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"SHOWTIME!"
Chapter Eight
The First Day of Training
Part I:
History Lesson
The ship Excelsior, first day of journey, 12:10 p.m.
"Okay, ladies and gentlemen," Lupin said, " have a seat. Before we begin the actual training, I want to talk a little bit about what a weapon is and what a weapon does. I know this may sound kind of stupid-"
Seamus snorted, having thought the question "what does a weapon do?" the single dumbest thing he had ever heard in his life.
"-Thank you, Seamus," Lupin said dryly, and some of the group chuckled, Seamus smirking (he didn't mind being the center of attention, and it was nice to hear that a shot had flown home, that you had been heard by others, at the least), and when it died down, Lupin continued.
" -but as I was saying, it's actually rather important to know that. Weapons change magic. They change it in unusual and unpredictable ways. We have two things to do right now, both of which you would have done this year in Hogwarts; you would have found out your affinities in the magical realm and what each particular weapon does to those magical affinities."
Hermione raised her hand. Biting his inside cheek to keep from smiling, Lupin said, " Yes, Hermione? Don't raise your hand, just ask about it. We're all free men now."
" And free women," Parvati piped up unneccesarily.
" Yes," Snape said, his first comment of the day. Unlike everyone else (who had universally adopted Lupin's cross-legged sitting position, with the exception of Neville, who couldn't do it and ended up sitting in a kind of half-assed cross-legged position, and who was internally berating himself for looking like a "little kid playing with the adults" in the sick whiny voice that sometimes festered in his head, mostly when he was feeling sad or depressed or, most especially, when he was feeling not quite good enough, as he usually did), Snape was still standing. Harry privately wondered whether he had even moved half an inch. His legs didn't even seem to twitch as he stood there, unmovable, waiting.
" Well," Parvati said, turning her nose up, " he didn't include us."
" Actually, I did," Lupin said, chuckling. " When I say "men" or "Man", I usually mean all of humanity. Gender differences are completely unimportant. I could have called all of you "women" and I still would have meant all of you. It really doesn't matter what term you use, so long as you use it in a spirit that indicates perfect equality between all..." Suddenly laughing out loud, Lupin said, " You sound like James. He always wanted to include everybody in his talks, so he'd always say something like "people", "souls", "my fellow citizens", something like that. He was always saying something to include everyone. Once, when making a speech before a mixed group of goblins, elves, Wizards, and centaurs, me and Peter had sat outside, just to see what he was going to say. And he did literally indicate everyone. He burst out " EVERY PERSON HERE!" and we just laughed and laughed..." Wiping his eyes with memories of old friends gone by, Lupin said, " Ahh, but he was crazy. James was a great man, but he had his odd little quirks. One of them was him being a "hardcore inclusionist", as Peter called him. I always thought such things were unimportant, so long as one never actually gave them any importance in one's speech..." Perhaps remembering that James was dead now and Peter Pettigrew a monster, Lupin sobered up slightly, and said, " Ah, but that's unimportant. Anyway, Hermione, your question, if you haven't forgotten it by now?"
" No, I haven't," Hermione said, smiling. " My question is: What is an affinity? I've heard of them, and from what I understand it indicates a particular talent one has towards certain things. My understanding was it was much like what Muggles call a "knack" for something; it just happens to be born within you."
Lupin nodded. " That's a very good definition, Hermione, but not quite correct. An affinity is what we, in the Wizarding world, call a special ability in a certain art, a special skill that allows one to move far beyond one's contemporaries and do more and greater works than them in that particular area. An affinity can be likened to a special bond one has with a certain thing, be it Transfiguration magic, Divination magic, or a more specialized, narrow spectrum of magic, such as being able to manipulate the cold very well. Here, let me show you something." Lupin pointed at the ground and said something. A set of circles popped up, each inside the other. Strange designs and diagrams floated about them, and the circles were set up in a certain order- the biggest one swallowed up the one smaller than it, and the one swallowed by the biggest one swallowed up the one in it. It looked like nothing more than a series of ever-smaller rings. Harry thought he saw three in all. They were all phantasmal, as if ghostly, and Harry could see the floor through them.
" This is what we Wizards call a Dimensional Diagram," he said. " Now, there are many Dimensions past our own. There is, for example, a Spiritual Dimension where certain spirits reside, the elementals being the most familiar from that realm. There is even a Cybernetic Dimension that certain Wizards and Goblins can tap into, where- for no reason any of us can find out- certain program codes and data seem, for some reason, to have a life and soul all their own." Lupin pointed to a certain portion of the field and said something else. The biggest circle grew, became larger and more real, and lifted off the circle, spinning until it was vertical to the floor. Harry looked and, upon it, saw many designs, but one was central to it all. Inside a round hoop that looked as if it was made of ivory, a picture was represented- green earth, upon which a river flowed through the middle, a fire burning in the heart of the river (with nothing, apparently, to support it, but it burned nevertheless), and endless skies above.
" Now," he said, " this is the first Dimensional Diagram of the three. Each Dimension, for some reason, has exactly three "levels" of elemental power. First is this level, the "Fixed" level. The term "Fixed" merely refers to the fact that these are elements that are essential parts of this world; without them, this universe would literally not exist. These are the four common denominators from which all other things flow- with two exceptions, but we'll get to that later. Now, this does not mean that each can exist independent of the other; in fact, each element must have the other three in order to exist. For Earth to be Earth, it must have Air to balance out by being solid, Fire to balance out by being stable, and Water to balance out by being fixed in its position. Each element requires the others to exist." He nodded and said, " These change from Dimension to Dimension, and are never the same each time. Oh, the various Dimensions have rough analogues to each of these- in the Spiritual Realm, for instance, Loyalty, an element there, works almost like Earth does in our realm- but they are never completely the same, and change each time. This is the level most work is centered upon, because it is both the most basic level, and the weakest. These powers do not cross over Dimensions, for the obvious reason that the very thing they base themselves upon does not exist in anything other than one Dimension, and for the most part, these powers are the most common ones you will find. These powers are somewhat weaker than the Mutable elements, and a great deal weaker than the Cardinal elements."
" Cardinal elements?" Hermione said, fascinated by this speech. " What are those?"
" I'll get to that," Lupin said. " In the meantime, just remember that these are the most basic powers. They are also the most widespread, affinity wise. Most people fall into these four categories: Earth," and here he pointed at the green ground of the drawing with his finger," Water," he pointed at the river, " Fire," the flames, " or Air." He pointed to the sky.
" What's the difference?" Neville asked, before realizing that this was a completely idiotic question. About to amend it (to fit his real original question, which would have read, " What are the differences, besides the obvious?"), he was caught off-guard by Seamus' reply.
" The difference between getting your hand burned or wet," Seamus replied dryly, with a roll of his eyes. The crowd chuckled.
Blushing furiously, Neville said, " I meant... besides the obvious, I mean!"
Lupin smiled and said, " Actually, Neville has a good point. There is much more to it than merely "getting burned or wet," as I believe Mr. Finnegan has put it. Each element has many different things attached to it, and fully half of Ministry research funding goes towards looking into these elements, but I think I can describe the most basic ones here. Now," he said, " let's start from the ground up. Earth."
Again, he pointed to it on the screen. The scene within the ivory hoop changed, and the green expanded to fill the circle, excluding the other three elements. " Earth is usually thought of as the "force of nuturing", or something like that, especially among Muggle based students of Alchemy, but that's completely wrong. Earth is the exact opposite. Earth is the element of Cruelty, and also the element of Pain. Anything that has ever hurt you in your life has been recorded by the Earth, and Earth delights in suffering. It is not, however, the element of self-inflicted pain; it is, instead, the element of pain inflicted on others, of sadism. I'm sure you've heard of survival of the fittest?"
The group nodded.
" Well, that sums up the nature of Earth in itself," Lupin said. " Many people believe that nature is this 'wonderful, beautiful thing'... but that's completely wrong. In real life, nature is a monster, a thing that eats its own children, that demands better and better of them, pushing them the whole while to come up with new and better forms of killing, or new and better forms of defense. Earth is a taskmaster, and she is a harsh mistress to serve."
Shocked completely into silence, most of the group merely nodded.
" Nature is the very epitome of Poison, of Toxicity, and is the one element that is completely devoid of healing spells of any kind. The Earth cannot heal. Oh, it can kill just fine- in fact, Earth has been known in many countries around the world as the "assassin's friend"- but it can not heal. And that, I guess, is about it on Earth. Earth is a scary element. Air can heal, by putting so much oxygen into the system that the cells speed up their work. Fire can heal, if the caster is willing to sacrifice some of their own health for it- Fire being, by nature, the element of self-sacrifice. Water, especially, heals well, being the element of Soothing and Kindness anyway. But Earth can not heal. It is the element of Force, of pushing things aside, of Size and Heaviness and immovable rock. It is also, perversely, the element of Growth, and only Earth magic can enhance or retard the natural abilities of a creature for any length of time. Earth is also the element of Willpower, of standiing one's ground, and has been from time to time used to increase the willpower of others. Earth is the element of Time, and only Earth magic can last for all time. Earth cannot be worn down. Now," he said, lecture over, " let's move on." The scene became a water-filled ocean, filled with gentle blue waves.
" Water," Lupin said. " is the element of Kindness. It is the element of Silence, and so Water magic can create cones of silence around oneself, or other Wizards, which can be helpful to either partially neutralize their spell-casting abilities or allow yourself to be totally quiet while sneaking about places one doesn't want to get caught in. Water is the element of Erosion, and so Water magic can wear down enchantments- with the exception of Earth and Cardinal Element enchantments, of course. Water is also the element of Immersion, and strong Water enchantments can completely bind other magics by enveloping them inside itself and basically drowning it, effectively enguling the enchantment with its own liquid mass. It is, lastly, the element of Charity, and the very nature of Water is to give without receiving. Some Water spells can literally be cast for forever, as they perform no drain whatsoever on the caster, unlike pretty much all other magic. Oddly, Water is also the element of Isolation, and some of the more powerful and sinister Water spells focus on causing the target to feel lonely, split off from the world, to the point of suicide and death."
The scene changed. A great fire sprung up, blazing out of control, covering the screen.
" Fire," the werewolf said, " is the element of Devouring. It is the element of Decay, of destruction without building up, and is the only element incapable of building anything at all. Fire magic cannot be used in a long-lasting enchantment, for the simple reason that Fire's very nature causes it to eat itself up when the enchantment is not being used. Fire is the element of Self-Sacrifice, and as I mentioned before, this can be used to give health to others by losing your own. This last also makes it the element of last-ditch bravery, and when all hope seems lost, it is the element that can kindle fires in the souls of men's hearts. It is the element that best represents those men who, in the final hour of their life, step forward, weapon in hand, to stand against enemies too numerous to defeat and too mighty to harm, and lets them give it one last try. Fire is the element of Madness, and the insane are always bound to it, in some way. Fire can enchant them and make them do the bidding of others, or drive them even madder, and make them forfeit all to stop the source of the flames. Fire is one of the elements of Illusion, and its power is the strength of Mirage- Fire can create completely false images that have no substance but look entirely real."
" Last one." The scene shifted to the great blue ever-lasting skies.
Parvati sighed. " It's pretty."
Lupin chuckled. " Yes, it is," he said. " Now, Air is the element of Fickleness, and it can change its mind in a heartbeat. The other elements are- relatively- reliable, and when cast correctly with no outside interference, they always work, but Air magic can sometimes fail entirely at random, through no fault of the casters, because the Air changes its mind often about things, and might simply decide not to work at all. Or it can work in random, unpredictable ways. Air is the element of Romance- not Love, mind you, but Romance, Love's youthful counterpart- and can be used to influence lust charms to work- or to falter. Air is the element of Treason, and loyalty can be sorely tested with its magic. Continuing an odd love of paradox that seems to work in all Fixed elements, Air is also the element of Persistance, and the will to go on can be heavily weakened or, more commonly, greatly increased with Air magic. It is, lastly, the element of Luck, and some of its more interesting powers can cause odd things to happen- when they work, that is."
" That's all for the Fixed elements. Now, on to the Mutable." As Lupin performed the magic that made the big circle disappear into space and cause the second of the three circles to raise up in its place, Harry spoke up.
" Hey, Lupin."
" Yes, Harry?"
" What do you mean by "element of?" Do these elements rule emotion or... do they decide things for us... or.... what?"
" No," Lupin said. " It merely means that the element can affect those things. It has no power over that thing per se, and affinities apparently have nothing to do with one's personality at all- some of the most loyal men in history had affinities for Air, for example- but it can be used to effect them. To get an idea... a stove can be used to cook food. Now, a fire could be used to cook that same food... but the oven does it so much better. That doesn't mean the stove completely rules the "power" of cooking food, it merely means that it "can" do it. So, you see, though the elements have the ability to affect things, in the end, the results depend less on the element and more on the person. A person who honestly thinks in their heart that they have many friends cannot be made lonely with Water magic. At most, he will feel slightly "disconnected" from his friends for a few days, then be back to normal again in no time. Our own choices matter more than others, Harry."
Harry nodded and, for no reason he himself could discern, breathed a sigh of relief.
" Now," Lupin said, " let's move on to the next and slightly more powerful group of elements. These are called "Mutable", as these elements are much harder to define then the four we just discussed, and in their nature are not "fixed" in position like the first four elements are- Earth is always Earth, for example, and plays one central role- that of stabilizer- to the rest of the universe, but these four elements can assume almost any role or definition they want. They have sometimes been called the random elements, as it seems that each and every day a new part of their nature is revealed. Here, let me show you."
The circle in the air glowed, and a square appeared on it, a square with silver trimming, and just looking at it, for some reason, made one think of happiness, instead of the almost somber aspect of the ivory circle that had portrayed the first four elements. Inside the square there seemed to be a strange, almost abstract picture, and Harry spent the longest staring at it until he finally figured out that the things inside it weren't pictures at all; it was colors, mere simple colors, plain, flat, but not boring, somehow. There were four colors in the square, each radiating outwards from the middle to cover exactly one-fourth of the square- one entire corner. The colors, in order from the upper-left corner of the square and going clockwise, were a cold-looking bluish white, a somber looking gray, a stolid and noble iron color, and finally, in the lower-left corner, a gray that was neither light nor dark. In fact, it seemed almost perfectly balanced between the two. The last odd thing Harry noticed was that a million small shapes and designs were drawn inside these plain 1/4 of a square colors, and each seemed different from its brother. They were so small and placed so closely they gave the illusion of a pure wall of color, when in reality it was many small shapes. Harry thought this interesting and continued looking around the painting.
Looking about outside it, he saw drawings there too. Beside the glowing, unreadable script that marked the outside borders of the circle, there were four drawings outside the corners of the sqaure. In the upper-left corner of the square was a picture of a wind-whipped artic wasteland; directly across from it, a picture of a great crooked lightning bolt, flashing towards the ground; below that, a great sword, pointing down, grip held by a mighty gauntlet; and finally, to the left of the sword, a disconcerting picture of a reaper blade and a farmer's hoe, crossed, like allied swords being touched together before a meeting. All in all, the picture was far less self-explanatory than the first one had been. After all, the Fixed elements had been mentioned time and time again; but the Mutable elements hadn't even been touched on. The group turned to Lupin, and he tapped the picture before continuing.
" There are four Mutable elements, just as there are four Fixed elements. The first one, here, is Cold," he pointed to the wasteland, " the second is Electricity," the thunderbolt, " the third is Metal," the great sword, " and the last has three names, two partially correct but only one all correct: the first two are Life and Death, respectively, and the last and true one is merely Existence. Each contains enormous power within them, and these powers are considerably stronger than the Fixed Elements. They are also far harder to use and learn. Unlike the Fixed Elements, which do not exist in any but one Dimension, these elements do cross over when Dimensions are breached- though their range of powers and effects change drastically each time. Existence, for example, becomes almost omnipotent in the Spiritual Dimension, while Electricity is far more powerful in the Cybernetic Dimension than it is in our world, though it is quite strong here, as you'll find out soon enough. Likewise, Cold and Metal change powers in various dimensions, though they never fully disappear or are extinguished by it. In our own world, of the four, Cold seems to have the most power. But, I'll explain that in a bit."
He pointed at the picture of the wasteland. " Cold," he said, " is unique among the elements, in that it is the only element that is negative in nature. In other words, every other element either produces energy as a by-product of what it does- a wave smashing into a castle, for instance, delivers kinetic energy upon impact- or is energy itself- Fire and Electricity being two prime examples. But Cold is the only element that actually drains energy instead of creating or producing it. It is the one element capable of draining energy out of anything- the energy might be contained or dispersed by other elements, sometimes, but Cold is the one element capable of reducing it to nothing."
" Wow," Harry said dryly. " I didn't know an ice floe had so much power."
Lupin chuckled. " Well," he said, " the Cold is about a lot more than just what we think of as "cold". Ice obviously fits into this category, but the Cold is also the element of any negative factor. The freezing winds that whip away body heat and energy like a child sipping it from a straw, the burning desert sun that bakes those below it alive and consumes their energy with tongues of flame... these all fit under the category "Cold", though the latter is obviously very not cold, and the Cold was the name chosen simply because all of the more common forms of this element are reflected in spells that involve ice or snow. Now, one more thing. The Fixed elements have emotions attached to them that they can affect. The Mutable elements- with one exception- do not. Instead, they simply have a much broader range of natural things they have control over, and of course, more power in the greater area they control. As I just pointed out, the Cold has an enormous range of things and potential spells that fall under its general category list. Some of the other elements are even more powerful."
" The Cold has one more thing you need to be aware of: Cold is the element of vampires. Unlike all other undead, which rely on Existence spells to keep themselves in their state of undeath, vampires rely on Cold magic. That is why they drink blood- to satiate the need for energy that their Cold workings deprive them of."
Pointing to the great jagged lightning bolt, he said, " this is the element of Electricity. It is composed of only one thing, unlike Cold, but that one thing is everywhere. Electricity is omnipresent, my friends. Electricity is the element under which all psychic and mental powers fall under, because it is the interaction of the electricity within our minds- the electricity that runs our bodies- with the outside world that makes psychic abilities work. Someone skilled in this element's spells can force your mind to stop telling your heart to beat, and you will die right then, with no flashy fireworks or pretty colors, just a bad heart attack and a feeling that you can't breathe. They can stop your breathing by halting the interaction of synapse to synapse within your mind, telling your nose not to breathe and your lungs not to fill. They can even make you go blind. But, dangerous as these things are, the greatest power of Electricity is also the most obvious. A single lightning bolt has been the end of many a Wizard in the past, because lightning has one great characteristic: it destroys whatever spells or enchantments it connects with. The sole exception is Earth magic, because, as I said, nothing can ruin an Earth enchantment. But lightning not only breaks spells; it is one of the most foolproof ways of killing someone ever devised. One lightning bolt can cause a man to shatter into pieces. Beware if you meet someone skilled with this magic, for they are a dangerous foe, capable of slyly slitting your throat or hacking you apart with a sword, all with this one power."
Lecture over, Lupin pointed at the next element on his list, the sword. " Metal," he said, " is a powerful element in this dimension, because it is the element which rules over all weapons, even those made of other materials. Metal has been described as "pure Earth", because it takes all the good parts of Earth- willpower, ability to withstand Time, and most importantly of all, Growth- and leaves all the bad parts- cruetly and sadism, for example- behind. It is the one Mutable element that has emotions attached to it, and the greatest of them is Honor. Metal is the element of Honor, and the power of Metal is such that it cannot be used to weaken someone's honor, only to enhance it, to make it noble, and that last really is the best way to describe Metal: noble. Not noble in the corrupted sense of the word, but noble in the true sense of the word. Metal controls all powers relating to the Home or the Hearth, and it is the element most commonly associated with women- though that is, of course, changing, in these better times, when both men and women are staying at home with their children. Metal is the power of Defense, and one of the three elements of Illusion. It's power of Illusion is Reflection- it can cause an exact mirror image of something, whether imagined or real, and this image can actually come alive at times, though there is a heavy cost on the caster to perform such a spell. The one rule with this is that it must be something the user has seen in real life or in dreams, as it cannot create- it can only mimic. Metal is the element of noble combat, and of Order. It is also, lastly, the element associated with Arithmancy, and is a major part of all Arithmantic spells. You, I understand, are quite good at those spells, Hermione."
She looked up. " Yes, I am, Professor Lupin."
" Good." He smiled. " Some of the most powerful spells are Arithmantic in nature, Hermione. One such spell, used in another Dimension, almost destroyed a planet- it was called Meteor, if I am not mistaken. It was powerful enough to destroy an entire world... but enough of that. Last element."
Here he tapped the last figure, the reaper sickle and farmer's hoe crossed together, like old allies on a battlefield greeting each other. " This," he said, " is the single most terrifying of all powers. In our Dimension, it is the supreme element, surpassed only by the Cardinals in power. This element, which rules over both Life and Death, is Existence. As the symbol shows, it represents a merging of Life and Death into one. And, truth be told, they are one- Death is merely another stage in Life. We know now, due to our studies, that there is something that continues on after Death... it is what we see as a ghost when that something doesn't leave. Where it goes, nobody knows. That question is the basis of every religion on the planet."
" How can you mix Life and Death?" Parvati asked. " They're complete opposites."
" No, they're not," Lupin said, raising his finger. " Didn't you just hear me? Death is merely a stage of Life, albeit a very odd and powerful stage. Existence rules over a host of things far too long to list- healing and sudden deaths being two of them- so I'll simply state the more important ones. All undead things, other than vampires, use this magic to sustain themselves. They use the Life side, oddly, to do it, however, and fear Death magics more than anything else. Death magics are the one thing that can truly bring down an undead being for good. Death magics are also the ones most commonly used to heal, as they can slay the infection or mutation ruthlessly, leaving the body itself untouched. Life magics are used to create new forms of life, and all beast trainers are required to learn them, to communicate with their animal in times of need. Life magics can be used to evolve oneself, and some Wizards even have heat pits, like a snake's, on their bodies, all from using Life magic to change themselves. Werewolves also use this magic when they- or should I say, we-" he added with a smirk, " transform."
He continued on, lecture mode set to "full". "All Potions are considered as being under Existence magic, as well as Divination. Divination uses the powers of Life to take a look at possible futures those lives will take, and use the ripples that each Death makes to determine whether a life will vanish, disappear- or conquer. Divination, might I add, is horribly unwieldy, because it is a magic that is all about possibility- not a magic about certain, sure-fire things, but rather about things that might be or could be. There is a story, oft-repeated and much told, about a Diviner who told a young man about the happy future he was going to have, the perfect wife he'd marry, the five kids he would father, and the various riches and rewards he'd earn in his life. That young man, confident that he'd have a perfect life, left and went drinking. He never stopped drinking until he reached the age of thirty-eight, when he died of liver disease, having never had that perfect wife, those five kids, or any riches and rewards beyond what he earned in drinking contests, at which he was only average, losing almost as much as he won. Because that Diviner told that young man he would be content in his life, that man lost the ambition he had to attain that perfect life- and so never got it, because the only reason he had acheived that life in the first place is because he had ambition, which the Diviner took out of him, completely by accident, when he told him about the future. That Diviner completely changed the course of that young man's life, simply by telling him what that course would be! The future is effected by many things, and even the greatest Diviners make but one or two true predictions in their lives, if that many. A few parts of the future are set in stone, but they are usually that way because of former events that were not set in stone, so most of the future is still open at all times to change- until it's past, anyway."
Finally Lupin said something, and the circle spun and vanished beneath the floor. The last circle, the smallest of the three, sprung up, and suddenly Harry was treated to something new: instead of the usual circle with script in the outer edges, here was a picture, simple and clean, of one radiant thing: a star. Set against the vast blackness of space, a single great star shone, the only light visible, right in the heart of darkness.
" The Cardinal elements," Lupin said, " are composed of but two: Light and Darkness. They are the most powerful elements. They do not change when they cross Dimensions, and are the easiest tools to open up dimensional portals with.. Our knowledge is limited at best, but here is the famous descriptions given of them by their discoverer, the famous Radesknes Ghilt, who was an accomplished poet as well as a scholar:
Light and Darkness seem to be
Two sides of a coin
And in many ways that's true.
But still I cannot find
Where I left behind
All the reason that was left in me.
By nature they should cancel out
Light devouring the dark
Black devouring the White
But instead they seem
To be
two unevenly match'd.
Light is stronger, of that I'm sure
For nothing does seem to touch the heavenly hand.
It has within it power beyond measure.
Yet the power is kind, gentle, thorough,
capable of destroying a world at a blast,
or healing a child of a scratch.
Darkness is weak, again I am sure
But somehow something is not right.
Light is small, the power of a bomb
Held in the cup of your hand.
Yet Darkness is huge, massive, gigantic
and somehow it is still the lesser.
It contains the power to eat,
to consume as a glutton
and still it does not eat enough.
And yet, though Light conquer Night
The two seem to have reached an agreement.
For White in the Darkness
Has more power than White alone.
And a Star in the Black
Has the strength to move the hearts of men.
Still I do not understand
A million days comprehend
That all I've learned is nothing.
Still, I am satisfied
To sit at the fireside
And watch others try and wait.
Following this rather unusual poem, Lupin said, " And really, that's about it. A few things the poem may not have made clear: Light is the ultimate weapon, the power of complete and total Destruction, and a single weak spell based in Light is capable of tearing through an entire room full of powerful people at once. It is also a very kind, gentle power, and is capable of healing any wound. It is the third and final element of Illusion, as well. Darkness is weaker, but it has the ability to devour magic, and can be used to regain strength by taking the power of others. It also has the ability to hide anything from anybody- with the exception of one gifted in Light. Also, one last thing: Light always defeats Darkness. Always. Even the most accomplished Wizard using Darkness based powers will find himself bested by an amateur using Light. Any questions?"
The group shook its head. Lupin stood up and turned to Snape.
" Well then, let's start the training proper, now that you have some background. We have plenty of time, so let's get to it!"
- Whew! Lenghty ass chapter. But! Don't worry, my friends- I am building up to something. The next few chapters will be all about the training, because I think it's important to read about real fighting in life anyway, and I wish to see how well I can do. Don't worry about the Element rules and laws and whatnot- those will be taken care of later, and I've added these to "flesh out" the world of Harry Potter, to indicate how simply deep magic would be, were it real, and a careful, scientific approach brought towards it. It would be like our study of biology, or physics, only far, far deeper, and infinitely more complex.
Read and review, please! And merry Christmas to all!
As Tiny Tim said, "God bless us, every one."