Chapter 11

Spell-making

Before finishing the first chapter of 'Spell-making', Hermione filled an entire page with notes.

"Differentiations between spell categories exist for the sake of organization. One spell performed on an object is called a charm, but perform a spell with the same end result on a human and it will be labeled as a curse or jinx."

"Some aspects of magical theory are unnecessary. The use of complex diagrams, equations, and formulas have more to do with helping the caster conceptualize the process than they do with actually performing magic."

"Parameters give a spell focus and allow your wand to function at its highest capacity. Sending formless magic through a wand will still increase its potency, but a crafted spell will be enhanced ten-fold when used in conjunction with a wand."

Hermione's curiosity kept her reading far too long, and she ended up being late for Transfiguration. Their practical class took place in two spacious rooms near Professor McGonagall's office. Hermione tried to be subtle as she cracked the door open and slipped inside. Luckily, a fifth-year teacher's assistant, not McGonagall, stood talking to the room full of Ravenclaws and Gryffindors.

"We will be working on turning matches into sewing needles today," the heavy-set Slytherin girl explained to the class as Hermione quickly sat at a desk in the back row, "They are similar in shape and size, which should give you a better chance of success. Transfiguration is one of the most difficult subjects at Hogwarts, so don't expect this to be as easy as levitating pillows."

She then handed a medium-sized box to Neville, who sat in the front row, and said, "Take one match and pass it to the student beside you. Once everyone has a match, pass the box back to the front of the room."

Hermione spotted Li and Padma sitting two rows in front of her and quickly changed seats, sitting beside Padma. After Hermione had a match, she read through the instructions on the room's blackboard, which listed the incantation, wand movement, and a drawing of an isosceles triangle.

Hermione pulled her wand from her pocket and prepared to make her first attempt, but Padma reached out and gently put her hand on Hermione's wrist and shook her head.

Li leaned around Padma and quietly said, "The T.A told us at the beginning of class not to try the spell until she demonstrated it. You would have heard that part if you weren't late."

Hermione set her wand on the desk and explained, "I got distracted by a new book I found."

Li rolled her eyes, and in a slightly exacerbated voice said, "Of course you did."

Ignoring Li, Hermione said, "Thanks for stopping me, Padma,"

Padma gave her a small smile, but said nothing. Soon, everyone had a match and their T.A loudly cleared her throat to quiet the class. She demonstrated the spell and held up her needle for them to see. It had become sharply pointed on one end, and a small eyelet had opened where the round head of the match had been. Finally, she gave them permission to begin, and Hermione eagerly lifted her wand once more.

On her first attempt, Hermione managed to transform the wooden match into metal. Its shape did not change much, though the bottom of the match had narrowed slightly, giving it a dull point. Hermione felt initially pleased by her mild success, but she grew frustrated over the following three-quarters of an hour when the metal match stubbornly refused to respond to her spell. She thought about her new book and its dismissive comments on mainstream magical theory, but she wasn't sure what she could do differently.

When McGonagall switched rooms with the Slytherin T.A, Hermione's match looked the same as it had ten minutes into the lesson. Still, McGonagall complimented Hermione's achievement, pointing out her success to the rest of the class, then awarded her five points. This made Hermione beam with pride, though having the eyes of everyone in the room on her felt awkward.

Towards the end of the lesson, McGonagall said, "Your homework is to practice. Take your match with you and make sure to bring it next Thursday for our second practical class."

She dismissed them and they filed out of the classroom. Neville caught up with Hermione in the hallway, a pleased smile lighting up his round face.

"Hermione, look!" He said, holding out his match for her to see.

It had not turned completely to metal like Hermione's, but patches of silvery color had appeared across its surface like metallic polka-dots. Hermione smiled and congratulated Neville.

"It's all thanks to you," he said, face growing more serious, "I wish I had brains like yours."

"Yeah, me too," said Li, from behind Hermione, "But more so, I wish I had eyes like either of yours. Not the color mind you, just the ability to see without these darn glasses."

Hermione laughed and said, "Well I wish I could write with a quill like you Neville, or like Padma, her writing is beautiful."

Padma, who walked next to Li, quietly said, "Thanks," and looked down at the ground, avoiding eye contact.

The four of them made their way to the lecture hall for Magical Theory, their last class of the day. They found desks on the top tier and chatted until Professor Vector arrived. Hermione tried valiantly to take notes, but today's lecture included nothing significant enough for her to write down. Bored, Hermione found herself staring off into space, thinking about Madam Pince. The older woman had implied she knew about the poem and, despite the odd feeling of mistrust Hermione felt when talking with her, she wanted to discuss the mystery of Rowena's room with someone.

When the lesson ended, Hermione went back to Ravenclaw Tower. She had returned the books on Rowena and the Gryffindor family, and checked out 'Spell-making'. Ignoring her homework, Hermione made her way to the window near the top of the tower. She settled onto a step, back against the wall, and continued reading. She ate the last of her sandwiches while she read, occasionally pausing to write notes.

After an hour of studying the book, Hermione felt ready to try making her own spell. Worried about failing on her first attempt, she decided to start with something other than the spell she needed for displaying different floors on the map. Instead, she ripped a blank page from one of her notebooks and set it on the step before her. In grade four, Hermione found a book on origami, and taught herself how to fold paper into a number of different shapes. Using that knowledge, and following a set of instructions in 'Spell-making', Hermione set about creating her first spell.

She practiced the folds for a classic origami crane, wrote out the parameters of her spell, and then pulled out a fresh sheet of paper.

With a swish of her wand, Hermione spoke the words she had chosen as her spell's incantation, "Origamus Grusos!"

To her delight, the paper began to twist and fold in exactly the manner she envisioned, leaving behind a perfect paper crane, more neatly folded than the one she'd created by hand.

Excited, Hermione quickly wrote notes on a variation of the spell, moved her wand above another sheet of paper, and said, "Origamus Stellos!"

This time the spell folded the paper into a five-pointed star and Hermione's confidence soared. Without bothering to write out the parameters, incantation, or any other notes, she pulled out a fourth piece of paper and swept her wand through the air again.

"Origamus Elephantos!" Hermione said, envisioning the end result she desired.

Despite the fact that she had never learned how to make an origami elephant, the spell worked perfectly. She held a beautifully folded elephant with a trunk, tusks, and even a little paper tail. It was more complex than any origami she could create with her own hands.

'Spell-making' mentioned the benefits of having clear parameters, and her theory book emphasized intent, imagination, and conceptualization of the desired end result. However, it seemed to Hermione that expectations could interfere with the potential potency of a spell.

"Is that why I'm able to perform magic so easily compared to other first years?" Hermione wondered, "I have less experience and exposure to Wizarding culture, so maybe I have less preconceived notions affecting my magic."

The image of Li shooting water from her wand came to Hermione's mind and she speculated, "Li probably remembers how much water her brother produced with the spell, and assumes that is the most possible water a witch or wizard can create, so she subconsciously limits herself. She assumes, as an untrained witch, that she will be unable to match her imagined limit of the spell's potential."

Eventually, Hermione descended the spiraling staircase, head spinning with concepts that seemed almost philosophical in their unquantifiable nature. She stopped by her dorm to put her bag away and headed down to dinner. No owls brought her a letter or package from her parents, but Hermione still had six more pens she could try and sell before she needed more.

While she ate, Hermione also thought of Mr. Ollivander, and the letter she'd sent him. While writing that letter, a sense of fear convinced her to reveal as little as possible. A similar feeling had made her hesitate when Madam Pince asked what she knew about the mystery of Rowena's room. In both instances the concern and fear almost felt as if they came from an external source, like a little voice whispering advice directly into her subconscious in the form of emotions.

Hermione puzzled over this as she walked back to Ravenclaw Tower. She climbed the staircase to her room, got into bed with her notebooks and 'Spell-making. Then she set to work, planning out the parameters for the new cartography spell that she hoped would allow her to fix the map. Before she'd made much progress, Hermione fell asleep with her book and notes open on the sheets around her.

For the first time since arriving at Hogwarts, Hermione slept past seven o'clock. She tried to remember her dreams as she washed up and prepared for the day. Once again, she remembered a red light, but not much else. This Friday's classes consisted of double Herbology followed by double Charms. Professor Sprout tested them individually on their ability to identify three species in the greenhouse. The rest of the class chatted quietly while they waited their turn. Hermione used the time to write more notes on her spell, giving it the name 'Blueprint Charm'.

After lunch, the first-years headed to the Enchanting Building. Today's Charms class consisted of levitating their pillows through the floating hoops again. Hermione managed to get through the course three times in a row without her pillow ever touching the ground. Flitwick rewarded her with ten points and a bar of 'Honeydukes Chocolate'.

As he gave her the prize, Hermione heard Draco Malfoy say, "Whatever, the only good use for a levitation spell is making brooms. I'd rather be good at quidditch than charms."

This comment made her smile, because she could hear the jealousy in his voice, but her smile faded when Terry laughed and said, "I bet she's never even seen a quidditch match."

Annoyed at Terry, but also embarrassed by the truth of his words, Hermione hurried out of the Enchanting Building as soon as Flitwick dismissed them. When she reached the entrance to Ravenclaw Tower, she found a welcome distraction in the form of a new riddle from the bronze eagle's head.

It said, "I have no skin, hair, feathers, or shell, but I do have a head as well as a tail."

"A coin," Hermione answered, feeling sure she was correct.

The door opened and Hermione went straight to the window near the top of the tower. Sitting on the stone steps did not provide as much comfort as the couches or chairs in the common room, but the quiet and solitude made it worth the mild discomfort. After another hour of preparation and reading, Hermione felt ready to try her blueprint spell.

She waved her wand and said, "Pavimentum."

Nothing happened, just as she expected. Next, Hermione imagined the first floor of the library and tapped the rectangle that represented it with the tip of her wand. Some of the overlapping words and lines disappeared, leaving behind the detailed depiction of the first floor only. Excited, but not celebrating yet, Hermione tapped the map again and ink moved, beading on the surface of the parchment and rearranging to display the library's second floor, then sinking back into the paper.

Hermione let out a sound halfway between a sigh of relief and a huff of laughter, a feeling of pride burning in her chest. Emboldened by her achievement, Hermione located Ravenclaw Tower on the map and used the original mapping spell she had found. The spell showed the spiraling staircase, but it did not draw a hidden room behind the wall. Only slightly discouraged, Hermione repeated the mapping spell outside of her dorm room, as well as in the corner of the common room. Then she used her new blueprint spell to allow her to view different levels of the tower.

Hermione checked the grandfather clock in the common room, and saw there was still a bit of time before dinner, so she decided to do a bit more exploring of the first and second floors. She packed the map into her bag, grabbed a spare jar of ink from her room, and prepared to leave.

As she walked through the common room, Li noticed her and ran over, intercepting Hermione before she reached the door.

"Hey, you got a couple of those muggle quills on you?" Li asked her.

"They're called pens," Hermione reminded her, then said, "And yeah, I do, why?"

Li held out a galleon and cheerfully said, "Because Cho Chang wants to buy two of them."

Hermione quickly opened her bag, and while she retrieved two ballpoint pens, she said, "That's amazing, thanks! Who's Cho Chang?"

"A second-year," Li told her, gesturing at an extremely beautiful girl with sleek black hair, long eyelashes, and lips that were dark red.

Hermione traded Li the pens for the galleon and said, "I'm about to go for a walk, do you want to join me?"

Li shook her head, "Nah, I'll meet you at dinner ok?"

Hermione nodded, thanked her again, and left the common room, thinking about buying some more ink before the school store closed. As she walked through the main castle, she stopped occasionally to cast her mapping spell. By the time she reached the school store, two more of her ink bottles sat empty in her bag.

Hermione spent two galleons on ink and one knut on a copy of yesterday's 'Daily Prophet'. She was curious to read a Wizarding newspaper and see their perspective on world events. Hermione continued mapping until almost six, then headed to the Great Hall. Tonight, the ceiling showed a sky full of plum-colored clouds, and everyone seemed more talkative and cheerful, clearly pleased to have finished their first week of classes. Hermione found Li, and chatted with her while they ate.

Hermione noticed that Terry sat alone and she realized he may not have any friends in Ravenclaw because she'd only seen him spending time with Slytherins and Gryffindors. The post arrived, taking her attention away from Terry. Nothing arrived from her parents, but a long-eared owl, the one that had taken her letter to Mr. Ollivander, dropped a small scroll of parchment in front of her before immediately flying off.

Hermione put the scroll in her bag, wanting to read it by herself before sharing any of its contents with Li. The two of them left the Great Hall together and Hermione found a bench to open her map on. Then she used the cartography spell to fill in the entrance hall.

"Woah," Li said as she watched the ink dance across the page, sounding awed.

When the ink stopped moving, Li leaned in to examine the results. Hermione showed her how the blueprint spell worked, and they spent a few minutes looking over the pieces of the map Hermione had filled in.

"It's a bit small," Li commented, "Kinda hard to read the tiny writing."

Hermione nodded and said, "There is a spell I'm planning to try that could enlarge the map, but I need to try it on something else first."

"Want to try it out tonight?" Li asked, "I'm bored of levitation and I want to try a new spell."

Hermione, who'd planned on returning to the library to map the other floors, reluctantly agreed. She knew that making time for her friends was important if she didn't want them to stop liking her. So she returned to Ravenclaw Tower with Li, and the two of them went to their dorm room. Hermione pulled a spare sock from her trunk, setting it on the floor.

"The incantation is 'Engorgio'," Hermione told Li, as the shorter girl pulled her wand from her pocket. Li nodded and screwed up her face in concentration.

"Engorgio!" Li shouted, pointing her wand at the small, black cotton sock.

It began to grow quickly. In two seconds, the sock doubled in size, but Li maintained her look of focus and it continued to grow larger. When Li lowered her wand ten seconds later, the sock was as large as a sleeping bag.

Li giggled, picked it up, and said, "Well that worked!"

"Alright, my turn," Hermione said, taking the giant sock from Li.

She set it back on the floor, pointed her wand at it, and said, "Reducio!"

The sock shrank quickly back to its original size, but Hermione kept the spell going until the sock became small enough to fit on a baby's foot. Delighted, the two girls pulled out more objects to try the spells on.

When Padma and Mandy returned to the room to get ready for bed, they could hear the sounds of Hermione and Li's laughter coming from inside Hermione's giant black hat, which now filled a quarter of the room, its pointed tip touching the ceiling. When Mandy lifted the enormous hat's rim, she saw Li and Hermione lounging on pillows the size of couches.

After teaching Padma and Mandy the spells the four of them practiced on different objects while sharing Hermione's Bar of Honeydukes Chocolate. Eventually, they all fell asleep on enlarged pillows inside the giant, tent-like hat.

Hermione woke up shivering in the middle of the night, her blanket having slipped off her. She pulled the covers back over her, but then remembered the scroll from Mr. Ollivander. Carefully slipping under her hat's brim, Hermione pulled the letter from her bag and sat on her four-poster bed. There wasn't enough light to read by, so Hermione tried a spell from 'Standard Book of Spells Year One'.

"Lumos," she whispered, and a bright beam of light burst from the tip of her wand.

Hermione, slightly blinded by the sudden light, focused on the spell and willed it to dim. Her wand obliged, softening its light to the mild brilliance of a single candle. She heard one of the girls stir in their sleep, but soon all three were again breathing deeply, Li snoring slightly as usual. Hermione opened the wax seal on the scroll and rolled it open.

"Dear Miss Granger,

I was quite pleased to receive your letter, and I would be delighted to answer a few of your questions.

Wizarding culture is, as you have likely discovered, somewhat biased against muggles and muggle-borns. This prejudice extends to those called squibs. It is unlikely you will know much about squibs, they are rarely written about or discussed. A squib is an individual born to a Wizarding bloodline who is inexplicably unable to perform magic. Pure-blood families consider it a great shame to produce a squib, and their names are often omitted from official genealogical records. Because of this, it has become custom in Wizarding society for parents to routinely test their young children by lending them their wand to see if they can produce sparks or channel any other formless magic through the wand. This means that most children do not have the magical buildup that results in instinctual magic spontaneously bursting free.

As to your interest in wandlore, I regret to inform you that you will find no information on that subject in the school library. Wandmakers have kept our techniques secret for centuries and if you want to learn any details about the process, you'll need to apprentice with myself or another wandmaker.

On the topic of wandless magic, I can be less clandestine. Most magical beings are capable of performing spells without a wand, but human witches and wizards are quite weak without them. The discovery and improvement of wandlore throughout history directly coincides with our history of conflict and oppression of goblins, giants, elves and centaurs.

Practice your wandless magic. It is a skill most witches and wizards are incapable of learning, and it can prove quite useful.

I was in Ravenclaw house during my time at Hogwarts, but you should discuss Rowena's room with my sister, not me. She's put a fair bit of work into solving that mystery, and she mentioned meeting you in her most recent letter. It seems both of us have taken quite an interest in you.

Sincerely, Gerralt Ollivander

P.S. Feel free to write to me again with more questions, though next time, tie it to the owl's leg rather than letting it hold the letter with its talons. Your previous message had a few holes in it."

Hermione read it through twice, put the letter from Mr. Ollivander back into her bag, and thought "His sister must be that librarian woman, Madam Pince, they do have similar eyes."

Now wide awake, Hermione checked the time and saw it was three o'clock in the morning and she gave up on getting back to sleep. Emptying her bag of everything besides jars of ink and the map, Hermione quietly made her way down to the common room. It was empty, no other students awake at this hour. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione thought she saw movement near one of the fireplaces, but when she turned to look she found nothing.

Not sure if there was a rule about how early a student could leave their common room, Hermione waited until four o'clock before leaving the tower. The castle seemed more foreboding in the dark of night.. Each suit of armor looked sinister, the darkness making it hard to distinguish them from an actual person. Small sounds of rustling clothes and deep breathing came from the sleeping inhabitants of the many paintings on the walls. Hermione made her way to the base of the astronomy tower, stopping occasionally to map staircases and corridors. She used the illumination spell but kept it as dim as possible, not wanting to draw attention to herself.

As she came close to the astronomy tower, Hermione heard a voice up ahead, and she quickly hid behind a suit of armor.

A quieter voice said something she couldn't make out, then a louder, angry voice said, "Out for a walk, aye? Bollocks, I'll be reporting you to McGonagall, Miss Harbison, and I'm sure Professor Sprout will be delighted to hear you were out after curfew again Miss Jackson."

The voice was growing louder, and peeking around the suit of armor's breastplate, Hermione could make out a hunched man walking behind two older students with slumped shoulders and forlorn expressions on their faces. The moonlight was bright enough she could see the pockmarks on the hunched man's face. His thinning hair hung past his shoulders, and he wore an ugly look of glee on his unpleasant face.

Worried she would be spotted, Hermione slipped her wand from her pocket and tapped it on the top head. She'd practiced this spell on individual limbs, but this was her first attempt at casting a Disillusionment Charm on her entire body. It felt like someone had poured a bucket of warm, viscous liquid on her head that slowly covered her completely. Looking down, Hermione saw that her torso and legs had become see-through, though a blurry outline was still visible, shimmering slightly as she moved.

The adult man and the two older students walked past Hermione, and none of them seemed to notice her huddling behind the armor. She waited a few minutes before continuing down the corridor, then headed for the door that led into the astronomy tower.

The door was locked, and as Hermione lifted her wand to use the unlocking spell, a voice behind her said, "Hmm, what do you think it is George?"

Hermione jumped, let out a small squeal, and spun to find the Weasley twins standing behind her grinning.

One of them said, "I think it's a giant chameleon, look at how it's camouflaged."

George adopted a look of serious consideration, scrunching up his brow and scratching his chin before saying, "Could be, I've heard they can change colors. Then again, maybe it's a ghost."

Fred leaned towards Hermione and gave an exaggerated sniff, "Doesn't smell like a ghost. How about we just jinx it and figure it out later?"

Hermione, heart racing from shock, cleared her throat and spoke up before they decided to jinx her, "I'm a student not a ghost, and chameleons don't really use their color changing abilities for camouflage, it has more to do with mating and displaying emotion."

Fred laughed, but George, who looked truly crestfallen at her words, said, "Really? But everyone references them when talking about blending into the background."

"Cephalopods can camouflage themselves the way you're thinking of, they're incredible at it." Hermione told him, trying not to laugh.

She still felt a bit panicked, but their exaggerated facial expressions and general silliness had a relaxing effect on her. The rapid-fire back and forth dialog between the brothers flowed effortlessly, like a well practiced comedy duo. They responded to each other's comments almost immediately, as if they already knew what their twin was about to say.

George's face lit up with a broad grin and he said, "Cool, I didn't know that! Fred, I think we found ourselves a walking talking cephalopod."

"They the ones with eight legs or ten?" Fred asked.

"Yes," George replied.

Fred rolled his eyes and said, "That wasn't a yes or no question."

Hermione tentatively commented, "Octopuses have eight legs, and squids have ten, but they're both cephalopods. Also I already said I'm a student, not a ghost or an animal."

"Now see George, that was a simple, transparent answer. Why do you have to be so opaque?"

George pulled out his wand and said, "Sorry mate, I'll try harder."

He tapped the wand on the top of his head, and Hermione watched as he turned almost completely invisible. She looked at her own arm and back at George noticing how much better his disillusionment charm was in comparison to her own.

"How's this?" George asked.

"That's clearly not what I meant," Fred replied, rolling his eyes again.

"Ha, 'clearly'!" George laughed, "Nice pun."

Fred smiled as he turned back to look at Hermione and said, "So, Hermione Granger, what is a young first year-like you doing out at this time of night."

Hermione started to panic again, but stopped herself, thinking, "These two shouldn't be out right now either, so I doubt they'd get me in trouble."

Out loud, Hermione said, "Well, I'd say it's early morning, not late at night. I just woke up and I'm going to watch the sunrise from the astronomy tower."

"Good lie," George said, nodding appreciatively.

"But the top of the tower is locked, and if you're on an innocent morning stroll, why are you walking around half invisible?" Fred asked.

Hermione hesitated, then said, "I guess you two can see right through me, can't you?"

The twins laughed and George said, "We certainly can, and that was an excellent pun, if it was intentional. What are you actually up to? Something interesting"

"I really did just wake up a bit ago and decided to go exploring," Hermione explained, "but then I saw two students getting in trouble so I did the charm to hide."

"Smart move," Fred told her, "Filch likes to catch any student out at night, but especially first-years. He loves to terrify new students."

"Yeah, he's a rotten old bastard," George added, "And speaking of Filch, I bet he's back on patrol by now after catching Lauren Harbison and Dolly Jackson, so we should get moving."

Fred nodded, pulled out his wand, and cast the disillusionment charm on himself. A moment later, he was almost entirely invisible.

"Watch out for Filch," one of the twins said.

"And good luck with whatever you're actually up to," said the other, and their shimmering forms began to move away.

As their footsteps faded, Hermione heard one of them say, "Check the map, see where Filch and Snape are."

"Wait," Hermione thought, "they have a map that shows people's location? I wonder if that's how they knew my name. Can I figure out how to make my map do the same thing?"

Then another piece of what she'd just heard caught her attention, "They mentioned Snape... is he patrolling the school for students like that Filch person?"

Terrified at the thought of getting caught by Professor Snape, Hermione gave up doing any more mapping and hurried back to Ravenclaw Tower as quickly as she could. She made it to the common room without incident, and collapsed onto a couch, breathing heavily after her run through the castle. Hermione dismissed her disillusionment charm and took a few deep breaths, rubbing at a stitch in her side. Once the adrenaline wore off, her eyelids began to droop and Hermione sleepily returned to her room.

The other girls were still sleeping as Hermione carefully slid under the brim of her giant hat and curled up on her magically enlarged pillow. Despite the excitement of the last hour, Hermione drifted off to sleep almost immediately.