A Dangerous Project - Part 2 - Headquarters
"'Illumini Furtivus,'" Harry read aloud, "'immediately shows any object or person that has recently been the subject of a hiding spell. Illumini Furtivus does not show the use of an invisibility cloak or of anything that has been altered in appearance, only those which have been subject to a spell whose specific purpose is to avoid detection.'"
Ron looked up from Famous Forgeries to read Harry's paragraph. "Illumini Furtivus, huh? Sounds useful to me. Should we learn it?"
Hermione frowned. "We really ought to find a classroom to meet in, so we have somewhere to work in private and practice spells. Also, I think we need to record everything. Who knows when we might need it?"
"I think there's an unused classroom a few doors down from the broom closet on the third floor," Ron said helpfully, "Percy, er, told me about it,"
"Percy?" Hermione and Harry chorused.
"Yeah," Ron said, turning strange colors again, "Remember that girlfriend of his, the one he wanted to keep quiet about? They met in there sometimes, I think."
Harry and Hermione's shock gradually changed to giggles, and finally full-out laughter, until they were chased out of the library by Madame Pince.
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A week later, Hermione decided the three of them should start trying spells. So one day after Defense Against the Dark Arts, they made their way to the empty classroom. "Percy, ick," Ron mumbled the whole way there.
"Hermione," Ron asked, "How likely is it that we can practice Illumini Furtivus in an unused classroom? We won't find much." Hermione frowned.
"You're right," she admitted. "Let's each pick a hallway, and write down everything we discover. We can compare notes after Potions."
"Alright," agreed Harry. "I think we better get to class, or Snape will flay us alive!"
After a relatively painless Potions class with the Ravenclaws, the three of them spread out in the castle to practice their first detection spell. ("We better do this once a week until we've covered the entire castle. It won't take long," Hermione said optimistically.)
The three of them met back up about an hour later, holding parchment lists and small objects.
"Look at this, it's brilliant!" exclaimed Ron. "It's one of those candy quills, but it's bewitched to look like a normal one!" Hermione sighed. Maybe this idea was going to cause more trouble than it solved! Harry was examining the quill with interest.
"Say, d'you think we should send this to Fred and George? Maybe they can mass produce some!" he suggested enthusiastically. The two boys fell into a deep discussion on whether or not the Weasleys would be interested, so Hermione picked up their scribbled lists and pored over them.
Fluffy's corridor, and the opposite corridor:
Quill – bewitched to not look like candy
Notebook – bewitched to look new
Third set of armor on the left hand side - ???
Fluffy's door – eye-slide charm
Statue of Morgan le Fay – bewitched to look clean
Ron's list was about as long.
Dungeon Hallway:
Mirror – charmed to appear gold instead of brass
Ink in bottle – charmed for invisibility
Graffiti on wall – charmed to invisibility
Fourth dungeon on right – bewitched so it isn't noticed
Seventh wall sconce on left – charmed to appear uncracked
Second dungeon on left – lock bewitched to look more sturdy
Hermione called the still-quarreling boys over. "Were any of these particulary strong results? Supposedly the stronger the results, the better the spell." Ron and Harry both shook their heads.
"Nothing very strong here, sorry, Hermione," said Harry. "Perhaps we'll get something interesting next time." At this, Ron looked a little disgruntled.
"What about Quidditch practices?" he growled. "I've got to keep plenty of time for that!"
"Don't worry, mate, we'll be fine. Shall we work on this again after supper?" Harry asked. Ron and Hermione both nodded. "Right, then, let's go eat, I'm starving."
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Dinner passed uneventfully, and with renewed energy they spent more time looking over books in the empty classroom, which Ron had dubbed Headquarters.
"Look," Hermione said suddenly. "Let's try this!" Ron and Harry pulled their chairs closer and read over her shoulder.
"Alertus Emotis is one of the most dangerous and useful safeguard potions. The potion is made and then placed in any glass container that will be touching the wearer's skin. When malevolence towards the wearer or anything the wearer cares about is felt in a nearby person or object, the potion turns blue. The darker the colour is, the more intense the emotion or danger. The potion emits a burning, tingling sensation if the wearer is in immediate danger. However, the danger must be likely to occur within a few minutes. Alertus Emotis has no sense of events farther in the future." Hermione looked up expectantly.
"Why, Hermione," Ron said despairingly, "Must you always choose potions with the words 'dangerous' or 'difficult' in the description?"
After researching the ingredients, Harry looked up at Hermione with a strange look on his face.
"Hermione, do you realize we have to go in the forest for this?"
Hermione looked a little uncomfortable as she waited for Ron to realize what Harry had said.
"WHAT?!" Ron nearly exploded. "HAVE YOU LOST IT?!"
Hermione winced. "Ron, be quiet!"
"Quiet? We're going to take a field-trip into a forest full of deadly creatures, probably at night, looking like a good bedtime snack, and you want me to be quiet!"
"It does sound like a pretty important potion, Ron," Harry reminded him. "And we probably won't have any trouble finding this herb. It needs to be used within three days after picking, but it also needs sunlight, so it's probably at the edge of the forest. We'll be fine there."
Hermione shot Harry a grateful look. Then again, Harry had a very personal reason for this expedition, so perhaps she should have expected his help. After Ron calmed down a bit, they packed up and headed slowly towards bed, trying to work out some sort of schedule for the potion-brewing.
"So, we should be able to start next week, as soon as we get a chance to filch some of Snape's supplies, right?" Hermione asked. Harry nodded.
"You know, Hermione, I think this is good for you. If you didn't like brewing potions so much, you'd never consider anything dishonest. And from a teacher, too!" Ron gasped in mock horror, and the three of them went to bed laughing and in high spirits.
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A/N - Remember, I own none of these characters! If I did, I'd have a lot more money than I do now.