AN: This is going to be kind of a filler chapter. If you're not interested in reading a fairly in-depth explanation of the history and how magic is used in my version of HP then you can safely skip this chapter. It may be referred to later but there is no significant narrative action in this chapter other than a minor amount of Harry learning how to better control his magic. If anyone has read the Eragon series then some of the ways I deal with magic will feel very familiar although it won't be exactly the same. I really enjoy hard magic systems and HP is most definitely not a hard magic system.
As always I do not own HP or any of the characters. If it seems familiar from the books I don't own it
Chapter 6: A History of Magic
Harry and Dumbledore stood before the Room of Requirement. As they walked in Harry noticed there was an odd glass structure in the center of the room as well as seating surrounding it. Harry sat across from Dumbledore.
"Close your eyes and relax Harry."
Harry did so and felt as though he was falling. When he opened his eyes it seemed that he was alone walking along a river so wide he could only just make out the far bank. As he walked he could hear Dumbledores voice.
"It is believed that at one time all human beings could sense and use magic."
Harry saw what looked like ancient humans. One fell off a cliff suddenly her compatriots yelling in surprise and fear. They froze as the young woman bounced back to the top of the cliff. They welcomed her back with open arms and smiles.
"Can you see them, Harry? Look for the colors. Unique as a fingerprint."
Dumbledore's voice seemed to come from a long way away as the world seemed to shift before Harry. One moment the world appearing as it always had. Then he blinked and he could faintly see colors collecting around each person. Some solid and strong, others pale seeming to swirl with motion, and yet others whose seemed to be more transparent and otherworldly. Harry could almost hear the smile on his teacher's lips as he spoke.
"If you could see like this in the real world you would not see color in every human. Over the centuries some sparks began to dim. While some grew beyond all imagination. There was no pattern. Parents differed from their children as much as siblings from each other."
Harry continued to walk as time seemed to accelerate he saw magic all around him. The colors of magic made visible. Then as he walked the color faded from some growing brighter in others. He watched as those without began to fear those with. He watched as those with began to fear those without in return.
Time returned to normal as Harry watched a young man sat against a tree dozing contentedly when Dumbledore's voice returned.
"It was Merlin the Wizard who first discovered that if he used an object imbued with magic it was easier to channel his magic. Before him, all magic was as we would call wandless."
Time began to race past Harry again as he walked onward. Dumbledore continued to speak.
"In some ways, the discovery made us more powerful. It allowed many thought to be magic-less to access their power. It allowed us to do so much... and yet? What was lost? Over time we forgot magics' true form. Magic is all around us. It is as primal a part of nature as wind or lightning. We forgot that the tools we use are not required. So few ever reach the level needed to perform magic as it was meant to be Harry. We are limited by the very thing that allowed our power to progress all those years ago."
Harry watched as witches and wizards began to make wands. Discovering how to find the best wood. How to find the proper core materials. He saw rough tools transformed into beautiful magical focuses. He watched as suddenly time began to reverse. He felt as though he was flying backward until he came to rest beneath what Harry now realized was an Elder Tree. Looking at the young wizard Merlin. Suddenly Harry froze. Merlin was opening his eyes and standing up. Opening Emerald green eyes below a mop of black hair that seemed to refuse to behave.
Suddenly Harry found himself looking at the twinkling eyes of the Headmaster. Once again in the real world blinking slightly and shaking his head to clear it. Before asking shakily. "What did you mean magics' true form?"
Dumbledore's reply was not long in coming. "Harry do you believe that a witch or wizard can simply cast spells from nothing? What is it that separates us from the non-magical peoples of the world? An innate ability to rework the world as we see fit?" Dumbledore only waited a moment to give Harry a moment to think before continuing. "All witches and wizards can feel and use the magic within them. All living things have it. It is energy. It does not come from nowhere. Just as you can be physically exhausted so too you can be magically exhausted."
Harry interrupted suddenly. "But sir if all living things have it then how are we the only ones that use it?"
Dumbledore's smile grew. "Oh, but they do use it, Harry. Love, music, laughter, these are but a few pure magical things all humans share with each other and many of the other sentient races. We can control the magic that lives within us yes. And yet it is the power of love that saved you from Lord Voldemort Harry."
Harry looked at Dumbledore for a heartbeat and then another. As the silence stretched on Harry's mind was racing trying to fit some pieces of an age-old puzzle into a whole. He started to speak after a few minutes. "But what does this have to do with me, Sir?"
"Everything Harry. Think for a moment. All magic was at one time wandless and unbound. Subject to the whims of thought of the strongest magic users. Wild, dangerous, but exceedingly powerful. You show a talent for this magic. Unseen in many many years... But he shall have a power the dark lord knows not..." The line from the prophecy hit Harry like a physical blow. The air became charged with magical energy as Harry met the Headmasters' eyes. It died as quickly as it came.
"So my mother..." Harry trailed off unable to finish the thought.
"Lives on in you. As does your father. They died to keep you safe. And even as Lord Voldemort marked you as his equal the potential for you to grow beyond him was created." The sparkle in the bright blue eyes seemed to grow brighter as Dumbledore finished speaking.
"Wait sir the potential?" Harry asked suddenly freezing. His blood running hot and cold.
"Of course Harry. Your magic has been driven by your desire to protect those you love. Had you closed off your heart there's no telling where you would be. But if you had there would be no one to stop Lord Voldemort. You have always been a protector Harry. In the moments when others fail or give up what is it that moves your feet, Harry?"
Harry considered this question for a long moment before answering truthfully. "I don't know sir." Harry looked at the Headmaster questioningly.
"In the simplest terms, Harry we are all born with let's call it potential. We can all be good or evil, strong or weak. Our lives and choices shape this potential in much the same way that you or I can shape the magic within ourselves. Nothing is set in stone we all make choices every day. The hall of prophecy stands as a testament to the supreme predictability of the nature of man. A seer does not see the future in absolute. They are seeing only the potential futures twisting and roiling through time. The prophecy made about you and Tom could have been about Neville as well. It could also have been avoided entirely but people choose their fate, Harry. Tom chose you that night. Your parents chose Peter. Severus chose to report what he had heard to his master. Not because it was preordained Harry. Do you understand what I am trying to say?" Dumbledore kept walking in endless circles around the room as he talked seemingly not watching where he was going.
Harry responded immediately. "You're telling me that the future is what we make of it and that there is always a choice to be made."
"Very good Harry now back to the true History of Magic." Dumbledore suddenly stopped turning to face Harry. "You have already learned some magic on your own that would take many decades for most witches and wizards to master. Much like you, I am gifted in a wandless talent. Unlike you, Harry, mine lies in Transfiguration. This branch of magic comes easiest to me just as combat magic comes to you. Close your eyes, Harry. Search within yourself and find the magic that lies there."
"Y..Yes sir." Harry slowly closed his eyes searching for something? As he stood he began to calm, his heart ceasing the pounding that the last few minutes had brought on. Suddenly he felt a spark like lightning in the night. The green blaze momentarily lighting up the landscape of his mind with emerald brilliance. The color was disturbingly familiar and Harry flinched involuntarily he had seen that color in too many of his 'dreams'. He steeled his nerves before once again searching within himself. Unlike before he did not 'see' anything in his mind, but he felt it. Like a distant hum or bass throbbing. The sensation pulsed in time with his heart filling him with warmth just like the day he first held his wand in Ollivanders' shop in Diagon Alley. His eyes flew open and he met Dumbledores eyes with his own. Electric blue meeting emerald green and Harry smiled broadly as he gasped. "Does it always feel like this?"
"An interesting question Harry that is not something I can tell you. Much like every witch and wizard have a unique color their magic itself is unique. Some remain steady and constant never wavering, some fade and grow with the magician's surroundings reacting to the world around them. I will teach you to look for these colors and patterns it will allow you to be much better prepared for the world around you. For example, polyjuice potion cannot replicate a magical signature only an outward appearance. Another example is that the Imperious Curse deadens a magician's natural magic suppressing it and hiding it. Once you learn to 'see' this you will be much harder to surprise. Most useful of all will be the ability to identify spells and who cast them long after they have been cast."
"Will I see these colors all the time Sir?" Harry thought that sounded like it would be distracting and often irritating.
"No, think of it like putting on a pair of glasses. Most of the time the world will appear as it always has, but then if you wish to you can look closer so to speak at the world around you and see more." Dumbledore began to walk again leading Harry to the door as he finished speaking pausing next to the door. "I think you may be able to guess why I always seem to know what is going on around the castle now. As well as why even your invisibility cloak is not enough to hide you from me." Dumbledore smiled down at Harry his eyes twinkling as he walked before Harry from the Room.
Dumbledore continued to speak as they walked beginning to explain the basics of looking to see magical energy in the world around them.
"Sir using this could I see wards and other magic like that?" Harry asked suddenly speaking during a brief pause in Dumbledore's speech.
"Why yes Harry. Yes you absolutely will be able to though that will likely take you at least a few years of practice at the beginning you will only be able to sense the strongest of magic. Like that which is concentrated in witches and wizards. Magic is all around us. The reason Merlin was so powerful was he was able to see and guide the magic not just in himself but in the world around him. No one since Merlin has had this ability and likely never will again. Occasionally magicians are born with special talents that are unique to them alone or that are passed through families. Parseltonge is one such ability. We believe his ability to use the magic around him was likely one of these unique traits. You yourself have already shown the beginnings of one of these special kinds of magic." Dumbledore smiled as he continued walking. Waiting for the question to come.
"I do? What is it?" Harry asked half excited and half apprehensive.
"You possess seemingly endless stores of magical energy. You were being sapped of your natural magic from the age of one until just over a year ago. And yet you have managed to perform some of the most incredible feats of magic know for a wizard your age. Your patronus is the best example of this. Now that you have begun training yourself have you not noticed a difference in the time you can spend training? Or in the almost inhuman rate you recover after strenuous training?" Dumbledore walked up to the gargoyle guarding his office as Harry thought. He gave the password and both of them began up the stairs to Dumbledore's office.
"Is that really that special?" Harry asked tentatively looking around the room at the portraits and tiny silver instruments.
"It most certainly is. Its not on a level with Merlin but it is certainly a great gift. Especially for one in your position. With your specific...inclinations." Dumbledore replied his eyes twinkling with a small amount of mirth and a good amount of pride in his student.
Harry sat considering for a long time what he was going to ask. "So what is the first step?" He leaned forward elbows on his knees hands folded.
"An apt question. Let us begin." Dumbledore replied and began to talk.
AN: Like I said not really a narrative chapter. But I wanted to give an explanation for how magic works at least in my head/my version of this world. It always bothered me how little information there was and how strange the system seemed to me. Hopefully this isn't too confusing. If it is then good thing you don't need it to enjoy the story.
I know I didn't mention the whole Dumbledore is dying thing in this chapter. That's because its kind of filler. I will be putting out the next real chapter much quicker than this one because it is kinda boring if you're not a nerd like me.
If you can guess the reference in this chapter please tell me if you hate it or think its ok. Its not going to be a recurring thing but this specific thing will be mentioned going forward. I'll preface any chapters in the future with a slight refresher for anyone who doesn't read this chapter but it wont be a full explanation.
Thank you to anyone reading this story. Im glad someone besides me is enjoying it. I cant believe after how poorly written the initial versions were that anyone kept going. Thank you again.