Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J.K. Rowling; various publishers including, but not limited to, Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books; and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
A/N: Okay, after hours of work, I think I got it to look something like it should.
Chapter Six: Now We're Getting Somewhere
The Christmas holiday passed far too quickly for Harry's taste, between the muggle Yule party and the magical one, exchanging gifts, and the fact that Neville, Seamus, and Dean all got to spend a couple of days with Harry and his family. For that year, Harry received two gifts of rival importance in his mind – Dave had scored four tickets to go see the Atlanta Braves play the Florida Marlins the following summer, and Sirius had used his previously-mentioned friend in the broom industry to obtain two tickets to the Quidditch World Cup, likewise the following summer, though much later in the season than the baseball game. Another of his gifts had been completely unexpected; Professor Snape had given him his own copy of his Advanced Potions textbook, complete with hundreds of side-notes and observations, most of which were in a slightly messier handwriting than the notes Snape had added just prior to giving Harry the book. There was one note in particular that drew Harry's attention – it was just beside a teenaged Snape-scrawl of 'sectumsempra – for enemies.' Snape had written, If I ever hear of you even attempting this spell in anything but a life-or-death situation, I will disembowel you and sell your remains on the black market. Harry shuddered every time he saw the dire warning and had to wonder just what the spell did. He resolved to ask the professor the next time he saw the man outside of class.
Upon returning to Hogwarts, Harry got his chance to speak with the professor after dinner their first night back in the castle. Harry ducked out of dinner relatively early and headed down to Snape's classroom; his friends were so sidetracked in chattering about their holidays, they didn't notice him leave. Harry knew that Snape kept wards on his classroom that would alert the man he was there. He settled against a worktable and waited. He didn't have to wait long.
Snape billowed into the room, resembling nothing so much as the giant vampire bat that most of the students liked to call him. He halted when he spotted who was violating his classroom. "Brewer."
"Professor Snape," Harry returned the man's nod of recognition. "Had a couple of questions for you – thanks for the book, by the way."
Arching one eyebrow, Snape mimicked Harry's posture by leaning on his desk. "What did you need, Brewer? And will this require auror involvement – again?"
Harry chuckled a little, "Don't think so, sir. Just wanted to know what you know about Draco's dad."
Snape's eyebrow crept a little higher, nearly reaching his hairline. "Lucius? Why?"
Harry shrugged, smiling innocently. "Call it curiosity, sir. That'll do for now."
"For now?" Snape's eyebrow was now dangerously high. "You're certain this won't involve aurors – again?"
Shaking his head, he replied, "In all honesty, sir, I really didn't have anything to do with the aurors coming last year – it was Hermione who'd contacted them."
"And you had nothing to do with that?"
Harry shrugged again, "Hey, all I did was point out to her that some of the dates in Lockhart's books overlapped. She did the rest on her own."
"Right," Snape dryly replied, his eyebrow lowering back to human position.
"Anyway…" Harry said pointedly, "about Lucius Malfoy…"
"What about him?"
"What do you know about him?" Harry asked again.
Snape sneered, "More than I would wish."
Harry made a 'go on' motion with his hands.
Severus barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Does this have anything to do with your and Draco's probation?"
Harry shook his head, "Not really."
"Then I fail to see just why you need the information."
Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "Ya know, it's easier to get Mom to tell me where the Yule presents are hidden than to get you to answer a question you're bound an' determined not to answer."
Snape snorted in amusement. "I think I should be insulted."
Harry grinned, "At least I know there ain't nothin' wrong with your hearing. But, are ya gonna answer my question or should I continue stumblin' on in the dark?"
Severus decided to humor Harry – at the very least it would prove entertaining at some point. "Very well. Lucius was born in 1944 and began Hogwarts in 1955. He graduated in 1961 and married Narcissa Black in 1963, just after she graduated Hogwarts. In 1980, they had Draco. Currently, I believe the Malfoy family controls somewhere in the neighborhood of six percent of wizarding Britain's gold, compared with the eight percent controlled by your dogfather, the four percent held by the Parkinsons, and the five percent held in trust for the Potter line."
Harry did roll his eyes. "That ain't quite what I had in mind, sir."
Severus smirked. "Then perhaps you should be more clear in your request."
Harry crossed his arms over his chest, "I know that you know that I know you at least visited him when you were a kid. Wanna try again, only this time try not to sound like a bio for Forbes."
"'Forbes'?"
"Muggle financial magazine. Come on, sir. Please?"
Severus shrugged, "I stayed with him briefly as a teenager. He put me in contact with the man who sponsored my mastery. There isn't much else to say."
Harry sighed, "Thanks, sir." He turned to leave.
"You will let me know what this is about?" Snape stated, though it came across more as a question.
Harry paused by the door, he shot a grin over his shoulder, "Maybe." He had disappeared before Snape could reply.
I'm going to have to get him back for that, Snape thought, glaring lightly at the space occupied by the only Slytherdor he'd ever met – though, truthfully, he'd wondered if Albus had likewise argued with the Sorting Hat as a child.
In Charms class the next day, Professor Flitwick began covering rejuvenation charms. "Now, the primary purpose behind a rejuvenation charm is to give added 'youth', so-to-speak, to a variety of items. Can anyone think of an application of rejuvenation charms?"
Several hands raised, and Flitwick called on Seamus. "They're used a lot in food, making bread and jam and stuff like that stay fresh longer."
Flitwick nodded, "Correct, Mr. Finnegan. Take a point for Gryffindor. Anyone else? Yes, Miss Patil."
Parvati spat out a lock of hair, "My mum likes to use them whenever she gets her hair dyed. She says it keeps the color from fading when she washes it."
"Unorthodox," Flitwick commented, "though it would work. Another point for Gryffindor. It's not usual to use rejuvenation charms on living beings, though on one's hair or fingernails it wouldn't be a problem, as those aren't precisely living. Can anyone hazard a guess as to why this would be?"
Most of the earlier raised hands lowered. Predictably, Harry and Hermione both had their hands up, and surprisingly, so did Ron. "Yes, Mr. Weasley."
"Well… Dad told me once about a woman who cast rejuvenation charms on herself to make herself appear younger. He said that it worked, but never for very long, and when it wore off, her body aged ten times the amount of time she'd been under the charm. She ended up dying of old age and she was only fifty or so."
Flitwick nodded sadly, "Yes, Meredith Chalmers. I recall reading about her in the paper several years ago. No one is quite sure why rejuvenation charms have this effect on living matter, and it has yet to be discovered a charm that doesn't have this effect. Keep that in mind, children. It is far safer to use simple glamours if you wish to appear younger – though I doubt that any of you would want to at this stage of life." The professor smiled broadly. "Most of you are probably wanting to appear older right now." There were some light chuckles of agreement throughout the class.
While Flitwick continued his lecture, Harry took notes almost automatically while another part of his brain wondered, Can I use a rejuvenation charm on the clock?
As the class ended, Harry turned to ask Hermione her opinion, but she was nowhere to be found. "Damnit," Harry muttered.
Ron looked up from packing his notes, "What's the matter, mate?"
Harry met Ron's eyes, "Ever notice how Hermione tends ta disappear right as class ends?"
Ron shrugged, "No. She probably just hurried off to Care of Magical Creatures. We have that next, and she hasn't missed a class yet – this is Hermione, after all."
Harry stopped suddenly in packing up his own bag. "Huh? That ain't right. We have Ancient Runes next, not CoMC." Ron was slightly disturbed to see a puzzled expression on Harry's face – he hadn't seen it happen before, and it definitely didn't look right. "An' I know she ain't missed a class yet."
"But that's impossible," Ron protested, tucking his quill into an outside pocket of his bag. "How can she be in two places at once?"
Harry shook his head and resumed packing away his notebook and quills. "I've no idea, but I aim ta find out. When ya get to CoMC, see iffen Hermione's there. I'll see if she's in Runes, an' lemme know at lunch. I'll meet ya just outside the Great Hall."
Ron nodded in agreement and the two of them parted ways, off to their next classes. Harry slid into his seat in DeAboco's class just as the bell rang. Hermione was in her seat next to him, just like always. He had to wait until the second half of class, when DeAboco gave them time to work on their homework, to lean over and whisper to Hermione, "Do you think mayhap a rejuvenation charm would work on the clock?"
Hermione didn't look up from her work, but paused. "I don't know… I'd have to research it."
"I'll talk to Percy, too," Harry replied. "Lemme know, 'kay?"
Hermione nodded and resumed her work.
Harry hurriedly finished his essay on the multiple uses of Wunjo in Compound Runes, bindrunes, and Words of Power. He really had too much to do outside of class to have to worry about additional homework, too. When class ended, Harry noticed that Hermione disappeared completely once again, but he didn't pay it any mind this time – he was going to find out what she was doing, come Hell or high water.
While waiting for Ron, he saw Percy, and seized the older boy's arm, dragging him out of the flow of students hurrying to lunch. "What did you need, Harry?" Percy asked.
Harry grinned, "Not much, just wanted to know if a rejuvenation charm would work to fix the clock."
Percy thought for a moment, "It might, but you'd still have to get the power level of the spell up to the same as the original activation spell."
Harry sighed, "So that'd put me right back to where I am now…"
Percy nodded, "It would. Look, Harry, I know you feel like he asked you for help, but I don't think that trying to do this all yourself is quite what he had in mind. Why don't you just talk to Dumbledore? I'm sure he'd be able to find out what's going on."
Harry gave a little smile and shook his head, "I can't do that, Percy. I mean, I prob'ly will go to him when I know more, but not just yet."
"Why not?"
"'On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to my God and country'," Harry quoted.
"What's that mean?"
Harry's odd little smile lingered, "Iffen ya don't know, Perce, I don't know iffen I c'n explain… He asked me to help, not Dumbledore. It'd be wrong ta pass it off to someone else, unless there was absolutely nothin' else I could do."
Percy laughed, "You're completely barmy, you know that?"
Harry nodded matter-of-factly, "Yeah, I know. But I ain't stupid, and that's gotta count for somethin'."
"I'm sure it does," Percy replied, clasping a hand on Harry's shoulder. "Good luck. I need to get to lunch – my stomach's starting to have an uncomfortably close association with my backbone."
"See ya later," Harry said and spotted Ron looking for him. He hurried over. "Well?"
"Hermione was there, just like always," Ron said, casting a longing glance towards the Great Hall doors.
"She was in Runes, too," Harry replied. "Go on to lunch… I'll grab something later."
"What are you going to do?"
"Go to the library, I think. See iffen mayhap I can find out anythin' on bein' in two places at once." Harry dashed off before Ron could reply.
Once ensconced in his favorite corner table in the library, several promising-looking books surrounding him, Harry set to reading, noting down anything that seemed like it might be able to help in either of his current investigations or his current Spell Creation project.
Harry's Spell Creation class was working on their third projects of the year – Dumbledore had been right about the first projects of the year, both Harry and Hermione had managed to create their spells, but Draco had found that unaided flight wasn't possible, though he'd still received full marks for the project as he had done all the research and discovered that there was a particular brand of wizarding insoles one could buy for their shoes that would allow for flight similar to a broom. Their second projects had completed just before Christmas break. Hermione had created a fresh-breath charm that lasted all day, Harry had created a spell that he thought would be quite useful when camping – it summoned just enough dry wood, broken into perfect lengths, for use in a campfire, and Draco had come up with the wizarding equivalent of Krazy Glue, only his didn't glue fingers and skin together. Harry had been really impressed with the concoction, but he wasn't about to admit it to the Slytherin. Harry's current project was to find a way to record his music into a notebook, along the same lines as the book of guitar songs he'd bought for Ron, but recording the music rather than playing it; he hated having to write out the sheet-music for the songs he had in his head. Needless to say, both of the spells he had managed to create had found their way into his grimore.
Later that night, after dinner and astronomy, he was getting ready for bed with his roommates, but as he laid down, he didn't feel particularly sleepy. He stared at the canopy over his bed until the sounds around him indicated that everyone else was asleep. I wonder… he mused. Silently, he got out of bed and ventured down to his hide-a-room. It had occurred to him that he hadn't asked everyone he knew about the clock, and with the sheer amount of research he'd been doing for his Spell Creation class, he realized that the personality contained in the diary – even though it was a wannabe dark lord – would likely know a lot about experimental magics. He just needed to figure out a way to ask that wouldn't alert Tom to either his real identity or his real reason for asking.
Harry took a seat at the desk and retrieved the diary from its place in a drawer. He twirled a quill in his hand as he stared at its cover for several minutes before nodding to himself and opening it.
Hey, Tom, it's Jay.
Hello, Jay.
Harry wondered for a moment if Tom knew how long it had been since he'd last written. Not seeing as how it could hurt, he asked. I was wondering if you were aware of the passage of time if no one writes in the diary.
Unfortunately, no. Why do you ask?
Just that I mislaid it – it got shoved under my bed and then mixed up with all my notes from first year. I just found it again.
I see. And how long has it been since you and I last spoke?
Just over a year. It's January of '94 now. Everyone just got back from Christmas break. Anyhow, I was working on my homework for Spell Creation and realized that you must know an awful lot about the subject – you made this diary, after all.
Indeed I do. Did you need help on your project?
Not just yet, we just started new ones. However, I was thinking about a story I read recently and what with me being in SC I was curious whether or not the plot was really possible. No one I've asked has a clue, but not many of my friends have read the story.
Why don't you tell me about it. Maybe I can help.
Well, I know that part of it is possible, but I don't know about the ending of the story.
Like I said, tell me the tale, and I'll see if I can help you figure it out.
Harry smirked and thought for a moment before replying. Well, this kid, his name's Sean, he's being unfairly picked on by one of his teachers. His family has a Family Clock – do you know what those are?
Yes. Continue, please.
Well, Sean wants to find out why his teacher is picking on him so much, so he gets the idea to make a sort-of family clock. He manages to get one of his teacher's hairs, and uses it to make a clock that can answer questions instead of telling where the target is. It has the alphabet around the face. When he's talking with the clock – which is the part I found is possible, though it takes a lot of research and changing the charms, something that I don't think the kid in the story could do – it spazzes out and quits working before he could find out the answer to why his teacher keeps picking on him.
'Spazzes out'?
I take it you're not familiar with the term?
Not in the slightest.
Lemme see… A spaz is someone who's got a really short attention span and is really hyper. Spazzing out is when someone or something starts acting sporadically and unexpectedly, usually with a lot of energy.
Interesting word, I'll have to remember it. What of the part you weren't sure was possible?
Well, back to the story. Sean uses a rejuvenation charm to get the clock working again, and eventually finds out that the reason his teacher hates him so much is because the kid reminds him too much of himself. It was a stupid ending, but I liked the rest of the story.
I presume that the part you were questioning was the use of a rejuvenation charm, correct?
Right. Do you know if it would work?
Without knowing how the spells that went into making the clock were altered, I couldn't say. You said you did some research and found how to do so?
Yeah, let me get my notes, and I'll let you know what I found. Harry quickly located Percy's notes on the clock and set to transcribing a summary of how the spells were altered. When he'd finished, he watched in fascination as they were absorbed into the diary and replaced by several lines of arithmancy which vanished almost as soon as they appeared. After several minutes of this, the page went blank again and Riddle's writing reappeared.
It would be possible, but the rejuvenation charm's power would have to equal or exceed the power level of the initial activation of the clock.
Oh, thanks. Was that arithmancy you were just doing?
Yes. Are you taking the class?
Yeah. I really like it, I always did like math.
If you ever need help on your homework, don't forget I can help you with it.
Thanks, Tom. I'll definitely keep that in mind. Harry glanced at his watch – it was nearing two in the morning. Hey, Tom, I need to go. It's getting really late. I had astronomy today and I've got History of Magic first thing in the morning. Talk to you later?
Certainly, Jay. I'll be waiting.
Harry closed the diary and set it back in the drawer, satisfied that he finally had an answer to one of his many questions, despite the growing headache he was getting. He climbed up the ladder, closed his trunk, and stretched out on his bed.
About a week later, Harry thought he had figured out what was going on with Hermione, at least. He'd located information on time travel in the library, and he was positive that Hermione was doing something along those lines in order to attend all her classes. Sharing this information with the other boys in his dorm, they all expressed disbelief that she was doing so. "Well, iffen y'all don't believe me, then let's test out my theory."
"How?" Seamus asked.
Harry grinned, "Well… this will take a little work, but it should prove fun in the end."
The other boys leaned forward, and Ron – knowing what Harry's expression meant after having lived with the twins all his life – asked, "What'd you have in mind?"
Harry quickly sketched out his plan, which took three explanations before Dean managed to understand the complexities of relative time-streams. They ended the impromptu prank meeting with a promise not to let on to Hermione that they were planning something.
Throughout the remainder of the month of January, Harry and the other Gryffindor third-year boys took detailed notes on where and when they spotted Hermione. Once they felt like they understood at least part of her normal routine, Harry occasionally asked her highly specific questions, hoping to find out in what order Hermione went through her days. On the third of February, Harry thought he knew enough about Hermione's personal time-stream to enact their prank, but he wanted to make sure. Since it was a Wednesday, Harry had Ancient Runes with Hermione, while the rest of the boys had Care of Magical Creatures. Seamus had agreed to 'injure' himself during the class – ever since a mishap involving a lawnmower that he never went into too great a detail on, he'd been able to dislocate his shoulder whenever he wanted.
As he took his seat in Professor DeAboco's class, he saw that Hermione was indeed worried. He smiled to himself as he got out his notebook and his homework from Monday. His suspicions had been confirmed. In Hermione's personal time-stream, she went to CoMC before runes. I can work with this, Harry thought, smirking. Planning on letting the other boys know that his suspicions had won out after dinner that evening, Harry brushed aside Hermione's questioning expression with a little shake of his head as he handed his homework in.
Though he had planned to inform his other friends that evening, he hadn't counted on being totally exhausted following his occlumency lesson with Professor Snape. Since he had finally managed to clear his mind, they were working on building his mental protections. Mainly what this meant was that Harry spent an inordinate amount of time in a meditative trance, sifting through and sorting his memories, hiding them behind a layer of unimportant surface-thoughts. It was much harder than it had sounded when Snape had explained the process, and took a level of magical control that Harry'd never had to deal with before. If using normal spells was like using a hammer on a nail, then using occlumency was like trying to set the nail in place with only his bare hands; a constant, forceful pressure, rather than a single explosive burst of energy.
It had taken all his effort to return to his dorm room following the lesson, and he fell asleep on the common room sofa with his arithmancy book open in his lap.
Dumbledore cleared his throat. "After having spoken to both Harry and Draco about the incident on the pitch earlier today, and having discussed the matter with Mr. Malfoy and Mrs. Brewer, I have decided to put the both of you on probation for the duration of not only the remainder of this year, but the entirety of your third year. This means, gentlemen," Albus leveled his blue eyes at first Draco, and then Harry, "that even one more incident like the one I saw today will lead to your suspension from quidditch for the remainder of your Hogwarts' careers." Harry paled and Draco swallowed audibly. "I suggest, gentlemen, that if you are unable to get along peaceably, that you ignore one another for the duration. If, at the end of your third year, there have been no further problems between the two of you, I will consider lifting the probation. Is this understood?"
"Yes, sir," Harry muttered, and Draco echoed the statement.
"Now, before I release you, I believe you should apologize to one another."
The boys stood, and knowing there was no way out of it, faced each other, mumbled "I'm sorry," and stared at the floor.
After several minutes of silence, Harry looked up, meaning to see if he could use his empathy to read his mom and get some clue as to how angry she was. Instead, he met Lucius' eyes.
He was immediately bombarded by a sense of utter desolation and longing, distress and a long-simmered anger. Confused, Harry opened his empathy a little wider and tried to use the legilimency skill Snape was adamant that he possessed. The images he saw made little sense. There were several pictures of a young Lucius sitting with a boy and girl his age, both with red hair – the boy's hair somewhat brighter than the girl's. There was also a viciously grinning girl with pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes who aimed her wand at him. Lucius seemed to sense something and suddenly, all Harry saw were passages of books, all of which contained the word 'help.'
Harry now stood alone in an empty room, "How! How can I help? I don't know what's wrong, damnit!"
Lucius, appearing as he had in his seventh-year annual picture, materialized. "Molly Anne. Molly Anne, don't worry! It's only two, short months." He was obviously addressing someone who wasn't there. "Two months, love, then this is over. We'll still have that last year at Hogwarts, but I think we will both survive." He smiled a charming grin at his invisible companion before his eyes flicked up and slightly to the left. "Ah, here he is!" Shadowlike forms began to solidify, giving shape to Lucius' companions. "Well met, my friend. Keep a close eye on Molly Anne for me, will you? I worry for her."
The shadow Lucius was now talking to walked a little away from the other, Lucius following it, still smiling. He appeared to be listening to something that Harry couldn't hear. Lucius nodded, "Of course, Artie. I promise." The two then walked back to the other shadow.
Harry sighed, "I get it, really, I do! How does this help? I know about how he was friends with the Weasleys at one time! This isn't helping me at all!"
The scene shifted, making Harry momentarily dizzy. Now, instead of the empty room, he was now outside, in bright sunlight, following an older man who walked leaning on a stout silver-handled cane and an impeccably-dressed woman. "I trust you to be on your absolute best behavior, son," the man was saying. "The Blacks are a family nearly as old as our own, and they don't hold with none of your idealistic nonsense about those bloody muggles."
Harry heard himself reply before he realized that he was now riding along in Lucius' memory. "I know, father. I promise I won't say anything you would disapprove of."
The older man stopped and turned to face Harry/Lucius. "It's not me you should be worrying about, son. It's the Blacks. I won't have you ruining this with any of your bizarre notions. You know the consequences should you decide to ruin this for me." Lucius' father's face was cold, not angry.
Lucius/Harry bowed his head, "I know, father. You won't be disappointed." Lucius' reply was quiet, nearly whispered. Harry heard what he had left unsaid, though. Not yet, at any rate. I don't care if you disinherit me, but I'll play along for now. When I turn seventeen, though, you old bastard, I'm not going to be your little show-child anymore. I'm smart enough to make my own way in the world, I don't need your money, and I don't need you.
The scene made another dizzying shift, and Harry was now once again watching Lucius interact with shadows. "Mrs. Black, a pleasure to meet you at last," Lucius said, bowing to one of the shadowy figures, then to another, "And Narcissa. I have seen you at school, of course. May I say those uniforms don't do you justice?"
"Harry!"
Harry bolted awake, his textbook falling to the floor. "'M awake." He blinked and rubbed under his glasses to clear his eyes. Yawning, he met Hermione's eyes. "What time is it?"
"Just past nine, Harry. You really should go to bed if you're that tired." Harry nodded and picked up his book. "What were you dreaming about? You were mumbling in your sleep."
Pausing as he slid his text into his bag, he looked up in alarm, "What did I say?"
Hermione shook her head, "Don't know. It was pretty low and garbled. You're working too hard, if you ask me – falling asleep in the common room and everything."
Harry chuckled a little. "Look who's talkin'," he pointed to the shadows under her eyes. "I'm not the one tryin' ta take all the classes. You're gonna burn out iffen y'all keep this up."
Hermione stubbornly squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. "Am not," she childishly replied. "I know what I can handle, thank you very much."
Harry shrugged and yawned again, "Whatever you say, Hermione. See y'all tomorrow. Goodnight."
"Goodnight."
Harry hurried up to his dorm room and saw that he wasn't the only one who'd had a long day. Seamus, Ron, and Dean were all already asleep, and Neville was stretched out on his bed in his pajamas, reading. Harry quickly got into his own pajamas and flopped onto his bed, wondering what his dream meant. He knew by now that he occasionally had dreams that were true, but most of those dreams were of unimportant things. The only times he'd dreamt about true events that were also important, the dream was far from being straightforward. He sensed that the same was true of his latest dream. I really need to get that damn clock fixed, see iffen mayhap it can tell me what the heck is goin' on… Harry's thoughts mulled the situation over as he fell asleep once more.
Harry mentioned the fact that his theory on Hermione's personal time-stream was, indeed, correct the next morning while everyone was getting ready for the day. "So, does that mean we're going to start messing with her today?" Dean asked, knotting his tie.
Harry shook his head, "No, not just yet. We don't want her getting too suspicious. Let's ignore the fact that we know she's using time-travel to go through her classes for a little while."
Ron grinned and pulled on his robes, "Lull her into a false sense of security?"
Harry nodded, "Precisely."
Walking down to breakfast, Harry turned his thoughts back to how, exactly, to get a rejuvenation charm powerful enough to reactivate Lucius' clock. Ignoring the conversations going on around his ears, he took out a notebook and began scribbling.
Chained magic: A x B x C x D…
Synchronized magic: A to the power of B to the power of C to the power of D…
Synchro-chained magic: (A x B x C…) to the power of A to the power of B…
Is the power of a wizard simply a comparison with his fellows or is there a numerical breakdown denoting relative power-levels? Ask Vector – I'm sure he'd know.
If so, then:
The original spell on the clock:
(Percy x Hermione x Neville x Ron x Seamus x Dean) to the power of Fred to the power of George.
A rejuvenation charm would need to equal or exceed that spell's power.
N(Me x H)
Where N equals the number of times the magic is cycled through the chain, and H equals whoever my helpers are.
So:
(P x He x Ne x R x S x D) to G to F ≤ N(M x H)
Once breakfast was over, Harry impatiently sat through herbology, anxious to get to arithmancy. Finally, the bells rang, and he sprinted for his next class. Skidding to a breathless halt just outside the door, he waited, tapping his foot, for the student currently speaking with Vector to leave. When the girl left, Harry hurried up to the dweeby-looking professor in tweed robes. "Sir?"
"Yes, Mr. Potter?" Arnold Vector peered through his thick glasses.
"I was wonderin' if there was a numerical classification for a wizard's power? Seemed to me there had ta be, 'cause of some of the arithmanthetical proofs in the back of my book."
"Been reading ahead, have we?" Vector asked, smiling benignly.
Harry shrugged, "A little, yeah."
Vector rummaged through the chaotic clutter crowding the surface of his desk, "Normally, we don't get to that part of arithmancy until well into your fourth year – I like my students to understand the theories before doing any practical work." He shuffled a stack of graded papers from the left side of the desk to the right, "Ah, here it is!" He turned to face Harry once again, "I don't see how giving this to you now would be a problem, though. From your work in class, I know you understand the theories that we're discussing. However, I will expect at least twelve problems from you – your choice on which you want to do – from the self-test at the end of chapter thirty in exchange for this," he tapped the parchment he was holding.
Harry smiled and nodded, "Of course, sir."
Vector handed the parchment to him, "If you do well on the problems, I may even grant you some extra credit for doing them."
Harry glanced over the parchment, "Thanks, sir, this was exactly what I was looking for. Will you need this back?"
Vector shook his head, "No, it's an extra from the forth-year class. You can keep it. Best find your seat, though."
Harry looked up and realized that while he'd been talking with the professor, the rest of the class had arrived. He took his seat between Hermione and Terry Boot, one of the Ravenclaws. Flipping his notebook for the class open to the right page, Harry quickly noted the extra assignment at the top of the page before taking his notes for the day.
He had to wait until lunch before looking over the hand-out Vector had given him.
The Heilzer-Burggent Ranking Scale
Anton Heilzer and Gustav Burggent
were two of the most prominent
wizards of the sixteenth century,
many consider them to be the founders
of modern arithmancy. Though
they made innumerable additions
to the uses and applications of
the field of arithmancy, their lasting
legacy is the Heilzer-Burggent
ranking scale. Previously, there
had been no concrete system
in place to rank the power level –
the amount of magical power present –
of a wizard.
It took the pair nearly forty years to finalize
the scale listed below. In order to find
where a particular wizard ranks
on this scale, one would use the
Heilzer-Burggent charm, listed at the
bottom of the page.
Muggles and other nonmagical beings………………0 – 8
Squibs………………………………………...………9 – 14
Sub-average wizards………………………………..15 – 25
Average wizards…………………………...………..25 – 32
Above average wizards……………………………..33 – 41
Sorcerers……………………………………………42 – 58
Magi………………………………………………...59 – 64
Warlocks…………………………………………...65 – 75
Adepts………………………………………………75 – 82
Masters……………………………………………...83 – 88
Grand-masters………………………………………89 – 96
Archmages………………………………………...96 – 100
The Heilzer-Burggent charm:
Incantation – Aperiomagus ordo
Wand motions:
Begin with a clockwise circular motion, once one
circuit is completed, end on a flick towards
the intended target. The flick should coincide with the
'd' sound in 'ordo.'
It should be noted that if this spell
is cast on a wizard who has not yet
finished their physical growth, the
results won't necessarily reveal
the target's final rank. A wizard's
power continues to grow as the wizard does.
"I guess that answers that question," Harry muttered to himself, looking over the ranking system.
"Hey, Harry, be a mate and pass the beans, would you?" Seamus interrupted.
Harry tucked the parchment back into his notebook and set to eating his lunch, promising himself that he would try out the spell that evening. He got his chance a little earlier than he'd expected. When he and the rest of the Gryffindor third-years finished with Self-Defense Strategies, they found a notice on the bulletin in the common room stating that due to an accident in the fifth-year's potions class, the regularly-scheduled quidditch practice was canceled. Harry winced a little because Fred, George, Alicia, and Angelina were all in that class. Noticing Wood out of the corner of his eye, he made sure to avoid all contact with their captain – he looked decidedly less-than-pleased.
Retreating to his dorm room, it didn't take long for Harry to figure out how to cast the spell on the hand-out. Casting it on himself, it caused small, blue, glowing numerals to appear on the handle of his wand. He noted down the number that had appeared, and returned to the common room. One by one, he managed to get the ranking of all the people who had helped him charm the clock originally, save for Fred and George, who were down in the hospital wing with Madam Pomfrey.
By Saturday morning, he'd gotten the twins' numerical ranking. He sat down and plugged the numbers into his equation, and when he finished working it out, he found himself disbelieving of a number comprised of that many digits; in painstaking, Hermione-esque writing, it covered a complete side of his notebook paper, ignoring the lines. "Dio de mia madre," Harry whispered in astonishment. "How the hell am I gonna match that, let alone exceed it?"
The only thing he could think of was to get everyone who'd helped the first time to help again. So, that evening, he tracked down everybody, and dragged them back to Myrtle's bathroom. He had the clock in his backpack. "Are you going to tell us what's so important that I had to leave my essay?" Hermione asked, looking rather put-out.
"Yeah, mate…" George began.
"…we were in the middle of something," Fred finished.
Harry spun on his heel to face everyone, his temper spiking, "I know y'all have better things to be doin' right now, but, damnit, I need y'all's help with this one! I know y'all don't wanna believe me about Lucius askin' me for help, an' I know most of y'all don't even care. Iffen it helps, think on it like this: he ain't askin' for y'all's help – I am! I can't get this damn thing fixed without you!" Harry angrily withdrew the broken clock from his bag. Everyone was giving each other uneasy glances; though most had seen Harry get angry with Draco before, none of them had been on the receiving end of his anger and it scared them. None of them failed to notice the way little static-shocks of magic seemed to sparkle in the air around their friend.
Neville stepped towards Harry, "Harry, calm down."
"I am calm!" Harry shouted.
Neville winced a little and then smiled, "If this is calm, then how are you normally? Sedated?"
Harry blinked and made an effort to breathe deeply. "Sorry," he finally said. "I didn't mean to get mad at y'all, but I really do need your help."
Neville stood by Harry and faced their friends, "Come on, guys, this didn't take long last time, and I'm sure it won't take long this time, either."
Sighing, Percy asked, "So… Just how do you plan on fixing the clock, Harry?"
Harry looked from the clock to Percy and replied, "Accommodare ephebus. I've already researched it, and that's the best spell I've found for this type of thing."
"Last time, we chained the magic before synching it through the twins," Hermione stated, almost whispering. "Should we do the same with this one?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah, that's why I needed everyone here. The only difference is that this time, I want to be included in the chain. All my resources said that the rejuvenation charm had to be equal or greater in power than the original spells that went into the clock's creation."
"That makes sense, I suppose," Hermione sighed. "Come on, then. The sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get on with what we're supposed to be doing."
As Neville had predicted, it only took a couple of minutes to do the spell on the clock. When it was done, most of the group headed back to what they were doing before Harry had interrupted them. Percy lingered. "You're absolutely sure you know what you're doing, Harry?"
Harry picked the clock up and put it back in his bag before answering. "I honestly have no idea, Perce. I just do what feels right, I don't know why, but I have to. I wouldn't be me if I didn't help when someone asked."
Percy shook his head, "I don't know if I understand, Harry."
Harry looked up, "I don't know if I really do, either. I just know I have to do this."
Percy looked as though he wanted to say something else, but just shook his head again. "Good luck, then."
Harry nodded, "Thanks."
Once Percy had left, Harry hurried back to Gryffindor tower. He knew that his room mates were going back out to the pitch, which is where he'd located them, to finish their pick-up quidditch game. Hermione had likely returned to the library, and Percy to his own dorm. Harry carefully sat the newly-repaired clock on his bed before digging out the notebook he'd been tracking the Lucius-issue in. He had just set his pen to the paper in preparation for asking his first question when there was a knock on the dorm door.
Setting the notebook next to the clock, he got up. The knocker was Ginny. "Oh, hey, Ginny. Whacha need?"
Ginny smiled a little. "I was wandering the castle a few minutes ago when I happened to see my brothers and your roommates, along with Hermione, all leave Myrtle's loo on the first floor." Her smile definitely had a curious edge to it.
Harry chuckled, he knew the expressions of his friends hadn't exactly been normal after his display of temper. "Come on in, Ginny."
Ginny entered the room, and took a seat on the edge of Ron's bed. "So that's the infamous clock, is it?"
Harry nodded, "Yeah. I had everyone help me fix it. I was just about to start questioning it when you knocked."
"Oh, I thought they were worried about helping fix it? Something about explosions or some such."
Harry shrugged, "I think I scared them into it."
Ginny giggled, "You?"
"If you don't believe me, ask Ron."
"If it's all the same to you, I'd rather ask Neville – Ron scares too easily."
Harry cocked an eyebrow, "That so?"
Ginny nodded, "Yeah, he's afraid of spiders, and slept with a night-candle until he was ten."
Harry had to laugh, "Really?"
"Yeah," Ginny replied, "though, personally, I think it's the twins' fault."
"I wouldn't doubt it," Harry said, reaching for the notebook. "You wanna help me?"
"Sure. What do you need me to do?"
"It's easiest if I ask the questions and read off the letters as it answers, you write the letters down as I say them, okay?"
Ginny took the notebook and Harry's never-out quill. "Sounds easy enough."
"It is," Harry said, turning his attention to the clock. Clearing his throat, he asked the same question he had started with the last time he'd talked to the clock, just to verify that it was, indeed, working properly. "What is your son's name?"
DRACONUS XAVIER LUCIEN MALFOY
Harry nodded, everything seemed to be working as it should. Is it my imagination or does the clock look more… polished? Shaking off the random thought, he moved on to his first real question. "What happened to you during the summer following your sixth year at Hogwarts that caused you to stop being friends with Molly Prewitt and Arthur Weasley?"
I WAS CURSED
"Who cursed you?" Harry asked, and saw that it wasn't his imagination, the clock was definitely more polished-looking than it had been when he'd taken it out of his bag mere minutes earlier.
NARCISSA BLACK
The dark red of the wood began to pale. Harry was a little concerned at that, but he needed the information, and knew it was unlikely that he'd get it anywhere else. "What curse did she use on you?"
THE IMPERIUS CURSE
By now the red cedar wood had faded to a light pink. Harry still didn't know what this meant, so he skipped ahead to the most important questions on his list. "Why did Narcissa curse you?"
SHE AND I WERE PROMISED WHEN WE WERE CHILDREN AND SHE DOESNT SHARE WHAT SHE SEES AS HERS
The last of the color faded completely. Harry looked closely at the clock and found that it was impossible to tell that it had been carved of wood. It now looked to be crafted from either crystal or glass. "How do you want me to help you?"
BREAK THE C
With a slight chiming noise the clock stopped completely. "Break the what?" Harry asked, hoping that he wasn't right about it having broken again.
The hand remained halfway between the T and U.
"Damnit," Harry swore.
"Let me guess, it stopped working?" Ginny looked up from the notebook.
Harry nodded, "I don't get it though… why'd it stop? And why'd it change?"
Ginny shrugged, "No clue. So… What are you going to do now?"
"Think, I reckon," Harry replied. "Spring break's not that far off, right?"
Ginny nodded, "Only another two weeks."
"That's not much time to do much of anythin'. I'll prob'ly leave this for now and come back to it after break's over with."
"Can I make a suggestion, Harry?" Ginny asked, handing him the notebook and quill. Harry nodded. "Take a real break. You're starting to look as worn-down as Hermione these days."
Harry gave her a small smile. "I know, an' I think you're right. I'm not going to work on this 'til break's finished. Sound good?"
Ginny nodded, "Yeah. Try to get Hermione to take a break, too. I think she could really use one."
Harry snorted, "You're welcome to talk to her about it if you want, Gin. I ain't gonna bug her 'bout it no more. The last time I said anything, she damn near bit my head off."
Ginny laughed at that and left Harry to his musing.
A/N2: I know the Scout oath is mildly misquoted, but Harry phrases it the way he does on purpose - he's the only non-Christian in his troop, and his Scout leader never noticed the minor rearrangement of the word 'my'. Thanks, as ever, to all my readers, reviewers, and my beta!
