coldness and other things. If you ever lose your wand in the darkness, just casting 'Lumos' can help you find it."

"I cannot think of a third spell which would be easy enough to use," the boy's thoughts were spinning in his head. Both spells that Abraxas mentioned could be used in emergency situations to find a wand or to see in the dark. What other crucial spell could help him out in unexpected circumstances? A spell to locate North if he ever got lost? He could just call Missy, though...

"Ah, the third one will be useful when you go to Hogwarts and if you ever become a target of a prank. Believe me, the Unlocking charm can save you from the embarrassment of being found by a teacher, in the middle of the night, locked in some cupboard without your wand," Draco's grandfather said smilingly. He seemed to recall the good times, when he was still a student. By the look on his face, Draco could tell that Abraxas probably pranked more people that way than he got pranked by.

However, Draco couldn't argue with the older man's logic. The Unlocking charm was indeed useful in various situations.

On that day Draco's training started with 'Lumos' because Abraxas already knew that his grandson could cast it successfully. And indeed, after a few tries, the familiar sensation of magic flowing through his veins came back, and a small orb of pale light shone on Draco's hand. However, it went out as soon as it came, though it lasted longer than the first time he tried it a year ago.

Draco was made to cast the spell successfully around ten times, before his core was completely exhausted. It could be seen that in a year, the blond boy's magical core grew significantly - before, he could barely cast the spell one time successfully and, as a result, almost fainted from the fatigue.

When Draco thought that his training was finished for the day and wanted to go back to rest, he was quickly informed, that the training barely started. Next, Abraxas made him jog around the training field while dodging various moving obstacles, which were charmed to get into the runner's way as he passed by. Draco couldn't count how many times he almost tripped.

Apparently, it helped with peripheral vision and reaction, however the boy remained skeptical - he saw very clearly, how Abraxas chuckled at his 'almost accidents'.

After finishing the run to his grandfather's satisfaction, Draco thought that it was the end. He was once again informed otherwise - after a quick lunch, the boy had to, once again, practice wandless spell-casting, however, this time he tried the Disarming charm. He could only cast it successfully three times, before his magical core was, again, completely drained.

Afterwards came strength training, with Draco having to perform push-ups and pull-ups, though he didn't have to do too many. Abraxas didn't try to reach Draco's limits with physical training because the boy was still young and it would be detrimental to his growth. The exercises were performed in order for the boy to be able to lift the sword and practice with it later.

In the end, Draco didn't dare to assume that the training would end after performing pull-ups, however, he was pleasantly surprised when Abraxas told him to go and relax.

The next day Draco could barely lift his hands to eat.

The spartan training continued for the whole summer.