Over the next couple of days, Harry experimented with creating rings with runes. He used a single piece of gold he created without a target, and a piece of the marble Dobby retrieved to make into the tasty gold the goblins craved. He took time to read specific chapters and the reference section of Metals for Magic, Rings and Runes that listed the types of metal used for magic rings and how all magical rings worked best with some stone as part of the top of the ring where the runes would be carved. Harry chose to use a marble chip because they were plentiful, and he didn't have a jewel to use.
With the muggle paper soaked in Hogwarts magic bearing three cartouches with the words printed inside, Harry focused the cartouche at the single piece of gold lying beside a marble chip of the same size. He touched the paper with his wand, and after a regular flash, a golden ring with a white stone appeared. Harry picked it up marvelled at the shiny gold and the stone where a few lines appeared. Pointing the ring at the dependable dummy that Dobby had provided a month or so ago, the dummy was petrified, shrunk into a figurine, and moved to the pocket of Harry's robes. After reversing the runes and firing the runes once again, Harry stared at his new ring and wondered how to hide it.
Turning to Metals for Magic, Rings and Runes again, he read that the wizard's power was used to hide rings. Thinking about his cloak's power, Harry was able to hide the ring on his left index finger.
SCENE MAGNIFYWhen the weekend arrived again, there wasn't a Quidditch match scheduled anytime soon – thank goodness because there were blizzards in the forecast – Harry found himself ahead in his homework and reading through his notebook of questions and ideas. One idea that leapt out in his mind was something that would magnify the power of the spells he cast. Consulting books on wand lore in the restricted section (thank you, magical cloak of invisibility), Harry was horrified by the idea of dark rituals or some of the sacrifices required to increase a wizard's power.
In one book, there was a mention of attaching miniaturised sandstone plates with powerful runes to one's wand as a method of 'increasing' the power of spells.
'Shrinking down a plate shouldn't be hard. And it'll need to be a sandstone plate, not a piece of paper…that'd get torn and wear out fast.'
That evening, Harry sat close to the staff table and stared at the wands his professors used. Lupin's wand had a couple of pebbles attached to it, as did Babbage's wand. Dumbledore's strange wand was covered in pebbles, and even a few berries were hanging from the end of the stick. Harry kept his observations to himself and went back to his private classroom to sit and think.
'I want to magnify the power of my spells by ten times,' he decided. That night before he returned to Gryffindor, he created a paper cartouche to create a sandstone plate with 'Magnify Multiply Ten'. Once he had to sandstone runic array in hand, he made another paper cartouche with 'Shrink Pebble'. In an instant, he had a pebble that he could attach to his wand and multiply every cast with ten times the power.
Just before he attached the pebble to his wand, Dobby appeared in the room, screaming, "This be bad idea! Dobby say this be very bad idea. Mr Harry Potters!"
"What's wrong with using the pebble, Dobby? I can have more power in my spells."
"Too much power sometimes bad! Like too much gold!"
"Let's give it a try," Harry said. The elf stared and then said, "Please, Mr Harry Potters goes to Come and Go Room and casts spell to create waters. Then Dobby not argue with Mr Harry Potters again."
"Okay, Dobs. Let's go," Harry said as he turned invisible and hurried up to the seventh floor. Beside the tapestry of the trolls in ballerina costumes, Dobby waited while Harry walked back and forth three times, thinking about a room where he could test his powerful wand tonight.
A solid looking door appeared, and it was exceptionally heavy to open. Stepping inside, the room looked like the normal room except the door slammed shut behind him, and there were noises of locks engaging like in a submarine. Snickering at the look Dobby gave him, Harry pointed his wand up and cast Aguamenti.
Immediately, a geyser more powerful than Old Faithful in Yellowstone erupted from the end of Harry's wand. In mere seconds, water was everywhere, knocking Harry to the floor and washing debris past him. As the water rose, Harry floundered around looking for his wand that had slipped from his hand and was lodged inside the visor of some ancient warrior's helmet, pointing up with the geyser continuing to throw out water. Sloshing through the waist-high water, Harry forced his way across the room, grabbed the wand and ended the spell when there were almost four feet of water in the immediate area.
The Room of Requirement drained the water and left Harry dripping wet. Dobby appeared with goloshes on his feet and stared at Harry, much like McGonagall whenever he disagreed with her. Without any argument, Harry said, "You were right, Dobby."
Harry cast the spells to dry himself while Dobby and a couple of other elves worked to dry out the Room of Requirement. The pebble was removed from Harry's wand before heading back to Gryffindor for the night.
END SCENE HEREIn the headmaster's office, Dumbledore tried once again to convince Fawkes to take him to the Chamber of Secrets. However, the magical bird merely tilted her head, first one way and then the next, before spinning her head completely around a few times. Then she flamed out, knocking the headmaster's toys and books onto the floor again. He didn't know it, but Fawkes began sleeping in Harry Potter's secret classroom when the boy was absent and spending her days in the kitchens, singing for the elves.
Harry wrote a letter to Bloodhook, thanking the goblin for the book and enclosing the three rings that Dobby had found. He asked the goblin to return them to the rightful owners with best wishes but with no mention of who or where the rings were found.
The following day, Hedwig visited Harry at breakfast and whacked him over the head with her wing. Looking up, the young wizard realised his owl 'knew' he'd sent a letter to Gringotts by an elf! She glared at him dangerously, and only after her wizard fed her a full plate of bacon did the owl calm down and agreed to carry Neville's letters to Hannah Abbot and Harry's letters to her father.
In his classroom that afternoon, Harry decided to move the pebble with Magnify Multiply Ten to a ring. He drew a paper cartouche added a gold nugget, a piece of marble and the pebble. When he touched the magic soaked muggle paper, he felt a twinge inside as it pulled on his core, and he found himself with ten rings, each one capable of magnifying the power of a spell ten times.
Dobby popped into the room and whined, "Dobby say Mr Harry Potter finally understand elf maths…ten times ten, but stupid wizard can destroy all of Britainnias Islands with ten times ten! All wizards be stupid!"
Harry stared at the ten rings and wondered if he used them would it shatter the whole of the British Isles like the elf declared. Without hesitation, Harry banished eight of the rings one at a time to ensure there was no black lash. When there were only two rings left, he debated keeping both of them.
The wizard rationalised, 'I might need a thousand times multiplied someday. And if I need more, I can make 'em again.'
The elf was satisfied that eight of the rings were gone and agreed to carry one ring on a chain around his neck.
SCENE CHANGE WEREWOLF and TOADOn an otherwise quiet Tuesday morning in March, Dolores Umbridge appeared at Hogwarts on a Tuesday morning with Cornelius Fudge, Minister for Magic, his security team of four Aurors, Madam Griselda Marchbanks, Governor of the Wizarding Examinations Authority, and a reporter and photographer from the Daily Prophet. Madam Umbridge was newly rehired at the Ministry of Magic after two office workers died mysteriously in fires at their homes. Without knocking or a greeting, she barged into the DADA classroom, where all the third-year students revised with Professor Lupin. Somewhere between the front door and the DADA classroom, Headmaster Dumbledore had joined the parade of government officials.
Standing in front of the students, she attempted to strike a dramatic pose while declaring, "I am here to save our precious students from further contamination by this…this…creature."
"Oi, toad," Ron Weasley croaked. "Lupin's a good professor."
Madam Marchbanks sighed and attempted to act as a mediator, but Umbridge continued, "This creature…this dark creature is not capable of teaching our children! They are not safe. I hate to think how poorly their scores will reflect on this lost year of instruction!"
Now Umbridge turned on Dumbledore and exclaimed, "This is your fault, headmaster!"
"Ah, but Dolores, remember that it was Professor Lupin who saved the lives of the children on the train on 1 September," Albus purred to remind the reporter of that tale.
"A fortunate circumstance. Any wizard or witch from the ministry would have been able to save the children!"
"With a corporeal Patronus?" asked Madam Marchbanks before she turned her glare at Cornelius Fudge. "And Professor Lupin ripped the head off one Dementor while his Patronus tore the other into pieces."
Waving one hand, Umbridge argued, "That was not accurate reporting."
Justin tried to object, but Umbridge muttered loud enough for everyone in the room to hear, "None of us cares to hear your opinion 'mudblood'."
Professor Lupin kept his temper and suggested that Madam Marchbanks select random students and test their performance with DADA spells. She began asking students about their ability to cast the Patronus charm.
Dean Thomas cast a suitable shield, and Marchbanks applauded the student's achievement. When Hermione did the same, Madam Marchbanks repeated her praise. Then Umbridge huffed in frustration; Madam Marchbanks insisted the Under-Under-Under-Secretary try to cast the charm.
Nothing happened, and the photographer snapped a picture of the witch's angry face.
"Don't get left behind on the path back to Hogsmeade when you leave Hogwarts, Madam Umbridge," urged Dumbledore. "The Aurors will protect the minister, but the Dementors will swirl around the edges of the pathway."
"What about the famous Boy-Who-Lived?" snarled Dolores. Her tone surprised everyone. "Did the werewolf teach him anything?"
Harry stood up and said, "Professor Lupin is a great teacher. I can cast the Patronus."
"Show me! I don't believe a half-blood can do it!"
"Are you sure?" asked Harry.
Dolores stood in front of Harry and said, "Now, boy!"
With one hand on his wand, Harry called out, "Expecto Patronum."
A glittering stag leapt from the wand and threw the woman across the DADA classroom and into a bookcase. Madam Marchbanks stepped closer and spoke with Harry about his other spells.
"That one is important to me," Harry explained. "It protects me from the evil Dementors that the minister placed around Hogwarts this year."
Marchbanks replied, "The Dementors are unfortunate, but they are here to protect you – all of you – from Sirius Black.":
"Really? Then how come," Harry began to ask when Remus intervened and stopped his question.
"Not now, Harry."
Dolores struggled to her feet with the help of two Aurors. She screamed, "Arrest them! Arrest all of them! They attacked a ministry official!"
Madam Marchbanks noticed that Dumbledore didn't come to the defence of his professor or his student. She pursed her lips and glared once again at Fudge, who looked constipated.
Marchbanks waved the Aurors away and said, "There was no attack. Anyone with any sense – any common sense – knows that you do not stand in front of a student casting a spell. And you ordered him to cast it directly at you!"
The reporter wrote everything down, and the photographer took pictures. The man said, "I get the front page of the Daily Prophet tomorrow for certain. The Patronus of the Boy-Who-Lived smacks ministry toad into a bookcase!"
Screaming at the top of her voice, Dolores shouted, "No, I forbid it! You'll all be fired!"
"Dolores, shut it," Cornelius said before he turned to the reporter. To that man, he added, "The ministry deplores Madam Umbridge's blind prejudice against this…this professor, and I dismiss her again from employment at the ministry."
"No! Not again!" Dolores cried as she hurried after the minister and his guards. Madam Marchbanks was escorted to the floo in Dumbledore's office to leave, but the others had to scurry along the path. The reporter asked Dolores more questions, and the photographer captured several close-ups of Dementors threatening them along the pathway.
SCENE CHANGE Lupin's Mistake"Professor? Can I talk with you for a couple of minutes?"
When Remus looked up from the papers he was grading, he found Harry Potter standing outside his office door.
"Certainly, Mr Potter, come inside. That was an impressive Patronus earlier today," Remus said to begin the conversation.
Grinning, Harry said, "Like I said, you're a great teacher."
"Now, what can I do for you today?"
"Well, I was wondering about some names that keep being brought up about my parents.
"What names?"
"Sirius Black and you…the professors and some students talk about you and my parents."
"Black betrayed your parents to the Dark Lord and then killed our friend, Peter Pettigrew."
"Yeah, about that…was Pettigrew's body found?"
Shaking his head, Lupin replied, "The Aurors only found a finger. Everything else was blown up in a gas line explosion."
"Really? I didn't think it worked like that," Harry replied.
"Like what?"
"Blowing up a body doesn't usually burn up all the parts."
Remus smiled and asked, "Have you studied explosions, Mr Potter?"
"No, but I saw enough detective shows on TV."
Holding up his hands, Lupin said, "I concede the argument. Peter's body shouldn't have been destroyed so completely."
Changing the subject, Harry asked, "Why did you stop me from telling those people that Sirius Black has been inside the castle at least twice this year?"
Remus looked away before explaining, "The headmaster has had enough problems this year without another firestorm of bad press. Today will make Minister Fudge look bad, and that will help Dumbledore."
Displeased with that answer, Harry stared for a minute and changed the subject again. "I am enjoying my classes in runes this year."
"Professor Babbage speaks well of you and your interest in the subject."
"I've seen a couple of documents…papers where multiple cartouches are used, and the runes are mixed with different alphabets on them."
"That sounds like Lily's work in our fifth year. She worked up a great idea that blew Babbage's mind."
"My mum?" asked Harry, his interest captured for certain.
Remus sat back and explained, "The whole seven years I was a student at Hogwarts, we were a group of four boys who did everything together – we studied, flew brooms, chased birds, and pranked the other students."
"I remember you talking about pranking Professor McGonagall."
"Your dad chased after your mum from the very first day on our first train ride to Hogwarts. But Lily Evans was friends with a boy we didn't like, and she defended him…well, that's not important now. Anyway, in our fifth year, your mum challenged Babbage's stiff colour inside the directions of the lines for runes. She wrote a paper about multiple cartouches launching in sequence with mixed runes and even the idea that words would work in some runic arrays."
Harry stood quietly listening about his mother's work, and Lupin continued, "We tried to tell her that wizards and witches raised inside Magical Britain couldn't see things outside the lines. It was hard for me to accept what Lily showed, and I don't think James or Sirius even tried. But we used her notes and ideas to create a special map in our sixth year; it showed every person in Hogwarts, all the secret rooms, and what was going on in the common rooms and dorm rooms. We were master pranksters and used the map to avoid all the professors and Finch."
The professor's face appeared wistful as he continued, "In our seventh year, James was made head boy along with Lily as head girl, and they used the map to catch couples out after curfew."
Now excited about the stories about his parents, Harry reached into his book bag and pulled out the map. "Fred and George Weasley gave me this back at Christmas. It's the map you're talking about, professor."
Remus looked at the raggedy paper with a sad smile on his face as he touched it gently with his hand and then his wand before saying, "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
The map unfolded and displayed the names of students and professors, elves and pets moving inside the castle's walls.
"Mischief managed," Remus said, and when the map had closed, he took it and stuck it in a pocket in his robes.
"Wait…that's mine, professor," Harry protested. "Give it back!"
"I can't let you keep it, Harry. You've proven to be a prankster this year, and with the map, you can wander around after curfew and cause mayhem."
His hair rising with a flare of his magic that matched his growing anger, Harry growled, "Give me back my map! It belonged to my dad. My mum helped make it!"
"No. Students can't have something this dangerous."
His voice raw with anger, Harry demanded to know, "How is the map dangerous?"
"Harry, it's for the greater good," Remus replied, echoing Dumbledore's refrain that answered no one's questions.
Furious, Harry lifted his wand and pointed it at Remus for a moment but then said, "You're just as bad as Dumbledore."
"Wait, Harry…wait," Professor Lupin called out, but Harry ran through the door and turned a corner. He vanished instantly, and when Lupin reached the door, the young wizard's scent had vanished. There were no echoes of footsteps or hard breathing.
'How did he vanish so completely?' Lupin wondered.
MISTAKES GROWIn his private classroom, Harry reappeared and sat on the floor and cried piteously. Years before, he made a promise to himself that he would not cry ever again because it seemed to give his uncle enjoyment, but today, a man who was supposed to be a friend of his father's, took the one thing Harry possessed that his father had made. The map was a ratty collection of sheets of parchment tied together with rawhide and charms; it was dirty and stained – but it came from James Potter, and Lily Evans helped to create it. Now Professor Lupin had it in his pocket without any word of ever returning it.
Dobby popped into the classroom and offered the wizard a calming potion. Harry took the potions bottle and flung it as hard as he could against the wall opposite him and was satisfied to see it shatter into a thousand pieces…just like his heart.
"Mr Harry Potters…what can Dobby do to make things better?"
"Get my map back from that mangy werewolf! He took my dad's map from me, Dobby."
"Dobby go."
The elf was gone for a long time, and when he returned. he was in tears, "Dobby can't takes back Mr Harry Potter's map. Mr Mangy Wolf is professor at Hoggieswaller, and elf can't break professor rules."
Harry kicked the chair around the room, threw a few more bottles against the wall and allowed his tears to flow while the house-elf mourned that he had failed Mr Harry Potter. Skipping supper in the Great Hall, Harry made his way to the library and stared at the law books for ten minutes before his common sense reappeared. Leaving under the watchful gaze of the librarian, Harry hurried around a corner and vanished again.
He returned to the dormitory, took a long shower, and went to bed early. Dobby brought him hot chocolate and three biscuits, so Harry ate the biscuits and drank the chocolate laced with dreamless sleep before crawling under the covers. Dobby closed the curtains with notice-me-not and privacy charms to make certain the wizard rested without interruption that night.
END SCENE and start hexing Remus Lupin