Chapter 09
As soon as they apparated home, Elizabeth fixed a huge meal for Terry who devoured it in seconds. He was too hungry to note that Elizabeth barely sipped a glass of water, or to notice the large, brown bottle perched on the end of the table. When he finally did realise, he slapped his forehead and pushed his plate away in disgust.
"I am so sorry, Honey, is it that time already? Damn, come here," he called softly and wrapped both arms around the woman who was shaking slightly in anticipation of the coming ordeal. "Hey now, let's get set. What time do you have to take it? Seven thirty? Okay, that gives us an hour. How about you have a bath and I rub your back to relax you a bit."
She nodded and sighed, the tension easing under the stream of his fond and gentle chatter. The ordeal of the Wolfsbane was not so bad when Terry held her and soothed her. As seven thirty rolled around, she lay on the sofa with her head in Terry's lap, his strong fingers digging into the heavy rolls of muscle around her neck and shoulders. Exactly on time she swallowed the vile tasting potion, passing the empty bottle over to her mate who put it aside and summoned a soft wool blanket from the blanket box. They sat in silence, the radio playing softly in the background, Terry continuing to massage the tension away as the first of the tremors began.
The tiny tremors were almost imperceptible at first but they quickly built until they almost shook Elizabeth's heavy, sturdy body off the sofa. Terry hung on as best he could, knowing that the tremors would soon give way to the sweats which left his mate soaked and wrung out but even the sweats were better than the severe cramping that was about to ensue. The tortuous progress of the potion through Elizabeth's system had horrified him the first time she allowed him to witness it. Other werewolves took the potion and just had to refuse food for half an hour, but not if a person was allergic to Demiguise hair. That unfortunate allergy made Elizabeth's taking of the potion an ordeal that had caused Terry to try and make her refuse it. She had simply laughed at him and told him, in no uncertain terms, that the problems the potion caused were miniscule compared to the actual changes being a werewolf caused.
The horrific reaction lasted for a good hour and by the end of it, Terry was almost as exhausted as Elizabeth. They managed to drag themselves from the sofa and helped each other up the stairs to their bedroom where they collapsed into bed. Terry cast a quick cleaning charm over them both before they curled up together and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.
oo0oo
"You need to ask your Alpha Female to go with you."
The statement was startling and brought Terry up short. "My… what?"
"Your Alpha Female, you know, Lady Malfoy. She is more intelligent than you, much as you may dislike hearing that. She has insights that most people miss. You should take her with you into the Archives and see what she thinks of these blank spots," Elizabeth said calmly, brushing her long black hair and watching his reactions in the mirror.
Terry opened his mouth then paused, considering. "Maybe. Hermione is better at putting two and two together than most people, and yes, I concede, better than me too," he added, stalking up behind his mate and licking her cheek, making her giggle.
"You can call her from here if you like, I had the floo opened the other day when you didn't come home," Elizabeth told him, spinning around and catching him off-balance to pull him into her lap and nuzzle his neck lovingly. Moon had passed without incident, both of them spending the time in play and affectionate games, which had only brought them closer and cemented their relationship for all time. "I like that aftershave, it's really good."
Terry chuckled. "No aftershave, just soap and water," he remarked, nuzzling back. "I don't know if she would be allowed into the Archive but it is too good an opportunity to pass up. I hope Draco will let her come, he might not like the idea of putting her in jeopardy for something as hazy as my suspicions."
"Her mate will do as he is told, most do," Elizabeth stated comfortably, making Terry snort with laughter.
oo0oo
"If anything happens to her, Boot, you are a dead man, a slow and painfully dead man, do you understand?" Lord Draco Malfoy said, pointing his wand at the Ravenclaw with deadly intent.
Hermione shook her head and pointedly pushed his wand off to the side. "That's enough now, children. Nothing will happen and we'll be fine. So, is this the entrance, Terry? Do we have enough food and water for a couple of days? What about healing potions and nutritional supplement potions? Good, then we are all set. Let's go. Oh, and Draco, do make sure Lysander has his nap this afternoon, he is a terror if you don't."
"Yes, dear," Draco drawled, pulling a disgusted face while Elizabeth folded her arms defensively and nodded to her mate.
Terry smiled back and blew her a kiss as he opened the door and slipped inside, chivalry out the window in the face of the territory they were entering. Blue Archival light immediately surrounded him, crawling over his arms and hands and over the shelves like a friendly blanket. Hermione, on the other hand, felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise swiftly, her wand readying to counteract the threat she could not see in the pitch darkness that blanketed them.
"Can we have some light?" she asked softly, the 's' seeming to echo in the cavernous space she sensed around her.
"Light? But it's as bright as… oh, maybe not. Lucretia had the same problem when she came in with me, too. Can't you see the blue foxfire everywhere?" Terry asked curiously as soon as he turned and saw her wide, staring eyes.
"No, it's really, really dark and somewhat hostile to me, an odd feeling. I am about to cast 'lumos'… Humm, rather pathetic, isn't it? But at least I can now see. Whoa! Books! Millions and billions of them!" she exclaimed, awe and delight colouring her tone, enough to make Terry grin despite the pale and pasty light he saw at the tip of her wand.
"Welcome to the Archive, the best working environment in the world, especially for an ex-Ravenclaw," he bowed slightly and took her arm companionably. "This section is mostly the monthlies, trade journals and faculty publications; the Daily Prophet is stored off to the left and the Quibbler just after that. The Witches Weekly is to the right and Go Potions is beyond that again. The Herbologist's Digest is above us, relatively, and the Collector's Guide to Collections is below. You don't want to know what comes further along, believe me." He smirked and Hermione cocked an eyebrow before catching his drift.
"Brat! So, where is this 'hole' you are talking about? How long will it take to get there?"
Terry frowned then offered his hand. "Usually a few minutes but I don't know if the Archive will transport you as it does me. Hold on tight and we'll see." He grasped her hand and touched the shelf as if he was alone. Hermione let out a squeak and grabbed a handful of his robes as they were swept along, even though Terry realised it was the shelves moving and not them. "Well, that answers that question," he remarked as Hermione seemed to settle a bit and grow a bit more confident with their mode of travel.
As they approached the hole, Terry slowed them down and allowed Hermione to collect herself. She peered ahead, the wand light slowly becoming brighter as they approached the empty space in the archive. Terry watched in interest as the lumos spell began to compete with the blue luminescence he was able to see so easily.
"… As if there were a more common type of magic present here, rather than the type of Magic the Archive uses to preserve the books…" Hermione mused as they slowed and stopped, Terry pressing a hand into the luminous wall and testing its density. "Tell you what, you just do whatever it is you do and I will try a few things to see what I can find out, okay?"
"Sounds fine to me," Terry agreed with a quick smile.
Terry chose to ignore the busy Gryffindor as he encouraged the blue fox fire to coat the fragile manuscripts and slowly restore the more badly damaged ones to a readable condition. He knew it would take a long time for this part of the Archives to be fully restored but a little encouragement didn't hurt matters. He invaded the empty space and dropped handfuls of the blue luminescence at strategic points on the premise that it would act like seeds to encourage the rest of the blue to invade and recolonise the space.
Hermione watched the tall Ravenclaw work around the books and manuscripts, smoothing them with his hands and gathering some unseen something up to plaster it over the damaged spines. Watching them revitalise was like watching a time-lapse film run backwards, fascinating and sort of spooky, she thought, then laughed at her silly notion. She wondered what sort of magic the Ravenclaw was channelling and rummaged around in her encyclopaedic memory to find a spell that might reveal what he was working with. The hair on the back of her neck was continuously prickling, almost the same way as it did when Harry was throwing a fit and dragging the magic out of their surroundings or… She paused and bit her lip, analysing the last thought before casting to detect any Elemental activity. There was a faint trace of Elemental power but not enough to indicate the presence of one of the major sprites but the spell limned Terry, highlighting a very faint current swirling around his hands. Fascinated, Hermione refined the spell and concentrated on the limping figure, which was now grasping handfuls of nothingness and smearing them onto the shelves.
"Terry, what are you doing now, exactly?" she asked, squinting through the spell haze she had created.
Starting slightly, Terry turned to grin at his schoolmate having almost forgotten her presence in his concentration. "Sorry… humm, I guess I am distributing the bioluminescence around to make sure all the manuscripts have their share and the badly damaged ones have more than their fair share. I am also dragging the living light into the dead space to encourage the rest of the illumination to spread and take up the space."
"What if I told you, you weren't? What if I told you, you were spinning raw magic out of what seems like nothing? What…"
"What? Nah, come on, that isn't possible!" Terry exclaimed, turning to face her properly. "I'm not that strong, Hermione, you know that, just an average wizard, nothing powerful, not like the big guns."
Hermione made an impatient noise. "I have seen Harry tear the raw magic from the very stones and the earth, streamers of it in blue and purple and green but even he cannot do what you are doing now. I think… I think you are creating raw magic, Terry, actually making the raw materials, not taking them from something else. Its, it's a rather scary thought." She paused and took a deep breath. "Look, no one knows where the magic comes from, only that everything has magic. We use the tame magic, channel it and shape it to our wills, using our wands as a focus. That's how wizards and witches work, but you aren't doing that, you are actually 'emitting' raw magic, of a very specialised spectrum. The magic in the Archives is somewhat hostile to humans which is why most people are uncomfortable with it but you are using magic I have never seen before, not tame, not wild, not Elemental but something else again, raw Archival magic maybe. Its obviously a rare gift as there aren't that many Archivists but, Terry, I do assure you, it is not something you should spread around."
They paused, staring at each other, the ramifications of the young woman's speculation echoing ominously in the stillness. If Terry could create magic from nothing then what if that gift were harnessed for a less useful purpose than to preserve their heritage? What if someone discovered a way to use that gift to strengthen their own magic…
"My God, that's why…"
They both stumbled to a halt, remembering the odd incidents during the war when Terry's research group had managed to work for a straight ninety hours without ending up completely shattered, although Terry had been in the worst shape of them all at the end of the marathon session.
"This is dangerous knowledge, Terry Boot, very dangerous knowledge indeed. For the sake of all you hold dear, do not let the Ministry discover your talent," Hermione warned in soft, horrified tones.
Terry covered his mouth in equal horror, their combined intelligence running scenarios faster than the usual methodical plodding most others managed. "Al must have the same talent for spinning magic as he sees the blue too. I wonder if all Archivists have had the same gift. It would explain a lot, if they had."
"Regardless, you need to put it out of your mind, forget how it works or what it does, only that it is Archival magic, only useful in the Archives and never outside of the stacks." Hermione reiterated firmly, giving his arm a small shake.
Huffing deeply, Terry nodded agreement, a wry smile twisting his lips. "Trust me to have a fantastic new gift that no one can know about. Still, it is kinda cool, don't you think." He grinned then laughed as Hermione wrinkled her nose at his silliness.
"Yes, I suppose it is," she agreed then shivered. "I don't know about you, but I am freezing and hungry. How about we break out the rations before we go tossing the Magical world on its ear anymore?"
"Sounds like a plan," Terry replied with a nod.
oo0oo
The hole was small, merely a few feet across and Terry managed to kill the green light without the help of the Archival beast, which was conspicuously absent. Hermione used her wand to study the books that had been desiccated in the affected area and pursed her lips thoughtfully. "These are texts dealing with goblin etiquette and interactions, how interesting. Terry, don't you find it strange that, wherever these holes eat up some of the Archival magic, then in the outside world, those areas become open to speculation, exploitation and suppression?"
Frowning thoughtfully, Terry scooped up some luminescence and slapped it over the powdery spines of the texts. "Maybe the Archive stabilises that knowledge and keeps it from being exploited outside, maybe, if it loses its steady base we, as magic users can warp it and change it to our own ends. You know what they say? Once something is written down it becomes set in stone and unchangeable. What if that saying was based in fact; that, once something is put into the archives, it becomes stable and unchangeable, that trying to warp it to another end becomes impossible unless it is changed at the source, here in the archive?"
Hermione shook her head and frowned. "Again, that sort of speculation better not fall into the hands of the Minister or we are all dead. Whoever is in power could make themselves invincible simply by rewriting the laws and filing them in the archive before they can be tested in the Wizengamot for legality."
"Isn't that what they are doing with the laws against magical creatures?" Terry snapped angrily. "The magic is dead in the law section, killed somehow, and I wonder if it was not done deliberately now. No laws passed in the last hundred years have been put through the Archive because the law section has been opened up and the lawyers allowed to run riot in there, pulling the Archival texts off the shelves and treating them like… like… like library books!"
Hermione couldn't help herself, she giggled. It was the first time she had ever heard the words 'library books' used as a curse. Still, she understood his sentiment and nodded even as she laughed. "It would explain a lot, wouldn't it? So, how do we change the world?"
"Through the Archives, of course," Terry said flatly as they gathered their things and prepared to leave.
