Disclaimer; This is a derivative work, not an original one. Further more, since there is a constant, known number of words involved, any attempts to further derive it will result in it disappearing. (I know, I know, bad engineer! Note to self; avoid calculus jokes.)
"So Ron, what progress are we making with our plotting?"
"Hey Harry, so far so good but we've got a couple snags. Hermione and I looked into the glamour problems while you were out doing whatever yesterday. We can't decide how we want to do it. As you know, glamours only last a short while without constant upkeep. The goblins won't be able to perform that upkeep and do their jobs too. What we would like is a way to bind the spell to an object, enchant it basically, and then no one will need to be distracted by keeping all the glamours."
"That sounds like a good idea, what are the problems with it?"
"First of all, whatever object is holding the glamour needs skin contact according to Hermione. This suggests jewelry, which we don't have, as the logical choice. There was some reason she told me that we couldn't enchant clothes, but to be honest I forgot."
"Chapter 3 in the charms text Ron, metal and stone hold enchantments well. Natural things, or things made from something once living, don't. Wands are the exception to the rule because of the magical focus. Okay, well I think I can solve that problem, but I need to talk to Hermione now. What's next on our list?"
"The emergency portkeys are going to be a problem. The knowledge behind those is ministry restricted. Hermione couldn't find the method in the Library. She thinks a trip to the Restricted section is in order but is hesitant to talk to McGonagall without having a solid reason for needing the information. Not that our reasons are bad, but we don't exactly want the world to know we are hunting Voldie's Horcruxes. It might tip our hand."
"Okay, I'll just have to take her to my library then. It's almost got as many books as the restricted section these days, and some of them are definitely not ministry approved."
"Challenge three is actually quite simple. Hermione found a way to set up a very temporary muggle repelling and notice-me-not ward. She says she is going to enchant and inscribe runes on six or seven stones. When the stones are put in the right places around our site, the charms will activate giving us four hours to work without being observed."
"Excellent. See, I would never have thought of this. I'd probably have gone off half cocked without an escape plan, let alone a set of notice-me-not charms in place. So how is work on the Target List coming?"
"That was easy, the hard part is going to be finding out where on the list everyone is. First priority is the Horcruxes. In case he comes for you before you go after him, we need him gone. Second priority is his intelligence assets. We don't need to ferret out each and every one of his spies, we need to get the men controlling them. Sorry, but Wormtail is not on this list, he is a sycophant and doesn't count. Men like Snape, Augustus Rookwood, and Antonin Dolohov are top targets. Not only are they powerful duelers and dangerous men, but they are all certified genius level intelligence. Third priority is split, one set is his top lieutenants, the men who control your rank and file death eaters. Most of the names you know from before are on this list, Inner Circle old and new. The other half sharing this priority are his suppliers. We need to cut his access to important supplies. Target his potion masters, spell crafters, and healers. If the rank and file cannot get healing or potions the morale is going to be shot to hell. The rest are not really a major worry, logistically."
"Great work Ron! I knew I could count on you."
"That's the order of importance. At any time though, ignore it for targets of opportunity. If you see a death eater, deal with him, don't hold back because you aren't supposed to find him until next Wednesday."
"I've got you. Thanks for all your hard work Ron. I'll got see Hermione about the portkeys and glamours."
Harry found Hermione in the library, immersed in charms and runes books, surrounded by notes.
"Hermione, talk to me about our glamour problems."
"I assume you talked to Ron then?"
"Yes, come take a walk with me as we talk. I've got something to show you. It might help with some things. Then again it might not."
"Where are we going?" She asked as she gathered her notes into some form of order.
"My personal library. So tell me what you think the best option is for the glamours. Would a ring work?"
"A ring would work just fine, but the real problem is holding them up while we do other work. The power constraints on a full body glamour aren't much, but they just won't hold in an enchanted ring for more than an hour or so without outside help."
"Bill talked to me some about magical traps. He told me that some of them are designed to absorb ambient magic through something called a siphon rune then release the stored magic through the traps. It allowed the tomb builders to make traps that automatically reset themselves. Could something similar be used here?"
"In theory yes. We would only need a two or three part set of runes to power a glamour. I don't know the runes to do it, but I know where to look. That assumes that we can get ten rings and inscribe all the runes properly before next weekend however."
"Let me worry about that part. Which would be better, stone or metal for this. I know they are equally good when it comes to enchantment, but what would hold the runes better?"
"Stone will hold them best, but stone rings are a little difficult to find. Inscribing the runes would take more time as well."
"As you are about to see, neither of those are really a problem, We're here."
"Harry, this is a dead end."
"You think I would hide my library in plain sight? It's like a smaller copy of the Restricted section! Turn your head while I open my door." Huffing a little, she averted her eyes as he levitated wands into position and said the pass-phrase. "Alright, now the wall is like the one at 9 ¾ , follow me through."
She did and found herself in the foyer of his little prank. The sconces sprang to life and she had to admire the door before her. They entered the common area and he gave a brief run down of the charms behind it all.
"This whole suite of rooms took me eight days to carve from solid rock. Carving a few rings will not be a problem. It took me another month and a half to work all the charms and enchantments. The library is divided by subjects. Runes and warding are together, third shelf from the front on the left hand side. Magical travel and Anti-ministry manuals are in the small case at the back. They are together because almost all those books are how to get around the limitations the Ministry has placed on magical travel. You might find portkeys in there, you might not. I'm going to be in my workshop trying to solve our ring problem."
She let out a squeal of glee and ran off.
Crafting the rings was both easier and more troublesome than he thought. He started with the obsidian he had picked up on holiday and cut round bars from them. Another quick spell bored the centers out. Another pass cut the bars into individual rings. That is where he began to see problems.
The square edges were downright uncomfortable and cut into his other fingers. He would have to round the edges and smooth everything, which meant he could only inscribe the runes on the inside surface. With the cutting wire spell he could do it, but it would be difficult.
He began spinning the rings like a lathe and shaving off all the sharp edges. Soon he had twenty black obsidian rings. He cast unbreakable charms on them and hauled out Bernard's book on jewelry making. After a bit of fiddling he managed to make them self sizing. It was a troublesome bit of magic, but nothing he couldn't handle. Hermione arrived to watch him cast it on the last few.
"I didn't know you were so accomplished." She said when he finished, looking around his workshop.
"Well any proper gentleman is also an artist in at least one way. I've decided that my art is stonework. It helps relax me. This whole suite by the way, is my final Charms project, what do you think?"
"Well done, it certainly demonstrates your versatility. Nothing in here is too advanced, but the charms work well together and I think it looks nice. Why did you make a set of secret rooms in Hogwarts anyway? And the library? You're about to leave."
"Well actually I am setting it up as a gift to the students of the future. I've got a devilish plan worked out, and if they can find the room, I trust them not to abuse it."
"Well I think it is nice that you would do that. Just remember, the NEWTS are more important than your final projects."
"And neither holds a candle to the War, I'm sorry. You are right however, the NEWTS are more important than the projects, but I want to pursue a Charms Mastery under Flitwick or else one in spell crafting so I need to let him see my skills."
"That sounds like a great plan. By the way, what is with that half finished glass sculpture of a House Elf?"
"That, is the Dobby Award. I'm going to make a joke this year at the leaving feast by presenting someone with it for 'working like a House Elf' all year long."
"Good, it will bring attention to how hard they all work for us."
"Did you ever talk to your grandparents?"
"Yes, they seem to agree with you that there is a difference between service and slavery. I still think we need to do more for them."
"Good, I agree. We should take better care of them and elevate their standards of living. I just don't think we should overthrow everything they have ever known. So tell me how the library visit worked out."
"You've got a very nice library, a lot of those books I haven't read before and some I didn't know still existed. I'm going to have to borrow some of them, or else hurt you and steal them if I can't borrow."
"Hey now, relax. You may borrow anything you want, these are all duplicates of what I have. If I had more than one copy, I stuck the second here to give to the school. Since Madam Pince doesn't know about this, she can't scold you for checking out too many. But back on topic, did you find what we needed?"
"Yes, sort of. It will actually take five runes to do the job safely; a siphon rune, a controlling rune, and the three power runes. They will allow the rings to either be powered by ambient magic or by connection to our magical cores. No conscious thought should be required. The portkey spell is hideously complex for all the incantation is simple. That will require you to get some practice."
"Okay, not a problem. Out of curiosity, can these siphon runes be set with a triggering rune and a detection rune?"
"Again, it's possible, but I don't know how to do it right off the bat. What are you trying to do, I might be able to help."
"Well, as you can see, I've got a few extra rings. What I want is to be able to enchant them with a powerful shield to be automatically activated if a spell is about to hit them. Or I could even try to set them up as portkeys to be triggered if any of the unforgivables were cast at them."
"I never thought of doing that. It is an interesting way to combine what we already know. I will need to research this some more. Making them only react to certain spells will make it more complex, but you seem to be able to work obscenely fast with stone, so it might just be a worthwhile endeavor."
"Alright, well good luck with that, I'll be sure to include your name when we patent the idea and make a lot of money."
"What?"
"Well, if it has potential, we both deserve credit. You are actually making it possible, finding the right runes and all. I am making it a reality with my ideas and spellwork. Oh, and we must include Ron too. Without him reminding me about needing an escape plan and suggesting emergency portkeys, I wouldn't have thought of it. Imagine the market for something that guarantees that you can't be targeted by the unforgivables. If there was a market for the Twins' Shield Cloaks, there is a market for this. It was a team effort after all."
"Thanks Harry."
"No problem. This is what muggle born students bring to the magical world. Innovation! You have fun in the library, I'm going to work on one last ring now."
"Why? We already have twenty here, that's double what we need."
"Well this one is for me. It will be my prototype for the shield and portkey. Plus it will be more decorative and take longer."
Harry called in the fist sized lump of greenstone he found. It was a nice deep forest green color and fairly dense. He carefully cut about an inch thick slice from the center. A few more passes and he had something resembling a signet ring. It had a wide flat top and sides, before tapering to a quarter inch band along the bottom. There would be plenty of room to carve whatever runes he needed.
After a few moments deliberation, he decided he needed to design his own crest for the ring. This would be the "Evans" ring to accompany his muggle alter-ego. He would build a glamour for it and put as many protections on it as he could. He pulled an old tome out of his library just to look at the illuminated and stylized "E" at the beginning of one chapter and set to work drawing on parchment exactly how he wanted the face to look. A half hour later, he was satisfied with the look he wanted and his ability to reproduce it. The square face of his ring would bear a large "E" surrounded by vines.
He cast an engorgio charm and held it until the face he was about to carve was about a foot to a side. He took great care with his boring and cutting wires. On the newly enlarged surface he cut the E and vines so they were raised about one and a half inches from the "floor" of the face, bounded by a rim of stone. He set to work carving all the embellishments in the E to simulate the old style iconography. As a lark, the decided to carve "Property of Harry James Potter, Made 12 January 1998" into the side of the upper branch of the E. It would be far too small to read, but he would know it was there.
He was just finishing the details on the vines and leaves when he heard Hermione clear her throat. Looking up, he was surprised to see her sitting across from him. When had she entered the room?
"Nice job, I can see what you meant about this being your art. I don't think I've ever seen you so focused and yet also relaxed. You really enjoy it don't you?"
"Yes, I do. It's like I can feel the potential right there beneath the surface of the stone, begging me to let it out."
"How do you carve the vines like that? I almost expect to feel a plant if I reach out and touch it."
"I just take away everything that isn't a vine. Sometimes things tell me what they are inside, other times I have to work my will on them. You should see what I am working on for Ginny's birthday."
"I'll look forward to it. Harry, you need to either tell me how to get out the front door or stop for the night."
"Why? We've only just got started, there's still plenty of time before curfew."
"Harry, curfew was two hours ago. You've been working on that ring for four hours straight, and we've been here six. Come on, it is midnight and we've got classes tomorrow morning."
"But, I just need a little more work and I will be ready for the runes."
"The runes won't be ready for you for several more days. It's time to take a break. You need sleep and food. It will still be there when you get back."
"But…"
"No, you're coming with me. I left the book that talks about portkeys on the table and marked the place. There is also a book that talks about some different techniques for untraceable apparition. Not that you seem to bother with that anymore."
"Thank you Hermione, I don't know what I would do without you."
"You'd probably go crazy without someone like me to keep you grounded. I hope you've got a way to get us back undetected, you never taught us how you become invisible."
"No worries, I've got it all covered."
He led her to the foyer where he showed her the cupboard with invisibility cloaks and silent boots. She did a couple of quick mental acrobatics and cast him an evil eye.
"You're one of the new Marauders aren't you?" She accused.
"Mr. Tundros at your service milady." He gave a cocky bow.
"So all this is really…"
"The Manor of Mischief, my gift to future generations of troublemakers and hooligans."
"I thought some of those books in the library looked out of place. Who would bother with illusions and slight of hand in a magical library?"
"Why over complicate things if you don't have to. Sure, anyone with enough experience can conjure and vanish objects, but who would expect a second or third year to do it wandless and silent? It will drive teachers batty. Instead it's all faked, no real magic involved. A rose pulled from thin air, a galleon vanishing, incredible disappearing familiars, muggle born students may recognize it for what it is, but the older pureblood teachers will rant and rave about 'unprecedented magical potential' and other such nonsense."
"You are a right bastard you know that?"
"I try."
"What's to stop me from ruining your plans by telling the other teachers?"
"Tell me Hermione, where exactly are we? How is the front door opened."
"Ok, I wasn't paying too much attention coming down but I think I know where we are. And though I didn't see what you did I heard the passwords."
"Relax Hermione, this is my charms project remember, and I already promised to bring McGonagall when I bring Flitwick. The professors are getting a guided tour in three weeks time. There won't be any problems with me corrupting young students at least until after the war. In the meantime it is just my workshop and library."
"If you say so. I still don't approve."
"I know. Come on, let's get back to the dorms."
He led her through several secret passages and intentionally ran in circles a few times to throw her off. She hadn't explored the castle nearly as much as he had and was soon lost.