A/N: Well, well, well it is that time of the week again! I am at work here this Sunday night (more like Monday morning now), so that means it is time to start the next chapter. I hope that you like it. There is going to be a lot of library and the full moon in this chapter.
Harry Potter and
the Paradox of Time
Chapter 7: Research and Avoiding Friends
The next week was uneventful in the castle. There were no stray students out wandering the halls at night, and the teachers had let up after testing how their abilities dwindled or in some cases skyrocketed during the summer. Harry struggled to meet expectations in Transfiguration, but with the help of Lily and his abnormally proficient skill of keeping his problems to himself he was able to squeak by without raising too many eyebrows with his struggling.
However Harry got dragged into the library almost daily by his rather pushy red headed friend.
"What do I have to go for? The essay isn't due till next week and I don't have anything else for homework. Can't I go hang out with Sirius instead?" Harry whined as Lily Evans was dragging Harry down the moving staircases with a death grip on his wrist.
Lily stopped and whirled around her bright crimson hair flowing through the air. "You coming with me to the library because this is your problem and you will help me figure it out. Plus, this is part of your responsibility because of the you-know-what!" Lily started to tap her foot as she waited for Harry to respond. "Well? Are you going to come or not?" She finally asked loosing her patience.
"Fine, fine. I'll come." Harry said dejectedly as he allowed her to drag him the rest of the way to the library.
"So, professor, where do we start?" Harry asked sarcastically.
Lily gave Harry a glare and replied coolly, "You go over to the defensive techniques section and find whatever you can on Occlumency. I will go to the Restricted Section and see if I can find anything useful there."
"And how are you going to get into the Restricted Section?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow.
"For your information as the Head Boy and Head Girl we have unrestricted access to the Restricted Section. NOW go get every book on Occlumency, Legilimency and any books about mental blocks you can find in the Defensive Techniques section. I will meet you in twenty minutes in the Restricted Section study area." With that Lily stormed off towards the Restricted Section.
Sighed and shook his head as he headed over to his favorite section of the library that is if he had a favorite section.
Harry was able to find only one book on anything to do with the defense, attack or structure of the mind. It just so happened that it was the book that Lily had used to teach him Occlumency that summer.
Feeling ashamed he couldn't do better he headed into the Restricted Section, Madam Pince giving him a pointed look as he did. He quickly found the two tables and their set of chairs that had to be used by students in the Restricted Section; the books there couldn't be taken out after all.
Harry waited the remaining ten minutes before Lily finally showed up with an armful of books. She set them down on the table, and frowned at him. "Is that all you could find?"
"Ya. It seems that this all the normal student population can read. Then again Legilimency is considered illegal, so it doesn't really surprise me." Harry answered her.
"I guess you are right. Well I have another stack of books. I'll be right back." Lily turned on the spot and dashed back into the stack of books as Harry gawked at her retreating back.
Lily soon returned with three more stacks of books in her arms. Harry saw she was clearly struggling. He quickly stood up and grabbed half of the books from her. Lily gave him a look of thanks as they sat down with the books at their table.
"So where should we start?" Harry asked her.
"You start by looking back over this book." She said picking up the old Occlumency book they had been using. "I will start by looking over a few of the ones I found."
Harry picked up their old book and opened it to the index. He searched for mental blocks, but could only find a bit about how to discern whether a block was magical in nature or whether it had been caused by natural cases such as trauma or amnesia. It helped that Harry was able to figure out that the block was being fed by a magical source, not to mention that the block was being fed by his own magic.
When he informed Lily her eyes lit up. "That should certainlay narrow it down a bit. Let's see. You can start looking through these and I will take these two." She pushed a stack of four books over to Harry.
For the next three hours Harry and Lily proceeded to pour over the books they had found. So far they hadn't had any luck. They were interrupted when Harry's stomach gave out a might growl.
Harry blushed, as Lily looked at her watch. "Oh my, it is six already. We should go to dinner. We can pick this back up another day. Lily quickly stowed the books they had been using in the save bin so they could resume their research another time.
The rest of their week went on in the same manner. Soon Saturday came and their second week had passed them by.
In third week on top of the research that Lily was forcing him to do, his teachers had decided that one week was enough rest and were starting to pile the homework back on. He also had to "help" plan their outing while Remus dealt with his "furry little problem."
Harry however informed them that Harry would have to cover Remus' patrol time, since Remus couldn't do it himself. Sirius had looked horrified, but after convincing he accepted the fact that Prongs wouldn't be joining them for the first time in almost two years. Peter was indifferent, but Harry could care less how that rat felt.
However Harry saw the depressed face on Remus' face, but it was quickly cover by understanding once he realized Harry was watching him.
Harry stayed for the rest of the planning and even gave a few suggestions where he saw fit.
Then on Saturday as they sat in the Restricted Section when they were suppose to be patrolling, they just used the Marauder's Map to monitor the school, they had their first break through in identifying his mental block.
"Here, I think I finally found something." Lily exclaimed as she jumped up and dashed over to Harry's side of the table. She placed the book on top of the one Harry had been reading.
She pointed to a passage in an old beat down book. "It says here that there is a ritual that was used by old Pureblood families that instills selected memories into a child and locks them till the child is old enough to understand them. It doesn't say much more than that. It is called the Familal Memnai. This sounds like it could be what is in your mind."
"What about the experiences where I lose control of my body and it starts using spells that I have never heard of before?" Harry asked.
"I don't know, but there is bound to be more to it. This book just lists a number of different mental blocks. We will have to look up the rest of the ritual to learn all the side effects of it." Lily argued back.
"Fine so let's look for it then. Which books should I look through?" Harry asked.
"Just a second, I saw a book when I was getting these that listed old rituals that had come out of use or had been banned. I'll go get it and we can check there. It is bound to be in there since the ritual isn't used anymore." Lily said as she rushed into the stacks.
Harry patiently waited. As he did he casually looked down at his watch. "Damn, it's that late already." Harry jumped up and chased after Lily.
"Lily, Lily!" He said louder than normal.
"What?" He heard a voice hiss to his right.
He turned quickly and saw Lily glaring at him.
"It is two o'clock already. We need to get back to the dorms. We aren't even supposed to be out this late." He told her.
"But what about the ritual?" She asked.
"It has been around for at least sixteen years, I am sure that it can wait another week or so." He told her quietly.
Lily's face fell when she realized that he was right. She didn't like having her research interrupted right before finding the final answer, but she really shouldn't be out that late.
It turned out that they didn't get a chance to research the ritual till the next Saturday.
In the mean time however they had to deal with all the work the teachers continued to pile on. They had an essay due every day in every class not to mention all the practical exercises they had to do. Harry was lucky though. He had no problems in Defense Against the Dark Arts and in all his other classes he had Lily there helping him along. The two of them had formed a close friendship.
After all he had saved her from James, and whisked her away from the Dursleys and for two months they had spent working one on one with each other. They talked a lot. Harry confessed on more than one occasion that he thought that he was going to do more harm in the past then good and that he had no chance against Voldemort.
Lily just brush these fears aside and reassured him that everything would be fine in the end.
And, vice versa, Lily confided in Harry about how others would tease her for being a nerd. There were times when her tough exterior would crack a bit and she would have a minor emotional break down. She quickly sobered though and went back to the way things normally were. Harry reassured her that she would be fine and was in general a good friend.
But, as Harry and Lily grew closer, Harry started to withdraw from the Marauders. He didn't mean too, but he had found it easier to spend time with Lily where he didn't have to pretend like he did around the others. This seemed to affect Remus the most. For the large part of his life before Hogwarts he hadn't had any friend due to his condition. When he entered Hogwarts, he had finally found his first true friends.
But, now it seemed that he had been mistaken. His one best friend was slowly withdrawing into himself. He saw Lily trying to rip away one of his best friends and tore at his heart. He had found a friend in her also. She was caring and intelligent, even though she could be a little red-headed at times, but now it seemed that she and James were starting to forget about their other friends as they spent more and more time with another.
But, his suspicions of "James" were still present. From the first day he had met James that year he noticed small things different about him. For one his scent seemed to be weaker and mixed in with a scent almost indiscernible from Lily's. This usually didn't happen even if the two had been active with each other; it should have worn off after a good shower if they had been. This however was persistent. And, he could also see him struggle in Transfiguration where he had never struggled before.
Then there was the wand. James had told them that it was an old family artifact that he was using, but it seemed to be newer than he let on. There were also his eyes. Every now and then they would flicker to the most amazing emerald green, but they would disappear as soon as you noticed them and you couldn't quite remember what they looked like.
Remus didn't say anything to his other friends though. He didn't want to worry them about something so small, yet. James had always been a strange person for his station, Sirius was too. He had always been so informal and didn't care about the stupid prejudices that most of the Wizarding world held. Remus just passed it all off as a side effect of spending so much time with Lily.
Sirius also had noticed "James"' stranger behavior, but he attributed it to being love sick. He had after all seen many a love sick girl in his day. They would do almost anything to garner his attention.
Peter on the other hand didn't care. James had just become more powerful over the summer. He didn't care how his personality had changed. He had what he wanted, powerful allies. They would protect him from harm. So he just adapted and didn't think twice about how his "best" friend had changed.
The full moon happened on the Friday of their fourth week back.
Harry felt bad as Remus left shortly after dinner. He felt bad because he wouldn't be able to join him tonight like James had done the past two years. Harry could see the sadness in his eyes as he said good bye to the three of them.
Sirius winked at him and continued to be his mischievous self.
After dinner Harry and Lily decided to start their patrol early. They decided to do it the old fashioned way this time because there would be another set of prefects also patrolling that would expect to run across them sometime. Plus this way they could honestly plead innocence if anyone questioned them about the Marauder's escapades that night.
They didn't notice anything that night. Harry thought he might have heard a few squeaks and the sound of padding on the floor, but the old castle was full of rats and other pets that could make that noise.
Finally the night was done and Harry retired to his private dormitory for a night of rest.
As that week came to a close Harry found himself once again in the library with his new favorite redheaded friend.
They had just entered the Restricted Section, and Harry was waiting on Lily to return with the book on rituals.
She finally came out with a small book after about ten minutes of searching. "Here it is. Just give me a moment; I'll see if the ritual is in here."
Lily sat down and opened the book. She started to flip a few pages and scanned it. She then started turn pages till she came to the one she was looking for. Then she frowned.
Harry noticed the frown. "What is it? Isn't the ritual in there?" Harry asked.
"It is in here but it doesn't say anything else that the other books said. It does however say that more information can be found in a book call Ancient Pureblood Rituals." She replied looking up.
"Well let's get that book then. There is a card catalogue isn't there? Let's go look for it there." Harry said.
"I was going to. I just thought it would be in here." Lily said laying the book down on the table.
Harry and Lily got up and made their way out of the Restricted Section to the card catalogue. They looked through it and found the card for the book. Lily picked out the card and read it carefully and frowned again.
"What is it this time?" Harry asked.
"It says that the only copy the library had was lost thirty years ago when a student failed to return it." Lily told him.
Harry frowned also. "Does it give a description of it by any chance, maybe it was in my family vault. My family was a pretty old family. I might have taken it out when I was picking out books that might have information on Horcruxes. It does sound like a book that might have information on them, or at least how to create or destroy them."
"Ya it does. It says that it is a red leather bound book that has black and gold writing on the cover. The front cover has 'Vera Sanguis Eternus' etched into it in gold letters." Lily said reading the description off the card.
"That sounds familiar. You stay here and monitor the map. I am going to go check my books in my dormitory if I have it. Harry dashed out of the library and ran all the way back to Gryffindor Tower. He quickly entered the common room and ran to his dormitory. He entered quietly as to not disturb his roommates and opened his trunk.
With the soft glow of his wand he quickly searched through all the books from his family vault. One of the last books he had left, he finally found the book. He took it out and sealed his trunk again.
Harry quickly made his way back to library.
He entered the library forty minutes after he left (it one hell of a big castle).
"I found it." Harry exclaimed as Lily looked up at him expectantly when he burst into the Restricted Section.
Lily took the book and quickly looked up the ritual. When she got to the proper page, she laid it out so they both could read. It said this:
Familal Memnai - Pureblood Memory Ritual
This ritual instills memories that the two casters of the ritual decide into the mind of a recipient.
The two casters must be the biological birthparents of the recipient. It creates and area of the mind that is blocked by the recipients own magic. They are not able to access it consciously however. The knowledge stored within is blocked until the casters take it off of the recipient or in rare cases the recipient loses all control of their body and their subconscious takes over. This however is exhausting as the recipient has to overcome his own magic to pass through the block. An average wizard would be so exhausted that they would likely pass out, but there are few powerful ones that are actually able to maintain the link to the blocked section that the information can be used to save their life. After the dire threat is over the link is severed and the consciousness recovers control of the body. They conscious can only remember what it saw as it observed from a third person view.
This ritual was considered unethical when the first large number of Muggleborns were introduced into the Magical World because it gave an "unfair" advantage to purebloods that muggleborns never had a chance to try and emulate. The ritual was made illegal in 1815 even though many of the older families did protest the decision. It is rumored that some of the families have continued to use it to pass down knowledge. However they cannot unlock the knowledge till after the child has left school because there are obvious ways to spot a recipient of the ritual after it is unlocked.
Note that unlike some spells, when the casters of this ritual die neither the knowledge or the block fades. This is a permanent ritual. If either of the casters die however it becomes impossible to unlock the block, because it takes both casters to unlock the block.
An interesting side affect found was that if a blocked individual performed this ritual on their own child all knowledge stored in their own blocked area would be removed from their mind and transferred into the child.
It then went on to describe how to perform the first part of the ritual that would lock the memories in the recipient and then the second part about how to unlock the memories.
Harry was the first to speak. "That is definitely it. Those out of body experience have only been when I have been in a life or death situation or I had become extremely agitated. They would definitely be considered dire situations."
Lily shook her head. "We could even undo the ritual too. You did say both of your parents went to Hogwarts around this time. Maybe we could find them have them undo the ritual for you. You would have to explain to them about the whole time travel thing, but I'm sure they would understand if you tell them why you want the block down and all. We could probably use the extra help with the Horcruxes all too. You also wouldn't have to be so careful about using your family vault either."
Lily stopped going on how much Harry's parents could help them when she saw him shake his head. "Why not? They could be a lot of help."
"I don't want to tell them yet. I want to get to know them better. Plus, who is to say they will believe me. They will just think I stole from their vault and bar me from it or something." Harry started to mumble other excuses under his breath that Lily couldn't understand.
"Fine. We won't tell them till you are ready, but you realize that this could hold the key to beating Voldemort don't you?" Lily said now concerned that her usually stoic friend had turned into a blubbering mess.
Harry feebly shook his head.
Lily decided that they should call it an early night and put up all of the library books and helped Harry back to the tower.
A/N: So there it is. A little shorter than normal, but this is the seventh chapter. The next chapter will be Halloween. And, to celebrate the occasion the Marauders will be going all out. Also the story starts to heat up as you are likely to see some action in the next chapter. Well I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Look for the next one sometime next week. Don't forget that I have a Yahoo! Group for discussion of my story, Harry Potter, and Harry Potter fan fiction in general. R&R!