Chapter 11
The Theory
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"Look at this. It's an article written by an organ in the 1st person. 'I am Jack's medulla oblongata. Without me Jack could not regulate his heart rate, blood-pressure or breathing.' There's a whole series of these. 'I am Jill's nipples.' 'I am Jack's colon.'"
"Yeah. 'I get cancer, I kill Jack'"
-from "Fight Club" the movie
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".Something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."
-from "Dune" the movie
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
Harry gathered his books together as another class of Survival in the Magical World ended. The lesson had been a grueling study session, during which Professor Fletcher had forced them to memorize hundreds of medical terms. Harry's eyes were sore from staring at the inked parchment.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," he yelled to his friends.
"Okay," said Hermione. "Just make sure you don't skip supper." The heavy study session hadn't even fazed her. She and Ron walked off. As their voices faded away in the low rumble of the crowd of students, Harry could hear Ron still grumbling about the workload. Darien stopped before he exited the classroom.
"You're sure you won't join us, Harry?" he asked. "Ron and I were going to play some Exploding Snap. You would like to play, too?"
"Maybe later," Harry replied. Darien simply shrugged.
"Alright, but it's your loss," he said and ran off to catch up with Harry's other friends.
Harry couldn't help but smile. He liked Darien. Sure, he could be a little strange at times (he had shown that the first day) but if you were nice to him, he responded in kind If you treated him unkindly.well, Malfoy was still wary of him. But in Harry's mind, Malfoy deserved it, so Darien was okay in his book. And besides, everyone at Hogwarts could be a little strange at times, Harry included. Darien's quick wit and subtle intellect made him appealing to be near and he was already on friendly terms with most of the student body.
"Harry?" Professor Fletcher spoke up, interrupting Harry's thoughts. He turned to look at his teacher who was motioning towards the door to his office. "Are you coming?"
"Oh, yeah," he said, tossing his rucksack over his shoulder and heading towards the back of the classroom. As he stepped into the room, he was enveloped by the earthy atmosphere inside. He walked further in and eventually seated himself in the large leather bound armchair in front of Professor Fletcher's desk. The professor walked around his desk and poured himself a drink, as was now customary for him. Once that was done, he served Harry a warm butterbeer. He sat opposite to Harry and sipped at his drink as his pupil did the same.
The two of them began to talk about Quidditch. Because of the new restrictions on Quidditch matches at the school, Harry hadn't had much chance to play. To help abate his desire to fly, he began conversing more on the subject, discussing specific maneuvers and techniques of the most skilled players, including Viktor Krum.
"I almost have his Wronski Feint down," Harry muttered in frustration. "I'm just having trouble with the last turn."
"I'm sure you'll accomplish it," said Professor Fletcher encouragingly. "You fly just like your father did-and he could do anything on a broomstick."
"Tell me about my father," Harry said after several moments of silence between them.
"Your father was amazing," said Fletcher, a small smile growing on his face. "He was one of the last truly great Quidditch players. He loved the game, but that wasn't why he played. He played because he loved to fly. I remember, we were in a match against Slytherin once. I dropped my guard and a Slytherin Beater landed a bludger with enough force to knock me off my broom. I would have fallen 25 meters to certain death, because back then there weren't nearly as many safety precautions. I didn't think I would make it.
"Now, at the same time, your father was racing with the Slytherin Seeker to catch the Snitch. But as soon as he saw me falling, he pulled away and made a suicide dive to catch me. Everyone thought he was insane, including me, but he caught me.less than 2 meters off the ground."
Harry sat listening to the exploits of his father.
"Now that alone would have been incredible enough, but your father didn't stop there. He pulled out of the dive and used his momentum to rocket himself up in front of the Slytherin seeker. He captured the Snitch and won the match for Gryffindor. Yes, your father was truly a great player."
Harry sat digesting the story. It seemed to incredible to believe.
"My father," he said. "sounds like he was an amazing guy."
"That he was, that he was," said the professor, nodding his head.
"I wish I could have known him," Harry said wistfully.
Professor Fletcher's smile faded and was replaced by a look of concern. Silence hung between them for a long time. Eventually, the professor cleared his throat.
"Have you ever heard of my 'Ambient Magic Theory?'" he asked.
"Umm.I can't say I have," said Harry, shaking his head. "What is it?"
"Well, it's something I hypothesized about many years ago," said the professor, getting excited. "It basically states that magic is inherent in all living things."
"Well, with all due respect," Harry said. "What's so groundbreaking about that?"
"Because it essentially goes against everything that the Wizarding world believes about magic," he said.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"If my theory is correct," said the professor. "Then it means that Muggles have magic too. It all works like this. Magic exist in all living things. That includes plants, animals, beasts, and all sentient beings. Do you know how the Unforgivable Curse Avada Kadavra works?"
"Well, yeah," said Harry. "It kills whatever it's cast on."
"Not exactly," countered Fletcher. "That's the end result, but it doesn't just kill the target outright. It works by removing the magic within the wizard. It is this loss that kills the person. This can be applied to every living thing, including Muggles. The only problem with the theory is that it brings up several questions."
"Such as?" asked Harry.
"Such as, if magic is inherent in living things, why is it that we need wands. My explanation for that is that we use wands to channel our magic from an incorporeal state inside us to a physical form outside. That's why some wands work better for certain people, because the wands might be calibrated to harmonize more effectively than with other people."
"So you're saying that Muggles could do magic if they had a wand that was properly calibrated for them?" asked Harry.
"Theoretically, yes. Haven't you ever wondered why it's against the law for anyone other than a wizard to even hold a wand, let alone use one? It's because they are equally dangerous in their hands, if not more so because of their ignorance of magic. That goes for all sentient beings, not just Muggles."
"It sounds like a very interesting theory," said Harry, not fully understanding everything that the professor was trying to convey.
"Ah, but it can be take one step further," Fletcher said. "That's where it get's really interesting. If magic exists naturally, why do we need wands? How would we have even known about the existence of magic in the first place if we couldn't manifest without the use of a wand? Why can't we simply use the magic as it is inside us without resorting to a wand?"
"You mean wandless magic?" asked Harry, skeptically.
"Is it so far-fetched? What are alchemy and potion-brewing but a way of releasing the natural magical energy in plants and animals? And that isn't the only way. Tell me, did you ever have any unusual mishaps during your childhood?"
Harry closed his eyes and thought back on all the times his hair had grown back at incredible speeds just after a trip to the barber. He thought back to the times when he had suddenly appeared on the rooftop of the school when Dudley and his gang had been chasing him. Then of course there was the memorable trip to the zoo when the glass had vanished at the reptile house, allowing a boa constrictor to escape and terrorize Dudley. Thinking of all these things, Harry could only nod wordlessly.
"It seems to be easier for children than for adults," continued the professor. "But even still, it's inconvenient because you can't control it, since it's all activated by your sub-conscious thoughts and desires."
"Is that what the difference is between Muggles and Wizards?" asked Harry. "That wizards can cast ambient magic and muggles can't?"
"Not exactly," said Fletcher. "Muggles can cast wandless magic, but they don't recognize it as magic. Since they don't believe in magic, when they do wandless magic they simply pass it off as coincidence. They recognize it simply as 'luck,' despite the fact that it is truly more complex than that."
"That's.weird," said Harry, who was by now at a loss for words. "It all comes down to this," said the professor, his voice very grave. "I believe that at some point, a wizard must be able to use his ambient magic freely without the use of a wand. If he could do that, he would be immensely powerful."
"Why?"
"Think about it. When you use a wand, some of the energy is lost because you need to transfer the energy through a medium. It's just like how some of the message is lost when an interpreter translates something from a different language for someone else. Actually, most of the energy is lost when you use a wand. Therefore, so if you didn't use one then the energy output would be far greater than if you had used a wand."
"There's something that doesn't make any sense to me," said Harry. Actually, there were a lot of things that didn't make sense, but he didn't admit. "If you have this great idea, then why have I never heard of it before now."
"Because it has a lot to do with politics," said Fletcher, grinning sardonically. "Doesn't everything nowadays? Like I said, it goes against what just about every wizard believes about magic when I say that Muggles and Wizards are almost entirely equal. So when I created the theory and turned it into the publishing, they refused to publish it."
"Why wouldn't they publish it?" asked Harry.
"Think about it. We live in an insecure world as it is. If my theory could be proven, then it would mean that Muggles are entitled to many of the same basic rights that wizards are. We would have to accept them into our world."
"What's so bad about that?"
Professor Fletcher shook his head, smiling. "You're a good kid Harry, and personally I agree with you, but you don't know too much about politics and you're still naïve when it comes to how people feel about things they don't understand. You see, even though most people won't admit it, the majority of wizards think highly of themselves when compared to Muggles. If they were suddenly to discover that the two groups were equal, then they wouldn't be the happiest of folks. It would throw the world into pandemonium and possibly even civil war."
"So the publishing house wouldn't let you publish it because of that?"
"Well, that's not the reason they gave me," said the professor. "They have to be diplomatic when the turn people down, but I knew the truth. They told me I didn't have enough proof or evidence to back it up."
"What do mean 'no proof?'" asked Harry, incredulously. "What about everything you've just told me?"
"I mean 'no proof,'" said Fletcher. "Despite how plausible the theory may sound, there is still no rock solid proof or data to validate a single word of it."
"But if someone could use ambient magic freely the way you described, then there would be proof. Right?"
"If someone could ascend, then yes there would be proof."
"But until that happens, then there's no proof?"
"No. No proof," Professor Fletcher said wistfully. "No proof at all." He looked over to one of the many clocks that adorned the walls. "Well, it's getting late. You should get going before you're late for supper."
Harry exited the room and made his way towards the Great Hall. Throughout supper, he thought about what Professor Fletcher had told him about his father and spent even more time considering his theory.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
"Look at this. It's an article written by an organ in the 1st person. 'I am Jack's medulla oblongata. Without me Jack could not regulate his heart rate, blood-pressure or breathing.' There's a whole series of these. 'I am Jill's nipples.' 'I am Jack's colon.'"
"Yeah. 'I get cancer, I kill Jack'"
-from "Fight Club" the movie
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
".Something sleeps inside us and seldom awakens. The sleeper must awaken."
-from "Dune" the movie
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------
Harry gathered his books together as another class of Survival in the Magical World ended. The lesson had been a grueling study session, during which Professor Fletcher had forced them to memorize hundreds of medical terms. Harry's eyes were sore from staring at the inked parchment.
"I'll catch up with you guys later," he yelled to his friends.
"Okay," said Hermione. "Just make sure you don't skip supper." The heavy study session hadn't even fazed her. She and Ron walked off. As their voices faded away in the low rumble of the crowd of students, Harry could hear Ron still grumbling about the workload. Darien stopped before he exited the classroom.
"You're sure you won't join us, Harry?" he asked. "Ron and I were going to play some Exploding Snap. You would like to play, too?"
"Maybe later," Harry replied. Darien simply shrugged.
"Alright, but it's your loss," he said and ran off to catch up with Harry's other friends.
Harry couldn't help but smile. He liked Darien. Sure, he could be a little strange at times (he had shown that the first day) but if you were nice to him, he responded in kind If you treated him unkindly.well, Malfoy was still wary of him. But in Harry's mind, Malfoy deserved it, so Darien was okay in his book. And besides, everyone at Hogwarts could be a little strange at times, Harry included. Darien's quick wit and subtle intellect made him appealing to be near and he was already on friendly terms with most of the student body.
"Harry?" Professor Fletcher spoke up, interrupting Harry's thoughts. He turned to look at his teacher who was motioning towards the door to his office. "Are you coming?"
"Oh, yeah," he said, tossing his rucksack over his shoulder and heading towards the back of the classroom. As he stepped into the room, he was enveloped by the earthy atmosphere inside. He walked further in and eventually seated himself in the large leather bound armchair in front of Professor Fletcher's desk. The professor walked around his desk and poured himself a drink, as was now customary for him. Once that was done, he served Harry a warm butterbeer. He sat opposite to Harry and sipped at his drink as his pupil did the same.
The two of them began to talk about Quidditch. Because of the new restrictions on Quidditch matches at the school, Harry hadn't had much chance to play. To help abate his desire to fly, he began conversing more on the subject, discussing specific maneuvers and techniques of the most skilled players, including Viktor Krum.
"I almost have his Wronski Feint down," Harry muttered in frustration. "I'm just having trouble with the last turn."
"I'm sure you'll accomplish it," said Professor Fletcher encouragingly. "You fly just like your father did-and he could do anything on a broomstick."
"Tell me about my father," Harry said after several moments of silence between them.
"Your father was amazing," said Fletcher, a small smile growing on his face. "He was one of the last truly great Quidditch players. He loved the game, but that wasn't why he played. He played because he loved to fly. I remember, we were in a match against Slytherin once. I dropped my guard and a Slytherin Beater landed a bludger with enough force to knock me off my broom. I would have fallen 25 meters to certain death, because back then there weren't nearly as many safety precautions. I didn't think I would make it.
"Now, at the same time, your father was racing with the Slytherin Seeker to catch the Snitch. But as soon as he saw me falling, he pulled away and made a suicide dive to catch me. Everyone thought he was insane, including me, but he caught me.less than 2 meters off the ground."
Harry sat listening to the exploits of his father.
"Now that alone would have been incredible enough, but your father didn't stop there. He pulled out of the dive and used his momentum to rocket himself up in front of the Slytherin seeker. He captured the Snitch and won the match for Gryffindor. Yes, your father was truly a great player."
Harry sat digesting the story. It seemed to incredible to believe.
"My father," he said. "sounds like he was an amazing guy."
"That he was, that he was," said the professor, nodding his head.
"I wish I could have known him," Harry said wistfully.
Professor Fletcher's smile faded and was replaced by a look of concern. Silence hung between them for a long time. Eventually, the professor cleared his throat.
"Have you ever heard of my 'Ambient Magic Theory?'" he asked.
"Umm.I can't say I have," said Harry, shaking his head. "What is it?"
"Well, it's something I hypothesized about many years ago," said the professor, getting excited. "It basically states that magic is inherent in all living things."
"Well, with all due respect," Harry said. "What's so groundbreaking about that?"
"Because it essentially goes against everything that the Wizarding world believes about magic," he said.
"What do you mean?" asked Harry.
"If my theory is correct," said the professor. "Then it means that Muggles have magic too. It all works like this. Magic exist in all living things. That includes plants, animals, beasts, and all sentient beings. Do you know how the Unforgivable Curse Avada Kadavra works?"
"Well, yeah," said Harry. "It kills whatever it's cast on."
"Not exactly," countered Fletcher. "That's the end result, but it doesn't just kill the target outright. It works by removing the magic within the wizard. It is this loss that kills the person. This can be applied to every living thing, including Muggles. The only problem with the theory is that it brings up several questions."
"Such as?" asked Harry.
"Such as, if magic is inherent in living things, why is it that we need wands. My explanation for that is that we use wands to channel our magic from an incorporeal state inside us to a physical form outside. That's why some wands work better for certain people, because the wands might be calibrated to harmonize more effectively than with other people."
"So you're saying that Muggles could do magic if they had a wand that was properly calibrated for them?" asked Harry.
"Theoretically, yes. Haven't you ever wondered why it's against the law for anyone other than a wizard to even hold a wand, let alone use one? It's because they are equally dangerous in their hands, if not more so because of their ignorance of magic. That goes for all sentient beings, not just Muggles."
"It sounds like a very interesting theory," said Harry, not fully understanding everything that the professor was trying to convey.
"Ah, but it can be take one step further," Fletcher said. "That's where it get's really interesting. If magic exists naturally, why do we need wands? How would we have even known about the existence of magic in the first place if we couldn't manifest without the use of a wand? Why can't we simply use the magic as it is inside us without resorting to a wand?"
"You mean wandless magic?" asked Harry, skeptically.
"Is it so far-fetched? What are alchemy and potion-brewing but a way of releasing the natural magical energy in plants and animals? And that isn't the only way. Tell me, did you ever have any unusual mishaps during your childhood?"
Harry closed his eyes and thought back on all the times his hair had grown back at incredible speeds just after a trip to the barber. He thought back to the times when he had suddenly appeared on the rooftop of the school when Dudley and his gang had been chasing him. Then of course there was the memorable trip to the zoo when the glass had vanished at the reptile house, allowing a boa constrictor to escape and terrorize Dudley. Thinking of all these things, Harry could only nod wordlessly.
"It seems to be easier for children than for adults," continued the professor. "But even still, it's inconvenient because you can't control it, since it's all activated by your sub-conscious thoughts and desires."
"Is that what the difference is between Muggles and Wizards?" asked Harry. "That wizards can cast ambient magic and muggles can't?"
"Not exactly," said Fletcher. "Muggles can cast wandless magic, but they don't recognize it as magic. Since they don't believe in magic, when they do wandless magic they simply pass it off as coincidence. They recognize it simply as 'luck,' despite the fact that it is truly more complex than that."
"That's.weird," said Harry, who was by now at a loss for words. "It all comes down to this," said the professor, his voice very grave. "I believe that at some point, a wizard must be able to use his ambient magic freely without the use of a wand. If he could do that, he would be immensely powerful."
"Why?"
"Think about it. When you use a wand, some of the energy is lost because you need to transfer the energy through a medium. It's just like how some of the message is lost when an interpreter translates something from a different language for someone else. Actually, most of the energy is lost when you use a wand. Therefore, so if you didn't use one then the energy output would be far greater than if you had used a wand."
"There's something that doesn't make any sense to me," said Harry. Actually, there were a lot of things that didn't make sense, but he didn't admit. "If you have this great idea, then why have I never heard of it before now."
"Because it has a lot to do with politics," said Fletcher, grinning sardonically. "Doesn't everything nowadays? Like I said, it goes against what just about every wizard believes about magic when I say that Muggles and Wizards are almost entirely equal. So when I created the theory and turned it into the publishing, they refused to publish it."
"Why wouldn't they publish it?" asked Harry.
"Think about it. We live in an insecure world as it is. If my theory could be proven, then it would mean that Muggles are entitled to many of the same basic rights that wizards are. We would have to accept them into our world."
"What's so bad about that?"
Professor Fletcher shook his head, smiling. "You're a good kid Harry, and personally I agree with you, but you don't know too much about politics and you're still naïve when it comes to how people feel about things they don't understand. You see, even though most people won't admit it, the majority of wizards think highly of themselves when compared to Muggles. If they were suddenly to discover that the two groups were equal, then they wouldn't be the happiest of folks. It would throw the world into pandemonium and possibly even civil war."
"So the publishing house wouldn't let you publish it because of that?"
"Well, that's not the reason they gave me," said the professor. "They have to be diplomatic when the turn people down, but I knew the truth. They told me I didn't have enough proof or evidence to back it up."
"What do mean 'no proof?'" asked Harry, incredulously. "What about everything you've just told me?"
"I mean 'no proof,'" said Fletcher. "Despite how plausible the theory may sound, there is still no rock solid proof or data to validate a single word of it."
"But if someone could use ambient magic freely the way you described, then there would be proof. Right?"
"If someone could ascend, then yes there would be proof."
"But until that happens, then there's no proof?"
"No. No proof," Professor Fletcher said wistfully. "No proof at all." He looked over to one of the many clocks that adorned the walls. "Well, it's getting late. You should get going before you're late for supper."
Harry exited the room and made his way towards the Great Hall. Throughout supper, he thought about what Professor Fletcher had told him about his father and spent even more time considering his theory.