December 18th 1992
Harry sat quietly in the train car as it made its way back to King's Cross station. He didn't really see the need to take it if he was honest. Why couldn't he just floo back to his home from the castle? Dumbledore told him it was tradition but any tradition that made him wait eight hours to do something that could have been done instantly instead was a stupid tradition in his book.
He was sure his friends were happy about it, though, given the way they were chatting with each other. As before, Daphne and Tracey had elected to join them. They had grown closer with the pair in the first semester of their second year. Well, he had gotten closer with Daphne in the last month and a half. He was still about the same closeness with Tracey but that was likely due to the bubbly personality of the girl and she seemed to bounce around a lot. Because of that, he wasn't sure if he had gotten much closer to her. Perhaps it was better to say he had gotten more comfortable around her instead.
"Harry, look this over for me would you." Hermione said as she handed him a small stack of papers. Harry was pulled out of his thoughts as he took them smoothly. He began glossing over the work. It was Arithmancy and he was quite familiar with it as well.
"A spell? Your first one, and you're already this close to done?" Harry asked somewhat surprised. Following along with her equations, it looked like it was supposed to be some sort of charm possibly dealing with… Some sort of wave?
"Yes. Actually, well, you gave me the idea. It's supposed to be a small wave of magic that acts as a way to disrupt magical effects around the caster." Hermione said with an embarrassed look on her face. Harry immediately felt his eyes light up in understanding.
She was making a spell that would, hopefully, counter his ability with illusions. Of course, it would likely have other effects to but still. He wasn't sure how he felt about that. He wasn't upset about it but he was… anxious?
He looked over her math and it all seemed to look correct for the most part. There were a few mistakes but it looked more like accidentally putting certain variables in the wrong place which he quickly crossed out and replaced with the right ones. After that, he just looked at certain numbers she was projecting. Magic didn't have a unit to quantify it so there were estimates that usually needed to be made. Still…
"The magic output is a little low for what you might be thinking. The way you created the wave effect though is very impressive, almost like a ripple in a pond. Still, this will really only work for low-level effects and probably won't be able to dispel… others."
"I know that but this is just my first one. I know I'm not a powerhouse like you and Neville so I didn't want to make something I wouldn't be able to perform." Hermione said back while fidgeting. Harry rose an eyebrow. That was fair but he still thought she shouldn't have a problem if she upped the power a bit.
"Hmm… To my eye, it looks theoretically correct but you won't know until you try. I suppose you'll be trying to perform it when return?" He asked. She nodded confirming his thoughts.
"Yes. I figured I would try to iron out any problems I could see and hope it works after the break." Hermione said taking back her notes. Harry gave a curt nod.
"What made you decide on making such a spell?" Daphne queried.
"Ah well, Harry's good at not attacking his opponents directly so I figured I should make something to counter people like him. Though the way it is now, it won't do too much. As I get older, it'll hopefully be able to get more powerful and do much more." Hermione answered with a small smile.
"Do you plan to show people it and get it credited to you?" Tracey asked curiously. Hermione wasn't part of a pureblood family so she couldn't add it to a family Grimoire. Most Muggleborn usually registered spells under their name so they received credit for it which may help them in the future for positions in jobs or when trying to get apprenticeships. Harry would assume she would go down that route. Surprisingly, instead of confirming this, Hermione simply looked up in thought as if confused by something.
"I'm not sure yet. I might try and keep it to myself, at least, for now…" Hermione trailed off. Harry rose an eyebrow in disbelief at that.
"Why do you want to do that?" He asked curiously.
"Ah, well… You know, it just seems like Purebloods have so many advantages over others that…" She trailed off again looking somewhat conflicted.
"That you think it would be good to have a few of your own tricks up your sleeve?" Daphne finished the thought for her. Harry nodded in understanding as she said it. That did indeed make sense.
"Well… yes." Hermione said reluctantly almost looking guilty as if she were a child that just got caught with her hand in a cookie jar.
"That's pretty smart." Neville nodded at the logic causing Hermione to whip her head at him in surprise.
"It is?" Ron asked, finally contributing to the conversation after dragging his head out of his notebook.
"Well, the line of thinking isn't wrong. Purebloods do normally have a lot of advantages that muggleborns don't and the crediting system does help muggleborns, it still benefits Purebloods the most since they get access to something that they wouldn't have normally. They then pass not only that knowledge down but their hoarded knowledge as well."
"Not all Purebloods put all their knowledge straight into their Grimoire." Tracey pointed out.
"No, but they do put dangerous things usually, things that could normally make a difference for their family and no one else. Although sometimes it's also for protective purposes."
"Protective purposes?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes, for example, I know how to make a magical bomb. Bombs aren't something that can be used for anything but mass destruction. While I have no plans to use such a thing if someone else got a hold of it, can you imagine the havoc they would wreck?"
"Is it that dangerous?"
"Yes, magic can be volatile quite often so making explosives is relatively common by accident. But that and making something designed to explode and cause damage are two separate things. Causing large explosions are not something most wizards know how to do. Small ones are pretty common though."
"How large is the radius of your bomb's explosion?" Hermione asked. Harry thought for a moment on that.
"At its smallest, it can probably take out most of the Great Hall in Hogwarts." Harry estimated. Hermione's face slackened at that.
"The Great Hall! Seriously?"
"Yes, probably."
"And what kind of explosion is it?"
"A Supersonic one."
"Supersonic? What does that mean?" Neville asked.
"It means the explosion expands faster than the speed of sound which causes a shock wave to travel away from it through the air. When hitting something, the shockwave acts as a wall moving rapidly away from the center of the explosion. Imagine an invisible stone wall moving at you at the speed of the fastest broom in the world. Imagine what it would do to you once it collides. That's what a supersonic explosion basically does to anything around it. Its radius is how far away from where the explosion starts that the shockwaves maintain enough energy to cause noticeable damage. As they travel, they continuously lose energy until they pretty much fade into nothing." Hermione explained looking somewhat troubled as she did so.
"Blimey, and you just made a magic device that could do that? Why?"
"It is possible to harness energy from explosions and I wanted to see if I could for future experiments." Harry answered easily not bothered by the topic of conversation.
"And, could you?"
"Yes, but not efficiently and it was faster to simply try a different way to get energy than find a way to harness the energy in a better way."
"And do you still have a Magical bomb lying around somewhere?"
"No. Dumbledore found out about it and banned me from using it again." Harry shrugged not really upset about it. He had already determined it to be a lost cause by the time Albus had found out so it wasn't exactly a big deal. He hadn't even bothered putting the knowledge in his Grimoire so none could use it in the future.
"How big was it?"
"I already said how big it was."
"Not the explosion, the bomb itself." Hermione clarified.
"Ah… About the size of a business suitcase, I guess. Though I could have probably made it smaller. I didn't exactly bother to see how efficiently I could make the bomb after the first time." Harry pointed out.
"At that size, you could pretty much walk it into any populated point in the Wizard or mundane world and kill tens if not hundreds of people with ease." Tracey supplied grimly. Harry blinked at that not expecting to hear it from her.
"I suppose I could… But I don't foresee a situation where I am going to want to kill a bunch of people. I barely interact with anyone outside this room." Harry pointed out.
"How did you even come up with a magical bomb?" Ron asked.
"It's actually pretty easy, I just applied the same concept from the muggle world to the magical one. There are certain magics, that act volatilely when they interact and they're already categorized in some books as a warning. Inside the bomb, I have four separate magic receptacle retainers. The first two open first to create an initial explosion. Once that hits and exposes the third, it adds even more 'fuel' on top of it, and the same with the fourth. After that, the explosion reaches its maximum, and out comes the final result."
"If it's so easy, why hasn't else made one before."
"Well, there's not really a point, is there? I mean, if an average wizard wants to cause a controlled explosion, there's already spells that exist for that, and a wand is even easier to sneak into places than a bomb is, and far less suspicious."
"I guess, but yours is bigger a stronger right?"
"Sure, but you can just cast the spell more times. It doesn't really matter if mine is stronger if it causes the same result in the end. That's what one would call 'overkill'."
"Let's talk about something besides bombs please." Hermione finally asked, ending the discussion.
"Sure. Ron, you've been oddly silent recently on what you've been doing in Alchemy." Neville said pointedly at the redhead who looked up from his book with an uncharacteristically pensive expression.
"Eh, not much, I guess. Ever since my first project, I've actually been practicing making basic materials to hopefully give me a better understanding of the basics." Ron answered with a shrug.
"That's smart. I did that too when beginning rituals. I had to confirm that a lot of my building blocks functioned the way I thought they would. Some of the things I thought acted one way turned out to be… flawed."
"Wait, does that mean you initially made a bunch of small rituals to test all your stuff?" Ron asked.
"They don't really have an outward effect and don't really involve adding any magic so I hesitate to even call them rituals."
"How can you tell their effect?" Tracy asked leaning forward in her seat curiously.
"I am pretty in tune with the magic around me. I can't always get it perfect, but I can get enough of a gist from things to tell whether they're safe or not."
"Magic just tells you?"
"… Sort of. I don't know how to explain it. Magic is like a language but for everyone. If you can manage to listen to it and pay enough attention, it will usually tell you what you want to know, or at the very least hint at it." Harry explained or tried to anyway. Magic, by nature, was elusive when speaking about it directly.
"Luckily, I don't have to deal with all that. In Alchemy, if something is wrong, it usually is pretty obvious." Ron replied. Harry could believe that.
"So, you have no big plans in Alchemy then?" Tracey pushed curiously.
"No, although the Goblins are requesting more of Wardstones from me. I've been trying to get another batch ready for them."
"Another one? How fast are they going through them?" Neville asked.
"I guess since they have such an easy source of them now, they use them pretty liberally and it allows them to conduct more expeditions."
"You can always sell them for a higher price. It'll hopefully stop them from asking you for them so often." Daphne suggested. Ron waved off the concern.
"It's fine. I mean, I make a huge chunk of change with every sale. It's nice not living so close to poverty these days." Ron said easily referencing his family's past state of living. He did so seemingly with no issue, no longer seeming so bothered by it as he had once been. Harry was glad to see such self-confidence existing in his friend. It was strange to think how blunt and rude Ron had initially come off in their first meeting. He was still rather blunt but his mind was much sharper now than most would think.
"I suppose that's true."
"Is your mother still upset with you about that?" Hermione asked curiously. Harry frowned at the asking of such a personal question with Daphne and Tracey still with them. Although they were closer to the two girls, they still didn't speak about familial issues in front of them. Despite his own feelings though, Ron didn't seem to have a problem with the question despite the frown on his face.
"We haven't talked about it since Summer but I'm sure she's still unhappy about it." Ron answered with some irritation in his voice.
"I'm sure it's just a pride thing. Parents are the ones usually supposed to take care of the children, not the other way around. She probably doesn't want to be reliant on her son to provide for her." Hermione pointed out.
"Maybe, but she couldn't have possibly thought I was going to come into money and not use some to help the family, even if not for me, then for Ginny while she's attending school. She deserves to not have to deal with hand-me-downs for seven years." Ron stubbornly said back.
"How is Ginny doing? I haven't seen her much, is she adjusting well." Neville asked.
"I… I think so. I don't see her much either, to be honest. Even when we're not in the clubroom, I don't ever see her in the common room. I think she hangs out with Lovegood though." Ron said with a shrug.
"Ah, yes. Luna." Hermione said in recognition though Harry couldn't place the tone she used when bringing the other girl up. It almost sounded uncertain.
"Is something wrong with this other girl?" Harry asked.
"Wrong may not be the right word but… She's…"
"She's strange. She does and says things that are different and every time you're with her it feels like her mind isn't quite present." Ron finished succulently. Hermione gave him an annoyed expression at that. Harry was surprised to hear that but was curious about it.
"What does she say?"
"I don't know. She just has a queer knowledge about things, some of which are probably made up. And it always feels like she's staring through you than at you. It doesn't help that she's always saying cryptic things that sound like she has inside knowledge about you."
"Hmm… I wonder if she has some ability in Divination then…" Harry pondered curiously.
"Why would you think that?" Hermione asked.
"True seers are said to be often like that. Because they see more than others and oftentimes cannot actually control their abilities, they come off as different and strange. Regardless, you should avoid saying that to others."
"Why?" Tracey asked.
"Because true seers have a habit of gaining the attention of Unspeakables at the Department of Mysteries and then strangely go missing soon after." Daphne answered to which Harry nodded in agreement.
"You two aren't serious?" Hermione seemed horrified.
"Officially, they were told to stop doing that around eighty years ago, but considering how little oversight they have…"
"Exactly. Although unless there's a specific incident involving her that shows her to be a powerful one, it is unlikely they will notice. Still, no reason to do anything that might bring attention to the young girl." Harry explained. He had spoken of Seers with Albus on one occasion in some depth which is where he got most of his information on them from. He had no idea where Daphne got hers from.
"That's awful! I can't believe people just allow them to get away with that." Hermione whisper shouted.
"Well, it's like Ron said, seers make a lot of people uncomfortable. A lot of people probably turned a blind eye to it for a long time." Neville added.
"Kind of makes me feel bad for what I said…" Ron said looking a little uncomfortable now.
"Speaking from ignorance is something everyone is guilty of at some point. Although it may never hurt to go and apologize at some point. Don't be someone who can't admit when they were wrong." Harry lectured lightly to show he wasn't trying to scold the boy but simply encourage him to be better. Ron nodded though a little reluctantly.
"You're probably right. I'm sure I'll see her over the break, I guess I can do it then."
With that over with, the conversation shifted back into more easy-going topics and they stayed that way for the rest of the train ride.
Several Hours Later
"Later Harry. I'll see you soon." Neville said with a smile as he turned and started walking towards the Floo in the station. Harry didn't miss the fact that he didn't even bother asking his grandmother if she was ready to leave. He coolly walked past her which his grandmother must have noticed if the frown suddenly on her face was anything to go by. She gave Harry a polite nod before she also left. He watched them go for a while as he pondered if something had happened between the two before shaking it off and turning back to Tracey and Daphne.
Hermione and Ron had departed before Neville after they were reunited with their parents. Neville had been the last to leave. As Harry's eyes connected with Daphne's he gave her a searching look to which she nodded in response.
"Well… Shall we?" Daphne asked. Tracey looked at her confused.
"Am I missing something here?"
"Harry will be briefly stopping by my home with us." Daphne told her only causing Tracey to look even more confused.
"Why? Er, no offense Harry." She said looking back at him as they started walking to the back of the platform.
"None taken."
"He is going to try and help me with something before going home." Daphne answered.
"With what?"
"If you would wait ten minutes until we get there, you'd be able to see for yourself." Daphne said seemingly getting annoyed with her friend. Tracey continued seeming unbothered by it though.
"But you could just tell me now."
"No."
"Dappphhnnnneeeee."
"No means no Tracey."
"Pft. You're no fun. Where's your dad at? I can't see him yet."
"I assume in the same place he always is." Daphne answered blandly as they finally broke out from the crowd and made it to the back wall of the platform. Standing somewhat by himself was a handsome middle-aged man in formal, well-made, robes. Though he might not have been able to at first glance, it was clear after a second that this man was indeed Daphne's father. At first, he didn't see much resemblance, but the more he looked, the more he could see it.
Daphne was blonde with blue eyes whereas this man was a brunette with brown eyes. That being the case, Daphne had a similarly shaped jawline except with some more baby fat on it maybe. Their noses and cheekbones were also quite similar now that he was getting even closer. Finally, the thing that stood out the most was the eyes. Like Daphne, the man's eyes were blank and guarded revealing almost nothing to the world around him as he took everything in. As soon as they had left the crowd, the man's eyes had flickered towards them though he didn't move from his spot.
Within a few moments, they were finally standing in front of him causing Harry to feel somewhat awkward.
"Hello, father."
"Daphne, Tracey. It is good to see you both. How was your semester?" The man asked smoothly. Despite his words, his expression hadn't changed and still remained blank. Daphne matched it with her own but Tracey had a big smile on her face.
"Hey Mr. G! It's good to see you. I thought I told you last time that you should smile more when you come to pick us up. Don't you know if you leave your face that way it'll get stuck like that?" Tracey said as she attempted to tackle the man with a hug. Harry felt himself freeze in shock at the girls' actions. Even with telling himself that they must've known each other quite well before this point, he could not see Daphne's father as someone who would accept such a response easily.
"You're a few years too late I'm afraid." The man said as he returned the hug gently with one hand as looked down at the girl. Though his face still hadn't changed, Harry was sure he could see some amusement in his otherwise empty eyes.
"Shame. You'd probably be more handsome if you could smile." Tracey said as she pulled away and smiled up at the man.
"Funny, you're the only person who has ever complained about my appearance." He answered drily as he looked at his daughter now. Daphne said nothing as she stepped forward and moved to hug her father as well. Though she didn't seem as enthusiastic as her friend, her hug seemed to be deeper and perhaps more… meaningful. Despite the almost awkward appearance of a hug from two emotionless-looking people, Harry couldn't help but feel a twinge of… something deep inside himself.
He didn't think about it much but a hug from a parent was something he would never get to experience. A hug, even from a family member was also out of the question. He realized that in terms of blood, he really had nobody left that would care about him. That thought alone made him almost feel empty inside.
Sure, he had great friends and Ciri, who was practically someone who he considered as close to family as he imagined any could be. Further, Albus and Minerva were close to him as well. They weren't parents but he could see them as something similar to grandparents. He knew they cared for him but… Was it wrong to say that it wasn't the same? Was it wrong for him to wish for more?
"And you must be Harry Potter." Harry immediately felt himself get violently dragged from his internal thoughts to see that Daphne and her father had finished their reunion and her father was looking at him. He straightened up and looked at the man.
"Greetings, Lord Greengrass. It is an honor to finally meet you. I have heard quite a bit about you from your daughter." Harry said as he held up his hand to be shaken. Technically speaking, his house was a station above Greengrass's but Harry was younger and not yet a Lord so it was expected for him to give the man more respect.
Greengrass took the hand easily and shook Harry's. The man had a firm grip but not enough to harm Harry's much smaller hand. That being said, the man's gaze held his own and seemed to size Harry up. Although he didn't think he would, Harry made sure to have his shields up and ready as he met eyes with the man.
As he thought, the man didn't try to enter his mind but did look deeply into Harry's eyes causing him to feel slightly awkward.
"The pleasure is mine, Heir Potter. My daughter has told me some of you as well. I understand you're quite a gifted student."
"Ah… I don't know if I would say that."
"Please, no need to be so modest. I know the standards my daughter holds. If she believes you to be gifted then I am sure you're probably one of the smartest children in that entire school." The man said cutting him off. Although the words made it sound like a compliment, the tone made it seem like a simple observation.
"Well, thank you. I appreciate the words."
"Hmm… Daphne has explained to me what you plan to do today. I have agreed reluctantly. If I can be honest with you, as much as I wish otherwise, I don't hold much hope in this whole endeavor. I do this more to humor my daughter." The man told him somewhat harshly. He could see Daphne twitch behind him at the words which might as well have been a full-on flinch for her.
"I understand. Please understand that while this whole thing would benefit my friend and her family, my true motivation for this has to do with my own goals. Because of this, I shall not stop until I find a solution and do so as quickly as I can without physically burning myself out. This is all I can promise." Harry said back seriously. The man didn't immediately respond as he looked down searchingly at Harry once more.
"I still have no idea what is happening here." Tracey commented from the back of their group dragging both Harry and Lord Greengrass out from their staring match. Lord Greengrass turned his head to look at the girl.
"I'm surprised Daphne didn't tell you already. Still, perhaps we should leave back to our home before we go into details."
"Agreed." Daphne chimed in.
"Have you ever side-long apparated Harry?" The man asked him. He nodded.
"Indeed, I have, Lord Greengrass."
"Just Cyrus or Mr. Greengrass will be fine. Good, if you hold onto my arm I shall side-long us. You two come close and join us as well." Cyrus told the two girls who quickly came over and joined them. Harry grabbed onto the man tight enough to make sure he didn't get lost along the way.
"Hold on tight." That was the last thing he heard before he felt the violent pulling signaling the activation of the traveling method.
The next thing he knew, he was landing heavily on his feet. He crouched down to gain his bearings and reoriented himself. He took a few deep breaths before standing up.
"Apologies for the method. Our Floo system has had some issues recently that we need to get fixed."
"It's perfectly alright…" Harry said as stood back uprightly and stared in front of him. As he expected, there was a manor sitting in front of him, though not quite as he thought it would be.
"Your home is lovely. I must admit, it looks much more updated than I thought it would though." Harry commented.
"Yes, Daphne's grandfather, tore down the original property during his lordship and had it rebuilt a couple of decades ago. Something to do with bad family members. I do like the look a little more this way than some of the older homes though."
"I think I agree with you." Harry muttered thinking back to Potter Manor. It was a beautiful home with its updated finishings and the soft brown/tan color. It had none of the plants crawling up the walls or overgrown bushes that many older houses had on them from being around for so long.
They started up the smooth stone walkway towards the front doors of the house which were opened when they were a few steps away from it. Cyrus walked in without a single pause as did Daphne and Tracey. Harry took a moment to take one final look outside before entering the home. Unlike many other older homes, Greengrasses had large clean windows not obstructed by gaudy curtains. This allowed the home to have a lot of natural light illuminating it.
"I think I enjoy the inside even more than the outside. So little clutter and random objects that have been with the family for so many years for reasons no one can remember." Harry commented as he looked around. The entryway was large and had a large grand staircase that led to the second floor whereas the left and right sides looked like they traveled into different sections of the first floor.
"Thank you… Well, would you perhaps like to eat or anything else before you do what you came here for?"
"No thank you, I think it best if I simply get started right away if that's fine with you?"
'Of course. I'm sure Daphne can take you."
"Can someone please explain what is going on now?" Tracey loudly interrupted. Both Harry and Cyrus looked over at her.
"Mr. Potter here wishes to check over my dear Angelica." Cyrus told her causing Tracey to freeze and her eyes to go wide. She quickly looked over at Daphne for confirmation only to get a nod from her stoic best friend.
"But… Huh? Why? Do you think you can do something to help Harry? I know you're smart but…"
"At present, I doubt it but I am trying to develop a Ritual that deals with the purification of one's magic, including that of Blood curses which is pretty much the most difficult thing to get rid of. I am hoping that if I can find a way to distinguish curse from the person it'll lead me to some answers I need." Harry explained. Tracey looked at him almost as if she couldn't comprehend his words. After a few moments, she looked back at Daphne.
"And you're okay with this?" She asked. Daphne nodded.
"I suggested it. We need to start somewhere and at present, Harry is better at figuring these things out than I am. If it means possibly figuring out a way to help my mother, I am fine with him seeing her…" Daphne trailed off as she looked over at her father.
"Is she awake?" Daphne asked. Her father shook his head.
"She woke up yesterday, so she probably won't for a couple more days." The man said back. Daphne nodded solemnly at that.
From Harry's understanding, Daphne's mom was at the point where she was practically permanently bedridden and barely had the energy to stay awake. It must be hard on the rest of her family to have to see her like that.
"I see. That probably makes this easier… Is Astoria here?"
"No, she's out visiting a friend. She will be back tomorrow." Cyrus answered again.
"Good… Harry are you ready?" She asked as she turned to him. He nodded.
"You lead, I'll follow." He answered. With that, Daphne turned towards the stairs and wordlessly started heading up. Harry followed immediately as did Tracey though she looked like she wasn't sure if she should be. That wasn't for Harry to decide though so he didn't say anything when he heard her begin to follow behind him
They climbed the stairs together with Daphne in the lead. When they got to the top, they began to walk down a long hallway that had several doors on both walls that went down the entire hallway. Harry noticed that there was art on the walls that looked like it was probably expensive though he couldn't place the style or artist since that wasn't a subject, he had any real knowledge in. Either way, they looked pleasant. He did take notice of the fact that there were only a few pictures of family up on the walls.
"She's through here." Daphne said as she stopped in front of a large set of doors. Harry paused as he mentally prepared himself to enter the room. Once he did, he nodded at Daphne and she opened the door for him.
Harry took in the room before him. It was a master bedroom based on its size and design. They were was a king-sized bed over on one end up against a wall carved of dark wood with beautiful floral carvings engraved into it. Next to each side of it were matching nightstands. Across from them was a big wooden dresser that looked as if it hadn't been touched in a long time. Now that he looked more thoroughly, nothing in this room looked like it had been touched in a while. The air itself in the room almost felt stale around him.
With his overview of the room complete, Harry stepped closer to the bed and focused his attention on the person lying still on it. The woman was quite beautiful. She had soft facial features and a small nose that most would consider attractive. Her blonde hair lay splayed out around her showing off the natural waves in it that many had to use a product to come close to achieving. She was under the covers so he couldn't see much but it looked like she was wearing a nightgown under the covers.
Harry didn't have too much real-world experience with sick people so, at first glance, he didn't see anything out of place with the woman. It almost just looked like she was sleeping on the bed. Her breathing was steady and light like she was just asleep and her skin still looked rather healthy.
It was only upon a second closer look at her that he began to see some signs of ill health. Her cheeks were slightly sunken in but not by much so almost still looked as if it were her natural appearance. Her eyes were similar looking like they had at some point retreated a little further into her skull. When he looked down, he saw that her neckline looked slightly emaciated as some of her bones pressed up against her skin. Taking this all in, he finally frowned.
"Well?" Daphne finally asked. Harry tilted his head for a moment.
"You look like her." He commented lightly as he removed his wand from its holster. He immediately started casting any diagnosing spell he knew, which was really only three of them.
"That, I already knew." Daphne muttered back but fell silent after that allowing Harry to continue his work.
After several minutes, Harry had a general idea of what was happening. As expected, he couldn't immediately see any sign of the Blood magic affecting her but he could see the results of it. From his spells, he could see that almost her entire body was not functioning as it should. Her heart rate was slightly slower than it safely should be even if it wasn't by much. Her body was producing slightly fewer hormones for proper functioning than it should be. Her liver and kidneys filtering function seemed to also be down. Of course, none of these was the most worrying thing. The most worrying thing was what he found in her brain.
"We have a problem."
"What is it? What's wrong?" Daphne seemed very worried immediately.
"As you said, her body seems to have begun to slowly shut itself down. It's not by much right now, in fact, I'd normally just assume she's feeling under the weather and weak from sickness. Unfortunately, the Blood magic is part of her natural bloodstream which means it travels throughout every single part of her body, including her mind." Harry explained.
"So… What does that mean?" Daphne pushed.
"As I have explained, once cured, I can pretty much heal the damage the magic has done to her body but the mind is different. It's where everything about a person is stored; their memories, personality, what they like and don't like… The more it's damaged the more can be lost and while I can heal the physical damage, anything lost from the affliction may be lost permanently. In fact, if we do not heal her soon enough, even if we can cure her, her mind might reach a point where it is so damaged, she becomes brain dead." Harry continued slowly.
If it were up to him, he would not have stated such a thing so bluntly but one of the conditions in his coming was that he was not allowed to sugarcoat anything for Daphne and he needed to give her everything as straight as possible. He was really coming to regret the agreement at this point though as he watch Daphne frown and her eyes start to tear up. She was clearly fighting to hold back her tears at the news. She walked up to her mother and reached down to grab her arm over the covers, almost as if making sure the woman was still alive and here with her.
"And the Blood Magic? Were you able to find it?" She asked. That was the point of this day. He needed to figure out if he could find a way to distinguish the curse from the woman's magic, a thing that was extremely hard to do.
"No, not yet. The spells I used didn't pick up the magic, only the effects of it but… Give me a second. I want to try something." Harry mentioned as he stood next to Daphne and reached over to place his hand on her mother's forehead.
"What are you doing now?" Tracey asked still standing by the door.
"I couldn't find anything with a spell but unlike most, as I have mentioned, I have an extraordinarily high sensitivity to magic. I think I have an idea of what the blood magic should feel like so I'm going to see if I can manually find the difference. Technically the curse should be through her entire body right now so I shouldn't need to do anything invasive." Harry replied. As soon as he finished, he closed his eyes and started concentrating.
Sensing magic was always an experience that he never got tired of. Even if the magic wasn't always nice to feel, it was interesting. The whole Greengrass home was filled with magic that almost seemed to be woven into it. It must've been the various protections that were on the house. He turned his attention away from them though and paid attention to the woman in front of him.
He had to contain a wince as he felt her magic. Even the flow of it felt more sluggish than it should have. He ignored that though and tried to delve deep into the feeling of the woman's magic.
Her magic felt warm to him. It was nice and pleasant almost like a refreshing Spring breeze after the freezing cold of Winter. In Harry's experience, a person's magic reflected the person. It seemed to confirm that Mrs. Greengrass was probably a nice and pleasant person to be around. Considering not even half the people with who he interacted came close to this level, that was saying something.
Despite being able to feel her magic, he still couldn't feel anything that felt outright hostile to his senses. That being said, it almost seemed like her magic was… dampened, maybe? For how it felt, it seemed like her magic would be more expressive, if that was the right word for it. He thought back to the Blood Curse he had felt within Ciri. The experience was terrible to him but initially, he hadn't felt anything too off with it, it simply felt like a presence of something inside of their mind. It wasn't until…
Harry frowned in realization and couldn't suppress a shiver at the thought that came to him. As soon as it came to him, he immediately wished it hadn't and could feel every fiber of his being asking him not to do what he was thinking of doing.
Another part of him though was thinking about the hopeless situation Daphne's mother was currently in. Within a few years, she could be brain-dead if nothing was done for her. This was her life in the balance here, what was it he was even risking? Perhaps some pain but it would pass no matter how agonizing…
"Daphne." He finally said out loud. The blonde girl looked over at him, it looked like she had recovered a bit from her earlier it seemed, and looked a little more put together.
"Yes?"
"Do you know the stunning spell yet?" He asked. It wasn't a spell they normally learned till the fourth year but it wasn't really difficult so many made it a point to learn it earlier.
"I do." She answered looking somewhat confused by the sudden question. He nodded somewhat pleased by the answer.
"Good. I'm going to try something that may be… unpleasant, but if it works, I will have gotten what I came here for." He told her. She looked wearily at him at that response.
"How unpleasant exactly?"
"If I start to scream, stun me." That was all Harry said back to her. This didn't seem to make her feel any better.
"Potter…"
"Don't worry about it. Just get ready to do it. Do you understand?" He pushed trying to make sure she didn't focus on that part. He had a feeling if Daphne knew the true extent of how much this could potentially hurt Harry, even she wouldn't approve of it.
"… Fine." She relented as she backed away from him and pulled out her wand.
"Thank you. Now, this may take a moment…" He trailed off as he looked back down at the woman and closed his eyes. He closed his eyes in concentration again.
If he was honest, Harry hadn't done this since he had done it with the Curse in Ciri. Using his magic to directly reach out and interact with things wasn't exactly a smart thing to do, even to relatively safe things. Albus had warned him of this last time and had even cautioned him about doing it again. He would not be pleased about what Harry was about to do next.
He reached his magic out slowly and touched his magic to Mrs. Greengrass's. Her magic took a moment to respond almost as if it were apprehensive about the newcomer interacting with it. That being the case, after a few tentative moments, it seemed to reach out to his and seemingly cling to it. Harry felt some relief that this had worked.
Now that he was directly connected to the woman's magic, he immediately went over it as much as possible. He was sure there was something that was causing it to feel weaker than it should and he would bet quite a bit of galleons that it was the Blood Curse.
He twisted and turned the magic as it stayed connected allowing him to feel the magic's flow change to something that he guessed might be confusion. He tried to project what he was searching for to it but it didn't seem to be able to help. He concentrated on trying to find it himself once more and this time tried to feel what might be existing on the fringes of her magic.
He couldn't feel what he was looking for, much to his disappointment. After a few moments, he didn't seem to feel anything that seemed strange to him despite knowing it must've been in there. Instead, he simply continued to roll the magic of hers around with his own. He curiously wondered if he could match her magical feeling. Changing a person's magical signature was impossible but having it mimic another wasn't entirely unheard of, though, it was rare.
He concentrated on the feeling of her magic and tried to imagine the feeling of his own magic. He didn't pay much attention to his but he noticed it felt… Almost bland. He wondered if that was due to his muted emotions. Either way, he concentrated on the way his magic felt before trying to concentrate on the way Mrs. Greengrass's felt. He did this as he would normally do transfiguration except he was using straight magic instead of material.
To his surprise, his magic did actually begin to shift. The very feeling of it almost seemed to be injected with warmth as it began to come closer and closer to matching his patients. When it finally stopped, it felt almost like a proper imitation of Mrs. Greengrass's though not an exact one. If you asked him to pick his out versus hers, he would be able to do it but he doubted many others could. He almost smiled at the interesting new ability even if he wasn't sure what it could be used for.
With that done, he began to start to pull away only to stop as he felt a sudden shift in Mrs. Greengrass's magic as… something made its presence known. Harry froze as he felt it. To him, it was familiar, not quite the same, but close enough that he could almost immediately tell what it was.
The Blood Curse seemed to emerge from within the woman's magic seemingly out of nowhere. Now that it was actively present, he had no issue telling it apart from the rest of her magic. Her magic almost seemed to want to get away from it but couldn't. He waited to see what it would do as the magic came closer and closer to him.
It didn't hesitate as it jumped from her magic into his and immediately, Harry felt it. The magic of the curse was acting almost confused. It tried to latch onto his magic but couldn't seem to manage it. That was a good thing in Harry's eyes. Unfortunately, while the magic couldn't seem to latch onto his, he could still physically feel the curse and it was not pleasant. In fact, it was outright painful!
Harry stiffened suddenly. He clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes as shut as they would go as a scorching pain shot up his arm and begin to travel throughout his body. The curse seemed to make a much stronger push as it seemed to circle around Harry's own and squeeze it in a similar way a constrictor snake might try and do. Immediately, he began to feel something similar to when he had touched the curse within Ciri.
"Harry? Are you okay? Do you want me to stun you?" He could hear Daphne ask. Boy did he want that. This pain was extreme though not quite as intense or powerful as the one within Ciri. At the moment, he would still rather be stunned than continue dealing with it though.
Despite his personal feelings on the matter though, he shook his head slowly afraid if he tried to verbally answer, he might accidentally bite his tongue off. As much as it hurt, he still needed time to do what he came here for.
When he didn't feel himself get knocked out, he continued with his suffering. More and more images popped up in his mind and Harry could once more feel the emotions that helped to create and keep the curse alive. There was anger and hatred but the core of it was something else, something more unfamiliar to Harry. It was something he longed for but was moved or perhaps left his grasp. It was something he wanted back but could not get anymore.
Perhaps this was envy or even jealousy? Considering who it was directed at, he leaned more toward the latter than the former. While the curse kept flashing images in his mind that he couldn't currently process, he was using his own magic to fight back at it and try to trace it back to its source.
After a few more minutes of excruciating pain, the curse finally seemed to give up on trying to infect him. It receded from him and almost immediately the pain stopped and it felt like his body had been dunked in cool water after being lit on fire.
He collapsed to the floor immediately and started gasping for air. Without the pain weakening his concentration, he was able to start getting his body back under control and settle his mind. Without the pain, he could also feel Ciri's presence in his mind reaching out in concern towards his own. At this point, they didn't have much delay when they sent their thoughts to each other while awake. A few seconds at most. They still had to actively send them though because, unless it was a circumstance like this where something extreme was happening, they couldn't tell.
He made sure to send some reassurance her way so she wouldn't continue to freak out. As he tried to stand up, he suddenly felt grabbed by his arms from both sides. He looked up to see both Tracey and Daphne helping him up looking both concerned and disturbed.
"You want to tell me what that was?" Daphne hissed. Harry shrugged for a moment as he continued to try and take a breath before reaching for his wand and casting some diagnostic spells once more on her mother to make sure he didn't accidentally worsen her condition. A moment later, it showed everything was still normal… Or at least normal for a person slowly dying.
"Potter…" Daphne growled in warning, clearly expecting an answer to her earlier question. He held up his hand to get her to calm down for a minute.
"Give me a minute Daphne. That wasn't exactly a pleasant experience."
"I'll say. You looked like you were going to fall over dead the whole time." Tracey muttered looking at him with concern still. He nodded at that.
"It certainly felt like it… Alright, the good news first. I found a way to coax out the Blood Curse so I could observe it." Harry started.
"Coax it? What, like an animal?"
"Yes and no. Magic is alive but it does follow rules. Those rules are just not always clearly outlined but for a blood curse, figuring out the rules isn't too hard. One, a blood curse can only affect those that it's SUPPOSED to affect. I tricked the curse by mimicking your mother's magical signature. The curse tried to latch onto me thinking I was a part of your mother but couldn't ingrain itself into me."
"If it couldn't ingrain itself into you, why did it look like it hurt so much?" Tracey questioned.
"A Blood Curse is Dark magic and I don't mean the ministry definition of Dark, I mean it's real Dark magic."
"What's the difference?" Tracey asked.
"True Dark magic is magic created specifically with the intention to cause harm to another living being." Daphne answered. Harry nodded.
"Exactly. Magic is all about intention. If you want to create a Dark spell, you need to start with a foundation of wanting to create a spell that will cause harm. You can create a spell that causes harm but if your intention while creating it was to use it in defense, not to harm but rather to hinder, that small difference matters in magic."
"Okay, so Dark magic just hurts anything that comes into contact with it then?" Tracey asked for clarification.
"Yes, though unless directly hit with a spell or such, the damage it causes is usually minimal. It's only a problem if you spend long periods in its presence. Blood magic is extremely powerful though and has emotion and intention backed up in blood. Touching it directly is never a good idea."
"And you did it because?"
"I could not initially find the difference between Daphne's mother's magic and the Dark magic afflicting her. Instead, all I could see was the effects of it on other things. I needed to directly interact with it if I wanted a chance at a better understanding."
"And did you? Get a better understanding?" Daphne questioned looking strained between being upset but also curious. Harry tilted his head as he thought about the question.
"Perhaps… When I finally got it to emerge, it seemed to almost come out of nowhere. One minute I couldn't find it, the next it emerged from her magic as if it was always there." Harry revealed.
"What does that mean? Are you saying it is undetectable unless it wishes to reveal itself?"
"I don't think so… As I said, I think it was always there, but for some reason, I just couldn't see it, or perhaps, I simply didn't have the capability…"
"What are you thinking?" Daphne pushed. Harry didn't answer right away, he continued to think about what he had felt while being tortured. How could the curse have simply disappeared and reappeared while he had literally been watching? It's not like there was a charm or something on it to hide it. Did it do it naturally or was it hidden as a byproduct of something else?
It seemed more likely to him that it was a byproduct rather than being purposefully hidden. So, the magic was there but it wasn't at the same time? There was a difference when it was active versus dormant clearly. When dormant, it was likely causing its effects passively whereas when it was active it was probably actively trying to attack those who had it.
"I thought you said magic flows naturally within the circulatory system with our blood. Wouldn't that just mean the Blood curse is also in there?" Tracey asked not being able to take the silence. Harry nodded.
"In theory, it should be. It even emerges along the same paths as our normal magic which means it must lie there as well…" Harry answered absentmindedly.
"Could it have something to do with the fact that it's a Blood Curse? Maybe it just feels the same as the blood in the body." Tracey suggested.
"I'm pretty sure that's not how it works." Daphne said with a small snort of amusement. Harry looked at the girl blankly for a moment as his mind subconsciously processed the words and went through a series of complex equations to finally come to a conclusion he had not yet thought of.
"No… No, it isn't… Unless it sort of is." Harry murmured to himself. Clearly, the girls heard him though as they both looked at him at the same time.
"What do you mean?" Daphne demanded
"Magic follows the same paths as blood which gives blood and by association, the whole body, magical properties, but at the same time, they're separate things. Magic flows with the blood. But Curses don't follow that logic, at least not normally. They rarely ever enter the natural flow of a person's body, instead, they latch onto whatever the target of the curse is within the body and affect it. Even curses that affect the entire body do so because they are designed to attack everything individually. A Blood curse affects everything though because it enters a person's magic and almost becomes one with it. A small difference but an extremely important one because it's why they're so hard to get rid of. So, it flows through with a person's magic but isn't part of it. But, as I have said what is it that magic flows with?"
"…Blood?"
"Exactly! Don't you see? That's how it's doing it! The Blood Curse isn't latched on to the person's magic, it's latched on to the blood in the person's body. But the blood goes to all the same places as the magic in a person's body does. It's the highway magic takes! That's why it can stay hidden because it's physically inside the blood. The magic is permeated around it acting as a natural cover for it! It's like going to the middle of the ocean and trying to look through it to find the individual fish hiding underneath the surface, you can't see anything unless they come above water." Harry exclaimed excitedly as the pieces finally came together.
"I guess that makes sense. But why would it enter the blood itself? How would it know to do that?"
"I'm not sure. Perhaps because the curse itself is born from blood? Maybe it just does so naturally as a throwback to its creation. It does also explain why Blood curses can so easily be passed down in a family. Magical signatures can get pretty unique and different even in families related by blood. If the curse was attached to magic, it wouldn't make sense that it kept being passed down for so long while having limitations on who it could attach itself to." Harry continued.
"… I admit, what you're saying does make a lot of sense, and it fits but… How do we get rid of it? If it's attached to her blood…" Daphne drifted off but Harry got her point, she wasn't seeing how to help her mother without completely killing her first. Harry on the other hand was already a step ahead of her.
"It will be difficult, that is for certain, but it shouldn't be impossible. If I'm right, her body is simply breaking down by the presence of the curse not because the curse is directly within each part of the body, then again, it doesn't need to be if my theory is right… So that makes it slightly easier. If I'm right, then theoretically, the curse is introduced while still in the womb which is why the woman is born with it. However, if we could get rid of all the blood in her body and prevent it from making more… It's entirely possible we can flush the curse out permanently."
"And how exactly do you propose we do that without killing her?" Daphne retorted struggling to keep her temper in check.
"That part, I am at least confident is completely possible. Blood is vital because it pretty much moves everything in the body to the place that needs it; water, oxygen, and nutrients for example. With some research, I should be able to find what exactly the blood moves through the body and delivers. Once that is done, We can make a ritual that has parts that focus specifically on accomplishing the job that blood does. We'll need to do some intense studying on both the human body as well as the ritual itself. It shall be… complicated, extremely so. And, of course, there is always the chance that I am wrong. In which case we shall have wasted a lot of time." Harry admitted. Daphne seemed on board until that last sentence.
"How long do you think this will take? Realistically?" She asked. Harry thought about it seriously for a moment.
"If I can go all out on this without people stopping me… We can have something maybe ready within six months. If slower, maybe a year. And that's if it is our only focus." Harry told her. Daphne went quiet at that. She looked at the ground and looked to be in deep thought. He could understand one. If they were lucky and used their time wisely, they had one, maybe two shots at getting this right before her mother passed. Harry was confident in his theory but he couldn't be certain and he wouldn't be until the experiment proved or disproved it. For Daphne though, what was on the line was something that had a worth that had no calculation.
"Daphne…" Tracey tried as she put her hand on her friend's shoulder for support. Daphne took a moment to look at her friend before looking back at Harry.
"Alright… Let's do it."