I know, I know. I suck at updating. But I am posting this even though it took a lot of switching computer stuff since my internet is currently dead. I'm so close to the end I can taste it, but it may be a little while before my next update. Two, two page papers due in the next to weeks for one class and I'm still trying to finish Don Quixote for my independent study. But hold on everyone because we'll get there. And it'll be awesome. (I hope).

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Harry dropped into the seat next to Hermione. "I need a favor with no questions asked. Can you do that? It doesn't even involve leaving your chair."

She closed the book in front of her and folded her arms over it. "I'll do my best."

He slid the photocopy of the branches and the copy he made of the trunk in front of her. "Have you seen any pictures like this before? Not these pictures exactly since the trunk is from a book here, but just similar."

Hermione pulled them closer. "Oh. I certainly wasn't expecting this. It's not even homework." She leaned over them. "I'm sorry, Harry. The only place I may have seen something like this, and this is going to sound silly, but I think I've seen a tree like this in my fairy tale book at home. I don't remember which story it was exactly, but I think it was in the book of obscure ones. The story was probably something about fighting great evil or the like. That's what most of them are about."

Harry clutched her arms. "Can you have the book sent here?"

Hermione jumped and wrapped her hands around his wrists. "Hey, breathe. Sure. Why not? I can write my parents and ask them to send it, if you want it."

Harry slipped the pages into his bag between the books. "Yes, I want. I definitely want. You can use Hedwig whenever you're ready." He smile and swung his bag onto his shoulder. "Fighting evil, huh? Perfect. I'll see you later. I'm off to see a man about a potion."

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He covered another paper with twenty incorrect uses of star anise in red. Severus wrote an F and a few scathing comments on the top and threw it on the pile.

Harry burst in, slammed the door, and cast three privacy spells.

"What are you doing?"

He pulled a piece of parchment out of his bag and smacked it onto the table. "Hi. Sorry. I need a little help. What would this potion do?" He looked around and slowly lowered himself into the chair next to his desk. "Um, please?"

Severus rolled his eyes and tilted the paper toward him. "What is this?"

"I don't know."

Severus looked toward him.

He held his arms up in surrender. "I actually don't have any idea. It's from a book falling apart in the library. Draco showed it to me." Harry chewed on his thumb. "I'm not too sure why, but that doesn't matter because it fits with the page Cali sent me. And Hermione's going to get me the middle, hopefully. The top part has a spell on it." He took another paper out of his bag. "It's about releasing something to do something." He shrugged. "I'll admit that I might not understand it all that well."

Severus took the paper, scanned it, and handed it back. "I'm not surprised. It's in middle English. I believe this potion is a basic activator. I'm not sure of some of the ingredient names, things have changed a bit in the last few hundred years. If I'm right, then this composition of the potion is a particularly weak version. Mario Vantone found out how to strengthen the activator potion in 1849 by holding back the addition of the hawthorn and adding--" He pushed the paper back. "Shut up Potter."

Harry slipped the paper off the essays and tried to hide his smile. "I'm sorry, but if you were talking about Star trek, you'd be the biggest geek ever." He coughed. "Sorry. Could you give me a stronger potion? Wait. Maybe that's a Gryffindorism. Would adding a stronger activator to this while thing be a bad idea?"

"Do you have any idea what this sequence of things is supposed to do?"

"Not."

"Then yes. It would in fact be an incredibly stupid thing to do. Go. Bring me the entire sequence when you have it."

Harry smiled and jumped up. "Thanks!" He ran to the door, broke all the spells, and yanked the door open.

"Don't run in the halls."

He hitched his bag on his shoulder. "Yes, professor."

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The common room was empty and the fire cracked periodically. Harry shifted and curled up more.

The last stair of the girls' side squeaked. Hermione tightened her robe and slid into the chair across from him. "I sent the letter off to my parents, so I should get the book sometime this week." She leaned closer to the fire. "Can't you sleep?"

He shrugged. "Weird dreams."

"Like what?"

"The usual. Dumbledore dancing. Professor Snape dressed in pink."

"Do you expect me to buy that, Harry?"

He rubbed his forehead. "Not particularly. It's just voices. Talking about playing to my new strengths and using what I have. I think that it's coming." He rested his head on the armrest. "I don't want to fight yet."

She wiggled into the chair with him and laid her head on his chest. "What are the chances that it's a ritual to defeat evil from very far away?"

Harry wrapped his arms around her. "I doubt they're good. It wouldn't be as impressive without a face to face, violent, and impressive confrontation."

She half sat up and faced him. "Let's think about this logically. What are your new strengths?"

Harry puffed out his cheeks. "Perhaps singing, dressing in drag, and convincing people that I'm gay."

She buried her face in his shoulder, giggling.
He fingered the ends of her fair. "A much improved potions grade, an understanding about the theory and working of magic. I know about the history of the world and, I don't know, I know what the best Chinese food is? What do they want?" He glanced down. Hermione was asleep. He shifted a little and slid into a comfortable position. "I make a good pillow too." He stared into the fire for a few minutes then closed his eyes.

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"Harry, Hermione. You might want to wake up now."

Harry blinked and tried to stretch, but his leg was held down, so he yawned and stretched his back a little from side to side. Hermione was fast asleep. "Hermione. Wake up." She didn't move. "Did you forget the pop quiz today?"

She started. "I didn't have it in my planner. When did--" She smacked Harry and glanced at the clock. "Ugh. I'm going back to sleep." She cracked her neck and yanked her robe down. "Thanks for waking us up, Neville. My neck hurts already."

He nodded as she stumbled up the stairs. He glanced back at Harry and bit his lip. "I'm sorry. I just wondered where you were."

Harry stood, threw his arm around Neville's shoulders, and steered him up the stairs. "Don't worry. I was just moping in the common room, and Hermione was trying to cheer me up. I think. Well, I feel a little cheered up, so I'll give her the credit." He yawned. "At least I'm tired now."

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The breakfast owls came and went without Hedwig making an appearance.

Hermione poked at her eggs. "Maybe my parents can't find the book. If they put it away in the attic it could take a little longer. They put so much stuff away this summer that the attic is filled with boxes."

Harry patted her shoulder. "Don't freak, Hermy. I'm fine. Why don't you tell at Ron for something? It might make you feel better."

"Hey." Ron threw a piece of buttered toast, but Harry managed to avoid it. "Do we have to go to Transfigurations today? I still can't manage the mammal alterations."

"Well if you'd practiced last night instead of playing chess--" Hermione stopped when Harry kicked her leg. "Um, did you try moving your wand in slightly larger circles? That and visualizing a little more should help a lot."

Ron blinked a few times then smiled. "Thanks."

The first bell rang, and they grabbed their bags and hurried to class.

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Severus stalked the aisles as the students chopped and stirred. A snowy owl flapped and set down in the doorway, left open to minimize the fumes. Harry's owl allowed him to take the package from him, and he flew back down the corridor. Severus dropped the package onto his desk, nodded to Harry, and resumed his circuit of the room.

The class ended with no explosions and only one completely useless potion. Harry waited until the room emptied except for himself and Miss Granger, shut and locked the door with two quick spells, and ran to the desk. He handed the letter to Miss Granger and tore open the package.

She ripped open the envelope and scanned the page inside. "Ok, from what I could describe they're guessing that it's page sixty-nine."

Harry flipped forward and smiled. "This is it. The text is worked around the trunk, and the top and bottom are the same size even." He leaned closer and pointed to a darker spot. "Look at that. The shadows I couldn't figure out. They're people. Climbing the tree."

Severus pulled his eyes away from the book. "You'll be late for your next class if you don't hurry."

Miss Granger swore and stuffed the letter into her bag. "Come on, Harry."

He tucked the book under his arm and scooped up the bag. "I'll bring you copies later tonight."

They rushed out, their heels clicking down the hall.

"What kind of spell is in a muggle book?" He unspelled the door. The third year Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws began to stream in, and another class began.

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The papers came hand-delivered by one very hyper Harry Potter ready to conduct his very own ancient spell research instead of sleeping or studying or doing his schoolwork.

Severus took the papers and pressed down on Harry's shoulder until he stopped bouncing. "You will eat, you will sleep, you will study, and we will speak each night to see what the other has discovered."

Harry took a deep breath and nodded. "All right, but will you floo these to Biara and see what they make of it there? Cali did start this, after all, and she'll get to see what her tree looks like finally." He held out another set of copies.

Severus took the pages. "I will. Now go do whatever it is you were doing to get all that energy."

"Right. Eat more chocolate. Understood. Goodnight, Professor Snape." He saluted and ran toward the stairs.

One rather long conversation with his worried sister later, he poured himself a cup of coffee and settled into his armchair with the papers.

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"So what we need to do is look at all three parts separately and then figure out how they fit and work together. We'll split into teams for the parts. Hermione and Neville take the potion section." Harry laughed. "Don't look so scared, Neville. This potion is old, so some of the ingredients may have changed their names. I need someone who knows their Herbology. Ron and I have got the charm section. I'm going to be double teaming on the potion, so Hermione, you can also help Ginny with the middle from the story since it's familiar to you. It's obviously too late to go to the library tonight, so I thought we could just brainstorm ideas and eat obscene amounts of candy."

Ron smacked his hand away from the candy pile. "I think you've had enough. Why don't you just breathe for a moment?"

Harry frowned and dropped onto the pillows on the floor. "If you're telling me to lay off the candy, then I must be comatose. Okay, then, who has ideas? Let's start with someone who's not Hermione." He easily ducked the pillow.

"Fairy tales? Cool. I loved this book." Dean took the book off the table and started flipping through it.

Harry smiled. "Turn to page sixty or so and tell me if you recognize the story."

Dean shrugged and flipped pages. "Hey, this one was one of my favorites. Are we telling the purebloods fairytales?"

Harry clapped his hands. "Kindof. Want to join our little group? We think that story might contain real magic?"

"Yes!" Dean nodded. "I knew it couldn't all be fake. I'm in."

"Wonderful. You're working with Ginny and Hermione. We're brainstorming how to go about researching. Ginny can fill you in on the rest later. For the charm, I was thinking about talking to Flitwik. Cali found it randomly in a book on fairies, so I can pose it as an honestly confused question as to its purpose and how it relates to fairies."

Hermione fiddled with the corner of the parchment. "I'm not sure I'll be able to find anything on the potion since it was in an ancient book to begin with. We may need the restricted section."

Harry waved his hand. "That's already covered with two continents of restricted books. Se--Professor Snape said that it's an activator potion, an old one that they figured out how to strengthen years ago, so I'd check in books on the history of potions. What I'm really looking for is whether the ingredients react in any special way. Maybe the point of the potion wasn't to activate anything in the first place, but since it did that, that's what people remembered." He scratched his forehead. "All of the pieces, except for the middle, are only found in first edition, ancient books that no one seems to read anymore. So I think that either the knowledge disappeared because it wasn't particularly useful or because someone wanted it gone."

"Wanted it gone, but keeping a record of it's existence." Ron took the fairy tales from Dean. "What's the story about?"

Hermione chewed on her lip. "Oh, it's been years. Something about extinguishing an evil wizard threatening the kingdom, I think."

Dean shifted on the arm of the couch. "And saving the whole world, but not ending fighting. There's something about two farmers that keep killing each other's sheep."

Hermione smacked her leg. "And it's the two boys, the ones that come out of nowhere, out of the fields or woods or something, that stop the wizard. With some ritual or something. Right?"

"Yeah. That sounds about right."

Ron tapped his fingers on the book. "Two boys come out of nowhere, use magic to get rid of a dark wizard, but not end the villagers attacking each other in their normal lives, and leave enough behind to give the muggles a lead on how to use the magic if they need it again."

Hermione leaned back in the chair. "In a time when magic was accepted."

"When the magical community hadn't fully excluded itself." Ginny nudged Dean. "And wizards could help out in muggle conflicts without having anyone put them on trial."

Harry smacked the floor. "Fairies! They used to be believed in by everyone. And natural remedies today are what's left of potions knowledge in the muggle world." He stood and paced between the chairs. "Stories are fun. And fictional. They're passed on from parents to children without having to be written down." He gripped the back of the chair. "Muggles don't have preservation or protection charms for books. If they were all muggle books it would be easy for them to be destroyed leaving only a few copies left."

Neville coughed. "That the ministry finds and confiscates when the two communities separate because muggles can't know about magic anymore."

Harry threw himself into Ron's lap and messed up his hair. "Have I ever mentioned that I love you?"

Ron patted Harry's head and pushed him to the floor. "Yeah, that's great. Don't do that again. One set of rumors per year is all I can take."

Harry laughed. "Yeah, right. At least the whole school hasn't seen you in your boxers."

Ginny snorted and burst into laughter. "Sorry, sorry. Mental picture reappearing."

The first pillow missed her but the next few didn't, and soon the whole group jumped into the pillow fight that degenerated into a wrestling match with Harry on the bottom.

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Harry spent an hour the next night with his head in the fire bouncing ideas off Cali that ended in the decision that Ron was probably right about the spell and, if so, Voldemort was a goner.

He cracked his neck three times and sat back on his butt, rubbing his knees. "Thanks, Professor Snape. Did you find anything?"

He rolled his eyes. "Pathetically, not as much as you, but this potion is very interesting."

"Why?" Harry hopped up and perched on the chair next to his desk.

"The procedure is slightly off from that of the activator potion. It's just several small differences."

"Any idea what it would change of the end product?"

"None. That is, I have no idea. I was going to make a batch and do some tests, but a few of the ingredient names are old names that weren't in the books I had available last night. I haven't had the chance to look them up yet."

Harry smiled and pulled a page out of his bag. "Then I guess it's a good thing that I set Neville to just that task. One of them could be two things. He said something about them being thought to be the same plant until a few hundred years ago, but I really have no idea what he was talking about."

Professor Snape took the page and ran his finger down it. "The flower is the normal ingredient for the activator potion. The other has drastically different properties, though they do seem very similar on the surface. Hm, I'll have to look into it." He leaned back in the chair and steepled his fingers.

Harry picked up his bag. "Well, then I'll leave you to it. I have charms work to doand my own section to research. Same time tomorrow?"

Professor Snape nodded and dipped his quill in the pot.

"All right. Bye then." He had to stop himself from skipping down the hall, but he let himself run up the stairs and got to the common room quickly. Neville sat by the fire with his Transfiguration book. Harry threw himself into the chair across from him. "Neville, you are wonderful."

He paused and let the book drop to his lap. "Okay. Why?"

"That one ingredient that could be one of two things may be what makes the potion we want not an activator potion."

"Really?"

"Yep. There's also a few steps that are slightly different. Professor Snape wants to try and make a batch once he figures out all the ingredients and such." He pulled his feet onto the chair and closed his eyes. "It's so close. Like I can feel it."

"Feel what?"

Harry let his head drop back. "Freedom. It's not seeming so scary right now." He shook himself and glanced at the clock. "I've got to go. I'm meeting Ron to talk with Flitwik. I'll see you later."

"Okay. Bye, Harry."

Harry waved, ran to his room to switch the books in his bag, and took off for the charms corridor.

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Harry yawned and scratched out the last line of his transfiguration essay. The talk with Flitwik had gone on for two hours and hadn't told them much beyond the fact that the charm seemed to be designed to unite and direct various elements or energies or something, and he had no idea what it could have to do with fairies. He yawned again and scratched his nose. Okay, so the most important part of the transfiguration is the concentration at the beginning about what you are going to do. Scattered thoughts lead to a big mess and a mistransfigured partner. As with the reptilian transfigurations, knowing the anatomy of the animal you create is helpful, but only a basic knowledge of the appearance or conception of the animal will allow you to create that transformation. Harry tossed the quill onto the table and rubbed his nose.

"You should rest more." The girl's red hair fell over her shoulder as she picked up his quill and rested it on the blotter.

Harry looked around, but the common room was empty. Even the fire, just crackling, was cold. "What's going on? Who are you?"

She pulled a cross out of her shirt and moved it along the chain, the metal scraping. "You need help. You called. We heard. You found the books?"

He pressed his cross against his chest and scooted back in the chair. "Um, yes. The tree ones?"

She smiled and giggled. "Yes. The tree ones. You're doing well. We see all you've learned. But you haven't figured it out yet. What's missing. How to put everything together. You aren't thinking of your new strengths."

"And what are those? I don't think wearing a corset or singing is going to defeat Voldemort."

She shrugged. "We suppose that is true. But you are close, in a way. Your greatest weapon combined with your newest strength. One in the same. If correct, you shall conquer. Possibly."

"Possibly?"

"The world is possibilities, Harry. Do we see anything if we see but one?"

"It would be easier if you'd just tell me what to do."

She inclined her head. "Why shall we tell you that which you know?"

He fell back against the chair. Nothing was ever easy. "Yeah. I guess. We'll probably figure it out. We usually do." He glanced around and slid forward. "Thank you."

"You are welcome. Be well, Harry." She unhooked the necklace and laid it on the table.

"Mate, wake up." Ron shook his arm.

Harry bolted awake and rubbed his nose. The common room wasn't packed, but a dozen or so students dozed over assignment, and one tossed crumpled parchment onto the dying fire.

Hermione turned his face toward her. "Are you okay? You zoned out or something."

He smiled. "Yes. I'm fine. Sorry. I was just thinking." He hugged her with one arm. "Don't worry so much. I'm just distracted. We're getting so close to figuring out the spell stuff that I'm a little out of it. It's nothing horrible." He glanced down. "At least I managed to finish the assignment first. I'm going to go think, or something, before bed. Night, guys."

In his room, he set his books on his trunk, toed off his shoes, and climbed into bed. With the curtains closed, he lit his wand and pulled the cross necklace out. He wrapped his fingers around it. He could feel dulled emotions, so he dropped it quickly. Cali had her necklace on. "Whoops." We must have accidentally invited some extra guests in, even with the necklaces powered down as far as they are. He fingered the clasp but dropped his arms, leaving it on. We won't ask 'what's the worse that could happen', but maybe I'll get another clue. Sure she took off the necklace, but it's not like she actually had it on in the first place, right? He changed into his pajamas and slid under the covers. What's like cross-dressing and singing but not? He yawned and set his glasses on the table. Wearing girl's clothes without being a girl? Hm. Acting like something you're not. He forced his eyes open for a third time and gave up. Oh well. I'll figure it out eventually. "Nox." He slid the wand under his pillow and closed his eyes.

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Thanks for reading everyone. Drop a review. Tell me where you think this is going, or where you hope this is going, or whatever your thoughts are. I'm a creative writing major, so I thrive on feedback and am very used to criticism. Don't be scared. :)