Declaration: I write for my own pleasure and not for profit. I do not own Harry Potter Universe.
With You by My Side
Chapter 29- Doing What Was Long Overdue
Harry and Hermione were not known for subtlety when they were working to be the best in whatever they could and training to save their lives was no different. Now with the addition of a competent defense teacher, they began dueling with two opponents in professors Flitwick and Lupin, not that they could even manage to hit any one of them but they were getting better at evading the curses. The students could hold out for about a couple of minutes and that too when the more experienced fighters were feeling generous. They realized that they needed an advantage and fast, having a secondary defense like the gauntlet they were trying to develop could go a long way in helping them last long enough to gather their wits, even if as a means of escape.
By now with Madam Bones helping them, Harry and Hermione outfitted themselves with dragon hide armour and Hermione also had a dagger with a slightly longer blade than normal added to her defensive measures. The dagger was Goblin made courtesy of a generous gesture from them at professor Flitwick's insistence. Training with blades, Hermione with her dagger and Harry with Gryffindor's sword, was now added to their magical dueling too and that gave them a distinct advantage over professor Lupin who could now be defeated under their combined assault and superior reflexes at dodging. Professor Flitwick however was a very different matter, he was an expert in using a sword too and the students were no match him, but that only increased their determination to do well.
What was puzzling to both the teachers and the students though was that when Harry was injured during a duel, he could still fight without much trouble, if the injury was not debilitating. They were surprised to see that his injuries were slowly healing even without any intervention. The one time he was injured in a fight and Hermione was not near him, he was quickly taken out of the fight; something was helping him when Hermione was either holding his hand or was near him when he was injured. Her mere presence was somehow protecting him from serious blood loss or the injury itself, but for the life of them they could not understand why. Their propensity to stay near the other, whether it was started by sheer providence, coincidence, or by an unbidden act from their magic, now held a new meaning for them. Even though he was slightly inconvenienced with her holding his hand, they were now more willing not to let go and as they say practice makes perfect. They began to duel with that handicap in earnest so that they would not be inconvenienced when they really need to fight for their lives.
Going home for the Easter break was given up for putting time into their training and also catch up to their lagging projects. For the first time in their young lives, Harry and Hermione felt as if they had taken on more than they could manage. They were really not as concerned with examinations as the others of their age were; Hermione had finally agreed that it was the O. and N.E. that they had to really do well in. Even then it was not as if they would do poorly in the end of the second year exams, they just needed to brush up on the subject and viola they would be ready to stand at the very top of their year again. Their main aim was to introduce as many innovations or ideas as they could and leave the development of related products to the employees of their company; yes they were innovators but first and foremost, they would like to think of themselves as connoisseurs of rare and long forgotten knowledge.
"Come on Hermione, we have the summer to rest, all the time if we want to. Colin is depending on us" Harry goaded a sluggish Hermione after a very intense training session on the first day into their short break. They would obviously not be able to practice magical dueling during the summer and that would give them ample time with only physical training, a little reading and learning to wield the blades better to work on. Little did he know that their summer would not be as leisurely as he hoped for after getting to know about Professor Lupin's furry little problem, but not too busy also.
Harry and Hermione wanted to help out Colin in his pursuit of photography. Taking pictures was easy but developing them was not, and unfortunately there was no automation yet in the wizarding world, a problem that they were keen on tackling at least when it came to developing photographs. Unfortunately, their newly discovered enthusiasm for druidical magic did not bail them out this time as the materials they were working with were man made and not in their natural form.
The answer came in the form of ancient runes. The third years required to pick up at least two electives out of the five offered and naturally Harry and Hermione picked up the three which they thought would be the most useful, Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, and Care of Magical Creatures.
Runes were very versatile and unlike the 'DRunes' had a strict structure that had to be followed. They were more like the alphabet of magic and a combination of different runes could be used in rituals, wards, or in complex magic that could not be performed by mere incantations. The runes that were needed for a specific task are generally inscribed on a single surface and are connected by their proximity.
The camera used in the magical world looked like a museum piece with a flash that was either held in the other hand or attached to the camera with a piece of pipe that would keep it a small distance away from the camera. This was necessary to ensure that the entire tableau that would last for about 10 seconds was captured in its proper setting; the flash was not for illumination rather to signal the end of the scene.
The roll of film used to capture the image or in this case a short movie was very similar to its non-magical counterpart, with each frame being separated by thin space for ease of separation. Colin had to wait for the entire film to be finished before he could develop the pictures and then it was a race, sometimes lasting the whole night.
Minor Break
"We used the channeling rune and made minor modifications to the concept" Harry and Hermione were explaining their innovation called an 'Instamatic Tableau' to their friends. Along with the three professors commonly seen in the 'den', the professor teaching 'Ancient Runes' was also present on this occasion by invitation.
Hermione had a schematic up in the center of the room and in front of the audience for ease of understanding. "We used a combination of channeling rune and the direction rune, but instead of channeling magic in a specific direction, we modified the channeling rune to send the 'Activate' spell in a particular direction."
Professor Babbling was flabbergasted, "The runes are not tinkered with, how was it possible for you to modify a rune?"
"You know that each element in a rune is meant to be for a particular action, right?" Harry questioned, but this was more for the benefit of the others who were not familiar with runes rather than the professor. Getting a nod of acceptance he continued, "What was forgotten after all these years was that before taking shape, a rune could be deconstructed many times and tinkered with. That was how the alphabet was first made; it was not the work of one person but developed over many years, centuries even."
The professor was ecstatic now, "But that was a lost art, how on earth did you get your hands on that information?"
Hermione gave her boyfriend a sly grin, "Being Harry Potter has its advantages, we wrote to people asking for information about lost and forgotten runes, but imagine our surprise when we got information on how to construct your own runes instead." What she did not say was that it was Nicholas Flamel who gave them that bit of training. Hedwig had done a load of flying but in the end, Harry and Hermione were now quite knowledgeable in that field, they were nowhere near mastery or even to their teacher's standard but they could safely tinker with existing runes. Their enquiry into that amazing art also injected some much needed fire into the aged Alchemist who demanded the two students to let him into their company or at least into their plans and secrets so that he may make some meaningful contribution instead of revisiting his memories.
"So I guess you had runes for the spell, its activation, direction rune and finally your modified rune to channel the spell to a target?" It was monumental; they were called 'Ancient Runes' for a reason and they were unchanged for centuries since they were extensively used.
Harry agreed, "We partnered the direction rune with the numbering aspect providing an order in which the target runes get activated. The target runes were of course placed at a different location totally separated from the initial source array."
"We like to call these rune arrays" Hermione interjected.
Once the frame was exposed, a low powered cutting charm is activated inside the camera that separates the frame. It is then rolled up, put under stasis, and then banished to the developing unit. They did not test the range between the camera and the developing unit, but as far as they could guess, it could be put anywhere inside the castle grounds and Colin could still move around without a problem.
The developing unit has another 'rune array' that would time the process and then send it to the next stage which included washing steps and finally printing the image on a specialized parchment before being dried and ejected out. It was funny to see the joy on Colin's face when the photograph of the group with professor Babbling sitting in the room was spitted out unceremoniously while he was still in the process of understanding the entire process that Harry and Hermione elaborated.
They even supplied the diagrams of the different 'rune arrays' that they designed to professor Babbling who was still in denial, "It's just not done, runes were not meant to be distributed among different surfaces, they have to be on a single surface to work. That's how it had always been" she sputtered.
Harry poured cold, well in this case it might have been hot water on her skepticism, "but it did work, didn't it?"
She had no other option but to give her grudging acceptance, it was one of those occasions that a student overshadowed a professor in her own subject area. Harry and Hermione though sent their drawings and the concept to Nicolas who not only looked at them but apparently put them through their paces before allowing them to be etched onto the camera surface. He however refrained from taking any credit in the manuscript they were planning; he was supposed to be dead to the world after all.
"Tell me again why you want me to teach you a subject that you apparently were well versed in?" asked an exasperated professor. Harry exchanged a glance with his partner and they shrugged their shoulders in unison, it was a good point indeed something which they had to give serious thought to.
An ecstatic Colin led the eight students out of the room clutching a new found prize like it was the most valuable item in his possession and maybe it was. Harry and Neville lugged the ungainly developing unit back to the Gryffindor first year boy's dorm, if only there was a way to miniaturize it like the camera from Polaroid. Harry bought a new camera with the help of Professor Lupin and crafted the developing unit along with Hermione as a gift for the photography buff. Who knows, they might have to use his services in their future experiments to document their results.
The teachers sat in the relative silence each mulling over their own thoughts; some were of admiration while some were disbelief towards 'The Potters' as Harry and Hermione have been increasingly referred to among the staff. There was a hint of concern too, even though they were still not showing any signs, they were wondering when the two of them would reach their breaking point; Harry and Hermione were still kids and just into their teens after all; in case of Harry even not that yet.
The professor who was relatively new to Harry and Hermione's propensity to innovate broke into the thoughts of the others, "What they did was never even thought about. Never in my experience did I hear about using a channeling rune to link others from two different surfaces that do not have a common space, to do a common function."
McGonagall agreed, "This idea is going to revolutionize the subject."
"I suggest that you have them in your class for the first few weeks and then start working with them independently to see if their novel idea could be used in any other context to make lives simple. I mean it would not be fair on other students if you have to go at the pace set by Harry and Hermione. On the other hand, holding them back is not a good idea too" Flitwick opined.
"Oh! Don't forget to ask them to publish this concept. If I know them, they would want to and maybe even started to work on it, but you asking them would provide the legitimacy they need as they are still students here. That would ensure that they would also come to you if they have any clarifications and get it checked by you too" the deputy headmistress asked of her colleague, a request that Professor Babbling was only happy to accede to. It was many years since she had her name on a research paper and on something this ground breaking would look good on her. Of course, the name 'Harry Potter' would obviously overshadow all others but still….
Professor Lupin began scratching his head in bewilderment, "Where do they have the time to do all this?"
"Good question" Flitwick remarked before continuing, "Hmm…. Let's see! They spend about two hours in the morning alternatively on physical fitness and dueling with magic and blades, then about half an hour in the evening exclusively with each other, doing what couples do, walking around the lake or on the grounds and catch six hours of sleep. Rest of the time they spend with books or teaching others. I believe that they even read in the class, after they finish the day's work of course."
"I think they divide the subject matter between themselves so as to cover the most ground. They trust each other implicitly and that might make covering a wide range of subjects easy for them" professor McGonagall mused out loud.
Lupin had a fond smile, "James and Lily would be so proud; not to mention Lily would also be fidgeting at Harry not getting enough rest or enjoying his life as a kid."
Professor Flitwick chuckled, "If you ask them they would say that they are enjoying; learning and discovering new things is what amuses them, not every day kids' stuff."
"I am sure Emma Granger would throw a fit if she knew about her daughter's schedule" Remus Lupin quipped much to everyone's amusement.
Scene Break
"Ron! Why do you want to study only when the exams are near?" Ginny began ranting at him as soon as he caught up with them on their way to the library, pestering them in helping him out.
Ron was his usual nonchalant self, "What do you mean? You need to study only when the exams are near, otherwise you would forget what you already studied and then you need to do it again. Why bother, when you can do it before the exams?"
"Do you mean that you study only for passing the exams Ronald?" Luna was not to be left alone, she remembered Ron from the time she used to go to the Burrow and play with Ginny. Ron was never serious when it came to doing his chores; he was always for procrastination.
Ron was baffled, "Why else do you study, for passing the exams only isn't it?"
"Do you mean you forgot everything that you studied in the first year?" his sister was having a ball nagging her elder brother for a change. When at home he was the one to dump all his work on her, she was now itching for some revenge.
Coming from his sister he knew that it was a tricky question, he would be in trouble either way he answered so tried to push his way through, "All that stuff we read in the books are of no use anyway. I need to know what kind of spell I need to use when I need and that's all there is."
Harry had to intervene now, "That's not how it works Ron; our O. are designed to test us on everything we learnt in the first five years. You need to know the theory behind each spell or the different concepts you learnt in the previous years."
Ron paled at that idea but he was undeterred, he would worry about the O. when the time came, he had to pass this year first, "… but you are all going to the library to study, why can't you help me at the same time?"
Neville has had enough, "We are going to research for some extra credit Ron, not for the exams. You could tag along and help us if you want to."
"I am worried about the exams and you guys are thinking about extra credit, mental you all are!" he exclaimed.
That was the wrong this to say and in front of Hermione too, her scars about teasing and bullying ran deep. With Harry's help she got over it but now anyone trying to point out her studious nature would get a blowup in their face instead. Ginny knew these signs and so hastily cut him off, "We do our work when it's assigned and study ahead and so have time to win some extra credit. Now go back to the common room and open your books, I am going to come and quiz you on the first year material. It would be a refresher for me too."
Ron looked at her in shock and betrayal written on his features, "You wouldn't dare!"
"Oh! You forget that I am the sister of the twins, Ron. I can get them to help me too if needed" she threatened back. That was all it took for Ron to realize that she was serious and including the twins, he shudder at the thought of what they could do to him if they learn that he was barely keeping up with his work. Deciding that discretion was indeed the better part of valour he hastened to get out of sight.
Hermione brought her emotions under control quickly, "Thanks Ginny, somehow that rubbed me wrong."
"No problem Hermione. It's just that Ron either has a real problem with his ability to understand things or he is way too lazy for his own good."
They resumed their way to the library when Harry spoke up, "You know in the non-magical world there are people who play chess as their sole profession. Whenever they participate in a tournament they get paid and if they win they can reap a gold mine."
That was shocking to their friends who were raised only in the magical world. "Not only sports but even photographers like me can sell their pictures for quite a good bit of money" Colin piped in.
"Sometimes the government or even private individuals fund bright young people and encourage them to pursue their passion. Doing well in their school is not for everyone; athletes, artists, musicians, even researchers get help. It eventually becomes their livelihood" Hermione added.
This was all new and eye opener for Neville, he expected that there are some common professions in both the worlds like artists and musicians, but getting paid to play chess was unexpected. "Not that I would have regretted it but I was almost resigned to grow potion ingredients in my green house for a living before the letter came."
Luna gave him a bright smile, "Even though my father has a successful newspaper, he goes hunting for rare and exotic animals as a naturalist. I have even accompanied him on some of the expeditions, especially after my mother died. I may continue that after I graduate, maybe Colin can come and take pictures for me." She batted her eyelids at the blushing boy increasing his discomfort and causing a few subdued chuckles from their friends. They were now in the library and they dared not risk the ire of the librarian, she was usually lenient with their group but it was not appropriate any way.
"I wish there was something like that for Ron to do, something that interests him a lot and earn him money at the same time" Ginny sighed a little wistfully.
Harry and Hermione exchanged their trademark look, one that spoke volumes without a need for words, "Ginny, do you want to talk to your parents and maybe talk them into letting Ron play professionally in the non-magical world. That is after he finishes his Hogwarts education of course; he still has to learn a lot about the other world so that he could at least move around passably, we could hook him up with a 'second' who would take care of the organization and stop him from making major mistakes in that world."
Ginny beamed at them, "If that works, he need not worry about getting the best grades and still standout from his brothers, which was his greatest worry. I will talk to my parents first and then to Ron during the summer. Thanks guys!"
"We need the locator charm for sure" Luna spoke out of the blue drawing them back to their main focus for now. That brought everyone out of their thoughts and began the quest for research material on cartography, security charms, and advanced spell books in general.
Looking through the details for making a functional map and its complexity Harry wondered if the castle could provide them with one and he was not really surprised when he got an answer in the affirmative. "Well, that's a load off our work." He explained what the castle told him and added, "I propose that we add the secret passages as well as the chamber of secrets in it so that we will be able to monitor them, not the area where the central ward stone is located of course."
"Do not worry about that young heir; it is protected by magic that is older than me. You will be told about it when you are ready." He maintained a stoic face when this was projected into his mind so none of the others were wiser, all except for Hermione who instinctively knew that his mind was occupied elsewhere. She did not raise the point thought as she knew that Harry would tell her about that later, after all there were no secrets between them.
With everyone pitching in they made quick progress on the basic design of the map and how to integrate the identification and locator charms into the map. They were relieved to learn that it was a very simple task for them to do that as the castle wards always tracked each and every one inside the castle, and all Harry had to do was to request Hogwarts to project them onto the map parchment; their locator and identification charms doing the rest.
"I wish we could include a feature that would tell us if the person was in their animagus form" Padma sighed a little wistfully.
"That would be a problem as we are basing our detection on the wards that are active, I am not sure that we would be allowed to change them per our convenience" Michael added a bit sarcastically.
"It's true that our detection is based on the wards, but we have to remember that the weight of the person changes when they shift to their animal form" Neville was quick to defend the one who was quickly becoming a close friend to him, if not more.
Hermione looked excited, everyone was waiting for some insight from her but they were disappointed when she went off on a tangent, "I always wondered how our theory on mass conservation would work when it comes to animagus transformation. Do you think that the mass to energy component comes into play?" she wondered.
It certainly was something to think about but Harry took pity on their bewildered friends, "Hermione! This is not the time or place for that intellectual exercise sweetheart."
"I am sorry guys" she apologized with a sheepish look on her face.
Susan gave her a reassuring smile, "It's quite alright Hermione. We all know how passionate you are on what interests you, but Harry is right, Can you please keep it to when you are alone please?"
"Hey! I am not going to spend time discussing such serious stuff during my alone time with Hermione" Harry retorted in mock indignation. That took the heat of Hermione while everyone had a laugh at Harry's expense, for which she was thankful and gave his hand an extra squeeze promising an extra special snog later.
Luna brought the topic back to their work, "This book says that the aura of a person undergoes a subtle change when they shift into their more primal form. The shift could be detected using either wards that are generally erected to identify a person based on their magical signature or even using the 'Aura Probe' you two designed."
Harry slapped his forehead in frustration, "You are correct Luna, I totally forgot!"
"That's why friends are for Harry" she replied without missing a beat. This depending on friends was totally new for both Harry and Hermione, not used to them while growing up, but so were the others in their group. Well, Ginny had her brothers and Susan had Hannah but the others were just like them, growing up alone. They will have to be make allowances for this new camaraderie, well that's what growing up was about, wasn't it?
Hermione was busy scribbling everything down, "We will have to assume that the aura that we detect most of the time is their human form and the change their animal form."
"It's not a perfect method but that's all we got" Harry agreed.
Hannah interjected, "We have to make sure that even if we activate the map after the change, it would still show them as being in their animagus form."
"This is all fine for credits; we all know how more we want if Ravenclaw has to beat you two, what good will this be really? I know your father and his friends used it for sneaking around….." Padma
Harry sighed, "That was really a perversion of a very useful tool. I intend to make it a regular security feature of the castle. Hopefully, this will not lie around rolled up but displayed prominently in the head's office or maybe with a security officer. We all know we need one, what with the teachers taking time out from their busy schedules for patrolling and Mr. Filch more interested in punishing students." What only Hermione knew was the plan for a more comprehensive one with the ability to monitor ward strength tied into it too. Then if needed Harry could repair a weakened ward or make them more compact by removing unnecessary ones that had accumulated over the years. This would also reduce the load on the keystone and not only prolong its life but would generally strengthen the wards overall. With the power distributed over countless wards, it was a testimony to the amount of magic the castle had accumulated over the years; any other defense that was stressed to such an extent would have crumbled long ago.
He was also thinking about a feature which could tell if a student was injured or could actually alert the one who was watching the map that a student needed help just by uttering a code word. That was the long term goal of the map; he wanted to make the castle the safest place possible on earth, just like the professors of the school canvass it to be. When it would be the time for him to be in charge of the safety of the students, that's what he would ensure for all.
Minor Break
"Ready to dole out your promised credits, professor?" Susan had a gleam in her eyes that was mirrored by the others too. Only their refraining from rubbing their hands together gave it a more anticipatory look rather than a predatory one.
Professor Lupin got into the act, "Goods first my dear."
With a flourish Harry removed a parchment roughly the size of an A4 sheet of paper, rolled and tied up neatly with a ribbon and a bow. Hermione cleared the table in the middle of their den and helped Harry untie the knot and the map miraculously straightened itself.
"Self-straightening and sticking charm" she grinned at the surprised expressions on the faces of the three professors.
Harry cleared his throat and began the explanation, "Right, it has the usual strengthening, impervious and other protection charms; it's practically indestructible. Hermione, want to do the honours?"
Hermione swiped her right index finger on a small square on the center of the seemingly blank piece of parchment. It immediately got a life of its own and began to grow covering the entire surface of the table which was roughly four feet by four. "We could have gone for a much larger size but then there would be no limit for that, so we went with the size of this table here" she explained.
The parchment was bigger yes, but the only difference they could see was that the number of small blank squares like the one Hermione used to activate the map was more in number and positioned at the bottom of the map in a line. She touched the one on the extreme left, "This one activates the map to show the castle and grounds" and just like that the parchment was filled with lines showing both the grounds and the castle to scale. It was filled with names that were hardly legible due to their sheer numbers but most of them were concentrated in a few well known places like the library or the common rooms.
"As you can see, it would be difficult to see so many names so we added a feature that will enhance a particular area. For example, only the castle" Hermione touched a different square to activate it and the entire area was covered only by the castle she began touching the grouped squares in order scrolling through the different floors then she moved on to, "The library, infirmary, Great hall, kitchen, Ravenclaw common room, Slytherin common room… well you get the picture."
She then went through the different areas on the grounds like the area around the black lake, Hagird's hut, the forbidden forest both around it and inside. The work that went into the map was more complex than the professors imagined or asked for.
"It's a wonderful tool now; I wonder if you did this with an eye on the castle safety, Harry?" professor McGonagall heaped praise on the eight students who did work hard. Harry acknowledged that it was so and the rest of them thanked her with beaming smiles on their faces.
"Why did you go with these boxes, I think that they recognize your magical signature?" Professor Flitwick asked.
Professor Lupin agreed, "We used voice activation for our map, say the password and it activates, wrong password and it will write out insults." His voice carried a hint of pride at that, whether it was for their accomplishment or for the insult part, it was hard to decide.
Harry gave Hermione a knowing smile, "I guess you used the principle of a command activated portkey?" Professor Lupin looked so gob smacked, he could not even articulate a reply.
"The portkey activation is just a 'yes or no' situation; the correct password activates it, if we had to put in voice recognition it needed artificial intelligence" Hermione explained. When the others looked at her in confusion, Harry waved their question away with "Non-Magical science."
"Really Remus, insults!" the deputy headmistress chastised him.
She got a sheepish smile in return but a vehement, "We were fifteen" in his own defense.
"… and these are barely thirteen" professor Flitwick came back at him as strong. "He does have a point though; the boxes do not have any identification, it becomes a hassle to remember all of them."
Hermione gave him a sly smile, "I can see the names professor."
The diminutive professor's non-existent eyebrows disappeared into his equally absent hairline, "Amazing! Only the one who activated the map could see them?" he half stated.
"Added security" was Harry's reply. What he did not say though was that if either Hermione or he would activate the map, both of them could use it without restriction; it was always open to both of them.
In the ensuing silence, Hermione deactivated all the features and when the map was showing the default view with the castle and the grounds, she began, "We know how confusing the map could be with the different floors and everything else. In an emergency looking for single person would be difficult and time consuming. So we added a locator feature and the beauty of this is that if the person was located in an unmarked area, the map would guide you to that place. If the person was not present within the reach of this map, then the map would stay just the way it was now. This is the only feature that is voice activated; just saying the given name followed by the family name is enough to start the search." They would not want the map to switch to a different person during their search just because his name was called out loud during their interaction, with the map activated.
"Pick a name" Harry offered it to the room in general.
Professor Lupin was the first, as if he was shot out of a gun, "Peter Pettigrew" he growled looking at the map but nothing happened.
Harry shrugged with a barely audible "What the heck" nodded at Hermione who enunciated, "Peter Pettigrew."
No one was prepared for the shock though, as the map suddenly began changing and rapidly shifted to the Gryffindor tower. There, within the area prominently highlighted as 'Second Year Boys' Dorm- Gryffindor Tower', was a dot marked 'Peter Pettigrew'.
The shocked silence was broken by Neville who exclaimed, "That is Ron's bed!"
Ginny reacted to that and with an "Oh!" tried to touch the map forgetting that it was keyed only to Harry and Hermione, the others declining a copy for themselves, "What do we need it for?" was their reason, which was true. She got a mild stinging hex for her efforts, an added safety feature that would force the snatcher to drop the map and when that happens, the map would be banished to a predetermined area.
Shouts of "Ginny!" were liberally thrown at the redhead some in sympathy while some were in exasperation.
"Sorry Hermione, can you check for the animagus function?" Ginny did not show any reaction to the hex in her eagerness at the horrific possibility that a killer might have been living with them for some years now.
Catching on quickly, Hermione touched a different square, and lo and behold, a sickly purple dot appeared beside the regular black dot. "This means that the aura is not purely human" Harry elaborated for the benefit of the professors.
"Scabbers!" Ginny breathed in disgust.
Professor Lupin became a busy body all of a sudden, "Come on! What are we waiting for, let's go grab him" he exclaimed.
While everyone there wanted to see justice done, Harry stopped the DADA professor from running off, "Professor Wait, I want to see him captured too but we will do this by the book. I want Madam Bones to be the one arresting him not a bunch of us, besides if you rush in to the boys dorm, it may alert him and as he is in his rat form, escape would not be much of a problem for him."
"But…. But" he stuttered under the fierce glare of the deputy headmistress but then he recovered as inspiration struck, "You have James' cloak right, I can sneak under that and grab him."
Harry was adamant though, "I do have it but the answer's still a No Professor! I want him captured by the proper authorities, we have one chance at this and I do not want to mess up."
Common sense prevailed in the end as Harry refused to budge on the issue, with Hermione standing with him steadfast and the other two professors siding with him, Lupin had to admit defeat. They did not have had to wait long as the news of new evidence that would release Sirius Black gave wings to Amelia Bones' flight into the school via the floo connection in professor McGonagall's office. She was accompanied as usual by Tonks and another auror who was introduced as Senior Auror Kingsley Shacklebolt.
"Where's the fire cousin?" Tonks greeted Harry.
Harry simply pointed to the map which was still showing two dots flashing black and purple with the name Peter Pettigrew prominently displayed.
The head of DMLE was shocked and simply stared at the name. She was aroused by Shacklebolt, "Now you have the evidence to free your boyfriend, Boss." While Tonks muttered loud enough for everyone to hear, "Gotcha! You bastard!"
Amelia simply pulled a gold chain that was around her neck but hidden inside her robes and showed the diamond studded ring that was hanging from it, "Fiancé, not boyfriend." That was news even to professor Lupin who had the unique distinction of knowing Sirius longer than anyone else. "He proposed to me merely hours before Lily and James were killed, and I never laid eyes on him again."
They just stared at her in sympathy as Amelia fought back the tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes, but she was back to her normal professional self in an instant. Harry led the way to the Gryffindor tower with the aurors and professor McGonagall accompanying Amelia and he, Hermione of course was holding his hand as usual. They were met by a harried headmaster who was forced to walk with them as Amelia refused to even slow down.
"My dear Amelia! What brought you here? Though I am surprised that you did not contact me for entry" professor Dumbledore was hard pressed to hide his irritation at her ignoring the proper protocol even though professor McGonagall had the authority. He was even surprised that the castle wards did not alert him about the visitors; he had to get the news through the portraits that saw the three members of the DMLE exit from the deputy headmistress's office.
"I am here on official business Chief Warlock, to correct a grievous miscarriage of justice that you refused to even acknowledge" Amelia was not holding back. The matter was too close to her heart to let go that easily, especially after pleading her case with two Ministers of Magic and the Chief Warlock.
The use of his official title gave the headmaster pause; the harshness in the voice of the head of DMLE's voice and the stoic faces of two aurors who he considered as better than acquaintances also did not bode well. There were very few instances where he was directly involved in miscarriage of justice, as Amelia put it but he was realizing that when it came to Harry Potter, he was not really sure of anything anymore. He just hoped that it was something trivial but when even his deputy was not forthcoming with answers he knew that it was more mud on his robes.
When they reached the Gryffindor tower, Harry saw that his dorm mates were all in the common room and so assured the head of DMLE that the rat was all alone.
"Harry, I want you to go up anyway and check that he is still there. Don't do anything else, just look in." Amelia did not want to take any chances with a potentially dangerous man. No one, who knew about it now, doubted that he was a death eater.
Harry with Hermione with him nonchalantly entered the room, puttered around his bed and picking up a book returned almost as soon as soon as he left them. When Amelia got a nod of his head, she sent a wide area 'somnus' spell that would put anyone in the room to sleep, not that the rat was moving about. Shcaklebolt darted in before his boss to ensure her safety, and picked up the truly knocked out rat to put in an unbreakable cage while disillusioning it.
No one in the tower knew why the aurors and the school heads were present and looked serious. They were equally baffled as they left without even a word being exchanged. As soon as they left the tower, professor Dumbledore thundered, "I have indulged your fancy long enough Amelia, I demand to know what happened."
In reply, Shacklebolt simply pulled the knocked out rat out of the cage and put it on the floor. "Would you care to cast the animagus reversal spell professor?" Amelia asked the resident professor for Transfiguration and she quickly obliged.
The headmaster watched dumbstruck as the two accompanying aurors snapped magic suppression manacles that ensured that Pettigrew could not transform back and carted him away disillusioned. Professor Dumbledore now knew that his day just got a lot worse; he had a vested interest in Sirius Black as he was the only one who could have stopped him from interfering in the life of one Harry Potter. That was the reason why he did not pursue Black's case as diligently as he should have, especially with Amelia Bones on the DMLE force he would not get any sympathy from that quarter. 'Well! It certainly came back to bite me' he thought as he trekked tiredly back to his office, he just hoped that the minister Cornelius Fudge and Lucius Malfoy would not get undue mileage at his expense. He should not have worried though as things were about to get worse for the two of them and soon too.
Minor Break
Back in the 'den' Amelia sank wearily into a chair and with the adrenaline ebbing off promptly burst into tears startling the students. Professor McGonagall in what was quickly becoming her normal behavior around the eight students immediately embraced the distraught woman. Susan sat on the arm of the chair and began comforting her aunt, and rubbing her back while the rest fidgeted around awkwardly before slowly taking their leave with only Harry, Hermione, Susan and the deputy headmistress staying with Amelia.
Getting her composure back, she took a grateful sip of the tea that Harry offered her. "I am not going to give him any break; I will get him before the wizengamot within a few days and push for a death sentence. I do not want him to escape; what with Lucius Malfoy around and the prospect of Lord Voldemort returning back to life, I do not want to take any chances."
No one was inclined to disagree with her assessment. Harry certainly did not feel any sympathy to the one who was responsible for his being an orphan and anything that was hurtful to Harry was not welcome to Hermione.
"Well, I should get back and get the paperwork through; it would take at least a week for me to call the meeting and that is if Dumbledore and Fudge cooperate" Amelia huffed.
Professor McGonagall tried to soothe her, "I will make sure that Albus would not create any problems for you, even though I think that he had already resigned himself for a guilty verdict against Pettigrew."
"Oh! Amelia before you go" Harry pulled out two pairs of the gauntlets they developed and passed them to Amelia. He described their use to her and got an enthusiastic nod of approval from her. Hermione elaborated the safety features they put in, "We inscribed hardening and comfort runes on the inside. Hopefully those along with the reverse channeling rune should reduce the impact on the wearer."
"These are brilliant! Thank you, you two; you have done more good to the entire department in the entire time after its inception than anyone else." Harry and Hermione were now used to accepting praise with graciousness, especially when it was from their well-wishers.
"We tested it out with Professor Lupin and Flitwick's help. We thought of absorbing the energy of the curse using the 'wonder stone' rather than deflecting it away to reduce 'friendly fire' but it would be a logistical nightmare, not to mention a waste as they are not so common" Harry explained.
"That happens in a fight irrespective of all the precautions we take, even a shield charm could deflect the curse onto your partner" Amelia agreed. "Aurors are trained to look out for that."
"The only thing we do not know is if they can survive a killing curse. Our fear is that they would shatter on impact" Hermione apologized.
Amelia scoffed at them, "I would always prefer a broken arm to being dead, still my department can test these out."
"We also thought about using the 'Pierre de Wonder' to constantly emit the shield charm. Aurors can fix it to their equipment or even their robe" Harry was trying to explain their ideas to someone who could really appreciate them, "… but then we realized that having the shield up constantly would also prevent you from casting anything in return."
"See if you can develop them" Amelia looked really hyped up, "They would be of immense use in a pinch if the force is overwhelmed by superior numbers and they have to make a quick getaway."
Hermione agreed, "That would not be a problem; it's very simple really. The shield could hold up to an hour giving plenty of time for them to retreat."
Professor McGonagall had a pensive look, "How about having the gauntlets conjure something solid to intercept a killing curse? The object would obviously shatter like any other when hit with the curse but it would be away from the body…." she trailed off and then immediately realized, "That would mean that the gauntlets have to not only anticipate the curse being cast but also identify the kind of curse. Not sure if that is possible….."
With the discussion done, Amelia took her leave.
Scene Break
Peter Pettigrew was unceremoniously given the dementor's kiss eliciting a rant from Harry and Hermione about the inhumane way of executions used in the magical world. That was the only objection they had to the deed, and only satisfaction that justice finally prevailed. With only a few days before their exams were to start, Harry and Hermione were hard pressed to get permission from the headmaster to leave the castle and be there for Sirius Black's release. They were saved by both Amelia and professor McGonagall coming hard on him.
The prisoners were usually brought into a specially warded room at the DMLE, given a cursory check before being taken to St. Mungos for rehabilitation. Harry was not enthusiastic in facing the horde of reporters and photographers waiting for the man who unwittingly created a sensation and so was waiting with Hermione and Amelia in her personal office to where Sirius was escorted by Tonks and Shacklebolt.
The man was gaunt, almost skin and bones and even with a fresh set of clothes looked sickly. His eyes lacked luster but immediately brightened upon seeing Harry standing with his hand entwined with that of a pretty girl. The sheen grew to nearly match the one that the diamond on the finger and in a ring that he himself presented to Amelia, was throwing in the enclosed space.
Ignoring his godson for now, Sirius locked his eyes for the longest time with, what he was now sure was his wife to be, a myriad of emotions playing on his pallid features. The rest of the party kept their peace letting them find their own common ground.
Finally Amelia moved in swiftly and slapped him, "You moron!" she gritted out. Though the hit was not hard, Sirius struggled to stay upright and had to be steadied by his cousin Dora Tonks. That softened Amelia and she spoke in a voice filled with warmth, "At least you could have taken me as backup when you decided to confront the rat."
Taking it as a tacit forgiveness for the blunder which cost the both of them their happiness and spend nearly twelve long years in their own personal hell, he looked at his godson for if not some support, at least a gesture of forgiveness from him.
Harry was never angry at his godfather. He even did not have had enough time to process everything that happened on that Halloween night. Not only was the information sketchy, it was second hand at best and he rarely trusted that without water tight evidence. It was this habit that stood him in good stead in his education and in his research too, a trait which was whole heartedly supported by the girl beside him and that was all that mattered to him. Harry looked back at the man if not for his lapse of judgment would have raised him as his own son, "Don't look at me" he quipped, "I do not go anywhere without my girlfriend Hermione" he pointed at the girl who gave Sirius a shy smile and a fleeting wave of her hand.
That did not last for long though as she came back as strongly, "Not entirely true, he goes to the loo without me." After a very long time Sirius' full blown, deep throated laughter was heard once more and so her muttered "For now" went unheard by all except Harry.
Harry and Hermione now had less than a month before they could take a well-earned break and get acquainted with the new addition to their family. Now all they had was to get done with the end of year examinations.
END OF YEAR TWO
Author's Ramblings: I watched the Deathly Hallows Part II again and though it was a brilliant movie, it left me disappointed. The movie was carried through by Daniel Radcliffe and Ralph Fiennes, even Emma Watson took a back stage, maybe it was meant to be that way? There was absolutely no chemistry between Hermione and Ron; Ginny and Harry were good, but the one between Luna and Harry was loads better, were the unit influenced by the world of fan fiction? All of a sudden a very determined and serious Hermione was replaced by a giggling school girl, and that kiss; it spoke of a 'heat of the moment' action on Hermione's part rather than any deep rooted feelings. If you look at the movie by itself, you would have been excused for thinking that Harry and Hermione were a couple until the kiss between Harry and Ginny; the way that Emma grabbed Dan in a fierce hug when he was about to go off into the forbidden forest while Rupert looked on clueless, spoke volumes. Sigh! It was almost as if the crew gave up, 'you know who ends up with whom, why bother?'
