Lessons About A Price Too High

Chapter 05 Wish Magic, Will Magic, Word Magic

(A/N: So… I was checking my email one day when a miracle happened. After 6 long months of total lack of reviews to the point where I had actually forgotten my fanfiction existed, in my mailbox there were THREE reviews… NO! not one… not two… but 3 (whose reviewer names can be found on the bottom of this chapter). This chapter is rather short since I'm just restarting which is why I'm going to dedicate my next chapter (Chapter 06 Marauders Inc) to those three reviewers. Enjoy)

Three days later, Harry had finally managed to get a grip on exactly how to use the dualis ring. It took awhile, but he created a pool of memories (with the help of his newly acquired pensieve for each of his halves to draw upon. Then he gave instructions to one of his halves while he inhabited the other. He knew he couldn't completely cut off one half of himself from the other but managed to tone down the stream of information to a minimal. The buzzing was still there, in the background and no matter what, some of his attention would always be diverted to his "other half" but it was something he could live with. More frustrating, however, was his super slow reflexes. Since both of his entities used the same timeframe, everything took twice as long to do. Then, when he "became one" again, it took awhile for him to reorient himself to the vamped up speed his reflexes normally were. Not exactly useful in combat…Harry thought, but otherwise, it served its purpose.

With just a little over a week left before he had to replace the 250 galleons he had "borrowed" from the Dursleys, Harry could waste no time beginning his enterprise. He had put it off in order to acquaint himself with the dualis ring. Though he thought learning to use the dualis ring was well worth the time spent, Harry was still a little worried. He had taken three whole days and he still had a load of things to do before he could begin earning back the money he had spent. As easy as it was just to conjure another invisibility cloak or something else of equal value, Harry knew that he shouldn't. Valuable and apparently "unregistered" items could fall into the wrong hands and help work against him later. This was why he was now reading Wizard Deals tirelessly into the night. Though book had its merits, Harry knew enough about the world now to understand that prices fluctuated and he had to keep up with the rapid pace of change. Memorizing the book would only give him a relative idea of what things cost, what was expensive, and what was cheap. To truly grasp the value of an item, he would have to return to Diagon Alley frequently to keep tabs on the prices.

Harry was now permanently living in the second compartment of his briefcase. He had added a ventilation system when he realized that the room did not have one. It had taken quite a bit of effort and will magic on his part… will magic always used more energy than wish or word magic. Harry remembered the shock of discovering that there were three types of ways to use magic. The method used by most wizards was the weakest. But the more he got accustomed to the idea, the more it started making sense. Word magic, while the weakest of three magics, was also the easiest to use. It did make sense that wizards these days took the easy route of learning "routine" magic instead of taking the time to understand the theory behind it. He, himself, took the same route learning mathematics. 1 x 8 was 8, it was a fact and he had never questioned the why. Wish magic, you couldn't learn. It was also known as accidental magic, an incident or development that results completely from a desperate wish or desire. Every wizarding child had had experience with this type of magic and while it was uncontrollable, knowledge of its existence was still important. Wish magic explains the very essence of what magic is: an intent, a driving force. One needn't have any intelligence or logic to use magic, all they have to know is what they want, then, want said thing or event enough. When the wizard or witch only wishes moderately for something, they have a difficult time expressing their intent. Their magic remains confused and inactive. Word magic uses the cultural understanding of sounds to more clearly express intent. This was why certain spells sound negative, even though one may have no idea what said spell does. As wizards and witches learn and memorize spells, their definition of what sounds "positive" or "negative" are reinforced. They associate certain sounds more readily with certain intentions and have an easier time casting new spells that have similar sounds. Nothing, however, greater expresses intention than a desperate wish cast at the eleventh hour which was why Wish magic was the most powerful of the three magics. The last and most stable of the three magics was will magic. This was the type of magic that Harry had used to transfigure his ring and conjure the invisibility cloak he had sold. Using will magic required the utmost amount of concentration, precision, and knowledge of what one wanted. But it required no knowledge of words or wand movement or wands… for that matter. That's what made it especially useful. One simply willed the effect to happen and used their knowledge of molecular structure to ease it along. Unlike wish or word magic, one really had to know a lot about an effect to make it happen…

Ron's eyes flew around the room to the strange things in Dumbledore's office. "Lemon Drop, Mr. Weasley?" Ron shook his head in decline. The old headmaster seemed disappointed. At any other time, Ronald would have gladly accepted the treats; it was never his habit to turn down anything edible; but today, was different. For what seemed to be the first time in his life, Ronald Weasley felt… important, and nervous. When Dumbledore had brought the testing materials to the Burrow five days before, he was supremely confident in his success. After the test, however, Ron wasn't so sure. Even his own ego would not allow him to feel reassured as he had had to guess on more than 50 percent of the problems. His thoughts were interrupted as Dumbledore began speaking again. "Well it seems that you have gotten the required scores to earn a full scholarship to Hogwarts Mr. Weasley. I hope you are very pleased with yourself as it is an immense accomplishment." Ron blushed. It had been so long since he had been complimented on anything. Percy was the book smart one in the family, Bill was the dashing romantic curse breaker, Charlie, the daring, athletic adventurer, and Fred and George, the mischievous pranksters. There seemed no title left for the sixth Weasley son. But now though, now all of that had changed. He, Ron, would be the best of them all. He would oust all of his brothers and be the most favored Weasley. It would be he that would give the Weasley Clan the break it so desperately needed. He would be the Weasley's patriarch! It would only be matter of time.

Albus stared at the youngest Weasley son with interest and amusement, studying the young boy like a predator studies its prey. He had long stopped speaking and was currently waiting for Weasley to snap out of his trance like stupor. The glazed eyes of the boy told him all he needed to know about the character of the youngest Weasley son. He is ambitious… Dumbledore thought. Not so unlike his brother Percy in that sense. Albus assumed that it was only Fred and George's constant teasing that prevented Ron from becoming as pompous as Percy. It didn't matter though. It would be easy enough to convince young Ronald to help him "keep an eye out" on Harry during the school year.

Feeling the full stare of his future headmaster, Ron snapped out of his reverie and realized that Dumbledore had stopped talking. He blushed again, this time in embarrassment. "Err, sorry Professor Dumbledore, what were you saying?" "Ahh… back among us now? Mr. Weasley?" asked Dumbledore amusedly. This caused further blushing and an uncomfortable squirm from Ron. Idiot! He thought to himself, You've screwed it up already! But Dumbledore didn't seem to mind. He was still smiling that grandfatherly smile. " As I was saying… Mr. Potter will be arriving at Hogwarts the same time that you will and he might have some… trouble… settling in. That's why I want you to help him." Ron's mind was reeling.Potter? Does he mean The Harry Potter? But he had no time to ponder this as Dumbledore continued, "With your … academic talent… and knowledge of the school itself which undoubtedly your brothers told you all about, you would be the ideal candidate to help Mr. Potter settle in… Unless, of course, if you don't want the job."

Albus Dumbledore was very tired. After Weasley finally left there was mountains of paper work to fill out. Then he had to meet with the Decloures to discuss all of the abysmal grades their daughter had received that term. Therefore, he had little time to address the issues that Arabella had told him. So the boy is getting skinnier and skinnier… we can solve that problem once he's here. All of the physical labor he's been doing is a bit of a worry… but he can't be too dependent on anyone. He has to learn that only he can save himself in the end. It's ESSENTIAL for his survival! Yes indeed, Albus Dumbledore was very tired.

Cataclysmic

Thank you! I really wanted to fill in some of the theory that JK never really explains.

HarrySlytherinson

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