Confession "Happy birthday, Harry!"
"What?"
Harry opened his bleary eyes and looked blankly at Ron, who was sitting on the bed opposite.
"Your birthday. Your seventeenth birthday," Ron reminded him.
"Oh, thanks."
Harry covered a yawn, sat up, and lazily stretched his arms.
"Finally free of that damned Trace. I can use magic normally now!"
"When are you planning to leave?"
Ron pulled a package from somewhere and tossed it to Harry with a grin.
"Assuming nothing goes wrong, tomorrow we'll visit the students Snape expelled first, then head to Godric's Hollow." Harry held the birthday present Ron had thrown him, but had no desire to open it. Birthday presents no longer excited him as they once had. He had more important things to do now.
"Aren't you going to look at the birthday present I got you?" Ron pointed at the package. "Open it. Hermione and I picked it out together."
"What is this?"
After unwrapping it, Harry looked at the item inside in confusion.
"A wand holster."
Ron pointed to his waist, where he wore an identical one with a wand tucked into it.
"I ordered them from Fred and George. They use these too—putting your wand in your pocket isn't exactly a good idea." Ron drew his wand from the holster and introduced it enthusiastically. "It may not look like much, but it's actually got an Undetectable Extension Charm on it. It holds your wand easily, and it's easy to draw too."
"It's a bit like a Muggle policeman's gun holster." Harry gave it a quick inspection, slid his wand into it, and tried drawing it a few times. It really was practical; he would never have to worry about the awkward situation of being unable to pull out his wand when he needed it.
"Pretty good,