Please flip ur expections even further down. Look, you try making Ginny interesting alright. It isnt easy.
PS: If you dont know anything about the fate-verse, just google 'black keys fate' and click on the first link. Cmon do it u pussy
Chapter Three: Escapism Fantasy
He hadn't realized just how long he'd spent in the Room of Requirement with Ron. With so many things to worry about, Harry lost himself in the purple haze and had ended up spending the night with Ron. The two of them had a lot to catch up on and by the time Harry was done, they'd somehow managed to smoke all of Ron's hash. As Ron desperately rummaged through the room to find his emergency stash Harry'd decided to lean back and tried to relax.
He fell asleep almost instantly, the day having taken its toll.
Whether it was the drink, or the drugs, or just the feelings that came with coming back to Hogwarts, Harry's magic began to stir as he slept. Static noise covered his mind as he began to dream.
*Cold permeated his every inch of his being*
*The feeling on chains on his skin*
*The stakes that bound him to the ground*
*Even if he wanted to, he could not scream. This palace was their eternal prison*
*Harry looked up, longing for just a view of the Earth. Yet even this was disallowed, nothing lay above but ice cold light and the confines of the millennium prison*
*Even to see the Earth was beyond him*
*He moved, the first time in years, as he heard footsteps approaching*
Then, the vision abruptly broke off; Harry forgot the scene almost the instant it came to an end, falling back into a dark and dreamless sleep.
Hours later, his eyes slowly began to blink themselves open.
He didn't know how much time had passed when he awoke, but the blanket gently draped over him and Ron's supine form lying on the floor weren't encouraging. His head felt like someone had decided to throw in a group of eight year olds and let them use his cranium for a bouncy house. He blinked as he slowly came to his senses, a groan escaping his dry lips.
He glanced around him, eyes crinkling as the sunlight drove into his mind like a spike. Grabbing the nearest bottle, he slowly uncapped it and began to drink. He drank with patience despite his thirst, given how nauseous his stomach felt.
The thick purple smoke still hung in the room, he idly noted. His eyes probed around looking for changes. It was indeed a little warmer, but there was something else. A slick film of grease that coated everything in the room, completely invisible from sight and touch. He decided to think on it later, when he was sober.
When he'd had his fill, he rose to his feet and dusted off his clothes. Harry blinked a few times, trying to steady himself while fighting the vertigo that came with standing up too quickly. He felt terribly sick. Copious amounts of firewhisky and hash his first night back weren't the best idea after months spent sober. Stretching his arms behind himself, Harry let out a grunt as he tried to relieve the tension in his muscles.
He felt his magic come alive, beginning to worm its way through his body. His eyes began to tear up as the raw magic inside him responded to his call, dulling his headache and soothing his pains. He examined his dark skin under Ron's false sunlight, conceding last year he'd looked a lot different. But, he thought as his stomach began to settle, last year he wouldn't have been able to enjoy the benefits of being a magus. Harry spared his snoring friend a glance as he searched around for his wand. What time was it? It couldn't have been more than...
Finding it he cast the *tempus* charm, and loudly cursed uncaring of Ron asleep at his feet. Rushing to gather his things, Harry spared Ron another look before making for the door. He didn't have time to dally, it was almost 5 am. He had a half hour till Ginny had to break her fast, and Harry didn't want to blow her off on their first date since his return. As he entered the hallway and felt the door disappear behind him, he turned and took the first set of stairs that led down, towards the Hufflepuff Basement.
Strictly speaking, he thought as he upped his pace a bit, this wasn't a date. He owed Ginny an explanation just as much as he'd owed Ron one, and she'd been far more furious with him. Maybe he could grab some food from the kitchen for her to break her fast with, turn this into a real date? A portrait somewhere above him broke his train of thought.
"Ever heard of water young man? I've heard it does wonders!"
He stopped to find a laughing wall of paintings facing him. He felt a small blush rush to his face as he realized what he must have looked him. He hadn't taken a shower or changed his clothes since he'd gotten in the carriage to Hogwarts. Quickly flipping off the roaring row of paintings, he continued his walk to the Basement, rushing to leave the corridor.
His hands in his pockets, Harry did his best to keep his head down. He was supposed to have gone and seen McGonagall first thing he got back last night, and he'd rather have not been dragged into her office hungover and filthy.
As he turned a corner he came by a open window and went still as the breeze smacked him in the face, throwing his hair behind him. The window was almost as big as him, and someone obviously hadn't closed it properly after using it the night before. He stepped forward and his hand instinctively reached out and grabbed the clasp, they'd probably been coming back from a night out flying and forgotten to seal the latch. The wind was exceptionally strong this morning, and up on the fifth floor it had simply torn the unlocked window open.
Harry's hands froze as he spied the Black Lake, it's fresh water drinking the first rays of the morning sun. The beginnings of a plan forming in his mind, his eyes moved to Hogsmeade in the distance. A lightbulb appeared over his head. He let go of the window and pushed it open as wide as he could, his foot coming up to rest on the windowsill. His wand throbbed gently in his pocked as he heaved himself upward and plunged into the sky.
Harry never much cared for Hufflepuffs. Not that he had anything against them per say, he just genuinely hated going to their living quarters. For some reason, Helena Hufflepuff had thought that it'd be splendid idea to only make one connection between the main castle and the Hufflepuff Basements. Add to it that every Hufflepuff seemed to be an early riser, the trip down to the chapel would usually have taken twice as long as the walk itself at this time of day.
Fortunately, Harry had the good sense to turn himself invisible before walking into the den of the most excitable puppies in Hogwarts. The bag slung over his shoulder, full of Honeydukes' finest, wouldn't have helped with the attention. He slunk through the now crowded hallway, moving in between the gaps in traffic. He'd accidentally nudged a few people on his way, but he was too pressed for time to care.
He moved past the exit that led down to the common room, instead taking the small hallway to its very end. As he reached the wall, he knelt. His free hand tracing his wand gently across the brick, Harry drew the symbol of the cross first on the wall then repeated the drawing on himself. He finished the ceremony by whispering the Lord's Prayer.
As the last few words floated through his lip, the bricks began to churn. At the very bottom of the wall, so small that one would have easily missed it had they not been looking, a fiery cross sprang into being. Harry emotionlessly eyed the flame, before shaking his head and shoving his thumb onto the apparition. He closed his eyes as he felt the pain of the mark branding its way onto his skin. His eyes remained shut until the last of the heat subsided.
When he opened his eyes and stood from the floor, he was no longer in the Hufflepuffs' hallway. The church was silent, not a soul but Harry present.
He stood on an altar, having been transported to one end of an enormous hall. As he looked around, he realized that 'enormous' didn't really do it justice. The chapel was massive, a single room blown up to gigantic proportions. To his left and right, the room seemed to stretch on and on, but he could still see candlelit altars, relics and paintings on the distant walls. Between him and the wall, rows and rows of pews filled the empty space. As he walked towards the enormous statue of the cross at the other end of the sanctum, the holy silence felt heavy on his shoulders.
He spared a glance at the dusty pews that lined the hall. After having spent a fair bit of time in churches all over Europe, Harry could finally appreciate why St. Helena's was rightly considered a wonder of the medieval world. It was said that even in its heyday over a thousand years ago, the chapel had never once been fully filled. As more and more people filtered into the chapel, it would only grow. The walls expanding outwards, new space being rent apart and filled with holy artifacts and rows upon rows of dusty pews. All accomplished without the use of a single spacetime manipulation spell.
And then, he thought as he came to a stop, there was the real beauty of the chapel. Craning his neck upwards, Harry wondered whether newfound knowledge gained over the summer would enlighten him to some magical quirk or oddity he'd been unable to see before. His curiosity outweighed his fear, and besides he was late enough as it was. Mystic eyes burnt emerald as he stared into the void, looking desperately for any trace of magic.
Nothing. Not a peep. Shaking his head and canceling the magic going to his eyes, he appreciated the lack of a ceiling even more than before. Above him, there was nothing but black. The gigantic walls of the chapel, every inch covered with altars and candles and paintings and relics, seemed to stretch on infinitely into the sky. Slowly the human eye would lose sight of the fathomless walls, even the candles peppered throughout the miles-long walls would fade as the distance grew too great for the tiny beam of light.
Which left nothing above him but the void of the abyss, said to mimic the depth of a true devotee's faith. Harry truly was coming to appreciate the magic of the chapel more and more every moment he cared to examine it. These were no mere enchantments like the ones cast into the Great Hall or the Ravenclaw Common Room. No, it was said that in the process of building Hogwarts' spiritual center, Saint Helena had sacrificed both her hands and her right to ever again wield a wand. Harry privately thought that it had been worth it, with what was left behind being something no magus or wizard could ever hope to replicate.
He shuddered as realization came to him; above him loomed the power of a divine sacrament. Long after he was gone and long after Hogwarts had turned to dust, the chapel itself would still be here. Even if the sole entrance to this room was destroyed, the chapel would remain. Lost in a voidless dimension outside the constraints of space and time. Here, the candles would keep burning forever. Something to think about, he decided. It was possible this room would outlast mankind.
He didn't think more on it as he spirited his way to the other end of the room, a trial of vapour behind him. It would have taken him too long to walk and he always felt odd in the church alone. A series of goosebumps worked their way up on his back as he made for a small door hidden behind a series of columns. Harry took the tiny hallway all the way to the end, coming to a stop outside a series of small wooden doors. He kept his eyes on the doors as he walked, his invisibility spells unconsciously cancelling as he looked for Ginny's room.
With more than a little pride, Harry noticed that the vast majority of the doors stood blank, only a few having names carved into the wood. A private procession was no small thing, only granted to a curate who'd earned their vestments and proven their faith by recreating a miracle. Precious few had ever earned such a distinction while still at Hogwarts. He sped up a little, not wanting to keep Ginny waiting any longer.
Stopping outside of a door marked 'Ms. Weasley', Harry quickly cast a series of freshening charms, turning his breath minty and his odour pleasant. His eyes floated to the bag in his hand as he knocked on the door. He cursed himself for not taking the time to pick her up something hot to eat, or a drink at least. He'd already been in-
"Come in," Ginny's voice broke him from his thoughts.
Opening the door slowly and taking care to close it quietly behind him, Harry stepped into the cramped room. He winced slightly as he was forced to hunch down, his head nearly scraping against the ceiling. He silently marvelled at his growth spurt. Last year he'd stood comfortably in this room without any problems.
Ginny seemed to be thinking along similar lines, "What'd you do to get so tall?"
She'd barely spared him a glance, her eyes closing as she finished her sentence. As she knelt on the ground with her hands clasped, Harry winced at what he knew to be an uncompromisingly uncomfortable position. Before her, an ancient effigy depicting the crucifixion stood on an altar coated with hundreds of years of melted wax. Only six candles shone under the statue, casting the room in a pale orange glow. Harry wondered how she'd earned two candles in the brief time he'd been gone, eyeing them suspiciously.
He quickly checked the time in his head, wand and incantation unnecessary, and thanked the gods for their kindness. He took up a place behind her, sitting in a far less straining manner.
"Think you can take a break now? It's almost time anyway, and you've been at it all night," his hands digging noisily through the bag he's brought.
Ginny didn't move a muscle, "And what exactly were you up to all night?"
Occlumency raced into action before Ginny had even finished speaking, and the lie came so smoothly from his lips that he nearly believed it himself, "I stayed at the Common Room for a bit, went out for a couple of drinks with Fred and George, found Ron having his one-man party and accidentally fell asleep there if you can believe it".
Ginny let out a 'hmm', her eyes opening slightly, "You went out with Fred and George? To Hogsmeade?"
Harry waved her off, "Nah, just around the castle. Didn't want to stay in the Common Room and they helped me get out. After that it turned out George on him had a bottle and we just..."
Harry trailed off as the candles abruptly sputtered and changed colour from yellow to a blood red. The change came only for a moment, but he'd never seen anything before and it had caught his attention. Even without his eyes, he'd felt the strange magic that tore into the air. It had lasted only a second, but a rather discomforting second. Before he could voice his thoughts, Ginny's shoulders sagged and she let out a sigh of relief.
She fell back unceremoniously on her rump, craning her neck and shoulders upwards as she worked the tension out of her muscles. Her legs stretched out, bare feet scraping against the dust of the floor. Harry answered her by conjuring a large white picnic sheet to cover the space in-between them. He emptied his bag while Ginny tried to get comfortable.
She raised an eyebrow as her hands wrapped around a treacle tart, "You didn't have to get so much candy. You could've just gotten me some actual breakfast".
Harry gave her an apologetic smile, "You're not gonna believe this, but by the time I got to Hogsmeade literally nothing was open. Even Honeydukes wasn't open, but I caught old man Flume gardening outside and got him to open early for me".
Ginny handed him half a wriggling chocolate frog, "I thought you said you didn't go to Hogsmeade?"
"After I woke up in Ron's room, I realized I looked like a right mess," Harry confessed, unwrapping a peppirmint cream, "I didn't plan to fall asleep with Ron, so I was kinda pressed for time. I think I only woke up about an hour ago".
Ginny wrinkled her nose as she ate, "You shouldn't just cast charms to clean yourself Harry, taking a shower is just basic hygiene".
Harry feigned mock outrage, "I'll have you know that I did take a shower this morning, in the lake as it happens".
Ginny froze at that, cold brown eyes settling on Harry, "That's not much better. And how'd you get to Honeydukes and back in-"
Harry interrupted her with a wave of his wand, his hand immediately turning into a swirling vortex of wind. He took care to target the gust away from Ginny.
Ginny seemed transfixed at his casual display, "Did you actually fly all the way and back? In an hour?"
He ended the spell with by tapping his wand into the tornado, "Less actually. I spent more time at Honeydukes than I'd have liked to, but-"
It was Ginny who interrupted him this time, moving in close and inspecting him closely. Harry, though startled by the sudden movement, didn't move a muscle. His eyes burned Ginny's face into his mind, every detail closely etched into his memory. He noticed a bit of chocolate at the edge of her lip. His hand twitched, almost moving of its own accord.
It was Ginny who had moved first, her hand reaching behind Harry's ear and plucking a bit of seaweed that had been tangled in his hair. He cursed himself for rushing, there'd been no need to go that deep into the lake. He watched as the damp plant came out, far longer than he'd expected. The ghost of her touch lingered on his scalp.
She let it fall to the ground, "How fast can you go now?"
Harry rolled his eyes already knowing the answer wouldn't be as impressive as she was hoping, "I still can't come near outflying you on a broom. I just found a way to just sort of go up really fast and then sorta glide down to the ground. It doesn't look all that fast but-"
Ginny seemed excited, "We should go for a race again sometime, how about when I get back today?".
Harry answered her with a snort, he didn't much care for the idea, "Ginny, the spell isn't meant for going fast. It's not even meant for being used consecutively. I might as well try to beat you at your church stuff".
Harry immediately caught his mistake as Ginny stopped eating to look at him, eyebrows raised, "Church stuff?"
"Ginny you know that's not what I-"
He knew he was lost when she continued speaking, "Tell me Harry, what exactly was I doing her all night?"
Harry blinked. He'd really screwed himself. How wondered where her fledging happy mood had run to all of the sudden. He began to rack his mind for the answer, focusing on the question at hand. She had told him when he'd surprised her in the bathroom, but a lot had happened since. Something about preparing for something? A devotion?
His silence was all the answer she needed. She huffed and reached for another candy, "That's so typical of you Harry. I bet you could tell me what perfume Katie was wearing last night though".
He called upon his mind magic instinctively, his eyes narrowing as he looked directly Ginny, "Listen, Gin, first off I'm sorry I forgot. I shouldn't have, but it just slipped my mind. Ron and I had a lot to talk about and I just forgot. I'll make it up to you, okay?"
When her glare persisted, Harry continued, "And secondly, if you have a problem with Katie just say the word and I'll-"
She harrumphed loudly in between bites, "Whatever Harry. For your information by the way, I was preparing for an exorcism".
Harry rolled his eyes in response, something inside him told him he was missing something but he was eager to move on, "Praise the Lord! Are you and Snape finally going to exorcize Peeves? Let me tell you, its way past time you-"
She was still mad, but Harry could see her anger begin to recede as she bit into him, "We're not going to be exorcizing Peeves Harry. I'm saying it for the last time. I've told you before that we can't get rid of Peeves. He's not actually a poltergeist".
"So what, you and Snape running down to the dungeons to find a random spook to turn into mush?" he said as he dug into the pepper imps. Internally, he debated the idea of using legilimency on Ginny. He quickly discarded the idea.
"Not this time," Ginny's voice was quiet, her eyes turning towards the candles on the altar.
Harry noticed the tension that suddenly overtook the air, "What exactly are you two doing?"
Ginny didn't look away from the candles, but her voice came out slowly, "He wants me to 'try my hand' at the Shrieking Shack-"
Harry's eyes widened as his lips moved his brain, "The Shrieking Shack! Has he lost it? What's he thinking letting a fourth year in there?"
When Ginny didn't reply, Harry pressed her, "Gin, the shack is the real deal. Actual twisted spirits stuck, angry and hungry. You know better than me what- I mean, you can be seriously-"
Ginny silenced him with a look, an uneasy silence dawning as Harry again resisted the urge to use legilimency. He'd almost done it anyway when she turned her head, nearly losing his grip over the sensitive dial that controlled his mind magic.
Harry swallowed, looking away and towards the altar, "You haven't even given your Theology OWL yet Gin... How'd you get those two new candles by the way? You've only been back a week".
Harry saw Ginny suppress a strange smirk, "You're not the only one that got better this summer Harry".
Her hands went up to her coif, unraveling the knot and letting her long hair loose. She let her hat drop to the ground along with her hair, her fingers going to the back of her neck, digging up and through her scalp. Harry watched in fascination as she pulled her hands back, t-shaped pieces of red wood clutched in between her clawed fingers. Harry's eyes zeroed in on how nimbly she manipulated the three stubs of wood in each hand. His heartbeat doubled as he saw her take a familiar position. She'd never done the dance with this many keys.
"Those two candles are from mastery over the Internment Rite and the Mummification Rite".
Immense pride blossomed in his chest as Ginny stood, meter long blades suddenly emerging from the handles as she held them in a fan formation. He couldn't move his eyes even if he'd wanted to, her mastery of the six black keys completely enthralling him. She began the dance quickly, blades striking out with perfect precision. One went below Harry's chin, cutting a few stray hairs from his beard scruff. Another two went so close by Harry's head simultaneously that his ears rung for a while after.
The dance went on, blades embedding themselves all over the room, disappearing the moment they cleaved through the ancient stone. Her feet were a blur, moving in circles so fast that the average wizard would only see afterimages. Yet, at no point did Ginny ever hold less than three keys to hand. Her body moved in perfect step with her actions, blades flying so fast and being replaced with such grace that Harry had to activate his mystic eyes to keep up. In doing so his awe increased as his eyes realized that, apart from the basic magic needed to materialize the blades, Ginny had cast no reinforcement charms or temporal jinx. Her speed was entirely her own.
But, even as pride and joy dominated his senses, a pit of worry began to grow in his stomach. The events of 1992 floated over his mind like a dark haze as he began to comprehend what he was seeing. No fourteen year old girl should have been able to do this, regardless of the extent of her faith or how hard she trained. Even the greatest warriors of the church could ever hope to wield four black keys to a hand, and only the best could ever preform the dance with eight blades. An invulnerable journal and lonely red eyes danced in the back of his mind, a chill slithering down his spine as the dance went on.
Harry was starving by the time lunch rolled around. His head aching from the talking-to he'd gotten from McGonagall before she'd let him have his time table.
He'd been so hungry that he'd almost forgotten to grab Ron from the Room of Requirement. While Harry had been suffering through playing catch-up in class with no sleep, Ron had woken to smoke the rest of his stash and then promptly fell back to sleep. Harry didn't have the energy to lecture him when he found him, instead just being thankful that Ron's stomach brought him to lunch without argument. He didn't much feel like wasting his break before Defence with the Slytherins.
As Ron dug into a massive pie right next to him, Harry appraised his friend's physique. This was the first time he'd ever suspected that he might have weighed more than his friend. While it was difficult to tell under the robes the were both wearing, Harry couldn't help but notice the gaunt and hollow contour in Ron's face.
"Are you gonna eat that mate?"
"Hands off, just grab your own," Harry brusquely replied. Ron was still Ron, and that thought alone gave him a small measure of relief.
Harry returned to his meal, pausing between bites to take in the scene of the Great Hall at lunch. It was his first meal back at Hogwarts, and the castle was bursting with activity. In truth, he couldn't remember the hall looking more full. As he eyed a group of slavic looking first years down the table, he wondered how true the rumours were of massive increases in Central European enrolment.
Given the massive chatter, he was thankful that he had the foresight to cast excessively powerful notice-me-not charms on himself and Ron. It also spared him from having to exchange smalltalk and greetings with all the familiar faces in the hall. He eyed Dean eating alone near the very back of the hall. Some people didn't need notice-me-not charms to eat undisturbed, he thought bitterly.
He spied a far more interesting figure than Dean walk into the hall and nudged at Ron, "Look who decided to come to lunch".
Ron spared only the minimum amount of energy needed to angle his eyes towards the entrance, and then returned to his food. He thought his friend's lack of reaction strange, but returned his attention to the newcomer as they headed for the Slytherin table.
Harry's mystic eyes came alive as he zeroed in on Draco Malfoy from across the hall. His control was far more refined now, a series of tiny throbs pulsating under his eyes. It felt as if Draco sat directly opposite him, skin stripped away and magic exposed. If he didn't have the notice-me-not charms on, and somehow made eye contact with Draco, he'd have been able to use legilimency as well. He marvelled at how little the interference from the crowd mattered now.
His eyes studied Malfoy up and down, but he didn't need magic to see something was off. His normally pristine slicked back hair looked as if he'd put barely any product in it. His eyes were puffy, and he walked with a limp in his step. His magic felt oddly constrained as well, a little too constrained. The coiled and tense feeling Malfoy's magic gave Harry was intimately familiar. It had been the state of his own magic not too long ago.
It was the magic of someone who'd begun to bring their mind in tune with their magic. Someone who'd begun the study of occlumency.
Ron elbowed him in the stomach, the pain cutting off the magic to his eyes as Harry struggled not to slip from his seat. He eyed Ron with annoyance, "Jesus Ron what's the deal?"
Ron's eyes remained on his food, "Why're you eyeing Draco up and down like that eh? Do I need to tell Ginny she has competition?"
"Something's off with Malfoy," Harry replied quietly, his eyes returning to the man in question.
That seemed to draw Ron away from his food, and he leaned back and chanced a glance himself, "Looks like a git. Don't see much out-"
Harry interrupted him, "I forgot to tell you, mate. Turns out Malfoy took your invite to my welcome thing last night".
Ron's head turned sharply to Harry, "Wait, what?"
Harry nodded, "I got lucky. Spotted him pretty much by accident. He'd hidden himself pretty well. You know Lee's peeping spot under the stairs? Under a whole book a charms I'd wager".
Ron seemed to mull Harry's words over, his eyes shrinking back down to his food. Harry took the moment to voice his thoughts, "He could've been spying for his dad, I guess. I don't know why he took the risk of sneaking into Gryffindor Tower, he could've just waited to see me in class today".
Ron didn't seem to hear him, his hand coming up to cup his chin, "So that's what..."
Ron seemed to snap out of his daze and turned towards Harry, "I had a weird dream, literally a few hours before we hung out last night. Shit, it makes a lot of sense now".
As Ron seemed to be on the verge of falling back into his thoughts, Harry urged him to continue.
"So, it was the Gryffindor Common Room, but I wasn't actually there. You remember that time my dad brought over that weird muggle Teller Mission thing?"
Harry deadpanned, "Its called a television, but yeah".
Ron nodded, "Yeah, it was like I was sitting in my Room, but like it was night time for some reason, and I was watching the common room on the thing? Like the room was inside the box. There were a bunch of dancing lions, and a lot of fire. It didn't make much sense. I remember though, watching a real slimy snake going through the crowd. You were there too mate, with all the dancing lions. Center of attention with a bunch of people dancing over you. The snake got all over you guys too".
Harry tried to understand the dream, and pressed for more information, "Anything else? We already know Malfoy was in the Room. Do you remember-"
Ron cut him off, "Yeah, yeah give me a minute. I remember everyone getting real into it. All the lions going crazy around you. Eventually, I don't know, I think you started juggling the lions? Everyone was cheering, or something like that. Then right in the thick of it, the snake went up your leg and bit your right in the neck. The whole thing fell down, like you'd just dropped the whole stage or something. That's when it all went black and..."
He could feel Ron's reluctance to continue. He knew the terrible toll Ron paid for his visions, and the enormous strain it placed on his mind, "That's enough Ron, you don't have to go on. That's more than enough actually".
Ron shook his head, "That's all I got anyway, nothing else related. But don't worry cause my head isn't hurting or anything".
He felt the urge to use legilimency to confirm Ron's words and ruthlessly quashed it. He had grown far, far too comfortable with liberally employing his mind magic over the last few months. He needed to calm down and return to civilized life. Even if most wizards weren't aware of the mental arts, the spells were still a crime to cast without active consent. On the off chance that anyone ever detected an intrusion, he'd be sorely fucked.
Trying to shift his mind back to the matter at hand, Harry added, "I got something for you as well. Our pretty lady's been dabbling in a bit of mind magic apparently".
Ron paled as he ingested Harry's words, sharply turning to stare at Malfoy, "What? You can't be serious, Malfoy and legilimency? Who's teaching him? How's he even-"
Harry cut him off, "I'll give it a closer look in class, but yeah, it looks like it. He's no pro, so you should realize pretty quick if he tries using legilimency on you. Just remember what I taught you and you'll be fine".
Ron didn't seem to like Harry's answer very much, "That's not the point Harry. Malfoy going around poking in people's heads is just bound to end badly. Besides, it's not like you just pick up legilimency in the library".
Harry nodded, but countered quickly, "Come on, you think Lucius Malfoy gives two shits about keeping heretical magic in his house? He might really just have found a book and decided to play at being a magus?"
Ron conceded the point, but turned his head to Harry inquisitively, "Speaking off, how'd you even know that he'd started studying legilimency?"
Harry shrugged, not wanted to explain the truth to Ron, and easily lied, "Just a feeling. A good legilimens can spot someone who just started learning".
As Ron bought his explanation, Harry had a question of his own he'd been mulling over, "By the way, if everyone in the common room was a lion in your dream then how'd you know that the one that got bit while juggling was me?"
Ron blinked, seemingly surprised by the question, "I never said you were a lion as well mate. You were you, shirtless with some weird skirt on. Personally I'm still tryna forget that bit".
Harry didn't understand the piercing look Ron sent his way, instead just nodding as they both returned to their food. They'd follow up on their lead in their next class. He still had to meet the new Defence Professor.
Harry idly tapped his fingers on the desk; bored and waiting for their Professor, a Madam Umbridge, to arrive. He wasn't sure when Ron had managed to ditch him, but he suspected it had been around the time that Katie had had bumped into them on their way to class.
"...but she didn't even let Fred pull out his wand and just decided to-"
Harry wondered if she'd realize that he'd stopped listening to her before the Professor arrived. Katie sure did love to hear herself talk. His legilimency reached out on its own, plucking the memory Katie was describing in case he needed to recall it later. A frown came over his face as he internalized her thoughts. Just what was the Interior Ministry thinking, sending someone like Umbridge to Hogwarts at a time like this?
Ron and Katie had given him a pretty good idea of what they were dealing with, and Harry didn't much care for the picture they'd painted. Both he and Dumbledore had hoped to avoid such a response from the Ministry after the Triwizard Tournament, but the Unspeakables had Fudge wrapped around their finger. Was she their doing? A ploy against Dumbledore? Or had they truly allied with-
The doors burst open as their portly Professor speed-walked into the room with a song, "I'm so sorry for the delay class!"
She waddled over to the desk, a stack of books and papers levitating behind her. A dazzling array of white and grey pigeons followed her into the room, perching on posts embedded into the roof. Her eyes briefly lingered on Harry, before settling on the class as a whole, "I'm afraid my meeting with the Headmaster ran a little long, but not to fret we'll jump right in!"
As she directed the class to open their books, Harry slipped on his mask and began to closely examine their Professor. She had an interesting choice for familiars, he noticed as he eyed the pigeons settling above. Umbridge was pulling out lecture notes as the chalk behind her began to act as a stenographer, drawing figures and highlighting incantations. Harry moved along with the rest of the class. Thankfully, Dumbledore had bought all his supplies for him while he'd been absent from England. He furrowed his brow as he read along with the rest of the class.
After a while, his attention turned back to Umbridge as she began to demonstrate the wand movement to the Stupefying Charm. As his heartbeat began to increase, his mind began to put the pieces of information together. Her presence at Hogwarts was extremely suggestive, several motives making themselves clear as he looked underneath the underneath. His eyes remained intently on Umbridge, and he made to meet her gaze as often as he could. He felt the magic in his blood rush through his veins, a bead of sweat trailing down his forehead.
It was immensely risky to use legilimency on a Professor. Downright unheard of, something that'd get you expelled faster than you could say 'assault with a magical weapon'. Still, this was a unique opportunity. He swallowed, seriously considering reaping through her mind to learn the truth he was sure lay just beyond his awareness. It was beyond obvious that Umbridge had come directly as a representative of the Interior Ministry. Any mage worth their salt would have brought their mind in tune with their magic long ago, and would have easily detected the intrusion. Although...
He noticed her wand lean a little to the left as she demonstrated the wand movement for the fifth time. Her magic oozing slowly through her arm. Without his mystic eyes he lacked the clarity to properly gauge her. Still, she certainly wasn't affiliated with the Unspeakables. Nothing about her hinted at anything related to the Department of Mysteries, and the DoM spooks always had a certain dangerous air around them. Then again, he wasn't exactly drawing from a large sample size.
Even more so, he thought as his eyes narrowed, it wouldn't be entirely atypical of the DoM to send an utterly perfect actress to the front either. There were ways to completely alter one's magic, ways to hide from even the most powerful mystic eyes in England. Nonetheless, he couldn't conclusively decide on anything. One bit of information eluded him, throwing off his analysis entirely.
What did the DoM or the political elite, the two pillars of the Interior Ministry, gain from devastating the defence capabilities of Hogwarts students?
She was so utterly incompetent that it didn't make any sense, Harry realized as he continued to watch her. He didn't need legilimency or mystic eyes to see that. Her body spoke of a desk job, and he could feel her slothful magic all knotted up in her chest. After encountering a great many powerful magi at a young age, he personally thought that his standards may have been a bit excessive, but still!
Hell, even Malfoy had shown a greater understanding of his magic! A startling epiphany hit him in his reverie. Umbridge wasn't just some average pencil pusher who'd been sent to Hogwarts. She wasn't some desk jockey that somehow stumbled into one of the most important educational posts in Britain. Nothing about her at all hinted at an average disposition.
No... She had been intentionally calculated as the worst possible person for the job.
Before he could think anymore on his realization, Umbridge's focus came on him. He knew before she did, her untrained unconscious mind betraying her intentions. He willed himself back into the world, paying close attention to his Professor as she took a pause.
"Now then class," she said turning towards them, "Let's see who among us was listening".
Her gaze landed squarely on Harry, "Mr. Potter, it's nice to see that you've finally arrived. I trust you're caught up on the work you missed?"
Harry nodded, keeping his reply short, "Yes Professor".
Umbridge seemed pleased by his answer, "Then perhaps you could tell me about the Five Principles of Formal Thaumaturgy?"
Harry blinked, not expecting a question so far removed from what he actually knew, "I'm afraid I don't know Professor".
Umbridge tutted, "A warning then, Mr. Potter. I abhor liars. The next time you tell a lie, it'll be detention".
As murmurs broke out throughout the classroom, Katie shuffling uncomfortably next to him, Harry did his level best to stop from bursting out into laughter. It was comical, he noted, that Umbridge had decided to come right to him. Her promise of a detention was an invitation he couldn't pass up. Deep inside him, the itch to blast into Umbridge's toad-like, slitted brown eyes grew.
Either he wasn't being as subtle as he'd hoped, or Katie was more perceptive than he'd realized, but just as he was about to launch his legilimency probe Katie's hand came down on his under the desk. She squeezed it tightly, her eyes quickly glancing over in warning. Harry noted the worry in her eyes, and looked away from Umbridge.
His Professor hadn't seemed to have noticed the exchange, her pouchy eyes swinging in step with her mousy brown hair. She'd turned back to the board and had begun lecturing on about the subject matter. The entire episode seemed forgotten as the class quietly returned to making their notes. His heart thumping loudly in his chest, Harry came to the slow realization of what he'd almost done. As he continued to write, he noticed the quiet in the air around him. Even in Professor McGonagall's class students rarely made such little chatter. Even Parvati and Lavender, two seats behind him, were silent.
He longed to activate his mystic eyes as he reassessed Umbridge. Katie's reaction and the ensuing silence led him to think that he'd misjudged the newest bearer of the Defence Curse.
Even so, Harry grinned as he loudly cleared his throat, a detention with Umbridge sounded like a one-way ticket to pillaging her mind.
"Professor, I have a question..."
"You should have seen Umbridge's face! Her head puffed up like one of her pigeons and I swear I saw her eyes turn red when Harry kept talking," Katie continued.
The hearth crackled softly in the background as Katie told her tale around the fire. Seamus and Demelza listened intently, while a few feet away Harry went through a stack of parchment with Fred and George.
As Demelza doubled over in laughter, Harry spoke with a considering look on his face as he appraised the paper in his hands, "Guys, this is some next level stuff..."
"What? Why'd it fall right on her head then?"
Fred and George seemed pleased by his conclusion, "Did we or did we not just deliver you every knut's value Harry?"
Seamus let out a shriek in the background, "No! Tell me he didn't say that out loud!"
Harry looked up and appraised the twins, he'd always known they were clever but (along with everyone else) he'd clearly misjudged them, "Yeah but... I mean, I sure as hell wasn't expecting all this".
"We went wild this summer Harry. All that Triwizard money let us get whatever and go wherever," George replied.
Harry could truly appreciate the value of his money. Fred and George had clearly never had such finances to play with, half of their products were downright genius and the other were so clever that the Interior Ministry would have to design a dozen new laws the moment they went to market. He leafed through the multitude of papers, carefully eyeing the corresponding prototypes in the chest.
A small vial of gel attracted his senses, his fingers softly brushing over it and Harry wondered just what it was. It had a familiar feel to it, and he searched for the matching design sheet.
Harry whistled as he pulled out the particularly nasty blueprint, he'd never even imagined that it was possible to stabilize a mixture of Erumpent horn fluid and Dragon's blood. He blinked as he realized exactly what the potent amalgamation was capable off. If someone had the idea to let one of those loose, there'd be hell to pay. Besides, they couldn't just use restricted materials like this.
"You guys better keep this one away from Snape. These are both Class-B Tradeable Materials. Fucking brilliant though," he said, his admiration still leaking through.
George didn't seem to mind his comment, but a strange gleam came over Fred's eyes. He felt his legilimency purr in the background, something was off.
Before they could reply, Katie called out to him, "Hey Harry, when's your detention?"
His mind magic faded back into his body as he turned towards Katie, "This weekend if you can believe it. Dumbridge took my Friday".
His sardonic tone elicited a giggle, but before she could reply Fred butted in, "Listen Harry, we got a couple more things to show you in our room? Some of the bigger prototypes we couldn't bring down from the trunk".
Harry was a little surprised by how antsy Fred was being, but he nodded all the same. As he stood up and dusted off his robes, waiting for Fred and George to pack up their things, tendrils worked their way from his mind into George's. He noticed George's eyes glaze over as he packed his belongings, Harry doubted that George had even felt a thing. Images began to flood his mind, a secret workshop concealed under the bed, of passages scribbled in the margins of old books, of oaths made to take certain things to the grave.
The legilimency probe broke as George turned away from him, moving towards the dorms with Fred. Harry followed them in a bit of a daze, trying to understand what he just saw. As the information roiled and digested in his mind, a sense of worry came over him. The twins were certainly clever, but it didn't take a genius to realize that they were wholly unaware of the existence of mind magic. They wore their secrets on their faces wherever they went, even someone like Malfoy could..
As they entered the empty dormitory, George waited as Harry came in and locked the door behind them. Harry raised an eyebrow at the secrecy, while Fred pulled out a massive trunk from under one of their beds. The two of them knelt together and touched their wands to the trunk, and Harry watched with his mystic eyes alight as the many protections on the trunk came undone. It was a decent job, Harry appraised, but the twins had been right to move their laboratory.
The trunk flew open with a loud think, the lid smashing loudly on the stone below. Without missing a beat, Fred grabbed the edge and hoisted himself through the trunk and into the expanded space below. George motioned for Harry to follow before jumping in himself.
As Harry landed in the small twenty by twenty wooden room, he took stock of just how different it looked. There were large squares of clean space on the dusty floor, where the twin's machinery and supplies had rested till not too long ago. More than that, there was a stench in the air and Harry's brow furrowed as he stood. His nose caught the familiar scent immediately, but he dared not let it show on his face.
He tensed as his eyes wandered lazily around the small space, settling on Fred and George. His occlumency sped to the surface, masking his face as he tried not to notice the heavy stink of heresy in the air.
Fred and George seemed to be unaware of it as they took up position leaning against the wall. George began to go through the bag he'd brought with his, his hand moving deep into the enhanced space as he grappled for something near the bottom.
Fred started talking while George cursed, unable to find what he was looking for, "See Harry, we didn't hold back on the toys. Mum didn't mind us leaving over the summer for work, so we decided to really try and go past the joke shop idea. Tried to get you something useful for your galleons".
"Aha!" George interrupted, pulling out a small back box. Long and narrow, it looked similar to the boxes Ollivander kept his wands in.
"We didn't just make fun things we could take to market, we worked on some of our more interesting ideas as well. Some stuff we'd never show anyone else," George opened the box and motioned for Harry to take the scrolls within. He eyed the half dozen rolls of paper within with interest.
Harry reached out and grabbed one of them at random, George filling the silence as Harry began to read, "This is just the stuff we had time to finish. We didn't really want to test this stuff out at the house and uh, they didn't much care for us down in Knockturn Alley so we didn't get a chance to really work on all of our ideas and-"
"Holy fuck," Harry whispered, mystic eyes coming alive and interrupting George as Harry burnt the image into his mind.
Fred pitched in, "These are the only copies. Everything we didn't finish we burnt to the ground. Scattered the ashes even. Tried to cover our tracks best we could and all"
Harry's eyes moved back to Fred. He struggled not to let his thoughts show on his face, his occlumency shaking wildly under the strain. He'd nearly screamed and flung the parchment at them. With the new information seeping into his mind, his eyes began to see the twins more clearly. They stung as Harry pushed his magic circuits to his limits, emerald light oozing into the room.
Before either of the twins could react to the sudden burst of blinding green light from Harry's eyes, he saw it. Ghostly afterimages clung to their robes, the permanent stains of dark magic washed over and over again to no avail.
The link blinked out as soon as it had come, but that didn't stop George from angrily rubbing his eyes and voicing his thoughts, "Blimey mate whats the for? Keep those pretty eyes up here eh?"
"Sorry," Harry's voice was soft and quiet, and it caught the twins attention.
"Harry mate-" Fred began.
"Shit guys," Harry interrupted him by bringing his free hand to his forehead, "This is some crazy shit. This can't be real. You couldn't have- I mean, how'd you even come up with this. If this actually works..."
Fred relaxed at his answer, while George replied for them both, "We tested some six prototypes before we decided it was good enough. Mostly just didn't want the risk that came with working on it. This was some idea we had when we were kids. Mum used to make us go down to the garden and chuck gnomes with Bill and Perce. Had a lot of fun, but a chore's a chore so..."
Fred continued, "We never paid much attention to the gnomes themselves. One day though, I remember we were chasing this big fella. Hell, it was nearly as big as you when you were a firstie. George jumped and managed to grab it's leg, but it didn't come down..."
"Instead, the fucker kicks me as hard as he can in the face. But instead of breaking a tooth or throwing me back, the bastard kicks me so hard I fly right into Fred and we both go flying right *through* the barn wall," George picked up, rubbing his jaw nostalgically.
Fred jumped in quickly, "And here's the thing Harry, we blew a hole some ten feet wide in the wall. That fucker must've kicked us fifty feet at least. You know how come you haven't hard this story from our mum?"
Harry shook his head, his legilimency reaching out and glancing at their surface thoughts. He winced as he saw the image of the smashed barn, it really had been pretty bad.
George looked him right in the eye, "We didn't have a mark on us mate. He kicked me right in the face with a big flash of light and threw us all the way. The wall was smashed open but when dad came running we didn't have so much as a single splinter. What does that sound like to you eh?"
Harry's eyes widened as he took the memory from George's eyes, "Prana Burst".
His voice was hushed but Fred heard him and beamed, "Got it in one! That right there Harry is the world's first artificial way of casting a..."
Harry began to violently shake his head as he read further down, "This can't be done. It's not possible- Jesus Christ, how many gnomes did you use?"
His surprise was well founded. The Prana Burst was a powerful technique, one of the marks of a true magus. The fact that gnomes had the potential to replicate a weak version of the spell didn't surprise him, they were nature spirits after all. What shocked him, and would certainly have shocked the entirety of the Wizarding World, were the designs he held in his hand. If such items could be mass produced, the potential fallout was enormous.
The smile faltered for a moment on George's face, "We got it to work on the third try, and after that just kept trying to make it more efficient to make. We didn't get very far on that front".
Harry looked them right in the eyes, "I hope you guys didn't bring any of these prototypes to-"
Fred cut him off with a sarcastic 'humph', "Yeah right, like we want Filch to be the one to put us in Azkaban".
George nodded along, thought Harry sensed his hesitation, "Like I told you, we got rid of everything. Burnt it to the ground. Everything except..."
As he gestured to the box, Harry felt the need to reprimand them for their carelessness, "Fuck guys, you shouldn't even have brought these with you? What were you thinking? Don't take these out anywhere except this room and I sure as hell hope you didn't leave this shit lying around at home where-"
Fred seemed struck by his tone, "The fuck Harry? We're not fucking stupid. What's wrong with just bringing the notes along? We brought them for you anyway".
Harry would have winced at the anger in Fred's voice, had he himself not been furious with him. He chanced a legilimency probe and grew unsettled by what he saw, the twins were playing with a fire they didn't understand.
Fred had his arms folded over his chest, and George seemed to be protectively hugging the black box into his armpit. Harry's eyes turned back to the parchment.
"Guys, you're not getting it. This isn't just some 'maybe going around the Blasphemy Law stuff' for fucks sake. I mean, are we fucking seeing the same the thing here?" he paused before reading verbatim, "*Blood and bone to the origin. Fire and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Judas- * Judas? Fucking Judas and you're asking me why you shouldn't have bought this to Hogwarts? How did you guys even get your hands on a Gospel of Judas?"
At that, a small smile came to Fred's face, "Well, remember how we said we poked around in Knockturn Alley?"
George scratched at his chin, a guilty look covering his eyes, "Really, it was just lying in the discount bin at Borgin and Burkes..."
Harry blinked rapidly at the twins, he felt lightheaded. Every Weasley he'd met since he'd come back had been giving him trouble, but this was really taking the cake. The twins were smart and clever, but the really just seemed incapable of fucking getting it.
Harry grit his teeth as he tried to keep himself calm, "Guys, it doesn't matter where you got it. The point is that you two ended up writing a goddamn *heretical sermon*! Whether you fucking meant to or not isn't the point either, the point is that you brought it to Hogwarts!"
He couldn't have stopped his legilimency from reaching out and oozing into their minds if he'd tried. His anger shrunk back as he saw that they'd finally begun to realize their mistake. Still, that didn't fix the problem. And it certainly did help much if the damage had already been done.
"Wait, mate that's not a sermon. It's a ritual spell that, sure might be a bit on the... uh, the road less taken, but it's not like the notes alone are dangerous," George protested. Fred didn't seem to hear him.
Harry shook his head, rolling up the scroll, "You guys got it wrong. This thing's got apostasy all over it, fuck it's practically leaking. You guys didn't even bother to write it in cipher... Guys, listen to me. If a priest saw this, fuck if Snape saw this..."
Fred had turned as white as a sheet. He quickly turned to George, "Bloody hell George I fucking told you that-"
George shushed him with a look, and they turned to Harry together, "Listen mate, we didn't know that- We didn't mean to go around breaking laws and getting into all this, we were just tryna be useful".
Harry felt the truth in their words, "Listen, these are the only copies right? And this is all the stuff you guys worked on that classifies as..."
Fred nodded quickly, handing the box over to Harry for inspection, "That's everything, and its not like we just left it lying around the house or anything. We never even took any of it to the Burrow after people kept dropping by for visits. Realized it wasn't safe and-"
Harry's interest piqued as looked through the box of scrolls, "Wait, who kept coming by the Burrow?"
He felt an intense spike of surprise from both twins as she shared a glance, George being the one to answer, "Didn't Ginny tell you? Or Ron?"
Harry shook his head, neither of them had spoken about anyone visiting the Burrow.
George continued, "Start of the summer. After you left for New York. A couple of Dumbledore's boys were waiting for us when we got back from the station. They had tea with mum and Ron. Rest of us weren't invited. Never found out what that was about, Mum said it was Ron's business and we didn't want to push. Probably had something to do with his... y'know".
His blood ran cold. Harry's legilimency didn't hold back, scraping rudely into George's mind to pluck every detail of the encounter. He grew even more worried as he realized the implications of Ron's express redaction. He'd been so lost in the memory that he almost didn't hear Fred pipe up. He missed George's slight wince.
"Then about a month later Snape showed up at the house. That was when we realized that we should probably have-"
Harry interrupted them, taking a moment to fully process Snape's name, "Hold up, what was Snape doing at the Burrow?"
Dread began to fill him as he remembered just what he was holding, he chanced a look into Fred's eyes, worry radiating off him. The twins were good natured wizards, but to someone like Snape they were an open book. And unlike him, Snape wasn't shy with his legilimency. If the twins had run into him...
George alleviated his distress, "We didn't catch him ourselves. We were out of the house when he'd dropped by. He'd brought Father Aylesbury with him, you remember the old kook?"
Harry furrowed his brow in thought. He'd only met the priest of the burrow's little seminary once. As George's memories of the man filtered into his mind, Harry wrote him off as a harmless old fool. Still, there was only one reason Snape would've come to the burrow with a priest to boot.
"What did they want with Ginny?" Harry asked, trying to keep the edge out of his voice.
Fred answered with a shrug, "Mum didn't really fill us in. She said it was some big scholarship that only comes around once in a while. Apparently Snape wanted to recommend Ginny and needed Mum and Father Aylesbury to sign on. Didn't Ron or Ginny mention anything to you?"
Harry shook his head, trying to analyze the information he'd just learned. Something nagged at him though, "Was Ron there when Snape came by?"
George nodded his head, "He was the one that filled us in when we got back. Ginny was over the moon though. You should've seen her, Ron said she'd nearly broken the windows with how much noise she was making. He didn't mention anything?"
Fred decided to swing the topic back to the matter at hand, "Anyways, the point was that we didn't leave the stuff around the house. Kept it away from Mum, Ginny and Ron. Didn't fuck around with this shit at all Harry. We were careful".
Harry felt strangely numb as he took in the information. With a start, he realized that his occlumency was already active, filing away the memories and emotions for later. There were still things to do before he could focus.
He nodded, looking George in the eye, "Alright mate, I trust you".
Relief immediately exploded in the both of them. But before he could move on, he needed to know something, "Listen, you guys gave your Potions NEWT last year right?"
Their relief turning to confusion, George furrowed his brow before answering, "Yeah, how come you're asking?"
Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding and shook his head. The lie came easily because it was partly, "Just make sure you stay away from Snape. He might still sense leftover traces".
As Fred nodded and George grabbed his bag, then moment paused in the air and Harry considered telling them about legilimency. They'd avoid Snape anyways without the knowledge but it was a big world out there. Then, the moment passed and he quickly dismissed the idea. The Third Cardinal Rule of the Magus hung heavy in his mind, and it worked in his favour really.
The fewer people that knew of mind magic, the more powerful it was.
He put the Prana Burst heresy back into the box with the others, pushing down the lid and sealing it with a burst of magic. With a quick wave of his wand, he shrunk the box down till it fit in the palm of his hand.
"Listen, you guys said you brought these for me right? And these are the only copies?" Harry asked, clearly hinting at where he was going.
George got his meaning immediately, "Of course mate, take them. No complaints here".
Fred merrily chimed in, "We're happy to be rid of them, and besides, those are the only copies".
Harry blinked, his breath hitching in his throat as legilimency confirmed the lie.
His breath was steady as they moved to ascend from the foul smelling trunk, every step only increasing his worry. It felt as if someone had lain a terrible curse on the Weasley family. Arthur Weasley's sacrifice felt heavy on his shoulders.