30 Lessons in Magic

The fallout from Harry's speech Sunday night was slight. Both Snape and Dumbledore tried to give Harry detentions, however, McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey stopped that bit. When they told the pair about it, they pointed out that Snape was just using it as an excuse to attack Harry, while Albus was trying to keep control of the youth. The discussion that followed was informative, if disturbing.

"So you're saying that Professor Dumbledore is trying to exert control over Harry?" Hermione asked the older witches.

"We believe so," Minerva confirmed, "Why and to what end, we're less confident about."

"Does he do this with other students? Or is it just me?"

"As far as we can tell, it is primarily you," Pomfrey said. "But we are guessing that he's manipulating those around you."

"How?" Hermione asked.

"One example would be the time turner you used last year, dear." Minerva explained, "By getting you the use of such an artifact, he did several things. First, he increased your workload such that you had less time to spend with Harry, increasing the distance between you. In that same vein, the secrecy requirement of having it forced you to lie and deceive him, which when exposed, should have increased the rift between you. I'm sure the Headmaster would have found a way to show it to Harry as a betrayal of trust."

"Good thing you told me to help cover for her then." Harry grinned at her.

"Indeed, Mr. Potter." She grinned back. "I'm also concerned with your home life."

"Why? It's been amazing since I started staying with the Grangers."

"He wouldn't…" Hermione growled at the same time.

"I'm afraid you are thinking along the same lines as we are, Mrs. Potter," Pomfrey confirmed, then continued with a tone of shame. "For my part, I had a deep scan done on myself by a certified mind healer once we discovered the previous injuries to Mr. Potter. What she found was disturbing. This scan can look at specific memories, but in this case, it was looking for missing ones. They found 17 instances in which the same magical signature obliviated anywhere from an hour to two days from my memory."

"But why?" Harry asked, confused. "Whose signature was it?"

"It was Professor Dumbledore's, we think." Minerva continued for the distraught Mediwitch. "The dates appear to coincide with some of your worst encounters with the Dursleys."

"So you think Dumbledore knew and had Madam Pomfrey heal him just enough to keep him from death or permanent injury?"

"Yes dear," Minerva answered sadly. "Additionally, he's done several other things that are questionable."

"Like what?" Harry asked, his voice dropping and anger rolled off him in waves as his fingers turned white from gripping the chair arm.

"For one, I asked at least twice a year after you. Every time he assured me you were fine and doing wonderful with your family. He either lied about checking on you, or we suspect, knew and was covering your abuse," Minerva answered him in a rush.

"Either way it's inexcusable." Pomfrey cut in. "As your previous magical guardian, he's required to check on your well being."

"In any case, there's more." Minerva looked grave to admit and continued. "Think back over the last few years, you haven't gone back to your relatives during Christmas by choice, but you also have gone back to them at the end of the year."

"I had to, he said that I couldn't stay over the summer and I was in too much danger anywhere else."

"If that were true, explain the summer between first and second year." Hermione challenged, catching where McGonagall was going. "You were at the Burrow for the whole second half of the summer. Then last year, you spent the second half at my house."

"And therein lies the issue," Minerva rejoined the conversation, "We believe Harry was sent back each summer to remind him of how much he owes the wizarding world, and specifically one Albus Dumbledore, for removing him from that vile situation."

"So you think he is using the abuse I received at the Dursleys to ingratiate himself with me? So I look at him like some savior or benefactor?"

"Basically." Pomfrey confirmed, "Before you left the Dursleys this year, what was your impression of him?"

"Well," Harry pondered, "I guess sort of grandfatherly. Which, looking back doesn't make sense."

"In a way it does." Hermione grimaced sympathetically. "If you saw him as the reason you got to leave, you would likely feel some gratitude, even if you didn't realize it."

"I suppose, and it would explain why he didn't object to me staying with Hermione this year."

"Object, no," Minerva agreed, "though his pointed suggestion that you would have enjoyed staying at the Weasleys more was odd."

"Not if his goal is to keep me pliable. We discussed this before, Ron keeps me lazy. If I was at the Burrow, I'd have done less homework, less learning, and more playing and goofing off. By keeping me under-informed, I'm more dependent on others, like him, for information. And by controlling that information, he can influence my decisions."

Hermione felt her own anger at the level of the Headmaster's meddling boil to the surface. "The real question is why?" She asked incredulously, throwing her hands in the air. "Why does he want Harry pliable and under his influence so badly?"

"That is the real question," Minerva admitted, "And the answer is we don't know. We'll try to find out, but at this point, all we can do is keep you informed."


February slipped into March, and the Potters slogged ahead with their school work. The biggest event of note was Ron's Birthday. The pair had sent Ron a simple combined gift for his birthday, which had helped start to mend the break in their friendship, but both of them knew it would be a long road ahead of them, one that he'd have to make the next offering in.

The Hogwarts classes were easy enough, especially as they progressed in their secondary lessons. Those, taught by not just Professor McGonagall but Flitwick and Sprout as well now, had led to some interesting discussions. The first was the second weekend of March, after a gruelly lesson from Professor Flitwick on dirty fighting.

"So what you're saying," Hermione began breathlessly, still trying to recover from the duel, "is if you're not cheating, you're not trying?"

"That is a wonderfully apt way of saying it, Miss Granger." The diminutive professor agreed, for he was not privy to all their secrets yet. "Though it is not entirely true. In most cases, especially formal duels and the like, you can expect a modicum of regulation. Professional Duelers for example all agree to follow certain guidelines and not to use other restricted items or spells, such as the unforgivables. When fighting for your life however, there is no such thing as a dirty trick or cheating. There is only surviving at any cost. If you have to use a dark curse to save yourself, you do it. If you have to punch them in the face, you punch them."

"So basically anything goes? Even dark spells?" Harry asked, sitting with a sigh in a large cushioned armchair McGonagall had conjured for them.

"If it's a matter of life or death," Flitwick countered, "Is it really dark?"

"So what then causes certain spells to be considered dark then?" Hermione posed, sagging into Harry's lap.

"It goes to the nature of the spell," Minerva answered, "It is simply about intent."

"Precisely." Flitwick agreed jovially. "Look at charms, the epitome of 'light' spells. And yet, I bet if you thought about it, you could think of a way to use almost all of them to hurt someone."

"You mean like using Wingardium Leviosa to levitate someone a couple stories up and then cancelling the spell? Or banishing someone off a ledge?" Harry asked after a moment's reflection.

"Yes, Mr. Potter, those would be examples," Flitwick confirmed, "but what is the intent of the spell? What is its purpose?"

"You mean it's supposed to levitate objects?" Hermione supplied.

"Yes, its purpose is not to harm, but to aid, therefore it is considered 'light'." Flitwick grinned happily, getting to lecture about one of his favorite subjects. "Now the dark spells are those that are intended to hurt or harm. Take for example, the entrail expelling curse. What possible use would that curse be other than to harm another being?"

"What about something like the killing curse? Couldn't that be used to humanely kill animals for meat?" Hermione asked.

"The unforgivables are a different class," Flitwick admitted, "Most instructors will tell you it's the use that is unforgivable, and they'd be right for any use on a witch or wizard. The real reason they are unforgivable is how they affect those they are used on to enact their purpose. They affect the soul unwillingly."

"What he means is while soul-based magic is not inherently dark," Minerva continued, "all the light uses require willing participation. To force someone into soul magic is dark, for you remove the choice from the subject. For example, one can cast a pairing spell, such as a magical marriage, but if the subjects don't go into it willingly, it will fail every time. The unforgivables however, don't require willing participation, in fact, they force it. That is why they are such vile creations."

"It's also of note, that if a witch uses a source of power other than herself," Pomfrey added, "It can affect how the spell is classed. For instance, there are ways to take power from another, if it is done without consent, as in a ritual sacrifice, it will taint any spell cast with that power."

"What other sources are there?" Hermione asked, the thirst for knowledge evident.

"Most Wizards use just their own power." Flitwick answered, "But others can willingly give one power, again, it is ritually done. It can be stored, but that is tricky and there is so much loss in the transfer that it is generally considered impractical."

"There's also wild magic," Minerva pointed out.

"Yes, but there hasn't been a wild wizard in centuries." Flitwick countered, looking at the confused teens he expanded. "Wild magic is present all around us, part of the natural world. It concentrates itself around certain places and very rarely, beings. Ley lines and Hogwarts herself are examples of those concentrations. It can be tapped, very inefficiently I may add, for some rituals and occasionally to power wards. Hogwarts and St. Mungo's Hospital are the only buildings I'm aware of in Britain that have ever successfully tapped ley lines for warding, but they did so with wild wizards present."

"A wild wizard is one that can feel and harness the ambient wild magic around him and use it as his own." McGonagall continued, "They are generally more adept at silent and wandless casting. Manipulation of the ambient energies is just easier for them. They really don't need a wand, it becomes more of a focus, a tool, then a necessity."

"So wouldn't all wizards start as wild wizards? What we call accidental magic could be the manifestation of wild magic rather than truly being Accidental." Harry asked.

"Every wizard has a hint of the ability," Pomfrey conceded, "But all accidental magic is just that, an accident, there's no intent to it. It's a magical release interacting with the environment, not a controlled deliberate act."

Harry and Hermione both looked at each other, eyes searching each other's thoughts. All three adults noted the hesitant look in the teens' faces and stayed quiet as the pair continued their personal debate. Finally, Minerva couldn't take it anymore.

"What is it you two?" She asked, drawing their attention back to the others.

"Well," Hermione hesitated, "my accidental magic actually was semi deliberate."

"What do you mean?" Flitwick asked, leaning forward almost excitedly.

"Well, one of the stories my father always tells me about my accidental magic is about my favorite book as a child." Hermione blushed a bit and continued, "It was a collection of children's tales. Anyway, it was written for parents to read to their children, no pictures or anything. I was about four years old, really just learning to read, and they found me trying to read this book. They tried to convince me to stop, that it was too hard. I refused to listen and eventually they started hiding it. On top of the bookcase, in their closet, things like that. But I kept getting it, my father swears he had it locked in his safe one time and he came home to be sitting in front of the fireplace reading the thing. My mother swears she saw it floating along behind me one time I was dragging it to my favorite reading spot."

"So you think you were deliberately using your magic to get this book?" Flitwick asked.

"I'm not sure," Hermione admitted, "It seems less random than the other stories I've heard about accidental magic."

"It does at that," Pomfrey agreed, "And you, Mr. Potter?"

"My early magic wasn't quite that deliberate, but it was different. My Aunt ended up shaving my head once to get rid of my unruly hair. I was so embarrassed to think about going to school the next day, I was praying my hair would grow back. The next morning it had. Another time I was…. I was running from my cousin and his gang and suddenly I was on the school roof."

"I see," Flitwick nodded, relaxing a bit as he thought it over. "I see why these seem different, no, these are different from the usual bouts of accidental magic, but I'm not sure they represent wild magic. There have been so few practitioners in the last millennium that there really isn't a test for it."

"Fillius," McGonagall said softly, drawing their attention, "what about some of the things they've done this year?"

Harry's brow furrowed. "What things?"

"The incident in the common room with Mr. Weasley," McGonagall reminded him, "I don't recall seeing either of you use a wand."

"And the spells you used on Mr. McLaggan were rather potent," Flitwick admitted. "But I'm still not sure how to proceed even if you do have an affinity for wild magic."

"That's easy professor," Hermione grinned with a glint in her eye, "We've already started to look at silent and wandless casting. We just look into it more, and expand our meditation to 'feeling' the magic around us to see if we can."

"Might be something we have to wait to do until this summer though," Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Remember last year? When we were investigating the…" he started to answer Hermione's confused look, then trailed off and darted a look at Professor Flitwick.

"It's ok Mr. Potter, both Professor Sprout and myself are aware of the incident that triggered this change you two are afflicted by," Flitwick assured him. "Please continue."

"Right," Harry breathed deep and continued, "remember, after the incident, when we were trying to get a handle on our heightened senses, how we had to move away from the castle to feel magic better?"

"You don't think the incident gave you this sense, but that it merely unlocked it. That it was wild magic that was affecting your ability to sense," Hermione surmised.

"Maybe," Harry rubbed the back of his head, "it would explain how we're doing some of the things we've done."

"Mr. Potter, Miss Granger," Flitwick asked quietly, "I can see that you're physically tired, but are you magically tired?"

The sharp look McGonagall gave Flitwick told the pair this was a most unusual question. The pair looked at each other, and their link filled with emotional communication. Curiosity. Intrigue. Indecision. Trust. Consideration. Unease. Agreement.

"It's hard to separate," Harry admitted slowly, "but if I had to say yes or no, I'd have to say no, Professor."

"Would it surprise you to hear that I am?" The diminutive man asked, his voice tinged with some emotion Harry couldn't identify.

"Actually, it would Professor," Hermione answered for them.

Flitwick turned to McGonagall, "I believe we have a lot of work ahead of us, Minerva."