XII—Equilibrium
"Okay, settle down, class, we have a very important discussion today," Professor Potter exclaimed at the head of the classroom. The seventh years settled immediately anticipating what he was going to teach. Some of the students, like Ron and Hermione, had an idea on the topic of today's class and they were giddy with excitement.
"Today we will be discussing equilibriums in magic. Can anybody tell me what that means? Sivinter," Harry beckoned when he raised his hand. He had given up on using his student's surnames as a respect tactic because his seventh years were also his friends and midway through the year he could not understand why he was segregating himself.
"Equilibriums in magic mean that there is always a counter jinx to balance out a hex."
"Very good, and does anybody know why?" Silence throughout the classroom. Not even Hermione raised her hand but Potter thought that the reason was that she wanted him to say it. "The reason is because with every ailment there is a cure. If you were to confront Madame Pompfrey in the hospital wing, she would tell you that there truly is a cure for every disease you will ever get, even if it has not been found yet. Despite the history of magic, it is still quite new. There are brilliant discoveries everyday by accident and by experiment. However, we'll touch on that subject another day," He paused, partly to let his information sink in and partly for effect. "For every piece of dark magic there is what?"
"Light magic?" Gwen guessed.
"Close, for every bit of dark magic, there is equally powerful white magic. Now, does anybody know what the counter jinx is for the bat-bogey hex?"
Ernie Macmillian blurted out the answer.
"You must have gotten that counter jinx quite often. That's correct!" Harry gave a few more simple examples for them to get used to before dropping the bomb. "Now, what is the equilibrium of the Cruatiatus curse?"
Silence.
"The Imperius curse?"
Silence.
Professor Potter's voice boomed throughout the classroom, "How about the infamous Avada Kedavra?"
Silence.
"Nobody knows?" He acted surprised, as if he had not only recently found out that there were such counter attacks to the unforgivable curses. "Well there must be, if these three curses follow the same rules as all other curses. Simply put, magic is magic. Just like butter beer comes in no other flavours but original, magic cannot change, it is a constant with rules just like anything else. The oldest wizards and witches tell us that magic is older than time and that it is still developing, still evolving, becoming more than it was centuries ago. Just because we don't know the symmetry to the unforgivable curses, they are still out there. Maybe they have not been discovered or perhaps they have not been named yet."
This bit of information opened his students mind to a galaxy of thought and imagination. He could almost see their eyes glazing over to a place where they were awarded for finding the counter curse to Cruatiatus.
Hermione's hand shot up and she said, "So you're saying that every bit of evil magic has good magic that can counter it?"
"Precisely," Potter said. Murmurs babbled through the class like a stream flowing over rocks.
"But wouldn't that always come out in a stale mate?" Somebody else asked.
Professor Potter stopped for a moment and thought, "Why would you think that?"
"Because, when you curse somebody, and they use the counter curse, the curse is blocked, ending in a stale mate."
"Tell me, how many of you have ever been in a wizard's duel?" Professor Potter asked, "I mean a real wizard's duel, where there is no time to think of your next move, you just know it."
Nobody in the class put up their hand.
"Neither have I, but I can tell you that the more powerful wizard or witch is the one who will come out on top. It all has to do with the way your mind works. Some people were made for dueling, others were not, those who fall victim to the error of not knowing his or her dueling partner well enough," there was a note of sadness in his tone when he said it.
With no further questions, the class was silent. Professor Potter walked to his desk and picked up a stack of envelopes sealed with wax. "This is your homework, a class-wide research project. I have put a binding curse on these envelopes. You will not be able to open them any way other than finding the counter curse and applying it to the wax seal. Your homework is to read the text on the paper inside, and research it individually. By next week, you should have done the necessary research on your individual articles for a class presentation. As a side note, there is something different in each envelope so there will be no cheating. Good luck!" As he spoke, he handed each student an envelope. They tested his words by trying to rip and tear (and even burn) the envelopes open as they were received but to no avail.
He bid them farewell and prepared for his next class.
It was nearly eleven o'clock that same evening when he returned to the Gryffindor tower after finishing Professor Slughorn's potions homework in his office. The common room was busy with studying seventh year Gryffindor students. They were pouring over books in groups of twos and threes, each of them clutching their envelopes.
Ron was the first to see Harry enter, "Oh, hey mate."
"Hey you guys," he replied with a proud smile.
Gwen looked up and their eyes met for a moment before she bashfully turned away. Hermione gave him a silent wink as Sivinter explained that they could not wait to see what was inside, "It's like a tootsie pop, my favorite muggle candy." They had an entire week to work through his homework and they were so excited about it that they chose to get started on it as soon as possible. A proud smile continued as he climbed the stairs to the boy's dormitory. However, on the way he saw something else; a dark figure in the corner, mostly shrouded by shadow but he would know that profile anywhere. Unbeknownst to the rest of the group Ginny silently looked on. She sensed Harry watching her and turned to face him, her puffy eyes told him a story of sorrowfulness and longing, which was nothing new except the flame of a fierce passion, but for what, Harry chose not to find out. He turned away from her stare and continued up the flight to the dormitory.
Ohhhhhh suspenseful! What's in those envelopes? Why was Ginny hiding in the shadows? Do I even know? review and find out :9 Thank you to all those who have commented on the last two chapters: CSI Queen, limeincoconut09, Smittened By Marauders, ProphecyProtector and oopylaoula! You guys really make all this writing worth while! (almost 30 reviews w00t!)