Harry Potter and the Physical Adept
Chapter 26: Adeptness
It was awkward.
Harry didn't enjoy being hugged by one person, let alone three people at once, but he found himself enfolded in the collective arms of Dia, Hermione and Liv almost immediately after he regained his senses.
"I can't do this anymore," said the Ravenclaw, as she let go of the Hermetic mage.
"Do what?" he asked, getting to his feet as the others released him as well.
"I can't just keep letting you step in to protect me," she said, her expression determined. "I need to learn to protect myself better than I can now."
"We practice self-defense first thing every morning," Dia volunteered. "You could join us."
"I think I'd like that," Hermione said.
"I thought you might," the blonde said. "It's at six in the morning."
"I'll be there."
"Where's the ginger?" Harry asked, as he looked around. Like last year, he was in an abandoned classroom. "And what about the wall?"
"Medical wing," Liv said. "I wiped away any memory she had of the basilisk's carcass with the spell Hermione used earlier on Clearwater, but not of what we told her about Riddle, so she knows about him and the diary. It was a bit tricky, but I managed.
"As for the wall, that was nothing a powered-up mending couldn't handle."
"Riddle?" Hermione interjected.
"You-Know-Who," Harry said. "His given name is Tom Riddle, which is what we're going to call him because he gave himself the name 'Voldemort' to create a sense of mysticism, and that's exactly what we're going to strip him of."
"How?" asked the Ravenclaw.
"No idea yet, but that's what research is for. I think I might tap Rita for this; it could lead to the kind of hit piece that could really make her bones."
Pausing, he checked his wristwatch; as far as he could tell, he had been unconscious for only a little less than an hour, a much better recovery time than after the previous year's incident.
"Have you shown her the basilisk?" Harry asked, and the dragon shook her head.
"You got it?" Hermione asked in awe.
"All I did was transfigure some rubble into a rooster, and then it keeled over," Harry said.
"It was an anticlimax," Liv said, echoing her previous sentiment. "I was having so much fun just having a fistfight with it."
"You had a fistfight with the Beast of Slytherin?" the bushy-haired girl repeated, incredulous.
"It wasn't anything special when you take away its death stare and extremely virulent poison," said the Norwegian Ridgeback with a shrug. "Just a really big snake."
"Those are the things that make it dangerous!" Hermione protested.
"We're all immune to those things," Luna said sweetly. "Ribbons, remember?"
"Big teeth too," Liv continued.
"Are you immune to those?" the Ravenclaw asked pointedly.
"Don't know. I was too fast for it to catch me.
"Speaking of fast, you were faster too, Bear," observed the dragon-in-girl's-form. "What was that?"
"Must be the Astral power that got injected into my muscles after I lost control of it when the damn thing hit me," the Hufflepuff said.
"That would explain the glow," Liv said.
"Am I glowing now?"
"It stopped when you passed out. How's your head? You hit it pretty hard on the way down."
"Stings a little, but I've had worse. Did you run mend wounds on me while I was out? It doesn't feel like my ribs are cracked anymore."
"Figured you might need it."
"I did," Harry agreed. "Now watch me."
The Hermetic mage drew Astral power into himself, but rather than channel it through his nerves and try to form a spell with it, he instead slowly and carefully infused it into the muscles in his legs bit by bit, feeling them surge with energy and strength.
"You're glowing again," Liv observed. "Specifically, your legs."
The boy bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, feeling loose and agile; cautiously, he pushed off the floor with just his toes, and found himself lifting a good foot off the floor.
He channeled Astral power into his right index finger, muscle, bone, ligaments and skin alike, placed his hand down on the table, then lightly tapped the surface with the finger.
The wood splintered under the impact.
He pushed Astral power into the rest of his muscles, bones, ligaments and skin, then into his heart and lungs, and immediately felt his heartbeat slow as he felt himself becoming more alert and his muscular fatigue melted away. It must have been the blood oxygenating his muscles.
Checking his watch, he started to hold his breath, holding up a finger as a gesture to hold on as Hermione started to try to talk to him.
It was fifteen minutes before he finally let out the breath; in the intervening time, Liv and Luna had engaged in a game of slap jack, with the blonde trying to slap the dragon's hands and failing absolutely miserably.
"What were you doing?" Hermione demanded impatiently, as the boy finally lowered the finger.
"Seeing how long I can hold my breath without hyperventilating first."
"Why?"
"Apparently, I get improved performance when I infuse my body with Astral power."
"Really?" Luna asked, eyes widening momentarily.
A moment later, she managed to just brush the back of the Norwegian Ridgebacks's left hand as the dragon yanked it back.
"Beautiful," Liv whispered, almost in awe.
"Thank you," agreed Luna, favoring the dragon with a soft smile.
Liv blinked in surprise. "Did I say that out loud?" she asked.
"You did."
Harry had no idea what Liv was talking about; as far as his eyes could see, nothing was different about Dia.
Then, he remembered the dragon's Astral perception.
Maybe he could mimic that too.
Without thinking twice, the Hermetic mage drew Astral power into himself, and like he had done so before with his heart and lungs, he infused it into his eyes.
He nearly went blind in an instant.
"Fuckin' hell," the ferryman growled, shutting his eyes and covering them with both hands all at once; even then, afterimages of pure bright seared into his retinas like he had just looked directly into the sun, slowly fading back into the dark of his eyelids as the seconds crawled by.
Cautiously, the Hermetic mage slowly peered out from behind barely-cracked eyelids, letting his eyes adjust to the sudden change in brightness before slowly opening them fully.
The entire room glowed a bright white; in the foreground, the dragon was wrapped in a pulsing dragon's-head-shaped silhouette the color of fresh blood, and facing her, the blonde was enveloped with a soft golden glow—made up of butterflies and songbirds—that swirled around her body while a luminous ember the color of cherry blossoms glimmered in her abdomen.
Looking down upon himself, the shadowrunner saw an ebon mist slowly waft off his person, enfolding him in itself like a comfortable coat. He could just make out a pinprick of shimmering emerald light at his navel, but that was tightly enshrouded in black mist and almost impossible to make out.
Finally, he looked over at Hermione, and all he saw there was a beacon of sarcoline in her midsection.
Releasing the Astral power from his eyes, the Hermetic mage watched as the magical signatures faded from his sight, returning the world to its original, less oddly-colored appearance.
~ooOoo~
All it took was Susan Bones punching her hard enough in the nose to draw blood for Hermione Granger to decide that wasn't the kind of self-defense she wanted to learn.
With the Ravenclaw's departure and the two Hufflepuff girls busy training with one another, the Hermetic mage finally had the opportunity to test out his enhancements against the dragon. Channeling Astral power, he carefully infused it into his body, making sure to thoroughly steep his muscles, bones, ligaments, nerves, organs and skin in it before the sparring session began.
As always, it started with a nod; then, the dragon was coming inside at full speed, crossing the distance in three quick steps, fists flying in a flurry of jabs, hooks and uppercuts.
Body full of energy and bursting with power, the shadowrunner saw the punches coming as soon as the Norwegian Ridgeback began to throw them and reacted faster than he thought humanly possible, slipping just out of the way of each right before the moment impact, feeling the air rush past him as each swing missed by just a hair. With each bob and weave, he slipped towards the dragon, who backed up, trying to maintain the distance between herself and the Hermetic mage, but he was closing fast.
With not much space left to maneuver, the dragon suddenly stopped throwing punches and charged into grappling range, wrapping both arms under the boy's arms and around chest, lifting him up easily and driving him to the ground; as they tumbled down, Harry pulled guard, his legs wrapping around the dragon-in-girl's-form's waist as they hit the dirt and grass, barely feeling the collision as the two landed in a pile.
Knowing Liv's penchant for ground-and-pound, the ferryman quickly slipped between the punches she threw at his face by moving his head out of the way, then quickly unhooked his legs the moment saw her begin to throw a slicing elbow, shifting to the side and shoving the entire arm as the attack came across, throwing the dragon off balance and spinning her around; in an instant, he was out from under her and grapevined both legs around one of hers, sliding to her side and pinning one arm under his body as he wrapped one arm around the side of her face in a headlock, twisting her head one way and her body in another.
"Tap! Tap! Tap!" shouted the dragon-in-girl's-form, tapping Harry three times on the forearm in quick succession, and the shadowrunner immediately released the submission hold, pushing Liv off him before rolling away and back to his feet.
"That's a first," he remarked, and the dragon nodded. "Any difference?"
"You're stronger than before, too, but not stronger than me," Liv observed, considering what had just transpired between herself and the Hermetic mage. "I'm pretty sure I could beat you in arm wrestling or a foot race, but your agility might be a hair better than anything I can manage. I'm actually kind of surprised you didn't even seem to notice when I slammed you down, because I'm pretty sure I did that pretty hard; I'm guess that means you're harder to hurt now too.
"First time you've ever beaten me, though; so congratulations on that."
"Thank you," said the shadowrunner. "Again?"
"It won't happen again; I won't underestimate you this time."
"I've got more tricks up my sleeve."
"You say that, but every time you show me a new trick, you're just teaching it to me."
"Then I better come up with something you can't even copy."
"Good luck with that."
Grinning at each other predatorily, the two circled slowly, the shadowrunner with his right side forward to present a narrow profile towards the dragon, the Norwegian Ridgeback with her hands up in a traditional boxing posture.
Suddenly, the dragon stepped backwards, raising her left foot off the ground as she assumed a gongfu stance, balancing on her other as she beckoned Harry with one hand.
The Hermetic mage considered the dragon's fighting stance for a moment, then pulled the Beretta from his waistband, firing as soon as he got it out of its holster and on target.
"Gun!" Luna shouted, tackling Susan to the ground without even thinking about a counterattack as she heard the action of the pistol in the shadowrunner's hand cycle twice in rapid succession.
Liv toppled over onto her back as the shots slammed into her chest, flattening on impact as it transferred its entire force into her body without penetrating skin. Growling, she sat up, then was promptly knocked over again as the shadowrunner fired two more bullets into her body.
"Ugh," she groaned, then suddenly lifted up both knees to her chest, drawing a Walther PPK out of the holster on each boot and quickly firing back.
Before the dragon had drawn a bead on him, the shadowrunner was already moving; seeing the draw before the subcompact handguns had even left their holsters, he anticipated where the two weapons would be aimed and started to get out of the path of both barrels, managing to dart out of the way of one before the Norwegian Ridgeback started squeezing the triggers.
Instantly, the translucent black shield appeared an inch from the back of the Hermetic mage's left arm and the one bullet that was on target clanged off it; in that moment, the Norwegian Ridgeback was back on her feet, charging forward with guns blazing in an alternating fashion, forcing the ferryman onto the defensive until her ammunition ran dry, but by that time, she was already within hand-to-hand combat range and had dropped her pistols.
As the two girls watched in awe, the dragon ducked under the shadowrunner's gun arm and immediately bent it along the elbow, trying to force the gun in the direction of the boy's face, but he released the weapon before it even got close to his head, spinning under the dragon's hand and catching the free-falling pistol with his other one before it even hit the floor, forcing her to flip sideways and out of the way of the barrel before kicking it up out of his hand and snatching it up with her free one, letting go of boy and stepping back, leveling the pistol at him, though he was already off line before she could even get the sights on him, ducking into her personal space and then suddenly slipping to the outside, shoving his forearm up against the wrist of her gun hand and grabbing the weapon by its slide, pushing it backwards enough to prevent it from firing as he twisted the gun along the axis of her wrist, wrenching the pistol from her hands as her hand bent away from her body.
Before he could even disengage from close combat, Liv was already pushing the weapon's barrel away from her body, trying the yank the weapon from his hands with pure brute force; realizing he could not match her strength, the boy quickly thumbed the magazine release, letting the bullets drop to the ground as he let the dragon have the weapon, bringing his shield to bear in front of him as she pulled the trigger, firing the last bullet in the chamber into the black barrier.
"You're empty," said the shadowrunner, as the dragon pulled the trigger again.
"That was pretty cool," Luna said from where she and Susan were laying in the grass and dirt, and the older girl silently nodded in agreement.
"You react faster than before," Liv noted, turning the pistol around and handing it back, grip first. "Maybe faster than even me, which means faster than any human alive. You're not going to be dodging bullets, but if you see somebody coming, you can definitely get out of the way of the barrel before they've even got a bead on you, which might as well be the same thing.
"We should check your coordination sometime too; it might be up there with things that've improved since you became a physical adept."
"Is that what I am now?" the Hermetic mage asked.
"As long as you're infusing yourself with Astral power, it looks that way," said the dragon. "Certainly a nice trick to have; as important as good skill and technique are, having better raw physicals is much more important."
"When we get back, I'm definitely going to test my limits at the facility," said the physical adept. "Definitely will want to know where my limits are."
~ooOoo~
"Hey, Tolly. Sit."
Harry blinked. It was unlike Luna to just bark orders at him, but from the way she was gesturing at the chair, she clearly wanted him to sit in it.
"What for?" he asked, more cautious than curious.
"I want to try something," she said.
"How long will it take?"
"A couple hours."
"I'm going to need a book for this, aren't I?"
"It'll help pass the time."
"All right."
"And sit very, very still."
"Fine."
It took three hours, during which the Hermetic mage finally took the time to start and finish Snow Crash, a novel he had wanted to read for pleasure but never had time to do so with his busy, self-appointed schedule.
"Here," said the blonde, as she finally turned the sketchpad she had been drawing on for the previous quarter of the day towards the boy.
The shadowrunner could only gawk at the picture in front of him, a portrait of him, sitting on the chair, reading a book, in full color. A closer examination showed it had been drawn completely in color pencil, but from even an arm's length, it might as well have been a photograph, so fine and accurate were the details.
"That's amazing," Harry said. "It looks just like me. I can't believe you only needed a couple hours to do it; I think most artists would need a couple days for it at least."
"You always say I'm a natural, don't you?" Luna said with a wide smile.
"I do."
"Guess I'm a natural at being an adept too. An artistic adept."
"Must be it."
"I kind of wish you hadn't had to kill the basilisk, though; it was so cute. I wish I could have made it a pet or something…"
The shadowrunner smiled faintly, and the blonde caught it.
"What are you not saying?" she asked.
"Let's just say, we should get some toads and some chicken eggs."
"Is that how basilisks are made?"
"What if I told you 'yes'?"
"Then I'd say, 'Cool, let's hatch some basilisks!'."
"All right, but you can only keep one; the rest are going to be for materials."
"Okay. But I get to pick which one."
"Fine. But you'll have to take care of it all on your own, train it and everything."
"Deal!"
Author's Notes: Hermione's realization is meant to be a galvanizing catalyst for her; that said, she's also not the physically confrontational type either, so she's going to have to look into figuring out methods of her own.
Harry's slow discovery and exploration of what it means to become adept was something interesting to write; it's like he discovered magic for the first time again, except this time, it's a completely different form of magic. I also wanted to compare what Harry experienced with what Liv observed.
If it's not already made clear by what Harry perceives through "Astral perception", Hermione does not use external (Astral) magic, which is why she has no Astral aura the way he, Luna and Liv do, whereas Liv doesn't have a magical core, hence why she doesn't have a "beacon" of internal magic within her. His own perception of his own core also further gives a hint as to why he can't use wand magic. And yes, I'm aware that the idea of a magical "core" is a fanon trope, one that's not necessarily well-liked, but it's really kind of necessary to this story, where there are many, many paradigms of magic that draw on internal and external sources of magic to power the effects spellcasters want to generate.
Luna pulling "artistic adept" out of her ass is meant to showcase how what Harry does isn't unique to him; even though she calls herself an "artistic adept", she's really just another version of an adept with a slightly different (social) focus than Harry. It's also closer to what an adept is in Shadowrun 5th Edition, but as always, rules and common sense don't always apply to her; she likes art and interacting with people, so her version of what an adept's powers are is geared towards her interests.
Once again, many, many thanks to my long-suffering editor, Romantically Distant, for all their efforts in reading and proofing my writing. And now you've read this chapter, feel free to leave a review or just PM me, and, with the WARS pandemic still on-going, stay safe.