The Magic Theory
Chapter 4: A Little Bit of Magic
Disclaimer: I own a car, but not much else if I'm being quite honest… definitely not Harry Potter, though. Oh, well…
3rd Person POV
Draco didn't know how he managed to keep the impassive look on his face. He felt irritated, annoyed, disbelieving, but, overall, curious—alive. He wanted to know about these projects. He wanted to know what was going through Harry's mind. Mostly, he wanted to know what the hell happened to Harry.
The Potter he had known would never have been that confident. The whole thing that he was 'super-powerful' had obviously been a major ego boost, but Potter's changes seemed to go beyond that. More than just the confidence, Potter looked calculating and wary. He looked as if he suspected everyone and everything to come back and bite him in the arse. Even after Draco had agreed to help, Harry kept giving him looks that were downright suspicious.
After a few more moments of that look, Draco couldn't take it anymore. "Well?" Despite his curiosity, impatience, and downright annoyance, he congratulated himself in keeping his voice mostly even.
As was becoming customary for Potter, he rolled his eyes stood, his chair disappearing behind him. He walked away, and Draco grudgingly followed him, noting that his chair also went missing when he stood. Potter weaved a path through the closely packed contraptions, somehow managing to not touch any of them. Realizing that the action must have had some significance; Draco attempted to do the same, though there were more than a few close calls. Not being able to hold onto so much curiosity anymore, he asked the least intrusive question he can think of.
"Potter!" Draco waited until Harry acknowledged him to continue. Harry nodded, but didn't pause as he walked through the room. Draco realized that it was the only acknowledgement he would receive and continued walking while talking. "What exactly will happen if I touch one of these things?"
Potter pondered the question a moment before responding—finally, he had regained the ability to think before speaking. With a shrug that was barely visible to Draco, he spoke. "Some can curse you, others can only shock you. A few will kill you if you can't use them correctly. A lot of them are just scrap until I need them. And some are alarms, just in case." Harry didn't elaborate past that and Draco thought it has something to do with his rambling tendency from just minutes ago.
"Potter, why don't you just tell me which ones can kill me and I'll just avoid those?" Draco had been surprised by how easily he could ask what can kill him rather than why Potter had something that could kill him in the first place.
What Potter said next, though, made Draco wonder about both Harry's and his own sanity. "I don't really remember well enough to tell you." At least Harry had had the decency to sound sheepish as he said this. "I think this one," he motioned to what looks like a harmless Muggle appliance, "can curse you."
He thinks. He thinks. They are his damn things and he has the audacity to "think"! Draco had still been mentally fuming when Potter stopped in front of a wall that showed no sign of a passageway. He realized that they had come to another approximately six-by-eight foot buffer zone. Like last time, Harry pulled out his wand, this time murmuring under his breath and the rock melted away with the same sense stunners as last time, revealing an archway identical to the previous one.
The room beyond was much smaller than the room they were coming from, but in no way small. It had been dominated by yet another one of Potter's contraptions with a glass pipe that seemed to lead to an adjacent room. Around the edges of the room, more commonplace items were scattered or in some places, carelessly piled. They seemed to be anything from rare Potions ingredients to Muggle appliances like the ones in the main room. Overall, the room was another mystery to Draco, but one he intended to figure out like the rest.
"Can anything in here kill me, Potter?" Draco intended for the comment to sound off-handed and sarcastic but couldn't help the bit of actual worry that escaped in the tone.
Harry turned and gave Draco a look between amusement and seriousness. He had heard the tone of fear. Draco idly wondered if that type of expression was difficult to pull off as Potter began replying. Apparently, he would always need a few moments to decide on an answer before speaking it, if he wishes to not ramble—another thing that had changed, even if the change had only appeared within last five minutes. As if Draco needed more things to figure out about Potter.
"Malfoy, anything has the ability to kill you if you are not careful enough. But, as you will be following my every command right now, and you will probably never use this machine, I doubt anything will kill you—though I wouldn't put anything above you in that respect. Mind you, I don't mean that as a challenge." He paused to give Draco a completely serious look, then continued speaking, beginning to ramble more about how he began the project. Draco decided he didn't like the ramblings.
Potter has the audacity to sound smug as he responds? What has the world come to when Harry Potter can sound smug? Draco allowed the questions he had been asking himself to flood his mind only half listening to Harry, waiting for important information to be said.
"Malfoy!" Harry's voice snapped Draco out of his musings as surely as he had brought them on.
"Can't you just cut to the bloody chase, Potter? I doubt what you are saying is going to change anything about this project. Maybe if you told me what it was, I would listen more attentively!"
"Fine, Malfoy I'll tell you, or rather show you. But, after that, you will have to listen to every word I say, or you will be done here. I will not let an arrogant know-it-all waltz in here and ruin my work! And, not only will you listen, you will learn, because nothing in the world will make me let you near Step Two, let alone Step Three, until you've had proper training! And, in case you were wondering, yes, that training will come from me, because in this certain field, I outrank you. You got that, Malfoy? You will be learning from me. Get that through your thick, arrogant skull, or… there's the door." Harry took a deep breath—another thing he would just have to get used to, he supposed. He knew that Draco would be the death of his magical control.
Throughout the speech, Draco's mouth had been progressively wider and wider until the final three words, said with such certainty, when Draco's mouth snapped shut with an audible clack. The angry retort was on the tip of his tongue and was probably conveyed on his face, but he knew he truly didn't want to risk this chance, not when he had so many questions that would eat at him if he left—if he was allowed to keep his memories. Draco didn't want to risk the memories either. So instead, he scowled, trying to cover up the resignation as much as possible, and said, "Show me."
Harry rolled his eyes, the explosion from moments ago seeming to have had no impact on him. This only caused more confusion to build inside of Draco. Standing in front of the machine, Harry flipped seemingly random switches, powering it up. "Malfoy, make yourself useful and bring me something from the piles."
"What do you want?" Draco walked hesitantly towards the piles, not quite believing that they wouldn't kill me.
"Anything, just choose whatever your heart desires." Harry hadn't look up at all during the exchange, but the final words were said so mockingly that Draco took the words to heart, no pun intended. Hoping to make a fool of Potter, he picked up some ginger.
"Potter, catch!" Draco fully expected it to hit Potter in the back of the head. But, of course, Potter had already been full of surprises, why not add another one?
Without turning his back to the machinery, he raised his hand, palm to the machine, and the ginger stopped not six inches from the back of his head. He made a small motion with his finger for the ginger to come to him and it obeyed. It fell softly onto the palm of his hand and Draco could just imagine Harry's eyes rolling.
Draco tried not to allow the shock and slight disappointment show on his face as Potter turned to stare at him.
"Honestly, Malfoy." Harry's scoff worked to rile Draco up just a bit more. Harry turned back to the machine, placing the ginger in it, a moment before a crystal cylinder fell around the plate it was laid on. "Pay attention, Malfoy." He pulled one more lever and walked back to where Draco was. "You might want to back up a little more, like against the back wall."
"I'm honored to receive your concern, but what about you? We can't let the Savior be in harm's way, now can we?"
Harry rolled his eyes, again, at Draco's futile attempt to insult him. "You worry about yourself and I'll worry about myself." Harry again felt Draco's annoyance but heard him fall back regardless. He pulled out his wand and flicked the final switch, and the room filled with a low thrumming sound.
The next two minutes were probably the longest Draco had experienced since his trials. The humming continued throughout as the ginger rose within its crystal container. As Draco watched, a whirring began at the top of the machine where Draco realized there was a black hunk of metal before the contraption connects to the glass pipe leading to another room, for which there was no door in sight. Draco's eyes snapped back to the main machine as a soft crackling joined the other two sounds.
What Draco saw happening threatened to unhinge his jaw. The ginger had begun to effulge, giving off light as if hit by a spell. Though, there didn't seem to have been any sign of outside influence; the light seemed to be coming from within the ginger itself. The more light the ginger gave off, the more the ginger itself seemed to shrivel and cave in on itself. Not really wanting to miss a moment of the ginger's apparent destruction, but wanting to see how Harry was responding to this, he sneaked a glance at the brunet, but could not muster surprise at the raven's impassive face.
Draco's eyes returned to the ginger just in time to see a hunk of something fall to the bottom of the machine as the light continued through the glass pipe and to the next room. He felt Harry turn to look at him, so he did the same. Then he looked back to the machine for a moment, hoping to make a little more sense of what had happened, or at least find his voice. He glanced back and forth many times until he felt those motions in his neck and ended with his gaze on Harry.
"Nothing to say, Malfoy? Well, I never thought I'd see the day." Harry waited to speak until he was sure Draco was not going to turn his head again.
"Potter, would you like explaining to me just what exactly that was?"
Harry smirked. "I thought your father would have taught you better grammar than that, Malfoy. And here I thought I was the ineloquent one."
Draco scowled; his father was the one subject he hadn't quite made up his mind about and preferred to keep it that way. "I can still leave, Potter. You've already ensured I won't tell anyone."
Harry shrugged. "Don't be such a baby, Malfoy. It truly hurts how little you think of me. Hurts me right to my core. And that's saying something." That last bit was said in such a quiet voice that Draco didn't hear it.
Draco felt like he could have screamed in frustration. A slight tightening to Harry's eyes indicated that he felt the emotion. "Just get on with it, Potter," Draco ground out between gritted teeth.
"Malfoy, relax. It takes too little to rile you up." That's going to need to change, Harry finished in his mind. Harry meant those words to diffuse the tension, but Draco didn't let the issue drop.
"Potter! Are you ever going to start making any sense?"
"Fine." Harry began walking around the centerpiece of the room—the whatever-it-was machine. "You might want to follow me, Malfoy. Down here is not somewhere you want to be lost." After a moment, Draco followed Harry around the machine. Behind the machine, he realized the room was much larger than it had originally appeared. The ceiling was also a lot lower—only about 7.5 feet from floor to ceiling. Finally, they reached a stretch of wall that looked as nondescript as possible.
Potter will take out his wand in three-two-one, Draco thought, already knowing that walls could deceive when Harry was involved.
On cue, Harry brandished his wand and said, clearly and loudly enough for Draco to hear, "Alohomora." This time, instead of the wall melting, it simply slid into the ground revealing a narrow pathway sloping downward. As Harry took his first step onto the path with Draco on his heels, a stone above illuminated with a glowing green light. At various times during the walk, Draco felt tempted to take out his wand if only to make sure that it was still the same day as when he had entered Harry's little world.
Draco walked with a confidence he didn't possess as they weaved endlessly through the pathway, only thing about the fact that they would be lost if Harry made even one wrong turn. Finally, after far too long in Draco's opinion, they came to a dead end. Despite Draco's knowledge in how that type of occurrence was nothing but another chance for Harry to brandish his wand, he felt his wits coming to their end.
After just a few waves of that blasted wand, the next room on the stilted tour was revealed. The room would not have been considered large by the standers of the other rooms thus far, but the high ceiling almost instantly dissipated Draco's frustration. Before all of it could evaporate though, he glared at Harry and said, "What is the point of all the mindless walking? There is such a thing as adjacent rooms!"
"Malfoy, we barely walked for five minutes. And all of the rooms are adjacent, but this one just happens to be further from the main area. You should have warned me about your claustrophobia before bringing you down here." Finally, there was a confused look on Harry's face as if Draco were the one that had been speaking in complete gibberish.
"I am not a claustrophobic. I simply do not enjoy…walking pointlessly. Perhaps if you weren't so damn secretive, I wouldn't be complaining, Potter!" Despite the completely defensive and arrogant nature of the comments, Draco's anger faltered as he stared at Harry.
Draco had been able to physically see the clouds roll across Harry's face. "I have my reasons for my secrets, Malfoy. Now, come on, we still have a few more things we need to talk about." Harry headed to where there was a desk along with two chairs, and planted himself in the one behind the desk. Draco grudgingly took the other.
Harry appeared to be appraising Draco from behind the desk as Draco attempted to do the same from the front. His earlier suspicions returned to his mind. There was something off about this new Potter. So much wariness and weariness were flowing from him. With all of the power being exuded, there was also a certain amount of ageless tiredness. Though his eyes give nothing away, his posture was strictly cautious and stiff as a board.
Draco could feel his curiosity for Harry's information turn into uneasiness about what Harry had been through in the last two years. He had said it himself that he had not left London in the time he was supposedly missing. Had he spent the entire time, here…underground? The thought seemed downright frightening to Draco. Why had there even been a need for such a drastic measure of estrangement between Harry and the Weasleys he used to care for so much? It would obviously have been a sore subject if he asked Harry about it now, but why was that so? Something beyond a stupid break-up had happened here, and Draco was determined to find out what that was.
The uneasiness went away, leaving only determination behind in Draco.
"Where do we start?" No insinuations, no whining, no mocking—Draco made sure to keep his voice straight and his true intentions hidden. If he could make nice with Harry, then he would be able to learn the reasons behind his new behavior.
Harry breathed deeply once more, letting the air out slowly. His face cleared slightly before he spoke. "The machine in the other room is a combination of a few Muggle appliances and my own magical tinkering. The mechanics are complex, but what it basically does is, it extracts the raw magic from the ginger—or basically anything magical. The bottom is an extreme heater, of sorts, while the top is a vacuum, of sorts. While the molecules of the ginger become unstable, they lose the ability to sustain the magic. In the instant that it occurs, the vacuum takes the magic away and whisks it to the next room, while the ginger remains are just disposed of. Questions?"
Draco's furrowed his brow as he processed the information. It almost seemed implausible for something as insignificant as ginger to have a magical potential. "Well, if ginger has all this magical potential, why has no one picked up on it yet?"
Draco was finally being reasonable, what's wrong with him, Harry thought before he answered. "They have picked up on the magical properties of certain items, but they haven't reached a point at which they can tap into the full potential. It's the reason ginger is used in potions, but is not considered very valuable beyond that. Ginger's release of magic in a potion is caused by the heat and the combinations of other ingredients; this is what makes it necessary for some potions, but no matter the type of potion, they cannot tap into the complete raw power, yet."
It was that final word that vexed Draco to no end, but he quelled his irritation and decided to move on. "Alright, I think I understand, but how does that tie into what we are doing?" Though Draco had a vague idea, he waited with bated breath for Harry's answer.
"I have built a room with the perfect conditions to maintain the raw magic stable. That is what we are going to be experimenting on and trying to control, without contaminating it. But, there is a lot of training that is between now and then." The words were said firmly, if a bit…mournfully?
The second bewildered Draco, but he nodded nonetheless. "Alright, when do we begin?"
Harry looked towards one of the endless stretches of earth that called themselves a wall and looked as pensive as if he were looking at the most beautiful landscape. "Not today." His voice came very suddenly and his gaze remained on the wall as he spoke. "I have a few final preparations I must do, but they should be completed by Tuesday at the latest. I'll owl you by then, at the latest. I suggest you dress for physical exertion next time. But, if you have no more questions, I think we are finished for today."
"Just one last thing." Harry finally looked away and laid expectant eyes on Draco. "How do I get out of here?"
Wordlessly, Harry raised an eyebrow and drummed his fingers once on the table. "You can Disapparate now."
Draco stood up. He straightened his robes before nodding once more to Harry and Disapparating.