2-Starting a Change

Harry sent the letter to Madam Bones that day and then joined Hermione in the library, researching some advanced books for spells or rituals to either undo a possession (which they soon found to be an almost fail-safe way to kill the possessed) or bind the possessing soul to the possessed body, thus disallowing it to flee. They were both surprised to find such a spell in the open section. They were almost sure that only the restricted section could hold such spells. On second thought, this wasn't a dark spell and since possession was very rare, it made no sense to hide such a spell.

Hermione's perfect memory helped them in starting the campaign against Lockhart. She remembered from her future self which books contradicted and looked for them in the library. "I'm sure that an anonymous letter to the Daily Prophet, with exact quotations and page references, is enough to start the ball rolling," she told Harry. Just to be sure, they also sent another copy to The Quibbler.

When they finally joined their classmates at dinner, Ron was livid again. "I thought we could play some Chess or other games this afternoon," he told Harry.

"Sorry, but I had some things to look for in the library," Harry replied, not sorry at all.

"Why should you even go close to the library if we have no homework to do there?" Ron was really confused.

"The library is not only for homework, you know. One can find very interesting information there about whatever subject one is interested in. There are quite a few books even about Quidditch, you know."

Ron shrugged it off. "You won't see me going there unless I have no choice."

'Nice to know how we can get some rest from your constant nagging,' Harry thought. He felt like Ron's attitude was holding him back almost as much as the need to do worse than Dudley had been holding him back during primary school. Well, since getting those memories from his older self, he no longer considered Ron a real friend. He still couldn't distance himself completely without attracting unwelcome attention, though.

"Too bad," he said. "I have a few more things I need to look for at the library after dinner. I'll have to rely on Hermione's help only, if you don't come along."

Ron's answer was just as expected, although not welcome. "Well, at least the bookworm has some use for you."

Hermione would have been deeply offended by him only a few days earlier. Now, with her more mature self taking control as soon as she heard him, she just pretended not to hear any of it. She would not let that bad-mouthed boy make her repeat the troll fiasco.

With dinner over, they made their way to the library again. Although Hermione had already made sure that they both had all their homework done, checking it once more was the right thing to do, so she thought, and Harry didn't argue. On their way, they passed near the stairs leading to the corridor where the Room of Requirements was, giving Harry an idea. "Why don't we use that room to check our homework. It can give us any book we need, you know. Besides, it may be able to give us a book about how to destroy Horcruxes."

Hermione's eyes lighted with delight. "Of course! I wonder why I haven't thought of that! Let's go!"

The ROR proved its worth. After they rechecked their homework (well, some was only due in a few days, but dealing with Horcruxes was less urgent,) the room gave them a few books dealing with curse breaking. In one of them, they found a spell to move whatever foreign material or magic resided in an object to another. Its main purpose was to cleanse precious items of curses and to move them to useless items that could be easily destroyed. It didn't mention Horcruxes specifically, but the description of the spell made it perfectly clear that it could be used on them too.

Another thin book dealt with Horcruxes only, giving a spell to identify them and several ways to destroy them. One was a very hot fire, like the furnaces used in melting metals or the heat of a raging volcano. Fiendfyre could also be used, but it was too difficult to control, so it was only recommended as a last resort. Another method was the use of Basilisk venom. They knew that there was a Basilisk under the school. If they could either tame it or kill it safely, this method could become usable. The book also noted that concentrated sulphuric acid could be just as effective in destroying such abominations. "That's quite easy to get hold of in many Muggle shops," Hermione noted.

"It was a very educational day," Harry smirked on their way back to the dorms.

"Sure! We've started the process of freeing Sirius, found a way to bind Voldemort to Quirrell, even if he wants to flee, made the first step in exposing the fraud Lockhart and learned how to remove a Horcrux without destroying its vessel."

The last item made Harry think. "Hermione, you know Dumbledore used to look pensively at my scar. He also didn't really train me. It looks like he was actually preparing me to become a martyr. Maybe he thinks my scar is also a Horcrux. Can you test it?"

Hermione stopped in mid-stride, contemplating the problem. "We've found a spell to identify a Horcrux. We may be able to use it later, but maybe it's not that important. We can just use that cleansing spell to remove any remnant of the dark magic used on your scar. We should remove the dark residue from you first, since it causes you some pains and we know that it was also used to trick you. That should be our priority. We can then use whatever method we want to destroy it without affecting you. It may even make your scar heal, you know."

"I'd like it very much," he assured her.

"We may try it tomorrow, using the ROR. It may even supply us with a furnace, if we ask correctly."

The next day, they had a free period after lunch, and Hermione thought it was more than long enough to rid Harry of whatever dark magic was in his scar.

Once they reached the ROR, Hermione asked for a room to treat Harry and then opened the door to what looked like a doctor's office, with a treatment bed and a large desk, behind which were shelves with various potions, medical supplies and a multitude of books. A roaring furnace occupied one corner of the room

Hermione asked Harry to stretch on the bed and put his head on the supplied pillow. She then grabbed a bandage from a shelf and tied it over his scar, so it would absorb whatever came out of the scar.

"Depending on what comes out, this may hurt a bit," she warned Harry, who just nodded his assent.

The cleansing spell was quite short but required exact pronunciation and very precise wand movements. Hermione had no problem with either. She cast the spell and then watched Harry attentively.

At first, nothing seemed to happen, but then his chest started glowing red. It disappeared after a moment, when his abdomen glowed green. Hermione was fascinated when some more glowing appeared on other parts of Harry's body. She made sure to write down all the details so she could check the books and find the meaning of the various colours.

It took a bit longer before Harry's forehead started glowing white. Harry felt like there was a fight there, with the spell trying to expel something while that something, whatever it was, was trying to stay in. Not quite sure what to do, he tried to direct his own magic to help expel the foreign magic. This seemed to do the trick. The foreign magic was forced out, yet the pain caused in the process was almost insupportable. Harry felt like his scar was on fire, like a thousand knives were being stuck in it, like it was put in deep freeze – all at once. Luckily, it didn't last for long. A moment later, the pain disappeared, and he could open his eyes and see how Hermione's frown turned into a smile.

She removed the bandage. The formerly white cloth turned mostly black, and Hermione made sure not to touch it. She levitated the bandage to the open door of a small furnace, similar to the ones used by goldsmiths, but much hotter. The bandage seemed to fight her spell, trying to move sideways and escape, but Hermione wouldn't let it. Once close enough, she banished the bandage into the furnace and closed the door.

It took merely a fraction of a second before a furious and desperate cry was heard, signifying the destruction of that dark magic. Harry suspected it was a Horcrux, based on his future experience.

Hermione sighed in relief. "I still need to check what else came out of you. Your body glowed some different colours. I don't think they indicated dark magic, but they still were unexpected."

Harry didn't want to dwell on it. He had a feeling he wouldn't like it.

Hermione seemed to understand. She just smiled at him. "Now we need to go to class."

Ron was already there when they reached the Charms class, looking at them accusingly. "You couldn't spare even an hour to stay with me?" he whined.

Hermione answered this time. "I found a way to heal Harry's scar. See?" She lifted Harry's bangs, showing his healing scar. "There's no more scabbing, and the discolouration will fade in a few days, I believe."

This made Ron interested. "Really! It now looks like a normal injury that heals completely in a matter of days." He then frowned. "People will no longer recognize you so easily," he told Harry.

"I consider this a change for the better. I hate it when people stare at my forehead."

Ron only shook his head, not quite understanding why Harry would so readily give up something that made him famous.

Harry decided to spend the time until dinner with Ron and Hermione agreed. While they no longer saw him as a close friend, they needed to refrain from sudden unexplained changes. Still, with dinner over, they left Ron alone, stating that they needed something at the library, and rushed to the ROR.

Hermione checked once again that book where they had found the cleansing spell. There was an appendix there, where the various colours were referenced to spells. Most colours had more than one spell associated with them, but there was no explanation about how to further identify a specific spell.

Hermione read the appendix several times, frowning deeper as time passed. "What did you find?" Harry inquired.

She lifted her eyes from the book. "Most of the colours I've seen only signify various spells you've been hit with. I'm mainly concerned with the first two, though. The red glow could signify a binding of your magical powers or a loyalty charm cast on you or the Imperius. We can rule that one out, of course, and I doubt anybody would cast a loyalty charm on children our age. However, that only leaves a magical binding. Who would bind your magic and for what reason?"

Harry tried to recall something from his other life. "I think I've heard that parents use to bind magical children, to prevent them from hurting others with accidental magic. Couldn't it be that?"

She shook her head. "You had a blue glow from your neck for a brief moment. That's the sign of a childhood binding. The red glow was much longer and brighter. Whoever did that wanted you weak. I don't like it."

She stayed silent for a moment and then continued. "The green one is even worse, in a way. It could be a compulsion spell or a charm to slow down your mind and make it dumber. Once again, I don't like it. Even a compulsion charm on a child can be very bad. Making you dumber should be a criminal offence. Whoever cast it on you didn't want you to be smart, for sure. He probably wanted you to be an average or below in both mental and magical abilities." She gave it another thought. "Come to think of it, some of the other colours indicated possible spells to make you physically weaker. I'm really glad we've got rid of them." She then frowned. "We need to check you periodically, to make sure you're not subjected to such spells again."

Harry became pensive. While he had no time to really check how the cleansing affected him, he noticed that his spells during Charms had come easier and more powerful. He also noticed that he had climbed the seven floors to the ROR with much less difficulty than a day earlier. There was only one person who was both knowledgeable and close enough to Harry to cast these spells on him. He suspected that each and every spell could be explained as either caring for him or for the general public, "for the Greater Good" as his older self had heard too often, but having all of them cast on him without his knowledge, even after the fact, seemed quite suspicious.

"Hermione, can you write down a full list of the spells you removed from me? Is there a way to find out who cast them on me?" he asked.

She gave it a thought. "I can write the list, but we can no longer trace the caster. Had we known in advance, we could check the magical signature, but now it's gone. I had a feeling, though, that they were all cast by the same person, except for the childhood bind and that dark magic."

Harry sighed. "What can we do, then?"

She shrugged. "We'll have to check you for new spells every few days. If whoever cast this will find his spells removed, he may try again. If we're attentive enough, we may even see who it is, although I believe he would act stealthily, hiding in the shadows when casting again."

Harry thought he had an idea who it might be, but didn't want to say it until sure about it. He just sighed again and changed the subject. "Well, maybe we should go back to the tower. No need to alienate Ron even more. He will be pissed enough when I start getting much better grades."

Hermione giggled and grabbed his hand. "Sure! Let's go!"