A/N: I added something new to the intro notes from Chapter 1 as a result of a few reviews I've received. Since most of the current readers aren't about to start reading from the beginning again, I'll post it here :
IMPORTANT : This fanfiction will touch into business and commerce. I want to make it clear that I am in no way an expert in either! While the main focus will be on the broomsticks themselves (and other projects), since Harry will be selling them, it will touch into business and finance. Most of it will be VERY simple, not only to allow everyone to read the story without problems - no matter the age - but also because I simply don't know enough myself. If it causes a problem for you, well, I'm sorry. Just don't come here expecting a very realist description of owning a business. ;)
Now that's done, enjoy the reading. ;)
One morning, a week after term had started, Harry woke up with an objective in mind. He was a man on a mission.
Since returning to Hogwarts, Harry had spent most of his free time working on both of his projects. The Mark IV, whose targets Harry had finally decided the previous day was progressing steadily. It was Harry's goal to make a broom that could compete with the Comet 260, which was released in 1985. The top speed of the Comet 260 reached 140mph. As for its acceleration, it could achieve its top speed about a second or two faster than the Ravenstar could. For the Mark IV, Harry wanted to produce a broom which could reach a similar top speed but much with a quicker acceleration. He believed that acceleration was as important – if not more – than top speed in a game of Quidditch where players are constantly changing direction. Of course, for the same reasons, he would also improve the manoeuvrability.
Unfortunately, Harry's second project, his magical intelligence (he had decided to change the term since it wasn't exactly appropriate), was not progressing as he wished. He had reached a roadblock. He had figured out how to input and output speech but he didn't understand how to make an intelligence that could process it.
This roadblock was the reason why Harry was currently walking toward the Headmaster's office one afternoon. When asked about why by his friends, Harry had decided to keep his project secret from them, wishing to reveal it once it was completed. Ron had accepted it without problem. Hermione, not so much. Harry had seen the look of hurt on her face. As much as it saddened him, he did not back out of his decision.
So, that day, Harry went to Dumbledore's office. When he arrived in front of the gargoyle guarding the entrance, he sighed, remembering the last time he had come here. He had read a whole list of magical sweets, hoping to find the right password only for Dumbledore to arrive and unlock his office using the name of a muggle chocolate bar.
"Mars Bars." he tried, not expecting it to work. The gargoyle didn't move. "Right – as expected." he muttered. "Let's start from the beginning. Drumstick Squashies? No. Aero? Guess not. Refreshers? Fruit Pastilles? Wine Gums? Dairy Milk? Lion Bar? Flake? Milky Way? Terry's Orange Chocolate?"
He sighed again. He didn't know a whole lot of muggle sweets, having been unable to eat any in his youth. As a result, he had gone through the small list of sweets he knew by name rather fast and was now out of ideas.
"Harry? What are you doing here?" came a voice from behind. Harry turned and stifled a groan. It was Professor Dumbledore, and Harry had a feeling he would enter the office frustrated once again.
"I wanted to talk to you about a project of mine." he said.
"Well, we shall adjourn to my office, then." said Dumbledore before moving to the gargoyle. "Lemon Drops."
Upon hearing the password, Harry put his face in his hands and let out a low, frustrated yell. Of course, the only muggle sweet he'd forgotten to name was the one used for the password.
"Are you alright, my dear boy?" asked Dumbledore with concern at Harry's antics.
"I'm fine." he said calmly. "Shall we?"
"Of course." said the headmaster before he led them in the office. Inside, Harry sat on a comfortable chair and faced Dumbledore. "Now," started the headmaster. "What was this project you wanted to talk me about?"
"Well, it's not much talking to you as talking to someone else here." he said. "I'm not sure how to explain it, but I'm basically trying to make a magical, sentient intelligence enchanted on a necklace that can communicate with spoken words, create projections, monitor magic, etc. The problem is that I'm facing a large hurdle currently. Even thought I've researched, I have no clue how to make a sentient intelligence and, from what I've seen so far, neither do anyone else. The only thing close to that are magical portraits, but they are more like shades than true sentience. That's why I came here. I hoped I could have some advice from you..." he then coughed and added something very quickly. "And-I-hoped-I-could-analyze-the-Sorting-Hat."
"Me?" immediately barked the Sorting Hat in surprise. Harry had been unaware he had been listening to the conversation.
"Yes, you." said Harry. "You're the closest thing to what I'm trying to create and you're also the only one of your kind."
Dumbledore hummed. "Well, I would certainly be interested in helping you if I could, though my time would be limited by my various other occupations." he answered. "As for the Sorting Hat, you will need to ask him. I cannot decide for him."
"Fair enough." said Harry before turning to the Hat. "Can you help me?"
The Sorting Hat frowned. "What's in for me?" he asked, surprisingly Harry. "Why should I stay still and let you wave your wand at me repetitively for hours on end if I'm not gaining anything in return?"
Harry pinched the bridge of his nose. He hadn't expected to have to negotiate with the Hat. He thought the Hat wouldn't mind, if only to distract himself from the boredom of staying in the headmaster's office all year long.
His eyes opened wide. That's it! "I know what I can offer you." he said. "You must be pretty bored spending all your time in this office with only your own company and, occasionally, that of the headmaster. If you let me analyze you and look at your enchantments, I'll create another hat that will serve as the physical conduit of my magical intelligence. It will give you a companion."
The Sorting Hat blinked – or, at least did something akin. "You would really do that?" he asked with hope. Harry shrugged.
"My plans are to enchant the intelligence on a necklace to allow me to communicate with it at all times without attracting attention. However, it does not mean I can't just create a conduit and link it with the intelligence. It would allow the intelligence to 'possess' the conduit and be – well, be like you."
The Hat considered it for a moment. "If you do as you said, then I'll allow you to have a look at my enchantments."
"Thank you." said Harry, beaming.
"Well, that's certainly an interesting development." said Dumbledore. "As far as I'm aware, the Hat never let anyone look at his enchantments, something people couldn't do without the Hat being willing."
"That's because nobody offered to use what they found to give me a companion, Albus." huffed the Sorting Hat.
"I can understand where the Hat is coming from." said Harry. "I've known what loneliness was for a long time. It wasn't until I met Ron and Hermione that I discovered the joys of friendship. If I can do it, then I have no problems giving the Hat a friend."
"Thank you, Mr. Potter." said the Hat.
"Yes, thank you for that." said Dumbledore. "I'm sure it will be a very interesting and welcome addition to the office."
"No problems. Now, when do we start?" asked Harry to the Hat.
Harry and Ron were currently running toward the Quidditch pitch with a pair of Ravenstars, looking very excited. The month of October had just begun and both of Harry's projects had greatly advanced since he'd come back to Hogwarts. For the Potter Mark IV, Harry was sure he would be able to build the first prototype in early November, if not late October. As for the magical intelligence, Harry had made huge leaps in the project thanks to the help of the Sorting Hat and Dumbledore.
Every weekend, Harry would come to the headmaster's office with the most recent version of the intelligence and would work on it. From time to time, he would look to the enchantments of the Sorting Hat. The enchantments had shocked Harry when he had first looked at them. They were a work of art. He had known that the Founders had been great witches and wizards, but, apart from Hogwarts itself, he had never truly seen proof of these claims. Not until he's seen the Hat's enchantments.
With his new knowledge and the help of Dumbledore – whenever he had time – Harry had managed to work out a very basic version of the intelligence. It wouldn't work if he enchanted it in its current version but he believed that with a few additions and some modifications, he could make it work. He estimated he would be able to enchant the first version in a few weeks time.
However, as interesting as these projects were, they were not what had caught on the attention of the two friends. Today, the first years would participate in their first flying lesson, which meant Harry would be able to see the PMK-2 Robins in usage for the first time. He hadn't even known the lessons would take place today – not until Ron had told him and Hermione. Hermione, who'd planned to use the day to catch on her many homeworks, had told them to go without her. Before they went, Ron had gone and grabbed his Ravenstar to be able to fly with the First Years. Not to be outdone, Harry had grabbed his own before they went outside.
Harry and Ron arrived at the Quidditch pitch just in time to see Madam Hooch start the lesson. Around the teacher with amber eyes were around twenty Gryffindor and Slytherin students. On the ground, there were twenty Robins arranged in two rows. Madam Hooch, from what Harry could see, had also taken a Robin of her own.
"Alright everyone!" she barked with an authoritative tone of voice. "I want the Gryffindors on one side and the Slytherins on the other. You will go stand by one of the broomsticks on the ground. Do not take them." The students all moved and did as Madam Hooch ordered. "Stick your hand over your broom and say 'UP!'"
"UP!" shouted all the students at the same time. Harry was proud to see how many had activated a Robin on their first try. "Excellent!" exclaimed the professor. "Half of the class activating their broomsticks on the first attempt – that must be a record!"
"The mark of a good broomstick!" yelled Harry, grinning.
Madam Hooch and the rest of the class all turned to look at him, only now noticing him and Ron standing there with their Ravenstars. "Mr. Potter!" she exclaimed. "Come here. You too, Mr. Weasley" Harry and Ron moved forward. "Class, this is Harry Potter, current Seeker for Gryffindor and the one of the creators of the broomsticks you are using." she said. Some of the students – no doubt having heard of the Boy-Who-Lived, all looked at him and the brooms in admiration. "Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, since you are here, why don't you help me with the class?"
"It would be our pleasure." answered Harry.
"Perfect. Now, I see not all of you managed to activate your broomsticks yet."
"My broom won't move!" whined a Slytherin girl with blonde hair.
Harry glanced at Ron, who nodded. Harry moved toward the Slytherin girl while Ron went to help another. "What's your name?" he asked kindly.
"Astoria Greengrass." answered the girl.
"Well, Astoria, did you ever ride a horse?" he asked.
"Yes." said Astoria.
"Well, if you did, then you should know that horses can somehow sense when someone is afraid, right?"
Astoria's eyes widened. "You're saying that the broom could refuse to rise because it can feel my dislike of flying?"
"Possible." said Harry. "Just take a deep breath and say 'Up!' with a clear and strong voice."
Astoria did like Harry told her. She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. She placed her hand over the broomstick. "UP!" she nearly yelled. The Robin shot out of the ground and planted itself in the palm of Astoria's hand. She opened her eyes, grinning. "Thank you!" she said.
"You're welcome." said Harry with a kind smile. Then, he looked at the other students. The person Harry had seen Ron help earlier already had his broomstick in hand. He noticed his friend speaking to the last girl without a broom just in time to see it fly in her hand. Nodding in approval, Ron left the student and rejoined Harry, who had since moved back to their original spot.
"How many did you help?" asked Harry quietly.
"Three." answered the redhead.
"Really?" asked Harry, impress. "I only had time to help one. It means you're a good teacher." he said, grinning at Ron's blush.
"Perfect!" exclaimed Madam Hooch. "Now that everyone has their broomstick in hand, I want you to put it under your legs." she said. "You will notice that the broomsticks have footrests attached to their broom heads. Do not put your feet there! The footrests are only used once you are in the air, otherwise, you won't be able to stand without falling." she said. Madam Hooch then placed her Robin between her legs, making sure to sit on the flat part of the shaft just before the broom head. "Now, everyone do like me."
The students repeated her actions. Harry and Ron walked down both rows and helped the students make sure they were mounting the brooms properly. "Now that everyone is positioned properly, now come the easiest part of the process. When I blow my whistle, you will use your feet to kick up the ground. It will be as if you are jumping, except you will be riding your broom. Once you are in the air, you will keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet then land softly on the ground. First, I'll let our two first years take off to show you how its done. Mr. Potter, Mr. Weasley, if you may."
Harry and Ron smiled at each other before putting their Ravenstars on the ground. "Up!" they called at the same time, making both silver brooms fly in their hands. They then mounted their brooms and kicked off the ground. Harry and Ron rose up to six feet in the air before slowly coming down back on the ground and landing softly on their feet.
"Thank you." she said to the Third Years before turning back to her class. With a hand, she grabbed her whistle. "That's what you will to now. On my whistle..." She whistled.
The twenty students all took off from the ground, some faster than others. Some students seemed very much at ease and slowly came back on the ground without problems. Some others, like Astoria Greengrass, had problems keeping their broom steady but, despite this, managed to complete the exercise.
"You know," whispered Ron to Harry. "If they were using the same brooms as we did in first year, I have no doubts some of them would have crashed – like Neville."
Harry nodded. "It's a good thing we sold them the rights to make their own Robins, then." he said.
"That and we made money off of it." grinned Ron. Harry chuckled.
Once all the students had landed safely on the ground, Madam Hooch whistled again – this time to quiet the excited talking between the students. "Good job. You all did well. Since we still have time left for the class, I will allow those who want to wake off and fly one lap around the Quidditch pitch." she said, making the students start talking again. "I suggest those who had some difficulties today to stay on the ground and wait until the next lesson before doing laps. Those who don't want to fly again, come give back your broomsticks to me. Then, you can go back to the castle."
About half of the students gave back their broomsticks to Madam Hooch before leaving the pitch, leaving the other half ready to fly again. "For those who remained, you know what to do." she said.
"You want to take the front of the group or the back?" asked Ron to Harry.
Harry pondered for a moment. "The back. I'll make sure they follow you and don't fall behind." he said. Ron nodded and took off. Harry followed.
"Alright people!" said Ron. "We'll do a lap of the pitch! I'll guide, follow me!" he said before he began moving forward. One by one, the students followed Ron, leaving Harry and Madam Hooch to close the group.
"You boys seem to have it quite in hand." she said with amusement.
"I think Ron is a natural at teaching. That's surprised me. I didn't think he would have the patience to deal with students." said Harry.
"I might keep that in mind if I need help." said the amber-eyed teacher.
As they were entering the second half of the lap, a boy at the back of the group started slowing down. "Are you alright?" asked Harry before Madam Hooch could say anything.
"Yes." said the student timidly. "I just had a question."
"What is it?"
"Did you really make these brooms?"
Harry chuckled. "I designed and created the enchantments with my friend Hermione. Madam Hooch and I enchanted the brooms with parts bought from the shop Broomstix."
"And why is yours silver?" he asked.
"Ah – that's because it's not a PMK-2 Robin like yours, it's a PMK-3 Ravenstar, the successor of the Robin. While it has the same physical shape, it's instead silver and black. As for the broom, it's simply a faster version of the Robin." answered Harry.
"I'll have to test the Ravenstar one day." said Madam Hooch. "I'm curious to see the improvements."
"Just tell me when you want, I don't mind letting you borrow mine." said Harry.
Ron made the group fly once around the pitch before landing safely near the entrance of the pitch. After they landed, Madam Hooch spoke. "Good job, class. Today's lesson is over. Bring to me your broomsticks, then you'll be free to go back to the castle and enjoy the rest of the weekend."
The remaining first-years all grabbed their broomsticks before putting them in a pile near Madam Hooch. Then, one by one, they left the pitch, leaving only Ron and Harry with the professor. Giving a hand to the professor, Harry and Ron grabbed most of the broomsticks and helped her put them away in a shed.
"Well, thank you boys." said the flying instructor once they had tidied up everything. "You did a good job today with the First Years. If you weren't students yourselves, I would fear for my job." she said, making both teenagers blush. "Now, why don't you go back to the castle? I'm sure you're excited to tell the remaining third of your trio how you spent your afternoon. In case you are interested, the next flying lesson is next week, same day, same time." she said.
With the clear dismissal received, Harry and Ron walked back toward the castle. In the common room, they found Hermione sitting at one of the tables. The table was filled with books and parchment scrolls. Harry and Ron looked at each other with concern.
"Hey, Hermione." said Harry when the two boys sat down at the table.
"Hi Harry, Ron." she said tiredly. "How was the lesson?"
"It was great!" exclaimed Ron. "The Robins really were great. We saw some of the students have problems flying but none appeared to be in danger of falling or crashing like Neville did in our first lesson. We even had half of them fly around the pitch at the end!"
"That's great." she said, smiling. It did not reach her ears. "I'm glad the Robins are helping the students learn to fly safely."
"So am I." said Ron. "Harry, I'm going to our dorm. Do you want me to put back your Ravenstar in your things?"
"Sure." said Harry, giving him his broom. "Thanks." Ron nodded and walked up the stairs toward their dorm. Harry turned back to Hermione. "Are you alright, Hermione?" he asked quietly, concerned. "You look very tired and it's only three-o-clock in the afternoon."
"I'm fine." she said. "I just need to..." She suddenly yawned. "-finish my Arithmancy homework." she continued. "Then I'll be able to continue the mandatory reading for Muggle Studies."
"No, Hermione." Harry refused sternly. "You're obviously tired. It won't do you any good to do your homework dead tired." he said. Hermione was about to protest when Harry cut her off. "No, Hermione. If you take a nap now, you'll be able to think more clearly later, which will allow you to do your homework better and faster, which will give you more time to sleep and take care of yourself later. Speaking from experience, it will do you no good to continue working if you are tired."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione softly.
"Last year, while you were petrified, Ron and I were depressed by everything that was going on and we were missing you greatly. You already know that I stopped working on the Mark III at the time but the truth is that none of our usual activities interested either of us. As a result, we started studying more and more. At first, our grades evolved but as we lost ourselves in a downward spiral, our grades took a hit for the worse. Really, at the end, our new studying habits caused more harm than good. And that was only for one month.
"I'm worried that if you push yourself that much this early in the year, you'll end up loosing yourself in your studying, never sleeping, eating or taking care of yourself. It could cause you a lot of harm, including depression or getting a burnout. I care for you, Hermione, and I don't want this to happen to you. Please, just sleep for a few hours – for me?" he pleaded.
Hermione looked at Harry. He could see her eyes turn wet. Suddenly, she threw herself in his arms and started crying softly. "You're such a good friend, Harry." she said. "What did I do to deserve you?"
"Reverse our positions and I'm asking myself the same question every day." said Harry. "You've always been there for Ron and I. For once, let us take care of you."
Hermione nodded in his neck. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." smiled Harry. Hermione did not let go of Harry and the boy continued to hug the girl, even if it made his heart race. Unfortunately, they were in the common room and, at some point, it became slightly uncomfortable to hold her in front of everyone so, timidly, Harry spoke. "Hermione?" he said. Hermione did not move. Frowning, Harry pushed his friend gently.
Hermione had fallen asleep in his arms. She had really been tired. Chuckling softly, Harry grabbed Hermione bridal-style and walked toward the stairs that led to the girls dormitory. Harry climbed up the stairs, panting slightly at the effort, and searched for the Third-Year dorm. He almost entered when he found it, but remembered it was a girls dorm. He did not want to enter without checking if someone was inside. It would do no good for anyone if Harry barged in on one of Hermione's roommates being half-naked. So, Harry knocked on the door.
When no answers came, Harry closed his eyes and opened the door. If there was someone, then they would be able to yell at him before he could see anything. But no voice came. Taking another risk, Harry opened his eyes. He let out a breath of relief when he saw that the room was empty. Still holding his best friend, Harry checked all the beds until he found Hermione's. Then, he drew the covers and gently dropped her on the bed, removing her outer robes, shoes and socks. He then placed the covers on Hermione. He smiled.
Hermione looked so peaceful asleep. The tiredness he had seen earlier seemed to have disappeared now that she was asleep. Before he went back to the common room, he surprised himself with his boldness and kissed her on the cheek. "Sleep well, Hermione." he whispered. He then turned and walked out of the room, not noticing the smile that had appeared on Hermione's face.
When Harry walked outside of Hermione's dorm, he quickly made to the stairs. He only took two steps down before some kind of alarm sounded. "Ah!" he yelled in surprise. The stairs under Harry's feet shifted, turning into a smooth slide. "What the-!" he exclaimed before he stumbled forward. As Harry discovered, standing on a smooth slide was not a good thing. Harry fell on his chest and slid right back down to the common room.
When they saw Harry come sliding down the girls stairs, the Gryffindors in the common room burst out laughing. Embarrassed, Harry went to the table Hermione had occupied, packed up her things and walked up to his own dorm room.
After that day, Hermione began calming down on her work and took more time for herself. As for Harry, it took a week and a half since more before he finished the first ever version of his magical intelligence. The current version was only the very basic. If he had done it properly, then the magical intelligence would be fully sentient and able to communicate with words. The intelligence also had a very basic book scanner which would allow it to scan and learn from 'reading' books. Harry wanted it to be able to build a database by itself. Unfortunately, that version of the book scanner was slow, taking up to an hour to scan an entire book. This would be something he would upgrade in the future.
Once he had completed his rune sequence, he grinned. He had written the entire thing on a large roll of parchment – like he had done with the brooms. Now, he just needed to name it.
Harry looked back at his notebook. Then, he decided. Taking a quill, he wrote the name.
Magically Advanced and Really Intelligent Operating Network Version One.
He grinned, rubbing his tired eyes. Naming his work was always the most satisfying part of making something since it signified the end of a lot of hard work. While Harry knew the project still had a lot of work to do, he was more than pleased to have completed the first version. Now, he only had to enchant it on his necklace.
The enchanting took place the following weekend. That Saturday, Harry sequestrated himself in his dorm – like he had done when working on the Mark I – and enchanted the intelligence. He had bought the necklace he had decided to use for the intelligence in Diagon Alley. The necklace was simple. It was simply a small, round aluminum puck. It had attracted him because the necklace was enchanted to shrink and unshrink at the tap of a wand – just like his trunk. It would grow to the size of a large pizza plate when unshrunk. This type of necklace was produced specifically for the purpose of enchanting, though most would use it to enchant protective charms like shield charms. It allowed Harry to write all of his necessary runes before shrinking back the thing. He just made sure the runes and charms of the intelligence wouldn't interfere with the shrinking enchantments.
It took Harry all day to complete the enchantments. It was by far the largest thing he had ever enchanted. Thankfully, Harry had only used half of one of the faces, leaving three-quarters of the necklace empty for future usage. Once he had done the necklace, Harry had also enchanted his eyeglasses, writing runes on the stems. The purpose of that was simply to allow the intelligence to communicate with him without being heard by anyone else. It also allowed Harry to experiment on 'wireless' enchantments.
Before shrinking the necklace back, Harry made sure all the runes had been transcribed perfectly. Once he put the necklace around his neck, he took his wand, put the tip of it on the puck, and activated it.
"Speak to me." he whispered. A moment of silence. Then, a feminine voice spoke.
"Good evening, sir." said the voice. It worked!
Harry grinned. "Good evening, M.A.R.I.O.N.."
A/N: Next chapter will focus on the Mark IV, including the reveal of the name. By the way, I gave a few hints to the name in Chapter 8: Gifts and Surprise, in case people hadn't realised. I'll repeat them here for those interested.
#1: The colour scheme of the Mark IV. It's black with two red lines.
#2: Harry's broom is named after his favourite airplane. For the reader's sake, Harry's favourite plane is also a rather popular one in general.
#3: The naming scheme of the Potter broomsticks. The name has something avian in it.
Now you have those clues. Think about it and see if you found the right name once the next chapter is posted. ;)
Speaking of broomsticks, if anyone is interested, shoot me your ideas about broomsticks. I already have ideas myself up to Mark XIV (14) but I'm also looking for more! I don't want the brooms to always be upgrades of the previous ones. I want unique ideas! As an exemple, I plan for Harry to build a three-seater broom and another broom that work exclusively underwater. In the far future, Harry will build a suborbital broom. These are crazy ideas like that I'm looking for.
If you have any ideas, be it function, shape, name or even simply colour pattern, I'll take. Just send it to me in PMs or reviews. :D