Just An Errant Thought: Magical Nuclear Fission Theory
What if Hermione, genius that she is; found a way to combine muggle nuclear fission theory in with the magical vanishing spell of 'Evanesco?' I make no assumptions that I fully understand real life nuclear theory. I'm just trying to squish reality into my fantasy, so take it as you will. No Horcruxes in this story.
Wednesday 4 October 1995
Hermione was lucky that Madam Pince, the librarian, liked her so much. She was probably the only student in all of Hogwarts who got to use a little known room set next to the older woman's office where all of the really esoteric books were stored for her own private research station. She was also lucky that Dolores Umbridge, the Ministry flunkie who had been assigned by the Minister to be their defense professor du jour, wasn't stupid enough to try and restrict access to the students or to mess around with the books. The toad-like, evil woman had tried going head to head with the librarian once and came out worse for wear.
Right now, Hermione was in the process of trying to figure out the intricate mathematic details of the vanishing spell for her end-of-the-year project for Arithmancy. There was something niggling the edges of her memory about the process of making something vanish into everything. Sighing and scrubbing her fingers against her scalp, she leant back in her seat and closed her eyes.
"Problem?" Hermione's eyes snapped open to see Madam Pince standing in the doorway with a curious mien on her face.
Hermione waved her hands at the book, "There's something about the process of vanishing an object that seems so familiar to what I learned in muggle primary but I can't remember what it is and why it's so important."
Hitching a thumb over her shoulder, Madam Pince replied, "You could always check the science books we have in the Muggle Studies section. I don't know how current they are but it's a starting point."
Hermione just stared in wide-eyed amazement before beaming a broad smile, "Thank you, Madam Pince! You are… you… gah!" Pince just smirked and wandered off back to her desk.
Two hours later and Hermione had her answer and it was a heck of an answer: Nuclear fission theory. The vanishing charm was a magical variant of nuclear fission theory!
Harry snuck in a few minutes after her epiphany carrying a small wrapped package of an easy to eat, non-messy sandwich and a carton of milk from the kitchens. He gave her a gentle kiss on her temple and asked her what had gotten her so locked up in.
"I think I've discovered something so…explosive if you'll pardon the pun, that it could shake the very foundation of magic and its uses in everyday life."
"Oh?"
She nodded as she took a bite of the sandwich, "Um…oh, so good," she swallowed then continued her explanation, "The vanishing spell? Evanesco? Well, we've always been taught that it causes the object to cease existing by transforming it into everything. You're essentially breaking the bonds that hold the atoms of the object together, right? Well, while I was doing my research it dawned on me that the muggles had also figured this out and how to use it for their own purposes."
Harry scrunched his face as he tried to imagine that, "I don't get it. What was it?"
"The vanishing spell is the magical equivalent to nuclear fission theory."
Harry blinked then frowned, "But if that was true then by vanishing something like a feather should be causing the explosive force to be released all over the place like the biggest nuke in existence. There'd be nothing recognizable on Earth because of everyone blowing up a bomb."
Hermione threw her hands up, "I know! That's the part that I've been getting hung up on. Where does that energy go? Is it transported or converted into something else? How do I solve it? Heck, how do I even theorize it?"
"Was there any other research done on it?" She shook her head no. "What about on the muggle side? I've got to believe that a muggleborn or Squib must've gotten into this scientific field and had similar ideas."
"If there are or were, no one's come forward and I have no way of checking without writing a letter but we both know that the mail is being intercepted."
Harry harrumphed, "Mine especially." Then he got a gleam in his eye. Something sparked his imagination and the last time this happened, he'd done the impossible during third year when he noticed the name of Peter Pettigrew on the Marauder's Map and brought it to then-Professor Lupin's attention. The capture and Veritaserum-induced confession of the traitor allowed for a recall on the Dementors guarding the school and an announcement put in the Daily Prophet that if Black turned himself in, a trial would be held post haste.
Black was too paranoid at that point to believe what was written so Harry took it upon himself to not only use the school's announcement system to loudly proclaim that 'the Son of Prongs had captured the Rat and that it was time for Padfoot to come in for his bath.'
One hour later a tired, mangy black dog presented itself on the steps of the school before transforming into Sirius Black himself.
"Okay, now hear me out first before you get angry but what if I were to use Dobby to take your letter to wherever or whomever it needed to go?"
Hermione pursed her lips before slowly nodding, "As long as he agrees to it, I won't have a problem."
"Really?"
She rolled her eyes, "Harry, I'm not against elf employment just enslavement. Freedom is more than separation from enforced work. I wanted to give the elves freedom of choice; the ability to choose who they wanted to work for."
"So all those hats you were knitting?"
She shrugged and blushed, "I thought they'd look cute in them and that they'd be able to wear them to keep their ears warm."
Pop! A pillowcase-wearing elf appeared in front of them and stared at Hermione with undisguised curiosity on its face, "Is miss really meaning that? You is not trying to set us free with those hats?"
Hermione tilted her head, "Who are you?"
The elf straightened up a bit, "I is Marley, Head Elf of Hogwarty School."
"Hello, Marley and to answer your question, yes that was my intent. I know that the only two people in the school who have the authority to set any of you free are the headmaster and the Head of Hufflepuff."
Marley blinked tearfully and sniffed, "Then we elves is being sorry for our anger and distrust in you, miss. We would be happy to accept your gifts if only for the elflings who are too young to be working."
"Are you saying that your ears are plenty warm while working?" Harry questioned as Marley nodded, "Makes sense, I guess. Large surface area with lots of blood vessels."
Marley called for Dobby then left to go back to her own work. Harry asked Dobby if he'd be willing to take a letter from Hermione to someone in the muggle scientific community, "Dobby would love to do this for Master Harry Potter's Grangy."
"Master?" Hermione pierced Harry with a gimlet eye. Harry held up his hands in supplication then pointed at Dobby, "I, I wait…ask him!"
"Master Harry Potter is called Master because it is a title of respect, miss."
Hermione thought on this, "So it's not a mark of enslavement?" Dobby shook his head no and she relented. Then she got to work composing her letter and sent it off with the elf.
"Hey, Hermione. Question for you, let's say for a moment that you're correct and vanishing something like a feather would cause untold devastation. What would happen if said object was as small as a grain of sand?"
"Smaller particle, smaller explosion. Why?"
"You said there wasn't anything in the arithmancy that covers how the magic contains the splitting of the atomic structure of the object?"
"Right, that's what I've been trying to figure out. There has to be something. Why?"
"I went to muggle primary too you know and spent a lot of time in the library. I've seen the films of the bombs dropped in Japan during the late forties. I'm wondering if it's possible to just enchant something like a casing to channel the destructive and radioactive forces into, I don't know, maybe the ley lines around the target; assuming there are any nearby?"
"How would you deliver and trigger the device?"
"Hmmm…ooh, how about a timed portkey? Then a compulsion tied into word-activated trigger to set it off?"
"How would you get the casing to survive the initial blast so it can then channel the energy?"
Harry canted his head, "Hmmm…the device would have to be sent in two distinct packages then. Upon arrival, the portkey finishing sequence would have to trigger the containment array to expand to its preprogrammed maximum diameter before the material detonation could occur. One question is how fast can these things take place? Is there an ultimate speed limit in which runic magic can take place?"
Hermione narrowed her eyes as she reached for her notebook and pen.
Dobby returned two days later carrying a large box full of research data from Hermione's muggle nuclear science contact. As Harry had predicted, the scientist was a muggleborn who had returned from spending many fruitless and frustrating years within the magical community being shunted from one menial job to another just because of a circumstance of birth. Within the box were reams of charts and graphs along with all sorts of calculations for nuclear reactions from the largest detonations all the way down to subatomic particles.
Hermione was overjoyed though now it was up to her on how to figure out a way to contain the explosion. A few discrete questions to their Ancient Runes professor revealed that their proposed containment arrangement could be set up within seconds.
"What if I need it to be up and ready within tenths of a second?"
Professor Babbling bobbled her head, "Theoretically? It's possible but you would need someone with lightning quick reflexes to activate it."
Hermione slid over her proposal and theory, "What if it were activated by the collapse of the portkey finishing sequence?"
"Hmmm…oh! Yes, this would work. There are even some arrays that have already been designed for this very sort of thing. Usually you find this in the field when Beast Control needs to capture a rampaging animal quickly."
One week later…
Friday 13 October, 1995
Edinburgh Gazette: Locals are reporting of multiple loud explosions taking place within the Scottish highlands. Questions are being raised as to the reasons but no details have been forthcoming. The Scottish Avalanche Information Service (SAIS) is investigating but don't have an answer as yet.
"Hermione, is there a rune that reacts similar to that of a capacitor?"
"Check the grey bin. Wait…what are you trying to do?"
Harry held up a small granite stone, "Experimenting with creating a wardstone that could contain the blast without damaging the surrounding territory too much."
She looked puzzled at his explanation, "Didn't we already agree on engraving the mica box for our tests?"
"Yes, but our tests have been reported in the local papers. Last thing we need is for the muggles to get wind of what we're doing and you know that once they start poking around, the Ministry will get notified. I'm trying to create a sort of containment area for our containment area."
"Hmmm…good idea.
Three days later…
Monday 16 October, 1995
Edinburgh Gazette: An eyewitness has reported of titanic explosions occurring in the Scottish highlands yesterday. 'It was like a nuke going off but without the blast or the radiation!' Just what is going on? Could the government be experimenting with a new weapon?"
"I think Dumbledore is getting suspicious of what we're doing, Harry."
He looked up from his examination of the grounding wards etched into their boundary stones, "How so?"
"I overheard him talking to Professor McGonagall about how strange it was that the school's ley lines were getting stronger all of a sudden."
"What about Umbridge? Has she picked up on anything?"
Hermione chuckled, "Not that I'm aware of but right now she's got her hands full after what Luna did."
Harry shook his head, "I'm still trying to figure out where she got that purple dinosaur from."
A half hour later…
"I think that's it as far as I can tell, Harry." Hermione said as she dusted her hands off from the chalk she was using to test a variant of the portkey array.
"You sure? I'd hate to have it traced back to here."
"I'm sure. I managed to reroute the return trace key for your geomantic cartography calculations so that if anyone checks, they'll find that the original outbound location was somewhere in Patagonia."
Harry picked up the culmination of their hard work, opened up the casing lid and dropped in the 6mm cube of ordinary sand from the shores of the Black Lake before sealing it up and handing it over to his girlfriend and giving her a kiss, "Good luck."
London Times Exclusive! Nuclear Detonation Detected Over North Sea! Scientists Baffled!
Tuesday 17 October, 1995
Scientists at the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) are mystified as to how a low yield (1 kiloton) nuclear detonation occurred in the middle of the North Sea. No reported ships were in the area and there are no islands on the map. The Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) is investigating the incident but at this point, no one has any clear answers. For more information of the agencies involved, turn to page four.
"I can't believe it worked so well, Harry! It was like witnessing the birth of the Sun." The look on her face was like she'd been poked with a static hex. Her hair was bushed up more than usual and she had that look on her face that normally appeared during the run-up to school test days.
"Did it match our calculations?"
"Within acceptable tolerances. Wow, I need to go sit down for a moment. I now know how the scientists who witnessed the first detonation in the United States felt. Here, the projections with the recorded data." She handed over the Dicta-Quill parchment to Harry as she dropped into a chair.
"Let's see… wow, the fireball was quick; less than two-tenths of a second. Roughly a 27 meter fireball…whew! Hermione?" He turned when he didn't get an answer and smiled warmly at his girlfriend who'd fallen asleep.
January 1996
MASS BREAKOUT FROM AZKABAN PRISON!
The Ministry of Magic announced late last night that there has been a mass breakout from Azkaban.
Speaking to reporters in his private office, Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, confirmed that ten high-security prisoners escaped in the early hours of yesterday evening, and that he has already informed the Muggle Prime Minister of the dangerous nature of these individuals.
"We find ourselves, most unfortunately, in the same position we were two and a half years ago when the murderer Sirius Black escaped," said Fudge last night. "Nor do we think the two breakouts are unrelated. An escape of this magnitude suggests outside help, and we must remember that Black, as the first person ever to break out of Azkaban, would be ideally placed to help others follow in his footsteps. We think it likely that these individuals, who include Black's cousin, Bellatrix Lestrange, have rallied around Black as their leader. We are, however, doing all we can to round up the criminals and beg the magical community to remain alert and cautious. On no account should any of these individuals be approached."
Harry scrunched his face up in confusion, "Did he forget that Sirius already had a trial in which he was exonerated?" Hermione started laughing and shook her head.
"Panic in the light of someone or something this big changing the status quo makes people do strange things, Harry. Where do you think they went?"
He shrugged, "No idea but I think I know someone who could check for us."
Harry sent Dobby to check the Elf Network for rumors of where the escaped prisoners disappeared to. Dobby returned within ten minutes to report that they along with the Dark Lord were holed up in 'bad old Master's house.'
With a wicked smile on her face, Hermione handed him one of their prepared devices, "Care to do the honors?"
London Times Exclusive! Second Nuclear Detonation Detected, This Time Over Wiltshire!
Wednesday 17 January 1996
Three months ago we reported on the incredible and inconceivable nuclear detonation that occurred in the middle of the North Sea. Scientists were baffled at how such a thing could've happened and now eyewitnesses as well as scientific instruments are reporting that another low yield device was set off over a remote section of Wiltshire on Tuesday. Strangely, there were no reports of damage nor of anyone suffering from radiation sickness. The targeted area has since been isolated and teams are enroute to investigate. Could the North Sea Incident have been a trial run for something bigger? Why Wiltshire? This reporter has tried to contact the Civil Nuclear Constabulary (CNC) but they have yet to put out a press release statement.
Epilogue:
Immediately after the annihilation of Malfoy Manor, Harry contacted the Director in the Department of Mysteries. When asked why by his girlfriend, he replied, "We did the impossible here, Hermione. There are only two options here. One, we destroy our work and never speak of it again; or Two, we contact the people who would be the best suited to handle information of this magnitude. Can you imagine the reaction of the average witch or wizard let alone the minister if they were to learn that we know how to harness the destructive power of nuclear fission?"
"So this is your idea of a job application?" Hermione said with a sly smile.
Harry shrugged, "Sure, let's go with that."
The Ministry of Magic sent out the Aurors from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to investigate the destruction of Malfoy Manor but they were at a loss as to what could've caused such devastation. There was literally nothing left. The manor, the landscape including the trees, grass…even what animal life was just…gone.
Harry and Hermione were invited to present and discuss their findings regarding their new discoveries as well as the field tests of the devices. While they were there, the Unspeakables mentioned that there was something that Harry should see…
Albus was sitting in his office contemplating what had transpired. 'Curious how just hours after the announcement of the breakout from Azkaban that Malfoy Manor was destroyed. Was Tom attempting a ritual? Severus was acting rather strange today, rubbing his left arm as if he was being called yet not… I haven't received any sort of word from my contacts that an assault was in the works. I don't understand!'
His floo activated while he was ruminating, "Albus? You there?"
He turned to face the fireplace, "Ah, Saul. How can I help you?"
Saul Croaker, Director of the Department of Mysteries smirked with the knowledge that what he was about to say had the potential to utterly ruin the old goat's day. He was looking forward to this, Merlin the Potter boy needed to be free of the manipulations of Albus Dumbledore.
"We need to talk…"