Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. This work is merely for leisure and not for any profit whatsoever.
Summary: London is a big city. In cities of such size, many small details pass by unnoticed by most of the crowd. Homes become invisible, shops are glanced over and ignored, strange events and people are written off as one-time occurrences, and anomalies are unknowingly brushed aside. SI/OC.
Stars in the Silence
A Study of Runes
The morning sunlight pooled into the living room Aquila was currently occupying. She sat on one of the luxurious plush chairs, her little legs dangling as stacks of bound parchment rested on her lap. Her black hair, normally tied up, hung free, curled around her face as she read through her notes. She stared at the words she'd written months ago before giving a morose sigh.
Last night's dinner at Malfoy Manor had been extremely fruitful, yet also rather discouraging. What the Lord Malfoy had pointed out was rather obvious, and it truly displeased Aquila that she hadn't noticed it earlier. She'd been swept by the discovery that she could actually do magic with Runes, because no matter how she'd acted in front of Bellatrix, her lack of accidental magic, intentional or not (and wasn't that just ironic), truly did bother her. Because, accidental or not, it was still magic.
Accidental magic was, as the name suggested, unpredictable and uncontrollable, but a part of her wished that she didn't remember, if only to experience it. Lessons on Magical Theory taught Aquila that she couldn't cast spells or perform magic intentionally, at least not for a few years, until her body had grown and her magical core and channels had developed sufficiently to handle magic that held controlled intent in it. (Magic in that form, which she dubbed as Active Magic, was apparently denser and more potent, and the body could not cope with it until a certain age. It was a reason why accidental magic was so volatile; the body literally just expelled all the too potent emotionally-charged energy out with a vague command of do this and nothing else – no directions, no control. At least, that was what Aquila understood it did from her tutor.)
Stumbling across A Study of Runes in had filled her with anticipation and childish delight at the possibility of doing magic. It was bittersweet to know that despite her efforts, she'd been going around in circles the whole time, despite her apparent progress.
Aquila shook herself. Well, she hadn't wasted her time completely, seeing as her father and Lord Malfoy both thought that she had a decent grasp of Runes.
She turned her eyes back to her notes.
Runology, or the art of writing runic scriptures (which was very different from Ancient Runes, where one was only taught what rune meant what), was one of the least studied Magical Arts. At least, in Britain and at the current time. Aquila suspected it was likely because British Wizards and Witches were… lazy at best. But no matter the questionable attitude of the British Wizarding World, it was undeniable that Runology was intricate. There were many factors to be aware of; the runes, the properties of the materials used, the amount of ambient magic in the air, how magic and intent could interact (and even ruin) the scripture. It was a reason why most chose to simply use standardised and time-proven scriptures, even if a personalised one could be less expensive and more effective.
But it wasn't just the knowledge that was important; it was the aptitude as well. To truly succeed, one had to know how to direct magic, be it ambient magic or their own, without overpowering the scripture with too much intent or emotions that the magic became too uncontrollable and literally blew the scriptures up. Needless to say, most were turned off by the possible death-by-runic-explosion situation to attempt to learn Runology, much less practice it.
No, studying Runology had shifted from something the masses could learn and apply into heavily guarded family traditions and secrets to be passed through generations. Still, the tome had been useful in outlining the basics of it, even if it hadn't gone into in-depth explanations yet. Runic scriptures took the form of mainly three styles, numerical, geometrical and scriptural. They often intertwined with each other, each style lending its strength to the overall scripture whilst covering up the shortfalls of the other style.
Numerical style, as the name suggested, was about numbers; depicted in the form of actual numbers or as a pattern present in the scripture. Aquila suspected that there were aspects of Arithmancy in the latter's case as well, since the patterns often correlated to prime numbers, repeated most commonly in threes, fives and especially sevens, but she wouldn't be able to confirm that until she got her hands onto a book on the subject. Of the three, it was the most specific.
The geometrical style dealt with shapes that the runes were drawn in. Since each shape could have different meanings to it, it was intent that shaped and determined its effect on the scripture. A circle could symbolise protection, containment or continuity. A spiral could be interpreted as 'drawing power from' or volatility. The shapes directed and channelled magic within the scripture so as to keep it functioning.
Scriptural runes encompassed all written languages, making it the most versatile of the three. It allowed the author's intent to be expressed in a way that ambient magic present was shaped and altered into a form that was most favourable for that situation. It was because of the association all humans had with certain words that language simply didn't matter in runes. Oh yes, using actual runes or Latin would exert a more potent effect than English, since Aquila associated them as magical languages, but she probably could create a scripture using English only and it could work. That was why so many countries had their own form of runes that worked and would continue to function even if the language had gone extinct. Case-in-point, Egyptian hieroglyphs that lined the tombs of the Pharaohs still functioned to curse the living daylights out of anyone who disturbed the final resting place of the Ancient Egypt's rulers.
And because Runes channelled magic passively, they would work to a certain extent even if it was written and used by non-magical, such as talismans and 'blessed' objects. Those would never be as strong as they could be if a magical channelled Active Magic through it, but it would still function well enough with just the ambient magic present in the air.
That much, she'd been able to discover from the tome. Some had been inferred and later confirmed by the other books present in the Black Library. But until last night, the hows and whys of Runology had been frustratingly elusive.
Those only worked because the wizard that made them created their own style of runes that worked, Orion's voice echoed. An advanced runic scripture is something you own; mind, magic and soul.
Runes were a physical embodiment of the Magical's will, as much as actual spells were.
Aquila blinked in shock. Staring down at her notes, she wondered why it was suddenly so obvious.
The effects of runes were so similar to that of spells because runes were the written forms of the spell itself. The runes themselves weren't the power source; they were just the foci – just like magical incantations were.
Aquila scrambled off the chair, out of the room and down the hallway. She ignored how her parents supported stunned faces when she barreled past them. She swept past Regulus' room, hastily returning his morning greeting before turning a corner and bursting into Sirius' and her shared room. Rushing past a surprised Sirius, she threw herself onto her study desk and grabbed a quill and parchment.
Runes were the written forms of spells. If she was right, that meant Aquila could replicate the effects of a spell using Runes, as long as she found a way that worked for her and her intent was strong enough to direct the ambient magic present into the form Active Magic took. It wouldn't be as effective as it could be if her magical channels had been more developed and Aquila could perform Active Magic, but it would do, especially since Grimmauld Place was practically saturated with ambient magic.
Carefully, she penned down several runes meant to draw and absorb the ambient magic present into the shape of a circle. Then, she drew an inner circle with another set of runes meant to express the magic drawn from the outer circle in the way the spell she had in mind would. Finally, she connected the two circles with two spirals that wound around the inner circle that began and ended at opposite ends.
Magic cannot be created or destroyed, only altered and channelled.
As she drew, she kept that in mind. The outer circle acted as a pathway for the ambient magic that would power the scripture, while the inner circle was the pathway that the altered magic would flow through to replicate the effects of the spell. The spirals acted as channels for both forms of magic to connect with the whole scripture and also represented that magic could be altered from a passive state into an active state and vice versa.
A power source, a pathway for energy to flow continuously and a region for the reaction to occur.
Aquila took a deep breath, before steadying her hand to write down the incantation in the center of the inner circle in a cursive, loopy script, making sure that the word connected to the inner circle.
She paused, her quill hovering over the parchment when nothing happened. Fighting down the disappointment with a firm I'm not finished yet, she placed a finger over the scripture.
Aquila sucked in a breath, and with a frim my will be done!, commanded, "Lumos."
Several yelps sounded as light exploded from the parchment. Aquila had a fleeting thought of sweet Salazar, Merlin and Morgana it worked before Sirius and Regulus pounced on her with twin exclamations of surprise and excitement. A snap from the right had the trio turning towards Walburga, clutching a camera, with Aquila's lighted up rune in full view. Orion stood beside her, face impassive save for a delighted gleam in his eyes.
"No one would believe us without proof!" Walburga snapped. A proud, honest-to-Merlin smile on her face and the lack of bite in her words however, betrayed her real intentions, even as she strode off to get her evidence printed. Aquila giggled.
Orion chose that time to walk forward to hug all three of them, before a warm hand was gently ruffling Aquila's hair, and, to her shock, Orion pressed a kiss to her temples, lips etched into a smile.
"Good job, Aquila." Her father was still smiling.
Aquila could only nod in reply, stunned. Maybe there was a way for her to keep this family from falling apart the way it did Before. Maybe.
DELETED SCENE
"So," Sirius mused a few moments after Orion left the room, "How do you turn it off?"
Aquila blinked, before laughing sheepishly. "I haven't actually thought that far yet."
Regulus tugged at her sleeve, "Maybe Kii could try Nox?"
Aquila hummed in consideration. It was worth a shot.
"Nox."
The light remained shining.
The trio glanced at each other, before Sirius walked up to the desk. He took the paper, flipped it over and placed a book on it.
Aquila stared.
"What? It works!" Sirius said defensively.
A/N: Thanks for the favs, follows and reviews!
SOOO. Here we get an explanation of Runology. Or just me rambling and trying to make sense of it in my head and hoping that it makes sense when written down.
We also have House of Black bonding time! Yay! (Even if Walburga is trying – and failing – to remain emotionally detached.)
Again, if there's any questions especially since this an expository chapter with information dumps, please feel free to ask! Share your thoughts too~
Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D