Harry and the Magic Factory

A/N: Thank you for reading along. Hopefully you'll enjoy the upcoming chapters: there will be a lot of explanation, a lot of fun, and not a few dastardly pranks a la Roald Dahl.

Chapter 3

X-c-X-c-X-c-X

Harry closed the portal to the Lestrange Estate after all the Chosen had stepped through.

The resident bookworm, Lisa Turpin, was rather impressed at the display of magic. "Harry, where did you go to school? I never even heard of something like that portal before…"

"All in good time, my dear, we'll all get to see where I attended school. Different approach, I understand, to what the people at Hogwarts use. Judge for yourself, but first might I interest any of you in an experimental sweet? It's just come out of pre-production. Not even completely sure what it does yet…"

Fred and George lit up at the idea of an 'experimental sweet' from the Potter Estate. Both of them stepped out of the crowd quickly.

"Please, sir," George said.

"May we have another," Fred finished. Both were fans of muggle culture, taking after their father to some extent, and couldn't hold a serious conversation to save their lives.

Harry, on the other hand, looked both of them over and then brought out two tiny pieces of candy. The smaller, in the Potter world, the more dangerous it was.

So it should have been no surprise when George swallowed his and promptly transfigured into a massive lizard that was desperate to eat flies. George-the-lizard began prowling around the front of the new manor house gobbling up any insects he came across.

Fred Weasley transfigured into an oversized, disgruntled flying squirrel. He began climbing the stout trees around the estate and leaping from one to another.

The other Chosen were frozen in wonder and fear. What the hell kind of sweet could that be? And why was this crazy black-haired kid transfiguring people into animals like it was nothing at all. Human to animal transfiguration, as everyone knew, was extremely dangerous magic. Used on the battle field, it could kill.

But the lizard and the massive flying squirrel were really enjoying their day in the sun. It was fifteen minutes before Blaise Zabini thought to ask why the tour had stopped.

"…why," Harry responded. "Well, this is your introduction to Potter Pranks and Potions, of course. We concentrate on the experimental items here, you know, before we send out the formulas for mass production in some of our other centers…"

The estate and its manor were massive. And, from the sounds bellowing out from inside, it sounded like the entire place was in use in designing new potions and pranks.

Bracus Snape was unimpressed. "What a waste… This entire complex just for simple pranks. This could be a center for major potions research…"

"Well, of course it is, my boy," Harry said, "but all useful things also have side effects that can make for fun pranking. Why, the heart stabilizing potion we perfected just last week has a most interesting side effect for aged wizards… It helps them, you know, when they have bedroom duties to uphold… A bit of a lift in the spirits, if you catch my meaning…"

The Chosen, aside from Fred and George Weasley, flushed in embarrassment at what they discerned Harry was saying. He really was a terribly odd chap.

"…plus a bit of hardening of the flesh, you know, quite useful… Saves the heart, saves the species from dying out, too, you know…"

Suddenly, George and Fred turned back into their human forms. Fred fell out of a tree and George had a mouthful of half chewed insects. But they were both ecstatic. It took them seconds to rejoin the others.

"That was incredible…"

"…but I didn't know what it was…"

"…I could feel the animal inside me telling me…"

"…how to do everything a lizard does."

Harry nodded twice and smiled. "Exactly right, my boys, exactly right. Well, let's be off, we have a few rooms inside the Pranks and Potions building we should see before moving on to our next stop."

George's eyes went wide. "Hold up, there. What was that thing? How did it work? I've never felt a prank like that one."

Harry frowned for just a moment. "It wasn't a prank, my dear boy. It was Animagery Toffee, of course, as you could well see."

Bracus Snape was the first one to respond. "A potion can't turn someone into an animagus. You can only use a potion to induce a vision state to see what your form might be…"

Harry looked cross for a few moments. "Well, that just shows you how little you know about potions, I think. Of course, this wasn't a prank, this candy. It's a training aid, or will be once it reaches full production. Then we can give it out and people can learn how to access their forms without the aid of the candy, you see…"

Fred Weasley was glowing now. He was an animagus. And his form was very, very weird. It felt like a perfect day.

"…as people become more and more used to their forms, they get closer in size and shape to the true animal… That's why Fred was such a large squirrel, I think. But the only problem is what happens when someone uses one of these candies who isn't capable of an animagus form…"

Most of the other Chosen turned from looking at Fred and George to listening to the conversation again. They all wanted an Animagery Toffee now, but they wanted to know the side effects first.

"…well, we have the magical reversal squad come in and turn them back into humans, of course. It would be rather awkward to have to remain a human consciousness bound into a chunk of toffee for the rest of their lives… It really is the only reason we haven't released the toffees to the general public… But it's a big hurdle to overcome, unfortunately…"

Fred and George were staring at each other now. They both knew they'd never need to open their own joke shop if they could manage to find a way to stay here now. Neither one noticed when an Oompah walked over to them and traced a different rune on their bodies.

Harry was about ready to push the group into the estate so they could visit the Potions and Pranks labs when Bracus Snape started up again.

"I know quite a lot about potions, thank you. My father is the premiere potions researcher in Europe, founded his own company, thank you. And I don't believe a word of what you're saying. If it's true, then why don't you give me one so I can see for myself? And why don't you fess up as to what your animagus form is there, Harry."

Harry just smiled. "Oh, you jest, good young man. Very droll." Here Harry began to ignore the rather bitter young man. But inside he was curious and slightly happy at Snape's conduct. He hadn't wanted to invite this person, but it seemed his advisors had been correct. "So, step inside. Mind the office on the right, we're testing portable quicksand in there right now. Might take a few hours to dig you out if you manage to fall in, I'd say. On the left, in the next three offices are our public testing areas: up for review now are the Prodding Potion, which speeds a person up to twice their normal speed when walking, talking, or the like, the Arachne Potion, which we designed to cure phobias toward spiders but it also seems to work with most other fears, the cure to lycanthropy, tough bit of brewing that one, been in planning and experimentation for years…"

"Impossible," both Blaise and Bracus yelled out. Bracus continued the charge, "everyone knows that werewolves can't be cured. They can be killed, but not cured."

Harry pinched up his face. "Well, that's the silliest thing I've ever heard. Hold on." Harry walked toward a locked office door and poked his head inside. "Remus, my friend, why don't you come out here and meet some of the Chosen. They're saying the most preposterous things I've ever heard."

So when Harry returned, he was followed closely behind by a distinguished looking wizard. "Remus, the gang. Gang, this is Remus Lupin, our Master of Pranks and Potions and former werewolf."

Blaise and Bracus weren't having any of it. "That's the worst joke I've ever heard…" "Are you deaf? There is no way to cure lycanthropy…"

Remus just smiled, then he stepped to a side wall and pulled out a pensieve. "Here, now pay attention." He tapped the pensieve and it began to display images. "This is me being bitten when I was very young. This is one of my more painful transformations when I was fifteen, your father almost found himself my victim then, young Mister Snape. And this is the day when I tested the Werewolf Cure on myself. It should have either worked or killed me. But I'm still kicking and that disease inside me died…."

The Chosen were now paying attention. Remus joined Harry for the next parts of the tour.

"…this corridor is solely where we work with useful potions to make them appropriate for pranking. We develop mild love potions in this room and shape shifting potions in the next. Further down the corridor we produce befuddlement and other painful brews…."

The group just marveled at what they saw. The potions being used here for pranks had never been seen in the wizarding world before, none of them.

But Harry was oblivious to their assembled awe. "…and in the other wing, we concentrate on more traditional potions. The first floor is for healing potions of various kinds. The second for various concealment and beautification unctions. The third is for potions with a military or battle function…. And the fourth is the most important area, but we don't have time today to visit. Well, keep up, we must be off…"

Harry kept his group moving. From time to time, he'd pull a seemingly random potion vial off a wall and hand it to the one of the Chosen. Susan Bones received a Shimmer Shammer Potion so that her hair would have a mild color-changing component in it for the next month, the tints shifting from pale gold to a fiery red. Cormac McLaggen received a potion that made his rather pitiful, misshapen facial hair turn into a beautiful, well maintained beard within thirty seconds. "Painfree." Colin Creevey got a potion that relieved his deviated septum so his snoring wouldn't attempt to destroy whatever home he happened to be staying in. And Luna Lovegood received a green liquid that left her free, for the first time in a long time, to be able to actually concentrate her attention.

Harry brought them to the edge of the stairs leading up to the fourth floor before he stopped.

"No… We really can't. Not enough time and way too dangerous."

Remus nodded. "That's exactly right, Harry. I rarely go up there and I run this division. Scares the Merlin out of me."

"Hmm," Harry said. "Perhaps I can show them the secret project we're running on this level. What do you think, Remus?"

Remus looked frightened for a few moments.

"That's a Potter Estate secret, Harry. And these people aren't Potter employees. They haven't sworn the oaths…"

Harry hung his head. "I guess you're right. Oh well, time to be moving on…"

Of course, the Chosen were now completely and thoroughly curious about this secret. It took five minutes of badgering before Harry could even get a word in.

"…well now, I guess I can say that this potion isn't at all experimental. But it's also something we will never release for public consumption. It's simply too dangerous…"

More than one Chosen blanched. They'd already seen numerous bizarre and dangerous things, but this young man Harry Potter hadn't yet called anything dangerous. This new potion then, it must be a real doozy.

"…you see, if you take it once, you become closer to your own magic in some way, a beautiful gift of some sort. Families used to remember how to help unlock the magical gifts residing in their children, but that knowledge fell to the side during the Dark Ages, I'd expect. Now, we've recovered a bit of it from dusty vaults and forgotten tomes, but this potion helps. The problem is if someone ever tries to take a second dose. Just strips a person's magic right out of them. The Gift Potion doesn't let anyone abuse it…"

Bracus Snape thought about what he'd heard so far. He knew this place was the Lestrange Estate, he'd seen the name carved into the cornerstone of the building. He was also categorizing everything he'd seen about potions creation while here. Most of the stuff had never been attempted before and these yahoos were nearly complete with their work. His father would be livid if he found out – until Bracus could be sure that his father got a copy of the recipes. But this Gift Potion sounded like it was best thing ever created – assuming it actually worked – and Bracus needed to get his hands on it.

"So, what gift did it give to you, Mister Potter?" This was Bracus at his most charming. Which meant there was no charm at all involved.

"I'm sorry, my dear sir, for reasons that will become apparent later on, I am unable to utilize either the Animagery Toffees or the Gift Potion. But, Remus here received a wonderful gift…"

Remus nodded and smiled. "I took it before we destroyed my lycanthropy, and I hoped the Gift Potion would free me. But it did something else instead. It unlocked my ability to perform wandless magic. Wonderful thing, not having to worry about a wand…"

"Absolutely," Harry said. "Most of the magical gifts require some effort to access them. A few, like being a Parselmouth or being a Seer, just manifest when they choose to. But the ability to read auras, or to heal at a deep level with pure magic, or to expand one's own magical core, these all require effort to unlock. The old families knew and forgot how to do it. So now the Gift Potion can help. The witches and wizards with the smallest magical cores frequently develop larger ones. More powerful witches and wizards develop other skills and talents: like empathy or natural mental occlusion barriers or elemental affinity or…"

Harry was now discussing a favored topic of his: gifts and what people did with them.

But Blaise Zabini, Prince of the Slytherins, was on the prowl. He, too, wanted the Gift Potion. But only for himself.

"Hold up, Potter. I think I'd like some of this Gift Potion for myself."

Harry Potter stopped his joyful, waxing metaphors about gifts for a few second. Then he saw a small Oompah slip a piece of parchment into his hand. Harry read it, ignoring his Chosen, and then smiled.

"That's just fine, Master Oompah. I'll tell them now. Masters Weasley and Weasley will need to remain behind here at Pranks and Potions for some time, I'm afraid. We need to check on your reaction to the Animagery Toffee. Apparently you both showed some abnormal signs. But, everyone else, it's time for us to continue on, I think…"

The Chosen groaned. With as scatterbrained as this Harry Potter seemed to be, they'd never get him back on to the topic of Gift Potions.

Not that Harry cared, he started leaping down the stairs, letting out little shouts of joy the entire way down. Once the other Chosen, minus the Weasleys, assembled behind the Manor, Harry opened up another Portal and started pushing people through.

"Welcome to the Goyle Estate and Potter's Confections…"