Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Please don't sue.
Every few days, news would pop up in the Daily Prophet about similar hit and run attacks. And every time, a handful of wizards would turn up missing. Each time the news came, the four would look nervously at each other.
After yet another attack, Hermione nervously said, "That's a total of 23 so far."
Harry grimaced but said, "Let's not worry about this. Dumbledore has told the ministry what's going on – it's their job to figure out what to do."
Ron seemed to catch on to Harry's desire to talk about something else and said, "Are you ready for the final game? We've only got a little over a week left before we play Slytherin for the cup!"
Ginny smiled a little and asked, "How did the Ravenclaw/Hufflepuff game go?"
Ron smiled. "Great!" he said, "Ravenclaw won, but they only have 10 more points than us. Unless we don't score at all, we've got them beat! And Slytherin had even fewer points than Ravenclaw before their match – we'll have to lose by over 300 points to lose the cup!"
Harry chuckled, seeing no possible way the Slytherin team could defeat them that badly. He knew he would catch the snitch before they scored 15 goals at all, let alone scored 15 more than the Gryffindor team. Harry even doubted the ability of the Slytherins to match the Gryffindor chasers, who were every bit as good the Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet, and Angelina Johnson team from years back.
"Are you ready for Arithmancy, Harry?" Hermione asked, already lifting her book bag from the table to head for class.
Harry groaned; Ron smiled and asked, "What's the matter, Harry? Realize you shouldn't have signed up for that horrid class?"
Hermione impatiently said, "Arithmancy isn't horrid, Ron."
Harry grimaced. "No," he admitted, "but Professor Vector can be. Ron laughed as Hermione silently fumed at Harry insulting one of her favorite professors.
"Smart, Harry," Ron chuckled, "Get on Hermione's nerves right before you sit with her for an hour. Real smart. And I can tell you firsthand that…" He wisely trailed off after seeing the nasty look Hermione shot him, and coughed nervously.
Harry laughed at the two of them and mischievously called out, "Well, I'm off to Arithmancy. I'm a good student, and don't show up late," and half ran out of the hall before Hermione could catch him.
"I half ran out of the hall for this?" Harry muttered. They were spending another lecture on Fibonacci sequences, and Vector had gone so far as to provide a table listing the most common sequences out to 30 numbers. Not only was the class mostly review, but Harry had listened to lectures about Fibonacci numbers is over ten classes last year, while he was guarding the classes from Voldemort's spirit.
Wait a minute, Harry thought, noticing something about the sequences. The first numbers were relatively unpredictable. But towards the end of the thirty listed numbers, each number went up by a percent. Harry used his class Arithmancy calculator, and saw that it was increasing by roughly 60% each step. Harry quickly wrote down on his parchment.
C = A + B
B = A * x : x = factor it increases by
C = B * x
A * x * x = A + A * x
x * x = 1 + x
x * x – x – 1 = 0
Harry looked up the x * x and x columns, and found sets of matches. The first match, Expelliarmus and Alohamora didn't mean anything to him. But the second, Furnunculus and Densaugeo, immediately stood out. Those were the spells that Draco Malfoy and he had cast during a duel their 4th year. And the spells bounced off each other – something which Harry had never seen before or after that incident.
"Potter, what are you doing?" came the shrill voice of Vector, "Are you not paying attention?"
Harry looked about ready to hide the parchment as he did before, but remembered Hermione's words about Vector. He hesitantly asked, "I was just wondering, do the spells Expelliarmus and Alohamora have any connection?"
Vector's face immediately became puzzled. "Yes," she said slowly, "They're Golden Mean reflectors. If those two spell's beams come in contact, they'll deflect off each other. Why did you ask that?"
Harry timidly handed the professor his parchment, which contained his brief calculations. Vector's mouth dropped a little, and she said, "Class, unless you are done with your assignments, I'd suggest you resume working on them." The rest of the students looked back down and resumed working on their homework, instead of looking at Harry. The professor walked over to Harry and whispered, "After class, I'd like to see you down in my office." Harry was worried, until he saw that the professor actually had a smile on her face – the first that he had seen on her face that had been directed towards him.
Harry followed the Arithmancy witch after class to her office. Harry found what each professor decorated their office with interesting. Dumbledore had all sorts of odd magical devices and portraits of past headmasters. McGonagall had a rather spartan office (which Harry felt reflected something about her). Snape had nasty potions and various chemical ingredients. Fleur had books and dark arts detectors. Vector, it seemed, had a deep fascination with numbers. One entire wall was covered in a large table of numbers, although Harry hadn't a clue what it represented. Another wall had the magical equivalent to a whiteboard. Another wall had a large desk against it, filled with large pieces of parchment with calculations and a more complex variety of the Arithmancy calculators they used in class. The final wall had a large number of books with titles such as 'Magical Coefficients' and 'Eigenvalue Spell Extracts'
"Harry Potter," Vector said in a loud voice, "the boy-who-lived. Defeated Voldemort on All Hallow's Eve before he was a year old. Came to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when he was 11, and prevented Voldemort from retrieving the Philosopher's Stone. During his second year, defeated a basilisk and destroyed the enchanted diary of Voldemort. During his fourth year successfully dueled Voldemort and lived. During his fifth year, dueled Voldemort again, and defeated him. During his sixth year, performed spirit wards on the castle that the majority of the staff, including myself, were unable to perform."
Vector saw the surprised expression on Harry's face and said, "Really! You honestly thought that I hadn't heard of you before this year?"
Harry laughed, remembering the first class of the year, and asked, "Why did you ask me down here, professor?"
Vector smiled and said, "You've got an extraordinary gift when it comes to Arithmancy. I see it a lot in the muggle-born students, since they have a background of mathematics from the muggle schools. You know, I didn't believe I'd ever see a student surpass Hermione at Arithmancy. She spends so much time working on it with an intensity I've rarely seen. But you are able to do just as well as her, barely even trying." Harry gasped – it had never occurred to him that he was actually better than Hermione. Vector asked him, "Is there anywhere you have to be right now?"
Harry responded, "Well, besides lunch, no."
Vector smiled again, and created a small lunch for him on her desk. She then charmed several series of numbers on the empty board on the wall. "Well, are you going to stand there?" Harry smirked and walked over to the board, and began to analyze the numbers. It appeared the professor wanted to see exactly what he was able to do, and it looked like he would be there for awhile.
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That was THE LAST math scene. So calm down…
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