The following morning, Harry and Nicholas stood in the garden, the newest shield lying in front of them. Once they'd arranged the sigil correctly the night before, Harry had recessed it into the shield, holding it all together.
At the moment, the shield's entire purpose was to test out the sigil, which they feared could explode. He hoped it wouldn't, least of all as he had one of his valuable mithraite crystals embedded on the backside of the shield which would actually trigger the sigil.
But, wary of the risks, the shield had a thick cable leading to where Harry and Nicholas stood, allowing him to activate the crystal from a distance.
Exchanging giddy looks, Harry sent his magic down the cable, activating the sigil. With bated breath, they watched as the mithril pieces were briefly tinted in his emerald magic, before the sigil shield surged into life.
Already, Harry could tell it looked stronger than the day before, with the mithril shield hard to make out through the sigil shield above it. Then, when Nicholas repeated his apple test, the apple was able to rest of the sigil without either mithril or fruit being burned by the power.
Now grinning in anticipation, Harry threw a large rock at the shield as hard as he could, which shattered on impact as expected. Sending another stream of magic to dismiss the shield, Harry grew dismayed when he finally saw the mithril shield again.
Not only had the shield shrunk as its magic had been used up to fuel the shield, there were clear burn marks where the sigil shield had apparently formed within the mithril.
Despite his frown, Nicholas still pulled at his wispy beard, in what Harry knew was deep thought.
"That's not too bad." His mentor finally mused, eyeing the shield in consideration.
"It's not too good either." Harry felt obliged to point out. "I doubt they'd even be in a situation where I'd want to sacrifice my entire shield for the sigil."
Crossing over to the shield, Nicholas waved off Harry's concerns, tipping the shield over to examine its underside. Harry took a little longer, needing to limp considerably from the pain emanating from his ankle.
He needed to take each step cautiously, his ankle throbbing with pain with each step. He had awakened that morning to an unwelcome reminder of his injury with a sharp, persistent ache that had refused to subside, even after the healing encasement charm.
When he had managed to find a solution to replace his arm, he had hoped for a similar fix for his foot, seeing as both injuries had been inflicted by Voldemort in their last encounter.
Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be anything he or his mithril could do, other than let it heal naturally. Even trying to remove the dark magic taint like he'd done for Lockhart hadn't worked, with Voldemort's magic being strong enough to burn through any mithril he sent at it.
So, by the time he'd reach Nicholas, the man had already given the shield an initial examination.
"The good news is the crystal wasn't damaged, so it's likely a lack of power that made the shield shrink. And these marks where the sigil was, they don't go very deep. It seems to me like if we raised the sigil runes a bit, the sigil would be summoned just above the mithril." Nicholas announced, before looking up and finally seeing exactly how Harry was limping.
"Foolish boy, limping around like that isn't going to help anyone. If you are in this much pain, you should tell someone." Nicholas chided, running his wand around Harry's leg and instantly soothing the pain.
Blushing, Harry still found it within himself to argue. "Madam Pomfrey told me the only thing to do with it is to let it heal naturally and numb it. I didn't expect that telling anyone could do anything."
"With the greatest respect to your healer, Harry, I have lived a half dozen of her lifetimes." Nicholas chided, "You will find that healing has many similarities to alchemy. As you should know, considering I am standing here now, thanks to that stone on your hand."
Somehow blushing even harder, he could only nod in agreement.
Sighing fondly, Nicholas conjured a pair of armchairs for them to rest in, shield temporarily forgotten.
"Now's as good a time as any to teach you I suppose… Harry, your Gauntlet, can you form something like a cup around just the Philosopher's Stone? Something that will allow us to fill it with liquid, and allow the liquid to touch the stone."
Despite the strange request, Harry focused on his Gauntlet, reforming the mithril as requested. Given the Gauntlet was also his new hand, it made balancing the cup an issue, as the cup extended out the top of his hand.
"Good, now you'll want to fill it with your blood."
Now slightly incredulous, Harry nevertheless didn't question the order as he mentally sharpened the lip of his strange cup. With some manoeuvring, he pressed his forearm against the lip, getting it mostly full.
"That'll do. Now just let it sit for a while, the longer the better. Whilst we wait, I've had a thought about that shield if you'd want to hear it."
"Of course I'd love to hear your thoughts."
"Excellent. Firstly, you'll need to sort out the power generation for the sigil, you'll want to make it as strong as you can. Secondly, I'll get to work on designing a new sigil shield for you. If it's summoned entirely by your mithril, I don't need to worry about complexity.
"Obviously when we thought sigils could only be summoned manually, me and Perenelle couldn't mentally cast sigils with too many parts. This has naturally limited how far we could go with the art, instead leading to many simple sigils. With your mithril, I can ignore all those limitations."
Harry wasn't sure whether to be more impressed by the topic itself, or the almost giddy way his ancient mentor was telling it.
"That sounds great, but I'd assume it would come at a bigger power cost?"
"Oh, an enormous power cost most likely. It will be magnificent. But, you'll get your worth out of it. So, do you have any suggestions of what you'd like?"
Harry thought for a moment, mentally catching himself just before he raised his arm and spilled his blood, before musing his ideas. "Well, I was thinking obviously this sigil will work best against physical attacks, but that's already mostly redundant by the mithril itself.
"But, could you make it elemental? Something like an earth shield that could block curses like the unforgivables. Regular shield charms will deal with lesser magic, but charms won't stop anything that can break apart magic, like dragon fire or a killing curse."
"Certainly," Nicholas easily agreed. "And I suspect such a sigil shield would have other uses too. Anything else?"
"I was thinking I need some way to reinforce the mithril. This shield will need to be cheap to make, so I only have mithril to work with, so some sigil to increase its rigidity would be great."
At this, Harry was surprised when Nicholas vigorously shook his head. "No, absolutely not. Never use waste magic doing something that can be done for free. Harry, you aren't the first person to make a shield, learn from what everyone's done before you.
"Shields, especially ones like you are making, were made from wood for a reason. Keep the mithril disc you've got, but set it onto a good bit of wood. Talk to Fleur about it, she'll need the experience anyway."
"Fleur?"
"Yes, Fleur." Nicholas clarified, taking on a slight teasing tone, "My granddaughter Fleur, the one who called you cousin. Blonde, yae high, French."
"Yes, thank you. I know who Fleur is, but why her? I think I can make a wooden circle myself, thanks."
"I'm quite sure you know, but no matter. Fleur is a Veela, and as such she has access to their traditional solaris resonance enchanting. In short, they take a piece of wood, and they make it unbreakable. A wooden blade will shatter a steel sword long before it receives any damage itself.
"Send her a balsa wood base for your shield, and she'll enchant it to be virtually indestructible, as long as it basks in sunlight occasionally. Your shield can then conserve energy for other protections, and the wood itself requires no magical upkeep and remains intrinsically resilient."
"Do you have any of that wood available?" Harry asked eagerly, fully sold on the idea.
"I do not, but have you already forgotten a particular stone in your possession, that can transmute anything into anything else? Incidentally, you'll want to send a bar of alchemical gold too. The Veela like it for some reason."
"Actually, I hadn't forgotten the stone, but I had assumed it would be like most rituals, where the material has to be organic. You've always been the one to drill into me that I can't use the stone as a shortcut for everything, so excuse me if I don't instantly jump to use it."
"Right you are, my apologies," Nicholas hummed. "Well, for future reference, transmuted materials only affect rituals in which that specific material is being used. The Veela's solaris resonance enchanting is applied directly to the wood, so its origin is unimportant."
"Okay, sure. So, transmute a wooden shield and bar of gold, send both to Fleur and ask her to enchant it. Meanwhile, you'll be designing a new sigil. I'll also get to work designing a new power system, but it shouldn't take too long, so I was thinking of starting a new project."
"Oh? Is this another weapon or something different?"
"Different. You know how we imbue my coat with that dragon skin leather? I think it's time I do the same with the Dementor's cloak. This year proved how important it can be, I just need to find some way of controlling it."
That clearly took Nicholas by surprise, who took a moment to muse over the implications.
"That could work, but I'd worry about its corruptive aura. I'd hate for your current coat to become unusable because we rushed into things."
"It shouldn't be too different to the dragon skin ritual, right?"
"We can hope not. But you have to understand, that ritual was a tried and tested process. Tailors and armourers have been doing similar for centuries. To the best of my knowledge, nobody has done anything even close to what you want.
"However… The fact that the Dementor's cloak is a physical object you can wear, and its proximity hasn't caused any other damage… there's a chance it's possible."
"A chance is good. I'd like to try and design the ritual, based on what we did for the dragon skin transfer." Harry decided, looking at his mentor for his approval.
It took Nicholas a while, but eventually he nodded his consent. "Fine, but do not try anything until I've come back. Theory only, Harry, theory only… Anyway, I think the stone will have finished transmuting your blood, so you'll want to drink up. I will warn you, it's incredibly bitter."
It took Harry an awkwardly long time to work out what Nicholas was talking about, until he remembered the cup he'd formed from the Gauntlet. Bashful at his forgetfulness, he didn't waste any time in downing the drink, instantly regretting it as the bitter and metallic taste flooded his senses.
He almost choked, but finally managed to swallow it all down, to the clear amusement of Nicholas.
For a moment, he'd feared his mentor was pulling some bizarre prank, but then warmth began to flood him, starting from his stomach and radiating outwards. It was very similar to his experience with Firewhiskey, except far stronger and without the alcohol.
Almost immediately, the pains he'd been suffering from soothed into nothingness, giving him a lightness he hadn't felt for a while. Even the stump of his arm within the Gauntlet felt better, while his ankle quietened away entirely.
He'd only just registered that, when another wave of heat spread through him, giving him a strength he'd never have expected. Even with his ritual tying his physical strength to his magical strength, his body had never felt this energised.
"Wow." Harry breathed, almost lost to the sensation. "What was that?"
"That was the elixir of life. I figured it's long gone time for you to know how to brew it yourself, especially with the short term effects you just experienced."
"Does… does that mean I'm immortal now, just like that?"
"Not how you're imagining… but equally yes. For at most the next hour, you are indeed immortal. But, the duration of the elixir lasts for roughly as long as its brewing time. A year of brewing will grant about a year and a bit of immortality.
"But, there are two key pieces of information you should keep in mind. One; The elixir itself isn't long lasting, once it loses contact with the stone. At some point, you'll get the enchant tun cask Perenelle used, once it's finished decontamination. But, two; The elixir only works for whoever's blood was used. That elixir healed you, but would've had the opposite effect on me."
His mind spun, but he still did his best to memorise the details. "So, the elixir doesn't last long, takes a long time to be truly effective, and poison for anyone else? Is that why you said you'd have enough elixir left to make your arrangements?"
"Quite. Me and Perenelle would take turns brewing the elixir, using our aforementioned casks. At our best, we'd spend one decade brewing a new batch, and while using up the last batch. But we weren't perfect with it, there was one particularly dark time when a cask broke while we weren't there.
"I was going through batches every few days, and it took years for us to crawl our way back to a safe amount. That's the other problem, the elixir can get extremely addictive, as your body yearns for that energised feeling."
"So, I have that to look forward to then? How bad is the yearning, and how often will I need to drink the elixir?"
"For now, with that single drink, you'll unlikely to suffer… Well, no you may suffer as your pains return, but that's no different from usual potions. As for how often you need it, my best advice is simply 'You'll know'. It's like growing thirsty, your body will let you know it's running out of the elixir.
"I would highly recommend drinking it sparingly, when you truly need the boost. Times like today, when your injuries and pains are near debilitating. I wouldn't worry about setting a rhythm for brewing the elixir for many years, perhaps even decades."
Frowning, Harry couldn't agree with that last point. "But Voldemort is after me. Surely having a plentiful supply of the elixir to drink from would be useful, if nothing else to allow me to survive another encounter."
"The elixir of life isn't some performance enhancing drunk, Harry." Nicholas snapped, a rare taste of anger colouring his tone, "The elixir will not save you from being injured, or even killed! It will provide a healing factor, it will give you a source of energy. But it doesn't stop death.
"You age partly because your body naturally degrades quicker than you can heal. The elixir gives your body the boost it needs to overcome that degradation. But even then it cannot undo the effects of age, only halt further damage.
"It doesn't matter how many times you drink the elixir, your arm will remain a stump. If Voldemort gets a killing blow on you, no healing factor will save you." Finally, Nicholas took a deep breath, calming himself down, "No, use the elixir sparingly for now. In your hands, the Philosopher's Stone will serve you better than its elixir ever will."
"I'm sorry." Harry replied, only for Nicholas to wave it away.
"No, it's natural for you to ask this. It is your future, you should be as informed as possible. But, you have to remember, Perenelle was dying even with the elixir still supporting her. It wouldn't have mattered if we'd still had the Philosopher's Stone, the human body is still a highly fragile machine…
"Anyway, enough about that for now. If you get that wooden shield made now, I'll see if I can give it to Fleur personally. I'll need to return to France for this anyway, to consult Perenelle's old notes on sigils. Onwards and upwards, Harry."
For his 'homework', Harry had designed an entirely new magical generator, making use of another mithraite crystal. It was quite alarming how many crystals he'd already used. The glass bowl he'd kept them in was still over half full, yet the top of the pile was a fair bit from the lip of the bowl, where they'd started from.
Nevertheless, he valued his safety over the number of crystals he had left, they were future Harry problems, and future Harry may not exist without present Harry protecting himself.
He'd started by taking apart a mithril generator he'd made in his first year, shaking his head at the shoddy work. The newer and safer mithril core couldn't provide the power he wanted whilst keeping a small profile. The mithril kettle he'd designed for the goblins had a similar problem, as it was simply gigantic.
As such, he'd returned to his original generators, having incorporated a mithraite crystal into the design. This crystal could control the intensity of the decay runes, which would then power the generator.
When the shield experienced strain, the mithraite would automatically increase the power output to match, allowing him to always run the shield at full power.
The result was a compact mithril generator he'd christened the mithril overdrive, which he'd fashioned to end up looking like a shield roundel. It even looked natural when placed onto a new temporary shield, with the mithraite crystal pointing inwards, so it was sandwiched between the two thick plates of mithril.
Making the most of Tonks' day off work, he'd given the shield a few basic charms he'd remembered from his previous shield, and pushed it to full power. He and Tonks then threw their all at the propped up shield, fully battering it with any number of curses.
No matter what struck it, they splashed against the luminous shield charm with no obvious impact. The only time the shield had even reacted was when Tonks had used a particularly dark piercing curse.
But, while the shield had merely flickered momentarily, before instantly recovering, Tonks had been left bent over and taking deep breaths, needing to regain her spent energy.
Given he hadn't even used the more complex shield charms he'd had on his last shield, it was safe to say he was thoroughly pleased with his new overdrive generator, even if it had limited potential outside of shields.
The only downside Harry could see was how the rim of the mithril shield had dug itself into the grass, suggesting he'd need to worry about the physical knockback from stronger spells.
With their test concluded, Harry enlisted Tonks's help in brainstorming additional shield enhancements. He had already inscribed protective runes on the back of the shield, with the majority employing the same kinetic dampening principle as its predecessor.
Given the previous shield had been enough to halt the swing of an enraged werewolf, he had no intention of abandoning this feature.
Where the last shield had absorbed the kinetic energy of incoming attacks and transferred it into the shield itself, that extra energy would've been wasted on this new design.
Instead, Harry used runes that could reverse that kinetic energy. For the most part, he expected this adjustment to maintain the same effect, rapidly reducing the force of physical attacks when they collided with the shield.
But, Harry could foresee the shield acting to repel weaker attacks too. At its most extreme, he was hoping the shield would eventually be strong enough to slow a freefall.
It was purely dumb luck that Barty Junior had been the one sent hurtling out of Moody's office and crashing into the grounds while Harry had been thrown through a wall and into the corridor. If their positions had been reversed, Harry knew that would've been his death.
His hope was that his new shield could save him from falling to his death, even if he was unconscious or unable to save himself. This kinetic reversal was his first true attempt, which he hoped would be the first of many.
Putting his faith in his runes, he'd then strapped the shield to his feet and leaped from an upper floor window, despite Tonks' protests.
He didn't immediately sense any difference, having grown used to the feeling of falling from his jumps off the divination tower. But, while he'd started to fall at a normal speed, once the ground had drawn close enough, he had felt the runes on the shield activating.
Slowly, he could feel his speed decreasing, feeling almost like he was compressing a spring.
After a moment to recover from the jolt of landing, he stumbled forward, his legs wobbly but thrilled at the effectiveness of the shield as he regained his composure. His landing had been bone-jarring, but it felt like a minor inconvenience compared to what it could have been without the shield's protection.
Even his injured ankle hadn't reacted, between the magical cast and the elixir of life still in his system.
Despite herself, Tonks was clearly impressed. She shook her head in disbelief and then gave Harry an enthusiastic thumbs up. "Okay, I'll admit that was impressive. But you'll want to roll out of the landing for falls like that, even with your cushioning."
"Actually, by the time I've improved it a bit more, I'm hoping I'll come to a complete stop before I hit the ground. Like an elevator stopping, you know? But I'll definitely keep that roll suggestion in mind."
Shrugging, Tonks accepted his claim. "Alright then. But you know what would be cool? Enchanting your coat to do that. Think about it, you could be falling and then your coat tails could spread out and you'd be able to glide around."
"I don't need my coat to do that, I can already use magic to land easily. This shield is a last resort, something I shouldn't ever need to use. Besides, fabric won't hold the runes as easily."
"Well could you enchant my robes like that then?" Tonks returned, getting an eye roll from Harry for her efforts.
A bit more item creation left, which I know isn't everyone's favourite, but I think it's an important part of Harry's character.
I'm hoping the next chapter will be Harry finishing the shield and upgrading his coat. Then he can go to the Greengrass' and match up with the previous Daphne chapters.
Then finally, we can move onto the first major non-canon events.